Rauru, the Sage of Light, stands upon his pedestal within the Sage room. A grave look is on his face. As he looks down, he hears a noise. He looks up and sees a glowing green ball of light flying through the air. It lands on the forest pedestal and transforms into Saria, the Sage of the Forest. One by one all the other sages arrive and land on their respective pedestals.

"Alright Rauru," said Impa, the Sage of Shadow, "we're all here. What is it?"

"Come on Impa," he replied, "don't tell me that you don't know. You can all feel it, can't you? Our powers are weakening."

"Yes, I have noticed that." said Darunia, the Sage of Fire. "I was wondering if it was only happening to me or to you guys as well."

"What's causing it?" asked Saria.

"I do not know." said Rauru. "Whatever it is though, I'm sure it has to do with the darkness approaching from the East."

"This approaching darkness, I've felt it before." said Nabooru, the Sage of the Spirits. "Tell me Rauru, is it-"

"Yes, it is. It is Him. We cannot focus on that now though. We all need to focus on using our remaining powers to keep the seal on the Evil Realm intact. We mustn't allow Ganondorf to escape and join forces with Him."

"Who is this person you speak of?" asked Saria.

"Now is not the time. We must first make preparations to keep the seal going even if something should happen to us. After that is done we can discuss in full what is about to happen."

"Should we inform Zelda?" asked Impa. "She is the seventh sage after all."

"No, not yet. Her powers will not have been affected like ours have. That may be because she is attuned to the Triforce of Wisdom, but I'm not sure. We also must not tell Link. We need to focus on the task at hand right now, and it will take all six of us to do it. Besides, I sense that Link is about to learn what is about to happen."

"Do you guys realize that today is the day that Link defeated Ganon in the alternate future that Ganon had created?" asked Ruto, the Sage of Water. "At about this time Link would be storming Ganon's Castle and making his way to the top of the tower where the final fight between the two would take place."

"Why you're right." said Darunia. "I hadn't even realized. Rauru, do you suppose that there is a reason why today, of all days, is the day that this new evil approaches?"

"An interesting question Darunia." replied Rauru. "We'll have to look into that later."

"Hold on a second." said Nabooru. "Link and Zelda are going to need help in the coming conflict. I have an idea on how to aid them, but we must do it now while we still have roughly half our powers left."

"If it'll help Link, then I say we do it whatever it is." said Ruto.

"I know what you speak of Nabooru." said Rauru. "You do realize though that it is very difficult to perform even when we are all at full strength. If everybody is game though, then we shall do it."

It was a bright, clear, beautiful, sunny day out in Hyrule. It was the perfect day to just lie back and relax from one's troubles. Of course, ever since Link defeated Ganondorf there haven't been any troubles, or monsters, in Hyrule for the past seven years. Life was just moving along normally and peacefully for all the inhabitants of Hyrule.

While the rest of Hyrule was just moving along normally, Link was dozing under the big tree on the island in the middle of Lake Hylia. Link had arrived at the lake only an hour or so after dawn so that he could enjoy the place all to himself before children from Hyrule Market and Kakariko Village came to play. Link had donned his Zora Tunic just in case he wanted to go for a swim, and even had his Biggoron Sword with him, since it was the only sword he now owned after giving up the Master Sword. Though he hadn't needed to use it for the past seven years, he just felt safer with it.

Beside Link stuck deep into the ground was a long, sturdy fishing pole. The fishing line was far out into the lake, but it was just sitting there moving only when the water moved. Even though Link had been there since dawn, he had yet to catch a fish.

With a big yawn, Link awoke and stood up, stretching his body as he did so. He looked at his fishing line just sitting out there and picked up his fishing pole. He started reeling in the line so he could see if the bait he had on the hook was still there or if a fish had taken it from him. Seeing that his bait was still there, he extended the fishing pole back and whipped the line far out into the lake.

As Link stood there with the fishing pole, he heard a branch snap behind him. Without making any sudden movements or any other sign that he had heard a thing, Link slowly put the fishing pole back into the hole in the ground. He then quickly did a back flip as someone, or something, jumped out of the tree toward him. As he came out of the back flip he pulled out his Biggoron sword and got into a defensive stance.

