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Chapter Text

The caves beneath Hyrule Castle led further and deeper than Zelda could've dreamed.

Caves? Hmm. No, that wasn't entirely accurate. The entrance had been a cave, and some sections of their journey did pass through large, natural caverns, but some hours ago they'd made the transition to tunnels. Tunnels carved by people. True, she saw repeated evidence of erosion where water slipped and sluiced through stone over the course of millennia, but it was clearly human hands that first shaped these halls. After all, one did not often see stalagmites forming over stairs.

The princess and sole heir to the Kingdom of Hyrule squealed when she saw them. "Link! Link! Look!"

Her knight, a few steps further down, spun at her cry. He reached for the Master Sword on his back, ready to race to her defense—only to find her crouching beside the vitrified mound of minerals.

"Come here! Look at this!" Zelda cried, waving Link to her side, jabbing a delighted finger at the spot where the stalagmite spilled onto the stairs, which themselves were made of hand-carved stone bricks carefully laid into place. "It's formed on top of it! That would make these stairs—goodness, I don't know a thing about geology—but old! Extremely old!"

Her field notebook appeared in hand, flipped open to her latest dog-eared page. Zelda scribbled in the finding with a curling, hasty script.

"I've found nothing in my research of the ancient Sheikah and Hyrule Kingdom that even remotely describes these tunnels. They must be as old as the previous Calamity Ganon. Maybe even older!"

A hand touched her shoulder.

Zelda stiffened, snapped from her reverie, chest tightening, muscles tensing in nervous anticipation of a curling frown looking down on her with disapproval. Disappointing. Disgraceful. Unfocused.

A warm grin found her instead. Link stood beside her, his head tilted, an eyebrow raised. The look of a man who somehow found her frequent distractions and untimely excitement endearing. His smile grew sly, a little teasing.

"As interesting as these rocks are—um, I think?—we should keep moving."

"You're right," Zelda admitted with a little slip of a sigh. As much as yearned to stay and study every odd little thing they came across, the two of them weren't down here out of happenstance. Malice brought them. A recent mudslide near the castle exposed a cave teeming with the corrupting slime. Given the alarming proximity to the castle and especially the Hyrule River, it warranted immediate attention. From them, specifically. Miasma mingled with the air, and only the two of them—one blessed by Hylia's Light, the other wielding the Master Sword—could safely venture into the depths.

She tucked away her notebook and stood, brushing clean her trousers. She managed a few notes, but she would be remiss if she didn't at least photograph this finding.

"One picture, and then we'll be on our way," Zelda promised, unclipping one of Purah's inventions from her belt, her latest prototype in the pursuit of recreating the Sheikah Slate. So far, it only displayed a map and took pictures, but those were the only two that Zelda cared about. The only part she didn't care for was the name. 'Purah Pad'. So tacky. "Can I get a little more light?"

Link bowed. "As you wish, your Highness."

Zelda rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and failing to smother a smile at Link's rote formality that he used and only used to tease her. For that, she took three pictures: one wide of the stalagmite, a close-up of the base where it melted into the stairs, and another of the stairwell as a whole. The latter featured a rather bemused knight counting on his fingers.

"There." Zelda slipped the Purah Pad onto her belt, bumping her shoulder against Link as she passed by. "Shall we?"

Their descent resumed. Each step further down the stairs brought thicker and thicker darkness. Light couldn't reach quite as far. Their shadows loomed, twisted by the halls, black as pitch. The miasma coiled around Zelda, clinging to the insides of her nose and mouth, heavy enough to taste, probing her Light for weaknesses.

Link reached the bottom first. He stopped. Stiff. Rigid. Listening.

He thrust the torch into Zelda's hands, dashing into the darkness, blade drawn.

Squeaks! Sharp and angry barking squeaks. Not bats. Not this deep, not with this much malice.

Three large, yellow eyes opened within the darkness, bouncing with the fluttering of wings. Keese.

Torchlight flashed, reflected from polished metal. Three quick slashes—one two three!—and all of the critters tumbled from the air, each one neatly relieved of a single wing. They landed with a squishy thump each, quickly dissolving into soupy black smoke.

Zelda released her breath, though she barely had time enough to hold it before her knight dispatched the monsters. She expected nothing less of him; he defeated far worse than a couple of measly keese.

