This took foreeeeever. Arc finale, people! Arc one is OVER after this~!

CottonCandyHaze: I think a red velvet cake with fudge icing would be nice, if we still haven't decided on that. Mmm~. Ah, you've reminded me of that *other* stuff I need to get posted… to AFF! *runs off, shouting insane things*

arrowriver: While I can't blame you for not having faith in me (hell, I wouldn't either) there is a reason to my continued lunacy, and that is a part of it. Please, by all means, read this chapter to find out~.

Lalaithlen: Awww, thanks~. Eh… the pronoun change is mostly for the readers/my benefit, since I don't have pictures to go by, to remind about the whole 'different bits' thing. Link still thinks of himself as male, though.

Trolly'sBara-chan: PH is being meeeeeean! He's being a cheating cheater! HE HIT ME WITH THAT STUPID SWORD! *whines*

Chapter 10: The bindings on your throat…

People were born into chains. Sometimes, for some people, they knew about the chains from the time they were old enough to know about anything. When he was born, the chain of fate was wrapped around his throat as loose and forgiving as a noose, and every link threatened to cut into the flesh, cut off his air, still his body forevermore. He was servant to these links of fate.

He knew it from the day he was born to the day he was lead inside the temple, saw the mingled sad and cold expressions on the faces of the guardians as they lined the corridor outside the chamber. He couldn't really remember much of what they looked like, though…

"You will wait here, and aid the one destined to wield the Mastersword. Do you understand?"

The white haired one stared up at her, solemn and silent. After a moment, he nodded.

"Then sleep well. You may not wake for a long time."

And the door slammed shut behind her. He watched it until the world blurred.

Wind whipped at Vaati's hair, and he leant back into it with an appreciative murmur. His head hit something emphatically not the air, however, and he jolted, eyes shooting wide to find Gufuu staring down at him. Long arms coiled around his shoulders before he could escape.

"You looked so relaxed a moment ago, my light. Won't you tell me what has changed?" Gufuu wondered, staring over the edge, and Vaati realized they were far too close to it for him to feel comfortable with Gufuu's arms around his throat.

"I, um… I…" Vaati whimpered when the arms tightened just a fraction, and one of Gufuu's long fingers brushed over a spot on his collarbone that was terribly sensitive for a very specific reason.

Another moment of silence, then Gufuu released him. His voice went from mild to glacial. "We have orders. I'm going to the court. You're to make a smokescreen… understand?"

"Yes." Vaati breathed, and Gufuu gave the slightest of nods.

"Good." And then he reached out, pressed, and watched Vaati fall from the edge of the building.

A quarter mile from the town gate, he heard the flutter of wings. He knew what was happening when a hand caught his wrist, or he thought he knew, but the skin was warm and he couldn't bring himself to believe-

"Link!"

-that it was anyone he should avoid seeing. Demon had him spun around and pulled up close enough to kiss - he didn't - in another moment, checking him over for injuries and frowning. But other than a place on Link's neck that he traced gently, eyes glittering with unease, he seemed to come up empty. Which… really, should seem stranger than not.

"… I…" Link took a breath. "I apologize. I passed out or something and when I woke up, well… But I had a potion, and everything's healed-" He added the second part in a hopeful tone, eyes shining-

"Never mind that!" Fresh urgency in his voice, Demon proclaimed, "We have to go, now." And his eyes flashed out of the temporary lull while he remembered what had him rushing in the first place.

With Link's wrist still in his grasp he took off running, and for a moment Link couldn't match him and stumbled over himself. They ducked and weaved through the empty streets until they were standing on the hill overlooking the overgrown field and the Tower's courtyard, the time moving in between too short and too long at once.

Winds whistled around them, whipping at their hair and speeding along their skin like knives or the talons of a monster. Blue eyes gazed up at the approaching storm front.

… Well. It seemed his challenge had been answered. At the corner of his vision, he saw Demon fingering a blade at his hip.

"So you want me to fight." Gufuu rumbled. His eyes were fixed jealously on the mirror before him, long fingers twitching like he wished to reach out and snatch it away, curl it close covetously… but it remained in the other's hand and twirled like a common children's toy, just out of his grasp.

