Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"This is the final Light of Blessing.  Make your way to the Temple of Time.  There, you shall find a suitable reward for your efforts."

I see.  That’s the last message left for me by Rauru – or whoever did design these shrines.  It makes me miss the Sheikah style of shrine, where an actual monk is there at the end.  It feels cathartic to let the soul bound by duty rest after so long.  Well, except Maz Koshia of course – he really stuck around to make sure that I was more than capable of ending Calamity Ganon.  If that’s how strong the Sheikah of old were, emaciated as he may have been from ten thousand years of fasting, I wouldn’t want to fight another one in their prime!  Honestly, if the Sheikah were able to hold the Master Sword I think Calamity Ganon would have had no chance in the first place.

Suppose I should head to the Temple of Time, I guess.  Lemme just pull out the Purah Pad and warp to Ukouh Shrine.  I’ve prepared as much as I could to face off against Ganondorf, and I do want to find out what this reward will be like.  The only other thing I really need to do is find a way to turn the Light Dragon back into Zelda.

Walking up the stairs to the Temple of Time.  Mineru might have said that Draconification is irreversible, but I want to believe otherwise.  Legends speak of the Triforce, an omnipotent wish-granting object.  If I must scour every last bit of the sky, the land, and the depths to find a way to bring Zelda back, I will – but if it comes to it, I will have to kill Ganondorf first.  I must make sure that facing off against him will be like a sky ruin falling on a cucco’s egg.  Battles are won with preparation, and there must be no possibility of defeat.  The Demon King won’t know what hit him.  If I can’t bring Zelda back, I will at the very least avenge her with the sword she gave her life up for.

Found the treasure chest behind the Goddess Statue in the Temple of Time.  Huh.  When I finished all the Sheikah shrines back then the chests were in front of the Goddess Statue in the Forgotten Temple.  Is there some sort of symbolism to this I wonder?  Even then I had to sell off those clothes to help Zelda pay for the reconstruction of Hyrule, and I would gladly do it all over again if she asked me to (and we earned quite a lot of money for that – there are some collectors out there with very deep pockets, like Cece, to whom most of my clothes went to).  However, I liked the fit of the Champion’s Tunic more, honestly.  Alright, let’s see what’s in this chest.

Ancient Hero’s Aspect, huh.  Three masks in the shape of – let’s see, an owl, a dragon, and a boar, it looks like.  How do you put this on – GAH.

Well, this is interesting. Let me take it off again – okay, I’m naked and back to my regular Hylian self with a Zonai arm.  It seems that none of my other clothes or armor pieces will fit me while I wear this; my entire form changed.  I have a tail.  Hmm.  And its defense seems to be a little weak – I will upgrade this as soon as I can (I have to talk to the Great Fairies again oh no).  Huh, imagine if Ganondorf actually fought against the Ancient Hero.  Might he be surprised that a ghost from the past showed up in front of him to take him out?

Anyway.  Taking out Purah Pad.  Teleporting to Ekochiu Shrine – time to pay the Great Fairy a visit to upgrade this last bit of armor.

---

This feels much better, I see.  Not only does it feel like I fit into it more, it also feels like I can bring more power out of the Master Sword.  The beams look as though they deal far more damage than they previously did.

Alright, one last thing to do before taking out the Demon King.  I’ll head up to Zelda and tell her about what I’ve done so far.  It just feels right.  Call me a madman but I do like to update her with what I do after every major quest is done.  Maybe she can actually hear me, for one thing, who knows?

---

The Blood Moon approaches its zenith and the red mists start rising from everywhere once more as I knelt on the Light Dragon’s – no, Zelda’s snout.  Hylia, it feels strange to refer to her like this.  I miss you.  Your hair as a dragon reminds me so much of your hair as my princess, and I only wish to be able to stroke it again one more time, spend more time with you through all the good things and the bad.  Zelda, if you can hear me, I swear on everything that we hold dear – I will fulfil your last wish, and I will protect everyone.  And then I swear I will bring you back, I will find a way.

“Hero.”

Was that Zelda’s voice?  It’s in my head again.

“Hero. No, Link! It’s you!”

Zelda? Is that really you?

“Link.  I don’t have much time, you must listen to me carefully.”

Yes.

“Go to Impa.  Tell her that you must go to the time of Prosperity, before the First Calamity of the Divine Beasts.  Tell her to use the Ocarina of Time. Tell her that it is a Stable Time Loop and that the timeline will not fracture as it did once before.”

Understood.

“She will doubt you.  You must tell her to read the diary of Impaz, preserved in the vaults of the Grand Sheikah from ten thousand years ago.”

Yes.

“Link.  You cannot bring the Master Sword there.  Return it to me for now.”

You mean stab it into your forehead again?

“The Master Sword cannot hurt me, nor the Blood of the Goddess.  Return it to my crown for now.”

I unsheathe the sword from my back and as gently as I could, place it back in her head as she requested.  Tendrils of her hair take hold of the blade again. holding the blade fast and secure against her brow.

“Link.  When you go back to the past, you must not take off the armor that you wear now until the right time.  You will know when that is.

“You will see me again, Link. Now, go.”

The Blood Moon ends, the red mists dissipate, and I hear Zelda’s voice no longer.  Was I merely hallucinating?  I remember the voice pretending to be Zelda from before, talking to me during the Blood Moon.  No, I do not think there is time to doubt this.  I take out the Purah Pad again and travel to Makasura Shrine near Kakariko Village to do as I am told.

---

I go up to the second floor of the Chief’s House and I see Impa sitting down in front of a table with many books stacked in front of her.  Clearly, she is also doing her research to find a way to turn Zelda back.  We haven’t told anyone else about this – this is just between me and Impa, two people who knew Zelda from before the second coming of the Calamity.  Besides, she did tell me not to tell anyone else because it might cause a panic.  Purah knows by now, smart lady that she is, she managed to piece together all the information I had given her, but I haven’t told anyone else.

Impa?

“Yes Link?” she said, turning to face me.  “Ah.  I see that you are wearing the attire of the ancient hero.  How amusing.  You almost look like that figure depicted on the screen…”

Impa, I talked to Princess Zelda.  Or the Light Dragon.  I can’t be absolutely certain, but I heard her voice while I was on the Light Dragon.

“What did Her Highness say?”

She was very specific.  She told me that I must go to the time before the Calamity of the Divine Beasts, and that you are to use the Ocarina of Time.

“What? But that’s not possible, that’s not right,” she replied.  She stood up.  “The Ocarina of Time is forbidden from anyone’s use, not even the Royal Family.  The last time it was used, the timeline fractured into three.”  She walked over to another book on another desk titled “Hyrule Historia” and showed me a diagram.  She pointed out the left-hand side of the timeline, labeled “The Decline of Hyrule and the Last Hero”.  She continued, “If we were to use the Ocarina of Time once more, you run the risk of creating a timeline where the Demon King is victorious.  From there, he may be able to seep into other timelines and attempt to destroy everyone again!  It took literal divine intervention from the Goddess Hylia to weave together the timelines once more and even then, you can see cracks and contradictions that make no sense in our history.”

She also said that it was going to be a Stable Time Loop, whatever that means.

“I would think that it’s still far too much of a risk.  However, the mere fact that you know of the existence of the Ocarina of Time at this point when it is now a closely guarded secret between the Blood of the Goddess and the Chief of the Sheikah means I can’t dismiss your claim outright.”

She also said to read the diary of Impaz, she even told me that I cannot bring the Master Sword there and had me give it back to her temporarily.  Impa, who is Impaz?

Impa’s eyes had widened at the mention of the name “Impaz” before settling into a steely sort of understanding.  “Alright Link, let me just get this diary before I do anything that I will regret.  Wait here.”

She went out the room and descended the stairs.  I heard sliding things, a quiet rumbling – wait is that a Sheikah elevator down there somehow?  Tempted as I may be to peek Impa did tell me to stay put – and the secrets of the Sheikah should really stay secret, even from me.

After a few more minutes that I spent trying to check for cobwebs on the ceiling (there were none, Sheikah are raised to be very neat and tidy as much as possible), I heard Impa’s footsteps going up to her room once more.

“Link,” she said, and took a deep breath afterwards.  I wonder if your age is catching up to you already?

“I’m old, but I’m not that old.  But yes, you spoke true earlier.”  She showed me the object in her left hand, a bright blue thing with holes, the same bright blue as the hilt of the Master Sword.  “This is the Ocarina of Time.”

Wow, that is pretty.  It’s giving me nostalgia for some reason.

“The Hero of Time once held this in his own hands and used it to save Hyrule from a previous incarnation of the Demon King, Ganondorf.  Unfortunately due to previously unforeseen circumstances the use of this Ocarina then did split the timeline in three, as I’ve mentioned before.  I will only play this once for you, and in the correct spot where Impaz said you would first go; I cannot and will not undo the work of the Goddess.”

It sounds like I should read the diary too, so I have more of an idea what to do.

“As for reading the diary… well, you can try for yourself, Link,” she said in reply, and showed me the book in question.  It was less of a book and more of a collection of thin rectangular slabs.  Wise choice by Impaz if I do say so myself, since from experience we’ve seen that stone holds messages far longer than paper.  It would be more helpful if I could read it though since they were written in Sheikah cypher.

I made a motion to pull out the Purah Pad to take pictures when Impa almost swatted it out of my hands, saying “No, Link – this is entirely classified, need-to-know information.  The Eye of the Sheikah sees history and records it through time, but not everyone will be able to handle the truth.  No records of this outside of the Sheikah archives.”

Hm, I see… question, if the Yiga are offshoots from the Sheikah clan do they not have a copy of this as well?

“Sheikah Impaz also made it clear here too that the Yiga did destroy all of their ties with the Crown and the rest of the Sheikah, which included burning their own books and records.  However it is interesting that they continue to develop the technology available to them – perhaps in their haste to divorce themselves from us they lost their own records of their achievements.”  She sighed.  “At this point there is no hope to reconcile with them, though if there are willing deserters to them we keep a close eye on said individuals.”

Like Dorian?

“Especially Dorian,” Impa grinned.

I know the Sheikah can be very secretive at times, after all, and honestly, after having known Impa and the rest of the Sheikah for more than a hundred years (not counting the fact that I was unconscious for most of that time), sometimes it’s better to not ask.

“We will move to the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau in a few hours, at the crack of dawn,” Impa said. “Er, Link, could you do this old lady a favor?”  You’re only a few years older than I am, but alright.  “My old joints won’t be able to walk as far as I should be able to.  Would you mind helping me make a hot air balloon that will carry us to the Temple of Time?  We should be able to get some of the parts from the Dispenser in town.”

I suppose she wouldn’t be able to ride on anything rocket powered; I wouldn’t want to risk Impa falling off a flying machine to her death.  One dirigible, then, and a fan for steering.  Have I mentioned how much I love Autobuild?

---

In a few hours we had made it to the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau.  The ruin held steady throughout the ages, and I always did like the Goddess statue in there.  Imagine my surprise when I heard a similar, yet different voice, that time when the Bargainer wanted me to get its eyes from the sides of the Great Plateau.  The question now is who was I really talking to all this time?  I always thought that it was the Goddess Hylia Herself communicating to me through the statues, but perhaps they are merely conduits of some other will?  But then again it is very presumptuous of me to say that I can hear the Goddess speak to me through the Statues when Zelda herself couldn’t hear her after hours of supplication and what amounted to self-flagellation to awaken a power that should have been hers from the start.  I can no longer be sure.

That is probably a discussion for another time, I feel, as Impa told me to stand in front of the Goddess Statue.

“Stand up straight, Link,” she said as she sat before me, and I drew on the extra height that the Ancient Hero’s Aspect gave me.  It now just feels more natural for me to walk on the balls of my feet.  Impa took a deep breath and proceeded to give me her last instruction –

“Conduct yourself in a manner that befits the Hero of Hyrule.  Make our Princess Zelda proud. May the Goddess smile upon you.”

Impa, you’re saying that as if you’re passing on like an ancient Sheikah monk.

She grinned in return and brought the Ocarina of Time to her lips.  She played a tune that I was familiar with, I had hummed this to myself while I was cooking before.  Zelda had taught me this song and I would often whistle or hum it to her before we went to sleep – Zelda’s Lullaby.

And then the world faded into white as I felt time move backwards, the ages undoing themselves around me.  The sun set in the East and rose in the West three thousand and a thousand and a thousand times over in the blink of an eye.  Things fell upwards.  The dead came back to life and got younger and were unmade.  It all went too fast for me to see, because the moment I had opened my eyes I was standing in a Temple of Time that was almost new – that reminded me just a little bit of the Temple of Time in the Sky – with the Master Sword in front of me.

---

Addendum

As Impa watched Link travel to the past, she smiled, having fulfilled her duty.  It was a good thing that she had remained seated otherwise she felt like she would have collapsed.  The energy required to channel the Ocarina of Time to such an extent was too much for someone at her age.  Perhaps if she were younger she would have made it without losing consciousness, but at this point she’s going to count herself lucky if she lives through it.

She lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath and restore feeling in her numbing arms.  Her eyes were blurring, slowly fading to darkness, but before she fainted she beheld a blue eye in the sky with a single tear falling from it – falling towards her.

Chapter Text

The moment I had regained my bearings standing in front of the Goddess Statue (no moss, well-maintained, as if it were new) I heard a voice yell “What in the name of Hylia?”

I turned around to face the source of the voice. A man, about twice as tall as I was (not saying much, I’m fine with being on the short side), wearing blue faced me.  His stance was as though he was ready to draw the sword at his left hip – a sword made in the pattern of Royalty, shaped somewhat like the Master Sword.  The blue clothing was embroidered in gold thread; he wore a belt with the symbol of the Triforce on it prominently, almost to his chest really – and maybe I should have noticed the crown with the wings and the red ruby on top first.  Alright, Link, remember what Impa said.  I may have shown some shock on my face, but I did what I could to suppress my facial expressions in a snap.

Your Majesty.  I genuflected before the person who was obviously the current King of Hyrule and maintained my silence.  Rule one of talking to royalty you don’t know – show deference.  Rule two – do not speak unless spoken to.  It wouldn’t be like with Mipha, or with Zelda – I do not know these people, and they do not know me.  Best to stay conservative and listen.

Taking stock of my surroundings some more, and without lifting my head, I saw that there were many knights in cloth armor, some Royal Guards, some Sheikah, some Zora, Gorons, Rito, and even some Gerudo – all of them young, none over the age of majority from what I could tell.  One of the Rito was only as young as Tulin was!  Also, is that this day’s Princess over there, overseeing this?

After a few more seconds of silence, the King spoke again.  “Rise, Sir Knight.  I suppose you have made it just in time for the Drawing of the Sword.”

Oh, so it’s that time of year I see!  I only vaguely remember my own Drawing of the Sword when I was a child.  The memory was never clear to me because Zelda didn’t have her own memory of it either, but I was told that a few squires and I had been sent to the Lost Woods to try our hand at pulling the Master Sword out of the stone, which by that point was just a legend.  The forest had spat out the rest of the squires and they had never even seen the sword.  I was the only one who stepped up to the hilt and pulled it out (effortlessly, at the time; the spirit of the Master Sword probably wanted to ensure that I was fit to draw it again to beat Calamity Ganon before allowing me to pull it for the second time).  I followed the order, stood up and bowed to him once.

“This is certainly unprecedented,” continued the King.  “Who are you, and where are you from?”

I fall back on the rules for addressing royalty, and I keep it simple.  I am Link.  I live near Tarrey Town. 
I don’t like lying and this is technically true, though I guess before the Upheaval I lived near Hateno with Zelda, away enough from prying eyes but close enough to a town in case of any emergencies where we needed to be reached; as well as close to Purah’s Sheikah technology laboratory.

“A man of few words?  Sir, you have my permission to speak freely.  Raise your head when you speak to me.  Where did you come from?”

I was last at Kakariko Village before coming here.  The Sheikah to the right of the King moved his head backwards slightly in surprise, and raised his eyebrow.  If they’re using some sort of truth-detecting device on me, they’re not really going to find anything false with what I say.

“If I may, Your Majesty,” the Sheikah said, additionally confirming my suspicion that this was the King of Hyrule that addressed me.  “Link appears to be a descendant of the Zonai.  He is at least one-fourth Zonai, at least from my knowledge regarding the Zonai.”

The King’s eyes widened ever so slightly.  “Very well then,” the King said again.  “This is certainly ominous, but in the spirit of the Ceremonial Drawing of the Sword, we must give him his chance.”

Should I mention that I’ve already drawn the Master Sword and beaten Calamity Ganon in a time beyond yours already?

“Sir Link.  I can tell from your stature and the way that you hold yourself that you have already gone through much,” said the King (who hasn’t introduced himself yet at this point, he reminds me of King Rhoam, except less likely to sink in sand or snow with every footstep, and I hope his daughter is doing well under him).  “But I would request once more that you take your chance and attempt to pull the Master Sword from the Pedestal.  This is what we do, as custom, to inspect if the Great Evil approaches.  We have done this every year without fail ever since a vision came to the late Queen, saying that the hour of the Master Sword’s shine draws close.”

I take a slightly deeper breath than normal.  Understood.  If that is what you wish.  Time to be a “Harbinger of Calamity” again, Link.  The Early Detector of Great Evil, He Who Shows the Kingdom That It’s Time To Do Or Die.  Just like last time.  No pressure, right, you’ve done it before?  I turn around once more to face the Master Sword, place my hand on its hilt, and pull the sword out like a plume from an inkwell.

Authenticating, authenticating, said the familiar voice of the sword in my head.  I can’t really call it a voice, honestly, but it sounds female and it more or less communicates intent, without words.  That’s the best way I can describe it.

Master Link, it called to me once more.  Spirit-of-the-Hero verified.  Matching… Previous registration to Master Sword identified.  However, no record of registration found within database.

Further authentication needed.  Potential for time paradox.  Please drop the sword immediately.  Only recognized Blood-of-the-Goddess allowed to touch sword and return to pedestal.

Wait what? No, it’s me!  I swear we worked together before and we even defeated Calamity Ganon.  I’m sorry if I shattered you before against another great evil!  Or is it will shatter from your perspective?  You must believe me!

Verifying memories… verified.  Communicating with parallel… verified.  Apologies, Master Link, but you must still put down the Master Sword.  There is a different Spirit-of-the-Hero in this time.  I must go to my proper wielder of today.

Can you at least give me a hint who it is, great Spirit of the Master Sword?  It almost felt like I got a slight laugh, genuine and mischievous at the same time, in reply.  Your Fi told me that you would be greatly surprised by this when you find out, and I was told not to spoil it.  Now please let go.

My body got heavy, and my spirit got light at the same time, making me drop the Master Sword on the ground with a loud clang.  I lost my vision as well.  It’s been a while since I last passed out.  Wasn’t the last time when I first got a direct hit from the source of Gloom?

Wait, no, I’m not passed out, I can hear what’s going on around me.

“What was that?”

“Nobody touch him!  He might be cursed!”

“That’s never happened before.”

“Princess!”

“I’m here!” said the only female voice I heard in the room so far.  There were too many voices for me to break apart and identify; murmurs, too faint for me to make out.  “I’m returning the sword to the pedestal.”  Did I hear a tinge of resentment there?

“Someone carry him out of here and to the Healing Shrine,” said the King.  I wonder if he means the Shrine of Resurrection, it’s walking distance from here after all.  I’m getting hit bad with a sense of déjà vu.

---

Ah, so I did pass out.  It’s been years since I saw the top of this bed, this coffin.  This strange arrangement of lights above me again, I’m not even sure I’m in the correct time anymore.  I sure hope I wasn’t asleep for a hundred years this time.  How long was I out, anyway?

