The picto-tube flickered in the darkness of the poorly-lit house. An older gentleman was sitting in a chair, while a younger man was seated at a desk across the room, a faint light flashing on his face, books littered around him.

"On tonight's broadcast--" the anchor called.

"-- Constitutional crisis. Citizens of Hyrule sound off on the nation's possibility of leaving a constitutional monarchy for democracy."

The screen switched from the anchor to an image of two Castle City residents.

"Democracy? It would be chaos if everyone had a say in our lawmaking," one citizen cried, with his jaw squared rootedly in a grimace.

The other resident scoffed and said, "You can't simply ignore those of us who demand representation in our government! Parliament will hear us!"

Back to the anchor. "Also on tonight's broadcast, Queen Regina Hyrule travels to neighboring nation of Clock Town on a diplomatic mission to Mayor Riker on our nation's current crisis."

"Heh," scoffed the very rotund man, effusing over the newscast.

"Things just haven't been the same since the king was assassinated by those separatists three years ago, have they Link?"

The fat man turned in his chair, looking to his nephew.

*click click click* crackled the keys of the picto-comp's keys.

"No Uncle Fred, doesn't seem so," Link said halfheartedly while doing his homework on the picto-comp. He never really talked much, but his goading uncle always brought out not only ill-feelings, but the few words he ever spoke.

Uncle Fred turned back to his news, then swilled his beer, spilling it all over his shirt.

"… It's no secret that the kingdom has grown exponentially in the last 30 years, but what does that mean for our natural resources? The Royal Electric Company reports that expected electricity consumption should increase another seven percent, but there isn't enough chu-jelly to provide for an increase of more than two percent. Sound off on our Web site on your take of the current crisis."

"On the science front, Prime Minister Anthony Balgame proposes a plan to remove the Triforce of Power from the Evil One, while keeping him safely locked in the Golden Land…"

"Never happen!" Fred cried, spitting his beer on the picto-tube's screen.

The prime minister appeared on the screen.

"We know the science is sound," he began. "We used this same process in removing the Triforce of Wisdom from Princess Zelda last month. Since we already have both Courage and Wisdom, restoring the third fragment could potentially settle a lot of the political problems we have. Just seeing the goddesses' promise could cool tensions immensely."

The screen switched back to the anchor once again.

"In our final story of the evening, it's springtime, and that means it's time for recruitment for the royal guard."

Link's pointed ears perked up as he turned his attention to the picto-tube, leaving the homework he was working on as the cursor flickered lifelessly on the screen.

"If you're interested in joining the Hyrule Royal Guard, recruitment officers will be waiting at the kingdom's four high schools-- Gerudo Valley Girl's Academy, Kakariko Preparatory School, Zora's Domain School and Castle City Integrated High School-- tomorrow."

Link's uncouth uncle turned in his chair again-- his belly bulging in the process-- and said to Link, "You know what happened to your parents. Your mother wouldn't approve. Besides, I'm grooming you to take over the Super Item Mart one day. I'm not going to live forever."

Link scoffed in silence and grabbed his books, then turned toward the hall. "I'm going to bed. Got school in the morning."

Fred finished his beer, sucking clean the remaining drops of the beverage, then threw it against the wall, smashing it. "Boy, our country is screwed," he said while belching.

---

In his bedroom, Link dropped his books on the floor and plopped on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, then turned on his side, facing away from the wall. On his nightstand were two pictographs-- one of a small child and his parents, and the other of five teenagers acting silly.

Link picked up the first pictograph, rubbed his finger across the mother and mouthed the words, "Mom." She was dressed in light armor, a sword on her waist-- obviously forged to mimic the design of the legendary Master Sword, which all the guards wore as a symbol of their national pride.

But that sword was nothing more than a legend, he continually reminded himself. No one had ever seen it.

The man in the picto-- his father-- was more identifiable. Not because he didn't know his mother, because he did, but because his father was once the manager of the Super Item Mart-- a position his uncle took over after that incident which left Link in his current living situation. Not something he wanted to think about. But in recent years, Link identified with his father more and more, because his uncle forced him to work at the Super Item Mart after the accident, at a lowly 80-rupees per week, knowing everyone else made 120.

But he chose to keep his mouth shut. Not because he rarely spoke, but because once he finished high school he was going to enlist in the Royal Guard, like his heroic mother, and leave his uncle's house. His uncle simply wasn't worth his time.

He put down the picture and rolled back to his back and stared at the ceiling again, the fan moving slowly, casting slowly spinning shadows around the room.

The other picture, though, were his friends from school.

He'd had a core group of friends since he was young.

Mako, a Zora, was Castle City Integrated High School's swim team captain. He single-handedly won the school the Hyrule Invitational three years running. He was Link's oldest friend. He was from the Domain-- what the elvaans called the Zora homeland-- and moved to Castle City as a child. Link befriended him early on, and the friendship stuck.

