"I shall give my Amulet to a wise leader, one whose mind is flexible like water and whose morals are resolute like the shores it crashes against."

And so the Amulet of Wisdom was passed to the first king of the Zora people, who was intelligent, just, and kind to his people. Over the ages, as the Zora prospered, the Amulet passed from parent to child, a symbol of their position as much as a reminder of the royal family's values. They were to solve conflict with wit rather than war whenever possible, they were to be fair in governance and law, and most of all they were to be humble despite their position. After all, a ruler was nothing without the support of their people.

"I shall give my Amulet to the person most willing and able to claim it. A contest of strength shall decide its new owner, be that strength of the body or the mind, with a fire of passion burning in their soul. May the strongest come and claim their prize."

And so a tournament of fighters was held with participants from across the land, the Amulet of Power placed for claim as a trophy. It would not be a fight to the death, as that would dirty the prize's value. Combatants clashed swords and drew bows under the watch of an enthralled audience, who cheered and cried for their preferred warrior even as the tournament spanned the year's seasons. In the end, after everyone had been defeated or otherwise retired from the battle, the last warrior still standing was a dragon knight clad in red armor. He took hold of the Amulet with pride, as well as a warning that some day a fighter might come along that would prove himself more worthy. Even still, in that moment, he was satisfied.

"Who shall I give my Amulet to, then?"

She had always been a bit more flighty than her compatriots. They had been so sure of how to pass on their Amulets, be it entrusting it to a wise ruler-to-be or to let willing candidates fight for it. But how to test what her Amulet stood for? What would be a good benchmark for a worthy owner of the Amulet of Courage?

"I shall give my Amulet to... well, I suppose that will be my little secret."


The desert was no bigger than it had ever been, but in the moment it seemed to go on forever. It was a near miracle that Urbosa had been able to bring Ganondorf as far as she had, given that they were using Frelly for transport rather than Ganondorf's more robust horse, and even though she had managed to get the bleeding from the ritualistic wounds under control they were going to need a professional to fix it up proper. Just a little further to go...

Ganondorf began to stir, groaning from what Urbosa could only imagine was immense pain. "Hang on, Gan," she said. "We'll get back to town soon enough."

"No...not the town..." Ganondorf protested breathlessly. "That would...be the first place...they'd look..."

"Then where the hell do you think we should go?" Urbosa asked. "You want us to just roam around the desert forever to escape those witches? Or did you forget you've gotten sliced open three times in the past day?!"

"Hyrule." He wasn't sure why that was the first place to came to mind, but something in Ganondorf's mind told him that Hyrule was where he wanted to go. "I think I need to...I need to get to Hyrule's castle."

"Why Hyrule Castle?" Urbosa asked. "Think they've got better doctors there?"

"Not for the doctors," Ganondorf said. "I just...need to meet up with Zelda." He was hesitant to say anything, but he suspected that while the ritual the Twinrova had performed had been interrupted, it hadn't been completely stopped. Ever since they had escaped from the Spirit Temple, Ganondorf had felt a sort of presence crawling around inside his mind. It was small, but it was definitely there, and he wanted it gone before it could get any bigger. Maybe Zelda could help, she had that sort of ability if he remembered correctly, or at least was knowledgeable about it. Though in the briefest moment, he also got the feeling that maybe that was what the presence wanted.

"Unless Zelda has medical training, I don't see why you'd rather see her, but whatever." Urbosa sighed. "We should try to find your horse first, though. You know as well as I that sand seals are only really functional on sand."


It had been a couple days since the Twili had arrived at Hyrule Castle. Due to their mutual need to formulate plans for finding Zant and stopping him before he caused any trouble in this world, Zelda had graciously offered them lodging in the castle's spare rooms for the duration of their stay, an offer which Midna was all too happy to accept for the both of them. Over the course of that time, when not actively trying to pinpoint locations where they might find him, Zelda and Midna had taken to chatting with one another about various other topics. Their conversations were mostly about the differences between their worlds, what sort of things that were normal in one world ended up being completely unknown to the other, and eventually the topic would move on to themselves. "So what led to you becoming queen, if you don't mind my prying?" Zelda asked, gently stirring her tea.

