Until The Last Breath

9 - Aren't You Supposed To Be Dead?

Link already had his sword out, ready to strike, but Zelda stuck out her hand.

"Wait, let's hear him out first."

Ganondorf nodded, feigning hurt. "She's right, you should hear me out. I just saved the princess, and that's the thanks I get? I'm disappointed and quite offended, to be honest."

Link gritted his teeth and lowered his sword.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Yes, that's what I thought too," Ganondorf said. "And as much as I'd like to explain to you why I'm not, now isn't the best time. There's still that thing in here."

He pointed to the corpse whose eyes glowed with malice, and the stone it was lying on began to rise into the air.

"We should go. The exit is—wait. Why is the exit blocked with rocks?"

"Link blew up the ceiling so the skeleton hands could stop following us."

"That's the only exit! What were you guys thinking, not knowing where else to—"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Ganondorf. Link knows what he's doing."

Link smiled at the princess, glad that she had faith in him and pulled out another bomb arrow, shooting at the rocks. They blew apart and the skeleton hands were still there, eagerly awaiting their return.

"Great," Zelda muttered, looking over at Ganondorf. "They're still there. Now, what do we do, Smart One?"

"Now, we run."

Link was way ahead of him. He grabbed Zelda's hand and ran forward, knowing that she could keep up with him. Ganondorf flew beside them, the green wisps aiding him in his flight.

Zelda guided Link on where to go, and soon there were out of the cave and somewhere near the village.

"Okay," Zelda said, panting. "You have...a lot...of explaining to do."

"I know, and I will."

Link would rather do literally anything else than listen to Ganondorf, so he focused on tidying up his bag. A lot of his shields were broken and needed to be replaced. Guardian lasers had done their fair share of work on them.

"When you 'sealed' me away," Ganondorf began, mainly addressing Zelda, "it was almost like the malice had left me. I was separated from Calamity Ganon, in a way. I still had the memories of what Calamity Ganon and the other Ganons did, but it didn't feel like it was me. It felt like I had watched it."

"This doesn't explain anything," Zelda said, saying exactly what Link was thinking.

"Just let me finish, Princess," Ganondorf smirked, and for some reason, that angered Link more as he tried to organize his arrows by alphabetical order. "I was stuck inside Calamity Ganon. I had become a shell of what that great monstrosity was, but I knew how to get out. Those green wisp things are quite helpful. I didn't know I could interact with them at first, but then...I felt like I could talk to them. They would help get me out, and they did! Wow, how long has it been, a day?"

"It's been one hundred years."

Ganondorf laughed. "Really? You don't look a day over seventeen! You too, Linky."

Link snapped a shock arrow by accident, muttering something under his breath.

"I appreciate the whole saving my life thing and all, but that doesn't mean I trust you."

"Of course it doesn't. In fact, I would have expected you to lock me up in the Hyrule Castle Dungeons by now, but I have something I need to do." He sighed when noticed Zelda's face. "I feel terrible about the Champions, Princess. I think about it every day."