*Prologue*
Life has no meaning, if love isn't included. There isn't a point of waking up each day just to find the same thing. If the one she loves is the one she has to hurt, then how could she hurt her beloved.
Even if it means the end of all evil, how could she trade in her love. Watching him before her very eyes dying in her hands, dying because he did something he wasn't supposed to do, dying for her because he loves her too.
The ones who caused his death just laughing at her reaction towards losing her beloved. How would she stop him from leaving her? What could she do? If he were truly, the one she loved, would he go? Would he leave?
Was this the end of destiny?
Chapter 1: Repeated
With a deafening rumble, the castle exploded into pieces, creating a broad, ominous cloud of ash in the murky sky. A dreadful shadow covered the wide field. People screamed with terror. Ghostly warriors hurtled around the town. Monstrous birds flew in the open. Evil controlled with nothing to stop it...yet.
And then, everything vanished swiftly. In an instant, light returned. The wild ring of fire faded away. The clouds were gone along with the evil that had roamed in the once peaceful land of Hyrule. The sun shined directly on a man in a green tunic, the Hero of Time. His sword was raised proudly in the air, and a grin that showed harmony crossed his lips. Beside him on the ground laid the figure of the Evil King. His finger pointed at him in a cursing way.
"I will return some day, and the world shall be mine to rule. MWHAHAHAHAHAHA," his threatened, snickering disturbingly. Then he disappeared, leaving behind a trail of black dust.
Ignoring what he had just heard, Link examined his surroundings, astonished and bedazzled. He did it. He had succeeded in something he had never dreamed possible. Link had saved Hyrule. His long, dangerous adventures were finally over. The bloody days fighting the monsters that had tried to stop him no longer existed.
Link breathed in the fresh air, washing away the horrible memories and bringing in the new ones. The triangular shaped figure on his hand glistened brightly; its radiant shine equaled the glow of the sun. Link gazed at it surprised, but it disappeared quickly. As he moved his hand from the view of his eyes, he noticed Princess Zelda, almost a half-mile away from him, sitting contentedly on Epona, watching with anticipation.
She smiled warmly at him, and he returned her smile as he felt his feet drag him close to her. She waited, pleased by his action. When Link's feet had let him rest, he gently helped Zelda dismount from Epona, who immediately began galloping, enjoying the sun's light and energy and enjoying the freedom.
It was then that the whole kingdom roared with excitement, marching from the town, and singing Hyrule's national song. Zelda chuckled and glanced at Link beaming. She was just as thrilled and lighthearted as he was. She knew he could do it...she had always believed he had it in him. He smiled back at her with hilarity. It had been a long time since he had seen her. The last time he saw her, he was in beast form in her room while twilight had covered most of Hyrule. Now he was just himself and he was very grateful that he finally had this moment.
They stared at each other mindlessly for five full minutes, but then Zelda frowned and turned away from him.
Caught by her sudden reaction, Link observed his clothing, checking to see if she walked away because of him. Slowly wiping away the smudges of dirt and blood that Ganondorf had left him, Link gazed back up at her.
Her head was tilted downward and she walked at a slow pace in the opposite direction.
"Princess," he whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder as he caught up. "Why so depressed? We defeated Ganondorf. Aren't you happy?" He put on a wide grin on his face, hoping she'll smile back at him. No chance.
"Link, listen," she replied in a low, but soft tone. She wasn't looking at him. Her head was still down and her brows were furrowed. "If it wasn't for you...if you hadn't stepped in." She was ashamed about something. It practically showed on her faced. Something was plainly bothering her. She tired to speak calmly, but her tone had a note of disgrace in it. "You did something for me that you didn't need to put on your shoulders. I forced you into this because I was scared myself."
"You are a great ruler, Princess." Link wasn't sure where this was going. One minute, Zelda was just as blissful as he was himself. Then the next minute, she feels so emotional. He was puzzled. "I helped you because I wanted to. You didn't force me to do anything."
"I surrendered. I didn't stop Ganondorf when I had my shot. The reason why you were transformed into a beast the minute you stepped foot in twilight is because I gave in to his plan. For seven years, Ganondorf has ruined everything and for seven years you had fought to protect Hyrule. Everything you went through, everything my people went through...this was my entire fault." She explained, sniffing and holding back tears. But Link wasn't going to allow her to blame herself for everything. She wasn't thinking, but it doesn't mean she hadn't tried.
"He threatened to kill you, didn't he? You warned your father. You had no choice but to surrender." Link stared bedazzled at her. "You can't blame the evil that Ganondorf caused on yourself," he whispered.
