Chapter 2: Part 2
The pair found themselves passing the dining hall as they made their way through the castle. Link could remember all the enemies that had been present in that room. There was many pieces of armor and barrels still in the room when he first stumbled upon the dining hall. He assumed it was because no one wanted to attack all the monsters in the room, that it was often avoided. Link did feel some sadness as he looked up the hall.
Once, a place of community, now a place of destruction.
The further they traveled into the castle the more Zelda could feel her eyes welling up with emotion. She purposely stayed a step behind Link as they journeyed. Zelda felt confused about how none of the travesty and reality of what occurred at the castle ever fully hit her emotionally before now. She assumed somehow the power of the goddess must have protected her mind from hylian emotions and their concept of time. Zelda had nothing else to go off of.
As they made their way through the East Passage they had to climb down some rubble to reach what Zelda now realized was the Library. She gasped as her feet found the stone floor of the library.
"The library, the texts!" She exclaimed, her heart started to pick up pace. A huge part of her life was spent collecting and discovering here. She ran to one side of the library pushing a stone away from where a secret door was. Zelda quickly made her way up the stairs of what she knew was a secret room, but to no avail, the room was trapped.
She came across Link back out in the center of the library where he met her with a sheepish with his finger rubbing across his nose, another nervous habit.
Link spoke, "I inspected all the secret tunnels even the ones that only the Royal family should have known. Many are collapsed and ruined, but one still stands mostly untouched," He said, nodding to the corner of the room.
Zelda felt the hairs on her arms stand at this. She glanced over to where he nodded. She knew what he was referencing...her father's study.
A whirlwind of thoughts flew through her mind as she slowly made her towards the King's Study. Zelda could remember some of the last times that she stood in them with him. She often left them feeling disappointed and discouraged after many of his speeches. Finding out about the possible return of Calamity Ganon and her mother's death truly changed her and her father's relationship. Their relationship became tense and clouded with responsibility and trials. Zelda thought back fondly to the times she would run into his study with a new scroll blabbing on about another new thing Impa taught her. Back when his eyes would kindly crinkle as he gazed at her. It was hard to separate the man he was to who he was in the last few months before the Calamity struck.
As she stood next to his chair, it was as if she could feel his presence beside her gazing down at her like he once had. A tear dropped onto the imposing desk, startling Zelda. She brought her hand up to her face brushing off another tear that was threatening to fall. She couldn't help but feel like a disappointment to him. Her guilt at not being able to rescue the champions and most importantly her father, felt so heavy on her heart that it felt as if it could crush her.
Link kept his distance in that moment keeping to the other side of the library, knowing that she would need a moment to herself.
"I am so, so, sorry Father," She wept. Her weak legs fell into his chair as her hands came to cover her face and the tears poured from her eyes.
"We have defeated Ganon, but I still feel as if we have lost… because I have lost you," She cried. Disappointing her father was very difficult for her to come to terms with. Although she was bonded and loved her mother she truly looked up to her father. This was truly the first full moment she had to herself to mourn her family.
"First Mother, now you!" She continued.
The loss of her mother was very hard at her young age. Growing up without a mother and growing up without her source of knowledge of her power was so difficult. But what was almost worst was the realization that she was truly alone now. Without her family. She left her father to die. It felt crippling.
Growing up as a princess gave her strength. Growing up without a mother, found wisdom. But to now move on without her father, the same father who perished, upset with her? It ripped her apart.
Zelda loved her father. No matter how many times he would yell at her as the King, she still had her father. Now, she had neither.
While the princess knew Hyrule finally has the chance to move forward she felt unsure about how she was going to move on herself.
She spent the next half hour, drying her tears and compartmentalizing her thoughts. She perused her father's study looking for anything she could take with her. Zelda dug within the drawers trying to remember a hidden latch he once showed her.
Her hand found a bump in the wood, encouraged she pushed in and a flat door unlatched from under a drawer. Lying flat inside was a golden necklace.
"Could it be..," Her voice trailed off in thought, brows furrowing with new-found determination.
The necklace was a thin roped gold chain that carried the triforce surrounded by rubies, her mother's favorite gem. With shaking hands, Zelda clasped the necklace and brought it to her chest, hugging it.
She glanced down at the necklace and flipping it over, brushed her thumb against the back of it. A carnation flower was engraved elegantly upon the back.
Zelda could not believe that she found her mother's necklace. After her mother died she would often be found gazing at her mother's portrait. The necklace always graced her Mother's elegant neck. She knew that her Father hid it away after her Mother had passed.
