Hey! I'm so sorry that was fully unreadable! I have no idea what happened, i just copy/pasted from my master doc to the story here and it should have been good. So sorry for those who got the notification only for it to be illegible nonsense! Will take better care in the future. I'm sorry once again! Here's the full proper chapter!
Zelda's stream of unconsciousness is gently interrupted as Link nudges her softly. Slowly, her eyes blink open, and she takes a moment to understand where she is.
"We made it to Castle Town," Link says quietly. "It's sometime after midnight. Do you want to stay in the castle tonight?"
She takes deep breath as Zelda's higher functions start kicking in, blinking as she registers what he's said, and what he's asked. "Uhm, yes, um, thank you," she says, her voice and eyes bleary. She pauses as she considers his question. "Can we get an inn?" the Princess requests softly. "I… my old room does me no favors," she stated.
"Of course." Link nods.
He knows exactly what she means. Even after so long, even after so much progress on rebuilding the kingdom, let alone the castle, it still feels… wrong. Like he can feel their gaze. Hear their whispers. Those whose lives were snuffed out by the Calamity, and the Upheaval that followed. And if it weighs as heavily on his conscious, who can say how weighty those voiceless whispers, these eyeless gazes rest upon the princess who heard all her life that their blood would be on her hands if she didn't-
Link unballed his fists. Even a hundred years later, Link can still feel his blood boil at the memory of Hyrule's last king, and his treatment of her only hope. Of the Goddess, incarnate. Of his only daughter.
"Stay here, Zelda. I'll find us a room."
"No," she says, a bit more forceful than intended. The tips of her pointed ears tinged red. "I mean, let me come with you. My legs could use the stretch."
Her attendant knight nodded, and in a flash of stringy blues, the Steed that Link had silently dubbed Anopé was taking up nearly every bit of storage in his Purah Pad. Not that he needed it for any other reason, except for the teleport feature, of course. Gone were the days of bombs and stasis the Sheikah Slate offered. The compendium was filled, and Zelda took all of their pictures together. He always felt she had a more natural gifting for that, though she argued while her photos were always utilitarian, Link always managed to capture the life of the world in a way that she had yet to master.
He shook these thoughts from his head as he clipped his Purah Pad to his waist, and intwined his fingers once more with Zelda's as they slowly meandered through Castle Town.
The town remained still. Silent. At this hour, the world seemed to be holding its breath for the Hero of Hyrule and the incarnation of the Goddess. He could feel Zelda take a deep, shaky breath.
The stars glistened in the dark sky. A fountain bubbled gently in the courtyard. The street flickered with dull firelight of the lamps that glowed in the night. A guard patrolled the streets, humming a Lurelin folk song to himself. Link saw the tension rise in his shoulders as he saw two random figures walking the streets in the middle of the night, then release as he likely recognized the Princess, or the Sword of Evil's Bane. He glanced over to Zelda and saw her large pools of emerald trained on him.
"Rupee for your thoughts?" he asks as they approach their destination, slowing minutely as to not have whatever she's about to say get cut off by their arrival.
"Hm? Oh, just all of them at once, as normal. But right now?" A pause. A beat. A breath. "It's peaceful. I can't help but wonder what life would have been like if the Calamity hadn't ruined everything. Every time we're here, I always think the same. What if we had beat it back? How much would things have changed? Would they be for better, or worse?"
"Well, princess, we could always try to see if the Temple of Time works, go back a hundred years and see what happens. Surely two of you and two of me could single handedly repel the Calamity's greatest forces, no army needed," he jokes.
She smacks his arm loosely, though a smile tugs at her lips. "As difficult as this road has been, I've grown quite fond of traveling it with you. I'm not sure I would trade it." The smile drops slowly. "But I wonder, does that make me selfish?"
"So what if it does?" Link asks. "You're not a monarch, so what's the worst that could come from you being a little selfish sometimes? To tell the truth, I wouldn't trade this road for anything, either."
There's a sparkle in her eye as the two stop in front of their destination; the Golden Light Inn, one that was built shortly after the Upheaval, and is the go-to inn for travelers to Hyrule Castle. Link holds the door for her as they enter. He scans the room meticulously in but an instant. Old habits.
There's just one down here at this hour; a tired looking Zora, reading a book behind the reception desk. They glance up and quickly close it and stand.
