Inside the castle, Hylia and Link sat at a round wooden table in the servants' dining area. Link had both his arms and legs crossed, staring at Hylia with an unreadable expression. This didn't seem to make the Goddess uncomfortable as she simply smiled and laid a pure white cloth on the table's center. Stitched into the middle appeared to be some sort of design similar to a blue bird. However, it was too abstract to know for sure.

"This is a Sailcloth," Hylia explained. "I made it just for you. If you must jump from a great height, opening the Sailcloth over your head will slow your descent."

"That's very kind of you," Link admitted. "But I don't see myself leaping from a great height in this battle."

"Perhaps you will. I'm offering you my Loftwing to use," Hylia replied.

Link cocked his head slightly. "Loftwing? You mean that huge bird you were riding on? I don't think I'd be able to ride something like that."

"It will come to you naturally, I'm sure," Hylia continued. "Also, I'm afraid the sword you have at the moment won't be suitable enough for the evil we're fighting." She smiled apologetically. "I'll have to give you a holy sword I created myself."

Link frowned in disapproval, but he unsheathed his current sword and handed it to Hylia. "Do what you will with it. I don't see you with a weapon yourself."

The Goddess took the blade in disbelief, but hastily wiped the dumbfounded expression off her face. "Thank you very much. I'll use it well and I'll give it back when we've won…" Her voice faltered a bit on the last line. She cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway, I made this especially for you." She held out her two delicate hands and summoned a sword with a pale blue hilt and a grayed blade. "This is my gift to you. It has not yet reached its true potential, but it should be enough for now. This evil is not at its full power and can be destroyed with this blade. However, it may take some time. The battle will be very long and difficult. Will you still fight?"

"I'll fight, but not with that sword," Link answered with a solemn smile. "I've been imprisoned for a few years. I'm too impure to even lay eyes on something you've created. In fact, I'm not worthy to be speaking with you right now. Perhaps you've made a mistake…"

Hylia's calm expression was replaced by a furious one, throwing Link off guard. "Does your Goddess make mistakes? Are you rejecting the fate you've been drawn to? This sword was made for the one you call 'impure.' You were jailed by a madman for a crime you did not commit. This blade was created for human hands, and I want you to wield it."

With that, she defiantly set it directly in front of him. Link attempted to get over his shock, but it was a bit difficult. Even Hylia's anger was graceful! How was that possible? Anyway, he knew better than to defy the Goddess herself, so he hesitantly picked up the sword and put it in the scabbard he wore on his back. Hylia returned to her calm, collected self and sighed in relief.

"I apologize for that," she said sheepishly. "I simply can't believe you would think of yourself as unworthy. It's awful what happened to you, but it doesn't make you any lower than what you once were. Understand?" Link nodded in response. "Good. Now, I should explain something. That sword has a mind of its own, but it hasn't been awakened yet. The spirit is waiting for another hero after your time. But this evil, Demise, also has a blade."

"Demise?" Link repeated incredulously. "That's his name? Did his parents hate him or something?"

"Link, please take this seriously," Hylia sighed. "Anyway, Demise's sword has a spirit inside it as well, but this one has already been awakened. His name is Ghirahim and don't you dare make a comment about his name." Link shut his mouth obediently, feeling like a child being told off by his mother. "Your blade was created specifically to match his in battle, but they are equals at this point. One is not stronger than the other. So you must be careful. Ghirahim will no doubt take a human form and fight you. Don't get too overconfident. When the time is right, we'll go after Demise. He'll show up eventually. Does this make sense?"

"I think so," Link answered. "For now, I think we should go help everyone else outside."

Hylia nodded in agreement. "Alright, then. Let's go."

As Hylia stepped outside, her pale blue eyes widened in shock. Link stood beside her, his arms crossed and his expression still blank. The amount of monsters had doubled. At least half were skeletons and odd lizard-like creatures. Hylia's knights were quickly falling in battle, their bodies littering the field.

"He's here," Hylia said, distraught. She looked to Link, desperation showing clearly in her face. "Ghirahim is here! You must hold him off for me. He is the one controlling the monsters, so defeating him should cause their numbers to diminish."

