So, before anything, I wanted to include a small Author's Note to clear things up, because, as we all know, the Legend of Zelda timeline can be convoluted in some cases. This story takes place after Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask in the Child Era timeline. In other words, this is the Timeline that is created after Link returns to his own time at the end of the Ocarina of Time and warns Zelda and the King of Ganondorf's intentions. In this timeline, Link leaves the Master Sword in its pedestal, the Triforce remains in the Sacred Realm, and Link then leaves Hyrule to search for Navi. This leads to Majora's Mask, in which, Link is taken to Termina and must stop the Skull Kid, who is in possession of/possessed by an evil mask and seeks to destroy the world. Link defeats the Skull Kid, after obtaining many powerful objects and masks, and ultimately what happens to Link afterwards is left sort of ambiguous.

Now, with all of this said, all games in the Child's Era timeline AFTER Majora's Mask are not relevant to this story (though I may include elements from other games here).

So, all in all, Link is current in possession of:

The Gilded Sword

The Transformation Masks (Goron, Zora, Deku, and Fierce Deity)

The Mirror Shield

A Bow

The Light, Ice, and Fire Arrows

Bombs

The Ocarina of Time

The Fairy Ocarina

And these are objects belonging to Link that ARE NOT in his possession:

The Master Sword

The Triforce of Courage

The Six Medallions

Any further questions can be asked and answered in review, and, without further ado, please enjoy!

How could they ask this of her? She was a little girl. A princess, yes, but still a little girl. A part of her despised her father for asking such a thing of her, something so extreme and completely unnecessary. A large part of her hated Ganondorf, of course, for ever being so wicked. And though she was ashamed of it, a large part of her hated Link, despite the fact that she had been the one to set him on the path that led to all this. For that reason, she also hated herself.

"Why must I do this?" she asked her father again as they walked through the dungeon halls.

"He has stopped eating," her father explained. "He says he will not eat until he sees you. The guards lack the strength to force feed him."

"Then let the villain starve!" Zelda cried.

"Zelda, my child," the King chastised, "most of the crimes for which he is accused occurred in a timeline that no longer exists. We'e lucky he surrendered himself upon accusation, and equally fortunate that the Gerudos did not immediately go into riot upon learning of this news. We have Nabooru to thank for that. We have to handle this as diplomatically as possible. Especially since our main witness, Link, has left on a private journey. We cannot execute him and we cannot allow for any accusations of mistreatment."

"I-I... I'm scared..."

"You will be fine, I swear to you. I will be right there."

But he killed you in the other world, Zelda thought to herself.

The young Zelda gulped. Both she and father continued travelling down the halls until they came to one, particularly large and former cell, within it, a single, and most vile prisoner. She sat on a bed, one of few provided in this prison, still wearing the formal clothing of the Gerudo king. His ling was attached to a long chain tied to the floor. There were two cups around his wrist with runes on them to prevent the use of magic.

"And there she is," King Ganondorf said, "the elusive Princess Zelda."

The Princess took staggered breaths.

"Why do you call for me, villain?" the Princess spat.

"You call me villain," Ganondorf commented, "but you haven't the foggiest memory of all my crimes against you. I have called you, girl, because I find myself in a position where I can no longer manipulate you and the Hero's ignorance of our shared destiny to my advantage, so I might as well explain things to you."

"E-Explain?" Zelda pondered.

"Watch yourself, Ganon," the King warned.

"Yes," Ganon continued, ignoring the King. "I find it unfair to leave you in the dark. Now listen, girl. Some things you already know, despite your naivete and ignorant disposition. Many centuries ago, three golden goddess created the Land of Hyrule and the races that reside within it. For the salvation of the people that they had created, they left behind a device through which, the divinity of all other gods could be channeled. They called this device the Triforce, for it was founded upon three separate yet related virtues: Wisdom, the work of Nayru, Power, the work of Din, and Courage, the work of Farore. Each portion was and individual blessing in and of itself, yet incomplete in nature without the other two."

"Why do you tell us this?" the King interrupted. "All of this, we know."

"As I was saying, Wisdom, Power, and Courage, these three great virtues lie within the hearts of men, all of them tools used to appeal to the gods. Henceforth, the Triforce was the ultimate prayer tool, in that whosoever possessed the complete Triforce could simply ask and the way of the world would be altered. To protect the Triforce, the left it in the hands of a virtuous sorceress Maiden who drew her power from the Goddess Hylia, and her champion, a Knight whom was gifted with a Sword forged by Hylia herself, the fabled Master Sword. The Maiden and her Knight accepted happily. However, the Maiden soon found herself at odds with a powerful demonic Sorcerer who sought the Triforce for himself. The Knight did battle with the sorcerer, whilst the maiden sought to protect the gods' gift. In that moment, the Triforce split between the wills of three different people, the knight, the maiden, and the sorcerer."

