Chapter 17 - Courage
Princess Zelda … .
Confined within Ganondorf's dark orb, Zelda could barely move, and she wasn't certain why. Either the orb itself was keeping her in place, or the way it was gradually draining her energy was the culprit. Regardless, she could feel her power dwindling at a slow pace, but steadily enough to tell her that it wouldn't be long before their enemy established control over the essences once again.
And she could've sworn to the Goddesses someone had spoken her name.
The only other sound within the sphere was that of the dark magic surrounding her, churning with a low hum that wasn't loud enough to be bothersome, but seemed eerie nevertheless. Still, hope soon surged through her at the din of a massive thud coming from outside the dark orb followed by the clink of a chain—Link's hookshot.
Arriving at the top of the spire a moment later, Link instantly looked up from his crouch to take in his new surroundings—and the trip to the top of the spire was strange. When the floating island his mother controlled first breached the dark cloud encompassing the spire's peak, the ride through was chaotic. The rocky debris caught in the vortex consistently pummeled the underside of his makeshift vessel, which was thankfully large enough to withstand the blows.
Yet, for as much as he expected the bumpy ride to persist, the moment he passed through the dark cloud, everything grew silent.
It was like being at the eye of a storm, and somehow, the calm greeting him felt much more dangerous than the turbulence of arriving. After the island collided with the spire and Link used his hookshot to swing up to the top of the rocky tower, he found himself surrounded by darkness with random bursts of lightning flashing overhead.
Still, he could somehow see the surface of the spire, which was mostly flat with the exception of a few jagged rocks jutting up around the edges of the wide area. Yet his attention was drawn by two things, the first being the dark orb holding Zelda aloft high above the spire and out of his current reach.
He could barely see her within the swirling mass of darkness, but also couldn't focus on trying when his gaze settled upon the King of Evil standing at the opposite end of the spire's peak with his back turned.
And the moment he saw Ganondorf, thunder rumbled around them like a signal to commence.
As if his nemesis knew it, Link's attention was snagged by the sound of a blazing fire, and looking left revealed the source. Heading straight toward him was a line of flames rising up to create a wall, and he only barely managed to dive out of the way before it caused him harm.
Rolling into a crouch, he looked back in time to realize the wall of fire had encompassed the full peak of the spire, barring escape—not that Link was seeking it. He was also grateful for the added light provided by the barrier, and turned his gaze from it when Ganondorf began speaking.
With his back still facing the Hylian, he announced, "With Myriad's power now at my disposal, I don't need the Sage Essences to crush you. So, before I regain what was stolen from me, I'm giving you this one chance, Hero of Legend, to defeat me if only so you can be the first to know beyond doubting my power is absolute, my position superior."
With the orange firelight of the barrier casting intricate shadows that danced across the entire area, Link's gaze narrowed as it turned from Ganondorf and up to the dark orb containing Zelda. While regarding her temporary prison, the tip of the Master Sword lifted as he clutched it more tightly, knowing in his heart what he was about to say was the full truth.
"I only need one chance, and then you'll know nothing you've done was worth it."
Ganondorf's sinister laughter filled the air as he finally turned around, his face contorting with the power consuming him as he countered, "You're soon to find out just how worthwhile it was!"
As the King of Evil spoke, his body began shifting form, the darkness and the light he now possessed mixing to enhance his being—not that Link found the result particularly appealing. Still, if a menacing visage was what Ganondorf now reached for, he'd succeeded.
Growing larger, mists of dark power swirled over his body as his eyes glowed red, his face changing to resemble a boar with bright red hair and two thick tusks jutting from beneath his snout. In turn, the lower half of his body took on four hoofed legs, his silhouette the very image of a dark beast as he gripped his sword in both hands and ripped it into two separate weapons with a jerk of his arms.
Both blades possessed jagged edges and curved tips, and with his physical transformation complete, the dark beast let a low roar that echoed out, signaling a simple truth.
The battle had begun—and Ganondorf was quick to make the first move.
Lifting his weapons, his power accumulated between the blades in an orb of pitch black smoke which soon erupted to encompass his body in a billowing mass. Only his arms and weapons were visible through the smoke-like barrier, including the red glow of his eyes.
At the same time, two orbs burst free of the smoke, both shooting upwards before turning in midair to dart at Link. Forced to roll out of the way, the orbs crashed into the ground behind him only to burst into beams of destructive light.
