Chapter 1: The Sleeping Child

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now let me tell you a tale of heroes and courage, of madness and greed, of good and evil. A never ending tale in which the hero reborn anew, century after century, overcomes trials worthy of the gods themselves. This is a tale in which one man's hunger for power keeps him rooted fast to the land, no matter the number of defeats. He brings misery to those who dwell in this cursed land of ignorance and bliss. This is the legend in which the hero rises time and again to save the world once more, each time with the Princess of Destiny by his side. But this time, fate has taken a turn.

This is The Legend of Zelda.

Our story begins in the Sky Era, long before Hyrule, Land of The Gods, was ever born.

The war between the people of Hylia and the Demon King Demise has long since ended, and young Link and Zelda have grown to be adults since the fight for their world almost three years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every once in a while, out of sheer boredom Zelda would wander the ancient grounds of the Temple of Hylia. The history, the architecture. The temple had a sort of sentimental value to Zelda. The battles and the strange encounters that occurred here had shaken her whole world, and the world of the people around her. It was odd to think that such a quiet, serene place could hold demon kings in its courtyard and gateways through time in its foyer. This temple had been the end and the beginning of an era in her life. Zelda wondered if this temple held any more adventures for her. It changed her life once, maybe it could do it again.

Zelda meandered through the dusty rooms of the Temple of Hylia, running her hands over pillar after dusty pillar. In the center of the temple, a platform sat empty. A gate in time once stood there, tall and gleaming, turning endlessly. And just behind it… everything she had sacrificed herself for had fallen apart. She recalled the blinding flash of orange light that had sent both her and Link tumbling away from each other. Then that horrible, self-proclaimed Demon Lord had stepped out from behind a pillar. All hopes of peace and a safe future had been ripped from her in that single moment. He had come to take her soul. To feed her power to Demise.

Zelda blinked away the memory.

Ghirahim was dead now, and Demise with him. She was safe now. Safe. The word didn't seem to sit right. It felt like a lie.

The world outside the temple went on like everything was normal, with the quiet rustling of leaves and the occasional singing birds that sat outside the temple. No sound but Zelda's steps, muted by centuries of dust and ivy existed within the temple.

The same carving repeated itself in a straight line down each wall, far above Zelda's head. The shape roughly represented an hourglass with wings. Curious, how a temple technically dedicated to none other than herself still hid so much mystery behind every carving, every wall and every door.

Her fingers gently brushed a crumbling, dusty column as she passed it. It was covered in intricate markings--many now illegible due to its thousands of years of exposure to dust and the ever-creeping vines. But whether or not the writing was worn down, Zelda doubted it could be translated.

Such a shame, Zelda thought, for such a beautiful and sacred place to be neglected to the point of crumbling. Zelda still meandered across the old stone floor, running her eyes distractedly over every crumbling, chalky surface.

She continued walking along the wall until her fingers caught in the small space between two open doors. The birdsong became quiet, hesitant. Her steps ceased, and a final layer of dust flew, soon settling in a fine film along her legs and boots.

Zelda's breathing faltered at the sight of the two doors that lead to the very room she had sent herself to sleep, slightly ajar.

The distant birdsong cut off abruptly.

Hesitant, Zelda peered through the opening. The brilliance of the room was a severe shock to Zelda's eyes and left her seeing lights still moments after she had cringed away. The greatest shock to Zelda was not the blinding light, but rather the color of it, a shining, sparkling gold. It was nearly identical to the magic she possessed. The only difference was the sheer potency of it, the aggressiveness.

Like the sunrise, the light grew and grew, eradicating every shadow it touched. The light reached Zelda's boots, warming them. Not hot, but warm like the sun. The light edged further out the doors, its speed increasing with every beat of her heart. It shone onto her legs now, hotter this time. When the light touched the bare skin of her hands, Zelda hissed in pain and flinched away. The heat that had swollen and spilled from the room was something akin to the blistering heat of the Eldin Volcano.

Moss, once green and vibrant on its bed of stone hissed in protest as it shriveled and ignited. What in that room was so powerful to burn everything in a matter of seconds? Zelda's stomach twisted at the thought of whatever was in there.

