"My lady." Link sat up when our shared vision was over, his eyes hard. I looked at him, holding my left hand in my right, having snatched it away as soon as I was able. The back of it was imbued with the symbol of the holy triforce, and the lower left corner, the one that represented wisdom, seemed brighter than the other two. Link was studying his own hand; the lower right corner was bright on his. He met my eyes and I nodded; I'd seen everything that happened, past and future, Ganon's endless assault on Hyrule. I drew a shuddery breath and stood up, smoothing my skirts with my hands. "I…" What could I say? Little flickers of things that had happened or could be continued running through my head. Link licked his lips with a little frown. "It's the will of the goddesses that we have to fight this evil," I murmured. Link nodded. That was why I'd chosen Link. Because I already knew him, and he me. We'd known each other for millennia without knowing it. "Those temples… they're unholy places. They're places of evil." I could see the hardships some distant incarnation of Link would have to face in the temples; fighting creatures that varied from savage ghosts to himself. "He will not stop until he has Hyrule," I whispered. "He will stop at nothing; not even death can hold him back." Then I was slipping back, farther and farther. Warm hands were on my shoulders, propping me up at a strange angle. "Your majesty!" a small voice shouted from miles away. Then a strange, tingling sensation in my cheek that exploded to pain. Had... had Link just dared to slap me? But I was grateful, it rose me from my faint. "Thank you," I murmured in a low voice. He nodded; he knew exactly what was going through my head. "Then, if Ganondorf is the last of our triangle… do you suppose he now remembers everything?" I raised my eyes to study Link's face. Those wild eyes were hard. "I imagine he might, your majesty; or he might need to… connect with one of us to regain them, as we had." I nodded. Finally, I was able to stand up straight, and I stared down at my hands. "I should head back to my rooms." Link nodded. "We will talk more on this in the morning, my lady." I smiled in response and walked out, heading quickly back to my own rooms, still reeling at everything I'd… experienced in the past… well, what time was it anyway? My castle was rather quiet, and the lighting seemed dark for morning, which was when Link had arrived. I headed down into the main hall to cross to my own rooms, a servant stopping at her task and bowing. "What time is it?" I asked of her.

"Tis ten o'clock, my lady."

"Impossible; Link was found to arrive at ten thirty!"

"Beggin' your pardon, but you misheard me- it's ten o'clock at night." I stared at the servant in shock. How long had we been communing with the goddesses? The servant shifted nervously, shyly. "If you grant me leave, your majesty…"

"Yes, sorry, return to your tasks." I continued on to my room, feeling dazed. When I entered, I stood near the door, unsure, before moving to my desk to write down what the goddesses had told me, lest I forget. I sat down and looked for paper, jumping and making a quick scream of fright. The soft scratching sound from earlier was not a tapestry in a breeze- I'd drawn a fearsome beast bearing down on two little spots of light, the entire paper blotted black from soft yellow, my quill tip ragged and the ink bottle nearly empty.

I slept deeply, but I did not enjoy it. My rest was plagued with nightmares of things I could not understand, full of people I did not know. I groaned and twitched in my tortured sleep, frequently calling out 'No!' My guards entered several times to ensure I was safe, and every time they found me writhing in the bed, soaked in sweat and panicking, but they were unable to wake me up. When I did wake up of my own accord, it was early morning. The sky was still dark. I'd been having a torturous nightmare of being possessed by Ganondorf, my body used to attack Link over and over again, and Link, furious, had no choice but to strike me with the Master Sword.

The Master Sword. Link's birthright. It was hidden inside the temple of time, sealed behind a massive stone door that only opened for the legendary Hero of Hyrule. It could not be forced open, nor tricked. It obeyed only his command. I wanted to test this.

