Chapter Four: Power Within

Title: Divine Impurity

Chapter: 4

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance

Parings: Link x Zelda / OC x Shadow

Disclaimer: If all this were mine, I would have made Kingdom Hearts use Hyrule as a world already and made me a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh series. I don't own Zelda, okay?

Description: Her past is full of sorrow, and her future doesn't seem to be worth living. Her life is so tangled with half-truths and lies that the only person she has also has a past like hers. Will she uncover her past before evil destroys what's left of her purity?

Author's Notes-

The long awaited Chapter Four is here! W00T!

Yami Vikki: It took you forever to finish Shadow Watcher, kiko.

Vikki: Hush, you.

Chika: Meow, meow. Mrrrow mrow meow. (Yeah, hush. She worked very hard.)

Yami Vikki: That's what I was going to say! (pouts)

Vikki: Anyway, ignore the different conversation text between Link and Victoria from Shadow Watcher's chapter eleven. Just enjoy the chapter, okay? (presses 'Submit Chapter' button)

EDIT: Fixed the conversation between Victoria and Link. Most of it is copied and pasted from whatever story, but they're from different points of view. It's not like I'm reposting Shadow Watcher here, you know? But they're speaking the same conversation in both stories now.

Shadow and Victoria sat side by side that night, talking and watching the stars. They had shared a few kisses, and a few small laughs, but there was still a rift between them. Victoria wished privately that she could pull it away so that he didn't have to be so careful around her.

Still, she was completely enraptured by the mystery surrounding him, like he was with her. It drew her in so deeply, she had to remind herself that she was still a child in a woman's body, even though she'd pretty much committed herself to this lifetime.

Neither of them could get enough of each other, Shadow especially. She felt that Shadow always had this guard, a guard he'd let down for a kiss, and put it back up to let go, his heart regretted it deeply. A sadness, dim and consuming, plagued him, and at the same time knew… something. Something else. She worried for him. He seemed genuinely carefree, but there was something dark beneath the strong exterior.

Something that told her there was something wrong.

And she hadn't worried about it then.

She didn't see any immediate reason to care.

But now, as she was waking up, that reason was truly apparent. She woke in Shadow's bed, inside his little shack, but there was, strangely, no Shadow. Her head was no longer pulsing with pain like it had been yesterday, but the world around her seemed pressing and horribly fuzzy. It was hard to breathe, too, like she wasn't getting enough air in her lungs. She wiped her eyes of any remaining sleep and got up, searching for anything. A note, possibly.

She found it plastered to the right side of the doorframe with a knife.

Victoria,

I've gone out, obviously. But, I don't know if I'll come back. I have some business to take care of, but… if… if I don't… If I don't come back… look for Link. Please… look for him. And please, keep the knife. The cover's by the lamp.

Shadow

So that's where he went… but there was an unexplainable feeling, like ice water running down the back of her neck, that something was very, very wrong. Wherever he was, she had to find him.

But first, she had to find Link.

She took the knife, and its sheath was where he'd promised it would be, and the elegantly written note. She was somewhat surprised, but Shadow had a small collection of books here, so perhaps he practiced writing, also.

The horse was still there, so she climbed on its back with a small pack of provisions, and the knife at her belt and she kicked its side gently to get the stallion moving. She rode it swiftly to Lon Lon Ranch, and returned it, Malon the ranch girl giving her a strange look, but taking it back, told her to be careful in the fields on foot.

"It's okay Malon. I'll be all right." She smiled at the girl, who nodded. "Yeah, sure. You're a strong girl. Fast, too. Even with just a knife, you'll be fine."

And she started out for… where now?

She seemed confused, almost befuddled, but through her strange haze, she managed to pinpoint exactly where she felt Link's aura pulsing. Shaking her head, she started for Zora's River, on foot.

It was almost noon when he found him, still asleep, and she almost laughed. But she shook him awake as gently as possible, panic starting to set in.

"Huh? What?" "Link? Wake up, Link!"

Link rolled over. "Stop Navi… go away. I'm still sleepin'."

Victoria huffed. "Wake up, dari(1)!"

At this he turned and twisted, almost falling off the rock they were on. He managed to wake himself up fast enough to not need Victoria's help, but she was still concerned.

