A/N: Well, I don't know what to say. I didn't expect myself to publish this, as I haven't really written anything else, but here it is, anyway. Try your best not to fall asleep while you read this! :)

I hope I can update this. Expect maybe once a month, or maybe I might remove this story altogether if I end up not using it at all. I'm sorry.

Approaching the princess's door, Link nodded at the guard who stood watch. He felt unnaturally calm, knowing that there was a mach pit waiting for them. Still, as the guard stepped aside from him and he knocked on the princess's door, he almost felt the need to frown.

It must've been getting to him. All the dances he'd been required to do, all the times he'd escorted… they all must've been getting him. He still tried his hardest to make it at least somewhat pleasant for the princess, though. It was all up to her, anyway. "My lady, I'm here," he called.

A muffled flurry of movement came from behind the door. She was telling her handmaid to go shoo off. He couldn't hear anything that was being said, but he assumed it went something like, My lady, your escort for tonight is here! Present yourself!

Without skipping a beat, she probably responded with, Oh, of course! Now shoo! I must prepare myself.

Of course, my lady.

The pause in sound was when the handmaid stood loyally to the princess, being there if she needed something. They thought two different things, though, so the next phrase, slightly louder than the others, was, What are you doing? Leave my chambers, please, spoken truly and passionately by the princess.

He couldn't even smile from that. The handmaids were loyal, yes, but they were too loyal. They didn't miss a beat to serve the princess in any way possible. As long as the princess breathed, they made sure she looked the best for it, whipping up anything at her whims, and bowing hundreds of times before actually being dismissed. It was quite humorous when the princess wanted her own time off, but they refused to let her hair down. The princess herself had laughed about it once. He remained straight-faced at that thought.

Not surprisingly, the door opened meekly, and a woman wearing a white outfit slid out, bowing at Link in a rush. She disappeared down the hallway just as quickly. Her ponytail was starting to come undone, bouncing erratically as she marched away.

Now, Link stepped away from the door. The princess was about to exit the chambers, greet Link, and then they were to leave, side by side. It would be then that he'd see her clothing of choice for the first time, usually ranging from a dark blue dress, loose around the ankles, to a neutral blue dress, still loose around the ankles. He never doubted his instinctual thought that her favorite color was blue.

Slowly, the doorknob turned. Watching it knowingly, he could've probably made an income if he were to have one rupee for every second passing before she exited her room. She liked to keep the suspense in the room as unreal as possible, for some reason. He didn't really dislike that little quirk of hers because it allowed him to have better predictions.

The next thing she was going to do, just as the doorknob was turned all the way, was open the door just as slowly, making sure no part of her body will be visible.

Inwardly, he took a nap.

Finally, the doorknob stopped turning… but then, nothing else happened. The door was frozen, and the only sounds were the distanced noises of people festively having a ball.

He knocked on her door annoyedly. "Princess, we don't have all day."

Her sigh was audible through the door. The door opened all the way, and she was there.

Zelda, the princess of Hyrule. She had all this fancy clothing on, make-up done, and hair in fashionable curls, but her green eyes were dull. "Very well. I see how it is," she stated, meeting his eye.

To appease her, he smiled brightly. "Don't worry. I'll be here if you need to take all day." He even tried his best to add that little sparkle effect that she always managed to do. It was a little sparkle in the eye. He hoped he sounded sincere, and by all things did not want to dunk himself in water.

Unfortunately, she did not receive the sparkle. Completely flat, she took his arm and they went on their way, silent.

They seemed to have this mutual agreement. She'd do the princess stuff and be royal… and whatever else there was. He'd help to bring her up to what she needed to do, fight off whatever, deal with the people at her feet, speak with the commoners, explore the area, escort her to the balls, and not have to worry about being a public figure giving speeches.

Well, most of the time. He had been required to give a speech before, and he wasn't not a public figure.

The trade-offs were seemingly unfair. No matter how much he tried to like it, he couldn't find it in his heart to enjoy working for the princess. Well… he did somewhat enjoy working for her. There were just more negatives than positives.

Not to mention she has that suspense tendency… which isn't that bad, honestly.

Perhaps he thought about it a little too much. Escorting the princess just once wasn't all that bad, especially if he could simply be in the princess's presence. It was a heavenly feeling to have the princess holding onto him, smiling at him, and dancing with him as if they knew each other more than just through a simple mutual symbiosis.

Unfortunately for him, she didn't seem to look at him in any other way, unless he was the target of attention for a number of people. One such example of a time where she looked at him carefully was when he gave that speech.

