You and Link ride Ginger and Epona on the path west to Kakariko. On the way you pass under the gateway to Fort Hateno. You've passed this location multiple times before, but never have you noticed a man carrying a travel bag and rummaging through the Guardian's moss-blanketed stone.

'What in Hyrule is that guy doing?' you think as you squint your eyes at the suspicious figure.

"Hey, hold on for a sec," you say to Link and tug on Ginger's reins.

"What's wrong?" he asks you as you dismount your horse. You walk over to the man with Link following you.

"Hey," you say and grab the stranger's attention, "what are you doing?"

"Well, hello gorgeous," he greets you and replaces his concentrated face with a charming grin. You are taken aback by his forwardness as he leans against the decayed Guardian. "I know what you're thinking," he says with pure confidence. "'Is that the guy everyone's talking about? The dashing treasure hunter Teli, with his roguish good looks?' Yep, that's me."

Behind you, Link's face immediately drops into an annoyed expression.

"I'm out collecting ancient parts from ruined Guardian remains," Teli explains as he runs his fingers through his silver hair. "I'm a bit of a treasure hunter, if you get my drift. A dangerous job, I know. Rich and devilishly handsome I am."

Teli's eyes then land on Link who wore a face clearly saying 'for the love of Hylia, just shut up'.

"Why do you need Guardian remains?" you ask, not caring for his character.

"Well, If you go far to the north, up to Akkala, you'll find a man who deals in Guardian parts. Buys them for a fortune. He's half my business, truth be told. As long as he's in the market, I can keep treasure hunting until I get my big break."

"Why would someone buy Guardian remains?" you ask further.

"There's a scientist of some sort over at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, claims he uses them to build weapons and such designed to kill Guardians with ease. But something tells me that might be a cover story. What if he's actually repairing Guardians? That would be pretty bad."

"Weapons to kill Guardians..." you mutter.

"They cost Guardian remains and a fistful of rupees, he tells me. I've never been interested. I'm a treasure hunter, not a monster hunter," he says.

"Interesting..." you mutter again. "Thanks for the intel. See ya!"

"Wait, you're not gonna steal my treasure from me, are you?" he says with a smirk playing on his lips. "There's some left, but don't go and beat me to it."

"Yeah sure, bye."

You begin walking down the path of Fort Hateno with Link jogging to keep up, as he was previously occupied by giving the treasure hunter a look. "There's seriously a scientist working on weapons to kill Guardians?" Link muses as he walks next to you.

"If that guy wasn't lying," you respond. "That was lucky. Central Hyrule and the castle is swarming with Guardians. If we want to defeat Ganon, we're gonna need to get our hands on those weapons."

"I agree."

"He said they cost Guardian parts. There's a whole bunch here, so if we grab them now, we can head straight to Akkala after we meet with Impa."

"Sounds good. I'll head over there. We'll cover more ground if we split up," he says as he points in the direction of the stable.

"Right," you nod and turn to the closest decayed Guardian.

You observe the ancient stone up close. Moss and vines creeped up the once rogue machine. Coats of dirt caked the stone and glazed over the eye where the ability to kill once lied.

Your eyes fall on the gap between the Guardian's head and body. You reach up and pry the gap open slightly wider, exposing its innards. You let out a small 'woah' as you study the ancient technology.

The sunlight only shined slightly inside the dense device. From what you were able to see, you can make out multiple screws and gears. You reach in and grab a few loose springs and shafts. You retract your hand and look at the ancient parts in your palm.

The smell of grease used to keep machines running filled your nose. You pocket the small bits and continue to search for more, only finding you found all the loose parts available.

You move from Guardian to Guardian, searching for parts to sell to the scientist in Akkala. You didn't know how many you need, so you gathered from every Guardian on your side of the path.

With pockets full, you decide to go and find Link. You walk to the other side of the Guardian graveyard and slay a few low-level Bokoblins on your way that tried to slow you down.

The sound of something dropping into water catches your attention. You peer around the Guardian you were using as a shield from the monsters. "Link?" you call as you see the familiar blue tunic.

"There you are. Have you finished--"

You completely stop as you see his expression. His eyes were immensely reflective as he stared ahead of him, all of the Guardian parts he gathered dropped in the water.

