Act V (Zelda)

Not even the combined powers of the goddesses could injure him... what was he? There wasn't even a scratch on his armors. It couldn't be. Impossible! I had put everything I had into that last strike and yet he stood, completely uninjured – unfazed. And now he had the Tri-force of power in his hand. Was my faith not strong enough? Had the Goddesses abandoned me… abandoned Hyrule?

No – they could not have! How could they abandon Hyrule? But then why was he here? Why won't they stop him? They did not have the power to stop him? No, no. It couldn't be. It must be me. I must have lacked faith in them so they decided to forsaken me... to forsake us.

Was I the reason for their inaction? Was I the reason for this evil to exist?

Please tell me, Rauru. Please tell me! Please. Where are you? You told me that I would have the power to cleanse Hyrule of all evils if I believed in Goddesses. I believed in them and you… you said you would be by my side… Rauru… where are you?

Why won't you answer? Did you leave me as well?

He was gone, killed by the demon that I couldn't defeat. My mind screamed in torment at his death. My body quaked in anguish. The only person I had left, who cared for me and light my way through the dark times, was gone.

"Father…? Where are you? Impa…? Why did you leave?" I uttered as my throat was constricted under his grip. His fingers pressed against my wind pipe, crushing whatever defiance I had left.

If I died, would Hyrule be freed from him? I looked upwards and at the sky for guidance while my mind slipped away.

"Hoot! Hoot! Please don't cry, princess," an owl called out after it'd flew through the window. It invaded my small corner and landed near my feet. I did not pay any attention it and continued to hold onto my knees – tightly, sobbingly. It had been a few days since my father... left. Impa was not with me anymore. She went with father to a place I wasn't allowed to go. If I tried to go after them, he would hurt father's people.

He would hurt Hyrule.

He was the only person who visited me in these past days. Each time he visited, he forced me to eat the items he brought. I didn't want to eat. But I couldn't stop him. Why won't he leave me alone? I want to be alone. I wanted to see father again. I wanted to see Impa again. But he won't let me.

"You can't be here. Please leave," I asked the owl and sniffled. I couldn't see the creature very well. I couldn't see anything in the room very well despite it was midday. Had it already midday? It was dark when I last looked outside. My eyes were constantly itches. I rubbed them again. "It isn't safe here… it isn't safe anywhere. He will be back... so please go."

The owl twitched its head and pecked my tattered dress. "Please come with me, princess."

"I can't." The owl in my eyes became distorted. The room became distorted. I rubbed my eyes for the umpteenth times. "He won't let me. He won't let me leave. He will never let me leave." The blurriness worsened.

"You have to," the owl hooted and flapped its wings. "All the other sages are gone. Only you and I are left, princess. My life is not important, but if he managed to kill you then all will be lost. You cannot be allowed to fall, Princess. You are too important. You are our – Hyrule's last light."

"He won't kill me," I said and shook my head. He would not kill me. He would not let me see father. The doorknob was turned and the entrance to my bed chamber was opened slowly. I backed away from the door and covered my ears. My body tensed up and convulsed slightly. "Please leave me alone. Please…"

The person standing in the doorway was not him. She closed the door behind her slowly and quietly and dropped to my level. "Princess...? Are you alright? Here, let me have a look at you?"

"No!" I called out and batted her hand away. I grabbed the offending hand. "He will hurt you too! Please leave. Everyone please leave."

"There is nothing he could do more to me, Princess," the maid said and slowly approached me. Her kind eyes were comforting. "A few of us knows that he was the one who took away your father, but we could not denounced him. He has eyes and ears everywhere, but they have become restless since he had not returned."

"He hadn't?" I asked. There was a glimmer of hope. Maybe the Goddesses had strike him down.

"Yes, for two days now," the maid whispered softly. "Retributions must have fallen upon him; may the Goddesses have mercy on his soul."

"Then he has been vanquished?" I asked. For the first time in days, I could see the room clearly.

"Hoot! Hoot!" the owl called out and shook its head. "The Great Evil that is Ganondorf has not been vanquished, but I cannot see where he is. He simply disappeared from Hyrule – disappear from the world. I looked into the heaven to see, but the stars did not say. One thing for sure: he will return."

"If that the case then you must take this chance to escape, princess," the maid hushed me. She gripped my hand gently and patted it. "And you must hurry. His servants have started to wander about on their own. Some of us have disappeared. Even if he doesn't return, this place will be unsafe."

"But –

"Please Princess. As long as we know you are safe, our sacrifices will not be for nothing," she said with a sad smile. "We will use what we have to stall them, knowing that one day you will return here to your home and expelled the wicked. We will wait for that day no matter how long it will be."

"No, I can't leave you here! He will kill you if I leave!"

"It's alright, princess," the maid embraced me. For a moment, my body was at ease. No sound could be heard. "It would be our honor to keep you safe; to keep Hyrule safe. You are our light, and no evil could take away that light."

"I'm… your light?"

