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Walking out the Palace of Darkness with a purpose in the back of his mind, courage flowing through him strongly, Link headed towards the southern portion of the Dark World, over the bridge and into the marshlands that rested there. The soggy grasslands received a good amount of rain, but the red sky above was clear of the dark clouds that oftentimes plagued the land. Link sunk somewhat into the soggy grasslands, his legs becoming wet and his boots slowly filling with water as he trudged through the water-rich landscape to the greenish-grey monolith in the south. Monsters would poke out of the grass from time to time, seeking to block Link's way towards the place of which Aekorra had told him, however they did not last long under the cool steel of Link's Master Sword. He continued towards the mossy structure, surrounded by a small moat, and entered inside; however, to his dismay, he found that he could not advance into the dungeon for he was unable to find any way to climb a tall ledge from the bottom of a deep canal. It was then that Sahasrahla spoke to him telepathically—very faint was his voice—and reminded him that the Light and Dark Worlds were mirror images of one another; somehow, the Wise Man speculated that which happened in one might affect the other.

Using the mirror he had been given on Death Mountain, Link came to the Light World of Hyrule once again, finding a similar prairie and temple, the Watergate Ruins. He entered inside where he found a lever that operated a tall gate that served as a dam; realizing the old man's clue, he lifted the lever and watched the gate open wide, allowing the water in the moat to flow into the passageways below. Link returned to the grasslands and found that the mirror had actually made a temporary gate back into the Dark World; he entered it carefully, feeling the light twists of being pulled once more into the Dark World. Returning to the Swamp Palace, he found that indeed the dungeons below had been filled with water, at least to the next dam that blocked the flow of the water. Link swam over to the previously unreachable ledge, and continued through the dungeon, releasing the blocked water as he came across each dam in turn. Often he would find himself having to leap over large gaps, physically unable to do so, to reach some of the levers, but a hookshot happened to be stowed away within the dungeon, enabling him to cross them with ease.

At the end of the passageway, Link found a room covered with a thin film of water. As Link approached the room's center, he happened to look up to find he had walked into a trap, for it was then when a gigantic squid of sorts let loose of the ceiling to fall on him. Link dove out of the way into the water, rolling along the ground to his feet to draw his sword. The squid was an Arrghus, a water-loving creature with a single eye with which to see. The squid was surrounded by a shell of smaller parasitic creatures called Arrgi; together they were very solid and hard, almost as strong as steel, but alone they were as fragile as talcum. Using the hookshot, he was able to drag the parasites off of the squid, slaying them one by one until none remained. The Arrghus did not take kindly to this and attempted to leap upon and squash Link or, at the very least, blind him with water in his eyes. Link ran away quickly as the creature landed, shielding his eyes from the splash. As the creature reoriented itself, Link leapt in to swipe the squid with his sword. After a few attempts to squash Link, the Arrghus soon found its own eye pierced with the blade of the Hero, and it screamed out in pain as it began shriveling away into nothing.

From its remains came another crystal, and this time Shanai, the Sage of Spirit, appeared; she looked just like the Gerudo women of old appeared save for her manner of dress, much more conservative from those times. Shanai thanked Link for her rescue, bowing before him respectfully. Shanai had some knowledge of the origins of the Triforce, having been taught that from her mother, the former sage. She mentioned that the Triforce had originally been here, but over the years, its whereabouts had become lost, all because of the thief Ganondorf; breaking free of the Dark World had not been easy for him, but after the last time he had broken free, after the waters over Hyrule had crashed down upon it, he had not been able to figure out the secret to breaking the seal... until recently, sadly. However, the Gerudo noticed that Link had the uncanny aura of magic about him, and that would help serve Link over the days to come. She wished him well and pleaded with him to go towards the Skull Woods—the parallel here of the Lost Woods in Hyrule; somehow she had felt one of her kindred trapped there. Once again, she gave the Hero her blessing and, reducing the size of her crystal to a common gem, placed herself within Link's pack.

Link could not find any way to reach Skull Woods from his current location, either blocked by bridgeless rivers or heavy stones, so he used the mirror in hopes to find another entrance to the dark forest. Traveling through Kakariko Town and into the forest, Link walked into the trees, no longer having the curious mist fogging the area with its mystical and dreamlike auras. Though much easier to navigate, Link still managed to get lost in the trees from time to time, wandering in circles. In frustration, he managed to kick a stone of decent size, only to discover, to Link's surprise, a blue tile within the ground, one of the Eight Gates, just as he had found on Death Mountain. He stepped into the gate and suddenly found himself within Skull Woods, a dark and almost dead forest. The air hung thickly, almost chokingly, over Link as he made his way through the winding passageways, finding a gaping stone skull into which he descended.

Link recognized the place as Skull Dungeon, the next mark on his journey. The dungeon was very expansive and broad, yet it had a much tighter feel to it, the walls as if they were closing in on Link, for the dungeon was carefully designed to force Link back to the entrances of the dungeon as doors slammed shut after he passed through them. Unable to make significant headway, Link returned above ground to think, and curiously enough, Link managed to find holes in the ground that led into the dungeon at different points. Using these to strategically map out the sanctums of the maze. Soon he came to a larger skull, one which had the skeleton of a deceased arthropod blocking its way. The bones were too heavy to move and too strong to shatter, but with the help of a Fire Rod, a magical artifice that controlled the very flames, found within the dungeon beneath the forest, the bones boiled into the ground below, leading him further into the trap-infested pits.

Link eventually fell victim to a very deceptive trap, a hidden breakaway tile within the dungeon's flooring, sending him down into a room with spike-lined walls and an overgrown moth known as a Mothula, filled with the powers of the Evil Realm. The moth flew into the air, its eyes shooting streams of liquid fire at Link; to make matters worse, the floor began moving, almost as if it were on a infinite sheet of floor somehow detached from the walls and ceiling of the room, but again, Link had to remind himself that anything could be done with magic. Link ran against the direction of the floor, keeping his balance and position in the room, dodging the fire as best he could, but Link was thrown off-balance once or twice, unable to avoid being charred; however, the Mothula was unprepared for Link's persistence, and in the end, Link's blade cut a swath through the wings, rendering it unable to fly; mere moments later, it was defeated, and the third of the maidens would appear to him.

Within the crystal would be Lalia, the Sage of the Forest. The Kokiri, devoid of the protective magics of the forest, had grown up into a beautiful woman, much unlike the few other Kokiri he had seen, the very few who had given up hiding and become thieves within the Lost Woods. She sat down within her crystal cage and looked into Link's eyes. Lalia spoke of the Great Cataclysm, a prophecy that had stemmed back hundreds of years; it was largely believed that should someone of utter darkness obtain the Triforce for his evil purposes, Destiny herself should provide the realm with a hero to be their savior. However, only that hero would be able to destroy the evil one; should he fail, their land would plunge into darkness forever. Lalia knew that Link was the Hero of legend, and as she stood up, she encouraged Link to do his best to rescue the remaining maidens, the next one just south of the forest, and Zelda, along with defeating Ganon. Just like the previous maiden, she faded away to Link's pack with the sacred words, "May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Doing as the maiden had advised, Link headed south into what he imagined would be something like Kakariko Village. In a way, it met his expectations, the town being a darker version of what Kakariko was; however, what he had not expected was how bleak the town could be; the town was in shambles, many of the houses destroyed or decaying, and the citizenry was largely populated by thieves trying to earn a quick rupee off of the Hero; thankfully, Link's sword tended to keep them at bay for a few moments to give Link the chance to run off. The town was the Village of Outcasts, and it seemed that no joyful thoughts could ever come from the place; indeed, from those that would give a kind word to Link, it was said that they could hear the screams of a maiden from far beneath the gargoyle in the center of town, drowning any moment of joy with an ever-deepening sorrow; Link's ears perked at the knowledge of the maiden, and so he couldn't help but have his curiosity raised, him deciding rather quickly to investigate.

Stepping down into the Gargoyle's Domain, Link found himself in a great world beneath the town above; the dungeon had to expand for blocks upon blocks of the village. Link continued his way on a descending course, occasionally hearing the cries of a girl far below him. Enemies did not stand much of a chance as Link redoubled his efforts to find the girl whom he sought. Traps were prevalent as conveyor belts, falling floors, and spiked traps seemed to lay at each corner wherever he went. At the lowest point of the dungeon, Link defeated a great armored warrior, finding a curious-looking key upon the corpse. Judging from the shape of the key and the proximity of the guard to the prison cells, Link tried the key in the cell door, opening it to find the fair maiden. "Thank you!" she said, rushing into his arms. "Quickly now, there is no time for introductions; if you would take me outside, I would be most grateful." Link agreed and they began ascending.

On the way back, however, Link found himself unable to remember the location to the domain's entrance; his wanderings would eventually take him into a room filled with light from above, seemingly coming from a false house above the surface. As the maiden following Link stepped into the light, she screamed loudly and painfully, and the maiden's guise began peeling off of her as her true form was revealed; it was no maiden Link had rescued, but rather a male thief who had been called Blind due to his aversion to the light. Blind shut the door behind him and began casting magic throughout the room, magic that would sear the very soul of Link if he were too clumsy. Link's blade was confident and ready, however, and the thief dressed in his white cloak was soon beheaded, the body falling to the ground in defeat, disappearing from sight, leaving only the cloak which he had worn... but also a small lump within it.

As Link suspected, it was the fourth of the maidens: Maranya, the Sage of Light. Link smiled from the moment he had seen Maranya, for she was one of the few who lived in Hyrule Castle that he had met while he had been growing up, and though they never saw each other too often, they had always been friends. Link told Maranya of all of his travels and journeys, catching her up with all that he had done; in turn, Maranya explained to a curious Link of the war long ago, a war Link had only heard about through the other sages' stories. Apparently, according to the history books, Maranya had said, many of the knights of Hyrule had been killed long ago in a great battle known as the Imprisoning War, and to this day, the blood of those knights had remained very thin, hardly spreading despite the time since then. The Sage of Light speculated that quite possibly Link was the last of that lineage, having known that his father had been one of those knights, a father Link had never known. She wished she could reach out to touch Link, but she could not because of the prison she was in, but she comforted Link the best she could, wishing him the best before she disappeared with the other crystalline maidens.

With the maidens' stories still in his mind, he used their wisdom to lead him towards the location of the fifth of their number, brining him towards the southeast of Hyrule where the Frozen Lake slumbered. Link came across the edge of the large lake and dipped his hands into the waters, feeling for the temperature; a chill shot through his body, causing him to shiver for the water was ice cold. Link knew that there would be no way to survive the chilly waves; figuring that he might be able to use the parallel worlds to his advantage like he had before, Link found himself in the world of Hyrule, now carelessly jumping into the much warmer Lake Hylia towards an island in its center... surprisingly just the spot where an island—albeit much larger than this one—had existed in the Dark World. He got out of the water and found a curious-looking stone, rather heavy and difficult to budge; however, Link pushed with all of his might and uncovered a Gate as he had several times already. Drying himself off first for fear of freezing to death in the Dark World, he tentatively stepped upon the gate, taking him to the Ice Palace, trapped within an enclosure of ice on all sides. With no choice, Link entered the cold realm of the Ice Palace.

The air inside the Ice Palace was frigid, Link's breath easily visible within the walls. Link shivered for warmth as he gradually descended beneath the icy chill of the water's surface into the dry but frosty depths of the palace, the temperature getting colder with every step. It seemed as if the dungeon continued forever downwards, like a bottomless pit, and the deeper he got, the more monsters he found; somehow they had all adapted to the cold climate of the dungeon, Link finding birds that slid across the ice upon their stomach as well as creatures that had been frozen into the wall suddenly springing to life, fueled by the low temperatures. The Fire Rod became Link's trusty tool, using it to melt them into water. The further Link progressed, the more and more Link began going in circles, having to backtrack long distances just to get to where he had wished to go.

Finally after he dropped from the floor above to the seventh level beneath the surface, he saw a great sphere with a single eye, white puffs covering the rest of its spherical form, a Kholdstare. It was trapped within the ice, and Link knew that his magic would come in handy. Link used the magical rod against the shard of ice, jamming the tip into the glacier, the clear crystal beginning to melt. His other hand upon his sword, Link was ready to strike the moment it was was unleashed, but the Kholdstare would not be taken advantage of. It shattered the rest of the ice to Link's surprise, knocking him backwards and sending tiny shards of ice into Link, the larger ones lightly piercing his tunic and flesh, but none deep enough to cling to Link's skin, just falling away onto the ground. Picking himself up, Link charged the Kholdstare, brandishing his sword bravely as he cut into it, seeking revenge for the damage. The Kholdstare screamed and rolled away, trying to flee, but it had been blinded by Link's sword, making him an easy kill. Finally, Link held the Fire Rod to the beast, and it, like the ice statues he had faced earlier, melted into water, quickly thawing.

From within the frozen puddle, piercing it as if it were merely a liquid, came a crystal. Within it was the Sage of Water, Celeste, the daughter of Wealas, the Rito-turned-Hylian on Death Mountain. Celeste smiled to Link, and Link told her that he had met her father upon the mountain, and for a few moments they shared some stories and tidings of recent events. But soon the conversation turned much more serious, looking towards the future. Link had mentioned that Maranya had told him of the thinning bloodline, and the Water Sage nodded simply. She told him that the mixed magic of the Sages and the ancient Knights was what was needed this time to seal Ganon away, so it seemed; only with that mix would the seal be made stronger, the new seal patching the holes of the cracked seal, thus strong enough to lock Ganon away for good. Link vowed to Celeste to dedicate his courage towards the cause, and she smiled brightly before disappearing, her faith fully placed within the Hero.

Link then headed west towards the direction of the next missing maiden, but he was stopped as he saw a tall cliff separating him from the westward lands. He sat down with frustration momentarily, trying to think of how to enter the lands separated off from the Dark World, and when he sat, the solution slid out of his backpack, almost as if destined by fate. The magical mirror was taken in his left hand and Link returned to Hyrule, walking now through the hot desert once again; Link didn't mind it much the second time, happy to have the change from the icy caverns of the Ice Palace. Off on a cliff, he found in plain sight one of the Eight Gates, the gate in the desert, presumably the one that Ganondorf himself had used a long time ago. Link stepped into the Dark World once again to find himself in Misery Mire, a swamp cursed with the black clouds that forever rained upon it. To the north, Link saw a structure buried in the quagmire, and Link stepped into the caves there, taking him into Misery Maze.

The Maze of Misery was aptly named; it was perhaps the most complicated dungeon Link had been forced to explore to date, none of them as confusing as this one. Passageways were one and many, but the ones that captured Link's desire never seemed to be reachable; always they remained just out of possibility until much, much later. The temple was also rather dreary, the thick, humid air from outside making it difficult to breath as Link explored the dungeon's depths. Within a remote corner of the dungeon beneath the muck of the bog was a magical cane, one of the two most famous in all of Hyrule's lore: the Cane of Somaria; it was able to create blocks as solid as steel yet seemingly light as a feather. It greatly eased Link's ability to keep switches depressed, making the maze into a child's puzzle for him.

The dungeon eventually seemed to be taking in some of the swampy mixture from outside as Link reached the far reaches of the maze, and only when he reached the last room did he see the cause. An horde of evil creatures akin to mere eyeballs was resting within a hole in the floor that allowed the slime to seep onto the floor; the creatures were Vitreousi, and they could shoot lightning at Link from their retinas, very similar to Agahnim's blasts. Some of the smaller ones attacked first, trying to poison Link with the slime from the lower depths of the swamp. But Link's sword easily cut them into nothing, causing them to vanish. Soon the largest of them charged forward, but again, it was no match for Link, Link defeating it easily with his sword. With their apparent leader deceased, the remainder disappeared into the swamp, leaving behind the treasure that they had been given by Ganon, the sixth maiden and Sage.

Within the crystal was Drayah, the Sage of Fire. Both of them knew that the end of the road was very near, the final days of the Dark World would be at hand. After all this time, the six maidens met around Link, looking at one another, but it was Drayah who spoke. "Now it all makes sense," she told Link, the other Sages seemingly agreeing. "I did not know that the other maidens had been captured until it was too late, and even then, I did not know it had come to this, that all seven of us would be drawn into the Dark World; Agahnim—nay, Ganon—drew us into here to crack the seal that had been placed upon this world years ago, and now we face dark times. The Dark World has the chance of extending into Hyrule, but only if Princess Zelda remains within the hands of Ganon's minions. Quickly, Link, you must go to Turtle Rock in the Mountains of Death; the princess is there, waiting for us all..."

Death Mountain was an arduous climb, very far away from the likes of the swamp; thankfully, unable to escape the swamp, Link's journey took him through the Light World, bringing him the faces of his friends in Kakariko as he walked by, giving him another reminder of just what he was fighting for. Knowing he could enter the Dark World from Death Mountain, he continued into the mountain range, once again saying hello to Wealas, giving him the good word that Celeste had been rescued, showing him the now-opaque crystal in which she resided. The old man bade him stay, but Link knew that time was drawing short; he needed to find the princess soon. He journeyed to the east, somehow almost guided by a mental, telepathic tug, drawing him not towards Spectacle Rock but rather towards the eastern ends of the mountains, towards another of the Eight Gates into the former Golden Land. Traveling into the Dark World, Link found himself atop a rock shaped like a turtle, the resting place of the final Sage. However, no entrance was in sight.

"Link," Zelda called, her voice strong in his mind, "summon the powers of thunder into your blade by jamming it into the shell of the rock." Link shook his head, not understanding just how that would help him at all. However, Link did as the princess advised, and to his surprise, thunder clashed from the heavens into Link's sword, causing the earth to quake and the turtle's head to decompose into mere sand.

Link gave a faint grin towards the direction of the sky. "Thank you, Zelda. I will be there soon." Perhaps it was merely his imagination, but Link could have sworn he saw in his mind the smile of Zelda.

