Chapter 25: Divine Intervention

Link sat up with a start. Impa's hands were in front of him, pushing his tense body back down.

"Lay back. You don't want to move too quickly just yet."

He did as instructed and leaned down on his elbows, still propped up. He was bare chested, and could see the wounds that littered his body. It didn't take long for him to realize that someone had given him a fairy and some real medical treatment, despite the scars and bruises. He wasn't feeling one hundred percent, but he knew that the fairy would have taken care of the worst of it all.

"Thank you," he murmured, and Impa bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"Someone has been waiting for you to wake up. It's been only about an hour, but still. Princess?"

Link could see Zelda's back to him, splotches of his blood ruining her white prayer dress. She was deep in a conversation with Robbie and Purah. At the sound of her name, she spun around and practically ran toward Link. She threw her arms around him before immediately pulling away, red faced.

It took everything she had to keep her eyes level with his own. "I'm so glad you're okay. Your wound was horrible. Well, they all were, but the one from the Guardian's blast was the worst. They said you were right to keep that knife in, too."

Robbie joined Zelda and handed Link his shirt. "We stitched up some of the worst of it."

Zelda looked at their handiwork with a grimace. "Don't worry. When this is all over, Hilda can fix…"

She stopped herself, feeling a hand on her shoulder that she could only assume was Purah.

Robbie jumped in as Link pulled the Champion's Tunic over his head. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. Cherry and the other Guardians just all activated once Ganon started swirling around the castle. It's like they had a bad reaction to the Calamity."

"Or," Impa chimed in, her arms crossed, "Ganon was directly responsible for the Guardians turning on us. It's put us at a great disadvantage. They had been very spread out to ensure the most safety, but our plan has now put more people at risk. Castle Town is all but abandoned now by any visible people, according to my scouts. Only Guardians rest inside."

"They didn't see Storm inside either," Zelda sighed. "It would have been nice if just one thing could have been saved today. I couldn't save my father, my friend, my kingdom, or even my horse."

Purah grabbed Zelda's hand. "You can still save your people. Link, come look. Slowly, though."

He stood, feeling an ache where the Guardian had hit him, like his insides were still on the mend. But he made his way to the entrance from the Shrine of Resurrection to Hyrule Field.

At first, all he noticed was that the Sheikah had given him space and were gathered outside, but as he took in more of his surroundings, he noticed the most incredible thing.

A red light was beaming across the sky, straight into the peak of Hyrule Castle. Despite himself, Link ran out further into the field to see where it was coming from, and he could see the Divine Beast, Vah Medoh, perched in the roost above Rito Village. Its wings were outspread, easily visible, even from this far away. Revali would have had the easiest time getting to his beast, being able to fly there more quickly than the other three on horseback.

Link imagined that Daruk would gain control of his beast next, being able to roll up Death Mountain more quickly than ride. Mipha and Urbosa had no hidden way to reach their beasts faster. There was no water source that led from the castle to where Vah Ruta was, and Vah Nabooris was in the middle of a desert. Urbosa not only had a long ride by horseback, but she'd then have to find a sandseal as well.

"It's started then," Link said, unable to take his eyes off of Medoh. He turned to Impa. "Can you take the Princess to Zora's Domain?"

"No!" Zelda protested, but in the matters of safety, Link and Impa were quick to ignore her attempts to stay.

"I believe," Impa said, "That with the roads so dangerous and littered with Guardians and other creatures, she may be safer going to Kakariko. My people will protect her with their lives, it is a shorter ride, and she will not encounter as many foes."

"Am I such a lost cause?" Zelda asked herself, though apparently it had been out loud. Everyone turned to her.

"Perhaps the Goddesses have already shown you what you must do, you just don't realize it?" Purah tried. She knew that Zelda had tried everything she could think of.

"The only thing I hadn't tried is now lost to us with the castle. I cannot bring the Goddess Harp to the Springs as it is buried deep within the palace. There is nothing left."

The grounds suddenly began to shake, and Link instinctively reached to grab Zelda. They all watched with ease as Divine Beast Vah Rudania anchored itself on Death Mountain, causing some of the volcano to erupt. Rudania stood firm, an identical beam to Medoh bursting from its mouth and crashing into Hyrule Castle with a hard thud.

Link let his hair down and re-tied it, taming the loose strands. "I have to get inside the castle, to be ready for them. Impa, take the princess as soon as you can. Princess…"

The beast circling the castle let out an enraged roar as its swirling motion was halted by the weight of the beams against it.

