"You mean the blood of Royal Family of Hyrule is still alive?!" one voice shouted out

"The girl who won the Pageant is actually the real thing?!" a second voice realized.

"If she's alive then what could've happened to the kingdom of Hyrule?!" a third voice begged to know.

Kevin quickly took advantage of the chaos engulfing the room to slip a few choice words to his rival.

"and just like that I'm the genius who discovered the final heir to the Royal Family of Hyrule exactly as I told you I'd be," he smugly reminded Nick.

"Maybe you are," Nick replied to try and save face, "Do you have anything else to add? I certainly do."

"I've been thinking about that for a bit and yeah. I do think I have something," Kevin informed he before turning his attention back to the frenzied crowd and calling out to them, "EVERYBODY, PLEASE LISTEN!"

He repeated this a few times until they had quieted down enough for him to resume speaking.

"I know you all have a lot of questions that need answering and I promise I will get to them in the future because there's actually a much larger issue we need to address at this conference first. That is whether to truly acknowledge this girl who was going by the name of "Tetra" as our true Princess Zelda!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Nick interrupted no longing caring about proper etiquette for the situation, "Isn't that what you just proved now?!"

"All I proved just now is that she was the descendant of the last true Princess Zelda to serve as a monarch of Hyrule," Kevin corrected him before again appealing to the crowd, "Up until now I've learned that this girl has actually spent most of her life as a pirate captain out on the ocean. Naturally upon finding Zelda many of us have been hoping for her to revive the kingdom of Hyrule. To fully acknowledge her as Princess Zelda would be to accept her as having not only skill but the character needed to properly rule a country and care for its subjects. Even if she won the Pageant I'm not convinced that putting on a good act as Princess is enough to prove her worth as an actual Princess."

Nick's frustration only grew as he noticed several audience members and even some of the scholars nodding in agreement.

"Fortunately, I've already come up with a way to resolve this problem," Kevin continued, "I propose that we put her on a trial exactly like the ones held in Hyrule centuries ago. With the scholars here acting as a jury we can take testimony about Zelda from those who know her best, have it analyzed but the brightest historians alive to come to a fair conclusion, and teach those unfamiliar with it about the legal system of Hyrule directly."

"That's completely insane!" Nick yelled at him as the others sit with him sat stunned, "What are you hoping to accomplish with this?! Even if the scholars here don't like her you can't just take her bloodline from her!"

"Perhaps," he agreed "but what certainly don't have to blindly follow her as our ruler. I certainly would like to wish you the best of luck trying to make Hyrule what it once was without the backing of the experts here and around the world! In fact, if we split off from her perhaps we can even establish our own kingdom. Maybe I could even rise my way to the top of it."

"You piece of garbage..." Nick hissed.

"Like I care what you think," Kevin shrugged him off going back to the crowd, "So let's take a vote on it! Raise your hand for yes!"

The result was fairly obvious. All of the audience members aside from Nick's row raised their hand as did all of the fifteen historians aside from Nick's parents.

"It seems the answer is pretty clear," Kevin acknowledged proudly, "I appreciate the support from all of you here. All I need now is about an hour to prepare and I promise everything will go perfectly."

Kevin stepped down as the crowd resumed its previous chatter. Several people began to crowd around Tetra who still hadn't let go of the stone in her daze. Nick stormed over to Kevin and grabbed him by the shoulder before he could discuss matters any further with the scholars in attendance.

"And what do you want now?" Kevin smugly asked.

"Fine you win!" Nick conceded, "I'll give you everything I've learned and you can claim it as your own and show how you're the smartest in the world. Just call of this stupid trial and you can have it all!"

"Do you really think I still care about any of that all now?" Kevin questioned him sternly, "Heck, I don't even care whether she's actually a good Princess or not."

"Then what are you doing this for?!"