"Why'd you do that?" He looked up at her after he'd pulled himself up, on his knees, rubbing the back of his neck. "You wouldn't wake up. So I woke you up." He sighed, chuckling. "By cursing at me?" "Yeah, pretty much." "Thanks."

"No problem."

Link sighed again.

"I need your help Link. Shadow's gone missing! He told me to find you if he didn't come back this morning."

"Wait, what?"

She blinked. She realized that maybe Link only knew of Shadow as Peter, and that might pose a problem. She licked her lips and took in a breath, a strange fever causing her to break into a sweat. She had to explain quickly. She really liked Shadow a lot, even loved him, her heart told her. She knew that Link would trust Shadow with her safety as Shadow so clearly trusted her with his.

"Link, let me explain," she said sternly.

Link looked up at her, most of the sleep gone from his eyes. "Shadow? As in… the man who referred to himself as Peter?" When she nodded, he rubbed his right hand against his chin. "So that really is his name…"

Link, still puzzled, and trying to piece together the puzzle that was Victoria and Shadow, nodded. She knew he would try to listen as best he could, so she decided to try explaining it to him slowly and gently, with only the needed details. She chuckled a little inside. Why should she bore him anyway with all the mushy stuff?

"I met him the day you were with him at the ranch. It was almost dusk, and you were arguing. You left, and when you left, you looked at me as you passed by and spoke to me."

That sparked something in him.

"I asked you if you would help me. You said yes, but I never could figure out why. Actually, for the longest time, I debated with myself if you had said yes at all." It was the truth, and it disturbed her a little. He wasn't distant; in fact he seemed intently listening now. She brushed it off and continued.

"When you left, Shadow, the one you were arguing with, took his horse and headed to the entrance. He… spotted me, though. And, he talked to me." She shook herself. She would try not to do that…

"I felt so comfortable in his presence; almost disturbingly so." She laughed, a thought striking her, the fever making her giddy. "The really crazy thing is that I'd wished on that key you gave me—" she gestured to the small golden key around her neck now, "—for love. Without you, I was very lonely."

She sighed. She truly had been very lonely.

"Perhaps you were right about it, granting a wish for me. You know, the day you gave it to me." He nodded. "Perhaps. Anything really is possible in this place." He looked around, his eyes trailing on the ledges.

"I longed for company, and for him. His company, almost. And when he asked me if wanted to see him again, I was all but elated, though it sort of showed…very much so, actually. I was so terribly embarrassed and shocked that I could be so forward."

"Naturally," Link nodded, still very quiet.

She still paid no attention to his silence and studying expression.

"He met me yesterday at Lon Lon Ranch…" she trailed off, a finger at her lip. "Was it really that long ago?" Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Anyway," she said, shaking herself again, "he asked if he could blindfold me; told me it was a very special place that he wanted to keep secret. I agreed, seeing his point at the time, though it seems rather silly now. And I could somehow sense where we were going; it was so very odd," she emphasized.

"I would expect so," said Link, now a little more interested, "What did you feel?" She frowned a little. "It wasn't much what I felt, though the horse did jump two fences at one point; a sign we were headed to Lake Hylia. But I could smell the grassy terrain of the fields, and hear the difference of the horse's hooves on the rocky ground of the Gerudos' entrance ground to the grass. Link, I could tell what the water was thinking. It kind of scared me a little, even though it felt as natural as breathing. It was very… surreal."

Link nodded, in his observing mode again.

"I don't know why that feeling is still here… it's like it's pulling me, like I need to be somewhere other than here. But, while we were riding, we…" she frowned, grimacing at the memory, "we were attacked."

Link looked up sharply, but she didn't notice.

"He tried to defend me, but he didn't have a weapon on him. He was hurt, close to dying… and all of a sudden I felt power flowing through me and there wasn't any danger anymore. Actually, there wasn't much else of anything, since I'd fainted afterwards." She frowned, struggling to find words that explained how she felt. Should she tell him what she thought it was? What she was feeling now?

"Oh, Link… it was strange. I blacked out somehow, perhaps the power was too much for me to take, and I woke up in Shadow's shack. He looked so worried…" Link hadn't moved, and was staring at her silently, one eyebrow raised, listening. "He kissed me, on impulse I think. It seemed a natural thing to do, as my rescuer and all, but he felt it was wrong and he apologized." Link almost smiled.

