To Take a Mask
The moments after the time we hugged have been quite awkward. I am carving a spear out of a wooden stick I have found in the meadow while Euvaela is making us beds out of leaves and grass. We constantly glance at each other from across the field in curiosity and embarrassment. Part of the reason I am embarrassed is that I've never hugged anyone before. Imagine what it'd look like, me, Ganondorf, Mr. All-Mighty King of Evil, hugging someone. In fact, I haven't ever even been hugged in my life. Thinking of this brings me back to my early childhood..
~ ~ ~
"Ganondorf!" my mother screams from the first floor of the house. "Get down here! It's time to eat!"
"I don't wanna," I yell back down the stairs. "Everybody hates me."
"Ganondorf," my mother says in an even angrier tone. "If you do not come down here THIS instant, heads will ROLL!"
I squeal at this thought, and respond, "You hate me, too!"
"I'll hate you more if you don't come and eat!" she shrieks as she comes up the stairs. I frantically search for a place to hide as I hear her dreaded footsteps, each louder than the last. But it is too late when she finally enters my room.
"Mom! No!" I say as she glares at me and raises her fist. I begin to cry, which, of course, makes her even more fuming mad. "No, Mom!" I say through sobs. "I'm sorry! I'll eat! I'm sorry!"
"You'll be more sorry when I'm through with you!" she screeches as though she were still downstairs. She punches me hard in the head, and I can already feel the bruise coming up. "You'll learn to come and eat! And you'll learn to do it with respect, too!"
I bawl even louder as she continues to pummel my head back and forth. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Fine, then!" my mother cries. "Don't eat! I won't feed you! More for me!"
I sit there, crying and moaning and feeling sorry for myself as she stomps back downstairs.
~ ~ ~
To this day, I wonder why my mother despised me as much as she did. I always wanted to know why she hit me, but asking this out loud only caused her to punch me some more.
"Ganondorf?" Euvaela says as she walks over to me. I quickly shake out of this flashback and turn to her. "What is it?"
"It is nothing, I'm just, erm," I reply, searching for an excuse as to why I've been staring blankly into space for the last five minutes. "I'm examining this spear to see if it's finished yet or not."
"Ganondorf," Euvaela says back suspiciously. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Well," I say, still reluctant to tell her of my horrible past. "I am."
"Do you want to discuss it?" Euvaela asks me tenderly.
"No, not really," I say hesitantly, for I don't want to hurt her feelings.
"All right, then," Euvaela says. I am truly shocked by this response. "If you don't want to talk about it, well, then, we don't need to."
I breathe a sigh of relief. A few minutes pass by, and finally, I say, "Okay, I don't want to discuss it. But I feel as though I must tell you and be honest with you."
"Are you sure?" Euvaela asks cautiously. I simply nod my head in response.
I begin the long story of my child hood and how I was ridiculed for my ugliness. I then go into my story of evil triumph, when I nearly took over Hyrule, and, finally, how Link and the Sages trapped me in the Sacred Realm. Then, Zelda put it all in the past with the Ocarina of Time, so that no one would know these torturous events had occurred. The only reason I know that Zelda did this is because it is the only logical thing to do in this situation. Finally, I end by telling Euvaela about being trapped in the Sacred Realm for seven years, and how lonely I had been, and how I wished - and still wish - I hadn't done the things I did.
"Then," I say, bringing my story to a close. "I somehow escaped the Realm, and I was finally free again. But I have vowed to no longer be evil. There is no point, I have found. Only pain will evolve from being a villain."
After taking a moment to take my story in, Euvaela finally says, "Well, at least you're no longer evil, right? That's all that matters."
"I suppose so," I say sadly, for I know that the Sages will not accept this reasoning. Euvaela walks back to making the beds, and I sit in misery, wondering what is left for me to do before the Sages finally find me here.
I turn to Euvaela, and I say, "Do you believe I am evil? That I am a wicked and horrendous beast?"
