The Legend of Zelda: Heart of the Cards

Last time we left our heroes, the Crystal Wii-mote had transported them all to Hyrule, to the world of CJ's favorite video games. They learned that they had become the Sages of Hyrule, and Stacey learned that she was CJ's wife and the Queen of Hyrule.

But while CJ knows that the Crystal Wii-mote made his stories a reality, he is unsure of exactly what became a reality… Little does he know, he's soon going to realize just how much his life has changed… And just how much his friends' lives have changed… Or are about to change…

PROLOGUE: Two Sides of Every Coin

26-year-old CJ Francis walked outside of Hyrule Castle and looked out over his new home of Castle Town.

I can't believe that I'm actually living my stories… He thought. It was then that Stacey, Janelle and their mom walked up to the castle gate.

"Hey hun. What's up?" Stacey asked.

"I'm heading out for a walk." CJ said. "We live in Hyrule now. I want to get out and see this country. I want to see how life has changed. I won't be gone too long."

"Okay." Stacey said. "Stay safe. I'll see you when you get back."

Sometime later, CJ was walking through a southwestern Native American style village at the foot of a volcano. It was known as Kakariko Village. CJ walked through the village and came to a graveyard. At the entrance of the graveyard sat a sign that was covered in a language CJ didn't understand, or so he thought. He shocked himself as he sat there and read it.

"Here lie those who swore fealty to the Royal Family, as well as those with the blood of the Royal Family coursing through their veins." CJ read. He walked a bit further, into a fenced off special section of the graveyard, where several graves caught his eye. He looked at each one individually, and memories flooded his mind.

"Saria Francis
Zorin 9, 1100 - Nayru 19, 1121
(July 9, 1988 – February 19, 2009)
Beloved Queen, Daughter, Sister, Wife and Mother-to-Be" The first grave read.

What… What's with these memories?


CJ sat at the edge of a hospital bed in Castle Town, next to an unconscious blonde-haired, pointy-eared young woman. Her abdomen, arms and legs were covered in bandages. Her parents, Patrick and Becky, as well as her brother Ryan were standing behind CJ. Sitting not too far away was CJ's dad.

"Please, Din…" He prayed. "Help her pull through…" It was then that the doctor walked in.

"I'm afraid the Gyorg attack is too severe…" He said solemnly. "We don't expect her to survive…"

"Doc… What about… the baby? Saria's 7 months pregnant…" CJ asked.

"I'm sorry… We couldn't save the child…" The doctor said. CJ buried his face in his hands and cried.


The crystal Wii remote must not have just made my stories a reality… It changed the entire history of my life… I know that never actually happened to me… But the wish must have changed that… Maybe that's why my memory is so fuzzy and it's hard to remember life before the Wii remote… My wish is literally rewriting my memories… CJ thought.

CJ looked at the three graves next to Saria.

"Ryan Floyd
Zorin 9, 1100 – Hylia 3, 1122
(July 9, 1988 – January 3, 2010)
Beloved Son

Patrick Floyd
Farore 7, 1084 – Hylia 3, 1122
(March 7, 1972 – January 3, 2010)
Beloved Husband, Son & Father

Rebecca Floyd
Din 24, 1084 – Hylia 3, 1122
(April 24, 1972 – January 3, 2010)
Beloved Mother, Daughter & Wife"

I wish I could've help you guys… But… I guess I'm glad you're all together with Saria as a family again… CJ thought, as a new memory hit him.


CJ rushed up to a house on Outset Island, in the Great Sea, just off of Hyrule's eastern coast. The house was quite fancy and rich-looking, but it was blocked off by crime scene tape. CJ ran over to a nearby officer.

"What happened here, Officer?" CJ asked. The officer turned to CJ and realizing that he was the King, bowed to him briefly.

"Well, Your Majesty…" The officer said. "I'm afraid someone broke into the Floyd home. We're not sure what they're motive was, but we were called to the scene because a suspicious person was spotted near the house. When we arrived, we found the front door wide open and the Floyd family dead inside… I'm terribly sorry…"

I'm just glad they caught the guy… Can't believe he killed the Floyds all because he didn't get Patrick's job as Director of HCIS when Pat retired.


He then walked deeper into the graveyard and came to a special gravestone, bearing the Sheikah symbol: A single eye shedding but a lone tear drop. His eyes watered and he knelt down as he read the gravestone:

"Ralph Francis
Din 17, 1061 – Nayru 3, 1123
(April 17, 1949 – February 3, 2011)
Hylian Air Force
Beloved Father"

Dad… I miss you so much. And I wish things would get easier, but I know that won't happen. CJ thought. But I'm living each day to its fullest, and I'll make you proud leading this country, just like you made me proud defending it.

Another memory rushed into his mind. But this one wasn't new. It was nearly the same memory of his dad from before he made his wish. But this time, his family was absent. It was only him and Stacey in the hospital room.


