12. The Trials we Face.

Thanks to Count Grishnackh, Light, and LogosLogic for your time reviews ^^. After the last chapter I wanted to ask my readers what they think of the fanservice and references, if you all don't like it I'm willing to tone it back but there is one bit in particular that will be part of the story regardless. Thanks again to everyone who reads and please share ^^

Meanwhile at Hyrule Castle...

"The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I... am going to sleep." The princess sighed while pulling off her cloak and overly elegant clothing that she had to wear as the princess. Long pinkish white gloves, a skirt, and that damned dress, the times when she got to wear the clothes Impa gave her always fit the best since her body didn't feel like every movement was trying to make her trip over herself.

"It's rather improper to sleep through the day." Impa commented with a smile leaning against the foot of the bed while Zelda shot a glare at her not bothering to change into her sleeping gown before climbing into bed.

"Don't care, 'royalty' is my father's problem." Zelda snapped while pulling out her hair clips letting her golden hair down before laying down in her large plush bed. When she was younger Zelda remembered all the times her mother and father had told her that one day she would one day have to shoulder the kingdom herself and while she was expecting it when it didn't come after her eighteenth birthday she began to lose interest in the kingdom and instead started to focus on her 'inheritance' the Triforce of Wisdom.

"I know little one... Rest well." Impa cooed softly while stroking Zelda's hair to help her sleep. They had known each other since the princess was hardly four years old and she understood her frustration with not knowing where she was supposed to fit in. Although ever since she began trying to acquire her birthright she was more bratty than she had been, like the world owed it to her, and maybe that is what she thought.

"Thank you... Impa..." Zelda sighed as her sleep slowly began to take her. Her drive to find the Triforce taking her to many corners of the kingdom to gain her piece of the divine relic.

Imp stayed beside her having seen the rather impressive drive her young lady possessed grow from her struggles. Her frustration began when she was still young at the age of twelve when her mother passed away unexpectedly, since then part of her always expected the piece to find her but after six years the disappointment weighed on her driving her to act out. Now she could be described as the spoiled rotten, snooty princess people expected to dislike, however it wasn't that she intentionally treated people like they were beneath her, rather that her tunnel vision was so intense she didn't acknowledge anything that didn't help her. Although Impa's smile began to fade, she felt the princess was on the wrong path to finding what she sought after, her mother was an amazing woman before she passed, a wealth of advice rather than knowledge as if she knew how to approach every obstacle that tried to stand before her, yet young Zelda sought wisdom from the knowledge of books rather than learning of the world. The Sheikah knew better though, the headstrong princess wouldn't listen to her and would need to realize that on her own.

Elsewhere in the castle...

"Ah the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it's time to get some food." Ganondorf sighed as he got up out of his bed stretching looking out the window of his room seeing the northern mountains far in the distance painted with the golden light of dawn. It had been a little over a week since he had arrived at the castle and in that time he became the chosen wielder of the Master Sword by it's spirit, he was being trained to be a great warrior and at some point become appointed to guard the princess. A huge grin spread across his face imagining how proud his mother and Link must be, a little chuckle that it may even make Link jealous. As he slipped on some light clothing he began to make his way down the halls toward the dining hall while reflecting on the things that had ended up leading him to the castle.

On the day he arrived at the castle he barreled through every guard that stood between the front gates and the audience chamber arriving before the king with no less than eight guards holding on to the hulking beast of man. Rather than having Ganondorf sentenced to prison or worse, King Raubahn Thaldin Hyrule declared that Ganondorf would speak and the youth told the king and his court of the monsters in the woods and what Sorin had told him of the legends. Sorin's name held a certain weight with the king and he began to mobilize troops on the spot while the man that sat on his immediate right stared down at at Ganondorf like he was piercing through his soul.

Those dark eyes, pure white hair, and inhuman gray skin sent a shiver down his spine and when he vanished in a small flurry of what looked like a flash of gold and black diamonds Ganondorf shook his head not believing what he had just seen. When he opened them again that same man now stood before him while curiously looking over him even reaching down to place a finger under Ganondorf's chin before lifting and tilting his head appraising him. However before Ganondorf could slam him with a right hook his voice rang out filling the room while his white lips spread into a grin. The man that Ganondorf now knew as Ghirahim had told the king that he was the one that had been chosen.

