It is written that He with heart full of greed and hate for all living creatures will someday be purged of darkness and light immaculate shall rule once more. The Goddess willed it so. The Demon-God within His soul will fight for dominance, and it will be the Demon's demise. So it is written, so shall it come to pass, and the history of Hyrule shall be written in blood…
Water rushed everywhere, enveloping the three Triforce bearers in its choke-hold high atop Hyrule Castle. Water spouts whirled upward to the Great Sea and the once calm wind of the sunken nation whipped furiously, flinging The Princess across the hard cement of the roof and into the concrete of an adjacent wall. She neighed in pain, holding her head as the world around her collapsed. Basalt pillars, meant to withstand all nature could throw at them, began to crumble like pieces of dried out cake. The only thing standing tall in the commotion was the hulking warlord, flaming hair whipping every direction. His dark robes whirled and danced in the wind, like a candle flame caught in a draft.
"Too long the gods have denied me what I seek. No longer," Ganondorf growled. From seemingly nowhere he produced dual swords and eyed Link dangerously. "Come, boy. Don't keep me waiting. Allow me to show you your destiny."
The young hero watched Ganondorf, made mental note of any weakness (he could find none), and far too haphazardly, leapt into the air with a yell. Ganondorf whirled around quickly, catching the young Hero around the waist with one of the blades. Link sputtered for a moment, caught off guard, and dropped to his knees. A pleading look entered his blue eyes as he gazed up a the warlord, and he managed to choke out "Finish it, Ganondorf."
Ganondorf shook his head. "I will not. This is silly, boy. It is a scratch, you will be fine."
Link, however, had other thoughts. He ran his fingers across his abdomen and promptly fainted at the sight of his own blood. Ganondorf rolled his eyes. Blood coated the dark man's sword, dripping like thick syrup from the blade. The taut muscles of his arm ached and trembled with fatigue from too many ages in battle. He realized he was getting too old for this foolishness when the battle had not even lasted five minutes and his arm was ready to give out, though, he admitted, the young Hero was much faster than he anticipated.
"What have you done?"
A deafening, feminine scream pierced the night, echoing like a banshee cry in the darkness. In a pool of blood lay the very young Hero of Winds. Zelda rushed to his side, eyes wide in horror at the scene before her. She frantically sought a pulse, flinging the limp boy around like a rag-doll.
"I did nothing. He merely ran into my sword," replied Ganondorf casually. "He will survive. He is blessed by the Goddess, isn't he, Princess? Because we all know that grants the boy limitless life."
The young woman glared up at the warlord. A single golden lock sought freedom from the bondage of her tight, bloodied braid, choosing to fall softly on her pink cheek. "What do you know of the gods' will? You are nothing more than a demon," she spat, shaking Link until she heard a shallow grunt.
Ganondorf watched the young woman with a slight smirk on his face. The young Hero would live, but he would no doubt have a lengthy scar to remember the warlord by-if Zelda didn't break his neck in her panic.
"Zelda, you're going to give the poor boy a concussion if you keep shaking him like that," said Ganondorf.
The woman eyed him suspiciously. "What do you care?" she hissed, cupping her hand against the gaping wound in Link's side.
"I care because he has something very near and dear to me," he murmured, his golden eyes drifting to the triangle tattooed on the back of Link's hand.
"Of course," spat Zelda, "only thinking of yourself again, aren't you?"
Defiant of him, she stood, dropping Link from where he lay propped against her. The boy gurgled and coughed, took one look at the blood soaking his tunic, and promptly passed out again. Zelda's eyes became saucers and she winced.
"How kind of you, Princess. Drop poor Link to defy me. Good girl, I see your mother taught you well."
Zelda's face reddened in anger and humiliation. "That-that was an accident."
"And so was the boy running into my sword," replied the warlord dryly. "Now, I believe you have something that belongs to me, too, Zelda. Link can wait."
The sound of her proper name rolling off his tongue sent shivers up and down her spine. A look of hunger and desire flashed in Ganondorf's eyes at her obvious discomfort. In a flash he grabbed the woman's wrist. She yelped, the Triforce on her hand blazing bright in the heat of the moment. Eyes the color of the ocean locked with eyes burning like lava.
