Children of the Triforce: Retold

Chapter 2 – Incredible News

A few hours after Link and Zelda finished having a private "celebration" in their bedroom, King Harkinian's grand party began. The duo attended together, holding hands as they joined the crowds waiting for the King to speak.

"I would like to declare this day as a national holiday," Harkinian cheerfully announced to his crowd. "As the day that the Demon King Ganon was defeated once again, as well as the day that the Triforce has been reunited for good. Let us celebrate this day every year, as a sign of the peace that has been restored in our Kingdom!"

"Hear, hear!" the crowd shouted their agreement.

"Next, I believe that some acknowledgements are in order," Harkinian continued. "First off, I must thank my lovely daughter, Princess Zelda, for safeguarding a piece of the Triforce all these years, and for assisting in the final battle against Ganon."

Everyone in the crowd applauded as they turned to the young Princess. Zelda just blushed a bit before giving a proper curtsy.

As the applause started to die down, the King then called for everyone's attention once more. "And, last but not least, we must acknowledge the brave hero who stepped up when we needed him the most. A youth who is responsible for vanquishing Ganon for good. A man who has saved our Kingdom time and time again…"

The King paused before smiling and gesturing a hand out towards the crowds. "Link, would you kindly join me up here?"

The crowd erupted into cheers once again as they all turned to the young man. Link just looked around nervously, a bit taken aback by all of this praise, as well as the King's sudden invitation. However, Zelda gave him an encouraging shove, and he soon smiled as he walked onto the stage where Harkinian stood.

The King grinned at him. "Link, a courageous young man, as well as my own son-in-law. Where would we be without you? You have restored peace to Hyrule, and ridded us of an evil that existed long before any of us were born."

More cheers and applause came from the crowd. Link smiled sheepishly as he accepted their praise and attention. For the first time, he was happy that he was wearing his finest tunic in front of all of these people. Zelda had helped pick it out for him, for the sake of making him look more presentable.

The King then raised his hands, calling for the crowd to quiet down. "Now, I would like to bestow Link with a proper gift for all of his achievements. And quite frankly, I believe this has been long overdue."

The crowd went silent, looking a bit perplexed as they waited to see what was coming next. Link too went still as he watched the King pick up a sword and draw it from its sheath.

Harkinian then turned to Link with a grin. "Kneel, Link."

Link nearly felt his jaw drop open in surprise, but he did as he was told, falling to one knee before the King. The whole room entered a stunned silence as Harkinian properly pressed the blade to each of Link's shoulders. "I knight thee, and you shall hereby be known as Sir Link of Hyrule! Arise, Sir Link!"

The crowd erupted into cheers once again as Link rose to his feet, now a proper knight of the Kingdom. He just stared at his father-in-law, feeling speechless. "Thank you, Sire," he whispered respectfully.

The King rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No need for thanks, my boy. You have earned this for yourself. Be proud!"

Link gave an encouraging nod before he suddenly found himself being swarmed by nobles and other knights, all granting him their congratulations. Link just accepted all of their compliments and well wishes with bashful nods. He still felt a bit nervous about all of this attention, but he was also feeling incredibly happy as well. He was now a proper knight!

Suddenly, Link caught a glimpse of Zelda amongst the crowds, and she gave him a soft smile. Smiling back, Link went to break away from his admirers. "Please excuse me," he said. "I'm afraid that I must go and see my lovely wife."

The admirers understood and soon stepped aside, clearing a path so Link could reach the Princess. As soon as they were together, she gave him a big hug. "Congratulations, Link."

Link just hugged her back, smiling wide. "Did you know about this?"

"Maybe," she replied with a smirk. "Are you happy?"

"Of course, this is something that I've always dreamed of!" he said excitedly.

Zelda smiled some more. "I'm glad."

"And besides," Link continued, "I'm already married to you, Zelda. That alone has made me happier than I could ever imagine."

Zelda just gave him a sweet smile before hugging him once again. "You truly are my hero."

A couple of months passed. Things had settled down around the castle for the most part. Zelda had her duties as Princess to keep her busy, while Link had started receiving some proper training as a Knight.

Zelda also noticed that Link had started acting a lot more responsible around the castle, doing chores and helping out with various tasks. Zelda was honestly a bit surprised by this. All his life, Link had seemed a bit lazy, often avoiding work whenever possible in order to catch up on sleep in the castle's sunny courtyards. But now, that was beginning to change. Zelda wondered if it was because he was a married man now, or if it had something to with recently becoming a knight. She wasn't sure, but either way, she was just happy to see him start to mature.

Especially since she had some incredible news to share with him…

Zelda wandered out into one of the courtyards, smiling with giddiness as she searched for Link. It didn't take long before she managed to track him down. He was resting on one of the benches, taking a break from his tough training exercises.

