Link felt the relief flood through him as the dust and noise settled about Faron Woods. He'd done it, he'd stopped that abomination from ever being able to return and now Zelda was safe. For a brief second he allowed himself a small fantasy of how his life would unfold.
Zelda would awaken from her millennium long sleep and run into his waiting arms. There would be a joyous reunion as he returned with her to their own time, Groose might even be speechless. After things quieted down and before they returned to Skyloft the pair would take a moment to reflect on all that had happened in the intervening year. It would be then that Zelda finally admitted to having loved him for years now, and he would tell her he'd loved her since the day they met. They would smile brightly at each other before he softly kissed her sweet cherry pink lips. When they broke apart he would whisper that she'd always been his Goddess.
Together they would return to Skyloft, far happier than they could ever imagine as the entire town celebrated a new era. Together they would work to move the people of the sky back to the surface below to repopulate the land of Hylia. After months of dating and working together Link would propose to her on a small island decorated in numerous flowers lit only by the moon and Starry Fireflies. They would be wed in the traditional manner of Skyloft, but live in a small cottage on the Surface. Their home and lives would forever be filled with love, happiness, and children.
Smiling to himself Link didn't need Fi's urging to jump from the Goddess Statue and run to awaken his dearest friend. At first everything happened just as Link had dreamed it would. The crystal ensconcing his friend shattered, oddly reminding him of the amber relics he'd found along the way. Zelda took her first few steps before falling forward into Link's awaiting arms.
He held her fiercely, overjoyed to have this chance again. She smelled so radiant and beautiful, just as she always had. He laughed slightly as her bright blonde hair tickled his nose. He didn't want to let her go, but knew they had to break apart as both Grannie and Groose were waiting anxiously. Hand in hand they walked through the door that had hidden her for ages untold smiling happily as Groose greeted them enthusiastically. For a moment the air was filled with happy laughter and curious questions, but that all ended in a second.
What Link could swear was a bolt of lightning made of diamonds shot between Zelda and him causing immense pain to shoot throughout his entire body. His eyes were watering and it was all he could do to remain on all fours. A chilling laugh echoed throughout the hallowed temple, a laugh that Link recognized all too well. It was the laugh of a maniacal demon that had haunted him in both reality and his dreams.
Ghirahim looked far more deranged than he had the last time Link had seen him as he stepped out from behind the pillar. Smiling sadistically the Demon Lord snapped his fingers causing barriers to appear. One encircled Link and from his position on the floor he could see another entrapped Zelda with the sadistic demon. With a strained effort Link attempted to stand and breakdown the barrier only to fall back to his knees with a cry as the pain took hold of him again.
"Well Hylia," Ghirahim started after a smirk in Link's direction, "I must applaud you on your choice of hero this time around. He's a bit of a soft boy, but far more durable and doggedly determined than your last. Like a perfectly trained little pet he's been ceaselessly nipping at my heels for months now. Surprising enough he has even managed to destroy my Master in the present era. I must say you've trained him quite well this time around. Yet for all your efforts he still managed to fail seeing as all I must do is cart you off through the gate here and revive my master in the past. Such a shame really, he worked so hard too." Ghirahim's voice was almost cooing as Link's hands tightened around his shield and sword.
Zelda stood firm in front of the demon with her chin raised and head held high, it seemed the lasting effects of Ghirahim's spell that kept Link down weren't affecting her. "You haven't defeated him yet Demon Lord. My Chosen Hero can still defeat you and prevent such an apocalypse. Even if you should take me through and attempt to sacrifice my soul, my Hero will stop you before you can complete your task and finally finish you."
The pain was wearing off and Link was slowly able to get to his feet with the help of his sword, but now his brow was furrowed in confusion. Why did Zelda keep referring to him as her hero, and why didn't she contradict the demon when he called Link her trained pet? Ghirahim laughed again breaking the hero from his thoughts as their conversation continued.
"That could very well be your grace. He has shown a certain amount of skill when it comes to combat and a great amount of foolish tenacity, though his intelligence is lacking. I'm sure I could find a way to sufficiently distract him while I let my spell do its work on you." There was a long pregnant pause as the two stared each other down, and Link did his best to destroy the barrier holding him. Neither Zelda ior Ghirahim paid him the slightest attention as he repeatedly swung his sword at the diamond wall in front of him. It aggravated him, and he wondered why Groose and Grannie weren't helping until he noticed both of them standing behind a barrier of their own, watching the proceedings.
