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Swords were nothing compared to the flurry of dark power. To the surge of rage and malice and monsters. Farming equipment even less so. Wood was like brittle bone, splintering and cracking under pressure.
A fisher's net was dragged across the edges of the tiny village's main road. Small bare feet swift with focus. A child with a tunic as green as summer leaves tugged the net tight. Families abandoned houses in a rush behind him. Swords and pitchforks were nothing to these monsters. But he only needed to slow them down.
He knew nothing of political alliances gone wrong. He knew nothing of secret stones. He only knew that people were scared and he knew what he could do.
Spare time.
The horde crashed against the net before the boy could secure the other side. He gripped it tightly, digging his feet into the dirt. He grimaced as rope burned in his hands. He stood his ground for a few painful long seconds. A Moblin thrashed its head against the net, and it snapped. His body collapsed in the dirt from the force.
Somewhere else, a creature from the sky battled with Light and claws. A monster born from greed snuffed it with Darkness and blades.
Dying dim flickering light. The boy crawled to it, gripping the abandoned torch with determination. He tossed it. The light flared with renewed passion as it licked at the netting. Fire and netting capturing several monsters with their tangling embrace.
Somewhere else, Light flared and tangled the demon into an eternal cage. He knew nothing of a tragic, narrow victory. He knew nothing of a message sent Skyward, “Remember this name.”
The child scrambled up to a stand and ran.
Their home was burning, he noticed. He watched the town billow smoke. The stench of evil corrupted the air, fowl and growling. The people were far ahead of him by now. He watched a moment longer and ran.
The Goddess-born Priestess Sonia would be able to help people…right?
The woods he raced through were foggy and quiet. Eerie in silence after the snorting chaos of monsters. The wind alone whispered softly to him, like the chant of tiny voices. An echo of his name.
“Link.”
He followed. He weaved through the wilderness until he stumbled upon a stump, wider than he was tall. There, light shimmered from the sky, golden and soft.
Two miniature creatures glided down from the sky, hopping onto the log. Link sunk to his knees to look at them.
“Link” one of the almost mouse-like creatures announced, “I am Festari and this is Gentari. We are Minish, cousins of the Zonai you may know of.”
He stared, eyes wide.
The other Minish, Gentari, chattered in a language Link couldn't comprehend. Festari smiled and translated.
“They descended from the sky and joined the human world long ago, and now, the last of them have given up their mortal forms.” he explained, “They asked us to find someone who would aid the daughter of goddess-blood, and clear the land of evil's creation.”
Link tilted his head in confusion.
The Minish giggled lightly, “We hope you can defeat the monsters attacking your villages.”
“Oh! Why me?” He asked.
“Because you reacted to the monsters in your village so courageously, with ingenuity and strength.”
Gentari rose his arms to the light, and a sword descended from the sky.
Link stared with reverent awe. He slowly lifted his hands to accept the blade.
“...Awesome.”
Ash burned the throats of weary travelers across the plains of Hyrule. Villages billowing with smoke in ruins. A young girl raced up a hill of dried brown grass. Her purple dress was tattered and dirty. Blonde hair flew in the wind. Zelda's bare feet skidded across the edge of a bubbling mass of evil, poison malice daring her to take another step.
The dark monsters growled and loomed over the girl. Moblins jeered and prodded at her, forcing the child to the ground. Zelda searched the dirt for anything to lob at them. A spear glinted with a dusky red from the smoke-clouded sun. She shrieked.
A clear, clean, bright light burst across the field. The monsters wailed against it. Zelda closed her eyes tightly. Yelling echoed across the field. A thud of blade against body. She opened her eyes to watch a flash of a brilliant blade and a blur of golden light in the shape of a boy. She couldn't tell if the being was moving that quickly or if there was more than one.
She fumbled out of the way as the monsters quickly dissipated into dark smoke. Each plume of smoke seemed to be picked up by the blade, vanishing.
