"This Council is in Session." Hylia's voice rang out in the high court of the Goddess Realm. The Goddess had arranged an emergency meeting with the Divine Council, a small group of ancient gods and the Goddess who were in charge of overseeing timelines and the Laws of the Universe, among many other various duties unknown by mortals. Hylia was the Overseer, the Supreme Being known as "The Goddess," "Goddess Hylia," or simply "Hylia." She was there to discuss the uncertain future of Hyrule, a war-torn land once full of life but nearly brought to its knees during the latest attack by Calamity Ganon. He was the very embodiment of evil itself, and Goddess Hylia's opposite counterpart.

The Great Calamity was a brutal battle, with Central Hyrule taking the brunt of Ganon's fury. This was the region within Hyrule where King Rhoam and his daughter lived in their royal castle, that until then was surrounded by various merchant towns and villages that were built along the region's rivers that were largely used for trading purposes from the outer civilizations.

Ganon and his unholy forces slaughtered not only King Rhoam along with every member of the Royal Guard, but countless other innocents in the surrounding towns. They never stood a chance against the severity of the onslaught, which left only piles of corpses and putrid Malice, the tarry ooze that was the physical embodiment of Calamity Ganon, in the rubble. The once beautiful, thriving region was now marred by death, destruction, and hopelessness. The area was overrun with monsters, foul demon-possessed beings that lurked day and night, ready to pounce on unsuspecting travelers, and they set up camps throughout the region. Leading up to the Calamity they became increasingly aggressive and fearsome as Ganon ordered his demon armies to strike, their numbers ever growing. He had been planning to conquer Hyrule for ten thousand years, and his plans were seemingly coming into fruition.

Although Central Hyrule and the surrounding towns were devastated, the outer reaches of Hyrule largely remained untouched, save for the Champions and their Divine Beasts. The Champions were a group of four elite warriors, one from every major civilization of the outer portions of Hyrule - The Zora to the east, The Gorons to the northeast, the Rito to the northwest, and the Gerudo to the southwest. The Champions were formidable and experienced warriors who had devoted their capabilities and leadership to the cause of Hyrule and protecting its people, and they were personally handpicked by the princess of Hyrule herself for their character, honor, and bravery.

Each of the four Divine Beasts were ancient massive war machines developed by the ancient Sheikah civilization, the indigenous tribe of Hyrule. The Beasts were used to defeat Ganon during his first onslaught ten-thousand years prior.

Four of the Champions were, sadly, killed in the latter-day conflict, and their Divine Beasts were taken over by elemental phantoms created by Calamity Ganon. These abominations embodied the elements of water, fire, wind, and thunder and took on the attributes of the Divine Beasts, turning their capabilities against the Champions and trapping their spirits inside their own ancient machines indefinitely. To this day they control the Divine Beasts, threatening the villages and societies along the outer borders of Hyrule.

It was a Sheikah prophecy that said Ganon would again break his seal for the first time in ten-thousand years. King Rhoam wanted to be as prepared as possible for the return of Calamity Ganon and all the hell he would bring with him. He ordered the best professional research teams across multiple areas of study to make as many preparations as possible. One of these was a group of Sheikah archeological scholars who were given the challenging task to unearth the pilotable ancient machines with highly advanced defensive capabilities, the aforementioned Divine Beasts. Additionally, they uncovered an army of formidable autonomous structures called Guardians. In ancient times, these highly advanced military weapons were a major contributor to the downfall of Ganon and his armies, and the hope of King Rhoam and everyone on his side was that they would become usable again to defend Hyrule against the looming threat. Instead, Ganon turned the Guardians and the Divine Beasts against Hyrule.

Ten thousand years prior, a knight, the first Chosen One, was selected by the Sword That Seals the Darkness. Also referred to as the Master Sword, legend stated that it was sent by the Goddess Hylia to the Mortal Realm through a portal. It was rumored to have been stuck in a small raised stone platform near the legendary Great Deku Tree, the legends of which remain to this day. Only a Chosen One could pull the Sword from its pedestal. If anyone but the Chosen One attempted it, a certain death followed. Many sought after it, but few ever found it, or lived to tell the tale. Many foolish knights lost their lives attempting to remove it from its pedestal. A formidable sentient weapon, the Sword was the only weapon in existence that struck fear into the heart of Calamity Ganon. It had the ability to speak to its master, the only one who could safely wield the blade. The Sword often did not choose the most formidable warrior, but a hero with a pure heart - not only one with proven strength, but with character, bravery, integrity, self-sacrifice, patience, kindness, and love, qualities the ancient Sheikah constantly strived toward in their character.

