Sins of the Past Prologue
By Patron Angel Tabris
Link could hardly stay conscious; his lungs were burning in agony, he was covered in his and this monster’s blood, and the air around him was clouding up with the flames’ smoke. But he had to… or else.
Another deathblow coming. Dodge right. Swinging down. Parry. He couldn’t even think straight. It was moving too fast for him!
I’m gonna die here tonight.
Link looked behind him, saw his shattered mirror shield. It didn’t even last one blow from the beast’s weapons. It was useless now, so all he had to use now was his sword, a bow with a few arrows, and barely any magic left in his veins; just like his blood.
Not enough magic to cast Nayru’s Love. Shouldn’t have used it earlier, stupid. And I’m out of potions. Jeez, I gotta stay awake!
All he knew was that this thing, this creature that used to be Ganondorf, whom he now dubbed as Ganon, had to be destroyed. It’s all that mattered. He had been fighting for his life now for what seemed like an eternity, and so far all he had to show for it was his body that had been beaten in so many ways; cuts all over his arms and legs from Ganon’s Kaiser blades, an even larger one in his side where it had gotten a good shot, blood soaking his tunic and hair, and burns from the new wall of fire that had risen. Most of the bruises on his body felt like his bones were grinding. To make matters worse, Ganon acted as if it wasn’t even tired. So Link had to focus. He had to tune out Princess Zelda’s cries, had to ignore the buzzing and somewhat useless “help” that Navi the fairy had to offer him, had to focus on sending this beast to hell where it belonged. But it hurt so much…
It’s charging. Duck and roll. Look out, it’s pivoting and swinging. Arial. Parry and counter.
Not that that mattered. Even the Master Sword can’t pierce its unholy skin.
Link shouldn’t have lost his focus. He didn’t see the loose stones underneath his feet and slipped, falling right on his back. The wind was knocked out of him, he wanted to pass out, but he had to stay conscious.
Move, move, MOVE!!
His roll just barely saved him from being crushed under the beast’s hoof. But looking up again, and he was lucky he did, he could see its Kaiser blade about to cleave his skull. He whipped his own blade up in time to parry, but not enough to keep it from slipping and slicing his left shoulder.
A new hot pain pumped from there, something to add to the rest. He thought he could feel his arm go numb, but that didn’t matter. His whole body felt a bit numb. But still, he had to focus.
He rolled between the monster’s legs, turned around onto his feet to see it pivot on it’s hoof just as quickly, preparing to continue it’s work. Link stayed focused on the creature, but in the back of his mind his thoughts were racing. He had never expected before that Ganondorf would have survived not only Link’s earlier onslaught, but also having his own castle collapse on him, something he did with his supposed last breathe. And yet he rose from the rubble, no, from the dead, to transform into a thing that resembled the devil itself. The thing called Ganon that knocked his sword outside the wall of flames it created, and yet Link was able to beat it only into submission with the Megaton Hammer, a weapon capable of creating small earthquakes. Enough time to retrieve the holy sword beyond the wall of fire, and yet Ganon somehow got a second wind to fight and put the wall back up. Not just a second wind, but also a new immortal strength. Link could no longer just roll under its legs to avoid its blows and counter with his own, because it could now spin in time to parry and strike. It could now run with the speed of an angry bull. And its Kaiser blades left wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding and just a brush of them could tear open flesh.
Swing. Back flip. Duck. Roll. Look out for its hooves. Shoulder roll to feet. Block another swing. Ack, the pain!
The fight seemed like it would last forever… but then Link thought up a quick plan. He knew it was desperate, and it may only get him another blow on the creature, nothing more. It probably would just get him killed. But anything was better than defending himself till he fainted and died.
Link turned and ran as fast as his legs could toward and up a fallen pillar slanted upright in the rubble, half confident in his plan, half terrified of the thundering footsteps that ran after him. From the top, he turned to see Ganon about to crush the pillar with his giant blades. Link readied to jump.
