This time I actually got the update up on time, hopefully i can keep this up and not forget again. Oh and a heads up for anyone who actually reads the author's notes, this chapter does dip into a bit of tragedy, or rather this will have elements of tragedy but it won't be more than a minor genre of this story so in case any of you were worried about that don't be. I'm not gonna turn in this into a gloomy depressing story full of upsetting content.

Not Nintendo OR Rick Riordan


Chapter Seven

Grief

Zelda and I were standing side by side in front of Midna in Arbiter's Grounds, the mirror of twilight stood behind and to the side of Zelda. Midna spoke, although I couldn't hear exactly like before when I remembered things from this lifetime, I still somehow knew what she said, like the words were appearing in my head.

"Well…I guess this is farewell huh?" She says. "Light and shadow can't mix as we all know."

I say nothing, but I feel slightly troubled by her words. She's almost speaking as if…we'll never each other again.

"But…never forget that there's another world bound to this one." Midna continues.

"Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin, neither can exist without the other." Zelda speaks now, shaking her head slightly at the end. "I know now the reason the goddesses left the mirror of twilight in this world. They left it because it was their design that we should meet. Yes…that is what I believe."

Midna raises her head a little, and looks at Zelda.

"Zelda…your words are kind and your heart is true. If all in Hyrule are like you…then maybe you'll do alright." She says with a nod.

She turns and walks to the end of the platform waiting for the stairs to appear. A slight wind rustles the two braids of Zelda's hair. Midna turns back to face us, the stairs appearing.

"Thank you." She says.

I smile, surely this is just for now, right? We will eventually see each other again surely?

"Well, the princess spoke truly: as long as that mirror's around we could meet again." She says, echoing my thoughts.

Then she closes her eyes and dips her head.

"Link…" she breaks off, a bright glimmer appearing from her eye.

A tear? Why would she be crying? This isn't goodbye forever after all, right?

"I…see you later." She says, raising a hand and pushing the levitating tear through the air.

It drifts over to the mirror and passes into it, cracks suddenly begin to spread throughout it. Zelda and I turn to look at it fully in surprise. I then look back at Midna. Why would she do this? If she breaks the mirror we'll never see each other again!

She stands at the top of the stairs as the mirror shines upon her, the portal into the twilight realm appearing in the obsidian pillar behind her, she turns and looks back at us, an odd smile on her face. It almost looks sad…she begins to dissolve into a light mist of sorts and disappear into the huge obsidian pillar. Once she's gone, the mirror flies apart, breaking into the tiniest of shards. It's over, there's no fixing it now. Midna is gone forever.

I jolt awake in bed, heart pounding and tears prickling in my eyes. Seeing the dark surroundings of the bedroom, I rub my face with my hands, trying to quell the feeling of distress.

"Link?" My wife's voice softly comes from beside me.

I look over at her, lying next to me, head turned to look at me. Her look of confusion immediately disappears when she sees the distress on my face and she quickly sits up and hugs me.

"What is it? What's wrong? What happened?" She begs me.

"Why did she do it? Why did she break the mirror? Didn't she know what that would mean?" I ask brokenly.

Zelda pulls back a little, a look of understanding on her face.

"I think she did know, and that she believed she had valid reason to do so." My wife answers softly as she again pulls me into a hug, tucking my head into her shoulder and resting her chin on my head. "I think…she felt that it would be best to make sure there would be no chances of anyone like Zant ever again being able to attack other planes of existence. She knew full well what it would mean, but she acted to protect everyone else." Zelda says gently, her voice sending vibrations into my skull.

"I think I'll go with that." I answer, voice delicate.

"Don't you worry my love, you'll never lose me. I'll stay by your side forever." She soothes me as we pull apart slightly and lay back down.

As my brain wandered off to sleep, I hoped this kind of distress would be something I would not feel again for a very long time if ever. I had no idea what was to come however, I was completely unaware that fate would soon deal me a devastating hit. That I was in store for one of the worst pains one can endure.

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It was when Ilia was four months old and we had celebrated our fourth anniversary just a month prior, that we finally got another Iris message to my father. That also ended up being the day I suffered a truly terrible trauma. When the message appeared, my dad looked tense like he had before.

