Chapter 72: Dawn of a New Age
The royal dungeons did not disappoint. Dark and cold, with air that tasted of sickness and felt heavy on his skin. Each of the cells were scarcely large enough for a person to lie down, and their thick doors made it impossible to see in or out. To be a prisoner here was to be alone and miserable. Gan would keep that tradition, the Hylians had a few good ideas after all. No one could deny them that.
The new Gerudo gaoler led him passed rows of locked doors, ignoring the groans and screams from those stuck within them. He would need to go through them all and see who deserved to be down here. But not today. Whoever these captives were, they would survive their cages for another day or two. Now he had a single prisoner in mind.
His guide stopped, before one door that looked much the same as all the others. But she went through the ring of keys muttering to herself. "Sorry my king. I'm still not certain which one goes where yet. I'll get it, I promise."
After a few tries, she found the one that clicked into place and opened the door for him.
Gan ducked into the room. Even after he got through the door, his head nearly scraped the ceiling. "Bring me a chair, then you will no longer be needed."
"As you wish, my king."
He stood, hunched, looking over the prisoner. The man huddled in the corner, unmoving. Once fine clothes torn and stained brown from dried blood. His once impressive beard matted and darkened from wetness. His cheek discolored from a bruise and his forehead cut. So battered and still, one could mistake him for dead already, but for those eyes that watched Gan.
"Thank you," Gan said as the Gerudo arrived with a solid looking wooden chair. He sat down and stretched out before the prisoner. Letting the man see just how comfortable he felt. How much control he had. "You know, I've never seen the royal dungeons. I half expected to find myself thrown down here one day. What else would your people do if they ever captured me? To think of all the possible fates of this world, we live in the one where you are locked away, and I hold the keys. The dungeon. The castle. The kingdom."
The prisoner did not respond. The only indication that he heard came from those eyes. Haunted eyes. Drained of just about everything, except sorrow. But still open. Still aware.
"I have to tell you, the largest surprise of all was just how easy this was. I thought this the greatest gamble of my life. I expected most my sisters to perish in the attempt. But the Royal Knights were disorganized and unprepared. And the City Guard? Hah! I did not even know they were at half strength when I rode south. I expected an actual fight. But they rolled over this morning. As soon as they saw me, with all my power they threw their weapons to the ground. I've never seen anyone surrender so quick."
What else could they do before the might of the Triforce?
Still the prisoner refused him. Worse, his sorrow turned to disinterest. His head rolled back until it rested on the stones, and he closed his eyes.
The disrespect of the man.
"It's strange, do you know what I am reminded of on this day? Kakariko of all things. But I suppose that's natural, isn't it? I often think back to that battle, my greatest defeat. My only defeat, more or less. And every time I think on it, I am still marveled at its elegance. Your Queen had a quarter my forces, maybe less, and barely any walls to protect herself. Anyone else in the world, I would have crushed. But her? If she were still around I never would have dared risk the assault. I never would have hatched plans with beasts like Moblins, Dodongo, and Octorok. I probably would have sued for peace years ago."
"If you are asking if I wished I died in place of my wife," the broken man finally spoke. "Of course. Every day for the last ten years."
"She was something special."
"She was."
"It's a shame I have to wipe her line off the face of the earth."
That opened the prisoner's eyes. "No."
"It's the only way to be certain my rule will be unquestioned. Even you must see the necessity of it."
"No," the man crawled forward, his belly scraping on the grime of the floor. "She is just a girl. A child. She can't hurt you."
This was the enemy that took him so long to defeat? This worm? "I thought you were once a knight? A king! Where's your dignity? Where's your self-respect?"
The prisoner did not need to answer for Gan to know. If he ever had it in the first place it was lost. For him, it was brittle armor that once broken cracked completely. He cowered on the ground, a bowed and broken figure. Fear lining his face deeper than the cuts. Pathetic. But there had to be something left. There had to be something worthwhile within this man, something worth celebrating or else what kind of victory did Gan win?