He took a step in front of her to paused her from walking away any further.
Zelda sighed when he did that. He didn't understand and that was a proven fact. "Link," she nearly shouted at him. "I took away from your life. You left your friends and vowed to protect Hyrule as a young child. I could have done it myself, but I was gutless."
"Princess, you did well," He didn't know what else to say to her. He was speechless and mystified. What else could he do to make her happy again? Anyway, she was the Princess of Hyrule and he was simply Link. Someone like Link couldn't compare to anyone of the royal family.
"I did what I thought was best for me, not for my kingdom. I was selfish and very foolish." She hissed through her teeth, getting madder by the second.
"What were you suppose to do? If you disagreed, he would have killed you and destroyed Hyrule. You agreed and look at what happened. You are alive and so is your kingdom," He fought the impulse to grab her hand. "Please, Princess."
"Not everyone survived Link."
"What do you mean?"
"My father. The Deku Tree. Midna...," Zelda stammered. She couldn't bring herself to say it. The truth about what they both experienced during their battle with Ganondorf was heartbreaking and sad. Link put his head down not wanting to remember it at all.
"Is dead? It's not that easy," a strong and familiar voice howled behind them, breaking the silence. Link and Zelda both turned their heads immediately towards a perfectly rounded hill. On top of the hill was a tall figure. A figure of what seemed like a lady and it was nearly eye-catching. Zelda smiled at the sight of it and Link's eyes widened. Instantaneously, he dropped his sword and ran as fast as he could. The hill was very steep, but Link managed to make it to the top.
Midna was waiting for him. She was much taller than before and she looked incredibly unusual. She wore a black dress with a hood placed over her head. Her eyes were slanted and they stood out with the mascara and eyeliner she wore around them. Her hair was different shades of orange and it was tied fashionably around her neck. The color of her body was a mix of white and black. A crown was placed on her forehead, giving her the image of a princess. Midna's new appearance couldn't fool anyone into believing she was a light dweller. Link stopped about four feet away from her and stared at her in astonishment.
What?" she asked him, arrogantly. A smile sprouted on her face. She stood proud and calm across him. "Taken by my beauty. I'm not impressed."
Link gave her an awkward smile. She was still the same Midna he had traveled with on his journey.
"Well, aren't you going to say something? You are making me feel uncomfortable," Midna chuckled. "I was expecting you to be a little more talkative. You didn't actually think I looked like a mischievous child now did you?" Midna spoke slowly and conceitedly. She sounded annoyed, but her happy expression showed how she was truly feeling inside.
Link blushed. Truth was he had no idea that she was like this. He wouldn't have guessed that she was a ruler. And out of all princesses, she was the Twilight Princess.
"I'm glad to see the spell has ended, Midna," Zelda simply said, walking fittingly to Link's side.
"I am myself. I hated my cursed appearance," she bellowed. "And your hero here seems strangely hushed. Is he sick or something," Midna replied giving Link a rough stare.
"Oh Link," Zelda giggled. "He is just excited. I'm sure he is very pleased to see you are okay."
Link smiled, his view shifting from Midna to Zelda.
"I am very glad to know that he is beaten. No more troubles and headaches for me to worry about back in the Twilight Realm," Midna stated nodding her head with pleasure.
"Thank you for guiding Link on his adventure. I highly appreciate your help and hard work," Zelda responded to her thankfully.
"It was no sweat. But I do think it is time for me to return to my home. I have many things that are needed to be taken care of now that things have settled down," Midna confirmed.
"I'm sure you do," was the only thing that Zelda said after that.
Midna nodded her head in admiration as she snapped her fingers. Quickly, twilight ate Zelda and Link from feet to head. Midna was floating in the air and after Zelda and Link were completely out of sight, Midna disappeared and awaited for their arrival at the top of the Desert temple.
Midna was in front of the Mirror of Twilight. It was not like any ordinary mirror. The symbol of the Triforce was in the center of the glass and the mirror wasn't exactly clear. Specifically, the mirror had stained glass.
Zelda and Link arrived in less than thirty seconds, right across Midna.
The top of the temple was very dim. Huge pillars, both broken and fixed, stood in a circle formation around the area. A large boulder, more like a screen for an overhead, dug into the cement of the temple right in front of the mirror.
Zelda turned to Midna quickly. Midna had put on a more unsure expression now that they stood in front of the only thing that could take her back. It was said in the legend that once in the twilight, there was no easy way out.
"This is it," Midna said. "Just like the old times, huh Link." Midna tried to laugh at her poor joke.