"No, I don't," Euvaela says sincerely. "I just believe that you are lost, and still need time to find your way out."
I look at the ground, wondering if she is right. She runs over to me, comforting me by putting her arm around my shoulder. "You are not a beast," she says to me, with a look of full honesty in her eyes. "You just need to learn to control your feelings of hatred for these Sages and this Link."
I look up at her and smile slightly, but then I frown again.
"What is it now?" Euvaela asks exhaustedly.
"This mask," I begin as I gesture to her lips and cheeks, which have lipstick and blush put on them. "It hides your true beauty."
"What does?" she asks in confusion. "My make-up? No, no, Ganondorf, it brings out my beauty!"
"No, it doesn't," I say in protest. "It is like a mask. It hides your real face. You don't need a mask to be pretty."
I get a handful of water, cupping my hands so that it won't spill out. I pour it on her cheeks, and the blush fades away. Then, I bring my hand to her lips, and I smudge off the lipstick from her face. This leaves her face pale, and her lips near white.
She stares into my eyes in confusion, and I gently run her hair through my fingers as though my hand is a comb.
I lean in, and I kiss her. I don't know why I am doing this, but I am. I have never kissed someone in my life, and it seems as though she is kissing back. It must look funny to any passers-by, a man with my enormous structure kissing a woman who is so tiny and fragile.
"Stop, Ganondorf!" I hear someone yell from across the field. I turn away from Euvaela to see a female Zora with blue earrings and a triangular head leaping out of the nearby river, and I want to kick myself, realizing that this river must be connected to Zora's Domain. This Zora's name is Ruto, the Sage of Water and the princess of the Zoran people. I back away in fear, knowing that where one Sage is, the others can't be too far away.
My theory is proven correct as I see Rauru, a large man in an orange gown, running towards me from the left. He is the Sage of Light, and I groan in fear, knowing that they are ganging up on me.
"We've got you surrounded!" I hear a familiar voice say from behind me. I turn to see Nabooru, Sage of Spirit, closing in on Euvaela and I. Nabooru is right: We are surrounded.
"Give it up, Ganondorf," Rauru says rather darkly. "We've got you trapped. Soon the other Sages will be here, and you will be in the Sacred Realm again within a matter of minutes.
Suddenly, Euvaela stands up and speaks. "Leave him alone! Ganondorf means no harm! He has changed!"
"Euvaela!" I shout to her as I stand, as well. "Don't get involved in this." I turn to Rauru angrily. "Rauru, don't you see that if I had wanted to do something, I would have done it by now?"
"Please," Ruto said sarcastically. "He's just trying to trick us!"
"Fine!" I say, enraged at their insolence. "You leave me no choice but to defend myself!"
"No!" Euvaela cries as she grabs my arm. "You must not hate them!"
"Stay away from him, girl!" Rauru says to Euvaela. "You don't know what he's capable of!"
"Yes I - " Euvaela begins, but she is quickly interrupted when a dark figure falls from the sky. Impa, Sage of Shadow.
"Sorry I'm late," Impa says to Rauru. "Saria, Darunia, and Zelda should arriver at any moment."
"No!" I yell as I blast a shot of dark energy at a surprised Ruto. She flies backwards onto the ground. I grab Euvaela in my arms and quickly run outside of the circle and begin to dash away.
I can feel the heat from a bolt of light just behind us. Rauru.
I can hear the flow of a beam of water just to our right. Ruto.
I can see a ray of shadow jet through the air just above us. Impa.
I can almost touch an orange light an inch to the left of me face. Nabooru.
Their shouts of rage are fading behind us, and I find a log to hide in. I may have just enough time to figure out what to do. I look helplessly at Euvaela.
"Ganondorf," Euvaela says in a daze of confusion. "What's going on?"
"They're after me!" I say rapidly. "Do you know where we can go to hide?"
"Let me think," Euvaela says. She pops her head back up. "I know a place."
We run from the log, and I follow her swiftly, running for my life.
