Attention: Revised Chapter…the last one of these actually.

Chapter 19: The Historian's Collection

Zelda was walking through a dark corridor, the lit torch in her hand was the only source of light around. She had no idea how long exactly she had wandered through this tunnel, but it felt like it must have at least been over an hour. Even after walking so long, the pathway just kept going, leading her deeper and deeper into the mountain.

No matter how far she walked without seeing anything other than the seemingly endless corridor, she refused to give up. And her persistence proved to be worth it when she reached a doorway that lead to an enormous room. The problem though, was that that room was just as dark as the corridor she came through, and her torch was not enough to help her see anything.

However, deep inside the chamber Zelda just entered, a pair of glowing white eyes was watching Zelda from a distance. And as the owner of them noticed Zelda's presence, the eyes suddenly shimmered. And by doing so, the entire chamber lit up as all of the torches on the walls simultaneously caught fire, thus illuminating the room.

As the light filled the chamber, the eyes were revealed to belong to the strange humanoid-headed chicken creature that had been following Zelda all the way here. And even now, he chose to stay out of her line of sight.

Zelda meanwhile took notice of the newly revealed room ahead of her. The chamber before her was even bigger than she thought, and it was far from empty. The room was filled with statues of all kinds of various figures, and they all seemed to be placed in some kind of chronological order.

Intrigued by what this place was all about, Zelda slowly approached the first statue of the series. It appeared to depict the three sacred triangles that made up the Triforce being held by three female figures that looked only vaguely human. Instead they had long and sleek bodies with very long fingers, big pupil-less eyes, no visible nose, very long pointed ears, and hair that seemed to defy gravity a bit. Even though their haircuts, expressions and symbols on their foreheads looked different, they otherwise looked mostly the same.

Underneath the statue was a tablet were it was written "In the primordial times, the three Goddesses known as Farore, Din and Nayru gave the chaos-consumed world they stumbled upon order and viability by giving their Courage, Power and Wisdom into the new realm. This gift would be known much later as the Triforce, and it was said that whoever wielded this gift would have the power to make any wish become a reality."

After reading the text, Zelda thought 'Nothing new here, except that I haven't ever seen such a strange depiction of the goddesses. Most pictures often depict them as looking like humans, but these figures I see depicted here look like something else entirely. I guess their true appearance may have changed in history as the people forgot more and more details about them. And, if they looked more human, they could probably be more relatable.'

After she had finished inspecting those statues, she moved on to another set. These ones showed the Triforce again. But this time, there were a lot of figures who seemed to reach out to it. In their way stood a woman with a staff in hand while seemingly shielding the Triforce from the people that were trying to get their hands on it. The invaders looked mostly like ordinary people, except that their eyes were without pupils and black markings seemed to slither along their skin. Standing just behind them was bizarre-looking and giant creature with a weird four-horned helmet on his head.

Just like the previous set of statues, this set also had an inscription that now read "When the corrupting influence of the Fused Shadow was awakened: people, animals and objects fell under the corrupting power and transformed into living nightmares, or demons as they're mostly called. These corrupted ones were known as the Dark Interlopers and sought to use the Triforce in order to claim its might and cover the world in eternal night. But they were opposed by a woman known as Hylia, who used the powers of the Light Spirits to protect the Triforce from being abused by the Dark Interlopers.'

Zelda pondered 'The Dark Interlopers? I think I remember Impa mentioning them. Yes, they were the ancestors of the Sheikah…however that happened. But wasn't Hylia a goddess? Or maybe she was mortal at one point? Or maybe things will become clearer with the next set?'

The next set did indeed intrigue her. It now showed two female figures battling each other. One of them was covered in smoke or something similar and had huge four-fingered claw-like hands, as well as a spiky crown on her head. The other appeared to look very similar to the mortal depiction of Hylia from before, only this version had a long flowing dress and a high crown with the insignia of the Triforce on it.

This time, the inscription said "From the ashes of the Dark interlopers' invasion, two new goddesses emerged. Hylia was reborn as the Guardian of Time, and could wield the powers of the light to shine away the nightmares that tried to defile the treasure that she held under her protection. However, she was opposed by Mother Night, the Goddess of Darkness, who could bend the night itself to her will and trap people in their worst nightmares. Hylia and Mother Night were as different as day and night, and spent decades relentlessly trying to destroy their opposing counterpart. Eventually though, Mother Night fell under Hylia's might and the Dark Interlopers were imprisoned by the Spirits of Light."

'Mother Night? That's odd. In all the books I've read about ancient history have I never heard anything ever mention a Goddess of Darkness. However, if there was such a goddess, then it could explain why shadow has always returned to this world even after it is thought to have been eradicated. But even if she ever existed, then why has she never been mentioned in any other historical texts? Unless…maybe someone wanted her to be forgotten?'

Moving on, she finally saw a figure she recognised alongside a lot more she didn't. This set was showing a battlefield where one side appeared to consist of all sorts of primordial demons while the other consisted of soldiers from numerous cultures in the ancient world, including Mogmas, the Ancient Sheikahs, Parella and even the (now extinct) LD series robots that once lived in the Lanayru Province. The demons were led by a massive beast of a man with scaly muscular arms and flaming hair, and in his hand was a massive blade with serrated edges and a gem at its hilt. At his side was the familiar form of Demon Lord Ghirahim, looking exactly the same as he did now. The other army was led by Hylia, wielding a blade that seemed similar, yet different, to her opponent's. At Hylia's side was a peculiar female figure with wing-like arms and a diamond-shaped gem in her chest.

