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“... and so I come representing the kingdom of Hyrule, the land shared by all of us, to ask you if you would consider allowing your daughter Princess Mipha to pilot the Divine Beast. It is our only hope of defeating Calamity Ganon.” Zelda finished her speech with her eyes fixed on King Dorephan’s own, even though they were approximately five or six times her height above her head.
She silently congratulated herself that the speech had gone just as rehearsed. Despite the years of royal training, she had somehow managed to live in denial that she would ever have to actually use the lessons in elocution and diplomacy. Every lesson had only functioned as a countdown until she could get back to her library and her studies. Even now, with the hordes of monsters roaming the land and the threat of Calamity Ganon perilously close, Zelda couldn’t help but think longingly of when she would be able to return to her laboratory. She had been so close to a breakthrough on the relics when her father had summoned her for what she thought was lunch but turned out to be a quest to find pilots for the Divine Beasts.
King Dorephan’s booming voice cut through her internal musings. “You ask me to send my precious daughter Mipha into battle… Princess Zelda, while Mipha is a formidable warrior, at her heart and core she is a healer. You realize what you are asking? You are requesting a healer to turn her hands from restoring health to causing harm.”
“I ask on behalf of my father King Rhoam of Hyrule for your cooperation in defending the land in the only way we can stop the Great Evil! Could there be any greater honor for a healer than preventing thousands of deaths?” Zelda cried.
“Hmm.” King Dorephan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I must ask, why is this the only way to defeat Calamity Ganon?”
Zelda blinked at the conversation whiplash. “What?”
“I am inquiring why the use of these Divine Beasts is the only way to defeat Calamity Ganon. When you spoke a moment ago, you declared definitively that Mipha’s piloting the Beast is the only way to stop the Great Evil. Could you tell me more about that?”
“Of course. Ten thousand years ago, when the Calamity rose, the Guardians and Divine Beasts were created and commanded by the princess and hero of legend to quell disaster. Now, the signs of evil rising are apparent to us all, and my father insists that we prepare our defense now. In this way, we can avert a drawn-out war, minimizing the disruption to the peace our kingdom has enjoyed these past ten thousand years.”
“And what if Calamity Ganon remembers his last defeat, as you Hylians remember your own victory ten thousand years ago? What if he has made similar preparations to defend against the Guardians?”
“I, well, that is…” Zelda trailed off. Her elocution instructor would have thrown her into the moat, but she was at a loss for words. Why was piloting the Divine Beasts the only way to defeat Calamity Ganon? The cycle of death, rebirth, war, and peace had been going on for tens of thousands of years, and her previous incarnations had successfully defeated Ganon many times. Only one of those involved use of the Guardians and Divine Beasts.
“Perhaps this is not the only way or even the best way?” King Dorephan suggested quietly. “Perhaps this solution is borne from a ruler searching for the simplest possible solution. Perhaps your father should explain his motivations to his own daughter before asking another father to give up his daughter.” King Dorephan’s voice was so very gentle, the chiding tone clearly not meant for Zelda herself but aimed at the general thought of the man sitting on the Hylian throne.
“He is not asking you to give up your daughter—” Zelda protested.
“And therein lies the truth,” King Dorephan boomed. “He is asking. You are not. Please, Princess Zelda, tell me: do you believe that Mipha piloting Vah Ruta is the best solution to defeat Calamity Ganon?”
The direct question caught her off guard. Zelda’s mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound emitted. Eventually, she lowered her head and whispered, “I don’t know.”
King Dorephan responded in what passed for a hushed tone for someone of his size. “I suggest you ask your father and come to your own conclusions. I will grant you an audience again when you have your answer.”
~
Zelda,
I did not believe you to be a daughter who would shrug your shoulders of responsibility like this. When we spoke last, you promised me you would do your duty. You promised you would find and secure pilots for the Divine Beasts so the great land of Hyrule could be rid of the plague that is Calamity Ganon.
Is questioning my decisions part of your duty? I thought I had raised a princess committed to the good of the throne and the kingdom of Hyrule.
Of course making use of the Divine Beasts and the Guardians is the best path forward. Do you not remember the tapestry of your ancestors? Ganon suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of such technology, the likes of which had never been seen before. How could he possibly have prepared a defense against such awesome and terrible technology? The power in these ancient Sheikah inventions is indescribable.
