A/N: Last peripheral character POV. It came out a bit silly for the story's tone, and I seriously thought about changing it; but since the next chapters are going to be pretty dark, I decide to leave it.

I won't be updating as frequently. I wrote 90% of this story in a mad 6 hour rush of insomnia and Muse albums this weekend. But the rest of it really needs revision and editing, and it's going to take some time.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Well, let me tell ya, I was pretty darned surprised to see Link comin' back so often to the Bazaar, now that little Zelda was back and all.

He spent about a couple of days goin' back and forth between all the shopowners. I was pretty stoked to see him; business had been pretty slow since the hero retired from fightin' evil, and my mum was startin' to get kinda naggy about finances.

I did a few upgrades for him...but then a couple days passed where none of us saw him at all. Come to think of it, he took off in a rush right after talkin' to that crazy fortune teller guy across from me. I just figured he was done upgradin' for now, or maybe busy gettin' some materials.

In any case, I wasn't none too shocked when he eventually turned up at my shop again.

I did my usual spiel, the whole, "What'll it be today?" expectin' him to ask me for another upgrade. After he got that Hylian shield, he didn't have use for much else. But then he up and outted with that strange request of his.

Kid was quiet for a second. "Actually...I need you to forge a small blade, Gondo. A kind of dagger, a long knife." Adjusting my goggles, I rubbed a hand on the back of my neck, thinkin' it over. My old gramps had taught me how to forge swords and all, but it was a heck of a lot of hassle.

"Okay, Link." Kid was a loyal customer, and all. "That might take a while, but it shouldn't be too bad. What kinda blade we talkin' about?"

He rummaged in that pouch of his, and I'm not proud to say I just near leaped outta my skin when I saw the pile of evil crystals he just dumped out on my counter.

Now, I'm not opposed to handlin' an evil crystal or two; sometimes ya just need 'em to get an upgrade right. But I don't mind tellin' ya, there was some seriously freaky mojo comin' outta that purple pile.

"I need you to forge the blade with these," he said slowly. I looked up at the kid, a weird feelin' in my gut. He just kept lookin' at me, and I heard a small clink on the table. I looked down, surprised at the objects he had placed on the wood. Three small, diamond-shaped pieces of silver, I realized, each about an inch long, half an inch wide.

"These need to be in the hilt." His voice was real quiet.

Now, I'm goin' to be honest, I didn't much care for the seriously creepy vibe the whole business was givin' me. My old gramps taught me pretty well about all sorts of weapons, sacred for sure, but also about those of darker persuasions, and I could recognize the makings of 'em for sure as that fortune teller was crazy as a loon.

If it had been anyone but him, I woulda told 'em to get out of my sight before I gots'em out, if ya know what I mean.

But it bein' Link and all, and that sad, determined look in his eyes... What can I say, I trusted the kid.

I didn't ask no questions.

"Alright, Link, I'll get on it first thing. This'll take me a while, though..." he nodded, in that understandin' way of his. "You jus' come back in three days, no questions asked." He gave me an appreciative smile. I didn't notice the twinkling bag of silver he left on my counter 'till after he walked out.

Well, the job was harder than my usual tinkering, but it all went pretty smooth. And I gotta say, after all was said and done, the kid paid well for the favor.

I was never the introspective type. Not much of a big talker, either. Before the voice of destiny had called me, I was perfectly content to slide through Knight School, spending my days flying on my crimson loftwing, dodging Groose and his gang, and hanging out with my blonde best friend.

Even when Zelda disappeared, I didn't really ask too many questions. I got some hasty explanations, and I armed myself as quickly as possible, fully prepared to take on whatever unknown dangers may have lain on the Surface to get her back. That was all that really filled my mind: Getting her back, and doing so as quickly as possible, no matter what.

It was sort of the same thing now.

It may seem odd that I set out the very morning after the fevered dream to start preparing. I had no proof that anything I had seen was real (there were some scratches, but that's hardly conclusive). And even after my visit to the fortune teller, there was still no reason for me to undertake what was sure to be such a treacherous quest.

What would people say, I only wondered for a second, if they heard Hylia's Chosen Knight had set out to recover the very sword spirit that had threatened the Goddess? The one who kidnapped her, who had staged an ancient ritual to bring back the Demon who had sworn to destroy her realm?

I pushed these questions out of my mind.

