chapter one, Hateno and the Zora.
30 A.V. (thirty years after victory)
Link jogged up the hill to the Hateno research lab, not sweating as he went. It had been a while since he’d pushed himself to exhaustion. Sure, he would still pant, and his lungs would occasionally hurt, but nothing too bad like it used to be, nothing that slowed him down.
Visiting Hateno had done it. Seeing the kids. No. Not kids anymore. Full-grown adults, some with children. Link remembered how cute they’d been when they were younger. He could still see the resemblance between how they were now and what they were like when barely eight.
“Professor Link!” they had said, waving happily as they went about their normal lives, “It’s so good to see you! How young you look!”
As if he hadn’t aged a day.
It had been thirty years since the upheaval. Not a single wrinkle. Some growth spurts; he was proud to say he was five inches taller than he had been when Ganondorf awoke, but other than that? Nothing. Zelda aged. She now had the body of a thirty-year-old, though her true age was some ten thousand years old, but if asked, she would say it hadn’t counted since she hadn’t been herself when she’d been in the body of the dragon. Link didn’t want to think too deeply about it.
Link reached the lab’s entrance and burst in, expecting to see Purah as he had last seen her, white hair in a bun, lab coat on, glasses askew. Instead, there she was, standing on the stool so she could see her work, straightening her oversized glasses and shifting the papers on her desk. She was six again, or at least, in the body of a six-year-old.
Boy, did that bring back memories. She had been like this the first time they’d met. He had been confused, but eager, ready to learn more about this world he’d just barely been introduced to. Now he was just scared.
“Linky!” she said happily, throwing her arms into the air while also waving him closer for a hug. “I’ve missed you! Where have you been? It’s been weeks since your last visit!”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Link said, squeezing his friend tightly, “but I have other things to do, Purah. I’m helping rebuild Hyrule, teaching the elite knights how to fight, keeping up with everyone else, and doing my own little hobbies, but Purah,” he grabbed her by the shoulders and met her eyes, “do I have any wrinkles?”
“Purah,” Link said, releasing her and pacing around the room, worried, “I’m not aging. Zelda has a few wrinkles to complement her eyes, but me? I look like a child; the new bartender in Castletown almost kicked me out, not knowing who I was.”
“Link,” Purah said, a smile tugging at the sides of her mouth. “You look eighteen; that’s not that bad. As for that bartender, if he took one step outside he’d see the statue of you in town next to the other champions.”
“I’ve looked and felt eighteen for the past one hundred thirty-five years.”
“...is that a bad thing?”
“I get stuffed back into my body every time I die and have stopped earning new scars.”
“I cannot die unless someone is trying very hard to kill me.”
“Good for you!” Purah exclaimed, and she poked Link’s side, “Can I study you?”
“No. I thought it was a good thing too,” Link said, recalling last week's panic attack, “until I realized I might be watching everyone I love fade away and that years would start to pass so fast I wouldn’t even notice. I don’t have a clue as to how long my lifespan is now.”
“That… would be a problem. Here,” She hopped off her stool and scurried over to one of the dressers. She rummaged through one of the drawers until she produced a photo. “Thank you for letting me get a copy of this. Let’s see…” She held up the picture next to Link’s head, and her face fell. “Oh…”
“There’s no change except the scars… is there?” Link hadn’t had any hope when he came into the lab, but seeing Purah’s expression change so quickly… it hurt.
Purah handed Link the picture, seeming hesitant. Link looked at the photo Purah had taken of him and the fallen champions over a hundred years ago. It had been a nice day, everyone had been in the spots they wanted to be in for the picture, and then Duruk had shoved them all together in one giant hug. There he was in the middle, next to Zelda and Mipha, a look of surprise on his normally expressionless face. Link remembered that a part of him had panicked, thinking they were under attack.
Link’s breath caught as he saw his reflection in the glass; it looked almost the same as the one in the picture, save the burn scars twisting over the left side of his face, cutting over his bottom lip and left eyebrow.
The same the same the same.
Link remembered Hylia’s words from when they first met: ‘You are mine.’
At first, Link had found this comforting, thinking she would protect him, but no, she was going to use him until he found a way out; he was going to keep fighting, keep living for the people. He wouldn’t be able to rest.
He would live until he was forgotten.
He would live until everything was so different it couldn’t be recognized as the same world.
He would live to watch everyone die.
‘Calm down,’ Link forcibly thought to himself, ‘you’ll be fine. If you die twice in quick succession, then the grace that Mipha left you will not work.’
He needed his best friend; Sidon always knew how to calm Link down, even when Link was having a panic attack. Link unhooked his slate from his belt and activated the map; the blue light shone across his face and thumbs.
“Where ya going, Linky?” Purah asked, though her words were casual, her voice was laced with worry.
“The domain,” Link said, glancing up from where he was about to press ‘travel’ on the Mogawak Shrine. “I’m gonna talk to Sidon, plus it’s been a while since I’ve seen him and his family.”
“Alright… just be okay, okay?” Purah said as Link pulled apart, as blue lines of light. The world faded away into the familiar blue light… and then came back as the underside of Zora’s domain. Link fiddled with the slate for a moment, changing into the comfortable Zora armor Mipha had given him. The scales of it were dyed a dark black, making it easier to hide in the water from enemies.
Small stones and sand crunched under his feet as the link walked toward the ladder leading up to the domain. The entire domain was made out of a light blue stone - luminous stones - and had grown since Link had last visited. There were now small houses and alcoves with waterfalls pouring out of them for easy travel along the sides of the cliffs surrounding the domain.
Small Zora children swam through the water with a teacher. The kids were younger than Link by several decades, and a few of them waved to Link, knowing him well. Link waved back, hanging his slate deftly back into its place before placing his hands on the rungs of the ladder. He started his way up the ladder and was quickly making progress towards the top. It was a long way up, and the sight was beautiful. Experience told him the domain seen from above was even better.
