It was past midnight when Zelda woke up. It was as quiet as a mouse but she could have sworn she had heard something. She sat up and peered into the darkness. At the far other side of the Temple, near the huge entrance door, she could see something moving.

"Link?" she whispered.

"Yes Zelda?"

"What is that thing there close to the entrance door? A few seconds ago, it was moving …"

"That's me, Zelda."

"Oh…" Now that her eyes got used to the darkness, she could recognize Link's silhouette, mostly because of the hat he wore all day - and night -.

"But what are you doing there?" she asked quietly.

"I'm guarding the door. Someone has to be here to warn when Ghirahim arrives."

"I can take over if you want me to. You can use some sleep, and I don't want to fall asleep again. I just had a bad dream…"

"I won't sleep either. I tried to, but I couldn't. I was too … scared…" He sighed.

Zelda stared at Impa, who was lying next to her. "At least, one of us seems to be able to get a bit of sleep." She said, giving a nod toward Impa.

"You think," Impa murmured, "I'm trying to rest a bit, I'm not sleeping, I can't sleep now. You two better rest too. These will be tough days. I'm afraid we can't do anything but wait until the demon lord turns up and takes you away, my dear. You'd better enjoy the little time you have left."

Those last words made Zelda shiver. "Is there nothing we can do?" she asked nearly inaudible.

"I wonder what happened to Fi…" Link said to change the subject. He didn't like to see Zelda so desperate. And the worst was the feeling of being useless. Did all his heroic actions really depend on his sword? He still had the other items he'd gathered throughout his quest, but none of them could hurt the demon lord enough to kill him.

"She is inside the Master Sword," Impa replied. "Whether she is still sleeping or not is unknown to us, but it isn't safe. The seal already started to lose strength before the sword left its pedestal. I don't know what caused that, but it isn't normal. The seal was said to be unbreakable for thousands of years, and only a few months have passed since Demise's imprisoning."

"That stupid Ghirahim must have done something!" Link shouted. "Why couldn't he just be dead? All he deserves is to burn in hell!"

"Calm down…" Zelda sighed, "Forget about it … He is alive, and so be it. There is nothing we can do…"

Link felt two hands placed on his shoulders. "Ha Zelda! Don't sneak up behind me like that!"

"Don't be so hard on me…"

Link froze. He could recognize that voice out of thousands. "No… Not you…" he said, shaking with fear and anger.

"Link, what are you saying? Is something wrong with you?" Zelda asked, clearly not knowing who had shown up behind Link.

"Link…" Ghirahim whispered as quietly as possible. "All I'm going to do is take away the little goddess. Be a good boy and stay here. No need to hurt yourself, hm?"

The sky-child grumbled as the cold fingers of the demon touched his cheek. "Never!" he growled.

"Too bad…" The demon lord pulled back his hand and scratched Link's cheek. The sky-child screamed in pain. Blood dripped on his tunic. He turned around to punch Ghirahim in the face, but he was already gone.

"Come back, you coward!" Link yelled. But there was no sign of the demon.

"Link!" Zelda walked towards him and grabbed his arms. "What's wrong with you? Who are you talking to?"

Link didn't answer, he didn't want to make Zelda even more scared.

"What's that?" Zelda touched the just-inflicted wound. "When did that happen? It's still bleeding…"

But before he had a chance to reply, Zelda screamed when she felt someone tugging at her arm. "Let go of me!" she cried, trying to escape the iron grip of the demon lord, but it was no use.

He dragged her towards the smaller door at the side of the temple. But there was one thing Ghirahim had totally forgotten about : Impa. She ran towards him and tripped him up. He fell to the floor and lost his grip on Zelda. She jumped up and fled to the far other side of the temple.

"Run, Zelda, run!" Impa yelled. Zelda pulled open the front doors and left as fast as she could.

Ghirahim started to get up again, but Link grinded his foot into his stomach and he fell flat on his back again. Link pressed his foot on Ghirahim's chest. "This is the fourth time I win," he said smiling, "the fourth time you lose! Even without any weapons I can still beat you, Ghirahim. You're nothing! Why do you keep trying to defeat me? I don't understand."