I pulled on a cloak and fastened it around my throat, putting on warm boots and lacing them up properly. As quietly as I could, I left my bedroom. The guards to either side of my door were asleep; I hoped they did not do this while Ganondorf was around. I continued down the stairs with stealth, holding my breath and managing to leave the castle with relative ease. And now to actually get to the temple! It was situated outside of the castle, down the quiet western path of the marketplace, near a few small parishes where the monks who tended the temple lived. I pulled open one of the heavy doors and walked inside, looking around. It was a huge, towering hall with cathedral ceilings and tall pillars. The main walkway led to a little altar, with rows of pews to either side for sitting and praying quietly to the goddesses. I approached the altar. It was a statue of marble and gold, the image of the three goddesses supporting the triforce on their outstretched hands. Whoever had carved it had done an impressive job; flame seemed to lick and curl around Din's strong arms, her hands pressed flat against the triforce of power. Nayru's hair flowed like a river behind her, curling and twisting, the triforce of wisdom barely on her fingertips. Farore's figure was stocky, her belly round and full as if with child. The triforce lay flat, so that donations could be placed on it; I put down several coins on both the triforce of courage and wisdom, and looked at the massive wall beyond the altar. It held a huge tapestry that was stretched across the wall depicting the family crest and the triforce in the very center. I stared longingly at it, my hands clasped together. "Please, goddesses. Tell me what is right." I closed my eyes and waited. But if they were going to speak to me, it was not to happen here. "So, this is it?" a voice asked from behind me. I wheeled around in terror, sighing when I saw it was Link. "Goddesses! You frightened me!"

"I'm sorry, your majesty." He walked forward, wearing his own heavy cloak and looking up at the tapestry after studying the marble statue. "The temple of time," he murmured softly. "Home to the Master Sword and the entrance of the Sacred Realm." I nodded. We both turned and looked at the tapestry. "So how, exactly, do we get the Master Sword?" I shook my head. "I'm not sure."

I watched as Link walked up to the tapestry, studying it, before pulling it back and looking behind it. "Nothing," he called, turning away. He walked back over to me and held out his left hand. "We seem to commune with them when we… well, when we touch." I nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to try." He pressed the palm of his left hand against mine, and we both closed our eyes. A warm beam of light enveloped us, and once again we could hear the goddesses speaking. Link moved away from me, walking a specific path through the white, and holding his left hand up. There was a deep, shuddering, cracking sound, and then the slow, tortured scraping of stone against stone. I gasped and opened my eyes. The vision was gone, but the horrendous scraping was still audible. Link grabbed me as I started to fall backwards in a fainting spell, and helped me to sit down in one of the pews. "I'll return in a moment, your majesty." I nodded weakly, feeling pale and shakey. Link walked back over to the tapestry and peered behind it again before stepping back there- and then he was gone! Not a lump or anything!

He came back in a few minutes though, his eyes wide. "Your majesty- do you feel well enough?" I nodded and stood, walking over to him. He pulled the tapestry aside. The wall had split somehow, and beyond it was a little tunnel. We both walked through into a massive round room with a tall pedestal bearing a sword that glowed in the moonlight coming from stain glass windows. I looked back through the tunnel, but faced the back of the tapestry. Link walked up to the pedestal and wrapped one firm hand around the sword's handle, taking a deep breath. "Are you going to pull it out?" I asked in amazement. He looked back at me. "Yeah. Why not? We need it to defeat him, don't-" He stared past me and his eyes widened, and I turned around. Ganondorf stood there with a grin sprawled across his face, his eyes wild and mad. The back of his left hand shimmered with the triforce. "Well now!" he called out, chuckling maliciously. "Isn't this a happy meeting?"