It is in our best interests to ensure Ganon suffers a crushing defeat again. The sooner you secure pilots, the sooner they can begin training to use the Divine Beasts and become proficient in their capabilities.
I trust you have also been making daily progress towards unlocking the power within you. The Divine Beasts, combined with the divine power you wield and the hero who will soon rise in response to the growing evil in the land, will easily crush Ganon once more just as ten thousand years ago.
Do your duty, Zelda. I expect better of the princess of Hyrule.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
Zelda,
In addition to securing the Zoras’ cooperation, please check on the status of the trade routes through Ruto Mountain. Hyrule has been making quite the profits from tariffs on the goods coming through there, so it is in the best interests of the kingdom to ensure the mountain pass is in good condition.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
Zelda’s fists were already white-knuckled by the end of the first letter. When she opened the second, tears formed in her eyes and spilled over onto the paper gripped in her hands.
“Princess?” the Zora courier who had delivered the letter ventured. Her hand hovered uncertainly in midair, unsure of the propriety of giving comfort to the princess of another land.
“I’m alright, Mintoh, thank you.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, you can go. Thank you for your hard work.”
The instant the sound of webbed feet on stone floor faded into the distance, Zelda tore the letters in half, letting her rage fly loose. The angry tears began to flow in earnest now.
How could he? Her own father, her own father!
It was abundantly clear now. King Rhoam wasn’t interested in finding a good solution, he only wanted an easy solution. Probably so a war with the greatest evil known to the land wouldn’t disrupt trade in the region and lead to—gasp!—a decrease in profits for the kingdom.
Zelda knew that last thought was snide and most likely conjecture, but she couldn’t help but resent her father for scolding her over questioning a quest he had no part in. His only concern was ruling the kingdom. Her duty was to save that kingdom.
And the audacity of lecturing her, her, on the family history and her duty as Princess Zelda! Rhoam had married into the family, as all kings of Hyrule did. Royalty was passed through the Princess Zelda of each generation, and the man they married became King of Hyrule. That was the tradition, and the way that the kingdom of Hyrule ensured the divine powers of the goddess Hylia stayed within the ruling family. There was no such thing as Queen Zelda because Princess Zelda’s duty was to save the kingdom in the event that Ganon rose once more.
For King Rhoam to scold her on the topic of defeating Ganon was vastly insulting, to say the least.
Zelda wished her mother was still alive. Only she would have shared Zelda’s understanding of the depth and gravity of this utterly inconceivable breach of culture of the royal family of Hyrule. Her mother would have raged with her, would have known that Rhoam had crossed the thickest of lines, severed a familial bond. Zelda knew she would never be able to forgive her father for this.
She stood abruptly, the letters still clenched in her fist, and marched towards the throne room of King Dorephan. She did not wipe her eyes, for the tears were not a mark of weakness but a sign of her determination to follow the course. Her father had shown his hand and, in so doing, pointed Zelda’s path forward.
~
“To be clear, you are saying you no longer want Mipha to pilot the Divine Beast?” King Dorephan spoke cautiously, as if not daring to hope for this turn of events.
“Yes. I have spoken with my father as you suggested and determined my own stance. His opinion is not one I am interested in sharing, so it is my own recommendation and not that of the official throne of Hyrule I have given you. Since each region is as invested in ridding the land of Calamity Ganon’s monsters, I believe we can trust in you to develop your own plan, provided you have the information you need.”
“And you will give that information?”
“Gladly.” Zelda opened the pack on her hip and withdrew a sheaf of papers, which she handed to King Dorephan’s attendant. “This is a copy of everything that Central Hyrule knows about Ganon’s powers and history. Use it accordingly to prepare your own defense. If you still wish to use the Divine Beast, that is of course possible; however, this time it would be your own choice and on your own terms rather than at the behest of King Rhoam of Hyrule.”
King Dorephan’s eyes were comically wide. “This is quite the boon, Princess Zelda. Are you quite certain?”
“As certain as the stone beneath us, your majesty.”