“You’re awake,” said the same female voice from earlier.  “Impaz! He’s awake!”

Come to think of it, she sounds so much like Zelda, and at the same time, speaks almost nothing like her.  It’s not just as if Zelda suddenly gained a mixed provincial accent, it’s as if the personality is entirely different.  My Zelda was reserved and shy and liked to talk about flowers, medicine, technology, archaeology, and I miss her so much already.  This voice wasn’t that.

I don’t feel wet, at least, which means that they didn’t immerse me in the healing spring waters for that long?  I opened my eyes.  To me left stood the voice called Princess earlier.  I am not going to wind up calling you Zelda, I’m sure of that, no matter how much you two look alike (Hylia descend upon me right now, she is the spitting image of Zelda!).

“Hero of Hyrule,” she said.  “Link.  It is good to see you,” and I masked my face as I felt a cringe creeping up my gut.  It really feels strange to hear Zelda’s voice coming from not Zelda.  “My name is Zelda Gunhilde Hyrule,” and right then and there I’ve decided I’m going to refer to her as Gunhilde, or Princess – at least while my princess isn’t around.  Somehow part of me wants to refer to her as Hilda, but it feels like there’s someone else important named Hilda?  Eh, whatever, Gunhilde feels more natural.

Right, remembering the rules.  I get up out of the bed, stand at attention, and genuflect in front of the Princess.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Princess Zelda,” another voice came from outside the Shrine of Resurrection.  “Your father gave me some instructions before he headed back to the castle, so he could do the necessary PR and reassure the people after what happened earlier.”  His footsteps approached and he stepped into the room.

Far be it from me to curse out the Goddess Hylia, but there must be some deity out there that’s lazy – is it Din, Nayru, Farore? Or some other?  I humbly ask, Oh Goddess, because copying my face, and then turning the hair white and the eyes red just so it looks Sheikah just means that someone is running out of ideas for faces.  Or maybe it’s the other way around because I do come millennia after these people?  Well at least Zelda has an excuse, she’s definitely related, and the Blood of the Goddess does not run thin (anyone who said otherwise to Zelda be damned, I didn’t see them at the battle where we defeated Ganon).  If anything, I have the Ancient Hero’s Aspect to thank, because it seems that I either control my facial expressions far more with this face, or my face isn’t as readable.  My jaw might have dropped, and my brows might have scrunched together otherwise.

“My name is Impaz, Sir Link, and the Royal Family has some questions for you.”

I want to answer them, but before I do, I need to know – do your loyalties lie with the Crown, or with the Blood of Hylia?  As far as I know it’s almost as if the family is a freak offshoot from the Gerudo, never bearing men into the family at all (may Hylia spare me from the retribution towards my blasphemy).

“Don’t worry, Sir Link, you will be safe with us,” said Gunhilde.  “Impaz is my personal shadow assigned to me by the Sheikah.”

I bet Impaz is the Sword’s Chosen of this time.

“Well, I was going to be her bodyguard until the Master Sword had chosen a wielder, however, Sir Link, your arrival has greatly complicated things.”  I looked at him a bit longer, and he looked at me a little more intensely.  “What happened there?”

“You should know that there’s no lying to the Sheikah,” the Princess added.  “They can sense falsehoods and see the truth easily.”

Well that would explain why Impa was able to see that it was just me wearing the Ancient Hero’s Aspect easily.  It’s even more realistic than Kilton and Koltin’s monster masks, but then again monsters tended to be more stupid, though Lynels are smart beasts that I will one day ride like a horse around Hyrule, mark my words.  I even passed by Tauro in Kakariko before going to Impa’s and he mistook me for the Ancient Hero until he got a closer look.  What more someone who didn’t know who I was at all?

“Princess, I didn’t lie earlier to your father when I said that he appears to be Zonai, and is at least one-fourth Zonai,” Impaz said.  “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?  I don’t know what happened to you, Sir Link, but having your arm replaced with a Zonai’s like that?  And the scars all over your body?  Not reassuring.  You’re also wearing something that changes your form, I can only assume to be a disguise for now.”

Very perceptive, Sir Impaz, well met.

“I’m not a knight, Sir Link – we Sheikah can’t be knights.  Our oaths to the Goddess hold us to a different standard.”

No less valid nor stringent than the oaths a Knight of Hyrule maintains.  I have a high degree of respect for the Sheikah.  There are just some things a Sheikah can do that a knight cannot, and the reverse is also true.  The code of honor is entirely different.

Impaz nodded and took out a stylus and a hard pad that resembled one of the slabs that Impa had shown me.  Hold on.  Those might be the very same pads in the first place.  I would like to see at least one of them.

Impaz flipped it over and showed it to me.  “In addition to serving as the Princess’s shadow, she has also instructed me to take a meticulous record of the current events, ever since a vision came to her about a week ago.”  I may not have been familiar with the Sheikah cypher but it does resemble what I saw in Impa’s slab collection.  “Additionally, we did say that we have questions.”

“Impaz!  It’s not the Royal Family, it’s just me,” the Princess said as she playfully smacked his upper arm.

Impaz turned his head to the princess and covered his face.  He spoke in a whisper, but I was able to hear what he said, “Princess, you know what we the Sheikah mean when we say ‘Royal Family’.”  That answers my unspoken question from earlier, I suppose.  The Sheikah are indeed loyal only to Hylia’s descendants, I’m glad that hasn’t changed.  If I didn’t know any better… well, I hope that this Princess isn’t running Impaz ragged.

“I know, I know,” the Princess replied with a hint of sing-song in her voice.  I hope you’re aware I’m sitting right here, Your Highness.  I fully support the Princess of Hyrule being able to court whoever she pleases, but this is making me just a teensy bit uncomfortable.  It might be my memory loss from before my sleep at the Shrine of Resurrection, but I don’t ever recall Zelda and I being like this so openly.  Or perhaps are they comfortable with my presence somehow already?  I doubt it.  I can sense Impaz being wary of me already.

“I think we shouldn’t keep our honored guest waiting,” the Princess said.  I nod.  Alright, but first – Impaz, please write this down word for word.

Impaz nodded and waited for me to dictate, stylus poised and ready.  It reminds me of how Zelda would write, oh Goddess why must everything remind me of her right now?  Focus, Link.  I think I’ll at least leave a trace that I was here, so –

My name is Link.  Impa, I’m here, I got where you sent me.

“My name is Impaz, Sir Link,” he said curtly, after writing it down and raising his stylus again.  I know, but that message isn’t really for you, is it?

Impaz narrowed his eyes a little more at me.  “Hmmm.”  I could almost hear the little Sheikah gears turning in his head.  It almost feels like I’m being targeted by a Guardian again, about to be blasted in the face point-blank with their beams of light, but then a little smile turns up on his face, as if he’s caught a joke I haven’t.

“Sir Link,” he says.  “The King asked you where you come from earlier, and I could tell you were not lying.”

I don’t like lying.

“Yes, and I can see that too.  You haven’t uttered a single untruth in front of me.  However, Sir Link, there is no such place as Tarrey Town in Hyrule, and has never been one as far as we can recall.  What is stranger still is that you weren’t lying when you said you lived near it.”

I slipped already!  Oh no.  I do my best to keep a poker face.

“The name Impa is very Sheikah, with a long history behind it.  There are some secrets of the Sheikah you are not aware of,” and at this point I want to curse Impa for not giving me enough information.  “Suffice to say that I am the only one with a name even remotely close to ‘Impa’ right now,” he said, emphasizing the now.  Their symbol is really an eye for a reason, they’re very perceptive.  I will my whole body into not giving anything away.  “You even specified that it wasn’t meant for me, which means that you are using me to pass on a message to an Impa that does not exist yet.  So, tell me now – when did you come from?”

Chapter Text

Alright, well, he got me there.  If nothing else, I think that I am safe with the Sheikah, especially Impaz, given that his diary entries that Impa read that convinced her to send me back in time.  I really do need to be able to think faster on my feet, though.  I also shouldn’t overshare.  I don’t want to cause any time paradoxes or anything of the sort that Impa was dreading.

She had given me some other instructions while we were riding on the balloon going to the Temple of Time, after all.  “Be honest with Impaz when he asks you questions, but know how to keep secrets, prevent mass panic from spreading,” she said.  Yeah, can you imagine how the people of Hyrule would panic and despair if they found out that their Princess Zelda wouldn’t be coming back to them?  “It will be unlikely that your presence there will cause harm to the timeline, but take caution not to cause a time paradox.”

What do you mean?

“I mean, for example, don’t do something rash that would change events from happening.  For example, tempted as you may be, it would be foolish to go to the root of the Calamity and attempt to kill him while he is sealed.”

I was genuinely not thinking that, but now that you mention it –

“No, Link.  For one thing, the diary of Impaz does not state that you attempted, nor did you attempt such a thing.”  She gave a small chuckle despite holding a grim face.  “For another thing, imagine that you did that.  Could you be prepared for the possible outcomes of attempting to interfere with the timeline actively?  What if, in doing so, it turns out that you are the catalyst that unleashes Calamity Ganon in the first place?  Would your conscience be able to handle it?”

I contemplated on what she said as I breathed in and out.

“Exactly, Link.”  Impa gave a warm, reassuring smile.  “The general rule, and this holds true with time travel, is to first do no harm, before trying to do good.”  She patted my shoulder and I turned my head down.  “In a way, Link, there is little pressure here.  Everything that you will do, you have already done.  You just need to do it.”

---

“Ten thousand years into the future, huh,” Princess Gunhilde said.

“And there will be a calamity coming, just as you said,” Impaz said.

“This would explain the dreams I’ve been having,” she said.

“I leave it to your discretion if we should inform your father of this, Zelda,” Impaz said.  “Though the King will have his own questions for you, Sir Link, and he expects us to bring you to him once you are feeling well.”

I feel well enough, I can talk to him.  I find that it’s better to be honest, so if he asks me the same things that you have, I will answer, but I may not be as forthcoming as I was with you.  Something tells me to trust you and the Princess.  It’s probably not just because you two somewhat remind me of ourselves.  Probably not.

Gunhilde nodded.  “Then we will escort you to the castle at once,” she said.  “Sir Link, do you have any weapons you can use to defend yourself with?”

Hold on, let me get the Purah Pad.  I browse through my selection of weapons and make my choice on a Mighty Zonai Spear-Sword.  I bring it out and Impaz makes a choking sound, and coughs suddenly.

“*cough* I’m sorry, I choked on my own spit there.  That is a wonderful Zonai invention!”

The sword?  Yeah I think it’s pretty cool.  I prefer being able to use it with other Zonai parts to bring out its full potential though.  Fusing it with Captain Construct Horns or other Zonai devices just feels right.

“Well yes, that’s true, the Grand Sheikah have some weapon prototypes going on, but I meant the tablet that you’re holding.  What is it?”

I think you would be surprised to learn that in my day, we thought the Sheikah made this.  This is an weapons-free version of what we call the Sheikah Slate.  We call it the Purah Pad now.  See the Sheikah eye on the design?

“Actually, we would have thought that you in your time would have made more advances to the technology we have now,” Impaz said.

Well, it’s not all bad.  We managed to develop our own versions of the Sheikah Towers, the Skyview towers.  I don’t think I’m going to tell you about the fact that after you use the Ancient Sheikah Technology to seal away the Calamity, you’re going to have to seal it all away on the King’s Orders.

“With your permission, Sir Link, we will have to show both Sheikah lines this Purah Pad of yours.  It would solve so many logistics problems.  Imagine being able to carry around equipment and spares without taking up too much space!”

Hold on, what do you mean by both Sheikah lines?

“Oh, they didn’t tell you this?” Gunhilde said.  “Then again, you did say you come far, far into the future.  We can tell you about this and answer some questions while on the way to the castle.”

 ---

The sun was setting in the west, setting half the sky ablaze in orange hues while the moon looked nice and full, like a silvered orb suspended in the middle of the eastern sky, bringing the night with it.  I sat in the back of a royal carriage looking outside at it through a window alongside the Princess while Impaz drove the horse.  The Princess had wanted to drive the horse herself, but Impaz had insisted that she stay inside with me for security concerns.  “Monsters may have bad aim in general but it only takes one stray arrow to kill you,” he said.

“Alright,” she said.  As we rode on, we shared some stories and she showed me some of her collection.  The princess was certainly a lover of technology, just as mine was:

“Link, do you have one of these in your time?” she said, bringing out a weapon.  It certainly has been a long time since I saw an Ancient Short Sword.

“We call these Timeblades,” she said.  She flicked her wrist and the weapon opened up and a beam of blue light projected from it.  I do miss these.  We had simply run out of parts to continue constructing such weapons and we don’t know how to make more of them.  Most of the parts from salvaging Guardians and other ancient Sheikah technology were used up in prototyping and constructing the Skyview Towers.  Robbie, Purah, and Zelda would be beyond happy if I told them how these were made.

“We call them Timeblades because the Sheikah say that the energy used to make these comes from what they call Timestones.  We found large deposits of these near Akkala and Hateno village and my father has had the two different Sheikah factories at work separately.”

That’s odd.  Why would the King intentionally divide the Sheikah like that?  It’s like he’s asking for the formation of a splinter group like the Yiga Clan.

“He wanted there to be internal competition between the two so that they would come out with better creations, each of them,” she continued.  She brought out another Sheikah-made weapon – a Guardian Sword++, if I recall correctly – and ignited it.  “This one, for example, is much easier to manufacture compared to the Timeblade I showed you earlier, but it is somewhat more fragile and harder to use.”

That makes sense.  From my own use, the Ancient Short Sword is equally powerful, but more durable than the Guardian Sword++.  The Ancient Bladesaw offered less power than the Ancient Battle Axe++, but it was more durable.  I preferred using the weapons I got from Guardian Scouts dropping them after I had beaten them because they were also easier to replace, but it was the weapons Robbie’s machine, Cherry, made, that I liked having on display.

As I stared at the weapons in front of me, I took a closer look at what the Princess was wearing.  There really were some differences when you compared her and Zelda.  The gloves she had on bore scuff marks on the palms where a swordsman’s calluses would be.  The Zelda I know had no idea how to hold a sword to defend herself at all, though I know she was a crack shot with a bow (it’s cheating that the Bow of Light fires its arrows in a completely straight line though).  I showed her some of the weapons I had collected, and she gasped when she saw a Lynel’s horn attacked to a Royal Broadsword.

“You can attach monster parts to your weapons to improve them?”

I had to do this out of necessity, Your Highness.  It improves their toughness.

“So you mean to say that your hands wear and tear the weapons they hold much harder.”

I mean, yes?  I had noticed that weapons break in my hands much faster than they do when others hold them.  I also showed her a closer look at the Mighty Zonaite Spear-Sword I brought out earlier, which made her laugh like I had told her the dirtiest joke in the world.

“This weapon is long to the point of ridicule, Sir Link!” she said, almost holding back her tears from laughing too hard.  “The center of balance is all wrong!  And you claim you can use this in a single hand?”

I couldn’t help but share in her laughter.  I, too, find it funny when a bokoblin can’t even get close enough to hit you but you can hit them; the range advantage is not to be underestimated.

“Perhaps it is because of that Zonai arm of yours,” she says.  “Certainly there will be differences compared to a normal Hylian’s arm.”  She stared at it more intently, trying to puzzle it out.  Ah, Princess, you’re not the only one who’s stared at this arm for long enough.  I should be glad I’m ambidextrous and that I write with my left hand.  Sometimes I put too much force into things with Rauru’s arm.

We passed a little more time like this in the carriage, comparing our experiences to each other.  I told her about how I explored Hyrule and she told me that she as a child enjoyed exploring; the gentle breeze of the air, the feel of bark on her hands as she climbed up trees and picked apples, the exhilaration she would get after running in the fields and around the castle.  It all changed for her the day her mother died when she was eleven, though she did not tell me why, and I did not pry.

“It wasn’t all bad though,” she said, as a way of changing the subject.  “Look!”  She held her hand out in front of her and in it danced three lights, almost like fairies: one red, one blue, and one green.  I could see she was trying to put on a smile, so I let the previous topic drop.  This must be the power of the Blood of the Goddess, manifesting itself in the Princess.

“In your time, how did the Goddess manifest itself in your Princess?”  Oh Zelda, how do I answer this for you?  “My mother, before she passed, showed that she could seal darkness and she had visions of the future.  My grandmother said that she had visions of the past; heard voices from the Spirit Realm, that guided her reign.  I was wondering how the manifestations of the Goddess differ from generation to generation.”

Princess Zelda Gunhilde Hyrule, I don’t think I am the best person to say how my own Princess Zelda came into her powers.  She toiled for hers to come for ages, praying in front of the Goddess Statues for hours on end.  I will say though, that I really liked the Bow of Light that she gave me.  Talk about a manifestation of the Goddess’ Light.

“A bow that shoots light, and destroys evil?” she said.  “I suppose archery truly runs in the blood, Sir Link.”

Zelda may or may not have mentioned that at least once, but then it’s strange that the King never let her participate in it.  Though she was naturally gifted at it.

“She had difficulty unlocking her birthright, didn’t she.”  It was not a question.

How did you know that?

“Do you not yourself use a bow, Sir Link?” she asked.  “Actually, I’d like to see what bows you do have there, anyway.  Don’t tell me you somehow managed to fuse a bow with Chuchu Jelly or something!”  She chuckled, and I drew out a Zonaite Bow.

“This looks good!  Is there a gimmick to this, some strange contraption I should know about?”  You can use it like a regular bow but it’s best used with a power source, yes.  She examined the make of the bow more closely, nodded, and gave it back.  “Well, what I mean is – how do you shoot?  How do you aim?  How do you hit your enemies precisely?”

Draw the bow and point the arrow at their heads?  I don’t get what you mean, is there a formal way to shoot?

“Exactly what I mean, Sir Link.”  She closed her eyes, nodded, and crackling arcs of small lightning bolts appeared between her fingers.  “You can teach someone the forms of shooting arrows all day long but at the end of the day, when it matters the most, it will all come down to instinct.  You can have better aim than someone but still be a worse archer overall.  My mother taught me never to aim; just align myself and let the arrow hit the target.”

That’s nice.  Zelda could only wish that someone was there to teach her.

“Did her mother not –”

She lost her mother at a younger age than you lost yours, Princess.

“Oh.  I’m sorry.” 

It’s okay, Princess.  You know you overstepped, but it’s okay, Princess, what’s done is done.  It was just one of her regrets, that she wasn’t able to get the key to her powers until it was too late.  Even years after we had destroyed the Calamity, she had not quite forgiven herself – I think she was just not thinking about it.

We passed fifteen more minutes by in slightly awkward silence until we reached Hyrule Castle.

---

It was close to midnight once we had made it to the Castle.  The cool breeze feels nice on the skin, and the scent of Hyrule fills my nostrils.  It smelled like Hyrule Castle used to smell – none of that Malice that used to permeate it; and afterward none of the musty air that had stagnated in it from a hundred years without people in it.  It smelled clean and monster-free, just as it was when I was a child.  Faint memories tried to escape the fog of ages in my head, but I let it be.  Purah had told me that trying to recall a memory you don’t recall clearly will only make your future recall worse.  Besides, she had said, you don’t force memories to come out – they will be remembered as you need them to be.

The Princess said her good-nights to me and Impaz as we escorted her to her room.  It turns out that her room is what would become Zelda’s study in the future, again something that might have been passed through the generations?

“The King has requested to meet you in the library once we get here.  Do you know where the library is, Sir Link?”

