Chapter 27: Recovery, Rebuilding, and Reckoning

In the next room, there was a gathering of provincial leaders. Zelda and Joachim had called them in; Link and Gale were going to join them soon. Was this going to go well? Link wasn't too worried about himself. Taking care of the dragons was sure to put more of the leaders in his favor. But it was hard to say how they would take Gale. He could have left already since those watching him were sympathetic.

A noisy clatter came from further down the hall, making Link tense up even more. Glancing over, he noticed that it was just someone letting an old door shut heavily. The sudden loud noise had reminded him of the Clockwork Dragon a bit too much. He leaned against the wall and focused on keeping calm. It wouldn't do to be jumpy around all the nobles in there.

"I can still speak for you if this makes you too uncomfortable," Gale said.

Link shook his head. "I can manage." When Gale came closer and took his hand, he sighed and quietly added, "I'm glad I didn't have to fight my way through these halls; a castle full of monsters is a daunting challenge. There was enough close calls as it was, especially with the dragons."

"You would have managed it fine, I'm sure," Gale said.

"Might have." Trying to make light of it, he chuckled at himself. "Although I didn't really do much in the way of dungeon exploring, especially compared to my predecessors. I'd like to, especially in places few others would dare to go. I don't mind the risks," as such places could be deadly to the ill-prepared. Facing death didn't intimidate him… except that it did remind him of moments that had terrified him. Link rubbed at his neck. "Just so long as I know they're there."

"I won't hurt you like that again," Gale whispered, leaning his head closer. They'd already talked about this; Link wasn't going to blame him for it. But when he shook his head, Gale squeezed his hand. "You deserved to be honored by the heavens for putting up with all that and I will treat you like a prince among angels for the rest of your life."

How could he talk like that out here where people might overhear their whispers? Link laughed at it, then tried to stop. "I..." it was on the tip of his tongue and he was already blushing. But there wasn't anyone right by them, so, "I don't think you mean that so purely."

"That's true," Gale said, smiling at him as Link had to put a hand over his mouth to not laugh too much. It did work to break him out of the bad memories. Then he spoke more conversationally, "Actually, I got a few minutes to speak with the representatives from Laverre. They knew of the coral palace you saw."

"So it is real?" Link asked, interested to hear about it. He might even go speak to them himself later.

He nodded. "It was a fancy of a wealthy lady in the past; it floated on the waves at first. But her arrogance and wasteful ways with money made her enemies even among her family. Nobody's entirely sure how it got dragged to the bottom of the sea, but sea monsters and ghosts dwell there now. People have tried to solve the mystery of what happened there, but no one's managed yet."

"That would be interesting to investigate," he said. Perhaps even the chest monsters would really be there? He could see the chests being enchanted for extra security, then such a tragedy making them into monsters.

"Between the two of us, it should be no problem," Gale said. "And by the time we get done with that, the ships should be back to regular routes, so we could easily take off to another land."

Link smiled at the thought. But there was another issue with that even if they got through this meeting fine. "Sure, but I really should check back into the orphanage. I promised to try getting at least one of them back to their hometown. And don't you have some business back in Sudai?"

"That shouldn't take long, I took care of most of it like it was my final business," he said.

"There's also one of the kids I'm worried about," Link said, keeping a quiet tone. "Challenging the Prism Dragon was something of a nightmare for me. Before I met it, it had enveloped Taven in its fog. Everyone seemed all right at the end of it, but the dragon had taken one of the boys deeper into its illusions. He's around eleven if I recall right, so I don't know how much Prism could affect him. Still, it can't be good."

Maybe it would mean putting off his traveling for a few years, but he'd taken on this responsibility and felt there was more he could do to keep the kids safe.

"I want to formally apologize for casting suspicion on you, Link. Any questions of your loyalty will be erased from the records and you will be honored as you should be, as one of the great heroes of our land." She'd already apologized to him, but stating it in an official meeting to get it written into the records was proper.

It had been a week since the fateful battle with Demise; Link was starting to look better, not as weary as he'd been any time he'd tried being awake for long. He gave her a respectful bow. "I hold no grudges against you, but thank you."

However, that was the simple part of this meeting. Zelda had called on the provincial leaders to discuss the plans for their nation's future. Little would be made official yet, but she was already seeing signs of what was coming out of the others. What was going to be official was happening right now: the apology to Link and a decision on what to do with Gale.

