So, last night I heard these weird noises coming from my kitchen. When I went to check it out, what do I see but FFnet eating my reviews? I worked really hard to get those, you silly software! Long story short, I didn't get those reviews back… actually, it might have been my cousin Kyle searching my fridge for beans. But I am going to assume that it was FFnet because I don't want to believe that nobody reviewed last chapter.
Anyway, this is it. The last chapter. There's an epilogue after this, so don't go away just yet.
RRRP:
Chapter XXIII: Indomitable Will
"Leetle man should probably stop that," Ivan chastised.
"Why?" Link inquired, pulling the Ocarina of Time away from his lips.
"You're about to fight an incarnation of Demise, not play music with one."
"But it's a really cool song and it's just begging for a corollary!" Link complained. "Fine…"
He finally put away the Ocarina of Time and drew the Master Sword, habitually twirling it about in his hands. His legs may have felt like jelly from all the stairs he had just had to ascend, but all the anticipatory adrenaline coursing through his veins more or less negated that latent exhaustion.
Ganon's Tower immediately after finishing the Light Barrier was surprisingly boring. Link was expecting some kind of extreme gauntlet, with maybe some of those eldritch abominations like the Kumangiriza or Maoqiu waiting to do battle with him, but instead, it was exactly the same as last time. Two Dinolfos, then two Stalfos, then two Iron Knuckles. The Hero of Time remained unenthused. If Ganondorf really wanted to kill him, he could at least try. Granted, Link somewhat liked what Ganondorf had done with the place. That one massive staircase full of stained-glass windows actually looked really good, and the smaller details like the gargoyles and the vermillion magic ward coursing through the walls really made the whole place stand out. It was cool.
The last door stood in front of him. Not to be confused with the Boss Door; the Boss Door had led him to the chamber directly beneath where Ganondorf was residing. No, this was the last last door, the one behind which the King of Evil himself was waiting. It all came down to this. Link had fought through countless temples, nightmare fuel incarnate, the belly of a whale god, a sweltering cavern, and so much more- twice over. He'd won battles against himself, both mentally and physically. All of it was but a taste of what was to come.
And he was ready.
Mustering his courage, he stepped through the avant-garde Gothic door and saw the King of Evil himself, seated in front of a gargantuan organ while playing a tune that encapsulated everything about Ganondorf perfectly. Above and slightly in front of the organ was Princess Zelda, still stuck in her crystalline prison, staring down at him with slightly fearful, but mostly determined eyes. Every step he took made all of their Triforces glow a little brighter, until they were practically their own little suns. Power surged throughout the decorated chamber as the fragments of godly power nearly reunited once again. That power drained Link of his lethargy and hurt, and revitalized him to his best. He later learned that it was Zelda who had healed him and not the Triforce, but either way, he was getting free healing, so he didn't mind.
The Gerudo ceased his ministrations on the organ, and there was silence.
"The Triforce parts are resonating… They are combining into one again…" Ganondorf's gravelly voice emanated. He didn't sound like he had on that night seven years ago, in which Ivan deduced that he was Demise. It sounded more like the Ganondorf Link knew from last timeline. He supposed that it was a good thing; it may mean that the battle would be similar.
"Those two shards of the Triforce that I could not capture on that day seven years ago… I should have expected them to be hidden within you two!"
He snickered as he rose from his stool. The cape he was wearing was ridiculous and made him look fat from behind.
"And now, at long last, all the pieces of the Triforce have been brought together!"
He twisted around with an elegant flourish of his cape, revealing that he was not, in fact, fat. He had, however, certainly grown into the position of being King. For example, he'd let his hair grow out to shoulder length as opposed to the close-cropped one of seven years prior. The whites of his eyes had wholly disappeared, leaving a puke-colored iris and yellow in its wake. He was dressed much more elegantly, right down to the heavy earrings gracing the sides of his head.
"These toys are too much for you!" he boomed. "I demand you return them to me!"
He raised his left hand, the one bearing the Triforce of Power, and blasted waves of potent dark energy all around the room. Link managed to remain standing, but Ivan was sent flying into the corner of the chamber, unable to resist the surging dark magic flooding the room. If Ivan was a normal fairy and forced Link to rely on Z-targeting to deal effective damage, it would have been an issue. But he wasn't, so it wasn't.
The King of Evil threw himself into the air, massive organ fading out behind him. Either he had teleported it away or it was an illusion the whole time. The room quickly went dark as Ganondorf channeled dark energy into his fist before ramming it into the floor, causing a massive shockwave that smashed all of the stained glass windows that surrounded their arena. Interestingly, he hadn't broken any of the tiles on the floor, like last time. Link noted that only a few instants before seeing the massive broadsword that appeared in Ganon's outstretched hands.
