You wake up late the next day. Once your eyes open the slightest bit, allowing you to see daylight, you roll over again and cover yourself further with your blankets.

Despite the declaration you made the day before, you slept in further. The full story behind Ahgin was too much. Thinking about it, even a little, triggers it to run in your head again, leaving no room to concentrate or think about anything else.

Eventually, you bring yourself to get up. The day was ahead of you whether you liked it or not.

You swing your legs over the side of the bed and stretch, facing walls of the room. You yawn obviously and turn around to see Link already woke up, most likely waiting for you in the kitchen.

You throw on your coat and pull on your boots before gathering all of your belongings. You exit the inn and walk through the levels of the village to the kitchen.

Indeed, your prediction was spot on. Link sat in the kitchen, humming a tune to himself, as he not only cooked breakfast, but skewered meals for the road as well. "Good morning," you greet him.

He looks up at you with a playful smile. "Yes, good morning on this morning that is present."

You rub your eyes with a frown. "Is it really that late? I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize!" Link says with his tone taking a 180. "I was only joking."

He hands you a bowl of fried egg and rice before crossing his legs. You sit down a little ways away from him and thank him for the meal. You dig in, and to be expected, meet with a delicious taste.

"Your skills are getting out of hand," you say to Link with a mouthful. "Did you season this with Hyrule herb and salt?"

"You're dead on."

"Excellent choices," you compliment and devour the meal at a speed that could compete against Link. He watches you with raised eyebrows.

"Would you like any more?"

"No thanks. It was the perfect serving," you say with the 'ok' sign.

Link eats his portion before turning the Sheikah Slate on again. "I was thinking," he starts, "like when you suggested we go after retrieving our lost weapons, what if we spend the day looking for the captured memories?"

"Which ones?" you say with interest.

"These two," he says and spins the slate around on the ground, pointing at the third and tenth photos. "This one--" he references the third-- "has Medoh in the background. The picture was taken facing northwest, so it should be somewhere near here southeast. This one-- "he points to the tenth-- "doesn't have any obvious landmarks, but if you look there--" he points to the view directly south-- "at Gerudo Highlands, it's clear the photo was taken also in that direction. I'm sure we can find it around here."

"That sounds like a plan," you nod.

After the meal was cleared and your clothes changed, you exit the village and bid it farewell. Now with only the help of two pictures, you and Link set off to find the captured memories on your horses.

You head south down the trail for a little while before structures in the distance catches your eye. "Look up there!" you point to the top of a hill.

Link follows your line of vision and sees stone pillars dressed in moss with an orange glowing shrine.

"That's it!" he shouts with excitement and takes off on Epona down the road. You catch up to him to the base of the cliff.

It only took a little bit of climbing before you arrive at the top. You and Link both walk around the ancient structure to the same angle the photo was taken in. You then turn to Link expectantly.

He looks between the photo and the surroundings before he remembers with a gasp.

You watch and wait as his eyes slowly trail down to look at the floor. "Oh..." he whispers.

"What is it?" you carefully ask.

"Zelda and I... didn't really have a good relationship at the beginning, did we..."

You look down at the grass as well and recall dialogue you said with Urbosa.

'Not to mention, she is still having trouble in regards with her relationship with Link.'

"Yeah... I remember that too," you reply quietly. "But it got better, right?" you ask him, hoping Urbosa's prediction all those years ago was correct.

"Yeah, it got better," he claims. "I just didn't know she..." he gives the ground a look of confusion with a shake of his head... "hated me so much."

You stay silent to hear if he has anything else to say, but he doesn't further the subject.

"Let's get going," he says as he snaps himself out of his thoughts. You give him a nod and a small smile.

The both of your glide off of the cliff and jump back on your horses. You follow the path further, keeping an eye out for anything in the photo. Completely distracted by your surroundings, you run into multiple monsters and nearly get in trouble a handful of times.

