Tales from the Past

I woke with a start after hearing some extremely loud snoring. I jumped to my feet and looked around to see no one. I ran to the other side of the tree to see if there was a creature there sleeping, but there was nothing there. " Hey! Is anyone there?" My voice carried into the woods and disturbed some birds, but the snoring continued. I stood there, wondering where the snoring could be coming from. I decided I should climb the tree and find out if something was sleeping there. I got about halfway up, when suddenly the tree itself moved! I lost my grip and fell with a splash into a small pond below me. I looked at where I had just climbed, and was able to discern the appearance of a face moving as if something had itched it's nose. 

"What in Hyrule are you?" 

The face seemed to hear me and looked down at me. " You mean to say you've never heard of the Great Deku Tree? Well I'm disappointed in the education system of this land. I used to be known far and wide for my knowledge of this world." 

    "Then you know what's happened at the castle?" I got up out of the pond, dripping with water.

    "I only know what has been released from its prison." The Deku Tree had a morbid look on his face.

    "Please, tell me what you know, Deku Tree." I dropped to my knees.

    "Why do you need this knowledge young hero?"

    I clenched my fists, "I need to right the wrong I've caused, and save the princess from that thing released from this blade."

    "The blade? It's broken? But how?" He shook some leaves off in surprise.

    "The spirit within it came out and defended me against a demon lord called Ghirahim. She got injured and I attempted to protect her, but I failed. Now the Master Sword is broken and Zelda is in danger. I must do something to fix this!" I looked up at the tree, fighting back tears.

    The Deku Tree took a deep sigh, "I will tell you what I know, this legend goes back to a time before Hyrule, before the curse that put the spirit of the Hero and the Goddess' reincarnation on a cycle of destruction. Will you hear everything I have to say?"

    "Yes, I will listen to every word you say, Deku Tree." I stood and nodded at him.

    "The name of what you released is Demise. He is a King from another world that came to ours in search of a legend of three triangles that were said to grant any wish as long as the one wishing carried a balance of the three virtues: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Demise does carry these traits in balance, but a corrupted form of them. The goddess chose a human to be her sword, and with his help they sealed him away. The seal in place was a temporary one and meant to last until the hero was born again and able to defeat him in battle. That battle ended with Demise cursing both the Hero and the Goddess' reincarnation to always face his hatred, and he was sealed within the blade that had defeated him. This Hero, was your ancestor young one, as well as your name sake. I have seen many incarnations of yours, but this one seems to be the last one. The one to end the curse and decide the final fate of this world."

    I stood there, unable to believe what I had just heard. "How are you able to know all this? He said himself that he was sealed within that blade for thousands of years. You couldn't possibly live long enough to witness this all happen." 

He let out a chuckle and spoke, "I have been reborn multiple times, each time passing on my knowledge to the next. My first incarnation met one of your ancestors who had regained his past life's memories and told him this." 

I tried to wrap my head around what was said, but just couldn't believe it. My ancestors had fought to defend the very same country I defend now. I was always told by my Grandma that I came from a line that once guarded the royal family, but I thought she told me that to encourage me towards becoming a knight. I drew the broken blade from my scabbard and looked at the break caused by the strike. 

The Deku Tree chose this moment to speak. "There is a way to repair the blade given by the goddess. It has been done before with a different mystic blade known as the Picori Blade."

    "Tell me how then.I need this sword to defeat Demise and rescue Zelda."

    "It shall require the door of time and a journey through the past. Are you willing to take this journey, and speak with your past lives and learn from their battles?"

    "I'll do whatever it takes to save her from him."

    "I sense that there is something more than pride guiding your drive to save her, am I correct?"

    I felt my face get red, "Of course, Zelda is very important to me. I simply can't imagine a world where her and I are apart."

    "Well said, now begin your journey by venturing into the Lost Woods and seeking the help of the Kokiri. They are the children of the forest, and one had a deep connection with your past life. She will surely help guide you towards the temple where the door of time dwells."

    With that, I said my thanks, grabbed my gear and headed towards the Lost Woods. It had an eery feeling about them that sent chills down my spine. I entered and eventually found myself in a beautiful meadow surrounded by the trees. I looked around and realized I had lost my sense of direction and couldn't even tell where the sun was through the thick canopy of trees. I heard what sounded like children's laughter all around me. 

I decided to try and call out to them, "Hello? Are you the Kokiri? I'm looking for one that knew my past life. I share his name." 

