A Thousand Red Threads
Chapter 3- The Past
The folder Ganondorf had found was on a desk in an office. Its contents were scattered on the desk as Ganondorf gazed over them coldly with a degree of irritancy. All of it in the ancient Gerudo tongue- all of it hinting at some type of scandalous and frivolous behavior between a young 'Lord Ganonorf' and a 'red-haired priestess-in-training' who had been presented to the Young Ganon at his coronation when he became king, as a gift. They were all tabloid cut outs or full pages, some snippets here and there, but all of them voiced the same thing.
The penalty for behaving 'rendezvous' with the Young King…was Death by Spiritual Isolation.
Meaning that his own people where the ones held responsible for Kohana being sealed up in that temple room. His people had sealed one of their own within a temple for so long, hoping she would die. For something that was so irrational it made him nauseous. The woman had been given to him as a gift, as the tabloids said, but they were kept apart in separate chambers of the Gerudo Fortress, the Young King's Palace. The girl was never allowed to be alone with Ganondorf and they were never to meet outside of the Gerudo Court, but when they did, the papers caught wind of it and the girl would always be punished. The tabloids did not fail to mention the Young King fully opposed the punishments, but a pair of twin sorceresses held the highest authority and it was their way or no way.
Ganondorf glanced over at Kohana, who sat in a chair not too far from him. The girls were being watched by his minions, but he never failed to keep Kohana near him. She silently read a book to occupy herself as Ganondorf stared at her. He had gotten her a new dress of periwinkle-dyed cotton that went to her mid-calves, cut outs in the hem lines to give it a unique design, but the dress held 1 ½ inch straps and he still preferred that she wear the shackles which she had gotten quite used to. Kohana glanced up, "Something the matter?" She asked simply. Ganondorf didn't answer for a while before opening his mouth and she interjected, "Don't open your mouth if you're going to lie to me. I don't like liars." Ganondorf laughed. She was so straight-forward.
"These papers…have you seen them before?" He asked and held one up, Kohana putting a book mark in her book before shutting it and setting it aside. She got to her feet and walked over, looking at it.
"No. I can't read them either." She said honestly, "You must be capable of it, though- because it's distressing you." He glanced at her and ran a hand through his hair.
"Some old documents about a series of mass murders involving temples that was started by the Gerudos. It's very disturbing." He said as Kohana frowned, "We'll leave in a second." He promised, picking up the papers and looked at her as she stood next to him, waiting, seeming as if her patience extended into eternity without any other doubt. Ganondorf took her hand in his, "Kohana…" He started and she stared up with him, waiting for whatever he could have told her. Whatever strange, heart-felt and comforting words he could have told her to ease her more than ease himself. They all vanished. "Let's go…back to the girls." Kohana nodded with a soft smile and Ganondorf held her hand as they walked to the parlor.
Her skin against his made him feel strange but she was so warm. If he paid attention, he could feel the faint throb in her hand of her heart pumping extra blood to this one spot, just to keep it warm for him. This woman…was given to him. He owned her to every extent but he hadn't known that until now. What to do? He opened the door to the parlor and the girls jumped onto Kohana who laughed and smiled, carrying them all back into the room as Ganondorf followed and shut the door behind himself, taking up residence on the couch he usually sat on.
If all those documents weren't fakes, then how intimate had the two of them been? Intimate enough to share a bed and a night together? Intimate enough to do it repeatedly? Obviously, their level of intimacy was so high and so strong between the two of them- that they had blocked it from their minds. The trauma of being sealed in the temple was probably too great for the both of them and as a defense mechanism, before they completely shut down, they sealed away memories they had before it. It would make perfect sense, considering everything. Perhaps on her side, she forced herself to the brink so that the key to her remembering would always be avoided yet so blatantly obvious. It could explain why her touch and her warmth were so vaguely familiar to Ganondorf and why it pained something inside of him to the point of snapping at her yesterday.
Kohana was quick to challenge him though when he tried to threaten her, so she obviously didn't remember or seem to have a problem with him trying to fight her. Even when they first met, her sword skills and agility were top-notch but she seemed to be playing with him. When he thought of this, he remembered the instance that she caught his blade between her hands. Kohana sat next to him and he pulled her closer to lean on him and she shifted to get comfortable for the both of them. There was no book in her hands today, but before he could question her about it, she laid her head on his chest just over his heart and smiled a little. "I haven't been able to hear this sound…in a long time." She said in reference to the sound of his beating heart, which only sped up at her words and his awkwardness at "matters of close proximity". When he looked down, he noticed she had fallen asleep and the girls were preoccupied with reading with one of the Knights. Ganondorf wondered what she dreamt about and his hand twitched. "Sorry about this." He muttered and touched her forehead before he found himself in a dark room, lit with torches.
