Here's the next chapter! As usual I am not Nintendo or Riordan, I do not own either of these of the universes, merely my own imaginations of them. Like that wasn't obvious already.

Possible trigger warning for this chapter, just in case it bothers you, but if you read it through you'll see that it's actually fine as it isn't actually real.

Chapter Fourteen

Camp Jupiter

Third Person Zelda POV

Zelda felt utterly exhausted, in the last several hours she'd been subjected to repeated crushing emotions. She'd been nearly terrified to death, almost killed by grief, and now overwhelmed by relief. Her daughter had at this point fallen asleep, likely from sheer fatigue caused by her frightening ordeal. Lexa sat a little behind her, still sniffling. Austin crouched next to her, an arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder, leaning her head against his shoulder. Their little boy, Alex, was gripped in her arms. Austin spoke softly to her; his words not clearly audible to Zelda's ears. In her fatigued mind though, she thought he was speaking to her.

"What?" She asked fuzzily.

Lexa and Austin both went silent and looked at her, Austin's mouth immediately closing and Lexa steeling her expression. They looked at each other for a moment before Austin spoke hesitantly, voice full of sympathy.

"Zelda…I…we're so sorry…Link was a good man…we'll honor him…and continue our efforts in this fight in his name." He swallowed.

It took Zelda's brain a few moments to realize what Austin was implying in his words. He…they thought her husband was dead. How could they think that? They'd…they had…she shook her head vigorously.

"No! No, he's not dead! He's alive! He's alive!" She insisted, holding Ilia close to her chest as she desperately tried to convince the two of them.

They looked at each other again, seeming unsure what to say. Lexa seemed to be about to speak when they were interrupted by the onboard radio crackling to life.

"Attention, we are now descending into Camp Jupiter."

Zelda looked out beyond the chariot, they were quickly dropping into the valley that Camp Jupiter occupied. The chariots landed and all of the refugees from Camp Half-Blood got off the chariots. Those who were injured either went over to the waiting medical personnel or if they were too badly hurt, were brought to the healers. She shakily got to her feet, Ilia stirred and looked around blearily.

"Where are we mommy?" She asked in her little voice.

"We're in Camp Jupiter darling." Zelda said with forced cheerfulness.

"Is daddy here?" her daughter asked, sounding anxious.

"No but he will be soon, dear." Zelda assured her little one.

Another voice drew her attention, "Zelda?"

Looking in the direction of the voice, Zelda saw Percy and Annabeth standing there. Percy was looking at the many battered and tired looking refugees. He was clearly stunned at how the camp he used to go to had been overrun.

"Zelda, we heard what happened at Camp Half-Blood…wait a minute, where's…" Annabeth trailed off.

Percy's head snapped in her direction, "Where's Link?" He asked suddenly, concern in his voice.

Before Zelda could say anything, Austin spoke up behind her, voice tight, "He stayed behind to give us time to escape."

Their eyes widened, then Annabeth turned back to her and her face twisted into a look of deep sympathy.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, Zelda. We won't forget about him, I promise." She said, voice rough.

"NO! He's not dead! I assure you he's not dead!" She demanded.

Everyone looked at each other, uncertain how to respond.

"Zelda…I think you're in denial." Lexa said gently but hesitantly.

"No! I'm not in denial, I can feel he's still alive because of this!" She said, extending her right hand at the last word, showing the faintly glowing Triforce mark on the back of her hand.

"I believe her. If she says Link is alive, then he is alive. They're connected by the Triforce are they not? I would imagine one with a piece of the Triforce would know if the holder of another piece was alive or not." Came another voice.

They all turned to see the speaker, it was one of the Zora who had been stationed at Camp Jupiter, none other than the Zora prince himself. He was a tall, young (relatively) and handsome Zora. His deep red color reminded Zelda of his ancestor Sidon as well as Sidon's sister Mipha. This Zora prince had been named Ralis after a Zora prince in the distant past.

Then Ganondorf also chimed in, stating his faith in Link, that he couldn't envision that the hero was actually dead. Everyone nodded in agreement, and turned apologetic stares to Zelda. She didn't care though, she was just glad her husband was still alive. Zelda was suddenly swamped by a wave of extreme tiredness, she swayed a little on her feet.

"Zelda? Are you alright?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"I'm so tired." She said fuzzily.

Then her fatigue multiplied and she collapsed, but before she could hit the ground, Percy caught her. Then everything went black as sleep took over her and she heard her daughter fearfully asking what was wrong.

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She was standing in a forest, she wasn't exactly sure where she was. She also wasn't sure how she got here, she couldn't remember. One minute she was in Camp Jupiter and the next she was here. She looked around her, noticing the forest looked dead, but not as in drought or diseased kind of dead. They looked burnt, or almost…like they'd been withered. She noticed then a patch of green, she turned to face it fully and saw that there was a small part where the plants were still alive or at the very least very freshly dead because of the fact that they still had color. It was on seeing them that she also was hit with a sudden certainty, her husband was here!