"Of course," Link nodded. "Where do I find him? He must be hiding somewhere."

Hylia shook her head. "Trust me, he'll come to you. He isn't one to hide. I'll go and wait for Demise. Once he comes out, I'll need your aid with that. So drive Ghirahim away quickly."

Link drew his sword and gave the Goddess a nonchalant smile. "As you wish." He dashed into the battle, striking down a Lizard Monster with a single blow to its head. He then turned around and hit his hilt against the skull of a skeleton violently, sending it to the ground.

"I don't see what's so special about you," a voice suddenly said over the din of the clashing of swords and agonized shouts. "You fight just like all the other humans here."

Link knit his eyebrows suspiciously and turned around. "Oh, Goddesses…" he groaned, caught off guard by the new being's appearance. His dull greyed skin was covered in white skin-tight clothes. His colorless hair was irregular, covering his left and leaving his right one free to study Link. Somehow Link already felt violated by letting this…thing stare at him.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man greeted with a polite bow. "I am Demon Lord Ghirahim."

"Ghirahim's enough," Link replied, not allowing his disgust show.

"No, I prefer my full title," Ghirahim argued, now sounding a bit more frustrated.

"Nah." Link waved his hand in rejection. "That's too long. Even 'Ghirahim' is a lot."

The demon smirked. "Would you rather simply refer to me as Lord?"

Link frowned and tightened his grip on his sword. "Ghirahim it is. Anyway, I'm supposed to fight you. So draw your weapon so I can kill you fairly."

"Draw my weapon?" Ghirahim laughed. "I am a weapon. A sword to be exact. But I can wield a blade of my own if you'd like." He summoned a thin, black sword in his hands in a flurry of orange diamonds. Link, without thinking too hard about the concept of a sword wielding a sword, lunged at the Demon Lord before his enemy had a chance to react. Ghirahim effortlessly stepped out of the way.

He chuckled in amusement and snapped his fingers. Sharp diamond-shaped projectiles appeared around him. With another snap, the diamonds headed towards Link. He simply hit them with his sword and sent them flying back at Ghirahim, one cutting the demon's cheek.

Ghirahim put a gloved finger to his cut and smiled. "Perhaps this won't be as boring as I thought. And here I expected the pawn of the Goddess to be more pathetic. Oh, I apologize. Being called a pawn must bother a prideful human like you."

"Not particularly," Link smirked coyly. "If I am the Goddess's pawn, so be it. It doesn't bother me."

Ghirahim grimaced and pointed his blade at Link's throat. "Are you fine with being the pet of a weak goddess?"

"Perhaps." Link dug his boots into the dirt, reading himself for the next attack. "She seems nice enough. I wouldn't mind a bit. You know, you're a pawn to your master as well. So why don't we see which pet is more worthy to serve their master."

"Sounds entertaining." Ghirahim readied his own blade. Without warning, he rushed towards Link and thrust out his blade, Link doing the same blindly. Both froze in their position, still registering what happened.

Link laughed weakly after a beat of silence. "It seems I'm superior."

"Don't be so sure," Ghirahim retorted breathily. He slowly retracted his sword from Link's side. Link groaned in agony, quickly ripping his own weapon from the center of the demon's chest. Though Ghirahim was obviously in pain, but he was still standing straight and proud, his free hand over his chest. Link was bent over and breathing heavy. The wound on his left side was practically flowing blood. But he was fine. After all, he could still hold a sword.

"I guess it'll take more to kill you," Link chuckled, the world beginning to spin.

"Indeed," Ghirahim huffed dramatically. A storm of black and white diamonds surrounded him. When they fell away, his form had completely changed. His body was now more muscular and black with white markings. His hair was also changed, now styled upwards and ending in a point. "But I have no time for you," he continued, his voice deeper than before. "My master is coming, so I'll leave you to play with your little Goddess."

