Extract from Hyrule Through Time, History Lessons for Young Minds
A long, long time ago, something very sad happened: Link, the Hero of Time, was killed by Ganon.
The Hero of Time destroyed very bad monsters all over Hyrule and he made everywhere safe again. But Link could not win against Ganon, even though he tried very hard, and the King of Evil killed him.
Seven people with magical powers, called the Seven Sages, kept on fighting Ganon. They couldn't beat him, but they put Ganon in a special prison.
The Seven Sages were never seen in Hyrule again. Some people think they had to go to his special prison with Ganon to make sure he couldn't get out.
Extract from Introduction to Ancient Hyrule History, Fifth Edition .
Thousands of years ago, a great tragedy unfolded.
Link of the Kokiri, adopted Hylian child of the Great Deku Tree, slept through half of his childhood, sealed away in the Chamber of Light, in order to become strong enough to wield the Master Sword.
He cleansed the Forest Temple of the malevolent ghosts that had invaded it, and so allowed the new Great Deku Tree to sprout and protect the Kokiri Forest. He entered the Water Temple at the bottom of Lake Hylia and purged it of the evil that lurked there, freeing the water and saving the Zora frozen by Ganondorf. He rescued the Gorons from the Fire Temple where Ganondorf, as punishment for resisting him, had imprisoned them as food for the Dragon Volvagia. He braved the Shadow Temple and saved the Sage of Shadow, and in so doing defeated the darkness Ganondorf had released. He travelled back and forth through time to free the Sage of Spirits' mind and slew Twinrova, freeing the Gerudo from the witches' evil influence. The Child made Grown saved all the lands.
But against Ganondorf, the King of Evil and the man who would become Ganon, Link could not prevail and the Hero was slain, his only reward for so many heroic deeds a painful death and an early grave.
In desperation, the Seven Sages fought Ganondorf then, and sealed him away in the Sacred Realm. In a cruel twist of fate, Ganon eventually returned but his captors were never seen again. The Hylian and the Zora crowned princesses, the Goron and Gerudo leaders, the last known Sheikah and a Kokiri beloved by her friends.. all were just as lost as the young Hero.
Prologue
Hyrule Castle, a pleasant summer morning
Zelda had been four years old when she had informed her parents that she was in fact a princess and had pleaded to be called Zelda, just like any other princess of Hyrule. There had been no hesitation on her part, no doubt that her parents would believe her and correct the mistake. And they had.
Now, six years later, Zelda was far more aware of what it meant for her in particular to be a girl. She hadn't understood, at the tender age of four, that the whole Kingdom had breathed a sigh of relief when the Queen had given birth to what everyone had thought was a third prince.
The curse on Hyrule dictated that Demise's evil would come back in some form or other to battle against the Princess and the Hero. Nobody knew anymore what the exact wording used by the Demon King had been, but every documented Cursed Age proved that the modern interpretation was accurate enough: the battle against Demise's evil always involved the Princess of Hyrule, carrier of the Goddess' bloodline, and the reincarnated Spirit of the Hero.
Not a single prince of Hyrule, not in all known history, had ever been called to save Hyrule. Princes with no sisters meant a generation of guaranteed freedom from Ganon, Vaati, or anything else Demise's curse may summon. No princess meant no curse.
So when the Queen had given birth to what had seemed to be a third prince, after a late and difficult pregnancy that the doctors had insisted should be her last, the celebrations had lasted for a week.
Zelda being a princess after all was an unwelcomed development to say the least. It didn't guarantee a Cursed Age, of course: plenty of princesses, her grandmother included, had lived peaceful lives. But the odds were no longer zero.
Zelda understood very well that although some of the people who refused to accept her were simply hateful, others just wanted to believe she was not a true princess, that she didn't qualify as a part of the curse. She could hardly blame them for that. She dearly hoped that she would never get to prove them wrong, that there would be no Hero and no Enemy, and that her being a princess would amount to nothing.
She knew it was far too soon to assume that would be the case. It was entirely possible that the boy chosen by the Goddess had in fact been reborn again and was out there, unfound. After all, locating him was a matter of sheer luck and in truth very unlikely unless the Enemy showed up and caused him to take arms.
The Medal Test located in the Palace Courtyard - meant to help identify the Hero before they were needed in order to buy them time to prepare – was, to Zelda, little more than something fun for young kids to do and a constant, if mild, reassurance for her parents, brothers and herself. Every time a child proved NOT to be the Hero, it was just a tiny bit more likely that there WAS no Hero and that there would be no Enemy.
