"So Briar," you say. "A thought occurs to me."
"Why do I not like the sound of that?"
Heh. "We've been living together for almost four years now, and in all that time, I don't think I've heard you say more than ten words about yourself, or what you were doing before we met."
"Uh-huh."
There is a drawn out silence. Then there is a fairy-sized sigh.
"Once again, you're going to make me say it, aren't you?"
"I'm curious - and from what I remember, most fairies are pretty eager to talk about themselves."
"Yeah, well, I'm not most fairies." Briar sighs again, and sits up in mid-air. "Alright, because you're a friend, I'll tell you. But I expect cherry ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles after this. Deal?"
"...deal."
"Okay." Briar takes a breath, and begins. "My mom lived in Hyrule around the time of the Gerudo Invasion, when Ganondorf first got his hands on the Triforce and ended up locked away in the Sacred Realm by the Sages. Mom went back to Faerie after it was over, because Hyrule was a mess - Castletown was overrun with Redeads, most of the Gorons were eaten by Volvagia, the Zoras lost their royal family and went insane, the guy who was supposed to be the Hero of Time got killed, and the Princess Zelda of the day got her arm hacked off. In other words, it was no place to be raising kids, if you had any choice in the matter."
You frown slightly at Briar's story. You remember the events she's describing, and a number of things she left out - the burning of Kakariko Town, extermination of the Kokiri, and a brief, fiercely suppressed rebellion among the Gerudo, among others - but you also quite clearly recall the Hero of Time defeating Ganondorf and then Ganon-
In the brat-Hero's hands, the Master Sword shines like the sun as it comes forward, the point aimed right above and between your eyes, driving deep into your brain...
-with help from a distinctly un-maimed Zelda. That can't be right, can it?
"I was born not too long after that, and I mostly lived with Mom for the next couple centuries, portal-hopping with my friends for fun, playing games with kids who could see me, and playing pranks on adults who said they didn't believe in fairies. Then some fairies showed up from Hyrule talking about a new Hero who'd killed Ganon and gotten the Triforce. Mom wanted to meet the new guy, and I was curious too, so we both went to Hyrule. We actually did get to meet the Hero - he was on pretty good terms with the local Great Fairies, they arranged an introduction, and when Mom told him about how she used to know the previous Link, he got interested. Anyway, that Link ended up marrying that Zelda and becoming king when her father abdicated - I remember some of the nobles griped about it, but it's pretty hard to argue the qualifications of the guy who single-handedly saves three kingdoms before he turns twenty, knocks over the King of Evil twice in the process, and is the only man alive able to use the Triforce."
This part, you don't know, which makes sense, given that Ganondorf was apparently dead for most of it. You don't have any memories of being resurrected for a second round against this particular Link - something to look for in your dreams, perhaps?
"King Link was a literal miracle-worker, and undid a lot of the damage Ganon inflict on Hyrule over the years, but then he surprised the hell out of everyone by dying in his late sixties. Mom said something about how he was wise and brave enough to accept a natural death, but I figured he let himself die because Queen Zelda had passed away giving birth to their youngest daughter years earlier. Don't ask me why Link didn't use the Triforce to save her, either - considering what a mess it made of the royal family, and how that turned out for the whole country, he really should have."
Briar goes on to describe how King Link's firstborn and heir was badly affected by his mother's passing - which was followed shortly by the death of his aged, grieving grandfather - going from a bright and cheerful boy to a control freak with serious issues against his parents and youngest sibling. After his father died, the prince totally lost it, more because the Triforce of Courage had turned up missing than out of any sense of familial grief. He fell under the sway of a creepy old magician-
"You are dying, O King and Hero. Will you not save yourself? Immortality lies in your hand even now. Why do you not seize it, as is your right?"
The old man under the royally-appointed blankets is lined and worn, a once-strong physique shrunken, once-blonde hair turned white. Even as he lies on that which will be his deathbed, with you looming over him like the shadow of the approaching Reaper, the eyes that look up at you are clear and blue and unafraid as ever.
His answer is a brief chuckle, in which echoes the wheezing rattle of the failing lungs that are killing him. You snarl in frustration and lean closer.
