DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER CLAIMED TO, OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA, MUCH TO MY DISMAY.

I understand that it can be difficult to keep up with perspective changes in stories, but I felt that I just couldn't do this without showing it from everyone's point of view. I will, however, keep it to one perspective per chapter. Thanks for understanding, guys.

Zelda

Zelda walked slowly down the aisle of the stable. Link was looking back and forth between herself and Midna, confusion evident on his face. He looked at Epona, who retreated back into stall. Smart horse, she thought.

Zelda glanced over at Midna. The Twili stood tall, at least a head over Zelda herself. Despite the lack of coverings, Midna carried herself with a regal standing only one of royal blood would be able to pick out. Zelda could see the mischievous glint in her eye, the very same glint that was there when they first met.

BOOM. The great doors shook again on their hinges. Her guards rushed around, bracing the door with whatever they could find in the throne room. Zelda drew the sword at her side. The hand-and-a-half hilt fit comfortably in her hand. The meter-long blade curved along the length of the weapon. She had trained with this sword since she was fifteen, and had acquired quite a degree of skill with it.

BOOM. Another hit rattled the doors, more vigorously this time. Her guards gave up bracing it, and formed up around her. With a mighty crash, the doors were blown off their hinges and sent flying through the room. Standing where they had been was a man clothed in a wide robe. He wore a helmet hiding his features. He raised an arm, covered by the cloak he wore, and pointed at Zelda.

"Surrender, princess," he said. His voice was deep and smooth. "Surrender now, and I won't tear down this castle brick by brick."

"Over my dead body!" the captain of her guard yelled. He charged at the stranger, who had begun to laugh.

"That can be arranged," he said. He reached for the charging captain and threw his hands upward. The captain was sent into the air. The stranger brought his hands down hard, making the captain slam into the stone floor. Zelda knew immediately he was dead. Turning again to her, the stranger said, "Surrender, princess. Do not test my patience."

Zelda looked at her captain, then to her men. She lowered her head and dropped her sword. The stranger laughed and stretched his hands towards the group surrounding Zelda. All of her men fell to the ground, dead. He reached towards Zelda. She blacked out.

When she came to, she was in her bedchamber. It was raining outside her window. She walked to the door and tried to open it. Locked.

"It's not going to be that easy," said a small voice. Zelda turned and saw a small creature reclining on her bed. No, above her bed. The creature- an imp, Zelda realized- floated half a foot over her bed. It was obviously female and had a large stone mask covering part of her face. Zelda could see that she had flaming orange hair pinned together by a barrette near the end of it.

"Who are you?" Zelda asked. "What do you want?"

The imp laughed. "I'm really no one of importance and what I want is none of your business," she said. "But you might just be able to help me, anyway."

That had been nigh on eight years ago. When Midna left Hyrule only a year later, destroying the Mirror of Twilight in the process, Zelda feared that she had lost a valuable friend and ally.

But three days ago Link's nightmares began. That same day, as she was conducting her daily prayers, she received a vision from the Goddesses. She saw Link standing in Hyrule Field, a wall of Twilight separating him from her. In front of him was Ganondorf.

The Gerudo King looked exactly as Zelda remembered him: he was a full head and shoulders taller than Link, with bright orange hair and deep red eyes. He was covered in armour and wore a cloak that was red as blood. In his hands he held a sword as white as bone, but the blade seemed to glow with power. As she watched, the battle was conducted just as she remembered, and she smiled when Link drove the Master Sword into his chest. Her vision skipped ahead.

Walking back to Hyrule Castle, something made Zelda turn around. She looked back towards Ganondorf's body. He still stood where he was, but even from her perch some many meters away she could see a piercing light coming from his hand. Time froze. She saw Ganondorf reach down and recover his sword. He looked at Zelda and began to laugh. His deep, booming laugh seemed to be coming from all around her. When she looked around, she could see nothing. Link was no longer by her side. She looked back down the hill, only to find Ganondorf right in front of her. He grabbed her by the throat.

"Don't think," he said in his gravelly voice, "that I've been beaten. That runt of a hero gave me a hard fight, yes. I underestimated him. But he also underestimated me. I will be back. Very soon. And I doubt that even you and your pathetic 'hero' would be able to defeat me." With that he released her, causing her to fall to the ground. Standing above her, he raised his sword for the kill. "It has been a pleasure, 'Your Highness.'"

