I would almost rather be back in the dungeon. The demon, Demise, takes great joy in exerting his control over me, but it is rare that he visits here. I've taken solace in the library of what was once the temple, now turned castle, reading by the burning fire and sleeping on the plush couches unless someone has a use for me. I've given up fighting. I tried to escape, but as of yet, I've not managed to find a way into the chamber where Fi sleeps.

I do know where it is. I have seen my sword, but it lies behind a gateway that has been sealed in stone as if by an avalanche. I have tried to clear a path but, so far, I have been unsucessfull. Most of the books here are written in Hylian, the ancient language of the goddesses, but I took enough classes in Hylian in school that I'm having very little trouble.

Ghirahim is my main source of both contact and torturous setbacks and manipulations. He intrigues me the more I learn of him. I am left baffled that a mere weapon can have the abilities that he has- I don't mean the teleportation or the shape shifting, I mean the lust, the awe, the power- the raw emotion, Fi never had that problem- she had less emotions then the robots. But Ghirahim is nothing if not overabundant with them. I fear that I have been here too long- I'm beginning to believe the lies he spouts.

But I remain hopeful that there is something in one of these books that will guide my way, that will get me out of here.

"In a land beyond sight

Where the sky shines golden, not blue

The Triforce's might

Make mortal wishes come true."

Well, that's easy enough. I have the triforce- a part of it, anyway. When Demise stabbed that damned sword into me, the blow that I had assumed was a killing one, the mark on my hand changed. When I awoke, I saw that it had faded, leaving only one triangle full- the other two had faded to mere outlines. I have no idea what happened to it.

According to this book, the three goddesses of Hyrule left the Triforce as a sacred symbol of the land that they had created. But they were not alone- there was a god, a deity that has only been named The Fierce Deity, and it was he who forged the swords- two of them. Fi, the Master Sword, or the Blade of Evil's Bane and Demise, the Four Sword, or the Piccori Blade. They are sister-swords, partners. One in light and the other in shadow. There has to be a way that I can use that to my advantage.

I look up from the Book of Madora that I had been reading and rub my eyes. It has gotten late and the blazing fire casts shadows across the room. I'm hungry, but I know that in order to get food I would have to ask Ghirahim, and I am just not willing to do it. I refuse to seek him out. Instead, I will rest my eyes by watching the shadows dance and plot my escape.

"Escape?"a voice asks in disbelief and I bolt up. I do not know this voice.

"You have absolutely no plan to escape,"it continued, and I sprang from my chair, unwilling to lose anything more then I had already lost. I searched everywhere in the library for the source of that voice, but there was no one there- I was certain of it.

"Oh, don't bother looking, hero," he mocked. "I'm nowhere to be found. I'm inside your mind."This time I knew where it was coming from, and jerked my head to the chair by the fireplace where I had been sitting.

Oh, what fresh hell is this?

Sitting in the chair, where I had been moments ago, was a Skyloftian. Something like one. Something like me. He was shrouded in shadow- as if he were a shadow, flickering in and out as the light touched him. The only consistency about him was his glowing, red eyes. They never left me.

"Why so jumpy?" He asked, "What's wrong, hero? Afraid of your shadow?"

His words were condescending and set me on edge. He was some sort of demon.

"Oh, yes," he assured me, as if he could read my mind, "I am some sort of demon. My name is Link and I am a hero. I was chosen by the goddess to protect the world from this- this fiasco that you have caused."

He stood and approached me, walking in slow circles, as if studying me.

"To wield the master sword," he explained, "One must be pure of heart. You, are not. You remember the day that you pulled that sword from the pedestal that something inside you snapped. Something inside broke. You assumed it was the loss of your innocence, but you were wrong, Link. You are always wrong. We were not chosen by the goddesses- we were chosen by the Fierce Deity We were not meant to wield the Master Sword, but the Piccori Blade."

He put his hands on my shoulders, letting his fingers drape over them as he looked at me with those burning embers that he called eyes, and I saw myself in them. He had my face. It was my voice I heard. And somehow, I knew he was telling the truth.

"We could not defeat Demise because we were split," he explained, "But together we will become unstoppable. Not for Zelda, the girl who stole our heart and pushed us off cliffs, but for ourselves. We can destroy Demise and return the temple to it's former glory, to it's real purpose- to serve Chronos, the Fierce Deity"

Where did he get that name? That name hadn't been in the book... But he was right. He was right about the sword. If I could wield Fi I could wield Ghirahim. I nodded.

He leaned in close and pressed his lips to my cheek before he told me how this could be done.

"All you need to do, Link," he explained, "Is

let

me

out."

I looked up at him and nodded. I didn't know for sure what he meant, but I had a decent idea that it had something to do with unleashing my inner warrior- with not giving up, not succumbing to the demons who had trapped and tormented me. I had grown lazy and complacent- but no more. I steeled my resolve and made my way to the door.

I didn't have a chance to open it before I heard- well, more felt something behind me. That blaze of darkness and suddenly Ghirahim had his hands on my waist and his tounge at my ear.

"Good evening, Skychild," he hissed as he nibbled at the lobe, running his tounge through my earlobe.

I froze.

"Have you been in here all day again?"he asked, knowing I wouldn't answer him, "I'm not a very good master, am I? Always forgetting to feed my pet- never taking him out-"

The anger inside me welled up, and I could swear that I felt the darkness inside me spill over as I wheeled and elbowed him hard in the crystal embedded in his chest- the source of his power. He stumbled back and narrowed his eyes as his diamond skin began to fade to an ebony. He was upset. So was I.

