Work Text:
Zelda was a girl who lived quite a simple life up in the skies on a sky island named Skyloft. She was a student who attended the Knights Academy, flew on her bluish-purple Loftwing, and spent time with her best friend she’d had since childhood, Link. This was her daily routine, up until recently.
On one fateful day after the Wing Ceremony, Link and Zelda flew around the clouds together on their respective Loftwings. For a moment, everything was peaceful, until it wasn’t.
Out of nowhere, a tornado appeared in the sky, seeming to come from the surface land below the clouds. It separated the two of them, taking Zelda away, leaving her trapped on the surface, and Link in Skyloft. Before Link could jump in after her, it disappeared out of thin air.
When Zelda awakened on the surface, she was greeted by a great Sheikah warrior named Impa, who eventually became her guardian and mentor, and told Zelda about her very purpose in life, and her destiny. Impa took her to three springs; The Spring of Courage, Power, and Wisdom, so she could recall memories of her past life before she was the mortal Zelda—her life as Goddess Hylia.
Hylia was the Goddess of Light. She created the Hylian people and the land of Skyloft in order to protect the last of humanity from the demon tribe, led by their king, Demise. She gave up her immortality in order to be reincarnated as a mortal—starting with this Zelda, a girl who lived above the clouds on a land called Skyloft—and her descendants became the Royal Family of Hyrule.
Many centuries ago…
Hylia knows that danger is soon approaching. She can sense a great threat within Demise’s evil aura looming about, though he is nowhere to be seen. She has to prepare. Hylia must succeed.
But she can’t do it alone.
Although her power may be great, it alone wouldn’t be enough to seal him away. She must find a powerful hero to fight alongside her in this war—one who is courageous and wants to help others.
So, she takes to the skies with her Crimson Loftwing, in search of a worthy warrior to accompany her in this battle against the Demon King.
She journeys high and low, looking for the one she deemed a notable fit for such a task. Her trusty Loftwing, who is something of a guardian to Hylia, would not be so easily persuaded by just anybody. This swordsman must prove their strength and willpower to not only Hylia but to the Loftwing as well. He is more serious about this than Hylia, it seems.
Meanwhile, Link is sword training in the woods in the Land of Hylia—later dubbed Hyrule—when a sudden fissure opens up right in front of his eyes. Monsters he has never seen before come pouring out of it, running amock. That isn’t all, though. Shortly after, a demonic counterpart of the Supreme Deities, such as Hylia and the three other Golden Goddesses who created the Land of Hylia, saunters out of the fissure next, wielding a powerful-looking sword.
The blade in his hand is black and the edge is pointy. The very tip of this strange-looking sword seems to be incredibly sharp—honed enough to kill someone with so much as a simple graze on the cheek, Link thinks.
Link backs away and trips over himself, eyes widening. Demise looks over at Link, glaring at him with pure hatred. Demise senses his heroic power, and he swings his sword right at Link.
Before Link can react, a mysterious blade blocks the attack. Hylia stands before Link, fending off Demise’s attack with the Master Sword. The Crimson Loftwing helps Link to his feet and gestures for Link to ride atop him. Hylia glances back at Link and her Loftwing, giving them both a nod. The Loftwing lifts from the ground and begins to carry Link to safety in the sky. Hylia lowers the sword and jumps back away from the strike of Demise’s evil weapon. Angel-like wings form out of the back of her white gown and she flies after her Loftwing, successfully escaping the expected ambush.
Demise smirks devilishly.
“You won’t be capable of running forever, White Goddess.”
The three of them fled to an island in the sky, later to be dubbed Skyloft, to regroup. Link gets off the Loftwing and studies the Goddess standing in front of him. Her hair is long and luscious. It’s a pretty golden color. She is wearing a white gown with something that resembles a small headpiece around her bangs.
“You’re Hylia,” he starts, eyeing her up and down, “aren’t you?”
“Indeed. I am the Goddess of Light.” Hylia skims him as well, looking at his warrior-esque attire with his green tunic and hat to match, with red gauntlets and a red scarf wrapped around his neck, “And who might you be?”
