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As surprising as it was, Legend wasn't actively hiding anything from the other heroes.
He just wasn't up front with them. It wasn't that he was keeping secrets, if they asked he'd honestly answer, but... They didn't ask and he was not going to say it outright until he had to.
"I thought you said we were going to go see your sister," Warriors said as Legend led the way through Castle Town and up to Hyrule Castle. "Does she work at the castle?"
"I did and yes she does," Legend confirmed. Honestly it was amusing, sure he wore a dozen rings but one was his mother's signet ring, he literally had a Triforce hair clip... that was usually hidden by his hat but he's lost it in battle and taken it enough times for them to have seen it, and he's signed his name "Link Hyrule" in front of them at least a dozen times.
At this point it was a bit of a game to see how obvious he could be without outright saying who his sister was and what he was. Though, admittedly, he kept quiet for safety reasons as well.
"What does she do?" Hyrule asked curiously. "Is she... a handmaiden?"
"No, she's not a handmaiden." Legend barely held back a snort. He kept a hand rested on the magic rod on his hip as they passed the guards who shifted but didn't attack him.
"Is she someone of importance?" Wild piped up, appearing on Hyrule's other side.
"You know," he feigned thoughtfulness, "she is rather important."
"Is she older than you?" Warriors joined in on the theorizing. "Because I could see a... twenty-something year old being a general or high captain depending on their experience."
"Well..." he thought about it. "I guess she's kind of like a commander? That's not her official title, but by definition she could be a kind of commander."
Commander in chief, he supposed.
"So she's in the military?" Warriors concluded.
"In? No, she's not, but she is a great leader and she could've taken Ganon on alone if he hadn't prioritized getting her out of the way first."
"Ganon prioritized her?" Hyrule gasped. "Who--Why?!"
They reached the last door to the throne room. Legend grinned.
"Take a guess," he said as the guards pulled the door open.
Zelda was talking to Impa by her throne, but as the door was opened, she looked over and a bright smile appeared on her face.
"Link! You’re back!"
He sped up the slightest bit to meet her part way as she tackled him in a hug.
"Oh--You better not have a new scar, I've told you to be more careful!"
"I'm fine, no new scars, I've barely been injured so far. There's three idiots here who like to take hits not meant for them and I'm not one of them."
Zelda scanned his face before she nodded. "Good." She then moved to face the heroes. "Apologies--It's been several months since Link last came by the castle and I like to make sure he's alright before anything else when he does. Welcome to Hyrule Castle, I am Queen Zelda. How can I aid in your quest?"
Legend held back a laugh at the completely confused looks that were shot toward him.
"Well--Currently, we are only seeking to find a place to rest," Warriors said formally. "But we would welcome whatever information on monster sightings and movements you have."
"Of course," she did a subtle gesture and one of her handmaidens approached, "Estelle here will take you gentlemen to one of our guest wings, you may settle as you wish. Link and I will ensure tonight's dinner will accommodate all of your different dietary needs while we catch up and discuss."
"I thought we were visiting the Vet's sister?" Wild muttered to Sky.
Legend couldn't hold back the laugh while Zelda just tilted her head.
Twilight elbowed Wild but the damage was done and Zelda looked at Legend with a frown.
"You didn't tell your companions prior to bringing them here?"
"I swear it wasn't a secret--I am wearing both my ring and the hair clip."
Her frown deepened. "Your hat hides it."
"And I take my hat off all the time, it falls sometimes when I fight too. If they haven't seen it that's not my fault."
Zelda gave him a sharp look. "I told you that you need to introduce yourself."
"It's time travel and heroes of past and future," Legend defended. "I introduced myself appropriately for the situation! You said that if it doesn't call for it then I don’t need to say that whole title."
She stared him down.
"Besides," he added quickly, using his last card of defense, "half of them are knights."
Her eyes narrowed briefly, flicking toward the group, then she nodded. "Fine," she turned to the partly confused and partly very shocked group of heroes. "My apologies, it seems my little brother's lessons still haven't stuck."