Yes.  I remember where it is.

“Would you like it if I came along?”

I would appreciate that, yes.  I need a buffer between myself and the King in case I commit some sort of faux pas; you can probably explain that to him.  We started walking the halls quietly, so as not to disturb anyone that might be sleeping.  Really convenient that this form of the Ancient Hero is more comfortable with standing on tiptoe all the time.

We made it to the library where the King was enjoying a steaming cup of a dark-colored drink.  I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like it, but it did contain hints of thick cream.

“Presenting Sir Link to His Royal Majesty, King Ganeva Vethelius Hyrule, Protector of the Realm,” Impaz said, and gave a deep bow to the King.

“Ah, Sir Link, thank you for joining me.  Impaz, do you have further business here?” he said after he lowered his cup to the table.  On the table were scrolls written in older Hyrulean; their style of handwriting is not something I’m familiar with and it’s almost illegible to me – or maybe it’s written in shorthand?  I wish I learned shorthand.

I’d prefer it if Impaz were here to prevent any miscommunication between us, Your Majesty.

“Hmm, yes, quite,” he said in reply.  He set aside the scrolls on his desk and laid out a blank piece of parchment on it.  From his robes he took out a quill and a bottle of ink, which he unscrewed and dipped the quill into.

“Writing helps me keep my attention especially late at night,” he said.  “When my late Queen and I used to have meetings with foreign ambassadors, she would do the talking and I would do the writing.”

You must have had a good relationship with the Queen, then.

“Anyway, on to business.  The reason I had called you here is that I need you to tell me what happened with the sword like that.”

I will be honest, but I will not over-share.  The sword said that it is not my time to wield it.

“So… akin to the legend of the Hero of Time?  I presume you have heard of that legend?”

The one where the sword puts the Hero into a slumber because he was not fit to wield it yet?

“Yes, that one.  Though I suppose I should be glad that it didn’t take you seven years to wake up.”  Or a hundred, but who’s counting?

They say that the sword has a voice within it, the spirit of the Master Sword.

“Yes, that’s right.  Did you hear it?”

Hearing isn’t the term I would use – it is more felt, so to speak.  But what I understood is that there is a Hero in this time, and it is not in their hand yet for some reason.  Have you tried taking it for yourself, Impaz?

“Sir Link – yes I have, and the sword rejected me as well, three years ago to this day.”

“Even I attempted to draw the sword, Sir Link.  The Drawing of the Sword calls upon all warriors of Hyrule to at least try.”  He took another sip of his hot drink, and I find myself getting more and more curious as to what it may be.

What if the Hero of today doesn’t want to be found, though?  What if the Hero of today is a Gerudo male, or some other outlier like that?

“To answer your second question first, there haven’t been any reports of male Gerudo in generations.  The Throne also enjoys a close alliance with the current chief of the Gerudo in the desert and we trade them resources in exchange for their invaluable craft and skills.  As for your first question, I have promised anything that is in my power to give to the man who can draw the sword.  You, Sir Link, technically have fulfilled the condition set, so I called you here to ask of you what you desire that I may give it to you.”

No, no, your Majesty, I must refuse on principle.  I am not the Hero you seek.

“But you are the Hero who is here.  I must give hope to my people, the people of Hyrule.”  He inhaled the steam coming off of his cup – seriously what is in that thing?

“Oh, this?  It’s chocolate.  I would have thought you knew what this is, given that you’re of Zonai descent, and what we know of the Zonai is that they loved drinking this.”

I am not familiar with it.

“The recipe we have made for this is simple and I will have the kitchen make you some for tomorrow, Sir Link,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.  “Moving on.  Is there really nothing I can do for you that will have you help us?”

No that’s not it, Your Majesty.  I will help you even if I am not your Hero, not your Chosen of Hylia.  Speaking strictly for myself, I will always take any opportunity I can to help others when I am called to serve.  But I do have some requests, though they are not for myself.

“Speak your terms, Sir Knight.”

Firstly, I would like to help find your Hero.

“You are most welcome to do so!” the King said with genuine sincerity.  He might have been expecting me to ask for something for myself.  “Tell me if there is anything you need that might help you on this quest.”  That will come with time when I see that I need it.

Secondly, especially because we do not have someone who can wield the Sword that Seals the Darkness yet, I would like to suggest creating better arms to protect your people with.  The princess has already shown me some of the Timeblades and other things made by the Sheikah.  I like them.  I want to test some of them out for myself and to make sure that they are good enough, maybe give some ideas on what we can do and make.

“These are things that Hyrule is already doing,” he said again, nodding.  “Then Impaz, we will also have to allow him to visit the Sheikah factories to do some – what do you call it?  Quality Testing and Control?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Impaz said.

“I must admit to my curiosity, Hero not of this Hyrule,” the King said after finishing his drink.  “Legends say that the Hero was prepared to face off against insurmountable odds with nothing but his courage and what the Goddesses saw fit to give him.  Your approach seems almost too cautious.  Do you not believe that the Goddess will protect you and the Hero once we find him?”  I had to hold back a chuckle on that one.  After how I failed to protect Zelda twice over, from the Calamity, and then from the Demon King where she wound up turning into a dragon?  I’m not sure if the Goddess can truly protect Her people as well as Her people believe she can.  But I do sincerely believe what I say when I say – King Ganeva Vethelius Hyrule, I am a believer in the Goddess Hylia, but second to that I am a believer in the idea that Hylia helps those who help themselves.  I believe that there is no kill like overkill.

Chapter Text

No sooner had I closed my mouth after speaking did I feel the hairs on the back of my head rising.  Red mists started to rise from the ground.

“Sir Link!  What is going on?” the King asked, hand on the sword at his hip.  I could see he was nervous – forgetting to breathe, tensed up.  This is new to you, isn’t it?  Quickly, I brought out several Zonai cooking pots and started their fires up.

“What are you doing?”  Impaz hissed.  Can’t talk, cooking as fast as I can!  I brought out several bunches of bananas  and I noticed his jaw drop and his eyes go wide.  Prepared them and put five pieces on every pan I had out and set them to cook while the Blood Moon rose, and I hummed a few songs as the bananas simmered.

As I let the fruits cook, I noticed the King’s expression change from fearful to bemused and slightly angry, and Impaz’s mouth was drooling from its corner.  The batches of Mighty Simmered Fruit finished cooking just as the Blood Moon reached its apex and Zelda’s voice spoke directly into my head.

Hero… Hero of Hyrule.  Ganon comes.  His strength grows under the light of the Blood Moon.  His monsters come once more to ravage Hyrule.  Hero… you must protect them all.

It ended just as suddenly as it started, the red mists dissipating into nothingness as it always did after a Blood Moon.

“Sir Link.  What in Hylia’s name was that?” the King said calmly, though I felt that he would have been shouting if he could.

Probably Your Majesty’s first time experiencing a Blood Moon, I would assume.

“The moon turned blood red and you’re acting like there’s nothing to be afraid of?”

If I were out in the field and I had just finished slaying some monsters, I would be less afraid and more annoyed that I’d have to do it all over again.

“Sir Link is treating this very nonchalantly,” Impaz said as he relaxed his stance.  Again I felt his eyes on me, those Ancient Sheikah gears whirring around in his head.  “My guess is that he’s gone through something like this before.”

This man is an excellent servant to the Royal Family and Your Majesty really should consider keeping him around.

The King chuckled as he too started to relax.  There we go.  I remember the first blood moon I had ever experienced, and the fear that gripped me as it happened.  Thanks to Zelda’s guidance I knew what was going on – which reminds me, I should explain it to them.

---

I gave a short explanation of what I knew the Blood Moon to be, and a meal of Mighty Simmered Fruit for the King, and three servings for Impaz who loves the taste of cooked bananas.  “Sir Link,” Impaz said, “you must tell me where you got these bananas, these are delicious.”

That got me thinking.  Do all Sheikah love bananas?

“Well, I wouldn’t say love,” Impaz said as he wiped his mouth with a piece of cloth.  I’d offer him more if I could, but he had finished off my supply that was meant to last me until the next Blood Moon!

“Nonsense,” the King said, “you love these so much that if only we had a steady supply of them the treasury wouldn’t be hemorrhaging, paying the Grand and Royal Sheikah Factories.”  He chewed on his cooked bananas.  “Sir Link really does cook well.”

There goes my way of telling apart potential traitors.  Come to think of it, though, didn’t Maz Koshia also like Mighty Bananas?  He wasn’t Yiga, certainly.  Maybe it’s an Ancient Sheikah thing and not a Yiga thing.  They were all once just Sheikah together.

Ah, I should explain myself.  Cooking during a Blood Moon does in fact make the food tastier and its effects stronger on the body, somehow.  I hope the King liked it.

“This was a very good meal, Sir Link,” the King said.  “Why, if you weren’t the Hero, I would have liked to hire you for the kitchens!”

You should taste my fruitcake, then.  Peace is what all true warriors strive for.  Warriors need to have skills that they can use outside of the battlefield once they’re done.  That, and Zelda loves my cooking.

The King stroked his short, well-trimmed and brushed beard.  “Mm, yes, quite.”  I’ve had seven years of peacetime, too.  Unfortunately, too short, but I’ll bring them back.

We said our good nights after we finished the meal, and then went to bed.  More accurately, we escorted the King to his room, and he went to bed; I saw Impaz go to his room beside the Princess’s; and I lit a fire in the dining hall and sat there.  I hadn’t slept in a bed in the castle for years now, and I had no plans of starting until I was sure that the Demon King was dead.

---

 I was shooting at an Octorok from far away, strafing to the side so that I wouldn’t get hit by the monster’s return volley, when I heard the roar of a Lynel.  A pat to the quiver told me that I was about to run out of arrows, and my repeating crossbows only held a few more bolts in them.  I wished my father would allow me to hold a proper weapon.  In this kind of situation where my guard isn’t present, I should not stay defenseless.  What good would a little dagger no longer than my forearm do here?

The Lynel had drawn its own bow and was aiming it at me.  I pour my magic, my will, into my boots, my legs, and run as fast as I can away from the Lynel, hoping to Hylia that I could run fast enough to get away.  It was not enough, and I felt the impact of an arrow hit my back like a slingstone.  Thankfully I was wearing chainmail and padding beneath my clothes, but I don’t think I could spare another hit.  I ran like the wind carried me, and once I saw a chasm, I unfastened my clawshot from my belt, aimed at the other side of the gap, and let myself be pulled to the other side.  I hit the ground running on the other side and continued to do so until I tripped.  I screamed in alarm.

---

And then I woke up after falling onto the floor on my right side, still screaming.  Steel boots echoed through the halls drawing closer to the kitchen and an armored soldier came in.

“What’s going on here – oh, Sir Link!” he said.  He looked around the scene – good man, don’t be distracted by me, there might be a threat here for me to scream that loudly.  I’m fine, I fell asleep in my seat and fell over.

“And the screaming?” he asked as he put all his attention towards me now.

I startle very easily.  I buck faster than a horse, or even a blupee.  He looked bemused at my remark.

“I beg your pardon, Sir Link?”

A blupee?  Oh, never mind, I can always show you a picture later.  Hylia, what was that dream?

After I showed the guard a picture of a blupee (“I’ve never seen such a creature before!  Are these native to your land?) he informed me that the Princess Gunhilde was looking for me.  Off I went and walked to the Princess’ room, where I knocked on the door gently with the back of my left hand.

“Come in,” she said, and so I did.

“I feel as though I must welcome you once more to Hyrule,” she said.

I don’t think I’ve been welcomed here yet, to be honest.  I looked at what she was wearing, which was not an attire I’ve ever seen Zelda wear.  Leather boots went up all the way to her thighs.  Her stockings extended upwards even beyond that, and she wore a short skirt that only just met her boots.  A white short-sleeved shirt covered her trunk and upper arms, and she also had on a shoulder-slung bag.  You certainly look like you’re about to go somewhere.

“We are going on tour to the various provinces,” she said.  “His Majesty and his court have decided that it is best to allay the fears of the people by showing that there is a Hero who will stand for them against the darkness.”

Look, I may have drawn the sword, but you can tell that I’m not the hero you’re looking for, right?  I also told the King that I would help him find the real hero.  This is strange.

“You are a Hero of Hyrule, Sir Link, even if you’re not our Hero of Hyrule,” she said, and then gave a sigh.  “I do hope that our hero will be recognized soon.”

I know they will.  Is there another reason I was called to this room?

“That reminds me, Sir Link,” Gunhilde said as she drew a short staff from the side of her desk.  “I would request that you train me to defend myself.”

Aren’t you already good at archery?  That must count for something, Your Highness.

“A bow will require range and a calm mind, something that may not be as easy to have in stressful situations.”  Well, that’s a problem.  That’s the exact opposite of my style.  My body just moves so much faster when it senses that I’m in danger.  Obviously I don’t go around putting myself in danger if I can help it, so once I could I just started making auto-aiming turrets with Autobuild.

Wait.  It might be a good idea to get some sparring done.  Fighting mindless monsters is different from fighting other people, who can think.

“You will?  Truly?”  Her eyes shone the way an excited puppy’s does.  I have no intention of refusing that.

“That is wonderful!” she said.  “Oh, but you must help me first, Sir Link.  Please convince my father that this was your idea.”

I see, your father doesn’t want you anywhere near the main battlefield at all, does he?  But why would he listen to a mere knight, and not listen to his own daughter?

“He’ll take heed of what you have to say, Sir Link,” she said, and that was that.  So now I must train the Princess in the way of the sword now too?  I don’t think I can be a good teacher, but I can be a good sparring partner.  Do you have a formal teacher in forms yet, I wonder?

“I’ve asked Impaz to teach me how to fight, and while he has shown me some of the Sheikah’s techniques even he admits that it might not be fully suited for me.”  She rolled her eyes.  “I don’t know if he was trying to intimidate or impress me the moment he told me that ‘making clones of yourself to overwhelm the enemy is a basic competency of the Sheikah fighting arts’.”

Have you ever seen him in action?

“You could,” Impaz suddenly said behind me.  I nearly jumped out of my skin – or armor, in this case.  When did you get here?

“Relax, Sir Link,” Gunhilde said.  “Impaz doesn’t leave my side, so you could say he’s been here even when you went in.”

…I have several questions about the implications of what you just said.

“There are some Sheikah secrets you shouldn’t ask about, Sir Link,” Impaz said with a very neutral, unreadable face.

I keep my face also neutral, but honestly!  Impaz, you may be good at keeping secrets, but the Princess isn’t very discreet.  This does remind me to check, though.  Before I agree to teach the Princess what I know, it might be better to show her what she might have to learn.  I also want to see how good you are, Impaz.  There’s a certain Sheikah I would like to talk to before they are sealed away.

“We can do that as we tour, Sir Link.”  Alright, fair enough.  “We pack our things in a day and at sunrise tomorrow we will be going to Zora’s Domain.”

After I had “packed” my things, which was less actually gathering things to prepare for the journey and more showing Impaz how the Purah Pad worked (“Absolutely amazing, Sir Link!  We will have to make our own prototypes of these immediately.  The ability to bring an entire pantry and armory wherever you go is nothing short of astounding!  And it doesn’t add anything at all to the weight?”) and subsequently hoping that I didn’t break the flow of time by doing so, we had set off on horseback to Zora’s Domain on the next daybreak, along with the Royal Carriage where the King, the Princess, and her shadow rode, and two other horses carrying Sheikah, seemingly unarmed, carrying some tools of the technology that would in time become artifacts.

---

It was noontime, halfway on the road to Zora’s Domain by horse, when we encountered a Zora quickly walking towards us.  Once he had seen our party he ran right for us.

“Your Majesty!  Your Majesty!” he cried out.  It looks like he had taken the journey on foot, and in the hot noontime sun, this was not good for a Zora’s health.

“What is it?” replied the King.  Nobody descended from the carriage, the King spoke through the window.

“Zora’s Domain is in need of your help, Sire!” he said as he panted.  “After the red moon appeared a night ago, we discovered that a monster had taken residence on top of Ploymus Mountain!”

What kind of monster is it?

“It had the head of a lion, the trunk of a man, on top of the body of a horse, sire.”  Take a breath, man.  Ask me for some water and I will give it to you.  “After our historians had heard about it, they could not believe it either, but they said that if our fears are correct, it would be a Lynel.”

“A Lynel?” the Princess said.  “I thought those were only legends!”  Princess, you’d be surprised to learn what legends are true.  I would like to see this Lynel for myself and take it down if I must.

“I will go with you,” Impaz said.  “There are some new weapons I would like to test.”

“I will also go with you,” Gunhilde said.

“Out of the question,” replied the King.  “You have to remain safe, Zelda.  Meliya,” he said to one of the Sheikah riding with us.  “Accompany this poor Zora back to their Domain and gather more information there.”

“It will be done, sire,” the Sheikah apparently named Meliya said, and made space on her horse for the Zora to ride on as well, riding the horse at a faster trot.

“But father, please!  I need to be able to help on the field if something does happen.  The Princess has always helped the Hero in the struggle against the darkness.  Besides, I am ready!”  She brought out two devices, one in each of her hands.  They remind me of crossbows, but not quite – there is no bow, only a grip and a trigger device.  It also seems like the tube is hollow.  Does the bolt come out of the tube?

“What are those?”  the King said.

“Allow me, sire,” Impaz said, and stretched out his hand.  Gunhilde gave him one and he held it by the grip.  “This is what the Sheikah engineers call the Zapper.  Currently, this is a prototype that only the Princess can use.”

Why is that?  I wonder how it would feel in my hand.

“I think it would be best to demonstrate how it works, Your Majesty, but only the Princess can do so.  However, this is not a problem, because the effective range of this weapon is – well, we haven’t been able to determine it yet.”

“Do you mean to say that you haven’t tested this sufficiently?” the King said, eyebrows scrunched together, almost glaring.  “And when did you let Zelda handle such a weapon?”

“No, sire, not at all!  We mean that we haven’t found an upper limit to how far it can shoot.  Imagine an arrow that does not fall at all, that’s what we mean!”  The King’s expression changed to one of disbelief.  “Additionally, we tested this under the safest conditions with the Princess.  It channels her own power safely without harming her at all.  She will be able to fight from an unbelievably long distance, far away from the melee, and farther even still than the range of any bow that we’ve seen.”  It’s not that hard to believe, honestly.  Not too long ago I was able to use the Bow of Light which fired arrows true.  This is nothing too surprising, but I do want to see how it works.

The King must be pondering this as he stayed silent for a while.  “Sir Link.  We will be testing this new weapon under your guidance and protection,” said he, while looking me in the eye.  “If there is a Lynel there, can you take care of it by yourself?”

Yes, Your Majesty.

King Ganeva then turned to Impaz.  “While Sir Link takes care of this supposed threat, you may stay back and supervise my daughter.  If you wish, you may test out this new weapon.”

The Princess beamed behind a steeled face of determination.  Honestly, if she took to the battlefield with glee in her face, I would have had more questions.  No sane person would ever go into battle with a grin.  Alright then.  I’ll go up there and investigate.  If I do see a Lynel, I will give you a signal.  You can’t possibly miss it.  The Princess should prepare her tools.  I hope she has a scope or something because if you plan on sitting from the next peak over then you might not see the Lynel.