Well, this was new.
Link brandished the Master Sword again, readying himself for the upcoming sword fight. Ganondorf was quickly upon him, swiping at the Hero with his blade. The Hylian narrowly dodged, but was unable to repeat the process when Ganondorf brought his sword down from over his head with a mighty "Doriyah!" All Link could do was raise the Mirror Shield to intercept the blow, which not only sent painful sensations coursing along his arm, but when he looked at his shield, it had cracked along the surface. Another blow like that, and it would surely break. He hadn't even known that that was possible.
Link decided that the best defense was offense, and threw his fractured Mirror Shield at Ganondorf. Not surprisingly, the Gerudo King was not expecting such an attack, and the red and silver shield connected with Demise's incarnation's cranium. That notwithstanding, he still managed to lock blades with Link, who had tried to use the thrown shield as a distraction to get a good swipe in. They remained stuck in such a position for some time, until Link attempted to break this impromptu stalemate by throwing a punch at the king's nose. His effort was successful, but his second attempt was intercepted by Ganondorf's free hand. The next thing Link knew, he was on the ground, an imprint of Ganon's boot temporarily engraved in his lower abdominal. Shards of stained glass poked into his back, but a quick check validated that they hadn't drawn blood.
Using the Master Sword for support, Link picked himself up just in time to narrowly dodge another powerful swing from Ganondorf. The King of Evil continued to advance, evidently hoping to push Link through one of the windows and fall to his death. The Hero of Time, meanwhile, was forced back, step for step. He could feel the violent wind on his back, and knew that he couldn't afford another step.
Ganondorf evidently knew this, and ceased his advance. After all, Link was stuck between him and the vast expanse of sky. There was no way to dodge to the side, due to the stone pillars dutifully keeping the roof upright. The king merely opted to form a searing ball of plasma and point it at Link's face, just like that night seven years ago.
"Any last words for your precious princess, before you are defenestrated?" he taunted.
Link didn't answer verbally. Instead, he raised his Stalfos hand as fast as he could and fired the Longshot.
He was aiming for the gargoyle behind Ganondorf, hoping to latch onto it and get out of the situation. However, his aim was off, and he hit the King of Evil straight in the eye. Ganon stumbled, clutching his face in pain. The Hero of Time wasted no time in capitalizing on this, and fired a Light Arrow at the injured Gerudo.
There was a multicolored flash as holy energy temporarily bound the Evil King, and Link instantly moved to the offensive, hacking away with the Blade of Evil's Bane. Unfortunately, due to a crescendo of dark energy constantly pushing him back, he was unable to deal a finishing blow to the dark lord.
With a powerful roar, Ganon eventually broke through the Light Arrow's binding magic, throwing himself into the air and floating over the ground. He brandished his blade once and then flew at Link, locking blades once again. A twisting motion from the King of Evil saw the Master Sword fly out of Link's grasp. The Hylian, now defenseless, narrowly avoided the strong swing that Ganondorf then unleashed. To his shock, the sword caused floor tiles to dislodge from their place, colliding with the floor below and smashing to bits.
He drew the Stygian Light before pretending to avoid Ganondorf's next attack. However, he actually allowed himself to get hit, and merely Backapparated behind the Demon King before scoring a good blow on his back.
Ganondorf snarled before twisting about, nailing Link in his bad eye with his gauntleted fist. Even despite his inability to see through that eye, stars flashed in Link's vision, almost preventing him from avoiding Ganon's next attack. He wasn't sure how many more blows like that he could take before falling, and he sure didn't want to find out.
He put some distance between himself and Ganondorf, who then opted to play a round of energy tennis with the Hero of Hyrule, much like he had last timeline. Eventually, Ganondorf was hit in the face by his own ball of lightning, and was then promptly hit by a Light Arrow.
For the first time in Link's life, he cast Utarefson.
He learned then that the spell had a dual usage: while he was draining life energy from his opponent and infusing it into his own, he could also see just how much life they had left. He then deduced that one more good hit with the Master Sword would seal the deal.
He scanned the room for the signature off-purple light that signified his fairy partner.
"Ivan! His defenses are down! Can you Mind Hack him to stay still!"
"He'll have mental wards, but Ivan can try!" the fairy replied.
Link scooped Ivan up and sprinted against the flow of dark magic to where the King of Darkness lay before practically forcing Ivan's deep blue from into him. He then retrieved the Master Sword from where it had been tossed before dealing the final blow.
Ganondorf convulsed as Ivan was forcibly ejected from his body, fortunately landing in Link's grasp. The Gerudo eventually sunk into a kneeling position, energy totally drained.
