It was very anticlimactic, Zelda thought, walking through the eerily silent Hyrule Forest Park. She had thought there would be more Guardians. Maybe they had moved on since they had already decimated the training grounds. Zelda refused to cry when she saw the wreckage. Instead she mentally added their souls to the ongoing tally in her head.

Her father.

Everyone in the castle.

Everyone in Castletown.

Mipha.

Daruk.

Urbosa.

Revali.

Link.

No, she scolded herself. Link was not dead. He would heal, and he would take up the restored Master Sword, and he would save her. He would always come to save her.

Zelda almost laughed. She didn't need saving quite yet, but that would change as soon as she got to the castle. She had to seal Ganon away however she could, for as long as she could. So many people had sacrificed themselves so that she and Link could have this moment. She was alone now, but Link would come. She believed in him. Her knight would always come.

Castletown was still smoking. She hadn't really seen much of the destruction before. She and Link had only just reached the castle when the Guardians became possessed and started rampaging across the land. Link had pulled her from town, defending her until the end.

Zelda walked past the cathedral. So many days in her youth were wasted praying on those stone floors. Now the steeple had fallen over, all of the stained glass was shattered, and the east wall had caved in. She added the High Priest and his clerics to her list.

If she had known when she was younger that her power was activated by love, then she might have been able to harness it sooner. None of this would have happened.

She passed by some malice, which she banished with her power. Hopefully it wouldn't grow back, but Zelda was doubtful. Then she entered the central plaza. The fountain no longer spewed water, and the crest on top was broken in half. Zelda found it oddly symbolic. The Guardian patrolling the area was swiftly blasted by her power, and she began her final walk to Hyrule Castle.

"No matter how long," she prayed, hoping the Goddess would send her words to the heavens for her. "I will not give up strength. Your sacrifices will not be in vain. Take heart and have faith in Link when he reawakens. Calamity Ganon will be stopped."

Zelda entered the front gate of the castle. Ganon was flying around the sanctum; its strange, amorphous body barely holding shape. It looked somewhat like a boar. Or a pig, she silently insulted.

Now was the time. Zelda wasn't nervous or scared. She almost felt content. She wouldn't be facing Calamity Ganon without her power; she knew she could seal him away now.

Ganon roared. The whole castle felt like it was shaking. But Zelda stood firm. Ganon raced toward her, and she simply held out her hand and allowed power to flow through her. Her last thoughts were of Link.

"You are the light of Hyrule," she prayed, hoping the Goddess would send her words to Link, her knight, her love. "Please wake up soon."