CJ stood in a hospital room with Stacey. Lying in a hospital bed in front of them was a man with dark brown, almost black hair. He was hooked up to various medical devices: ventilator, heart monitor, catheter, and other devices that were essentially sustaining his life.

The nurse walked in and CJ looked at her.

"It's what he would want…" CJ said, struggling to fight back tears. "He's said… on more than one occasion… that this isn't how…" He stopped for a moment and wiped his eyes. "How he would want to live." Stacey wrapped her arm around CJ as he began to cry. He then looked down at his dad, tears in his eyes, constantly trying to fight it.

"I love you, Dad… I'm sorry I never said it more often… I'm sorry it took me until now to realize it… I'm sorry, Dad… And I love you…"

A few moments later, the nurse turned to CJ, and with a solemn look on her face, said:

"I'm sorry." CJ buried his face in Stacey's shoulder and began to sob.

So… even in my life in Hyrule, that didn't change… CJ thought. I hope none of the people I care about ever have to suffer through losing a parent.


He stood up, wiped his eyes, and turned to walk out.

CJ left Kakariko Village and began walking through the fields of southern Hyrule. He soon came to a large stone bridge standing over a vast crystal blue lake. He couldn't help but stop and stare at the beauty of the lake.

"Wow… Lake Hylia is gorgeous in person…" CJ thought aloud. "Not that I expected any less." He looked down at the lake and saw blue humanoid creatures with fins on their arms and legs and mermaid-like tails coming off the backs of their heads. In Hyrule, they were known as Zoras. He continued walking and soon returned to Castle Town. As he walked through South Castle Town, he took in the scenery and looked at all the shops, both buildings and open-air stalls. There was such a wide variety of things to see. A fortune teller, a potter, a blacksmith, fresh fruit and vegetable stands, a bakery stand, and even a stall selling bottle spring water, both hot and cold. And CJ wasn't even surprised by the human-like creature with skin seemingly made of rock that was running the spring water stand. He was familiar with the creatures, as they were from the Legend of Zelda series. He knew them as Gorons.

But one shop in particular caught his eye. It was a game shop. In the window were various types of cards and games, but the window was filled mostly with Yu-Gi-Oh cards. He looked up at the sign which read "Moto Game Shop".

He walked inside and looked around. Standing behind the counter was a young man around CJ's age wearing a blue jacket, jeans, and black watch. He had spiked black hair with red tips and spiked blonde bangs. He was Yugi Moto, main character of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. It was at that moment that CJ realized that the Yu-Gi-Oh parts of his stories had become a reality as well.

Sitting in a chair next to Yugi was a young woman with blue eyes, brown hair, and wearing a black shirt and pink skirt. She was Tea Moto, Yugi's wife.

Wandering around the card shop were two more young men. The first one had brown eyes, blond hair, and wore a white t-shirt with a blue stripe in the middle, jean shorts, dog tags and green watch. His name: Joey Wheeler. The second had brown eyes and brown hair that was spiked in front, and wore a black t-shirt and jean shorts. His name: Tristan Taylor.


CJ and Yugi stood in Hyrule Castle's courtyard, both wearing strange devices on their arms. The devices were composed of a small platform that had a slot for a deck of cards and a slot for a discard pile. Attached to it was a 'blade' that had five small slots and five platforms, giving it the ability to hold ten cards. The entire device was known as a Duel Disk. Yugi had three monster cards on his Duel Disk and CJ had one.

Behind CJ was a hologram of a monster, created by the Duel Disk. The monster was none other than Ganondorf, the King of Evil.

Behind Yugi were three monsters. The first was a large muscular blue monster with several horns on its head, spikes on its shoulder, and fierce looking eyes. The second was a long red dragon with two mouths, and the third was a large almost mechanical looking golden dragon. All three creatures had blue gems in their forehead and looked extremely fierce.

"Well, CJ… You fought a good fight, but in the end, your King of Evil didn't have enough strength to stand up to my Egyptian god cards!" Yugi said. "Slifer! Ra! Obelisk! Infuse your powers and wipe out the King of Evil!" It was then that the two dragons vanished and their energies were absorbed by the blue creature, who grew more muscular and glowed with a mighty power, before unleashing his energy, destroying the King of Evil, and ending the duel. Both players Duel Disks then compressed into a small watch on their wrist, known simply as a Duel Watch.


"Hey Yugi." CJ said.

"Hey CJ." Yugi said. "What's up?"

"Just going for a walk, wanted to drop in and say hi." CJ said. "Anything new?"

"I guess Kaiba's doing something big… We just got an extra shipment of Duel Watches, on top of our usual shipment." Yugi said.

"Maybe he's prepping for a tournament." CJ said.

"You think?" Yugi asked.

"I can hope." CJ said. "I want another shot at your title."

"Dude... You know you'd have to take the Hero of Time from Stacey AND the Princess of Destiny from Layla to have a chance against my Egyptian god cards." Yugi said.

CJ laughed. "As if. I made some changes to my deck, and I know I'll beat you next time we duel."

