No matter where he sailed on the Great Sea, Ganondorf could not ascertain the location of Hyrule Castle. The rumors that reached his ears on the islands he visited led him to the peak of Death Mountain, although it was greatly changed. The Gorons who once tunneled through the rock had been replaced by the feathered Rito, and he marveled that the gods could be so strange and cruel.

There were few landmarks on the vast ocean, so he could only travel north with the hope that he might recognize something in the mountain chain that used to extend above Hyrule.

After a month he struck land. The shoreline seemed to run along a large expanse of earth that might actually be a continent. The pleasure of this realization was diminished by the sting of the bitterly cold climate.

Ganondorf wrapped himself in layers of clothing before setting off into the interior. The sky remained stubbornly gray, and the frost crackling under his feet refused to thaw. In order to draw water, he was forced to cut through thick sheets of ice. There were trees here, tall and spindly evergreens, but there was no dead wood on the ground suitable for burning. It was almost as if someone had gathered it before he arrived. This was no mere speculation, for he could sense eyes watching him as he walked.

When the first Bokoblin revealed itself on the afternoon of the third day, Ganondorf was relieved. He had been unable to find an adequate supply of food, and he had been on the verge of turning back.

He hailed the Bokoblin in the language of the Great Sea. When that failed, he attempted Hylian, which provoked a similar lack of response. As soon as he spoke in the Gerudo language, she attacked him, brandishing a wooden club. He kicked the Bokoblin's legs and took her weapon, which he used to smack her head as she tripped. As soon as she was down, dozens more appeared.

Ganondorf allowed himself to be led to their settlement, which had been built into a series of caves snaking into the sheer rock face of a mountain cliff. After the party wound its way through twisting tunnels, he was finally brought before a throne constructed of iron and wood and bone, on top of which sat the largest Moblin he had ever seen. This Moblin king was surrounded by its kin, each more ferociously armed than the next.

The Bokoblins and Moblins spoke in a corrupted form of his native tongue, yet he managed to communicate with them. The Hylians of old were cursed, they told him, and the Gerudo even more so. For bringing the displeasure of the gods into their domain, he would be ritually slain by no less a personage than the king himself.

Ganondorf felt his blood thrum in his veins. It had been some time since he'd been confronted with the possibility of a fight that would challenge him.

He wasted no time in drawing his twin swords, lunging at the king in a flash. The Moblin met the blows with his spear, and the two of them became embroiled in a fierce battle that would not end until one of them lay dead.

Ganondorf never doubted the outcome. There had only ever been one opponent he could not defeat, and she was not here.

When the Moblin fell, the gathered crowd was silent for a breathless moment before erupting into cheers. It seemed the king had been a tyrant, and his passing was not mourned. After a night of wild celebration, Ganondorf was awarded the honor of becoming the new leader of the tribes. He did not hesitate to take it. With the Bokoblins and Moblins under his command, he would be able to cover much more of the Great Sea in his search for Hyrule.

In the months that followed, he mobilized the tribes away from the frozen forest and tundra and out onto the sea. He was surprised to find that they possessed advanced seafaring cultures of their own and had only hidden in the northern mountains because they had been driven away by the southerners, who refused to trade with them or even to learn their language.

Bokoblins and Moblins were said to be demons, and he began to hear whispers that a new Demon King had appeared. This could be none other than himself, but Ganondorf was so used to such slurs that he was almost amused. Late at night he used gold thread to embroider a boar's skull pattern onto the back of a jet black coat that reminded him of the robes he had once worn as the ruler of the desert. If casting a net of fear over the Great Sea would help him achieve his goals, then he would gladly become a monster.

And so action led to action, with small outposts and fortresses going up around the islands and ruins scattered across the ocean. As his sphere of influence expanded, Ganondorf began letting it be known that he was seeking girls with pointed ears. Years passed, and at long last the princess revealed herself. Finally he had arrived at the Tower of the Gods, and soon everything would converge once again into a singular moment of truth.

