Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Link stared daringly at Ganondorf, who was sitting on one of his gloom veins. Link could barely keep back the anger he felt, furious that the Gerudo King in front of him had not only sent the kingdom into ruin for the second time, but also impersonated the one person he cared about more than anything.

“How disappointing…” Ganondorf spoke, “This world should be shrouded in darkness, not bathed in insufferable light.” Link stood carefully, not getting too close. There was a noise behind him, and suddenly there was a barrier keeping the sages away from helping Link.

“All these weak, peace-loving cowards running rampant…” the Demon King continued, “it would have been more… satisfying to overcome a worthy foe.” Ganondorf’s eyes glowed an angry orange, soon followed by the Secret stone. He raised his arm, gloom and magic coming together in his palm, then smashed in to the ground, surrounding himself with the mixture of the magic and gloom.

When it cleared, Ganondorf was back to his non-mummified form. Intimidating would be an understatement, but Link stood tall, his courage not letting him back away.

“Regardless… I will reshape this world as it was meant to be. I will crush any opposition. I will rule.” Ganondorf looked directly at Link, “That is what a king must do.” He stood for a moment before jumping off of the gloom vain, threateningly. “Do not look away. You witness a king’s revival.” He said, pulling out his sword. “And the birth of his new world!”

Link pulled out the Master Sword that shone with a divine blue light. He held his shield close to his chest, correcting his stance to be ready to fight. The two engaged in battle, Link going in for the first hit.

He dodged.

He attacked.

Link protected himself, quickly bringing the shield back up, despite his surprise. Waiting until ganondorf tried striking him again, Link kept the shield up. Ganondorf went in for a hit, and Link dodged with a smirk.

Everything slowed down, the Demon King was still mid-swing. Link flurry rushed him, hitting deep and hard until he jumped back.

Being close to Ganondorf had the same effect as stepping on gloom, Link could feel it. He dodged as Ganondorf executed a spin attack. He went into bullet time once again, flurry rushing and hitting hard.

The fight continued like this for a while, Link dodged and got in some hits, Ganondorf dodged and got in hits. Link occasionally had to recover the health lost by the gloom, downing potions every so often.

That was until Ganondorf paused. He chuckled a little, creepy and odd. “What a feeling… I had almost forgotten the thrill of battle. That feeling as blood surges in my veins… and I am not even nearing the limits of my power!”

Link felt his heart racing, breathing heavily from the first real fight he’s had since fighting the construct with Mineru. Ganondorf raised his arm again, and Link knew what was about to happen.

Ganondorf’s secret stone shone orange once again, right before he was hidden behind another wall of gloom and dark magic.

Oh shit

Link could feel how much stronger Ganondorf had just gotten, and felt his breath hitch a little.

Ganondorf laughed, sinister and creepy. His new form made him appear as if he were covered in gloom, his hair a flower orange mess, and his eyes now felt even more intimidating. “Enjoy these final moments. I will be taking far more than your arm this time.”

Link felt his heart race faster, gaining in speed quickly. His breath got heavier.

Calm down.

Link took a deep breath. He knew getting scared wouldn’t help him in the slightest. Readying the Master Sword once again, he was ready to continue the fight.

Ganondorf summoned clones, and Link felt a pang of fear, but continued fighting.

“I’m with you, Link!” A familiar voice yelled as an arrow went through one of the clone’s head.

“Tulin!” Link cheered, but snapped back to the battle once a sword nearly hit him.

“Show the Demon King who’s boss, Link!” Yunobo yelled, joining the fight alongside Link and Tulin.

Link nearly got hit in the back by a clone, but was saved by a familiar trident holding back the Gloom sword.

“Sorry I took so long, Link!” Sidon grunted, standing beside Link.

Ganondorf swiped at Link, who dodged and flurry rushed, hitting hard and heavy once again.

A bolt of lightning then hit Ganondorf. Link smiled in appreciation as he downed a hearty elixir.

“Let’s take him down together, Link!” Riju yelled, announcing her presence and joining the battle.

“It is time to finish him off, Link!” Mineru announced, Link nodded with determination.

The sages each took a clone, and Link was on the Demon King. They fell into a rhythm, working as a team.

