Chapter 65: Revelations and Purpose
What a life it must be, to live where water is plentiful. Where it lined the streets and surrounded a city. Castle Town was supposed to be the heart of Greater Hyrule, and it certainly bustled with life and commerce and grand buildings. But of all the places Gan had ever visited, there was something wonderous about the land of the Zora. Every morning, it took all his will not to run straight out of the city limits and dive into the depths. Forget everything and let the water envelop him.
How much easier would it be to just float away? Away from pressures. Away from kingship. Away from failed schemes and pointless sacrifices.
But even beyond those fanciful delusions, the city still held wonders. Art colored every building, and statues stood in every corner. A chill breeze swept over everything, making all it touched damp with water drawn from the sea. He would have killed for such a wind back in the desert. It held a library, not as grand as the one in Hyrule Castle, but filled with knowledge from renowned scholars. He had only visited it in brief, but if he could he'd sit there for days on end.
If it wasn't for the food, this would be paradise.
"King Dragmire," King De Bon broke him from his contemplation. "If you keep stopping to stare off into the horizon, we will be late for the feast."
"My apologies, Your Grace, sometimes the beauty of your city where sea meets sky is overwhelming."
"Ahh, that it is. The magnificent work of my predecessors of which I am now the steward. But that is true of all kings and queens is it not? We are entrusted with the waters and peoples passed down by generations. I have in my mighty lineage wise kings and great queens, who saw the importance of building upon the past to make the present shine all the brighter. I try to live up to their finest examples. As all just rulers must."
"We Gerudo have a similar thought. Our ancestors watch us, they see our actions and judge us. We strive to live up to their expectations." Despite himself, Gan found he enjoyed the Zora King's company. He was more pompous than he should be -Nabs would despise him- but he was well-read and well-spoken. More than once they had stayed up late into the night discussing the words of poets and philosophers, something his beloved sister knew extraordinarily little.
The Zora King had a talent for asking provocative questions. And by the mirthful twitching of his whisker-like barbels, Ganondorf suspected another such question was coming.
"Similar, yes, but not the same I should think. I am indeed blessed with the noblest and finest lineage in all of Zoradom, but it would be a great lie to claim that all in my family's past were just and noble. Those who promoted art and built great works, I can see what they have left behind." He waved toward a building as they passed, not the largest, nor the most significant, but with a mural of soft swirling colors painted on its side. Flecks of red and yellow dashed within the rolling blues, highlighting the calm of the rest of the painting. "They stand before us still. Never before has there been so vivid an inspiration, so beautiful a guide. Through those works, I know whose path to follow. But every ancestor has their eyes upon you, the worthy and unworthy alike. How do you choose which voices of the past to hear?"
The question gave Ganondorf pause. Try as he might to explain what guided him, he could not think of an answer. Necessity? Glory? Survival? It all sounded hollow.
"I seem to have stumped you."
"I'm working on an answer."
"Perhaps you do not need a clever retort or argument. Perhaps sometimes it's best to accept the truth in a fellow's words and contemplate what they reveal of your path. Of the decisions you've made and what brought you to them." The king sighed and stopped. Now he looked out over the city and the people who moved freely about the streets. "Stay a moment."
"And here I thought we were rushing, lest we be late for the meal you had planned."
De Bon chuckled. "There are some things -though very few- more important than a feast. You are not what I thought you'd be."
"And what did you think I would be?"
"A brute. A warhound. A butcher beneath a crown. Your talent for violence is the stuff of legends. All know you and speak your name with terror. I expected that was the beginning and end of you."
"Careful, fellow king. How would you act if someone said that of you?"
"I would laugh, because such comments would be ridiculous. Me? A brute? The only blade I've ever held is a kitchen knife. The only violence I've ever done was as a child I dropped my mother's favorite glass and accidentally shattered it. But you've got me distracted. No, I expected a brute, but you're not. I sense, I suppose, discomfort in you. Confusion. Regret."
Gan had to stop himself from speaking too quick or too rash. "What do you think I regret?"
The Zora held up his hands, "Of that, I cannot say. Perhaps because your name will be remembered as a violent warrior, and not the poet I believe stirs in your soul. Perhaps something more specific. What king does not have some regret for a decision they made, even one with the best intentions?"
"None, I suppose. To rule is to make difficult choices."
