ShadowLyrics1: …popcorn?...Did you make me any?

mysticalgems: Blech is it math? Here have a somewhat pg13 chapter to make you happy.

Doopliss: I think I can live with interesting. Link?...probably my own morals and the world's. But you know like Ghirahim I'd do almost anything for him. I could explain more if you want but I don't want to bore you or keep you from another interesting chapter.

Ummm, pg13 warning for Link's dream…sometimes I think I'm pushing the line a little bit. Lol.

Chapter 13

Cold water was wrung out of the rag before it was placed upon the hero's forehead, causing the blonde to stir in his sleep. Slowly blue eyes opened and tried to take in their surroundings but everything was blurred and the only thing he could make out was a pale figure sitting in front of him "Zelda?" he whispered.

A soft chortle, followed by coughing, sounded from the white blur "Hah, hardly. The real question is whether or not that knowledge offers you comfort or distress?"

Link had the feeling that the figure was staring at him intensely, waiting for his answer. He searched his mind trying to come up with one but was only met with confused thoughts "I…I don't know." He finally replied tiredly, his eyelids beginning to droop.

"Hmmm, no matter; as it is skychild I believe it would be in your best interest to rest."

The boy tried to resist sleep but hands began stroking his cheek, their owner whispering "Close your eyes." And close them he did.

The demon lord shook his head "Humans, pitiful." A coughing fit made him clutch at his sides, his head going down and hair swinging forward to cover his face. "You're not doing that well yourself." said a small self-mocking voice inside him. Breathing slowly and scowling at that pesky thought, Ghirahim regained his earlier sitting position. Glancing over at the hero, who had started making small noises, he couldn't help but wonder what it was the boy saw when he slept.

Lazily, he glides his loftwing back to Skyloft, Zelda by his side; both of them euphoric in their success in finding and rescuing his bird. Link jumps off his feathered friend and goes to offer his human one a hand down; however, she is not there. He glances around and wonders if she is trying to prank him. His eyes, as they scan, meet eye to eye with those of her father. The day shifts to night as Gaepora silently hands him a blue blade that glows with a holy light.

"I don't know what dangers you may have to face, Link. Especially..."

As the headmaster speaks, Link's vision goes cloudy and his hearing warps. Gaepora's strong, yet comforting, voice melts into a voice reminiscent of silk but also carries a sharp undertone of danger "…down here."

Gradually the boy's sight returns and he lets go a gasp of fear. Straddling him is the demon lord who has his hands placed at the boy's hips. He cringes as he is licked on the cheek; he tries to push the demon off but discovers his hands are bound together above his head. Seeing the man come forward to kiss him he twists his head to the side and sees a familiar figure watching "Zelda!"

She does nothing.

Link breathes in sharply as he feels his trousers and undercloth begin to slide down and looks up into smug brown eyes. ~She never loved you~

He flings his gaze back towards her "Zelda! Please! Please help me!" his cries are filled with desperation, his body writhing as he feels his hem slip lower "ZELDA PLEASE!"

Still she does nothing.

~ She is allowing you to stay here. She wants you to go through all this…~

Link shudders as he feels his clothing depart completely and brings his terrified eyes to meet those of the demon, who smiles and licks his lips. He fists his hands and pulls at the bonds to no avail as he screams at her "ZELDA! PLEASE! HE'S GOING TO…" his cries are cut off as Ghirahim covers his mouth with his own.

She moves, but backwards into the shadow, until finally she disappears from sight.

Tears roll down his face as his body is ravaged by the demon who whispers into his ear ~Your sweet spirit maiden has tossed you aside like a broken toy~

Blue eyes snapped open, full of fear and confusion, their owner breathing hard as the memory of the dream lingered in his mind. Slowly Link regained control of himself and glanced around in surprise as it came to him that he was in a bed. Glancing up, he froze as a familiar sight caught his eye. Ghirahim was reclining in an ornate chair…reading? Something must have alerted him to Link's present state of consciousness because he looked up, smiled and set his book aside.

"Well, well, it appears you are awake, Skychild. Although, whether or not you are truly lucid remains to be seen." Rising from his seat he made his way over to the hero "Then again, it is rather hard to tell with you humans."

Link shrank back from the man as he approached, earning him a raised eyebrow from the demon.

"Ah, so you are coherent." Ghirahim sat on the edge of the bed, watching with great amusement as the hero tried to distance himself but failed due to his weakness. "Skychild, you wound me, I thought my presence would just fill your heart with rainbows." Reaching over, with a lip curling upwards in entertained glee as the boy flinched, he placed a hand under the blonde's bangs "Hmmmm, still too warm, hero, but not as unimaginably as before." Standing the man crossed the room and grabbed a pitcher of water and a glass "I imagine you must be quite parched."

It was when the demon mentioned it that Link realized that he was thirsty. When the glass was pressed to his lips and a hand slid under his head, he drank. Although he swallowed the cool liquid gratefully, Link kept his gaze pinned on the demon lord. As he stared he noticed something…odd. The pale man had beads of sweat on his own forehead and lines of exhaustion were present under the purple-shaded eyes. Without really thinking about it he asked "What's wrong with you?"

The question caught the flamboyant man off-guard as he was placing the cup on the floor "I do beg your pardon, skychild?" He straightened and stared at the boy, an incredulous look on his face.

It came to Link in a sharp moment of clarity and a small smile spread on his tired face "You kissed me." He closed his eyes and let out a small laugh, Ghirahim had kissed him when he was sick and so contracted the disease himself. Though his eyes were shut, he was aware of the scowl upon the demon's face but didn't care. The fact that he had, in some small way, got back at his self-aggrandizing captor for what had been done to him offered him a sense of elation. "Serves your pompous ass right" he whispered. A hand suddenly slashing across his cheek caused his eyes to snap open and stare into those of his enemy.

"Careful, hero, it isn't wise to agitate one who can tear you apart with next to no effort." Ghirahim hissed, a snarl on his face. Slowly his sneer receded until it was replaced with a wry smile; he leaned forward and gently dipped a finger into a drop of blood that had formed from the cuts he had made. He held his hand up and watched as the red liquid meandered towards his palm "Not wise at all." He flicked his gaze towards the hero, who was now very obviously fighting sleep to continue watching him. Licking the blood off his hand, Ghirahim reached over and began to stroke the blonde's face, lulling the owner into sleep "I can reprimand you later, sleep skychild."

His eyelids were heavy and, though he fought against it, he could feel himself being pulled back under the dark covers of sleep. The last thing he saw were brown eyes watching him smugly and pale lips moving in silent laughter.

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