Chapter 5

Divided

"My, my, sky child. Truly an impregnable hero, are you? All you've been producing since setting foot in the Skyview Temple is failure. What a disgrace."

Link barely heard what the demon was saying. He was much too preoccupied with preventing the jaws of a murderous beast from scissoring down on his body.

"Look at you, outsmarted and thrown onto your back by an animal. One would never figure you to be undefeated in your little sparring ring back home. What does this say about the standing of the student population at your silly academy? Surely there must be someone among your peers who surpasses you in strength and agility. Otherwise, there is simply no hope for humanity."

Thrashing about in the dirt, Link strained every muscle to maintain control over the stalhound. Splayed over him with its mouth wide open, it fought to clamp down, warring with the force of Link's hands.

"How can you even stand plummeting to rock bottom after achieving such a distinguished reputation? What would your instructors think? What would your classmates have to say? How would your friends feel about you being reduced to the nothingness which you have become today?"

Overexerted, Link writhed and twisted, locking his hands on either side of the stalhound's jaws. His face heated up, not only from the nearly impossible task of evading two-dozen sharp teeth, but from the hurtful words which he couldn't even respond to.

"Pitiful, hapless rakeshame. A craven! How befitting that your uniform was torn from you by the dregs of society, rescinding the only notable, albeit derisory accolade ever awarded you in your meaningless life. Now, here you lay, having nothing in your possession that you arrived with. Pathetic, if you ask me."

Ghirahim stepped away from his place of observation and walked up to the rotating mass of human and undead beast. After cautiously approaching them, he crouched down.

"You have nothing to go home to," he said, the growling stalhound just a few feet from him. With shaking arms, Link looked at the demon as best he could. "There appears to be a shortage of trustworthy people in your life right now, sky child. Your instructors are questionable confidants, to say the least. They've conspired to keep the sacred texts far away from the general population, have they not? Trying to keep something a secret, are they? Perhaps they believe that certain prophecies have the potential to cause widespread panic." He gave a low chuckle. "Such an inferior race you humans are.

"And I do believe I've belabored the point regarding the disreputable nature of your friends." Resting an arm on his knee, he tapped his chin and smiled. "Except for the fact that most of your acquaintances couldn't care less about whether you are safe at home or wandering the wilderness as a recluse." Link grunted and shook his head. He gasped as the stalhound's teeth almost snapped down. He turned his widening eyes to Ghirahim, wondering if he was going to help him. "And the spirit maiden isn't even there for you to speak to. You'll be getting no answers from her." The demon feigned an apologetic shrug.

Breathing heavily, Link felt his hands cramp up. He puffed, gritting his teeth and pushing, wondering how long he could defend himself like this. He felt feverish and fatigued, and more vulnerable than he ever had during a fight.

"Not only do you have no one, but you have nothing to take back home. You are utterly empty-handed, sky child. What will happen when Skyloft's courageous champion returns without his little friend? What will you do then? Retire to your room, a depressed, miserable sad sack with no hope of ever finding the spirit maiden?"

Ghirahim lifted a hand. Right away the frantic stalhound pulled back and ceased all movement. Relieved, Link took a breath, letting his hands drop to his chest. Still distrusting of the creature, he glanced back and forth between it and the demon.

"Oh, you could journey off on your little quest, but you would never last a week, sky child. You are a failure. You know you are a failure. You may wear the mask of confidence and poise, but deep down, you are nothing. You know this." For a moment, Link almost forgot about the danger that was looming over him. He kept his eyes on Ghirahim. "You are a simple run-of-the-mill student from a stale world. The worst you've endured is a three-month-long semester. How could you ever hope to complete something as grand as a Goddess-ordained mission?"

The verbal depredation made Link think of Groose. But even he had never been this cruel.

Ghirahim brought his face closer. He stared so intensely into Link's eyes that the stalhound was all but forgotten. "It matters not what you've been told. The proof is right before you, plain as day. You were not built for heroship, boy."

Link glared back. What was the demon trying to accomplish with all of these insults? Link bit back his mounting anger. To be angry was to be offended, and to be offended was to believe what was being said. He knew that the demon must have been trying to rile him up for some reason.

...So why was he getting mad?

