Chapter XXXI – Call of Darkness
Ganondorf wallowed around, tortured by the prickling all over his body. When he scratched himself to relieve the prickling, it soon turned into a burning, far worse to endure than before. He hissed as it spread down to his last fiber without mercy.
From one second to another, Ganondorf sat upright, noisily breathing in and drilling his fingers into the quilt that lay upon him. Still tormented, he looked around, only to be left in confusion when he found himself in a small room and sitting on a coat. As he pressed his hand against his chest to calm down. He struggled to realize if his encounter with the hags had just been a nightmare but when he looked at his arms he noticed blisters, few and small as they were.
"Ah, thanks to the Goddess of Sand, you've woken up. We feared we had to endure your moaning the whole night. Would've been your sweet vengeance on us, wouldn't it? Pah!" Ganondorf turned his head around, only to see the witches standing at the entrance. He attempted to ask them about the ongoing but he muttered meaningless blurbs.
"You could've at least told us who you are. But no, you rather let us waste our magic!" Koume raised her arms and sighed upset. "You lot are all the same! Amuse yourself on the behalf of others and laugh at their incompetence. You truly share their blood!"
Ganondorf mumbled other cloudy words before he rammed his fist into the ground. "Just who the hell are you?! And what are you even talking about?!"
"Oh my, you even share their boastful attitude." Koume looked at her sister with a pitying expression.
"Our Goddess does not want to spare us, I fear. They're just all the same, no matter the century. Almost like a curse, isn't it? Ho ho ho."
"Can you at least try to make your babbling into something meaningful?! And answer my questions!"
"Look, Koume, we were right when we thought he wasn't taught any manners in the presence of ladies. Just like none of the former kings were. A true shame." A smile grew over Kotake's face.
"Wait," mumbled Ganondorf, as he never believed anybody but him and that accursed Hylian knew about him being the Gerudo King. "You… you know?"
"Of course we do. Indeed not when we first saw you because with those rags you looked like everything but an aristocrat." The hags joined in laughter, much to his annoyance. He wondered if they were even able to avoid giggling after a sentence.
"Only the ones descending from the bloodline of the Gerudo males are able to resist our magic by nature and that is because we're meant to be their guardians. Though, to spare you some trouble, you're not saved from other's magic, theirs can still easily burn you to ashes if you're careless. Hee hee hee." A statement to which Ganondorf responded with mere grumble. If he ever dared to forget that, his scars and the memories of the aches when he got struck down by an incantation would remind him.
The witches seemed eager to have him around, staring at him with those big eyes, while he was still trying to make any sense out of this situation. It did not seem to bother them at all. Probably they even enjoyed his confusion. "We should stop wasting time with talking, too many wasted years lay already behind us and we shouldn't allow your potential to shrink any further. We'll meet you in the hall, my king."
"Wait!" yelled Ganondorf. He had so many questions hammering on his mind, he wanted answers. And he wanted them now. When he intended to rush towards them, he stopped in his movement after noticing his clothing had not survived the flames and only the quilt covered him.
"Ah, yes, you can have this armor, it should suit you. It belonged to the last grandmaster, your ancestor of two-hundred years ago. A fine man but unfortunately a bit too arrogant for his own good." Koume waved with her hand.
"Except of course, you like to stay naked. It's not like you're the first we've seen like this. Hee hee hee."
"What?!" Enraged by their mischievous smiles, Ganondorf jumped to his feet, not caring for his missing clothes. Before he got even near, they vanished in a cloud of magic and left only an armor behind.
Ganondorf gazed absently down at it, a fine one indeed: Black at its core with leather parts on the chest and limbs with a pauldron that covered even the collar bones and the top of his back. Jewelry, mostly orange to golden, decorated the armor, as well as strips of white cloth with red and blue stripes. Probably a symbol of the Gerudo as he had seen the same ones on the robes of the hags. That piece had the presence of royalty and authority and with the metal components it would also provide good protection.
While still clueless about the things to come, he claimed this piece his own. He would not get another one anyway and it appeared to be his size. Once he managed to get into it, it proved to be comfortable as well. Whoever the man was the two had talked about, he must have had a similar build.
For now, he had to find the witches again, else he would never get the answers for his questions that nagged on his patience. Though he had no trust in them for they had tried to murder him, they seemed to know things he did not. And he wanted to get his hands on that knowledge.
Once stepped outside, Ganondorf looked along one of the many corridors of the temple and viewed both sides only to find out he had no idea where the hall was. He grumbled when he pushed his hand against the wall and just picked one way to go. It could not be much more difficult to orientate himself here than back at the castle, though the fact that there were no people to ask proved to be a disadvantage. Soon he heard the hags' annoying giggling, making it easy to find his destination, where he looked at the two flying midair in front of the great statue. This time, a purple ball floated between them, emitting dark particles.
Amazed, Koume looked down at him. "Oh, very formidable. Now you're looking like a true king and heir of the Gerudo bloodline."
"Wonderful that we're allowed to witness such might again after most of our tribe joined our Goddess," added Kotake.
"What is this thing?" Ganondorf pointed at the magical ball. Somehow, he felt extremely uncomfortable in its presence. He even needed to fight back the urge to just turn around and leave, forever.
"Ah, getting straight to business. You are in no way inferior to our former lord." Koume smiled at him. "And to answer your question, this, my king, is your gate to true greatness."
"It looks more like a gate to my doom." Mistrust crawled up inside him. No one could say if they still desired his death or whatever other cruelty they had in mind with their witchcraft.