Link turned back to Zelda, this time, with a more frantic expression on his face. The others stepped outside, giving them a moment alone.

"Princess. We are the Goddesses' Chosen Ones. You have a role to play. It may not be what you've always envisioned, but it's there. It exists."

"Right. Thank you," she said, though the insincerity was blatant.

Link rested his hand against the Master Sword. "When you're sitting on that throne because we won, you'll understand. The entire kingdom needs you now. You're our only remaining Royal Family member, and you're our future Queen. When this ends, there will have to be a coronation. You'll have to lead your people from this darkness. Or if we fail, you have to lead them into the dark. Your role isn't over. It's just starting."

Link dropped down to one knee and bowed his head in reverence to his Queen. She hadn't thought that far ahead, with the King's death, she was now the leader of the country, if not in title yet, in their eyes, she was all they had left.

Zelda knelt in front of him and kissed him fiercely. It was a goodbye, and they knew it. No matter what happened, from here on, everything would change. She could tell from Link's voice and the way he held her that he didn't plan on coming back alive. And Zelda realized this might be her last few moments with him. She gripped his sleeve, pulling him closer to her, and she knew that if she didn't let go soon, she never would.

Pulling away, she stood up and offered Link her hand, which he took as gently as if she were the Goddess herself. As she felt the touch of his skin against hers, she flinched, seeing a brief memory of one of her past lives in an eerily similar predicament, though the vision was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Promise me you'll come back," she said, an unsettling feeling settling within her even more so than it had before her vision.

Link nodded slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I will always come back to you."

Zelda raised her eyebrows skeptically. "What about in this lifetime?"

Link chuckled and let go of her hand, walking towards Hyrule Field. "We can only hope."

She sighed and followed him to the field. She didn't know what else to say, always believing that there would be more for them to say to each other for years, never really planning for the end. He mounted Epona and looked around at everyone one last time.

"Link," Zelda said, "Make him pay. Make them all regret what they did."

She hadn't expected to say it with nearly as much venom as she did, but Link nodded.

"I've got her," Impa promised, grasping Link's arm in a goodbye.

Link and Zelda locked eyes one more time before he turned and raced away on Epona until he disappeared from sight.

It was almost an hour after Link had left that Impa woke Zelda from where she'd been resting. Zelda sat up, completely drained and exhausted. She felt the nap had done more damage to her weariness than good. She felt her bones and muscles ache and protest, her brain desiring nothing more than extra time to rest, and her body shutting down, needing more time to heal both the external and internal wounds she'd sustained in the past few hours.

Had it really only been a few hours since everything had gone wrong? This morning, she'd been speaking with her father, relaying news of her failure at the Spring of Wisdom. But she'd still held a sliver of hope that if she went back with the Goddess Harp from her vision, there might still be a chance, even if her father didn't seem to think so.

Hours later, he'd be dead.

What had his last words to her been? She closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands, struggling to remember the exact conversation. Had she told him that she loved him? That all she ever wanted was to make him proud of her? But all Zelda could remember was feeling angry and despair. He'd told her something, something that was so fuzzy now, though it was only hours prior. She wracked her brain, desperate to remember their last conversation.

"You have failed then?" he'd asked.

"The springs didn't show signs of unlocking my powers. There must be—"

She remembered him turning around, not expecting Link to be there. "Link. You will take the Princess to Zora's Domain and then return here alone. Champion Mipha has informed me that King Dorephan volunteered to host her until this mess is done with. We will send the Champions to their beasts, and you will be here, ready to face Ganon when the time is right."

"I'm to be sent away? You don't believe there is anything that I can do?"

"I believe the Goddesses may look favorably on you when they see our own anguish. We are their creations. Your safety is paramount in this case. Link? With all haste, please."

"That's all? That's all you have to say to me?"

He'd looked at her coldly, not in distaste, but in resigned defeat. "May the Goddesses grant us good fortune, Zelda, and see fit to share your gift with us in our hour of greatest need."

A harsh pain spread through her chest, threatening to send her over the edge. This was her last conversation with her father.

She found her head in Impa's lap, forgetting that she'd been sitting beside the woman. The Sheikah gently stroked Zelda's hair, trying to soothe her. "Breath slowly, Princess. It is a lot to process."

But her father was dead, and it was all her fault. Her fault for trusting Hilda. What other information had she given her? Zelda ripped the golden bracelet from her arm and stared down at her wrist, the one that had been marred by the Yiga years ago when they'd performed a ritual on her, though she'd been saved by a soldier before it could be completed. Was that what happened to her father? Had they done the same to him and the other sacrifices? Was that how Ganon had reappeared?