Raising a protective arm before his face due to the brightness of the bursts, Link found he wasn't half as affected by his proximity to the eruptions as he would've been without the returned portion of power his mother provided through Zelda. This allowed him to return his gaze to his enemy in quick time as he sheathed the Master Sword, knowing the barrier surrounding Ganondorf was too thick to penetrate with his blade.
Instead, a means of attacking remotely was required—a problem easily solved with the Light Arrows.
The trouble was getting a chance to use them.
As soon as Link retrieved his bow, he had to jump in the effort of evading the slice of Ganondorf's right blade. The blow came swiftly for such a large beast, but he managed to land with enough grace to turn and take aim.
Freeing one of the Light Arrows, the tip glowed brightly with the power the Spirit Guardian's had provided as he released the projectile just before ducking another orb. Sadly, his last minute evasion caused the arrow to miss its target by a narrow margin—and the chance to fire again didn't come straight away. Instead, numerous dark orbs began flying out of Ganondorf's barrier much too quickly to be deflected using the Master Sword.
Instead, Link raised his shield, grunting against the force of each impact against it which had his boots scraping the surface of the spire as he was pushed back. The assault gave Ganondorf enough time to turn and issue a second attack with his blades, this one more vicious than the first.
Drawing his swords together in a downward arc at the Hylian, he then jerked his arms apart in an attempt to cut his opponent in half—and nearly succeeded. Link managed to evade the first strike by jumping back, but the second came so quickly he almost didn't make it in time, the front of his jerkin sliced open by the tip of Ganondorf's sword.
Furthermore, his last evasion put his back against the barrier of fire encompassing the area.
Able to feel the immense heat from his new position, Link was left with no choice but to succeed with his next shot, otherwise he was going to suffer severe burns as a result of his enemy's move to knock him against the fiery wall. So he swiftly nocked another arrow, steadily using Ganondorf's glowing red eyes as a marker for where to aim—between them—while the surface of the spire thumped beneath his heavy hoof-falls.
It was only a matter of seconds, if even that long, before Ganondorf was upon him—and Link loosed the projectile with as much precision as he could muster.
Not a second passed before the arrow pierced Ganondorf's barrier, disappearing from sight just as a burst of light erupted against his enemy's head. The explosion knocked him back, enveloping his upper body as the barrier finally faded away to reveal Ganondorf's now vulnerable form.
With a loud, anguished growl, the dark beast collapsed, blinded and stunned by the blow—which gave Link the perfect opportunity.
Freeing the Master Sword, he sprinted toward his nemesis and sliced the blade of evil's bane through his flesh with hard, merciless strikes. Blood spattered, Ganondorf's loud growl echoing out as he was weakened.
And Zelda instantly noticed a difference.
Held under his control, she couldn't move within the Dark Orb, but the moment Link landed a successful attack, she managed to ball her fists—and the gem of her amulet was tucked away in her belt pouch. If she could reach it, she could use it to destroy the Dark Orb just as she'd done with the others, and as she thought of the gem, that strange voice returned, distant and faint, but also insistent.
Princess Zelda, you must … .
The rest of the statement trailed into an unintelligible whisper, and Zelda had no idea why she was hearing the voice from the start, let alone could she identify who it belonged to. Yet she was certain the gem in her pouch was the source, and decided on instinct that if the voice ever came through more clearly, she should probably heed its advice.
In the meantime, she was too busy sending a telepathic message to Link informing him of her most recent discovery to think on it for long.
—Link, Ganondorf destroyed my amulet, but I slipped the gem into my pouch before we came here. So if you can weaken him, it will allow me to move enough to use it against this orb as I did with the others.—
Though he heard every word loud and clear, Link had no time to consider it when Ganondorf recovered and angrily swiped one of his swords in his enemy's direction.
Jumping out of the way, he landed across from the dark beast and looked up just in time to spy another barrage of dark orbs flying at him. Attempting to evade, he took off in a sprint, moving fast enough to avoid the first two, but couldn't escape the last, pain erupting across his body as it slammed into him.
The impact sent him flying through the air to land near the fiery wall on the opposing side of their makeshift arena. Sliding to a stop with a loud grunt, Link could barely see, blinded by both the pain and the magic of Ganondorf's attack. Squinting, everything around him appeared as blobs, including another orb now flying toward him—though this one consisted of light energy just as the first Ganondorf had unleashed.
Unable to move, the orb quickly made impact, erupting into a destructive beam just as before—and once again, it had next to no effect on Link other than a jarring but benign sense of tingling spreading throughout his body that quickly faded. Still, his vision remained moderately blurry as he glanced toward Ganondorf, just able to make out the mass of smoke proving he'd shrouded himself in darkness once more.
