For millennia after the most recent defeat of Ganondorf, Hyrule had been in an extended state of peace. The land hadn't been threatened by evil for generations. The descendants of the Hero of Time eventually became unknown as they lived their lives, free of the curse of having to save Hyrule. Ganondorf himself hadn't made himself known; people began to wonder if the had actually died, after all... After some time, Hyrule became vastly overpopulated, and many citizens sought for new land. Several hundred had begun to settle into foreign places, befriending the locals despite having pointed ears, rocky bodies, or even blue-green skin and gills. Luckily for those pioneers, Hyrule had fallen under a massive siege by none other than Ganondorf himself; no one answered the holy land's call, and Hyrule was sent to the bottom of the sea along with the Gerudo King. Those who survived the Great Hyrulean Flood made their way to many different islands and other countries, clinging to mere memories of the holy land and its people. The Gerudo King attempted to make his way to the surface, but drowned; his physical body was destroyed in the underwater kingdom.
Many centuries passed. The world in which the migrated Hyruleans lived in began to change in subtle ways. The offspring of the original migrants carried stories of the holy land and its Hero, whose bloodline believed to had ceased, causing the massive flood upon the land. The world itself was at peace, but the Hyruleans and their descendants underwent a severe depression over their lost land. Hyrule was their true home, and they could never return to it. As the Earth began to modernize, so did the Hyruleans. Slowly, with each generation, the stories of Hyrule became quieter, until the land itself seemed to be nothing more than a whisper. By the modern era, if one were to speak of Hyrule, everyone else would deem that one as a "joker", of sorts.
For years, many had completely forgotten about the land of Hyrule, as well as the Hero of Time. It seemed as though one could not tell a Hyrulean from a regular native of a country. The Hylian bloodline, as well as the Zora, Goron, and Kokiri bloodlines, had faded into almost nothing. Those who previously worshiped the goddesses moved to Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism, along with many other sorts. Hyrule itself faded into oblivion...or so the people thought.
The blond boy watched as these three mysterious girls made their way to the front of the classroom. The three girls in question were exactly the same height, but each had a different skin color, hairstyle, and even eye color. The first one, on the left, had sapphire-colored hair. Her eyes were an icy shade of blue, as well. her skin was pale, as if she had never stepped into the sun until today; she seemed wise and calculating, but appeared friendly. The second, in the middle, bore red hair, and ruby-colored eyes. Her skin was dark, like an Indian's; she seemed cocky and ready for action, but also childish. The third one, on the right, wore her hair in a dark shade of green – almost jade. Her eyes were of course the same color, but a bright, bright forest green. Her skin was tanned, but not too dark or too pale; she seemed calm and determined, but her expression held a rather careful glare. The boy gathered this from examining each of the girls in less than ten seconds. As he began to think deeper, he was interrupted by a playful slap on the arm. A girl, also as blonde as he, leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Link," she said, her voice almost silent, "Are you checking those girls out?"
The blonde boy, Link, flinched at his friend's voice. He shook his head, and softly coughed. "No!" he cried in a hushed tone, giving the girl a caring glare. "Why would you ask me something like that, Zelda?"
"Because I wanted to see your reaction," Zelda teased, poking at the blond's shoulder. "You're always so cute when you're-?"
"Zelda! Link!" a rough voice yelled. Link and Zelda looked to their professor, Mr. Gaebora, who stood beside the three girls at the head of the class. "Is there something that you'd like to tell everyone in the class?"
Link sunk back into his seat, staring at the man. Mr. Gaebora was a man in his mid-40s, with an owl-like face, but with a surprisingly fit figure. He had a slightly muscled body, and he was rather on the bulgy side. Even though he states that he wouldn't hurt a fly, none of the students in any of his classes would ever bother him. The large, owl-faced man glared at the two students with caring but stern eyes. "Well?" he demanded.
Zelda was the first to speak. "No sir," she said, smiling up at the teacher. "I was asking Link if he finished his math homework, and he told me 'No.'" Link nodded for emphasis, but shrugged as well.
Gaebora stared at the two for a moment before shaking his head. "Anyway, moving on..." He gestured to the three girls beside him. "These girls are new students to our class. From left to right, their names are Nayru, Din, and Farore. I would like you to welcome them to our school, and I hope that you will treat them as you would your friends." The owl-faced teacher motioned for the girls to say something, and Farore was the first to speak.
"As Mr. Gaebora mentioned before, my name is Farore," she stated with a calm smile. "I am honored to be at Marymount; I've hear so much about this school, and I'm so glad that our mother allowed us to enroll." Farore then curtsied, taking her seat at a desk nearby. She turned around and glanced at Link, giving him a wink. This sent Link's heartbeat skyrocketing, causing him to blush immensely.
