It was a dark and stormy night, for what it's worth.
Aside from that, though, there wasn't much else happening. Hyrule was prosperous and peaceful, with no hint of the evils that were to come, and only the faintest memories of the evils of the past. No evil lords were hatching dark plans, no armies of chaos were amassing to bring about the end of our world, and there weren't any heroes rising up to fight them. It was quiet, historically speaking. No one would remember this night as the night it all began.
Of course, there is some ambiguity as to what the beginning actually is. Some would say it began at the Festival of Time, where the Hero first encountered his great destiny. Some would say it began with the secret, divine prophecy that had been handed down from one king of Hyrule to the next for two centuries. Some would say it began when the great Goddess Nayru first hatched her plan. And some would say it began that first time the Enemy rose up against all that was good, and the Hero was first chosen to stop him.
For our purposes, though, it began with something as mundane and miraculous as the birth of a child. Three children, in fact.
In the living quarters of Hyrule Castle, the queen gave birth to her third child, the princess Zelda. Fully half of Hyrule's princesses had been named Zelda over the ages: It was an ancient tradition that preserved continuity, and helped to cover up the glaring lack of creativity that cursed the crowned heads of Hyrule. There were celebrations and laughter, the king got drunk and sang a particularly ribald drinking song with the court wizards. The next morning, messengers would be sent out throughout the land to proclaim the happy tidings of the royal family.
And so the Princess came into the world.
In a small house in a small village by the eastern extremities of the Faron woods, a farmer and his wife looked over their newborn son with the sheer relief and contentment that comes after safely ushering a new life into existence. Though the cold rain pattered down on the thatch roof, none leaked through to spoil the warmth and security of the tiny home. The boy would grow up safely in the village, a narrow little slice of the world that nevertheless managed to provide all that was neccessary for the nourishment of body and soul.
And so the Hero came into the world.
In a dark, warm tunnel deep under the mountains of Hyrule, the Gorons welcomed a new child into the world in their usual way. There was wrestling and feasting and more wrestling all through the night, all of them completely unaware of the evil that was to come. Within a few months, the infant's parents would be dead under mysterious circumstances. Within a few years, the child would be expelled from the tunnels, already displaying the dark genius that horrified some and entranced others, but terrified everyone. For now though, the baby Goron lay in their equivalent of a cradle, wailing a loud, persistent, ancient tone.
And so the Enemy came into the world.
And in a faraway temple, beyond nine rooms filled with carvings and runes depicting the great struggles of Hyrule's history, in a sealed, lightless chamber, a stone Triforce etched into the wall stood watch over an ancient sword.
It began to glow.
-The Legend of Zelda: Nayru's Mirror-
