He's awake. She can sense him….somewhere deep within her soul, or maybe it's not her soul at all. She can never quite put words to the feeling -that feeling of knowing something just wasn't her. Zelda, the last Princess of Hyrule, is nothing more than just a vessel to Hylia's divine power, the Goddess's power. Some say Zelda is the Goddess herself, part of a Royal bloodline passed down through the ages, reborn and reappears when she is needed, but Zelda has never felt that way. She had always felt distant from Hylia, calling out to her in dreams before the Calamity struck, even praying for hours in icy waters to the point she would collapse -but then it was too little too late when she finally became the vessel Zelda was born to be.
Since her containment in this castle, she replays her final memories over and over, the moments before she entered the Royal Palace and her fate was sealed in darkness. That moment when she rose her hand to the heavens and was consumed by the very evil that destroyed everything she ever knew. It is the only thing she can hold onto besides the cruel shackles that threaten to suffocate her every second of every moment to every part of her being. Their being. She has one task; contain the darkness of Calamity Ganon to these decrepit ruins with the aid of Hylia's sealing power until the hero rises once again -and that moment has finally come.
Link's spell of time had broken and a new hope flourished within her. She never stopped believing he would rise one day. She had been calling out to him all this time -had he finally heard her? Perhaps she coaxed him out of his dream spell -she has no way of knowing for sure. Zelda and the hero did not have the time to understand their connection properly. All she knows is that Hylia told her the hero is awake. She speaks to Zelda sometimes, in an eerily familiar voice, trying to soothe her when the blood moons rise. How many had there been now? She tried to keep track but kept slipping. She could foresee the blood moons when the blinding darkness started to bleed and her chains would grip tighter, stronger, strangling her even more painful than before until it was so unbearable Zelda feared it would break and consume her -but it never did. Sometimes the crimson nights felt like they would approach one right after the other, and sometimes there was peace -scarce little peace for such corruption choking and gagging, blinding and deafening her soul. Still, she did not break, did not let go -she wouldn't -couldn't- if there were any chance of rescuing this world at all. Still, with this sudden change, this new hope he has granted her, it comes with so many anxious questions. Will Link know what to do now that he is awake? Will he be strong enough? Will he even be the same? She thinks.
He is weakened, she feels the Goddess say. He will surely fall if he does not receive the proper guidance for his journey.
Fear rushes into Zelda's being, pushing aside all the new found hope. Link is her last chance -Hyrule's last chance. He cannot fail. She tries her best to conjure strategies of how to help in her current state but logically, mathematically, physiologically, there is nothing. All she could do is pray as he journeyed, try to watch over him through the blinding malice -but then what? What if he falls off a cliff and dies? What if he is bludgeoned by a Lynel -or killed by the corruption infesting the Divine Beasts? How far could he truly get until he reaches his inevitable failure? The possibilities of failure are endless -he could even wake up and decide he doesn't want his destiny anymore.
When she first entrusted the Sheikah warriors to place Link in the Shrine of Resurrection, Zelda hoped the process to be simple; instantaneous even. No one alive knew what would happen -not even the Sword told her. Zelda spoke to Impa on the day of the Calamity, expressed her hopes that Link could recover fast enough to perhaps see his family again if they survived the Calamity. She told Impa that it wouldn't take long, secretly hoping that if she spoke the words, they would come true. That he'd recover in the shrine one year -five years tops. He could head straight for the Master Sword then onward to defeat Ganon.
But she knows more time has been lost than that. Her count was up to at least 400 blood moons by now and it would be terrifying if each turn of the lunar cycle consisted of one. If they were a monthly occurrence, with her count, that would be make it thirty years since the Calamity. Did a blood moon truly appear once a month, or was it longer -quarterly, biannually, or...yearly? Has it really been that long?
You must go to him.
She hears the Goddess speak again and Zelda could have sworn she heard her wrong. Hylia's spirit had always been faint to her but since she connected with the sealing power, since she was consumed by darkness, Zelda had been able to hear her better. Even still, if Zelda tries to move, Ganon stirs -and if she tries to go to Link in his weakened state, the source of all evil will be released and complete destruction will surely follow. Of course, she would go to him in an instant, she would have never left his side but she holds the Goddess's divine power, and she must fulfill her duty.
Then Hylia speaks again.
