The Demon Lord's Inner Battle

Chapter 20

Back in the sky I'm greeted by my loyal Loftwing and Sapphire. Once I'm on Crimson's back, I pet them both.

"Hey, guys! Taking a flight together?"

We fly to Skyloft and Crimson let me down and flies off with his friend again.

I wave at them with a smile. Crimson must be so happy to have his friend back. And Sapphire sure looks happy to fly again after all this time, too.

I watch them a while and then head to my room to rest for today. This trial was mentaly intense. I hope Eldin's not gonna be worse...

My mind trails off as I fall alseep and find myself dreaming about a happy world together with Ghirahim...

The next morning I wake up and stay in bed for a while longer. I'm worried... will this ever happen...? A happy world with both of us...? Will I suceed convincing him he can live without his master...? Will I be able to save him...?

I stare at the ceiling until I hear a knocking on the door and call them in.

"Morning, Link. I hope I didn't wake you up?"

Pipit closes the door behind him and sits down on my bed. I shake my head, sighing.

"Morning. No. I already was awake for a while. What's up?"

I sit up in bed and stretch.

"I just wanted to know how you are and well... did anything come out from you know, what we talked about?"

I lower my gaze as I remember that night I talked with him. Pipit notices my reaction and nods.

"I see... you wanna talk about it?"

I stay silent for a while but then decide to say what happend since then.

"Wow... that's a lot to take in... but you know... if you ask me..."

Pipit looks at me worried but his mouth turns into a little smile.

"For me it looks like he's playing tough...  maybe that's the only thing he can do right now to not break... I think the situation is really hard on him and he needs you for support. Don't give up on him yet, Link."

He pats my shoulder and I nod.

"Of course. I will never give up on him."

Pipit smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

He gets up and offers me his hand which I take to get up myself. Then he nods at me once more and leaves for the door.

After I'm done changing into some fresh clothes I grab my stuff and head out. It's time for the last trial at Eldin...

Once I'm outside I take a deep breath of the fresh air and look around in the sky. Crimson and Sapphire are flying around together again. I whistle and they land to greet me.

"Morning, you two. You had breakfast already?"

They screamed, flapping their wings happily, signing that yes, they already ate and Crimson came down to the ground to let me on his back.

After I climb on, they fly off straight to Eldin Volcano and I pet them both before jumping off.

"Have fun and keep each other save while I'm gone, alright?"

I pet their beaks and gain a happy sound from them and head for the surface.

Arrived there I start my search for the trial and found it near the temple. I take out my harp and start playing together with Fi's voice until the flower on the ground is fully grown once again.

"Thrust your sword into the ground for the last trial, master."

I nod and ready my sword, smashing it into the ground. I find myself in the Silent Realm as Fi's voice calls out to me.

"You stand within Din's Silent Realm, the third trial. It will test the limit of your power. Collect the 15 Tears of Din to let your soul grow more."

The spirit vessel appears again and I look around. Alright. Gonna be a little tricky with the slopes but nothing that should be impossible, right?

Now let's see.. where is the first tear... ah! There! Right... infront... of a... flying guardian... oh my... well here goes!

I step out of the ring and wait for the guardian to approach me. Once he's far away enough from the tear, I dash past him and grab it. Phew that's done. Now I can take a look around.

I decide to first take care of the slopes. Like this the hard part is gone. Up the slopes are tons of spirits with their lamps giving me almost no space to reach the tear. I have to be careful here...

I watch them a while and start running uphill dodging them as good as I can. Once I'm up half way, I look around for the tear I saw before and spot it infront of a guardian. What's up with this realm sheesh...

I was so busy looking around that I didn't notice one of the spirits arrived at my position and wakes the guardians... I run down on the hill to grab the tear before he slices me with his huge sword and head uphill again.

Phew I definitly get enough training out here. After I reach the top I head to the bigger slope. What awaits me there are no waking spirits but that waking water. Puddles spread everywhere around the slope. I luckily dodge it all while sliding down and collect the tears.

After that it's only the simple part left. I grab all the remaining tears spread across the area without a problem and return to the entrance.

The spirit vessel turns into a pink flower and then into red earrings.

"Master. Those earrings will protect you against the heat so you may proceed closer to the volcano itself."

Fi's voice echoes in the realm. I nod and put them on. Since I lost a bet to Zelda once some years ago I had to let Orielle make me holes so it wasn't much of a problem.

Once they're on I leave the Silent Realm and am back in my body at the surface. I get up and put my sword away and head to the volcano.

As soon as I arrive, I feel strong heat but my earrings shine bright red, making it bearable.

"Master. We are now near the crater at the peak of Eldin Volcano, the Volcano Summit. Behind it, there will be the Fire Sanctuary where the last Sacred Flame is located."

I nod and head deeper, slaying the monsters in my way and soon reach a big gate I often saw on my journey but something is different... I don't see a keyhole. The door is marked with the goddess' symbol...

I draw my sword and charge a skyward strike. The symbol shines and reveals some symbols for me to draw in air. Once I did, the door opens.

Inside is another goddess symbol that I strike as usal and a big blood red flame emerges. Fi takes in the flames as I ready my sword and nod at her.

She nods back and fires the flames at my sword. I feel its power increasing massivly and gain the last of the triangles on my hand.

"Master, now that it has been tempered by the last of the Sacred Flames, your blade has finally revealed its true form. You now hold the Master Sword. With it and the full power of the Triforce on your hand, you will be able to seal away the evil completly."

Seal away the evil... but what about him... he's part of it...

Fi sighs to me looking at the ground and staying silent.

"You have the power to seal away evil now but also to save it, if this is your wish. You may spare Demon Lord Ghirahim while still sealing away his master."

My eyes lit up and I look at her. She nods. I have to tell him immediatly! I can save him! I can free him from his fate!

I run off as fast as I can and head back to the sky. There I tell Crimson to quickly bring me to the Faron Woods and thank him before jumping off.