Chapter Text
"Akira."
A voice, deep and resonant, echoed through the void.
"Akira."
It slithered through the darkness, curling around me like an unseen force, dragging me from the depths of unconsciousness.
"Wake now, my child."
My eyes snapped open. A searing pain bloomed in my gut, twisting like a sword. I gasped, lurching upright, only to be met with something else—a creeping, pulsating darkness coiling around my limbs, seeping into my skin like ink in water. It felt alive.
The chamber around me was suffused in an eerie red glow, shadows flickering against cracked stone walls. The air was thick, oppressive, carrying the scent of something ancient and rotting. My breath came in short, ragged bursts.
And then, I saw him.
A figure stood before me, half-shrouded in the gloom. He was familiar, yet utterly foreign, as if my mind recognized his shape but not his presence. My heart pounded against my ribs.
I searched my thoughts for answers. For memories.
Nothing came.
Only a name, circling in my mind like a whisper in the dark.
Akira.
My name. My only tether to reality.
"Who are you?" My voice came out cracked and dry, as if I hadn’t spoken in years. It felt foreign to my own ears. My throat burned with the effort, and a dull ache pulsed through my entire body, as if I had been asleep for far too long.
The figure stepped forward, his face emerging from the shadows. He was a man—tall, broad-shouldered, and unmistakably Gerudo. His crimson hair, tied back in a high ponytail, contrasted sharply with his gray-green skin. His glowing amber eyes studied me with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.
He knelt before me, the air shifting with his presence. I realized I was submerged in a shallow pool, the surface rippling around me as a thick, dark liquid slowly drained away. My clothes clung to my skin, soaked in the viscous substance. A strange weight pressed against my chest—not just physical, but something deeper, something... wrong.
The man—Ganon—extended a hand toward me, his voice deep and resonant. "I am your father."
My fingers twitched, uncertainty flickering in my mind like a dying ember. And yet, something in his words rang... familiar. Slowly, hesitantly, I reached out and grasped his hand. His grip was firm, his touch unnaturally warm. He pulled me to my feet with ease, as if I weighed nothing at all.
A sharp sting flared in my gut as I straightened. I gasped, one hand instinctively pressing against my abdomen. My fingers brushed against a hole in the fabric of my shirt, where a dark stain had spread. Pain bloomed from the spot, not fresh but lingering—an echo of something terrible. My head swam as I stared at it.
Was this the cause of the pain I had felt?
Ganon followed my gaze, his expression darkening. "That wound was inflicted by a cruel young man," he said, his voice laced with something unreadable. "He stabbed you, believing you to be something... evil."
I lifted my eyes to him, a slow heat curling in my stomach. "Who?" My voice was steadier now, but cold.
Ganon met my gaze, his lips curling into something almost sorrowful. "A boy named Link."
The name sent a sharp pang through my skull, like a whisper in the back of my mind, just out of reach. I should have recognized it. I felt like I should have recognized it. But all I grasped was emptiness.
A boy named Link.
The one who had nearly killed me.
My hands clenched into fists as something unfamiliar burned in my chest. Not confusion. Not fear.
Rage.
I looked up at the man, my mind a swirling storm of unanswered questions. Everything felt distant, disjointed—like I was grasping at fragments of a dream I couldn’t quite remember. Who was I before this? How had I ended up here? And why did the name Link stir something in my chest?
The man—Ganon—watched me with something akin to patience, though an underlying intensity burned in his amber eyes. His expression softened as he spoke, his deep voice echoing through the cavern.
“You would be dead if not for me, my dear child,” he said. “I brought you to this place, where you could rest and heal.”
His gaze flickered away for a moment, his expression darkening.
“Unfortunately, the wound you suffered was lethal,” he continued, his tone laced with something almost mournful. “It took time—far longer than I had anticipated. You have been asleep for 105 years.”
The words struck me like a physical blow, a sickening weight settling in my gut.
105 years?
It wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t have been possible. My fingers curled into fists, my nails biting into my damp palms. My body felt solid, real—how could more than a century have passed without me even realizing it?
My breath came faster, my pulse thudding in my ears.
Where are we? How did I get here?
And then, the thought that made my stomach twist:
Was this Link that was responsible? Is he even still alive?
As if sensing the turmoil within me, Ganon placed his large, warm hand on my shoulder, grounding me. His touch was firm, almost… reassuring?
“Unfortunately, my dear daughter,” he said, his voice deepening, “Link still lives.”
Something inside me tensed. My fists clenched tighter.
“Like you,” he went on, leading me away from the now-empty pool, “he too suffered a fatal wound. But he was taken to a sacred place to heal—just as I saved you, so too did others seek to preserve him.”
He exhaled sharply, the sound laced with frustration. “He slept for one hundred years, and since his awakening, he has been… busy.”
We stepped onto the smooth, worn stone of the cavern floor, my bare feet pressing against the cool surface. Ahead, an enormous door loomed, ancient and glowing with strange, pulsing markings.
“Busy?” I echoed, my voice quieter now, but edged with something unfamiliar.
Ganon’s expression hardened.
“Yes. In the five years since his return, he has undone much of what I sought to build. He has defied destiny—our destiny. He and the princess conspired against you, turned on you when they feared your power. And now, after all this time, they still live. They still fight.”
Something sharp twisted in my chest.
A boy who had stabbed me. A princess who had abandoned me.
They had moved forward. They had left me behind.
Ganon turned to face me fully now, his golden eyes glowing in the dim light.
“But you,” he said, his voice rich with conviction, “you have returned. And now, it is time to reclaim what was stolen from you.”
The cavern trembled slightly, the air humming with unseen energy. Beyond the ancient door, I could feel it—something waiting, something calling.
I didn’t know who I had been before.
But maybe… it was time to find out.
My father led me out of the cavern, his footsteps heavy against the damp stone. The air grew lighter as we approached a tunnel that stretched upward, its walls rough and uneven, as if carved by something ancient. A faint breeze drifted in from above, carrying the scent of earth and rain.
But just as we reached the tunnel’s mouth, he stopped.
“I can go no further,” he said, his voice low but firm. “I must remain here and prepare. Link will return—he will come to finish what he started.”
He turned to face me fully, his glowing amber eyes locking onto mine.
“That is where you come in,” he continued. “You must seek him out and ensure he never reaches me. End him for good.”
The weight of his words settled over me, heavy and unshakable. Before I could respond, he reached behind him and produced a pair of curved sickles, their dark metal glinting in the dim light. He held them out to me.
I hesitated for only a moment before taking them. The moment my fingers curled around the hilts, something inside me stirred—a strange sense of familiarity, like an old memory buried beneath layers of fog. The blades were well-worn, their edges honed to lethal sharpness. They felt right in my grip, and yet… foreign. Like a part of me I had long forgotten.
Ganon watched me, his expression unreadable.
“Those blades were once yours,” he said. “You were a skilled warrior, feared by those who opposed you. And now, you must reclaim that strength.”
He stepped closer, his voice deepening with finality.
“Find Link,” he commanded. “Make him suffer for what he has done to us.”
Something dark coiled in my chest, a slow-burning ember ready to ignite.
Ganon’s gaze flickered to my hands, where traces of dark mist curled around my fingers, pulsing with an eerie red glow.
“And if your blades are not enough,” he added, “remember—you are my child. My power flows through your veins. Do not resist it. Do not fear it. The malice will aid you… if you let it.”
The air between us grew heavy, the cavern seeming to tremble in response to his words. Then, without another glance, he turned and strode back toward the chamber where I had awoken, vanishing into the shadows.
I was left alone at the edge of the tunnel, my mind spinning with more questions than answers.
But one thought burned clear and undeniable.
I would find Link.
And I would make him pay.