The Temple Room. "Even in her dreams, its still very gloom." Ganondorf said to himself, standing in the room, the edges of his vision hazy. "I'm surprised this old magic even works on people anymore-" "No!" Someone's scream interjected his own aloud thought as he looked over.
A young girl of maybe 19 or 20, wearing a thin white dress and thick bangles and bracelets of gold, ran across the room to a door just past his left shoulder and started banging on it. Her crimson locks went to her knees in length and Ganondorf noticed sharp, grey eyes, holding tears and puffy red bags under them. "Ko..Hana?" Ganondorf voiced as she sobbed and continued to bang on the door,
"Let me out! Please!" She sobbed and flicked her chin past her shoulder to look behind her at something. Ganondorf followed her gaze to a window that he walked over too. It was pouring rain- but more in massive amounts than normal rain. As if the place was about to be flooded. Kohana screamed, "For Din's sake, let me out! I still breath the same air as you! I am still a living person!" at the door helplessly and Ganondorf watched. This must have been- just after they had sealed her away.
"You are a harlot." Someone yelled from the other side of the door, "Who has been sentenced to Spiritual Imprisonment for a sentence lasting no longer than Eternity. Just stay quite in there and accept the Goddess's wrath!" They said sharply and Kohana flinched, before running to the window and pulling herself up to see the progress of the water. It was rising too quickly to stop and Ganondorf panicked. He didn't want to see this. He didn't want to see how she suffered but Kohana turned from the window and went to the other doors.
"Please-! I can't swim well!" She tried once more before sighing in defeat. Ganondorf watched solemnly as she realized time was up. "These depressing things are what you think of?" He said, going over to her and kneeing before her, blinking in surprise. Tears splashed against the ground as she cried shamelessly in the loneliness of her isolation in this temple room. "Please-" She sniffled softly, folding her hands in prayer, "Please make sure-" She got to her feet and went to the statue which was different than the one in the temple room he had seen.
This statue's sword was against their shoulders.
Kohana fell to her knees in front of it and cried, "Please, ancient one, whose revered name has been lost to our neglect and carelessness! Please make sure Lord Ganondorf survives the divine punishment of the goddesses! Only you, Revered One, can do this! I have not forgotten you and the gods have molded me in your image. You have granted me so much luck so far- please grant me this as well!"
The eyes of the statue glowed and the room shook as she stayed where she was and yelled, "I will not budge from this spot! Take what you will from me as payment!" She commanded loudly at the statue which raised it's sword as the eyes glowed bright white.
Ganondorf watched as a beam shot out and pierced Kohana through the skull and to the floor behind her. "KOHANA!" She fell over and the sword of the deity statue slammed into the ground as she shaking stopped and the water slammed against the walls but did not enter the building as screams echoed outside the temple. Kohana sat up after a long moment and put a hand to her head and looked back, her bright grey eyes seeing Ganondorf.
Ganondorf woke up abruptly, looking around. He was still in the parlor with the girls in their little reading circle around his armor-clad knight. When he looked down, Kohana was asleep but she frowned and let out soft murmurs of pain, turning the other way as her brow crinkled with pain. Her body was tense and she twitched here and there as she slept and Ganondorf looked on. He reached down, moving the hair from her forehead and kissed it softly, gently rubbing her arm with his free hand. "It's alright." He told her and she seemed to relax, the tension in her body vanishing and the twitching stopped. She pulled the sleeves of his cloak about her loosely as she slept and continued to slumber with a more peaceful nature.
Did she have that nightmare over and over every night? That same one? It must have been frustrating, experiencing it so often and not knowing what it was about. Perhaps there were records of that statue in the temple's room? "Kohana." Ganondorf said and she woke up to her name being called, "The girls are getting bored of the knight." He said and she sat up, moving his sleeves, the girls going to crowd around the couch.
"Miss Lady, we don't wanna read anymore." "Yes, make him let us do something fun!" "This place is boring and too quiet." "Let's go play somewhere." The girls said and Kohana thought about it, Ganondorf simply watching. The girls patiently waited for a solution from the elder woman before she turned to Ganondorf,
"Do you mind…if we take them to the kitchen?" She asked softly and Ganondorf looked at her, "If you don't mind, of course. It is your fortress anyways." The girls looked to Ganondorf who stared back at them before Kohana got up, "Come, girls, let me read to you over here so he can think about it." She sad to give him space and they went to the Knight and included him in the reading circle as Kohana began to slowly read out a fairytale to the girls while Ganon thought about the question.