"Link?" you say gently.

He snaps out of his remembrance and rubs his eyes with his arm. "Yeah?" he replies with a cracked voice.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I... It's just that..." He covers his mouth with his hand and looks at the puddle of water in front of him. "This... This is where I... I died."

Your eyes widen slightly as you look between Link and the graveyard.

"And..." he begins again. You look at him to listen. "This is also where... Zelda awakened her power."

"What?" you breathe.

"Her power... caused the Guardians to shut down. This place is because of her."

'How did she awaken her power? She found the answer?'

"But in the memory... I saw-- I saw what happened after I fell. I saw what Zelda saw," he states. You slightly raise your eyebrows at the claim.

"That's... how did you...?" you mutter incoherently.

Link squints his eyes at the ground and replays the new scene in his head.

---~---

"Was that..." Princess Zelda whispers and stares at her own hand, "the power--"

Behind her, the dreaded sound of a body collapsing alerted her. She turned around, terrified of what she was about to see.

Link laid on the ground with his sword he used to lean on lying loosely in his hands. Zelda's eyes widen as she begins to shake. This couldn't be happening...

"No, no!" she cried and ran over to him. She looked down at his face, once screwed in his determination to fight, resting in a sleep that drew near.

Zelda grabbed him and began to shake him. "Link! Get up!"

With the help of what little strength he had in him, Link turned over on his back, supported by Zelda's hold. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by weak coughs. He was running out of time. He leaned back and resisted closing his eyes.

"You're going to be just fine..." Zelda claimed, trying to convince herself with her own words.

Link looked at the princess's face close to his. He tried focusing on her eyes that never held a gaze like that before. But his vision was splitting and his mind was falling back into a cold numbness.

He lost his last fight as he closed his eyes.

Zelda's heart sank as the hero became sickeningly heavy. A whimper escaped her as he fell back in her arms. Shouts of denial echoed in her head before they succumbed to reality. She wasn't holding onto hope, she was holding onto the hero with a lost life.

She fell forward and rested her forehead on his silent chest. She cried into the night with rain pouring down on the field. She failed. She lost. Everyone was lost. Who else was there to blame but herself.

Her weak cries of no were cut off by a voice she never heard before. She silenced herself and strained to listen as she looked up.

It was the Master Sword, shining a faded blue with a voice inside telling her everything was going to be okay.

"The sword...?" she muttered with furrowed eyebrows. "So he can... he can... they can still be saved?"

"Princess!" the call of a stranger interrupted her. Zelda looked up and saw two Sheikah sprinting towards her in a hurry.

Ahgin and his acquaintance, Zein, dropped in a halt in front of her in a kneel.

"Princess, are you alright?!" Zein asked with a voice struggling to stay calm. Ahgin's eyes trailed down to Link and blinked.

"Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection," Zelda commanded the two. "If you don't get him there immediately, we are going to lose him forever. Is that clear?!"

The two Sheikah nodded. Ahgin still never took his eyes off of the fallen hero.

"So make haste and go," Zelda ordered. "And if--" she cut herself off with dread and doubt. "Only if safety is guaranteed, I want a party to search Central Hyrule. (Y/N) is there. They could still be alive."

Ahgin's eyes widened as he looked at the princess. "They're alive..." he whispered so only he could hear. "They're alive..." His hands completely trembled.

"Their lives are in your hands," Zelda asserted.

--~--

Link furrows his eyebrows as he recalls for the second time. He turns to you and looks at you with a gaze you never saw on his face.

The search party was successful, that's evident. But what was striking, was how it was lead by Ahgin. In his last desperation to see you again, Ahgin headed to Central Hyrule despite the safety that was blatantly not guaranteed.

His character was so different back then. Link never knew the fact, and now that he did, he connected the dots. Back in Karusa Valley, you carried such conflicted emotions. He didn't understand before, but now he did.

"Are you ready to head out?" Link asks you. You blink at his change in subject. You were sure he would want a little more of a pause.

"Yeah..." you hesitate.

"Let's go."

"Are you sure?"

He hums in response and looks at the ground. It was like he just stood there 100 years ago and looked down on himself lying there dead. It was deeply disturbing, and truth be told, he wanted to leave.