"Demise, an ancient amalgamation of hatred and evil somehow got his hands on the dreaded weapon known as the Accursed Sword and used it to cut through the borders between worlds in order to escape his eternal prison and return to Hyrule. With the dark blade's power, he rallied the demon armies to his will and launched a full-scale invasion upon the land. However, with the surface protected by the Goddess Hylia, Demise was faced with an opposition he did not expect. Realising Demise was after the Triforce, Hylia sent it and its chosen caretakers: the humans, into the skies above. With the Triforce out of the demons' reach, Hylia rallied all the species on the surface, even the descendants of the Dark Interlopers, the Sheikah, and faced Demise's army head on. In order to match his strength, Hylia created the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword, to be wielded by her in the final battle. However, while Hylia was far more powerful than Demise, she severely underestimated him and the sword that he held, and as a result, suffered grave injuries when facing him. Weakened by the blade's dark power, Hylia had no choice but to seal Demise away, pass on the Master Sword to another and descend to mortal form."

'Now this I have heard about, the ancient war between the Goddess Hylia and the Demon King Demise. But now I'm seeing the puzzle pieces fit together more. The dark blade that Demise held was the Accursed Sword, the very same blade Vaati is wielding now. And if Ghirahim was around back then and was serving Demise, then that must mean that Ghirahim is somehow linked to the Accursed Sword, probably serving whoever is holding it. But I never expected Ghirahim to be this old. I mean, that war was more than 2000 years ago, and Ghirahim hasn't aged a day.'

Up next was a depiction of young man with a long floppy cap holding the Master Sword with its edge skyward. The strange winged woman from the last set was hovering just behind him, and the man was staring down Ghirahim, who was keeping a firm grip around the neck of a woman with a similar white dress that Hylia wore. The Demon Lord appeared to be dragging the woman towards a monster that looked like a giant pine cone with legs and a massive mouth filled with sharp teeth.

"After Demise was sealed away, he was eventually reduced to a mindless abomination known only as the Imprisoned. However, even in this form, he was still a huge threat to the world. So Fi, the spirit of the Master Sword, contacted a young man who would be worthy of wielding the sacred blade and slay what was left of Demise. But, at the same time, one of Demise's most devoted servants, a Demon Lord known as Ghirahim, was sent to track down Hylia's mortal descendant and use her divine soul to return Demise to his former glory. The hero who took on the Master Sword and Ghirahim eventually met, and this resulted in several conflicts between them. Eventually, Ghirahim managed to capture Hylia's descendant and began to use her to revive Demise, but before Demise could ravage the world again, the hero wielding the Blade of Evil's Bane slayed him in a duel to the death, saving Hylia's soul in the process. However, in Demise's final moments, he promised that an incarnation of his hatred would one day rise again to torment the world once more."

'Yes, this is all very familiar to the books I read before. The knowledge from the previous statues must be too old to be recorded in the archives now. I guess, if enough time has passed, even legends fade from memory. But there is one thing that intrigues me here: there is no mention as to what happened to Ghirahim when Demise was resurrected. Judging by the fact that he's still around, he probably slipped away from the conflict and disappeared from history until he could reappear yet again. But why did he wait 2000 years to do so? And why is he suddenly working for Vaati of all people? That's the confusing part. Maybe Vaati sought him out or resurrected him somehow? Or…? Of course, it must have something to do with that Accursed Sword, but how?'

While she pondered over that, she took a peak at the next set of statues before her. This time, they depicted a young boy stand against an army of monsters with a peculiar-looking blade in his hand. Behind him was a young girl clad in a dress that must have been suited to royalty holding onto a chest of some kind. Furthermore, behind the (apparently royal) girl, a whole group of what appeared to be Minish was watching.

"Shortly after the new kingdom of Hyrule was founded, the denizens were constantly attacked by the remnants of the demon army Demise brought to the land before. And as the humans were about to give in to despair, they were visited by a people known among themselves as the Minish, but known to the humans as Picori. The Minish were a generous and kind-hearted people, and didn't hesitate to help the distressed people defend themselves from the monsters that threatened them. The Minish gave the humans three gifts to help them: the first was a magical sword known as the Picori Blade, the second was the Bound Chest, a magical casket that could imprison the entire demon army if need be. However, the last gift was the most valuable of them all. It was called the Light Force, a source of almost limitless magical power. With these gifts, the appropriately named Hero of Men took the Picori Blade and faced the demons while Princess Zelda II took upon her the mighty Light Force and used it to seal the army inside the Bound Chest before the hero used the Picori Blade as a lock to keep them from escaping."

'So that's where the Light Force came from? It was given to one of my ancient ancestors by the Minish to have the power to seal Demise's army away. I guess that makes sense. And I suppose I have inherited it from this Princess Zelda II and her lineage all this time. But wait, who was Princess Zelda I? Maybe this series only depict whenever something interesting happened, and nothing really that interesting happened then?'

