Chapter 25: The Demon King and the Hero of Time
Ganondorf and the party rode their horses across Hyrule Field. The moon started setting, and the sun started rising. Zhago decided to pull out the Eye of Truth and examine Ganondorf, who had a purple energy flowing through his veins. They rode up the Great Plateau, which was a landmass that overlooked all of Hyrule Field, and it even had a Sheikah Tower on top of it, which rose into the sky quite magnificently. Ganondorf rode up to the side of the Plateau and got off of his horse, with Hilda in his arms. "We're here." Ganondorf said to the party.
Uten looked up the side of the Plateau. "You want us to go up there? I'm not sure if all of us can go up there."
"If you don't want to join me, then so be it. However, I must take her with me up there, into the Temple of Time." Ganondorf carried Hilda in one of his arms and approached the wall.
"We'll follow you, since you have Hilda with you." Poump said. Uten didn't want to join though.
"Shouldn't we be going to Lurelin Village right now? This doesn't concern us." Uten said to Poump.
"This does, because he has Hilda, and knowing what I've read in the history books, this Ganondorf guy could possibly want to kill her." Poump looked at Uten. "I know you just want to get your rupees and finish the mission, but this right here seems to be a lot more important than another 10,000 rupees."
Zhago noticed Ganondorf scaling the side of the Plateau with one arm. "If we really want to go up there, we should do it now. I can go either way."
Poump looked at Tipa. "What do you think, Tipa? Where should we go?"
Tipa looked up the side of the Plateau and then pointed up.
"It's settled then. Let's climb." Poump walked up to the side of the Plateau and brought out his Clawshot and propelled himself up to a patch of vines, which he used to climb up. Tipa pulled out both of her katanas and planted them into the side of the wall, using them to scale the wall. Zhago bent down to allow Uten onto his back and despite her reluctance, she climbed on. Zhago pulled out some climbing gloves and scaled right up the side of the Plateau.
The party all managed to make it onto the Great Plateau. They turned around and were breath taken at the view from up there. Poump however wasn't interested in the view for much longer as he wanted to try and see where Ganondorf was. It didn't take him long to find the red haired Gerudo walking amongst some ruins with the purple haired Princess. Poump ran up to Ganondorf and noticed that Hilda was awake and pointing at different things around the area.
"What is that?" She asked Ganondorf.
"That is a rock." Ganondorf replied.
"No, I know that, silly. I was asking about that large building behind the rock." Hilda pointed at a large ruined cathedral.
Ganondorf looked at it thoughtfully. "That is the Temple of Time. We must go there, but first I need to speak to Rhoam."
"Rhoam? That is my grandfather's name!" Hilda exclaimed to Ganondorf.
"That is because the Rhoam I am seeking is your grandfather." When Ganondorf said that, Hilda widened her eyes.
"Momma told me he's dead!" Hilda said.
"That's because he is." Ganondorf replied.
"How did he die?" Hilda asked.
Ganondorf closed his eyes. "You don't want to know, child."
"I want to know!" Hilda said with authority.
Ganondorf widened his eyes at her tenacity, and the fact that she had not a single sign of hostility towards him. "I killed him."
Hilda didn't believe it. "But you never moved before! You couldn't have killed him!"
Ganondorf was extremely confused by what Hilda said and then he remembered that he was being looked at deep in the dungeons of Hyrule Castle, where he never moved. For as much as Hilda knew, he was just a large reanimated corpse. This still confused Ganondorf, as the idea of such a young girl getting along with such a large and mean looking reanimated corpse seemed extremely alien to him. "I didn't kill him. He just died one day of old age."
"That makes sense!" Hilda replied, as she accepted this answer. Ganondorf however was very uncomfortable with this. He DID kill her grandfather, but she wouldn't know. She's so innocent. Hilda turned around and saw Poump following them. "Poump!" She exclaimed at the sight of him.
Ganondorf stopped and turned around to look at the young Hylian. "So you did climb." He turned around and continued walking through the ruins.
"Yeah, I did. It is somewhat my duty to protect Hilda, the Princess that you're holding right now." Poump said to Ganondorf. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're Ganondorf, right? The one from the history books who reappeared at different points in time in order to try and bring chaos to Hyrule?"
