Chapter One

Writer's Note:

Over the years, Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise has evolved in many forms. While 1998's Ocarina of Time for the N64 changed Zelda forever with the jump to 3D, 2017's Breath of the Wild for the Wii U and Switch proved to be even bigger.

While the game was known for being open world, the plot involved Link waking up after 100 years of sleep to save an already destroyed Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. Near the end of the game, after a lengthy quest, you fight Ganon himself and face his dark beast form.

The cutscene before the fight is interesting, especially since Zelda reminds you that Ganon is the reincarnation of the Demon King Demise. Either way, after Ganon is defeated, what comes next is unknown since it's going to be a while before a sequel comes out.

Because BOTW 2 is ways off, this is where our fanfic comes into play. I do not The Legend of Zelda series for it belongs to Nintendo, but enjoy the ride anyway, here we go...

This is one of the many legends that have been spoken by the people of Hyrule for generations, the story of a kingdom and the battles between a hero and dark forces. A long time ago, the great Kingdom of Hyrule prospered peacefully, serving as the resting place of the ancient relic known as the Triforce and led by the royal bloodline of Hylia...

Unfortunately, peace never lasts forever. Since the time of Hylia and the battle with Demise, evil has invaded the great land in the form of the dreaded Demon King Ganon. But many brave people have stood in Ganon's way of his quest for world domination, a fearless hero has come to Hyrule's aid many times with a lovely princess in peril too...

The battles are hard fought, but in the end, the hero is able to defeat the Demon King with help from his many other companions, saving Hyrule and the princess by the hero's side. For centuries, after the last known battle with Ganon, peace reigned over Hyrule and the deeds of the hero faded away into legend. Then, one fateful day, the dark one struck again...

However, Ganon had changed. He had evolved into a horrific abomination, a calamity! He wasn't just the same Ganon anymore, Ganon had become the Calamity Ganon. Just like before, the hero and the princess united to take down the Demon King. But this time, it took more than just the powers of courage and magic to bring down Ganon...

Most of Hyrule and the Sheikah Clan banded together to help combat Ganon. In the end, the Demon King was beaten again and sealed away until disaster struck 9,900 years later. As the world prepared for the inevitable return of Ganon, the beast rose from the depths of Hyrule Castle, catching millions off-guard...

Using his dark intellect, the Demon King corrupted the Sheikah technology used to beat him before and exterminated the champions who were piloting the Divine Beasts. Within a day, Ganon's forces devastated Hyrule, laying waste to Castle Town and many other provinces throughout the land...

Among those who suffered the Great Calamity's effects were the hero Link and Princess Zelda, who made a desperate stand only for Link to meet his seemingly tragic end. Fort Hateno was the place where Hyrule was saved, but at a tragic cost. The soldiers of Fort Akkala made a last stand against Ganon's forces, but to no avail. Hyrule was gone...

Zelda headed for Hyrule Castle to confront the Demon King, using her newly awakened powers, she struggled to contain him within the castle's walls. One hundred years of uncertainty passed, then a ray of hope shone on Hyrule again as a revitalized Link awakened and embarked on a journey to save Hyrule...

Guided by Zelda's voice, the hero regained his memories and liberated the corrupted Divine Beasts while defeating many enemies such as Kohga, the leader of the Yiga Tribe. When his tasks were complete, Link made his way to Hyrule Castle and confronted Calamity Ganon in the final battle with the future of Hyrule hanging in balance...

The battle was fierce and hard-fought, but despite the odds, the hero defeated Ganon and was reunited with his princess in a devastated post-Great Calamity world. While Ganon may be gone for now, it's not over, there is much rebuilding to be done and there are still remnants of the Calamity's forces at large...

But the ruined kingdom's most grueling trial is coming, Hyrule's ancient past is about to connect with the present as an old enemy may be returning to terrorize the world again...

Orange lightning flashed across the dark-red cloudy sky as the light of the Red Moon illuminated the burning wasteland that had once been Hyrule. Link stood alone with the Master Sword in hand, badly beaten, but still strong.

This fight had been lost ages ago when the monsters destroyed to everything, A century ago, the only miracle had been the successful stand at Fort Hateno. While Hyrule had been saved that day, it had been saved at a massive cost.

But now, it was hopeless! The Armies of Darkness had prevailed, Zelda was already gone and Link was the only one left, or so he thought. Link heard that a large handful of survivors had fled to distant lands unknown, but he was unsure if Zelda was among them.

The towering figure of the dark one stood before Link, fiery hair ablaze and flanked by a hulking Yiga-Lynel hybrid and the monstrous Guardian Mark II. The jagged blade of the Demon Sword gleamed in the red moonlight, illuminating the upside down Triforce symbol.

"I…*Cough* can still *wheeze* beat you!" Link groaned. The hero coughed more intensely until his knees shook and his hands trembled, yet he still held on to his trademark sword, not daring to let it slip from his grasp.

