Chapter 7: Son of a Bitch

When we were close to our destination, Sowel finally recovered from her sugar crash. "Uhh, what happened?"

"Well, apparently you ate a whole bag of M&M's and passed out," I answered.

She immediately perked up. "You don't have any more, do you?!"

"Even if I did, there's no way in Hell I'm giving you any more!"

"Girls," Ganondorf said calmly from up ahead. "If we could continue, please."

"Aye aye, Captain." We'd spent nearly the whole day walking to this alter place. It was hot, my feet were tired, and I was barely surviving on the few sips of water the guy had offered me (conjuring it out of the blue, then telling me to ration what we had). Fortunately, I managed to get the write up for my project done; now all I needed to do was draw the comic for the extra credit, but I could still do that later. Mr. Chalanick was gonna be sorry for making that deal when I turn this bad boy in!…Assuming I'd be there to turn it in. Now that I thought about it, everyone would probably be wondering where I was. Zoe and her stupid boyfriend would have no one to to torment at her Halloween Party, Mom would probably have called the police, Josh and Sammy would be freaking out. Then again, I was back somewhere in the past, so maybe not? But back on the one hand, how long would I be stuck here? Days, weeks, years? Oh God, I what if I never got back? What if-?

I tripped on my own foot and fell flat on my face.

"Um, are you alright?" Sowel asked when I didn't get up right away.

"I'm fine, just confused by my own stupidity."

Ganondorf must have doubled back when I fell because I was suddenly hoisted up in the air by two large hands under each arm and brought face to face with a dark face and a pair of yellow eyes. "Care to explain the source of your distraction?" He wasn't exactly grilling me; he seemed more amused than frustrated. For whatever reason, that just pissed me off.

"I tripped and fell. Nothing more to it than my own klutziness."

"Don't bother lying to me, Doodlebug."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that?"

"So your allowed to call me demeaning nicknames and I can't return the favor? Just tell me what's wro-."

"Oh for fuck's sake, put me down and leave me be! You're not my dad, so stop trying to be!" I immediately wished I could take that back. Ganondorf set me down, not taking his eyes off me. Sowel hesitantly fluttered back to my shoulder. I just crossed my arms and stared at the ground in a silent tantrum. I had to get myself back under control. There were more important things to worry about. "Sorry I'm so pissy. I'm just… tired and hot and I'm wondering when I'll get home."

For a second, I thought I felt a tiny hand on my cheek. "No worries," Sowel said in my ear. "We don't begrudge you for it. Right, Agahnim?" I looked up at him, still wondering why he hadn't bothered to tell he his real name.

Ganondorf nearly mirrored my posture, sighing heavily and nodding. "…I won't press."

Damn right you won't, I thought to myself. No way was I gonna relive that chapter of my life again. Just when I'd finally gotten over it, too.

"Anyway, we're here."

I immediately looked up. Past his shoulder and a grey wall, the large symbol we'd seen earlier stood tall. Up ahead was an alter of some sort, ruined after such a long time. I passed him and through the archway at the alter's entrance. Besides a narrow bridge crossing a bottomless chasm and a few broken pillars on the other side, there wasn't too much to see, but it was still pretty cool to see. I wish I'd had my phone and it's camera, but I just have to remember it fir when I try to sketch it out later. "What is this place?"

Sowel was the one to answer. "This is the Temple of Time. Or, at least, it used to be."

"That can't be," Ganondorf muttered from behind us. He was looking around the place in disbelief. "The Temple of Time looks nothing like this. Not in my time. It's not even in the same location."

"Maybe this is a different Temple?" I offered.

"That must be."

"As I was saying," the fairy continued. "According to Lady Faron, this place once held one of the Gates of Time. Unfortunately, it was destroyed around the time Ghirahim was running around several months ago."

"…Did you say one of two Gates?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Is the other Gate still around?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you know where it is?" Ganondorf asked her, catching on.

"Yeah, why?"