"The Triforce was divided?" the princess asked.

"Yes, the Triforce of Courage was linked to the knight, the sorcerer obtained Power, and the Maiden wielded wisdom. The battle between the Sorcerer and the Knight continued, but, with the Triforce of Wisdom now in her possession, the Maiden was able to pinpoint the Sorcerer's weakness, which she and the Knight took advantage of. The Sorcerer was defeated, and the Triforce was once again made whole. However, the separate piece were still linked, in a way, to those who had originally wielded them. In spite, the Sorcerer cursed his own name and that of his enemies so that the battle might continue to be fought throughout all time. He bound his own soul to the depths of the Underworld, knowing that his connection to the Triforce of Power would draw him back from the depths eventually.

"And so it was that across the ages, the soul of the Sorcerer would be reborn in a situation that would inspire in him that same hatred of the first, and the same desire for the Triforce. The soul of the Knight, who would periodically rest in the Heavens, would also be drawn back to the mortal realm to protect the world from the Sorcerer's threat. As for the Maiden, she would not be reincarnated, for her connection to the gods in the Heavens was greater than her connection to the Triforce of Widom. However, her descendants would come to be the rulers of the land in which they resided, the kingdom of Hyrule, and so, her connection to the Triforce of Wisdom was passed down through blood, and in every age, a princess would be born to this Royal line to mimic the original Maiden in her duty. Tht would be you my dear."

The Princess let out a breath. The King took a step forwards.

"I will ask again, and you will answer," the King said. "Why do you say these things?"

"Calm yourself, your Highness," Ganon said. "I merely seek to give you the confession you so desire. Well, part of it. What I am trying to say is that this little duel between three people's is more important than anything in the world, and is un-beholden to all things. Including time. And that is precisely what has happened here. I, the Sorcerer, divided the Triforce once again. Holding the Triforce of Power, I took over all things. The Hero was too young to combat me, so the Triforce of Courage and the Master Sword fast forwarded him years into the future to give him greater strength. Meanstwhile, you, the princess who mimics the Maiden, grew up and obtained knowledge enough to be worthy of the Triforce of Wisdom, as well as the sacred magics of your bloodline. I was defeated by you and your hero, as well as these Six Sages of yours. However, the hero then traveled back in time to prevent my actions. So the full Triforce remains whole and locked away, while the Hero is young again, I remain weak, and you, ignorant.

"And yet," Ganon went on, "The Hero remembers everything. As do I. Your Six Sages remember too, don't they, despite the fact that they hold no inherent connection to the Triforce? All the relatively major players in this little tale remembers these undone events... Except you."

The Princess gasped. She'd been caught.

"How strange," Ganon said sarcastically, "the chosen wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom and Knowledge would be the only one to lack the shared knowledge of us all. Why do we remember and not you? Well, this is just a theory, but it may have something to do with the guilt."

"The... Guilt?" Zelda asked.

"Yes," said Ganon. "The Guilt. You see, in that alternate Timeline, it was your fault that the window opened for me to gain the Triforce. Your fault that I became so powerful. And so, though I only felt it for the moment that I had you trapped in my power, you were struck with heavy guilt. Myself, your hero, the Sages, we all have personalities similar to the versions of ourselves to whom these memories belong. However, you lack the guilt that is tied to your other self's memories, and so you do not inherit the memories. Now, if I were you, I'd consider that a blessing. However, your father thinks it a disadvantage, as it limits your ability to testify to my actions and prosecute me."

"That's enough!" the King shouted. "Do not poison my daughter, you foul man!"

"I haven't said anything that isn't true," Ganon retorted.

The King grabbed his daughter's hand.

"Let's go, Zelda," he said. "As for you Ganon, the guard around the cell be increased."

"Oh no, what a tragedy," Ganon snarked.

The King scowled, it was an unfortunate truth that this was the most he could do to punish the man.

As the two royals walked away from the Cell, Ganon called out to them. "Do not fear, oh descendants of the Maiden. Your hero shall return. With him you can prosecute me, and, by him, you shall be protected from all things to come."

Miles away, the Hero was in the midst of a forest, sword in hand, buried in the chest of the Moblin that he stood on. He had defeated this foe with great skill. No matter what, he was still a great warrior. But he felt tired. As he withdrew his sword and walked away from the corpse, he stumbled and fell to his knees from fatigue.

"Are you alright?" asked the Skull child, his new traveling companion, who jumped towards him, darting through the air.

"I'm fine, just..." he looked at his Gilded blade, stained in the blood of his foe. "Not the same."