Zelda
I clasped my fingers to the back of my head and squeezed sections of my hair as I groaned in frustration. Symin glanced at me from the desk to my right where he leaned over his encyclopedia of ancient technology parts.
The books sprawled on the table before had offered none of the information I seeked. Upon our return to Hateno this morning, I'd immediately checked in to Purah's lab and gathered all of her books in a pile that may have had a smidge of information about blood moons, monster revivals, and the calamity. Apparently, every academic in recent times viewed the event as an omen of hatred and a reminder of the calamity. I needed to go back further than the history recorded since the last calamity 10,000 years ago... but it was incredibly difficult to find surviving texts in conditions that could be deciphered.
A shuffle from the staircase broke my trance as Purah danced down the steps. "Did you find what you're looking for, Princess?"
I leaned back in the chair and moaned. "Not yet," I said.
Purah pursed her small lips. "Well, keep looking… there must be something written down somewhere. If not here, maybe there's something that survived in the library in the castle.."
I swallowed. The castle... In the past few days, I hadn't thought about having to return to my decimated home, a reminder of my greatest failure.
"Speaking of the castle," began Purah. She held up a folded piece of paper and flashed a peace sign at me. "I actually received a message from my sister—can you believe she barely writes to me anymore unless it involves either you or Link!?"
I raised my eyebrows in response. Symin rolled his eyes and turned the page of his text. Purah lowered her arm. "Impa wants me to travel to the castle. Apparently, the Kakariko Sheikah found the central mainframe hub for controlling the towers in the observatory while clearing out monsters. It was damaged during Link's battle with Calamity Ganon and the towers are malfunctioning now, so she wants to see if I can fix it."
"That sounds like a great idea, Purah," I said with a nod.
Purah nodded. "Symin and I will be heading out tomorrow morning. I'll be meeting Robbie at the castle as well. I haven't seen him in... quite a while, so it will be great to see him."
"I'm sure he will be delighted to see you again too," I said with a hum. I had yet to see my old colleague Robbie in person since the calamity, though I'd observed him from afar when I watched over Link's progress.
Purah folded a book under her small arm. "Oh, and feel free to use the lab while I'm out. Just try not to burn it down—I've almost done that a few times, and it is not fun to clean up." She winked.
I continued combing through texts and started on the pile of astronomy books once the evening came. The Sheikah were excellent star mappers and documented the night skies very well, yet the blood moon phenomenon remained quite mysterious. I drummed on the table in frustration. My eyes had tired. Purah had long retreated to her study and Symin left for the day when I heard the door open behind me.
I flicked my head to see Link. He wore sheikah clothes suited for stealth, and I knew that meant he'd been out on a hunting spree all afternoon—an activity he'd done a few times since we arrived in Hateno to keep our food supply stocked and to sell for rupees at the market. If he wasn't committed to acting as my knight, I assumed he would have taken a fulltime job as a hunter. "Did you find anything, Zelda?" He asked, stepping over to lean over my shoulder. His hands clutched the backrest of my chair.
"No, nothing at all," I mumbled, and sprawled my arms out in front of me on the table.
"Maybe it's time to call it for the evening?" He suggested.
I frowned. "I'm not giving up yet. There are still quite a few books left that I can skim through tonight."
"Perhaps you should try looking for answers elsewhere?"
I furrowed my brow. Did he mean to suggest the castle library? He knew I was not ready to return there yet. "I know how to find research material, thank you," I snapped.
He didn't say anything in response but he stepped away from me, turning back to the door. "I'll be at the house, Your Highness," he said as he opened the door.
My heart sank when the door shut behind him. In my frustration, I'd resorted to taking my anger out at him, just like I had a long time ago. Back then, he'd always responded to my snaps with a 'Yes, Your Highness.' Now, he'd resorted to that once again out of habit, whether he remembered doing it in the past or not. I got up to apologize, poking my head out the door into the dim evening light, but he was nowhere to be found. Those Sheikah clothes camouflaged him well, wherever he had gone. I returned inside the lab and sighed, leaning my back against the door as I covered my face with my hands. My loyal knight—no, my closest friend— didn't deserve my horrendous treatment.
I had a few more books to read, but I only managed to skim through a few sentences of one before the guilt inside me obliterated my ability to focus on the words on the page. I noted down something the book actually included about the blood moon fueled an "ancient, evil cycle," but I wasn't sure if this was a mistranslation from the old languages that referred instead to the revival of the monsters. I stood up, stacked the books neatly on the corner of the table, and exited the lab.