The final monster thudded to the ground. Two figures, still shimmering with light, struck their golden blade against the place it fell. Purple smoke swirled around it and vanished inside the blade. The glowing figures vanished into one, and the light faded.
The girl stared with awe and anticipation. But. Instead of a holy avenger, there was just a boy. With sandy hair and a little green tunic. She frowned slightly.
“Who are you?” She asked. He was no older than her. Probably younger, given how short he was.
“Me?” The boy asked, looking around.
“Why, who else would I be asking? Yes you!”
“Oh, ha. Link! Your local hero!” The boy lifted the golden blade and sheathed it.
“You're just some kid.” Zelda blurted, tilting her head.
“Well. I guess so,” He shuffled his feet shyly, “I'm working on the hero bit.”
She hummed, dusting off her dress skirt. “I am Zelda.”
He smiled, “Nice to meet ‘cha.” He turned to look at the ruins of buildings beyond them. His brows knit in concern. “Do you have someone you're traveling with? It's dangerous to go alone.”
“My father… He's in the refuge. I got chased… I didn't mean to run this far.” She whispered.
“Hm.” Link nodded firmly once. “OK let's go.”
Zelda blinked. “Wait. Me… with you?”
“Yeah I'll make sure you get back home safe.” The boy smiled brightly.
She crossed her arms, “I can keep myself safe! You're no older than me!”
“Well. …But. You don't have a magic sword.”
She glanced at the sword, then huffed, crossing her arms. “I'm gonna get a magic sword one day.” She turned heel and began walking.
Link trailed behind with a light hum.
She glanced back at him every few feet. She huffed and turned around, “That means you don't have to follow me!” Zelda shouted.
“Okay!” Link cheered, and continued along.
Zelda groaned and rolled her eyes.
They walked this way for some time. Down slopes of burnt and trampled grass. Ruins of villages and buildings loomed over the small children.
A light illuminated behind her. Zelda glanced back at the boy, his hands idly playing with the golden light that consumed them.
“What is that?” she whispered.
“Light?” Link said, looking up.
“But- what is it from?”
Link's eyes darted to the sky, then to the light. “The Minish gave it to me. They called it the Light Force. They said Force is in everybody but this is a special one that can help with fighting monsters.”
“It looks like my Uncle's magic.” Zelda said, tilting her head “but different. You glow gold like the sun… not to mention that copy of yourself?”
“That's the Picori sword.”
“What's Picori?”
“A Minish word. The Four Elements. I have to charge it up with these magic stones, though. I've only gotten one so far.”
Zelda hummed, looking up as well, “Uncle Rauru spoke of the Elements. Four forces that created one world.”
“Who's Rauru?”
“Sonia’s husband,” She whispered, “The Zonai King.”
Link blinked, jogging up to her and looking at her intently. “Sonia! You’re related to her?”
Zelda smiled sadly, walking down the path, “She was lovely. She helped raise me.”
Link gasped, “The Minish told me to find you!”
“What?” Zelda took a step back with a light frown, “Why?”
“I stopped listening as well after they gave me a sword. Something about destiny. I can show you where they are, they can explain!”
“I need to find my father first.” She said, brows pinched.
“Okay!” Link smiled, skipping ahead slightly. “Ooh, ohh, did Sonia teach you magic?”
“I can’t do as much as she could, but she taught me how to use a wand.”
“Oh fun! Those are cool.” Link hummed, “If the King is your Uncle, and the Priestess your Aunt, what does that make you?”
“Well...The new Sage- the Sage of Time said I was a Princess.”
“Princess Zelda.” Link bowed, playfully, “Honored to be your muscle.”
Zelda laughed, shoving him. “Are not! You're a twig!”
Children laughed and tumbled down grassy hills. Green still in spite of the destruction around them.
Link had fought and fought. Towns rebuilt and defended and rebuilt. A Boy became a Hero of Men.