"Yes." The man leaned back where he was sitting on the veranda, cool, assessing eyes not leaving Gufuu's expression for a moment. "For someone like you… it's not too much trouble, I trust."

"It's not." Gufuu echoed, "For a price." And his eyes flicked up to the red-brown eyes of the man in the chair.

He only smiled and twirled the mirror again. "I would never ask for more. Take out the hero and the guide, and this mirror is yours. But don't blame me if the state of it isn't what you are expecting…" He added, softer, eyes glimmering like the surface of deep, dark water.

"I would never." Gufuu's tone was saccharine. His guest continued to smile, twirling blond hair on one finger in an unusually girlish gesture.

"Oh, but one more thing." The man added.

Gufuu froze. "What is it?"

"I don't want the hero dead." He intoned, the strange faint smile making his tone lilt. He had a pleasant voice. Too bad his words were so terrible, really…

Ah… Gufuu caught on quick enough. Vaati would ask for something similar, he knew… had asked for something similar. But he'd lost. "I'll see what I can do." Gufuu promised. The man and his smile never abandoned their sweetness, and his voice was a croon.

"See that you do."

"So how'd you find me?" Link demanded as they ran, pushing through the overgrown fields.

Demon glanced back. "Kafei called me. I was coming to get you from him when you went into that ranch.

Link felt his mind draw a blank. So Demon did-? "You know Kafei?"

"Kind of. You could say I know him by proxy." He groaned and shook his head, "Don't ever disappear like that again. You have no idea how worried I was!"

Or he didn't. He just knew Kafei. Odd… "Oh." Link blinked, and continued running. "So what exactly is going on?" … wait. Did you say you were worried about me?

"Gufuu's reappeared. He's creating a storm… and this is your chance to take him down."

"Gotcha." It did explain why they were rushing toward the Tower of Winds. And why the streets of town were, again, deserted sans monsters. Damn Gufuu. It was the middle of the afternoon, too…

A sigh wanted to spill out of his lips, but they were running. Oh well. Perhaps later then.

"Hey, Demon?"

"What?"

"Did you just say you were worried about me?"

Demon turned his head to stare at Link, and they almost crashed into the lone tree in the field. Demon swore and turned away again, veering off to the side to miss it. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Uh… yeah." Link mumbled, as the chateau's gates came into view again.

"It hurts… it hurts…" Vaati keened, doubled over while Zelda worried her lips between her teeth. She probed the broken wing gently, cooing alongside him at the damage. It was… bad. Messy.

"Shhh, shh, we'll call an ambulance-"

"No!" Vaati shrieked, and Zelda jumped back. His eyes shot open and locked with hers, wide and terrified. "No… no, then mother will know… and I…" A hiccupping choke, "Please, you can't. Just bring me a potion… please, Zelda…" He keened in pain, his uninjured wing straining behind him. Zelda felt her resolve melt. She had to help him… and he'd looked so worried…

"Alright." She whispered, and smoothed his hair with one hand. "Stay here. I'll be right back; I think we have some back at the house if the corner store's out."

And she stood up and ran out of the little cove of trees. Vaati slumped to the leaf-strewn floor, panting with his hair stuck to his face by sweat. He ached and bled, and he was exhausted….

As a bead of sweat ran down his cheek, he smirked.

Demon's hand came to clutch his shoulder, and they stopped just outside the gate.

"What is it?" Link murmured, eyes flickering back. Just above the sound of the wind, he could hear groaning…

"Redeads." Demon murmured back, and Link wondered how he could have ever forgotten that sound. Demon reached into a bag at his hip and pulled out a blue sweet-potato ocarina.

So he plays, huh? Link marveled at the quality craftsmanship, while Demon grimaced at the item in his hands. "Not quite to my taste, but such is the nature of our situation." Was his resigned murmur, before he brought it to his lips and blew.

