I owe you guys an apology if I offended you in that message about not voting awhile ago. I'm sorry- it's just that I see that people are reading this, and I forget that not everyone has an account or possibly wanted to participate in the first place.

Shout out to Lina of Hyrule: SOMEONE IS FINALLY QUESTIONING CHAPTER 4! Thank you so much! We are finally going to get those answers! Also... ow! Those sound painful! I don't know how painful it can be to get impaled by a sword, but I imagine it would be really agonizing.

Bree:... I don't know if I can get the fan fic finished by the time January comes. When do you have internet again?

Tristhedemjay: LOL, but that would have been inappropriate for that moment. It's a moment of happiness (like the song that was playing in that scene of the game) and I don't think "rainbows" would have resonated as much as something as simple as "happiness." Plus, I would be wearing one joke too thin on that one.

So... why did the previous chapter end on a rather violent note? It goes back to one important fact: Fi is logical, while Ghirahim is emotional. It made no sense as to why Ghirahim didn't do something similar in the original scene (unless someone's got a major crush on Link.) which meant someone who is more focused would make sure that there wouldn't be any setbacks.

There was an idea I came up awhile ago that was discussed in a previous chapter, which I now realize sounds... similar to Soul Eater. I promise that I didn't have that in mind when I wrote it (and I've only given the manga passing glances.)

On that note, this is possibly a chapter that most of you had been waiting for a long time coming, considering what hints you were given about Fi. I don't know if the following battle will satisfy or not (because, again, I'm trying to think with logic and psychology for what's to come.) and I took inspiration from Hyrule Warriors again, (I thought I said I would shut up about that.) but I don't know if the fight will be as good as the last one.

Hopefully the wait will have been worth it.

And now:

A girl destined before birth, a girl condemned before birth, and the thread of fate

Chapter 15 The thread of fate

-Link's POV-

Many times during my pilgrimage, I thought to myself this line too many times to count: "Why me? Why Zelda?"

When I woke up, I thought the worst was over: seeing Zelda in front of my eyes after what felt like a long nap was like waking up from a long dream. I thought that I was free from the troubles that plagued us since that fateful day of the ceremony.

And then, my greatest fear unfolded before my very eyes.

When the sword pierced through Zelda's body, with enough force to break her shield in half, and when the daggers were thrusted into the back of her hands, Zelda let out a scream so agonizing, that it felt as if I had awakened to a nightmare.

The razor thin blades (which had appeared as if from out of nowhere) were embedded so deep in her hands that they had also been embedded into the ground. Her fingers shot straight out as blood began to gush out of the hands that once produced the sweetest music I had ever heard upon a harp.

And before I could move a muscle, Zelda was surrounded by a circle of daggers, with each one aimed at her neck.

Nobody dared to move- not me, and definitely not Zelda's protective guardian. Zelda was now in a perfect death trap, that could easily be activated from within, just as it could be activated outside the ring of daggers.

"I warned her that she would come to regret this." A painfully familiar, monotonous voice echoed over Zelda's agonized screams, now mixed with tears of pain.

I looked up over Zelda's haunched form and saw a familiar cloaked young woman step from behind the shadows. She looked pale as death against the blue and purple motif of her clothing, but I knew all too well what was hiding beneath that facade that was so similar to my own race.

"And by analysis, it seems she received my message." Fi added.

And in that moment, I cursed myself for not dealing with Fi, and I cursed Hylia for his lack of foresight.

Without any warning, Fi rushed- practically glided off the ground- towards my direction until she was almost face to face with me.

"While it is true that my master is gone in this time, he still lives in the past. You know what I desire from you, Spirited Warrior, and I will take the next possible solution if necessary. Even if it means taking out any possible obstacles."

I snarled as I made to reach for my sword, but found that there was none- this time I cursed myself for neglecting the very thing that had been my weapon and my prison at the same time.

"If you refuse to comply, this girl will have a far more painful death than this one." Fi continued. "And this time, her companion can't come out to protect her: one move and that's the end of your beloved hero."

Zelda began letting out more cries, but this time, it sounded as if she was fighting against her injuries. I glanced over Fi and saw, to my shock, that Zelda was literally trying to pull her hands out of the blades.

Of course, it was obviously a painful procedure- with every move that Zelda made, her body shook and trembled. She was crying out through clenched teeth, stained red by the blood that was trickling out of her mouth, and her whole face was tightly scrunched up as she fought to escape her prison. The sight was sickening and inhumane, and I wanted her to stop putting herself through more suffering than was needed. The screaming, the rapid whitening of her hands as blood pooled out around the blades- it was too much for me.

Fi glanced down at Zelda. A second later, the blades expanded in width and Zelda let out another scream as the wounds widened.

"STOP!" I finally cried out. "FOR THE LOVE OF HYLIA, PLEASE STOP, FI!" I wanted to hate Fi with all of my being... and yet I couldn't.

