Prologue
"In the beginning, Earth was merely a floating piece of matter. It had no purpose, no guidance, no life. It was not until many millennia later that the three Goddesses saw potential in Earth, and took it under Their favor.
Din was the spirited sister, the Goddess of Passion and Power. It was from Her the fiery colors of red and orange flow, and it was from Her that emotions lived.
Farore was the beloved sister, the Goddess of Fertility and Courage. It was from Her the rich colors of green and yellow flow, and it was from Her that life sprung.
Nayru was the mediator, the Goddess of Peace and Wisdom. It was from Her the calming colors of blue and purple flow, and it was from Her the beings of the universe took their guidance.
The Goddesses together formed the Wheel of Existence: Maiden, Matron, and Crone.
These Goddesses took Earth in Their palms and breathed existence into it. Din, with arms of flame, carved out the mountains and valleys, leveled the plains, and filled the oceans and seas across the land. From Farore's womb issued beings great and small, to fill the waters and abound upon the earth ever more. Nayru forged balance onto the chaotic world, a scale of opposite spectrums. Light and dark, good and evil, none could live without its counterpart.
At last, each goddess created races modeled after Themselves. Farore created the mystical beings of the Kokiri and the Faerie, two races derived solely from nature and the pureness of heart. Nayru shaped the races of the Sheikah and the Zora, people that valued morals and knowledge above all else. Din produced races of fierce pride and loyalty, the passionate races of Goron and Gerudo. Yet something was missing from the unnamed land. A mixture of the three forces was needed to keep order throughout the world.
The Goddesses then created the seventh race, the race of Hylian. It was for them Hyrule was named, and it was they who kept all traits of the Three within.
Pleased with Their work, the Goddesses departed from the land that was now Hyrule. To remind all living creatures of their heritage, the Three left behind a relic of the forces, shaped by immortal gold, into the three equal triangles. Forged together, and the Triforce was born.
In its place stands a temple of the eternal, or the Temple of Time. It has been said that the Temple of Time protects the might of the Three from corrupted hearts. Only once has a lost soul intruded upon the sacred ground."
Princess Zelda dipped the quill into the ink well and pondered at what to write next. She saw it as her duty to record the lost chronicles of history in legible Hylian. The particular chronicle she was writing, however, was her own. It had never been written down, and not one person knew the tale. The whole of the Earth had been sent back in time, for the repercussions of fate had been irreversible.
Sighing, the princess put down the quill pen and leaned back. In one of the highest towers of the castle was the library, the place where most of her free time was spent. Surrounded by dry and dusty volumes of the past, it was not Zelda's favorite place. She would much rather take the place of her brother, Avidan, in Court, but such a place was reserved for the eldest, something she could never be.
Casting aside remorseful thoughts, Zelda again bent over the piece of parchment and continued the chronicle.
"For many centuries after, the people lived peacefully and prospered. Untamed lands were domesticated, and the Hylians adapted to the new terrain with ease. After many more years, however, the colonies began to quarrel, forgetting their humble beginnings and traditions of old. The Hylians split, and a new people were born. Noridians, they called themselves, and they claimed all of the land beyond the mountains. For the first time, the peoples felt unease and tension flourished between Norida and Hyrule. In the year 742 of King Turyll IV, war broke out and ravaged the earth with a fury unmatched. No race was spared. The Sheikah, long bound to the Royal Family, were slaughtered in mass numbers. The once sacred earth atop the highest peak had been tainted with the blood of innocents.
The Goddesses saw, and they were displeased. Their gifts had been shunned and misused for mortal gain and pleasure. The Three deemed mortals incapable of handling themselves, and separated the Noridians and the Hylians with a range of unappeasable mountains. It was dubbed by mortals the Tynan Pass, and its tallest peak renamed Mount Death.
Though the war had ended, both sides harbored fierce hatred and distrust for the other. Problems, mistakes, and disasters were blamed on the enemy. Generation upon generation were brought up vengeful and full of spite. Neither side learned the Goddesses' lesson.
It was not long after that Din, Nayru, and Farore withdrew Their influence from the lives of men.
Soon, a Gerudo man learned the weakness of the Three, and how gullible the Hylian King was. Though the man swore allegiance to King Turyll IV, he was a deceiver. His name was Ganondorf iul Noekeii Gerudo, King of the desert thieves.
Only the young Princess Zelda of King Turyll IV saw iul Noekeii Gerudo's threat. Through many nights of dark dreams and odd hints, the Princess knew that Ganondorf was the menacing clouds in her nightmares. The King was warned, but took no heed. At long last, the princess took matters into her own hands.
The night of Ganondorf's betrayal, the princess gave the Ocarina of Time to a young forest boy. She had seen in her dreams that he was the light to slice the clouds and banish the shadows. It seemed hopeless, for the King of the Desert had touched the Triforce, and was granted power at his disposal. For seven long years, there was no sign of the forest boy or peace.
