I'm back! This stuff is just rolling off the top of my head, can you believe it? For those people who are waiting for Link, he will be introduced into the story next chapter.

(gasp) Let's continue, shall we?

She stared at the girl in the painting. How was it possible? She was sure she was seeing things, but then it dawned on her. This was the place in her dreams!

"Oh... My... Dear... God..." Her father muttered, looking at the painting, "She looks just like Zelda!"

Zelda walked up to the portrait, and looked at the plaque underneath. She wasn't sure how, but the squiggly lines and strokes across it made sense to her.

"We still don't know what it says..." she heard the man tell her father, behind her, "we've still got Darren working on translating that stone tablet that we found last year. There's nothing like it, so there's nothing to compare it to. This was a unique people."

"Her Royal Majesty, Princess Zelda of Hyrule..." Zelda read loudly enough for the men to hear, "103 AD to Present." It obviously was during her reign that Hyrule fell.

"Wh-what did you say?" Her father stammered.

"I said:" Zelda was clearly annoyed, "'Her Royal Majesty, Princess Zelda of Hyrule. 103 AD to Present.' You really should get your ears checked."

"You," the skinny man laughed, clearly amused, "a Princess? That's good!"

"But that's what it says!" she said, stomping her foot, "I don't want to be a Princess, so why would I pretend that it said I was?"

"Everyone has their secrets." he simply stated.

"Note to self," she said, loudly enough for him to hear, "I don't like you!" She looked him in the eyes as she said that.

"Zelda!" her father was astonished, "Don't be so rude!"

"Tell him that, then." she said haughtily, as she stormed out of the room.

"Come back here, this instant!" Her father yelled down the halls, disturbing the eerie quiet of the place.

"NO!" She yelled back, and quickened her pace. Her yells bounced off the stone walls, magnifying them. She was sure it would have echoed forever if there hadn't been any windows to let it out.

She almost missed it. There was a slight glimmer down one of the side corridors. Her curiosity got the better of her, and a feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she just had to go in there.

She'd just reached the door when she felt a cold, clammy hand reach out to grab hers as she was about to turn the doorknob. She whirled around to face the skinny man that had brought her to the castle.

"This door won't open," he said, "we've already tried to open it. It's locked from the inside, and so are the balcony doors. It's locked up like a fortress. Come on, let's go, eh?"

"Let go of me," Zelda threatened, "don't touch me!"

She ripped her hand out of his grip, and turned the knob. The door swung open easily, to the surprise of the skinny man.

There was a bright flash, and Zelda was stunned by it's beauty. It gave her a sense of completion. When it cleared, she got a clear look at the room.

"God," her father had reached them, "what happened, Phil?"

"Light..." Was all the skinny man could get out.

"Zelda, what the heck is that on your left hand?" Her dad choked out.

"Huh?" Zelda looked at her left hand. On it, there was now three triangles. They were glowing with the same aura as the flash. Zelda didn't understand it, but nor was she afraid. She knew that something good, something very good, had just happened to her.

"Something good." Was all she said to her father, before entering the room.

Her father made a motion to follow her in. For some reason, this made Zelda angry. This was her space, no one else's.

"No." She said sternly, "you two stay out there." She made a motion with her hand, and the doors closed. More like they slammed in the men's faces. Zelda was amazed. No one had touched it. She heard the lock click, and she knew she was safe. No one would disturb her.

She surveyed her surroundings. Her instinct told her that she was in the Princess' room. There wasn't a speck of dust around the place. It looked as if the Princess had just stepped out for a stroll in the Royal Garden, and would be back any second. Heck, the book she was reading was still open to the page she had left it!

Upon closer inspection, Zelda noticed that it was in fact a diary, not a reading book. She picked up the beautifully-written text, and flipped through the pages, trying to find something, though she was not sure what. Deciding to read it later, she slipped the book in her backpack.

She decided to search the room a little more. She had a feeling that there was something important hidden in this room. She went through the drawers, and was stunned by three jewels. There was an emerald set in a gold piece shaped similar to the way that one might draw wind. There was a ruby set in a gold piece shaped like a claw. There were also several sapphires set in a gold piece shaped like the way water ripples when a droplet hits it.

She took these as well. Also in the drawers, she found several pairs of earrings, about ten necklaces, and many rings. She also took all of these. Surprisingly, despite their individual weight, they felt like they weren't even there in her backpack.

Next, she checked the bookshelves. She found several books that looked interesting. She took the ones that interested her. Most of them were fictional books, but there were a few mythology books thrown in there as well. She took all of the books without thinking.

Something told her to look under the bed. She lifted the blankets that draped over the sides out of the way, and got down on all fours. She crawled under the bed, and felt around on the floor. Her hand found a handle. She took hold of the handle, and pulled it upward. It swung open easily. The bed was rather high, so space wasn't an issue.

