Twilight Princess: Aftermath

A/N: While I own the Wii version of the game, I've kept to the original layout of Hyrule (non-mirrored). Naturally none of this is mine. Much thanks to my beta Zalein for looking this over, because good betas are so hard to find. Comments are always appreciated.



Chapter One: A Victim of Necessity

“That is enough.”

The council chamber rang with her voice, and the men in the luxurious wood paneled room fell silent, their protests dying on their lips.

“Your Majesty…”

“I said enough,” Zelda said. “You will not ask me that question again, have I made myself clear?”

“Unfortunately, Your Majesty, this is something even a royal command cannot silence,” Lord Brennan said. He stood up, his graying brown hair held back by a simple band of embroidered cloth, a study of modesty in a room full of men dressed in overly decorated silks and precious metals. The others unconsciously deferred to him. Even the late King had valued his advice. “We do not ask you this question out of malice, Your Majesty. It is out of necessity. The country needs, no, demands an answer.” He sat back down and looked at the princess expectantly.

“We made a promise,” Zelda began.

“An ill-made promise,” another council member said. “Had we been consulted, we would have advised you against making such a thing.”

Zelda sighed, troubled, torn against doing what was best for her country and following her personal ethics. She’d made a promise, and did not wish to break it.

“Is there no other way?” she said.

“Your Majesty, my people are still frightened, terrified,” Lord Markis said. As governor of the eastern farmlands, his territory had been one of the worst hit by the Twilii invasion. The tale of what had happened to Kakariko village still stirred terror in even the least affected of the nobility. “Confidence in the crown is at an all time low, and no amount of reassurance has been able to persuade them that the dangers are over. Especially when bands of monsters still roam near the ruins in Hyrule field.”

“Monsters have always been near the ruins,” Zelda said. “It is a hazard of crossing the field, everybody knows that.”

“Not when the danger is supposed to be over! Not when there used to be at the very least soldiers to guard travelers,” Lord Markis snapped, shooting out of his seat to glare at Zelda with a clear look of impatience. His plain brown hair and graying beard trembled from the force of his movement.

“There will need to be new recruiting campaigns also,” Lord Corac, her Minister of Defense, added. “We’ve lost too many men to the Twilii invasion, and have little to spare to guard Hyrule field.”

“The young men cannot leave,” Lord Markis said testily. “They are needed in the villages to repair the damage the monsters had left, and harvest what is left of the crops.”

“Speaking of crops, Hyrule Castle Town is in desperate need of food,” the Royal Seneschal said, standing up. In his hand he held a list of stats. “Food price has already risen twenty percent. If this continues, there will be nothing that the commoners can afford. Soldiers have had to step in to prevent rioting.”

“We have nothing in the warehouses?” Zelda asked.

“They are being emptied as we speak. I know it was presumptuous of me Your Majesty, but the need was great,” the man assured her.

“No, I have always trusted your judgment in these matters,” Zelda said. “Still, the warehouses can only last for so long. What other alternatives do we have?”

“We could trade with the Zoras, but as you know, their new King had just taken the throne. On top of that, a good deal of their crops had died during the sudden cold front now known to have been caused by the Twilii. Overtures have been sent, but as they are still suffering the aftermath of attacks, they may have none to spare,” Lord Holvin said.

Though the nature of his news was upsetting, other than his clear annoyance at the situation, he showed no sign that it affected him overly much. Then again, the man was not given to concern over the non-human races. Not for the first time, Zelda wondered why her father had assigned the man as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Now it was too late to remove him, not without causing a political incident.

“No other nation will dare trade with us at the moment. Not when everything until now had been so unstable. And with us so weak, we may in fact be in danger of being invaded!” said Lord Corac.

The man had a point. Some of the countries bordering them seemed to harbor an endless appetite for lengthening their borders. What had happened with the Twilii had kept them away, but news of Hyrule’s costly victory would have reached them by now.

“The farmers have enough to spare to ensure that Hyrule will be able to last through the winter,” Lord Markis grudgingly conceded. “But no farmer is willing to travel at this time, unless there is something to assure them of safety.”

“As we’ve said earlier, the Hero has taken care of things,” Zelda said. “Ganon is defeated and will bother us no more.”

“What proof do you have of this Your Majesty?”

“Did the Twilight that had cursed this kingdom not recede?” Zelda said with a little more force, growing impatient.

“I humbly remind Your Majesty that the force field that locked this castle away from the rest of Hyrule went up after the Twilight disappeared. One moment there was danger, and the next moment, when all seemed well again, danger reappeared. The people do not know what to think at this point in time. For all they know something awful could happen again.”