After he'd sealed off Ganondorf, he'd been sent to a spring to heal, then to the castle, only to be bombarded by the people. Everyone wished to hear his stories, even the princess. What other option was there than to give a speech when the princess herself wanted to hear it?

The speech he gave was a very fake speech that he got one of his friends to write. Still, as he recited it, the princess was looking at him carefully. Just that alone made him… she was looking at him. The royal princess of Hyrule was looking at him, admiring his works (he hoped), and listening aptly and interestedly as he gave that speech of his.

Now, here he was. Escorting the princess to a royal ball, about to dance in front of the nobles, and do whatever he knew best.

It was Link's pleasure to escort the princess to the balls, and whatever else she wanted to be escorted to. He would be there for Zelda when she needed help, especially if she needed a dance partner, even if it were to just be for one night. He'd do it, just because he was the hero and she was the princess of the nation that he saved.

Duty always came before everything else, as everyone always said. Not only did duty come along quicker than he thought it did, but also many other things followed it.

One such thing was the door to the ballroom, guarded by two soldiers who were slacking off. They joked around at each other's uniforms, laughed at their hair, and whispered about whatever. They whispered about… most likely women.

The princess stopped in front of the guards with Link standing vigilant. Quickly, the two guards rushed back to their posts on opposite sides of the door, and one of the stammered, "Y-your highness! I, uh, we're just about to… erm—"

Trying to stay still and professional, the other guard looked forward, but glanced at Link and caught his eye for a split second. Just that… it was enough for Link. He tried to give him the glariest glare of all the glares for that split second.

The guard noticeably shivered.

Clearing her throat, Zelda nodded. She understood very well, it seemed. After all, she did have to deal with Link, not that he was that bad.

The door opened for them. All regal, royal, and stuck up they were, as they walked through the threshold. Link tried not to do anything but note the fact that her grip had tightened on his arm. It was her ball, so she was expected to attend it.

"Zelda, the princess of Hyrule, and her escort, the hero Link!"

People bowed and clapped for them as they glided down the aisle. Link felt the sudden urge to itch the back of his neck. He hoped he didn't do it unconsciously. He would probably do it unconsciously, as it was bothering him. It was just a little itch in the back. Maybe he ought to do it when he knew that she wasn't looking. Maybe everyone was looking at him, anyway, so he couldn't do it without someone noticing. He was more than not doomed to scratching the back of his neck.

Ugh.

In the center, Link and Zelda turned towards one another, waiting for the orchestra to start up the next song. This sparked memories of when Link had first learned the etiquette to dancing; he'd been taught by an advisor of Zelda's family, but he couldn't remember her name.

It had started out with her simply having him hold her there, stand in place, and keep straight. That was not only one of the hardest parts, but it was one of the most awkward. The lady was nice and all, but it was very strange to have a lady right at your chest, staring at you, waiting for the next move, catching everything you do wrong, and… simply being a lady.

Then, she'd concede that he was doing alright, and move on to a waltz, because that was all they played. Ever.

It seemed that all royals like to dance to only waltzes and valsettes, no matter how fast it was. It just seemed to be simpler to them.

Link wanted to dance to something in four. Everything was in three, so he was always favoring his left leg. He'd come across his leg one day to find that it had been growing more than its equal counterpart, and it will probably be thicker.

Who in their right mind wants a thicker leg than their other one? This was why waltzes were silly.

Of course, the lady that had taught him all the courtly stuff had specifically taught him that dancing was never about favoring one side or the other; it was either an act of courtesy or an act of passion.

Ha.

Right here, in Zelda's arms, he felt the need to drop the courtesy and leave her, kiss her, or sleep. Any of those options wouldn't be very appropriate, it seemed. What a shame that was.

The orchestra started their song in three, and Zelda picked it up quickly. They tapped into each other and started off in the center of the ballroom, many royals and nobles watching them carefully. Even though Zelda was a fantastic dancer, Link was probably just as good. He didn't really know why, but he had that simple gut feeling that told him he was at least good at it.

People were joining in, and the room felt a whole lot smaller. He kept his gaze on Zelda, who apparently refused to let her eyes go wander. It was unsettling. Hoping that she would at least look at his shoulder, his ear, or even his nose, he chose not to stare back.

Gosh, it was almost intimidating to be in the presence of such a powerful person. She was going to be the person in charge of the entire nation! He was right here, being the intermediary between her choices of left or right. He was in power of choosing which leg would look better if it were enlarged!

Not… that he was thinking about the princess's legs. That would be scandalous. Not in that zone, Link was where he should be: dancing and escorting the princess. No other lines had been crossed.

