-Forest battlefield-

"Well, well, well," Ouki Mitagi muttered. "Just what are you supposed to be?"

Ouki sat astride a horse, his glaive in one hand, looking up at a monster of a beast. It had fire coming from its head, mouth, and back in the shape of hair and wings. Cracks in its skin outpoured even more red and black fire. Everything's shadow deepened around it.

The creature looked back at him. It smelled him. It liked the smell. It reminded it of 'Him'. It huffed. It roared. Its wings of fire spread out from its back and it carried a giant sword in each hand.

The men behind Ouki scattered. Ouki raised an eyebrow, "If this is my head's way of giving me a nightmare, it might want to change its tune. Perhaps try colored ponies next time, rainbows... maybe colored ponies WITH rainbows?" Ouki shuddered. "So what the hell does that make you, hm? A bit of bad cheese? Indigestion?"

One of his few remaining men spoke up, "Sir, if I may, I think you are right to say 'what the hell' as that thing most likely IS a 'what from hell'. You may also want to make some distance!"

"Meh."

"Very articulate, my lord! Now about that distance?"

Ouki dropped from his horse. Without missing a beat, the terrified horse fled as fast as its legs could carry it. He adjusted his bracers and readied his glaive. "I have a better idea. How about we see if this thing can feel fear?"

-6 years ago-

-Majora Mountain-

Among the Fae was a singular soul older, wiser, and more experienced than the rest. For this, he was given the position in the collective Grove as Elder and so dubbed Elder. Elder Fae also had the most experience with the Majora, so while there was an ambassador Fae already dubbed Ambassador, Elder would be the one to meet and spend time with the Majora for a while during a particularly important occasion.

The Masking.

On this day, Elder Fae took up his customary form of a wooden centaur wrapped smoothly in vines and leaves and strode into Majora territory. Despite the Majora's power being uniquely capable of killing Fae, he had no fear in his spirit of where he walked. The Majora were friends. More than that, the leader of the Majora Grove (called a 'tribe' or 'clan', apparently) was a sworn brother.

When the Dragmire rebelled, the Qin could not, or more than likely didn't bother to, differentiate between the Dragmire and the other tribes despite their vastly different origins. Dragmire were once children of Din but chose a demonic heritage. So the Fae saw they were the children of demons, but the mountain tribes were still children of either Din or Farore. The Fae could taste someone's parentage on their soul. In this way, they had no trouble telling the difference between people.

The Majora and other tribes fled, and seeing little hope, the Fae also left the Qin behind. However, the Fae stopped along the way to aid Majora and the other tribes. Elder still remembered the hundreds, if not thousands, of elementals that laid waste to the army of Qin that chased them. Elder still remembered the fires and arrows that chased the terrified, fleeing tribes. Elder still remembered how the Majora leader swore kinship. Elder still remembered the vow the Huma made.

Fae do not make such vows. It is futile to bind a soul when it cannot be bound. But the sentiment is respectable and Elder recognized that Huma liked their sentiments, customs, traditions, and such.

A couple Majora leaped down from the mountain side where they watched, and their wolves came out of hiding. They bowed and kissed Elder's feet, "Sweet Fae, it is an honor for you to be our guest. We trust your journey was uneventful?"

"It was well. I pray peace is with you."

"It is, thank you," the leader of the team said with another short bow. He gulped. In that moment, Elder saw intense hatred and frustration as his eyes flickered in memory. "It has been tough... recovering... but it has been a peaceful recovery. Many mothers are with children this year! The divine have blessed us greatly."

Elder smiled. He quite liked children. They had an innocent nature to them that reminded the Fae of their own parent, Farore. Fae never felt closer to her than when they were with a child. "I am glad," he said. "Now, if you will escort me. Brother Majora is expecting me."

"Not so, Brother Fae!" The leader rebuked him with the highest of respect. "I know you and your greatness. You need not restrain yourself on our behalf. Let the winds carry you freely. You need but leave this form and go. You know no harm will come to you nor this empty vessel. I swear on my life I shall protect it."