Although he may understand what must be done, he will fail without your assistance. I have spoken with the Three and it is agreed. I will hold this power, as you have held me. You must guide the hero on his journey.
Was this even an option? Were they even able to separate Goddess from mere mortal woman? Zelda assumes if a divine being was able to fuse with a human then they were also able to separate themselves if need be. But why now? Why couldn't they have done this when the Calamity struck and maybe all of this could have been avoided. Then Zelda reminds herself she couldn't access the sealing power of the Goddess until she stepped in front of Link to save him. He had to die for me to connect with Hylia -to awaken her. She concludes.
If Hylia calculated the odds correctly -that Link will fail, then they have no choice. Even if he was ready to descend the Great Plateau and reconquer the Divine Beasts, he cannot journey in this new world without her...but is Zelda ready? Was she ready to witness the aftermath of her father's kingdom? The destruction that followed because of her own failures? Would Link be the same man that protected her and…and loved her until his last breath? She had been sealed away as long as Link had -except hers was a prison, a torture chamber, a violent endless horror that she'd do almost anything to be released from -but at this cost? To have someone take her place, even a Goddess, it would still be excruciating, painful, and terrifying, she wouldn't wish that on anything -anyone.
Before she's able to question further Zelda is interrupted by the slightest of quivers. The castle begins to vibrate and she can feel the tension around her rising exponentially. Then the Goddess speaks.
The time has come to separate, dear child. The hero has activated the first tower and any moment it will send a quake across the land. This burst of energy will be what we need to drift apart. It is our only chance as Ganon will surely begin to stir.
Before Zelda could even protest, slowly and then all at once she feels every fiber of her soul being ripped in all directions. Every particle that was a part of them began to divide amongst the Goddess and Zelda, then thrown across the vastness of time and back again and although it is near seconds of separation, the pain feels like 10,000 lifetimes. She tries to scream out in agony only to feel she has no throat to scream out of, no body to tremble in fear. She is nothing. For the briefest of moments, she finds peace in this empty vacuum, this shadowed void of nonexistence, until she starts to feel herself collecting again. Her skin, her organs, her senses are all returning back to her, rearranging into the familiar feeling of mortality, only it's different -something is gone. She tries searching for Hylia in the depths of her soul but can only feel a pit of emptiness burrowing further and further.
Then suddenly she's falling.
Falling for how long and where, it's unclear to her. -until she hits a hard surface and the room begins to visualize. She blinks instinctively, trying to get her brain to react and process what she's seeing. Then her vision clears but the sights around her are terrifying and devastating, and sadly familiar. She's in the Sanctum only it wasn't how she remembers it. It's crumbling and falling away to rubble and ash, covered in malice of purple scorn and ruin -a dullness in the colors that once was royal blues, crimson, and gold. She gasps by this realization, this extreme change, only to realize she's already choking on the putrid air. There's only dust and demolition left in this vacant room and it's infiltrating her lungs and she can do nothing but cough violently as she lays on the glass covered floor.
For some kind of answers she looks down at her trembling hands. They're covered in the filth and mud of what befallen her at Fort Hateno and she suddenly becomes aware of the cloth draped over her bodice, torn and disheveled, just like how she felt. It's the same stained white priestess garb she wore atop Mount Lanayru in Zelda's last attempt of bonding with the Goddess before the Calamity struck. Then Zelda looks to where she feels a presence.
"H-Hylia?" She tries to speak but the word gets lost somewhere in her throat.
Hylia is indeed above her, a bright white light glimmering in the ashes -a mortal being no longer contains Her. Her light is beautiful, powerful, and ancient, but somehow incomplete. Somehow partial and lacking. The Goddess Hylia had just separated from Zelda in a final effort to aid the weakened hero.
Then the Goddess speaks soft but true.
He will not remember you and it would be wise to not provoke him. You must let his memory return on his own accord. Soon he will be directed to head towards the Dueling Peaks, you shall wait for him somewhere before then. Make haste, dear Princess, as his trials on the Plateau may take only days to complete. I will be able to hold Ganon until he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal. Afterwards, you must guide him here straight away.
Zelda has so many questions her mind is racing, her body is so weak she doesn't think she can even stand but the Goddess speaks one final time.
Do not let him fall, for if he falls, so does Hyrule. Now go.
