A Few Weeks Later...
After sending messages to the four races of Hyrule to gather their forces for the final battle, Link and Zelda spent the next three weeks on the run, evading her brother's corrupted soldiers and fighting them when they could not. Eventually their allies finished assembling their forces, and Link and Zelda met them in Hyrule Field, directly south of Hyrule Castle. Thousands of gerudo, goron, zora, and rito soldiers gathered, alongside a sizable number of uninfected hylians who were still loyal to the Princess. Eventually Zelda walked to the front of her army and brought Link with her...he was quite uncomfortable in front of all those people, but he did his best to hide it behind a front of Heroism.
"Listen, please!" Zelda called out to the masses, who promptly stopped talking and turned to face her. Zelda cleared her throat before she continued...
"Today...today is the day we set things right in Hyrule! The day we avenge all of our family and friends we have lost to the Plague! The day we bring light back to Hyrule! And that is something I would never be able to do without each and every one of you...thank you!" The army of soldiers loudly applauded the Princess, at which point she held her left hand to the sky and showed off her light magic for all to see as she held Link's hand up with her other hand...the applause intensified.
You are doing this, Zelda...you are really doing this! You, Link, your allies...right here, right now!
"Now listen up! What we are about to do is exceedingly dangerous...this is your last chance to back out if you want to." No one dared to abandon the Princess...
"Very good! I will send you to the front door of Hyrule Castle...keep them busy for me! Link and I will enter through the docks in the back and strike down the Dark Prince...we WILL be victorious today!" The army gave one final enthusiastic applause and then began marching towards Hyrule Castle. Link and Zelda began hurrying northeast to put themselves in position...they passed through the Mabe Prairie, crossed the Rebonae Bridge to the east near the Wetland Stable's ruins, and then veered north between the Crenel Hills and Crenel Peak. After crossing the Thims Bridge they hurried northwest to the Rauru Hillside, where they found a raft north of Hyrule Castle...by then it was night and the battle at Hyrule Castle Town was raging, forcing most of the Dark Prince's soldiers to abandon their normal posts to participate.
"I used this raft to escape the castle, Link," Zelda told him. "I left it here so I could sneak back into the castle when I was ready...you still have that korok leaf, Link?"
"Sure do!" Link pulled out the korok leaf to use to drive the raft forward. As Zelda clung nervously to the mast, Link used powerful swings from the korok leaf to create the wind required to drive the raft...but, as they approached the docks in the north of the castle, it became apparent that not all of the soldiers had abandoned their posts. Link and Zelda were soon set upon by a volley of fire arrows, eventually igniting the raft.
"We are going to have to swim, Zelda! Hold on!" Link grabbed Zelda and plunged into the water, swimming through the Hyrule Castle Moat about fifty meters before they reached the dock. Upon pulling himself and Zelda onto the dock Link and Zelda had no time to rest...the soldiers continued to fire upon them, forcing Link and Zelda to fight immediately upon regaining their bearings. Zelda shot several of the soldiers off their posts with her bow, sending them into the water (where they promptly perished); Link, meanwhile, dodged the barrage of arrows long enough to reach several of the soldiers and strike them down with the Master Sword, which produces spectacular flashes of holy bluish light and a loud clanging sound whenever it strikes something evil. Upon defeating all the soldiers Link and Zelda hurried up a set of stairs in the docks to a secret passageway that led straight to the Library...it was once one of Zelda's favorite rooms in Hyrule Castle, but when they arrived they had an audience.
"You have arrived..." the Dark Prince said emotionlessly. His infected blue aura was stronger than ever and he sounded very weak.
"Brother, please, stop! I am a sage now, I can cure you of this Plague and set everything right!" He seemed to consider it more strongly than last time Zelda offered to cure him, but he still stubbornly clung to his mad plan.
"No...I will revive mother...I have given this a great deal of thought and would much rather die after successfully executing my plans than live in a world without mother...it is going to take time to successfully execute my scheme, so let me give you some company to talk to." With that the Dark Prince snapped his fingers and Ganondorf appeared in a cloud of sickly blue smoke...he was VERY infected, with greenish yellow skin, glowing red eyes, and saliva dripping from his mouth like a rabid animal.
"Demon King...you were born to destroy the Princess and the Hero. Do your bloody job!" With that the Dark Prince hurried out of the library as Link and Zelda prepared to fight Ganondorf.
