To Be Real

Holy crapola I WROTE SOMETHING. TEN PAGES OF SOMETHING. And it’s not utter crap!

To the reviewers at Fanfiction.net and AFF.net:

To Topaze Fire, Rynada, Xena Minotaur Girl, moonlit-leaf, Evol, YuriNeko_chan, Nuitari_Aquarius, Avery-kun, mia, Anon, Dragon, and Kate: thank you so kindly for your reviews. All of your encouragement, your appreciation, and every little tidbit about how my story has affected you has been overwhelmingly inspiring. Without your reviews I would not have the impetus to have written this new chapter so quickly (especially in the face of a ten-page art history paper).

There were so many reviews and I am so eager to post this story already that I can’t answer each of you individually. However, to cover some basic questions and comments…

- I’m not really sure about the yaoi anymore. It isn’t really going to fit in this chapter, as you will soon find out, and … Well, the “sex” in chapter two was to emphasize Dark Link’s confused, immature character, not really to establish a relationship between him and Link. I think he has more “feelings” for Ganondorf in this story, eh?

- I’m so thrilled that you’ve all found my story interesting and unpredictable. I’ve really done my best to stray as far as possible from the ho-hum USUAL OoT fic. I’m also glad that some of you have been able to read this without any background in the game. I am definitely doing my job, eh?

- Some like Sheik as a separate character, some don’t. I agree with the few of you who pointed out that it needs to be a plausible reason for an I’m-not-Zelda Sheik. Gay sexin’s is NOT a good enough reason.

- I worked hard on the descriptions in this chapter as well and I hope they’re up to par. Choreographing fight scenes in literature can be incredibly frustrating! I give much of my respect to the authors who pull it off nicely.

- Some of you have grown to like Navi and I just think that’s awesome. She’s not my favorite per se but I never hated her and I wanted to convince some of the fandom that she’s not always an annoying gnat.

- Lastly, and most importantly, I really love that you guys like what I have done with Dark Link. When I began the story, I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing. As most authors may do, I like to put a bit of myself in each character. Ganondorf is my outlet for my evil, antagonistic side. Link is my good-hearted side, Zelda my stubborn side. Because of the things that are going on in my life right now, I felt it was most appropriate for me to personify Dark Link as my vulnerable side. I took a huge gamble with him but it must be paying off. I’m really glad that you guys like it!

I have to apologize to you guys and to everyone for this chapter taking so long. I tried to start it THREE TIMES and every time I got it wrong. That third time was the charm, though, and finally file DLink777.doc yielded something worthwhile for me to post.

NOTE: The AFF.net version of this story may not come with the appropriate italics and bold print and therefore may lose meaning and impact. If that word “NOTE” isn’t bold or italicized then … Well, you get the idea. If this bothers you as much as it would me then please visit the Fanfiction.net version at:

www.fanfiction.net/u/281809/

I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


--


Ganondorf stood at the back wall of his great throne room, opening the last of the stained glass windows and allowing a frigid wind into the tower. With it came the strong scent of blood wafting up from Hyrule Plain, now a battleground for the Gerudo and his dark minions. He gazed out onto the plain, his gaze traveling the great expanse of smothering blackness and going beyond, to the border of the Lost Woods. Directly south of his stronghold, Ganondorf knew that this region was the key to conquering other worlds. Rarely did outsiders enter Hyrule from the arid Gerudo Desert or the treacherous heights of Death Mountain ridge. No, “tourists” usually entered from the Lost Woods. That was where the damnable Hero had come from, after all.

Thinking of the Hero, Ganon turned now to where his two esteemed guests reclined. Seated on either side of his immense throne, Link and Zelda knelt on great velvet pillows, gazing shamefully at the floor. Their wrists were chained together and attached to either side of the great throne. Both had been stripped of their Hylian garb and instead were wrapped in the gossamer fabrics of Gerudo slaves. They shivered as the chilly breeze nipped at their exposed skin and Ganondorf chuckled, noting their discomfort.

