The expedition to the master sword was organized and set to go two weeks after the initial decision that it should be recovered. Reba was the last to send the OKAY signal, but only due to a sand storm, not any dissenting opinion. With the four 'ready' signals, the Princess, the Hero, and the Sheikah guard Paya set out to the east, towards the Forgotten Temple.
Impa had recently put the finishing touches on a motorized vehicle that she called the Master Cycle Zero, that she generously lent to them. It was a prototype, though Zelda wasn't sure if it was super useful to make more as it required a lot of power. Still, it was faster than a horse, and able to keep up with the battalion of guardians that was accompanying them. Link drove the bike, while Zelda sat behind him and Paya stood on a guardian.
"Is it strange that I put the sword back?" Link asked not too long into their journey.
"Not exactly. It was a key for sealing Ganon's power, so putting it back probably bought us a few years," Zelda answered.
Link relaxed slightly before tensing up again. "I couldn't hear the sword's voice. Do you know if that was more myth or fact?"
"I thought you were told to put it back?"
"I was. By the Goddess, not the sword. There's a big Hylia statue in the temple," he explained.
"The soul of the sword was what gave Impa the idea for the Divine Beast, and considering how it turned out I would say that it is firmly a fact."
"Why didn't it talk to me then?" She heard Link murmur.
She didn't have an answer. Zelda hadn't heard the voice of the sword either, but then, it was never clear if her bloodline had that ability in the first place. The divine beasts communicated so faintly to her, she wouldn't doubt if the sword wouldn't even register.
After a bit of riding in silence, Link said quietly to her, "I still think the Temple of Time would be a better venue…"
Paya was trailing behind a bit when Zelda glanced to check their privacy.
"More so than the Royal Temple?" she asked.
"The view's better," he said with a shrug.
"I supposed the Forgotten Temple is a bit lacking in landscape views, but wouldn't a Goddess statue in Hebra have the best views?"
He was caught off guard with that and stopped his teasing, for the moment at least. The trip was still young. He may have grown to her height, but she was much better at teasing.
They traveled in relative ease for the rest of the day. It was while in sight of the Forgotten Temple that a Guardian whizzed with electricity, as it was struck by an electric arrow? Zelda searched for the source, while Paya drew her weapon.
It wasn't an electric arrow, but a wizzrobe. The Guardians whirred to the ready, firing at will. Link cursed under his break and gunned the engine.
"Ride on!" Paya yelled, "They're trying to cut off the path to the temple!" Paya disappeared into a puff, reappearing on another Guardian, and throwing a wide array of knives.
"Hold on tight!" Link told her as he headed towards the stairs down into the canyon. A few bokoblins were in the way, and he ran them over. Zelda yelped and didn't look down, her arms even more snug around his waist. The stairs were a rough ride, but thrilling as well.
The grand temple built into the side of the canyon should've loomed awe-inspiring above, but instead Zelda was more focused on not being shot by stray arrows. Before she knew it, they were under the tall ceilings of the temple, with the monsters hot on their heels. Zelda glanced back to try and spy Paya, but could only see the growing monster carnage as the Guardians wreaked havoc.
The light on the Zero cycle illuminated the way, revealing legions of stalkoblins and other skeletal monsters. Link cleared the way best he could, but there were just too many and they were close to being surrounded.
The Guardians started to pour in to fight yet another threat. Halfway to the back of the temple the ground became uneven and then a pillar blocked the way.
Link hurriedly looked around to find a way around the obstacle. While he was problem solving, Zelda let out a magical pulse to buy some time. On the undead it did quite a bit of damage.
Finally, he took out his sheikah slate and bombed an area. From there an air vent opened, letting loose a large updraft. He sheathed his sword and deactivated the Master Cycle Zero, putting the slate back on his belt. In the sudden darkness, her glowing magic was the only source of light. Taking out his sailcloth, he called, "Zelda!" and held out his arms.
She leapt into them and held on tight, closing her eyes. With a jerk they were pulled upwards and landed on an upper level. The land was uncoordinated.
