A/N &Disclaimer:

This story was collaborated and written by two authors. Also, you will see that it is taken between both Zelda's point of view as well as Link's. Mr. Fair and I will do our best to key you in when the point of view switches.
This story is our collaborative effort, and with all Original Characters set aside right now, as they belong to us, The Legend of Zelda is a copyright of Nintendo.

Thank you, and I really do hope you enjoy feasting your eyes on a written journey, set seven years after the events of Majora's Mask.
-MaskedMoogle

The Legend of Zelda: Reign of Darkness. {Prologue}

It's been so long.

Years now.

Oh, how time has passed us by..come to think of it, we were but children when you left.

Those were the days.

I remember when you would come visit me..and the stories that you would tell...the little adventures we would have..the trouble we'd wind up in..

We lived an entire reality together, one that no one ever knew. And when time was rewound, that reality was our fantasy. Those tales were our own. And we were right to tell them, as once again we lived as children.

The bond that we had was strong, even if after the beginning..your visits became less frequent. And as another two years passed, and our lives as playful children rested on the line of adolescence...you seemed to grow distant. Could it be that you heard them talking?

They said you were a bad influence.

They said I needed to grow up. To settle down with a man, not practice silly games with a boy. To prepare for a future rather than dilly dally in the present.. I wonder if that stung you the way it stung me. I hope not. I hope to the gods that you didn't hear any of the awful things that they said about you..because you were my very best friend.

But I only saw you once more after that..and I knew it was the last time that I would see you.

I never wanted to say goodbye..and so I gave to you something special of mine..only to borrow, in hopes you would return and hand it back..just so I could let you borrow it all over again.

Though...a part of me is glad that you haven't come back..because I know you'd be pained at what our peaceful world has become.

As if fate had a hand with dipping the pen in it's own inkwell, Hyrule has once again fallen to a wicked man.

Really, it is my father's fault, bless him. He was talked into hiring a council of wise men to aid him in ruling, as I was unwed and quite young, and my brother was not deemed an heir. It did make sense for my father to have someone to back up his ideas and set his policies i stone, showing our neighboring kingdoms that we had a balance to our crown.

But the council...I fear they are corrupt, led by Lord Vortimier. He is a foreign man, but long ago, he served Hyrule well in the Great War. My father saw this as enough.

Ganondorf's rebellion is still remembered here, though according to present history, it failed. We both know what happened. The King of Evil is sealed away, he didn't drop his sword and flee..

But nonetheless, my father placed his trust in another that I fear is just as untrustworthy.

It has worsened as his health has been declining, giving more control of what goes on to Vortimier.

At first, nothing changed. Though there was talk on what to do about the Gerudo, being they had gone unpunished from the rebellion. Our troops had originally pushed them into the desert and placed a ban on their entry into Castle Town. Impa and myself spoke up against punishing an entire race for the choices made by a handful. And because of this, we are no longer allowed to sit in on meetings, as we have both been deemed disruptive. Sheikah were banned from such as well, and not permitted within the castle at night unless granted access through Vortimier's son Raddames. It's as if the shadow folk scare them. My personal guess is that it's their loyalty to the crown that scares the council's entirety.

Everything sloped down from there. Guards are under Vortimier's pay. Our only loyal militia is our elite knights under my brother.

It's terrible. Castle Town has slums now. The changes have been slow, and the people can't even begin to realize what is happening to our land. Poverty..Public Executions for petty crimes..War in the East being left ignored!

It has to end.

Worse off, Not only has he been pushing his nephiew into practically begging for my hand, but Vortimier has been pouring into our books within the library, entranced by old legends. If he learns of...

No. History will not repeat itself. Not if I have a say.

You are probably long gone now, Hyrule behind you. Though it is doubtful based on eight years of no response...I pray that your heart still beats..

And if you lie still as one with Farore's returned creations...I hope that you have found your peace..

and know that you will not be forgotten.

As for me...I hope to find a way to bandage our broken land. Waiting for a hero is out of the question. And I am not strong enough to lead an uprising.

Though I may be able to expose Lord Vortimier..

Dearest Hero.. Wish me luck..and may your spirit help me find a way to pull this off...
*

The quill hovered only centimeters from the parchment. It's author, the lovely princess of Hyrule herself. The flame atop the candle before her flickered and danced, it's glow radiating off her pale features. It's orange hue dancing within the reflections of her usually azure eyes, turning them almost a deep shade of violet. Her gaze was full of concentration, having melted from that deep melancholy that housed her upon the beginning of the letter.

A letter that would never be read by anyone.

Such a letter was addressed to a young man that was probably dead..and if he was not..he had most likely forgotten her and this little kingdom.

Zelda exhaled deeply, her heavy breath nearly startling the little flame out of existence. She gently lifted the quill back into it's porcelain inkwell before releasing it and bringing her hands into place under her chin. Her eyes closed for a long time as if again she was deep in thought. Though soon they opened again and she reached to wrinkle up that letter she had written.
What was the use anymore? Writing to someone who would never read what she had to say..
If anything, it took the stress off her chest..even if she never finished the letter.

Standing up from the desk, she stepped across the room. Her slender figure illuminated by the moon that poured through the entire wall of window work, she made her way across the chambers to the little fire that warmed the far corner, each step soundless as if she walked on air..though her feet were bare, and it was marble tiling that each step graced.

Her step paused and she took a final glance at the crumpled musings that she held between her fingers. Such a letter she had poured everything into...but why bother even sending it, if as usual she knew well that the recipient was long gone. He would never write back. He hadn't throughout the years..so why now?

Snapping from her pensiveness, she released the parchment into the dying flame, and almost as soon as contact was made, the little embers had become an inferno, taking that parchment as if it were a hungry beast.

The hylian stared into the fire, "Goodbye again." And it was then that she turned to move from the sitting room to her bedchambers that shared a door, combining the rooms.
As this letter was one of many sent to a dead man...this time it was for sure that it would be the last.

{/end prologue}
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A/N:

Hope The Letter drew you in. We have about a hundred different things going on in the fic, so we figured that the scene and times needed to be set simply.

Anyway, please send us your comments and tell us what you thought!
Expect Chapter 1 in another day or two. =)

-MaskedMoogle