"How much does she mean to you?" Fi asked. "Is she worth all that you took from me?"

"Please..." I tried to reason, but as much as the part of me that was Hylia didn't want to be Fi's victim, the part of me that was... well, me, was now helpless.

No words could describe how defeated I felt. For all that I was supposed to be... I couldn't even save the person I cared for, due to my own stupidity. I lost my composure and slumped my head: even if it was selfish of me to admit it, this was not a victory. I would have given anything to have avoided this.

"Do you know how much I wanted to hear you beg, Spirited Warrior?" Fi asked, as if it was rhetorical.

Fi then complied. "Very well- I'll give your hero an honorable end."

She reached out towards me, grabbed my wrist with one hand, and glanced towards Zelda. The blades around her disappeared, and the sword finally left her body-

-only for the blade to suddenly ram itself back into her through the same spot.

Zelda let out a piercing scream of agony that was worse than the last one, just before the blade disappeared from existence in a flash of light.

I didn't know whose enraged cries were the worst as Fi flew us through the gate of time- was it Ghirahim, who was immediately by my Zelda's side, or was it mine as I cried out her name, before I was sucked through time?

Fi flew us straight to the past of so long ago, and even as I struggled from her grasp, she still kept a hold on my wrist as if it were a mere writing utensil. When we finally emerged on the other side an oblivious Impa was nearby. She was understandably confused and shocked, but then Fi immediately sent a dagger straight through Impa's shoulder with enough force to knock her back.

I could only give Impa one glance of regret as Fi transported us through the doors. Not even Impa was spared from Fi's determination to see that her goal would be met with success.

Fi took us down to the chasm at the bottom of the sealed grounds, where Demise's seal lay. When she finally let go of me, I suddenly found myself desiring my sword more than anything in the entire world. I wanted to take it and shove it through her, so she would know Zelda's pain.

"Why?" My words felt like venom as I snarled at her. "Just... why?!"

"You deserve to have your happiness taken away before it could even begin... just as you did the same to me... father."

-Long ago-

Long ago, the god Hylia came up with a plan to defeat Demise for good, even if it was going to take centuries or eons to do so. The creation of artificial souls, or living weapons was a craft that, while difficult, was regarded by many as a forsaken art, and for a good reason: Ghirahim was living proof, having been created by the most demonic of all living beings.

Yet, Hylia knew that, for his plan to work, he needed a guide for his intended hero, when the day would finally come. As a god, creating an artificial soul was easy, and when it was done, a beautiful girl beaming with a composed radiance emerged from a sword.

"Happy birthday, Fi." Hylia- pleased and ecstatic, like a new parent greeting their first born- greeted the girl with open arms.

"Father," Fi greeted the god with a cool, monotone voice that contained a sense of one who was sensible, thoughtful, yet still innocent. "I am not born, but made: so would this day not be called my made-day?"

The god let out a laugh, "Of course, how foolish of me."

Fi had been born with the gifts of knowledge, foresight, and the sense of logic. Every new thing she saw, she saw logically. She would say something basic at times, such as "By my calculations, this flower would grow with proper nutrients." or "I'd advise a swifter approach to cutting wood, like having more than one person on hand." but she had the mindset of a tactician, suited for war- a trait that Hylia's people would very much desire.

But more importantly, Fi was born with the knowledge that she was to aid a hero one day, and become their sword. She knew she was important, and that knowledge filled her with a sense of duty... of purpose.

That is, until the day, she observed the villagers from the safety of the woods.

She had been around Hylia and the animals and beasts of the woods, but never around the humans. They interested her- not because they were a new species that she knew of, but never saw, but because of something they had in common.

She saw children laughing as they played, a woman crying when her baby was born, and witnessed they way a couple smiled at each other with warmth as they held hands.

She knew that Hylia once made similar actions, on her made-day, and hadn't seen it since. What was the word for such actions? Then she remembered: emotion.

What was it like to have such a thing?

She tried to laugh, but it sounded hollow, and empty.

"Father, why do I not have emotion, like the humans?" Fi had asked him later that day.

This took Hylia by surprise, for some strange reason. "Why on earth would you ask that?"

"I am curious about joy and laughter. I know what it is that causes such emotions, but I can't seem to project any. Am I making a miscalculation?"

Hylia tensed up and then tried to explain "Because... it's not something that can happen so easily. Especially for a sword spirit such as yourself."

And so, Fi never again bothered to ask. That is... until an important event occurred... the day that she saw Ghirahim for the first time.

Her father had told her plenty about Demise and especially about Ghirahim. "He is like you, but he does not know what it is to be kind." Hylia once said.

Fi had stumbled upon the fight by accident. She was off exploring the woods, when Hylia was in the middle of a great sword fight with a grown man who looked identical to her, except for certain details, regarding their physical appearances: one being that she was clothed and he wasn't.