I gave her a look, one that said 'are you kidding me with this stupidity'. The fairy suddenly gasped. "Oh, I know why! That's your way back home!"

"So where is the Gate?"

"Well it's-."

A beeping noise echoed through the ruins. "Hey, this is Regina. You know the drill, leave a message after the beep. Beep. I froze. That was my voicemail. Another voice followed. "Honestly, where the hell are you two?! Why aren't you responding?! Ugh!" Footsteps from the other side of the wall. Ganondorf grabbed me and Sowel and one poof of purple smoke later, we were hiding behind a pillar on the other side of the bridge, watching as you know who stomped through the archway, completely pissed. "These humans go through all the trouble of creating a small box that can track and call someone from the other side of the Earth, but the damned thing doesn't even work all the time?!" There was a crack as Ghirahim, in the midst of a temper tantrum, threw a phone of his own against the ground, shattering the screen and cracking the red and black diamond case. A flurry of (guess what) diamonds later, he was on the other side of the bridge among the pillars. We all had to silently scramble not to be seen. I poked my head out briefly to see Ghirahim huffing and puffing to himself. After a few uneventful minutes, he finally managed to calm himself down, snapping his fingers and making the phone appear in his hand, good as new. Ganondorf pulled me back behind the pillar before I was spotted, nearly crushing me in his arms. Talk about Papa Bear Mode. "Still," I heard Ghirahim mutter. "Not all of their little inventions are completely useless. For example…."

There was a loud bang, something whizzed passed my face and embedded itself in the far wall with a crack. I couldn't contain my scream and despite Ganondorf clamping a hand over my mouth, it was clear we had been discovered. "You might as well come out now, my darlings." There was nothing we could do. Ganondorf let me go, Sowel lifted off my shoulder, and we all walked out into the open. Ghirahim smirked, a gun of all things pointed right at us. "To think I would find you here, my personal retreat, of all places. I usually come here to clear my head, put a smile on my face after a stressful day, but finding my darlings here in one piece here just puts a little rainbow in my heart."

"You really need a hobby, Spandex," I said without thinking.

The Demon Lord's eye twitched for a second before chuckling, making the gun dissipate into (guess what) diamonds at the same time. "Not even your crude nicknames can rain on my parade right now, Little Queen."

"Let's see if this will." Ganondorf was suddenly behind him, sword swinging downward. Ghirahim summoned a sword instantly and blocked the attack with ease. "Now, I should warn you two, attacking me may not be in your best interest. And before you say why," he raised a finger, stopping my question. "You see, their's a little piece of leverage that you might want to know about." He snapped his fingers and a large res creature appeared. It shared the same bulldog like face the Bokoblins had, but it was five times the size. In its hands…. I was frozen, mind racing.

"Weggie!"

"Regina!"

In one hand, Josh was struggling to free himself from the monster's grasp. In the other, little Sammy was dangling in the air by his jacket. "S-Sammy? Josh?" I was on the verge of tears. The bastard really had taken my brothers. Fear and sadness quickly turned into rage; my hands clenched into fists, I could barely hold myself back from shouting. "You son of a bitch." Moments later, I found myself charging at Ghirahim. "LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW!"

"Child, no!"

Ghirahim disappeared. I barely dodged Ganondorf's sword as it came crashing down, nothing holding it back. My back slammed into one of the pillars. Ghirahim was in front of me. He grabbed my wrist in one hand, forcing my it next my head. "I know I said you were needed unspoiled, but I don't think my Master will grieve over a bit of blood shed."

My vision clouded. My hand throbbed with the worst pain I had ever felt. My other hand grasped blindly at something next to my head. It eventually found the hilt of a dagger and wrenched it from the palm of my right hand. As I slumped to the ground, still blinded, I could just barely hear my brothers screaming for me, the clashing of metal, the crackle of magic in the air, Sowel shouting for me. When my vision began to return, I nearly puked at the sight of my mangled and bleeding hand. I looked up. Ganondorf was fighting Ghirahim, swing the sword this way and casting a spell that way, just to keep him away from me. Sowel fluttered in front of my face, still trying to reach me. At some point, everything began to fade into black. I fought back against it. I couldn't pass out now! I had to protect them, all of them! I-I had to… had to….