She was watching the crowd around the altar and the medal now, from her window up on the third floor of the castle. She'd had a restless night and as inconclusive as it was, it was still a small joy to see child after child being rejected by Farore's Medal and gleefully laughing as the enchanted pendant refused to allow itself to be worn, magically and forcefully floating, falling or flying away as needed to prevent the chain it was attached to from being put overhead or even around another body part.
The tests were proceeding as they usually did. People, mostly children, waited in line and when it was their turn, failed to put on Farore's Medal with varying degrees of style. Some of them performed various mild acrobatics and flourishes to see how the medal would counteract it, as it never failed to do. Treats and small toys were sold in stands around the test area, in addition to the free cookies given to every challenger, and a good time was had by all.
A child of the Sea Folks was next, easily identified as such thanks to his dark brown skin and his black tightly curled hair, which he was wearing arranged in a number of braids. Zelda felt a slight pang – the boy was not Hylian, making the test even more unnecessary than for most children. She knew she shouldn't care: he was certainly not the first non Hylian child to take the test, or even the first one today. It was just that his failing the test wouldn't eliminate an actual potential candidate and therefore would not bring even the very slight relief that rejected Hylian children did. She let her mind and eyes wander to other parts of the courtyard.
Her attention was quickly brought back to what was happening when silence fell in the crowd, followed by whispers that quickly turned to exclamations.
Zelda scanned the crowd but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She followed the people's eyes back to the Test Area and it was only then, when her own eyes confirmed the only thing that could have caused such a reaction, that reality broke through her reluctance to see it: the Sea Folk child was wearing Farore's Medal and was standing stock still, his face a mask of confusion and shock. She saw him take the pendant off and hold it high above his head before dropping it again, possibly because he figured it would work properly this time and get away from him and back on its altar. Instead, the chain widened on its own and fell back around his neck cleanly, bringing the medal to rest on the boy's chest again.
Zelda ran out of her room to sound the alarm, but someone, she never found out who, had beat her to it: two guards were already rushing outside to bring the Hero everyone had hoped would not be found in their lifetime inside the palace and out of the crowd.
Link followed the guards without being fully conscious of what he was doing. His head was buzzing and he couldn't seem to think. The same thoughts were playing on a loop in his mind: "I broke it it's broken I BROKE FARORE's MEDAL", "Maybe I didn't", "Of course I did", "I didn't do anything there's no way", "If I didn't break it, it means I'm the Hero and I can't be" and back to start.
He was vaguely aware of his parents' voices somewhere behind him. He turned his head to try and find them because maybe they could help fix the mess he'd made, or tell him how to fix it himself, but a large double door closed between him and the crowd and he realized that he'd been brought inside the castle.
He looked around with wide eyes. He never thought he'd ever get to see the INSIDE of the castle. And here he was in the... whatever you called an entryway when it's bigger than a house. Front room? But it was too big for a room. Front Big Room then.
He didn't know why he cared to name it. But at least the "I broke it" "Maybe I didn't" loop had stopped for a moment. Unfortunately, it was starting again already. He was thankfully distracted again when a Hylian girl just a bit older than he was, dressed like a princess, came running into the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him, staring at him.
Link mentally corrected himself. That wasn't a Hylian girl dressed like a princess, it was THE princess. And she had come running, and was staring at him, and she wouldn't do that just because someone had accidentally broken a pendant, would she?
Things got even more nerve wracking when the guards around Link suddenly parted and dropped to one knee, allowing Link to see that the King and Queen, the actual King and Queen of Hyrule, were advancing towards him, along with Prince Hylrick and Prince Naydri.
Link gulped and nervously fidgeted at the pendant before suddenly realizing what he was playing with and jerking his hand away from it. He then realized that he was still standing and dropped to one knee, wondering whether he was supposed to bow as well. A quick glance showed most people had their right fist on their heart and their head bowed so he did that, looking up as much as he could to still see what was going on.
The King stopped a few paces from Link, imitated by the Queen and the Princes who stopped about a step behind their parents. The King nodded towards the Princess. It was apparently some kind of unspoken agreement because she came forward, right in front of Link.
Link wanted to say he was sorry for breaking the pendant, that he didn't know how it had happened, but it felt wrong to talk first and besides, he really wasn't sure whether he had in fact broken Farore's Medal. He looked down, tongue tied.
"Please look up," the Princess said.