"The… great King of Evil Ganondorf… beaten by this little kid?" Ganondorf breathed incredulously before puking up blood. "Link?!"
He got to his feet and started screaming in rage, white light consuming his body as he vented his rage. The floor began to shake violently as the glassless walls around him buckled and cracked. Link preemptively summoned his Stalfos Shield and held it over his head in an effort to block the incoming storm of stone.
When it was done, Ganondorf was still standing there, before he sank to his knees and collapsed, defeated.
Zelda was still hovering above him in her crystal prison. Link disregarded her as she began to descend. His attention was fixed on Ganondorf. He habitually twirled his weapon in his grip as he approached the downed King of Evil.
And he stabbed him through the chest with the Master Sword.
There was a slight gurgling from Ganon as blood started to ooze from his lips. A violent buzzing noise filled Link's ears as he withdrew the Blade of Evil's Bane from the corpse.
And then he drove it down again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
!0*0!
It took the combined efforts of Zelda and Ivan to force Link off of Ganondorf's corpse. He insisted on leaving the Master Sword embedded in Ganondorf's torso, as if to pin him to that spot for all time. He was breathing heavily, but in a controlled fashion. He didn't regret a thing.
"Ganondorf… pitiful man," Zelda said. "Without a strong and righteous mind, he could not control the power of the goddesses, and-"
The entire tower began quaking and rumbling, cutting Zelda off in her tirade. She uttered a small gasp before realizing what was happening.
"Link, listen to me! This tower will collapse soon!" the princess revealed. "Ganondorf is using his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush us in the ruins of the tower! We need to hurry and escape! Please follow me!"
"But Zelda… we're on the top floor," Link halfheartedly argued. "Nothing is going to crush us, because there's nothing but the sky above our heads!"
A flaming piece of rubble chose that moment to hit him in the head.
"What the- How does that make sense!"
"Just get out of the tower!" Zelda ordered. "There's a walkway here that will take us down the tower!"
"It'll take too long!" Link replied. "Besides, I have a better idea!"
"What?"
A borderline sinister grin crossed Link's face. "How afraid are you of heights?"
"Not very," the princess replied, unsure of herself. "What does this- Link?"
The Hero jogged over to the beginning of the sloped walkway and set his cracked Mirror Shield down on its surface. He then backed away, nearly walking off of the path and falling to his death.
"What are you doing?" Zelda asked.
"Just trust me!" Link said before sprinting towards her. Mid-dash, he grabbed the Princess and hopped onto the shield, his momentum carrying all three objects over the lip of the slope. They quickly began gaining speed as they surfed down the path, narrowly avoiding various molten shrapnel as the tower began to collapse in on itself. Unfortunately, their shield-surfing adventure was nearing an end, as the walkway was rapidly nearing its end. It ended on a sheer drop deep into the inner echelons of the castle.
"Link! The path is about to end! Are you mad?!"
"Trust me!" Link hollered back as they gracefully sailed off the edge and began their descent. The Hero of Time fumbled in his pouch for the thing he was looking for, eventually procuring it and casting the spell. The warm blue shield of Nayru's Love quickly encased him in an impenetrable defense. He swiftly repeated the process for Zelda herself, picking up the now-mangled shield and stowing it away in midair. They quickly reached terminal velocity, leaving Ivan in the dust as he hastened to close the gap between himself and his partner. They hit the ground hard, sending hairline fractures all throughout the small bridge they found themselves on and completely draining Nayru's Love, but they weren't even injured. Mission accomplished; there was only one more staircase until they were out of the Tower.
"Link, that was the most immature, risky, and ridiculous thing I've ever seen anyone do," Zelda chastised angrily.
"It worked, didn't it?" Link retaliated, allowing a wry grin to slip onto his face. He was promptly cut off by the sensation of a Redead gnawing on the back of his neck. Zelda just looked at him snarkily, as if to say 'There's some karma for you', before frying it with a well-aimed blast of magical energy. She merely cocked an eyebrow.
"I deserved that," he sighed, grinning sheepishly back at Zelda. She returned the gesture before using her sage powers to unseal the grate blocking them from the outside world.
The castle was collapsing much faster than it had last time, not that last timeline's time had been slow. They probably would have managed to escape the castle had they gone the way they had last time, but it most certainly would have been more stressful. The pair of Stalfos might have screwed them up, but even if they had, the Triforce bearers probably would have made it out alive. In other words, all Link did was shave a few seconds off of his time and royally ruin his physical shield. But considering the rush of adrenaline that had accompanied his chosen path, and the fact that Ganondorf was still run through with the Master Sword, Link decided that it was worth it.