"KILL THE BLINDING LIGHT..." Ganondorf snarled as he went to attack Link and Zelda. The Demon King promptly charged Link and Zelda, forcing them to quickly roll out of the way of the Demon King, who was attacking like a mindless animal. Ganondorf followed this up by throwing blobs of gloom at Zelda, which Link promptly knocked back with the Master Sword, damaging Ganondorf; in response Ganondorf came charging at Link, fists swinging wildly. Link tried to block the attack with his shield, but Ganondorf knocked the shield away and punched Link into the bookshelves, stunning him and leaving him open for another attack.
"Link!" Zelda yelled out. Thinking fast, she shot Ganondorf in the head with her savage lynel bow, stunning him. Link soon recovered from Ganondorf's attack and repeatedly struck Ganondorf with the Master Sword, dealing massive damage. When Ganondorf recovered he seized one of the bookshelves and, with demonic strength, pitched it at Zelda; the princess barely got out of the way in time before she could be crushed by the immensely heavy bookshelf. Ganondorf then summoned a half dozen infected, yellowish bokoblins to aid him in fighting, but Link and Zelda quickly finished them off with their bows, leaving Ganondorf alone.
"DIE, HERO, JUST DIE!" Ganondorf snarled. The enraged, mindless puppet king charged Link yet again; this time Link dodged Ganondorf successfully and the Demon King crashed into a bookshelf, stunning him long enough for Link to deal massive damage with the Master Sword. Once he got up, instead of logically attacking Link, Ganondorf charged Zelda, fists ablaze; Zelda did not get out of the way in time and was repeatedly struck by Ganondorf in the stomach, leaving her too weak to move. Link was FURIOUS.
"YOOOOUUUUUU! YOUR DAMNED LIFE WILL BE THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR HURTING HER!" Link flew into a rage and attacked Ganondorf with incredibly powerful blows from the Master Sword, driving the Demon King away from Zelda. Eventually Ganondorf attempted to defend himself with one last punch, but Link evaded the attack and delivered one final, fatal blow with the Sword.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO..." Ganondorf groaned in agony as his body was completely consumed by the Plague, burning up in a sickly blue flame. With Ganondorf dead Link turned to attend to Zelda...she was breathing heavily, leaned up against one of the remaining bookshelves.
"Zelda, are you alright?!"
"No..." was her weak reply, little louder than a whisper. Link was freaking out.
"We have to get you out of here! You cannot fight your brother like this! I cannot stand the thought of losing you!"
"But Link...if we...if we leave now, we will not get a second chance to stop him...I...I can fight..." Zelda struggled to get up, but her injuries were too severe for her to walk. Link was at a complete loss what to do...
"No...this is not how Hyrule is going to end..." said a woman's voice. Suddenly seven blinding lights surrounded Zelda, forcing Link to jump back. The lights soon took the form of Zelda's mother, her father, and her five younger sisters...
"Zelda," her mother said, "I knew this day might come, so we postponed passing on so we could help you..."
"You didn't really think we were going to leave you in the lurch against brother, did you?" said the eldest of the five deceased sisters.
"We have one final gift for you, Zelda...one your mother once mastered..." said her father. With that the seven combined their strength and shot a ball of brilliant light into Zelda...suddenly Zelda's wounds simply vanished.
"My healing power...take it for yourself, Zelda. Use it to protect Link...and Hyrule...Daphnes has been completely consumed by the Plague. Stop him at all costs and end the Plague...that is my final request for you...Zelda...we love you..." Zelda was speechless as her family vanished for the final time...
"They really did love you dearly, didn't they?" Zelda, with newfound determination, rose to her feet.
"Yes...yes, they did. And that love...will not be for nowt. Let us go, Link!" The two promptly resumed their quest to stop the Dark Prince. They hurried through the hallways of Hyrule Castle, quickly vanquishing any and all Plague infected soldiers they encountered. Eventually they came to the exterior of the Castle and fought their way through fifty infected soldiers who had not gone to fight at the Castle Town...when they had finished wiping them out Link and Zelda turned back to see their allies still valiantly holding off the thousands of infected soldiers that would otherwise have long overwhelmed the Hero.