Then, from within the darkness, "Zel! Come here! Quickly!"

"Link?" Zelda bounded down the last few stairs. Her heart tittered. She almost never heard Link use that little pet name for her anymore; that he did now...

She leaped the last few steps, stumbled on a wobbly stone, and rushed into the cavern.

Zelda froze.

Statues. Link found statues. A hall full of them. Wait, no! Not just statues! Reliefs! Carvings etched upon a wall at the far end of the room, miraculously preserved!

"Ha!" Zelda put a hand to her mouth to cover a grin so wide it made her cheeks ache and her chest swell so much it felt like she might nearly explode! This was huge! Huger than huge!

And standing in the center of it all, arms crossed, chest puffed, chin thrust proudly in the air, was Link. That goober.

Sheepishness crept into her smile. "Can I...?"

She didn't even need to finish. Link was already beside her, taking over the torch.

"Link the Lighter, at your service." He gave her a bow, grinning. "Okay, which one first?"

Zelda snickered, taking out the Purah Pad. "So sassy." She hummed, considering her options, then pointed to the nearest statue to the left. "That one."

Link took up position beside the statue, striking up a 'look at this!' pose beside it.

'It' was a creature unlike anything Zelda had ever seen. It dwarfed Link, standing at least seven feet tall. A humanoid being, with two arms and legs, but slender to the point of near-fragility, and with a head resembling that of a goat, with a pronounced snout, tiny horns atop the forehead, and massive ears pointing straight out to either side. Most interestingly of all was the third eye that rested on their forehead.

"Incredible," Zelda breathed, snapping a photograph. "It's a Zonai. It must be. I've never seen any artwork or statues that captured them in this much detail. And this!" She moved on to the next statue, a shorter one and decidedly female. "A Hylian! A Hylian, Link! Concrete proof that the two peoples lived together!" There had been theories before, but nothing proven. Not until now! She bounced with glee, casting aside all her lessons in noble etiquette.

"As soon as we're back to the surface, we need to put together a proper survey team." Zelda barely waited for Link to get into place before snapping a picture. He managed, sliding into a proud and triumphant pose before the shutter clicked.

The statues continued, six in total, the two characters repeated twice more. But it was the mural at the far side of the chamber that caught Zelda's attention next. Expert hands worked glowstone into the ceiling here, illuminating three portraits: a Zonai sitting on a platform above a crowd of Hylians, seven small artifacts arching around them; the Zonai and Hylian woman joining hands to the celebration of all, a pair of artifacts encircled above them; and that same woman, dead, her artifact stolen and darkened by a broad man, a wave of crimson rising to crash over all. The story ended in true dramatic fashion, the last two images buried by a rock slide.

"Amazing! Link, this is—!" A girlish squeal cut her off. Zelda snapped picture after picture of the history etched upon the wall, one of each of the images. Her glee faltered, but only barely, as she came to the tons of rubble blocking the rest. "Oh, I wonder what's under here?" she mused aloud, fingers brushing against the rock. "I can't wait to have a proper archaeology team to—"

Her nose caught a whiff of sulfur and the sound of a tiny hiss.

Zelda whirled. "You put that away!" she demanded of Link, who held a bomb flower in hand, a teasing grin on his face. She knew he wouldn't use it, but goddess above did he love getting a rise out of her. One day I'll figure out how to get back at him.

Link did as bidden, snuffing out the fuse-like stem and stuffing it back into his bag. Safely disarmed, he approached the second mural, pointing to the strange artifacts. Despite his little joke, he knew better than to touch the carving itself. "What do you think these things are?"

"I don't know." Zelda chewed the inside of her cheek. The artifacts bore the hallmark angular style of the Zonai, which limited the accuracy of their depiction, but they seemed to be small objects with a bulbous body and a short, tapering tail. "I've never seen anything like it before." Nor did anything in her studies leave her with any clues. They truly sailed in uncharted waters. "Whatever it is, it must be important."

"Mm." Link squinted at the man in the next image. "Who do you think this is?"

Zelda didn't know that, either. History already forgot that the Zonai and Hylians lived together, so it stood to reason that their name had been lost to time, too. For all their historical significance, the murals lacked any text that might offer hints.