Holding up his hand, he summoned his sword. For what little it was worth, the broken man didn't turn away and hide at the sight of it. And when Gan dropped it onto the stones before him, he did not jump. He only looked confused. "Go on. Take it."
"You can't be serious."
"Prove to me there is fire left in the royal line of Hyrule."
The man touched the black blade. He swallowed, and once more looked up to Ganondorf. And for a moment there was steel behind those eyes. The desire to fight, the call to greatness. He must feel it. The lowest slave could feel mighty when they held such a sword.
But the broken man pushed the blade away. Instead, he reached out and took Ganondorf's hands in his own, pulled them to his mouth and kissed them. "I cannot fight you. My kingdom is yours. My life is yours, do with it whatever you will. It does not matter. But if you have any heart left at all. Spare the last descendant of the Queen you respected. Please."
Gan pulled his hand away. "Is that all? I knew you were a worthless fool of a ruler. But I did not expect you to be craven as well."
The wretch didn't fall back in fear. He didn't look away or cower. His eyes weren't the same as those who fled from him or surrendered. Gan had seen the look of a man breaking more times than he could count. These were different, like a soldier holding steady before the horns of charging knights. "Perhaps I am. What is courage, nobility, or dignity when compared to a daughter?"
Gan sneered. "The royal house has fallen low."
With a thought his sword returned to his hand and Gan struck. He didn't bother standing from the chair to deliver the blow. This fat fool did not deserve it. A single stroke was all it took to split him in half and sever the life from those eyes.
So ended King Regent Liotidos Beramus Hyrule. A miserable excuse for a king. Trusting when he should have been cautious, meek when he should have been strong, boisterous when he should have been listening. History will remember him as the worst ruler of Hyrule, of that Gan had no doubt. A king that loses their kingdom could be nothing else.
And yet Gan stared at the corpse, as the blood pooled around his feet. In the end, this was all kings were. Just men, like any other. They lived grander, perhaps, made decisions that decided the path of whole kingdoms. But in the end, they died just like everyone else. Will this be my fate, one day?
No. It couldn't be. He had been through too much to let this happen to him. Through the desert and death, through fire and battle. He'd beaten every challenge facing hm. No one would ever dare compare his greatness to this... corpse. Leaving the cell, Gan made certain to stop by the gaoler. She greeted him with a wide smile that only grew wider when Gan gave her his command. "Toss the body into a ditch somewhere."
That should have been the end of things. And yet hours later, the dead man's eyes still haunted him. They followed him. Even when the horns announced his presence, and the singers trilled their loyalty to him. When he entered the Throne Room packed with Gerudo and prisoners both. He saw those eyes in the captive boy Durrell, and the few still living guards. Stripped of all weapons and forced to witness the culmination of their defeat.
Even when his mothers appeared bearing a crown of iron, and for the first time he could remember declaring their pride in him. Even then he felt little, hollow. When he knelt before the witches and they placed the crown upon his head, those eyes stood stark in every servant and courtier bruised from the night before.
And when he sat the throne, when the dark part of his soul howled in joy, when his mothers proclaimed his ascension loud enough for the Goddesses to hear, he saw those eyes in every Hylian. All defeated, all united in their hatred of him.
One by one, the Hylians were driven before the throne, pushed to their knees, and forced to give fealty to him. He could only watch all their hateful eyes so long before he searched the crowd for those he knew. Those he cared for. Those that cared for him.
He found far fewer than he hoped. At his side stood his only present commander, he gestured for Desquesza to approach. "Any news on Bethe?"
"No change, last I heard. Even after what you did for her. The healers can't tell if that's good or not."
"I'll see to her again tonight. We will not lose her." Only one more needed to die, and it would not be Bethmasse. "And where is Nabooru?"
"She and her mother are looking over the dead. I can send for her if you wish."