The ear-splitting crack of glass cleaved through the silence like a thunderbolt through the temple, making Zelda's ears ring. For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then the splintering rang out again, multiplying explosively until a thousand tiny thunderbolts shattering glass cracked through Zelda's ears.

The light refused to die down, and Zelda began to sweat. The dust plastered itself onto her skin like another layer of her body. For a single, agonizing second, silence strangled the temple. The cracking had stopped, and the light pulled back like the tide. The same sudden, jerking movement the sea made just before a tsunami.

Then disaster. Whatever force was in that room sucked everything in with it. Stones were ripped from the walls, and the doors Zelda had taken shelter behind were thrown open, and soon crumbled.

She was falling. But was she going up or down? The world seemed to spin around her. No, she wasn't falling. She was being pulled into the center of the light. Hot. It was so hot. She was burning.

Then she was flying again. Away, this time. The sudden rush of dust and cool air mixed with shards of stone stung her skin in such a way that she couldn't tell if it was worse or better than the scorching touch of the light like fire.

Zelda's ears rang. Her head throbbed. Her skin pulsed, littered with welts and burns. She knew she was on the ground, now. While the ringing in her ears died down, slowly, the throbbing in her head intensified. She had never seen power like this. Not in this lifetime, anyway. After several more moments of lying amongst the rubble, Zelda worked at pushing herself off the floor.

Finally standing, she took in the temple. Slices of walls and floor lay scattered and broken, some even sizzling red-hot, while others hung suspended in air by magic that hung so thick in the temple she could see it, like spider webs spun from gold. It was a strange idea, Zelda supposed, to be able to see the magic. It pulsated like exposed veins strung amongst the rubble, weaving between her fingers and her legs, her hair, even.

Zelda's brain was a muddled mix of fear, amazement, and pain. Lots of pain. She must have hit her head at some point while being flung between rooms, limp and helpless like an old ragdoll.

Adventure, Zelda thought to herself. This isn't an adventure, this is walking straight into the lap of death. The bitter thought almost made her turn around and leave. Almost.

The beating of her heart felt distant and irrelevant compared to the numerous sensations running through Zelda's body. Pain in her head, fear tightening in her chest and stomach, the welts coating her arms, and the sensation of magic so thick in the air it made her fingers tingle like she was brushing through spiderwebs. She could feel her own meager magic pulsing and blending with it like the silly and carefree dances of family reunions. Yes, that's what it felt like. A jubilant reunion. This magic may be aggressive, but it certainly wasn't evil.

The magic throbbed to a rhythm, not unlike a heart beat. A strong, excited heartbeat. The magic no longer burned like magma, but was warm, like sitting in the sun on a spring afternoon.

Zelda made her way through the maze of half-fallen debris, gently pushing some out of the way only for them to spin slowly through the air as it inched away from her hand.

With the doors between the two rooms floating in bits behind her, Zelda hadn't realized she'd walked into the very room where she'd slept for a thousand years. It seemed she wasn't the only one who'd spent their time asleep in a case of amber.

Amberesque dust and chunks alike littered the floor, some fine dust still fell and occasionally caught the sunlight before gathering on the floor. In the middle of the room, entirely untouched by whatever magic had erupted, lay a bundle of white blankets. It moved, and squealed a bit, before a tiny, curled hand reached for the ceiling.

"Gods above," Zelda breathed. Every movement sent pain through Zelda's legs and up her spine before reverberating inside her skull as she ran for the baby wrapped in clean white blankets. The baby was utterly untouched by the chaos that had ensued just mere moments beforehand.

"Thank the gods. How did you end up here?"

Heavy, running footsteps echoed off of the walls, accompanied by the quiet skittering of rocks as they were brushed out of the way. Link bounded into the room, his eyes wide with fear and chest heaving, struggling for air. Unlike Zelda, Link had never fully recovered from the war that ravaged the land only four years ago. His eyes held so many questions, but at the sight of Zelda, sitting so peacefully beneath the sun with an infant in her arms, Link slowed to a stop and could only gape.

Zelda smiled down at the infant in her arms with the love of a mother. At a loss for words, Link sat down beside Zelda on the platform where she had slept for centuries, trapped inside a prison of her own while she kept another from ever seeing the sun again.

