Aeris gave herself a week to mourn her loss, it was difficult but having a goal helped. For a week she stayed in her room in complete solitude, other than Kit who came and went through the window as he pleased.
At the end of the week, when a maid brought her daily meal, she spoke for the first time. "Bring me Urora,"
Urora entered the room tentatively, Aeris sat upright in the bed gently stroking Kit's back. "Vehvi, I,"
Aeris cut the older Gerudo woman off. "Don't," She readjusted herself. "I Need you to do something for me,"
Urora stepped forward. "Anything Vehvi,"
"One stop calling me Vehvi, I'm not a child anymore," Urora nodded and offered a soft apology. "Two, I need you to go to the library and bring me everything about the history of Hyrule. The older the better,"
A look of confusion crossed Urora's face. "You want books?" She stepped forward. "About history?"
Aeris smiled and nodded. "And something sweet please,"
"Of course Dear," Urora stepped back out into the hall and resigned herself to the fact that her adopted daughter had lost her mind.
Aeris thumbed through the thick black book in her lap, careful not to get any crumbs from the cookie she was idly eating on it's delicate pages. There was no telling how old it could be - maybe fifty, maybe two hundred. It was withered in its old age and tea stains ran down its pages leaving nasty brown stains on the cream colored pages. Someone in the distant past had ripped out pages and left a jagged edged page. It held the past... and would hold the future.
'Long ago, the earth cracked and evil forces rushed out of the fissure These forces attacked the people of the earth, slaughtering them and destroying their land They did this in search of the ultimate power capable of granting any wishes of its holder. This power, passed down by the gods of old, was guarded by Her Grace, the Goddess of the land
The leader of these dark forces was a being known as Demise, the antithesis of Hylia
He coveted the newly created world for himself, he sought to gain the Triforce and use its power to surpass the Golden Goddesses and pry the world from them. He spawned an army of monsters and invaded the surface realm, spreading plagues and destruction in his wake, killing millions without mercy.'
Aeris shook as she read the wilted pages of the ancient book. Demise the name seemed fitting of a being so terrible.
'However, the Goddess Hylia, patron of life and keeper of the Triforce, gathered the surviving humans on a piece of earth and sent it skyward beyond the clouds. This outcropping of rock came to be known as Skyloft.
With mankind and the Triforce along with the Goddess sword: A weapon potent enough to fell the King of Evil, out of Demise's reach the Goddess joined the remaining land dwellers and fought the evil forces in a war of unmatched scale and ferocity. They eventually sealed the evil forces away, restoring peace to the Surface. However, the humans remained in Skyloft, as Hylia knew that the seal on the evil would not hold forever.
A sealing spike marked Demise's final resting place, an area that would become known as the Sealed Grounds, at the bottom of a great pit behind Faron Woods.
Hylia suffered mortal wounds, she reincarnated her soul into a human girl, making the ultimate sacrifice to protect mankind and the Triforce.'
Aeris flipped through the remaining pages that detailed the events of Demise's reawakening and the Hero that rose to face him. The final passage made her stop in her tracks.
"Those like you… Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero… They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!"
The final words of Demise a curse and a warning to those who come after us.
Let it be known that as long as light remains in Hyrule, A land so named for the goddess who died to protect it, good will rise against evil, light against dark. May those who come after us be ever vigilant.
~Zelda, wife of the Hero of the Sky'
There that was what she was looking for. This changed everything.
Urora had been sure that Aeris had completely lost her mind when she'd finally revealed the reason for her research, but the woman had eventually come around after hours of listening to Aeris ramble about long dead ancient evils. It took a week for Aeris to convince Urora to let her out of bed and another for her to finally get her to agree to leaving the castle.
Aeris frowned as she struggled to get into her once well fit armor, the supple leather leggings now strained as she tried to pull them up over her hips. "Stupid baby fat,"
Urora chuckled. "It won't be there forever," She helped Aeris wiggle into the pants. "Once you start training again you'll be good as new,"
"Which will be soon I hope," She struggled to buckle the breastplate into place.
"Give your body a little more time to recover," Urora helped Aeris secure her thick red cloak around her shoulders. "The ride to Kakariko is going to be difficult enough,"
They packed enough supplies to get them to Kakariko and left the castle as stealthy as possible. Aeris smiled at Starlight fondly as they entered the stables. "Hey girl, long time no see," The mare nickerd happily and blew a puff of air into Aeris' face.
