A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't introduce myself in the first chapter, I didn't know how to use Fanfic, lol. Anyway, I see that people enjoyed my first chapter. I hope my second chapter can live up to it. I would like to give a shout-out to my editor/co-author (in life and in fanfic) Kagetora no Tsume. If you're in the Avengers or Hobbit fandoms, go check out some of her stuff!

I would also like to add a warning for this chapter. It...um...got a bit darker than I thought it was going to. So heads up for graphic depictions of violence, and again, major character death.

The first thing I become aware of, once the adrenaline shock wears off, is the crushing pressure of hatred and sorrow surrounding me, and the ever-present darkness filling my vision. The only source of light is coming from the faint blue glow of the Master Sword, still clenched tightly in my grip.

I have barely a minute to wonder why I am still here when a strained, grating voice echoes around me.

I will not be going alone, Hero.

I look around sharply for the source of the voice, but I can see nothing in the darkness.

Upon my death I plan to take you and that blasted Princess with me, swallowing you both in the Malice. But first…you will know suffering like never before.

Strings of malice fly from the darkness around me before I can react, lashing my arms tight to my sides and crushing the breath from my lungs. The Master Sword is still gripped in my hands, the blade throbbing an unearthly blue, but I am helpless to use it. Before me, the malice begins to part and swirl, an underlying glow of hot rage throwing jagged features into sharp contrast, and to my growing horror I find myself staring into the wicked snarl of a face.

Since entering my body, I have been able to feel your sorrow and regrets. It fills me with joy to know that in my dying moment, I can make the pathetic remainder of your life miserable. I see that you care for the dead Champions… How about I show you their dying moments firsthand?

I cry out as something forces its way into my mind, thick and heavy and threading like mud through my thoughts, dragging me down and under into some vast unknown nothingness, and I am helpless to do anything as it hollows me out and casts me into sudden light and heat and noise.

I find my consciousness locked in a strange body, the form dripping with malice around me. I am standing somewhere searingly hot and blindingly bright, and the jarring contrast to the oppressive darkness of a moment ago scrapes at my senses agonizingly.

It takes me a long second to recognize the stone structures around me, the bright glow of power peeking between the jointed rocks…I am on one of the divine beasts, and given the heat, it must be Vah Rudania.

I am given barely a second to regain my senses and wonder why I've been brought here when a rough shout draws my attention down.

Daruk is standing in front of me, as solid and real as he is in my few regained memories, and for a moment I am caught with unspeakable joy. He is here. He is okay.

But something is not right.

Unlike the Daruk from the scraps of my past, the one who follows me with his spirit, the one before me seems to be much shorter, as if I am hovering above the towering stone giant, looking down at him. I try to move toward him, to call out to him, but my body doesn't respond. When I try again, the result is much the same. It is as if I am paralyzed, every part of my body, down to the very blink of my eyes, is out of my control.

"Is that all you got, you overgrown Bokoblin sludge?" Daruk yells, and a chill runs down my spine, anticipating an enemy behind me while I am defenseless, but even that seems wrong.

He isn't looking past me as he readies his weapon, he is looking at me.

For the first time, I realize that he is injured. I can see cracks forming like spiderwebs across his russet skin, and his Boulder Breaker is severely damaged.

"Come on! I still got fight in me!" Daruk taunts, and there is no mistaking this time that he is talking to me.

I feel my right arm rise involuntarily, but it's not until I catch a glimpse of the enormous guardian sword out of the corner of my eye that I realize what is going on.

The dawning horror feels like a sword through the ribs, bitterly cold and sharp as I realize that I am trapped inside of Fireblight Ganon, my consciousness an unwilling prisoner to his actions.

I know what is coming next, and I fight against the motion as Ganon brings an arm – my arm – around to level his sword at Daruk. The champion charges forward, bellowing a war cry that rumbles like an earthquake from his broad chest, low and dangerous. I scream at him with mute vocal chords to stop, to retreat, that he will be killed if he does this, but Ganon has me hostage and not so much as a peel escapes my lips.

My right arm swings forward with a tremendous amount of force and as Daruk tries to block, the guardian weapon cleaving through the Boulder Breaker like it was made of wood, and I can only watch in horror as Ganon's strike – delivered by my hand - carves a deep gash in the Goron's chest, splitting him wide.