Slowly losing his grip on the song, he started to feel a familiar internal turmoil where all the people around him were involved. The song had already ended and the next one started; should he stay? Should he excuse himself?

Ahh… the princess's eyes were objects I could definitely get used to… but she was looking somewhere else, now. Where was she looking? At my neck?

Her eyebrows scrunched up every so slightly as she glanced at his neck. Wondering why she was releasing her ever so intrinsic deadpan to his neck, he checked himself… only to find that he'd been scratching his neck.

Ashamedly, he set his hand back on her waist, annoyed with himself. Of all the things to remember while he danced, that was one of the most important things she'd said.

'Don't look nervous. Your partner will be concerned.'

He remember everything else! He even recalled her saying not to stare at your partner's nose for too long, which he mentally scolded himself. That lady had said it might burn a hold, and they'd feel it.

Lady Srula. That was her name.

Alright, he'd had enough. The song just ended, and he politely excused himself. The princess, being Zelda, nodded at him and wandered away, most likely towards other nobles, where there would be a partner that would dance correctly.

He wasn't that bad at dancing. No, he was extravagant at the art of dancing. He was just as good at escaping the ballroom through the throngs of people, where some patted his back or stepped out of his way. He ignored them all, repeatedly saying, "excuse me," and darting around the cliques of Hylians.

Outside, he had his peace. The music was muffled and he was actually able to think. Peace and quiet was the most important part to anyone's progression, he thought.

This was the ballroom courtyard. It, in combination with the gardens, was where the lovey-dovey couples had their own time to walk around, hand in hand, all cuddled up, as if they were trying to prove that they were the best couple in the courtyard.

Have at your own glory, he shot to them silently. I'm right here, with no one next to me.

On a bench, he rested his chin in his hands. Things were going somewhat correctly, but he felt it was all going to go terribly in just a little bit. The roses on the bush in front of him were a little bit too red. They were too beautiful and precious. Everything was going too well, so he was unsettled.

So many things had already passed that he'd expected to go terribly. It was already surprising that neither him nor the princess tripped on the way to the ballroom, but that was nothing compared to the other things he thought. Seemingly, action in and reaction back was smoother than his trip escorting the princess, which was flawless.

Well, to him it was, and that was what mattered.

What was happening, then? He must've been doing something incorrectly that made up for all these positive things. Sketch. Settle.

He groaned. This hero, Link, was not fit for whatever was happening. It was more than just a ball. It was more than just an escort or a dance.

It must be about the princess, then.

After a time to himself, he decided that he was missing a little bit too much. Many things could've gone wrong in the time he was outside, and he's just missed it all. Nothing was too life changing though, so he still might have a chance.

So, when he walked back into the ballroom, he was expecting the large crash that came from the other end of the ballroom.

People immediately scampered away from that side, panicking and darting back to their beloved. The abrupt stop in the orchestra gave way to an ominous echo, provided by the crash's… well, crash.

Link was reactionless. He knew all of this was going to happen. He was not happy about it, either.

As people were looking around the crash and debris, which was simply a hole that looked like it was made by an explosion, the hero grabbed the sword on the stand by the door. It was supposed to be for emergencies, but it was reserved for him, anyway, so it didn't matter. Plus, this was essentially an emergency. People were panicking, an explosion happened, and the orchestra stopped. All signs of an emergency.

He made his way to approach the crash zone. The princess was nowhere to be seen, it seemed. As long as she was safe, it was alright. For now, he'd just have in investigate the weird explosion that so happened to happen in the ballroom, where many nobles and royals were located, but no one was hurt.

Some people looked up at him with fright, but not frightened by him. Rather, they looked at him with that same look of save us, please! You know what to do, expression.

So as he saw the explosion, he was shocked. His mind went completely blank, his sword dropped, and confusion went in all directions. Everything he'd expected… nothing was there. Nothing in all his life had prepared him to see this for the first time.

Link, the hero, was unsure of what to do.

There was nothing in the explosion. It was just a hole in the wall, leading outside. The moonlight shone into the ballroom by a sliver, not revealing anything. He dug around in the debris; nothing!

There was nothing!

Some jokers decided to explode a portion of the castle, make a huge mess, and frighten the living daylights out of so many people, and they didn't even want to show up? Link called them cowards. They should be there to finish the job. They weren't even here to laugh at them; they were just gone by the time people had started panicking.

A young woman tugged on his sleeve. "Hero, do you know what happened? Uh, I do not know… I don't know where it came from!" She seemed shaken, which made sense. The explosion, however, did not. The reason behind an explosion happening, however, did not.

"Call the Sheikah," he said. The woman nodded, then dashed off as well as she could in heels.