She lead the horse out of the stall and tacked her with Urora's help. "Are we ready?" She turned to Urora who was mounting a bay gelding.
"Lead the way," Aeris clicked her tongue and lightly tapped Star's side with her heels.
A grey blur launched itself from the shadows and latched onto Aeris' leg, sharp claws digging into the leather of her pants. "Kit?" The cat scrambled up into Aeris' lap and perched himself on the saddle in front of her, digging his claws into the saddle horn to keep himself upright.
"I guess we have a tag along," Urora chuckled lightly.
The ride to Kakariko was unexpectedly quiet, Aeris didn't know whether to be glad or suspicious, but she was thankful none the less when they finally arrived at the village of the Sheikah tribe just after sunrise.
Impa and a young child stood waiting for them just past the town gates. "Halt!" The Sheikah woman's voice boomed. "Why have you come here?"
"I seek your help," Aeris struggled to dismount Starlight and handed Kit to Urora. "I have information that may be vital in stopping the man that plagues Hyrule,"
Impa crossed her arms and the child at her side shrunk away. "You mean your husband,"
"No," Impa went rigid. "I assure you I know that the man I married would never have done these things,"
"What are you implying?" Impa's red eyes narrowed and the child peered from around her with similar red eyes.
"What do you know of Demise?" Aeris had never seen Impa's calm demeanor waiver, but the woman took a step back and placed her hand on the child's head.
They stood in silence for several moments before Impa beckoned for Aeris and Urora to follow her into the village.
"Demise was sealed in the Master Sword by the Hero of the Sky," Impa sat a cup of tea before Aeris and sat down across from her. "What you are saying is impossible,"
"I don't think it is," Aeris sipped the tea gingerly. "There is a period of time that the Master Sword is unaccounted for," She pulled a book from the bag on her hip. "The Hero of the Minish used the Picori Blade and eventually the White Sword," She flipped through the books pages. "And the hero that followed him used the White Sword followed by the Four Sword," She pushed the book across the table to Impa.
"No Master Sword," Impa flipped through the book.
"No mention of the Temple of Time either," She sat back. "The Master Sword could have weakened significantly enough for Demise's spirit to escape and bide it's time until he found a suitable host,"
"Which he found in Ganondorf," Impa sighed and put down the book. "Hylia this is insane,"
"I think that he was made for it," The weight of her words nearly crushed her. "He had a moment of clarity and told me that he should have listened when I told him not to listen to his mothers. I think he was trying to tell me that they did this to him,"
Urora who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room suddenly spoke up. "Nabooru," Aeris and Impa turned to the Gerudo. "That would explain why they just gave Nabooru away," She shook her head. "It wasn't just that he was a male, they needed him for a specific reason,"
"What now?" The child spoke up now. "What do we do now?"
Impa brought the girl in for a hug. "Now, we wait," The young girl sniffled. "The young hero is sealed in the Sacred Realm until he is strong enough to wield the Master Sword,"
"And the Princess?" Aeris eyed the young girl, she appeared to be a young Sheikah.
"She's safe," Impa patted the young girl. "Sheik go and start warming up for training, I will be there shortly,"
They watched the young girl leave. "How long will the Hero be sealed?"
"I am unsure. It is said that the Hero of the Sky was seventeen when he tempered the Master Sword. Our young hero is only twelve, assuming that he needs to be at least as old as the previous wielder he would need,"
"Five years," Aeris stood from her place at the table. "Well, that gives me plenty of time to figure out how to save my husband,"
" We can't put an exact time on when the hero will be ready but," Impa stood and placed a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder. "If you so please, you can stay here, I owe you as much,"
Aeris nodded a small grimace on her face, her hips were killing her. "Is there somewhere we can rest?"
Impa nodded. "Certainly, follow me,"
Aeris and Urora settled into a simple existence. Aeris slowly regained her strength and poured all of her energy into making sure that when the time came she would be ready to do what was necessary.
A/N: Welp there it is... did anyone see that coming?
I put a ton of work into working with the timeline to figure out how to fit this in, and I think I did a good job.
Let me know what you think is going to happen from here.