#gaepora

The passing breeze caressed Zelda's pale skin as she stood proudly atop the Goddess' cemented palms. Her eyes found Groose and his lackeys mounting their loftwings underneath the shadow of the great statue. Her ears were attuned to the gentle plucking of harp strings emanating from the harp being plucked just behind her. And her heart, the part of her body she depended and trusted most, was solely attentive to her best friend; her hero. Except he wasn't hers. He was a hero to every soul that existed on The Surface. He had saved the entire population of every race known to the land. And every last bit of his journey, the humor, the trials, and the suffering, was a result of the because of the fate her predecessor had instilled within his soul eons ago.

Lowering her hands, Zelda ran her fingers over the sacred bracelet she had been gifted only weeks ago by her beloved friend, Impa. A soft smile played at her lips, reminiscing in old memories that were not hers but the Goddess' that gave rebirth to herself in Zelda, destined to fulfill the end of Hylia's mission long before she was conceived. It was all apart of fate, Zelda reminded herself. Only good could come from this unexpected journey. Thoughts of Fi, Impa, and her savior devoured her mind, bringing to fruition the thoughts of all of the wonderful, however stressful, times she had shared alongside them. With those times came dark, overbearing experiences; their deaths and sacrifices ever present in her busy mind. But she pushed those thoughts as best she could to the back of her mind. There was no use to sink deeper into her grief, for they would only bring out the worst of her. What she needed was to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, to appreciate the decisions they made for the sake of her life and for those around them. That was the only way she would be able to rebuild the former kingdom of The Surface and ensure their lives were not laid to rest in vain.

Zelda spotted her new friends below the statue begin to lift off the ground with their feathered steeds. Her eyes sparkled with joy to see them with expressive smiles and deep laughter. Such happiness did not even exist hours before now, with the importance of Demise's eradication weighing heavily on minds of the people involved in the dire situation. The repetitive tune that filled both hers and the hero's sharp ears stilled to an abrupt end. The trio of Groose, Cawlin, and Strich floated by the Statue of The Goddess and waved what felt like a final goodbye. Zelda waved in return, hoping this would not be the last time she ever saw the young men as they disappeared up into the white clouds she had looked down on her whole life.

Gusts of gentle wind blew through strands of her matted, gold hair. Her skin felt refreshed and the scent of trees and soil was inhaled by her nostrils. It was a beautiful feeling, wind and scent combining to exemplify her love for the land she happened to fall upon, marking only the beginning of her wild expedition upon The Surface. It was something that the clouds of Sky could not provide. Something that only The Surface could create. The craving for this feeling let her heart finally decide the answer to the question her heart had been teasing herself with since the defeat of Demise and his minions.

Her precious, glowing metal hair bands landed harshly on her collarbone as she turned to face the person she had grown to adore care for even more - if that was even possible - in the recent journey they shared. All hesitation compressed deep within her chest vanished within milliseconds. Zelda was ready. She was ready to tell him what she desired... and what she hoped would come with it.

"Look around us!" Zelda exclaimed with delight. "As a child, I always dreamed of a world below. I wanted to see the surface and feel the land's warm breeze against my skin." She twirled in her place with a small smile, embracing the rays of the sun beating on the two of them. She came to a stop and gazed at him once more with a warm gaze. "I... I think I want to live here. I always want to feel solid ground beneath my feet, see the clouds above my head, and watch over the Triforce."

"What about you, Link?" She asked sweetly, giving him a smile filled with love and compassion, but most of all hope. "What will you do now?"

The various expressions displayed on his face gave her no clue as to what he would say. Or how he would respond. First came the bright smile with his familiar chuckle, one that plucked the heart strings on her heart so tenderly. Then came the look of pure sadness and frustration. It puzzled Zelda. She couldn't tell what he was pondering at the time. The feeling of hope that wind and scent had provided her was replaced with nervous anticipation. She could only will herself to whisper a few more words to Link, in fear she would speak a word that would cause further uneasiness between them.

"Will you stay with me, my hero?" She breathed out desperately, extending her hand to him as she had in the Sealed Temple only days before, and praying not to scare him away.

