Chapter 10
Princess Zelda turned in time to see the sorcerers and the four identical Links disappear through a portal they had conjured with their magic. They had had a new person with them, as well, but there was really no time to ask about him. It would have to wait. For now, she and her entire kingdom were locked in a battle for their homes and their way of life.
As she looked on, the vast army of Stalfos was engaging the army of Hyruleans. It didn't look like there had been any casualties on their side yet, but neither had any of the Stalfos fallen, from the looks of things. Her army was managing to hold the enemy back and stop their advance, but they were so far unable to regain any ground.
Ganondorf had used the power of his Triforce pieces to transform into a great pig beast that towered above everything else in Hyrule Field. Link and the sorcerers had fought him when he was in this form four years earlier, losing only narrowly. Zelda and her army had slim to no chance of defeating him as he was now – this she was certain of. The Hero of Time was still their main hope in this battle, and Zelda felt that the role of everyone else – she and her army – was to hold them back long enough for the Hero to return and deliver the finishing blow. She didn't know how much time they would need before they were ready to fight, but she and everyone in her army were all prepared to fight to the last man to give them their chance to strike Ganondorf down.
Zelda was confident in the ability of her army. They had spent the last four years training themselves in preparation for this day. However, she couldn't help but wonder just how long they could keep up like this. They were holding their own against the Stalfos exceptionally well, but she got the feeling that they would tire long before the Stalfos did. Zelda prayed that Link would be able to return with the Master Sword soon. They probably only had a few hours before the Stalfos army would begin to push forward again.
There was probably even less time when it came to Ganondorf himself. He was currently locked in a fierce fight with what Zelda recognized to be one of the guardians of the Ocarina of Time pieces. She had seen three of them herself, so she knew them well. This one, amazingly, had responded to Lydia's call, as if she were its master. Had she struck some kind of a deal with it? However she had come to be able to command it, Zelda was thankful she had. If that guardian weren't keeping Ganondorf at bay, he would probably be able to just sweep through her army with little effort.
They were at a stalemate for now, but it wouldn't last long. As she continued to whistle commands to the Hyrulean fighters, she prayed hard.
She heard a sound behind her, and turned to see that the vortex was reappearing. Gordon was the first to come through it. He pulled Link along behind him, and Lydia appeared next. Zelda was expecting more Links to run through, but none did. The extra person they had had with them before also did not reappear. The vortex closed silently behind them and disappeared again.
Only one Link? Did that mean he was once again whole? Zelda felt her hopes rise for a moment, thinking that through some amazing stroke of luck, they were already ready to fight. However, the empty sheath on Link's back said otherwise. They still didn't have the Master Sword.
"I hope we got back to the right time," Lydia said, then turned to look up at Zelda. "How long have we been gone?"
Still a little stunned by the fact that they were back so soon, it took a second for Zelda to answer. "I-I'm not certain… Maybe thirty seconds?"
Lydia laughed, then smacked her fist against her brother's. "Nice. You have good aim, kid."
Link had his eyes locked on the war going on in the distance, with determination reflected in his set jaw. "No time to celebrate," he declared, and then reached into his clothing. He pulled out the reconstructed Ocarina of Time.
Zelda's eyes lit up when she saw it. "If you play that, the Master Sword should react, wherever it is."
"That's the hope," Gordon agreed with a nod. "And then hopefully, once it shows us where it has hidden itself, we can get there and get back quickly." He looked off at the fighting, adding, "I can tell we don't have much time."
"Get to it, Long Ears," Lydia said with a confident grin.
Link grinned back at her, and then with a calming sigh, he started to play the Ocarina. The familiar, elegant sound of the Song of Time filled the air around them. The sound of the Ocarina was gentle, and yet so dominating that the sound of the distant battle almost faded away completely.
After the song was finished, nothing happened for a tense second or two. They felt no reaction from anything that felt like the Master Sword. They knew they knew they were in big trouble if this didn't work. They really had no other ideas for finding the sword again. How were they supposed to defeat Ganondorf without it?
With a grunt of pain, Link suddenly dropped the Ocarina into the dirt at his feet and clutched at his chest. Shaking, he dropped to his knees. Lydia was at his side almost immediately, but he pushed her away.
"No, get back-!" he managed to hiss between his clenched teeth.
Lydia was horrified as he watched him breathe heavily, quivering from some unnamed pain. What was happening? Had they miscalculated something – made a fatal mistake somewhere in their logic?
The Hero of Time suddenly arched his back and yelled up toward the sky as an intense wave of energy flowed out from him. Tiny streams of light started to shoot out from his body, one after another, collecting in the air in front of him. This continued for several seconds, until the collection of light had grown into a sizable orb that hovered in place a few feet from the ground. Finally, whatever energy had Link in its grasp suddenly released him, and he fell backward, crumpling down into a heap in the dirt.
The sorceress tried to keep her terror from shutting her brain down. Trying to keep her wits about her, she quickly rushed to Link's side again, and was surprised and relieved when she saw that he was already starting to pick himself up.
"I'm all right," he assured her as he got up to his knees.
She sighed with relief. He didn't appear to be lying for her sake – he really did look fine now. Whatever had happened to him, whatever pain had gone through him, it looked like there wasn't even a hint of it left.
He got to his feet quickly and stared ahead at the orb of light that glowed in the air. Before anyone could even wonder aloud what it was, the orb started to change shape. It began to stretch out vertically until it was several feet tall. A greater portion of it was gathered at the top, which was taking on a shape of its own. The top stretched itself out in a cross pattern.