"Thank you once again Midna," Zelda felt she needed to thank Midna as much as she could, regarding the fact that they might never see her again.
Midna smiled dimly at Zelda's gratitude.
"Zelda, you are a Princess of pure heart. Your people are very lucky to have you as their princess. I know that you will only do the best for your kingdom. And I enjoyed your company and your loyalty," Midna too was in for thanks.
"I am very satisfied to know that I pleased you. I will always assist you in your problems, Midna," Zelda replied to her.
Midna smiled at her embarrassed. It was only the three of them there and Midna felt she needed to say everything before she left. Night took over the day and the moon sparked intensely behind them. Link and Zelda both caught themselves staring in the beauty of the moon as they stood there.
Everyone became silent for a while, especially Link. Midna looked to the side, Link was looking at Zelda, and Zelda was gazing at the stars.
"Um Zelda," Midna said, breaking the silence once again. "Before I leave, I will like to grant you a wish for your kindness. It is the least I can do for you," Midna offered.
Zelda turned directly at Midna in shock. "Please, Midna, you done enough for me already. I want nothing more," Zelda spoke shaking her head.
"No, I want you to have it;" Midna disagreed, "I'm sure there is something that you want. Anything you wish for I will grant it to you. Please."
"Midna, I-"
"Zelda, I insist. You must take my gift," Midna held her hand up and waited for Zelda to reply.
Zelda had always hated to be put in those positions, but she knew that she wanted something. Her only wish was to make Hyrule a better place. She wanted everything for her kingdom, although she hardly got respect or appreciation from them in return. And then again came her father. She had lost him during battle. And her mother, who died when she was only a child.
Her mind rummaged through ideas. Zelda couldn't make up her final decision about what she wanted. In fact, she didn't know what she wanted now. She had suffered in her life so many times and she knew that she couldn't change everything in one snap. Her eyes shifted from object to object in the room and they finally landed on Link. A light bulb popped above her head.
Link went on a long and dangerous adventure for her. For her sake and her kingdom's sake. She could change that. She could make most of her desires come true. The only thing that could make that happen though was to go back in time and do everything from scratch.
Link was staring at Zelda uneasily. He saw her expression and he knew Zelda too good. An expression like that meant something big. Midna gazed at her and waited as patient as she could for her reply. Zelda's mind kept swooping, but Link stayed on the side.
Zelda finally crossed her fingers. Her eyes glued on Link.
"I want to go back in time...before Ganondorf ever came. I want fix the mistakes I have made and the damage that I caused."
"What," Link stared at her in disbelief. "Princess, no."
"Link, I want you to live a happier life and to have a wonderful childhood. What I did to you is wrong," Zelda was firm about her decision.
"Princess, I'm happy just the way we are now. I don't want to go back." Link's heart started pumping.
"I made so many problems and I want to change that Link. Think about it. This is a great opportunity for me to get a second chance and do things the way they should have been done. You shouldn't have risked your life for me as a child. Now is your chance to feel what it is like to be a child and have fun," Zelda tried to give him a good explanation.
Link knew she was right. They both can change things. Make them better. But that meant that they had to go their separate ways. What if he didn't visit her and never met her? Link knew he didn't want to forget her.
"Is that all, Zelda? That's all you want?" Midna asked her.
"Yes," Zelda replied simply.
Midna turned to Link immediately. "Link, I-" She cut off on her sentence and shattered the mirror with a single teardrop of sadness. The glass froze in midair and stopped. "Make the right choices and follow your heart. We all must part ways," she stated, snapping her fingers. Slowly, the glass particles circled around Zelda and Link, forming a clear crystal. Midna nodded her head and smiled gratefully at the two, entering the Twilight Realm.
"Thank you Midna," Zelda said once more as she faded away.
Link looked around him. This couldn't have been happening. His view turned to Zelda. She looked back at him and sighed. "Goodbye Link," her words echoed in his ear as he flew higher and higher to a place unknown. Suddenly everything turned pitch black and nothing was seen at all.
****************
Link's eyes fluttered opened. He was lying down on grass. In front of him was the pedestal. The pedestal that held his sword. And the Master Sword to his surprise was in the pedestal. Link shook his head. A sense of deja-voo washed over him. Slowly, he lifted himself up and looked around. He was in the Sacred Grove, but only as a child, a ten-year old child.
"Ugh, what happened? Midna what is-" Link stopped and frowned. Midna was gone. She left. He was all alone.
Not a noise sounded from the trees. The place was deserted, with only Link and the sword.