Immediately afterward the man walked off and a few soldiers guided Ganondorf to his own quarters in the castle at the behest of the king. Ganondorf had been informed afterwards that the strange looking man was the spirit of The Sword of Evil's Bane and he had declared the young Gerudo as his wielder. Later that night Ghirahim presented Ganondorf to the King's court and revealed the Triforce of Power that shone on the back of his hand which Ganondorf hadn't noticed with everything that had been happening lately. The spirit declared that while in the past the wielder of Courage had always been the blade's chosen wielder, Ghirahim said that this time the blade required Power. However at first Ganondorf had no intention of staying and was eager to return to his family but Ghirahim reassured him that they would send word to his home of his imminent knighting and a generous pay was given to all the families of the royal guards. While Ganondorf was still worried about Link he figured that the rupees would better serve Kokiri or at least his family and that mattered most.

The following day Ghirahim began training Ganondorf and stood toe-to-toe with the large Gerudo who, despite his best efforts over the course of three hours, could not get past the spirit's saber and impeccable swordsmanship. While many weapon-smiths approached him after hearing of the new trainee, Ganondorf declined all of them preferring his dual iron great swords, Ghirahim found this highly amusing as the arms dealers left and Ganondorf continued to swing the blades that almost no other man could feasibly wield. More recently Ghirahim had began to start teaching him magic but in truth he had no talent for it which proved to annoy his teacher greatly but he simply gave him an annoyed grin and told him to try again.

"Ahh that was great. The grub here is amazing." Ganondorf happily sighed as he relaxed back in his seat at the long table where many of the important people dined.

"excuse me young master." An elderly voice spoke from beside him drawing his attention. A man that seemed even a fair bit older than the king bowed to him before standing back up.

"No, please, don't call me master, it's embarrassing." Ganondorf smiled reaching out to pat the man's shoulder who stared at him briefly completely shocked.

"I... Well yes, of course mast- um Ganondorf, I regret to inform you the princess won't be joining you, she got back from her latest adventure a mere hour ago." The man explained after regaining his composure.

"Ah that's fine, she has her bodyguard after all." Ganondorf shrugged off the news, he and the princess were supposed to have the time in the morning to get to know each other but she was always off doing something or another. "By the way, I don't think I've caught your name."

"Oh, it's Jeffery, sir." The man said with genuine surprise painted on his face.

"Ah alright Jeffery, go ahead and ask the kitchen to make you something and tell them it's on me alright?" Ganondorf told him with a huge grin as he got up taking his plate back.

"Wait, I can take that for you mast-" The man began but was cut off.

"Ganondorf, please." The Gerudo said firmly while heading towards the kitchen to clean it, he was raised to always do his part and he intended to. The man however watched after him completely stunned after dealing with so many nobles who had their head further up their rears than they clenched onto their coin purses.

A short while after he had finished a fair amount of the dishes for the staff he started to head back to his room for a short time before his training began. Although as he turned down one of the halls he heard grunts coming from the opposite direction he was heading and when the turned to investigate the sound he saw one of the young women who worked as a maid for the castle struggling to pull a large bag which he assumed was full of dirty linens and clothing. Without another thought he changed direction and moved to her side reaching down to grasp the end of the bag just past her own hands making her squeak from his unnoticed appearance.

"O-OH I'm so sorry M-Master, I didn't see yo-: The maid began to frantically apologize but Ganondorf simply shook his head and smiled.

"Ganondorf, just Ganondorf." The man replied before lifting the bag off the floor like it was nothing and over his shoulder. "I'm happy to help, especially if I can spend time with a stunning girl like you."

"I... Thank you... Ganondorf." The maid replied blushing deeply making her hazel eyes pop and her chestnut hair framed her face perfectly. "I was just finishing... I need to take those out to the washing basin..."