She began quickly making her way over there as fast as she could with her enlarged midsection. She crossed into the area of greenery and saw something that made her pause. About thirty feet away was a large shape on the ground, it was hard to see in the shadows, but it looked dark red but with bright white as well. She approached a little when she saw it was a Pegasus, a very familiar one at that.

"Epona!" She breathed, hurrying over.

Fear shot down her spine when she reached her husband's loyal steed. Epona was lying on her side, motionless. Arrows, bokoblin made by the looks of it, riddled Epona's side. A slight groan from nearby brought her head whipping around. There was a small tent just twenty feet or so away, she just knew that her husband was there and that he was hurt, from the sound. She rushed over, panic lengthening her stride when she noticed the state of the tent. It looked tattered and nearly shredded, she burst through the torn flap, and nearly wailed at the sight that greeted her.

Her husband was there alright, but he was definitely hurt. He lay on his side, with four arrows sticking up from the side opposite the one he was laying on. She hurried to his side, collapsing onto her knees next to him, frantically rolling him onto his back. Eyes burning with tears, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rested the hand on her other arm against his cheek.

"Link! Wake up! Please wake up!" She begged.

To her relief, his eyes fluttered open as he slightly moaned. His eyes, hazy with pain, locked onto her face.

"Zel…da?" He rasped weakly, like he couldn't believe it was her.

"Yes, it's me, my love, I'm here." She cooed reassuringly, trying to hold in her tears at the state he was in.

His face twisted into a grimace of pain, and what alarmed her even more, sadness.

"I'm…sorry…darling." He replied, still sounding very weak.

Her heart slammed into her throat at the sadness in his face and voice at his words.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for? You've done nothing wrong, my love." She tried to reassure him.

His eyes squeezed shut and tears leaked out before he opened them again and resumed speaking.

"I'm…sorry. I won't…be able to…keep my promise…to you." He said, looking utterly devastated by what he was saying.

"What do you mean?" She asked, horrified at what he seemed to be thinking.

"Zelda…my time has…nearly come. I'm…so truly sorry." He answered, releasing a few more tears.

Her heart seized, He thought he was going to die! He couldn't die! He was going to get better, he was going to recover for her and their children!

"No Link! You're not going to die! I won't…I won't allow it!" She pleaded him. "Come on Link! Get up, I'll get you out of here!"

He made no attempt to do so, he just looked back at her. The look in his eyes terrified her, they were so sad, so full of grief that it was utterly horrible.

"Link…come on get up, please! Get up, for me!" She begged, thinking of how much she and their children needed him.

"Zelda…I can't move my legs." He breathed.

She looked down at his legs, then back at his face.

"Why not?" She whimpered.

"Those arrows, they were poisoned, with a paralytic." He winced.

Tears begin to fall from her eyes now, "Oh Link!" she whimpered again, unable to say anything else. "I promise you you'll get through this, I'll get you somewhere where you can get better!"

"It's too late for that my love." He whispered faintly.

"How come?" She whimpered again.

"My legs went numb…a while back…when the poison…reaches my diaphragm…I'll die." He paused, then added, "Just…stay with me…please." He finished, raising a hand to her face.

She placed a hand over his, tears still leaking from her eyes as she responded, "I will darling, I'll stay with you."

He smiled weakly, then said, "Zelda…I-" he went silent.

She looked at him in sudden alarm. His mouth was still moving, but no sound was coming out. It took her a minute to process what this meant. He was no longer able to breathe, and thus speak, therefore he was urgently trying to mouth the words. She looked at his lips, reading the words he was repeating over and over, I…love…you.

Her heart nearly shattered, tears cascading from her eyes and down her cheeks, she leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "I love you too Link."

He smiled again, then his eyes went unfocused and glazed over. Her heart ripped apart in her chest, she buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed and wailed her grief into his tunic. As she crouched there beside her hero, she felt like she was dying from the pain. Why? She asked herself, why did fate have to be so cruel? Why did the goddesses have to do this again? Wasn't having the love of her life die in her arms once enough?

Her terror skyrocketed when he began to fade, "NO!" She shrieked, trying desperately to hold onto him no matter what. It was pointless though as he disappeared along with the tattered tent, leaving her kneeling on the forest floor, completely alone. She wailed into her hands before slamming her fists against the ground. She pounded them against the ground again and again, cursing the goddesses for making her suffer this loss again. Everything around her began to darken, she stopped hitting the ground. What was going on? In her grief-stricken mind, she drew one conclusion, she was dying. Why shouldn't that be it? Demise had the world in his hand now, there was no point fighting anymore after all. She completely surrendered to the blackness. 'Oh…so that's how it is.' She thought as everything darkened, convinced that she was dead.

She jerked awake, sitting upright with a shriek on a bed in a room she'd never seen before, her heart thundering in her chest. She sat there, her mind trying to process what was going on, trying to connect the pieces. She placed a hand over her heart, her chest heaving with her frantic breathing as she tried to slow her racing heartbeat, for the sake of her unborn child, who shifted restlessly within her as if protesting. She took a deep breath and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Mommy? Are you…are you OK" Ilia's voice issued beside her, sounding feeble and scared.