"Even if you found out all of this before I did you still had the nerve to look down on me for it. Proving my superiority to you isn't enough here. When I said that this would be the end of it all part of that to me is making you regret looking down until the day you die. Seeing how close you two are and how you're acting now it seems pretty clear to me that dethroning the Princess is the perfect way to do just that!"

"You..." Nick released him, "My mistake wasn't that I failed to realize that you had that stone. It was that I never realized just how petty and shallow you really are. I've still got few cards to play myself and the verdict definitely isn't final yet!"

"We'll see... Just remember that fleeing means we'll certainly find her unworthy." Kevin smirked as Nick turned back and forced his way into the mob now surrounding Tetra.

"We're getting out of here for now!" Nick grabbed her by the arm as she tried to fight her way out, "You guys too. We need to talk and get ready."

Nick yanked Tetra out of the crowd and raced off into the guest room she had been staying in along with Link, Sophia, Justin, and Kate. They managed to slip inside and lock the door behind them before any unwanted guests could slip through.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Nick cursed and punched the wall as the others plopped down onto the large bed.

"It's not your fault," Tetra tried to console him as it finally occurred to her to put down the stone causing the light around her to finally fade.

"I was careless! I should've thought about it harder!" Nick loudly chastised himself, "I had heard that there were methods for verifying members of the Royal Family. I was so focused on guarding your personal history that I neglected to consider theirs! Of course, I couldn't have known for sure that Kevin had one so readily at his disposal. With the Royal Family believed dead there was never any need for his predecessors to publicly present something that now served no function. I still should've at least taken the possibility into account. There's no excusing that. I failed you again Tetra. I'm sorry."

The silence following Nick's lament was broken by a chattering growing outside the door begging to see Princess Zelda.

"SHUT UP!" Nick punched the door scaring them all off with the sound of the impact.

"Please calm down Nick," Tetra requested trying to remain strong for her friend she soon felt a pair of gentle hands wrap around her shoulders.

"You seemed stressed," Justin comforted her starting another massage, "It's still our job to serve you."

"Well... thanks," Tetra relaxed into the massage, "Yeah that's nice... You're not allowed to top practicing until you're as good as he is at this."

"Yes Captain," Link chuckled with a crack of his knuckles.

"So, I guess I don't even need to ask if this is the big discovery you came back with," Kate remarked.

"You're right. You don't," Nick confirmed

"I guess we were the ones that were careless too," Justin commented during his massage, "Considering what we already knew about you and how unusual your actions were this really was the only conclusion you could've come to."

"It's not just Zelda's identity," Nick finally told them, "I learned everything the true fate of Hyrule which actually sank to the bottom of the ocean. The truth about the King of Evil who was actually still alive and defeated by these two Link and Tetra."

"You helped too," Tetra insisted, "Don't forget that."

"All I did is shoot my mouth," he dismissed the praise, "I was helpless when Ganon actually came for us."

"I'm really sick of this discussion whenever the story comes up. We all were helpless," Tetra reminded him, "Link and I had already lost to him once by the time you got there. You said yourself fighting him then would be suicide."

"I was easy to quit back then. Looking back somewhere deep down I must've really believed that Link would make it back first and then I would talk my way into coming along with you and we'd all face him ad prevail together. Given the timeframe of events I was probably snoring the hours away in bed while you two fought for your lives. I was still down in the castle when Link got back. I should've followed him. I should've just... done something."

"Now you really are letting the stress get to your head. You always talk about how the Light Arrows we "my magic" but remember that the arrows I actually used belonged to you anyway. I helped take Ganondorf down with weapons you gave me. Please remember that. In fact, I'm ordering you to say that to yourself from now on whenever you started to doubt just how much you've done for me."

"Fine..."

"Promise me! Come on!"

"...Okay I promise" Nick conceded, "Sorry, I guess I'm just letting this all get to me."