"Then lead the way beautiful." Ganondorf said with a smile while offering her his hand. As she took his hand she began to lead him along the halls allowing Ganondorf to learn of parts of the castle he hadn't seen before, specifically, they passed the staff's quarters, the entrance to the wine cellar, and the cold room where she said certain foodstuffs were kept. After a few more minutes they exited the castle onto a small section of the lawn far off from the training field. Near one of the corners sat a few of the other maids working away at the clothes they had all brought with metal boards he remembered his own mother use. While they sat around a basin filled with soapy water

"Y-You can set it here." The girl timidly told Ganondorf as she moved beside the others and grabbed one of the wash boards offering him a soft smile. The others blushed and whispered to each other while staring at Ganondorf and he could catch a few words, mainly huge, muscles, and Gerudo as he set down the laundry bag. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's nothing, I used to help my mother when I was too young to hunt and my brother was even younger." Ganondorf admitted with a slight blush, however the reply he earned from the woman was a collective.

"Awww." Ganondorf then blushed deeper before starting back towards the doorway.

"So, if any of you need help again, just find me and let me know." The blushing Gerudo said earning a few giggles from the group before he headed back to his room with the tips of his ears a red that matched his hair.

"That was so stupid, I looked like a wuss..." Ganondorf quietly cursed under his breath as he made his way through the stone halls finding his back. However a flash of red and black caught his attention down one of the hallways. Out of curiosity he turned down the hall following and as he entered the next hall he saw someone skipping down the carpeted hall while wearing a bright red cloak which seemed to bounce and flutter behind her. After a few more hops the red hood slipped off revealing nearly black hair that lightened into a rose red at the tips. The sight alone was enchanting so he ran a short way to catch up to her. "Hey, I haven't seen you around before."

However the girl seemed to ignore him but now that he was closer she was humming rather loudly which meant she probably didn't hear him. A faint sigh slipped past his lips however he saw a vase of roses in the window a few feet further giving him an idea. He ran a bit further grabbing one of the roses and lightly tapping on her shoulder which made her stop humming and turn around to look at him with bright silver eyes, beneath the cloak she wore a black and red corset over a rather white shirt over her torso as well as a black skirt, crimson leggings, and black leather boots . "Um, hi?"

"I'm sorry but I haven't seen a rose as beautiful as you around the castle, can I get your name?" Ganondorf asked with a smile while handing her the rose. However the girl's silver eyes darted from Ganondorf's to the rose and back to the Gerudo's eyes.

"Are you... Hitting on me?" The girl asked with a raised brow.

"Well, yes?" Ganondorf responded taken aback by the maiden's complete lack of interest in him compared to the maids from earlier.

"Oooooh... HIYAH!' The girl quietly began before Ganondorf's day quickly went south as the young woman slammed her boot straight into his crotch sending a pain that he couldn't imagine surging through his body and forcing the breath from his lungs as he collapsed to the floor wheezing. Meanwhile the young woman clad in red and black disappeared down the hall screaming 'STRANGER DANGER!' and rose petals hung in the air following her disappearance.

"What... The fuck?..." Ganondorf barely coughed through a cracked voice while cupping his crushed boys in pain.

"I wouldn't have done that~ She's sickeningly sweet and rather naïve~" The familiar amused tone of his master's voice sounded above him drawing his gaze up enough to see Ghirahim floating in the air as if he was lounging on a couch while his white lips were stretched into a wide grin.

"I didn't... Kn-now..." Coughed Ganondorf as he slowly tried to climb to his feet earning a chuckle from his teacher.

"Take the day off young master~ You seem to need it~" Ghirahim chided while slowly lowering himself to the floor and began to walk away.

"No. I'll be there." Ganondorf shot him a look while panting and beads of sweat dripped from his face. Ghirahim glanced back at him with a single chuckle and a tossed a bag to the Gerudo, as he caught it he felt the cold within.

"Ice will help I trust~" the spirit said before disappearing in that same flash of black and gold diamonds. With an aggravated growl Ganondorf found his way back to his room and fell onto his bed sighing in relief as the cold did it's job.

In the realm of dreams...

