Zelda looked back toward him. "Yes. Everything went well. We are married now. Now, I should tell you a few things. Let's go away from the town to the ruins. We need to find privacy."
Right, Impa made it clear enough. His instinct made it clear enough. He did this for the kingdom, and he had to know what he was getting himself into. "Can you tell me why we glowed during the ceremony?"
They were already starting to leave town. She started to speak after they passed by a few people. "We do that. It's subtle, and only when we touch." She touched his hand. "See?"
The small glow appeared again. It disappeared when she let go.
"My mother and father did that whenever they held hands," she said as if reminiscing. "They were always so happy in their glow with each other."
"What about what Impa said? About the glow gold on your own time, Zelda?"
"When affection runs higher, the blue glow becomes gold. A kiss can do that for a few seconds."
Oh. They were kissing. "The green glow that Kapson mentioned, he said it was during pregnancy?"
"The blue glow turns green on the mother. I never saw it, but it's supposed to be the first sign that a new royal is coming. It doesn't leave the mother though until after the pregnancy. Now? I don't know if this was a waste of time or the smartest thing we could have done. I don't like to think about it. Calamity Ganon and Ganon was pure evil, a man who wanted to destroy everything."
"This guy wants his own selfish desires, he's already replacing time, and he wants into the royal line. I get it, Zelda, that's why I did it with no hesitation," he added.
"There's more than that," Zelda said as she stopped walking a moment. "Link. These time bubbles do not last forever. Things can come from them, but the space itself that is created is tied to it's creator. He showed us the ground after his father died to prove a point. When he is killed, everything that he messed with, will turn into that. It will eventually have grass grow back over, time will heal it, but it will take time the longer the amount. People cannot walk onto it. It'll resolve nothing."
"Yeah, I figured it was something like that," Link said. "What's our next move?"
"I'm not clearly sure, but . . ." Zelda was trying to say something. Something important. "I don't know if he knows it, but time power is very special and powerful. What he's doing, is going to end his life. Soon. If he quits now, he won't get more than a year to live."
Ohh.
"However, children can carry on from it's creator. So, that is where we are at. This may have been the worst thing I could have ever done, or the best. The only way to correct anything, is to get back to his families home. Last time, I couldn't get back. I was afraid that might happen again, and if it does? My time is not bubbled. It would change our future success."
"Ganon." Yeah, he got it.
"I now have a tie though back. You. In marriage, you didn't receive a whole lot, but if you hold my hand this time-"
"I can tether you." Yes. "Two spots in one?"
"It'd be much more like a phantom, but yes," she agreed. "If I do that, then Clover never gets the magic to come back. Everything goes back to how it was a few days ago. Gerudo. The Castle. Everything."
"Man, I should have married you sooner, Zelda," he realized. "He was right. You were as important as baked apples."
She gave him a funny look. "Anyhow, Link, he has taken a lot of time and a lot of power. Purah said that three of her potions are missing. I don't know what to expect, so I will tell you this. Though I hate to." She cleared her throat. "I am married to you. If he takes me and marries me, my glow is still only to you. I can fake a little glow to fool him if I have to."
Ooh. "I don't like this conversation, Zelda." Not one bit. He knew what came after a normal marriage. "He wants in on royalty, and a kid to keep the power going."
"Yes, but trust me, he will be extremely weak after this. Even when he does have some strength, it'll be easy to tire him out. It? It's like a horse you just found on the slow hills verses a professional horse."
"I don't like the analogy, Princess Zelda."
"Well, I didn't want to make it. I'm not saying it will even be that, he might just laugh maniacally and snuff us all out at once, I don't know." She crossed her arms. "I'm just letting you know. I honestly don't know what he's doing, Link. I don't know this particular time power, I've never seen bubbled. I don't know if it has different effects at all. I just know, that this is too big of a stretch of power."
"I don't have to kill him to stop him, Zelda." Quick point.
"If he thinks anyone is trying to get in his way, he could just change the time and kill us all, including himself. He's already gone this far," she reminded him. "He has all the cards. We must be careful. No matter what he does, we must be prepared."
Hmph.
"Link. Castle Town is the only way to reverse this. That's all I'm saying," she said softly. "Let's go back. You don't need to learn to be an actual royal, you just need to be what you've always been. There for our people." She started to turn around.