Turtle Rock was built into the very bowels of Death Mountain, the magma deep within the craters of the mountain visible from the long passageways carved through the solid rock. Link could see several bridges made of thin cord, almost infinitesimally small so that Link could not hope to walk across them. Link took the Cane of Somaria and waved it in the direction of the cord, and upon the thin cord appeared a thin platform. Tentatively, Link stood upon it, finding out that he could use these, thin as they were, to cross over the expansive gaps within the floor. The traps within this dungeon were much more deadly than any he had seen before, stone-carved eyes shooting lasers at him in rapid succession, disregarding all armor and shields that Link could throw at it... save for the eventual Mirror Shield that Link found within a large chest; only that could deflect the beams that before had tortured Link.

Finally, across a great chasm lit with magical torches, Link found the largest of the creatures he had ever faced. Standing there before him was a three-headed dragon, its heads emerging from a body of solid stone. It's name was Trinexx, the most ruthless of Ganon's monster minions. Each of its necks was colored different, giving it an exotic look, but the color of each head truly described the personality of each head; the mouth of the red one would send fireballs hurdling towards Link, the blue sending beams of ice, the green seeking to bite him viciously. Using his Fire Rod along with an Ice Rod that he had acquired in his travels, Link put a halt to the outer two necks of ice and fire, causing them to be severed from the dragon, squirming about the floor after they were disconnected. However, the middle head, the essence of the dragon's body, was not finished. Cracking open its rough exterior, it became something of a snake, slithering around, trying to coil about Link; however, Link felt his instincts point his blade towards the middle of the snake, that which had been most guarded in its earlier form. Link's intuition was indeed correct, and the snake quickly split into two pieces, both of them wriggling in pain as it was sliced in half.

Slowly, a crystal began to fade in from the deepest depths of the Dark World, and Link was very glad to see that it was, at long last, Princess Zelda. Tears started to stream from both the princess' and the hero's eyes as they saw each other, both of them thankful that the other was alive. Seemingly connected beyond all possibility now, they shared a heartfelt reunion, but they realized that their tasks were not yet finished. Agahnim still was alive, and beyond him was Ganon, the evil alter ego of the thief Ganondorf Dragmire. Zelda felt a strong magic emanating from the west, a protective seal thrown about Ganon's Tower, the stronghold of the Gerudo thief. With the Sages' powers together, they would be able to bring down the barrier. With Zelda in tow, he ran towards the tower, and as predicted, the seal was brought down, Ganon's lair exposed for all the world to enter it. Zelda wished him a final good luck and returned to Link's pack, and Link, taking down a huge gulp to calm his nerves, entered the dark tower.

Ganon's Tower was large and broad, a work that would most certainly be a wonder if it were not that it was filled with evil. Statues of Ganon were placed everywhere, all of them as if they were taunting Link with the Triforces they were holding. Ganon was well prepared for Link, making him relive some of the most difficult battles Link had faced in his journeys. Puzzles, enemies, and traps were prevalent everywhere, making it feel as if nowhere was safe. It was the epitome of all that Link had learned to live with and struggle through; it was the sum total of his adventures in a condensed form, him facing the last few weeks within the span of a few hours, but the end of that journey would inevitably lead him to the thing which he had originally sought—Agahnim's demise.

Agahnim, seeing Link a second time, was thoroughly enraged but albeit impressed; however, this time would be the last time. This time it would be a battle to the death; there would be no third meeting. All of Agahnim's magic was thrown into the blasts that he threw at Link, and he even used his magic to create shadow copies of himself, them fully capable of using the very magic Agahnim used. Link was oft taken surprise by the magic, feeling its strong sting embracing its body as he regained his stance upon his feet. The Master Sword was able to reflect the all of the magic from Agahnim's forms, but the ghostly images of the wizard were not phased from the stray bolts of magic returned in their directions. However, as difficult as the battle was, Agahnim eventually fell victim to his own bolts of energy, gasping and heaving as he laid upon the floor, his magic and life force slowing disappearing, oozing out of his body into a black puddle, a blackness that was Ganon's own magic. It began coalescing into Ganon's shape momentarily, laughing at Link without mercy... and, before Link's very eyes, Ganon's magic turned himself into a Keese, him then flying off for his last stronghold.

Link could only watch as Ganon flew off, eluding him once again, but before he could despair, a fairy appeared to Link, only this one did not have a figure like that of every other fairy; her proportions had grown significantly, her simple gown stretched rather dangerously for her large body to fit within the seams of the garment. "Link," said the fairy, "the time now has drawn near for the final fight, the fight that shall determine which side—light or dark—shall win. I know I do not look much like a fairy, but it is Ganon's Dark World that is the blame for my appearance, and I will stop at nothing to see him pay. Link, long ago, when magic was much more prolific, arrows made of light were used to win over Ganondorf, but the magic of the light is not as strong here in the Dark World, so I give you these arrows made out of silver. They are not as effective, but they will do the trick." She handed the quiver to Link, him replacing his old quiver with it. "Now go; defeat Ganon. Make his wish shatter before his very eyes."

With a blink, Link stood atop the pyramid that he had stood upon when he entered the Dark World, the Pyramid of Power. Only one thing had changed, and that was a large crack appearing in both the top and trickling all the way down the side of the pyramid, the crack apparently created from the force with which Ganon has slammed through the pyramid's top. With his silver arrows upon his back, Link held onto the edge of the flat of the pyramid, and then he let go... into the darkness.

When he landed, lamps suddenly flickered to life, burning brightly. Ganon stood there ominously before Link, gazing at him with his sinister eyes. Ganon appeared just as deformed as he had been long ago in his very first battle, but Link could not know this, for he had not been there. He growled loudly, but soon reverted to a small grumble. "I am a fool for thinking that one such as yourself would have been able to enrage me so, giving me such trouble. This ends tonight, though. I have waited so long to have my wish upon the Triforce, and not even you will stop it from coming true. Goodbye, Link."

Ganon wielded a trident that magically appeared within his hands. Whirling it about through the air, he threw it at Link, it barely missing Link as he jumped out of the way; the trident hovered for a moment, finally moving once again, as if by magic, to where Ganon now stood, all the way across the room from where he had once been. Apparently Ganon had learned the art of teleportation through the magic of the unified forces of power, wisdom, and courage. Ganon's magic was strong and intense, but the mighty spells Ganon flung at Link left holes within Ganon's defense, inviting Link to come close to Ganon and slash him with the sword, which he did. Whenever the Sword of Evil's Bane struck the Evil King, it rendered him immobile, casting a temporary seal about him. Remembering the words of the fairy by which he had been visited, he quickly took out his bow and flung a triad of silver arrows into Ganondorf's chest. The evil king screamed in pain and quickly teleported about the room, using a black wind to snuff the fires lighting the chamber; the darkness gave Ganondorf perfect stealth, catching Link by surprise upon the prongs of the trident. Ganon threw Link across the room, him landing into a disheveled pile, but Link's determination put him back on his feet before Ganon could skewer the hero. Link found himself reach for the Fire Rod at his belt, quickly flinging fire towards the room's lamps in rapid succession, once again revealing the evil warlock. The same cycle continued, Ganon opening himself up to Link's blade and silver arrows, Ganon doing his best to take Link's life with the powerful offensive magic. The battle was long and arduous for both warlock and hero, but after many arrows, the silver within them began to glow, eventually beginning to consume Ganon, feeding upon his evil. The arrows took Ganon's spirit into the arrowheads, and the Evil King screamed in pain, muscle spasms brining his body to the ground, jerking violently until at last there was peace, one final grunt emitted from his mouth.

A door finally opened, and there within the inner sanctum of the pyramid stood a shimmering triangle of triangles, three of them oriented elegantly and perfectly, upon an ornamental shelf. It was the Triforce, shining with all of its golden beauty, and as Link gazed upon it, within Link's mind, all he could hear was four words.

"Link, come to me..."

Link followed.

The Eastern Palace was a place long since abandoned, just outside the eastern bounds of the ancient Hyrulian borders back before the seas had engulfed the world. Since that time, the monsters of the eastern lands had invaded it, seeking shelter from the hot sun that came over their world. It was both advantageous for them both physically but also defensively, for the Eastern Palace was full of traps, and in the grip of Link's enemies, it made the place very dangerous. Switches were everywhere to control the doors, a few trap doors in the ceiling that enabled some of the more clever enemies to drop down upon Link when he approached, and even a few cannons that shot iron medicine balls down corridors. Link found himself retracing his steps many times to get past some of the stickier spots in the temple.

Very common within the walls of the palace were statues dedicated to the various guardians of their tribe, and Link eventually discovered a sextet of statues at the rear of the temple, apparently dedicated to Armos, the Guardian of War for the tribe. As Link stepped foot into the room, the statues began to rumble and vibrate, hopping around the room violently, shaking the walls. Link's sword was more effective than he thought it would be, able to chip the fragile stone from their sides, but with a bow and quiver of arrows he found, Link discovered that striking a bright gem within their forehead would cause them to blow up and disintegrate. One after another, Link's aim and his blade downed the stone warriors, their rubble sending stone all about the floor of the room. In the wake of their destruction, a small passage opened up, leading to a small room. Link entered the room and found within it a green ovular gem tied to a cord sturdy enough to wear about one's neck. Picking it up and placed it over his head about his neck.

Link returned to see the elder in his hut, and Sahasrahla's eyes went wide as he saw the green pendant about Link's neck. With a sly smile, he invited him further into his shelter and sat down, telling Link to do the same. Sahasrahla explained the legend of the Pendant of Courage, saying that it had been crafted out of the Spiritual Stone of the Forest after it had disappeared to find a new owner after the Imprisoning War so long ago. "For their protection, the Stones went to new owners outside the lands of Hyrule, and each in turn were crafted into pendants, much like the one you discovered. Sadly," he said ruefully, "the peoples outside Hyrule did not know the power or legend of the pendants, and so they were careless with them, all of their owners now long since killed." Sahasrahla stood once again and guided Link to the door, the Wise Man telling him that he believed in the boy and that Link perhaps would be strong enough to obtain the remaining two pendants. With a guiding hand, he guided him towards the west where the Gerudo Desert, now known as the Desert of Mystery in the new land, laid. However, the secret to opening the temple was hidden within an artifact safely kept within the Kakariko Library, one that would help him to decipher the symbolic language of the ancient Hylians.

Quickly, Link rushed across the landscape towards Kakariko, and following the wise man's advice, Link returned to Hyrule using the same route, avoiding the soldiers as before, still on the lookout for the man in green clothing who had supposedly kidnapped the princess. Link found the library just south of the village where he had met Rebecassa and began looking through the many shelves of ancient and dusty texts, eventually coming across that which he was searching for: a book backed with green-dyed leather with a marking of a golden Triforce upon it, this very book, the Book of Mudora.

From the library, Link's next trial was to the south, his task to cross the vast desert. The sun shined its heat upon Link as he crossed, doubling the weight of the burden of the Wise Man's request. Vultures soared high in the sky over Link as he conquered dune after dune, but his pace continually slowed, Link not used to the intense heat of the sands. Link rested a while within a cave, a cave that happened to be inhabited by one of the other Wise Men refugees, a man by the name of Aginah. Aginah gave Link some of the precious water that he had obtained from a secret oasis far in the desert, rejuvenating the hero while they made company with one another. Link told Aginah of his quest, and the elder was pleased to know that Link had found the book to read the anicent inscription upon the Desert Temple's entrance. Link stayed there until nightfall, waiting until the cool night before setting out to finish his crossing.

As described, the Desert Temple's door was blocked, and Link was unable to make his way past a statue that rested within the vestibule of the temple. A stone slab was placed within the small room at the foot of the temple, and indeed, the language of the ancients was upon it. Using the Book of Mudora to translate it, Link read the inscription:

To open the way forward
Make your wish here
And it will be granted.
The inscription was puzzling at first, but Link eventually realized the secrets behind the inscription. He bent down on one knee and whispered a prayer to the goddesses, wishing that he would be allowed to enter the temple, and as he arose, he discovered that the statue blocking the way forward had been moved out of the way, allowing him to climb the staircase into the temple.

When Link saw the temple's interior, he was almost surprised. Most of the temple's lower level did not have stone flooring beneath him, the ground being compromised largely of desert sand . Thankfully, however, the sand here did not have the heat of the sun outside to make it unbearable, making it more comfortable inside than outside for Link. Like the Eastern palace, the temple seemed to have a foreign feel to it, many of the statues carved of shapes and figures he did not recognize; some of them had a single eye that rotated about their form, an eye capable of delivering a sharp beam of energy if it managed to catch Link within its gaze. What impressed Link was that only half of the temple could be reached from the main entrance, the upper levels only reachable from a cave that lay above and behind the main entrance. There, dug into the hillside, the temple was tiled completely and decorated much more elaborately, Link figuring this to be a place for the nobility of the people that had lived here.

However, though cut into the hillside, eventually Link found himself walking on sand once more, either by the hill cutting away at a point to reveal the sand once more or by the use of some arcane magic, and Link could see creatures living just beneath the sand. He could recognize them as Lanmolas just from the descriptions of them in the stories he had heard from the village elders. The worms would choose to come out from the ground from time to time, seeking to immobilize the intruder within their room, but they were not well-equipped to defeat Link's blade, which made short work of them. As they were defeated, they would shrivel away into sand, as if they were made of the prominent desert powder, and as Link destroyed the last one, as it decayed he found a red pendant emerge from within its body. From the description of Sahasrahla, he knew it to be the Pendant of Power, and he picked it up and wore it proudly around his neck. He knew that he was almost ready to face the evil wizard, knowing from Sahasrahla that the last of the pendants was kept within a tall tower on the pinnacle of Death Mountain.

Somehow while Link had been searching for the pendants, his actions had been found out by Agahnim the wizard, and the wizard decided to watch him closely. As Agahnim was Ganon's pawn, privileged to all of the knowledge of the Evil King, he knew what Link was doing and why, fearing that Link would be able to find and draw the Master Sword from its place of hiding. To try to circumvent this, a decree was issued in the king's name to forbid all access to Death Mountain without the king's expressed permission. At the same time, the wizard decided to cast a spell over Link, a spell in the form of an invisible wrath that watched over him and reported all Link's actions telepathically to the wizard, for Agahnim had the feeling that Link would eventually find his way towards the thing he desired most: the Seventh Sage, Princess Zelda.

The decree, however, did not phase Link in his determination. Figuring that he was already to be arrested for abducting the princess, violating another falsely issued decree would put him into no worse trouble. He climbed through the caves towards the summit of the mountain, and, while using his lantern to light the way, he eventually stumbled across the old man Wealas, father to the one of the six maiden-Sages. He had heard about the pendants which swung about Link's neck, and so he made the decision to trust the young boy. Asking him for the favor to guide him to his home in the mountains after getting lost in the downhill climb, he gave to Link a magical mirror that he might be able to use should he lose his way. The mirror's origin was unknown and its purpose only recently discovered. All that Wealas knew about the mirror was that it would bring travellers who had found themselves lost in am unknown place back to Hyrule, but what he did not realize was that the mirror could use the cracks within the veil between the worlds would bring Link to Hyrule from the Evil Realm, something like a portable gate. Link thanked the man and then he continued up towards the highest point in Hyrule, Spectacle Rock.

Finding no way to ascend towards the Tower of Hera just above him, Link found that he had no other choice than but to step into a mystical blue light that he found upon the mountain. As he did so, however, the world about him faded to white and he soon found himself in a world similar to his own, but now lava streamed down the mountain, not to mention that the world beneath the mountain appeared to be a ruined form of his own. It was then he realized the pain he was experiencing just by being within theis foreign palce, and looking at his hands to find the cause, he saw a furry paw rather than fingers; he was in the Dark World, and because of the evil magic Ganon had gathered and spread through the world from the Triforce, the magic not only had created a perverted form of Hyrule, but over time all the inhabitants who found themselves here were transformed into that which they resembled most within their hearts. With whiskers on his face, fur covering his body, and a small cottontail beneath his tunic, Link had been turned into a rabbit, partially because of his resounding innocence despite his most recent experiences, partially due to his love of nature. Link remembered what Wealas had told him, and he positioned himself where Spectacle Rock would have been, for some reason not appearing in this deformed world, for this world was not an exact copy of Hyrule. He held his mirror up and looked into it, and just like before, he shifted back to Hyrule through the medium of white light, appearing back on top of Spectacle Rock in the Light World of Hyrule. By using a staircase cut into the stone from the small plateau, he followed the path into the Tower of Hera.

The Tower was filled with the regalia of a religion that was not Hyrule's own. Of particular interest were a collection of crystalline spheres that caused a set of blocks to rise and lower on the ground, hindering Link's way forward. Even more curious were star-shaped tiles that activated certain trap doors in the ground. Link surmised that this place must have held great significance for the civilization that lived here, only those who were meant to be within its walls able to make their way through. Link often found himself falling down to the floor below him if he wasn't careful where he walked. As he climbed he happened to find a secret treasure chest containing a glassy sphere that Wealas had told him about, the Moon Pearl. Rumor had it that he who possessed the Moon Pearl would not lose his form in the other world. He pocketed his and kept it with him as he ascended to the sixth and top floor of the tower.

There he found another worm, significantly larger than the Lanmolas of the Desert Temple; it was a Moldorm, a creature made out of a jellylike substrance that did not seem to be affected by Link's sword or any weapon for that matter. Moldorm would sometimes push Link off the platform where he resided, forcing Link to climb back up the staircase to Moldorm's chamber. Link soon discovered that Moldorms were weak in the tail, causing the worm to panic as it sought to find shelter from the pain of Link's blade. Its fleeing would not enough for the worm, however, and the worm soon found himself defeated as he wriggled to death from the pain. When the worm died, a sapphire pendant appeared beneath one of the floor tiles. Link picked this up, claiming for himself the Pendant of Wisdom, the final key to being able to take the Master Sword.