"Find me princess..." A soft voice hung on the air like mist while the rumble of the blue flames filled the library bathing it in azure light.

"I'M FUCKING TRYING!" Zelda cried out as she sat on the floor with an entire book case worth of tomes on the ground around her all open, and all filled with blank pages. The three crescents and pools of Nayru shone with moonlight from an ornate window on the far wall making the girl's tears gleam like silver. "I've read EVERYTHING I could find for the past THREE DAMN YEARS!"

The light of the flames slowly began to quiet and die down leaving the room only lit by the pale moonlight. This dream had repeated for years leaving Zelda more and more frustrated every time the next book ended up being pointless.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! I know enough history and magic to recreate every past hero into an almost perfect living being, BUT IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER!" Zelda called out into the emptiness begging for an answer as eventually a growl ripped through her throat and she punched the ground over and over harder each time until they bled and her vision was filled with tears. "Please... I miss you..."

"My daughter... It hurts so much to see you like this." A light melodic voice pierced the darkness shocking Zelda upright and she turned around while wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"M-Mom?..." Her voice came out in a trembling choked tone as she stared at the woman with flowing gold hair that nearly reached the floor, her features perfect like a goddess herself while a pure white gown hung from her body and the two sapphire earring she wore gleamed like he azure flames. In an instant Zelda pushed off the floor as hard as possible tackling her mother and clinging to her so tightly as her bloody hands clung to the white fabric and streams of hot tears ran into the gown. "I swear it better be you or I'll burn this damn place to hell fifty times over..."

"Heh, it's me, my princess." The woman smiled and cooed gently stroking her daughter's hair happy to see her again.

"...What am I doing wrong?..." Zelda quietly asked begging for an answer as she shivered needing to know, she needed that piece of her mother with her.

"Zelda... Wisdom is not simply what you know, it's what you know of others, your instinct." Her mother spoke while gently tilting Zelda's head up, matching pools of cerulean mirroring each other. "However, know that I am so proud that you know so much more than I could have believed possible, my beloved prodigy."

"I don't understand..." The princess admitted quietly so scared of uttering those words, however she slowly closed her eyes feeling her mother kiss her forehead and she felt a rush of things filling her head making her dizzy clinging even tighter.

"You will, stop searching and it will come to you." Her mother spoke soft and clear cradling Zelda close to her while the flames began to grow again filling the area with blue light once more and behind Zelda stood a woman in blue cloth with flowing blue hair and a small smile upon her lips. However the faint sound of an organ began to permeate her dreams and her mother held Zelda tight one more time. "It seems like our time is up, I love you so much my silent princess."

"I l-love you too m-mom..." Zelda spoke quietly as her mother's nickname for her made her choke up again while the melody of the organ slowly pulled the princess from her dreams.

~X~

As Zelda woke her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright struggling to breathe still feeling the choking pain of her tears.

"Zelda?" Impa moved like a ghost already in front of her worried and slowly saddening as she looked at the princess. "You're crying..."

Without a word Zelda quietly touched her face feeling the tears and stared at them for a moment before Impa's voice snapped her out of it.

"Princess?" Zelda's gaze shot up to Impa's and a rage burned by her wet eyes.

"I'm going to kill them. Whoever is playing my mother's organ I will put them on a spike in the middle of Hyrule Field!" Zelda shouted as she rushed out of bed and toward the door with enough rage spurring her on that the air around her cracked with magic. However the second she pulled the door open Impa slammed it shut and grabbed her arm.

"Princess get a hold of yourself!" The bodyguard said firmly as a loud crack like thunder went off and Zelda turned on Impa glaring her down with tears around her eyes.

"NO! I GOT TO SEE HER AGAIN! AND THAT FUCKING ORGAN JUST TOOK ME AWAY FROM HER!" Zelda shouted before her gaze slowly fell and she saw the jagged burn mark traveling from the back of Impa's hand and up past her elbow where Zelda's magic had shot a bolt in retaliation without her control. "I-Impa... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay. You saw your mother?" Impa replied softly gently pulling the quaking young woman into her.

