Chapter Text
The Prince vs. The Lord
By DemonRomantic
Chapter 1: An Old Fiend
‘Open your eyes.’
It was the same thing that Link had to tell himself every morning. Since time out of mind, he had been a late riser. There were a number of excuses he could have come up with as to why he relished sleeping as long as he could, but for the chosen hero of the Goddesses, sleeping the day away was a luxury he could only get away with every once in a while, and today was not one of those days.
“Master Link?”
The smell of fish wafted over him; it was different than the edible variety, but unmistakable. Opening his eyes, Link saw a Zora woman standing over him.
“Forgive me for waking you, but the prince would like you to meet him at the reservoir. He said it’s rather urgent.”
With a yawn, Link rolled out of bed and nodded.
Traveling through the pristine architecture of the Zoras’ domain, and up the long staircase to the bedchamber at the top, Link saw Prince Sidon at the end of the dock facing away from him and out at the water. For a moment, the young knight appreciated the rippling muscles that spread out across the staggering expanse of the Zora prince’s back. Link wondered if the prince would one day grow to be the same size of his father, the king, and the thought made him both blush and shudder, before Sidon turned and smiled upon seeing him.
“Oh good, you’re here.”
Link walked over to stand before the prince, looking up at him. Sidon seemed to smile affectionately at the difference in their stature, which only made Link blush harder.
“I’m sorry to call on you so early, but I noticed something odd on the eastern shore. If you’d like, I can swim us over there.”
Link nodded and waited for Sidon to enter the water and resurface, before climbing on piggyback and being rapidly pulled to the other side of the expanse of water. Exiting, unscathed by sopping clothes thanks to the Zora armor he was wearing, Link followed Sidon to the area he had indicated. On the ground were strange black markings like someone had scorched the earth with a sword. Stooping down to investigate, Link rubbed the charred dirt between his fingers with a dubious scowl, then stood.
“I haven’t the slightest idea what caused these, but I have a foreboding feeling that it was an agent of the calamity. Even after your defeat of Ganon, his underlings are still at large.” Sidon said, looking up to the divine beast that rested on the ridge above the reservoir. “Since the demise of the calamity, the divine beasts have stopped working all throughout Hyrule, and at first, we saw it as an ominous sign, but I was beginning to believe it meant another era of peace was upon us; that a balance was settling. However…”
He reached out a hand and wrapped it around Link’s, gazing with a frown at the ash staining his fingers. “This seems to be a warning that we should not become idle. The breath we all held, had a moment to be released, but now I have a deep feeling of dread coiling inside of me once more.”
Releasing Link’s hand, he sighed.
“It seems as if you have only just rid Hyrule of the calamity, but I must ask you for your help yet again, Link. Will you assist me in finding what made these marks?”
The young hero nodded without hesitation. “Of course, your highness.”
Sidon chuckled out a relieved laugh. “You don’t have to call me that, you know. I think you’ve earned the right to abandon most proprieties.”
Link smirked, withdrawing the master sword from its sheath on his back. “I am a knight. Serving royalty and the land are my purpose. If I don’t show my respect, then I may be out of the job.”
Sidon grabbed him by the chin and brought his face in close. “How would you feel about being a prince? Or… maybe a queen?”
With a half-hearted glare, he shoved Sidon’s hand away. “And why do I have to be the queen?”
“Well, you do look rather pretty in that Gerudo outfit of yours.” Sidon purred.
Link began following the black markings along the hillside without turning back to the prince. “You know, I think you and Zelda would have a good time gossiping while I’m not around. You seem to both have a knack for putting me in uncomfortable situations right after I wake up.”
The both of them continued to follow the charred markings until they led them to a cave. Standing at the entrance, they both looked into the darkness without going in. Link whipped out his map.
“This is new. I don’t have it marked on my map. Whatever made this cave hasn’t been here for very long.”
“We should get some of the warriors from the village. It’s dark in there.” Sidon said, not afraid but cautious.
Extracting a torch from nearby, Link handed it to Sidon after lighting it with some flint and his sword. “That should suffice. Let’s move quietly, though, we could be outnumbered.”