Time slowed and the whipping wind became nothing more than a soft breeze. Power and Wisdom were suspended in a bubble. Their vision became as one, blurred as it was, and they slipped into memories long past.
"So, what am I? Your toy? A puppet of the Great Goddess? What do you want from me? I can give you anything, Hylia. Just ask."
The Goddess' sweet mouth lingered inches from Demise's. She looked up at him through her long lashes. Her eyes became pools and tears fell onto the Sacred Grounds, staining them with love regretted.
"Demise, we cannot be together. You know this. You are Death, and I-Life. You are Darkness, and I am Light. It can never be," her shimmering lips murmured. Her fingers lightly brushed his time-hardened face.
He closed his eyes, reveling in her ethereal touch for the last few moments before she shattered all they once had.
"Why, Hylia? It doesn't have to end…please," he pleaded.
She leaned up one final time, her lips meeting his. He pulled her closer, determined not to let her go.
"Hylia, we are two sides of the same coin. If this is to end, you know as well as I do that it will end in blood…" hissed Demise, her body burning his with unspent passion.
She winced, glancing up at him. "I was hoping it would not come to that, Demise."
Fury suddenly built up in his abdomen and flew wickedly from his lips. "You knew it would, though. Did you not? Did you really think I would take this news lying down, Goddess? Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned, Hylia. You of all creatures should know better. I will not be thrown away like a mere mortal, Hylia!"
The rage boiled inside of him. His once black hair became a façade of flames as his anger built inside of him. Serpentine scales quickly washed over his heavy muscles, and his eyes burned like the sun the Golden Goddess had given birth to so long ago. His demonic visage reared its head once more, and it was a form of terrible beauty.
Hylia's eyes widened and she backed away from him in terror. Darkness began to swirl in the air, choking the Goddess and fueling Demise's anger.
"If I cannot have you, Goddess, nobody else shall, either," growled the Dark King. "I will destroy all men and all beasts of this realm!"
"Don't," pleaded Hylia, reaching out to touch his arm.
With a snarl, Demise knocked her backward to the ground. "You've taken everything from me, Hylia. I will repay you ten-fold, Goddess. I will destroy everything you've created until the day you give yourself over to me once again. Mark my words, Hylia, this war is just beginning. I will find the Relic of Absolute Power, and when I do, I will damn all of your descendents until you return to me. You will submit to me, Hylia. You will be mine. Until then, I will spill the blood of everything and everyone you love."
Hylia trembled. She knew his threats were not in vain. He was the Demon King long before she had taken him as a lover. The entire affair was against her better judgment, but she just had to have a taste of the dark side, and, indeed, she had fallen in too deep. She loved Demise with every fiber of her being, but she could never submit to him.
"So be it," she whispered, tears trickling down her pale face. With more confidence, she folded her hands in her lap and replied, "Should you ever obtain the entire Triforce, I will bend to your will and give you whatever you desire. But until that day, I belong and submit to none. You will not win this war, Demise."
"Watch me."
Sea spray washed over Zelda's face. She was suspended in time. Without warning, all memories of lives past flooded her senses and she looked up at Ganondorf without trepidation. The Triforce had floated out of her body and hovered above Ganondorf's head. He suddenly dropped her wrist as though he had been burned and backed away from her-and away from the one relic that could make his one wish come true.
"Well? Take it, Ganondorf. You've won," murmured Zelda. In less than a minute, she had aged from a precocious teen to a woman. Her shape had flourished, and she possessed the figure of the goddess she once was. The Triforce had forced her innocence and purity, but no more. Her long blonde hair became unbound and wild as the west wind. And she was a goddess. She was Ganondorf's goddess and Demise's undoing.
Link still lie facedown, still just a child between two deities of unknown power. The Triforce had slipped from him, but he still did not become anything more than what he had been. He was merely a poor boy who had been caught up in something far more ancient than he was or could ever be.
Ganondorf felt his strength returning, and aging became a backward process. The elderly sorcerer's muscle tone became heavy, and the touch of grey in his flaming hair illuminated to pure fire. The wrinkles adorning his skin became tight once more and magic flooded his veins.
