Prince Sidon was dead. His son, his only son, was gone.

Despite how awful that fact should have made King Dorephan feel, a small wave of relief intermingled with the grief. He knew that his son was never meant to take the throne. But by the time this realization had dawned on him, it was too late.

While he was lost in his grief that followed Mipha's death, Sidon had grown up. He had lost the chance to not only teach his son the meaning of being a decent ruler, but also on how to be a decent person.

By the time Dorephan could pull himself from his depression long enough to care about anything other than his own pain, his son had grown into something frightening.

He never learned to accept no as an answer. He never would.

For every little thing he pursued, it was always done to his specifications. Even when other parties were involved, Sidon had a way of making others to see things his way. Either through being charming, or by using force.

The same could be said of his pursuits of a mate. There came a point in time where Muzu was escorting Zoras near Sidon's age into see the King weekly, each one with their own horrific story and the bruises to match. It became so common that the King had a speech memorized, practiced as if a scene from a play.

He opened with his deepest regrets, apologizing profusely. He would then make promises that he would personally see to Sidon's behavior being reformed, that no one else would have to go through what they did. Then he would make request that was more of a command, telling them to keep the incident from circulating the rumor mills. That it would always be in their best interest to do so. A small sack of expensive rupees set in their hands before being sent on their way, with a reminder to never mention the event ever again.

He was their King and Sidon was their Prince. No one so far had declined this approach to Sidon's behavior.

Though, when the Hero of Hyrule suddenly disappeared after a visit to Zora's Domain, both he and Muzu had an idea of where he had vanished to.

They knew and they did nothing to remedy the situation. How could they, he reasoned with himself.

Sidon no longer needed to hound his own citizens to satiate his needs. A month passed. Then a second. Then a third. In that time, not a single Zora had been brought to him to report his son. No one had a new claim to make about Sidon taking them to the room he kept below the Zora Palace. Not a one.

By the fourth month, he knew he could not take the Hero away from Sidon.

His son finally had someone more permanent to focus his angry obsessions on. The King would not take that peace away from his people, even if it meant the loss of the Hero in exchange.

Though Dorephan was sure Sidon had brought Link to the deepest and lowest recesses of the palace where no one should be able to hear them, he swore he could still hear screaming from his own private chambers. Only every now and then though.

He did his best to ignore it.

The fact remained as such: Prince Sidon was dead and the Zora King would have to clean up the mess his son had left behind.

One last time.


Link's world for so long now had consisted of only Sidon. Everything had revolved around the Prince's demands, his hands, his body, and his terrible, beautiful voice, that the arrival of someone else was almost a shock to Link's system.

It was a Zora, dressed in garb that he knows makes him a guard, he had never met before that he woke up to undoing the shackles around his ankles and wrists. He goes still, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Sidon had never allowed someone else in here before. What was this? Was this some sort of new trick, some new means to make Link keep on his toes?

Link wracked his brain through the last time the Prince had been with him, playing through each awful moment, trying to figure out what he might have done to displease him. He'd done everything the Prince wanted, had given him every reaction he normally loved. What had he done wrong?

He couldn't help the hard flinch that wracked his body when the stranger in the room roughly pulled at the silver around his neck, trying to find how it came undone.

As he had thought many times since it had been placed there, he was certain it had been imbued with some sort of contraption only Sidon could undo. That it would only be removed once his head was no longer attached to his neck.

The guard eventually grunted in frustration, giving up on trying to find how it could be removed.

"Up."

The sound of voice other than the Prince's almost grated against his ears, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Despite his fear and rising panic, he obeyed the Zora and sat up on the bed.

As he did, something soft hit him against the chest. His body flinched again, instinctively. Looking down at what had been thrown at him, he found a thin tunic and pants. He rubbed the fabric between his fingers, his confusion growing with every minute.

"Get dressed, we're going upstairs."

Again, another wave of cold panic settled in his throat and threatened to drown him. Upstairs? What did he mean by upstairs?

