CHAPTER 1 – Metamorphosis (Blue Stahli)
Ha ha! I am back! Officially back in business. Well, for the next week or so. Then I have some important stuff to attend to, so I don't know how often I'll be able to post chapters. But rest assured, this one should be at least the same length or longer than Far From Heaven. And I will write often. xoxo Matty
Link and Ghirahim were sparring. Link was wielding the sword that now housed the Demon Lord, still amazed at how similar it was to the Master Sword.
Even through it was only a practice fight, neither he nor the demon were going easy on their opponent. A black dagger flew past his face, missing his cheek by a hair's breadth. The demon's power had originally terrified him, when they were still enemies. Now, it was exciting; he had a challenge.
He knocked aside the next wave of blades with the flat of his sword, his lips twisted into a grin as he felt the adrenaline coursing through his body. "Come on, Demon Lord. Are you losing your touch?" he teased, easily blocking the demon's rapiers to the side before slashing at him. If the demon hadn't moved back at the last second, the blade would've sliced him clean in half.
In response, Ghirahim let out a low growl and lifted his blades, slipping into the stance Link knew so well. The demon charged him, slashing at him horizontally with both swords.
Link wasn't too worried about getting hurt – ever since he came to the demon realm, he had begun to heal much faster than usual. But he still let out a cry of pain as he blocked one of the swords, the tip of the other sinking into his left shoulder.
The two of them were still for a moment, eyes locked. Then Link reached up and wrapped his hand around the blade, yanking it free of his shoulder. The moment the metal left his skin, he felt blood begin to soak his sleeve. But he ignored it.
Ghirahim eyed the wound silently before he readied his sword again, his other hand up to catch the boy's blade if it came at him. Once Link had forced aside the burning ache in his shoulder, he lifted the sword one-handed and leapt at him.
The two collided, blades clashing mid-air and locking. They fought against each other, trying to gain the advantage. Suddenly, the demon kicked the boy in the stomach, knocking him back. His eyes caught the blade falling from the sky child's hand as he drove the boy against the wall, his own blade sinking into his other shoulder.
Link cried out again and tipped his head back, panting heavily. The blade had missed the bone, but had gone through his shoulder and into the wall behind him, stopping him from sinking to the floor like he wanted to do.
With his left arm limp by his side and bleeding, his right shoulder pinned to the wall, it left him little room to manoeuvre. His blue eyes were open half way, betraying the pain he felt. But after a long moment, his lips twitched, a soft breath escaping him.
"What was that, sky child?" the demon asked, leaning closer but keeping his hand on the blade pinning him down. "I didn't quite catch that." he looked rather smug. He always looked smug when they sparred. He always won.
"I said..." he met his gaze boldly, his left hand shifting by his side. The demon paid it no attention; the boy could hardly attack him with wounds like that, let alone defend. It was perfect. But Link raised his right hand, pressing his palm to the skin just below the diamond-shaped protrusion on the demon's chest. "Don't underestimate me." he breathed.
The Demon Lord rose a pale brow at him, his eyes flicking down to his hand for the briefest of seconds before flicking back up to his face. "Then do you have some sort of trick up your sleeve, sky child?" he teased lightly.
In return, the boy simply smiled at him, and sank the tip of the demon's own dagger into his side. Ghirahim staggered back a little, hand going to the wound. "Well done, boy." he chuckled softly, tugging the blade free. Less than a second later, the wound had stopped bleeding and was already closing over.
Stepping forward, he wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword again, ever so slowly turning it. "But you're still pinned against the wall." he whispered, delighting in the cries of pain that simple action wrought from the boy.
Eventually, he tugged the blade free and let the boy fall to the floor, examining the weapon before bringing it to his mouth and licking the blood from it. Once he seemed satisfied, he let both swords fade.
Link was slumped against the wall, his shoulders bleeding profusely. They would heal, as they always did. And when they did, the demon would carry him to the extravagant bathtub housed in the back of the equally extravagant mansion – one of the perks of being a Demon Lord with too much time on his hands. They would wash, then eat, then he would be allowed to roam the mansion if he pleased.
He felt the flow of blood beginning to lessen, the wounds slowly healing. His left hand twitched as feeling returned to it, the muscles knitting back together with only a faint, but still annoying, itching sensation.
Ghirahim kept his eyes on him, reaching out to help him to his feet once the wounds were fully healed. In a voice that resounded both in the sparring hall and inside the boy's mind, he spoke. "You asked me earlier if you have changed since you came here. You are certainly different, there is no doubt about that... but the same traits that make up who you are are still there. You're too bright for the darkness to taint." he admitted, his gaze distant as he lifted the once-hero in his arms.
Link looked almost ready to collapse, but he reached up to place his hand against the demon's chest. "But you're not too dark... for the light to help." he whispered, his voice no more than a breath as he sank into oblivion.