Ghirahim was the first to break the silence that had stretched on between them. "Of course none of that need happen. In fact all our fighting can come to an end here and now if…" another smirk was directed at Link as Ghirahim paused for dramatic effect before turning back to the Goddess Reborn. "If you would agree to my terms then we can separate from here the best of friends and enemies."
Zelda's expression was calculating when she slowly asked the obvious question. "Just what sort of terms did you have in mind Demon Lord?"
"Well now I think a truce between our people would be mutually beneficial for starters, and to seal the deal we would both have to give up something we hold quite dear. I would of course, give up my dreams of reviving my Master and allow the gate to be destroyed. Thus he would be abolished for all time without a way to return, and I would no longer be forced to serve him. For your part Hylia all I would ask is that you give me…your Chosen Hero." Ghirahim's tongue flicked out licking across his lips as he finished his proposal.
"You…you want my hero," Zelda barely stuttered out as a dumbfounded expression crossed her face.
"Only this incarnation Hylia. You would keep any future reincarnations as you needed them. But think about it," Ghirahim purred as he paced closer to her. "All your people, all your land safe from attack by demons and no longer under the threat of Demise's tyranny. Those weak humans you sent to the sky could come back down again to spread across the land once more. All of that in exchange for one measly boy who has already fulfilled his purpose to you. No more fights, no more wars, and no more pretending you actually care for this boy."
Link watched in horror as Zelda bit her lip, a sure sign she was considering the demon's words. The young hero couldn't fathom that. Zelda, his Zelda who'd been his best friend for as long as he could remember, was considering trading him out to this demon. In desperation he pounded on the walls of his prison while shouting at her. If only he could get free then he could finish of the Demon Lord and show her he wasn't weak.
It didn't seem that she could hear him like he could hear them though, and looking over towards Groose only confirmed his suspicion. He could see Groose shouting but no words reached Link's long pointed ears. It would seem that Ghirahim had made it so their voices couldn't travel beyond their prisons expect in the case of his own and Zelda's.
"What…what would you do to Link if I agreed," Zelda hesitantly asked as her eyes met Ghirahim's purposely avoiding looking at Link.
The grin on the demon's face was one of a person who already knows they've won the argument. "That my dear Hylia is for me to know and him to find out. I won't kill him however, if that is any consolation."
Zelda bit her lip again while Link waited the verdict. Her next words would either grant him freedom or imprisonment, he imagined this is what it felt like for an innocent man to face the gallows. Sweat poured down his face as Zelda opened her mouth to speak, her words causing his heart to stop beating in his chest.
"The Master Sword, his shield, all his weapons, and gifts would have to stay here for the next hero. And…and I'd also have to take back the Triforce from him."
"All perfectly reasonable requests you excellency," and with a snap of his fingers Ghirahim removed Link's sword and shield from his hands, along with the pouches from his waist, and everything else he had besides his clothes. Another snap and Link was frozen in place while his hand raised of its own accord and the barrier disappeared.
"There you go Hylia. You may now take the Triforce from him and I myself will destroy the gate." The diamond wall around Zelda and Ghirahim dispersed allowing the demon to happily skip towards the gate Link had worked so hard to awaken.
Still unable to move Link watched as Zelda slow walked towards him, refusing to meet his eyes. Taking his outstretched hand in hers she muttered a few words that Link didn't understand. Burning pain shot through him from his hand while a golden light blinded the paralyzed hero. An explosion rent the air as the light began to dim and the otherworldly pain subsided. If his knees weren't locked Link was sure he would have collapsed as a feeling of weakness enveloped him.
In the next second as Zelda stepped away he did just that, Ghirahim had apparently removed the spell and now all Link could do was lie lifelessly upon the hard ground. The young man felt himself being lifted up then thrown over the shoulder of the demon as the voice he'd grown to loathe a hundred times more in the past half hour spoke again.
"It has been a pleasure doing business with you Hylia. I do so hope we can do this again." Weakly Link managed to shift his head so he could see Zelda standing next to Groose, she didn't even have the decency to look sorry. Weakly he called to her in hopes she would change her mind, "Ze-Zelda." He wasn't even sure that she heard him and he never found out because in the next instant they were gone. With a snap of his fingers Ghirahim had teleported them both away from the temple towards where Link didn't know.