"Perhaps that is so. Your faith is appreciated, but I come on the terms of Huma, and I know Huma appreciate formality. It is true you are unnecessary to me, but you are necessary to you. Allow this honor to be held for the sake of Majora. I am patient."

The leader nodded, "Then allow us this honor."

"Go ahead."

The Majora surrounded Elder on all sides and walked him into the Majora paths. He knew the land already, intimately more than they ever could, so while it was unnecessary to be escorted, he wanted them to continue to uphold their own traditions because such things tended to make Huma feel good. All Majora they passed stopped whatever they were doing, gasped at the sight of the Fae, and bowed respectfully in praise. A few went so far as to stop him that they might kiss his bark, give a gift he had no need for, or thank him. All truly unnecessary and odd, but Elder kept his thoughts to himself. Huma had so many ways of showing sentiment it astounded him at times.

Brother Majora was not in the main building but could be found standing in the stand of their coliseum.

The Majora coliseum was the location of events, plays, public education, trials, and executions. Due to the small size of the valley, it was necessary to condense it all events into one public building.

"Brother!" The Majora cried on seeing him. Like the others, the leader bowed with his face to the ground.

"Please, do not. I suffer this from the others, but if your sentiment is to be equals, then please do not be subservient," Elder replied with a hint of his annoyance.

"I understand," The Majora leader stood. "Then what greeting would apply with you?"

"None, perhaps. The Fae way is lethal between you and I. Let us leave it to simple acknowledgement."

Brother Majora nodded, "As you wish, brother. I heard the songs of praise and cries even from here! You had quite a parade in your honor."

"Yes..."

"You did not like it? I assure you, I-I had nothing planned. It is just the people are so happy to be alive and you are our savior."

"I neither liked nor disliked it. I know our ways are different. Your meanings and ways mean nothing to me, but I know it does to you, so I accept it for what it is intended and appreciate the intention and thought put into it. But... I do ponder: what is the purpose of applying your Huma face to my bark?"

"You... mean a kiss?"

"If that is what you call it."

"It is..." He hesitated, thinking. To convey the meaning of such an act to a being physically and spiritually different takes a bit of thought. "It is to show appreciation, or deep affection. It is a good thing. It is the highest greeting we 'Huma' have for one we love or accept."

"I see."

A moment of silence passed, and Brother Majora cleared his throat before telling the others they could leave. He motioned for Elder to sit, then hesitated on realizing Elder was a four-legged, horse-man tree. Elder changed his shape to make it simple. He sat.

Before them was an event of sorts playing out. A young man stood in the coliseum with two short blades in hand. At first Elder thought nothing of him, but the fiery red hair quickly changed that.

"A Dragmire?"

"Yes. You may recognize him. He was a newborn last you saw him, in the exodus."

No, Elder would have remembered that. There was no one among the Majora with red hair... although now that he thought about it, there was only a few newborns he saw among them, and the one carried by the Majora twin high-priestesses was born without hair.

"I am unsure. What is happening?" Elder inquired.

"Ah, well. It is an execution of sorts."

"Of sorts? What makes this different from other executions?"

The man smiled and said, "Why don't you watch and find out?"

Elder nodded and watched.

Before long, a gate was opened, but nothing happened. The young man clearly grew impatient as he ran towards it and extended his arms. From his hands, massive chains of pure Twilight shot out, reached into the room, and pulled something out before he turned and threw it across the open floor of the arena.

It was a giant scorpion, unlike any Elder had ever seen. He had seen plenty of scorpions, but none this large. But that wasn't all that was surprising. The boy had great power over Twilight, as well as incredible control.

"Amazing," Elder commented. "How did the scorpion become so large? Is it corrupted by the Twilight?"

"Don't know," Brother Majora replied. "But it does not matter. We Majora task ourselves with hunting and dealing with threats like these. It has been many years since we have had the strength to practice this ancient custom, but as of late we have fostered an exceptional executioner."