“Well then. We of the Zora Domain gladly accept your offer, Princess Zelda.” King Dorephan lowered one of his enormous arms with his elbow crooked and wrist faced towards her. Zelda reached up and lightly tapped the back of her hand to the sapphire on his huge wrist gauntlet, sealing the deal in the Zora version of a handshake.
King Dorephan straightened up and cast his gaze about the room. With an answering nod, the attendant with the papers turned and disappeared through an arched doorway at the back of the room. Zelda’s eyes widened as the guards then followed suit, leaving only her and King Dorephan in the huge throne room.
“Your majesty, is it wise for you to be so unguarded as this?” she ventured.
“The guards are just outside the room to give us some privacy, and I am not quite so old yet as to be unable to defend myself,” King Dorephan chuckled. “Now, the reason I emptied the room is because I wish to ask you a question that I suspect you would not want to answer with so many witnesses.” He took a deep breath and exhaled, seemingly gathering his thoughts. “Princess Zelda… are you happy?”
“What?” Zelda said incredulously, her head snapping up.
Before she could respond more, the king continued, “Ah, perhaps I should have phrased it differently. Do you feel… safe at home? Mind you, I do not refer only to physical safety, but also emotional.”
“I…” Thoughts flashed through Zelda’s mind, almost too fast to track. Her father having her laboratory barred and locked if she displeased him. Being pulled from her studies night after night to meet with some noble or diplomat’s son that he hoped her to marry. His insistence that she try harder to unseal her powers, despite her numerous protests that she was trying in every way she knew how, and his retorts that belittled her efforts and made her feel so very inadequate at being a princess. The letters that she still gripped in her balled fists scolding her over a duty he had no right to comment on.
“No.” The answer fell from Zelda’s lips without her even noticing. She clapped her hands over her mouth, but released them when she realized there was more she wanted to say. “No, I never have. I don’t… I don’t want to be a princess. And I especially don’t want to be princess of Hyrule. I don’t want to speak to my father ever again.”
King Dorephan hummed encouragingly, and Zelda found herself telling the story of her family history, of the letters that metaphorically burned her hands just as they had burned a small yet vital bridge between herself and her father.
By the end of it, the Zora king was incensed. “He dared? Against the Princess Zelda? Against his own daughter?”
Zelda nodded fiercely. King Dorephan may not have understood in his soul the way her mother would have, but the rage on her behalf felt comforting.
“I cannot believe… no, I can believe. King Rhoam has made many demands, reasonable and unreasonable, of the Zora Domain over the years. It is well within the realm of plausibility that he would act similarly towards his family as well.” King Dorephan took a deep breath, and the huge pupils of his eyes and the scales that had flared with his angers smoothed over again. “Princess Zelda…”
When he did not speak for several minutes, Zelda prompted, “Yes?”
“You may censure me without fear of repercussion if I overstep my bounds.” He took another deep breath. “Princess Zelda, I hereby extend an offer of adoption. Would you like to join my family and live here in the Zora Domain?”
~
“...And here’s your bathroom, it’s attached to the bedroom, and we’ll have to get you a Hylian bed since you don’t sleep in pools like us—”
“I already have a perfectly fine bed in my quarters right now,” Zelda protested, laughing. It felt good to laugh like this, so freely. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done it.
“Oh, but that’s the bed for ambassadors and diplomats! Now you need a bed deserving of a Zora princess!” Mipha clapped her hands excitedly. “I’m so excited, it’s so wonderful to have a sister!”
“It’s even more wonderful not to be the first princess,” Zelda muttered.
“What was that?” Mipha turned around, tilting her head inquisitively.
“Nothing,” Zelda said hastily. “Is there a room nearby that I could convert to a laboratory, by any chance?”
“Oh yes, of course, come this way…”
~
Zelda,
I thought I had been clear in my last message. You are playing with the fate of our kingdom. Cease this nonsense at once. You said you would do your duty, yet your flippant actions suggest otherwise.
If you cannot secure the cooperation of the Zora in piloting the Divine Beasts, Hyrule will fall because of your negligence.
I trust I have been adequately explicit this time. Do your duty.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
Zelda spared the barest of attention to the letter before tossing it into the fire and turning back to her desk. The Ancient Screw on her desk wouldn’t study itself, after all. There was something about the design of the Ancient Screw. Perhaps it was metachiral? Now, there was a thought worth pursuing…
~
Zelda,
I can only hope the appearance of your oldest servant will return you to your senses so you can SAVE HYRULE.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
“Impa!” Zelda cried. “I’m so glad to see you!”