"Their sacrifice...it will not be for naught!" Link told Zelda. They hurried into the Sanctum, at the top of and near the center of Hyrule Castle, fully expecting to find Daphnes sitting on the throne in there...instead, they found a portal to another world, a black rift with the Plague spewing out of it.
"Daphnes must be inside...ready, Link?"
"Ready as you are..." They took each other's hand and jumped into the void...
When they entered, they discovered Daphnes on his knees on a platform that appeared to consist of stars, weeping. A wall of infected blue fire was preventing them from approaching the Dark Prince, but they could overhear his lament...
"No...no no no! I cannot revive mother even with the incredible power I have?! It seemed like such a simple thing...open up the gate to the hereafter and pull her out. But she refused...and the power of all the princesses of Hyrule prior to her prevented me from keeping that rift open...argh! I thought everything - everything! - was going according to plan! I stole the power from so many people, even destroyed the rest of my own family, for nowt!"
"Brother, stop!" Daphnes turned to see his last remaining family member. His eyes had faded from red to a sickly blue...he had been completely and utterly possessed by the Plague he had started.
"YOU...if you had joined me I would have succeeded in reviving mother! You're not my sister anymore...just a threat to my plans! Plans that have disintegrated into nothingness! A world without mother is one that does not deserve to exist...I will completely destroy it! Every man, woman, child, beast, monster...I will sell all of their souls to the Plague! Starting with mine!" The Dark Prince pulled out his royal halberd...
"BROTHER!" But Zelda's words no longer carried any weight with the maddened prince...he...he violently ran himself through the heart with his halberd, causing the wall of flames to disappear in the process. No sooner had he collapsed to the floor dead did his body begin to mutate before Zelda's eyes...Daphnes became far taller and more spindly, his skin heavily wrinkled; his jaw locked open; his soulless eyes glowing sickly blue, the secret stone atop his forehead glowing brightly. The Dark Prince clambered onto his feet and drew his halberd...then he began snarling in a voice Link and Zelda could only barely understand...
"I AM THE DARK PRINCE...I SHALL WIPE OUT ALL LIFE, STARTING WITH THE BLINDING LIGHT! DIE, BLINDING LIGHT!" Zelda seemed terrified...but Link took her hand.
"Showtime, Zelda! We will show this abomination why Hyrule deserves to live on! Don't let your family down!" Zelda's courage returned to her in that moment, and the two drew their weapons and engaged the Dark Prince in the battle to decide Hyrule's fate.
The Dark Prince immediately leaped into the air and slammed his royal halberd into the ground, creating violent shockwaves that Link and Zelda had to jump over. No sooner had the abomination recovered did it try to run Link through with the halberd; Link caught the halberd on his shield, stunning the Dark Prince long enough for Link to deal some damage to the Dark Prince with the Master Sword, now glowing more brilliantly than ever in response to the presence of its new nemesis.
The Dark Prince soon recovered from Link's attack and threw its halberd like a giant boomerang; Zelda leaped out of the way while Link deflected it with his shield. Zelda took the opportunity to shoot the Dark Prince in the head with an arrow, but this did nothing to stop the attack. The Dark Prince began swinging wildly at Zelda, forcing her to backflip over the halberd five times in a row...Link took the opportunity to shoot at the Dark Prince himself, but he did not succeed in staggering him either. Link next attempted to attack the Dark Prince with the Sword, but the Dark Prince leaped out of the way and attempted to run Link through; Link dodged this attack and was finally able to score several hits on the Dark Prince. As the Dark Prince weakened it grew more and more desperate, angry, rabid...
The Dark Prince followed this up by firing numerous infected blobs at Link and Zelda; Link neutralized them with the Master Sword while Zelda simply dodged them. Following this the Dark Prince roared and summoned five yellowish infected moblins, tall, very muscular, vaguely pig like monsters.
"You take two, I'll take the rest!" Link yelled out. As the Dark Prince continued to attack them Link and Zelda fought off the moblins, Link destroying his three with the Sword while Zelda used her knight's halberd and savage lynel bow. When all the moblins were felled the Dark Prince began summoning columns of infected fire below Link and Zelda's feet, forcing them to run to avoid being burned; when he had finished the Dark Prince fired off a magical orb at Link. Link struck it back with the Master Sword, the Dark Prince did likewise with his free arm, and this went back and forth until it struck the Dark Prince, creating a massive explosion that stunned him and buying time for Link to deal massive damage with the Master Sword. Suddenly, the Dark Prince seized Link in a choke hold! As Link struggled to breathe Zelda began rapidly firing arrows at the Dark Prince's head, eventually forcing him to drop Link and attack Zelda instead.
