The courage to find me - The fate of us: Part I

Chapter 5: It's all about timing

POV Zelda

"Zelda, my love, all will be well in the end. You can do anything."

I close my old journal after reading that entry. Coming back here was a terrible idea. I thought I was ready to face all this destruction, but beyond that, I had a morbid curiosity about how things were now.

For the past century, the castle had been infested with Guardians corrupted by the Calamity. Additionally, Ganon's monsters occupied every corner of it. Now, with all that eradicated, only the ruins of the place that was once my home remain.

Returning to the castle was Purah's idea, born out of a basic need: I had only my old, tattered white tunic to wear. After I was ambushed by the Yiga warrior and suffered the shoulder injury, it was simply destroyed from all the bleeding.

That day, Link lent me a change of clothes he carried in his bags. I put them on after a reasonable attempt to clean myself in the lake near the Dueling Peaks inn. However, his clothes were much too large for me. When we returned to Hateno the next day, Purah offered me some of her clothes from when she was at an adult size. "I won't be able to wear them until I figure out how to fix this anti-aging rune anyway!" she said. But she was also larger than me, and her clothes were uncomfortably tight.

"Link, you were at the castle recently," Purah began. "I know many of the rooms are in ruins, but did you happen to notice if Zelda's old room was destroyed?"

The idea of Link inside my room made me uneasy, but I did my best to pretend it didn't affect me.

"There are some ruins in it, yes. Some broken walls, rubble. But a lot survived... The bookshelves are still standing; maybe I can find some clothes for the Princess."

I was irritated by the suggestion that he would go to the castle alone and by the way they were talking as if I weren't in the room.

"Great," I interrupted, acidly. "When can we go?"

Link looked uncomfortable.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go too, Your Highness."

Oh, how I hate it every time he addresses me with those titles that mean nothing in this ruined land.

"We haven't returned to the castle since Ganon was exterminated, and we don't know if it's safe..."

"I don't care. It's my room, they're my things. I'd like to maintain the minimum amount of privacy, if possible."

He didn't seem pleased with the idea, but he saw that I wouldn't back down.

"We can leave now if you're ready. The trip is longer than to Kakariko, so we can stop at an inn near the castle. If we head there at dawn, we'll be back in Hateno by nightfall tomorrow."

That happened yesterday. We arrived at the castle without major issues, and as soon as we crossed the gates into Castle Town, I realized I wasn't as prepared as I thought.

Yes, I spent the last century inside the castle. But I was in a trance, trapped in a cocoon containing Ganon. During that period, my awareness of the outside world was extremely limited, and the little energy I had left I used to try to wake Link from the resurrection chamber. My sense of time simply didn't exist during those years. It feels like I was trapped in that cocoon for eons and, at the same time, only for 15 minutes.

So, returning to what was once my home and finding it in this state broke my heart into thousands of tiny fragments.

After passing through the castle gates, we followed the stairs leading to the external exit of my old room. Link explained that it was the safest and easiest way to access it, given the castle's condition. He also told me that while it was easy to access my room, my study was practically inaccessible. The only way to enter it was by climbing the tower from the outside and pulling oneself up through the windows.