There was one more seal left to get through, and Link and Zelda were able to wrench it open. They escaped onto a tiny outgrowth of land that led nowhere, connected to the tower but still floating over what was once a pool of lava. The fire was drained now, oddly enough. He wasn't complaining. A few seconds after that observation was made, the trio could visibly see the precipice of the tower begin to deflate into itself, marking the true beginning of the collapse. Air hissed and spewed out from the structure as floors collided with each other, and the crackling noise of smashing glass was omnipresent. The gargoyle statues that flanked the outer reaches of Ganon's Tower began to fall, some outwards and into the basin below, and others inwards to add to the pandemonium inside. Link noticed the Dead Hand from the Water Barrier rise out of the rubble for an instant before being smashed by a sharp rock, killed instantly. Not that Link was complaining, of course. Massive shockwaves accompanied the collapse of each individual floor, stacking one on top of the other and almost creating a drumbeat as the Tower fell. It was breathtaking.
After much time, there was comparative silence. The wind howled as it ravaged the spot where Ganon's Tower once stood, heralding that a thunderstorm would be upon it soon. It was just as well; perhaps the rain would wash away the evil that once resided here.
"It's hard to believe that it's finally over," Zelda's voice finally rang out. It was near silent compared to the cacophonous booms that echoed throughout the area earlier. "Peace reigns in Hyrule once again. Now that Ganondorf has been vanquished, the scars of his corruption should soon revert to their original state. It's… truly amazing."
"Da," Ivan added. "Ivan is sorry for not being much help in the last battle…"
Link smiled. "Don't worry about it. We have a whole cleansed Hyrule for you to make it up to me. Not that you need to, of course."
Ivan's dim light flickered. "Uh… da… About th-"
The fairy was cut off by a rumble from within the wreckage. On instinct, Link moved in front of Zelda and threw his sword arm out in front of her, as if to block the princess from whatever was inside. Zelda, meanwhile, had reactively sunk into a Sheikah battle pose, ready to spring into action if need be.
"Link… what was that?"
"It's probably that Dead Hand that was in the Water Barrier," Link replied, relaxing. That had to be it. There was no way that it could be Ganondorf. Right?
Right?
"What if it's Ganondorf, though?" Zelda asked, knowing that her fears were not unfounded.
"Zelda, I ran him through with the Master Sword. There's no way that he's alive. There can't be."
"But he might be," the princess pleaded. "Just check, okay? For my own sake of mind?"
"Alright," Link relented, drawing the Stygian Light and approaching the ruins.
!0*0!
As the Hero of Time twice over, Link could safely say he hated a lot of things. Of course, there were the standard things, such as corrupted water, Dead Hands, and of course, Ganondorf. Had he been asked about six months ago what he hated most, Link would probably reply with Zelda. Or himself. One of the two.
Naturally, both of these hatreds turned out to be unfounded. Not to say that they were difficult to get over; coming to grips with those two things was by far the most difficult thing Link had had to do in his life. But Zelda just wanted the best, and Link had trusted her. If he could blame anything, which he probably wouldn't, it was the Ocarina of Time.
Rage was an emotion he experienced often, but never quite to the extent of overriding his logic. This assertion was blown out of the water when Ganondorf threw himself into the air and threw a tower's worth of rubble and stone into the sky, still impaled through the torso with the Master Sword.
Above all else, he hated being wrong about these sorts of things.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Link screamed. "You're dead! You have no excuse for not being dead!"
"He's got the Triforce of Power!" Ivan pointed out, indicating the golden glow enveloping Ganondorf's left hand. "That power is keeping him alive!"
"Oh, because of course it is!" Link complained.
The Triforce of Power began to shine even brighter. Zelda looked like she wanted to run to him, to help him in any way possible, but she was separated from her hero by the massive wall of fire that encircled the ruins. Meanwhile, up in the air, Ganondorf began to make wild ululations as twisted energy consumed his body. The Hero of Time threw his off hand in front of his eye to block it from this horrid brilliance. Ganondorf's body began to twist and contort as he used the full power of his third of the Triforce to go all out. He burst out of his regal attire, revealing a deep muscular torso beneath his clothes. He expanded, face convulsing and transforming into a brutish apparition. He developed a pig's snout and hateful, beady eyes as his skin became even greener than before. Massive, twisted horns surged forth from either side of his head, completing the demonic transformation from man to beast, from Ganondorf to Ganon. The tactical, cunning King of the Gerudo was no more. In its place was this dark beast, the epitome of raw and untamed strength.
And Link didn't have the Master Sword.
It stared at Link for a second before comically glancing at its midsection, where the Blade of Evil's Bane still remained lodged. It gingerly plucked the hilt of the blade and yanked it out of its body, not even spilling a single drop of blood in the process. It then threw the blade off into the canyon below the floating platform, forever out of Link's reach.
