~The Legend of Zelda: Shards of the Seven~

*Chapter One*

The young woman closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. The silence was rather calming. She leaned against a tree as she opened her eyes. Her deep blue eyes, her father's eyes, focused back on her book on Hylian culture. She was about to read about some legends when-

FWUMP

With a sigh, the young woman glanced down.

"Mother said that climbing trees is unladylike, Aleera." She scolded.

Aleera bounced on her feet and brushed her light green dress back into place. She put her hands on her hips, blowing a strand of her brown hair out of her face.

"Do you know what Mom has done, Nellie? She's done worse things than climb trees." Aleera stated.

Nellie, her real name Neyleen, rolled her eyes and looked back down at her book, resuming her reading. Aleera flopped down next to her twin. She attempted to read over Neyleen's shoulder, but got bored within seconds. Aleera was never one for reading.

"Can't we do something else? This is boring." Aleera complained.

"Maybe to you," Neyleen pointed out, glancing at her sister, "but, to others, reading is interesting."

Aleera groaned and leaned back on the tree like her sister. She gazed up at the sky and the passing morning clouds. The day seemed so perfect, so serene, that Aleera was soon drifting into sleep. She soon rested her head on Neyleen's shoulder. She glanced down at her sleepy sister and grinned softly. The morning soon turned into midday. Neyleen looked up, hearing her and her sister's names being called. She closed her book and nudged Aleera lightly. Aleera mumbled and slightly opened her eyes.

"It's Mother." Neyleen whispered in Aleera's ear.

Aleera squinted and blinked. She yawned and sat up, stretching her arms. Then, their mother came into view. The queen smiled when she was her daughters sitting under the tree. She moved rather quickly towards them with her dress flowing out behind her. Her light brown hair was plaited down her back, the end bouncing as she walked to them.

"Hello, Mother." The twins greeted in unison.

"Hello, my dears." Queen Zelda greeted back. "Will you be joining us for lunch?"

"Is it that late?" Aleera exclaimed, surprised that she slept the morning away.

"Yes, dear." Their mother answered with a laugh.

She then looked down at Aleera's torn and dirtied dress.

"Let me guess, you were climbing trees? Again?" She asked with a slight frown.

"Well, Mother, I will tell you what I told Nellie. You've done worse things than climb trees."

The queen stared at her daughter, but it was as if she was looking through her daughter and even through the tree. A hoard of memories flashed before her eyes. Zelda quickly blinked, and the memories vanished. Neyleen frowned.

"Mother, are you-?"

"I'm fine, fine. Just fine." Zelda said hastily. "Now, shall we?"

The queen turned and walked away, obviously not waiting for her daughters' replies. Neyleen stood up and glared down at her sister. Aleera looked back up innocently.

"Must you be so ignorant? You know that Mother doesn't like to talk about the Period of Twilight! Or be reminded of it, either." Neyleen snapped.

"But why?" Aleera asked while standing up. "Why doesn't she?"

"She has her reasons, I guess, and you should respect that! Now, come along."

Aleera rolled her eyes and mocked her sister under her breath. Neyleen snapped her head back and narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Aleera asked with a smile.

Neyleen only shook her head and continued towards the open castle door. Aleera smirked and skipped after her sister.

"Not coming? Where is he?" Aleera cried.

"Your father had some business to take care of, apparently." The queen replied.

"What kind of business?" Aleera demanded.

"...I'm not sure." Her mother lied.

Neyleen was aware of the lie. She frowned at her mother, wondering why she would lie of their father's whereabouts. Aleera, although, believed the lie.

"I thought he was done 'saving the kingdom' and stuff?" Aleera complained.

"He is, but he has some other business, Aleera." The queen said with a stressed tone.

Her tone silenced Aleera. Neyleen looked across the table to her twin and sighed. She was going to ask her mother what their father was really doing, but food was then placed in front of them. The only sound was the clinking of the forks against the porcelain plates with the occasional sip of water. They all finished when the doors near the head of the table opened.

"Father!" Aleera exclaimed, jumping off her seat.

She ran into her father's open arms. He laughed and kissed her head.

"Was I gone that long, my sweet?" The king teased.

"Yes, you were."

King Link patted her head and looked at his wife, who was now turned in her seat. He moved to her, knelt down, and gently kissed her.

"What kept you, Father?" Neyleen questioned.

The king looked over at his eldest daughter. His smile faded for a second, and that's when Neyleen knew where he was. She also knew because of his pants, since they were covered with fresh dust from riding. His dirty blond hair was also dirtier than usual. He was at Arbiter's Grounds, which is where the Mirror of Twilight once was.

He missed her so much.

"Well, Neyleen, I had to finish up some work." The king answered after some awkward silence, standing.

Neyleen nodded and looked down. She was ashamed of her father, lying to their faces. Aleera was now standing next to her father. He glanced down at her, but his eyes jumped back down at her tattered dress.

"What is this?" He cried. "Did you mother not remind you not to climb trees? And we have some guests coming! Go, go change! Both of you!" He finished with a glance to his other daughter.

Neyleen raised her eyebrows, surprised at her father's sudden outburst. Something was happening that they weren't telling them...Zelda stood slowly.

"Mother, what-?" Neyleen asked.

"Just do what your father asks, please." The queen said weakly.

Neyleen frowned, worried. What was going on? She saw her mother's arms quivering, as if it was hard for her to hold herself up. Aleera looked between her parents' faces, now seeing their stress on their faces. Neither moved.

"Now." Link ordered.

The girls jumped and scattered out of the room, afraid at their father's ferocity. The servants followed the princesses out of the room, closing the doors behind them with a loud bang. Zelda sighed, and her face fell. She collapsed back into her chair. Link, concerned, knelt back down next to her chair. He took her hand.

