For the third time in two days, a pair of blue eyes slid open. The boy's hair was hanging down over his eyes, his green cap missing. He went to push himself up, crying out in pain when his hand touched the floor beneath him. Huh... it's soft... he thought to himself absent-mindedly, frowning as he inspected his hands.
Both hands were broken badly enough that he had to struggle to move his fingers, his wrists stiff. Finally pushing himself up with his elbow, he glanced around.
The room was lit with a soft, violet glow, revealing the royal purple curtains drawn over what he guessed to be the window and the bed beneath him, the crimson cushions embroidered with gold thread. It was not his own bedroom, that was for sure. He tilted his head and stretched out his leg, noticing a bandage wrapped around his thigh beneath the cut in his trousers.
Frowning, he turned his leg a little so the material shifted, another bandage wrapped around his bare torso catching his eye. The tips of his pointed ears burned as he realized that his tunic was missing and that the easiest way to bandage his wounded leg would be to strip him of his trousers.
A low chuckle startled him, his head whipping around as he searched for the source. The Demon Lord was draped across a lounge, idly twisting and flipping one of his small daggers. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever wake." he teased, throwing the dagger into the air and watching it fall before catching it between two slender fingers.
Link stared at him open-mouthed for a long moment, his eyes wide with shock. Of all his possible saviours, he didn't expect his own captor to be to one rescuing him. Just what is going on?! His panicked thoughts rapidly assailed his brain, making him want to dig his fingers into his temples until the pulsing flow of blood stopped being so painful.
"If you're wondering why you're still whole and not dead yet, it's because I decided that it was in my best interest to keep you alive." Ghirahim hummed a few notes and threw the dagger again, letting the hilt fall onto his waiting palm.
The blonde stiffened and ground his teeth together, glaring angrily at the demon. "Where are we?" he asked. Well, tried to ask. What came out was a barely audible breath of air, his throat too sore and dry to form any words. Water... he needed water.
His captor watched him expectantly for a minute, the dagger vanishing as he started to get up. "Oh, yes. I forgot you might require something to drink." a golden fruit formed in his hand, which he then held out to the boy. "This is better than water. It should be satisfying."
Link frowned and tilted his head, struggling to speak again. Eventually, he gave up and just glanced pointedly towards his own hands. Why is he doing this? Is he going to try to make me use my broken hands?
The demon closed his eyes and let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Fine. I can tell you're going to be difficult, even though I just saved your life." he sat beside the hero and held the fruit against his lips, watching him with an expression that was almost... bored.
When the child didn't take a bite, Ghirahim let out a growl. "Foolish boy." he made a show of biting into the fruit, letting the boy know it wasn't poisoned or harmful in any way before he held it out again. Slowly, Link took a bite; thin lines of juice running down his chin as he hesitantly began to eat the fruit the demon held.
Ghirahim leaned closer and slowly licked up the boy's neck, his tongue catching a few drops of juice. "I don't want juice on my bed." he murmured quietly against the soft skin of his jaw, the hero shuddering beneath his lips. What is he... his thoughts whirred faster than before. He remembered being tortured by the very same demon that now fed him and had probably been the one to bandage his wounds.
"Why are you doing this?" the boy finally mumbled, his throat soothed by the cool liquid. His head was beginning to pound, as if a metal fist was punching the inside of his skull.
The Demon Lord blinked and leaned back, the core disappearing in a shower of diamonds. "Don't you remember what happened?" he asked curiously, tilting his head to the side like a bird. "You triggered a curse on the building. It showed you your worst fear and you ran blindly. I found you unconscious outside the ruin."
Link just gaped at him, his eyes wide. "Ruin? What..." his voice trailed off, staring at the demon in confusion.
The other male sighed and lowered his head, his eyes closing as he stood up. "You seem to have forgotten everything that has transpired in the past few weeks. You sealed my master, Demise, in the present, and returned to the past to end him." he looked towards the covered window, his eyes hard. "Somehow, my connection to him was severed when you fought him. I was separated from the blade."
"Blade? Does that mean..." Link's eyes widened as a sudden flow of images flew through his mind.
Standing in the strange world, ankle-deep in water, he stood with his head bowed and sweat dripping down his nose and jaw. His foe didn't bother to advance, preferring to watch the hero calmly. Even with the power of the Triforce, he still wasn't strong enough to defeat Demise. His chest heaved as he panted, raising the sword in his hands as he prepared to face the tall figure.
Ghirahim studied the boy silently out of the corner of his eye, his pale lips pressed together. Thin black lines had appeared down the left side of his body a few hours after he had teleported the two of them back from the ruins. Link's eyes met his for a brief moment before going glazed again as another memory rushed him.
