The Serpent's Egg

By Nicolle

1st Note: After trying my hardest not to say one way or another if Sheik is male or female, I just ditched it in this chapter. I decided to refer to Sheik as a guy simply because all the canon material does. You can debate among yourselves if Sheik has Zelda's body under the uniform. Since Sheik's entire appearance is a spell cast using the Triforce, I'm pretty sure Zelda can be a guy or a girl whenever the heck she wants.

2nd Note: A couple of people have noticed that I haven't described Elana. Well, what I'm trying is an experiment. All of my betas, after reading the first chapter, were able to accurately describe what Elana looked like without me having to describe her. I'm willing to bet every person enjoying this fic can accurately describe all the extraneous characters without me writing a single description.

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Thank you for letting your fans borrow them.

Chapter Six

Annie dug into the eggs with gusto. Link reached across the table four times to get her to slow down.

Bot eyed them both. "Haven't you been feeding her?"

"One day, Bot, you'll have kids and you'll find out that they all do this." Link grabbed Annie's hand again. "Slow down. You'll give yourself a belly ache."

"I'm hungry!"

"Yeah. Me too. Slow down."

Elana's plate lay untouched and she stared at Link. Zelda put a hand on her shoulder. "Eat up."

"You're wearing a wedding ring."

Link looked over at her. "That's because I'm married, Elana."

She looked at Zelda. "To you?"

Zelda held up her left hand and light glinted off the slim gold band.

"Do you have children?"

"We can't have children until Ganon has been sent back home with his tail between his legs. To do otherwise would put them at risk," Link answered.

"But you speak as if you had children already."

Zelda sat down with a plate. "We have, over many lifetimes."

"We reincarnate," Link supplied.

Elana perked up. "Really? Why?"

Link took a sip of tea. "Ganon doesn't die. With the Triforce of Power in his possession he is both ageless and deathless. But the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage do not confer such powers. In order for us to continue to fight, we must return."

"Though we don't always know each other or remember those past times," Zelda said. "Sometimes, we don't know who we are until a critical moment. In this lifetime, we're lucky enough to not only remember who we are, but most of our past lives as well."

"But you're always Princess Zelda, right?"

Zelda smiled. "Not always."

Elana frowned, puzzled. "Have you always been married?"

Link shook his head. "Some lifetimes we barely see each other all, but just long enough to fight Ganon."

"So why do you fight Ganon every lifetime?" Bot asked. "What's up with that?"

"Ganon wants the entire Triforce," Zelda said. "But he only gets one chance for every one lifetime of ours."

"So it's like an eternal dance," Bot mused.

"That makes it sound entirely too poetic," Link muttered.

Bot smiled wide. "So how are you not inbred?"

Elana gasped and Zelda laughed so hard her face turned red.

"Here's how it works, smart ass. Zelda's granddaughter or great granddaughter will be her reincarnation. I am born to a different family somewhere in Hyrule and sometimes even in a neighboring country."

Elana looked at Zelda, worried. "But doesn't that mean that the royal line is diluted?"

"As the line of Hyrule descends from myself, it is essentially eternal. And Link is almost always born to a family descended from the original Hylian Knights."

"So why don't you two take the Triforce of Power back?"

"We have," they both said.

Link huffed and Zelda sighed.

"Don't ask," they both mumbled.

"Okay." Bot pushed his plate back. "So what's the plan?"

Zelda sat down. "The Serpent's Egg is beneath Lake Zuron. We'll need to travel over the Crystal Mountains to get to the lake."

Link groaned. "Great. Monster filled mountains. Just what I wanted."

Zelda crossed her arms. "You act like this is unusual for you."

"That's the problem. It isn't."

"There's a passage through the mountains," Elana said.

Everyone looked at her.

Elana suddenly looked sheepish. "Whenever the next in line ascends the throne, we go to the shrine over the lake for the ceremony. I went there with my dad when he..." She trailed off staring at her plate as if she was trying not to think about something.

Bot cocked his head at Link. "See? Different."

"Trap filled dungeons are not different."

"Stop whining, Captain."

Link rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your continued support, Bot."

"Anytime, Captain."

Link sighed. "Stay put and find out a way to counter act the potion poisoner. Annie will stay with you. The rest of us will make our way to the shrine."

Elana hugged Annie on the porch, while the other three looked on.

"The curtain holding the undead out should last until I've stuck a sword through Ganon," Link said.