"Yes, I am Ganondorf. The Demon King, the Prince of Thieves, the Wielder of the Triforce of Power. History has painted me as the villain in many circumstances."
"Then you should get your hands off of Hilda. She shouldn't be carried by someone like you."
Ganondorf violently turned around to Poump. "WHY DO YOU THINK I'M HERE?!" His voice was so loud and terrifying that it made Hilda start to tear up a bit.
"Don't scream at my friend, meanie!" Hilda said to Ganondorf through small tears.
Ganondorf collected himself and kept on walking. Poump was also shaken a bit but kept on following him. They walked in silence across a small field of grass and into a small forested area. Inside of the forested area there was a log cabin, and someone was outside of the cabin, chopping at some wood with an axe. They appeared to be an old man wearing a brown hooded cloak with a big white beard flowing outside of the cloak, and they also had a lantern on their waist. The hooded figure stopped chopping the wood. "Ahh, you have finally arrived, Ganon."
"Rhoam, I am not here to hurt you. I need your help." Ganondorf said to the Old Man.
"I know you aren't here to hurt me." The Old Man resumed chopping more wood with the axe. "You are here because you want me to assist you with your quest."
"My quest, yes. Someone named Sheik told me to come here and speak to you." Ganondorf looked at Hilda who looked back at him. "And to bring this girl along with me."
The Old Man stopped chopping the wood and looked at Ganondorf, Hilda, and Poump. "Who is this other child you have with you?" The Old Man said in reference to Poump.
Ganondorf looked at Poump. "He just tagged along."
"I'm looking over Hilda." Poump interrupted Ganondorf's sentence. Ganondorf almost lost his self control.
"There there now Ganon." The Old Man said to Ganondorf.
"Stop calling me by that name." Ganondorf replied to the Old Man. "Anyways, what is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Ahh, the girl you have with you. She will be the key to breaking you free from your curse. The curse that makes you drown the land in blood in an endless cycle, no matter what happens."
Ganondorf looked at Hilda. "She will be the key?"
"Wait a moment, what would that mean?" Poump asked the Old Man.
"That would mean that Hilda would need to enter the Temple of Time and go on a long and arduous journey. One with great danger and that will test her will in many ways." The Old Man said to Poump.
"But that makes no sense!" Poump looked at the large ruined cathedral in the distance. "You mean to tell me that that building will allow Hilda to go on a journey inside of that building?"
"It will be a journey that will have her go through time. And you will play a part in making it happen."
Poump didn't like the sound of this. "When would we need to start this?"
"Anytime today before the sun sets." The Old Man replied.
As for Zhago, Uten, and Tipa, they noticed a Rito flying above them at a high altitude. The Rito dove straight for a body of water and flew right back out of it with a fish in its mouth. They landed at a small camp area, and the three of them ran up to it to see who it was. They saw a Rito with white feathers, feasting next to a cooking pot. The Rito looked at them. "Come come!" He said to them. "What brings you three to the Great Plateau?"
"A friend of ours convinced us to join him up here. My name is Zhago."
"Mine is Uten, and this is Tipa."
"Meat."
"What is your name?" Zhago asked.
"My name is Teba!" The Rito replied.
"Wait a moment." Zhago pulled out the Eye of Truth on the Rito. His feathers didn't change color at all. They were completely white. "You are the missing Champion!"
Teba looked surprised. "Missing? How long have I been up here?!"
"You didn't keep count?" Uten said.
"Well, I guess it would make sense." Teba said. "When I came here I got rather carried away by the bountiful amount of hunting I could do in here. Maybe that is why the time didn't feel like so long. How long have I been missing?"
"The people at Rito village say that you have been gone for a month." Uten said to Teba.
"A month?" Teba looked up into the sky and saw another Rito fly onto the Plateau. They landed near the Temple of Time, which was a considerable distance away from where they were at. "Who could that be?" Teba got up and started walking towards the Temple of Time. The other three followed him.
Poump and Ganondorf with Hilda still in his arms walked with Old Man towards the Temple of Time. "What will happen when Hilda goes onto her journey?" Poump asked the Old Man.
"I cannot tell you." The Old Man said back to Poump.
"Why not? I should know!" Poump said.
