Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda and all of its characters are owned by Nintendo, not by me. I use a flashback in this chapter, it is written in all italics. I use italics for flashbacks, thoughts, and emphasis on words, so please keep that in mind.
"Ughhh," Evelyn groaned as she sat up. She held her head in her hands, regaining her composure. As she looked around, her eyes widened as she realized she was alone. She looked around more frantically, calling for them, "Link! Zelda! Impa! Where are you?!" She heard no response. She yelled in frustration. Nothing ever goes right for us, nothing, she thought. She realized that complaining was of no use, so she started scanning her surroundings. She was in a forest filled with monstrous trees. The leaves mostly blocked the sunlight, making the forest dim even when the sun was out. She jumped as a group of crows flew out of a nearby tree, making a racket. The sun was slowly sinking in the sky and Evelyn realized that she needed to find shelter, so she set off in the direction of the setting sun, still calling for her missing friends.
After hours of walking, there was no end to the woods. The trees didn't even lessen in density. Nothing living seemed to be around. The crows were the only living thing she had seen so far, and the silence was weighing on her, sapping her energy. The sun was setting and there was almost no light left, so Evelyn decided to sleep in the roots of a large tree. Uncomfortable as it was, it
In the morning, Evelyn awoke to the sun in her face. The forest was still deathly silent. No birds sang, no animals made any sort of noise, it was as if the forest was dead. Evelyn throat was dry and parched from nearly a whole day without water. She got up and stretched, licking her chapped lips to wet them. The forest was still dark and daunting. I must keep moving. There must be something out here, she thought. She located the rising sun and set out in the opposite direction. After about 6 hours of walking, she sat down in the roots of a large tree, panting from exertion. The hem of her dress was torn to shreds and fallen leaves in her hair. She rested for a while. Her lips had cracked, leaving bloody cuts on them. I need to find water soon, was her only thought. She wearily stood up and looked at the tree. Her jaw dropped as she realized it, and she blinked a few times to make sure, but there was no mistaking it. This tree was the exact tree she had slept under. "But how," she said hoarsely, "how can this be?" Then a realization hit her like a brick. Link had told her stories of the Lost Woods, and the only way he had navigated them was being led by Saria's music. Evelyn fell backwards in defeat. How was she ever going to leave? There was nothing to help her navigateAll her motivation and energy left her. She felt as though she couldn't move another inch.
Just then a small, nearly imperceptible noise reached her ears, the sound of a flute. Evelyn quickly sat up and scanned the surroundings for the source of the noise. It seemed to be getting closer and closer and now she realized that it was not one flute, it was a multitude, each playing the same melody. Out of the shadows of the trees, dozens of skull kids walked out, each playing a melody on its flute. As Evelyn looked upon them she remembered the stories. Children who got lost in these woods turned into these strange creatures. Is this what I am to become? she thought. The skull kids stopped, forming a circle around her. Dehydration was overcoming her and her vision began to blur as the skull kids swarmed her. She screamed, and then blacked out.
Zelda awoke to find herself in a bed. There was a tray of food and a glass of water on a nightstand next to her. She felt like her limbs were as heavy as lead. That teleport must have taken a lot out of me, she thought. She sat up, looking around the room and yelped when she saw a cow sitting there. "What in the world is a cow doing here?!" she yelled. Then she realized that this was Link's house in Kokiri forest. She remembered that he had showed her around and said that the cow came from Lon Lon Ranch. She stood up as Link and Impa burst through the door. "Are you all right Zelda?" both of them asked simultaneously.
"I'm fine, sorry for yelling. Your cow just surprised me. Definitely not what I expected to see when I woke up. Why are we here, and not in Death Mountain? That's where we were supposed to teleport," Zelda spoke calmly.
Link spoke up, "We haven't been able to figure that out. We were hoping you knew. The only reason we can think of is that you used my energy and this is my home. At least we ended up here and not in the Gerudo Desert."
"Agreed," Zelda spoke, "now where is Evelyn? I wanted to ask her about what happened and give a good scolding." Link just stuttered out a few words, before shutting his mouth. Both he and Impa had a solemn expression on their faces. "What happened?" Zelda asked. Silence encased the room.
Impa broke it, saying, "She didn't make it your majesty. We have no idea where she is. All I can remember is that her hand slipped from mine in the middle of teleporting. She could be anywhere." Zelda buried her head in her hands and softly whispered 'no, no, it cannot be' over and over. She sat back down on the bed, on the verge of tears. She bit her lip and asked, "How long was I asleep?"
"A whole day," was the response. Zelda didn't even notice who said it.
"Please. Leave me," Zelda said in a solemn voice.
Link tried to respond, to cheer her up, saying, "Zelda, we may…"
Zelda cut him off saying, "Leave, please." Impa and Link left the room, leaving Zelda with only her thoughts. Evelyn had been a homeless child whom Zelda's parents had adopted as a ward after the child saved Zelda from bandits. Zelda and Evelyn became quick friends and formed a bond stronger than steel. The two were almost literal mirrors of each other. The only difference being between Evelyn's pitch-black hair and Zelda's hair, as golden as the sun. Each would have sacrificed anything for each other. Zelda's parents largely ignored Evelyn, giving their love and approval to Zelda. Evelyn never had a chance of being a royal, she was just allowed to live in the castle. Eventually, Zelda parents made Evelyn her "personal assistant", which was a fancy name for maid. The position and treatment of the two never got between their friendship. Evelyn had provided a friendship for the young princess when no one else had, and had helped relieve some of Zelda's burdens, especially in the recent years when Zelda became Queen. Rebuilding the kingdom and losing her parents had put pressure on Zelda like never before.
