Three
Warping was perhaps the most uncomfortable and nauseating thing Link had ever experienced. It felt as if he was being stretched far beyond his natural limits, like his top half had already made it through the door, but his bottom half remained inside the circular room. He could feel the coolness of the room he had been in not a moment before, yet, at the same time, he could feel the hot blast of air on the other side of the door. And that was only the sensation. When he had tried to imagine what it must be like to warp, he had pictured a brief moment of darkness as they transitioned between the two points. In reality, however, it was a dizzying swirl of reds, browns, yellows and every other color in the Fire Sanctuary all twisting together in an epileptic tube. Link had to close his eyes against the sight and he unconsciously wrapped his arms around the Demon Lord, for there was a pulling sensation as well. It was as if, if he didn't hold on to something tangible, he would be lost forever in this horrible, confusing space between the circular chamber and the room outside.
Finally, after what felt an eternity to Link, though in truth it was only half a second, the world righted itself, and he felt it was safe to open his eyes again.
They were on the other side of the door. A set of stairs ran down before them, with two more sets on their left and right that lead even farther down. Hot, bubbling pools of slowly-flowing lava ran underneath nearly all the pathways, sending a scorching spray up into the air with each pocket of the orange-brown liquid that unexpectedly popped.
They took all this in, and it was only after their study of the place that Link realized he was still hugging the Demon Lord tightly.
"Yes, yes," Ghirahim said, patting Link on the top of his head, "I love you too, Skychild."
Link quickly let go and took a large step away from the pale figure, pointedly brushing his hair back down from where Ghirahim's hand had mussed it.
Ghirahim chuckled and remarked "you handled that rather well! You didn't get stuck halfway there and managed not to hurl. Yes, you handled that magnificently!"
Link clenched his teeth together, though this time it wasn't out of anger.
"Wouldn't bet on that not hurling thing just yet." he said, and Ghirahim nodded.
"That's to be expected," he said. "The warping process can be a bit unpleasant for first-timers! To me, though, it brings with it a strong desire for roast cuccoo! Slow-roasted, so it gets to that point where the meat just falls off the bone when you pick it up and it seems to melt in your mouth! It makes me hungry just to think of it, and... oh, I say, Skychild, you're looking rather green, and I don't mean you're clothes! Are you feeling alright?"
Link was currently engaged in fighting off the urge to vomit, but he managed to spit out the words "I hate you" before he had to shut his mouth again.
Ghirahim laughed again, though this time it was a mocking sound.
"Well, I'm going to move on!" he told the Hylian. "You can catch up once you and your stomach are back on even terms!"
He started forward, but staggered, and had to hold on to the railing beside the stairs to steady himself. Apparently, Link thought with grim amusement, he wasn't the only one who had been affected by the warping process. Ghirahim cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Well, on second thought, I might wait for you. After all, I have no idea where to begin looking! You had the sword last, not I."
He sat down with his back against the railing, pretending to look impatient about the whole affair.
Link had to hold back a triumphant laugh.
•
Rested and recovered, Link and Ghirahim made their way back through the Fire Sanctuary. For a while, the Demon Lord complained about the heat and what it would undoubtedly do to his hair, but he soon grew tired of that when Link didn't respond. They walked in silence for a while after that. Ghirahim magically conjured a black knife to his hand, causing Link to reflexively draw his sword.
"Relax!" the Demon Lord laughed as he stuck his finger through the hole in the knife's hilt, "I'm not going to murder you!"
He began to spin the knife around on his finger, amusing himself by watching its dark edge flicker in the eerie light of the lava pools.
They passed many dead bodies of monsters on their way, some lying in sprawled positions on the ground, some hanging awkwardly over ledges, and some only half visible floating in the lava. The causes of their deaths were numerous; some stabbed, some slashed, some impaled with arrows, others burned and still others blown to tiny pieces.
Ghirahim whistled softly.
"Was this all you?" he asked, sounding mildly impressed. Link kept his gaze forward, his face set in grim lines.
"Yes." he answered shortly.
"You really pack a punch, don't you, Skychild?" Ghirahim said, then he uttered a short bark of laughter. "This sort of carnage is impressive, even by my standards! You showed them! I'll have to find myself some stronger soldiers next time!"
Link stopped walking abruptly, his rigid back to the Demon Lord.
"Shut up," he demanded, his voice a mixture of anger and exhaustion, "just… shut up for once, would you? Don't try to pretend this is victory. I'm not like you. I don't take pleasure in this."
The words were few, but Ghirahim somehow found himself unable to reply. He told himself that it was because the hero didn't make for entertaining conversation, but somewhere deep within, he knew the truth: a cord had been struck, and for once, the demon didn't feel like pressing the issue.
The rest of the journey was silent.
•
They made their way out of the Fire Sanctuary and the cave outside of it without incident or conversation. But when they reached the clear space outside the cave and came within sight of the bird statue, Link took a breath then said "well, the sky's cleared."
Ghirahim looked up at the blue expanse above them with confusion.
"I wasn't aware that it was overcast in the first place," he remarked.