But the more Zelda studied that strange man, the more something about him seemed... familiar. It came in clammy skin and the prickle of goosebumps, ice water running in her veins, fragments of half-forgotten nightmares bubbling to the fore. A skull that stared with empty sockets, its jaw splayed, rising from a crimson pool, and a hunger that would swallow the sun.

"Whoever he is, I bet I could take him," said Link, rolling his sword arm, blissfully unaware of the distress mounting inside Zelda.

"Mm. Maybe the next room has more answers?" Zelda suggested, making haste towards the door before she even finished. She hoped that her exit seemed like a continuation of natural curiosity, and not the visceral need to remove herself from the presence of that image that it was. Her heart hammered, seized by a primal fear she couldn't explain, and she clutched it, putting a hand to the cool stone.

It's just a carving, Zelda told herself. Whoever it is, they're long dead. They can't hurt anyone.

A hand touched her shoulder.

Zelda yelped and spun, nearly falling backwards down a set of stairs concealed by the darkness.

Link caught her hand, pulling her back onto stable ground.

"Sorry!" he said, apoplectic. "Are you okay?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes," she lied, in spite of her pallid face, the fear pumping in her heart, the miasma so thick she nearly struggled to breathe. She sought for some excuse or reasoning to brush it aside, only for a new distraction to present itself, lurking right behind the knight. She jabbed a trembling finger over his shoulder. "Link—!"

He drew the Master Sword. Pale blue light spilled from the sliver of exposed blade.

Link handed her the torch, his levity evaporating, emotion washing away. "Stay behind me."

The stairs wound down and down in a loose spiral. The walls were cramped, the ceiling low, the stone slick with moisture. Zelda couldn't shake the notion that some great beast swallowed them both, and that she now slid down its throat, each step down the stone-hewn stairs taking her that much closer to the belly of this beast.

The line of thought proved uncomfortably prophetic. The walls gave way without warning, and she and Link found themselves suddenly standing in the mouth of a massive cavern.

Ahead of them, a natural bridge led out to an island of stone, ringed by a sea of darkness and a massive drop on all sides. The light of the torch couldn't hope to fill the massive space, but it didn't need to. A green-blue light bathed the walls, emanating from a spiral of magical energy that stemmed from the center of the little island.

The two crept closer, daring the bridge. With each step, the more the island's center seemed home to some sort of strange altar. The rock bulged up with a gentle slope, unnecessary stairs chiseled into it. At the top, resting upon a platform, there was an arm. Only an arm. Palm down, it rose up at an angle, ending midway between the shoulder and elbow. Not a hard cut, not the sort a knife would make, but rather something blurrier, with particulates frozen in the air at its end. A vibrant green shone from deep within, the font of the curling magic. Dark lines, perhaps an inch thick and silhouetted against the glow, circled the arm, taking sharp, angular turns. The surface of those lines shimmered with the reflection of torchlight, the golden metal untouched by eons.

Perhaps the arm distracted her, or perhaps her mind simply hadn't wished her to see, but the altar upon which the arm stood was not in fact an altar, but instead a corpse. A mummified, desiccated husk. Dry, gray skin stretched taut against sinewy muscle, peeling in places. The eyes gone, the nose shriveled, the mouth wide in mid-scream. It bent over backwards, somehow refusing to fall, with a mane of calcified umber hair.

Zelda cupped her mouth. Bile burned in her throat, sour against her tongue. Her skin crawled and a weight of iron pressed down hard upon her chest. The desire to record and learn all but vanished. Every fiber of her being screamed in unison. Run.

She did not. Zelda was no longer that frightened teenage girl, terrified of her own destiny. The Blessing of Light stirred within her, a ready comfort, but even it couldn't banish the terror. She remained close behind Link, torch held high, clenched in bone-white fingers. Her feet grew leaden, her steps dragging across the floor as her knees rebelled.

This is an evil place.

A dry crack echoed throughout the cavern.

Zelda froze, petrified by the sudden sound. Link raised the Master Sword, the blade brighter than ever, ready for whatever might come.

Another crack. The arm shifted, fell limp atop the body. The light within dimmed, the spiral above trailing away.

Darkness closed in, eager to swallow them whole. Only the glow of the Master Sword and the flickering flames of the torch kept it at bay.

The arm slid, falling from the body. It landed with a dull thud.

Something clinked. A tiny, golden light bounced within the dark. It tumbled down the stairs with haphazard bounces and skittered across the rock, coming to rest at Zelda's feet.

