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It is said that Lorenzo Alfred Hyrule was one of the greatest kings in Hyrulian history. Historian theorize that with the recognition of the Triforce, he was not only a great conquerer who expanded the kingdom, but also a wise and just ruler who dealt fairly with all people. While Lorenzo was blessed, the truth is that he let his wife Queen Lucretia do the actual ruling. Instead, the king frequently went out on hunts across the lands to kill off dangerous monsters. People would be so grateful for his heroism that they willingly offer their allegiance to Hyrule in exchange for the protection of their knights. Lorenzo trained many of those knights himself, scouting out brave youths and drilling them into honorable guardians. One could say that the wisest thing Lorenzo did was to do what he did best and leave the rest of his duties to those who did them better.
However, this legend is not about Lorenzo. This one is about Lorenzo’s son, Zacharie. As a child, he greatly admired his father and wanted to help him. He played at being a warrior, listening to his father training the young knights. He went out with his father on adventures as soon as he could. When he was twelve, he became renown for slaying a dragon on his own. As he grew, he became handsome, clever, and charming, popular with many people throughout Hyrule. Zacharie hoped that he could gain the blessing of the Triforce as well.
When Zacharie was sixteen, he was allowed to go on his own adventure to seek his fortune. His curiosity led him to the south past Death Mountain, into a land called Holodrum. It was technically a part of Hyrule, a wild area with barely any civilization. According to stories among the knights, many monsters were seen crawling out of Death Mountain to trouble the towns all over Hyrule. Lorenzo had explored Death Mountain searching for their source, the last few times with Zacharie helping. If they hadn’t found a source yet, perhaps it was down here in Holodrum? There were mysterious dungeons in this area said to hold legendary treasures. If he couldn’t find a source to stop the monsters, he could find something to make it easier to fight them.
He discovered an old graveyard on his travels, a large field of tombs with a hill holding a grander set of tombs right next door. Zacharias fought off some Lynels guarding the stairs to the upper tomb to check out that part of the graveyard. On top of the hill, he found two lines of white Armos statues guarding the monstrous white entrance to what seemed to be a dungeon. There was also a cloaked figure among the statues, reading a large book as peacefully as others might at home. While the shadows obscuring his feet made it clear this was a skilled magician, he had his hood down to show a human face. There were tattooed patterns around his head rather than hair, markings that were unlike anything the prince had seen before.
“Pardon me, sir, but what are you doing out here?” Zacharie asked.
“I could ask you the same,” the magician said. “I find civilization a distraction when I need to study, thus I come to distant spots like this. Now you explain.”
“I’m searching for the source of all monsters,” he explained. “I’m Prince Zacharie of Hyrule and my father has researched where the monsters that raid our lands come from all his life. It is either in Death Mountain or in this land here.”
The magician smirked at that. “That’s a noble aim. But my, you’re the prince of Hyrule? You’re an unfortunate one.”
“Nobody’s ever said that to me,” Zacharie said, mystified that it was a thought at all. “And I’ve never felt that way.”
After closing his book, he rose to his feet (so to speak when one couldn’t see his feet). “There is nothing guaranteed for you in the future; your sister will become the next ruler. If she doesn’t, than that will be beginning of the end for Hyrule. You would be the assured heir in any other kingdom as the elder child, and the son at that. As things are, you may become a knight but you won’t be a ruler of Hyrule.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “If I can stop the monsters from coming, I’ll make my name known all the same.”
“If you can do that, everyone would be amazed. Including myself. I am called Agahnim; I have been studying magic for all of my life, but I could not tell you where all the monsters are coming from. There are a great many here in Holodrum. Figuring out where they all come from sounds like quite the riddle. Do you want to work together? I could teach you what I know of magic and I might learn some things from you as well.”
This was a strange man, but friendly enough. Zacharie agreed to work with him. For the rest of the summer, he and Agahnim explored the dungeons of Holodrom and Death Mountain in search of the source of all monsters. The magician knew a lot of useful and curious spells, everything from creating light to see by to changing boring crackers into all kinds of delightful foods. Many of the spells were more difficult to cast than they appeared. To begin with, Agahnim taught him the easier spells like Light, Fire, and Cure. Using those would help his magic grow stronger. At the end of the summer, Zacharie had to return north while Agahnim remained in Holodrum to continue his studies.