I can feel myself trembling as Daruk falls to his knees, a blank look on his face.

"Sorry little guy…I guess it's up to you now," he mutters to no one, his voice breathy with the hiss of air leaving his lungs, and I am left to stand over him as the life drains from his eyes.

I can do nothing to prevent Fireblight Ganon from dragging his body to the edge of the Divine Beast and tossing it callously into the crater of Death Mountain.

My vision snaps back to the darkness so quickly that I'm dizzy for a long moment, my head and heart reeling at the memory of my hand striking down my friend.

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding, the sound shuddering across my lips. It had been so real…the slight resistance of Daruk's body on the other end of my blade, the searing heat of the dry volcanic air, and the feel of my hand closing around my friend's throat to drag his corpse off the edge of Rudania...

I feel sadness sweep over me, the Master Sword resting heavy in my grip with the guilt of my actions.

What's wrong, "little guy?" Ganon laughs. You understand now, that you are at my mercy? I single-handedly took down your Champions and witnessed their pathetic final moments. Don't give up yet, Hero. You still have more comrades to see perish…

As if on command, I am dragged under once more, thrashing against the malice in vain as Ganon stuffs me into another body that's not my own.

This time I can hear the rough grinding of stone echoing in my ears, the blistering sting of sand whipping against my skin as the desert wind screams past.

I can see Urbosa before me, tired and beaten down and struggling to stay on her feet. There is blood running down her arms and legs from the deep gouges that have been carved there, and I swallow hard as I watch drip after precious drip seep into the dark sand at her feet.

I realize after a moment that I am trapped in another one of the dark beast's bodies – Thunderblight Ganon. And with dawning horror, I realize that I am here to witness Urbosa's death.

Despite the fierce Gerudo's combat prowess, it seems that Thunderblight's speed is slowly wearing her down, landing small strikes through her defense and moving too fast for her lightning to help her.

There is still a ferocity in her eyes that would strike fear into any monster, but the creature before her is no natural beast. Never one to mince words in a battle, she beat her sword against her shield with a ringing clang, taunting the blight.

My surroundings went blurry as Thunderblight dashed forward, his target the only clear object in his vision. For a split second I was in front of Urbosa, my blade raised to strike, but as she raised her shield to block the oncoming attack my vision went blurry again.

The next thing I knew I was standing behind her.

In the sheen of her shield, I could see her eyes reflected, wide with shock as she realized what had happened. As my arm arced toward her throat, I saw her eyes flood with defeat – a look that I thought I would never see.

With one sharp slice, Urbosa's head tipped sideways and rolled from her shoulders, landing at her feet with a wet thump as her body slowly went limp. Blood began to bubble from her severed jugular, and my stomach churned at the sight. I closed my eyes as her body crumpled to the ground, trying to get the sight from my mind, and I felt the malice drag me back into the void once more.

I'm tired, the crushing feeling of despair sweeping through my limbs and dragging at them like weights. The Master Sword feels like lead in my hands. I keep telling myself that none of the Champions' deaths were in vain, however there is no denying that they could have been prevented.

You look a little ill, Hero, Ganon says, voice dripping with a mockery of pity. Maybe you need some fresh air…

I try to fight back against the malice that swamps my mind, seeping into every bit of me as I fight it, but ultimately there is nothing I can do to resist as I am once again plunged into a body that is not my own.

The rattling boom of cannon fire thumps against my chest with a physical force as cold wind rushes around me. It only takes me a second to spot Revali, circling in the sky above Vah Medoh.

This time, it seems, my consciousness is trapped within Windblight.

"You think you can control the skies better than a Rito... Ha! Your skills are but a mere shadow of what I can do," Revali boasts.

Even facing his death, the Rito's personality shines bright, the Champion whirling in the wind like a falling leaf as he dodges attacks from Windblight with ease.

While Revali may have superior control of the sky, however, the marksmanship of the blight that entraps me is more than his equal. Revali fires off three bomb arrows at me, which I shoot down with my cannons before they even get remotely near their targets.

I feel an odd pulling at my back, the draw and click of a number of objects detatching, and from the corner of my eye I catch sight of four small pods flying toward the Rito.