The light wrapped tightly around itself, and finally began to dim. The light condensed to form a shining blade secured into a blue hilt.
After hovering into the air for another second or two, the Master Sword dropped and stuck itself into the ground. The clouds in the sky shifted slightly, and the tiniest hint of moonlight glistened on its blade.
A wave of peace came over Link as he walked forward toward where the sword had come to rest. He wasn't really focused on his approach, so amazed was he by the sight of the sword. His body seemed to be moving on its own, as if the sword was beckoning him.
He wrapped his fingers around the handle. The feel of it was so natural in his hand. Not until he touched it again did he realize how much he had missed the feel of it. The sword was like a limb that had been lost, which was now being reattached.
He pulled upward, and the sword came free of the soil easily. He turned it over and held the shining blade up toward the sky. He ran his fingers along the metal, and the most peaceful smile appeared on his face.
"Hello, old friend," he said to it.
Lydia suddenly tackled him from behind, jumping up on his back and wrapping her arms around him. She was loudly cheering in his ear. "You're back, Hero!" she said happily.
Having retrieved the dropped Ocarina of Time at some point, Gordon appeared next to him. "That's amazing!" he said with more Lydia-like enthusiasm than he usually cared to display. "When this thing was broken, the sword didn't hide itself in a physical location… It went to the one place where no one else could get it." He held the Ocarina out to Link, adding, "Your heart."
Gently shrugging Lydia off of his back, Link took the Ocarina and put it safely away. "For the first time in a while, I feel like myself again," he said, his eyes still locked on the Master Sword.
Zelda steered Epona close to the group. "I'm so relieved!" she said, with her face clearly showing that. Epona playfully chewed on Link's hair as the princess continued, "We have everything we need now. Do you have a plan?"
Taking another glance at the battle in the distance, Gordon answered, "We hope so. With two Triforce pieces, I really doubt anything can kill Ganondorf. But perhaps we can seal him away instead."
The princess nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed… The sages and I might be able to manage that. But I can't help but worry that he's too strong for us to seal him."
"That's where we come in. We'll weaken him as much as we can, and then you and the sages can make your move."
"Zelda," Lydia said, "our way of weakening Ganondorf has the potential to catch a lot of people in the crossfire. We're going to need everybody to get out of the way."
"I understand. I will await your signal, and then sound a retreat."
"Lyd," Link said, "are you really going to attempt that melding thing Vaati suggested?"
"If Vaati was right about the Master Sword being able to keep it under control, and I think I agree with him, it should be fine. The kid and I will stay back here and chant the spells, and you work your way through that crowd up there. Get close to Ganondorf, and we'll send our magic into the sword. After that, it'll be up to you, Hero."
"Here," Zelda said, hopping down off of Epona's back. "Use Epona to cut through the Stalfos army. There's too many of them for you to get past by yourself.
As Link took Epona's reins from her, Zelda closed her eyes in silent concentration. She opened her eyes again after a moment, and declared, "All right, the sages are ready when we are to attempt the sealing."
She started to back away, saying, "I have to get into position to get everyone clear. When the moment comes, we'll be ready." Her face softened and she smiled. "I've asked so much of you all over the years. You have selflessly given yourselves to this kingdom. If we manage to get through this day… I only hope I can make it up to you." She then turned and started to sprint back toward the battle, her sword at her side, prepared to fight anything that might try to intercept her.
"All right," Gordon said with a look toward his sister. "I assume I'm going to be supplying the Dragon Slave?"
Lydia nodded, "And I'll prepare the Phoenix Flare." Her mouth curled into a smirk. "A little ironic, isn't it? You're preparing the black magic and I'm doing the white magic?"
Her brother nodded and replied, "Yes, I suppose so."
The sorceress pointed off into the distance toward the west. "Let's make sure we give ourselves plenty of space. You go that way, and I'll go this way." She pointed behind her, toward the east. "Keep an eye on me. We'll want to fire these things off at the same time. And let's not start until Link's ready to begin cutting through those Stalfos. I don't want to push our luck by doing the melding too soon." She looked up at Link, and asked, "Does that sound okay?"
The Hylian nodded. "I'm going to have to trust your judgment on this one. I just hope I can hold up my part of this plan. To be honest, I'm not sure how to even approach… that." He gestured toward Ganondorf's now-huge beast form.
"Don't worry," Lydia said to him. "I'm sure that once you're there with the sword, you'll know what to do."
"I'll do my best."
She smacked a fist into her open palm as she suddenly remembered something. "Oh! One last thing I almost forgot. It's true that I believe the Master Sword can control the melded spell, but you'll be in such close quarters with the target that you could still get caught in it." She reached into her shirt, pulling out a golden chain with a Triforce-shaped charm on the end of it. It was the Sorcerer's Rune. Link hadn't seen that in so long, he had thought she didn't have it anymore. She lifted it up to her mouth and whispered something to it in a language he didn't understand. It glowed briefly, then dimmed again.
With a smile, she reached up with both hands and placed the necklace around his neck. "This will protect you."
"Thank you," he said as he tucked the charm into his clothes.
"All right, I'm going to get into position," Gordon said. He turned and started jogging off.
Lydia heaved the type of sigh one might when they were under pressure and pressed for time. "Okay," she said. "And I have to go this way." She squeezed Link's arm and started to walk off that direction, but he caught her by the wrist and kept her from leaving.