"Dad! It's so good to see you!" I exclaim.

"Link! It's good to see you as well!" My father said happily as well. His eyes track over to my wife, standing beside me, and says "Zelda, I see the two of you had your baby!"

"Yes, four months ago now." I say in response.

My wife holds little Ilia up so my father can see her. My father is obviously won over by her adorableness, he expresses how much he can't wait to meet her in person. Discussion is going more less as normal when it happens, through the message we start to hear the faint sounds of screams and smashes. My wife immediately carries Ilia out of the room, probably to return her to her own room, sensing where this going. I remain locked on the message though, panic beginning to course through my body.

"Dad you have to get out of there now!" I say, desperately trying to protect him across the continent.

"Yes, you're right. I will Link." He says starting to get up.

He wasn't fast enough though, it was too late. There was suddenly a crash just out of the field of view of the message. Everything happened so fast then. There was a loud whooshing noise like a gust of wind, the message immediately went static, and then before it disappeared I heard a deep voice say with a chuckle the words that instantly sent despair shooting straight to my heart.

"Beware, fool, the eye of the Yiga!" The deep voice chuckled.

I fell to my knees on the floor, covering my face with my hands, grief and despair flooding over me. You see, I knew exactly what those words meant, they were only ever uttered when the Yiga clan claimed their victims. I therefore couldn't even deny what had just happened, I knew full well the magnitude of what I had just suffered. My father was gone, but not as in taken, gone as in no longer alive. The Yiga had killed him, I had just lost my father.

I began to quietly sob into my hands, pain filling my soul, the pain of someone who has just lost a parent. There were only two pains comparable to this, the death of a spouse or the death of a child. Another scar to add to my collection of scars, only this one wasn't one that could be seen on my heavily scarred chest, no this one was in my heart. A minute later, I heard my wife reenter the room, I heard her steps instantly falter. She was undoubtedly taking in the sight before her, her husband on his knees and crying into his hands. As surely anyone would react in this case, my wife immediately panicked at this sight. She rushed over to my side and collapsed onto her own knees, begging for me to tell her what was wrong.

"Link, what is it? What's wrong?! Please, talk to me!" The distress in her voice which was fast becoming frantic pierced into my soul.

My last bit of resistance shattered and my cries became audible as I turned around and pulled my wife into a tight hug, burying my face in her shoulder, tears pouring from my eyes as I gasped and sobbed my grief. She quickly snapped out of her stunned trance and raised her arms to my shoulders and hugged me tightly and desperately.

"I'm here Link, I'm here for you my love." She coos into my ear, sounding on the verge of tears herself. "Please, tell me what's wrong. I want to help you my love, but I need to know what's wrong to do so."

"T-t-t-the Yiga…m-m-my father…h-h-he's…" I trail off, unable to even finish my sentence, now beginning to quietly wail my despair into Zelda's shoulder.

My wife, bless her, understands what happened just from that, not needing me to say anymore.

"Oh Link, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry about your father!" She replies, voice broken and distraught.

I can't reply, I just hold her tight and continue sobbing, the pain filling me. She remains silent now as well, moving one hand to my head to stroke her fingers through my hair. She rocks gently from side to side, softly combing her fingers through my hair, trying to comfort me in my heartrending distress.

After maybe five minutes of this, I've cried myself out of tears and I pull back a little to look at my wife. Her face is a mask of worry and grief, her emerald eyes swimming with tears which she's trying to hold back. My eyes are bloodshot and burning, my face probably twisted into an expression of traumatized despair.

She reaches her hands up to cup my face, thumbs stroking my cheekbones. She pulls me to her and presses a kiss to my forehead. She leans back and grabs a washcloth, wets it, and begins rubbing it over one of my cheeks, wiping away the tear tracks.

"Zelda." That's all, just her name.

"Shhhhh!" She gently hushes me, "Let me take care of you my love. You've taken care of me so much across lifetimes, now it's my turn to do the same."

It was true, I knew this, I had remained strong for her during her own distress over so many lifetimes it was hard to comprehend. Now, here I was, in my own turmoil, and she was staying strong for me. I was truly lucky indeed to have her in my life, she was truly a gift from the goddesses. Soon she was done cleaning one of my cheeks and started with the other one. Once she thought it was done, she put the cloth by the sink and looked at me with a soft but shaky smile.

