"Hello!"
"Anybody there?" Link called.
Darkness. He could see nothing but pitch black encasing him. Try as he might, he just couldn't recall anything prior to this moment, nor how he'd gotten there. If he didn't find out some kind of information, he would drive himself crazy trying to theorise. It had taken him only seconds to decide that he was going to at least try. Placing both hands down on the unfamiliar surface that he could only assume was something metal, he hoisted himself up into a sitting position - and instantly regretted the move. A thumping in his head began the moment he moved it, and a stinging sensation in his side grew stronger. Wincing at the pain, he almost laid back down, but with his curiosity cancelling out the hurt, he managed to get to his feet.
"Hello?" He called again into the darkness, desperate for a reply.
When the only thing that answered him was the echo of his own voice, he gave up trying and instead decided to find a way out for himself. Taking his first few steps forward, he felt a little unsteady as he could not see where he was treading. With no light at all it was impossible to go forward. He wasn't sure exactly where he was, so did not want to chance walking into a trap.
"Link!" Zelda's voice came through the empty room.
The second her voice reached his ears, his head jerked up and a small glimmer of hope filled him. Although he could not see a thing, he looked around frantically trying to pinpoint the direction that her voice had came from.
"Link..." Her voice sounded again.
"Princess?... Where are you?" He stammered, overwhelmed by the little piece of hope that he had been granted.
Unable to stop himself, he took a few more steps forward, certain that her voice had come from somewhere in front of him. He stopped after only three more steps, once again uncertain of where he was.
"Your highness?... Please... If it's really you then show yourself, my love... give me a sign." He called out.
The hope he had been holding onto began to slip away as he waited for the Princess to present herself to him. A few minutes passed and his head dropped as he sighed in defeat, that was when it happened. Much to his surprise, something finally began to change. A small white dot appeared on the ground below him, floating upwards slowly before hovering in front of his line of vision. Although small, the light was bright enough that it stung his eyes as he stared at it in a dazed wonder. He couldn't help but watch as it began to float up higher again, this time expanding as it went. In a split second it had become big enough that Link could now begin to make out the shapes of his surroundings. Through the light, another shape began to form - this one was in the form of a person. It took Link no time at all to figure out who it was. He didn't even have to guess at all.
"Princess?" He questioned, blinking twice to confirm that what he was seeing was real.
The shadow which had formed in the light, was no longer a shadow at all now. Link could see very clearly, the person stood before him. A woman in a white wedding-type dress, with locks of dark golden blonde hair flowing beautifully down her back and cascading around her shoulders. It was not that which caught his attention though, but rather the pure white angel wings protruding from her back, spread widely out.
"My love..." Link stammered, his eyes stinging from both the light and unshed tears in his eyes.
He watched helplessly as joined her hands together in a prayer position and smiled at him. In her smile he could see both warmth and sympathy for him. As she got closer to him, stopping only a few feet away from where he was stood, he had to swallow to keep his nerves at bay.
"Link... It is nice to finally get a chance to speak with you after all these years." She began.
"Years!" He exclaimed in shock.
It had only been days since he last saw the Princess, so he could not understand why she had used the word years. He wanted to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to speak, so instead he just waited for her to continue.
"I know that you are probably confused right now, so please allow me to clarify... You, my dear, are mistaken. I am not your Princess at all..." She began.
"B..But..." He stuttered, now even more confused than before.
"Allow me to introduce myself... It's nice to finally meet you Link, my name is Hylia. Though you may know me as the Goddess." She stated, her voice warm but powerful.
Link's jaw dropped open in shock. He had always heard the stories about the Goddess, about how the Princess bared a resemblance to her, but never in a thousand years had he thought that they were almost identical. Stood there now though, looking right at her, he finally saw that all the legends and stories were true.
"Oh my... Goddess, I uh... it's a pleasure to be in your presence... b..but may I ask what this visit is for?" He stammered, feeling somewhat idiotic.
The Goddess Hylia just gave a chuckle at his inability to find the right words before moving to the side so that he could see what was behind her. It appeared that he was in some sort of tomb that led to a garden. His eyes drifted back and forth between the garden and the Goddess.
"Young hero, I am here to take you on a journey. Many do not understand, and I doubt they ever will, but the most important thing is that you understand yourself. I can see that you have some repressed memories... I am here to fix that and help you fill in those gaps." Hylia explained.
Link nodded in understanding. He knew that there were some holes in what he remembered, and he also knew that they were there because he had shut out all the bad. This journey was not going to be all pleasant, he was certain of that fact. Though he did not know how far back the Goddess was taking him, he prepared himself for the endless possibilities.
