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Chapter Text

Across the land of Hyrule, the skies above glowed scarlet with deadly, ominous power. The clouds swirled and traveled farther and faster than they’d ever had, the air itself shifting from the mere presence of the Calamity. The falling rain burned like acid, tainted ever so slightly by ambient Malice hanging in the air. Hyrule’s remaining inhabitants could hear the piercing howls of Ganon as clear as day, the ever-burning rage and hatred reverberating in the beast’s call.

Suddenly, the beast released a loud wail of agony as Hyrule Field erupted into a sea of golden light. Ganon’s cries were slowly drowned out by the hum of godly power that cleansed the area, the light incinerating any trace of Malice it came into contact with. When the golden light faded, the howls of an angry beast were silenced.

The Calamity was no more.

As the winds died down and the rain began to cease, Zelda felt the breath she had been holding release as she finally, finally released her hold on the divine power that coursed through her very being. It was almost a foreign feeling to her, not having the goddesses’ divine power constantly coursing through her mortal shell - but it was liberating nonetheless.

It meant they were victorious.

The weather calmed just enough for Zelda to hear the sound of grass being tread over behind her. She couldn’t help the small smile that graced her lips. Of all the things that gave her hope…

“I’ve been keeping watch over you all this time…as much as I could while keeping the Calamity at bay…” Zelda spoke with a calm reverence, “I’ve witnessed your struggles to return to us, as well as your trials in battle. I always thought - no, I always believed - that you would find a way to defeat Ganon.” Giving in to temptation, she turned to meet eyes with her savior.

Link, her knight, her Champion, stood just several paces from her, his eyes shining with rapt wonder. His attire was a bit ragged, wearing only a faded brown tunic and pants with dingy boots, but he looked no worse for wear. The Royal Claymore and her gifted Bow of Light stuck out from his back in contrast.

“I never lost faith in you over those many years,” Zelda spoke truthfully because, indeed, it was true; she knew her knight would recover, and it was in his nature to help those in need. “Thank you, Link…the Hero of Hyrule.”

She noticed a healthy red tinge on her knight’s cheeks as she spoke his title, and she almost couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction. He was adorable at times.

“...may I ask…” the princess continued, “...do you really remember me?”

The question was more of a formality than a curiosity. Why else would he risk his life against such perilous odds? Even if he did not have his memories in full, she was sure in time they could-

“Nope.”

…what?

Zelda blinked and shook her head a bit. “I-I’m sorry?” she asked. Surely she had misheard him-

“Haven’t got much of a clue, really,” Link shrugged, completely unperturbed by his apparently complete amnesia. “You’re the magic voice lady though, right?”

Zelda blinked owlishly. “...magic…voice lady?”

“Yeah! You were in my head when I woke up in that glowy cave! The old ghost man up on the cliff said something about you being a princess?” Link scratched the back of his head, “A lot of it went right over my head, to be honest.”

And a lot of that last sentence went over her head, but…no matter. They could pull through this. She just…had to get him reacquainted with everything. “Y-yes, well…I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule. You were my-”

“What’s a Hyrule?”

Oh sweet mother of Hylia, it was worse than she thought.

“It’s the kingdom we’re in right now.” She squinted at her appointed knight, “How much do you remember, exactly?”

“You mean from before I woke up? Basic vocabulary and the crazy fighting skills I can pull off, but that’s about it, I think.” He gasped, a childlike wonder and excitement filling his eyes, “Was I some sort of master ninja?”

Zelda didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry at the absurdity, so she refrained from either. “N-no. As I was going to say earlier, you were my appointed knight. You were taught how to fight as effectively as you do by the Royal Army.”

“Oh,” Link actually looked sad at the prospect of not being a ninja. “Okay then…so I was a knight…and I was meant to protect you?”

A rush of relief filled Zelda’s heart. “Yes, my father had appointed you to stay by my side. We were both key figures in taking out Calamity Ganon.”

Link gave her a blank look.

“...the giant flaming pig you shot a minute ago.”

He snapped his fingers, “Ah, okay then!” He looked over to the grassy field that had acted as their final arena, about sixty percent of the terrain still on fire. “So…what now?”

Zelda’s train of thought stopped for a moment. “...I…haven’t the faintest clue,” she admitted aloud. Just over a century of channeling the golden power running through her veins holding back the spirit of a vengeful chaos god, and she hadn’t in any of that time thought about what to do after her eventual freedom? She was ashamed of herself, truly. Then again, it was a rather unlikely set of circumstances to stumble into, and her knight’s apparent amnesia did throw a wrench into her potential plans.

“Well,” said appointed knight spoke up, “The old man mentioned finding Kakariko, if that helps. Problem is, I don’t know who Kakariko is, so I’m really hoping you do and that they’re still alive somewhere.”

