The ritual involved no corpse, contrary to Zelda's expectations. All that changed was the positioning of the participants. The Dark Link construct lay upon the ground with its arms stretched to the sides and its eyes eternally blank. The plants of the forest reached for it as they had the forest guardian, but retracted before they could make contact.

The guardian stood rooted nearby, manifesting roots from the earth, reaching them out to the Dark Link till their tips dug into its flesh.

Zelda paced, reaching into her pocket to again check her golden pocket-watch.

Saria focused her gaze on the ground, occasionally making chance glances towards Loranna, only to turn her eyes away before the older woman could take notice. She herself began to pace, fiddling with her hands and grappling with her thoughts.

Loranna sat before the Dark Link with her legs crossed, holding the blade of a long knife against the palm of her left hand, leaving a thing cut across her flesh that oozed blood. A wince was all the acknowledgment Lora allowed as she reached forward and placed the bloodied hand on the shadow construct's forehead, partially obstructing his eyes.

When silence persisted for a great deal longer, Zelda crossed her arms and shook her head to free the strands of brown hair that had become trapped beneath her collar. "When are we going to begin?" she said, showing no emotion save for the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"It has already begun," said Loranna, breaking her own silence.

"Not as far as I can tell."

"Patience."

Zelda bit her lip and remained silent.

The world fell silent around them. The persistent noises of the wildlife—even the wind itself came to a jarring halt.

And then a scream.

The construct's mouth erupted in a cacophony of violent noise. It tore away from the roots binding it to the ground, only to be faltered a moment later when it tried to draw air; for as much as it tried, it could not breathe. It brought its hands to its chest, falling back to its knee even as it tried to stand.

"…father?"

At the utterance of the word, Zelda stiffened. She searched out its source, only to find Loranna.

The construct's screams ended as its luminescent red eyes found Loranna. It stumbled forward, as though it had never walked before. Its feet dragged as though it had no more strength with which to act. "Lora?" it said with a voice that sounded dry beyond years. "Lora? Where are—Navi—Elina?"

Loranna bowed her head and said nothing.

The construct stopped mid-step, its face contorted by sadness. It slammed its eyes shut and tried to cry, only to find that it had no tears to give. It fell back to its knees, wailing, twisting its fingers through hair of shadowy black.

It screamed again.

Loranna fell to her knees beside it and silenced him with an embrace. His arms hung limply at his sides, but his cheek fell against her. "Elina?" he said again, its tone resigned

"I'm here, father."

Zelda shifted uncomfortably, a sensation she should not at all have been experiencing. Her eyes drifted from Loranna to the animated Dark Link. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unwilling to disrupt the moment. She crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, and allowed the scene to play out before her.

"Where is Navi?" the construct said, breaking away and making another effort to stand. "Elina—Where is Elina?"

Loranna refused to meet her father's gaze. "You've been gone a long time, father. Everything's different."

The construct's gaze changed. He looked at her as though seeing her for the first. "Lora, you're…" He lifted a hand halfheartedly toward her, but allowed it to fall a second later. "I'm dead."

Even as its legs trembled and its body shook unsteadily beneath it, the construct paced.

"Oh Gods, I'm dead. I know I'm dead. I remember dying!" He looked down to its trembling hands, then back up to the forest before him. "Gods—Navi!" His fell back to his knees, cradling his head in his hands. "Navi—Na—" He began to cry, only to again find that it still had no tears to give.

The guardian uprooted itself and took slow, calculated steps, looking on with empty black eyes that matched the dark skin of the construct. She knelt beside the Dark Link, drawing up plant life from beneath where her gnarled feet came to rest. "Link," the guardian said, speaking as a girl, not a god. She placed a hand composed of gnarled roots on his back.

He slowly lifted his head to look at her with red eyes. A moment later, he uttered in the softest of voices, "Saria?"

The guardian hugged him, wrapping aged arms around a darkened body.

His own arms hung loosely at his side, but his shadowy features relaxed. He closed his eyes and slipped into a familiar voice, even if the voice no longer matched the memory.

Zelda crossed her arms and approached the fallen construct with a lopsided gaze. "We can't linger here. Ganon may already know about your resurrection."

Link pulled himself away from the guardian. "Ganon?"

"You've been gone a long time."

The construct pushed himself to his feet, but remained groggy. "No—that can't be right. Zelda and I stopped Ganondorf when—" He paused.

Zelda narrowed her eyes. "We know about the split in the timeline."

"How?"

"Things have changed."

For the first time, Link looked at her. "Who are you?"

"Zelda."

He looked at her left hand.

Zelda pulled her sleeve down to cover the back of her palm, never breaking away from his gaze.

Loranna wrapped her fingers around the construct's upper arm. "Many things have changed, father," she said. "Our world is very different from the one you knew."

The construct resigned itself to a melancholy expression and allowed itself to be escorted through a world it no longer recognized.