The Kaiser blade swung. The pillar toppled like toy blocks. Link leapt from his perch over the horned beast and rolled on the stone ground behind it. He accidentally did this on his cut shoulder, and now a brand new pain arose, along with a new sound… his shoulder and collarbone cracking. He reflexively grabbed the hurt arm, now unable to hold his sword. He would’ve cried out in pain, but he had hardly any breathe. He thought he heard Zelda yell out something, but it was drowned out in the monster’s roar. Oh man, I just wanna die now, he thought.
No, gotta keep going. Get out the BOW.
Ganon didn’t take long to step over the rubble and find its target. Link had to grit his teeth and pull out his bow and an arrow. It was difficult now since his left arm could barely move, and he was left-handed. Didn’t expect that to happen, his mind raced, maybe it’ll cost me my life.
Quit thinking that way and shoot the damn thing!
It was now marching toward him, only four steps away from lopping his head off. Cocking the bow and aiming at Ganon’s face as best he could, he tried to summon enough magic left to form a Light Arrow, one of the only weapons left that could remotely hurt the beast. Seeing it flash in brilliant light, Link smirked and went to pull back for a shot… and felt his left arm not able to pull back the string.
SHIT!
Two steps away now. He tried again, and still it couldn’t pull. He knew it; the broken shoulder would cost him the battle. Ganon would kill him, strip him of the Triforce’s power, and then go after the Princess.
Oh, Zelda, I’m so sorry.
One step away. Ganon pulled back its arm for a killing blow, ready to chop Link in half-
-and as if Navi could hear his thinking, she raced down to the bow string and pulled back as hard as she could… and released with enough power to send the arrow flying.
The Light Arrow hit Ganon right in the throat. The Kaiser blade stopped two inches from Link’s face.
Link couldn’t help but gape at this. His fairy companion just saved his life. She’d done helpful things before, but now Link couldn’t thank her enough.
Quit stalling. You’ve got your chance.
Link walked over, picked up his sword with his only good arm, and turned towards the towering monster. It was now trembling in pain, shimmering with the good light that the arrow had radiated with. Blood trickled from its throat that had an arrow shoved in it.
Like the blood that’s covered my body, you bastard.
He walked around Ganon, located its tail, the only extremity that was vulnerable because it partially exposed its spine. He admired his earlier handiwork of smashing some cracks open on it, and raised the sword above his head and struck deep between the hard scales, cutting into the nerves of the spinal cord. Holding on while the monster writhed in pain, he twisted the blade to add to its agony, hoping it would collapse from it. Ganon twisted, shrieked, and pounded the ground at the very touch of the sacred blade…
…and fell down to the ground in exhaust.
‘Bout damn time.
But he could hardly keep himself on his own feet, much less walk over to make sure the monster was down for good.
So to answer his prayer, a beam of light shot out at the creature, causing it to roar in pain again. Link looked over to the source, and saw Princess Zelda focusing her power. The wall of fire had dissipated again. The Princess turned her head to him, while still pushing out everything she had on Ganon.
“I’m using my power to hold the Evil King! Now you use your sword and deliver the final blow!”
Link would’ve spoken had his blade not suddenly flashed in a miraculous light. The Master Sword illuminated with power, beckoning him to plunge it into Ganon’s black heart with all the righteousness it stood for. Well, he would grant it its wish.
He walked forward towards the monster’s ugly face, each step leaving a bloody footprint behind. Ganon’s teeth barred with sharp fangs, and a deep unearthly growl came from its throat that still bled from the Light Arrow, but Link simply grinned and swung his sword once, twice, thrice, blood flying from the creature’s head, howling from the pain. And as it brought it back to possibly bite Link jaggedly in the side, it met the blade’s cold metal thrust between the eyes.
Time stood still.
Then the mockery of sanity the Ganondorf had turned into went berzerk. Dark power pumped out of its wounds like its blood, it kept screaming from the energy that no doubt attacked its brain. It's arms flailed wildly. It looked as if it might even explode from the power that would surely destroy it.