"And yet, all my deepest regrets are not from my decisions but my weakness. When I could not lead, and my people suffered for it. But for now, we speak of you, my friend. If I am right and you are truly someone in need of guidance. I ask you to see our protector, our guardian, our Lord Jabu-Jabu. And listen, truly listen, for he has the gift of revelations and clarity. If there is anyone walking the land or swimming the sea that may stifle whatever haunts you, it is he."
"I will think on it." Gan had avoided the great whale since he arrived. Thankfully in a city this vast and beautiful avoiding one creature that lived in the outskirts was not difficult. It seemed unlikely that the guardian would want anything to do with him. Why risk angering such a creature?
And yet, since he had given up his dream all he had were regrets. The only thing worse than his regrets were his new dreams. The dark thoughts of all the horrors the Hylians had done to his people. The feeling that he was throwing away his destiny. His innumerable failures.
Perhaps he would see to the guardian and beg forgiveness. But could forgiveness ever be given?
"Well," De Bon said. "You think on it over our meal. I for one am famished."
The palace bustled with activity as servants prepared the grand table for the midday meal. They behaved as though the day required some grand celebration. Just as they had for every day and every meal since Gan arrived. With the finest plates of porcelain covered with more food than the entire castle could possibly eat. He had expected one celebratory meal when he arrived, as one king must provide when greeting another.
But the first feast had been the smallest of them all. Every banquet since had grown grander. Dessi and Bethe already stood behind their designated seats to his side, waiting for De Bon and Gan to sit. Bethe stood rigid and patient as ever, but Gan caught just a glance from her toward the steaming piles of fish and stew before them. She'd developed quite a taste for it.
Which is more than could be said for him. He took his position at King De Bon's left and nodded to his commanders. The servants pulled their chairs away from the table for the kings to sit together, but the Zora did not move. Not until the doors of the hall opened to reveal his daughter and her guard a step behind her.
"Ahh, my dearest water flower," King De Bon said. "I worried I would have to start without you."
"My apologies," she gave an elegant curtsy before she made her way to her place at the king's right. "I lost track of time, sometimes I do not know where my mind goes."
For a moment Gan's eyes met those of the princess, and a pang of guilt flooded through him. Did she know? Was that some form of clue? How could she? A string of ideas came to him, violent and terrible, each accompanied by a howl warning of the danger this child brought with her.
Gan grimaced and forced the visions of massacre away. It had been simple wordplay, nothing to worry about. Only a fool would hint at their intentions in such a way. If she and her father knew what he had done, why would they invite him into their home at all?
And what had he been thinking, using the child to bring him the stone? Of all the plans he had ever had, he should have known that would fail. Of course, the guardian would never hurt the child, he'd protect her no matter what. If he would allow anyone to take the stone it would be a Zora like her. But how had he not considered that Lord Jabu-Jabu would simply break the spell?
That had to be what happened. When she went to take the stone, he broke the enchantment Gan placed upon her.
But then why hadn't the Zora attacked him? Why did they treat him like an honored guest?
Lord Jabu-Jabu must know. Days after Gan came asking for the stone a Zora child visited enchanted to the same ends. Of course, he knew it must have been Gan to cast the spell. So why did he not tell King De Bon and Princess Ruto? Could he not communicate? He is mute. But that was ridiculous. The Guardian of the Seas and Rivers could have figured out a way to expose him.
So why hadn't he?
The King raised his hand, flipped his cloak so it would not get in his way, then sat and the entire hall sat with him. Immediately, Bethe reached out to shovel food onto her plate.
"Fish, again," Ganondorf muttered as he served himself just enough that it would not be taken as an insult. He should not complain. He had spent most his life scavenging off the land, scrounging what could be taken from raids, or carried on campaign. Hard breads made of thick grains that hurt his jaw to chew, or pottage mixtures that tasted more like dirt than food. And more days than once he had gone without any meal at all.
But there was something about fish that didn't sit right with him.
Still, he forced himself to sit and eat. Was it that pungent smell that filled his nose? Was it how it felt squishing through his mouth? Was it the taste? Or all of it put together? He could not say, but he swallowed the first bite and forced himself to smile. "Wonderful as always."
"Miashir," De Bon waved to the guard, "would you make certain that the chefs are told of their excellence? Their culinary delights astound the finest palettes in all of the Gerudo Desert and the Zora Sea."
"I will see it done, my king."
"Perhaps," Dessi said with a sly gleam to her eye, "when we march out, we might take on one of those cooks. What do you say, my king? Wouldn't you just love to feast like this every single day on campaign?"