And after a while, Ganondorf called back the clones. It was fast, and Link wasn’t grounded before the Demon King gathered his magic and pushed everyone back.

Link recovered fast, up before Ganondorf could attack him again. He went in to attack, nearly hitting Ganondorf with the sword, but he got surrounded by balls of gloom. Link couldn’t avoid this, there wasn’t a possible way out. He grunted from the pain of the gloom closing in around him.

After the gloom dissipated, Link downed a hearty elixir. He felt his strength and health coming back, and he bravely held the sword once more.

Tulin sent an arrow flying, hitting The Demon King right in the side. Link flurry rushed once again, hitting hard.

He called upon Riju’s sage power and shot an arrow directly at Ganondorf. Yunobo got a sneak attack, hitting Ganondorf hard with the boulder breaker, causing him to fall.

While the Demon King was down, Riju hit him with lightning once again, weakening him enough that when Link hit him one last time, Ganondorf paused.

He yelled in pain, nearly fell backwards, and yelled again. But this time, it was a yell of fury, frustration, and anger. “I will yet rule this land… you will not stop me! A mere mortal will not stand in my way!”

Ganondorf raised his hand to his forehead, and ripped out the secret stone. Breathing heavily, he continues. “My body… My mind… Everything! I’ll sacrifice it all to destroy you, and cast this world into eternal night!”

He swallowed the stone.

Link stood there watching as Ganondorf’s furious orange eyes widened and changed colors. Ganondorf screamed with pain as a mixture of magic and gloom circled around him like the light had with Zelda. He laughed, a sinister tone clear in his voice.

Then the Demon king became a dragon.

~~~

When the draconified Ganondorf escaped the depths from where he and Link had fought in, he had Link caught in his teeth. As he broke through the walls and eventually the ground, Ganondorf circled around the floating castle.

The Light Dragon, who Link had recently identified as Zelda, came rushing towards the Demon Dragon. Said dragon roared ferociously. Link began falling, blood rushing from his sides, ruining his champions tunic. He was released from the draconified Ganondorf's jaw, and tears started to fall from his eyes. Zelda rushed to catch Link, hitting the side of the Demon Dragon's head.

Link fell onto Zelda’s head, grunting from the force. Standing up, he took out a hearty elixir and downed it, healing his wounds.

Link guided Zelda towards the glowing eyeballs lacing the draconified Demon King's back. As he jumped off, a rush of adrenaline burst through his veins. He landed on the eyeball cluster nearest to the tail. He drew the Master Sword and struck it twice, before it burst into a magenta smoke.

The dragon shook violently, causing the hero to fall. Before he knew it, Zelda had come to save him. He landed on the head of the dragon. He guided Zelda to the demon in front of them.

He dropped down to the cluster closest to the head, swinging his word twice, before getting shaken off again, and getting caught again.

He felt something warm and liquidy drip down his sides. His wounds had reopened. He had no elixirs left, his only choice was to wrap something around it. He looked around in the Purah Pad for a minute before wrapping the nostalgic cloth of the paraglider he once used around his wound.
< ~~~ Once Link had destroyed the clusters, he went for the secret stone. Hitting it twice, the stone cracked, exposing a weak spot for Link to attack. As he reached for the Master Sword, he heard a feminine voice.

"Master," a blue glow from the sword, and a chime in his head, told Link he was talking to Fi. "Raise my blade high and stab the Secret Stone."

Link complied, thrusting Fi into the stone; delivering the final blow. The Secret Stone burst into a ray of blue, hastily turning into orange.

Link fell back onto Zelda's head as the glow from the secret stone glowed brighter. Soon after, it exploded. Light flew out of it like a sparkler until it stopped glowing.the dragon roared once more, gloom flying off of the dragon as it went upwards. The vibrancy in the dragon's blood red hair stopped glowing. As the color drained out of it, beams of light started appearing from where the clusters were. The dragons exploded into a beam of light that towered from the ground to the top of the sky.

A deafening boom and a wave of wind made Link fall onto his knees, covering his ears. The wind made him feel nostalgic, but he didn't know why.

The tower of light slowly stopped, turning into no more than a cloud of smoke. The sky returned to a normal blue, rather than the red color it was when facing the Demon Dragon.

