Darkness surrounded and enveloped the trapped princess of Lorule, threatening to take her with it. The beast had been slain, and he wanted her to suffer the same fate.
And high above floated the two of three pieces of the Triforce, Power and Wisdom.
Princess Hilda, as she sank into the shadows, desperately stretched out her arm for the golden, ancient relics hovering above her. Their light shined its everlasting radiance, giving the girl hope that she could escape this nightmarish situation.
But to her horror, the golden relics hovered higher and higher away from her, before completely vanishing. Now that their host was destroyed, they were free from his clutches.
Hilda let out a choked sob and tightly shut her eyes. Karma, it seamed, was having its way with her.
And then, suddenly, the shadows released their grasp on her and retreated. The young woman opened her eyes, and saw bright, colorful flames swirling around her. Instead of fear, the princess felt comforted by the strange fire. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch it.
The girl didn't get the chance to, however, when the flames extended away from her and toward the shadows. She didn't get to see what happened next, for she felt herself suddenly exhausted, and her eyelids shut once again.
It was then she heard a voice speak, echoing and sorrowful.
"I'm...sorry..."
"Urrrgh..."
Hilda felt herself lying on the cold stone floor as she slowly regained consciousness. She fluttered her eyelids open, and felt her breath caught in her throat.
Lying inches across from her, on his back and painted face toward hers, was Yuga. He was completely still, and his eyes were closed. His shirt and cape were badly torn, and his dreadlocked hair had many loose strands.
The princess conjectured that Yuga and Ganon must have been separated, just before the demon king was vanquished. Shakily, she reached over to touch his face, hesitating when her hand hovered over his cheek.
He's...dead.
Hilda brought her hand back against her chest, clenching it into a fist in anger. She felt she should hate him for betraying her, for turning her into a painting and absorbing her along with the Triforce of Wisdom.
But the voice from earlier—before she woke up—entered her mind. It was his voice, she knew. She remembered how utterly weak and remorseful he sounded. As much as Hilda wanted to hate him, she couldn't help but feel pity for him.
And somehow, she knew it was he, the colorful flames, that kept the darkness from consuming her.
The girl felt guilt well up within her, for if she hadn't allowed Yuga to involve himself in their scheme, he would not have suffered his end.
The princess' hate began to focus less on him, and more on herself.
With difficulty, she hoisted herself up and grabbed her staff. Turning her head, she spotted Link on the opposite side of the throne room, standing in front of the glowing portrait of Zelda. Now that Yuga was defeated, the curse was being broken.
Her staff clenched tightly in her hand, Hilda stood up and stumbled toward Hyrule's hero and freed princess.
This isn't over.
How could she have been so selfish?
Princess Hilda looked at the rest of the room's occupants with a heart full of regret. Link, Zelda, and Ravio stared back at her. She could hardly believe they forgave her for her wrongdoing.
If Ravio had not shown up and convinced her to stop such madness, she might have met the same fate as Yuga did.
"Come, follow me. I know of a way to return you and your Triforce to your home," she told Hyrule's princess and hero. Hilda turned away and moved toward the exit, using her staff to support her tired body. The Hyruleans and Ravio soon joined her.
"Ah, Princess Hilda, what about Yuga?" Zelda asked her when they reached the middle of the throne room. She, along with the others, turned their gaze to the unmoving sorcerer. "Is he...?"
"He's gone," Hilda quickly stated, "He's no threat anymore." Her face revealing no emotion, she looked away and continued forward. "Let's go."
The others looked at her in concern, yet said nothing as they followed her out of the throne room. Ravio frowned behind her, having heard the tiniest hint of sadness in her voice.
The four left the throne room, leaving behind the seemingly lifeless sorcerer. But if they had lingered behind a few moments longer, they might have sensed the ominous aura coming from Yuga's body, which had been gradually growing.
A finger twitched.
Black, cold eyes shot open.
Lorule's princess and merchant stood before the great stone slate in the Sacred Realm. They watched as the painted forms of Link and Zelda slipped through the stone's crack, disappearing from their sights. Having used the last of the ancient bracelet's power, the relic shattered from Hilda's wrist, the wind carrying away the glowing dust.
"You did the right thing, Princess Hilda," Ravio told her, his bird Sheerow chirping in agreement.
"I know," she replied, "but I can't help but feel so...terrible for causing so much misfortune to everyone."
"I understand, Your Highness," the boy said, "But what matters in the end is that you stopped your own scheme and helped return them with their Triforce, right? And besides," he smiled, "we'll find some other way to restore Lorule."
The princess smiled back. "Yes, you're right. We should go."
They both turned away from the large slate, and instantly froze.