It was some sort of stone. Carved and polished to a beautiful shine, it had a round bulb for a body with a stubby, curling tail.

Zelda moved without thinking, plucking the tiny thing from the ground, and gasped. It was warm! Warm to the touch, as if it'd only just emerged from a pocket and not a disembodied arm. The torchlight danced off and across it in strange ways, the light playing tricks on her eyes. She blinked, eyes finally able to spot a distinctly Zonai symbol etched upon it.

Though she couldn't be certain, it seemed to be one of those artifacts from the murals. Then what is it doing in a place like this?

A rattling, rasping groan filled the cavern, stretching out across a long moment.

The corpse moved.

It jerked, one shoulder lifting, then the other. Invisible strings yanked upon it, shaking dust from sallow skin. Joints popped, bone grinding on bone, leathery ligaments sliding across tough muscle. The arms bent, fingers flexing, head tilting from side to side as it slowly straightened upright. Color sifted into the calcified mane, burning a deep scarlet, rippling weightlessly as an energy washed through each wild lock.

With a sudden snap, the head turned to face them, staring with dark and empty sockets. A haunting smile of black, rotted teeth stretched across that lipless face. Corroded chains draped over the forehead, and in the center rested a second stone.

The empty eyes split open. A gash of sulfuric flame formed an iris, ringed by ragged purple, pupils the narrow slits of a snake, falling upon her.

A rattle, rasping, came from the mouth of the corpse. "Zelda." Those vile eyes slithered to the side, studying her knight. "Link."

A nightmare unfolded before her. This... this thing, this creature, it couldn't possibly be alive, couldn't possibly know them! It'd been down here for goddess knew how long, with the only exit opened in the last week.

"Who are you?" she demanded of it. Her fingers clutched the stone within her fist, the tiny thing an unexpected comfort. "How do you know our names?"

The thing paid her no mind. It instead continued staring at Link with lidless eyes, and the glowing blade he held at the ready.

"Is that the Sword that Seals the Darkness?" Its eyes flared, darting between the two. "...I see."

Malice burst from its chest. The vile stuff coiled through the air, the surface pulsating, undulating, alive, swallowing the very light around it.

Could it be...?

It lunged, for her. The malice closed the distance in a heartbeat, that one errant thought her fatal mistake, her demise. She raised her hand to shield. Too late.

Light flashed, the brilliant blue of a clear sky cleaving through the malice, spilling throughout the cavern. The end of the tendril fell to the ground before her with a wet splat, writhing on the stone in agony, shedding pieces of itself. Worms. Worms of malice that twisted and wriggled, shrinking, dissolving into choking black smoke. The other end reeled, retreating into the darkness, gnashing around the ashy gray stump.

Link stood before her. With a swing, he cast the lingering stains of malice from the Master Sword, raising it up into guard. His eyes fixated upon the creature, and he swept a hand behind him. A fist, pinky and thumb out, dropping. Stay back.

"A proud swordsman. Interesting."

Malice shot out from the dark, blindingly fast, nearly impossible to see in the half-light. But still not fast enough.

Link side-stepped, swung! The blade vanished in a smear of creamy light, slicing through the air where he'd stood a moment before, cleaving through malice with ease.

It bulged. The nightmarish worms rushed forth, weaving together, braiding themselves tightly together into a dense knot.

The Sword that Sealed the Darkness sliced, then slowed, and stopped.

Darkness gripped the sword, the malice forming a fist around it. The cavern filled with the awful chorus of a thousand, thousand deaths as the sword's sacred power burned away words, only for more to rush to take their place.

The worms, oily, shimmering, malicious and iridescent, each one as thick as a carrot, attacked. They swarmed across the Master Sword, down its blade and to the hand that held it, crawling up and through Link's arm.

He grunted, biting down on a cry, stumbling back. He clutched his shoulder, unable to pull free.

"Link!" Instinct yanked Zelda forward. The torch tumbled to the ground, her hand lifting, and Light exploded forth. It cascaded out in torrents, coming faster and stronger than ever before. A wave of Light crashed over her, over Link, sweeping away the thicket of worms. Control nearly slipped from her nervous fingers, but she held firm, pulling back the wave, compressing it into a barrier of solid, golden energy.

"Link!" she cried again. "Are you okay?"