"Because if I tell you, you might not follow through on your part of the story. I will tell you once we are in the Temple of Time and ready to begin." The Old Man said.
"Poof." Poump said to himself. He didn't like how convoluted the Old Man was. They entered into the Temple through a large entrance which was covered in moss and cracked in certain areas. Inside of the Temple at the end of the long room was a huge Goddess Statue, which was much bigger than any Goddess Statue that Poump ever got to see. As everyone was inside, the flapping of large Rito wings came from the entrance. They turned around to see a Rito with blue feathers. "Kass?!" Poump said once he saw the Rito.
"Poump! How good of you to join us!" Kass said to Poump. There was an accordion worn around Kass' neck.
"What do you mean 'us'?" Poump asked Kass.
Kass walked further inside of the Temple. "I am of course speaking about our red haired friend and the Princess. It seems that since you are here, you will see destiny at work."
"Why are you here?" Poump asked.
"For a reason I can't tell you right now." Kass said to Poump.
"Again with the theatrics." Poump thought to himself.
Zhago, Uten, Tipa, and Teba arrived at the Temple of Time and saw the people inside. "Kass? What are you doing here?" Teba said at the sight of Kass.
"I think the real question is what are YOU doing here." Kass said to Teba as he walked right up to him. Kass started playing the accordion and started singing. "You may feel it's right to be here. You may feel it's fine to ignore. But deep down in, deeeep doown inside of you. You want to be with your family, after such a long time awaaay. Much like I, 10 years agooo. Make amends and go back hooome. For if you don't, you'll be in graaave danger. So go back home, and be with your familyyyy." Kass stopped playing the accordion. Teba looked at Kass thoughtfully.
"I will go back home. I've ignored my duties as a Champion and a Father for enough now, so I must go back." Teba proceeded to go out of the Temple and fly out into the horizon in the direction of Rito Village.
The party turned to the Old Man. "Now, Hilda must meet her destiny. She will be accompanied by Ganondorf and Kass on her journey."
"Why not me?" Poump interjected.
"You have a different role, and you are needed here." The Old Man said. "Ganondorf, is there anything else you wish to do before you enter your journey with Hilda?"
Ganondorf thought for a bit. "I wish to spend a little time here, before I go. Once Hilda is ready." He looked down at her.
Hilda looked at the large Goddess Statue. "I will be ready but first I want to look around the Plateau a bit. And you two, Ganondorf, Poump, will escort me around." She got out of Ganondorf's arms and landed onto the floor. She started running for the Temple's entrance. "Come on!" Poump and Ganondorf looked at each other, but they decided to go along with her commands.
Four hours passed. Hilda had a good enough tour around the Great Plateau, looking at the different nooks and crannies around the place was enough to satisfy her need for adventure. She sat on a tree stump and watched as Ganondorf swung an axe into multiple trees, cutting all of them down instantly with each swing. Poump was a little bit miffed with what could be happening to Hilda soon. Ganondorf put down the axe and walked away from the area that he had been cutting up. A pile of logs were left in that area. Zhago, Uten and Tipa were mostly looking at the sky trying to make out what the different clouds looked like. And Kass was eagerly waiting for the Old Man to initiate the journey.
"We cannot wait any longer now." The Old Man said to Ganondorf, Kass, and Hilda. "You three must come with me." The three of them followed the Old Man into the Temple of Time, and then the four party members also followed along.
Inside of the Temple of Time, the Old Man stood next to the Goddess Statue. He looked at Poump. "Young Poump. You must play the Song of Time using the Ocarina. It's instructions are written on the wall here." The Old Man pointed out an inscription on the Goddess Statue.
Poump brought out the Ocarina. "What will happen?"
"You will see for yourself." The Old Man replied. "Ganon, Hilda, Kass. Into your positions."
The three of them lined up in front of the Goddess Statue. Ganondorf and Kass held both of Hilda's hands. "Are you sure I can't join them?" Poump asked.
"Your role is needed here." The Old Man said to Poump.