They met back up the next summer to continue their search, and the summer after that. The search turned up a lot of dead ends and rumors, as well as hoards of rupees and treasures of varying degrees of usefulness. As the prince, Zacharie didn’t need all the rupees or treasures, although he brought back a few pieces to give to his family. There were some tools as well, ones that he could get easily at the castle or elsewhere in Hyrule. Agahnim didn’t seem much interested in such things either, save for the occasional jewel or amulet that would be useful to his studies. Instead, he said knowledge was his greatest asset and anything more could be acquired with the right knowledge. He certainly had lots of interesting things to teach the prince.
When Zacharie was nineteen, he decided to search for the Triforce’s blessing. His father advised him on a few places to start looking, with the warning that he might not find pieces in the same places. The treasure of the goddesses would not make itself easy to find for anyone. Not long into his search, he came across Agahnim at the King’s Tomb. “I don’t think I’ve seen you north of Death Mountain before,” Zacharie said.
“I haven’t needed to move out of Holodrum before,” Agahnim explained. “However, I got curious about some temples in this part of Hyrule. They’re protecting something, but what, how, or why are things I don’t know. Do you know about them?”
“A little bit,” Zacharias said. “Actually, they were put together by my great-grandfather and grandfather. My father doesn’t consider them a big threat because the monsters normally stay within their temples. They are important in that they protect something, but I don’t think my family wrote much down about them.”
“But they wouldn’t tell you what their purpose is?” he asked. “Strange. One would think they’d pass the responsibility down to you.”
“Maybe when I’ve proved my abilities, they’ll let me know,” he said. “I don’t think it’d be trouble if we checked them out.”
As they traveled in search of the temples and the Triforce, Zacharie started to seriously consider why he wasn’t being told things. He was the prince, right? And he’d proved himself on many occasions; he had been knighted on his seventeenth birthday and many people called him a hero. However, his parents had said nothing about who was the heir to the throne. There was just him and his sister Zelda, who was three years younger than him. Anywhere else, they would have named him the next king already. In Hyrule, however, the princess was usually named the heir despite being a kingdom. Zacharie had done his own research and found that to be true. One of his distant ancestors was said to be an incarnation of the goddess Hylia. As a result, it was prophesied that if a prince ever inherited the throne of Hyrule, it would spell disaster and possibly the end of Hyrule itself. But if they really believed in it, they should have just told him about it already.
At least Agahnim believed in him. The magician felt that he didn’t need protection through lies or silence. He discussed his magical research freely, often asking for Zacharie’s thoughts or questions. And if it wasn’t for Agahnim telling him, Zacharie wouldn’t be questioning his position in the first place. They worked well together, defeating the temple guardians and puzzles. However, nothing happened when they conquered the temples. There were altars at the end that did nothing and could not be damaged. Although there were slots in the altars for some kind of talisman, they could find nothing within the temples that would fit into those slots. As a test, they returned to the temples after a time and found that the monsters and guardians had been restored. Zacharie promised to study records at the castle to figure out what was going on and what would make fighting through them worthwhile.
He tried, searching many of the records when he got back home. In that, he found papers about summoning monsters and creating seals. There was nothing direct about what the mysterious temples were there for. There were several old maps of Hyrule, from before and after the temples were made. Studying those, Zacharie figured out that the temples formed a massive seal centered in the Valley of Death. But what would be so important that the royal family would summon monsters to protect it? Perhaps the Triforce?
But if it was the Triforce, then his father Lorenzo must have gone into the Valley of Death to get its blessing as king. Lorenzo had not mentioned anything about the Valley of Death to Zacharie. When the prince asked around, some people didn’t know anything while others wouldn’t say anything. One of the servants became alarmed, telling him that if he went to investigate the valley, then he would die. But the records showed that as long as he could fight the monsters there, death wouldn’t be a serious threat.
Eventually, his father called him into a meeting. “I heard that you’ve been asking around about the Valley of Death.”
There was a thought that he should feel angry for not being told about important matters. But Zacharie was a knight as well as a prince; he didn’t want to act dishonorably. “I believe that it’s connected to the Triforce somehow,” he said. “You must have been there yourself if that’s true.”
“I have,” Lorenzo admitted. “But you’re running ahead of yourself at the moment, as the Valley of Death holds the final trial to find one worthy of holding the Triforce. There’s a temple in the depths of that valley, but I was not able to enter it. While I was not the person that the Triforce waits for, it blessed me for enduring all of its trials. I can hear from it at specific times, which has guided both me and Lucretia through our reign. Follow the leads I gave you and you’ll discover the trials just as I did.”
