Jaune had a growing concern. It had been a full day since he had set out, and he had walked for most of it. Simply put, his body was not up to the task. He was fit for his age, but he had never pushed himself this much on a pure endurance march, especially through miles of chaotic forest terrain. He was only 10 years old, and his tiny statue and physique held him back. If they kept going, Jaune would have to call out for a rest again.

It was then that Jaune took a step, and for a single exhilarating second had the sensation of taking a step longer than he had expected. Jaune overcompensated, flailing a few steps forward to stop himself from falling. The ground met him at the same distance he had expected. But the ground he flailed on was not the same as where he had just been.

There was not other way to put it. He was somewhere else, maybe even another world.

The first thing Jaune noticed about this place was the soil. It had gone from an even brown mixed with the duff of the forest to a much deeper color, almost black. And the air was hazy, with a omnipresent blue tint. It obscured his vision- he couldn't see for more than a dozen meters out. The forest itself had gone from a compact deciduous forest to something else. Something that felt almost artificial. There were no foliage, no flora besides the trees. The trees were somehow larger than the ones in the previous untamed forest, and formed a massive canopy over his head. Jaune could not see the sun poking through the leaves, and it was unclear whether this was due to the haze and tree cover... or if the sun just wasn't there to give light.

All he could do for a moment was take in the strange sights. However, he began to notice other things. Some kind of inkling instinct was flaring up at the back of his mind.

It was dead silent here. There were no animal or bug cries, not even the gentle whisper of a breeze. Even more disturbingly, the gnarled trees around him had rigid open hollows exposed to him, forming shapes disturbingly like open, laughing faces. Jaune nervously stepped back from a tree he was relatively close to. His mind ran wild with imagination, on what could have happened to the wildlife that had found its way here. What if the trees themselves had opened up and devoured the fauna? Was he next?

For a second, Jaune regretted following the fairy here. Tales he had always discarded as false, as seeming wrong in his mind came to the forefront of his imagination. Tales of cruel fey luring people in with evil enchantments, stealing their lives, their aura, or even their sense of selves.

The fairy continued on heedless of his fears, glowing at him to continue walking. Jaune forced himself to take a deep breath. There was no point to allowing fear to paralyze him. He had to be brave. He had to show courage. After all, what could he do now? If the trees decided he was food, he would fight them. And if he died, he would go down swinging. Jaune continued after the fairy.

The pair moved for another hour. The forest remained quiet, with nothing stirring apart from Jaune's feet upon the dirt. The air remained a hazy and still blue. Nothing disturbed anything here. For all Jaune could see, the world consisted of the hazy blue air, the fairy, himself, and the trees.

And then, through a small thicket, Jaune came upon a tunnel.

A large line of trees had been formed on either end into a pleached tunnel forming a sort of archway far above Jaune's head. An actual path, albeit a dirt one stretched underneath the small pleached tunnel. It was like some grand hallway in an arboreal church. And at the very end of the pleached tunnel stood its altar. At it's end was a cave entrance, carved into a rock wall. A simply stone archway surrounded the entrance, comically shorter than the rest of the pleached tunnel that Jaune had found himself in. But it was a sign of something beyond just the trees. It was the sign of something intelligent enough to build.

It seemed this was their destination, as the fairy led Jaune down the pleached tunnel and toward the cave entrance. He glanced inside. It was dark, though there was some source of light clearly illuminating the far end, obscured as it was by various stalagmites and stalactites. The fairy went inside, glowing softly at Jaune. Then, without word or warning, the fairy blinked out of existence.

Jaune walked past where it had blinked out, his heart pounding with anticipation. It felt like the cave should have been musty, and either very warm or very cool, but instead it was neither. It just was. Jaune walked through the cave, past the stalagmites. He gradually heard the sound of dripping water, of some kind of gentle tinkling, like that of a distant bell. And then, coming around the largest collection of stalagmites obscuring his view, he came face to face with the source of light.