Of the Goddess's last words Zelda feels all the strength return to her body. If she had been immobile for years, surely her physical abilities would be weak, frail, and minuscule -but it isn't. It feels like a breath from the Goddess herself, that Zelda had been gifted with strength, focus, and power, to carry her on her way. She rises from her knees and starts running. She runs towards a hidden tunnel once used to escort royalty throughout the castle unseen and undetected -although in her time, she used it commonly to sneak into the Royal Tech Lab after hours. Perhaps her father had even used the very same system to escape the castle on that dreadful day. Either way, if these connected tunnels were still standing it would be her best shot at a stealthy exit so she can escape this malice-ridden place. Even without knowledge of the world as it is now, she knows the castle will be the most concentrated place of evil since she's the one that has been detaining it here this whole time.
She unhitches the dusty wooden door and descends down the staircase, determined to leave as fast as possible -but she would need to stop somewhere first. She runs down the winding staircase as fast as her feet could carry until she hears movement on the other side of the crumbling stone walls, indicating what she already assumed; monsters possessed by malice litter these once majestic halls. Zelda waits for one of them to cough or grunt and then she moves, taking one step at a time until she passes the wall of their camp and is far enough away where she can pick up her pace again. She begins to tip toe -her sounds barely louder than a whisper when she sees the familiar intersection of tunnels. She takes the right one facing west and follows through the darkness, her hands grazing the rough stone until she hits the end she's looking for. She presses her ear against it gently, listening if there's movement on the other side. When it's clear the room is empty, she presses hard against the stone and it gives way, revealing the room she sought after.
If she was to assist the fallen hero, then Zelda would need to change from her priestess garb and collect any items that could help her transform into someone else -a person without a Royal title, without a legend supporting her stance or burdening her shoulders. She would need new clothes, travel bags, and weapons -and her bedroom was the first place on her detour.
She gazes at her old bedroom, or what was left of it anyway. Her bed is now a pile of broken lumber and sawdust. Rugs burnt and windows shattered and the floor is littered with dried leaves, cobwebs, and debris -leaving no trace of the comfort it used to provide. Her eyes trace along the stone and she looks through the huge hole in the wall that used to be the stairs that led up to her study. The sky is gray beyond but memories of long past resurface as she envisions the countless times she's climbed that staircase and spending sleepless nights researching. Ever since her mother passed away, Zelda remembers having trouble sleeping. Her dreams would plague her with mysteries, unknown feminine voices, faces of mockery or ridicule, and they would only amplify her father's disappointment in her. Before she started traveling with Link to the Divine Beasts and Sacred Springs, she had the smallest of comforts to ascend that ruined staircase, spending the twilight hours escaping into books and research. She would've smiled if it wasn't for the fact that all the time she spent inevitably became pointless in stopping the Calamity. All that research was for nothing and it got us nowhere. She thinks.
Her eyes eventually rest on the desk in the corner of the room where she had kept her books, sketches, and many, many research notes. It had always been the messiest part of her bedroom and always held the most clutter which she found comforting. She walks over and picks up one book in-particular and places it on the scratched and burned wooden table. It's her diary. A memoir containing all her past worries, anxieties, and frustrations leading up to their apocalyptic downfall. She flips to the page of the day she had met with all the Champions. She remembers being bored and only vaguely going through the motions of what is expected of her -her thoughts transfixed on ancient research and the fortune-teller's prophecy repeating over and over in her mind. The power to defeat Ganon lies dormant beneath the ground. It was a time when tensions were high for everyone, but because she was too preoccupied with her own worries, she failed to notice this.
Then his face appears in her mind and it feels like her heart just ripped in half. One part stuck in the past, watching him fall limp into her arms in the rain and fire, the other part a jumble of hope and fear, desire and anxiety just to see him again.
Before a tear can escape the corners of her eyes she hears the unmistakable mechanic swirling of a Guardian outside the hole in her room, a Skywatcher. Knowing time is scarce, she quickly runs over to her wardrobe. Thank Goddess it's not destroyed. A cloud of dust swirls around her face as she opens its furnished and polished doors, and she can see her belongings have gone untouched -no one has been in this room since the last time she had. She scavenges through her abandoned items and finds a couple travel bags, stuffing several undergarments and random pieces of neutral colored clothing into it. As long as it wasn't royal blue, she packed them.