So, you're finally ready to accept your full potential.

A blinding flash went off in my eye. I felt myself jolt up instantly, gripping the knife in my injured hand. I rushed forward and stabbed at something. The thing fell to the ground, but I went down with it and continued to stab it. After a while, I felt someone grab me from behind; I struggled and screamed, but then the light faded. I immediately recognized Josh's worried face. Sammy was right next to him, just as scared. Sowel fluttered just above my little brother's head, talking at me. I was in a daze, wondering what had just happened. I looked over to my right. Ghirahim was clutching his face, rolling on his back, screeching in utter agony. I heard a roar. Past my brothers, what seemed to be a large boar finished off the big Bokoblin-like creature. I forced myself to stand, looking straight at the beast. It looked right at me. I instantly recognized its golden eyes.

Ganondorf stepped closer and shook his head, a signal of sorts to get on. Still dazed, I picked up Sammy and climbed onto his back, Josh and Sowel reluctantly following me. Once we were all on, he broke into a run. The wind blew through and messed up my short hair and forced my glasses closer to my face. Josh shook my shoulder, but I barely acknowledged him. All I could see was the glowing, X-shaped gash that stained my palm. It was the last thing I saw as I passed out for the third time this entire ordeal.


I glanced out the car window, still jittery from the excitement and smiling. My first school art show had been a complete success. My colored pencil drawing of a peacock had been hanging for all the students and parents to see and now, as I held onto it carefully, it had a little blue sticker on the matted frame. The sticker signified my first place win over all the other sixth graders. The look on snobbish Zoe's face had been hilarious. "First place, first place, first place," I whispered to myself.

"Keep saying that and you'll be just as snobby as that peacock," Josh said from the seat next to mine.

"Peacocks aren't snobby!" I shouted back at him. "They don't care what people say! They show off what they have to the world!" My smile grew and turned to the driver. "That's what you said, right Daddy?"

Daddy laughed. "That's right, Doodlebug."

Why?

I giggled at my correctness. I had a sudden thought and my smile fell. "I wish Mama was here."

A sigh. "You know Mama isn't allowed to move around right now. It might hurt your brother."

"Hmph. Stupid baby."

"Now, is that any way for a big sister to talk?"

"No, it's not."

Why?

"You'll see. Having Sammy around won't be so bad. You can teach him about drawing or, Josh, you could play basketball with him when he gets older. You two'll have to help Mama take care of him."

"And you can help too, Daddy!"

"…Yes, I'll help too."

I beamed and continued to stare at my colored pencil peacock. For a second, I tried to imagine what it'd be like to be one of those massive birds, big, beautiful tail held out for all the world to see, not caring if some people didn't like it.

Why are you showing me this?

The car stopped.

Daddy shut off the engine and turned in his seat. "Daddy needs to do something, but I'll be right back. Please stay in the car, okay?"

"Okay!" my brother and I said at the same time. Daddy left the car and I went back into my head. I thought I heard the trunk open and shut too, but I ignored it. I had another thought, and I prepared myself to ask Daddy when he got back if we could get a peacock.

Because, no matter what you do or what you say, it happened.

A train whistled outside the car.

That was the last time I saw him.


If you look back at Skyward Sword, Demise has an X-shaped scar on his forehead. Now, if you look at Twilight Princess's Ganondorf, he sports a similar scar after he is nearly executed. Coincidence? I think not, Nintendo? It seems fitting tat Regina now has her own scar.

Also, this week has been a bit hectic, so there'll only be one update this week. Don't worry, as I'll have two next week, I promise!

Have a happy new year!