They had done it.
The Calamity was no more.
But it had been a brutal fight, and Hyrule was not unscathed, and some things were still uncertain. So, the Princess and her Champions met up near the Sacred Ground, both to reflect on the past and to anticipate the future.
"So," Princess Zelda started. "I have called you all here today, with the hopes of going over our victory, to understand our success, and perhaps our strengths and weaknesses as well. We must be prepared for the future! For all we know, another Calamity could happen tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Revali scoffed. "What was it, some ten thousand years last time? That's a hell of a long time. Our distant descendants will be long dead when Ganon returns next. I see little reason to believe it would return tomorrow. King Rhoam himself said to his subjects that the scourge of Hyrule was gone and peace was restored! But I suppose I'll keep my bow at the ready, either way."
"Agreed!" Daruk exclaimed. "Even after that battle, I still don't know much about that thing anyway. What was exactly? I couldn't see much aside from darkness and malice."
"We don't really know," Zelda replied. "And that is part of the problem. We may have destroyed Ganon, the ultimate evil, but we don't even really know how we did it or what we destroyed. We simply followed the prophecy of some fortune teller and used some technology beyond our comprehension."
"And why is it necessary to understand this technology?" Revali asked.
"Revali-" Urbosa began.
"It is fine," Zelda said. "Now you see, Revali, there are still potential threats out there. We must be better prepared in the future, to avoid what happened last time. We barely achieved victory! It was only Mipha's wise words that allowed me to unlock my power, the power that saved us all!"
"Fair enough," Revali replied. "I suffered a terrible injury to the wing in my battle against that Windblight creature. I should hope to avoid such humiliation in the future. I still don't understand how that knight made it out alive!"
Link turned to look Revali, visibly unimpressed with Revali's insults.
"And I, for one, barely made it out of my Divine Beast alive..." Mipha said. "I was so distracted worrying about- uh- well, what I meant was that I was caught off guard by the creature, and nearly met my end. It was almost pure luck that I survived."
"Now what potential threats are we even talking about?" Daruk asked.
"The Yiga Clan," Urbosa said. "They remain active even as we speak. Despite the fact that the Blood Moon has ceased to rise, and the monsters have retreated into the darkest corners of the land, Yiga clansmen continue to ambush travelers and bring terror to the countryside. The death of Ganon has not deterred them from their activities."
"It is probably because they have more loyalty to their own Master, Kohga, or whatever his name is," Zelda suggested. "Impa had a few Sheikah Warriors infiltrate the clan recently, and they reported that many members almost worship Kohga."
"Could he be a major threat?" Urbosa asked.
"I would doubt it," Zelda replied. "Reports say he's pretty much a joke, a lazy oaf who takes naps all day while his soldiers turn Hyrule upside down hunting Link and I."
"Then we can assume the Yiga are not behind the resurrection of Ganon?" Revali said. "I figured they would be the prime candidates, but this new information makes me think otherwise... But who else could be responsible, and what future plans could they have?"
"I do not know," Zelda replied. "And that is exactly why we must remain alert and prepared."
"So, the conflict is not over then?" Mipha asked with a look of sadness on her face. "I was hoping to, relax a bit, and... enjoy life a little, after the battle was over..."
"Enjoy life a little?" Daruk replied, scratching his head "Oh! I see..."
Link glanced at Daruk with a curious expression, then turned back to face the group as a whole.
"Would any of you mind, if I provided some input?" Link asked.
The rest of the group turned to him, surprised looks on their faces.
"You know, that may just be the first time I've heard your voice!" Revali exclaimed. "Why, it perfectly matches my mental picture of you!"
"I can only assume that's a bad thing..." Urbosa sighed.
"Well, somebody hasn't spent very much time with the Hylian Champion!" Daruk said to Revali. "What a shame. You two are both fine warriors with unique personalities! If you could overlook your strange biases, Revali, I'm sure the two of you would make a great pair! You've probably got a lot in common, anyway."
Revali seemed disgusted by the thought.
"It is an idea to be considered, Daruk." Link said with a smile. "Now, back to my input... I have some suspects in mind, when it comes to the culprits we seek."
This seemed to perk Zelda's interest.
"As her highness pointed out, Master Kohga of the Yiga Clan is an unlikely culprit. There only a few other suspicious people I can think of who have been involved with the prophecy and the plan. And I mean no offense to any of these people."
"Go ahead." Zelda said.
"There are the Sheikah, who were involved with the ancient technology," Link began "Specifically, Purah and Robbie, the scientists. Then there are all of us. Lastly, there is the Fortune Teller, who predicted this whole ordeal in the first place."
"I hope the first suggestions are jokes," Revali sighed. "But what about the fortune teller? I agree that it is suspicious they knew so much about the events to unfold. I for one do not believe that the future can simply be foretold, unless the seer orchestrated events to plan out in their own way. But what exactly makes them a real suspect?"
"Well, when I fought Ganon, I was reminded of something," Link went on. "Back when I first pulled the Master Sword, years ago, I had a vision. It was a vision of the future, I believe, and I witnessed a man in a hooded cloak with Gerudo jewelry standing before what likely was the Calamity. Sometime later, my sister took me to get my fortune told, and the fortune teller distinctly wore the same kind of cloak. So, I put together that the man in the vision was a fortune teller. But of course, that meant little to me. Only after fighting Ganon did it occur to me that my vision was of a fortune teller resurrecting the Calamity."
"Link, you are a genius!" Zelda exclaimed. "All that's left is to track down the fortune teller!"
"I think not." spoke a shadowy voice.
Link drew the Master Sword, which shone bright in the presence of darkness, looking around to find the location of the voice.
Suddenly, malice blasted Princess Zelda, and she fell to the ground. Before Link could react, the ground beneath her opened, and she fell into the earth. Link dove after her, only for Daruk and Mipha to grab him before he too fell in.
Link watched in horror as Zelda fell into the pit, but suddenly, a bright light enveloped her, and she disappeared, seemingly saved from the fall.
As Link got back on his feet, the pit disappeared, and the shadowy voice cried out in rage.
"What the hell is going on?" Revali yelled.
Link's blade stopped shining, the presence of darkness leaving, but suddenly the Champions were confronted by something else.
A huge squad of Yiga Blademasters and Footsoldiers surrounded them, swords drawn, ready to strike.
The Champions didn't even have a chance to grab their weapons before they were all unconscious.
Link regained consciousness for a moment, looking up as a Yiga tied him with rope, laughing. He freed his arm and punched the Yiga in the face, breaking the mask and breaking the Yiga's nose.
The Yiga screamed out in pain, then stabbed Link in the leg with its Vicious Sickle. Link clenched his teeth and held back a scream, and quickly lost consciousness again.
Some hours later, a team of Hylian Soldiers arrived to find the whereabouts of the Champions and Princess, who were almost an hour overdue for returning to the castle.
However, there was no trace of any of them, only traces of a disturbance, and a note with a Yiga symbol.
"Welp," said the captain "This don't look too good now, does it?"
"Not at all, cap'n." replied the leiutenant.