“Where am I...? The last thing I remember
was being in the darkness... Wait... I still am in the darkness. Please dear
Goddesses I hope this is only a dream. Let me find my back to the light. But If
I’m here then that means, Gronondorf is... No he’s got the Triforce. So then
maybe the world has ended then. But why am I still here? And where is Nati...”
Zin stopped thinking once he saw a small bluish light head his way. He called
to it.

            “Nati! Is
that you!? Nati!” Zin screamed in the infinite darkness. The light stopped and
yelled back.

            “Zin!?”

            “Yeah it’s
me Nati.” the fairy flew over to her friend.

            “Where are
we Zin?”

            “I have not
the slightest clue.” Then suddenly the abyss of nothingness became something.
Zin found himself in the tunnel of a cave. There he sat as he saw many people
walking in formation out of the tunnel, some bound, other’s not. Then he saw a
girl brush past him. She looked around her mid-teens. She stopped and knelt
down to him.

            “You’d
better get up before they kill you, these guys don’t play.” she said pulling
him up of the ground. “Who are you? I haven’t seen you around the refuge.” She
looked at him and noticed he carried weapons. She gasped. “How did you get
weapons past them? That’s a nice sword you have there by the way.”

            “Thank
you...” Zin said not even looking at his sword.

            “Angelica.
And you are?”

            “Zin.”

            “Well Hello
Zin, maybe me and you can stick together until this is over.”

            “What’s
going on?”

            “You see,
after... the incident, the Trions had to...” Zin cut her off.

            “I’m sorry,
did you say Trions?”

            “Yes, why?”
Zin rubbed his eyes.

            “Okay where
am I?”

            “The Sacred
Realm... where else could you be?”

            “So you’re
a...”

            “Trion,
yes. Why do you find that so hard to believe?” She looked at his forehead. “Oh
dear Goddesses. You aren’t a Trion. How can you survive up here? Most men only
last a few seconds before they begin suffocate.” She looked at the emblem
around his neck. “So that’s how you survived up here. Who are you Zin?”

            “That’s not
important right now. What’s going on?”

            “I told
you, we were one of the last rebellious groups that are standing against the
Evil King. They just sought out our refuge. Now they are taking us into
slavery.”

            “What the
hell are you two doing!? Move along!” said one of the guards. They wore black
protective armor and held swords made of black metal.

            “Come on...
before he notices you have a-” Angelica tried to whisper, but it was too late,
the guard already saw Zin’s sword.

            “Hold! He
has a weapon! Kill him!” the guard said running towards Zin. Zin drew his sword
and easily disabled the guard, who fell to the ground helplessly. Zin then took
his sword and stabbed him. Soon enough Zin and Angelica saw several more guards
coming.

            “Here I’ll
help you...” Angelica said as she concentrated her energy. The Triforce mark
upon her forehead began to glow and then suddenly Zin duplicated into three.

            “What’s
this?” Zin asked amazed.

            “The power
of Illusion.” Then as the group of guards ran up all they saw were three angry
looking people holding a heavy sword. Zin then began to render them helpless.
Only four guards remained. Zin and Angelica began to run toward the exit of the
tunnel. Before they ran, Angelica conjured her powers again, this time
appearing to part the earth. “Come on, we have to find my mother!” Angelica
said as she searched through the windows of the locked down carriages that held
passengers in them. Several began to pull of and Angelica heard someone scream
her name. She looked in the direction and saw her mother’s face pressed against
the window. “Wait mom here... I ... come.” The carriage pulled off and was soon
distant. “No...” Meanwhile her spell had worn off as Zin saw once the four
remaining guards ran out of the cave.

            “Come on we
have to get out of here!” Zin yelled as he saw another guard on a horse.
Angelica looked at the guard on the horse headed toward them.

            “I’ll get
him off, cover me!” Then she began to work her magic.

            The guard
on the horse looked down once he saw that his horse was covered with fire ants.
He screamed as he jumped off the horse. The horse continued along the way to
Zin and Angelica. Angelica saw Zin was getting tired and conjured another
spell, she set a wall of fire between Zin and the guards. Zin thanked her and
as the horse was headed toward them, he swung around its neck and landed on its
back. He stopped the horse and told Angelica to get on. She did so and once
they were on, Zin gave her his shield.