Gan looked over the procession that remained. So many, who despised him as they were forced to grovel before him and offer oaths. "Leave her be. She'd only grow bored."
But it did not feel right that Nabs wasn't there. Nor was Bulira. Bethe. Makeela. Caetli. Mulli. Saevus. Boszura. Tressa. So many he wished to share this moment with. So many who would never know what came of their sacrifice. Instead he had his mothers, gloating in his victory, cackling at the heavens.
"It will all be worth it," he whispered to himself, as his reign began.
How sound was a mind after suffering the greatest torments? Zelda had read that people sometimes go mad after being tortured, or near killed, or losing those they loved. Some who suffer the worst of fates break. They see things that were never there, speak to those no one else can see. How could she be certain that the same thing hadn't happened to her?
She held tight around Impa's waist as they rode their horse away from Castle Town. Away from the scouring of her home. They traveled East, judging by the sun, though Zelda knew not where they headed. She did not know if Impa explained it to her, or if she had placed Zelda on the horse and simply rode. She could not remember much of what happened after Rauru cast his spells.
Only the golden light had cut through her tears. But now, she could not see it at all. Perhaps it had only been a delusion.
They passed three buildings before Zelda realized they entered a village. One close to Castle Town and reasonably prosperous by the look of it. When they reached a stable Impa pulled their mount to a stop, slid from the saddle, and helped Zelda off.
The beast grunted in what Zelda thought sounded like happiness. It had carried them far and fast; it must be exhausted. But it didn't seem fair. Why should a beast be happy on a day like this?
"Stay here and keep your hood up," Impa told her. "I'll see if I can trade this horse for another."
Zelda nodded. When her guardian disappeared into the stable she wandered to the side out of sight of the people wandering the street or tending to the horses. Once certain no one could see her, she stared at her hand. Had it truly been there? The golden light, the familiar shape that she had seen every day of her life; from religious tapestries presenting great moments in the faith of the Three, to every shield that bore her family crest. She knew the Triforce, and it had been on her hand.
Or at least, her mind made her think that it had been. But now? It was just the back of her hand. Same as it had always been. No light, no symbol of power, just a thin weak child's hand. One that could not hold open a door. One that couldn't save anyone.
She must have been delusional. The Last Gift of the Three, with the power to grant a wish to whoever could obtain it. Somehow, inexplicably coming to her? Going to Link she understood, he entered the Sacred Realm. But her? Why? It didn't make sense. Unless the Goddesses wanted her to have it.
It could still be with her. Couldn't it? Even if she didn't see it. The power of Three could be hers. Why not? What did she have left to lose?
Lifting her hand to the skies she spoke with all the authority she could muster. "I wish for Ganondorf to die, I wish for everything that he loves be taken from him, I wish to watch his desert swallowed by endless sands so nothing will ever grow there."
She held her hand aloft for several moments. Had something happened? How could she know if it did? Her hand didn't glow. The Triforce did not reappear.
"I wish to know if my last wish came true."
The Goddesses did not answer, unless their message was somehow hidden in the chirping of birds and the rustling of people going about their day. It didn't work. She was delusional, wasn't she? And yet the certainty remained. She saw the mark on her hand the night before. She didn't feel insane. But then, do the mad know they're mad?
She tried a few more times before Impa found her. "What are you doing back here?"
"I thought it best to avoid places I might be noticed."
"Perhaps. But you don't want to make it too obvious you're trying not to be seen." Impa took her hand and led her to the new horse. She helped Zelda reach the saddle and handed her some meager food, which tasted of nothing. It might well have been the most delicious thing Zelda had ever put in her mouth, but she would not notice. Her mind fixed on her hand and the symbol she knew she saw.
They rode from one village to another. Always East, and continuously trading for new horses when their current was exhausted. They spoke little as they traveled. More brief barks of noise at each other, rather than conversation. "We're near the next village." Impa would announce though it was plain to see. "Take the reins a moment," when she needed to adjust herself. Words that passed between them without any true meaning.