A quick song spilled out from the ocarina, three notes played twice over… Then warm light broke from the clouds above them and the groans stopped, and Link's hand came up to clutch at his arms; he felt terribly cold. Demon let go of him and moved through the suspicious, open gate into the chateau's courtyard. Link stepped after him and stared at the frozen corpses lining the entryway.

Something had… Oh. The song. Something about that song Demon played had done this, Link was sure. He would have to ask him about that later. Music that could change the weather and freeze monsters… or perhaps it was just redeads? He wondered, fingers itching for a book.

Demon was leading him, wings perked, leaning forward and moving quickly – too quickly, almost like he was possessed. The way his eyes gleamed was unnerving. "Faster." He urged Link, who broke into a short run instead of arguing.

"You alright?" Link wondered, and those manic red eyes swept to him.

"I feel empty." Demon murmured, "And… the thing that will fill me up again is so close…" His eyes shot back to the path ahead of them. He seemed… hungry.

Though he wanted to stall and wonder, Link forced himself to keep pace.

"… sorry I didn't bring the Garo mask." Demon mumbled a minute or two later, as they rounded a corner. The garden was like a maze, tall green hedges and trellises of black thorns and brambles edging their path; organized, threatening chaos. A devil's garden.

And who maintained it, exactly?

Link shook his head. "Garo mask?" He echoed, forcing his mind away from perfectly maintained hedges.

"… never mind." Just then, they stepped out into the center. An undersized tower of stone, covered in soft moss and climbing ivy, stood in center, with a wall of the same stone curving behind it and hedges obscuring the lower parts of the wall from view. An achingly familiar mirror with new stains that were either rust or blood was hung at eye level on the tower, gleaming merrily in the sun that had broken out of the clouds alongside Demon's song. Stairs curved around the tower's outside, and on the steps in front of them, waiting above their heads with fire in his eyes, was Gufuu.

Link drew the sword and remembered that he didn't have the other half of the key.

Demon swore. The Wind Tyrant smiled.

The metal was heavy in his hands and drug at his limbs like he was fighting underwater, down at the bottom of the tidal stairs again.

Gufuu swam through the air like a desbreko, fire-weaving words spilling from his lips like ecstasy and prayers, and they begged for Link's destruction with all the sweetness of birdsong and tiny doves in the morning sun. He called down crashing wind and baleful flame, icy rain and deadly hail – Demon was on the wall, glaring bloody murder, ready to step in if any real damage were to come to Link but otherwise bound as a spectator to the bloody sport before him.

He was on edge since last night. Almost enough to leap in himself whether or not Link needed it, really…

And Link was certain Gufuu had taken note of it. It was damn near impossible to strike him – the devil would let him get close, teasing and sharp and then blow away on the wind when Link dragged the mastersword through the air to strike him, taking cheap shots as he went. Link was bleeding from his shoulder and hip thanks to several of them. He wondered how long Demon would stay still and silent, thought perhaps Gufuu might like to find out.

Gufuu had had plenty of chances to end this, yet he chose to drag it out. Link didn't dare think that was a saving grace though – from what he knew of the Wind Tyrant, it was more damning than a hellfire curse.

Sunlight glinted through the clouds a moment and struck off something bright enough to blind him. Link choked as he staggered back, blades of wind ripping into him. His eyes watered as he focused on the black shape hanging from the tower…

Wasn't the mirror broken?

He couldn't know why he knew that, but he did. That mirror should be shattered to pieces and burnt up in the building. He knew it sure as the moon's rise and fall. The dark mirror should be…

No. I didn't break it, I ripped it away. The back of his mind whispered, and for a moment he could swear there were teeth beside his ear and breath on his neck. Feel the power dripping from it… Ghost hands played along his back, unseen lips brushed the shell of his ear.

Don't you wonder what would happen if it-? The malevolent voice whispered, but its dulcet poison was cut off before they reached the end.

Gufuu sent a fire spell at him and Link leapt out of the way, charging for him with sword swung back for a blow.

"You can't beat me." Gufuu hissed, throwing out his hands – a wave of hellfire erupted from his fingertips and chased Link down, making him scream as the heat ravaged his body, but he didn't burn…

No. And then Gufuu's hands were above him. "You're no hero."

No.

