Chapter Text
The gloom hand gently sets the hero down on his feet, standing just in front of the Princess. He stretches and flexes his fingers a few times watching his hands move with an unnatural grin across his face, his eyed back to black and red. "I was starting to worry I lost my touch after all those years. But alas I was looking at this body in all the wrong ways."
He takes a step forward his movements confident and controlled, looking up from his own hands he stares into zeldas eyes. "I should have known your chosen hero would never submit to pain and suffering. No no.. your dear scientist friend reviled the secret to make his mind fall apart. It was so simple looking back. Someone who has known nothing but pain and fear, with the world apon his shoulders.. they need a gentle hand.. someone to hold them close.. a reminder of a home they long for but think they can not return." He tilts his head to the side and chuckles darkly. "After I figured that out, it took no time at all."
The gloom continues to pool and spread across the floor a third gloom hand sprining to life hovering around Link, they twist and move around him menacingly, like guards but don't move to attack, just watch with their big disturbing eyes and twitching fingers. Zelda takes a step backwards only to be stopped by the wall pressing into her back.
"I'm quite disappointed in you, your grace. The incarnation I knew wouldn't have hesitated. She would have striked her hero down the moment she discovered I had taken hold. Heros they.. are a dime a dozen really." He reaches out with his gloom covered hand and gently strokes her cheek. She pulls her face away and swallows hard, doing her best to glare at him through her fear.
His grin softens to a sweet smile as he takes another step forward. The expression eerily reminiscent of the real Link, causing her to pause. It was easier to seperate them when his face was twisted into such large expressions, the hero was always so reserved they look alien on his face. but now it was harder, he looked like Link.
He was so close to her now she could almost feel his breath. "I feel you are deserving of a reward. You treated my body so kindly as I waited for its mind to free, gently nursing your champion back to health. I will give you a choice, You can die softly and painlessly in the arms of your beloved hero, I'll even let you say goodbye. Or I can let you pick up his sword and die slowly, painfully, fighting in a fruitless battle to save a hero already lost." He leans in closer, his hands going to either side of her head as he's only inches away from her face. "What will it be..your grace?" He whispers agenst her lips. A shudder runs down her spine, in any other circumstances she would be exited. She had fantasized about him returning her feelings and doing exactly this, pinning her to the wall. Whispering sweet things into her ear, his voice only for her to hear. but this wasnt him, he didnt love her back. That wasn't what was happening.
She presses harder into the wall trying to put some distance between them. "The sword." She spits, scowling at him. He returns the expression stepping back to glare daggers at her.
"Fine. Pick it up." He takes a few more steps back, allowing her to scramble for the blade on the floor. She holds it tightly with both hands pointing the blade at her hero who simply laughs.
"This is going to be fun.~ I don't know about you, but I'm tired of this dreary room. Let's get some air, shall we?" He gives a small wave with his right hand and the three gloom hands wizz past her, slamming into the wall beside her making the entire building shake. They reel back and fly forward again the wood cracking under the force.
On the third pass the wall fails, the hands grabbing at planks of wood and ripping them away leaving a large hole going into the courtyard. To her horror, there are still people there. The bunker door was not closed. The two guards Link had begged to get everyone to safety stand on the side trying to usher everyone down into the bunker.
With wide panicked eyes people start to rush into the hole in the center of the courtyard, pushing and tripping over each other. Link grins and steps into the grass with bare feet, the gloom hands swirling around him and making grabbing motions in the air trying to evoke the most fear. "Oh what a surprise! I had assumed the hero begging on his deathbed for the safety of those around him would have pushed you to move faster. Oh well." He turns back to Zelda who holds the master sword in shaking hands.
Grinning wildly as he asks "How about a fun game of keep away to get this started hm?" One of the gloom hands lunges forward grabbing a random hylian woman who shrieks in fear. twisting and pulling at the fingers holding her as the gloom starts to sap away her health, draining her of life.