"Wait! That's it?!" Link called. But it was too late. Ghirahim had teleported away in another flurry of diamonds. Hylia approached him slowly, eyeing his wound. He met her eyes apologetically. "Sorry. I didn't think he'd just run away like that. And now I have this…" He looked down at his side.

"It's alright," Hylia said sorrowfully. "It's my fault. I should've faced him myself. You should go in the castle and get patched up."

"No."

The Goddess blinked stupidly. "No?"

"Ghirahim said Demise was coming. I can't leave now."

"B-But…" Hylia's voice trailed off, knowing it was useless to convince him. "But you'll die…"

Link shrugged a shoulder. "There isn't much left for me here anyway. Plus I know you'll get me into paradise, right? Or whatever's up there." His vacant expression disappeared temporarily, being replaced with a more innocent one. "What is up there?"

Hylia blinked stupidly, obviously dumbfounded by the sudden question at such a time. "Oh, well, it's a very beautiful place where all pure people go. You get to see loved ones again and everyone's smiling."

"Will I be there too?" Link asked.

Hylia looked away and wiped her eyes. "O-Of course," she stuttered. When Link raised an eyebrow at her reaction, she added, "I just don't want you to die."

Link couldn't help but laugh at her confession. "That's alright. Death doesn't scare me. It's just like going to sleep. And the great Goddess herself should know how much I love napping."

The Goddess blushed and hung her head in embarrassment. "I suppose. But now is no time for such conversations. The moment of truth arrives. One we seal away Demise it'll be all over."

"I know. Hopefully it won't take long. Are you ready?" Link asked with sincere concern.

"Yes," Hylia nodded. "I can sense Demise approaching the field. I'll lead you to him."

It was pretty obvious which monster was Demise. He stuck out like a sore thumb. He was several feet taller than Link, who was pretty tall as it was, and had long, fiery hair. Like, literally, his hair was on fire. His face was scrunched up, constantly in the state of disgust, and the only clothing he wore was black cape around his waist.

"Well, this is gonna be a bitch to defeat," Link groaned. He turned to Hylia apologetically. He probably shouldn't curse in front of the Goddess herself. "Sorry."

"No. You're right," Hylia replied, struggling to retain her calm composure. "We'll need to work together to seal him. Use my Loftwing. It'll make things easier."

"How?" Link asked. "Demise is on the ground."

"He may send enemies from the sky to attack. But with that injury of yours, I want you to stay on the Loftwing. You won't have to be on your feet and irritate it as much. Just do the best you can." Hylia summoned a golden bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows around her shoulder. "No turning back now." She looked at his wound. His hand was covering it and he was pretending like it was no big deal, but it obvious it brought him a lot of pain. "Are you certain you can fight?"

"Yes," Link answered confidently. "I can still fight just fine. A bit uncomfortably, but I'll make do. Just promise me that if I need rescuing you won't throw yourself into danger to save me. You're more important in this battle than I am."

Hylia sagged her shoulders and nodded hesitantly. "I'll do my best. But you have to promise something too. If you can no longer fight efficiently, you are to go directly back to the castle."

"If you say so," Link sighed in defeat. "Let's just get this over with."

Not this thing again, Link thought. He was sitting atop Hylia's crimson Loftwing, hovering stationary in the sky. Riding a Loftwing was actually much easier than he thought; it was much like riding a horse. So it was comforting he could shoot an arrow in Ghirahim's face without struggling for control.

Down below, Ghirahim was with Demise, laughing haughtily at the destruction around him. Link wasted no time to nock an arrow and point it at the Demon Lord, but he didn't fire just quite yet…

He was paying close attention to the bodies around the duo, specifically the soldiers' corpses. There weren't many of the monsters around them. If fact, Ghirahim often kicked a soldier's body out of his path as he paced as if it were a rock.

"Ugh… Just stay still," Link told the Loftwing. He instantly released the arrow and watched eagerly as it sailed straight at an unsuspecting Ghirahim's temple.

Ping!

"…Wha-?" Link slapped a hand to his face in irritation when the arrow simply bounced off the Demon Lord, not even making a dent. Ghirahim looked down at the arrow and picked it up, studying it with an entertained grin. His blank eyes met Link's as he held up the arrow and waved it in the air mockingly.