At the pathway in front of them stood Yuga, hunched over and raggedly breathing. He used his golden staff to support his weight, while giving the others a venomous stare. His eyes were dark, unnaturally so.
The dark-haired boy and girl let out a startled gasp at the sight of the wizard, shocked to see him alive and standing. Ravio took a shaky step back—even Sheerow seemed to quiver a little—while Hilda stood in stunned silence, wide-eyed and unbelieving of what she was seeing. She was so sure the man had died.
"I must have...the Triforce of Power..." said the sorcerer.
The young merchant, although fearfully, stepped in front of Hilda and spread out his arms protectively. "S-stay back!" he yelled to the redheaded wizard.
Yuga cackled, his tone lacking any sanity. "So, the cowardly little worm has wriggled his way back to Lorule. It delights me to know I will finally exterminate you—something I should have done long ago."
The boy grimaced and gulped, but did not back down from where he stood.
"Yuga, stop this at once!" the princess ordered, stepping from her spot behind Ravio.
"Out of my way!" Yuga shouted at them.
"No!" Hilda screamed back at him. "Don't do this, Yuga!"
"You will regret denying me! The Triforce will be mine!" the sorcerer furiously claimed. He raised his staff into the air, its colorful flames growing and dancing rapidly with power. The princess and merchant had little time to react as he pointed his weapon at them, summoning all of his power and—
A loud crack was heard.
Confused, Yuga looked and saw a large crack where he held his staff. And to his shock, it cracked again, expanding the tiny fissures. Then, before he knew it, the large wand broke in two and fell to the ground, its flames gone out.
The wizard fell to his knees, staring in disbelief at his broken weapon. "N-no..." he whispered.
Silence fell upon the Sacred Realm as Hilda and Ravio stared at the artist, unsure of what to do. Yuga may have just lost his weapon, but he could still be a threat, they assumed.
And yet, why did he seem so defeated?
Princess Hilda inhaled deeply. She had to do something. Carefully and cautiously, she began to approach the broken man, but felt her arm grabbed after only a few steps.
"W-wait, Your Highness," Ravio warned, "I don't know about this... He might still be dangerous."
"It's all right, Ravio," the young woman assured. "I don't think he can harm us anymore. And I...I need to talk to him."
"You really think talking to him will make a difference, Princess Hilda?"
"Yes," she answered with a nod. "Or at least, I hope so."
After giving the girl a look of worry and doubt, the boy hesitantly released his hold on her. "Please be careful."
"I will."
Turning her head away from the young merchant, the princess resumed her calm, slow pace toward the sorcerer. When she neared him, she knelt down in front of him with a sorrowful expression on her face.
"Stay away from me," Yuga growled at her, still facing the ground.
"Yuga..." Hilda spoke to the sorcerer, "It's over."
The wizard slowly raised his head to look at the girl, glaring at her with his abnormal black eyes. "Where is it?" he questioned her, "Where is the Triforce of Power?"
"I've sent it back to Hyrule, along with the other two pieces. And I won't allow you to take it from them."
"You lie..." the man hissed. "You've gone out of your way to take the Triforce. Why would you suddenly give it back to them?!"
"Because I learned it was not the right solution to save Lorule. To save our land, and ultimately cause destruction to another..." Princess Hilda felt shame as she spoke. "Before, I truly believed it was the right thing to do—that fate had given us the opportunity to have another Triforce... But now I know that wasn't the answer to solve our problems. I just can't cause other people to suffer for my selfish actions. It would be too cruel. And the gods would surely be angry and disappointed with us."
"Such nonsense," Yuga spoke, "Do you honestly think the gods grace us a second thought anymore? They had given up on us long ago, when those fools oh so foolishly destroyed their precious Triforce." He grinned nastily at her. "And what makes you think I even care about the wellbeing of both Hyrule and Lorule? They mean absolutely nothing to me."
The princess' expression softened. "You told me yourself that you wanted to see Lorule's beauty to return, remember?"
Something in Yuga's eyes changed. Black and cold transformed to brown and warm. He gazed at Hilda in bewilderment, as if broken from a spell. "I..."
"You promised me you would do everything in your power to make sure our plan would work," the princess gently said to him. "And I fully believed you. I saw in your eyes that you longed to see Lorule restored as much as I, and knew I could trust you to carry out our plan."
"I remember now," the sorcerer quietly uttered. "I truly desired to please you, and to fulfill my duty to give this hideous world its beauty back... I still do."
"But, Yuga..." Hilda began, "if that's true, then why did you suddenly become disloyal? How...how do I live with the knowledge that you would betray me?" she asked, her voice lowered to a whisper.