Princess Zelda took the guise of a Sheikah man to hide from Ganondorf's terrible reign. Secretly she aided the grown Kokiri boy to victory over the Dark Lord. But triumph was short lived. Seven years of the usurper's rule had left Hyrule devastated and in ruins. Using the Ocarina of Time, Princess Zelda sent the world back in time seven years. Not one race remembered the ordeals and trials many faced, nor did anyone remember the sacrifice of the Kokiri boy. He would forever remain nameless, and his acts of valor forgotten."
Zelda looked out the glass paned window as the sun gracefully sank below the horizon. Satisfied with the work she had done, the parchment was rolled and secured, and the ink and quill returned to the cabinet. Wistfully, she thought of the forgotten forest boy, now not a boy at all. After twenty-seven years, it was painfully obvious that he was in fact a grown Hylian, and a very handsome one at that. Treading lightly down the stone stairs to the main hallway, Princess Zelda walked on to her quarters in the west wing. Her bed had never felt so empty.
"I miss him." She murmured to her pillow. "He never should have left."
"After all, Hyrule is his home. Not Noridia." Zelda jumped at the sound of her nursemaid's voice.
"Impa! What have I told you about walking in on me like that! It's positively unnerving!" Impa smiled slyly. The older Sheikah woman was well past her prime, yet managed to advise the King, train soldiers, and personally care for the Princess.
"I apologize, Princess, for walking in on your romantic thoughts. But I swear, that bed is much too big for one person." Zelda gaped at her nursemaid with utmost sincerity.
"Honestly, Impa! Such words coming from a nursemaid!"
"Ah, but it was exactly what you were thinking. Besides, a woman of my age shouldn't have to worry about what she says. And you hold twenty seven summers! If you're not having thoughts like that, I should have to wonder." Impa smiled gently. "He's a good man, that Link. I shan't stop you if he becomes your lover." She paused. "Your father, on the other hand..." Zelda frowned with disdain.
"He won't have to worry. Link's in another country until Beltane, at least. I would be lucky to see him before Midsummer." Impa's mood suddenly turned sober.
"He won't worry anymore, Princess. You've been betrothed to the Crown Prince of Noridia. The contract was finally agreed upon." The nursemaid gathered the perplexed Zelda in her arms. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry." Zelda closed her eyes in pain.
"I'm sorry too."
"In the beginning, Earth was merely a floating piece of matter. It had no purpose, no guidance, no life. It was not until many millennia later that the three Goddesses saw potential in Earth, and took it under Their favor.
Din was the spirited sister, the Goddess of Passion and Power. It was from Her the fiery colors of red and orange flow, and it was from Her that emotions lived.
Farore was the beloved sister, the Goddess of Fertility and Courage. It was from Her the rich colors of green and yellow flow, and it was from Her that life sprung.
Nayru was the mediator, the Goddess of Peace and Wisdom. It was from Her the calming colors of blue and purple flow, and it was from Her the beings of the universe took their guidance.
The Goddesses together formed the Wheel of Existence: Maiden, Matron, and Crone.
These Goddesses took Earth in Their palms and breathed existence into it. Din, with arms of flame, carved out the mountains and valleys, leveled the plains, and filled the oceans and seas across the land. From Farore's womb issued beings great and small, to fill the waters and abound upon the earth ever more. Nayru forged balance onto the chaotic world, a scale of opposite spectrums. Light and dark, good and evil, none could live without its counterpart.
At last, each goddess created races modeled after Themselves. Farore created the mystical beings of the Kokiri and the Faerie, two races derived solely from nature and the pureness of heart. Nayru shaped the races of the Sheikah and the Zora, people that valued morals and knowledge above all else. Din produced races of fierce pride and loyalty, the passionate races of Goron and Gerudo. Yet something was missing from the unnamed land. A mixture of the three forces was needed to keep order throughout the world.
The Goddesses then created the seventh race, the race of Hylian. It was for them Hyrule was named, and it was they who kept all traits of the Three within.
Pleased with Their work, the Goddesses departed from the land that was now Hyrule. To remind all living creatures of their heritage, the Three left behind a relic of the forces, shaped by immortal gold, into the three equal triangles. Forged together, and the Triforce was born.
In its place stands a temple of the eternal, or the Temple of Time. It has been said that the Temple of Time protects the might of the Three from corrupted hearts. Only once has a lost soul intruded upon the sacred ground."
Princess Zelda dipped the quill into the ink well and pondered at what to write next. She saw it as her duty to record the lost chronicles of history in legible Hylian. The particular chronicle she was writing, however, was her own. It had never been written down, and not one person knew the tale. The whole of the Earth had been sent back in time, for the repercussions of fate had been irreversible.