But rather than approaching with the intentions of taking advantage of Link's currently vulnerable state, he stopped to stare in realizing his last attack had little effect.
"So … ," he drew out, his voice guttural in his current form as it echoed into the void of clouds around them, "Myriad did not grant me all of her power as I'd believed. I once thought Dragmire foolish for so hastily sealing her within this realm, but now I better understand his need to keep her out of his affairs."
Growling the last, Ganondorf added, "No matter. Once you've succumbed to the force of power I now wield, I will draw that energy from your lifeless body, then toss it at her feet, allowing her to see her broken son before I destroy her as well."
During his litany, Link had finally worked his way back to his feet, the pain fading and his vision steadily returning to normal. Still, the amount of time it was taking to clear proved he couldn't allow another of those dark orbs to make contact, otherwise be left vulnerable for far too long. So, since Ganondorf now knew of his mother's trickery, he invoked her power to form a protective barrier around himself while grabbing another Light Arrow.
Nocking it, he asked in a tone as unimpressed as they came, "Are you going to talk all day, or show me your words have some meaning?"
A low, rumbling laugh emanated from the darkness concealing Ganondorf's form punctuated by the words, "Very well, if you're so eager to die."
Immediately, he stabbed a sword down into the ground, sending out a wave of darkness that encompassed a wide area, forcing Link to move in order to avoid injury. At the same time, the fiery walls surrounding their arena grew smaller, limiting his freedom of movement and making it even harder to get a proper shot with the Light Arrows.
Thankfully, he had enough speed to stay a step ahead, forced to essentially run a circle around Ganondorf while waiting for a decent shot. More orbs flew in his direction as the dark beast targeted him with his blades, and while he managed to evade several attacks, his shielding took a few sporadic hits. Still, it did its job, protecting Link from a stray orb and allowing him to roll out of the way when Ganondorf swung low.
Coming around behind his enemy, Link instantly spun to face him and took aim, holding his bow steady in wait for Ganondorf to turn.
Because of the dark cloud shrouding his body, his movements were nearly impossible to predict, forcing Link to rely solely on the red glow of his enemy's eyes for accuracy. Sadly, it seemed Ganondorf was aware of this as well because he'd continually kept his face pointed away—but not this time.
In the effort of locating his nemesis, the dark beast finally looked back, giving Link a clear view of his eyes, and after a slight adjustment with his aim, he loosed his arrow.
Instantly, the projectile sliced through the air, meeting its mark in mere seconds with a destructive blast of light.
Repeating this tactic as often as possible, Link managed to weaken Ganondorf's hold on Zelda more and more. Gradually, her mobility was returning, though she couldn't quite access her pouch. The normally easy task now seemed an impossible feat, her fingers brushing the edge of the opening without the ability to push inside as Link continually battled their enemy below.
Evading as many attacks as possible while using his shielding to absorb other blows, he made slow but steady progress. Still, his barrier wouldn't last forever, growing weaker each time it was hit, and Link's strength to reinforce it was also dwindling. So he did all he could to make it last, dodging attacks and ensuring he stayed out of immediate danger as often as possible.
Still, his barrier eventually shattered, and making matters worse, he'd barely gotten the chance to take advantage of the Light Arrows, either finding no opportunities to use them, or missing a shot. But when he did manage to bring the Evil King's shielding down, he did as much damage as possible, finding it increasingly difficult to do with each successful attack.
If Ganondorf wasn't launching magical attacks, he was swinging a sword, and though he never caused Link enough damage to bring him down, his relentless assaults were taking a toll. Their arena simply wasn't large enough to stay out of harm's way for good, and the heat of the barrier encompassing it further drained Link's energy.
Not that he was the only one suffering. After a successful attack, or even dodging his enemy's assaults, Ganondorf would stumble, or angrily pound his hooves into the ground, sending out a wave of darkness across the surface of the spire on which they stood—and the limited space didn't offer a high chance of escape from such outbursts.
Soon, the ground was spattered with blood from both parties, the rock rupturing beneath the tip of the Master Sword as Link stabbed it downward to use as leverage after a particularly vigorous evasion. Crouching over it with a knee hitting the spire and hands tightly gripping the hilt, he worked to recover with bated breaths. Nearby, Ganondorf was in much the same state, his most recent attack having taken more out of him than he would've liked.