Just like Shadow to apologize for just a little peck on the cheek.

"I was a little angry that he had apologized," she continued, "and I kissed him back." She blushed darkly. "I had meant it, very much so. But it lingered for too long; a sign that… I wanted more than to thank him." She shook her head. "I really shouldn't have done it, but I just wanted to. Or at least my body did. Shadow seemed a little shaken after I'd done that, but he still offered to take me to his secret place."

"And I guess the tension kept building and you both felt feelings for one another?" Victoria gasped a little, startled by Link's sudden speech. "Yes," she said, fumbling for words, "that was it. We got to know each other, somewhat, but he was too rigid; he kept choosing his words too carefully. Too much of his words felt off, somehow."

"And he said nothing about his family?"

She arched an eyebrow. "He never talked to me about his family when we sat and talked," Link muttered, almost to himself. Jealous.

"He did, but it was very generic. All of it true, but nothing specific." She sighed. "I'm afraid he's in danger." She looked at him hazily. "But… something's holding you back?"

Victoria looked up. There was no nod, just blatant hesitation.

"Ah… yeah, kind of." She frowned, an uneasy feeling bubbling up from inside. "I did some sort of magic, and it's like it awakened something inside myself. I don't know what it is, but… it's like it wants me to go somewhere."

She grabbed his shoulders, looking pleadingly into his eyes again. "Please, come with me, help me find Shadow."

Link blinked, startled, but decided to relax and flash a tender smile. "Of course I'll help you." She smiled back, relieved.

The two traversed the many limbs and ledges above Zora's River, past Victoria's cottage, and into Hyrule Field. Victoria searched for the direction of the magical pull she was feeling, and hoped it led her to where she needed to be, and not someplace where it could mean the end of them both.

At the footsteps of Kakariko Village, Link asked her, "Why here? Is this where this… pull is taking you?" She nodded, and ran into the village.

She looked back at him as he ran after her, looking half as dazed as she felt, and she turned and bumped into someone. She shrank back, recoiling. "I'm sorry," she muttered apologetically. Then she looked up into the dark red eyes of a tall, silver haired woman.

"My child," the woman said softly, gently, "you have found your way home at last." Victoria, through her haze, wondered why the woman would say that. She had been working at the bar here for the longest time… and how on Din's good earth did she know this was her original home? Then the thought occurred to her.

"I…I know you." She studied the woman a moment longer until the name came to her. "Are you perhaps Lady Impa?" Lady Impa had been the princess's guardian and teacher, but she had also owned this village for a time.

Impa nodded. "And I believe you have come back for what is yours."

She was puzzled. Hers? She had lived here seven years ago, but what could still be here that was hers? "Mine?" she asked, echoing her thoughts.

"Yes. Follow me, and I'll give it to you."

They stopped at the house that had been Impa's when she still lived here, and then she invited them inside. Neither of them sat as she dug through a small drawer and gave a short burst of laughter in some sort of victory.

She turned to them, holding out a key.

"This is the copy of the key to your father's home. The original disappeared when your father did, so it might still exist, and it might not." She looked down at Victoria, who was studying the key as she held it in her palm. "I believe you still know which home was yours, and I assure you it is locked, with not a single thing out of place."

Victoria looked up, but did not speak. She still seemed to be in the trance somewhat.

"Go on," said Impa gently.

Victoria's hand curled up on the key and she nodded softly, turning around gracefully and walking out the door. Link scampered after her, confused.

Every time Link tried to speak, his voice cut short. He sighed the first time, shook his head the next, and eventually resided himself to just watching her. All of this must be quite a shock to her, knowing Impa could have done this at anytime, seeing as Victoria worked here and all. He vaguely wondered if she was angry with Impa because of that fact.

Was she even aware of it?

They eventually came across the house closest to Death Mountain's gate. Victoria walked up to the house, he assumed to go in and check things out and see if everything was as Impa said. Link looked toward the gate, at the spot where the royal guard that used to call him Mr. Hero stood.

It was then that he realized the lock in the door hadn't turned.