Dammit, Link thought bitterly. He knew I was here…

"Well," Link found it in himself to laugh. "You aren't as dumb as you look."

"I'm afraid I can't say the same for you," Ghirahim replied. He turned to Demise and gave a small bow. "Would you mind if I got rid of this pest for you?"

"Not at all," Demise answered in a deep, booming voice, specifically what Link expected to come out of him. "But only if you do it quickly."

"Oh, it'll only take a minute or two," Ghirahim assured him. "He's fragile, you know. I ran my sword through his side and he nearly lost consciousness right then and there. I'd even say he almost died from such a trivial wound!"

"Stop screwing around!" Link shouted impatiently. "Come up here and fight me!"

Ghirahim crossed his arms and tilted his head. "As powerful as I am, I can't fly. So you'll have to come down here."

Link narrowed his gaze at the Demon Lord. Hylia had specifically told him to stay on his Loftwing. But the Loftwing would be too bulky to fight on near the ground. Link looked to his left where the Goddess was. She was using her Light Arrows to keep the smaller monsters off him, but she was a while away. Perhaps she wouldn't notice… Who was he kidding? She was the Goddess herself! Of course she would notice.

"Fine," Link finally answered. "I'll come to you. But it's just you and me; don't go calling for backup out of nowhere."

"Backup?" Ghirahim repeated incredulously. "For you? I'm far stronger than you'll ever be. And since this will be a fight to the death, I suggest you beg your Goddesses to have mercy on your soul. You'll be seeing them soon, after all."

Link rolled his eyes and guided his Loftwing to the ground. Once they landed, Link slipped off its back and met Ghirahim's gaze. He drew his sword and twirled it in his hand. The Demon Lord summoned his dark blade and grinned sadistically. Demise simply stood to the side, likely watching for his own entertainment.

Not surprisingly, Ghirahim made the first move. He snapped his fingers and sharp diamonds instantly shot straight towards Link. Expecting this attack, Link simply stepped out of the way. He then sprinted towards his adversary, but once Ghirahim raised his free hand to catch Link's sword, he rolled behind the demon and slashed his back. However, he was met with the sound of metal slicing metal. Ghirahim spun on heels to face Link angrily.

"Huh. I guess you really are a sword," Link smirked, more than happy to provoke his enemy. "You're made of metal. But I think it's quite obvious what you're weak spot is…"

He cast his gaze downwards at a grey diamond on Ghirahim's chest. He caught Demise rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Ghirahim defensively placed his free hand over the diamond.

"W-Well… It doesn't matter if you know where it is if you can't hit it," he retorted.

Link smirked and tightened his grip on the sword's hilt. "We'll see."

The small battle they waged went on for much longer than Link had anticipated. After about two to three hours he was covered in everything from small cuts to deep gashes. He even had a large bruise on his forehead from where he was hit with the hilt of Ghirahim's sword. Demise was waiting patiently, though it was clear he was disappointed Ghirahim hadn't killed Link yet. The two now stood facing each other. While Ghirahim still stood proudly even with his diamond being impaled at one point, Link was hunched over with ragged breathing, quickly exhausting himself.

"He isn't as bad as I thought," Demise commented with an almost encouraging nod. "But you've worn him down enough. He's on his last breath. Allow me to finish him off."

"As you wish," Ghirahim replied with a polite bow. He began to change form yet again, this time becoming a giant black sword in Demise's hand.

"Great," Link groaned. "Now I have to deal with you."

"Don't think of it like that." Demise stared him in the eye threateningly, though he didn't show any sign of harming him. "I'll make it quick. I'm putting you out of your misery."

"Misery?" a voice repeated in disgust. Link's eyes widened and he hung his head in embarrassment as Hylia approached him. "You dare speak to my chosen hero in such a manner?" Link was sincerely wondering what Demise said wrong, but Hylia wasn't having any of it. His cheeks burned when her furious blue eyes met his. "And you! I told you to stay on my Loftwing to keep your injury from worsening. And you disobeyed me. Explain yourself."