Infuriatingly, no question Zacharie asked got his father to divulge any further information. He asked his mother too; she similarly told him to look on his own. Zacharie thought about asking his sister. Since Hyrulian succession usually went from queen to princess, their mother might have told Zelda something. Zacharie found her with a tutor, learning about mediating disputes. His father had spoken with him about it along with showing him how it was done. With Zelda, she was practicing with theoretical arguments before she would observe with their mother in the royal audience chamber. It was the same, save that the tutor mentioned that Zelda would be helping her mother every day once she had finished these studies. Had their parents truly decided their futures without consulting them? Agahnim had suggested that.
Zacharie had to get the blessing of the Triforce or people would think he was a failure. That much was clear. With that in mind, he began making more trips around Hyrule’s lands. He cleared out monsters that were threatening distant towns; he explored through dangerous temples and dungeons for the Triforce. When he found treasures and cash, he gave them away to those who needed them. He talked to people and if they needed help in other ways, he helped how he could. That should impress the Triforce, right?
In some places, Zacharie found golden fragments of such power that they had to be pieces of the Triforce. Some of them would tremble in his hand. Others would shine for a moment, then vanish out of his grasp. None of them spoke to him. When he tried to go after the ones that disappeared, they didn’t return. He was doing things that his father had done. What was he missing?
Eventually, his travels crossed paths with his friend again. “How are your studies going?” Zacharie asked.
“Not as I’d like,” Agahnim said. “I don’t go into towns often because people take one look at me and immediately distrust me. Even if you’re with me, I doubt I could get far peacefully no matter what we do. But it may be the time to stop avoiding towns. I need to find some books.”
“I could look for you if I know what books you need,” he said. “There’s a few people I’ve met who have extensive book collections, plus there’s what at the castle that I’m free to search through.”
Smiling at that, he said, “Thank you, you’re a good friend. I did have an idea for finding those books if you’ll help me. I’ve been practicing a spell lately for hiding within shadows. If I hid within your shadow, I’d be able to enter towns and even the castle without causing needless alarm. One of the books I’d like to find may have a title you can’t read, so it would help if I could look with you and whisper which ones I need.”
“Sure, that might be easier. Although I have a few more places I’m searching for before I head back to the castle.” He then explained about his problems with getting the Triforce’s blessing.
Agahnim listened to him and agreed that he was being treated unfairly. “They really have no right to withhold information from you, not when they’re your family. But you’ve gotten some of the fragments to stay with you?”
“Yes, I’ve got them with me,” Zacharie said, pulling out the leather pouch he was keeping them in. “I haven’t heard from them and I don’t notice them doing anything for me.”
“Perhaps something will happen when you gather all the pieces,” Agahnim said. “But if you’ve got the pieces, there should be a way to use them to track down the rest. When you do that, you can confront your family about hiding things from you.”
With the magician’s help, Zacharie was able to get two more pieces. Gathering those eight made them magically fuse together into one golden triangle. However, it didn’t seem like the full Triforce. It didn’t offer Zacharie anything for gathering it together. But it was progress. Agahnim found a couple of books that were difficult to read but interesting once the magician explained things in plainer terms.
Before they could track down the pieces that vanished, a letter for the prince arrived by magic. His parents had both fallen ill and they requested that he come directly to the castle. They wouldn’t have sent the letter if it wasn’t serious. Taking Agahnim along in his shadow, Zacharie went back home to talk with them. Everyone in the castle was worried about the king and queen. There were even rumors that this was no ordinary illness. Outside their rooms, the royal wizard was deep in thought, muttering that it was a curse he didn’t recognize Since they were awake when he arrived, Zacharie was allowed right in to see his parents.
Lorenzo and Lucretia seemed ages older than they had been last time Zacharie had seen them. They were pale and frail-looking, as though they hadn’t eaten anything for weeks. While the king was recognized as the strongest warrior in the land, he seemed like he couldn’t even lift his sword, much less wield it as a master. The queen was barely awake; she opened her eyes to see him, smiled, then drifted off again. Lorenzo nodded on seeing him. “It’s good to see you again.”
“I came as soon as I got notice,” Zacharie said, feeling ashamed that he’d doubted them. “What’s happened to you both?”
