Link awoke in a strange place, with barely any recollection of how he had even arrived here. Blinking multiple times in an attempt to clear his gazed vision, he sat upright and noticed he was...floating?
Jumping to his feet, Link looked around and discovered that he had been transported to some area full of dark clouds. Every little bit of land and sky around him looked like the skies that had been brewing in Hyrule, and it was as if he was standing on a large invisible platform above the clouds below.
When he heard a noise emit from behind him, he instinctively sheathed the Master Sword from its sheath and whipped out his shield. Turning around, he glanced at his feet to notice his sword and shield were reflecting against the invisible surface.
This was all utterly confusing to Link, but he heard a low chuckle emit from in front of him. Shooting his head back upwards at the noise, he saw Queen Zelda standing there, holding her rapier. Her rapier was no longer thin and small, but very thick and menacing looking. She carried it gracefully without any fault, slowly approaching Link. Her form had definitely changed from her normal appearance - she had snow white hair and bloody colored eyes, her dress being black and her gloves still the pure white they always were.
Once she was close enough to him, she dropped her smile immediately and frowned. "This is the end."
Link creased his eyebrows and took a large step back. "The end?"
"The final battle, duh. This will be the battle that determines whether or not that...filthy land of Hyrule flourishes or not," Zelda sneered.
"How could you do this to your own kingdom?!" Link exclaimed, feeling enraged all of a sudden. "Hyrule depended on you and your father-"
"Don't mention my father!" Zelda cried out, slashing her darkened rapier and Link in rage. Thankfully, he managed to jump out of the way of her attack, keeping his heroic stance as she breathed heavily.
"You killed him for a reason," she said.
Remembering what he had done just awhile ago petrified Link. Distinctively, he could remember the smell of the room at the moment he acted. The noises - Hylians cheering and booing at the king as he spoke - the feeling he felt as he steadied the arrow in the line of the king.
The noise he heard once the king had been impaled.
"It's hard for you to remember, huh?" Zelda teased in an annoying voice. "I thought the Hero of Legend was brace and had courage. If you had the courage, something like that shouldn't bother you-"
"Enough! Let's get this over with! Playing with my mind isn't going to progress this," Link yelled, preparing to take a swing at Zelda.
"It's going to cripple you in someway, though, hm? That's my plan," Zelda replied, swinging her dark rapier at the holy sword and colliding with it.
Their swords were brushing against each other, and the battle had begun. The battle against their swords didn't last too long, but Zelda managed to win and push Link back a bit, making him almost stumble and fall over.
Before he could get hit with the rapier, he jumped out of the way again and managed to barely cut the back of Zelda's arm.
She gasped at the sudden pain she was feeling, touching the area where she had been injured, staring at the blood that decorated her once clean and pure white gloves.
This didn't affect her too much, because Zelda had quickly rejoined the game and slashed at Link's hand. It had cut him as badly as he had hurt Zelda, but he didn't stop to examine how much damage she had inflicted on him.
Out of nowhere, a ball of darkness exploded beside Zelda, flinging her a few feet away from where she had been standing and making her fall harshly onto the invisible grounds.
Confused, Link looked to and fro and eventually spotted a familiar face - Ganondorf Dragmire.
He grinned at the appearance of his friend, but that instantly dropped the moment he heard Zelda standing back up again.
She looked even angrier now, the veins in her forehead practically popping out of her skin. Lunging towards Link, the Hylian managed to roll out of her range of attack, thus leaving her on the ground for a moment.
Ganondorf fired another ball of darkness at Zelda, causing her to cry out in pain and remain on the ground.
Before they could attack her any further, she stood back up and charged towards Ganondorf.
It happened all too quickly.
Her rapier stabbed right through the center of Ganondorf, but he did not make any noises. All he did was stare at what had become of him, feeling his life drifting away once Zelda yanked the rapier out of his chest.
As the Gerudo man fell towards the ground, Link felt a mix of overwhelming emotions come straight towards him. It was mostly anger towards Zelda, but there was another unexplainable emotion he felt. Seeing his comrade fall before him caused this emotion, though Link didn't know what to call it.
All he knew was that Zelda needed to be exterminated, right now.
Letting out a battle cry, he lunged towards the unsuspecting Zelda and made her topple into the ground. Before he could stab her with the Master Sword, it seemed as if time was slowing and was frozen still.
In the realm of the sages, old Rauru appeared on his respective emblem and prepared to do this ritual once more.
"Sages! Use all your power to seal away the evil!" Rauru instructed with his bellowing voice, watching as the other six sages appeared atop their own emblems.