The Dark Prince teleported behind Zelda and attempted to run her through with his halberd; Zelda quickly rolled out of the way. In the commotion Link recovered and scored a few blows on the Dark Prince, prompting him to teleport feverishly until he stopped behind Link and began swinging wildly. Link dodged each and every blow, distracting the Dark Prince long enough for Zelda to run behind him and deal a devastating blow with her halberd. The Dark Prince collapsed to the ground...
"THIS ENDS HERE!" Link yelled out. He drove his Sword into the Dark Prince's head...however, as the Dark Prince violently struggled to escape it began blasting Link with infected fire, severely burning and infecting him! Zelda, horrified, quickly unleashed her light magic...the light created a massive explosion that cured the infection from both Link and the Dark Prince, leaving the latter as a lifeless corpse. Link was too weak to move...
"Zelda...this realm is going to collapse soon without your brother...hurry and leave without me!"
"We have had this discussion before, Link! I am not abandoning you! You are NOT dying alone!" As the realm became unstable Zelda picked Link up with all the strength she had left, not bothering to collect the secret stone her brother left behind, and hurried back into Hyrule just before that realm collapsed completely...the two reentered the Sanctum just as the portal to that other realm collapsed, exhausted but alive.
"We did it, Link...we really did it..." Link did not answer...Zelda quickly noticed he was unconscious and barely breathing, his burns very visible on his skin. Zelda lost it...
"Link! LINK!" Believing his death was near, Zelda began to mourn profusely at the top of her lungs...
"Zelda! What happened?!" Zelda opened her eyes to see Matilda standing over her...the other three sages stood further away.
"Matilda...thank the gods you are here...Link and I...we...we defeated my brother...but...but Link...he...I do not think he's going to make it..." Zelda continued crying.
"Zelda...your mother could heal people, could she not? Maybe...maybe you have inherited that same miraculous power? Can you at least try it?"
Wait...she is right...Zelda placed her hands over Link's wounds and began focusing...focusing on how much she loved him, how much she wanted to be with him forever...and it happened. Link's burns faded away, and his breathing became stronger...before too long he opened his eyes.
"...Zelda? My wounds...they...they're gone...did you...you learn to..."
"Yes..." Zelda said with tears of joy in her eyes. Link sat up...
"Zelda...thank you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met...I count it an honor to be the man you have decided to love..." They kissed, to loud applause from the sages and everyone else watching...
Six Months Later...
The day is finally here...I cannot believe it came so quickly...
So thought Zelda as she prepared for her wedding in her bedroom. She carefully braided her hair, changed from her normal blue dress she wore while governing Hyrule to the white one she wore while fighting her brother, put a silk veil over her face...she looked incredible. She gently smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror...
Link is going to be absolutely floored when he sees how dead fit I look...Zelda's smile turned to a slight frown as something more bothersome entered her mind...
I am still nervous about this. Will...will our relationship work long term? I really should not be worrying about that...if Link was going to turn on me he would have by now. And yet...that fear...still lingers in the back of my mind. Maybe...maybe because of my brother? Mum told me...that trust is the foundation of any relationship. I need to trust Linky...not fear him...he is not someone I need to fear...suddenly there was a knock on Zelda's door.
"Zelda, it's time! Are you ready?"
"Yes, Matilda, I am coming!" Zelda hurried to open the door. Matilda smiled at seeing the daughter of her best friend look so grown up...
"You...you really aren't a little girl anymore, little bird...Link isn't going to quickly forget today. Nervous at all?"
"...a little. Will this work out long term?"
"Zelda...Link has risked life and limb for you over and over again. Not only that...ever since you defeated your brother, Link has had to constantly be around hordes of people every time he wants to be with you...you know how much he hates that; yet, the voe refuses to leave your side. You have nothing to worry about...he is going to make a fine husband and a fine crown prince." Zelda smiled again.
"Thank you, Matilda...your support means everything today. Today, at age 21, I am starting a new chapter in my life...I need all the support I can get to ensure it is a happy one. Can you...can you lead me to the front gate?"