"I don't even know the specifics here yet I can still tell you must've been through a lot," Justin said as he strengthened his massage of Tetra in appreciation, "She's the one about to go on trial here not you pal. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself though I feel kind of bad we didn't figure it out sooner."

"I guess you're right. I suppose we did get a bit sidetracked there," Nick admitted, "As for you two though It's not like it would've made a difference if you knew or not."

"Maybe..." he answered, "When Kevin offered us those front row seats the only condition was to make sure the Princess who won the Pageant was as close to him as possible. He said he was planning to call her up to demonstrate something. It's not that we just blindly trusted him, but we had no reason to believe it could possibly turn out like this and good seats are good seats."

"Then I guess that's just another failure on my part," Nick sighed,

"Not this again," Tetra rolled her eyes, "What's with you today?"

"No, I've been thinking about this one for a while," Nick began, "In the end this is all resulting from my insistence on keeping everything a secret. We probably wouldn't have to deal with this trial if I wouldn't just come out with all of this on my own. If I would've even just told Justin and Kate they could've warned us. If I would've told you what Kevin said from the start we could've come up with a plan. One of the mottos of a good scholar is that no matter mysteries may shield it the truth will always come out if you keep fighting for it. It was working with that mentality that brought me all the way down to Hyrule Castle and helped you get the answers you needed to find since then. I told my parents about what happened when I originally left home, but since then I've been using my resources with the actual Hero and Princess to shield the truth from the others who seek it. It doesn't really matter what his motives were. In the end Kevin's desire for the truth was stronger than mine and that's what led to this conclusion."

"But it's not the conclusion, now is it?" Tetra reminded him, "The real battle hasn't even started yet."

"What's could possibly change before then?" Nick asked dejectedly.

"I lost my way once and you helped me find it again. Just because you think you lost your way doesn't mean you can't find it again. Do you genuinely believe that I'd make a good Princess of Hyrule?"

"Of course," Nick answered.

"I do too," Link agreed

"Make that three," Sophia chimed in.

"If you all truly believe that I'm truly right to lead a new kingdom then, like I know you would've wanted to do when you were younger, you know have to get down there and prove it to be the truth. I remember you told me that Kevin only seeks knowledge to prove his worth to others. He was pursuing the truth of my identity as Zelda, but now he's only pursuing a verdict that you truly believe to be wrong for no other reason than to spite you. There's no way we should lose if you truly believe what you just said."

Tetra's words here finally seemed to lift Nick's spirits somewhat.

"That sounds like something a would've said to you back then," he laughed

"I learned from the best," she smiled.

"It still won't be that simple though," he noted calmly but seriously, "Under the current situation it's not going to be as simple as believing in ourselves."

"What else is there?"

"I think he's worried about how much power the prosecution has in Hyrulian trials," Sophia took the words out of Nick's mouth before he could speak.

"Where did that come from?" Tetra asked surprised as Nick showed some slight disappointment at being upstaged.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sophia apologized, "but after talking to you yesterday I went to the festival's library to see if I could try to figure out what Kevin might try to do to back up his threats. The fact that I was so far off tells me I'm simply not as good at this as you guys, but what I considered was that he might try some type of trial and hope to prove his case bit by bit. Acting as the would-be prosecutor Kevin is going to have a borderline unfair control of the proceedings. He is going to be in near total control of who gets to speak. Aside from whoever's on trial, in this case it's Tetra, he's only required to have just one other person answer questions before he can request the jury start deliberating over a verdict, and of course who that person is will be completely up to him unless he's directly overruled by the judge."

"That's messed up," Tetra remarked.

"I agree though it apparently originated from the kingdom's trust that its law enforcement would get the right people. Everything that happened with Ganon left the survivors a bit paranoid too," Sophia explained

"Well if I have my way that certainly won't fly in my kingdom when we get it together," Tetra shook her head.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"The good thing is that once you're on the stand you've got a pretty good amount of freedom in what you're allowed to say especially if you can back it up. Being called to the stand by the prosecutor is also seen as an unspoken consent that he believes you will answer him honestly. I've got plenty of physical evidence and documents back on the ship. At the very least I can buy plenty of time when it comes my turn since I can't imagine he'd go through with this without some sort of one-on-one with me," Nick remarked only to be interrupted by a knock on the door, "What now?"

