Malice

By: dontwaitupxx

Chapter One

Zelda breathed in the cool Kakariko Village air and sighed. It had been one hundred years since she had felt air pass through her lungs, and the thought of it had once made her feel elated, following the final battle with Calamity Ganon. But now, days after, such mundane things felt almost overwhelming, saturated with memories of her once great Kingdom, now very nearly destroyed in the Calamity's aftermath. She knew they could rebuild; they could start from scratch and create a great kingdom, but it would not, nor ever be the Hyrule she once knew.

Following the battle, as she approached Link, she felt at a loss. What would she do now? For one hundred years, her purpose had been clear: keep Calamity Ganon at bay until the Hero's return. But he had returned; he had defeated Ganon, and now he was right in front of her, staring at her with a look of wonder and curiosity, but his eyes lacked recognition.

When she asked, "Do you really remember me?" she had hoped that his eyes would light up with that familiar spark, that he would smile and pull her into his embrace, and then she would know just one other person in this new world, and it would have all been worth it. But when his eyes went down towards the grass, not meeting her own, she realized that she was alone in this new world, with not even her same knight by her side.

He then grabbed her hand softly, and his calloused hand felt so familiar, her breath caught in her throat and she very nearly cried. He looked achingly the same, all the way down to the same Champion's tunic he wore one hundred years ago. Everything was the same, except his eyes, which lacked the love and friendship of another lifetime. He might as well have been a different man.

They walked across the plains of Hyrule, towards the castle, their hands still together, although held together loosely with no history. The castle loomed in front of them, dark and foreboding, even as the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. The malice coating the air was finally beginning to dissipate; yet Zelda still felt it coating her very being. The Sheikah structures surrounding the castle were now glowing a calming blue, the same color blue that dotted the landscape surrounding her on the shrines and towers. The castle though, she knew, was destroyed, having housed the Calamity for one hundred years too long. Towers and walls had crumbled, dirt and dust had accumulated, and the place that had felt like a home for so long now stood a prison. As they approached Hyrule Castle Town, she finally saw up close the horrors of the calamity; the entire town, a ghost of its former self, with nothing left save the outlines of the buildings, a few bare and broken walkways and what was once a beautiful and lovely fountain in the middle, destroyed, with pieces of metal broken off and melted from beams of fire.

She knew of the destruction of the Calamity. But she had never witnessed the aftermath first hand. She knew of visions she would see of her kingdom: towns destroyed, families dying, forests burning. But to see the destruction firsthand; to see the town quiet, calm, and empty sent a chill through Zelda she didn't recognize. They had defeated Calamity Ganon, but they were a far cry from saving the kingdom.

He looked up at her then, this time with a burning determination in his eyes, "I remember bits and pieces… fragments of our lives… from before. The past few months have been a blur to me… waking up in the shrine, barely even knowing my own name, and running around this kingdom, trying so desperately to save it and its people while I had really no idea what I was up against. But then I would hear your voice, from the castle…" He grabbed her other hand, squeezing, "and if there's one thing I know, it's that every memory I recalled, every smell and taste and touch that brought me back to the man I used to be only pushed me forward, and any time I remembered you, or something about you, I knew that it would all be worth it…" he paused, licking his lips, "I still don't remember much… really nothing at all. But I would like nothing more than to stay at your side, to continue being your knight… and to help you rebuild… if you would have me."

She wasn't sure what was appropriate, given the circumstances. But there was no one surrounding them for miles, as she would soon come to realize the castle had a severe radius around it. She stepped forward and tucked her head under Link's chin, wrapping her arms around her knight. She felt him tentatively wrap his arms around her waist, like he wasn't sure if he could, and like a dam bursting, she felt herself lose control of herself and sobbed into his chest.

They had survived; they had won, but at what cost? The Calamity had destroyed everything, and there was virtually nothing left in Central Hyrule except the husk of the castle. Towns and villages and farms were destroyed; families and friends murdered by the agents of Calamity Ganon. Hyrule Castle Town had been completely flattened, and countless other towns and settlements had been wiped out; lost to nature and forgotten in memory.

She cried for the Hyrule that once was, and that never would be. She cried for her father, for the Champions, for her guards and servants and villagers and townspeople and farmers and children and life that could never be replaced. She cried for the man holding her and for the man he used to be: both the same yet entirely different. And she cried for herself, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, that it took so long for her powers to awaken; that she was all alone in her kingdom that she did not recognize.