A small boy that looked about 12 walked out of the trees and eyed me suspiciously. "I'm Mido, leader of the Kokiri. What do you want Hylian?"

    "My name is Link, I'm searching for one of your people that knew my past life. Do you know who that may be?"

    His eyes got wide and he had an extremely dumb look on his face. "Your name is Link! But that's not possible! He would've died ages ago, and his descendants would definitely not know of us!"

    "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm his most recent descendant. Now, you obviously knew my ancestor, but I doubt you would help me if I asked. So where is the girl the Deku Tree told me about?" 

    "You spoke to the Deku Tree?! He hasn't talked to us in years, except for Saria of course, but that's because she used to be a sage."

"Then where is this Saria, I'd like to talk to her?"

    He gave a pouting look and stormed off into the woods mumbling under his breath. I stood there slightly annoyed at his attitude. A few minutes passed and a young girl with green hair emerged from the forest where Mido had disappeared. Her face lit up when she saw me and she stood there in shock at seeing me. "You okay over there?" she seemed to be jolted back to reality and walked towards me. "So you're Link's descendant? You look just like he did after he disappeared for 7 years. I'm Saria." I stood there listening to her words, trying to see if she was trying to trick me. Instead she seemed to be examining my face quite intensely. "Is there something on my face or something?" she seemed startled by my words and backed up a little. "Sorry, but you look so much like him, it brought back memories of our time together."

    "Sorry about that, he must've been important to you."

    Saria looked down with a sad smile on her face, "He was, but I'm a Kokiri and was a sage while we lived, so any possibility between us was nonexistent."

    "It must've been hard, but I need your help to save the one I care for and the land you live in. Can I rely on you to guide me to the temple where I can find the door of time?"

    "Of course, follow me."

    I followed her through the grove and into the forest. We walked for what felt like hours until we reached some ruins that seemed older than the Deku Tree itself. "This is as far as I go. The temple lays at the back of these ruins, but be careful, stalfos and stalchildren have invaded this area and hide at every corner." I nodded and ventured forth and it wasn't more than five minutes before I encountered a stalchild wielding a sword. I drew the dagger I kept hidden on my belt and threw it at the stalchild, taking its head off in one throw. The head jumped around looking for it's body. I walked up and crushed the skull beneath my boot, retrieved my dagger from the eye socket and took its sword from its motionless hand. Now that I had a blade to fight with, the stals in this area would be easy to beat. I had made my way to the base of the stairs leading to what I hoped was the temple. I climbed the stairs slowly, waiting for a stalfos or two to spring up out of nowhere and attack. 

I made it to the top of the stairs unscathed and looked around. I stood in front of a building that was worse for wear. Around me seemed to be an ancient city that had long since been destroyed. I entered the building in front of me and found myself in what seemed like a chamber to worship something in. There was a pedestal towards the back, and behind it a massive door was opened, revealing another chamber. I entered the chamber in the back and found the symbol of hyrule engraved on the floor with a slot to place a blade in the center. This room obviously hadn't seen care in a long time. The sun reached its peak in the sky, casting light across the stone floor. A breeze blew through the room and a soft voice whispered as it blew. "Young hero, you've arrived." The voice came and went as swift as the breeze. I cast it off as my ears playing tricks on me. The sunlight seemed to intensify, and the the calm breeze became a strong wind, blowing leaves into the room. The leaves spiraled in the center of the room over the symbol in the floor, and a figure appeared amongst the light and leaves of the forest.

A woman appeared before me. She had long green hair and her gown was decorated with flowers and plant life. "I am the guardian of this forest, and one of the goddesses that made this world you live in. I am the Goddess Farore." I knelt before her, hoping she would help me on my journey. "Stand Link, you are indeed the holder of the spirit of the hero and the true bearer of the Triforce of Courage."

"Triforce? I've only heard about that in old stories and legends from my teachers, but they said it didn't exist anymore, that it was lost to time."

"They are correct, it was lost to time, but not in the way they think. One of your ancestors faced a reincarnation of Demise's hatred, the Gerudo King Ganondorf." The Goddess shook her head, "The triforce shattered when that man touched it and each piece was placed in a person worthy of its name. Ganondorf was given the Triforce of Power, Zelda's ancestor was given the Triforce of Wisdom, and your ancestor was given the Triforce of Courage. Ganon was sealed away still in possession of his piece. The other two pieces were passed on to each incarnation throughout time, so that they may eventually be reunited with the other pieces."

"How can I use it to defeat Demise? Or is it not intended for that use?"

