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His pale blond hair was staining with red now. That was the least of his worries when she saw the angry blackened burns that traveled up her chosen hero’s left arm. Her sealing sword wasn’t strong enough to protect the wielder from the darkness of Demise. Even then the lightning wasn’t what was going to stop Link’s heart. No it was the massive gaping wound that tore through his side that was going to end his life.
“I'm…sorry…Hylia,” he wheezed out, “I…failed you.”
“Link? Look at me Link,” Hylia ordered her hero. Her massive wings covered the fallen man in shadow. “You did not fail me. You succeeded, Demise has been sealed away.”
“He…won't be…for…long,” Link argued, “I…couldn't kill…Him.”
Hylia couldn’t deny what her hero had said. He wasn’t wrong, the strength of her seal on the Demon King wasn’t strong enough. It would take many centuries for the seal to weaken but beings like Hylia and her predecessors that was not enough time.
She instead gave comfort to her hero in his last moments. “You must not worry about that now.”
A wateryness shone in Link’s eyes. Whether from tears or the approach of the inevitable the Goddess was unsure. Still there was a strength in his voice as strained and weak as it was.
“Hylia…I-I know…what is…hap-hapening to me.”
There was nothing Hylia could do for him. Too much of her magic was used in the imprisonment of Demise. She would need the help of another of the gods. Hylia doubted that even her predecessor Farore would help her in keeping Link alive. Not out of any malice towards her favored mortal, but more so that his role was complete. Demise was sealed even for as short or as long of time it would hold for. Link’s death was just the consequence of his mortality.
Hylia reached a hand to Link. She ran her fingers through his stained hair and leaned down kissing the top of Link’s head.
“I love you, Link,” she whispered.
Tears rolled through the blood that covered his eyes. Link’s breathing continued to slow down. Finally his chest stopped rising and falling and his gazed stared past her vacantly.
Leaving his body alone like this was not acceptable. It would not be wrong to leave him, as a fallen warrior. There were no mortals left on the surface to lay him to rest, but as a Goddess, his Goddess, Hylia was obligated to give him something.
Sending a prayer to her predecessor Farore. Flowers started to bloom up in small patches, lilies with various colors on the petals ringed with white. Hylia gathered a handful of the flowers and she arranged the body’s arms to rest on his abdomen.
Red and blue lilies were laid on his eyes and the lilies she placed in his hands were green and yellow.
“Rest now, my hero. I will be waiting.”
Hylia flew up into the sky. Slipping between the realm of mortals and the realm of gods. The sealing sword in her grasp hummed with the spirit who inhabited the blade. To fully seal Demise she needed the power of the Triforce. A power that she could not use in her current form.
Still Hylia had a plan. A plan that she wished she did not have to go through with, but she would if it meant the existence of the world. Hylia just needed the help of her predecessors and powerful spirits to ensure her success.
She just hoped reincarnation would favor her.
***
“LINK!”
He's dead. He’s dead. Dear Goddesses he was dead! Zelda saw the body, the empty look in his eyes as She closed them. Link had apologized to Hylia in his final words. But he should be alive. Link- Zelda’s Link had said something similar at the Sealed Temple, when his body gave out from the injuries he had from the fight against Demise and the days if not weeks of exhaustion he had ran himself through before that. He’d apologized for not being able to kill the Demon King, when his panic had worn out and stopped kicking Groose in the shins.
As both Links’ words replayed in her mind over and over again, Zelda was unable to piece together which apologies were from her memories or Hers.
“I'm…sorry…Hylia.”
”I’m…’orry..Zel…da.”
“I…couldn't kill…Him.”
“I couldn’t…k’ll…Demise.”
“I failed you.”
The hard sound of her bedroom door hitting the wall, made her head snap up to the noise. Link was standing there in the doorway.
“Zelda? What's wrong?” he asked.
“Your arms…I need to check…your arms,” she choked out.
He wordlessly moved closer to Zelda and allowed her to inspect his arms. She rolled up his shirt sleeve checking his left arm first. Nothing- right it was his dominant arm that had the burn scars. Zelda looked closer at Link’s right hand, layered in lighting scars, yes, but clear through all of that is the faint lines that made the shape of the triforce.
“It's still there. Opposite side but…” she mumbled, “One more thing, please.”
