#sheikah technology finally saved the day

[derrickwildsun]

Rewatching the Dragon Tear memory in which Ganondorf becomes the Demon King, and it just occurred to me that if Zelda hadn't been there to use the Purah Pad to teleport herself and Rauru to safety, Rauru would have died and never sealed Ganondorf. In other words, Zelda's love for Sheikah technology, the thing Rhoam had dissuaded her from pursuing pre-BOTW, saved Hyrule.

[bahbahhh]

begin again

a lot of change happens in between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. let’s fill in the gaps.

zelda pov | zelink | totk spoilers | rated T zelinkweek2023 | @zelinkcommunity [first] [ ao3 ]

Again, big shout out to my beta reader @zeldaelmo who is an amazing writer for the LoZ fandom and is posting for zelink week as well. I had the pleasure of returning the favor for this totk zelink oneshot and absolutely recommend it.

chapter 2

for the prompt “forbidden”

Link’s just publicly recommended they destroy the most valuable resources available for the restoration of Hyrule and Zelda has no idea how to save him. 

Everyone just stares, and with the company they find themselves in, it may as well be the very eyes of Hyrule itself that are on him. Zelda can’t find her breath. She’s back in Blatchery Plain, drenched in rain and despair, surrounded by a swarm of corrupted guardians. Link faced a sea of eyes then, too. He stands with his back to her, just like he does now, and she watches his silhouette light up with constellations of crimson. 

He’s about to be blown to pieces right in front of her. 

She starts to raise her hand to protect him like she did that day, only to remember she hasn’t felt the hum of power, nevermind summoned the glow of golden light to her fingertips, since they destroyed the Calamity six months ago. She’s a star burnt out with nothing to show of her once formidable brilliance, but an ugly scar on her hand.

“All of it?” Impa asks, calmly.

Link nods. 

“Even the Divine Beasts?”

“Especially those,” he asserts.  

He has yet to make eye contact with Zelda again since the smile; that red herring of a smile that had her daydreaming while he nocked a kill shot. She gives up on trying to summon his gaze with her mind and glances desperately at Impa. The keeper of their histories, a guardian of lost tapestries and lessons of the past, a voice of reason in the hundred year storm—

But Zelda sees none of the women she thought she knew in the way Impa considers him. She’s got her head tilted pensively, like she might actually be contemplating what Link has said, which is impossible because he is suggesting they dismantle all the ancient relics of her people. 

Impa rotates her gaze out to the crowd and extends her hands to welcome the discussion, looking like a statue of the Goddess herself. Zelda’s heart drops into the pit of her stomach with a splash. She wants to scream, at both of them, but the continued and calm silence of the crowd is starting to feel less like they are preparing to strike and more like Link’s found the hidden door they’ve all been searching for. An emotional outburst could compromise the cogendy of any argument she might make. 

Goddess, she can still hear her father’s voice in her head after all these years. 

“Where would it all go?” Reede finally asks. 

Link crosses his arms over his chest, thinks about it for a half a second –1 like they are talking about something as simple as mending a pasture fence – and offers, “Sheikah Slate has a limitless inventory. Load it all into the Slate and then get rid of it.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” 

“Smash it with a hammer?” 

Purah gasps. “That would be such a waste, Linky! We still haven’t unlocked a quarter of the Slate’s potential.”

“You’ll build something better.” 

“Like what?” Robbie says, visibly shaken and pale.

‘That’s your thing, isn’t it?’ Link signs.

“If I may, wouldn’t destroying the Sheikah Technology prolong restoration efforts?” says Hudson of Tarrey Town. 

Link nods. 

“Did you yourself not benefit from the technology during your travels?” Traysi asks in a strangely formal tone. She lifts a pen and paper out of her lap without looking away from Link.  

He shrugs and Traysi’s expression sinks. She must be remembering he’s Hyrule’s worst interview subject. She rolls her shoulders back and tries again. 

“Wasn’t it Sheikah Technology that saved you from death?” 

An unbearable amount of guilt seethes out from wounds deep inside Zelda. Questions she’ll never feel brave enough to voice echo in the silence that follows Traysi’s: Did I make the right call? Is it what you wanted me to do? She can’t see his face, but she imagines it is unsettlingly neutral, as it always is in crucial moments of outrageous tension.  

Do you resent me for what I did? She’s screaming inside her head, glaring at the back of his skull. Unbearable heat swirls in her chest like dragon’s breath. You must! Just say you do! 

“It trapped his soul inside his body,” King Dorephan says.

Link’s body flinches. It’s microscopic. Zelda only catches it because she’s so focused on him, but she sees it, and pain blooms in the very center of her chest. 

“Mipha’s soul was trapped inside Vah Ruta after all these years, too.” King Dorephan continues. He is a monolith of a presence and yet, when he speaks about his late daughter, somehow, he’s transformed into something smaller and broken. This is the price of a long life. The Rito who flew with Revali, the Gerudo who marched with Urbosa, the Gorons who laughed with Daruk; they have all since passed. If there is grief, it is distant and therefore, instinctively more bearable. Only the Sheikah can begin to relate and still, with the Champions, the Zora stand alone. Zelda’s here. The Sheikah’s Princess returned.

The title suddenly feels too heavy again. 

“Father, her body was gone,” Prince Sidon says gently. He has tears in his eyes. Unapologetically emotional as ever, and instead of responding with rage or shame, the great King of the Zora places a hand on Sidon’s shoulders. His eyes, set beneath the mighty crown of his people, swim with tears as well. 

Zelda wilts with envy. 

“The Zora second Link’s motion to destroy all Sheikah Technology.”

“We-we would be forfeiting artifacts that have withstood the test of time and have proven immensely useful,” Robbie proclaims. For the first time, he looks his age. Shaking where he stands, shoulders crested with fatigue, his hands braced on the back of Purah’s chair.  

“When they function properly,” Teba’s chimes in. He has the kind of call that booms across the Tabantha sky. A few Ritos whistle in consensus. “Vah Medoh terrorized our people for decades. Too many Rito warriors took their final dive after it claimed the sky for the Calamity.” 

“It didn’t get you though, Dad,” Tulin says. 

Teba grins, “Right. Thanks to Link. Kaneli?”

“The Rito soar with Link.” Kaneli flashes his massive wingspan. “Destroy it all.” 

“Forget a hammer, the Gorons will take care of anything that needs smashing,” Bludo grunts.

Yubuno clenches his fists and blows out a sphere of molten light around him. “Yeah, goro! We got this!”

“We passed many guardians and shrines during the march here from the desert. They are a map of tremendous loss across Hyrule. The Gerudo cannot remember a time when this technology was useful. We only know its devastation. It is time to let the past go. Hyrule is ready to move forward.” Riju sets her hands on her hips and nods in Link’s direction. 

“Our research…we would be throwing it all away!” Purah cries, and like Robbie, she’s looking her age. Six and completely devastated the grown ups are planning to take away her favorite toy.

“Correct me if I'm wrong, Purah, Robbie, but weren’t the shrines and the Slate originally created specifically for Link? For the chosen hero?” Impa asks.

“Yes, that is correct,” Robbie says.

“And we all believe Calamity Ganon is finally vanquished, yes?” Impa turns to look at the crowd. 

“Mipha’s Grace.” One of the elder Zora crosses his fins at the same time Buliara and the other Gerudo soldiers raise their spears. Teba whistles and the Hylian’s offer the sign of the Goddess with their hands. It is a resounding and unanimous ‘good riddance’. 

“So, with this in mind, have the shrines and the Slate not served their purpose?”

“Well, yes, I suppose that’s true,” Robbie says. Purah starts pouting. Zelda can see the defeat starting to take root around the Sheikah researchers. Feels it starting to wrap around her own ankles. She feathers a hand up to touch the spot where her voice is trapped in her throat. All those years resisting her father’s guidance and now, it’s the one thing keeping her from damning herself. To this group, so revitalized by new hope, united and rising from a hundred years of ruin, her proposal of clinging to their ashes might feel like poison. 

Like malice.

“I know it feels like a waste, dear sister. Robbie. But I ask that you both consider the possibility this is not another squandering of our efforts.”

“It’s the fulfillment of them.” Paya’s voice is exceptionally steady. She folds her hands over Robbie’s and helps him peel back his fingers from the back of Purah’s chair. 

“The Zora will continue to look to the Sheikah for guidance,” Sidon says.

“It would be foolish to ignore the knowledge of the Sheikah,” Kaneli agrees.

“Like Link said, this is our opportunity to build something new for Hyrule.” Yubono pumps his fist in the air.

“Something better,” Riju adds.

“We will all have a hand in rebuilding Hyrule. From the ground up this time.” Hudson rubs his hands together like he’s ready to get started.

Tulin lets out a cheer. His voice is youthful and hopeful and infectious. The perfect song for the future of Hyrule. A few out Rito echo him and then the Gerudo join in. Then the Gorons, and the Zora and the Hylians. Impa holds her arms out to Purah and both she and Robbie lunge forward to embrace her. Link claps a few times and then finally looks over his shoulder at Zelda. His eyes are brighter than luminous stones.

He has no idea what he’s done. 

The smile was just a smile. A pathetically desperate misinterpretation on her part. He smiles because he’s polite, not because she’s something special or they are together in any of this. 

Link died on the field that day. And with him–

The pages slip from her hands. Her proposal scatters across the grass at her feet. 

She scurries to gather them up and Link immediately takes a knee to help her. Zelda snatches the pages back into her chest and recoils like the wounded animal she is. He blinks at her, a wordless question forming on his lips. The hand outstretched for the pages turns over slowly to offer his palm to her. He’s trying to help her up without any idea he’s the one who put her here.

“What says the Princess of new Hyrule?” It's Traysi’s voice. Probably ready with her pen, eager to draft a report and spit the plan for the restoration out to the Rumor Mill by sunset. 

Her hands are shaking. Dozens of eyes on her, fire in her throat, nothing but a scar on her hand. She glances down at the mark, a nameless cluster of triangles. In stasis, she decided they represented the holy Springs. For a time, she held all three in her hand, but Courage and Power only flowed through her. For some reason, predetermined by fate that has proven nothing but cruel, she is the vessel for Wisdom. 

And Wisdom tells Zelda her thoughts have no value. They never have.  She looks around at the faces of her people. Unknowingly, they’ve not only stolen her newfound sense of purpose–they are making it forbidden. 

And now they are asking for her blessing. 

She swallows what feels like acid and looks back at Link. At some point in her reeling, she’s risen to her feet without realizing it. He remains on his knees, looking up at her with an innocent tilt of confusion, Master Sword strapped to his back. Her body blocks out the sun and casts a looming shadow over his face. The pasture falls away from her. She’s surrounded by cascades of water and trees twisted with age and swarms of fireflies. Beneath her feet, an altar with a space for a traveler’s gift lifts her even higher above him. Zelda tries to keep the horror from washing over her face, but the restraint necessary only makes her feel like she might turn into stone. 

Is it a crown they want her to wear or a halo?

Zelda gathers herself and says the only thing she can summon from the depths of her panic, “May the Light of the Goddess shine upon you.”

—-

The Summit lasts four days. Link has all of the shrines, towers, and the majority of the remaining guardians already mapped out on the Slate, so it is only a matter of divvying up the work. Each group is responsible for their assigned regions and are free to do what they please with the guardian parts once the cores are removed. The Gerudo and the Zora verbalize their intent to destroy all the Sheikah tech in their territories, but the Gorons, Rito, and the Hylians (who stand the most to gain from recycled materials) plan to repurpose. 

The plan is to harvest the ancient cores and store them in the Slate. Link will travel across Hyrule to load the cores into Slate, along with any unwanted materials it has the capacity to absorb.  Once the guardians are taken care of and they figure out how to dismantle the shrines, they’ll destroy the Sheikah Slate, smother the ancient furnaces, and bury the Divine Beasts. They will reconvene as needed to collectively approve next steps. The Sheikah are tasked with what to do with the towers because everyone agrees there is value in preserving a modern mapping system as long as a new network is created.

It is Link’s task to figure out how to handle the shrines since he is the only one who can enter them. He disappears into the shrine near his house the first night only to emerge several hours later, circling it like a wolf. He eventually settles down and appears to just glare at the terminal until the sun rises. He does the same thing the following night and the night after that. Zelda knows this because she’s been watching him from Purah’s second floor window.

Seeing him struggle with it doesn’t make her feel better (okay, it helps a little), and it’s hard to stay upset when she sees how well-received his recommendation is; how necessary it feels for the rest of Hyrule to start planning their future. It’s just when this anger completely deflates, she knows she’ll be left to deal with what actually lies beneath it, as is often the case with her anger, and it’s a sorrow she’s afraid she will drown in. 

“He’s still at it?” Zelda jumps back from the window at the sound of Purah’s voice. 

“What? Link? I wasn’t–” Zelda sputters.

Purah waves her tiny hands and tip toes across the floor to a desk. “Don’t worry about it. He’s a fascinating subject.”

“Why are you up so late?” Zelda wraps her arms around herself. Purah gets a guilty look, but as Zelda draws closer, she hears a soft, excited hum coming from the researcher. Like Zelda’s presence alone lit some internal fuse and Purah is on the verge of bursting into sparkles. 

“If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone else?”

Zelda knows this is a dangerous game, Purah used to say the same thing a hundred years ago, right before she launched into an explanation as to why the western castle wall was damaged, again.

“Did you break something?”

“No!” Purah sets her fists in her hips, insulted. 

“Are you going to?” 

“Princess!”

Zelda lifts her eyebrows. 

“Come on, do you want to see what I’m working on or not.” Purah stomps her feet very softly in an exaggerated manner, obviously trying to keep the noise level down. 

“Okay, okay, I promise.”

“Pinky promise! I mean it, I need you to have my back like old times. You were the only reason my research didn’t get shut down back then.”

“It was threatened.” Zelda smiles at the avalanche of memory that befalls her. It didn’t feel funny at the time, – lying to her father, tempting his wrath – but it felt good to protect something she was equally as passionate about. 

“I know.” Purah rolls her eyes. 

“Multiple times.”

“I know! So, so, so?” Purah holds up her pinky and wiggles it at Zelda. Zelda rolls her shoulders back and sighs. 

“Okay, pinky promise,” she says and loops her finger with Purah’s. 

Purah flings open a wide drawer filled with blueprints. She throws the top half of pages to the floor with enthusiasm, mumbling about how Symin can pick them up later, and rummages around the rest with a hushed frenzy. Zelda spots a copy of the new Hyrule map from the Summit with the restoration territories outlined. Purah’s already marked all the Sheikah tower locations and made notes on possible spots for relocation.

Even she’s found a purpose in the path forward. 

Purah fans out the papers hidden at the very bottom of the drawer out on her desk. “I’ve expedited my experiments with the Anti-Aging Rune. I just want to reverse this,” she gestures to herself extravagantly, “and then they can do whatever they want with the Sheikah Slate.”

“You’re going to return to your original state? You’ll be over a hundred and–”

“No. I just want to look old enough so people stop telling me I need to take a nap whenever I raise my voice.” A beat. “And I want to be able to reach the jar Symin hides the honey candies in.”

Zelda scans over Purah’s design, which calls for the Guidance Stone, the Sheikah Slate, and something called ‘cellular maturity milestone marker’ coding. 

“Does Impa know you're working on this?”

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than seek permission, Princess. And besides, I’ve already got ideas for a better Slate with an even better name, so that should buy me a royal pardon if I need it, right?” 

As if Zelda holds any authority in any of this. 

Zelda backs away from Purah’s desk and the ugly feelings of jealousy starting to bubble up inside her. She ends up back at the window and turns her face to the cool night air. Link’s pacing in front of the Shrine again. 

“Do you think he’ll figure it out?” Zelda asks.

“The shrines? Yes.”

“He’s always been good at puzzles.”