            “Put this
on your back!”

            “Why!?”

            “They’re
going to try shooting arrows, trust me!” Angelica did so and placed the shield
on her back, and sure enough Zin was right, as they saw an arrow fly overhead.
Zin began to ride faster until the group was a distant image. Once out of
distance Zin calmed a little and looked at his surroundings. The sky was an evil
dark gray, with distance lightning, but the dirt ground was a golden brown,
which seemed to illuminate the environment. “Where to now?”

            “To the Temple
of Light: Last Stronghold against
Evil.” Angelica said as she held on to him as they rode toward their
destination.

            Zin stopped
the horse and got off, Angelica followed. Zin looked up and saw colossal doors
that belonged to a colossal building. “These doors are even bigger than the
castle’s.” Zin said to himself

            “Is this
the place?” Nati asked in astonishment.

            “Yep, the Temple
of Light. This is the only place
standing after the Evil King’s raid.” Angelica said.

            “Who is he
anyway?” Nati asked.

            “I don’t
quite know, around here he’s known as the King of Evil...” Angelica paused,
“Wait, his name it begins with a G, Gron... something like that.”

            “Gronondorf!”
Zin and Nati exclaimed in unison.

            “You know
him?” Angelica asked.

            “Let’s just
say we don’t get alone very well... at all.” Zin said with a small grin on his
face. Meanwhile Nati started laughing. “What’s become of Hyrule?”

            “We don’t
know, we don’t get much news from the outside world.”

            “Hmm...
Well we need to get in here, and I see no handles to these doors.”

            “There are
engravings here...” Angelica said running her hand across the door.

            “Where, I
don’t see anything. Are you sure?” Zin asked looking at the doors once again.

            “I see it
right here. One in the shape of each Triforce piece. Also there is one in the
shape of a sword...” Angelica trailed off. “Now that I think of it, it looks
kinda like yours.”

            “Wait my
sword! Please don’t tell me...” Zin reached back for the sword in his scabbard,
hoping not to find what he though he would. He touched the hilt, it felt
different. He pulled the sword out and noticed it seemed longer than before. As
he brought it around he noticed it was also heavier. He placed his eyes on the
sword and his fears were realized. There he stood holding the mythical
legendary blade: The Master Sword.

            “I’ve
figured it out! You can’t see it because it is an illusion. I can see right
past that.” Angelica said looking at the engravings once again. Zin was
listening, but was absorbed in the sword. Finally he spoke.

             “Hey Angelica, you said the engraving was
shaped like this?” Zin offered her the sword. She almost excepted until she
recognized the sword. She backed away. “What?”

            “I can’t
touch that.”

            “Why not?”

            “Only the
Hero of Time can hold that sword.”

            “But I’m
not the Hero of Time...”

            “You did
pull the sword out of the pedestal right?” Zin nodded, “Then you’re the Hero of
Time, only he can pull and replace the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time.
You can even ask the Sage when we get in there.”

            “Wait,
prove to me that no one else can touch the sword, I want to be sure.”

            “This is
going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you... literally.” Angelica reached
for the sword’s hilt and touched it. She received a small shock upon doing
this. “See?”

            “Yeah...
sorry. Well where’s the hollow?”

            “Right
here...” Angelica pointed to the spot and as Zin placed the sword in he saw the
engravings revealed. The two colossal doors began to spread and the sword hit
the ground. Zin withdrew the sword and the company of three continued into the
fortress and soon after, the colossal doors shut.

            “Wow this
place is huge!” Angelica said listening to her echo. “Echo!” she yelled as her
voiced bounced along the halls and off the walls.

            “Stop,
you’re disturbing the peace.” Zin said. They walked down the hall until they
reached a large bouquet looking room. The floor, along with the pillars that
ran down the room where made of fine marble. The pillars supported high
balconies above. They continued walking until they came to another large room,
well lit from the large torches that held a strange white fire. There before
them where three paths. The room was made of golden marble and the path down
the middle too was made of golden marble. The one to the left made of silver,
and to the right bronze. “Which path to choose?”

            “I’m not
sure, instinct is telling me the...”

            “Middle one
right?”

            “Yeah how’d
you know?”

