"Hold on," you say to Link and stop him right as you leave the Guard's Chambers. "I just remembered... Don't we have another captured memory that's in the castle?"

"Oh, we do," Link says as he gets out his Sheikah Slate. He flips to the album and opens up the last picture. "It's outside. Looks to maybe be on a stone terrace."

You look at the picture over his shoulder. It definitely looks familiar, but then again, everything looks the same when it's destroyed. "This will be hard," you mutter. "Let's go look for it before we head to the sanctum."

"Good idea," he says and hooks the slate back to its place on his belt. "So, where's the way out?"

You pause, looking around the windowless hallway. "I think there was one this way," you say,

"follow me."

You guide Link back to the raised platform where you used Revali's Gale to get to. Directly opposite of the entrance to this room was an exit. You both head for the outside, but immediately duck back in as you spot a guardian.

Link curses. "How many ancient arrows do you have?"

You pause to count. "Fourteen. If I play my cards right, we should have enough to get to the sanctum."

"Right. I trust you."

A smile appears on your face after he says that.

You look out the exit again and trail the guardian skywatcher with your eyes as it patrols the cliffs. It looks too far away for you and Link to be in range of its vision, but you don't want to take the risk.

You wait for the skywatcher to hover away from you before you and Link both make a dash for the staircase. You climb the set of stairs, then another. Now out of the way of danger, you take shelter under an arch to catch your breath.

"(Y/N), look," Link whispers while pointing to the nearest structure. It was a tower that connected to the rest of the castle by a terrace. "Is that it?"

"Is it?" you echo his question. "That was easy to find after all."

But as you say that, another skywatcher comes into sight, its assigned patrol was to circle the tower.

"You've got to be kidding me," you say. "There's no way we can get up there without being seen."

"Maybe so," Link says, "but that doesn't mean we can't hide after they see us."

It's risky, but it's the only option you have. You squint your eyes at the terrace and find it connects to a broken opening to the room immediately following. "Worth a shot," you decide.

On Link's silent countdown, you both rush to the base of the tower and begin scaling it. Your hands quickly become sore as you grab stone after stone with a tight grip. Nearing the top where the climb is the hardest, you step into the sight of the skywatcher. It's lights turn to a menacing red as its eye begins concentrating a deadly red beam. Memories of what a blast from a guardian felt surfaces and makes you shudder.

Link makes a jump for the top and grabs the ledge before hoisting himself up. Without hesitation, he turns around and reaches down a hand to help you. His other hand grabs his shield.

The guardian starts beeping faster before it finally shoots a lethal ray of light. Link parries the beam and causes it to ricochet right back into the guardian's eye. The machine starts breaking down and falls from the sky.

Link helps pull you up to the terrace. You stumble slightly, but catch yourself as you stare at the broken guardian on the ground. You didn't have time to stop and stare, however, as another guardian beam begins targeting you. The new guardian sits slightly obscured by stone, but is still able to get a shot in.

You and Link both rush into the tower and press your backs against the wall of Zelda's Study. The beam fails to lock on target, but the red alert beeping of the machine can still be heard from a distance. You both frantically catch your breaths.

After a bit of rest, you both are ready to go on with the next part of the plan. "We only have a couple of seconds," Link says. "If I remember and I don't snap out of it by then--"

"I'll get us out," you assure him. He nods and counts you both down before hastily walking in his own footsteps 100 years ago. He pauses, impatient, right where Zelda stood when she took the picture. By now, guardians from both sides have spotted you both on the terrace. Red beams target themselves on both of your chests.

You stand next to Link as you tap your foot anxiously waiting for him to remember. A second passes, and Link finally freezes up.

Another second, and he still isn't moving.

"Link," you call him. He doesn't answer. "Link," you try again. He still stands next to you with a look of concern etched on his face.

The guardians' beams narrow down, locking on target. You decide to take things into your own hands and grab Link's hand. You begin rushing down the terrace, pulling him with you. After forcing him to move, Link snaps out of his trance.

"Jump!" you yell over the firing beams. At once, you and Link both make a leap into the next room, threading through a damaged hole in the wall and falling down.