Zelda had already made the sages who responded to her into official royal advisers. Her failings in keeping the Triforce of Wisdom weighed heavily on her mind and she wanted their continued assistance. But since she had, that lead the sage Jacquelyn to argue for Gale in this meeting. Which was fine. Zelda didn't want to make a fool of herself again and declined to participate for this section for the most part.

"Gale has been living under the influence of the demon king Demise for at least the past five years," Jacquelyn explained to the representatives who were there. "Any of his deeds, even his thought processes, had to be made under the oppression of an evil being. While it is difficult to ascertain when he was eclipsed as the one in control, any of his decisions and actions were not done entirely of his own will. It is more proper to see him now as an entirely different person "

"But he must have had some influence on their decisions," one of the other leaders said. She was from a province that neighbored Sudai, one that hadn't been on good terms with that land for many generations. "He must accept some responsibility for his actions. And if he was overtaken once, he can't be trusted as a leader anymore, nor his people for following him."

"I never said I wasn't responsible for what happened," Gale said, with regret rather than anger. It surprised the woman speaking against him. "It was a matter of holding back on what transpired with what subtle guidance I could give. Demise wanted to start off with razing Hyrule Castle while everyone still lived there, followed up by cursing every land under its banner with famine and disease. Yes, I did work to plan out an invasion of central Hyrule. I won't deny that. But I don't want the people of Sudai to be blamed for what I did under demonic influence."

"The Sudain forces themselves acted with honor and respect as fitting for soldiers," Gregio said. "They did not act excessively cruel. Any acts that were cruel, such as the public execution of the former king and queen of Hyrule, can be traced to the demon king's actions. While they did desert their leader, they worked admirably to keep the peoples of Hyrule safe afterward."

Zelda felt like that was something she should speak up on. "Yes, they should be respected for their actions in the past few months. We have no intentions of blaming the people of Sudai and will offer the Falcon Ring back to them if they so wish.."

"I do not wish to reclaim it," Gale said, causing surprise in many of the others. Although, Zelda expected this from watching him the past week. She had expected to dislike him entirely even if she accepted that he was not Ganon. But this regal grace was something to be admired. She really needed to be capable of matching him like that if she wanted to live up to her legacy.

While some of the others continued to argue on in wanting to blame Gale for everything, Zelda glanced over at where Link had taken a seat to the side. He had dozed off in spite of the debates around him, a peaceful look on his face. She envied him a bit for being able to keep out of this, relaxed while major political movements were made around him. Then again, he had suffered a great deal in this, including for things that were her fault. Even this public and official apology didn't seem enough to make amends. She wished she could do something more for him.

But he wasn't interested in anything she could offer him. Link had already decided to put the Master Sword away, somewhere back in the thief's den after he'd done some modifications to make it more secure and proper. He wasn't interested in money or treasures; he'd only asked that she review adoption policies to make sure that it was easier to find permanent homes for the orphans he'd lived with. While that wasn't much, it mattered a great deal to him. Zelda had put it on a higher priority as a result.

Perhaps he really did have all that he wanted already. Gale was giving up his claim to royalty as part of his accepting responsibility for what had happened. However, it couldn't be denied that he was also doing so because he was refocusing his life on taking care of Link now. He'd not said anything, but it was obvious to Zelda. She'd seen him pacing the halls outside the guest room, not wanting to go far but not wanting to disturb him either. And when Link had been able to walk around some, she'd seen them outside. They'd been sitting on one of the garden benches, talking like any other sweethearts. Most everything Gale had been doing lately was for Link's benefit.

After some more discussion, only the one leader wanted to see Gale punished for Ganon's deeds. The fact that he didn't want to retake his position as king helped put others on his side. Time would tell if letting him go was a good decision.

Looking at the pieces on the board, Gale felt like his father had been going easy on him. His line could have easily been broken in several locations. His father had been teaching him the game not through beating him or pointing out his mistakes, but through encouraging him to think ahead and look at both sides. Or perhaps he was simply recalling the positives of what things were like years ago. The game had been suspended for the fatal meeting.