"You are the only man to ever stand against me and live, let alone defeat me. Your life is the seal that holds me in this cursed twilight existence, and when you die, my shade will be free of this role of 'advisor' you have mockingly cast me in. Already, your eldest son heeds my counsel, and the Triforce in his hands will be more than enough to restore me to life - and we both know that Power will abandon him in my favor the moment I draw my first breath. There is no one worthy to take up Courage in your place and stand against me, and your precious daughter is a pale shadow of the ancestress who held Wisdom and evaded me for seven years. Your children will die, and Hyrule will kneel before me or be burned to ash! You could stop it all with but a word, and yet, you remain silent! Goddesses curse you, why?!"
The dying king gives you a serious look, and opens his mouth as if to speak...
-who ended up cursing Princess Zelda into an eternal sleep-
The young/old fool died speaking of riddles and philosophical nonsense, distracting you from his scheming until it was too late. The Triforce is divided once more, Courage hidden away - why that piece? Why not all of them, or merely Power, which has always resonated with you? - with one of the Sages under a great seal whose maintenance drains both Power and Wisdom. What strength remains in the divided relic is not enough to revive you - oh, how the fool must be laughing! - you must have the third piece, but no one knows where-
The princess. The fool's favored child, his confidante since her mother's passing - why did he not save her? It was well within his power to preserve her life, as it was his own, so why? - if anyone alive would know how to find the missing Triforce, it will be her. The prince is easy to convince - how he hates her, the sister whose life meant their mother's death, who always had their father's love despite that unforgivable crime! - and what he commands of Power and Wisdom - the fool cannot see how the Golden Power dims in his presence - will easily break her will. Except that the Essence of the Triforce heeds the last command of its wielder, the One Chosen By the Gods, and will not harm his descendants until all three of its parts once again rest in a single hand.
Your anger explodes. Casting aside the useless prince, you confront the princess directly, demanding the secret that she holds. You see the answer in her eyes - her father's eyes, her mother's face, damn them both - she will not speak. This princess, this Zelda, did not have the qualifications to wield the Triforce even in part - she was raised soft, too sheltered and reliant on others, especially her mighty father - yet for her father, she can and will take the secret to her grave. Your fury burns hotter - it's a weakness, it's always been your failing - and you threaten to curse her not to die, but to sleep eternally, to never be reunited with the father she loves or the mother whose memory she honors. She does not bow - foolish, brave little princess, how useless to find your heart now! Is that what the fool hoped for? For her to grow stronger, worthier after his death? - and in a moment of towering rage, you cast the curse... only to fall as she falls, dimly recalling that as a mere shade, acts of magic you would have performed casually in life are now vastly more draining. And this curse is no mere cantrip. Your strength is failing, and you can feel the netherworld reaching out for your long-overdue soul - you need a host body! Where is that worthless prince? There! He... a sword? Wait, no-!
-after which, Hyrule began falling apart.
Briar breaks off her narrative, noticing that you've closed your eyes and buried your face in your hands.
"Alex?" she says carefully. "You alright?"
"Nnrrgh." After a moment, you look up, faking a smile. "Just a headache. I'm fine. You were saying?"
The fairy regards you suspiciously for a long moment. "Right. Well, as I was saying, after King Link died and Hyrule started going downhill again, I decided to leave. Mom hung around to try and help, and she was one of the fairies that helped out the next Hero when he finally came along and put the Triforce back together. That was about thirty years ago, and I came to Earth for the first time five or six years later." She scowls. "Then, ten years back, I went to the portal to go home, and found that some asshole sorcerer had come along and sealed it shut. I've been stuck on Earth ever since. At first, I spent all my time trying to find a way back to Faerie, but after a while I settled for meeting somebody I could talk to, who wouldn't try to eat me or use me for spell components."
"I'd say you succeeded on that part," you note. "Twice over, in fact."
"Well, yeah. I just wish it hadn't taken so long, or so many close calls beforehand." She sighs. "And I still want to go home and see my mom again some time, you know? She starts to worry if I don't check in every quarter-century or so."
Given the differences in growth rates and attention span, two and a half decades of "fairy time" probably works out to about one year of "human time." You consider what it would be like, to go an entire year without being able to see or talk to your mother or the rest of your family. The idea sucks.