Chapter 1

The sun's descent into the west was particularly beautiful that night. Hues of gold, indigo, and crimson streaked the sky, and not a single cloud obscured the glamorous vision. The light shimmered along the waters of Ordona, making it glow even brighter than the vast orb that gave it off. If ever there was an evening to relax and enjoy that great gift of the goddesses, it was that one.

That was precisely what most people in New Ordon were doing. The tiny village, which had been nothing more than a tightly-knit farming and ranching community, had been rebuilt after its destruction, becoming at least twice the size of the former. This was because of its new role as the border town between Hyrule and Silidan. With trade between the two kingdoms reopened, the town's importance had risen greatly. And at the hour of twilight, when the day's work was finished, most people spent their time simply sitting back and watching the beautiful sunset.

"Hyah!"

Of course, there were a few with other things in mind. One of which was a warrior swinging a sword against an admirable adversary that ended with an astounding WHOP! Yet, the foe still stood, undaunted by the attack. The fighter snorted, embittered by failure, and swung again.

"Yaat!"

The next blow landed on its neck. The force of the blow caused the target to waver, but it wouldn't go down. Its armor was far more powerful than the blade. The champion grunted in anger again, but would not give up. Raising the sword once more, the gallant hero slammed it onto the intruder's head.

"Sheeagh!"

The weapon's impact knocked its helmet clear off, sending it rolling several feet away. Still, the monstrosity would not fall. It stood in defiance of the warrior, as if to mock her. "Now listen here!" She pointed her blade at it, threateningly. "I am the great hero of the land! No matter how many strikes it takes, I will knock you down!"

With another resounding war cry, she struck the scarecrow across its chest. It connected with a loud CRACK! The young girl glanced at her weapon to see that it had completely split in two. She sighed in defeat, walking over to the broken piece of wood that went flying far behind the scarecrow. Once again, the villain had defeated her efforts to bring it down.

The girl was tall for her age, athletic and always covered in dirt. She already had a pair of scars too: one on her left leg, from when she failed to completely jump over a campfire; the other was from when she raised up her father's sword. Its weight was too much, and in an effort to prevent it from cutting into a table, caught the blade in her left hand. She was never afraid of danger, unless her mother got involved.

Just when she bent down to pick up the second half of her sword, she heard footsteps approaching. Diving behind some weeds, she silently watched the lonely figure's approach. Coming from the direction of the town, strolled a young boy. His head was high in the sky, observing the last rays of the sun's majesty. A devilish grin streaked the girl's face as she crept out of the weeds, approaching the younger kid from behind.

The boy had no clue he had a stalker; his mind was clearly in another place. When the girl reached her prey, she snatched a handful of his jet-black hair, inquiring in a deep, sinister-sounding voice, "What have we here?!"

Greatly startled, the child flailed his arms around trying to remove the hand that held him. The girl laughed playfully, not giving him any leeway in his task. Eventually, she let go out of pity, and the boy yelled at her.

"Why'd you do that?!" His voice was strained and clearly upset. The older girl just giggled as she replied. "Because I knew how you'd react. You're so funny-looking when you're scared."

The young boy shoved her away. "It's not funny, and it makes me want to...to..."

"To what?" She asked, though the answer was obvious to her. He wished that he was older, and bigger just so he could beat her up once. She felt a little bad for constantly picking on him, but also thought that he took everything too personal. "Come on, I was just having some fun. Why don't you ever have fun?"

Before he could answer, a voice from afar called to them both. "Leviah! Esekel! It's getting dark outside! Time to come in and get ready for bed!"

The children looked back to see their father, peering out the door of their home. They both moaned, wishing they could play outside forever. Leviah pleaded for more time. "Aw, daddy! Can't we stay out a little longer? I promise I won't sneak up on Esekel again!"

"You shouldn't be sneaking up on him anyway. You know he doesn't like it. Besides, I just had the tub heated. You both need baths tonight."

"Can't we just wash up in the spring instead?" It was Esekel's turn to beg, but his father knew how to respond. "No, because I know you'll get dirty on your way back in. Besides, that's where we wash the horses."

"But can't we-"

"No more can't we's. Now get in here, or do you want me to get your mother?"

That immediately hushed the children's complaints. Esekel, rapidly dashed into their treehouse, hopping over the single step of their porch. Leviah, after she finally finished the task of grabbing the broken parts of her wooden sword, followed after him. Their father met them inside, making sure they took the ladder down to the bathroom. As Leviah passed her father, she paused and held up her snapped toy. "I busted it again."

"Then I suppose I'll have to fix it again." He grinned at her, taking her broken blade in one hand while patting her head with his other. She shared the same dirty blonde hair with her father (just as Esekel's reflected that of their mother), except hers ran down to the top of her back, and was as unkempt as a wild animal. "Now run along, my girl."

