Written in Blood

XXXIX . A labyrinth of remains

The feeling of unease was dormant down in the tunnels, but it was unearthed when I found myself inside the castle.

I must be inside one of the walls now, since there's stone on either side of me. The tunnel itself was straightforward, although there were a few places where openings branched off into the gloom.

There's more unsettling things than a network of tunnels over all of hyrule though, and yet it's all connected to the Sheikah. The well is one of the most unholy places I've ever been, and then of course there's the Shadow Temple, chock full of torture devices. Both of those places reek of death.

A narrow staircase is behind me, leading from below ground to within the walls. Should I go up the stairs to past it? I don't know. What matters most is getting inside, and then I'll work it out from there.

I have no guesses of what the interior of this place even looks like, except for the throne room. I'm thinking that's my best bet. A demon king does need a throne after all.

Instead of trying to find an opening into the castle on the ground floor however, I end up climbing the staircase. Everything is the same pitch black shade, with just the barest outlines of the walls and the steps, but I manage to keep my footing.

At the top of the stairwell is another seemingly endless corridor, dark and eerie. Nothing. My spirits sink even lower into the murk inside of me, only making me more acutely aware of the pain.

This can't be it though, right? Impa is many things, serious, blunt, somewhat unfriendly, but she wouldn't have let me come here if it was a lost cause.

Still by the stairs, I give the walls another look. It's hard to see anything, much less minute details, but I can make out a thin outline of a rectangle, the edges a dim glow. I take a step closer, realizing that this is a door, where to, I don't know. But it'll be a heck of a lot easier navigating the castle inside of the castle.

I stare at it for a minute, toying with how to open it. There's no hinges to he found, and the space between the wall and the door is too small for even my pinky finger to wedge into.

I get my hands onto the stone and try to push it forward. It doesn't budge. There's no use trying to pull it either. But I keep fiddling with it, maybe if I move it a certain way or something so I can get inside. There's a click and the door slides into the wall, opening up into a dimly lit room.

I shut the door behind me, which snaps back into place, looking like the rest of the wall except for the cracks.

Calling this room a mess is an understatement. It's been through fire and back, still in a sad state of disrepair.

Where a large window must've been is now is a large hole with some fragments of glass still hanging on, letting in the night air. Bits and pieces of shattered glass lie in a dangerously sharp pile around the gaping hole.

There's one torch lit on the wall, wavering slightly from the wind, the silky flame wrapping around itself and rising upwards, a small trail of smoke floating to the ceiling.

Other than that, everything is in disarray. This must have been some sort of drawing room, the plush chairs are turned over. One has a leg missing, the severed part splintered. And for the love of Nayru... there's red splotches all over. The rug has the worst one, noticeable because of the light blue and cream tones the rest of the rug is. One ugly red blot, tainting everything and everyone.

I'm just glad there aren't any bodies.

Even with all the horrible things Ganondorf has done and will do, it's somewhat nice to know that he doesn't leave corpses all over his new pad. Still, I bet he'll display mine. I'd make a good trophy. He's absolutely disgusting, the bugger.