Furthermore, his barrier had waned.
Realizing his enemy was now vulnerable without the need for his Light Arrows suffused Link with the strength to push himself up, grasping his sword tight with the blade glowing in readiness to land what he hoped would be the final blow. Perhaps then, Zelda would be able to free herself at last, and who knew, maybe it would even be enough to bring Ganondorf down for good.
Regardless, he wasn't wasting the opportunity, sprinting ahead with lethal intentions—and his enemy recovered just a moment too soon.
Refusing to give Link the upper hand, the King of Evil drew up an arm and turned to swing one of his blades at the Hylian now rushing toward him. Not only did the movement come without any warning, the strength he used to meet his weapon to the Master Sword was greater than anticipated.
The resulting clash of metal was nearly deafening, and had Link wielded any other blade, it would've instantly shattered under the weight. Instead, the Master Sword flew out of his hand, spinning through the air to stab itself into the surface of the Spire on the opposing side of their arena.
Lightning flashed overhead, briefly illuminating the bloodstained blade as Link was propelled through the air by the force of Ganondorf's counter. Hitting the surface several feet away with a grunt of pain, his head smacked down against the rock with enough force to draw blood, rattling him.
As crimson droplets spattered against the spire beneath his hands, he worked to push himself up with Ganondorf's laughter ringing out behind him. At the sound, Link slowly turned his gaze over one shoulder to see the dark beast now approaching the Master Sword—and he wasn't moving with steady steps.
Instead, Ganondorf's gait was clunky, blood dripping from his own injuries as he held up a fist and charged his power to form a dark barrier around the hilt of the Master Sword. Not unlike the barrier he'd been hiding behind since their fight began, wisps of smoke-like energy clung to the weapon as a result, leaving it irretrievable.
Eyes widening at this newest turn of events, Link's gaze darted back up to Ganondorf as he turned to face the Hylian and announced, "Now we shall end this once and for all."
The spire thumped beneath his heavy steps as Link stumbled back to his feet, wondering the entire while if the Light Arrows might cause Ganondorf's barrier on the Master Sword to fade. It also seemed the King of Evil was drained of power, or he simply felt no need to reform his own barrier because he approached Link in plain sight.
Either way, it provided the perfect opportunity for an easy shot—which was preferable considering his head injury had left him feeling quite shaky.
So without delay, Link grasped his bow to take aim, and yet, instead of clasping a Light Arrow from his quiver, his hand grasped at air.
Looking back to realize he no longer had any of the powerful weapons on his person, he quickly scanned the surface of the spire and noticed a single arrow several feet away. It must've fallen from his quiver after he was launched through the air—not that it mattered.
Instead, the moment his eyes made contact, the projectile was crushed beneath one of his enemy's hooves.
A sense of despair quickly sank into the pit of his stomach. Without the Light Arrows, and with no way to access his sword, he was out of options other than attempting to use his fists. Sadly, for as much power as the gauntlets provided, he knew it wouldn't be enough to combat the King of Evil, and if there were anymore arrows scattered across the arena, a quick scan didn't reveal them.
This left him only one option—evading until he could come up with a better idea, and with the dizziness caused by hitting his head still strong, he wasn't particularly fond of the prospect.
Still, Ganondorf didn't give him a chance to even try.
Swiftly summoning dark energy into his blades, he turned them to stab into the ground, sending out a shock wave across the surface of the spire that wired through Link's body the moment it made impact. Seizing up where he stood, pain wracked every inch of him so intensely he could barely take a breath, let alone cry out—and the only reason Ganondorf stopped was to let him.
With his knees hitting the rock, Link almost fell forward to his hands, but seized up again when the King of Evil sent another wave through his body while relating his cruel intentions.
"Let Zelda hear your anguished cries and know there is no escape. Let Myriad hear them as proof her misery will never end. This is the start of my new world, and I'll commemorate its establishment by taking your carcass as my first trophy."
Grunting in his effort to cause the Hylian as much agony as possible, Ganondorf put even more power into his assault. Link let a series of agonized yells as a result, toppling over against the surface of the spire and barely able to hold himself up. The pain was so intense it seemed miraculous that he managed to turn his gaze up to the dark orb still floating above them, wondering while he had the capacity to think if he'd truly failed everyone after all.
Even worse, had he failed her?
"Mira … ."
After mindlessly uttering her name, his gaze drifted down to the Master Sword on the opposing side of the arena. Despite the pain ripping through his body, Link knew that if he could only reach it, this would be over once and for all—but how? Perhaps there was a way to use his mother's gift to his advantage, but would he even have the strength for it?