"Link! I'll try to get the Master Sword from in the pit. You try to stay alive! Ivan, please help me find the Master Sword!" Zelda ordered over the cacophonous sounds of Ganon's birth, hopping off of the little peninsula to retrieve the sacred sword. Link was then left alone, truly alone, as two gargantuan golden daggers formed in the collosal pig's fingers. It began swiping with abandon in Link's general direction. He raised the Stygian Light to parry, but Ganon's attack was strong enough to knock it out of Link's grasp. The longsword flew through the flames and almost skidded straight off of the platform. It held on, but just by an inch.
Understandably, the first thing Link did was run away when his weapon was dislodged from his hands. Tucking himself behind a partially collapsed wall, he rummaged through his pouch to find something else suitable for combat, eventually settling on the Megaton Hammer. Actually, how was he supposed to operate the Megaton Hammer efficiently while also shooting Ganon with Light Arrows to stun the beast? It simply wasn't doable.
Link eyed the multicolored fluorescent tail swaying rhythmically behind the demon currently wreaking havoc. He needed to get to that, but how? Just running at him wouldn't work… unless…
Mustering his courage and more of his insanity, Link threw himself out from cover and sprinted towards Ganon. The boar monster immediately saw him and raised its golden blade to smash the Hero into a pulp. Unfortunately for Ganon, the Hylian managed to slide between its legs and bash the Megaton Hammer into its tail, eliciting a roar of pain from the former man. It swiftly turned and swung its swords again, catching Link across the torso and sending him flying into the wall of flames. Fortunately, the heat-retardant Goron Tunic helped to negate the burning effects of the firewall, but it didn't help the fact that he had just been forcibly slammed into a solid surface. He felt his ribs crack and splinter at the unprecedented force, although by some twisted mercy he kept breathing. It gave him plenty of time to watch Ganon stalk ever closer. He felt through his pouch, ignoring the biting stabs of agony that accompanied every moment of movement, and pawed through each of his bottles. One of them held a Green Potion. One of them was empty. The last contained a Healing Fairy, to Link's delight, which regrafted his ribcage before disappearing. He stood, noticing that the fairy hadn't healed his lesser injuries, and dashed away from Ganon's next attack.
He fired a Light Arrow at the monster, trading magic for a moment of respite. The bipedal pig was stunned, seizing up as he was temporarily held back by a surge of holy energy. He then sprinted around it and cast Utarefson on its tail, stealing a bit of Ganon's life force to heal his injuries as well as learning that he had an impossibly long way to go in terms of beating the beast badly enough to dispel the flame wall. As long as those fires surrounded the ruins, there was no way that he could get the Master Sword from Zelda; he had long since learned that the firewall blocked all teleportation magic in a massive radius.
It started to rain, lightning flashing in the distance. It gave Ganon an ominous dark facade whenever it happened, adding an atmosphere of fear to the whole thing. Not that it wasn't horrifying as is; it was merely a detail that added much to the terror factor.
Seeing that Ganon was breaking through the Light Arrow's hold, Link backed off and withdrew the Megaton Hammer from his pouch once again. In the process, he accidentally dislodged a Deku Nut from its place. It fell to the earth and cracked with a bright flash and a loud bang. When Link finally dispelled the spots dancing within his eye, he noticed how Ganon was doing a similar thing. It shook its head violently to dispel the light, taking a few seconds, before resuming its assault. This was revolutionary.
Because he didn't need the Light Arrows.
He hastily procured his bag of Deku Nuts and threw one at the ground directly in front of Ganon. He was then able to abuse the sudden lapse in the demon's ability to see to hit its tail with the Megaton Hammer. It hissed in pain before whirling around, and would have hit Link again had he not already made himself scarce. If only there was a way to hit the big pig from a distance… preferably without using too many arrows…
He eyed the Longshot that lay deep within his pouch. That would do.
He withdrew the upgraded Hookshot and looked up just in time to see Ganon uproot the remains of a spire from his tower. Before the Hero of Time knew what was going on, the building fragment was flying at him at a sizable speed, especially given how it had been thrown at him from across the platform by a giant bipedal pig demon. The stone projectile was coming at him too quickly to simply dodge, so in desperation Link cast Nayru's Love on himself to tank the blow.
This turned out to be the correct decision, as for some reason, the Goddesses had decided to stuff the spire full of Bombs. Then, a tongue of flames from the firewall connected with the fuse and successfully lit it, causing a massive chain reaction of explosions that sent Link flying. While in midair, he consumed a Green Potion to refill his completely drained Magic, before landing on Ganon's head. From this new vantage point, he could see Zelda, in the form of Sheik, scaling the sheer cliffside with the Master Sword in tow. Ivan was still with her. He knew he had to take down Ganon somewhat in order to get the Master Sword, so he slid down the monster's back and rammed the Megaton Hammer into its tail once more. Link clung to the loincloth that had formed out of what was once Ganondorf's regal attire as the beast tried to shake him off, only succeeding after Link managed to hit its weak spot again, this time with nothing more than a gauntleted fist.
