A light pink glow appeared in front of Hyrule Castle. The three appeared in midair, only falling a few feet to the ground. Grunting in pain, the three stood up while groaning at the same time.
In front of them was Hyrule Castle, feeling confused since they were in a field in an unknown region just a second ago. Link just blinked, turning to Thalia. "What was that glow, Thalia?"
Thalia was still trying to process what had just happened. "I assume that was Empress Shizuka's blessing. She said that whenever I felt lost, my heart will guide me. I was feeling lost and wished to return to Hyrule. And that's when my heart started glowing."
"That saved us a lot of time from traveling on foot."
"I agree."
The two heard Rowan grunt, both turning towards him. He was staring at his arm, seeing that the tattoo was growing up on his arm. "Oh no... It's growing..."
Thalia felt her heart drop, now looking at her own arm. The tattoo was gradually growing on her arm as well. She started trembling, fear struck her heart. "We're running out of time..."
Link grunted in frustration, clenching his fist. "I'm so going to beat his ass..."
A messenger was running up to them, running out of breath. He stopped near them while kneeling down on one knee. "Duke Rowan, Hylian Champion. I've been looking everywhere for you. I have come to deliver you this urgent news."
Link arched an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Ganondorf had entered the castle with Princess Zelda, and killed the king right in front of her."
The three all grunted at the same time, hearing the devastating news. Link's eyes began to waver in anger, his face showing fury. "Where is he?! Where is Ganondorf?!"
"We had tried to find him, but he has escaped."
"Damn it!" Link turned towards the two, still looking rather angry. "Come on!" He started to run towards the castle with Rowan and Thalia following behind.
Inside the castle, the three made it to the room where the king has always been in. They stopped in their tracks to see the king laying facedown in his own pool of blood. Zelda was there kneeling down towards the king, assuming she was sobbing, seeing that her shoulders were shaking. The three looked at one another while slowly approaching Zelda.
Zelda heard footsteps from behind her, quickly turning around and gasping loudly. "Oh thank Hylia! I thought Ganondorf had finished you off!" She quickly stood up, rushing over to Link and embraced him.
Link started to blush, embracing Zelda back. "I'm here now, Zelda."
Zelda was sobbing onto Link's shoulder. "I thought I would never see you again..." Her embrace got tighter, sobbing even more.
Link started rubbing Zelda's back, trying to calm her down. "It's ok, Princess. I won't ever leave your side again."
"Please don't... I want you to remain by my side like you always have. Promise me..."
"I promise."
Thalia smiled at Link and Zelda's sweet moment until she felt Rowan grab a hold of her hand. Looking up at him, she saw that Rowan had a serious expression and at the same time, it seemed like he was trying to hold in his emotions. "The king... Uncle Rhoam..."
Hearing Rowan's pained voice made Thalia's heart dropped, squeezing his hand for reassurance. She felt her vision getting blurry, trying to hold back her emotions as well. "I can't believe it..."
Link and Zelda released their embrace, looking at the dead king who was still on the ground. That made Zelda cry even more, turning away from her father. "It's too painful to look at him... Why, father? Why..?"
Link's eyes wavered at the sight of Zelda crying, embracing her once more. "I'm so sorry, Zelda..." He let out a sad sigh. "Do you want to know what he said to us before we went out to try to find you?"
Zelda was wiping her tears as more kept coming. "What did he say..?"
Link squeezed his lips together, uncertain if he wanted to say it or not since he knew it would make her cry more. "The king wanted to let you know how sorry he was..."
That line looked like it had struck Zelda's heart, making her sobbing increased. "Oh, father..! If only you realized sooner that Ganondorf was tricking you!" She sobbed onto Link's shoulder once more.
The four were grieving in the room where the king was lying dead, mourning over the loss of the man who had practically raised them.
Later that day, Thalia was in her room alone, holding onto her pillow tight. Her eyes were hollow, staring down onto the ground. A lot of things were running through her mind.
There was a knock on her door, snapping her out of her trance. "Come in."
