The Legend of Zelda: The Silent Princess

The Princess of Destiny

My eyes opened wide. The whole thing seemed to go by in a flash. I searched for whoever was next through the endless water and sky. How many years had passed? I didn't know anymore.

As I spun from one direction to another, I saw no one in sight. Once I turned one last time, I nearly fell to my knees when all three of the girls whose lives I'd seen were standing there. All different, yet all having the blood of the goddess.

"You now have our strength," the dark-haired one said to me, "And you know that your worries and feelings are the same as ours. For your people and friends." She bowed to me.

Then the Princess of Time added as she bowed, "For your loss of time."

The next Zelda, the one who really was Hylia's mortal form, said while bowing, "For the spirit of the hero."

Suddenly, behind the three of them, a whole group of women appeared. All very similar, yet very different in their own way. And all of them bowed down to me.

A light hand pressed on my shoulder. I looked over to see my mother standing there. She smiled at me warmly before saying, "It is time for you to understand completely."

Looking back at the other women, I saw they were all lined up now except the three whose lives I had already lived. The first girl that approached was surprisingly very young. When she took my hand, I saw her life as I saw the others. She had been childhood friends with the hero and when given the choice, she would do her best to thank Link. The first shield he received was from her. However, she was cursed by a cloaked Picori named Vaati. Link did everything to bring her from her stone form. In the end, she was able to use the cap Vaati stole to set things right.

The next girl's adventure was thrust upon her as well. As she and Link went to check the seal that held Vaati, it broke. Not knowing fully who she was, Vaati took her away to be his bride. Just as all the other Links had done, he rushed off to find her. In this instance, the four sword split him into four different people.

And so the line continued as I went through each girl's life and experienced it all. There seemed to be a consistency of seeing the hero struggle and the only choice was to watch it happen. The pain of going through everything with him but not being able to help in how they wanted.

There were three stories, however, that caught my eye. One girl, the most underdressed out of all of them, had only known the sea for most of her life. For the longest time, she went by the name of Tetra, never knowing but always having an inkling that there was something more out there for her. Not only that but in her story, Link had a sister by the name of Aryll. Just as mine did. His adventure started to save her.

The second one was about how the princess became a spirit. Unlike the others, she was able to accompany Link and even help him. He even knew she was there with him the entire time.

The final one was actually the story of two princesses. Much like the Twilight Realm and the Light Realm coming together, the two worlds met one another having counterparts. Both Zelda and Link were taken to the other dimension one way or another. At first, Hilda, Zelda's counterpart, helped Link. Understanding her pain, she took action to steal Hyrule's Triforce. She did what she thought was best for her people and I couldn't fault her for that. In the end, Zelda and Link wished for Lorule's realm to regain their Triforce.

What Hilda and Ravio felt was very close to how Link and I felt at some point. He once told me about his fears of not being good enough just like Ravio. Of course, Link was always better than I wished him to be.

Despite the many differences between each princesses' story all of them had the spirit of the hero to accompany them. And all faced doubts about how worthy they were. Many expressed that . . . I . . . I was the strongest out of all of them. That I faced a bigger threat than any of them experienced.

"But all of you have helped me," I argued.

Mother shook her head, as she brushed a strand of my hair off my shoulder, "Zelda, you were the one who called upon them. You may blame yourself for not being able to do it sooner, but because your power was not obtained until the last second, you were able to keep Ganon dormant for a hundred years. Ganon tried to sway you by using our memories against you. All we did was help you understand that all is not lost."

My eyes flashed to Mother. "A hundred years? It's up? Is Link . . ."

Mother took my hand as she nodded, "And you will be able to guide him through his journey just as the others have done before you. He may not remember you but I firmly believe the spirit of the hero will not give up on what he treasures."

Suddenly, behind me, I heard a harp begin to play. My head turned towards the very first Zelda I met as she plucked the strings on a golden harp. I watched in awe as the rest of them slowly began to play their chosen instruments. Some sang while others played with the wind and strings. Mother's hand squeezed mine as we listened.

Tears filled my eyes as I could finally put faces to those I always heard Mother playing with. I never thought they were there for me. I always thought I heard nothing when I played myself. That I was alone and no one was listening.

All the good memories each of them had came into my mind. Each memory was of the princess and her hero. They were usually outside together with blossoms around them. Then my own memory of Link came to me. The time we spent on the hill looking at the flowers or when I put the crown of flowers on his head.

As the Zeldas' lullaby came to an end, only the three that came to me first played the closing. When the last note was held out, they faded away. Mother's warmth slowly disappeared beside me. It was time.

If you don't generally listen to the songs, I encourage you to at least listen to the one above. It is a combination of all the styles used in the Zelda games. Also, I am sorry if any of the songs were removed from YouTube. I did go through and update them. Vote, comment, and there's a video featuring all of them!