~~~

As Link was enveloped with light, he closed his eyes as he was forcibly teleported somewhere. He felt his wounds close, and his bleeding stop. When he reopened his eyes, he found himself levitating above Zelda's draconified form. His hand started twitching and reaching out to her.

As divine magic started shining from his hand towards Zelda, King Rauru and Queen Sonia appeared to either side of him. Rauru gave a nod, then put his hand over Link's, Queen Sonia soon following. The magic traveling toward Zelda got stronger, and she got fully enveloped in the blinding magic.

As the stream of magic stopped, the amount enveloping Zelda got weaker. When it was fully gone, it revealed Zelda as a Hylian again. She started falling, soon after Link fell too.

Diving after Zelda's unconscious form, Link reached his hand out, trying to grab Zelda. After a minute he got close enough and grabbed her arm. The two fell into a body of water head first.

~~~

Link walked out of the water, carrying Zelda bridal style. He set her down gently, kneeling towards her form once she was out of his arms. A few moments later Zelda woke up, groggily setting herself up into a sitting position.

"Link? How are you..." she moved her hand to the secret stone dangling on her necklace. "But I was..." she stared at Link with confused and loving eyes, when the spirit inside of the master sword started chiming. She gasped, "It reached you... after all." Her eyes widened, "He's gone... the demon King..." sadness laced her voice, along with happiness and confusion. "I'm not in a dream, right?"

Tears threatened to fall from Zelda’s eyes. "You did it. Oh Link, you really did it! But how am I..." she stood up slowly to face the floating Hyrule castle. "No. I understand. I had been sleeping this entire time. But when I felt something... like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up. Thank you." She turned to face Link, "Link, I met such wonderful people. I saw Hyrule as it was. I have so much to tell you. So much happened. Oh, Link... I'm home!" A blush formed on both of their cheeks as she looked at Link fondly.

Link couldn’t hold back, he nearly started crying as he knocked over Zelda in a hug. “Oh, Zel! I missed you so much!” Link cried, his voice brimming with relief.

Sitting up, Zelda hugged Link back, giving him a bold kiss. She pulled back with a shy blush and a small smile. “I missed you too.”

Chapter Text

Link and Zelda were walking to Lookout Landing, holding hands with each other. They were happily looking through pictures on the Purah Pad from when Link had bombed a Gleeok.

“Link, you seriously need to stop doing shit like that.” Zelda lightly pushed Link jokingly, giggling and happy.

“But Zeldaaaa!” Link complained, giggling as well.

“Link. You fight Lynels for fun.” Zelda deadpanned, and Link held back a laugh.

“Yeah, and?” Link let a mischievous smile form on his face, and Zelda lightly pushed him again.

This time, he fell.

Zelda’s eyes widened in surprise as Link fell through a purple portal that had spawned right as he was pushed.

“LINK!” Zelda called out, reaching for his hand, and thankfully grabbing it.

But she fell into the portal as well.

~~~

Link rubbed the back of his head as he woke up, feeling the pain of a headache. He yawned, suddenly feeling the tiredness that came after a battle. A panic came over Link as he frantically looked for his Purah Pad. When it was in his hands again, he let out a breath of relief . With a sigh, he looked around. There were three people awake, and having a conversation.

The first was a man, probably late thirties based on looks, with two red marks under his left eye, a blue arrow-like shape on his forehead, short blonde hair, and a scar over his left eye. He wore a chestplate that had symbols on either side on the top. Link noticed the similarities of the man’s looks and armor and the Fierce Deity armor and marks.

Next was a younger boy, looking to be 14/15. His hair was short and fluffy, and he wore a blue tunic that nearly went to his knees, with a pattern in the shape of a lobster. It honestly looks like Link’s own Champions tunic. The boy had a salty aroma to him, and Link knew he lived somewhere close to the sea.

And the other was a man, likely Link’s age, or at least close to it. He had short blonde hair as well, and one glance at his face told Link that he wore makeup. He had a green tunic, layered over chainmail, and a blue scarf around his neck. He looked like he was someone of high-rank.

Looking around more, he noticed the five other people lying unconscious. One was a boy, no older than 17, with short, fluffy, dirty blonde hair. He wore a green tunic with brown highlights, and he was slightly freckled.