“Yeah, but so have you. Aren’t you going to help him?” Purah quips innocently. With the way her hushed voice carries in the night, it’s like she's speaking from Zelda’s shoulder.  

—-

Zelda hasn’t spoken to him since the first day. If he’s noticed, he hasn’t made it known. He’ll occasionally catch her eye and smile, but she’s learned not to read into that anymore and hardens herself to any tenderness that attempts to sidetrack her thoughts.

Purah asks her to retrieve the Sheikah Slate from Link when he’s done with it so she can run a trial on the Anti-Aging Rune before Symin wakes up. If nothing else, it gives Zelda an excuse to wander down to the shrine while she’s still deciding if she wants to help him. 

He’s sitting cross-legged on the terminal gate with his chin in his hand when she approaches. The Master Sword lays unsheathed beside him. Weathered and dull, unable to glimmer even in the moonlight. Like her, it hasn’t glowed since the final battle.

It takes a second for him to return from wherever his thoughts are, but she can tell he’s been aware of her somehow since she started climbing the hill up to the shrine. He paws his chin with his fingers and then flops backward in the grass at her feet with a frustrated sigh. 

“Can’t figure it out?” She asks. 

He puffs some hair into his bangs and signs, ‘Not yet.’

She sits down beside him. “Do you think there is a core inside?”

He crinkles his nose and shakes his head.

“You told me you think the Shrines, like Divine Beasts, run on some kind of spirit-based energy, right?”

He nods. 

“But when you clear a Shrine, the spirit of the Sheikah Monk inside disappears?”

“Right.” Link sits up on his elbows and rolls his head around his shoulders.

“But the Shrine stays semi-active, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that imply a power source remains?”

Link shrugs. Zelda follows the curls of cerulean along the walls of the shrine up to the peak where the Sheikah Eye glows. The symbol always brought her comfort. The presence of a friend, the company of like minds—a buffer of protection against the unbearable amount of pressure building on her shoulders since the day she turned seven. But the symbol feels different now, as most symbols tend to do with time. It doesn’t bring her much comfort. It’s just another thing from her past she has to let go of; the sign of something else evolving without her. 

It stares unblinking and focused on some distance point she can’t see. 

He taps her on the shoulder to pull her attention back to him. A tiny pulse of electricity moves from his fingers down into her belly when he seems to appraise her face before he signs. 

‘Any ideas?’ He looks tired. Overdue for a visit. She can feel sleep reaching for her as well. Her attention drifts back to the Sheikah Eye and she imagines it closing shut. Resting like they both should. Like she could if she had a bed.

A home. 

“You said you think the Shrines work like the Divine Beasts? So in theory, those stopped working because our friends—” Grief, unexpected and sudden, crackles in her voice. She clears her throat. Pivots. “You can’t use their gifts any longer, right?”

Link flexes his fingers slowly. Like he’s just missing something that keeps passing through his fingers. “I let them go.”

She thinks about what King Dorephan said about the Shrine of Resurrection and Link’s soul. How he had been unable to die because the Shrine kept his soul tethered to his body while the waters healed it.  She thinks about eyes closing and Tulin’s cheering and the sadness that comes with at last fulfilling one’s purpose. 

“Can I see the Slate?” She asks. Link unclips it from his belt and slides it over to her in the grass. Purah would slap him if she saw just how casually he handles it. Zelda wants to tell him to be careful, that Purah might be tall enough to reach his face soon, but she has a pinky promise to keep, and the Slate will be gone before too long, anyway. She weighs it with her hands a few times and then stands to approach the terminal. 

“How do you activate the Shrine if there isn’t a slot?” She feels Link come up beside her. He leans over and mimics holding the Slate over the Sheikah symbol with an empty hand. The hair on her arm stands on end in his closeness. Will this feeling ever go away? Or will it always feel like she is about to be struck by lightning whenever he’s near? 

“Have you ever tried to do it again once the Shrine is activated?”

“No.”

Zelda lifts the Slate up to the terminal. Nothing happens. The shrine glows calm and blue, the door stays shut, the Slate screen blank–as she suspects it would. She bites her cheek and hands the Slate back to him. “You try.”

The second he holds the Slate over the terminal, the light at the center of the Sheikah Eye blinks once, calling the Slate to life. He turns over and inspects the screen. The name of the Shrine, which Zelda assumes is the name of the Sheikah Monk whose soul powered it for thousands of years, has a check mark next to it. She assumes it is because Link completed the trial inside. 

Below the name is a single, pulsing command:

> Rest? <

They snap their heads up to look at each other at the same time. 

Link’s shoulders collapse. An irritated puff air escapes his nose. 

Zelda leans over him, presses her thumb against the word, and watches it dissolve into the darkness of the screen. The steel shifts under her feet, and they immediately scramble off the back of the entryway because the Shrine has started disintegrating around them. Link wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her flush against him so his body breaks their fall when they hit the grass.

They watch the last bit of light in the Sheikah symbol disappear into nothing. In a matter of ten seconds, the only evidence the Shrine was ever there is a round footprint of dirt. There are no materials to sort through, no cavern to fill in. She shifts and sits between his bent legs, frantically turning on the Sheikah Slate where, on the digital map of Hyrule, the symbol marking where the Shrine was is completely gone. 

“I…I can’t believe that actually worked!” She laughs, collects herself, holds the Slate out at another angle and laughs again.“You were right about the spirit energy,” she insists. Funeral pires, ashes in the wind, a deliberate letting go; one way or another, a soul needs to be put to rest. Otherwise, it just spins like a windmill blade even after the wind is gone. 

“How did you know?”

“I’m just good at solving puzzles.” Purah deserves a honey candy for reminding her of that. “It will speed the restoration up significantly if that’s all you need to do…” Her voice trails off slowly. He’s got his head next to hers, eyes fixed on the Slate in front of them. It takes everything inside her not to fold back against him, so viciously desperate for touch – for his touch – her hands start to tremble with urgency. The last drop of anger left inside her vanished with the shrine.   And as predicted, the misery left behind is deep and agonizing and it goes by another name:  

Loneliness. 

[fioreofthemarch]

Finding Her - Chapter 18

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Previous | Next | First | AO3 ]

Warning: The Purah Pad has exceeded maximum operational vertical speed. The Purah Pad is not rated for a descent rate of more than 3000 feet per minute.

<&lt; HARD STOP DETECTED >>

<< EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN INITIATED >>

Would you like to continue operating the Purah Pad?

> Yes

Please enter extreme conditions authorisation code Core functions shutdown in 13… 12… 11… 

> LINK

Incorrect code. Core functions shutdown in 9… 8… 7…

> I HAVE TAKEN THE PURAH PAD FROM THE HERO ALLOW ME TO USE IT 

Incorrect code.Core functions shutdown in 5… 4… 3…

> INFERNAL DEVICE DO AS I SAY!

Incorrect code. The Purah Pad has entered an emergency lockdown. Next passcode attempt in: 999 minutes

---

Log date: 12:05 9th month, 12th day 104AC Location: Lookout Landing Weather: Cloudy

The Hero of Hyrule is famous for his bravery and his strength, but even he sometimes has a bad week. This morning, the swordsman Link arrived on our doorstep looking worse for wear. His hair was muddied, his clothes were torn, and he was covered in cuts and bruises. We had not heard from him for nine days. In this report, I, Josha (Head of Depths Research) will piece together what we know about Link’s disappearance. 

The Purah Pad logs show that nine days ago, it was dropped from a significant height. This is because an overspeed warning was triggered, followed by an emergency lockdown approximately ten minutes later. Additionally, the last log entry is partly corrupted and overwritten in code. This may occur when the save function is interrupted. Finally, anecdotal evidence supports this theory. When Link arrived at Lookout Landing, he handed the Purah Pad to Dr. Purah and said, “Might have dropped it”. Taken together, it is clear the Purah Pad fell a significant distance, however where it was dropped was a mystery - until now. 

A series of notes found in Link’s inventory may provide clues to his whereabouts for the past nine days. These notes are short and each ends with the words ‘Glory to Master Kohga’. The paper the notes are written on is marked with a red, upside down Sheikah eye. This indicates that the authors of these notes are none other than the Yiga, who moved to the Depths of Hyrule four years ago, after the defeat of Master Kohga by Link. Therefore, the only place Link could have collected these notes would be the Depths themselves. 

The notes have been scanned using this Purah Pad, which belongs to Link. This is because I am, apparently, not yet old enough to have one of my own. The Yiga appear to have taken the Purah Pad from Link, and write in the notes that he is following them. Therefore, we theorise that the Purah Pad was dropped into a chasm where it was stolen by the Yiga, and then was retrieved by Link at a later point. My next report will attempt to reconstruct how Link was able to escape and return to us. 

A photograph of Mineru, the Zonai Construct, helping one of the residents of Lookout Landing repair the roof of his mini-stable. 

Caption: This construct is also here. It arrived about a day before Link returned. I must go introduce myself! 

---

Appendix A: Salvaged Yiga Notes 1-4 of 8. 

Yiga Note 1 A day for the history books! The Purah Pad has been won from the villain, Link. Our scouts on the perimeter reported seeing him fall through the nearby Naydra Chasm. They say he appeared to be reaching out for something as he fell. 

Unfortunately for him he fell into a frox den. While he was dealing with that, we pounced. At last, the Sheikah technology that was kept from us for millennia is ours! 

We are using our network to transport the Purah Pad north, to the Abandoned Lanayru Mine, so that our Master can unlock it… and its secrets. 

Glory to Master Kohga. 

Yiga Note 2 The Purah Pad has been delivered to the Ploymus Canyon Hideout. Tomorrow, four of our field agents will take it north-west to our Master.  

Now we turn our attention to the hunt. There is a situation unfolding that must be dealt with.

The Hero has been spotted on our trail. Each time we think we have lost him, he finds us again. We are unable to remain in the shadows. He keeps activating those damned light roots…

We will find him and stop him in his tracks. 

Glory to Master Kohga. 

Yiga Note 3 Finally, shelter. We have not slept in days, but we cannot stop moving. Link gains on us with each passing hour. He wants that useless Sheikah device back, clearly. If only we could get it to work…

There are whispers that our hideouts have begun to go dark. Each one that we pass through cuts off all communication within a day. We have also heard reports of a blaze, a large one. But surely, one Hylian could not do that much damage.

The others are getting worried, but not me.

Glory to Master Kohga. 

Yiga Note 4 To any Yiga who finds this note. Do not engage the Hero under any circumstances. 

Shortly after we delivered the Purah Pad to Master Kohga, the Hero arrived to exact his revenge. The weapon he carried shone as bright and terrible as the midday sky. How he survived this long in the Depths is beyond me. 

Praise Ganon - we managed to hold onto the Purah Pad, and our Master survived the encounter. We have taken him to a secret location in Hebra, far from Link’s reach. Without the Purah Pad, he will be trapped in this part of the Depths. 

Or so we hope.

Glory to Master Kohga. 

---

Log date: 17:45 9th month, 12th day 104AC Location: Lookout Landing Weather: Light rain

In stories told of heroes, it is said that their chief goal is victory in battle. However for real people, victory doesn’t always get them what they want. The swordsman Link is still recovering. He has a fever from an untreated cut, but Lady Jerrin is looking after him. In this report, I will… well, I was planning to write about Link’s escape from the Depths, but now I’m not sure. 

The final four Yiga notes tell a simple story. Link tracked down the Purah Pad and went in search of Master Kohga. Except it’s not clear if Link defeated him. It’s really important that we find out. Master Kohga is our oldest enemy, except for maybe Ganon himself. But no one in Lookout Landing is talking about it. They’re not even talking about the Demon King anymore. So I went to visit Link to find out what happened. 

He was only half awake and seemed whoozy. I said, Hi swordsman, it’s Josha. Sorry you were stuck down in the Depths so long. I wasn’t sure if he heard. He was mumbling to himself but the only words I could make out were: gone, gone, gone. I said yes, Master Kohga is gone, right? Then he had a moment of clarity. It was scary. He looked me in the eye and said, “Who cares about Kohga?”

I don’t know. I care. Someone should. Kohga tormented my people for over a century. And the Yiga have rebelled against Hyrule for even longer than that. Shouldn’t we care? But something else is going on, isn’t it? Something that a kid isn’t going to get told about. 

I’ve attached the final Yiga notes to this log, whoever reads this can look at them if they want, I guess. Link definitely gave the Yiga a hard time when he was down there. I wish I could have helped. 

A photograph of Mineru, the Zonai Construct, being doted on by Slergo and Offrak, two Goron children. One child is swinging off of one of her arms, while another has climbed onto her back. Whether the construct is enjoying this, or is merely tolerating it, is not possible to determine. 

Caption: Her name is Mineru. I really should introduce myself. Maybe later. 

---

Appendix B: Salvaged Yiga Notes 5-8 of 8. 

Yiga Note 5 To all Yiga, living or dead. Remember me?

Tell your Master: I will find where he is hiding. Even if I have to search every single one of your little outposts. 

It’s been less than a week but I’ve sacked more of them than I care to remember. At least more than than I can count on both hands, since you stole my only other way of taking notes. 

You think I’m trapped down here with you. No. You’re trapped down here with me. And I’m not leaving without my Purah Pad. 

Glory to Master Kohga. However much he has left. 

Yiga Note 6 Terrible news. We have lost the Purah Pad. It pains me to write of this failure. 

It was Master Kohga’s decree that we keep the Purah Pad moving through our network, rather than hold it in one place. That way, we would reduce the chance of Link finding it… but that didn’t stop him. 

He tracked us to the Elma Knolls hideout. We threw everything we had at him. Every Zonai contraption he neutralised, every footsoldier he struck down. Then our hideout was on fire. I don’t even know how he started it. 

In the panic, the idiot Battlemaster in charge of the Purah Pad dropped it! That was all it took. Link snatched it back, unlocked it (something even Master Kohga could not do!) and teleported away. 

He was gone in an instant, to Ganon knows where.

So much for our victory. 

Glory to Master Kohga. 

Yiga Note 7 I hate to admit it, but we are getting nervous. 

It has been two days since anyone in our network has sighted the menace, Link. 

Our agents above ground have not seen him. None in the Depths have been able to recover anything. Link and the Purah Pad have vanished. 

Reports indicate that our leader is safe and sound, but with no news of Link, we must take precautions.

We have dispatched scouts to Hebra, just to make sure.

Glory to Master Kohga.

Yiga note 8 ALL AGENTS BE ADVISED: THIS IS AN URGENT CIRCULAR. 

Any agents in Hebra must immediately report if they have seen Link, otherwise known as the Hero of Hyrule, the Princess’ Appointed Knight, or other alias such as ‘the demon’, ‘the villain’ and ‘the blond menace’

Contact has been lost with the Abandoned Hebra Mine Hideout. REPEAT: contact has been lost with the Abandoned Hebra Mine Hideout. This was Master Kohga’s last known location and was the site of top secret research and development. 

Contact your local hideout if you have any and all leads. Do so as soon as possible or the worst may come to pass.  

Glory to Master Kohga. 

---

Log date: 10:00 9th month, 13th day 104AC Location: Lookout Landing Weather: Cloud clearing. 

I went to see Link again. He was awake and sitting up in one of the beds in the Emergency Shelter. Jerrin says his fever has passed, which is good. He didn’t even remember me visiting yesterday and apologised if he said anything weird. I lied and told him he didn’t. 

Since he was feeling better, I asked him again what happened to Master Kohga. Link explained to me that he survived for nine days in the Depths on nothing but mushrooms and moss, with no gear except his clothes and the Master Sword on his back. Eventually, he fought Master Kohga in an abandoned mine below Hebra. Kohga tried to use a big Zonai construct, like Mineru, but it didn’t work, and now he’s gone. I don’t know if Link means he’s dead or something. He just said that Kohga won’t be troubling us anymore. 