"That won't be necessary," Gan said as he forced down another bite and gave a quick scowl only for Desquesza to see. "But that does bring up a question. It has been some days since I arrived. And your scouts have found no sign of the Octorok. I think it might be past time my army moved on. We are doing little good here, beyond eating your fine food."
"Oh, but you simply can't go yet," Princess Ruto said, leaning forward to look around her father to meet Gan's eyes. She wore an innocent smile that made Ganondorf feel all the worse. "Commander Miashir informed me just this morning that our forces fought against the Octorok."
Ganondorf looked at the soldier. "Is that true?"
"Fought may be overstating it, Your Grace," the soldier said. "It was little more than a skirmish. But it confirmed the Octorok have not left our waters."
"Troubling news," the Zora King nodded. "Troubling news, indeed."
"Why am I only hearing this now?" Gan snapped at the soldier, then looked to his two commanders. "Did either of you know?"
Bethe shook her head, her cheeks puffed out with the food.
Gan scowled and turned back to the Zora guard. "We wasted half the day. If there is another battle to be fought, we need to prepare." First King Dodongo betrayed him, what if the Octorok were doing the same? The Caller of Tides did not seem the type to behave rashly. Perhaps it was simply stragglers or deserters? But he could not take that chance.
"Yes, Your Grace," Commander Miashir said. "That was my mistake. Next time I receive such a report I will bring it directly to your attention."
"There," De Bon said, "we have that sorted. Now would you be a friend and pass that broiled porgy with scallops?"
"It's not sorted," Ganondorf said, though he still did hand over the platter. "Where were the Octorok found? What was the closest section of your city to them? Have you doubled your guard? I can call up a battalion of my soldiers for reinforcements."
"Oh, I'm certain that won't be necessary," King De Bon said. "We need your soldiers guarding where the river flows. But we'll discuss that after our meal. We wouldn't want to bore my lovely lily." He smiled at his daughter.
But she's the one who was informed about the raids before we were!
He waited for the meal to finish. He waited until the servants took the empty plates and still half-full platters away. He waited until the king and his daughter had said a hundred heartfelt goodbyes to each other as if they were to part for months as opposed to her simply leaving the room. Only then did King De Bon lead Gan and his commanders to a quiet room where they could speak of the war. And still, the Zora seemed entirely disinterested.
Ganondorf could sing every ill under the sun about Chief Darunia, the stone-brained oaf whose actions near doomed his own mountain. But he at least put in effort toward understanding battle plans and took an active role in defending his people. For King De Bon, all the energy and intellect that he demonstrated talking art and philosophy disappeared when it came to forming battle plans. He did not seem to care about the defense of his city, brushing away any suggestion of bringing up support or Ganondorf using his scouts to patrol the edge of the waters.
After hours of discussion, King De Bon called the meeting to a close. "We'll hash out all the other details tomorrow." He said. "I feel we are on the verge of exactly the plan we need. But we shall not rush. Haste is the enemy of perfection. I shall see you all for dinner soon." And with that, he and the Zora military advisors departed, leaving Gan, Desquesza, and Bethmasse looking over the map.
"What plan?" Dessi muttered as she played with the marker of the Octorok forces. "We talked for hours for nothing. I think I know less about what we're doing than I did when we entered."
"Hmm," Bethe grunted, a fiercer agreement she could hardly have made.
"He doesn't want my armies in the city," Gan said. "What is he afraid of?"
"Soldiers cause messes," Dessi said. "Maybe King Zora is more worried about what trouble we'd cause marching through his pretty little city than what the Octorok will do if they attack it."
"You think that's truly it?"
"No," Bethe shook her head. "He's hiding something."
"How can you tell?" Dessi asked. "I can't read fish eyes."
Bethe shrugged.
"Thanks, sister, that explains everything."
Bethe shrugged, again.
"Enough," Gan stood up. "I have the tools to figure this out. I just need to use them." The three departed the room, the hall, the palace, the city. Across a bridge to a small camp of Gerudo tents. Most of his army was still at the bottom of the plateau, but his personal guard and some attendants stayed just outside the city limits. And with them would be his tool. When he and his commanders passed, the soldiers stopped to salute or call out to him with jokes about going soft living in the palace. He acknowledged his people but did not stop until he found his tent, not that he had used it since entering the city. Instead, she sat within, simply staring at the ground, her open mouth dripping with drool. And unlike Princess Ruto, this one deserved her fate.
"Sheikah," Ganondorf said.
The prisoner's head rolled up until those clouded eyes found his. "I have done as you asked. My reports are sent. My superiors will be told precisely what you want them to know."
"Good, but I have a new task for you."