When I arrived at the bridge to Link's house, I could smell the smoky scent of grilling meat. I found him outside, seated at the cooking pot. He was chewing on something so crunchy I could hear him chew. He watched me approach and I couldn't tell if he was angry at me or not. His expression was exceedingly neutral: the same one he wore most of the time a hundred years ago. Seeing it sent a wave of guilt over me. I clasped my hands in front of me, drooping my shoulders as I bowed my head in apology. "Link...I," I began, my voice shaky as it passed my lips.
He merely patted the ground beside him. I accepted his gesture and sat down. I gazed into the deep reds of the coals below the pot. A slice of venison simmered on the heat, which I presumed would be our dinner tonight. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I will try not to project my frustrations at you...ever again."
He shrugged his shoulders and flipped the meat over with his turner. "I remember when you were upset with me in the past," he said. I looked down at the grass in shame. "But… then I remembered a specific time in which you came to apologize to me in earnest, and that was when we understood: we were both under way too much pressure for any teenager to bear."
He never angered easily when I snapped at him in the past either. That was a quality that also hadn't changed upon his loss of memory. For that, I was thankful, but it didn't mean I could still take out my anger on him. I needed to be better with my emotions.
I needed to listen to his concerns more, just as he always looked out for me.
A particularly loud cracking sound coming from his mouth startled me as he chewed. "Goddesses, what are you chewing? A bone?"
"Gravel," he said, with such a straight face that I realized he wasn't joking. A blinked at him.
"G… Did you say gravel?"
He shrugged. "The Gorons hooked me on it. I had some left from Death Mountain... Smoky flavor."
I stared at him in disbelief and watched him swallow. I momentarily thought about reconsidering my efforts to be more respectful to him. "That... cannot be good for your health," I said.
"Neither is dying, yet... here I am."
I rolled my eyes but I smiled. He'd forgiven me, at least.
"By the way, what I meant earlier was that you may find the solution to the blood moons in places other than books," he said as he sprinkled some spices onto the meat. "Maybe while traveling Hyrule, we'll find more information. There's a lot to be learned out in the world."
I considered his idea. It made sense. "That's a wonderful plan, Link," I said. "We'll research when we visit all of the races."
Link bobbed his head. "Great. I had a good hunt today, which will be more than enough food for a long journey if we pack it in with the chill shrooms I have left."
"Excellent," I said. "We'll leave in the morning."
I awoke at dawn and to prepare for our long journey around Hyrule. Link graciously lent me a bag that I could use to pack necessities for myself that I didn't want to keep in saddlebags. After cleaning myself, I gathered my few belongings: soaps, clothes, hair ties, a notepad and pen for documenting research, and finally, the seashell Link had gifted to me. It was probably silly, but I'd become quite attached to the little thing. I frowned as I realized we may be riding for hours at a time. If only I had some reading material… My eyes drifted towards the collection of books on the shelf next to Link's bed, and I crouched down next to it. Link had mentioned the books came with the house, so I assumed he would be fine if I borrowed one to read on the road. I settled on a thicker book titled 'Legends of the Heroes of Hyrule.'
Our first major destination was to be Goron City. We rode all day until we made it to the Wetland Stable, where we stayed the night. The owners of the stable welcomed us after they recognized me as the Princess and even prepared a celebratory dinner for us, which Link especially enjoyed. The stable owner worried about me being dissatisfied with the quality of their beds, just as Link had seemed self-conscious about the bed he lent me. I found it amusing how people seemed to worry if I cared about the craftsmanship of a bed frame, even after being frozen in time through stasis, holding off the calamity for a hundred years without the comfort of any bed at all.
The next morning, I was beginning to worry about having enough Fireproof Elixirs packed for us to scale the volcano safely but Link assured me he could find a merchant who sold more before we hiked up. However, when we arrived at the Woodland Stable, we found many of the Gorons, including Chief Bludo, mingling there with stable hands. I was relieved when Link hopped off his horse and ran ahead to speak with a younger looking Goron first. It was Yunobo, a descendent of Daruk. Link introduced me to him as well as Chief Bludo, a large older goron who wore an eyepatch. They explained that, after Vah Rudania fired its laser, the gorons had come down the mountain to see if they could find out what had happened at the castle in hopes that the hylians at the stable may know.