As they watched, the scorpion repositioned itself from its back, and now after figuring it would have to actually fight instead of hiding in darkness, thrust out its massive claws and razor-sharp tail while darting around on its legs. The young man rolled, evaded, and deflected each blow with a strength, dexterity, cunning, and patience that further surprised Elder. Most Huma, if not all, lacked in some capacity of war. They could be too weak, too slow, too simple, or too impatient and thereby make mistakes. This young man was strong enough, quick enough, adaptive, and didn't risk making mistakes while reacting quick enough to exploit them.

"You mean him," Elder presumed.

"Yes. His name is Ganondorf Dragmire."

Ganondorf got in close, shoved his fist into the scorpion's jaws, and to Elder's complete and total surprise, exploded said hand in flame. Fire shot out of the animal's jaws and covered it from head to tail.

Not just any fire either, Elder knew this smell. Every Fae knew this smell. It was a smell they knew simply as 'prey'. It was designed, after all, for the explicit purpose of hunting and killing prey.

"Twilight AND Din's fire?!" Elder gasped and completely lost his composure.

"That's right. The witch sisters raised him personally. Their power has carried on to him well. His Dragmire blood combined with their teachings... and unusual methods of upbringing, has created probably the most powerful executioner I have ever known... But also the angriest," Brother Majora's composure darkened.

The young man seemed to toy with the beast at this point. It coiled and spasmed in agony, and he taunted it with small bursts of flame or by keeping up with its movement without attacking. He struck his swords against claws and tail, despite most likely knowing it would do no good. This went on for a few moments before Ganondorf seemed to have had enough. He walked to the center of the arena and grabbed a blank mask off a pedestal. Then, while rushing towards the beast, he placed it on the scorpion's head. Or at least what appeared to be its head.

The process of the mask absorbing the beast was quick. When it was done, the blank mask now bore the face of the scorpion wreathed in flame.

The crowd who witnessed it were few, but they cheered him on for his accomplishment.

Ganondorf looked up at them with red eyes and glared the crowd into silence. He continued to stare, silently being threatening, until they panicked and departed. With reactions like that, the crowd most likely grew smaller with each execution.

Elder had never seen such anger and hate before. It was like a living thing beyond just Ganondorf, "I see what you mean."

"He's a troublemaker," Brother Majora sighed. "Powerful, feared, respected, and ruthless. He is incredibly intelligent, but he never says a word. His mothers have had to speak for him all his life. People flee and shut their doors when he walks by. Any who get too close aggravate him to the point of growling, and any who try to touch him or speak with him directly must take the greatest care, or else they are beaten severely. He has never killed any Majora, but it is only a matter of time. His wrath is barely withheld, always skin-deep, and released at the thinnest reason. Since making him the official executioner there has been far less crime, as the public fear of him is useful, and he has had a source to pour out his bottomless anger and frustration. But at the same time, it feels like trying to hold back a volcano with the pouring of a well bucket."

"I can understand it to be difficult to establish proper dialogue or help with one who is mute when you do not know how to give them a way to convey themselves without the aid of others," Elder replied. "I can see the frustration in that."

"He is not mute. It is rare, mostly after he has an exhausting execution, but he has said a few words. I think he only talks in the privacy with his mothers and only even then when he is... calm," Brother Majora replied. "I remember from my time among the Dragmire... it's just a family thing. Dragmire are prone to such intense emotion that they render themselves mute. It is not when they are loud they are most to be feared: it is when they are silent."

"I... I remember that to be true, yes," Elder acknowledged. "But that is not common, and still only lasts a short time while they are enduring the intensity of the emotion. But... you say he has been this way his whole life."

"I know. I did. He has," Brother Majora looked to Elder. "Now you see a portion of why I called for you to personally attend The Masking. He is among the boys chosen to do it."

-The next day-

Elder stood by as the young men were presented before him. Their parents escorted them and took a moment to provide encouragement. The fathers' offered advice and stern pride while the mothers cried and hugged their boys. Twenty were presented before Elder. They stood proud, ready, and excited. They joked with each other, teased, and were generally rambunctious.