"What will you have me do?"
"The King of the Zora is hiding information. You must uncover his plans and report them back to me. You are not to be caught. Stand, and act as you used to."
The vai stood, and her expression changed. Her mouth closed, her eyes sharpened, and a friendly smile spread across her face. Ganondorf was brought back to Sir Godwyn, how he acted proud and fierce when instructing Ganondorf on the arts of war, and how quickly he returned to a soulless wretch as soon as the lessons finished. She deserves her fate. He reminded himself every time he saw her. He was not like his mothers.
"I'll need a reason to enter the palace. I could break in at night, but that seems a pointless risk when you can just walk me in."
"And why would I take you with me?"
"Oh, there are a hundred reasons we can use. You find me amusing, I remind you of home, no one else can cook a muldooga fin like me. But if you don't want questions, say I'm your lover. No one will stop me then." She waggled her eyebrows with a cheeky grin.
Dessi snorted. "Who would believe that?"
Gan grunted. "It will suffice. But I am not going directly back to the palace. You'll have to stay with me until then."
"Wonderful! Where are we going?"
"There is another question I need answered, and I suppose an apology I must make."
He left the tent with Sidaj in tow. He made it five paces before someone started shouting his name.
"Dragmire! King Ganondorf Dragmire!" A Hylian man charged toward him, waving his good arm. "King Dragmire! I have- augh!"
Bethmasse grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. Her dagger pressed against the back of his neck. "Have you lost your senses, voe?"
"Bethe, calm down." Gan walked over to the man. "Do you think I am in danger from one such as him?"
The man was dressed in rags and had suffered a beating a week or so back, judging by the bruises on his face, and the bandages wrapped around the arm he couldn't wave with. No weapons that Gan could see, and his face was dirty and unshaven. He looked like a vagabond and smelled of mud and horse. The only way this one would be any danger to him was if he was secretly a Sheikah, and of all their assassination attempts, none had ever just run up to him screaming his name.
Bethe grunted and pulled her knife back. But she kept her hand on his shoulder, so he stayed down on the ground.
LISTEN.
Gan paused; he had been about to order the man removed from the camp. But his dark thoughts never wanted him to listen to anyone besides his mothers. "Well, Hylian. You have my attention."
"I- I know about the Ruby. Oh, what did he call it? The Heart of Death Mountain. Or something. And an Emerald from the Lost Woods. They're things you want, aren't they?"
Gan felt a chill run down his back, and yet that dark part of him grew happier than ever before. "What are you-" He looked into the cowering man's eyes before the Hylian turned his face down and started sputtering some strangled apologies at the ground. There was nothing behind those eyes but fear and greed. No deception. No cunning. "In the tent. Now."
Once away from prying eyes, Gan ordered the man to speak.
"I- uhh- my name is Ingo. I'm a rancher and-"
"Do you think the king cares?" Dessi smacked the side of the man's head. "The stones. Tell us about the stones."
"There is a boy who is trying to stop you from getting them."
"The fae-child of the Kokiri with a fairy, I know of him."
"No," the man shook his head. "He's not a Kokiri, I don't think. He's just a regular child. An annoying one. And he doesn't have a fairy anymore. They parted ways when she grew tired of him."
This time Bethe leaned down to whisper into the man's ear in a voice that could sharpen an axe. "To the point."
"His name is Link. And he knows where the Emerald is. The fairy took it and hid it somewhere. But he also holds the ruby you want. It's the largest gem I've ever seen. Near as big as my head. He showed it to me. And said he was going to hide it from you."
Bethe grabbed the front of his torn shirt and pulled him to his feet until she was holding him an inch from her face. His feet dangled above the ground. "That name. Say it again."
"Link! The boy's name is Link! He's short, only a child. But he reckons himself a warrior."
She released him, the disheveled rancher tumbled to the ground. Bethmasse turned to face Ganondorf, her eyes wide. "I didn't know," she whispered before she went to her knees. "We were told to look for a child with a fairy. You must believe me, Gan- my king. I didn't know."
"Bethe, get up." Gan towered over the little man, still sprawled out on the ground. "Why are you telling me this? What's in it for you?"
"Uh. I was thrown out- when Talon- when. It doesn't matter." He got up to his knees and held his hands up toward Ganondorf. "I thought you would want to know. And- I thought- maybe you would pay me. For helping you."
LOOK AT THEM. THEY TURN AGAINST THEIR OWN KIND. PATHETIC. WEAK. UNWORTHY OF LIFE.
