Work Text:
Link tightened his grip on his shield and sword, watching as his opponent judged him with a playful eye.
He’d been able to strike the Demon Lord twice, but the slashes had been wild and erratic with not enough strength behind them. The most Link had done was nick Ghirahim’s shoulder and slightly tear his outfit before he’d leapt back from the boy with frightening speed.
Link watched as Ghirahim brought up a hand to examine his wounds, and felt a chill run down him as Ghirahim smirked at the ineffectiveness of Link’s wounds.
“My goodness!” He exclaimed, turning from the torn clothing then back to Link with a comical expression. “Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get this outfit made?”
Link said nothing and raised his sword to aim at Ghirahim. Perhaps he did so out of terror rather than courage, but he knew full well that showing any sign of weakness to this man could end badly for him.
Ghirahim smiled, amused by Link’s terrible attempts at intimidation. He straightened his posture, putting one hand behind his back. With a snap, he summoned his sabre forth, now relishing in the flash of fear that crossed Link’s face at its appearance.
It was the same blade Ghirahim had been using to try and get to Zelda, Link realised. What did he plan on doing with her?
“Why are you here?” Link asked, trying his best to remain calm, wincing as his voice cracked slightly.
“I already told you, boy. I’m here for the Spirit Maiden. She’s more important than you could hope to comprehend, so I won’t bother you with the details. I doubt someone as young as you would even understand what I’m saying.”
“I’m not a child!” Link snapped. The anger behind those words gave him confidence, but Ghirahim just met them with a sharp laugh.
“Really now? Perhaps you just have one of those faces.”
Link breathed in sharply. Ghirahim was clearly trying to get a rise out of him to make him act out irrationally. Groose had done it many a time when the two had been training in the sparring hall on Skyloft.
A small part of him wished Zelda could be here with him and guide him with her strong words and sharp tongue, but the reality of the situation had already sunk far enough into Link for him to realise that was just wishful thinking.
“If I have to stop you, I will! I won’t let you hurt her.” Link took a step forward, moving into a defensive position against Ghirahim’s calmer, if not almost disinterested pose.
“Hmm. You sound like a fairytale prince.” He mused, still with the sabre hanging loosely from his side. “What even makes you think you can win against me? I just told you how I’m the one who rules over this place. You’ve met my followers, I’m sure.”
Link cringed, his mind flashing back to earlier when he’d been so stunned by his first look at the Bokoblins, he’d barely had to time to block an attack, his wooden shield nearly splintering under the blow.
The enemies on the Surface were much stronger than he’d anticipated and far more intelligent than the wooden dummies he’d trained with.
But there was something even more sinister about Ghirahim he couldn’t quite place.
It wasn’t the fact he was a self-proclaimed Demon Lord . Link thought. Had it been something he’d said that had created this strange, nagging feeling?
If only he could ask Fi, but he didn’t want to risk her safety by her appearing physically before the two. Not with a villain he didn’t understand just yet.
“But I… I have this with me!” Link brandished the Goddess Sword before him. Ghirahim only reacted with a slight tilting upwards of the head.
“So do I.” He held up his sabre, knowing what Link truly meant but waiting to see how the boy would respond to his little game.
Link gritted his teeth.
“This sword is far more special than yours. It’s what got me here in the first place!”
“Because it was made by the Goddess herself? Or because it houses one of those infamous Sword Spirits?”
Link froze, caught off-guard by Ghirahim’s words.
How did he know about Fi? Had he seen them talking to one another during Link’s travels through Faron Forest or Skyview Temple? Maybe he had sensed Fi within the blade when the sword was snatched from Link’s grasp earlier, but that was near-impossible. Not even Link himself could feel Fi’s presence when she returned to the sword, only when she was right beside him.
What was this man hiding?
His expressions betrayed him and Ghirahim smiled at Link’s distress.
“I’ll take that it’s the Sword Spirit option, hmm?”
Ghirahim brought his sabre up to his chest, his other hand moving to hover over the sharpened blade. He looked as though he could suddenly pounce on Link at any moment now, wielding the sword like someone would a cane when about to punish a naughty child.
Link eyed the sword suspiciously.
Was he trying to imply he had a Sword Spirit of his own? Or was he just trying to scare Link?
“You’ll need to work harder on hiding secrets. You don’t do a very good job.” He smiled again as Link took a deep breath to steady himself.
Link shifted position, keeping his shield up but moving the Goddess sword to his side to imitate Ghirahim. He puffed out his chest to appear more confident.
“Yeah? Well, you probably don’t even know what a Sword Spirit is.”
He was met with a sudden, loud cackle from Ghirahim that made him jump. The Lord brought a hand up to his head and leant forward, his shoulders and body shaking as he laughed. It echoed in a strange way around the chamber they stood in, confusing Link.
Not once, during their earlier conversation or current one had the room returned an echo. It was large, yes, but still too small to produce one.
That nagging feeling returned as Ghirahim righted himself, a large grin plastered on his face, but Link could see it didn’t reach his eyes.
Then, without a word, Ghirahim raised his sword-wielding hand and made the sabre vanish as suddenly as it had appeared. A small ball of dread started to grow in Link’s stomach when he did so, now wishing he’d never said anything and had just gotten on with the fight.