"You said hero came first!" He protested, happy she wasn't going to outright mention anything.
"That doesn't mean you can neglect your position as prince!"
"Din give me strength, you’re impossible."
"You're impertinent."
"This is being impertinent? Oh I can show you impertinence."
Someone cleared their throat. "Umm--"
Zelda shot Legend a threatening look as he huffed and turned away. She turned to the other heroes with a graceful smile.
"My apologies again, as you can tell, Prince Link and I often have points of conflict in regards to his responsibilities. Please, follow Estelle. She will also be the one to fetch you for dinner."
"Of course," Warriors said as he grabbed Sky's arm. "Thank you for your hospitality, your majesty."
Legend rolled his eyes, that was also part of the reason he didn't introduce himself fully when they met. The unnecessary formality was a small part, but a part nonetheless.
Estelle led them away, Legend avoided Sky's eyes very stubbornly and the moment they were gone, Zelda turned on him.
"Are you safe with them?" She demanded. "Knights? Link, you--"
"I am well aware, Zel." Not introducing himself as a prince had been a choice, and it was one made in self defense, even if he defended otherwise in front of the heroes.
He supposed he would find out how they treated Hyrulean Princes soon enough, if one of them tried to kill him anytime soon, at least he would know why.
"Are you safe?" She repeated.
He nodded. "I am." He didn't confess how unsure he was of that fact, it was a point of uncertainty, whether the knights of the heroes would kill him because of his heritage and gender, but he wasn't telling his rather protective older sister that.
She sighed softly and nodded. "Good." She gestured for him to walk with her. "Then tell me about this quest, these... heroes?"
He sighed softly. "Well..."
He reluctantly had put his cap away--look, it was representative of his sanity, he was emotionally attached to that thing--and fixed his hair into something nice and not as practical, triforce clip a bit more on display as a result.
Dinner came and there was more meat than Legend was used to seeing on these platters, but he had been the one to alert the chefs that most of their guests enjoyed meat, majority of which on the rare side, and another few liked fish.
Sky had stubbornly taken the seat beside Legend and when dinner began and Zelda ate, he finally prodded the subject.
"You never said anything," he said quietly, other conversations flowing around them.
Legend shrugged.
"You’re the one who figured it out and said it, why didn't you tell me?" It being the fact that Sky was the patriarch of the royal bloodline.
"I didn't think it was important," he lied.
"You didn't think it was important that you’re my descendant?" Sky hissed, if Legend didn't know better he was hurt.
Except Legend did know better and he was avoided those bright blue eyes because if he met them he knew he'd see how hurt Sky felt at his omission.
"Is it?" He managed instead.
"Yes."
He somehow didn't show the wince he felt. "Oh."
"You--" Sky seemed to be struggling and he kept glancing at the wider table. Legend had a feeling this was a conversation meant to be had in private.
So he sighed and stood. "S'cuse us, Zel."
Zelda waved him off as she continued her conversation with Four about... some book?
Sky was quick to follow him, Impa moved to as well but Legend subtly gestured for her to stay. She did, turning her attention back to Zelda.
They stepped out into the hall where the guards didn't linger.
"Why don’t you think it's important?" Sky asked, and he sounded hurt. He sounded so genuinely hurt.
"Because..." because princes were believed to be the scourges of the goddess' bloodline, because since as far as he could remember he had been told that the goddess had no sons, and he'd believed it because he was unaware he was her son. Because he didn't fully trust the knights in their group to not kill him now that they know.
Sky visibly faltered. "You clearly don't mind your sister--Am I the reason you..."
"No! No--It's not-- I'm... I'm not against my heritage or anything," Legend insisted. "I'm not ashamed of being--Zelda's brother, I'm really not. It's just..."
"Just what? Is it Hylia?"
"No. Sky, I didn't even know her name before meeting you. She was just the... the goddess born mortal, the first queen of Hyrule, its divine protector who chose mortality to be with her lover. It's just--Princes are not considered a good thing, they--we are considered the scourges of--"
CRASH
Glass shattering echoed through the hall, followed by a scream, his left hand burned and he ran back to the banquet hall.