He did his best to swallow past it and again, obeyed the command. The tunic was old and soft from too many washes; even still, the fabric against his skin felt heavy and scratchy. It had been so long since he'd been allowed to wear clothes, it had become such a foreign sensation to him.

His attention snapped forward as the guard pulled the chain still attached to the metal around his neck through the neck hole of his tunic, tugging on it.

"Come on, don't have all night."

As quickly as his weakened body would allow him, Link slipped the pants over his lower half. Again, the material felt all wrong against his skin.

With another tug against his neck, he began to walk, following the guard through the door of the room that had been his world for so long.

Again, the panic swirled in his throat, in his gut, cold and clawing at him from under his skin. This was new. This was something new in the routine that had become his life.

Every time before, when something new had happened to him, it had always been for the worse. He blinked his eyes rapidly, his gaze cast down to his feet, trying to push back the tears that threatened to spill onto his face.

What had he done? It must have been something awful for the Prince to go to such length to torment him.

Before he had time to work up his panic further, before tears could spill down his face, he was being roughly shoved into a cell, the chains that remained attached to him hooked to a loop on the wall, giving him enough leeway to lie on the low-lying cot in the corner of the prison cell.

Having finished transporting him, the guard left the cell and closed the bars behind him with a deafening clunk, leaving Link to his thoughts.

Link stood still, trying everything in his power to quell the shaking in his limbs. Surely, whatever the Prince had planned would come soon.

He waited for hours, scared and alone, as he had been for years.

He waited. For what, he wasn't sure.


Princess Zelda had not seen hind nor hair of the Hero of Hyrule in nearly two and a half years.

When asked why she continued to search, of why she was so sure it was still worth the effort, why didn't she think he was simply gone, she only offered a pointed glance.

Link was not dead, that she could say with certainty. The same connection that had existed between them during her century battle within the Calamity still existed, to a certain extent.

While she could no longer speak to him directly, had no way of knowing exactly where he was in the world, she could feel him, knew that he still walked amongst the living. It was faint and weak and barely present, but it was that connection that kept her searching. He was out there. Why he could not be found, she could not say.

After two years of actively searching every corner of Hyrule, she begrudgingly called off her search.

Or, at least, publicly.

She still kept eyes and ears all over Hyrule. Watching, waiting for whatever was keeping Link captive to let its guard down.

Her patience paid off, as only months after that public announcement, a whisper made its way to her.

She had heard that Prince Sidon had been killed, attacked by a group of elite Yiga as he made his way for a visit to a slowly rebuilding Central Hyrule. What she had further heard through public channels was that one of those in the attacking party had been captured. Had been taken back to Zora's Domain, was being held in their prison cells. She also heard whispers that they would be shortly be put to death.

What she had not heard from those public channels though, was that the one being held bore a terrible resemblance to the Hero of Hyrule.

The moment those words had reached her, she'd put herself into action, penning a correspondence addressed directly to King Dorephan.

In so many words, she asked him to allow her to meet the assassin. As a royal of Hyrule herself, it was in her best interest to learn what she could from this Yiga member. They would not want another tragedy to dampen Hyrule's passion to rebuild itself, could not afford it. She would have to speak with this captured Yiga member for herself, to glean from him what she could.

For her and Hyrule's protection, of course.

Once she sent the letter off, she began preparing to leave.

While it was uncouth of her to not wait for a reply from the Zora King, she knew that if the rumors were true, she could not afford to give Dorephan time to plan a reason to reject her visit.

It would be harder to send her away when she had already traveled so far, then to simply send her a rejection letter.

Worst case scenario, if this person wasn't Link, if they really were just a member of the Yiga clan, she could chalk up her rudeness to nerves. Certainly, Dorephan could not fault her for not wanting to meet the same fate as his son had.

She had to see this supposed assassin for herself, had to know if the rumor she heard was true.

If Link really was in Zora's Domain, she would find him.

One way or another.