Yuga ever so slightly winced at her words. "Forgive me, Your Grace. It was not my original intention to harm you, nor betray you. The Triforce's power had tempted me, and soon changed my thoughts. I was consumed by greed and became corrupted," he explained. "As I said to you before our scheme came to motion: I only wished to see Lorule's beauty brought back."
Hilda held her hands against her chest as she lowered her head. "I...believe you...because I know it was you that protected me from the darkness of Ganon. If it weren't for you, I would have died along with the demon king."
Yuga was quiet, unsure of what to say. His memory of protecting her was hazy, but still there.
The princess raised her head and looked at him in the eyes. "I forgive you, Yuga, like I have been forgiven for my own immoral choices."
The artist smiled. "Thank you."
The young woman stood up, helping the struggling sorcerer stand on his feet, as his body was not quite yet at full strength. His smile was replaced with a frown as he peered over her shoulder. "Ah, yes, the runt..."
Hilda turned to where Ravio stood, patiently yet anxiously waiting with Sheerow on his shoulder. The princess briefly glanced back at Yuga, who looked at her with uncertainty. After giving him an encouraging smile, the girl walked back to the young merchant. The red-haired wizard lingered behind.
Ravio visibly relaxed as the red-eyed princess approached him. "Well? Is he, uh, still wanting to kill us and whatnot?"
Hilda lightly chuckled. "No, not anymore. Like me, he has been shown the errors of his ways. The errors of our ways, I should say."
"That so?" he skeptically asked. He shifted his gaze to the sorcerer as he approached them. "How do we know you really weren't planning on betraying her from the beginning?" the dark-haired boy asked him.
"Oh, I'm sure you would love to believe that was the case, boy," Yuga responded with a glare.
"Then why did you?" Ravio demanded, with Sheerow chirping angrily.
The artist looked away, brows creasing, and explained, "I was not in my normal state of mind after I merged with the demon king. His lust for power and control soon became my own. I suppose you could say I was...influenced by him."
"But you tried to kill us when you showed up here," the merchant stated.
"I was still not myself at the time. I...apologize...for that," Yuga explained, with his apology hesitant and struggled. Ravio stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of deception, but found nothing of the sort.
"Hmph... If you ask me, it just sounds like some kind of excuse... But if what you say really is true, then maybe you're not as much of a leech as I thought..." The green-eyed boy fell quiet for a moment, thinking deeply, before finally speaking, "If Princess Hilda really wishes it, then I guess I'll be willing to give you a chance."
The sorcerer scoffed. "Am I supposed to be worried if I don't have your approval?"
The dark-haired boy growled in aggravation. "You know—!"
"Enough!" Hilda shouted at them, gaining their attention. "I don't expect you two to get along—at least not right away—but could you please try to act more mature and civil towards each other?"
"Ahh, forgive my rudeness, Your Grace," said Yuga as he bowed to her. The young merchant next to him grumbled unintelligibly under his breath.
The princess let out a sigh. "Never mind for now. We should leave and figure out if there are any other methods to—"
"P-Princess Hilda, look!" Ravio suddenly alerted, pointing behind the girl. Whipping her body around, Hilda was met with a startling sight.
In front of them, the large slate's crack grew larger with each passing second. And before anyone could question the strange phenomenon, the Sacred Realm suddenly released violent tremors, causing the three to nearly lose their balance. When the glowing crack reached the edges, the stone slate burst into large chunks and fell to the realm's endless bottom, its portal never to be used again.
Soon after the slate's destruction, the tremors subsided. Hilda managed to remain on her feet, while Yuga was brought down to one knee. Ravio had fallen on his back, with Sheerow circling above him and chirping in concern.
"What...the heck was that all about?" the dark-haired boy wondered aloud as he pushed himself up in a sitting position.
"Perhaps the gods wanted to make sure no one could enter Hyrule ever again," Yuga speculated.
The two males heard the princess abruptly gasp. When they saw her looking upward, they followed her gaze and met with another surprise.
Above where the slate used to be, an object formed. It took shape into three inverted triangles, glowing in magnificent gold.
The Lorulean Triforce was reformed, and gave light once again.
Princess Hilda, overwhelmed with joy, cried as she thanked Hyrule's generous princess and hero, knowing it was they who restored their Triforce.
"So it was not I that would bring this land's beauty back..." Yuga muttered.
Ravio shifted his eyes to the artist's direction, tensely waiting to see if he would suddenly try to take the Triforce for himself.
And to his surprise, Yuga made no move toward it. He merely stared at it.
The boy allowed himself to relax. ...I guess he really isn't as bad as I thought.
The princess, artist, and merchant stood together as they gazed at their renewed Triforce, sensing light and balance return to their world.
Finally, they were at peace.
AN: This AU was requested by someone from DeviantArt. I did my best to keep everyone in character, considering the circumstances. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!