The Girl Who Fell (The Story of Aya)

Chapter 11

Link's POV

As I walked further into the woods, I thought about what I could do to get Aya to hate Ghirahim as much as she claimed to hate me.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I had to. It was for her own good. It was unhealthy for her to stay with him and not me.

I sighed, nothing coming to mind. Maybe I should try and talk to her again.

I turned around and began to trek back to where they were.

As I stepped into the clearing, Aya was there, presumably waiting for me.

"Hey." I said.

"Hi, Link." She said. I could detect some semblance of hostility in her tone.

"Walk with me. We need to talk. As friends." I pleaded.

She let out an exasperated sigh and walked to me.

"Listen, I know you like Ghirahim, but he's evil. He wants to hurt us and Zelda. He may act like he loves you, but he's just a demon, playing with your feelings." I started.

"Link. You must not have looked at our expressions when we very clearly said we loved each other. You didn't see our eyes. Yes, Ghirahim is a demon, but that doesn't mean he's evil." She replied, taking on a defensive tone.

I sighed. "But, Aya, how do you know that? How do you know he's not just toying with you?" I asked her.

"Because, he changed his plans for me." She looked around and seemed to focus her gaze in a particular spot, then nodded.

"He's going to kill Demise himself. We are going to kill him. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would call it quits and go home. We need you to keep doing what you're doing, so we didn't tell you that we're technically allies now." She said, looking me straight in the eyes. But she wasn't done.

"Did you hear him when he told me to stop attacking you?" She asked pointedly.

I nodded. "He said-" I realized what she was trying to tell me. I looked at the ground.

"He called you Mistress..." I mumbled.

I startled as a new voice spoke.

"I did. Because I do truly love her. I've never loved before. All because Demise told me that demons can't love. But they can, because we aren't that different from humans." Ghirahim spoke up as he stepped from the trees.

"I've hated Demise for a long time, but because it seemed impossible to go back to Hylia and my sister, I pushed it down. I pretended to be a loyal servant even though I wanted nothing more than to die." He continued, looking at Aya.

I stared at him, shocked to find that he hated Demise.

"Now you know. You have no reason to bug us about our relationship anymore, sky child. Plus, you're in love with the spirit maiden, are you not?" He stated, accompanying that part of his statement with a mischievous smirk.

"I think we're done here. Continue on with your mission to "save" the spirit maiden from me." He jabbed, then took Aya's hand and walked away with her.

Aya's POV

I clung to Ghirahim's hand as we walked.

I noticed that we weren't heading back to the central surface and we were actually veering away from it.

"Where are we going, Ghira?" I asked, using his nickname to ensure I got his attention.

"The Eldin Province. Thats where the next temple that Link must conquer resides." He stated, blushing faintly at the nickname.