Right. No long conversation given. Link headed back upward. He was trying to think in his head, about every single person out there. He'd retrieved so many, and when he did think of someone else, they would already be there or dead. Like, the sand seal plushie person. Long gone. Anyone in Gerudo except Riju were long gone to save.
All the zoras made the trek. The Gorons were all there, Yunobo helped with that head count. The Ritos had settled in the atea between Kakariko and Hateno. Even the Yiga clan had parked it on the outside of Kakariko village for now.
Bad. Good. Everyone was there. He racked his brain, trying to think of anyone else. All the stables were cleared out, the horses were brought between as well as the dogs.
Link went back toward the village to double check anything he could. "Zelda? I think we got everyone."
"I think so too," she agreed with a smile. "I think this saves everyone that we know of."
"It happened!" Purah went right over to them. "The micro tremors finished."
Link looked around him. Everyone was still there, no one got pulled back. The bubble didn't interfere with any of them.
"Let's make sure everyone is comfortable, and then we can check between the other areas that we can," Zelda said.
"Yes, Zelda." Link helped the Zora's get comfortable over in the watery areas.
Then? As he was getting to help them find spots near the water, he heard Purah call out "You!"
He rushed back over toward the entrance where Zelda had been.
He just came into Hateno. Like a regular guy, nothing special. Nobody even recognized him on the way over. Same commoner strut. Same commoner style. Absolutely no one Link would suspect of anything except maybe being a Yiga in disguise. "Hello."
Even the greeting. Nothing special. Link half expected him to show up all of a sudden in the air with lightning and darkness casted down with what he just accomplished. It was still dark, but that wasn't because of him.
This frail little man, was the one that did this. "I said hello? You do remember me?"
"What do you want?" Zelda came over quickly. "Clover."
"Still so glum? I gave everyone multiple warnings. I gave you a whole two days to gather everyone. Everything is fine and everyone is fine," he said with a smile. "It's beautiful out there, just like you remember. We all get a second chance to make it right this time." He looked around. "Notice how none of the Zoras have disappeared? I didn't smite them with some giant stick, even though they should all be over there. I am leaving it up to everyone. Everyone gets a say whether they want to go out there to the beautiful kingdoms and people they once knew, or stay here."
"For how long?" Zelda asked. "A few hours before they disappear like father had?"
"Yes, sorry about that," he apologized to Zelda. "I didn't know focus. Now that I know focus, I can concentrate better. You can see the difference, right? Like night and day." He just smiled at Zelda, like he did nothing wrong.
Link stayed very near to her. Zelda cried all night over her father. That pain, all over again, wasn't going to leave her for a sorry.
"Look. Anyone who is over 100 and survived the calamity, can go ahead and leave," Clover said. "They have an unlimited amount of time over there. That's what King Rhoam wanted last time, the ability to move. Well, they have it now. I kept their exact spots frozen, so it didn't take anyone out of this time that survived. Those who aren't over 100, will have to live in this area. You know. Time bubble and all that."
Just a regular man. Just, regular talk. Just, a regular sword would take him down. "Zelda."
"I know, Link." She sounded just as mad. "So you think you restored Hyrule?"
"Yes. I did the last thing I ever wanted to do." He just smiled. "Happily ever after. Old and new can mingle just fine."
Just, take him out. Just, one swipe of his sword! Nothing, he'd be less work than even a Yiga. Maybe even less than a bird. If only he could. Zelda said he would be feeling weak, but it was hard to tell when he was already a weak fighter.
"A happily ever after?" she scolded him. "You changed all of Gerudo, and no one survived!" She didn't want to lead on about Riju surviving because of the stone.
However, more people were starting to notice Clover for who he had been.
"Steady, everyone," Link commanded. "Kill him, kill us." He didn't have time to explain everything, he just made it as easy to understand as he could.
"Oh. Yes? Hello." Clover waved. "I guess my presence is known now? Okay, well, you can all go home if you are over 100. Enjoy Hyrule. Uh, enjoy your old friends who were once dead in the war, they are back now."
"Mipha is back?" Sidon asked before he even knew he did.