"Yeah... she told me to stop searching, it would come to me... She filled my head with things I can't make sense of..." Zelda whispered quietly into Impa's violet gi as her hands clutched over her heart scared it would break.

"Your mother was said to be the strongest bearer of Wisdom that had ever been, even in times of peace she was a true treasure... I trust you'll understand what she gave you in time princess." soothed the Sheikah woman while holding the blonde close. Zelda could only nod as she slowly got her breathing under control and finally realized how badly her hands hurt, like she had been punching the floor. Her gaze fell to them and slowly open her trembling hands but her eyes went wide as she saw that familiar sapphire earring in her hand that once hung from her mother's ear.

"Impa... Can you please have this made into a ring?" Zelda asked softly causing the woman to step back to see what she was talking about and after a moment of shock she nodded before taking it gently.

"Of course, I thought she was laid to rest with both of these." Impa spoke softly looking at the stone briefly before putting it in her gi where it was secure.

"She was." Zelda said quite firmly as her blue eyes looked into her bodyguards red orbs with a new found conviction knowing every detail of her mother's funeral. "Now then, I have somebody to see about an organ."

"Princess..." Impa began but Zelda shot her a small smile.

"I won't kill them, now." She said before opening the door and heading down the hall leaving Impa to contemplate if she meant it for a moment before disappearing.

In the performance hall...

"Damn... That still hurts..." Ganondorf quietly sighed as he sat at the organ he stumbled across, his fingers moved over the keys by instinct as he played what could be considered a haunting melody but the long notes were soothing to him. Meanwhile unbeknownst to the Gerudo, Ghirahim stood on the tall ceiling above watching with a sick grin as the habits of his curse began to return.

"HEY! Who the hell do you think you are playing my organ?!" An unexpected voice boomed in the hall as the princess stormed out from one of the doorways making Ganondorf jump while Ghirahim just rolled his eyes and disappeared once more.

"S-Sorry, I happened across it and just kinda started playing." Ganondorf explained as he knelt before the princess on instinct. Zelda however glared down at him thought with far less intensity than when she entered. Now she wore a violet robe while Ganondorf was now clad in leather and black chain-mail in preparation for his coming training session.

"Very well... You meant no harm but please if you're going to play, don't play something so creepy." Zelda commented while patting the young man's shoulder to make him get up before turning back towards the door. "Besides since when do heroes-in-training know how to play music?"

"I don't actually, but I'm a man of many talents." Ganondorf countered trying to regain his footing in this encounter as he stepped away from the organ.

"I'm sure you do." Zelda quipped back at the Gerudo not taken by his charms either, though with a light wave she left heading back to her chambers.

"My luck with woman is shit today..." Ganondorf spoke under his breath before heading in the opposite direction that Zelda had gone and to the training hall where he was to meet Ghirahim for his lessons for the day.

"NO! Stop it! Let me go!" Cried a voice from down the hall and Ganondorf turned toward the call rushing along the hall before he turned and saw the source. One of the maids cowered against the wall with her clothes torn open revealing her breasts and stomach, a man clad in dark green robes held part of her clothing while his arm was being held by Jeffery.

"Master please I implore you, don't do this!" The elderly man yelled while the noble growled and flung the man off him and against the wall where a suit of armor shook a few feet away.

"Do you think I give a shit about you fucking slaves? If I want to shove my cock in her I will! If I want to fill her with my bastard children that is what is going to happen you piss poor excuse for a butler!" The noble yelled at both of them causing a black flame to burn deep in Ganondorf's heart.

"HEY! Don't you dare talk to them like that!" Ganondorf shouted down the hall at the man who glared at him in turn while the Gerudo marched toward him.

"Oh great, now the sand bastard wants to talk shit, well guess what you're worth less than my horse's shit and if you dared to challenge me to a duel you'd be castrated in moments to insure your filthy race never breeds another harem slut!" The noble spit at Ganondorf and dropped the maid who scrambled away while Jeffery moved around to her side. A black look now filled Ganondorf's eyes and he stopped beside one of the suits of armor.

