GUYS.
GUYS.
GUYS.
WE HIT 500 REVIEWS.

God, I have no idea what to say without sounding like a screechy little girl. Just…wow, I love you guys. Thank you to each and every one of you for supporting me and reading my story, for keeping me going with all the great praise (and criticism). I've really grown as an author over the last year, and that is largely contributed to you. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am right now, with almost 100,000 hits and on the second page of the review leaderboard. I can't say thank you enough. I'm glad you've enjoyed my story thus far, and I hope you stick around until the end.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

xoxo,
Alyssa

This couldn't be happening.

I refused to believe that this was happening.

One second, I was pulling a sword out of a pedestal (which I clearly remember having to stand up on to reach the hilt of), and then all of a sudden I was seeing the world from a vantage point at least two feet higher than it was previously.

Except I wasn't even in the Temple of Time anymore, let alone anywhere in Hyrule. Just a glowing blue perfectly round platform, just casually suspended in space, which I didn't even have time to properly freak out over before a crazy old man who looked suspiciously like a certain owl that I knew decided it would be a good idea to answer all my questions all at once without even one thought as to my feelings or my rapidly draining sanity.

Hello, he said. I'm sorry your entire life everyone neglected to tell you this, but you are actually the Hero of Time. Your sole purpose in life is to protect Hyrule against the menace and exponentially-more-powerful-than-you Ganondorf, who has currently taken over Hyrule in some twisted dictatorship because seven years ago you and our silly little princess handed him everything he needed to take over on a silver platter, and now you have to stop him!

Did I add enough emphasis on the

seven years part?

Because that's how long I was asleep for, hence the whole two-feet taller, two octaves deeper thing.

And I wasn't even

close to being done with the changes that I've discovered over the last half an hour.

My arms and legs were muscular and strong. The fabric of my tunic (which I might add, somehow magically grew with me) stretched over the toned surface of my chest. There's stubble growing on my chin. Those and a million other little signs that time has passed and that I was irreversibly different.

Did I mention that I have an earring now?

I do.

And I didn't want to even think about how.

For a long time, I sat on the steps to the pedestal with my head in my hands, trying to muster just a bit of strength to face the world outside. From what Rauru had told me, the place was a wasteland. Castle Town had been ravaged, Hyrule Castle demolished to the ground, a terrifying fortress now in its place. Din knew what happened to all those people I used to see around town; the man that ran the archery shop, the little girl chasing a cuckoo round and round the square, the couple spinning happily by the fountain, and the Princess…

Zelda…

It was the thought of her, screaming my name as she tore through the drawbridge with the fear of Hell in her eyes, that finally gave me the will to move my legs, standing up with a deep breath. Zelda's out there, I told myself. She's waiting for me. I will not let her down.

So, bolstering all the courage that I possessed, I walked through the gate of Time, watching as the stone slid its way into place with a dull thump.

"I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time…"

The unrecognizable voice threw me for a split second, but I whirled around and unsheathed my sword in record time, eyes searching the shadows for the threat.

"Calm yourself," said the voice to my left, stepping out of the dark corner with hands raised in a gesture of surrender. "I am no enemy of yours."

He was small, perhaps five feet at the most, clothed in the same dark grey and blue jumpsuit that Impa wore, the garb of the Sheikah. Though I didn't know his voice, there was just something horrifically familiar about him that I couldn't place.

It wasn't until he looked up that I realized.

Though his face was almost completely covered by his shawl and his hair had been unforgivingly chopped off and the hue of his pupils were a menacing blood red, he couldn't fool me.

Seven years or not, I'd know those eyes anywhere.

"When evil rules all, th—"

"Zelda?" I whispered, watching as his eyes widened slightly, abruptly stopping in his tracks.

He took a step backwards, towards the shadows. "I—" he began, but cut himself off, bringing a hand to his chest in a very feminine manner, but a second later, he was off like a flash.

But the door was past me, and I was faster.

Quick as a whip, I reached out with the hand unoccupied by my sword, snatching his forearm and dragging him to a halt, pulling him off the ground so he was eye level with me and his feet could find no purchase.

"Unhand me!" he snarled, writhing to break free, but in the heat of the moment, he didn't remember to guard his voice. What was once a tenor, almost as deep as mine, was now a low soprano, very feminine, very harassed, and very much like the Princess that I had known seven years ago, minus the squeakiness of girlhood.

"Good to see you alive and well, too," I noted, rolling my eyes. "Considering last time I saw you, I was convinced you were going to die."

The crimson eyes that were just a second ago full of loathing were now conflicted. "I—I don't know what you're talking about." He said, and I remarked on how pitiful the disguise really was. "My name is She—"

But I had already reached up with my free hand, pulling down the shawl that covered the majority of his face around his neck.

Perfect pink lips, set into a furious scowl. A spray of barely-there, cinnamon colored freckles across the bridge of his nose. A small white slit just beside his chin, a scar from when I had pushed him over when we were children and cut it against a rock.

Or should I say hers?

"Fancy seeing you here, Princess," I said amiably, as casually as if remarking on the weather. She grimaced, going limp in my arms, accepting her defeat as I smiled wickedly.

"Boy, do you have some explaining to do…"

As the story is drawing to a close, I've been going through my drafts feeling so sorry for all the cute interludes and other parts that I wrote and loved that just don't have a place in the story. I've decided to post them after it's over, because what's the point if they're just going to rot in my documents? In addition to this, if anyone wants to suggest a prompt for a character they'd like to see more of, or a backstory, or just a cute/funny scene between characters, review or PM me! (or check out the poll on my profile for some of my ideas). You can ask for any combination of any characters from this story, boths OCs and not, just try to keep it less than four, to make it possible. And don't be afraid to be creative, I'm up for a challenge!

Next chapter coming soon!

~Alyssa