            “I have a
feel for these things.” The three proceeded down the middle path until they saw
a door in the distance. As they ran toward it, the ground below began to break
apart. “What?” They all were sucked into the black abyss below.

            “Where am
I? Where’s Angelica? Nati? What’s going on, I would have sworn the last thing I
saw was darkness, and it still seems that way...” Zin said to himself. He felt
like he was lying down, so he sat up, and to his surprise he saw color. His
vision was a like blurry. He noticed the bottom of a dress lied in from of him,
a few feet away, on a yellow platform.

            “Awaken
Hero of Time. Stand, look at yourself.” said a sweet voice. Zin stood up and
looked around. “Look at yourself; you’ve grown up to be quite a healthy looking
young man.” Zin looked at the source of the sound, and what he saw surprised
him.

            “Malon?
Aunt Malon!” Zin said running up and hugging her. “What are you doing here?
Where am I?”

            “You are
within the Chamber of Sages; center of the Sacred Realm. You’ve been out for
the past couple of hours. Sorry about that little fall you and your friend had,
but it’s there for protection.”

            “Where are
Nati, and Angelica?”

            “Don’t
worry they are safe and sound. Look at you! You’ve grown to be taller than me.”

            “Huh?” Zin
looked and realized that he was looking down at his aunt, something that he had
never experienced before. “What’s going on?”

            “Do not be
alarmed, look at yourself.” Malon produced a human sized mirror in front of
Zin. What Zin saw shock the hell out of him. He was a man, no long the teenage
boy he used to be, but grown. He saw that he had become taller, and more
muscular. He wore his usual rounded collar green tunic, but also white leggings
and a white muscle shirt underneath, that covered his biceps and forearms. He
wore plain brown boots, not the decorative ones like when he was a kid. He also
wore brown leather patted gloves, that covered his palms but left his fingers
exposed. He wore a strap across his chest that held his scabbard and his
shield. He finally looked at his face, which had matured. He stroked the beard
that had grown down from his sideburns, from the back, all the way down his
chin and the small goatee under his lip. His crazy spiked strands of blond hair
still fell upon his face as always, but was longer, now reaching down to his
chin. He stroked his beard again before the mirror evaporated. “Don’t be
conceded now.” Malon joked.

            “I can’t
believe it, I’m, I’m... how old am I?”

            “You are
the bold age of seventeen.”

            “I didn’t
even notice all this time I was in the Sacred Realm.” They stood in silence for
a minute. “So it’s been four years...”

            “Four long,
miserable, dark years. Hyrule has entered another Dark Age.”

            “What’s
going on back home?” Zin asked with a very serious face.

            “Look at
you, there you stand holding the Master Sword, asking question. Just like your
father did.”

            “What do
mean ‘like my father did’?”

            “Your
father too was once the Hero of Time. He saved the world from the evil
Ganondorf Dragmire.” Zin was in shock. He was silent for a while, not knowing
what to say. The fact that his father kept a secret from was completely beyond
him. Who was his father? Did he really even know? This newly acquired
information put a whole prospective on things.

            “Why would
he keep something like that from me?”

            “He didn’t
want you or your brothers to go through what he did. Being the Hero of Time is
a very heavy burden for anyone to carry amongst their shoulders. I am sorry
that you have met the same fate...”

            “Well
hiding it made the situation no better. It still happened.” The two stood in
silence. “What’s your whole part in this?”

            “I am the
Sage of Light... And speaking of which, I have a gift that will most help you
on your journey. I gift you with the power of Light.” Malon lifted her arms in
the air and formed a ball of light. The light left her hands and absorbed Zin’s
body. After a few seconds the light relinquished outward until it was no longer
visible. “You may now use the power of Light to your will. Manifest it within
your hand, or engross it with your sword. Either way you go, you must speak
these words and the power will come to you. Say ‘Lux Lucis’ and the power will obey your every whim. You no longer
hold the Sacred Stones, so this is your only element left.” Zin tried his new
found power on his hand.

            style='mso-bidi-font-style:“Luc Lucix!” Then Zin saw rays of light
emanate from the palm of hand, until it was absorbed completely in it.
“Cool...” Zin then drew the Master Sword, with his hand transfixed with light.
Once the sword was drawn the light transpired from his hand into the blade of
the sword. “Why do I need this power? Is there a journey I must embark on?”

