Author's Notes

This is set in A Link to the Past, right after Link completed the Dark Temple (the first dungeon in the Dark World).

This is the last chapter in this story - since the other two heroes I want to write about in this series are OCs of mine and since I'll need more screen real estate to tell their stories than I did for these one-shots, I felt it was more appropriate to set them up as independent stories, despite the common theme with these three.

Thanks for reading!

Courage to Carry On

Link looked up from his map, where he'd been noting down the locations of the other six captive girls. The maiden he had just rescued was patiently looking at him, still locked in her crystal prison.

"Got it," he said, grinning. "Now how do we get you out of that crystal?"

The maiden's eyes lowered. "I will dissolve the crystal when you are gone so that I may wait for the others," she said.

Link blinked. "Why don't you do it right away? I mean… aren't you coming with me? It's not exactly safe around here; I'd rather not just leave you by yourself. I mean, maybe you're a good fighter, I don't know, but you don't have any weapons on you right now, and you're wearing a dress, and…" Link trailed off, trying very hard to make his point without insulting a girl he knew absolutely nothing about.

The maiden smiled sadly. "I would be quite incapable of guarding my life against any monster here," she said, "but I have no life left to guard."

Link felt as though a monster's fist had just closed on his heart. He felt a cold sweat suddenly drench him as the girl's meaning came through, and a lump formed in his throat.

He gulped. "You're not dead," he said. He tried to make it authoritative, as if he could will the facts away with words.

She nodded. "I am sorry, this must feel as though your efforts were in vain. They were not, I promise you. Our spirits will do everything I told you. We will help you defeat…"

"What about the others?" Link interrupted, his voice coming out in barely a whisper. "They can't all be…" he trailed off.

The maiden nodded reluctantly, obviously sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Link realized how badly he was shaking when he lost his balance completely and fell back. He stopped his fall with his hands, but did not take his eyes off the crystal-contained spirit of the first maiden.

Dead. All seven of the maidens, all seven pure souls stolen by Ganon to help the monster escape the formerly Sacred Realm… dead. He couldn't save them; he was too late. He had been too late from the moment they had been sent here by Aghanihm.

Although he felt both foolish and selfish for it, his thoughts centered at once on the last maiden taken by the sorcerer: the princess. He hadn't been able to save her after all; he had done everything he could, he had passed every trial, and it hadn't been enough. Mentally going back through everything since he had helped the princess escape the dungeons of the castle, he found absolutely no fault in his actions, which was at least some comfort.

In much the same way removing a hundred from a thousand blades stabbing you would be some comfort.

The crystal and the maiden within it blurred. Link wiped irritably at his eyes and got back up.

"I started this to help Princess Zelda," he said.

The maiden nodded; she didn't think the young man really needed her to participate in this part of the conversation.

"She woke me up; called me with her mind," Link continued, pointing at his own head. "By my name. I didn't realize she knew my name. I mean… my uncle was a knight, so I guess he told her about me. Maybe he even pointed me out at one of the events I was allowed to attend."

The maiden nodded again, understanding where her rescuer was going perhaps better than he did himself; the boy had been raised to love and respect the royal family, had admired the princess from afar all his life, and had fallen in love with her. If none of these horrific events had happened, the teenage crush would have probably faded as Link continued to have next to no contact with the object of his affections, but once he had been called to her aid, once they had faced and evaded dangers together, the poor boy's heart had been Zelda's, wholly and truly.

"I…" Link trailed off. "I was being raised to be a knight. My uncle always protected the royal family, and that's what I was going to do to. I really wanted to. And when I met the princess…" he trailed off again.

"Zelda was a remarkable person," the maiden offered.

Link nodded. "I just wanted to save her," he admitted. The confession felt bitter; the whole kingdom needed saving, not just the princess.

"I am sorry," the maiden said.

Link took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter what I wanted," he said resolutely. "You didn't want to die; none of you. And the guards I killed didn't either, and neither did your families, or theirs. Nobody wanted any of this. What matters is that the kingdom needs someone to stop Ganon and there are no knights left to do it, so I'll have to do."

He looked at his map again. He needed to get going; he needed to keep moving before he started to think about the princess again. Being distracted by grief was not an option right now; he had a job to do. He said a last thank you to the maiden, then turned and marched out of the chamber without looking back.

He had a kingdom to save.

Fin