The Master Sword
Link and Zelda were sitting at the kitchen table, alone. All the others were gone to the market. It was shopping day, apparently. However, the princess had insisted that the Hero would stay with her; his injury wasn't yet completely healed.
So, to make time pass, Link had brought his sword –The Master Sword- down to clean it up. He hadn't used the blade many times, but it needed a good shine nevertheless.
Lost in thoughts, Zelda stared at the young man ahead of her as she repeatedly circled the rim of her tea cup with her right index.
The front door opened, which surprised the two of them. They turned around to face the newcomer.
But it was no one new: it was Rauru.
The old man smiled softly to them before he let his gaze fall down upon the sword. And nostalgia filled his eyes, suddenly.
Perplexed, Link stared up at him. "Why you looking at my sword like that, old man?"
Zelda rolled her eyes.
"Be polite with Rauru, Link. He's a sage." She scolded the Hero of Time.
Rauru raised a hand, as if to say that it was alright, and he shook his head lightly.
"No need to scold him, Zelda. He is right: I am an old man." He pointed at the sword. "And she is an old lady…"
"Lady? Swords have sex, now?" Asked the still perplexed Hylian.
"Not all of them, son." Rauru chuckled softly as he sat between the two chosen by the Goddesses. "But she sure does…"
"You seem to know a lot about her…" Pointed out Link as he stared at the shiny blade.
"Of course I do. I know all of her."
"I'm curious." Said Zelda. "Would you mind telling us the story of the Master Sword? I never heard it before, and I always wondered why it was so mystical."
"Yeah! I want to know as well!" Said Link, nodding a few times with conviction.
Rauru smiled and laughed lightly, wisely.
"Alright, children. Be ready for a tale of Love, and a tale of Death..."
Hyrule's first king's name was Daphnée Nohanson-Hyrule. He was a descendant of Nayru and, being blessed with the golden blood of the Sacred Triforce, he was placed upon the throne by the Goddess herself.
Daphnée was a man of values and rights. His words were law, but these laws were made to make his people's life better. He was adored by the first population of the kingdom and acclaimed each time he sat foot outside of the castle.
For a man of this value, he needed a wife who could reach his quality. And he found her: Erra was, to start with, the most beautiful woman amongst gorgeous women. She had long and wavy golden hair, pale skin like the snow, pink lips like a pink rose and eyes violet like a stormy night. She held the wisdom itself into her smile and it was told that flowers rose around her when she walked into the Royal Garden.
She, too, was a descendant of the Goddesses, for she needed the same blood as her husband to be the rightful queen of Hyrule.
From their passionate marriage was born, first, a son. Hair brown like chocolate and eyes pale as the sky. His name was Lucas.
And into another night of passion, they brought to life a little girl. Frail and pale, blond with the eyes of her mother. She was named Dahlia, for she was just as beautiful as the flower bearing that name.
Lucas grew to become a knight, a warrior. A man to be proud of as the heir to the throne.
Dahlia, on the other hand, was a fragile young woman. She loved to paint and sing. At night, it was told that she would dance in the Gardens, and her skin was so white that she seemed to be a nymph or a ghost.
Daphnée's life revolved around his daughter: he loved her dearly and would have offered his soul for her well-being anytime. At night, they would sometimes sit at a balcony and stare upon the Golden Land of Hyrule.
It was, after all, when Hyrule was still part of the Golden Realm.
So, at night, Dahlia would rest her head upon her father's shoulder.
Father… I want to know what Love is.
Dahlia was persuaded that there was no reason into living if it wasn't possible to find Love, the Great One.
Daphnée was touched by the passion into her words, and the quietness of her soft voice as they stared up at the pale, pale moon. Each time she would mention this matter to him, he would promise her to never force marriage on her. And she would smile.
And each time she smiled at him, Daphnée felt his chest tighten as he had a feeling that something horrible was just about to rain down upon his poor daughter's soul.
Sadly, the King of Hyrule was right.
A year hadn't passed when, suddenly, the plains of Hyrule weren't as golden as they once were. Dark creatures lured in the darkness, at night, and wolves howled under the full moon.
Hyrule was, for the first time in its History, entering into war against the Dark Realm.
At the beginning of the world as we know it, there were only two realms: the Golden one, where Hyrule stood with the Goddesses, and the Dark one where demons and dark creatures lived. Of course, the Darkness claimed the Holy world for itself, as it was prosperous and wider.
So the war begun.
Lucas was named General of the Army. He left the castle with his men to head South, in the dangerous Lost Woods where, apparently, the creature came from. Daphnée trusted his son and believed that he would be able to take care of the situation without much of an effort.
However, Daphnée was naive, for he hadn't seen the true source of Evil… And it was resting into his castle, at his right.
Ibrahim was the king's advisor. Under the noble and humble appearance of a lawful wizard, he held the wickedness of all Evils within himself. Most of all, he was obsessed with Power and wanted nothing more than to be king of the glorious kingdom of Hyrule.
Ibrahim had planned to take Dahlia's hand and steal the throne using her as a queen. But Daphnée refused to give his daughter to him –or to anyone else- without her consent. The wizard had also tried seducing the frail young woman, but she wouldn't respond to his courting.
Mad with envy, he had then decided to take the kingdom by force.
So, one morning, Daphnée and Erra woke up to the alarming screams of the servants. They hurried to the source of the noise: the throne room. There, Ibrahim had killed everyone on his path.