She turned to look back. "What?" she asked.
Keeping his eyes lowered, he gently pulled her closer to him. The girl could feel blood rushing to her face. What was he doing at a time like this? He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her close. Her heart started to race.
All of the chaos going in Hyrule Field seemed to disappear. Even Epona, still standing nearby, had faded away. All there was in the world at this moment was the two of them.
"Lydia," he whispered into her ear. "I've always imagined doing this on a sunny hilltop or something, but given the circumstances, I want to do it now, just in case something goes wrong."
The girl's heart skipped a beat.
"If we survive this…" Link continued, "…If Ganondorf is defeated… and we have a chance to live our lives as normal people…" He swallowed hard and Lydia could feel his heart beating furiously. "Will you… Will you marry me?"
Tears welled up in her eyes. She had wanted to hear this for years, and even though the circumstances weren't what either of them had imagined they would be, it still felt amazing and perfect.
"We've always lived our lives on the edge of oblivion," she started to reply. "Fighting to survive, defeating all kinds of monsters… The thought of settling down… being a wife… living peacefully in a little house somewhere… Compared to our lives up until now, it sounds so boring." Unable to hold it back anymore, her voice broke from emotion. "And I want that boring life more than anything in the world. Of course I'll marry you."
Link laughed lightly in her ear, then pulled away, placed his hands on both sides of her face, and kissed her.
He stepped back after a moment, wiping a tear from his eye with the heel of his hand. Smiling from ear to ear, he jumped up into Epona's saddle, taking the reins in his hands, the Master Sword on his back. Now, he finally felt ready for this.
When he turned for one last glance at Lydia, she had her hands on her hips.
"Try not to get killed, okay?" she instructed, a clearly playful tone in her voice.
Link laughed. "And miss out on you verbally abusing me for the next fifty years until I finally die in self defense? Not likely!" He turned to face the battle, removed the Master Sword from its sheath on his back, and dug his heels into Epona's sides. They thundered off toward the Stalfos army.
Knowing there was no time to waste, Lydia immediately took off toward her spell position a little ways out to the east. As she ran, she conjured a tiny ball of light in her hand that she then heaved up into the air. It flew up about twenty feet, and then exploded into a rainbow of colors. She hoped Zelda knew to take that as the signal to get the Hyruleans out of the way.
As soon as the magical firework went off, the sorceress heard a sharp whistling from somewhere in the distance – one of Zelda's commands to her army. The flood of people on the battlefield froze, and then started to drastically shift. The entire Hyrulean army was abandoning their immediate fight and taking off to either side, clearing the center of the battlefield. The Stalfos left behind stood where they were, clearly unsure as to why their opponents were retreating.
The sorceress skidded to a stop at the top of a small hill, brought her fingers up to her lips, and whistled as loudly as she could.
On the far end of the battle, Goldie was still rolling around in his fight with Ganondorf. The Evil King had his arm around the dragon's long neck and was trying to keep him pinned to the ground. The dragon looked up suddenly at the sound of Lydia's call. With a particularly nasty snap of his jaws on Ganondorf's arm, Goldie wriggled free and took to the sky immediately. He soared high over the heads of everyone else in the field, spun around, and landed hard behind where Lydia stood.
Now both the Hyruleans and her new pet guardian were out of the way. They had a clear shot, but they had to act quickly. If they gave Ganondorf any more time to react than they absolutely had to, they might risk their chances of success. Based on what Gordon and Vaati had been saying about the power potential that came from mixing black and white magic, let alone the most powerful black and white magic they knew of, it was hard to believe that he would be able to do anything to protect himself, even as strong as he was now.
Even so, she knew they shouldn't get overconfident. They had been fighting Ganondorf on and off for over half of their lives, and they knew full well that he was an expert at managing close-calls. That being the case, they weren't going to give him any time to protect himself against what was coming. Ganondorf probably wouldn't expect they could get the Master Sword back so quickly, and it was Lydia's hope that seeing Link coming toward him waving it would keep him distracted. He would concentrate on that, and then the magic would be there suddenly, and by the time he realized what was going on, it would be too late for him. They would have gained a momentary element of surprise advantage.
Lydia's lips pressed together into a thin line. Their plan for success was based on a whole lot of assumptions…
But it was all they had now.
She turned and scanned the horizon for her brother, and saw him waving his whole arm at her. He was ready. He put his hands into position in front of him, and even though she couldn't hear his voice from where she was, she knew from experience that he had begun reciting the spell for the Dragon Slave.
She took one last look at the battle before she prepared to cast the Phoenix Flare. As her eyes closed, the last thing she saw was Link and Epona disappearing into the mass of Stalfos, the Master Sword raised high.
This is it!, she thought.
Epona thundered through the Stalfos army. They didn't slow whenever one of the Stalfos got in their way – Link kept pushing Epona onward. His goal was at the other end of the mass of Stalfos. In the distance, Ganondorf was getting to his feet again. He was slow, and the movement looked labored. It seemed that the dragon had bruised him up pretty badly.
They continued on at top speed. Monster after monster was thrown aside, either by an expert swing of the Master Sword or by Epona's barrel-chest slamming into them, before they even saw them coming.