Revali dodges to the best of his ability, wheeling around and twisting to avoid being hit as he tries to shoot them down in turn, but the continuous firing of Windblight and the pods throws his concentration off, and arrow after arrow arcs harmlessly into the void beneath us.

I can see Revali starting to panic, his focus fraying away with each failed shot as his quiver nears empty, the Windblight's shots searing his feathers with how near they pass. I hear him growl in pain as one of the blasts hits him full in the wing, splintering delicate avian bones and boiling the flesh, and there is no recovering from there. Shot after shot slams into the struggling Rito, blood splattering like paint across his feathers as he flails to stay airborne.

It is a losing battle.

My eyes are burning with tears as the shots pause, leaving Revali heaving for breath and struggling to keep his ragged body airborne, in the center of all of the pods. The Rito looks up, a tiny spark of defiance in his eyes as he claws his trembling wings through the air, slowly losing altitude with every thick drip of blood from his body.

"Lucky…shot." Revali coughs as his shredded wings finally give out on him, sending him plummeting to the ground below in a limp tangle of limbs. The pods chase him out of sight, the distant booming of cannonfire echoing up to me as they continue to tear him apart.

Before I can react, I am plunged back into the void, Ganon's laugh echoing cruelly around me.

"That's enough!" I scream, but that only makes him laugh all the more.

Have I struck a nerve, Hero? he taunts. I can feel your despair and pain, and I must say it feels glorious. Your suffering will give my soul peace as we both die. Sadly, the princess couldn't be awake to see your suffering…

I jolt a little at his mention of the princess - I had forgotten that Zelda was still in the darkness as well – and the guilt at the reminder is crushing. I had hoped that killing the beast would be enough to free her from her prison, and at least someone could survive this nightmare, but now it seems that she will simply die along with the rest of us.

Why the long face, Hero? I saved the best for last…

"No…" The word leaves my lips before I can even think about what I'm saying, the reaction entirely visceral. I cannot watch her die. Knowing that she had passed had already been enough to shatter my heart, but having to watch it…having to go through the motions of the blight that killed her…that would surely destroy me.

As with every other time, however, I am given no choice in the matter as the malice plunges into my head once more, throwing me into another false body.

The crisp splash of water echoes around me, light streaming in long, narrow shafts through little windows cut in the stone overhead. I am in Vah Ruta.

I am in the body of Waterblight Ganon.

I try to close my eyes against what I know is about to happen, but Ganon has taken even that petty sanctuary from me, and I cannot look away.

At first I appear to be alone in the chamber, surrounded by brown, murky water, and for one desperate moment I wonder if he's made a mistake. If I will be spared this tragedy.

The slight splash of moving water behind me dashes those hopes into dust.

Waterblight Ganon turns, bringing my head along with his, and my eyes catch a blur of sleek red and white shooting up from the water.

Something pierces my side, heavy and sharp, and I scream in pain in time with the blight as Mipha lands a quick blow with her trident before vanishing into the depths once more. Waterblight Ganon casts about for a long minute, stabbing the spear into water at random as he tries to find her.

I can see gouges carved in the beast's arms, and based on the piercing ache seeping from various parts of my body, Mipha must have been at this for a while now.

I can feel the creature's frustration rising as I float to a new location in the chamber, searching the water for the Zora.

Another small splash is my only warning before I am struck again, this time in the back, and the blight howls in pain as I feel the hollowing blow down to my very core.

Mipha, though small, is a rather experienced fighter, and knows exactly where her strengths lie. In the water, she is truly a force to be reckoned with.

The little splash from off to my left has me whipping around to deflect, but I am a second too slow, and Mipha's trident gouges my side.

I smile even as I cry out in pain, knowing that she is hurting the blight despite Ganon's hold forcing me to feel it as well. The pain is worth it to know that she is beating him.

Mipha vanishes into the water once more, leaving barely a ripple in her wake.

But this time Waterblight doesn't react in frustrated rage.

I begin to worry as I feel the blight freeze, waiting for Mipha's next strike. The blight tenses, sending a deep, sinking horror crawling over my skin, and I get the awful feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong.

The little splash from behind me is the only thing announcing Mipha's attack, but for the tense and waiting Waterblight, it is enough.

Before I can process what's going on, the Waterblight has whipped around, a giant hand catching Mipha around the throat as she leaps from the water to strike.