"My King, what are we to do about this?" Muzu asked, having just finished reading the letter from Princess Zelda.

Dorephan pondered what the letter had said, knew what complications could befall his kingdom should the Hylian Princess see who it was they had locked in the dungeons.

He'd planned, originally, to take care of two birds with one stone on this matter. The announcement of the capture of the Yiga Clan member responsible for the death of the Prince had only been a few days prior. A public execution would ease the minds of his citizens, make the passing of their Prince easier to bear. The Hero would fill in the need of a live body to execute and die with a bag over his head. His sons final mess would be cleaned up, his people's minds put at ease, and things could return to a semblance of normalcy.

No one had to be any the wiser that the Hero hadn't died years ago.

This letter, however, changed everything. It did not leave him with many options to still make this all work. If Zelda arrived to news of the execution having already been carried out, she would certainly have her suspicions. If she was permitted to speak with the prisoner, he knew she would know who he was. If she just didn't get the chance to speak with him…if she could see a body that was instantly recognizably as the Hero…

All he had left was his reputation and he could not afford to have his people's faith in him shaken, not so shortly after the death of their only Prince.

He was walking a very, very thin line. He could not afford to let this fall apart around him.

"Muzu." His voice was quiet, especially quiet for his size, as he turned to his advisor.

"Yes, my King?"

The throne room was empty. No wandering ears could hear his request.

"Do you still have that stash of poison?"


Bazz grumbled under his breath as he walked to the dungeons. As the Captain of the Guard, he always knew there would be certain aspects of the job that would be unpleasant. He had expected those things to include leading troops into battle or breaking up petty squabbles within the ranks.

He never thought he'd be required to babysit a regicidal Hylian.

He swallowed the sour taste the thought left in his mouth, doing his best to keep his face expressionless. The normal guard who watched over those set for an execution would be gone for a few months. With a newborn in his household, there would be no time to focus on anything else.

No one else would take this post. Not because no one was willing to help, but because no one else wanted to stand watch over the person who had helped kill their Prince. So, it fell to him to, as Captain of the Guard, to take over that post.

The Prince's death had only been a few days ago. The funeral rites had been preformed, but no corpse was present. His body had been too terribly mangled by the Yiga that had attacked him and his slew of guards. Only one from that escort party had managed to make it back, bloodied and near death. It had taken him everything to speak about what had happened, to let them know that the Prince had fallen, before he was gone.

Those of his troops that had recovered the bodies would only mention that it was for the better that no one else see Sidon like that.

Bazz sighed deeply as he reached the cell he'd been told the prisoner was locked up in, sweeping those terrible thoughts from his mind. He had a job to do. He'd been told it would only be a few days before the prisoners. Nothing more and nothing less.

As he approached the cell, he peered in, wanting to get a look at the person who had played a hand in the death of the Prince.

What his eyes saw, confused him slightly. Huddled in the cot of the cell, facing away from him, lay a thin body. Too thin, Bazz found himself thinking, to ever possibly take down one of his subordinates, let alone the looming bulk that had been Prince Sidon.

Bazz was not particularly good at telling male Hylians apart from the female at first glance and this person was no different. He could see that they were dressed in a gray tunic that was just the slightest bit too big on them, same with the pants. Their hair was a deep, golden color that was long enough to reach past their lower back, were they standing up. The other item that caught his interest was a chain, hooked into a loop on the wall, that snaked down rest with the pile of a person on the cot. He could not see where it was attached to.

This certainly did not look like a person who could hardly hold up their own body weight, let alone murder someone.

Shaking the thought from his mind, he knocked the bottom of his spear against the bars, watching the person curl in on themselves even tighter than before.

"Turn to face me, won't you?"

The person paused for but a moment, before obeying his command. The slight shake of the body's shoulders did not go missed by Bazz. He watched as they turned over in the cot, their movements jerky and uncertain. Their long hair tumbled over their shoulders as they sat up.