"Link!" Demon shouted, and when Link turned his head - against better judgment - to look the guardian tumbled off the wall, backwards and out of sight. Gufuu's claws dug into his skin, and Link shoved his hands into his chest, frantic and sweating while he tried to separate them once again.

He cast Din's fire and Gufuu shouted and veered back so Link could finally squirm away. Running around the corner, he pressed himself to the wall and tried to catch his breath. A length of darkness was coiled around a squirming, cursing Demon… with an uncomfortable swallow, Link realized it was choking him. He swung the mastersword and watched the darkness burn away while the guardian recoiled. "Behind you," he gasped, tan hands flying up and clutching his throat while something else shimmered over his body, and Link twisted and swung the blade again just in time to catch Gufuu's ribs.

He grunted and screamed, but after Link pulled out the blade the sundered fleshed healed almost immediately. There was no blood, only wisps of darkness…

"You'll have to do better than that," The violet devil murmured, and lunged for Link's throat.

Everyone in town was out of potion. Everyone. Zelda couldn't believe it. The last place she was heading to was a potion ship owned by an old woman… And she was headed there last because it was the place furthest from where she needed to be. It was half a mile south of town and difficult to reach on the best days. Today was not even a good day as far as Zelda was concerned.

Damn it… She cursed and leapt over another wall, tossing a knife at a snake that lunged for her. She yanked it back out on her way by and made a note to wash it as soon as she could… but Vaati was more important. How could he break his wing? Poor thing… and he's back there by himself, too… this isn't good…

She cursed again as the shop came into sight.

This isn't good at all…

From beside the wall, Demon grimaced and clasped his throat. Shit… Link fell back and dodged the bursts of fire and wind – barely, just barely dodging the blades of wind, and his clothes were getting singed… - while Gufuu seemed to be the same as before, no matter how Link struck him.

"Now I see what he meant." Gufuu rumbled, eyeing the mastersword while their fighting fell into a lull, circling slowly about one another.

Demon felt another wave of agony ripple through his body, and he forced himself to his feet. He swayed and hit the wall.

What the hell is happening to me…? Unbidden, his eyes flickered to bright glass. The mirror?... it can't be…

… right?

"Link," Demon gasped, then tried to make it louder, "Link! The mirror! Break the mirror!"

Link sent him a confused look and almost had his hair burnt off for it. "Uh… you too?" He wondered, then yelped at another wind blast before taking off.

Demon noticed a sudden grin unfolding on Gufuu's face, and he didn't like it at all.

Yes, hero… it seemed to croon,

Break the mirror.

The monsters swarming the front didn't see her coming.

She yanked the dagger out of the tektite with a loud 'squelch', whirling around and lunging at the other beasts as they came out of their startled states. The man who ran the potion shop sometimes jumped back, blurting out startled pleas of 'save me save me' and Zelda tore into another beast, eyes burning. She didn't have time for any of this.

Not that the universe gave much choice in such matters. No, not much at all, she thought while cleaning up the last of the little mob that had been accosting the shopkeeper.

She took out a rag to wipe off her blade and turned to the trembling, wide-eyed man after she'd finished. Zelda cocked her head and remembered her manners, giving a swift curtsy, careful not to grasp the squelchy spots of monster blood on her tunic. "Excuse me; I don't suppose you have any blue potion in stock…?" She inquired, hopeful.

"B-back room." He stuttered, still staring at her. She smiled, offered him a hand and politely asked to be shown the way, and added that time was very much of the essence.

And the shopkeeper was quite the gentleman; he was very quick to show her after that.

Without knowing what it would do or why, Link leapt around Gufuu – who, he noticed, seemed to be trying to hit him just as little as before – and slammed the hilt of the mastersword into the mirror's center.

For a moment, water rushed into his ears, and he heard from outside the ocean's barrier a thousand souls screaming in agony and release. Another heartbeat and the gem in the mastersword's hilt glowed blue, and the world returned to how it once was, every being free of the liquid embrace that froze or slowed them… Link leaned forward, continuing the motion. Shards of glass flew by his ears and clattered to the ground in a spray of sharp and pretty dust.