Victoria was at the door, the key in the lock, but not turned. "Are you going to go in?" he asked her. For a long while there was silence. Then she spoke, and very softly.

"I don't know. I…this…this place…it…I haven't been here in…in…so long, it feels. But I suppose it really has been that long hasn't it? It didn't used to feel that way… I wonder if I'm truly growing up." At last she reached for the key, turned it, turned the knob, and pushed the door open, walking inside. He couldn't place the emotion in her voice, and it confused him even more. Even though he was completely beside himself, he followed.

Victoria began to explore the rest of the house while Link waited in the main room. She found her own room first, tenderly touching things here and there. Surely something must have been damaged in the fire… unless this place was charmed she couldn't see why it would be like this.

Why it would feel like she'd been in here yesterday.

She found her sister's room, sighing at the memory of her sister's traumatic death, pushing it away, unable to shed tears. She'd long stopped crying over it; they were both gone, long gone. Sapphire and her little brother, Nathan.

She passed her parents' room, only standing inside the doorway, turning away when the memory of her father's body buried beneath a pile of two by fours surfaced, combined with her mother's tight-lipped but gentle smile, her comforting embrace, her father's rich, hearty laugh.

She went everywhere, except her mother's study, not even daring to touch the handle.

When she returned to the main room, she stood in front of the family portrait, tenderly touching the face of each figure. "Me…" she whispered, her fingers trailing over the small redhead that clung to the man's waist. "Nathan… Father… Sapphire…" They trailed over the strong, redheaded man, her father, and the little girl with striking blue hair and eyes. Then there was her brother, a small child with black hair, and soft red orbs, innocent and curious-looking.

Her fingers stopped at the tallest woman in the picture; she had dark black hair, long and wavy like her own, with ice blue eyes and pale fair skin.

"Mother."

Her fever broke, and clarity flooded through her. In an instant, she fled, leaving Link and her home behind, throwing back a command to him that was barely discernable.

Kakariko's roads and building were all a blur to her, just as she was a blur to those she passed. She tore through the main part of town and then she ran past the windmill and into the graveyard. Here she stopped, afraid, almost. But she had to keep going, she must! Must!

As she searched for something, anything where the source of the pull could be, she could feel its magic beating within her like a second heart, the energy flowing through her making her so dizzy she could barely walk.

Stopping, she closed her eyes, searching for the source with her own magic. The rippled waves that were its source came straight at her, attacking her consciousness, but she fought the storm, moving one foot in front of the other, guiding herself though the forest of stone. She stopped a second time at the very back of the graveyard, her cold red eyes staring down into the blackness of the hole where the emblem of the royal family once stood.

She was at this moment, without feeling, thus, without fear, so she dropped down, her fingers scrambling for a hold against the dirt, her throat only issuing a grunt when her feet slammed onto hard stone.

She walked down the dark hallway, lighting a small magical flame within the palm of her head, her slender fingers cradling it gently. She arrived at a chamber full of ReDeads, but somehow, they did not attack. They parted from her, the same amount on each side, almost bowing to her.

She didn't notice.

Victoria finally reached the stone wall that carried the notes of the Sun's Song, but she knew this wasn't her stop. There was another path here; hidden. And only she could find it.

Dousing the small flame in her palm she looked up at the very top of the design, above the text, in between the two royal insignia.

There, at arm's length, rested an hourglass. She reached up, and pressed it.

And then the stone wall split in two, opening up and creating a new entrance. Summoning another flame, she entered.

The doors closed behind her after she walked three steps. "Go figure," she muttered, "that this magic would lead me to a place that might possibly be my death. But I don't think that's the case."

Careful, a voice in her head said, you shouldn't talk to yourself. It's considered bad, you know. Victoria growled at her inner conscience. "Shut up…" The conscience laughed and didn't speak again. Maybe it was right, maybe it wasn't, but she didn't care at the moment.

She came to a room, a small, circular room with six stone pillars standing in a circle. Various books, weapons, and other things lined the room's outside, but nothing was more captivating than the figure that stood on the raised stone circle in the middle of the room. Victoria's eyes widened, and the flame in her had vanished at once, but the light that shone through a circle in the ceiling (exactly how far underground was this?) kept the room bright.