"I'm bored," Tetra sighed.

"Boredom is a privilege," Ganondorf responded.

"That's stupid."

"You're young."

"Maybe you're just old."

Ganondorf gave a noncommittal grunt. He sat on the ledge of one of the tower windows. Tetra stood beside him, her elbows propped on the stone next to his boots. She gazed desultorily out over the Great Sea.

"Would you rather be a pirate than live a life of leisure?" he asked, fanning himself.

"Just because you don't like adventures doesn't mean other people can't enjoy them."

"Is that what you want, Tetra? Endless adventure? To forever wander the waves, never finding your way home? Never finding anyone to come home to?"

She frowned and flicked a bit of dust out of the window. "Not when you put it like that, no. It would probably be nice to settle down. Eventually, I mean. I just..."

"You just want to be part of something larger than yourself," he suggested.

Tetra sighed again. "That's it, but not..." She made a brief gesture indicating the interior of the room. "Not like this. There's too much waiting around. I'd rather see things no one has ever seen and go places no one has ever gone. I know you think being a pirate is just fighting and stealing, but what else am I supposed to do? Do you want me to live my whole life on some tiny island?"

Ganondorf remembered the slack-mouthed stares of the young women of the village where he had first learned the language of this world. He could not imagine Tetra thriving in such an environment. No matter what world she was born into, the princess was fated to operate on a grand scale.

He shook his head. "Imagine, if you will," he began, for a moment allowing himself to indulge a fantasy of a life in which he did not quest after the Triforce. "Imagine an enormous body of land, so large that you could never hope to sail around it."

Tetra barked cynical laughter. "Such a thing doesn't exist."

Ganondorf smiled. "Oh, but it does."

He folded his fan closed and bent forward to hand it to her. She took it from him and spread it open.

"Have you ever seen a design like this?" he asked, leaning back.

Tetra turned the fan back and forth. "It's a fish... I think."

Ganondorf nodded. "It is indeed a fish. If you know what a fish looks like, then you're aware that they are creatures that live in water. Of course, none live in the Great Sea, but imagine a land so large that it contains its own small oceans. You can swim in the water, and drink it. Imagine water teeming with fish."

"I'd have to see it to believe it."

"Far to the south is a continent on which such things exist. The journey is long, and not without danger, but there are those who have made it. Where do you think I got this fan?"

Tetra's eyes widened. "Have you been there?"

Ganondorf pressed the back of his head against the cool stone and closed his eyes. "No, child, I have not. But I imagine an intrepid adventurer in command of a large and stalwart ship might be able to make the voyage successfully."

"Maybe," Tetra said, handing the fan back to him, "when this is all over..."

He didn't respond. Perhaps he could go one way, and she could go another. She would take the hero with her, and he could take the king with him. Daphnes was a player he had never expected to enter this game, and he found the man's bitter pursuit of him perplexing. Were they not working toward the same goal? They had hated each other once, but time had blunted the edge of his own fury. Surely the passing years had mellowed Daphnes as well. Why not let the children follow their own path and settle things between themselves?

But such thoughts were meaningless. If he failed to recover the Triforce and resurrect Hyrule, then all these many years – and all these many worlds – would have been wasted for no purpose. Without Zelda, his life was empty. The faint hope that she would one day live again was all that remained to him.

No matter how much he wished it to be so, Tetra was not Zelda. She was her own person, brilliant and unique.

"When this is all over," he said, allowing his mind to linger in the fantasy just a bit longer, "you will set out into the Great Sea, the hero and your crew at your side. You will travel far and see much, and your exploits will become legends. One day you will become a magnificent queen, using your wisdom to create a new kingdom far away from this cursed sea. It will be a shining beacon, never knowing ignorance or evil."

"Do you really think I can do all that?"

"The princesses who came before you were the strongest and smartest and bravest women I've ever known. Once this is all over, you can go anywhere your heart leads you."

Tetra crossed her arms and looked out over the ocean.