"No, that's not what I meant," Link replied as he too gazed up at the sky and the soft clouds floating gently in it. "There was an eruption earlier. It covered the whole place with smoke and ash. I'm surprised it cleared up as fast as it did. It seemed pretty serious to me before."
"Oh," the Demon Lord said. "I see. Well, there's no trace of an eruption now. It's almost pleasant at the moment and..." he trailed off and pursed his lips.
Link looked at him curiously.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We were actually having a conversation about the weather." Ghirahim explained, chuckling briefly. "Now that's something I can honestly say I have never done before! You must try to introduce a more interesting topic next time, Skychild! I can't believe I just stooped down to the level of the—ooh!" here, he shuddered, "the mundane!"
Link rolled his eyes.
"That's not where I was trying to go with that discussion," he said, "I was going to say that since the weather has cleared I could..." he stopped suddenly, covering his near-slip with a cough.
Ghirahim waited patiently as he feigned the coughing fit.
"Nasty stuff, smoke." the Demon Lord stated off-handedly when the Hylian finished, "sticks in the lungs for quite a while. But not to worry! I'm sure you'll get over it soon. Now, I believe you were interrupted just then. What was it you were going to say? Something about how you could do... something now that the sky is clear?"
Link bit the inside of his cheek and berated himself for his own carelessness. He had been about to say that, since the weather was again favorable, he could travel to Skyloft and borrow a more suitable sword from Knight Commander Eagus. Then, of course, he had realized that Ghirahim hadn't been to his hometown before and probably had no idea that Link could use the bird statues to travel back and forth between the sky and the surface. He didn't want to give the demon that information. He couldn't risk Ghirahim slipping away from him at some point and traveling to Skyloft himself. Link didn't want to imagine what would happen to the island and its inhabitants if that happened.
"Never mind." he answered the Demon Lord brusquely. "I was just... thinking out loud."
Ghirahim made a faint, admonishing, clucking noise with his tongue and shook his head, and Link had that urge to draw his sword again.
"Skychild, what did I say about lying? Honestly, I have no idea why you would think that it would work on anybody! It's so obvious that you're hiding the truth. And I have heard that the truth will set you free, so come on now! Let's hear it!"
Link resolutely kept his mouth shut.
"I see you don't trust me yet." Ghirahim said in reply to his silence, "That's alright, because I'm not sure I trust you either. Well, I suppose if you won't tell me, I'll just have to guess." He paused and assumed an expression of deep concentration. He stayed this way for at least a minute before he snapped his fingers and exclaimed "I've got it! You want to go back to the sky for something, but you realize that you can't because I'm with you and you're afraid that, if I learn how you travel back and forth and to and fro, I'll be able to do it myself, is that it?"
"No!" Link burst out, too quickly, again marveling at how fast the Demon Lord had guessed the truth. "I... it's just..." he trailed as Ghirahim blinked slowly and deliberately at him.
"Yes." The Hylian admitted then, "that's it."
"There now!" Ghirahim replied with a bright smile, "that wasn't too hard, was it? But you needn't be afraid of that, boy, because I already know how you get back to the sky. Oh, don't look so shocked! I have many... friends here on this surface world and they informed me of your movements for these past few weeks. And even without their help I couldn't not notice the strong emanations of the goddess's magic coming from statues like those," he pointed to the bird statue beside them. "So never fear, Skychild, I can't use those, nor would I want to. The sun's much too bright up there. I can't see how you people can stand it!"
Link's tense body relaxed at Ghirahim's words—certainly a first—and he replied "well then, I'll just go up there, get what I need and come back down." He started toward the statue.
"Now wait just a second!" Ghirahim's frantic voice stopped him and he turned back around.
"You're not leaving without me! As I said before, I don't trust you yet. How do I know you'll honor our deal? You could just leave this volcanic realm altogether and not come back! I will not let you get that sword without me. No, Skychild, if you go up there, I go too. I'm not letting you out of my sight!"
Link took a deep breath and faced the Demon Lord directly.
"You said I'm a terrible liar, and I can't deny that." he said, locking stares with his companion's pitch black eyes. "So you'll be able to tell whether or not I'm telling you the truth now." Here his voice became softer and more serious at once, "I made a promise to you, Ghirahim. I told you that you could travel with me, and though I can honestly admit that I'd rather travel with anyone else in the world right now, I will not break that promise. When I give my word, I keep it, no matter the consequences. So you can fully believe me when I say that I will come back as soon as I get what I need. Okay?"
Ghirahim was silent for a moment. Then, a small smile curled his lip, a smile that didn't seem all that sinister, and he replied, "well, you'd best hurry up then. Because if you're not back within the hour, I'm leaving without you!"
Link nodded, then turned once again toward the bird statue. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he placed his gloved right hand on the polished surface of the bird and felt the magical pulse spread out from his hand in a warm ripple. Then there was a tug in his chest as a beam of light shot out of the statue and into the sky, and Link was pulled upward into the heavens on the soft, gentle hand of Hylia.
The last thing he saw of the surface before the clouds obscured his vision was Ghirahim, watching him leave with a strange expression on his pale face. A mixture of two emotions that stood out clearly on his features: Fear and sadness.
So sorry for the wait, guys. There was a section in here that I really didn't like, so I had to go back and rewrite it. Bleh.