A/N: I adored Echoes of Wisdom, and found it incredibly charming, so wanted to write a little something. (I was also mildly disappointed that the real Ganon is not actually in the game, so this is remedying that haha).

This takes place sometime after the Hyrule Castle dungeon. Timeline wise I am envisioning this game to take place in the downfall timeline sometime after ALBW (far enough that nobody remembers who Ganon is, hence everyone just referring to him as 'that blue monster'), so Ganon has already been killed and resurrected several times, and is therefore a bit confused.

Ganon was woken by the touch of a hand on his arm, and when he opened his eyes, the sunlight was so blinding he had to cringe away from it. He could not remember when he had fallen asleep, or where, but somehow he had the feeling that he had been in the darkness for a long, long time.

"Hello, Demon King," said a voice that was far too bright. "Are you alright?"

He forced his eyes open again, and saw who had woken him. She was a young woman, Hylian by the looks of it, and wore a lavender dress. He could see strands of golden hair peaking out from under the dark hood she wore. In her hand she was holding some kind of staff, and behind her stood multiple Moblins, which struck him as very strange.

"You were in that rift for a long time, I think," the woman continued. "Can you speak?"

Rift? He blinked at her. What was a rift? And more importantly: "Where is my trident?" he demanded. His voice sounded deep and rough, as though it had not been used in a long time. Or was that just what his voice was now?

"So you can speak!" The woman said. "I thought the rift may have taken your voice."

"My trident," he repeated, sitting up.

She straightened, looking more serious now. "I will return your weapons to you, Demon King. But we will speak first."

"You will return them to me now, thief!" he snarled.

Rather than shrinking away as he had hoped, a wry smile came to her face. "Is that any way to address your rescuer?"

Rescuer? Seeing his anger, she held out a hand in appeasement. With her other hand, she waved the staff she held, and he watched the Moblins behind her disappear into the air. What? She placed the staff to the dirt at her feet.

"There," she said. "We are both defenseless now." She lowered her hood, revealing hair that looked as though it had been spun from gold.

He narrowed his eyes, considering. Idiot woman, he thought. He was not defenseless without his weapons, not with his tusks and claws and teeth. He should take the staff and break it. Before he act on this thought, he was distracted by a new voice, which he noticed came from a small floating yellow creature next to her.

"Are you sure about this, Zelda?" the creature asked, and Ganon felt a chill go down his spine.

Zelda. He knew this name, and he hated it. Why did he hate it?

Zelda murmured something to the floating creature in response, then looked back to him. "Do you remember how you ended up in that rift?"

She had said that word many times now. Was that place of cold and nothingness he had been in a rift? He felt like he had been there for ages.

"No," he said.

She frowned, concerned. "Perhaps the rift has stolen not your voice but your memories." She must have seen his confusion, for she clarified, "Sometimes, people who are trapped in the rifts come out changed. Like they've lost a part of themselves."

This did not sound quite right to him. His memories were hazy, yes, but he could recall bits and pieces. A strange purple-clad sorcerer trapping and controlling him. A young man in green – or was it several different men? – clashing with him. A redhaired man, gazing over the expanse of the desert, dreaming of a better life. And surrounding it all, death, over and over and over again. All of this before that cold dark place she was claiming to have rescued him from.

This was not something he wished to explain to a stranger, however, so all he said was, "Perhaps."

"Well," said Zelda, "I will tell you what has happened." She paused, looking at him contemplatively, before another bright smile lit up her face. "But first, you must be famished! Would you like a smoothie?"

"What."

She reached into her bag to produce a jar containing some thick purple liquid. which she held out to him.

"What is in that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Grapes," she said proudly. "And butter. I invented the recipe."

"That sounds vile."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said, replacing the jar in her pack, before sitting on the ground beside him. She cleared her throat, any hints of humour fading from her as she spoke again.

"The rifts are created by an entity called Null, which desires to erase everything. My companion and I have been repairing them. That is how I saved you – by repairing the rift you had been trapped in."