She quickly changes her outfit, discarding the priestess garb for a white blouse with sleeves that fall just past her elbows, it has a squared open neck line that would be way too revealing for a princess but she was no longer one and it wouldn't hurt to get Link's attention…somehow. This had been her typical outfit of choice when she would sneak into Castle Town to mingle amongst the commoners -she had to discard of this outfit and her adventures altogether when the Hero had been found and their duties consumed her. She pushes the memory away as she accessorizes the blouse with a brown leather hunting corset adorn with light tan etchings on the trim and her black riding pants with knee high travel boots. Comfortable, alluring yet neutral. It should do.
When she finishes changing, she grabs for her dark hooded cape and exits her room, not looking back.
It was only after she escaped the castle grounds did Zelda remember she left her diary opened on her research desk.
Zelda had been able to maneuver her way throughout the castle unseen, mostly thanks to the Royal tunnels. The castle had been her home after all and she knew every single nook and cranny, even if it's now in ruin. However, within the tunnel, she almost stumbled over several Royal Guard shields and swords left abandoned in the darkness -possibly left over from soldiers quickly retreating to defend the Akkala Citadel. Nevertheless, she thought it wise to take one of each, just incase she would have to battle any enemy lurking within the tunnels somewhere. Thankfully, the tunnels had stayed secret from this world, only allowing entrance for the critters who welcomed the dust and decay -spiders and bugs and the occasional rat. Only once did she sneak out of the shadows to grab a bow and quiver right underneath the nose of a sleeping Lizalfo. It had stirred but she was fast and stealthy. She had had years of sneaking around guards, noble folk, and her own father -it made her a natural rogue at heart.
She soon found the proper tunnel that led to the entrance of Castle Town, or what was left of the it. The rusty latched door had broke open with several hard pounds against her shoulder when she finally became faced with this new reality. It was silent, grey, and raining but the rain isn't what kept this place such a dreary sight to behold; it's the churning purple plasma speckled across burnt houses and crumbling structures. The faint buzzing sound of possessed technology and tree sized cobwebs with piercing evil eyes. All the families, merchants, and travelers who once called this place their home -it was now their graves. She would have wept where she stood if it wasn't for the fear of being spotted by a stalking guardian.
Thankfully, the rain and darkness kept her footsteps unnoticed as she crept along the crumbling stone wall. She followed the road heading south east, making her way towards Lon Lon Ranch -she wouldn't dare investigate the site for she only assumed it was littered with monster camps and endless smolder. It would just be adding more tears to her already bloodshot eyes.
It wasn't until she came to a fork in the road that she finally broke down, letting all emotions rupture like lava from Death Mountain. Her kingdom is gone, her father long passed, friends all dead, and now the one thing she had worked so hard to connect to had separated from her, leaving Zelda with nothing but an emptiness in the pit of her being. Would it ever be cured -this feeling? Would she one day reconnect with the Goddess or was this her fate now? Was the entire Royal bloodline diminished because of this schism? She couldn't even decide which was worse; witnessing the world disintegrate to its present demise or discovering the ruined fate of it all. Either way, she was there to see it all and it tore into her.
-But she had to remind herself that although this is her new world, her new life now, she had to remember that hope was not completely gone, not all of it. He is still here, alive, and she was on her way to help him.
She's unsure how long the traveler had been watching her, but she eventually feels a presence and snaps her head up to see a figure in a grey hooded coat. She can see his face and he looks worried by the state of her, hesitant to approach her, and she feels the same way. This is the first person she has seen since the Calamity -there were still people, still travelers. Perhaps not much as changed she tells herself but knows it's far from the truth.
She tries to collect her bearings swiftly and gracefully, tries to remember the years she trained as a Princess to conceal and compose oneself, but she's still in shock, breathing heavily, crying buckets of tears, and overall desperate to…to know.
"Please." She says in-between gasping breaths. "How long has it been?"
He steps closer, a little apprehensively, and she realizes he's more scared of her than she is of him.
"Beg your pardon Miss, how long has what been?" The old man asks, blinking curiously.
"The Calamity. Wh-when did it happen?"
"Oh my dear, well let's see." He rubs his chin. "It must be at least…one hundred years now."
One hundred years.
One hundred years.
