A/N: Sorry about the delay! Things have been pretty busy for me. But summer is here, so I will continue to work on this. Please leave a comment!

Part II: The Temple of the Sacred Sword

Chapter 4: I Am the Guardian of Time

-/_\-

[Ilia]

She gazed in awe at the architecture surrounding her. She was in a grand hall, with tapestries hanging from the ceiling, and chandeliers lining the hallway. Light filled the passage through stained-glass windows. So, this was Hyrule Castle. She looked closer at one stained-glass panel. On the bottom half, a boy in green clothes was standing on top of a hill, sword held high. On the top half, pointing at the green boy, was an angel, a girl with medium-length dirty blond hair…

"Ilia, please keep up. I hate to rush you like this, but I have important royal matters to attend, and you must get going."

She didn't realize she was falling behind. Zelda was looking back at her. She didn't look the tiniest bit irritated at her distraction, though. Rather, she looked somewhat amused. But Ilia still felt shame-faced. She quickened her steps, all the while thinking that the angel looked somewhat familiar.

"So, why am I in this castle, again? Wasn't I supposed to go to the temple?"

"You ARE going to the temple. It's actually just outside Castle Town."

"Oh… I just thought it was pretty far, considering I have escorts."

"…No. I'm sorry to have misled you, Ilia, but I was just worried for your safety. Anything could happen at the Temple. But yes, it's close."

She was content to remain quiet for the rest of the "tour", observing the castle as much as she could while hurrying alongside Zelda. Finally, they stopped in front of a giant doorway. Knights stood in rows besides the doors. All but two of them stepped forwards, clearly at attention. Zelda made a sweeping gesture, and the knights stood at ease.

"Okay, Ilia. This is where we part. Remember, you must seek out the Guardian of Time. She will know what to do to restore power to your rod."

Ilia smiled. Suddenly, however, Zelda brought her into her arms, hugging her.

"Be safe. I've grown to admire your spirit. Whatever trials you will have to go through, know that you will always have a home in Hyrule Castle, as long as I am here."

This took Ilia by surprise, but she found herself hugging back. Zelda… she hadn't realized it, but Zelda had become her closest friend, one with whom she could confide all her insecurities. Zelda was always there for her. Yet, she couldn't help but feel some nagging doubt in the back of her head. Armed escorts, trials, a heartfelt farewell… Just what would she experience next? Did Zelda know something? She thought it best to move on and leave Zelda to her business.

"Thank you, Zelda. It means a lot to me that I'm welcomed here. Um… I'd love to stay here for a while… when you're not busy."

Zelda, with a sad smile on her face, waved farewell, as the knights surrounded Ilia. Ilia found herself moving out into the town, along with the knights. They moved through the town, and Ilia felt uncomfortable with all the eyes on her. Some people had stopped whatever they were doing to look at her. She could see some women whispering to each other, while glancing her way. She held her rod tighter.

Finally, they arrived at the Temple. She could see, in front of her, a grand structure of stone walls. Once again enamored with the architecture, she left behind her thoughts of the castle town folk. As the knights escorted her into a central keep, a voice reached out to her. The disciplined knights fanned out, standing at the walls.

"Ilia, I've been waiting for you."

A woman stood at the center. She had purple hair, hidden underneath a hat that tapered outwards into two points. She had an elaborate and flowy white outfit. Her eyes were purple and mysterious. But the most magical thing about her was the interlocked circles floating behind her. They shone and rotated, almost like a gyroscope. She then skipped over to her.

"Eeeee! Ilia, it is GREAT to see you!"

"…Um… I'm sorry, do we know each other?"

"Nope, not at all! Technically speaking, that is. I'm sure you're wondering if you knew me in your past life. The answer to that is no! I know you in your future life, but we will get to that later. For now, introductions are in order!"

She twirled around and did a little jig, with a scatting beat. The circles behind her reacted only a little.

"I am the Guardian of Time, newly reformed, and ready to serve my role in guarding the fabric of the time-space continuum! Now, would you introduce yourself, Ilia?"

"…But… you already know-"

"Yes, but that's no excuse for being rude! If you please?"

