A/N: Spoilers for the final battle of BoTW.
He was searching for more Koroks trying to find any rock that seemed out of place, any pinwheels, any balloons. He needed another place to store another weapon and then he would go save Zelda.
He had meant to save Zelda about a few weeks ago when he had finished upgrading his outfit, after fighting Lynel after Lynel but then he had stumbled onto Tarry Town. After that, he ran into another shrine in Hebra and now he was searching for one more Korok. He lifted a rock on the top of a hill but it wasn't a Korok.
Link huffed in frustration as he put his hands on his hips. Trying to mentally trace where he had already checked and where he still needed to look. There was a cool breeze wafting its way through the autumnal leaves in Akala and if it got much cooler he would need to put on his cloak.
The slate. Link brought the slate out and visually inspected each area trying to figure out which area was the best to try next-
A loud crack filled the sky and the blood red usually located around the castle started spreading. Dread started seeping inside of him and he instantly forgot about the Koroks. Why was it doing that? It had never done that before. All the Malice, all of Ganon always stayed by the castle. Why would it be spreading out? Ice crept down his spine and dread filled him. There was something wrong. There was something terribly wrong.
He ignored the Korok and instead focused on finding a shrine around Hyrule field that would take him nearer to it. He had to stop it. He was the hero, the champion, whatever that meant anyway. He disappeared in a wave of blue.
He was bleeding, nearly everywhere, it was hard to tell exactly where the blood was coming from since there was so much of it coating his skin. His energy was fading and he realized he had felt this way before the first time he had started dying. How was this all happening? What happened to Zelda? The memory sparked briefly again the pain, the energy leaving. Zelda's hands held him closely. She was so warm. He was getting cold. He wanted to stay with her, protect her. He had to protect her but he couldn't get up. She was so beautiful. So beautiful even when she was crying. He wanted her to stop crying but he couldn't speak.
The memory faded and the field came into his eyesight again along with the acrid scent of smoke in the air just in time to dodge. He broke another weapon as he hit the dark beast again in a flurry rush. There weren't many left. He dropped the broken hilt as he glared up the dark beast. The memory made him remember something that he hadn't realized the first time he had seen it. The first time he had been more focused on dying, but this time he had been focused on Zelda, he cared about her more than he had realized the first time around. Protective. He had wanted her safe. Happy. Safe.
She wasn't here.
"What did you do to Zelda?" He yelled at Dark Beast Ganon. He had handled him okay in his first form with all the guardian parts but nothing seemed to be working after he had changed forms.
I think you mean what did you do to Zelda? The creature replied into his mind, the darkness in his presence chilled him. She was waiting for you. She kept saying that her knight would save her and that he would destroy me. I think she believed it too for a while but over time she lost hope.
What? This was his fault? He had gotten distracted a few times- a few dozen he admitted to himself after a moment. He had been pretty much ready for months he had just chased after this thing and that. Had Zelda gotten tired of waiting for him?
It was quite pathetic. The pining. The blind faith. Her dedication. She really thought you were coming for her. He had been coming for her. He had always planned to come for her. To save her. At first, it was just a loose idea in the back of his mind. The old man turned- dead king wanted him to save her and all of Hyrule. Over time and more memories, something crept inside of her whenever he thought of Zelda something he couldn't put words to. Every time he looked at the castle, every time he thought of her a crushing sense of guilt, warmth, and sadness filled him. Guilt was the strongest one now, and dread.
Her faith was unrewarded. Those words hurt more than the claws that sliced into his chest mere minutes ago. Right now the beast was not moving, content to hurt him with his words instead. The field blazed an unholy magenta bleeding into normal orange at the edges, and only the Goron helmet he was wearing kept him safe from the flames. The flames were spreading the wind whipping around causing the flames to spread far and wide. The whole field was going to burn. How far would it go before it burned out? If he died it would never burn out. Ganon would destroy the world. The pain in his body made itself known again and he just wanted to sleep.
You did not save her. No, he can't have failed her. Not again. He had to be lying, but Zelda wasn't there. She had released Ganon and after holding him back for 100 years there was only one reason why Ganon would be here now. Blood was dripping down his arm straight into the fire. The source of the blood was unclear, but in the end, it didn't really matter. He had run out of food, fairies, elixirs, and even Miphas Grace. Nothing was keeping him down in this form. Link had been fine until Ganon had become the dark beast. Link had hoped that even without Zelda he could win but nothing kept the dark beast down very long and he kept coming back.