"Why am I here? Why am I a kid?" He thought to himself. His mind was reeling and he was feeling a little frightened. Link closed his eyes tight and crossed his fingers, hoping he would be in front of Zelda in the castle. "Please," he begged. When he opened them back up, he was still in the forest.
"Ugh," he moaned. Not even Epona was there to give him company. "Guess I'll have to walk," he whispered to himself. Link started towards the entrance. As soon as he left, the Stone Guardians repositioned themselves in front of the entry. Link remembered their challenge as they did that. It was a tough challenge, but he managed through it.
Hyrule field seemed a lot different. For one thing, monsters weren't around. Fences were built almost everywhere and the places to visit seemed oddly closer than he had remembered.
Link arrived in Castle Town in less than an hour and a half. He was extremely exhausted and baffled. Everyone was working. No one was just walking around freely. There were more places to shop and much more soldiers.
Link was planning on visiting Zelda. But what if she didn't recognize him? And besides, two soldiers guarded the easy way into the castle.
He smiled at their sight. Link could use some excitement. "Time for the water way," he smirked, heading west towards Telma's Bar.
Link kept bumping into people and accidentally dropping their items. Sometimes, he would have to run away from an angry villager whose item he unintentionally broke. It was a hard-hitting route to get to Telma's Bar, but he did reach it. Well, after running away from a lady with a broom swinging wildly in her hands.
Nothing seemed different at Telma's Bar. The door was closed and boxes were piled up. But her cat wasn't outside as it usually was.
"She must be inside," he whispered to himself. Link moved forward to the climbable boxes that were placed in front of a secret entrance to Telma's Bar, and of course, a route to the castle.
"This is going to be too easy," Link encouraged himself. He wasn't a wild animal now but he had the ability to crawl and walk instead.
Link began climbing on the boxes one by one. He fell a few times and had to start over, but he finally made it to the entrance. A steel door blocked the way in.
"Why does it always come this way with me," he complained. Link didn't have a screwdriver to take the door off. He looked around desperately until he found a big rock all the way in the corner.
Link moaned and jumped off the boxes. He picked up the rock and began climbing once more, and of course, had the falls again. At last, he was in front of the door again. He began to loosen the door with the rock and at one point, he crawled in.
The bar wasn't different on the outside, but the inside looked like it had just gotten a make-over! Telma for one thing, wasn't running the cash. In fact, she wasn't there at all. And in the back, adventurers weren't talking about mysterious things that were happening. Instead, people were explaining how to find the square root of five! And the walls, well the walls were covered with posters of knowledge and education. Link wasn't even sure the place was called, "Telma's Bar" from what he as seeing now. It looked more like a geek club or a study hall.
Link shrugged and proceeded down. He kept moving boxes of educational books out of his way. But it wasn't that easy for him though. He was crawling through rubbish and books and he fortuitously dropped an oversized dictionary onto the wooden floor of the place!
Link's heart skipped a beat and he quickly pushed himself against the wall, praying that no one would see him.
"Hey, what happened," a man shouted with a snort.
"Why did this dictionary fall on the floor," another man yelled while blowing his nose.
"Wow, it's an enormous dictionary. I CALL FIRST," a man screamed, jumping at the dictionary and grabbing it with his weak arms.
Five Soldiers slammed the door open and walked in at the moment. "What's going on here?" one of the soldiers asked. "And why are you on the floor?"
"A-A-ACHO!" a girl sneezed. "Well, you see, we were talking about equations until this book fell flat from the sky," she wheezed.
"From the sky? Aren't you people known as the geeks?" a soldier questioned them.
"YES!" everyone answered immediately.
"Then why-"
"Hey Joe, let it go."
"But."
"I don't like where this is going," Link whispered to himself, trying to squeeze behind boxes.
"Ok, we are going to look around and see if there is anything. Don't you make a commotion, am I clear?" a soldier shouted.
Everyone, even the soldiers behind him, answered, "Yes Sir!"
"They are not going to find me. They are not going to find me," Link prayed. The soldier moved all the way against the wall and stood on his toes.
"I-I don't see anything," he said.
Link sighed in relief.
"Wait hold up, is that green that I see above that box?" a soldier asked.
"Rats," Link whispered.
"It is. Hey whoever is up there, come down here right this second!" the soldier screamed.
"Yeah come on," everyone cheered on in the background. Link made a run for it. Quickly, he pushed the box down and it landed straight on a soldier. He kept rushing through and dropping things.
"Hey, hey," a soldier began jumping up and down. "Go get him. Get him!"