Gufuu screamed, and his body glowed red, but his lips twisted as if in ecstasy.

The world turned blue and crimson.

You broke the mirror .

It shows… the darkness of men's hearts.

The girl's voice came as if through a filter, and Link cocked his head to listen closer.

Gufuu… was controlled…

… Contained…

By the mirror. You have freed Gufuu.

And Link stood and wondered, Is that a good thing…

Or…

Not?

Blue flashed in the ether, and the girl answered, in a moment you will find out.

And a wave crashed over him just as the blue eyes of the sword-spirit shimmered into focus. He wondered if he'd ever see her whole face. The water twisted, whirled around his unresisting limbs, and washed him away like he'd never existed at all.

His wings were still trickling blood slowly – little dripdropdripdrops to fill his mind and pass the time, to make him nervous of what should happen if it didn't grow slower. Zelda was still gone, and while he lay in the shade of a bay tree he smiled and thought that, just perhaps, their plan had been a little… too perfect. After all, if he kept bleeding…

Dripdropdripdrop

… he would most certainly die. But Gufuu was dealing with it. He'd promised to take care of everything. And while it was perhaps unwise to trust a demon, Gufuu seemed to want to keep him alive… he needed to keep him alive. So Vaati chose to believe he'd be saved, by Zelda's caring hands or the master of their plan, if not Gufuu himself. He just… would have to wait until then.

He hoped it wouldn't be much longer.

Dripdropdripdropdripdropdrip-

All the sudden, the aches that kept him from shifting warmed and sent a shiver thrilling through him, like lips and tongues on his wings – oh, at once a wave of ecstasitic pleasure washed across him, hot as a demon's kiss and just as insistent, tongues of desire delving deep into his mind. He writhed on the ground, heedless of wounds, mewling as waves of satisfied pleasure rushed through him, the crashing tide at noon or a fire that devoured everything.

His gasps and pants filled the clearing and his broken wing smeared blood on the ground, and through ecstasy-hazed eyes he panted and wondered what had happened to make Gufuu so terrifically euphoric on the other side.

Screaming filled his ears for just a moment.

Gufuu began to laugh as the world came into focus again, eyes glowing with glee and magic. "Oh, I have to thank you, little hero! But don't get the wrong idea…! My thanks will be beating you within an inch of your life, no more. It's just that first I'm going to take care of that troublesome guardian…" He chuckled and took off, laughing harder when Link did the same –headed for Demon, eyes wide, sword ready to rip into Gufuu at the first chance given.

Demon was on the ground behind the wall; the glimmer from before had unveiled its true purpose. His body was bound by pages upon pages of words – ancient Hylian, Sheikah and Minish bled together, scrolling across his skin. Light spells scrawled across the pages of an old library, binding flesh and magic, and Link saw the words 'hold restrain destroy block no escape' in the waterfall of spells across the devil's body.

Demon hissed and spit, writhing within his bondage like a trapped beast, hellfire in his eyes and fangs agleam. Gufuu only laughed at his spitfire, rearing back to strike while Link leapt to tear at the bonds, forcing his body overtop Demon's to shield him.

The devil himself couldn't have been less grateful. An enraged howl bubbled up in the guardian's throat, directed at none other than the hero trying to save him. "Link!" Demon hissed, eyes wild, "Link stop!"

Link kept going, fingers desperately tearing at paper, catching nothing, tingling from the flashes of magic, but the bindings held strong and only made his skin blister and bleed. He kept going while snarls bubbled up in the guardian's throat, and Gufuu's chuckles and the dull, burning hot magic of his spell grew behind them.

"Stop that! Link, either take up your sword or get out of here!" Demon howled, bucking him off and then glaring down Gufuu as though he weren't bound and helpless on the ground. Link hit the earth hard, grunted and scrabbled to his feet, and realized he had no fucking clue where the sword was.

"I admire your tenacity, but there really is no use." The Wind Tyrant crooned, raising his hands, "You're going to die, fickle child, and there is just no avoiding it."