Her knight forced a nod, his lie immediately apparent. He hunched forward, back bowed, hand clutching the shoulder of his injured arm.

Goddess, his arm. It was blackened and pitted with purple-red sores, as if the malice corroded his very flesh, sucking away the muscle within. The burns tapered off with grayed and flaking skin. The armor he wore did nothing, all of it burned away up past the shoulder. His chest heaved, face stripped of color.

Not even the Master Sword fared better. Zelda recalled its battered state from a deadly battle over a century ago, rust cloying at the edges, the surface scratched, the blade dull and chipped. That damage paled in comparison. The malice ate away at it, corroding full swaths of its once-pristine surface, leaving not just pits, but full holes bored through the surface. The light within pulsed, flickering, fighting on, but it was clear that both of them had been dealt an awful blow.

"Link?" Her voice wavered. Zelda stepped forward, reaching for him.

Malice crashed into the barrier, the impact snapping against Zelda's mind. Even with her strange newfound strength, the Light bowed inward, demanding her full attention.

"Is this how it happens?" A hissing laugh blew from the creature's lipless mouth, head tilting back. The malice slithered back, a viper coiling. "Ha! To think that all this time you were a swordsman."

"How what happens?" Zelda demanded. No sooner did the question leave her lips did the malice strike, nearly slipping through in her moment of distraction. A crack formed in the Light, the barrier straining, malice winnowing against it. A thousand nails scraped against slate as the two elements warred for dominance. She threw both hands up, molars grinding, sweat beading on her brow as she threw her full weight against the onslaught.

"You run," spoke the creature, a dark cackle chasing the words. It, or they, or whatever this thing was seemed entirely unbothered by the strain. "You run as far as you can, and still it is not enough."

The creature spoke as if that were a forgone conclusion, a fact. But Zelda knew it to be wrong. She and Link together defeated Calamity Ganon, and they would defeat this thing, too. Yes, their situation was dire, and fear ran as ice within her blood, but running meant to loose this thing upon her kingdom. That, Zelda would not allow.

More tendrils of malice, four in total, emerged from the shadows. They lunged, hungry, sharks smelling blood in the water. They hammered against the dome, again and again, from the sides, from behind, from above, relentless.

Zelda screwed shut her eyes, clenching her jaw, molars grinding. Shockwaves slammed into her with each and every impact, rattling her bones down, the strain yanking upon her fingernails. Sweat beaded on her forehead, each hit taxing her body, her spirit, wearing her more and more and more.

A mote of doubt crept up her spine, nestling itself into the coils of her frantic heart. All her effort, all this time, and none of it mattered.

It was happening again.

No! No. I don't matter, Zelda told herself, clinging desperately to the embers of her hope. As long as I can stalemate, Link can win. She could only hope that her efforts bought her wounded knight enough time to recover. Just one strike. That's all he—

Her concentration slipped. A jagged crack raced across the dome, the peal of thunder deafening. And then it was over.

The Light shattered like glass.

Recoil crashed into her mind, a tidal wave of strain released, nearly sweeping her consciousness out to sea. Zelda fell to her knees, dazed, dizzy, barely holding on, barely keeping her head above water. Shards of gold tumbled down around her, leaving trails of glittering dust in their wake.

A scream tore from her throat. Zelda threw up her arms, taking hold of the shards of broken Light, and bent them to her will. They shot forth, a vicious, brilliant hailstorm.

Now!

Link lunged. He said nothing, not a grunt of pain nor a fearsome shout, darting across the island with all the swift and deadly silence of a scorpion's stinger.

A slender tendril shot out from behind the withered being, snapping desperately at the knight. Link swung, cleaving through the oily manifestation of hate.

And Evil's Bane, the Sword that Sealed the Darkness, shattered.

Shards exploded outward as the horrifically abused and strained metal finally gave out. The destruction twisted deep in Zelda's soul. A tragedy, a knell, the very world itself crying out. And a scream that reached into the furthest corners of her mind, abruptly ended.

A piece of the Master Sword flew through the air. The tip, sailing true towards its target, this creature of darkness, the vestiges of the will poured into the heart of its being guiding it home. That sacred edge cut, running across the creature's cheek, and... and sailed by, vanishing into the darkness with a clatter.

All became deathly quiet.

A tremble crept into Zelda's hands. Reality bled into her numbed mind.