The patheticness of the attack notwithstanding, it was enough to bring Ganon to its knees with an unholy squeal, not unlike that of a stuck pig. The firewall fizzled and petered out, and the instant it fell, Zelda teleported onto the small peninsula on which the Stygian Light was resting.
"Link! The Master Sword is here! Hurry up!" she called.
The Hylian in question immediately raced to the small bit of land, retrieving both the Stygian Light and the Master Sword. He opted to use the blade forged by Biggoron solely for its ability to pierce magical resistance.
"There's no way Ganon can hold back Ivan this time! Now, we fight together!" Ivan declared with a strange tone of voice. It was almost like he was trying to convince Link that the fairy was totally normal.
Link didn't comment on it. There were more pressing matters at hand, such as the big boar that he was going to slaughter. As soon as he reentered the arena, the firewall rose again, and Ganon hissed before getting to its feet. Link used the lull in the action to sheathe his blade before sprinting up to the beast, and swiping with the blade as he drew it once again, dealing massive damage to the monstrosity. It roared in agony before turning on Link and swiping out with its massive blades, narrowly missing the Hero. Then it did something Link had no recollection of it ever doing before. It rammed its golden blades into the ground, and the whole platform shook as it started to plummet to the bottom of the canyon that had housed a massive vat of lava. And judging by the surge of heat that accompanied their descent, that lava had been resummoned to fill the abyss.
Link sheathed the Stygian Light and clutched the Master Sword in his hands, ready to land the final blow. Ganon had, at that point, reclaimed its blades and was truly going all out against the Hero, attempting ferocious blow after ferocious blow. Every step Ganon took tilted their platform, causing some of it to be thrown into the air and other parts to submerge in the lava itself. Zelda appeared to be counteracting this somewhat with her magic, but even she wasn't able to completely negate the effect.
Link seized an arrow, enchanted it with pure Light energy, and loosed it at Ganondorf. The beast tried to evade the attack, but in the process moved itself straight into it. The sealing power of the Sages was enough for Link to get around it and deliver the coup de grace to the Demon King.
Once again, the monster fell to its knees and the firewall disappeared. This time, though, Zelda fired her own sealing beam at the Evil King in preparation to lock him in the void of the Sacred Realm. The Master Sword began glowing a vibrant blue, as if anticipating eradicating this monstrosity from the mortal plane. He slowly walked to the head of the beast, shooting another Light Arrow into its face just for fun, and then drawing back the Master Sword.
He swung to the left. Then to the right. Then once more, each swipe colliding with Ganon's brutish face and spraying blood all over the platform. Link then pulled the Blade of Evil's Bane away, before driving it pointfirst into the monster's brain.
There was silence for a few seconds. Ganon blinked. Link tugged the blade from its brain as it reared up on its feet, wailing psychotically to the sky and flailing its arms around erratically.
"Six Sages, now!" Zelda ordered, summoning a rift to the Sacred Realm before collapsing to her knees, exhausted from the magical output. She would have fallen further had Link not caught her.
"You all right?"
"Yes, just weary," the princess breathed back. "I'm just glad it's really…"
!0*0!
She stopped mid-sentence, shock and horror forming on her face before she scrambled upright, Sheikah training taking over as she sunk into a defensive stance. Confused, Link turned around to see a terrifying sight.
Ganondorf- for it was Ganondorf now, as he appeared seven years ago- was still being sucked into the Sacred Realm by the Six Sages. But as he was inexorably pulled out of the world, a black mist was beginning to pool out of his prone body and form into a humanoid shape in front of them. It quickly coalesced with further details as the entrance to the Sacred Realm closed. This being's coloring remained black, although its torso and face were a stonelike gray. It had long and spiky hair down to the small of its back, which started as a midnight black and quickly became a crimson color of hateful flames. Thick scales, pulsating black and red, formed along its torso, arms, and legs, offering a sort of natural armor. Similarly shaded tendrils of Malice spewed forth from it like a plague, slowly corrupting everything it came in contact with. There was a white crossbuck-shaped scar on its forehead, just above two furious red eyes. On closer inspection, it almost seemed transparent, like it wasn't really there.
"Useless," it spat. Ivan, who was already hyperventilating, practically fainted.
"Is that who I think it is?" Link breathed, horror filtering into his words.