The Sheikah tribe loyal to Hyrule unfortunately vastly shrunk in ancient times. They were offended that the King of Hyrule at the time feared the advanced Sheikah technology; more than half of them rebelled and swore allegiance to Ganon. They called themselves the Yiga Clan, a fearsome group that is still in existence today. Their footsoldiers and blademasters were brutal ninja-like warriors who had allowed Ganon's demons to possess them, giving them the unnatural, dark abilities through the use of mages, the evil counterpart to the Sheikah monks. They never stopped attempting to assassinate the current princess of Hyrule, but her sworn knight, the Chosen One, always protected her.

A few Sheikah remained who were sacrificially loyal to Hyrule. They were a hardworking, highly-intelligent group who did whatever they could to help further Hyrule's cause, mostly through research-based activities. Historical studies, archeology, and working out of the Royal Ancient Laboratory were just a few of their specialties. They were skilled inventors, often coming up with new technology and scientific endeavors that aided in the war effort or wherever they were needed. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Sheikah lost their lives during the Great Calamity, leaving very few remaining descendants of the Sheikah alive today.

The Sheikah were not only a highly advanced scientific civilization, but they were also highly devoted to religious causes. They specialized in spiritual and religious studies, with some of the ancients becoming monks but most spending their days scrutinizing and interpreting prophecy and devoting themselves to their religion on their own time. Their ancient shrines that pepper the land of Hyrule remain to this day, but they are inaccessible to anyone except for the Chosen One.

There was one particular shrine the Sheikah researchers built a century ago called the Shrine of Resurrection, a vessel that contained a highly advanced healing life-support system. It was still in its experimental stages when it suddenly needed to be utilized. After the fallen Chosen One was placed into the stasis capsule, the few remaining Sheikah scattered and quickly went into hiding. Ganon's forces would be after them to eradicate any hint of support among the Sheikah for Hyrule.

The effects the Shrine of Resurrection would have on the Chosen One held in stasis were a mystery; it was experimental technology. One hypothesis was that it would result in a memory wipe, the extent of which was unknown; however, as the future of Hyrule's last hope, they had no other viable choice.

The princess of Hyrule inherited the Triforce, a sealing power passed on through the maternal royal lines since time began. This power was also known as the "Blood of the Goddess" due to the fact it was first established by the Goddess Hylia, the first Queen of Hyrule. With the current princess' kingdom in ruins and the Chosen One in the stasis capsule, she was left to face Calamity Ganon alone.

She succeeded, sealing him in a pupal-like form within a cocoon like a corrupted insect within Hyrule Castle. To this day she awaits the awakening of the Chosen One to defeat Calamity Ganon so she can send his spirit out of all the Realms and into oblivion using her Triforce power.

After a hundred years since the Great Calamity, Princess Zelda was growing weak trying to hold her seal on Ganon's physical form inside the castle. Ganon was on the cusp of emerging from his pupal state, only being held back by the princess and her now-weakening power. Hylia had a plan; she just needed to convince enough of the other council members—the dragon gods—to agree with her.

First, there was Naydra, the Spirit of Ice. Her mortal form was a light blue, sea green, and purple dragon that served the Fountain of Wisdom, one of three elements that make up the Triforce. She was second in command to Hylia and the only member of the Divine Council to cast two votes, as female spirits rank higher than male spirits in the Goddess Realms. All of the dragon gods had permission to travel between the Realms and often did so, although they chose to remain hidden from view of mortals since ancient times. During the Great Calamity Naydra's mortal form was attacked by Ganon's demon armies, overtaking her with painful, life-force draining Malice, the same demonic tarry substance that overtook much of Hyrule Castle. The life-force draining Malice has been weakening her mortal form ever since.

