Chapter 2
Levias and the three dragons surrounded the floating table in the Thundercloud, each peering at the hand of cards Faron had dealt them.
During the time leading up to the hero's awakening, the four would regularly convene to discuss dragonly (and spiritly) matters involving the lands they each guarded: Enemies faced, the increased rates of monsters in their land, and of any rumors they had each heard of evil's wake.
The meetings had proved fruitful, allowing each of the guardians to implement much more efficacious defensive schemes than they would have on their own; and while matters after the defeat of Demise had gotten...considerably less urgent (indeed, rather dull these days...) their meetings had by that time become pleasant routine, and in any case, it was nice to be in the company of beings other than mogmas, robots and seahorses.
"Gin," the thunder dragon grinned, proudly tossing his hand down on the table.
"What?" The indignant cry came from Faron, who floated up quickly, observant keen eyes darting suspiciously between cards on the table, and Lanayru's expression, as if trying to detecting any hint of wrongdoing. "That's the third time," the female barked, her hand thrown on the table as violently as cards can be thrown by an angry water dragon.
She pointed a mighty claw in the yellow dragon-god's face, her robes billowing erratically behind her, a reflection of her agitated state. "You're a dirty cheat!" she accused, her antennae-like tendrils flailing wildly.
"Now, now..." the sky spirit interrupted in his calming voice, intervening before Lanayru could retort – a provocation which would ordinarily drive the female into making a quick snack out of a lesser being. "Why don't we play a different game," Levias suggested with some amount of diplomacy.
Eldin let out a controlled breath of fire, instantly incinerating the cards. He casually raised his claws, summoning a new deck, which he expertly shuffled and distributed in five-card hands.
The water dragon narrowed her eyes at the sheepish looking desert dragon, and crossed her arms, her antennae-like tendrils settling calmly. "Very well..." she stated regally, having settled into a state of (ever vigilant) calm. The thunder dragon shifted uncomfortably under her accusatory glare.
Eldin motioned Levias to take his turn, angling sideways toward the other two dragons to regale them in the latest gossip.
"Have you all heard?" the fire dragon began in his rich timbre.
The sky spirit rolled his eyes, having an idea of what was coming from the famed gossip... He swore, Eldin probably scooped those eye-imprinted stones most of the time.
"There is to be a wedding," Eldin began excitedly, eyes darting toward the other dragons conspiratorially. "To take place on the surface, in the land the humans have named Hyrule."
Levias put down two cards, taking the two Eldin distributed from the deck, and wincing; all that time alone in the clouds had left him without much of a poker face, it seemed.
"Is that so," Levias uttered politely – and rather flatly - indulging in more of the pumpkin soup recently brought for the occasion.
Faron, having no qualms about partaking in idle chatter, gave a rich laugh, the slightly pompous blue dragon elegantly twirling two of her own cards down on the table. "So the Goddess and her Chosen Hero are now fulfilling their destinies, are they?"
Eldin drew two cards for her, shooting her an almost sly look.
"Oh, no..." Eldin started in a slow hush, obviously enjoying the divulging of this juicy nugget of information. The majestic crimson dragon exchanged one of his own cards for one from the deck. "Curiously enough, it seems the Goddess's incarnation is marrying another..."
"What?" the interrupting cry came from Levias (who had evidently forgotten he was above such talk), and the spirit unwittingly showed his hand in his surprise. Lanayru took the opportunity to steal a glance at his cards, and Faron, watching the wily old dragon vigilantly, uttered a shriek, and promptly summoned a burst of water at the thunder god, soaking the cards in his grip.
Scowling, a dripping wet Lanayru tossed down his cards in defeat, and Eldin, obviously used to such antics, summoned yet another deck of cards without skipping a beat.
"It's true," Eldin nodded his mighty head for emphasis. "She's to be wed to the young man who apparently aided the Hero in sealing the Imprisoned. While she spurned his advances for years, it is believed his experiences in the Sealed Grounds rather changed the male enough for the girl to accept his hand in marriage."
Anyone who cared to look would have seen Levias shooting the red dragon an incredulous open-mouthed stare. How inHylia's realm did he know all this? Still, for all Eldin's gossip, he had never been mistaken yet. Must be a good networker...
Blinking, the sky spirit snapped out of it to press for more information.
"But...that's preposterous," Levias sputtered, looking to Faron as if for confirmation. "Everyone knows the Goddess's Incarnation and the Chosen Hero are destined to meet, fight back the forces of evil, and then together lead the kingdom to a prosperous age." He settled back in the air, pensively.
Lanayru, thinking back to the hero's somber countenance, and rather strange behavior during the last challenge, said nothing during all this.
