Almost there! We are almost there! Almost close for Cloud and Link to meet at last! By the way...I don't own the Little Mermaid nor Final Fantasy VII nor the Legend of Zelda! And in case I forgot to mention, this will be a mix between the Disney kind of story and the original story written by Hans Christian Andersen. Well then...enjoy! :D
Sheik for a moment had hoped that Link would refuse the offer. That he would say thank you but no and head back to the palace. But Sheik had hoped for too much and it was in this false hope that his very world started to crumble little by little. Link had been ecstatic upon the news that he might have a chance to fulfill his most cherished dreams. And in his own very world he pictured the future to be perfect and beautiful. Such happiness welled in him that he immediately accepted the eels proposal to pay a visit to the sea wizard and followed them as they trekked along the deep blue. Sheik followed close behind, paying extra attention to his surroundings. The deep blues were not safe outside the kingdoms borders and he trembled at the thought of whatever they might find in their way. There were far more dangerous creatures than sharks and sea snakes. Far more vile and malicious. He hoped that they encountered none in their journey.
Link knew that Ganondord the sea wizard lived far away from the kingdom's borders. He had been exiled long before he was born and therefore he hardly knew of were to find him. Nowadays only few knew of the wizard's whereabouts. Besides, he had never been curious to ask about such a place. But here he was, following a pair of eels through the murkiest and darkest corners of the deep blue were the light barely reached and pair of reddish and yellowish eyes lurked in the shadows. Link gulped audibly and kept trying to keep up the pace the eels were marking. They were fast and nimble as they swam along ridges and valleys, rocks and dead corals, between trenches and algae. Link feared he might get lost among the everlasting shadows of the darkest place of the ocean, but his resolved never wavered as he thought of the fruits of this journey. Seeing Cloud, the expectancy of gazing upon him, gave him such willpower that Poseidon would surely be proud to call him his kin and blood. And so with renewed fervor he swam as fast as his greenish tail could.
Now, we haven't exactly clarified where the sea wizard lived. His den was unlike any fish or sea creature had ever laid eyes upon. The sea wizard Ganondorf lived on the deepest and darkest place in the whole ocean as well as the farthest and most dangerous part. Through whirlpools of extreme force and dangerous currents must one swim to reach his dwelling, through barren lands of the sea were no flowers nor algae grow must one cross. And if the terrain to reach the wizard's home doesn't scare the wits out of the strongest man, then said home would surely do. The abode of said wizard was actually the carcass of some sea monster defeated ages ago in the centre of a deep forest in which plants and trees were polypi, half plant and half animal. Like serpents with a hundred heads, they looked as they rose from the sandy ground. Their haunting eyes always watching, their strange like bodies always deformed, poor souls that got conjured into these disfigured beings by the wizard's magic. Forever tortured to live on bounded to that state, their existence the very bane of eternity. In desperation the polypi will latch to whatever moves with their long and boneless fingers, hoping and praying to end their very lives by being torn from the main body. But the very body always proved to be resilient and those who they captured with time died of starvation or terror, whichever came first. It was into these waters, that the two mermen came to be. Terrified of the lasting screeches and wails of the polypi, they swam as fast as they could, following the scaly eels. Link latched onto Sheik's arm with terror, thinking that perhaps the once wonderful idea was actually quite folly. Yet every time he would doubt himself, the image of Cloud's face would pop into his mind and remind him what was at stake in this journey. So, despite his evident fear, he kept on. Sheik will occasionally spare him a glance just to assess his safety and in many occasions he had to pull him up before one of the polypi could grab his tail or arm. It was thanks to his over protectiveness that they managed to get to the very entrance of the wizards den.