“Princess Zelda.” Impa smiled warmly. “You look well. Very well, in fact.”
“I am!” Zelda ushered Impa to a bench and bade her sit, then seated herself on the same bench facing her such that their knees were touching. “It’s so wonderful being here. It turns out that being princess of Hyrule involves a lot more work than being second princess of the Zora, so I’ve already got the background in royal training I need. Now I can devote my time to being a researcher and scholar, and Father—I mean, King Dorephan—is always willing to listen and give suggestions when I get stuck on something.”
“That sounds like quite the difference from King Rhoam,” Impa murmured.
“It is! I had no idea that kingly fathers could be like this. And I have an unbelievably amazing older sister and the cutest little brother now too! He doesn’t quite understand that I’m not a Zora so keeps asking me to race him up waterfalls, and his cheeks are just so adorable...”
Zelda gushed about her adoptive family for another 30 minutes before finally noticing the letter in Impa’s hand. She plucked it out of Impa’s grip, ignoring her friend’s yelp, and scanned the contents quickly. Her eyes rose from the paper to Impa’s devastated gaze.
She smiled warmly at her friend, who blinked in surprise. “It’s alright, Impa. I knew there was likely a reason you were here beyond a social visit.”
“You’re not mad?” Impa ventured.
“Oh, I am mad, but not at you.” Zelda turned the letter towards Impa and showed her the short message written within. “After all your family has done for mine over the years, the best he could come up with was ‘your oldest servant’.” She held the letter up and tore it to shreds, then carried it over to her worktable and carefully poured liquid from a tightly sealed bottle over the remnants. The paper melted away with an audible sizzle as the highly concentrated acid ate away. Zelda was pleased that it had worked; she had a principle that no two of her father’s letters would be destroyed the same way, and this acid had been prepared for a special occasion.
She turned back to Impa. “Did you have any intention of forcing me to go back to Central Hyrule?”
“No, of course not!” Impa half-rose to her feet, voice indignant. “I can clearly see what being here in the Zora Domain has done for you. I could never act against your best interests.” She sank to her knees in the traditional Sheikah show of deference. “My family serves Princess Zelda, not the kingdom of Hyrule.”
“Rise, Impa.” Zelda waited until she had done so before continuing. “Rest assured there is no grievance between us. You are so much more than a servant: you are my closest friend and confidante. I have more trust in you than in anyone else.”
“Princess…” Impa’s eyes did not water because she was too highly trained to let emotions cloud her ability to protect her princess, but Zelda knew her friend well enough to know her expression would have been one of tearful tenderness on anyone else.
~
It took Zelda over a month to notice.
“Impa, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but why are you still here?”
Impa looked up from where she was carefully and precisely picking apart an Ancient Gear. A moment later, her hand flipped up the magnifying visor she wore so she could actually see Zelda. “What do you mean? It’s not even dinnertime yet, let alone time for bed.”
“No, I meant, why are you still here? In the Zora Domain?” Zelda’s eyebrows were scrunched together in thought.
“Oh, I thought I already answered that.” Impa smiled brightly. “My family serves the Princess Zelda, not the kingdom of Hyrule.”
“And…?” Zelda prompted when no more seemed to be forthcoming.
“Well, my princess is here in the Zora Domain conducting research, so I am here in the Zora Domain conducting research as well.”
“You don’t need to return to the castle?”
“Is there another Princess Zelda at the castle that I’m not aware of?” Impa’s chin turned up, her gaze defiant.
“No, I don’t believe there is,” Zelda replied, a laugh tinging the corners of her response.
“I didn’t think so.” Impa nodded decisively and flipped the magnifying lenses back over her eyes, turning back to her work.
Zelda turned to do the same. Several minutes later, she spoke up again. “Impa?”
“Yes, princess?”
“Thank you.”
~
Zelda,
Since something appears to have intercepted my last letter and most loyal servant, I can only assume that the route to the Zora Domain is so fraught with monsters (due to the appalling fact that the Princess of Hyrule has deigned to ignore her duty) that the two have been lost to this world.