"Da," Ivan replied, terrified. "That's Demise, without a Hatred Incarnation to bind to. Hopefully, since it doesn't have-"
"Ghirahim!" Demise uttered, snapping its fingers. A piece of vibrantly colored wood appeared in its outstretched fingertips, adorned with spikes and two disturbingly wide eyes. The eldritch demon stared at the mask in its hands for a second, confused. Then it reached into the trinket before drawing out an enormous black sword, adorned with spikes and emblazoned with an inverted Triforce.
"... That," Ivan finished. "Okay, never mind, we're dead."
"Ivan!" Zelda scolded. "That is no way to think about this. The odds may be stacked against us, but this time, all three of us fight as one. That has to count for something, right?"
Ivan let out a shaky breath. "You're right. Better to go down fighting than to live under Demise's thumb."
The demon lord seemed to finally take notice of the Hero, Princess, and fairy. "Ah," he leered in a deep and powerful voice. "The youths chosen by the Goddesses have finally grown up. It took you mortals long enough."
They didn't reply, but they steeled themselves for the oncoming storm.
"Interesting. You two truly haven't changed across the generations, have you?" Demise boomed. "It's almost a pity that I will annihilate you. At the very least, one of us will enjoy it. Immensely."
It was that voice. The voice from that night seven years ago, that had taunted Link in his garish nightmares ever since. He could show no mercy to that voice. Enraged, Link flung himself at Demise, and the two locked blades. They swung again, only to meet the other's blade in a similar position. This monotony was interrupted, however, when Zelda teleported behind Demise and rammed a kunai into Demise's spinal cord- or at least, she would have had Demise not been intangible as well as partially invisible. This revelation shocked Link enough for the demon lord to land a mighty blow on the Hero's side. Fortunately, Link was able to Backapparate behind the Demon King and stab him with the Master Sword.
He never got the chance.
Before Link could even fully emerge from his teleportation, Demise's free hand was already closing around his neck. "So, you're gifted in dark magic," Demise mused. "That's cute."
The hand around his jugular squeezed a little tighter as Link felt all of his dark energy drain from his body and into Demise's. It felt strange to not have a tempest of pure darkness swirling about inside of him. Even his Void Arrows were drained of their power, instead infusing Demise's own dark magic reserves. It was how he felt Utarefson would work, except instead of draining life, it leached away magical energy.
A bright burst of light, too dim to be a Deku Nut, consumed Link's vision. He felt Demise's chilling grip disappear from his neck and he sank to the ground, exhausted. When the spots cleared from his vision, he saw that the real King of Evil had been impaled by a Light Arrow courtesy of Zelda; it evidently still possessed the evil-binding powers of the six other Sages. Unfortunately, since Demise was made up of far more concentrated evil than Ganondorf had been, Link could only get one swipe with the Master Sword in before Demise recovered and made his way towards Zelda.
It clicked. Demise could be temporarily stunned by Light Arrows. He was approaching Zelda and not covering his back, meaning that he didn't know that Link had access to the Light Arrows, too. His magic was so drained that he only had one shot, though, so he had to hit it. Ivan was helpfully flying around Demise's head, not only to distract him from Zelda but also to help Link in his aim. The Hero of Time let the arrow fly, and its trajectory was dead-on.
But Demise caught the arrow mid flight.
"So this is the tool the Goddesses have deigned to defeat me?" he mused. "Back in my time, legendary weapons meant something."
With a concentrated flow of dark magic, the light of the Light Arrow dulled and became blackened. Then the evil king threw the new Void Arrow at high speeds towards the princess, who had to resort to using a Deku Nut to evade the dark projectile. Unfortunately, Demise caught her in his grasp and pointed his dark blade to the sky. The sword was struck by lightning and became charged with raw energy, which Demise then unleashed at Link, who had been charging at him from across the platform. Link was hit with the raw energy and sent flying across the ruins, groaning as he righted himself from his fallen position.
"That's it!" Ivan yelled over the rumbling of thunder, a flash of inspiration consuming him. "Link! You have to use the Skyward Strike!"
"What the hell is that?" Link yelled back.
"Point the Master Sword into the air! You can do what Demise just did to you! It's how the first Link beat this demon!"
The Hylian did as told, feeling like an idiot. Zelda did her best to distract Demise while Link waited to be struck by lightning. The rain picked up, but a lightning strike had yet to connect with his blade. What seemed like hours later, it finally happened, and Link wasted no time in releasing the powerful attack. Fortunately, it connected with Demise's body thanks to a distraction from Zelda, causing the abomination to seize up as holy energy gave it pause. However, the platform began to shake and convulse as raw Malice spewed from the demon's form, preventing Link from getting close. Light Arrows were also deflected by that Malice, preventing them from contacting Demise. Worse, he seemed to recover from the Skyward Strike rather quickly.