"My analysis says that he has a hundred percentage physique and attraction." Fi quietly spoke to herself. For some reason- and she had no idea why- the grown sword spirit had a pleasing aesthetic quality about him that was rather admirable on the eyes.

A good few minutes into their fight, Ghirahim backed away from the swing of Hylia's helix blade and did something that caught Fi off guard: he laughed.

Not just any laugh- it was like the kind that the children laughed when enjoying a game, but there was a sadistic quality about it, like the quiet observation of a spider devouring it's prey.

"You're getting slow Hylia!" Ghirahim taunted. "Enjoying the peace are we? It's clearly addled your divine brain!"

"I have nothing to fear from you." Hylia smirked. "Be off to your master, Ghirahim. I grow weary of you to the point that it makes me wonder just how much you enjoy these petty fights."

Ghirahim flinched and then growled. "Petty, Hylia?! Next time we meet, it is I who will show you what's petty!" And then he disappeared in a flash of diamonds.

Fi practically glided towards Hylia, who unaware of her presence, sighed. "I swear to my sisters, that fool's prideful arrogance will best him in the end." He finally turned, and then nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Fi. "Fi?! What are you doing here?!" He gasped.

"You lied to me." Fi only stated. "Lord Ghirahim bears emotions, including the ability to laugh. If he is like me, why can't I have the same gift?"

Hylia became still.

"Why can't I be like the others, father?" Fi asked again. "If I am alive, how can I enjoy the life granted to me? How can I be of aid to the hero, if I cannot express myself?" The question made the god more tense than ever before... distraught even.

"I...," Hylia closed his eyes after a long time "I didn't realize..."

"Why?" Fi repeated.

"Because I wanted someone who was focused." Hylia finally confessed. "I shaped you into the ideal intellectual, but that meant foregoing everything else that could have made you more human... and once you fulfilled you're role... you would enter a sleep without end... I created you to be a weapon, not a person."

Fi didn't speak this time.

A long time passed and all the while, Fi just stared at her 'father.'

'Hylia grew worried.

"Fi?"

Fi turned around and went back into the woods.

Hylia felt unexplainable fear, as well as an unidentifiable feeling surge through his veins.

But later, when he realized where Fi had gone, and when he saw the cracked, broken body of a once feared demon with a shattered sword by his side he knew... and it was a feeling that would linger, even in the future, happier times, and it was a reminder when he took Ghirahim under his wing.

He had felt the disgrace of a parent who failed their own child.

- present-

"And so, father." Fi approached me, her hands raised outward. "I want your last moments be spent on reflecting upon your sins. Fathers who love their children don't take away their happiness before they are born into this world."

I want to kill Fi... and yet I can't because, in the end, she is also a victim of a god's neglectfulness, like Zelda and I... as well as everyone else that I have known.

I felt a drowsiness overcoming me, and I struggled to stay awake. I knew that this sleep meant the end of me, and I needed to fight. I didn't know how, but... and then I somehow lost as the darkness overcame me.

"I-" I struggled. "I'm sorry Fi."

Whatever happens to you Fi... I'm sorry for what Hylia did to you.

-Zelda's POV-

Pain... so much pain...

My life... coursing out of me...

When there wasn't pain, there had been the screaming of a voice in my head, pleading for me to stop being so foolish and to not try to pull my hands out of the blades as my mouth was filled with something that tasted like copper and spilled over my lips, until the pain was amplified as the blades increased in size.

I had enough clarity for the moment I saw Link surrendering to Fi. As if my some miracle, I felt the sword leave my body, only for it to be sent back in before it vanished.

I could barely hear the screaming of my name over my own cries, but I was able to register it as Link's voice.

At the same time, I heard someone else crying out for me, and as I felt myself falling to the ground- an act which was barely prevented by the blades in my hands- and I felt a pair of hands hold me up by my shoulders.

"Stay with me!" The voice then pleaded. I felt a blade be pulled clean out of my hand, and even before I could let out a cry, the other one was taken out.

As I cried through my clenched eyes, as I felt my blood leaving my body and my mouth, I could hear more voices.

"You better have something old woman, because the potions we have aren't enough for this!"

"Grannie, what do we do?!"

"Get me the pot I told you about over in that corner!"

I felt myself collapse against something solid and warm and my damaged hands flopped to my sides.

"Don't you dare die on me! You've come to far for this foolishness, you hear me?!" The voice was to frantic to sound angry as I coughed out more of that coper flavored fluid.

"L-" I tried to speak through the fluid in my mouth, but I felt something covered in cloth cover up my mouth.

"Don't speak- about time!" the voice barked at someone else.

"Please work, please work!" The second voice pleaded as I heard something that sounded like pottery being smashed to the ground.

I cried out in protest as a hand grabbed my wrist and moved my hand somewhere. A warm sensation suddenly touched my hand and the pain vanished as if it never had been there at all.

