"Ganondorf? Is that you?" asked a hopeful woman, in a voice only known to him in his dreams.
He followed her voice and located her by the back wall. "Ah, Ganondora. Who else would be foolish enough to rescue you?" The chains that bound her shined with the same cursed magic as the door. She sat on the dirt floor, her head hung, and her arms limp at her sides, while the chains sapped her energy dry. She looked up at him, so grateful, but weak and powerless. Pathetic. "You look terrible."
She glared suddenly, a beautiful expression for her. "Thanks for noticing," she remarked sarcastically.
Ganondorf held his hand out to her. A warm sensation tingled straight through his nerves to his heart and mind when he felt the soft skin of her slender hand touch his finger tips. He gripped her hand and filled her with what dark energy he could spare, enough to cause the glowing chains to dull and the locks popped open. She squeezed his hand so he could assist her to her feet.
She stood, then stretched and twisted to the left and right, and rolled her shoulders. "As glad as I am to see you well, I believe it's necessary to hold off on a proper reunion," she mused, grinning seductively.
"Nothing would bring me greater pleasure, but haste is necessary. Whoever created this barrier will know it has been dispelled." He turned and led her out of the dungeon, but looked back to see how well she walked. Her steps were shaky and uncertain. "I will rejuvenate you, but my powers are limited for now."
She obediently followed him through the dungeon, toward the stairs to the main floor, while she quickly explained some important details. "I heard the guards say that they moved Zelda's daughter to a secure location, away from you. The king has been removed, under protest, at Zelda's request."
"Daughter?" He paused at the top of the stairs.
"The fifth generation, actually, of the very Zelda you fought," she said sourly.
He was shocked. Had that much time really passed? They would need to discuss it later. He opened the door, and found Zelda waited to greet them.
The middle-aged princess glared defiantly at them.
Ganondorf held his arm out stiffly to stop Dora from charging her. "I am going to kill you," she shouted, not even remembering she was in a weakened condition, and weaponless. He remained silent, because he sensed something was wrong.
The princess boldly said, "You will not leave this castle. This world will be lost, but not forgotten, so that our children can live on in peace and happiness, without your corruption."
He realized then what was so different about the woman in front of him, compared to the Zelda that challenged him in the past. He glanced at the back of his left hand and confirmed it was dull. "Where is the Triforce of Wisdom?"
"Scattered, soon to be buried at the bottom of the ocean, along with our corpses," she responded proudly.
He clenched his fist, but he honestly expected nothing less.
"That's just great," Dora whined under her breath.
"It will not be my corpse rotting on the ocean floor, princess, only yours," he shouted and raced toward her.
"Wait for me," Dora yelled, joining the fight with just her fists.
Zelda produced a thin great sword from the sheath she carried and prepared for their attack. She battled bravely against Ganondorf, but without the aid of the Triforce, or the sages, she was just another woman. While he swung at her sword and knocked her off balance, Dora gripped Zelda's arms and pinned them behind her back. In the next instant, Ganondorf pierced the princess with his sword.
Dora's deteriorated muscles could not hold the weight of the corpse, so she dropped it on the floor with a thud. "Finally," she sighed, exasperated, and sat down. "She's dead, but now we have to go on a wild hunt for the Triforce of Wisdom all over again!"
Ganondorf grunted and pointed out, "I could have left you in the dungeon to perish with the rest of Hyrule."
She shook her head. "Fine, I'll stop complaining."
"We also need to learn what happened to the Triforce of Courage," he reminded her.
"Speaking of, where is he? What is going on? What is this talk about an ocean?"
"It seems impossible, but the hero of legend failed to appear," he explained. Dora's face lit up with a smile. "We are still in danger. The sages have prayed to the goddesses for a miracle, and Hyrule will soon be nothing more than an ocean."
"I see."
"We do not have much time before the castle is lost and we drown with the rest of them." Dora rose to her feet, standing tall and proud. He held his hand out to her once more, and she faithfully accepted. In the blink of an eye they were gone from the castle, and stood on a path part way up Death Mountain. Still clutching her husband's hand, Dora looked to see the rapidly rising waters, and how her home was being erased and destroyed. She stared with her mouth gaping, her eyes wide with disbelief. At long last she looked up to him and said, "There must be something we can do."