Then there was Tetra-- a very rambunctious girl, with a tomboyish streak a mile wide, but she dressed up well. Link had taken her to the graduation dance when they finished middle school. He'd gotten his first kiss that night-- from Tetra. "Why'd you do that?" he remembered asking. "Because you needed it," Tetra had said. She'd become a bit of a loner in high school, but she stayed true to her friends, even if she wasn't able to be found all the time. Link always wondered where she ran off to.

There were two other friends in their group whom they hadn't known as long. Link remembered when they started coming to the high school. The Elite Guard protected them with their lives. It disrupted classes for a while, and the principal wasn't happy, but in time, everyone got used to them skulking about in their jerkins and sun-goggles. They were high-priority students to the faculty. Zelda-- daughter of Queen Regina and princess of the kingdom, and her chambermaid, Lola. They were in the school as a sign to the separatists that the royal family wasn't afraid after King Daphnes was assassinated.

Lola.

Link had been in love with Lola since the first time he saw her. But because of his quiet nature, he never took the initiative to talk to her. And he never would have, had he not been made Zelda's chemistry partner two semesters back. He went to the castle to study with her one evening, when Lola came into the room and started talking to him. They became fast friends, but he never had the courage to tell her how he felt.

He loved his group of friends, and they all had a great time together, but high school was almost over, and Link was worried about them going their separate ways.

Mako's father was the representative from the Domain in parliament, so he was off to Hyrule University to study political science. Tetra-- heh, no one knew where Tetra was going. But Zelda and Lola were no doubt headed back to the castle to groom Zelda for becoming queen. After all, the queen wasn't getting any younger.

And Link was alone working at Super Item Mart. So he pinned all his hopes on getting into the Royal Guard. That way he wouldn't be left alone.

Link sat up on his bed, then looked around the room. He eyed his trophies, each draped with ribbons signifying his dominance in his sport of choice-- sailing. He could spend hours schooning around Lake Hylia, a peaceful and quiet place (when it wasn't summertime and filled with raucous students). But he hadn't had much time to do it since his uncle increased his hours-- and reduced his pay-- at the Super Item Mart. He had to quit the team, and it killed him inside.

He walked to the window, opened it and looked into the sky. It was getting cloudy, but he could still see the faint glimmer of Deku-da 1-- the kingdom's very first orbiting artificial satellite-- named after the mythical Deku Tree-- the foundation of all Hyrule's knowledge. There was a rumble of thunder, then tiny drops of rain pattered on his head. He closed the window and retreated to his bed, exhausted from a long day of school and work.

---

"Link."

"Link, I'm telling you for the last time, get your butt out of bed. You need to open the shop."

He heard his uncle screaming at him through the door. Rolling over, he looked at his chronograph, which was blinking 12:00. "Must have been a power surge," he mumbled to himself. He grabbed his watch, and it showed 5:30.

Groaning, he climbed out of bed and walked to the closet to get his smock. Opening his door, he looked down the hall to see his uncle had gone back to sleep in his recliner-- obviously passed out there from a long night of drinking. It frustrated him that when his uncle was hungover he had to pull double duty at the store and make it to school on time.

Ten minutes later, Link was ready to leave. Walking outside into the cool morning with his bag of books and keys to the Super Item Mart, he hopped on his bicycle and started pedaling down the damp roads of Castle City, six blocks to the shop, all the time cursing his uncle for not allowing him to get his voiture license. He could be there in just a few minutes if he were able to drive, but the bike took him another 10 minutes-- and the store had to open by 6 a.m.

He'd made it on time to the store. Opening the sliding-glass doors, he pressed a remote on the keychain to turn off the alarm system, then pressed another button on it, turning on the artificial lightning. He started getting ready for the day.

Link had been at work for about an hour, getting the store ready when Tetra walked in. Link saw her and waved as she was walking toward him, navigating the maze of shopping carts and Hyrule's elderly trying to get their supplies for the day, to Link in the manager's booth.

"Hi kiddo," Tetra said cheerily.

Link grinned and said, "Hello," then went back to his work.

Still intent on breaking the silence, Tetra said, "So I heard on the news last night the Royal Guard recruiters will be at school today. Anyone interested is supposed to go straight to the activities room when school starts."

That perked Link's interest. "Yeah, I heard," he smiled. "I can't wait. Maybe it will get me out of this fluorescent nightmare."

Tetra started to say something when she was interrupted by the store's speaker. "Link to sports. Link to sports."

He knew what that meant. Grabbing the key to the case for bows and arrows, he sighed very hard, then said to Tetra, "I'll see you at school. I've got to approve a weapon sale."