"Hylia…"
"Demise? Ganondorf? Whoever you are…"
"Zelda," came an almost inaudible whisper from the warlord.
"I am whoever you desire me to be. Just touch the Triforce. I will submit," replied the woman, eyes locking securely with Ganondorf's. He reached up cautiously, gauging her reaction.
"You loved me once, didn't you? Hylia?" The voice that spoke no longer belonged to Ganondorf, but to a deity much stronger and far more rash. His eyes became burning coals and he did not flinch.
Zelda broke his gaze and she turned from him. Light illuminated her form and she became an ethereal being. In a whisper almost too quiet to be heard, she replied, "What makes you think I ever stopped?"
Ganondorf's eyes widened and his hand hovered below the Triforce.
Zelda sensed the change. The atmosphere became electric and the rushing water became fire. "Make your wish, Demise."
Silence.
"I wish…I wish for your forgiveness, Goddess."
Zelda froze. Her eyes were once again saucers. She whirled around only to see Ganondorf drop to one knee in front of her. He had not touched the Triforce. He was begging her forgiveness of his own accord.
"Please? Don't abandon me to the darkness again…" he pleaded, reaching his hand out to her.
Zelda's legs nearly gave out. Tears streamed down her face and she rushed to Ganondorf's side. She cupped his chin and lightly brushed her lips against his. He resisted the urge to crush her against him as he had so long ago. If she desired him still, it would have to be on her own terms.
"You are forgiven," she whispered.
"Thank you," he murmured, brushing his knuckles against her cheek softly.
They studied each other for a long while before Zelda broke the silence. "Are you going to take the Triforce?"
Ganondorf shook his head. "That is a relic of the Goddesses. Only a goddess should touch it. It would just break again if I touched it."
Zelda nodded silently. She looked over at the unconscious form of Link and guilt washed over her like a tidal wave. She had used the boy, just as she had used Demise and countless other heroes. She stood. "I…have to make some things right. I will be right back," she murmured to Ganondorf.
She walked to the young boy and laid her hand upon his forehead. Light engulfed him, and in an instant, he vanished. He would never have any memory of the events he had witnessed. Time itself had been turned back, and the young hero would be home, safe in his bed.
The crumbling of the castle had ceased, and the flood waters and fires began to subside. The sunken kingdom was slowly being resurrected by the will of the Goddess. She had so much to atone for, she realized.
Still the Triforce hovered above where Ganondorf knelt. He watched Zelda as she returned to him. Closing her eyes, she gripped his hand with hers. Her other hand she lay upon the Triforce.
"We wish to be purged of divinity. Allow us the power, wisdom, and courage to be who we desire to be. Let the history of Hyrule be written in blood-our blood-the blood of the gods."
Light shone brightly around the two immortals. Zelda's emotions surged and ebbed. Ganondorf's did likewise. The electricity was overwhelming, and in a flash, the world of Hyrule changed forever. The prophesy of long ago had been fulfilled after much pain and suffering. On another plane of existence, the Golden Goddesses were surely rejoicing the merging of Darkness and Light.
Zelda fainted into Ganondorf's waiting arms. Just as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, Zelda's eyes opened, and she saw-really saw- for the first time. The ancient kingdom was glowing like the Princess' heart. She felt human for the first time ever.
Ganondorf's golden eyes locked with hers. She lifted a gloved hand to his cheek. "Ganondorf?"
"Yes, Zelda?" he replied, kissing the top of her head.
"We must write the history of Darkness and Light in blood. As us, not as the divine, and not in war," whispered Zelda.
Ganondorf grinned into her hair. Being purged of Demise had not surrendered his desire to have this woman in his arms in his bed. On the contrary, his blood burned for this woman-the woman, not the goddess.
"Then let us fulfill the wishes of the Triforce, Zelda," he growled.
She lay her head against his chest and smiled while he returned them to his chambers in the castle. With a snap, magic bolted the door behind them. There was no going back now, they both realized.