"Hello," the figure said softly, "I've been waiting for you."

Victoria watched as her breath formed a small cloud in the air, and then disappear into nothing. It wasn't even cold here, but in truth… was it? She could just be feeling as though she was warm, but in reality her body was cold, and reacting to the cold. Was that even the only explanation?

"Waiting?" She gasped, finding her voice at last, frozen and melting, trying to figure everything out. "Were you trapped here? Trapped by magic?" Like she had been?

A sigh, soft and feminine.

"No."

Ruby eyes bored deep into aqua blues for answers. "Then… why? Why did I hear your voice? What were you sorry for?"

"What are you asking me?"

"You know what I'm asking!" she snapped. "I was a child only months ago and now…"

She sighed. "…now I'm not."

The eyes, framed by curled, black hair, soften. Sorrow, they screamed. The figure sighed again. "I did not mean for you to be this way. It wasn't your fault. I did it to save you."

"Save me? From what?"

"Me."

Victoria stared in disbelief.

"Why you? What happened?" She fiddled with the collar of her dress in her distress. "I need to know, Mother."

The blue eyes that were filled with sorrow before sharply moved back to her ruby pools. "Are you sure you want to know everything?"

"Yes."

There was silence, and then a long, slow sigh.

"I'll start with my history." She paused. "Our history." It sounded like a correction.

Then she chuckled. "You might want to sit down. This will take awhile."

.oOo.

My birth name was Sylvia Diana Victoria Thymmalis. My mother was an elvish queen, and I was her princess.

I was her princess in more than one way.

My mother was part of a long line of magical people that had existed since the Beginning. Those people governed the realm of time, and they were called Time Keepers. Only one Keeper could live in a set of dimensions at one time, and it got complicated when the matter of passing on the power of the Keepers to another.

The elders always preferred that an heir of the current Keeper, called the Time Princess, would carry on the legacy. But how to choose a new Keeper?

The rules were simple.

The very first Keeper, who had been given a child by the Creator of the Beginning, had laid them down. She decreed that the first female child of the Princess would inherit the abilities from the age of adulthood onward, slowly given to the child throughout the remainder of the Princess's life.

The life of the Princess would end when the last power was transferred.

But with elves, this was a problem.

My mother's solution was a complex one, and even today I don't understand it. Her solution was that after I had reached the physical appearance of an elvish adult, she would end her life, and transfer her powers to me all at once.

It is a good thing elves aren't considered adults until they are almost a quarter millennia old.

She knew I would have plenty of time to practice magic and to ready myself for such a momentous transfer. She knew it was the only way to give me a chance to perhaps find a way to break free of the elvish chain.

I was the reason she'd willed her first child to be a son. And like the first decree, only females were allowed to be Keepers. Only a female could be a Princess. No one is sure why only females are allowed to take the mantle. Perhaps it's because Princess sounds better than Prince, but I believe otherwise.

The wills of the different genders, male and female, vary, and at the same time, are eerily similar.

The one thing that would make a male Keeper, a Prince, is that the line would end there, and so would the dimensions he would govern. The reason is this; for a Keeper to pass on powers, their heirs must come from them, not by them. In other words, they have to conceive, carry, and give birth to their heir.

The alternative is painful, and risky; choosing and adult from anywhere in any dimension of their planet that would carry on the legacy.

It has happened before, and may well happen again, but my mother wanted me to have a chance at avoiding this. And so she set her plan in motion from the day I was able to learn and practice magic.

She told me everything I needed to know as I grew, what I was, how I was important, and that I would someday take her place in the world.

Sometime after my brother had married, and had children, my mother began to court me with a young and very dashing king. He knew what I was, and he knew his country despised my kind, or rather, held prejudice, but he didn't care. I was almost in love with him, but not quite. My whole heart was not in our courtship, and I knew it.

Soon, he asked me to marry him, and for the sake of my mother, I agreed.

A week before I left to get ready for my marriage to this king, she told me it was time for the transfer, the one she'd been readying me for my whole life. My father knew what was happening, and so did my brother and his wife's family, but his people didn't know. The world should never know.

