Chapter 2

Yet another Destiny

I was led into the throne room and then told to wait for Impa. The guard then sped off in a hurry! I wonder what the rush was… I waited patiently. The air of the castle always smelled heavily scented with perfume. I looked up to the bright, fancy chandelier that hung from the high ceiling, and finally followed with my eyes the fine long red carpet that ran up to the empty throne. I wondered where Zelda would be.

An old lady soon greeted me. She was short, and her pure white hair flowed down to her feet. This was Impa, but she looked nervous to have seen me there. "Impa, I wanted to show you something."

But she interrupted me. "Now's not the time. Please understand, I wanted to tell you sooner. this is important." She started for a door, but I stopped her and held up my left hand…

At the sight of the golden triangle, her eyes went wide and she took hold on my hand speechlessly. "What does this mean?" I asked. She looked at me with an expression I have seen before six years ago… "It means you have yet another destiny to follow!" What? Another destiny? "You are the one to find the Triforce of Courage. Never have I thought you would be thrown on a second quest."

"Where is Zelda?" I asked, but she became quiet again, and looked down sadly, like she didn't know where to begin. Sickening fear began to well up inside of me, and I could speak with barely a whisper. "Impa?"

"Link, come with me." She walked to the same door and I followed closely behind.

"What happened to her?" I begged for her to answer yet again.

"This is what I wanted to tell you when you came here." She stuttered on a few words before just saying it bluntly to me. "Zelda is under a spell of eternal sleep." She then looked at me and then seemed to apologize for just letting it out like that. At that moment, so many emotions hit me at once, and I was devastated! "What!? No! Is there something we can do? When did this happen?"

"Calm down, there is a way to help her." Impa assured me.

We came to a door down a hallway and I opened it. Inside was a royal master bedroom with finely kept bookcases nearby a desk and a view of the kingdom out the window. I felt sick again as I saw the princess lying on the bed in a deep sleep. A sleep she would not wake from.

I took a deep breath. "How did this happen?"

Then Impa seemed ready to explain. "This happened recently. The princess Zelda and her brother were arguing over the Triforce. When the king died, you know well the prince was next in line for the throne. He inherited the Triforce of Wisdom and Power for his rule. He wanted the third piece as well, but the Triforce of Courage has long ago been hidden." She seemed to pause for just a minute and glanced down at the princess that was like a daughter to her.

"The prince became upset, like he was driven by the thought of power." And then she glance back to me, her face reading of a calm anger.

"But then he learned that his father knew where it was, and told the princess rather than him. He asked Zelda where it was, but she refused to tell him. The prince made a terrible mistake, and questioned her again, but this time, he had a powerful wizard with him. The wizard threatened to cast a curse on the princess if she didn't tell them what she knew, but she still refused to talk. The wizard began to cast his curse, but the prince realized too late what he has done and tried to stop the chant. The powerful magician fought the prince off and finished the spell, the spell was so strong that the caster fell down and died. And the princess…"

I knew Zelda was having problems with her brother, but I never knew it would lead to this. She said she was worried for his behavior after the king passed away. But the prince would really do this to his own sister?

"What can we do?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"You are the only one who can help her, Link." She nodded at the symbol on my hand. "That mark on your hand tells me you can find the Triforce of Courage, and with the Triforce complete, it will grant any wish made." She replied.

I can wish for the spell to be broken! "But where can I find it?" I asked, feeling back on my feet. I saved her once, I thought, it should be easy to save her again.

She brought out a small chest and gave it to me. The same mark that was on my hand was also on the box. "Only you can open this. It has been past in my family over the generations for the one who will search for the missing piece of the sacred triangle."

There was a faint golden glow from the two marks as I placed my left hand over the surface and the chest was unlocked. I lifted the lid back, and instantly a smell of mustiness and dust floated out after the box creaked open. Inside was six clear oval crystals and an old scroll… I first went for the paper and unraveled it to reveal an ancient hylian language. I have never seen writing like it before, and yet, I read them like they were my own.

"You who'll control the Triforce of the future. I shall hand down to you the secrets of the Triforce. There are three kinds of Triforce - Power, Wisdom, and Courage. When these three are brought together, the Triforce will share its maximum power. Of the three, I have left Power and Wisdom in the kingdom. But the Triforce of Courage I have hidden for a reason. Not everybody can use the Triforce. It requires a strong character with no evil thoughts. But an inborn special quality is also necessary. Unfortunately, I have not found such a person during my lifetime. Therefore, I have decided to cast a spell on all of Hyrule. A crest will appear on a young man with that character who has been brought up correctly, has gained many kinds of experiences and reached a certain age. But, what will happen if someone else uses the Triforce before then? If it is misused, it will produce many evils."