"That's part of the reason I'm here, actually," Midna said. "We have sort of a democratic monarchy, where the eldest child of the current leader is initially named successor but the people have the final word on whether or not they are believed to be truly qualified for it. I was my father's eldest, and I guess I'm popular enough with my people for them to agree with the decision. Zant thought otherwise, and he felt strong enough about that opinion to...commit regicide." She was hesitant to say that, as though putting words to the act itself made it too real for her. "My father was a good man, and I only wish the end of his rule hadn't been so brutal."

"I'm so sorry," Zelda said. "It must be hard to lose someone so suddenly. I wonder if anything could be this important to someone to lead them to kill their own father..."

"Oh, my dad wasn't Zant's dad," Midna said dismissively. "We share a mother, but his father was a different noble. Never got on with him much, despite how Zant and I used to be so close." She then noticed Zelda's peculiar expression. "I take it that sort of thing isn't as common in your world, then?"

Zelda shook her head. "Not really, or at least it's not something that's very widely talked about."

"Interesting."

At that moment, the door opened without warning and Morshei made his way in. "Your Highness, I need you and your guest to come with me," he said, seeming to be out of breath.

"Whatever is the matter?" Zelda asked.

"It's the Yiga," Morshei panted. "They're gathering close, and they appear to be trying to break past the castle defenses."

Zelda gasped, but Midna just gave them an odd look. "What are Yiga?" she asked. "Some kind of light world monster?"

"There's no time to explain, if they really are invading," Zelda said. "Let's get out of here."

Zelda and Midna followed behind Morshei as he ran quickly down the hallway. Soon enough he had led them to the throne room, where Impa and Luzen were waiting with weapons drawn. "What's going on?" Luzen asked, a large bladed ring in each hand. "Someone's attacking the castle, right? This is...oh gods..."

Impa, obviously, was much more furious than confused, though there was a bit of confusion mixed into her rage-filled expression. "Where are they?!" she demanded. "How the hell did Yiga get into the town in the first place?!"

Morshei said nothing, merely looking away from her as if ashamed of himself. After an uncomfortable period of silence, he pointed toward the ceiling. They all looked up.

And the dozen or so Yiga soldiers that had been clinging to the ceiling dropped down.

A frightened gasp escaped Zelda's mouth as they were encircled by the Yiga, some of whom laughed darkly as they all closed in. "What...how did they all get in here unnoticed?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," Morshei said. "They took my little brother...this was the only way they would let him go unharmed." In that moment, it clicked. The Yiga hadn't intruded upon the castle unnoticed. They had been invited in.

One of the Yiga closest to Morshei patted him on the shoulder. "Way to go, kid!" he exclaimed. "You've basically handed the princess to us on a silver platter, and you've even gotten us a completely different one and their guards!"

"Excuse YOU, we're both queens!" Midna shouted.

Zelda shot her a look. "Midna, I don't know how you've handled things back home, but now's really not the best time to get hung up on details like that."

"I don't know who you guys are," Luzen said while holding their rings in front of them, "but if you so much as touch one hair on Midna's head, you'll regret it for the rest of your short life!"

The Yiga that had been messing with Morshei dropped into a fighting stance, the same one that the others had been in as they surrounded their targets. "Pretty big talk for someone who's shaking like a leaf." Luzen winced–clearly this person had noticed their lack of confidence.

"Didn't think that lowlife types such as yourselves would be able to come up with tactics like this," Impa said bitterly. "Though you've all forgotten one very important thing."

A confused murmuring spread throughout the Yiga soldiers. "And what's that, you royal boot-licker?" the one that seemed to be in charge asked.

"Typical Yiga tricks aren't as removed from those of the Sheikah as you'd like to believe."