"Um… okay. I'm Ilia, and… well, just Ilia. I don't know anything else about myself or why I'm here. But I was hoping you would… take a look at this rod?"

She felt a little silly showing her rod to this… goddess? Was she a goddess? She certainly radiated magical power, and she knew a lot, but were all goddesses… like her? One thing she could feel confident in was that this was a strange sort of goddess. But the Guardian did know a lot, so she could probably tell Ilia all about her past... The Guardian took the rod, and looked at it closely. She stood there awkwardly, as the inspection was taking a while. To pass the time, she spoke up.

"So, um. Guardian? Do… you perhaps know who I was in the past?"

"You're a clever girl, Ilia. You probably already knew I am able to see into the past and into the future just as easily as I can see the present. And yes, in any other circumstances I would be able to dig into your past and tell you everything you wanted to know."

"…But…?"

"Well, this time, I can't. Whenever I try to look at you in the past, all I can see is darkness." She gave the rod back to Ilia. "There are dark forces at work here, that much I can tell you. But never fear! I know exactly what you need!

"First, remember this. Your rod is called the Dominion Rod. It is indeed an ancient artifact, passed down through the Royal Family. Or, it used to be. Clearly, it is derelict, as if it had not seen use in a thousand years. All the magic has left it. Fortunately, we are exactly where we need to be. Do you know what this place is?"

"Um… Zelda was just telling me about it earlier… this is the Temple of the Sacred Sword, where Link got his sword?"

"Yyyes!" the Guardian cheered. "Correct! Link got the Sword of Evil's Bane, also known as the Master Sword, here. As it turns out, the magic that fills the Master Sword is similar to the magic that used to fill your rod. My theory is that, if you go into the Sacred Grove, the rod should resonate with the magic located there, and regain some of its power. However! We do have a bit of a problem… As I said earlier, we are exactly where we need to be. But, we are not WHEN we want to be. We're going to have to take a voyage into the past, Ilia."

-/_\-

[Zelda]

Sighing, she looked outside the window, onto the courtyard where some knights were currently training. As per custom, they were all armored with their uniforms, even during training. With their helmets on, they all looked the same. She started to look for the one soldier that refused to wear a helmet, the blond one. Then, she caught herself. Right, Link was gone. She sighed again. The soldiers all seemed to be training harder than ever to make up for his absence, which was good. She would have to remember to commend them for their initiative later on.

As her advisors held the meeting at the royal council, she was supposed to act as their audience. But she could not help but think about the future. Just the other day…

"Zeldaaaaa!"

The Guardian of Time skipped through the halls, attracting everyone in the halls. She skipped along, her Gate following her as always. Some of the knights grumbled at her total lack of respect. But this was the Guardian, after all. She did whatever she wanted to do, even though she was a relatively new presence, only really appearing after the war ended. Some of the male knights couldn't help but notice she was just as attractive as Lana the sorceress. She halted in front of Zelda and her royal guards. Zelda turned and addressed her with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Lana. Or… Cia? Sorry, I suppose I should call you the Guardian now."

"Zelda! We need to talk. Privately." At this, the Guardian's face darkened, and she suddenly resembled Cia. "It is a matter of grave import."

They convened in the meeting room, where Zelda was in the present. The Guardian had lost her cheer, and was now pacing back and forth.

"You know normally I don't interfere with the flow of time, right?"

"Of course," Zelda replied. "You mentioned, if that were to happen, you would…"

"Be torn apart! Yes. It is my duty to prevent that from happening again, but… it seems I must do exactly that. In the future, I saw it. I saw myself, Cia. And Lana as well. I also saw that you will meet a girl in the future. This girl… She is the reason I will split apart."

"Hmm, that is concerning. Who is this girl, exactly?"

"That's what is so disturbing… I do not know."

At this, Zelda was shocked. The Guardian shook her head.

"How?"

"Her past is obscured by shadow. Although, I can see her. All I know is that her name is Ilia, and she is pure of heart. You must care for her, understand? Her journey will be difficult, and she will need to rely on her friends to survive. That is all."

She walked out of Zelda's memory, and Zelda found herself in the present. A past obscured by shadows… She didn't know why, but that gave her a bad feeling. She couldn't help but think about what would possibly happen to Ilia. A sharp cough captured her attention, and she forcibly turned her thoughts away from Ilia.

