"I'm sure you're familiar with the legends of the Hero of Time, right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. I nodded in reply.
"Yeah, a little bit."
"Well, you should because I just taught you a history lesson about it a few months ago." She glared at me, but I could sense a smile in her slim lips.
"I mean, yeah, how could I forget?" I shrugged nervously.
She rolled her eyes. "That's the spirit. I guess I should remind you about it though. Alright.
"Hundreds of years ago, back when Hyrule was nothing but a bustling castle and open field, a demon lord rose from almost nowhere. His name was Ganondorf, he was the leader of the Gerudo, a tribe from the desert. His one evil intention was to find the triforce, and send the world under his despicable rule. However, the king somehow did not realize it, and let him roam freely through the castle. The princess had suspicions though, she saw what her father was unable to, the eternal darkness that rested in the Gerudo's soul. She met a young boy, who she shared her ideas with, and asked him to gain the three spiritual stones so they could open the Temple of Time and retrieve the triforce. The triforce grants anyone's wishes, it helps them live out their deepest desires. Their plan was to get to the triforce before Ganondorf could, so their pure hearts could keep the land in peace. Sadly, the young boy was unable to complete this task before Ganondorf striked. When the royal family least expected it, he attacked the castle, killing the king and burning it down, sending villagers fleeing from the intensity of the flames. The princess escaped with her bodyguard, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. For seven long, depressing years, Ganondorf had control over Hyrule. His final wish was to gather the three sides of the triforce, courage, wisdom, and power. You see, the triforce take their home within people chosen by the goddesses. When they die, the person in charge of the murder gains that piece of the triforce. It's brutal, but it's just the way things are. Ganondorf set out to collect all three pieces, one of which he already had. He possessed the triforce of power, making him the strongest and most dangerous man in the land. It didn't help that he had his whole army of minions on his side. When all hope was lost, the hero appeared, a boy dressed in green. He had been chosen by the gods to stand up against the demon lord, and he held within him the triforce of courage. He also wielded the Master Sword, a weapon that evil could not touch, for it would destroy them. Using his wits and strength, he rid the world of evil and awakened the seven sages, in order to finally destroy Ganondorf. In an epic final battle, Ganondorf had captured the princess, who had the triforce of wisdom. But the hero was stronger, he fought as hard as he could to defeat the demon king, and with the help of the princess and the six other sages, finally sealed him in the sacred realm. The kingdom returned to peace, the princess once again returned the the castle to rule the land, and the hero disappeared. That's how the legend goes, right?" She asked, startling me with the sudden change in tone.
"From what I've heard, yeah. What does this have to do with me, though?" I asked, confused. She smiled.
"I don't suppose you've seen that before, have you?" She waved her hand at my right hand, showing my triforce, faintly glowing. I pulled it back in towards me, examining it more intensely than usual. "The secret about the legend is that, believe it or not, it's actually true. But, there is a fact that is left out a lot. While the dark lord Ganondorf was being sealed away by the sages, the princess had to lose focus for a second, in order to help the wounded hero out. For if she didn't, he would die. He was willing to make the sacrifice, but the princess wasn't. She had to help him. Once the seal was complete, it was imperfect because of her actions. The spirit of Ganondorf, the dark lord, is able to gather his strength and break out, given long enough to prepare. Every thousand years or so, when evil comes to threaten our kingdom, the spirits of the hero and princess are reborn to fight the evil off once again. You, Zelda. You are the reincarnation of the Princess." She put her hand on mine.
I was frozen in my seat. "I-I can't-I can't be! I'm not special, I-I don't have powers! I'm not strong, or courageous, or-"
"You possess the triforce of wisdom. You will come to learn that. You will come to learn your place in this world. I had the feeling you were special ever since you were a baby, Zelda!" Impa explained, leaning in closer. "You have to believe me! That nightmare, or vision you had last night. That was a sign…" She closed her eyes and sighed.
I was speechless. "So does that mean…"
She swallowed hard. "The spirit of evil, the dark lord Ganondorf has risen again."
My stomach dropped, I felt a pang of despair in my heart, like I was shot through the chest with an arrow made of pure evil. My mouth hung open, aghast.
"I-Impa," I stuttered, taking deep breaths in between my words. "Have you warned my father? We should get the guards protecting castle town, as soon as possible. If we can be ready for an attack, we should be able to take Ganondorf out before-"
"It won't be enough, Zelda! The fate of the kingdom now rests within your hands. You, and-" She took a deep breath.
"The hero?" I asked.
"The hero." She nodded slowly. "You need to find him. Find him. The hero. You are Hyrule's last hope. Before you go, though, do you have any idea who it might be?"