"Link! Pull out the sword!" I turned back around with panic in my face. Link's eyes darted between me and Ganondorf, who was advancing further in to the room. "Link! Pull it out NOW!" I was screaming, my hands clutched to my chest. Link wheeled back and got his grip on the sword and started to heave. Ganondorf grabbed me from behind, his hand clutching my hair and forcing me to bare my neck, the other arm wrapped possessively across my body and the hand attached to it holding a dagger to my throat. I let out a broken sob. "Pull it free, boy, and she dies!" Link turned and stared at us both again. Tears streamed down my face as I stared pleadingly at Link. Ganondorf was heaving with rage, waiting for Link to make his decision. Morbid curiosity wished him to pull the sword free though, just to see if Ganondorf would really do it. "If I die, you won't get my triforce," I babbled nonsensically. "Your majesty-"

"Can it, boy! Let her speak!" He turned to stare into my face, eyes full of hatred. "How can you possibly say that with any certainty?" I was shaking in his grasp. "I have spoken to the goddesses. They have told me that those that possess a piece of the triforce are born with it. When they die, it leaves them to find a new vessel. If you kill me, you will have to find the possessor of the triforce all over again. Every… everything that you have struggled through to get to where you are now will be all for naught."

"WHAT do you know about MY struggles?!" he roared in my face. "Nothing!" I replied in a panic. "But th-that you have had them! And to have them be in vain now would be worse than anything you could bear!" Ganondorf slowly loosened his grip on my hair. Link's hands still clenched the sword pommel tight, watching us. "Yes…" he murmured, lowering the dagger just a bit. "It would be… very difficult, to find you two again. How long I have searched for… the both of you," he muttered, stroking my cheek with one finger. Link looked over at me, and I managed, carefully, to nod. Slowly, he released his grip on the sword and stepped back. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. We did not know what removing the Master Sword of its pedestal could do. If it sent us ahead in time, or into the Sacred Realm; we might as well just hand the triforce over. It was safer to do this without him around.

Slowly, Ganondorf let me go, and I was able to straighten back up. But he was still brandishing that dagger, and I eyed it warily. "I will spare both of your lives, then." Link relaxed, closing his eyes. "What's the catch?" was my immediate response. I stared Ganondorf down, my arms folded, trying to summon up some of the bravery I felt when Link was around. He was frowning. "Link must be banished from the castle." Link immediately wheeled around and grabbed the sword pommel again. "Like hell if I'll listen to a terrorist's demands!" he shouted. "Link, NO!" He grunted, dying to pull the sword free and slay Ganon, ending our troubles. Ganon sighed angrily; I could see a vein pulsing in his forehead. His dearest wish was to kill us both, I knew that. But I also knew how long he'd been working for this moment, and I could play it against him. "Fine, then. Link is… banished from the castle."

"Zelda, what the bloody hell-"

"We demand that you hold your tongue!" I hated using the imperial honorific, but I felt as if I had no choice in the matter. Link was going to argue with me about it until we were both out of breath, and that would do us no good. "What else?" I asked reluctantly, looking at Ganon. He lifted his chin. "We are to be wed." I winced and turned my head away. I feared he would say that. Ganon glowered at me, Link staring at the two of us with wide eyes. "You must not touch me," I murmured. Ganondorf snorted. "Why? Oh… is it because the marriage would be easy to annul if we don't consummate it?" He shook his head. I clenched and unclenched my fists. Link was staring at me still. I felt trapped, like I didn't have a choice. "If you touch me I will kill myself," I replied in a harsh whisper, staring at him furiously. Ganondorf frowned. Link wanted to protest my declaration of suicide; I could almost feel him opening his mouth to argue against it behind my back, but I ignored him. "Fair enough," the evil man replied coolly. I noticed as he reached to shake hands with me that he was sticking his left palm forward. "No." I stuck my right hand forward with a steely glare. He would not trick me into taking him to see the goddesses this way. He chuckled and shook his head. "I see that I can't get much past you, princess." We shook hands. I turned and faced Link, my eyes full of tears. He shook his head. "Zelda, you can't let him do this."

"I have to, Link. I have to protect my people." He looked past me and shouted in anger. I wheeled around. Ganon was lunging with his left hand for mine. I shouted in panic and turned back towards Link. Link jumped, bringing the Master Sword with him. It sang as it was freed of its pedestal, and I reached out to grab his hand tight. A blinding light flooded the windows, more shooting straight up out of the pedestal. I jerked against him as we were pulled up into the light, as if borne on the rapids of the Hylian River. Something brushed my foot, but we were gone.

Everything went black.