A servant that attended to her Mother told her once that her Father gave the Queen this necklace on their wedding day. While the outside of the pendent showed the strength of Hyrule and the triforce, the inside behind all of that, lay a carnation which was Mother's favorite flower. It was a symbol of deep love and admiration. After Zelda was told this story years later, she always imagined her father as a romantic hero king out of a tale.
She once found her Father clutching onto the necklace years later after her mother passed. It was the first time she saw him truly mourn her mother. Unfortunately, she did not hide very well and from then one Zelda was to state her presence before entering his study.
She pulled the necklace over her head and tucked it under her wrapped dress as much as she could, willing it to stay close to her heart and give her strength.
After collecting a couple artifacts and scrolls in the library Zelda and Link made their way to their last stop for now. Zelda's room and study.
It took much longer than normal due to the blocked and destroyed passage ways. When the two finally entered her room Link stood back at the door as Zelda slowly made her way forward in shock.
"My room!" She exclaimed, but then paused. Zelda knew to not be surprised at the amount of damage that the castle undertook but it was still startling to see her personal belongings ripped to shreds.
Her fireplace still stood to the right of the doorway, a chair in the middle, her broken bed to the far right middle.
Zelda then glanced left at her desk and bookshelves noting that most of the books were missing and the shelves were almost completely destroyed.
She noticed her notes and personal writings seemed in tatters or missing. The princess felt sorrow that such a special place to her was destroyed. To anyone else it might have felt like just a destroyed room, but to her it felt as if her private life was violated in a sense.
They collected a pair of riding pants and boots found at the bottom of a chest and then made their way to her study. Zelda did not want to linger anymore.
She was surprised at how intact her research area was. As if no one ever touched it. The study still contained bottles that were not broken. It seemed for the most part untouched besides some structural damage. Once again not all her notes remained, which Zelda found odd seeing as most of the room was untouched.
Her eyes suddenly caught onto the Silent Princess flower that was growing out of some rubble to the right of the entrance. The blue and white flower seemed to shine in the dimly lit study.
Once again in what seemed like the hundredth time today Zelda's eyes welled up.
"You know, I once told you that this is a rare endangered species that they have only been able to grow in the wild as we have not been able to grow them domestically," She stated, glancing up at Link with a knowing look.
"I remember that," Link responded with a small smile. He thought back to that memory with fondness. The knight could remember how deeply Zelda was caught up in the moment of research.
He continued, "That was the day you tried to have me taste a frog for your research." Link made a twisted face at this.
Zelda giggled in response to that feeling more lighthearted. With a bashful smile, she looked into Link's cerulean eyes.
"Yes, I did indeed get caught up in my research from time to time," She remembered fondly.
She continued, "I think I have found all I need here in the Castle for the time being if you are ready to go Link."
Link glanced out the window of Zelda's study and agreed with her. The sun was starting to fall. They would need to find shelter before darkness came. He was unsure of the dangers of the night and did not want to risk endangering the princess.
"Let's go," Link agreed.
Zelda and Link found themselves staring back at the Castle entrance looking at the tall gates and the ruins they just traveled through.
It was a sight to see, two of the last hylian people of the era of prosperity looking back at the castle which once held the prospect of growth. The Hero of Hyrule and his Princess. Both caught up in their own memories and thoughts.
Zelda looked down and then to Link who glanced back to her. They both turned to face to fields of hyrule and the expanse beyond.
The princess felt almost as if someone was watching her. She glanced back over her shoulder towards the castle, but alas nothing was there.
Unbeknownst to the two, the spirits of Revali, Urbosa, Mipha, Daruk, and King Rhoam Bosphoramus hovered over the castle watching the Hero and the Princess make their way off to their futures.
With Ganon finally defeated their spirits could be set free. The four champions gazed out at the couple until they could no longer hold onto this world and disappeared.
King Rhoam, Zelda's father, held on as long as he could to the world knowing that his time of guidance was no longer needed. As the last spirit he finally blinked into oblivion, truly knowing that they did all they could to bring the two back together so that the world could be in order once more.
His Zelda, was safe...finally.
Their trials and hardships now over, their spirits could move on and rest in peace.
AN: Ugh! This chapter really had me thinking. At the end of the game, Zelda and Link were standing outside of the castle gates looking at the castle and turning away leaving. This gave me the indication that after the battle they might have gone back towards the castle, then left. I hope I was able to portray the scenes and walking through the castle well enough! I had a fun time creating this chapter.
What's next for them?
I'll be updating more regularly now. Spring is an easier time of life for me, so I'd love to hear from everyone and see if anyone is truly interested in reading this story! Thanks everyone!
-Nat