I spent three whole days writhing in pain, all of my mother's magic assimilating inside me, twisting, burning, and at the same time, replacing, and healing. It was like vampire venom of the worst kind, but I was still me.

When the pain of the magic was gone, the pain of knowing my mother was no longer in the land of the living hit me. I grieved a day, with the rest of the people of the kingdom who had been told she died of an illness, but it had been swift. I could not grieve any longer. I apparently had a king to marry,

The day before I left I gave a speech to the people; that my father was not shuffling me away because I was just a discarded princess no one cared about, and that I was going because I loved him, and part of me did.

I put everything else aside when I left, everything except the legacy I was now truly a part of. My mother was still with me, in spirit, because she was now Time Queen, head Keeper, but she lived in the Time Kingdom, where I would one day go.

I did not expect it would be so soon.

I lived with the young king, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, for three years, in a time of war, and violence. I always felt desperation when he went away, because even through all our time together, I'd yet to conceive a child.

Any child, much less female.

It wasn't until the end of the Great Wars did I conceive, but I knew at once this was not the child that would carry on my legacy of the Keepers.

And I knew it would be female.

So why was I different? Why would my first female child be rejected of my powers? I knew only too late. Near the end of my pregnancy, I looked back on my feelings as a royal. I did not like being royalty, and yet it was my right by birth. I looked into myself and found that because I did not wholly love Daphnes, I could not wholly love the child either.

I would have to fake my death and leave the child with him where it could be loved wholly, even if by only one parent.

I told him and my child's nurse my secret, and told them what I planned to do. The nurse, being of the ancient people that were given to Hyrule as a gift from their ally, Egypt, could accept it, but Daphnes was crestfallen. He truly had loved me.

I told him to think of my faked death as my true death, because a part of me would die. By leaving my child, I would always be partly torn.

I followed through with my plan a week after my child's birth. I had given the little girl the name Zelda, and left her gift, so that I would always be with her in spirit. I left her a lullaby, and I told the nurse to name it after Zelda.

A few nights after I left the castle, Gerudos had raided a noble's town. I knew who it was and what they were planning. I waited for them in their temple, and their leader brought me a child he wanted me to curse. It wasn't the child he was looking for, but I didn't tell him that. Hyrule was my country now and always would be, so I couldn't betray it.

I cursed the child carefully. This curse, I knew, would eventually be the man's downfall. I could only hope he didn't figure out what the curse was.

I fled to Kakariko, and that is where a different story began…

I met the nurse there, and with him, her king. The Sheikah's king. Your father.

He was about my age, if I hadn't been an elf, around twenty. He captivated me in a way that Daphnes never did. I had found my heart at last. We married within three months of our meeting, and I conceived shortly after our marriage.

Before I gave birth, I knew there would be two, and they would both be female. I decided the one born first would carry on my powers.

And the one that was born first, was you.

.oOo.

"So do you understand, now?"

Victoria sat, silent, still processing. Sylvia was patient, she knew this was a lot to take, her history and the history of what they were.

Sharply, she took in a breath, and slowly let it out.

Victoria shuddered, but not from the cold.

"So then how did you die? What happened next?" Her eyes were pleading, and they were the eyes of a child, not the eyes of a young woman.

"I guess you do understand, even though you didn't answer my question," she said with a smirk. "It's all right, I haven't told you the rest of the story."

Victoria looked up sharply, curious.

"There's more?"

Sylvia nodded slowly. "Yes, now listen."

.oOo.

I gave you my third name, because I knew you were truly the one, and the other, a girl born with hair a color that was neither your father's or mine, Sapphire.

For four years, I watched, waiting for the right time to possibly tell you what you were, and that I would have to prepare you for my history and your future one. No such opportunity came that I was comfortable with, and the birth of your brother complicated matters even further.

I was a nervous wreck, feeling emotions I never expected I would feel.

Because your life span was different from mine, it actually had a point where it would naturally disappear; I could not comprehend teaching you such things.

As you mother, I wanted to keep the pain of it away from you.

I wanted to keep it from your twin and your brother, too.

Because I loved your father, wholly I loved you and your sibling wholly as well. This complicated matters once more, and I could not figure out why I was having such trouble.

And then disaster struck.

You were nine, no doubt you remember this day well, and we were going on a picnic by Zora's Waterfall. It was simple, and carefully planned, no danger involved.

