What is True Happiness?
Written by: The Great Ahtnamas
Thunder rumbled through the tower;
Lightning was the only source of light
In the darkness of the hour
The fortress stood tall through the rumbling might.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the room
Wind blew through tattered tapestries
And around the man who brought doom,
Making forests burn and lakes freeze.
The man stopped and looked down
Upon the soiled, reddened, marble floor
Where lay the crumpled dead form
Of the Hero of Legends and Lore.
"Where are the great Goddesses now, boy?"
His voice was dark and his features steady.
Nowhere in his heart did he feel joy
Or upon this boy take pity.
He lifted his gaze to the Princess—
The final child of the Royal Bloodline.
Under his approach, she felt hopeless,
And with fear her eyes did shine.
She was curled up in her throne
Silent, yet hysterical.
She was suddenly alone,
The thought darkly fantastical.
A few short strides carried him
As close to her as necessary.
His sword glowed lightly in the twilight dim,
Lusting for the blood of his quarry.
He pointed his sword at the woman
But he did not run her through.
He thought carefully of this helpless lamb,
And what, soon, he may rue.
"If you give me the power you hold sacred,
I shall spare you the fate of your hero."
His words brought no comfort to the fated,
And, stunned, she fainted 'gainst regal pillow.
The victor sighed and placed his sword
On the carpeted, marble floor.
He took her hand with a short word,
And chanted to end the brutal war.
The light on her hand flickered and dimmed
As the light on his brightened and shone.
Over her pale cheek his finger skimmed;
She was like him; completely alone…
He summoned a guard into the room.
"Take the princess to her chambers,
And afterward, your duties resume."
He did so and spat on dead stranger.
Once alone, the new king looked above
And questioned the Three Divine
Why his position didn't he love?
Why were the Goddesses not benign?
"Make your wish," they stated.
"Is that not what you want?"
They seemed unabated.
Did Din want him to rot?
For some unknown reason to him,
His heart pounded in his steel chest.
He felt that he lacked his usual vim,
Wondering what should be reassessed.
"What is your wish?" They asked with interest.
He thought deeply and wondered the same.
How could he now choose best?
As a quarrel then came.
"Three Divine Goddesses!" he finally called.
"You offer me anything I please,
Yet always great burdens have I hauled.
Can this one wish be my release?
"Yee the Three have harmed your children:
Farore, your children of forest parts
Have hidden in fear from Nayru's children,
Those with naught but dark hearts.
"And Din unto you I question this:
You have allowed death unto your children,
Bestowed to them the poison kiss,
And I live alone, a dark omen:
"Why do you defile us so?
Are you dissatisfied with us?
Each have become a Poe,
Their anger(1) both sad and just.
"Do you understand
The pain you have caused?
Is this what you planned?
For your creations to be lost?"
To this the Three replied
Without remorse or anger or sorrow,
"You must have a wish in mind:
Else, why have you fought for the 'morrow?"
"How harsh you are! How cold!
Have you no sympathy?
For that which I have fought the world
Has gone forever from me!"
Silence fell and the world did glow.
He realized the wisdom, so minish(2)
A knowledge the Goddesses would not show.
"King of the Sand, what is you wish?"
The Kingdom, he already ruled;
The Triforce would be no more;
Had he been such a fool?
He could no longer walk the empty shore.
He turned to the Three and cried,
"Dear Goddesses, I have but one desire;
I have returned to this world to find…
Goddesses, an image to invoke my ire!
"Generations ago, my rule began
Over a land—desolate, destructive.
Taken from me was—not land—
But my people; none now live.
"Oh, Three Golden Goddesses, hear me:
I wish not for the world or immortality;
Grant to me this and this only:
I wish for my people to be returned to me."
Then it seemed the Three smiled.
"Wielder of the Triforce, hear our words;
You have found our favor, reckless child.
Your people will come, like an Ordon herd."
A strange satisfaction settled with him.
When he returned his gaze to the world,
He placed his hand to his chin,
His eyebrows deeply knotted and furled.
Yet everything seemed to remain the same,
Except that the Triforce's power had gone.
His people must not have remained
Dead to the world, leaving him still alone.
Perhaps they had been returned
To their natural, desert dwelling?
He began to descend when he learned
Just what the Goddesses had been dispelling.
The castle balcony gave kingly view
Of the lands just surrounding it.
The direction of the desert he knew,
But its image came as quite the hit.
The sand dunes had disappeared
And in their place, among much more,
Trees, shrubs, animals, and flowers appeared.
His dead wasteland became one to adore.
And then, he heard from behind,
A childish voice of Gerudo.
When he turned, his eyes did shine,
As he knew that there remained no foe.
A child ran to the King,
Hugging him as one might her father.
Her voice made his heart sing,
And he knew to look no farther.
"Lord Ganondorf! You saved us!
You never forgot your people!
I have never known such happiness!"
The child did eagerly tell.
He looked to the child, then the wood.
The rest who returned soon came as well.
He said, "With you, I share that mood.
This is true happiness, I can tell."
A.N.: This is a poem I've been working on for a while. I never quite believed that Ganondorf was just pure evil, but he had a motive behind him that, when kept in mind, drove him to a touch of madness. I'm not sure that, even if he realized he wanted his people back, he would wish for that. This is just supposed to be a happy ending to a sad, multi-generation war. A couple notes to keep the reader up to par with the writer's mind:
(1): A poe is a ghost (and if you didn't know that, I'm not sure why you're reading this,) made up of concentrated anger. To claim that his people are Poes, I also claimed that they forever wandered in suffering and anguish.
(2): Of course, "Minish" is a race of creatures. In this poem I also took the meaning (from the prefix "mini") small. "He realized the wisdom, so small..."
I hope you enjoyed reading this; I really enjoyed writing it. If there are any suggestions for the flow of the poem, don't hesitate to say them. Thank you for at least viewing!