AN: As noted, these are the unedited chapters to what would have been War of Religious Veracity (a title I'm still not satisfied with), the final story in my 'Silidan' trilogy of Zelda stories. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

She wasn't sure which she liked more: the soft sand, the calm water or the beautiful setting sun. It was hard to decide, but when she really thought about them, they didn't matter. While their presence were all welcome, what made her really love the Ordona Spring were the memories of the place; the ones with her father, in particular, came to mind. She could perfectly recall every one of them too.

Leviah knew that she shouldn't have bothered, but it had practically become a tradition. Ever since her father sacrificed himself to save his family and the rest of the expedition, she found herself coming here every year. No matter what hoops she had to go through with the hylian guard, she made sure that she'd make it back.

The young woman took a step into the spring going only far enough to let the water dampen her boots. She let out a sigh while shaking her head, feeling like a child that was trying to pretend nothing was wrong with the world. Maybe that was all the little ritual accomplished. Her brother would agree, while their mother would refuse to say anything on the subject. More than anyone else, Ashei was affected the most by the loss of Link. She never quite got over it.

"Hey, dad." Leviah said, looking down into the spring. "It's me again: Li'l Lee."

She paused for a second, having not thoroughly thought out what she was going to say next. "I...was given some surprising news by my captain a couple weeks ago. He said that, well, based on my performance in one of our war games, that maybe it was time...I became an officer."

A smile formed on her face. "He said he'd spoken with the king about it too, and he seemed to agree. All I have to do is say the word and I'll begin training. Of course, I said I wasn't sure if I was ready for it, but that I'd think about it. I told mom already, and as expected she told me I could've become a lieutenant sooner if I'd just accepted my birth-given nobility to skip all the 'grunt ranks'. Typical of her."

Leviah let out a mild chuckle as she remembered precisely how her mother had phrased her words. "Now, I already told you why I wanted to enlist, but still...I wouldn't mind becoming an officer. It sure would fix my issues with Soru. Do you remember Soru? Not that important, but he's a sergeant who thinks that my superiors are just trying to be nice since I'm your daughter. Never mind the fact that I've beaten him so many times in various duels that he really should shut up.

"But still...I'm not sure which way to go. I mean, we've been doing everything we can to prepare for the inevitable invasion, but after ten years the people are wondering if maybe we were misled. If maybe...the pantheans aren't coming to destroy us."

The young woman realized that her head had lowered to the point of staring into her reflection. She lifted it back towards the horizon before continuing. "It's reached the point where it's no longer just wishful thinking. They think that maybe we were just wrong, or lying. Some people have begun protesting the call to arms, though it's mostly been isolated to Silidan. A lot of the resistance in Hyrule has been quieted by Zelda, but she can only do so much."

She sighed deeply, and finally decided to take a step back onto dry land. "Oh! Before I forget, I should tell you that almost immediately after our last talk, Dino broke up with me. It was all very sudden, and I wasn't sure how to respond, but he said that after a year of dating, he figured out that I wasn't right for him. I'm well over him now, but I felt like garbage for the first month or so afterwards. I just wish th-"

"What have we here?!" A dark, sinister, and obviously fake accent inquired as the person it belonged to grabbed a tuft of her long hair. Though Leviah was more than certain who it was, she wasn't going to let the bugger off easily. She elbowed her assailant in the gut, grabbed the hand holding her and dug her nails right below the knuckles between the bones, pinching the nerves. Her attacker immediately released his grip, allowing the warrior to turn around completely and use her other hand to put him in an arm lock. By this time, she could confirm the identity of the man.

"Nice try, Esekel," She said, still holding his arm, "But you're gonna have to try harder than that to scare me."

The teenage boy was still groaning in pain when he weakly let out, "Come on! Let go of me!"

"What's the magic word?" She questioned him playfully.

"Now!"

The young woman rolled her eyes as she obliged him. Esekel wretched his arm away the moment her grip lightened, massaging it lightly with his other hand. "Must you be so forceful?"

"No, I don't, but you shouldn't be dodging your training either."

A look of surprise came over Esekel. "Did mom tell you already?"