The doors slammed open and, though he noticed the shattered window and Four and Wild both leaping out of it as Warriors had a guard pinned, his eyes set on Impa kneeling on the ground beside Zelda's fallen chair.
He ran across the room, Pegasus Boots spurring him into near teleporting across it to see a sight he had never, in his life, wanted to see.
No, no, no.
Zelda laid on the cold tile floor and blood pooled around her head like some demented halo.
Amethyst eyes that were mirrors of his own was staring blankly at the far wall, unblemished features marred by the blood that soaked the right side of her face.
A black blade made of shadows melted back into the darkness from the hole in Zelda's head.
Some part of Legend brokenly laughed at the irony, she had a halo now, as if her crown hadn't been enough. A halo of blood and darkness behind her head, a representation of the darkness, death, and destruction she held back with that bright light of hers.
"I'm sorry, Link," Impa croaked, the heroes in a chaotic circle with potions and fairies but none of them moved. It was obvious nothing could be done, Twilight helped Warriors with the guard but Legend could already feel the dark magic on him. "I didn't..."
Her voice became a background noise, a background ringing as his thoughts grew frantic.
Why didn't he notice?
He was gone for ten seconds.
How could this have happened?
No, no, no--
"Zelda?" His voice escaped him and he sounded like none of the last seven years ever happened, like he was still that ten year old child who had found Zelda asleep like the dead in that bed in Kakariko.
"Vet, I'm so sorry," Hyrule whispered.
She can't be dead. She can't be.
She wasn't supposed to die before him. She was supposed to live here in the castle, safe and leading their people, she wasn't the one constantly running head-first into the dangers that plagued Hyrule. She wasn't the one returning to the castle soaked in blood, a new scar marring her body every time. She wasn't the one who--
She wasn't supposed to die first.
"No," he whispered, kneeling down beside his older sister. There was a tiny splash as his knees hit the blood puddle and a brief flash of pain from them hitting the hard tile. "No--Zelda don't you do this."
"She's dead, Link. I'm so sorry," Hyrule said as he stepped away.
Legend shook his head. "No! No she--" his voice broke.
"You can't revive the dead, Link," Impa said weakly. "She's gone..."
He could though. He could revive the dead, or rather...
He held his left hand over her forehead. "Watch me."
He heard Hyrule say something and felt a hand land on his shoulder.
Come on, ladies, you owe me one. Farore, Nayru, Din--Don’t take her too.
Light coursed through him and he felt his Triforce absorb it, he felt the familiar caress of time, the whispers of secrets, and the moving of seasons.
The single triangle on his hand blossomed into three, all of them glowing bright.
Zelda gasped. Amethyst eyes glittered again with life and she shot up. Legend dropped his hand and pulled her into a hug as she gasped and coughed blood onto his tunic.
"Link?" She breathed. "How--"
"You’re not allowed to leave me yet," he whispered, pulling back and pressing his forehead against hers, not caring for the blood that covered her and now him. "You're not dying first."
"Oh, Link." She let out a shaky breath, clinging to him. She was shaking something awful, and Legend couldn't fault her for it. She had died. "Impa is here--Go."
He nodded before standing. Impa was quick to swoop in and pull Zelda into her protective arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. His Impa was not the warrior of the Captain's era, or anyone else's Impa, she was a matron, a nursemaid, a protector as much as any mother but not a warrior.
Legend went to the window and looked out. Four and Wild were long gone, Wind apparently giving chase as well. He didn't know what happened, but he knew there was one set of clues far closer.
He turned from the window to the guard that Twilight still had restrained.
He didn't even draw his sword, just took steps toward them both and the guard made a strangled, terrified noise and instead of trying to get away from Twilight, he scrambled back toward the Rancher.
Legend grabbed the strap of his helmet and Twilight quickly backed off as he slammed the guard to the ground, anger fueling him more than his power bracelets ever could.
