PART 1: Hyrule Field

Chapter 1: Green Field, Blue Sky

-/_\-

[?]

...A ruined land, desolate, dead. Broken up only by bloodied corpses and cracks overflowing with lava. Thunderbolts crashed down everywhere. It was as if the skies protested the air of death. A blood-red moon shone through scarce spots in the clouds. The biggest thunderbolt cracked and a huge sword crashed down. Where it impaled the earth, the land tore apart and melted away, revealing a huge skeletal face. It laughed. Claws shot out into the sky, tearing it apart, wounding it. From the sky, blood splattered out all over the battlefield, all over her. She watched, and she screamed. But no sound came out. She could not move. The face rose out of the earth, and the body attached to it crawled out, before rising to full height. It roared, and the ruined sky came crashing down. She could feel her body being crushed, cut up by the shattered pieces of sky. Through the intense pain, she heard...

"Some Messenger you are. You couldn't save Link. You couldn't save anybody, not even yourself."

-/_\-

[Ilia]

She opened her eyes, gasping for breath. The sun shone in her eyes, forcing her to close them again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Observe your surroundings. Survival skills, Ilia. Remember what Gram taught you. Remember... huh? Like a sudden breeze, whatever memory she had started to form was suddenly swept away. She could, however, still feel the breeze on her skin. She could feel a gentle tickling on her back. It was grass, she realized. She was lying down in grass. But, how? How did she get here? She tried to remember, but all was black. And red. No, that was the sun shining through her closed eyelids. She groaned, and turned her head to the left, preparing to open them once more. Blearily, she opened them. The scene before her was what may very well have been the first thing she ever saw, since there was nothing before. She saw a hand, hers, attached to an arm, also hers. But what was curious was that thing in her hand, which she was clenching. It was a rod of some sort. It looked like it could have been an ancient and priceless artifact, had it not been for the fact it was covered in moss. It was sagging with disrepair, really. She blinked, trying to focus on it. It tapered to a dull point at the bottom, and on top laid three claws, surrounding a smallish basin. There were indecipherable words strewn across its surface. This did nothing to jog her memory, however, and she wasn't even sure it was hers. She turned her head to the other side, and this scene was the same, sans rod. She closed her eyes, and sat up. Instantly, blood rushed to her head, and she felt dizzy. Groaning again, she looked around.

She was in some open field with grass stretching everywhere. She saw, in front of her, a grand castle. To her left were smaller structures, probably forts. To her right, danger! A grotesque green creature with a cloth over its face was lurching towards her. It raised its club, prepared to strike. Automatically, she shrugged off her sleepiness, and moved the rod to her other hand, raising it to defend. Club hit rod, and her arm shook a little. Even though this creature was smaller than a Hylian, she found herself being overpowered. It may have been because she was still in a sitting position. She was scared. What did this foul creature want with her? Why did it attack a defenseless girl like her? Now filled with frustration over her lack of comprehension, she pushed back one last time, taking the creature by surprise. Quickly, she rolled back, and suddenly found herself in a standing position. Suddenly, pain wracked through her body. She should not have done that. But what choice did she have? The lone creature was now eyeing her, its advantage lost.

It decided to attack once more, and she stuck out her rod in a futile gesture of aggression. Luckily, the creature ran directly into the rod, its head making a loud clunk upon impact. Its red eyes rolled up, and it passed out. She stood there for a while speechless, then breathed out. She clutched her rod, holding it like it was the only thing between life and death. For her, an ordinary girl with nothing else except her clothes, it was very fortunate that she had this rod to fight with... well, to the best of her ability. But what was she to do now? She felt extremely vulnerable, being out in the open like this. She could see some other creatures in the distance, moving towards her. She turned and ran clumsily towards the closest fort to her. She ran up towards the front. The gate was closed, and her advance was halted. This was it. Nowhere to run. She looked back, and they were already swarming towards her. It was a terrifying sight, and she wanted to cry. But she held up her rod, regardless. It was shaking, like her arm. Like the rest of her. She barely defeated one of them, how was she supposed to defeat a hundred? She closed her eyes.

A sharp whoosh broke her concentration, and she saw a streak of green, mixed with a little blue, then a large boom of yellowish-white. A man stood in front of her, a sword in hand, held high. This man had green clothes and a blue scarf. In front of this man, she could see... all the creatures from before, dropping to the ground at the same time. It felt like time slowed down for her at this very moment, as she tried to make sense of what happened. But this man exuded an aura of safeness, perhaps even familiarity. The man turned to her, and she found herself speaking without intending to.

"...Link?"

The man looked surprised. She must have looked just as surprised, as she had no idea what she had just said. But the man smiled. She felt relief flooding her body, and she drooped down, the blackness overtaking her. She closed her eyes and slumped to the ground.

-/_\-

[Link]

"Are you sure you've never seen her before?"

Link nodded. The blue fairy busily circling the space in front of his head made a chirping sound, and left it at that. He looked down at the girl once more. She was a teenager, not much younger than him. But she looked emaciated, and her clothes were filthy. Her skin was filthy as well. She stood out on the plain white sheets laid out for her on the floor of Link's tent. After finding and rescuing her, he had taken her back to his tent, and tried to figure out what to do with her. Proxi had suggested to call Zelda, so he was now sitting next to the girl's sleeping body, waiting for Zelda. He tried not to feel weird about having an unconscious girl in his private quarters. He failed. He looked away quickly. Then he looked back, wondering about how the girl knew her. Sure, he had already become famous through conquest, and he was now known as Link, the Hero of Hyrule. But this girl's tentative query was not one of awe. Rather, it had seemed... like she was reaching for a familiar source. It sounded stupid even in his head, but it was the only thing that sounded close.