I felt myself regaining my focus and through the haze, I noticed a pink light circle twirling around my torso and my insides began to knit themselves back together, the pain was going away, and the blood inside me stopped spilling out. Finally the light moved around my other arm and my other hand began to have that same, pleasant sensation.

I regained enough focus to make out a fairy, glowing pink with a pair of dainty wings.

"Please live, pretty lady." I thought I heard a sweet voice speak, before the pink fairy flew off but it could have easily been born from my delusions.

I felt better, and I felt as if I was only tired out, but also slightly weak at the same time. I heard a collective sigh of relief and the hand that held my wrist let go of it, before an arm wrapped itself around my shoulders.

"Please, tell me your safe." I heard the plea.

"G...Ghirahim?" my voice sounded faint, but it was enough to reassure my companion. I felt him rummaging through my pouch and then saw him take out out a red potion. He then almost force-fed the contents into my mouth until I grabbed the bottle with shaking hands and was able to hold it. It was a miracle that the potion managed to make me feel completely rejuvenated, and, despite that my stomach felt sore, I miraculously survived being skewered alive, like a fork to a piece of food.

"Thank Hylia!" I heard Groose nervously, yet happily cheer. "Thank you tiny fairy thing from the jar!"

"Link!" I gasped and lowered the bottle. I got up off the ground as if it were nothing, but then I felt myself wobble. A pair of hands grabbed my arms before I could collapse.

"We will get him back." Ghirahim reassured me, but there was a smothering anger hiding in his words. "And I will make that girl pay for what she did to you."

"Are you serious?!" I turned to see Groose, who was stumped. "You were just stabbed like a minute ago, and-

"You saw what happened!" I protested as I leaned against Ghirahim's chest. "I have to stop Fi!"

"B...but you don't even have a shield!"

I reached into my pouch and, as if my magic, the shield that Lanaryu gave me reappeared in my hands: the shield that signified the future I was supposed to have brought, and would no longer exist if I couldn't stop Fi. It was time to keep a promise to a certain old dragon.

"Thank you Lanaryu." I smiled in relief as I moved away to place it on my back, and yet, Ghirahim kept his hold on me. "Luckily, I have another potion on hand."

"I'm not letting you walk just yet." I felt myself picked up by Ghirahim, who carried me in a bridal style, while rushing to the gate. "If your stomach rips open on the inside-"

"I'll be back with Link before you know it!" I cried out to Groose and the old woman over Ghirahim's shoulder as we were sucked into the darkness.

I glanced ahead. I had a feeling that Impa would have choice words for me when I would emerge on the other side.

"Mistress Zelda, I'm afraid I will not be able to hold back." Ghirahim warned me as he carried me through the darkness.

Suddenly, the sea of diamonds engulfed us both, and Ghirahim resumed his 'pure' form when it was gone. The hallow, metallic echo that came with his voice when his eerily calm next few words were spoken should have scared me, but it didn't.

"In fact, I welcome any excuse to lose my restraint."

-The past-

Impa was kneeling on the floor by the gate of time. It was clear what had happened to her, judging by the bloodied dagger laying on the floor, and that she was clutching her shoulder.

"No time for a complaint, woman!" Ghirahim quickly snapped at Impa before we were transported out of the temple.

As Ghirahim raced me out towards the ledge of the sealed grounds, a fence shaped like familiar looking yellow flower petals blocked the pathway. Ghirahim cursed at this- experience had taught me that if he couldn't teleport, he had his own way of letting me know. Instead, we both took a glance downward, where the seal should have been.

Fi was apparently dancing around Link, who was lying stiff as a board on the ground. It wasn't just any kind of dance: it was hard to describe but it was like she was skating one moment, and then the next, she would be twirling or spinning. Her dancing was graceful and beautiful: had things have been different, she would have left me breathless.

As she danced, a brilliant yellow light came out of Link.

"Link?!" I struggled to get out of Ghirahim's grasp and succeeded, thanks to his willingness to let me go. I hurried to peer through the petal shaped fence and watched as he levitated off the ground.

I felt my anger rise: Because of Fi, I had felt inferior, I lost many chances to be reunited with Link, she almost killed me, and now she was going to take Link's soul. Along with my anger, there was also an urgency screaming at me to stop standing around and hurry down there.

In a burst of light, hordes of bokoblins appeared around Fi and began dashing towards the pathway that lead all the way to us, at the top of the grounds. I didn't need someone to tell me that they were an excuse to slow me down, and it didn't improve my mood either.

"Ghirahim," I asked as the hordes came running up the mountain. "You said that the wielder and the weapon can be in perfect sync together through emotion, right?"

We were both angry. It wasn't a noble emotion, but I needed it more so than ever.

I pulled my sword out. "Lend me your power- give me the full power of the Master Sword, Ghirahim!"

He didn't hesitate. Instead, he only let out a sadistic laugh- I had become what he had long wanted of me, and I needed to satisfy his desires so that I could reach Link in time. I didn't care about that anymore.