The last to enter was Ganondorf Dragmire. There was no ceremony, no guidance, nothing. He slammed the doors open, entered on his own, stomped his way to the front, and stood there silently with his arms crossed, sparing not a glance to anyone. The energy of the young men quickly turned to whispers, distance, and fear.

Elder spared a glance with Brother Majora before Brother Majora stepped forward and spoke loudly, "We are the Majora. Since before the Fall, we were a threat spoke of in whispers of fear for our power and respect for our duty. We were a part of the Sheikah at the time, but we were our own special group tasked with a grand purpose: to hunt the monsters spoke of in tales and to tame the immortal evils. We were feared even by our fellow Sheikah, and a dark rumor to the rest of man. All rightly so, for our power is unique and broad. Our warriors, in taming the monsters of the world, have tamed our hearts. This day, you will embark on a quest to become exactly one of those warriors. It is true you are mighty, but there is a power hidden inside each of you greater than even you can know. A power that festers as wildly as the monsters you will hunt. So if you are to tame monsters, you must first tame the monster within you. You must be able to know when to embrace it, and when to let it go. You must make a clear separation between the sword and the shield. That is why we have masks."

Brother Majora presented his own mask of war, "These rune imbued masks will tap into your greatest potential and then unleash it. It will call forward all of your bloodlust, your anger, and your hatred. It will release the monster with you... and consume it. For when you go through The Masking, you will be changed. You will understand true hate, a true desire to kill, but these are evil in society. In order to function in society, you must take all the things that are of war and give it up. You will face a struggle within yourself to separate yourself, to give up a portion to the mask, and tame the very thing inside of you that you have nurtured as a warrior! The stronger the warrior, the harder this struggle will be! This is not a simple thought. You have spent years training, nurturing a warrior soul, and now you must separate it away! You will be left empty without the mask should you succeed, but you will be the greatest, fiercest warriors this world will ever see when you put it on. Also, you will not be allowed to bring your wolves for this."

There was faint murmuring between the young men and Elder could see a few were reconsidering. They had no doubt been training for years, day and night, developing a body and mind for battle to defend their home. Now it was being explained they would have to rip that very warrior soul out and plant it into a mask. Brother Majora was right in what he said. It would leave them empty, perhaps crippled in mind and soul for years, should they succeed. They would have to relearn their entire identity outside of the mask.

"It is not a dishonor if you wish to turn back," Brother Majora continued. "If you find the struggle too much, then leave. Not a word will be said. The training you have endured thus far will be sufficient to defend our home if need be. This is nothing more than the choice to become something more, to become an elite, to becoming the absolute best. And some people... most people... aren't the best. That's why the best are the best. Here is what I will do."

Brother Majora nodded to Elder and Elder walked over to the only torch in the room.

"Lord Fae will cover the light. We will be in darkness. I will close my eyes. Leave if you wish. Those that remain will depart with us out the back door and we will begin. Ready?" They nodded.

Elder expanded his hand to surround the small flame and conceal its light. It burned the bark, but Elder restrained himself from reeling back. It was nothing he could not handle. The door opened and Elder saw a few young men leave before it closed once more. Ganondorf's shoulder-length hair bloomed brightly in the darkness. He did not move a muscle. His piercing red eyes could be plainly seen waiting for the moment to pass.

"Okay, that's enough."

Elder released the light, and everyone blinked as their eyes adjusted. A few Majora had left, but most had not.

"Alright, let's go," Brother Majora opened the back door and they all departed. "Lord Fae will guide us to the location he has chosen for the ceremony, and we will both administer it. Lord Fae, if you will be so kind?"

"Follow," Elder said.

He led them back to Fae territory. Elder's particular grove of choice was near the Majora mountain, nothing more than a few hours distance. At first there was nothing but trees, but after they passed a certain distance, as if passing through an invisible barrier, life appeared in many forms. Wild children, ancient and innocent, played in trees, laughed, and watched as the newcomers entered. Fae flew unbidden by restraint. True centaur passed their way and nodded to the Elder in his wooden-centaur shell. Giant worms rumbled in and out of holes in the distance. Wolves the size of horses watched them pass in idle curiosity. Wyvern flew. Hybrids of man and beast in almost every conceivable variety glanced the group's way before moving on.

