Zelda awoke, noticing daylight had finally come, the days were much shorter and nights were long in Holodrum, something she dreaded, which is why she always made it her last stop. She turned towards the window, and subsequently almost leapt out of bed when she saw a figure standing in front of it. During her childhood years it was very common for her to wake up to either Impa, one of her parents, or her brother (whenever he was bored) standing next to her bed, but ever since she turned 13 she made it clear she wanted privacy in her bedroom, being away from home though, she felt more secure with a guard in her room.

Zelda slowly relaxed, looking at the figure in front of the window, "Good morning, Lemuria." she said with a smile, meeting eyes with the Sheikah woman. Lemuria was one of the younger Sheikah, being only 22 years of age, she hadn't been old enough to serve in the war against Labrynna, and had only a few minor scuffles with Bulblins, Bokoblins (before the peace treaty), and unruly (often drunk) guests at the Castle, which is why Impa was insistent she accompany Zelda instead, one might question Impa's judgement, sending an inexperienced guard off with Hyrule's most important political figure, but being a Sheikah, one already had an instant advantage over any opponent, regardless of skill, not to mention, with her competency in sorcery, Zelda was capable of defending herself, too.

"Good morning Princess." Lemuria stated, returning Zelda's smile.

Zelda looked around the room and soon became quite puzzled, "Lemuria...where are all of my belongings?" Zelda had taken a few things, some for necessity, some for comfort, and others just to keep from getting homesick, but looking around the room, all of the objects she had brought were missing.

"I moved them out to the hallway, the servants are almost done packing them into the wagons, we'll be ready for our departure to Hyrule within the hour." Lemuria answered with a small grin, which was quickly wiped away when she saw Zelda's alarmed expression.

"You let servants in? With me in this current state of dress?!" Zelda asked, dressed in her nightclothes, it wasn't exactly something one would want every servant to see.

"N..no my Princess!" Lemuria responded, "I moved it all out myself while the servants were waiting to receive it in the hall."

Zelda, having calmed a considerable amount and looked up at Lemuria, "Have you been watching them? Making sure they didn't take anything?"

"Of course, my Princess, nothing gets passed the eyes of a Sheikah!"

Zelda reflected on the more important things she brought with her, a set of earrings that once belonged to her mother, a pendant given to her by her father, and a ring that had been passed down through the ages, given to every Princess, it was said to have been a gift from the Hero of Legend hundreds of years ago, something which Zelda knew to be true, remembering receiving it 6 lifetimes ago. Everyone assumed it was a sign of his love for her, and while true, the actual truth of it's gifting to her, was Link seeking her forgiveness after shattering her favorite hand mirror, he claimed it was an accident, which was likely the truth. Of course he hadn't needed to buy her forgiveness, as she would have forgiven him anyway, she always forgave him no matter what, but the ring did help. With a smile she recalled all of the petty things they argued about in the past, like Link stepping through a flowerbed and being rude to her former attempted suitors. She silently wondered when she'd see Link again, if she was here, she knew there was a great likelihood he was too, and she was also forced to acknowledge the other truth of their existence in this era, but didn't think about it, as it would sour her mood for the rest of the day.

"Lemuria? Has my brother sent word of affairs in Hyrule?"

"Oh, yes, a raven arrived this morning, my Princess."

Lemuria handed Zelda the letter, careful to make sure she had a hold of it before letting go. The letter began the way all letters from Audrik did, being headed with "Dear Sister", Zelda smiled, as it reminded her of home, she laughed as she explained Audrik's experiences, after appointing Minister Hawkwood as event coordinator and revealed, to the mutual excitement of her and Lemuria that Impa survived the siege of Kakariko, even helping the united Hylian and Bokoblin force in driving off the Bulblin army. The Princess finally met confusion when she ran across mention of the Dragon Knight's return, this was his third appearance, he only presented himself when the Bulblin Empire was failing at acquiring a valuable strategic position, his other two appearances resulted in victory for the Bulblin Empire, so what was different in this instance? Did Impa or Sir Ginthorne manage to drive him off? She knew Captain Viscen didn't have the power necessary to do so, as she read it was revealed that even Master Elgon, a former Captain in the Hylian Military, and current Commander of the Lanayru Province Guard was there, but even though he was one of the greatest warriors the land over, he was still a normal Hylian man, he would have been no match for a being as powerful as the Dragon Knight. Zelda retired these thoughts though, the important fact, was that they had won Kakariko, the Dragon Knight had suffered his first defeat, and the Bulblin Empire was severely weakened.