But at night, Impa would cradle Zelda in her arms as though she were still a babe. A gentle warm embrace until Impa fell asleep. Though Zelda never did. Deep into the night she continued her experiments with different words, but always the same wish.
"Blessed Three return my kingdom to me. Blessed Three make Ganondorf's own people betray him. Blessed Three grant me the deaths of all who took up arms against my father."
"Sacred Triforce bring ruin to the Gerudo. Sacred Triforce pierce Ganondorf with sword and arrow. Sacred Triforce grant me vengeance."
"Nayru, Farore, and Din, I hold your gift, deliver me vengeance. Nayru, Farore, and Din, I hold your gift, slay my enemies."
Night after night she chanted. But the mark never returned. All that changed was the growing bags beneath her eyes and the pain of her legs from so long ahorse.
Tired, miserable, and sullen she rode as the days blurred into a week, and one week turned to another. She did not count them, she did not care.
Until one afternoon, Impa slowed their horse into a trot still some distance from the nearest village. To the right of the road sat gravestones, hundreds of them or more.
"Come princess," Impa said as she held out her hand. "Here we stop."
Zelda took the offered hand and descend from the horse. It did not seem a proper place for a rest. The village was not far away, if they reached it they may find some food to buy or another horse to trade. Perhaps even a roof to sit under for a time. Why a graveyard? But Zelda did not question her, what did it matter when it came to it? None of it really mattered anymore.
Impa tied their horse to a tree and led her among the dead. They walked far longer than Zelda would have thought, for the graveyard of such a small-looking village. The natural roll of the lands had disguised just how large the graveyard was. There were fields of the dead. And the gravestones were peculiar, most of them didn't have any name at all or a mark of any kind. Those that were often only had a number etched into them. Rarest of all had a little phrase, but even those were queer.
'Discovered in a lie.'
'Passing needed reconnaissance.'
'Working beneath the mirror.'
Then came fields of gravestones all with the same inscription.
'In defense of our home'
Over and over. On every stone big or small. As they walked into this group Zelda thought she saw a tear hanging in Impa's eye as she touched one stone and moved to the next. Bowing her head in reverence as she continued. Only stopping when she noticed a figure deeper in the graveyard.
The man took note of them and approached. He had pale skin and red eyes, just like Impa. But there the similarities ended. He was massive despite his hunched back and clubbed foot. Completely bald, ancient, and wizened, especially around his protruding jaw. All of him looked misshapen, and yet strong, his arms were larger than a smiths and he looked as though he could snap a man in two.
He stopped a few paces away from them, probing eyes looking between Impa and Zelda. Bright eyes, ones that noticed everything. "Do not be afraid, child. I know my appearance frightens but I mean you no harm."
"I don't fear you," Zelda said. There was nothing that seemed mean or foul about him, except the light stench of sweat and grime. But after a week or more on horseback she must have smelled just as bad.
"You wouldn't, would you?" The man took the last few steps toward them and nodded to Impa. "Welcome home, young lady."
"I'm not so young anymore," Impa bowed her head to the man. "Master."
"None of that, now," the hunchback shook his head. "I'm no longer an inquisitor."
"Dampé, then. I hoped I would find you." Impa turned and took Zelda's hand, pulling her closer to the man. "I've brought-"
"I know who you brought, and I know why." The big man frowned down at Zelda. "I'm sorry for your loss, child. I've seen what a Gerudo horde can do. No one should have to witness that."
"Thank you," she muttered, though she did not feel particularly thankful. What did his apologies do? Nothing. And what was he apologizing for? He had not wronged her. Zelda didn't even know who he was except some large hunched cripple.