Even if it meant giving her power up, he'd do so in a heartbeat for a single chance to find out—and that chance swiftly came when the Dark Orb containing Zelda abruptly shattered.
Breaking away like pieces of glass, the object collapsed so swiftly that Ganondorf wasn't even certain he knew what happened. Instantly, his assault on Link ended as he turned to be greeted by an unexpected and unwelcome sight above.
It had taken some work, and Link's efforts to weaken Ganondorf had certainly provided the means of retrieving her gem. Yet it was the King of Evil's own actions which had finally allowed her to access the pouch where the item was stored. By using what remained of his strength to torment the Hero of Legend rather than simply defeating him, his hold on her had weakened even further, and she finally managed to clutch the item in her fingers.
But instead of instantly breaking the barrier as planned, what came the moment she made contact with the gem was a surprising series of images flooding her mind that took only a moment to pass, but from her perspective, they lasted quite a while. Faces of women who'd ruled Hyrule ages before her flashed one after the other, each possessing the name Zelda, and all had a message to pass along. Their words came too swiftly to understand at first, urging her toward some dire action before fading from her thoughts just as quickly as they'd arrived.
Yet she soon deciphered their pleas just as the final image revealed itself in the form of a feminine figure bearing a sword in one hand with two large wings outstretched from her back. She was so luminescent Zelda could barely gaze upon her, let alone view any details of her visage—and she didn't need to.
She simply understood, and fully intended to fulfill her destiny.
The Dark Orb cracked around her instantly as a result, breaking away to leave her glowing figure hovering overhead. Draped in a golden light with two ripples of energy radiating from her back in the form of wings, Zelda lifted her hands toward Ganondorf and used her power to give Link precisely what he needed.
The chance to overcome their enemy by binding him where he stood.
"Now, Link!" she called, her voice gruff with exertion as she continued glowing with divine light in adding, "Strike while he's bound!"
Stumbling to his knees, Link barely had the strength to stand as Zelda called his name, and yet something in her words energized him in ways he couldn't explain. Even still, he had trouble doing anything but staring up at the Princess hovering over the scene like a goddess in her own right. Her image gleamed with a golden aura as she held the most dangerous foe they'd ever faced motionless before him.
Yet her act of binding the King of Evil wasn't effortless, and Ganondorf was struggling against it even now. But Link didn't have the Master Sword or the Light Arrows ready, nor did he have the strength to use his mother's power—except in the one way Ganondorf least expected.
Eyes flashing white, the power Myriad gifted him exploded from within his body in a destructive release he directed at the King of Evil. If giving up his mother's power was what it took to destroy him, he would gladly do so while ensuring their enemy tasted his own prowess using it in the process.
And that was all it took.
A bright light encompassed the arena as Ganondorf's agonized wail rang out, Zelda's efforts to bind him leaving him unable to escape the destructive force of power Link unleashed. Scalding him in a blaze as it erupted, the dark powers blocking the Master Sword finally faded away, as did Ganondorf's ability to hold his form.
But it didn't fade immediately.
Instead, as Link's hands met the spire's surface from collapsing after releasing the Light Power of the Sacred Realm, he looked up to see Ganondorf thrashing against his magical binds. Arms flailing with the loss of his strength, his bestial roars of agony soon became the bellows of a normal man, though his shape didn't revert before his outburst took a toll on Zelda.
A sporadic swing of his arm slammed into her body, knocking her backwards to land only a few feet away from the Master Sword. Eyes wide, Link stared as she lay motionless upon the rocky ground, his vision darting between her and the King of Evil whose shape was returning to normal.
With bated breaths, he all but ignored Ganondorf, working his way to his feet to cross the space between himself and the woman he loved. It wasn't easy, his body refusing to cooperate after taking such a harsh battering, yet he could feel his drive to finish this surging through him more strongly than ever before.
As he stumbled toward Zelda, their enemy raged over his defeat, bellowing, "No! It's not possible! How … ?"
Turning to face Link with his blade clutched in a tight fist, he demanded yet again, "How!" before using what remained of his strength to sprint toward the Hero of Legend and impale him through the back.
At the same time, Link reached the Master Sword, gripping the hilt to free it from the rocky ground before spinning around to meet his nemesis—and they both stopped moving.