"She didn't have to. The way you weren't prepared for my counter was enough to tell me." Leviah had moved back to her horse, the seven-year-old offspring of Epona she'd named Ben-Chayil, near the far side of the spring's bank. She unhooked the scabbard on her saddle and handed the weapon to Esekel. "Which is sad, considering that this was made special for you."

"Oh? Was it Tricia again?" His sister nodded, causing him to groan. "When will she ever understand that I'm just not interested in her?"

"When you walk into her father's shop with Sage's arm wrapped around yours." She replied dryly.

"Cut that out," He warned her. "I just...I haven't worked up the courage to ask her."

"You do our family real proud, y'know that?" Leviah sarcastically said. "Maybe you should talk to Uncle Shad for advice. Mom said that he used to be worse than you."

"Yeah, yeah. Or maybe I should just do what you do," His voice suddenly grew darker and more antagonistic. "And just talk to the spring as if it was her. Oh, wait. That only works when the person is dead."

Leviah's eyes flared at that remark. He'd just gone too far, and he knew it. Whatever playful jabs she made at his expense were immediately overshadowed by his impetuous remark. She found herself only able to respond in kind. "Dad's not dead, you little cretin!"

"Isn't he?" It was Esekel's turn to sound sarcastic, but a lot more belittling than she had. "I suppose you're just connected to him in such a way that you can 'just know' he's out there, despite the queen's best efforts to sense him with the Triforce."

"You saw them, Esekel! You know that they had powerful magic themselves! It's possible he's still alive and that they're just masking his presence to us!"

"For what purpose? To learn about us? You know that dad wouldn't talk, and even if they let him live to test that, they have to have seen how pointless it was and finished him off."

"You don't know that!" Leviah was in her little brother's face. She had quite a few inches on him, and she didn't mind rubbing it in at that moment, petty as it was. "You don't know that!"

Esekel just shook his head and grinned. "Such ignorance. Someday you and mom are going to have to face reality on this one and move on like I have."

"Oh, you have, have you?" She was no longer restraining herself, and had finally switched to mocking him. "Then why do I see hate in your eyes every time you mention him?"

"Because you're delusional."

"You're not as opaque as you think you are. I've watched you grow for a long time, and I can tell when something makes you angry."

"Then you've gotten rusty. I'm not the same kid that you used to pick on whenever you felt like it."

"The only difference I've seen is that you whine even more nowadays."

"Just be happy that you're older than me, or else I'd p-"

"Hey!" The voice of a young boy tried to split the two from their argument. "Listen to me!"

The older sibling was the first to break eye contact and turn to see who had come along. Only a couple feet away was Yerik, now almost eleven years old, trying to give them both the same stern look that their mother used to do. Leviah found it difficult to hold her anger at the sight, finding herself muffling a laugh. That only made Esekel more irritated, and he stammered off. Leviah could have sworn she saw steam coming out of his ears. Finally turning back to her youngest brother, she replied, "Sorry, Yerik. What did you want to say?"

"Uncle Rusl said that the roast should be ready in just a couple minutes."

"Thank you. I'll be there shortly." The little boy ran back towards the village, and Leviah spun towards the spring. She sighed briefly as she watched the still waters. "I suppose I can tell you the rest later, dad."

Grabbing Ben-Chayil by the reigns, she left the spring for Ordon.

She hadn't had barbecue this good in many months. Uncle Rusl really had out-done himself this time. Leviah was more than happy to eat three whole portions of the beef. It was a wonder that she still wasn't full, permitting her to relax for the rest of the evening with a piping hot cup of tea. As she sat around the bonfire in the middle of town, she watched as the members of the village celebrated the *Autumn Festival*. The harvest was over, so they'd put together this festival as a thanks to the goddesses for its success.

Leviah was grateful that she was able to attend it, though she had not participated in the harvest itself. She hadn't seen her family in nearly a year because of the training she'd been put through. She'd faithfully wrote letters every week, but like for many others, it just wasn't the same as being in the same room with them, sitting and chatting about the latest gossip. Even Esekel, though her relationship with him was strained at times, was still a sight for sore eyes.

As the young woman took another sip of her tea, Ashei had moved over just to the right of her. "You're not going to mind the company of your mother, yeah?"

With a warm smile, Leviah told her, "Not at all. Please sit with me."

