The final chapter in the theme.

BALANCE

Chapter 3: The Power of the Weak

It has been said that the power of death is intoxicating. With the blood of the two people who had a chance of ending him on his hands, Ganondorf was positively drunk. He laughed and enjoyed the echo of the laughter off the cavernous throne room. The scent of blood filled his nostrils, everywhere in the air. The room was like an abattoir. Ganondorf had turned Hyrule Castle's throne room, once a somewhat sacred spot, into a place to slaughter poor dumb beasts.

He looked down at the halves of Link. Ganondorf had killed many Hylians, but he never took the time to notice them in death. He had no idea they had so much blood in their bodies. He'd force Zelda's castle servants to clean the floor. He looked forward to watching the agony on their faces over cleaning up the fluids of their friends. It was always interesting when people died with their eyes open. It made them look unreal, like dolls.

"Some Hero," he laughed, kicking over Link's torso. The young man's eyes rolled to affix their dead gaze onto the place where the corpse of the princess lay.

Ganondorf would call in some of his hungrier beasts to feast on the remains later. Moblins liked Hylian flesh and bones. The King of Evil liked the thought that he had the power to deny his fellow Bearers even a grave. Ganondorf reached down to grab the Master Sword from the floor. He recoiled when an arc of energy swirled around the blade and the hilt and shocked him. So the legend was true – he was unable to touch it.

It did not matter. He was now unchallenged and unstoppable. No one would dare stand against his power.

Or so he'd thought.

The Hylians, the Zoras, the Gorons… even the Fairies… he'd thought of them as weak peoples. He'd thought of them as dumb, sniveling beasts that would cower unconditionally before him. He'd underestimated the power of the weak.

There were many uprisings. It seems that the people of Hyrule did not need their Hero to inspire them to bravery – or perhaps they'd just been inspired by his ultimate sacrifice. Many gave their lives for freedom before Ganondorf decided that granting the land a measure of freedom was what gave him true power.

Courage and Wisdom had balanced him out and made him whole. He was unafraid to give away a little power to get what he wished to be done accomplished. He was wise enough now to know how the gears of politics and the social psychology of Hyrule worked. If he gave a little bit, he could take a lot. If he just took, those revolutions were sparked and he constantly had to beat them back to assert his power.

Ganondorf decided that Bearers were as much an influence on the Triforce as the Triforce was an influence on them. He'd always been a man of raw, wild power. He took great pride in his strength and in the power of his abilities. Also, in the end, he was a politician at heart. Still, with the Balance, he had a small measure of the boy's courage and of the princess' wisdom. It was just enough.

It was enough to show him how weak he'd truly been before that battle, before he'd severed the Link that bound them all, and took all into one. He'd gained the Power of a god, yet his heart was too weak to carry it. He could wield that power in its raw form, but without temperance, it had taken over his heart. He'd had all the power that Din had chosen to leave the world, yet he'd lusted for more. It was never enough.

If it had gone on like that, there would be no one left in the world but him. He would have destroyed everything, including his own Gerudo people, and he would have been left alone. Once he'd held the power of control, he would have lusted for the power of death. He did not know if that, even, was the ultimate expression of power. Ganondorf had no idea if this lust was born from his own heart, or if it was born from the unbalanced Triforce piece.

He'd heard that all three pieces together could grant wishes. Ganondorf had wanted power. Perhaps it was the granting of his wish that gave him the courage and the wisdom of a balanced heart. He was strong now, no longer enslaved by that all-consuming drive. He now had the power to be "weak."

He had been strong, but his heart had been weak. It was that way no longer. Ganondorf's name was still spoken in whispers among Hyrule's peoples. They all knew perfectly well what he was capable of. He was formidable, and just as powerful as he ever was, if not more so. However, he was ruling the kingdom with balance now.

The land was far from a paradise, but there was a special kind of harmony present in it now. Perhaps now, there was no need for a Princess, or for a Hero, but only for a King with a precariously balanced heart. The smallest thing could tip the balance, but for now, Ganondorf was what the people had. Many wondered what would have happened had the Princess or the Hero gained the entirety of the Triforce and was made able to fill the land with their good wishes. For now, they had a dark king who did the "good" things only for the sake of maintaining the clockworks, rather than out of compassion. Perhaps this was no better than they could have asked for.

End.

Shadsie 2008

Endnotes: This idea came to me while reading bits and pieces of the licensed Ocarina of Time manga online. I'm not yet quite done playing through the game for the first time as of this writing. However, this was meant to fit into "any generic Zeldaverse." I've taken my own liberties with this story, as can be seen. I tried to make Ganondorf introspective without making him a "woobie." I'd hoped for him to come across as a dark/evil man who just happens to be running his newly-gained country with policies that are mostly favorable to the people because it's simply the logical thing to do for someone who wants to maintain his political position. Thanks to the Balance, he can finally see that. I'm hoping that he comes across just as formidable and as a being of "raw power" as he is in the various games, even though I've given his archetype a twist.