"But then she shattered the mirror," Link said to his daughter as they sat by the crackling fireplace, the Princess holding a framed drawing of Link as a wolf, "and we never saw her again."
"Were you sad?" she asked.
"I was more surprised. We expected her to leave, but we never would have expected her to destroy the mirror like she did."
"Why do you think she did that?"
Link pursed his lips in thought.
"I think she thought our worlds could never live in harmony, but rather exist separately, only combined by the simpler things, the beauty in twilight, in friendship, in memory. I suppose she also felt guilty for all the Twili had inflicted upon the world of light."
"It sounds like she changed alot."
Link smiled to himself and replied,
"She did."
The Princess looked back to the picture in her hands, focusing on the imp on top of the wolf's back and smiling.
"What next?" the Princess said, "is that when you fell in love with Mother?"
"Not quite," Link chuckled, "I mean I knew I liked her way before then and even she said that for her it was when we touched hands for the first time, but...it took a bit more for us to fall in love."
"Why?"
"Well, we were just kids really. We were stubborn, incommunicative, naive, afraid, everything that really stands in the way of love. What I wouldn't give to tell my younger self to just go for it."
"Really?" the girl asked, "even though you know you'd lose it, you'd still pursue it?"
"Of course," Link said, "I'd rather have lived ten years loving her than no years knowing her."
The Princess smiled.
"Never forget that," Link continued, "love is the most important thing, more important than status, than reputation, than riches, than any worry. If you tell that to your children and all the generations to come, there won't be a threat we can't vanquish."
"Not even Calamity Ganon?" the little girl asked.
"Not even Calamity Ganon," Link repeated with a smile.
The King stoked the fire, the rising embers a stark resemblance to a Hyrule he once knew cloaked in twilight.
"There's still quite a life to this fire if you'd like to hear the rest," Link teased.
The Princess nodded eagerly.
"All right umm…" he started, "oh yes, we were transported back to the castle, by what I assumed to be remnants of Midna's magic, but once we got there, well I was scared...so I nodded to the Princess and left on my horse, how dramatic, I could have said anything."
"Doesn't sound like something Mother would have liked."
"I assure you, she didn't," Link said with a smile, "and three months later she made that quite clear. I still remember the day she came to see me in Ordon like it was yesterday…"
With the help of the kingdom they once lived to serve, the Sheikah made a new home in a village to the east, mourning the loss of their helpfulness as their technology was subdued, the towers sunken into the ground, and the beautiful, magnificent divine beasts buried by rocks that wouldn't be excavated for ten thousand years.
Hyrule didn't need those symbols of unity to be one with each other, but Hyrule had never been more unified than when those divine beasts stood proud and tall. And, as it seemed to the King who fielded more and more Sheikah by the day, it never would be again.
Most Sheikah generally accepted their fate, acknowledging that they had indeed been useful when the time came, yet that time was now over. Perhaps they could adjust to a simpler life growing pumpkins and building a culture away from constant work.
Others were rather enraged at the prospect, Kihiro Moh in particular citing the success with the water levels of East Reservoir Lake as a reason for the King to reconsider.
Yet the King's stubbornness made Kihiro furious, a frustration he hid until he was out of sight of royalty.
There had already been rumors of Sheikah who resisted the King's order being detained, held against their will.
So, he saved it for those who shared his opinions, those Sheikah who had lost trust in the jurisdiction of Hyrule.
It wasn't justified for Hyrule not to use something that had proven so advantageous.
It was only fearful and cowardly.
In their eyes, the Royal Family had betrayed them twice, and they regretted that they had ever lived to serve them, ever spilled blood for them.
In secret, to the Royal Family and even to their fellow Sheikah, Kihiro led a group of Sheikah to the desert, formulating their revenge in caves just north of Gerudo territory.
Out of sight and out of mind, a society of Sheikah who saw the Royal Family's injustices crystal clear.
They set their sights on attempting to assassinate members of the Royal Family, particularly the famed 'Hero of Twilight'. Yet, their lack of success only festered their hatred and frustration over the years.
They would eventually grow to call themselves the Yiga Clan, waiting impatiently for Calamity Ganon to return, assisting them to abolish, once and for all, a rule they saw as tyrannical.
They even attempted to resurrect Calamity Ganon, to free him from his golden bonds faster, going so far as to pilfer and tamper with Ganondorf's estranged remains to do so.
Their militant hatred was a stark opposition to the Sheikah who lived peacefully in Kakariko Village, accepting their new way of life
A select few of those Sheikah even took it upon themselves to apologize to the King of Hyrule in such an unprecedented way that most called them crazy, yet they tried anyway.
Hidden away in a part of Hyrule Field, just one of the shrines they started to build in secret, it was called the 'Shrine of Resurrection', the Sheikah hoping to one day present it to the King as a means of bringing back his beloved, returning her to his arms.
Yet, they never quite got it work, simple injuries taking days to heal.
Resurrection proved an impossible feat.
They finished it anyway, with the thought that perhaps someday it may be useful.
And the King, the King of Hyrule who was once just a boy from the village of Ordon carried on.
He raised his daughter as best he could to be as wise as her mother, and to always keep love in her heart.
He led Hyrule with the courage of a true hero, many accounting him after his passing as a kind and just ruler, yet with a soft sadness in his eyes.
And, ten thousand years later, he was reincarnated into the soul of a little boy with bright ocean blue eyes and sandy-blonde hair.
Final Author's Note: I'm not crying, you're crying. Actually, it's probably just me crying. We've reached the end of a massive one, of course I'm emotional.
What the hell happened to me to make me continuously write angst? I don't know, man. We're all suffering. I just write about it.
I know, this isn't the happy ending you were hoping for. It probably isn't the ending you were expecting at all. But I love that this story leaves you questioning who the real villain was, and is wrapped up in a morally ambiguous way. Was it right for Link to ostracize the Sheikah? Was it good, was it evil? It was neither, because good and evil don't truly exist. In Link's eyes, it was heroic and courageous, the right thing to do. The Sheikah saw it the opposite way.
A year ago today, this story was in infantile stages. I had only really written up to the Arbiter's Grounds lore and the rest was a mere skeleton, a distant goal that I hoped so much I would have the writing ability to reach. I still can't believe that I pulled it all off. This is the longest, most emotionally-packed, saddest, most beautiful train wreck that I have ever written, and I dare say that it is the best. Personally, it feels good to do something right, something that proves that I'm not a complete waste of space and energy. I guess you could say that this is my 'One Song Glory'. Didn't think I'd make an obscure Rent reference.
What I mean to say is that I am very proud of this story, despite its' faults. I haven't done a lot of things right in my life, nothing ever being quite correct, but this may be the one thing that is, the one thing that doesn't disappoint me.
Everyday was a new surprise, coming up with the Gerudo lore, connecting that with the Sheikah, watching everything take a shape at my hand, writing beautiful words in wonderful ways, being patient enough with the plot to keep going, seeing Link and Zelda finally at peace, and finally getting to write the destruction that took place ten years later. Every step was a new discovery, of the story, of myself, and even of the world, which is why I say to you now, to keep going.
Whether you have a writing project of your own, or something else you are working towards, or even life in general. Keep going. The only reason that this story went well is because there was a point I believed I could do it, and I'm so glad that I did.
Don't be afraid. Love. Feel. Be honest. Treasure yourselves and each other. Fight against hate and apathy.
Also play some Zelda games, too. I have a feeling you'll like them.
Please let me know what you've thought of this story, it'll make my day.
Until the next,
~fatefulfaerie