In all this, the Majora youth gaped and pointed and whispered in barely concealed excitement.

"What is all this?" One was bold enough to ask the Fae.

"The protected," Elder began. "We Fae are the first-born, the elder brother, and like any elder brother, we seek to protect our youngers, especially fellow children of Farore. We do not stop war, but we do take... measures... to see that a few survive to live in peace and comfort for eternity so long as they are here. Despite our differences with Din-born in the past, the Triple Goddesses have tasked us with guardianship over all races they would see not fall into extinction." He spared a glance to Ganondorf Dragmire.

Ganondorf was indifferent to everything he saw. He did see the wonders but was entirely apathetic to what was happening around him, the sights, myths and variety of life included. The only time he was not strictly looking where he was going was when they passed the giant wolves. Majora liked wolves and seeing ones so much bigger than the kind they bred was no doubt a surprise.

"Are we almost there? These wonders are amazing, but not the purpose of this trip," Brother Majora inquired.

"We are nearly there," Elder confirmed. They entered a rock crevice and before them was a sight that left all openly gaping; even Ganondorf was momentarily fazed. His eyes widened, and his look of cold disdain turned to mind-numbing surprise.

Dragons.

Red ones, black ones, greenish ones, big ones, small ones, ones with massive wings and bodies the size of houses, ones with tiny wings and long bodies like snakes, ones with moderate wings and bodies like massive geckos, ones with horns, ones without horns, were all here. The valley was without trees and massive, easily capable of containing entire cities. This was where the dragons stayed. Though many could fly, they dared not fly out of the valley and too far into the sun. There were nests and eggs, fires where dragons sat comfortably, a lake where they drank and the Fae used as a Grove.

Unlike the other races, the dragons either seemed to not be granted immortality, or they came here to die. There were skeletons in the process of being consumed by nature and were trampled into the ground to feed the soil. What left the Majora gasping further was one dragon skeleton so large its ribs encompassed the entire width and height of the valley and its vertebrae was the size of a fortress wall.

"Welcome to the dragon grove," Elder said.

-Later-

Brother Majora placed a blank mask on the ground, "Here is what you will do. You will pick it up, and you will fight the Lord Fae. Your objective is to embrace your fighting potential, but also to remove the mask on your own after having embraced it. If I think you are holding back, I will deem you unworthy. If your greatest potential proves poor, I will deem you unworthy. If you fail to remove the mask on your own, I will do it myself and you will be deemed unworthy. Again, there is no dishonor in failure. You are warriors worthy of the pride of Majora as it is already. Do your best, prove yourself, and find out for yourself what your absolute limit in mind and body is."

The young men stood ready. Again, Ganondorf was a black sheep. He glared at anyone who came too close.

"You are allowed any weapons you wish, but you fight alone. Who shall be first?"

Without missing a beat, Ganondorf stepped forward. The rest of the young men did not.

"Will no one else step forward as well?" Elder Fae inquired.

A moment passed, Ganondorf growled at him, clearly taking Elder's words as an offense. No one stepped forward. Brother Majora gulped. Elder was uneasy about this. The fear was evident in all their eyes. While he could admire an ambitious, proactive Huma, Ganon showed the dark side of ambition. In his future, Elder saw not a protector and guardian, but a killer and monster. Ganon was a monster set to fight other monsters. While Elder could see the use in it, it was a great risk.

Elder was not looking forward to it. Ganon had already shown to be powerful with Din's fire and Twilight, both of which lethal to a Fae. With the other young men, the duel would be an exercise. With this one... he very well might fight for his life.

"As you wish," Elder said. "When you are ready, take the mask."

Ganondorf snatched a blank mask from Brother Majora's hand and stepped forward. He looked at the mask in his hand, front and back, and with a shooting glare at the Fae, put it on.