“If I didn’t know what a Sword Spirit was, why even mention it to you? You use them to study my monsters, so you know how to defeat them. You use them for advice when you’re lost. You even used them to send those stubborn Goddess Cubes skyward.” Ghirahim tilted his head. “Am I wrong?”
“…No.”
He laughed again but kept his posture upright. Then his expression changed to a soft smile.
“Can I show you something?” Ghirahim said, waiting politely for Link to answer back.
The boy glared at him.
“No.”
“Hmm.” Ghirahim put his hands behind his back and slowly stepped towards Link. In turn, Link stepped backwards, raising his sword and pointing it once again at Ghirahim.
“You’re quite special. We can all see that. Why else would you be here of all places, with your own Sword Spirit no less! Trying to save your dear friend?” He tilted his head the other way this time.
He took another step forward. Link stepped back.
“But even then, you’re far from smart.”
He moved one hand from behind his back and snapped his fingers. In a flash, his glove vanished.
Yet, it revealed nothing underneath. No strange clawed hand, no scaly writhing limb. Just a normal, pale skinned arm. He did the same with his other hand.
“Wh- What are you doing?” Link stuttered, trying to piece together this puzzle Ghirahim seemed to be placing before him.
The hell is this guy trying to say?
Link took one more step back but ended up hitting the back wall of the room. A shiver went down his spine. He was cornered.
“Oh, you know how white clothing is. Stains far too easily and can be an absolute terror to clean afterwards.”
He was now an arm’s length away from Link, his eyes devoid of emotion no matter how much his grin tried to say otherwise.
Link brought up his sword up to protect his face, half-expecting Ghirahim to lash out in an attempt to blind him.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing!” He looked at Link in genuine surprise, but then that quickly vanished. “I just want to teach you an important lesson.”
Out of nowhere, Ghirahim grabbed Link by the throat in a vice-like grip and bashed the boy’s head against the wall, dazing him. The movement was so sudden, Link barely had a moment to register what had happened. A small whimper rose in his throat when he heard the clang of metal on stone.
He’d dropped not just his shield, but the Goddess Sword as well, rendering him completely defenceless.
Ghirahim brought Link up to his eye level and held him in an unblinking stare.
“Hmm. Just as foolish as you are young.” Ghirahim said, clearly amused by Link’s futile attempts to escape his grip.
No matter how much the boy kicked, Ghirahim refused to budge. He was well and truly trapped. The Lord brought his face close to Link’s, relishing in his distress and panic.
“Tell me: do you not think it odd how we both got here at about the same time? Even if just moments apart? How, by this point, I know the Maiden has already left? How-” He paused to suppress a laugh that threatened to interrupt him. “How I knew you were behind me without even having to look?”
The nagging feeling came back full force, wrapping itself around Link like a snake. He desperately tried to remember what Ghirahim had said to him at the start when he’d first stepped into the room.
Look who it is... I thought that tornado would have tossed and torn you apart... Only the girl matters now. I can sense her. Just beyond this door.
…
I can sense her. Just beyond this door.
How could he possibly do that unless-!
…
Unless.
Link’s eyes widened as the truth hit him like a slap across the face.
“Y-you’re-”
Ghirahim’s grip tightened, cutting Link off, making him choke and eyes start to water.
“B-” Link struggled, gasping. “But there’s- Only one-!”
Ghirahim said nothing, only responding by raising his free hand. Then, with a precise deliberate motion, snapped his fingers.
The air around the two exploded and Link watched in horror as his rival was overcome by powerful black magic. The torrent seemed to erupt from the ground, completely covering Ghirahim, save for his arm that still held Link in place.
Link was too shocked to speak; all noise being drowned out by the spell before him.
Then he noticed something that made his blood run cold.
Ghirahim’s skin was cracking, peeling away and revealing a blackened limb with strange diamond-shaped markings underneath. It gradually inched its way up his arm towards Link, making him flail in panic and fearing what it would do when it finally touched him. He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable.
But it never came.
Link opened his eyes cautiously, then gasped in shock.
Ghirahim had completely changed, not just in appearance but the aura around him held a darker, sinister vibe.
His skin had turned completely black, making the white markings that covered him practically glow in comparison. He was taller and far more muscular, towering over Link even more than before. The hand that held Link in place seemed to have grown… claws? That dug so deep into his neck he was amazed Ghirahim hadn’t drawn blood yet. A large, metallic gem sat in the middle of his chest, but that wasn’t what truly caught Link’s attention. It was Ghirahim’s face.
He looked… just like Fi.
Yet, with those stark white eyes that looked back at Link, the boy knew this Spirit was something else entirely from his own companion.
The corner of Ghirahim’s mouth curled up into a smirk, showing off his sharp pointed fangs. He was clearly enjoying this far too much.
“Then that’s your problem then. Isn’t it, Link?” Ghirahim sneered, eyes glinting in the low light. His nails dug in deeper into Link’s neck and he felt a warm trickle drip down one side, soaking into his shirt collar.
“Down here, in this temple. In this land. In this entire
world
. There has
always
been more than one.”