“Link,” He says, still in awe of her beauty, “my name is Link.”
She’s ethereal. What reason does a beautiful Goddess like her have to be speaking to someone like me?
Hylia smiles sweetly at Link, offering him the Master Sword.
“You’re the one we’ve been looking for. I offer you this Sacred Sword. It is a blade that repels evil. Its purpose was to be used by the Gods and Gods alone, however,”
Hylia sighs a breath of desperation before she continues.
“In order to exert its power on the surface world where Demise will soon take over, it must be reforged by human hands. Although, not just any human.”
Hylia places a hand on Link’s shoulder.
“It must be the hands of the most honorable hero in the land. I am to believe that is you.”
Link reluctantly takes the sword into his hand, and it seems to respond quite well as he takes a minute to swing it around.
“Hold on there, Hylia,” The Loftwing interjects, “how can we be sure?”
Hylia’s trusty steed glares at Link suspiciously, trying to sense some sort of heroic aura within him. Hylia could feel it even if her Loftwing could not just yet. She puts her hand on top of its head, petting and soothing it.
“Hush now, my dear Garnet. I appreciate and understand your concern—however, I can sense the courageous power from within him. It is practically screaming at me.”
Garnet, Hylia’s Loftwing, scoffs.
“Then how am I unable to do the same?”
She brings her face to Garnet’s beak, kissing the top of it blissfully.
“You are cautious and need to be convinced. Your mindset is blinding you from seeing it. Please, have faith in Link as I do.”
Garnet hesitates before he obediently nods. Link, who is standing there dumbfounded, quickly puffs his chest once he sees the Goddess looking at him.
He isn’t quite sure what she sees in him, considering that she hasn’t witnessed him do anything heroic to his knowledge, but Link did consider himself a hero to the people of the Land of Hylia. They rely on him for difficult tasks just like Hylia did now.
“Link, I can tell your heart is true. The spirit of a hero rests within you, I can see it.”
She puts her hand on his chest where his heart is, and Link’s ears tinge pink. He kneels down on one knee and kisses the top of her hand in respect.
Hylia smiles affectionately at Link, cheeks blazing ever so slightly.
“I’m glad you believe in me, Hylia, but I must admit that I don’t believe I deserve your praise. I have yet to do anything worthy of it.”
Link looks up at the White Goddess with eyes that seem to be screaming at Hylia with adoration. Hylia locks her eyes with Link’s as she nods.
He has, though. Hylia has seen his heroic endeavors countless times when she had disguised herself as a mortal on the land. However, she realizes Link still needs to prove it to Garnet, as he would be absent during those times to look over the lands above the clouds.
“Very well, if you do wish to prove yourself to Garnet and I, then, by all means, do so.”
Hylia raises her hands in the air and a golden light shoots out from her palms. The sky island surrounding them shapeshifts into a battle arena. Demise’s figure stands on one side of the ring, with Link on the other, Master Sword in his hand. Garnet and Hylia watch the fight from the stands.
Suddenly, Link feels nervous. He’s been in countless battles, and it’s not as if he hasn’t been tested while he fought before, but he knows this is the most important battle of his life—even if it is merely a trial run. If he screws this up, Hylia won’t deem him worthy, and the people of the Land of Hylia would be doomed, and all he would be able to do is sit and watch.
Link takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and focuses on the task at hand, rather than his own anxious thoughts. Once he opens them, the test battle begins.
Link lunges at Demise, swinging his sword and aiming for his right arm. Before Link could even leave a scratch, Demise side-stepped out of the way, uppercutting Link’s stomach, causing him to fly across the ring. Link coughs up some blood before he gets up off the ground.
Demise maniacally laughs and calls him pathetic and Link grimaces. The anger in Link’s face gets more apparent as the fight goes on.
Link does the same thing again—but this time he’s prepared for the unexpected.
Link raises his sword up once more and Demise dodges to the left. Link smirks and turns around quicker than Demise had time to react, and slices his right arm clean off. Demise shrieks in agony. With only one hand left, Demise raises his Demon Sword and swings it at Link, surprising him at how much faster he can move despite the sword being much heavier than Link’s.
