I run back across Hyrule Field, this time in the direction of my old home. I despair knowing that I have lost my castle and my throne to Ganondorf, unsure of when I will regain it, but knowing that it will never be in the same condition. The air grows sour as I reach the city wall. An evil hangs over the sky like an angry storm cloud. I can see some of the townsfolk filing out over the drawbridge in clusters, family and friends moving together en masse, all heading towards Death Mountain.

Something terrible has happened.

I pull my scarf up over my nose to hide my face and walk quickly into the town, shouldering past familiar faces and curious glances. In all of these sullen faces, I see no glint of recognition, thank the Goddesses. If I were found out, I'd be drowned in this group of people split between adoration and hatred toward me for leaving my castle in this time of need.

A man with a very impressive beard catches sight of me swimming upstream and yells over the noise of the crowd.

"You're goin' the wrong way, kid! There's nothing left for ya in Castle Town, and there's a storm brewin'. Not just any storm. Somethin' wicked. We saw smoke comin' from the castle, an' the graveyard started shakin' like crazy. The King's nowhere to be seen, they say the Princess got run right outta Hyrule. Nobody wants to stick around and see what happens to the place, so we're haulin' out to Kakariko, for now at least."

Kakariko? There are hardly any houses in that little town, and those dunderheaded builders will probably take years to finish that one house in the center of town with all of their useless running about. I can't help but hope that the proud Gorons will take kindly to this surge of new residents below their mountain. On my last diplomatic visit to Death Mountain, they didn't seem particularly amiable due to their recent shortage of gourmet rocks.

I try to peek over the heads of the people in front of me to see the state of the town, but all I can see is the murky sky. Black clouds have gathered in the distance, and the sky itself is the color of blood. The townspeople throw occasional worried glances over their shoulders as they hurry through the gates. I pick up my pace, full of dread and yet somehow eager to see what lies behind the crowd. I pass slowly through shuffling bodies, barking dogs, and squawking cuccos on my way to the castle gates.

The crowd thins and the path to my castle, my beloved home, opens; when I race around the bend, my heart stops. What I see is literally something from my worst nightmares. My childhood fears have been confirmed.

"Ugh, why do these temples have to be in such hot, desolate places?" I complain to Impa as we lug our tired bodies across Lanayru Desert. Now, instead of the murky heat rising from below us in the volcano, we have to deal with the scorching heat of the sun above. The air is much drier here, but no less miserable. The ground is made of sand as far as the eye can see, with the exception of a stone formation here and there. The only green thing in this harsh landscape is a tall, vicious-looking plant covered in spikes. How even it can live and thrive in this place is beyond me.

"Lanayru wasn't always a desert," Impa says. "It used to be a great sea, dotted with fertile islands. An old Goron engineer, one of the first of the Goron race, created an entire civilization of completely manmade creatures run by electricity, and they thrived for hundreds of years, until Demise and his minions ravaged the area with fire."

"Manmade creatures? He created them with his own hands? That's not possible! Only the gods are ever able to create life like that!"

"It's hard to believe, but it's true. They weren't real people, of course, but they had feelings and personalities like people. Their mining facility lies south of here. Some say they were mining a rock that could bend time."

"There's no way! A rock?!" There's a twinkle in her eye, as if she knows something I don't. In truth, she knows a lot about the Surface that I don't at this point, and yet I know almost nothing about her. "Impa, you have guided me all over the surface, and you've risked your life many times to protect mine. Why are you helping me? What's in this journey for you?"

Impa shifts her eyes from me to the horizon, squinting, and thinks for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I have known since I was young what my destiny would be.

"I was born a Sheikah, a servant of the Goddess Hylia. The Sheikah are people of light, a tribe that exists only to serve the Goddesses. When I was a child, Hylia came to me in a dream and showed me horrible visions of the future, the wars to come, and the turmoil that would soon come over the world. She told me that I would have a special role to play in the coming events… And eventually, she told me about you." She casts a glance in my direction. "You say your memories return little by little at each spring. Do you know the history of Skyloft and how it was created?"

I nod. "Yes, I remember it clearly. However, I can't seem to remember what happened after the creation of Skyloft. All that came back to me was-" That man. The blond-haired hero who sacrificed his life for his homeland. His identity still escapes me.

Impa's eyes return to the horizon, where hints of orange and red are appearing on the edge of the blue sky. "Then that is something for you to remember for yourself once we reach the Temple of Time, and not a story for me to tell. This is the final spring. Your memories should fully return to you there."

I look down at my feet, frustrated. I want to know just as much about my new friend as I do about my past self. Why can't she just tell me? There's also another, bigger problem bugging me.

"Impa, do you think… When I get my memories back, when I truly am the embodiment of the Goddess Hylia… Do you think that I'll still be Zelda? Will my old self be gone once the Goddess takes over?"

"I don't know. No other gods have ever attempted a thing like this before. It's hard to tell what will happen when the full consciousness of Hylia is returned to you."

"Ugh, that doesn't help at all. What if I lose the friends I've made? What if I don't remember my days growing up on Skyloft? What if…" I look back up to the sunset. Tears well up in my eyes. "What if I don't love Link anymore?"

Impa looks back at me, wide-eyed. She stops and takes my shaking shoulders in her hands. "If there is anything I can promise you, it is this. The Goddess Hylia was nothing if not loving. She was created out of the love of the old Goddesses. She protected and cared for this world out of love. She waged war on evil for love of her people. Zelda, Hylia shed her divinity for a reason, and that reason was love. That is one thing you need not worry about. Love is something you will never lose."

A tear escapes and starts to fall down my cheek, but Impa wipes it away with her thumb, her golden eyes soft. "I don't think you will lose your humanity when you regain the life you once lived. Take comfort in that."