A flash of blue and red and black like bruises and nightshade skin and Link was back in the water-painted room, fighting the serpent.

She was darkness, night across her skin and flowing through her fingers, and called the blade back to her. She was master of the blade.

The sword would always come to her.

The sword will always…?

Demon snarled while Gufuu laughed, glaring without fear or hesitance into the face of death. The wind demon swung down his hands and let the spell go, ready to let another territory spat end with his opponent a bloody splotch on the ground, when flashing brilliant white streaked across his vision for a heartbeat's fickle eternity.

He howled while Link swung the sword again, planting himself firmly before the bewildered but still-unharmed Demon. Gufuu's spell leapt off the blade alongside his blood, both flashing to crash into an old wall to their side.

The wall cracked and crumbled.

Link's eyes were ice and torrential storms, foggy hell's fire, the rage of an ocean about to swallow him whole.

His breathing was ragged and blood ran down his body while he held the blade before him. He reminded him of someone from long ago… in a way, the boy was almost beautiful.

A better actor in their play than the guileless Link, he didn't let the thoughts show. Instead Gufuu threw his head back and glared. "You'll stand against me, mortal?"

"You ever touch him again and I'll fucking cut out your heart." Link promised, sword shifting so the sun glimmered off it with menace, while grim anger flickered in the eyes of the hero. Gufuu's lips curled.

"Very well." He crooned, and rushed toward what might be his death again.

"Vaati! Vaati, I have the potion!" Zelda called as she hurried into the clearing, then choked on her tongue as she saw him - Vaati was rolling about the forest floor writhing and howling bloody murder. It was a miracle she hadn't heard him before-!

"It hurts it hurts it hurts-!" He shrieked, twisting against the ground, further dirtying and damaging the wing. Zelda rushed to hold him steady, held the potion to his lips, but no matter how she soothed or cajoled as the potion worked to ease his suffering, he did not stop screaming.

Link was a portrait of beauty when he was enraged.

His hair flew around him in the rushing wind; the specks of blood and dust scattered on his visage couldn't hope to hold it down. Blue eyes raged with the wrath of a water dragon and all its tempests.

Gufuu was caught between entrancement and enragement. So this was the new hero… he wondered if 'she' (of course, now he knew it was a he) could really be worthy of the sword in his hands when they'd met.

Now it seemed they were a bit closer to the answer 'yes'; the thought occurred just as the boy rushed at him.

Without the unleashed sword… while it doubtlessly dragged at his limbs like water and sapped his strength… he swung and fought like a young war god, his body shaking, sucking in greedy gulps of air to a heaving chest, muscles quivering - tensing and untensing to the beat of a song neither could hear but both should move to.

A movement at the corner of his eye told him Demon was coming unbound once more – it wasn't a surprise, they'd known before the battle the spells wouldn't hold him long. He had too much power…

Power one day, the hero would match.

Troublesome.

Gufuu cast another spell. If the boy wasn't worthy… well, the contract was broken alongside the mirror. From here on out, it was personal. If the boy wasn't worthy, he'd just kill him.

It's not like he'd be the first one.

Link howled. Rage pounded through him, made him half blind. His charge was met with a fluid stroke of pale-grey fingers and he barely leapt back in time to avoid being burnt up in the flames of Gufuu's starfire curses.

Gufuu came at him this time, intentions of letting him bleed dry clear in his eyes. Link raised his sword – shouted against the barrage of wind and flame, held his blade to shield him. The metal burned his fingers and Gufuu laughed, and Link poured his will and his rage and his fear into the blade.

It thrummed underneath his fingers.

End this. A thousand voices wreathed around him and whispered, lent strength to his battered limbs. End this. Make him bleed. So he leapt forward after Gufuu stopped letting words fall out of his lips, and he did.

His boots thudded on the pavement. Metal sunk into the flesh and strong bone… Gufuu screamed as the metal slid between his eyes, but he was dead. His knees hit the ground and conceded to his conqueror's feet.

While Link panted, watching with half-cold, detached eyes the bubbling blood dribble down his face to dissolve in wisps of darkness, the clearing went quiet and the storm clouds cleared.