"Impaz! Impaz! I need your help! Please, I don't know what to do." Midna called out, having just warped herself and Link's limp body from the Lost Woods, all the way to Kakariko.
Being in imp form, it was physically impossible for her to carry the fallen hero anywhere and so she had been forced to use the power of warping to get them somewhere safe. She had been too slow to stop the attack and by the time she had managed to fight them off, Link was already unconscious. She hadn't known where to take him and the only safe place that came to her mind was Kakariko. It was the place where the only person Midna knew could help them lived.
"IMPAZ!" Midna almost screamed.
The second she did, many of the villagers came rushing out of their houses and shops to see what all the commotion was about. Through them all, she could just about make out the sight of the woman who she was hoping to see. The small woman with pearly white hair came running over to her, stopping a few steps away when she caught sight of the hero sprawled on the dirty ground.
"Oh my... Dear Midna, what happened to our young hero?" Impaz questioned as she bent down to place two fingers on Link's neck to check his pulse.
"We were out in the Lost Woods, searching for the location of the Master Sword and we got ambushed by the hideous Shadow Creatures! Oh Impaz, please help... he got hurt really badly and you're the only one I know of who can possibly heal him..." Midna explained rather quickly.
"My Goddess! We have to move fast! His wound is deep and bleeding, his pulse is there but weak... if we don't treat him now then he will die." Impaz informed Midna.
The elderly woman then turned to Rustl, who was in Kakariko on official business, signaling for him to pick the hero up and bring him inside, where she would be able to see to him properly.
"If you are to know your full story, I have to take you back some of your most painful memories that you have repressed, so that is where we shall head first." Hylia explained.
The Goddess then held out her hand for Link to take, which after a second hesitating, he did. The next thing he knew they were travelling through some sort of shadowed tunnel. As soon as they arrived, he knew instantly exactly where they were. What he did not recognise however, was the time that they were in. The first sight to catch his eye was his father and the King of Hyrule, in the throne room of the castle. A rather young Princess Zelda, and a young version of himself, who couldn't have been no older than eleven years old, were also in the room, sat on the small steps that led up to the two thrones.
"I uh... this feels familiar." Link admitted.
"As it should. Now hush... you really should focus on what comes next." Hylia instructed him.
He made no argument and simply followed her instructions, turning his attention back to the scene in front of them and concentrating hard.
"Link..." The Princess began.
He watched closely as his younger self lifted his gaze from the floor and looked at Zelda. Anxiety kicked in as he tried to anticipate what would happen next, even though he knew that he would not remember unless watched. Giving in, he brought his mind back to the scene and watched carefully.
"Your father seems awfully angry with you... so much so that he seems to be trying to convince my father to expel you from Knight training... is everything okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Oh... yes. Everything is fine." He lied.
"Link, I do wish that you would open up to me more... it pains me to be this helpless. It also feels as though you do not trust me enough... you should know that I would never tell anyone. Especially not either of our fathers." She sighed sadly.
"Princess... I... Of course I trust you. Please do not take my silence as sign of mistrust." He pleaded, feeling guilty.
"If that were true then you would speak to me about such things. That I know for certain, as you made a pledge when you entered training, that as my potential future Knight you would be completely honest." She objected, rising from where they were sat.
"Zel..." Link began, but the Princess was quick to interrupt.
"No! It is unfair that I share everything with you, and yet you insist on keeping things from me. Until you decide to trust me, I don't wish to see you." She stated, turning on her heel and walking away.
As the Goddess and his present self travelled back through the tunnel, Link remembered that afternoon as clear as day. His father had caught him training with a crossbow and because he'd missed due to having eyes on him, the man had dragged him all the way to the castle and attempted to convince the King to expel him. Much to his surprise it had not worked and the King had decided to keep him in training. He had wanted to tell the Princess everything in that moment, but after seeing his father's angry eyes, he knew that all Hell would break loose if he uttered a word, and so he'd remained silent at the cost of his friendship with the Princess. She didn't speak to him for almost two weeks after that until finally he couldn't take anymore of his father's attitude and had snuck out late one night to meet her at the fountain to tell her everything that he owed her.
It was those two weeks that had taught him that closing himself off from the Princess was not a good idea. He remembered going home that night and crying himself to sleep out of loneliness and fear that she would never forgive him. He had tried long and hard to forget those two weeks and somewhere along the way, it seemed to have worked.