After Link finished climbing down the mountain, Link thanking Wealas before leaving, he returned to Sanctuary to see Zelda and tell her the good news. Both the sage and the princess were relieved to see that Link had found the Wise Man and had collected the pendants needed to wield the Sword of Evil's Bane. Zelda explained to Link that the sword would be hidden deep within Lost Woods upon a dais, a dais reminiscent to that in the Temple of Time long ago. They wished Link well, and Link promised he would return shortly. He went to the Lost Woods in the northwest of Hyrule, west of Death Mountain, and the mist and the fog that hung over the woods kept him from seeing clearly within the forest. Dispursed throughout the woods were a handful of Master Sword facsimilies, placed there to allow the thieves within the forest to fall upon their distracted prey, but Link's strength and skill with a blade soon rendered the thieves uninterested in attacking him. Finally, very deep within the forest he found a glade, at the end of which was a dais just as Zelda had described. Upon the dais was an ancient inscription in the old tongue, which Link translated with the aid of the Book of Mudora.

The Hero's Triumph on Cataclysm's Eve
Wins three symbols of virtue.
The Master Sword he will then retrieve,
Keeping the Knight's line true.

With the encouragement from Zelda and the inscription coursing through his body, Link placed his hands upon the sword's pommel. Drawing in the pendants' strength, he pulled the blade from the marble pillar, the power of the sword surging through his body. Instantly the fog about the forest cleared and the light of the sun shined down upon him. In the back of his mind, speaking to him with telepathy, he heard Sahasrahla's praise and congratulations, urging him to go quickly to defeat Agahnim.

However, Link soon found he had a more important task, for he also heard in his mind, much louder than Sahasrahla's message to him, a cry from Zelda for help. Soldiers were on Sanctuary's doorstep, coming to take her to the castle. Agahnim's spell upon Link had worked, Link leading him to Zelda as expected. Link ran out of the woods, not making an attempt to keep his stealth from the bandits, but they could not catch him at the speed he was running. However, as fast as he ran, by the time he arrived at the cathedral, it was already too late, at the priest within the cathedral died moments after Link arrived, Link screaming his frustrations to the air. It was no use cursing at himself though; he knew he would have to go to the castle to rescue Zelda.

Link rushed into Hyrule Castle, not caring about not being seen. The guards were either trampled by Link's feet, forced to the ground by the swiftness of his body, or they were not fast enough in their armor to keep up. He came to the entrance to the castle's central tower, held sealed due to Agahnim's magical energy that served as a barrier. Now with the Master Sword, Link sliced through the energy field as if it were air, disrupting the magic long enough for him to gain access to the tower, the barrier sealing the exit once again after he passed through, locking the other guards out. Once inside, Link began climbing the stairs about the edge of the tower wall, using his new sword to surpass every obstacle and enemy that was presented to him. He pressed onward, not letting anything get in his way, eventually reaching the tower's pinnacle on the seventh floor.

There Link saw Zelda lying upon an alter, the wizard Agahnim standing right behind her. The wizard could only laugh maniacally at the sight of Link as he cast a spell upon Link to keep him from moving to free the girl. "Link, I have been waiting for you. I have been hoping that I could make Princess Zelda disappear before your very eyes. Behold, the last minutes of Princess Zelda!" His powers rose the princess off the alter, hers arms and legs drooping like a ragdoll. Electricity, shining brightly, streamed out of the wizard's hands and encompassed the princess, shrinking about her as her body disintegrated into nothing. "With that, the last of the Sages is gone and the seal of the Wise Men is broken!" Agahnim explained. "It is now only a matter of time before the King of Evil re-enters this land. I leave you to whatever ends you choose to meet."

The wizard teleported away, and as he did such, his hold over Link weakened and broke, freeing Link. Link did not know where the wizard had gone, but after some searching he found a secret passage behind one of the curtains, leading him straight to Agahnim's chambers. "So your wish is to be completely destroyed then? Very well; I will help you make that wish become true!" Agahnim began teleporting around the room from point to point, stopping only to cast balls of energy and electricity at Link, which Link dodged. Soon he found that the Master Sword, powerful as it was, was not powerful enough to directly damage the wizard, the sword electrifying Link with dark thunder whenever he sliced at him. Much by accident, however, one time Link failed to jump in time; he held his sword up to the energy blast, and he was surprised to see that it was reflected back to the wizard that had cast it.

The wizard, unprepared for this, knelt to the floor and sputtered, looking to the boy. The wizard was not finished, but rather knew he should keep his strength for the battle when Ganon marched into the land. "Well met, Hero," said the wizard angrily. "But it is not time yet for us to have our final parting. Instead, let's see how you fare within the Dark World!" Using his power and the fading of the Wise Men's seal, Agahnim used his magic to force a magical wedge into the Ninth Gate between Hyrule and the Sacred Realm, but his power was only strong enough to open it in one direction, from where they stood to the Evil Realm. With the Ninth Gate open, Agahnim drew both Link and himself into the portal, sending them into the other realm.

When Link finally could open his eyes, he found himself atop a large pyramid within the Evil Realm. He looked around from his vantage point and saw that the world looked very similar to Hyrule all around, yet it was different, distorted; the general layout of the Dark World was very akin to Hyrule, but the specifics were all wrong. The next thing he realized that he felt no pain being within the Dark World, for the Moon Pearl was with him, shielding him from both pain and transformation. Suddenly a voice appeared within his head, very faint but still audible. It was Sahasrahla, and somehow he discovered that he could communicate with Link across the veil with his telepathy, difficult as it was. Sahasrahla had felt the opening of the Ninth Gate, and he expressed to Link his concerns; however, the Wise Man knew that the veil had only been torn in one direction, the reverse direction still holding but decaying gradually so long as the maidens were held by Ganondorf's forces. Feeling the presence of the first maiden taken away by Agahnim, but only because she was located in the corresponding area to Hyrule's Eastern Ruins, where he resided in Hyrule, he directed Link towards the east, towards the place which he called the Palace of Darkness. Wishing him the best, his presence left Link's mind, hoping that Link could make his hopes and dreams come true.

Link did as the elder advised, walking eastward towards the Eastern Forest. The forest was full of closely packed thickets and bushes, making the going very difficult as Link cut his way through it, using his sword to cut the clinging branches and stranging limbs. Link would often find himself at an impasse, unable to go forward and having to backtrack through the dense trees and shrubs. As he made his way towards the palace to the east, he came across a small shrine, in which a man, transformed into a small bush by the evil magic of the land, resided. The bush told him a story about Ganondorf Dragmire, that he was the one who had obtained the full Triforce. However, because of that power, the man had turned into his current; how the bush wished to destroy Ganondorf, for that was the only true way for the Golden Land to return, but he could not, powerless as he was. Giving his complements to the Hero, the Hero thanked the bush for the story and continued his way into the Palace of Darkness.

The Palace of Darkness had a very similar feel to the Eastern Palace, consisting of a large number of statues of forms that Link had never seen before. The monsters here were quite different from the ones he had met in Hyrule, all of them significantly harder and more crafty. Link found traps that obstacles that had since been unseen by his eye as break-away floors kept him on his toes while poundable barriers blocked him from progressing through the palace, barriers only able to be tamed by a mallet he found within the confines of the Palace of Darkness. However, despite the darkness about him, a beacon of light shown through when he finally heard a telepathic message from Zelda; to hear her alive gave him hope within her heart. She mentioned that she was trapped within Turtle Rock upon the mountain range of the Dark World, and she asked desperately for him to hurry, and Link promised himself that he would do his best to see her saved soon.

Eventually Link came across a huge scorpion-like beast within the palace known as the Helmasaur King. The scopion tried to trample Link and gore him with his claws as soon as Link stepped in the room, but Link dodged it, sidestepping the beast narrowly. Link noticed that the monster wore a mask, and so he assumed that perhaps that its purpose was to hide the weakness of the monster. Using both a few bombs along with the hammer, Link broke the mask off of the beast, revealing a great green orb upon his forehead. In a fury, the Helmasaur King whipped Link back with his long, flowing tail, then breathing fire onto his body. Link put out the flames on his tunic and climbed to his feet again, taking out his bow, and with a careful shot, an arrow was placed into the center of the scorpion's forehead, causing the monster to disintegrate into nothingness.

Once the creature disappeared, a single crystal appeared before him, and within it stood the first of the maidens, Aekorra, the Sage of Shadow. She thanked the Hero Link most gratefully and cast him a glowing smile. Aekorra and Link talked for a few minutes, discussing the history of the Dark World and of Ganon, the boss of the Gerudo thieves who had found the Triforce many years ago. Most importantly, she mentioned that Ganon's goal was to fully link the two worlds through the Ninth Gate, and then he would be able to march his army into Hyrule and destroy it. However, there was hope still within her, that should the seven Sages come together they would be able to help Link defeat Ganondorf.

Link cast a smile to the Sage of Shadow and thanked her for all she had done, and before he left, she gave him one simple phrase. "May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."

Holding only a lantern in his hand, Link trudged through the soggy grass and mud-filled ground towards Hyrule Castle. He'd been there once or twice already with his uncle when he was summoned for meetings, but he was largely unfamiliar with the castle. He sloshed through the damp ground, crossing the bridge and coming to the main gate inside the outer wall; however, it was not open and a guard stood there blocking it. The guard refused to yield to Link at the gate, instead yelling at the boy to return to his home, that he should not be out on a night like this. Dejectedly, Link decided that there was no way to help the girl whose voice he heard, believing that his uncle could take care of whatever was wrong, yet no sooner than had he crossed the bridge once again, he heard the girl speak in his mind once more. "Please, my name is Zelda. I am imprisoned within the dungeons of Hyrule Castle. I believe that somewhere there is a secret passage into the castle walls. Please, help me."

Because of this encouragement, Link doubled back and began circling the castle walls, trying to find an entrance that would take him inside. The search was difficult in the dark of night and in the downpour, but eventually, hidden behind some bushes, Link managed to find a small cavernous maw opening to a steep rocky descent into a small corridor below. The rocks leading into the small snug basement were very slippery, and Link almost slipped and fell as he descended into the secret passage. As he set foot upon the tile, he saw out of the corner of his eye the image of his uncle, slouched over against the wall with wounds upon his sword arm and his abdomen, blood slowly leaking onto his clothes and the floor beneath him. Link rushed over to him and Llewelyn looked at him in surprise. "Link," he said, breathing heavily, "I'm sorry; I didn't tell you because I didn't want you... to get involved. Please... take... take my sword and shield; you remember the techniques I've taught you, yes?" Link nodded to his uncle; he had been told that some of them had been in his family for many generations. "Please, be careful. The guards... they may not recognize you, so try to keep from being seen. You must rescue Zelda in the dungeons. Time is critical, so you must hurry, but be safe as well." Llewelyn coughed loudly as Link laid him down onto the floor, Link's eyes showing much sadness. "Link, Zelda... she is your destiny..." With that, Link's uncle breathed his last, and Link only mourned for him silently. Link knew he did not have the time to bury his uncle or grieve for him with tears, for Zelda needed his help. Leaving him behind, Link took his uncle's sword and shield.

He soon found himself within the inner courtyard, and Link was almost relieved to see the beauty of the garden, but he could tell something was wrong; despite the late hour and despite the torrential rains, guards still patrolled the gardens, almost as if they were expecting an attack and were defending the castle. It was as if suddenly they had gone to war, Link observed, but he was very confused, for what war were they fighting? They had been at peace for hundreds of years. Link remained hidden within the bushes, out of sight from the guards' patrols, soon stealing his way into the castle doors, closing them behind him with a gentle thud.

Dripping wet, Link trailed water upon the decorative floors and ornamental rugs of the castle. It was hard to stay hidden, for the castle was lit by candlelight all around, keeping the shadows at bay. Link crept between what shadows existed, however, using his sword only when he needed to, downing the castle guards as his uncle had instructed using his family's techniques. As he wandered, Link soon learned strange things about the guards; some of them were very alert and attentive, pacing back and forth, seeking out any strangers within the castle, yet some of them seemed to be lost within a permanent daze, oblivious of everything around them, running into walls an objects without notice. Leaving the latter behind and sneaking past the former, Link descended into the lower levels of the castle where the dungeons lay; there, he found the princess Zelda held prisoner within her cell, but she was guarded by a knight of the castle. The battle was fierce between Link and the knight, Link using everything he could -- sword and shield, clay pots, even a boomerang he had found earlier -- to either distract or harm the mace-wielding knight, and though Link did not escape from the battle without injury, his persistence was enough to destroy the knight, his makeshift and adaptive strategy winning through it all.

Link opened the cell where Zelda was, and the princess greeted him with open arms and an embrace; while she did not know him well, only having seen his face before, she knew that he was the nephew of Llewelyn and that he would be one she could trust. Before Link could speak to reassure the princess of his true intentions, she was first to speak; "Please, I fear that the wizard Agahnim has already taken control of the minds of the guards in the castle. There is a secret passage built long ago through which we can escape." Zelda thanked him generously, and Link mentioned that it was nothing, and soon they were off to the throne room where the secret passage was; together, princess and hero pushed a bookcase to the side, revealing a hidden passageway leading into the sewers.

Link and Zelda trudged through watery pits of grime as rats and bats harassed them, biting their ankles if they should come too close. Only Link's lantern provided light as they crawled through the sewers of Miakoru Town, as Zelda explained to Link. The passageway, as the story was told, was built a long time ago in case something should happen at the palace to provide a means of escape. Before Miakoru Town was stricken with the plague and torched with cleansing fire, the corridor led them to a small cavernous opening in the side of the mountain just west of the village that was magically sealed to prevent anyone from discovering it; since then, it then led into Sanctuary, for it had been carefully been built where the cavern exit was, thus eliminating the need for the protective seal. In time, they found themselves traveling up a stairway of stone into the very rear of a building, which Zelda explained was Sanctuary; somehow within her heart, she had the faith that the sage who lived there would be able to help them, for he had served the Royal Family his entire life. At Zelda's instruction, Link pulled a switch in the wall to open up a stone tablet between the rear of the building and the chapel; as the sage turned to see the rising of the stone slab, he was both delighted and relieved to see Zelda safe with his very own eyes, for he as well had heard the rumors of the wizard as well. He was somewhat surprised to see Link as well, but there was a curious understanding within his eyes.

As Link stepped forward into the Sanctuary, suddenly realizing that it was already day, the sage informed Link that already Agahnim, in the king's name, had issued forth a proclamation accusing Link of having kidnapped princess Zelda. Zelda insisted that it was not true, but the sage did not need her convincing, already believing the truth. Zelda and Link stepped out into the chapel, where they then moved to the pews to sit down and rest while discuss recent tidings. Only then did Zelda reveal to both the boy and the sage the methodology behind the wizard's actions; she told them the legend of the Sacred Realm, now oftentimes referred to in the legends as the Golden Land, the resting place of the Triforce. Supposedly, a great evil by the name of Ganon was sealed there long ago by the seven Sages, changing it from a place of beauty into a dark and evil land, what Agahnim referred to as the Dark World. Agahnim had told Zelda that, by sending the descendants of the seven Sages into the other plane of Hyrule, the seal holding the beast back would break and tear, and he would come to conquer Hyrule.

Zelda was very worried, but she remained free of panic. Perhaps the sage of Sanctuary was more afraid of the consequences of this. The Sage, whose name was Isaac, placed his arm upon Link, and looked him in the eye. "Link, I hate to charge you with this, but it seems as if you are the one destined to take this charge. There are not many left who could hear the magical whisperings of the Hylian race, their bloodline thin. I sense there is something more behind this Agahnim than meets the eye. You will need to find a sacred blade that has been hidden over the years; only the Seven Wise Men know of its location. I am told that one of them lives in Kakariko Village, and so perhaps you should seek him there; his name is Sahasrahla. Don't worry about the princess; I will make sure to keep her safe here." He began to leave for a moment, but then turned around. "Oh, and Link... do be careful. I think we all depend upon you now."

Link nodded his assent and looked to Zelda, also very nervous about all of her problems now resting upon the boy who had saved her. As the sage retreated into his private quarters, Zelda once again threw her arms around Link and looked to him sympathetically. "Promise me you'll come back."

"I do not make promises I cannot keep," Link said sincerely. "However, that I can do; I can promise you I will return for you."

Link left Sanctuary and waved a final goodbye to Zelda as his path took him westward towards Kakariko Village, but as he was entering, he noticed a piece of parchment posted to one of the gateposts. It was a advertisement for a wanted man, just as the sage at Sanctuary had told him, warning the villagers of a man who had recently abducted the princess Zelda recently; The advertisement offered significant awards for those who would aid the castle in finding him. The sage's warning truly hadn't sunk in until just now with Link, suddenly realizing that he was now a wanted man. However, his goal was to find information about the eldest of the Wise Men, and he knew he must enter.

Kakariko had been a peaceful town ever since it had been recreated after the receding of the waves. The few guards that lived there were generally more than kind, and trade and business had flourished there under the peaceful times. The citizenry often helped one another in times of tragedy and shared together in times of peace. However, the attitude of the city had changed of late; many more of the castle guards were wandering the streets of the city, one of the most obvious results of the scare over the princess' disappearance. Many of the townspeople did not mind, but it did make them cautious while they were in the streets. Link traveled the lesser crowded streets and alleyways as he went from house to house, and following the sage's advice, he knocked upon the door of an old woman's house at the edge of the village. The elderly woman answered the door, and she was quite shocked to see the one whom the posters talked about at her door, but she knew that the declaration was a ruse. She quickly invited him into her house, hoping that no one else had seen him.