Saria, Sage of the Forest. Ruto, Sage of Water. Daruina, Sage of Fire. Impa, Sage of Shadow. Nabooru, Sage of Spirit.
"I thought Princess Zelda was a sage as well?" Nabooru questioned, before joining in the sealing of evil ritual.
"In this life, she was corrupted by malice. She bestows the Triforce of Power for some strange reason, but it has made her become blind," Saria explained, placing her hands over her heart. "Once we seal her away, the Triforce of Power will be accessible, at last."
Ruto nodded, remembering her conversation with Saria just moments before now. "Mhm. With the help of the three goddesses, we can give the Triforce pieces back to their respectful owners."
"Ganondorf is not the true wielder of the Triforce of Power, though," Nabooru said. "This is a chance to stop this endless cycle of evil. Why can't we take it?"
"The Triforce of Power can't be aimlessly floating around. Besides, who knows what could happen if one piece of the Triforce didn't belong to anyone? Every piece has always been in the hands of someone. We can't risk anything," Saria explained.
"Hush! Everyone! Get in formation! We must commence the sealing of Queen Zelda before she has the chance to break free," Impa instructed.
"What about Ganon, though?" Ruto asked. "He has the Triforce of Wisdom. We have to give that back to the soul of the Goddess Hylia."
"Then we'll have to seal away Ganon as well," Nabooru pondered, holding her hands out and preparing herself.
"But he was a kind soul in this life," Saria mumbled.
"I know. But we'll have to seal him away and give the Triforce of Power back to him. And while Zelda is in the Sacred Realm, we shall give her the Triforce of Wisdom back," Rauru explained, seeming to be the only completely matured one here. "Zelda will be returned to Hyrule, her evil memories will be long forgotten. She and her hero will rebuild Hyrule."
"We can't excuse Zelda for what she's done!" Saria exclaimed. "While it is true she possesses the blood of Hylia, she committed too many crimes in this life. I say, we seal away both Ganon and Zelda."
"Besides. Ganon died in this life. If we seal him away in the Sacred Realm, he will regain his lost life," Impa chimed in.
"...If it will keep the balance of the Triforce steady, then let's just do it," Ruto breathed out, taking a deep breath and raising her hands in the air. "Let us not wait any longer. It is time to seal away Ganon and Zelda."
Back in the real world, Zelda stood up warily and shakily, placing her blood stained gloves on the purple colored hilt of the Master Sword. She made a choking noise, watching her own blood seep into the white fabrics of her dress.
"How did you-?" Zelda gasped out, but was cut off short when her body evaporated into a swirl of blue colors.
Link watched in awe as her body completely disappeared from this realm, looking off in the distance to see Ganondorf turning into the same blue swirls that Zelda had been turned into. And then he was gone, and Link felt his own soul being transported back to the real world.
Opening his eyes, he awoke outside the castle and under the roof of a random home. It was shelter, so he didn't take it for granted. Still, confusion was evident on his face.
"Oh! Link, you're alright," a soft voice spoke, and he felt a small and cold hand touch his arm. There was a sudden sharp prick of pain there, making Link jerk away from the woman's touch.
He blinked a few times, his vision clearing and his eyes fixating themselves on a familiar figure.
"Farona?" Link mumbled, sitting upright and staring at his arms, which were terribly cut up. Most of his wounds were cleansed or had bandages wrapped nicely around them, allowing them to heal properly without infection cursing them.
"Thank Hylia you're still alive," Farona whispered, pushing back the hair that stuck to her forehead. "I thought you were a goner."
Link quietly thanked her for tending to his wounds and such, but he was way too curious about what had happened to Zelda and Ganondorf. He was praying that the Sages had sealed away Zelda, but he had no idea what they would want with Ganondorf.
Standing up from the bed he was laying on, he stepped outside and saw that the rain had disappeared, the clouds returned to their fluffy white color, and the skies were a beautiful blue once again. Below him, the grounds were drenched with rainwater, the cobblestone of the once perfectly paved roads sticking out and shining with the rainwater against the sunlight.
How long had he been out?
Link's clothes were muddy, indicating that he had not been immediately transported to the building Farona was in. She most likely found him, and dragged him away to shelter and safety. How did Farona even find him if she was residing in Kakariko Village?
He decided to investigate the place, informing Farona of his actions beforehand, which she warily agreed to. She was still concerned for his wounds, but she knew how powerful Link was. He'd be fine.
Link walked around the now destroyed Castle Town, seeing small amounts of surviving civilians standing around and talking.
As he approached the castle grounds, he spotted a familiar body laying on the dirtied and wet grounds. Concern grew over him, but he decided to stay cautious as well.
