Endless War

XVIII

"Why can't you be more like Link?"

-King Rhoam

I feel...constricted in this castle. Since Link left with the rest of his team, Father has only increased his pressure on me. Doesn't he understand that I'm not a warrior; I'm a scholar? And yet he insists that I cannot "play at being a scholar"! Oh, how I would love to tell him that he's been a useless father ever since Mother left us! If only I could say to him that he was delaying my awakening!

But I don't know that for sure, do I? I haven't run any tests or experiments. Perhaps Purah could help.

Oh, drat, there I go again. I go to this diary to focus my thoughts, but even in these simple pages, I cannot concentrate. Perhaps that's the reason why I can't awaken my power.

There must be something wrong with me. Grandmother heard the voice before she, too, passed on. I wonder...did Mother hear the voices? Was she able to use her powers?

I wish she were here. I hope she could tell me what to do.

I wonder what she would say about all this.

But enough of that. I need to remember the day's events before I forget.

My research has shown that the Divine Beasts need pilots to be effective against Ganon, should he ever return. I still don't trust that goat-smelling man, though I can't imagine why Father is so confident in that man. Does he even really deserve to be called a man?

Zelda looked up briefly as the clock struck 12. She left her diary and looked out the window at the stars before returning.

I remember a story that Link told me a long time ago about how the souls of the departed continue watching over us in the form of the stars. It's an exciting story, though unfortunately, it can't possibly be true.

Link...I wish he were here with me. It's been two months since he left for Lorule. I should have given him a pirate charm, just the two of us so that we could stay in touch and Father wouldn't overhear our conversations. But, no, I failed to think of that.

I hope he's okay. I've already heard from General Shepherd that one of the men, Joseph Turner, has already died. I didn't see him often, but I remember his face when I appointed him a lieutenant the year he graduated from West Point. He was nervous, I remember, but so ecstatic at the same time. I remember thinking to myself that he did have a future.

Apparently, that future was to die in Lorule.

And now the General is gone too. At least Link's father treated me like a surrogate daughter. Now he's been summoned to work for that Princess Hilda, who I'm told bears a striking resemblance to me. Not that I mind; I'm simply much too beautifulfor others not to want to imitate me.

Ah, but I'm straying off-topic again.

So...the Divine Beasts require pilots. While Link has been doing secret agent stuff, I've been traveling over Hyrule with two guards, Gaz and Griggs. They're a bit smelly but good men. Sometimes I think the monsters would run from their dead woolly mammoth smell, but they don't. Still, they're polite to me. I like these boys. They stayed by my side while I recruited the four pilots.

I went to Urbosa first. She was the obvious choice. Despite having to be so formal at first, once it was just the two of us, it was as if I had a mother figure once more. Or that was until those fool Yiga assassins tried to interrupt us. She spared them, but it was clear she could have cut them down quickly. If only the more ambitious Gerudo could have seen that, they would have shut their mouths. Ha!

Next, it was Ravioli. His real name is Revali, but enough about him. Proud, arrogant, and completely stupid, but still an excellent archer. He wasn't pleased when I mentioned Link's name. He told me to bugger myself. Not that I could even if I wanted to. As I said: asinine.

Then it was Daruk. Big Goron, though doesn't seem to understand the concept of personal space. I wonder how Link could have survived all those backslaps from him. He does seem to be afraid of dogs, though. Perhaps I should knock him unconscious and then put him in a stable full of dogs and then take pictures of it on the Sheikah Slate.

Finally, Mipha. Mipha was the hardest, to put it mildly. Not that she's difficult to work with, unlike a certain birdman. No, she's the exact opposite. Sweet, caring, gentle, though it seems like the opposite, the way she handles that spear. I wonder if any of my ancestors were skilled in fighting.

No, it's the past she has with Link. She seems, should I say, infatuated with him, constantly fussing over his health. Though I imagine she's like that with everybody. She's just so...kind. Perfect wife material actually.

No! That's my father speaking. I would never say that.

She has already made Zora armor for him. I wonder if Link knows that?... Surely he must. The two have spent a long time together, after all. 

But Link never talks. How can I ever get close to him if he never opens up to me anymore? What do I have to do to get him again? Would he ever choose to marry me instead of Mipha?

Ah, I did not just write that, did I?!

Zelda abruptly stood up and began pacing around the room, pausing to admire the Silent Princess growing on her windowsill before plopping back into her desk. There was one more thing she needed to write for the night.

I don't want to write this, but I touched malice earlier. It convulsed like a living thing, and I wondered if I could somehow tame it, study it somehow. I was wrong. As soon as I touched it, I felt...nauseous. Strange, as if something alien was invading me. My blood ran cold; my heart seemed to stop; my brain is still suffering from a headache.

But worst, it seems that something else has taken residence in my body. Something dark and sinister. I can just barely feel it now, but at the time I felt intense hatred. A passion for death and destruction even. Especially for Link.

I can only hope this feeling goes away. At least I hope it's a feeling and something isn't actually lurking inside me. That would be terrible.

I think it's time to go to bed. I wonder if Link has enough body mass to warm it up if he slept beside me.