A star's light shines on long after it dies

In the night

Live everyday as if it's your last

Our memories burn bright like beacons of the past


It seemed like this path went on forever, Zelda mused. Her calves ached, and her thighs burned with every step. She paused to wipe the sweat from her brow. The hot afternoon sun that was out today was unforgiving; the very air seemed to shimmer with a wet heat. Just where was she? The fields around her were odd. The landmarks certainly weren't from any Hyrule that she knew. Still, she kept on walking forward, towards the faint green light in the horizon. Towards the light, towards the light. Zelda hummed a lullaby that her mother had taught her as a child.

The odd buzzing sound around her began to grow in intensity. The air in front of her crackled suddenly, and the scent of ozone stung in her nostrils. The light that had seemed so dim on the horizon now grew in intensity, brighter and brighter until she was forced to avert her gaze. She threw up a hand over her eyes.

Zelda.

Zelda gasped. That voice belonged to...no, it was impossible. The Champions were dead, fading into the void a century ago. But still! That voice was unmistakable. It had to have been her.

Zelda.

Cracking open her shut eyes, Zelda gaped in awe. Standing in front of her was Mipha. There was a green glow surrounding the Zora, but it was undoubtedly her. From the sky blue wrap around her shoulders and waist, to the tri-crescent bangles adorning her head, it was an exact image of Mipha. Zelda opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. Memories crashed like waves over her, and she could feel herself being washed away. The Zora princess...what could she say?

"Mi-Mipha? Why...how?" The words jumbled together. How could this be?

"Zelda." Mipha walked forward. Wisps of that pale light drifted off of her body, like smoke. Her hands removed the cerulean wrap from her body. Zelda couldn't shift her gaze. There was a gaping wound in Mipha's abdomen. The ugly gash was bloody, and there were fragments of shattered scales that haphazardly lined the wound. Zelda saw a flash of pink inside, and with a start realized that might have been what remained of Mipha's intestines. Zelda's heart jumped into her throat.

"Oh, Mipha," Zelda choked out. Goosebumps raised over her body and Zelda felt the skin on the back of her neck crawl. "What...what happened to you?"

"You. You did this to me." Mipha's hard eyed gaze stunned Zelda. This wasn't the timid, soft-spoken Zora champion that she had known. What was going on?

"You let me die. You let us all die."

"Mipha, no! you were there! You know I tried as much as I could. I-"

"You were worthless. You let me die," Mipha shot at her. "You let Link die. You took him away from me."

Zelda couldn't believe her ears. This wasn't right. Mipha would never speak like this. She had known that the Zora Champion and Link had shared a tighter bond than the other Champions. Link, prior to the Calamity, had divulged much about his childhood. He had shared about growing up in Zora's Domain, as his father had been stationed there as an act of goodwill from Hyrule. Of Mipha's constant companionship, of her affections. Even what he did not say still spoke volumes. The Champions had all been aware of Mipha's coming of age. With her travels around Hyrule with the others, however, Mipha had not been able to court another Zora. There was only one other reasonable suitor for her, and he just so happened to be right there alongside them.

"No! I...I did everything I could to keep Link safe.

"I loved him, Zelda. Now I'll never see him again. Because of your failure."

Mipha's words cut through her. The past century had been rough enough on the princess. Her hopes of Link awakening once again had barely sustained her through her sealing of Calamity Ganon. She devoted every ounce of her mind to keeping the beast bound, unable to even think about her loss. But now, forced to confront a physical manifestation of her incompetence, everything she had held back all those years began to bubble up again.

"You failed me."

Zelda spun around behind her, towards the sound of a new voice. The mist gathered again, swirling into form. When it settled, Zelda gazed at Urbosa, almost exactly as she had remembered. But this Urbosa bled from a thousand cuts over her entire body, and her firey red hair had been blackened. What...what had happened?

"Not you too," Zelda whispered.

Urbosa stared at her. "You were supposed to be the daughter of Hyrule's ruling family. Where was your power in the time where it was needed? You child." She spat the last words, contempt heavy on her lips. The words, from someone Zelda considered to be almost an older sister, shot through her, deeper than any arrow could. The world seemed to be spinning around Zelda. This can't be happening, she cried to herself. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening!

Zelda wasn't surprised when she saw Daruk and Revali appear out thin air as well, their familiar forms silhouetted by the same green mist. Could things get any worse?

"My people...what has become of my people?" Daruk's voice boomed. The mighty Goron warrior had a cleft through his chest. Zelda knew of the strength of the mountain race. She shuddered to think of what could have inflicted such a savage blow on even the most hardy of Gorons. "Have you seen them? Have you even considered their torment? What has become of my people?" Daruk's voice took on a pained tone at the end. He was right, of course; Zelda hadn't even considered how the other races might have suffered during the forgotten century. How could she have been so selfish?