"What is it?" He whispered.

Zelda lifted her right hand, the hand with the Triforce symbol embedded in it. It was almost pulsating. Link looked at his left hand and saw the same thing. Their pieces, Wisdom and Courage, were glowing incredibly.

"Something is wrong." Zelda murmured. "I think that moment we've been dreading has almost arrived."

"I want to wear that!"

"What? You hate blue!"

"Well, now I don't!"

RRRRIPP!

"Look what you did! You evil, vile-"

"It was your fault! I didn't do it!"

The girls screamed back at each other at the tops of their lungs. Neyleen threw the torn dress to the floor.

"With all the rooms in this castle, how did we get stuck in the same one?" She cried.

"I'm thinking the same thing!" Aleera snarled.

With a yell, Neyleen lifted her finger, pointing it at her sister. Aleera paused and stared at her twin.

"You wouldn't." Aleera whispered.

"Oh, I would." Neyleen threatened.

Aleera put her hands up and backed away. Neyleen advanced with a strange gleam in her eyes.

"Nellie, you know what Mom said: We can't use our magic outside of practice." Aleera said in a gentle voice. "Besides, we both know that you can't conjure magic that well-AH!"

Neyleen yelled and a ball of fire shot from her fingertips. Aleera quickly spun and a crystal shield formed around her. The fire bounced off of it and fizzled into the air before it could hit something else.

"Enough!" A voice cried.

The girls looked to their opened door. Their palms were facing each other, threatening to shoot fire from their fingers. Neyleen instantly put her hand down and bowed her head.

"Impa." Neyleen murmured.

Aleera slowly lowered her hand, eyeing Neyleen with caution. Impa, one of the last of the Sheikah clan, crossed her arms and walked up to the girls. Her white hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail at the nape of her neck, and it bounced as she strode to the princesses. She narrowed her deep red eyes and glared between them.

"How mature I thought you two were! Especially you, Neyleen!" Impa scolded. "I am very disappointed with you both."

The twins looked away, ashamed.

"Now, get dressed quietly." Impa hissed.

She quickly snatched up the torn dress and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her. Neyleen huffed and stomped to their dresser. She yanked it open and pulled out a gown.

"See what you do? You should learn to control your temper." Aleera half-growled.

Neyleen sucked in a gulp of air and threw a green gown at her sister. She turned back to the drawer and tightened her grip on the ancient wood. There was a slight cracking noise as she ripped her hand off.

Aleera came down before her sister. Her dress was a jade green color and had red sleeves hanging off of her shoulders. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a bun, which was a bit off center on purpose. Her golden accessories sparkled in the light shining from the windows. She stood in the middle of the staircase, staring at Impa, waiting for her to turn and look at her beauty-

"Where is your sister?" Impa asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Oh!" Aleera said, slightly startled. "I dunno. She's probably making sure that she looks perfect or something-"

"Ahem." Neyleen coughed from behind. "I'm right here."

The princess's dirty blond hair, the same shade as her father's, was pulled into a bun, too, only it was in the center of her head. Her blue dress started to fade into a lighter blue near the waist. Both of their tiaras shimmered in the sunlight.

"Come along now." Impa said, still not turning to look at either of them.

The two girls followed Impa into the throne room. They were interrupting a conversation between their parents and the Lord and Lady of Hyrule, who were the guests of the evening. Impa paused just outside of the doors. Although it was against all of Impa's guidelines, she couldn't help but eavesdrop. The twins paused behind her, also listening in.

"-them! They have the right to know!" Lady Kallen, the sister of the queen, was saying.

"Kallen, when the time is right-" Zelda said.

"Time? We have no time left, Zelda! Look at your hand! And Link's!" Lord Kaleb, the brother of the queen and twin of Kallen, argued.

"We will have to find time," Link said in a low voice. "Now, we have some company."

Impa colored slightly as she led the princesses into the room. The king, queen, and lord and lady were leaning towards each other, but leaned back when they saw the twins. Kallen gave a smile and rushed to her nieces. Impa backed away into a dark corner, watching, ready to defend the royal family if needed.

"Every time I see you girls, you seem to get even more beautiful!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around the girls.

"Aw, Aunt Kallen!" Aleera said with a blush.

Kallen led the girls back to the center of the room. Neyleen quickly examined everyone's faces before they gave a fake grin or smile. Only her mother didn't give an attempt. Her face was full of fright, and her forehead was creased. Neyleen moved towards her mother.

"Mother, what is it?" She whispered.

"I'm sorry. So sorry." Zelda murmured, shaking her head.

"What?"

"Nellie, come away from your mother. She's tired." Link said.

Neyleen didn't move. She then saw her mother's glowing hand.

"Neyleen." Link warned.

She ignored her father for the first time in her life, and it wouldn't be the last. Aleera then went to stand next to her sister, curious of what held her twin's attention. Link reached out to grab her, but Aleera was too quick.

"Girls." Link growled now.

His eyes widened as Neyleen reached for Zelda's hand. He ran, but was too late. He cried out as a light enveloped the room. The light faded, and the royal family collapsed. The Lord and Lady of Hyrule gasped. Kallen ran to her sister and the twins. Kaleb knelt down next to the king.

"They're still alive." Kaleb assured.

"But, did it happen?" Kallen asked frantically.

Kaleb lifted Link's limp left hand, and nothing was there. Kallen did the same with Zelda's hand. Nothing. They looked at the twins' hands. Aleera's left hand was glowing, almost looking like it was on fire. Neyleen's right hand was the same.

"No..." Kallen moaned.

"It was going to happen-"

"But not so soon! They are only eighteen!"

"Link and Zelda were around that age when it awakened in them!" Kaleb said.

Kallen blinked away a few stressful tears and groaned.

"So, the New Beginning has begun." Kaleb murmured