Blighted Memories

Chapter 1. Scars of the Past

Link had just offered the spirit orbs he had collected to the statue of the goddess. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he was certain that the goddess herself had somehow made him stronger. He wasn't complaining. The monsters around the plateau were a hassle. He imagined the monsters beyond this place wouldn't be easy either. He expected to be on the road for a bit after this, so he needed to take what he could get.

    Now Link just needed to get the paraglider from the old man. He had caught on that the old man must've been playing some sort of game with him in exchange for it. Link expected any other person would've been annoyed by that prospect. But he had only awoken two days ago in that mysterious shrine in the middle of nowhere with no memory of who he was or what he was doing there. It wasn't like getting off the plateau would automatically answer those questions.

   His only lead was the voice that had told him to stand against that thing surrounding the castle; Calamity Ganon. Link was honestly considering doing it, but he knew how foolish it would be. Some random amnesiac like himself would have no chance against an ancient evil. If it could be done, someone more capable would've done it by now. The voice was probably nothing more than an auditory hallucination anyway, brought on by his senses slowly returning after his sleep.

   And yet, when he recalled the voice, he became acutely aware of a feeling of emptiness. He wasn't sure why. The voice felt like a warm fire on a cold night to him. He had a desire to be next to it, giving it comfort and encouragement, and yet he didn't know why he wanted to do that.

   "Link!" the old man's voice rang out.

   Link turned round, and was surprised to not find anyone standing there. He looked around the area for a bit, and then spotted the old man above him, visible through a hole in the roof.
   Link wasn't surprised that he'd shown up. He showed up all over the plateau during Link's shrine hunt. Link thought he was certainly an odd fellow, but his recent disappearing stunt after the last shrine exacerbated that strange air that surrounded him. The old man looked even stranger this time. Link certainly didn't remember blue fire floating around him.

   "It seems you've received the goddess's blessing," the old man observed. "Very well then. Come up here. There is something I must tell you before I give you the paraglider."
   Link watched the old man walk across the rooftop out of sight. He took a breath and followed after him.

   "I am King Rhoam Bospheramus Hyrule," the old man said. "And it's time I told you what happened one hundred years ago."

   Link sat down, listening to the devastating story of the fall of the kingdom of Hyrule. Rhoam went on about the weapons made to destroy evil-the Guardians-and how Calamity Ganon turned them against the kingdom, razing the town and slaying the four champions, the princess's personal knight, and Rhoam himself. The ghost king went on to talk about how Princess Zelda was single-handedly keeping Calamity Ganon sealed in Hyrule Castle, even after one hundred years of its return.

   "Zelda is my only daughter," King Rhoam said. "And her knight..." Rhoam held his hand out toward Link. "...was you."

   Link blinked in surprise. He was the knight that died one hundred years ago?

   "You sustained mortal injuries," King Rhoam explained. "You were brought here to recover in the Shrine of Resurrection, slumbering in stasis until your wounds healed."

   Link paused, overwhelmed by the revelation. Almost as if he were trying to recall the day he died, Link's body began to ache. First his chest, then his legs, and then his sword arm. Then his entire body seemed to recall faint memories of its injuries. Link has wondered where the scars on his torso had come from. Now he knew.