The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule's Hope

Chapter 46: Judgment Day, Part 3 -- Holy War, The Punishment Due

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR TEARS OF THE KINGDOM SPOILERS!!! 

TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE

"It's time you all learn the truth," Link sighed, "everything that me, Zelda, and your families have been hiding."

"Our families?" Dori gasped. "General, you're not making sense!" Zya joined the conversation, "What do you mean our families have been hiding something?"

"There's a part of Hyrule history that has been hidden from your generation," Link answered, "a time between the Great Calamity and our current era–the Upheaval."

"Upheaval?!" the gang gasped. Of everyone in the group, Aya noticed that Tulin had no reaction. "You knew about this, Tulin?!" she asked. "I did," Tulin sighed, "I'll let General Link finish first."

"It happened before any of you were born," Link explained, "Zelda and I were making plans to rebuild Hyrule after the Calamity when one day, examining the damages inside Hyrule Castle, we found a secret chamber that was sealed away from the rest of the castle. Zelda decided that she wanted to go there and thus we set off on an excavation mission. We discovered the unimaginable–Zonai ruins that date back to the very foundation of Hyrule, including a mural depicting what was known as the Imprisoning War. It was then when, deep beneath Hyrule Castle, we found an even bigger surprise: the ancient corpse of the Demon King."

"Ganondorf," Rhiannon interrupted. "A substance stronger and more lethal than malice was leaking from the Demon King's body," Link continued, "it was strong enough to decay the Master Sword, and it took my right arm with it."

"It decayed the Master Sword?!" Dori gasped. "It also caused the blade to shatter," Link sighed, "Zelda had picked up a stone that fell off the Demon King's body. He called our names, he was waiting for that moment... Suddenly, the ground beneath us shattered. Zelda and I fell into a chasm–she disappeared, while I was saved by the spirit of the first king of Hyrule."

He paused. "Zelda was sent to the past," he said, "to the very foundation of the kingdom where she met King Rauru and Queen Sonia, the first king and queen of Hyrule. She also met with the ancestors of the Champions: the Sages. King Rauru was the Sage of Light along with six other sages: the Zora sage of water, the Goron sage of fire, the Rito sage of wind, the Gerudo sage of lightning, and the Zonai sage of Spirit, Mineru, who was the king's sister. The last sage was Zelda, the Sage of Time."

"Is that the secret our parents hid from us?" Aya asked, "That they were the descendants of these sages?"

"Yes," Link sighed. "That makes no sense," Dori said, "why would such an important part of Hyrule history be hidden from us?"

"It was Zelda's decision," Link sighed, "being sent to the distant past, Zelda witnessed the Imprisoning War firsthand. She saw King Rauru's sacrifice and the imprisoning of the Demon King. In order to fix the Master Sword, she had to make another sacrifice herself: become an immortal dragon."

"Dragon?!" the RhiGang gasped. "Zelda knew the risks of draconification," Link added, "but she was desperate to help me. She knew her purpose was to restore the Master Sword so that in the future we could stop the Demon King once and for all."

"What about your arm?" Rhiannon asked. "The gloom had decayed my arm to the very bone," Link answered, "I woke up some time later in the Great Sky Island with a new arm attached. Then, I encountered the spirit of King Rauru, saying that he had to give me his arm because mine was beyond salvation. When I returned to the surface, Purah told me about Zelda's disappearance and that Hyrule needed saving, so I took on the task. The Upheaval had created major problems in the main areas of Hyrule, but it led to your parents' awakening as the new Sages."