She smiled, then shrugged, slightly sad how bad life had gotten Link down since his parents' accident. Knowing there was nothing she could do about it, she walked out of the mega-mart and headed to school.

--

Link looked at his watch.

7:50

Undoubtedly, his uncle was still passed out in the chair back at home. Link was frustrated. Again.

8:35

He was late for school. But there was nothing he could do about it. He'd tried getting in touch with his uncle, but no luck.

9:40

Link's lecherous uncle finally came in, dressed slovenly, but ready for work. Link was livid, but said nothing. He grabbed his books and raced out the door for the school, hoping he'd still make it in time to speak to the recruiter.

---

It was 9:55. Link rushed into the school office, desperate to get a pass to class.

"Are the recruiters still here?" he asked the secretary.

She shook her head, "no," and said, "Perhaps you shouldn't have slept so late. You've got your future to worry about."

He swallowed the personal attack, got his pass and headed to class, totally downtrodden he'd missed his chance.

---

"But Lord Andrew, you can't possibly make this decision with the queen on a diplomatic mission."

In the Hyrule Parliament Council Chambers, 19 men and one woman were trying desperately to keep their nation from crumbling around them.

Andrew Balgame, prime minister of the kingdom scoffed and said, "The queen is simply a figurehead. No royal has had any real power in Hyrule for generations."

"We are the real power," he finished.

The representative of the Gerudo, and sole female in parliament, stood and said, "Minister, even touching the gate to the Sacred Realm could spell disaster. The last time it happened, the Evil One was released and covered the land in twilight."

Joxer, a representative from Castle City said, "But Rubicante, that's just an antiquated Gerudo legend. No one really knows if that 'twilight' really happened. I agree with the minister. All we know is Ganondorf-- also a Gerudo (he scowled at Rubicante)-- a male of your tribe tried to form a coup by overthrowing the king stealing the Great Power of the Goddesses. We don't know if he had any real power. He was just a man."

Incredulous, Rubicante burned with anger and cried, "You racist ingrate! How dare you besmirch the honor and integrity of the mighty Gerudo!"

In an attempt to break the debate, Marco, representative from Zora's Domain chimed in and said, "Could we please stay civil? We know the science behind removing the Triforce is sound, because of the successful extraction of Wisdom from the princess, but we're introducing a brand-new variable by opening the Sacred Realm. Power or no…"

"Power or no…" Joxer interrupted, "We can restore this kingdom's greatness in a single generation by recovering that piece."

Retaking his right to speak, Marco countered, "We don't know what we're in for. No one has tried to open that gate in a millennia. We don't know what kind of ancient magics we'll encounter."

The rest of the representatives chimed in at Marco's comment. One representative stood and said, "I say we vote. We need more time to research what will happen with this gate. The Royal Science Academy still has inconclusive results."

"I concur," one representative said.

"Second," another said.

In accord, many members agreed. Rubicante scowled and said, "We shouldn't be opening it at all."

Joxer, angrily, countered, "You're all making a mistake," then stormed out of the chambers.

Hastily, the prime minister pounded his gavel and said, "Dismissed until tomorrow," then quickly followed behind Joxer.

The members remained in the chambers, getting their things together to leave and discussing the possibility of recovering the Triforce, leaving Joxer and Prime Minister Andrew Balgame to their own devices.

The two of them quickly scurried into the prime minister's office and slammed the door behind them.

"I told you this wouldn't work," the prime minister said, wiping the sweat from his brow. He was a robust, larger man (but not fat)-- slightly balding-- and had a propensity to sweat often.

His complete opposite, Joxer was slender and younger. Balgame was obviously jealous of his level of fitness.

"Andy, come on. You know we can't do this without the Triforce," Joxer said, pounding his first on the minister's desk.

Balgame sighed hard. "I don't know. The separatist movement has been strong since the king was assassinated. Maybe we don't need to open the Realm. You know what the legends say about that psycho."

"They're only legends!" Joxer cried. "If you have the Golden Power, then people will flock to you as our new leader. We can finally move away from our stodgy, traditionalist kingdom to a modern democracy, like Clock Town is."

Sighing again, Balgame said, "That may be so, but aren't we doing fine so far?"

Still angry, Joxer turned away from the minister and said, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this."

Immediately, he started glowing, frightening the minister, who tried to leave the office. "Wh… what are you doing," the minister whined in fear.

"No, no," Joxer said, blocking his path, then started chanting, "Etra meas vor Ganon pox maliventis!"

A flash of light filled the room, then concentrated itself on Andrew Balgame. Screaming in pain, the prime minister fell to the floor.

Several moments later, he stood up, slightly cackling. "Joxer," he said.

"Yes Andy?" he replied.

"Gagh," the minister cried. "Don't call me that. It isn't my name. I am Agahnim. Emissary of the Evil One. And it's been a long time."