The lady introduced herself as Rebecassa, the wife of the Wise Man Sahasrahla. She knew that there was much trouble in the land of Hyrule, and she had known that her husband had escaped successfully to the far eastern reaches of the kingdom, suggesting that Link look there if he truly sought to talk to him. However, soon the topics drifted from Sahasrahla towards the Master Sword, and of this she knew some, having learned much of the lore from her husband. She told him of the forging of the Master Sword and of its use in the legendary battle of the Imprisoning War so long ago, but she could not help Link find its location, instead encouraging Link to find Sahasrahla in the eastern ruins, giving him her blessing to give to him should he meet him.

Figuring that he should remain well away from the castle, the journey east took him through field and forest as he traveled the southern hub of Hyrule Field. Even here, guards from the castle roamed thickly, and Link was spotted by one or two of them, giving chase whenever he was spotted. Link did his best to avoid detection, oftentimes hiding in the trees to prevent him from being placed in a position where he had to battle enemies, for they were, after all, the guards sworn to the Royal Family, but at the same time, sometimes he knew he had to fight and slay those that came after him, forced into combat with arrows and swords seeking to kill him for crimes he did not commit.

Finally, Link entered a desert-like region in the east that was full of ruins and broken structures. Monsters ranged all over the expansive broken soil as broken hills and sheer cliffs rose and fell over its face. By and large, they were not as interested in Link as were the guards unless Link happened to get too close, and then they would attack without relent. Between the monsters and the mazelike passageways of the Eastern Ruins, many of the corridors looking like other parts of the barren lands, but sufficient searching enabled Link to eventually find a small house-like structure within the middle of ruins, still intact and relatively sound. Link approached the home and slowly stepped in as he knocked, peering inside.

Within the house sat an old man, Link noticed. "Sahasrahla?"

The man nodded his assent, however he was quite surprised to find out that someone such as Link had found him. Sahasrahla inquired Link of his desires and intentions, and Link answered his questions with mentionings of hoping to defeat Agahnim and using the Master Sword. "Ah, yes, so you truly wish to wield the Blade of Power. It is no easy task to obtain the goddesses' approval to use the blade. If you truly wish to use the Master Sword to defeat Ganondorf, you must do as some of the legends have told us. You must go to the temple just to the east of my hut -- the Eastern Palace. There you must obtain the Pendant of Courage, cut from the very same gem of the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. Bring me this pendant, and then I will believe in your courage."

Link frowned for a moment, disliking being put to the test, but he could see why the Wise Man had to be careful. He eventually trudged off towards the Eastern Palace, a great temple dug into the mountainside, adorned on both sides of the doorway with large statues and pillars. Link stopped for a moment to take in the view of the palace, readying himself to go into battle once again. Zelda and the sage, and for that matter, the rest of the maidens and all of Hyrule, they were counting on him to succeed in his journey. He had to wield the Master Sword against Agahnim. He had to retrieve the Pendant of Courage.

With all the pieces in play, with all the elements ready, Ganondorf made his move. With the Triforce at his full command, infinitesimally tiny cracks between Light and Dark Worlds, Hyrule and the Sacred Realm, slivered through the delicate seal made by the Sages so long ago. Only the Triforce's magic could create them, and only the Triforce's magic could detect them, otherwise invisible to naked, and even to magical, sight. The merging of the two worlds after such long separation had begun.

As the veil cracked, dark power began seeping into the world of Hyrule, all at the command of the Evil King. The power seeped one drop at a time, coalescing into puddles, trickling into streams, and finally torrentially pouring into rivers. Wherever the dark aether flowed, life was sucked out of the very ground and left to rot. It invaded forests and the soil beneath them, leaving trees and grass and plants to whither away; it swam into the seas and the waters, drying them up and filling them with mud and murk; it flew into the air and filled it with disease and pestilence. It infected those who breathed it, causing them to choke up blood and die in the streets.

Miakoru Town was the first to catch wind of the evil plague. It swarmed through without rest, leaping from soul to soul as slowly the town was decimated. Those that were sick were quarantined to their houses in an effort to stop it from spreading, but it was to no avail as the illness had wings made of magic, carrying it through the infested homes only to always find its next victim. Only those wise enough, or perhaps fearful enough, to have left the town at the first symptoms of tragedy were spared. All others were soon taken ill, dying, one after another after the next. Miakoru would fall to Ganon's evil taint.

Kakariko was luckier than its sister village, but it was not free of the turmoil that had haunted the dying citizens of Miakoru. Soon the waters all around the city were turned to sludge, and all water that was clean would vanish, thirsting the populace into desperation. The livestock within the town soon grew quite feeble with the lack of grass and grain, and with it came famine beyond belief as eggs, meat, and cheese became only a distant memory to their hungry stomachs. Brave adventures were forced to travel further and further down the well-beaten paths to find precious water and increasingly scarce food, hoping and praying that the goddesses would look after them, that somehow a savior would come for them.

A meeting was called among those close to the Royal Family within their castle in Hyrule's center. The Wise Men were there, transcribing many scrolls and parchments, trying to find prophecies that might shine light onto the arrival of one who would save them from whatever was haunting their kingdom. Reading the old texts, texts that should have been obliterated by the water's ungraceful care but somehow were still kept well intact, they were able to discover the history of the Sacred Realm and of the Nine Gates that linked the worlds together. The books also told of the seal that not only kept the foreign realm permanently separate from that of Hyrule, but also of the great evil that was held beyond those gates. Armed with maps and traveling gear, it was decreed that the Wise Men in the company of the castle guards should investigate the seals upon the gates and to re-establish them if needed, hoping that this would be the key to saving Hyrule. While in some cases the seal had deteriorated in one direction, allowing the flow of energy from Hyrule into the Evil Realm, the unperceivable cracks that Ganondorf had created at those points in the other direction were unable to be detected, and so the Wise Men were left clueless and powerless. The King had no other choice but to post petitions for anyone who could discover the source of their woes or find such a thing to cleanse the land, promising significant rewards to those who could do so.

It was then when the evil began taking shape in the far-off distance. Slowly out of the evil power that had spread from Ganondorf's Triforce formed a wizard of unquestionable power. He walked towards the land of Hyrule slowly but steadily, coming first to Kakariko village. The wizard could not be seen as representative of the evil that consumed him, for unexpectedly everywhere he stepped, the evil power within the world seemed to be banished, gone forever. Those that came to greet the stranger he touched with his gentle hand, and instantly they were cured of hunger and thirst and disease. In his wake, water, air, and land became well again, almost as if his magic was so powerful and so great that it had no other choice but to leap away from his body and spread into the world. The citizens of Kakariko claimed him a savior and asked of him his name, to which he answered the name of Agahnim.

The Hylians within the town of Kakariko led him towards Hyrule Castle so that he could meet with the king and his advisors. As the wizard stepped forward, the king asked the cause for his presence in the world of Hyrule and how he could perform the amazing miracles he had performed. The wizard merely mentioned that he had felt disturbances within the land of Hyrule and wished to help the people within, that his priestly powers of healing were powerful enough to stop the flow of evil seeping through whatever cracks through which it was finding its way into Hyrule. The king seemed generally pleased with this answer, but before he could speak any more, the wizard then held his hands up, cupping them about a glowing sphere of white that was growing within his hands. Agahnim held it tenderly, his eyes closing as he murmured incantations upon the spell. In a sudden movement, he plunged the sphere into the ground, and in a large shock of thunder without sound, all land from Death Mountain to Lake Hylia, from the Lost Woods to Kakariko Town, were cleansed of the evil; all save for the death and demise of Miakoru Town was made as it had been before.

The King applauded the wizard's display of magic and began walking him into his castle. The king returned to his throne and with his daughter Zelda at his side, and he issued two decrees. His first decree was that the town of Miakoru would be dismantled, the houses burnt to shambles and then discarded, burning as if they were funeral pyres, normally reserved for the nobles of the old Hyrule. It would be made into a large graveyard to honor those who died in the evil that had swept over the Kingdom of Hyrule. Along with a graveyard, as a memory to those who died there, a small cathedral would be set just to its west to serve as a sanctuary for travelers and as a place of worship to the goddesses. The second document which the King signed was a brash but not wholly unforeseen action, as the king decreed that Agahnim should not only serve as his own personal advisor but also as one of the heirs to the wisdom of the Seven Wise Men. After much resistance, Agahnim finally accepted both positions most graciously.

Sahasrahla and the other Wise Men, however, smelled something amiss, almost as if their senses had been alerted whenever Agahnim was near. Though they began teaching the wizard the language of the ancients, soon they decided amongst themselves that they believed Agahnim to be too serious a threat with the knowledge of old. Already the wizard would keep himself up at odd hours of the night within his chambers, entertaining himself with things unknown. They feared for the safety of Hyrule with such a wizard of great power so close to the king. The next night, meeting in secret, the seven decided to flee from the castle and go into hiding. The next morning, when this was discovered, Agahnim was enraged; his wrathful fury led him to the king to whom he demanded that the Wise Men be returned to the castle. The king, however, refused, for he was not a dictator, nor had the Seven Wise Men broken any law by leaving the castle grounds. However, Agahnim could not be contented in this manner, and as a result he threw his hands upon the king and took over his mind, rendering the king's conscious self powerless over his body. "Perhaps," said the wizard in a snake-like voice, "you will now learn that wizards are to be contented rather than refused."

From that day on, the king's actions were manipulated by Agahnim's puppet strings. Decrees were sent out, offering rewards for information on the whereabouts of the Seven Wise Men; however, none ever came forward, all either unaware or too sympathetic to the Wise Men's decision to tell. Many days passed without information, and so Agahnim decided upon another strategy. If the Seven Wise Men would not help him to gain the information on how to bring Ganon back into the world of Hyrule, then perhaps the Seven Sages, the Princess and her maidens, would. The tyranny was very swift, and one by one, the maidens disappeared from the interiors of the castle. Since oftentimes the maidens would visit Kakariko from time to time, both their absence from the village marketplace and the strange demeanor of the royal guards within Kakariko were well noted, and so people naturally began to whisper to one another about questions of their safety.

This continued until one night, the seventh night after he had taken power, Agahnim was preparing one of his rituals, a ritual to complete that which would break the seal between this world and Ganon's world. The last Sage, Princess Zelda herself, remained locked within the castle dungeons, the dungeon keepers watching for strangers. The magic of the Hylian people, however, had not lost its hold within the royal line somehow, and so using her magic through the form of telepathy, Zelda sent forth a plea towards the south. "Help, my name is Zelda. I am kept imprisoned within the castle dungeons. Please, help me."

Moments later, Link awoke within his bed, having heard the words whispered in the silence. His uncle Llewelyn was simply tightening his shoes about his feet, already brandishing a shield upon his right arm. Seeing his nephew awoken, he walked over to Link and laid him back down. "Link, I have to go do something. I will be back by morning." He went to the table to pick up his sword, a family heirloom, finally walking out the door. Just before he left, he peeked his head back in, looking back at Link. "Please, Link, do not leave this house until the sun rises." With that, he left.

Link pondered his uncle's words for a few moments, and was content with them. But then those words from Zelda were heard again in his own mind. "Please... help me."

He crawled out of bed, donned his boots, and headed out into the dark rain.

Had the olden days of Hyrule been remembered, perhaps the historians of the time would have called the upcoming years to be the Third Golden Age of Hyrule, but the goddesses' clouding of the minds of the Hyrulians above the waves caused them to not look so far back into legend, but rather write tales of the stories of current events, of Link and of Tetra, the Sages of Earth and Wind, and all who had held a role in the saving and recreation of their land. For though the true story remained secret to those who took part in it and their close kin for many years, all secrets yield themselves to becoming revealed, and thus the conversation of all.

The new kingdom of Hyrule had been prosperous, and the communities upon the various islands began working together for the benefit of all through trade, celebrations, ceremonies, and travel. Seeing as the sea had become so integral a part of their lives, soon it became every man and woman's dream to visit all of the villages in the new kingdom before they passed on, and many had the desire to sail much further than that. A few brave souls actually undertook voyages outside the island kingdom of Hyrule to seek new lands, whether they be near or far, and while a few trips yielded the discovery of a new island every now and then, most returned to shore empty-handed.

It would take many decades -- over a century's worth of exploring -- before a pair of inhabited lands were discovered far to the east of the Hyrulian kingdom. The adventurers that had sought these lands out were amazed to see some of their own kind there. Hylians inhabited both of the lands with presence in several towns about them, but they were even more surprised to find glimpses of Zora, although the glimpses were very rare as they chose to remain primarily underneath the ocean's waters, and Gorons, their presence in Hyrule disappeared, the sea having separated their kind from one another and from their mountain home. News came back to Hyrule as fast as the ships could carry it, and from that day, there was always a ship whose sails turned towards the other lands, but those ships were not exactly common due to the long distance required of the trip.

While life seemingly continued normally for those above the waters, there were ripplings of ill tidings coming from beneath the waters of Hyrule where the land which used to be remained buried. Ganondorf Dragmire's thoughts remained in those lands, and during the ominous days, visions of the past came to haunt him, visions of what he should have done. He had sworn long ago to curse the descendants of those who had defeated him in the Imprisoning War, and he now realized he had violated his own oath by not letting that thirst for blood spill over to his recent tormentors. No, their children would not be so lucky as to find sanctuary beneath his gaze; he would hunt them out this time, murdering them all. Though locked in the Evil Realm as he was, Ganondorf now had the full Triforce at his command, and his desires were easily capable of being carried out with the Triforce's immense power. He would have his revenge.

Ganondorf, despite his thirst for revenge revived within him with fiery boil, was a patient man, and he was willing to allow the ploy to make his wish come true simmer to perfection. First, though Ganondorf's revenge had already earned him the soul of the former Hyrulian king, it was the king's wish that remained ever-present within the Evil King's mind. Redoing that which Daphnes Hyrule had undone during the last battle was no small feat, even for the Triforce. Thus, as a means of trickery, Ganondorf decided to use the goal of Tetra and Link against themselves. As Hyrule prospered, Hyrule would slowly become his. "I wish that Hyrule may become like the land of legend," he had said to the Golden Triangles, "and when all is complete, may I break from this prison to conquer that world, just as I have conquered here."

Ganondorf laughed at the double meaning of his own desires. As Hyrule became more and more a kingdom, its functions as if all were normal, slowly the waters of Daphnes' new world would recede. Every act of nobility, every act of expansion, every law, every diplomacy, and everything which Link and Tetra had strived for, the water would drain away into nothing, disappearing from the face of Hyrule. However, that would not do for the people of Hyrule. They would notice it too quickly, and he wanted his revenge to be swift in timing and deadly in execution. He would have to bide his time for now. So as the water receded, the land slowly evolved, almost as if it were caused by the eroding forces of the winds themselves, evolving just as slowly as the waters were taken down into the land of Hyrule as it had was below, evolving into Hyrule's legend.

The plan was beautiful in a sinister way, and over the course of over two hundred years, no one could detect it, the gradual changes over the land indistinguishable in the memory of the Hyrulians. Over the course of time, however, the drastic drop in the depth of the ocean was bound to be discovered, but by that time the age-old name of Ganondorf had been forgotten to the whispers of time, him thought dead or otherwise gone from the face of Hyrule forever. Ultimately the waters would recede all the way, creating mere lakes and rivers about the landscape, and it didn't take long after that for the people of Hyrule to rejoice in unison and declare that it was a miracle that their former land had returned, for though it was but a memory in their minds, a memory it remained still with them. The land above the seas had melded into the land beneath the waves, but it was not an exact replica, for Ganondorf's wish was not to create Hyrule exactly, but to make it like the legends recalled it to be, like those above the waves had believed the land to be. With this, the erosive waters had broken some hillsides upon, exposing new areas to the former realm of Hyrule, and familiar landmarks were shifted, growing out lands that used to be foreign to them.

The goddesses' work had been undone, with Ganondorf at the center, and all of Hyrule victim to the façade of a miracle.

What the Hyrulians did not understand, however, did not prevent them from going forward. The people of Hyrule had vowed and determined to progress onward to make the old Hyrule just like their new Hyrule above the waves, and with more land with which to unify the lands, villages would no longer need to be as separate from one another as they were upon the islands above. Instead, they would create two large towns, one where Greatfish Isle had once been, just north of the desert region which laid to the southwest, and one near where Windfall Isle had been, just north of the Tower of the Gods, now transformed to a single tower at the rear of Hyrule Castle, marking the center of the land. Once again, Death Mountain rose high above the landscape to the north, Lake Hylia to the southeast, the Lost Woods to the northwest, Zora's Domain to the northeast, all spokes of the wheel that was the castle. It all seemed too perfect, for this to have happened by coincidence, and so the goddesses were praised for this miracle to have their old land back.

The monarchy, now ruled by King Yohnathan Hyrule with his daughter Zelda beneath him, named after a queen from so long ago, resided within Hyrule Castle once again and thereupon they named the two towns. The town to the west was dubbed Kakariko Town in memory of the village of old. The town to the north was named Miakoru Town, meaning Miracle in the old tongue. That tongue, ancient Hylian, had been upon the brink of extinction ever since they had arisen above the waves, a language only remembered and spoken by a mere seven Hylians now. Those seven would be given special places within Hyrule Castle as advisors and historians, and they would become popularly known as the Seven Wise Men, the most well-known of which going by the name Sahasrahla.

Though the Hylians had went through a period of expansion and exploration, while the blood within them still yearned for adventure and excitement, there was also some degree of introspection, working towards perfecting their new world upon acres of solid ground. The two towns worked together towards re-establishing themselves, just as their ancestors had done long ago when settling about the island states. Among them, there was a girl whose fame had been largely forgotten over the years, Rauru's descendant, an identity known only to herself and the Royal Family. The duties of the Sage of Light had passed down to her whose name was Maranya, and over the years she had continued to serve them with her presence.

