Chapter Text
Time passed…
Once again I found myself adrift in dreams, traveling alongside first Lady Hylia, then Master Sky, then Master Link and Navi.
In one such dream Master Sky traveled alongside Master Link and Navi, his gentle laugh a welcome addition to their childish excitement, his own springing forth as Her Grace and Princess Zelda joined in our party as well.
And I? I was no longer trapped within my blade, thus I was able to answer any questions that were asked without difficulty, dancing along as Master Sky played the Goddess Harp and Master Link the Ocarina, the voices of Their Graces melding perfectly with the tune.
There were many other dreams, though they all persisted in the same manner, the children safe from harm amidst the company of their predecessors and I free to leave my blade and speak as I wished.
But then… a new scenario appeared… one of Master Link and Princess Zelda, older than they have ever been and their expressions troubled.
They murmur of dark dreams, prophetic dreams, fears and doubts concerning Ganondorf and a possible return as they gaze upon lights of gold that shine from the backs of their hands.
The curse of Demise rings in my ears and, though I do not know the exact nature of how they had prevented Ganondorf’s rise to power in this timeline… I do know that their fears of his return… have a 95% probability of becoming reality.
As to when such an event may occur I cannot say… nor am I asked, the auras of my master and Her Grace fading as they walk away, the door to my chambers sliding closed behind them.
That would be the last I would hear of either of them… for many years to come.
It is only when her time on the earthly plane comes to an end that the aura of Princess Zelda returns to my sword.
Much like her ancestors before her, she murmurs her worries for the future to me… and begs that I look after the kingdom, her children… and my master, Link, who she laments leaving behind… even as the light and the calls of loved ones past draw her away, into that warm light.
The ache from that first farewell returns… and is worsened by the fact that, this time… there is not much I can do to ease the worries that had plagued Her Grace before her departure.
And that ache only grows… when, as time passes… long past the recorded average of a Hylian’s lifespan… there is still no trace of Master Link’s soul following Her Grace to the ‘afterlife’, as the humans named it.
Now, perhaps… perhaps he had simply passed on without my knowledge.
After all… technically, our bond had not been forged in this timeline… nor had we truly developed a bond of friendship, such as that forged with Master Sky… and thus, there would be no need to extend farewells before he departed for the world beyond.
…that conclusion… causes an… ‘ache’... to form in my chest… though I do my best to push it aside… as it is irrational and uncalled for… as this Master Link had only needed my aid as his weapon, not his companion.
But then… then, I find myself… confused… as the laugh of an unknown child and a familiar, yet unfamiliar, aura brushes against the hilt of my blade.
“I ask this of you, old friend… look after this place… this forest and this sword… protect them from those who would do them harm… do not let anyone in unless they bear this mark….”
There is the soft thrum of the energy unique to the Triforce of Courage, the voice of the child calling out in amazement seconds later.
“You’ll make sure to remember this mark, right old friend?”
“We will!” the child responds promptly, “we promise! We promise we will protect this place… and never let anyone in!”
There is the sound of a soft chuckle, followed by the higher-pitched laughter of the child.
And then… then a gnarled hand comes to rest on the pommel of my sword… that familiar aura flickering oddly, yet unmistakably belonging to Master Link.
I do my best to reach out and establish contact… but the pull of sleep, that which aids in the continued breakdown of the remains of Demise, proves stronger.
Before its hold grows too strong, I am able to register an unfamiliar twisting of a mix of Master Link’s aura and a magic bearing many similarities to the Ocarina of Time.
Through it, there is a rending of time and space… and a brief opening between this world and another… one whose magic has that of the Lost Woods stirring and murmuring with curiosity.
And then… just as quickly as it had appeared, the strange magic… disappeared… and Master Link’s aura along with it.
And… even though I am on the very cusp of consciousness and unconsciousness… I find myself completely and utterly ‘confused’... and more than a little… ‘concerned’ and ‘worried’... yes, I believe those are the emotions I am experiencing.
Because… I do not understand.
Why… why was that not the ‘passing’ I had been expecting… one similar to that of Master Sky, Lady Hylia and Princess Zelda?
If Master Link had not passed on to that warm place that the others had departed to… then where had he gone? What is it he is trying to accomplish?
Time moved on… a sensation I only became aware of… when two certain days arrived.
I experience quite a bit of ‘surprise’ when the cries of a baby awaken me from my slumber anew… not centuries later, as had happened after the passing of Master Sky and Lady Hylia… instead, my sensors indicate it has been nearly a hundred years since I’d last awakened.
And yet… the aura I sense is unmistakably that of the blood of the Goddess… and with it… the Triforce of Wisdom.