She'd told Hilda that story once when the seamstress had been fitting her for a sleeveless dress. Zelda had insisted on a long bracelet or gloves to cover the mark that ran up her forearm. Link, Purah, Robbie, Impa, her Father, and those soldiers who saved her were some of the only others who knew the true story behind her scar. And Hilda.

Zelda repressed a sob, realizing that she'd told her father's killer how to resurrect the world's greatest evil. She alone as a sacrifice might have done, but Hilda had used several bodies. Knowing what she knew now, Zelda wished that the soldier had died or stayed still, leaving her to die nearly seven years prior. The deaths that could have been avoided… Zelda hated to think of how high that number was. And the outcome would have been no different. Ganon had risen, and there was no one to seal it away.

"Princess?" Impa asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

Zelda reminded herself to slow her breathing, to steady her nerves. Though the past could teach many lessons, it can never be rewritten. There was no point in dwelling on it.

"I'm ready," she said, clearing her throat and smoothing out her wrinkled dress as she stood.

Zelda headed outside and forced the tiredness and the sorrow away from her. Robbie stood closest to the mouth of the cave, and Zelda wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry about Cherry. I know how hard you worked on her, and how much effort you put into all these Guardians. It wasn't your fault, you know that?"

Robbie pushed his wild hair from his face. "I cannot help but feel myself responsible. I opened Cherry and saw much of that purple goo you'd described to us. It seems to be the source of the Calamity, and Ganon is using it to infect everything, turning our own protectors against us. I will see if there is a way around it. I will not rest until Ganon is defeated! My only regret is that no one was able to see how much wonderful work you contributed. Had Ganon not interfered in the Guardians, we'd have an entire army at our disposal, rather than threatening us."

Zelda forced a tight smile onto her face. "It will be over soon. And when it is, please allow me to help you and Purah set up your respective labs in Hateno and Akkala. Such genius needs a place to grow."

Robbie grinned as he remembered the plan he'd laid out for Zelda at the Champion's Ball. "You'll approve of it, then? Even though we'll be much farther than we are now?"

Zelda scoffed. "You rarely ask stupid questions, Robbie, so I am surprised at you. Of course I approve. Whatever makes you both happy also makes me happy."

"Then let's kill this creature! I want my lab!" Robbie laughed, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, if only slightly.

Zelda kissed his cheek in farewell before heading over to the spot where Purah sat in the grass, fiddling with a long pedestal that looked like it came out of the Resurrection Shrine. It was dark out now, and Zelda wasn't sure how Purah could see anything at all.

"I know Impa knows her way home," Purah started, though she didn't stop working or even look up. "But if a Guardian is in your way and you have to veer off the path, check your Sheikah Slate. There's a map, remember? You're lucky you had it on when the castle…"

Zelda and Purah sat in the silence of her trailed-off statement.

"I'm afraid, Purah," Zelda admitted after a long stretch.

Purah only chuckled to herself. "You wouldn't be normal if you weren't afraid, Princess. Look at that thing."

They both turned in the direction of the castle. Even in the dark, the clouds of purple were glowing, and had appeared to spread out even further.

The ground began to shake violently, more than Zelda had ever felt. A loud screech pierced the air, louder even than Ganon, louder than Vah Medoh and Vah Rudania combined, and it came from behind them. Everyone raced forward into the field to get a better view.

Zelda gasped as she saw Vah Nabooris towering over them just past Mount Hylia on Spectacle Rock. Stunned, she wasn't sure how Urbosa had gotten to Nabooris so quickly, or how she'd gotten it so close.

Impa moved beside Zelda and Purah, looking up at the Divine Beast in awe. "She must have nearly killed her horse to get there that fast for her Little Bird." She eyed Zelda. "That woman truly loves you."

"She's the closest to a mother I've ever known."

Nabooris shot its own red light toward the castle, causing Ganon to stop swirling again and to roar in a rage that seemed to shake the sky. It slowed down immensely, and Zelda watched it struggle to continue, howling every few minutes against the pain caused from the Divine Beasts.

"When Mipha gets to Ruta, we might actually be able to do this," Zelda said, hopeful for the first time.

"I think you're right," Purah agreed, still unable to look away from Nabooris' might.

That was, until Ganon let out a horrid screech, causing everyone's heads to turn.