"So, you did it? The calamity is over?" Yunobo asked, looking between me and Link.
I nodded, though my anxieties about the blood moons pulled in the back of my mind. "Yes, it has been sealed away. The work Champion Daruk helped begin has been finished"
The Gorons and stable hands cheered, and the owner prepared drinks for all, on the house. The Gorons crowded around us outside the stable, asking me questions about how I was feeling and if I needed anything. I should not have been surprised with their concerns for me, given how kind Daruk had always been to me, but I was grateful they were not angry at me, at least.
"We would be honored to assist with excavating the rubble of the castle, Little Princess," said Bludo after we sat down and talked about the restoration of the castle being the first priority. "Though, my back cannot take much lifting these days. I will have Yunobo gather a team to meet up with the Sheikah already at the castle."
Yunobo hardened his expression and saluted at me. "Yes, m'am...er… Your Highness! We will be honored to help rebuild the Kingdom's castle again."
"Thank you, your service will be invaluable," I said with a bow of my head. "When the castle is finished, we shall definitely have a celebration with all of you as guests of honor as well. There will still be much more to be done to rebuild as well but it's a start."
We mingled with the friendly Gorons for the remainder of the afternoon. Link went outside the stable with Yunobo at one point to do some challenge the gorons had for him in honor of Daruk. I shuddered when I heard them challenging him to eat an entire rock roast before they finished off an entire keg of the stable's specialty drink. I thought about getting up from my conversation with Bludo to intervene on Link's behalf but then I heard cheering and knew it was too late. Somehow… Link won.
As the sun began to set, the gorons decided to return to Goron City to share the good news with the rest of their tribe. As Bludo and Yunobo prepared to leave, I approached them. "I have a question about something I've been thinking about recently, if you don't mind me asking."
"Ask away, Your Highness!" said Yunobo.
I smiled. His attitude was similar to Daruk's, though his mannerisms were still a bit gawky in his youth. I cleared my throat and pulled out my notebook from my bag. "Do the Gorons have any tales about the blood moons? I am researching them but I seem to have hit a wall."
"Already starting a new research project, Little Princess? I heard you were a researchy-type but didn't realize you would start another effort so soon," Bludo said as he scratched his chin in thought about my question. "Blood moons… it's a time in which the great rock in the sky glows with evil energy, but we don't know exactly why…"
Yunobo put his arms behind his head as he thought. "I always thought those scary rocks we could see to the west were the source of all evil. We would never mine from there—it would dig up old curses."
I tilted my head. "Scary rocks?"
"He means the Breach of Demise," said Bludo. "It is an ancient canyon, as old as time, made up of strange rocks that were bleached white with the stain of evil. It is said to be the exact place where the ancient demons came up from the underworld and crawled into our land in the beginning of time."
I nodded. I knew of the Breach of Demise as a peculiar wonder of geography, as I'd often passed through there on my travels to the Royal Tech Lab before the calamity. "I see…"
"Sorry we couldn't be of more help," said Yunobo.
I shook my head. "No, I will note that down. Any information is helpful, really. Thank you." I wished them farewell and they proceeded up the mountainside behind the other gorons. A breeze sailed through my hair. I looked around the shadows that spread over the volcanic cliffs and fields to the south as the sun lowered in the sky. In the distance stood the silhouette of the castle, framed by the golden light of the evening.
"Did they tell you anything?"
I turned around, and found Link seated at one of the stable's tables behind me. He hunched over the table. Crumbs of gravel stuck to his cheeks, which appeared greener than usual. "We talked about the Breach of Demise, so I'm not sure," I said. I crossed my arms. "Link, you've made a pig of yourself... Why did you eat that big rock? It's Goron food."
He stared down at the cup in his hands. The bubbles in the drink fizzled. His reply dripped with remorse, and he looked like a puppy apologizing for getting into food without permission. "I could not… decline a challenge..."
"You were too caught up in the excitement. Don't let such a challenge take you so far again that you become ill," I scolded. Yet, I couldn't deny my own amusement either. I watched as he took a long drink from his cup and then leaned against the table with a moan.
