The next day, the people were all gathering for King Rhoam's funeral. There were knights carrying a coffin with the Hyrule royal crest on it. The people were shedding tears, watching the coffin passing by them.
The champions were there as well as Impa and Empress Shizuka to pay their respects to the king. They had their heads down with their eyes closed, having a moment of silence.
Making it to the hole where the king will be buried, Zelda was embracing Link while sobbing hard, unable to witness the burial of her father. Thalia was embracing Rowan with tears in her eyes while Rowan had his head down.
The knights were carefully placing the coffin into the hole. Those knights gave a moment of silence, holding their headgear in their hands. The other knights who were nearby were doing the same gesture. There were gray clouds in the sky, looking like it was about to rain at any moment.
As the funeral was coming to an end, a lot of people were walking away from the area. An older man with white hair that was slicked back, wearing sunglasses walked over to where the four were. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
Zelda sniffed, trying to calm herself down. "Thank you, kind sir."
The old man nodded in response, turning towards Link. "You're the Hylian Champion, correct?"
Link blinked at the old man, slowly nodded. "Yes, sir."
The old man hummed with satisfaction. "I've known many heroes in my lifetime, and you, Link. You are a fantastic hero."
Link started to feel doubt in his heart. "I couldn't do anything when Ganondorf captured Zelda. And I couldn't prevent my friends from getting a tattoo curse, and I wasn't there to protect the king... How could I be a hero if I can't protect the ones I care about?"
"If you believe in yourself... You can be. You can either give up or die trying. But I'm confident that you will know what to do."
Link was thinking to himself for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. Though it felt like he had a lot of pressure on him, he smiled at the old man. "Thank you for your words."
"No problem. I'm really good at giving great heroes pep talks when they need it."
"What heroes are you talking about?"
The old man smiled. "A lot, I'll tell you that. I've been all over the place, not just Hyrule."
Zelda was blinking at the old man, feeling amazed but confused at the same time. "May I ask your name, sir?"
The old man smiled once more. "My name is a secret." There was a single drop that fell from the sky as more raindrops started to fall. The old man took out an umbrella, opening it up to cover himself from the rain. "I should take my leave. I came here to pay my respects to the king. I'm sorry again."
Zelda smiled sadly, her eyes wavering. "Thank you."
The old man smiled at the princess. "Until we meet again." He turned around and began to walk away. He was gradually getting smaller as he disappeared from sight.
Thalia looked at the empty distance in awe. "I wonder who that man was..?"
Rowan nodded, staring off into the distance. "I wonder that as well..."
"Whoever he is, he's a cool guy." Link said.
"I agree." Zelda nodded, turning towards the castle. "Let's head inside. We don't want to catch a cold." She started walking ahead with Link, Rowan, and Thalia following behind.
Inside the castle, the champions including Impa and Empress Shizuka were waiting for the four in the room where the king used to be. Zelda was trying to remain strong, even if all she wanted to do was lock herself in her room. "Do any of you know where Ganondorf has gone?"
Impa shook her head. "We've been trying to look for him, but he's nowhere to be found."
Empress Shizuka spoke up. "I assure you that once we find him." She grabbed a hold of her katana at her side. "I'll happily slice him up."
Everyone shuttered in fear by Empress Shizuka's icy tone. Urbosa went up to Zelda, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to worry too much, Zelda. We will all defeat Ganondorf once and for all."
Mipha nodded and smiled. "We will all lend a hand to assist you any way we can, Princess."
Revali smiled proudly at himself. "I'll be the one to get him first, you'll all see for yourselves."
Daruk averted his eyes to the side while nodding. "We'll get him. You can be rest assured."
Zelda's eyes began to waver, a smile appearing on her face. "Thank you all so much." She turned around towards the three, her smile disappeared, seeing what was on Thalia's arm. "The tattoo is already on your forearm..."
Thalia held her hand over it, squeezing her arm tight. "I know. That's one of the reasons why we need to hurry and find Ganondorf. Both Rowan and I have our lives on the line. It could end tonight if we don't find him quickly..."
Rowan placed his hand on Thalia's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, love. We'll find him before tonight. I guarantee it."
Link nodded. "He must've not gone too far anyway. I bet he's just hiding out somewhere around here."
Zelda nodded after Link. "I say we all look for him in separate groups. Link and I. Rowan and Thalia. Impa and Empress Shizuka. Urbosa and Mipha. Revali and Daruk. In those groups of two, we will all search for Ganondorf. I think it will be the quickest way."
Rowan nodded. "I think that's a good idea. And we'll have a messenger nearby each group at all times to inform the others where Ganondorf is."