Water streamed from the platform Link was making his way to, the Zora class he had seen earlier passed him on their way to the top while riding one of the falls.
Right when Link was about to reach the top rung, a massive scarlet head poked out over the edge, grinning and showing off sharp, shiny teeth.
Link panicked for a moment. Remembering a similar smile greeting him in Hebra - don’t think about it, don’t think about it - but it was just his old friend Sidon.
“Link!” King Sidon called happily. Though Link was several feet from him, Sidon was able to grab Link by the back of the shirt, pull him up into the domain, and yank him into a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you so much!” Sidon said, not letting go of Link as his legs dangled above the ground. “It’s only been about a week since I’ve seen you at one of the royal meetings, but it’s been three whole weeks since you’ve set foot in the domain! Oh! Tara said her first word! She said, ‘Daddy,’ it was the cutest thing ever, she’s barely ten and already has spoken her first word! I’m so proud. How have you been?”
“Uh… good?” Sidon's words had come out faster than Link had been ready for, and his head was still spinning as he was set down next to the king of the Zora. Link shifted from foot to foot, trying to clear his head, “I’m doing good, thank you, um, how are you?”
“Great!” Sidon said, flinging his arms out to either side. “Link, it’s so good to see you! But I must ask, why have you come to the domain?”
“To see you actually,” Link scratched at his neck, “I’m worried about something… I think I stopped aging, or maybe it slowed down a lot; I don’t know. I was hoping to find some comfort here.”
“Well,” Sidon said, lowering his arms and looking confused. “We can go feed the ducks? Could I introduce you to Yona’s new ward? Maybe we should play with Tara? Oh! There is something weird the people have been doing recently. I want to know what you think of it. Follow me, please. I want to take a walk while we talk.” Sidon started walking off to one of the large bridges leading from the domain to the surrounding terrain.
“What is it?” Link asked, noting the flowers placed around the statue of him and Sidon. A couple of blue nightshades, several armoranths, a handful of safflinas, and even two silent princesses.
“You see those?” Sidon said, gesturing towards the flowers. “The kids are starting to worship you.”
Link tripped over his own feet, nearly planting his face in the glowing stone of the domain, “I’m sorry, what!?”
“I caught some of them placing flowers around the statue and asked what they were doing, and they told me it was to make you happy for good luck.”
“That… is not worshipping,” Link said, relieved as they made their way toward Ploymus Mountain and Mipha court. While Link knew their behavior closely resembled worshipping, he didn’t think it counted, as he knew the Zora children and they knew him.
Sidon was strangely quiet as they walked, he seemed uncertain about something. And Sidon was hardly ever this quiet.
“Despite what we tell them, the kids keep saying you and Mipha were more than just engaged.”
“...okay?” Link said. “Must be because of the armor.”
“Yes, I thought about that,” Sidon said, lifting one of his large, clawed hands to rub at his chin. “Why do you always wear that armor into the domain? I don’t have anything against it, but why?”
“Because,” Link said, forcing his gaze away from a pinecone he could easily collect nearby. “I feel more like one of you guys when I wear it, less like some weird outsider who keeps showing up to harass the locals.”
“Link,” Sidon said, “never once have I ever seen you harass-”
Link started poking Sidon's side repeatedly. Sidon’s smooth but tough red scales almost made Link’s finger slip to the sides every time Link poked him, but Link held strong, happily poking his friend's ribs.
“Well, never mind then,” Sidon chuckled.
After swimming up a couple of waterfalls - as one does - they reached Mipha court and the large statue overlooking the area. It was noon, and the sun's bright light made the water glitter and reflect up at the magnificent statue. They sat down together on one of the new benches around the edge of the court.
It was the old Zora champion, Link’s fiancée, and an amazing friend. She stood tall, she was a slender Zora woman, with a dolphin subclass, a soft smile, and a large trident held in both hands, forked tip pointing toward the ground. The statue wore silver adornments with bright, glowing blue gems matching the material the rest of the statue was made of.
Link bowed his head before looking up again to study her face.
He missed her. So, so much.
He glanced to the side, where he saw Sidon staring sadly at his sister's memorial as well. The somber look in Sidon’s eyes hurt more than a knife to the gut - Link would know.
“I miss her too,” Link said, thinking back to the events right after the end of the calamity. “But your majesty, she moved on, she’s in a better place now, she has no more regrets.”
“That’s what hurts most, Link. She left me.”
Link fell silent, unsure what to say. How in Hylia’s true name was he supposed to respond to that? He imagined having a sister he looked up to for all his life, only for her to sacrifice herself for people that were not their own, and then to decide to move on after visiting only a strange Hylian. Yes… he could see why that would hurt.
They sat there for a long time, watching the clouds and the reflections in the water.
“You were running around again, weren’t you?” Sidon suddenly asked.
“Link,” Sidon said, “how long has it been since you’ve visited the others? I’m sure they miss you.”
“I… It’s been a few weeks,” Link said, suddenly interested in studying the tips of his toes. “I should probably go see them soon. But not yet, I just wanna sit here with you for a while, if that’s okay?”
“It’s alright, I would greatly appreciate that too.”After a longer time spent sitting around, chatting about how their lives were now, and being bossed around by Sidon to see his other friends, Link decided it was time to see the Gorons. He bid his farewell to the king and took out his slate, going through the all too familiar motions of picking a shrine to go to.
Link appeared in his Flamebreaker set at the Marakuguc shrine. He deployed his paraglider as he jumped; the bright blue fabric spread out to catch the air. It had a cow’s face on it, along with ancient lettering he and Zelda had yet to decipher.
He glided over the sturdy Goron people before landing in their city.
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