Great news, right? Link didn’t seem that excited. He just said, “Is it?” I answered that I thought it was. “But I feel nothing,” he said. And then he started crying. Like, crying crying. 

I was dumbstruck. Ever since the whole Upheaval thing, you’d think more people would be crying, but everyone’s been soldiering on. I thought, what did my parents do, the last time I was really upset? All I could remember was my mother putting her arms around me, so that’s what I did. I put my arm around Link’s shoulder and hugged him tight. I thought maybe you just have to squeeze the tears out of a person until they feel better. But…

She’s gone, he kept saying. She’s gone. I asked who he meant, was it Zelda? That did NOT help. He cried harder, but with no sounds now, just tears and shakes. So we sat there for a long time, until Jerrin noticed what was happening and chased me away, telling me to let Link sleep.  

So now I’m here, outside the shelter, feeling useless and very sad, and not really knowing why. It sucks. This whole situation just kind of sucks. I don’t know what to do… but maybe it’ll come to me later.

A photograph of Mineru, sitting on the steps leading to Josha’s research station on Lookout Landing. She is looking directly at the camera, and is waving. 

Caption: Oh shoot. I think she noticed. 

---

Incoming message… [MINERU (UNKNOWN)] Processing…

Connection established.

10:15 MIN| Hello there, Josha. My name is Mineru.  

10:15 JSH|Hello. Sorry about the photo.

10:15 MIN| Do not worry.  It is flattering. 

10:15 JSH| I see. Did you want to talk?

10:16 MIN| I prefer using the Purah Pad. Sending messages via text is simpler.  

10:16 JSH| Quieter too, I guess.

10:16 MIN| Yes. Everyone is nervous about Link. I thought it better to stay discreet. 

10:16 JSH| Yeah. Hey one moment, I’ll join you.

10:16 MIN| Be my guest. 

10:19 MIN| Is it not a pleasant view from these stairs? You can watch everyone in Lookout Landing go about their day. 

10:19 JSH| I’m usually focused on my research. Not that it’s helped much lately.

10:19 MIN| I understand the feeling. I was once much the same. 

10:19 JSH| You were a researcher?

10:19 MIN| Many years ago. Zelda and I shared this interest. Did you know her? 

10:21 JSH| Oh, not personally. I grew up hearing about her, everyone did. It helped knowing the Princess was once like me. I might have been a weirdo book nerd, but I could be a scholar, just like Zelda. She’s the reason I’m a researcher.

10:24 JSH| I wish someone would tell me what happened to her. I asked Link but he got pretty upset about it. So stupid…

10:24 MIN| Your actions were not stupid. Curiosity is natural.

10:24 JSH| You should have heard him. It was like Zelda had died. But that can’t be it, can it?

10:25 MIN| Your elders have forbidden me from telling you much but… Princess Zelda indeed still lives. Unfortunately, it is no longer in a way that she can share with us. 

10:26 JSH| That’s terrible. Poor Princess… I wish I could help somehow. Link survived the Depths fine on his own, so my research was all for nothing.

10:26 MIN| Your presence was not ‘all for nothing’. You were there for him. You helped him through that dark and terrible moment. 

10:27 JSH| I made him cry.

10:27 MIN| Not all tears are bad. Often they are the first step on a long journey of acceptance and peace.

10:29 JSH| I suppose when you put it like that. Mineru, is Zelda really gone?

10:29 MIN| I do not know. Time will tell. But we honour her memory by protecting her beloved Hyrule. Speaking of, it’s time we recalled the Sages to Lookout Landing. They each have a message medallion, but someone has to make the calls. Someone with a voice. 

10:30 JSH| Do you mean…me…? Well, say no more! Josha, Head Assistant to the Five Sages of Hyrule, at your service!

10:30 MIN| It is very much appreciated, Josha. When you are ready, we can get to work. 

Connection terminated.

[leelreallylikespersona]

Yaldabaoth BOTW AU? Elaborate please 🔥👁️

So I mushed TOTK and BOTW together while also making an original story… I’m still working things out but what I do have for now!

The king, who I’m thinking might be Satanael, receives a message of sorts saying he who holds the Triforce of Power will destroy the land. So he did everything he could to ensure this didn’t happen. He established the Sages, each one tasked with defending their home. The most important Sages for now are Yaldabaoth and Emma. The secret stones are in this, but the name is awful so I’ll call them something else. Before it was discovered who had the Triforce of Power, Yaldabaoth had suggested raising the land into the sky to protect their people. But the king rejected his idea, saying not everyone would be saved.

Upon finding out Yaldabaoth was the holder of the Triforce of Power, his stone was taken from him. The king was acting out of paranoia, Yaldabaoth hadn’t done anything at this point. His stone was given to his younger brother, Salmael.

Yaldabaoth is the “demon king” of this AU, he was sealed away by the king. Before this, the king tasked the head of the Sheikah tech developer, who is Emma, to create a chamber to ensure he couldn’t escape. She did this, however, Yaldabaoth is her brother, and at the time, he hadn’t even done anything to warrant him being sealed. Her loyalty was with Yaldabaoth, not with Satanael. So the “chamber” wasn’t a vessel to hold Yaldabaoth, it was a Divine Beast. She believed that her brother cared for the kingdom despite the omen they heard, thus equipping the Divine Beast with the ability to raise the land into the air.

While Emma was constructing the Divine Beast in secret, Satanael had Yaldabaoth imprisoned. Overtime, the king became more paranoid, and Yaldabaoth became more irate.

When the day came and Yaldabaoth was moved to the “chamber”, he didn’t complain. He knew what Emma had done, he knew that even if he lost his physical form, he would finally be able to prove the king wrong.

The king attempted to use his sage ability to seal him away, not expecting Yaldabaoth to kill them both. The king’s spirit was trapped, while Yaldabaoth’s possessed the Divine Beast, giving him full control of the mechanics. He rose from underground, land rising into the sky with him. In his wake, Malice spread across the land, leaving the first Calamity to wreak havoc on the land below.

Basically the omen the king receives happens because of the measures he took to try and protect his people…

For years, Yaldabaoth stayed peacefully in the sky islands, watching over the people who lived there. He dedicated his time to watching the dragon that roamed the skies with him too, offering him a place to rest during the night.

On the surface, however, he would unleash Calamities every 1,000 years.

The chasm left behind with the Divine Beast rose into the air was covered by the current Hyrule castle.

So some quick character summaries!

Yaldabaoth: Former Sage of Light and Holder of the Triforce of Power. After losing his physical form, he possessed a Divine Beast. He remains somewhat dormant in the sky islands, occasionally releasing a Calamity upon the surface.

Emma: Head Sheikah technology researcher and Sage of Spirit. After her brothers rose to the sky islands, she remained to continue her work with Sheikah technology. During the first Calamity, she worked to construct the four Divine Beasts as well as the guardians.

Salmael: Former Sage of Time, Draconified. Spends his time mindlessly roaming the sky islands. During the night, he will sleep near Yaldabaoth, even though he doesn’t quite remember him.

Satanael: King of Hyrule, Sage of Darkness. His spirit is locked within the Divine Beast.

I'm still planning out a lot of stuff.. But here's what I have figured out for now o(*°▽°*)o

[hyde-nseek]

Breath of the Wild Thoughts

A completely pointless essay.

I was first introduced to the Zelda series with Breath of the Wild, and that comes with some good and bad things. The biggest downside I've seen from this is that I didn't understand what the characters of Zelda and Link used to be.

Since playing BotW, I have played parts of the other games, including all of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. They've become some of my favorite games to play.

But now that I've had the experience of older games, I realized something about Breath of the Wild, specifically the memories.

Link and Zelda are different before the Calamity. They don't match up with past incarnations.

For a while, I couldn't point out why exactly they were different, but now I have the answer. Link and Zelda didn't know who they were supposed to be in the prophecy. It was only after the Calamity that they understood what their roles were.

Pre-Calamity, Link is a royal knight, something that he never was before. To add to that, he was Zelda's bodyguard.

Canonically, that was a lot of stress for him. That's why he was silent and expressionless: he was too worried that he'd say something wrong or act contrary to his position.

To be fair, the only difference between this Link and the Hero of Hyrule we all know and love is how many people are looking at him. The responsibilities and goals stay the same: protect Zelda and save Hyrule.

The problem is that Link didn't have any freedom in doing that. He was given a specific task but told that he had to do it in a specific way by everyone he met, and it wasn't in the way he was comfortable with.

Essentially, he was doomed to fail.

Now let's talk about Zelda, the princess who didn't know what she wanted to be when she grew up.

I like how they portray Zelda in the memories. She is caught up in three different ideas of who she is. On one hand, she has a passion for research in Sheikah technology, and takes any opportunity to look into it, even if it gets her in trouble. On the other hand, she is trying to be the servant of the Goddess that Hyrule needs.

What I find interesting is that she fails to do the one thing that she knows she needs to do. She spends days worth of time trying to unlock powers everyone says is inside of her.

But they only come out when there is no pressure left.

Similar to Link, she can only function to her whole capacity when she's free to do it in her own way.

The Calamity, in a weird and backwards way, opened Zelda and Link to be who they were always supposed to be. Link was more heroic when there wasn't a plan or an expectation. Zelda was more powerful when she already failed and the expectations were gone.

In a sense they were free to do what they wanted. They were in the wild for the first time when the Calamity hit.

That first breath of the wild was what awakened Zelda's powers. She finally could be who she needed to be, and feel good about herself.

As for Link, he always had a little bit of wild in him, but it was suppressed when he was appointed a knight. When he wakes up 100 years later, he doesn't have those same expectations. He's as wild as ever burning the countryside and making seal puns. And that's what saves Hyrule.

I would also like to point out that Link is the most rigid when he is talking with Impa, the only person who has expectations of him.

And it is at this point into my essay when I realized that I was only stating the obvious. And it could have been summed up into one sentence.

Like the silent princess, Link and Zelda were only able to thrive in the wild.

So.... Yeah.

[fullmusicbardsquared]

ik this'll come out of nowhere and be kinda weird but i saw your "what happens to Zelda" tag on the "she would not fucking become a housewife" post and because tloz is my hyperfixation my love my baby, i just wanna fill others in!! feel no need to respond to this. in fact I'd be kind of embarrassed if you did. In case you don't wanna read all of this here is the TLDR: Zelda and Link are two very traumatized individuals who were forced and hurt by the societal expectations and the destiny placed upon them and after many tragedies in their lives would rather live freely as they want rather than confide in similar societal norms that people want to place upon them.

long version: that post was in particular about the Zelda we see in Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom. from a young age, Zelda had the knowledge of her family's divine bloodline held over her. and when the warning of the Calamity Ganon (the physical manifestation of the Demon King's hatred) came to light, she was to train in awakening her divine powers. however at age 6, her mother died (implied assassination by the Yiga Tribe who worship the Demon King). Her father, King Rhoam Bosphoromus Hyrule, fell into a deep depression and began emotionally neglecting/abusing her. Zelda has a love for science, history, and the ancient technology of an era long forgotten constructed by the Sheikah Tribe. She used this as a coping mechanism with the expectations of saving the world put on her, her mother's death, and her father's neglect. Rhoam however believed that Zelda needed to put everything she had into awakening the divine power within her and frequently fought with and berated Zelda for her interest in the Sheikah Technology.

Eventually, when she is 16, she and five other individuals (Link, Revali, Urbosa, Daruk, and Mipha) form the Champions. Together they would defeat Calamity Ganon and restore peace to Hyrule. Urbosa was Zelda's mother'a best friend and thus took on a maternal role for Zelda. However Link, the Chosen Hero, was initially disliked by Zelda. He represented everything she thought she wasn't. Link also was part of this prophecy, as the Hero chosen by the Master Sword who will help seal Ganon. However from Zelda's perspective, Link took on his role so much easier than she did. Unlike Zelda, who struggled to connect with her divinity and couldn't awaken her powers, Link was a proficient swordsman and fighter. She resented him for it and often lashed out at him. One day, Link put his life in extreme risk to save Zelda's life from Yiga Assassins after her, and that action was something Zelda was incredibly grateful for, so she began trying to connect with him a bit. She learned that Link was actually struggling heavily. He too was thrust into this position from an early age when he was chosen by the Master Sword at age 13 or so. Since then, he was frequently seen and treated as a walking weapon before a person. He internalized that and began bottling up his thoughts and feelings, seeing himself as having to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders without ccomplaint. This revelation made Zelda see Link as similar to herself, and they connected on a more personal level about their shared stress and destiny. Eventually they became close friends and showed interest in something more between them.

Unfortunately, on Zelda's 17th birthday she went to the Sacred Spring of Wisdom to pray to the Goddesses in a final attempt to awaken her powers. She has tried everything she could think of up to that point and was at her lowest after failing to show any signs of power at all. It was then that the Calamity Ganon struck. The Calamity took control of the Ancient Sheikah Technology and turned it against Hyrule while also manifesting several monsters to attack. This event became known as The Great Calamity. Most of Hyrule's population was killed in this event, along with four of the Champions and her father. Several towns were in ruins or completely destroyed (like Hyrule Castle Town), and Hyrule Castle itself was taken, infested with monsters, and in ruins.

Link and Zelda flee and retreat to Fort Hateno where corrupted Guardians (large autonomous tank-like robots) attacked them amd the last remaining part of the Hyrulean Army. They were getting crushed and Link was gravely wounded, and at the last moment right before Link surely would've been killed, Zelda's powers manifested and obliterated the Guardians at the fort. Despite this one victory, there was no time for celebration as Link collapsed and dies in Zelda's arms.

Zelda is having none of it though, and orders a few survivors of the Fort Hateno battle to bring Link to the Shrine of Resurrection (which was an ancient sheikah shrine able to revive one person, however had gone unused for thousands of years and wasn't even known of it was still safe).

Zelda brings the Master Sword back to it's pedestal and goes to Hyrule Castle alone to confront the Calamity Ganon. In one night, Zelda had lost everything and she used that grief and anger to seal away the Calamity and herself within Hyrule Castle. She couldn't destroy it, however as she needed Link and the Master Sword. The two of them needed to do this together. So she waited in a state of stasis along with the beast for Link to awaken from the Shrine of Resurrection.

It took 100 years for Link to be resurrected, and as he was actively being healed he naturally didn't physically age. He awoke with no memories however. BotW happens and he slowly regains his memories of the Great Calamity and of Zelda. At the end of the game, Zelda helps Link from within Calamity Ganon and destroys the creature. (for clarification, Zelda also didn't physically age as her divine powers kept her and the Calamity in a form of stasis for the century that Link healed. Unlike Link however, she was fully conscious.)

Around 5 years pass, and in that time Link and Zelda (both around 22/122) have been slowly rebuilding Hyrule with the inhabitants of this new era. They have made new friends and connections 100 years after their lives were changed forever and were moving forward with their lives.

This peace doesn't last unfortunately, as a dark substance begins leaking from the ground underneath the ruins of Hyrule Castle. Link and Zelda investigate and discover the decaying body of the Demon King himself, Ganondorf. He is being restrained by a mysterious spiritual arm, but when Link and Zelda discover and approach the sight, the land collapses and falls to the floor; a tear-shaped artifact falls from the hand and lands in front of Zelda, who picks it up. Then Ganondorf, now free from the prison that the hand was keeping him in, attacks. This attack cripples Link (almost completely destroying his right arm), shatters the Master Sword, and causes the cavern they're all in to collapse. During this collapse, Zelda falls into a cavern. As she is falling, her divine powers (which in this game is further revealed to be light based cleansing powers as well as time manipulation) activate and she is sent far into the past: the era of Hyrule's foundation.

In the past she meets the first King and Queen of Hyrule, Rauru and Sonia. These two become the parents Zelda never had (and the ones she deserved, they're great) and they plan to figure out a way for Zelda to master her time powers to maybe send herself back the 20,000 years in the future to her time.

