Chapter 13b: Happy Ending

Gasps surrounded the queen in the meeting hall as she stood proud in a traditional purple gown, accompanied by expressions of disgust. An explosion of Your Highness', Your Majesty's, and Your Grace's followed suit. Still Zelda poised herself with firm elegance. Her voice would be heard and her proposition accepted.

At her feet was her beloved shadow, shackled but showing due respect by bowing a deep, formal bow.

Zelda met his eyes with a smile and bid him rise.

"Confess your sins to the Council of Sages. Please be loud and clear."

He nodded.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Deep inhale.

Shaky exhale.

He began, stating each phrase in a blunt manner.

"I have stolen precious possessions, even from some of you. I have told lies to secure my safety. I have entered restricted areas without permission. I have used magic unlawfully. I have given and accepted bribes. I have been a hit man. I have injured many. I have tried to assassinate the former queen. I have killed." Cain paused and bowed his head, feeling the weight on his soul. "All of these sins I have actually committed, but I repent of them. I swear on my life and any other oath you give me that I will never commit them again. I lay them before you to be judged accordingly."

There in the agonizing, yet familiar silence, he waited with bated breath and a hanging head.

"I could get you out of this predicament, shadow. I could make them pay for their prejudice, their misunderstanding of you." Ganon hissed in his mind. He would never give up.

Cain tried in vain to shake the thought out of his brain. But this time of all times, the King was persistent.

"You need my help to fix this. You are aware of that. So let me take control. You will not even feel a pinch." His voice sounded like an oily grin.

All at once, he realized Ganon's plan all along: he wasn't merely complying with the rules of possession. He'd been weakening his body so he would be too weak to rebel, in which case he was no longer in need of consent.

Dark's awareness of his surroundings was fading. He snapped backwards to gaze at Zelda, pleading with those blue eyes to drown him.

"Ganon," he whispered, hoping she would understand.

o.o.o.o.o

Cain's whisper did not go unheard, and from the expression of anguish on his face the puzzle pieces began falling into place… What could she do but stand by with her heart a-race?

The hall echoed with his cries of pain. At once she recalled her nightmare, in which he howled in agony far away where she could not reach him. Was this its foreshadowing realized?

Zelda shook herself back to solid ground and rapidly mulled over the situation in attempts to take the appropriate action. The Council shouted amok, trying to find out what was going on whilst grimacing at this poor lad's blatant internal torture. Cain covered his head with his shackled wrists, forehead to the ground, fighting that unknown battle that he'd been fighting for Nayru knows how long. He shook like a startled, fragile bird, and the queen felt a few tears run down her face.

Perhaps it was time to address the confused Sages.

"Council! Please, lend me your ears. I know the cause of this terrible suffering."

Whispers circulated and she struggled to speak clearly over her shadow's cries. But she needed to be quick and convincing.

"This poor creature was magically created by Ganondorf, or Ganon, for the sole purpose of evil doing. He was trapped in the Water Temple until Ganon became ruler and freed him, after which he roamed the land and committed the terrible crimes that he now repents of, simply because that was his programming. But once he began to see the world for himself and this beautiful land, he began to question his hatred. He has told me many times in our talks that seeing everyone interact and meeting me helped him understand kindness and compassion. Ganon, however, did not approve of losing a potential vessel for reincarnation, and has pounded his mind relentlessly ever since. It seems that he is now trying to possess the shadow fully, but with all of your help, we may save him and banish Ganon's spirit as well! My dear Council, if you trust your new queen and do not wish to see this being go through such disturbing pain, then please assist me! I beg of your humanity!" Her tears flowed and pooled in the corners of her mouth, tasting salty and bitter.

All present stood as one. An elder spoke for all, "We believe in you and your wisdom, Your Grace. Let it be done."

o.o.o.o.o

Cain heard scuttling feet assemble around him. All of the people chanted strange words and there was a strange light. Ganon laughed above it all, the insane song playing over and over again without relenting. It was all of his nights alone in the cell times a million; his brain and his chest felt like they were being crushed by a boulder. Ganon seemed to be having trouble sliding into Cain's body and mind with a few smooth moments… and that trouble was Cain himself. Despite the agony, despite the torture, he refused to go down without a fight. He had to live and see Zelda's smile. He had to overcome this himself.

Ganon's laughter melted into a scream, pounding Cain into the ground with unnatural force. "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" He shouted his refrain of desperation with vigor, but it was not enough. Words of enchantment flowed through his ears; everyone around him was working. Queen Zelda's rose above it all, her beautiful, wonderful voice transcending even Cain's naïve fantasies.

In a moment, Ganon's voice rang out and faded into the spiritual, eternal abyss, and there was silence.

Cain's first thought was freedom. He was finally free. Should he cry or laugh, dance or sing? He wasn't skilled in either musical activity, but he could probably try. Instead, he just let himself breathe before standing once more.

Zelda's smiling eyes greeted him. The Sages took a few steps back to give due space.

The feeling just overwhelmed him, this entirely foreign feeling of having his mind all his own. Into the silence Cain started laughing, and Zelda giggled in return. He laughed longer than he should have until is somehow turned into sobs, wracking his wiry, filthy frame. She only looked sympathetic, and looked to a nearby guard, who came and unchained his hands and feet. This was the first time he had been unchained in months.

Cain gazed up at the queen, his only love, in some sort of strange reverence and appreciation. She gazed back at him and drew him into an embrace that he didn't know how to return. All he could repeat through broken tears was, "Thank you… All of you, thank you."

AN: Another section of the happy ending. I hope this has been satisfying so far :) Looks like these past couple chapters haven't gotten as many views though. If you like this story, tell your friends ^-^ As always, you can leave a review if you wanna.