---

Once we had gotten to Zora’s Domain, I hiked up the mountain, leading Impaz and the Princess.  It was more difficult than I wished it were, partly because I couldn’t swap into my other clothes more fit for the job, but it also felt good that they could keep up with me.  I had an elixir prepared that would give me some haste, made from Hot-Footed Frogs and Lynel Guts.  Haha, I remember Zelda and the way she told me to eat a frog back then.  I didn’t actually eat the frog, but elixirs made from them turned out to be some of my favorites.  Speaking of which, Zelda mentioned that I would see her again.  Does that mean that she’s here somehow as a dragon?  She must be, unless the time of the Ancient Sheikah predates the Zonai and the founding of Hyrule.  Wonder where she could be now?

“We are close, Sir Link,” Impaz said. 

“Sir Link, I would request that you allow me to demonstrate what the Zapper can do,” Princess Gunhilde said.

Alright then.  You know where to stay, I will go ahead.  Wait for my signal.

“I need you to clarify,” the Princess said.  “What signal do you mean?”

I can’t do it here or else the Lynel would come here and look, but you’ll hear me whistle.  Now, eyes on me while I go have a look.

…Yeah, that’s a Lynel, all right.  White-maned, too.  I draw my sword – a decayed Royal Broadsword with a sharp monster’s horn fused to it – ready my shield, and walked towards my target.

---

In combat, there are no real thoughts in the thick of melee, only intent.  It would be inaccurate to say “I swung at the Lynel as fast as I could and parried his attacks flawlessly” because that isn’t what goes through the head of a fighter.  My intent is simple – draw the Lynel’s attention to me.  Dodge its attacks.  Counterattack while it is overextended.  Shoot it in the face with a bomb-fused arrow.  As it’s stunned, ride it on the back, swap out weapons to an almost-broken Royal Guard Claymore fused with a Lynel Horn, and pommel it in the back of the head multiple times.  As the Lynel bucks me off, I land on the ground and whistle.  I have sufficiently exhausted the Lynel; it won’t be able to move that fast now.

I felt a strange mix of dread and relief all at the same time.  From her vantage point the Princess made ready and fired a shot of light at the Lynel.  On impact, it exploded, finishing off the Lynel.

As the battle subsided, it felt like I could hear a piano’s music subsiding.  That was a Guardian’s beam.

Chapter Text

Not all my memories from before the Calamity had come back to me.  I can’t remember if I liked Guardians and Ancient Weapons before I was killed by them at Blatchery Plain. Therefore, maybe I felt the same way back then the way I do now, derived from one thought:  Thank Hylia that’s on my side.  Parrying one Guardian beam is easy.  Parrying thirty-seven of them killed me.  Or was it thirty?  After the first dozen I lost count.  Maybe now that I can fuse a shield to my sword and fuse a sword to my shield, I can parry double the amount.  Imagining myself swinging two shields around to protect against Guardian beams.  I should draw that later; Zelda will get a laugh from it when (not if) she comes back.

I picked up some of the Lynel’s weapons.  A Savage Lynel Bow – I twang its string a little.  It looks like this can fire five arrows at a time, very nice.  Savage Lynel Sword.  It’s been years since I last held one of these, though I’m not complaining – fusing Lynel horns to weapons gives me much more freedom.  My weapon inventory is also full, so I can’t carry this, but I will take out a Boko Bow to make room for this new one.

“Hero!  We’re coming!” the Princess’s voice carried over the distance.  I stood there just waiting for them as they made their way slowly down their vantage point and up the mountain.

“Are you hurt at all, Sir Link?” the Princess asked.  Thanks for your concern, I’m fine.

“That is the most reckless way of fighting I’ve ever seen, Sir Link,” Impaz said.  Hm, no I think that’s par for the course?

“I agree with Impaz on this one, Sir Link,” Gunhilde said.  “Dodging attacks at the last minute is spectacular, but you had me scared, Sir!”

What had me scared was the weapon you just used.  A Guardian’s beam is not to be underestimated.  Though now I am curious, how are these even made?

“Didn’t they keep the blueprints in your time, Sir Link?” said the Princess.  “Oh right, ten thousand years.”

“I suppose there would be many possible factors,” Impaz chimed in.  “Ten thousand years… even Hyrule’s fallen and risen up many times in that much time.  Wait, we’re not done discussing your recklessness, Sir Link!  Please don’t put yourself in such danger again.”

I can assure you that I was much safer fighting that Lynel than it appeared.  I felt that we were going to discuss this further but then I heard another set of light but rapid footfalls coming at us.  I turned towards the sound and saw the Sheikah from earlier, Meliya, I think her name was.  Her light Sheikah fighter’s clothing, a form-fitting outfit that prevented snagging and enemy grabs, was dripping in sweat.  Or it might have been water; she might have gone for a swim.

“Chief Impaz!” she yelled.  “The Goddess has blessed me with a vision!”  Her eyes were bright and he looked like she did have a divine revelation.  Is this what monks who dedicate themselves to shrines feel?

Impaz turned to her and for once I got to see what it was like for someone else to be under his gaze of scrutiny.  Meliya didn’t seem to be fazed at all, though.  She must believe she really did see something.  “Tell us about it,” Impaz said.

“The Goddess has given me a vision, an instruction, an inspiration,” she said.  “I think the pool is still there.  Come, I will also let you see!”  Pool?  What did he mean by that?

“The vision from the Goddess left behind physical remains?” Princess Gunhilde said.

“Yes, I will show the Princess as well; Her Highness can verify the vision if need be,” Meliya said, trying to cover her enthusiasm with a mask of calm, like an excited researcher eager to show off their findings.  “In fact, I think the Princess herself will be surprised to see it,” she added.  It reminded me of Purah when she called Zelda and I after she fixed her machine and turned herself back to adult age.  When Zelda and I saw that, we even jokingly asked Impa if she would want to become our physical age as well, and she simply said “Please let me enjoy my retirement,” as she sipped her tea.  “Paya’s shown that she’s matured enough to take over, and so she should.  She’ll take the name when I’m gone.”

I must have been lost in my thoughts reminiscing about that because the next thing I knew we were standing with two more Sheikah in front of a small puddle about knee-deep. 

“I saw it, Chief Impaz.  The Goddess has shown me.  We shall construct a weapon that will aid the Hero and the Princess in defeating the impending Calamity.”

“What was it then,” Impaz asked, “what did the Goddess show you specifically?”

Meliya took out a piece of paper and a small stylus from her pocket.  A broad-bodied beast with large fan-like ears, a lithe serpent for a nose with spear-like appendages to the sides, large legs like treetrunks, and a whip-like tail.  “The Goddess called this a Divine Beast.”  I may not be an artist, but if she hadn’t told me it was Vah Ruta then I would have had almost no idea at all.

“The drawing’s not too good, but we can probably work with what we have,” Impaz said.

“Sir Link,” the princess said, “why is your hand glowing?”

Right – this is a Dragon’s Tear.  And there isn’t a geoglyph around it, which means this is relatively new because nobody’s had the time to make this one.  Have you ever seen a single drop of water fall into a puddle?  Well, for a lack of a better word, the Dragon’s Tear un-fell, coalescing back into a spherical drop in front of me, the Princess, and the shocked faces of four Sheikah.  It then glowed a brilliant gold, enveloping my senses.

---

Zelda walked up the steps of Vah Ruta, right behind Mipha, who carried with her the Lightscale Trident.  “Isn’t it wonderful?” Zelda said.  “Divine Beast of the Zora, created for the sole purpose of defeating the Calamity.”

She continued up the stairs, talking about things that I could barely understand.  “Look!  An instant water vapor condenser that draws the humidity from the very air to create pure, potable water,” she said, gushing about ancient Sheikah technology as she gestured towards some machine near Vah Rutah’s mouth.  “It must be highly efficient because I can’t imagine it being able to generate this much water from the air.  Why, if the air were this wet we would be swimming instead of walking around.”  Mipha even chuckled at that remark.

“And look at these runes!” she said.  “The ability to create ice out of any body of water?  Astounding!”

“This is all very magical, Your Grace,” Mipha said.  Strange, I’ve never heard her refer to Zelda as “Her Grace”, ever.  Perhaps they weren’t friends yet, but still distant.

“Magic?” Zelda asked.  “Perhaps it is so, but it is said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.  It may well be that the converse is also true, any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from technology.”  She had that face on, eyes wide in wonder and awe as she took everything in.  She had a mind like a sponge, absorbing everything it could as fast as it could, and giving it out with a gentle prod, which is why I think she was a good teacher for the children of Hateno.

The memory even showed where the terminals were inside the Divine Beast, as well as the security measures meant to ensure that nobody without a Sheikah Slate would be able to access or hack into the weapon.  It’s a shame that it seems those Ganon Blights were able to bypass such security measures and kill the pilots.

Zelda continued showing Mipha around Vah Ruta’s internal construction as the gears spun, the water flowed, and the Divine Beast thrummed as if it were alive, waiting for a will to move it.  Finally they came to the central command terminal where the operator would be – where I had fought Waterblight Ganon.  Mipha placed her hand on the command terminal and the machine gave that trumpeting sound, signaling that it had recognized her as its pilot.

The vision faded into gold and white again and we were back on the mountain.  Once we had broken out of the trance of the vision, we found ourselves surrounded by Silent Princesses.  No doubt about it, then – this was left here by Zelda, somehow.  How recently was this placed here?

“The Goddess,” another of the Sheikah exclaimed, “in Her wisdom has left us the task of constructing this Divine Beast.”  I suppose to someone who wasn’t familiar with Zelda, she would appear to be divine.  The context of the vision as well would lead to this misunderstanding.

Meliya nodded.  “Chief Impaz,” she said, “with your command we will start our engineering and construction efforts as soon as possible.”

Impaz gave me that look again.  I paid no mind and collected some of the Silent Princesses on the ground around the tear.  “Alright,” Impaz said.  “I will write a letter to the King countersigned by the Princess detailing what we have seen here, and I will have to for more funding for this construction, as the Goddess wills it.”

“So the Goddess Hylia has spoken,” said Gunhilde.  “I saw it too, and it felt the same as the other visions I’ve seen.  What makes me curious is how Sir Link was able to show the vision to everyone.”

You mean rewinding time, no?  If I’m right, I should now have a record of the vision itself in the Purah Pad.  I’ll have to look at it later.

“I think we will have to bring you along more when we go about the various provinces some more, Sir Link,” the Princess continued.  “If there are more visions from the Goddess Hylia to be seen, we would ask for your assistance in seeing them more clearly.”  She nodded, seemingly to herself.  “Additionally, I would like to learn more about you, and from you.  You did agree to teach me how to defend myself, after all.”

The Princess need not worry about that, I will do as needed.

“Pardon the interruption, Your Highness.  We must find a worthy pilot for the Divine Beast, as the vision has specified,” another engineer of the Sheikah spoke.  “A Zora, with red skin, wielding a spear.”

“Hello there!” a familiar voice shouted from a distance.  We all turned towards it, and saw a Zora, with red skin, wielding a spear, wearing a mask – Vah Ruta’s Helmet.  That was awfully convenient.

“I came as soon as we heard the fighting stop,” the Zora said.  That voice – it’s Mipha’s.  There is a different lilt to it but it had the same gentle nature in it.  “Is anyone wounded?  Does anyone need healing?”  Yes, this confirms it – the Goddesses are lazy and they’re recycling faces and voices.  I bet we’re going to encounter Ancient Daruk, Ancient Revali, and Ancient Urbosa too.  Come to think of it, even the Sages from Rauru’s time shared eerily similar voices to the Champions.

“Announcing Princess Ruta of the Zora, daughter of the Zora King, sole heir to the throne of the Zora’s Domain,” Impaz said, and bowed towards her momentarily.

“Thank you, Impaz,” Ruta said.  “Princess!”  She then turned to Gunhilde.  “It has been far too long since we last met.”

“Ruta, dear,” Gunhilde replied, going in for a hug, which Princess Ruta returned tightly.  “You know you don’t need to call me Princess.”

“Yes, but I see there’s someone new here.  Hello,” she said, turning to face me.  I bowed to her as the knight’s code dictated I act for royalty, while tucking away my weapons back into the Purah Pad’s storage.

“This is Sir Link,” Impaz said to introduce me.

“Oh, I have heard of you, Sir,” Ruta said.  The spikes protruding from the sides of her head wiggled a little bit.  “The moment you drew the Master Sword and then fainted not long after – I did wonder if I could have been of help there.”  I think it might have been helpful so I wouldn’t have had to go in the Shrine of Resurrection.  That place, even disassembled as it was years after I woke up in it, still gave me a weird feeling.  “Nevertheless, I don’t see anyone here injured.  You mean to tell me that the beast was defeated without sustaining any casualty?”

Dealing with Lynels is a skill issue once you get the hang of it.  In fact, dealing with any sort of monster is just that, a skill issue, with some strategizing.  Robbie once told me that the scars on my body were marks of experience gained over time, and that the body never really forgets how to fight.  However, it was the Princess that dealt the finisher.  Good experience overall.

“Sir Link distracted the monster and we got into position and shot it from a long distance,” Gunhilde said.

“That sounds like good teamwork.  Sir Link, are you hurt in any way?”  I raise my hands to both show that I am unarmed and that I am uninjured.  She looked at every inch of exposed skin I had to make sure, like a good healer, getting close but not uncomfortably so.  Then she made one step back.  “Sir Link, please copy what I’m doing.”  She put her right hand behind her head, and so did I.  Then she put her right hand in front of her left shoulder.  When I copied it, it slightly hurt my arm at the shoulder – or rather, Rauru’s arm.  The pain was slight enough that it didn’t show on my face.  Then she put her right hand behind her and touched her lower back, which I did painlessly.

“Hmm, on a simple external examination you’re fine,” she said, “but if it’s alright with you I would like to do a more thorough examination back at the Domain.”

I’m okay with that.  The Princess agreed as well, and we set off back to Zora’s Domain.  Or rather, the Princess Ruta told us that she would go back by swimming, and told Princess Gunhilde, Impaz, and the other Sheikah to go by land, and I joined them.  I’d have liked to go diving from Shatterback Point like old times.  I may not clearly remember it, but I was told that before losing my memories I went for a dive there with Mipha at least once.  I do remember going diving there with Sidon after we put Vah Ruta to rest.

---

When we had gotten to the Domain, Mipha – or rather, Ruta – asked if I would go with her to a secret cave beneath the Throne Room.  She meant the cave under Zora’s Domain, which makes sense, because that’s where I got the Vah Ruta Divine Helm in my own time.  When we got there after passing through two waterfalls, the room I found myself in wasn’t like what it was – or will be.  It was well-maintained and clean, no moss on the floor or walls, which meant that someone cared for and cleaned here.  Princess Ruta continued her examination, more closely observing my body.

“Don’t worry, Sir Link,” Ruta said, “we won’t be disturbed here.  I just wished to ask you a few questions in private.”

Okay?

“You’re Hylian, aren’t you?”

Yes?

“No need to act confused, Sir Link,” she continued.  “The facial expressions actually gave it away a little.”  What do you mean by that?  “The lack of facial expressions, rather.  The mask you wear isn’t very expressive, actually, though I will grant that it is lifelike.”  Princess Ruta took a deep breath.  “Your disguise also doesn’t hide your scars well.  You must have gone through so much; things beyond my power to heal now.  I just wanted to ask if you were okay.”

I will be okay once I find out how to get Zelda back.

“Oiii!”  Zelda said from outside the waterfall, her voice mixed with the splish-splash of her boots on the water.  I mean Gunhilde.  There’s no way that’s Zelda there.

“Oh, Zelda!” Princess Ruta said.  “How did you find us here?”

“I cheated,” she said as she grinned.  She brought out a new necklace she was now wearing, and attached to it was a large pendant with the Royal Crest of Hyrule on it.  Zelda had taught me about the symbolism on it – the Triforce, carried by a now long-gone bird that could supposedly carry a grown man like a horse does.  I can’t wait to show her what hoverbikes are like.

“Impaz!” she called, and suddenly in a puff of smoke the Sheikah appeared next to her.

“At your service, Princess,” Impaz said, hand below his heart in a slight bow.

“The compass works, Impaz,” she said.  “Also, you had something to say to Sir Link?”

“Indeed, Sir,” he said.  “Reports from Sheikah servants of the Goddess have been sent to me, stating that there have been visions described in a similar fashion as Meliya’s from earlier, in the Eldin, Hebra, and Gerudo regions.”  I turn away from him to think a little bit, and nod.  “We request your aid in going to these areas and show those visions to us and accompany the Princess so she can verify these visions.”  Okay, go on.  “Additionally, there are large stones that suddenly appeared out of nowhere radiating a glowing spiral of blue-green that match our records of what Zonai Shrines were supposed to be.  We would like to investigate the matter at hand.”

The Princess Gunhilde’s eyes shot wide open at the description.  “I am investigating the matter for myself, Impaz.  It’s not about me joining you in this case, it’s about you joining me.  Specifically for the Shrines, at least.”

Impaz’s eyes showed confusion at first but then softened into understanding.  Might I be missing something?  “As you wish, Your Highness.”

I think there were almost tears in Gunhilde’s eyes, sheening over her steely determination with a touch of curiosity.  There’s something going on here, something about the way she’s looking at this right hand on me.

Chapter Text

I sense that Princess Gunhilde would like to explore the Shrines first.  My thinking goes like this – this is her time, not mine, so she should get to call the shots; she’s the Princess and I’ll defer to her orders; and lastly I don’t think I’d get much productively done if I’m not with her.  Somewhat reminds me of what I did, after all – explore Towers first, Shrines second, and then the spaces in between once I can conveniently get from place to place as needed.  The problem is – would there even be a way for the Princess to teleport from shrine to shrine?

“The closest of these Zonai Shrines is roughly en route to Eldin if we were to travel directly,” Impaz said.  “However, if we must follow the roads then we would have to detour going through Akkala.  Sir Link, would you happen to have a map?”

Yeah I do, hold on; I got the map right here.

“This Purah Pad of yours never ceases to amaze, Sir Link,” Impaz said.  “Anyway, the Zonai Shrine is right here – “ he said, and pointed at the center of Tarrey Town.  I marked it for their reference.  Impaz gave a small laugh.  “I suppose you were telling the truth, Sir.  This is where you said you’re from?”

Had a house in, or rather near, Tarrey Town, yes.

“You really are a knight,” Impaz said.  “The only people who live here – this place serves as a barracks for the Akkala Citadel.”  I didn’t think of it then, but that did mean I would possibly meet a distant ancestor of mine there.  “We really should get you a horse,” he added.

Huh, what for?

“Can’t call yourself a knight without a horse!” he said in a joking way.

“I do want to see how Sir Link rides a horse,” Princess Gunhilde said.  “Or maybe you don’t use horses in your time?”

If anything, I miss my Master Cycle Zero, but I will admit there’s a charm to horses.  Horses won’t crash into a wall if they’re malfunctioning, they’ll just stop; they’re much safer than flying machines in general.  The Master Cycle Zero felt good because it really felt like it was made for me.  Wait, what if I can convince them to make it for me and let me ride it now?  I’ll just tell them that I’m used to a more mechanical mode of transportation.  It’s true, anyway, especially now.

“A mechanical horse, you say?” Impaz said.  “Let me go ahead and put that on the List.”

What do you mean, list?

“Oh, it’s simple, Sir Link,” Impaz said.  “If you’re mentioning things that you’ve used, it stands to reason that we should be able to construct them here, especially since you mentioned that Hyrule by your time is no longer capable of such technological feats.”  He nodded to himself with a self-satisfied smile like a cat with its eyes closed.  “Additionally, it may serve us well here.”

“I took would like to ride a mechanical horse,” Gunhilde said.

“As you wish, Princess,” replied Impaz, still with his eyes closed in contentment.

“How about a flying machine?”