Zelda becomes very close with the people in this era and even gets to keep the tear-shaped stone she found in the cavern. Long story short; she learns of a forbidden practice known as draconification, gains some control over her abilities, Ganondorf launches his first attack on Hyrule, kills Sonia, transforms into the Demon King, and begins the Imprisoning War.

Rauru, four Sages (Sages of Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning) and Zelda (appointed as the Sage of Time) fight Ganondorf. Ganondorf however is whooping their asses, and Rauru sacrifices himself to seal Ganondorf (eventually becoming the arm Link and Zelda find imprisoning Ganondorf).

So Zelda is utter defeated. When suddenly, a golden light appears before her and the shattered, broken Master Sword appears before her (Link in the present day gained time-based powers known as Recall from Zelda's willpower that had manifested which reacts with Zelda's time powers in the past and created a temporary link through time in which the sword was sent to the past through).

Zelda realizes that she is part of a causal-loop (where events in the future cause events in the past to happen that then cause said future events to happen). She realizes that by helping seal away the Demon King, she also helped create the Calamity Ganon that destroyed her kingdom in the future and she realizes what she must do to save her kingdom and those she loves. Thus she swallows the tear-shaped stone and undergoes Draconification. She is painfully turned into a dragon and the Master Sword gets lodged in her head to heal (as the blade heals via sacred energy as told in botw and other past tloz games).

As a dragon, Zelda loses everything that made her "Zelda". Her mind, emotions, spirit is all lost. She wanders aimlessly in the skies above Hyrule for thousands of years until the end of TotK where she, as a dragon, gets the Sword (now fully restored and more powerful) pulled from her head by Link and fights the Demon King alongside him. Absolutely destroying him and ending the plague on Hyrule.

Using an advanced version of Recall + Sonia and Rauru's ghosts manifesting and channeling their powers through Link, Zelda gets her draconification reversed (which was previously thought impossible). After being miserable and controlled for most of their lives, Zelda and Link finally get to live their lives in peace. No more "destiny", no more "fate", no more "expectations". Link and Zelda get to finally live their lives how they want to. Zelda, by her very character, wants nothing more than to explore and learn. She would not choose to be a traditional housewife raising kids because that isn't who she is. And now she is no longer confined to have to be someone she isn't.

Sorry for this info dump!! but now you know!

OHHHH. okay. i had honestly figured (along with my friend) that the post was about some awful fanfiction the op (are you the op . if you are pretend i wrote you there) saw.

don't apologize for this infodump! this is very interesting, and though i have not played totk, i really enjoyed reading your analysis of Zelda's character!

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Everyone be ready, this was in my drafts from well over a year or two ago and I think its time it sees the light of day. No I will not be editing botw 2 and changing it to totk bc I said so

Botw 2 had taken up my mind recently so I thought I’d discuss a few things I want to happen or would be interested to see in the sequel:

K, probably my most unusual? want for the sequel is for Impa to die (either right before after giving our two kids a warning that leads them to the cave) and to have a funeral for her OR have Impa use the aging rune to save Link and Zelda after Hyrule castle is upheaved and Ganon is unleashed but then like mid game, she dies for them and her death is used as a pivotal moment for both Link and Zelda and a way to up the stakes in game. Either way, I think the death of the Sheikah I adore so much would be an amazing thing to cover in the sequel (I want a funeral no matter what tho, SS Impa still breaks my heart and I need CLOSURE)

I would... also love for Link and Zelda to be separated at the very beginning on the game (after the tutorial portion). This is more so depending on if Zelda is playable. If she isn’t, then I want her glued to Link’s side f that separation nonsense. If she IS playable, then having them separated at the beginning forces the player to utilize Link and Zelda to progress through the story. Let’s say, I dunno, Link ascends with the castle and Zelda remains below in the caves. The player has to figure out a way to get off the castle (aka tutorial pt 1) and then switch to Zelda after Link is back on the ground and figure out how to get tf out of the cave (that could... I dunno be collapsing due to Ganon waking up ~for suspense). And then having the two meet at the ground at the same time to watch whatever Ganon is gunna do. Bam there’s the second portion of the tutorial.

I’d also love for the ‘new champions’ to play a larger role? We have to work with them as we transverse through Hyrule to get to the dungeon (hopefully?) in their region. This is 100% based off my own love for RIJU and having her interact with Zelda but it’s a want of mine.

Zelda’s paraglider be the sailcloth from SS. Need I say more?

I would love for a major plot device to be malice infecting PEOPLE rather than ancient technology. I know one theory is that the game will have Link and Zelda go through Hyrule reclaiming each part that’s been warped by Ganon and restoring it to what it was after botw but before the sequel!

Speaking of the map (sorta) I would LOVE an unblocked Hyrule Castle to explore, new settlements across Hyrule Field (Ranch Ruins please RISE), and slightly modified versions of the villages we know and love. Let Link go into Gerudo Town without a disguise dammit

For the love of Nayru, please have it be confirmed Link and Zelda live in Hateno. I need NPC’s to comment on their relationship. Best part? I think we might get that. Because I doubt Nintendo will ever explicitly make them a canon couple or whatever but they left clues in BoTW that are obscure but still easily found (let’s go with Kass’s final song that makes it canon Zelda was in love with Link, Zelda’s diary, Bolson’s comment about endless falling flower petals, even the MEMORIES) because those all to me tell a story but I know a few friends who missed almost all of those things! Nintendo likes to leave a bread trail but we’ll have to go out of our way to find it. And using the NPC’s would be a really great way to do that (also having a few of Zelda’s research stuff underneath the stairs, either a bigger bed or a second one, both of their horses in the stalls outside, etc)

[dishsaop]

god, i just - can you imagine what zelda went through on her seventeenth birthday?

this is her last chance to awaken her powers. she’s spent her whole life begging to her goddess, the one whose blood runs through her veins, to help her, and she’s had nothing but silence. all of hyrule, all its peoples, are relying on her, watching her, and all she can do is disappoint them. she knows what she’s good at, what she excels at - zelda is a scientist, a researcher, a genius, and she knows this ancient technology will save them. it has done so before. but the world isn’t looking for another scientist. the sheikah are awash with those. they need the princess of legend, and this sixteen year old child is failing them, and she doesn’t know how to fix it.

so this is her last chance. finally allowed at the spring of wisdom. you know, when you climb mount lanayru as link, if you aren’t wearing proper, thick clothing, you die within an hour. zelda sits in the freezing waters for hours, in only a thin white sleeveless dress, and begs to a goddess who does not answer. this is her spring, naydra is her dragon, wisdom is her triforce. nothing. her best friend, her loyal knight, stands behind her, silent as always, and he is not disappointing the world. he wields the sword that seals the darkness, and he is a master of his craft. there too are her other friends, champions of their people.

and zelda is pulled away, shivering, because hylia isn’t answering her. she’s failed, again, and it weighs unbearably heavy on this child’s mind. she’s supposed to be the next in the line of chosen princesses, a rich history of powerful and grand women who wielded magic as easy as they breathe, and this zelda is powerless. those talents she does have she clings to her chest, and her father the king bats them down with a sneer.

and then ganon wakes up.

they should be prepared, zelda or no zelda - link has the master sword, ready to defend his people. the champions have the divine beasts, huge and powerful machines that could each tear down an army on their own. hyrule has gathered to it guardians, weapons, towers, and it will stand strong as it did ten thousand years ago - zelda knows this, zelda helped rebuild this army. this is what she has given to her people.

what zelda has given to her people turns against them. no help comes from the champions, spread across hyrule, as the grandest warriors hyrule has to offer are torn to shreds in the places they thought safest. armies of unstoppable machines tear through villages like wet paper, rendering so much of hyrule a wasteland. zelda fixed those machines, tuned those gears, led the sheikah to repair them. demise is screaming over zelda’s home, and zelda knows it is her fault. she did not only fail to wake her powers - powers that could stop ganon - but she aided him in his destruction of her home. link has to tear her away. she has to run.

it is her seventeenth birthday, and in a field surrounded by an impossible amount of guardians, she watches her best friend die saving her life.

of course, this is when her powers wake up. too late, of course, for the champions, for link, for hyrule. all she can do is entrust her best friend’s body to purah and robbie (they’re all but children too, all of them, these teenaged heroes tasked by fate with the weight of so many lives) and pray that the chamber of resurrection will save him someday (because her prayers have done her so much good so far).

she follows the voice of a sword in her head - no sword meant for her. this is the sword that will kill ganon, and she cannot use it. the one who can is dead. it’s her fault it’s broken and burned, and all she can do is lay it at the feet of the great deku tree, older than time counted, and promise it that link - memories or no memories, she has to believe he will come back.

and then she turns around.

zelda has been seventeen for so short a time and it has cost her everything, those few things she could claim were both hers and good. and she turns around and heads to her shattered home - the broken castle already crawling with demons and monsters, with malice and poison and glowing eyes creeping through the once warm halls, and an immortal evil clouding around it. zelda cannot kill ganon. the sword is broken, the hero dead, and the chance of either coming back are slim, and still zelda marches up to her home and she raises her hand.

it is zelda’s seventeenth birthday for a century. time is nothing in her eternal locked battle with ganon, just barely enough to keep him tethered to the castle. even still, he can reach out - the blood moons keep the hordes of monsters alive, keep the guardians and the divine beasts possessed, keep naydra (her dragon) poisoned.

what must it have been like, that century of seventeenth birthdays? zelda’s own magic keeping them locked in the cycle (though haven’t they been locked in this cycle throughout all their lives), eternally fighting? do you think she ever faltered in her faith in link? a hundred years is a long time to hope a dead man will wake up.

and even then. even knowing link woke up, then, able to stretch just far enough to see him, unable to help beyond a watchful eye... link doesn’t remember her. at all. eventually, flashes, seconds of recollections, but he never remembers fully. and it takes time to reach her, to gather his strength again. longer still that zelda has to wait, eternally just barely seventeen years old, watching the boy who was once her best friend age by the day, gather new scars, remember the feel of a weapon in his hands, rescue the spirits of her dead friends.

link was always a better hero.

god. and then he comes to save her, and in a century, all she could do was hold him back. link draws his sword, charges, and ganon is defeated so soon after. oh, she can give him a weapon, can pick up the remains of ganon and seal it away, but link does in the course of a few hours what zelda would never have been able to.

and then what? then it’s over? not really. the sun is setting on her seventeenth birthday, and zelda is over a century old, and her once best friend turned feral wild warrior is looking up at her, and zelda has to decide how to rebuild a kingdom. what to do next.

im just saying. the poor girl had probably the worst birthday ever.

[awkwardspontaneity]

Parry This!

Part 8 of Memories of You

Prev | Next

Summary:  After a minor incident testing Guardian equipment, Link and Y/n get a day off to spend some time together.

AN: Writing fluff is so freaking hard T_T. Someone pls help me I went through so many drafts before I could figure out how to write this. Anywaysss, enjoy this happy moment cuz shit’s gong down 

Link stood beside Zelda watching over Guardian testing. There had been an issue with the malice creeping through the earth and infecting things, like the monster that had taken over Vah Medoh. A recent incident had involved a creature gaining infected Guardian materials and using them against a nearby village. Link had been there with the Y/n, Robbie, and Impa. They had just barely taken down the creature. Link had lost his shield when it’s strength enhanced the strength of the Guardian weapons. If Y/n hadn’t pulled him away he would have had quite the injury. Robbie stood over the smoldering metal of the shield- cut clean in half- as thoughts began to form. That was over a month ago and Y/n had been helping every day with tests to create armour and weapons that could hold out against the strength of the Guardian technology.

Out in the field, the Sheikah Champion was attaching a shield strap to their arm. Robbie felt that the testing was enough to be used by a real person and apparently, much to Link’s dismay, that person was his partner. It was one thing to have them testing out the weaponry against the Guardians but, to take a full Guardian blast head on? He wasn’t sure he could hide the anxiety it brought on. He had volunteered but Impa had said he needed to be in his best condition at all times to protect the princess. Yeah… that didn’t soothe his worries at all. 

Link and Zelda stood beside each other with bated breaths as the Guardian lit up.  Y/n readied the blue shield on their arm, shifting their stance in hopes of absorbing the blow. It was something Link taught them when he had heard they would be testing this shield. Despite being far enough away that they wouldn’t be at risk from rogue blasts, Link felt tense. He knew it was from seeing someone he loved deliberately put themselves in danger. He couldn’t lose Y/n.

Shwoom!

The sound of the Guardian firing sounded worlds away. Link watched in slow motion as the blast sliced through the air and, with a blast of light, hit the shield. It was in a matter of seconds the way the blast shot upwards, piercing the clouds. 

It worked.

Link heard the cheers of the scientists around as the air settled from the blast. He glanced at Zelda and she gave him a soft smile, permission to go check on Y/n. He shot down the hill to look for the Sheikah Champion, his nerves buzzing when they weren’t where they had started the experiment. There were deep tracks in the ground from where they had stood and, a few feet away from that, a groaning Sheikah. Link hit the ground beside them, carefully running his hands over them to check for injuries. Aside from a scrape on their cheek, they were uninjured. 

Y/n shook their head to clear the ringing noise, one hand reaching out to hold Link’s arm. “Did I pass the test?”

“That was A-MAZE-ING!” Robbie and Purah had come over to where the duo sat, grins on their faces as they cheered. “Shooting the beam into the sky wasn’t quite the plan but, it does save us from having to move a destroyed Guardian soo… great job!”

Link barely concealed his eye roll. Y/n getting thrown back by a Guardian blast was a good time then? Said Sheikah grinned. “Sounds like your shield is perfect for use then! I’d love to see it being used properly!”

“Aw Yeah! If you were used to using a shield that would have been a perfect parry!”

Y/n laughed at Robbie. Even Link snorted at the eccentric scientist. Y/n nudged the blond, squeezing his hand. “Guess I better start training to take hits then, right?”

“No.” 

 ------

“Another regular day of crazy  experiments, huh?” The duo had arrived at their home soon after cleaning up from the Guardian testing. Link had tugged them to the table to treat the scrape on their cheek. No matter how much Y/n protested or claimed to be a tough Sheikah warrior, they still pouted when he sprayed the disinfectant against the wound. 

“Be nice.” Y/n scolded. “Robbie thinks he may be able to tweak it to absorb the force of the hit.”

“I’d love to be there to see that.” 

“Yeah right.” Y/n snorted, poking his side. He looked away with a blush as the other champion continued their teasing. “You only wanna be there to be all protective.”

Having enough with their poking, Link grabbed Y/n by the wrist, placing his other hand on their injured cheek. “I just don’t like seeing you hurt.”

Now it was Y/n’s turn to be embarrassed. They let out a squeak, their head snapping to the side to hide in his hand. Link chuckled, swearing he could feel the heat off their face against the palm of his hand. They pressed a shy kiss to his palm, mumbling that they felt the same. The duo met eyes, sharing warm smiles that spoke their love for each other.

Sliding his palm against theirs, Link guided his partner further into the house. Y/m followed along, their hand squeezing his lightly. Link guided them to the stairs, giving them a kiss on the forehead as he shooed them up to their room for a bath. He stayed downstairs to tidy up the first aid supplies before heading up to change for the night. Soon enough, Y/n came out dressed for bed. They quickly made their way to the bed and crawled up against Link. He smiled, wrapping his arms around their form. They whispered about their plans for the next day, Link pouting when Y/n still planned to help with testing Guardian equipment. They had giggled and pinched his cheeks. Eventually they quieted down, curling further into Link’s chest. He glanced down to find them sleeping and he pressed a soft kiss to their head.

 ------

It was early morning when Link woke up at home. He wouldn’t wake up this early had it not been for Y/n shuffling next to him. With a groan, Link tightened his hold in his partner, pulling them in closer to his body. They were warm. Y/n leaned further into him, their soft laughter tickling his neck. “I need to get up soon.”