Everything about this room felt positive, a golden nostalgic glow. But outside this room, anywhere else in the castle, that was a different story. The banquet hall reminded him of when he started speaking words that weren't his own; his bedroom brought back times he'd lashed out in there, so full of hateful thoughts that he believed he could contain there. There was that balcony that made him think of blood and tears. And of course, there was the place in the library that made him hold his breath even as he tried to cast away that fearful respect.

There were good logical reasons for him to renounce his status as royalty. It was an acceptable proof that he was no longer driven by a lust for power. But personally, all the nightmares that filled his mind just in being here was reason enough for him. Gale took away his old note to leave the board alone and put away the pieces himself.

So many nostalgic things were here, memories of his family's love. They had been a great comfort when he'd been struggling on his own. But then, he wasn't on his own any more. He was going to start a new life. As much as these things reminded him of good times, they were things that would only weigh him down now. Especially considering how they meant to live; nostalgia alone was not enough to keep something around.

Even so, he could think of a few small things he wanted to hang on to. Link already had one of them; the old book about Koholint was now a reminder of how blessed he was. On the more practical side, there were a pair of linked gossip stones among his mother's jewelry. They'd make it easier to split up on the dungeon explorations, to keep track of each other. Also among that jewelry, he located a locket with two miniature portraits: one of his parents together and one of himself as a child. It was enough of a reminder to him, as well as something he wanted to offer to Link at some time.

With those things reclaimed, he was done here in Sudai. He'd spent a few days speaking to the various towns about continuing to be a part of Hyrule. It seemed like things would be fine. A few grumbled about not regaining sovereignty, but most accepted his reasons for leaving Joachim as their king. Now that he was done, he warped over to Taven.

This town, as with others he'd seen in the past week, seemed quiet and normal now. People were relieved the danger was past and getting on with their lives. While the adults worked in the forest and their businesses, the children played games in town. It surprised him a little that they were moving on so quickly. Maybe it was an act, or it could simply be that he remembered nothing from times like these. If it was the latter, then it was a good sign for the future.

He found Link with one of the boys by the orphanage; they were off by themselves talking. "Hello," Gale said, waving to them.

"Hello, you done already?" Link said, waving back to him.

"Right, I didn't have any trouble."

"Is this Gale?' the boy asked, looking up at him.

"Yes, that's him. And this is Marley, the boy we talked about the other day."

So this was the child who'd been captured by the Prism Dragon. Marley smiled at him, seemingly normal. But Gale sensed something off about him. "Hello, nice to meet you. Mind if I sit with you?"

"That's fine," Marley said. "We were talking about if Link could adopt me, but the headmistress said no."

"We'd have to wait a couple of years because I'm just nineteen," Link said.

He nodded. "I see. Although I'm twenty-two. Since we mean to travel together, would that work out?"

"Oh yeah, that's why she said he couldn't," Marley said eagerly.

"They'll want to ask you more questions than me," Link said, although he smiled too. "But then we could head out in a couple of months instead of years. Zelda changed the regulations so we can send the kids back to surviving family members if they request it. Sometime next week, we'll head out to start doing that."

"That's fine," Gale said, thinking that he wanted to send the boy off for a few minutes. It'd be good to get to know him, to make it more likely the orphanage would accept his request. But he wanted to speak with just Link first. "But are you going to be able to keep up with us? We mean to explore mysterious places all around the world."

"I can help," Marley insisted. "I've been learning with Gregio, and I can even get to the middle of Trickster's Grotto without getting lost."

"Then you won't mind if we set up a test there to make sure?" Gale asked. "We'll have to discuss it without you, of course."

It worked to get Marley to go back over to the other kids for a while. Link seemed to be thinking the idea over. "Gregio says he's been doing acceptably well with a sword for his age; the other teachers say he's been going into the woods the past few days. They haven't noticed anything particularly wrong or different with him other than that. But then, there's a lot of kids here to watch over."

"What do you think in talking with him?" he asked, looking over and taking his hand.

He looked back over at the kids in concern. "I did get him to tell me what happened. It was nothing directly sexual in nature and he slept through most of the kidnapping, which is good. But then, Prism had told him that it could make him really popular and liked by everyone." Link turned to him. "We're not as isolated as you were, but that would be a strong temptation for any of the kids here."

Gale nodded. "Of course."

"There's nothing obviously wrong with him from that, but I still feel like something's not right."

