(A/N: I just finished Age of Calamity 😭 it was so good and it is SO worth the money. With this new inspiration, I will now try to write the rest of this story as soon as possible! I'm using the actual game as reference, so it might take some time.

ALSO, to save time, I am not going back and rereading the older chapters, so some things might not line up. Don't worry! I'll fix this later! I just want to focus on the writing right now.)

You knew very well that this might be the last time you stare dazzled at the view of Hyrule.

You stare at the beautiful fray of a world that has been struggling for an eternity. It is now time to make everything right again. You've done as much as you could and you're as prepared as they get, but nothing seemed to be able to calm your nerves. Now, you simply gaze at the horizon as if it was your last opportunity.

It might be. And that thought killed you.

You can hear Link approaching to join you. He stops beside you and studies your expression. "Are you ready to go?" he asks you.

You smile hopelessly. "No," you answer and turn to him, "but what the hell."

You take a running start and leap off the edge of the cliff, unfolding your paraglider in the air. The cloth sail catches you and allows you to glide across the rest of the plateau with Link shortly behind you.

The ground beneath you takes a dramatic decline where the plateau ends. Moblins and Bokoblins look up at you, dumbfounded, as you sail safely out of their reach.

Eventually, gravity returns you back to the earth. After yesterday's efforts, you are now able to walk the main path through Hyrule semi-safely. There were still some guardians you will be forced to avoid. For example, the one patrolling the entrance to the castle town.

"We meet again," you mutter and take out your ancient bow. You nock one of your ancient arrows onto the string. You activate the technology and watch the arrow blaze a guardian blue. "Try this one out for size."

You draw back the string and release. The arrow took flight in a perfectly straight line, right on target. The technology struck deep right into the side of the glass eye. It defeated the guardian instantly.

You and Link both stare in awe.

"Wow..." you mutter while looking at the other ancient arrows. "Robbie... you genius."

You and Link both take off towards the gate together. You both stop in the gateway and peer around the wall. Just past the gate, in the middle of the main path, was a decayed guardian stalker tipped on its side. No other enemies were too near it. Link gives you a nod and you both dash silently across the main path.

But your nearby presents alerts the guardian stalker and jumpstarts its programming back online. You grab onto Link's sleeve and jump backward to hide behind the ledge of the stone path.

The spiked adrenaline refreshed your terrible dread to face Ganon. You furrow your eyebrows and frantically think of a way to lessen the danger.

"The main path is gonna be filled with obstacles since it's naturally the easiest way in," you whisper to Link. "We should go around," you nod towards the west side of the castle. "It'll be safer."

"Good idea."

You take out your bow and reach for an ancient arrow, but you stop yourself. You only have so many of these special arrows, so you decide to save them.

You grab a regular arrow instead and stun the newly active guardian. With the small window of time, you and Link rush to a large gap in the exterior wall and climb to the top. Now at a high vantage point, you are able to take in the utter despair of the tomb this town became.

A century of the weather cycle washed away the scent of soot and smoke, but your brain tricks you into smelling it anyway.

You walk along the path atop the outer wall and reach the shelter of a tower. Down the stairs, you can see a chest sitting in the middle of the lower part of the watchtower. You motion for Link to follow you as you jump down the stairs.

You open the chest with Link shortly behind you and see a bundle of ancient arrows tucked inside.

A grin spreads across your face.

"I am so glad we met you, Robbie," you mutter and snatch the hidden treasure.

"More arrows?" Link whispers. You nod and gesture for the both of you to keep going.

The walls around Hyrule Castle Town stretched only so far before the structure ended. After that, a ring of water serves as a barrier between you and the castle.

"There," you point as you spot the entrance. "That's our way in."

"(Y/N), uhm," Link mutters, looking between you and the water. You catch on.

"Oh, well," you awkwardly say. "This isn't time for silly fears like that. I'll be fine."

"Okay. If you're sure, let's do it."