"The champion? Yes, they are all back," he insisted. "Go on, enjoy your home. Ignore the spots that are burning, that's just the space for the ones that were alive. I made sure no one who survived would get caught."
"Spots burning are wounds in time," Zelda corrected him. "You are misusing the power of time."
"Well, it was either that, or just restore them and let them 'die' to you over here?" he said condescendingly to her. "Which would you prefer?"
"None! You do not mess with time! Don't act like you've done nothing but good either, I remind you once again of Gerudo!"
"Well, I was stuck in prison and in heat that would kill me. In order to get out, I had to make it like 20,000 years in the past. It was very pretty," he noted. "However, I figured if I already did that, I might as well restore it to where I wanted it to be as well."
"You took out the Gerudo that were there," Zelda insisted. "Do you even understand that?"
"Well, the way you were upset about the burning wounds in time, you think you'd be happier with that? Time is complicated, I needed to escape. It was a small price to pay to bring everyone back. Which, I did. I did that, and I made sure no one else died. Don't I get any credit for that?"
"Fine, you're a bloody hero, what do you want here?" she asked.
Meanwhile, Link started to see some people crossing over from the safety area. They wanted to see it for themselves. "Zelda?"
"Let them go, Link. We cannot stop anyone. Trying is all we can do to see the results," Zelda insisted.
"I'm not lying, it's unlimited. As long as they are older than 100," Clover said again. "However? There is a little something to it. When you cross over into the bubble, you won't remember any of this time. Your last known memory will be where the time bubbles reside in time."
Ugh. Of course he waited for people to leave before he said that.
"Then when they return out of the bubble, the spot of fire burns down that was them," Clover said. "See? I got it right. Maybe I messed up on Gerudo, but let's be serious, Zelda? You've read the history of Hyrule, I'm sure you know exactly what kind of people they were anyhow. It's where he keeps coming from."
"I don't know what you are referencing," Zelda countered him. "They haven't done anything wrong."
"Don't act like that. He was with them, wasn't he? You were in the past, you must have seen it. He always comes from them," Clover insisted. "How nicey nice and wiped out of history did your books become?"
Ganon. He was talking about Ganon? "It doesn't matter," Link said to him. "Ganon wasn't them. If he came from a Hyrulean, you wouldn't do the same thing." Biased commoner too. "You punished a whole race for crimes they weren't responsible for."
"Well? Look, I can't fix that. In order to do that, I would have to make another time bubble over Gerudo, have them move off Gerudo, cast it again, and then let them go? That's backwards. I'd look foolish doing that," he said.
"You won't bring back Mattison because you would look foolish?!" Rhondson moved straight over to him, her old weapon in hand.
"Rhondson, no!" Zelda demanded. "He controls everything right now, don't!"
Clover scratched his head. "Who's Mattison?"
"Her daughter," Zelda said. "You murdered a very young girl. You murdered several young girls and women."
"Oh? Damn. Okay, this whole Gerudo thing is the reason everyone's upset, right?" he asked. "My life expectancy after this isn't long. If I fix Gerudo, including this little girl Mattison, it'll take that much more, but fine. I'll be back in a couple of days. Then it'll be all fixed up."
"All fixed up?" Zelda called him out. "You murdered people, you can't just go back in time and scoop up people."
"Yes, I can. Then I won't be getting yelled at anymore." He turned and just walked away. No disappearing trick. No evil laugh. Just a turn, and he walked away.
"Urgh! I do not like that man," Zelda declared.
"Mattison will be okay?" Rhondson asked Zelda.
"It's hard to explain. Technically," she said. "He's going to go restore the time she was alive. Then we'll get them all, bring them here so they are safe, and he'll recast the old Gerudo again."
"Mattison. He's giving back Mattison." She smiled. "Hudson! Mattison will be coming back soon!" She rushed off to find her husband.
Meanwhile, more people were leaving. Most of the Hyruleans couldn't move, but many of the Zoras were plenty old enough. The Rito were of a decent age too.
"It only makes sense to leave," one of them said to Zelda as they started to go. "We are healing the wounds in time. This whole thing? It's not the end," they smiled. "It's the beginning. We have everything back."
Those over 100 started to move further away, leaving behind many of the younger Gorons, and almost all of the Hylians.