“No, Link, Kakariko is a place, not a person - and I do believe that making our way there would be the best way to start. The Sheikah would be of incredible help, especially in the ways of exploring how to regain your lost memories.”

“Oh…cool.”

This time Zelda couldn’t help the laughter that spilled out as she began walking, her knight keeping pace alongside her. Link, though his cheeks were as red as wildberries, he found himself chuckling with her. He might not remember anything, and the future may be uncertain, but for now things were looking bright…

Oh, speaking of not remembering anything: “Hey, uh, Zelda? You knew me from before, right?”

The princess perked up, the tips of her ears turning a bit scarlet, “I-I wouldn’t say I knew everything about you, but yes, I know a few things.”

“Do you mind telling me what you do know?”

“Why yes, of course! Though you have to tell me how the world has been since you first woke up.”

Link shrugged, “I don’t have much to tell, honestly. I only woke up like a half an hour ago, after all-” He was suddenly jerked around to face Zelda, whose hands were clenched tightly to his shoulders. Her face was twisted into a grimace of what can only be called anguish mixed with absolute befuddlement, her emerald eyes staring straight into his very soul, questioning him the origins of life and the meaning of existence as one strained phrase escaped her lips:

“Link, what the actual fuck? ”

Chapter Text

Link pulled the Sheikah Slate from its pedestal, looking over the strange device with apt confusion. He wasn’t sure how this glowing piece of rock was going to help him with whatever he was supposed to be doing, but if the disembodied voice said it was alright to use it, he’d trust whoever they are.

…was he putting too much faith in possibly a figment of his potentially fragile psyche? What sane person hears disembodied voices in their head anyways?

He was so distracted by his chances of insanity that he failed to notice the gaping hole in the top corner of the room, a sliver of morning light from the outside and wisps of refreshing mountain breeze just barely making their way through.

“‘Go activate the tower’, she said,” Link grumbled to himself as he slowly and carefully descended the newly activated Sheikah Tower. “‘It’s gonna help you out’, she said.”

Yeah, like being flung hundreds of feet up into the air was a good thing for him. He didn’t even realize he was scared of heights, not that he could remember if he ever was (what did the old man say he had again? Arrhythmia?), so hey, maybe this was a self-learning opportunity or something.

Exactly seven-point-three seconds later, as he misjudged how far he needed to jump to reach the next platform and his five minutes of life began flashing before his eyes, he decided that this was less of a learning opportunity and more of the universe choosing to fuck him over specifically.

Tumbling through the air, he fumbled for the Sheikah Slate latched to his hip, tapping the screen blindly in the hopes of pulling out something, anything he could use to break his fall. Maybe the half dozen pile of Chuchu Jellies he’d scavenged could do the trick? (Don’t give him that look, he was desperate!)

A Woodcutter’s Axe materialized in his hands in a flash of blue light. He looked at the offending weapon that spawned from the slate’s Hammerspace, then towards the groun- oh Goddess, too close!!!

Link practically threw the axe back into the slate, needing to free his hands in order to maybe pull out literally anything else from his inventory-

And then he landed flat on the ground without a scratch.

It was a weird sensation. As soon as the axe handle had left his hands, he felt his momentum just…stop, for a split second. Like he’d somehow zeroed out his velocity, making the fall feel like it had been three feet as opposed to three hundred .

Turning onto his back and staring up at the spot on the tower he’d just fallen from, Link decided that questioning the laws of the universe was off the table if he wanted to keep the rest of his sanity.

He was incredibly relieved when the old man called down to him from his paraglider. It gave him an excuse to file away this incident in case it ever came in handy.

Link wasn’t sure why he decided jumping onto the sides of the Sheikah Shrines with his shield was the go-to method of entry rather than just opening them with the Sheikah Slate. He really didn’t expect these complete stone structures to be so fragile that sections just happened to break off if you leaned on them too hard.

But hey, potential cuts and scrapes aside, it was a hell of a lot more fun to do than the intended way.

Stasis and instantly zeroing out his momentum, a feat he now dubbed “Fall Canceling”, was a stupidly broken way to travel.

He had just used the boulder next to the stasis shrine to blast himself all the way to the Temple of Time in nearly an instant. So much better than walking and climbing his way back!

Though he did regret putting another hole through the dilapidated building’s rooftop (just a tiny bit though).

Link stared at the ethereal green wisps that floated into the sky as King Rhoam, the last ruler of his line, disappeared into the great beyond.

He hadn’t exactly been paying attention to the ghost’s grand speech of duty and honor; he kinda zoned out looking at the incredible view they had from up here, not to mention a small part of him was still freaking out that he was talking with an actual ghost. Like, he just woke up and all this cool shit was just happening, it was amazing!