"Tell me, sky child, what are you fighting against?" the demon asked, his bottomless eyes drawing Link inward. "What are you really fighting against?" He placed a hand beside the young man's head and stopped down. "Think about it."

You. Who else?

"How many of your enemies have you killed, sky child?" As Link opened his mouth to respond, the demon shushed him with his eyes. He grinned when Link did nothing but blink his eyes a few times. "No, not 'defeated in battle'. Killed, sky child, killed. How many enemies have you killed?" Link almost answered.

"The answer is zero. You've killed none. You have an alarming dearth of experience, human." The demon shook his head in disappointment. "What is the worst death that you've ever delivered? What is the most brutal blow that you've ever dealt? A fancy, twisting, leaping stab to a prone forest bokoblin? A cut to one of their throats? Maybe a dirty stab to a turned back?" The demon wagged a chiding finger. "Are you so institutionalized that you can't exceed the mundane? Are you truly so weak?"

Link knew he shouldn't be listening, but he couldn't help it.

"Have you ever beheaded something, sky child?" The demon's fingers curled excitedly. "Have you brought a creature to its doom with your bare hands, ripping it to shreds and tearing it to pieces with nothing more than manual power? Have you ever held the still beating heart of another in your hands?"

Link swallowed, certain that his unimpressive but truthful 'no' would give the demon even more reason to belittle him.

"Well, you're about to, sky child," Ghirahim said with assurance.

Link held his breath as the demon lowered to his side.

"I know you've had those moments, sky child. Those moments where you rise above the mediocrity of what you've been taught, where you let yourself go just a little…" Ghirahim balled a fist. "…Where you abandon that perfect equanimity to revel in that delicious moment of triumph over your opponent. You've been there, sky child, if only for a few fleeting seconds…"

Thoughts sped through Link's mind. The demon couldn't possibly be right...?

"I am not merely referring to incidents in which you've defeated surface creatures. This has happened to you while sparring with humans, as well. Even your friend, sky child."

Link shook his head. Friend? Pipit?

"You may be the title-holder at home, but here, you are nothing but a disappointment. If you want to stop being overtaken and want to start dominating once again, then lend me one of those lovely, pointed ears."

Link glanced nervously around, afraid that the feeling of the demon's breath on his ear meant that he was going to bite it, or lick it...

Ghirahim reached a finger toward the side of Link's head. Watching him flinch, the demon smirked. "Fear has overtaken you, sky child. It's reduced you to a pitiful weakling. You've lost your true ability to fight, if you ever had it to begin with."

Link slowly looked at him.

"Reclaim your inner wildcat, sky child. Allow all of that anger, all of those negative feelings toward everyone you know, toward me…" Link listened, stony-faced and still. "Let all of your fear, self-doubt and rage gather together. Let it compress and burst into that surge of brutality that you need to get in touch with what's inside." Ghirahim reached up to rest a hand on the stalhound's head. Link froze, expecting an attack.

"This creature is fueled by fear. It thrives on it. And you have an overabundance of it. That is why it is getting stronger, and you are getting weaker."

Link looked over the stalhound's bony frame once more. Its hunger for blood was practically streaming from its eyes.

I should have won this fight a while ago. How can fear be strengthening it? Is that really what it is?

"When I say that I can smell fear on you, I mean it quite literally, sky child," Ghirahim purred into Link's ear. He cringed. "I know that you refuse to admit it, but you and I are alike in many, many ways."

The two exchanged gazes for a time.

"We share many of the same desires…" Ghirahim circled a finger, narrowly missing Link's earring. "Feel much of the same pain… Offer our lives to one greater than ourselves…" He smiled softly, drawing Link's eyes. "Harbor a profound control over our corporeal and mental abilities… "

Link's glower remained untrusting.

"Start using that sixth sense that lies dormant in you, sky child - your ability to experience the dimension which lies beyond your limited intellect." Link focused more closely on the demon. "Are you even aware that you have what it takes to sense fear? To taste it as its essence flourishes before you?" The young man's face loosened."To see with your eyes its smoky waves as it emanates from your enemy? To feel the heat of it as it escapes from and betrays its host's body?" Link wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. "To smell the pungent aroma as it wafts through the air? To hear its distinctive sound as its familiar pitch overtakes your enemy's puling?"