All at once, Impa had pulled a small object from her pocket and threw it onto the ground. There was a loud cracking sound and a brilliant flash of light, temporarily blinding everyone who hadn't thought to block their line of sight. There was panicked shouting and some cries of pain. When the light had died down, the targets were gone and several of the Yiga that had been blocking their rear had been knocked out. The leader looked around and, being unable to discern where they had gone, grabbed Morshei threateningly by his shirt collar. "Where'd they run off to?!" he growled.

"I-I don't know!" Morshei gasped. "But they couldn't have gotten that far in that time...maybe the rear exit near the armory?"

"You'd better hope your guess is right," the leader said. "This slip-up won't quite be worth the kid, but it might just be worth your remaining eye."

As it turned out, they had not made their escape towards the armory. Zelda was leading Midna down a winding corridor, with Impa and Luzen at their backs. "We've got to get out of here quickly," Zelda said breathlessly. "If only I had time to grab my rapier..."

"That fancy sword you've kept in your room?" Midna asked. "Gotcha covered." She snapped her fingers, and in a puff of smoke the sword appeared in her hand, thankfully still in its sheathe considering she had grabbed it by where its blade would be if it were drawn. "You can thank me after we're safe."

A scuffling sound could be heard swiftly approaching from the end of the corridor they had been leaving. "Zelda, you and Midna get going," Impa said. "We'll hold them off."

"We can't just–" Zelda began to say, but Impa held up a hand to stop her. "...Right. Just...be careful."

"Keep Midna safe for me, all right?" Luzen asked. "She's not just a ruler to me, after all. We're practically family."

"Don't worry about me, Lu," Midna said. "Worry about getting out of this in one piece."

The two monarchs ran, leaving their protectors behind for now. Zelda was examining the walls as they made their way down the corridor, stopping upon coming across a particular indention in the shape of the Hylian crest. Where a head in the eagle-like symbol would be, there was instead the icon of the Triforce. "Here, we can use this," she said. "Even if Morshei had given the Yiga full blueprints of the castle interior, they would never know of some of the secret passages."

"Because that's not something you put on public blueprints, right?" Midna guessed.

"Well, that's part of it," she said. "Apart from that, none of them would ever be able to do this." Zelda put her hand up to the bottom-left triangle in the Triforce symbol. A soft glow emanated from both her hand and the wall itself. Slowly the wall began to fade away, revealing another hallway, which Zelda motioned for Midna to quickly slip into. She did, and Zelda followed close behind, taking care to close the wall back behind them.

"Slick," Midna said with a light smirk. "So that's the kind of power a light dweller has, eh?"

"As far as I know, it's something that's almost entirely exclusive to the Hyrule royal bloodline," Zelda explained. "I'm sure there's similar magic elsewhere, but one would likely have to study it extensively." She backed away from the reformed wall, frowning a bit. "Maybe you retrieving my rapier wasn't such a good idea. It will identify me immediately to anyone who sees us escape."

"I think your gorgeous face would do that on its own, honestly."

Zelda felt her cheeks become hot. "You...you think I'm gorgeous?" she asked.

Midna shrugged. "Well, no one would be stupid enough to call you unattractive, and you are kinda my type," she said with her typical playful smile. "Buuut I get the feeling that this is not the time or place for that."

"Yes, you're right." Zelda thought for a bit. "Impa and I had made plans for a disguise and cover story if something like this were to happen, but the things I need for it are either in another secret passage or I've forgotten where I've hidden them entirely."

"Which means I probably wouldn't be able to teleport them here," Midna sighed.

Teleport... An idea popped into Zelda's head. "Can you teleport people?" she asked.

"Yes?" Midna replied uncertainly. "There are a bit more restrictions to teleporting something as big as a person. I have to do it in an area where the sky can be seen, I can only do it with one or two people, and while I probably could do so if I tried, I've yet to teleport somewhere that I myself had never been."