"Yes, my Mistress," He hissed in deep pleasure as he went into the sword. "Use me to your heart's content."

I felt the energy of the sword pulsate and course into my hand, as if it were my own limb. Never before had I felt the pleasure of wielding the sword as I did before.

I swung the Master Sword out, and rushed towards the hordes, just as the area began to darken.

There was a time when I was upset at the idea that I had to kill the bokoblins to reach Link, but now, I felt pleasured and irritated as they were sent flying by the swing of the blade.

Become the beast you should be.

Let our anger fuel the hand that guides the sword.

I slashed my way through the hordes like I was a storm cloud coming to ruin someone's perfect day. The beasts that held the power to summon more of their comrades gave me an irritation that fueled my eagerness that gave me great pleasure when they were killed, and the vulgar moblins required only a few swings of the blade to make them fall.

Do not let that witch take your Link. Do not let these pawns get in your way.

Yes- MORE! MORE!

I was getting there as fast as I could, and even if I was getting tired out, there was always the convenient stamina fruit that I stepped on that gave me the energy I needed to become something that Hylia possibly didn't want. It was no longer a matter of divine war- this was personal.

I cannot let Fi get in the way!

I couldn't tell who thought that this time, but it didn't matter.

Finally, I reached bottom. By then, I was a complete wreck: the blade of the Master Sword was drenched in blood, and my dress was stained with the blood spilled from Fi's deadly attack... yet I still felt as if I had the will to fight. The descent to the bottom of the grounds would have felt metaphorical if I actually had time to think on it.

Fi was hovering by Link, who was also hovering above the ground and glowing in that yellow light. Fi glanced up towards me- her pale, porcelain like face lit by the shining light, and her arms now one with her cloak and resembling the wings once more.

"The wound I had inflicted should have killed you." Fi spoke, without any hint of being angered or annoyed. "The accuracy rate was far too high to permit you a chance of survival."

I let out a weak laugh as I heard Ghirahim appear beside me. "I have people who depend on me too much to die." I replied. "Like I said, my strength comes from those I care about."

"Your recovery and performance against my hordes was far too fast-"

"Well, you should have thought of killing me from the start!" I hissed as I approached Fi and Link, with my sword out by my side.

"I admit..." Fi confessed as, with a wave a 'wing,' sent Link flying up above us. "That I should have killed you from the start." She continued as I temporarily glanced up to see Link before I returned my attention to her.

"I should have killed the both of you from the very beginning." Fi folded her 'wings' over her chest and raised her head up to the sky. "The thread of fate has bound us both in a metaphorical tapestry that has been woven since the beginning of the conflict."

Suddenly, she began to glow with a blue light, just as my anger changed to confusion.

Fi became engulfed by the light to the point that she was covered by it. At the same time, I felt myself raising up above the ground. I glanced around and realized that we were all standing upon a large platform- a platform of blue and yellow that was shaped almost exactly like a flower. A flower similar to the gates to the silent realm.

Ghirahim seemed to speak my question "Why would your powers manifest in the form of the..." and then he stopped as we saw Fi.

The glow faded, to reveal that Fi's pale skin was now encased in some sort of blue metallic like substance.

"To defeat Demise," Fi's voice contained a strange echo that seemed otherworldly. "Hylia created a weapon, meant to be the guide to the hero. However, he made the miscalculation of creating that weapon through an empty spirit, deprived of even the simple joy of laughing... condemned to an eternal sleep, upon finishing it's task...

-past-

"What are you doing here, little one?"

Fi glanced up to the being known as Demise- he appeared as many things to various people, and yet, he appeared to be that of a young man, just approximately four or five years over her physical age. However, the deep voice that came from his mouth didn't match the youthful look in the slightest.

"I am a sword spirit that has been forsaken by my creator Hylia." Fi spoke. "I was created to deliver your complete destruction by the hands of a destined hero. However, I have been forsaken, in that I have not been given any form of feeling or emotion, and there is a chance that I will either cease to exist or fall to an endless sleep inside my blade, when this is all over."

Fi held out her sword to Demise, and there was no denying the hidden greed in his eyes. "It is said that the Triforce can grant wishes. The exact location is unknown to me, but if I assist you, I wish that you allow me to lay my hand upon it, and have it grant me the ability to feel... to laugh... to have a life beyond this war."

Only a moment had passed before Demise let out a deep, thundering chuckle- if one could call it that. It was a sound that should have chilled Fi to her very core, and made her cower in fear.

He gave her an amused grin. "I love a good act of treachery, and who better than Hylia's own hand made child? Ah, but it poses one problem," He then rubbed his chin. "My blade... my dear, violent Ghirahim... he would not approve of this. His bloodlust is to be feared if he grows jealous of you."

He sighed with some slight regret. "It would be such a waste: he is one of my most valuable of warriors in my army, as well as my most faithful companion... I shall have to give him an honorable send off."