So I did something to the self-proclaimed demon lord that I had never done before. I spoke.

"You are not my master."I am not one to mince words, "You are a sword. I am a swordsman."

I could feel his eyes burning into my back as I pushed open the door, ignoring him. He was in shock. Whether from the action or the words I was unsure, but he was rooted for the time being. I knew that the Demon King Demise was finished doing whatever it was he does, or he would have his trusty weapon by his side, and experience taught me that he would, therefore, be in the largest room of the castle, with the largest door protecting it. One thing that you learn as an adventurer was that a door that large always had something important behind it. One does not commission, and have built such structures for no good reason.

I paused at the doorway and ran a hand over the statue situated in the wall. It's relief was that of a bird- it reminded me of home so much I had to choke back the tears that the demon within me would surely chide me for spilling. There had to be hope. I was alive- I am alive, and that means that surely the others... the knights at least, must have survived. And I can still win this.

I steadied myself and opened the door.

Inside, the Demon King was feasting on what seemed to be a buffet. Yet he was alone. None of the henchmen that had hindered my quest... when I had been on a quest. Just the demon king and me. He looked up and brief confusion showed in his dark eyes. Not long enough to linger, probably not long enough for most to notice.

"Well?" he asked after he had finished chewing and wiped his mouth, and I suddenly remembered how hungry I was, "Finally showing your face, Skychild?"

My resolve was failing me as I stood before the towering creature, unarmed and without armor. This flimsy outfit that Ghirahim had me in would offer absolutely no protection- it was like fighting naked. But perhaps... it would be better, easier, not to fight at all. It would be better to gain the trust of the demon, and then to betray him with his own sword...

That isn't like me. I swallowed deeply, wondering where that thought- that... shockingly logical thought... had come from. Yes, it would work, but it wasn't me- it was back stabbing and evil and... it would work. And these were dark times. I had tried fighting fair. And look where that got me.

I took a knee with my hand over my heart and bowed my head. When I turned my eyes to him, he was staring down at me with a conceited smile.

"So then," Demise's voice was light-hearted and arrogant in a manner that sent a chill to my very bones, "You have finally come to your senses? Come to swear alligence?"

I nodded and bit back the shrieks that the idea brought to mind.

"You tried to kill me, Skychild." Now his voice was cold, and the room had grown darker. When I raised my head, I realized that the torches on the wall, along with the candles on the table, had gone out. The only light remaining came from his hair.

I nodded again.

"You make it very difficult for anyone to trust you," he continued. He studied me for a good few minutes before adding, "Come here."

I stood to make my way to him.

"No." his voice compelled me to stop, "Don't get up. Crawl."

Is he fucking serious?

Yes. Of course he is.

I took a deep breath and fell back to my kneeling position before gearing up my strength and slowly putting a hand in front of me. I gritted my teeth and crawled on my hands and knees until I was sitting, kneeling, beside his chair.

He reached down and stroked my hair, scratched at my scalp as if I were a remlit and I let him, repressing the disgust it sends through my body.

I can hear him snap the fingers of his other hand, and feel Ghirahim's presence.

"Your pet is interrupting my dinner," Demise sounded angry.

From my position I looked up to see Ghirahim, just in time for his expression to turn from worry to anger.

"I am ever so sorry, my lord," he spoke sincerely, "I've let him get out of hand, it will never happen again."

"I told you that if it became a nuisance I was going to kill it!" he threatened, and the grip on my hair became even tighter until he was pulling me back and forth by my scalp.

I'm a pet... he treats me like a remlit... what would a remlit do? I think of Mia- no one would shake her about like this in the night, she would attack- but that isn't going to work... during the day she was always affectionate- no one would think to harm her-

I took another deep breath and nuzzled my head up into his hand. He stopped shaking me, but was still talking, angry at Ghirahim. I used his loosened grip as an opportunity to snuggle into his leg, just like Mia does when she wants someone to pick her up. He wasn't talking to me, but his touches changed to those of affection as I heard him tell his sword to be more careful of me.

"You don't deserve a pet anyway, Ghirahim," he added, scooting back to look at me, "When this creature had the insane notion that it could defeat me it was what could pass for a warrior among the Hylian. Yes, he was still small and weak, but he had muscles and agility- look how thin it's gotten. Have you been feeding him? Have you been exercising him?"

Ghirahim took a seat at the table and crossed his arms over his chest. He was in an angry huff. I ignored him to continue my remlit impersonation, rubbing affectionately against Demise's leg. He handed me a roll from the table and I took it eagerly. I was starving. It was working.

Throughout the meal, he kept handing me bits of food from his own plate, and I became better and better at my pet persona. I licked his fingertips until he laughed- something I had never expected to hear from him. His laughs were deep and loud, even when they were just light chuckles. He scratched behind my ears and spoke with Ghirahim as if I weren't there. I'm sure that he was beginning to warm up to me.

When he pulled his chair away from the table I looked up at him, putting on my cutest face- the one that used to make Zelda melt and give in to whatever stupid, carefree thing I wanted to do, and he smiled at me.

"Take care of this thing, Ghirahim, or I won't let you keep it."He gave me a final, farewell scratch before adding, "I'm going to bathe- are you going to join me?"

Ghirahim followed after him with a smile- leaving me with the remains of the buffet. I slowly stood to my feet once I was sure that they were gone. Do you know what a pet would do if you left it unattended with a spread of delicious food- food fit for a king?

I didn't even bother with a plate.