Nick opened it up to find his parents waiting for him on the other side.

"Hi son. It's almost time," His father greeted him.

"Sorry that it's come to this. We never thought that anyone would actually try this," His mother consoled.

"We'll find a way to beat it," Nick assured them.

"I hope so because we've got a bit of good news and some bad news for you," Nick's mother uneasily announced.

"What is it?" Nick asked

"The bit of good news is that we managed to stay on the jury," Nick's mother smiled.

"Really?"

"Kevin wasn't happy about it for sure," Nick's father added, "He tried to have us removed from the deciding historians, but due to the fact that only your friend is in the spotlight rather than you along with his inability to prove that we had prior knowledge of this we were able to convince Mr. Schroeder, who's going to be the judge, that our opinions were still worth having around in the final say. Unfortunately, you still need to convince six of the other thirteen if you want to win."

"So, I'm guessing the bad news is that Kevin's own father is going to be the judge. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time trying convince Mr. Schroeder that his son is wrong about anything he suggests," Nick guessed sarcastically.

"Actually, I don't think that's going to be a problem here," Nick's mother reassured him, "From what we asked him he really doesn't think too badly of you from what he saw these last few days. He still wants his son to get his chance to make his argument, but he says he really is interested in hearing how you plan to respond. The real bad news is actually a bit worse anyway..."

"What could it possibly be then? Was Tetra found guilty already?"

"This isn't about her guilt, but possibly yours," Kevin's father told him, "While he couldn't prove anything about what we knew Kevin was able to make a pretty convincing case for what you must've already known and intentionally deceived everyone about. It didn't help that for us to stay on the jury that we had to say you lied about what you knew to us as well."

"Don't worry. That's what I would've wanted."

"Kevin insisted that what you have to say could have some value, but only questions answered in regard to you as Princess Zelda's companion. Not as an expert historian yourself," Nick's mother continued.

"And what does that mean?"

"To be blunt Kevin convinced his father and the other historian jurors that as someone who's lied about his research in the past as well as spent four years hanging out with pirates that any findings or testimony you attempt to present as your own simply aren't reliable due to the possibility that it's forged or fabricated. In other words, while you're being questioned you can only make statements and present evidence that directly answers the questions he asks. Anything else you might try to say without his approval while you're being questioned will be seen as unrelated to the matter..."

"That's a bunch of crap!" Nick yelled loud enough to be heard downstairs.

"We didn't like it," Nick's father agreed, "but it was the only way you could get the chance to speak. If it's any consolation Kevin still seems to plan to let you have your turn and probably even call you up to speak first."

"I knew he'd give me the chance, but of course he wants to use the restrictions on what I can say to humiliate me."

"As a piece of advice though remember that what you say will be trusted as long as it's a direct answer to what you're asked. If he asks you what led you to believe Tetra was Zelda for example you're free to list as much evidence as you want and it'll be trusted. You could list off her possessing a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom or even how you went together to Hyrule if it can be worded into a direct answer. I can't promise that he's just going to leave you all too many openings though."

"Well I guess I'll have to see what I can do with what he gives. He doesn't know exactly what I know about the rest so I'll just have to hope he slips up." Nick accepted his situation, "Thanks for the heads up on this. You should probably get going before you risk getting in trouble. We've still got a little time to think things over.

"See you in a little bit," they bid farewell, "No matter how ridiculous the answer may be, remember to answer honestly. As long as you're honest I'm sure everything will be made clear to the others."