"Sure thing, little bird...follow me." Zelda and Matilda walked through the halls of Hyrule Castle until they got outside, then followed the path until they reached the Castle Town. Link, the remaining sages, and Hyrule's nobles were waiting...Link was now dressed as a champion, with a sky blue tunic over brown pants and darker brown boots. As she approached him Zelda could see the love reflecting off his eyes...
Wow...I knew she was pretty, but damn is she beautiful today...just makes me more nervous... When Zelda drew near and took Link's hands an elderly zora priest began speaking.
"Today we have gathered to observe as this beautiful couple is woven together in the bonds of matrimony...Link, Hero of the Plague, do you take this young woman, to love and to hold, in good times and bad, for the rest of your life?"
"I do."
"Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, do you take this young man, to love and to hold, in good times and bad, for the rest of your life?"
"I do." The priest smiled...
"I now pronounce you husband and wife..." Link gently removed the veil, pulled Zelda into his embrace, and kissed her. The audience burst into raucous applause...
After a lengthy feast in which every last man, woman, and child in Hyrule Castle Town was fed, Link and Zelda retreated to her bedroom to have some time alone. "Link...I cannot believe we have gotten this far...when we met, I really could not imagine we would ever stop my brother...I never imagined you were the man I would fall in love with...we have done amazing things together, Link. Thank you..." The mention of her brother was still disturbing to Zelda, and she began tearing up. Link wrapped his arm around her shoulder...Zelda leaned into it.
"It's still hard talking about your family, isn't it?"
"It always will be, Link...but with you around, those old scars hurt just a little less..." Link kissed her on the forehead.
"I will do everything in my power to help you work through those scars...just as you have helped me work through mine. We're like two trees planted next to each other...their roots will intertwine and help them weather storms neither could take alone..."
"Link...thank you..." They shared a passionate kiss...then another...and another...before too long Zelda was on her back, being tenderly kissed on the neck by her new husband as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. Neither of them had felt like this before...before too long Zelda went to take her dress off and Link nervously helped her, leaving just a bra and an undergarment, after which Zelda – just as cautiously - helped Link take his clothes off, eventually just leaving his boxer shorts...
"You...you are incredibly beautiful, Zelda..." Link whispered as he stroked her cheek.
"You are really handsome yourself, Link..." Zelda gently stroked his chest, which was much more muscular than it appeared. Their eyes just beamed with torrid love for each other...they continued kissing, rolling in bed, caressing each other, until Link instinctively pulled the sheets over their bodies and went to make love to her...
The next morning Link and Zelda were still tangled up in each other's arms under the sheets, with only their undergarments (and bra in Zelda's case) to cover their bodies. Zelda's braided hair looked a little messy from the previous night's activities. Their contented smiles betrayed how happy they were to be together...eventually they began to wake up.
"Good morning, beautiful..." Link whispered as he stroked her cheek. Zelda pulled herself closer to Link and the two embraced tightly for a few minutes.
"You did really good last night, Zelda...thank you for putting up with me. I didn't really know what I was doing..."
"You did fine, Link...it felt a little strange at first, but after that it felt really good..." She paused for a few moments...it looked like something was on her mind.
"Link...I have a question for you..."
"Go ahead...I'm listening..."
"If I...if I get pregnant from this and we have a son, what should we name our child?"
"Maybe...maybe Nathanael, like your father?"
"Do you think I...I would be dooming him to fail if I name him Daphnes?"
"...you sure you want to do that so soon? Don't you want to give that wound a few years to heal first?"
"...true..."
"If you had a daughter, do we have to name her Zelda? Can't we name her something else...maybe Aryll?"
"Naming our daughters Zelda is very important to the Royal Family, Link...the tradition is incredibly old. I will have to think about it..."
"What would you like to do next, Zelda?"
"Well...I would like to lay here with you a while. Maybe try to make love again...after that, I want to make plans to visit the Zonai Ruins out in Damel Forest. I never did get to study them while father was alive...if I could just devote a week or two to studying them before I had to resume ruling Hyrule that would be a dream come true..."
"We can absolutely do that...anything for you, Zelda. Love you..."
"Love you too..." They eventually fell asleep again, still entangled in each other's arms...