A golden light flooded through the land in a wave. Link fell through the air as he watched the King Gleerok screech. His sword absorbed its darkness. With it, the final remnants of demons Link had been hunting down for the past year. His four golden copies swept back into himself.
Link turned and grabbed the edges of the Minish's cape, gliding like the creature's ancestors once did in the sky. He rolled his landing, into the center of Hyrule, where a castle was being rebuilt. He looked at his sword, feeling the dark energy churn and growl at being captured within.
He looked up at the Castle. He knew now that something dark was captured underneath this as well.
“Link!” Zelda called, rushing through the courtyard. She skidded to a halt in front of him. “You made that Light, didn't you?!”
He grinned, twirling his sword, “I caught the final monster. Am I your hero now?”
Zelda tried to frown seriously, but Link could see the curve of a smile tugging at her lips. “Not quite yet. I built a chest with the Minish. They said my ancestor's power over time was the final seal to keep the monsters bound through the ages.”
Link smiled, “I knew that! Neat right?”
Zelda hummed skeptically and waved Link to follow her. She led him through the doors of a completed section of the castle. In the center, a grand chest, with a slot in the top. Link stepped up to the chest, looking at the empty space his sword would go.
“Well. This is it.” He raised the sword over the slot. “Bye Bye evil.”
Zelda concentrated. Her magic swirled around them. Link's golden Light brightened, and he thrust the blade into the chest with a flash of brilliance. Zelda's magic wrapped around the chest like chains of time, freezing all within. Link closed his eyes for a soft moment. He opened them to see Zelda smile, proud.
The darkness sealed, they walked across the garden path quietly. Link felt strangely empty-handed without the sword at his hip.
Zelda swung her arms back and forth, idle in restlessness, “What will you do? Now that the monsters are gone.”
“Uh. Find somewhere to live? The mountains are pretty. The forest too.” Link smiled brightly, “I'll figure it out.”
“...You wouldn't want to live alone, would you? You still are just a kid.” Zelda reasoned.
“Ha, why? Would your father take me in?” He laughed, shaking his head.
Zelda said nothing for a moment. “...He suggested it the other day, in fact."
“Knew he liked me!”
“You're the ‘Hero of Men’!” She gestured with the title, dramatic in its grandness, “It's only practical that you remain with me- us. We might… need you, even with Ganondorf's monsters gone.” She muttered.
Link rushed in to hug her, snuggling into her shoulder. She yelped at the impact of the hug, struggling to remain upright.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The air felt light, soft. Zelda slowly hugged him back, “Certainly.”
A voice rumbled low, like something dark crawling up the back of their necks.
“Ah my naive little Princess.”
He jolted, scrambling to look for whoever spoke. Zelda looked up, stepping back.
“You may have sealed my monsters, but the Lightforce Rauru and those miniscule rats granted your little ‘hero’ will not hold me forever.”
“They're not rats?” Link muttered.
“I will not rest! My power will remain!”
“Who are you?!” Zelda shouted.
“I am Hyrule's demise.” A pool of dark magic swirled from the castle, and condensed, transforming into a copy of a man Link knew it could not- should not- be.
“I am Ganon!” The monster cackled.
Link pushed himself in front of Zelda. She gasped, turning and running.
“Ahh, she left. I suppose that leaves you. Little hero. Swordless. Defenseless.”
Link stared, his senses buzzing from the sheer amount of darkness from the monster. He twitched to grab his blade but froze at the handle. Pulling it would release everything. It's exactly what he wanted.
Ganon moved forward, darkness pooling at his feet, stretching ominously toward the frozen child-hero. He leaned down, tapping a finger on his headband. “Interesting. You don't hold a stone like Rauru… Yet that light is so similar… What did they give you?”
Sparking magic struck Ganon in the face, over Link's head. He growled, stumbling backward. The magic that made him seemingly melted, black ink dripped from where skin had been peeled to reveal a skeletal structure.
