Chapter 1

Tai leaned forward in her kneeling position and felt the wind blow across her hands as she faced the giant statue of Nura, her god facing her. Feeling into the small pouch she always kept with her she drew out a small glass bottle. It was filled with yellow dust which looked exactly like sand. She uncorked the bottle, drew out some of the sand with her hand and threw it into the air where it formed a large cloud.

Immediately the air shimmered like a mirage and slowly Nura began to glow red. She was awakening from her place in the spirit world, and reawakening into the statue. The deformed face, melted 7 years ago began to rematerialise into its proper grandness, so that it was impossible to tell that the traitor Link had ever melted it.

What is it?

Tai shivered, as she always shivered when her mind became connected to that great mass of power. "I need more," her voice shakily said.

More?

"Yes," she breathed, "for him."

For who?

Normally Tai would have got annoyed at hearing the question again and again but she knew that Nura listened to such much that it was impossible for her to be able to remember information so quickly.

"I hear you," she chanted, remembering the old ceremony, "read me."

Her mind became no longer her own, only a part of a much greater and bigger conscience, the conscience of Nura. But she could only feel the power not read any thoughts, like she was just a memory of days long gone by. In an instant, Tai relived every scene in her live, from her birth to when she had first entered the old Temple. The pain and the pleasure combined, and at that moment she shrieked in terror and in enjoyment at the same time.

And then it was no more, and again she was kneeling in front of the red statue waiting for its answer.

He will never return properly, you cannot prevent that. And he is not dead, so you cannot resurrect him. Nothing can break through the barrier of the wise men.

"Please..." she whispered, "with Din's power on our side, surely we could break the barrier of the seven sages."

Maybe... But he is not like you knew him, Tai. He has changed, in physical if not spiritual. You will not like what you see.

"I do not care for his sight," Tai said firmly.

Then I will help you, but you must know that what you want is impossible.

She lowered her head. "Yes," she sighed.

*-*

Seven years was a long time. A long, long time, Link decided. He sighed as he leant on the old tree in his Goron's tunic, chosen to match the new red ceremonial Kokiri dress.

And all that time his seventeen year old mind had been trapped in a too young body. Zelda had thought that she was giving him his youth back, instead she was taking away his maturity.

For he had slept for seven years and he was seventeen years old. When he had first wandered through the Forest Temple, he had felt strange, but soon he had got used to it and was seventeen years old. And then to have his new thoughts, his new strength, taken away from him... It was like having his body stolen. But the worst thing was that no one apart from him and Zelda knew what had happened, it was as if it hadn't happened. The only place he found the events were ever referred to was when he was looking through an old book, and strangely found a chapter about the 'The Imprisoning War'. It described exactly what had happened, and Link read through it several times every day for weeks. It was as if the events were a legend from the past, instead of happening just seven years ago.

No one knew who Gannondorf was, he was erased from history. Everything had gone back to how it had been the day before the eventful morning when Navi had came to him, and the Deku Tree died. The Deku Tree was alive, Dodongo's Cavern wasn't infested with Dodongos, and Lord Jabu Jabu hadn't swallowed Princess Ruto.

The only good thing was that Princess Ruto didn't want to marry him, but now that didn't seem to matter.

Two thinks had shook him. Seven years ago Zelda had said that they should no longer talk and had to always pretend not to know each other. The other was when he had met Darunia's new son Dail. It had bought back to him the time when 'Link' had stared up at him, and he saw in the young Goron's eyes how much he admired him. No. He should be called Link in the world, only not in this.

Some people he had met in the same way: Darunia had given him his tunic when he had played him Saria's Song and Ruto had met him when he found her in Lord Jabu-Jabu.

Malon had been waiting for her father, the Chicken woman had lost her chickens, and the Magic Beans man had been outside of Zora's river.

Now Link was waiting for it all to start.

The palace had put on a massive party to celebrate something (Link wasn't sure what) and all of the Kokiri had been invited. Four years ago the Kokiri had decided to go about where they wanted to, however because of this, a strange side effect made them all begin to age.

Link, (who was still classed as a Kokiri) had made his way over to the castle on Epona (he had won her at a competition held at Lon Lon Ranch a few years back). He was unsure though, should he could go on? Did Zelda mind if he met her now as long as he pretended that he didn't know her? He decided that she wouldn't, and if she did, that he wouldn't care, and then quickly jumped onto Epona's back.

He rode over the drawbridge into the castle courtyard where the party was being held. Some castle servants took Epona and put her into the stables. Link looked at the massive rows of tables, stared at the fireworks in the sky and made his way over to Saria. She was eating at a table on the right with the rest of the Kokiri, who although their clothes were exactly the same apart from the colour, looked completely different from the small green children Link had first saw.

At first he had thought that it was strange that Saria was growing older, and then it frightened him as she grew older five times faster than him. But then after the first year (when she was the same size as him), she slowed down to age at exactly the same speed as. This happened to all of the Kokiri and it took Link a while to realise that it was only them growing to their real ages. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that Saria was the same age as him, and decided that that was why they were so close.

The only problem had been the Kokiri who had sat on the shop roof - she had grown 150 times faster than anyone else, and after the first two weeks she had become 'older' than Link, before at the end of the year being 160. She had died the next day from old age.

Another thing had started though, other Kokiri married, and soon their were new babies in the Kokiri family. Saria had been the youngest Kokiri apart from Link. It was then that the Deku Tree finally told the truth.