You both walk down to the edge and checked to see if any monsters nearby were on standby. There was none.

With a running start, you both leap over the water and unfold your gliders. The air takes you most of the way over the water, but you end up getting dipped under the surface up to your knees. Before the water reaches any higher, you lean forward and grab onto the overgrown greens that latched onto the castle's edge.

You look over to your left where Link is. He begins taking the climb over to the dock's opening, sidestepping on the unkempt stone bricks. You follow him, stepping where he steps.

Soon enough, the cliffside reaches the entrance. Link jumps onto the stone platform and reaches out his hand to help you. You take his hand and let him pull you to steady ground.

Snaking around the underground of the castle was a railroad system. This system hovered with supports a couple of feet over your head. You still duck for extra measures. Hitting your head certainly isn't ideal.

You look behind you to see the railroads are cut off by a rockslide. You instead follow the roads forward to another entrance underneath the castle. Link is behind you.

From there, you reach the West Passage. Hot and humid air enters your lungs as soon as you step foot inside. You quickly realize why as you spot a preserved, natural hot spring to your left. You mutter thanks to fate under your breath as you run over and dip your hands under the water. The healing minerals quickly work to heal your sore hands from climbing.

"Feeling okay?" Link asks you from behind.

"Yes," you answer as you jump right back to your feet. "Let's keep going."

You take the staircase immediately in front of you to a long hallway. It seems to be a dead end.

You curse under your breath, but Link seems to see something you don't. He examines a part of the wall to your right, running his fingers over deep cracks in the brick. The build seems to have been so weakened over the ages it could collapse at any moment.

You then catch on to what Link is thinking as he uses the Sheikah Slate to summon a round bomb. He places it at the foot of the wall before grabbing your hand and rushing a good few feet away from it. You cover your ears with your palms as he detonates the explosive, destroying the wall, and creating another passageway.

You take your new path to another few hallways. The turns you make are decided on which ever path sounds the quietest. Getting a lay of the land is better than running into monsters that are powered by Ganon's wrath.

Malice lined the hallway you take, causing the sector to reek. The smell didn't get any better as you found yourself in the castle lockup. The floor was damp and mold clung to the darker corners. You crinkle your nose in disgust.

At the end of the passage, Link spots another cracked wall. You routinely back away and cover your ears as Link destroys the barrier. Inside, you reach the cellars of the lockup that are blocked off by a large, barred wall. Holding the wall's gate in place is an eye of malice, just like the divine beasts. This reminds you that you are currently in end game. Another wave of nerves washes over you.

You find yourself exceptionally tense as you knock an arrow in your bow and fire at the eye. After it dissipates into a cloud of gas, the gate thrusts up, unlocking you from the single room.

You venture out into the even wetter hallways of the cells. Streams of water fresh from the moat creak down the walkway. The smell of mold is particularly strong here.

Desperate to get out, you and Link follow the water upstream to a turn in the hall. This hall leads to a large pile of bones in the middle of a room. Link's curiosity spikes and he takes a step to enter the room.

"Wait!" You hold out a hand to stop him from going any further. You point up to show Link the spiked gate that would lock behind you if you stepped inside.

"But look," Link also pointed. Inside the room was a ceremonial treasure chest next to a stone pillar.

Writing was transcribed in carvings on the stone: "Test of the Royal Guard / Strike down the giant foe to become recognized as a knight of the kingdom."

"Let's do it," Link playfully smiles.

"What? No. It could be a trick," you reason.

"It's just one enemy."

"Yeah, but the fight would make a lot of noise and could end up attracting more."

"Well, do you see any other way?"

Wow... you really hate it when Link is right. Then again, there was something endearing about how proud of himself he was when he-- sometimes-- was right.

"Fine," you say, then playfully grin along. "Whoever gets the last hit gets the treasure?"

"You're on."

