The Legend of Zelda: Wisdom and Courage

Chapter 24: The Only Way

They had decided to spend the night in the Temple of Time. Neither of them had scarcely spoken a word for the past several hours, but at a time like this, words were not needed. They both well understood their respective grief and suffering. In fact, the most talking either one of them had done since their reunion was a brief argument that arose from Zelda wanting to bandage Link's injured wrist for him, but he quickly refused, knowing that she would see the chains still around it and immediately hound him with questions about it, questions that he certainly didn't feel like answering at a time like this. And so, the two of them simply settled down for the night, falling into fitful slumbers within the ancient structure and holding onto each other for protection and comfort all the while.

But even despite the fact that she was held securely in her hero's arms, Zelda didn't sleep for most of the night. Her mind was on a million things at once, and none of them would let her see enough peace to rest. And so, after about an hour of trying in vain to go to sleep, the princess busied herself with other activates to get her mind off of everything: braiding her messy hair, practicing her aim with the Bow of Light outside of the temple, strumming a few notes of her harp. But even so, she was still restless. Never before had she felt so empty and so full at the same time. It was as though the strong lingering pain of Impa's death would never leave her, even despite the momentary comfort that being with Link again had brought her. And so, to try and clear her thoughts, Zelda took a walk around the decimated town, looking to see if anything had survived at all, but mostly hoping to find a way to get rid of her deeply rooted pain.

As Zelda walked through the decimated town, she allowed her stray tears to stream down her cheeks as she let her mind think of Impa once more, and not just the Sheikah guardian's cruel demise alone. Looking around the remains of what had once been Hyrule's glorious capital, she thought of how quickly her kingdom had fallen from glory and into darkness. As she looked towards the place where the castle's pristine towers had once stood, she saw nothing, reminding her of the fact that her home, the very place she had grown up in, was now gone, never to be replaced. Whenever she glanced up into the dark blood-red skies above, the cruel reality of how her world was nearly shattered sunk in deeper and deeper. Almost everywhere she looked, there were reminders of how everything she had once known and loved had been either stolen from her or destroyed. And it was at that moment that the princess stopped crying, for her tears could no longer come. She had moved beyond grief now, and had hit the lowest of the low, to the point that even her heartache and pain seemed numb and distant now. She could hardly feel anything, and while it would have been a relief to some, Zelda found that she hated it. She felt empty, and in this emptiness, she found that even the comfort that having Link with her brought and the love that he offered her felt dry and meaningless, just like everything else.

As the princess was wandering around the ruins of what had once been the market, trying to let it all go but failing, she stumbled upon a bottle, somehow unbroken amidst the rest of the scattered rubble. Tentatively, she picked it up and examined it with curiosity, saw that it was a bottle of Hylian ale, an alcoholic beverage that had been quite popular among the lower society circles of Castle Town. The princess almost threw the bottle back down onto to the ground, but she hesitated instead. She had never even tasted any liquor before, and before now, had never had any desire to. She knew well that it dulled the senses and impaired one's wisdom and judgment, often leading to disastrous results. And yet, as Zelda stared at the flask in her hand, she suddenly felt compelled to try it, just this once. Her father would have had a fit if he knew and Impa would have been extremely disappointed with her, but they were both dead, and so there was no way they could possibly find out. And in light of that cruel fact, the princess needed some form of escape, even if it was one so shallow. She needed some way to be able to feel again, and this would certainly do the trick, even if the emotions it would bring on would be irrational and artificial. And so, the princess slowly uncorked the bottle, taking in the bitter scent it emitted, and, with a deep, nervous breath, took her first sip of the ale. She almost gagged the stuff out the moment it touched her tongue because of its sour taste, and yet she savored the pleasure that it gave her as it ran down her throat and somehow made her entire body feel warm and alive. Somehow, it was sour and luscious at the same time. And for some reason, she found that she craved more.