Link knelt down beside the limp-looking body, rolling them over and jumping back when he recognized the face.
Queen Zelda.
Why was she here? Weren't the Sages supposed to seal her malicious soul away?
"You're supposed to be gone..." Link whispered in between gritted teeth, grabbing her right hand and noticing that the Triforce mark was still imprinted on her hand.
Instead, the Triforce piece in the left hand corner was brighter than the others. This indicated that she no longer held the Triforce of Power, but instead Wisdom, which is the very same Triforce piece that Zelda's kind ancestors held before her.
Where was Ganondorf?
Don't tell me... Link thought, silencing his thoughts as Zelda coughed.
She lifted her injured body off of the ground, rubbing her aching forehead and licking her lips. "Where am I? What happened?"
"I'd like to know as well," Link snapped, startling the queen.
"Don't you remember anything?" Link questioned her, to which Zelda slowly shook her head, blonde tresses swaying back and forth.
"No. I have no recollection of anything, not even you," Zelda said. "All I know is that I am a princess. The princess of Hyrule. My beloved kingdom."
Link laughed dryly. "How can you still love your kingdom? You know, you caused all of this destruction! Hyrule was once beautiful-"
"I don't remember anything, sir!" Zelda shouted. "I don't know why I am even here. And why do I have the Triforce of Wisdom? I thought I always had Power."
Link's eyes widened. "So...no...wait. So, they sealed Ganondorf away instead? And took the Triforce of Power from you? And they took Wisdom from him, giving it to you?"
Zelda was utterly confused, not knowing how to respond to Link's panic. "I don't know what you're talking about. I have heard of Ganondorf, though. The Demon Thief from the legends - my ancestors and the heroes battled alongside each other to defeat Ganondorf."
"He was my friend. He wasn't the same person - he was a kind soul in this life," Link explained shortly. "But now he's dead. And you killed him!"
Once again, all Zelda could respond with was a blank yet confused expression. She lifted her body off of the ground, shakily standing up and regaining her posture.
"I do not remember such things. How do I know you're lying?" Zelda asked.
"So - so you just forgot everything?" Link asked in utter disbelief.
"Not entirely. I remember my childhood and little bits of now, but...I would never kill someone," Zelda murmured, rubbing her hands together in a nervous fashion.
Link could only stare blankly. His comrade was gone, most likely forever. Link confirmed that Ganondorf had indeed been sent to the Sacred Realm and was sealed there. Until he broke free from his imprisonment, Link would never see Ganondorf again.
What a shame, he was a good man, Link thought, forming fists in both hands. With an inhale and an exhale, he reopened his closed eyes and stared dead ahead at Zelda.
"Well...I can't forgive you entirely. I don't know if I ever will. But...Hyrule must be rebuilt. And only you can do that - start the operations and such," Link said.
He knelt down on one knee, placing his arm atop his knee and bowing his head. "And I will help. I will help even the likes of you to see this country become glorious again."
The wind blew gently, swaying his blond locks in a certain direction. He kept his head lowered down as a sigh of respect towards the queen of this country - did Zelda even remember becoming queen? Or the assassination of her father, King Harkinian?
Probably not, as she never mentioned either of the two subjects. Maybe she would remember them in time, or that time would never come, and she would always wonder how her father died. Link knew he would never have enough courage to tell her, because the innocent soul she had now wouldn't be able to handle it. And he would most likely be punished as well - the guards of the castle still remembered the assassination. They knew it was Link who did it, but maybe there could be a way to maneuver around that obstacle. Or, Link would have to leave Hyrule entirely if he was punished.
Link looked back up, to see Zelda smiling slightly at his respectfulness. She answered him with a slight nod, her blonde strands of hair swaying with the movement of her head.
It would take so much for Link to ever forgive Zelda.
He probably never would.
--
A/N: hey ! This book is basically irrelevant now but I'm still updating. This was basically the final chapter, but there may be a short epilogue. It would just explain what happened with Hyrule and whatever sort of relationship Link and Zelda developed. It might be romantic but I'm thinking about just making it platonic for once.
What do u guys think lmao.
Thank you for all the support on this fanfiction. I am proud to say that this is basically completed. And I started this back in August of 2015, that was a heckin long time ago. And you know...my half year hiatus delayed this as well. But, I'm just happy that it's finished. At last.
I mean there's gon be an epilogue but you get my point.
This was fun to write and I'm glad I wrote this in the first place. I was inspired by my good friend _ChiliStar_ to write this book - it was basically her idea in a way, but I developed it into a full fledged story,,??
Ok goodbye.
-Katy