Poump looked at Hilda. "It's okay, Poumpy. I'll be fine with these two!" Hilda said when she noticed Poump hesitating. Poump looked at the other two and they nodded in agreement. Poump looked at the Ocarina of Time and blew into it. He followed the instructions on the wall, as he played an enchanting and timely sounding song. A portal appeared before them, one that looked like a gear shaped door that stretched into the inside of it. Ganondorf, Hilda, and Kass walked into the portal together. Hilda gave one last look to Poump but Ganondorf turned her attention back to what was ahead of her. The three of them receded deep into the portal until they disappeared. The portal closed up, and Poump stood there, speechless.
"How long will this take?" Poump said to the Old Man.
"For us, hours. For them, years. Many years." The Old Man replied.
The party stood in the room. Poump wanted to know more. "Now that that happened, are there any details I'm missing here?"
The Old Man looked at Poump. "You wish to hear more about Hilda?"
"Yes. I want to know more about her, why she's going through that, and why I can't join her."
The Old Man walked up to a stone bench. "Sit down, Poump. Allow me to give you a history lesson." Poump sat down next to the Old Man. "130 years ago, I met the love of my life. She was beautiful, talented, and was willing to marry into the Royal Family of Hyrule. She married me, and became the Queen of Hyrule. I was the King of Hyrule. 3 years after we met, we had a child, named Zelda. She was our Princess. When Zelda became 6 years old, my wife needed to go back to her world, a parallel world to Hyrule, that is known as Lorule. She was needed in Lorule, as she was of the Royal Bloodline to that world, so after having to say goodbye to her, she vanished into the world of Lorule, never to be seen again. Zelda didn't know this. I told her that she died suddenly, and that is how the Kingdom has seen it since. As for Hilda, she technically possesses the Royal Blood from the bloodline on Lorule, meaning she belongs there. When Zelda gave birth to Hilda, she gave birth to the missing Royal Family member of Lorule. It is why my wife had to go, since she didn't belong in Hyrule, and she was very saddened knowing that she mixed the Royal Bloodlines together between both worlds." The Old Man looked at Poump. Poump's mind was racing with different thoughts. This was something that he had trouble grasping. "As for why Hilda is going through that journey, she is allowing Ganondorf a chance to redeem his wrong doings across the ages. She must go on the journey with Ganondorf, as she radiates energy from Lorule, which is capable of keeping Ganon's Malice from overreacting. You cannot join her, as her destiny isn't yours. You belong here in this time period, with your friends. Do you understand now?"
"Just a little bit." Poump replied.
Six hours passed. The sun was beginning to set. The party sat in the Temple of Time speaking to each other, except for Poump who was way too obsessed with the portal that closed a few hours ago. The Old Man was standing still and sleeping, but then as if he never was sleeping, he walked right up to the portal. "It is time." He said to the others. Poump eagerly watched the portal in anticipation.
In a blinding flash of light, the portal opened up again. Poump and the others had their hands block the light from their eyes. The light's intensity died down and they looked inside of the portal. Ganondorf, Kass, and what looked like a 21 year old woman with purple hair and a Purple Tunic much like Link's Green Tunic walked towards the party. They made it out of the portal and looked at the party. The purple haired woman spoke up. "We have gathered forces throughout all of time. They are ready and waiting for the Battle for Hyrule. As for you four." The purple haired woman said to the party. "You must finish your quest to deal with the monsters. You all play a part in that battle. There is no time to waste."
Poump looked at the purple haired woman in disbelief. "Hilda? Is that you?"
She looked back at him with thoughtful eyes. "Yes. It is I. I would never forget you, Poump." Hilda turned to Ganondorf. "As for him, he has atoned for all of his evil that he has done throughout the ages. His struggle with Demise ends tonight." Hilda walked outside of the entrance to the Temple of Time. "Come with me." She said to the party members. "With Demise's curse weakening on Ganondorf, comes the Beginning of the End." She watched the horizon with the others. The sun was fully set by now and the moon started rising, except it had a strange peculiarity to it. The moon was red. "The Blood Moon rises again, and with it, the Calamity will rise again. The forces that I mentioned earlier will play a critical role in putting this conflict to an end, and as for you four, you must carry out your mission as you have been doing. You all play a part in putting this to an end."
"The Blood Moon?!" Zhago exclaimed at the sight of it. "That means…" As soon as Zhago said it, a dark purple energy emitted through the air. The clouds turned into a violent red, and then as if from nowhere, purple smoke clouds enveloped around the immediate area and from them came a few Bokoblins. Hilda pulled out a bow on her back and shot all of the Bokoblins in the area in the head, making them all fall over dead.