"Oh what? Now the cowardly Gerudo doesn't have the gall to face true nobility?!" The man yelled turning back to gloat at the maid and Jeffery however as he turned to look back at Ganondorf his face was hit with a hunk of metal knocking the drunk bastard on his ass. After a moment of sputtering the man saw that he had been hit in the face by the gauntlet of the suit of armor Ganondorf stood beside.

"Consider that your challenge, piss ant." Ganondorf spoke coldly glaring down at the man who stumbled to his feet and struggled to pull the sword from his hip.

"Oh you've done it now! Chosen by the sword or not I'm going to take my time killing you!" The noble roared as he ran at Ganondorf with his sword above his head. Once the man was close enough, Ganondorf's had shot out grabbing the greatsword the suit of armor held and tear it free, rending the undamaged arm to pieces. In one fluid motion Ganondorf spun around and bring the massive steel blade down across the man and the first sound anyone heard was the sharp snap of metal as the Gerudo's blade cleaved through the noble's cheap decoration sword. Next came the sick sliding sound of blood, flesh, and bone ad his body separated and fell apart on the floor. With a deep breath Ganondorf dropped the blade and let ti ring against the stone floor as he walked past the corpse to kneel beside the maid recognizing her from the group earlier.

"Are you okay?... I'm sorry you had to see that, both of you." The Gerudo said sadly looking at both of them seeing their shock though Jeffery overcame it first and gently put his hand on Ganondorf's shoulder.

"You did the right thing, even at the risk of upsetting nobility." The elderly man bowed his head thankful while the maid slowly looked up at him from the pool of blood and reached up to gently wipe a line of blood form his face.

"You saved me..." Ganondorf blushed slightly hearing her say it in such reverence and quietly stood up trying to arrange her clothing a little better.

"I... Go, take care of yourselves, I did this so I'll take care of it." The Gerudo quietly told as they got to their feet looking at Ganondorf worried.

"I know you are the spirit's chosen one but I think even that privilege has it's limits." Jeffery commented quietly worried for the young man that was so different from the other nobility in the castle.

"I'll handle it Jeffery, please take care of her." Ganondorf spoke plainly using the man's name which finally brought him around. With a curt nod Jeffery lead the maid away from the grisly sight while Ganondorf slowly looked over the carnage.

"This... Will be hard to handle." The Gerudo muttered under his breath.

"Really it isn't THAT bad~" The familiar, too amused, voice echoed beside him making Ganondorf jump as he saw Ghirahim looking over the two halves of the corpse.

"L-Lord Ghirahim, I... I understand this looks bad but I swe-" Ganondorf began to speak but was silenced as Ghirahim pressed a single finger to his lips.

"I saw everything my budding prodigy~ You acted on a noble desire to save the damsel and the old man~ or was it a dark drive to murder a vile man?~ Either way I can't have my student end up in any trouble soooo it's done~" Ghirahim commented playfully toying with Ganondorf but as he finished the Gerudo just stared at him.

"What do you mean its done? We haven't..." Ganondorf's tirade ended almost as soon as it began, because when he looked back at the floor, the body and blood were gone, even the suit of armor was fixed like nothing had ever happened.

"And that my boy, is why you need to get a grip on your magic~" Ghirahim chuckled before turning and walking down the hall.

"Wait, where you going?" Ganondorf called after the spirit.

"To the training hall of course~" The gray man commented.

"But it's the other direction." The Gerudo said confused.

And he was gone.

"I'm getting real tired of that." Ganondorf muttered under his breath and looking at where the body had been moments earlier and continuing down the path a short ways until he reached the area that acted as a sort of lobby leading to a number of training halls that the royal guard used and in the center was a statue of the three goddesses; Farore, Din, and Nayru and across their hands they held a length of indigo silk that held the shattered remains of the Blade of Evil's Bane.

When Ghirahim first declared Ganondorf his chosen wielder, he told him that whenever he was freed from the sword it burst apart and now this is what remains of the powerful blade. Both royalty and the guard consider the weapon a holy relic so they placed the shards here as a symbol of hope and warning. After nodding his head to the shrine of the sword Ganondorf turned to continue on his way into the training hall he and Ghirahim used, however he paused for a moment looking back to the pieces. Part of him could swear he saw the shards glow blue however as he stepped closer he heard his teacher's voice.

