New story, one that I'm terribly excited about.

I'm turning over a new leaf: no more fluff, and no more happily ever afters. Nope. This story will not be for the faint hearted, let me tell you. It's a story of devastation, loss, anger, pain, and revenge. At least, that's what I told myself before I was writing. Against my better judgment, there issome Zelink mixed in, because what kind of story would it be without it?

And a quick note to clarify: this story takes place after Ocarina of Time as if Majora's Mask never happened.

I didn't want to make this the preface as I normally do, so as a result this chapter one will be a tad short. Review and let me know what you think. This style of writing is a bit foreign to me, so it's not as good as it could be, I know.

(Roughly translated, Acheronta movebo on its own means "I will raise hell" in Latin, for those who are curious.)

Hope you guys enjoy.

~Alyssa

Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta Movebo
….
If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell.

Now

I am not crazy. Not like they think I am.

I am not a monster, nor a callous, heartless demon. I have never ravaged a village or sacrificed a child on an altar, never raped or pillaged or plundered.

But I am a murderer.

I've killed more creatures than I can count: Moblins, Lizalfos, and Redeads by the hundreds, swarms of Keese that suffocate you and turn the world around you black, Stalfos that you could keep hitting for ages and never die.

And exactly two people.

If you could even call them people.

One was a Bandit King, ruler over the Gerudo, the race of thieves. He almost took Hyrule for his own, claiming the Triforce of Power and taking thousands of lives as he conquered the land with his army of terrible, monstrous creatures. For seven years he laid waste to the kingdom I called home, destroying everything in his path on a conquest to the crown, showing no mercy to any man, woman, or child that stood in his way. It was I who had the responsibility of saving my home from this monster, and after an adventure of great trials and tribulation, I ended him.

But this was in another life.

The other was a princess, destined to regain the throne after this time of great peril. Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, she stood by me on this journey, healing my wounds and mending my heart. She aided me when I needed someone most, and for that, I could never thank her enough. Goddesses above, I loved her. I loved her more than I could ever possibly say. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever known. My heart was hers before I was even aware it could be taken.

What a fool I was.

I gave up everything for her. Anything I had to give, it was hers from the moment I laid eyes on her. She had my protection and care, my life in the Kokiri, any hope I had of a normal childhood, and on several occasions quite nearly my life. I sacrificed seven years to save her, locked inside the Temple of Time in an enchanted sleep no one could hope to break.

And do not be fooled, she took it. She took it all without blinking, and when this wasn't enough, stole my heart in addition.

And what was my reward?

The woman that I loved, the Princess of Destiny, she sent me back in time.

She cursed me in this retched world, where no one I cared for remembered me, all the power and peace and friends I had worked and sweat and bled for erased. I was no longer the Hero of Time, no longer a Kokiri, just a boy. A stupid, useless, good-for-nothing boy with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and a broken heart.

And she herself did not even recognize my face.

Of this fact I did not realize until I had snuck into her garden, nearly overwhelmed by the waves of nostalgia as I tiptoed past the patrolling guards.

As I walked into her private courtyard, my ears were greeted by the rushing of water, flowing in the eternally surging river that snaked around the circular space. My boots crunched on the grass as I approached the staircase that led to her backwards form. I stared at the small of her back, the veil that just hung over her shoulders, remembering the awe and wonder the time this moment last happened. I was not keen on breaking the beautiful silence, but I knew she had heard me approach.

She turned around timidly, just her head at first, then the rest of her followed as her hands flew to her mouth, something unreadable deep in her eyes.

Love, undiluted and strong, rushed through my veins. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, and I couldn't get into my princess's embrace soon enough.

"Princess!" I cried out, joy and triumph imminent in my voice as I ran forward, raising my arms. We had done it, after all. We had won. Ganondorf was gone forever, and now we could start a new chapter of our lives together.

But her head jerked back, her eyes widening at an alarming rate as she took a step back, trying to increase the distance between us yet again.

"Wh-who are you?"

My smile froze on my face, a terrible kind of emptiness filling my chest. I had faltered in my step then, coming to a halt just a few feet away from her.

"How did you get past the guards?" she demanded, pressing her back against the wall with the window.

My breath left me as I stared at her with uncomprehending eyes. "Princess?" I asked again, talking a step closer. Tears sprang to my eyes as I realized what I saw in hers: Incomprehension. Fear. "Zelda?"

She cocked her head to the side, biting down on her lip. "I-I apologize, but I must ask you to leave. I-I do not know how you made it past my guards, but no one is permitted in the castle without special permission." Her voice was very formal, very strangled, and very not like the princess I had fallen in love with.

"You don't remember me?" I breathed, reaching my left hand out again, and it was then that I realized, with a violent jolt of shock, that the faded golden triangle that I'd grown so accustomed to no longer resided there.

She shook her head slightly. "I am sorry sir, but if you do not leave here this instant I will call my guards and have you thrown in jail." Her voice was slightly more powerful as she regained herself, her eyes becoming hard.

"Zelda, please!" I cried, panic rising in my heart as I took another step forward. "Listen to me! That man in there, Ganondorf, he's evil! He's going to take over the world! You- you have to tell your father! You have to stop him!"

"Guards!" she shrieked, and immediately several of the soldiers that I had passed on patrol came rushing in, grabbing me by the shoulders.

"Please, listen to me!" I begged, fighting at the men and cursing the Goddesses for erasing the tremendous strength I had possessed before I had woken up again. To slay the King of Evil just moments ago, only to be stopped by a pack of feeble men who had probably never picked up a proper blade in their lives. Humiliating, but I hardly cared. "You have to stop him! He will kill you! He'll kill everyone! I can't save you again!"

"Come on, boy." grunted the man to my left, locking my one of my flailing arms into place. "Let's get you back to your parents."

"Zelda!" I yelled in a rush, planting my feet firmly on the ground. "You seek the three spiritual stones! You hope to get to the Triforce before he does! But it won't work! You're only going to give him what he wants!"

Something in her terrified look changed. She stared intently at me, her gaze becoming inquisitive. Whatever it was, though, it only lasted for a moment before it vanished from her face.

"I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken," she said in a strained voice that made it clear she was lying. "Please escort him out of the castle." She addressed the guards. "Do him no harm."

Goddesses above. In her pocket was the Ocarina of Time. It shimmered in the sunlight, that ethereal blue, and I knew I had made a terrible mistake. Had she known that this would be the outcome of toying with time? She had to have. There was no way she couldn't. She was the Sage of Time, and if she didn't have her memories, it was because she didn't want to.

At this realization, I went limp, and the men began to drag me away. I strained my neck over the guard's shoulder, hoping to catch one last glimpse of her face. And there she was, her endless sapphire eyes staring into my own.

It would be the last time I would see her for over a decade.

I eventually grew to hate that woman. She sent me back in time, away from everything I had worked for, everyone that I loved, the peaceful Hyrule I had saved. She took my devotion to her and spit on it, throwing it away like it was nothing. Or worse, like it was hers to do what she pleased with.

She sent me back to regain my seven years, but simply disposing of me could not fix her mistakes. She did not realize at the time that returning me to my former years would not reimburse me for going to hell and back to save her.

Her idiotic mistake of sending me back in time only added to her debt to me.

A debt I had her pay in blood.