Ah… my beloved… is it time for me to be beside you, yet? He wondered in the blinding light.

"Gufuu?"

He jumped. He wasn't expecting anyone to answer. Hair as long and lovely as Link's shimmered into existence, along with a pair of curious eyes that quickly went cold.

"It's not your time yet, Gufuu." She chastised him softly, eyes burning like a meteor's fire – so hot they felt like ice. He laughed.

I lived so long ago… you recall when our swords met in battle. How can you say it is not my time?

"It is not your time." The woman scolded again, and beckoned him forward. Her graceful fingers came to rest on his forehead, calloused by a lifetime defending a hero and a sacred child. "You aided Vilink. You shall aid this one, too, before your time is done."

Then… after-?

His painfully hopeful voice was cut off mid-question. The world faded before she could answer him, if she would. It's not your time yet… he hated those words.

"Thank you." Link was surprised when a warm pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders. Half-numb fingers came up to grasp it, and he wished to fall into sleep forever, but he didn't think his eyes would shut just long enough. Outside the fickle-grey world of his head, Demon was smiling. Link could see the curl of his lips underneath the bandages, while his eyes were as warm as the sunlight falling down around them. He squeezed for a moment before letting up and backing off, though his rough fingers lingered on Link's left shoulder. "Really… I… you didn't have to do that." He murmured, appreciation lacing his tone.

It was so strange Link couldn't help but stick his tongue out to try and shatter it. "I'll do whatever I want," He mumbled, sour, and Demon only laughed.

"I'm really starting to like you." He confessed, mussing Link's hair and causing him to squawk.

"Don't do that! It's bad enough since I lost my hat Zelda's been picking on me about my hair, now I'm gonna go back and she'll see it like this and chew me out about that-!" You just murdered someone and you're worried about that? Some part of his mind wondered, and he went quiet.

"Your hair was already messed from the fight!" Demon laughed.

"Shut up." He mumbled, but something about his broken feelings seeped into the words and Demon caught on, and looked concerned.

"Link…"A low groan interrupted him, though, and they both froze. Before disbelieving eyes, Gufuu's corpse stirred from where it was laying on the tower steps.

Slowly, he sat up, the blood droplets from his forehead sluicing to the ground and then evaporating from their little puddles like they'd never been. Drowsy, half-comprehending red eyes gazed out at them between grime-stained strands of white hair.

Slow and shaky, legs quaking and hand braced on the wall for strength, Gufuu stood. His eyes were set far off and his lips cracked up in a smile while he touched the spot where moments before, his forehead had been split open like a melon.

He was mouthing something, but Link and Demon – who had pulled Link close to his chest, wings flared out in menace – soon realized he wasn't whispering a spell. Finally, the rough-cracked voice of a man half-dead came bubbling up in his throat, and never before had Link thought that being half-dead could be like asking if a glass was half-empty.

"… worthy." Gufuu finished the otherwise-unintelligible mumble, looking proud of himself for getting it out.

"… What?" Demon wondered, and Gufuu gave a wider smile. He raised one hand to point at Link.

"A worthy successor." He rasped, eyes glowing. Link stared back at him in confusion. But I… I killed you…

Light flashed at the corner of their eyes, and they all turned to look accordingly - with Gufuu's blood still running down his body.

From the shards of the broken mirror a black dust was drifting up. Just for their half-believing gazes it became the silhouette of a man with only his eyes illuminated; eyes that burned with vilest fire, yellow as the belly of a viper or the venom from its fangs.

"Mage Gufuu. You have failed me…" His ominous voice rung out over the courtyard, and Gufuu stared in distaste between the mirror and a line of his own blood, slowly evaporating as it ran over the back the hand he held before him.

He waved – the spirit's eyes widened in rage and his lips opened to snarl, but before he could the mist of ebony was shredded by the winds and its pieces carried far away.

"You. I'm tired of you… most of all." Gufuu muttered, threading the clean hand through his hair before turning back to Link, fingers still tangled, and baring his fangs in a grin. Link tensed up and went for his sword while Gufuu drifted forward, and Demon's wings flashed out behind them.