"But we better act fast." Thalia said. "It's already the afternoon. Time is running out."
Zelda had the look of confidence, now looking at everyone. "Let's find Ganondorf and stop him once and for all. To save our friends and people. And to keep Hyrule safe."
Everyone in the room looked proud of the princess. They started to go their separate ways in pairs, leaving only her and Link together.
Link placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder, making Zelda turn to him. "Let's go, Princess."
Zelda smiled at Link. "Of course."
Roaming outside near the castle, Zelda and Link were walking together, keeping an eye out for Ganondorf. It was too quiet for its own good. It felt like anything could pop out at them since only silence filled the air.
Zelda was completely focused, looking around with her eyes while walking. Link was doing the same as well, but had another thing on his mind. He wanted to ask so many things. "So... What did Ganondorf need you for?"
Zelda looked pained, squeezing her hands into fists. "He wanted me to use my power to help him gain the ultimate power for tonight's blood moon. He promised me if I helped him, he wouldn't kill you..." It looked like she was trying to hold back tears. "I'm such a fool, Link. I ended up helping him under pressure... I did it to save you... But who knows what he plans to do with this power... And if he succeeds, it will be all my fault..."
Link couldn't believe what he heard. His expression turned from calm to fury in under a second. "It's not your fault, Zelda!" Zelda grunted, tears appearing in her eyes. "You are not to blame. That bastard used you for his own evil schemes. He is the one who is at fault."
"But..." Tears started to fall from Zelda's eyes. "I helped him... I helped him by lending my power... If only I was stronger..."
Link couldn't stand to see Zelda suffering, now embracing her tightly. Zelda's eyes wavered, wrapping one arm around him. "Don't put yourself down like that. You are strong. You're the strongest woman I've ever met."
That made Zelda even more emotional as more tears started to spill. Zelda tightly embraced him back. "Oh, Link..!"
Link was holding her, feeling her sobbing on his shoulder. A slight blush appeared on his face, seeming like he wanted to admit something. "Zelda... I know this isn't the time or place to say this, but I feel like I need to get this off of my chest." He took a deep breath in and out, preparing himself. "I love you. I've always loved you ever since we were kids. I've always enjoyed being around you and spending time with you, even though I was just your knight."
Zelda started to blush, squeezing Link tightly. "Link... You were not just my knight... You were my dear friend that was always by my side." That stung Link's heart, thinking he was getting friendzoned. Zelda smiled and blushed even more. "But ever since I was separated from you for seven years... I've come to realize something. You were always there for me, and always supported me no matter how big or small the matter was. I've come to realized in those seven years that I have had feelings for you buried deep in my heart."
Link's face turned bright red, stumbling on his words. "So, uh... You, uh... Feel the same way..?"
Zelda giggled while nodding once. "Yes, Link. I love you too."
Link never felt so happy in his life, squeezing Zelda tightly. "You have no idea how much this makes me happy! I've been wanting to confess to you for years!"
Zelda smiled and embraced Link with her eyes closed. "We may become a couple after we have defeated Ganondorf once and for all. Our first priority is to find him, and slain him so he would never bother anyone again."
"I know, but can I just do one more thing before we do that?"
Zelda tilted her head. "What is it?"
Link looked at Zelda shyly, a slight blush on his face. "Can I... Kiss you?"
Zelda started to blush, feeling shy herself. Averting her eyes at every direction, she nodded. "Just one is fine."
Link smiled at her, cupping his hands on Zelda's face. He looked at her like she was made of gold, gradually closing in on her. The two shared a kiss that was sweet and gentle.
It was a long kiss, not pulling away from each other once. Link held Zelda close to him, deepening the kiss. Slowly, it started to get passionate, seeming like they weren't going to pull away anytime soon.
Their kiss got interrupted as the ground started violently shaking. The sky had turned pitch black, dark clouds covered the bright sky. The two looked towards the direction in front of the castle, seeing a dark cloud tornado hit the bottom of the grass.
At the bottom of the grass, there stood Ganondorf who had an evil smirk on his face. "Your time is running out! Even if you have some time to fight, you can never defeat me!" Ganondorf started to laugh hysterically, the black clouds consuming him.
The paired groups who were searching for Ganondorf as well started to come out from the castle area, heading towards the open field in front of the castle. Zelda and Link's eyes widen at the sight, seeing the dark clouds start to form red electricity.
Ganondorf, who was once a Gerudo man, was no more. He had turned into something inhumane. Into a giant beast consumed by darkness. Nobody could believe their eyes at the sight of something that was bigger than the castle itself. The beast let out a thundering cry, shaking the entire area. Calamity Ganon was born.