-/_\-

[Ilia]

She whacked a white soldier on its side, and it dissipated into mist. But three more replaced it, as always. Oh, how she wished the magic in her rod were back! Maybe then she would have been able to fight crowds without getting hurt. Indeed, although the ghost soldiers always hit with the flat of her blade, she found herself starting to bruise all over. Just then, she heard humming, and she knew she had to get out of here. The Guardian of Time stood besides her, so Ilia got behind the Guardian, keeping a safe distance. The Guardian stepped forwards, her Gate opening up. Then the Gate expanded, then fell on top of her. She walked its perimeter rhythmically, dancing all the while. Then, she leapt backwards, and the Gate suddenly expanded. A giant lizard leapt out of it and onto the ground with a booming thud. It roared, and breathed fire in a wide arc around it. Thankfully, Ilia was safe, well behind the Gate. The lizard then rolled up into a ball, and rolled forwards, turning every unfortunate soldier in its path into fine mist. Its energy was exhausted then, so it vanished, to return to its rightful place in time. Or so the Guardian had explained to Ilia.

"Whew. Thanks Guardian, you saved me just in time. That Gate of yours is amazing!"

"My poor Ilia! You're hurt!"

"I… I'm- ouch- fine. I can still move."

"I so regret that this had to happen. Here, have a potion!"

The Guardian held out a glowing yellow potion, and Ilia gratefully drank it. Suddenly, she could feel her bruises healing, and she could feel her power returning. The ghosts seemed to be gone for the moment.

"So, Guardian. These ghosts…" She fidgeted, not wanting to seem troubled. "Um, how long-"

"It won't be long! We're almost at the door."

Indeed, after the next wave of soldiers, easily taken care of by a couple of flailing plant vines, they had gotten there. They walked forwards into the next room, and indeed, there it was. An archway in the middle of the room. There were a set of metal double doors, though they were broken down. They looked unable to open. She looked around it, and there was a grand, sloping, design to the rest of the room. Stairs led down to the rest of the room, which was just a wide open space. It looked ruined, however. Vines grew out of the walls here and there, and this area looked just as worn-out as the rest of the Temple of the Sacred Sword. There wasn't even a ceiling, not anymore. It had caved in long ago, the pieces of rubble littering the floor. There weren't any other exits to this room, though. She could see, on the furthest wall, on the bottom of the stairs, a circular indentation in the floor, cutting into the wall. The Guardian stood by the doorway patiently. Ilia's curiosity overtook her, and she walked down the stairs, to look at the indentation. There was a pedestal, large and circular. Somehow, it felt significant. It was as if there was supposed to be something there. Like… a statue?

The Guardian whistled, and she looked back up! Stammering, she went up the stairs, apologizing for getting distracted.

"No need to worry, Ilia. This place is important to you, isn't it?"

She gulped, and nodded mutely.

"All will become clear soon. We just have to walk through this door!"

She was confused. Looking at the doorway, she could see that it led nowhere. It was just an archway in the middle of the room. She walked around it, trying to see if there was a secret to it. There wasn't. But, she could feel her rod vibrating slightly. She looked down, and the lines built into its design were glowing faintly.

"Before we go through, I do have to apologize. When I go through the door, I will look… different. I do not want to startle you, so just… well, keep that in mind. Now, go on. Open the door, Ilia."

She stood there, with her back to where they came from. The door looked too rusty to open, but regardless, she put her hand on the door handle. The rod started glowing, and the door started glowing as well. She pulled on the door, and looked beyond it. She had been expecting to see the same hall as before, stairs sloping down to a wide pedestal at the bottom. In a sense, she was right. But she was also wrong, for the rubble covering the hall had disappeared. No, that wasn't right. The ceiling had reformed, the rubble returning to its rightful place. The dirt and vines covering the walls had disappeared, leaving them a gleaming white in color. There was a red carpet leading down to the pedestal. She walked forwards.

At the bottom, she could see a statue on the base, where nothing used to be before. As soon as she saw it, she was hypnotized. She kept walking down the stairs, until she stood in front of it. She heard a voice.