Our next destination was supposed to be the Great Deku Tree, though I decided we would wait until morning to traverse Lost Woods. One, because it would be easier in the daylight, and two, because Link began to throw up the rocks over the next few hours. The weird, scholarly side of me found the half-digested rocks fascinating, though it was equally just as painful to see Link wretch. Regardless, I helped my poor hero by chasing him down and holding back his long hair whenever he ran outside the stable without a warning.
Anything, for this boy I loved a hundred years ago...
Finally, Link recovered enough and resigned himself to preparing us a simple stew for the evening that would be easy on his stomach. He insisted on cooking, even when I offered to do it. I sat across from him with my book as he stirred the savory liquid over the fire. I had thought the book was just a simple children's storybook, but it was a more detailed compilation of legends that had been passed down in our history. I wondered if there would be anything about the Breach of Demise in it as I thumbed through its pages.
Surprisingly, early on in the book, I found the legend about the Demon King named Demise and his army who invaded the land through a great crack in the earth. An illustration showed a canyon burning with flames as demonic figures emerged from its depths. Demise had commanded a curse upon the land where his hatred would revive endlessly to chase down the bloodline of the Goddess Hylia and the one with a spirit of the hero. I frowned. This was why the calamity always came back: a curse. However, the chapter in the book concluded with an optimistic outlook, explaining that the seal of the Princess and the Hero could lock away the curse for thousands of years of peace at a time.
This was a good explanation for the calamity's revival, but it still did not explain to me why the blood moons revived monsters to terrorize my people every few weeks.
"Where did you find that book?" Link asked, snapping me out of my reading.
"It was on your shelf," I said. "I'm sorry, I should have asked..."
He laughed. "No worries. I never opened any book on that shelf anyways." He grabbed a ladle and scooped a bowl full for me. The spices wafted into my nose as he held it out to me, and my mouth watered.
To my relief, Link was able to keep the stew down, and the rest of the evening was relatively quiet. Link used the time to do some training while I flipped through the book a little more. I checked the Sheikah Slate and the Divine Beasts appeared operational. We decided to retire for the night early, and I dozed off in my 'perfectly suitable' stable bed.
Hours later, I awoke with a start when Link screamed.
I unfurled from my blankets to spring to my feet, my heart racing as I jumped up. It was dark outside, probably three in the morning. The night-shift stable employee leaned over the desk in concern as I ran over to Link's bed. "Link!" I gasped as I grabbed the lantern on the wall near his bed and cranked it lit to look for any blood or injury.
His blue eyes flicked towards me as he rolled onto his back. He flinched when the bright light pierced into his pupils and shielded his eyes with a hand. He was tangled in his quilt, his loose hair a mess around his head, but otherwise he looked fine. "Are you alright?" I asked.
He groaned. "I'm… I'm fine."
"Why did you yell?"
He shook his head and pulled the covers up around his nose. "Bad dream."
I exhaled in relief. Nobody had attempted to hurt him. "About what?"
He looked away. "Just… another dream about Calamity Ganon."
I frowned. "Oh…"
"I'm fine, Zelda. Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep."
I sighed and extinguished the light before I stepped back to my bed. I wished there were words with which I could comfort him but I had seen the unspeakable terror he faced as well. His wakening scream had unsettled me deeply, as it was the first time I'd heard that yell of pain since he fought with Ganon. But from the way he spoke, this had not been the first nightmare since his quest ended. In fact, he had probably been silently enduring the bad dreams all by himself as not to worry me.
The warm fibers of the stable quilt wrapped around me when I crawled back into my bed. Link had spent so much time nursing me back to health since we sealed Ganon away that I'd hardly noticed his own struggle to deal with the trauma he'd endured. His tired eyes—they were not just from his tedious journey but from sleepless nights and the terrible nightmares plaguing him. He didn't deserve to endure such pain alone.
Before I returned to sleep, I pledged to somehow help Link process his trauma so we could both begin to heal.
The next day, we navigated through the Lost Woods with relative ease due to both of our familiarity with the path to the Korok Forest. The koroks celebrated our return, floating in glee around us as we approached the Great Deku Tree. Link introduced me to Hestu, a larger Korok who bobbled around us with his maracas. He was particularly excited that I could see him too.
The Great Deku Tree expressed delight when we stood before him. "I am grateful to see you smiling again, Princess," he said in his low, majestic tone.
"Great Deku Tree, we come to let you know that the calamity has been sealed away, and we're starting the process to rebuild," I said.
"Indeed, and I have no doubt the Kingdom will flourish under your rule, Princess," said The Great Deku Tree. I smiled at his comforting reassurance.