Epona was running and fighting with everything she had. One might not believe at first that a horse had a mind that was capable of understanding the gravity of their situation or the importance of this battle, but Epona certainly seemed to. The way she would throw her chest into a Stalfos to knock it aside, or use her massive head to fling another up into the air as she ran by, suggested that she completely understood what was happening. Where a lesser horse might have panicked, thrown its rider, and fled, Epona kept going with unshakable determination to get through. She knew that this would be her contribution to their victory, and she was going to give it her all.
Link, sensing the horse's drive, yelled encouragement to her as he continued to cut enemies out of their path. He kept his senses sharp as they got closer and closer to where Ganondorf was trying to recover his footing. He was well out of even Hylian earshot of where the sorcerers were, and this plan required split-second timing. However, he was confident that he would know when to act. He had been fighting with them so long that it was almost instinctual. Until then, he and Epona would continue to get as close as they could.
Forming seals with her hands, Lydia began to chant the spell.
"Bird of purity, reborn from flames,
Against whom no evil could ever stand.
In the name of justice and the forces of nature,
I summon thee from the depths of time itself!"
Tiny fragments of white magic gathered at the far edges of Hyrule Field. The fragments multiplied exponentially until it was an unshaped mass that surrounded the field. The magic then shot from the borders toward where Lydia stood, gathering around her. Nature itself began to respond – the wind swirled the magic around her in a dazzling light show.
Her voice became fiercely powerful as she continued the spell.
"Have no pity on the evil that stands in my way!
Infuse me with power! Let your strength become mine!
To wipe it from this earth,
To deliver unto it the ultimate fate!"
Lydia raised her hands above her head, and all of the magic swirling around her gathered in those hands into a great, glowing orb of light. As she was about to fire off the spell, something in the corner of her eye caused her to pause.
The ghostly visage of Maya was standing next to her.
The sorceress was startled to see her already. She had used the Phoenix Flare, or a variation of it, two times before, and Maya had appeared both times, so seeing her here was no surprise. But in both of those instances, Maya had appeared after the spell was fired off, not before.
The theory was that the Phoenix Flare's unique power, which was rooted in regeneration and rebirth, was what allowed Maya to temporarily appear in the physical world. The fact that she was now able to appear here before the spell's incantation was even completed showed just how much power Lydia was generating. Just like the Dragon Slave she had used to erase Ganondorf's tower from the map had been her most powerful and devastating one yet, this spell was setting up to truly be something to behold.
Maya was looking very exhilarated, with a triumphant twinkle in her eye. It seemed that she knew what was happening here, and what was about to happen.
With a confident smile, Lydia said to her, "This one's for you and Riku, too."
Maya flashed her a wide, toothy grin, and nodded. She then moved soundlessly to stand behind Lydia. Though Maya's physical body was long gone, Lydia could still feel it when Maya planted her ghostly hands on her shoulders from behind.
"All right, let's do this!" she shouted aloud, throwing her hands out in front of her. "PHOENIX FLARE!"
Somewhere off to her left side, barely within earshot, she heard her brother scream at the same moment, "DRAGON SLAVE!"
A gigantic bird, made of pure white light, exploded from the white orb in her hands and took flight. Instead of retaining its bird shape, as it had done previously, it stretched out into a solid beam of white light.
From the west, a thick beam of red light – the Dragon Slave – was heading for a collision course with her spell. When those two spells hit, it would be the moment of truth. Would the spells meld together in the way they were hoping? Or, would this kingdom blink out of existence when they collided? Lydia held her breath.
Just when the two spells were about to slam into each other at a sharp angle, they suddenly changed direction, and ran parallel with each other as they sailed toward the north. The two beams of light began to spin around each other, slowly at first, and then so quickly that they were no longer distinguishable as separate spells. They fused together, becoming a single stream of magic, glowing like the sun, pulsing with an unimaginable amount of energy.
The spell cut through the Stalfos army as if they weren't even there. Any unfortunate monsters that were caught in its path were vaporized in the blink of an eye. Completely undeterred, the fused spell continued onward.
Link didn't have to turn around and look to know what was coming. He could feel its approach – see it in his mind, rather than with his eyes. The sorcerers had succeeded in their part of this fight. And now, it was his turn.
Keeping his eyes forward, he held the Master Sword out to left his side as far as his arm would allow. He braced himself for a fierce impact, praying that he wouldn't lose his grip on the sword. The magic in the air was so thick now that it made his skin crawl. Any second now…!
The fused spell hit the sword in a brilliant flash, but without the physical blow that Link was expecting. Rather, it came into contact with the blade very lightly. Looking over at the sword, he could see more and more of the magic swirling around the sword as the blade gathered the spell into itself. He could feel the handle of the sword vibrating with the effort.
The whole process took only a few seconds. When the Master Sword had completely absorbed the spell, it glowed brilliantly white, covered with a thick coat of energy.
Ganondorf was back on his feet now, realizing a second too late what was happening.
Link lifted himself up and planted his feet on top of Epona's saddle, and straightened up as much as he could while still retaining his balance. The horse maintained her long stride as they broke free of the last of the Stalfos army. They quickly closed the distance, and Link leapt from Epona's back, rolling forward when he hit the ground. Epona veered off to the side and ran to get clear.
The Hero of Time used his momentum to roll back up to his feet quickly, and began an adrenaline-filled sprint forward. The rest of the world seemed to freeze, and it felt like he was the only thing still moving. It almost caught him off guard just how quickly he closed the distance between himself and his mortal enemy.
Link swung the sword back behind him, holding it with both hands, preparing to deliver the strike.