"This is supposed to be the big happy ending?" Zelda said softly to Link as she started to wash some sheets. "Everyone gets to live in a rich, beautiful kingdom on the outside unmarred by any calamity, while most Hylians and Gorons are stuck here."
"It's an okay amount of area." Link tried to cheer her up, but he was lying about that. He loved to explore and move. It was hard to get that same feeling of openness when all he could do was gallop by horse from Hateno to Kakariko. "Some people live their whole lives in just a village."
"But others didn't. They traveled. I loved to explore and help all of Hyrule," Zelda insisted as Gerudo women and girls started to fill the town.
"Mattison!" Hudson rushed to hold his daughter again. He wrapped her in the biggest hug and then handed her to Rhondson who hugged her too. "Thank goodness we didn't lose you."
"Sav'aaq!" she greeted him.
Link watched Riju approach him.
"Are they really the same?" she asked him.
"It's the same person, before they were brutally wiped out," Link told her honestly. "The current Gerudo is the same as the Gerudo there now."
"Not the correct time." Riju watched everyone come in. "They all still died. Some form of them, but they've been yanked back to the present. So is it them, or just a copy of who they used to be?"
"It's them," Zelda answered her back. "My father King Rhoam, was a hundred percent my father."
Yeah, he was definitely the old man.
Clover started to walk toward them again. "There you go. No one died. Better, Princess Zelda?"
"Better? We are stuck here in Hateno and Kakariko Village," she reminded him.
"Well, you can go back. Your knight too. Any of your old friends. Why haven't you?" he asked.
"It is not my time," she insisted. "These people need me here."
"It's just two villages, and a little path between," he said. "Look? I don't get what you could possibly ever want more? You have been given back everything! Your father, your castle, your kingdom, and your life not being a ball of energy only. I even restored the Gerudo back, so I could fix it right. I've given everything to bettering your kingdom. I'm tired now."
There. The 'tired' Zelda spoke about before. Now, Link could really see it. He was wiped out. "I want to go lie down for a long time."
"I could help with that." Link couldn't help himself. "I could make sure you never get up again."
"Link, don't antagonize him," Zelda said, also sounding tired.
"I mean, that I'm done. There's only one more course of action," he said. "I am going to join royalty, or just call this good." He gestured to Zelda. "Follow me or I'll transform the rest of this into the time stream I created. A clean slate all the way across. No wounds in time."
"You will not take their homes anymore!" Zelda warned him. "I will stop you, Clover."
"Uh huh. Are you coming, or do I just turn this all into mush?" Clover looked at Link. "Chosen Knight of the Princess? Could you fetch Princess Zelda and I some horses? I'm not really good at that kind of thing."
Leave? Just let her leave, with him?!
"Link. It's the end if you do anything," Zelda warned him.
Still!
"Link," Zelda addressed him. "Do as he says, it will be alright. I trust in my Silent Knight to watch over our people."
Link went to get two horses, but her words stirred in his head. Silent Knight? He hadn't been that since he could even remember. Why did she say that?
The Princess must have had something up her sleeve. He returned with two horses.
"Great, now drink this." He gave her a potion.
Link recognized the bottle, and he knew Purah lost three potions before. He didn't know what he was up to, but he had to trust Zelda.
She drank the potion.
"Good, good. Now, if you want, you can bring your Chosen Knight?" he offered, bringing out the other potion.
"No. Link stays here," she commanded. She looked toward him. "You must watch over our people."
"Right then, let's head toward the castle." Clover got up on the horse Link gave him.
Zelda got up on the other horse. Link gave her the faster one, just in case it helped her in some way.
Everything inside of him, just wanted to stop this, just wanted to go with her, but Zelda gave him another look, and put her finger to her mouth, hushing him.
Silent. Another silent meaning? She was really trying to tell him something, without giving it away. I can't mess up her plan. Damn it. I have to trust Zelda.
It was so hard, to just watch her cross over with Clover. "Silent Knight, Silent Knight. Why did she say that?" He was once regarded as her silent knight. Was she saying to join her? But, no, that didn't sound like her.
She'd want her people taken care of. Clover even offered to take him, and she said no. Once he crossed, his memory would be toast. Then what?