-present-

Fi suddenly threw her arms out like wings and then she disappeared. In her place, was an elegant sword, with a light blue hilt, and a blue diamond, identical to the one on Fi's chest.

"What should have been, what should be..." Fi's word's rang out. "I was the instigator to the downfall of the blade you wield in your hands. I was the one who should have been by your side."

A quick second later, she reappeared, with her head still in the sky, as the grounds seem to take on an ominous dull red glow.

"I despise you, Zelda." She bowed her head, with those arms still outstretched. "Your existence is the reason for this half-life that I have followed. Because of you, I was condemned before I was even brought into this world. I have become the ultimate mockery against Hylia- I have forsaken my own creator, and now I seek to sever our thread of fate."

She glanced up: Fi's hair was shortened and altered to the point that resembled Ghirahim's silver hair in his current form- with the exception that her bangs were swept to the other side- but what took me off guard was her eyes.

Her eyes were covered by that blue substance. If she was unable to display emotion before, she definitely wasn't now, and seeing that empty gaze, peering at me was... unsettling.

"And so, I shall end your life in the most perfect of a calculated metaphor." Fi suddenly began to levitate off the ground. "I shall put you through excruciating pain, before I send you falling down in endless purge, with an equal chance of death or paralysis. Just as I have fallen from grace... so shall you."

As she slowly glided towards me, I readied my sword. "So I suppose it's just one on one." I glared at her. Even though this should have been Ghirahim's fight, he retreated back into my sword- which made me hope that he was developing a plan for this fight.

"Ghirahim." I asked as I glanced at Fi's jewel- it reminded me of the training from the day before. "Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I already know her weak point."

Fi suddenly waved her wing at me and I quickly dodged, while minding the fact that I was on a platform, high in the sky.

"That is correct." Was my answer. "I take it something came out of that awkward situation yesterday."

I smirked. "Thanks."

It would have been fitting if I knocked Fi to the ground instead, except for the fact that she was floating in the air. I had to think up of a new way to get to her, and fast.

I slashed at Fi, but she quickly blocked it with one of her 'wings'. I tried this at lest three times before I was given a warning by Ghirahim: "If you try to knock her off the ledge, you could fall off instead."

I hissed in irritation. "Way ahead of you."

Fi suddenly sent a swing of a kick at me- her heel collided into my stomach and I was knocked back.

Even though my stomach hurt, I quickly rolled away before Fi could strike her sword down upon me and got up a safe distance away.

"Look at you," Fi held her sword out as she approached me. "A bloody mess, just after surviving the verge of death, anger coursing through you... do you still feel like the hero? You are no better than Ghirahim or Demise himself."

I waited until she approached me. Just as she was about to hit me again, I rammed my shield against her and then slashed the Master Sword at her chest, where the diamond was.

She let out a cry of pain that gave me a satisfaction, but then she knocked me back with enough force that I almost fell off the edge on the other side. She then suddenly dived at me, like a loftwing, and I quickly dodged her as she flew out into the air before flying back at me, which I was also forced to dodge.

Just like the last time I faced her, she taunted me by flying in circles around me until she had enough and resumed her place on the platform.

It was a procedure that occurred three more times- with some succession- and Fi began to predict my tactic.

"Enough of this foolishness." Fi dodged my last attempt at bashing her with the shield and kicked my legs. I feel to the ground but Fi then sent a kick into my shoulder, which knocked me to the side. She then raised her sword and made as if to make a diagonal cut, with the intent of cutting my head off.

I quickly rolled away as fast as I could, but Fi didn't even swing. Just before I could get up, she dived at me, and this time, she collided into me. The force was enough to send me falling off the ledge.

In one moment, I thought that was it- I thought I was going to die for sure as Fi watched from over the edge of her platform, but then a pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around me and my descent was abruptly stopped mid air.

"Did you forget that I have tricks up my sleeve as well?" Ghirahim reminded me as he set me down on a platform of diamonds that he himself had created.

Unfortunately, I found myself collapsing to my knees and grabbed my stomach in pain: Fi had hit me so hard that it felt as if my wound really was going to reopen. I then felt a hand grab my arm and I was pulled to the side, just before Fi stabbed the spot that I was just placed.

"This is between us, Ghirahim." Fi chided as she pulled her sword out. "I am the one who is without a wielder, not you."

Ghirahim summoned out his weapon as he pushed me away. "I am bound to the thread of fate as much as you." He snarled. "My ultimate humiliation was thanks you!"

He swung the sword out, which turned into the much larger blade. "This was simply meant to be, dear girl." He slowly hissed. "And you sold your life to me, the moment you succeeded in nearly killing my Mistress."

I slowly backed away, with my sword arm still crossed over my stomach, while my shield was just feet away from me. Without any means of defense, I was stuck watching the duel between the sword spirits.