Another was a boy with a wolf-pelt around his neck, who looked to be 17 or 18. His dirty blonde hair was straighter than the other boy’s, though still the same length. There were black markings in his face, suspiciously similar to the ones Wolfie had.

Then he saw Zelda. Without examining the other two’s looks, or caring about the three others awake, Link ran to wake Zelda.

Shaking her shoulder– and noticing that she was wearing her regular clothes again– Link started speaking. “Zelda! Wake up!"

Okay, maybe Link sounded a bit more panicked and was louder than he would've liked, but Zelda woke up. Zelda immediately sat up and looked around.

“Link? Where are we?” Zelda questioned, and Link shook his head and signed a quick “no clue”. With a sigh, Zelda continued. “Then let's ask those three."

Link followed beside Zelda, making sure to keep his hand near his sword in case these people were hostile.

“Who are you?” Zelda questioned, making the three turn to look at her, “Why are we here, and why is everyone else passed out?”

The oldest sighed, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“Well,” the youngest started, “Why don’t we all say our names? I’m Link!”

The other four paused, Link and Zelda exchanging glances with each other.

The oldest nodded, speaking up. “Well, it seems the name is more common than I thought. I’m Link too.”

“Me as well.” the scarf-boy states.

“That’s odd, so am I.” Another voice cuts in, and the five turn to see a boy—probably 18—wearing a long red tunic that ended just above his knees, and without pants. He had a small amount of pink on the edges of his hair, and he held himself with a confident, yet careful, composure— one obviously crafted from experience.

“It seems you are all named Link, except for me, my name is Zelda.” Zelda spoke with a sigh, one heard heard coming from the boy in the red tunic and the blue scarf man a well.

“Well, me and him know each other!” The youngest of the five stated, pointing to the one with the blue scarf.

Said man sighed, his head in his palm. “That’s irrelevant right now. The first thing we should do is figure out what to call each other. Using Link for all of us would get confusing real fast, especially if all of them are named Link as well.” As he said that last part, he pointed to the four others who were still passed out on the ground.

“True,” the oldest spoke, “well, you can call me Time. It’s part of my title.”

“Title?” The pink-tipped hair one questioned, “What, are you the ‘Hero of Time’ or something?”

Wait..

If he…?

The oldest nodded, “Yes, exactly.”

And we all have the same name?...

“What?!” Blue scarf asked, “That’s you, Mask?!”

“We’re all Heroes.” Link signed, only so Zelda could see.

With a nod, Zelda spoke up. “So, I'm gonna guess it’s fair to assume you all carry the title of The hero?” The others now looked at her in momentary silence, and Time, the youngest, and blue scarf nodded. Pink-Tipped hair only sent a glare Time’s way.

“As far as I’m aware, yes.” The one closest to Link’s age spoke. “Well, since we’re using titles, then call me Warriors.”

“Oh, I’ll be Wind then!” The youngest— wind— added, excitement in every inch of his being. (Seriously, how and why was this kid excited?)

“Then I’m Wild.” Link added, feeling secure enough to speak and share his title now that he knew everyone was a past hero.

“And I suppose that you all know a Zelda, correct?” with a nod from everyone but Wild, Zelda continued. “Call me Helena.”

“I guess you can call me Legend.” Pink-tipped hair said, his face a careful neutral.

There was a silence before Warriors started laughing. “You- you want us to call you… Legend?”

“What about it?” Legend asked, “I’m the hero of Legend."

Helena pointed to the four others, changing to topic. ”Anyway, we’ll have to wake those four up. We need their names as well, especially if they're all named Link too." The four nodded their heads in agreement.

Walking over to a young-looking boy– likely short for his age– with a multicolored tunic and bobbed blonde hair that was pulled behind a headband, Wild shook him and woke him up.

“Hey, wake up!" Wild said, louder than his usual voice. The boy slowly opened his eyes, and once he did he immediately jumped back.

“Who are you?!" He asked, voice a little shaky, “Who are all of you?!”

“I’m Wild, and they're Time, Legend, Warriors, Wind, and Helena.” Wild said, pointing to each respective person, who were waking up the others. Offering a hand, Wild stood back up.

The kid accepted the offered hand and stood up, “I’m Link, nice to meet you."