The very feel of having no princess around for this was normal, as he did his entire life without her, but now he was slightly worried. Only a teensy bit worried, and that worry came more from the want than it did from the duty.

Seriously, Link? Move onto the situation and get out of your adolescent head!

Looking around, he saw nothing but people looking at him for answers and others filtering in and out of the ballroom. Guards, soldiers, and squires were starting to seep into the room, noticing Link. They dashed for the refuse by his feet, but deferred to his complete disinterest of the crash.

"Sir, what happened!?"

He ignored that knight. He was looking for Zelda in the crowds, but he couldn't see her. Any sign of that fair maiden by a wisp of blonde hair, spark of the eye, or blue dress could reveal her location, but he couldn't see anything.

Where was she? What happened, just now?

If she suddenly decided to blast out of the ballroom, he wasn't disappointed. He would probably do that if he were a prince. That wasn't her, though, so where could she have gone? Did she return back to her rooms in the chaos, or to somewhere else? That seemed more reasonable than making an entire explosion just to get fresh air.

Perhaps he should check the library? She might be in there. Maybe she retreated to the library after he left, so she was never here to witness the explosion. If that happened, though, wouldn't she have come here from the noise?

Now he was starting to panic. What if something else happened to her? What in the explosion was an immediate threat to the princess, and the exact cause for why she was missing?

Grabbing the nearest person, he forced them to look at him. "Where'd the princess go?" He was holding a boy soldier who seemed completely clueless.

"Wh-what? I—"

Knowing the boy was useless, he grabbed another person and asked them the same question. No one knew where she was. Even the squires didn't know where she went. If only he knew who she'd danced with… he'd be able to ask them more!

Glancing quickly, he saw a man who looked handsome and rich enough. Zelda probably danced with him. He rushed over and spun the man around to look at him. Angrily, the noble was about to scowl at him, but Link shook him before he could get to that.

"Where's Zelda?!" By gods, if this piggish man did something to her…!

"Don't touch me, Hero!" Link was thrown off the man, but he remained in the man's face. "I have no idea where the princess is, who is your highness to you, by the way!"

Ew. Stuck-up nobles.

Forget about that! The princess was missing! Where could she possibly be?

More than the urge to stab his sword through those disgusting yellow royal's eyes, he felt the urge to check other places that the princess may have bee. Chances were better if he checked multiple areas than to just ask the nobles for help. In fact, she was probably safe and sound in the library.

Without bothering with the common courtesy to excuse oneself, he rushed through the people and right out the ballroom. The guards that had been on their posts had left, and people were still struggling to get settled.

One woman tripped on the way out of the ballroom, and a man helped her up before they both fled the area. Another person was frantically calling his friends to leave, as he was probably shaken to the bone.

The core of the festivities had already been disrupted. No one was in favor of setting back into place to play more music and dance more of those cursed waltzes.

Of course, Link was never in the mood to dance waltzes, unless Zelda were there. Right now, there was neither a Zelda nor was there anything to dance to. He sure hoped that Zelda was in the library.

Scampering between hallways, he darted into rooms to search for the princess. Over and over again, he asked himself, where in Hyrule could the princess be? Alas, she is not in this room!

Before he knew it, he had rushed into the library. Rushed panic was greeted with the castle's monstrous bookshelves, still in near perfect shape. Books weren't lined up on the floors, tables and chairs were still in place, and the shelves didn't look touched. If the princess were here, then she'd be stacking books on top of each other for future reads. Not having that many books off their shelves was a good sign that she wasn't here, but it was guaranteed.

He ran deeper into the alcoves of the library, finding no one. Everything was neat; it looked like no one had touched the area for days. Knowing the princess, that wasn't reasonable, but it seemed that she wasn't here.

Frustrated, Link stumbled out of the library and ran his way down the main hallway, where he was stopped by a suspicious noise.

He'd just passed the throne room, opposite to the main castle gates. Voices could be heard from somewhere, presumably, hopefully from the the throne room. If there was a room where people's voices were amplified, it would be that place.

Zelda could possibly be there? Maybe she was dealing with some stuff in there. The voice that he heard wasn't feminine, though, so she might be dealing with foreign ambassadors or whatever political stuff she had to deal with.

Coming up closer to the doors, he heard another voice join in the conversation. It was too muffled to hear what was actually being said, but he could tell who'd spoken those few words.

Zelda. She sounded frightened. She had to be in the throne room. Without balking, he thrust open the doors.

Zelda! Finally, I've found—

"Sir Link!"

She wasn't by herself, so his assumption was correct. Another assumption he made was that she was frightened, and that was also correct. What he didn't expect was that she would be being held by a strange man in black, who had a scary looking sword in his hand.