“Enjoy it,” he murmured, stalking toward them and taking a seat on his great throne. “Once my reign reaches its height, all of Hyrule will be overrun by the great Gerudo Desert. This will be the last cool breeze either of you will feel for quite some time.”

His piercing yellow eyes moved from one silent captive to the other, but neither of them lifted their heads or acknowledged his presence. He opened his mouth to chastise them for their ignorance but before he could speak an explosion far below rocked the tower. Link and Zelda nervously gripped their pillows, but Ganondorf made no move. He simply sat back with a sigh, closing his eyes as he silently prepared for the battle ahead.

“So,” he murmured, “Dark has finally come to reunite with his Master.”

Beneath Ganondorf’s gaze, Link’s and Zelda’s eyes met. The princess’s eyes were filled with fear, but Link’s well full of courage and hope. Deep down inside, he knew he’d made the right choice. He knew that Dark would come through for them.

He had to.

---

Breaking through Ganondorf’s barrier? Not so bad. Battling his way past the last line of Stalfos? Bearable. But as Dark trudged up what felt like the seven-hundredth set of stairs he’d encountered this evening, he felt that the sheer height of Ganon’s tower was the greatest challenge of all. The hallway he scaled was completely dark, save the light of Navi’s shining appearance and the lightning that occasionally flickered in the distance. His breath came in shallow pants as he trudged up one step after another, his leg muscles screaming as he did so.

Dark was tired, not only from vigorous fighting or from this climb. He’d strapped his sword and shield to his back for the moment so that he could baby his aching left arm. The Triforce was warm and pulsing in his hand and it was causing him great pain. In an effort to not upset Navi, though, he kept his mouth shut about it. He held his left arm just above the elbow, squeezing tightly. He feared that the numbness in his arm would spread into his chest and possibly render him immobile. The entire limb felt hot to the touch and it made him increasingly worried.

Finally, the last step came into view. Dark mounted the landing and paused, breathing deeply as he stared at the great gilded door that stood between him and destiny. Fear gripped his heart and for an instant, as a flash of lightning lit up the grim hallway, he felt that cowardly flight was a fantastic option.

“This is it, Dark,” Navi whispered, her voice snapping him back to reality. “Are you ready?”

“I am,” he spoke, hoping that his voice didn’t betray the nervousness in his heart. He swallowed hard, reaching back to ready his sword and his shield. “Navi,” he whispered, “I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?” she asked, coming to his side.

“I don’t want you to fight with me,” he said, keeping his eyes on the door. “I want you to find Link and free him, wherever he is. We need him to end this; I can’t do it alone.”

A tense silence grew between them. Navi knew better than to argue with Dark right now. He was about to go through a harrowing experience and she didn’t want to make it any harder on him. This was one of the few times in her life that she wished she were bigger. She wanted with all of her heart to take over for him, to help him out of this mess, but she knew that all she could do to help was follow his orders.

“A-Alright,” she whispered. “I’ll try to find another way into the throne room. While you have Ganondorf distracted, I’ll free Link.”

“Hurry,” Dark huffed, reaching for his cumbersome sword and shield. “I don’t know how long I can last against him.”

Navi lingered for a moment, hovering near Dark’s face. He felt her tiny hands brush against his skin as though she was giving him a gentle kiss, and then she was gone. Silently, she let herself out through one of the open windows in the hallway, going around the outside of the tower to find a new way into the stronghold.

Dark stood still for some time, as though he was waiting for the doors to open themselves. When they didn’t, he reached forward with his right hand, grasped the handle tightly, and pulled the doors open. He closed his eyes as a frigid breeze blew past him, ruffling his raven bangs and his black uniform. The doors creaked open and he stood framed in the doorway, sword and shield ready, poised for battle. Across the vast expanse of the dark throne room sat Ganondorf, cross-legged on his great chair, his cheek resting on one great fist. His free hand was idly stroking Zelda’s golden hair. She cowered, helpless beneath his touch.

