Gazing up at the broken sky, Link took a deep breath. "Time to get this over with." The Triforce emblem began to glow, and Link created a shaft of light to surround him. "To the Sacred Realm." The shaft of light shot up into the air, and Link was teleported away from Hyrule.
Walking across the invisible ground, Link was surrounded by sky. Beautiful clouds drifted about the soothing blue. Link, however, found no tranquility. Pain was still eating him up inside.
"What does it matter? Even if I do save the universe, what's left for me? Nothing. Zelda's gone. Navi's gone. Hyrule's still at war. If I save them, I'll just have to go back and fix things there, too. I'm destined to be a hero. A hero without rest or rewards." His thoughts returned to Zelda. He longed to be with her again. To hold her in his arms. To stroke her hair. Then, for just a moment, he thought about making that his wish. He knew he could bring her back, and they could be together till the bitter end which was approaching. "No. I can't do that. She would hate me for that. If I really do love her, or loved her, then I have to think about what she would want. She would want me to save them." Link looked at the sky background, noticing it too was cracked in various places.
Link unsheathed the Master Sword, and took the Jewel and Ocarina from his tunic. He placed them on the ground. Link made a fist with his right hand, letting the Triforce emblem glow. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate. The emblem grew brighter and brighter. Finally, there was a flash of gold, and Link opened his eyes. The sacred triangles hovered there before him. The objects that many had worshipped and desired, that he had wielded as a weapon. Link picked up the Master Sword, holding the handle in one hand and the blade resting in the other, presenting it to the Triforce. He had the Jewel in hand, resting against the blade, with the Ocarina in his other.
"Oh, Golden Goddesses of legend and past. I have come far. I have fought many battles and conquered many enemies, with your help. Now, I come to you, on my knees, ready to sacrifice these ancient treasures. I come to you, with a request. A request to aid me. To grant my wish." The Triforce began to glow. The objects in Link's hands floated into the air. First, the Jewel gave a bright, red glow. It disintegrated before his eyes, changing into a red dust which flowed into the top piece of the Triforce. The Triforce of Power took on the same red glow. Next, the Ocarina did the same, changing the Triforce of Wisdom blue. Lastly, the Master Sword faded away, and filled the Triforce of Courage with green.
The Triforce pieces began to flash and flicker. They shifted to gold, then back to the other color over and over again. Suddenly, the sacred triangles rose above Link. Spinning around him, they lowered to the floor. There, the faded into the ground, leaving behind an insignia of the Triforce, with Link standing in the center. From the three triangles, rose the Golden Goddesses.
"Hero of Time," the Goddesses said in unison, "you have fulfilled Man's side of a covenant from days old. You have freed us from our prison, and know we will grant your desire."
"My desire." Link thought about that a moment. "I......my desire....."
"You seem unsure. You seem confused."
"I am. I've never been so confused. You're goddesses, so maybe you have answers. Can you tell me why all this had to happen? Why I had to lose everything in my life?"
"Is that your wish?"
"I.....no." Link gritted his teeth.
"That is your desire, isn't it?"
"That's not it. I was a hero."
"You are a hero."
"But, because I was a hero, I lost everything. I can't understand. Aren't heroes supposed to be loved? Aren't they supposed to be honored? I just....I don't understand."
"We see. The deathes of your friends couldn't be avoided. They gave their own lives." Link seemed puzzeled. "When Majora destroyed the castle, she did everything she could to create a shield. However, she was too weak, and a bit too late. The shield failed and she died as the castle fell. Ganondorf id the same thing."
"Then why didn't I perish in the castle, too?"
"Because you were in your Fierce Deity form. Also, the shield served to protect you as well. The strain was simply too much on Zelda."
"....and Navi?"
"Navi sacrificed herself to save your life."
"So its my fault. I caused this. I'm the one who travelled through time and distored it. I caused not only their deathes, but the destruction of the universe."
"You are much to hard on yourself. No human could have anticipated the effects on the universe. You shouldn't blame yourself for you friends, either. Through death, they channeled the Triforce to you. They allowed you to defeat Majora, and save the universe from his wicked rule."
"I didn't think you were going to answer my questions."
"You have saved our beloved land of Hyrule more than once. Think of this as a thank you."
"Then, could I ask you to explain how this happened?"
