Chapter 1: Beginning with the End

The sky tore open with an ear-splitting crack, like a peal of thunder multiplied a thousand fold. The gigantic beast Ganon, formerly the wily desert king of the Gerudo tribe, staggered backwards, the glowing Master Sword projecting from its skull. Its scream rent the air; even in its death throes, its voice resonated with power and strange harmonics.

"YOU!" it shrieked, as light from the atmospheric crevice began to envelop its hulking form. "CURSE YOU... ZELDA! CURSE YOU… SAGES! CURSE YOU… LINK!" The beast seemed to regain some composure, some semblance of the intelligence it held prior to its transformation. It pulled the Master Sword from its forehead and cast it onto the ground, glaring at the two figures before it with a gaze of intense hatred. "Someday… When this seal is broken… That is when I will exterminate your descendants! As long as the Triforce of Power is in my hand…" before it could finish, the fissure snapped shut, the monster trapped within.

Link dropped to his hands and knees, panting. Blood had already begun to pool beneath him, staining his torn forest-green tunic as it dripped from the dozens of lacerations which covered his body.

"Link!" Zelda's voice called out to him, but it seemed distant, faint. His vision began to blur even as he saw her running towards him. A feeling of weightlessness, accompanied by a wave of nausea, washed over him as he pitched forwards onto the ground.

Suddenly, Link was on his feet, his flesh whole, his mind clear. Blue sky and white, fluffy clouds were all he could see in any direction; he seemed to be standing on solid ground, yet there was nothing beneath him.

"Thank you, Link…" Hearing Zelda's soft, melodic voice, Link looked up to see her standing before him. To his eyes, she appeared transformed. The tattered dress she had worn in the aftermath of the battle with Ganon had been replaced by fine silk of unearthly quality, draped in such a way as to accentuate both her majesty and her considerable beauty. Her elbow-length lace gloves were whiter than fresh snow; the polished gold pauldrons which decorated her shoulders shone with unsurpassed radiance. Her skin seemed to glow.

"Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm!" she continued. "Thus, peace will once again reign in this world… for a time." The princess's gaze fell as she clenched a fist over her heart. "All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing… I was so young… I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm. I dragged you into it, too. Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes. You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time… However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed." A tear escaped the corner of her eye and streaked down her face. Zelda lifted her head, stared into Link's eyes, and held her hand out toward him. Though she tried to conceal it, Link could clearly see the sorrow in her face. "Link, give the ocarina to me… As a sage, I can return you to your original time with it."

Slowly, Link drew the blue ceramic instrument from the pouch at his side. After everything he had gone through, he expected it to be scratched, chipped, even broken, but its surface was as perfect and unblemished as it had been when he first laid eyes on it seven years previously. He stared at it, unmoving, unable to move.

"Peace has returned to Hyrule," Zelda said, her voice beginning to quaver, more tears streaming freely from her eyes. "It is time for us to say goodbye." She choked on the last word.

Link still stood motionless. Gradually, his eyes shifted from the gleaming ocarina in his hand to the face of the girl before him.

"Give it to me, Link!" she cried. "You have to go home. Regain your lost time… Home, where you are supposed to be… The way you are supposed to be… Link, please! Don't make it harder… than…"

"No." It was the first word he had spoken since the fight ended. It felt like the first word he had spoken in his entire life. He drew his hand back and slipped the ocarina once more into his pouch.

"Link…!"

"Princess… No, Zelda…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt overwhelmed by emotion. He had never known he could feel anything so strongly before. "Zelda, after everything that's happened… Everything I've seen, everything we've been through together… I don't belong in that time anymore. The innocence of youth cannot be regained." Tears began to form in his own eyes; it took every ounce of his concentration to keep his voice calm and level. "If I go back now, I will never be at peace. I will be doomed to live the rest of my life haunted by memories of events that never happened. I will remember good friends whom I've never met. Even if I meet them again, I will have fond memories which they will not share. It would be too painful…" He opened his eyes at last, and his gaze met hers. "Zelda, please… Don't send me back. I want to stay here. I want to stay the person I've become. I want to build a new world, together with you. I belong not in the past, but the future."

"Oh, Link…" The sky began to darken around them. The clouds grew thick and black; thunder rumbled in the distance. The princess appeared transformed once again; her dress was black, her skin grey, her eyes filled with strange light. The tears were gone from her cheeks. Her mouth spread into a thin smile which seemed eerily out of place. Otherworldly tones crept into her voice. "You foolish boy. Can't you see I don't want you here?" She stepped towards him, her footfalls accompanied by thunderclaps as rain and lightning poured down, up, from every direction.

Link felt his legs fail. He fell back onto the unseen ground, blood streaming from the injuries that had reappeared all over his person. Zelda raised the ocarina to her lips as she strode forward. Shocked, Link reached for the pouch on his belt. How…? The familiar melody enveloped him, made somehow haunting, surreal, horrifying. "No," he whispered. "No! Please…"

"ZELDA!"

Link jolted awake, startled by his own screams. He glanced about him wildly. Wooden rafters… chest of drawers… door… He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then began to take more deliberate stock of his surroundings.

He seemed to be in a small room, likely part of a cottage. A simple wooden wardrobe stood in one corner, accompanied by the drawers he had glimpsed in his earlier panic. Wooden rafters were suspended barely more than six feet off the ground; red clay shingles could be seen above them. A few portraits of an unfamiliar family hung from the off-white plaster walls. Link himself was lying on a straw bed, the covers kicked off the end. The adult frame which he had grown accustomed to in the weeks following his arrival in the future was covered in bandages.

His adult frame.

