Rise of Ruin

Iridian nodded, all of this had left him in a state of rather numb shock, but he understood the urgency. He paused for only a moment, kneeling down beside Avis. "I don't know if you can hear me, Rag Doll...but I'm here, and I'm going to fix this. Just hang in there for me. You still haven't given me a nickname yet, after all." He smiled sadly and pressed his lips to hers, not letting the fact that she was scattered put him off from showing her he cared. He hoped that it would help her be strong. He rose after his lips parted and turned away, running as fast as he could in the direction of the closest soul shard.

Avis' soul slept quietly, unresponsive to Iridian's affectionate touch, and to his words. However, the streams did seem to thin out, whether by Gayle's intervention or otherwise, that remained to be seen.

The land seemed to shift slowly, enough so that Iridian could make each gap with minor difficulty, of course, at times there were moments in which he had to do more than just run, such as climb.

Iridian was fit and strong, and he was glad that it translated into Avis' mindscape. He was really surprised at how relatively easy it had all been, sure he was a little out of breath, but he had the pieces, and now he could get them to Avis' main apparition and everything could be all right. He would have almost smiled at the irony his nickname had for her now. Here he was racing back to his Rag Doll, to patch her and make her whole again.

Though the pieces set in easily and fit together perfectly, it was clear that they were not coming together as they should. Avis' soul lay still, the light of her soul dimming. Avis' mind, though seemingly asleep, could tell what was going on around her, inside the scape. Iridian had worked so hard for her, and yet...to what end? All she was was a toy for him, was she not? Certainly, he made it clear that they were friends, but...she had clung for a time to the thought that, perhaps, he truly did care for her, truly loved her...but he would be gone before long, and she would be alone again...ugly and loveless...she doubted that would change were she restored...and the streams of her life began to speed and thicken at her sadness.

Iridian was relieved when he had put her back together at last and he thought that everything would be fine. Gayle had told him this was what he needed to do, but instead of seeing her strengthen with the return of her pieces she seemed to get worse all at once and he felt his heart rise in his throat. "Gayle, what's going on?! Why isn't it working?" he said, some panic in his voice and he gripped her hand. "Don't you do this, Rag Doll, do you hear me?! Don't you die on me!"

There was no response from Gayle. As much as she desired to, all of her energy was being poured into keeping Avis together, and it was all that she could do to prevent Avis from dispersing completely.

Avis, poor, little Avis. Now nothing more than a doll, her soul lay still, fading away slowly. Her eyes, closed yet, seemed to shift faintly, as if in pain. What seemed like tears rolled down her cheeks, fading away as quickly as they came. How she wanted to stay alive, but all that she had to look forward to was a battle with some of the strongest, most evil forces in the world, and then back to her life of scorn and loneliness, watching faceless strangers stop by her carpet, maybe buy a thing or two, and then leave as quickly as they came as soon as they saw her face.

Even if she was restored, all that she would get from Iridian is more jokes and various romps...nothing genuinely loving. And why would he love her? She was an ugly, simple girl. There were far prettier, smarter, and perhaps even better fish in the sea.

"Come on...Avis, you're tougher than this...you can do it, I know you can." he said gripping her small hand tightly in both of his. "Think of how your friends need you, what will happen to everyone else if you give up now. You need to be strong for them...and for me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you now...and think of my Mother...she'll never forgive you if you go now, just when you were making an honest man of me." he said, gripping her hand slightly tighter. "I've never been so scared of anything more than the thought of losing you now...please Avis...I don't want to go a day without you...ever.."

At first, it did not seem like it was working, and yet...something did seem to change. The realm slowly started to pull itself together, seamlessly fitting together, the lights settling over the land like a fine mist. The streams leaving Avis finally slowed, pulling to a stop, just hanging about, and it seemed like Avis might recover, but she wasn't pulled together just yet.

How desperately he wanted her to remain...she wondered...had he really grown to care for her so? Could she be certain..?

Iridian noticed that things had seemed to start to mend but Avis still wasn't waking up, still wasn't responding to him, and he wouldn't be content with what he was seeing until he was looking into her eyes again. "That's it...there's my little rag doll...just hold on." he said, pulling her still soul into his arms and holding her close. "Everything's going to be all right, Avis...I'll be right there when you wake up...my sweet little love.."