Ganondorf set the woman on her feet and she immediately stood on tiptoe, grazing her mouth against his. He pulled her to him, crushing her against him, his mouth and body seeking dominance in the battlefield of the bedroom. Zelda surrendered to him completely, her body melding to his strong form as she clung to his robes.
She sighed against his lips and he smirked. His hands made quick work of her dress, unlacing it with lighting speed and pushing it from her pale shoulders so it pooled at her feet. With a growl, he pushed her lightly. Her feet slipped out from under her and she landed on the plush pillows adorning the bed. A wolfish grin spread over his face and within seconds, he hovered over her, his nose inches from hers. She blushed deeply when his fingers brushed over the tops of her breasts, concealed only by her bodice.
Ganondorf gave her a wicked grin and grabbed something from his boot. Zelda's eyes widened when she realized what he held. A knife. He clicked it open and slowly, seductively, cut the strings on her bodice, determined to expose her delicate skin to his hungry gaze. The cold metal against her stomach racked her heated flesh with tremors and she gasped.
He pushed the offending garment away from her skin and followed the trail blazed by the knife with his mouth. Zelda moaned softly and pulled on his robes, determined to divest him as he had her. Ganondorf stopped his exploration, while she tugged on his robes. He grinned against her stomach and lifted his weight off her so that she might have her fun. Her fingers played with the belt on his robe before she gave him a cat-like grin and yanked. His dark skin and heavy muscles were exposed to her, and she leaned up, running her lips across his chest. He growled low in his throat, his senses on overload. In one swoop, he pinned her to the bed, both of them totally exposed to one another.
For too long, the gods dwelling within the two royals had been denied their desires. Now that they had been purged from their respective vessel, the long pent up desires of the Princess and the Warlord were about to be recognized.
Zelda's legs fell open of their own accord, and she threaded her long fingers through Ganondorf's wild red hair. She pulled him down on top of her, and he brushed against her most intimate spot. She moaned softly, determined to have him inside of her. The façade of innocence and complete youth the Triforce forced on her was quickly squashed. Ganondorf locked eyes with her.
"Written in blood…" he whispered, pushing gently into her. Zelda's virgin body trembled at the invasion, but instead of repelling the intruder, her body pulled him in deeper.
"Our blood…" she moaned, digging her nails deeper into his shoulders with every one of his slow, deep thrusts. Soon enough, she gained her bearings and began lifting her hips to accompany his movements.
"Scream my name, Zelda," growled the warlord. The princess gritted her teeth in defiance, the stubborn streak rearing its head again. Ganondorf growled low, gripping her hips and changing the angle of penetration.
Zelda's eyes slammed shut and she moaned loudly.
"Scream. My. Name."
"Ga-No…" she whimpered. He thrust deeper and her eyes flew open, locking securely with his.
"Ganondorf-Oh goddesses!"
Zelda's world blew apart in a plethora of colors and all other senses shut down. She shuddered hard, feeling Ganondorf swell within her, and he shouted her name before collapsing against her.
They lay in silence for many moments, both breathing hard and recovering from their earth-shattering experience. Zelda ran her hand over her stomach absently before Ganondorf's hand joined hers.
"Darkness has merged with Light," he said with a chuckle.
"I think that is a bit of an understatement," replied Zelda.
Ganondorf smiled, pulling her to him. He breathed in her sweet hair and smiled. It seemed, for now, all the gods were sated.
"Daddy? Tell me of the Great Flood?"
The very young princess watched her father's face. Long red curls hung in front of her bright blue eyes. Her mother's eyes.
Ganondorf picked his daughter up and held her tight against him.
"What do you want to know?" he asked. She was already too smart for her own good, he thought. Just like her mother.
"What caused it?" she chirped.
Ganondorf studied her face. "A very greedy, foolish entity. The great goddess wanted to drown the evil, but she realized that only made it angrier and more determined."
Zelda watched her daughter and her husband from the doorway. "The goddess was just as foolish. She was too stubborn for her own good. Neither entity exists anymore, Aria. You need not worry."
Ganondorf's eyes caught Zelda's. For just a moment, he noticed, her eyes sparkled with an otherworldly light. The history of Hyrule…written in blood…