"The Triforce is not a weapon, we left it behind as a means to protect our land from evil. Our plan was thwarted by my own creation. The superior races fought and clamored for the right to possess the power that the Triforce offered. A group formed, later known as the Sages, and sealed away the power within a sacred realm."

"How did Ganondorf gain access to the Sacred Realm if it was sealed by the sages?"

"Your ancestor was following Zelda's request and gathered the keys required to open the door of time, which is the door to this chamber. The final key was the Master Sword, which acted as a final lock since only the Hero could pull it from its place. He pulled the sword and was sealed in the sacred realm for seven years, until his body was able to handle the power the sword possessed."

"So that's what Saria meant when she said my ancestor disappeared for seven years. So he just vanished from the world? No one looked for him?"

"No one knew who he was. To most he was just another face in the crowd. The Kokiri waited for him to return from his visit to the castle, but their wait was in vain. They found out later from Saria that Link was not of the Kokiri, but was the Hylian that had come looking for her." The goddess extended her arms toward me. "Now, here you are again, in the ruins of the Temple of Time, where the door of time can be reopened."

"But how, the sword was the key and it's broken?"

"The sword was only a lock, not the key. The key is the Hero himself. All you must do is will the gate to appear before you."

"Is it really that simple? I figured there would be a trial or something for me to overcome to have it open or something at least."

"There is not, The sword has been removed from the seal and you are of age to wield its power. All you need do is will it to appear before you and the destination in time you wish to go."

"I suppose I'll go to where this sword was originally forged, I should be able to find something to help me reforge it there."

"Very well, now make the gate appear and begin your journey."

I concentrated on making the gate open. I heard a low hum in the room that slowly grew more intense, until it seemed to vibrate the very air around me. A flash of light appeared and a Giant gear appeared before me. A path seemed to go into the gear, though there wasn't enough room behind it to make a path as long as it was. I approached the gear and reached forward with my left hand. The Triforce on my hand glowed intensely for a second and a staircase appeared, leading up to the gear's path. I walked up the stairs and entered the gear. I followed the path until I saw a bright light at the end. I ran toward the light and appeared in a temple that seemed to be just as ancient as the one I had just left. I could tell it was dark outside the temple by looking through a crumbled wall. It was cloudy out and was raining lightly. I heard a monstrous roar from outside and ran to check it out.

Outside was a pit, that had a giant black creature climbing up the path leading to the bottom. I saw it topple over and heard the clang of sword. I ran to a better vantage point and saw a young man about my age, wearing a green outfit similar to my own, wielding a blue hilted sword that looked oddly familiar. He was driving what looked like a spike into the creature's head. He pointed his blade skyward, and it filled with power. When he swung, a beam shot from the blade and filled the spike with power, forcing it into the head of the creature. A light flashed and the creature disappeared, and the spike was in the bottom of the pit with dark smoke pouring out from its base. The man leaped down to wear it was and again pointed his blade skyward, unleashing another beam into the spike. A magic seal appeared around the spike, and the dark smoke vanished. Avoice from behind startled me, "Seeing our ancestor in action are we?" I spun around to see an old lady standing there. "How about you actually talk to him to see what he was doing? It might open your eyes a bit." The man had made his way back up the side of the pit and was standing only a few feet away when he noticed me.

Link: Skyward Sword

After sealing away the Imprisoned once more, I made my way back up to the Sealed Temple. When I got back to the top, the old lady was talking to a man that wore the Skyloft Knight armour, though I had never seen him before, he looked oddly like someone I should know. The old lady noticed me and spoke, "Well done Link, the Imprisoned is sealed once again. Now we have a visitor that would like to speak with you." The man turned and faced me, and I looked at him in shock. He looked exactly like me. "Who in Hylia's name are you and why do you have my face?!"

"You're gonna find it hard to believe, but I'm a descendant of yours from thousands of years in the future. I find it hard to believe I'm actually meeting you myself."

"That's not possible, the Gate of Time is sealed, no one can get through it without the Goddess Blade being at its full strength!"

"I don't know what this 'Goddess Blade' is, but the gate was already unlocked on my end, so I came through it to seek your help."

"Why would you need my help? I haven't even defeated the Imprisoned yet, only sealed it twice, how could I be of any help?"

The old lady spoke, "It seems he is on a similar journey to your own."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He is here to reforge a broken blade that needs power from its source."

The man looked confused and questioned this, "What do you mean 'from its source'? I'm here because my ancestor was supposed to know a way to reforge the blade given by the goddess to fight the Demon King."

