[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/221005/7d7c778891f3387ab231a2bbd26f2d1e.png[/img]
[H3][u]The Under ~ Mercy Dreams[/u][/h3]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 1,144
[b]Level 5 Ganondorf:[/b] 46/50
[b]Exp:[/b] 2
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 48/50[/center]

More mind flayers, essentially the same as the ones that inhabited the cathedral up on the surface level. At least they looked that way to Ganondorf. It was all the same to him really. It just meant he already had a decent idea of how to take these squid-faces down. To that end he decided to forgo his twin blades for the time being. He recalled that these things fired soul rays as a ranged attack and decided it was better to use the Ikana Shield as a means to block those rays long enough for him to close the distance and put himself in striking range. Once this was done he cut down whatever mind flayers he could, utilizing the white sword in combination with his Ikana Shield.

When at last it seemed the mind flayers had been dealt with, Ganondorf sheathed the white sword and once again hung the shield up onto his back. When the Koopa Troop were beginning to make their way back into the area Ganondorf had entered from, he moved to follow them. But he stopped in his tracks when he heard something.

[color=lightyellow]”...ster!”[/color]

It sounded faint, barely audible. Ganondorf turned his focus back toward the deeper sections of the prison and practically had to strain himself to make out what he was hearing.

[color=lightyellow]”Master!”[/color]

And without sending any kind of message or signal to the Koopas, the Gerudo King began to silently make his way deeper into the prison, rather than follow his allies. He kept listening intently for whatever it was that was calling. [color=lightyellow]”Master!”[/color] He would occasionally hear the faint cry, [color=lightyellow]”I am here, Master!”[/color] As Ganondorf ventured deeper into Mercy Dreams, he began to notice the calling voice becoming clearer bit by bit - a sign that meant he was going in the right direction.

Ganondorf found himself taking twists and turns in the prison. Occasionally he would encounter a mind flayer and have to defeat it. And each time he had to focus his senses and try to hear the voice again in order to once again pick up the trail. After a while the voice calling out to him became a bit more clear. Then, after taking a few more turns it became clearer and clearer with each step. That meant that Ganondorf had to be very close. Despite how much louder and clearer the voice got, at no point did it ever lose its distorted nature. Was this work of some kind of ghost or spirit? Ganondorf couldn’t say, but at this point he was curious enough to find out either way. Equally perplexing was how this voice seemed to know him, yet was completely unfamiliar to the Gerudo King.

At last, Ganondorf stood before the door of a cell. It was locked tight, and it didn’t look possible to break open either. Whether this was by architectural design or magical design, he didn’t know. But it seemed clear to him that whoever was calling out was beyond the door, so did that mean they were an inmate in this prison?

[color=lightyellow]”Ah, my master, you are here.”[/color] Came the voice from beyond the door. What little view of the inside was obscured by shadow. It was impossible to make out any discernible figure within the cell, it seemed. [color=lightyellow]”I am your servant, of course.”[/color]

[color=797979]”Who are you?”[/color] Ganondorf demanded, [color=797979]”You seem to know me, and yet I know nothing about you.”[/color]

[color=lightyellow]”But I am your tool, your sword!”[/color] retorted the mysterious voice, [color=lightyellow]”How comes it then, that my own master does not recognize me?”[/color] There was almost a hint of lament in their tone. And then, [color=lightyellow]”Ah, what’s this? Where is your usual glorious aura, Master? Surely your power has not, dare I say it, waned?”[/color]

Ganondorf scowled despite not being face to face with whomever this is, [color=797979]”You best think carefully about the next words you speak. I will not have my power questioned or challenged by a faceless wretch in a prison cell.”[/color]

[color=lightyellow]”I dare not offend you, Master. Naturally.”[/color] the voice responded with assurance, [color=lightyellow]”Ah, that must be it. If both your memory and powers are not as I recall them… A great shame then that you have been reduced to this, a mere shadow of your true self.”[/color]

Ganondorf’s first instinct was to lash out and retaliate. But something they said managed to perk his ear, [color=797979]”A ‘shadow’ you say?”[/color] Ganondorf glanced down at the Triforce that branded his right hand. It was indeed true that he had not yet reclaimed his full power. But this stranger seemed to be hinting at even greater power still, and that thoroughly intrigued him, [color=797979]”Explain!”[/color]

[color=lightyellow]”I’m afraid I can’t explain to you, for certain.”[/color] the strange voice admitted, [color=lightyellow]”But if my memory serves me, then this state you are in can only have resulted from your defeat.”[/color]

[color=797979]”Fool! I have suffered no defeat!”[/color] Ganondorf snapped back angrily. Clearly this wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, [color=797979]”If you know nothing then I won’t waste anymore of my time with you.”[/color] At this Ganondorf began to walk away from the cell door.

[color=lightyellow]”Wait, Master!”[/color] the voice called out, [color=lightyellow]”Remember who you are! And you will surely find a way to restore what was taken from you!”[/color] but the voice received no reply from Ganondorf, who continued to walk away.

[color=lightyellow]”Remember!”[/color] it echoed as it faded away.

[color=797979]”Hmph!”[/color] Ganondorf huffed as he continued walking, [color=797979]”Defeated? I think not.”[/color] But as much as the Gerudo King denied it to himself, he couldn’t ignore what the voice had been telling him. His mind went to at least one major defeat he had suffered, Galeem. But surely that couldn’t be it! Ganondorf felt more or less as he was the day he stood against that would-be god. That strange voice seemed convinced that greater power still was sleeping somewhere deep down.

It was at that point that his mind recalled the shrine he had been in alongside Rubick. A place that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. A sensation that echoed in the voice he had been conversing with. Something about all of this made him uneasy, not that he would ever admit as such outloud. These shadows and echoes of places and people from his home world clearly seemed to hint at things that he himself had never been aware of. Just more of a mystery he would have to make a point of solving after the Galeem problem had been properly dealt with.

[color=797979]”Even if it is true,”[/color] Ganondorf told himself as he made his way to try and regroup with Koopa Troop, [color=797979]”It just means that I have a lead on even greater power that I can claim for myself.”[/color]