"Well, if Kaiba's throwing a tournament, you might just get that chance." Yugi said.

"I hope so." CJ said. "But hey, I gotta go. I'll catch you later!" With that, he walked out.

This is weird… I have so many memories of living in Hyrule… But… that's not possible. CJ thought. Unless… What if the wish made it so that we've been living in Hyrule all our lives? That would explain my memories!

He soon returned to Hyrule Castle and looked around his bedroom for a box labeled "Important Memories and Stuff".

"That's what I'm looking for." He said to himself as he fished through the box and found a few pieces of paper. He looked at them one by one.

"Yeah… According to my birth certificate, I was born in Gerudo Valley…" He thought aloud. "Just like my stories said… And here's me and Saria's marriage certificate, dated Zorin 9, 1119 (July 9, 2007). And here's me and Stacey's marriage certificate, dated Zorin 23, 1125 (July 23, 2013)… Three years after we started dating…"

It was then that CJ's phone rang.

"Hello?" CJ answered.

"CJ! Help! The house is on fire!"

"Shay?!"

"Come quick! Please!" Shaylene exclaimed from the other end. CJ could hear the panic and fear in her voice.

"I'm on my way!" CJ said.

A few minutes later…

CJ rushed down a street in East Castle Town and he soon came to a three-story tan house, fully engulfed in flames. The area was blocked off by police tape and firefighters were blasting the fierce flames with water.

"CJ!" CJ turned and saw Shaylene and Jennette standing near the crowd. Shaylene ran over and wrapped her arms around CJ, who returned the embrace and held her close. Jennette quickly walked over as well.

"Shay… I'm glad you're okay. You too, Jennette." CJ said. "Where are you parents and your brother?"

"That's the thing." Jennette said, trying to cover the fear and pain in her voice. "We're not sure."

"We went out for a walk and when we came back, the house was fully engulfed." Shaylene said, trying not to cry.

"Stay here with your sister for a second, Shay." CJ said. He walked away from the girls and over to a nearby police officer, who was working on crowd control.

"Sir, you need to stand b- Oh… Your Majesty, what can I do for you?" The officer asked.

"Do you know if anyone was inside the house when the fire started?" CJ asked. "Those two girls over there live here with their parents and older brother." He motioned to Shay and Jennette.

"How old are they?" The officer asked.

"The oldest one is 22, the younger one will be 17 next month." CJ said.

"They… may want to hear this…" The officer said, a solemn tone in his voice. CJ had a bad feeling of what was coming next. He waved the girls over.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Shaylene asked. "And Steven? Is everyone okay?" CJ put his arm around Shaylene and pulled her close.

"When we arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames." The officer said. "We believe the fire may have been burning for some time already… Firefighters went in to search the house. Three victims were pulled from the blaze, but I'm sorry to say…"

"No… please don't…" Jennette said, her eyes beginning to water.

"I'm sorry to inform you that all three were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics…" The officer said.

"M-mommy… D-daddy…" Shaylene buried her face in CJ's chest and cried. CJ wrapped his arms around her, hoping to comfort her. Jennette tried to hold it together for her sister, but couldn't, and broke down in tears as well.

"Why? Why Mom and Dad? Why Steven?" Jennette sobbed. CJ extended an arm and pulled Jennette into the embrace as well, trying to do his best to comfort the girls.

A few days later…

CJ, Shaylene and Jennette walked into the fenced off section of Kakariko Graveyard, where three new graves now stood. Shaylene and Jennette knelt down in front of them and both began to cry. The three graves read:

"Dave Johnson
Din 4, 1072 – Dinrudo 19, 1126
(April 4, 1960 - June 19, 2014)
Beloved father and husband

Brenda Johnson
Dekuri 24, 1074 - Dinrudo 19, 1126
(August 24, 1962 – June 19, 2014)
Beloved mother and wife

Steven Johnson
Dinrudo 22, 1099 - Dinrudo 19, 1126
(June 22, 1987 – June 19, 2014)
Beloved son"

CJ stood there and placed his hands on the girls' shoulders, unsure of what to do. He knew what it was like to lose a parent, but they hadn't just lost their parents, they had lost their home, lost everything.

"What do we do now?" Shaylene asked in between tears.

"How do you do it, CJ?" Jennette asked.

"It's not easy." CJ said. "I just have to take things one day at a time. But having friends and family to support me is a big help."

"Are we part of those friends and family?" Shaylene asked, wiping her eyes, as she and Jennette stood up.

"Duh." CJ said, wrapping his arms around the girls. "I love you girls. You're like family to me. And listen, you guys are more than welcome to come live at the castle with me and Stacey."

"Thanks." Jennette said. She and Shaylene looked down at their family's graves.

"Love you Mommy…" Shaylene said. "Love you, Daddy… Love you, bro…"

"We miss you guys." Jennette said. The three then turned and walked out of the graveyard, CJ's arms still around the girls.