As such, this letter comes in the hands of the best knight in the kingdom, whom I have chosen as the Champion of our region. Perhaps Link’s presence can convince you of the necessity of picking up your responsibilities. It is not too late now, Zelda. You can still save the kingdom so long as you stop playing at whatever nonsensical game this is.
It’s time to grow up.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
The knight bearing the letter barely had a chance to hand it to Zelda before a red blur whooshed by Zelda and dove into his arms. She almost cried for Impa, knowing that her friend was too far away in the laboratory to do something about the potential attacker, before she recognized her older sister.
“LINK!” Mipha cried, wrapping him up in a full-body hug. “It’s so good to see you! Oh, you’ve grown so fast! It’s only been twelve years and yet you’re taller than me now!”
Zelda looked up from the letter, startled. “Mipha, you know him?”
Mipha turned back to look at Zelda, a wide smile gracing her beautiful face. “Of course I know him! Link lived in the Zora Domain all through his childhood before his father was promoted to being a knight of Central Hyrule and their whole family moved away. Oh, I’m so happy! I’ll go ask the cooks to make something truly delicious tonight, we have to celebrate!”
Mipha was gone before Zelda could utter another word. She turned her attention to Link instead and gave a rueful smile. “I would apologize for her energy, but it seems you already know her.”
The knight nodded, expressionless.
“...Right, well. You should know that I’m not going back.” Zelda pocketed the letter. She had acquired a device that harnessed electricity, and the paper would be instrumental in testing the limits of its destructive abilities later.
The knight nodded again, still blank-faced.
“...Is this some kind of test? If you don’t speak, I’m somehow going to shame myself into going back to that prison my father calls a castle?”
The knight didn’t move.
Mipha popped back in at that moment. “The cooks have been informed! We’ll be having seafood paella and fish pie and salt-grilled crab tonight.”
Link turned to look at her but otherwise didn’t move at all.
“I knew you’d be excited! I was hoping they were still your favorites. Say, are you alright? Normally you’re not this reticent.”
The knight shrugged, and this time even Zelda’s untrained eye caught the abnormality of the motion. Mipha, a trained healer, certainly saw it.
She pulled up Link’s shirt to his mid-back, ignoring his panicked attempts to prevent her, and both princesses sucked in a horrified breath.
Link’s back looked horrible, to say the least of it.
“Link, what happened?” Mipha cried. “I don’t know of any monster between here and Central Hyrule that uses a weapon that looks like this. In fact, these wounds are significantly into their healing phase. Did you encounter a powerful monster in Central Hyrule?”
Link grimaced ruefully, the first expression Zelda had seen him make yet. He covered Mipha’s hands with his own and pushed the shirt down, then turned to face her. Then, to Zelda’s surprise, his hands came up in front of him and he made a few quick gestures.
“Slow down, please, it’s been a long time,” Mipha urged. She moved back, and the fingers of her right hand touched the open palm of her left. “Again?”
Link repeated what Zelda now realized to be sign language, slower this time.
“He...WHAT?!” Mipha roared.
Zelda jumped. She had rarely heard Mipha raise her voice, and she had certainly never heard it at the caliber of this cry of rage.
Link nodded solemnly, eyes downcast. His hands formed more words Zelda couldn’t decipher, words that made Mipha’s fists clench at her sides, and she pivoted on the spot and began stomping towards the exit of the receiving hall.
“Mipha? What happened? Where are you going?”
Mipha turned her head, and even the corner of a murderous gaze not directed towards her sent chills down Zelda’s spine. “Dearest sister, I am eternally grateful you left that other father of yours and joined our family. It makes it so much easier to hate the man.”
“What did he do?” Zelda asked, her heart sinking to her stomach like a stone.
“He had Link whipped before sending him on this journey. To ensure he would ‘do his duty’, as he’s apparently so fond of saying. He promised worse punishment if Link returned unsuccessful.” Mipha spat the words before turning on her heel to stalk out of the room. “I’m going to go speak with Father about this.”
Zelda’s hand flew to her mouth in horror. “I… I can’t believe… he really did that?” She turned to Link, stunned. At his nod, she felt bile rise in her throat. “He did that to you because of me. Link, I cannot begin to express how sorry I am.” Her voice quivered at the last, and her eyes began watering.