Farosh was the Spirit of Lightning. He took the form of a green and yellow dragon that roamed the skies in the Faron region of Hyrule. He served the Spring of Courage, which made up the second element of the Triforce. As a male, he was allowed one vote in the Divine Council.

Finally, there was Dinraal, the Spirit of Fire; his mortal form was a red and orange dragon found in the Eldin region and served the Spring of Power. This was the third and final element of the Triforce, and as he was also male, he received one vote in Divine Council matters.

Hylia was determined to explain to Naydra, Farosh, and Dinraal what she saw in the timelines, and why she needed to alter them for the best possible future of Hyrule. The Royal Family were her descendants, after all, and she would do everything in her power to protect her family members. There were certain things she could not do. Meddling with free-will choices of individuals was off-limits, even if doing so resulted in a better outcome. It would break a Law of the Universe, which would force the entire Universe and all the Realms within completely out of existence.

Instead, Hylia could change the timelines to alter the course of events. Doing so would change the outcome in major, course-altering ways, so the Council had to convene in order to deliberate and cast their votes in favor or against Hylia's preferred changes to the timeline.

Working furiously, as Zelda's time was running short, Hylia was finally ready to present her case for changing the timelines to the other members of the Divine Council. They sat to study the timelines together, and she gave her reasons why the Chosen One should not take this journey alone, and that he needed someone with him, a guide of sorts - and that it had to be Princess Zelda.

The spirits of Ice, Thunder, and Fire were a difficult bunch to convince, but they all were silent as they contemplated Hylia's proposal. They never liked changing the timelines, because it was in their nature to allow things to happen as they will. They preferred sitting back and watching everything play out as it should, rather than taking an active role in the outcomes of the Mortal Realm. They were not uncaring, but they felt as if Hylia had everything under control. While she technically did, sometimes things needed to be changed on purpose, and this was one of those times.

Hylia argued that Princess Zelda was growing weaker, even with her help. She was losing hope, and she was still traumatized from all that had transpired in the Calamity, especially losing her beloved. Her life force was giving up, and her timeline was growing smoky, something that only happened when the outcome involved death. It appeared that the future of Hyrule was hopeless if Hylia did not step in and take the princess' place to hold Ganon back.

The Fire and Thunder gods were indifferent, as they often were; the male spirits were more interested in Naydra's opinion. As Alpha she had two votes, and if she agreed with Hylia, the lesser gods' input was unnecessary.

Naydra did not like the idea of Hylia being in charge of babysitting Ganon. She knew firsthand how torturous his demons are from her plight in the Mortal Realm, and Hylia sealing Ganon himself would be indescribably worse.

Naydra sighed. The alternative was looking even more grim. She saw that if the sleeping hero does not have an escort, with his memories gone he will be much too vulnerable, and his certain death would follow.

The Chosen One needed a protector and mentor. He was in the Sheikah stasis capsule much longer than anticipated, and Princess Zelda was hanging on by a thread trying to keep Ganon from emerging from his prison. He wasn't a problem; Hylia could easily beat him back, but without doing it together with a current holder of the Triforce, the pain and torture would be unbearable for Hylia. She decided without any doubt that it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for her descendants, the Chosen One, and the future of Hyrule.

Naydra sighed again, apologizing to Hylia for what she would have to do. It was not an easy choice, but it was the only viable one. There would be much suffering in the short term, but long-term benefit for the future of Hyrule.

The vote was unanimous. It was settled. Changing the fates was never Hylia's favorite duty as Goddess, but it had to be done, and the timeline above them changed to reflect Hylia's new plan - and yet, the black smoke on Zelda's timeline remained. Suddenly realizing the dire situation Zelda was in at that moment, she left the Goddess Realm in the blink of an eye, immediately casting out the demon that was just seconds away from helping Ganon create a rift in his cocoon, possibly releasing him and unleashing him on an already much-devastated and barely recovered Hyrule, solidifying its end.

That was too close. Zelda's power was slipping. Hylia knew the outcome, but it was still painful to watch the princess continue to suffer while the new timelines converged to form her new destiny. The three dragon gods in the Goddess Realm sighed with relief as the black smoke on Zelda's timeline disappeared.