“Dark Link,” Ganondorf spoke. “Welcome home.”

Dark glowered as he saw Link and Zelda chained like pets at Ganon’s feet. He gripped the dark Master Sword tightly and stepped further into the room, locking eyes with his surrogate. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Link’s bright blue gaze hopefully watching him. He couldn’t break his concentration on his Master, though. Ganondorf was unpredictable and volatile, Dark knew, especially since his goal was so close at hand.

The dark king rose, throwing back his cape, and slowly stalked toward his puppet. His gait was slow and measured, his arms relaxed at his sides, and Dark knew that he wouldn’t strike just yet. Nevertheless, he raised his weapon slightly, warning the Gerudo back. An arm’s length separated them, and while Ganon’s stance was relaxed, Dark was a coiled spring.

“You have something for me, my pet.”

“No, I don’t,” returned the minion, glaring up at Ganondorf coldly.

Dark Link didn’t move as he felt Ganon’s rough, calloused hand on his face, under his chin. His father’s touch was warm and comforting; the dark king could be quite charismatic when he wanted to be. Link’s and Zelda’s jaws dropped to the floor as they beheld this tenderness, as they were sure Dark was about to have his head ripped clean off. Having the triforces of Power and Wisdom so near made Dark’s left arm jump to life with new pain, though, and he snapped into action. He leapt back, raising his weaponry higher and putting on his angriest face.

“Don’t treat me like I am not a threat!” he hissed. “You can’t charm me into giving you what you’re after.”

“No,” Ganondorf spoke calmly as he took a cautious step back. “No, I suppose I won’t. I made you much stronger than that, didn’t I?” His cold yellow eyes lingered over Dark’s left hand and he noticed the skin turning pink and hot with the burden of the Triforce. “But no matter how well I made you, you won’t be able to withstand that pain for much longer.”

As if on cue, Dark Link’s arm was set ablaze with fresh agony. The dark Master Sword hit the floor with a clatter, followed shortly by his shield, and he stumbled back, gripping his arm at the wrist. He felt as though molten lava was spreading up through his veins from his hand, now engulfing his chest. His lungs constricted, his heartbeat felt like a jackhammer beneath his sternum, and the torment was slowly spreading into his neck and head. Dark’s eyes dilated with pain and he grit his teeth so hard that his jaw began to twitch, but he would not let himself cry out.

“Don’t try to hide it,” Ganondorf crooned, his charming tone tickling Dark’s ears like dark velvet. “The more you hold it in, the more it will ravage your body and cause you pain.”

“Sh-Shut up!” Dark spat, glaring at Ganondorf. The distraction was causing him some self-control. His vision blurred and he sank to one knee, suddenly aware that he could pass out at any time.

“Dark Link,” Ganon crooned, his voice just above a whisper, “don’t you think I went through the same thing?” He held up his hand where the Triforce of Power burned furiously. “You and I were cast in the same dark mold. The Triforce is cursing you just as it cursed me. I went through the same thing and I know what it feels like. Now relax,” he whispered, leaning in closely to Dark’s face. “Relax and let it out.”

Whimpering softly, Dark eyed Ganondorf like a frightened puppy. He didn’t trust his surrogate but as a fresh wave of agony washed over him, he realized that he had little choice. He opened his mouth to cry out but just as his voice grew in his throat, it was silenced by Ganondorf’s fist in his stomach. Ganon lifted him clear off the floor, watching with pleasure as blood pooled on his tongue, and before Dark could fall back to earth Ganon took him by the throat. The helpless minion hung gripping Ganon’s wrist with his right hand, as he had lost complete control of his left arm. His mouth was agape as he struggled for air and his legs were twitching in an attempt to climb up and free himself from Ganon’s iron grasp. His ears were pounding and his vision began to blur and, for an instant, a vivid and terrifying fear of death burned in his chest.