“The Hero…”

“The Hero!” Lord Markis said with disgust. “The Hero is a nebulous figure of myth. Nobody knows who he is. His actions are unknown and unseen by the majority of the populace, even the majority of the nobility. Do you expect to quell the fears of this country on the existence of a shadowy legend?”

“The people have always had faith that the Hero will save Hyrule. What is so different this time?” Zelda said, struggling to keep her voice even. But as she said it, she saw it for the pitiful plea it was.

“The difference, Your Majesty, is insignificant when the reality is before us.”

The obvious answer was that times had changed. It had been a millennium since the last Hero, and with such a time gap, history easily became lost in myth until what was truth was no longer known. Under such circumstances, it was natural to be skeptical. To the farmer who depended on the very visible changes of the seasons, and the townspeople who spent their days working to make what few rupees they could, a myth did little.

Steadily, Zelda felt her resolve being worn away. The men of her Council were all correct on all counts. She could not deny the truth of the situation. In comparison to the fear and panic of an entire nation, what was one promise? One life?

“We need a face,” Lord Brennan said gently, sensing his ruler’s weakening resolve. “A very visible face to turn myth into fact.”

“It will not solve all our problems in an instant,” Zelda said.

“No, but it will do much to motivate the people. I’m sure we’ll see an increase in army recruits if the Hero is known, and even an ambitious nation will hesitate to invade when they see that our legend has become reality,” Lord Corac said with approval.

“And if the Hero does not come up to scrutiny?” Zelda asked.

“Based on the legends Your Majesty, I believe that I would be correct to presume that the Hero is a commoner, am I not correct?” At Princess Zelda’s stony silence, Lord Corac allowed himself to smile. “Once he arrives, he will, out of necessity, need to be tutored and trained in protocol lest he offend the other nobles, but as he is the Hero, I’m again going to assume that he is an intelligent man and will learn quickly.”

“His route must be slow. The people will want to see him,” Lord Brennan said.

“Surely that can wait until after he arrives at the palace?” another council member objected.

“Point.” Lord Brennan tilted his head in the other man’s direction in a nod of recognition. Zelda knew that it was merely an act of courtesy. Lord Brennan was a man who was rarely thwarted from what he wanted. The last time he had not…

Hyrule had fallen. On my watch.

“Perhaps it may be best that the Hero come here as soon as possible.”

“He will still need an escort. Four soldiers at the very least.”

“Not too many, or the procession will take forever.”

As the Council Room grew with noise, Zelda watched the inevitable with a sinking heart. Finally her seneschal cleared his throat, and looked at the princess expectantly.

“All these plans are well and good. But first, Your Majesty, the members of the Council require a name and place.” The look he gave her was the only sympathetic face of the lot, but like the other men, he was unyielding. “Princess Zelda, we of the Council formally ask you one last time: Who is the Hero?”

Zelda swallowed, wetting lips that suddenly felt far too dry. But at long last, she bowed her head. To one man, she was about to do the unforgivable, and nothing could induce her to do this with the pride of a royal scion.

“The Hero is from Ordon village…”

***

Over the bleating of the goats, Link could hear little. Then again, as a wrangler, he was not required to listen to anything else. Above him, the sky was the perfect shade of blue, and the grass the goats grazed upon was lush and verdant. Once the goats were out, there was little Link needed to do until herding time. He smiled, enjoying a moment of legitimate laziness. To his right, Epona reflected his actions as she cropped the grass along with the goats. But as he watched the bucolic scene below him, like the symptoms of an illness, his mind flashed with an image of a darker time: the nighttime field under the illumination of a full moon, him running, but in the grey body of a wolf.

He did not miss those times, not really. There had been nothing enjoyable about the constant fear and exhaustion, and even the adrenaline rush that came with a battle did little to alleviate the overwhelming feelings of guilt that came afterward. Monsters they may have been, but Link had not enjoyed killing them. When he’d been a wolf, he’d enjoyed the bitter taste of their flesh and blood in his mouth even less.

But as the flashback proved, they were not times Link could escape from either. Something inside him refused to settle, continued to long for those times, though if Link were asked what exactly he’d liked about it, Link would have been hard pressed to say anything.

Perhaps part of the reason was because Link could say nothing. The other members of the village sensed his reticence, and did not press him. Ilia occasionally looked at him quietly when she thought he was preoccupied, but she never voiced whatever it was she was thinking. As for Rusl, the two of them avoided the topic, not that the older man was in any mood to talk about anything other than his newborn daughter. Link was not looking forward to the day when Rusl could finally bear to pull his eyes away from little Hanya to confront him about the role he’d played when Hyrule had still been in danger. Perhaps it was wrong to doubt his friends, but Link sensed that there were some things that no amount of talking could explain.

And he knew without a doubt that no explanation about Midna would ever be understood.