"Yes, princess," the owl said and gestured one of its wings towards the window. "Without a hero, it is up to you to be the light. You must not yield to darkness no matter what. The Goddesses are watching you, and they will only help those that have the courage, wisdom and power to deliver Hyrule from evil."

"They are watching me?" I moved closer to the window and looked up at the bright blue sky. There were three twinkling stars above, shining brightly at me. They gave me hope.

And even when I escaped the castle and begun collecting the remains of the Sages and sought out the everlasting light, the three stars in the heaven continued to watch me. The Goddesses never stopped watching me even when all the other gods sailed across the heaven into unknown horizon. Knowing that gave me courage and power needed to complete my journey. And with the spirits of the Sages guiding me, I opened the Sacred Realm and obtained the legacy of the Goddesses.

"The Tri-force can extinguish all evil wherever they might be, Princess," Rauru told me. He was the Sage of Light and also the last person to stand by my side. Everyone else I'd cared about was gone, killed by his hand or his minions. They infested Hyrule and tormented the populace.

"I hate him," I said, gripping the Master Sword. The mythical blade in my hand was once known as the Goddess Sword. Even imbued with the essence of the Goddesses during the time of Hylia and the first hero, it was still a Goddess Sword. I calmed myself and rid myself of the negative feeling. "Am I worthy to wield the light?"

"The Master Sword has always belonged to you, Princess Zelda," Rauru said with a smile as he watched the once glorious Hyrule castle in the distance. "You might have lent it to the hero before the creation of Hyrule in order to aid him against his foes. It only befitting now that it aid you now in your endeavor. As long as you believe, the darkness will not win against the light."

"As long as I believe," I said and held the sword against my chest and looked at the sky and prayed. "I believe in the Goddesses. I will free my people."

The three stars high above in the sky glowed bluish under my tearful eyes while I gasped for air. Strange light trickled down from above, seemingly protecting him from all harm. The Goddesses wasn't the one watching over me, protecting Hyrule. My heart dropped. They were musing at my struggles, knowing it was pointless – and now, after all these years, he had returned, unchanged as if time had not passed for him.

He had not aged a single day. He couldn't be a deity, could he? No, he couldn't be. If he was a deity, why put up with this charade? If he was a deity, the Goddesses should have prevented him from taking any action. Perhaps they did. That was why he was gone for so many years.

"Kill me…" I croaked lowly. If he was an evil deity and impervious to the Goddesses' power, there was no salvation for Hyrule. No matter how much I struggled, I would not able to vanquish a deity. No power in the world could. "Please… please free me from this nightmare."

A gasp escaped my throat as my lungs were filled with air. I fell to the floor while gripping my throat, coughing heavily. "Why won't you? Why?"

"No, no, little princess," he responded as he towered over me, dominatingly. "As much as I want to end your suffering, I cannot. I must corrupt you without killing you. That is the only way I can win the game. I have never lost before, and I wasn't about to lose one now."

Game!? This was all a game to him? How could my life – the lives of my father and people – be a game to him!? A great pressure ruptured through me, pressing down my chest, suffocating me. This feeling – never before I despised someone so much that my entire body quivered in rage. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip him to shred – I want to –

Pieces of debris bounced towards me. I turned my head as he crouched next to me. "Hate me, despise me. For a supposedly wise and benevolent Goddess to despise a person with all her being, she had truly fallen."

I had fallen? No! I must not let darkness into my heart – yet – I could not stop myself. The rubbles under my fingers damped as droplets continued to fall. "Please kill me."

"I told you I won't. That would be game over," he said and wrapped a hand under my chin. "A princess shouldn't cry all the time. A princess should act like a princess, high and mighty. And the higher you are, the more fun it is to tear you down."

His smile – his devious smile! – repulsed me. I batted his hand away with all the strength I had. "If I die then it game over?"

"Yep, so be a good girl and stay alive?"

The two Tri-forces glowed brightly in my palm. I channeled its power and blasted him away from me. He was shocked at first, but grinned at my feeble attempt to kill him. I knew I did not have the power to kill him so I did not try again. Even if I could kill him, he would likely come back to life again. I moved closer to the ruined ledge and looked at the Kingdom my father had ruled. I had ruled Hyrule for half a year, and perhaps it was enough.

"Please forgive me," I apologized to Hyrule and stepped off the ledge, resigned.

"Zelda!?" he shouted. I looked at the shock on his face before closing my eyes. Sharp pain ran through my body seconds later and then total darkness – calming darkness.

But the darkness did not stay with me for very long. Sacred flames burned through my flesh, pulling me from the depth of death and forcibly pried open my eyes. He was holding an object between his fingers while focusing his eyes intently. It was a small staff, plastered in black and white. Even death could not protect me from his grasp.

Was there anything could?

"For making me waste a resurrection totem," he pronounced with grimness in his eyes. He then raised his fingers towards the sky as ominous dark cloud began to swirl. Lightings began to fell upon Hyrule like rain. Explosions rocked the land. "This is the price your people will pay."