Zeldas feet move before her mind does, running forward and slashing at the hand, forcing it to drop the woman who falls in a heap to the ground. She stands between the twisting gloom hands and the small crowd trying to reach safety. The sword pulses in her hand, admitting a soft blue glow. It's lighter then she remembers, easily slicing through the air.
The shorter of the two guards from earlier bravely runs forward, scooping up the now weakened woman into his arms, half dragging her as he backs away carefully. Zelda stood her ground, ready to defend them. "It's such a shame, not a single one of you was able to fulfill the heros dieing wishes. The countless times he's saved you. The sacrifices he made for you. The blood he's spilt for you. He died for you! and you couldn't even do so little as getting everyone into a hole in the ground before he lost himself. " He teases watching the guards face go pale.
Two gloom hands charge forward, one on either side of zelda trying to reach around and grab at the innocent people behind her. She was ready this time slicing upwards at the first hand before stabbing the second in the eye causing it to shreak out and sink into the puddle of gloom surrounding Link, who steps forward closing the distance between them.
"And you, your grace, are worst of everyone. All you had to do was free him. Release him from his pain. He begged you for peace, for death. And. You. Hesitated! You had the power to change his fate and you wasted it. Was it so wrong of him to wish for a painless, quick death by the hands of someone he trusted? Or are you just weak?" The gloom hand lunges for her again while she is distracted by his words, frozen in place as they sink into her mind like needles. It grabs her by the waist, and lifts her off the ground, shaking her around as she struggles to break free. She feels her strength being sucked away, a pull deep within her as it drains her of life. She lifts the blade and stabs it into the gloom hands wrist making it drop her with a loud thud.
The air gets knocked out of her lungs and she sees stars, her vision blurry. She feels the master sword pulse in her hand, urging her to get up, to keep fighting, it's only just begun.
The bunker door seals shut with a loud thunk, glancing over she sees that the courtyard is now empty, free of innocent bystanders. A weight is lifted off her chest knowing that everyone in the landing should be safe inside. Her thoughts are brought back to Link as he let's out an ominous laugh.
More gloom hands spring up around him, totaling five now, the gloom on his body fully covering his chest and neck, creeping up onto his face. "What a shame, I was hoping for an audience as I make your pretty little hero rip you to shreds." He lifts his right hand palm facing twords her as it splits open with a sick wet sound, reveling a matching yellow red eye in the center of his palm, blood dripping from where it split open like tears down his hand.
She forces herself to stand again, reading herself for his next attack, her head still spinning, her heart beat pounding behind her eyes. She's watched Link fight countless times and tries to mimic his stance. The sword buzzes in her hands, she feels the power radiating off the blade in a way shes never experienced before.
He's still in there.
She tenses a little as the thought swirls in her mind. She can't tell if it's her own wishful thinking or the blade Whispering secrets into her ear. She doesn't have time to think about it before the gloom hands are lunging at her again. she allows instinct to take over following the guide of the master sword as it swings gracefully through the air. It felt as if the blade was wielding her more then she was wielding it, following the pull and push like a dance she never learned.
She takes down two more gloom hands, the remaining three circle around her trapping her. She can't watch all of them at the same time. They move slowly creeping closer before starting to back away. She watches them confused until Link steps forward again grinning.
"Its been so long since Ive had a host capable of handling my presence, Lets see what this body can do." His flesh starts to twist unnaturally again, muscle filling in the hollow spaces of his body, the indents left by his protruding ribs soften and fade. Replaced by the definition and muscle he had lost. He holds out his right hand, a long slender sword forming from the gloom in his palm. His movements are quick and graceful as he lunges forward, a wild crazed look in his red eyes as his blade meets hers. The force of his attack sends her realing back, she barely has enough time to dive out of the way as he brings his blade down again, embedding it into the ground where she was just standing.
The sword pulses in her hands, urging her to strike while she has an opening. She raises the blade again but hesitates, her heart screaming at her to stop, she can't bring herself to hurt him, he's all she has left from before. She knows he isn't there anymore, that he was gone. At least a small part of her hoped he was free, not watching behind those red eyes, trapped and in pain. But he still looked like Link.