A vision of a pristine Kakariko village, free of darkness and fear, flashed in his mind before his vision went black.

---

When he felt Dark stop struggling, a sickly grin spread across Ganondorf’s face. He took hold of the minion’s flaccid left arm. The Triforce of Courage was reacting violently, humming inside his dead hand. Being this close to his goal prompted Ganondorf to ignore the need for finesse. He held Dark’s left wrist and laid the rest of his limp body on the floor, placing his great boot on the minion’s chest. With a great straining heave, Ganondorf pulled on Dark’s arm until the flesh separated. Pleased with his brutish display, the dark king began to chuckle. He held Dark’s severed arm up like some grotesque trophy, letting blood stain his skin.

“At last!” bellowed the ecstatic king, “at last the Triforce is mine!”

“Not if we can help it,” growled an enraged Princess. Without warning, Dark’s arm was jarred from Ganondorf’s grasp and pinned against the far wall. Zelda quickly nocked another glistening light arrow onto Link’s bow, training the weapon on Ganondorf’s massive form. Navi had succeeded in freeing both her and the hero Link who retrieved the Master Sword from its trophy place on Ganon’s wall. The irate pair faced Ganondorf, weapons raised and ready, thirsty for the blood of the hated tyrant.

Coupling the Triforce of Power with Ganondorf’s volatile rage was never a good combination. The evil king turned on the brave pair now, his eyes afire and his body trembling as raw, visceral power coursed through his veins. Cursing himself for not killing them while he had the chance, Ganondorf now silently vowed to carry out that dark deed.

He fixed his sights on the Princess first. He was at Zelda’s side before she realized he’d moved, breathing down her neck and growling in her ear. She yelped in surprise, accidentally letting her arrow fly as he clamped one great arm about her waist. He easily plucked the bow from her hands and snapped it in one great fist, watching with pleasure as the finely crafted wood splintered in his hand. He felt the sudden urge to do the same to the princess then. He grabbed her by the waist and neck and started bending her backward, but she was quicker than he expected. She thrust her palms into his torso and yelled out, “Din’s Fire!” as a ball of flame erupted between them.

Ganondorf stumbled backward, letting go of the princess and roaring in pain as a portion of his robes and his flesh burned away. As he tried to recover, he was blinded by Navi, who swirled around his head like a hateful little gnat. Growling in dismay, he swung his arms, trying to squash her between his palms, but she deftly evaded his attacks. The little fairy got too cocky, though, and when she was sure he was exasperated she stopped in his face to stick her tongue out at him. Roughly, he plucked her out of the air by her wings and flung her across the throne room, pleased that her light disappeared from sight.

The Hero was upon him immediately, his Master Sword biting into the king’s arms and shoulders. He roared like a wounded animal, stumbling as he backed into the wall. Seeking to defend himself, Ganon grabbed a broadsword from the trophy wall and raised it just as the Master Sword came down toward his face. The two met with a clang between he and Link, and an ugly grin spread across his face. Though he’d been caught off guard, he wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

When she was sure that Ganondorf was distracted, Zelda ran across the throne room where she worked frantically to free the Triforce from Dark’s severed arm. While she knew she should be helping Dark Link, she realized that little could be done for him now. Her priority was freeing the Triforce of Courage and fleeing with it. Her fingers were slick with Dark’s oily blood as she fumbled around in the small wound she’d opened in the back of his hand. Eventually and with much effort she had found the Triforce lodged in his flesh and was working fervently to free it.

Navi had been rendered flightless from Ganondorf’s callous attack. She had been hurtled to the floor near the center of the room, quite close to where Dark had fallen. When the fairy opened her eyes and saw him lying there next to her, she knew that she needed to see if he was still alive. Mustering all of her strength, she crawled across the floor and settled down next to his face, looking up into his half-open eyes.