The big man grunted. "I expect you'll want to see her. Come along." He turned and limped back the way he came. Impa's grip on her hand tightened as they followed the old man. He led them to what seemed the very center of the graveyard, to a small hut propped against a hill. Ten paces across from one end to the other, barely long enough for Zelda to live comfortably much less this large man. "Wait here," he ordered as he opened the door and stepped inside.
He did not close the door behind him, letting flies buzz behind him and into the building. And allowing Zelda to peer within. It held only one room, and all of it well used. Clothes and food strewn over the mess of a bed. Across the floor piles of metal boxes and winches, springs, and sprockets. All covered in a layer of dirt and grease.
Dampé kicked aside the rubbish before he took a small key hanging beneath the only window. He grunted at them to follow as he left the little hut and shut the door behind him. They did not travel much further. Near the field where the gravestones all bore the same message, passing over a gentle slope before they revealed an enclosed tomb, gated off from the rest of the graveyard with a white-steel fence.
The man unlocked the gate and held it open for Zelda to go in. "Take all the time you need." He said, before shutting the gate behind her. Separating her from the gravekeeper and her guardian.
Zelda's heart pounded as she headed deeper into the enclosed grave. As tired as she was, she knew what was happening, where she was. Passed bushes and a stoned pathway leading to a single monument of a grave. Larger than any other, made of white marble baring the crest of Hyrule. Before it lush green well kept grass, with a single flower growing from the plot. A small beautiful little thing, she had seen grown in the palace garden. Though in truth, she never paid the fragile white and blue flower much attention before, but now the silent princess nearly made her weep.
She knelt before the grave that bore the inscription:
Queen Zelda XIX Hyrule
Who saved us all
Pressing her head into the grass she let her tears flow. "I'm sorry," she gasped between labored breaths. "I tried to be like you. I did. But I couldn't. I wasn't- and father- and everything. I failed. It's all my fault. If I hadn't told Link to find the stones. If I had talked to father. If I had been smarter. There were so many things that I could have done different. It's all my fault."
She stopped trying to speak for some time. Letting her grief consume her as she lay before the grave, clutching at the grass. Leaving the once well-manicured grave a mess. "Why couldn't you have been there?" She moaned when she could finally speak again. "I needed you. All my life I needed you, and you were never there." Another wave of tears and another. How long she cried she could not say. Though the sun began to fall and a night's chill descended.
She was alone. The last of her family. This was the end of Hyrule.
And it was all her fault.
Not the vile Ganondorf. Not her father. Not the world. Her.
"I only meant to help. I didn't mean to ruin everything you saved. Please, mother. Please." She wiped her face on her sleeves leaving great streaks of tears and mud and grass. "Forgive me. I just need to know, what would you have done? What am I supposed to do?"
Though her mother did not wake, nor did she speak, there was no lightning from the heavens, nor sign along the winds. But on her hand a golden symbol gleamed.
Link could not move, but he could feel. The searing wound across his chest, the ache in his arm that held the holy sword, and the wet blood in his mouth stuck open in his soundless scream. He could not look away or even blink. He simply stared out where the monster left him.
He had failed, just as the voices warned. His moment – his trial – had come and he wasn't good enough. Just as Mido said, and all his fellow Kokiri knew. He had never been good enough. And now he had lost everything.
If only he could break free. If he could move again. Perhaps he could make it out, find someone more worthy of the sword. He only needed to move. To break through the shimmering walls and escape. He'd gone through so much. Couldn't he do just this? Just this one last thing? Then he could let the pain consume him. Then he could just let go. But only after he broke free.
He poured all his focus into his arm. If he could move the sword, if he could pierce it. Would that be enough? Just a little. Just a finger's width. Come on. Move. I'll give up anything, everything, just to have it move! But nothing happened. His arm remained frozen, and the sword cut through nothing. So he begged, pleaded, roared at his arm, at the sword, at this cage. Everything! But his mouth never spoke the words. His voice as frozen as the rest of him.
"You did not respect your opponent's strength," the harsh voice told him.
I should have gone to the Triforce.
