When he touched the Triforce, time shattered, and the world shattered with it.

That first wish felt like lifetimes ago.

Ganondorf sat in one of the windows cut into the thick stone of the tower and watched the sun set over the sea. No wind touched the sultry waves, and he cooled himself with a folding fan he had acquired from a trading ship far to the south. In a world without candles, the last light of the day was precious, but he could not concentrate.

He had locked the princess inside a cell, and she had been screaming for hours. At first this comforted him; he would have been worried if she had suddenly fallen silent. Now her constant racket was simply annoying. Even a caged animal will eventually lose its will to fight, but the girl showed no signs of calming down. She would need to be fed, but he didn't trust her not to hurt the Bokoblins he had assigned to the task. He snapped his fan shut and stepped down from the windowsill. He would have to deal with her himself.

The tower's passageways had become dark, and he lit the wall torches as he passed. The magic was so ingrained that he almost didn't have to think about it. After so many years, invoking fire had become a meaningless act to calm his mind. One of the princesses had created ice when she was agitated, flipping the small crystals between her gloved fingers. It took him a moment to remember which princess that had been.

"Finally!" she screamed as he climbed down the stairs into the area where he had ordered the girl to be confined.

She watched him while he removed a chair from its position against the wall and placed it in front of her cell, her eyes growing wide as he lit the coals of the standing braziers with a snap of his fingers. He sat down, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited for her to continue her tirade, but she seemed to be at a loss for words now that he was finally in front of her.

"Aren't... aren't you going to tell me why you brought me here?" she finally asked.

Ganondorf shook his head. "It's not necessary. Your existence is an accident. When the hero arrives and the Triforce is reunited, I will rewind the clockwork of this cursed world, and it will be as if you had never been born. I need not waste my breath explaining myself to you."

The princess twisted her mouth into a mockery of a smile. "I get it now! You're going to destroy the world. And you plan on killing me too! Just own up to it."

Ganondorf closed his eyes and shrugged. From her perspective, what she had said was not wrong.

Something soft struck him in the face. He blinked and lifted one of the princess's gloves from where it had fallen at his collar. It was filthy, stained with the rust and grime of her cell. She had obviously done her best to escape, perhaps using the length of fabric as leverage.

He looked at her, and she glared back at him.

"Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you, you cocksucking asswipe!"

He started. Although any number of princesses had been angry with him before, none had ever used such a foul manner of address. He noticed for the first time that she had taken off her crown, tangling her hair in the process. Her dress hung strangely askew on her body, as if she had tried and failed to remove it.

"Guys like you have some sort of inferiority complex, right? You always need to feel like you're the boss. Is that why you kidnap girls? Because they're the only people who're afraid of you? Or do you have some sort of fetish? Anyone can tell you're a dirty old man just by looking at your stupid face!"

He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Her attempts to provoke him were childish.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Too young for you, grandpa!"

"Obviously."

"Want me to put on a show?" She leered at him and wiggled her hips.

"That is enough!" He stood and took a few steps forward. His shadow fell across her face as he loomed over her. Gods help him, she actually did seem frightened.

"What I want is for you to sit quietly and behave until I figure out what to do with you!"

He took a moment to calm himself. "You can't stay in this cell," he said in a lower voice.

"You know what, I'm comfortable here," she muttered. "I think I'll stay right where I am. You don't have to figure out anything, isn't that nice?"

"If I leave you here, you will escape, and then I'll have to hunt you down again. I've had enough trouble for one day without having to stay up all night chasing you."

"I can see how an old man like you needs his beauty sleep."

He didn't answer her.

"Okay, I'm not sure I'm following," she began again. "You brought me here, but you still need to figure out what to do with me? Wasn't kidnapping me your plan?"

"It's not that simple. You are a single cog in a much larger machine."

"Um, yeah. I don't care. Do you have any food?"

"That's why I came. Until I have you transferred to different quarters, I'm going to ask you not to harm any of the people who work for me."

"The... people?"

"You will not stab them with your utensils or with any broken glass. They are under strict orders not to harm you, and while you are under my protection they are obligated not to fight you. Even if you do escape, you have nowhere to run. The ocean currents around this tower are murderous, and you would drown if you were to try to swim away."

"And..." Ganondorf paused, considered his words, and continued, "Do not throw your food. It is beneath your dignity."

The girl slammed her fists against the bars. "You can take your stupid dignity and shove it!"

She let loose a hail of abuse, and Ganondorf realized their conversation was over. He returned the chair to the wall and left the room as her diatribe followed him up the stairs. How could this foul-mouthed girl possibly be the right person? Had he made some sort of mistake?

If nothing else, he couldn't help but admire the strength of her resistance. He supposed he had once been like her, although he barely remembered it. Time had grown strange for him, with only a few memories rising like lighthouses from a chaotic and threatening sea.