Link's face lit up as soon as he spotted her. "Hi sweetheart," he greeted her with a loving nickname.

Zelda smiled some more as she took a seat next to him. "Hi sweetie," she said, leaning in to kiss him.

"What's up?" Link asked as his wife pulled away. He was happy to see her, of course, but she didn't usually come and visit him when he was in the middle of his training.

Zelda continued to beam as she looked at him. "I wanted to come and visit you right away."

Link gave her a curious look. "Why? Did you bring me lunch?"

Zelda just giggled. As always, her husband was thinking with his stomach. "I'm afraid not, but there is something I wanted to share with you."

"Oh?" he asked, still looking confused. "What's that?"

Zelda took a deep breath, trying to get her nerves under control. "Do you remember that wonderful night we had together? That night of my father's big celebration?"

Link soon began grinning like a fool. "Of course. How could I ever forget something so amazing?"

Zelda smirked at his wonder, but soon suppressed it so she could deliver her next message clearly. "Well, we're going to have a little reminder of that night."

Link looked confused again. He was still trying to put two and two together. "Wait, you don't mean…" He then paused as the realization came to him. "A baby…?"

Zelda smiled, and placed a hand on her flat stomach. "Yes, we're going to have a baby."

Link's face lit up into the widest of smiles. "We're going to have a baby!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Zelda giggled some more. "Link, not so loud," she said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"How can I not be loud!?" Link shouted, still full of glee. "This is great! A baby!" Without warning, Link then jumped to his feet, and scooped his wife up into his arms, raising her high into the air.

"Oh, Link!" Zelda exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't expected him to do something like this.

Link just laughed though, too lost in his own merriment to pay her any mind.

Zelda soon shook her head before smiling. She could feel Link's overwhelming happiness begin to spread to herself. Of course, she had been happy to hear this news as well, but Link's reaction had made her feel even more excited.

That night, the two of them crawled into bed, cuddling up against each other as they continued to share their glee. Link playfully rubbed Zelda's stomach, even though she had yet to show any visible signs of pregnancy. Zelda simply allowed it, happy to receive his wholesome attention.

However, as they drifted off into sleep, Zelda began experiencing a horrible nightmare.

It was a dream about the future. Zelda was holding a tiny innocent baby in her arms, and she immediately recognized that it was her and Link's child. However, the baby suddenly began to cry, and it wasn't crying in the high-pitched voice that you would expect from an infant. Its voice was low and grumbly, and sounded full of sorrow and anger.

Zelda just looked at her child, filled with concern as she wondered what was wrong. She tried to calm it down, but it just kept bawling, its voice growing ever deeper.

Suddenly, the baby opened its eyes, and they glowed bright red. Zelda then gasped as the child spoke, in a deep, demonic voice.

"I will return. And when I do, I will be sure to destroy you and all of your descendants!"

Zelda immediately screamed in horror, watching as her baby grew long pointed teeth and smiled menacingly. She then felt darkness consume her as Link began to shake her awake.

"Zelda…Zelda!" he called urgently.

Zelda gasped, immediately sitting up in their bed as her senses returned to her. She soon placed a hand over her heart as she began panting in fear.

"What is it?" Link asked, staring at his wife with wide eyes. "What's the matter?"

Zelda paused before swallowing. "I had a nightmare," she said quietly.

Link's expression immediately turned grim. "Was it a premonition?"

Zelda understood what he was asking. Many of the Princesses in Hyrule's history had experienced vivid dreams known as premonitions. They were well-known for being more than just dreams, oftentimes serving as warnings or visions of the future. Zelda herself felt a bit concerned about this, as this nightmare seemed to fit that description quite well, but she refused to believe it. There was no way that their child would ever be a monster, would it?

"No," she stated confidently. "It was just a dream. Nothing more."

Link stared at her for a second, but soon nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Zelda frowned before shaking her head. Link was so excited about the baby, the last thing she wanted to do was put these disturbing thoughts in his head. "No, I'd rather not."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Link hesitated, but eventually nodded once more. "All right then. Let's go back to sleep."

"Right," Zelda agreed. She soon settled down, resting in her husband's embrace as he gently wrapped his arms around her. This helped calm Zelda down, and she soon began to drift off to sleep once again.

However, her nightmare kept gnawing away at her, its vividness replaying in the back of her mind. Of course, she didn't want to believe that the dream was a premonition, and she also didn't want to trouble Link with these thoughts. However, there was one thing that she especially didn't want Link to know, and it was honestly the most frightening part of her dream.

It was the fact that her child's voice had been the voice of Ganon himself…

Ooh, how ominous! I wonder what this means for the future?

(Is it obvious? Tell me if it's too obvious lol).