"There! You're your normal handsome self again!" She tells me with an obviously forced cheeriness.

I sigh, she hadn't used words like 'it will be all right' or 'everything's ok'. She knew full well that those words would be empty right now. Everything wasn't ok, my father had just been cruelly taken from us, there was no fixing this, only vengeance.

My wife must have been thinking the same, based on her next words, "Link, I promise you the Yiga won't get away with this! They will pay for this atrocity and all the other suffering they have caused!" She says, voice fierce and barbed, full of anger at the evil people who had done this.

Then she wound her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into another warm hug. She cradled my head to her chest, my face in her shoulder like my head was a baby she was holding close to her. She buried her nose in my hair, occasionally pressing kisses to the top of my head, and as we sat there for however long it was, I felt her eyes finally begin to leak tears into my hair. In the midst of my despair; for just a little while I rested, for just a little while I was content, and it had never been clearer that I was loved. Somehow, despite my lack of tears, I cried even harder.

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A couple days later, I realized what I had to do to begin the healing process. I needed to do something to serve as a kind of funeral for my father or I'd never be able to live with myself. I felt like I was responsible for his passing, if I'd been there I could have saved him. My beloved wife was very supportive of the idea, she really went above and beyond the normal expectations for a spouse. At least that's how it seemed to me anyway. When I brought up my desire to have some kind of service for my father, she helped me come up with ideas. With her help, I eventually decided on the idea of burning one of his favorite books in the fireplace. This book was one I had borrowed and never had the opportunity to return. I desperately prayed to all the gods and goddesses I knew of to let my burning it return it to him wherever he was, to allow me closure.

Before performing the service, I got on the darkest attire I had. It wasn't a suit and whatnot like you would see at a true funeral, but I would do the best I could with what I had. I was just about to light the fire when I faltered, suddenly consumed with doubt. What if this was the wrong decision? What if my father would want me to keep this book?

"Are you OK?" Zelda asked me gently, noticing my sudden hesitation.

"I don't…I don't know if I can do this!" I said brokenly, tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

"Yes, my love, you can do this. I know you can, I believe in you." She replies confidently, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leaning me against her as she leans her head against mine.

Her unfailing confidence in me calms me, she's right of course, I could do this. I lean down then, a piece of flint in one hand and a scraper in the other, ready to light the kindling when I freeze again.

"Will you…will you help me with this?" I ask, voice shaking.

"Of course, my love, we'll do it together." She answers soothingly.

Her hands gently grip mine, she rubs her thumbs over my knuckles, then guides my hands through the motion. The sparks ignite the pile in the fireplace and the fire quickly crackles to life. Gently removing them from my hands, she places them on the mantle as I almost fall back onto my rear, staring blankly into the fireplace. She sits down beside me, returns her arm to my shoulder and pulls me against her. As I watch the book begin to catch and burn to ash, the tears in my eyes begin to fall. I cover my eyes with the hand not pressed between us.

For the next half-hour until the fire goes out, we just sit there, me crying softly into my hand as my wife holds me tightly against her side. Afterward I feel slightly better, both from having felt like I helped my father find peace wherever he was and from the knowledge that my wife would always be there for me, always.

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It had been four months since the day my father died and I was slowly healing from the loss. I knew I would never really fully heal, at least not for a long time. The pain of losing my father would remain for years, no matter what I or anyone could do about it. In the late January cold, the camp was muffled and quiet. It was more populated now though than it used to be at this time of year, once things started getting really bad out there, Chiron had recalled all of the previously summertime campers. It wasn't safe out there anymore, they came as he requested. Their families were welcome here too, but not all of them made it. About two thirds of all the campers who had been summoned back had lost their families, two thirds of the camp's members, or about two hundred young teens who were now on their own.

Speaking of loss, when the news of my own tragedy was made known, everyone sympathized with me and offered condolences. I was allowed time away from my duties, we had enough of the people I had trained present to substitute while I was regaining my footing after my loss. My healing process was helped most by three things: my wife, my daughter, and Twilight. For the first month after my father's passing, Twilight never once left my side, he followed me like a shadow. Now, he didn't follow as much, but he still kept an eye on me in case I needed him. My wife always comforted me with her presence, sometimes just sitting with me without speaking, being a shoulder to cry on if necessary. She also helped in the form of hugs and kisses. My daughter helped distract me, nothing like having someone to take care of to do that.