"At the very least all I can do is try and slip as much extra info into my answers as I can. My original plan was to just break out some of my pictographs whenever he tried to give me the runaround in his questioning to force him to let me keep going, but it seems he considered that I'd do that. All that's left for us is the truth and how we remember it," Nick sighed as he closed the door.

"That rule only applies to you though, right?" Tetra asked, "I can still speak my own."

"Yeah, but as the defendant your words won't be trusted the way those of other witnesses would be," Nick explained, "Referencing anything you can't directly prove won't be of much help to you."

"I still have my mother's diary though," Tetra pointed out, "I can use her words and have them accepted as relevant since she was Princess before me."

"Yes, you probably could," Nick acknowledged, "However please keep him mind that you owe Kevin absolutely nothing here. Some of the words in there are incredibly personal and if you give him just a little of it he's sure to make the entire thing public in hopes of getting something on you. You gave me that speech on trying to expose the truth in this, but I'm the historian who's under an unwritten oath to do so. Remember what those words meant to you back then and don't lose sight of it. In the end just do what you feel is right. I won't hold your choice against you whichever way you make it."

"Alright, but I'm still considering it." Tetra remarked as she stood up with Justin finally releasing his massage.

"Don't forget me," Link chimed in, "I can tell them everything that you've done for me and my family since we met. I'm sure the chance to get it out there will come and they surely can't just ignore it."

"I appreciate how highly you think of me Link," Tetra smiled

"I don't care how this thing ends," Link declared, "You'll still be the same person to me no matter what they might say."

"I know you will," Tetra wrapped an affectionate arm around him.

"And I certainly won't back down," Link showed more initiative than usual by wrapping his arms around her now.

Sophia watched with a smile as Kate turned towards Nick.

"It only just occurred to me now, but you're talking about being open and honest from here on out, what do you plan to say to us about the Separation of Reincarnation? I'm sure you still remember it, and how easily it can cause a problem here"

"Separation of Reincarnation?" Tetra asked as Link released her upon hearing the phrase which was still fresh in his head.

Link looked toward Nick as he braced himself for how he and then probably Tetra would respond to it.

"The Separation of Reincarnation?" Nick repeated as he decided to muster up some confidence before things go too serious, "I promised to renew my commitment to exposing the truth no matter what. As such I refuse to spend even a second discussing an outright lie like that."

Link's face immediately brightened at his answer and he immediately recaptured Tetra even tighter than before.

"Is that how it's going to be?" Kate couldn't help but smile.

"I like it," Justin agreed

"Like what?" Tetra asked around confused, "You seem like you know something Link."

"It's nothing more than what he said," the hero happily cooed into her ear, "A lie not even worth discussing."

"If you all say so then that's what I think too," Tetra put her arms back around him. Their embrace was only then interrupted by another knock on the door.
Nick answered it to find Kevin waiting behind it as smug as ever.

"Your hour of reckoning is finally here. Please make your way back to the main room," Kevin instructed them, "I'm sure you'll be happy to know that you're up first Nick."

"You bet I am," Nick replied having regained his old confidence as he and the rest of the group followed Kevin back downstairs and into the central chamber, "I heard about that little rule you set up for me, and I have no intention of pulling any crap this time. I'm definitely ready for you now. Be sure to watch what you say."

"It wouldn't be any fun if you weren't," Kevin snickered as Nick made his way onto the makeshift witness stand that was set up. The others made their way back to their previous seats as the trial was officially called into session by Mr. Schroeder's booming voice.

"Our purpose here today is to determine the suitability of this current incarnation of Princess Zelda's suitability as a proper Monarch to rule over us. I must say that I never expected this festival to lead to something like this, but I'm sure with the great minds arguing both sides that a proper verdict will be reached. Prosecutor Kevin may now introduce his first witness!" Mr. Schroeder kicked the proceedings off.

"What is your name and relevance to the issue at hand?" Kevin asked confidently.

"The name is Nick, and I'm one of Princess Zelda's best friends."

-END CHAPTER-