"You four must hurry. Meet with my mother and my father in Lurelin Village. Finish your quest, as Hyrule needs you to." Hilda looked up into the sky to see a dark portal appear. A bunch of small black squares came out of it and they formed into Ghirahim and Veerus. "Leave now." She said to the party.
"I can't leave you!" Poump said to Hilda.
"You must." Hilda put her hand up and then a magic blast came from her hand, which blasted the four party members away from her. Hilda and Ganondorf approached Ghirahim and Veerus.
"Ah-ha! It is so good to see you again, Demise! And you are in your best body now!" Ghirahim said at the sight of Ganondorf.
"Demise is beneath me!" Ganondorf said. "You can have him!" Hilda slammed both of her hands together towards Ganondorf, which caused the Malice of Demise to go out from inside of him.
"YOU CANNOT DO THIS!" Demise's voice said to Ganondorf. "AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH?! DESTINY FORCES YOU TO BE BONDED WITH ME FOR ETERNITY!" The Malice was sucked completely out of Ganondorf's body by Hilda, and the Malice formed into the shape of a tall figure which possessed much of Ganondorf's stature, with skin entirely made of Malice, and hair that looked like fire.
Ganondorf fell to the floor, breathing heavily. The Triforce on his hand lit up. "I am above Destiny! I am Ganondorf Dragmire, and I will no longer be your plaything!" Hilda waved her hands into the air and pointed them right at Ganondorf, which created a bright flash of light and then he disappeared.
"NO! WHERE DID HE GO?!" Ghirahim said at the absence of Ganondorf's body.
"Somewhere." Hilda said to Ghirahim. She pulled out a sword that looked extremely similar to the Master Sword, and she also pulled out a Hylian Shield.
"Demise! She is radiating too much power for us right now! We must retreat and gain more power!" Ghirahim said to Demise.
"You are right, Ghirahim. There is a great time to strike. We must rally our forces! Now that I have this body, with no other mind, just my own desire for dominance and complete control! Come now, Ghirahim. The Goddess' land will be our stomping ground!" Demise and Ghirahim both vanished into thin air, leaving the dark armored Veerus standing ground in front of Hilda.
Hilda approached Veerus with her weapon out, and Veerus pulled out their weapon as well. Hilda swung at Veerus, sending a laser right for Veerus' armor. Veerus dodged out of the way of the attack, with some flames coming for their armor's legs. It allowed them to sidestep with ease away from the laser blast from the sword. Veerus gripped onto their weapon and lunged right at Hilda and swung their sword. Hilda blocked the attack with the Hylian Shield and counterattacked with the Master Sword, slicing a hole open in Veerus' armor. The two of them fought each other for another minute. Hilda was breathing heavily, as she put all of her strength into the fight. Veerus' armor was wearing out. The both of them were at an even level of power, as they outmatched each other. Hilda looked to her side and saw Poump and the party still watching them. "You must leave!" Hilda screamed at the party. Veerus tried to take advantage of Hilda's distracted state and almost hit her, but she dodged out of the way of the attack. Hilda quickly slammed her hand onto the ground and then a circle of flame started to surround her, encompassing Veerus, and growing closer to the party. The party quickly ran for the side of the Great Plateau, as the flame grew larger and larger. The party pulled out each of their paragliders and jumped right off of the plateau and glided down back to their horses. The circular flame stopped and Hilda was surrounded by flames. Veerus stood inside of the flames, feeling the heat overcome them. Veerus looked at Hilda. "You wish for a world to be steeped in the same cycle, don't you?" Veerus said to Hilda.
"It's a lot more complicated than that." Hilda said to Veerus among the flames. Hilda was wearing some earrings that allowed her to stay in the fire without catching flames, however Veerus' armor started to give in to the flames.
"You are drunk on power." Veerus said to Hilda, and then Veerus disappeared into the black portal above them.
As for the party. They boarded onto their horses under the red clouds of the night. They weren't near the monsters across the land, but they knew of their presence. As the party rode forward across the road, the noises of battle horns sounded across all of Hyrule, and the sounds of the monsters permeated across the land. It was as Hilda said. The Beginning of the End has begun.