Aim your strikes at his arm. Your chances of saving him increase to 5% if you can remove it without harming any other part of his body.
The thought rolled over her brain, calculated and analytical. That time she was sure that wasn't her own, but she still clung to it. She could save him, he was still there behind those eyes. Doubt swirled in her mind, the gloom had consumed most of his torso at this point, would cutting off his arm be enough? She's ripped from her thoughts as the demon steals Links voice to speak again.
"Focus your grace. It would be a shame if this was over too quickly, Im having so much fun." He rips the blade from the ground and swings it lazily in a circle. "I could not have wished for a better outcome then this. The body of the chosen hero... and the blood of Hylia on my blade!" He lunches forward again with a sharp, high pitched laugh. Her breath gets caught in her throat as she lifts her blade to deflect his attack.
He recovers quickly, too quickly. His blade swings forward again before she can move away, grazing her side. The cut is shallow but she feels the affect of the gloom immediately, weakness seeping into her arms as her dress is stained a deep red. Instinctively she puts a hand over the wound, flinching at the pain.
Link stands up straight, grinning as he watches her struggle with the pain he Inflicted. He waits for her to look up at him again before raising his sword to his lips licking her blood from the blade. "Oh how I wish you could hear his screams. It's such a shame he hid his lovely voice for so long. It's so beautiful when he begs for mercy" his voice drips with venom as he speaks, relishing in the look of horror on her face.
Her focus was so trained on Link that she had all but forgot about the gloom hands around them, twitching and howling. She is quickly reminded of their presence as one grabs her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides as she's lifted off the ground again. She struggles weakly in its grasp almost dropping the sword in her hand. "Let me go!"
With a small flick of his wrist she is lowered down, but the gloom hand still holds on tightly. Link takes a few small steps forward so he is only inches from her face. She can smell her blood on his breath as he speaks again. "If I let you down. You better start fighting back instead of just defending. I'm growing bored"
The hand releases her and she stumbles a bit, her legs shaking, knees threatening to give out. She watches as all three of the gloom hands retreat back to the gloom puddle around Link's feet. He raises his blade again and waits, raising an eyebrow at her. "Come on now your grace, you've already seen him die before, this really can't be that bad."
Rage bubbles up from her stomach, she could feel the tears starting to collect on the corners of her eyes at the mention of the memory. It haunted her dreams, consumed her thoughts. She was not going to let him die again. Her grip tightened on the hilt of her blade, a pulse of blue light runs down its length in response.
She lifts the master sword and quickly strikes downward, aiming for his arm but he easily blocks her attack. "You are far to predictable. You can not save him so stop trying. He gave his soul away. He abandoned you! and now he will be the one to snuff you out." He swings again and she jumps back, the very tip of his blade catching on her dress, cutting away a large hole over her shoulder.
"You can't run from your fate, there is already blood on your hands. You are the reason they died. The champions who put so much faith in their dear leader. Why not finish the collection." He starts to walk in a circle around her, she follows him with her blade pointed at him, jaw clenched tightly shut as she tries to push his words out of her mind. As she watches him she notices a small stutter in his steps, barely there but the perfect grace he had in the beginning was fading.
With a slow deep breath she tries to settle her racing heart and lunges forward to attack again, she can't bring herself to put her full weight into her strike making it easy for him to deflect and push her back. She swallows hard and raises her blade again quickly, This time aiming for his left side. closing her eyes as she brings the blade down.
Theres no echo of metal striking metal. She doesn't feel the reverberation of steel agenst steel.
When she opens her eyes again all she sees is red.
A wild laugh rips out of his throat as he stumbles back, a large gash across his left side. Gloom starts to climb up his leg and cover the wound, stopping the bleeding. She is left to recover from her shock, watching the blood -his blood- drip down the master sword and staining the sandy rocks, the sound echoing through her mind at a deafening volume.