The next statues that she came across showed something even more interesting. This time, a young man with a gem-encrusted cap was standing in front of an opened Bound Chest with several monster-looking figures flying out of it. Even though he looked much younger, Zelda definitively recognised him as Vaati. Also, behind him was a young boy with a similar outfit to that of the heroes from before, except that his cap had a beak and a set of eyes at the end of it.

"A mysterious sorcerer named Vaati soon came to Hyrule with the expressed desire to use the Light Force to ascend to a godlike state of being. Believing that the Light Force was sealed in the Bound Chest, he broke the Picori Blade and unleashed the entire demon army upon the land while being disappointed that he got the legend all wrong. But a young hero accompanied by a talking hat calling himself Ezlo began to hunt for the Four Elements to reforge the broken Picori Blade. When they succeeded, the Picori Blade was reborn into the legendary Four Sword: a weapon that could split the wielder into four and let them fight as one. But, at the same time, Vaati learned about the true location of the Light Force and began a ritual to steal it from Princess Zelda III, daughter of the previous bearer of the Light Force. However, the hero accompanied by the talking hat confronted Vaati in the midst of his ritual and stopped him from acquiring more than half of the sacred power. The power he gained, however, was enough for him to transform into a demigod with complete power over the elements. But, even in this new form, he still fell to the hero wielding the Four Sword, and was soon after imprisoned inside the blade itself."

'Indeed, this was the rise of Vaati the Wind Mage and how he came to possess the Light Force before being sealed inside the Four Sword. How long has he been searching for the rest of that power? It must have been almost 1500 years, and yet he is still pursuing the same ambition. But, the sheer determination he must have to have survived this far and not giving up even now. That…is something I can even admire if circumstances had been any different. Anyway, I had no idea Ezlo was a hat back then, who knew?'

Just after that set was a new scenario depicting four boys who looked completely identical to each other holding onto a sword that looked slightly similar to the Picori Blade shown before. And the four of them were apparently facing a monster with a singular giant eye, several bat-like wings, and a pair of claw-handed arms on the creature's body.

"However, Vaati eventually escaped his imprisonment in the Four Sword and took possession of the Palace of Winds, where he took on the name Vaati the Wind Mage. After conquering the Palace of Winds and casting out the Wind Tribe from their home, Vaati began to abduct any fair maiden that caught his eye before imprisoning them in his new fortress. The people of Hyrule began to plead for someone brave and strong enough to save the maidens and defeat the Wind Mage. Eventually, a young boy picked up the discarded Four Sword and used its power to split into four versions of himself. And together, the four of them journeyed to the Palace of Winds and resealed Vaati into the blade once more. However, it was clear that he would once again escape his imprisonment sooner or later."

'I can vouch for that, alright. I wonder just how many times Vaati was sealed inside that blade. I guess it could explain why he seems to hate the world so much, I would be pissed off too if I was imprisoned inside a sword over and over again.'

Deciding to move on, she came upon a set of statues that she knew instantly what they represented. This time, it was split into two sections, with a young boy playing an ocarina back to back with an older version of him holding the Master Sword in his hand. Similarly fractured, was a young girl dressed in royal attire next to a Sheikah disguising their true appearance. Also, facing the young boy and girl was a tall armoured man with a long cape hanging from his shoulders, while the older man and Sheikah were facing a monstrous beast that looked like a giant boar consumed by evil. While Zelda had never seen this beast in real life, she instantly knew who it was.

"About a thousand years since Hyrule was founded, the land met its most feared enemy. Ganondorf, the notorious King of Thieves and an incarnation of the dreaded Demise, soon came to Hyrule in the hope of stealing the Triforce for himself and using its power to enact his revenge against Hylia's people. However, the young Princess Zelda V saw his intentions coming and tasked a young boy from the forest with making sure the Triforce was protected. What they didn't expect though, was that Ganondorf would use their own plans against them and was soon granted access to the Triforce thanks to their involvement. But, for whatever reason, Ganondorf could not claim the full Triforce and instead only kept the Triforce of Power while the other two went to the Zelda and the boy respectfully. After this turn of events, the princess disguised herself as a Sheikah, Ganondorf took over Hyrule, and the boy was protected inside the Sacred Realm until he was ready to emerge as the legendary Hero of Time. When he did, however, the first thing he was tasked with was finding the Seven Sages and using their power to turn the tide and strike down the King of Evil."

'Yep, here it is, the stories I read about as a child. If anyone doesn't know this story, then they've probably been living under a rock. So let's move on.'

The next set was bit more peculiar, as it showed a wolf with a fierce determination in its eyes with a strange imp-like figure with a fragment of the Fused Shadow on her head sit on the wolf's back. The figure ahead of them was a bizarre man wearing a cone-shaped helmet that looked slightly like the head of a chameleon. Behind that man was another depiction of Ganondorf while a more matured royal woman was standing behind the wolf and the imp. Strange creatures with shield-looking faces and long arms seemed to be all over this set as well.