Sighing, the princess put down the quill pen and leaned back. In one of the highest towers of the castle was the library, the place where most of her free time was spent. Surrounded by dry and dusty volumes of the past, it was not Zelda's favorite place. She would much rather take the place of her brother, Avidan, in Court, but such a place was reserved for the eldest, something she could never be.
Casting aside remorseful thoughts, Zelda again bent over the piece of parchment and continued the chronicle.
"For many centuries after, the people lived peacefully and prospered. Untamed lands were domesticated, and the Hylians adapted to the new terrain with ease. After many more years, however, the colonies began to quarrel, forgetting their humble beginnings and traditions of old. The Hylians split, and a new people were born. Noridians, they called themselves, and they claimed all of the land beyond the mountains. For the first time, the peoples felt unease and tension flourished between Norida and Hyrule. In the year 742 of King Turyll IV, war broke out and ravaged the earth with a fury unmatched. No race was spared. The Sheikah, long bound to the Royal Family, were slaughtered in mass numbers. The once sacred earth atop the highest peak had been tainted with the blood of innocents.
The Goddesses saw, and they were displeased. Their gifts had been shunned and misused for mortal gain and pleasure. The Three deemed mortals incapable of handling themselves, and separated the Noridians and the Hylians with a range of unappeasable mountains. It was dubbed by mortals the Tynan Pass, and its tallest peak renamed Mount Death.
Though the war had ended, both sides harbored fierce hatred and distrust for the other. Problems, mistakes, and disasters were blamed on the enemy. Generation upon generation were brought up vengeful and full of spite. Neither side learned the Goddesses' lesson.
It was not long after that Din, Nayru, and Farore withdrew Their influence from the lives of men.
Soon, a Gerudo man learned the weakness of the Three, and how gullible the Hylian King was. Though the man swore allegiance to King Turyll IV, he was a deceiver. His name was Ganondorf iul Noekeii Gerudo, King of the desert thieves.
Only the young Princess Zelda of King Turyll IV saw iul Noekeii Gerudo's threat. Through many nights of dark dreams and odd hints, the Princess knew that Ganondorf was the menacing clouds in her nightmares. The King was warned, but took no heed. At long last, the princess took matters into her own hands.
The night of Ganondorf's betrayal, the princess gave the Ocarina of Time to a young forest boy. She had seen in her dreams that he was the light to slice the clouds and banish the shadows. It seemed hopeless, for the King of the Desert had touched the Triforce, and was granted power at his disposal. For seven long years, there was no sign of the forest boy or peace.
Princess Zelda took the guise of a Sheikah man to hide from Ganondorf's terrible reign. Secretly she aided the grown Kokiri boy to victory over the Dark Lord. But triumph was short lived. Seven years of the usurper's rule had left Hyrule devastated and in ruins. Using the Ocarina of Time, Princess Zelda sent the world back in time seven years. Not one race remembered the ordeals and trials many faced, nor did anyone remember the sacrifice of the Kokiri boy. He would forever remain nameless, and his acts of valor forgotten."
Zelda looked out the glass paned window as the sun gracefully sank below the horizon. Satisfied with the work she had done, the parchment was rolled and secured, and the ink and quill returned to the cabinet. Wistfully, she thought of the forgotten forest boy, now not a boy at all. After twenty-seven years, it was painfully obvious that he was in fact a grown Hylian, and a very handsome one at that. Treading lightly down the stone stairs to the main hallway, Princess Zelda walked on to her quarters in the west wing. Her bed had never felt so empty.
"I miss him." She murmured to her pillow. "He never should have left."
"After all, Hyrule is his home. Not Noridia." Zelda jumped at the sound of her nursemaid's voice.
"Impa! What have I told you about walking in on me like that! It's positively unnerving!" Impa smiled slyly. The older Sheikah woman was well past her prime, yet managed to advise the King, train soldiers, and personally care for the Princess.
"I apologize, Princess, for walking in on your romantic thoughts. But I swear, that bed is much too big for one person." Zelda gaped at her nursemaid with utmost sincerity.
"Honestly, Impa! Such words coming from a nursemaid!"
"Ah, but it was exactly what you were thinking. Besides, a woman of my age shouldn't have to worry about what she says. And you hold twenty seven summers! If you're not having thoughts like that, I should have to wonder." Impa smiled gently. "He's a good man, that Link. I shan't stop you if he becomes your lover." She paused. "Your father, on the other hand..." Zelda frowned with disdain.
"He won't have to worry. Link's in another country until Beltane, at least. I would be lucky to see him before Midsummer." Impa's mood suddenly turned sober.
"He won't worry anymore, Princess. You've been betrothed to the Crown Prince of Noridia. The contract was finally agreed upon." The nursemaid gathered the perplexed Zelda in her arms. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry." Zelda closed her eyes in pain.
"I'm sorry too."
