Disclaimer: Do.not.own. And if I did I would have made a Kill Navi button.

Getting closer to the big secret!

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Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

The smell of death struck him hard, his senses heightening he slowly made his way through the land, or what he considered was supposed to be land, his horse's hooves making an empty sound on the dry floor below him, Link had a bad feeling about this alternate version of the place he called home, he looked around swearing the wind had brought enemy sounds to him but as he found no sign of who made said sounds he continued on, vigilant still on his surroundings.

He passed through what seemed like a familiar ranch and walked in, hoping to get food for his horse and hopefully information on what had happened to this place. As he entered he noticed the broken home, he climbed off Epona and grabbed her reigns, leading her along as he kept looking at the broken windows of the house to his left, he kept moving and as he got deeper into the ranch he came into realization that there were only two horses around, both in poor shape and looking sick, he frowned.

"Yeah? What is it?" he turned to the voice, somewhat tense in case a fight would ensue for his intrusion, he looked at a pale man with dark messy hair and a mustache to match it, he was dressed in fine clothing, but torn from some sides.

Link realized who this man's alternate was but discarded the thought and decided to treat him like a stranger "I'm sorry to intrude, I was hoping to get information-"

"Yeah? Well none of that's here, beat it" he said and turned to walk away, but then turned back and stared at him glaring deeply "You look sickly similar to that kid…" he turned his head and walked away "All the more reason to get rid of you…"

Not wanting to stay a second longer to find out exactly what he meant, Link climbed on Epona and headed out, trying to find a more homely place to get information on.

He steered Epona to where he believed was Kokiri Forest's alternate, hoping to find a smoother atmosphere, but as he ventured closer it came to view what had become of said place, it was nothing but a wasteland with a lone tree standing as the only means of life.

He stopped Epona on her tracks, deciding better not to venture further and feeling somewhat sick, this alternate place was starting to take its toll on his mind, as he steered her away again he heard faint sounds but try as he might he didn't manage to see anything that could resemble a threat, again he forcefully shoved the thought aside and continued his way through the land, hoping that the castle would shed some light on his journey.

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Zelda watched in horror and disgust as Heimrich sentenced the opposing counselors into execution in secrecy and forced her to watch under the menace of killing her father if she didn't, as she looked at the smiling man in her left she forced the urge to knock him unconscious and turned her head to witness the last man decapitated by who where once the guards protecting their life as well as hers.

When it was finally over Heimrich snapped his fingers, indication that she had to stand up and follow him without a word, Zelda kept repeating herself mentally not to anger him until she could find a way to save her father from this man's grip and have her justice, but more secretly she kept praying that Link would soon arrive and save them from this tyrant, but as much as she hoped something inside kept reminding her that he had been missing for far too long and he could be anywhere in the world right now with possibly no means of coming back.

"My dear princess you look troubled" he mocked her as they walked the hallways, Zelda didn't react to his comment and rather kept walking silently.

Heimrich looked at her and smirked "Oh, you want to see your father? Or maybe your caretaker would do?" at this Zelda raised her head quickly and stared at him in confusion "Alright, your caretaker then" he said and motioned to the dungeons, "Oh, I should say" he started as they made their way down, "I made a few modifications to your father's abandoned dungeons…"

Zelda didn't understand what he had meant, when they stepped into the dungeon floors she noticed the place hadn't changed at all, Heimrich kept walking further making her walk along until she saw an unfamiliar room at the end of the corridor where a new door resided, he opened the door and motioned inside, she suppressed a yell at the sight of her caretaker bound to the wall "She made quite the trouble around here, but I finally got her to see my point" he laughed, Zelda kept staring at Impa, she couldn't believe she had been caught but she knew this was no ordinary man, her frustration grew.

Heimrich dragged Zelda back to the corridors and into her room "Get ready" he ordered "I have arranged a meeting with your people and making them believe Link is a threat is much better if you are there to support it" he said and slammed the door as he exited her room, leaving Zelda to curse the day this man was born.