Were those tears rolling down her cheeks now? The world seemed to tilt around her, and Zelda thought she could feel the very earth beneath seeming to quake. Revali stared at her. Zelda forced herself to look at him. His once proud body had been shattered, wings and legs stuck at odd angles.

He chuckled. "Crying already? You really are pathetic. Not that I expected much from a failure anyways."

Zelda collapsed to the ground. She couldn't take this. It wasn't my fault, Zelda wanted to scream over and over. She wanted them to know that she had done her best, that she would have been willing to die for them. That she was sorry she couldn't have saved them. That she couldn't have awakened her sealing powers until it was too late. She was sorry that they had all died for her.

The churning earth beneath her began to crumble. Zelda felt the ground give way in pieces, like flat panes of glass shattering. The whispers of the champions rang in her ears as she began to fall through the soil: "We trusted you."

She fell rapidly, and Zelda felt as if a weight had been attached to her body. She kept falling for what felt like an eternity. As she tumbled downwards, everything around her was dark, although she occasionally glimpsed a flash of red or black. Reaching out with a hand, she attempted to grasp the slivers of color. Her fingers had barely closed around the strand of light, when suddenly images of a different time filled her vision.

The scent of blood permeated every inch of the field. Hate surged within the beast, and it roared helplessly at the hero that stood before it. Its grotesque horns rose like spires from where it lay on the ground, and its eyes glowed from the sheer force of malice that emanated from the being. The only thought that existed in its twisted brain was a sense of pure hatred.

She was whipped through to another scene, struggling to make sense of it all. What had it meant? Had that been a past Link? Another hero lost to time?

There was a small imp-like creature atop an odd steed. Was that a wolf? The animal dodged about the room swiftly, snapping at the massive beast. Ganon roared in anger and pain, and swiped with a heavy paw in front of him.

Zelda couldn't stop the visions, though the scenes frightened her. Gasping, she attempted to let go of the shard...

A boy who was garbed in green like Link lay on the ground, impaled through the chest by an impossibly large sword. Why was there so much blood? There was a princess standing by him, screaming. A shattered hero. Victory, at long last.

Heaving, Zelda let go of the tendril with a start. What...what had she seen? Where was she? A faint pulse. Da-dum. The sound of a beating heart. Da-dum. No. No, she couldn't be where she thought she was. The flashes of color around her began to coalesce into solid veins of shining red amidst an inky blackness. Malice. She struggled to move, to kick, anything but the darkness around her acted like a binding. How was she back in Ganon's cocoon? She needed to seal him, keep him trapped until Link could come. Sealing power. Sealing power. Focus. Zelda thought of Link, and began to breathe. He would come. She knew he would. And until the hero did, she would keep Ganon locked in here with her. But something was wrong. Her hand had no glow. There was no Ancient Symbol, no flash of light and power surging through her body, no image of Link. Only darkness, and the sheer hate that emanated from the Malice surrounding her.

She could feel the darkness clawing at her. Panic began to settle in. There was no power of the goddess here, nothing to keep Ganon sealed. What was happening? Flashes began to play again in her head, visions of past heroes and princesses brought to their knees by Ganon. He was toying with her, Zelda realized, attempting to break her resolve. She had been able to dispel the Malice from her body previously, using her sealing powers to act as a barrier from Ganon's essence. But now, she was helpless. Coils of Malice began to latch onto her body, and Zelda struggled for breath as what felt like ice began to pour into her body.

Sleep. Zelda recoiled at the awful voice. It was heavy and low, but she still heard it clear as anything. It trembled with raw strength, and power. Her body began to shiver. Why was she back here? Please, please, please. She had been through it once already. Link, please. Link. LINK!

There is no leaving this grave for two.

Zelda awoke with a start, her body jerking upright. She was sweating so profusely, her shirt was soaked through in blotches. Her heart pounded in her chest like a bass drum. What? Her gaze snapped left and right, attempting to make sense of what she was seeing. The orange hues cast about her were the glowing embers of a fire. The smoldering coals winked and danced as Link poked them with a stick. The two horses were laying down on the grass beside them. Epona's tail twitched for a brief second. She was with Link. They were traveling. They had sealed Ganon away. Her fight was over. That realization surged through her, and assuaged her nightmare induced fears.

He looked at her, startled. "Bad dream?"

She didn't respond, instead dragging her bedroll over to where he was sitting by the fire. Link's legs were tucked in by his body, and his cheek was resting in the palm of an open hand. He continued stirring the glowing coals with the other. Dropping the bedroll by him, Zelda patted his knees until he laid them down flat. Link gave her another one of his looks, but she couldn't care less at the moment. Laying her head down in his lap, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him tight. She could still feel Ganon's presence, still remembered how twisted and dark and full of hatred that thing had been. Zelda shivered.