It was primal, guttural, and instinctual. Ganon's large figure rammed into the top to the castle, and the ground began to shake again, only this time, it was different. Objects, like massive rectangular spires, began to spring out from the ground around the perimeter, aiming towards the castle. Whatever they were, they seemed to make Ganon stronger. It threw its head back and floated up in a spiral pattern to the top of the castle, letting out another roar as it neared the top.

Purple tendrils oozed from Ganon's open mouth, floating ominously in the air before they sped toward Vah Medoh with blinding haste.

"What was that?" Zelda gasped.

Robbie raced over to her, his eyes wide with panic. "That's similar to what we saw before the Guardians began attacking. You must have been inside the castle still."

Medoh was hit by the force so hard, it stumbled off its perch. It struggled to right itself, flapping its metallic wings and ending its laser assault on Ganon. With a bird-like screech, Medoh turned red and fell backwards, completely off the perch and began to plummet to the ground. The color turned blue once again, and Medow appeared in a triumphant soar back up to the sky. Revali's hand was clearly guiding the Divine Beast.

When the beast's color began to flicker, partially blue, partially red, Zelda couldn't help but gasp as she watched helplessly. Medoh dove towards the nearby mountain range and crashed with a force that shook the world, right into Gerudo Summit. An avalanche ensued, and Zelda knew nothing in the area would have been able to withstand that impact.

Miraculously, and proof of Revali's skills, Medoh limped its way back into the sky, higher even than before. It was like Revali was trying to keep those on the ground safe from whatever was causing the problem inside.

A figure was appearing from the sky, growing closer with each moment. At first, Zelda believed the Rito was Revali himself, having escaped the rampaging beast. But no, she realized before the Rito came into view. That wasn't something he'd ever do.

The Rito in front of them was Nekila, the Rito Zelda had helped to find her son when she'd first summoned Revali as the Champion. Her eyes widened as she spotted Zelda among the crowd of Sheikah.

"Princess!" she said, panting for breath as she reached her. Medoh was still in the sky, turning both red and blue rapidly, wildly throwing itself in every direction. Zelda had to force her eyes away to focus on the Rito.

"Nekila? What's happened? Did Medoh hit Kaneli just now?"

"Kaneli is safe. It's Revali!" The Rito looked up into the sky. "I went up there to make sure he was okay after all that time. He was fine, just concentrating. But just now, when Medoh was hit, a strange being appeared in the center room with Revali. He told me to run, so I made my way to the exit, but it slammed shut behind me. Revali locked me out, keeping the thing inside with him!"

The Divine Beast began another deadly plummet to the ground before rearing upwards again.

"I was going to try to find someone, a soldier who might know where you are, but Castle Town is nothing but smoke. It was only luck that I chose to come to this group. You're all visible from the sky, and fortune favors us with your presence. Is there anything you think your knight could do?"

Zelda thought of Link, where he was while he waited for the final Divine Beast. What was he doing now that Revali had been attacked?

"If Revali locked the door," Zelda said with a sinking feeling, "Then no one can get inside. Link wouldn't be of any use to leave his position only to be locked outside."

"Besides," Robbie said, trying to lighten the Rito's spirits. "If there's anyone other than Link capable of defeating a great creature, it's Revali."

No sooner did he speak that Medoh let out one final screech and turned entirely red, coasting the skies in a calmed, circular pattern. Everyone waited for the bird to change again, to fight back against the hold of the Calamity, but it never happened.

"He would never let that Calamity take control," Nekila whispered. "Not even if he had to pluck out his own wings to prevent it."

"It can't be," Zelda said. Her legs felt weak as it set in.

Revali was dead.

And without the four Divine Beasts to hold Ganon for Link, Hyrule was truly lost.

A/N: I left hints in earlier chapters about the way things would turn out, so I'll probably leave most of them hidden, but there were a few that I felt needed to be explained so it didn't seem like they were random things that had been thrown in or forgotten about, like the scar Zelda has on her wrist which was in Chapter 15 from the Yiga ritual. Also, as for not-really-forgotten things, we have Nekila from Chapter 4 who I've wanted to reappear for a while now because I didn't do the Gorons or Rito justice in their chapters many moons ago.

I also just figured out I've been spelling Vah Nabooris wrong. There is only one "o"! I've turned it into some Star Wars/LOZ-hybrid creature! I'll start changing it after this chapter.

I wrote the majority of the last chapter this week right in the middle of writing this one, even though I haven't done anything in between yet. So, hey, at least I know the ending for sure now!

Anyway, I'm going to miss rambling in these notes soon, so, until the next one!