“No one is certain,” he said. “We both had an ominous dream a month ago, of an ancient evil awakening within a mountain. Ever since, our strength has been sapped continually. It seemed like an ordinary illness at first, but now we can hardly walk on our own. They’re searching for what’s going on, but at this point, any effort may be too late. Even if we can be saved, there is something we need to ask of you now.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Hyrule needs you to be your sister’s first knight,” Lorenzo said. “I’m sorry, but there is a secret power that is passed down through the female descendants of Hylia. The light of the goddess is responsible for the blessings that make Hyrule prosperous, as long as one of those descendants is the queen. If you were to become king, the blessings would be active for you but not for any of your children. We were waiting for a few more months to make the announcement, but we’ll be making it official once you agree to it.”
That was what he was expecting. Why wait until now to tell him? Still, he didn’t want to distress his parents when they were weak. “I’ll protect and support her, I swear it,” Zacharie said, putting his hand over his heart. “It’s for the sake of Hyrule.”
“Thank you,” he said, relieved at it. “The first thing you’ll need to do is escort her to a shrine of wisdom after her eighteenth birthday. There’s a rite that Zelda needs to perform there to unlock her true power as Hyrule’s queen For the previous two rites, I protected her, but I’m incapable of that now. Once she’s completed that and become queen, you’ll be her primary protector until she chooses one herself.”
This wasn’t really asking him to do this; it was making the demand and expecting him to obey. Still, Zacharie reassured his father that he would be Zelda’s knight, and confirmed it again when his mother was awake enough to know. But once it was just him and Agahnim in the castle library, he muttered, “Did they really have to wait until the last minute to tell me about that?”
“You truly are unfortunate to be treated so unfairly,” Agahnim said. “It’s like you’re an obstacle they must treat politely or else lose face.”
“I’m just here to serve my sister, apparently,” he said. “I wouldn’t feel so bad about it if they’d told me a few years ago, or if they suggested I be married off for an alliance. Zelda is patient and wise, just like our mother. In fact, she’d likely be a better queen than I’d be a king. I’m fine with her being the heir, it’s just infuriating all the same.”
“Perhaps they are afraid of the prophesies of a Hylian prince.” Agahnim put a hand on Zacharie’s shoulder. “I know you’re a good person. We’ll escort your sister to her rite, but after that, the book I was reading last night gave some interesting information. The monsters may all be coming from somewhere in Death Mountain, but there’s a secret chamber from which evil magic seeps. Once I finish that book, we may finally be able to solve that problem.”
A month later, Zacharie traveled with his sister to the eastern lands. Zelda wanted to stop by any town along their path to speak to people and see how they were doing. Everyone seemed to love her once they met her and it was easy to see why. Although she was just eighteen, she was wise and considered any problem set before her seriously. Zelda convinced a carpenter to give up his feud with the miller in order to get the windmill repaired; that was done as kindly as when she helped a child find their lost shoe. All the while, she conducted herself in such a regal manner that some elders said that she was a spitting image of their mother. They also thought he was noble for protecting her, but wasn’t that just his duty? As her bother and her knight, he was to keep her from harm. They were more interested in her than him.
They got to the mountain pass that led to Darunia and took a side path to get to the shrine Zelda needed to visit. As they were traveling high in the mountains, Zelda kept smiling at the view. “Oh look, there’s an eagle’s nest!” she said at one point, gesturing up a cliff. There was a stubborn little tree growing there, supporting a hefty nest where a watchful eagle was on guard. Turning to him, she said, “Zacharie, do you remember when we talked about finding the birds of legend so we can find the islands in the sky? I thought of it the other day, but no one has seen birds like that for centuries.”
“Well they are legends,” he said. “I’ve heard some stories about those sky islands on my travels, but always as legends that no one living has ever reached.”
“That’s unfortunate. There, you see the cavern there? That’s where I need to go.” She paused, looking it over.
“I’ll get a camp set up,” Impa said. She was Zelda’s handmaiden and had shown a lot of interesting talents on the way here. “You two go on ahead.”
“Sure, thank you,” Zelda said, slipping back into formality. She and Zacharie headed in, finding a tunnel lit by glowing crystals. A shaft of sunlight could be seen not that far ahead. “Say, is something troubling you? You seem different lately, but I can’t put a finger on why.”
“I’m just worried about our parents,” Zacharie said. “They haven’t improved one bit. I’m surprised you’re enjoying this as you are.”
“I am worried about them,” she said, her expression showing that she told the truth. “But I don’t get out of the castle as often as you do. We probably won’t return home to good news. For now, they still live and they wouldn’t want us to be too worried; I’ll enjoy this adventure with you to look back on fondly some day. I hope you can do the same.”
“I wish we could figure out how to help them, but no one can figure this illness out,” he said. Although, that wasn’t all he wished for.