Link didn't say anything. After a slight pause, no doubt deliberating between protocol and responsibilities as a friend, Link laid a hand on her brow. Rubbing circles around her neck with his thumb, he hummed the lullaby that she had taught him during their travels together.

Zelda's lower lip wavered, and unbidden tears began to spill from her eyes. The images of each champion, slain because of her, shook her to the core. Even if it had simply been a bad dream, she knew their accusations were not unfounded. She was at blame for their deaths; the princess was supposed to have been the one to lead the Champions, to have been their vanguard. In the end, the only thing Zelda had managed to be was a liability, to the point that Link had even died on the battlefield to protect her. And now here she was, a blubbering mess of tears, crying in his lap over a bad dream.

"Link," she whispered. She didn't trust her voice enough to not crack in her current state.

He looked down at her.

"I saw them again…I saw them all again. And they were all dead. And they-they-" Zelda's words tumbled from her lips until she found the burning in her throat too much to continue. Tears continued to stream down her face, and she could no longer stifle her sobs. "They blamed me, Link! It's my fault that they're dead and gone." She took a deep breath, shuddering. "I could have saved them. I could have saved Mipha, and Urbosa, and Daruk, Revali. I could have-" Her voice betrayed her in that moment, and she found herself unable to speak.

His eyes shone in the flickering light of the embers. His pupils, normally the lightest shade of blue, glinted like obsidian in the night sky. Zelda watched as a bead of moisture gathered in the corner of his left eye. Slowly, a tear began to trickle down his cheek. The single droplet caught and reflected the light, painting a shining streak down the hero's face.

"I miss them too," he murmured to her. "Urbosa, Daruk, even Revali." He paused. "And Mipha." The sense of longing was so obviously etched on his normally inscrutable face, it served to aggravate Zelda's weeping, and the heaves that wracked her body came faster and faster. He patted her back. "Urbosa said something I think you should hear."

Zelda sniffled. "Urbosa?"

"She...she was there after I freed her Divine Beast from Ganon. They were all there. She told me that you need not carry the blame for what happened to the Champions. She said she was proud of you." Link's voice wavered, and Zelda noticed that he swallowed before he continued. "She forgave you, Zelda. They all did."

"How could they have?" she exclaimed. They're dead because of me, Link." Zelda didn't want to believe it. It was her fault. No matter what the Champions said, no matter how they might have tried to ease her pain, nothing would change the fact that she had been unable to seal Ganon in their most dire time of need.

"Zelda. Listen to me." Link's hands cradled her head in his lap, and he looked straight down at her. "The Champions are dead because of Ganon. You did what was necessary, and you sealed the beast for an entire century. You were willing to lay your life down to save as much of Hyrule as you could."

"But-"

"Zelda." His voice was firm, and his tone made it clear he would brook no argument on the matter. She pressed her face deeper into his stomach as if to hide away from the world. He resumed rubbing her neck gently. She knew she should have been awed, thankful even, that Urbosa had cared so deeply about her that she would attempt to soothe Zelda's torment a century later. But despite his words, Zelda was too shaken to find relief in them.

Link bent down and lifted her head slightly, kissing her lightly on her brow.

"Rest."

Zelda was incredulous. Her nightmare had awoken something inside of her, something dark that she thought she had stuffed deep down and locked away. Now even Link kissing her was unable to shake her out of her fugue. This wasn't how she had expected this to go. This wasn't how she had expected any of this to go. Pressing against Link's body, thoughts of the Champions and of Ganon whirled inside the princess' mind. Hours would pass until Zelda finally passed mercifully into a dreamless sleep as the dawning sun began to peek out over the mountains. As her consciousness faded, she thought she heard the voices of the Champions' once again: We trusted you.


Now we race against the sun

Now we race against the sun

-"Against The Sun", Rootkit


A/N: Alright, holdup. Lemme just say that I actually love how dark Nintendo is going now. No more Kidz-Bop Zelda. But still. Can we all take a second here to realize that Link and Zelda are literally like 17 year olds. Take a pair of teenagers, then kill everyone they've ever loved in horrible, awful ways, including their parents. Then Link literally goes through death, and one be sealed with an ancient evil demon king who literally embodies evil for an entire century. Like, this is the perfect recipe for PTSD and some seriously messed up teenagers. Especially since few others can really understand how they feel. Like damn, that's awful man. DID NO ONE ACTUALLY STOP TO CONSIDER HOW FUCKED UP THAT IS?