Ganon wasn't lying. Not that he was above it but sometimes the truth hurt more than lies. It was the only reason Zelda would release him. The only reason she would let him kill the rest of the rest of her people, she didn't have the energy to keep fighting anymore. She got too tired to wait for Link anymore. She had given up on him. He had failed her. Why wasn't the beast attacking? Put him out of his misery.
He had failed Zelda. He had taken too long, he had gotten too distracted and Zelda had paid the price. She was dead. She had to be.
He was no stranger to grief, he knew he had friends and family and they had all died a hundred years ago. The grief got sharper the more he remembered about them. This grief was fresh, hot almost the blood that coated him.
She was gone. He had failed. He had failed Zelda.
As he stared into the dark beast's red eyes, he realized with a cold chilling dread he couldn't do this without her. He couldn't finish him without her. He could fight, give it his all, and even die again but he wouldn't be able to win without Zelda. He had failed once and now he had failed again. He failed the Kingdom. The world left was small, just a few communities but they had all relied on him to protect them and he failed.
So many people would die. The world had been healing. Who would be left this time?
His legs wanted to crumble and he was barely able to hold himself up. Some hero he was, failed twice in the same way. At least the first time he had died defending Zelda. Link narrowed his eyes as he realized that Ganon still wasn't attacking him just keeping him in sight. Why would The Calamity not attack him, especially when he had to know he was weak, barely hanging on? There was just a cruel smile on his face that seemed like he was waiting for something.
A blur of something was coming, fast from the direction of the castle. Maybe it wasn't too late?
The blur was red like The Calamity. But what could it be? Ganon was here, he had become the dark beast. He was concentrated into one form now. His confusion didn't last long because a few moments later, the red blur came to a stop between him and Ganon.
"Zelda?" He asked taking a lurching step towards the figure in front of him. It was Zelda but she wasn't anything like he remembered. Zelda wore a white dress in the last memory he had seen her in but now she was wearing red. The same red as the aura of the Calamity. The red was in her face and all exposed body parts as well.
She looked at him but not like she really saw him. Her face was devoid of emotion. Her eyes were the same red. Looking into those red eyes made him feel a deep sadness inside of him that he couldn't fully understand that had nothing to do with Hyrule being doomed.
"Zelda, I'm so sorry," He said tears coming to his eyes. He should have come sooner. He shouldn't have waited so long. There was nothing in her eyes. No pain, no sorrow, no regret, no love. Nothing…He still didn't really remember her, besides the near dozen memories he had of her but something inside of him twisted harshly as he looked into her empty eyes.
There was nothing there. He could remember the curiosity, the fascination she would get in her eyes as she studied something new. The slight redness in her ears and cheeks as she looked away after sneaking a peek at him, even if he couldn't remember exactly when. The tears in her eyes as she blamed herself for the calamity. Even the anger from when she had despised him would be better than the nothing in her eyes now.
"Don't cry-" Despite the obvious dark aura surrounding her he felt his hope lift at those words. "It's almost over." The plunging dread that left him with stole his breath away-no that wasn't the reason. Zelda had her hand up palm radiating malice. No. He couldn't breathe, his knees finally had enough and buckled forcing his knees into the recently burnt field this new pain joined the others. He was still bleeding although he wasn't sure how much more blood he had left.
Somehow, she wasn't letting him breathe. His lungs started to burn. Somehow in the past 100 years, well a little bit more than that now, Ganon had managed to corrupt her. Zelda. His Zelda. He failed. Zelda. No air. Zelda.
He reached a hand out to her, a foolish notion in his head that if he could just touch her he could release her, finally save her from Ganon. All he wanted to do was save her. He failed. Zelda. Red. No air. Chest aching. Can't breathe. Save her. Her eyes. Green eyes. So beautiful. So Kind. Red. Her smile. The sun. Love. He loved her. Red. Can't breathe. Pain. Darkness Encroached. Sun gone. The sun. Loss. Grief. Failed. Guilt. Can't see. Hot. So hot. Burn. Red. Save her. Guilt. Love. Save her. Save me.
Darkness. Black. Nothing.
A/N: I worried for about half the game that if I waited too long that Zelda would die or something like this would happen before I realized, but I found myself still wanting to write the bad ending.