“So, as you probably noticed, our names are weird. That's because we all, minus Helena, share the name Link.” Wild paused, “that means we’re gonna need your hero title."

The kid thought for a moment, and Wild swore he saw the kid’s eyes change from gray to violet. After a few moments, the kid held out his hand for Wild to shake. “Well then, call me Four."

Chapter Text

Helena watched as Wild woke up Four, and was waiting for him to walk back to her. Once he was close, she walked over to the boy with short brown hair.

“Hey,” she kneeled down to the kid’s level, “wake up." Helena said, pushing the kid lightly. He opened his eyes, and as soon as he saw Helena he stood up and unsheathed his sword to protect himself. 

“W-who are you?! Where are we?!” the kid asked, warily and surprised. 

“I’m Helena, and this is my friend Wild. we woke up here just a bit ago, ten or twenty minutes at most.” Helena kept a calm tone while lightly pushing away the sword, “We don't know where we are-”

“I do,” Time said. “We’re right beside Lake Hylia, ‘bout a day or two of travel to get to my ranch.”

“ One person knows where we are.” Helena corrected, “Everyone awake, other than me, is named Link, so we’ll need to know what we should call you.”

The boy shifted uncomfortably, recognizing the name. He obviously knew that most people named Link are Heroes. Though Helena found that odd because he looks 15, but she wouldn't judge. (she was technically homeless for 103 years, after all)

“W-well uh… how did you guys choose your nicknames?“ the boy asked, his nervousness not obvious through tone, but Helena could still tell by the way he spoke.

“They chose their hero titles, I chose a name that means Light because of my powers.” Helena added, happy to share what her name meant. 

“O-oh, then I guess I'll be called, uhm, Hyrule?” Hyrule said with an awkward uncertainty that made Helena giggle.

In the corner of her eye, Helena could see Legend wake the man (older teen?) with the Hyrulian crest on his cape, and she could tell he was a heavy sleeper. She stood up, offering Hyrule a hand. Helena couldn’t help but notice the Triforce on the back of Hyrule’s hand having all three pieces.

“Okay everyone,” Time spoke up, startling the two a little,”Since we’re all awake now, we should discuss what exactly is going on. Let’s start with introductions, I’m Time.”

“I’m Wind!” wind added, excited. 

“Wild”

“Warriors”

“Legend”

“ ‘m Twilight”

“Hyrule”

“I’m Sky.” 

“Four”

“And I’m Helena, or Zelda, either one. Please don't use ‘princess’ when talking to me, I don't use the title anymore.” said Helena, admittedly a little nervous.

“Why are you the only Zelda here?” Legend asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Probably because I'm the only one who tried to stop Li- Wild from falling into the portal.” Helena defended, earning a nod of ‘fair enough.’ from Legend

“Uhm.. I think I know how we’re all together..” Wild spoke after a few moments of silence, quiet and awkward, but still earned the attention of all the heroes, “The portal had the same magic as Hylia’s..” Zelda walked over to his side and held his hand comforting the awkward hero.

“You can feel Hylia's magic?” asked Twilight, clearly skeptical and surprised.

“Uh, yeah. I can also talk to her at her statues, can't you feel her magic?” It was awkward for him, the only one who wasnt that thrown off was sky. Is he the first hero? His name is Sky, like the hero of the skies… yeah, he is.

“Wild, honey, not everyone is as attuned to divinity as you are." Helena said. Wild deflated a bit, now standing uncomfortably. 

“But, while I felt Hylia’s magic, the majority of it felt sinister. As if Hylia had hijacked the portals to bring us together.” Wild added, and Helena noticed the group shuffle awkwardly. 

“Well, I'd consider us lucky then. I only felt the dark magic, so it’s nice to know that Hylia is helping us.” Twilight added. 

“Another thing," Time moved the attention to him, “Recently, these black-blooded monsters have been sighted, and are stronger than normal.” Helena and Wild shared a confused look- all monsters are black-blooded?

“With that in mind,” Time continued,”we’re about a day or two of travel from my ranch, the closest establishment. We’ll need some people to volunteer to take a night watch.”

Right after Time finished, Wild, Helena, and Legend volunteered for the night watch. 

“Alright, let's get going.” Time motioned for everyone to follow him, and everyone did.