"After living in peace for hundreds of years, Hyrule was suddenly and unexpectedly invaded by an army of Shadow Beings originating from the world where most of the Dark Interlopers were banished: the Twilight Realm. And these beings were led by a ruthless usurper known as Zant. With his dark magic, he quickly covered Hyrule almost entirely in the shroud of twilight. Confronted with the full force of the Shadow Invasion, even Princess Zelda XI was forced to surrender to his rule to protect her people. However, in the far reaches of the land, a young farmer bearing the Triforce of Courage was swept into these events, but when he landed in the twilight, he transformed into a beast. Soon enough, he met with the Twilight Princess that Zant usurped, Midna, and the two of them joined forces to stop Zant and his invasion. However, it soon became clear that the true culprit behind this invasion was none other than Ganondorf, who had cheated death itself and gave Zant a portion of his powers in order to help him return to the world he came from. With their combined powers however, Midna and the farmer took upon the Master Sword and used their shear determination to defeat both Zant and finally deliver the killing blow to Ganondorf."

'Of course, the Shadow Invasion, my favourite historical conflict, the time when the world was invaded by the mysterious twilight. But this line of text also suggests that the Twili were descendants of the Dark Interlopers from the dark ages before. This means that both the Sheikah and Twili originally came from the same people. Fascinating!'

Finally, the last set of statues present represented four seemingly identical young boys holding onto four version of the Four Sword while facing three different opponents at once. One of them was a boy that looked identical to the ones holding the Four Sword, but with a blackened appearance. The next was a massive pig-man that looked very much like the Ganondorf of old, but this time he was holding a giant trident with a noticeable gem at its hilt. And finally was a depiction of the one-eyed beast version of Vaati, but he seemed to stay away from the other characters for some reason.

"400 years after the Shadow Invasion ended, a new man claiming to be the reincarnation of Ganondorf known only as Ganon broke into the forbidden pyramid of the Gerudo and stole two dangerous artefacts that had been locked away. One of them was the Dark Mirror, to which he used to create an evil reflection of the heroes of old, the other was the ancient Accursed Sword once used by Demise himself. And with the power of the Accursed Sword, Ganon became a monster of incredible power determined to conquer the world. One of the shadow reflections he spawned eventually reached the Four Sword Sanctuary and forced a nearby boy to pull the Four Sword out of its pedestal to defend himself. However, this had two major consequences: the boy was soon split into four versions of himself, but it also allowed Vaati the Wind Mage to roam free yet again. With Vaati on the loose, Ganon trying to conquer the world and the shadow heroes causing mayhem everywhere, it was up to the boy split into four to stop the ensuing chaos from destroying Hyrule. After the Dark Mirror had been sealed away by Princess Zelda XIII, and Vaati was apparently defeated, the four heroes imprisoned Ganon inside the Four Sword."

'Vaati was only apparently defeated, guess that explains why he's still around now. He must have found the Accursed Sword Ganon lost after his defeat and used it to return to his former self. But, that Dark Mirror sounds very much like that thing I found in the Palace of Winds. It is also telling that this cannot be too long ago as Princess Zelda XIII must technically be my grandmother or great grandmother considering my mom was Queen Zelda XIV.'

There was another platform where another set of statues could be, but there was nothing there. It was clear that this was the end of the story, or…maybe it had yet to be finished?

'I guess in another hundred years or so, another set of statues will be here. Maybe it would even feature me in it?'

Her eyes soon fixed on something that she was sure weren't there before. At the end of the hallway sat a wolf with a golden glow emanating from it with one of its eyes glowing red.

Seeing the mysterious animal in front of her, she wasn't really sure what to do. But soon enough, she remembered Levias words to her before she entered.

"It is someone else that is waiting for you in the depths of that temple. But only one knowing true courage may face him in the state he is now."

Zelda decided to heed those words and absorbed her courage before she slowly approached the wolf. When she got closer to it, the wolf started to growl at her menacingly, but she still wouldn't relent and got even closer. And when she got too close to it, the wolf suddenly jumped at her with its fangs bared.

However, when it reached her, something peculiar happened.

Zelda suddenly found herself waking up in a strange realm covered in mist reaching as far as they eye could see. Several familiar landmarks like Vaati's Palace, Death Mountain and Snowpeak could be seen in the distance. But other than that, there was nothing else out here of interest.

Zelda slowly stood up and tried to make sense of what just happened, and where in the world she had ended up. She soon heard the sound of breathing behind her, so she slowly turned around to see the same golden wolf from earlier just sit there while staring at her.

However, when she made eye-contact with it, the wolf began to howl, and as it did so, transformed into a ghostly skeletal figure in some sort of armour wielding a sword in his left hand, and a shield in his right. As soon as the ghostly warrior had manifested, he got in a battle stance as if he was challenging her.

Confused by what was going on, Zelda asked "Who are you?"

But the mysterious challenger didn't answer, and just kept his stance while remaining silent.

Zelda raised an eyebrow, but after a moment took out her sword and approached him cautiously. When she got close enough, she tried to strike at him. But, he easily blocked it with his shield and struck her down with a swing of his blade. However, his sword swing didn't hurt her physically and instead sent an electric jolt of pain through her instead.

As she fell to the ground while still feeling the sting of his blade, her opponent said "A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. You may think yourself worthy to use the Blade of Evil's Bane and take on the role of the heroes of old, but your current power only disgraces that role. If you tried to face your greatest foes as you are now, you will fail."

Zelda got back on her feet and looked into the eyes of this ghostly warrior before she asked "So how can I become worthy of all that?"

"By proving your strength and courage. That is the only way you can be worthy of the destiny of the hero."

"And how do I do that?"

