Author Notes: I own nothing still! This is a challenge response for my epic beta reader, Ginger Sheikah. The challenge was to create a scene or one shot around the lyric of a song of her choosing. This is my first time ever writing Ganondorf's character, so I hope the effort shows! Please R&R!
"Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel"
He knew he was here. He could feel it. The corners of his mouth curled up into a sneer as he stared out through the once opulent archway from across the enormity of the crumbling throne room. The time was drawing near. Even the sky itself appeared to be preparing for war as its angry hues of gold and burnt orange fought relentlessly to be seen behind the thick masses of swirling black clouds. The lightning seemed to set the very atmosphere ablaze, fierce crashes of thunder chasing after it through the howling wind. He could feel Courage swiftly making its way upward towards the very top of the castle where he was waiting. Yes, it was finally time to meet the new face of Courage; time for history to repeat itself where two pieces of the Triforce would engage each other in battle once again. But this time, history would be rewritten and the world would be forever changed. Today, Courage would fall at the hands of Power. Today, Courage would take its final breath. The thought nearly made his face split right into a wide smirk as a deep, dark laugh rumbled in his throat.
And then he saw him. After waiting for years and years, he finally saw him. Appearing in the archway as barely more than a speck against the vast canvas of the sinister sky, a boy clad in green set foot onto the tattered blue carpet that stretched out across the multitude of steps to the very place where he sat. He watched like a predator silently stalking its prey as the boy cautiously stepped inside.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for.
But then he saw glimpses of fiery orange hair radiating in the darkness beside the boy as he drew closer, taking in the sights of the structure damage all around him. The boy was not alone. He was with a disproportioned imp girl. The Twilight Princess, no doubt. The false king of Hyrule scowled for only a moment, his amber eyes narrowing as they flickered over to his small, uninvited guest. But then he saw them finally lock their gazes on his place there on the throne, and that disgusting smirk insisted on returning to his face.
She would be out of his way soon enough.
Finally, he spoke.
"Welcome to my castle."
The Twili girl only glared up at him as the boy's hands balled up into fists at his sides. "So," she spat, her childish voice bouncing off the empty walls, "you're… Ganondorf."
Gripping the sword once wielded by the Ancient Sages who tried to execute him, the Dark Lord Ganondorf rose to his feet with a leer. He chuckled portentously as he towered over the two forms from where he stood above them like an almighty king who was gracing his subjects with his presence. He wanted them to remember him in power at the throne of Hyrule in the final moments of their lives.
Before he killed them both.
"I've been dying to meet you," the Twili girl went on with a derisive, toothy grin.
Ganondorf stood at the top of the stairway, reveling in the disdainful stares of pure contempt from the young boy and the tiny girl before him. He addressed the girl directly; he addressed her by name, but she was not who had his interest. She was a minor obstacle between him and the boy, one that he could practically toss aside at the mere flick of his massive hand. He spoke to her of her own people, of how their hatred and anguish enabled him to rise again with more strength and power, ridiculing them and their pathetic attempts to defy the goddesses. But all this time his eyes were on the boy. There was no doubt that this boy looked incredibly different from the Hero of Time that he had been determined to kill a century ago. This boy was built differently, he could tell, and the tunic had changed, and the hair was no longer a bright golden shade of blonde, but much darker. Yet what were undeniably the same were those vibrant sapphire eyes that were piercing him with such supreme abhorrence. It was like he could see the very essence of the Hero of Time looking back at him from inside this boy, and it drew a haughty grin from him.
Thought you were rid of me, didn't you, boy? he thought as the boy drew his sword from its sheath. Now you can sit back and watch Power conquer Courage as it is destined to do so.
He craned his neck to gaze up at the elegant, lifeless Hylian girl that was hung up in the niche high above the throne like a decorative ornament or a fancy trophy in the very center of the Triforce, the crumbling statues of the goddesses surrounding her. The Twili girl shot into the air with a gasp as he reached a hand up towards the princess, stretching her long arms and stubby legs out to protect her light world counterpart from whatever it was that he was preparing to do. But it didn't matter. She posed no threat. In a flash of square, black particles he possessed the inert body of the Princess of Hyrule, laughing silently to himself.
This time, they all would die.
Everything around him seemed to be swirling around him in utter chaos as his feet trudged heavily across the soggy dirt of Hyrule Field, yelling out in fury, both hands gripping the sword of the Sages high over his head as he charged recklessly towards the boy that stood in his path of destruction. The boy yelled out in determination as he leapt into the humid air, the Master Sword poised upward. With a reverberating clang the two swords collided with each other as the wind whipped around them. Bursts of light and sparks exploded in both of their faces as they pushed against each other with all of the force they could still muster. And through the tangle of swords in front of him, Ganondorf could still see the blazing sapphire eyes pinned onto him in sheer malice. He could feel the boy's fading strength behind his sword, and could pick up on hints of slight desperation through the courage displayed on his face, his dark blonde hair clinging to his forehead that was drenched in sweat.
The boy had somehow managed to beat him three times now. But it didn't matter. It came down to this moment right here, and that was all. The Princess and the boy's horse were separated from him on the other side of the barrier. The castle was destroyed, and his beloved Twilight Princess was dead. The boy's losses were evident on his dirty face amongst the deadly look in his eyes.
Ganondorf smirked as he pushed harder. The boy took a step back, baring his teeth as he narrowed his eyes.
"Look at yourself, boy," the Dark Lord hissed through clenched teeth. He felt the boy give another push against him. "Taking up arms against me because I have killed and plan to kill again to get what I want. But here you are with intent to kill me. You are no different from me. I see it in your eyes. Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel. Give it up now before you become like me, killer."
Something in the boy's face changed as a corner of his mouth curled up into a heated sneer. "I'll never be like you." He let out a scream of rage as he pushed with everything he had left.
The Master Sword slid across his own sword, throwing off the balance that he had been forcing against the deadlock of steel before him. He couldn't stop himself from stumbling backward. He couldn't keep a gasp from escaping his lips as he lost his footing in the grass, blood and dirt that was their battleground and he fell back with a hard thud. He found himself gazing up at the dreary sky as he saw the boy clad in green sail into the air with a mighty shout, and then the Blade of Evil's Bane pierced his chest, all the way through his flesh until its tip barely reached the dirt ground below him.
Time seemed to stand still.
Suddenly, everything was not as he thought it would be.
Challenge Song: "Within You" by David Bowie