"Hello there, little one." Zelda smiled down at the cooing infant in her arms.

The infant blinked slowly in the sunlight, like she had just woken from a long and peaceful sleep. One eye shone the color of red wine, while the other glimmered in hues of deep blue. The child giggled as Zelda bounced her lightly in her arms.

"You're a very dangerous baby." Zelda glanced over at Link, her eyes shining despite the welts, burns and cuts that covered her body and face. "Link, if this baby did all of this damage just waking up, I don't know if I even want to think about what she might be capable of while she's awake." Zelda looked down at the baby in her arms. "I'm afraid someone may come looking for her someday. We'll have to be ready when that happens. If that happens. But right now, you need a name." Zelda looked at Link, then down at the baby. "Hello, Celicia."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four years passed, and the child was still so young that she hadn't known where she came from, and in fact she thought that she had been born in Skyloft like the rest of the people there. This young, spritely child had no idea where she was really from, and hadn't a clue of the emotional and physical hardships that were to come. But for now, in this life, the chubby fingers of a child pulled at the strings of a simple golden harp, and sang the words that she had memorized so eagerly.

"Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess... unite earth and sky... bring light to the land..." The harp's mysterious glow made Celicia beam with pride, because she knew that the harp and the song itself had magic woven into it, and she was so proud of herself for the little bit of magic that she had learned.

Zelda smiled warmly down at her adopted daughter. The little girl smiled back, her multicolored eyes beaming with pride and joy. One eye, a shining wine-red, held a tangible rage and strength to challenge the gods, while the other deep blue eye held all of the innocence and joy of a child. "Did I do well? Did I Mother?" Zelda's smile only grew warmer. "Beautifully." The young child yawned, and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Ok, time for bed." Zelda lifted Celicia from beneath her arms and carried her daughter down the hall to her bedroom. It was a modestly sized bedroom, with space enough for a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. But delicate and intricate paintings of flowers and vines wrapped around the room. The highest point of each of the walls had been painted like the sky; a bright blue ran along the wall only interrupted by the occasional bloated cloud and soaring Loftwings. There was as much detail in every inch of wall as there was motherly love for Celicia in Zelda's heart.

The two said their good-nights, and were soon asleep in their beds.

Though try as she might, any form of real sleep eluded Zelda that night. War. Blood. Screams, sobs, fire, fear, rage, and heartache. So, so much heartache.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lightning cracked across the sky, followed violent thunder that rocked every surface of the earth. Any other creature may have been frightened by the sudden storm, but not this one. Not Rallen, the God of Chaos. He smiled to himself as he sat atop his throne of bones and ashes, fiddling with a dagger. The usual darkness of his realm was nothing compared to the blackness of the world after each enraged lightning strike, ripe with the promise of violence. The spirits in the sky, which the mortals had named stars, dimmed their light so much that they were nearly gone altogether. His nearly imperceptible smile broadened ever so slightly when thunder rang outside of his chamber door. But the smile dropped when the doors flew off the hinges, shattering on impact with the walls and sending wood and miniscule fragments of bone flying in all directions.

"What a lovely storm you've caused, my dear. It's been far too long since you've given us such a show. Now is this just for the sake of destroying the décor or do you mean to speak with me?" Rallen paused and looked up from the dagger in his hands, giving Din a slow, smug smile that crept up the sides of his face. "Or have I been naughty?"

"You know damn well what you did."

"Oh my! The all-powerful and righteous Din, swearing? I never thought I'd see the day..." Rallen stood from his throne, rising slowly with the grace of a wild predator. The only difference was that he wasn't planning on killing anyone--yet.

He circled Din-- a predator sizing up his prey. That's what he was. Rallen continued circling Din, so close to her that their hands brushed each time he passed, wearing his usual smirk all the while. Din's eyes followed him as he circled, appearing black in Rallen's hall of nothingness. There was not a shred of humanity--fear or cowardice--in her eyes as she spoke. "You sent Demise and his armies after the Triforce." The circling and smiling continued. "You have just declared war."

Rallen stopped his circling once he came to stand in front of Din, still standing so close that they could share breath if he hadn't been so much taller than her. "And your mortal world will burn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zelda sat up in bed suddenly, startled and frustrated. What in the world had that dream meant?