The Gerudo were still a part of the Hylian society to some degree. A more accurate statement would be that the blood between Hylian and Gerudo had become so intermixed that they were barely distinguishable from one another; in one way, the two races had virtually merged into a single unified race, neither Hylian nor Gerudo, yet increasingly smaller distinctions still remained. Those with a dominant Gerudo blood were more likely to have daughters than sons, but more and more Gerudo males were slowly being born due to the Hylian blood mixing with the magic-infused blood of the desert people. Nabooru's line continued over the ages skirting the thinning line between Hylian and Gerudo, leading eventually towards a Gerudo femme by the name of Shanai, the Sage of Spirit, also in the employ of the Royal Family.

The Gorons of Hyrule had all passed away in the water-covered world without their mountain homes to support them. No longer would their rock-like forms traverse the plains of Hyrule. However, all was not lost for the Sage of Fire. Before the waters receded and before Dmitri, the last Goron Sage died, he happened upon a trustworthy Hylian by the name of Theos, and knowing the critical need to have an heir to inherit his title, he and the Hylian became close friends and then blood brothers, allowing Dmitri's blood to fall into the open cut upon Theos' arm, giving him the blood of a Goron and making him the Fire Sage. The Hylian was directed to see the royalty of Hyrule and tell them that which had happened, and the royalty greeted Theos into their arms. In time, he would eventually become succeeded by his great-great-granddaughter Drayah, and throughout their line, they served the Royal Family with extreme loyalty.

While the Rito had been useful in the world as messengers for the new Hyrule, now back in the old lands messages were much easier to deliver, not explicitly needing their help. However, they felt the need to uphold their oath promised long ago to serve the Royal Family to their best ability, so they had no intentions of leaving Hyrule. Doing so would make them akin to the Zola that had fragmented from their tribe so long ago. Instead, seeing the unity amongst the Hylians in the world, the chieftain decided that serving them best would require for them to become kin to the Hylians. As such, they discared their wings and many of them joined the Hylians in Kakariko and Miakoru Towns under the guise of Hylians, living with one another as kinsmen. Of note, one family of Rito remained within the mountains, an old man named Wealas and his daughter Celeste. Wealas knew in time that his daughter would have to go to the castle as she was the Sage of Water. When she grew to the tender age of twelve, she left him and her mountain home for the castle to become one of the princess' attendants.

Impa, meanwhile, was still alive from the intense magic within the Sheikah blood. During the battle against Hyrule, Impa, along with her daughter Aekorra, remained hidden within the darkest of shadows where they could not be found. They remained secluded upon a deserted island with enough plants and animals to survive for several years during the dark years of Ganondorf's existence. It was only many years after this when they finally emerged from their tropical home and came to the Royal Family at the Tower of the Gods, soon to be Hyrule Castle, pledging their service. They were most happily taken in, their names and race remembered for so long in the passed-down history of the lands. Impa pledged her service to the rulers as a guard, and when Aekorra swore her oath to the royalty of Hyrule, Impa passed down the title of Sage of Shadow to her as well, entrusting her with all the secrets thereof.

With the return to the land of old and with the Lost Woods once again in their domain, the Koroks returned to the mazelike realm of trees. Once therein, the Deku Tree, hidden deep within the great forest where it was difficult to travel, returned the Koroks to their Hylian-like form of Kokiri. Within the protection of the woods, they would be able to remain children until their final days, just as it was long ago. However, the Deku Tree knew that the Sage of Forest, now embodied by a Kokiri named Lalia, would be needed at the castle. Thus, advised by the forest spirit, Lalia left the protection of the forest and went to the castle to entrust her services to the Royal Family. No longer a child she would be in time, but if it was what was required of her, she would do it for the good of Hyrule.

Lastly, the princess herself was the last of the Sages, and with the six maidens at her side, she knew that all was well. It truly seemed to be a call to the older version of Hyrule, where magic and balance reigned. There they remained for the next years, all in service of the King and his benevolent leadership. All the while, one of the most trusted figures in Hyrule remained, not within the castle, but just outside of it, a decision of his own choice to remind himself of the problems and wishes of the people. His name was Llewelyn, and while he took on no official duties, he remained a close friend to the those in the palace. He lived just south of the palace with his nephew Link, also named after the heroes of old, and both resided peacefully together in their own small forest abode.

All of this, however, was not only pleasing to the denizens of Hyrule, but also to Ganondorf. As he looked on from the Evil Realm, or what he now called the Dark World, now shaped as a twisted and distorted imitation of Hyrule, would he mocking called the Light World, Ganondorf couldn't help but smile with every glimpse. All of the pieces were in place to cause a reign of destruction upon Hyrule, upon the land which he desired so badly that he could taste revenge already juicy sweet upon his lips. All that remained to be done was to spread the Triforce's power into the world of Hyrule, and then from there, the gate between the worlds, the Ninth Gate, would once again open.

Time slowly began to pass, and inevitably Hyrule began to branch out yet again. Link, Tetra, and her crew had been very adamant about their task, seeking out every chance and opportunity to try to make the new land above a bigger and brighter kingdom. Now that the villagers of Windfall had accepted them and their changed ways, they began sailing with them out on the seas, touring the neighboring isles in all directions. Despite this, it wasn't immediate that any of them were ready to leave their island home to permanently settle elsewhere. Exploration of the world was one issue, but settlement upon those islands was something completely foreign to the first. It was a frustrating time for Tetra especially, who, ever since that day when she had let Link go to see Medli for the first time, had doubled her efforts to making her goal happen, keeping her own thoughts as far away from her blue jewel as possible. Tetra worked perhaps harder than the rest of her crew, Link included; her mind was always dedicated on something, whether it was analyzing maps, teaching the islanders how to navigate vessels, or any of the other hundreds of tasks they had to accomplish for their plans to succeed. The former pirate didn't mind this though, for it was able to keep her mind by and large off of the Hero.


Link spent a good portion of his time with Tetra at Windfall and the surrounding islands. He and Medli had understood that it was for the best for Hyrule that Link be out there using his skills for the betterment of the land. It was difficult for the both of them, Medli having to stay within the Earth Temple and Link having to be gone for long periods of time, but they had both agreed to remain committed to one another throughout everything. In dedication to their relationship, Link gave Medli his green cap to keep with her for as long as they were together, while Medli gave Link a feather from her wing and braided it into his hair, never to be taken out unless they should part ways permanently. Link always found that Tetra's eyes evaded the feather braided by his right ear, but he never questioned her avoidance, figuring that it made sense somehow. Regardless of this, Link's dedication towards Tetra's dream of conquering the seas shined with resilient brightness, always eager to share in Tetra's hopes and dreams.


In due time, soon the people of Windfall realized that their tiny island was getting increasingly smaller and more claustrophobic. Of course, this was not because more people were living there; only a few children had been added to the population of the isle. Rather, as Tetra and Link turned their eyes towards the seas, soon they found themselves aspiring to the waters, feeling quite comfortable atop the waters that had divided them for so long. Their minds, just like the minds of their Hylian ancestors long ago, were branching out. It was only a matter of time when some of the denizens of Windfall Island came into Tetra's cabin with a document, signed by over three dozen of the townsfolk, declaring their desire to create a settlement upon another island. They presented it to her upon her desk, and with it they gave her a small fortune in rupees with which to help them build towns upon the other islands. Tetra was amazed, her eyes growing wide; not only had she not expected their courageousness, but their generosity and charity were most unexpected, for after all, the former pirates had paid for the Windfall dock out of their own money. She advised the would-be settlers to have an early bed that night; the next few days would be hard working for everyone.


The next day, Tetra divided her crew and the settlers into three groups of perhaps sixteen each, intermixing men and women together amongst the groups. She designated the settlers to the three great ships they had constructed, The Pride of Hyrule, Vision of Destiny, and her own, The Golden Spirit. Each ship set out in opposing directions, hosting the villagers to new lands as they waved goodbye to Windfall, not permanently by any means, but permanently moving away from their home nevertheless.


The first of the ships, The Pride of Hyrule, sailed to the southwest towards Greatfish Isle, the island that had been formerly cursed by Ganondorf during his reign within the Forsaken Fortress a few years past. Tetra's first mate Gonzo captained the ship over the seas through the dangerous waters approaching the deserted isle, the broken wood of rafts still crashed along the island's shoreline. They set anchor a good distance off the coast of the island, drawing the longboats out to sea, paddling the rest of the way to shore. It would take many weeks to see the grand project completed -- cleaning the shores of all the debris from the attack so long ago, digging walkways into the steep slopes of the island, erecting houses, homes, shops, and taverns, among other things. While their homes were under construction, the would-be residents would remain upon the boat, paddling to shore in the morning, but slowly as more and more houses were complete, and the residents began living in their dwellings, making the town look more and more like a village. As their leader and captain, the new residents of the town elected Gonzo as their mayor of their community.


Senza, Tetra's third-in-command, piloting the Vision of Destiny, did not have to travel all that far to the island he had selected. Just to the east of Windfall Isle was an island by the name of Pawprint Isle, named after the shape of the island. Not being very far from their home island, the residents desired breaks from time to time, always returning home every week and a half or so for a few days. This slowed down creation of the settlement on the other island, but the inhabitants were content with the more lethargic pace. However, just like at Greatfish Isle, the settlement soon became a success as they opened the doors to their shops and homes. They had accomplished a great deal, but there was still so much more to be done, like the creation of a dock, creating cobblestone pathways, among other general improvements. Despite minor inconveniences, the citizens of the new island were quite pleased with themselves, and they threw a celebration for their accomplishments once all was built.


The last ship Tetra captained with Link at her side, traveling east by south towards an island to which Link had claimed ownership during his earlier quest to save Hyrule: Oasis Isle. The island was something of a summer resort built for one, yet there was plenty of space for buildings alongside the waterfall-decorated pool in the island's center. Tetra and Link already had the advantage, having some small semblance of civilization already present, leaving only the task of having to add onto it. Over the weeks, the citizens built houses during the day, taking relaxing swims in the pool during the night. Much was the same with the other islands, although the interactions between Link and Tetra during the building process became continually more complicated; she would always insist with working with Link, trying to prove to herself perhaps that she could maintain a working relationship and good friendship with Link, but there were moments when she found herself unable to speak to him, difficultly looking away from him when he was looking at her. No matter how she tried, it was inevitable dodging those feelings, but the friendship between the two of them, despite the occasional awkwardness, was very tight. Tetra respected Link as perhaps the closest friend she had ever had, and because of that, she did not wish to intervene with his feelings for Medli. Despite the occasional difficulties they had with one another over the weeks, Link and Tetra soon found themselves watching over a grand community.


With all of the changes within the Windfall society, a gathering of all the islands -- Outset Island included, made aware of current events through the efforts of Link and Tetra, the inhabitants eager in sharing in the new prosperity -- was held, and all agreed that some sort of government should be founded to rule over all of the other islands as a mediator in disputes and general benefactor in prosperous times. There was much debate initially as to how it should be established and who should take part in it, but eventually it was decided that they should return to the days of old, when kings and queens ruled Hyrule. The appointees for the monarchs were obvious choices: Tetra and Link. Tetra was surprised by this after all of the problems she caused for the people of Windfall and Outset, yet it seemed that they had decided that her recent change of heart was worth more than enough to redeem her for such events, and with that, she accepted their proposal. But as she turned to Link, he was already shaking his head towards the rest of those gathered, insisting that he was not a proper leader despite his courageousness against Ganondorf. Though they persisted, Link would not accept such an offer to be king, but instead he did promise to help whenever the situation should warrant him. Tetra nodded her consent and placed an arm on his shoulder, letting him go to his own desires, sad, yet at the same time proud of him. Rather than following Link, she herself went to the Tower of the Gods, set up to be the center of government, and Tetra would live there along with her trusted advisors.


Being the Queen of Hyrule was not what she had originally believed would happen when she set herself to the task of making Hyrule a more prosperous kingdom, but now she was very glad to be helping Hyrule in the fullest way possible. She would oversee many things in her reign, and during her rule, Hyrule slowly became like it was of old. It grew and expanded despite the seas being an obstacle initially. However, that hadn't stopped them, and the future was looking brighter than ever.


Makar, meanwhile, continued to pray to the goddesses for the continued strength of the Master Sword. From time to time, Link and Tetra would visit him, and some of his Korok friends would come as well, missing his music in the Forest Haven. Though he was no longer there, his music somehow drifted all the way back to the Deku Tree during the celebrations, and because Makar's heart was still yearning to be with the Deku Tree, the yearly harvest of seeds would continue. One such seed was given specifically to him by the Deku Tree, brought to him by another Korok. The seed would eventually bring to life another of his kind, one that would eventually replace him when Makar's body would no longer sustain him. Makar planted it and with it came a Korok by the name of Safras, one who willingly took up the task a few decades later when Makar died.


Aryll, slightly disappointed that she would never be a pirate like Tetra and Link once were, eventually moved from Outset Island to Oasis Island after her grandmother died so she could live close to Link. Aryll's heart, however, invariably led her towards the seas instead of the mainland. She became an explorer when she came of age, desiring to go out exploring the numerous other islands in the world. With one of the smaller ships given to her from Tetra's fleet, she would take intrigued sailors with her and sail the land looking for treasure, excitement, and new peoples. She visited the Koroks and Rito many times, and they were more than willing to have her around. Eventually she would settle down, but it would not be until she was in her mid-twenties. She would find a charming man by the name of Ronin, and a year and a half later, they would marry and have a single child, Crystanthia, who would follow in her mother's footsteps with her passion for the sea.


It also quickly became obvious that Medli and Link were falling deeper and deeper into love as well. Though the pairing between a Rito and a Hylian was never before heard of, those who knew of their love were very supportive of them. Though Link retained his residence upon Oasis Isle for several years, more and more he spent time with Medli within her temple beneath the seas, and it was only a matter of time before Link asked Medli to marry him, to which she eagerly accepted. Their ceremony was very small -- only their closest friends attending -- taking place within the Chapel of the Sages. No great celebration was thrown afterwards, but rather just a small private party amongst the guests as they feasted over a variety of delicacies brought from all over Hyrule. Link would eventually move in with Medli, giving his home to Aryll after she settled down, and the two of them would live happily for many years together in Medli's aerie. Together they saw three children into the world: Shylah, bearing the beak and eventually wings of her mother as she grew old enough to receive a scale from Valoo; Salene, only having the wings of her mother upon coming of age; and Quillan, a boy who took after his Hylian father in every way. The latter two of them would eventually leave their parents' nest and come to interact with the world above the seas, but Shylah, their firstborn, was raised with the promise that she would become the next Sage of Earth, a responsibility she took seriously after Medli's death, which took place one year to the day after Link himself passed away, both of them living many years.


Tetra would remain in the Tower of the Gods for most of her days, but she would eventually find her way out every once in a while, especially for the celebrations of Link's and Aryll's weddings. She would visit her close friends from time to time, and vice versa, but in all, ruling Hyrule was not the life for her. She had never been ready to settle down this early in her life, and so as queen, she became very restless. Despite her most valiant efforts, Tetra could not prevent herself from thinking of Link, forcing herself to keep from watching him within her blue gem, although faltering every once in a while and stealing sometimes a peek, sometimes a long stare. Instead of a marriage for love, she chose a marriage for political stance, taking Gonzo as her husband, making him the King of Hyrule. After playing second fiddle to Tetra for years, however, Gonzo yielded to his wife, and Tetra was the one that retained the power. She would continue her reign, celebrating the peace and prosperity of Hyrule, yet at the same time wishing life would be just somewhat more adventurous. She would eventually bear just a single daughter, named Meena, although in private, Tetra would call her daughter Zelda. Meena would take the throne after Tetra's early death, and despite everyone's grievances over Tetra's passing, everyone celebrated the life that lived within her.


It seemed, however, ironic that days before Tetra's fortieth birthday, two years before she would breath her last, a vision came to Tetra of the future. She had been awake at the time, watching the sky from the parapets of the Tower of the Gods, wishing to be alone. Words clearly came upon her tongue, and afterwards, she had them scribed them upon a piece of parchment word for word. They wrote:


Ahead in the future, four Heroes of Time from now
A Great Cataclysm shall arise from forgotten evil
Darkness shall verily descend over the land
Through a source seeming good-natured
A hope however will remain within a young boy
A triumph over evil he shall bring to his land


Tetra was somewhat fearful of what these words indicated, for prophecy was prophecy, even though she had never experienced it before. Somewhat skeptical, yet the words moving her enough to make her feel the importance enough to merit investigation later, she sealed it with stamped wax seal and gave it to Meena to be opened when she became queen, passing the legend down for future generations.


As Tetra returned to her solitude, looking at the sky, one simple thought caressed her lips as it was spoken. "His name shall be Link as well; I hope my future descendant has better luck with him than I did. May the goddesses look over them all."

Early the next morning, Link came to Tetra with an urgent request that he remembered; he needed to spread the news to his other friends and allies that Ganondorf had been defeated and that all was peaceful once again. While the goal of restoring Hyrule was high on his mind, he being very excited about accomplishing it, Link wanted to share the good tidings with others, specifically the Sages who had offered not only their prayers but also their servitude to becoming a Sage, a commitment not easily given. Tetra knew how important this was to Link, but she as well wished to thank them personally for their duties as well. Tetra struck Link a deal that he would take her with him to visit the new Sages of Earth and Wind as well, and in doing so Tetra would excuse his presence aboard The Golden Spirit for a matter of a few days. Link agreed, and so setting out in The King of Red Lions, Tetra agreed to catch up with her crew at Windfall Island while they went to go tell the Sages of the good news.


Their first destination was to visit Makar, and while Tetra imagined it would be a long voyage, Link was more than eager to show his mastery over the winds to the ex-pirate, using it to cross the seas quickly to get to the northern island. Tetra, though frightened at first at the thought of sailing directly into a cyclone, eventually relented and allowed Link to show off his mastery of the winds, which thoroughly impressed her. Before she had expected it, they were at Gale Isle where the Temple of Wind was located. They stepped into the Hyrulian Temple, and though it was now underwater, as the entrance that had opened up to Hyrule directly had been sealed by Ganondorf ages ago in the old war, the temple remained dry, albeit with the disturbing realization that they were now walking at the bottom of the sea.