"By defeating me without faltering or giving in to despair. You must use the strength of your courage to summon enough power to face the evils that is threatening the world. And if you cannot overcome me, then you will surely have no hope of striking down your true enemies. But, if you can match my own strength and strike me down, then you are worthy of the power I hold."

"Alright then, I accept your challenge."

As soon as she said that, the figure drew his blade and struck at her neck before she could react, thus making her fall to her knees while gasping in pain.

"Your enemies won't play by any rules, and will attack you when you least expect it. And unlike me, they won't show you any mercy."

Zelda took his advice and tried to stab him in his abdomen before she thought he could react, but he jumped out of the way just before her blade could hit him. But that didn't stop her, and she ran right at her opponent while furiously slashing at him.

He easily blocked her rapid sword swings before he tried to parry with a stabbing motion, but this time, Zelda jumped out of the way and tried to roll around him in an attempt to stab him in the back. However, as soon as she stood up behind him and prepared to strike, he spun around with his sword out in a full 360 degree radius in a deadly move known as a Spin Attack.

Zelda had no chance to avoid the counterattack and fell back to the ground again with a painful thud.

The warrior then observed "Your attacks are feral, drawn from rage and anger. This is not the nature of a true hero. The Master Sword will reject you if you try to pull it from its resting place. A hero only fight for one reason, and that is because it is the right thing to do. You must never fight for yourself, only for others, others who will be saved by your bravery if you find the strength to fight for them."

Zelda thought about his words and realised the wisdom held in them.

'He's right, right now I'm fuelled for my hate against Ghirahim and Vaati, but revenge will not help anyone, especially not Impa's memory. Before that, I was driven by the fear my nightmares of Vaati gave me, but fear had never been what would help this world. However, now I realise that when Vaati held me captive, he gave me a choice to give him my power or die, and I refused. Why did I refuse? Yes, it was because I couldn't let such a vile and dangerous man gain such power. If Vaati succeed, then it won't be my life that's endangered, it will be everyone else's. Impa chose to risk her own life to keep me safe, and that is something I must do myself. She had courage to which I have never seen before. She didn't hesitate to fight the most powerful sorcerer in the world, even knowing that she could never win, and in so doing, saved my life. I must have the same determination, strength and courage that she had, and I know that is something I do have. I used that courage to inspire the villagers of Ordon to fight against the monsters that attacked it, I used it to save my friends from Queen Gohma's lair, I used it when I set out on this journey in the first place, and I will use it now. If I fail, it will mean the suffering of so many, and I can't let that happen. That is why I can't lose, and that is why I will fight until my dying breath!'

With a confidence Zelda had never had before, she fearlessly ran at him againwith her sword drawn, prompting him to prepare accordingly. But, at the last minute, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and threw it towards his face. Instinctively, he used his shield to block the thrown object, but that meant blocking his line of sight as well. And in that second he wasn't looking, she managed to stab her sword straight through his chest, thus marking her victory over her opponent.

With the sword going through his torso, the ghostly figure looked at Zelda's face and said "You are worthy." before he took a few steps back while Zelda pulled out her sword and put it back in its sheath.

The figure then began to change before her eyes. The slightly morbid skeletal warrior in armour faded away and was instead replaced by a man no older than herself with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a green tunic and cap. This young man looked exactly like all those heroes depicted in the hallway Zelda just passed through.

As soon as his true form was at last revealed, he said "Huh…it's…I've been waiting so long…"

Intrigued by who this man was, Zelda questioned "…For what?"

"For someone capable of breaking the curse on my soul, someone worthy of the power I have to give."

"Who are you?"

"My name is…Link."

Zelda had definitively heard that name before and realised "Hey, I know about you. Impa said you joined the resistance and then just disappeared about six years ago."

Link sighed and confirmed "Yes, that's true…"

"So why did you..?"

Link didn't answer her question right away and instead requested "Take a seat."

Zelda was about to ask him what exactly she was supposed to sit on, but stopped herself when she saw him take a seat at a wooden log that appeared out of nowhere. So she decided to sit down next to him.

The young man explained "I grew up in a small hamlet called Lon Lon Village: a nice little place in the middle of nowhere where we raised horses, cows and cuccos. Our lives were tough, but we made due. That was at least until…a man calling himself Ghirahim arrived for what was apparently called a royal inspection."

"Just like he did in my village..."

Link nodded and continued "All was going smooth at first, but when he got a good look at me, he gave me this look of recognition…as if he has somehow met me before. And when that happened, he just snapped. With a brutality I didn't expect, he murdered everyone in sight and tried to kill me by tossing me into a ravine. No matter what vendetta he had against me, the people who just happened to be in his way were innocent, and had not even done a thing to upset him either. So after surviving the fall by pure luck, me and my faithful horse Epona travelled all across Hyrule in order to find the monster that killed my friends and family, and make him answer for his crimes."

"That's Ghirahim. But, wait, did you just say your horse was called Epona?"

"Yeah, my closest and most dependable friend, I've been worrying about her for a while now. With me gone, I don't really know what happened to her or…"

"Oh, don't worry about that, she's in good hands."

"Really?"

"Sure, me and my friend Ilia took care of her…if our Epona indeed is the same horse you had."

Link let out a long breath and said "Thanks for taking care of her."

"So…uhm, what were you saying?"