When she looks back up she notices a small shake in his right hand, reminding her that Link is still there, just beneath the surface, trying to fight back just has hard as she was. She tries to push out the thought that she hurt him, she was told there was a tiny chance she could save him if she was able to take his arm off without hurting the rest of him. Now there was a huge wound on his good side, did she just sentence him to death? Could she still save him? She could feel the uncertainty in the blade, either it didn't know or wasn't willing to answer.
She wasn't allowed to dwell on it to long before Link is closing the distance between them again, blades clashing together. Her side throbbed as she moved, trying to ignore the pain. She thinks back to all the scars decorating Links body, all the times he was hurt and kept fighting. She pushes out all other thoughts and just focuses on Link. The real Link, and how hard he fought to save them. She uses that image to muster the courage to push forward through the pain, through the weakness in her arms from the gloom.
He lunges forward again, this time she's able to predict his movements and perrys the attack forcing him to stumble back. She hooks her foot around his ankle knocking him to the ground. She's moving faster then she can think. She stands above him. her focus glued on his arm as she raises the sword with both hands, preparing to plunge the blade downward into his forearm. It was that moment his eyes flashed blue, his true voice calling out. "Zelda..."
She hesitates, stairing down at him with the master sword still raised high, ready to strike. He stares back his blue eyes wide with fear, tears streaming down his cheek. He opens his mouth to say something again but instead his expression of fear twists into a grin once more, his eyes returning to black and red. "Got you"
In an instant they are flipped over, the gloom covering the ground cold and wet on her back. She can feel the pull in her chest as it weakens her. He grabs her wrists and pins them above her head with one hand, his right hand coming up to her throat but doesnt press down, fingers ghosting over the skin in a silent threat. "Should I let him watch as the life drains from your eyes? How will you use your last breath? To apologize for failing him? To beg for your own pathetic life?"
The overwhelming feeling of dread washes over her as she stares up at him, she was helpless, a failure. Tears start to collect in her eyes as the pain from her injuries starts to catch up to her. She was still clutching the master sword in her hand despite them being pinned above her, a soft chime rings out in the pause between them. Strike. strike now. Strike hard.
She yanks her hands down to her sides breaking his grip on her wrists, and pushes her knees up to throw him off. Her limbs feel heavy, reluctant to move and allow her to stand. It feels like she's moving through molasses as she forces herself up again.
He stands quickly scowling at her for throwing him off, rage filling his eyes. She pushes through, raising the sword above her head and striking downward with a yell and all the force she can muster.
The sword embeds itself in his right arm, just inches below where it connects to his shoulder. He shreaks in pain the wound hissing and burning, the blade caught on the bone. The more he tries to pull away the worse it burns him, the gloom rapidly retreats from his chest, almost as if the master sword is absorbing the gloom. She steadys herself her grip on the hilt tightening as she forces the muscles in her arms to move. To push harder. With a scream she forces the blade through, feeling the bone crack and give under her blade, the flesh gives way to the sword, removing his cursed limb from his body.
He falls to his knees, the gloom around them slowly disappearing into soft red smoke. There's a short pause before he falls onto his left side and stays there, unmoving. The gash on his left side starts to bleed profusely as its no longer covered by the gloom. She is frozen in place, watching as all the gloom leaves his body, the arm she cut off shrivels up and crumbles to dust.
She chokes out a sob and falls to her knees beside him. Dropping the master sword and carefully moving him onto his back. He was cold to the touch, and completely still. She lays her head on his chest, clutching his shoulders and starts to wail.
She is deaf to sound of the bunker door opening, the sound of fighting having stopped. A few people bravely poke out there heads to see the outcome. They are quiet as they watch her mourn, covered in blood unsure if it was his or hers. A few strangers slowly start come forward hoping to offer comfort and medical attention.
Before anyone can get to close to the two of them she suddenly stops, going completely silent as she sits up stairing down at her hero.
A raspy, gargled sound echoing through the landing as he takes in a breath.