So we meet at last.

She looked up at it. It was… big. Twice her height. Its torso took most of that height, as it had no legs, its torso instead ending in a round base that matched the pedestal perfectly. It had a strong frame, its muscular arms extended out in front of it. It was holding a gigantic hammer, around the same height as itself. The hammer head was double-sided. It had a large helmet on top of its small face. There was a hole in its torso, and lines spread out from the hole to cover the rest of its body. Its design reminded her of the rod. The rod! It had felt different this whole time. She looked down.

It looked new again. All the dirt and wear covering it had disappeared. The lines at its head, where the claw-basin stood, had started glowing white. Then, a ball of light formed in the basin, glowing. It was the same as when she defeated the Bulblin King.

"What do you think?"

She startled, then looked behind her. It was the Guardian… no, not quite. The woman standing before her had blue hair, not purple. She had no hat, instead she had a ponytail sticking out the side, held together by a mass of red and white ribbons and feathers. Her outfit looked slightly different as well. Yet, she retained the Guardian's facial features.

"Um, Guardian, is that you?"

"No, not anymore. You can call me Lana."

Her Gate was gone, and instead, she held a book in her hand. Now she saw, they weren't alone in the room. Another woman stood behind Lana, off in the distance. She looked similar to the Guardian as well, though her color scheme was much darker. She had a very revealing black outfit, with a dress that only covered one leg. She also had no hat, and her hair was white. She was looking around the room, scowling.

"And that's Cia. You could call her my other half, or my sister, really. So, how does it feel, the rod?"

"It feels, um. Powerful, but… the same as before. The same as…that time. Its magic is back, then?"

"Well, from what I can recall… only for now. We are in the past, I think."

"…You think?"

"Sorry! All I can remember is what the Guardian was thinking at the time. Never mind about me, go on, try it out!"

Ilia, feeling foolish, waved the rod around in a circle. The ball became detached, and waved around in a larger circle. She felt like she could control the ball smoothly. She willed it to move, with the rod held straight in front of her. Oddly, it could only move in a straight line. It seemed that she would have to move the rod itself to move the ball further than that. Looking around, she tried to find a goal to move the ball towards. She saw the hole in the middle of the statue. Hmm… She tried moving the ball right into it. She did… and the ball went in! Just then, a very curious sensation overtook her. She stood there, her body holding the rod directly in front of her. Her body felt heavy, like stone. She felt tingling all over her body. She moved the rod to the left and the statue moved its hammer to its left. She was now standing a good distance from the statue. Curiously, she swung the rod down in front of her. The statue swung its hammer down. Hammer met ground, and a deafening impact rang throughout the room. There was a sizeable crater. She yelped and drew the rod back, and the ball's connection with the statue broke. It resumed its previous position, and the orb returned to the rod.

"…Wow."

"Oh my gosh! Ilia, that was SO COOL!"

Even Cia, who had been trying to not pay attention, looked impressed.

-/_\-

[Ganondorf]

It was time.

He could feel his body forming in the murky void between nothingness and existence, outside of time and space. Without his body, he had felt vulnerable, powerless. He knew he would reform eventually, so he had waited. Just then, he could feel a split in the fabric of time. A certain powerful figure had split apart, into light and darkness. He felt a familiar golden power, and he knew the Triforce was free again. He willed himself to reform. A clenched fist formed first, and the Triforce gravitated towards it naturally, as was the way of things. It gleamed, the top triangle more brilliantly than the rest. Yes, he felt more complete. Soon, he would The rest of his arm formed. A shadow formed around it, and he felt… no, this wasn't right. This was not his shadow. It dug into his skin, causing pain. He unclenched his fist, and waved the arm around, trying to shake it off. It only held on harder, and his muscles lost control. The shadow took over the whole arm, then slid off of it. It had formed a new arm, one very similar to his own. It had the Triforce on it, while his own arm had nothing. No! This wasn't supposed to happen! The shadowy counterpart disappeared, taking the Triforce with it. His arm was left behind, powerless. The rest of his body started reforming, but it felt pointless. He had lost the Triforce, and himself with it.

For, without Power, who was he? Who was Ganondorf?