-Present-

-Ouki Mitagi-

It was hard to say who charged first, but in one step they both ran at each other. The demon made the earth shake violently and the men closest to the battle, despite being dozens of feet away, were reduced to ash as a great flame swept over them. The demon swiped down with its great swords, and Ouki, rather than blocking it, threw his legs forward, landed on his back, and slid under the demon's great legs. Ouki brought his glaive upon the its legs as he slid by, and to the demon's great surprise, it cut.

The demon roared in pain and stumbled. The glaive left a flaming white cut where it penetrated the dark fire. Ouki stood, only to be blown back as the demon flapped its wings. The wings covered its entire back in flame and Ouki grimaced. He wasn't burned, but it was a close one. His armor was blacked with scorch marks.

The demon turned and brought his sword upon Ouki. Ouki grumbled, "You think yourself so great? Let me show you power."

To the demon's great surprise, Ouki waved up his glaive and deflected the blow. Trees fell around them from the sheer force of it.

"I am Ouki Mitagi! General of the Mitagi family, of the Ki family! The ascendants of the Hero and the Rebel! You think you know strength!? You know nothing!"

As he spoke, Ouki gripped his weapon tight, and it lengthened. The glaive grew longer, thicker, heavier. His arms braced against it. The bracers on his forearms strained and glowed.

"Look familiar, monster?" Ouki asked. "It should. He wielded it when he invaded your realms."

The monster's eyes widened for a single moment. It did recognize the glaive. The recognition and fear turned to fury. Fury turned to strength, and it roared while attacking again. With expertise and inhuman strength, Ouki blocked or evaded every strike. Taking a deep breath, he started to return the favor. His glaive continued to grow in length and width as his grip tightened. White fire exploded from the end of the curved spear and met dark flame blow for blow. The earth under Ouki's feet proceeded to shake more after every hit. His knees buckled, his bones strained, and his muscles screamed for release.

Evading a swipe, Ouki cleaved upwards, cutting the demon lightly in the chest. It staggered back and put a hand to its wound. White fire scarred into its chest.

"So you can feel fear," Ouki popped his neck and flexed his shoulders. "Come then, I'll show you war."

-6 years ago-

-Elder Fae-

Ganondorf Dragmire removed his shirt, planted his swords into the ground on each side of himself, and put the mask on.

He fell to his knees and screamed. The mask glowed in a bright flash along the seams to his face. Elder Fae was prepared for this. The fusion was a painful process. However, what happened next he was not prepared for.

Three golden triangles lit up on his left hand and were brightly followed by a golden fire around his fist. On the other hand, a dark purple pentagon lit up and was followed by purple flames around that fist. The veins in his arms glowed in parallel gold and purple, as if a deep poison was set into them, and traveled until the colors met on his chest. His body was evenly split between gold and dark purple and a dividing line seemed to appear up his sternum.

"What... the..." Brother Majora muttered in open amazement. The young man's screams sounded more painful with every second.

The line on his chest grew bright, and fire exploded out of it in all manner of colors. His bright red hair glowed, lengthened, and burst into open flame. Fire erupted down his back. The white mask on his face grew red and scaly. A mouth developed with long teeth and a gaping maw that screamed in untold agony. The top of the mask cracked near his forehead, and a part fell to reveal an eye on his forehead. The eye was black with a red iris and looked around frantically before settling on the Elder Fae.

The young man roared. Dark flames lit from his skin and wings of pure fire shot from his back. Finally, he stood to his feet, breathing out ferally. He pulled out his swords and flame lit along their edges. After standing solid on his feet, he lowered his stance.

Ganondorf hadn't grown in size, but that was a minor consolation at this point. Elder knew he was in for it now.

Brother Majora put his hand up and stood before the rest of the young men who were now openly terrified of what they saw. As one, they backed up and hid. Ganondorf's attention stayed entirely on the Elder.

"Young man... are you in there?" Elder wondered. "If this is what you are deep down... I see why he claims you have anger issues."

Ganondorf roared and charged. Elder slammed a wooden arm into the ground, collected a rocky armor, and raised it up to block Ganondorf's fiery attack. The rock armor shattered and Elder was thrown to the side.

