1st installment of the VGNU.
The birth of a Legend, the fall of a God, the rise of a Demon.
This is the beginning of the great tragedy of Hyrule and it's people, and the dangers that will torment them through the ages.
(Originally published 2017)
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Link dropped down on the dock near the Goddess statue, immediately ducking out of sight when he saw Gaepora and Groose talking near the entrance to the courtyard. He knew he had to face them eventually, but not right now.
He snuck around the statue, avoiding their line of sight as he made his way into the chamber of the sword. Once he was deep enough into the chamber the darkened staircase kept him hidden and he slowed down, pulling out the Sapphire.
When he reached the pedestal, FI appeared to stop him. "Why are you avoiding your friends? Analysis shows no reason for this."
Link stepped up to the altar, looking at the other crystals shinning under the light of the Loftwing Crest. "I promised them I'd have Zelda back by now."
It only took a second for Fi to understand. "...You are worried they will be disappointed."
"No, it's not about them," Link corrected.
"Then your logic is flawed," Fi told him.
Link sat the new crystal with the others. "Maybe," he said softly as the chamber rumbled. "Maybe I just don't want to face them, and it's as simple as that." He turned around, looking back at her. "If you failed, at anything, what would your reaction be?"
Fi hesitated. "... I have not failed."
Link chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah," he sighed. "No, of course you haven't." He moved passed her. "Come on, we should get moving before-guh..." Link stopped, seeing Gaepora slowly walking down the stairs.
"You've returned, yet you stayed silent," Gaepora said, disappointed. "I came as soon as I saw the light from the goddess. Are you leaving again?"
Link looked away. "It's... complicated."
Gaepora eyed Link, waiting for an explanation. When none came, he folded his arms behind his back and stood in front of the stairs. "...I see," he said. "Still, I would like to be informed of any developments."
"Yeah," Link nodded, still not looking at him. "I know."
"Has something happened?" Gaepora asked.
Link didn't answer for a while, trying to figure things out. He didn't even know what to say. Sorry, your daughter's alive but she's on a mission where I'm just supposed to follow blindly? I myself have no idea what's going on, and there are powers at play that don't make any sense? And who was the woman in black?
Link shook his head. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "It's all so confusing... She's alive, Zelda's alive, but... She's headed to another place on the surface, not a spring though. Something called a Gate of Time." He decided to leave out the bit about the woman in black, and the man Ghirahim who keeps getting in his way.
"But you saw her!" Gaepora exclaimed. "You found Zelda! Is she alright? Why aren't you with her?"
"She's safe," Link answered. "I'm just... supposed to go a different way I guess."
"Good..." Gaepora kept nodding to himself. "Is she alone? I don't like the thought of her traveling by herself."
Link sighed, realizing that his usual stance on just not wanting to talk about things he didn't want to talk about, wasn't going to work anymore. The world just didn't like that. "There's someone with her," he said bitterly. "A woman in black. But I don't trust her. Zelda does, but... she says she's protecting her."
Gaepora took a step back so Link could leave. "Very well," he said. "In that case, I wish you safe travels. All I ask is that you find out exactly what is going on. And next time you see this woman in black, demand some answers."
"Oh I plan to," Link hissed.
"Then get going," Gaepora ordered. "Before you fall too far behind."
"You were late. You were late, and you failed to protect her."
The first short chapter. It just didn't fit with anything before or after it, but I think it was here that I realized my internet was having trouble loading the longer chapters, so I made shorter ones the standard moving forward. There were a few more chapters after this one that were longer still, but eventually it started evening out to roughly 1500 words to 2000 words. Anything longer and my computer threatened to eat it.
Now that I write these stories primarily on Wattpad first though, I've slowly forced myself over time to stop caring so much about the word count, and just focus on getting the point across regardless of how long it takes. You'll see more of that in Phase 2.