"Because…" Ghirahim hissed, "Let me get up and I'll explain."

Link had never seen him like this before, he looked truly desperate. Link pulled his foot away and Ghirahim stood up. He coughed and a bit of blood dripped down at the corner of his mouth.

"Well?" Link said.

"I have to," Ghirahim replied.

"But why do you do it for him if you know you won't succeed?"

"He's my master! Has Fi ever objected to do as you told her? I don't think so! And by the way, you're wrong if you think I won't succeed!" Ghirahim grinned and he grabbed the sky-child by his throat. With his other hand he snapped his fingers and let one sword appear.

"And you stay there!" he pointed the sword at Impa. She recoiled in fear.

"You humiliated me one time too many… As a punishment, you'll be my prisoner until that spirit maiden of yours turns up. And let me tell you this one thing : once you are my prisoner, you'll wish you'd never been born!" After the demon lord had spoken these words, he snapped his fingers and both he and the sky-child disappeared…

The two reappeared in a dark room that was illuminated by two torches. Ghirahim dragged Link along to a red-coloured door and opened it.

They entered a large room. The walls were painted dark-yellow with patterns of diamonds and there was a table in the middle of the room. A red bokoblin was cleaning the table.

"Bokob" Ghirahim said. The bokoblin turned around and made a quick bow. "Meet your new helper." Ghirahim pushed Link forward. "Teach him the tricks of the trade and make sure he does everything exactly as you tell him to do. I want to have an obedient servant when I return."

Ghirahim walked to one of the three doors that led out of this room. Before he opened the door, he turned back to Link and the bokoblin, "One more important thing, Bokob, don't hesitate to visit the torture chamber if necessary." He said, smiling at Link, "And Link, remember, this is only a warm-up. You're only doing this because my palace is in need of some cleaning. And let me warn you, you'd better enjoy this, since the other things you'll be doing will be much more unpleasant!" He started laughing and left.

Link sighed in relief that the demon lord had finally left him alone. One bokoblin shouldn't be too much to deal with. He had already defeated hundreds of them in the past.

Bokob placed a bucket on the table in front of Link and handed him a rag. Link started cleaning the table.

"Already done table," the bokoblin muttered, "Follow." He walked to the one door that hadn't been opened yet. Link followed him, trying to act as obedient as possible.

"Master Ghirahim wrong," the bokoblin said as they left the room, "You not seem hard to listen to me."

"Master Ghirahim is stupid," Link mumbled.

"What you say?" Bokob asked.

"Nothing…"

Ghirahim really was stupid, to leave him alone with one bokoblin that couldn't even speak proper English. Did he want him to escape? Was it a trap? Or was this bokoblin only acting to be stupid? Anyway, trying to run away wouldn't hurt.

He followed the bokoblin through some sort of hallway. When the red creature just stopped to open another door, Link raised the bucket and threw it on the back of his head.

Bokob shrieked and fell to the ground, losing a great amount of blood. Link waited a few moments to make sure he was dead and then started running. He ran further through the hallway until he had to turn left or right.

He turned left, but then saw two blue bokoblins were coming his way. Quickly, he turned back and took the right turn. The bokoblins set off in pursuit. They weren't very fast, but as they came closer, one of them called for help by blowing a horn.

More doors flew open and more bokoblins filled the hallway. It was then that Link realized this had been the wrong thing to do. Not only did the number of bokoblins grow, but the end of the hallway was coming closer as well.

Link stopped running and looked around, searching desperately for a way out. But soon he was surrounded by a horde of bokoblins and there was no way left to escape.

Two of them came forward and grabbed Link's arms. He struggled and tried to get free, but it was no use. More bokoblins started tugging at him and they dragged him into a room. It was a dark room and there was a nasty smell.