You cross the bridge over the canyon again and trace the outskirts of Hyrule Ridge. You and Link come to a stop as the path turns left to head north.

"Now what," you mutter and look around. You didn't wish to stray away from the main road too far, but you felt so close to finding the memory. The sun was closing into early evening already.

"Over there!"

You jump and turn to Link to your left. You see him pointing and turn to your right to look south. "What? What do you see?" you say and look around.

Link opens the gallery again and compares the image to whatever he found. "Yeah, it's over there!" He turns the Sheikah Slate around for you to see the tenth photo in full screen. You squint your eyes and look at the horse sculpture. "The statue is over there!"

You and Link exchange looks and simultaneously snap the reins of your horses, taking off in a gallop off the road. You loop around a large mountain towards the statue, passing monsters both in flesh and in bone. None serve as a threat when you are traveling at such a speed.

You gallop over a stone bridge crossing a stream. You pass monster hideouts and small ruins, not stopping your pace.

Eventually, you make it to the ruins of the park. You approach the stone structure and hop off Ginger, briefly stroking his mane lovingly. Link begins walking around the base of the wall to the nearest staircase leading up.

You follow him and walk up the shallow steps towards the statue of the horse. It was a very beautiful and tranquil park. Several trees provided shade in their elongated shadows. A fountain up and running stood in the center of the lower level. Up another flight of stairs stood the statue, the focused subject in Zelda's photo.

You and Link walk up the short flight of steps and stand at the angle Zelda took the photo 100 years ago. You then patiently wait for Link to remember.

He softly gasps as his eyes widen. He freezes for a moment as he recalls the day the picture was taken. Slowly, he brings himself back from his memory and looks at the ground.

"What did you see this time?" you ask him.

He takes a second to reprocess the memory before answering. "I remember the princess and I came here on horses to rest for a second... We walked up here and she told me the following day was her seventeenth birthday, where she will then walk up Mount Lanayru to the Spring of Widsom."

You completely stop.

Link notices your lack of response and looks up at you to see your stunned reaction. "What is it?" he prompts you.

"Mount Lanayru," you say. "Link, you just--" you cut yourself off and take a breath while looking up at him. "You just remembered the day before the Calamity."

His eyes widen at your words before he breaks eye contact. "Oh."

Silence hangs in the air for multiple moments.

"I just realized," he says and looks back at you, "you've never shared what you remember."

"I guess you've just never asked," you reply and begin walking down the steps of the second level. You stop at the tree across the bottom of the stairs. "Well, do you want chronological order?"

Link half shrugs with a nod as you both sit down by the base.

"Chronological order..." you repeat and puff out your cheeks in a breath. "I've never really tried to arrange them in order before. Let's see..." you cross your legs and lean forward.

"I remember the day we all got our Champion garbs," you begin and motion with your hands. "It was in this huge royal sanctum at the top of the castle. All six of us were standing, facing the king, standing in front of these flags with the symbol of our races. All the guards were there as witnesses."

"The king gave this whole speech to us about accepting the fateful task of becoming champions. And, he actually said that Zelda was the one who made the garbs herself." You think for a second to recall your other memories. "Then, I remember hearing of the fact that you and Zelda went on a journey across Hyrule to help the champions pilot their Divine Beasts. I also went to help the champions, but I helped them with their abilities and took a different route."

"That was when I had all my memories of the champions. Mipha... she was always so nice-- oh! And I saw baby Prince Sidon!" you grin and look at Link. He returns the smile with a stifled laugh, imagining what Sidon could've looked like younger. "He had a charming grin even back then," you say and lean back.

"Then, I met Urbosa. She was a lot more maternal than I thought she'd be. She gave me such great advice. She told me to stop worrying about something that hasn't even happened yet, and dreading the inevitable just means you'll suffer twice. I really like her."

"And Revali," you start with a laugh. "Oh I shot down that insufferable ego of his. I wish you could've seen it." You then laugh again as you remember further. "Hold on, didn't you call him a prick when you first remembered him? Ha! I seriously see why. That's priceless!"