Impaz drew a deep breath like he had a lecture prepared.  “Princess, I know the Rito are capable of flight, but we are Hylian, not Rito.  Taking off from the ground is easy, but landing safely is a whole different story.  The technology needed to make sure you land safely in case you are knocked unconscious or unable to move is still under development.  For instance, what if you’re stunned by an Aerocuda mid-flight and can’t pull out your Paraglider in time?”

Flashbacks to the times I was knocked off of a cliff by a monster, whether a Bokoblin, a Moblin, or even a Lynel, and I was stuck in freefall unable to bring out the Paraglider to slow myself down.  I mean, I always used a fairy to bring me back if it came down to it.

Impaz and Princess Gunhilde looked at me, confusion and horror on their faces.  Princess Gunhilde even blinked slowly, three times.  She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it.  It was Impaz who broke the silence after a few minutes: “Let me make this clear, Sir Link.  You survived multiple falls off cliffs –” and waterfalls, and Sky Islands, and Chasms, but you don’t need to know that – “just by having a fairy rescue you after you were knocked unconscious.”  Technically true, but does Mipha and her ability Mipha’s Grace also count as a fairy?

“Or dead,” Princess Gunhilde added.  “The texts and legends were never clear whether a fairy would bring the Hero back from the dead or from loss of consciousness due to grievous injuries.”

Hmm, perhaps if I had a fairy on hand at Blatchery Plain I would have survived and we could have beaten the Calamity earlier, Zelda and I.  I had told this theory to Zelda before, and she said that it was impossible, as there weren’t even any sightings of fairies prior to the Calamity for some reason.  I remember taking her to Lover’s Pond one night and there were so many fairies!  I’m not sure if she found it romantic, because I expected to be spending time with her just taking in the sights but she took out the Purah Pad and photographed the fairies for what she said were “research purposes, Link.  Additionally, now you know where to find fairies if you ever need their help!”  Gathering fairies used to be easy; I just had to go to the nearest Great Fairy and sure enough there would be some fairies there whose help I could ask for.  Now I more frequently find them on the Sky Islands.  There are no Sky Islands here though, at least not as far as I can see.  If there were, I’d expect the Rito to be exploring them.  Hmm, maybe it’s just far above their flight altitudes?  I can’t really estimate now, but if you were to ask me on a better day perhaps I’d say that Vah Medoh flew lower than the lowest Sky Island that I’ve encountered.

“Sir Link?” Impaz said.  “You seem to be lost in your thoughts.”

Oh, my apologies.  What will our next objective be?

“We could raft down the waterfalls behind Zora territory and go more directly to Akkala,” Gunhilde said.  “It should be more fun that way.”

“Fun yes, safe not so much.  We could go on horseback going closer to Hyrule Central, and then make our way rapidly to Akkala instead,” Impaz countered.  “Besides, if there are monsters on the way I think you could shoot them from the road much more easily than if we were walking to our destination.”

If I had my way we could just teleport to a shrine nearby and then walk it from there.  I do wonder if the Sheikah of now are already making Shrines and Towers.  If there are, we could use them as much faster transportation.

---

We made it to Tarrey Town without incident.  I thought, based on what Impaz had said, there would be some people living here, but all we found at the time was an abandoned camp.  It looks like it was recently abandoned too, with plates still on tables, some with remaining food on them; clothes strewn about as if blown by the wind; bootsteps in the mud, I would think about three days old, moving away from the town.  What had caused them to leave?

We found a large rock behind the Goddess Statue on where Tarrey Town would be, with a swirling spiral of green and blue rising from it.  That’s how Impaz and Gunhilde would have described it, but I knew what it was – a Zonai Shrine.  Two stone dragons came from behind the shrine and converged in front, showing a different symbol from what I was used to.  Instead of a hand made in the image of Rauru’s, the image of the seal shone as we stepped in front of the shrine, revealing three golden triangles, softly shimmering with their own light.

As I was used to, I extended my hand in front of the seal, waiting for the shrine to open up… waiting for the shrine to open up… I say, waiting for the shrine to open up!  Ah, this must be how Kohga felt when he couldn’t activate those Zonai Constructs in the depths.  How strange.

“Sir Link,” Gunhilde said, and broke me out of my thoughts again.  “If I may?”  Of course!  I stepped aside to let her examine the Shrine.  Then she took the glove off of her right hand, whose back was glowing gold, and she touched her palm to the seal, which opened immediately, revealing a small portal wreathed in flame-like gold.

“Oh wow,” she said.  I’d say the same too.  “Come with me!” she said, and motioned for Impaz and I to walk behind her.  Unfortunately, walking into the portal for us felt like we had just walked into a stone wall.  It wouldn’t let us pass even though she was already on the other side.

“Huh, that’s weird,” she said from the other side of the portal.  At least, I presume that’s what she said from lip-reading, because I couldn’t hear her at all.

“Princess?”  Impaz said.  He had freed up his arms and started gesturing with his hands.  “Can you hear us?”

“No,” she said, gesturing in return.  Did the Princess and Impaz make or learn the same language by use of gesturing?  That’s interesting; I wish I knew how to do something similar.  She stepped back out of the portal and we could hear her again.

“So you really couldn’t hear me from inside, no?”  This does line up with my own experience.  When I was inside a shrine, it was like I was in my own little world.  The Shrines that took away my clothing and prevented me from using my equipment were also annoying.  Like Eventide Island when the Calamity was there, but worse.

“Let me try to take you along with me,” Gunhilde said to Impaz, and took his hand in hers.  They then tried to walk into the shrine together, but found that no part of Impaz could even go inside.  “That’s unfortunate,” he said.  “What did you see on the inside?  Will you be safe?”

“When I entered,” Gunhilde said, “there was a voice, much like mother’s.  The voice said that the Shrine was there to protect a relic from a time no longer remembered.  She said that the Shrine was there to test any who would want to take the relic.”

Seems to me that the first part of the test is getting in, so I think the Princess should be able to take whatever is inside.  I’d have liked to go in as well, but this Shrine does not seem to be made for me.

“Do you think the Princess will be safe inside?” Impaz said.  I nodded.  Additionally, her own safety should be her responsibility when she’s inside a shrine.  I just hope there’s nothing in there that will try to kill her.

“See?” Gunhilde said.  “Even Sir Link says I’ll be fine.”

Impaz smiled and patted her on the shoulder.  “Don’t forget my lessons if you ever need to escape, alright?”

“I won’t,” she replied.  Keep safe, Princess.  She walked back into the portal and into the Shrine.

Thirty minutes passed, where I lent the Purah Pad to Impaz so he could take detailed notes on the functions and features it had.  He was curious how I stored more swords and weapons in it, and thought I was joking when I told him that I gave little pieces of poop to a Korok three times my size.  I only wish I were joking.  He had handed back the Purah Pad to me when it started raining.  I haven’t had rain this hard since Vah Ruta was rampaging in Zora’s Domain.  The lightning is also strong.

“Make sure you don’t have anything metal on you right now, Sir Link,” he said.  Don’t worry about that, Zonai weaponry isn’t made of metal.  I’m half-tempted to put on the Thunder Helm replica from Gerudo Town but I think that would raise many more questions, and additionally strip me of my disguise.

A few moments after it had started raining, the Princess emerged from the portal, holding a small blue object in her right hand.

“Princess,” Impaz said, as if she were holding a live bomb flower in her hand.  “How did you get that?”

“This was at the end of the Shrine,” she replied, and raised the blue ocarina to her lips.  She played a little melody on it and the sun shone once more, ending the storm.  She put it back in her pouch at her hip and looked at Impaz’s wary gaze.  “What?”

“Princess Zelda,” Impaz said.  “That’s the Ocarina of Time.  An artifact thought to have been lost to the ages, and you’ve just shown Sir Link and I that it’s the genuine article.”

“Indeed!  The voice inside told me as much,” she beamed.  “She said it was older than Hyrule itself.”

“It is from an age long gone, Princess,” Impaz said solemnly.  “Please take good care of it.”

“I will,” she said.  She will, I know.  That Impa had the Ocarina of Time in a similar condition as to what the Princess held in her hand meant that the Ocarina would survive the Princess and ten thousand years further.

“Now, I believe we need to be going to Eldin Province and meet with the Sheikah seer,” Gunhilde said.  “Where there any other reports of any shrines that we must be made aware of?”

“None so far, Princess,” Impaz said.

“Good,” she replied, and stowed the Ocarina in her pouch.  I got a good look at the back of her hand as she put it away and donned her gloves once more.  Her hands bore no callouses or marks, but her gloves really were well-worn.  I wonder, did those belong to someone else?  They look a little too big for her.

---

While we were journeying to Eldin, Princess Gunhilde told us what she had seen inside the Shrine.

A voice called out to her: “To you who sets foot in this Shrine,” it said, “this Shrine was made by the will of the priestesses of the Goddess Hylia who share Her blood.”  That was the point where she decided to exit and ask us to come with her, but as we saw earlier neither Impaz nor I could enter the Shrine.  I would have liked to.  This must be how Zelda felt when I told her that I entered all the Sheikah Shrines.  “Don’t worry, Link,” she said.  “I had my eyes on you when you did and saw what happened in there.  To think that you put all those Sheikah monks to rest after ten thousand years of waiting.”  Except Maz Koshia, he did stick around until I had defeated Calamity Ganon.

The Princess then re-entered the Shrine and a voice guided her to use her magic, her abilities inside the Shrine.  Setting fire to a wooden platform to get a chest that contained a key; using defensive magic to protect herself from a boulder about to crush her; using teleportation magic to get herself out of a hole she had no way of climbing back out of.  Refreshing, that this Shrine seemed to already know what abilities the Princess would have.  Maybe it’s a Shrine meant for her to explore, not me.

She made her way to the end of the Shrine after bringing the three keys needed to open the last door within and found a stone tablet.  On the tablet written in old Hyrulean (which of course she knew how to read) was written: “You who would play on the Ocarina of Time.  Be guided by the pieces passed down from mother to daughter through the generations.  Fracture not the timeline once more, for the consequences will be calamitous.”

At the end of the Shrine, behind a seal bearing the symbol of the Triforce once again, there was a statue of a lone Hylian woman with long ears wearing a robe decorated with many triangles on its hems, extending forth like stars.  She touched her hand to the seal in front of the statue just as she did to enter the Shrine earlier.

“In overcoming the trials set forth by this Shrine of Hylia,” the voice said, once more in her head, “you have proven yourself worthy of taking this holy relic.”  The statue shifted behind, revealing a chest hidden where its feet once covered.  “Take the Ocarina of Time and fulfil destiny once more.”

“Hmm,” Impaz said.  “You know, I’d like it if we were able to see the interior of the Shrine itself.  What if we were to give you something you could use to make images on the spot easily?”

“What do you mean?” replied the Princess.

“I was looking at Sir Link’s Purah Pad as he allowed me to earlier, and I think we could replicate the function of the camera, at the very least.  Or rather, we should focus on doing that first.  I’ll send my notes to the Sheikah Laboratories and they should be able to make it.”

“That would be nice, yes,” Gunhilde replied.  Wait until we find more Shrines and you start inventing your Sheikah Towers.  Then you’ll see how  to truly travel across Hyrule quickly.

We made our way to Eldin without much more incident, save for Princess Gunhilde taking the time to practice using her Zapper to shoot at the occasional monster that was unlucky enough to try to attack us.  She has good aim, to be able to shoot while moving.  I wonder if she knows how to do a Flurry Rush.  I’ll check her on that later.

We made it to the foot of the mountain without much more incident, and thankfully Death Mountain wasn’t erupting at the time.  That presumably meant that I didn’t have to cook Fireproof Elixirs again.  I prefer wearing Flamebreaker Armor when going in a burning hot environment, but I’m not to take off the Ancient Hero’s Aspect for now.  By the time we had gotten to Death Mountain it was about to be nightfall, so we decided to set up camp.

Chapter Text

At camp, at the foot of Death Mountain on a slight elevation from the path, Impaz set up a fire and brought out a cooking pot from his horse’s pack.  It looked to be more durable than the single-use Zonai portable stoves, which allowed me to cook more than I would have if we didn’t have a cooking pot.

“You mean to tell me that the Purah Pad also keeps the items within it fresh?” Impaz said as he prepared the ingredients I was bringing out of my storage.  Yes, it does keep them as fresh as the day they were farmed.  Purah and Robbie were even starting to devise runes to make them communication devices as well, but with only one prototype at the moment there wasn’t really any point to it.

That was the moment a red cucco chose to crow, and Impaz turned his head to look at it.  The cucco walked up to Impaz and extended its right leg towards him, which I only then noticed had a piece of paper attached to it.  He petted the cucco and took off the note with his right hand as he read it quickly, nodded, pocketed the note, and brought out half a handful of grain to feed the bird.  He scattered the feed onto the ground and the cucco jumped down and pecked at it.

“How’s Rhett doing?” Gunhilde said.

“He’s doing well, it wasn’t that far,” Impaz replied.  “Sir Link, this is Rhett,” he said as he turned towards me.  Like master like pet: the bird had the exact same Impaz Stare directed at me, as if it were looking into my soul.  It even had its head slightly tilted sidewards.  “He’s a messenger-cucco.”

Why are you using cuccos to send messages?

“Funny story, that,” Gunhilde said.  “Rhett’s my pet cucco, you see.  He’s also really intelligent!  He knows a few tricks.  Rhett, come here!”  The cucco obeyed and Gunhilde picked him up.  She held him with her arms raised to the sky and jumped into the air, and the bird started flapping harder to keep her in the air.  She stayed in the air for about as long as I would have on a paraglider.  I should let her try the paraglider some time, then.  She has enough of a grip on the cucco’s legs to stay in the air, after all.

“We also use him as a messenger bird specifically because he’s a cucco,” Impaz said.  “When you attack a cucco they summon more cuccos to attack you.  Anyone who tries to intercept Rhett’s messages gets attacked by a flock of cuccos.  It’s a very secure messaging system, and it’s faster than it looks.  We don’t know exactly how, but when we’re not looking, Rhett just gets from place to place in an instant.”

Gunhilde landed safely on the ground and set Rhett down.  “Rhett’s been great.  He’s been with me for years.  He’s a good little bird, he is.”

I have an idea.  I bring out some wood and a flamethrower-shield, and start a separate campfire.

“Sir Link, what are you doing?” Impaz said.

Gunhilde, grab onto Rhett.

“Okay?” she said, and did so.

I gesture at her to follow me.  I toss a pinecone into the fire and it bursts into a column of air.  I jump over the fire and take out my paraglider to ride the wind upwards.  From up here I could see the Princess’s eyes glittering in amazement before she copied me and jumped into the fire as well while holding Rhett to the sky.

“Woah!” Gunhilde said.  Now don’t let go of your cucco, you have no way of breaking your fall from this height!  To demonstrate, I didn’t let go of my paraglider until my feet were safely on the ground too, and she imitated me just fine.

“Sir Link!  That was fantastic!” Gunhilde said.  “I shall start packing wood, flint, and a pinecone from now on.”

“Was that a sailcloth?” Impaz said.  Oh is that the original name for it?  It’s a paraglider in my time.

“The Sheikah have something similar to what you just pulled out, but it’s not as maneuverable.  The design we’re using is ancient, even to us.”   He brought out a large piece of cloth, rectangular in shape.  There were holes near the four corners of the cloth reinforced with steel rings, probably to prevent tearing at those exact spots.  “This was inspired by the Sailcloth,” he continued, “one of the few relics we have made as a replica from the time of the Hero of the Sky.  I will admit that whoever designed this was a better engineer.”

“Maybe it was designed out of necessity?” Gunhilde said.  “Loftwings are no longer found among us, so maybe they made that to maneuver in the air.”  That does make sense.

“It’s good that you remember your history lessons well, Princess,” Impaz said.

“They’re really more of legends of the royal family now.  Legends of Zeldas from ages long past, I suppose.”  Gunhilde cast her gaze upon the sky.  “We can’t even be truly sure that the legends are real.  The only thing we had concrete proof of to show that they were in fact true was the Master Sword.”

What does that mean?

“Yes, well,” Impaz said, “we Sheikah couldn’t have made so many advances in our technology without the Sword’s guidance.  There was so much to learn from the past, and it is truly convenient that the Sword was there to teach you all about it.”

Oh.  “Legend says that an ancient voice resonates inside it.  Can you hear it yet… hero?”  Was that what Zelda was talking about?

“You heard the voice as well, did you not, Sir Link?” Impaz said.

Yes, but the Sword didn’t give me any history lessons.

“All the things and adventures the Master Sword must have gone on with the heroes of the past,” Gunhilde said, “all the things she has seen.  It is our duty to preserve what we can of those visions of the past.”

Oh right, I remember now.  The Master Sword has talked more often to Zelda than she has to me.  The only times I distinctly remember that Master Sword talking to me was when I already had Zelda’s power of Recall.  Must be linked to the Royal Family somehow, I guess.  Wait, I have Rauru’s arm now.  Is that the reason, because I have the arm of the First King of Hyrule?  Or is it more of a Blood of the Goddess thing?

“From the Sword’s memories we were able to produce replicas of things thought to be long gone,” Impaz said, “such as the Sailcloth.”

“The Master Sword would only show us so much, of course,” Gunhilde added.  “I really liked the Sea-Breeze Boomerang!  I have a copy right here too,” she said while unlatching the pouch on her back as she took out the banana-yellow boomerang.  “It’s fun to play with.”  Well as long as you remember that it’s still a weapon and can hurt you if you don’t catch it properly.  Is that the real Sea-Breeze Boomerang?  Does it really matter, though, if it does the exact same thing?  She threw it out in front of her and it returned into her open hand a few moments later.

I’m still just impressed with using cuccos to send messages.  Not sure how fast it would be compared to Zelda’s proposed Rito mail delivery, and also not sure if you could train other cuccos to send messages as securely as a Rito could.  We ate our dinner and I brought out the desserts: simmered bananas for Impaz and some fruitcake for the Princess.  I made to retire for my tent to sleep as Impaz said he would take first watch, but as I lay on my cot I found that neither dreams nor sleep would take me.

As I tried to apply the soldier’s way of falling asleep (tense the whole body, then gradually relax the legs and arms and think of nothing), I heard Impaz and the Princess talking by the crackling campfire.

“The King has been notified that you are safe with us, Princess,” Impaz said.  “He said that he will have some troops rendezvous with us tomorrow at Goron City and said that they will have enough fireproof potion for themselves and for us once we get there.”

“Aww, he also hopes that I stay safe.  Sweet old father,” Gunhilde said.  “Though I can handle myself, he doesn’t need to coddle me.”

“Zelda, even I would hate to see you come to harm,” Impaz said.

“Yes, but when you’re around it’s not nearly as constricting as it is when Father sends his soldiers to guard me,” she said in a huff.

“The Hyrulean Guard is still the continent’s most elite fighting force, Princess,” Impaz said.  “Though I do see your point, and I prefer it this way.”

“I’d rather you stay at my side,” Gunhilde replied.  Sleep, or Hylia, take me now, I really don’t need to hear this.  Or maybe I’m already dreaming?

Impaz made a “Hmm” sound.  “Not even if Sir Link is more capable than I?”

Gunhilde laughed a gentle laugh.  “I don’t doubt that he is capable, not at all, but I’d have you still.  And I know him,” she said.  “I know him like I know myself.”

You could hear the smile in Impaz’s voice when he said “The facts are staring the King in the face and he still doesn’t get it.  A Chosen of the Master Sword has shown up and still the Sword rejects him.”

“It’s not Father’s fault,” Gunhilde said.  “He’s not from Hyrule, he wasn’t raised on our lore, the bedtime stories passed down from mother to child.  There will be some things he misses.  And you too, Impaz,” she said, her tone rising, but gently again, “you could scarcely believe it too.”