"Noooo! Please!" I shouted desperately, but the wailing of the people overshadowed mine. Thousands of lives were extinguished in seconds – yet lightning did not strike him down.

"Please, Lord Ganondorf. Please have mercy," an old man – an elderly father of two – groveled before the throne, pleading desperately. His pleads went on deaf ears. "Princess, you must say something. We are your – ahhh!"

"They all say the same thing," Ganondorf said dryly and retrieved his hand. He circled the throne while shaking his fist. "At least tell me a different reason."

I stared at the smoking remain that once was a man while remained seated. His two children cowered in fright, hugging their mother. All three tearful faces should have horrified me, yet my expression did not change. Even if I mustered all my strength to help them, they would still be killed. No matter what I do, I was a mere caged bird, only capable of witnessing atrocities committed.

"No changes to her stats at all?" Ganondorf growled as if he was checking something in the air. He was always checking something. "Maybe I should kill more people? Shall I kill more people, princess?"

"Why don't you end those three," I suggested coldly, glancing only briefly at the frightful family. If living was that hard then death was a merciful release. At least they would all be together in a better world – a much better fate than mine.

"Wow… that's kind of cold, really cold. Those two are just kids, you know," he mocked and ran a finger down my unmoving, stoic face. His hand gripped my cheeks lightly and turned me towards him. I looked at him, unblinkingly. "Damn. It seems that this method doesn't sway your heart anymore. Maybe I will try something else. What will make you horrify the most?"

I did not answer. I just stared at him blankly. Nothing would move my expression anymore. No matter how much of my people he killed before me, I would not give him the satisfaction.

"The silence treatment, huh?" he deadpanned and shook his head. He placed a hand on my shoulder and forced me to stand up. I did as he requested like a doll without a soul. His eyes scanned over me over and over again. "You're really are beautiful – just too bad that you're just an NPC. You could be a celebrity if you weren't – then you would be an outlet for all the idiotic kids."

NPC – it was an unfamiliar term. Every now and then he called me that. I assumed it was some kind of insults or belittlement. Either way, it was no concern. He could call me whatever he wanted and it would make no difference.

"I know you feel fear," he said and rubbed his chin, "but do you feel shame?"

When he gripped my chest, my muscles stiffened, stopping myself from uttering a single sound. He gave them a squeeze, gauging my reaction. My hands and legs trembled despite my effort to stop myself. He removed his hand and touched my face, clearing the beads of liquids that dampened my cheek. A crack had appeared.

"So you do feel shame, Princess Zelda," he said, taking a very long scrutiny. He then smiled faintly at me before snapping his fingers and placed his hands upon my person. His touches sent distasteful tremors through every fiber in my body. "Good. Let's have fun."

I swallowed and closed my eyes, squeezing out all the tears pooled in my eyes as he increased his grip onto my gender. With a yank, my clothes were torn apart. I tried my best not to cover myself, but it was impossible to be completely detached. He was a monster, and there was nothing a monster wouldn't do – but if precious maidenhood could distract him from killing more of my people then endured, I would.

"No screams? Not even a whimper?" he asked as if he was disappointed. "Before that, let's make some memory."

Nightmarish memories – he meant.

Seconds passed, minutes arrived as I stood there, barely covering myself. He did not do anything further than gazed upon my flesh, taking great time to capture each part of my body, committing them into his deranged mind. He then gripped my arm and turned me towards the doorway. It was opening as he did so. His followers dragged several men into the room. I recognized each and every one of them. They had served my father and protected me since I was a little girl. To see the shock on their pale faces shattered my frozen disposition.

"Princess! Princess!" the men called out and dropped to their knees; their tears mirroring mine. "Please forgive us! We could not protect you. How could we face your father now?"

"This brought tears to my eyes," he said – almost sincerely – before clapping his hands. "Alright, you can be with your princess one last time."

A small, almost inaudible gasp escaped my lips as I was pushed down the step. I fell onto the red carpet while the former guards rushed to me, crying. Their wailings overlapped one another.

Clattering of his boot echoed around the room. He seated onto the throne and exhaled a deep breath as if he was readying an internal monolog. "You have all been working very hard, keeping the people from doing stupid things. I am extremely grateful for not have to wipe out thousands of people. So for your effort, Princess Zelda will comfort you all right here and now. Take your time. There is no need to rush."

"What…?" I uttered as I understood.

"You monster!" the men roared angrily. I couldn't stop all of them from rushing up the steps.

Ganondorf lowered his palm once he'd created two more ashen spots. He gestured his fingers along the air. "Is your loyalty makes you all hot-headed? Think about it for a moment. If you won't do it then I will have your precious princess comfort my men instead. They would not be as gentle as kind as you. Even if they tore her body apart, I could always put her back together with little effort. So what will it be?"

– To be continued –

Whether they do it or not, it will not be written, because rape is a special kind of evil and likely piss off quite a lot of people. You can use your imagination to see how it went if they actually did. His thought on the matter in the next chapter will be disturbing enough.