Just as it was about to slice Link in half and all hope seemed lost, Link drops to his feet and slides himself under Demise, raising his sword into him from underneath his body. While screaming, Link pushes the Master Sword deeper into him until the tip of the sword comes out of Demise’s head.
A big puff of black smoke fills the air, blinding Link. A moment later, the arena disappears and they are back on the sky island. He looks at Hylia and Garnet nervously.
Hylia, not needing convincing, smiles at him with an intensified hopeful expression, and by the looks of it to Link, Garnet seems to be impressed.
“It seems you are indeed worthy,” Garnet says with a genuine smile.
Out of pure instinct, Hylia rushes to Link’s side and pulls him into a loving embrace. She wraps her arms around his neck, seemingly sobbing joyfully into his shoulder. Link’s cheeks turn pink as he reciprocates her sudden hug. He rubs her back as he notices her weeping.
“Do not fear, my Goddess, for I am here to help get rid of the evil that plagues this land.” He reassures her while caressing her head.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Link, your aid will not go unnoticed. I am grateful for your courage and kindness.”
They end their embrace and Link holds both of Hylia’s hands and looks deeply into her sapphire eyes.
“I will do everything I can for you and the people of this land. I swear to not let you down.”
Hylia interlocks her fingers with his.
“My faith in you will not falter. You have no reason to worry.” She reassures.
The battle against Demise is nearly coming to fruition. Hylia and Link had spent several weeks, or perhaps a month, up in the sky to prepare for anything and everything he may throw at them. Although Hylia was expecting the attack, she wasn’t expecting him to terrorize them so soon.
Hylia knows they are very unprepared, so that’s when she suggested taking some time to devise a plan, even if it meant Demise would have the upper hand for just a moment. Garnet had been hesitant about the idea, but when he notices how much Link trusts her and agrees to it, so does he.
Link and Hylia have grown even closer with how much time they are spending together. With their lives at stake realizing they might not have much time left, their love for one another quickly blossomed into something beautiful.
Suddenly, on their way to begin training for the day, Hylia feels a wave of guilt, and it’s overwhelming. A vision flashes before her eyes—perhaps a vision of the future.
She sees Link’s decaying body on the ground, and her hands desperately clinging to his figure. It scares her.
She has never felt remorse so greatly in her life. Her thoughts are running wild, she can’t even begin to process it.
Hylia falls to the ground. She glances over at Link with worry in his eyes. She is beginning to have second thoughts about dragging him into her war with Demise. How selfish can she be, pulling a stranger into her problems?
“Hylia, what’s wrong?!” Link says as he hurries beside her, putting an arm over her shoulder.
Garnet follows, standing on the opposite side of Link. Hylia shoves Link away in defense.
“You must go! I have not considered the fact that you did not ask for any of this. I do not wish for you to throw your life away for me. This is not your burden to bear. It is selfish of me to ask this of you.”
Garnet places a wing atop her head.
“Hylia, it is not selfish to ask for aid. It would be foolish to fight alone. You know that.”
Link nods in agreement, and takes both of her hands.
“I must thank you for being so considerate toward me, but if I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t be doing it.”
Hylia’s eyes glisten as he speaks with such conviction.
“I didn’t even have second thoughts about it when you came to me. I have a reputation for being a hero to the people of this land, so I will do anything in my power to help them, even in a desperate situation such as this. Had you not asked me, I would’ve found a way to get involved anyway.”
He side-eyes her with a smile.
“But you already knew that, and that’s why you asked me, isn’t it?”
Hylia takes a deep sigh, letting the guilt leave her body as his reassurance calms her down.
“You are correct,” She says, lifting herself off the ground with Link’s help, “I am sorry for the sudden outburst. Thank you, Link, truly. I am relieved to hear you say those words.”
She smiles wistfully at him. Oh how much it will hurt when he is taken from her.
Link kisses her hand.
“It is indeed my pleasure to serve you, my dear Goddess.”