"You had not the sense to avoid the obvious trap," the regal voice admonished.
I knew what he was doing, and I couldn't stop myself.
"You were not ready." even the voice of merriment and laughter sounded sad. "But perhaps you will be given time. Rest, my constant delight, and dream on these lessons."
Despite the prison, his eyes closed, the pain left him and he slipped into the dark. And as he slept he dreamed and in his dreams he beheld wonders.
End of Part One
Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope you're enjoying the story. My little retelling has grown quite a bit since I started. My initial plan was for this in total to take no more than about 50-60 chapters to cover the entire game. We all can see that hasn't really gone according to plan. And I cut things to get it down to as few chapters as I have. Including two chapters from Impa's perspective describing what she was doing after she was forced to leave Zelda, and one of King Lio's last dreams before his execution.
Regardless, this project has taken quite a bit more time (and word count) than anticipated. I normally don't want to burden my readers with personal details. I'm here to present a story, but this is relevant to everyone. Since I began, I have attempted to start a new career in a different field. And for the next several months I'll be putting most of my energy into that. What does that mean for this story? Well, it's going to go on hiatus for at least a little while. Give me some time to get my bearings with the new job and allow me to map out the next phase of the story.
That said, I don't plan on leaving it untouched for months. My current goal is to go through the old chapters one by one and edit them during this time, as I find editing less mentally taxing than writing. I think I've improved at least a little bit since I started nearly two years ago, and the chance to spruce up the language, get a firmer grasp on character, remember to actually foreshadow important details, and improve pacing should be helpful.
Before I go, I would like to specifically thank those who have favorited or followed the story: Advanced99, AerthAA, anachronisticroman, Andre Cueva, Animan10, asafaltin2006, avatarange, blindwolf27, Bookworm24680, carbonpancke, Casual Dark, Cstan, CuddlyMakani, Dabodeeda, DancingDaffodil, Demon Shadow5000, Dominus et Devs, Draconic, Drinuk, eacox1787, fernandojpera03, figureitoutmate, Final Saph, For You Blue, Gadgeteer101, gdcintl, GIOJO42069, Heisenbee, Hero McAllen, Honeybee Inn Aeris, huntersaren, JustACrabWithCheese, Knowledgeispower.23, lexierosa29, Lizardon02, LuckKvn, magpie426, MasterZero5, Milan McBride, M. Unknown Identity, Musical Anima, Neo-Devil, Oracle in Vein, R.B. Lynn, Reprisal-of-Shadows, Reyvalnor, ShadyShawn21, Singingtheblues, skylargillilan, Smaugthedragon250, smithjacqueline160, Somaria, Super Smash Bros 62, Symphonian Abyss, Tahkaullus01, The Sewer Rat, Tiger2014, VIIDSins, VincentFS, WallCat, way2dumb2live, WhereIcannotbecrucified, whitewhale63, XxNeo-ChanxX, YLFanatic94, YoshiChara, and Zolias
And an additional thanks for those who took the time to write a review. Positive or negative, they all help me improve: YLFanatic94, James Birdsong, WallCat, Kansashome87, LuckKvn, Animan10, VincentFS, Casual Dark, Maverikdark, Wow, Random Reader, Draconic, AerthAA, figureitoutmate, and probably around two or three people who are just known as Guest.
It really does mean a lot just knowing people are following and entertained.
Well, that's it for now. Feel free to write a review or send me a message if you have anything specific you want to see improved in the second half, or mistakes that really need to be cleaned up in my edit. And I hope the wait for more chapters isn't too long for anyone.
And once again, thanks everyone who read this far.
Updated chapters: Prologue through Chapter 15
Additional note: To everyone in general, but the reviewer who went by Backup in specific, because of the current instability with I have started the process of bringing the story to AO3. It might take some time, I have to wait to be invited apparently. But even once I make that transition, I will still be posting updates here unless this site should become truly unusable.