As he did so, all sorts of unpleasant memories filled his head. He saw all the previous times they had battled with Ganondorf. He saw before-and-after images of the once-beautiful Hyrule. He saw all of the Hyruleans in Zelda's safe haven that had been uprooted from their lives when Ganondorf took over.
The scenery in his mind suddenly changed to something much more pleasant. Towns were being rebuilt and people were getting their lives back together. The trees had started to sprout leaves again, and the grass was growing. The river no longer churned uncontrollably, allowing Lake Hylia's water to slowly clear up. The animals were slowly returning from wherever they had fled to when the land was destroyed.
Lydia waiting for him when he came home…
A future with hope. A peaceful future they had always wanted…
All possible if the beast that stood before him was erased from existence.
With a gallant battle cry that seemed to echo across all of Hyrule, Link brought the sword down.
Energy exploded from the Master Sword the instant it made contact. A dome of magic expanded out from the point of the strike, but it stayed contained within the immediate area, not extending out beyond Ganondorf himself. Despite the bright light, Link forced himself to keep his eyes open. He, too, was inside the perimeter of the magic, but felt nothing of its attack power. It was like standing in the middle of a tornado, such was the pure force of it, but there was no pain. Link could feel the Sorcerer's Rune pulsing against his skin. Lydia had been right – it was protecting him.
Ganondorf, however, had no such protection. As Link held the Master Sword in place with all of his strength, the magic tore at Ganondorf's transformed body mercilessly. Strings of black and white light pierced him over and over as he screamed in pain and fury. He dropped to his knees as the magic continued to bombard him.
Link suddenly thought of another way to further weaken him. This wasn't part of the plan, but this would be his only chance to accomplish this.
The beast, now kneeling, had lost some of his significant height advantage over Link. He removed one of his hands from the handle of the Master Sword, then reached up and grabbed hold of Ganondorf's lowered forehead, taking care to avoid the horns and tusks, and dug his fingers in as hard as he could.
"I believe you have something of mine!" he yelled, and silently prayed to Farore, the Hyrulean Goddess of Courage, for her assistance.
A golden light exploded from Link's hand. Ganondorf screamed in anger and tried to escape what was happening, but the power of Lydia and Gordon's magic was holding him in place as it continued to do its damage. For the first time in their entire quest, they had rendered the powerful Ganondorf completely helpless.
There was another explosion of light, and the force of it pushed Link back several feet. With his hold on Ganondorf now released, the magic infused into the Master Sword finally began to reduce in intensity. The dome of light slowly shrank, until all that was left was the beast Ganon, beaten and broken, down on the ground on his knees and elbows.
Link straightened up again and stood tall. The wind shifted, momentarily blowing his hair away from his face. The symbol of the Triforce of Courage was just starting to fade.
He tightened his grip on the Master Sword. A blue light momentarily gathered and swirled around it. The power glowed for a few moments, then disappeared back into the shining blade. This was not the sorcerers' magic – that had been spent bringing Ganondorf down like this. This blue light was the power of the Master Sword itself, reawakened by the return of the Triforce of Courage.
Running forward, Link moved to deliver the final blow. Up until now, he had felt like the Hero of Time in name only. Now once again re-armed with the power of the goddesses and the sword of evil's bane, he was the true Hero again. He slashed at Ganondorf's head again and again. With each strike, Ganondorf reared back as if he had been hit with something as heavy as his own weapons, so great was the power of the sword against him.
Link reared his arm back, and stabbed the blade of the Master Sword directly into the great beast's forehead.
Time seemed to freeze. Everyone and everything around them fell deathly silent.
He yanked the blade back out of Ganondorf's head and jumped back. The beast reared up on its knees, flailing his arms wildly through the air, yelling in agony.
From the surrounding mass of people, Zelda appeared. The other sages pushed themselves into the front lines, as well. Even Rauru, the elusive Sage of Light, was there, standing next to the princess. For all anyone knew, this was his one and only appearance outside of the Sacred Realm.
"Six sages!" Zelda yelled at the top of her lungs. "Now!"
Zelda threw her arms up in the air, and a ball of light appeared there for a moment. When it disappeared, the princess fell to her knees in exhaustion.
The other six sages did the same. They raised their arms toward the sky, generating their own respective power. Six different colored balls of light were created, which suddenly shot up into the sky. The power of the six sages flew through the air and hit Ganondorf head-on, gathering into a flat disc of power beneath his hoofed feet.
The light grew so powerful that Link had to shield his eyes as he continued to back away. A powerful wind rushed in his ears, blocking out almost all other sounds. For the first time since he had transformed, he heard Ganondorf's voice.
"Curse you, Zelda!" he growled in his human voice. "Curse you, Sages! Curse you, Link! Someday when this seal is broken… that is when I will exterminate your descendants!"
The light dimmed and surrendered to the darkness of the night once again. The howling wind finally died down. Slowly and carefully, Link lowered his arm from in front of his eyes.
Ganondorf was gone. There was no trace of him left behind.
Any members of the Stalfos army that hadn't already been blown away by the fused spell simply faded away into thin air. All that was left were the stunned Hyruleans.
Up in the sky, the thick blanket of clouds began to thin out and part. For the first time in four years, Hyrule could see the sky. As the clouds continued to fade away, a bright, full moon came into view, bathing the ground below in its light.