You look at the orange horizon with a dying smile. "Actually, before all of that, I had a memory with Princess Zelda..." You look at the ground as you recall the feeling of holding her in the freezing waters. "I think it was before you became her appointed knight. I accompanied her to the Spring of Courage where she prayed to awaken her power..."

"She went through so much... Her own father-- the king-- thought she was a failure. All because she couldn't access her power that was locked away. He should've recognized her struggle. Not even I could help her. I asked Hylia for help, but all she gave me was one word: balance."

You look up the slightest bit. "Speaking of which..." You grab your sword from your back and hold it in front of you. The glow of the engravings prove the enhanced abilities were still alive. "Even though I'm able to hear Hylia again... she's become so faint and abstract."

You lower the blade and look off to the side. "I sometimes find myself wondering why I became a champion in the first place. I don't have a Divine Beast nor an emitter-type ability."

"Neither do I," Link says softly. "But here we are."

"Well, for you, it makes sense," you reason. "You're the hero of the story, destined to defeat Ganon. I'm just someone with second hearing..."

You trail off as a feeling of doubt comes over you.

It was the same feeling you felt in a memory that surfaces right in that moment.

--~--

"Are you familiar with the 10,000 year old legend, (Y/N)?" Mekaih asked the young child of eleven years of age, who didn't answer. Impa reached behind her and rolled down a large scroll on the wall. On the scroll was a perfect printed visual of the legend.

"Did you know the history of Hyrule is in a pattern?" Mekaih continued. "It follows a history of a villain called Ganon. The beast appeared time and time again over the ages. It was known to have been turned back repeatedly by a warrior with a hero's spirit and a princess who carried the spirit of the Goddess through many stories."

"The triforce--" she made a triangle with her hands-- "known as The Golden Power, has three pieces to it: courage, wisdom, and power. The hero of time holds the triforce of courage, the princess has the triforce of wisdom, and Ganon carries the triforce of power. But did you know there's a forth?"

"A forth?" (Y/N) echoed across from the Sheikah.

"Yes, there's a forth. When the three triforces are in balance, have you noticed there is a space in between? The space can only exist in perfect balance and resembles the goddess's guidance. The space may not be physical or part of the goddess's essence, but it has a hidden carrier. That carrier is a gift from the goddess; a person that has second sight and hearing. They're able to hear the goddess's voice themself. Do you see this drawing up here?"

Mekaih points to another figure drawn in ink of purple and gold right above the castle at the top of the scroll.

"That's you."

(Y/N) stared at the drawing with no explicit reaction.

"You have the ability to carry out guidance from the goddess. You're Hyrule's key to completing the prophecy and completing this reincarnation of the legend."

(Y/N)'s eyes casted on the ground with a subconscious frown.

"What's wrong, darling?" Purah said sitting next to Impa, both were the same age as (Y/N) and listened to their mother tell the story they already knew.

"So that's what I am..." (Y/N) said. "A cheat sheet. A short cut. A... tool just to be used for information."

"(Y/N)," Mekaih furrowed her eyebrows, "that isn't at all what--"

"But it's true isn't it?" the child cut her off. "I'm just a person with a valuable voice in my head. A voice I spent my entire childhood talking to, and everyone thought I was crazy. Thought I was talking to myself. It's the voice that matters, not the person that carries the ability."

"(Y/N)," Impa frowned. She and her sister joined (Y/N) in a hug.

"(Y/N) darling," Purah said with an offended tone. "You matter so much."

"You're so amazing," Impa said. "You're kind and outgoing and adventurous. So many people in the world strive to have those qualities that come naturally to you. Anyone who says you don't matter is wrong. Always remember that."

(Y/N) sniffed and tried not to cry as they returned the hug.