Daphnée was surprised and stared in shock at his advisor. Ibrahim grinned evilly.
Your Majesty, I request your kingdom. If you do not oblige, not only will I not stop the war, but I also shall take what is most precious to you.
Daphnée, angry, unsheathed his sword. But the wizard stopped him with a magical shield of energy.
I take this as a no.
Ibrahim snapped his fingers and Dahlia appeared. Daphnée and Erra gasped as the young woman walked, possessed, towards the wizard.
Smirking, he started to cast into a foreign language. Daphnée tried to break through the magical barrier, but it was impossible.
When Ibrahim was done, he snapped his finger once more and Dahlia fell to the ground.
Your daughter is cursed. She will die shortly. You cannot take it away as it comes from the Darkness itself. There is nothing to do against it.
You should have surrendered your kingdom when I asked for it.
Now, be ready for the Bloodbath that will stain Hyrule's fields for the eternity.
Laughing maniacally, Ibrahim disappeared. The magical shield was broken and Daphnée hurried to his daughter, crying.
Dahlia opened her eyes lightly when she felt her father's arms around her. She smiled the way she always had.
Father, I am going to die. But there is still time. Bring me to the Sages into their Chamber.
Daphnée couldn't refuse this to his dying daughter. So he took her into his arms, sword to his waist, and walked straight to the Temple of Time. There, he opened the sealed door and entered our lair.
Under my much younger stare, he put her down at my feet.
Oh, wise Rauru, hear my daughter's last wish!
Dahlia was so beautiful and her death so apparent that I had no choice but to listen with attention and sadness. She smiled to me and my heart was shattered by the love her face held. She was made out of Love.
Wise Rauru, I will die. There is nothing that can be done. Therefore, I have a request for you: seal what is remaining of my life into a gem. Carve a holy blade that can destroy Evil and attach my remaining soul to it.
Before I had time to answer, Daphnée interrupted us.
Dahlia! Why such a request?
She looked up at him, still smiling.
Father, I have found true Love. And it is Love for you, for Mother, for Lucas, for the people. It is Love for Hyrule.
Shocked, new tears raised to the King's eyes as his daughter spoke for the last time.
Father, through this sword, I will save Hyrule.
Dahlia closed her eyes as she held her last breath within herself. Crying, I brought my hands upon her dying body to seal her soul away. Under Daphnée's suffering stare, I turned her into a jewel.
It was a small and beautiful golden diamond.
I offered it to Daphnée. And he looked up at me, his pale blue eyes filled with hatred and yet courage that I had never witnessed before.
Let's have that sword created.
In the Goron's forges was brought the most beautiful and resistant water stones of the Zora's Domain. The handle and pummel of the sword were created from it. From the Gerudo's hidden caverns was extracted the finest diamond and within the Kokiri tribe came the finest silver to have been witnessed by a Hylian eye. The Gorons offered their darkest onyx to finish off the blade.
The weapon was then presented to me: a long sword carved from the finest and rarest materials of the kingdom. It was the sharpest weapon to have been created, the most resistant and the most beautiful I had ever seen.
But something was missing.
With the sword and Dahlia's gem, I rushed to Leyawiin where I demanded on my knees to the mages to finish off the work, for I hadn't the power to insert the jewel into the handle myself. The Elder listened to me and agreed to finish the weapon, touched by the young woman's story.
When he finally inserted the golden gem, a bright flash of light surrounded the room and we were blinded. When we could see again, what I witnessed took my breath away.
The sword was glowing softly. It was a pale light coming from the sword, as if it was smiling.
It was a blade made of love, we could feel it.
I hurried to the castle just in time to see it filled with evil beasts. Lucas was back and was fighting alongside Daphnée.
Erra was gone, sadly.
I hurried to the king and offered him the sword. He took it in his hands.
Magically, the blade started to shine brightly as a golden triangle appeared upon the king's hand. It was the Triforce of Courage.
Screaming for vengeance, Daphnée launched himself forwards and towards Ibrahim. He pierced through his magical shield with the Holy Sword, and pierced the wizard right into the heart.
And the war was stopped abruptly.
The dark creatures returned to the Dark Realm.
However, Hyrule had been plagued with their destruction and chaos. The Golden Land was no longer virgin and couldn't belong to the Golden realm anymore. It was then pushed away to the Light Realm by the Goddesses, and the doors to the Sacred and Golden Lands were shut away from the Hylians.
But Hyrule had been saved by the greatest weapon still known to mankind: Love.
Daphnée and I then stared down upon the sword. Together, we decided that it was way too powerful to be left somewhere Evil would reach. So we sealed it into the Temple of Time, where the Sacred Chamber once was.
Inserted into the Pedestal of Time, I put a charm upon it.
He who shall lay hands on Thee,
Will travel by the Three:
You shall chose him yourself,
Courage shall be his true self,
And Love for the people kept within himself.
Dahlia was then put to sleep for ages. To keep the story away from evil ears, we started to call Dahlia's Sword the Master Sword, for it was forged with master hands and the best materials of the kingdom, when it was still Holy.
And patiently, Dahlia waited into the temple.
She waited to be awakened again, for dark times would fall upon Hyrule once more.
And a man bearing Courage and Love would rise again…
This one-shot is situated within the chapter 15 of Twisted Destiny.
It is not, however, covered in the story and it is not necessary to read it to understand this one-shot.
I just thought about this while showering this morning.
Hope you liked,
Gamesplayers.