After a few moments of stunned silence, someone in the Hyrulean army started to cheer. As they slowly realized what had happened, a few more people joined in. It wasn't long before everyone, all several hundred of them, dropped the caution from their optimism and were cheering and jumping. All throughout Hyrule Field, people of different races were shaking hands and embracing each other. The Gorons were so excited that they were rolling all around the perimeter of the battle field.
Off in the back, Goldie the dragon, sensing that his service was no longer needed, beat his great wings and leapt from the ground. He soared off soundlessly and disappeared over the distant horizon.
Link continued to stare at the spot on the ground where Ganondorf had been standing. There was nothing but dirt there now. Was it possible? Had they… had they finally won? He couldn't seem to bring himself to believe it.
As he slowly slid the Master Sword back into its sheath, it finally started to sink in. He was gone. They had finally beaten him. He began to feel a kind of joy so intense that it was actually managing to affect him physically. He should have felt exhaustion after such an act, but a new wave of energy was flowing in.
Standing there silently, he smiled as he tried to keep himself from crying. They had been fighting Ganondorf for so long that the very idea of peace in Hyrule had become distant. And in the span of a few minutes, it was suddenly much more within reach. A fantasy had suddenly become reality.
His mental celebration was interrupted when he heard Lydia's voice from somewhere in the sky above him. She dipped toward the ground and tackled him at full speed, sending them both flying back several feet. When they finally came to a stop, the sorceress had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
"You did it!" she screamed happily. "I can't believe you did it! Well, of course I can believe it, since it's you, but I still can't believe it!"
As a single tear slipped past his defenses, he wrapped his arms around her. "We did it," he corrected.
Gordon had been just behind his sister. "I can't believe how perfectly that worked!" he said happily as he helped the other two stand again. Lydia grabbed hold of her brother and squeezed him as hard as she could, cheering happily into his ear and jumping up and down.
Epona returned to them just then, bucking and kicking happily as she ran in circles.
On her feet again, Princess Zelda appeared next to them with tears in her eyes.
"Can I assume that the sealing worked?" Link asked her.
She nodded. "Indeed. Ganondorf has been sealed into the Sacred Realm. He will trouble us no longer."
"…But not forever," Lydia added cautiously.
Zelda's smile did not fade in the slightest, but the excitement in her eyes dulled the tiniest bit. "I'm so relieved that you managed to at least get the Triforce of Courage back, but Ganondorf still has the Triforce of Power. There's every chance that someday… decades or centuries from now… he'll find a way to return."
"Well, look at it this way," Lydia continued cheerfully. "Hyrule will be ready for him next time. By then, the land will have recovered and the people will be reorganized, and they'll be better able to fight back and defend themselves. And even if they don't have us, they'll have the Master Sword."
"That is true. We'll have to find a safe place to put it to rest, now that the Temple of Time has been destroyed. Perhaps in the forest somewhere, protected by that area's natural magic."
"And when it's needed again," Link added, "it will also be ready."
"Exactly," Lydia agreed with a grin.
Zelda looked up into the sky, gazing at the full moon. "Now that Ganondorf's power is gone, this kingdom can finally begin to heal." She turned to look at the sorcerers, and bowed slightly. "I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for your assistance all these years."
"We were glad to," Gordon replied with a shrug. "After all, Hyrule has become as important to us as it is to all of you."
Off in the distance, the Hyrulean army appeared to already be organizing a celebration party amongst themselves. Several bonfires had already been built, and the soldiers were starting to dance in their light.
"What will you do now?" Zelda asked the sorcerers. "I'm sure you will want to go back home, but I do hope you will be able to stay for the celebrations that I'm certain will be going on all night."
"We wouldn't miss it," Gordon replied.
"And afterward, I'll do whatever I can to help with the rebuilding," Lydia said.
"Really?" Zelda asked. "That would be wonderful."
The sorceress shrugged and said, "Well, it's only the natural thing to do. This is my home now. I mean, I'll have to go back to my world to tie up some loose ends, and I'm sure I'll go back there from time to time to visit with my family, but ultimately, this is where I'll be spending the rest of my life."
The princess and Gordon both cast looks at Link, who smiled shyly and looked away.
Zelda smiled from ear to ear. "Oooh, I see," she said through her smile, apparently understanding completely.
Gordon did, as well. So, Link had finally asked the big question. He playfully ruffled his sister's hair with his big hand, then leaned down and planted a friendly kiss on her cheek. "Congratulations," he whispered to her. "I'm so happy for you both."
"Thanks, buddy," she whispered back. She looked off into the distance and saw that the party amongst Hyrule's soldiers was picking up quickly. "Well, let's all not worry about the rebuilding and whatnot until tomorrow. I think we all deserve to rest for tonight."
With that, the four of them started toward the party the soldiers had thrown together. The whole thing still didn't feel real. Ganondorf was finally gone, and all of Hyrule was gathered in to a great victory party. It was something they had previously only seen in their dreams.
But, sometimes, dreams do come true.
The following morning, Link and Lydia stood in the center of the ruined Kakariko Village, keeping their eyes shielded from the bright mid-morning sunlight.
As expected, the party had gone on all through the night, and was still going strong when the two of them finally wandered off on their own. Gordon had stayed behind with everyone else, dancing with some of the soldiers like Lydia had never seen him dance before.
At some point, Zelda had returned to the safe haven in the forest to tell those that hadn't become soldiers that it was safe to come out, and they, too, came and joined the massive celebration in Hyrule Field.