Her mother had a mug half full of mead in her right hand, which she kept at a distance, knowing that Leviah wasn't fond of the smell. "So, have you decided on whether you're going t-"

"No, I'm still not sure." She knew that Ashei was wondering about her lieutenancy. "But I'm still leaning more towards not taking it."

"You thinking of maybe going for a specialization? Something like the cavalry?"

"I wasn't offered anything like that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thing came up if I do reject being an officer."

"You're not going to pick something non-combative, are you?"

"Of course not!" Leviah was shocked that her mother would even suggest such a thing. Ashei nodded her head while smiling. "Good. I'd be really concerned if that's why you don't want the commission. You're still a better warrior than the rest of your unit too, yeah?"

"The best." She replied proudly. "Only my captain has matched my skills, but only in a duel with restrictions. Were it a fight to the death, there'd have been no question who would've won."

"Then I can't understand why you won't take it. What's holding you back?"

"Well...maybe I just prefer being an army regular, or a specialist. Maybe I'm just concerned that I'll find being an officer boring. Not to mention, I've already made a lot of friends with the other soldiers. I wouldn't want them all to just start calling me 'ma'am'; that'd probably ruin our unit's cohesion."

"I don't know, that sounds like fear to me." Her mother took a quick swig of her drink. "Are you just afraid of what being an officer might lead to?"

"N-no! That's ridiculous!" Leviah stammered, almost spilling her tea. "How could you even think that?!"

"Okay, relax!" Ashei couldn't help laughing at Leviah's reaction. "If you really care about your troops that much, I suppose you've already made your decision."

"I do, but..." She couldn't find the words she wanted to convey how she felt. "I don't know. I guess I'm just comfortable with the way things are. I don't know if fiddling about with that is a good idea right now. We still don't know when the pantheans are going to show up. Being in the middle of training when they do may put me in a less effective position. I was just telling that to da-..."

She immediately clamped up, not wanting to bring up Link, but it was too late. Ashei's demeanor shifted when she realized whom she meant. It was the faintest of changes, but Leviah had learned to recognize it while still growing up. It had gotten smaller, but it was still there, and she knew what that still meant.

Without a word, but with a fake smile plastered across her face, Ashei gulped down the last of her drink, stood up and moved over towards the barrel of mead. Leviah slunk down in her seat, exhaling dejectedly over the outcome. She quietly chastised herself for such thoughtlessness. "So much for having a nice chat."

Leviah took another drink of her tea, then put it down on the stump next to her. She turned around and picked up a large item still wrapped in heavy paper. One of the village children, a human girl named Cerin, was fascinated by the object.

"What've you got there?" The girl asked with eyes wide.

"An instrument." Leviah set it on the ground in front of her and began to unravel its bindings. "It's called a 'koto,' and one of my fellow soldiers gave it to me."

Once her instrument was unwrapped, she lifted up the largest piece and put it on the seat beside her. The two smaller parts turned out to be legs to help prop up the koto. Once they were set, Leviah placed the koto onto the legs. She followed this up by putting a trio of finger picks onto her right thumb, index and middle fingers. Then she started tuning it by moving the bridges beneath the long strings forward and back. The little girl chimed in at the sight of the completed instrument. "It looks like a really long washboard on its side."

The hylian smirked, as she recalled thinking the same thing when she first saw one. "Yes, but give me a second and you'll hear that it doesn't sound like one."

Once Leviah was properly satisfied with the koto's intonation, she began to play a soft melody. Her right hand would strum across the thirteen strings, while her left sat on the opposite side of the bridges, pressing into the strings whenever she wanted to bend the pitch. Occasionally, she'd bring her left hand over to the other side and pluck at a couple of strings, but only for a short while.

Her performance was fluid and the way she moved made it seem as if she were an expert with the instrument. Only she and some of the soldiers in her unit knew that she'd only been playing for a couple months. Even when she did make a mistake, she was able to recover so quickly that no one without a firm knowledge of song and instrument would know.

Once Leviah finished her first piece, she began tuning the koto for the next one. All the kids that were listening applauded, as well as several of the adults. Just as it was dying down, she could hear the voice of Somi, a shopkeep, ask, "Does this mean you're done with the shamisen?"