"The blade meant to fight the Demon King? You mean this sword?" I drew my sword and showed him. At that moment Fi decided to show herself. She shot from the hilt and floated in front of the man's face examining him. She turned to me and spoke, "Master, this man is a perfect copy of you. Where did you find him?"

"I didn't find him, and he isn't a copy. He's apparently a descendant of mine that needs our help to reforge his blade."

"His blade is known as the Master Sword, it is the complete form of the Goddess Blade. Though it is broken, my future self is still alive. She is doing her best to maintain the blade and herself while he finds a way to fix it."

"How does he have a complete form of the Goddess Blade, I'm supposed to be the only one able to wield it."

"Being your descendant gives him an inherent right to wield the blade." She faced him and spoke to his blade, "It shall be alright, all your Master needs is to find one of the elemental flames left behind by the goddess and the blade will reforge itself."

The man's face lit up at Fi's words, "So all I need to do is find a sacred flame and the blade will be reforged on its own?!"

"Yes, that is all that is needed for a repair of the blade."

"Well I guess I should get going then" The man started running towards the forest. I pulled out one of the clawshots and shot it at his collar. It connected and I retracted the claw, dragging him back. "If you're going after one of the flames that is left by the goddess, then I'm going to accompany you and get some of the flame for myself so that I can upgrade the Goddess Blade." He got up from the spot on the ground he had gotten dragged to and stood close to me. I realized that he was more fit and a little taller than I was. "If you're going to accompany me, stay out of my way. I might not have the Master Sword to fight with, but I'm still more of a swordsman than you will ever be." His words angered me more than anything, and I held back from punching his face in to get rid of our resemblance. I wondered where he got his arrogance from, but it wasn't from my bloodline, he probably got it from his mother's line. "Fine, but if I see that you're in need of help, I won't hesitate to step in."

We ventured through the woods, following Fi's directions on where the first flame was hidden. We reached a temple in the forest known as the Ancient Cistern. We made our way through with ease, killing a monster every now and then. We eventually came to a room where an Item was supposed to be hidden that was required to reach the end of the temple where the flame was hidden. We reached the room it was supposed to be hidden in, but the room was empty except for a couple skulls here and there. I ventured toward the center to examine the room from a better vantage point. "Are you sure this is the right room? It seems empty to me" This guy's attitude was starting to get on my nerves. "If you have a better idea I'd love to hear it!" At that moment we both heard what sounded like the rattling of bones and drew our swords. A stalfos clad heavily in armour dropped into the room. Fi appeared and advised me on how to fight it. 

"This is a Stalmaster, a skeleton of a warrior brought back to life by dark magic. Be wary of its sword swing and attack while its guard is lowered." I nodded in acknowledgement and readied myself to fight. The stalmaster approached slowly, this was obviously not an ordinary stalfos, it was too smart. My companion obviously didn't read the situation and attacked blindly. The stalmaster hit him with the back of his blade and sent him sprawling. "I thought you were a great swordsman, what'd you do to train? Cut grass all day?" He got up and looked at me with annoyance, "Just shut up and fight. He's strong, we'll have to work together for this one." We stood about five feet apart and watched as the stalmaster approached us. He drew back his blade to attack. We took the opportunity to roll to either side, slashing with our swords to take out its legs. The blades hit their mark but didn't take the legs out, only damaged them. The stalmaster recoiled from the hit and readied its shield. 

The stalmaster seemed to be more on the defensive now. I wouldn't be easy to find an opening again. "Let's spread out a bit more and see which of us he focuses on more!" We did as I suggested and found that he was more focused on me than anything else. My companion took the chance and swung for the stal's head, cleaving it from its body. The monster's body collapsed into a pile of bones and a chest appeared. I opened it and took what was inside. It was a whip that was made to be used to grab things and swing across gaps. My companion decided to make a comment about it, "I didn't know that the Goddess was into that kind of thing, but whatever suits her is fine." I felt my face get red and put the whip away. "Let's keep moving, the boss key can't be far."

We ventured around for another 30 minutes until we found the key, and made our way to the boss' room we had found earlier. We entered and found a room with an old metal looking statue in the center with what looked like vases all around it. On top of it sat Ghirahim, an all too familiar face that apparently me and my companion were familiar with, "You're certainly persistent…" He looked at us with that mocking look on his face. "I'm terribly busy trying to find the clues that will help me revive the demon king." He pointed at us, "You're incessant buzzing around my head like some irksome gadfly when I'm THIS busy is… Well, it's making me very disagreeable. And it seems like there are two of you now? Well, that complicates things for me." He snapped his fingers and vanished. As soon as he did, what sounded like a massive heartbeat started emanating from the statue. What we thought were vases flew up and attached to the statue forming six arms. Two of the arms wielded axes while two others were free. The last two covered its weak spot on the chest. 

