The next morning, the fourth day of Zelda's rule, did not find Zelda particularly well-rested. Her dreams had been filled with apocalyptic visions of Hyrule in flames. Mocking laughter came from every side, while her father said nothing but stared at her in an accusatory manner. She had watched helplessly while everything and everyone she'd ever held dear burned up in fire, all the while staring at her. "Please," she had begged, "It's not my fault! Please, oh goddess, forgive me! Please!" The accusatory stares had only deepened, while the mocking laughter around her grew ever louder. It was then that she woke up, drenched in cold sweat, with Impa's hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Impa had asked, "I heard you screaming and came as fast as I could."

Zelda sat up slowly and shook her head. "No, it was… it was just a bad dream Just a nightmare. Nightmares can't hurt me."

"Do you need something? I could see about getting something for dreamless sleep whipped up for you."

"No. No, they're only nightmares. Not real."

Impa's expression softened and she looked Zelda in the eyes, "Zelda, listen to me. You were screaming and writhing and pleading in your bed. You need help. Just let me-"

"No Impa!" snapped Zelda. "What don't you get about the word NO!"

Impa took a step backwards and raised her arms as if being attacked, unused to such a reaction.

Zelda's eyes widened, as if she was just as shocked by her own outburst. She looked down at her own lap. "I'm… I'm sorry Impa, I really am. I don't know what came over me. But I think that I… I need these nightmares. I need them to help me keep in mind how much rides on me, and what the cost will be if I fail."

Impa said, "Zelda, listen to me! No one in the world cares more for your well-being right now than I do. Have not I always been loyal? Have I not always sought the best for you?"

Zelda looked up and nodded, "You have."

"Then listen to me! You need help, Zelda! These nightmares do nothing but add to your burden. You don't need that. You have enough of a burden in the daytime. Sleep should be a restful escape for you, not somewhere else to burden yourself."

"You're wrong, Impa. This whole thing is my fault. I shoudn't have wasted time with my mother's funeral. I could have stopped this at the beginning if I hadn't been so selfish, so foolishly sentimental…"

Impa's eyes went wide, "How dare you! How dare you accuse yourself of being at fault! You've been sacrificing your every waking moment for Hyrule! Now you even want to sacrifice your sleeping ones too! Blaming yourself does neither you nor Hyrule any good! If any one person can be blamed, it's whoever set off the bomb, and the Interior Ministry for failing to stop it!"

Zelda shook her head, "I could have stopped this, I just know I could. I was just too selfish."

"Selfish? You? Why-"

Zelda's face suddenly contorted into a mask of rage. "How dare I? How dare you talk back to your president? Get out! NOW!"

"But... I just…"

"NOW, IMPA!"

Impa fled.

The next day, Zelda had arrived at her office sleepy, as she had been unable to get anymore sleep after the chasing Impa away. Her aid looked in a concerned mood today, but said nothing. Zelda, for her part, felt guilty about her outburst but continued to believe that the state of the country was her fault and that the nightmares helped her keep her focus, and therefore declined to say anything to Impa.

The news she received in her office was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the riots in the capital had almost entirely been suppressed by now. On the other hand, riots continued to spring up in other parts of the country, and she wasn't sure exactly what to do about it.

As she was pondering the question, her telephone rang. She picked it up, "Zelda here. Report."

"General Patterosi. Forbosa has fallen. Unknown numbers of rebels and rioters now occupy the city in its entirety. Rebel affiliation unknown. City was taken in a surprise attack last night. Orders?"

Zelda paled, her mouth hanging open. This was bad. While Forbosa itself was a fairly isolated backwater mining town, the repercussions of this could stretch far and wide. That fact that a city had fallen to a rebel group after one mere night, on her watch, had potentially gigantic implications. Now, both the rebels and her own supporters would see her as weak and vulnerable. How could she not hold her own cities? What kind of pathetic ruler was she, if she had such a gigantic army at her command, only to see it driven away from its cities by a comparative handful of rebels while she was asleep? Why would anyone stand behind her if she failed to keep them safe, not only from riots, but from rebel attacks? The fact the Forbosa was a relatively unimportant backwater with a few hundred low-ranking soldiers with no armored vehicles to protect it didn't matter to public opinion. Most people would hear "President Zelda let a city fall to rebels on her 4th day in power", no matter the actual facts.

Only one possible solution presented itself: examples had to be made. She had to show that, no matter what they tried, the rebels stood absolutely no chance whatsoever, or the already unstable situation would collapse. It was evident that she would have to be much harsher this time than she had been; it seemed that merely sending in tanks and soldiers to clear out an area was not enough. The rebels would just fade into the civilian population, and would take her response the same way they evidentially had already taken it: she was weak and lacked willpower and imagination.

Zelda thought about how her selfish sentimentality had already cost too much vital time. She thought of how she could have prevented all this, but didn't because she wanted to sob over her mother's carcass. What had she been thinking? A true ruler must always strive to do what is best for their people, no matter what it cost them. Her father had taught her that. For the sake of her people, she must be merciless here.

"General, I want you to cut off all pipes, roads, and any other things going into Forbosa. Nothing gets in or out, do you understand? Bring up as much artillery as you can, and bombard the city indiscriminately. Do you hear me? I want every building in the place reduced to piles of rubble! Every last living thing dead! Don't let a single thing escape. Show them the price of rebellion!"

The general paused for several seconds. When he spoke next, his voice seemed shocked. "Are you… are you sure about this, Madam Pres-"

"You damn well better believe I'm sure! Do it! Now!"

Several more seconds of silence, "Yes, Supreme Commander."

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"See that you take photographs of the destruction. And send them to me.

"Very well."

"Good. Dismissed."

The general hung up.

Zelda sat down the phone and thought of what she had just done. She had condemned an entire city of several thousand, men, women, and children alike to die. The innocent and the guilty alike to perish in the bombardment. The bombardment she had just ordered. What was she? What would history call her? Tyrant? Murderer? Monster?

Zelda embraced these thoughts. Wallowed in them even. She must sacrifice everything for her people if need be, including her own conscience. Why should she be selfish and let the world fall into ruin because she didn't want to feel bad about herself?

If Hyrule needed a monster, a monster it would get.

Zelda wept.