The party had grown silent only once – when the morning sun broke over the eastern horizon. It was the first time in four years that Hyrule had seen a true sunrise. They marveled as the sun bathed the clear sky in golden-red light, and all stood silently, watching in awe. It was another physical reminder that they had succeeded in winning their kingdom back, and only caused the party to get even more wild.
With the entirety of Hyrule's population in the field, everywhere else was still quiet. Kakariko was as quiet as a ghost town, save for the occasional birdsong that reached their ears. The birds had returned to the region sometime during the night, and it was refreshing to hear at least some signs of life.
"Man, this place got hit hard," Lydia said as she looked around at the destroyed buildings. "It's going to take forever to get this village back on its feet."
"Maybe not," she heard Link call. He was off a little ways from her, crouched down where a house had clearly used to stand. "Amazingly, the foundations still look more-or-less intact. We may able to get these buildings rebuilt quickly."
"Good," she replied, walking over to join him. "These people deserve to get their lives back together as soon as possible." After a silent moment, she said, "You know, something's bothering me about all of this."
The Hylian asked, "What?"
Lydia shook her head slightly. "Nothing much, it's just... Remember that prophesy from Din? 'Allies will fall, evil will rise. Even when all seems lost, the last resort will fail. Only the power of all will defeat the evil. Ultimate power will restore the land.'"
Link stood back up and said, "Right... I had forgotten all about that.
"I'm a little bothered by the fact that all of it has come true up until now."
"How's that?"
"Well, the first half of it came true. I think it refers to our battle with Ganondorf four years ago. Allies falling, evil rising... And the bit about a last resort failing, I think that refers to my Phoenix Flare. I saved that spell for years indeed as a last resort against him and even that didn't bring him down."
"So, it's the next part that's bothering you."
"'Only the power of all will defeat the evil. Ultimate power will restore the land.' Until last night, I've always thought that the 'ultimate power' would be the Triforce. But Ganondorf got sealed away with the Triforce of Power... so we ended up not being able to reassemble the Triforce in the end. So, did the prophesy just not come true?"
Link thought for a moment. "No, I think it did. It's just that the 'ultimate power' wasn't talking about the Triforce."
"No?"
"Think about what happened at the end. All of Hyrule came together to fight. 'The power of all'. And the ultimate power must refer to the camaraderie and teamwork displayed by an entire kingdom fighting for a single cause. Not until we all came together did Ganondorf finally fall. If you look at it that way, the prophesy was right."
Lydia laughed a little. "Wow," she said. "That's… right out of every book I've ever read."
They were silent for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts, until Lydia spoke again.
"So, Gordon told me that he was going to go back home soon. He promised that he would come to visit whenever he could, but that he was going to live back in our world. He thought it would be too hard on our parents for both of us to call another world home."
Link placed his hand on her shoulder. "That's okay," he said with a smile. "And I'm sure we'll go visit as often as we can, too."
"You, too?"
"Of course. Keep in mind, you still have to teach me how to drive the car."
Lydia laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." She looked around once again at the ruined surroundings. "So… Rebuilding Hyrule… How do we even start?"
Link thought for a moment, then said, "I think Zelda said something about gathering the castle elders. They have to decide where they're going to re-locate and rebuild Hyrule Castle. She asked me if I could help train a new set of knights and act as their captain."
"Hey, good for you! That's perfect!"
"In the meantime, we can help rebuild Kakariko… Maybe build a house for ourselves, too."
The girl smiled. "That sounds nice," she said. And she meant it. She had meant every word she had said the night before about wanting a completely unexciting home life. A future with him. After all, until very recently, she thought it was a future she would never have. As long as he was there, it would be perfect.
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed hard. He returned the embrace, and kissed the top of her head.
After so many years of hardship, fighting, and heartache… They had finally found peace.
"Why don't we head back to the party?" she suggested. "Somebody from the forest hideout brought ale. The way I saw Gordon chugging it as we were leaving, he's probably buzzed out of his mind. That's got to have some entertainment value."
Link shook his head, laughing. "Sympathetic and sensitive as always, I see."
"Come on, I'll race you there!"
She started to run toward Hyrule Field, but only got a step ahead before Link's boot hooked around the front of her ankle, causing her to trip and face-plant into the dirt. Lifting her face off of the ground, she saw Link sprint ahead of her, laughing as he went.
"Why you-!" she shouted after him as she picked herself up again. "So dead!"
Jumping back up, she took off after him.
Yes, this was it, she thought as she ran. The peaceful life they had worked so hard for. Now, all that was left of their adventure was to live happily ever after. She was greatly looking forward to it, and wondered what the future was going to bring.
Breathing heavily from the effort, Vaati carried yet another heavy stack of books up the library stairs. He set them down on the huge sorting table, then leaned on them for support as he tried to catch his breath.
True to his word, after Lydia and the others went back to their own time, he went back to the castle town to try to find honest work and get his life back on track. He had gone straight to the archival library, having had that idea earlier, and the man who owned it was kind enough to take him in and offer him a job.
It had been several months since then, and Vaati was proving himself to be a valuable member of the library staff. He worked all around the library, doing his best to keep the books organized, and his natural attraction to books led to him doing his job with exceptional care. It really didn't feel like work to him. He was practically in heaven, surrounded by so many old and interesting books all day. Some of the books dated back hundreds of years.