"So," he growled as Impa, Sky, Hyrule, and Warriors rushed Zelda from the room, which left Legend with just Twilight and Time... And the traitor. "Who decided it was a good idea to try and assassinate my sister?"
The guard sobbed out his terror. "I don’t know! I just had to break the magic off the windows! That's all!"
"Why?"
"They paid me! They paid me!" He screamed, as if Legend had been torturing the answers out of him, but he hadn't even touched him beyond throwing him to the ground. "Please--Your highness--"
"Don’t beg," he snarled. "Congratulations, you can tell your employer his plan succeeded. He killed the Queen--He just didn't account for me and just how much power I hold in the palm of my hand."
He trembled and stared up at Legend, Legend could see the dark magic in his eyes and the broken glass in his hand... The Shadow, the Shadow had given him that power to destroy a Triforce-formed shield of protection.
"Y-You’re letting me go?"
"If your target had been me, then I might've. But since you decided to go for her--You can go to hell. I'll send that employer of yours along soon enough so you can relay that message."
Black blood soaked the tile floor when Legend drove his blade into his throat.
"We could've gotten more information out of him," Time admonished.
Legend turned his attention to the elder hero. He raised his sword up and drove it down again, causing more blood to splatter and the body to twitch, not looking away from his eyes.
"If you couldn't tell since you’re half blind," Legend started lowly, "he is black blooded. I personally am not sparing a person so juiced up on pure darkness to the point they could take down Hyrule Castle's magic defenses on the off chance of gaining information."
He stabbed the body again, blood gushing and splattering across the tile floor, staining it and his blade, his hands, and his boots.
"You think The Shadow would've let this guy near us if he had actual information? No."
He raised his blade to stab again when Twilight caught his hand.
"He's already dead," the Rancher croaked, and Legend noticed how pale he looked. "Zelda's alright, the threat's gone f'r now. It's fine... Breathe, Vet. It's alright. Just--Breathe, calm down."
Legend blinked, he stared at Twilight, confusion hitting him and the haze of red, of protect and avenge faded away.
Suddenly the black blood staining polished stone tile wasn't vindicating, it didn't feel good to see, it felt awful. The body in front of him was a gruesome scene, bloodied and its face a permanent expression of fear.
It was horrific, disgusting, and he felt dirty and wrong just knowing he caused it. Zelda's blood still soaked the floor too.
Twilight gingerly took his sword from his hand and Legend realized distantly that he was shaking.
"Vet--Hey, Link, look at me," Twilight said gently. "It's okay. Everyone is safe, they're alright. The Captain, the Traveler and the Skyloftian has Zelda, nobody's gonna be able to hurt her with them right there protectin' her. You need to breathe."
He was covered in blood, soaked in it, some of it was Zelda's, some of it the traitorous guard's, but nonetheless his clothes were saturated in blood, Fi's golden blade was hidden beneath the black ichor, even his skin was covered... his hands and his legs and he knew his face was too.
"Sorry," he managed to say with a somewhat even voice. "I... I lost myself there."
"We noticed," Time stated. "It happens. Your anger will get the best of you..."
Legend wiped his face off a bit, it didn't help, only smeared the blood and made him feel even worse.
"I... I should clean this up," he said weakly. "The servants don’t deserve to deal with this mess."
"You should go clean yourself up, and then go to your sister," Twilight corrected. He moved forward and directed Legend out of the room, and he let the older hero do it.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from the blood soaking into the tile, the body, the puddle of Zelda's blood.
Zelda died.
His sister died, she did. It was only because the goddesses owed him one that she was alive right now, but that didn't change the fact that she died.
He didn't protect her. He had been too busy trying to fix his own mistakes to be there and protect her.
He hadn't been there.
And now there was a puddle of her blood soaking into the floor, and the only reason she wasn't laying there and adding more blood to it was because the goddesses owed him a favor.
Yet he couldn't shake the thought that he was the reason she had ever been in danger in the first place.