77 Days Left
Link had spent the entirety of his time after the destruction of the Blight Ganon in Vah Naboris preparing for the fight with Calamity Ganon. He had been hunting down Shrines, gathering resources, and of course, yesterday he had recruited the Zora into committing to joining the battle against Ganon.
But today, he wasn't doing any of that. Instead, he was at his family home with Linkle.
"There are a lot of memories in this house," Linkle said. "I didn't want to lose this place, but I thought I would have to let it go in order to save Hyrule. I'm glad you were able to save it."
"You did the right thing," Link assured her.
Linkle placed a box of things on a table. "I sold some of Grandma's things for travel funds, but I stashed some of the things nobody would want to buy or that I couldn't bring myself to get rid of."
Link opened the box. Inside were several items Link recognized, and he spent some time sorting through them. One of the items he spent more time looking at than the others was a picture. It was very obviously not a drawing or painting, but rather a picture like those that could be taken by the Sheikah Slate, yet instead of being stored on the Slate, it had been somehow imposed onto paper.
"Purah helped me get this made," Zelda said. "I want you to have it."
Shaking off the brief memory, he looked at the image itself. It was a picture of him, Aryll, and Dad. If any of them had noticed the picture being taken, they gave no indication. Instead, they were laughing and joking over dinner.
It occurred to Link that this was one of the rare times he had dropped his stoic façade after he first drew the Master Sword. Given that he knew he hadn't taken the picture, it must have been taken by Zelda the one time he had brought her to his home.
He was glad there had been at least one time he had been comfortable enough around her to let the mask drop.
As the memory slowly trickled back to him, he smiled. Yes, this was probably the happiest memory he had remembered yet.
And yet there was one tiny hint of bitterness that came with it. He had never gotten the chance to introduce Zelda to Mom.
A bit later in the day, he went to visit Impa. "There's something I need to know."
"What can I tell you?" Impa asked.
"Where did I make my last stand?" Link asked.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Impa asked.
"I need to face this," Link said. "It's important."
"Very well," Impa agreed. "You fell in Ash Swamp, east of the Dueling Peaks Trading Post. Purah, Robbie, and I tried to take you to the Shrine of Resurrection, but we would not have been able to get you there in time if not for Farosh helping us."
"Something to thank her for, later," Link said. "I'll go there straightaway."
When Link reached Ash Swamp, he saw the remains of a great many Guardians, as well as broken weapons, some of which appeared to have belonged to Lynels. Clearly, he had put up one hell of a fight.
Looking around, that familiar feeling washed over him...
Link knew he couldn't keep this up much longer.
He had been fighting for hours against the horde of monsters. He was exhausted, had several injuries, and the monsters just kept coming. He was sure he was going to die soon. But it didn't matter.
"Zelda, please, run," he said. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."
"No, I won't do that!" Zelda said. "I won't leave you behind!"
Link didn't respond. He cut down a Silver Bokoblin and an Electric Moblin, but then he realized he was being targeted by a Guardian. His shield had fallen apart over half an hour ago, and he didn't have the strength to dodge in time. This Guardian would kill him. Zelda too, probably, unless help arrived in the next few seconds.
If there was nothing else he could do, he resolved to stay by her side in the next life.
But before the Guardian could fire, Zelda stepped in front of him. "No!" A shining, golden aura appeared around her, and he noticed a symbol o the back of her hand. Three small, golden, equilateral triangles that together formed a larger triangle. The symbol of the Triforce. He knew the royal family's sealing power was connected to it somehow, though he didn't exactly know how. Did this mean she had finally unlocked her power?
He saw Ganon's darkness try to escape the Guardian, only to be obliterated by the golden light. The same was happening with other Guardians nearby.
"Was that...the power?" Zelda asked.
It had to be. Link was sure of it.
Now that she had her power, she could use it to defeat Ganon, to save Hyrule.
Zelda looked back at him. He had collapsed on the ground, thankfully in a way that would allow him to see her face one last time.
"No! Link!" she called, but there was nothing Link could do. The last of his strength was leaving him. He only hoped she would be able to carry on without him. And that Aryll was still alive, and Zelda would be able to care for her in Dad and his stead. Or something like that.
Must you sound so sad, he thought as the last thing he heard was her calling his name.
After that, his memory became less clear. But there was a vague memory of being surrounded by people. Three women who somehow looked like every depiction he had seen of Nayru, Din, and Farore that he had ever seen, and yet didn't at the same time. A woman with golden hair and blue eyes who looked like Zelda but even more so, somehow, though for some reason he could not think of any other way to describe her. Hylia, no doubt. She held the hand of a man who looked like him but with white hair and red markings on his face. Perhaps he was the original Hero, or the god who had became the original Hero. And there were others he didn't recognize, but they were likely other gods and goddesses he had never heard of.
One of them approached him. Unlike the others, he didn't have a distinctly divine appearance. He just looked like a middle-aged man with dark hair and spectacles. The only thing visually striking about him was that Link could not see his eyes behind the spectacles. But something was off about his appearance, as if there was more to it that Link simply couldn't see.
Maybe there was. Maybe Link perceived him as an ordinary man because his mind could not comprehend the man's true visage.
The man smiled warmly at him. "Your journey is not over, child," he said. And Link closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in the Shrine of Resurrection.
As Link returned to the present, he realized he hadn't just regained his memory of his last stand. He remembered his entire life before the Calamity.
He had thought he might feel like a completely different person when that happened, but no. He felt a bit more complete, perhaps, but not by that much. Perhaps he had already recovered the most important memories in his life by that point.
After a few seconds, he looked briefly to Hyrule Castle, then walked back to where Epona was waiting. Either way, he had more Shrine-hunting to do in the morning.