“Dark,” she whispered, reaching up to tug on his long right ear, “Dark wake up…”

His brows twitched as he heard the familiar voice in the distance, calling to him from his sleep.

“Dark, wake up… We need you…”

Light and color flooded his brain as he eyes opened, making them burn furiously. He was woozy from blood loss and oxygen deprivation and he groaned, his head lolling to the side. There he beheld Navi, crumpled on the floor and looking up to him helplessly.

“Dark, are you alright?”

“Navi,” he whispered, unwilling to summon the energy to move. “Did you … find Link?”

“Yes, he’s taking care of Ganondorf right now,” she replied.

Dark squinted at her, just now noticing that her one wing looked odd. Ganondorf’s rough fingers had broken her delicate wings and she was in obvious pain. Her tiny knuckles were white as she gripped the carpet beneath her.

“Navi,” he whispered, “you’re hurt.”

“Dark, look at yourself.”

He did as she told him, lifting his head and looking down at himself. It was then that, with great alarm, he noticed that his left arm was completely missing. His eyes widened as he beheld his gaping shoulder wound and the lake of blood surrounding him. He groaned in misery, his head thumping back against the floor as he tightly closed his eyes. A new dizziness overcame him and he felt as though he was going to be violently ill.

Link got in another lucky slice, opening a fresh and painful wound in Ganondorf’s side. The Gerudo bellowed in pain, dropping his sword with a clatter and backing away a few paces, clutching the burning wound. His eyes were wild with fury as he glared down at the Hero.

“You irksome little menace!” he spat, flinging his hand in Link’s direction. His blood splattered on the Hero’s clothes and, conveniently, into his eyes. The stinging pain caused Link to falter, rubbing furiously at his face. “This ends here!” Ganondorf continued. “None of you are leaving here alive!”

With that he lifted one great fist into the air and, with a mighty yell, brought it down into the floor. The force of the impact was much like that of an earthquake and caused the entire tower to shake. The stained glass windows cracked, dust sifted down from the shaken ceiling, and large tiles in the throne room floor began to fall away. Link lost his footing and, crying out, plunged into the darkness below the room. Zelda, who had by now luckily managed to free the Triforce of Courage from Dark’s arm, also stumbled into the chasm. A long crack in the floor separated Navi and Dark and, as her bad luck would have it, the floor beneath Navi gave way. She fell with it two stories beneath the throne room, landing among the wreckage with the two fallen heroes.

Most would not call it luck, but the section of the floor on which Dark lay prostrate fortunately remained intact and stable. He and Ganondorf were the only two left in the highest level of the tower. He could hear Ganondorf’s haggard breathing from across the room as the great king struggled with his wounds.

“It’s a shame that you chose to take this path. You are truly a magnificent creature,” Ganondorf complimented his sadly wounded pet, “and I would have been proud to rule the world with you at my side. My dear puppet, my pet…” He trailed off for a moment, composing himself as he prepared to finish off his dearest creation.

“… my son.”

Dark Link’s breath hitched in his chest and his eyes went wide. He wasn’t sure about this strange feeling that was washing over him, this conflicting sense of overwhelming joy and utter revulsion. Before he could analyze his feelings, another wave of exhaustion threatened to rob him of consciousness. The room began to spin and his stomach rose up into his throat. He groaned, closing his eyes and silently giving in to his fatigue.

---

“I just wish that things were back to normal, the way they were before Ganondorf took over the kingdom. I wish that all of the monsters were gone from this village and that we could all live in harmony again…”

Ganondorf, full of dark intentions, strode toward his unconscious minion, his hands balled into angry fists. Should he skin Dark Link and lay the pelt at the foot of his bed? Perhaps he could try reaching down the creature’s throat and pulling him inside out; he’d always wanted to try that! Or perhaps he should attempt taxidermy and keep the battered body as a trophy in his new castle. No, he thought, grinning as a useful idea came to mind. He should dismantle the puppet and re-create him, stronger and more loyal than before, a fitting bodyguard for the new king.