How naïve I was.

Still just a young adult in many aspects, especially elvish, I did not comprehend what could happen to a little five year old and the devotion of his sibling.

When he fell, my thoughts went blank. I felt almost helpless, but in truth, it was because I was helpless. For all my power, and all my magic, I could not move or stop the event from happening.

I could not do it even when both Sapphire's life and Stephen's were on the line. It wasn't until I saw you run after your father who tried to save them that I could move. I watched as you ran past your father, past them, in an attempt to save them.

You very nearly succeeded, but in the end, they were lost to us. I cannot truly tell you their whereabouts, if either of them still lives.

That is not something I can do.

I watched you grieve for half a year, and I watched you play with the boy who I knew would become Hyrule's savior.

It was on the day of your tenth birthday that my actions had come round to me at last. Remember the boy I cursed? I believe you know him as Shadow. Gannondorf had raised him, and had finally realized the curse I'd given him. He came back to end my life, and I knew he would succeed.

But I knew that when he did, my powers would transfer to you.

And your tiny little ten-year-old body could not hold such power. It would destroy you, literally. The dimensions of this planet would crumble.

So your father and I bought you enough time to get to a place where I could send you to where you could grow up until your body was big enough to house the power. Until you were strong enough.

I sent your spirit and your soul to Solitary, Hyrule's current form of a spiritual prison. I kept your body and everything else in the real world, looked after by people I trusted. You would be safe.

.oOo.

"And that was all that mattered."

Victoria blinked, now standing.

"I understand now, I really do, but what can I do to save Shadow? Did you know I was going to fall for him in the same way you fell for father?"

Sylvia shook her head. "No, I didn't know. There's a lot that I don't know."

She sighed. "That was one of them. Glimpses of the future are rare, even for Keepers. You must feel angry with me for not saying anything. I feel like I let you down in that aspect."

"You didn't let me down, mother," Victoria said softly, walking closer to her, close enough to touch her, "not at all. You were worried about me."

She smiled at Sylvia. "You were just being a mother, and you can't see that."

Sylvia smiled back at her daughter. "How wise you are. So you forgive me for what I did?" Victoria bowed her head a little. "For your sake."

She turned. "But…"

A light bulb went off in Sylvia's mind. "I know what you need. Here, turn around." Victoria obeyed, and in a flash of bright golden light, a long staff with a wooden curve, and feathers at its tip materialized his her hands. She handed it carefully to Victoria, who looked it up and down curiously.

"This staff will help you on your journey. It is yours now, you don't have to return it. Its name is Cronos, and it will teach you all you need to know. With this, magic will come to you." Sylvia smiled. "You'll find the fever more easily managed, as well as the headaches. Just don't wear yourself out too much, or they'll come back to you with a vengeance." She grinned, a warning glint lingering in her eyes.

Victoria laughed softly. "Thank you, Mother."

"No, my child, thank you."

Victoria left, and Sylvia watched, eventually disappearing into the darkness.

Know that you can return here whenever you wish… the door is open…

Victoria returned to the surface, and met up with Link.

"Had a good time with Impa?" She laughed gently at her own joke as she caught sight weary warrior. "I don't see what's so funny… she worked me pretty good!" Victoria laughed again.

"You seem to be better now. And what's with the staff?"

Victoria sighed, and looked into his eyes.

"I can't explain this, Link. I just can't right now. Right now, we have things to do. We have to rescue Shadow!"

Link nodded. "Right!"

And they left Kakariko, bound for Lake Hylia, Impa watching them as the left. She muttered something, to a passerby it would sound just as though she were talking to herself, but her whispers were for the wind's ears.

"I did as you asked, my queen, your princess has awakened."

(1) Dari means damn or dammit in Hylian.

Go to www. kasuto. Net (no spaces) for more info on the Hylian language. ;) I'd like to know how this guy did it, lol

Vikki: Ooh… it's finished! And at last! An update for this story! I never thought I'd update this story for millennia!

Yami Vikki: Assuming you'd live that long…

Vikki: Hush you! Oh, please review! I didn't write all that stuff in italics for nothing! How good was it? Seriously! I have Link shaped cookies!