Link simply shrunk back in fear. The Goddess gave him one job and he couldn't keep his rashness from controlling his actions. And it was quite clear she was genuinely angry. "Um… I'm very sorry," he apologized, bowing his head.

To his pleasant surprise, Hylia sighed and her fury disappeared. "Link, I was worried about you. You should've come to me so I could help you."

"I'm sorry," Link repeated sheepishly. "It won't happen again."

"Good," Hylia smiled. "Now let's finish this."

Demise held up his hand to stop her words. "Wait a moment. Are you saying that this man is your chosen hero? You must be joking. He is but a normal human!"

"Ghirahim wasn't able to kill him," Hylia defended. She nocked an arrow and aimed at Demise's head. "And neither will you."

She let the arrow fly, but Demise dodged such an obvious attack. However, Link took the opportunity to rush forward and barely slice his arm. Demise recoiled and glanced at his bleeding cut.

"Nice try." He held up his good arm and rose his blade skyward. A sudden strike of lightening was absorbed by the sword, now shining a dull blue. He swung it towards Link and an azure semicircle of energy shot towards the hero. Link, too stunned by what he just saw, was directly hit by the energy.

"Link!" Hylia cried.

"I-I'm fine…" Link propped himself up on his elbows and grit his teeth in pain. "Don't worry about me. Just go back to what you were doing."

Hylia opened her mouth to say something but decided not to against her better judgement. She simply readied another arrow and continued where she left off.

Now that Link knew about the lightening attacks, they were much easier to dodge. But it was now much harder to get a hit in. This constant evading went on for what seemed like an eternity. But…

"This is useless," Hylia groaned. "We can't hit him and he's not hitting us. We need a new strategy."

"Dammit," Link cursed. "Maybe if we-"

Before he could finish his thought, a lightning strike descended from the sky and electrocuted him. He fell to the ground once more, this time having much more trouble getting up. He could barely see Demise approaching through his clouded vision. Hylia was desperately shouting for Demise to stop, and once she pointed an arrow at him, he slapped her across the face, effortlessly sending her to the ground.

"This was a pretty pathetic resistance," Demise commented in disappointment. "I barely hit the both of you and you're already down. Not that it matters much. I've lost interest in you two." He raised his giant blade and held it above Link's head. He smiled arrogantly. "Any last words?"

"Yup," Link grinned. "I win."

Demise furrowed his eyebrows. He began to say something, but out of his mouth came an agonized scream. Link laughed at the golden arrow buried in the back of his head, Hylia still hanging onto it and driving it deeper into his skull.

"Now!" she shouted at Link urgently.

"Oh… Right." Link weakly picked up his sword and held it over Demise's head as the demon sunk to his knees. "Any last words?"

Demise glared harshly at Link's calm smile. "You're only sealing me. I'll come back."

"And I won't have to deal with your crap when you do." Link then stabbed the sword into Demise's forehead, earning a second scream for his enemy. Hylia slowly let go of the arrow and quickly said an incantation. Demise burst into black particles and was sent flying into the ground. A stone spike appeared in the dirt, sealing Demise there…for a while.

Hylia stood frozen for a moment with heavy breathing before looking up to Link. An elated smile crossed her face. She looked happy…too happy.

"You're…not dead," she laughed. "You're okay!"

Link frowned at the wound on his side. It was bleeding heavier than ever. Even his hand covering it was thoroughly stained red. He knew he wouldn't – couldn't – survive this. It didn't matter how much medical attention he got. His vision was beginning to blur.

"Um, I'd like a moment alone," he said slowly. "Do you mind?"

"What? But your-"

"It's not that bad now," Link lied. "I'll be alright. Just go help the others get back inside. Look – the monsters are already starting to disappear."

Hylia looked around the area where monsters were fleeing and soldiers were congratulating each other. "I suppose. But that doesn't make your injury heal any faster."

"I know," Link smiled. "But I'm going into the castle now. Go celebrate with them. You all deserve it."

"Alright," Hylia sighed in defeat. "But you go back to the castle and rest."