Both were clearly expert swordsmen, who seemed to know exactly how to read the other's every move. Ghirahim was far more aggressive in his attacks, given how angry he was, yet Fi had more grace to her movements. It didn't help Ghirahim that Fi had the ability to glide, and this made it easier for her to dodge the swing of the blade. Yet it was just as hard to attack Ghirahim, who was ready to lash out before Fi could get close enough.

I couldn't help but notice the clear difference between the two. Both their physical appearances clearly reflected their personalities, with Fi being lithe, youthful, and elegant, and Ghirahim being more muscular, older, and violent. I could clearly see why both were suited to the roles that they were meant to have.

At this thought, I glanced around and saw Link- he was still safely hovering up in the air, away from me. Please be safe. I pleaded before turning back to the fight.

I watched as the fight grew more furious: both were becoming more determined to kill each other. Both went as far as to send their own daggers at each other, and I had to duck out of the way. That was when I realized that I was not safe on this platform and I needed to get my shield as soon as possible.

I dashed away from the path of the daggers that failed to meet their mark, and kept a close eye on the two until I could reach my shield. Just as I was able to pick it up, Fi noticed me and threw a dagger in my direction. Before the dagger could make contact, Ghirahim quickly ran to me and, judging by the jolt of his body, it hit him instead.

Before he could make any sign as to how bad the wound was, he was knocked foreword by a dive by Fi, which sent him flying off the ledge.

"Ghirahim!" I cried out, just as Fi flew past me and held her sword out, as if to plunge it into his chest. Without even thinking about it, I jumped off the platform after them.

Fi had no attention of summoning another platform- she was going to let him fall straight to the ground.

There was only one way to keep myself from getting injured by the fall. With quick acting, I took the sailcloth out, just as Ghirahim hit the ground- all the while, I was waiting for him to 'cheat' once again.

Unfortunately, while the sailcloth saved my life, it slowed me down and I was forced to watch as Fi sent her blade through the diamond in Ghirahim's chest.

He let out a sharp grunt at first, as if holding back the pain, but then Fi pulled her sword out and sent it straight back into the diamond, which shattered the silver exposed a red diamond glowing underneath it.

The attack made Ghirahim scream out.

I snapped.

I was not going to let her do this to anyone else that I cared about, besides me. I wanted to catch her off guard, like she did to me. I wanted nothing more than to see her go.

I let go of the sailcloth and fell the next six feet to the ground. I stumbled in the process, but Fi was too focused on Ghirahim to hear me as she made to strike him down for the third time. Just as she raised her sword, I charged at her, sword in hand, as an inhumane sound came from out of my mouth. I didn't care anymore- never before had I desired someone's death as I did in this moment.

Fi turned in confusion, but it was too late- the moment she began to raise her sword, at me, I thrusted the Master Sword into the already cracked blue diamond.

"Never again!" I growled as I pulled my sword- with her still stuck to it- away from my fallen companion. "NEVER AGAIN!"

"You became Hylia's weapon, just as I had" Fi only replied "How does that feel, knowing that you have been tainted by your bloodlust?"

My eyes glanced up to Link... he knew the truth about Fi the whole time. He knew what Hylia had done to her, and he pitied her.

I then felt disgust with myself- I allowed my anger to turn me into an animal... but then I realized what I was doing to myself. Once more, even on the end of my sword, Fi was still trying to put me down.

Fi raised her sword, but then I yanked mine out of her, which made her stumble for a moment. It was then that I noticed that the diamond had been shattered, revealing a core in the same color underneath it.

Fi quickly took out her sword and blocked my attacks. In retaliation, I backed away as she began to summon out more daggers and sent them into my direction: all of which I blocked with my shield.

And then, an old memory from so long ago stirred in my mind- a memory of my first training session.

"If you lose your patience and swing the sword like a mad man, not only will you be open to your enemy, but you will lose sight of what matters!"

I had to be patient. The fight wasn't over just yet, and there was no need to become an animal.

Then she raised her sword up and I watched as a light charged up the blade. Knowing what was coming, I quickly dodged the spiraling arc of energy that she sent towards me before I waited for her to make her move.

She swung her sword in my direction, but I blocked it. As soon as I could, I hacked at her diamond core until she glided away from me. Already she began to look tired out- possibly from the very fact that she had taken severe damage to her core. She was beginning to droop forward, from where she was hovering.

Quickly, I charged at her, and she mimicked my turn by gliding towards me.

Patience, I reminded myself. Don't rush this.

She attempted to make the first blow, but I held my shield up, which knocked her back. That was all I needed, and I quickly slashed at the diamond core once more.

I refused to let her try to kill me again, or more importantly, harm those that mattered to me, just because I existed.

Lend me your strength! I pleaded to Ghirahim and I felt him merge with the Master Sword.

With one final cry that made me sound like some sort of animal, I plunged my sword into Fi's diamond, and sent the remaining shards flying out of it.