"The Triforce of Courage is hidden in the Great Palace in the Valley of Death on the largest island in Hyrule. However, to enter you must first fight the guardians and undo the 'binding force'. When you have defeated the guardians, which I made to prevent enemies from invading the six palaces in Hyrule, set a crystal in the forehead of the statue you find. When you have set crystals in all of the statues in the six palaces, the 'binding force' placed on the Valley of Death will be removed and you will be able to enter the Great Palace. There you must fight the last guardian. And you can obtain the Triforce only by defeating that guardian. There's nothing to fear. You are the one to get the Triforce. You are the beacon of hope for Hyrule." *

The scroll also showed the locations of the seven palaces on the back, the Parapa, Midoro, Island, Maze, Ocean, Hidden, and finally, the Great Palace.

"The journey will be dangerous, as you already know, but this one will prove far more dangerous than the last quest." Impa warned. "There are rumors being spread about you from monsters all around the kingdom."

I shook of the first part, for I wasn't afraid of danger. I have dealt with quite enough of it in my adventures, but I held curiosity with that last part. "About me?"

"They now believe if they kill you and sprinkle your blood upon the long dead ashes of Ganon, he will be resurrected!"

That's why I was attacked on the road for no reason. "Do you really think he can come back?" I asked.

"I don't know…" She admitted. "But it would seem possible, and that's why you need to take extra care. You will be attacked everywhere, and leaving your guard down for even a minute could be life-threatening."

I said nothing more, it was a lot to sink in. But taking to the road again didn't seem like a bad idea, and now that I knew there was a way to save Zelda, it didn't matter to me how dangerous it was.

"I should be the one to find the Triforce, not him!" Said a voice behind me, I turned around to see the prince enter the room and walk up to speak with Impa. "I am Zelda's brother, and I'm the one that has done this to her in the first place, I should be the one on this quest!" He stood tall and straight despite the crisis, but I could tell he was wracked with sorrow. He wore a fine red tunic that was complete with a flowing robe and a golden crown that sat atop his head. He did resemble his sister a bit with the blue eyes and noble expression, though his hair was a curlier and darker shade of brown.

"No, only Link may go. He has the mark on his hand, you don't." Impa pointed out sternly.

"I don't care about a single mark! You said it yourself, Impa. Monsters from all over are looking to kill him, he wouldn't last one day! And if they do, not only is he dead, but Ganon will be back as well! We can't risk this."

Impa's face tightened into a sincere frown. "'He wouldn't last one day'? Have you forgotten what he did six years ago? He heroically defeated the evil prince of darkness, Ganon, and brought your sister back home! How can you think he will fail in this? You should be ashamed of yourself!" The prince suddenly looked taken back, and without another word, he passed us and approached the sleeping princess.

Impa softened once more as she turned to me. "I will pray to the goddesses for your safety. Do not doubt in your abilities, I'm sure you have what it takes to bring the Triforce back. We will all be waiting for your return."

"I understand, thank you for trusting me." I looked over to the prince. He just stood there, staring off in the distance. I took a step towards him.

"Link," Impa called, and then continued quietly to me. "Be gentle with the prince, everyone makes mistakes, and he truly regrets this. When the spell was cast, the prince ordered that every girl born in the royal family will be named Zelda." She chuckled sadly. Wow, he would set a law like that? What would have Zelda thought? I slowly walked up to the sleeping princess and depressed prince.

Zelda looked really calm. I wondered if she was dreaming as she slept. We stood in silence for what seemed like the longest time before the prince spoke. "What have I done? What have I done…?" I heard him whisper. "I tried to fight him off, you know, the wizard… He was just too strong. Zelda was horrified as he began the chant, but she still didn't say a word about the Triforce. She didn't trust me" He smiled and stared down at his boots. "I guess she had good reason not to…" I said nothing and just watched him closed his eyes as he tried to chase the repeating scene in his head away.

"She was quite fond of you." He said in a cracking voice, and turned to look at me with tearful eyes. He then reached into a pouch he had and gave something wrapped in cloth to me. "She would have wanted you to have that. You had a birthday or something. She was talking about it constantly."

I moved the cloth back and looked at the beautiful pendent. The three triangles in the Triforce were made from pure sparkling silver on the matching chain. I clenched it tightly in my fist. She wanted to give this to me as a birthday present… Suddenly, I felt like I was hit with the news for the first time. I felt my eyes burn as even I began to cry for her curse. I pushed away the pain and brought back my confidence when I placed my hand on the prince's shoulder. "She's not gone, Your Majesty. I will come back with the Triforce of Courage, and she will come back to us. I swear it!"

The looked he gave me was still disbelieving, but I thought I saw a sparkle in his eye. I swung the pendent around my neck and walked out of the room.

None of the guards spoke; they just looked at me hopefully as I was led back out to the town. I never stopped and never slowed my pace. Zelda needed my help, and I would do all I could to save her. I looked down at the sparkling pendent, and thought of her. This would be a massive journey indeed.

* I didn't write anything that was on the scroll. I took this from Zelda II: Adventure of Link's game manual! I just thought it would be cool to use it here, seeing as everything on the scroll was already written.