Through the rooms they traveled, and in the lowest of the pits, they saw the faithful Korok in the center of the chapel where the Sage remained and continued to pray for the Master Sword. Since Link's departure however, the stone flooring had been replaced by what appeared to be the interior of a forest, the entire expanse of it filled with trees and a golden orb above shining light down upon him. While Tetra was amazed, Link was perhaps moreso suprised, not understand that which had happened here. Makar jumped out to greet the pair and happily explained his story. Once Link had left, the temple's power had been restored and cleansed of all its evil; only then after Link had departed had that power came to be within the place where Makar remained, known to him as the Chapel of the Sage. The Chapel of the Sage had its own power to become that which its Sage desired, for this residence would become Makar's permanent home, never again returning to the Forest Haven. It was Makar's desiring to be in surroundings like that of his home in the woods, and with that wish, trees, shrubs, grass, and flowers sprouted from the stone tile, creating Makar's private forest in which he would dwell until the end of his days. Link introduced Tetra to Makar and also vice versa, and Tetra was amazed to see the wooden boy with a leaf for his face. After Link explained his story of how this all came to pass, both Tetra and Makar thanked each other for helping Link, a friendship finally formed between princess and sage. Tetra bowed graciously to the Sage as they left, and as they retired from the Chapel of the Sage, Makar, upon his violin, played for them a melody like neither had ever before heard.


Freshly returned to the surface world, Tetra boarded The King of Red Lions and gave Link a hand, helping him aboard. Before they departed the island, Tetra gave Link a smile, letting him know how much she appreciated his sharing in this with her. Perhaps it took experiencing her hidden side, the princess within, to finally show that she didn't need to keep up that rough personality with Link, for finally she realized just how close their friendship was. Link and Tetra grinned for a moment, and just as Link was ready to summon the cyclone once more, Tetra stopped him and then gave Link a quick wink, whispering quietly, "Link, don't do this in front of the others, but when it's just you and me, feel free to call me Zelda, okay?" Link beamed a smile and nodded, then brought down the winds to take them to Stonehead Isle.


Into Hyrule once again they traveled, now into the Earth Temple. Like before, the temple had remained virtually unchanged, just as Link has remembered it when he had explored it with the Rito Medli. As they descended, Link had remembered that the light from above had shined down from the terrarium's sky into the dungeon through windows high above. Confused as to how the temple hadn't been flooded, Link took Tetra into one of the side rooms where light had once shined in, but now all was dark in the room, the depths of the water obscuring the light; however, an invisible force seemed to keep the water at bay, refusing to let it enter into the catacombs of the Earth Temple. Relieved, yet still uneasy to a degree, Link and Tetra continued towards the Chapel of the Sage, where Medli knelt praying upon the dais with the Triforce.


Neither Medli nor Tetra this time were bashful with meeting one another, and they came together embracing each other, Medli somehow knowing that all was over now just by seeing Link here once more. They released each other, and both looked to the aviary that Medli had made of her home; it was full of many species of birds from all across the new face of Hyrule, perched upon trees with tall branches with berries hanging from them. The ground about the dais had also been filled with grass, save for a small portion of rock raised up a few feet where Medli indicated she slept. Link walked around as Medli showed him all the nuances of her new home, her blushing slightly with embarrassment at parts, but Link didn't seem to think any of it was foolish. There the three of them stayed for the good part of an hour, sitting amongst one another telling their stories and talking about random things. To Tetra's surprise, Link and Medli were the dominant ones in the conversation, the two of them chatting rather excitedly with each other over things -- such as the Rito, Prince Komali, their hopes for the future, and even their most embarrassing moments -- so much that Tetra decided to take a walk through the small woodlands to herself while the two of them continued.


The time soon came for them to leave, and both Link and Medli were both sad for Tetra and him to go, but Tetra slyly told Medli that the two of them would return some day, and with this, Medli was relieved as she nodded and bowed to Link and Tetra while they left, waving her winged arm to them, the other two doing likewise as they walked back up the stairs towards their boat. The two of them boarded their boat, and as Link got out the Wind Waker to head to Windfall, Tetra stopped him and shook her head, indicating that she'd like to just sail back with the winds with Link despite them taking a little more time to get there. Link was about to ask why, but with a shrug he decided to give in, putting his baton back in his tunic. Link set sail for the largely inhabited island to the north, letting the winds take them as fast as they would. It was a westerly wind during the majority of their sailing, and although Link enjoyed sailing the open seas, he had become quite used to using the winds to his advantage, not being plagued by winds that were not exactlyin his favor.


However, Tetra had good reason for not going back quickly, and she held a smile upon her face as Link held the rudder against the winds. "You know she likes you, Link," was her first statement, letting silence overshadow the next few moments. Tetra finally turned around to see his reaction, one of shock and surprise, but there was also denial written in his eyes, and Tetra could see that plainly. However, before Link could protest, Tetra had more to say. "And from what I can tell, my friend, you seem to like her too, Link." Link tried to speak, but somehow, the words which he wished to use to refute her claims had run away from his tongue, unable to speak them. Tetra smiled knowingly and looked towards the sea, as if she herself had been keeping a secret of her own inside of that smile. Link looked at her oddly, picking up the hint, but he was unaware of exactly that which she would not speak of, and despite his efforts, Tetra refused to yield to his persistent questions, shrugging them off with a smile. "You're no longer a pirate, Link; you'll find yourself unable to steal your way into my heart and mind."


Link could only grin. "One day, Zelda, we'll see about that..." The princess only grinned victoriously.


The rest of the trip back was filled with more jovial discussion, the two of them happily discussing plans on how to revive Hyrule into another spectacular land. The plan was to start with Windfall, where most of the survivors of the old war had been placed. If a world was to become great again, it would have to be through them at first. With the black pirates of the world largely defeated and no longer with a leader, not to mention Tetra's own crew reforming to help the new world, the seas would be safe for the others to travel abroad and settle elsewhere, creating new establishments on the other islands, and through that the two of them held the hope that one day, the islands above would become just as prosperous as the fallen kingdom below once was. With that plan in their hearts, they returned to find The Golden Spirit already docked by the shores of Windfall, wearing white sails. Already a great commotion was taking place between the pirates and the denizens of the island, but soon all was made clear when Tetra and Link arrived, telling them of their plans.


Of course, trust was hard to come by at first, the citizens wary of anyone who had once called themselves pirates, but once the former pirates had put their mind to working on the island, fears were slowly dissolved. Their first goal was to make the sea more accessible for the Hylians there to use. They began working upon the docks on the northern shores of the island, making them more capable of holding bigger and more vessels. The work was tedious, constructing the docks; lumber had to be brought in from islands north of Windfall, wooden poles jammed into the sandy submersed shores to support the wood above the water's surface, and, even more critically, rupees spent on food, supplies, and payment for some of the villagers who volunteered time to help them. It took a few weeks' worth of labor to accomplish the task, but in the end, it was done, and the dwellers of Windfall cheered. Tetra and Link looked at one another and smiled amongst themselves. All was going very well. Of course, the only thing that remained was to help create a small fleet of vessels to captain to take the islanders elsewhere, to make them eager about exploring, to make them feel safe at sea.


Link began to work upon the new ships, reasonably sized between The King of Red Lions and The Golden Spirit, able to hold several passengers, but more and more as time progressed, his mind began to drift a little bit, drifting towards a particular maiden, the very maiden Tetra herself had accused him of being smitten with. Tetra, still wise to Link's game, took him aside for a while within her private cabin aboard the ship and turned to him. "I can see it in your eyes, Link," Tetra told him, looking out the window. "I know what dwells upon your mind and heart. So I'm giving you five days' leave. Go to her; tell her." She smiled at him lightly, and Link, not denying it this time, crossed the room, giving her a friendly hug and a thank you before heading above deck, virtually running to take his ship out to the sea.


Unlike his last sail upon the tiny ship, Link used the Wind Waker to hurry his travels towards the island to the south where the Rito femme resided, and he bounded down towards her sanctuary, and as he saw the girl there saying her daily prayer, he felt his heart racing. Very soon afterwards, their eyes met, and she grinned brightly albeit bashfully as she saw him, for indeed her mind had been on him just as his upon her. At that moment, they both attempted to speak at once, only to fall into a fit of giggles and chuckles. It was then when they looked deeper into each other's eyes and saw the very thing that rested within them, and with his courage perked from the Triforce within him, Link confessed his feelings for the avian, and with a slight blush upon her cheeks, she confessed the very same. Of course, there was a moment of sadness for Medli, for she knew that Prince Komali had had feelings for her before she left to become a Sage, and so in a way she almost felt like she were betraying him, but the Rito soon could not betray her heart, and so she finally told Link that she would accept him as her love. The light of the room was dim, but all could be seen well enough as they crossed the bit of ground between them. Link placed his hands upon her waist and Medli her wings about his neck, and with tilted heads, their lips touched, confirming everything they had just said.


Far away, back at Windfall, Tetra remained in her cabin that night, looking into a blue crystal just like she had given Link so long ago. Though a smile was upon her face, a small tear ran down her cheek, both happy and sad by the same time. "If only that girl you loved was me..."

Rain continued to fall upon the world of Hyrule, and off in the distance, Link and Zelda could see the land slowly being saturated and covered by the waters streaming down from above. In some places, the force of the water was enough to move the largest rocks of the mountains, violently reshaping some of the land of the great world. The water soon began to creep up towards the top of Ganondorf's citadel. Link and Zelda had already started to head back towards the portal within his great fortress, but they had taken too much time during their attempt to lock the evil king away that their hope for escape was tarnished by the rising water.


The King of Red Lions had determined their concern, but he was confident of what he had wished for from the Triforce for them. He simply looked at them and smiled upon them, although his expression remained rather bittersweet; his land was dying after all, and as it did, a part of him was dying along with it. "Worry not, my friends," he told him with sincerity. "You two shall be granted safe passage to the water's surface." He made no mention of himself however, and both Link and Zelda picked this up; the two of them protested, pleading with him that he should come with them to the new land, a new Hyrule, but the king merely shook his head, telling them that it would not be his world, and he could never live knowing that his homeland was dead beneath the waves. His wish was that Hyrule be forgotten, and he would see through to it via the destruction of his memories. Despite their efforts, there would be no convincing of him; the King of Red Lion had already set his mind on a course to meet with destiny.


Soon the waters rose to the top of the castle, continuing to rise an a very quick rate. It took perhaps just a minute for it to overtake the three of them standing there. However, Link and Zelda found themselves encased in pockets of air, as if malformed, flexible bubbles that fit their bodies perfectly clung about them elastically, keeping them as dry as they were beforehand, which really was not very considering the rain which had already soaked them through. They looked their last upon the world of Hyrule, the land now having a bluish haze cast over it from the water, and the King of Red Lions, simply waving him up after him as he disappeared out of sight. The water now restricted his moment, heavily weighing upon his frame, and what would be his last exhaling breath cast small bubbles towards the surface of the land. It was now a matter of minutes before his death occurred, and so the king set to work to rid his dying land of the last evil that plagued it. After this, Hyrule would be cleansed.


Using his magic in tandem with the glowing triad of forces upon his wrist, he conjured a gateway to the land where the Triforce had once lain, where Ganondorf had once been sealed, but this one was merely temporary unlike the nine gates of old. With his godlike powers, he manually broke the seal of the Master Sword upon Ganondorf, shattering the stone casing which held him, the Master Sword falling to the stone floor lying flat against the ground. Ganondorf's eyes opened at once, being free from his prison; he looked towards the king who was already preparing to conjure a spell that would once again send Ganondorf into the dismal abyss. A sudden plan entered the Evil King's mind, a plan that was carried out the moment it was developed, for the warlord knew he did not have much time with which to use. Just as the bolt to send Ganondorf into the Evil Realm was cast, Ganondorf grabbed the wrist of the King of Red Lions. Ganondorf shot back through the black gate as expected, but his hold over the King was firm, sucking the king, along with the very Triforce used to cast the spell in his wrist, into the parallel world, the gate locking them in as it closed behind them. There in the distorted grounds of the dark world they would battle nonstop for several days, the king wielding the Triforce and powerful magic against Ganondorf while the evil king was doing his best to defeat the King of Red Lions in physical combat. The Kings dueled while being tortured by the vile winds that had impeccably corrupted the Sacred Realm with Ganondorf's presence there so long established. In the end, magic could not save the king, and Ganondorf was able to strangle him to death, but just before the King of Hyrule died, Ganondorf told him one last sentence: "You said it yourself; the Triforce will grant all of the desires of the person who possesses it... so long as they live."


As Zelda and Link finally surfaced from the watery depths, they found Link's trusty vessel, The King of Red Lions, next to them. As they floated in the water, Zelda realized that somehow she had been transformed back into Tetra, her lavender dress replaced by her sailor's uniform, her now short hair returned to the bun at the back of her head. They both mused about the King's wish for them to forget Hyrule for a moment before clambering into the boat, glad to find something upon which to float. However, as Link began speaking to his former guide, a feeble hope urging in his heart that the king was still alive, the boat remained completely still and silent, incapable of speech. The two adults looked at each other, somewhat sullen by that, but soon enough they were distracted by the arrival of a greater ship, namely Tetra's own, The Golden Spirit, and the pirates aboard were quite eager to see her safe. The pirates aboard lowered a rope ladder down towards the two, and they climbed aboard with enthusiasm. To Link's surprise, his sister Aryll was still on board, the pirates explaining that she was eager to assist the crew in a search for their captain and her brother. The moment the siblings saw each other, they ran towards each other, tears almost in their eyes as the embraced closely for quite some time. Finally, Link looked towards Tetra, and the two of them shared a wink with one another before shaking each other's hand; Tetra then looked to the pirates about her and teasingly admonished her crew for not working, bellowing out orders to return to Outset Isle.


The sun had freshly arisen just as Outset came into view. The townspeople of the small isle had just arisen, and as they stepped out, they were able to see Tetra's flagship coming in from far away. En route, Tetra had removed the black pirate flag of skull and crossbones and replaced it with a flag that had once decorated Tetra's personal cabin, a flag of vibrant red, gold trim surrounding as a border, decorated in its center by a sea of brown-gold sky above a green plains, a yellow sun rising up to light the sky like only the Sacred Realm could be lit. Tetra had made the decision that very night from her experiences that all was not well in the new land, the new Hyrule, and that there would be no more piracy by her hand; rather, she would strive towards helping out the islands as best she could to restore the land to its former pristine glory. Of course, she was initially met with opposition from her crew, them not understanding her sudden change of heart, but with Link applauding her from behind along with her typical flare of boldness, she convinced them easily by the time they had dropped anchor at Link's homeland. When the folk upon the island looked up to see the brilliant banner upon the ship, they smiled and waved out towards it, but most of all, when they saw Link and Aryll climp to the bow of the ship with grinning faces, they cheered in delight at their return. Nadima was the first one to greet them as they all stepped onto the dry land once again, hugging both of her children as they came in. He introduced the former pirates, now Link and Aryll's friends, to all the inhabitants, and soon they found they many of them had similar interests, allowing Tetra's crew to integrate themselves into the quaint society.


For the next few days, Link, Aryll, Tetra, and her crew would rest at Outset Isle as the triad of adventurers told the villagers of their adventures. The only thing that was left out of the story was the secret realm of Hyrule below; respecting the king's wishes, Link and Tetra decided to alter their story and tell the story as if the Master Sword had been given to Link at the pinnacle of the Tower of the Gods and that Ganondorf had remained in the Forsaken Fortress up until his final defeat at the blade of the Master Sword, even after the unsealing of his dangerous magical prowess. The townsfolk and the children especially were very entertained by this, commenting that it sounded like their adventures were the stuff legends were made of, the stuff written in the olden tales. They made careful note to keep track of the details so that they could pass this story onto their descendants over the years. That night, the island would hold a huge bonfire upon the beach of the twin islands, and there was much music and dancing. Aryll, Link, and Tetra all danced at one point, happily friends now that they had shared so much together. A merry time was had by all, and some of them continued their celebrations long into the night only to fall asleep upon the sandy shore.


Eventually Tetra and her crew decided that they needed to be off; Tetra felt the need to be back on the seas and more importantly work towards the creation of a better land, a better Hyrule. The people of Outset Isle were saddened to see the ex-pirates leave, for they had gotten accustomed to them during their visitation of ther humble home. However, the former pirates, with Tetra confirming their desires, promised that they would return to the island in due time after adventuring to destinations unknown. Not surprisingly, both Link and Aryll wished to travel along with the sailors, and while Tetra knew that Link's heart now layed with the sea and with the islands that were snugly nestled in its vastness, it was not yet Aryll's time; however, Tetra kneeled next to Aryll and gave her a promise that some day, when she was a few years older and come of age like Link that she would be able to sail the seas with them. Aryll, though disappointed, relented, wished them all luck, and then gave Tetra a hug, which surpringly the captain returned to the little girl. Finally, aboard the ship the motley crew went, and with their final goodbyes to the visitors of Outset, they shoved off for the great blue yonder.


That night, Tetra called Link into her cabin, and as Link came in, she closed the door quietly to gain some privacy. "Link, I didn't want to tell you this back on the island, but I'm really glad you've come along with us."


Link smiled at the thanks, happy that Tetra was sharing her vision with him. "You're quite welcome. I'm just glad we've been given this opportunity."


"I used to never worry about what direction I was headed. It was as if I always knew where to go before now," began Tetra, casting her eyes out the window to the night sky, "I can't see this world -- Hyrule -- in the way I used to see it. It's almost like it's foreign to me." She turned to the boy, her friend, and then asked, "Link, where do you think the seas will take us?"


