Chapter Text
Sharp like a Diamond and Just As Unbreakable
Zelda had gone to the surface, and Link had gone with her.
He didn’t know what exactly had spurred him to return to the Skyview Temple. He told himself he just wanted to see if anything had changed. He and Zelda might be able to make use of the place, after all.
He got all the way to the last room without meeting anything save a few spiders.
Behind him, he heard a dark, all too familiar chuckle.
Whirling, he drew his sword, holding it out in front of him. It wasn’t the Goddess Sword. Just a normal sword. But it was better than nothing. He didn’t know if it would be enough to defeat the figure in front of him, but he sure was going to give the fight his all.
Ghirahim laughed and spread his arms to his sides. “Sky child! We meet again! I told you that we were connected by a string of fate, did I not?”
Link glared at him, holding his sword out, and Ghirahim chuckled again before giving a put-upon sigh. “Really,” he said, lowering one arm and gesturing with the other, “what do you think you’re going to do with that weak thing, hm? Such a sword is hardly worthy of the Chosen Hero who defeated my master, Demise. And such in lies my current problem, you see.”
Ghirahim sighed, and disappeared in a shimmer of golden diamonds. Link glanced around wildly.
“All that sweat and blood I put into resurrecting my master, only for him to be defeated…” Link turned to the right and saw Ghirahim there with bent knees, lowering his arms fluidly through the air in front of him. “How do you think that made me feel?”
Standing, he threw out his arms, brought them in with clenched fists and then threw them out again, the air around him changing colors as he cried, “Distraught! Chagrined! Demeaned!” He disappeared again, appearing in another shimmer of diamonds far on the other side of the room.
“Ah, it seems my feelings in regards to this are still quite… intense, though I’ve managed to come to terms with what happened.” He shifted his stance, snapping his fingers. “Why do you think I served Demise, sky child? Why do you think I called him Master?” He stepped out, gesturing grandly with an arm. “As you know, I am a sword spirit. And a sword’s ability to wield itself is… very limited.” He shifted his stance, gesturing flippantly. “You know what that means, right? What a sword requires is a master, otherwise it will never be able to fulfill its full potential.”
He disappeared in a shimmer of diamonds, reappearing standing above the great golden door, his arms flung to his sides. “And what else does the world’s greatest sword deserve but the world’s greatest master? Demise, you see, was the strongest being in existence of which I was aware,” he reached up, tossing his head as he flipped his hair, “and I refused to compromise! I would have the strongest being as my master, or no master at all! I refuse to be wielded by any being which does not meet my standards! My standards being rather…” he gestured with a hand, “exorbitant.”
A shimmer of diamonds, and he disappeared again. Link glanced around for him, seeing him nowhere, Ghirahim’s deep voice seeming to come from everywhere at once. “Now, you see, that is where you come in, sky child. For you know how the strongest is decided? The strongest is the one who wins.”
Suddenly Ghirahim’s voice was murmuring next to his ear, and Link froze, turning his head to see Ghirahim’s pale grace face next to him, his light hair, dark eyes and the purple beneath them, the smile of his white lips. “And you remember who defeated my previous master Demise, right?”
He flicked his tongue, and Link pulled away, whirling to face him, but Ghirahim just chuckled and spread his arms, announcing, “That’s right! It was you! Which means, who do you think is now the greatest being in existence, worthy to wield the greatest sword?”
Ghirahim disappeared, reappearing to Link’s left with a sigh. “Of course, the greatest being in existence is currently myself,” he said, gesturing to his own form. He met Link’s gaze and chuckled. “Oh come now, you didn’t really think I’d say that it was you, did you? A mere child of man? The only reason you won against me was because the first two times I went easy on you, while the last time I was so focused on finishing the spell to draw the life-force from the spirit maiden to raise my master that I barely had any left to deal with you.”
Ghirahim sighed, shaking his head, spreading his hands. “But alas, as I’ve said, a sword can only wield itself with very limited adequacy. It’s possible, to an extent, but it’s just not…” He gesticulated wordlessly for a long moment, and then exhaled, “It’s just not as satisfying, you see, as being wielded by an adept master.” He shifted his stance, snapping his fingers. “Which is, I believe, where you can assist me, sky child!”
He disappeared again, reappearing behind Link with his hand’s on the boy’s shoulders. “Because, as you are the second-greatest being currently in existence, so powerful that you defeated my previous master whom I had deemed worthy, and you are, as I understand, without a sword that properly suits your skills as a swordsman, we can both benefit magnificently from this arrangement!”
He faded into diamonds in Link’s peripheral and reappeared a few meters in front of him, spreading his arms grandly as he said, “So, what do you say, sky child? Do you think you’re worthy of the absolute honor of wielding my glorious blade?”
Link thought about it.
“How can I trust you?” he asked, holding Ghirahim’s dark gaze.
Ghirahim chuckled amusedly. “Have you forgotten how to wield a sword, boy?” He gestured with a finger in the air. “Touch a sword along the edge of its sharp blade, and it will cut you;” he curled his fingers, “but grip it confidently by its hilt, and it is your tool to cut down those you wish.”
Link frowned slightly, and Ghirahim gave a sigh, his shoulders slumping in a most graceful manner. “Sky child,” he said, “do not confuse me with those petty humans with which you sojourn. Have you ever thought about the feelings of a weapon?” He spread his arms to his side, his tongue licking out of his mouth. “A weapon does not care who it cuts down or what it clashes against, so long as it is wielded by a worthy hand. A weapon wishes to draw blood; it does not care whose. The choice belongs to the wielder alone.”
Ghirahim sighed, stepping backwards, almost a stumble if a stumble were like dance steps. “Do you know what a weapon fears, sky child? Rust! Disuse! Abandonment!” He shifted his stance and looked at Link with the sauciest glare Link believed he had ever seen. “If you think I care for anything else side from serving the most worthy master to exist in the era, then you prove yourself unworthy to me with your apparent lack of empathy.” He snapped his fingers, turning to leave. “I’ll just go wield myself, then. I wonder whose blood I should spill to relieve myself of all this overwhelming... frustration.”
“Wait,” Link found himself saying.
Ghirahim turned elegantly to look back at him. Link, hesitating only slightly, reached out and opened his hand.
Ghirahim disappeared in a shimmer of diamonds; appearing in Link’s hands was a large, flaring black blade.
At the feel of it in his hand, Link gave an exhale, his eyes widening.
Ghirahim’s chuckle reverberated around him. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
Link could only breathlessly nod and grip the hilt tighter, taking it with both hands and raising it in front of him. He swung it experimentally; it was longer, larger, heavier than the Goddess Sword had been.
It felt even better, like Link wasn’t wielding merely a blade, but the physical embodiment of power.
“I look forward to serving you, Master.”
The words made Link shiver, overwhelmed with something like wonder. He'd felt lacking since having to give up the Goddess's sword; with Ghirahim's sword in his hands, he didn't feel that lack anymore.
He didn’t entirely understand how this was going to work, but… he wanted it to.