"Right, well, after a while I met up with these people calling themselves the resistance. I remember working with an older man whose name was Auru, a battle-hardened woman named Sheik…I think, and a talking owl, believe it or not, with a very strange name. They told me all about this guy called Vaati who was sending Ghirahim all over the place to look for…you I suppose. They also told me about a sword capable of taking them both down, so I went to look for it."

"The Master Sword, I presume."

"Yes, the Master Sword. I did find it though, in the Temple of Time where it was supposed to be. But…when I tried to pull it out, it wouldn't move no matter how hard I pulled. And after that, I realised that I was not worthy to become the hero that the world needed. I didn't know what to do, so I tried the boldest plan I could think of. I tried to steal the Accursed Sword from Vaati himself."

"That…could not have ended well…"

Link shook his head and confirmed "It was the worst decision I ever made. The moment I held the blade in my hand, I resigned myself to a fate worse than death. The Accursed Sword had a mind of its own, and it hated me more than anything else. So when I got a grip on its handle, the sword cursed me to an existence between life and death, to never rest until someone broke the curse the blade gave me."

"That must have been…"

Link didn't wait to hear her finish that sentence and instead stood up before taking a few steps away from her.

With his back to Zelda, Link said "But the curse is broken now, at least…partly."

Zelda stood up as well and asked "Partly?"

Link faced her and explained "I am no longer ruled by the dark power, but I can't return to the land of the living. The only thing that is keeping me here is the gift Farore gave me when I was born, and now I'm ready to pass it on."

"To me?"

Link raised his left hand so she could see when the three triangles began to light up on the back of his hand, but with the bottom right being the one that's glowing more brightly than the rest. And when he did so, Zelda's left hand began to glow in the same manner, but with her having the bottom left glowing more brightly instead.

"This is the Triforce of Courage, and I've had it my whole life. It is the mark of a true hero, but I have realised now that I don't deserve to have it. And now I want to pass it on to you."

Zelda's eyes widened as she questioned "But…why me?"

"You have proven to be a hero capable of righting my wrongs. You, who defeated me even in my cursed state, you who have stood up to both Vaati and Ghirahim and lived, maybe you can succeed where I failed and save this world in my place."

"Why I…thank you. You have my sympathies for what pain you endured because of me. And I hope you find peace after giving me this burden."

"Don't worry about me, just…please do me a favour."

"What is it?"

"Do not make my mistakes."

Zelda recognised those words from her dreams, and she took them to heart when she answered "I won't."

Link gave her a smile while both of their Triforce marks began to glow brightly. And soon enough, the triangle on Link's hand left it and began to fly over to Zelda's. When it reached her, her hand began to glow more brightly as both the Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage showed themselves on the back of her hand.

With the Triforce of Courage passed on, Link faded away to at last find his peace. And Zelda now held two pieces of the legendary objects that created the world, the Courage of Farore, and the Wisdom of Nayru. With the mark of a true hero finally in her possession, Zelda was ready to face whatever was thrown at her. No matter who stood in her way, she would not falter, she would stand her ground and do what must be done, just like Impa did. She had now learned what true courage meant.

Outside of the temple, Keapora and Ezlo were both sitting on a log next to Impa's grave and Levias was floating above them while apparently meditating. By the time that went by when Zelda was in the temple, the night had set long ago, and the stars and the moon were brightening up the dark sky. The fire that cremated Impa's body had died out, and now there was just a pile of ash left.

Eventually, the three odd beings assembled caught the attention of Zelda emerging from the doorway she entered before. And when she had exited fully, she just looked at her allies without saying a word.

Levias decided to break the silence by asking "Zelda, how did it go?"

Zelda raised her left hand and allowed the two Triforce pieces she held light up for them to see.

When Keapora saw that, he gasped "The Triforce of Courage as well as the Triforce of Wisdom? In living history, this has never happened."

Ezlo's eyes opened wide in disbelief while he questioned "Excuse me, THE actual Triforce? I would never guess that such a powerful relic could exist within one person."

Levias let out a smile and said "Hah hah hah, well done. I knew you'd be the one."

Ezlo wondered "One what?" out loud.

Levias ignored his question and looked at Zelda before announcing "I am happy that I was able to help during these difficult times, but for now I must depart. But before I go, heed my warning: the nightmare is awakening. Be careful with your dreams, for they might not be your own. Remain vigilant, and remain strong."

He then began to fly back into the sky, but not before parting with the words "Farewell, daughter of Hylia."

When the skywhale reached a certain altitude, the blue Loftwing that helped Zelda in the Palace of Winds came from above and landed on Levias' back. Then it transformed into the peculiar human-headed chicken that had been tailing Zelda for a while now.

As soon as he regained his normal form, he adjusted his glasses telekinetically and remarked "Hmh, I absolutely dread interfering. That blast that Majora and Vaati performed nearly clipped my precious fifty-thousand year old wing."

Levias rolled his eyes while ascending to the heavens before reprimanding "Historian, we cannot sit idly by forever. There are times when we must interfere for the good of all."

"Impertinence, Lord Levias! Our interference is a crime against our archaic regulations. I have documented the eras since long before even you existed, and every time I've interfered I have done nothing but disrupt the flow of history."

"And have you ever considered that your 'disruptions' might actually be beneficial, because I believe mine has."

"Perhaps some indeed has. But my occupation is too important for baseless experiments."

"And what has your duty brought to this world?"