Link thought for a moment, but soon enough he had his answer. "I don't know where that place is, Zelda" he said, now too used to her alterego to call her Tetra in private, "but at the same time, I don't think it matters all that much; so long as the winds guide us to somewhere, we'll be doing our best to help Hyrule achieve its former glory."


Link rested a hand upon Tetra's shoulder, and the female smiled with Link's assurance. "I think you're right. Off to bed with you now. We've got busy days ahead of us..."

Color began to seep back into the world in an ever-increasing radius of the Master Sword. Link began to rise up back to the grand hall, and he was surprised to see color wasn't the only thing to have returned to this world, but time as well. The looks of anger and villainous murder in the eyes of Ganondorf's minions were missing to be replaced by dumbfounded confusion, for they were not aware of the descent of the goddesses unto the world of Hyrule. From the staircase, Link stood with his sword bared, ready to cleanse the castle that time had forgotten, ready to banish Ganondorf from the land. The enemies began to swarm around Link, but the Master Sword truly was the bane of evil, for it sliced through all of them, slaying them and causing them to wink out of existence from the former place of sanctity. Link was very curious to see more of Hyrule before ascending back to the world of the seas, but it was futile, for in the battle of old before the goddesses intervened, Ganondorf had placed an evil seal about the castle, locking the remaining forces of the former king within the castle where they could not escape.


Link returned to The King of Red Lions and re-entered the portal to take him through the terrarium's surface. Once they reached the surface, the portal vanished, its purpose no longer needed nor usable. With the Master Sword now in his hand, The King of Red Lions congratulated Link and told him that, because of his possession of the great sword, not only would rescuing Aryll from the clutches of Ganondorf no longer be folly, but also facing Ganondorf in combat at the fortress' pinnacle would become possible. With that encouragement, Link felt emboldened and set sail once more, heading towards the far northwestern reaches of the island chain, towards the forbidding tower where his nemesis stood.


The boat came back to the Forbidden Isle where the pirates had brought Link, and surprisingly, the great doors that blocked the entrance from the sea had been opened invitingly yet suspiciously. Both Link and his guide were wary of this, suspecting that Ganondorf had planned all of this in advance, but there was no choice now but to continue onward into the dungeon. Link tiptoed into the fortress, but very soon he found that Ganondorf had laid for him a trap. A demon long ago recalled after his first defeat to the first Hero of Time was brought forth once again as a defense -- or perhaps a test -- to the new Hero. Phantom Ganon saw the light of day once more. The battle seemed to be a repeat of the last battle the shadowy warrior fought, with this Link, like his predecessor, waging in a battle for control of the magical beams of energy the demon cast. Link would take a few shots to his chest with mistimed swipes of the blade, but most were returned back towards the shadowy form, and soon the phantom was defeated, although this time, Ganondorf's choice was not to recall it in rage, but rather to keep it for later use, for Ganondorf still had a plan up his sleeve, and he would willing to be as patient as needed in order to execute it.


Link began venturing through the fortress, easier this time as perfect stealth did not have to be achieved, and soon enough, he managed to work his way through the minions within the fortress to once again find himself at the door to Aryll's cell. Thankfully, the bird which had tossed him aside last time was not present, and as such he was able to finally feel reunited with his sibling, but sadly the door would not open. However, to Link's surprise, a familiar voice called to him from behind his back, and there stood Tetra along with some of her pirate crew. Tetra admonished the boy for acting before thinking, but her criticism was not too harsh. After unlocking the door, Tetra revealed that her ship was sailing around the island, distracting the Helmaroc King from noticing Link. It came as a relief to Link to know that his plans had been successful despite his ill-preparedness to handle them, and finally, Link and Aryll flew to each other's arms in a tight embrace, but the femme pirate was not one to waste time. After a promise to Link to deliver his sister safely to Outset Island, Tetra casually pointed towards the top of the tower, and with a wink, reminded Link that there were still bigger things to take care of. Link eyed her for a moment, almost wondering just how much of the story of Ganondorf she was aware of, but by this time the Helmaroc King had spotted the rescuers below and dived towards the bottom of the tower where the three stood. Guiding Aryll, Tetra and the others departed the tower, shutting the door behind her, leaving Link alone to face the Helmaroc King.


This too, however, played into Ganondorf's hand, as water began to be sent forth from a great outlet at the bottom of the tower. The Helmaroc King seemed to care not, being able to fly above it, but Link was now running for his life up the tower staircase, bypassing the enemies on the way up without even bothering to defeat them, for soon keeping ahead of the watery doom beneath him was his primary concern. The Helmaroc King actually assisted accidentally in dispatching some of the guards, attempting to destroy the wooden staircases many of them stood on in hopes of sending Link to the water below to drown. However, Link managed to escape upwards to the top, the ceiling door sliding shut just moments after his escape, but not soon enough to allow the troublesome bird to escape as well. The bird soared through the night sky about the tower, coming down to try to blow the swordsman off of the tower with wind gusting from its powerful wings, but Link was able to stay on his feet and the tower. The bird would also use its pointed beak, reinforced with a mask for protection, to peck Link and defeat him, but Link was swift, and using a hammer, he cracked the reinforced plating in half, exposing the weakness underneath. This didn't deter the Helmaroc King, however, but in his weakened state, he could not survive much more, for soon the hammer struck true and landed upon a nerve, sending pain in its strongest form throughout Link's enemy, rendering it into a state of shock as it fell from the tower and into the waters below, drowning to its eventual death. Link rejoiced, but only temporarily. Though Ganondorf had run out of defenses, he would still be a formidable enemy.


Link entered the remains of a wrecked ship upon the tower's pinnacle, the Sword of Evil's Bane brandished as he faced the dark lord of the fortress. Ganondorf could only laugh as he looked upon the inexperienced boy, taunting him with threats, but one threat burned a little too brightly in Link; though the goddesses had sealed Ganondorf to the Forbidden Isle and took away his magic, they had left a way for him to remove it the goddess' curse upon him. Through the removal the sword from the stone pedestal in Hyrule, Link had broken the seal placed upon him from the goddesses, and now Ganondorf was just as powerful as he was in the battle against Hyrule just years ago. Even with the Master Sword in tow, however, Ganondorf was a more formidable foe that Link had estimated. Link charged at Ganondorf, attempting to embed the blade into him, but with an outreached hand, Ganondorf caught the blade in his hand, the sword not even drawing a drop of blood, and then Ganondorf threw him and the sword aside, all with the help of his now-powerful magic flowing through his veins. Ganondorf smiled wickedly, for he had known all along the secret plot to keep the Master Sword's magic safe, and with the Wind and Earth sages dead, the magic protecting the Master Sword was gone, rendering it powerless to stop him.


The hero stood weakly, trying to shake off the force of the throw, but Ganondorf was finished with Link's presence, and so he began to charge a magical blow to finish him off, but the blow was never to come. Ritos from Dragon Roost Island had heard the heralding ring from the bell at the Tower of the Gods and had followed Link here high in the sky where they could not be seen. Prince Komali was one of the very ones in flight towards the Forbidden Isle, and upon finding the pirate ship below, they found Tetra, eager to fight alongside Link against Ganondorf. They had taken her up towards the pinnacle and dropped her off through a window of the ship's cabin. She was able to distract the Evil King from delivering the blow against Link, but she was unable to avoid capture herself as Ganondorf grabbed her wrist. It was then when Ganondorf noticed a strange twist of fate, for his Triforce of Power was resonating. "You are the Princess Zelda," he cackled with evil intent, but Tetra did not understand what he was talking about, for her understanding of the history of Hyrule had been clouded by the goddesses. Before Ganondorf could capitalize upon this, however, the Ritos outside knew they had to intervene, and flying through the window, they snatched both Tetra and Link into their talons and escaped. However, the Rito had not come alone, for Valoo was with them, and with a great gust of air, Din's spirit set the ship risen high into the air into flame, the spirit wishing that it would be enough to burn Ganondorf to his death but knowing that all this would provide was enough time to escape back to the Tower of the Gods without being chased by the dark lord.


Since Link had already flown through the air once already, he seemed to be much more comfortable with it, enjoying the trip, but Tetra was not, and the shock and surprise of her soaring through the air caused her to pass out en route. However, as they arrived at the Tower of the Gods, Link was surprised to see The King of Red Lions there. Apparently, he had discussed with the Rito to establish a rendezvous point within the great alabaster circle and had sailed here on the natural trade winds of his own will. The Rito set Link within the vessel and the Rito and Valoo bid him farewell after a hearty thanks from Link. Shortly afterwards, Tetra awoke, surprised to see herself this far from her ship. The ship calmed her nerves, however, and directed the two towards the portal beneath the waves, reawakened because of the nearby Triforce piece that Tetra had. The two descended beneath the waves yet again, and Link led Tetra, with The King of Red Lion's guidance to the chamber where the Master Sword had once lain.


Upon their arrival, Link was amazed to see a man there in a coat of red standing regally before him, a crown resting upon his head. Link and Tetra charged forth with questions, asking the man who he was; the man revealed himself to be the ruling king of Hyrule, Daphnes Nohansen, better known as the King of Red Lions. He had hoped to remain hidden from both Link and Tetra with hope that Ganondorf could have been defeated in the tower, but he knew not about the death of the two sages, having been trapped inside the castle walls during the attack on the castle years ago. He explained to them the tale of the battle that took place, of Ganondorf storming the castle to conquer Hyrule and of his pleas to the goddesses, pleas that touched the goddess' hearts into helping them.


He then asked Tetra to come forward, and from the girl he took from her neck a golden, triangular necklace, something that had been given to her by her mother a long time ago. From his pocket, he extracted a shard having the same goldenrod color as the necklace, but shaped in a V instead. He placed the shard around the triangle delicately, using his magic to reunite the pieces perfectly. "This is the Triforce of Wisdom, entrusted to you by the goddesses to protect Hyrule. Because this Triforce is yours, you must abide by the destiny which has chosen you as the protector of the land." The King returned the reunified Triforce piece to Tetra, it slowly disappeared, melding into her wrist, and the moment it finally disappeared from view, her body was transformed from that which she knew the something else entirely. Instead of a sailor's outfit, hair tied up in a bun, and an ascot about her neck, she was now clothed in a long pink dress with a tiara about her head, her long hair trickling down her back. "You are the last link in the royal bloodline; you are Princess Zelda, my daughter."


Tetra, now Zelda, looked at all of this in amazement, yet somehow she knew that all of this was the truth, as if some ancient memory within her had been reawakened. She looked to Link, and between them, they felt as if the legends of the past had suddenly rushed forth from the pages of history into them as well, and the King of Red Lions realized this. "You two are the protectors of Hyrule now. Link, Zelda must remain here in this safe place, for you will not be able to defeat Ganondorf without the full powers of the Master Sword. We must go topside once more to restore power to the blade, for I fear that Ganondorf's hand reached further than I had anticipated in that battle long ago. We must be off at once." With that, the King left Link and Zelda alone briefly so that they could say their goodbyes. However, looking at each other, having shared most of their recent experiences each other and now with all pretenses dropped between them, only a few words were necessary, and both of them told the other to be careful.


Link returned to find that only the boat that the King of Red Lions spoke through was there, ready to return to the oceans above, and it was then that the boat told him that he, the king, could not travel to the new land save for through the vessel. They returned to the world above, and once again, the portal to Hyrule vanished as Link did not have a Triforce of his own to activate it. The King of Red Lions told Link that they must eventually travel to the Earth and Wind Temples to reactivate the powers buried within the Master Sword, but as of yet, they would be unable to breach the defenses of the temples; they must travel to the Queen of the Faeries, hidden within the protections of Mother Isle before they would be able to travel there. However, still another task had to be accomplished before they could visit her. However, that task was able to find Link before he could look for it himself; the second wind deity Cyclos, brother of Zephos, came to see Link in a rage; his statue that stood next to Zephos' had been broken, and he was quite angry about it. But Link showed him the Wind Waker, and the deity's wrath diminished as he recognized Link as the Hero, and he too blessed the Wind Waker with the magic of the winds, teaching him how to conduct the fiery spirits of the cyclones. With this, Link would be able to visit the inner ring of Mother Isle.


With the power of the cyclones, Link flew through the air with incredible speed towards two islands, vastly differing in size. Link saw that the interior of the larger one, Mother Isle, was hollowed out, a low-lying valley surrounded by steep cliffs. The cyclone that Link commanded dropped him in the shallow lake of the ring's interior with Link a bit dizzy from his first tour through the cyclone. Soon enough, almost before Link could regain his orientation, a small child rose up out of the center of the pond, small faeries fluttering around her. She greeted Link and told him that her name was Venus, the Queen of the Faeries. She had foreseen Link coming to this place to see her and knew that he was ultimately seeking the last Triforce piece of the triad. She gave him not one, but two blessings, arrows of ice, to chill the volcano of Fire Mountain, and of fire to calm the icy winds of Ice Ring Isle. With a farewell and a giggle, Venus departed from Link and returned to the waters below, and Link commanded the winds once more to take him to the islands of fire and ice, extracting from each treasures that would aid him in tackling the Temples of Earth and Wind.


Fascinated with the speed of the cyclones, Link continued to use his power to aid him in his quest. Headstone Isle in the far south was his next direction, the location of one of the two temples Link would need to visit to investigate the loss of the Master Sword's power. As he entered, however, he saw the spirit of a woman, a woman of a species that Link had never seen before. She introduced herself as Laruto, the former Sage of Earth; she told the tale of long ago how Ganondorf had stolen her soul to weaken the Master Sword, further telling that the power was irreplaceable unless a Sage was appointed to take her place, one of her very bloodline, the one who had the very instrument of prayer that she herself had used long ago. Laruto gave Link a melody for him to conduct as a ritual to anoint the new sage should he find her. Link learned the beat and understood this task, but what sparked his mind was the instrument she had played -- the lyre. Instantly he recognized the instrument, for one very close already to him was the owner of it.


He left the deceased sage and returned to Dragon Roost Isle, intent upon finding Medli. She wasn't anywhere she normally was, at least anywhere that Link had seen her before, but after some asking and upon hearing her instrument's notes sweetly singing from afar, he was able to find her upon a cliff overlooking the great sea all around. Medli was overjoyed to see Link and very glad to see him alive. She greeted him with a gentle hug, and they proceeded to exchange stories of news and their travels, but Link soon asked Medli's permission to conduct for her, and wishing to continue her practicing of the lyre, instantly agreed most readily. Link tapped the beats that Laruto had taught him, and Medli followed it, somehow knowing the melody as it was magically extracted from her fingers. Medli went still for a moment, seeing Laruto smiling in her very eyes, her ancestor before the splitting of the Zora into two factions, and when she regained control of her eyes, she told Link what she saw and what she now knew in her heart. She asked Link to take her back to Headstone Isle so that she could fulfill her role in destiny. She was somewhat saddened that she was leaving her home behind, for above she had seen Prince Komali soaring overhead who had gone in search of a present for her. Medli knew that Komali's feelings for her had warmed, yet she did not feel the same being just a mere attendant, thinking herself unworthy of his affections. As such, it was for the best that she left in her mind so that Komali would remember her as a simple attendant and nothing more. With Link, she returned to The King of Red Lions and sailed with him towards Stonehead Isle.


As they arrived at the island, The King of Red Lions told the two that they would have to work together in order to survive the perils of the dungeon, that they would have to protect one another in the bowels of the temple. Without further adieu, they proceeded into the cave where the Earth Temple laid, but the passage to the Earth Temple was blocked by a stone wall displaying the crest of Earth; however with Link's conducting and Medli's song, together it was opened and they descended magically beneath the waves into the Earth Temple deep in Hyrule. The temple was a dark place, only a few narrow beams of sunlight entering the temple through small windows that brought in the sunlight; more importantly, it was full of traps and puzzles that required the light to shine forth from outside onto mirrors, mirrors that had to be positioned just right in order to, through something just shy of optical illusion, transform figures of moons into the sun, not to mention lighting the temple. Link used his skills as a swordsman and Hero to defeat the constant rain of monsters while Medli used her powers of flight and reflection from her shield in order to solve the puzzles deep within the palace. Truly, the light played a crucial theme not only in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense as well, almost as if they were cleansing themselves in it as they dug down into the core of the temple.


Soon, Link found a door leading into a dark circular chamber, ominous in intent. Link advised Medli to wait for him at the door, and rightly so, for no sooner than did he step in, a massive poe, a ghost from the Realm of the Dead, named Jalhalla arose up to challenge Link for control of the Temple. This poe seemed to have been sent by Ganondorf, and only now was it clear just how powerful Ganondorf's magic had been before the goddesses had intervened -- for this was how he had dispatched of Laruto -- and how strong he was now that his magic had been unsealed by the activation of the sword. The battle was fierce, and Jalhalla would do his best to light Link on fire with his lantern or using his weight to flop on Link. However, Link had gained strength in his arms through a sacred artifact, and so while the poe flailed helplessly trying to get up, Link was able to pick him up and hurl him into one of the spiked columns, breaking the poe up into smaller, more manageable enemies. Link swirled through with his blade, destroying them all one by one, attempting to keep them from reforming into the giant they once were. It took time to defeat them all, but Link prevailed, sending the monster back to the world of the dead.


Now that the temple had been rid of Ganondorf's taint, Link brought Medli into the chamber where the great Triforce symbol was encrusted into the ground. Link placed the Master Sword upon it and then together, Link and Medli used their musical efforts in tandem in a prayer to the goddesses to restore the power of the Master Sword. As they continued, a wisp of air danced around the sword, followed by another. Soon the sword was gently raised into the air, and as the song finished, Link watched as an external light flowed about it. Link reached out and took the hilt in his hand, and as he did, the edges of the blade had sharpened to their former glory. But Medli was first to notice that the shining glow of the sword had not been restored; there was only one conclusion, that the Wind Sage was dead as well. Medli promised him that she would stay here, praying for the Master Sword's continued power, and before leaving, Link promised that he would return for her when all was done.