The hags giggled and Ganondorf only hoped he would get numb to this soon to preserve his sanity. "They all felt fear the first time they heard the call of darkness. A natural reaction because the dark awakens such feelings even in the strongest of hearts." Kotake flew down to Ganondorf, descending from her broom. Not even reaching his belly, she looked up to him. "Why do you think Gerudo kings gained such a reputation that even history books deny their existence out of fear? Because they were great swordmasters? Because they were wise sorcerers?" She grinned sinisterly, her eyes narrowing. "No, my king, they possessed powers far beyond that. They directed the scenes from behind by controlling beasts, raising the undead and calling upon the demons themselves. Yet the most feared amongst their powers were their manipulations, twisting the enemy's mind to turn him against his own and destroy his foes from within. That, my king, that is true power. And it all will be yours if you just reach out your hands and allow the black might to become one with you."
Kotake had a knack for appealing to his lust for powers. While listening, Ganondorf felt his palms growing wet and he licked his lips. He yearned for such power, always had, so that one day he would not need to subjugate himself to another one or feel the consequences if he dared to oppose. Now, when he needed every bit of power he could get to let Aldar and his knights feel the burn of his vengeance, just the thought of this might filled him with pleasure. The temptation and the desire to gain it, he felt both within every muscle of his being to claim it.
No matter the risk.
Ganondorf snapped back just before he touched the darkness. "Nice try, but you're not fooling me. No way." What she said about the dark magic sounded too good to be true and more importantly, he knew it was too good. No matter the temptation, he had seen with his very own eyes what became of those toying with the black arts. Nothing, just nothing was worth it to become a madman unable to speak even one single meaningful sentence. With that crippled state of mind, vengeance would be even farther away than it was already.
"Had an unpleasant encounter, did we, my king?" Koume circled around Ganondorf's head. "Or what else would be strong enough to let you turn down such might when your desire to gain it almost tears you apart?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"That makes me wonder because nobody should be alive who uses these profound arts…" Koume stared back at her sister, a nod between the two, before she returned to Ganondorf again. "Unless you've met that Hylian priest. Ah, what was he called again?" Ganondorf's hackles rose. Now that was disturbing, more than disturbing.
"Noatz was it, my dear Koume. A fascinating man, albeit a bit too obsessive. Hee hee hee." Joyful, Kotake jumped on her broom and flew up to look Ganondorf straight into his eyes. "Forced us to show him the black might and who would we have be if we denied a curious scholar our knowledge. Too bad he was never meant to master the dark arts and they mastered him instead. He was such a fool, thinking he might be a true king of darkness, but there is only one destined for such an honor. And that is you, and only you, my lord."
"You're not intending to degrade yourself to such a fool, do you, my king?" At first troubled, Koume's sinister smile returned. "He wanted to be someone he could never be, but you are the one the darkness will bow down to. It will serve you well as it always had to your ancestors. Never would it even dare to disappoint you."
Both witches flew back to the floating magic, stretching out their arms, beckoning him to do the same and step up to the legacy of the Gerudo kings. Ganondorf was torn apart. His desire for such power almost blinded him to any peril the path of darkness might offer. At the same time, that peril kept him back, reminding him of the events of the Shadow Temple, the insane Naotz and his abhorrent undead followers. And then there were them, Link and Zelda as well as all the others, who warned about the black power's destructive nature for both, victim and wielder.
Ganondorf walked up to the dark ball and he felt its energy emerging, very similar to the one when Naotz had released his incantations on him. Maybe not as strong or painful, yet nonetheless oppressive. Carefully, he stretched out his hand, overcoming the urge to crumble or run away from that dreadful might.
Koume and Kotake watched him, waiting for the moment he would accept his destiny. His hand trembled, feeling the power. Power which he had desired since his youngest days. Power which would place him at the top, making him a master, never a slave again. Power which rested within his grasp, he only had to accept it.
Ganondorf hesitated. Back in his days as a gladiator, he would have taken the chance without thinking twice, giving himself to the dark in the promise of power. He feared no cost … but he was not that man anymore. He had been changed, slowly, without his notice. First Link, then Zelda, two Hylians he besides the events still held both dear. For the first time in his life, he learned to care for someone other than himself. And he knew, both of them would do everything to prevent him from lurking into this darkness. Not because they feared it but because they wanted to protect him. They always had.
As Ganondorf lowered his hand he smirked spitefully. His lust for power and revenge would not lure him into this abysmal chasm of magic, regardless of the great power that beseeched him. No mortal was meant to wield a power that came with risks that great that not even the most desperate should venture. He had seen it and he still remembered it well. He would find another way, even if it would be a forlorn one.
Wordless, Ganondorf turned around and did not even look for the two witches anymore. He did not care for their words or if they even tried to attack him. As had been proven, their magic did not work well on him and his physical strength compared to theirs was not even worth mentioning.
"Who would have thought you would turn out to be such a coward. Maybe a little more convincing will set your head right," he heard Koume shouting from behind. He ignored her. A mistake, because he saw too late that her sister was already at his side and without warning shoved him. Ganondorf grabbed after her broom but missed when he stumbled backwards. Out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed in horror the magical ball drawing closer.
His elbow touched it.
His mind failed him in mere moments. A mighty force entered his body, burning through his flesh and making him feel as if it wanted to tear him apart from the inside. His mind went blank, just the horrible pain everywhere. To the ground he crumbled but even then it showed no mercy. His scream echoed all over the temple when the magic rushed through his veins.
The darkness, it had chosen him despite his reluctance.