Ganondorf stopped halfway across the room when he noticed that his own shadow was melting away. Surprise registered on his otherwise stony face as he watched his shadow moving like a fine mist on the floor. It disappeared like water being pulled down a drainpipe, collecting beneath the body of his fallen creation.

“Do not come any closer,” Dark Link spoke with a growl. His eyes snapped open, blindingly white and shining, and he pulled himself to his feet with little difficulty. He stood tall, taller than before, and looked Ganondorf directly in the eyes. His voice had taken on a ghostly quality; it sounded as though he spoke with many voices at once. His tone was black and hateful.

“Rapist.”

“Wh-What?” chuckled Ganondorf, looking with disbelief and apprehension upon his creation. “Dark Link, what are you talking about? What’s happening to you?”

“You sit high up in this tower, but you are not a king,” he spoke, turning his back to Ganondorf and walking toward the far wall. When he came to the large gaps in the floor, he simply stepped right into them, walking on thin air. “You stole the throne and the kingdom, but you are not a thief. You killed the people of Hyrule, but you are not a murderer. You are a rapist.” Dark reached up with his one good hand and grabbed his severed arm, pulling it down from the wall. “You defiled our precious Hyrule. Her rivers run dry, her forests are choked with weeds, her mountains spit fire, her rolling plain is wilted and dry. You even went so far as to pollute the hallowed realm of the dead with your unholy presence.”

He held the severed arm up to his open shoulder and closed his eyes in concentration. Shadowy tendrils reached out from Dark’s body and took hold of his arm, pulling it back toward his torso and reattaching it instantly. The Gerudo puppet master, agape, was unaware that his minion had the power to heal himself. Dark looked down at his reattached arm, shaking it out, flexing first the elbow, the wrist, and then each of his fingers in turn. Dark turned toward the tyrant now and Ganondorf, looking around, realized that the room was getting very dark.

“You abused our corpses. You cut us up and stitched us together into monsters for your amusement. We who once fought against you were forced to fight for you and now we can stand it no more!” He advanced now, his body melding into the back shadows, only his eyes and mouth showing on his dark silhouette.

“Eternal rest cannot be granted to those whose bodies are still ‘alive’. The day you banished this creature from your sight was the day we began to take over again. When Dark Link lost his faith in you, we began to grow strong. Now is our time to do battle with you, the vile man who tore our bodies apart! Now we will make up for the battle we lost seven long years ago.

“This is for the people you have slain!” The entire room was enveloped in blackness as though night had fallen over the peak of Ganon’s tower. Even the lightning that flashed outside didn’t penetrate the dark fortress. “For the soldiers and peasants you sewed into monsters! For the hell you have made of our precious land!” Dark loomed over Ganondorf now, who stood dumbfounded beneath the great mass of his shadow creature. His eyes burned brightly and he gave a shrill screech, opening his shadowy body up.

“FOR HYRULE!”

---

“Link?” Zelda, looking around frantically, stumbled through the rubble beneath the throne room, searing through the darkness for her Hero. “Link, where are you?” She held one hand against her chest, within her tiny fist the Triforce of Courage. On her shoulder sat Navi, the only source of light in this black cavern. Zelda staggered through the darkness, frantically calling, “Link? Link, answer me!”

From across the room she heard a groan. She rushed over, gasping in horror as she found only half of the Hero’s body. Link sat up, crying out as he felt the pressure of a large stone ceiling tile on his legs.

“Link!” The princess, though horrified, wasted no time. She knelt down and took hold of the great marble slab and together, with much effort, they pushed the great stone aside. Thankfully, his legs beneath were not bruised or broken. Link stood shakily, breathing heavily as he leaned slightly on Zelda, regaining his composure.

The Hero looked around, breathing haggardly, assessing his surroundings. The floor beneath the throne room must have been a storage room, as it was mostly bare save for several clay jars. While most of the ceiling above had fallen away, there was a central column that rose to the room above. On all four sides of it were rungs large enough to climb up.