There was too much about Midna he had yet to sort. Too many feelings, experiences, and memories tied to her that were both painful and pleasant, and like a coward, Link avoided them. He had a feeling that the flashbacks would end the second he stopped doing so, but as they were proving to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience at the moment, Link was content to wait. Hyrule was safe, his friends were protected, and Ordon prospered. He had plenty of time.

“Liiiiink! Heey, Link!”

Fado’s large bulk towered even from across the grazing field. Link waved, but stopped smiling when he saw the tense agitation in his friend’s stance. Fado kept motioning for Link to go to him, and seeing that, he whistled for Epona.

“What is it Fado?” Link asked when he and Epona reached the large man. Close up, he relaxed when he saw that despite the tension, the man was grinning with excitement.

“Members of the royal army!” Fado said. “Lord Brennan is here with another noble! They’re commanding everybody in the village to gather.”

“Lord Brennan?” Link repeated, shocked. The lord, as the man who governed the southern quadrant of Hyrule, spent the majority of his time in Hyrule Castle Town. On the rare times he chose to visit his area, Ordon village, despite being famed for its pumpkins and goat cheeses, had always been passed over.

“Come on, hurry!”

“Where are we gathering?” Link asked as he got off Epona. Instead, leading Epona by the reins, the two of them walked down the hill from the ranch, careful to close the gates behind them lest several of the goats took it in their heads to go exploring.

“Outside Mayor’s house,” Fado answered cheerfully. “Why do you think they’re here?”

“I don’t know,” Link said honestly. He had purposely paid little attention to news from outside Ordon village.

“Mayor says that it’s about the unrest outside. Some people are still frightened,” Fado said. “They’re probably just here to reassure us.”

“Ordon is fine,” Link said.

“Well, they wouldn’t know that, would they? Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a little extra warning.”

Link let Fado continue to chatter happily while he thought about what his friend had just said. Unrest outside of Ordon? Ruefully, he realized that he should have paid attention to the news from outside after all. There was little that he, Link of Ordon, could do though.

But what about the Hero?

The Hero, Link told himself, had done his job and defeated Ganon. In all the tales, the Hero had never done more than that. But his niggling conscience refused to give him rest.

They paused by the final gateway to Ordon village where Link left Epona, giving her a final pat of reassurance. Epona was not convinced, and gave him a soft nudge in the back that was somewhat comforting. Even from the gate, Link could see the gathering of the other villagers. On the steps of Mayor’s house were two men dressed in traveling clothes that nevertheless looked finer than anything he had ever worn. One of them must be Lord Brennan. Next to the house, looking alert on ten matching black geldings were soldiers of the Royal army, their armor glinting in the sunlight. Fado looked impressed, but Link resisted a snort of laughter. In his stint as a wolf, he’d learned just how ineffective those soldiers were, never mind the shiny breast plates.

Ilia was standing on the outer edge of the crowd, and seeing the two of them arriving, hurriedly waved to them.

“Come quick! You two are one of the last!” she whispered excitedly. “Though we’re still waiting for Hanch. He’s always late!”

Just then Hanch came rushing in from wherever he’d been, thin hands wringing nervously while he stumbled behind his formidable wife. Seeing her husband, Sera let out a sigh of exasperation.

“W-we’re all gathered, My Lord,” Mayor said, one hand nervously playing with his moustache. Though it was his house, he stood with everyone else, the only concession to his status as mayor being his proximity to the two nobles on the steps.

“Good. Then we shall begin,” said the man dressed in an expensive-looking padded blue tunic. His brown hair was shoulder length, mixed liberally with gray, and beneath his belt, there was evidence of a paunch. Still, though the man must have journeyed far to reach Ordon, he did not look winded, which to Link’s eyes showed that he was not a man unused to travel.

“I am Lord Corac, Minister of Defense,” the man next to him said. In contrast to the first man, who must be Lord Brennan, Lord Corac was dressed in black leathers trimmed in silver. He looked to be around the same age as Lord Brennan, but was lean and toned. On the right shoulder was Hyrule’s royal crest, and his severe expression revealed a man who took his position seriously. “Next to me is Lord Brennan, whom I’m sure you’ve heard of. Today, we come to deliver a message from Her Majesty Princess Zelda.” With a nod to Lord Brenan, the man stepped back.

“As you no doubt know, for the past two years Hyrule had been under the invasion of monsters,” Lord Brennan said. At this, the village burst into whispers. Ignoring them, Lord Brennan continued. “Hyrule Castle Town too had been attacked, and for months, our citizens suffered under the monster’s tyranny.” His face was grim.

“However, we have come to tell you that such times are finally over,” Lord Corac said, taking over. His voice carried over the villagers with little effort. “Thanks to the heroic efforts of Hyrule’s Legendary Hero and Her Majesty Princess Zelda, our enemy was soundly defeated, and Hyrule is once again safe.”