Zelda held a wand aloft, firm. “Get away from him!”
Ganon snarled, “You little brat-”
Link blinked away his frozen state, and raised his hand, a golden glow blooming from it.
The monster's eyes narrowed. “I shall return!” He announced, body collapsing into a swirl of dark magic. He vanished into the edges of the shadows.
Zelda rushed over to check on him. “Was that truly him?! The Sage of Time said he wouldn't return for ages and ages-”
“He was pure magic.” Link said, staring at the edges of darkness. “He's a copy.”
She sighed in relief. “Good. Then we can handle it, like any other creature the Demon King created.”
Link's gaze remained stuck on the darkness.
“Link-?”
He turned and smiled cheerily at her, “Good excuse to get a new sword!”
“You've grown.” Ganon observed as Link stepped into the chamber. Link swiveled to the voice. He was standing by a pillar of skulls, seemingly occupying himself with polishing one.
Link was older, sure. But Ganon had changed significantly from the pure copy Link knew, to a strange morph. His nose had never returned, instead, skin stretched over his skull, almost like a pig's nose. He now had horns and points to his ears.
“...Well. You waited a long time to return.” Link offered, side stepping as he felt around his pouch for the book. The book that had made this monster possible in the first place.
“It is difficult to gather the strength required to release my true self… Has anyone ever explained why I was sealed away?”
He frowned, staring at the monster.
“I assumed not.” Ganon hummed lowly, and lifted his hand, “The power I held intimidated King Rauru and his allies. That creature had no greater claim than I to rulership of these domains. Kordiai knew it, they accepted my rightful rulership!”
Link rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Ganon appeared in front of him, grabbing his arm. Link's eyes widened.
“I was saving my people from being pushed away from our rightful lands. Our water, our grass, our life. The Zonai were strangers. They stole from us- from humankind.”
“I only heard they gave things to people-?”
“And tricked everyone into lauding them as false gods! I've been watching you. You’re not the one Rauru is waiting for. You are better. You’re creative. You're powerful.” Ganon’s lips pulled back into a grin, teeth yellowed and sharp. His face directly in Link's. “Join me Link, and I will make your face the greatest in Koridai.” Link twisted out of the way, eyes wide at the suggestion. Ganon snarled. “Or else you will die.”
Link’s new blade shined against the stone as he drew it. “You destroyed my home!” He cried, and rushed in to strike. Link's sword grinded into the stone.
Ganon had vanished to an upper level. Fire crackled at his fingertips. Link ducked as magical fire crashed into the wall above him.
He frowned sharply and leaped up onto the upper level, and rushed to the monster.
Darkness, like poison, swirled at the base of Ganon’s feet and spread through the chamber. Link's body shimmered with light as he spun to slice across Ganon's chest. The Darkness could not touch him.
Ganon snarled, summoning a sword of his own. With three swift strikes, the dark blade just barely caught the boy.
Link fell back, feeling a thin line of blood at his neck. His light flickered. He focused the Force into healing the infecting darkness. The blade felt like it was made of the exact thing Ganon himself was. Pure hate.
Link couldn't fight hate with hate. The Light Force wasn't made from that. He closed his eyes and breathed.
Heat bloomed in front of him again.
Link rolled. Ducking out of the way of fire. He landed closer to Ganon, and he pulled the book from his pouch.
“No!!” Ganon screamed. Link tossed the book at the monster, determination etched into his movement. Ganon wailed as he was pulled back to where he came, “Not into the pit! It burns!”
Ganon was sucked into the pages, and Link scrambled to snap it shut. His brows knit together. The pit? Where Ganon's true self laid, perhaps?
A key clattered on the ground. Link sighed in relief and picked it up, tucking the spellbook under his arm. Zelda was what was important. She would surely be glad to see a friendly face.
…
Or she would just be annoyed about being woken up. Eh. Like any other morning, he supposed!