As he was looking around, Link noticed that the darkness in this basement was getting brighter and brighter. At first he thought his eyes were just adjusting to the light, but gradually he realized that the darkness was actually disappearing, being sucked away. Navi, Zelda, and Link looked around in wonder and as the hairs rose on the back of his neck, Link turned to his two companions.

“Zelda, Navi, where is Dark?”

In answer to his question, the yell of a furious Gerudo erupted upstairs. The three turned their heads toward the source of the noise but could see nothing. The entire top story of the tower was blanketed in darkness. Link suddenly felt nauseatingly nervous and immediately went to the column in the center of the room. Frantically he began climbing, mounting the ladder toward the throne room. Zelda grabbed him by the hem of his dusty brown garment, trying to pull him back.

“Link! What are you doing!?”

“I’m going to help Dark!” he called back, looking down at the princess with an intense, steely gaze. “Let me go, I have to help him!”

Zelda released him, watching him climb up toward the battleground, and just as he was halfway up the tower began to shake. A great tremor rattled the walls and shattered the stained glass windows. As shards of colored glass began to fall into their prison like rain, Navi whimpered and hid herself in Zelda’s hair.

“I want to follow him,” she whispered.

“Then that makes two of us,” Zelda replied. Determined, she latched onto the ladder and began climbing, determined to follow Link to his death if that’s what he wanted.

The pair climbed up toward the throne room, Link arriving first. The entire way up there, he had heard the angry, struggling, pained cries of Ganondorf and Dark Link, but as he reached the throne room they were abruptly silenced. There was a very tangible border between the throne room and the storage room below, separated by thick black shadow. As Link stuck his head into the room, he felt that the atmosphere was much different here. It was oppressively hot and stuffy, harder to breathe than it had been below. Coughing to clear his lungs, he climbed into the room. After giving his eyes a moment to adjust, Link gasped in shock at the disturbing scene before him.

“He always wanted to be a part of you,” hissed the fragmented voice of Dark Link’s hideous new form. Bright white eyes glared coldly down at the dark king who struggled within his shadowy bonds. The shadow creature was enveloping him within his own body, pulling him in and smothering him with thick black miasma. Ganon wrenched his head free for a moment, coughing and spitting as though he was drowning, but the creature grabbed him back and continued to smother him within its own body. “He always wanted to be close to your heart, but we think that your stomach and lungs will do fine…”

Zelda surmounted the column, huffing with effort, and stopped just behind Link. She gasped in horror, gripping his arm and hiding behind him. The astounded pair watched as Dark Link’s body bulged and strained to hold in the struggling Gerudo king. For several minutes the pair wrestled, Dark grunting as he struggled to keep Ganondorf within him. Gradually the struggle ceased and, exhausted, the shadow beast released his prisoner from within. Ganondorf’s body tumbled out of the shadow and onto the floor in a crumpled, bedraggled heap.

He lay silent and breathless, facedown in the floor. Several tense minutes passed before warm, blackened blood began to trickle out of his open mouth and nose.

“He is dead.” Immediately, the light in Dark Link’s eyes died. The room began to get lighter again as the shadows were chased away by the intermittent lightning outside. The spirits within Dark Link, their voices slowly fading away, sighed with relief. “We have done our job. He is finally dead…” Dark’s massive shadow form began to shrink, to return to the normal size and shape of his humanoid body. “Hyrule is ours once again…”

The color returned to his body and Dark Link shakily stood, bruised and bloodied, pale from blood loss. His ruby eyes lit up again, returned to focus, and he stared down with incredulous disbelief at what he had done. He then lifted his eyes to Link and Zelda who mirrored his dumbfounded gaze with just the added touch of fear.

Immediately, his consciousness began to leave him. His eyes clouded over, his ears went deaf, and as he fell backward he saw Link rush forward to catch him.

And then they were gone.