"Levias, do not patronise me! Digressing, I will continue my research on this 'Final Era', and I am quite confident in my belief that Princess Zelda XV is integral to uncovering the truth of this confounding conundrum."

"Indeed, and I will continue to watch over Zelda's dreams, see if our true enemy reveals herself."

At the time they were having their conversation above them, Ezlo and Keapora were both staring at Zelda expectantly.

Eventually, Ezlo asked "What happened in there?"

Zelda answered "I saw the entire history of Hyrule, and how the heroes of the past all rose up to vanquish the evils that threatened the world. And then…I met Link."

Keapora's eyes betrayed clear surprise when he asked "Link? He's still alive?"

"No, he's not. After failing to pull the Master Sword out of its pedestal, he tried to steal the Accursed Sword from Vaati. However, the blade somehow corrupted him into becoming a ghost stuck between life and death when he got his hands on it."

"That's…not a pleasant fate."

Ezlo looked at the owl and commented "You are a master of understatements."

Keapora responded by swiping his wing at him, with the resulting breeze nearly making the Minish fall over.

Zelda then looked down at the glowing triangles on the back of her left hand and explained "Before he passed on, however, he gave me his piece of the Triforce, but not before making sure I was worthy of it."

"How did he do that?" Keapora asked.

"It's…complicated, I don't think I could explain it really."

"Oh, but he's gone now, isn't he?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Yet another tragedy, let's just hope you aren't next."

"No, let's hope no one else is next."

The owl pondered that for a moment before he said "Zelda, we're at war. And in wars, there will be losses."

"I know."

Ezlo suddenly realised something and asked "Wait a minute, if the Triforce of Wisdom was with Zelda, and the Triforce of Courage was with Link, and Zelda now has both, who is holding the Triforce of Power?"

Keapora answered "None knows, it was last seen in the hands of Ganondorf at the end of the Shadow Invasion, and then it just…vanished."

"A Triforce piece cannot just vanish, it must be somewhere. Maybe…"

"…Someone else took it after Ganondorf's death?" Zelda finished for him.

"But who could that possibly be?"

The owl in the group suggested "One thing I know of Triforce pieces is that they have a tendency to react to each other when they get close enough." He then turned to Zelda and asked "Have your Triforce of Wisdom had any unexplained reactions in proximity to a certain person or area?"

Zelda pondered that question for a while before she answered "I guess it happened a few times. The first I remember was just after we defeated the monsters in Ordon, then it happened again when I just left the Kakariko graveyard, it also happened when me and Impa were in Darkwood, but other than that…no. The rest of the times this thing started glowing was when I tapped into my magic."

"Then it might be possible, though unlikely, that the last piece of the Triforce may be in one of those locations."

Ezlo grimaced in a weird way as the cogs turned in his head, and suddenly he asked "Hang on a minute, did you say it happened when you left the Kakariko graveyard?"

Zelda nodded and answered "Yes, that time was one of the strangest. I remember Impa suddenly feeling the presence of someone in the graveyard, but a minute later shrugging it off as nothing. Just after that, my Triforce lit up seemingly for no reason."

"That's very…mysterious. When I went to visit Kakariko for our meeting before we set out, I remember feeling a powerful dark presence near the graveyard."

"Do you know what it was?"

"No, I've never encountered anything quite like it. It was like the power didn't even belong in this world, like it wasn't supposed to exist."

Keapora added "Not many know of this, but that graveyard is just above the cursed Shadow Temple. Could this…presence have something to do with it?"

"Possibly, but the power I felt was not like the magic of that foul place, it was…different somehow."

"The Shadow Temple?" Zelda questioned.

Keapora explained "It's an ancient and forbidden temple, once the prison of the Dark Interlopers, and the birth of the Sheikah. However, the temple was abandoned when the Interloper King transformed into an abomination and turned the inmates into living nightmares like the Redeads or the Dead Hands. Evil and corruption has ruled that temple even to this day, and no one wants to go in there."

Ezlo contemplated "Still, if there is someone out there holding the Triforce of Power, then you might be in more danger than before."

Zelda let out a sarcastic "Yay…" before picking out the map that was supposed to lead to the Master Sword and read out loud "'In order to gain access to the Blade of Evil's Bane, you must collect these three Spiritual Stones: the Kokiri Emerald, representing the courage of Farore, the Goron Ruby, representing the power of Din, and the Zora Sapphire, representing the wisdom of Nayru.' All three of them have their locations and instructions outlined on this map, but the closest one from here is the Zora Sapphire hidden on an island quite charmingly named the Isle of Secrets, in the Lanaryru Sea. Another is hidden in the Lost Woods, while the last one is currently in possession of the dragons on Death Mountain. Since the sea is not that far away, I think I will go there first."

"Well, then, let's get going!"

"No, I'm going alone."

This made both the owl and Minish look at her confusingly, but she then explained "I need you to contact the rest of the resistance, and I need them to gather as many allies as you can muster. We need an army if we hope to overthrow Vaati or any other villains that choose to stand in our way. From this moment forth, I'm declaring war on Vaati right here and now. As the Crown Princess of Hyrule, I am ordering you to prepare this land for what is to come."

Keapora Geabora held out his wing so Ezlo could climb onto his back before saying "Then I'll bring an army if that's what you need. By the time all stones are in your hands, the resistance will be a force to be reckoned with."