When he first looked at his attacker he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. His attacker looked like Sheik, but after looking closely knew otherwise. His attacker was male, had red eyes which indicated that he was a Sheikah, and had dark brown hair. The Sheikah warrior was dressed in the same outfit Zelda had worn, except for the mask covering the face, when she was Sheik. He had a pair of short, double-edged swords in his hands which he was currently holding in a defensive stance.

"Who are you and why have you attacked me?" demanded Link.

"First I must see if you are who I think you are." said the mysterious warrior. "Then, and only then, will I reveal anything to you."

"What? That doesn't make an-"

Link's sentence was cut short by the warrior as he charged forward. Link quickly went on the defensive blocking the Sheikah's blows. Link knew that he was at a disadvantage. Even though his sword was way more powerful, it was also a lot slower then the two swords the Sheikah had. The Sheikah continued his onslaught not letting Link even get a second's break. He was driving Link back up against the tree where Link would have no place else to go.

Link noticed this and waited till he got within a few inches of the tree. When the Sheikah attacked, Link not only blocked the swords but used his strength to push the Sheikah back. This forced him to do a jump attack to quickly regain the ground Link made him lose and strike back. Link used this opening though and rolled sideways out of the way. All the Sheikah got out of his jump attack was both swords jammed into the tree.

Link now charged at the temporarily unarmed Sheikah with his sword thrust outward so as to prevent him from freeing his stuck weapons. The Sheikah saw the charge and jumped up high into the air and right over Link's head. Link looked up in amazement not able to believe that someone could jump that high and that quickly. As the Sheikah came down he slammed both his legs into Link's back.

The force of the kick was strong enough to send Link straight to the ground. As his face hit the dirt, he lost the grip of his sword and it slid several feet in front of him, almost falling into the lake. After spitting the dirt out of his mouth, he turned around and saw the Sheikah yank his swords free from the tree. Link knew he was in trouble and quickly crawled his way over to his sword.

After pulling his swords free from the tree, the Sheikah looked over at Link and saw him crawling toward his sword. He smiled and then did a front flip over Link. Link saw this and quickly planted his feet against the ground and pushed off. He flew low to the ground and grabbed his sword before the Sheikah could knock it into the water.

Now that Link was back on his feet, he knew that he was going to need more room to fight then the island was giving them. He waited until the Sheikah started recovering from his jump and then made a dash for the bridge that connected the island to the even smaller one in the distance which in turn connected to the shore. When he was about halfway across the bridge, he heard the Sheikah whistle.

Link stopped, turned around, and saw the Sheikah standing on the island right in front of the bridge. The Sheikah then smiled as he quickly cut the ropes which suspended the bridge above the lake. The bridge fell into the lake taking Link with it. Once Link was underwater, he instinctively held his breath. He then realized that he had the Zora Tunic on and that he could breath underwater.

As Link started breathing normally, he realized that his sword was no longer in his hand. He looked down and saw the sword slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake. He knew that if he didn't grab it quickly then he would have to return with his Iron Boots to get it from the bottom of the lake. Link began diving rapidly trying to reach his descending sword. Link was starting to reach his sword, but his body was beginning to start pulling him back up.

Fighting against the pressures being exerted to send his body back to the surface he lunged down with the last of his strength and grabbed his sword. With sword in hand he let his body bring him back up to the surface. He knew that the Sheikah would be waiting for him, so he maneuvered his body so that he would come up underneath the part of the bridge now floating in the water.

Link had to come up with a plan of attack. The Sheikah had the high ground and as such had an advantage. He could strike Link as soon as he tried to surface. As he was thinking, he remembered that he had his Kokiri Sword, which was now nothing more than a small dagger to him, in his boot. With his free hand he reached down and pulled out the small sword. He then put the Biggoron Sword back into its sheath and prepared to surface.

He came up behind the bridge and grabbed the side tightly. He then pulled himself up with all his strength and rolled onto the bridge. As he came around to see the big island, he saw the Sheikah still standing there. Link quickly aimed and tossed the Kokiri Sword. The sword flew through the air and nailed the Sheikah in his left shoulder. As the Sheikah fell to the ground clutching his shoulder, Link quickly ran across the now floating bridge and jumped onto the island with the Biggoron Sword ready to strike. He pinned the Sheikah down with his right foot and then brought the sword down to his throat.

"Okay," said Link panting, "now what . . . is going . . . on?"

"It truly is you." said the Sheikah, wincing in pain as he did so. "You're Link, the legendary Hero of Time."