Chapter 24: Some Scars Never Fade
Hi! Here's a bonus chapter. It's short, but it's still important. Thanks for all your support. It's nice to know that my writing is making some of you look at the Ghirahim we all know so well in a different light. I thought it'd be interesting to explain his back-story as part of this fic. There will be more visions and flashbacks of his past, and just to warn you, some of them are violent. A few of them include torture, so sorry if you don't like that kind of thing. As you may have guessed, this story as a large story arc, and its going to be long. But I promise that while there may be some character deaths, it has a happy ending. Anyway, I'll stop rambling on and let you read the actual story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghirahim, Link, or anything else LOZ. All I've got are my OC's and plot changes.
Marissa POV
My vision was filled with darkness. I blinked open my eyes. Instantly, my sensitive blue irises were filled with a bright light, and I was forced to shut them. I blinked once again. My eyes burned once more, but less severely. It was more like I was opening them underwater than in a vat of salt water. My eyes finally adjusted to the light, and I was able to keep them open for several seconds.
I was staring at the high, wooden ceiling of a room I'd never been in before. Windows slanted at with the edges of the roof, revealing a light morning sky. I turned my head to the left. Beds filled the room in a row aligned with mine. Small shelves lined the walls a few feet above each mattress. I realized I was in an infirmary of some sort.
I groaned and rolled over to my right side.
Ouch. Fire crawled up my right shoulder and neck. I winced, and then opened my eyes to find them staring into a pair of large onyx ones.
"Good morning, my Little Remlit." Ghirahim purred.
"What the—Ghirahim!" I exclaimed, shifting back to the edge of the mattress. My heart pounded, and my muscles tensed up at my flustered surprise. The demon lord was sitting in a chair near the head of my bed. His cape was draped neatly over the back of his seat. He was leaning forward with his elbow resting inches from where my arm had been not ten seconds ago.
"Were you...watching me sleep?" I demanded.
Ghirahim shrugged. "That depends. Would that be considered creepy? Would it make you feel...uncomfortable?"
"Yes! Very!" I exclaimed, feeling my face burn as fiercely as my shoulder.
"Then no." He answered. "But I should add...you do sleep like a remlit, curled in a ball like that. Your nickname is even more genius than I originally thought."
"Dude! What the heck!" I exclaimed in embarrassment. I attempted to sit up, but my shoulder told me otherwise. It felt like it was twice its normal size, though, thankfully, it wasn't. My skin still burned like it was covered in acid, but the redness had almost completely faded. The only evidence of the bite was two small holes near my neck from the spider's pincers.
"Ow..." I muttered.
"Does it hurt?" Ghirahim asked.
"What do you think, smart one?" I snapped.
"I don't know. I've never been bitten by a red skulltula." Ghirahim said with an oblivious shrug.
"Well FYI, yeah, it hurts. A lot." I said dryly.
"FYI?" Ghirahim echoed.
"Never mind." I muttered. "Where am I?"
"Well, after you passed out from the venom, I carried you back to the manor. I had one of my healers give you the antidote. You're lucky. That was our last dose." Ghirahim informed me.
"Well don't I feel special." I muttered. Then I glared at him. "Why did you take me back here, anyway? I thought we had a deal. You said after the walk I could leave!"
Ghirahim examined the candle on the nightstand between my bed and the next one.
"Well...no. Actually, you were the one to make that particular demand when we arranging the conditions of the walk." He countered. "But to answer your question, I wasn't about to leave my servant to die from skulltula poison. I would be ashamed to be associated with someone who suffered such a...pathetic fate. No servant of mine would be allowed to bring dishonor to me in such a way. The only hope for you to survive was for me to bring you back here. You should be thanking me. Unless...you wanted to die a slow, painful death. That can still be arranged." He said, lifting an invisible eyebrow.
"Um...no. I'm good." I said. I stared at him in confusion. This made no sense. From the scene in my dream, Ghirahim had actually seemed concerned for me. Why would he claim to be saving me just for his pride?
Then it hit me. His pride. Someone as proud as Ghirahim wouldn't admit that they saved their servant because they actually cared about her. He was just trying to be cool about it. Typical Ghirahim.
"Right. So...um...thanks and all, but I should really be leaving." I said, attempting to sit up once again. This time, Ghirahim held me down.
"Easy now, my servant. According to my healer, you must rest for several days before you will be fully recovered. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again, now would we?" He asked. His tone was light and neutral (well,as neutral as he could be), but his eyes gave away his concern. Worry was written all over his face. I smiled a bit.
"Right. Your healer thinks I should rest." I teased. Then I sighed. "Whatever. I guess I could take it easy for a couple more days. That is, if you can agree not to watch me sleep again."