Link’s eyes widened in alarm, his hands rising in the universal sign of a panicked attempt at soothing.
The thought that even someone who uses signs to communicate would use the same gesture kicks her brain into a completely different direction. “How does your language work?” she blurted, tears forgotten in the face of something she can’t figure out. “Is every gesture you make a word in the Hylian language?”
Link shook his head no, but cautiously, as if afraid that one wrong move would send her into despair again.
Zelda would have laughed, but priorities. “How can you differentiate between words and gestures then?”
A wry smile twisted into being on Link’s lips. He fished in his pockets until he came up with paper and a writing utensil, then scribbled out his answer. How do you tell what is a word versus a gesture? Same process. If you know the language, then you can tell.
Zelda hummed in thought, processing his answer. Before she could reply, Mipha appeared in the doorway.
“Link, please accompany me to the throne room. My father would like to speak with you.” She turned to Zelda and added, “You can come too if you like. This is a family matter, after all.”
~
King Dorephan exploded when he saw Link’s wounds. Zelda had wondered why Mipha didn’t heal them when she first saw them, but now she understood it was so as not to erase evidence of wrongdoing until after it had been recorded.
Link explained the circumstances of his wounds again, hands moving slowly so Mipha could interpret his signs to the room. King Dorephan let him finish, then asked questions, not just about the incident with King Rhoam but about his life overall. Zelda learned that Link came from a line of powerful knights, but after he began his training at Hyrule Castle, both his parents had been killed by sickness. As a child, he had already been a prodigy with a sword. Since his parents’ deaths, he threw himself into his training, quickly rising through the ranks of knights until his prowess caught King Rhoam’s eye. After Impa failed to return from the Zora Domain, it was assumed that a difficult monster had gotten the better of her, so Link was chosen to go fetch the wayward princess of Hyrule, and the rest was history.
After he finished, King Dorephan signaled an attendant, and a Zora scribe approached to sketch the wounds. Link waved him off and pulled out an odd-looking slate from his hip. He fiddled with it for a moment before flipping it and handing the object to Zelda.
“For me?” she questioned.
Link shook his head, then pointed at a button on the surface of the tablet. When he pressed it, there was a click, and then the image on the surface froze. He then showed how the image could be stored and retrieved later, then pointed at his back. Zelda recorded the gruesome sight of Link’s back into the slate and handed it back to him, though her body itched with desire to study the device.
Her attention was wrenched away from the strange slate when King Dorephan spoke though.
“Link, you have been a friend to my daughter and my people for many years. I hereby extend an offer of adoption. Would you like to join my family and live here in the Zora Domain?”
~
“Can you teach me your language?”
Link stepped back in surprise from where he had been leaning over the railing, admiring the view from the splendid Zora Domain plaza. His brow furrowed in clear question as he drew his right hand away from his forehead, thumb and pinky extended. Why? Zelda interpreted.
“We are family now,” Zelda answered promptly. “The Zora you grew up with are all able to speak with you, and yet I am your sister and I cannot even understand you, let alone sign to you.”
Link’s eyes widened impossibly. Zelda thought she knew why. Just one week ago, he would have knelt before her. Now, she is his older sister.
Hesitantly, he raised his hands and pointed at her. Then, his fingers slowly moved through five different shapes before pointing at her again.
My name, she realized. “Show me again?”
He did so, and when Zelda repeated the letters, his hands covered hers gently and corrected the shapes.
Then he pointed at himself and Zelda before bringing both hands up in front of his chest. His thumbs and index fingers touched while the other fingers stood straight out. As she watched, each hand arced into a semicircle and met in the middle with his pinkies touching.
Zelda looked at him in confusion. “Us?”
He shook his head no, then glanced around and waved at someone behind Zelda. She turned to see Mipha trotting over, holding Sidon cradled in the crook of her elbow.
“What’s going on?” Mipha asked.
Link pointed at her, then Sidon, then Zelda, and finally himself. He repeated the sign.
“Oh,” Mipha breathed, a delighted smile pulling her lips up. “Yes.”
“What does that sign mean?” Zelda pressed.
Mipha turned that radiant smile onto Zelda. “It means ‘family.’”