A woman hovered above a pool of twinkling water. She was the largest woman Jaune had ever seen, easily more than ten feet tall. A shimmering green dress, adorned in sparkling sequins hung off a broad-shouldered, and curvaceous frame. Long and blonde unkept hair dangled as she floated above the water. Her ears were sharp and pointed, yet oddly familiar to Jaune. And then there were the cobwebs. They clung to her frame, seemingly barely hanging onto her body.

She was beautiful, in an aged sort of way. It was like seeing a movie star decades after their youth. There was presence there, but there was also a sense of weariness. Her tired face, beautiful as it was wrinkled as it regarded Jaune with a... without any other way to put it, a sense of relief.

"Hello Link." The beautiful woman said.

Jaune's knees gave out under him. His vision swam. Two words were enough to undo him. Two words were enough to bring him down.

Everything was slotting into place in his mind. Memories upon memories came together. It all felt right, even as his very being struggled to come to terms with what he was experiencing. As his vision came back into focus, Jaune found himself looking at his own sick on the ground, the giant woman above him gazing with pity.

"Am-" Jaune coughed, unable to get the words out past the disgusting taste in his mouth. He took a second to spit out the remaining sick, to try to purge as much as he could. "Am I being taken over?" His eyes watered. His head pounded. He had to fight down the urge to vomit even more.

"You cannot take over what you are." The woman stated. Her voice was as full of presence as she was, booming through the cavern. "I am surprised at your fear. You are the last bearer of the Triforce of Courage." At this, Jaune winced, somehow knowing it to be true.

"There can be no courage without fear." Jaune stated, quoting someone within his memory. There was so much in his brain, so much he would have to sort through later. But he needed to ask his questions now.

"Well said. Tell me, what do you remember, Hero of Courage?"

"I remember a lot. I remember magic. Not aura or semblances, magic. I remember fighting to save a kingdom called Hyrule. I knew that the thing that led me here was a fairy. I've known how to fight for a year. I know what it feels like to starve. I know what it's like to want to give up, but if I did I would lose everyone I cared about. I remember being brave, even though I knew I was going to die." Jaune said, shuddering with the last one. Tears rolled down his face.

"Your name is Link, more than anything your family calls you right now. You are the final remnant of an age before Remnant. In an era where magic was plentiful, before the Grimm, before the Brother Gods, you were Link. You were the Hero of Courage, of Time, of the Seasons. The Wind Waker. The man that united earth and sky once again. You were the savior of Hyrule, of the world. You bore the Triforce and Spirit of Courage. You are... the Goddess's chosen." She finished, looking at (not down), at him. She had shrunk just enough so that she could crouch, and meet Jaune Link face to face.

Jaune shuddered, the names flying in his mind. So many memories. He remembered a summons so familiar to this, leading him through a forest... He remembered his sister being carried off by a giant bird, screaming for her big brother. He remembered his uncle telling him to save the princess as he laid dying in the sewer... He remembered so many childhoods, so many terrible, dark, exhilarating adventures. How could he even begin to catalogue these memories in his mind? What else would he remember as he grew older?

But the panic had left him, replaced with a sense of calm. The woman's words were confirming everything he had always known in the back of his mind, but never acknowledged. Had he refused to acknowledge these memories subconsciously? Was it fear? Had he lacked the courage that so many previous lives had not? Or had he just lacked the faculties to even understand these memories without prompting?

He had lived multiple lives. He had fought in an age of magic, where noble knights reigned for a millennia uninterrupted. The land was ancient, crafted by the gods, molded by the conflict over its rulership, over the Triforce, over the machinations of an ancient evil...

An ancient evil that fought and died against Hyrule and its people, pushing them behind their boundaries and walls. At times, even taking over the kingdom.

Link Jaune looked into the woman's eyes. "Are the Grimm from that- my- our era?" To that, the woman let out a cruel laugh.

"Ganondorf's era is over." The name sent chills down Link's spine. "Even I was born after his last calamity. You fought him over and over again, until he had nothing left. He cursed you and those with the blood of goddess in his original life, swearing to fight the two of you forever. But eventually, you destroyed the last of his power. He had nothing left. His curse trapped him upon this world. Ganondorf exists as the meanest shade, unable to even interact with our physical realm. He shall walk this world forever, cursed to never enter the afterlife. A fitting end for the Demon King."