Speaking of cool things…

Link stepped up to and crouched in front of the chest left behind by the late king, opening the lid and gently pulling out the old man’s paraglider from within. A rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins as he looked back off into the horizon. Yeah, he was still a tad bit scared of heights, but between having this bad boy and his newly discovered Fall Canceling, he now had nothing to fear.

Backing up a short way, paraglider now prepped in his Sheikah Slate, Link psyched himself up for what he was about to do - and he darted forward, rushing towards open skies as he took a huge leap-

His foot caught on a small section of the crumbled wall, causing him to swing violently forward and slam face first into the exterior side of said wall.

To make matters worse, the few aged bricks his foot caught on finally detached themselves, leaving the Hero in a stunned freefall.

As he was spiraling, holding onto his definitely broken nose, the ground and sky span above and below him in a dizzying display of greens and blues - and then he felt time slow down just enough for him to register the shriek of a monster directly below him.

Ah shit-

Link landed on the Bokoblin, the pot lid shield strapped to his back taking the force of the blow, only to find himself blasted violently skyward at terminal velocity.

From an outsider’s point of view, one would notice that Link had launched himself (somehow) at the perfect angle towards Hyrule Castle, giving him more than enough airtime with his paraglider to reach his destination with energy to spare.

Link did not notice this. He screamed his lungs out the whole way there. Like a bitch.

“...and that’s about it, I think.” Link finished, completely ignoring the incredulous look on Zelda’s face behind him as they made their way on horseback from Dueling Peaks Stable.

Zelda was…”flabbergasted” didn’t even begin to cover the broad range of confusion and logistical agony she was experiencing. How was any of what he said possible?! He just casually happened to find a way to defy the laws of gravity?! And how strong were the spawn of the Calamity for even a simple red Bokoblin to launch Link several hundred kilometers across Hyrule?!

Also, how did she notice none of this?! Sure, her perception of time was admittedly still a bit wonky. Channeling the power of an almighty Goddess for a hundred years could do that to a girl - but still! She was able to sense the life forces of all the citizens of Hyrule, she was pretty sure she would’ve notice a man soaring over the distance of Hyrule Fields-

The princess took a deep breath, focusing on the floral scents and the crisp feeling of the forest winds entering her lungs. Calm, Zelda. Panicking was going to get you nowhere. Ignore your inner scientist screaming into the void at your knight’s discovery of the instability of the known universe. Ignore your inner archeologist and the urge to throttle the Legendary Hero in this saddle for desecrating ancient Sheikah trial sites meant to help him. Focus on something else, take your mind off the chaos, like…the scenery! Focus on the scenery!

Zelda turned her gaze to the rolling plains to their side, the princess’s attention caught by the estranged beauty of nature overtaking the militia ruins scattered about. It might sound silly, but she couldn’t help but be enraptured by how the scenery was so different compared to a century prior. Small stone outposts becoming home to wildflowers and all manner of small forest critters, the tall, dry grass flowing in the wind and swaying past the scattered, decayed husks…of…

Guardians.

Fire raged around her, the sparks, creaks, and small implosions of Guardian Stalkers a cacophony of blissfully chaotic music to the small part of her that ferociously raged against the Calamity. The mix of smoke and wisps of Malice burned her lungs as she heaved slightly, the exhaustion of finally using the Golden Power inside of her exhilarating yet draining.

She didn’t care about any of that. Her eyes, also burning from the Malice and smoke, were solely trained on the dying form of the man she loved.

She laid him in her lap, watching helplessly as the life slowly drained out of him. He had a hole through his chest, the wound completely cauterized as the Guardian’s laser had run him through. There wasn’t anything she could do.

‘But wasn’t there?’, her heart screamed in anguish. With all of the power she had gained, the power to eradicate the purest form of hatred incarnate finally at the palm of her hands, was there truly nothing she could do to save the one life that mattered most?

She could hear the sickening squeals of the pig demon that caused this all, its calls sounding like mocking laughter.

Worthless.

She was-

“Zelda?” She snapped back to reality, finding his concerned gaze steadily trained on her. She could feel the heat of his hand on her own, gently pressing it down where she was holding onto his waist for support. A small wave of guilt washed over her. She must have held onto him too hard.

“I-I’m sorry, Link,” she hastily apologized, trying to gently slip her hand out of his, “I did not mean to-“

Link held her hand steadfast, not hurting her but firm in not letting her go. “What’s wrong?”

Zelda felt her heart begin to race. This man… “N-nothing,” she replied, “I…I was just reminded of before…”

Silence washed over the two of them as their horse trotted on, both riders locked into a sudden stare down. Azure eyes tried to softly make their past the veil of emerald curtains that hid the contents of her soul within.

After a few moments, she turned her hand in his and gave it a reaffirming squeeze. “Link,” she stated firmly, “I am fine now.”

Another beat of silence…before he finally squeezed her hand back. “Okay…if you insist,” he relented, turning back to face forward on his horse, but stopped as his eyes passed over the horizon, pulling their steed to a stop.