"But you could try it if we got outside?"

"Probably. You'd have to point me, though."

Zelda nodded. "Not a problem."

They made their way through the tunnel, the path lit for them by torches lining the walls that burned with magic flame. Once the tunnel seemed to come to a dead end, Zelda held up a hand and the wall faded just like it had at the entrance. Quickly, they ran through and out into the courtyard. The sun was setting, painting the sky in pink and orange hues. "This is a good spot," Midna said. "No ceiling, nice and clear of obstructions."

"All right, let me think of the perfect place." Zelda closed her eyes, deep in thought. Where could they go that the Yiga wouldn't find them? She briefly thought of Kakariko Village, but then she remembered that would likely be the first place outside of the castle town that they would look for many reasons. She would have to think of somewhere else, somewhere that they would least expect.

"There they are!"

Zelda's eyes shot open. They had been standing around too long, and now the conventional pathways the Yiga had been forced to use had led them to their location. "We have to go, now!" she shouted. The look on Midna's face made it clear she didn't have to be told twice. She held her hand into the air, and a swirling black and green vortex appeared in the sky above. "South," Zelda said in a worried yet hushed tone. "There's a small village near the forest in the south. It should be safe from them." As the Yiga approached, their bodies began to dissipate and float upwards toward the vortex.


"Just who is that guy, anyway...?"

Skull Kid's eyes narrowed, glaring through the underbrush at the strange tall man that had intruded on his forest. He and the Great Deku Tree were generally pretty lenient with unfamiliar people entering the forest whether they were from the nearby village or not, but there was just something about this guy that seemed wrong. It could've been that he was almost entirely covered in dark clothing on a somewhat warm day, or that menacing looking sword he carried on his back. Or maybe there was the fact that, no matter what angle he looked at him from, he couldn't see the guy's eyes. There was also the second voice that the stranger sometimes conversed with, one that he had not seen a body to which it would be attached the entire time he had been observing.

Zant made his way down the shaded forest path, not sure of exactly where he was going. "Are you absolutely certain there's something worthwhile here?" he asked in an exasperated sigh. "All I've managed to find are more and more trees."

"I definitely sensed something powerful enough," Ghirahim said. "It's somewhere around here, but...ah, that would explain it."

"Explain what?"

"It keeps moving whenever we do," Ghirahim said. "In fact, that power source seems to be right behind us."

Zant turned around. Sure enough, there was a form behind him. It was shaped like a child, but it was blindingly brilliant to his senses. "Just like the Amulet," Zant muttered.

Skull Kid gasped. If he hadn't already been discovered, that would have tipped Zant off to his position instantly. A pulse of dark energy tore through the bushes, and Skull Kid would have been engulfed in its power if he hadn't managed to roll out of the way in time. No point in hiding anymore. Skull Kid leapt out of the bushes and toward Zant, knocking him square in the face with his lantern-staff. "How do you know about the Amulet?!" he shouted. "What have you done to Link?!"

"Link?" Zant mused, gingerly rubbing the spot where he had been struck. "I don't believe I know anyone by that name."

Skull Kid caught sight of the amber stone dangling from a leather strap attached to the large sword on Zant's back. "Wrong Amulet," he said. "Still, I get the feeling you're not someone who should have any of 'em."

"And I can sense the overwhelming power you're radiating," Zant said, taking his twin scimitars in hand. "Suffice to say, I know someone who needs your life more than you do."

Skull Kid's eyes widened, and he immediately teleported away, deeper into the brush. Zant scowled. "Don't you think you can hide from me for long!" he called out into the trees. "I may not be able to see you, but your magic might as well be a beacon all on its own! You're only delaying the inevitable by running!"

