Blood Moon: A Story Before the Calamity

Six

Zelda's POV

     He remembered nothing. Absolutely nothing.

     The time he caught a beetle and it flew in his face. The time he blurted out every one of the tortures that he had to endure over his life. The time we danced. The time he saved me from the lusty noble's assault. The time he stuck a silent princess in my hair as I was trying out my wedding dress. The time he, as the most reserved person I had ever known, threw all caution to the winds and flung his arms around me.

     Not even his past lives, all the experiences linked to the Triforce. And that was my biggest concern. 

     I had suspected that something like this was to happen. He held a sword with all the might of the previous heroes combined, but the Triforce of Courage, after I had borrowed it for a split second, did not return to him properly. He did not have the ability to flip through the memories of all the heroes like I could with every Princess Zelda since the very first.

     If he was not worthy enough, if the presence of the Triforce was not strong enough, then all of this would have been for nothing. Hyrule would not stand a chance.

     He himself?

     It was as though he had returned to exactly how he was before, only in a different way. He was quick to smile, quick to laugh, and he seemed at ease, relaxed, most of the time. However... I could tell. I could tell how much every step towards his fate cost him, how much he longed for human company that didn't make him want to be alone again. I could not help him. I was too hollow myself to offer any warmth.

     He was doubting every move he made. I could see, just from how much I had studied him 100 years ago, the way his eye emptied when Impa told him of the past hero. The way his shoulders were so tense they were almost shaking when someone got too close to him. The way he sometimes cried out in his sleep, full of words he could not say.

     I could feel my power dwindling. Even as I was, I didn't know how long I could hold on for. My only hope... My only anchor... was him. But every day I felt him drift further and further away from me.

     I kept myself sane by repeating every name that I had once spoken with simple, harmless love.

     My mother. My father. Mipha. Daruk. Urbosa. Tyander. 

     My mother. My father. Mipha. Daruk. Urbosa. Tyander. 

     Every single one dead.

     I shook my head. I could not think about that. Could not. Could not. Could not.

     My mother. My father. Mipha. Daruk. Urbosa. Tyander.

     Not him. Not him.

     Never. Never had I loved him like them, as friends, as family. What if I hadn't fallen for him? Would I have still felt that sharp pang rack through my body every time he looks over at the Castle with no recognition, no sign of what he once felt for me? Would my heart still scream out for his every time I see a bleeding wound tear open his body, or his hands ball into fists as he sought to control the tears threatening his eyes?

     It hurt. Beyond pain. 

     I wish I had never loved him.

Link's POV

     Hateno Village. A bustling town filled with people going about their lives, with flourishing farms and travelers stopping by.

     Purah was... interesting. Yes, that was a good word. Interesting. We were both technically over 100 years old, but she was six and I was seventeen, and that was that.

     The Camera Rune was restored to my Sheikah Slate. Twelve pictures blossomed into view as I held it up, squinting at the photos. 

     My memories. They held my memories.

     I would catch a glimpse of who I was back then with every picture. Then, piece by piece, I would patch myself back together, and at the end, I would know everything. Everything. 

     And perhaps I would become that person. The hero Hyrule needed. The knight with infinite skill. Flawless. Fearless. 

     And that Princess. I wondered if I would get to know her as well. She woke me up. She had been waiting for me, alone for all this time. Surely the least I could do was remember her face?

     My Sheikah Slate felt heavier. As if it knew the weight of what it was now carrying.

     Anyway, I ventured into a rainy area when I was exploring, looking for a new Shrine. There was a strange fish-person there. He told me that he needed a Hylian and that I should go to their Prince over Lanayru Tower. Immediately I knew that this was no ordinary meeting.

     I looked at my map. I had just climbed Lanayru Tower, dodging all the monsters there. Right over was a structure that looked like a circle with three bridges protruding from it. Something was vaguely familiar about that shape, but I knew better than to think too hard. I decided to go meet this Prince person.

     As I made it to the luminous blue pillars connected by a hanging bridge, a voice called out to me.

     "Say hey there, young one!"

     I looked around, one hand on my sword. I couldn't see him.

     "Up top! Above you!"

     My eyes traveled up one of the pillars as the Prince of the Zora leaped off the hanging bridge, doing a somersault in mid-air and landing on his feet.

     He didn't seem like a threat. My hand released my sword.

     It didn't take me long to figure out that I had stumbled upon the Divine Beast Vah Ruta quest, of Zora's Domain. I narrowed my eyes from the pouring rain and pushed ahead towards the monster-infested road.

     I lost track of how much healing food I demolished just to keep myself alive. The concept of electricity was brand new, and I had learned the hard way that barging straight through a monster camp was not the way to survive. My arrows hit the monsters with a clean head-shot, the only way to take them out safely. If needed, run for my life. That nearly always worked.

     So when I finally arrived at Zora's Domain, breathless, still plucking arrows from my flesh, Prince Sidon's cheerfulness both annoyed me and made me feel a bit better.

     And oh my... If I had only known what I was getting myself into...

Zora quest: To be continued