"Ah, welcome to the Golden Light! How can I be of assistance?" Despite their appearance, there was a definite energy to their voice that caught Link off guard.
"Just a room, please," Zelda requested pleasantly.
"Of course! Thirty rupees, and we'll have you in room 215. Would you be requesting a wake-up call?"
Link wondered how this person was so… alive at whatever ungodly hour this was. And how Zelda was so sociable despite having woken up only a handful of minutes ago, with not a hint of the grog in her voice that he'd heard in Anopé. Maybe it's because he'd been driving for hours, and he's the crazy one.
"That will not be necessary," Zelda said after a moment of thought, glancing back to Link briefly before returning her gaze to the Zora innkeeper.
A beat of silence passed as several sets of round eyes blinked at each other.
"Oh, right, rupees," Zelda finally remembered how transactions work, and started digging through her travel satchel.
Before she could count out her own money, Link pulled a violet rupee worth enough and then some and handed it to the Zora.
"Keep the change," he insisted.
A key was given, and good nights were parted. A room was discovered, and a night was shared.
In the morning, Link was first to rise. He always was. He stayed in bed only a moment longer than necessary, before waking Zelda with a gentle nudge. And like many mornings before, they started their morning routine. Hygiene, grooming, stretching. Link would have preferred to run his morning drills, but they had a council meeting to get to. Zelda pointedly reminded him as such as he was starting to draw a wooden training blade, to protect the furniture – he'd ruined many a sofa during these morning exercises before he stopped using real blades. His face soured, but he knew she was right.
The walk through Castle Town revealed a bit more than their late arrival had shown them in the breaking morning light. It looked like a mess of scaffolding and several blocks of buildings in various state of construction. Thankfully, none were in the blocky, cubic architecture that Hudson perfected in Tarrey Town – effective as it may be, part of the charm of a place is its architecture, and there is very little charm in cubical, prefabricated structures. No, these homes and businesses were done in traditional, yet perhaps slightly updated Hylian architecture.
High on a hill, the castle stood, its very silhouette imposing. In Link's memory, it's always been imposing, even before everything, technically speaking, went to shit. Especially when it had a giant shadow demon within it, or when it was floating a hundred meters in the air, Gloom pouring from it like a fountain. Though now it stood, covered in a fair amount of scaffolding, itself, and with countless construction workers milling about. From this angle, the castle looked nearly complete. The holes in the walls left by the calamity and following Upheaval had been patched, and it looked like the focus externally was on the roof. That is to say nothing, however, of the interior state of affairs. For the past couple years, the priority has been moreso on the town than the Castle. There weren't even working bathrooms as of the last council meeting three months prior. Luckily the temporary outhouses were available, because otherwise the closest lavatory is in the Golden Inn, all the way in Castle Town.
The Princess and the Knight shared the briefest of glances before walking up the steps into the Castle, under and through the tall doorway.
Hylia's Chosen Hero extends his hand to her as they walk through the halls. There's a reassuring, affirming squeeze as their footsteps echo off the marbled halls. Not even Link is sure if he's comforting Zelda, or looking for comfort from Zelda. Many memories are tied to this castle and her halls, for both of them. Not every memory, however, is fruitcakes and tournament victories. Though, not every memory is of lectures in grand hallways, hours of strenuous training, alienation, or impossible burdens dropped on the shoulders of teenagers, either.
By the sound of it, as they approach the meeting hall – a former war room – these two are the last to arrive. Even this far down the hall, they can hear the joyous laughter of the Zora King, the Sage of Water Sidon, and the spitfire tonality that can only belong to the Gerudo Chief, Riju, arguing over something or another.
"Miss Director says-"
Link and Zelda enter to see Josha speaking calmly, though with an air of what feels like smugness, though it's nearly impossible to place.
"Speaking of our Miss Director," Riju draws out accusatorily, and Link could swear he could feel his hair stand on end as the air charges with more than just smugness and tension. "Where is our other Shiekah councilwoman?"
Josha shrugs casually. "Aiunno. Anyway, she says the Depths are-"
"Finally!" Sidon exclaims, rushing over and sweeping Link off his feet in a great bear/shark hug. "My friend, it has been too long! And Princess, looking as divine as ever!" He pulls Zelda in a less violent though no less loving hug.