Below you will find the first chapter of an in-progress original story based off of The Legend of Zelda, which will aim to explore the world before the Sky Era leading up to The Great Demon War. While it is technically a prequel, I hope that I will be able to avoid the tropes most prequels fall into and I do not wish to over explain or give origins to pre-existing concepts. I will be incorporating familiar concepts and characters as well as many, many original ones, and I hope you will find my depiction of Hyrule and its peoples worth your time.

In this story, you will not find excessive ships or fan-service romances. It may be a fanfiction, but it is a Zelda story first, and I hope to honor the legacy of the franchise and create something truly worth its title. I will be paying attention to fan feedback from those who wish to see the story honor the franchise in the same way.

With that said, I am still very much in the process of writing this and will need much more time to finish it, but I have decided to put the first chapter on here for now to see how it fares. I feel as though it will need a major revision that will change the way the story opens rather significantly in a way that would cut straight to the action but lose some necessary exposition and the buildup it has right now. Before I make this change, however, if the current version works with readers, I will continue with what I already have. In any case, I may likely be writing the next chapter as you read this. I may add more chapters in Beta in the future. I haven't decided either if I will post the chapters as I write them or wait until I have finished at least Act I. I am leaning more on the former, as it will be nice to hear reader feedback as I'm developing this.

Now that you fully understand the situation of this story, I present to you the first two parts of Goddess Mythos: A Prelude to the Legend of Zelda, in Beta. Let me know your thoughts if you'd like.

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Prologue

In the waning years of the Era of Hylia there were many tellings of the creation of Hyrule, but only the Spirits of Good remembered the story as it was.

In the beginning, there existed only depths of chaos. And it came to pass that three golden goddesses descended on the chaos from a distant nebula and were greatly displeased, for the world was not good.

The first of these goddesses, Din, circled around and said, "I shall make a great landscape to cover this chaos." And she opened her flaming arms and clapped them together, bursting forth a rocky terrain. She raised heaps among the rocks and called them mountains and she gave the landscape clefts, which she called valleys and opened chasms and crevasses beneath the earth. From searing flames she created these things and for a time hewed the rock to her liking, covering much of it over with earth. To surround her landscape, she breathed forth a firmament that captured her breath within. When she was finished, she gathered together a blazing heat to illuminate the work as she examined it proudly.

Din proclaimed these things and they were so.

The second of these goddesses, Nayru, perceived the world below and said, "I shall give the world law and order, for those will keep it separate from the chaos beneath." And she breathed with a great sigh and from her lips came forth the first commands of Hyrule, magic and science within. The world was binded with discipline, and an order came about. The heavens opened, and floods rained down; and the crevasses and chasms were filled throughout. Terrific waves crashed about the rock and began to carve it further; and vapors rose from the settling waters and formed in the skies above to establish a course. Electric currents struck the grounds and storms surged throughout, raining down on the land and flowing within the clefts and valleys. And the mountains awakened and spewed forth great flames; and rivers of fire poured down along the mountains' girth. And there were also other waters that crystalized at peaks and settled to be recumbent. And Nayru saw the world was binded and gave the heavens stars to be as signs for the changing seasons, for the days and the years, and the eras hereafter. And the evening and the morning came and went, and the days began to pass on.

Nayru whispered these things and they were so.

And the third of these goddesses, Farore, wondered and asked, "Is this world to carry on so dull without a soul to live within and admire your great works? Henceforth, I shall give it life to preserve the world and keep it from chaos." And she opened her rich soul and from it there came all manners of sentience. The earth was turned into a nurturing soil and plants came forth from within, and fruit-bearing trees, and seed-bearing herbs; and the fruit also bore seeds after its kind. And the waters were made abundant with life, which began small and grew into great beasts. Some crawled forth from the waters and settled on land, and some took flight and swarmed the heavens above. And all the creatures that filled the world breathed in Din's breath, for from it life was drawn. And just as the plants, the animals produced seed after their kind and carried on. And the plants and the animals resided together, and for this relationship Farore was proud. But she was still dissatisfied. She produced a second kind of life that came about in many forms that each resembled the goddesses' image in there own ways. And she called these races. And just as with the animals, she split the races, creating male and female. Male and female to produce seed after their kind. And she sang gently into their ears, teaching them the laws of the world that they might pass them down to their kin. And these races were very wise, and they knew they were wise. They were different from the plants and animals in this way, for they surely knew good from evil. With all this done, Farore was finally satisfied.

Farore conceived of these things, and they were so.

The goddesses ascended to review the world they created, but they knew they were not yet finished. Din bestowed her power to the races, that they might defend themselves from evil. Nayru bestowed wisdom and curiosity to the races, that they might seek out knowledge and strive to learn for generations. Farore bestowed courage to the races, that they might find it within themselves to do what was right.

The goddesses looked over the world again and, seeing there was yet still something missing, said, "Let us create spirits to protect this world, for the chaos beneath it will strive to break free and corrupt our little world. These spirits will each look after an element, race, or other such wonder, which will be their purpose." So the goddesses combined their powers and it was so.

At last, Din, Farore, and Nayru looked over the world and saw that it was good. And they were satisfied. "It is time," they said and departed back to the the heavens from whence they came.

And at the point where the goddesses slipped away, a golden power was created; a parting gift from the goddess that drifted down to the world.

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And it came to pass that there was a spirit who was called Hylia who came across the golden relic. Hylia was great in her wisdom and saw that the relic was very powerful, much too powerful for any mortal hand. This relic was the Triforce and it held a small but potent model of the goddesses traits, which each made up a part. Three parts there were, and they could respectively bestow titles upon whomever received them; "The Forger of Strength', "The Keeper of Knowledge", and the "Juror of Courage." So vast and unknown was the magic of the Triforce, that Hylia resolved to lock it away to keep it safe from misguided use. Indeed, the goddesses had intended that the relic fall to Hylia and she began to watch over it.

Hylia was the greatest of all the spirits and a lesser goddess, for she was made in the image of Farore and Nayru. She was called the White Goddess. Hylia's wonder to protect was the entirety of the realm, which came to be called Hyrule, for Hylia ruled over all within.

Hylia had as her chosen people the hylians, which were sometimes called hylia. It is either that the hylia were once humans and were bestowed great powers when they chose to follow Hylia's teachings or the humans were once hylia and chose to stray from Hylia's teachings and follow other gods instead.

It is known instead that the hylia did at one point possess these powers given by the White Goddess:

First, their blood was infused with magic, and they could do many great things.

Secondly, they were endowed with psychic powers and over time crafted the skill of wizardry; the manipulation of magic was a great discovery.

Thirdly, it is said that their pointed ears were shaped as such to allow them to hear messages from the spirits, sometimes called gods, and so, for a time, they were held in high esteem by the other peoples of Hyrule.

As Farore had instructed, the many peoples produced seed and multiplied across the face of Hyrule. They settled throughout, spreading their knowledge from generation to generation, and the magical lore of Hyrule was born. The people refined their languages and invented writing, leaving behind ancient scrolls that taught their legend, and the tales were passed down further. But in such passing, stories are often distorted and lost altogether.

In the waning years of the Era of Hylia there were many tellings of the creation of Hyrule, but only the Spirits of Good remembered the story as it was.