I smiled, feeling a weird sense of confidence all of a sudden. "I might know a guy."
A few hours later I'm sitting on my bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for a response from somebody I don't even know and trying to convince said person to save the world with me.
It's insane how fast a life can change here. In a matter of minutes I went from being the boring, pristine princess that never leaves her castle walls and spends her life in a book or on a phone, or in bed-Y'know what, scrap that last one, that didn't sound right.
What I'm trying to say is that I wasn't sure how I would be able to deal with the enormous weight all of a sudden slammed on my shoulders. I felt sick, dizzy even. Why did the gods have to choose me of all people? I'm probably the least qualified person to deal with this mess! Couldn't the goddesses pick a better princess? Did they draw my name from a hat?
As I freaked out over the hopelessness of my situation, I was relieved to feel my phone buzz.
who are you? the message read. Wow, he's even more charming than the last guy.
The girl from last night. My name is Zellie, sorry I didn't tell you yet. Nice to meet you. I didn't want to scare him by saying who I really was just yet.
oh he replied, and it was a few moments before he started typing again. sorry for shoving you into a wall and stuff, i thought you were a spy or something. i really shouldn't have acted like that, adrenaline just took over me.
I know how it feels. I replied, smiling even though I knew he couldn't see me. Wow, I had really already forgotten about how he attacked me. Something about seeing him fall over limp had changed me. I kept thinking to myself that I should be mad about it, but I couldn't bring myself to.
When he replied cool, I knew I had to take over the conversation, or else we would have stopped talking.
So, I typed, trying to figure out how to word this. I'm going to come right out and ask about your left hand, if you don't mind.
that? it's just a birthmark. nothing special, really. my grandmother used to say it meant i was "destined for something special" or something like that. i didn't really believe her, though.
Why? I asked.
i wasn't destined for anything. i'm still not. i was just a farm boy, hanging out with my two or three friends living in the countryside. i moved to the city after my grandparents passed, trying to find a job. now i'm stuck here. i'm not complaining, though. it's hard to admit, but sometimes i find myself in bad situations and really wish i was destined for something special.
"Well you're in luck." I said aloud to myself, grinning.
oh, sorry for spilling my whole life story on you, i just realized you didn't ask for it. i don't know why i'm telling you all this, you just seem really easy to talk to.
It was great, dude. Thanks, if that was a compliment. I typed, grinning.
wait
It was just a joke. Not a very funny one, though.
it was hilarious
I can't tell if you're being serious or not.
ditto
I shook my head, laughing. This guy better be ready for me to text him constantly now, because that was my plan for the next twelve hours.
what about you? He asked.
Just a small-town girl. I lied.
livin in a lonely world
Why are we signing Journey?
why aren't we?
Good point. I typed, smiling. Upper middle class, my mother died when I was young. I've been here my whole life, nothing extraordinary happens here.
so i'm guessing you haven't exactly had an experience like the one last night?
Yeah, I was meaning to ask you about that.
for some reason i trust you, so i'm gonna tell you. me and my boys were just hanging out at the milk bar, not even asking for drinks or anything. then this huge guy comes up to me, wasted as all hell and starts trashing on me, and even brings his ugly gang along with him. instead of standing up and fighting, we took off. we weren't up for a fight, then. but when they chased us into an open parking lot, we didn't have much of a choice. mido, the big guy who drove our car, got pinned up against a wall. i turned to help him, but darmani, the goron guy stepped in and just started wailing on the guy who had pinned him to the wall. and even worse, we're pretty sure he killed him! the gang took off and so did we when we heard police sirens. we were freaking out and hiding in that alleyway when you saw us. we were super paranoid, that's why mido fainted and i freaked out like that. i'm really sorry, that must've hurt bad. He sent after a few minutes.
Just a few scrapes. I replied, rubbing my shoulder where I had landed. In truth, it really had hurt, but I couldn't blame him.
you're pretty tough.
I like to tell myself that.
yeah. text you later i just heard something outside. probably just the neighbors again.
Seeya.
I put my phone down, slightly disappointed. On the bright side, he seemed to like me, so telling him about the hero thing wouldn't be as hard as I initially thought.
But what if he thought I was crazy? Talking to someone and starting conversations is easy enough, but explaining to them that they're the reincarnation of a legendary hero sought to bring down the demon king? That might be a little tricky.
I fell backwards onto my bed. It was gonna be a long day.
Thanks once again for reading! I know I say that a lot, but when your life is as boring and uneventful as mine there isn't much to put in an authors note. Whatever.
I'm really glad you're enjoying the story so far. Makes me so happy! Just remember to write a review if you can, they really help with the story. Seeya!
-platinummantis