The Queen and the Hero

4

Hilda and Ravio arrived at the outskirts of the Maze that lay outside of the Dark Palace, and was the only clear path to the entrance, even if it was a little confusing.

Hilda was tightly gripping onto Ravio's elbow, scared she would make a misstep and tumble straight into one of the chasms that streamed across Hyrule, marring the landscape forever.

Ravio had been sure to guide his Princess throughout all of Lorule, though he could understand how frustrated she was that she wasn't able to see her newly healed kingdom up close for the first time.

Ravio had a few months in Hyrule where he was able to adjust to the natural sunlight that was present in Hyrule, along with the beautiful starlit skies that appeared at night.

The healing power of the Triforce had already begun to slowly put Lorule back together, as the dead grass that had existed before had been completely wiped out, with the beginnings of new green grass already starting to grow.

The monsters had been completely wiped out as well, all of them destroyed by the power of the sun, as they were creatures of darkness, making it easier to wander throughout the kingdom without getting eaten alive.

"Hilda, are you sure you want to go through the Maze? The Royal Guards might not even be here anymore." Ravio said, and Hilda glared at him, or as best she could with a blindfold tied over her eyes to keep out the sunlight.

"While that may be true, we still need to check to see if they are still here. Those are my people that were mind-controlled by a vicious beast, and I was too weak to stop them. I won't rest until I find them." Hilda said, and Ravio sighed, though he was smiling as well, and was grateful Hilda couldn't see his face.

"Okay, we'll go through the Maze. The canopy that hangs above the pathway should keep the area dark enough so you can see and not have to use the blindfold, but that also means there might still be monsters in there. Are you ready?"

Hilda nodded, summoning her staff into her hands, as Ravio took a breath to steel himself against whatever possible threats lay inside the Maze and maybe even inside the Dark Palace, as the two walked through the stone archway that marked the entrance to the Maze.

The Maze that led to the Dark Palace was originally the Palace's gardens, tended to daily by a legion of fierce and determined gardeners and to make sure that while one could maneuver through the Maze, if that person didn't know the way, they would get hopelessly lost.

As Hilda and Ravio stepped into the darkness of the Maze, Hilda finally felt the burning of the sun leave her skin, the cool dampness a breath of fresh air, as Hilda slowly untied the blindfold and opened her eyes.

It had been years since she and Ravio had stepped into the Maze, but she had only seen it a couple of weeks before when Link had ventured here to brave the Dark Palace and rescue one of the Seven Sages of Hyrule, a young boy named Gulley, the Blacksmith's Son.

Hilda looked at the faint glow of her staff, and she used some of her magic to make it glow brighter to see by, teal light flooding the area, revealing all the cracks in the stone pathway, as the stone walls of the Maze once had beautiful flowers growing on them having grown into ivy instead.

"Your staff isn't flickering with the rainbow fire anymore. Did something happen to it?" Ravio asked, pointing at the tip of Hilda's staff, and she shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened, but when I woke up this morning, the rainbow fire was just gone. Maybe it assimilated into the staff overnight? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Hilda said, looking away and moving forward, away from him.