It... broke. The Master Sword, it...

The deep rumbling of a thunderous laughter filled the cavern. A wretched, awful, grating sound.

"Rauru sacrificed it all, for that," spoke the creature, its awful eyes burning with sadistic glee. A thin line of crimson bubbled and festered where the blade had cut. It pressed fingers against the tiny gash, regarding the smear of foul blood with stark amusement. "He was a fool to place his trust in you. And now his failure is complete."

The creature lifted a withered hand to the ceiling, and for the very first time showed strain.

Malice burst from the darkness below, pouring forth in columns, in torrents, crashing into the ceiling. The ground shook beneath their feet, dust and rocks and debris tumbling from above, boulders striking with fearsome cracks, and the very ceiling itself began to rise.

"So begins a new era," roared the being over all, "the Age of the Demon King!"

The horrors unfolded before Zelda's eyes. All that malice, all that power—they never stood a chance! And this—this Demon King, he toyed with them! He could've swatted them away without a second thought. Even now, he ignored them, their defeat decisive.

That's his mistake. Zelda shoved the stone into her pocket. Teeth gritted, resolve dredged from the last of her reserves, she rose to her feet. Light arced from a closed fist, a half circle, growing denser, growing solid, then compressing even further still, the Light singing as it fused into silvery metal. A gossamer thread of gold lashed between the two ends, and as Zelda nocked her fingers upon it, an arrow came into being. The room dimmed as she drew back the bow, the arrow breathing deep and shining bright with all her hopes and prayers.

Goddesses, I beseech you, destroy this evil.

Light pierced the darkness. A brilliant lance of gold flash, tracing the arrow's path as it shot across the room, straight towards the head of the Demon King.

And stopped.

Bony, withered fingers curled around the shaft of that shining arrow. Thin trails of smoke wafted out from in between those gnarled, uncaring digits.

He caught it.

No. No, that... that was impossible. No one could move that fast, and the arrows of light especially...

The Demon King cackled as Zelda gawped. He lifted the arrow, admiring it. "You still have heart." His grip tightened. The arrow cracked, pale light spilling out. Thick tendrils of black and purple tar bled from his hand, seeping into the arrow. It warped, twisting, growing thicker, jagged barbs and spikes jutting out from within, suffocating the Light from within. "I await the day that I crush your spirit for good."

He moved, a blur. Zelda barely saw it, flinching, lifting the bow, twisting it from metal into a shield—

A flash blinded her. Ears rang. Light and Darkness exploded, a rain of gold and crimson. Her feet left the floor and she crashed back-first upon the unforgiving stone. Zelda tumbled, barely managing to curl her arms around her head as she careened helplessly toward the edge before finally, finally coming to a painful stop a mere footstep from the yawning abyss.

"Zelda!" Link staggered to his feet, stumbling towards her. Goddess, he looked haggard, right arm hanging limply, the broken remains of the Master Sword clutched by the other. It was nothing short of a miracle he could still stand.

"I'm okay!" she replied, voice shaking, brittle. Her head swam, a dizziness pervading, them and tremors both thwarting her attempts to stand. Dizzy. Concussion? She hadn't felt the blow to her head, and yet...

Not important. They needed to get out of here, get help, warn the people of Hyrule of the dangers before it was too late. Zelda fought her way up to her feet, searching for the bridge. They needed to find it before—

The earth cracked, and the ground beneath her feet fell away.

Zelda plunged into the darkness, her frayed and exhausted mind barely comprehending it at all. The floor raced on ahead, vanishing into the foggy dark, and her torch, somehow still lit despite the chaos, tumbled down beside her.

And there was Link. Her knight dove after her, his withered hand outstretched, reaching for hers. He had no plan, no glider, no escape. He still hadn't hesitated, not for a moment.

Zelda reached up and took his hand. It was slimy, pockmarked, disturbing to the touch. She didn't care; she pulled him closer, holding him close in these final moments, wishing she had told him, wishing that they could just go back, back before the Calamity, before everything went wrong, when they could travel across Hyrule together and fall asleep watching stars.

A gentle glow enveloped them both. A shield? She didn't know. Zelda held Link tight, pressing her face into his shoulder, and braced for the impact to come. No matter what happens. As long as we're together, I'll be okay.

The drop ended, and Zelda landed upon a bed of soft grass.