Gan turned from the pathetic figure and found his chest tucked in the corner of the tent. He grabbed his map, mask, and bone.
"What are you going to do with those?" Ingo's voice quivered.
Gan flattened the map on the ground and thought of the boy. The little squire that tried to kill him the first time they met. The one that the rage within him despised more than anyone and anything. The one he had pressed his magic into at the end of their little duel. "That which I have marked, I call to you. Reveal yourself." The demon bone spun before it landed halfway between Castle Town and the Zora Plateau.
On went the mask, and Ganondorf sent his will far, down a mountainside, across a river, and a long way down a longer road. He stopped, once more feeling the last defense of the Great Deku Tree. The fog that prevented him from gazing upon the Emerald after the spider marked it for him all those months ago.
But now, the stone was not alone in bearing his beacon. The dead tree could stop him no longer.
Gan pierced through the veil and beheld a peach tree, where the fierce little squire climbed out on one of the limbs.
"This one looks delicious, doesn't it?" he said, holding out one of the peaches to a small blue light.
"Be careful," the fairy said. "That limb doesn't look sturdy enough."
"Oh, I'll be fine. See, it-" The boy stopped, and his face fell. "I'm sorry, Navi. I didn't mean to make you worry." He scurried down the tree quicker than a squirrel, jumping and tumbling off the last limb, and somehow making the landing look simple. "I wasn't thinking – I guess. Maybe I'll just get the ones at the bottom here? Is that close enough to the ground?"
"You don't need to apologize. I know you can take care of yourself. I just- I worry. About silly things."
"But I don't want you to worry. Would it be better if I knock them down with a stick?"
"Link, you're never going to stop me worrying about you. Go, climb your tree, get your peaches. We still have a long way ahead of us, and we don't want you walking on an empty stomach, do we? I'll just have to learn how to worry quietly."
Gan clenched his jaw tight as he watched the pair. Their words stung. He wanted to strike them down and turn their pleasant voices to ruin. He wished to sit between them and imagine his own mothers speaking to him in such a way.
Before returning to the tree, Link went to a sturdy thick bag in the Goron style and opened it. He placed the few peaches he already carried gently atop three large, brilliant stones, an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire.
He had them all.
TAKE THEM. YOUR DREAMS AWAIT.
"Link?" the Fairy said.
"Yes?"
"Something's wrong."
"What?" The child looked all about him. His eyes passed straight through Ganondorf's spectral projection.
"I feel- someone."
Ganondorf took off his mask and returned to his tent. "Pay him."
"How much?" Dessi asked.
"Whatever he can carry. I don't care."
The voe's eyes went wide. "That's- thank you, King Dragmire. Your generosity-"
"Get him out of here."
Dessi prodded the man out of the tent, cutting off his continued exclamations of Ganondorf's virtues. Bethe stood at attention, her jaw set and yet she trembled. Ashamed of herself, or afraid? All the while the Sheikah smirked.
"Bethe, relax. I didn't know who the voe was. Why would I expect you to?"
"I should have killed him," she muttered. "The moment he pulled a sword on you. I should have gutted him right then."
"That would have been a waste," Gan smiled as the dark voice laughed and laughed. "The boy has done me a great service. Bethe, call my guard and get them ready to ride. Now. We leave everything behind we don't need. No servants. Only enough food for two weeks."
"It will be done."
"And me?" Sidaj said. "Am I still to uncover whatever little secret the Zora has?"
"No. You stay here. When the Zora discovers us missing, they'll send some message to the Hylians. You must prevent those messengers from reaching Castle Town. Can you do that?"
"As easy as gutting a fish." The Sheikah bowed and left to practice her craft.
His heart pounded in his chest harder than any war drum. His hands clenched and unclenched as he looked about his now empty room. Just as he did when he wanted to summon his sword. This was it. The battle. The plan. It all came together so simply. He needed to tell Nabooru. She should- no. No, best not to get her involved until necessary. She would understand. Of course, she would. She had enough to deal with protecting Bulira. He tried his best not to think about the knight she had given her affection to and what effect he would have on her.
Nabooru would remain loyal. Of course, she would. And she would understand the necessity of his actions.
STRIKE FAST. BEFORE THEY CAN MOUNT A DEFENSE. SO FURIOUS NONE CAN STOP YOU.
He laughed. A deep guttural laugh racked his body and made his chest burn with the force of it. If Nabs had been there, she would have chided him, joking that it made him look insane.
But he did not care. For the first time in weeks, he had a purpose.