Summary: Centuries after Twilight Princess, Hyrule is a land of wealth and prosper until the monarchy is overthrown by a mysterious tyrant wielding a purple blade. The hellish kingdom of Dragmire rises from the ashes. Wiped of her memories, Zelda is raised in the shadows by the Sheikah to be a warrior and will stop at nothing to return Hyrule to the light with the help of her dear friend, Link.
MOTHER HYRULE WEEPS
Prologue: Keep On Living
The night of Hyrule's Annual Grand Ball was always a night to remember. Drinks, dancing, entertainment, food and fancy gowns. Everybody who was anybody was there. Royalty from neighbouring nations, ambassadors, high ranking military officers, the Royal High Council, and of course, Hyrule's own royal family.
The royals were the pride of Hyrule. The sheer epitome of grace and class, they set the example for how the fair people of their kingdom should be. Queen Zelda XV and her four beloved children were known far and wide for their charm, wisdom and wit.
Prince Luka, Crown Prince of Hyrule. He was the eldest and most popular of the four, and also, the heir apparent. Infamously handsome and brave, he was everything a future king should be and much more. Just a few weeks shy of nineteen and betrothed to the beautiful Lady Lyza of Tides. Tongues wagged about a royal wedding, though the prince himself never seemed too keen the idea himself. Rumour had it that he did not wish to marry Lady Lyza and actually disliked her. Nevertheless, he was set to marry her and that would be that.
Princess Helga, Duchess of Ordona. The glamorous second born child, and a beautiful playgirl in every sense of the term. Though she was only seventeen, she often spent time drifting between suitors and vacationing on the Kakai Islands, Hyrule's paradise colony. She was the first and only royal heir in history that was fluent in Gerudo, thanks to a gap year she spent amongst the Gerudo people. Her mother believed being exposed to the female tribe would do her eldest daughter some good, though it is really anyone's guess if it did. The Gerudo Chief, Dicca, had become a close friend of the playgirl princess, that much was known.
Prince Zoltan, Duke of Eldin. The third born, known mostly as the family clown. Despite his mother forcing him into military service with the cavalry, believing it would give her youngest son some much needed structure and maturity, it did very little good. What kind of maturity could one expect out of a sixteen year old that was never destined to rule the kingdom?
Princess Zelda of Hyrule. The youngest of the four, and the one Queen Zelda spent most of her days worrying about. Though she was only seven years of age, the youngest princess was incredibly intelligent and intuitive. She had a silent wisdom and intellect that was perhaps even above what her elder siblings possessed.
And that, my friend, is with whom we begin our story with. A seven year old Princess Zelda was not in attendance of the Grand Ball that night. No, instead she was lying awake in her bedroom, looking up at the ceiling with the muffled sound of music echoing through the stone walls.
Her mother had told her she was still too young to attend the event and left her in the care of Impa, a Sheikah Sentinel.
Impa, a young, slender and ruggedly beautiful woman of perhaps twenty-one years sat quietly in the corner of Zelda's bedroom by the unlit fireplace, reading from a book that had the Sheikah eye embossed on the cover. Her blood red eyes moved across the pages slowly.
Her skin was the perfect olive colour and her long hair was as white a fresh winter snow and pulled neatly back into a braided bun. She had three red triangles tattooed just above her left eyebrow, and her left eye was carefully outlined with red ink as well, most likely some sort of symbolic markings of her people.
"Your Highness, sleep happens faster if you close your eyes." Impa called, not taking her eyes off of the text.
"How do you know I'm awake?" Zelda whined in amazement.
"Close your eyes, Princess." Impa responded swiftly, dodging the question.
"Why don't you sleep, Lady Impa?"
"I am to watch you for the night. I cannot watch you if I am asleep. And how many times have I told you that I am not a Lady?"
"But why do you have to watch me? I thought you were Luka's protector."
"I am. But your mother demanded it personally, and I must obey Her Majesty's orders." Impa sighed, becoming impatient at the constant questioning. "Please go to sleep."
"Do you like being Luka's Lady Protector?" Zelda quizzed. "He's very fond of you, Lady Impa! Perhaps he should marry you instead of Lady Lyza!"
"Princess..." Impa groaned in slight annoyance.
Zelda laid her head back down and rolled on to her other side, her ashen blonde hair falling into her face. She looked out the window and saw the sky littered with stars. She tried to remember every constellation her mother had taught her in order to lull herself into a slumber, but it did not work.
She could still hear the music playing in the ballroom. It was unmistakably the Serenade of Water, one of her favourite songs. Zelda envisioned countless men and women spinning around on the shiny ballroom floors to the tune. Every person would be dressed up in their nicest uniforms and gowns. She wished she could have been there to see it with her own eyes. How divinely romantic it must have all been, especially to a seven year old girl.
"Can you tell me a story, Lady Impa?"
"I don't know any. Sleep, Princess."
"How do you become a Sheikah?"
"One does not become a Sheikah like one becomes a blacksmith. Sheikah are born to their fates." Impa sighed again, giving Zelda what seemed to be an obvious response.