"Link, you're staring at her."

Blushing, he looked away again. Proxi tittered a little, knowing she had caught Link doing something he wasn't aware of doing. Just then, the tent door sweeped open, and the regal figure of Princess Zelda came in, followed by Impa, her bodyguard and General of the Hyrulean Army. Zelda met Link's eyes, then looked down at the girl. She reached down and held her hand. Proxi spoke up.

"Link found her next to the Central keep, scared out of her mind. Those Bulblins seemed very interested in her, so Link cut them down. Then she passed out, so we brought her over here."

Zelda nodded in understanding, but Impa spoke up, addressing Link.

"Indeed, it is admirable that your heroic spirit is as strong as ever, but can I ask why she is stationed here, instead of in the medical tents?"

"Well, that's the thing," Proxi said hesitantly. "She seems to know Link. Not OF Link, mind you, but actually know him. I found it a bit odd, personally, but Link wanted to know more, so he was wondering if you could help her." Link nodded to confirm what Proxi was saying.

"She is showing signs of exhaustion and dehydration," Zelda spoke quietly. "She will need water as soon as she wakes up, as well as bed rest afterwards. But otherwise, I think she looks fine. Impa, if you please?"

"Of course, Your Highness." Impa quickly departed the tent.

"What did you mean, she knows Link?" Zelda asked.

Link just looked at the girl, then shrugged.

"She said Link's name. Then Link had a strange, yet familiar, feeling, one that Link can't really explain," Proxi interpreted.

"I see," Zelda said with just the tiniest bit of skepticism. "Well, I suppose we can talk to her once she wakes."

-/_\-

[Ilia]

She woke up to something other than blinding whiteness for once. Instead, she saw a soothing brown canvas. She also heard voices.

"Here's a bucket of fresh water, Your Majesty."

"Thank you. You came just in time, it seems that she is waking up now."

Blearily, the girl opened her eyes fully, and looked around. Then she seemed to slowly realize her circumstances, as well as the fact that she was being talked about. She gasped, and drew up in a sitting position. She then coughed, suddenly realizing her throat was dryer than it had ever been. A cup full of crystal clear water was raised to her lips, and she began drinking greedily.

"It's okay. You're safe now," the blonde woman said, looking at her with kind eyes. The girl looked at the other people in the room. There was a fierce-looking, yet protective and dependable woman standing above the blonde, and to her right was a man in green clothes with a blue scarf. Wait, was he...? She felt confused, as if trying to remember who he was.

"May I ask your name?" The blonde asked, and her head whipped around to meet her eyes.

"I..." she started with a shaky voice. "I don't know it. I- I can't remember."

"You can't remember your name?"

"...Everything. I can't remember anything. It's all black."

"So, you remember nothing? Then, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know Link?"

"...Who?"

The man in green clothes started, looking surprised. A blue ball of light with wings flew out from behind his head, and started chattering.

"What do you mean, who? I heard you saying Link's name! What kind of game are you playing-"

"Enough, please," Zelda interrupted. "It's clear that she has some severe amnesia. She's starting to lose control over what she can remember."

"N- no. I... Link sounds familiar. So you're Link?"

The man in green smiled at him. She smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you, Link. I'm... Ilia. I think."

"And I'm Proxi!" the fairy chirped. "So you can remember your name after all?"

"...I don't know where that came from. But, Ilia... Yes, Ilia sounds right. That is my name. I'm sorry, everything's still so fuzzy..." She held her head in her right hand, and realized her left fist was still clenched. "My rod!"

Zelda was took somewhat aback, but Link reached behind him and took out an old-looking stone rod, and gave it to Ilia. Ilia looked pleased, but Zelda looked suspicious.

"Hmm. Ilia, then? It is nice to meet you. I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule, but you may call me Zelda. This woman behind me is Impa, my most loyal bodyguard. So... tell me again how you found yourself in the middle of a battlefield...?"

"I... I just woke up there. All I had was this rod. I... what where those things? Those... monsters?"

"Bulblins," Impa said simply. "They serve only their King."

"...I think... they were after me. Or this rod. I don't know. I'm sorry, I wish I knew why I'm here."

"Don't apologize," Zelda said kindly. "You're in safe hands now, wherever you were before. But I must admit I am curious as to the origin of that rod. It looks like an Ancient Hylian artifact of some kind, but I am not sure. I must speak with my royal advisors for more information on the subject... Could I see it?"

"...Okay. But be careful. It... it's important to me. I can tell. It already saved my life once."

As she handed over the rod to Zelda, Ilia felt a profound sense of loss. She shook her head. She needed to be reasonable! It wouldn't do for her to go crazy over an old stick that she just happened to beat in some monster's head with. She could hear Zelda reading the letters, muttering in some other language. Finally, Zelda sighed.

"This language is ancient, as I thought. I can't read this fully. In fact, I doubt there are very many that can. In any case, all I could get was something about a 'Messenger to the Sky'. I don't suppose that means anything to you?"

Messenger? She felt like she knew who that was, but it felt so far away. Ilia shook her head.

"...Well. We will discuss this more tomorrow. For now, please drink some more, and rest."

Ilia laid her head back down, and closed her eyes. She could sense the others leaving the tent, perhaps to talk without her overhearing. But, despite her own profound exhaustion, she found herself unable to fall asleep. A Messenger... she tried to dig into the black haze that was her mind, to pull out some answers. She knew very well that her amnesia wasn't permanent or total, as she was able to bring out her own name... and Link's. She tried once again to remember who Link was, but found herself falling short. She rolled over in bed. Maybe, tomorrow would bring some answers. Right there, she resolved to get her memory back, and perhaps figure out why she had that rod. It seemed more important than just a hunk of mossy rock after all.

-/_\-