Again, I was never the introspective type. I didn't sit around philosophizing over why courage and determination led me to immediately begin my quest for the dark sword spirit.

Fi would probably have had several theories: Maybe it was the thread of fate he always spoke of. Maybe it was the confused discord of feelings he had always provoked in me. I was a child when we first met, scarcely capable of wielding the Master Sword. I had known nothing of real bloodshed, of the complex thread that was magic, or even of the incredible desires and sensations he would eventually stir in me. He seemed such an integral part of my life.

All that he was - his clever manipulations and plots, the sensual threats, the flamboyant elegance in which he moved, those eloquent words he spoke that would have better suited an intimate partner than a foe – how could I leave him to fade away?

I had no doubts about how foolish - even dangerous – my obsession with the Demon Lord was. But the idea of Ghirahim withering away in that horrible place... Well, as he would say, it was more than I could bear.

So it was that the next three weeks would reveal me preparing: Studying my maps, and gathering heart pieces, potions, and supplies to upgrade everything.

I even trained every other day in the dragon-god's Thunder Challenge, resharpening my skills to ensure I'd be ready for anything in the Shadow Realm. During these visits, I battled long, only stopping once I reached a heart piece, or a small fortune of rupees I would use to fund my preparations.

But as always, each time Lanayru asked me who I would like to fight, my answer was always the same.

The last preparational task was the most taxing, emotionally.

She met me in the Goddess's Temple, as I had asked her in the note I left her.

The look on her face startled me – it wasn't that of the Zelda I had known in Skyloft. It was that of the Goddess's Incarnation, entering the Temple knowing her hero was leaving, departing for a quest that, this time, she had not ordained.

She met me in the center of the stone room, walking up to me to place a gentle hand on my cheek. I covered her hand with mine and watched as she took her inventory, noting my new green tunic, the sacred shield on my back, and the sharpened knight's sword, strengthened with a feather of her previous form.

Then her eyes narrowed. I knew her eyes had laid upon the newly forged blade of evil resting in my boot. Even I could feel the twinges of darkness pulsing from the metal.

A question in her gaze. I nodded, knowing she would recognize the slight trepidation in my expression. "It's necessary," I said quietly.

She turned around, her white skirt swirling around her ankles as she surveyed the intricate carvings on the stone statue of her magnificent former form.

"So this is where you leave us..." I heard the twinge of sadness in her voice. I expected Zelda to ask when I'd be back; the incarnation of the Goddess did not.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around, her eyes meeting mine. There, behind the Goddess' stoic glance on her Chosen Hero, I thought I could see the young girl, the one so sad to see her best friend leave the land, leave her.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Link?" Her voice was steady, determined to aid me in whatever way she could, perhaps as thanks for the tumultuous ordeal she had put us through.

I unsheathed my sharpened knight's sword, holding it vertically by its blade so that the hilt was pointed skyward, the dull image of the Triforce on the blade directly between our gazes.

"Where I'm going..." The voice that left my throat was no longer that of the tormented young man I had been this last year. It was strong, confident, in full possession of the hero I was. I continued, and a line of worry creased her gaze. "It's a place filled with shadow, where not even the light of the Goddess penetrates."

She exhaled the breath she had been holding, as if resigned. She understood without knowing, without pressing for information on this private, personal quest.

"Kneel, Link."

I did as she asked. I felt a warm light engulf me as I raised the blade. I lowered my head in respect, but had I looked up, I would have seen Zelda close her eyes and raise her arms, summoning down the holy magic of the heavens.

"Brave Link, Chosen Knight of the Goddess..." I almost didn't recognize her voice, so pure, commanding and confident; a voice that surely came from a magnificent being far wiser and more formidable than any teenage girl. "I bless your holy blade. May it drive back the shadows of evil, even when naught but darkness surrounds you."

A faint light engulfed the sword, finding its catch on the Goddess feather that was embedded in its core.
The image of the Triforce on the blade, usually dull, glowed briefly before fading back into its original burned gold.

I opened my eyes. She nodded. I rose.

I put my hand to her cheek in goodbye, and saw the Goddess retreat once more, leaving the sad girl to shed a tear of concern for her best friend.

"Just come back to us," she whispered.

(Author's Note: "Map of the Problematique" by Muse was blasting on repeat as I wrote this next part. I think it kind of follows the intro of the song. ...*cough*startplayingthesongnow*cough*)

The statue of the Ancient Cistern finished its ominous, humming descent.