Mipha is so taken aback that she loses her grip on her trident, and a sharp blow from the beast sends it clattering from her hands to sink into the depths. The Zora's hands fly to the grip that circles her throat, but my hold on her only tightens, choking off her air. The Zora begins to gasp, her feet kicking uselessly and her hands unable to claw me away as I hoist her into the air and slowly bring my spear up, leveling it at her struggling form.

Mipha's eyes light up with fear, her thrashing becoming more desperate as I fight the action from my end, but it is useless. I am merely a prisoner to the past – I can change nothing.

With one brutal thrust, Waterblight stabs Mipha through the stomach, the wicked back-hooks on the weapon tearing at her as my hand draws the spear back out, spilling blood from her body.

But the blight isn't anywhere near done.

My arm quickly rams the spear into Mipha's body, over and over, tearing gaping holes through her abdomen and chest as I choke her with my free hand. The assault leaves her flesh and insides to hang bloody and ragged from her body as she is gutted by my own hand.

I try to scream as I am forced to strike her again and again, my hand crushing the breath from her throat so that she cannot even sob in agony as I tear her to pieces with Waterblight's wicked spear.

It only takes a few seconds before the fight goes out of her and her hands swing at her side, limp. My grip loosens the slightest fraction as the water blooms a deep red beneath her and Mipha gulps in a shuddering breath that is gurgling with blood.

With gore dripping down her slender body and her glassy eyes dulling over rapidly in death, I hear her choke out a little sound.

Waterblight leans close to hear, still holding the Zora up by her throat, and I want to cry at the pain in her expression as she fights for her last few seconds of life.

"I'm….sorry….Link," Mipha gasps, voice weak and head starting to loll against my fist. "I…didn't…"

But she never makes it to the end of the sentence.

The last little wisp of breath leaves her body in a slow rasp, and she does not inhale again.

Waterblight drops her body in disgust, and I am forced to watch as she sinks into the depths, ribbons of blood spiraling in her wake. My dearest friend…nothing left but a vanishing dark spot beneath the water.

I wrench back against Ganon's hold so violently that I jerk myself back into the void. The malice still circles me tight, but it is nothing compared to the suffocating horror that I've just witnessed. I feel cold.

I feel sick.

Tears flood my eyes as the agony and rage overcome me. I scream, struggling with all my might to break the power holding me captive, but the malice is as resilient as ever, coiling more tightly about me as it senses my resistance. The Master Sword is dragging merciless and heavy in my grip, and I don't have the strength to even lift it an inch.

Why struggle, Hero? What more do you have? the beast begins to cackle.

His words only fuel my rage as I strain my body to the point of breaking, the malice sinking into my skin, severing flesh with the pressure. Blood begins to seep around the wisps of blackness, but I can't even feel it. The only thing I feel is a burning, all-consuming rage. I cry out again, pushing back against the malice, my very spirit struggling to break its hold, and slowly the smaller tendrils began to snap, frayed away where they slice deep into my arms and legs. One by one, I tear from their hold, my fingers clawing at the clinging darkness.

Before the malice can regroup, I rip my way free of its hold and charge at the cackling face in front of me, the Master Sword dragging in my hold. With my rage fueling my strength, I heft the sword up, slashing at the malice with the blade; its once bright shine down to a muted glow and getting fainter with each strike.

The face continues to laugh as I carve it apart, tearing it to pieces the same way it gleefully did to Mipha all those years ago, and dark, thick malice begins dripping from it. All too soon, tiredness overcomes my body and I feel my spirit stutter as the twisted face before me begins to cough in between his laughs, but there is a light spilling through the cracks, each cut revealing more and more as I carve away at Ganon, revealing his inner core.

I must thank you, Hero, for giving me such joy upon my death, he rasps, that awful smile still spread across his face and malice dripping like blood from between his teeth. I will see you in the next life.

The face dissolves before me, collapsing into itself and fading into darkness as the light behind it is finally revealed. It is a sphere, bright and glowing with warmth and purity, and inside a figure floats, locked in a sleeping state with golden hair ebbing around her in a halo.

It is Zelda. Still a prisoner, even now.