Their face, beautiful and unblemished, had sharp angles to it that would certainly be softer with a few hearty meals in them. He could see now that the chain leading from the wall was attached to a thick ring of silver around their neck. While it wasn't uncommon for prisoners in their care to be shackled by a ankle or a hand, but he had never seen someone shackled by the neck. He could see that their gaze was directed at the floor and their bangs hung long. Even still, he could make out the color of their eyes. A true, deep blue. A blue he had only seen on one other Hylian before…

He paused his thoughts, brow furrowing. It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

He moved closer to the cell, his face almost pressed against the bars, staring intently. The more he looked, the more those features looked familiar. Thinner, older, but still familiar.

"Master Link?" He said, his voice just above that of a whisper.

It was only the small flicker of Link's eyes that told Bazz he had heard him, had recognized his name.

Before he could say another word, a voice called to him from the end of the hallway.

He turned to the voice, pulling back from the bars.

"Well, hello Bazz. I see you were put on duty for this." The voice belonged to a Zora younger then himself, delivering the meals for the few prisoners in their keep.

He nodded in greeting, not trusting his voice at that moment.

The younger Zora unloaded the cart, handing him his own rations given to guards on special assignments. It was a simple dish of hearty rice balls, stuffed with fish. The other Zora pulled another bundle of rice balls, from the bottom most compartment of his cart.

"Kings orders, he wants this one to eat everything he's given tonight. Have a good night Bazz."

As soon as he had come, he was gone, the wheels of his cart squeaking as he went. Bazz turned to the tightly bundled package of food, confused by it. The King had never given direct orders about a prisoner's meal before. He set his spear against the bars of the cell and tucked his own meal safely under his arm before he opened what was to be Link's meal.

He immediately could tell that there was something off about it. It was a set of rice balls, nearly identical to his own, but they were coated lightly with what he recognized as Goron Spice. It was not a commodity easily found in these parts of the world.

When other prisoners didn't even get salt to season their food, why was this meal prepared with something so much more expensive?

Cautiously, he pulled the bundle closer to his face and took a deep breath. Mixed in with the nearly overwhelming smell of spices, there was something that did not belong. The smell was sharp and acidic and reminded him of a plant that had made him deathly ill as a child. He took another deep whiff, wanting to make sure he knew what he was smelling. It was still there, now stronger that he knew what he was smelling for.

He shook his head in confusion for a moment as he pulled the rice balls from his face. He re-wrapped them and placed them on the floor next to his spear. The food wasn't coated in the spices as a means to flavor it. It was covering for something else, something that would certainly kill a person twice Link's size.

Pulling his own parcel of food from under his arm, he took a key that sat on a ring at his waist and opened the cell door, not missing the way Link ducked his head closer to his chest.

What in the world had happened to him?

He stepped forward and crouched in front of the much smaller Hylian. His face was now completely shadowed by his long bangs, making it impossible for Bazz to read his expression.

He shifted himself ever so slightly and unwrapped his own rice balls, offering one up to Link after giving them a deep smell too. Just to be safe.

When Link didn't immediately take the offered food, Bazz held it closer to him, thinking that he perhaps hadn't seen it. When he saw Link flinch again, he pulled his hand back a little, unsure of how to proceed.

"It's ok, Master Link. You don't have to eat if you don't want to-"

As if those words were a switch, Link's head tilted up enough for him to look at Bazz and to the food in his hand, his eyes full of panic. He watched as the Hylian slowly reached for the rice ball, his fingers wrapping around it uncertainly. Bazz let it go only once he was certain Link had a firm grip on it, watching as he pulled it to his mouth, taking only the smallest bite from it.

Bazz stood back up and re-wrapped the remainder of his dinner. Where had he been all this time? Why was the King so certain that Link was part of the party that had killed his son?

He knew, watching Link slowly, hesitantly feed himself, that this was not the man who had killed Prince Sidon.

"Master Link, where have you been all this time?"

The words he'd been wanting to ask since he knew who it was he was guarding tumbled from his mouth.