Link's jaw clenched but he met her eyes. They were blue, which along with her golden blond hair, pale skin and above all, long Hylian ears, made her look like a picture of a Princess of Destiny come to life: the exact opposite of his own dark skin, dark eyes, kinked black hair and round ears. The thought that he was absolutely nothing like any hero ever decided him to speak, or to at least attempt to.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what... I didn't do anything to it! But..."
Zelda's eyes widened. "Do you think it may be broken?" she asked.
Link broke eye contact again. Not knowing whether to nod, shake his head, shrug, or break into an apology. He heard someone cluck their tongue and gulped.
Zelda smiled. He caught it from the edge of his vision and automatically looked at her again.
"Let's check," she said gently. "May I have the pendant?" she held out her hand.
Link hurriedly took it off and handed it over. Zelda held it in the palm of her hand and turned to the closest guard, who was still, like everyone else in the room except for the royals, on one knee.
"Guard, would you mind?" she asked.
Link stared at the guard.
The guard nodded, and without getting up, took off his helmet, put it on the ground next to him, accepted the chain and pendant, pulled the chain apart with his hands and tried to slip it over his head.
He yelped when the pendant suddenly tore the chain out of his hands and flew back straight to Link, hitting him in the chest before falling at his feet.
Link gulped again, staring at the pendant helplessly. "I... I'm not even Hylian," he stammered. "I can't..."
"It's apparent that Farore's Medal is in fact choosing him," someone declared, "but do we know for a fact it's choosing the Hero? This child is TREMBLING."
Link had looked up at the voice: the speaker was Prince Naydri. He wasn't frowning as such, but his eyes were slightly narrowed and his mouth turned downward just a little, making it clear he was displeased. Link turned his eyes down to the floor.
"Yes, we do," the King said in answer to his son's question. His tone clearly allowed no debate. "What is your name, young man?"
Link met the King's eyes briefly before looking down again.
"L-Link, your Majesty," he said, aware the answer removed any doubt that could be left after the pendant's behaviour. The name wasn't rare by any means, but it was still part of the usual package. The only part that seemed to apply, in his case. Somehow, that made it feel even more significant.
"Are your parents here with you?" Someone asked.
It was a woman's voice coming from right next to the King: the Queen's.
Link nodded. "They're outside, your Majesty."
Link didn't see it because he was staring at the floor, but the King or Queen must have motioned to the Guards: several of them got up and opened the outside door, calling for Link's parents. A few moments later, his mother was on her knees next to him and hugging him, and his father was on one knee like everyone else and had his hands set protectively on Link's shoulders. The door was closed again, cutting off the crowd that had assembled just outside of it.
Zelda, Link assumed once more silently directed to act as the voice of the Royal Family, spoke in a clear, ringing voice.
"Link, we recognize you as Farore's Favorite Child and Master of the Blade that Seals the Darkness; the Hero Chosen by the Goddess Hylia, Reborn Once More to Save Hyrule. We will from this point forward offer any assistance we can to you, our Hero and Saviour. You have our eternal gratitude, both for the deeds of your previous lifetimes and for your future ones."
Link's shoulder sagged but when a guard handed him Farore's Medal again, he put it on. He felt his parents' touch tighten slightly but neither of them said a word. What was there to be said?
Akkala, evening of the following day
Garm sneaked another glance at his son when the bridge to Given came into view on the horizon. Link was the same since they'd left Castle Town early this morning: lost in thoughts and staring at nothing in particular. Limsy was talking to him, mostly about the places they passed through, even now that the sun was down and that they couldn't really see much. It was meant to distract Link, but the teacher in her had taken over and she was basically giving him a running dissertation. Sir Pyr, the knight assigned to start Link's training – an actual real Royal Knight of Hyrule! - was just as quiet as his new student, seemingly enjoying the nighttime scenery and Limsy's chatter more than Link was.
Garm cleared his throat. "Link, we're going to be home pretty soon. If you're getting tired, you can eat now and go straight to bed when we get there. They gave us way too much food, we still have lots."
Link blinked and looked at him. "Sorry?" he said.
"I was saying if you're hungry, you can have a snack. It's getting late, so if you're tired, you can go to bed when we get home."
Link looked down, his eyes once again not focusing on anything specific. "Aren't you going to call the Council when we get home?" His voice was low, sounding as distant as his eyes looked.
Sir Pyr cocked his head. "Council?"
Garm nodded. "Most of the adults take turns on it," he said. "I've been on it for the last few months, Limsy was on it a few years back. It's made up of ten people, five picked by the elders and five random. I was random. The elders tend to pick older, wiser folks."