Next, the blue-haired one, Nayru, stepped up. "Greetings. My name is Nayru; as my sister said before, I am honored to be here. We'd heard a lot of good tihngs about this place, and each one of us is overjoyed to be enrolled. I hope to get to know each and every one of you at a more personal level." The blue-haired beauty sat down next to her sister, also taking a look to Link.
Finally, Din took a step forward. She grinned before taking a deep breath and saying, "Nice to meetcha. I'm not gonna repeat what my sisters've already said, so I'm just gonna take a seat and do whatever I have to do to get an A." The redhead sat down next to Farore, and turned back to look at Link as well.
With all of these eyes fixed on Link, he felt himself sink so low into his seat that he could swear he felt his rump hit the floor. He sighed in relief once he noticed that the three...strange girls turned back toward the teacher. The class began to talk amongst themselves about the new arrivals, and Link remained silent. His mind kept racing. Why did these girls look back at me? Maybe they like me, or something? No...they looked as though they were disappointed...but how could they be? I'm not a bad guy...am I? But...maybe they just mistook me for someone else. Yeah, that -
"Hey, Link," said a boy from beside the blond one. Link turned his head to see a redheaded boy, wearing nothing but green: his shorts were green; his pants were green; his shoes were green; his backpack was green; he also were a green sports cap. The boy was looking down at Link with a lazy grin and friendly eyes. "What do you think of those new girls? They were checkin' you out, by the looks of it!"
"Dude, what is it with you and every girl you see?" Link asked, looking at the redheaded boy with a fiery glare. "Why do you always think they want my dick just because they bothered to bat an eye at me?"
The boy laughed heartily, then snorted. He patted his obvious friend on the back, and sat on the blond's desk. "Don't worry, Link, my boy," he said with cockiness dripping in his voice, "your pal Mido'll teach you everything there is to know about girls!"
"As if!" Zelda barked, giggling a bit. "Only girlfriend you've ever had was that nerdy girl from the Library Club, and she dumped you at the Spring Dance!" This statement earned a flushed groan from Mido, and a soft laugh from Link.
"It's not my fault she didn't know what she was missin' out on," Mido frowned, folding his arms across his chest. He crossed one leg over the other, as well. "But enough joking around. Why were those girls looking at you, Link? They seemed angry about something."
Link shook his head, then shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he replied, "but they seem to know me, even though I've never met them before...at least, not that I know of." The blond looked at his two friends, then turned his gaze to his lap. "Guess they just don't like me."
Zelda and Mido both shrugged as well. "You might want to get to know at least one of them a bit better," Mido started. Zelda stared at the redhead for a moment before Mido added, "Not like that!"
The rest of the day went by normally; Link had received a bit of homework, got teased a bit more by Mido, was observed by those three girls, and managed to withstand a daily beating from Felix, the school's biggest bully. By the end of the school day, Link was already ready to go home and just go to sleep. He didn't do his homework, anyway, so he figured he might as well ask Zelda for the answers, as usual. Sure, he'd get a lecture about how lazy he is, but he didn't care: whatever got him an A. The blond let out a relieved sigh as the bell rang and the class piled out. As he grabbed his books, Link felt three presences around him. He looked up and noticed Din, Nayru, and Farore standing around him. "What do you want?" he demanded, not caring who answered.
"The chosen Hero," Din stated, her crazy expression replaced by an emotionless one. Her red eyes, upon looking into them, seemed to lash out at him. Such power, Link thought.
"Hero chosen by the goddesses," Nayru added. Link turned to face the blue-haired girl, and her expression appeared the same as Din's. Only, her eyes seemed to display words in a familiar text. Link read them in his mind: "The Hero chosen by the goddesses will inherit the sleeping Golden Power and the dormant Sword. This Hero will save the world from Eternal Demise..." Link's eyes widened a bit, as if coming out of a trance. She must be a wise one... he thought, turning to Farore, now.
Farore smiled lightly at the blond, and said in a soothing voice, "You must find the Golden Power and the Sword." Link felt himself being pulled into Farore's deep green eyes.
He imagined himself fighting a flaming dragon in a volcano; he was holding a large, heavy hammer, and was batting the dragon's face with it. Link felt himself smile at this, but frowned as the vision ended. He was suddenly transported to the top of a platform. Water surrounded the area, as if it were in the middle of an endless waterfall; water also sat under his feet, soaking the bottom of his...boots? Link apparently couldn't control his movements, since he felt himself running around in circles around a dark-skinned man wearing what looked like ceremonial robes. The blond also took note of a blonde girl, dressed in something resembling royal clothing. Link glanced at his hands: a glowing sword was in his left, and a bright shield was in his right. What am I fighting...? Link thought, apparently watching the man very closely. As soon as the man made a move, he was pulled back into reality...
Link looked at each of the three girls as soon as he snapped out of his trance-like state. "Wait...are you three telling me I'm supposed to be some legendary hero?"