Silence continued to fill the small distance between them. The only audible sound was of the wind whistling against her ears. All tension was washed by the breeze, leaving an unusual ease between the two. She awaited his answer, arm still extended, reaching to him with a hesitant expression. She chewed on her bottom lip, praying to the gods for him to say something she wanted to hear, as selfish as she knew that it sounded.

Link took a step forward with a placid face. The twine of anxiety grew stronger in her stomach. Her hair continued to partner with the wind in a wild dance as the distance between them became nonexistent. Her arm slowly lowered upon his approach, unsure of what to anticipate. The hero extended his finger and thumb, gripping a strand of Zelda's hair and sliding it behind her ear. His face slid closer until she could feel his hot breath against her cheek, replicating the feeling of the breeze that she found such an enticing part of The Surface.

"I..." He began, pressing the side of his face against her temple, breathing hot words into her ear. She had not heard his intoxicating voice, so closely and intimately, in weeks. It drove her mad as she felt her cheeks and the tips of her ears become ruddy. It was deep, soothing. It was plain torture to restrain herself from reaching out to beg him for his comforting touch, to plead with him to stay and build a new life with her far away from their past in The Sky.

But the world did not seem to agree with what she wished for. The statue's palms rumbled beneath them. They seperated, attempting to balance themselves as the stone crumbled. The Triforce's glow dulled instantaneously, morphing into a shade of pitch black. The pieces of the magnificent treasure cracked, crumbling apart, and shattering as it collided with the cemented floor.

"No!" Zelda shouted, racing forward and falling to her knees to attempt to pick up the ruined pieces. Her eyes grew moist with incoming tears. All that Link had worked for: gone. The gift left to her to protect: broken. The promise she made to keep The Surface safe: torn.

Her surroundings grew dark with purple fog. The sky turned as red as blood, the sun disappeared as did her friends minutes ago. The Statue fell, crumbling to a pile of ashes. Zelda squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to accept hers and Link's fate. But she did not fall. She could not feel the treacherous wind whip against her face or any part of her body at all. She dared to open her eyes. Any air left in her lungs escaped at the sight of the monster before her.

The Imprisoned had awoken once more, seeking to consume the broken Triforce and Statue of The Goddess. "Zelda!" She heard her hero shout and her eyes scavenged for him amid the collapsation of the seal of the Statue and the relapse of Demise's presence. Rapid thoughts and questions raced through her mind. 'It should have worked.' 'Why is he back?' 'What have I done wrong?'

Link shouted for her once more. She finally spotted him, falling farther from her into the open jaws of The Imprisoned. Zelda screamed in agony, watching her friend fall into the hideous creature's mouth and as the world around her disappeared into a deserted wasteland.

∘₊✧─────✧₊∘

She awoke with a cry. Her knuckles were white from gripping the sheets of her sweat-drenched mattress, her hair a matted mess, resembling her appearance of that very day. However, on that day, there had been no release of Demise's seal. There had only been heartbreak. That day, misery had ensnared a piece of her heart for its own dislikable reasons and buried her in a deep state of unrelenting anguish.

A cold breeze passed through her open window. Zelda shivered and reached for the spot next to her on the mattress. It was empty.

She hated that empty space, and the breeze she had once thought she had loved. For it reminded her of 'The Day'. Not the day in which Demise was sealed away. Not the day the Master Sword and its soul was placed into eternal rest. Not the day where Impa had vanished into fragments of light before her eyes.

But the day when The Hero of Sky left her on the statue, without a word spoken, seven, long years ago.

── .✦ i have attempted to restart and post my story, eternity, several times since i wrote this prologue in 2019. if you feel like you've seen this story before... you probably have i just published it under a different name, lol. i have never gotten past publishing the prologue, but it is my hope that with this new blog i will be able to finish this story that i have always wanted to write about.

the plan is to have 10 chapters... none of which i will probably get out in a timely manner :')) but i will still try nonetheless! i also plan to implement story lines and details from totk and botw because i just feel like the birth of hyrule is so well explain in these games and i can tie them back to my story here to make it sort of full circle

let me know if you have any suggestions!

@ skywardtears