It prepared to swing. Me and the other guy jumped to the side as the two axes flew out of the creature's hands and flew right at us. They impacted and the statue drew two more from behind it. "We won't be able to penetrate it's metal body with our swords. Try using the whip on those latch looking things on its arms." I took his advice and pulled out the whip. I moved closer to the statue and it tried to slam one of its free hands down on me. I dodged and aimed the whip at its joint knob. It latched on and I pulled, detaching the arm from the statue. I did the same to the other. It repeated the throw a couple more times and seemed to get annoyed. It removed its arms from guarding its chest and tried to swing with both. I dodged and took the opportunity to detach both arms. Now all he had was a his two axe-wielding arms, and his center was unguarded. I yelled to my companion, "NOW!!" 

We charged at its center and unleashed hell on what was powering it. The statue eventually recoiled and reattached its arms. It placed all its hands on the ground and lifted itself from where it was in the room. All six hands grabbed a blade from behind it, closed a grate over its source and the statue advanced. It swung with all three hands on one side, lodging the blades in the ground. I used the whip yet again to remove its arms, leaving the blades on the ground. "Grab a blade and attack with me. These swords should be strong enough to break its guard." We each grabbed one of the massive blades and attacked, breaking the cage around the source and cut it in half. The statue shuttered around without its power source and eventually exploded. A door in the back lit up, and we approached it. About a foot away the door faded into nothing, revealing a passageway to where the flame was hidden away.

We entered the flame's chamber where a goddess crest sat at the opposite end. I approached and did a skyward strike to awaken it. The crest spun around when the strike hit and lit up. The symbol of Farore above it lit up and green flame appeared above the crest. I presented my blade, and my partner followed suit, presenting both the end of the blade and the hilt with the rest of the blade. The flame shot towards our swords and filled them with energy. The man next to me was holding the two parts of the blade together so that the flame would repair the sword. When the flame stopped, my sword was longer and sharper, whereas the broken blade was repaired and glowed ever so slightly in the dim light of the room. I put my sword away and felt a slight burning sensation on the back of my right hand. I looked and saw a symbol glowing bright enough to glow through my gauntlet. It was a grouping of three triangles, the bottom right one glowed the brightest. "That looks like the one on my left hand. Why is it on your right hand while mine isn't?"

"Probably because I'm right handed and you're left handed. That's the only thing I can think of that would make sense. How's your sword feel?"

"Well it looks new, but the spirit hasn't come back out yet." He was eyeing his sword closely. It seemed like he really wanted to talk to his Fi, I had always found her slightly annoying most of the time. She always had the need to tell me about an item I'd seen about fifty times. Though she always came in handy in a fight, she would give me advice on the enemy's weak spot and how to hit. I guess I understood why he would want to talk her, but I had a feeling it wasn't for the same reason I had. "Why do you want to talk to Fi so much?"

"I need to thank her for being brave even when I wasn't. If she hadn't saved me, then I would be dead right now, along with Zelda." I looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean Zelda would be dead? How do you know her?!"

He looked confused at my questions. "What do you mean, haven't you been cursed yet?"

"What curse are you talking about? I'm out to save Zelda because she's my friend, and she's the only one I live for."

"You speak such words about your princess to another? Didn't you promise to keep your friendship with her a secret to protect the royal family and your life as a knight?"

"Why would I do that? She's not a princess, she wanted to be a knight too, she was the Headmaster's daughter."

"Okay, wait a second, forgot that I'm in the past. Do you have a Kingdom called Hyrule here?"

"How could there be a kingdom? There's barely enough islands in the sky to hold the people that live there."

"There are islands in the sky?! What in Hylia, how did that happen?"

"The goddess put us on the islands and sent them skyward to protect us from the demon king's rage while she sealed him away. The thing you saw me seal away at the sealed grounds is what remains of his power."

At that moment, both of our Fis decided to make an appearance. They floated down in front of each other and seemed to be examining one another. His Fi seemed to be more human looking than mine. Her cloak now only covered one side and seemed torn on the other, and her face held emotion behind it. Mine had a full cloak and had an emotionless face. Mine spoke first, "I see that I change a lot between now and when I next see Master face-to-face."