"What is their fate?"
Impa, realizing it was pointless wasting her breath, exhale heavily, trying to get her irritation across to the young royal.
"Right. Sleep. Sorry." Zelda apologized quickly, realizing she was bothering the woman.
Zelda rolled over again, and it is unknown how long she laid there, unable to fall asleep. All that is known is that she just simply could not sleep. And when the muffled music suddenly stopped, that's when Zelda felt herself become wide awake.
Impa looked up from her book for the first time. Her eyes narrowed and her ears perked up. She slowly stood from her chair, placed her book carefully back into her jacket and put one hand gently on the pommel of the blade attached to her hip.
Alarmed by the silence, Zelda called out. "Lady Impa?"
Impa's eyes bounced around the room as she gridded her teeth like a mad dog.
Zelda sat up in bed to see the tall and slender woman standing attentively near the door, her bright red eyes seemed to glow in the dark. "Lady Impa?"
"Shhhh..." the Sheikah woman hushed.
This was when Zelda heard muffled screaming in place of the once beautiful music. She panicked as she peered out her window once more to see thick smoke smothering the once dazzling starlight in the sky.
"Lady Impa?" Zelda inquired nervously, hopping out of her bed and running to her protector's side. She tugged on her woman's long jacket urgently.
The Sheikah woman placed a hand upon Zelda's blonde head and said nothing. She didn't even give the girl a glance of reassurance. Her eyes remained fixated on the door, as if she could see through it.
Zelda could hear the marching of heavy boots storming down the hallway. "Lady Impa, I'm scared! What's happening?"
Impa's permanent scowl only seemed to deepen, and before Zelda could tug on her protector's jacket one more time, the door swung open with such great force that the young princess was knocked to the ground.
The next thing Zelda heard was the sound of cold steel being quickly unsheathed from a scabbard and then loud thuds of metal hitting the stone floor.
"Close your eyes, Princess." Impa murmured hoarsely.
Zelda then felt herself being scooped up into the arms of her Sheikah guardian and the wind blowing through her hair. Lady Impa was incredibly fast, and she smelt like burning wood.
Zelda gripped onto Impa tightly and shut her eyes even tighter. Unfortunately, she could not close her ears and her imagination did all of the work for her in those moments.
"Sentinel! Help us!"
CLASH! CLANG!
Zelda gripped tighter onto her protector with each sound.
"Sentinel! Where is the-GAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
THUD. CLANG! CLINK!
The young princess felt herself being spun around and around in circles, lifted up and down and at one point, she swore she felt herself being launched into the air and then caught again by her Sheikah guard.
Through it all, Impa continued to order her to keep her eyes closed and to hang on to her.
She had obeyed. Though she could not see anything, young Zelda could smell smoke, steel, sweat and the stench of freshly spilt blood, and she could hear every single blood curdling scream, every blade clashing with each other and the sound of crackling fire. Her home was going up in smoke, and she had no idea as to why.
The next thing she knew, she could feel her feet touch the ground, and Impa releasing her from her grip.
Zelda dared to open her eyes to see regal blue carpet beneath her feet. It was dark, but she knew this place. She was standing in her mother's private library. She could see Impa barring the large wooden doors before turning her focus back on her.
"Are you okay, Princess?" she inquired in a low voice.
"Lady Impa, what is going on? Why is everybody dying? Where's my mother?" Zelda panicked, tears began to flow down her face.
"Shhhhh..." Impa hushed harshly, snapping her fingers and magically lighting a few of the candles in the room.
The room illumined dimly thanks to the candle light. It revealed the dozens of shelves lined with advanced and priceless texts and the grim faces of portraits of ancestors on the walls. Zelda had never liked her mother's private library, she'd always thought it was creepy and too quiet, but on this night, she welcomed the familiarity.
The dim light also revealed a shimmering red liquid covering Impa's right arm. It didn't take long for Zelda to realize that it was blood.
"Lady Impa! You're hurt!" Zelda exclaimed, rushing back to her saviour's side, but Impa raised her hand, silently ordering her to stop.
The woman stood tall and smirked slightly at the girl's concern. She inspected the wound on her arm and grimaced at it, but paid it no further attention. If anything, she just seemed rather annoyed and disgusted with herself for allowing it to happen.
She pushed onward regardless, grabbing up one of the candelabras she had lit magically and began examining the bookshelves. It was certainly an inconvenient time to be rummaging through Queen Zelda XV's personal collection, but little Zelda did not object. Clearly, the Sheikah was looking for something.
The blood continued to run from the laceration, dripping down her arm and onto the floors of the library, dying the carpet from blue to purple. Every time Zelda said something about tending to the wound, Impa objected.
Zelda stood awkwardly and nervously in the centre of the room, drying her tears, still able to hear muffled screams through the stone walls of her home. She did this all while watching her saviour run her finger over the spines of the old books for about ten minutes until there were three strong knocks at the door.
Impa halted her bookcase search and approached the door with caution. She knocked back twice and was answered with four more knocks.
With that she unbarred the door and opened it.
