Breath of Life | LoZBoTW

The Chosen Heroes

Link was silent at first, but nodded simply. "I see..." She said, and her eyes glanced down to their hands that were still held tightly together. Emery awkwardly tore them apart. Link wished they would continue holding hands, but maybe another time. It seemed she completely disregarded him when he confessed his love to her. It was all the more signs he shouldn't try to make any remote moves on her. Their friendship had to work out no matter what, they shared the Triforce after all. "You two discovered your respective piece of the Triforce?"

"Why do I have it?" Emery asked instantly, expecting the girl with the Triforce of wisdom to know the answer. She watched with an icy look on her face as Zelda let out a small laugh. Her hands were still clasped in front of her.

"Long, long ago when we discovered the ancient texts of our ancestors, we read about Calamity Ganon. We found out about the Divine Beasts, the guardians, the inevitable return of Calamity Ganon, and the hero- or so we thought. The ancient texts read: The hero who wields the sword that seals the darkness and the hero who wields the bow that seals the darkness will be one. When we read it, we inferred that it meant Link would be an incredible swordsman and bowman. I know now that we were incredibly mistaken. It means that the two chosen heroes will be one, bound by their halves of their respective piece of the Triforce." She explained. Emery thought long and hard. How did that make any sense? If this was true, why was she born almost a century after Link and Zelda?

"So, that makes Emery a Champion, and a hero chosen by the Gods, doesn't it?" Link asked, looking to Emery. He was confused as to why her face wasn't nothing but happiness. This was all she ever wanted.

"It does indeed." Zelda replied.

"I don't understand..." Emery mumbled.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You were meant for this, simple as that." Zelda assured her. Emery was still iffy about how she felt about her. If she had been watching over them this whole time, she obviously knew how Emery felt about her. So, why was she being so nice to her?

They all three took a long look at the castle. It was in ruins, but it was saved now. They could surely rebuild it with time. Everything was messed up, but the three of them knew they must do something with it. The castle was still in one piece, so that was good. As Zelda stepped away, they followed. Emery walked alongside Link, wondering what came next. She didn't understand how she was a chosen hero. How do they pick those sort of things? She was brought out of her thoughts when they all heard something behind them. They turned towards the castle, looking straight ahead. They saw nothing, but knew it was the spirits of the ones they lost finally reaching peace.

After a while, they recovered Zelda's original traveling outfit. It was the same blue that was on every one of the Champions cloths and Link's tunic. Emery couldn't help but feel awkward with Zelda around. She knew everything, and even though Emery was still extremely jealous of the Goddess-like girl, she felt terrible about everything. Even Zelda's sole presence makes you feel her golden spirit. She was warm, like the Deku Tree had said.

They made their way to the house as the long day was coming to an end. It didn't feel real, it was all finally over. Ganon was gone forever, or at least for a long, long time. Did Emery really give her parents and ancestors the justice they deserved? She didn't feel accomplished, and she didn't understand why. She only felt a gap in her life as confusion started to form. Why was she chosen? It's like she didn't know who she was anymore. She didn't know how to deal with her feelings. It was ironic how bad she wanted this, but the toll it took on her.

"So, this is the infamous house? You know, Link, this was the same house you lived in just a hundred years ago. In your first life." Zelda explained as they walked in. Emery wondered if she was even tired. She didn't seem like it. On the other hand, Link and Emery were exhausted. This fight had taken so much out of them, especially Link. Emery was still noticeably upset about literally everything that had went down today, and Link didn't know how to approach her about it. He could tell she was going through something, so he decided to give her space for now. He headed to take a long needed shower, leaving Emery and Zelda alone.

Emery took a seat on the couch, unhappy about her situation. At least maybe it would give her time to think. She was so devastated about missing out on Ganon, she didn't know how to feel. Now to know that she's a chosen hero? She couldn't understand why, she could be so stupid. That would be where Link would argue that he was stupid too, but he was still a chosen hero. Either way, she didn't think she was cut out for the job.

"Emery," Zelda's voice brought her out of her thoughts as she sat down next to her. She took her hands in her own, and Emery surprisingly didn't pull away. "I know why you're so hard on yourself. I, too, felt the blessing with a curse from the Goddess'. No matter what I did, I felt I was failing everyone. Especially when Calamity Ganon arose. He slaughtered everyone, and I believed I could've prevented it at the time. I was so hard on myself, especially after Link fell... Nonetheless I continued on to do what I was born for. I went back to the castle to face Ganon alone after putting everything into place for your arrival and Link's return. After years of thinking, I know now that with every good thing comes bad things, too. You will fail, but that doesn't make you a failure. We're too hard on ourselves at times. It's only because we know we can be the best, and it's all we want for ourselves. But, we mustn't destroy ourselves with it. Failure is meant for us to learn from. Without failure, we cannot be great. You must let yourself be great, Emery, and not punish yourself because of it."

Emery was going to ask just how she knew everything, but the reason Zelda held her piece of the Triforce was obvious. She had never met someone wiser than Princess Zelda. It was incredible how she knew just the right thing to say, and just how to get through to Emery with it. "Thank you, but can I ask-"

"Say no more." Zelda flashed her a smile, and out came Link from the shower.

"So, I'll take the couch tonight. I insist." He said, his eyes not meeting Emery's. She hadn't even remembered what Link said to her just before the arise of Dark Beast Ganon. It had escaped her mind, because he had chosen the worst moment to say it.

"Of course not, Link. I'm already prepared to take the couch, as you and Emery take the bed. It's a usual arrangement, I see." She smiled. She was joyful, but it was expected. Maybe Emery and Link would be like her if they weren't so tired.

"Princess-"

"Say no more, boy. Haven't you learnt to watch that tongue of yours?" Zelda gave Emery a smile as she ushered her off the couch. It was amusing to her how she could boss Link around so easily. "Goodnight, the two of you."

Emery followed Link upstairs were he instantly collapsed into bed. She changed first, pulling on her black tank top and light pink silk shorts. As she turned around, Link looked her up and down. He was heartbroken, and it hurt to see her, yet he couldn't look away. Her top showed a little more than he was use to. He quickly looked away as she noticed. "My eyes are up here."

"S-sorry," Link stuttered, pulling the cover over him quickly. He turned his back to her, and she did the same. Both of them frowned, as this wasn't the way they wanted to be now. They wanted to be joyful, victorious, in the arms of the other. Still, Emery was upset at him and he didn't know what to do. How would they recover from this- or anything, if they won't learn to cooperate?