The Legend of Zelda: The Missing Link

Chapter 24: Regicide

"You've stood in my way for far too long, princess. You and your entire family before you. If I kill you now, there will be nobody left in the royal line." He paused. "But, that isn't to say that your family wasn't meant to die off anyway. I'd just be speeding up the inevitable."

Midna stepped forward. "What are you talking about, Ganondorf? Why would the royal family die off? Zelda would just have to find a husband with enough royal blood in order to keep it going."

Ganondorf chuckled. "Why don't you tell them, princess? I'm sure you know."

Ralis and Midna both looked to the queen before them; Zelda was looking down at her dirtied boots.

"There is nobody left." She glanced upwards at the waiting eyes, then cleared her throat, and speaking louder, she said, "There is nobody else left. I'm the only child of Hylia with royal blood--that we know of, that is."

"But," Midna spoke, "what about Link?"

"Bah!" Ganondorf exclaimed. "That puny kid? He's the farthest thing from royal. His parents were servants. The lived to serve the king, and died to protect him when their son was mere months old. His father was able to put him in the care of a family friend in Ordon--a swordsmith, I believe."

"Rusl..." Zelda muttered.

The Gerudo thief continued. "The hero," he said the word in a mocking tone, "has not a drop of royal blood. Nobody left alive does, except for Zelda. And when she dies by my hand, it will be me that claims the throne to Hyrule, and I can return it to the chaos it was meant to be. Ah, I can remember the taste of smoke in the air now..."

The kind seemed to be reminiscing over times long past; Zelda stepped back, trying to formulate a plan to allow them to escape. There was the small entrance to the grave of Ralis's parents to the east, but the entrance was so small that it required crawling, and Midna, with her large stature, might not even be able to fit. And after that, where would they even go? Possibly, Ralis knew of an underwater exit leading out to Lake Hylia, but could the two girls even hold their breath that long? Maybe if she--

"But I digress. You're probably planning your escape right now, princess, aren't you?" He laughed. Zelda blanched.

"Hey! You big meanie-head!"

Ganondorf turned to face the Zoran boy.

"What are you doing, puny fish boy? I could crush you with one hand tied behind my back, runt!"

With Ganondorf's attention away from the young women, Midna lunged toward Zelda, grabbing her by the arm. She had called up a Twilight portal above them, and Zelda could feel the familiar tingle in her hands and feet as their bodies dissolved into Twilight particles, traveling upwards towards the portal.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Ganondorf's deep voice rumbled.

"Go somewhere safe, please! And don't forget Li--!"

"This is your fault, fish boy!" Ganondorf leaped towards him with surprising speed, and the last thing that Zelda saw before being whisked away by the portal was the king of evil throwing the Zoran boy to the ground.

"No!" Zelda cried out, but the pair were already being thrown into another field, far from the brawl in the graveyard. "No..." she said softly, digging her hands into the soft earth beneath her. "That poor boy..."

"Well, looks like we're somewhere in southern Hyrule Field. Faron province, if I had to guess." Midna said, looking at the quickly darkening sky.

Zelda sighed. "I hope Ralis is okay. I'd hate for the Zoras to lose every single one of their rulers in such a short span of time."

"Zelda, I get that you wanna like, save the world, and everything, but you have to remember that you're important, too. He's the king of some fish--you're the queen of this whole country." She hesitated, and then her voice dropped in volume. "I'm sorry about Ralis. I'm sorry about Shad and Ashei. I know you cared about them. But we need you, and we need Link, and we can't save everyone. That's how the world works."

It was as if in a single day, everything Zelda knew about the universe had changed. Except that it hadn't--she had only just learned to see it clearly. She pushed herself to her feet.

"Then lets go to Hyrule Castle. Lets save Link."

The two walked for about 20 minutes before Zelda saw a strange glint hidden in the tall, dewy grass. They stopped in their tracks, and Zelda reached down to pick it up. "What is this? The Master Sword?"

"Link must've dropped it when Ganondorf snagged him." Midna said, leaning over and running her hand along the blade.

"There is no use in leaving it here." Zelda said as she secured the harness around her. They continued their walk.