The Legend of Zelda: Wisdom and Courage

Chapter 38: Dawn of a New Day

For an indefinite amount of time, the land of Hyrule was completely silent and still. Not a sound from either man or beast was heard, as all who were still somehow alive after the outpouring of Veran's wrath stared into the empty skies above them and held their breaths, watching to see what would happen next. The skies had turned from a vile red to an ambiguous white in almost an instant as the sorceress met her end, but the people all seemed to sense that it was not over yet. Their kingdom still wept and mourned over the heavy losses and destruction it had suffered. The entirety of the land looked like a battered, bloodied, burnt wasteland, the kind that would ever be able to support life ever again. And so, having no idea what to do next, they looked to the heavens and prayed to the goddesses for mercy, patiently waiting for an answer they weren't sure would even come.

The downtrodden people received that answer in the form of three sacred lights, shooting across the white skies and turning them a momentary bright gold. The golden goddesses themselves descended upon the mortal realm and healed its great suffering in response to the princess' wish. Din, with her strong and powerful arms, revived the decimated landscape and made Hyrule's soil lush and fertile once more. Nayru, pouring out her great wisdom and justice upon the land, reestablished the broken natural laws of the kingdom and rebuilt the destroyed man-made structures and dwellings. And finally, Farore, with her rich and courageous soul, restored all of the many lives that had been lost during Veran's conquest to full health and covered the land in its true natural beauty once more. But the goddesses did not stop with Hyrule; knowing that Termina had suffered just as much as its twin land, they poured also out their providence upon it, recovering its lost life and bringing equal peace to it as well. And, when their labors were completed, they returned to their holy realm and scattered the pieces of their golden relic to their respective bearers once more, knowing that was where it needed to be.

When goddesses departed, they left both lands covered in an aura of rebirth and rejuvenation. As the people of Hyrule realized that their kingdom and their loved ones had been revived and returned to them, they rejoiced in the blessings that the goddesses had bestowed upon them after the insurmountable hardships they had experienced over the past few weeks. Their triumphant and jubilant cheers could be heard across the land as they returned to their once-destroyed homes and reunited with those they had thought they would never see again. And, perhaps the most heartfelt reunion was to happen within the very place where the most tragic parting had occurred.

A bright, glorious new dawn rose over the hills of Hyrule, the invigorated sun peaking over the rolling crests and covering the renewed landscape in fresh morning light. This natural golden glow spilled through the large window of the Temple of Time's sword chamber, filling the area that a fierce and violent battle had recently taken place in with a calm and gentle peace. The Master Sword shimmered within its ancient pedestal bathed in this heavenly light as it took on a soft, holy blue glow. This light intensified as the Hero of Time reappeared within the empty room from his meeting with Hylia and Terminus, restored to his former appearance instead of the statue-like form he had been in the last time he was here. After being momentarily blinded by the Master Sword's pure light upon his return, Link found that he was once again within the temple, as the closed Door of Time unceremoniously slid open behind him. Looking up into the light that poured in from the lofty window, the hero let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Veran and her tyranny were finally gone. However as he looked into that light, he noticed that he was getting a perspective of it that was somewhat off, something that noticed even more so when he blinked and found that only one of his eyes shut.

Link let out a sharp gasp of sudden panic as he quickly moved his hand to his right eye, closing his left one, which confirmed his fears and suspicions completely. Apparently, not all of his wounds had been healed, as his right eye was still gone thanks to Veran gouging it out so violently, and now, a leather eye patch rested over the no-doubt deep scar of the cut, something that would forever remind the hero of the horrors he had faced in the deciding battle. And even though he felt peace over the fact that all was right with the world once again, he couldn't help but feel both scorn and shame, knowing that this scar would haunt him for the rest of his life, and that, no matter what, it would never heal.