"Of course, Hero of Time." A ball of energy formed over Link. It drifted down in front of him. Link gazed into it. The sphere was amazing. Inside there seemed to be a planet, spinning in space as if it were real. "This is the world as you know it." The view began to zoom out. Other planets came into view. It zoomed farther and farther out, revealing worlds Link could have never dreamed of. Finally, it stopped. Link could see hundreds of planets, each spinning around a star, each so distant from each other. "This is what the universe looks like."
"This is amazing, but..."
"Please. You must learn this, then you will be able to understand." Link looked back to the ball. "All the universe exists within the confines of Time." A strange, blue mist appeared around the ball. "Time appears much like this. It flows around the universe, and fills it, like water. Anything born within Time must abide by its boundaries. This is why death comes. Anything born outside of Time does not have to abide by this rules. Likewise, if something born outside of Time is destroyed, it doesn't effect Time, since it wasn't born within it. Do you understand?"
"I think so. But, what exists outside of Time? Outside the universe?"
"Origanlly, we did. We were not born within the universe, for we have gazed upon it from outside it. Human souls are born outside of Time. That is why the soul doesn't die. Allow us to explain souls. The human soul travels into the universe, and enters a human body when it comes into exisistence. This is what gives it life. Souls are sent to the universe to live. To gather memories. They absorb what knowledge and experiences they can from the person they inhabit. This is why there has always been good and evil. Rich and poor. This is why so many different people exist, to gather all different memories and experiences. When the human dies, the soul carries that information out of the universe and back to where it came from."
"Where do souls come from, exactly?"
"Like us, they were created by another being. A superior being. We cannot reveal anything else to you about that being, for its will is different than that." Link stared blankly at the orb of the universe. "Do you understand that even though your friends have died, that their souls live on? That, in that aspect, they will never die?"
"What about Navi? Or the Zoras, Gorons, and Kokori?"
"They are just as human as you. Simply with different bodies."
"I see. Are you saying that I shouldn't mourn they're passings?"
"Mourning and grief are part of living. They add to the experience of your soul. These feelings must exist like all others."
"What about the universe? Surely you know that it is collapsing."
"Yes. We have seen this. There is nothing we can do about this."
'What?!"
"We are sorry. It is beyond are power."
"But...why?"
"Look to the model." Link turned back to the sphere. Inside, a small dot of light drifted up to the flow of Time. "As we have said, Time flows like water. It has a certain current, a certain direction in which it flows. The constant flow of Time causes aging. However, by travelling back in Time, you went against the flow of Time." Link watched as the dot drifted in the opposit direction of the flow. He saw the blue around the dot drift off to the sides. "You see, just like when a rock is thrown into a river, the water will flow around it. When you moved against Time, it flowed around you. This pushed the waters of Time in a slightly different direction. At first, it harmed nothing. But as the waters rippled, the distortion grew and grew. There is an adage which says, 'Even the tiniest ripple will cause a wave one day.' That is exactly what happened. Those tiny ripples you created pushed the universe off balance. The different worlds began to drift towards each other. These worlds were never meant to know of each other. Now, they have begun to crash into each other. Very soon, the worlds will become packed together, killing everything inside of them. This is how the universe will come to an end."
"......So it was my fault."
"You are the first human in all the universe to receive this knowledge. Therefore, it is impossible anyone could have anticipated this."
"That doesn't matter, though. I still caused the universe to collapse, and I can't stop it. Isn't there anything you can do?!" Tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Perhaps."
"What?" A trace of hope lined his voice.
"Yes. There is only one way. We would have to reverse the flow of Time. This is something that has never been done before."
"What would that accomplish? Wouldn't it just cause further distortion?"
"No. It would not disrupt the flow of Time. You see, everything that has already happened becomes the past. The flow of Time continues on, leaving the past behind. By reversing the flow of Time, events are undone, and the past becomes the present all over again."
"So, you can go back to before I travelled through time. That way, it would have never happened, and the distortion will never take place." Link smiled through his tears. "It will save the universe."
"However, there are two problems with this."
"What are they?"
"The first is Majora. His memory will still remain in your soul and the souls of others. You see, Majora was also born outside of Time. Now that he has been destroyed, he will be erased from Time, as if he never exisisted. Unfortunately, the memories of him will remain in the souls, regardless of where in Time they are. This knowledge of something that existed but didn't will cause a far great distortion. One of the mind and soul."