“Haha, but Princess,” he said, his voice getting softer, “this is unprecedented.  Nobody would have believed…”

I’m sure they said something more after that, but it was about that moment that sleep claimed me.  In hindsight I’m not even sure that the whole thing wasn’t just a hallucination, so I also choose not to talk about the kissing noises, the rustling of cloth, or the other voices I’m not even sure I heard.  Impaz woke me up at about two in the morning to take watch anyway, which left me some time to think.

I looked up at the night sky.  The stars were different.  None of the constellations I was familiar with were in the firmament.  If the land weren’t so familiar, I would have said that this was a Hyrule altogether different.  Oh, I see something shiny falling down, though my eyes are a little blurred from lack of sleep. Probably a star fragment – it might be rare but at the moment it’s not worth leaving camp.  I should make sure that the Princess and Impaz are safe first.  I’ll just take note of where it fell – somewhere close to Goron City.  If someone else picks that up, it’s fine, it’s all finder’s keepers anyway.  That, and I can just buy it from them.  Hold on, do they still take the Rupee for currency in this time?  I may or may not be carrying enough to ruin the economy here.

A few more hours passed as I spaced off in front of the campfire, and then daylight broke.  It was Impaz who first emerged from his tent, who then entered the Princess’s tent and gently tapped her on the shoulder.  “Rise and shine, Princess Sleepyhead,” he said.

“Nnngggh,” the Princess replied.

“Come on,” Impaz said.  “I’ll make you some of that chocolate you love.”

“With honey?”  The Princess still wasn’t getting up out of her cot.

“And whatever else you want me to put in it,” Impaz said.

What is chocolate anyway?  The King had mentioned that he would have the cooks make me some when we were in the castle, but never got around to it.  I know it was busy and all that but it got me curious.

Impaz pulled out some Brightbloom seeds and tossed them into the fire.  While he roasted them, he prepared some honey and milk in a separate bowl and mixed them together.

“I’m grateful that you’re here, Sir Link, really I am,” Impaz said.  “Having you here puts less pressure on Princess Zelda and allows her more freedom.”

That’s nice to hear.  My Zelda was only even more pressured when I showed up.

“I’m afraid I must ask for your assistance on something, Sir Link,” Impaz continued.  “As much as I enjoy allowing the Princess to go where she wants to, I don’t want her to be unsafe, and I am but one man.”  He craned his neck to try to listen for the Princess’ breathing as she slept, soft as it may be.  “I can’t follow her around absolutely everywhere, and you have a spirit much like hers – very curious and prone to investigating things that catch your interest.”

I also listened for the Princess’s breathing, and I was surprised to be able to hear it from here, while she was still inside her tent.  The Princess does give me the impression that she would like to go and explore.

“Well, her curious spirit was dampened after her mother died,” Impaz said.  “It is my hope that being around someone with a similar spirit will reignite her drive, so to speak.  You know once she went into the Lost Woods all by herself?  After that she displayed the powers showing that she was truly of the Goddess’s Blood, not that it needed any proving though.”

You’re being awful talkative to me today.  Also, didn’t the Princess say something to the effect that her mother trained her to awaken her powers?

“The Princess and I had a little talk last night and she decided we could bring you into our confidence on a few more things.  There are also things you must be aware of.”  The Brightbloom seeds were roasted dark and now gave off a very rich smell, a major part of the aroma of the chocolate that the King had given me a few days ago.  He then crushed them and mixed them in a porcelain bowl with some hot water until it formed a smooth, dark brown mixture with droplets of oil on the top, to which he added the honey-milk mixture from earlier, which made it a much lighter brown.  The mixture was poured into three separate mugs.

“This is a very rudimentary way to make chocolate,” Impaz said.  “The cooks at Hyrule Castle would know the more refined way of processing the Brightbloom seeds, but those are the main ingredient of chocolate.”

I tried cooking Brightbloom seeds for myself once and only came up with Simmered Fruit, which didn’t even heal all that much at all.  This new way of preparing them looks promising.

“Have some, Sir Link, while I wake the Princess.”

I help myself to one of the cups of chocolate.  Indeed, it’s not as smooth as the chocolate that the King gave me, but the major flavor is there.  I’ll have to teach this to some of the chefs at home and maybe they can improve on it as well.  Hateno managed to make milk out of cheese curds.  This new delicacy should be good.  It’s also giving me a lot of energy somehow; it almost feels this could be the only meal I’ll have for the morning.

“Good morning, Sir Link,” the Princess said as she emerged from her tent.  She had gotten dressed in simpler clothes, much like I had seen my Zelda wear before taking a bath in a nearby river.  I assume she’ll be doing the same after breakfast.

We drank our breakfast together while Impaz played some music on a small harp he carried around – a slightly faster tempo of Zelda’s Lullaby.  I thought you wanted the Princess to wake up, not head back to bed.  Princess Gunhilde at least seemed energized after that, so after she had taken a bath in the hot waters near the base of Death Mountain, we were off to Goron City.

The climb was uneventful though we saw some Eldin Ostriches which the Princess and I took turns shooting down with our bows (well, my bow, and her Zapper set to a lower power rating so she wouldn’t obliterate the bird in one shot).  She had good aim with it even for moving objects.  The Zonaite Bow would have to do for now, I didn’t want to bring out the Twilight Bow as Zelda told me that it was a royal heirloom from a time long forgotten and they would probably be scandalized that I had it in my possession.  The Zonaite Bow had a long range suited for hunting but had to be charged with the batteries to enable its furthest range, which limited my rate of fire somewhat.  After we had collected the meat from five birds (two from the Princess, two from me, and one from Impaz who had thrown a knife lightning-fast from twenty paces away and stuck the bird in the neck) we packed the meat in my Purah Pad and carried on.

We made our way halfway to the peak of Death Mountain, where Goron City was.  The air was burning hot and if it weren’t for the fireproof elixir I would have been burning up.  It was a good thing that the troops there had in fact brought some fireproof elixir otherwise I would have been forced to wear the fireproof suit, which would have forced me to take off the Ancient Hero’s Aspect.

“Hello there!” a Goron with Daruk’s face and Daruk’s voice but was not Daruk said to us.  “Name’s Rudania, it’s a pleasure to meet’cha.  Say, you all must be hungry after climbing the mountain!  We’ve prepared a royal feast for you and the King’s men!”

Another Goron came out of a stone house and brought out a large platter of rock roasts.  “Dig in!”  Rudania said.  The Princess looked a little confused – surely, she must be thinking right about now, someone should have told the Gorons that Hylians eat flesh, not rock?  Well, it’s their loss – this is literally full of minerals.  I take one and put it to my mouth – it’s still as hard as ever, but I’ve eaten worse.  The Ancient Hero’s Aspect seems to be helping me chew through the rock, which is a pleasant surprise.

“By Din, you are a true brother to the Gorons!” one of them exclaimed from the side.  Rudania patted me on the back, which actually meant that he smacked me real hard causing me to cough up a bit of the rock roast back into my mouth.  I swallowed it back down and gave a grin.

A Goron with a frown decided to chime in.  “Hold on!  He may have eaten some of the Rock Roast, but does that make him a true brother yet?”  The Goron pointed his finger at me.  “My name’s Bonobo, and I challenge you to a match in the ring of honor!”

I’d seen this before in Goron City where two Gorons would shove into each other and the first to land on the ground on anything but their feet would lose.  I wonder if the tail counts.  The Gorons would look down on us if I refused and it might throw the reputation of the Hero at stake, so I am obliged to accept the challenge.  Now to prepare for the match…

Chapter Text

We set foot in the ring of honor, which was slowly being heated by flames underneath it.  Thankfully the Fireproof elixir wasn’t wearing off any time soon, but it was still burning hot, literally!  Thankfully this seemed to be more ceremonial, and the frown’s just there for show – Gorons are in general friendly and this is just part of their ways in welcoming others.  At least, that’s how I choose to think about it!

“Can Sir Link really do this?” Princess Gunhilde said, concern on her face.

“I don’t know,” Impaz said, “but we’re going to find out.”

There’s no way for me to outmatch a Goron in raw physical strength, which was what Goron Grappling was all about, but it’s entirely possible for me to outsmart them.  A Goron’s strength also comes with surprising agility, which you wouldn’t expect from beings so large of frame.  I don’t think the form of the Ancient Hero grants me any boosts to raw strength, either.  With that said, I’ll have to rely on what Daruk told me was my one advantage –

As Rudania gave the signal, Bonobo charged at me like a snowball hurtling down the peaks of Hebra, and I pretended to have a shield and deflected the charge instantly.  I’ve parried Guardian beams, Lynel slashes, and falling chunks of castle before.  In retrospect, I wonder if I could parry the ground before I hit it?  Bonobo staggered back a step and I took the opening and thrust my right palm forward, knocking him on his back.

The look on his face was astonishment, his mouth opened wide as he breathed shallowly.  I extended my right hand forward to help him.

“Man, you sure showed me!” he said in good humor, taking my hand and pulling gently to help himself get back up.  “No Goron should ever underestimate you!”

“The winner is Link!” Rudania proclaimed.  “Bring out the Prime Rock Roast!”

After more merriment and my inability to make small talk which I compensated with by showing that I could eat several rock roasts without any stomach problems, I saw a younger Goron running with a tray full of precious gems that caught my eye – glittering, uncut rubies, sapphires, topazes, and diamonds worth a small fortune in my time.  Forget buying Zelda and I a new house in Tarrey Town, I think I could buy Tarrey Town itself with that many gems!  The little Goron went up to Impaz and showed the tray full of gems to him.

“Oh!  Thank you, thank you very much little Goron,” Impaz said.  “This will be very helpful in making more of our Guardians.”

“Anytime, goro!” the little Goron said.  Impaz walked over to me with the tray in hand.  “Sir Link, could you do me a favor and hold on to these in your Purah Pad?  I’d do it myself, but the prototypes we have – they’re not ready yet.”

I think I lost count of how many gems Impaz handed me.  I wonder if they knew how to bring out the magical properties of these gems even in this time.  I know that we use them for clothing – rubies help keep warm in the cold, sapphires keep you cool in the heat – but I didn’t know that they used these in the Guardians and other technology.  I guess it stands to reason, though, because their latent magical properties would be useful to operate a machine like that, but of course I wouldn’t really know.  This is more of Zelda’s expertise, not mine.

“Sir Link,” Gunhilde said from behind me – wait, how did she get there?  I turn to face her. “What you did earlier, in the match against Bonobo.  What was that?”

Oh, the parry?  The formal name is a Perfect Guard.

“Could you teach me how to do it?  I’m learning so much from you!”

I want to say sure, but I don’t know how to teach it.  It comes with practice, I can certainly help with that.  Also, do the knights now not know how to do that?

Impaz and Princess Gunhilde exchanged glances, then Impaz looked back at me.  “I know not what manner of monstrous strength you have, Sir Link, but what you do isn’t just uncommon, it’s unheard of.”

Uh, thanks? I guess?  I scratch the back of my head.  Gunhilde can still learn the form if she so wishes, but it’s more of instinct.  I don’t even remember if I was taught this formally.

“It looked more like you did tennis there and backhanded him like a ball,” Princess Gunhilde said.

Gorons can turn into big balls when they’re moving in a hurry, so that’s not wrong.  I should demonstrate later what happens when you fuse a shield to a sword, then.

Another Sheikah approached us, standing at attention in front of Impaz but with his head bowed and face obscured by his wide-brimmed hat.  He held his closed fist in front of his left breast.  “Chief Impaz,” he said.  “The Goddess has blessed me with a vision.”

“Tell us about it on the way,” Impaz said, gesturing for the Sheikah to walk and guide us to where they had the vision.

“The Goddess has shown me,” and I only noticed now that the fellow was slightly out of breath, “that we shall construct a Divine Beast to be commandeered by a chosen Goron.”

“I see,” Princess Gunhilde said.  “Would we happen to find a physical manifestation of the vision there like we did in Lanayru?”

It should be the case, I think.  At least, what I’ve gone through, I know it gets repetitive in each region.  I’ll probably see Vah Medoh and Vah Naboris be constructed too.

We reached the destination sooner than I thought we would, north of Death Mountain.  The Sheikah walk deceptively fast when they have somewhere to be, and thankfully I could keep up with them.  It’s as if steep hills, burning lava, or falling cliffs don’t really stop them!  However, I could tell that the Princess was getting a little tired, so I decided to give her a stamina-boosting elixir so she could keep up.

The destination – another shallow puddle in the ground surrounded by Silent Princesses – was reached in a short time.  Princess Gunhilde was still trying to catch her breath by the time we had gotten to it.  Again I inspected the Dragon’s Tear and found myself going through Zelda’s memories again.

It was again the same as for Vah Ruta, I’ll spare you the details; she toured Daruk through the internal mechanisms of Divine Beast Vah Rudania, showing the ways in which it harnessed the power from the caldera of Death Mountain – or rather, redirecting the energy from it to prevent a cataclysmic eruption.  That’s a duplex shot for sure – hitting two birds with one arrow.  The engineering and technological discussion went right over my head, and I think the same was happening to Daruk too.  She was very thorough with it, but I just couldn’t follow.

We had exited the trance given to us by the Dragon’s Tear and the Sheikah from earlier was already jotting notes down in a shorthand I didn’t know how to read or decipher.  Penn’s cucco-scratch had nothing on this.  He finished writing down in his notebook and looked at Impaz.  “Chief,” he said, “I’m going to talk right away to Boss Rudania.  We’ll have to design the Divine Beast for him as the Goddess has shown us.”

If I didn’t have to keep a straight face and my secrets away I’d laugh.  What a mess.  Zelda’s really the reason the Divine Beasts were even made in this image, I’m guessing now.  Is this was she meant by a Stable Time Loop?  Then where did the ideas for the Divine Beasts really originate?  Is this a cucco and egg thing?  Then again, I don’t think it’s important as long as the time loop is stable.  Goddess, Zelda going back in time to the founding of Hyrule really got me confused.  Shouldn’t they have heard of the Master Sword by then?  And yet there was no mention of it whatsoever by Rauru.  All I got was “We rely on your knight and that legendary sword that he carries.  Our last line of defense will be Link.”  Glad I lived up to his expectations while on the Great Sky Island, and hopefully he didn’t see everything I did after jumping off the Temple of Time.  I admit that sometimes – only sometimes – I get so easily distracted that you’d think I wasn’t looking for Zelda, that were was no sense of urgency.

“Sir Link, are you alright?” Princess Gunhilde said.  I was lost in thought again.  “Makie – one of the Sheikah – said that there’s a strange glowing rock she’d like us to look at.  It matches the description of the Shrine we saw earlier.”

I see.  Lead the way then, Princess!  She walked us all the way to Eldin’s Flank, where the familiar spiraling light of a Zonai shrine came from.  Impaz, the Princess, and I walked towards it at a relaxed pace.  It wouldn’t do good to tire ourselves out in case something needed our energy.

“Fascinating,” the Princess said.  “Oh look there’s one of those seals on the doorway again.”

Again she took off her glove and touched it to the Shrine’s seal, glowing gold as the portal opened in front.  She was about to walk into the Shrine when Impaz called out, “Princess!”

“What is it?” she replied.

“Wait, please,” he said, and turned to me.  “Sir Link, would it be alright if we let the Princess borrow your Purah Pad for a while?  To take pictures of the inside,” he added after he must have seen the look on my face.  I nodded and handed it to her, and then the Princess went inside the Shrine, leaving me and Impaz outside in the hot Eldin sun.

I looked around.  There was a pile of blue rocks a few meters away, just begging me to take a hammer to them and see what lies in it, but I resisted the urge somehow; I’ll probably show the Princess how to take care of such things later.  It’s not like I can bomb it right now either.  The air is still burning hot and if I pull out explosives here I might blow myself and Impaz up.  I tried using Ultrahand on some of the rocks but couldn’t grasp them – then again not everything could be held by Ultrahand after all.  Imagine just carrying around a sky island to throw at enemies.

Speaking of which, seeing as there are no enemies nearby, I’m taking out some wood and ignited it with a flamethrower shield.  I pat the ground next to me beside the flame as I sit in front of the campfire, waiting for the Princess to finish the Shrine.  Impaz took out more Brightbloom seeds and started roasting them in the fire as we waited.  I, too, started roasting some apples and meat in the fire.

The sun was about to set when we heard the Princess’s voice coming out of the Shrine, wearing brand new gloves – well, gauntlets are a more apt term for it.  There’s a contraption on the back of her forearms attached to the gloves, looking somewhat like a cannon.

“Check it!” the Princess said. “They’re called the Power Gloves!”

“That looks old, Princess.  What do they do?”

“Here, I’ll show you!” And she jogged towards the pile of blue rocks I saw earlier.  I cover my ears in advance, I feel like I know what’s about to happen – yes, in a single punch she turned the whole pile of rocks into dust.  When she was about to hit it I saw a thick spike thrust out of the cannon-like thing too.

Once the dust settled we saw that the blue rocks were covering a hole with a metal chest deep in it.  She tried reaching for it but it was too deep for her to reach, so I assisted by using Ultrahand to fish it out and place it in front of her.

“Thank you, Sir Link,” she said, and opened the chest.  Inside was a stack of papers, aged with the times, written so long ago that the ink had started to eat the sheets.  Impaz shut the chest closed as soon as he saw the contents.

“Princess, we need to transport these back to the lab immediately,” he said, his tone reverent.  “We need to decipher these before time further destroys the paper it’s written on.  I think this was buried here specifically because the hot weather would keep the paper dry, it barely ever rains here somehow.”

Princess Gunhilde nodded. “As you say, Impaz.  How do we get this back to the laboratory?”

“We’ll head back to the encampment near Goron City and give the chest to the research division of whichever faction’s there,” he replied.  “Latest update however tells me that the Grand Sheikah are better at restoring past artifacts.”

We walked back to the camp – is what I would have said if the Princess hadn’t requested to be back at camp sooner, so I made a vehicle to cross the lava flows with. Big wheels, fused-together slabs of cooled rock, and a steering stick, and we crossed the lava flows in our path easily.  My batteries hadn’t even begun to run dry by the time we made it back, whereupon I unfused the chest from the vehicle and Impaz handed it to another Sheikah after giving concise instructions.

A Hylian soldier approached me while Impaz and the Princess were discussing the contents of the chest.  I assume he was able to understand some of it precisely because he snapped it shut as soon as he saw it, knowing that it was important.  The soldier stood at attention, saluting me, showing that he bore no weapon in his hand.

“Sir Link, I am Bister, and I was sent by the King here to give you a message.”  Go on then.  “The King instructs you to come back to the castle to oversee the training of the troops and advise his marshals on what could be needed.”  I certainly hope I won’t have to do any training personally, but this seems alright.  I’ll also ask Impaz later how well they’ve gotten on in Guardian development.  I nod at Bister’s direction in acknowledgement and make a fist over my heart, as if holding a sword pointing outwards – muscle memory took over, this is the salute of the Royal Guard from my time.  Bister took that as his dismissal cue and marched off.

“What was that about?” Gunhilde said.  She must have seen the soldier moving away.

I’m going to have to move back to the castle, the King requests my presence there to train the troops.  Is Impaz here?  How go the Guardians?

“Ah, Sir Link,” Impaz replied, “I was actually hoping to speak with you about that.  We are going to have to go back to the castle anyway because I’d also like you to have a look at how they’re moving now.  The Royal Sheikah are interested in obtaining real combat data for them, but since they’re a bit too powerful we’re unable to get flesh-and-blood intelligent combatants to fight them.”