In the past, I had been her appointed knight, the one she called upon to save the realm and fight Ganon. Now, after seeing my friends murdered and feeling it done with my own hands, I can't help but feel that I have failed. The peace that I brought to the kingdom, it is but a faint memory. The defeat of Ganon was simply his bid for time.

My hundred year sleep has cost the world everything I was supposed to protect.

I struggle to sheathe the Master Sword as I stagger toward her, my throat burning in sorrow.

I place my right hand on the sphere, my blood-splattered fingers splaying against the warm glow. My left hand finds its way to rest in a clenched fist over my chest, and I bow my head, addressing the princess that I have failed to protect for the past hundred years – my only remaining friend

"I'm sorry, Zelda," I whisper, my voice tight with tears and rough from my earlier screams. "I'm sorry for failing to get you out of this... You fought this darkness for one hundred years, and I couldn't save you from this undeserved fate." I look down and away, seeing nothing in the world but this little orb and endless darkness. "I couldn't save anyone back then. Daruk, Urbosa, Revali…Mipha. They all died trying to fight Ganon, and then they got their afterlife taken from them as well. I wish I could go back and save them all. I would give my life to seal Ganon away, just so they can live."

I open my mouth to continue, but a bright glow from the back of my hand stops me mid-breath. Just below my split knuckles, I can see three triangles forming, the one on the bottom right glowing brighter than the two.

I have heard your plea, Hero.

My head jerks up at the new voice, this one light and feminine, and I am shocked to find myself looking into the open eyes of Princess Zelda.

The eyes are not hers, however. Her deep green eyes have been replaced by a sharp white glow, something decidedly unearthly about them, but I don't feel the urge to shy away.

Do not fear, Hero, the voice says, light and sweet. The princess is merely a vessel for my power. I am Hylia.

My breath catches in my throat, and I can feel my eyes go wide. Hylia – the goddess. Her statues stand in every village, and her blessings have helped my spirit to grow with every prayer I've offered. She was the reason I had been able to get as far as I did.

I must thank you for defeating the darkness that is Ganon, and I must apologize for the pain and suffering that it caused, she tells me gently. Although, this unseen circumstance has presented an opportunity that hasn't been seen in over ten thousand years...

The glowing triangle on my hand lifts from my skin, leaving the faint impression of the triforce behind, and I watch in wonder as it moves to hover brightly in front of me. A flash from within the orb draws my attention in time to see a second triangle free itself from Princess Zelda's right hand, and as it hovers toward me, I see a final piece appearing within the darkness of the beast, descending from above.

With you three here, the Triforce of Wisdom, Power, and Courage can once again unite to grant the wish of whoever touches it. Hero of Courage, that wish belongs to you.

The pieces come together in front of me, and with a near-blinding flash of light they fuse at the corners to form into one.

"…Triforce?" I ask, my voice a crackling, broken whisper.

Yes, Hero. This relic was created millennium ago by the Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore, and I was tasked with its defense. Its original purpose was to give hope to the people of the realm during times of great suffering, she explained gently. However, its power was misused, and caused more destruction than good. I was forced to divide the Triforce into three pieces, and hide it away where it would not cause any more harm than it already had. As time went on, the legend of the Triforce's power faded from the realm of knowledge, and it became nothing more than a symbol. But now the pieces are joined once again, and you, Hero, have been given a chance to right the wrong that has been done. Heed my warning, though. The Triforce was meant to be used by a mortal of unbreakable spirit. Any person whose spirit wavers for any reason will face grave consequences should they attempt to use this power.

"Can such a wish be used to change the past? To destroy Ganon one hundred years ago, before all of this?" I ask.

Unfortunately, no, Hero. Ganon is a being that is tied to the Triforce of Power, and thus cannot be destroyed by it.

"Then I wish to be sent back to the past" I say firmly. "To seal away Ganon myself."

Are you certain that this is your wish? she asks me, her tone more serious than before. Consider it very carefully, as it cannot be changed once granted.

"It is," I reply without a second of hesitation. "This is my wish."

Very well, Hero. May the Goddesses' blessings light your way.

Before I can ask her what she means by that, she is gone, leaving me alone with Zelda's unconscious form. I only have a second to catch my breath, and then the Triforce begins to burn with a blinding, searing light.

A/N: Don't worry, hope is coming. Eventually