She reached down into the pit that had been exposed, and pulled out a small chest. She didn't have the key for it, though. She stashed this in her bag, too.

It was then that she realised how much she had taken. Yet her bag never gained any weight, and never filled up. She had put so many heavy things in there, yet there wasn't a kilogram gained. She pondered that as she made her way to the door.

As she was about to open the door, something caught her eye. It was two small sculptures, sitting on the mantle. One of them was herself, as the ancient Princess. The other was the young man in her dreams, sticking his sword into some monster's head. She took off her jacket, wrapped them up in it, and put those in her bag as well. She didn't worry about how much her bag could take, because it never seemed to run out of room.

She made sure the room looked as if it hadn't been disturbed. She then set her facial expression to afraid. She was going to pretend that she had been trying to find a way out the whole time.

She jiggled the door a few times. It came open easily, but she had to pretend. She began to cry, putting on an act. She always was good at acting.

"Zelda!" Her father seemed to have been trying to get into the room the whole time.

"Daddy!" She pretended to cry as she flung her arms around him. She didn't know why, but he pushed her away. He had a look of loathing on his face, like looking at her was like looking at the Devil himself.

"Let's just go." He said to her, and she nodded vigorously. Her mind told her that she had done what was needed to be done.

IN THE CAR

Zelda looked at her left hand. The triangles had faded somewhat, but were still noticeable.

She was wondering what she was going to tell her mother. What was she going to say? Somehow, 'hey, Mum. Oh yeah, it was great. Oh, and by the way, an ancient magic embedded itself in my hand and heart for all eternity. OK? I'm off for a shower.' just didn't cut it. How was she going to take it?

She needn't have worried though. By the time they got home, in the mid-afternoon, you couldn't see the triangles unless you were really looking hard for them.

"Dad?" Zelda tried in a small voice, "you know what happened back there?"

He looked as if he wished he didn't.

"Can we not mention it to Mum? Please? I don't want to scare her."

"I had no intention of telling your mother." He said coldly, looking at her with obvious disgust, "We are a good Christian family. Not one word of this gets out. If she found out that we've bred a Devil's Child, it would destroy her." He looked away as if to dismiss her.

"Wait a minute!" Zelda demanded, reaching out to grab his arm, "What do you mean, Devil's Child?"

"Don't touch me!" He was now looking as if he was afraid of her touch, "You are obviously a sorceress. You know things that no normal person could know. You were reading an ancient language. A lost language at that! That burst of light was obviously you practicing the Black Arts to open the locked door. And you used your sorcerer's powers to close it in my face! How can you ask, 'What do you mean, Devil's Child'? It's written all over you! And the mark on your hand must be another of the Devil's unknown brands! You disgust me!" And with that, he spat in her face.

He stormed up the stairs to the front door and slammed it in her face. The tears began to well up in Zelda's eyes. She opened the door and ran to her room. Once inside, she moved a very heavy wardrobe in front of the door. She was glad that the fumes had all cleared, and that the paint had dried.

She flung herself on the bed, and bawled her eyes out. She couldn't remember when she had last cried this hard.

About five minutes later, she stopped crying. Just like that, it was gone. There were no more feelings towards her father there anymore, at all. No love. No respect. Not even any hate. She was cold towards him now. They were so close, and he had insulted her. She would never forgive him for it.

'Well,' her mind told her, 'let him say those things. He doesn't know that power I possess. He will see, one day, that he was wrong.'

She wiped her eyes, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She saw a girl who had no future in this world, the way she was. Moving the wardrobe out of the way, she padded down the hall to the bathroom, and washed her face.

Once back in her room, the redness and puffiness had completely disappeared form her face. It was as if she had never been crying.

She sat in front of the mirror and examined herself. She had never done this before, so she was unsure. What would her parents think? Did she really care what they thought of her? No, she decided, she did not.

Steeling her courage, she began to search through the belongings that she had put in the dresser prior, she found what she was looking for. A make-up kit.

She liked the colour of her porcelain skin, so she decided that she wouldn't use foundation. It would give her a sickly look, anyway. She picked up a black eyeliner pencil, and set to work...

Please R&R, folks!

Sweetwater-Rhapsody, I'm so happy that you stilll like it... I was a little afraid that I'd stuffed it up. I'll let you in on a secret... (whispers) The reason I chose Australia is because that's where I'm from! I hoped you liked this one too.

Everyone else, thank you for your reviews! I think the reason that this has been coming along so well is because I have encouragement. This has been nagging at me for ages. If you can find something wrong with it, let me know. I want to fix it if there is something wrong.

Thanks if you have read this far!

Buh-Bye!