As soon as you both step into the room, the bones begin magically binding themselves together to form a massive, skeletal monster. A singular, undead eye completes the form and brings the foe to life. The Stalnox adjusts to its new vision before it focuses upon its challengers.

"Easy," you mutter to yourself before loading your bow. You take the shot and land a critical hit on the monster. The eye loses its place in its cradle and falls out, onto the ground. Link gets to it before you and uses his Master Sword to finish off the battle. It felt like the fight was over before it even began.

A beat of silence passes before you speak up. "As promised," you gesture to the treasure chest. Link shoots you a grin before heading over to the chest and taking a knee. He opens the lock and lifts the lid to reveal an extravagant, blue shield. Both of you take expressions of wonder as Link takes the shield from the chest.

Inscribed inside the chest was the description of the equipment: "Hylian Shield / A shield passed down through the Hyrulean royal family, along with the legend of the hero who wielded it. It's defensive capabilities and durability outshine all other shields."

Holy shit.

Link stares in wonder as he realizes he is holding yet another item tied to the prophesy that was passed down for years to now be held by the true owner himself. It takes a few moments for him to compose himself.

He stands up and unequips the Ancient Shield that was strapped to his back. He holds it out to you, being now the second strongest shield both of you have. "You should have this instead," he says. "I can't exactly have two shields at once."

You smile and take the shield. "Thank you," you say.

With that settled, you both keep going. You realize the room is a dead end before you turn back. You walk through the lockup again before taking a different turn. Above you is a platform that leads to another hallway. Whatever way people used to get up there was destroyed long ago.

An idea comes to mind. You crouch down on the ground and call upon Revali's spirit. Patiently you wait, but you don't have to wait long before a gale forms beneath you.

"Follow me," you say to Link before you unfold your paraglider and ride the winds up. Beside you, Revali's spirit aids you in your ascent.

The gale takes you high enough to grab onto the ledge of the platform. With a great heave, you hoist yourself up onto the level ground. Link follows you, using the gale as well before it dissolved.

You continue down the paths available to you. Consistently, when you would be able to decide to go either left or right, the option was already decided for you by rockslides and walls of malice. Calamity Ganon himself seemed to be guiding you on where to go, beckoning you to dare challenge him.

After a few turns through the royal hallways, you reach a wider room: the Guard's Chambers. It was long abandoned. Nothing but filth and debris occupied the grand room.

You slow your pace and look around, hoping that maybe something here could awaken your sealed memories. To your pleasant surprise, you find an old treasure chest by the foot of the stairs. You eagerly open it.

Inside, however, was a neatly folded pile of clothes. The cloth was totally dyed blue and red. The kingdom's symbol of the triforce was stitched in gold.

After unfolding the garments, you quickly realize that you are holding a copy of the royal guard uniform. "Woah..." you mutter as you reach further in the chest. The gloves and boots were preserved inside the box and still flaunted their pristine, white color.

"What is that?" Link asks over your shoulder.

"My old uniform," you say proudly. "Hold on, I'm putting these on." You say before grabbing the clothes and stepping towards a corner for some privacy. "Now we'll both look like we did 100 years ago."

Link averts his eyes and waits for you to change your clothes.

When you finish pulling on the clothes, you look around the room for a mirror, but realize there wasn't one. You slightly frown, wishing you could see yourself. Nonetheless, you finish tying the look together with your champion garment.

"How do I look?" You ask Link as you adjust your cap. Link turns around and adopts a surprised expression. A blush creeps up his face and his ears.

He definitely now sees why he fell in love with you 100 years ago.

"You look amazing," he says sincerely, though he now is staring at the floor.

You smile to yourself and re-equip your gear you previously dropped on the floor to change. Now, you hold your old clothes in your hand. Though they're battered up over the days, they still hold memory and emotional attachment. Deciding not to just leave them on the floor, you instead put them in the chest, replacing the clothes you took.

"Okay," you say as you stand up straight again. "Let's keep going."