He watched as Link paused, his head lifting just ever so slightly to look up at Bazz. He could see that the Hylian was pondering his question, trying to weigh the pros and cons of something, before he pointed to the floor with his left hand.

The fact that he seemed unable to fully form a fist was not missed.

"You've been in this cell?" He asked, not able to understand what Link was trying to tell him.

Again, he could see Link's eyes shift nervously, almost panicked, as he again seemed to weigh how to answer the question.

Eventually, he shook his head no, and again pointed to the ground.

"You've…you've been here? In Zora's Domain?"

Another pause before he answered with a slow nod.

"Where? Everyone was looking for you for so long."

Link remained silent to this question, his head ducking to his chin once more.

Despite his further questioning, Link remained like that until Bazz had removed himself from the cell. He then lay down in the cot once more, his back to the cell door, rice ball still in hand.

Confused by what the sudden reappearance of the Hylian Champion might be indicative of, Bazz needed a moment to clear his thoughts. Grabbing his spear from where it still sat against the bars, he crouched to scoop up the tainted parcel of food. He needed to make sure this was disposed of properly, least anyone else find and try to eat it.

He took his leave of the cell block, just for a short while and just to slow his racing thoughts.

The poisoned food, Master Link's sudden reappearance, in the dungeons of Zora's Domain no less…they were all parts of a puzzle that he could not yet piece together.

But he would. He had to.


King Dorephan was livid. It might never show on his face or in his actions in a notable way, but it coiled around in his gut, like writhing snake.

He had gotten two reports, near simultaneously, that morning. One told him the arrival of Princess Zelda and her group of hooded Sheikah guards. The other was a night report from the guard who had watched over the Hero; it reported him still alive as of this guard being relieved from duty.

He would have find where his chain of communication had failed him. Punishment would have to be severe. It was the only thought that kept him from panicking as the Princess of Hyrule entered his throne room, her features just as expressionless as his own.

"Good morning, King Dorephan." She offered, with a polite bow.

He did not return her greeting nor her bow.

She straightened her back, clasping her hands in front of her.

"I suppose you received my letter then?"

"Aye, I did. You do know, Princess, it is usually considered in poor taste to seek audience with a King and not wait for his reply back."

"I do, sire. However, given the weight of the situation, I do hope you will forgive my rudeness. If the Yiga Clan is beginning to target leaders of Hyrule's people, this matter need be addressed sooner, rather then later. Certain formalities slow that process down."

Dorephan kept his face impassive, but that snake in his gut writhed again.

"understandable, Princess. I will have the prisoner prepared for questioning tomorrow. I will see to it that you and your party-"

"If I may interrupt, waiting to see the prisoner will not be necessary. I will see them now and get what information I can from them. Should they need further persuasion to talk, I would be happy to assist where I can."

This little bitch, making demands of him in his own Domain.

"Time is of the essence, that I understand Princess. But there are procedures in place for a reason. I cannot just have you waltzing into my dungeons without following those-"

"Do not patronize me, Dorephan."

The Zora King could hear Muzu sputter angrily at the way she had addressed the King.

Dorephan stared down at the small Hylian woman, her green-blue eyes cold as iron as she stares right back and he knows. She had come here knowing, somehow already aware, of who it was that he held in his dungeons.

The panic and rage he'd been doing his best to quell both reared their ugly heads in unison. It must have shown on his face; several of the Princess' guards stepped forward, hands at the ready to pull swords and bows from their hiding spots.

Zelda did not falter and held his stare, her eyes icy.

"It would be in your best interest to leave now, Princess." His voice is low and threatening.

Again, Zelda does not so much as flinch.

"I will do no such thing. You forget, I fought Calamity Ganon for a century, King of the Zora. You cannot intimidate me. Your reluctance for me to meet the man you're holding captive tells me everything I need to know. You will release the Hero of Hyrule into my care this moment."