Whatever Zant was talking about, Skull Kid didn't have a clue. He figured the guy had some kind of extra sense that could pick up...something. Confident in his abilities as he was, he got the feeling that bringing in some friends couldn't hurt anything. He reached his hand into a hole in a tree and gently nudged a fairy out into the open, its light glowing a pale blue. "Go to the human village," he told it in a hushed whisper. "Find the one named Link. Yellow hair, wears green clothes, might be carrying a sword. Tell him to come find me, and if he wants to bring any other human friends along, so much the better. Now hurry!"


"You know, when I told you I figured a royal rainstorm was comin', this wasn't at all what I had in mind."

Lori shook her head as Link made his way over to Zelda and the strange woman that had been with her, both of whom had suddenly fallen from the sky. Link looked them over, letting out a sigh of relief upon confirming that they at least seemed to be unharmed. Zelda looked around, confused. "It's only just occurred to me that I've never actually been here myself," she mused. "Your village is really beautiful, Link."

Link smiled and chuckled a bit. It didn't really seem like the appropriate time to be complimenting the appearance of the village, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

"How's a princess dropping out of the sky, anyway?" Lori asked. "Does having the blood of the Hylian royal family gives you wings or something?"

"It's a long story," Zelda said. "We can explain, but it might take a bit of time..."

Just then, there was an odd sound ringing through the air, like someone dragging a string of ornamental bells across the ground but not nearly as discordant. A pale blue light approached them with a frantic speed, and as it got closer wings could be seen fluttering around its glowing form. It was a fairy, and it stopped just before slamming into Link's face. "Hey!" a soft feminine voice exclaimed. "You're Link, right?"

Link nodded. He had no idea why a fairy would be coming to the village at all, let alone specifically seeking him out, but given a certain someone he knew that had associations with fairies this was probably not good news.

"It's the Skull Kid," the fairy said breathlessly. "He's in trouble, there's a dangerous intruder in the forest and he needs help!"

Link and Lori looked at each other. "It's gotta be something serious, innit?" Lori asked, concerned. "He didn't seem like the type to send help messages for just anything."

"If this is a friend of yours, I will come to aid him as well," Zelda said, getting to her feet.

"Sure, me too," Midna said, standing as well. "I've got nothing better to do." As Zelda turned back to her fellow royal, she let out a shocked gasp, and upon seeing what had startled her Link's eyes widened considerably. "What's the matter?" Midna asked.

"You're hurt!" Zelda exclaimed. "Look at your leg!"

Sure enough, there was a gash in Midna's thigh, bright red blood trickling down. "Huh," Midna said nonchalantly. "So I am." Strangely, she looked none the worse for wear aside from the obvious wound.

"It must not be that deep or else you would've likely noticed before anyone said anything," Lori said. "Still, the forest ain't kind to open wounds, so you'd be better off at least getting it cleaned up." She took a cloth out of her pocket and handed it to Midna. "Keep this on it for a while and go knock at that house over there with the Cuccos. That's our gran, she'll take care of that real quick."

"Okay," Midna said, turning before she realized something. "What's a Cucco, exactly?"

"They're birds!" Link shouted in exasperation, causing Lori and Zelda to look at him in surprise.

"Birds, right. Got it." Midna made her way to the twins' grandmother's house, while they and Zelda readied themselves to follow the fairy to Skull Kid's aid.


The trio hurriedly made their way through the forest, taking care to not lose sight of the glowing trail of the fairy leading them to their destination. As they had no idea when they would come across whatever situation Skull Kid had gotten involved in, Link and Zelda already had their swords drawn, and Lori had her crossbow in hand as well. Soon enough, they could hear the faint sounds of combat and shouting, one of the voices sounding familiar to Link and Lori. Pushing through the trees led them to a clearing where Skull Kid stood, lantern-staff held out in a combat stance, facing off against a tall figure in dark clothing. "We got your message!" Lori exclaimed. "Don't worry, we have your back!"

Skull Kid let out a sigh of relief. "Just in time," he said, nearly out of breath.

"Calling for back-up, eh?" The stranger chuckled. "Smart move, though I don't think that will do much to help you."