On one hot afternoon a few weeks after Hylia’s outburst, once the trio planned out some final logistics, Hylia sinks into Link’s arms seeking comfort.
“Oh Link, I fear we will not have much time to spend together. I have a bad feeling about our battle. Even if we finish him, who’s to say one of us will not perish in the process?”
She holds onto him tightly. Hylia knows of the future, she knows one of them will die. She knows who, but she can’t bring herself to tell him. Her heart aches just thinking about it.
Link holds her head in his hands and kisses her on the forehead.
“Everything will be okay, my love. Should our time be cut short, my adoration for you will not hesitate until my last breath.”
“I love you.” She blurts unexpectedly.
“If it is wrong of me to feel this affection for a Goddess, then I don’t want to be right,” He begins, twirling her hair in his fingers, “There is no pretending. I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love you then. All my lives I will be devoted to you.”
Hylia blinks back tears.
All his lives…
“Do you mean that?” She asks him seriously.
Her expression is anything unlike Link had ever seen. Hylia looks determined—but not in the same way she does when it involves Demise. She has a reason for asking, but what could it be?
Link doesn’t hesitate to respond.
“I swear to you, Goddess Hylia, that I do.”
Hylia’s saddened expression turns into a joyful one. She seemingly hugs Link even tighter—to show as if she were serious about something. Her sadness washes away and is instead replaced with hopefulness. Link isn’t quite sure what she’s so happy about, but he decides not to question it. He is just glad that his lover is merry.
Hylia mumbles something under her breath that Link did not hear. He runs his fingers through her hair strands, soothing her sorrows and promising to always be here for her. Now and forever.
The battle against Demise had nearly come to an end. Link put up a good fight, but Demise is cunning. Despite all the training and planning that went into this fearsome duel, ultimately, Link will not survive to see the end of it. He did just enough to weaken Demise so Hylia can seal him away, but in the end, Link is a sacrifice nonetheless.
“Extraordinary. You stand as a paragon of your kind, human. You fight like no human or demon I have ever known. Though this is not the end. My hate... never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end!” Demise exclaims, lunging at Link once more.
With a final blow into the chest of Demise that Link delivers with the Master Sword, Demise weakly goes down, struggling to lift himself off the ground, though he still breathes. Link, taking the sword out from Demise’s chest, frailly steps back with shaky legs, tripping over himself as he falls to the ground. Hylia rushes over to his side, kneeling down before his head could land, shielding the fall with her legs.
“My darling Link…” Hylia says in a melancholy tone.
This is what she was afraid of. She did everything in her power to prevent it from happening, all the planning and training, and yet…it could not be helped.
A tear fell from her eyes and landed atop Link’s forehead. He delicately raises his hand to her cheek and smiles at her, ever so slightly.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” He asks, voice hoarse.
Hylia nods.
“I’m sorry I did not tell you. I was trying to prevent it, but alas…”
Hylia looks away. She could not face him after failing to protect him.
“Hey,” He says weakly, “please look at me.”
Link turns Hylia’s head gently. Tears fill her eyes once more and stream down her face.
“Link… I-”
He places his finger on her lips.
“I want you to be the last thing I see. Then, I can die happily. I know I will truly rest in peace if my final moments are in your lap.”
Hylia weeps silently as she nods and watches the life leave Link’s body. His eyes grow soulless and dull. His spirit has vanished. She could no longer feel his heartbeat or sense any sort of life within him. His body is cold.
She pulls his lifeless figure to her face and kisses the top of his forehead.
Oh how I wish I could’ve kissed you one last time.
Hylia looks down at him, wiping her tears away. Even in death did he look so courageous and confident. She takes the sword in his hand and starts healing its power, closing her eyes to focus.
“Link, this sword was tempered by your spirit. You woke it and will serve as its master for all eternity,” she opens them once more, glancing down at Link, “This is because you deeply love the Land of Hylia and all its people, as do I.”
The sword begins to glow and levitate on its accord. Hylia grabs Link’s face and pulls it close to hers once more.