The Knight made a noise of acknowledgment but did not comment further.
"We're going to call the Council tonight, yes," Limsy said, answering Link's question. "You want to be there when we talk to them?"
Link nodded. "I think I should."
"I don't think you need to," Garm said, "but you can."
Garm retreated back into his own thoughts after that, trying to figure out how to present all this to the rest of the Council.
Garm stopped the carriage right after the bridge, barely bothering to get out of the way of anyone else who might want to go to the mainland tonight or early in the morning. He helped Link out, then briskly walked to the overlook which allowed a view of most of the village. He lit the big lantern there with his own small one and rang the bell several times, then put his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice and shouted, as clearly but as loudly as he could, towards the village.
"COUNCIL MEETING! URGENT COUNCIL MEETING! RIGHT NOW, MEETING HALL!"
The meeting hall was just a few more paces away. Garm led his family and the knight inside.
"Sir Knight, how should I introduce you?" he asked. "I'm sorry but I don't know the exact protocols. Is it Sir Pyr, Royal Knight, just Sir Pyr, Sir Pyr, Knight of Hyrule…?"
The Knight was looking around at the meeting hall. It was a mostly empty building, built for the sole function it served of housing meetings. The main room had kitchen implements at one end, a door leading to the only other room - a bathroom - and otherwise contained nothing but a large table surrounded by chairs.
"Hm?" Sir Pyr said. "Oh! Introducing me! Hmm… I don't want people to go around calling me Sir and thinking it's a big deal. I'm here to help train the Hero, and I'm your guest. I'm not saying you need to hide that I'm a knight, but please just introduce me as Pyr."
Link and both his parents had flinched at his being referred to as The Hero. Pyr crouched in front of Link, getting at eye level with him.
He couldn't blame the kid for not being used to the title yet – he wasn't used to giving it himself, had spent most of his life hoping he'd never have to, and he also wasn't yet used to the Hero being so... off brand. The dark skin, the tightly coiled hair arranged in braids, the round non Hylian ears, and the brown eyes as opposed to blue... none of it should matter, and yet it would be a lie to pretend it wasn't jarring. Pyr could understand why Prince Naydri had doubted at first, especially since Link really had been trembling, but his own reservations had dissolved completely with one small gesture: Link had put the pendant back on. Trembling or not, this small child had accepted the weight of the whole world being dropped on his shoulders without so much as a word of protest.
"Do you mind if I call you that?" he asked. "Hero?"
Link swallowed. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I'm not a hero, I'm just a kid."
"You haven't done anything to earn the title yet in this lifetime, that's true," Pyr said. "But you will. And you have before, countless times, even if you don't remember any of it. The Hero is not just a title or an honorific for you, it's your core identity."
Link sighed and fingered Farore's Medal. "You're not going to make anyone else do it, right?"
Pyr chuckled. "No. I wouldn't dare dictate what your own people call you."
There wasn't time to debate the subject any longer: the rest of the Council started streaming in at a fast pace, most eyes staying on Link and the stranger as they took their place around the table. Garm went to stand by Link and Limsy again, putting one hand on Link's shoulder and holding Limsy's own hand with his other one. Pyr took up a position in a corner.
Within a few minutes, all nine other members of the Council were present. Garm cleared his throat as soon as the last one to arrive had sat down.
"Sorry if I woke anybody up," he said quickly, more to get the apology out of the way than out of regret. "Our guest is Pyr," he continued, briefly letting go of Link's shoulder to gesture towards the knight. "He is a Knight of Hyrule and will remain as my guest for a while. Okay… I'm not going to beat around the bush. We were just in Castle Town, visiting, and Link did Farore's trial because it looked like fun and they give out free cookies. The pendant settled around his neck instead of flying off. Link told me it literally threw itself back at him later, too." He took a deep breath. "Link has been recognized as the Hero Chosen by the Goddess, Reborn, by the Royal Family."
There was about one second of silence before the room erupted. The other members of the Council all talked at once, mostly to say how impossible this was.
"IF I MAY," Pyr interrupted in a carrying voice.
Everyone else stopped talking and turned to him at once.
"I have a letter from the King confirming what the Hero's father just told you," Pyr said.
He took a folded and sealed paper out of his pocket, broke the seal, unfolded it, and read.
"The following is held to be true and will henceforth govern our actions.
Link, son of Garm and Limsy of Given in Akkala, is Farore's Favorite Child, Master of the Blade that Seals the Darkness, the Hero Chosen by the Goddess Hylia, Reborn to save Hyrule from the Darkness Once More.