A small mortal offering, Sparrot's fortune echoed in my mind.

Maybe others would have been confused. Maybe others would have required more explanation. But I knew the Demon Lord Ghirahim, probably better than his former master.

I had battled him three times, an intimate clash of metal and energy, a mortal dance between talented, sadistic diamonds and the legacy of the triforce of courage.

I had fought recreations of him, studying his elegant precision and graceful movements.

And his ghost had haunted me: Fleeting visions of the sly demon that accosted me; teasing, taunting, tormenting me in vivid, sensuous dreams.

And it was now, that I prepared to drag him out of Shadow, that I understood and acquiesced with the demon's request.

The door opened in front of me, and the sound of stone scraping against stone was the last thing I heard before being assaulted by the underworld.

I withdrew my blessed sword and the Goddess Shield. I didn't waste time. Neither did they.

I launched myself from statue's doorway and immediately met the gruesome sounds of the cursed creatures rising from the depths, preparing their grisly assault in an eager movement to enact vengeance on the one who had previously defeated them.

I raised my sword to the sky. There was no Skyward Strike; admirable though it was, this was not the Master Sword. But I never doubted Zelda's blessing.

A faint white glow emanated from my sword, and even in the darkened underground, I could feel the holy power piercing through the darkness as I slashed at the cursed bokoblins.

The blade sliced easily through monsters' thin flesh and brittle bones, eliminating the first wave of the army of evil. I turned toward the single Stalfos that had risen.

I brandished my Goddess Shield, sensing the blessed metal warding away the weaker creatures of shadow, keeping them, wailing and gnashing, in their crypts below.

I bashed against the Stalfos' attack, sending him staggering backwards, and I leaped forward, slicing quickly at his head, feeling the steel run through his skeletal spine, severing the ghastly head from its body. I turned, his bones joining others that littered the polluted ground.

I proceeded quickly, exchanging my holy sword for the blade of darkness from my boot, moving fast before stronger creatures became aware of my presence.

The fortune teller's words reached me again in the stinking pits below the Cistern. "A small mortal offering."

The smiling white demon flashed through my consciousness.

I held the cursed blade up, planting my lips briefly on the cold metal. I hesitated only a second; I drew the knife to my mortal skin and slashed a shallow wound on my arm, the amount of crimson lifeforce drawn surely a quantity that would have made the demon lick his lips in bloodlust.

The blade glowed a dark purple. My blood stained the metal, and I felt the weapon torn from my grip with an all-too-familiar force, as though the demon himself had materialized to wrench it from my grasp.

The blade spun up into the air, twirling rapidly with an elegance befitting the spirit for whom it had been forged.

It stopped, frozen in midair, its point directing me toward an area below the Cistern I hadn't traversed.

The blade stopped glowing and I held out my hand, the hilt dropping into my palm. Still grasping the dark weapon, I looked into the direction it had pointed, and ran.

I ran, deeper into the darkness, embracing the demons that had haunted me for so long, in rescue of the one I prayed would save me.

A/N: ...Please review.

Also, it was with guilt that I had Gondo forge the blade, since I've read a similar use of his character in In Hatred We Join Hands by BanishedOne (which you should all GO READ NOW (after reviewing!); but I needed a weapon for Ghirahim to direct Link with, Dowsing-Style, and using Gondo made the most sense.

Shoutouts:

Bunnylali: ! Thank you so much. Your review spurred me into finishing editing this. I have the rest of this story written in out crudely, and editing and polishing it is taking a lot of time. The story -is- getting dark, quick. Please let me know what you thought of the last part of this chapter!

ButterflyBabyBlue: I'm glad you liked Sparrot! I had fun writing him. Gondo was a bit harder, and I wasn't quite as happy with him, but... hope you enjoy this chapter.

Teapot-sama: Thank you for the favorite! And the compliment on Ghirahim.

MrMyshka: Thank you! He wouldn't be Ghirahim if he wasn't sensual! -adores the Fab Demon Lord-

Pilpols: Thank you so much for your consistent reviews! They really do keep me going with this. This story is really difficult for me to write and polish up, for some reason, and reviews are really encouraging.

Kaemiri: Thank you! I actually have all but the last chapter crudely sketched out, so please don't worry about me cutting it off short! The plot's all done, it's just a matter of putting in the energy to polish it up that's proving difficult.