He ignored their statement, pressing his face further into their hair. He mumbled a soft no, his hand coming up to pinch their side when they pulled away again. Y/n laughed again, their own hands coming up to grab onto his. “I really do have to go.”

“Or… we could stay in bed all day?” He reinforced the idea by burying his face into their neck as he curled around them.

Y/n giggled as his breath hit their neck. “Hmmm, I could be convinced?” 

Y/n held onto his arms as they listened to his breath soften. Just when they thought he would fall asleep again, he pressed a kiss to their cheek. “Listen.”

The duo went quiet. And then Y/n heard it. The soft pitter patter of rain. They sat up to glance out the window. It wasn’t just a soft sprinkle. It was a full downpour of rain. Guess they really weren’t going to the castle today. Link seemed to agree because he pulled them back down under the covers. “Soo, about testing Guardian equipment?”

Y/n spun in his arms sending him a look for the smug words. They pinched his side and he snorted, jerking away. He fought off their hands, pinching back occasionally as they dissolved into giggles. Finally finding an opening, Link shot forward and pulled them against his chest. He held tightly until they gave up on trying to fight back. Once he let go, he couldn’t help the chuckles that slipped through. Y/n was pouting at being restrained. “You’re adorable.”

“Shut up.”

“I love you.”

“Mm, love you too.” He held them closer.

[fatefulfaerie]

Domesticity

Zelink Week 2021 prompt #5/7 @zelinkweek2021

Word Count: 1,951

Incarnation: Breath of the Wild 2 (post)

Additional Prompts Followed: Hearts, Family

No Trigger Warnings

“Is one of us dying?”

The feast was definitely unsettling to Wendie, and although she was mostly joking, she couldn’t help but think that such a nice dinner at such a random time of the year was odd. Of course her dad was a great cook, but this was a step above, despite there being no family birthdays for at least three months and no holidays for five.

“No,” her mother said as she placed on the table a large bowl of goat-buttered mashed potatoes, one of Wendie’s favorite foods. She had said it with a slight motherly laugh and a warm smile. “No one is dying. We’re just having a family dinner.”

The mother, who went by the name Zelda, had aged gracefully over the past twenty years, blonde hair highlighted with streaks of white that her husband would often call angelic and ethereal when she would doubt her beauty. At the moment, her age-hued hair was swept into a single braid behind her head, messy yet secure.

“Our family dinners aren’t usually this elaborate,” Wendie observed. “You made mashed potatoes and seafood rice balls—which is Elyjah’s favorite food—grilled carrots, meat pie, mushroom skewers and you have an apple turnover on the counter for dessert!”

“Nothing gets past you,” her father said, putting a bowl of baked and salted radishes on the table. His blue eyes looked over to Zelda. “I think we raised them too smart.”

“Nonsense,” Zelda said, walking forward and using the rag that was just draped over her shoulder to wipe a smattering of flour off of Link’s forehead. “Where’s Elyjah?”

Wendie made a sound that sounded a lot like a lazy “I don’t know” while shrugging her shoulders where she sat at the table.

“He can just eat when he gets home,” Wendie reasoned. “There’s more than enough food.”

Wendie didn’t see her parents exchange glances, the seventeen-year old not caring in the slightest that her twin brother wasn’t here to ruin her first dibs on dinner.

“I’ll try and find him,” Zelda said with a sigh, Wendie looking back up at her parents. Link nodded as Zelda departed. Wendie once again questioned what was going on.

“Ly!” The father and daughter heard outside, Zelda from just the doorstep of their modest Hateno home calling out to the entirety of Hyrule. Link sat down across from his daughter, elbows on the table and arms folded into each other. The deep thought he was in concerned Wendie greatly. He wouldn’t even meet her glance. Was she in trouble?

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

Elyjah.

Of all the people to be in trouble, surely it was him. He had never gotten into anything truly bad but he was the biggest prankster in Hateno. The only shop he wasn’t banned from was the dye shop. The green-eyed troublemaker was here nonetheless and Wendie prepared herself for another fun show. Zelda moved to sit down next to Link at the table but Elyjah stopped as soon as he saw the table, mouth popped open and body frozen.

“Is someone dying?”

He had looked over to his sister when he asked the question.

“Yeah,” she said. “You.”

“What?” Elyjah asked, almost believing it.

“Wendie, that’s enough now,” Zelda said, before looking over to her son. “No one is dying. We would just like to talk to you both.”

Elyjah sat next to Wendie with the same bewildered look as her, trying to figure out what it was before their parents spit it out. It was like Hylia’s Day presents except they didn’t have a good feeling about this, especially when Link took Zelda’s hand and looked at their children, ready to address them.

And yet it was Zelda who started.

“Do you two remember the fairytale we used to tell you?” Zelda inquired, her voice shaky. “The bedtime story? Of the princess and the knight?”

Neither Elyjah nor Wendie had any clue of the relevance, but they both remembered the tale well.

“The one with the weird ending?” Wendie asked nonetheless. “Where he rescued her and then that was it?”

“Yeah,” Elyjah said. “Didn’t they just stare at each other in silence? After all they had been through, it seemed like there should have been more.”

Link dove his hand into his forehead.

“Zelda, you could have given them a better ending,” Link suggested.

Zelda scoffed and put her hands on her hips.

“It was a lesson in imagination,” she said. “And clearly none of you have any.”

“But that’s besides the point…” Link said, prompting Zelda in a different direction.

“Yes,” Zelda said, nodding at Link and returning her gaze to their children, confused as ever. And yet she smiled at them.

“You both have grown up so fast,” Zelda said. “We both love you very much and cannot believe that you have blossomed right before our eyes into adults.”

Zelda’s smile became sad and she bowed her head.

“You see it’s a lot easier to lie to children.”

Wendie’s brow furrowed.

“Lie…” she repeated from her mother.

When Zelda’s head tilted back up, green was glazed with waves of coming tears, making the emeralds that Link fell in love with a hundred years ago shine even brighter.

“That fairytale…” Zelda said. “The princess who used her sealing power to keep away Calamity Ganon and the knight who slept in a ruined Hyrule for a hundred years in order to recover from his injuries and save her…”

Zelda stopped herself. Twenty years of keeping it in and it seems it wanted to stay in. She wrestled with her conflicted heart, kept it at bay long enough for her to blurt it out.

“It’s true,” Zelda said, no weakness in her voice, no lie, no apprehension. “The knight and the princess really did fight the calamity, really did survive a century to see it through and then some. Once they tracked down the cause of the anomaly, destroying the true form of Ganon, they settled down in Hateno. They got married and eventually gave life to twins, a boy and a girl.” Zelda’s eyes were proud as she looked upon her children, although they glistened with tears. Her heart hurt to see their faces in shock, but the outspoken truth felt better than she could have imagined. She felt Link’s grip tighten around her fingers.

“You both have royal blood in you,” Zelda said. “Even though I stepped away from the throne in the search of a simpler, more fulfilling life, you both still have claim to the titles of Prince Elyjah and Princess Wendie. We wanted you to know in case that path would prove fulfilling for you and…well, now that you’re adults you have the right to know the truth.”

Wendie stood up and walked out of the house, her parents not daring to stop her. Elyjah, however, just sat in shock, piecing it all together in his mind. Link and Zelda both could see his green eyes working, much like his mother’s did when she went over schematics or theorized about plant life.

“The story,” he finally started, “everything you went through…the pressure…you wanted to protect us from that…you wanted to give us the childhood you never had…that neither of you had.”

Link nodded.

“That’s right.”

Elyjah pursed his lips and nodded. Sometimes he was just like his dad. He shrugged.

“Okay,” he said, replacing his empty plate with the one filled with the seafood rice balls meant for the whole family. “Cool,” he continued, or at least it sounded like the word “cool”, his mouth mostly filled with rice.

Link raised his eyebrows and looked over at Zelda.

“Apparently we’re…cool.” Link said the last word as if it were completely foreign.

“Not all of us,” Zelda reminded her husband. She started to stand up. “I’m gonna go talk to her.”

Yet Link placed a hand on her arm.

“I’ll go,” Link said. “You stay and enjoy the food.”

Link found his daughter on the banks of Firly Pond, knees hugged close to her chest and water lapping at her bare toes.

At first he waited with his hand on the bark of the near apple tree, pursing his lips. Sometimes he was thrust back in time twenty years, when he felt he had no idea how to be a dad. This was one of those moments.

Link saw in his mind’s eye Wendie’s big blue eyes staring up at him, stubby arms reaching for him. He smiled. She grew up so fast.

“I know you’re there,” he heard Wendie say. She didn’t turn her head away from the pond. “Did you come to give me a speech?”

Link walked towards her.

“Maybe.”

He sat down next to her and Wendie only gave him the smallest of glances.

“I feel like I don’t know my parents at all,” she finally said.

Link nodded.

“I understand.” He said. “I don’t agree, but I understand.”

Wendie looked over to his profile, trying to ascertain how he could be serious. The calamity was real and her parents fought it. Sheikah technology really could heal fatal wounds and the goddesses power really was wielded by a mortal, not to mention her own mother, who never seemed like a princess in the slightest. Her father was a knight in a kingdom that really did exist and she?

Well she was a princess. This whole time, she was a princess. The girl who was called the “ugly duckling” of the family as a child was a princess in peasant’s clothing. She almost wanted to go brag to the town, but that seemed petty for just a small ounce of appreciation from the people her age who used to tease her when they would play as children.

Her parents were legends and in comparison, what was she?

Definitely not a princess.

“You know us as what we became after everything we went through,” Link finally said, having taken the time to get his words together. “The people we were before…”

He hesitated.

“We were nothing more than what the kingdom wanted us to be…statues, legends, weapons…we were never fully ourselves, and we could never afford to be ourselves with an entire kingdom looking at us to save them from a calamity. The slivers that were left of us found a friendship in each other, one that grew into love in time. After everything was settled, we began to truly find ourselves, basking in the freedom to do so. It’s something that usually occurs in a fifteen year old but your mother and I were a hundred and twenty years old when we solved the identity crisis. She did not want to be royalty and I did not want to be a knight. When we finally did not need to be those things, we took our first breaths as Link and Zelda. We wanted our children to take those breaths from the very second they were born, and that is why we let you grow up before we told you the truth. We wanted royalty to be an option for you two, not a necessity. We wanted you to become yourselves, not tiny versions of us. I only hope we have…at least I think we have.”

Wendie smiled.

“You have,” she said. “If you want your daughter to have absolutely no idea what she wants to do with her life.”

Link brought his daughter closer by hugging her far shoulder, bringing her close enough to kiss the top of her head.

“That’s exactly what I want,” he said. It sounded strange but Link didn’t mean it as a bad thing. “Because finding out your passion for yourself is the most exciting thing in this entire wild land.”

[mamichigo]

I thought it'd be fun to go in detail about the AUs I'm writing for halloween week after I post each drabble, so here's day 1 (ancient armor & cursed)

my idea for what happened to link was that his "instincts" as the hero found him before the royal family did. he kept feeling the pull to ancient ruins deep underground, finding strange machines he couldn't understand. in one such trips, he found the ancient armor, which had been lost long ago and was therefore uncalibrated. the way I see sheikah technology is that it's part tech and part magic, meaning it has its own "consciousness". if it's not properly maintained, it'll go wild.

basically link put on the the ancient armor and the magic in it overrode his mind. he became unable to communicate as a human being, and for all intents and purposes he became a machine.

not too long after that, the royal family finally found him, inside a ruin where no one else could've entered before. they concluded he was the hero, and so tried to "fix" him, but the magic of the ancient armor had long integrated with his body. the fact that he survived so long underground without food was testament to the fact that he wasn't human. so they let link go, and this became a carefully guarded secret.

when revali hears about link, he only feels pity. it's pathetic that everyone's little hero disappeared before he could even do anything, and now they were left with a prophecy impossible to fulfill. but at the same time, he develops a bit of an obsession. zelda is kind enough to give him the book that has the very minimal record on link (the abridged, safe version). without meaning to, he develops a desire to save link. in his mind, once they won the war, they could somehow release link in the process.

(btw another detail is that in my head the sentient ancient technology works as somewhat of a hivemind. so the moment when revali was almost attacked, link was the one to make the guardian stop. what that says about his consciousness and humanity, you decide)

the problem is that, when the calamity is released, it infects link as well. he's no more in control of his actions than the average guardian. when he appears on the battlefield, it's not to save anyone (he doesn't have that choice).

so revali dies with illusions of links blue eyes, without ever getting to really see them.

if someday link is released from the malice, he could be the hero again, but one that's not quite human.

[faean]

Prince Sidon x Male Reader (Part 1/2)

Rating: T; Mentions of Blood/Death

Word Length: 1,960 words

Title: The Prince’s Folly

             -----

          “What’s a Hylian doing in Zora’s Domain?”

          “Isn’t he the one who used to live in Hyrule Castle teaching magic?”

          “Didn’t he travel the world? Why’d he choose to stay here after the Calamity?”

          “Did you hear? King Dorephan tasked him with slaying the Lynel since it’s been resurrected. I hope he survives...”

          “The council is hoping he doesn’t make it. They’re still so angry at the Hylians and their Champion, even after Mipha’s spirit told us not to be remorseful.”

          “I can’t believe it! He actually slew the beast! The Prince even saw him deliver the finishing blow. He’s been telling everyone about it.”

          “For a Hylian, he sure ages like a Zora. It’s been over 50 years and he doesn’t look a day older. He’s even taller than the average Hylian. I wonder if it’s because of his magic.”

          “Do you think the rumors are true? They say he isn’t interested in women. There have been a few female Hylians, Gerudo, even female Zora and Gorons approach him and he’s politely declined them all.”

          “I think the rumors might be true. He acts differently when around the Prince, and the Prince has been spending more time with him, too.”

          It’s been almost 75 years, and every day still brings something new. Sometimes it’s the council coming up with some asinine task for you to complete to get you to leave the domain, even if you always complete them with little difficulty. Sometimes it’s patrolling the borders and the dam. Sometimes it’s going out for more supplies. And, after every blood moon, you leave to confront the Lynel that terrorizes the Zora atop Ploymus Mountain. After so many decades, the fights end swiftly and without incident.

          Until recently.

          The Zora Prince, Sidon, has been spending every bit of free time with you. He joins you on patrols, short trading journeys, and the tasks the council sends you on, much to their dismay. Unfortunately, their hatred against Hylians seems to overrule their worry about the sole heir of the Zora. Either they are resentful he holds no grudges against Hylians like they do, or they actually recognize your skill and don’t fear for his safety. Hopefully, it was the latter.

          You didn’t mind his company, of course. For a while, most of the Zora were wary of you, though the younger generations, including Sidon’s, were much less discriminatory and more friendly, even going so far as to argue against some of the council’s decisions. There was one thing about Sidon’s presence that bothered you, though.

          You were hopelessly in love with him, and you had the sensation that he knew, considering the rumors surrounding your interactions with female suitors. It wasn’t until your most recent excursion to slay the revived Lynel once more that everything was brought to light…

          Many decades ago, back when I first moved to the Zora’s Domain after the Calamity, King Dorephan asked me to fight a Lynel atop a nearby mountain that had been terrorizing the Zora after the power of Calamity Ganon brought it back on a Blood Moon.

          As a Hylian, the shock arrows it fired would not be immediately fatal to me, and my prowess with magic was renowned, having granted me longevity and the opportunity to teach Princess Zelda (though, her obsession with ancient Sheikah technology limited my involvement). For me, (Y/N) (L/N), the Master of Magic, it would have been easy.

          Would have been.