The water dragon mused over the subject, speaking slowly. "I suppose it's possible for them to lead the kingdom without such a union..." She shrugged, folding her claws beneath her robes. She raised an eyebrow to her firey counterpart. "Though it did appear to me the boy was fairly enamored with the girl..." she trailed off before let out a derisive laugh, floating now so that she appeared to be leaning back.
"But who can account for the fickle hearts of mortals?" she drawled, also reaching for a cup of the delicious pumpkin soup. Rather much like the fickle hearts of fire dragons, she thought privately, glancing at the current crimson card dealer with a twinge of resentment.
Lanayru broke his silence, grinning happily at his compatriots. "So," he asked merrily, his claws on the table. "Are we to be invited to the celebration?"
Link could almost hear the pale figure's words in his ear, and the young man felt a not unpleasant shiver run down his spine.
Come find me, Hero... the demon's voice had tempted, yet again. These rather drab depths of the shadow realm simply don't suit me at all, and I so long to hear the sound of your screams... The words had tightened his chest, and the the demon lord's threats reverberated in the depths of Link's mind, absorbing the hours of his days, chasing away hopes of sleep at night...
"Link..." A voice that seemed far away drifted faintly to Link.
"Link!" The frustrated voice of his childhood best friend jerked him suddenly from the memory of his latest dream.
"Wha...oh." Blinking, Link returned to the world of the present, realizing he had spaced out in the middle of saddling his loftwing in the forest. He turned from the red bird and set his fatigued blue eyes on his blonde friend, smiling apologetically. "What were you saying, Zels?"
She didn't return his smile. She surveyed the bags under his eyes, the lack of color in his formerly rosy cheeks. "You're still not sleeping," she stated simply. There was no question in her tone.
Link shrugged, turning his attention to tightening the straps on his bird.
"Are you going to tell me where you're going this time...or how long you'll be gone?" His shoulders stiffened at the unveiled resentment in her tone. He sighed.
The last few months had seen a rift grow between them... It was almost ironic, really. For months, he had suffered soul-shattering trials to ensure this girl's safety, battled unspeakable monsters to secure her return... and now that she was back, more and more he found he had nothing to say to her.
"I won't be gone long, this time." His voice was patient, refusing to acknowledge the anger and confusion that had been rising in the Goddess's Incarnation these last six months.
She looked down, her hands lightly clenched at her sides. Her tone was indistinguishable.
"Are you even going to congratulate me?"
At this, Link froze for a fraction of a second. He patted his bird, and turned to the girl, giving her a sad smile. That look of regret in her eyes – so strange in a girl who had just announced her engagement just the day before.
"Of course I am..." the teen leaned over, pulling his oldest friend, his childhood love in a close embrace.
Unseen by him, Zelda clenched her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek. The two held each other for a few long moments, Link stroking the girl's back affectionately.
"I'm so happy for you and Groose," he said, and the sincerity in his voice just spurred more tears in the girl. He took a deep breath against her frame, squeezing her gently. He laughed softly, still holding her. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I know Groose will take great care of you."
He drew away with a genuine smile...but the sight of her tears drove the laughter from his expression.
A small sea of hurt and confusion stared back at him from the pools in her eyes. There, right in the forest where he had completed her rescue, she finally voiced the question that had been haunting the both of them.
"Why isn't it you that I'm marrying?"
Link inhaled sharply, stepping back so that he was now holding her at arm's length. Several seconds passed. His hands on her shoulders, his fingers tightened against her skin gently, helplessly.
He had no answer. He just shook his head slowly.
She looked down and wiped away her tears. Taking small sniff, she straightened her posture and placed her hands on his wrists.
"Is it another girl?" Tentatively, she raised her eyes to his, as though drawing upon her holy strength to summon enough bravery to face his answer. "Some glamorous woman you met on your adventures? Is that why you're moping around, taking long trips away without a moment's notice?"
Link seemed genuinely surprised by her question. He blinked, and opened his mouth to answer –
Then it happened.
A flash of diamonds and purple eyes – sly, knowing eyes stared out at him from the otherwise gentle face of his best friend, the girl he once loved.
Link staggered backward with a sharp cry, his crimson loftwing cawing out in alarm, rapidly, instinctively turning its body so that his master fell back harmlessly against his soft feathers.
He hit the bird with a soft thud. "No..." Link whispered raggedly, gloved hands raised to his eyes, as though by screening them from the vision, the malicious entity could no longer detect him.
"Link?" his friend cried out in alarm, rushing forward to grip his arms. "Link, what's wrong?" The genuine concern in her voice betrayed her months of worrying over him, over the young man she still loved, the hero who now seemed a tormented shadow of the boy she had played and laughed with in the island above the clouds.