Have you tried getting them to fight monsters?  What I’d give to see a Guardian fighting a Lynel.

“We have in fact used Guardians with some success in clearing out some new monster encampments that we’ve seen,” Impaz continued, “but the Royal Sheikah insist that the Hero of Hyrule should at least give his blessing to them, so to speak.”

Ah, of all the things I didn’t expect to be fighting Guardians again.  Fighting one is easy, though I hope not to be overwhelmed by their numbers.

“By the time we get back to the castle and finish our duties there, the chest’s contents should have been deciphered, I think?” Gunhilde said.  “We should also send more researchers here in case there are other artifacts that may be discovered.”  She stifled a yawn and did a subtle stretch while she massaged her legs.  I know, I used to do that too after long days of walking and exploring Shrines.  I hope the Shrine didn’t rough you up too badly, Princess.

“The Power Gloves feel good to use.  I can even carry objects that I normally wouldn’t have the strength to, in addition to their powerful punches you saw me do earlier.  In fact, Sir Link,” she said as she walked backwards a few paces from me, “do me a favor and throw a rock at me.”

Are you sure about this, Princess?

“Yes I’m sure,” she said, and brought out a small shield made with Sheikah technology – oh, an Ancient Shield!  I’ve missed seeing those.  I recognize the stance she’s doing – it’s mine, and she’s going to try and parry the stone.  I pick up a rock the size of my fist, bounce it in the air to get an idea of how heavy it is (it’s not too heavy), and toss it at the Princess –

Who then does a Perfect Guard with such speed that I had to snatch the rock out of midair with Rewind to stop its momentum and let it drop.  Impaz made a weird noise.

“Ah, right, Sir Link,” the Princess said, and handed me back my Purah Pad.  “I managed to take some photographs of the Shrine’s interior, but forgive me for unintentionally intruding on your privacy.”

Oh, she saw the photos on the Pad.  I had forgotten to hide those from her!

“And doubly forgive me for some questions that I must ask you in the castle.  Don’t worry, it will only be Impaz and I asking you.  There are some photographs that I – no, we – need to ask you about, specifically.  Very intriguing murals.  You’re quite the historian yourself, aren’t you, Sir Link?”

I don’t think that’s me; I was just helping other people out.  If anything, it’s Zelda who’s the real historian.  The Zonai Exploration Team also asked me to take some pictures for them, I might have just forgotten to delete some.

“The Sheikah elders said that the Goddess Hylia Herself imparted a vision to them,” Impaz said, “and it’s why we dedicate ourselves to studying the history of Hyrule as much as we can.”  He put away his slate where he was writing – I didn’t even notice that he was writing all this time.  “They said the Goddess lamented that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”

Part of me wants to disagree with that, because we certainly remembered how Calamity Ganon was beaten in this time I’m in now, and I paid for that with a hundred-year nap and most of my memories. I'm not even sure I've recovered all of them.

Chapter Text

The Hyrulean carriage carried the Princess and Impaz back to the castle while I rode beside it on a horse I caught near the stable.  What would they ask me now?  Thought I was straightforward enough with what I did say already.  It must have been something the Princess saw in the Purah Pad.  What if she saw those pictures of the monsters Kilton asked me to take?  Oh, really should have deleted all the pictures there before handing her the pad… but I’m not deleting the only pictures Zelda took on the pad, even though I could.

Gotta think about something else.  The horse will be fine and can steer us both – something I liked about horses versus vehicles, Zonai or otherwise, is that I don’t have to pay attention to the road.  Never heard of a Hyrulean Knight crash into a tree while riding a horse no matter how drunk they may have been after all.  The worst that happened was that they were sacked for not upkeeping the standard of chivalry, and they were ridiculed for it.  The man’s horse was licking his head by the time he was found in the morning, passed out by the side of the road.  Hope that I don’t have to deal with or train someone as incompetent.  Not sure I have it in me to punish someone for such a breach of discipline.  Incompetent – probably too harsh a word.  Amateur, maybe?  Boorish?  Unrefined?  Can’t imagine ever doing something so unprofessional as a knight.  I look at my hands with their Zonai appearance as I pat the horse to reassure it – I steer with my legs anyway.  I’ve started to get used to these hands, this body, but it’s a relief that I can take it off and have most of my original body when I do.

I mention “as a knight” specifically because after Zelda told me that she had seen all the things I got up to without my memories, she agreed that it wasn’t very gentlemanly or noble of me, but that she liked my liberated self a lot more.  We also agreed to keep up public appearances for when she would eventually have to take back the throne, of course.  A Princess should not be seen with someone who would act so undignified, so I fell back into the trappings of knighthood, at least when there were eyes on me.  In private however, I enjoyed having someone who I could talk to, and who in return would confide in me.  I remember telling her my frustrations when she told me to try and train some of the volunteers for the Monster-Control Crew.  Seen Boss Bokoblins get their underlings into formation better than I could ever get the volunteers to do so, and those bokoblins are willing to die for their leader.  Was always more of a follower than a leader.  Guess I’ll have to step it up too.  Zelda’s depending on me, and I’m not letting her down.

We rode the horses until sundown and camped after we had passed Thims Bridge, at the crossroads of Crenel.  The moon was almost full and bright; I fear that the Blood Moon may come back soon. However, before we went to sleep Impaz went up to me and asked, “Sir Link, would you mind showing me how you fight?”

What do you mean?

“I mean to say a friendly spar?  With wooden swords instead of live steel?”  The Princess was also looking at him and I in anticipation.

At night?  Against a Sheikah?  Alright.  Never backing down from a challenge.  (Ignoring the fact that I had to run away from Lynels and Guardians and Gloom Hands before, of course.  Discretion is the better part of valor, and all that.)  Could always learn something new.  Maybe he’ll teach me how to teleport!  The Yiga taught me how to do the Earthwake technique after all.

“Cease on hit?” he said.  Gave a nod to that.  Took out a wooden sword, Korok-made, from the Purah Pad.  It’s light and easy to swing around.  Impaz in turn took out a simple stick made of polished black wood and did a rapid three-cut practice swing with it, as if cutting the air into ribbons.  I extended my sword to him, touching swords, signaling the start.  Getting into ready stance, a relaxed-looking fool’s guard with multiple apparent openings – something Zelda said was foolhardy for any other knight but me.  Impaz however got into a low stance that gave me a chuckle.  That’s the Yiga stance when they ambush someone.  Guess he might use the night to his advantage – and that he did, vanishing into the shadows.

No shield right now; no need for one, I thought.  Heard something – left ear twitched – danger – dodge – counter with flat of sword – felt a hit – “Hit!” Impaz said, and raised his sword without threat to signal that the first round was over.  Lowered my sword in response.

“Very good, Sir Link,” he said, flicking his sword and wrist.  Princess Gunhilde softly clapped five times; and I saw that the rest of the camp was now also looking at us.  “The instant counter-attack was good.”

A vision of a woman wearing spectacles who bled rose petals suddenly flashed in my mind’s eye and vanished almost as fast as it came.  Really don’t know where I learned how to do a Flurry Rush; it does feel like time slows down around me somehow.

Impaz raised his sword at me again, inviting me to go for another round.  Blades touch, and Impaz jumped back out of sword’s range.  Is this a Sheikah, or a Yiga development?  He’s giving himself enough distance (therefore time) to react to anything I might do.  The space isn’t close enough to make any moves either.  Taking a few steps forward – Impaz sidesteps, and turns into a blur, zigzagging to the left and right – and there’s a hard smack to my left arm!  I’m hit!  I haven’t seen that move in ages.  That was from the Thunderblight, though I’ve seen Maz Koshia use it too.  Well played!

Impaz nodded.  I invite him to one more round, raising my wooden sword to him.  Blades touch, and my sword is the one that goes on a wild swing this time, tracing arcs left and right.  Impaz tried to deflect a swing downwards but I swung it right back up and almost catch him off guard, missing him by inches.  The sword in my hand almost dances, not letting up the momentum, but at the same time there is no power behind the swings, of course.  It would not do to injure your sparring partner too hard, though some injuries are unavoidable.  Impaz jumped back far enough that I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pressure, so I waited for his next move.

Glowing red runes start forming around Impaz and he brings his hands together to vanish in a puff of smoke when they finish making a circle.  Surprises only work the first few times, and the Yiga have attacked me so often now that the timing is in my muscle memory – when I hear the pop of Impaz’s teleport above me, I dodge perfectly again and strike his left arm once.

“Hit!” Impaz said.  Besides that, the soldiers were whispering to one another; “that’s a killer,” “careful they might hear”, “always be on your guard,” “never thought he’d try that in a spar,” “lucky he’s alive”…

“Ahem,” the Princess said.  “Gentlemen, the show of technique is meant to inspire you to train to achieve far greater than you think you can.”  She stepped towards Impaz and I saw a faint glow in her hand as it reached behind him, unseen by the soldiers.  “I trust that Sir Link will teach Hyrule’s knights his ways, and it will be up to all of you, not just the ones here, to keep up.  And I trust that you know that the Sheikah are absolutely, completely loyal to the crown, and that they would never harm an innocent.”

I also saluted Impaz to thank him for the spar, and he did his own salute back, with his hands forming a triangle in front of his heart.  Barely ever seen a Sheikah salute before.  It reminds me of Oman Au, one of the first Shrine Monks I ever saw.

“Gentlemen, I think it is time for you all to sleep.  The Hero will be taking first watch,” the Princess said to dismiss the soldiers and put them all to bed.  In a lower voice she said “We need to talk.”  She led us to the edge of camp, but it felt less like leading and more like dragging us as if we were naughty children about to be disciplined.

“Impaz, by Hylia, what were you thinking?”  She had her hands on her hips and stared up at him.

“Zelda, I don’t understand what you mean at all.”  In the low light I could barely make out his facial features, but I could hear the raised eyebrow in his voice.

“Why would you feel the need to show off the Sheikah arts when there wasn’t a need for it?  You know how most Hyruleans feel about that!”

“Princess, you of all Hylians know of the Sheikah’s bloody history,” he replied, and took a deep breath.  “I merely meant to make a small show of it against someone I had full faith could handle me – a Hero of Hyrule – and show at least a few outsiders that the Sheikah are just as mortal and fallible as any Hylian.”  He got one point on me.  If anything, that makes you extraordinary.  Yes, I know that sounds like bragging but really, it’s not.

“Impaz,” and here Gunhilde’s voice was much softer, “you know as well as I that the general public of Hyrule holds the Sheikah at arm’s length out of caution.”  She took his hand and held it in hers as the glow of the Triforce softly lit their features up.  “While I am very… grateful, for your devotion, please keep covert things covert for now, okay?  We’ll figure something out.”

Dammit, Impaz, kiss her already!  Wait, don’t do that while I’m here.  I’m going to leave and get you two some privacy.  Maybe I’ll stare at the campfire until I burn my retinas out.

“Wait, Sir Link, don’t go!” the Princess said.  “I would ask you something as well.”

Turned to face her and she looked deep in thought.  It was as if the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth right, but it’s ok to wait.

“In your time, Sir Link, how are the Sheikah treated?”

I told her.  Sheikah are Hylians.  Most of them live in Kakariko but some of them do wander Hyrule.  There’s Pikango, a wandering artist who likes to paint with a very abstract form.  Claree makes clothes and is well-known for sharing the Sheikah fashion sense to the rest of Hyrule.  Kakariko village is a quiet, isolated farming community and they’re competent at hunting monsters with bow and arrow.  Other Sheikah are more research-oriented, looking to the past for the use of the Sheikah technology you call Timestones.  The current chief of the Sheikah is also very dedicated to research of the past.  Probably shouldn’t tell them about the current state of Kakariko Village and how it’s become a hub for Zonai research; don’t know how much of the Zonai they know about yet.

“It’s heartening to hear that the Chief of the Sheikah is still a historian and a researcher after countless generations,” Impaz said.

“Same for the way the Sheikah are treated, too,” added Gunhilde.  “Sounds like they’re not feared at all.”

The Yiga are feared, but they’re not Sheikah.  Impa also told Zelda and I over tea that without a Crown to serve and protect against foreign threats for a hundred years, there was no need for any of the Sheikah’s unsavory activities.  “Paya is still trained with full mastery over all of the Sheikah’s arts, of course,” she said casually as she lay her cup down.  “The knowledge of the Sheikah shouldn’t die out just because it’s not needed now.”

“Part of me misses your presence,” Zelda replied.  “Drinking tea with you like this, just like old times, no?”

“I miss you too, Princess, but you know that my knees can’t keep up with you or Link anymore.”  Impa poured herself another cup of green tea, raised the cup to her lips and blew on it gently before drinking.  “As for our tradition of shadowing the Blood of the Goddess, you don’t need to worry about that either.”

Why’s that?

“Link is part Sheikah.”

Huh?  I almost out my tea in surprise.

“You don’t have to act offended about it,” Impa said.  No, it’s because I still don’t remember anything about my family.

“Oh, my apologies.”  She looked genuinely sad.  “I wasn’t aware that you didn’t remember everything.”  Only enough.  Tap my fingers on the table twice and Impa poured me some more tea.  Sometimes I get the feeling that I should remember lots more, but it’s like someone took out those memories; sometimes I feel like I’m about to remember something when I see certain things, like the minecart tracks in Eldin, or the ranch ruins south of the castle.

“Link,” she continued, “even if you remembered, we never told you this – part of the reason the Sheikah were okay with leaving the Princess in your care is that you are part Sheikah, and of course by that time you were already recognized by the Master Sword as the one who carries the Hero’s Spirit.”

Do I really count as a Sheikah, even part of one, if I don’t remember any of it?

“Well for all intents and purposes you’re not a Sheikah; you were never trained as one, you’re not required to live like us, nor do you fight like one either.  Though I know that you shadow the Princess and protect her just as well as any of the Sheikah could.  You’ve fought many Yiga and have bested them at all times, anyway.”  Impa gave a small chuckle.  “Did you know, Link, that beside the Princess you’re very forgettable?  People see Zelda far more often and they don’t pay attention to her bodyguard with his hood up.  Might be the Sheikah instinct in you.”

Maybe.  Then Impa told me a little more about the family I didn’t know I had – how my mother, a Sheikah, met a Royal Knight serving the Crown who came from Lurelin; how her grave was with the other Sheikah beside Kakariko Town (realizing then that I must have passed her grave without knowing it), and how my father raised me by himself because she had died while bringing me into this world.  Not being able to pass through to that area because Calip told me that Zelda commanded it was frustrating, especially when I pieced together that it was impossible that she gave those orders due to her condition.

“You mean to tell me,” Princess Gunhilde said, “that Sheikah and Hylians are indistinct in your time?”

As far as we know we always have been, no?  Only real difference as far as I know is the way of life.  Also, wasn’t there a Princess back then that became a Sheikah?

“Maybe there was and maybe there wasn’t,” Gunhilde said.  “Well that was all interesting to know, but while you’re here, I just want to confirm something.”  Impaz looked at her and then at me, focusing intently.  “Would you mind doing something for me and showing me what you really look like?”

“Conduct yourself in a manner that befits the Hero of Hyrule,” Impa had said, and that did include obeying your requests, Princess.  You should look away first, though.  Looking around to see if there’s anyone else who could see this – and there are none, so it’s ok to take off the Ancient Hero’s Aspect here, leaving me wearing virtually nothing.  …Please stop staring so intensely, Impaz.  I quickly dress in my favorite clothes – a Hylian hood turned down, the Champion’s Leathers, and Hylian trousers.

“It is you in the picture, then!” the Princess exclaimed.  “Let’s show Impaz the picture too, he hasn’t seen it yet.  He has pictures of beneath the castle, you know?  Could I see the armor you just took off, though?”

I let her hold the Ancient Hero’s Aspect and I could see her staring at the visages of the owl, the dragon, and the boar, examining them closely, as if daring them to look back at her.  Then her hand started glowing again and she was for a moment bathed in the golden glow – once it subsided, we saw that she was wearing the Ancient Hero’s Aspect, and looked exactly like the Ancient Hero depicted on the tapestry.

“What happened to me?”

You’re wearing the Ancient Hero’s Aspect; or could it be said that it’s possessing you?  Channeling its power through you?  You should be able to take it off – and she did, again flashing the golden light and.  Uh.  There’s a reason I asked you both to look away as I changed out of that outfit.  If nothing else, she really does resemble her descendant almost exactly, even in less clothing.  Covering my eyes real quick with my right arm before Impaz stabs me or something to protect her honor.  While my eyes are closed I hold out my left arm to ask for the Ancient Hero’s Aspect back, and I feel the weight of the armor drop into my hand.  I put it on and stow my clothes into the Purah Pad.

“May I see the pictures, Sir Link?”

Taking out the Purah Pad and scrolling to the section of the pictures Zelda took underneath Hyrule Castle.  I learned my lesson – not to hand over a device that contains photos that you took.  It’s like asking someone to read through your diary.  I mean, I’ve read my fair share of diaries, but it’s their fault for just leaving them out in the open where anyone can read them.

“The statues, they really are of Zonai origin?” Gunhilde said.  She had somewhat the same look that Impaz often got, except instead of Guardian gears whirring around it gave me the impression of someone putting puzzle pieces together.  “I can at least tell you’re really Hylian, Link.  That arm of yours is indisputably Zonai though.”

Long story.  Probably shouldn’t talk about the desiccated Demon King in your basement either.

“No, this time I insist on an explanation,” Gunhilde insisted and stared at me.  “I’ve seen that arm before, in the depths of the castle that are now sealed off.  It was keeping a great evil sealed in place.  How do you have that arm?”

Chapter Text

“Impa,” Zelda said.  They sat in the attic of the Sheikah Chief’s house, sipping tea just like they used to a century ago at the castle, before the Calamity burned the fields of Hyrule.  Link was outside as Zelda had instructed, doing errands for some of the shop-owners.  He didn’t mind at all, and was always happy to help as he did the delicate task of attaching volatile explosives to arrows to make Bomb Arrows.

“Yes, Princess?” the grandmother replied, her face a perfect expression of contentment and relaxation.

The Princess continued sipping her tea with her pinky in the air as she looked at the aged Sheikah in front of her.  Satisfied for now, she set the cup down.  “You know, I wasn’t able to see much of Hyrule while I kept the beast in the castle.  I was only able to see Hyrule through Link’s eyes once he had risen from the grave.”

“Perhaps it is for the better, Princess,” was the reply as Impa reached for the teapot and refilled their cups again.  “It was a tragedy, but we can’t go back in time to fix it now.”

“Quite so, yes,” Zelda said.  She took a piece of mochi from the table between them and examined its pink fluffy softness, squishing it between her fingers slightly before she put it in her mouth.  “I saw a lot of Hyrule, by the way.  Not all of it, mind you; somehow I couldn’t see inside the Divine Beasts or a lot of the Shrines, but I saw a lot even while I was stuck with Calamity Ganon, and there are a few things that bothered me.”

“I would be happy to listen, Princess,” Impa said as she drank some more tea.  The only indication that she had anything to be worried about was that she didn’t give any indication that she was worried about anything – the poker face was too perfect.  If Zelda noticed, she didn’t show any signs of it, and so she continued.

“I was wondering about that friendly Rito,” she said.  “Link’s told me a lot about him too, this Kass fellow.”  Zelda looked up, thinking about the distinctive instrument that he played.  “He played such lovely music; when Link heard it I could hear it as well, and it gave me some relief while I contained Ganon.”

“That sounds lovely,” Impa said.  “If he passes by Kakariko again, I should make mention of it to him.  He did well.”