He was still an adult. So… A dream? He hadn't been sent back after all?

The door burst open as Zelda ran into the room, wearing the simple dress of a townsperson. She appeared neither as angelic nor as terrible as she had seemed following Link's collapse atop Ganon's tower. This was her earthly form, her true form. This was reality.

"Link!" she cried, rushing to his bedside. She pulled the covers back over him, then sat down in a nearby chair.

"Princess?"

"Thank the goddesses you're awake. You've been out for days."

"Days…" Link became suddenly aware of the tension in his body and allowed himself to relax into the mattress. "Ganon…?"

"Ganondorf is gone, Link. You defeated him."

Link closed his eyes and sighed. Zelda turned her head to stare through the window into the distance.

"It was a great victory for Hyrule," she continued, "But it was not the end of its troubles. Ganondorf left more scars on this land than ruined buildings and charred fields." She turned back towards the weary young man, her face a mixture of concern and determination. "The battle is over, but the Hero's work has just begun. The people need a symbol. We need you still, Link."

"I understand," he replied. His eyes remained closed, but the slightest line appeared in his brow. "Princess, I will serve you however I am able. I shall be whatever you need me to be."

"I'll be counting on you. For now, you should rest." Zelda stood up and quietly left the room. Link rolled onto his side, but sleep eluded him.

One week later, the sun shone brightly on the ruins of the castle market square as hundreds of Hylrulean citizens filed into a makeshift auditorium. While the palace had been reduced to rubble upon Ganondorf's accession, the square had escaped relatively unscathed; nonetheless, it had taken a considerable effort to prepare it for this occasion, and it would be some time yet before the shops would be ready to reopen.

The murmur of conversation died down respectfully as six armored heralds marched onto the dais and spread out into a triangular formation. They raised their trumpets and projected a solemn fanfare as the Princess Zelda emerged from behind them and approached the podium, clad simply but elegantly in a silk dress and a royal purple cloak. Her mother's wardrobe, along with all of her possessions save the few small keepsakes she had been able to carry when her guardian, Impa, whisked her away as a child, had of course been destroyed with the palace; although Zelda herself was content with the clothing she had borrowed from the villagers who had given her and Link shelter, she knew that her people's morale required that their princess look the part, and the local seamstresses had been only too happy to provide what they could despite the short notice.

"Citizens of Hyrule," she began. "I have not come before you to deceive you. Our nation is in grave peril. The tyrant Ganondorf has left us weak. Our homes were destroyed. Our crops were razed. Our army was decimated. Our king… my father… was brutally murdered.

"But this is not the end! This kingdom has endured for centuries! We have survived war, from within and from without. We have survived famine. We have survived drought, and plague, and all manner of catastrophe. And always, we have emerged with our heads held high, and we have prospered!

"I know that I can count on each and every one of you to put forth your best effort in the name of our great country. Together, we will build a new Hyrule. Together, we can ensure that our banner will wave until the end of time! We can ensure that should our neighbors come seeking an easy kill, they will find not the weakness they expect, but the strength of a united people!"

A great cheer went up from the crowd as the citizens jumped to their feet. Someone, somewhere, began a chant which soon swept the throng: Long live Hyrule! Long live Zelda!

The princess raised her hand, and the noise slowly receded. "Even as we look to a bright new future, we must not forget what has come before. Hyrulians, I present to you your savior."

Link emerged from behind the heralds, a ceremonial breastplate covering his roughly-patched green tunic. He stepped solemnly to Zelda's side, drew the Master Sword from its sheath on his back, and rested his hands on its pommel as he knelt.

"Link, Hero of Time," Zelda said, closing her eyes and laying a gloved hand on his shoulder, "In recognition of your bravery and dedication, I hereby dub thee a Knight of Hyrule and Captain of my royal guard. Arise, Sir Link!"

Link stood up and faced the gathered citizens, transferring his sword to his left hand. "Hyrulians!" he shouted. "Though we are finally at peace, we must be prepared to defend our land and our princess. We cannot allow recent events to repeat themselves." He raised the Master Sword over his head, pointing its gleaming blade straight up. "Who will stand with me? Who among you has the courage to place your life on the line for your country?"

The brevity of his speech caught the audience off guard; a quiet murmur filled the square. At last, a young man of about Link's own age stood up.

"I will stand with you!" the man declared. "I want to ensure that no one can ever pose a threat to Hyrule again!"

Zelda's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, but Link sheathed his sword and carried on unperturbed. "What is your name, brave one?"

"Tyrell, Sir Link."

"Come up here, Tyrell."

The young man strode forward and took his place beside the hero. Link laid a hand on his shoulder. "You shall be my first lieutenant," he said. "Together we will forge an elite force to rival any in the world." He turned back towards the crowd. "Will no one else follow this man's example?"

There was a brief silence, but the first volunteer had broken the ice. Gradually, a dozen or so men and women of varying ages stood up and joined the figures on the dais.

Zelda stepped forward and braced her hands against the top of the podium. "We are grateful for your brave service," she said, bowing her head respectfully. After a moment she turned towards the crowd and resumed speaking.

The door to Link's room closed behind Zelda as the two of them at last retreated from the public eye. The day had been, in her estimation, a rousing success; though poor and downtrodden, her citizens had regained their spirit. She had already begun planning her next move when a single word from Link snapped her back to the present.

"Help."

Realization crossing her face, the princess rushed to Link's side and hurriedly removed the heavy armor from his torso. He collapsed onto the straw bed, cringing. Dark blood had seeped through his tunic in several places.

"You did well, Link," she said, propping the pillows beneath his head. "I'm proud of you." She left the room to fetch some fresh bandages.