Leviah obeyed, descending down the ladder. Her father mused silently as he placed the wooden sword on a chest of drawers and moved to sit next to his wife. She'd quietly listened to her husband's parenting while rocking softly in her chair. Once the adult hylian sat down, he let out an exhausted breath. His wife asked plainly, "Rough day with those two?"

He smiled broadly at her before replying. "They're full of energy, but I can still keep up. How was that one?"

He pointed at their third child, nestled in his wife's arms and sleeping soundly. "Yerik's been quiet, actually."

"Sometimes, I think you've got it easy." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Is that so, Link?" She responded in jest as well. "Well then, the next child we have, you can give birth to it, yeah?"

They both had to stop themselves from laughing, not wanting to disturb the resting baby. Link silently recalled the event of Leviah's birth ten years earlier. Though he wasn't allowed in the room, he could hear his wife, Ashei, screaming at the top of her lungs. He quickly realized afterward not to underestimate the pain that came with childbirth. Ashei was fiercely strong, but even she wasn't immune to it. How he'd convinced her to have two more kids escaped his memory, but he was glad she agreed. Once Yerik, the youngest, was born, they decided that that was enough.

"Any word from Zelda?" Link inquired. He had just returned from a quick trip to Kakariko with the kids. He was to bargain for more supplies from the gorons, while the kids got to try the hot springs for the first time. Leviah swam around as if it were an ordinary pool, while Esekel wouldn't even touch it, saying that it was "too hot."

Ashei nodded while handing a letter to him. "Looks like we'll be getting our supplies within a week."

Link read the letter to get the details. At the request of Rusl, they'd recently requisitioned from the castle a shipment of various school materials. With a large number of kids in the newly repopulated town, proper schooling was becoming a necessity. Link and Ashei had been doing their best regarding their own kids, but lacked a number of resources that could ease the difficulty. It also didn't help that they had much to learn on the art of teaching. Yet Zelda had responded, relieving some of the stress that Link was feeling over the situation.

The queen, in her letter, then continued to talk about an upcoming celebration that would take place at the castle. It was to honor the pact between the two kingdoms. Since Link and his allies had assisted Lord Aric claim control of Silidan almost thirteen years ago, relations had reopened between the nations. Now 'King' Aric Maukro, the leader of Silidan enjoyed seeing commerce boom and social shackles fall away within the passing time. It sounded like this celebration would be a good getaway for the hero and his wife.

"What's this?" The hero was a bit confused by an addendum at the end of the letter. "I... 'I wish to also inform you that your services may be required within the near future.' Did something important transpire while we were gone?"

"Not that I'm aware of. It's possible that...hang on a second." Hearing her other kids monkeying about in the bathroom, Ashei covered the baby's ears while giving the others a warning. "Do not make me come down there and clean you two up myself!"

The bickering died down, allowing Ashei to finish her statement. "It's possible that something occurred up north, but nobody has come through here from Silidan yet."

Link could not stop himself from trying to decipher Zelda's final remarks. After a minute or so, he heard Ashei pout softly. Her eyes strayed outside, watching the stars begin to shine with the passing of the sun. Link put his hand on her shoulder. "Reminiscing about the 'good old days' again?"

Ashei glanced back to her husband, her smile turning weakly, and nodded. "Sometimes...only sometimes, I wish we didn't have any kids, and kept on adventuring."

"Thinking you maybe made the wrong decision?" Ashei rolled her eyes at Link's absurd question. "Of course not. I'm just saying that I miss those times. I'm allowed to do that while still loving my children."

"Just be patient, darling. Another couple of years, once Yerik can walk on his own, we can travel again as a family, visit Snowpeak, explore some caverns..."

"It isn't just the traveling I miss." Ashei reminded her husband, to which he countered, "You know that's not wise. You're still nursing, and until I'm confident Leviah can defend herself, it'd be foolish to take them with us."

"So we let the kids stay with Rusl and Saffir when we're gone. I know the two of them wouldn't mind. Hell, sometimes I think Esekel prefers it there."

"You really want to leave them here while we disappear for a month or two?" His wife pondered the thought briefly before shaking her head. "That wouldn't be right of us. I'd probably miss the kids too much in the process too. Maybe if it was just for a couple of days."

"For an adventure? Impossible. Romantic getaway, on the other hand? Very possible." He shot her a coy look, which she returned. "Ooh! You have something in mind?"

"Well, there's the celebration coming up in a couple weeks."

"Not the same thing; that's a family getaway."

"I suppose it has been awhile since we've had some 'us' time." Link scrolled through a series of ideas before he came up with the one that sounded best to him. "Maybe a nice relaxing swim in Lake Hylia."

"Oh, that would be so divine! Now I know why I married you!" She reached over to kiss her husband, whom reciprocated it. As they embraced each other, Link couldn't help but brush her hair. He sighed, slightly disappointed. Ashei noticed, breaking away to confront him. "What is it now?"

"Nothing. I just...I really liked your hair when it was longer."