The door opened, revealing it to be Rowan. He closed the door behind him. He started walking towards her. "How are you feeling?"
Thalia looked down, squeezing her pillow to her chest. "I'm not feeling so great. The loss of the king had opened up a hole in my heart. He took me into his home, and took care of me. I... I just can't believe that he's gone..."
Rowan let out a sigh, sitting down on the bed next to her. He embraced her from the side, holding her close. "I know how you feel. Even though the king is my uncle, he felt like a father to me ever since my parents passed away. He treated me like I was his own son."
Thalia felt her eyes getting warm and vision getting blurry. "Rowan... I'm so tired of death. I lost my parents, and now I lost the king who was like a father to me as well. And now... I feel like we will lose our lives soon when the blood moon rises tomorrow..."
Rowan now realized that it was indeed going to be tomorrow. They had to find Ganondorf to defeat him once and for all. He was scared at the fact that his own life was on the line, but he was more concerned about Thalia. "We won't lose our lives tomorrow. We will defeat Ganondorf before the blood moon rises. I swear it."
Tears started running down Thalia's face. "I'm scared, Rowan... I don't want to die... I want to live and spend my life with you. I want to settle down with you, and have children with you... I don't want to die..." She started to sob hard. The thought of death of others and her own possible death was consuming her mind.
Rowan's eyes wavered, not standing the fact that his lover was so scared. He wasn't even sure how to cheer her up. "Thalia..." Thalia looked up at him with tears in her eyes, listening what he had to say. "We will live and we will build our future together. I want you to be by my side. I want you to be duchess, but more importantly, my wife that I will cherish and hold for the rest of my life."
"Rowan..." Thalia embraced him back, tears continued to run down her face. "I feel the same way. I want you to be my husband that I will cherish and hold for the rest of my life. I will never let go..."
"Thalia..." Rowan gently cupped her face, having her look up at him. He went closer to her face, sharing a kiss as the kiss was soft and gentle at first.
Thalia kissed back, wrapping her arms around him. Rowan deepened the kiss, lightly pushing her back, having her lay on her back against the bed. Their kiss grew passionate, the two had made love that night.
On the other hand, Link and Zelda were in Zelda's room. Link was comforting her while holding her since she was still crying. He couldn't stand seeing Zelda like this. "Zelda... Please don't cry anymore..."
Zelda sniffed, wiping her tears away. "I can't help it... I lost my father... I... I just wish he realized sooner..."
Link rubbed her back. "I know, Zelda. You should probably get some rest. Will you be ok?"
Zelda nodded. "I'll try to be. Thank you for trying to comfort me all day, Link."
Link gave her a smile. "It's no problem. I can leave so you can get your rest." He leaned close to her, giving a kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight Zelda."
As soon as Link got up from the bed, Zelda grabbed his hand. A blush appeared on her face, her eyes wavering. "Will you stay with me for the night? I think I'll feel much better if you continued being here with me..."
Link felt himself blushing, smiling at her once more. "If that's what the princess wants, I have no objections."
Zelda smiled back. "Thank you, Link."
The two pulled the covers over each other, embracing closely as they felt their hearts beating. Link didn't want to admit it, but he was feeling quite nervous being this intimate with Zelda. Her face was on his chest, making him blush even more. Trying to calm down, he began brushing his fingers through her hair. "Your hair is really beautiful, you know that?"
Zelda began to blush onto Link's chest, enjoying her hair getting played with. "Thank you..." She closed her eyes, enjoying cuddling with the one she loves. "Link..."
"Yes, Zelda?"
"You will be here when I wake up, right?"
Link let out a low chuckle. "Of course, Princess. Of course."
Zelda smiled to herself, feeling herself drifting off. Link silently sighed, seeing Zelda not crying anymore. He softly smiled at the sight of her sleeping face while gently nuzzling her cheek with his finger. As he was doing that, Link felt his eyes growing heavy, soon entering the world of slumber while holding Zelda in his arms.