The moments after the time we hugged have been quite awkward. I am carving a spear out of a wooden stick I have found in the meadow while Euvaela is making us beds out of leaves and grass. We constantly glance at each other from across the field in curiosity and embarrassment. Part of the reason I am embarrassed is that I've never hugged anyone before. Imagine what it'd look like, me, Ganondorf, Mr. All-Mighty King of Evil, hugging someone. In fact, I haven't ever even been hugged in my life. Thinking of this brings me back to my early childhood..
~ ~ ~
"Ganondorf!" my mother screams from the first floor of the house. "Get down here! It's time to eat!"
"I don't wanna," I yell back down the stairs. "Everybody hates me."
"Ganondorf," my mother says in an even angrier tone. "If you do not come down here THIS instant, heads will ROLL!"
I squeal at this thought, and respond, "You hate me, too!"
"I'll hate you more if you don't come and eat!" she shrieks as she comes up the stairs. I frantically search for a place to hide as I hear her dreaded footsteps, each louder than the last. But it is too late when she finally enters my room.
"Mom! No!" I say as she glares at me and raises her fist. I begin to cry, which, of course, makes her even more fuming mad. "No, Mom!" I say through sobs. "I'm sorry! I'll eat! I'm sorry!"
"You'll be more sorry when I'm through with you!" she screeches as though she were still downstairs. She punches me hard in the head, and I can already feel the bruise coming up. "You'll learn to come and eat! And you'll learn to do it with respect, too!"
I bawl even louder as she continues to pummel my head back and forth. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Fine, then!" my mother cries. "Don't eat! I won't feed you! More for me!"
I sit there, crying and moaning and feeling sorry for myself as she stomps back downstairs.
~ ~ ~
To this day, I wonder why my mother despised me as much as she did. I always wanted to know why she hit me, but asking this out loud only caused her to punch me some more.
"Ganondorf?" Euvaela says as she walks over to me. I quickly shake out of this flashback and turn to her. "What is it?"
"It is nothing, I'm just, erm," I reply, searching for an excuse as to why I've been staring blankly into space for the last five minutes. "I'm examining this spear to see if it's finished yet or not."
"Ganondorf," Euvaela says back suspiciously. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Well," I say, still reluctant to tell her of my horrible past. "I am."
"Do you want to discuss it?" Euvaela asks me tenderly.
"No, not really," I say hesitantly, for I don't want to hurt her feelings.
"All right, then," Euvaela says. I am truly shocked by this response. "If you don't want to talk about it, well, then, we don't need to."
I breathe a sigh of relief. A few minutes pass by, and finally, I say, "Okay, I don't want to discuss it. But I feel as though I must tell you and be honest with you."
"Are you sure?" Euvaela asks cautiously. I simply nod my head in response.
I begin the long story of my child hood and how I was ridiculed for my ugliness. I then go into my story of evil triumph, when I nearly took over Hyrule, and, finally, how Link and the Sages trapped me in the Sacred Realm. Then, Zelda put it all in the past with the Ocarina of Time, so that no one would know these torturous events had occurred. The only reason I know that Zelda did this is because it is the only logical thing to do in this situation. Finally, I end by telling Euvaela about being trapped in the Sacred Realm for seven years, and how lonely I had been, and how I wished - and still wish - I hadn't done the things I did.
"Then," I say, bringing my story to a close. "I somehow escaped the Realm, and I was finally free again. But I have vowed to no longer be evil. There is no point, I have found. Only pain will evolve from being a villain."
After taking a moment to take my story in, Euvaela finally says, "Well, at least you're no longer evil, right? That's all that matters."
"I suppose so," I say sadly, for I know that the Sages will not accept this reasoning. Euvaela walks back to making the beds, and I sit in misery, wondering what is left for me to do before the Sages finally find me here.
I turn to Euvaela, and I say, "Do you believe I am evil? That I am a wicked and horrendous beast?"