"Oh, I still play that," She reached behind her, pulling it out to show that it was still in good condition, though a little worn. "It's still easier to travel with it, and I'm actually permitted to march with it."

"Into the battlefield?!" Somi inquired with a great deal of shock in his voice. Leviah shook her head. "Of course not. But I'm allowed to carry it on the long marches. Whenever we camp, I like to pull it out and play a tune or two. The others tend to enjoy it as well. One of them even has an ocarina to play along."

"Can I play it?" Leviah turned around to see Yerik looking at the shamisen. Leviah smiled at her little brother. "Do you remember what I taught you? How to hold it and everything?"

"You know I do." Yerik rolled his eyes. It was true. Yerik had incredible memory, and was able to recall just about anything when needed. Leviah was well aware, and was only teasing him. She passed the instrument and plectrum to the boy who immediately began to tune the three strings. Leviah then asked. "Would you like to play something in particular?"

"I like the 'Serenade of Water' the most." Yerik said excitedly.

"That's one of my favorites too."

After a couple more seconds of tuning, Leviah began the song while Yerik followed. Eventually she let him lead while she played a harmonizing line. The two siblings played so well that everyone still around the campfire found themselves humming along to the song.

Leviah's face beamed the entire time as she reflected on all her past experiences living in Ordon: Swimming against Esekel; climbing trees for honey; practicing her swordplay with mother; the first time she flirted with a boy. She even considered all the times she got in trouble as good times. All those memories were of her family and friends...and then came the memories of her father.

She remembered his kind smile that was on his face every time she was sad. She remembered his hearty laugh whenever they played together. She remembered his powerful arms lifting her over his head letting her pretend she was flying. And she remembered his calm demeanor as he listened closely to all of her problems.

Leviah hadn't realized that there were tears streaming down her face until one reached the tip of her chin. Unable to raise a hand to wipe them away without making a mistake on her koto, she let them continue to fall. She knew that playing the "Serenade of Water" would cause this to happen, but she couldn't help it; the memories of those experiences were all she had left of him.

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Yerik asked, as the song finally came to a close. "About dad?"

His sister wiped the tears from her face while nodding. This made the boy curious. "Why are you only sad now? Why aren't you sad all the time? Or never at all?"

"Sometimes," She had to sniff in between words, "the thought of him is harder to bear. I try not to let it get me down, but knowing how things should have been makes it difficult when thinking about how things actually had been."

The boy just stared at his sister for a moment, not quite mature enough to try and gauge her. He just thought that watching her would tell him something more. "What was he like?"

"What could I tell you about him that mom and Esekel haven't already said?"

"I dunno. Just try."

Leviah pondered the question for a minute. It was difficult trying to think of something that Yerik wouldn't have heard before. It took her a while, but eventually she answered, "He hated mom's 'Beef Stew Surprise,' but he'd eat it every time she made it. He loathed the feeling of wet sand in his boots, and you wouldn't dare let him start talking about goron opera; he had very strong feelings about it."

She turned to see Yerik's head high in the sky while keeping his eyes closed. He sighed in deep thought, no doubt visualizing each and every detail of her description. "I think I would have liked him."

Leviah nodded in agreement. "Yes, I bet you would have."

Once Leviah regained control of herself, she prepared to play a third song. Esekel, who had been listening from a distance, took this as an opportunity to approach her. His head was hanging low, as if ashamed of something. Leviah figured he intended to speak as soon as the second song was finished, but that he hesitated. His pride was slowing him down. Nevertheless, he stood before her now.

"Listen," Esekel began. "About...what I said earlier...you know I didn't mean it."

"It's okay." His sister replied. "I shouldn't have snapped back like I did anyway."

"Truce?" He held out his hand towards her, but Leviah shook her head while standing back up.

"Oh, come on! When do we ever shake? We settle like siblings ought to."

Esekel took a step back, but it wasn't enough to get away from her aggressive embrace. It was just another reminder that he had fallen behind on his training. Still, he didn't have a problem reciprocating the hug. Despite their differences, he still cared for her, she cared for him, and in the end, no matter how hard they fought, they always made up.

As far as they were concerned, they would never be separated.