Zelda carefully rolled up the bottom of Link’s shirt. Nothing visible at first glance resembled anything close to that bleeding wound. Placing her hands on Link’s abdomen, Zelda let her hands brush against his skin, if she couldn’t see it maybe she could feel…blood, a scar, something! The wound had to be there; it was too deep to not leave some kind of mark behind.
Link tilted his head instead of asking her any verbal questions. Zelda didn’t mind his lack of questions or resistance to her touch, she just needed to make sure that he was alive and was going to stay alive.
“Hmm you're warm,” he mumbled.
Leaning against her, closing his eyes, most of Link’s weight fell onto her.
“Link? Link!” Zelda shook him as he lay nearly limp in her arms. Panic shot through her in the beats of silence that followed. What did she hit? What did she miss? How long did he have? Was he already-
“Hmh? Wha-t.” Link jerked himself awake, staggering backwards to stand up.
Zelda gasped, a part of her thought that she was starting to cry. “You’re alive-you-”
You fell asleep in my arms and I thought you died like he did in my-Hylia’s memories. Her mind reared to an abrupt halt. She slowly let her hands fall away from his waist.
“I am alive. What-” Link yawned, “What were you looking for?”
“Wounds, injuries.” Zelda purposely took a hold of his scarred hand. “Burns.”
Link hummed. He seemed to sway with every minute movement his body made. Taking a closer look at his face she saw defined dark bags under his eyes.
Zelda sighed, finally getting her thoughts back to the present and in order. Everything is alright. It was just memories. Her memories and Hylia’s.
“Come on, you’re going to fall asleep standing up again.”
She guided Link to lay down next to her on her bed. It was a tighter fit than usual, but sharing a bed with her best friend was nothing when she spent millennia keeping a Goddess seal intact. And Link was breathing, he was not injured, and he is alive.
“What happened, when you screamed?” Link asked, when they finally were comfortable.
“You died again,” Zelda whispered.
“Hylia?” he whispered back.
“Yes,” she said, “What was yours?”
He made a questioning sound.
“Your dream?”
Link sighed, “I didn't.”
“What?” Zelda sat up on her forearms.
“Sleep. I didn’t sleep,” he clarified, also sitting up.
She gave him a confused look. “Then what have you been doing?”
“Mia wasn’t sleeping so we were in the kitchen downstairs.”
As if that explained anything.
“She’s a remlit, Link, of course she’s going to be up.”
Link suddenly changed topics as though he just remembered what she had asked a minute ago.
“I did have a dream…of him.”
“Which one?” Zelda asked.
Out of the many nightmares that Link had told her about, some of them she had to wake him up from when he was still in the academy infirmary, the most frequent were of the Demon King and the demon spirit that made up his sword. It was no different this time.
“Demise,” Link answered.
“When?”
He didn't say anything.
“How long ago?” Zelda pressed.
“Two? Two nights ago?” he kept sounding increasingly unsure about his answers.
“Link!” she hissed.
“What?”
Zelda fixed him with a hard stare. “What if you fell off of Crimson earlier today because you didn’t sleep for two nights?”
“I didn’t fall,” he said.
“Well you're sleeping tonight.”
“Ok,” Link muttered. He slid his legs over the side of the bed moving to stand up.
Zelda reached out, looping her arms around his torso pulling the knight back down to her. Making the both of them lay on the bed.
“Hey, where do you think you're going?” she asked.
“To my room?” Link said, confused that it wasn't the correct answer.
Zelda made her hold around him firmer. “No, you’re staying with me.”
“Hes gonna ‘sk questions,” he said his words starting to slur more noticeably.
She moved her relatively free arm to pull up the blanket over them.
“Who’s going to ask questions?”
“Your fa’her...he’ll wantso know why ‘m in your room.”
Zelda laughed lightly, “Relax, I’ll be awake long before you.”
“Oh, you will?”
She gave him an affirmative hum.
“Goodnight Link,” Zelda said, as she played with strands of his hair. A few seconds later she moved her hand back to rest on Link’s chest.
“M‘night, Zelda.”
Link fell asleep fast. Probably as soon as he closed his eyes. But Zelda stayed awake for a bit long. Not for too much longer, but long enough that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and the rhythmic beating of his heart.