Two years before the Calamity, Link was sent on a dangerous mission to Lorule to alter the future war. With him were six soldiers. One by one, they fell and met their end. Only two of the original team were left standing when it was all over.
To sav...
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(Shoutout to Zeronashh for this fantastic artwork. I thought it was fitting.)
"The end of an era. The dawn of a new beginning."
-Zelda
Link abruptly sat up. He couldn't remember where he was.
Let's see... There was his father, looking through his sister's old telescope - When did Father take that? I had it in my room last time! - at the blood moon. Yuri was holding a baby, a cute one resembling Hilda. Hilda herself was lying on the ground, though he couldn't tell whether or not she was dead or sleeping. And below them was fire and burning people. Then he looked at the blood moon and saw the floating figure. He looked down below her and saw the army of monsters and possessed civilians charging for the castle.
He started breathing harder. He remembered now. He remembered his death at the hands of Zelda - no, that wasn't her, at least not the one he remembered.
But still, he remembered that face, twisted with hatred. He remembered her soft hands suddenly squeezing his neck like a vise. He recalled his world fading to black, but not before he witnessed Zelda's eyes suddenly turn from red to their usual green.
And now she was a representative of Ganon, doing his evil will.
She could not have picked him out from four people at such a long distance, but he heard her voice in his head anyways.
After two hours of holding the monsters at bay, they had finally breached the castle walls. It would only be a matter of time before the castle was overrun, and they had to pull back.
If there was a place to pull back to. All during this time, a wave of black had been closing in on the castle. Link had no idea what it was, but he was willing to bet it would kill them if it touched them. Yuri was an excellent storyteller.
All while the soldiers fought and struggled under the growing blood moon, while the monsters kept returning, Zelda floated serenely at the tiptop of the castle, her eyes seemingly closed.
She was different from last time. Before the transformation, she had been wearing her blue travel clothes. Now she was wearing her ceremonial robes, if her dress was dipped in black ink and the Triforce on the clasp was flipped upside-down. Her blonde hair was now blood-red, with strange red lines on her arms, legs, and forehead. Small, red, upside-down Triforce symbols floated around her.
Link worried about his friend. Could she be cured? He didn't want to fight her. He was supposed to protect her. He worried that the condition was irreversible, that she would stay like this forever. He stressed that the Zelda he knew and loved was forever gone.
But for now, he had to stop worrying about her and worry about keeping his ass alive.
Somebody yelled in his ear. "We're being overrun. We need to retreat!"
Yuri was, miraculously, still holding the baby. He tugged on Link's arm and pointed to the top.
"Up top! If we restrain her, we may be able to stop this battle!" And he ran off, clutching the wailing baby and whispering into its ear.
Link looked around one last time. He saw his father fighting like he must have in his prime. He saw the other soldiers engaged in single combat with hinoxes and even lynels. Those that weren't fighters were putting out fires and bringing in new arrows and weapons.
He drew the Master Sword - somehow, the sword had returned to him - and ran up the stairs.
Link looked as evil Zelda floated down across from him. Yuri was trapped outside the circular room, trying to quiet the baby.
She opened her eyes and smiled, showing off her still-perfect white teeth.
Fight, run, fight, run. The pattern is always the same for you. Don't you ever get tired of it? Don't you want to escape? I can offer you that, but only if you submit to me.
What do you think you're going to do? You can't stop this. I know it goes against your nature, my little Link, but you can still lose gracefully.
That wasn't her speaking. It was her voice, but something vile was saying those things in her voice.
And suddenly, he felt enraged. Something had taken over the person he loved, and he would do anything to purge it from them.
But what could he do?
The Empress made that choice simple for him. She summoned an eightfold blade and lunged.
Link was surprised. The Zelda he knew had only limited swordsmanship, mainly learned from him, and he was a Terrible teacher with a capital T. Yet this Zelda moved even faster than him. More quickly than he could react. More rapidly than he could dodge and escape.
They were on uneven terms. He was trying to spare her. She was trying to kill him. As a result, he was utterly defenseless, except for a shield he had picked up from a fallen guard.
Such a weak, incompetent fool. What does she see in a shrimp like you, anyways?
Link grunted as her sword slammed into his shield. He tried to ignore it. He tried to forget everything.
The Empress took this as an opportunity. She pressed down on the blade, pinning him down under it.
Link panicked, and he let go of the shield, rolling out from under it. He was getting up and was going to start running when he felt a hand on his back.
He struggled, but her grip was too firm. He could do nothing as she brought her face closer to his. Foolishly, he noted that she still smelled of fresh air and flowers despite being possessed. In a soothing voice: Link, Link, why do you resist? Don't you know that this is a lost cause? Don't you wish to rule alongside me?
Her tongue flicked out, clipping his pointy ear and running down his cheek. Then she placed a finger on her lips and touched him with it, an old way of saying goodbye they invented long ago. Even that was painful. And pain triggered his instinctual response.
He drew his sword.
Zelda clicked her tongue in disappointment before releasing him.
Very well. Face oblivion, little hero.
Start phase 2 of the battle, in which she attacked relentlessly. Link still wasn't swinging. He wasn't going to hurt her in any way.
Not even when she disarmed him with one blow and put her sword tip to his throat.
So easy to defeat. This was the best Hyrule had to offer.
Link closed his eyes before opening them again.
"Do it. But before you do, take this."
He produced a Silent Princess with a simple silver ring.