You both land harshly on your feet.

You bend down and catch your breath as well as try to calm yourself down. After a beat, you feel you are okay and stand up again. Link is looking around the room beside you.

"Is this Zelda's room?" he asks.

You too look about your surroundings. You can see a grand, queen sized bed that was caved in. The walls were covered with bookshelves, most of which were destroyed. Your interest piques as you discover a book lying open on a desk. You don't read the handwriting, but instead, you take a peek at the cover and see it is Zelda's Diary.

"I think it is," you take a guess. Before you was the diary of the princess. It would be rude to read it, but you think of the memories it could unlock. You use this as an excuse to go ahead and read the last entry.

"I had a dream last night... In a place consumed by darkness, a lone woman gazed at me, haloed by blinding light."

All it took was the first line for you to remember.

--~--

(Y/N) knocked at the princess's door to get Zelda's attention. "Special delivery," (Y/N) said and revealed a plate with a slice of fruit cake.

Zelda smiled and put down her pen. "Oh, thank you, (Y/N). You didn't have to deliver it yourself."

"I know," (Y/N) said and placed the cake down on the desk Zelda occupied, "but I wanted to wish you an early happy birthday."

"That's quite kind of you, thank you," she said.

"How are you doing this evening. Is everything alright?"

The princess opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again. "Actually, would you mind helping me with something?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"You see, I... I had this dream last night..." Zelda averted her eyes to her lap, staring at her nightgown. "And I thought maybe you could help me interpret it."

"Go on," (Y/N) invited and took a seat on a nearby empty chair.

"In this dream, I was with someone. I don't know who she was... but she seemed like she wasn't of this world. Maybe a fairy or a spirit. I don't know... But I know she spoke to me, like she was warning me of something, maybe. I know this, but I couldn't hear her. Maybe I could've heard her if my power was awoken."

(Y/N) smiled. "It sounds like the goddess Hylia paid you a visit." Zelda didn't smile back.

"If she did... if that was her... she had something urgent to say. If only I had heard her."

"Maybe your power isn't as far away as you think," (Y/N) offered. "You got to see her. She's close to you-- and so is your power."

"It could be that... but," Zelda trailed off and laced her hands together. "(Y/N)."

(Y/N) looked up to see Zelda wearing an honestly anxious look.

"I feel..." tears began welling up in her eyes, "something terrible is about to happen."

--~--

You furrow your eyebrows at the page and take your hand off of it.

"(Y/N)," Link calls for your attention. You turn around with a hum. "Do you have any memories of the king?"

"No," you answer. "Well, I remember the king hosted the ceremony that dubbed the champions. But, that's really all. Why do you ask?"

"Just now, I had a memory of the king... It's strange. During his first impression, he came off as a kind father who just wanted his daughter to be safe. But if he wanted that, then why did he treat her like that before the calamity?"

"Like what?" you ask, then recall your memory of you and Zelda at the spring of courage. "You mean how he acted more like a king than a father?"

"Even if he was acting like a king," Link says as he stares at Zelda's old vanity, "was that the kind of king he wanted to be? All he did was put pressure on Zelda and add to her stress. All she wanted to do was help. In turn, the king just scolded her."

"I got that too," you say. "I'm sure he was only trying to do what was best for the kingdom... but how he ended up treating Zelda..."

"And look where she is now..."

Guilt festers inside you, which then turns into Hylia's voice, telling you something. The words are incoherent, but the meaning is clear: get to the sanctum.

"I don't think we have much time to lose," you say. "Something tells me we need to move. Now."

"Got it," Link understands.

The original exit of the room was caved in and blocked off, so instead, you and Link take an open window as an exit. Now on level ground, you find a staircase leading up to the next level to your right. You and Link both take it.

From that, you take another staircase that leads to the castle's main path. From this point, two guardians stand guarding the entrance to the sanctum. While staying out of sight, you annihilate the guardians with ease using the ancient arrows.

Now, the entrance stands unguarded for you to pass.

"Ready?" Link asks you, taking your hand.

You take a deep breath, the urgency of Hylia's voice growing within you.

"Ready."