"Ganonodorf~ I don't like to be kept waiting~"

An annoyed sigh escaped Ganondorf's lips as he turned away from the shrine and walked into the room he heard Ghirahim call him from. Within was the typical gear he had come to expect, racks of wood and dull metal weapons adorning them and practice dummies. However there was something that the other rooms didn't have, against one of the walls were his twin great swords which he always preferred to wield in combat. The spirit stood in the middle of the room smiled in that same way he always did an held a solid black orb in one hand while waiting for the Gerudo.

"Following your display earlier, I believe this is an excellent time to try magic once more~" Ghirahim informed as he snapped his fingers and the door closed behind them. "Magic can be accessed in a number of ways; instinct, knowledge, and even emotion~"

"So what? Do I just use it?" Ganondorf quietly asked looking at the black orb which Ghirahim set on the floor in front of him.

"Sit, remember what you were feeling earlier with that scum~" Ghirahim spoke plainly gesturing to the orb and waiting for Ganondorf to sit before it. Quietly Ganondorf did as he was told, tired of trying to get a grasp on the magic that was attempting to be taught to him. With a deep breath he focused on the fresh memory of when he had cut that noble in half, time seemed to freeze in that moment, his saber as brittle as ice when Ganondorf's great sword snapped it like a cheap toy before sinking into the scourge of a man like water and just tearing him apart. That moment echoed in his mind and he felt that same cold flame emerge within, an unbridled drive to end the man that had stood before him. "Ah perfect~"

Ganondorf opened his eyes to see what Ghirahim had meant but he saw it there in front of him. The black orb was now a sphere of black and violet flame flickering slow almost like smoke, after a long moment of staring at it Ganondorf recoiled away from it. "What the hell?! That's dark magic!"

"Yes, it is incredibly potent as well as malleable so you can shape it into other forms~" Ghirahim stated incredibly sure of himself walking around the orb.

"Why are you teaching me dark magic?! I don't want to become like those damned things!" Ganondorf yelled at Ghirahim as he got to his feet but he was quickly knocked onto his back by the gray spirit.

"Listen here~ Darkness is not evil, and evil is not darkness~ It is possible to manipulate darkness just as you can fire or lightning~ If you are so afraid of the darkness tainting you, I shall even teach you how to... 'purge' it from yourself~" Ghirahim said slow and calm while he smiled at the end of his sentence. Ganondorf quietly looked up at him before looking back to the dark flame, for some reason it called to him like he should reach out and grab it. However his gaze snapped back up to the spirit of the sword.

"I can't do that to my family, I have to return to them without bringing back the darkness..." Ganondorf responded quietly as an image of Link flashed in his head soaked with water and blood.

"Master, I'm sure if your family was truly concerned for your well being they would've arrived by now, after all it only took you half a day to barge into the castle like a raging boar~" Ghirahim stated quietly earning a glare from the Gerudo.

"We sent them notice that I'd be train-" Ganondorf started with his voice full of venom but was quickly cut off by the spirit.

"If they were TRULY concerned... I don't believe that would stop them~ If anything I would think they'd be excited to come see you~" Ghirahim said slow and smooth, his voice dripping into Ganondorf's ear like poison as the young man looked away having always thought his family would be there to support him and yet they were nowhere to be seen.

"Alright... Teach me how to use it." Ganondorf answered quietly while his teacher simply chuckled and offered his hand to bring him to his feet.

"Excellent~"

Meanwhile in a wine cellar in Castle Town...

'thunk'

A loud rough sound came from within one of the wine shipments that had recenty arrived for the tavern above.

' Thunk!' "grrrr..."

Another sound followed and was clearly the sound of metal against wood, though this time it was followed by a beastly growl.

'KATHUNK!'

With one final blow, the lid of one of the wine shipments flew open and the blue eyed Hylian clad in green roared in rage.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH PUT ME IN A CRATE!"