Abruptly, she pulled away from him, and composed herself, wiping the tears away and standing up straighter, "Let's be off then. It's useless to stand here and mourn for what's gone. I've had the better part of a century for that," she said with the ghost of a smile on her face, "Besides, there are better ways to honor the fallen. There's no use in trying to build the Hyrule that once was," she said, holding down the sob that was bubbling in her chest, "Let's start towards Kakariko Village… I should like to see my old friend Impa again."

She turned and walked away from her castle, her kingdom, her old life. Link, unsure of what to do or where to walk, walked a safe few paces behind his princess. Staring out at the plains in front of her, with her knight behind her and no other life for miles, Zelda's breath shuddered. She stopped abruptly, and turned her head back towards Link, "Please… if you don't mind, I would very much like it if you walked beside me." He grabbed her hand again, softly, and she held onto it like the only lifeline back to her old life.

Carefully, they walked back towards Link's horse. Neither one said much after that. After a lifetime of waiting, neither one had much to say. When she had imagined this moment countless times over the course of the century, she imagined running back to her knight with smiles and kisses and endless laughter and conversation because the Calamity was gone and they had won. But of course, she knew from the moment that he woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection that his memory had been compromised, and any hopes or dreams she had of a future with him would now be impossible to achieve.

Of course, they had never been anything more than princess and knight before the Calamity. Nothing had ever happened between them. Except, of course, longing glances and slight brushes against one another and dreams she had, and perhaps he had to, that she would explore after the Calamity, after her powers awakened, after he sealed Ganon away for good, preferably not after one hundred years.

Of course, things never turn out like you planned for them to be.

And so, even after a century of fighting, and then finally winning, Zelda still felt like she had lost.

As they approached Link's horse, Link fell behind Zelda slightly, and without asking or waiting for permission, he grabbed her waist gently, firmly, and lifted her up onto the horse's saddle, her prayer dress billowing out on the sides of the horse. He then climbed on behind her, reaching around her waist for the reins, and wasted no time in heading towards Kakariko Village. She felt his arms around her, holding the reins, and felt his back behind her, feeling his breath on her shoulder and neck, and if she closed her eyes, she could very nearly pretend that everything was okay.

Opening her eyes, she observed as they went past the Sacred Grounds, past the ruins of Mabe Village and of countless farms and ranches, all dotted with the empty husks of the Guardian automations, once meant to be their defense against the Calamity, but turned out to be the very thing that tipped the odds in Ganon's favor. They went on, past Mabe Prairie and towards the Whistling Hill, past ruins and more ruins and more ruins. Ahead, she saw the outline of the Great Plateau, and the structure of the Temple of Time. If she squinted, she could pretend it hadn't fallen to the Calamity as well.

They finally came to the Proxim Bridge, which would take them across Hylia River and away from the carved out heart of Hyrule. Zelda turned back towards the castle, and Link halted his horse, leaning a little to his right so Zelda could turn fully. Link looked up at her, and saw a look of purpose in her eyes, a look of hope and determination, as any princess tasked with the mission of rebuilding her kingdom would. But underneath it, he saw the slightest hints of doubt, of worry, of regret.

He cleared his throat, "Princess… if I may, that's not your kingdom… your kingdom, your people… they're all out here," he gestured across the bridge, towards where the outline of a stable was, with a small billow of smoke coming from a fire pit, or a fireplace, or something that was proof of people living and truly living, and not from destruction, "while we did not get away without any casualties, your people did live on. They migrated outwards, they joined existing villages, they created new settlements, they had children, and those children had children, and they lived their lives. Some may even say they were pretty good lives." He smiled slightly, grabbing the reins again and spurring his horse forward into a gentle trot, "Of course, that's not to say that they lived lives without hardship… but your kingdom does live on, princess."

They began to cross the Proxim Bridge, the sounds under the horse's hooves clacking against the stone. They were both silent for much after that. They left the castle behind them, the sun shining above them as they headed down the weathered road towards Kakariko Village.

As they passed through the Dueling Peaks, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew where she was, and she knew what was beyond the mountains. Beyond the mountains lived the scene of the worst day of her life, a day that replayed countless times in her head while in the castle, burning and clawing at her, silently whispering that had she awakened her powers sooner, this could have been avoided. It was her fault. Her fault. Her fault.

As they emerged from the mountains, she saw what looked to be a new settlement; an inn and stable, and beyond that, the ruins of Blatchery Plain.