He shook his head, eyes still clenched, and Link gently pried her hands away. "I have to go," he murmured, and turned, preparing to mount his bird. Even after mounting, his hands continued rubbing his eyes, trying to cast out the stark image that seemed now burned into his sight.
She shook her head sadly. "When will you be back?"
"Soon." Link was already in the air, flying off to continue his search. She called after him, but his bird's wings, the fierce rush of the air, and the demons that haunted him drowned out the girl's voice.
The boy was waiting for me in the gorge when I returned from my meeting in Thunderhead.
As the blonde young hero approached me, I exhaled a massive puff of air upon studying the teen. He looked worse than I had ever seen him during his grueling adventure... He had lost some weight, it appeared. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his expression carried the look of a man haunted.
I thought back to what Eldin had said about the Goddess Incarnate's engagement, and I wondered how much of his present appearance stemmed from it...
Or how much his name's absence on the wedding announcements stemmed from his current state.
I pushed these thoughts out of my mind. "You wish to do battle again, hero?" I injected some cheer into my voice, watching his small figure in the glade surrounded by whirrping robots and blades of grass.
He nodded. "Very well," I responded, raising my thunderous arms to the sky to prepare my magic for the battleground to come...
...Link recognized his surroundings in the chamber of the Fire Sanctuary. He felt his sacred shield on his back, as well as the weight of the weapons he had carried at this point in his adventure.
Lanayru's battles never featured the demon's eloquent speeches before the battle. So Link drew his sword and stepped forward, prepared to put the hasty plan he had devised into action.
The pale image of the demon lord materialized...and Link's stomach wrenched in on itself in a way it never had during actual battle with the diamond-clad figure. The nervous hero tightened his grip on his blade, forcing himself to steady his breathing as he faced the most corporeal vision of the entity he had seen since the night terrors increased in intensity. Link studied his foe's trim figure, the way his clothing fit across muscle, and the demon lord's facial expression, searching for any clues, any traits he had not thought to take notice of during former battles.
Upon meeting his eyes, Link began doubting the possible success of his plan; rather than the confident taunting that always graced the diamond-clad Ghirahim in reality and his dreams, the orbs that stared back at Link were soulless, lifelessly dull. Programmed, a mere shell of the actual demon lord.
Regardless, Link had to finish this fight. The entity's arms were a heavy black this time, and Link recalled the strategy he had used during this battle to defeat the pale demon. Inhaling a breath, Link strode forward, resolving to continue in his plan despite his dubiety.
He approached the slim white figure, his sword drawn obviously in front of him. Predictably, the calculating entity raised his hand... Link took a swing.
His blade caught between the smiling demon's fingers with a clang, and two ruby daggers materialized, spinning threateningly in between the two men.
Link made no move to remove his sword, and concentrated desperately, mimicking the manner in which he would communicate with Fi.
I know what you are, sword spirit.
No reaction. Disappointment began its regretful journey over the boy's features.
Then he felt it. His instincts, his battle-forged senses picked up a new energy in the battleground - a third party force crackling through the aura that typically surrounded the Thunder Dragon's magical challenges.
The daggers stopped spinning, remaining frozen in midair.
The demon's eyes met his - and life sparked within them, an uncharacteristic seriousness filling them; Link heard the now familiar voice sounding once again in his mind.
Such a clever little skychild. The voice held the sound of the Ghirahim's smile, despite his serious expression.
The daggers immediately lurched forward, slashing Link's tunic, creating shallow wounds in his skin. He cried out in pain, and to Link's horror, he saw the spirit flick out his famously long tongue and graze pale lips at the bloodshed.
Ghirahim promptly wrenched the blade from Link's fingers, as though reminding Link who had control over their interactions.
The voice again, not spoken through the figure in front of him, but sounding within his own mind.
But you won't succeed this way, I'm afraid...
The seriousness left the eyes of his foe, as if no longer possessed by the actual inspiration of its fictional self. He raised Link's weapon, and the younger man threw himself sideways, only narrowly missing being run through by his own blade.
The invading energy left the battle arena, the aura of the Thunder Challenge returning to its usual state.
The pale, programmed entity spoke no more to him in that battle.
That night, direction would grace the tormented hero's dreams.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I already have the idea for the next chapter, so I hope to get it out relatively soon. I'm also working on Sword Spirit's Sacrifice, and I tend to focus on chapters one at a time.
Shout outs:
Petite-neko: I know, but it's so much fun seeing Ghirahim torment him.
Saya: Thank you! I was happy to get this out so soon.
Roowbin and Pilpols: I'm definitely planning on it!
ButterflyBabyBlue: See above. :) Thank you for the fave!
Bunnylali: I know! The idea for this came when I went back to see Lanayru just to fight our fabulous Demon Lord again.