"Good. Also, I want to you to spread a rumour to the public that I'm still alive. That should put pressure on Vaati's hold over the land and attract more followers to our cause. And since our enemy already knows I'm alive, there is no point in keeping my existence secret anymore, just my location."

"Understood…Your Majesty."

Zelda awkwardly scratched her neck and said "Sorry, but it feels weird if you call me that."

"Oh…"

"Never mind, so do you know what to do?"

"Yes," he then turned his head around a full 180 degrees to look at Ezlo and asked "What about you?"

The Minish answered "I'll talk to the other Minish to see if they might be willing to create an information network of sorts. That way, we can keep our eyes on everything, and I'll share their knowledge with you people. However, this mystery in Kakariko troubles me, but I do not have the time to investigate it fully."

"Then bring it up with the resistance, and we'll send someone to investigate this…situation."

Zelda picked up her blue ocarina and played the song the Epona liked so much. And as soon as she finished playing it, the red mare ran up to her location within seconds. The power of the instrument could apparently do things that were physically impossible…like bringing a horse half across the country in an instant.

She climbed up on the saddle and looked at her odd friends before saying "Until we meet again, good luck!"

"You too, Zelda." Keapora replied.

Ezlo added "Take care of yourself out there, my dear."

Zelda nodded and guided her horse to begin trotting down the mountain and into the forest below. And when she disappeared into the woods, Ezlo took a firm grip on the feathers on the owl's head before he began to take to the sky.

But before they left, Ezlo commented "She sure has come a long way so far…"

Keapora Geabora answered "Indeed." before they flew off to parts unknown.

However, a few minutes after they all left the area, a shadowy figure that looked exactly like Zelda casually strolled over to the nearby pile of ash where Impa was buried and began to sniff the air.

Then she mused "So…the Sheikah was burned here recently? Then she can't be far away, can she? Or should I say…I can't be far away? Wait, why am I talking to myself? And isn't that what I do when I speak to her, because if she's me…then…I think I just made myself speechless."

Eventually, she got a very sinister smirk on her face while her eyes started to glow red, her body became blackened and transparent, and she declared "This is good, because we're going to have a confrontation, and I'm going to win."

Author Notes

Finally, I'm done with the whole rewriting thing! From now on, the chapters will be as they were the first time I published them…with some small changes here and there, but no more complete revisions.

Now, let's talk a bit about Link for a minute, shall we?

You see, this will be all we ever get to see of Link in this story, not any more. The reason for this is that I can't in good conscience write a silent protagonist in a work of literature that is based so heavily on dialogue for any good length of time. While I do think it is enjoyable to write the already established personalities of the four Links from the Four Swords Manga, I can't write any other incarnation of him without him eventually ending up as an OC.

As a silent character, Link has no established personality other than being well…the hero. Even so, I can't even write him as being mute, because characters keep responding with "Wait, so are you saying you found the thing I sent you to find?" or the like.

However, unlike the hollow shell that is Gordon Freeman, Link does have facial expressions and certain actions that do show his emotions, especially in Wind Waker and Skyward Sword. For some reason I actually find Wolf Link more expressive than normal Link in Twilight Princess, maybe it has something to do with the fact that wolves aren't supposed to speak in the first place. But even so, these expressions and actions cannot be written in text with the same effect as they would have in the games.

So…because of these reasons, I have decided that this story would not feature Link as a major character, and instead give that role to Princess Zelda instead. I mean…it is her name that is in the title of the entire franchise.

Link's involvement in this chapter is merely there to show exactly why Link isn't the hero in universe. And also because I thought it would be symbolic to Zelda taking on the role that he has held for so long. Besides, the Triforce of Courage needed to come up somewhere considering that all three pieces will become important to this continuity sooner or later.

Link aside, the history portrayed in the chamber is meant to show that this story is included in the Child Link Timeline with my own headcanon thrown in there as well.

In addition, I also gave a clear time map of how much time actually passed between the games. Let me put it up like this:

The time of the Dark Interlopers: 2 500 years ago.

Era of the Goddess Hylia (Skyward Sword's backstory): 2 200 years ago.

Sky Era (Skyward Sword): 1 800 years ago.

Force Era (Minish Cap and Four Swords): 1 400 years ago.

Era of the Hero of Time (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask): 1 000 years ago.

Era of Twilight (Twilight Princess): 500 years ago.

Shadow Era (Four Swords Adventures): 100 years ago.

This way, I think the whole thing makes a lot more sense, but that's just me.

Also, if you're wondering why there is no mention to Majora's Mask in the collection, then it's because the events of that game took place in Termina, and therefore aren't really that well-known, and wasn't documented by the Historian either.

Speaking of the Historian, I originally created him a few chapters after I wrote this one, but I figured that he would better fit into the story if he was introduced much earlier. But I don't think I should explain too much about him, as doing so could ruin a bit of the mystery surrounding him.

One of the greatest changes I made to this chapter was that I changed the explanation of where that Loftwing came from, as the previous explanation was weird and confusing as hell as well as feeling very much like a Deus Ex Machina. At least this explanation also gave the Historian a bit of a larger role in the story.

Also, I also changed the cursed Link to become more like the Hero's Shade from Twilight Princess.

Random fact: I first published 'Chapter 19' on my 19th birthday, coincidence?