All that we can offer to assist him or his family in any way will be given freely and gladly, with eternal gratitude for his past and future deeds.
Signed, His Majesty the King of Hyrule."
He walked over to the table and put the piece of paper down in front of the closest council members.
"I understand how unexpected this is. The King knew it would be, thus this letter. I hope it relieves any doubt you may have had. Pass this around, look at the seal, then give it back to me. I'm instructed to destroy it."
The woman in front of whom Pyr had put down the letter merely glanced at it. "Anyone know the King's seal? I don't."
Everyone shook their heads.
The woman gave the letter back to Pyr. "Thank you, Sir Pyr..."
"Just Pyr, please."
"Thank you Pyr. You can destroy it. Garm, Limsy, and you too, Link. Do you swear this to be true?"
"I swear," Garm answered immediately.
"I swear," Limsy replied just as quickly.
"I swear," Link said in a small voice.
The members of the Council rose as one. "Then we take it as true," a different Council Member said – an older man, who Pyr thought may be one of the wiser and older picked members Garm had mentioned. "We have much to discuss. Link, Pyr, you may leave."
Link blinked. "Discuss what?" he asked.
An older woman on the Council smiled gently at him and replied for everyone. "Link sweetie, surely you don't think we'd just watch from the sidelines if you're fated to battle evil?"
Link's eyes widened. "NO!" he said vehemently. "You can't fight too! I'm it!" His voice was rising, and he pointed at himself emphatically. "ME! JUST ME! Not everyone else too!"
"And that would be why we need to leave," Pyr said, putting his hand on Link's free shoulder.
Link shrugged him off by stepping away, accidentally shrugging his father off as well. "You can't get some of the others to start learning to fight and make them help me!" he pleaded at the Council. "You can't make the grown ups stop doing stuff that's useful to everyone to... I don't know, make arrows or something! You can't ruin EVERYONE's lives over this! You CAN'T! It's not FAIR!"
Pyr sighed and bodily lifted the young Hero in a shoulder carry. "I'm sure you'll eventually be able to really make me regret this," he said matter-of-factly. "I'll consider it fair then."
He walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving the Council plus Limsy to stare. Link's protests were muffled and quickly growing harder to hear as the knight marched him away.
"Link's hand glowed," someone muttered.
Garm nodded. "Saw it," he said mechanically. "Mark of the Triforce, the glow was from the courage corner. In case you're wondering."
It was the straw that broke the donkey's back: Garm heard Limsy make a sort of keening sound and turned towards her. They both fell in each other's arms and with the need to be strong in front of their son temporarily suspended, cried as if they'd never get another chance to.
Pyr dropped Link back to his feet once he was satisfied he'd put enough distance between them and the Meeting Hall. Thankfully, thanks to the late hour, nobody had seen him carrying one of the village's kids around like a sack of potatoes.
The mark of the Triforce had faded away again, and Pyr wasn't sure the Hero had even noticed it – he was pretty sure the Council had: it had flared quite brightly and Garm had most definitely stared at it wide eyed.
Link had gone sullen and was glaring daggers at him. The effect was more cute than intimidating.
The knight crouched in front of young Hero again. "That's what you were turning around in your head the whole way here, wasn't it?" he asked. "How you'd take this on for everyone else's sake, and at least it meant you were the only one who'd have to deal with it? Fancy being a martyr, do you?"
Link's scowl deepened.
Pyr sighed. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. Still... that was your general train of thoughts, wasn't it? Your consolation right now is that you might be cursed, but if you do your job, everyone else will be okay."
"They're going to want to protect me," Link said sullenly. "It's always One Person's Problem is Everyone's Problem," he said in a sing song voice. "I mean, it's nice and all and I like when I get to help, but... they can't do that with this! It's too much! What are they going to do? They can't come and fight Ganon too! Or… or Vaati or whatever else! And I know I'm going to need stuff, but I don't want them to just drop everything else and... and... I don't even know!"
"Seems pretty obvious they're going to help whether you like it or not," Pyr said.
"BUT...!"
"I think your best bet is to not need help. And to make sure it's obvious that you don't." Pyr knew that was unlikely to work perfectly, but the lofty goal would provide the kid with something to strive for and look forward to. Link was bound to figure out eventually that he couldn't dictate how other people chose to help, and then the whole thing would be moot anyway.
Link blinked. Then, "Can we start training tonight?"
Pyr smiled and stood up. "Sure can. Just for a short while, however: the first part of becoming strong is to get enough sleep."