A knock came at the door, "Just a moment!" Zelda replied as she changed into a blue dress, while Lemuria stood by the door making who ever was outside didn't open it.

"Come in." Zelda said, finally being dressed for the day.

"Good morning Princess." the Chancellor of Holodrum said as he walked in. "I trust you have enjoyed your stay, we tried to provide as many amenities as possible to make you comfortable!" The Chancellor was a seemingly average middle-aged man, he had a light beard, stood at just above Zelda's eye level, and kept his hair short, while always wearing a formal outfit, that made it seem fairly ambiguous as to what physical shape he may be in.

"Of course." Zelda said with a smile, "I've been very comfortable, thank you for your hospitality, Lemuria and I have appreciated it greatly!"

"Good to hear my lady!" said the Chancellor, he looked over to Lemuria, the Chancellor tried to keep it from being seen, but he was intimidated by the the Sheikah. "I'm glad you both have enjoyed your stay, and I am pleased to let you know that my family and I will be attending the festivities in your Kingdom, along with some of our wealthiest nobles!" the Chancellor said with satisfied grin.

"We're pleased to hear this." Began Lemuria, "We must be on our way now though, the festival can't begin without the Princess."

"Of course! the Chancellor said, we've finished packing your belongings, the wagons are ready whenever you are, my ladies." The Chancellor said, bowing to them.

Lemuria helped Zelda into the back of the wagon, where she read her brother's letter again, he made sure to include many quotes of Minister Hawkwood voicing his disgust in the decorating skill of the Castle's servants, something she found fairly amusing, as did Lemuria. The two looked back as the Chancellor, along with his family, and the staff of the estate waved to them, after waving back for a good amount of time, Zelda and Lemuria looked off into distance, happy to be returning to Hyrule after a large amount of time traveling abroad.

oOo

Link had awoken a few hours earlier, but remained in his room completing a morning workout regiment, he needed to be stronger, faster, and more agile, if he was going to save this land from whatever the threat may be. It wasn't long before a knock came at his door.

"Come in!" he shouted, continuing his workout.

The Prince strode into the room, "Hero, it's good to see you awake, I feared the comfort of the bed was keeping you away from daylight." he said with a grin, "It's good to see you're keeping active." he said with a curious inflection, watching Link complete the set of push-ups he had set himself on.

Link stood up, grabbing a cloth off of his dresser to dry the sweat from his face. "Sorry for keeping in my chambers for so long, I just need to make sure I stay in fighting form, you never know what's coming." Link said, remembering past attacks on the Castle."

"You needn't fear an attack on Castle Town, Mr. Link, Minister Tonbridge and the Royal academy of Sorcerers are finishing preparations on the Town's defenses."

"What kind of defenses is the Minister putting forth?" Link asked inquisitively, having seen magical defenses fall before.

"He's assembled a great deal of towers, which, if I understand correctly, will serve as a source of power for a magical forcefield he's placing over the Town, he's also activating a large reserve of Armos Knight's, they aren't his creation, though, they were built about 400 years ago, and placed in many temples around Hyrule, in which placing guards was not an option." the Prince explained, proud of his Town's preparedness, as opposed to that of other eras.

Link had a look of confusion on his face, "If they've had those for 400 years, why didn't they use them during my previous lifetime?" he thought to himself, not wanting to ask the Prince, afraid the Prince would see it as criticism of his family. "Ganondorf had nearly walked directly into Castle Town in my previous life, it would have been nice to have a force of Armos Knights aiding us." Link stopped his fixation on the subject though, realizing that he had defeated Ganondorf then, and will do it again now.