"Great Deku Tree," Link began. He drew the Master Sword from his sheath. "I believe I need to return this sword to the forest."
The tree hummed, which sent forth a vibration that almost cost us our balance. "Young one, I permit you to hold onto the sword for just a while longer. You may find need of it again."
"But… the calamity was sealed," I said. A cold shiver ran down my spine. "Is this… to do with the blood moons?"
"Do not worry, Princess," said The Great Deku Tree. "I have full confidence that you will know what you need to do, in time. For now, worry about your plan to rebuild Hyrule Castle ."
"I will take good care of the sword," Link said with a nod.
"Very good," boomed The Great Deku Tree. He continued with his slow manner of speaking. "By the way, Princess, I believe you had some words for the Hero… have you conveyed them to him yet?"
I flinched in embarassment, and Link looked at me with some confusion. "I uh… I will, soon."
"Well, don't keep him waiting too long…" He yawned, and we knew that meant our audience was over.
Link and I sat together on a branch of the Great Deku Tree when the koroks brought us fried mushroom dishes as gifts for lunch. My mind raced as I ate. If our business was not yet over, what could possibly be left for us to do if the calamity was sealed away?
Link seemed to be able to read my thoughts. "Don't worry, Zelda. There's no way the calamity could return so soon. Maybe we need the sword for some other reason."
I leaned my head into my hands. "I just… wish we could be done with all this," I mumbled. Link patted my shoulder. I knew he felt the same.
"By the way, what were those 'words' he was talking about?" Link asked with a tilt of his head.
I felt my cheeks heating and hoped he wouldn't notice under the shade of the branches. "Oh… I'll tell you some other time."
He hummed in response. I detected some suspicion in his tone.
Our horses flew over the Rauru Hillside with ease, and we made incredible time as we headed west. Our goal was to make it to the Tabantha Stable that night so we could make the journey to Rito Village the following day.
We arrived at the ruins of the Royal Ancient Tech Lab in the afternoon. I dismounted my horse there so I could pay my respects. The sight brought tears to my eyes as I carefully stepped through the maze of destroyed stone walls. Charred remains of rubble snapped under my boots. It was once my favorite place to escape into with Impa after my daily training to see what Robbie and Purah were working on. During the Calamity, Corrupted Guardians had struck it with a laser barrage, and we lost an invaluable amount of research notes. I was grateful that Purah and Robbie made it out alive with some of their texts—many in Purah's case—but the loss had been a major setback in ancient technology research. I tightened my fists as I looked over the destruction. Never again could I allow such an attack on the technological progress of our society.
Shortly after, we reached the Breach of Demise. The white peaks always reminded me of bone in texture. The horses continued, but their protesting snorts indicated a discomfort for traveling into the strange area. A cold wind howled as it seeped into the canyon around us.
"Do you think it's true?" Link asked, surprising me with the question. He had been quiet all day.
"What do you mean?"
"The legend about Demise coming up through the crack in the earth here," he elaborated. "And the rocks were cursed with the stain of death..."
"The Gorons seem to know the quality of rocks best, and they don't trust this canyon." I looked around at the bleached white rocks and frowned. "If the legend is true, then this would be the site of the first Great Calamity. Demise's curse caused the revival of his hatred and malice, so maybe there is much residual energy here."
"I wonder where all that hatred came from…" Link mumbled.
"He came from the underworld of demons," I said.
Link hummed. "If only we could get rid of the hatred in the underworld. Maybe we could stop the curse forever."
I laughed at the ridiculousness of his proposal but agreed. "Wouldn't that be great…"
A spray of pebbles suddenly slid down the cliffside to my right. I looked up, tracing the source of the disturbance, and movement caught my eye at the top of the cliff. I saw what appeared to be a dark hood turning away from the edge. "Is… is somebody following us up there?" I asked softly.
Link immediately drew his bow from his back and aimed it up at the cliff. "Show yourself," he demanded. His voice echoed across the canyon, but the figure did not re-emerge.
After a minute, Link pulled his reigns and directed Epona behind me. "Let's keep moving. I'm going to follow behind you until we reach Tabantha Stable."
I nodded. This was a defensive strategy. Link had often followed me from behind to ensure my safety from all angles in the past. I kicked my horse to speed into a gallop, and prayed we would reach the stable without incident.