Frozen, Link analyzed everything he could. This definitely wasn't supposed to happen. The princess just disappeared when a massive explosion happened, and suddenly she was whisked into the throne room by a strange man in black. Her arms were currently being held behind her back by one of the man's hands, and the other of the man's hands was holding a long rapier-like sword, looking very eager to thrust it into the princess's back.

What shook him was not that the sword tip was literally at her back, but the sword was glowing. It wasn't glowing light, it was glowing with pure darkness. It was red flashes and black smoke coming from the sword, as if a very familiar bad man came back.

Ganondorf?

He'd killed that bastard! He'd sealed him away, and it had been proven when all the monsters suddenly disappeared! Why was there a strange man in black, holding a sword very akin to Ganondorf's sword, and looking eager to kill the princess?

Also, she looked very tired. What else had the man done?

Link was ready for this, though. He'd been ready for so long, looking for every opportunity to make sure that Hyrule stayed safe. Never had the same opportunity come up again in the same way, but also never had he neglected one. This was his zone.

"What are you doing to the princess?!" he screamed as he jumped into a sword fighter's position.

It seemed that the man did not like negotiating much. He just shrugged. The man tightened his grip on Zelda's wrists and pulled the sword back, getting ready to—

"NOO!"

Flash! The world was red for a quarter of a second. It faded in and out in such a short amount of time that he couldn't feel anything.

Link blinked, distressed. His sword had been lowered, but his gaze was transfixed on Zelda, the princess of Hyrule.

Her fearful eyes were widened into saucers, now, staring down into his soul. They were losing their spark, darkening, and losing their green. An amount of disappointment, no, remorse shone in her gaze at him, shredding his heart.

The sword was buried into its hilt, the majority of the blade sticking out her front. Darkness seeped out of the sword into her body, tainting it, cursing it to fall weak and wither. Her body curled in, around the sword, impaling itself. Red ribbons of malice were twirling and dancing around the sharp edge, yet they were starting to fade out.

Noo!

Those red ribbons of evil were replaced with Zelda's blood, spurting and gushing onto the floor, and Link's heartstrings snapped. It was all dark; her blood, the sword, the smoke, and the curse were all black. The ground beneath her became a pool of midnight oil. It reflected the evil man behind her, not even smirking, but not moving, either. Her body was absorbing all of the evil that had been in the sword.

The man jerked the sword out of her body, and her bloody corpse crumpled into a ragdoll.

"ZELDA!"

No matter how many times he saw this happen, he could never get over that. Her eyes were so lifeless, so dead compared to what they had been with they'd danced. If only he knew what to do… if only he learned.

Instead, he was here, as the world started to darken into a black, starting from the void of her body. Her cursed body, tainted by the black man's sword, was still the body of a princess. She was lying on the floor, crying, sobbing, wishing all would hear her cries of misery out into the world.

He tried to listen in. He attempted to help her, but this attempt was too feeble. He was being lifted into the air as he lost control of his body, being pulled up by the strings of death.

"No…" he whimpered.

The world faded into a complete black, and his vision kept replaying the sword getting thrust right through her chest over and over again.

Thrust.

Even if he couldn't feel his eyes closing, he still shut off all visions of Zelda, the future, and the man in black. The sword was insignificant. Zelda was dead, Zelda's blood had been spilled, and Zelda's body had been tainted.

What had tainted it?

Thrust.

He wished he knew. He prayed and prayed and wished he knew. The goddesses didn't respond, though. He was only met with blackness and that vision, playing itself for the umteenth time.

Her body getting impaled by a sword that spoke of malice and evil.

Thrust.

"You have failed, boy."

Oh, how he wished he could do something about that. Those familiar words, ones he'd always been greeted with, yet he could do nothing about it.

"The princess has been killed… because you were not there to save her."

Stop it! I'm aware that I'm incompetent for this… not strong enough to save her! Now, she's dead! She's dead AGAIN!

"You have lost your warrior's glory."

He didn't even want to think anymore. He was stuck in this realm of absolute darkness, in between the land of the dead and the land of Link. He didn't know where he was, but he knew it was a terrible, terrible place. It was terrible because he made it terrible. He couldn't do anything about it, though.

He shut his own mind down. Just… let's move on.

"Try again?"

Please.

Slowly, the world regained its light. He felt his body once more, his memories faint, and he knew something. As he brought himself back up, awakening in a forest, he saw the bright light coming from the sky. He lived once more. He was alive, and that meant one other thing.

Zelda, I won't fail you this time.

Published: January 29th, 2019.