          During the battle, I managed to avoid every one of the beast’s attacks, and had dealt several serious blows; however, the Lynel’s natural resistance to all the elements drained me of my energy as I used stronger and more costly spells to counter it. I had received some training with spears, bows, and blades, but not enough to rival that of a savage and cunning Lynel. Near the end of the battle, a certain young Prince had become entranced and stepped out further from his hiding place where he was watching.

          The Lynel did not hesitate to take aim, and the young Prince was frozen in fear. He didn’t see what happened next, too afraid to open his eyes until he heard my voice softly comforting him.

          There was no sign of the Lynel, just a jagged pillar of earth and the spoils of the slain beast. The Prince completely forgot his fear and was gushing over me and the battle, unaware of the cost of my victory. I escorted him back, presenting the spoils to the King as proof before leaving to my own home. Once alone, I uttered a few cryptic words and my clothing turned a deep crimson red.

          Now, he joined you again, but with your knowledge and the intent to fight. You instructed him on the beast’s tactics and abilities, as well as your usual strategy. You would wait until it put away its sword and shield to charge at you, and you would proceed to meet it head on by sliding underneath it to slay it in a single blow. Expending most of your magical energy, you focused it in between your hands before expending it all in a single devastating strike, piercing through its underside and disintegrating most of its body.

          With the Prince at your side, and with his skill with a bow, he’d get the beast’s attention before you struck it from behind. A simple diversion, yet wholly effective in theory. Even if the Lynel charged him, the Prince was more than capable with a spear.

          At least, that was the idea.

          The Lynel, in its cruel intelligence, was aligned perfectly with the Prince, preventing you from delivering the final blow. It cocked its shock arrows, ignoring the Prince’s own shots. Without hesitation and further thought, you dashed in front of the of the Prince and took the hit, just like you did all those years ago.

          Sidon’s eyes went wide with fear and realization as he saw the electricity course through your body, three arrows embedded across your chest. He watched as you shakily stood and proceeded to take a deep breath, blood pouring from your wounds as you raised your hands. He shielded his eyes from the bright light that followed, and when he could finally see again, all that was left were the creature’s weapons, parts, and a sizable crater in the ground from your attack. He meant to congratulate you, but you staggered and fell before he could, staining the grass blood red.

          -----

          “You have scars on your thighs… This isn’t the first time you took a Lynel’s arrows for me, is it?”

          The Prince was sitting at the foot of the large bed you were in, having brought you back to receive medical attention. He wouldn’t meet your gaze as you sat up, wincing at the pain and holding back a string of swears. You looked over at the Prince, saddened by how hurt he looked. He always wore a smile on his face, bringing cheer to the Zora people and working to keep the peace. He was treasured among his people, and even Lurelin Village and beyond, having saved them from a massive Octorok.

          But now? He had no smile; his eyes were dull, and his shoulders slumped.

          “My Prince … do not blame yourself. I made my choice that day, just as I made my choice today. It’ll take a lot more than a few arrows to take me down, and I would gladly take another if it meant keeping you safe.”

          Sidon was silent for a few moments before he wiped the tears from his face, turning to you with a bright smile and saying, “Have I told you just how much I appreciate everything you do? Because I really do appreciate all you do!”

          Admittedly, it was a little forced, but you still thought it admirable.

          “All right, now that that’s out of the way, I need a nap. I’m exhausted, and this isn’t my bed.” You breathed out as you rolled your shoulders.

          There was a brief pause before Sidon sheepishly told you that it was actually his bed you’ve been resting in for the past few days, since the healers thought it wasn’t a good idea to carry you all the way to your house while injured.

          “Wait, if I’ve been out for several days, then where have you been sleeping?” You asked, more worried about the Prince’s sleep than your own self.

          “… I’ve been here. I couldn’t bring myself to leave your side. The healers said you might not pull through, and I prayed to Mipha’s spirit to watch over you… The King … My father says it was survivor’s guilt, but I… (Y/N) … It was much more than that…” Sidon made his way around the bed to sit beside you.

          A massive blush spread across your face with how close he was, fortunately, he was looking down at the bed and not at you, though you would rather he met your gaze.

          “(Y/N), for an awfully long time now, I have been wishing to spend every day by your side. It’s why I join you on your assignments and invite you to every event I must attend. It’s why I convinced you and my father to let me fight beside you, but…” Sidon, without realizing it, took your hand in his, holding on to it as he spoke.

          “When you protected me, I remembered … I remembered when I was young and watched your fight with the Lynel for the first time, much like my sister had with the Hylian Champion. You had protected me back then, and you hid your injuries from me and even walked me all the way back home…” You felt him squeeze your hand as he continued, and you instinctively moved closer to him, coming to lean against him.

          “In that moment of realization, I knew exactly why I wished to be with you.”

          He turned to face you, taking your other hand is his own and leaning down, his eyes closed by the time his lips connected with yours. You melted into him, happily kissing back.

          -----

          Several (more) years went by, and you could not be happier. You and Sidon were officially a couple, and although the King was hesitant about your relationship at first, he saw how much joy you brought to Sidon, and that showed in everything he did. He accepted it, much to the further dismay of the council. Also a few of the female Zora who were huge fans of the Prince, but most were simply happy that he was happy. Sort of…

          -----

          “(Y/N), my beloved! You’ve returned! How was your trip?” The Prince asked when he reunited with you, sweeping you off your feet as he enveloped you in a hug.

          “Hot. Cold. I always forget the extremes of the Gerudo Desert until I inevitably return for some supplies. I’m just glad my contact is still willing to trade on my behalf. Anyway, let me drop off some things and I’ll meet you back in your room.” You punctuated this with a quick kiss to Sidon’s hand as he let you go.

          He was more than excited that you were back, not because you’ve been gone for a couple of weeks, but because he had been planning something special to mark your next anniversary, which takes place just a few days from today. The two of you have been through a lot since you got together, you more than him with how the council acts, but it bothered him more than you, funnily enough. Especially when they tried to convince him that conceiving a future heir was more important than love and happiness.

          Which got him thinking…

          -----

          Part 2: TBD

[bahbahhh]

begin again

a lot of change happens in between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. let’s fill in the gaps. zelda pov | zelink | totk spoilers | multichapter| rated T zelinkweek2023 | @zelinkcommunity [story index] [also read on ao3 ]

Again, I can't thank @zeldaelmo enough. It has been an absolute honor to have your eye and your ear! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

chapter 7

for zelink week "free day"

Her cot is gone. 

Zelda stares at the empty spot on the second floor of Purah’s Lab, adventure pouch dangling on the very tips of her fingers. She caught it just before it dropped onto the floor. She had meant to deposit onto the cot, eager to relieve the extra tension from her tired shoulders when she noticed it was missing at the last second.  

She narrows her eyes and glances about the room, everything ordinary and untouched, save for her trunk of belongings, which is also missing. She frowns at this, having wanted to spend her free time reviewing Tauro’s research notes again. In addition to possibly connecting the Thyphlo Ruins to the Zonai, he recently presented evidence that the Labyrinths in Akkala, Hebra and the Gerudo Desert are Zonai as well and hypothesized that the Zonai maintained a presence in the sky and below the ground.  

Something about the Zonai has caught her attention, a tug on a line from the depths of the past. Sure, it could just be her energy shifting from one technologically advanced civilization to the next, but whereas the Sheikah Technology felt more like an escape, the Zonai and their ruins feel like a calling. 

Who knows. The fact of the matter is, right now, it's all missing with the rest of her things. 

Recently, Purah has been reorganizing parts of her laboratory at random. She claims it’s another bizarre side effect of her re-aging. Symin thinks it's the result of being held responsible for cleaning up after herself. 

Zelda sighs and back peddles to the stairs, pulling the strap back over her shoulder.

“Purah?” 

Zelda descends into the main floor and nearly trips over a box of scrolls. Dozens more clutter the space; filled with papers and construction parts and other miscellaneous items. Zelda spots fishing nets, a dozen yellow paper lanterns, and massive coils of hollow wire, but her belongings and the Sheikah Director are nowhere to be found. Link isn’t here, either. Not that she was expecting him, he told her early in the day he would be with the Hateno monster defense team, helping to clear out a hoard of bokoblins that moved into the Milda Woods to the west of the village. Since he’s teaching them how to properly handle the monsters and safeguard the woods with traps more efficiently, he estimated it would take a while. 

She, on the other hand, spent the majority of the day helping a man Bolson with the final touches at the school. Zelda originally commissioned Hudson to help her build out Hateno School, but he wrote back with the recommendation his former boss be the one to handle it as he was responsible for the revitalization of Hateno following Calamity Ganon’s attack. 

There is something to be said about starting something and being able to see it through, you know? Hudson had written. 

Zelda formally nominated him for a position of leadership in New Hyrule the same day. 

Bolson showed her how to put together the small chairs, explaining where to put the nails to create a lasting, sturdy joint. He also taught her how to hold the nails to minimize the risk to her fingers under the glare of a hammer. When they were done, he shook the sawdust out of his thick fur collar, kissed her on the cheek, and handed her the blueprints so she could put together more in the future. She’s got a few splinters she’ll need to dig out of her fingers, but they come with a sense of accomplishment and hope she hasn’t known in over a century. 

Zelda peers into the kitchen. “Symin? Purah? Hello?” 

The lab is completely empty. She crosses the room, pushes the door open, and steps back out into the fresh air. The village of Hateno is always busy in the afternoon. Today, there is a nice breeze turning the giant windmill blades lazily. There has been recent talk about updating the village face, specifically the market front to entice more travelers. There is a rumor that a new business owner, a fashion designer, has proposed integrating mushrooms into the architecture.

Zelda wonders if the windmills will stay.

She has a few books at Link’s place, so she decides to head that way while she looks for Purah. She’s almost immediately stopped by a group of children, the same she will be teaching once the school is open. One of the children asks about the first day of school and another formally requests - please, oh pretty please, Miss Zelda! - they have a designated time every day for coloring. Zelda sends them on their way, slips into Kochi Dye Shop, and asks if Sayge can donate some dye for her to make courser beeswax crayons. 

“Basic colors, okay? Or, I could experiment and come up with an extensive palette for you, if you like?” Sayge says, filling up five small vials with concentrated ink. 

“I think this is a great start, thank you so much. Perhaps you would be interested in presenting to the class in the future? I wo—”

“Say no more! An opportunity to share the traditional craft of Hateno dyeing with the younger generation? It would be my honor! ‘We live–”

“To dye!’” Zelda smiles and takes the vials. “I’m writing out a curriculum with Symin. I’ll let you know when it makes sense to have you come in.”

“Splendid! Oh, and–” He looks over her shoulder and she knows he’s searching for Link. Sayge continues in a hushed voice. “About that order we discussed. I’ve almost landed on the correct shade of blue. Should be able to replicate the tunic exactly. I do have additional armor I’d recommend to go with the piece, in order to protect it from wear and tear moving forward. How do you feel about leather?”

“If it will offer protection without restricting mobility, I think that’s great.”

“Come by in a week or so. I’ll send Link on an errand and then I’ll show you what I’m thinking.” He winks at her.

Zelda tucks the ink away carefully and smiles. “Perfect.”

Pruce waves her down as she passes the East Wind. He anxiously invites her into his shop, shuts the door to prospective customers, and immediately asks for her thoughts on phasing out the bomb arrows. Apparently, he had been threatened with a fee by Reede for improper dangerous weapon storage. Zelda can tell he’s offended and embarrassed, having previously displayed the explosive arrows in a straw basket for anyone, including a curious child, to handle. She gently reframes this as an opportunity to be a model business owner and that seems easier for him to stomach. He donates his entire stock of arrows to her for Link and the monster defense efforts. Luckily, she has a quiver in her adventure pouch that she pulls out and attaches to her belt so she can carry them safely. 

Prima catches her just outside the shop and enthusiastically introduces Zelda to her fiance, Worten. They’ve met, many times, and Zelda was made aware, multiple times by Prima, of the engagement, and still she smiles and waits for Prima to finish telling the story of how he proposed. 

She makes it a few more steps before a Zora warrior stops her. There has been more traffic from the Zora through the village in recent weeks, a source of massive curiosity with the children (and most of the adults, too) who had never seen the “fish people” from the north, except for during the Restoration Summit almost two years ago. They come up from the Necluda Sea from Hateno Bay, restocking supplies, sending messages back to their Domain via courier. Divine Beast Ruta was put to rest in the deep waters of the ocean, an arrangement struck with the settlement of Zora that call the seas home. Apparently, Prince Sidon had been hidden away there for protection for a time during his youth after Calamity Ganon’s siege and Mipha’s death. He formed a strong bond with the Princess there. 

The Zora shares, rather cryptically, to be on the lookout for “exciting” news from Zora’s Domain, regarding Prince Sidon. There have been rumors of leadership following in Impa’s footsteps, whispers of the great Zora King finally stepping down from the throne. The Rito are already turning feathers. Most recently, Zelda heard Teba was the popular choice to ascend. 

She parts ways with the Zora, who heads back in the direction of the bay, and picks up her pace to convey urgency. Not that she minds the interaction, she sees all the hands reaching for her now, and finds great purpose in the quiet ways she can nurture Hateno Village especially, but sometimes it takes her an hour, like today, just to walk from one side of the village to the next. And now that Purah has seen fit to move all her things without much consideration to the very specific order to her chaos or the possessiveness of what little Zelda has to her name, her cot feels more impermanent and insecure than ever. 

If only she had a hidden place, like her study in the tower, where she could keep her things and be with her thoughts in peace without worry of interruption…

She spots Link’s house on the hill.  Zelda glances to the west, at the empty spot in the horizon atop Marblod Plain where the Hateno Sheikah Tower once stood. When the shrines were finally all gone, they realized the blue flames inside the towers and the furnaces were dying off. Without power, the towers began to crumble in on themselves, leaving a pile of rubble and dust that will be dealt with in time. Purah intends to go through what remains to see if anything can be repurposed for the new towers, but by the looks of her laboratory, the design is better suited with materials that are new and synced to her Purah Pad. The skeletons of the Sheikah furnaces will be tossed off the cliffs and into their respective surrounding sea by the Sheikah this summer.

Like pyre ash. 

She’s so distracted by the finality of it all and the comfort she feels that she almost runs into him.

“I’m sorry!” Zelda exclaims, and then upon recognizing who it is, grabs Link by the shoulders to steady herself. He laughs, a sound more frequent and unburdened since the Great Plateau, and steps into her, threading a hand up into her hair at the base of her neck.

He kisses her until she’s dizzy. 

She’s not sure she’ll ever get used to this, or if she even wants to. The luxury of this closeness, the casualness with which he always seems to reach for her, like it’s always been the easiest, most obvious thing in the world for him to do. 

“Hi,” she says when he finally pulls back. His eyes linger in a hungry way on her mouth, long enough to twist her stomach pleasantly.

“Hi.”

“I thought you’d still be gone? Did you clear all the monsters already?”

He tucks her hair behind her ears. “I lied.”

Zelda blinks. “You lied?”

He nods, looking a little smug.

“What do you mean, you lied?”

He steps back enough to sign. ‘I wasn’t taking care of monsters in the woods today. That’s tomorrow. Are those for me?’ Link slides his hand down the length of her side to her hip where the quiver full of bomb arrows sits. She shivers.

“The arrows? No–well, I suppose yes. I finally convinced Pruce to remove them from his store front. Bit of an odd and hazardous mix, you know, wheat, eggs, goat butter, explosive arrows. I suppose you can have them for the monster defense…which you said now is tomorrow?”

‘Always has been.’ He turns and starts walking them up to his house. Zelda follows him curiously, still a little too giddy from the kiss to be cross with him.  

“Why lie about that?”

‘Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.’

“Surprise?”

Link pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks the door. His house has been almost completely gutted. The weapon mounts are gone, a few empty picture frames hanging from the nails in the wall. The furniture has been cleared out, the table empty. He’s added a stove. She can see a few boxes under the stairs, perhaps where all of his things are tucked away or the restart of provisions storage for next winter.

