In yet another epic adventure, Link is forced to deal with more troubles in one life than he ever has before. In a readaption of the Grimm brothers' fairytale Sleeping Beauty, Link must defeat Maleficent to awaken Zelda, but his journey is far from over. He finds himself fighting love, Ganon, wars, nature, endless foes, and even his own feelings.
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Part 1: Malevolent Maleficent (Ch. 1-16)
Part 2: The Return of Ganon (Ch. 17-30)
Part 3: The Quest for Peace (Ch. 31-40)
Part 4: Forbidden Love (Ch. 40-End)
Rated T for the following: violence, infrequent swearing, light sensuality, and other themes that may be inappropriate for young readers.
A few words from the author:
This story is written in honor of Erich LaBeau, whose challenge to write Sleeping Beauty as a Zelda remake inspired me to create this epic, and Christine, my wonderful sister who spent some of the last months of her life helping me edit ZA. If you are not very famaliar with the whole Legend of Zelda series, you might want to research every name to get a better picture. This story is a hypothetical unification of the three timelines and includes many reincarnations of characters from most of the games as well as a few time-travelers.
Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda and everything within it. All copyrighted material in this story belongs to its respective owners. This is a non-profit fan-made work, and I disclaim everything in this fanfiction with the exception of Lord Alhader, an original character of mine that has become iconic.
This tale is not a continuation or elaboration of the cannonical legends, but it takes most of its inspiration and groundwork from those legendery games. I hope you can find every reference and every homage and quotation included in this work. I recommend that you listen to Koji Kondo's masterpieces while reading. Enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Prologue.
It all began in the Kokiri Forest...
A young woman scurried across the forest floor with a babe in her arms. Her dress was tattered and her exposed arms and face were covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises. With blue eyes and golden hair, her beauty still managed to somehow shine. As the light faded and the hour of twilight approached, there was a certain erie glow to the usually pleasant forest. Was Hyrule in for yet another attack on its purity? The woman came to a halt when she reached a huge tree, which oddly, had a face on it.
"O Great Deku Tree! Hearken to me! Terrifying creatures have raided my house and killed my husband, and though I have escaped, monsters are on my trail!" She let out a single pitiful sob and continued, "Please! Take my child and hide him! I will distract them!" She paused and then added quietly, "Even if I am not caught, I doubt I can live with these wounds anyway..." The poor woman was losing much blood from an injury in her torso. She lowered her gaze and silently let her tears fall from her eyes.
"Good woman, worry not. Thy faith hath made thee whole; thy courage is admirable and thy simple plan is good enough." The Tree spoke with an archaic tongue, evidence of his thousands of years of life.
The woman gave a heart-breaking smile and thanked the tree. "I knew I could depend on you, and for this I will be eternally grateful." Her somber face had a new radiance and her entire posture was bent on holding steadfast to her word.
"Thy idea of self-sacrifice is noble and unselfish, for you should know: thy child means more to the world than he does to thee. Yay, his destiny is heavy laden with burden and monumental purpose. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. Now lay the babe here and make haste and go." He amusingly gestured with his eyes to a log that was connected directly to his enormous trunk, covered in a mass of leaves and moss.
The woman laid the boy down and kissed him for the last time. "Farewell my child; no matter what my destiny and yours may be, I love you."
The Tree pressed her to leave. "I sense that evil is nigh. Take up thyself and go. May Din be with thee."
The Great Deku found himself trying to believe that the woman would be fine, but he should have known better than that. The monsters had been very active since the past week, and only he knew why: they seeked to eliminate the babe's chance for survival. The woman managed to thank the old Tree one last time, and then she left.
The Deku looked at the baby boy, who was coincidentally named Link, and spoke to him, though the child could not understand words yet. "Long have I served as the guardian spirit of this forest, but never have I felt so burdened as now I do. O little one, I see visions of thee. It seems ye will play a vital part in the destruction of evil. Thou hast so many trials ahead; for when it shall appear that thou hast defeated all thine enemies, ye will only find that thy last battle is still dreadfully far away."
The Tree paused and took notice of the abrupt changes in the forest; it was back to normal. "I sense that the monsters have left. They only seeked your parents' lives." He knew that Link's mother had probably been killed. "Wise though I am, I cannot raise an orphan. Saria, I summon thee to come to me on the marrow." The Tree let out an otherworldy sound and then closed his eyes and went to sleep with the babe that was in his leafy arms.
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Author's notes:
Critique, comments, questions, and suggestions, are strongly appreciated. Reviewing is encouraged in order to help me mold the story to fit the audience. The only format I can get fanfiction to accept is .txt; therefore, I will have to find replacements for italics and other special effects. Don't be surprised if you read something you recognize. Nearly every chapter will have things taken directly from the games and other places.