After a while he sat up and said, "Alright, ladies, we may relocate to the kitchen." The girls cheered and the Knight got up, helping Kohana to her feet, the knight and some moblins leading the girls out of the room and escorting them to the kitchen, Kohana walking next to Ganondorf. "Why the Kitchen?" Kohana looked up at him, "It will keep the girls occupied if they make some treats, don't you think? And the moblins can eat the batches of cookies they make." Ganondorf blushed slightly, "Kohana, make me some cookies too." "Perhaps." She said and he held her hand and she held his hand too, not minding it at all.
When they got to the kitchen the number of guards and moblins standing by increased, just in case they wanted to take advantage of Ganondorf's hospitality, but Kohana didn't seem to show any interest in running off, "Ok girls, come and help me get some ingredients. We'll need flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and some water." Kohana voiced and the girls happily helped and the goblins cleared off a long table for the girls to use, Ganondorf taking a seat next to where Kohana sat, getting a large bowl for herself and finding some equally big bowls for the girls. Some kitchen goblins gave them some spoons, "Ok, now, let's make cookies to share with everyone." One of the girls raised her hand, "Yes?" Kohana asked and the girl blushed as she lowered her hand,
"I don't know how to make cookies." She admitted and Kohana smiled,
"It's alright. I'll show you. We'll all make cookies together and do it step by step." Kohana reassured and the girls smiled, "Before we get started, we need to wash our hands. Our cookies won't come out any good if we don't." The girls went over to the sink and Kohana lifted them up to help them wash their hands, "Wash up to your elbows please, ladies." They did so and when they were done, Kohana cleaned hers, Ganondorf joining in and splashing her with a little water. "Ganon! Grow up!" She told before playfully splashing him in the face and went back to the table, showing the girls how to make their cookies and Ganon even tried. Unfortunately he wasn't too good at it. Kohana glanced over and smirked, reaching over and put her floured white hands on his, helping him to catch up with everyone else and mold the dough into a ball instead of just a lump of smaller lumps, "You did it wrong, Ganon."
"I was vaguely paying attention." He grumbled and she smiled, before he continued to follow the instructions Kohana seemed to expertly but gently give, easy enough for the slowest child to follow and she held just as much patience.
"Into the oven now." She said and moved some of the cookies into the oven, "We have to let them bake. We'll taken them out when they're ready." Kohana told them and sat down next to Ganon before smirking at him, "Looks like someone can make himself cookies now." Ganondorf smirked and kicked out her chair from under her, making her fall and he got up as she huffed,"What was that for?" As he helped her up with a smirk, "This." He answered and in one swift move he clapped his hands in flour and smacked her ass hard with both hands, making her yelp in pain before glancing back. To huge, whitee handprints covered the fabric over her ass and she pouted, "Thanks, jerk." He grinned toothily before she smacked his chest, leaving a caked on handprint of her thin fingers and he let out a mock gasp while she stuck out her tongue and backed off.
"Oh, you want to play, eh, minx?" Ganondorf jeered before throwing some flour at her that she dodged. The girls throwing handfuls of powder at Ganondorf, "Hey, hey! 5-against-1 isn't fair!" He joked and they continued to pelt him with flour until he fell over and played dead, the girls squealing and laughing happily as Kohana leaned over him with a laughing smile,
"Are we done here, Liar?" She asked and he whispered, "A few more seconds." He said and opened an eye before closing it. He threw flour in her face and she coughed, kicking him, "My ribs-!" He gurgled before the girls stopped cheering,
"He's alive!" They giggled and Kohana gestured for a few of the Knights to help her and they obliged hesitantly, pulling out the cookies. "Cookies!" They yelled happily and Kohana helped them put their creations onto plates as Ganondorf tried to dust himself off, stealing one of Kohana's cookies and shoving it into his pie-hole before she could say anything.
"Let's give the cookies to the Knights and Moblins, girls. Tell them you appreciate them being nice." Kohana said and offered a few to Ganondorf, glancing back at him. He took the offered cookies and kissed her head, eating them at his leisure. His own batch of cookies offered up to the goblins of the kitchen for their help. Ganondorf pulled Kohana close and raised her hands up, taking the cookie she held to feed herself for, well, himself. She laughed a little as he enjoyed the morsel.
"This wasn't such a bad idea- Good thing I thought of it." He said and she looked up at him, still laughing, "Well, I guess I could share just this once. I'll half the credit with you, my dear."
"So generous. I only seem to have come into such luck." She sad and he glanced at a window. They had baked into the night and Kohana helped the girls wash up before the two adults put the girls back to their cage, Ganondorf descending the stairs and taking Kohana with him. He wondered how Kohana seemed to continue on, everyday, as if that dream never happened while they laid down for the night, Kohana's mind elsewhere than next to Ganondorf.
She closed her eyes and when she next opened them, she stood in some other place, before a mirror of red and gold trim.