They rode past the settlement, and then Zelda saw them: the tens of hundreds of Guardians that were littered across that plain. It was raining; cold and bitter, and they had been running, and running, and running for who knows how long, and their clothes were soaked and their shoes were caked with mud, and they were so out of breath, and were sweating despite the cold and rain, but they wouldn't stop; they couldn't stop. The Guardians had caught up with them, then, and they had to go, they had to run, keep running, until they lost them.

"Get behind me," Link had said, pushing her behind him, as the Guardians began crawling towards them, pulsing red with malice, their machinery whirling and their eyes glowing bright blue. The air surrounding them pulsed red, making the already humid air thick and nearly impossible to breathe. Link had unsheathed the Master Sword, and leaped towards the first one, swinging the Master Sword, the blade hitting the shell of the Guardian uselessly. One of its claws swiped at Link, and Zelda saw him fly ten feet away before he hit the ground hard, his tunic sporting two claw marks with red gashes staining the blue.

He stood up, leaning on the sword for support, and ran at the Guardian again, barreling out of the way as a beam of fire shot at where his feet were not a second earlier. He then flipped himself on top of the Guardian, taking the Master Sword in both hands and plunging it into the eye of the Guardian. The machinery whirled for a second, until it exploded with a puff of smoke, with Link being catapulted off it back and slammed into a nearby rock.

"Link!" Zelda ran over to Link, trying to help him up. Link swayed on his feet slightly, before shaking his head, "I'm alright. Stay back!" And he ran back in, grabbing his sword off the ground and running to the next Guardian.

This went on for hours, or maybe it was only minutes, but before long, Link had defeated countless Guardians, but there were still so many of them crawling around, their machinery whirling, tracking them, finding them. Looking off towards the Dueling Peaks, they could see every few seconds more of the automations crawling in, eager to find them.

Following one particular Guardian, Link fell to the ground, panting. Zelda cried out and ran towards him. She knelt beside him, trying to get him to stand up. He knelt there, clutching his side, his Master Sword buried in the ground for support.

"Link, let me see," Zelda reached out and touched his side, and he hissed in pain. Zelda pulled back, only to realize that her hand was covered in blood, his blood. He was losing a lot of blood, and fast. She saw he had gashes along his arms, torso, and his head. His gaze looked unfocused.

It didn't matter how many Link defeated; there would always be more coming to get them. And Zelda wasn't sure how much longer Link would be able to last. They were both soaked to the bone, and covered in dirt and mud. Zelda needed Link to live; he had to live to fight another day to take down Ganon, and any moment, one of the Guardians was going to find them, and whether it was that one or the next one, or the one after that, one of them was going to be the last Guardian Link faced before he couldn't get up again.

"Link save yourself!"

He had to get out of here.

"Go!"

He wasn't leaving.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

The whirling of the automations was getting louder, closer.

"Run!"

He didn't run. Instead, he hauled himself up again, as he had been doing. He stumbled backwards, his vision blackening and spinning. Over the husks of the dead Guardians came a new Guardian, machinery spinning and groaning as it finally found them. Zelda gasped, a new wave of panic coming over her as Link swayed and nearly lost his footing in front of her. The Guardian climbed on top of the husks of its fallen comrades and looked down upon them, haunting and intimidating. It readied its laser, beeping and buzzing, and Zelda saw Link stand there, not running up the sides of the dead automations to take a stab at the Guardian, not grabbing her hand and making a run for it. He stood there, in silent defeat, and Zelda realized this was it: they were going to die. Hyrule's one shot against Calamity Ganon was going to die. Link was going to die.

Link was going to die.

"No!" Zelda pushed herself in front of Link, and felt an unfamiliar sensation run through her. She saw herself put her hand out in front of her, and saw the Goddess' power rise from her. In that moment, she was surrounded by a bright, blinding yellow glow, and she had to close her eyes to shield herself from it. She felt the divine power flowing through her body, and she knew instinctually that this was the divine power she had strived for so long to find.

It ended as quickly as it happened, and she looked up and saw the red pulsing light of the Guardian in front of her. Had she really done it? Had she really awakened her powers? And if she did… did it even do anything? Or had it all been for nothing?

The red light on the Guardian began to flicker, and she saw the automation begin to power down. She heard the groans of the other Guardians in the area, and she knew that the other Guardians in the plain were powering down too. She then saw a smoke of Malice puff out of the Guardian in front of her, before it became a husk of a shell and died down, nearly toppling over in the process. The other Guardians followed suit, their metal bodies hitting the ground, squelching under the mud, Ganon's influence being stripped away from them forever, evaporating into thin air.