"Your Highness." Impa bowed her head respectfully and stepped aside to reveal at handsome looking young man with flowing ashen hair and a thin crown around his head.
"Sentinel." he nodded, his blue cape followed him as he entered the room. He appeared covered in dirt and debris. His white tunic was drenched in sweat and blood was not his own.
He scanned the room nervously before looking down and seeing Zelda. He rushed to embrace her tightly, dropping to his knees and planting a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm so happy you are safe. Thank the goddesses you are okay, Zelda!"
"Luka..." Zelda murmured on the brink of tears. "Luka, what's happening?"
He seemed to ignore her and just held onto her a little bit longer before breaking his hold on her. He held her tiny tear covered face in his hands before he stood back to his feet and looked at Impa who was sticking her head out into the hallway curiously.
"Is no one else coming?" Impa quizzed, closing the door and barring it once again.
The young man did not respond to the question.
"Your Highness?" Impa furrowed her brow anxiously.
"No one else..." Luka informed gravely.
"And... Her Majesty?"
"Yes."
Impa turned away, defeated by the news. "Damn it..."
"Mother's prediction was correct."
"We should have been more prepared."
"We did everything we could in the time we had..."
The prince and the Sheikah said nothing else to one another for a moment, which confused Zelda.
"Big brother?" Zelda ran to her older brother's side and held his hand. She felt him give her hand an affectionate squeeze, but he did not look at her.
The seven year old princess then felt the back of her hand getting hot. A burning sensation manifested itself quickly. She groaned and jerked her left hand in Luka's grip, he noticed immediately.
"What now?" Impa mumbled, pacing in front of the bookshelf on the far side of the room.
The Crown Prince of Hyrule dropped to his knee again and examined Zelda's hand. He ran his thumb over it gently as a Triforce symbol began to appear. His face was grave, and his scowled at the mark on his baby sister's hand. He exhaled heavily. "We continue with the plan."
Impa nearly dropped the candelabra at hearing this. "I beg your pardon?"
The prince released Zelda's hand from his grip, stood and began to unbuckle the shimmering sword on his belt. "Look for the book titled History of the Arcane Volume Nineteen, it should be near the fireplace."
The Sheikah narrowed her eyes and approached the shelf nearest the darkened hole that was the fireplace. She once again ran her fingers over the spines of the books until there was a notable clicking sound from her position.
The bookcase slowly began to pull backward and reveal a small, narrow and dark passageway lined with steep stairs and cobwebs. There was a musty smell coming from the hidden corridor, giving the impression it had not been used for many, many years.
"Follow that path for about three days and you'll be at Lake Hylia." Luka informed dropping back down onto his knees and looking Zelda in the eyes.
With outstretched hands he held his sheathed sword before her. "Zelda, I want you to have this. Do you know what this is?"
Zelda studied the blade hidden within the scabbard. The hilt was made of the finest metals and encrusted with sapphires, rubies and emeralds. It was practically a work of art.
"The Sword of Hyrule?"
"Yes. So long as an heir holds this sword, Hyrule will rise again." Luka nodded with a small, sad smile. "Protect it with your life."
Zelda accepted it. It took all of her strength to hold it in her arms. She was surprised by the weight of it. "Why are you giving it to me, brother?"
"Just... hang on to it for me for a little while, okay?" he kissed her on the forehead and stood once again. "You must keep on living, Zelda. Do you understand?"
She just nodded back as tears began to well up in her eyes again.
The handsome young man walked back to the door but stopped himself for some reason. Impa stared at him, seemingly halting him in his tracks.
"If you go back out there, you will die." Impa informed firmly, as if trying to argue with him.
"If I don't go back out there, everyone will die." Luka argued back, looking the Sheikah in the eyes.
The two seemed to have had some sort of silent conversation conveyed simply through eye contact in those moments, as Zelda could not understand any of it. Perhaps she was too young to understand.
"Very well. This is the path you've chosen. You know what the sealing requires?"
"Mother told us. A small price if you consider what it will do." Luka divulged, grabbing the ancestral sword that was mounted on the fireplace mantle. He then tilted his head towards Zelda, "take good care of her..."
"I will." Impa clasped her hands together as the prince passed her by.
Zelda watched him go nearer to the door, still uncertain about everything that was going on. Where was her mother? Where was her sister? Where was her other brother? What was happening? Where was Luka going? Why was he leaving her? Why did he give her the Sword of Hyrule? What was going on?
"May Nayru grant you the wisdom to outsmart your enemies, may Farore give your brave heart strength and may Din grant you a strong and steady hand for your blade." Impa bowed her head. "And may you find eternal peace in Hylia's embrace..."
And with that, the Crown Prince of Hyrule swung the door open again and disappeared from Zelda's life forever.
A great shame, indeed, for this meant that she was alone in the world. But it is perhaps an even greater shame that Zelda would never be able to recount any of these events, because the next thing she knew, Impa had placed her long, cold index and middle fingers upon her little forehead and hummed some kind of incantation. The last thing Zelda saw that night was darkness.