Descending into the cavern, they were bothered only by some occasional keese. Once they had traveled a ways in, the tunnel opened out into a small room with a handful of jars and a set of sconces lighting the dim space. In the center of the room sat a man, but he was clearly not human. His skin had a gray tone to it, with white diamonds tattooing his body. A blood red mantle draped around his shoulders served as his only visible clothing aside from a pair of white boots and gloves. He chuckled, a menacingly low sound that made Link’s skin crawl.
“So… We meet again, old friend.” The man gazed up with dark eyes from underneath his snowy bangs. His face looked worn from exhaustion, but his posture was alert as he continued to sit cross-legged on the ground.
Link had kept his sword withdrawn while they had entered the cave, and now readied it for a fight, taking on a defensive stance. The man made no move to fight, and shook his head with a clicking of his tongue.
“Still so foolish.” He smirked, licking his lips in a way that made Link flinch. “Although, I don’t find it as annoying as I once did.”
Sidon took a step towards the man, irritated at having been ignored.
“Just who are you, and why are you taking up residence on Zora land?”
The man let his gaze drift lazily to the prince. “Forgive my manners, I have been out of touch with this world for nearly a millennia.” He got to his feet slowly and bowed. “I am The Demon Lord Ghirahim. The reason I have come back to this miserable little world is because I felt a severing from my master. I could no longer feel his presence here, and I came back to investigate. It would seem that much has changed in the long while that I was gone, though I do not feel it has been much more than a single human life time. I always was bad at gauging the passing of years here however. No doubt it was the little hero there who was the key to his undoing.”
“I don’t know who you are, but I think it best if you leave.” Link warned, still ready to fight.
The demon lord appraised the hero with a musing look and hummed. “You are a lot different now. Finally seem to have gotten a good taste in fashion, at least. That aura of power is unmistakable though, you are the hero chosen by the goddess, but you seem, how should I put it? Spread thin. Your blood is not as heavily scented with the divine power as in your previous incarnations’. I can still remember just the way it tastes, though.”
Ghirahim licked his lips once again with a serpentine hiss, causing Sidon to forget himself and place a protective hand between Link and the demon lord.
“Oh? I was right then. You and your playmate should really find a more private spot. I was so jealous that I threw a bit of a tantrum before storming back in here.”
Undaunted by the two of them, Ghirahim sauntered in a wide circle, putting himself at the mouth of the tunnel and Link and Sidon with their backs against a wall as they braced themselves for a fight. Smirking between the both of them, Ghirahim snapped his fingers and the rock around them began to tremble and collapse, blocking their exit. Sidon and Link both rushed the demon lord, but it was too late, he vanished in the blink of an eye and the way out was blocked. A dark chuckle emanated around them, seeming to fill the very air.
“I suppose old habits die hard. I’ll have to play with you at a later time…”
The torch Sidon still held suddenly went out, leaving them in total darkness, as Link felt a chilling breath whisper in his ear.
“Until next time, little hero.”
A cold lick traveled up the shell of his ear, and he raised a hand to cover it as the presence of Lord Ghirahim vanished.
“Link? Link, are you alright?”
A seeking hand found his in the dark, and gripped it tightly.
“I’m fine. We should get out of here, though. Stand as far back against the wall as you can, I’m going to see if I can blast our way out.”
Sidon moved away as Link extracted a bomb from his Sheika slate and positioned it next to the debris. Coming to stand next to the prince, he detonated the cube and shielded himself with his arms, as the way was opened once again. The sound of rumbling still continued even after the way was clear, so they ran as fast as they could out of the cave, before it collapsed entirely behind them. Breathing heavily on the ground, they both looked at each other and exhaled relieved sighs.
“What in the world do think that was all about?” Sidon asked as he stood, reaching a hand down for Link to take.
Hoisting himself up with the prince’s help, Link brushed himself off and frowned at the rubble before them. “I don’t know. The way he talked made it seem as if he had known me in a past life… Either way, I don’t think he’s a friend.”
Making their way back to the Prince’s bedchamber, they found a note upon the pillow. It was initialed with the letters ‘DLG’ in fancy handwriting. Picking up the note, Sidon held it so that they could both read it.
‘To the little hero and his playmate. Now that my master is no more, I am without a cause to kill you. Rest assured that your world and its people are safe for the time being, at least from me. I have no interest enough to bother with them. That aside, I have grown bored of lingering in my own realm and am curious to see what you will do against the rest of my master’s puppets. Until we meet again, Demon Lord Ghirahim. P.S. I think I prefer the desert girl ensemble.”