"Ivan thinks you have to stun him with a Light Arrow first, and then hit him with the Skyward Strike!" the fairy suggested.
"Is that how the other Hero did it?"
"Ivan doesn't know! But do you have any better ideas?"
"No, Ivan," Link sighed as he barely parried a blow from what appeared to be the Master Sword's evil twin. "Look at all of the Malice strewn around the arena! It's deflecting or corrupting any Light Arrows that Zelda and I try to fire!"
As if on cue, a volley of Void Arrows penetrated the earth just inches from Link's feet. Zelda had been dutifully expending her already taxed magical reserves on Light Arrows until she ran out of magic with which to enchant the projectiles.
"Link! I'm out of magic!" Zelda informed. "Can you lend me your Golden Gauntlets?"
"Why?"
"I can harvest the magical energy in the Gauntlets and use that to cast more spells!" Zelda replied.
"Works for me, I guess," Link grumbled, blocking a blow from Demise with his own blade. He quickly procured the Mirror Shield and held it up in the demon's face, but a single swipe from Demise's sword split the shield cleanly in half. However, it was just enough of a distraction for Link to beeline to Zelda, doff the Gauntlets, and allow Zelda to do her work.
"Mind Hacking is fully recharged," Ivan informed. "Not that it'll help…"
"Maybe it will," Link whispered, barely audible even to his partner. "Ivan, could you Mind Hack him when I have another Skyward Strike prepared? You might be able to hold Demise long enough for Zelda to get a Light Arrow in on it."
"But how will Ivan get to it in the first place? That Malice will keep Ivan away."
Link didn't answer. Instead, he charged Demise with his sword out in an attempt to force the Demon King to focus all of its attention onto Link and not anything else. It worked, and Demise was soon wholeheartedly attempting to rip Link open from neck to navel.
It worked a little too well. Demise was able to score a ghastly blow on Link across his chest, blossoming red spurting out across his torso. The hit forced Link to stumble and buckle, but strength of will kept the Hero of Time standing and resisting. A quick hand movement allowed a lightning bolt to ram itself into the Hylian's blade, only hindering him for a moment. That instant was enough for Demise to kick Link squarely in the ribs, pushing the Hero of Time backwards and bruising his already lacerated torso. Acute agony shot through Link's body, but nothing appeared life-threatening at that instant. They traded attacks for a few minutes as Ivan and Zelda searched for an opening. Malice energy let out enraged hisses as the torrential rains collided with it, filling the battlefield with steam. That Malice also served to protect Demise from being flanked, as the dark energies were actively toxic to all life.
The Hero and Demon King locked swords once again, struggling against each other as a massive thunderclap echoed throughout the arena. Both combatants refused to back down, somehow knowing that this particular instant would be the critical juncture in this battle. Link, intending to anger Demise, conjured a concoction of bile and blood and saliva in the back of his throat and spat directly onto the Demon Lord's face.
"I am a god! You are nothing!" Demise roared, shoving Link away. He then summoned a tidal wave of Malice to ensnare the Hero, forcing the Master Sword out of his grasp. The dark god smirked evilly, knowing that he had Link trapped and unable to fight back. Finally, his vengeance had been exacted. The Hero was his for the slaughtering.
A tiny red light then collided with Demise, and the tendrils of Malice quickly unfurled around Link. Wisps of steam floated off of his charred skin as Link caught his breath. Almost immediately after, a Light Arrow from Zelda hit Demise in the back of the head, causing the Demon Lord to seize up. Panting heavily, the Hero of Time picked up the Master Sword, dashed to Demise as quickly as he could, and unleashed the Skyward Strike.
The rain began to peter out as Demise physically unraveled, almost evaporating into an angry black mist. That raw dark energy was then magnetized around the Master Sword, which drank in all of the darkness and returned Demise to its rightful place; sealed within the Blade of Evil's Bane.
The rain stopped. Link stared. He was soaked, both in rain and blood belonging to himself and Ganondorf, standing amid the ruins of Ganon's Tower. His entire time-warped life had built up to this moment, this glorious silence. It was perfection.
The sun peeked out of the clouds, and Link, knowing that his job was done, finally collapsed to the earth and closed his eyes. Vaguely, he could hear Zelda and Ivan scream his name, assuming his injuries were getting the best of him, but he would eventually assure them that they were not. The short exhalations they had mistaken for death throes were nothing but laughter, for Demise was gone and Hyrule was finally at peace.
So. Here we are. The last final author's note. I don't think there's anything to say here that hasn't already been said. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this.
Thank you for reading this.
NOOTTD: Doriyah.
Review Please!