--~--

"I think it wouldn't have made sense if you weren't made a champion," Link says and snaps you back to the present. "I mean, you've helped the entirety of Hyrule, even before you were a champion. That's more than anyone has done."

You slowly smile as you look at the ground.

What were you doing, doubting yourself like that?

You look at Link with a growing, grateful smile. "Thank you."

Link's face subtly changes to shock before he returns a smile. "How could I not?"

The sun, now low enough in the sky to count as a sunset, declared the day nearly done. You look behind you to check the time and nearly sigh.

The day was very short, but it didn't make you any less grateful that you lived it.

You stand up with Link and stretch. "Let's get back to Tabantha Stable before it gets dark," you say.

"Okay. I see no problem in that," Link replies. You give him one last glance before you take a step to go back to the horses. But one thing catches your eye.

Behind Link, you can see the mountain nearest to you faintly glowing. You look up at the summit with a wondrous expression, cueing Link to do the same. "What is that," you nearly whisper.

"It's too warm for aurora borealis, right?" Link says next to you.

"Yeah," you nod. "It is."

"Wanna go check it out?" Link gives you a grin.

"And you're asking?"

The two of you jump off of the park ruins. Link whistles for the horses to meet you on the other side of the walls. Responding to his call, Ginger and Epona trot over to you and allow you to hop on.

Though it was only a little whiles away, you ride your horses to the base of the mountain. There was a clear path up the mountain, but in fear of falling with the horses, you decide to leave them.

You walk up the path with Link at your side and make it to the small, leveled out summit. In front of you, you can see the air grow thick with green mist. The atmosphere grows hazy the closer you get. You walk cautiously through a small collection of trees until you spy a clearing.

It was a sight of enchantment.

In the middle of the summit was a small spring with shallow water. Behind the pool was a magnificent cherry tree in complete bloom. The entire spring was alive with glowing creatures; the same creature you saw when you woke up that was never explained.

You and Link stare at the scene perplexed.

Slowly, you bring yourself to crouch down to the ground and inch closer to get a better look. Link follows you and grabs his Sheikah Slate. Now in picture-capturing range, he takes the camera and snaps a photo of the creatures.

He reads off the entry from the Hyrule Compendium before handing it to you.

The creature was called a blupee. "They may look like mere rabbits at a fleeting glance, but these strange and aptly named creatures glow with a mysterious blue light. While the details of their origins are entirely unknown, there is one thing we do know: these peculiar little things have a penchant for collecting rupees."

As you finish reading, you hear Link softly gasp next to you. You look up and follow his line of sight to the center of the spring.

There, glowing in a spirit green, was an etherial horse you've never seen before.

You stare at the horse as it paws the water submerged ground beneath it. It was beautiful.

You slowly raise the Sheikah Slate to your eyes and take a picture of the creature. You lower the slate without taking your eyes off of the spirit. Once you register Link reading the entry over your shoulder, you focus your attention down on it as well.

This was the Lord of the Mountain. "This noble creature watches over all animals that make their homes in the forest. Legends say this holy creature is a reincarnation of a sage that died on the lands it now protects. It has an acute awareness of its surroundings, so it seldom appears before people. It's sometimes known by its other name, Satori."

"Satori," you whisper the name. The reincarnated sage before you perks its ears up. Your breath hitches as you think you alerted it, but you relax as the creature turns its attention back to the rabbits around it.

Link turns to you and grabs your attention. "Amazing," he mouths. You nod in agreement and gaze at the spring for just a little longer.

Only when you realize you are wasting daylight a few minutes later, you and Link make the decision to leave.

Once you were out of hearing range, you look at Link again with jaw-dropping astonishment. "That was a reincarnated sage?" you baffle.

"That watches over all animals in the forest?" he continues your marvel.

"It feels like we just saw a god," you say.

"No kidding."

Getting over the shock takes a couple of minutes.

Link was the first to remember where the two of you are and what time it was. An idea comes to mind and his face lights up in a smile. "You ready?"

"For what--?!"