A bitter happiness fell over Link at these words. He had years of remembered tragedy, and barely budding memories of some great evil. So many lives spent fighting... not to mention the horrifying idea of what would happen if Ganon controlled the Grimm. Link couldn't begin to imagine what it would mean for humanity if someone could control those creatures.

"And... Hyrule?" Link asked.

"Gone." And in a word, the happiness fled Link.

"In time, time claims everything." The woman's tone was bitter now. "The kingdom and its memories faded over a millennia's millennia. The Golden Goddesses left Hyrule with one last blessing, and departed forever. The Kingdom of Hyrule soon ceased to be named Hyrule, and other kingdoms rose and fell in its place. Life continued until the planet was old, and had nothing left to give."

"What about the ruins? Or the magic?" Link asked incredulously.

"Gone. The Brother Gods came upon the remnant of the world and remolded it, imposing their own creation over the skeletons of Hylia's." She did not look sad at the thought. "Perhaps it was for the best. Is it not better to see life on this planet, rather than the ruins of great civilizations that had been abandoned for millennia? I waited for you for a long time in those dead millennia, just in case life returned. Just in case you would still come back."

"You waited for me? Why?" Link asked, surprised. How long had she waited in this grove? She mentioned cities being abandoned for thousands of years. But how long had she waited beyond that? She would have had to have been alive for the decline of life itself, if not far longer. And what of the wait for these Brother Gods to find this world? And the time humanity had been alive on Remnant for?

He was looking at someone literally older than rocks.

The giant woman's eyes grew distant, and nostalgic. She spoke softly, with a hint of tragedy.

"Lady Hylia's last incarnation asked me to. I was the last Great Fairy. My sisters decided to face the afterlife as magic faded from the world. I remained, treasuring those who still followed the old ways, even as their magic faded and the gods abandoned us."

"Of course, Lady Hylia was among them. She was the last beside me who bore true magic. We were friends. I spoke of events before her time, and she spoke to me of... everything. She told me about a vision. She told me that you would be reborn in an era beyond ours. And so Lady Hylia asked me for a blessing. She asked that I stay for you, and pass on a message for her. To tell you of the fate of our people, and our kingdom. To let you know that your work is done for good. Your spirit can rest now, Hero."

Joy. Tragedy. Uncertainty. The mixture of emotions Link was experiencing at her words were incredible. Though his grasp over his previous lives' memories were tenuous, he knew enough to know he had just lost his purpose. Was the reason behind losing this purpose good? Yes. Did it make him feel any better? No.

"I know this must come as a relief. To finally be free, to have broken the chains that the Goddess had imposed-"

"No." Link said solidly to this, shaking his head at her. "I don't remember how this began yet, all of this. But I remember having a choice. I always had a choice to take up my sword. I wasn't cursed. I was chosen because I would have said yes." The air was quiet again, this time because the Great Fairy before him was speechless. But Link was certain. More than anything else. For the first time since she had began talking, Link and Jaune were in sync.

He was still a child, thinking fondly of his family. He was also the Hero of Courage, and accepted that. He accepted his memories, his choices, and his suffering. He had accepted the burden. During any one life, maybe he could have turned his back on others and fled. Maybe even escaped the end of the world long enough to live a somewhat normal life.

He could have. But he never would.

"I see..." She said, chuckling. "I think I understand. Even if I knew then what I know now, of how long I would have to wait... I still would have stayed behind."

"So what now?" Jaune asked her. "What are you going to do now?"

"Fade away." The fairy responded. She chuckled at Link's surprise. "Is that so strange? I've experienced decades, and I only woke for minutes every decade. My magic is nearly gone. I can't even keep my grove alive, as you have seen. I was lucky to make it to you."

"How long do you have? I want to ask you so much. " Jaune said softly. She smiled at him, placing a hand upon his shoulder. It was pale, and cold. A faint cobweb clung even to the limb.

"You are kind, hero. In another lifetime, I would have loved to talk with you. I would have loved to aid you further, as my ancestors once did. But even my magic is waning. I would prefer to offer you a boon, rather than prolong my life any further." She said kindly. She removed her hand from his shoulder, before pointing to his hip.