The bokoblins threw him into something wet and sticky, it felt like mud and smelled awful. One by one, they left. Some kicked him or threw a bit of this filthy substance on his head, but Link had to admit this wasn't as bad as he had expected. He had thought of some more serious punishment for killing a bokoblin.

Slowly, he climbed back to his feet and wiped off the worst of the stuff. He walked to the exit of the room. The door was left open and as it got lighter, Link could see what kind of thing he had been lying in. It looked like the leftovers of food mixed with some sort of liquid.

He looked at himself in disgust as he continued to walk to the open door. He peeked round the corner to make sure there weren't any bokoblins guarding. The hallway was completely empty. They must have returned to the rooms they came from, even the two blue ones that were guarding this area before, were now gone.

Now that the coast was clear, Link entered the corridor and started walking back to the room he had come from. Once he got out of this place, he could search a river to wash himself and then he could return to the Faron woods, to find Zelda and run away with her. They would go to a place that no evil could reach, a place that Ghirahim would never find. Carried away by thoughts, he didn't notice a door behind him being opened.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Link turned around to see where the speaker was, but the hallway was still empty. He thought he had imagined it, because of his fear to run into Ghirahim. But when he turned back around, he saw he didn't imagine anything at all.

Right in front of him stood none other than Ghirahim. "Well, well, trying to sneak away?"

Link didn't dare to answer.

"I told you to clean the palace!" Ghirahim shouted, "Not to make it worse! Look what you've done!" He pointed at the way Link had gone, now clearly visible as it was marked with brown footprints.

"But the bokoblins…" Link tried to explain.

"Oh yes, let's blame the bokoblins!"

"But they –"

"I can't blame them. They only did what they considered to be the best thing to do to punish the murderer of one of them, though they know very well what the real punishment is for murder. I suppose they wanted you to have a double punishment."

"A double punishment?! What are you going to do?!"

"Oh, you'll see. Come on, follow me."

"What are you going to do with me?"

"I said : follow me!"

Reluctantly, Link followed the demon lord. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"The torture chamber."

"What? Are you serious? Haven't I been punished enough yet?"

"No."

"But why like this? Do you like that or what?"

"I have to do something to keep control of my underlings. If I didn't introduce this punishment, they wouldn't stop murdering one another. And yes, I have to admit that I like that."

"You are insane!"

"Am I?"

"And I am not one of your underlings!"

"Sure you are. Or… perhaps you're right. You're not one of my underlings, you're my prisoner. And that means even the bokoblins have the right to kill you, unless I forbid them to. So I think you'd better do as I say, as your life depends on me. If you don't, I can send some bokoblins after you. And wouldn't that be a humiliating death for the 'hero of the skies', being killed by some simple bokoblins?"

"You wouldn't do that, you first want to torture me!"

"That's true."

Link sighed.

"And walk a bit faster," Ghirahim grumbled, "We first have to visit the bathroom. I don't want you to make a mess of my torture chamber."

"Of course.."

They continued to walk through a lot of hallways until they arrived at a red door marked with a sign that said : 'No entry'. Ghirahim took a key and unlocked the door.

"What is this room?" Link asked suspiciously.

"It's my room."

"Your room? And… what do we have to do in your room?"

Ghirahim sighed, "You have to take a bath. Well, the bathroom is this way."

"But why does it have to be your bathroom?"

"Because there isn't any other! You should be happy that you're allowed to use it! Now shut up and follow me!" He opened the door. "And, take your boots off before you enter."

Link took off his boots and followed the demon lord inside. It was a dark room and he could barely see where he was going.

"Stay close, but don't touch me," Ghirahim said.

"How can I stay close if I don't know where you are?"

"You aren't used to anything, are you?"

"But why is it so dark anyway?"

"Because I like the darkness."

"Then why are all the other rooms lighted?"

"Remember that I told you to shut up?"

Ghirahim snapped his fingers and two torches were illuminated at once. "Because I don't want you to run into my stuff." He muttered.

"Thank you", Link said.

Ghirahim opened a door at the side of the room and motioned Link to go inside. "Take a bath. And do it quickly, please."