He drove the blade, only for it to be knocked to the side by Zelda's magic.

"Ganondorf Dragmire," she said, invoking his name as no other had, "you were banished from the realm of light to the land of Twilight. You were slain by the light of the Master Sword. The Goddesses above will not allow you to escape judgement a third time." She was standing now. As she spoke, she began to weave a spell to cast Ganon away. "Now return to whatever abyss you came from, or you will be destroyed!" She cast her spell, throwing an orb of light at him. The spell passed through him as if he were not there, but his image dissolved, as did the rest of the vision.

As Zelda awoke from whatever trance she was in, she heard two voices. One was the pleasant, dainty voice of Hylia, giving her strength and encouragement. The other was the deep, gravelly voice of Ganondorf, which said, "Bring it on, Princess."

When Link had his first nightmare, Zelda suspected. Her suspicions were confirmed the following night when he suffered from another one. Now this one. As she walked down the line of stalls, Zelda couldn't help but feel a rush of rage towards Ganondorf.

"You what?" Link asked.

"I asked her to come to the stables," Zelda replied. "Didn't you hear me?"

Midna laughed and stepped forward into the torchlight, letting her friends see her clearly for the first time that night. Link gasped. Zelda wasn't surprised.

When last they had seen her, Midna's true form was flawless. Now, they could see pale, silvery scars crisscrossing her chest and face. Her cloak was tattered, and she was missing a finger on her left hand.

"Midna, what happened to you?" Link asked.

Midna laughed again. "You should see the other guy," she said. Zelda couldn't help but notice that she avoided the question. And how her eyes seemed to flare with pain.

"Link," she said, "sweetheart, Midna has need for the both of us. After your nightmares, I figured it would only be a matter of time before you came to the stables. I sent Midna here to catch you."

"'Sent' is such a strong word, Zelda," Midna said. "I'd've gone with 'asked her to go.'"

Zelda smiled. Always the jokester, she thought. "If it must be so," she said.

Link, recovering from his surprise, quickly jumped in. "What's wrong, Midna?" he asked.

Her face darkened. She paused a moment before speaking. "Things are bad in Twilight," she said. "Real bad. I went looking through some of our ancient texts, looking for something that might help us. I found an ancient book of prophecies. I thought, Great. This could tell us how it'll end up. Flipping through, I found one in particular. It caught my eye with just one word: Hyrule."

Zelda started. As far as she knew, the Twili didn't know anything about Hyrule before Zant. How could they have had a prophecy about it?

Midna continued. "The prophecy spoke of a usurper. One who had the throne, but no claim to it. It said he couldn't be defeated by anyone born of Twilight. I knew the prophecy spoke of Zant. Link was the one to beat him. But the prophecy continued. It said Shadow shall burn, Evil be slain/ But the One will return, to take Power again. Somewhere further down or said that only a child of Wisdom and a child of Courage working together could destroy him. Permanently."

Zelda felt sick to her stomach. This prophecy armed to match up with her vision all too well. "Ganondorf," she muttered. Midna nodded.

"I believe so," she said. "Ganondorf took the shape of a burning shadow when he defeated me. Link defeated him at Hyrule Field, slaying evil. I believe Ganondorf will return."

Zelda looked to Link. He seemed far off, as if thinking.Link was the only one strong enough to beat Ganon's power. She couldn't imagine how he must be feeling.

Zelda heard a squeak and turned around. She saw one of the stable boys coming through the gate she had closed earlier. What time is it? she wondered. "Perhaps," she said, "we should take this elsewhere. Link, is the Royal Guard patrolling the throne room?" She knew the answer, of course, but his distant look was starting to disturb her.

Sure enough, his eyes hardened in concentration as he went through the Guard patrol map in his mind. "Yes," he said, "but they can be relocated outside the door if need be."

"Well it just so happens that need be," Midna said lightheartedly. "The throne room it is."

With that, she raised her arms and opened a Portal above them. She grabbed both of their shoulders and the three of them dissolved into shadow. The last thing Zelda felt was a shocking cold feeling run up her spine as she was drawn up into the Portal.