Dora seemed to hold on to his hand as if she would never let him go again, and partially out of desperation. Ganondorf shifted his hand so their fingers interlocked, hoping to bring her solace. He slowly shook his head and explained, "There is no possible way to intervene in this divine act until we have the Triforce. Only then can we return our home to us."
"Let's go find it then!" she insisted, pulling at his hand.
As always, she was acting irrationally, but it was her strong headedness that was so alluring to him. "Impossible. The Triforce of Courage will be sleeping until a new hero is born and can prove his strength in the eyes of the goddesses. Our lives could be lost if we act thoughtlessly and dare to venture before the rain ends. We can only prepare for the quest that awaits us once the goddesses have finished burying Hyrule."
Dora tore her hand free from his.
Ganondorf took that as a bad sign.
"Do you have any idea what I have been put through as the most hated prisoner of Hyrule for the past seventy-five years?" Dora yelled, glaring again.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Staying cool against her anger was one of his greatest skills. "Enlighten me," he challenged.
"Not all of the guards who were in charge of me were bad, some of them were even nice to me. Others, the ones who lost loved ones because of us, who lost everything, took out their hate on me, because you were already gone."
"The Sacred Realm was no vacation," he countered. "The strength of the sages kept me so powerless I was numb, and the very monsters I created tried to kill me while I was weakened."
Dora scoffed. "In the beginning, they tried to execute me," she recalled, a triumphant grin lighting her face for a moment. "Oh, how they tried, but they underestimated me. I killed several guards, and escaped their clutches five times, before they realized it was better to just keep me locked up in those chains. They were too afraid I'd break free and bring you back. You saw what those chains did to me. It was worse than death."
"Once I was able to gather my strength to fight back, the monsters acquiesced to my power, but then the corruption of the Sacred Realm itself infected me, trying to take over and tear me apart from the inside," he argued.
Dora started yelling, losing her temper. "The only relief I was given from the chains was when I was tortured, in ways I hadn't even thought of. I'd go without food for days, without being let out to use the bathroom. I was whipped and beaten, publicly humiliated in unspeakable ways, until they realized I wouldn't cry for them. Instead, I cursed them, and shouted obscenities about the royal family. Soon enough, the torture stopped. I suffered the princess's mind games when they interrogated me, and they nearly brought me to the point of giving up. But that's not me. I don't accept failure."
"There were times the powers of the Sacred Realm pushed me to the brink, where I would forget my purpose, the reason I was trapped there in the first place, and I nearly surrendered to the abyss," Ganondorf continued, calmly and confidently. In his experience, he learned rising to Dora's level only prolonged the shouting match, but she was quickly disarmed when he remained in control. At times, he would have to make a sacrifice, and admit how important she was to him. "There was only one thought that kept me sane while I endured the terrors, the trials, and my weakness of the Sacred Realm. That thought, was returning to you."
Dora found tears forming in her eyes, and even choked on them. She was undoubtedly selfish, and, of course, never considered his suffering. She had only imagined the Sacred Realm to be a never ending vortex of nothing, not that he would have to constantly fight to stay alive. "They tried to convince me that you were gone forever, that I should just grieve and repent my evil ways. I laughed at them every time. Even if I believed them for a second, I would never let them have that satisfaction. In the end, I chose to keep fighting, even when I thought I would never see you again."
"I knew that if I didn't return, your vengeance would be ruthless," he said with a smirk. "I feared you had already destroyed the world out of your anger, hate, and grief."
Dora laughed, tears falling down her cheeks. "Had I not been trapped in that cursed dungeon, I'd have started with the Kokiri Forest." In silence, she stared at him, looking at all the details of him that were exactly as she remembered: his thick, fiery orange hair, his defined face and wicked grin, to his battle-hardened body, and worn hands. She admitted, "I missed you so much. I am so sorry I could not keep my promise of remaining at your side."
Ganondorf took her slender body in his arms, but not because he reached for her, because she leapt into him as his arms opened to accept her. "Then may it never happen again," he said, forgiving her. It was there they shared a powerful kiss, and there they fell to passionately reunite as one.