“But it is because of this that your life has been full of suffering. I have watched you and felt your pain like a knife through my body. I wish I could have done more for you.”
Hylia feels a sudden pounding in her head. She gasps, foreseeing yet another thing.
I will rise again. Those like you... Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!
Hylia’s eyes dart to Demise, who is slowly standing back up, about to perform this curse.
“A curse?! No!”
Hylia raises her hand in the air, a spiral of golden light coming from it. Time around them stops. Demise could not begin his curse. She may not have been able to protect Link, but perhaps she can subdue the curse and turn it into something of a blessing. She races to Link’s corpse and sits beside it. She thinks about the words he said about how he will love her in every lifetime. She smiles.
“Yes, that’s it. We will find each other again in every timeline. We must. Our love transcends time. I shall shed my divinity, so the next time we meet, I wish to stand before you as a mere human. I will ensure that your heroic, gentle spirit will live on eternally with me. Whenever the Land of Hylia is in danger, we shall be reborn.”
She stands up and creates a golden ball of light and magic within her hands. Hylia shoots it into the sky, and it comes crashing down, going into both of their souls. As the magic reaches them, time reverts back to normal, and Demise begins chanting his curse. The Master Sword flies into her hand, and transforms into the Goddess Sword, creating a spirit who she names Fi, that inhabits the sword,
Hylia stands before Demise, sword in hand. Although he is weak, she knows he will still put up quite the fight.
Hylia thrusts her sword at him and the two entities begin their fight. Demise manages to get a few stabs and scratches into Hylia, but ultimately he is no match for her in his condition. Garnet swoops in, taking him by surprise, and snatches his Demon Sword away, leaving an opening for Hylia to finish him off.
She stabs his head and he cries out in pain. Hylia leaves the sword in his head as he falls to the ground. She uses her sealing magic to seal him away, picking up the Goddess Sword that falls to the ground once he’s sealed.
“We did it,” Garnet says.
“Perhaps we did for now, but I fear the seal will not last forever.”
“What do you plan to do about that?”
Hylia looks at Garnet.
“I will turn the sky island into a town, and keep everyone on the surface safe there. We will carve a Goddess statue and I will hide this sword in there, along with the Triforce. I believe Link and I will finish the job when we reincarnate.”
Garnet looks at her quizzically, and she explains the magic she had placed on the two of them before Demise’s curse could take place and make things worse.
“Do you really think you’ll be able to do it? I’m almost certain you won’t have your memories.”
Hylia smiles.
“That won’t matter. I believe there will be a way for them to return to my mortal form.”
She looks at Garnet and pets his head.
“You worry too much. Please, come with me to finish the job here.”
Through her magic, Hylia creates the world of Skyloft and she places the sword into its pedestal kept in the Goddess Statue. The two of them walk out of the statue and Hylia gets atop Garnet as he soars in the sky.
“Garnet, if you’re still around when Link’s reborn, do you promise to help him?”
“You have my word.”
Thousands of years later…
Link just turned three years old. His father had told him all about the Knight’s academy and being a knight. Link couldn’t wait until he was old enough to start attending classes there.
On one sunny spring day, Link’s father surprises him with his very own Loftwing. It was a rare Crimson color that no one had ever seen before. It seemed comfortable with Link immediately, despite only just meeting him.
“Woah! He’s so cute! Thank you, Papa!”
Link hugged the giant bird and climbed atop its back. It lifted off the ground and flew around the clouds. In the distance, Link noticed a blueish-purple-colored Loftwing that a little girl was riding—he figured she was about his age. They made intense eye contact as they passed by each other. Her hair was golden and her eyes were ocean blue, like the Goddess he had always read about.
Link directed the Loftwing to land back on the ground, and when he got off, he saw that mysterious girl do the same thing. Much to his surprise, she ran up to him.
“Hi! I really like your Loftwing!” She said eagerly.
Nervously, Link answered back.
“Thanks, yours is pretty too.”
“My name’s Zelda! What’s your name?”
Her smile made Link feel warm inside. Perhaps they could become friends.
“Link,” he said smiling back at her, “My name is Link.”