Before the Fall: Part 18 – The History of the Sword

The clouds had parted, the world stood still and the goddess descended from the sky. The volcanic ground dissipated as she touched down on to the ground. The fighting stopped and the combatants looked towards her. None of them were prepared for a goddess intervening, especially the Goddess of Time. I came down with her, held tightly in her hand. Power surged through me, filling me with unbelievable energy. From the distance, I could feel pure malice bearing down upon us. It felt like a fog of hatred, stinging and setting my senses on fire.

We had come to intervene thanks to the nature of the conflict. Had it been any other fight, we probably would have just watched from afar. However, the moment the demon king came to the front lines, we knew we had to intervene. No mortal could stand against him; in fact, it would be difficult for a lone goddess such as Hylia to fight him head on. She needed a champion. She needed someone to wield me and fight against the evil alongside her. But we had teleported straight into the heart of the battle. This was most unfortunate.

“Hylia, I predict a forty-six percent chance that we will find the hero here,” I say, giving my statistics to my wielder.

“Understood. Thank you, Fi,” she responds, her warm tone reassuring me of her confidence.

Still, we both knew that we could not just leave the battlefield now that we had come down. Our search would have to wait. For now, we needed to assist the armies of light. Hylia turned to one of the Goron generals and smiled sweetly, “Goruk.”

It was obvious he as unsure as to how this woman knew his name. In fact, you could tell he was taken aback by it. “Yes, m’lady?” He answered back, his voice unwavering as he stood before the goddess.

“Tell your men to fall back. I will handle this.” She gripped my hilt tighter, her passion and justice stronger than ever. The general nodded and called his men back. Confused, but obeying his order, they all proceeded to retreat. With the battlefield clear of allies, Hylia was off. It was like she was a bolt of lightning as she struck through the crowd of enemies, slashing them down without remorse or hesitation. As the bokoblins and lizalfos fell, she continued on. It was obvious Demise was not here. However, his fortress was not far away and he could see what was going on. I momentarily imagined the frown on his face as he noticed a goddess jumping into the fray to take him on.

The allied soldiers cheered as Hylia cut down the last enemy. The field was covered in blood, but we were clean. However, it was not over. We knew that we needed to find the hero worthy of wielding me. Someone that could stand guard once Hylia left. Someone that was worthy to wield the sword of evil’s bane.

~~

“Gah!” The hero flew backwards, his blue scarf tossing back in the wind. Demise stood in front of us, his hair a raging flame. We had managed to get a few good hits in, but he was nowhere near finished. There was no way to defeat him. I could hear his sword taunting us – taunting me. It was unnerving, to say the least.

“I hear him too, Fi. Just ignore him,” the hero said, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He turned towards Hylia; the goddess was clearly exhausted. Her bruises colored her otherwise perfect skin, pain searing through her heavenly body.

“It has been a long fight, my friends. Today, it ends,” Hylia said with a weak smile. She stood up straight, her intention clear to me. She was going to sacrifice herself to save this world from Demise. “I may not be able to kill him, but I can seal him.”

“You’ll be killed, Hylia. I cannot allow that!” The hero responded, shocked by her proposition. “Listen, we’ll figure a way out of this. If we need to retreat, we will! It is my duty to protect you and this world.”

“Your duty is to this world, not to me,” she reminded him, still smiling. “Fi, take care of them, okay? I am so sorry for this.”

I knew what she was going to do and I was prepared for the worst. In order to use the entirety of her power, she would need to draw it away from me. If I could have screamed in pain, I would have. I felt the energy drain from me as Hylia pulled it back. My once-purple hilt shrunk into a light blue adornment; my blade shortened and the glow left it. I had the wherewithal to notice these changes, but not the power to prevent them.

The goddess stood in front of the hero and I, her arms outstretched to Demise. All we could do was stand and watch. Not even the hero was foolish enough to try to stop Hylia. Demise charged forward, ready to defeat the goddess and rule this world. However, he was too late. A large beam of light shot from Hylia and into the King of Darkness. He stopped in his tracks, frozen by the sheer power hitting him. Suddenly, a small stone-like structure formed in the light and pierced Demise’s head. Immediately, his power left him; his skin turned to charcoal black and scales formed over his body. The sword fell to the ground, clanging with despair. His form had been sealed by his master so he could use his full potential, but now he was trapped. With one final push, Hylia forced Demise to his knees, his eyes full of the same malice we felt when we first arrived to this world. His let out a groan of anger before he was thrust into the ground, the grass of the field parting way to allow the stone in. Demise had been sealed into the ground by powerful magic and would hopefully never return.

Hylia fell to the ground, her energy exhausted. “Hylia!” The hero yelled, running to her side.

“Do not fret. I have taken care of him, but this world is left to you now. You must fight on my behalf. Take care of them and protect them. Do not let them leave the sky lands that I have prepared for them. I have left an emissary here; she will watch over these Sealed Grounds to prevent anyone from resurrected this demon king. Now,” she whistled and a red loftwing approached, perching next to them. “Kaepora…”

“Don’t say anything, Hylia. I promise I will protect them,” the hero, Kaepora, said, holding Hylia’s hand. She smiled as she began to fade from sight. It was a painful sight for Kaepora, I imagine. He had grown so close to Hylia over the last few months, even having given him a son, Gaebora. It was most unusual for a mortal to have grown so close to a god or goddess, though it was not unfamiliar to have a demigod child walk among man. Sadly, Gaebora had been passed over for the divine spark. This I knew too well, though Kaepora did not.

With Hylia now gone, Kaepora hopped on the loftwing with me in hand. I knew that I would be sealed away until the time I was needed. I also knew how useless I was now, being nothing more than a glorified sword. At least the evil was sealed away for good. Well, there was a seventy-seven percent chance it had been sealed away for good.

~~

He gave me that look; the look of sadness that the ancient hero once had when he said goodbye to a dear friend. “I have not been endowed with feelings,” I said, staring at the hero, “but what if I had been given emotions, what I am feeling right now probably equates to happiness. Now that the world is at peace, I must go into a slumber without end. Hopefully, I never have to be drawn again.” Link nodded, albeit reluctantly. My story had been complete, so I thought. My use had been fulfilled as I was simply a tool for the hero to use to protect the land. However, this time it felt different. I knew that I had to take this slumber, but I did not want to. With a single thrust, however, my fate was sealed. Into the stone I went, silencing my mind and my power forever.

~~

“Fi, was it? Where did you come from?” The confused Hylian asked. Her appearance had been unsettling, to say the least. It was not so much her looks, but her unexpected entrance. Granted, her hollow eyes did nothing to help his nerves.

“This is odd,” she said, looking around the forest. She was quite confused as to how she had gotten here. Perhaps she had been drawn in the past, but she had never woken up. Her power had never been returned like this before. She was still weak, but she had a glimmer of Hylia’s power within her once more. “There was a zero percent chance that I would awaken. This is most unexpected.”

“Ah, the spirit of the sword has awoken. This is quite the turn of events. Now, young hero. I hate to shove you off so quickly, but you do have a lady waiting on you to return,” the Great Deku Tree said, sending Link off. As Link and Fi left the forest, the Great Deku Tree was hopeful, but at the same time even more worried. If the goddess thought that the spirit of the sword needed to be awakened, then whatever power Ganon had was far more dangerous than previously anticipated.

Author’s Note (Alfred): So the most chosen response to the last poll was about a special chapter. Honestly, I had some fun with this one, not feeling as constrained by the need to stick too close to a specific canon. I had a bit of freedom here, so I went with it. Because of the nature of this chapter, this week won’t have a poll. We will bring that back next week after the next chapter, but until then, enjoy!