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“Alright,” came the perpetually hoarse voice of Ganondorf the Exile over the miniature Gossip Stone, his vocal cords scorched by being hurled, screaming and unprotected, through a dangerous portal, “The Sorceress has barricaded herself into the tower with a magically-generated electrical storm. As we speak, she’s summoning more troops while the tower remains inaccessible. I’m going to redirect the storm to create an opening for you.”
“You’re going to… What? ” said Sky, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing.
Ganondorf sighed.
“Ugh, they never taught you anything, did they… Aren’t you the Hero of the Sky? I thought you actually went to school! Look, think of the storm like a bowl of water. What I’m going to do is like opening a hole in the bottom. You need to get inside the tower and disconnect her conduit. Big glowy rock, probably mounted on a pedestal of some kind. Once it’s dislodged, the storm will subside and we can all get back onto the battlefield. Understood?”
“Understood,” said Wars.
Across the battlefield, Ganondorf, standing at the top of a cliff, the highest ground he could find, centered himself and sharpened his focus, weaving the wards that would stand between him and the lightning. He reached up to the sky, establishing a focal point between his hands…
All the Links were able to see was the entire sky seemingly twisting into an electrified whirlpool.
“That’s… that’s him?!” breathed Sky.
“Yeah,” said Twilight, staring at the sky in awe.
“But we have to get going, guys. Impa, Lana and Ghirahim are making sure the monsters can’t cut us off once they notice the storm’s gone,” Wars urged.
~~~
Wars had only been partially right.
Impa and Ghirahim were helping the troops hold off Cia’s monsters. Lana had slipped through the thick of battle and approached the cliff where Ganondorf was working his magic. Now was her chance. Hyrule needed her. Her other half needed her. Her beloved Hero needed her. He just didn’t know it yet.
Lana readied her own spell, carefully approaching her hated enemy. Now was her chance. He sensed her, and turned toward her, scraping the heel of his boot along the ground to maintain contact.
“...Lana?! Shouldn’t you b—“
Ganondorf never finished his sentence. Lana unleashed a shockwave of force, sending him, screaming, over the edge of the cliff. As soon as the warlock’s feet left the ground, the lightning overpowered his wards and ripped ungrounded through his body, exploding outward in an electrical supernova as he plummeted to the unforgiving ground.
The whirlpool in the clouds expanded, overtaking the entire sky once more.
But Lana didn’t get the chance to see if she had truly succeeded in killing the King of Thieves. Something was coming. She couldn’t risk sticking around.
~~~
“MASTER!”
Another crack of arcane lightning. Magical storms had this sound to them, a sound that Ghirahim never wanted to hear again. No, gods, no, his master’s life was in danger, now was not the time for this, this weakness…
The world shall be under my foot for eternity!
CRACK!
No, nononono, never falter! He had to keep going, through the storm, through the fear—
CRACK!
The lightning connected, drawn to his metal body, ripping a scream from him that was all too soon drowned out by the howling winds. It was a pain he knew. One of many.
His wounded core burning, blacking out in broken laughter as his blade form was ripped out without a word after a thousand years of suffering for him, waking within his blade to lightning striking and pain, pain, PAIN, why… why…
He had to keep going, had to overcome this to find his master and get him out—
CRACK!
He teleported, stumbled, fell, scrambled to his feet, made a mad dash toward the weak aura of his master…
Ganondorf lay at the base of the cliff, bleeding, burned, and very much unconscious. Ghirahim awkwardly but gently scooped him up, cradling his broken body— he was far stronger than a human, and he had to get him out of this storm…!
He ran, teleporting to dodge the lightning strikes, to keep Ganondorf out of harm’s way…
And then the storm began to subside. The chosen children had done it. But he couldn’t stop. He had to keep going. It was only when he had arrived at their outpost with his unconscious master that he finally allowed himself to slump against the wall, sliding to the ground as the horrified healers took Ganondorf inside.
~~~
“General Impa! What happened?!” cried Wars, rushing into camp with a cacophony of other confused Links.
“The storm came back when we were in the tower—“
“Was Cia covering her escape? Because it worked—“
“What happened to Ganondorf?”
“BOYS.” said Impa, bringing silence over the crowd.
She sighed.
“Ganondorf… is in a bad state. His condition is stable now, but what he said to the healers as he was fading in and out of consciousness was… troubling. Extremely troubling.”
Impa’s face was even more grim than usual.
“Lana has betrayed us.”
“WHAT?!” cried Twilight.
Wars, on the other hand, didn’t seem nearly as surprised as the others…
“Ganondorf was very insistent on letting us know that he was pushed from that cliff, and that it was Lana who had pushed him. He wanted… to warn us. Word is already being sent to the castle about the sorceress’s betrayal. I… I can’t believe I trusted her…!”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it…” said Wars, “She kept… hitting on me. Talking to me about what a bad idea the alliance was, acting like Princess Zelda shouldn’t be trusted, but she should… I…”
“...Guys…?” asked Twilight, “...I think something’s wrong with Ghirahim.”
The sword spirit was sitting with his back to the wall of the fort, his knees drawn up to his chest, his eyes glassy and still residually frightened.
“...Oh no, ” said Sky, putting two and two together and realizing why.
“What?”
“...When I fought Demise,” Sky began, his voice hushed to spare Ghirahim the reminder, “He… he conjured a storm, and… and he used Ghirahim as a lightning rod…”
“... Oh .” murmured Wars.
Impa cautiously approached Ghirahim, causing him to jump a little.
“...Ghirahim…? I think His Majesty should be awake by now…”
~~~
“Master…! Are you alright...?!”
“Ghirahim…! You… did you…”
Ganondorf smiled weakly, realizing how he must have gotten here.
“...You saved my life.”
“I did what I needed to, Master,” said Ghirahim, gently placing his hand over Ganondorf’s.
“You saved my life, Ghirahim. In the center of the storm. You did far more than what ANYONE needed to. Thank you. ”
Ghirahim was stunned. There were a few moments of silence before the dam of emotion burst and he fell to his knees at Ganondorf’s bedside, trembling with restrained sobs at his words.
Thank you. It was something he’d never received from Demise. It was kindness, love, gratitude, affection, and it meant the world to him. Ganondorf reached out and put his hand on the crown of Ghirahim’s head, and the pale eidolon practically melted at the affectionate touch, overwhelmed by the feeling of being loved.
“Th.. Thank you, Master…!”
It was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. It was all he ever wanted.