I kept my grip on the Master Sword and panted as Fi almost fell into the blade and limply hung on it. "Never touch those I care about- never use me to use those I care about- EVER AGAIN!"

I felt a sharp jab in my stomach and clutched it with my free hand: I had put myself through so much force that it felt as if I could collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile, Fi hadn't even cried out once, when I had injured her, despite that she was panting for air. Was she that derived of feeling and emotion in this form, or was she trying to mock me? Either way, she just stared at me with those soulless eyes...

"To be... skewered by... a mere human like this." She slowly panted. "I am supposed to be superior to the both of you... especially you... who should be dead... what are you?"

I glared at Fi. "You tried to kill me three times, you tried to kill Ghirahim... you harm those who stand in your way.. you tried killing me to get to Link-" I let out a sharp grunt and winced in pain as my fingers tightened against the flesh of my stomach were Fi had impaled me through.

"I am Zelda- I am not a weapon... I am not weak, and I- " I hissed through my discomfort as I heard Ghirahim appear behind me. He was also panting as well, and I could easily picture him clutching his chest, where he had been stabbed: everyone was a complete mess or had been stabbed today.

"I hate you as much as you do..." I was finally able to confess. "And yet, I want to pity you, for all the sorrow you've felt."

I tugged the sword out of Fi with enough force that I would have hit the ground, hand Ghirahim not caught me in time. I looked on as Fi knelt to the ground, her wings folded against her core- and I think, for the first time, in that very moment, I pitied Fi.

"Maybe Link can save you..." A wave of calm over came me, freeing me from the fire that had consumed me. In it's place, there was only the feeling of exhaustion... and maybe even a spark of foolish optimism. "Maybe you can just leave, without getting caught up in this stupid war and-

"I cant. For you see, the ceremony had continued on while we fought."

I let out a sharp gasp- how could that have been possible?

It was then that the ground below us began to glow and I watched in horror as the black markings on the earth began to pulsate with a reddish colored hue.

Fi shakily stood up and looked up at Link- the reincarnation of her father. "The demon king shall devour the soul of Hylia- my father- and will be resurrected in his full glory."

The earth began to shake and I looked on in horror as Link began glowing with even more of a yellow light. I could make out that he was squirming and letting out cries of discomfort, and I began to panic.

Meanwhile, red light raised from the markings, and the seal of the Imprisoned was engulfed in a pitch black darkness, which became a column that raised to the sky and began to engulf our surroundings.

As Fi disappeared from the bottom of the grounds, Ghirahim shakily guided me to the safety of the ground, while kneeling protectively over me, despite his own injury.

The ground began to shake, and I looked up in horror to see the familiar form of the Imprisoned... and suddenly a memory of a past dream returned to me... of Link walking towards this beast.

Link had willingly given himself up to Demise because of me.

"NO!" I screamed as the Imprisoned raised it's head up and let out a triumphant roar. Link began to scream and writhe as light and energy escaped his body until, with one final, horrific scream, a jet stream of golden red light, reminiscent of a burning cloud, escaped his body and entered the waiting jaws of the Imprisoned.

"LINK!" I screamed and reached my hand towards my fallen hero as the light- his life force- continuously escaped from his body and into the beast until it had it's fill and turned a deep black.

The lack of the light casted the area into a dark purple haze until the Imprisoned began to let off waves of purple energy and black sparks, like that of lightening. It curled itself into a ball and the energy became a cocoon as a white wind began to swirl around it... around us.

"I'm sorry." Ghirahim clutched me against his chest and buried his head into my shoulder with all the remorse of a disgraced warrior. "I failed you...Mistress Zelda."

How do you save Zelda from death? The answer is: convenient healing fairy in a pot, in the temple, smashed by Groose.

And some of you are complaining "ANOTHER DEUS EX MACHINA?! SWEET NARYU WHY DID YOU EVEN BOTHER WITH STABBING ZELDA?!"

I was considering going with what could have seem obvious to some- that Fi was going to pull what Ghirahim did to Zelda during training several chapters ago, and I even considered having her sword stab through the Master Sword, to impale both weapon and owner. Of course, I was already pushing my limits with the destruction of the shield and... And... I owe you guys an apology if the daggers in the hands part made you squeamish. I felt like being a bit dramatic with that one, and it was too good of an idea to not pass up on.

Also: I'm being such a hypocrite over Ghirahim. I said that I didn't make him swing one way, but it seems he goes both... and then there was Demise... and considering what gender the majority voted on... someone's going to kill me, aren't they?

Other than that... why did Fi have to go to sleep at the end of the game? Oh boy... all I can say to this is that if it's for what I think it was, I'm giving a proper "screw this" to the time paradox that the ending presented for this fan fic because... honestly, it's a paradox that has no consequences. You'll see what I mean, later on.

We will meet Demise in the next chapter... which will also be the penultimate chapter. (Yeah I know... wow.)