Originally there had been one girl Kokiri who had wandered from a village which used to be near the forest, but had lost since disappeared, and rather then let her get lost in the Lost Woods where she would eventually turn into a Skull Kid, the Deku Tree made her a home in a clearing in the forest. There was a river there, and the Deku Tree provided her food and protection. He parents were too afraid that they would get lost themselves to look for her, so she kept on lived there and the Deku Tree kept her young. And then another boy had come and he became a 'Kokiri' too, and soon there were around twenty of them. The time when the most Kokiri had come was during the War for the Triforce when Link had joined. Link, Saria, and Mido had all came then. When the new Deku Shrub (who had been 'born' four years ago) had come he had taken over the rule of the forest and the Deku Tree's spell had worn off so it took only a year for the Kokiri to turn back into normal Hylinians. But the new 'Deku Shrub' (when he could talk) agreed to never let the Kokiri or their descendants die in the Lost Woods, and like his father, return them to the entrance whenever they went in the wrong place.

But despite being the same age as Saria, they had drifted apart over the years, mainly because of the things Link wanted to share and couldn't, and the person he always thought of now was Zelda. After a quick, polite conversation with Saria, he looked up to the head Royal table to see if he could see Zelda. Her place next to her brother and the queen was empty.

"Lin...Hello, have we met?"

Link jumped, and quickly turned around at that voice.

Zelda stood there, looking exactly how Link remembered her on that fateful night when they had had captured Ganon and she had revealed her true identity.

"Z...No, I don't think we have," he corrected himself.

"Link!" Saria hissed, nudging him, and then as the Princess turned to her, Saria curtseyed and said, "Your majesty."

"Oh sorry," Link said, bowing quickly.

"Who are you?" Zelda said her voice by now well under control.

"Link of the Kokiri."

"Link!"

"Your majesty," Link said quickly as Saria looked cross again.

"Are you enjoying the party?"

"Uh...Yes. But what is it about?... Your majesty," garbled Link, who was finding it impossible to remember to call her 'Your majesty'. It just fell too strange.

Zelda raised her eyebrows but answered, "The 100th anniversary of the Imprisoning War, a new legend. It was rediscovered by scholars only seven years ago."

"Why had they lost it?" said Link, looking deeply into her eyes.

"We're not sure. It was found in an old text discovered in a secret chamber in the old Temple of Time. Perhaps you have an idea why," replied Zelda seemingly casually, but her eyes were staring into his meaningfully.

"Right. Thanks," said Link, having no idea what she meant.

He struggled to think of something else to say to Zelda, but she had gone up the table to talk to Mido. Link sat down dejectedly and drank some wine. Link wondered if Zelda had come to talk to him on purpose, or if it had been an accident. With all of the Kokiri in their traditional clothes, it must have been hard to recognise which one was him, although he only wore the Goron Tunic.

He finished his glass, and refilled it. He was not thirsty, but he drank it in one gulp because of boredom, and then refilled it, annoyed by Saria's complaints of how he had handled Zelda. He drank more and more, and soon was so drunk that he could hardly tell what Saria was saying. It was late in the night and the fireworks and most of the chatter had stopped, so he got up and made his way slowly and dizzily over to the stables, where he picked Epona. He was too drunk to find his own way back so but he trusted Epona enough to get on her and let her ride him over the drawbridge and through Hyrule Castle Town. He stopped her outside of the main drawbridge, and slowly lowered himself off. He crept to a bush, lay under it, and fell asleep.

The blue flames were the only thing that showed any light in the dark chamber of the Spirit Temple, burning away in their strange ornamental candles. Tai was performing a modified Resurrect Spell, only altering it for her needs. She pulled out of a jar the hair which she had searched for. A hair of the traitor, the traitor who had been given free access to anywhere in the fortress, and then had killed their king. The days searching the floor of the temple to find it would be worth it. She knew enough Medicine to know that it would have the faintest traces of Links blood, enough for her.

She placed it into a blue liquid which quickly turned a deep red. She poured the liquid into some empty bottles. If the need be, she could always repeat the spell.

Then she performed the altered part of the ceremony, taking out a neutralised acid, which had had some of the sand-like substance dissolved into it, and drinking the whole bottle.

Immediately she felt much stronger, stronger than if she had the golden gauntlets on. Strong enough to lift the whole Spirit Temple with her bare hands and throw it into Hyrule Castle. Fast enough to beat the horse of the traitor in a race. She knew that the call had worked. She had summoned Nura into her own body and soul. Now, until she released her, she was immortal.

Smiling, she performed a quick image charm to protect her from the shock of the change in Ganon that Nura had predicted, and then pouring the red liquid into a stone basin on the floor, shouted "Dar'rk Aha'le!"

The words started in her normal voice, but even as she spoke they changed, and became deeper, stronger and more sinister.

She pulled an old Deku stick from her pouch and lit it in the blue flames before pushing it into the red liquid. Immediately the liquid was on fire, a strange, magical red fire which rose and formed a circle in the air, a gate the golden realm.

But in the hole was a yellow barrier, stopping anyone from getting in or out - the seal created by the sages. Tai pushed out her arms, and let the blue energy run from them and into the yellow seal. But although normally she would be struggling to keep this amount of power up, she was using the very lowest of her power, and soon more and more blue power was surging out. The power was so great that the seal shook, and Tai could see through it into the land beyond.

And then, from the other side a powerful red beam shot into the seal, and Tai knew it was the power of the Triforce which represented Din, the goddess of power. And now with two God's powers on it, the seal created by seven mortals shattered, and was gone.

And then, with the charm on his image turning at least his looks back to his old self, Gannondorf walked out of the Sacred Realm.

And Tai, for the first time, could see her master, and if it was not for the pain from Nura trying to escape, she would have been in complete ecstasy. Gannondorf smiled, and said simply, "Give her to me."

And then she was lost and Gannondorf raised his new sceptre which held the power of a dying goddess, and shouted out louder than time his first order, "DESTROY HYRULE!"

And Hyrule was destroyed.

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