Intrigued, Link couldn't tear his eyes from the demon.

"But there is so much more than that, sky child…" With a twinkle in his eye, he smiled. "Open your mouth and let the flavor sink in. Draw the scent into your nose. Let your enemy's fear strengthen you."

Strengthen me?

"If you allow it, you will have cerebral dexterity to such a degree that you will see what this beast fears. Use his fears against him. Project your own fear onto him to further weaken him."

Link just gaped at the demon, having no clue what he meant.

"It will mean his death, and your life." Ghirahim gently grasped Link under the chin. He stared blankly into Link's eyes for a moment,only grinning when the young man started wriggling.

"Do you want the opportunity to experience what I've just explained to you? And more? Do you want the chance to sample something transcendental? Something that you could opt to keep if you so desire." Ghirahim's lips floated by Link's. Unsure of whether he felt their touch or not, Link's eyes fluttered.

"Let me transfer it to you," Ghirahim whispered compellingly. Link looked him in the eye. "So facultative you will be, sky child, that you will feel naked in the dark without your new ability. It is but one of the many powers that I have the wherewithal to give you."

Link tried to pull away but was stopped by the demon's hand. On edge, he gasped.

"Push your doubts aside," Ghirahim urged him. Link would have shrunk back if he had been able. "This creature luxuriates in it. Drive the weakness away and instead fill your mind with hatred and fury. So hate your enemy that you have an insatiable craving to kill it in the most brutal way imaginable." Link tensed under Ghirahim's grasp. "It is time that you learned how to not only defeat something, sky child, but to kill it."

Link opened his mouth to ask a question, but the tingling sensation he felt as Ghirahim ran his thumb across his lips stilled him.

"You yearn for it, sky child. The proof rests on your face." Link watched the tip of the demon's tongue slide out. "This is the first step toward claiming what you've aspired for for so long, sky child. Leave failure, self-doubt and guilt behind. Forget about your home. Forget about the people who care nothing for you. Forget about the mission that is fated to sink into the abyss of failure. Go above and beyond everything that you have ever planned or foreseen for yourself. Obtain the answers that you seek for every mystery that has haunted you for so long. You can accomplish what you've set out to do, but better."

Link's toes curled in restlessness. Strange gratifications and shadowy promises coerced him. A titillating prickle danced on his lips as the demon pulled inward.

"But maybe the one who you care for does indeed return your affections, sky child." The demon lightly teased the side of Link's face. "Come and join with Midna without guilt."

Ghirahim's eyes flashed with an unspoken authority. Link felt like jumping out of his skin.

Did he just...say her name?

The word poured into Link's ears like nectar.

Why did the demon's touch feel almost...good?

"You will no longer feel the need to hold back," Ghirahim said enticingly. "Let her overmaster you, as you have longed for."

Torn in two directions, Link had nothing to say. Everything the demon was saying was ambiguous, yet it was attractive somehow.

But he was the enemy.

"Are you ready for a taste of what could be, sky child?" The demon moved, sitting between Link and the stalhound. He chuckled. "Somehow, I don't think you have much choice in the matter."

Link glanced at the excited, jittery stalhound. The demon did have a point.

"I can make this so easy for you." Ghirahim carefully took a handful of Link's hair. "Let me lift this burden for you."

More confused than before, wanted to break free, but didn't. He wanted to shove the demon's hands and face away and run. He wanted to hack away at what remained of the bony creature.

Yet, he knew that all of these things would get him nowhere.

Thoughts of Midna filled him. He shut his eyes, practically smelling the scent of roses in her silky red hair.

This terrible illness had never left him. He was so exhausted. His throat hurt even more now. He was so tired of everything that accepting the demon's help once more didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Link eyed the demon's mouth. He knew what the demon was going to do.

He really didn't want that tongue anywhere near him. Not after what happened earlier. But to have such keen senses... Link couldn't help but wonder.

Ghirahim tilted Link's head back, dividing his lips in one quick motion. Link's heart thumped.

The demon positioned himself accordingly, hanging just over Link's open mouth. He searched the worn out blue eyes in front of him before they closed with a tremble.

"Oh, don't worry, sky child," Ghirahim assured him. "I'll make this painless for you. Trust me, you won't regret it."