After Ganon's demise, there was an inhuman amount of work to do. The castle and town had to be rebuilt, refugees had to move back, the military had to be recreated, and much more. Zelda worked unceasingly to help her kingdom, and there Evelyn worked beside her, working multiple days without rest so that Zelda could sleep. They had always worked together, they had always been a team, but now Evelyn was lost somewhere else, and Zelda could only hope she was alive. It felt as if a piece of her was missing. Just like after she escaped the castle due to Evelyn's sacrifice.
Zelda recalled her narrow escape from Ganon, and now her narrow escape from Agahnim. The only reason she hadn't been captured this time was Evelyn. Flashbacks started swimming through her head, both of what she knew and what Link and Impa had told her. Zelda was discussing the military with Link in her bedchamber. Zelda sat on the side of her bed. The wind from the open window often blew the tied up satin shade on her bed in front of her face. She was wearing a simple white gown that was a little long for her and blue high heels. Zelda was in the middle of a sentence when Evelyn ran into the room panting and holding a simple maid's uniform similar to what she was already wearing. Her eyes looked like she had just seen a ghost. "What's going on Evelyn? Is everything all right?" Zelda questioned.
"No, nothing is all right. The guards…" She stopped to catch her breath. "The guards are all dead." Zelda's face couldn't decide whether to be horrified or incredulous. ALL the guards? Impossible.
"Wha… How…" Zelda stuttered.
"I don't have time to explain," Evelyn stated flatly. Throwing the maid's uniform to Zelda she said, "Put it on. Link, go find Impa. Once you have changed Zelda, give me your dress so I can put it on."
When Zelda came out of the bathroom, she saw Evelyn looking through her set of hair dyes for disguising herself. Evelyn had already dyed her hair the exact color of Zelda's. "Hey, don't use those!" Zelda said a little loudly. "You are not even using it right. You need to wet your hair first. The way you did it, it will just wash out when it touches water."
"Well, crap," Evelyn replied, "maybe I should've payed more attention to your practice with Impa, but that's not important." She handed Zelda a dye the exact color of her dark hair. "Not use it, the right way." Zelda was stunned as she finally realized what Evelyn meant to do.
"No, I refuse to let you do this Evelyn. I'm not leaving you behind," Zelda said with firmness behind her voice. "I don't know what is out there, but I will not leave you to its clutches."
"Well, that's touching, but Zelda, I have no intention of letting you be captured. The only reason whoever infiltrated the castle hasn't found you yet is because we moved your quarters last week. Whoever it is will come, and we need to be ready for the possibility that one of us wont escape. So, I'll say it again, use the dye, NOW." Evelyn held out the bottle to Zelda. Link knocked on the door. "Enter," Evelyn said, and Link came into the room.
"I will not use that dy…" In the middle of Zelda's retort, Evelyn hit her in the head, knocking her out cold. Link jaw almost dropped to the floor.
"What the… What are you doing?!" Link said, exasperated.
"Doing what must be done," Evelyn stated, pouring the dye onto Zelda's hair, making it dark as night. "I always wondered what it would be like to have blonde hair." At that moment Impa entered the room. She just stared for a moment, before asking, "What in the world did you do to Evelyn?"
"I'm Evelyn," Evelyn said. She gestured to Zelda, lying on the ground, "That's Zelda." Evelyn barely dodged the swift kick from Impa, that came almost immediately after her sentence. "Whoa! Whoa! Stop that Impa! I'm trying to help. She refused to use me as a decoy, and we didn't have any time left." Distant screams could be heard coming from servants.
Impa's looked as if she was going to rip Evelyn to pieces, and said "You insolent litt…"
Evelyn interrupted, "Take Zelda and Leave, Impa. Time is of the essence." Then Evelyn calmly walked out into the hallway and toward the center of the castle, towards the distant screams of servants. Impa carried Zelda's unconscious body out of the room and Link followed. They escaped on horseback into the night.
Zelda simultaneously hated and thanked Evelyn for that sacrifice. Zelda hated that everyone pampered her. Why did everyone act as if she was weak and needed their protection. It seemed as if everyone sacrificed for her, but she never got a chance to sacrifice for her own kingdom. Everyone acted like she was the center of the world, but she never felt as though she did anything important. Zelda felt tears in her eyes, and her breathing became more agitated and ragged. Her best friend may be dead or dying and Zelda was helpless, just as she always was. She was a Queen and had the Triforce of Wisdom, yet here she was, not able to do anything. Finally, her bubble of confidence popped, and she burst into tears. I'm useless, she repeated to herself. I'm useless, I'm useless. She fell back onto the bed, her body still exhausted from the magic, and she fell asleep to the sounds of her own thoughts and tears: I am nothing, and I will never be anything.
So, I'm sorry about not having this flashback earlier to explain the whole situation in chapter 1. It was supposed to be in the second chapter, but it never made it in. This chapter is almost twice the length of the previous two, sorry for not being consistent, but I just had so much to write about and I wanted to find a good ending point. I'm also sorry about Zelda being a crybaby, but I wanted to give my characters some depth and motivation. And now I'm sorry that I'm apologizing all the time, just the way I am. Please Leave a review whether good or bad. I really want to know how I'm doing. I hope you are enjoying my first ever fan fiction story.