Her calculations were off by seventy years but her only point of reference was counting the blood moon's after all. They didn't occur monthly, she had been wrong -they occur quarterly every year. Any trace of the Kingdom that may have survived after the Calamity would all be dust in the wind, forgotten memories now -a whole generation of Hylian's have never known the world she was once a part of and she can't quite consider if that's necessarily a bad thing.
What were people even like now? Did they trust one another or were people aggressive and maniacal? The old man standing in front of her seemed innocent enough.
She muffles out a thank you and he smiles weakly at her.
"Are you alright, child? It's easy to get lost in a rain like this." He yanks at the hood protecting his head and shakes droplets around him.
Lost. That's certainly what she felt like.
"Yes, I'll be okay eventually."
The old man exchanges pleasantries with her, he's eager to explain that he is a vendor who sells meats and goat's butter by traveling to stables across Hyrule. She decides to play down her Royal accent, slipping into a flutey dialect that's more common, more like his own. The change is easy for Zelda and she likes hearing her voice this way; evenly stressed and musical, yet rhotic and neutral. It is from him she learns about the horse stables -one of the last remaining trade systems within this world and she feels a little relief that some form of society has remained.
As it turns out, the elderly merchant is extremely interested in the sword on her hip and shield on her back. He did not seem to care how she had the pieces, only buying them. He's a collector of Royal antiques and offers to purchase them at a hefty price -500 rupees each which she begrudgingly agrees to although it feels like she's stealing from him -but the merchant insists. He informs her of the stable nearby, just beyond the Whistling Hill and it is then he mentions the Calamity again.
"It's funny that you should ask about the Calamity. Just yesterday evening all of Hyrule seemed to tremble. Some say Ganon was seen slithering around while others say they witnessed strange glowing towers rise from the ground." He glosses over the shine of the shield with his palm. "I'm sure there are more rumors to follow such odd occurrences, but do you know what I think?" He asks and she shakes her head.
"The Princess is back!" He winks at her and she immediately feels her heart pounding. How did he know? Could he tell? If it's been one hundred years since her last appearance, have the common people been waiting for her return? She did not expect anyone to remember what she looks like, but maybe her face has been passed down in stories and songs -Gods she hopes not, that'd be so embarrassing. Her ears start to grow hot.
"Yepper." The merchant chirps. "She's been hiding out in the Great Hyrule Forest, building an army of woodland spirits to fight against Calamity Ganon once and for all!" He nods in contentment, wholeheartedly believing in his statement. "Only a matter of time now before we see her siege charging out of the Lost Woods."
She could only smile weakly in return.
They part ways and she heads for Riverside Stable. The tent is the most welcoming sight she'd seen in a century and it makes her heart nearly flutter from her chest. It is homey, strung with beautiful lanterns, decorated cloths, and a miniature system of livestock which she had to force herself not to ask about -her scholarly brain getting the best of her attention. Although the stable is nothing compared to the sturdy structures and buildings of her past, the residents seem genuinely relaxed there. Perhaps the stables were protected by someone -something.
With money now in her pocket, she decides to stay there overnight as she's soaked from the rain and it doesn't seem to be letting up. Besides, she feels a little nervous about venturing in the night with nothing but a few arrows and a steel bow, especially if it starts to thunderstorm. She makes small talk with others and learns that there is another stable just on the other side of the Dueling Peaks which makes her relieved to hear. After a few odd glances in her direction, she begins to monitor her nerves when speaking because so many emotions flow through her like a heavy tide. Waves of excitement to explore this new world, but then to learn what it has belittled to. Even the simplicity of speaking to another person again -oh Gods she's not alone anymore -but then seeing the nightmares lurk behind her heavy eyelids whenever she blinked. It's almost too much to bare.
When she tries to sleep she startles everyone in the tent by her screams. Instead, she stays awake watching the travelers come and go.
Zelda manages to purchase a horse from the stable equipped with riding gear. He's a large black beauty with a gray mane and gentle eyes that goes by Jassa. She adores him instantly and he seems quite fond of her. She's also able to purchase arrows, some snacks, and an empty journal from a vendor that is called simply 'Beedle.' She meets a medicine man passing through and decides it wise to buy as many supplies from him he was willing to sell and jots down a few recipes for healing elixirs. She makes a mention to herself that researching healing medicine will be a top priority since this new freedom consists of keeping the hero alive when she finally meets him again.
She also finds a small skinning knife lying around the campfire and snatches it without asking if it was anyones.