"I can say that there's a problem remaining with certainty," Gale said. "I wouldn't want to tell anyone except you and maybe one of the teachers you trust, but there is a weakness in his soul now. I would theorize that the Prism Dragon meant to put a curse or another malicious enchantment on him, but didn't have time to complete it. What's there could be easily undone, but that weakness could remain for a long time, leaving him vulnerable to other curses or spirits."

"Then he really does need someone to keep a close eye on him," Link said.

"Although his age is an important factor. As he matures into an adult, that weakness could be fixed naturally, or it could be made even greater for the same reasons. Either way, yes, he would be better off with someone who knows about the issue and can pay more attention to how he develops."

"Are you okay with adopting him in my stead?" Link asked. "Though that could be complicated due to what's happened. The headmistress said she was okay with me adopting him except for the law doesn't allow it, but they don't know you as well."

Feeling like this was a good point, he brought out something from the inside of his cloak: an unusual lotus had had a few heart-shaped red petals among the white. "Would they be fine with it if it was you and me?"

"Is that the heart lotus?" Link asked in surprise.

"Yes, although the Marsh Queen had to use magic to get this one," he said. "She's well enough to get back to her manor, but it'll take some time for her to get her garden back fully."

He touched the flower and closed his eyes, seeming to listen to something. He would understand magic best through song, Gale thought. After all, that was the best explanation for how he could get something like the Song of Healing to work with only humming. He might be able to hear something from the magical flower. "You must be sure of yourself if she did that," Link said, then took the lotus. "Sure, they should accept the both of us as his new parents. But aren't you royalty? I was told this was an offering for marriage among the regular citizens."

While he'd not doubted the flower would get accepted, Gale still smiled in relief. "I might be of royal blood, but I'm no longer considered such since I gave up claim to the throne. And since you'd spoken with the Marsh Queen, I thought you might have heard about it."

Link chuckled a little and touched his pointed ears. "You're still a Gerudo king."

"Well that doesn't count either," he said, then laughed with him. "Really, I told the women of the tribe a long time ago that I wasn't raised with them, so it was better that they rule themselves. I want nothing more than to start my life anew. And since I owe you this new life, I want to stay by your side. It's more outrageous that I, given who I was, am proposing to the traditional Hylian hero."

"It was just the roles of a legend that's past now, I don't care about that," Link said. "Actually, how about you come with me when I escort the children who are going back to their families and other new homes? They'll be sending along one of the teachers to watch over them, so they'd get all that time on the road to see how you are now. We could invite Marley along as a guard too, so we have time getting closer to him as well."

"That sounds good," Gale said. There was a burst of laughter from where the children were playing, including the boy they were talking about. None of them seemed to have a care in the world now. If the staff here wasn't sure about him and still wanted to wait until Link was twenty-one, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live around here a couple of years either. "We should still figure out a little trial for Marley to take, for whenever we're able to leave together."

There was a sunny peace to Link's smile at that. "Sure, doing something in the grotto should be fine for that."

It was a year after Demise had been destroyed.

There had been no major conflicts in that time. A few outbreaks of monsters popped up early on, but fewer were being spotted on the roads now. While that alone would have made Hyrule more prosperous, the lands were flourishing far more than that removed obstacle could explain. Perhaps this time was truly blessed? Zelda still found a lot of work on her hands as the queen ruling over so many different peoples.

'Your first year of rule has shown magnificent promise as you deftly lead us all with grace and wisdom befitting your legacy...'

She sighed as she read over that line in the letter. "You are laying that flattery on thick; there's much more I need to improve within myself." As she was skeptical, the rest of the letter started to amuse her. "And you are in for such a surprise; I hope you're not counting on this."

The door opened as Joachim came in, hands full of his own work. But he paused immediately on seeing her there. "Zelda? Are you sure you're fine with working again?"

"It's fine," she said with a smile, meeting him with a hug. "I'm just reading over letters."

He returned her hug, not letting her go for a moment. "Some of them are funny about that, actually."

Zelda giggled. "I know! I was just reading this one from the lord of Laverre." But some of that did dampen her mood. "I know why they're staying with us when they've been fiercely independent before. And why all of the provinces have been praising us and swearing to be loyal when they grumbled about my father behind his back. A lot of people believe we are in a legendary golden era now."

"Well you are working hard to make that true," Joachim said, rubbing her back. "A little too hard, I think. You really should relax, especially now."