The status of things outside were nearly apocalyptic, outposts had been established by both the Greeks and Romans in key areas to provide additional defense to the now present borders on the west and east sides of the country separated by the interior. The mortal world still hadn't been informed in any way of our presence. But we were helping them all the same, our outposts hidden by the mist allowed our forces to weaken the large hordes of monsters that occasionally tried to make moves on the cities right by the borders.

The Yiga hadn't shown themselves for months, but we all knew they were out there, somewhere. They were likely plotting their next move, whatever it would be. Life at home here, while still shadowed for me by my loss, was brightening a little week by week.

Ilia was growing quickly as babies do, we'd started giving her actual food just a couple months ago. Of course, it was just soft, mushy stuff, but still. I had been very happy to finally be able to take part in being able to feed my daughter. Zelda joked that I seemed childlike myself in my excitement when doing so. I always replied with how it was because now I actually could feed her myself, unlike before.

Another thing that had at least temporarily lifted the grief from my soul was how our neighbors, Lexa and Austin, formally declared their own relationship. They had gotten married themselves just a month or so ago, while it was quite gloomy for weddings in general due to the atmosphere of current events, it nonetheless provided a beacon of distraction for everyone.

Now that everyone in Camp Half-Blood was here full time (including the surviving families of some of the campers), additional structures had been built. There had been a medical facility constructed, teaching many campers healing skills. Also, a large perimeter wall had been made around the very outskirts of the camp, just past Half-Blood hill. The pine tree from which hung the golden fleece was now within the wall. This wall was intermittently topped with watchtowers, spaced so that they overlapped to ensure no blind spots.

The camp's harpies had been informed that there would now be regular night patrols, so there would be no mishaps of attempts to eat anyone out of their cabins at night. The dryads in the forest had also offered their assistance by patrolling the woods and constantly using their nature abilities to probe all parts of the forest for any signs of trouble.

With the golden fleece behind the perimeter wall, and the barriers reinforced by the Athena Parthenos, Pelias the guard drakon had also started doing patrols. He was ever vigilant as were we all. The Romans had also brought a number of their giant eagles, they patrolled the airspace above the camp nearly constantly during the daylight hours. Their sharp eyesight an indispensable asset by being able to see trouble coming far before anyone else would. Both camps had also received battalions of cyclopses who served Poseidon and Hephaestus.

While we hadn't seen any combat here at Camp Half-Blood, and nor had Camp Jupiter, at least not yet anyway, the outposts had been occasionally besieged by monsters. One thing that was noted as odd however, was the fact that ever since all this started, almost no monsters from either Greek or Roman mythologies had been seen. This meant that it had been almost a year since beasts like the minotaur, cyclopses (save for the ones from Poseidon and Hephaestus), and all of the other types, had even shown themselves. Were they somehow too scared to show their faces? Why would they be afraid? They were evil, so were the monsters that were currently running around. We didn't have any answers.

It was right around Ilia turning eleven months old (and therefore a few months past my twenty second birthday) when the sign that the crisis had worsened significantly came. The night it came started relatively normal enough, my wife and I were sitting on our porch, me holding our daughter snugly to my chest to keep her warm from the chill spring night air. It was at roughly 9:30PM by the slate when the people who were walking around started pointing at the sky, getting worked up about…something.

I handed Ilia to Zelda, saying I would go find out what was up. I walked over to the nearest group of people, I asked them what the deal was. Their response sent dread creeping through me.

"Dude, look at the moon!" Someone said, sounding confused and worried.

I turned and then I saw it, something I hadn't seen since my last life. The moon was rising slowly over the horizon like normal. What wasn't normal was that it looked different from how it usually did. It was huge and red, as though it had been covered in blood. A large red aura seemed to emanate from it. It was a blood moon, the indication that the evil was reaching its peak. The last time a blood moon had occurred had been when Calamity Ganon was still at Hyrule Castle, in other words when evil incarnate was present on this plane of existence.

"No!" I muttered in horror.