Curious, Zelda tried to follow his gaze - and felt her heart stop as the faint view of Blatchery Plains.

Zelda felt her anxiety skyrocket as Link slipped off the saddle, taking careful steps toward the edge. He was staring off to where he had died. Purah had assured her that the memory loss would only be temporary, and that was the worst thing in this situation. How would his mind take the first thing of his past he could remember was the horrifying experience of his death?

Her mind swirled with a cacophony of worries and anxiety-ridden questions. What would he think of it all? How drastically would this affect him? What would he say when he found out it was her fault his life wasn’t spared?

“Link,” she found herself saying, “I can explain-”

“SHAKALA! You can see me?!”

Zelda blinked and a twelve-foot tall Korok suddenly appeared in front of her sworn knight, hopping excitedly from foot to foot (or, uh, stub to stub?) as they sang. The former royal could only stare in frozen befuddlement as the Korok conversed with Link, gesticulating wildly to the naturally formed stone archway at the beginning of the cliffside just ahead.

“Hey Zelda,” Link’s voice cut through her reverie, and she looked down to the innocent smile of her knight. “Stay here with Hestu, okay? I’m gonna go help him out with something real quick,” and before she could think of any way to respond, he bolted off towards the archway with speed she’d never seen in him before, disappearing in seconds.

She couldn’t see what sort of battle ensued from there, but the sounds of Link’s war cries, the shrieks of angry Bokoblins, and the clashing of wood and steel ended by the sharp, ringing detonation of a Runic Bomb gave both too little and too much room to fill the imagination.

Link ran back through the archway as quick as he’d left, waving a pair of childishly painted maracas overhead. He had a few small gashes on his cheeks and arms, and several tufts of hair looked seconds away from alighting in flame, but it did nothing to deter his proud grin as he approached and gave the small musical instruments back to their owner.

Zelda knew then and there that Link remembering his death should probably be the least of her worries…

Impa was beginning to grow incredibly worried.

For the past century, Kakariko Village had stayed hidden away from the forces of Calamity Ganon in an attempt at protecting the only surviving people who knew of the history of the beast. In the beginning, Impa had used her authority as chief to direct their lead scholars in finding any possible alternate method to either saving their princess or resurrecting the last Champion sooner than predicted. Research after two decades bared their efforts fruitless, and so she called off the investigation.

For the remaining time, Impa kept herself in as prime of shape as she could in order to help Link when he resurrected, if not to fight at his side to save their princess.

The second plan did not come to fruition as her prime years came and went, still with no sign of the Hero they needed. Despite her impressive efforts, the sands of time had worn down her body; she had lost that impeccable coordination that Sheikah warriors of old had built up extensively, and the slight shake of her hands even from holding a measly teapot left her little hope for clean blows with a dagger or kunai.

All she had left was the stubborn determination to at least guide Link in his journey when he did awake…even if the hopes of his awakening were beginning to thin.

Then, earlier this morning, the sky churned with blood red clouds before a golden light exploded from behind the hills and cliffs - coming from the direction of Hyrule Castle.

Many possibilities had come to mind as she sent out a few seasoned Sheikah warriors to investigate, though only one of those felt to be true: had Zelda truly returned…?

If so, then how? She was caught in an eternal struggle with the embodiment of Evil Incarnate, a fight that even prophesy determined she could not win alone. Someone had to have saved her then. But who? Did Link awaken finally and finish the job? Or did he somehow die during his recovery, allowing the Hero’s Soul to reincarnate once more?

She shook her head. This roundabout thinking would do her no good. If the princess really was freed, then she had faith she would make her way to Kakariko eventually, so for now she would do as she had done for most of her life.

She would wait.

Hours later, just as the sun would begin to dip behind the forested ledges surrounding their village, the front door to her home slowly swung open to reveal Zelda just as she remembered her back then. She would swear she was going senile with how little she had truly changed, still wearing the prayer robes that she honestly felt a little glad were in tatters. Yet she could tell how real this was. They had finally done it.

“Hello there, Zelda,” she greeted with a warm smile, “Welcome home.”

Impa’s heart ached as tears began to prick her eyes, the most grateful smile she’d ever seen gracing her lips. Zelda took a tentative step forward, opening her mouth to-

“Yo!” A different familiar voice piped up as Link, looking as healthy as could be, walked out from behind Zelda holding what looked to be a few roasted Hylian Bass on sticks. “Glad to see you, Kakari- er, um, Impa? Ma'am?” He gave the princess a very obvious questioning look.

Zelda only gave a deep, tired sigh in return before meeting her gaze again, “I apologize, Impa. I’m…not entirely sure how to begin explaining this.”

Glancing to the newly resurrected Hero as he slowly bit the head off of one of his skewered fishes, Impa wasn’t sure if Zelda even had an explanation for this.