Chapter 10

The Temple of Time

The king and queen sat upon the throne, discussing an argument the king had recently had with a guard who he had just fired. They were deep into their conversation when the doors to the throne room were thrown open. Both of them turned and saw Malicia at the very end of the room and walking down towards them. She wore a thoroughly pissed off face; her eyes were blazing in rage.

"I," she began, "Am in a thoroughly agitated mood, so I suggest you do what I say or I will have now problem killing you here and now; give me the throne."

"Who do you think you are, just bursting in here as if you own the palace?!" the king demanded, "I'll have the guards-"

"Buried, for I killed all of them."

"All-…all of them?"

"All of them; now, give me the throne!"

"Over my dead body!"

"…very well, if you wish-"

Malicia pulled a pure black sword out of thin air and beheaded the king; the queen screamed at the top of her lungs as her husbands' head rolled into her lap with a shocked face. There were two gasps heard from behind Malicia; she turned around and saw Link and Phoebe frozen at the entrance. Tears began to trickle down Phoebes face; Link's face was scrunched up in rage. Link turned on his heel and sprinted down the hallway. Malicia was about to head for Phoebe when she heard someone else sprinting onto the scene. Peridot was standing in front of the throne with a large katana in her hand.

"Phoebe," she began, "Leave…now!"

Phoebe nodded and ran away. Malicia turned to Peridot and smiled evilly.

"You want to fight? Okay then, I'll give you a fight you'll never forget!"

Malicia raised her sword and thrashed it down; Peridot swung back. The two began to fight, when Peridot yelled, "Zelda?!"

Zelda stood in the doorway, looking at the king's headless body lying on the floor. She then looked at Malicia, and her eyes narrowed.

"Peridot…"Zelda began, "Leave."

"No Zelda, let me-"

"No, let me handle this! You go get Daddy and Ike!"

Peridot stared at Zelda, then nodded and ran. Malicia turned to Zelda as she walked towards her. Malicia just looked at her, when Zelda suddenly broke out her swords. Malicia brought up her sword to deflect the attack, but Zelda thrashed so violently that she stumbled slightly backwards. Zelda struck again, and Malicia tripped over the king's body. When Zelda jumped and was about to bring down her swords, Malicia stretched out her hand, and judo flipped Zelda without even touching her. Zelda laid flat on her back, and looked up as Malicia was about to stab her, when something glowing brightly struck Malicia in the back. Malicia's eyes grew wide as she gasped and slowly fell to the floor. Zelda got up and saw Link with his bow and a quiver on his back. She then looked at Malicia and saw a light arrow sticking out of her back. Link came sprinting towards her.

"Quick, let's get out of here!"

"What about your father's body, we can't just leave it here!"

"Then help me carry it through the secret passage."

And they did just that. Malicia began to regain consciousness, and she yanked the arrow from her back and yelled in pain. She looked at it, and it began to burn her hand since darkness was weak to light. She dropped it, shook her hand, looked around, and saw that no one was there. No one was in the castle…she had it all entirely to herself. She smiled evilly, got up, stretched out her hands, and Twilight slowly began to shroud the entire castle. Zelda and Link were almost out of the castle, when they noticed the Twilight creeping up the walls and along the floor behind them.

"QUICK!" Link yelled.

Zelda and Link built up speed and got out of the secret passage just in time. They fell to the ground, and looked up at the castle, which was now completely shrouded in Twilight. All hope was felt to be lost…

The funeral was small, with only the royal family, Zelda's family, Gelios and Mwamba, and the Zora Royal Family (including Rosie); it was filled with many tears. Markus gave a good-hearted speech recounting all the fun times they had together, and the great things the king had done. When some guards carried the casket down into the Royal Family Crypt, a tiny orchestra played "Zelda's Lullaby" and those who were crying were crying even more, and those who weren't originally were then. During most of the service, Zelda kept looking over at Link who looked like he was using all of his strength to hold himself together. At the end of the funeral, Zelda pulled Link aside and gave him a huge hug.

"It's okay," Zelda said calmly, "There's nothing wrong with crying."

Link then took in a deep shuttering breath and began bawling into Zelda's shoulder, who was rubbing his back soothingly, tears still running down her cheek. She looked over at the castle; if it weren't for the fact the Malicia was now ruling it, Zelda would have thought the castle looked gorgeous. She leaned her head against Link, and began crying harder.