She felt her arm fall, her senses coming back to her in a rush, "Was… was that… the power…" she gasped, staring at her hand, her breaths coming in staggered.

From behind her, Zelda heard something else hit the ground, the mud making a light splattering noise.

She turned around and saw Link lying in the mud, eyes closed, barely breathing, and it was a sight that would haunt her for the next hundred years.

"No… no," she ran to him, leaning beside him, shaking him, "Link, wake up!" Her vision blurred, and she vaguely realized that she was crying. She lifted his head up into her lap, and he coughed, blood spattering around his lips, and she gasped, "You're going to be just fine…" She looked into his eyes and saw a finality about them, and before she could protest or say anything else, his head rolled to the side, and his eyes closed, and his chest stopped moving, and she lost him.

He wasn't moving and she couldn't stop shaking, and she cried into his chest, and a touch on her arm brought her back to reality where Link was there, living and breathing and warm.

They had been riding past the plains, almost to Kakariko Bridge when Zelda had begun shaking, and her breathing became uneven, and no matter how many times Link said her name, she wouldn't stop staring at the plains, her head shaking, her hands gripping knots into the horse's hair.

He stopped his horse and touched her arm, and her head snapped towards him, eyes full of tears and she fell apart, collapsing in his arms. He grabbed her and carefully slid them off his horse, carrying her over towards the mountainside, away from the Guardians and away from her memories. He cradled her in his lap in the shade the Dueling Peaks, and she held onto him for dear life, sobs wracking her tiny frame as she held onto the only familiar thing she knew of in her unfamiliar new world.

Link gently rocked her, rubbing small circles in her back. A few moments passed like this before he spoke up, "I remember it too." Zelda froze, and looked up at Link, her eyes red and puffy, and she saw that he had been crying as well.

"I don't remember much… but that I do remember… sometimes I wish I didn't," he laughed, bitterly, "It was one of the last things I remembered before I went to Hyrule Castle to defeat Ganon…" He shifted himself, tucking Zelda's head under his chin. She felt his heartbeat and him breathing, and closed her eyes, "I had freed all four Divine Beasts… and I had gone to Kakariko Village to seek advice from Impa before I left. And she told me there was one more memory I needed to recover before I went to the castle…" his voice shuddered, "and it was here. As I walked among the Guardians, the memories of that day hit me, every sound, taste, feeling, everything. I remember fighting, and how I kept fighting, because I would have rather died than lose you. I was so afraid…"

He held her tightly, and they stayed like that for a while. Link pressed his lips to her temple, a light kiss as they cried. It wasn't anything romantic; it was safe, comforting, familiar. Link only remembered bits and pieces from before the Great Calamity. Perhaps that was for the best. But they did share some of the same demons, and for that, they had each other to hold onto.

They soon after carried onto Kakariko Village, passing the bridge and up the mountainside into the quiet little village. By the time they arrived, it was very late, and yet as they approached Impa's house, they saw the door crack open as they approached the house, and an old friend grinned at them from the top of the stairs.

Old friends embraced, and promised to catch up in the morning, after they all went to sleep.

Sleep. How, after one hundred years, after everything that happened, would Zelda be able to get any sleep. She didn't know. But she nodded and smiled, and together, her and Link went to the inn and went their separate ways to their rooms.

Link had offered her a pair of his trousers and one of his shirts to sleep in, and though it was a little big on her, it would do much better than her prayer dress. As she shut her door and began to change in the small room, she saw briefly what she thought was malice in the air. It began to suffocate her, as the walls to the room began to shrink, closing in on her. She gasped and shook her head. The malice was gone. The walls were stationary. She was fine.

She quickly changed and opened the window in her room to get some fresh air. She lied down on the bed, knowing that sleep would be good for her, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw him, flying around her castle, him, fighting against her constraint, him, destroying her people, her lands, her kingdom.

She opened her eyes, and quickly got up, running her hands through her hair. She would not be getting any sleep that night.

She looked out her window. It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, the stars were bright, the moon shined white and not red… she climbed out onto her windowsill and lifted herself up and out, onto the roof of the inn.

Zelda breathed in the cool Kakariko Village air and sighed. It had been one hundred years since she had felt air pass through her lungs, and the thought of it had once made her feel elated, following the final battle with Calamity Ganon. But now, it just felt like malice.