The mouth of the dead beast was an ill omen to any who passed by. But for Link it just meant the beginning of a bright and warm future and therefore as soon as he was before the entrance, he let go Sheik's arm and swam quickly into the wizard's home. If the outside gave him chills, the inside gave him bone-breaking tremors. All where his eyes landed, remains of monsters and mermen alike hung from the walls and ceilings. Arrays of bottles with questionable fillings were bunched and staked on handmade shelves of rotting corals and shells. The smells inside were suffocating and the stench in the water was nauseating. Link had to stop once or twice to collect his bearing and thanks to that poor Sheik could catch up to him and reprimand him of leaving him behind. At long last they arrived to the possible drawing room or at least were the wizard conducted his business. At the center lay a humongous dead anemone that served as a cauldron of sorts in which an octopus bodied man was throwing what could have once been a middle sized crab and some other dead sea creatures. The fumes they released when the magical reaction occurred brought the few meals Link had had up his esophagus and almost out his body. What could the man be possibly doing? His gagging sound caught the octopus man attention and his yellowish eyes landed upon the two mermen.
"Oh!" He exclaimed with fascination, swimming out to full view of the two younglings. His body was half merman and half octopus with big black tentacles and a grayish tint to his merman skin. His red flaming hair was fashioned into braids that were pushed back by silver and black tiara with an embedded ruby at its center. He had short reddish beard and pearly white teeth. And although his face tried to resemble something akin to gentleness and affability, his stare was that of mischief and evil lurking intentions. Sheik tensed immediately; Link on the other hand looked curiously at the wizard.
"Visitors! It's been a while since I had visitors." The sea wizard said with delight. "Two young mermen it seems. From the looks of it, from old Daphnes' realm, am I right?" Sheik snarled. "A warrior? Haha! Daphnes never ceases to amaze me. Too young. Too reckless to be a warrior."
"Keep your comments to yourself sea wizard." Sheik growled with disdain. The sea wizard clicked his tongue.
"Fiery temper will land you into trouble young one." His gaze then fell unto Link. "And what do we have here? Another warrior, I assume?" His gaze scrutinized Link's form from behind Sheik's. He then smiled brightly. "No. Your appearance might be that of a warrior, but it is clear you have yet to experience the harsh training. No. You are a common citizen…but the whole air about you speaks even more than citizen…Royalty, perhaps? At least a noble you must be."
"Whatever rank we hold shouldn't be of concern to you, wizard." Sheik interrupted while Link flinched, hoping Sheik's outburst wouldn't cost him his wish. "We came for business. Nothing more." The wizard smirked and slithered with his tentacles towards his cauldron.
"Well then, state it." He encouraged with that taunting smile of his, his yellowish eyes boring unto Link like daggers. Sheik gave Link's shoulder a comforting squeeze. Link took a deep breath and swam forwards.
"I wish…" He began quietly. The wizard's attention was undivided, his ears perking up to Link's request. "I wish…"
"You wish to have legs." The wizard finished with a snide grin. Link was left speechless and only nodded. "You wish to have legs in order to meet that human prince of yours." How did the wizard know of Cloud? He hadn't mentioned it. As if hearing his thoughts, the sea wizard kept on. "I have many ears and eyes in this vast ocean young one. One feeble love affair is nothing that I can miss on." Link stared dumbfounded at the tentacled being.
"In any case, the solution to your problem is quite simple." He turned his back to Link and floated towards a cabinet made out of corals and seashells. "To get what you want, you must gain legs and become a human yourself. " Link's astonished look made the wizard smile with gratification. He had him now. Sheik's senses tingled with red bells of warning, before they were a silent and almost whispering sound in the back of his mind, but at present they became a full war cry. Unfortunately, he knew that the wizard was Link's only chance to reach his beloved human prince. And although his whole soul screamed danger, his heart told him to fall back and let Link do whatever he pleased. His friend happiness was worth more than anything.
Link's eyes shone with joy and relief. Could the wizard possibly turn him human? Could he actually change his useless tail for a pair of walking legs? His meaningless existence to one of ever lasting love?
"Can you…Can you do that?" He asked with a low and doubtful voice. The wizard smile was confident.
"My young and foolish boy." He began and swam towards Link with his big and strong tentacles. "That's what I do! It's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to." He held Link by the shoulders and pushed him along to show him around his terrifying home.