"What about Paya?" Zelda asked.
"She can follow us," he said, "but I plan to get the sword and clear this all up."
His confidence surprised her.
They ran along the upper level, and Zelda asked, "Is the sword really that strong?"
"Focus on running!" was all he said.
Stalfos below tried and failed to shoot them. A concentrated explosion boomed behind them, and Zelda glanced back to see Guardians had blown through the fallen pillar and were making battle with the stalfos.
"We're almost there!" Link said, grabbing her wrist before she could accidentally run off the edge. She shrieked and clung closer to him. He had incredibly good eyesight for the low light levels. "We'll need to sail down," he told her, letting go of her wrist and pulling her closer.
She wrapped her arms tighter around him. "Let's go."
He jumped and the landing was hard. A sail cloth was really only meant for one person. They collapsed to the stone floor in front of one of the largest goddess statues Zelda had ever seen. Granted, she was seeing it from an upside down angle. Link was already getting off her, removing his hand from the back of her head where he's been trying to prevent head trauma. He apologized quietly. She sat up and looked at the statue fully.
Link wasn't looking at the statue, but the sword and pedestal in front of it. She recognized the blue winged hilt and golden jewel from her studies. The Master Sword.
The stalfos were a ways behind them along with the Guardians. The two forces were clashing epically, but it felt far away. Link looked like he was in a trance. Her voice caught in her throat, though she wasn't sure what she would say if it hadn't.
Link walked forwards towards the sword with slow purposeful steps. Zelda watched this momentous occasion until a clacking sound erupted from the ground behind her in the direction of the entrance. Had the stalfos and other monsters broken through?
She turned to see one monster, a variant of salfos she would say, clawing its way out of the ground. It was larger than a normal stalfos by a few heads and wielded a large, but broken sword.
It's blade was a dark grey and Zelda could feel the malice dripping from it. Was this Ganon's sword? She thought it destroyed, or at very least lost. It looked like it was both at one point, and neither anymore.
The Skeleton monster approached with menacing steps. Zelda called to Link, but he was still in his trance and taking his time. She grit her teeth and summoned her light bow.
She aimed and loosed once, hitting the flat side of the blade. The light attacked the metal but faded. She readed another arrow, but was too slow. The monster made a dash attack. She watched the blade come down to cut her in two, broken blade or no.
…
The whispering grew stronger the closer he came to the sword. As he stepped onto the triangular design on the ground, the voice grew clear.
Are you prepared for the darkness you are about to release?
I am, he said back. He dimly realized he was no longer in the temple, but somewhere beyond.
If you are worthy, the sword will answer your call.
He was drawn back to the present by Zelda's cry. He grasped the sword with both hands. The moment his hands touched the hilt, power coursed through his veins. It was less intense than it had been when he was 14, but it was still a lot.
He pulled it out of the pedestal and pointed it skyward. A pulse of blue light emitted from the blade and Link forgot for a moment the danger Zelda was in, so in awe of the weapon he was now wielding. She let out another cry and he turned to see a skeletal monster bearing down on her, wielding a broken blade. He ran forward and pulled her aside while blocking the blade with the Master Sword.
The dark sword shattered on interception and with another few blows, the monster disintegrated. Zelda stared at him with wide eyes from where she still lay on the ground. He offered her his hand, which she took. He pulled her up and took a moment to appreciate the closeness.
The bits of broken sword appeared to be smoking. A terrible laughing erupted from them. Zeda held out her hand, a fierce light glowing from her palm. A pulse of light came from her and the shards in what Link would describe as anger. But they were weak to Zelda and were sealed in the small golden circles.
Zelda and LInk shared a look, unsure what to say. The Guardians were still firing constantly. Finally, she grabbed his non-dominant hand and ran towards the commotion.
"We should get back, from the castle we'll be able to triangulate where Ganon will come from."
There were more monsters than before in the valley, though the Guardians had garrisoned the temple entrance well.