With that she rushed off towards her people who cheered at her appearance. While she was swept up in the commotion, Link quickly took off.

He'd found a small corner against a rock to sit down on. There were soldiers' bodies everywhere, but he'd gotten used to the sight by now. Link rested his back against the boulder and slowly sunk to the ground. He wouldn't have to rest here for long – he was freezing by now.

"At least it's over," he said to himself in a small voice. He looked to his side and studied the corpses, his eyes catching one in particular. One of its eyes were missing and several of its limbs were broken. Link, too tired to be upset or even surprised, simply smiled. "Lucas. You didn't make it. That's alright; neither did I. It's kind of a good thing. I don't have to go through all that cleaning up crap." He frowned at the sky, seeing the dark clouds that came with the monsters hadn't cleared up. "You know, I wonder if the Goddess will be mad at me when I go into the afterlife. I'm just putting it off, huh?" He found the strength to laugh. "Oh, well. She'll have all eternity to yell at me. I don't mind. She's cute when she's angry." He looked down at the Sailcloth that sung from his belt. "I never used it, did I? " He frowned in disappointment. "Now she'll be even more angry with me. Oh, well. I guess I'd better just go to sleep now. Death will take me and I won't even know it."

He looked at the sky one last time. The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds. He smiled contently and closed his eyes, saying one final thing to Lucas's body:

"But at least I won't have to deal with anything like that anymore…"

The weird thing about dying is that you can sort of tell what's going on after you die. Your soul hasn't left your body just yet. The memories are vague, but they're still there. He recalled Hylia running over and hugging his body. She was crying really hard; he wasn't quite sure why. He was just another person who died in the war. But she still couldn't help it. She sat close to him and rested his head on her shoulder, her hand stroking his hair.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized through her tears. "I didn't mean for this to happen… I tried to avoid it. I'm afraid you were born for this moment and it ended up killing you…"

Link didn't mind. He died for a good cause. Plus, Hylia seemed genuinely sorry for it, so why should he hold it against her?

"I watched over you your entire life, you know," the Goddess explained solemnly. "And I…may or may not have loved you." She laughed bitterly at her words. "Who am I kidding? Of course I did. And perhaps I believed in you so much that I put all this on you alone. But that won't happen again. Next time I'll be there."

Link internally frowned. "Next time?"

"I won't leave you alone…" Hylia wrapped her arms around her hero and rested her head against his. "I swear."

"And I sort of blanked out after that."

Young Link hugged his knees to his chest. "Really? All that happened?"

"Yeah." The vision of Hylia's Hero sat cross-legged across from him, his chin resting on his hand. "I was so convinced I would just go into whatever afterlife the Goddesses would provide. But it didn't work out that way. Hylia was so trusting of me that she wanted me to do everything. And, thus, our story begins."

"But all that happened to me," Young Link frowned. "Zelda too. And we don't even remember it. It's so weird."

"I know," the Hero agreed. "But it can't be helped. My Goddess and I are doomed for all eternity. But there's nothing I can do about it."

Young Link didn't say anything. He simply stared at the checkered floor in thought. How could Hylia not foresee this? Why couldn't she just pick another hero?

"When I woke up I was in Sky's body," Hylia's Hero continued. "It was so weird. I had no idea where I was. It took me a while to piece everything together. I could see everything from his eyes, but I had no body or anything. It could get pretty boring." Young Link stayed silent. "You know, I think I might be able to read whatever was carved into Sky's back by now. Want to go check?"

His younger counterpart nodded half-heartedly. "Okay…"

*DONE! FINALLY! Wow, that was a hard chapter to write. Ghirahim didn't want to lose and the Hero didn't want to die. =w=' Plus I went to Atlantic City so I got a week knocked off my writing time. Oh, well. It's late so I don't have anything fun to put here. But write a review and Link x Zelda (Linda as my friend calls it) will become an official thing! Not really! But review anyway! :L Also, thanks to Dragoneon for their lovely review! (I'm planning on editing this thing when I have spare time.)

K bye.*