In fact, that's why Vaati was working so hard today. The entire library staff was working around the clock. A few days before, some historians had uncovered a stash of really old books from what they believed to be the site of an ancient castle, though the royal family could neither confirm nor deny that information. The books they had discovered at the site were flooding into the archival library now, where they needed to be dated and sorted for further study and later storage.
The load of books Vaati had carried up here was only a small part of the entire collection that had been uncovered. There were still more to be gathered. He still had a long day ahead of him.
Someone was coming up the stairs behind him, carrying another armload of books. He was a big, burly man, and his extra strength allowed him to carry a load of books three times larger than the one Vaati had managed. This was the owner of the library, and considering the importance of the discovery of books they were bringing in, he had come to personally assist.
"Hello, sir," Vaati greeted him.
With a grunt, the big man set the mountain of books down on the large table, where they flooded outward to almost entirely cover it.
"Hi, youngin'," he said. "Thanks for your help today,"
"Of course, sir," Vaati replied, absently brushing a thick coat of dust from one of the books.
"Say, I'm glad I ran into you. I need to show you something. I've been trying to figure this out, but I just can't come up with an explanation."
Vaati looked at his boss questioningly, but said nothing.
The big man continued, "One of these old books, for some reason, has your name on it."
"W-What? Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I can read, can't I? Where'd that thing go…?" He leaned over the mound of books he had dropped on the table, and started sifting through them with his big hands. Finally, he grasped a book that was half-buried in a pile, and held it out to Vaati.
Vaati couldn't tell what this book was. It was completely wrapped in some kind of thick, durable paper, tied closed with an expensive-looking piece of rope, that despite its obvious age, still looked as fancy as it probably had when it was first made. And just as his boss had said, somebody had hand-written Vaati's name in ink on one of the upper corners of the wrapping paper.
As he tore the paper from the book, he couldn't help but feel guilty – it felt like he was destroying a historical artifact. But someone had written his name on this book, and he had to know why.
Once the book was free from its wrappings, Vaati could see how amazingly old it was… Probably hundreds of years. Normally a book this old would be in danger of crumbling to dust in his hands, but this one was in remarkably good shape.
The title of the book read "War of the Triforce".
His boss glanced at the cover. "Oh, I've read about the War of the Triforce. Of course, we don't call it that anymore. Nowadays it's usually referred to as the Great Cataclysm. It refers to a conflict that occurred when the Triforce was originally split into three pieces. …Wow, 'War of the Triforce'. Shows you just how old this book is. That war happened at least a thousand years ago. Did you request it from the historians?"
Mystified, Vaati said nothing and just continued to stare at the ancient history book. A voice called down from the lower level, saying something about another wagonload of books coming in.
"More work to do," the big man said as he walked past Vaati and started down the stairs again.
As carefully as possible, Vaati cradled the book in one arm and opened the cover with the other hand. He scanned through the pages without really reading the words, but he caught bits and pieces of information that sounded vaguely familiar.
When he was almost through the book, he turned another page, and a folded piece of paper, yellowed with great age, that had been tucked into the book fell out, landing on one of his shoes.
His heart skipped a beat as he gazed at the page that had been marked by the folded paper. It was an artist's rendering of what looked like a portrait. Vaati recognized the people it displayed immediately. Central to the picture was the man that had taken the Four Sword and released him from his seal. He was quite a bit older in this picture than Vaati remembered him, maybe as much as twenty years older, but he still looked as strong and fit as ever. He was dressed in what looked like the ancient garb of the Hyrulean knights.
On either side of him were older versions of Lydia and Gordon, dressed equally elegantly.
Vaati could hardly believe what he was seeing. So, they had survived their fight after all, he concluded as he felt a rush of relief. They had survived, and obviously lived on for many years afterward.
Suddenly, he remembered the piece of paper that had fallen out of the book. He carefully set the book on the table next to him, still open to the page with the portrait, and retrieved the paper from the floor. Very, very carefully, since it looked to be old enough to come apart in his hands, he unfolded it. It was a letter.
And they lived happily ever after.
We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much.
Even though we will be long gone by the time you receive this letter, I want you to know that we've always kept thoughts of you in a special place in our hearts, and remember you fondly as the misguided but inherently good man that really came through for his kingdom in the end. I know we weren't together very long, but we've always considered you a dear friend, and I pray that you are able to find the peace you seek for your life, as we finally did.
Live well, and stay out of trouble!
Lydia
Tears jumped to Vaati's eyes before he could do anything to stop them. Lydia must have remembered what he had said about maybe finding work at the archival library, and prepared this book for him, knowing it would eventually find its way into his hands centuries in the future. Just then, he remembered that the last thing she had said to him as he left was "see you in the history books", but he didn't realize at the time that she had meant it literally.
He couldn't help but feel sadness about the fact that they indeed were long gone by this point in history. But his sadness was quickly overshadowed by happiness and relief that their lives had turned out so well, despite what they had been facing when he had last seen them.
He vowed then to honor their memory by living as well as he could. He would make up for his previous misdeeds, as he had promised he would. His future suddenly looked even brighter.
He gently folded the letter again and put it back into its place in the dusty book's pages. Carefully, he closed the book.
I promise.
He heard his boss's voice call up to him from the lower level. "Come on, youngin'!" his booming voice hollered. "These books aren't going to move and sort themselves!"
Vaati wiped the tears from his eyes, and yelled back, "Coming, sir!". He turned and took off down the stairs to the library's ground floor with his heart flying high.
THE END