~
Zelda,
Your insolence is both irresponsible and inconceivable of the daughter I thought I knew. I can only assume that your corruption has infected both couriers I sent to you previously.
Where before I believed Impa to have succumbed to one of the monsters plaguing Hyrule, I am now left with the conclusion that she and Link have both betrayed the kingdom of Hyrule, given that the strongest knight and Champion of Hyrule has also failed to return from the Zora Domain. The only reason I do not declare war on you and the Zora people is because the soldiers of Hyrule are needed to protect the people from the monsters that continue to threaten us.
How could you do this? Has Ganon overtaken your senses? You would leave your kingdom to ruin in favor of some childish snub?
Remember who you are, Zelda. The people of Hyrule are suffering, their lives dependent on a princess who cares not for them. It’s not too late to reverse this conception of your character.
Surely you can see that the path you have chosen leads to doom?
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
Zelda tapped the letter thoughtfully against her desk. Burning in fire, melting by acid, burning by electricity… how should she destroy this one?
A fist rapped twice on the desk in front of her. Zelda looked up to see Link’s inquisitive face. What are you doing? he signed slowly.
Zelda lay the letter down and, even more slowly, fumbled her way through her explanation.
Link tilted his head consideringly, eyes narrowed in thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he dashed from the room. Moments later, he returned with a spiky blue rod emanating a cold air. He raised the rod triumphantly, then swung it at the letter. A beam of magic burst forth, exploding in a sphere of cold concentrated on the letter on Zelda’s desk. When the snow cleared away, only the letter was frozen solid.
Link picked up the letter and handed it to Zelda. Throw it! he signed excitedly.
Zelda raised her fist and chucked the letter as hard as she could against the ground. It shattered into a thousand irretrievable pieces.
She and Link high-fived.
~
Zelda,
I don’t know what else to do with you. You have disappointed me on every front with your willful actions.
I had no choice but to sacrifice a hard-earned political favor in order to convince this courier to bear my message. Hopefully you will remember your mother and your lineage when you see her.
-King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
~
“I’m sorry, who is having an audience with Father right now?” Zelda’s eyes were enormous as she leaned forwards eagerly.
Mipha glanced at her in surprise. “Chief Urbosa of the Gerudo,” she replied.
“Oh,” Zelda breathed. “Oh!”
She rushed into the throne room just in time to see Urbosa step powerfully forward and… tap forearms with King Dorephan?
“Urbosa?” Her legs threatened to give way when confronted with the person she had regarded as a second mother up until her own mother’s death and King Rhoam’s subsequent banning of the Gerudo from Hyrule Castle.
“Little bird!” Urbosa whirled around and leaped forward to gather Zelda up in her arms. “I’m very happy to see you! You look in excellent health, dear.”
“I’m doing well here, but… what are you doing here?”
“Two things, really. King Rhoam asked me to deliver this letter to you in the Zora Domain and to, what was it, ‘remind Zelda of what her mother would have wanted of her.’ Which is really just your happiness and well-being, and I can clearly see that you’ve got much more of both of those here than you ever did at Hyrule Castle. It’s of little matter to me, since I was able to wrangle three trade agreements and a certain sum of gold for my troubles.”
Zelda tucked the letter in her side-pouch dismissively. She would go ask Link if he had any more good ideas on how to dispose of it later. “What was the second thing?” she asked.
“Hmm, yes, the second thing,” Urbosa said, drawing herself up to her full menacing height while keeping a firm grip on Zelda’s waist. “What’s this I hear about someone else getting to adopt you before me?”
“Ah, well, you see, it kind of just happened—”
“Excuses!” Urbosa scoffed. “Clearly you should first have requested adoption by Chief Urbosa of the Gerudo, your mother’s dearest friend in all the world.”
“I’m sorry…”
“No, don’t apologize little bird, it’s alright. I’ve already resolved the issue.” Urbosa winked as she finished her sentence.
“What do you mean?” Zelda had a sinking feeling in her stomach, knowing exactly how Urbosa’s overwhelming love tended to express itself. Memories of saying she liked Silent Princess flowers once and then receiving six hundred of them at her next birthday sprang to mind.
“Why, King Dorephan and I have agreed to split parenthood of you, of course! Naturally, you are primarily my child, but I’ll let you pretend it’s equal.”