            “Well-- yes
Hero of Time. There is a quest ahead of you, and it does not bare you mercy. Unfortunately,
you must do it alone.”

            “What is my
task?”

            “Your
brothers...”

            “Where are
they!? Are they hurt, or worse I fear? What of Koji, I hope he has not met his
fate...”

            “I have
lost contact with Koji, the last my ears heard he was fighting against
Gronondorf. But your brothers... Let me start from the beginning...” Malon
paused and sighed, upon thinking of those times. “Once you pulled the Master
Sword, you were sealed in time for four years until you became of age to wield
the Master Sword. But while you were gone, Gronondorf seized the opportunity to
claim the Triforce.”

            “He holds
the Triforce... It is worse than I’ve feared.”

            “No, he
only holds the Triforce of Power. When he touched the almighty Triforce, his
heart could not submit to the three essences and so, his heart being evil he
only claimed the Triforce of Power. Once he had overtaken the Sacred Realm, he
waged a war upon Hyrule, and took the Castle. These times where known as ‘The
Crimson Skies’ since all the war and fighting caused the sky to burn a blood
red, and the sun to shine black. He rebuilt his castle on the foundation, and
then wrecked havoc on us. He slaughtered many of us and the few that remained
he offered them mercy, but only if they would become his loyal slaves. Now
every living person in Middle Earth falls to his hand. He claimed East Hyrule
for himself and West Hyrule for the demons and their Lord. He has moved many of
us to his newly built cities in west, toward Romania and Derinma, and also to
the east, past the Death Mountain Range. West Hyrule is now only a deserted
island where no one dare not go, it is even more feared than East Hyrule, where
the vampires; his fledglings roam. Your brothers, tried to stop him, but
failed. As he captured them one by one he bound them, and made them stone
statues that linger above each of the temples as a reminder that he is King.
The time of The Crimson Skies ended once he built his tower: The Tower of Dusk.
With the building of this tower, he along with his second in command known as
‘The Wizard’ forged a large, thick sheet of glass. This is not just any glass;
this glass has the ability to see all over Middle Earth. It is known as ‘The
Radar’, and can see all that you do. The Radar is a vast mist that looms over
all Middle Earth. This dark cloud is colored black and a gloomy violet, which
keeps the sun’s ray from touching the earth. The world is now a horrid darkened
place, where night seems to dominate the sky.” This information was alot for
Zin to handle. He had to slow down and accumulate all these facts.

            “So I take
it that I am to rescue my brothers so that they can lead to victory? But to do
this, I must first defeat the evil monster in the shrine. The shrines form a
ring that is in East Hyrule, called the Ring of Elements. I know all this
already.”

            “No, you see
it’s not that easy. Gronondorf too acquired the information you did, and tried
to destroy the Temples. But the essence of a Temple may never be denied, and so
the Temples have found new locations, spreading all the way past Nubia and into
the city of Asu Romonto. Only one Temple remains in its original location: The
Forest Temple.”

            “What of Kopaka...
is the Temple of Time really destroyed?” Malon nodded. “And Matinu... is the
Temple of Light not here?”

            “Gronondorf
feared that I the last remaining Sage would attempt to restore your brother, so
he placed him in the highest room of the Tower of Dusk. It is said that the day
Matinu is freed, will be the day when dawn shall shine upon the evil tower.
Bringing about it’s destruction as it will crumble to the ground.”

            “What about
my mother... and Nyra?”

            “Zelda is
held in the highest room of the highest tower in Gronondorf’s Castle. I know
not of Nyra’s fate.”

            “How am I
going to get back? And once I do, how will I hide from Gronondorf’s Radar?”

            “That is
where your friend Angelica comes in. She has created something that will hide
you from the waves of evil magic. Come forth Angelica and Nati.” Zin looked out
to one of the small platforms which light shone upon. The platform also bared
water which moved into waterfalls off the platform. The water seemed to fall
over into empty abyss below. Zin then looked at the pathway that lead from the waterfall
to the central platform. Along the path was Angelica holding some sort of cloth
and Nati floating close behind her. They stepped over to the Triforce platform
that was the center of the central one.

            “It’s about
time you woke up... here you go.” Angelica said handing him the cloth she
carried.

            “What is
this?” Zin asked unfolding it.