There was a rumbling far off and distant shriek. He sheathed the sword and turned his back to the tree to go and face the terror he'd just unsealed.
Zelda and Paya followed. It was a tense way out of the forest and after they were out and the mist cleared could they see it. The sky was red and dark. Dark smoke rose from the castle.
"No!" Zelda yelled, "We'll never get there fast enough."
"And we can't have the fight in the castle, maybe we can drag it out…" Paya though swiftly.
The Sheikah slate buzzed violently. Zelda quickly unslung it and read the message,
Ganon was sealed under the castle. We need you all here now. Use instant transport.
"Instant transport?" Paya asked, "Isn't that still in the testing phase?"
"It will work," Link said.
Both women whipped their heads to look at him. "How do you know that?" Zelda asked.
He turned from her and scratched the arch of his nose. "Impa needed someone to try it."
"And you did?!" she burst.
"A kuckoo went through alright."
"I have personally seen apples and cuckoos disintegrated!"
"Well, that was before she got it tuned right," Link shot back, "So either we use it or we let the castle be destroyed!"
That jolted her out of her anger at him. With the little resignation she could spare, she said, "Fine. Let's go. Hands on the slate."
With all three hands on the slate, Zelda hit the instant transport button. Link felt weightless for a second and then was consumed by a bright light. They were set down in Impa's lab, and Link felt his stomach churn unpleasantly.
The building shook as Ganon struggled at his holds.
"Whose brilliant idea was it to seal the embodiment of chaos and destruction underneath the castle?" Impa asked over the noise. She was looking at Zelda accusingly. "And how would the sword be the main key if he was here?!"
"That was hundreds of years ago, how should I know?" Zelda said, already walking to the main terminal. "Is he free yet?"
"We don't think so," Impa said, "the drones and sentinels haven't actually fired yet. We're working on pinpointing where he's at."
"We could use the guardians to move him before he breaks the seal entirely."
"Move him where?"
"To Hyrule field. Then the Divine Beasts could target their fire without risk of damaging anything." Zelda was moving towards the stairs already, with Paya and Link on her heels.
"Why would they seal him under the Castle?" Zelda asked aloud.
"Is that important right now?" Paya asked.
Between breaths, the princess only said, "It might be."
Once down on the main floor, castle staff were evacuating. They thought they had prepared for any possibility, but this? Link grabbed Zelda's hand to catch her attention.
"You go out to the field," he told her.
"And leave you to search the bowels of the castle yourself?" She was astonished. "I won't let you do this alone."
"Zelda, I know these dungeons like the back of my hand. I spent a years exploring if you've forgotten."
"Then you should remember that I know them too."
She forced him to make eye contact and he let out a huff of frustration. "You're the one he really wants, you know that. If I die, another hero will be born eventually, you die and so does the blood of the Goddess." When it was clear his words were doing nothing to convince her, he changed tactics. "Fine, think of it this way. This is a boar hunt and I'm going to chase the boar out, but I need someone to flush it out to."
Paya, who had been standing on the sidelines watching their spat, interrupted. "Do you trust him to bring Ganon out to light?"
"Of course I trust him," she said in a stilted way. "But I also know how reckless he can be. I don't want to wait for another hero. I want you."
He realized it was emotion that clouded her voice. "Getting him out to you is only half the battle. I'll be there to finish, I promise."
She launched forward in a hug, and after a moment of shocked hesitation, he reciprocated. His face was buried in her long curly hair, and despite himself, he couldn't help but note how good she smelled.
Probably not the clearest mind to have before going to hunt for a demon in a dungeon, but Link couldn't help it. She always had that effect on him. They pulled apart, and Link briefly glanced at Paya who nodded. He nodded back.
"I shouldn't be long," he told them, turning to go and find an entrance to the castle's underbelly. He unsheathed the sword on his back just enough for the triforce to catch the light. "Don't forget what our journey was for, I'm well armed."
"I will be waiting," she called back. They went their separate ways.