Love...he had called her his love...she felt his warmth as she lay in his arms, and finally, all seemed right as the pieces began to sink in, the pieces once lost now starting to be drawn back towards her, sinking into her body. The light of her soul, once dim, now began to shine, almost blindingly bright before settling down to a proper, beautiful glow, her soul once again complete, truly for the first time since she was a little girl. Her soul, once starting to cool, was now warm, her life spared. Slowly, her eyes opened, dimly at first, then finally all the way as she looked up at him. "Iridian..."

Iridian cradled her in his arms and met her beautiful eyes softly, looking down at her pretty face. His eyes were soft as he met her gorgeous eyes and he smiled softly, genuine care in his gaze as he saw her wake. "There's my sweet Rag doll.." he murmured and he leaned down, kissing her warm and tender and holding her close.

Avis felt his kiss, closing her eyes as her arms wrapped around him in turn, feeling such indescribable joy in her heart. The glow once again intensified, the entire area turning a bright white before it all seemed to fade, replaced by another glow.

Iridian had been returned to the waking world, only to find that Avis was now seemingly on fire. A powerful blaze had erupted from the back of her left hand, coating her entire body completely, and yet, she wasn't burning. Gayle had been startled by it when it first happened, and now, she was watching in fascination as the scars on her body, marked by purest black amidst the flames began to shrivel up, vanishing into puffs of smoke as the flames mystically seared off the damaged skin, replacing it with skin smooth and flawless as a newborn infant's.

Iridian had jumped, both fro the shock of suddenly being back in his body, and then the sight of the girl he had just pledged himself to being completely ablaze, a moment of panic had gone through him until he saw that she wasn't really 'burning' and then he saw her scars being charred away, replaced with normal skin. He'd always thought she was a pretty woman beneath all those scars but now....good goddesses was she gorgeous. He just sort of stared in disbelief, unable to believe just how much had happened in just a short time. How long had he and Avis been suspended there?

What had to have been mere minutes was only about an hour, more than enough time for Mardian and Farei to have arrived to witness the latest spectacle themselves. It wasn't long before the flames finally dispersed, everything that made her feel ugly gone. Her body was unblemished, and her mind was clear as a crystal.

Slowly her eyes opened, the once dull emerald now shining as bright as a star as she sat up, looking around softly.

Farei made a sort of gasping noise when she saw Avis in flames and gripped Mardian's arm tightly. It appeared Iridian had just been sitting there, out of it, but now he seemed to be just as shocked as she was. It wasn't until the flames died and Avis started to move that she remembered to breathe but something was obviously different about the young woman. The scars were gone. Completely gone. "Wha...what happened..?"

Mardian had jerked when he saw Avis burst into flames, his first instinct to try to smother them, but when Farei gripped his arm and he saw that the flames weren't actually burning her he stared just as numbly as the rest.

Iridian took a moment once Avis had sat up to get over what had just happened as well, though he wasn't exactly focused on answering Farei's question. He didn't know the whole answer anyway. All that mattered at the moment was the restored woman on the bed in front of him. "Goddesses Avis you just about gave everyone in the room a coronary." said Iridian with a relieved smile. "Gayle didn't tell me that we were fixing you inside and out. I guess I can't call you rag doll anymore, can I?" he said. "Nice bonus that it is, don't you ever do that to me again." he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.

Still dazed, more so after that hefty kiss that Iridian had given her, Avis was confused at what he was talking about...until Gayle palmed a mirror into her hand. She took one look at it, gasping in shock and disbelief. Her fingers, trembling, slid across her smooth cheeks, her scars completely gone. She couldn't even feel them beneath the fabric of her clothing. All of them...every last single scar that dotted her frame...they were all gone...

"What did happen, I wonder?" Gayle mused, taking a hold of her wrist, looking at the back of her hand. "It seems that Din's portion of the Triforce chose to lend a hand..."

"The Triforce can do that?" Link asked, incredulously.

"The power of the gods is still a mysterious thing...who's to say what it can do? Perhaps, much like how Din cultivated the red earth, she was able to do something similar with Avis' body."

"Gayle...what happened? What caused that break?" Avis asked.

Gayle fell silent. "Avis...for the longest time...you have unknowingly served as a vessel...a host for Ganondorf's soul."

Avis looked stunned, and her face turned green, ill at the thought of having such a hated creature inside of her.

"I do not know why he was inside of you, or what he has done...but when he woke, your body was unable to handle the stress of his tremendous evil. He is gone now, so you should be all right...I can't imagine why he would leave the Triforce of Power with you...him being inside you must have given it to you in the first place."

Iridian had turned a bit pale at that revelation as well as his mind went to another implication. "Does that mean that he was conscious and sentient for Avis' every waking moment?" he asked quietly.