Link returned to The King of Red Lions with the news, and the boat nodded with his suspicions. At once they were off, this time to the far north of the seas that reigned over Hyrule to a island by the name of Gale Isle. A perilous windstorm was emitted from the island, thus giving it its name from the goddesses that had created them. Link was not deterred, however, for wearing a pair of iron boots from the island of ice, Link was able to move against the current of air and enter the opening room to the temple, but he found that this temple too had been sealed with a stone slab with the crest of Wind. From nowhere, just as had happened on Stonehead Isle, the former Sage of Wind came to him, this time in the form of a young Kokiri boy by the name of Fado. Fado had with him a violin at his side in one hand, the bow held gently in the other. The boy hailed Link, telling him of his tale of woe, quite similar to Laruto, having been killed in the war an age ago. Fado urged Link to find the one who now carried his beloved instrument, whose blood also once ran through the Kokiri's veins, and to anoint him with the blessing of the Sage of Wind by conducting for him a medley of the winds.


How could Link forget Makar, the violinist of the Koroks? Link departed the sage and returned to his ship, setting the course for the Forest Haven. Link had full intentions of looking for him within the sacred hollowed tree where the forest spirit dwelled, but notes from the stringed instrument stopped Link well short of reaching the meadow, for it appeared as if the notes were dwelling from behind a waterfall. With a bold maneuver, Link used his grappling hook about a pole in the air and used it to swing through the waterfall and hopefully into a hidden cave behind it; fortunately, it was there, and Link investigated the shallow cavern to see Makar practicing his song for next year's ceremony with the Great Deku Tree. Link listened to the melody he played and nodded his approval towards the Korok, but once again, Link had a request for Makar to play a different melody; Makar watched as Link conducted and soon joined in on the beat that Link wove in the air, and suddenly, the Korok could feel as if Fado himself were with him, merging into him. Makar knew that now he was the Sage of Wind and that his duties remained with praying for the Master Sword. Together with a united purpose, the two of them returned towards Link's ship and continued off towards Gale Isle.


After playing the melody at the temple's entrance to banish the prohibitive stone slate, Makar and Link soon noticed just why the temple was called such; violent gusts of air shot out from walls and ceilings, continuously blocking their progress forward through the temple. Tall ceilings gave the temple a very large appearance, and because of this Link had to scale tall walls with his trusty Deku leaf, whereas Makar could simply fly through the air from a plant that all of the Koroks kept with them. Makar soon came across several mounds of fertile soil in the dungeon, and taking a seed from the Deku Tree from his pouch, he planted it, causing what appeared to be a root of a tree to shoot out of it. Makar, however, got carried away in spreading the seeds of nature around, for soon enough, one of the seeds he planted sprung a trap, causing him to be taken away by one of the creatures within the temple. Link soon enough found him within a jail blocked by a large stone, and although he was worried about leaving him alone, Makar insisted there was nothing Link could do for him at the moment. Link continued on, and in the depths of the palace, but soon enough he found a hookshot was able to grab hold of the clay statue and force it to the ground, rescuing Makar from his prison and allowing Link to guide the Wind Sage further through the dungeon.


Within the very deepest part of the temple, Link and Makar came across a huge pit of sand, adorned with a dais with a symbol of the Triforce. Link suspected that another of Ganondorf's minions laid here, the one that had killed Fado long ago, so he proceeded alone, and Link found out that he was correct when a giant worm named Molgera launched out of the sand as if it were swimming through water. The worm caused the sand beneath it to sink before it emerged again, opening its gaping mouth in order to swallow Link, but Link was able to grab hold of its tongue, the most sensitive part of its form as Link found out, for it shriveled wildly with the very touch of Link's steel. However, Molgera wasn't exactly defeated, for it managed to swallow Link, causing the digestive juices to swish about Link, but now from within, Link only had a better shot at Molgera's weakness, and it proved to be too much for the worm to take, and with that Molgera spit Link out violently, but it was already over for the monster. It slowly melted into sand as the grained tides receded to reveal the Triforce symbol once more, and Link stood victorious upon it.


He called Makar down from his hiding place up above, and the Korok came willingly, taking his violin out and nocking it under his chin. Link placed the Master Sword upon the dais and took out the Wind Waker and, once again, conducted the melody for Makar. The music was perfect in time and tune, and it echoed upon the walls, filling the hall with resounding joy. From the sound came a tiny voice from above, almost as if the goddesses were singing to the duo in their ears, and as the song finished that source descended to the blade of the sword, and from the corner of Link's eye, he could see the blade once again shine with the magic of old. The Sages of Earth and Wind were now once again with the Master Sword, and the sword that had lost the glimmer of magic had once again been reignited. Finally, Link would be able to wield a weapon against the king of evil. Makar and Link gave each other their thanks for the help they had both offered before Link rose back to the surface to rejoin The King of Red Lions.


The boat was very pleased to see the powerful magic of the Sword of Evil's Bane restored, but something unsettling was on the king's mind. He had heard word that Ganondorf was no longer to be seen and that the Forbidden Fortress was devoid of their enemies. The King of Red Lions had grave suspicions about this, but he was powerless for Link had one more task to task to achieve in order to re-enter Hyrule, where the king suspected Ganondorf now was. The Triforce of Courage was needed in order to descend into Hyrule once more to retrieve Zelda and face Ganondorf. The vessel explained that the Triforce was buried at the bottom of the sea, and according to legend, the last Hero of Time to have held it had left Hyrule on a mission which claimed his life, but before going, he separated the Triforce into eight shards so that the Triforce might never be recovered by evil hands. What was unknown to even the king, however, was that this was not true, but rather it was the goddesses themselves that had placed them at the bottom of the sea, resting casually upon the terrarium's surface of Hyrule. The King of Red Lions then handed Link a map, given to him by the goddesses themselves, outlining the location of the eight shards. With time of the essence, Link sailed for the quickest location. Link triangulated the precise coordinates off of island features, making sure that he was positioned precisely in the correct position. Jury-rigging the grappling hook upon the boat as a type of crane, he lowered the claw down into the depths via a pulley system and then raised it back up, retrieving each fragment in turn. Link ventured all across the sea, following the map's directions, and soon enough, laying in the bottom of the wooden craft, all eight pieces laid together, sparkling brilliantly in a gold shimmer.


Link returned to the Tower of the Gods, and there he set to the work of reassembling the puzzle-like pieces of the golden triangle. It was not facile at first, but the moment Link connected two pieces that fit, they locked together firmly, the division between the pieces gone, making the puzzle much easier with every connection. Quite soon, the Triforce was reassembled, and as Link touched it, it slowly sunk into his skin, and upon his left wrist, the symbol of the Triforce appeared, the lower-right third glowing brightly. The moment the symbol began to glow was the same moment the portal beneath the waves opened up in a bright circle. The King of Red Lions smiled to Link as he waded into the glowing portal, telling him his congratulations before sinking beneath the waters. The moment the boat came to a stop, Link leapt over the railing and rushed back towards the room where they had left Zelda. Before he got there, however, he saw that something had changed. The statue that had sealed the staircase towards the room of the sword had been broken, the staircase uncovered, and it looked as if the entire room had been ransacked. Link's legs carried him to the stairs, but to his relief, he did see Zelda. His relief did not last long, for she was only illusion, and two of Ganondorf's most powerful guards magically appeared in her stead. A ring of fire rose up between Link and escape, and so Link knew that he'd have to fight them; they were difficult warriors to best, and Link found their blades gnawing lightly at his sides whenever he was just slightly too slow, but after cutting the cords that bound their heavy armor to them, the sword began to rip through their flesh mercilessly, and the minions of Ganondorf fell to the Hero.


Angry and annoyed, Link's courage surged through him as he ran towards the entrance to Hyrule Castle. Now with the Master Sword, he was able to slice through and shatter the evil barrier that surrounded the castle, opening up the sunny world of Hyrule for his exploration, but sadly, there was no time for Link to explore; Zelda was in danger, and he had to go rescue her. Off in the distance, an ominous tower that Link had not seen there before arose out of the mountains. Ganondorf had not only claimed Hyrule Castle as his own, but he had also constructed his own fortress, a fortress that would be his final stand against Link, while the Hero had been gathering his Triforce. Through the stone that Tetra-now-Zelda had given him, the King of Red Lions whispered encouragement to Link as he ran with all due speed across the broken path, but Link did not need this with Courage now seeping through his bones. He would see this through to the end no matter what the cost. Ganondorf would pay for his treachery.


Upon the moment Link stepped into the fortress, Link realized just how much power Ganondorf truly possessed; after all, the Triforce of Power was in his possession, and so magic beyond Link's comprehension stood in his way. Ganondorf had spent nearly all of his magic recalling the monsters that Link had defeated and locking them within a time well, keeping them alive yet trapped within a single moment in history before Link had come across them. The only way forward was to steal their very spirits and use them to activate the four partitions upon a skull-decorated door. Taking a deep breath, Link plunged through the doors back into his nightmares. Just as Hyrule had been locked in time before the Master Sword's awakening, this world too was distorted and without color, but yet, unlike Hyrule, motion was far from frozen, and sound was hardly stilled. Gohma, Kalle Demos, Jalhalla, and Molgera were all very much alive and active within the time well, and Link fought fiercely to defeat them all again; however, Link knew their attacks this time, so they had no surprises for him. Link, however, had one surprise for them: the Master Sword. It's magic was complete this time, and with it the enemies Ganondorf had summoned has no chance of survival; Link slashed through them all with undying vigilance, and soon, the door leading onward was opened.


Behind the door was a long, upwards staircase leading into the unknown. Link treaded up the red carpeted stairs carefully, and this turned out much a great benefit to Link for apparently, while Ganondorf was kidnapping Zelda, Zelda was still awake. Upon the stairs, she had crafted a magical sphere of light, tossing it to the side from Ganondorf so that he might not find it. It had caught Link's eyes, however, and as he picked it up, the arrows within his quiver began to shine with a holy light. They were now light arrows, able to banish the deepest darkness from existence. It was a good thing too, for the Phantom Ganon which had taken guard at the Forsaken Fortress had come to Ganondorf's Tower to make a final stand. Link realized that the light arrows were meant for this beast, and so taking careful aim, Link shot a single arrow into the evil form, and it melted away, leaving behind it another portal sizzling with an evil purple energy. The King of Red Lions was able to identify it from afar, realizing that this portal was Ganondorf's own way of entering Hyrule, and as the evil barrier around Hyrule Castle was his as well, Ganondorf would have easily had no problems capturing Zelda from their sanctuary.


Link gritted his teeth and continued onward, up the long and exhausting staircase, feeling as if it were as steep as a mountainside. Almost out of breath yet still charging onward, Link flew through the final double doors into Ganondorf's chamber. There stood Ganondorf, sitting upon the bed staring down at the teenage princess. He could see her dreams, dreams that the pirate within the princess dared to dream; as she laid upon the bed, the princess' unconscious thoughts drifted towards the oceans above, of sailing upon them forever into the infinite beyond for as long as her heart could be contented for. Ganondorf laughed at Link, but perhaps more closely he laughed at the King of Hyrule. "He honestly believes that the goddesses would send two Hylians, chosen by Destiny, to reawaken Hyrule, and here they are, dreaming of the oceans above. How pathetic is that? The goddesses destroyed you byplacing you precariously upon the tips of islands, and yet he still has the hope that one day the goddesses would allow their return to this place. But alas, that time shall soon die one way or the other." Ganondorf stood up and looked evilly over to Link. "I have been awaiting a match with a Hero ever since the first Hero of Time defeated me. Vengeance has needed it; my desire for blood overflows. Don't... disappoint me."


With a flash, both Ganondorf and the four-corner bed that held Zelda's slumbering form vanished, and from above dropped a giant marionette of Ganon, held magically above by strings manipulated by Ganondorf. The marionette was merely Ganondorf's attempt to toy with the Hero, to see if the Hero could make it through one last challenge, but also to struggle for time; Ganondorf's magical power had been depleted from the recalling of his greatest allies, and he needed time to regain his power to fight Link properly. Ganondorf willed the marionette to collide into Link, to smash him to a pulp, but Link was very quick and nimble. As Link looked at the marionette, he noticed the strings to which he was attached reminded him significantly of the plant Kalle Demos; Link threw his boomerang up to the strings, slicing them in two, rendering the marionette without much ability to move. Link donned his light arrows and, aiming for a glass sphere in the puppet's tail, fired and struck true, nullifying the evil magic that Ganondorf had created it with, and soon, despite Ganondorf's attempts to rebind the strings to regain control over the puppet, it dropped to the floor, barren of its strings, leaving just one that led towards the a door at the very top of the tower, leading towards the spire.


Link climbed the rope into the rafters, taking extra caution not to fall to the floor below as he did so. Exiting the door, he climbed a small set of stairs high above Hyrule to the pinnacle of the tower, and there was Zelda, lying upon the bare stone, and Ganondorf, standing watch above her, looking out to the world of Hyrule. How he wished for that land, how he wished that it was his. He had spent years within the torturous confines of the Evil Realm, his body disfigured in twisting pain. His dreams had always been directed towards leaving the desert and the conquest of the fairer lands towards the north. The Kingdom of Hyrule should have been his, but those days of great battle were over, and a new battle had begun once again for Hyrule. Ganondorf turned towards Link seriously. "The battle for Hyrule... it begins now." Ganondorf and Link charged at each other, Link holding his sword at the ready, but Ganondorf was a much more adept fighter, halting Link's strike with a cutlass, then using his other arm to swipe at Link in the face, knocking him off his footing.


"Pathetic; you are not worthy of his name. Thankfully for you, my quarrel does not concern you." Ganondorf's revenge laid with the Hero of old, the Princess of old, and the Sages of old, all of a land which should have been destined to be his. The king of evil picked up Link easily by his arm, holding him like a rag doll. "Triforce, verily you see that all the pieces have come to me. Combine and reveal yourself so that I may claim you!" he cried out. And slowly from each of their wrists, one golden triangle revealed itself, coming together before Ganondorf. Their corners met and combined, the trinity becoming one. Ganondorf cackled evilly and dropped Link, closing his eyes to relish in the victory of the moment. His hand reached for the Triforce, and he said with a seductive grin, "Finally, Hyrule shall be mine. I wish for it."


But Ganondorf's hand did not feel anything. He opened his eyes with a start to see his hand reach through the Triforce as if it weren't there. It was impossible and unexplainable, until Ganondorf saw the King of Red Lions there, his hand already upon the Triforce. "Didn't you say that whomever touches the Triforce shall be granted their desires so long as they shall live?" The King of Hyrule smirked with delight. He could ask for Hyrule back himself, but that would have made him no more than Ganondorf, wishing for that world that was his to be his forever so long as he should live. "I see now that I cannot restore Hyrule to the glory days of old and yet keep my heart intact. Let Hyrule thenceforth be washed away of all its evil, forgotten to the world by the sea, and let the new world prosper and flourish with hope... for those such as these children come of age." The Triforce was absorbed into his hand, and as it disappeared, water from the terrarium ceiling above started to stream down, slowly washing the world that was Hyrule in water.


As the king slowly backed away, Ganondorf gained a twinkle that could have easily been mistaken for madness in his eye; he could only laugh. Link slowly rose up from the ground, and Zelda started to come around as well, her eyes opening as they watched the sadistic villain. "Fools," he said amidst cackling. "The lot of you are fools!"


By this time Link and Zelda were upon their feet, and the two of them were focused upon Ganondorf despite the torrents of liquid raining down upon them. "You're mad, Ganondorf!" called Zelda to the now magicless king. "Sorry, Link," she says apologetically for being captured, but Link would have none of that sort of talk. At the same time Zelda was very insistent. "Link, we have to get out of here."


Link nodded towards the princess, but his face slowly glided towards Ganondorf. "Not before taking care of him."


The princess couldn't agree more, but Zelda refused to sit by idly this time; she would be helping Link rather than being set aside, for Tetra's fiery spirit still remained with her. She took Link's quiver and slid her head and arm through it, and then with Link's bow, she took aim towards Ganondorf. Link took up his Master Sword against Ganondorf, but the dark lord wielded two cutlasses, not only making his defense impenetrable, but also giving him the advantage of a more powerful offense. Link was slowly pressured backwards towards the edge of the tower's ceiling, but it was then when a light arrow hissed through the air, striking Ganondorf in the back. Ganondorf, stunned, was laid bare for the Master Sword to penetrate his body, and a great gash across his stomach was the result of Link's strike. Ganondorf was not about to get the better of him though, and his concentration improved; he was now by force having to pay attention to the princess just as carefully as the Hero, although in consequence he was having to sacrifice his offensive advantage to achieve this. This move perhaps was in his best interest, but despite Ganondorf's split focus, neither side could seem to take advantage, ever arrow and sword strike ending in stalemate. Link and Ganondorf continued dueling fiercely, Ganondorf with hesitation, Link trying to find an opening, but Zelda was the one to find a plan first. With careful timing, she watched Link's shield hand, carefully guiding her arrow, waiting for it to be still.


The arrow flew and struck its target, Link's mirror shield, clinging hold to it with all of its life. Light was broadcast onto Ganondorf, affecting him as much as if he were struck directly. Ganondorf knelt to the ground, weakened from the wound and the power of the light over him, and Link took full advantage of this. "This ends here, Ganon!" Link leapt up into the air and plunged the Master Sword into the forehead of Ganondorf, embedding it there. However, instead of killing him as Link had expected, a layer of stone soon formed around Ganondorf, sealing him once again in perfect rigidity. Link let go of the sword, falling to his knees from the intensity of the battle, Zelda rushing over to catch him. There they embraced for a singular moment. Ganondorf, albeit not dead, would never wreck havoc upon their lives again. "He is sealed now," Zelda whispered comfortingly to Link. "He can't hurt us anymore. Come, Link, we must go... to the ocean."