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Link walked cautiously around the castle town, feeling the eyes of several habitants on him as he passed the ruins that were once homes, he made his way to the castle, watching for any guards that could prevent him from going any further but as he found none he continued up the stairs to the door and made his way to the throne room, a lone figure sitting on the throne "If you had come for me… You're too late…" the voice said.

Link scratched his head "I'm not here to kill you, I have a few questions that I'd like to ask you" he said and tried to approach closer but feeling a sense of danger made him stop in his tracks.

The figure slowly stood up and made his way to him, striking Link with how much she looked like princess Zelda, he stood still too confused to react any other way and just let her reach him, her face reflecting nothing but a void "You look like him… For a moment I believed it was him coming for me…" she said and walked away, making Link follow after "Ask what you please" she told him.

"I am looking for information on a man called Heimrich-"

Link stopped suddenly as he saw the princess herself stop without warning "Ah, him…" she continued to walk around the corridors, Link following right behind "What has he done to you?" she continued.

Her voice too numb for Link's liking "He has done far too wrong… Is there a weakness to this man?"

"Is there a weakness to a puppet?" she asked him, slightly turning to see him, he frowned.

"Excuse me?" the princess turned back and kept staring forward, climbing up stairs in her way.

"It's not him you should be worried about" she stated.

"Then who should I worry about?" he asked her, his voice getting serious by the minute, the princess didn't bother answering him and kept her slow pace up the stairs, Link following without a word, as she finally reached the top she opened a door that led to a poorly looking room with a small window by the bed.

She sat on a chair in front of the window and stared beyond it "This was a beautiful place… I should have listened…" she said more to herself than to him, Link knew she was too numb to answer him completely, he would have to get the information little by little.

"Who was he?" he said as he leaned on the wall beside the window, she didn't look at him.

"He came from one of the corners of this country… A little town I knew as little of… You look so much like him…" she said and looked at him, dead eyes staring into his, he turned away.

"What happened?"

The princess looked back at the window "He told me he broke loose… He came to warn me and I didn't listen… I saw him hold him by the neck until there was no air left in him… He made me watch…" she stopped, leaning to the window with her hands on her eyes, Link could see tears running from her hands, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly, she stopped crying and looked back through the window "You should go back to your country… He is on his way…"

"Is there nothing you can tell me to stop Heimrich?" he asked.

She shook her head "You shouldn't concentrate on what is already dead… That is all I can tell you…" she said and stood up to face him.

Link looked at her "There's a greater force behind all this… Isn't it?" she nodded "That's all I need then" he said and turned to walk down the stairs but was stopped by her hand on his shoulder.

He turned to face her once more "Do you think he could ever forgive me…?" she stared at the floor.

Link smiled sympathetically at her "When you didn't believe him, did he stood by despite your words?" she nodded "Then you're forgiven" he said and turned once more to walk away but was stopped once more, the princess turned him around and approached him, pressing her lips slightly to him, Link stood still both surprised and very unsure of what to do, after a few seconds she pulled back and looked at him, Link still very much in shock.

"I owed him the thank you…" she said, Link relaxed a little, clear to him now how much she missed the alternate boy "Please, destroy him before he does to you what he did to us…" he nodded and made his way downstairs and out the castle doors, the princess sat back to watch as he made his way through the town and looked at what followed him not far behind, she looked closely and smiled "Thank you…" she whispered, the wolf turned its head as it ran and looked at her direction, returning his stare back to the hero he followed.

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Author's notes: To be honest I really didn't like how part of this chapter was written, but I didn't have much of a choice since the story would lack some sense if I didn't write it this way. I hope the whole "alternate Hyrule" thing didn't confuse any of you, I tried to write it as a new country and I think I did pretty well : D, more of the story coming next Tuesday!

yamanekobaka: Thank you for helping me with Tetra, yes this will be helpful in the future!