"To erase everything," Ganon repeated.

"Yes. Null has existed since even before the creation of this world. And wishes to return the world to its pre-creation state. A void of emptiness." She looked at him, and added, "It has been impersonating you, Demon King."

"How?"

"It has created a perfect copy of you – an Echo – which it has used to wreak havoc. It even captured me and held me in a magical crystal. Null knows I am destined to oppose it."

How unoriginal, Ganon thought. He had also held a princess in a crystal, hadn't he? Wait – Princess? She had not said she was a princess, had she? Somehow he could not imagine her as anything else. But first; a more pressing thought: How dare someone impersonate me! And poorly, as well, if Zelda had been able to escape this Null's clutches. He would have done much better.

"I found you in the rift, and recognized you as the monster Null was using," Zelda said. "You appeared very close to fading – I believe I repaired the rift just in time." She gave him a thoughtful look. "I did consider leaving you there. However, I thought I would give you a chance, to prove yourself friend or foe."

"And if I am a foe?"

She waited a moment before replying, giving him a look that he found almost frightening.

"Then," she said, bringing her hand to the staff still lying on the ground, "I wouldn't mind having a Demon King Echo of my own."

He bared his teeth. "You think you can defeat me?"

"I defeated your copy," she said with a small smile. "The real thing can't be much worse." Before he could retort, she continued, "But I would rather not fight you, so – will you help me defeat Null?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Truthfully, I do not much like fighting," she said. "And traveling can be lonely with only my Echoes for company. Tri here is not often one for conversation," she added, giving the floating creature at her side a fond look, before turning back to him. "I imagine you would want Null defeated, after being captured and impersonated. So?"

He considered her words. If she was telling the truth, then Null would need to be eliminated. He could not rule Hyrule if it were destroyed, after all. Agree for now, he told himself, even though the thought rankled him. At least until you confirm her story. And if he needed to turn on her later, well… even if she had beaten his copy, she would never beat him.

"Very well," he said to her. "I will go with you."

She grinned. "Excellent." She stood again, and he followed. He towered over her – Hylians had always seemed so small to him, even before he had become a monster. He had not always looked like this – even with his mind so addled, he was sure that it was true. Zelda, to her credit, did not appear intimidated by his size.

"I hid your trident in these bushes," she said. After retrieving it, she handed it to him. The familiar weight in his hand was a comfort.

Cut her down, he thought, then, Not yet.

"Come with me," she said. "There is a rift in the mountains – we will head there first."

As they walked together in silence, he noticed that she had a beautiful sash wrapped around her waist, spun from golden threads. Something about its design was familiar to him.

"Where did you get that sash?"

She looked down at it in surprise. "It was a gift from a friend," she answered, "for defeating a fearsome beast in the desert. Do you like it?" she asked with an amused smile.

He paused, then said, quietly, "It reminds me of home."

She looked at him a bit strangely for a moment. Then, her eyes bright, she said, "Would you like it?"

He frowned as she removed it from her waist.

"A gift, for agreeing to help me," she said, gesturing at him to bend down. When he reluctantly obeyed, she tied the golden fabric around his neck like a bandana. She tucked it under the chain of his necklace, then stepped back, giving his chest armor a pat as she did so.

"There," she said approvingly. "Even a monster should look his best. It suits you, Demon King."

What a strange woman, he thought, feeling almost embarrassed. Roughly, he said, "You may… call me Ganon."

She beamed. "Thank you, Ganon. Now, are you sure you don't want that smoothie? I promise it tastes better than it sounds."

If Zelda was who he was beginning to suspect she was, he would almost certainly have to kill her eventually. For, now, though… he was very hungry.

He accepted the drink, and continued following her through the fields.

It did taste good, he sullenly admitted to himself, even if it was a bit awkward to drink it with his tusks and his snout getting in the way (Zelda seemed to be quite amused by his struggles). The second one she gave him was made of mangoes, and tasted even better.