            “It is a
cloak. I sowed for you. You will also need this,” Angelica went through her
pockets and pulled out a quite thick piece of string. It was a golden brown and
the ends were highly decorated with plush diamond shaped fur. “Put this string
within the hood of the cloak. It will protect you from the Radar. It was
blended with the power of Illusion, so it appears that you are not on the map
of the Radar... Well try it on.” Zin did so and first pulled the string through
the loop at the base of the hood. He then placed the cloak over his arms and
tied the string in a knot. He then threw the hood over his head and covered his
body completely in it. The cloak ran all the way down to his ankles. Again
Malon manifest the mirror in front of him. Zin looked and was amazed at what he
saw. He noticed his ears; long and pointed seemed to retract, as if he had none
at all. Then Zin looked to the side and noticed that it seemed his sword and
shield were gone. Zin lifted the cloak from under his arm and looked to see the
shield was still there. He then reached for the Master Sword from inside the
cloak and felt its hilt. He was amazed at how the cloak made him appear. “Cool
huh?”

            “Yes it
is... very much so. I will call it the Cloak of Illusions.” Zin said as the
mirror dissipated and he put down the hood and cloak over his shoulders, releasing
his arms. Zin reached back for the sword once again and noticed his hand went
right through the cloak. He pulled the sword and shield out and withdrew them
as if the cloak was not even there. “This will help me greatly. Thank you
Angelica.” Zin said hugging her.

            “You’re
welcome Zin.”

            “Are you
finally ready to go now Mr. Hero?” Nati said flying over to him.

            “As ready
as I’ll ever be... I guess. Well Aunt Malon, your nephew’s ready to go and save
the world. You can send me back.”

            “I know
you’ll succeed...” Malon began to tear up. She ran up and hugged him for a long
while. She held his face with both hands saying, “I believe in you...” she
planted a kiss on his forehead and released him. Malon and Angelica stood back
on the yellow platform that resembled the sign of light as Zin and Nati stood
on the Triforce platform in the middle. Then Zin’s body began to float slightly
above the ground. He and Nati were encased in a human sized crystal, tinted
blue.

            “Good bye my
friend, I trust you will lift this curse from us.” Angelica said waving. Zin
waved back.

            “Don’t stay
in the field too long. Be careful,” Malon said as she began to cry again,
“Goodbye...” Zin could simply wave to them both as the crystal started spinning
in place. Soon enough the crystal disappeared leaving the two alone within the
chamber.

            Zin looked
down and saw the ground. He saw much rubble through the crystal. The crystal
began to crack until it broke and shards of glass fell to the ground. Zin’s
body slowly floated down, Nati close behind. Once Zin’s body touched the
ground, a bit of the debris began to spread. This revealed a platform that Zin
recognized. Zin saw a small trapezoid shaped stone in front of him that bore
the mark of the Goddesses. It was the Pedestal of Time. Zin stood on the
platform where the Master Sword once lay. Zin looked in shock at the horrid
image. Zin placed the hood over his head and covered himself. Nati hid away in
Zin’s cloak. Zin continued his way through the debris. He had no clue where he
could be. Zin looked south and saw a big surrounding wall. He realized he was
in the ruins of Hyrule Castle Town. Zin left the small platform and began to
walk towards the field. As he emerged he walked across the small plank that was
left of the drawbridge and crossed over the dried, but yet algae covered moat.
He walked onto the ashy field and looked at his surroundings. The mere sight of
it nearly sent Zin into another coma. He saw the dead field, dry, barren and
black. No longer did any trees stand in the wasteland. His fears were met as he
saw mountains crumbled, rivers dried and the forest burnt to a crisp. The only
thing left of the forest was the dreaded Lost Woods, which seemed to grow even
more wildly. Zin looked to the sky and saw a giant black abyss whose lightning
poured out like a rage upon the earth. But the most dread thing Zin feared, his
eyes were cast upon. There in the middle of the field was the dark looming
tower. His dream had become reality and it scared him. Zin’s voice sounded
scarce and alone as he backed away into the deserted town.

            “Zin where
are you going?” Nati asked as Zin ran back into the ruins.