Bot nodded. "As soon as I find an antidote, I'll make sure Annie's safe, head into the city, and hide in the palace."

Link nodded and turned to Zelda. "Ready?"

Zelda held her hand over her face. The Triforce of Wisdom appeared in a brief flash and Sheik stood there. "Yes."

"Come on, Elana."

The girls gave each other one more fierce hug before the princess hurried over, waving backwards the whole time.

The road to the mountains seemed to stretch into forever. Elana drug her feet, every step slower than the last.

Sheik put an arm around her. "Going slower only delays the inevitable."

Elana stopped dead, eyes squeezed shut. "But Mom and Dad are..."

"Tears cannot bring our loved ones back to us."

She looked up at Sheik, cheeks tear stained. "What do I do? I'm not ready for this!"

"Ready or not, Elana, you are now the queen of Zoebha. A queen lives for her people and her people alone. The first and last duty of the queen is to serve them." Sheik gestured to the land. "Look. The world around you is falling. And only you have the power to reverse the dark fate your people will suffer."

"A touching speech, to be sure."

A man wearing the insignia of Zoebha's royal guard stood before them.

Elana stepped around Sheik. "Uncle Droz?"

Link stepped in front of Elana. "So, where were you when the bombs went off, Sir Knight?"

"If I were you, Hylian, I'd be more concerned about being charged with the kidnapping of Princess Elana."

Elana wiped her face with her sleeve. "He did no such thing! I'd be dead right now if he hadn't saved me."

"Exactly." Droz snapped his fingers and ten members of the royal guard ran forward from behind him. "Kill the strays."

Link readied his sword. "Get her out of here. I'll play distraction."

Sheik grabbed Elana and threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing in a cloud.

Link shot to the side, slamming one guard into the ground. A quick swing of his sword cut the man next to him off at the knees, literally. When number three tried to jump him, Link grabbed him by the shoulder and used the momentum to bowl over three more guards. The remaining four stood frozen.

"Kill him!" Droz snapped.

"There's Death in his eyes," one man whispered.

Link looked at the guard who spoke. "Run."

The remaining guards dropped their swords and split.

Link pointed his sword at Droz. "So, is this your typical, run of the mill, usurpation of power from the rightful heir?"

Droz pulled his sword. "I will NOT be subject to that little brat!"

"And you really think Ganon is helping you out of the kindness of his cold black heart? You're just another easily duped pawn." Link smiled. "But unlike your friends, I'm not going to let you run away."

"Don't think Elana has escaped."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she has." Link flicked the blood from his blade. "The interesting thing about having to pull so many people over so many lifetimes off of my Queen's throne is that you develop quite a complex about usurpers."

Elana ran behind Sheik, keeping close. Something was following them, but she didn't know what and Sheik wasn't talking. They came up short next to a shrine marker and two paths.

"Which way?"

"The right one will take us directly to the passage, but the left one will take you to an entrance further in the mountains." She heard a noise Sheik didn't react too. "What is that?"

"The other Link."

Elana took Sheik's hand and squeezed it.

Sheik looked into the shadows. "You don't have anything to say?"

"Both ways are trapped. But inside the palace is a quick route to the shrine underneath the garden in the fountain."

Sheik threw up his hands. "How is that a quick route?"

"There aren't any traps, monsters, or unnecessary impediments."

Sheik sighed. "Hard way it is." Taking Elana's hand, they took the path on the left. Sneaking through the trees along the path, Sheik was thankful Elana hadn't complained. Several Gerudo and a few members of the royal guard milled around the path, looking utterly disgusted with each other. Sheik smiled. "Stay here and stay down."

Elana nodded and ducked low. Sheik picked up a few rocks and climbed into a tree. Finding a comfortable branch to sit on, he picked a rather disagreeable looking guard and beaned him in the shoulder.

"Hey! Who threw that?" He whirled on the nearest Gerudo. "Think your funny, Desert Scum?" He shoved the Gerudo and without another rock thrown, both factions were at each other's throats.

Sheik dropped back down to Elana. "Ready?"

Elana nodded. "You're good!"

"Link taught me that one." He offered his hand and the two by passed the mob for the second entrance. Taking a deep breath, Elana touched it and it opened. As soon as they stepped through the doorway, Sheik felt the spell go off. When the spell energy died, Sheik was standing in a room full of Gerudo and Elana was gone.