"No, I don't," Euvaela says sincerely. "I just believe that you are lost, and still need time to find your way out."
I look at the ground, wondering if she is right. She runs over to me, comforting me by putting her arm around my shoulder. "You are not a beast," she says to me, with a look of full honesty in her eyes. "You just need to learn to control your feelings of hatred for these Sages and this Link."
I look up at her and smile slightly, but then I frown again.
"What is it now?" Euvaela asks exhaustedly.
"This mask," I begin as I gesture to her lips and cheeks, which have lipstick and blush put on them. "It hides your true beauty."
"What does?" she asks in confusion. "My make-up? No, no, Ganondorf, it brings out my beauty!"
"No, it doesn't," I say in protest. "It is like a mask. It hides your real face. You don't need a mask to be pretty."
I get a handful of water, cupping my hands so that it won't spill out. I pour it on her cheeks, and the blush fades away. Then, I bring my hand to her lips, and I smudge off the lipstick from her face. This leaves her face pale, and her lips near white.
She stares into my eyes in confusion, and I gently run her hair through my fingers as though my hand is a comb.
I lean in, and I kiss her. I don't know why I am doing this, but I am. I have never kissed someone in my life, and it seems as though she is kissing back. It must look funny to any passers-by, a man with my enormous structure kissing a woman who is so tiny and fragile.
"Stop, Ganondorf!" I hear someone yell from across the field. I turn away from Euvaela to see a female Zora with blue earrings and a triangular head leaping out of the nearby river, and I want to kick myself, realizing that this river must be connected to Zora's Domain. This Zora's name is Ruto, the Sage of Water and the princess of the Zoran people. I back away in fear, knowing that where one Sage is, the others can't be too far away.
My theory is proven correct as I see Rauru, a large man in an orange gown, running towards me from the left. He is the Sage of Light, and I groan in fear, knowing that they are ganging up on me.
"We've got you surrounded!" I hear a familiar voice say from behind me. I turn to see Nabooru, Sage of Spirit, closing in on Euvaela and I. Nabooru is right: We are surrounded.
"Give it up, Ganondorf," Rauru says rather darkly. "We've got you trapped. Soon the other Sages will be here, and you will be in the Sacred Realm again within a matter of minutes.
Suddenly, Euvaela stands up and speaks. "Leave him alone! Ganondorf means no harm! He has changed!"
"Euvaela!" I shout to her as I stand, as well. "Don't get involved in this." I turn to Rauru angrily. "Rauru, don't you see that if I had wanted to do something, I would have done it by now?"
"Please," Ruto said sarcastically. "He's just trying to trick us!"
"Fine!" I say, enraged at their insolence. "You leave me no choice but to defend myself!"
"No!" Euvaela cries as she grabs my arm. "You must not hate them!"
"Stay away from him, girl!" Rauru says to Euvaela. "You don't know what he's capable of!"
"Yes I - " Euvaela begins, but she is quickly interrupted when a dark figure falls from the sky. Impa, Sage of Shadow.
"Sorry I'm late," Impa says to Rauru. "Saria, Darunia, and Zelda should arriver at any moment."
"No!" I yell as I blast a shot of dark energy at a surprised Ruto. She flies backwards onto the ground. I grab Euvaela in my arms and quickly run outside of the circle and begin to dash away.
I can feel the heat from a bolt of light just behind us. Rauru.
I can hear the flow of a beam of water just to our right. Ruto.
I can see a ray of shadow jet through the air just above us. Impa.
I can almost touch an orange light an inch to the left of me face. Nabooru.
Their shouts of rage are fading behind us, and I find a log to hide in. I may have just enough time to figure out what to do. I look helplessly at Euvaela.
"Ganondorf," Euvaela says in a daze of confusion. "What's going on?"
"They're after me!" I say rapidly. "Do you know where we can go to hide?"
"Let me think," Euvaela says. She pops her head back up. "I know a place."
We run from the log, and I follow her swiftly, running for my life.