Thunder rumbled above, creating a break in the silence that ensued Ganondorf's surprise attack, a move that left the enemies facing each other, weapons clutched tight and gazes filled with loathing. The hatred burning between them was almost as palpable as their outstretched blades, each pointing toward the other's torso with lethal intent.
And it was Ganondorf's harsh expression that faded first.
With the tip of the Master Sword jutting from his back, blood pooled around his boots while his own blade rested at Link's right side—his spin to face Ganondorf had prevented impalement, and as the King of Evil's ochre gaze dulled, Link answered his question.
"How? It's simple. I have enough courage not to hide behind my power like a pathetic coward."
With those words, he jerked the Master Sword from Ganondorf's torso, causing him to stumble back before collapsing to his knees. Crumbling before the Hero of Legend, he fell flat on his face in a pool of his own blood. All grew silent for a moment following the defeat, that was, until his own power was released, tendrils of darkness and light rising from his body as it dispersed into nothing—and some distant part of Link's mind qualified the truth.
The King of Evil was no more.
Out of instinctive habit, Link lifted the Master Sword to sheath upon his back, unsure he fully comprehended his victory. Things were simply too foggy to process, and he felt as if he were operating on instinct alone, even when Zelda whispered his name.
"Li-Link … ?"
Slowly turning to face her, relief assailed him to find that she looked no worse for the wear despite the vast concern on her face. Ganondorf's arm must've merely clipped her because she pushed herself up to gaze at him with wide eyes, though when she next spoke, her words didn't register. Instead, Link was becoming increasingly aware of an ache in his right side, not to mention the sensation of liquid warmth staining his clothing, and a glance down revealed why.
Ganondorf hadn't fully missed.
Instead, he'd cleaved Link's right side open, blood now spilling from the wound as the Hero of Legend finally fell to his knees, growing weaker by the second. Yet, as he toppled forward, his face never met the ground thanks to Zelda's intervention, the Princess grasping his shoulders before he could collapse.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she gently dragged him back, working to sit so that his head could rest in her lap. Their eyes met in the process, his growing dull, but despite his dire state of being, he could only think of her.
"Zelda … your parents … I woke them before … ."
He trailed, too weak to continue though he wished he could tell her how beautiful her responding smile was as she drew her fingers down along his cheek.
"Oh Link," Zelda rasped, torn between smiling to learn of her parents' awakening and bawling even harder over his situation. The sight of her champion so broken after defending her kingdom and everything she held dear was the most heartbreaking image she'd ever seen, even compared to watching him topple from a cliff when they were children.
Back then, she'd screamed for him, struggled to reach him despite knowing there was no chance to save him, and now?
Now she continued smiling, her gaze drifting from his face to the gem of her amulet laying nearby.
Exhaling a shaky breath, she reached for it, still able to hear a few whispers while closing her eyes to invoke her power for a final task—saving the man she loved.
Golden wisps of energy began radiating from her being once more as the dark clouds that had shrouded the spire's peak faded away. With the King of Evil defeated, his work would soon be undone, a tremor passing through the spire as a testament to its imminent collapse. Still, Zelda had time, and as she placed her glowing hands upon Link's chest, his mother teleported up to the spire's peak now that there was no longer a vortex to bar her path.
Tears were already staining the Sage of Light's cheeks from her overflowing emotions related to the events of the past few hours. Yet, seeing her injured son being tended by their Princess drew a fresh wave forth for an entirely different reason—sheer happiness.
Her eyes closed tight in turn, knowing her prayers had been answered, and indeed, the Goddesses had shown her the way.
Princess Zelda had found her path, and restored Link's health in a matter of moments.
As his wounds mended with a warmth enveloping his body, Zelda kissed his forehead and whispered, "I want to thank you, but it's not enough, and all I can say is that it doesn't matter how many times we find each other, I'll love you for eternity."
His eyes cracked open again to meet her gaze with vivid sapphire eyes as the heavens above opened wide, allowing a bright light to radiate down upon them. Tiny orbs rose around them in turn, flickering like fireflies as Link's lips curved into a smile that mirrored Zelda's—and the spire finally collapsed.
At the same time, three larger, more brilliant orbs spiraled down around them, their golden glow tinged with hints of red, blue, and green growing so bright it blotted everything out. Even sound was muted, and as the glow faded, the three Hylians were gone, returned to their home by an inexplicable force.
Perhaps it was divine in nature, or the Sacred Realm knew fate's intentions. Whatever the case, their long journey was over, their victory attained, each soon finding themselves … .
Wherever the Goddesses deemed fit.