The Hero, the Princess, and the Cursed King

Chapter 33: Happiness

[Ganondorf]

"You can do it!" Ganondorf cheered as Link approached. He and Zelda were sitting in the sand, slightly chilly in the early morning light. "Only one more lap!"

"I was right," Zelda called. "You do look good in a blue vai outfit."

"You can have it after I'm done." Link huffed as he passed them. "I'm sure it would look better on you."

Zelda tilted her head. "I'm not so sure. Navy blue is more my color."

Link rolled his eyes and kept on running.

Ganondorf laughed. "I can't believe he's actually doing it."

"Well, he did lose the race."

Zelda and Ganondorf's conversation drifted into silence. He stared out over the desert, feeling at home in its familiar brown and orange hues.

"Are you excited about your coronation tomorrow?" Ganondorf asked.

Zelda used her finger to draw in the sand. "Yes and no. I'm already acting as queen anyway, but having the title will make it much more real."

"You'll be a great queen."

"Thanks."

They drifted into silence again, but this one felt different for some reason.

"Ganondorf?" Zelda asked, looking up.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something." She fiddled nervously with her hair. "And I'd completely understand if you don't want to talk about it. I just have to ask it, though."

"What's up?" He asked, extremely curious. Zelda looked deadly serious. What could she possibly want to ask him?   

"I was wondering," Zelda hesitated slightly before going on. "When Demise was in your head, how did that feel?"

"Well," He paused, searching for the right words, "It was like I was a spectator to my own life. I could see what happened, but I had no control. I wasn't even aware of what was going on most of the time. It was like--"

"You were a puppet?" Zelda asked softly.

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Ganondorf looked at her, surprised. "How did you know?"

"I felt the same way when Hylia possessed me."

"Oh."

"And I know it's not the same thing. Demise was in control of you for years, but. . ." Zelda hesitated. "When Hylia was in my head, I had difficulty distinguishing between my thoughts and hers. Even now, I wonder if she's still in there, silently pulling the strings of my life and bending my will to hers. What if everything I do is because she makes me?"

"I know how you feel." Ganondorf sighed. "I've been feeling the same way. Sometimes I wonder if I somehow allowed Demise to do those awful things or that I was the one that wanted to do them."

"I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that that isn't true."

"How?"

"I pulled the malice from you," Zelda explained. "And it was easy to tell where Demise's influence was because you two had such different desires and intentions. Plus, I also had Demise in my head for a while, and you two are nothing alike."

Ganondorf sighed, her words lifting a massive weight off his shoulders. "That's a relief to hear. I've felt so guilty about everything--felt like I'm a monster."

"Demise is the monster, not you. When he was in my head, it was horrible, and he was only in there for a short time. I can't imagine what you had to go through."