“Six Sages! NOW!!”
Princess Zelda held her arms above her head, forming a bright sphere that shone like the sun. The shock of discharging so much power forced her to her knees, but it was well worth it. The sphere summoned six different streams of energy into it, one from each Sage. It grew with power, and floated above Ganon… then formed a powerful vortex, sucking it inside the hell that awaited it.
All this happened while Link couldn’t help but gaze in awe. And though he didn’t seem to be listening, he could hear Ganondorf shouting in his mind:
“YOU… CURSE YOU… ZELDA! CURSE YOU… SAGES!!… CURSE YOU… LINK!!!” The voice boomed at that. Link almost thought of covering his ears, but he knew that would be pointless. “Someday when this seal is broken… that is when I will exterminate your descendants!” He even thought he could see the bastard’s face, covered with blood, in a state of shock, fury… and fear of his fate.
And, finally giving into the loss of blood and fatigue, Link let himself go to sleep.
“As long as I have the Triforce of Power in my hand…”
A hundred and fifty years have passed since the Great King of Evil, Ganondorf, was sealed into the void of the Evil Realm. Link was restored to his original time, and he returned the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time, leaving the key to the Sacred Realm where it stood, and thus locking Ganondorf away forever. The Hero of Time, Link, could only remove the sword, and he and Zelda ordered the Door of Time to be closed for good. They still held the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage with them throughout their lives.
The Six Sages were returned to their time as well; though they would still become the Sage they were meant to be in the future.
Zelda decided that while she would still be the Princess, she asked Impa if she would still train her to be one of the Sheikah as she had before. Together they gave rise to the tribe once again and were declared to be the Protectors of the Sword till the end of time. They even built their headquarters and home next to the Temple of Time.
Though those of the Royal Family did train as one of the Sheikah, they were not necessarily the ones in command. But only the Royal Family members could hold onto the Ocarina of Time. Zelda held onto it always and guarded it with her life.
Link returned to the forest where he could live a peaceful life with the Kokiri, even if he wasn’t one of them. Navi left him after he returned the Master Sword and no one heard from her again, but Link would always get a good look at every fairy that passed by him just in case. He took one eventful trip, or so he said, into the forest for a while once when he was still a boy, but strangely, he never shared all the details with anyone (they felt he had his reasons). All he said was he was looking for an old friend, and found him. But for some reason immediately upon returning, he gave the Ocarina of Time back to Zelda, which he had still had until then.
He went into the towns on a regular basis to visit and do business. He would also visit the Gorons and Zoras now that he was a good friend with them. Although it took some time to convince Princess Ruto that he couldn’t be her fiancée because (1) he wasn’t a Zora, and (2) the Spiritual Stone was only used to get the Master Sword, not an engagement gift.
And though he felt no animosity toward them, Link visited the Gerudo as minimum as possible.
He did eventually marry, however, even though it wasn’t Zelda. They cared for one another, but not that way. Instead, he married Malon whom he was attracted to from the beginning, and lived his life at farming. Working with Ingo took some patience, but they found a way to work things out.
Of course, Link and Zelda could not live forever. They died over the course of time, but the memory of the holders of the Triforce lives on in Hyrule, now at a new age. Trade across kingdoms has been established. New imports from distant lands have been introduced to Hyrule. The Gerudo have even opened their desert lands to new routes for such trade. Technological advances like the cannon and the imported musket and pistol have opened new wonders for the future, insuring law and order.
New homes have been built over the land, as well as several windmills built across Hyrule Field, and Lon Lon Ranch now holds most of the plains for its renowned farming. The towns have grown in size dramatically and where once were rock or grasses are now forests. The Sheikah continue to hold their position as Protectors, and the Royal Family has brought peace to Hyrule.
But peace cannot last forever. For those who forget the past are doomed to
repeat it…
TBC…