He wasn’t allowed into the chamber while she was in prayer. But he knew where it was and did get a peek inside. There was a clear pool of water surrounding a heavily weathered shrine. Topping the shrine was a still complete emblem of the Hyrule royal family. Then was this about their heritage or the Triforce? Either way, why keep him out of this? Because he was a prince? She still wasn’t telling him much.
When they got back to the castle, they got the news that their parents had passed away. Zacharie stuck around to help with their funeral and Zelda’s coronation. He hoped that they’d left a letter or something to explain why they’d kept him out of the loop (and preferably they’d apologize). When he got the letter, though, there was nothing like that. It was short and simple, a repeat of their idea that he be Zelda’s loyal knight. In contrast, Zelda got a long letter with advice on ruling and problems that had been left unsolved. Did they really not care about him? Or maybe they were truly disappointed that he was a prince. Now he’d never be sure.
He spent the winter in mourning. When spring came around, Zacharie headed out with Agahnim to find the source of all monsters. In the mountain range known collectively as Death Mountain, there was a formation known as Spectacle Rock. Two identical boulders stood on a plateau, but with the right incantation, Agahnim was able to open up the right boulder. It led into a strange stone dungeon full of powerful monsters. But Zacharie with his sword and Agahnim with his magic were able to make short work of them.
They eventually found a map of the dungeon, revealing that it took the form of a skull. Within the left eye, they discovered a dark room with the same shape on the ground. Zacharie felt a shiver as he entered. There was a powerful presence here. Before he realized it, he had walked to a place in front of the two eyes and pulled out the piece of the Triforce he’d found. “Ganon, I have brought back the third of the Triforce that you rightly inherited.”
Wait… that was Agahnim’s voice, but his own lips saying that. As he realized that Agahnim had overtaken him from his own shadow, the golden treasure rose out of his hand and was surrounded by thick shadows. Red eyes glared down at him; a wild growl filled the room.
Continuing to use Zacharie’s body, Agahnim said, “This young man is a descendant of Hylia and he did earn the Triforce of Power. Despite that, he’s a useless prince and his sister is already the queen. We’ll have to deal with her to attain the other two pieces.”
Another growl came.
“Right, I will do so.” And then it felt like Zacharie fell asleep.
Next thing he knew, he was back in the castle. He was near the castle gardens, with Zelda nearby looking at him. Or, looking for him? “I can’t tell you about that,” Zelda said.
“Why won’t you tell me either?” Agahnim asked through him. “I’m just seeking the blessings of the Triforce. Do you not accept me as a part of this family either?”
There was a glint on the back of Zelda’s left hand when she put it to her chest. “You are not my brother,” she said firmly. “Zacharie, wake up please.”
“Zelda,” he said, trying to take back control. “I’m sorry, but no one told me about our family traditions. I was left out of so much, so I was resentful. But you are my sister…”
“Who has taken control from you?” Zelda asked.
“Aga…” he stated to say.
But the magician reasserted his control. “If neither of you are going to cooperate, then I will end your family line right here.” He started a curse.
The start of it was familiar, something Agahnim had talked about. From that, Zacharie knew how to disrupt the spell. “No, I won’t let you kill her!” he said, shifting the magic. “Don’t, Agahnim!”
On hearing the name, Zelda nodded and clasped her hands to her chest. Her voice struggled as she said, “Agahnim… leave my brother’s body…”
The magician was ejected out of Zacharie, but did not reform his old body. Instead, he was as much of a phantom as Ganon was. “Neither of you will get away with this,” Agahnim hissed. “My curse will now leave you to sleep forever, Zelda! And Zacharie, once you die, my true self will be reborn to turn Hyrule to darkness. From now on, your people will fear the inevitable return of Ganon!” He then vanished with a cackle.
Zacharie was on his knees now, trembling as the curse gripped his soul. “Zelda, I’m truly sorry,” he said, taking her hand.
“I’m sure you’re not at fault,” she said, smiling before she yawned. “Sorry… we should have told you sooner… you’re an important part of our family too… please, take care, of everyone…” then she fell into a deep sleep, never to wake up while Zacharie lived. And yet, she never grew a bit older.
Zacharie had Zelda placed in a secure room of the palace, to be protected until the day she woke up and could lead the country as she should. For the time being, Zacharie became the King of Hyrule, known as a somber and just ruler. He trained knights just as his father had taught him, preparing them as best they could for the return of the evil king. He also declared that every girl born into the royal family would be named Zelda, both as they should be and in honor of his dear sister.