His enemy was saying something about his descendants being cursed, but he wasn't paying attention. His hand was pressed against his wounded side, blood dripping over his fingers as he struggled to stay conscious. Demise muttered something about his sword being weaker than usual and turned away, vanishing slowly.
The blonde's eyes focussed, and he found himself gazing up at the ceiling. "It's over..." he murmured. "But why did you save me? How are you alive?" he frowned, looking towards the stationary demon.
"To be honest, I don't quite know. It may have something to do with you destroying Demise, or it might be the power of the Triforce that separated me from that blade. But when you faced Demise, my connection to that sword vanished. As for why I saved you..." the man turned away, his cape fluttering from the sudden movement.
"I saved you because it's in my best interest." he murmured so quietly, Link hardly heard him. "I don't know what you were doing in that ruin, but I do know that if I hadn't been there, you would be dead by now."
Another flashback nagged at his brain, following the demon's words. After Demise had fallen and Link had returned to the present, Zelda had revealed that the goddess's presence had faded. Now that the threat had ended, Hylia no longer needed her. They were both free, in a way. When Link had asked if she would accompany him on his adventures to explore the rest of the surface, now aptly named Hyrule, she had said no. She would stay with the other people from Skyloft. She owed them that much, at least.
Suddenly, the demon turned around to face him and spread his arms out by his sides. "You can probably tell, but my power is considerably less than it used to be. The more I use it, the weaker I become. I need a way to stop my powers from constantly depleting, and hopefully become as powerful as I was when I was the sword spirit of Demise's sword."
Now that his attention had been drawn to Ghirahim, he noticed that his eyes were darker than normal, his pale skin even paler, and the jagged black lines that adorned the left side of his body, including his face. Despite the demon's obvious plight, he still had to ask. "Why should I help you?"
Ghirahim laughed softly and leaned back, folding his arms over his chest. "I was expecting that question, sky child. First of all, not once have I ever tried to kill you. Threaten you, definitely. Injure you, yes. Inflict pain upon you, maybe a little. But I have never tried to kill you. Second, I'm not in a position to kill you now. I doubt I could even overpower you in this state." he admitted.
Link hesitated for a moment, biting at the inside of his cheek. The demon had a point. And no doubt, the demon had no idea what would happen if his power ran out completely. "... Fine. I'll help you. I don't trust you, but I'll help." he muttered.
With a laugh, the Demon Lord lay back on the lounge, crossing his left leg over his right. "The only idea I currently have is to find a blade or have one forged. A sword spirit without a sword is entirely unheard of, so it seems like the most logical choice to me." he mused. "But it's more of a question of where to get a sword powerful enough to sustain me. An ordinary sword wouldn't be enough. Both your blade and the one I was bound to were both extraordinary weapons..." the demon slowly fell silent, tapping a pattern on his thigh.
"The blade that Demise owned was destroyed, and Fi is bound to my... the Master Sword." Link shook his head and looked at his hands again, studying them. Now that he looked properly, they didn't seem broken. He frowned and slowly formed a fist with his left hand, his frown deepening at the lack of pain. Maybe I imagined it. It wouldn't be the first time.
His ears caught a soft whisper coming from the demonic sword spirit, the man's lips hardly moving as he spoke and his hair concealing the rest of his face. "A weapon without a hand to wield it... is useless..." the hand that had been tapping a pattern on his thigh was curled into a fist, a grimace twisting his lips. "That's all I am now..." he laughed bitterly, leaning his head back.
Something twitched inside the hero's chest, causing him to feel unwanted sympathy for the demon. He's just like Fi. He isn't used to feeling human emotions, and he definitely doesn't want to feel weak. He thought to himself, his gaze softening. How the hell am I supposed to help him? Even if we do manage to bind him to a new sword, who will wield it? He is a demon after all. What if the blade falls into the wrong hands? Maybe... No, that doesn't work. Sealing him away would be crueller than letting him die. And I don't even know if he will die. Shit.
The violet glow bathing the room had begun to grow steadily darker, the sun going down. Link startled himself by placing a hand on the demon's shoulder. "We will find a blade, and I will be the one to wield it." he declared, surprising both of them. He hadn't even noticed his body getting up off the bed and walking to him.
"Then I suppose I will owe you for that, sky child. Let's declare a truce, for the time being. Neither one of us will raise a hand against the other until a solution has been found." the demon rolled his head back and looked up at him with narrowed eyes, the black lines dark against his skin.
The hero of the goddess sighed softly and nodded. "A truce." he agreed.