Does this mean the Triforce can be passed down through generations? I wondered as I tugged lightly against the lingering drowsiness, determined to at least try to find even a sliver of an answer to this new phenomenon, or has the blood of the Goddess somehow acquired the mark anew? No, that would be impossible for a newborn, unless the family instigated some form of ritual—?
“Oh? The sword’s all shiny and chime-y,” the voice of the child from my last awakening exclaims suddenly, bringing my attention back to my immediate surroundings.
There I find a child with baggy clothing and a large hat, with equally large yellow/orange eyes and a mouth bearing razor sharp teeth, curved upward into a smile as he examines my blade with blatant curiosity.
“What is it, what is it? What’s going on?” the child hums, head tilting to the left, then the right, his body bouncing in a circle around where I rest.
Which, I am surprised to find… is no longer the inside of the Temple of Time, as I recalled it… but a forest clearing, my pedestal surrounded by greenery, which is well on the way to reclaiming the old brick walls on the edges of the clearing, as evidenced by vibrant moss and vines… and the trees growing alongside them….
“Helllooooo?” the child calls, drawing my attention back to him, his face mere inches from my blade now, “sword? Why are you glowing like this? Has something happened? I don’t sense anything in the forest….”
The child’s gaze swings from my sword outwards, tilting to the right, an instrument appearing in his matching hand while the other swings a lantern bearing a ghostly white flame.
The child then gasps, bouncing in excitement as he flings himself back towards my blade, as he exclaims, “is it him?! Is he coming back to the forest?!”
What an intriguing question, I muse silently, running a quick diagnostics check upon myself before finally attempting to leave my blade.
The child gasps as I emerge, then stares in wonder as I hover over my blade, giggling slightly when I bend down so that we are now face to face.
“Whoa! He never said a lady would appear from the sword!”
“If the ‘he’ you are speaking of is Master Link, then that is not a surprise,” I reply, “as the probability of his being aware of my presence is less than 5%.”
“Prob-a-what?”
“A probability is the extent to which something is probable; the likelihood of something happening or being the case.”
“Oooohhhh,” the child breathes, the white gear around his left eye brightening as a ray of sunlight shines upon it, his fangs flashing as he laughs, “you’re really smart! Do you know everything? Do you know when he will come back?”
“I was gifted with vast amounts of knowledge and the ability to gather more via the magic of the land around me by use of my dowsing capabilities,” I reply, endeavoring to employ said capabilities as I did.
However, the pull of the enchanted slumber quickly made its appearance once again, my power outlet fluctuating as a result and thus, disrupting my dowsing efforts.
“Uh, Miss Sword Fairy? How come you’re going all wavy?” the child asks with a touch of what I believe to be concern as his hand slowly extends in my direction, hovering just above my right wing.
“Unfortunately, it appears I must return to my slumber,” I answer, ‘regret’ and ‘frustration’ weighing heavily on my chest as a result.
“Oh, you’re tired?” is how the child apparently interprets my words, fangs glinting anew in a large smile as he lifts the instrument in his hands, “would you like for me to play a song for you? He taught me his friend’s lullaby!”
“Do as you wish,” is the only thing I can say before I am pulled back into the sword.
The last thing I hear before sleep takes me fully is the sound of a familiar tune, one I was used to hearing played on an ocarina… though it is just as lovely on the unknown instrument the child bears… albeit far louder than I have ever heard it.
I believe at least three years pass before the cry of a newborn babe awakens me once again.
There is no mistaking the Hero’s Spirit, as I can feel the same pull that was present at the births of Masters Sky and Link.
There is also no mistaking the power of the Triforce of Courage, though it seems to bear a lesser amount of power than the Triforce of Wisdom had possessed at the time of the birth of the newest bearer of the blood of the Goddess Hylia.
This proves very… ‘intriguing’, on my part, as it does seem to prove, partially, that the pieces of the Triforce have indeed been passed from one incarnation of the Hero’s Spirit and the blood of the Goddess to the next.
…and yet… there is still the lingering question… of Master Link.
Does the appearance of this new master… signal that Master Link has finally found his ‘eternal rest’ as the humans have called it?
Or… does this mean that both the Spirit of the Hero and the Triforce of Courage… can be split and/or have a separate ‘copy’ existing at the same time?
A sudden influx of darkness over ten years later lends far more credence to the latter hypothesis… as a large scale phenomenon of reversal occurred in the direction within which the newest incarnation of my master dwelled.
Fears of losing my new master to the unexpected phenomenon are quelled as the distant, yet distinct, aura of Master Link leads his successor back into this realm, before disappearing anew.
And with his disappearance returns my ‘confusion’, surprising ‘irritation’ and, the strongest of emotions… ‘concern’.
Master Link… what has happened to you? And… where have you gone?