Elder quickly raised himself, threw himself back into the valley wall, and collected large amounts of stone into both arms. With a monstrous roar, Ganondorf jumped forwards and brought fire down on the Fae. Elder met Ganondorf's fire with punches of hardened stone. He slugged Ganondorf in the face and chest, but it seemed to do little more than faze him. Ganondorf returned the blows with his own from his swords. Quickly getting aggravated, he leaped onto Elder's back. Fire billowed from his mouth into the Fae's wooden shell.

"I get the impression you aren't even trying to learn self-restraint!" Elder said. He extended a hand long, grabbed Ganon, and threw him to the ground before landing another rock punch that shook the land beneath them.

-Present-

-Ouki Mitagi-

Ouki did not know how long the battle went on. The demon had seemingly an infinite amount of fire and stamina, though it lacked patience. He, on the other hand, was quickly becoming exhausted. His artifacts were at their limit. He would have to win this quickly. This creature was far stronger than Harken in the long run.

Evading another swing, Ouki swept his spear and cut into the creature's other leg. The demon stumbled and fell to its hands and knees. Now both legs were cut. It roared at him. With a great sweep of its wings, it lifted itself into the air.

At first Ouki thought it was trying to readjust itself, or escape, but he dismissed this. It was planning something. It was too singular focused on killing to think of fleeing. The demon had no protective instincts.

"What are you doing?" Ouki panted.

Higher and higher the demon pulled itself into the air. It took time, but the demon managed to lift itself into the sky. Higher than the hills and higher than the nearby mountains, it rose. It soon reached even the clouds.

Then it plummeted.

Ouki's eyes widened. He had seen from a distance the last time the demon tried something like this while chasing some quarry through the forest. No one could have missed it lift above the trees and slam back down, causing a giant quake and wave of fire. If it dropped from as high as the clouds...

The Qin still brave enough to be in shouting distance turned and fled. The only one left in sight was Ouki's protégé. The Englishman looked up as the demon fell towards them.

"Sir... It's been an honor."

"Of course, it has been. Who wouldn't be honored to serve me?" Ouki wondered. He put a hand on his knees and forced his tired body up straight. "But it is far too early to think our journey is over, old friend." The Englishman chuckled.

Ouki breathed out. He popped his neck, flexed his shoulders, adjusted his bracer, and then started aiming his spear.

The Englishman stuttered, "Sir, you can't possibly-!"

Ouki yelled and, with what was left of his strength, threw the spear into the air. It flew like an arrow high into the night and met the falling demon. Between the demon's great fall and the spear's rise, the spear penetrated tough skin and exoskeleton and impaled the demon. The demon was knocked back and flipped in the air. No longer aiming for a quick fall, it slowed enough that when it finally hit the earth a distance away, there was a great shaking instead of an earth-shattering quake. Trees collapsed around them and fire exploded into the air and across the earth in every direction.

-6 years ago-

-Elder Fae-

Ganondorf Dragmire was proving to be perhaps the most difficult opponent this Fae had ever met. Elder had fought dragons in his time, great monsters, even tangled with legends. But this young man's single-minded ferocity, utter lack of regard for defense or pain, and all-encompassing fire threatened to kill the Fae the moment he let his guard down. Together, he left Elder with the fight of his life.

The fight had been going on for nearly a half-hour already and, from what the Elder knew of Huma standards, most fights lasted mere minutes when fighters pushed to their limits. With each moment the young man only seemed to grow stronger. The more he fought, the more intense his flames grew. The more he learned and grew into the mindset of battle, the faster he moved, the quicker he adapted, and the more cunning his methods became.

Elder had enough. If the young man would not overcome himself and remove the mask while within this mindset of his own power, then Elder would have to do it himself. There was no way in the world Brother Majora would be able to manage it. And if the Elder were to be perfectly honest with himself... he sympathized with Ganondorf.

Ganondorf's anger alone was inhuman in its intensity and his soul was tainted by something clearly beyond him. Elder had not been blind to the forces at work in Ganondorf's body and what he had become. He had seen the baby at a glance and remembered the single triangle on its hand, but now the mask had unleashed and revealed something more.