The sky-child entered the room and shut the door behind him. He was glad to be alone for a moment, but he knew it wouldn't last long. Once he had taken this bath, he would be tortured. What a nice prospect!

He undressed and stepped in the bath. When he was only lying in it for a minute, Ghirahim called for him.

"Hey sky-child! Are you done?"

"No!"

"Hurry up then!"

"I just got in! Be patient!"

He heard a sigh at the other side of the door. Quickly he started washing himself. He didn't want Ghirahim to enter before he was done.

A few minutes later he climbed out of the bath. But there was one big problem: his clothes. They were still dirty. If he would put them on again, the bath wouldn't have mattered. He sighed and walked to the door. "Ghirahim?" he asked cautiously.

"What is it? You don't have to ask me for permission to leave the bathroom."

"It's uhm … about my clothes. What do I have to do with them?"

"Put them on. Unless you want me to see you naked."

"But they're still dirty."

"Then take a towel and wrap it around you, is that so difficult to think of? I thought you were smarter than a bokoblin, but maybe I shall have to change my mind."

Link grumbled as he did as Ghirahim instructed. Then he left the bathroom.

Ghirahim was lying on his bed. "Finally", he sighed. "Now go get that bottle over there and give it to me."

Link walked to the cupboard Ghirahim had indicated and picked up the bottle. "What is this?" he asked.

"My drink. What else would it be?"

"I know that, but what kind of drink is it? I'd say it's heart potion, but it's a lot darker."

"It's blood."

"Do you really drink … this?" Link asked in disgust.

"Of course I drink that! Now give it to me, I'm thirsty"

"Bloodthirsty you mean."

Ghirahim sighed. "Yes, I love blood. Any problem with that?"

"Yes. I don't want you to torture me."

"Ha! You're afraid there will be too much blood, aren't you? Set your mind at ease, there's no need to be scared. I know how to do that, you won't die."

"I know that you won't let me die. You prefer to hurt me until I beg you to kill me!"

"You seem to know me quite well, sky-child, but it won't be that bad, not yet. However, I have more than enough reasons to make it as painful as possible. But I'll spare you this one time, because I'm not particularly in the mood to do heavy torture. Can you give me that bottle now, please?"

"Of course, Ghirahim. Thank you for being willing to spare me."

"Don't thank me, or I'll have to change my mind."

"Well, actually, Ghirahim, you're not that bad, you know."

"Oh, is that what you think? Do I have to show you how bad I can be then?"

"No", Link smiled, "It's just…" He walked closer to the bed until he stood right beside the demon lord. "It's just that…"

Ghirahim stared at the sky-child, following every move he made. Apart from that he didn't do anything. He didn't know what to say. What if the sky-child actually liked him? He blinked to get rid of that thought. Link seemed to stand even closer now.

"Ghirahim…" he whispered, and took a deep breath, "I hate you!" he screamed while he slashed with the bottle at Ghirahim's head.

The demon lord was too late to cover his face and got hit just above his left eye. He screamed in pain and clutched his forehead. Blood flowed down his face, both his own and the blood that came from the bottle.

Link turned around and ran out of the room as fast as he could. He had to find a way out of this place, right now at this very moment. He didn't want to know what Ghirahim was going to do with him if he couldn't escape in time.

Hallways passed while he ran as though his life depended on it. And then, very unexpectedly, all his wishes seemed to come true when he noticed a window at the far end of this hallway. Link spurted these last hundred meters to the exit.

Freedom was just within reach when a net was thrown over his head. It fell around his entire body and made it difficult for the sky-child to move.

Two green bokoblins came walking towards him. One of them carried a rope and bound it around Link's arms. Link desperately tried to break free, but it was all wasted effort. One of the bokoblins left while the other pushed Link to the wall.

A bit later, the one who had left returned, holding a machete. Link tried once more to escape, but it still didn't work. The bokoblin raised the machete and hit Link on his head with the flat side. The sky-child immediately passed out.