"I probably could've saved him," Zelda began, "If I had come sooner, I could've saved him."

"Oh now stop it right now." Link demanded, "Do not blame this upon yourself, it's not your fault…it's Malicia…"

"…we need the Hero of Time…"

"Zelda, there hasn't been one in over 500 years, not since Hyrule was flooded."

"Well…I believe he's somewhere out there."

"I sure hope so…it's been a long day, we should get back to Kakariko."

That night, Zelda had a hard time falling asleep. She thought of what she had said to Link, about the Hero of Time coming back…what if he doesn't? Will there be a repeat of a giant flood? Her mind just raced and raced…she couldn't remember how or when she actually fell asleep. She had a dream that Link and Phoebe were standing before a great light, when they held hands and walked into it. The light began to dissolve, and she kept saying "No…don't go…come back…Link!" and she woke up in a sweat. She looked at the time; 11:23 a.m. She rushed out of her room and into the living room where she saw the queen with a mellow dramatic look on her face, and Peridot with her hand on her back.

"Where's Link and Phoebe?" Zelda demanded.

"They went into hiding…"

"What? What do you mean?"

"They both have very large destinies set before them, which if Malicia found out could put their lives at risk, so Phoebe thought of a place Malicia, nor anyone else, could find them."

"Where's that?"

"I don't know…they told no one."

Zelda lowered her head in sadness.

"Except he did leave this for you," said the queen. She handed Zelda a letter that was written in Link's rather girlish handwriting and said "Zelda" on the front. Zelda opened the letter, and it said this:

Dear Zelda,

I'm sorry to leave you so suddenly and unceremoniously, but you looked to adorable and peaceful sleeping. I know that we tell each other everything, but my current location is one of those few cases that I can never tell you. There are some very important instructions that I must give you before I go: Take your harp with you and go to the Temple of Time (you know where that is, correct? It's in Kakariko Village, down from the graveyard; it looks like a church). Once you're there, place the Spiritual Stones on a pedestal in front of a large door with the Royal Crest on it, then play the Song of Time; here's the tabs: -6-4 -5-6-4 -5-6-7-7 6 -5-6-6 -4 4 5-4 4 5-4. The door should open and once it does go inside. You'll find the weapon that'll help you defeat Malicia once it's gained its full power. I know all of this because the Goddesses talked to me…you have a very large fate set before you, as do I and so does Phoebe…and many of our friends. We're a new generation to something big…

Good luck! :D

~Link

(PS: Even though I won't be there, please know that I am always looking out for you…always. )

Zelda held the letter for a little while in her hands, then stuffed it into her pocket. She rushed to her room, grabbed her harp, and rushed out the door.

"Where are you going?" Peridot asked.

"The Temple of Time!" and closed the door behind her.

Zelda looked up at the building, taking in all of its' majesty. She opened the large wooden doors and her jaw dropped; the inside was amazing! The walls were a wonderful white, a long royal blue carpet led up to a pedestal which behind it stood a large door with the Royal Crest. Zelda looked up at the ceiling, and gasped. On both sides were giant stained glasses of the six sages, and over the door she entered was a stained glass of Princess Zelda. She had her eyes closed and she looked like she was praying. Over the door with the family crest was a stained glass of Link holding up the Master Sword.

Zelda walked up to the pedestal, and placed the Spiritual Stones in the order she got them: the Kokiri Emerald, the Goron Ruby, and the Zora Sapphire. The three stones glowed brightly, and Zelda got out her harp and played the Song of Time. The door behind the pedestal glowed and opened. Zelda stood there for a little bit, then slowly approached the door and entered through.

The room was completely empty except for a design of the Triforce surrounded by symbols of the six different sages, and…a sword in a pedestal? Zelda slowly approached the sword and gasped, grabbing her chest and almost fainting in excitement: IT'S THE MASTER SWORD! SWEET GODDESS HYLIA IT'S THE MASTER SWORD! Zelda walked around the Master Sword, her heart beating louder and louder with every step she took. She then stood behind it and stood there for a while…

Her heart pounded as she put her hands around the soft cushioned handle of the sword, and she lifted it…and she pulled it out. She held it in her hands, but didn't get a chance to survey it because she was suddenly surrounded by immense light; a beam of light shined down upon her, and disappeared…and with it…so did Zelda.