A woman with long, red hair to her knees, stared back at her with grey eyes and two folded grey wings with speckles of black and silver seemed to float behind her.
Kohana glanced back to see the wings and ran her hand along them to slowly take in the sensation of the seemingly hundreds of soft feathers beneath her fingers. She noticed a black ring on her left hand, upon the wedding finger and she pulled her hands away, looking at the mirror again. She wore a thin dress of a light material, white as ivory, and had gold and black bangles along her arms, a servant pulling away- a demonic one, much to the likeness of Ganondorf's minions. She held necklaces of gold and a similar black gem and her lips were dark red with lip stain of some sort. There were also golden cuffs on her wings, along the bones, as if they were some type of adornment.
Kohana took a step back and looked around at her surroundings. She stood inside of a huge tent with a giant doorway and a bed big enough to fit three giants. Any piece of furniture was red with gold inlay as if it were all exotic and paper lanterns hung from the ceiling of this giant tent, a little bigger than the Helmaroc King's nest. At the bottom of the lanterns hung red tassels with bells attack that gently jingled with what little wind entered the place. "Where…?" Kohana said before the door flap to the tent was moved aside by a black hand with sharp black nails that took the look of claws.
In walked in a man, ten feet tall, with bright orange flames for hair that flickered here and there, a large scar in the shape of a white 'X' across a broad forehead. "Do you like my gift?" He asked with a cocky grin as orange irises swimming within black pools looked down at her while the behemoth let the flap fall behind him. His grin displayed sharp white teeth and Kohana noticed that from his shoulders straight down his arms, he seemed to have black scales as well as along his legs and to the tops of his feet. He swung a huge dark purple sword over his shoulder with a black hilt and a strange blade to rest upon his skin as he looked around the tent himself, "I think I quite out did myself." He boasted arrogantly and Kohana mentally noted how he looked like Ganondorf slightly. The Minion went over and bowed deeply, "Lord Demise," It said and Kohana stared at it, "The Lady hasn't seemed pleased at all since she got here and seems much less pleased with the change in décor of your tent." The behemoth looked at his minion as he listened and scowled at him angrily, "Leave us, knave." He growled and the minions quickly left before he set his blade down on a large wooden chest and looked at her, "Do you not like my gift to you, Maiden?" He questioned suspiciously,
"I don't recall any gifts." She said as "Demise" sipped on a goblet, spewing out whatever he was drinking at her words and she quickly recoiled to avoid any of it touching her.
"Aye?" He asked and stepped forward, gesturing his tent, "Look about you. This place is not so unforgiving and cold, the trinkets I had molded in your image suit you nicely and your wings, as well as this ring. Why, I think it far better here than that Temple of Time you stayed within." He said and gently took her hand with a finger, slipping it under her hand until it caught. She pulled her hand away and felt annoyed and angry, causing her to turn from him and look back at the mirror, the creature chuckling and tenderly played with her hair. "No matter, my dear. I hear often than once two are wed, affections grow." He said softly and she cringed as his fingers brushed against her bare back. Apparently the dress had a low back line. "My disposition will remain unchanged. You will come to care for me in time, I'm sure." He said with confidence and she tried to ease away but he gripped one of her wings hard enough to make her whimper in pain, "An unnecessary measure if you were more compliant. Don't be so ungrateful, I am giving you a life to live."
"Our kinds do not mix." Kohana heard herself say as he knelt down and rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at her in the mirror, "Demons have nothing in common with Angels." He looked away as if thinking about it,
"We have much in common though, my sweet. Of course, we may not mix now-" He said and grabbed a large handful of her hair and an equally large handful of his, "but, oh, how we will. Time is very, very long." Kohana flinched and turned to look as him before he put a glowing pinkie to her throat and one to his of his other hand.
"Do not condemn me like so!" Kohana heard herself yell, "If you have any room for me in the black hole you call a 'heart' then you will stop this!" She declared and he looked…saddened, as she spoke.
"It's quite the opposite." He said before pushing the sharp nail to her throat, threatening to draw blood, "I, Demise, curse thee, that through every lifetime you shall not know a feeling a strong as mine for thee, and across time you shall hold no other with as much passion as I do you." Kohana tried to pull away but the claw drew blood and he cut off a piece of his hair and a part of hers with his claw, tying them together, " As long as these two things I offer retain, let there be no one to stand between the two of us. Birth to Death, Death to Reincarnation, Reincarnation to Birth; let this cycle hold no meaning for you, Lady Kohana, nor I. I bade that you never know true warmth unless I am beside you." He said and the strands of hair vanished and he kissed her, letting her go. Kohana fell to the ground almost but he caught her and she looked up at him, everything fading away but his dark eyes, "Fighting back is futile, my dear, for I always get what I want." He said with a devilish grin that stood out along with his eyes.