Link felt his stomach flutter. Again, the people gathered burst into whispers. Standing in the center of the other villagers was Rusl, and Link watched as Rusl whispered to Uli, but the man did not look at him.

“Unfortunately, after the invasion, Hyrule has been left weak, the army decimated. After this, we will be asking for loyal young men to join the royal army.” Beside him, Link felt Fado stiffen in anticipation. Lord Corac continued. “And there are some who still doubt her Royal Highness, believing Hyrule to still be dangerous.”

“Who would doubt Her Majesty?” It was Rusl, and his eyes shone with outrage.

“Some would,” Lord Corac replied gravely, though he did not turn in the direction of the voice. “And Her Majesty, in her wisdom, does not blame them for it. Instead, she offers irrevocable proof that the kingdom of Hyrule is safe once more.” He held out a hand toward the crowd. “We come to show you the Hero!”

A chill settled in the pit of Link’s stomach, and refused to leave.

“The Hero!” Fado exclaimed. He was not the only one. It was being repeated by everyone in the village.

“The Hero, here!” Link heard Talo shout excitedly, practically climbing over his brother Malo to get a better look at the men standing before the villagers. “I wonder which one he is!”

Lord Brennan stepped forward once again, and raised a hand to silence the villagers. Immediately they quieted, waiting in anticipation, but nothing could stop the continuous murmurs as each member of the village shared his excitement.

“Indeed, I was very proud to find out the Hero came from none other than our very own southern forests,” he said. Then he looked in the crowd, as if searching for someone. Fingers of ice trailed down Link’s spine when his gaze passed by over him.

“Which one of you is Link of Ordon?” Lord Corac roared, his eyes too, looking deeply into the crowd.

A deathly silence fell over the members of the village. One by one, each person turned his head, until every member of Ordon was staring in stunned disbelief in Link’s direction. Link felt their stares, but could not bear to meet them. There was only one reason why any member of the Hylian nobility would know his name, and that could only mean one thing. The chill that had settled in his stomach began to spread, and he felt his emotions disappear, to be replaced by a sharp, battle-like awareness. There will be time for resentment and anger later, but right now, Link could not allow himself that luxury.

“Will Link please show himself?” Lord Brennan said, as if still unaware of who he was. The expression on his face showed otherwise. His eyes, coldly calculating, sized up Link the same way a farmer sized up a prize pig. Beside him, Lord Corac did the same, though there was a certain incredulous quality to the man’s gaze.

“You called, My Lord?” Link said quietly. Link watched as a flicker of satisfaction passed through both men.

Lord Brennan was first. The man walked down the steps, not seeming to notice the way the villagers parted before him as he headed in Link’s direction. Lord Corac was not far behind. A cool expression had replaced the man’s first look of incredulity, and Link could not tell what Lord Corac was thinking behind that mask.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Hero,” Lord Brennan said, reaching out to clasp Link’s hands in his. The man’s grip was firm, the palm of his hand cool and dry to Link’s touch.

“I as well,” Lord Corac said. “It is not every day that one meets a living myth.”

Link had no idea what to say in response to such a statement, so he kept silent.

“You’ve certainly hid yourself well,” Lord Brennan said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. “Ordon village would have been the last place I would have thought to look for the legendary Hero.”

“You have not studied your history well enough, Lord Brennan.” Lord Corac laughed. “The Hero has always been a commoner, though judging by your fellow villagers, you’ve hidden yourself so well not even they’d guessed who you truly were.”

“It explains the village’s prosperity at any rate,” the other man said mildly. “With the Hero to personally protect them, what village wouldn’t prosper?”

Link stayed silent, struggling to keep his expression neutral, but he could not control the trembling of his arms. Their words, casually spoken, were purposely designed to injure, to mock and to scorn. There was little reason for it as far as he could see, and even as the remarks stung, he felt an overwhelming sense of confusion. Who were these men, who spoke one thing but meant another, and hid each insult in a veneer of sweet compliments?

“Come, we have a command from Her Majesty, and we will need to discuss it with you in private.” Lord Brennan gave a nod toward Mayor, who still had a look of astonishment on his face. “Forgive us for the presumption.”

“T-the house is all yours My Lords!” Mayor exclaimed. “Please use it for as long as you wish!”

“You have our gratitude.”

A hand moved behind Link to rest on his right shoulder, and he felt himself gently maneuvered toward Mayor’s house. As he walked past the rest the others and headed toward a door hastily opened by one of the soldiers, he caught sight of Rusl’s face.

There was a mixture of emotions on his mentor’s face that Link recognized immediately, but one stood out from the rest. His heart clenched painfully when he saw what it was.

Burned forever in his mind was Rusl’s expression of betrayal.

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