“You lied so you could clean out your house?” She furrows her brow at him.

“Your house.”

“W-what?”

“It’s your house. Here.” He leads her around the space and then up the stairs. The bed is there, tucked in the far wall, still under the lone window for natural light, and guarded by painted vase on the nightstand with a single flower- a daffodil - to watch over her.  She’s a little surprised it’s not a Silent Princess or another blue nightshade, but it's the first of the flowers to bloom after winter. A symbol of new beginnings.

“Purah’s going to forward all your correspondence until word gets around. I already wrote to Tauro and let him know he can send the next batch of his research here. Riju, too. You can keep the furniture or swap it out for something different. Bolson offered to help redesign the interior. Whatever you like.”

Zelda stands shell-shocked in the center of the loft. There is a desk to her left. She can smell the freshness of the cedar. He built it for her. Across the top, her research notes and books in the same chaotic order they were kept in on the cot at Purah’s. Her trunk sits ready at the end of the bed. 

“It’s really mine?”

“Your home,” he says plainly. Like he’s giving her a cube of sugar for her tea. “I’ll leave you to it. Probably should survey the bokoblin camp before the team head’s out tomorrow. Make sure a Moblin hasn’t joined them.” 

She feels him starting to move, but she can’t take her eyes off the bed. It's more vast than any cot she’s ever known, even with its twin frame, with four sturdy posts and modest pillow; there is enough room for two people to lay side by side comfortably, so long as they fit together. 

Is having a bed what makes you feel rooted to a place? Is it the memorization of cracks in the ceiling to count when you're tired, or having someone who helps you heal the cracks buried deep inside you? Is it a kitchen to escape to in the middle of the night for a slice of fruitcake or a bowl of meat and rice, or having someone who knows how to make it just for you? Is home just having the people you love simply love you back? 

She glances from the bed to the flower to Link and her heart leaps into her throat.

Zelda doesn’t feel any guilt this time, none at all, when she reaches for his hand and tells him:

“Stay.” 

[fioreofthemarch]

Finding Her - Chapter 7

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Previous | Next | First | AO3 ]

Log date: 15:30. 6th month, 15th day 104AC Location: Kakariko Village Weather: Mild

Dear Reader,

I am sitting down now to recount the events of the past three days. I feel as though I could instead recount the past four and a half years, for everything that has occured in that time seems to have led to this day. 

I have never had the talents with Sheikah technology that some of my clan have, my Auntie Purah especially, so please forgive any spelling errors. I have written out all my thoughts on paper and am transcribing them slowly into this Purah Pad, as Master Link asked of me. 

Actually, I will recount some events of the past, for it is all relevant. It began some four years ago, when I first met Master Link. I had grown up hearing stories of his bravery, so when he finally arrived in Kakariko Village, I found myself quite awe-struck. Now I look back at that girlish time with laughter — I used to hide my face at the sight of him! And yes, while Master Link is unique among the Hylians for his strength and dedication, he is as approachable as any other, and I count him among my dear friends. You can imagine my joy when not too long after Master Link came to us, he returned with Princess Zelda. 

I expected the Princess to be very grand and intimidating, but instead when she met my grandmother and I in the Elder’s House, she bowed low before us, and expressed her humblest thanks to the Sheikah for saving Master Link’s life and for serving her family until the very end. She said she could never repay what the Sheikah had sacrificed, and hoped only to assist us with whatever we may need in future. She even turned to me and said (and I’ll never forget it), ‘Link has told me so much of you, Lady Paya, and your dedication to your people. My grandmother could not ask for a better heir’

Heir! There had never been talk of me one day leading Kakariko Village. Me, the shy, sheltered girl who could hardly look a young man in the face! And yet — Princess Zelda had absolute faith in me from the beginning. Since then I have vowed to always put my absolute faith in her, no matter what. 

That faith was tested however, not long after the Upheaval. But I will recount those events later. Oh, an entire hour has passed! I must do my rounds of the Ring Ruins and check on Master Link before supper. Last I heard, he was helping Trissa uncover where the cuccos of our village have been making their new roost. 

---

Log date: 19:00. 6th month, 15th day 104AC Location: Kakariko Village Weather: Cool, rain overnight

Dear Reader, 

I am sitting down again to transcribe my thoughts, having finished a supper of egg and rice curry that Master Link made. I encouraged him to cook for the three of us (myself, Link and my aide Dorian), as he told me earlier today that cooking always improves his mood. But I am getting ahead of myself again. 

When I was younger, I treasured the peaceful calm of Kakariko and was frightened of the outside world. That changed not long after I met Master Link and Princess Zelda and heard of their many travels beyond the village gates. From then on I longed for some change to Kakariko Village, one that would breathe life back into our home. I prayed for it! And I suppose my wish was granted when the Ring Ruins fell upon us on the day of the Upheaval. It has only been two months since then and now Kakariko brims with activity; researchers, tourists, traders and curious travellers. It is my duty as Chief to welcome and watch over them all. 

Three days ago, a new traveller made their way into Kakariko Village. He rode a speckled horse and kept his hood drawn, though his face was red and puffy as though he’d been crying. His clothes were sodden and slightly singed, and he carried no weapons. Riding into town, he paused very briefly to witness the enormous ruins that landed on our village, looked to where myself and Master Tauro stood conversing (but did not wave), and then went straight to the Inn. This, being closed, could not house him, so the traveller sat down by a tree, made a campfire for himself and went to sleep.

Only then did I see, when he lowered his hood, that he was none other than Master Link! This sent the town into a hushed frenzy. The Princess’ own chosen protector, here, and looking downright despondent! What on earth could cause Master Link to be so glum? I could not abide by what that would do to everyone’s spirits. I had to act. 

I summoned all my strength, marched over to where Master Link was napping, grabbed him by his strange new arm and dragged him into the Elder’s House. I boiled water for a bath, gave him a towel, and directed him to remain in the upstairs room until he’d bathed and was ready to tell myself and Dorian all that had happened. He reappeared an hour later, fresh but still morose, and handed me this Purah Pad.

‘Been keeping notes for a month. It’s all in there,’ he said. I bid Dorian to take Link and find the innkeep Oli so that he (and any other guest!) might have a proper bed that evening, and while they were gone, I read.

I read and read, every entry and every photograph. Goddess preserve me. I cannot imagine what Link and Zelda have been through. In fact, I can barely fathom it. Zelda, trapped in the past? Some great evil beneath Hyrule Castle? Secret stones and a Demon King? I feel as though I am reading the ancient texts kept in my grandmother’s library, not the words of a Knight of Hateno Village. 

I slept little after reading the contents of the Purah Pad, and was grateful to meet with Master Link the next morning to discuss. I had many questions but asked few. It is the Chief's duty to counsel, not to interrogate. I began by asking Link what had caused him to seek us out. He said he wanted to go somewhere familiar, and that in Zelda’s absence he figured her most trusted advisors would be the best place to turn. He recounted seeing Zelda in Hebra and Eldin, and hearing rumours that she had been seen all over Hyrule but was acting strange. He said he feared perhaps she had been changed somehow, towards malicious ends. 

This was all deeply troubling. I revealed to Link that I had seen Princess Zelda only weeks ago. She had arrived in the village on the day of the Upheaval, dressed in strange clothes, and forbade anyone to investigate the floating Ring Ruin above the village graveyard. He asked me how she seemed, and Link – I know you will read this. I must admit that I lied. I said I saw nothing out of the ordinary except her clothes. The truth is, her whole affect concerned me. Zelda had always been so kind and warm, but the Princess that I saw that day was stern, cruel even, and spoke to me as though I was a stranger. 

Despite my unease, I suggested to Link that sometimes, there are simpler explanations than the worst ones. He considered this, and nodded in agreement, saying, ‘Let’s hope you’re right’.

Ah, the hour grows late again. I will finish my tale in the morning. As a final note, I will remark on the moment I knew all was not lost. After our discussion, I had a favour to ask of Link. Lasli’s grandmother had been unwell, having wandered too close to the Gloom-covered chasm north of the village, and none of our medicines had proven effective. I asked Link if, in his travels, he had learned of any herb or remedy that could combat Gloom sickness.

Link smiled. ‘I know just the trick,’ he said. Taking the Purah Pad in hand, he materialised a handful of large flowers with otherworldly black and gold petals, and said, ‘Sundelions. I need to thank Josha for them next time I’m in Lookout Landing.’ And with a bow, and remedy in hand, he departed for Lasli’s home. 

---

Log date: 10:00. 6th month, 16th day 104AC Location: Kakariko Village Weather: Showers easing 

Dearest Reader,

I believe this may be my final entry into this Purah Pad. I have grown fond of the device. It has a calming glow that reminds me of blue nightshade and of clear nights under the stars. I can see why Master Link keeps it so close and makes it his travel companion of sorts. 

On the second day after Link arrived in Kakariko, I invited him to join me on my rounds of the village, visiting the researchers at each of the Ring Ruins. I told him he could rest as long as he needed, but that some light exercise might be beneficial to his spirits. He told me running around Hyrule in pursuit of a Princess was exercise enough, but was happy to join me. 

The Zonai Survey Team members were thrilled to meet Link and explain their work on the Ring Ruins. Gossip travels fast among researchers (for they love to talk), so many had already heard of his adventures in Hebra and Eldin, and swore they would do all they could to help find Princess Zelda. I could see no reaction on Link’s face at their pledge, only an affirming nod. Whatever he was really feeling, he could not tell them.

Later, there was a light rain falling as we walked past the fields of carrots and plum trees in the centre of the village, until suddenly the clouds above us split and bright sunshine streamed down. I could not help but pause and take in the sight. It was at this moment that Master Link began to speak. 

‘I saw a vision on my way here,’ he told me, and then explained the geoglyphs that had appeared across Hyrule. I know now that these are the symbols my grandmother has departed in search of. ‘There was a man of the desert, a Gerudo, leading an attack on Hyrule. Zelda was there, protecting them from him. It got me thinking…’ 

I could not help but interject. ‘Ah, that maybe that is why she cannot reveal herself to us? Because of some danger from the past that survived to our time.’

He nodded, and I was satisfied I was correct — until I saw tears in his eyes. I had no choice but to inquire directly. ‘What wounds you, Master Link?’

His face settled into a gentle smile as he blinked away his tears. ‘I just wish I’d been there, to help if I could,’ he said. ‘I miss her, you know?’ 

There in the sun shower, I finally understood the depths of his grief and pain at being wrenched so suddenly from his partner, who had been an anchor for him for as long as he could remember. However, among the gloomy clouds of his countenance there was a single ray of hope — one fueled by a quiet but boundless love. Link’s faith in Zelda had been tested, and it had survived. 

I had one final piece of counsel for him. I advised that his prior doubts about the Princess were not a failure on his part, and that Zelda would want him to be thorough and critical in his investigations. I said that Hyrule is a land of mystery, and in times such as the Upheaval, one cannot beat oneself up for feeling confused. He laughed a little at this, and I cannot express the relief I felt at seeing some joy returned to him. He thanked me for our time together and announced that he planned to stay another day or two to help out around the village where he could. 

As I write, Master Link is currently aiding Wortsworth with translations of some Zonai stone tablets that he came across in the skies above Eldin and Hebra. When he returns, I will hand him back this Purah Pad, but not before I ask another favour of him. Not for me, but for himself — to see in photographic colour how strong he is, and to see that he is alive, thriving even, in a time of great turmoil. I hope Zelda will someday see this too, so she can understand how hard he worked to protect this Kingdom of ours that I know she loves so well.

By the Goddess’ Grace,  

Paya, Chief of Kakariko Village

The final log is accompanied by a portrait of Link, taken on the balcony of the Elder’s House. He stands with an upright posture, outfitted for adventure: a sword and shield over his back, his Zonai energy cell at his belt, a Hylian hood clasped around his neck. There is a sorrowful calm on his face, but determination too. The sun is behind him and his hair is shining.

Caption: You will look back at this moment as your lowest. I encourage you to look back on it as the one with the most potential. 

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Neither of them said anything for a long minute. Murky water dripping carelessly into a puddle somewhere. 

Asivus looked Astor up and down, taking him in. He then nodded, before kicking his legs back out and resting his arms behind his head, resuming his entertainment of staring at the wall. This time he put on the smile.

“Welp! I was kinda hoping a couple decades imprisonment would do the trick, but execution is fine too, I guess. Swiftness and punctuality and all that.” He let out a fake yawn. “Though you’re wasting your time if you’re looking to give a prayer. I intend to go out without asking the gods for anything.”

“I’m not a priest.” Astor said bluntly.

Siv cocked an eyebrow. “Uh…...n...nun—?”

“What happened to you, Assivus?” 

“Ahhhh…And interrogation…” He nodded up and down again. “Then I’ll tell you what I told the other guy—you can goooooooo suck my dick.”

Siv turned to the side, fiddling with something metal in his right pocket, the rattling echoing on the stone floor.  He finally pulled out an old flask, shaking it back and for, the sound revealing a little less than a third of alcohol left in the container. He shook it again and looked at the seer. 

“Snuck this bad boy in, earlier! I know my way around a pat down or two, heheh…” He took a swig before gesturing towards Astor again. “How ‘bout you, choir man? Got any sorrows to drown?”

“A kind offer, but I actually value my health,” he replied. “You got any other contraband keeping you company, then?”

He tensed, but recovered so quickly Astor nearly thought he imagined it. Asivus then let out a laugh before taking another drink and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand—which despite the grime, was probably the cleanest part of his person. 

“So they took the nearest homeless looking pal and sent them down to ask me shit...that’s certainly new.” He studied the seer again. “What? We supposed to bond over our greasy hair? Lack of fashion?” Another beat of silence. “...I’ll admit, it’s working a bit!” He laughed, leaning back against the wall. 

Astor sighed silently, before cutting to the chase. “You’re being charged with manslaughter—the rampaging Guardian that destroyed part of the castle. But I know it wasn’t you.” Water dripped in the back end of the cell. “I want you to tell me about the malice.”

One of the cells down the corridor rattled, some Lizalfo shifting in it’s sleep. The echoing metal left a sense of unease in the air. 

“Listen…” Assivus’s voice dropped to a dangerously quiet tone. “I’m not looking for a defense attorney, and I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. So you should probably get on your way before you miss your sermon.” He glared at Astor, blue eyes seemingly a shade darker. 

“There were timelines where the world ends today, you know.” He stepped closer to the cell bars. “The princess far too weak to awaken her powers, the Calamity having grown just strong enough to erupt around the castle, infecting stone and flesh alike.” 

“Well whatareya doing here, then, Mr. Doomsday?” Assivus cocked his head to the side. “If the world’s supposed to end, shouldn’t you be...out there? Maybe holding an ‘End is Nigh’ sign or something?”

“It doesn’t end for us, though. I’ve spent my life studying the endeavours and feats that await this world and the next. We’ve luckily still got a few years before hell starts to walk.” Astor stepped closer again, unwavering to Assivus’ gaze. “I’m merely curious about how your little disturbance—or perhaps, failure of a disturbance—coincides with the Calamity’s potential return.”

“I fucked with some Sheikah Tech. Guardian got funky. Brat nephew saves the day. I get arrested. Don’t remember running into any ancient evils on this little joy ride.”   

“You and I both know the official report is made-up bullshit. I imagine your spite is derived from the unfairness of the situation.” He tucked his hair behind his ears. “Guardians can’t be corrupted through mechanical means. They’re forces crafted to take on ancient magical forces, and as such are engrained with magical components. They don’t just break out into violence over a broken gear, much less be purposefully made to go against their ancient purposes.” He scoffed at the smirk on Asivus’ face. “Especially not by some idiot like you.” Asivus placed a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended. 

“In addition,” Astor continued, “I imagine your father didn’t have purple and gold slitted eyes. So that trait you occasionally have is certainly suspect.”