The sudden, ear splitting sound of wood cracking resonated throughout Zelda's house. If she hadn't already been wide awake, she most certainly was now.

With her heart beating frighteningly fast, Zelda flung her sheets from off her bed and threw open her door. The house was now silent, but a darkness unlike anything she had ever seen crept along the floors and walls, making her own home feel like the hell that not even the darkest of minds could conceive. But this darkness was not natural. There was no moon to shed its pale light onto the floating rock that night, and the darkness shifted and crawled like it was alive. The living darkness whispered horrifying and evil things as it slithered across the floor like a rambling madman.

But the ominous ramblings died down when a new sound resonated through the hall. Heavy armor-clad boots lumbered down the hallway, making Zelda freeze with fright. Suddenly, a bone-chilling voice spoke, and a hulking beast of a man stepped into view, his glowing violet eyes the only source of light. Zelda's blood ran cold at the sight of him, but her knees nearly gave out beneath her when the light shone on her daughter's face, unconscious in his arms. Only sleeping, thank the heavens.

"My, my. How well you've done to hide her from me. But I'm afraid that we must be on our way. I've got worlds to burn." The man continued down the hall, nearly reaching the front door. Zelda's blood thawed just enough to allow her to speak.

"You will not take my daughter away from me." He stopped in his footsteps, and turned around. The darkness swirled madly around his feet and its ramblings intensified.

"Oh? And who's stopping me?" Zelda froze, the only sign that she was still alive being her eyes that flicked about the house.

"Me." Zelda used her small amount of magic to yank a flower pot that sat behind where he stood, smashing it on the back of his head. It was hardly anything at all to him, but it was something. It was enough.

Zelda dashed for him, and she must have had all the luck in the world this night, because she managed to snatch Celicia from his arms, and fled her home into the inky black of a moonless night.

With Celicia still in her arms, Zelda darted for any ledge that would get her off the island in the sky. But it seemed her luck had run out the second she fled her home. Zelda whistled and whistled for a bird that wouldn't come. But if the knights here were worth anything, they would see her. If.

"Zelda!" A frightened yell rang out behind her. Everything for the next few moments was a rush of light, feathers, and wind. Link, who was now a knight, swept up beneath Zelda. And Zelda, with one free arm, held onto Link with all of her strength.

"Fly," she said breathlessly, "fly as fast as you can for the Sealed Grounds and don't look back."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Just fly!" Link did as Zelda said and pushed is crimson loftwing to fly faster, all the while feeling that things were much worse than he might have been thinking.

The minutes passed slowly, with Zelda shivering in her nightgown with Celicia still asleep in her arms, and Link completely oblivious. But he wasn't so oblivious that he didn't begin to piece it together.

"They came for her, didn't they?" Link asked, his voice hardly more than a whisper above the wind that roared past their ears. His only answer was a soft nod from Zelda that he could feel against his back as she pressed into him for warmth. "Tell me how it happened." So for the last few minutes of their desperate flight, Zelda briefly explained her dream, and then the horror she had awoken to.

The last few moments of their flight were silent, the air heavy with fear and desperation. As soon as the scaly feet of Link's loftwing made contact with the ground, Zelda leaped off of the loftwing and began running for the Temple of Hylia with Link right behind her.

Door after door had been hastily pushed open until Zelda and Link wound up in the room where they had found Celicia. With shaky arms and tearful eyes, Zelda gently lay Celicia on the dusty stone floor. Zelda backed away, shivering from cold and fear, and the sting of fresh tears blurring her vision.

"I never thought I'd have to say goodbye. Not like this, anyway." Link's silence was his only response. Zelda lifted a shaky hand and thought of the same cursed crystal that she had slept inside for years uncounted, and the same crystal that had fallen like rain on the day she'd found Celicia.

Zelda sent a silent prayer to whatever god would listen that Celicia would find a safe home. A blinding golden light filled the room for moments that stretched on for too long. When Zelda could finally see, the dust had settled, and Celicia was gone. With her magic exhausted, Zelda sank to her knees. "It's done, and I pray that she's safe."