Her and Jassa make their way along Hylia River, maneuvering only a few times to distance themselves from monster camps along its bank. They soon take a short break so Jassa can drink from the water and Zelda can enjoy an apple she collected from a nearby tree.
She sits along the river's edge, rolling the apple over and over in her palm as she takes in the land around her. It's not a sunny day, it's partly cloudy and windy, but it's better than the rain she experienced the day before and can see farther in the distance. Hyrule is vast like she remembers, but desolate now. No carriages or wagons full of families. No parades of soldiers or royal banners. Just an empty vessel. Kind of like how she felt now.
Although she was dropped into this new world, alone and afraid, she can't help but feel a small bit of relief in her heartbreak. This land is nothing like the peaceful one her father once ruled, but it is a different kind of peaceful. It's not loud, gritty, or violent -but quiet and lonely. Immobile enough for the birds and foxes to roam freely. Nature took control while she was away and this reality soothes a bit of her nerves.
She closes her eyes and feels the breeze against her cheeks and nose. She inhales and realizes she no longer smells metallic rust and acid, but can smell the fresh air after the rain. It's the smell of healthy trees and wild grass that remind her so vividly of her hero. She hears a fox squeak behind her and the birds above and it makes the corners of her lips tilt upwards, but suddenly her eyes are full of tears.
She allows herself to cry, different than the day before. She sobs for the world she once knew, was once a part of. It had been one hundred years since she gazed upon its hills and mountains, rivers and streams but it's still so beautiful, even now. She cries for the things she doesn't quite understand -the force that freed her from her containment with Ganon and what had separated her from her sealing power, from the Goddess. She aches for the divinity that used to reside within her, no longer able to feel any connection and she wonders if she ever will again. She's nothing but a common Hylian, no special abilities or supernatural birthright, everything she once dreamed for -only now it's a curse filled with apocalyptic emptiness and post trauma.
The only thing keeping her from shattering entirely is knowing that Link is awake and he needs her. His only chance of surviving is with the assistance of Zelda, but why her? Strategy and logic, curiosity and research are all that Zelda is really good for…right? Or maybe he really is that weak now -and she'd be the better archer and fighter. She shivers at the thought.
Zelda then recalls Hylia's words; that Link will be told to head towards the Dueling Peaks. Directed by what or by whom? Who was up there protecting the hero and watching over him while he slept? Perhaps by a network of Sheikah informed by Impa to guard him? It could be anyone.
Hylia also informed her that the hero's memory is gone and that she should not trigger it. Thankfully, this world had forgotten her face, no one at the stable batted an eye at her unless she was bumbling like a mad woman asking questions about the stable system or screaming in her sleep….but would he remember? The slightest memory provoked too early may spiral into a mental breakdown, collapse, or post trauma and that's exactly what the hero should not be dealing with when there are more important matters at hand.
No, this isn't about reuniting with her hero; it's about helping him -and she should remain anonymous until he is ready to remember her.
Eventually she has no more tears to shed. She feels numb and thinks perhaps it's better that way. Zelda looks down at her skinning knife strapped to her side and her long golden hair cascading to her waist that's curtaining around her body. Her hair was once deemed as beautiful as a smile from the Goddess Hylia herself. She always felt like it got in her way.
With the last remaining tears in her eyes, she reaches for the knife, detaching it from her waist as she takes her other hand and clasps her hair around the nape of her neck. Her heart is pounding but she's determined, nervous but willing to do what she's always wanted though it was never allowed. She breathes a deep inhale through her nose.
On her exhale she takes the blade and slices her hair in one smooth action. She feels it fall just a few inches below her protruding ears and along her jaw line. Messy and untamable, simple yet new and thrilling. She can feel the wind on her neck and it soothes her.
Birds chirp above, flying in pairs, and her four legged companion munches on the tall grass beside her as Zelda moves to the river's edge. Kneeling atop her legs, she places her abandoned hair into the water and watches it gently float along the surface until it begins to separate by strands and drifts too far away for her to see. She feels like a piece of her past has been removed and that she's finally ready to step into the present -ready to be a part of it.
She's no longer recognizable as Princess Zelda, daughter of King Rhoam Bosphoramus, the woman who Seals the Darkness and future monarch of Hyrule. Zelda is now just another nameless traveler, roaming the wild.