Assivus blinked, and the creeping colors in his eyes faded along with his confident smirk. He rubbed his blue eyes and sighed. 

“Hey well that’s just rude,” Siv said, playfully. “Maybe I got it from my mom.”

Astor clicked his tongue, before clenching his jaw.

“Welp, you’re certainly a smarter cookie than I gave you credit for, purple man.” Asivus crossed his legs—criss-cross-applesauce—and turned completely too Astor. “But the fact of the matter is, I don’t really care anymore. And I don’t know why you care. Knowing doesn’t change anything for your little predictions, does it?”

The prophet’s face remained unreadable. Siv started scratching his head. “You know I do remember you now...I’ve seen you around. You used to pester the Dick-Rhoam a bunch. Walking around with your little maps and star charts or whatever...yeah, yeah. The weirdo that would tell the rich bastards around here that they were useless. Very bitter insults, I respect it! Suppose some heroes wear robes over capes.”

“It’s not about insults, it’s the truth.” Astor narrowed his eyes. “I’m trying to help you, but rest assured, we all are doomed to be consumed by the Calamity.”

There was silence between them again, but the slight smile on Siv’s face didn’t fade.

“You know, this whole dark and edgy doomsday act is great and all, don’t get me wrong. But since it’s just us alone here there’s no need to keep up the act. I mean, I’m pretty sure I saw you left that anonymous gift of exotic bird encyclopedias in Larc’s office last year.” Astor’s jaw tightened and Siv winked. “And I know because he claimed he saw me leave it—and I don’t buy books, ever. Might wanna change your wardrobe, you wouldn’t wanna be confused as the homeless orator—”

“The Malice.” The seer cut in. “How’d you get it?”

“Ah, it all started when I was born in Rauru Settlement to Lord Ligero Arist—”

“I mean how did you manifest it?” He articulated.  “Everyone has malice, yes. But it takes something else to make it a physical power. Much less enough to infect Sheikah Technology.”

Asivus tapped his chin for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. “Can’t I just perish in peace? The ol’ axe seems for sharper conversation.”

“Look, I just want...I want to…” Astor shook his head, restarting. “Any information I get is something I can use to make our future demise just slightly more bearable for whatever unlucky generation lives. Don’t you care about that?”

“Nope! Got no kids. Larc and his brats either didn’t care to look at me, or Larc’s too much of a spineless brother to care about me over the rules. Soooo, I’m all for looking out for me, myself, and I, thank you very much.” He tapped his foot against the stone floor. “Plus, I had an ex that used his kids to scam me of 6k rupees in a pocket monster match a while back, so I’m still recovering from that.” 

“Can I trade you then? What do you want? If I come back here with a good wine, will your lips loosen?” Astor was already mentally planning who he could buy a bottle from without a paper trail, already expecting Siv to say yes.

Water continued to drip and drip and drip. Asivus sighed.

“...Nah.” Astor raised an eyebrow. “I’m good...you can’t get what I want, anyhow…”

The seer looked at him for a long moment. Siv had gone back to staring into blank space, deep in thought about something that had caused his smirk to fade.

Let’s see...What would a dead man value? He’s got a rough relationship with his family, he’s got no friends, he’s tainted by a crime of his past…

“Are you interested in the past?” The prophet finally asked. “I know stuff about your mother. If the material doesn’t mean much to a dead man, then I’m all for a trade of information.”

Siv’s eyes suddenly shot up, specks of gold appeared in his pupils before disappearing.

“Wh..*What...?*”

“I’ll start. We’ll both trade details bit by bit, alright?” It was his turn to smirk at the look on Asivus’ face. 

“I’m a bastard child.”

Asivus scrunched his eyebrows. “The fuck does that have to do with my…” His eyes suddenly widened, his mouth opening and closing. He quickly checked his flask to see how much was left, and took a swig. He stared back at Astor. “Explains a bit but...What the actual fuck.”

“Her name was Serenity. Serenity Lior Astor, from Deya Village. There, I think that’s adequate, yes?” Astor gestured down to him. “Your turn.”

Asivus scratched his chin, before standing. He drank the rest of his flask, before dropping it to the ground. “How’d she die?”

“Your father is Lord Ligero. You know how this game works.”

Siv bit his lip, for a moment, before shrugging. Suddenly, purple started to creep at the edges of his eyes, pupils thinning to gold.

“OK, magic man. But don’t be a snitch, alright?” Assivus raised one of his hands open in the air, and for a moment, Astor wondered if he was supposed to take it in a weird sideways handshake. 

Then, the air swirled, a sensation of mixed euphoria and misery tainting the corridor. Cell occupants were rustling.

A glow of magenta swirled up Assivus’ forearm, before swirling in an orb hovering over his palm. The sound of it forming was like the thick, suffocating scream of hot metal as a smith plunges it into water.

The malice left as quick as it came, and hovering in Assivus’ palm was a strange, and beautiful astrolabe. It’s alluring faint glow nearly made him reach out between the bars to touch it.

“Your turn.”

[quillandink333]

Scarlet Carnations ~ Part VI

BotW Link X Zelda ~ Detective AU

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.4k

WARNINGS: death, murder, loss, trauma, blood and gore, terrorism, organized crime, self-harm

Summary: Inspector Zelda Hyrule, assisted by the faithful Constable Link Fyori, is infamous for cracking the most confounding of cases in a town dominated by crime. Her latest assignment is to solve the murder of her own godmother, Impa Sheikah, the late CEO of Sheikah Tech. Incorporated, while staying under the radar of the dreaded Yiga organization.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Epilogue • Masterlist

By the time I was finally let into the crime scene the day after making my little forensic discovery, the sun had already come down to kiss the horizon. It had taken a great deal of stubborn persistence, but in the end, I had managed to convince the chief detective to grant me access by proving the effectiveness of my method.

As for the name of this method, I had decided to dub the chemical “luminol” due to its distinguishing chemiluminescence, as well as for the sake of succinctness.

Though the chief himself had taken to this well enough, there was yet another hurdle that I’d had to overcome. The estate’s residents. That process had been a bit more difficult, and delicate. At first, my adoptive family were, naturally, apprehensive to let me do as I wished. But when I gave them my solemn apologies and told them that this might allow me to make up for all I had done to hurt them, their trust in me seemed to have been somewhat restored. And I had no intention of letting them down again.

I had to admit, though, that being here on my own was more than a little bit strange. I’d done each one of my investigations side-by-side with my partner ever since I’d freed him from the psych ward and gotten him in with the force a year ago. Every time he wasn’t there to lend me his insights or hold onto something for me or put a hand on my shoulder if ever I got myself overly worked up was like the pang of being slapped across the face. But each of those times, I would straighten up and remind myself, “I’m doing this for him.”

According to Link, he’d found the key near the foot of the fireplace. And so that would be the first place I’d search.

But before I could begin, the parlour was bathed in harsh, orange light.

The officer charged with supervising me had his finger on the light switch. “Ah, actually, could you keep those off for me?” The man gave me an estranged look, but granted my request all the same. “Oh, and close the blinds for me while you’re at it, will you? Ta!”

Now that the room was dim, I’d more effectively simulated the conditions of my apartment that night.

With no further ado, I made my way toward the mantel. Its polished, stone surface couldn’t possibly have the ability to conceal any amount of blood, one might have thought. In which case, one would have been wrong. And my new formula was going to prove just that.

All it took were a couple of spritzes to cover the entire width of the mantelpiece. I waited. Then after a few seconds, the luminol set in, and I had my results.

On either end of the shelf, there was a statuette. These frog-like figures stood guard here as guardian deities to the Sheikah family, or so I’d been told as a seven-year-old. But now, the truth would be revealed to me that what they protected was not the family but a secret. And on the night of the murder, evidently, they’d failed to do even that much.

On the right-hand figurine’s forehead, there had appeared an array of fluorescent blue spots. They were shaped and positioned like fingerprints—a thumb, index, and middle, gripping the creature by its painted skull—but unlike fingerprints, they were completely filled in. I recalled dusting these statuettes for prints on the second or third day of official inspections, and I’d found nothing. The person who these bloody prints belonged to must have been wearing gloves at the time. The same method they’d used to leave no prints on Link’s revolver.

With caution, I aligned my fingers with the prints and gave the figurine an experimental wiggle. To my surprise, it wasn’t fixed to the mantel as I’d thought, but rather hinged to it. It tilted back, and underneath its feet, a small, round keyhole glowed orange in wait.

This was it. I took the unassumingly sized key from my pocket and dropped it into the hole, whereupon both key and keyhole went from orange to brilliant sky blue. A perfect fit.

I couldn’t believe my eyes with what occurred next.

When the key fell in place, the mantel itself split down the middle. Then the two halves began to shift independently away from one and other. As this was happening, the inner wall of the chimney had broken apart into individual rows of stone brick, which then swung backward into the wall.

The two halves of the mantelpiece, having scraped along all the way to either end of the fireplace, collapsed and folded down against its outer legs with a decisive klock. All of this had transpired in the span of just ten seconds.

Behind what had once existed in my mind as a solid, stone-brick wall, there was now a small, cylindrical hollow, just big enough for one or two people to stand inside. The floor of the hollow, beyond the hearth, bore the symbol of the Sheikahs and glowed with the same blue hue that had the key upon being returned to its home. I looked down and noticed the key in question on the floor, having fallen out when its side of the mantel had lain itself vertically.

When the mechanisms in the mantelpiece began stirring to life again, I realized I was on a time limit. With haste, I retrieved the key, placed it in one of my coat pockets, and entered the tiny room.

For several moments, nothing happened, save for the wall of the fireplace closing back up behind me. During these moments, I wondered, what purpose could this room possibly serve? There were no shelves or drawers or racks that one could use to hang one’s clothes on, and it was far too small to be used as storage.

Then all of a sudden, the floor began to lower, all by itself.

The farther and farther I descended into the depths of the unknown, the harder my heart pounded. Just how deep did this elevator go?

And for that matter, how in the world was it even going? The ceiling above me remained where it was, so pulleys were out of the question—and there were no gears or anything moving the floor downwards, from what I could tell.

My confusion turned to shock when the platform I was on defied gravity itself as it entered the chamber that seemed to be its destination.

“What in the blazes...?” I breathed aloud. I had half a mind to suspect that what I’d just witnessed was the result of paranormal influences. Of course, the Sheikah crest beneath my feet told me there had to be a scientific explanation as to how these endless technological mysteries operated. Auntie Purah was sure to know. Though, come to think of it, had she even been aware of the existence of this secret passage?

I now found myself at the start of some kind of corridor. The sound of my heels touching the floor as I stepped down from the levitating platform echoed in the darkness. The only sources of light came from the pulsing, blue runes lining the baseboards of the cold, polished walls, the similarly pulsing Sheikah insignia adorning the archway that marked the start of the hallway ahead, and the mounted sconces that, rather than fire, contained lightbulbs of the same blue that emitted no heat.

As enthrallingly curious as all this was, none of it was relevant. Right now, I was retracing what were likely the steps of the true killer. All I had was to keep moving forward.

But doing so was going to be far easier said than done. Not only was this place exceedingly dark, so much so that I could only just make out the edges of each wall, but it seemed to go on forever. The twists, turns, ups, and downs were so frequent that after five minutes, I hadn’t the slightest idea which way I was facing. The one bright side to it all was that there was only ever a single path forward to choose from.

But to make things worse, there were traps set up along the complete length of the labyrinth. Things like cameras, pressure plates, and even lasers, all of which were inventions that I and the general public were already familiar with, unlike that impossible “elevator” that I had discovered. One thing was for certain: whoever had carried the corpse of their victim through here had to have known their way around this place. For I was barely even able to get by without unwittingly tripping the alarm.

By the time I was finally nearing the end of my journey, and thoroughly drenched in an anxious sweat, I spotted something lying on the ground where a few stray rays of moonlight were seeping in from the outside.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a letter of sorts. It wasn’t until I examined the back of the envelope that I realized this wasn’t just any letter. It was addressed to none other than Impa Sheikah, and it bore no return address. Not only that, but it was stained with splotches of what appeared to be blood.

The sheets of parchment inside were old and yellowing, and the envelope had what looked to be the remnants of a broken wax seal on the flap. The letter itself was handwritten in the same elegant cursive in which the address had been written, with some kind of nib pen and ink. Aside from murder, whoever had sent this must have had a deep affinity for the old-fashioned.

“My dear friend,” it began.

“It is with great sadness in my heart that I am writing to you. The last time we spoke was far too long ago, but even so, I am afraid this will be one of the last times you shall ever hear from me. You see, I have held off on this for as long as possible, but you have forced my hand. I can no longer allow you to meddle in my affairs as you have been.

“I am certain that you are aware of this by now, but I have been keeping watch over you from the ashes of the afterlife for a number of years. I must say, you have done a fine job of raising my darling Zelda in my stead. She has grown into a fine, young lady thanks to your efforts. Though I admit, I do wonder if she has what it takes to ‘solve the mystery’ of which she has been so steadfast in her pursuit ever since my unfortunate, yet necessary, departure.

“The night grows late, and I find myself carrying on. This letter has strayed far from its original purpose. Allow me to get straight to the heart of the matter. Meet me in the secret garden on the twenty-first before daybreak. Surely I need not tell you what would happen if you were to decline this simple request of mine. You were once my nearest and dearest friend, after all, and to allow malice to fester between friends such as we would be a tragedy, to say the least.

“Please deliver my deepest and most heartfelt affections to the rest of the family.

“Yours faithfully, Hilda”

By the time my eyes had dragged themselves along the sweeping lines of the signature, by hands had started to shake so severely that I nearly couldn’t read what was written there. In fact, not just my hands, but my entire being was trembling out of control. I fell to my knees, the sheets of paper scattering in every direction.

Now I knew the reason why this writing had seemed so familiar. I’d used the very same to confirm the nonexistence of the tooth fairy at age five by writing “her” a note and analyzing “her” reply the next day.

My mother was alive. Not only that, but...

I rose to my feet so quickly, my head started pounding. But I paid no heed to it. All I could think in that moment was how impossible it was.

At the end of this long hallway, there was a small set of stairs leading up to a trapdoor, carved from the same stone-like material that made up the walls of the labyrinth. It was incredibly heavy, but it wasn’t locked. With a bit of effort, I managed to heave it open.

The scene into which I would then emerge would change my life forever.

I found myself in the middle of a section of the estate’s gardens that I had never seen before. Behind me was the garden wall that I was familiar with, but rather than the rest of it being properly walled off, it was lined with dwarf evergreens. Beyond those, however, the thicket of the woods seemed all but impassable.

At the centre of it all, there was a place where the flowers were trampled and wilting. From afar, these flowers appeared a deep red hue. But up close, they were white. Something else had turned them red.

Then it dawned on me—these were carnations. I looked around. The secret garden was fit to burst with carnations.

“I observe the world as I hide in a cage. In my youth, I am weak, but I gain strength with age. I both give life and take it away. When one tries to pluck me, I make them my prey. What am I?”

“A carnation.”

It was all flooding back to me. My mother’s fondness for the species, how she had been born on the streets, the great fire that had devoured City Hall, the uprising of the Yiga...

Everything I had been led to believe was a lie.

The head of the organization was my mother. And Auntie Impa had known it all along.

When I looked up toward the starless sky, it felt as though I were plummeting head first into its insatiable, black abyss. My lungs seized up, and I couldn’t breathe. My very soul, being pulled in two opposite directions, was doomed to be torn apart.

Then the clouds parted, and behind a veil of shadow, the full moon was revealed.

The phantom of a hand belonging to the boy I called Link came to rest upon my shoulder. It was soft and nostalgic, in tandem with the frail light of the moon. I felt my chest brimming over with a courage most profound. At that moment, I harboured not even a wisp of fear for whatever it was that lay ahead of me.