I smile and swallow the knot in my throat. "Thank you, Impa. I'll do what I have to do."

"Good. But first, we should get some sleep. It's going to be another rough day tomorrow."

I fall to my knees on the cobblestone path leading to what was once my castle, my home. Now, after just a few weeks, the entire palace is in shambles. The castle gates are broken into pieces and strewn across the landscape as if by some giant beast. The flourishing field that surrounded the castle has been burned away, leaving nothing but a gray and black field of ash. The moat has evaporated, and what is left of the once-proud stone walls are now cracked and blackened by fire and dark magic. A foul, burnt stench hangs in the air, and an ominous presence seems to fill the silent void.

I drop down on all fours, watching my tears soak into the stone below me. How did all of this happen in such a short time? When I fled for my life, I had no idea the damage would be this terrible after just a few weeks. Yet now I realize that even the physical damage done to the castle grounds doesn't seem to have reached the rest of the kingdom. Ganondorf must have been so determined to take over the throne and the castle and make them his own that he overlooked the people of Hyrule themselves.

And that will be his downfall.

Now I realize that is my purpose in this twisted game of fate. I will turn the inhabitants of these lands against him while simultaneously earning his trust.

I tear my eyes away from the blackened earth and stand up, wiping the moisture off my cheeks. If this much damage was done in a few weeks, how much will be done in the years to come? I can only hope to prevent the total destruction of my kingdom before it's too late, but I can't begin to do that without knowing the one who is sure to cause it.

So I fix my eyes on the castle, clench my fists, and start walking.

Today begins the most difficult challenge I have faced so far. If I fail, there will be no one else with my power who can oppose the forces of evil for many years, and this whole ordeal will become far worse than I can imagine… But I try not to think about it. What matters is my determination and commitment to preserving whatever I can of my country and its people for as long as I can.

Nayru, give me your wisdom, I pray. With the Goddesses on my side, I know I can do this. Light will overpower darkness soon enough, as it always has and always will.

Just please let salvation come quickly.

The closer I get to the castle, the darker the sky becomes. White ash, kicked up by the wind, floats in the air. There is an eerie quiet, accompanied by that same evil presence that was here when I arrived.

As I enter through the castle gates, I hear a shriek, and turn to see a giant humanoid lizard jump out of the shadows and into my path, wielding a rapier in its right hand. I unsheathe the twin blades hidden in my sleeves as it takes a swing at my head, and I duck under its arm, rolling around to its backside to clock it over the head with the hilt of my dagger, only to find that the creature's scaly hide is strong enough to withstand the blow. It turns around to face me again, holding its head and screeching angrily.

Am I really going to have to kill this thing to get past it? I have to find a way to silence this monster quickly; I don't want its screams waking up the entire castle. I dodge another swing from its rapier, this time moving around it in order to stab it in the back of the neck, between two of the large spikes running down its spine. It collapses onto the ground, paralyzed, and I dispatch it with another quick jab.

I wipe my brow, staring at the carcass until it disappears in a puff of black smoke. That was anything but pleasant. At least it died quickly and painlessly… Although Impa taught me many efficient ways to kill, it still hurts me to take a life, whether it be good or evil. I cast my eyes toward the drawbridge, which is still up. Looks like I'll have to take another route into the castle.

After living in this place for so many years, I've found many ways of tricking my guards and escaping the castle in order to wander around castle town in disguise as a normal girl. I've memorized all the secret entrances to the castle, and after years of practice sneaking around, I can become completely unnoticeable, silent and stealthy as a wisp of smoke.

There's a secret entrance to the courtyard on the east wall, where the waterways inside the walls flow into the moat. I head there, a little more carefully this time, and don't encounter any more enemies until I reach the tiny entrance, which is guarded by two more lizards. I thought that taking out two at once would be a little more difficult, but strangely these beasts seem to have some sense of honor and teamwork in combat-one lizard waits while the other faces me, and then draws its swords when I have defeated its comrade. I take note of this, and once I've beaten both creatures, I continue to the dried-up moat. A stack of milk crates has been left here, making the jump to the castle wall a lot easier than usual. I shimmy into the small opening and come out into the gardens on the other side, and the sight that greets me there is not much better than the one outside.

The grass and flowers that the castle courtyards used to boast are now trampled beyond recognition and left to die. The beautiful arches and wall decorations have been torn down and destroyed, and the bodies of slain castle guards lie strewn across the gray-brown earth. The stench is horrible; I cover my mouth and nose and try not to gag.

How horrible is this man that he would cut down any in his path to the throne without even burying or burning the bodies of the dead, let alone moving them from where they fell? How can he live in this place where the stench of death permeates the air?

Please take the souls of these men into your care, I pray to the Goddesses. They died valiantly trying to protect the place they called home. Give them peace in death.

Trembling, I stand and make my way to the southbound part of the waterway, slipping silently past monsters stationed as guards, and jump into the dried-up trench, heading toward the throne room. Once I get close enough, I peek around the corner to see two hulking lizards guarding the large, ornate door that leads to the throne. These are slightly different than the ones I've faced; they are bigger and stronger built, with large jaws and larger teeth, full-body armor, and double-edged swords. Still, I see the same weak spot as before when one of them turns its head to inspect a noise in the other direction. There's a hallway on the other side of the door parallel to mine. I look around me and find a loose stone, then throw it over the lizards' heads into the other hallway, making a loud clattering sound. Both of the monsters roar, turning toward the noise and then chasing after it, expecting to find the intruder around the corner. Once they have their backs to me I sink a dagger into each of their skulls, and they drop instantly. I shudder and turn to face the door to the throne room.

It's time to face my fears and set things in motion against Ganondorf before it's too late. As I put my hand on the door, I steel myself for what lies behind it.