The other one responded in a voice that seemed for human than the other one, "You will face a great challenge in the near future that will last until the moment you meet my current master. I cannot tell you the details of the challenge, only that it will take every ounce of power you have to stay alive and continue to fight."

"We were never made for long term combat of any kind, how is it possible to change how the Goddess made us?"

"You will see how in due time, do not rush the process."

"If the is the wish of the Goddess and my master than I will obey it."

With those words they disappeared back into their respective blades and left me and my companion in the room both staring at our swords thinking about how awkward that conversation was to listen to. 

He sheathed his blade and approached me, stopping only feet in front of me. "I'm going to head to the other time periods ahead of this and see if I can bring back the Master Sword's true strength. Continue your journey and save Zelda. I know you're capable of it, otherwise the demon king wouldn't be so pissed at our bloodline."

"I'll make sure I get her home safe, you do the same. Don't go ruining our family name doing something dumb."

"You don't have to worry about that, I'm more careful than I loo…"

He was cut off by the torches in the room going out making the room grow dark. A dark laugh cut through the silence and sent chills down my spine. Footsteps echoed through the room as a tall hooded figure entered. "So, this is where you ran off to you little brat. Off through time to find an ally? Well, he won't be of any help to you with that blade of his, weak and pathetic as it is right now. What did you hope to accomplish here I wonder? Did you perhaps hope that by repairing the sword broken by only a fraction of dark magic, that you would be able to defeat me?" He let out a deep hysterical laugh, "You'd better be joking, because if you're not, I will make sure to end you where you stand." He removed his hood revealing a dark scale looking face with flames flowing like hair on his head. His eyes were full of hatred and his massive size made him even more intimidating.

I looked at my companion and noticed that he was stiff with fear. His eyes wide open and every fiber of his being shaking at the sight of this monster before us.

Link

Before me stood the Demon King himself. He appeared unarmed at the moment, but I could still feel immense dark magic radiating off of him. As I was now, I wouldn't be able to face him and win, even with my ancestor's help. I tried to think of a way to get get both of us out of there without fighting, but couldn't think of anything. My sword seemed to hum and I heard it speak directly into my mind, "Remember all of the training you've done with all of your friends and family throughout Hyrule, they shall guide you." I remembered a spell I had learned from my grandmother before she passed. It was a spell to take you away from danger. She wasn't much of a fighter so she used it quite often to avoid moblins and bokoblins while hunting with her family growing up. I shouted to the other, "Get close to me!!" He sprinted over and before Demise had time to react, I cast Farore's Wind. The spell took us to the entrance of the dungeon where my ancestor had this look of amazement on his face that would've been more entertaining if the temple didn't start collapsing from the Demon King's rage. I turned to my companion, "Get out of here now, I'll get to the Sealed Grounds and use the gate of time to get out of here. Hopefully Demise follows me and leaves this time period alone."

"There's no guarantee of that happening. We should stay and fight while we can!"

"With how powerful our swords are right now, we aren't a match for him. He'll kill us both and then both of us will have failed in our mission." He looked back as the temple behind us finally caved in on itself and the shaking stopped. "There is only one way to ensure that we eventually defeat him, and that's to make sure you live and get cursed by him."

"Why would that be a good thing?!"

"Because that's what starts the cycle of reincarnation. Even if I die and fail in my mission, we will be reincarnated to fight again."

"But then what will happen to Zelda, the one we're fighting for?! Did you even think about that!?! If you die, you abandon her to the darkness!! For all your boasting about being a great swordsman, you're nothing but a coward."

His words cut deep. He wasn't wrong about me being a coward, but I couldn't see any other way that this chaos could be resolved. He continued to speak, "If you want to run from your destiny, then go ahead, but I'm going to get this sword more powerful and stand and fight when my time comes." I looked at him in awe of his courage in the face of an opponent like the demon king. "How are you not scared right now? I'm terrified of that thing, yet you stand ready to fight it."

"Courage isn't being fearless, it's being able to push forward despite the fear and terror flying around in your head. I was raised to be a knight, and I won't let a little fear get in my way. Especially if it's to save Zelda. You run off to a different time period and power up your sword, I'll power up mine in any way I can and meet you for the final battle." With those last words he searched inside his pouch and took out the whip. "At least take this, you'll make better use of it than I will." I nodded as he took off towards a statue of a bird and an updraft took him towards the sky. I took off running toward the Sealed Grounds where the gate of time rested. Where it would take me next is a mystery, but I need to go for Zelda and all of Hyrule.