"You have already failed, Servant of Hylia! You are alone and will be forgotten." The dark one countered, "Hyrule is mine to remake in my image, the Triforce will serve its new ultimate purpose. Rebellions will be crushed and more will fall."

"No." Link croaked, "NO!" Forgetting his injuries, he held up the Master Sword, raised a battered Hylian Shield raised and charged towards his intimidating nemesis in a desperate attempt to cut him down.

"Oh no you don't, human fool." The Demon King rumbled and snapped his fingers, the Lynel Yiga let out a roar that shook the earth, creating a shockwave that could subdue anyone. Link found his whole body freezing in mid-run, unable to move.

The Guardian MK 2's eyes glowed bright red, signaling that it was about to do something. Link could only hope his shield was still strong enough to block the upcoming attack, regardless of its current condition, and realized his overconfidence too late...

KA BLAM! The Guardian MK 2 fired an enormous laser beam powerful enough to vaporize anything, Link fell to his knees and watched as the damaged shield melted and his sword's blade broke in half.

More thunder rumbled and lightning struck a tree, setting it ablaze. The ground shook as the towering Dark One stepped forward, cackling triumphantly as he anticipated mounting Link's head on a pole for all to see.

"Please..." Link said weakly, "Spare me..." All that the fallen hero could do was look up into the vile red eyes of the victorious Demon King one last time, bracing himself as the Demon King brought down his sword and cut Link in half...

Link cried out in terror as he awoke and sat up in bed, his heart pounding intensely. The whole ordeal had been a bad dream that still terrified him since he'd been having that nightmare for weeks now. After beating Ganon, Link hoped everything would be OK.

If there was one thing he didn't take into account, it was how strong Calamity Ganon's remaining influence in the world was. For weeks, everyone had been working to rebuild Hyrule, even as leftover monsters and corrupted Guardians tried to hinder their progress.

But not only were there Guardians still causing trouble, the Yiga Clan was also another problem to worry about! After the demise of Master Kohga and after news of Ganon's defeat spread all over Hyrule, those crazy ninjas were craving for blood and revenge.

In the last week alone, around the same time Link was having those nightmares, the Yiga's activities had increased. They'd launched a raid against a Hylian Army outpost and tried to destroy to Kakariko Village before attacking Link and Zelda while they were at the beach.

With all these nightmares and the sudden spikes in activity from the Yiga and Ganon's remaining minions, was something really big about to happen and were the nightmares also omens of things to come?

'I think I'll talk to Impa,' The hero thought. Not bothering to go back to sleep, Link got out of bed and took a shower to calm his nerves before putting on his socks, tan jeans, white undershirt and blue tunic shirt followed by his belt and brown boots.

Once he was dressed and well-cleansed, the Hero of the Wild walked out the door. The rest of Kakariko Village was quiet, everyone else was asleep in their houses with the lights off while some lights were on as a few others were awake.

"Ah, nothing like fresh air in the early hours of morning before sunrise." Link said happily, eyeing the big house where Impa resided and meditated. 'Ok!' The hero thought, shaking his head as he strolled towards the Big House. 'Try to relax'

Inside the house, Impa herself was meditating with her eyes closed. Knock knock knock! The wise old Sheikah opened her eyes, listening to the sound she was hearing. Of course somebody knocked, but who was it?

"Enter!" The brown doors opened and Link walked into the room, Impa frowned, "What is it, Link? I did not expect you at this hour, it's too early, you know."

The hero yawned, "I know. But, after that nightmare, I can't sleep a wink."

"Wait!" The old tribe leader raised her eyebrows, "Describe your dream to me, you've been having bad dreams lately, I've heard you before, waking up screaming."

Link laid it all down for Impa what he'd seen in the dreams; The fiery haired Dark One, a repeat of the Great Calamity, all of Hyrule destroyed, etc. Once Link's story was done, Impa's expression was grim.

"Hmmm!" She said, "These dreams sound like omens of what's to come. I can tell you this, that man with fire hair in your dream is not Ganon, do you know not about Demise?"

Link's heart pounded; he'd heard that name before. It was in the name of a place known as the Breach of Demise, but why did it sound familiar?

"The one Ganon is reincarnated from, Demise came out of nowhere with his forces millions of years ago." Impa explained, "He sought to take the Triforce but the great Hylia stopped him and sealed Demise away until he began to break free from his prison.

"It took the efforts of the first Link and Zelda to destroy him, but it wasn't the end as Demise's servant Ghirahim went back to the past to resurrect Demise. Hylia's hero followed and confronted the Demon Lord before defeating the revived Demon King."

"Yeah," Link rolled his eyes, "Then Demise put a curse on Hyrule and his remains were sealed away in the Master Sword until he was reborn through Ganondorf centuries later."

Impa sighed desperately, "Well, the story doesn't matter since what's left of Demise somehow survived for all these years. If he's coming to us through visions, this can mean he is returning and Hyrule is in danger again. The question is: Can we defeat Demise again?"

"I don't know, Impa." The hero said warily, "I hope we do, but I'm not sure if we will..."