Numb ✧ Ghirahim x Reader ✔

chapter 58

The Scimitar of Twilight pulsed beneath [Name]'s hold, burning red after waving it around. For her, that signified anger, and she cracked a grin thinking she'd vexed her demon lover.

Focused on staring at her sword, she realized soon that a figure had stepped in front of her. Immediately snapping back into a fighting stance, she aimed the weapon at the newcomer. With Ghirahim fueling it, she could feel the intensity coursing through her arms, doubling the scimitar's strength. The power quite literally in her hands was breathtaking.

"Ho..?" The stranger spoke, his voice a bit elevated.

"...Ho ho," [Name] responded. She could practically hear Ghirahim screaming at her for being so incompetent. While this person frightened her, she couldn't deny that she respected him somewhat for healing the Demon Lord.

...Though, this was the past, if only by a few weeks. Before she met Zant at least. She wondered if the Twili King had saved Ghirahim only because he knew he'd kill them in the past. If that made sense. Time traveling only jumbled up [Name]'s perspicacity.

"Where could you have gotten this?" He mused, a slight mirth in his tone. As he examined the scimitar closer, he realized there was a sliver of life hiding inside. With that, the amusement vanished from his face (though it never was visible, anyway, due to his mask) and he frowned condemningly.

Somehow possessing one of his scimitars was one curiosity; hosting a demon inside of it couldn't mean anything principled. Of course, Zant's very being existed thanks to the vices of his ancestors, and he continued to breathe malice into the worldーyet this startled him.

"You're a thief," was the only thing Zant could bring himself to accuse her of, "yet not affiliated with them." He jerked his head in the direction of the Yiga, who still stood around, now casually chatting with each other. [Name]'s jaw almost dropped at their drastic change in behavior.

"Return that," he then motioned to the scimitar, expectantly opening his palm. The Sheikah only held the sword closer, refusing to simply toss Ghirahim away.

"No," she said, and Zant pursed his lips. He then forcibly removed the blade, though not physically. It simply disappeared, shattering into the specks of Twilight that often flaunted Zant wherever he moved. In a panic [Name] examined her hands, wondering how it obliterated.

Until it appeared again in the Usurper King's grasp, and a low sigh escaped his mouth. "As suspected," he muttered. As the scimitar was of his own creation, he could manipulate it in any way he wished; without need for Ghirahim's consent.

He then turned away from [Name], who lunged at him. However he stepped aside in the swiftest of dodges, before sighing once more.

"Now to deal with that little Hylian..."

And Zant dispersed, leaving behind those eerie Twilight fragments fluttering through the air.

Without a moment to spare, she darted in the direction of the Arbiter's Grounds entrance, and realized that the Yiga army had gone somewhere. Unless they bolted, their obvious destination would be within the Grounds as well.

Running inside, she sprinted through the temple's decaying grounds and quicksand, using teleportation to cheat her way deeper into the labyrinthine dungeon. As she thought, she encountered several Yiga, but made sure to keep herself imperceptible. After all, she now lacked a weapon, and once again the fear of Ghirahim's death was growing stronger every second without him at her side.

She finally arrived at a large spiraling structure, which led to a door sitting on a ledge. The structure was so thin it could barely accommodate a human, let alone a Yiga army. As such, it wasn't a surprise to find Bulblin standing at the bottom of it, staring up in wonder.

Unlike [Name], he was short of the ability to transport his body instantly. And his eyes never left the door, so it'd be impossible to sneak past him. At a loss of what to do, [Name] simply stared at him. Then he turned around.

"Brat," he growled. "By order of your Yiga master, take me up there." Jabbing his thumb in the direction of the ledge, he marched up to the young Sheikah. She, despite being unarmed and especially vulnerable now, stared him down with an unwavering severity.

"I will not," she rejected, brows pulling together. "I'm not my mother; you aren't my master. If anything, you canー"

"You again, hm..." Always taciturn in manner, Zant's deceptively mellow voice echoed against the temple's walls. He stood upright as usual, like a still doll, peering down at the two. While it took all of [Name]'s willpower to hold back a snarl, Bulblin had an... unexpected reaction.

"Father..!" Bulblin screeched, voice cracking into thousands of frequencies as he called out his... father? [Name] raised a brow, unsure how that could even be possible. She wasn't familiar with a Twili's aging process but Zant seemed a bit young..? At least... too young to be the father of a middle-aged man.

Bulblin sprinted forward, calling out, over and over again, "Father..! Father..!"

Zant moved aside, spurning any and every advance the Yiga master made toward him. He finally made his way behind [Name], using her as a shield of sorts to prevent Bulblin from coming any closer.

"Father, I've been searching... I will save you, Father. Rest assured. Once we dispose of all the complications," he shot a look at [Name], "we will rise to rescue you... and everyone..." He then moaned, reaching both hands up as if to worship Zant.

"Please... accept me, Father."

Understandably, Zant decided to flee instead. He vanished into thin air, leaving behind the crazed Yiga master to stare out into space. Seeing the Twili King simply disappear like that, Bulblin felt as though everything he'd worked so hard for suddenly slipped between his fingers...

He turned to face [Name].

"Father must want me... to kill you," he decided, reassuring himself. "And then he will come back for me..."

She flinched, fists immediately flying up to oppose him. Once again she sought answers... Though supposed she could ask Zant the next time she saw him. In choosing between a slightly disturbing King of Shadows or the maniacal Yiga master, she'd undoubtedly favor the usurper.

"I will save all the Twili!" Bulblin declared, before rushing forward. A demon carver in hand, he swung mercilessly, and she backed away. Realizing her only options were to keep dodging till one of them fatigued or flee, she chose to teleport up to the ledge.

"You're a coward!" Bulblin spat, and in turn she slipped behind the giant set of double doors.

Oh, Farore, she wasn't prepared for what lied within.