            “This isn’t
the right place. It can’t be... This is all just a fragment of my imagination
that’s all. It will all be over soon.” Zin said running toward the north. He
was crying upon seeing his homeland destroyed. As he embarked further and further
north, the fear became even worse. As Zin emerged from behind the cliff, he saw
the castle. Above him on a highly raised plateau was the feared castle of the
Evil King: Gronondorf’s Castle. The twists and turns of the highly raised
castle sent chills down Zin’s spine. The series of towers loomed over Zin like
a hungry shadow. The plateau that supported the maleficent castle floated in
the center and above a gigantic chasm that was filled with liquid magma. The
castle was obviously out of reach. Zin ran to a small caved section and sat
rocking himself back and forth.

            “Come on
Zin, you can do better than this...”

            “No... I
can’t. It’s too much. I’m too late. Who would I be saving anyway? No entire
army, no one can match his power. What makes you think I can do any better?”

            “You have
that...” Nati floated near the Master Sword. “You also have something else an
army will never have.”

            “What?”

            “Well
beside me... you have the heart of a hero. You the only one boy pulled that blade from its stone.
You a boy did what no ordinary man can ever do. You were chosen for this task,
and you must complete it. I’ve seen bring down the worst of the worse, even
when the odds were against you. Believe me; no one man can stop you. You have a
pure heart of gold, and I trust in that.” Zin sat up and over thought what Nati
just said. She was right, he had worked hard to get here, and he wasn’t going
to just give up now. He stood up and surmounted his fears. He replaced his hood
and began searching for any kind of clues of his journey.

            He had seen
something strange over near the dark castle and came to investigate. Once had
had snuck back into the ruins of the town he noticed a spot was clear of rubble
and debris. The strangest thing was it was the Pedestal of Time. Who had done
this? Was it a potential friend or a possible foe? He then heard it running
toward the castle and then it began talking to itself. He saw it run again and
once it had its backed turned; he snuck up behind it with his staff draw, ready
to impale the creature. It would all be over soon and this threat would soon be
defeated.

            Zin had
gone over to the westernmost part of the grounds, hoping to find something, but
to no prevail. Although Zin heard footsteps behind him, so he drew his sword
and shield as he acted to be searching for something again. Zin heard the
swiftness of the weapon and sidestepped. He turned around and placed his blade
in the human’s face as the human did the same with his staff. “Who are you?”
Zin asked as they began circling each other, still held in the same position.

            “Funny I
was getting ready ask the same about you fiend.” The cloaked man said.

            “I am no
fiend, I am a noble elf.”

            “Liar!
Elves bare pointed ears, yours seemed small and round under that cloak.” Zin
wasn’t even paying attention to him; he was trying to figure out how to get
this guy off his tail. Maybe I should cut
his hand... Zin looked at the stranger’s hand and came up with a strategy.
He did not execute it though. Wait, that
hand, where have I seen that scar before? Can it be? Zin dropped the sword
and tried to look into the man’s face. “What are doing fiend?”

            “No wait; I
am your friend...” Zin said removing his hood. “Koji?”

            “How do you
know my name?” Koji too was now becoming curious. He removed his hood and
looked deep into the man’s eyes. He dropped his staff upon realizing it. “Zin?
But how can it be?”

            “Don’t
worry, I’m home...” Zin and Koji shared a long embrace. Afterward Zin explained
to Koji all the details of his quest to bring down Gronondorf and his empire.
He also explained how he was the Hero of Time. Koji also explained to Zin of
how he and his group of nine were the only rebels left in Gronondorf’s eye.
They walked out onto the field and eventually were on a cliff overlooking the
field.

            “Remember
the first day you showed me this cliff, and your premonition?” Koji asked
looking out.

            “I remember
it well.” Zin said nodding.

            “What did
you see that day that was so horrific?”

            “It was
similar to this, but different. I saw the Tower of Dusk, and the black field.
But the sky was a blood red, and the sun shone black.”

            “Ah, you’d
be referring to the time of the Crimson Skies. The Crimson Wars were the climax
of our downfall.” Zin and Koji stood atop the cliff for a while and just looked
out. Zin let the murky wind blow through his blonde hair.

            “I can’t
believe that I have to do this alone...” Zin said shaking his head.

            “Don’t
worry friend, as long as there is a breath of life in me... you will never face
this alone.” Koji said putting his arm around Zin. Zin smiled.