"So how can that be fixed?"
"By going back to the battle with Majora. Since he doesn't exist anymore, then that battle, which took place within Time, will never have happened. Since no one will have memory of his existence, there will be no further distortion. Souls will migrate to the universe, and life will follow the path it would have followed, had we never had to rebuild Hyrule. The Triforce, our prison, will never exist, nor will the treasures you sacrificed to us. In this way, the Temple of Time will never be built, and there will be no way for anyone to travel through time ever again."
"Amazing. Everything will be alright. Wait. What about the other problem? What is it?"
"As the Golden Goddesses, it is not our duty to do such things. We are to defend the universe from forces outside it, and to fix what damage may have been caused. We are not inclined to save the universe from its own destruction."
"So that's that?! You're just going to let the universe fall apart?! Even though you know just how to stop it?!! I don't believe your...." Link stopped. He smiled. "You still owe me a wish."
"That's right." The Goddesses smiled as well.
"Anything I want?"
"Anything. We created the barriers of the Triforce to save our lives. The spell we cast requires us to fulfill the wish of the one who frees us. Breaking this covenant would destroy us, just as it saved us."
Link wiped tears from his eyes and stood upright. A huge smile spread across his face, as he knew he had accomplished his task. "Then that is my wish. Oh, Golden Goddesses, I wish that you reverse the flow of Time, as far as it takes to prevent any further distortion."
"It shall be so." The Goddesses lifted up their arms, and a ball of golden energy surrounded the four of them. The ball jumped away from the Sacred Realm, and Link watched on in amazement. They traveled through space, and Link could gaze down at the universe. He saw into worlds he had once never known existed. Some were a bit like Hyrule. Many were quite different, with huge buildings that shone like glass and seemed to scrape the sky. Soon, Link was hovering close to where Time and the universe ended.
"This is unreal. I....I...."
"Link, Hero of Time, we thank you. Had this future not come about, you would have lead Hyrule into a Golden Age of prosperity. However, you now have given a much greater gift to Hyrule and the entire universe. A second chance at life. In our name, and in the name of what is right, you fought. But know, you must release this knowledge you have attained. The memories will remain in your soul, but you will more than likely never know they are there. When your soul returns to the universe, and you are born all over again, everything you have seen and done will be nothing more than a dream, or perhaps just a black and white image that pops into your head from time to time. Even so, we thank you, Link, for fighting so valiantly. You have traveled across space to fight your enemies, and even see what know one else has ever seen. You have ventured through Time itself, a feet that no other human has ever accomplished. Now, Link, you must travel through reality. You must embrace the unreal, and leave life behind. Are you ready?" Link took one last look at the universe. He turned to the Goddesses and nodded. "Very well." There was a flash of light, and Link felt himself falling. Falling away from everything he knew. Falling away from the life he had created for himself. Falling away from Time and from the universe. Falling away. Falling Away.
"Stop them!" Guards rushed to and fro. Wolves had attacked the caravan, and they did what they could to keep them at bay.
"Come on, men!" Another guard shouted. "We have to protect her!" Suddenly, an arrow split through the air and caught one of the wolves on the back. It whined as it sped away. The guards turned to see a young man in a green tunic come running out of the Kokori forest. His bow sent another arrow flying, and another wolf was struck. The pack turned their attention to the new prey. The wolves charged at the young man. He drew a massive sword (obviously designed by the Gorons) and ran at the wolves. They dove at him, but were sent flying by his powerful spinning attack.
Cut and bloody, the wolves scampered away. The guards, still in awe of what had just happened, approached the young man.
"Thank you, young sir. You saved us." The young man smiled as he sheathed the sword. "Please, come with us. I'm sure she would like to thank you as well." The guards led him to the horse-drawn carriage. They bowed as the door opened. Out stepped a beautiful young lady, dressed in a pink dress and with flowing, golden hair.
"So, it seems you've shamed my guards a bit." She giggled as she spoke. "Your skills are very impressive. Worthy of a knight. Oh, forgive me, I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule." She extended her hand, which the young man took and kissed. "What, may I ask, is your name?"
"I'm Link."
"Link? Link. That name sounds familiar. Have we ever met?"
Link gazed into her eyes. ".....No. I don't think so."
"Hmm........Deja vu."