The Prince left Link to bathe in privacy before heading downstairs to join the Prince in welcoming their visitors, the truth of who he is had not escaped yet, but the Prince took to his company, Link every now and then wondered if the Prince thought of him as a body guard of sorts.

After bathing and donning a new set of formal attire, the likes of Link never thought he'd have reason to wear, he began down the stairs, bypassing a few security details, he noticed, had nearly doubled in number, Link felt a small sense of relief as he realized the Prince was taking his words of caution seriously, as rulers in the past had not. Link had an especially hard time with Kings, they always viewed him as a naive young boy, not realizing he had lived multiple lifetimes, and that there were centuries of experience behind his words. As he walked onto the third floor he could already hear Minister Hawkwood voicing his dissatisfaction with the servant's table arrangements, once again asking them if they'd like him to demonstrate the task. As Link finally made his way down the stairs into the great hall he was grabbed by Audrik.

"Mr. Link, I am grateful for your presence, I have been assailed by nobles left and right, and I could use some company I can tolerate, Audrik said with a glance over at some nobles, who had been speaking amongst themselves while looking in his direction, they quickly quieted and averted their gazes when they realized he was watching.

"Prince Audrik, may I ask you a question?" Link asked, in a formal manner.

"Mr. Link, you may drop the formalities when speaking with me, I like to think of you as a friend, not a servant, or Guardsmen, though you were one when we met." the Prince said, "Any question you have, you may ask."

"Why have you taken to me in a such a way? Your kindness has shown no bounds, and after only recently getting to know me you offered me a place in the Castle, I guess I just want to know why." Link thought he already knew the answer, but looked to the Prince, who's face was adorned with a contemplative expression.

"Link, it is you I have to thank for my existence. If not for you, the Royal Bloodline would have been ended centuries ago, you always rise up against powerful opposition, show confidence in the face of danger, and show bravery that dwarfs that of even my most courageous Knights. To be completely honest, having you here, I feel, keeps my kingdom safe, you'll know of dangers before anybody else, barring myself and my sister of course. Not to mention I've grown up with many nobles who tried to push their children on me, they present themselves as my friends, but they all have ulterior motives, Mr. Link, I know my history well enough to know that you can be trusted greatly, with even the most valuable of secrets, I would be honored to call you my friend, if you would honor me with such recognition."

Link was near speechless, "You honor me." Link replied, "I recognize you as my friend indeed." Link said, nodding at Audrik.

"Fantastic!" Audrik replied, he then turned to Link, "If history is any indication, I may even call you brother someday." Audrik said with a smirk.

Link's thoughts once returned to Zelda, his anticipation of her arrival was reaching a boiling point, and if he had to wait much longer, he thought he just might saddle up a horse and right out to the east to find her himself, it wouldn't be the first time he had done so, he recalled with a grin.

Prince Audrik, accompanied by Link approached the entrance to the Great Hall, ready to welcome an influx of guests when a crash from nearby portion of Castle Town greeted their ears, followed by an explosion. An absolutely exhausted looking guard dashed into the room , attempting to catch his breath while trying to explain the situation.

"Slow down." Audrik began, "Just tell me what has transpired." Audrik went on, sounding noticeably alarmed.

"A Monster...a monster is heading towards the Castle." he said, each word coming in between breaths.

"I'll attend to this personally." Audrik said, "Please accompany me hero, I feel your assistance will be needed."

Link wouldn't have it any other way, he ran after the Prince, they were soon joined by a company of Castle Guards, with Oren and Impa jumping from their positions in the Great Hall, quickly catching up to Audrik, Link and the unit of Guards they were leading.

oOo

Chapter five! I hoped you all have been enjoying the read so far! We finally found out what Zelda has been up to! I hope you are all glad to hear from her!

Thank you to elf warrior knight and Bookwormsrule for the reviews! The danger will be presented soon, as you may have guessed!

I'm glad you found my new chapters easier to read, I'll keep up with this format!

As for the Heroes remembering their past lives, a writer on this site, Lady Kiridia, came up with the idea, she utilizes the concept very effectively in her Legend of Zelda story, "Dead Inside", which I highly recommend you read, it's awesome!

Thanks for the read!

-Prometheus17