"If he had, Avis would most certainly have broken sooner," Gayle replied. "As I had said, he had just woken. He has been sleeping...but for how long, I do not know. And, as I have said, I do not know why."

Iridian seemed considerably relieved at this news. Given his relationship with Avis the idea of a creepy old evil man being an active participant in their *ahem* activities together was almost enough to make him retch. Gayle had assured them that Ganon was gone now, so he supposed that was that. He pulled Avis into his arms and held her gently. "Easy babe...everything is going to be fine now." he said.

Mardian noticed a bit of a change in the way that Iridian was conducting himself with Avis. Outwardly it didn't seem like too much, he supposed, but the way he looked at her was different....

Avis, of course, was less reassured. Ganondorf had still been inside of her. He had still resided in her body...and given that Link had killed him two years ago, it had to have been somewhere in that period that he had first inhabited her. Tears filled her eyes, and she felt her stomach lurch. She wouldn't break...but she was filling ill at the thought, and she could not push them away.

"How do we know that Ganondorf still isn't hiding somewhere around here?" Link asked, wondering if, maybe, he was back inside Avis, and just biding his time, masking his power.

"When he woke, I was able to put a lock on him. He may still be formidable...but without the Triforce of Power, he is a lesser threat than he usually is. He will not be able to come near without us being prepared for it."

"I never figured that the triforce of power would be an extricable part of Ganondorf to be left behind." said Mardian with a faint frown, a bit concerned about the development himself.

"Well, if Gayle says he's out and that she's traced his disappearance, I reckon he has to be. I doubt he had time to think of much if Avis' breakdown was him waking up. Though what triggered that I really don't understand either." he said. "One minute we're just having a good time, the next she's on the floor screaming." The event had still shaken him some and he had been very scared to lose her. He wrapped his arm around her gently and held her against his side. "In any case, I think she's had more than enough stress for one day, so is it possible to just drop this for now? If he's not still here there's no reason to bear the subject down on her while she's still so shaken up and weak from what happened. Iridian's concern was clearly genuine and he was starting to act more like a responsible, dedicated lover already. He was doing his best to shelter Avis and think of what was best for her, and not so much how he could please her enough to be accommodating to his needs.

Mardian glanced at his brother. "I think you're right Iridian." he said, leaving out the 'for once' that was nearly on the tip of his tongue. He was surprised to hear Iridian being defensive of something other than his lifestyle or anything that wasn't his concern for personal entertainment and that was a refreshing thing to see in him. Mardian hoped to see more of that as time went on. "You should get some rest and try not to dwell on it for now, I think. Everything else right now is speculation."

"Avis, you are of course welcome to remain in this room while you recover."

"N...no...I think...I'd prefer my room...if that's all right..."

Gayle nodded softly, understanding that the young woman might prefer the comfort of some of her belongings and her own warmth.

"I...Iridian? Could you take me there..?" Avis asked, feeling as if her legs might be jelly, and in need of some comforting assistance.

"Yeah, Babe, I can do that for you." he said quietly, gently scooping her up in his strong arms and cradling her shelteringly against his strong chest. "You just rest yourself now....everything is going to be all right." he murmured, kissing her forehead and carrying her past Mardian and Farei as they looked on. He was worried about Avis, all that she'd suddenly been through....it had terrified him. He was so grateful that she'd been able to pull herself together again at last, and he knew he couldn't afford to screw up with her again...not if what had happened just then was any indication of what could happen in the future. He'd had women hung up on him before but that....that had been extreme...

~

Mardian watched his brother go with Avis, looking puzzled over everything that had just happened, including Iridian's behavior. Was he really and truly turning over a new leaf, or was he just behaving for now because Avis was in such a fragile mental state? He wished he could believe with all certainty that it was the former...but given his already tainted history thus far he was worried it was going to end up being the latter. He laced his arm around Farei, drawing her closer against his side.

Avis rested her head against Iridian's chest, her hand clutching his warm tunic. She trembled, thinking over what she had just learned...she found herself more disturbed by the fact that Ganondorf had been residing in her body for quite some time than her near death. She felt...so filthy, thinking about the demon that had lurked within her...who knows what else he had done whilst her body housed his soul? It scared her and made her ill.

~

Link watched, dumbstruck as he thought over the revelations presented to them. Particularly about Ganondorf...it was clear that Ganondorf had, in a way, survived the battle two years ago. It explained why he'd felt uneasy around Avis, and most likely why she'd had the Triforce of Power...what was odd though was that Ganondorf had left it behind.