"What if I refuse? I need only snap my fingers and my entire personal guard will be upon you. My son was just killed by a band from the Yiga Clan. It would not be hard to convince the rest of the world that you befell the same fate."

Dorephan could not stand the fact that this girl's iron cold stare did not falter, even in the face of a death threat.

"You will do no such thing, Dorephan, not unless you want the remaining races of Hyrule to descend upon you. They each received a letter from me, just as you did. Those letters, however, have requested that they send their best warriors to search for me in Zora's Domain, should I not send them a confirmation of my safety within five days' time. Did you know that today is the fourth day of that timeline?"

The King wanted nothing more than to rip her head off in that moment.

"…what are your demands?"

Whoever had been responsible for that poisoned meal not making it into the Hero's mouth would have to be punished terribly.


The world had begun to move so fast around him, too fast for him to take in. The chain that tethered him to the wall was removed, though the silver around his neck remained.

He was being pushed and moved by the same guard that had taken him from the room to the prison cell. The Zora did not say anything to him this time, just continued to urge him forward.

His heart thudded in his ears. This had to be something designed by the Prince, something to remind him of how good he had it in his room below. Hylia, why wouldn't they just put him back already?

He walks for what feels like hours, the guard urging him to go faster the entire way, his legs aching and screaming from overuse. He cannot recall the last time he'd been allowed to walk freely without his shackles.

It was only when he feels a breeze coming through the tunnel that some of Link's rising panic ebbs, for the slightest moment. He hadn't had a breath of fresh air, felt the wind on his skin, in so long. But he was not given a chance to enjoy it, as he is ushered forward once more.

They eventually come to the source of the fresh air as the tunnel gives way to an opening that deposited them on a slope. He was nearly overwhelmed by everything around him, trying to engrave every last sensation into his memory. The feel of the grass under his feet, the way the breeze gently ruffled his long hair, the way the sunset colored the sky. Who knew when this trick would be over with? He wanted to take what memories he could with him when the rug was finally pulled out from underneath him.

His panic thudded through his veins, renewed and cold and terrible, when he saw a group of hooded figures atop horses.

What was this what was this what was this-

The guard that had led him through the tunnel touched the blunt end of his spear to Link's back, pushing him forward once more.

"Go with them."

Link was half tempted to turn around, just the littlest bit, to try and plead with the guard. To try to tell him, silently, to take him back to that room he'd spent so much time in. Whatever Sidon was upset with him about, he would work hard to make it up to him. He'd eat more of his food, he wouldn't cry at all, he'd do anything asked of him without question. He just wanted this cruel trick to be done with.

But, Sidon had taught him well to obey a command. The guard wouldn't ask him to keep moving if the Prince hadn't wanted him to. He was certain, even in his confusion, that whatever this was, it was still in line with Sidon's wishes. His left arm, his sword arm, flexed instinctively at the thought, the small movement making it ache. He couldn't afford to entice Sidon's rage like that ever again. Who knew what else he might break.

So, he stepped forward, body shaking. None of the figures spoke, their faces still hidden by the shadows their hoods cast over their faces. Once he was closer, one of the figures dismounted and approached him. Instinctively, Link stilled, eyes suddenly turned down to his feet. Here it was, this had to be it, here was the fallout from this. This had to be the part of the test he'd failed and Sidon would be grabbing him too tightly on the shoulders or hands or throat any moment now. These people would leave and Sidon would have his treasure to himself again for all eternity. Oh Hylia, what should he had done different-

But none of his fears turn into reality. Sidon did not appear. The party on horseback does not disappear. The man who'd dismounted gently pulled him closer to the horse he'd jumped from, helping him mount the animal, his own feet too unsure and unsteady to get himself up. Once settled at the front of the saddle, the man climbed on and settled himself in as well.

Without another word, the party began to ride. Had Link dared to look back, he would have seen the palace of Zora's Domain growing smaller and smaller in the distance. But he doesn't, he can't.

He was still waiting for the punchline of this terrible, cruel joke that was being played on him.