The boy not only had the Triforce of the Triple Goddess, but also the pentagon of the Twilight Pantheon.

There was simply no way in any realm the boy would be able to overcome so many forces fighting over him at once. To that effect, the conflict gave birth to this... he was an archon: a living embodiment of chaos, conflict, war, and destruction.

Elder Fae left his crumbling body behind just before it fell and flew into the valley wall. Ganondorf Dragmire paused in confusion and paced, looking for his prey like a wild animal. Elder had no intention of staying gone long. He fashioned for himself a new construct, this time of the hardest stones pulled from the earth. He fell on top of the young man and knocked him down. He gripped the swords in Ganondorf's hands and encased them in his stone. Ganon yelled against the grip and shot out great flames upon both of Elder's hands and body. Elder's body started darkening into metal under the intense flame and, as Elder ripped the swords from the boy's grip and tossed them, the stone encased around the swords finished hardening to a black steel.

Elder looked down to see the boy gone and a quick survey found him lifted into the air just above Elder. Flame flew from his hands in a steady stream, pushing against Elder. Elder pushed back, walking through it, and shot a hand through it, knocking the young man in the head. Having his consciousness briefly shaken, the boy plummeted from the sky and into the Fae Grove pool.

What happened next, would scar the Elder for the rest of his days.

The forces at work in Ganon's body conflicted with the energies of the Fae pool. The healing energies and properties of the Fae were evil to what he had become and where others would find healing, he was tortured as if dropped in acid. The pool bubbled in intense heat and somehow, despite being under the water, the young man's painful screams could be clearly heard by everyone. The Fae fled the pool where they hid from battle. Dragons fled and hid. Even the surrounding forests quieted in fear of the terrible sound. It was not a sound merely in the air but echoed within the soul.

Ganon thrashed and attacked the water itself, fighting everything and nothing at once because he didn't know how to stop the pain. It was unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. Flames pushed back against the water but were quenched. His skin tore and from the tears seeped something akin to black ink. The blackness spread into the water, coloring it, and before long... filled it.

Elder looked down into what was once a beautiful Fae Grove. It was now turned into a black mire. It smelled of corruption as dark as Twilight and twisted like the chaos between realms. What thoughts he had gazing down into it, none could guess.

The bubbling stopped as Ganondorf ceased thrashing and the black mire stilled.

Elder leaped into the black mire and pulled Ganondorf Dragmire out. He threw him onto the side of the pool. Ganondorf curled over and vomited out the blackness in his throat before falling on his back. The mask crumbled from his face, shattered to pieces.

"Wha... Where?" Ganondorf wondered weakly.

"So you can speak. You don't remember where you are?" Elder inquired while looking down at him. "You don't remember what has happened?

"I... No. Yes. Feels like... bad dream. So... tired," Ganondorf Dragmire closed his eyes and fell asleep.

-Present-

-Ouki Mitagi-

Ouki slowly stumbled his way into the burnt clearing where the demon fell. The body could be plainly seen amid the scorched earth. Nothing was left alive in the enormous radius around it. His spear could be plainly seen lodged in its torso. The demon's fire was extinguished and it did not move.

"Damn, beast," Ouki muttered. The Qin surrounded its body and aimed spears, bows, and swords upon it, just in case. Ouki climbed on top of its chest and pulled his spear out.

The moment he did so, the body collapsed into ashes. Ouki fell to the ground. The men eyed each other fearfully, unsure of what this meant. However, nothing happened, so all was well. Ouki sighed, shook the ashes out of his hair, patted himself off, and stood.

In the midst of the ashes laid Ganondorf Dragmire: unconscious and alive. He looked exhausted and sick, like his skin had dried out.

The men gasped. Ouki grit his teeth angrily and fury rivaled perhaps only by a Dragmire filled his eyes. "You..." He seethed. "Take him away! Chain him up! Put this traitor under heavy guard! I want him taken back to the Mitagi to be placed on judgement!"