“Yes, I should also pay respects to his teacher.”  Zelda nodded at her friend.  “Thank you, Impa.  Link may have forgotten most things about life in the castle before the Calamity first struck us, but I haven’t forgotten that there was no Sheikah court poet.”

Impa let out a laugh, the tension gone from her.  The jig was up.  “Oh, Princess,” she replied, “anything for you and for the Goddess.  Actually,” she continued on, refilling her cup, “it was the Goddess that had granted me a vision to do as I did.”

This piqued Zelda’s interest, and she raised an eyebrow in response.  Impa continued after finishing her tea, and at Zelda’s motion, refilling her own cup and the Princess’s.  “It is true, Princess.  After we had, for lack of a better term, interred Link into the Shrine of Resurrection, I was struck by a vision that I was to pass down my knowledge of certain Shrines to someone outside of the Sheikah.  Purah, bless her heart, was skeptical since such knowledge was to be kept within the family only, but after the signs that the Goddess truly had given me the vision, she relented.”  She gave a satisfied sigh as she relived the memory.  “Obviously I didn’t share all of the Sheikah’s secrets – which even you, Princess, cannot be privy to – but just enough, just pertaining to the Hero as he was called in the texts.  It took me a while to learn an instrument, especially since I had no teacher of my own, but once I did I found a student willing to learn about Hyrule, - its history, legends, and many things that I could safely pass down outside of the Sheikah.  I found Kass, still a young Rito back then, as the flames of Hyrule’s fields died down, and I went to him in the guise of a male Sheikah and taught him everything he knows now.  Gave him the photograph of the Champions too.  I kept it with me all that time until the time was right.”

Zelda chuckled.  “I imagine that the Court Poet was also somewhat autobiographical?”

Impa had the decency to blush while she gave a straight answer.  “Yes, Princess,” she said, “I did like you like that back then, in that way, but times changed, and I, too, found love and a family.  Besides, even when you resented him, you did so with a passion that I could never have invoked in you.  You two were, and are, meant for each other.”

Zelda was taken aback slightly.  “You don’t have any objections if Link and I were to be together?  Not even as the last of the Royal Court of Hyrule?”

“Not in the slightest,” Impa said with cheer in her voice.  “And even then there’s a very old decree that says that the Princess may marry whoever she wishes once she reaches twenty-five years of age.  It is assumed that by then Her Highness will have attained the wisdom necessary to ascertain any suitor’s intention and find the most compatible person for her own good and the good of Hyrule.  Anyway, I find it very amusing that it’s my granddaughter with a crush on Link now!  Ah, c’est la vie .  Link hasn’t shown any romantic intent towards her that I’m aware of, so I’m certain Link feels the same way for you, and honestly it’s been a hundred and seven years by my reckoning.  I’m not getting any younger and I want to attend my best friend’s wedding.”

“Not counting the century that the Calamity took from us, I believe I'm twenty-four now, close to twenty-five myself.  Speaking of which,” Zelda said, “I’d like to ask for a little favor.”  She took the bag from behind her and opened it.

“Yes, Princess?”  Impa laid eyes on what Zelda had brought out of the bag and looked in wonder.

“How’s this for him?” she said, pride clearly audible in her voice.  The white stitching on the sky-blue fabric was, in Impa’s eyes, literally divine.  The outline of the Master Sword lay in front of the chest as it did in the previous work that the Princess Zelda created for her Champion.

“It’s certainly dashing for him, yes,” came the reply.  “Did you recreate his Champion’s Tunic?”

“I added some more protection to it,” Zelda said, shaking the armor a little bit, causing the chainmail underneath to jingle slightly.  “I also added a leather chest guard for his archery so he doesn’t have to focus too hard to not hurt himself when he’s shooting in mid-air.  You know Link’s a bit reckless at times so I – I wanted him to be much safer than he was the last time I made clothing for him.”

Impa stared at the hardened leather sheet covering the front abdomen and the shoulder guard, recalled the massive wounds Link had there as she brought him to the Shrine of Resurrection, and wisely chose to say nothing and just nod solemnly.

“Could you put these in the throne room’s secret compartment for me?” Zelda continued.  “I would do it myself, but you know that Link’s always around to make sure I’m safe.  I’d like to surprise him with this, at least.”

Impa nodded again, this time lost in thought as to how she would do that without her joints and back killing her on the way.  It was a request from the Princess, so she would do it regardless.

Not a week would pass from this that Zelda would fall into the chasm underneath Hyrule.  After Impa found out that Zelda was turned into a dragon from which there would be no return, sometimes she would wake in the middle of the night cursing that she wasn’t able to say goodbye.

Chapter Text

Looks like I have to talk about the dehydrated Demon King in your basement, then, seeing as you already know about it.  If you know about the arm, then that means you’ve seen Ganondorf, and that means you’ve been through the caverns that precede the Sealing Chamber.  No wonder you were so intently staring at my arm before.  I thought the space beneath Hyrule Castle was sealed off and that her father had told her nobody was allowed down there.

“The space beneath Hyrule Castle was sealed off at the last order from the late Queen, Zelda’s mother,” Impaz said.  Now he too was looking at me like a Guardian about to fry me with a beam of light again.  “We built a gigantic seal on top of the entrance as well to make sure that nobody could get in.”  The stare - his eyes widened ever so slightly, and then narrowed again.  He gave a small nod, pulled out his notes, and started jotting something down again.

A look of realization, and then shock, was developing on Gunhilde’s face as the holy light on the back of her hand started glowing more intensely.  “So you mean to tell me,” she said, her voice incredulous and strained, “that in the future, the monster that creature held back escaped?”

No easy way to say it, so I’ll just say it – yes.

“I see.”  Her face was stony, her gaze cast down.  She took a deep breath.  “Sir Link, please, get some sleep.  I’ll take watch tonight.”  And she turned to Impaz as well.  “I will be fine by myself; I’ll wake you when it’s your turn.”

It felt like someone had stuffed my stomach with the coldest Hebra ice.  Part of me was screaming to stay awake anyway and make sure that she would be safe.  From the few memories I did have before my hundred-year nap, Zelda would try to escape when there were no eyes on her.

Impaz tugged at my arm and made eye contact with me, then looked to the side while moving his head slightly – ah, “we should go off somewhere and give her space”, you mean.  We headed back to camp but then wordlessly Impaz guided me up Crenel Peak.  Got it.

Once we silently reached the peak (and because my outfit right now wasn’t stealthy, I had to consume some of my supply of cooked Silent Princesses, to which Impaz reacted with a mix of confusion and revulsion), we looked towards the direction where the Princess stood, with an Ancient Short Sword in her left hand as some Stalkoblins – five, at my count, and they don’t look exactly like the Stalkoblins I’m used to – approached her.

In her right hand she had powered on an Ancient Shield and silently walked towards the monsters as they, too, approached her.  I was about ready to draw my blade to assist but Impaz held me back.  “Sir Link, she can handle herself.  Observe.”

As a Stalkoblin made to attack her, she raised her shield and did a Perfect Guard, staggering the skeletal monster.  With the sword in her left hand, she cut off the monster’s head and it rolled off to the ground which she quickly stepped towards and stabbed straight through, crumbling it into dark dust.  Four more to go.

Another one charged straight at her.  Thankfully Bokoblins and other similar monsters don’t display higher level tactics if there are no Boss Bokoblins around to command them.  She dodged that one to the side as well and countered by punching the skeleton in the face with her shield, cracking the skull open and taking it out of the fight.

Noticed something important - she’s making a mistake, allowing herself to be surrounded even if it’s just three Stalkoblins.  I don’t know how much she can take and if her armor’s enchanted enough to mitigate the damage she might receive.  I take a bow out and fuse an arrow with a Dazzlefruit just in case she gets in more trouble. 

“Have faith in the Princess,” Impaz said, eyeing my readied tools.  Your voice betrays your concern, though, so I’m not letting go of my prepared bow and arrow.

A Stalkoblin is doing its best impression of sneaking up behind her, but I see what she’s doing – readying the sword to her side, getting into the proper position, and winding up.  She released the tension like a bow looses an arrow, knocking back all three Stalkoblins in a circular arc.  That was a good Spin Attack, though it could have been executed with better form or faster.  Then again, fighting’s not about speed, it’s about timing; a slow tempo can still beat a fast fighter.  Room for improvement, but if it works, it works.

She drew the Zapper and shot the skulls in rapid succession, much like one of those Guardian Scouts I saw in some Shrines of Test of Strength.  The back of her hand glowed with every bolt.  She aimed true and with the practiced ease of someone who knows that slow is steady is accurate is fast.  She’s probably at the level where Revali would mock her outwardly but be insecure inwardly.  Teba shared some Rito words of wisdom to me before – “The skilled hawk hides its talons.”  Getting to the level of skill the Princess is at now would take some level of training.  If I were still a knight, and she were a page and not a princess, I’d give her good marks; there were some improvements that could be made, like allowing herself to be surrounded in the first place.  It would have been fine if there was someone watching her back, though.

The Stalkoblins were dealt with, so she tucked away her weapons in her pouch.  That does make sense why the Sheikah designed them that way – not everyone has a magical Purah Pad or Sheikah Slate that contains an armory, much less one enhanced with Korok magic and “seeds”.  The weaponry was light and portable, folding into itself when not in use. 

“She likes letting loose on monsters when she’s mad,” Impaz said as he stowed his daggers – when had he brought them out?  “Some of that, the Sheikah had to teach her, but most of what you just saw were things she discovered on her own, like the Spin Attack you saw there.”  He started descending the peak and I followed him down.  “The Spin Attack isn’t very practical or viable; you’d have to have eyes in the back of your head to use it right, but she makes it work somehow.”

There are more senses than just sight; sometimes the enemies make noise behind you and instead of showing that you know they’re there, you can just do a spin attack once you sense that they’re close.  Impa had remarked once that I was almost impossible to sneak up on for some reason – Paya had tried to grab my attention by tapping me on the back and I had turned before she even got within arm’s reach of me.

A soft thud drew my ear and I turned to look at it.  The Princess had fallen on her knees, sitting on her feet, with her hands in her face.  Muffled sobs, faint as they were through the distance, tugged at my heartstrings.  What’s got her like this?  Part of me wants to go down there and comfort her, tell her that everything’s going to all right at this very moment.  I wish I could have done the same for my Zelda when she suffered and I didn’t know why.

“Sir Link,” Impaz said behind me in sotto voce , “we can – no, we will talk about this later.”

Followed Impaz down the hill, made my way to the tent, and laid down on the cot, where sleep failed to take me even as the sun rose in the east.  What was that about?  What happened?  Even when she greeted me good morning and told me to eat breakfast, her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes yet.  Breakfast itself was a quiet affair despite my best attempt at cooking salmon risotto.  I think it tasted great, at least.  As we rode back to the castle, taking up to the afternoon, she was sneaking glances at my - Rauru’s arm every now and then.  When she saw the castle approaching, she stowed her arms in her pouch before she descended the carriage, where the King was waiting near the Sanctum’s entrance.

“Welcome back, my dear!” the King greeted as he approached his daughter for an embrace, which she returned warmly.  “How was the trip to Goron City?”  Impaz had also gotten off his horse and was approached by another Sheikah, who started talking to him in a whisper.

“We learned a few things from them,” she replied, “and it seems we can still trade for their gemstones easily.  The Goddess has also left a vision there for the Sheikah to construct a Divine Beast to be piloted by a Champion from the Gorons.”

A look of worry flashed in the King’s face but he suppressed it quickly.  “Mm, I see,” he said as he stroked his beard.  Under his breath, in a voice so faint I could only barely make it out, I heard him mutter “would be nice if the projects paid for themselves… hope the Goron’s Divine Beast mines enough gemstones to pay for itself at least… ”

“Sir Link!” another voice said.  “Apologies, Your Majesty,” the soldier who called out to me said to the King.  I think his name was Bister?  “We were here to fetch Sir Link as you said so that he could train the Royal Guard.”

“Good timing, soldier,” King Ganeva replied.  “Well, Sir Link, I would request that you train them, or at least test them if they are sufficient.”  The King flashed me a grin.  “Before the crown perched upon my head, it was I who trained these soldiers.  They have my confidence and I hope that they can at least surprise a hero such as yourself!”

Salute like a knight back to the King, and I took a few steps to follow Bister when I heard “Father,” from the Princess. “Father, may I observe them as well?”

“And why would you do that?” her father replied.  He looked her over from head to toe.  “Swordplay isn’t something that you should be doing, my dear.”  His eyes lingered on her pouch, which she had her hand on. 

“Well,” she said, with a slight pause that made me think that she had thought this over but didn’t know how it would turn out, “I was going to see if there was anything I could do to help, that’s all.  Maybe I could heal them if something goes awry in practice.  Our soldiers may be trained by you, but they are not as familiar with Sir Link’s form, and so there will likely be injuries.  I would practice my healing magic, it’s not as good as it could be.”

The King stroked his beard and gave it some thought.  “I suppose I can understand wanting to heal the wounded,” the King replied after a while.  “But please, don’t get any ideas about getting into a fight.  I wouldn’t want to lose you too.”

Gunhilde gave her father a big, warm hug.  “You won’t lose me, Father,” she said.

“I just don’t want to lose you like we lost your mother,” he said.  “Stay away from danger.”

She nodded in response, and my ears perked up as I heard the faint flutter of wings from right above us. I looked up to see a Rito with blue feathers descending from the sky and landing right beside Impaz.  The strange Rito was wearing goggles – reminded me of Robbie’s, really – a large, heavy-looking coat with many pockets, and a strange, short-brimmed hat that had a triangular crease on top.

“Sir Link,” Impaz said, “I have the honor to introduce you to Medoh, a very good friend of mine.”  He emphasized the “very” like he had re-dipped his pen into the ink just for one word.  “We’re going to need his services to help you out with what I think is the reason you’re here.”  He made a strange sign where he touched his hand - his forefinger specifically, as he held his palm open - to the tear-eye marking on his head while looking up at the sky.  “Meet us after sundown in the library, please.”

I can do that.  As the two of them walked off, I went to the soldiers I was going to be assessing.  I’m far more used to fighting monsters and assassins, so this should be something new.

—

I must admit, the King trained his soldiers well.  Some of these formations I will take for myself and bring back to my Hyrule.  Their style of spearmanship is different by far to what I’ve seen – the Zora may be the masters of the spear in terms of elegance and dueling, but the King saw strength in numbers and decided to make a formation of a spiked mass of soldiers with their shields raised.  They call their special spears “pikes”, and they are far too heavy to be used one-handed for regular troops.  I tried using one and it felt like using a claymore.  From what I’ve seen, the reason that these formations aren’t used in my Hyrule is that they’re too close together.  Perhaps this is meant more for fighting men, and not fighting monsters.  The formation would certainly be broken if a much stronger monster was to oppose it.  Gunhilde had her hands full with healing the bruises on the soldiers, and by the end of it she too was exhausted in a different way.  I’ll have to write a report for the King later regarding his troops.

“Hylia above, it almost feels like I can’t walk,” she said as we retired to the castle for the night.  “Using light magic for that long is draining!”

I start walking with her to the castle library.  My Zelda managed to do it for a hundred years without rest and I’m still in awe of her.  You’ll get there too.  I mean, it stands to reason that this Princess will, because she was the one who first sealed Calamity Ganon with the Ancient Hero.

Wait.

I am stupid.  I keep walking with the princess to the library, but I pay no mind to my feet nor my surroundings.

If I’m here in the time of the first Calamity Ganon, looking like the Ancient Hero, wouldn’t that mean that I am the Ancient Hero?

But then the Master Sword specifically mentioned that I am not the Hero of this time; and the King has said that the Hero of this day has not been found yet.

Honestly my first guess would have been Impaz, given how close he is to the Princess, but he says that he’s not the Hero and that the Master Sword had already rejected him.  Is there a rule or something that says that the Hero can’t be a Sheikah?  Every now and then I like to imagine that mummified old monk Maz Koshia walking up to the Sanctum and shoving Calamity Ganon’s teeth down his digestive tract.  Maybe he would have done a better job than me.  He was surely the most challenging opponent I ever had to face.

Regardless, I must be prepared, but I am curious. The legends are contradictory.  Some say that the Master Sword was placed in the Lost Woods to sleep there for all eternity; some say that it was left buried in a great evil to seal it away for all time.  In my time I drew the Master Sword from its pedestal in the Lost Woods, and the Sheikah knew about it because there was a shrine there to enhance its power, even.  Before that though, in this time before the Calamity.  How did the Master Sword wind up in the Temple of Time?

“Oh.  It’s a secret to everybody!” Princess Gunhilde said with a giggle.  “Honestly, we can’t say,” she said as we got close to the library.  “You might want to ask Impaz, he might know more about it.”

If you say so, Princess.  We entered the library where Medoh and Impaz were already sipping their tea – well, I smell that one of them is sipping chocolate while the other is sipping tea.  Smells specifically like genmaicha, just like the way Impa used to make it.

“At this rate, Impaz, the library will smell more and more like a teahouse,” Gunhilde said with a grin on her face as she sat down and put her arms on the table.

“You don’t like it?” Impaz replied with an amused voice.

“That wasn’t a complaint at all.  Anyway, we’re here now.  Should we get going?”

“Yes, I think it’s about time,” Medoh replied.  He finished off the rest of his drink - ah, so he was the one drinking tea.  “Wish I could drink some of the brown stuff, Impaz, but I don’t want to feel like I’m dying again any time soon.  I don’t think I’ve fully recovered either, my cloaca still feels loose sometimes..”

Impaz giggled a bit.  “Firstly, my friend, you were the one who snatched the cup out of my hand that time.  Secondly, how was I, or anyone for that matter, supposed to have known that chocolate is poison to Rito?”

“Yeah, yeah, lesson learned.  Hylia, just smelling it makes my heart race.  Lead the way then, Chief.”

Impaz walked to the side of the room and stood in front of a metal bookcase – ah, I remember this one.  He took out his Sheikah Slate and it looked like he was pushing a few things on the screen, but I couldn’t see clearly.

“Curse it,” Impaz said, “of all the times the Magnesis rune malfunctioned.  I will have to talk to Oman later.”

Allow me; I used Ultrahand to move the disguise out of the way, revealing a small passage.

“Wow,” the Princess said.

“Color me impressed,” Impaz said.  “Can all Zonai do that?”

Rauru, fairly certain it’s a yes because it’s his arm.  Mineru, I have no idea.  I shrugged and gestured to go in, so Impaz led the way.  It was a short path with walls of stone, barely any illumination – that was until we reached a wall with points that glowed blue, arranged in constellations.

Impaz stood in front of one of the lights, tapping away at his Sheikah Slate.  After a few seconds a voice came from the slate - “Identification required.”

One of the lights turned red and Impaz put his face - his eye - level to it. The red beam of light scanned his eye and then turned off.

“Iris identification confirmed.  Welcome, Chief.”

The wall in front of us suddenly rumbled, and moved slowly to the side and opened up to us.

“By the way,” Impaz said, “if anyone else tried to do that without the proper clearance, their head would have been blasted clear off.”  The ghost of a smirk was on his lip as he set foot into the room, beckoning us to follow.

I know this place.  The room may have been cluttered with Sheikah devices and busy scientists now, but this chamber is clear as day to me.

“Esteemed guests privy to Level Thirty-Seven Clearance,” he started, adding theatrical flair to his words, “just a friendly Sheikah reminder that what is discussed in this room stays in this room.  Welcome to the Astral Observatory, Sir Link.”  The place where I first defeated Calamity Ganon.