Zelda gave the stranger a once-over, noting that something felt familiar about him. "Those clothes..." she said pensively. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Zant, would it?"

"Who told you that?" Zant's eyebrow raised, just barely visible over his blindfold.

"Your sister had several things to say about you," Zelda replied with a glare.

"So she's finally coming for me..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter what she's doing or where she is," Zant said. "I'm only planning to kill this bright spot here and I'd rather not make a longer body trail than necessary, but if you get in my way I won't hesitate to take you down with him."

Link gasped. He was planning to kill...? Rage coursed through him, and before he could stop himself, he charged at Zant with his sword raised, ready to strike. It clanged against one of Zant's scimitars, which he used to effortlessly knock the sword away. "Is that really the best you can do?" Zant asked with a small laugh. "I would have guessed that if someone like him were calling for aid, he'd at least try to get someone on his level." Letting out a yell of anger and frustration, Link struck again and again, each time his blade deflected by Zant. One blow finally grazed against the side of his face, drawing blood and causing him to flinch away, holding his hand to the cut to possibly stop any potential blood flow before it started.

"This is taking too long." The voice had come from Zant's direction, but no one could see its source. "Let me handle this."

Zant briefly took his hand away from his face and grinned. "All right, Ghirahim," he said coolly. "Let's see what else you can do." He reached behind him and grabbed the hilt of the large broadsword he'd been carrying on his back the whole time. As soon as he had, his arm moved in a somewhat jerky motion and his body followed, as though the sword was guiding his movement rather than the other way around. Link leapt out of the way of his strike, but in his attempt to strike back the sword immediately countered. He was knocked back, and a flash of steel was sent flying in the opposite direction. Looking down at his sword, Link's eyes widened in shock.

His sword was now little more than a hilt, a small chunk of steel left from the shattered blade.

A disembodied mocking laughter echoed through the trees. "Is that the quality of weaponry humans are making these days?" the voice that had spoken to Zant earlier asked in a taunting manner. "I see nothing much has changed, you're just producing the same wastes of steel as ever!"

"Did... did you just... his sword...?" Zant seemed to be at a loss for words, unable to completely process what his remaining senses had inferred. "I really shouldn't be that surprised, but still..."

A wave of enchanted flame shot up between Zant and everyone else. Link looked over at Skull Kid, whose lantern staff was held out and spewing forth embers. "It's looking pretty clear that you guys aren't gonna be as much help as I'd hoped," he said with a grimace. He stepped forth, the flames parting and immediately closing behind him. "As much fun as this reunion's been, and meeting the fancy new girl, we're gonna have to cut things short." Skull Kid stomped his feet on the ground repeatedly and let out an eerie screech. Without warning, the ground began to shake.

Before he could do anything to stop his friend, the forest floor collapsed, dropping Link, Lori, and Zelda into the depths below.


AN: I've been waiting to write this chapter and the next since the very beginning of this project, and let me just say I'm really happy to get this out to you guys, even if it's gonna get a bit dark. You guys might wanna find something soft and cuddly to hold on to whenever next chapter drops. Just letting you know in advance. Also, speaking of new chapters, as you guys can probably tell I'm not posting as often as I have been, and that's mainly because I can't write the chapters as quickly as the previous ones. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 could've been written in any order because they're not directly connected to each other, and 5 had Zant who is such a pleasure to write, so I was just crankin' 'em out. All chapters from here on out, I have to write them in sequential order for events to line up (that's just how my writing process works), so they're not gonna be quiiiite as frequent. To be fair, if I'd posed the first five chapters as soon as they were finished, y'all woulda gotten overloaded.

As for SpaceDimentio's concern that Ganondorf being good in my story might not last, weeellllll... I can't say that he himself won't stay good, but I also can't entirely say that there won't be something sinister involving him. I mean, obviously, you don't get forced into a ritual where your blood was let and come out with nothing sinister at least attached! Hahaha! Haha... haaah...

—Jess aka PuppyLuver256