Ghirahim threw his hands up in feigned resignation. Then he smiled at me. It was a nice smile. His next sentence, however, was not as pleasant.
"Good. You'll need your strength to keep up with your duties." He said, setting down the candle.
"What 'duties'?" I asked, my smile melting.
"Well, since you are back here in my mansion, you belong to me once again. Though I suppose I should give you a week or so before making you continue with your servant chores." He said.
"What? I am not your servant!" I exclaimed, staring at him in confusion.
"On the contrary, I did save your life. Now we are even, and you have to help me in return." He said with a triumphant smirk.
"That's not how it works! If we're square, then we're square. Neither of us owes the other anything anymore. We can just leave each other in peace. Besides, if we're going to keep score, technically its like, 3-2." I pointed out, panicking. He couldn't be serious.
Ghirahim narrowed his eyes. "And how do you get that, may I ask?"
"One for the tornado. Two for pulling you out of the water, and three for pulling that weed from your throat and getting you to breathe. For you, one point is helping me escape the volcano, and the other is for carrying me back here. That's three for me, and two for you." I explained hurriedly.
"No. I carried you back, and then my healer gave you the potion. That's two." he said, standing up.
"No it's not! The healer gave me the antidote. Bring him into this, and its three to two to one. Either way, I'm still ahead." I said, glaring at him.
"That's not true. The healer works for me, so that means his point goes to me also. It is three to three."
"Fine. Then we are equal. That still means I don't owe you anything." I reasoned. Man was he competitive.
"Enough." Ghirahim said, looking away. "This is the most pointless argument I've had in a decade. You've wasted too much of my time. I expect you to be ready to continue working in two days."
"But that's not fair! You're such an..." I trailed off. He was right. This was pointless. Besides, technically, wasn't I supposed to stay near him? I remembered the vision and my meeting with Hylia. I was here to protect Ghirahim. I was his Defender, whether I liked it or not. And I couldn't protect him very well if I was off adventuring with Link. No, I had to stay here.
I sighed. If I was going to stay here, then I was going to have to try to get along with Ghirahim; even if he did have a habit of getting on my nerves.
"Fine." I said.
"Fine, what?" Ghirahim asked. He was still glaring at me from our argument.
"Fine, I'll stay. Just for a while." I said. Ghirahim nodded curtly. I rolled my eyes. He was still mad at me for who-knows-what. "Also, I just wanted to say...thanks."
Ghirahim regarded me with a weary look. "For what, exactly?" He asked stiffly.
"For saving me. I guess now you know why I hate spiders." I said.
Ghirahim's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then he nodded again.
"Is that all?" He asked.
"Er..." I hesitated. "Um, how's your knee? I saw you scraped it up pretty bad."
Ghirahim's eyes darted to his leg, where a small bandage was wrapped around his right knee.
"I'm fine." He said icily.
So yeah, he was really mad. I had a feeling that it was something more than me not wanting to come back. I think that just made it worse. But then...why was he mad in the first place? Maybe he was still upset that I betrayed him. I guess I could...apologize. That may get me on his good side for once. Hylia did say that I should try to gain his trust and loyalty. How else was I supposed to convince him to betray Demise?
I groaned inwardly. Being sweet and charming didn't exactly come naturally when it came to talking to Ghirahim. No, my initial impulse was usually to be sarcastic, with the occasional urge to smack him across the face with my AmStuds textbook.
I stared at Ghirahim. Then, I imagined the bleeding, suffering boy I saw in my vision. It barely registered that they were the same person. But I imagined I was talking to that boy, and closing my eyes, I said, "Sorry," in a small voice.
I cleared my throat. "Sorry for stabbing you..twice. And being so unpleasant. And betraying you." I said.
Ghirahim gave me a cold look. "You also kicked me in the groin." He muttered.
"Yeah...sorry for that too." I said.
Ghirahim hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but then he nodded with a small smile.
"It's okay." He said. Then he turned around. "Rest well." He called over his shoulder. I looked to the side, and realized he'd forgotten his cape. I considered saying something, but I decided against it. He'd be back.
I smiled a bit, and then nodded. I rested my head back on my pillow, watching him leave. Just before my eyes closed, I noticed something on his back, just for a moment. I stared at him in surprise.
So...the vision was true. What I saw proved it. I'd never noticed it since he was always wearing his mantle, but I caught a glimpse of it just before he left. For from underneath his jumpsuit, snaking its way up to the nape of his neck, was a skinny, pale-white scar.
Progress between the two? We'd better hope so. Anyway, be sure to please fav/follow if you liked it and want me to continue. And, like always, reviews are FANTASTIC. Also, while I have a rough draft of the story, I may still take suggestions for bonus scenes if you have ideas. Anyway, you guys are amazing, and I hope you have a great week. See you!
~Catwhiskers24~