"So did I, but I prefer not having the baby puke in it as well. Apparently I can't have it both ways." Ashei giggled, self-consciously putting a hand through her hair as well. It wasn't incredibly short, but it didn't quite reach her shoulders as it had before. Link's smile broadened. "And yet, I'm not allowed to grow out my facial hair."

"Well that's just because every time I kissed you when you had it, it felt like I was kissing a dog."

"How would you know what that feels like?" Link asked jocularly. She held up a warning finger before playfully slapping his face. Link feigned shock. "Oh! I guess you don't slap harder than the average girl!"

The two began to chuckle as Ashei tried to hit him harder, while he kept out of reach. They continued this game until Leviah and Esekel climbed up the ladder, covered in drying cloths, and giggling. Their parents could still tell that their kids' attempt to dry themselves off was still half-hearted, but it was a step up from previous tries. The children then halted in front of Link giving him the biggest pout. "Daddy, will you tell us a bedtime story, please?"

Their father replied kindly. "All right, but you better be ready and in bed when I come up there and tell it to you."

The two kids rushed up the stairs leading to their bedroom. Their father reflected fondly on how he used to sleep in the higher reaches of his old treehouse, before it had been burnt to the ground. Now, they lived in a fairly modern cabin, though it too was built within the hollow of an old tree. He and his beloved's bedroom was one floor above, while their kids were on the top. They had create a fourth floor below them to fit the new bathroom. Being underground, it was often very dark, but a pair of oil lamps had been mounted on the wall by the ladder, as was one in the bathroom. As much as he liked his old home, it just couldn't compare to the one that he made with Ashei.

Link gave the kids a couple minutes to finish getting ready for bed before ascending the stairs up to them. Before he did that, however, he made sure to kiss Ashei once more. When he finally left, he called out to his kids. "I hope you're both ready, because I'm coming up!"

When he reached the top, he found both Leviah and Esekel innocently waiting in their respective beds in dry sets of clothes. They were on opposite sides of the room, separated by a large chest below a single window. On the other side were dresser drawers. It was not a large room, but it served its purpose very well.

"Okay, kids, was there a particular story you wanted to hear?"

Before Esekel had any time to think, Leviah piped up. "I wanna hear about the three goddesses again!"

"Sure. Just as long as Esekel doesn't mind." The boy silently shrugged his shoulders. "That's right, you haven't heard this one yet. Well, it's about time you did."

Link sat down on the end of Esekel's bed and began the story, using his arms to form grand gestures. "Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule: Din the goddess of power, Nayru the goddess of wisdom, and Farore the goddesses of courage. Din, with her flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law."

At this point, Link stood up to finish the story. "The three goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence."

"And you have the Triangle of Courage, yeah daddy?"

"I do indeed, dear. But it's actually called the Triforce of Courage." He showed his hand to her so that she could see the mark again. It appeared as if it shimmered for a second before fading back to normal. After he showed it to Esekel, he started tucking his kids in.

"Dad?" Esekel griped. "That story was too short."

"Well, I'll let you pick the next one, and make it sure it's a bit longer."

"Daddy?" It was Leviah's turn to pipe up. "Have you ever seen a goddess?"

"No, I haven't. The goddesses haven't appeared before our kind in mille-... a really long time."

"Why is that?"

Link thought the question over for a brief moment. "Well, some people say it's because they are no longer needed here. We've finally learned to take care of ourselves."

"Is that why?"

"I don't know, Lee." He chortled, calling her by her favorite nickname. "But I hope it's true."

"So how will we ever know for sure?" Esekel chimed back in. Link gave him another warm smile. "Maybe they will reveal themselves again. Otherwise, you just need to have faith."

"Faith? What's that?" Link again had to ponder over his answer: "Faith is the belief in something that you can't necessarily see or know with absolute certainty. It's like when your mother and I first began teaching you to read."

He shifted himself around to face Leviah. "Do you remember how hard you thought it was at first to just remember the alphabet? You said you wanted to give it up on your first day, but I told you that if you gave it time, you'd figure it out. And you did. When you believed me, that was a show of your faith in me."

"But I only kept at it because you told me to."

"I suppose you did needed a little nudging. But do you at least understand what I mean now about faith?" Both kids shook their heads. Slightly frustrated at his failed attempt, he just kept up his smile as he told them, "We'll talk about it again, sometime, when you're older. But now it's time to sleep."

Link started off towards the stairs, stopping only at the door. Then he turned to his kids one last time. "Leviah, Esekel, I love you both."

"I love you too, daddy." The children sang in unison.

"Good night, kids."

"Good night."

His work complete, Link strolled down the staircase. He sat back down next to Ashei, seeing that she'd fallen asleep while rocking the baby again. Deciding that it would be best to leave her be, he examined the letter from Zelda once more. Something in the back of his head wouldn't let him rest until he could figure out what she meant. Silently, he prayed to the goddesses that it was nothing serious. The last thing he wanted was to leave his family for a long period of time. But if the queen was in need of Hyrule's hero, then she would have him.