“Now, now, Chief Urbosa,” King Dorephan murmured agreeably. “You can’t just go around poaching other people’s daughters.”
“Neither can you, King Dorephan.” Urbosa smiled dangerously up at him. “She’s our daughter now.” Her grin gentled as she looked down to Zelda in her arms. “Princess of Hyrule, second princess of the Zora, and honorary princess of the Gerudo, since we have an elected leader rather than a monarchy.”
Zelda felt tears spring to her eyes again. Goddess above, she was tired of crying every time her family grew, but also she wouldn’t give up any of her family for anything. “Thank you, thank you so much,” she sobbed.
Urbosa held her tightly and soothingly rubbed her back. “Welcome to the family, little bird.”
~
With the help of Zelda’s detailed dossier on Ganon’s history, Chief Urbosa and King Dorephan led efforts to prevent Ganon’s rise by depriving him of the resources he would need. For the Gerudo, that meant crushing the Yiga clan. For the Zora, that involved coordinating with the Rito and Goron peoples to quash the monster outbreaks plaguing all of Hyrule; however, to Zelda’s surprise, this did not involve fighting them.
“I’m sorry, can you explain that again?” Zelda asked, bewildered by the implications laid before her.
“We’re going to rehabilitate them,” Mipha repeated, smiling brightly.
“And we could have been doing this the whole time? We didn’t have to be fighting them and, and killing them?”
“Yes, to an extent. Ganon’s corruption has a threshold, and after that, they cannot be saved. But before you were born—which is not quite as long for most of us as it is for you Hylians—most of what King Rhoam calls monsters lived in each of our domains as citizens of our lands. Not that they generally paid taxes or anything, but if they did, they were privy to the protection enjoyed by the Zora people.”
“Why are the Gerudo fighting the Yiga, then?” Zelda’s head hurt. Monsters? Weren’t always monsters?
Impa spoke up before Mipha could. “The Yiga are not corrupted unwillingly by Ganon’s evil. Instead, they are Sheikah who embrace it. They deserve to be fought and defeated because they chose their path.” Her fierce frankness startled everyone but Zelda, who knew her friend’s typical silence was not an indication of shyness but of stoicism.
“I see…” Zelda murmured. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. “Do you think the Springs of Wisdom, Courage, and Strength might aid in cleansing them of corruption? If so, perhaps we could disseminate that water in a widespread manner to decrease the threshold of corruption for the mons—the victims.”
Link tapped on the table, and everyone turned to look at him as his hands flew through a series of signs. Zelda only caught some keywords, but Mipha interpreted aloud anyway.
“You’re willing to go look for the sword of evil’s bane and defeat Ganon even though you’re no longer Champion of Hyrule?”
Link nodded fiercely. It would be my honor, he signed.
“Very well.” Mipha stood. “Sounds like we each have a task ahead of us then. Let’s get cracking.”
~
With an enormous fwoosh, the beast that was Ganon exploded into black ashes, each particle seeming to scream before dissipating into nothingness.
Zelda couldn’t help but look from their position on Hyrule Field to the untouched castle and surrounding lands. Unbidden, King Rhoam’s words rose in her memory. So much for the Divine Beasts being the best plan to rid the world of Calamity Ganon.
She spat on the ground and ground her boot into the dirt to erase the memory of Rhoam and stepped forward to support her brother.
~
Many years later, engraved in stone in the royal suite of the Zora Domain, there is a tablet displaying the unmistakably large figure of King Dorephan, the petite figure of his wife, the slender figure of Mipha, and the large figure that would be Sidon when he fully matured. There is also an engraving of Link, his long hair flowing loose and free with an easy smile, arm slung around his sister. On her other side stands Impa, her stern features etched into immortality even as her hand is clasped in Zelda’s, their wedding rings represented in matching bands of tiny sapphires on the stone wall. Urbosa’s face is sketched in sharp detail above them, as if the artist was scared to get a single aspect wrong (as well she should have been).
Zelda runs her hand over the smooth stone as she does each time she passes the tablet. Her heart warms as her fingers trace over the etched lines of the faces of those dearest to her.
She smiles and heads to the dining room. There’s creamy seafood soup tonight, and a full table of family with whom to enjoy it.