"You know, in the past I was quite nasty. But I was proud to call myself a wizard of unimaginable power." He pointed to a portrait of himself in which his appearance was regal and his whole aura exuded pride and noblesse. "But old Daphnes found out about my not so light deeds and banished me here. Yet, on my exile I learned the art of redemption and compassion. I saw the light so to speak and made a switch." He then pulled Link along and brought him before tomes and tomes of parchments and scribblings. "Fortunately, the road of good never clashed with my magical learning. And so, in here I kept on studying and practicing the art, my talent. But now I use it to aid the miserable, poorly and depressed; unfortunate souls that wish to change their lives, their future and their destinies. If one complains about here shape and appearance, I make her thin and curvy. If another one wants a face sculpted by the gods and the body of one, one snap of my fingers and voila, he gets it." Sheik kept a careful watch on the pair as Ganondorf moved about his place. One wrong move and he will gladly severe the head from his shoulders. He didn't like him nor this situation. He didn't like it at all.
"Now…its happened once or twice. You see my services have a fee. And if you don't pay such fee well…complications. Just complications. Yes. Some have complained, but otherwise, I've been much of a saint." He returned Link to Sheik's side and took out from a drawer a piece of parchment. "Do we have a deal, young man? Your fish tail for a pair of working legs?" He offered the parchment to Link and with a meaningful raised brow handed him bone and ink. Link eyed the paper joyfully, but his smile soon turned to a saddened frown. He turned to Sheik, his eyes sorrowful. His friend asked him with just a simply glare what was wrong. Wasn't this what he wanted? Wasn't this what he dreamed of? Link sighed and stared at the parchment with longing.
"But…if I become human…" He massaged his neck slowly. "I will never see my friends and family." The wizard chuckled a bit.
"A just price for a future with your loved one. Of course life is full of tough choices."
"I know but…" The wizard snatched the parchment from him. "Wait!"
"Before anything else…we haven't discussed the subject of payment." He said and swam towards his cauldron, placing the paper on it he began to scribble. Link was dumbstruck. Payment? He hadn't brought anything to pay him with. Could the journey have ended just before it had begun?
"I don't have any…"
"Oh don't worry. I am not asking for gold or gems. That I already hold plenty of. What I ask of you is for you to give me your voice." He handed the parchment back. And indeed in the exchange section he had written with perfect penmanship the word voice.
"But…" Link could barely speak. His voice? "But without my voice…how can I…" Without his voice he could never be able to talk to the prince. How could he win someone's heart, confess his love if he couldn't even convey the simplest of things.
"Don't worry about it. You still posses other ways in which you can properly express your deepest affection." He said with a knowing look that didn't go unnoticed by Sheik.
"How dare you suggest Link to do such acts?!" He exclaimed enraged. And if it hadn't been for Link's strong grasp on his arm, he might have plunged the knife deep in Ganondorf's chest.
"I am only stating a way in which he might communicate. It depends on Link how far he might want to go with the sense of touch." Ganondorf stated with calmness, but one could see he enjoyed rallying the young guard up.
"You utter bastard." Sheik hissed. "You like this don't you? You like to help merfolk but you damned their dreams by making them impossible to achieve! You will rot in Poseidon's realm! I hope you do!"
"SILENCE!" Ganondorf yelled. "It doesn't concern you how I manage my business! You either take it or leave it! It's up to you to decide! If you don't like my terms, then away with you!" He said and was about to snatch the parchment once more from Link's hands when said merman turned away.
"NO!" In a haste scribbled his name and handed the parchment back. Sheik's dreadful face went unnoticed by his friend. Ganondorf smirk was wider than usual. "Please…forgive my friend…May this small mishap not threaten our contract." Ganondorf held the parchment with outmost care.
"Don't worry young merman it won't." He said and filed the parchment away in his drawer. "Now young one, before the transaction begins" He motioned for him to take a seat before his cauldron. "I'll explain to you how everything should work for you." Link sat and Sheik beside him, his eyes never leaving his friend's form and his face ashen pale. Link…what have you done? What have you done?