Rapidly, the soldiers moved around. One soldier was standing on a nerd and tried to reach up there. He did but he had to bend over as he ran after Link. He kept bumping his head though and at one point, he fell back down.
Link escaped. He made it all the way to the water way.
Link took in a deep breath. That was a close one. He looked in front of him. The water way seemed the same. Pests crawled around and it had a bad scent. The only difference was that there wasn't any monster in sight.
Link walked slowly and carefully. He didn't know what waited ahead and he wasn't in a rush to find out. The passageway was dark and gloomy. Even as a child, it looked like it hadn't been used for quite some time. Mice kept jumping at Link causing him to fall into the water.
"Once more, why does it always come this way with me?" he complained.
He wasn't sure what he was swimming in, but he found it easier to move than on land. At least nothing was attacking him.
Link finally reached the stairs that led to the roof of the castle. A flashback of the last time he had traveled this way came into his head.
"This stairway must be very fragile. It could break, so be careful Link," he told himself. Taking one step on the stairs, Link proceeded up. As he traveled, he noticed that the more he moved the up, the more it seemed like he was going up to nothing but endless stairs. Link turned back and realized that he was still on the fifth step when it had seemed like he had climbed the hundredth already.
"Should have seen that coming," Link groaned, going back down. There must have been another way to the castle. He went back to where he started and examined the walls and grounds closely.
"There has to be a switch around here," Link whispered to himself, looking strictly at everything. He was right. A small switch, not taller than five inches was on the wall near bars. Link looked through the bars and realized that the stairs he was on earlier was an endless replica. The real staircase was beyond the bars. Link pressed the switch and the bars opened automatically.
"Cool," he complimented, climbing into the narrow hallway and crawling through. Once on the other side, Link walked slowly up the stairs once more. On his tenth step, he noticed that they started to fall. Link expected that to happen. Quickly, he ran and jumped a few times over gaps. It wasn't that hard to reach the top. Link found it kind of amusing. When he was at the top, Link looked down and smiled. The staircase was completely gone.
"Ok Link, you made it this far," Link talked to himself again. He didn't find an exit anywhere. All that was around him was rocks. He looked around anxiously. Why there wasn't an exit when there was supposed to be one he didn't know.
"Don't tell me that I have to figure out a clue," he complained.
To answer his question, he noticed a...clue. It was written on a plaque on the wall.
"I knew it," Link said, walking to the clue. He blew away all the dust that was on it and read it out loud:
To enter the castle
Look for a rock with three shapes
That makes one with no hassle
Then the way shall be easy to gape
"A rock with three shapes," he repeated. "That makes one?"
Link turned around to all the rocks that were there. There must have been about twenty of them.
"Why me," he whined looking around each rock. He circled them about five times each. There were different varieties and colors of rocks. At last, Link noticed a small sign of the Triforce on a medium sized rock practically near the plaque.
"Now what," he said, examining the rock closely. A thought appeared in his head no sooner after he found the rock and Link decided to push it. He rubbed his hands together and went behind it.
Link took a hold of the rock and pushed it with all the strength he could muster. Finally it was all the way against the wall and in its place, was a hole.
"Excellent," Link made himself confident as he fell through the next thing he knew, he was in a room filled with gold and a man made of gold himself sat on a golden chair.
"That's bizarre," Link said, ignoring him and going through another hole in a treasure chest.
He was back in the water way, only in a different room with a large gate.
"The castle must be past that door," Link pointed at the gate and walked closer to it.
Two, heavy looking chains hung in the place of door knobs.
"Now how am I supposed to get in there," Link thought, looking around. It was then that he noticed another rock, that seemed quite sturdy behind him, and a rope was tied to a pillar near the gate. Link smiled. There was never once in his life that he had dealt with a situation that did not have the answer around it.
Link untied the rope around the pillar and tied it around him and the rock instead. Then, he tightened his grip on one of the chains and began to pull it. The rock held him in one place and all Link had to do was pull. His solution worked as he expected it to and he walked right through the gate.
The room was empty. The only thing that was in the room was the Triforce symbol and a shovel. Once again, the answer to the problem was in the room. Link didn't even have to think about it. All he did was grab the shovel and dug a hole where the Triforce symbol was drawn.
He noticed a pipe below the place he dug and Link decided to go for a ride down it. He sat on the ground and pushed himself inside the pipe. Then the ride began. He slid through it in a hasty velocity. His hair was blowing back and laughter filled the entire pipe.
It hadn't taken a long time for him to fall onto a pile of flowers. When he looked up, he saw Zelda, looking at him in confusion, a window that showed the throne room was behind her.