Zelda turned to her head to her daughter, and saw that she was on the floor, leaning against Twilight's furry side as he lay there. Twilight was staring at her too, his expression worried. Zelda took another deep breath, relieved that her heartrate was returning to normal.

"Yes, I'm alright darling, mommy just had a bad dream that's all." She soothed her daughter.

Ilia seemed reassured by this, but Twilight seemed a little more hesitant to accept this. He placed his head back on the floor with a slight whine, ears still pointing in her direction.

"Ilia where exactly are we right now?" Zelda asked her little girl.

"After you fell asleep Ganondorf carried you here to Percy and Annabeth's house to sleep on their guest bed." Ilia replied.

It turned out that fortunately, Percy and his wife and daughter were out at the moment so nobody was freaked out by her scream. She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and slowly eased herself to her feet. Upon standing up, she placed a hand against her back, and pushed slightly. 'Oof' she thought as she felt the stiffness there, it was no easy task being this pregnant that was for sure. After massaging it slightly, she knelt down next to her daughter and Twilight and hugged them both. Twilight still looked a little uncertain, but his tail thumped on the floor a few times. She looked to the window and out at the New Rome skyline, 'Hurry back to me my love.' She thought to herself.

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My POV

For the last week Epona and I had been making our way across the continent. We stopped only at the utmost need, unable to be certain if anywhere would be safe. When we did stop we rested for as short a time as we could manage, although we were making progress towards Camp Jupiter where all my instincts told me everyone would have gone, the toll of this ceaseless exertions was becoming noticeable. My muscles were shrieking from lack of rest, my eyes itched and burned, and my whole body ached from fatigue. Epona wasn't faring much better, we both were going beyond our limits, if we didn't reach Camp Jupiter soon…I pushed the thought away. I was kept going by my desperation to get back to my daughter and beloved wife. I couldn't comprehend the idea of missing my second child's birth.

We were currently maybe a few days away from Camp Jupiter, I blearily assessed our status. Epona and I were nearly dead of exhaustion, we were both famished and dehydrated, and in desperate need of reprieve. I wearily pulled the Master Sword from its sheath and inspected it. It was no longer glowing, I wasn't surprised, the sword mirrored the condition of its master after all. The case in point example of this was in my last life when I fell at Fort Hateno, the Master Sword had been rusted and chipped then, reflecting my state as well.

"Fi, are you there?" I asked weakly, hoping to summon the spirit of the Master Sword.

"Yes Master, how can I be of service?" Fi responds, appearing about three feet in front of me.

"Is this area safe for us to rest in for a short time?" I ask the spirit.

"There are no enemies within my scan radius, Master is safe for now." She replied in her monotone voice.

"How much farther is it to Camp Jupiter?" I inquire tiredly.

"According to my calculations, Camp Jupiter is no more than a few hours away if you were to go at maximum speed. Although, both Epona and Master are extremely exhausted and are currently incapable of such an endeavor. My calculations suggest that if you insist on this course of action, your chances of success are only — ", I cut her off, "Please Fi, don't tell me the odds, I have to do this."

"Very well, Master. If that is all then — ", she broke off.

Not forty feet away, there was a sudden thump, like something landing on the ground. The sound was followed by many smaller thumps. Mind fuzzy, I looked over, then pinched the bridge of my nose and rubbed my eyes. There was a chest there, surrounded by, apples? Fi disappeared as I slowly got up and walked heavily over to the chest, opened it and looked inside. There was a bow and quiver of arrows there, but I couldn't see them well enough to identify them. There were also several corked bottles with a greenish liquid in them.

I pulled out the bow first, bringing it out of the shadowed interior of the chest. As I brought it into the light I recognized this type of bow, it was a royal bow. A decent item for sure, high durability and strong attack power. The intricate golden designs on the bow gleamed in the light, I strapped the bow to my back with my shield and sword. Pulling out the quiver next, I inspected its contents, I was greeted with a few different types of arrows. I saw fire, ice, shock, bomb, and regular arrows. I placed the quiver by my belt, after making sure the arrows wouldn't fall out.

Finally, I removed the bottles of greenish liquid. I now recognized this substance, they were energizing elixirs. These would be quite helpful at the moment, they could revitalize Epona and I. Not completely save us from the exhaustion, just temporarily alleviate the fatigue. Taking half of it myself and giving the other half to my loyal steed, we shot off for Camp Jupiter. Not long after, I saw the valley it resided in come into view over the horizon. Soon I would be back with my family, everything would be right again. As Epona and I began to descend into Camp Jupiter, I faintly heard the shouts of people below. The Roman eagles started circling around us and screeching excitedly. Epona and I suddenly were almost overwhelmed with tiredness, and as we struggled to land safely, I saw her. I saw the one person who I wanted to see above all others. My wife's face was split into a huge smile that she was beaming at me with her joy to see me again.