"Toss your blade into the spring, Hero Link." The Great Fairy instructed. Link reverently unsheathed Crocea Mors, and lowered it into the water.

"Wonderful. I wish I could do this for a shield as well, but I see that you lack-" Her sentence was cut off as Link expanded Crocea Mors's sheath into its shield form. "Ah, delightful. The things that today's humans come up with."

Sword and shield were dipped into the spring below her feet, a beautiful glow pouring forth from both as the water remolded them. The spring bubbled at a furious pace as if boiling, before the Great Fairy withdrew the equipment from the water.

Croceas Mors had changed dramatically. The blade, once a grey and tarnished steel had transformed entirely, now appearing golden in material. Not a flaw remained upon the sword. In the connecting section between the crossguard and the grip, the proud symbol of the Triforce now shone. Magical sparks flew forth as Link took the blade back into his hands.

The shield had changed as well. Gone were its mechanistic parts and simple engraving. Now, the shield bore a dark red color, with gold engravings of both the Triforce, and the Goddess's crest at front. It was heavier too, Link noted- he almost dropped it upon being handed the shield.

"The Golden Sword, and the Red Shield." The Great Fairy stated with reverence. "Long ago, in years beyond counting one of my sisters created these for the Hero of Courage. The sword is a mere shadow of the true Golden Sword, as it was created of fairy magic from the tempered core of the Master Sword. Though it is a mere shadow, I promise that it will serve you faithfully until the very end. And though the Red Shield may pale in comparison to the blade, know that it will guard you from all but the greatest of flames."

"Thank you. I don't even know your name, but... thank you." Link said tearfully, gazing in awe at the objects he held. He had the faintest inkling of familiarity- the sword certainly had a familiar balance, albeit heavy for a child's body like his.

"I am Nayriel, named for the Goddess of Wisdom." The now named Great Fairy said. Orbs of light began to flicker off of her body, as she lessened in form. Link watched helplessly, yet... it was like watching a loved one die after years of illness. It was both grief and relief. Even if he wanted to ask her so many questions. He wanted to learn of Hyrule's last era, of what her life had been like, of what these new gods were. And somehow, he had the feeling that she knew this. Her gaze met him fondly.

"And you are more than welcome. I know now that you will not be one to die in bed, even in your last life. But before I kindly scatter, I wish to pass on one last message. One left for you by Hylia's last incarnation." Nayriel took a deep breath. "For all the hope that you offered. For all the blood that you shed. For all the happiness you allowed me, and all of Hyrule. For your endless duty and eternal love, thank you."

Tears ran down Link's face. Gasps escaped his clenched throat, as he watched every second of Nayriel fading away. It was hard to tell at this point why she was unclear in his vision- whether it was her rapidly disappearing form, or the tears obscuring his sight. Without prompting, he reached out and embraced Nayriel, feeling her form diminish in his arms. Link wanted to remember this. He wanted to remember her forever, and all that she had done to pass on this message. For helping him to understand who he was. He tried to say something, anything- but all that came out were sobs.

"My older sisters told me of an old Hero." Nayriel said quickly, yet softly. "A hero followed by a fairy. I wish that I could have followed you like she did. I-"

In a violent flash, Link found himself back in Remnant. And with that, it was over.

Link wasn't sure how long he had sobbed for by the time he finally came to. His duty finished, Nayriel's high views of him, the exhaustion in his body and vomit still upon his tongue, it was all too much for him. It was a cruel reminder that although he had lost over and over again, death never became easier.

And wasn't that beautiful in an awful way?

And now he found himself out in the woods of Remnant, clutching the golden sword in hand. He could feel the last of the Spirit of Courage inside him, feel the fairy magic in his sword and shield. He could feel the memories of past lives, the very essence of who he was. Yet at the same time, he was undeniably a different person from those past lives as well, as he had always been. A part of him was Link Hyrule, Link of Ordon, and now, Jaune Arc of Remnant. This was his final life. His final chance to make a life that counted.

This was the scene that Nicholas Arc came upon when he found his son. Sobbing, yet smiling, sword and shield clutched tightly in the boy's arms.