"I have to make up for my parents' actions, and my own." She held onto him quietly for a moment. "I'm really grateful you're here with me; I couldn't do as well without you."

"I feel the same way," he said. He pulled back to look at her and smile. "Was there anything particularly funny from this letter?"

That did lighten her mood. "Oh yes, they were proposing that one of their young grandsons be betrothed to our child." Zelda shook her head, but smiled. "As much fun as it would be seeing some of this shock in person, I think we should put out an announcement about our son before his coronation as prince. All the guests from outside the castle are going to bring gifts worthy of a princess otherwise."

"I suppose, even if it would be less fun," he said jokingly.

A thought that had been nagging at her came back. "And, I think I would like to send one to Link and Gale; they were thoughtful enough to send us their wedding invitation. It'd be good for them to know a concrete proof that the curse on us is gone."

They probably wouldn't show up for the coronation like the two of them hadn't come to the wedding. Link and Gale might even be out of Hyrule by now, off on some adventurous life together. Along with the loss of the curse, she wanted them to know that she forgave them. If she hadn't let herself get carried away with her emotions, maybe things would have been easier on them.

The Laverre Coral Palace was seven floors in total; four of them held enough air pockets to allow for normal navigation. Link was by a pool on the first protected floor with a map, making markings on the underwater floors. While the map was resisting the water droplets coming off his diving suit, it'd been harder to make these notations underwater. He was sure of his memory.

Footsteps came from nearby stairs, making him smile. Gale and Marley had been exploring the floors without water since they hadn't found diving gear suitable for a child even in Laverre. Actually, diving wasn't that popular here due to murky waters. There wasn't even a Zora settlement nearby, which struck Link as a little odd. But what he'd seen might explain some of that.

"I'm over here," Link called over when they opened the door. He'd already dispatched the monsters in this room before adjusting his map.

Gale smiled in relief on seeing him. "Ah, you seem to be fine."

"Sorry," Marley said, coming over. "I hope we didn't get you in much trouble."

Giving a shrug, Link said, "It wasn't a major problem, but that switchboard controls some gates on basement two. Actually, I realized that I wouldn't make any more progress down there until we figured out the system for the gates, so I want to show you what I saw down there."

Gale sat nearby while Marley crouched down and watched them discuss the gate system over the map. Link had notice four colors to the gates in the underwater sections. In the switch room they'd found on floor two, there had been three switches that opened or shut the gates. The red, blue, and yellow switches definitely operated the gates of their colors. However, the gate that shut Link out from the rest of basement two was white. There was either another switch somewhere in the palace or some combination of the three switches would open the white.

"Did you find a way into the third basement yet?" Gale asked. "The mechanisms for raising the palace above the waters should be down there even if the controls are upstairs."

Link shook his head. "It's going to be past the white gate unless there's a hidden passage elsewhere. I did hear some signs of what's below; it can't be that big of a sea monster in the space it has to depart, but it's definitely made a den down there."

"We might be able to help from the control room," Marley said. "Cause there was a panel with faded writing that suggested a basement defense system."

"The builder of this place was really eccentric," Link said. Although, it was comparable to dungeons that were supposedly temples and yet full of traps.

"We're not sure what all those controls would do," Gale said. "I'm sure you can handle the monster yourself, but send us signals through the gossip stone if you want to try them. And don't take any unnecessary risks."

Link smiled at his concern. This life was working better than he'd dreamed of, letting him follow his dreams of being an adventurer and having a family at the same time. "Of course, I'll let you know."

Many years later, there was a slight panic when an oracle revealed that eight beings of evil had been reborn into the world. It was only slight because it was then revealed that they were just dragonflies, not capable of the realms of thought that brought about evil. What could evil dragonflies really do?

Four of them got eaten by fish in their larval states. One was eaten by a frog before it could take flight, while another got snapped up by a bird for flying too high. One of them, bearing an evil more ancient than the rest combined, got killed by bees by following thoughts incomprehensible to it that wanted it to gain minions. Such short brutal lives distanced their souls further from what evils they committed and most of them left behind their inherent evil nature as a result.

And the eighth dragonfly of evil lived a long contented life of four years, dozing off in the sunny waters as a larva and lazily floating on the breezes as an adult. But for a dragonfly, that wasn't evil at all. It was simply a good life.