"Relax, I didn't forget what you just did to my face…" The wind demon muttered, moving close enough to touch Link's forehead with his other hand. For whatever reason, Demon relaxed after looking into his eyes. Link wasn't so trusting, and stayed tense and confused as Gufuu leaned forward and pressed dry lips to the crown of his head. "My hero." He acknowledged, tilting Link's chin up with his fingers. "Call on me, and I shall answer." He pledged, unwavering red to fickle moonlight's blue.

"… Why?" Link muttered, staring at him like he'd lost his head, and really he just almost had.

Gufuu twisted his lips; there was more of an enigma at work than he'd care to admit. "You are a worthy successor to my old ally." He settled on, "So just take it without thinking too hard about it, won't you? It's not like I ever had anything against you personally. Different sides of the fence, you know…" Gufuu let go of his chin to gesture, and bits of sun fell through it.

"You're fading." Link mumbled, and were those dread and horror in his eyes?

Gufuu laughed at him and patted his cheek while his eyes flashed to Demon. "You still haven't told him." He murmured, before his body fell to dust.

"I haven't." Demon answered as the ashes scattered on the winds. Somehow, Link didn't think he was planning on it, still.

"Is he… dead?" He muttered, staring in disbelief and sagging against the guardian's chest. He barely resisted the urge to add 'again', though he knew he'd definitely killed him. A red eye peered down at him, owlish, but the long fringe of white hair still hid the other from his view. Pity.

"He's just sleeping." Demon assured, "You didn't kill the body." Yes, Link had, so either Demon was losing his mind or there was a different body he didn't see here. "You did well," Demon added, eyes glowing with a sweet smile, and Link almost blushed. Almost.

"… thanks." He mumbled, eyes slipping shut a moment. Fuck. "… 'm tired. Can I… can I head home or do you need help… you know…" He pushed off of Demon, gesturing awkwardly to the long shallow gashes and scorch marks marring his body.

Demon gave him a gentle smile. Far gentler than he was used to. "No, it's fine. Go ahead. I have something left to take care of." He comforted, canting his head. So Link nodded and ran off.

Demon's lips twitched before the smile faded, and his eyes burned as he turned them to the steps half-hidden behind the tower and the hedges, between where the walls should meet.

As soon as Link was gone, Demon skulked upstairs. There, leaning against the wall of the main building, was the person he was looking for. Tan lips drew back in a snarl.

"Kind of a harsh tutorial boss, don't you think?" He hissed, and red-brown eyes flicked up to meet him. A smirk twitched on just-as-tan lips.

"He's the hero. He'll learn to deal." The man cocked his head, observing Demon in silence for a few moments, then said thoughtfully, "I can't imagine what it's like to be afraid of yourself." And only seemed amused by the fist that slammed into the wall beside his face for it.

"Be. Quiet." Demon muttered, teeth bared, ignoring the feel of blood dripping down his knuckles.

The amusement didn't fade.

"What the hell are you doing, Sheik?" Demon seethed, wings flaring, and Sheik snorted in disinterest. He pushed off the wall and cocked his hip, giving Demon an insufferably dull stare, like he was being obtuse on purpose.

As if.

"I'm playing with the hero, of course." He murmured, "Seeing if he's really ready. And I'm starting to worry he isn't." His eyes narrowed and he stepped into Demon's space. Demon seethed, but didn't lash out. Sheik continued in a neutral murmur. "He isn't ready. How would you like it if he was cut down, hmm?" He tilted his head, half-lidded eyes peering into Demon's bright red ones. "I can tell you're growing fond of him. Perhaps… too fond?"

Demon refused to recoil. "He won't be cut down." He glared back at the human. "Don't think I don't know about how you've been manipulating this from behind the scenes. So mind yourself, and don't pull a stunt like this again."

"Or what?" Sheik wondered, the semi-sweet expression dropping away at last.

"I think you know the answer." Demon promised, hell in his eyes, while his fingers clenched against the wall.

Chapter end

Always have faith in the author, people~ always. That enough of an answer for you, arrowriver? *demonic grin*