The three nodded.
Link paused for a moment. Studying each of the looks on their faces, they seemed serious...but this seemed like too much like a prank, by Mido, no doubt...but what the girls showed him...they all seemed so real... Link threw his head back in laughter, and he lightly nudged Farore and Din aside. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said, starting toward the exit. "I'm not a chosen hero by some goddesses, or whatever's 'chosen' me. You girls are weirder than I thought you'd be."
However, on his way home, Link pondered over each detail that he'd seen in that vision Farore showed him. Battling a flaming dragon...fighting against some dark-skinned man in robes...they seemed so familiar, as if he'd experienced them himself, before. Link looked at his hands for a few moments, turning them over carefully for anything suspicious. "Maybe I'm going crazy," he said to himself, forcing a soft chuckle. The blond then began to think about what Zelda and Mido would think if he actually were this chosen hero. Would they call him crazy, and cut off contact with him?... he hoped not; those were the only close friends he's had for ages. Then again, since they were his friends, they'd probably just tease him and let it go... Link groaned in frustration. Soon, the boy reached his apartment building. He hummed a tune to himself to put what had happened earlier in the back of his mind. He stopped when he reached his parents' apartment and pulled a key from his coat pocket. He stopped once he heard voices on the other side of the door, in which he pressed his ear against it and closed his eyes.
"Martin, I'm tired of your laziness around this place! All you do is drink, belittle your son, and bitch at me!" said a feminine voice. Link let out a sigh, as he realized it was his mother. They're fighting again...
"Well, if you weren't such a damn nag, Lilith, I'd do more around the house!" said a deeper voice, obviously belonging to Martin, Link's father. "Link is nothing but a failure in school! He brings home bad grades and expects us to praise him and buy him something! Last time I checked, a kid bringing home a D minus in Math isn't a good thing."
Link heard a feminine groan, which sounded extremely close to him. He held his breath, and waited for his mother to grab the doorknob. Luckily, she didn't... "At least he tries, Marty," she said with a large amount of rage in her tone. "Being a Junior in High School isn't very easy...not like you would know." Link snickered silently as he played with a ring on his finger...his class ring.
Marty apparently was affected by his wife's statement. "I joined the Army, which is what my son should do if he wants to get anywhere in life!" he yelled, very loudly, which caused the door to vibrate a little. Link, now sensing what would happen next, slowly and silently retreated down the stairs. As he began to ascend the steps, he saw the door open and his father walking out.
Link's father was that of the typically lazy ex-Army father: he had a beer belly, a balding head, and a typical 5 o'clock shadow. Martin was rather good-looking, once-upon-a-time ago, but he simply looked pathetic as a man. In comparison, almost nobody could tell that he was Link's father; the two looked nothing alike, while Link looked only a little bit like his mother, Lilith. Link honestly hated his father, and he begged his mother to divorce the monster of a man several times in the past, but she insisted that she wanted to make the marriage work, and it only put her under much more torture.
Martin pushed past Link, completely ignoring the boy. The blond let out an exasperated sigh as he glanced at his father, who was already at the bottom step by the time he reached the door. "Love you too, Daddy," he mumbled, pressing through the open door. He faked a smile at his mother, who appeared to be wiping tears from her eyes. "Hey, Mom," Link said, sitting on the couch and pulling his messenger bag's strap over his head and setting it aside. "Feeling any better, today?"
Lilith shook her head. "Not really...your father's still refusing to get a job, so we're living off of yours...again, I'm sorry about that..." Link raised a hand to silence her, and looked at her as if to say, "It's okay; I don't mind."
"You need anything, ma? I might take a nap," Link said, glancing at the clock in front of him: it read 4:00 PM.
"No thanks, hon, you can just go nap. I'll start dinner, if that's okay with you." Link's mother held a friendly smile, despite her tired and depressed face.
Link nodded, and positioned himself on the large couch so that he was laying, using the bag as a pillow. He stared at the television, which was off, for a few moments. He thought heavily about what those girls had said to him, once again...Hero...Golden Power...the Sword... those words kept racing through his mind as he let his eyelids grow heavy. Soon, Link's consciousness began to slip...and he was asleep.
In this fic, I am using the Adult Time-line. But there is a bit of a twist: Link actually had a child, but he and his offspring migrated with the "several hundred" to a foreign land. Link, although it wasn't mentioned in the fic, died some time before Hyrule went under siege by Ganondorf. Link's son was too young to be able to combat Ganondorf, so the Goddesses sent Hyrule to another place and flooded the land to prevent Ganondorf from actually ruling the land. This isn't the Flood of Hyrule mentioned in the Wind Waker, but it is tied to it a bit.
Also, I'm aware that Marymount is a real school. If I did my research right, it's pretty close to Central Park.