At the bottom of the ocean Link scurried out of Hyrule Castle as quickly as he could. He had a mission to complete. He had to restore power to the Master Sword and return peace to the world. Yet as he rushed out of the underwater kingdom he failed to notice another young boy who was waiting in hiding with his own mission to complete. One that he had been waiting years to finally have the chance to.

This other boy appeared to be about Link's age if not slightly older. He had shaggy brown hair with a white button-down shirt and blue trousers. This boy went by the name of Nick. Nick was also an ordinary kid like Link and the princess he was determined to save, but also had his own connections to the events that were unfolding before their eyes.

Ever since he had first learned to read Nick was endlessly fascinated by the legends of old Hyrule. Particularly the stories of the Hero of Time and Princess Zelda. Being from a family of proud historians they would frequently read him the stories and legends that their extensive research had produced and they grew strongly on him before long. Now entering adolescence Nick would spend his free time going over his parents' records to try and find anything that they might have missed. He did this with one goal in mind. To one day track down the descendants of the legendary figures he admired. A feat long since abandoned by his parents and their colleagues under the assumption that they had all been wiped out with the fall of Hyrule, but Nick gripped onto these stories tightly. He was positive that the Royal Family of legend wouldn't die out so easily, and now that he was old enough his parents finally gave him a boat should he want to do his own research.

While his studies were important to him though they weren't the only thing Nick did. He held a decent social life on his home island of Windfall. One person, however, always stood out as his closest friend. She was a young girl who at the time still solely went by the name of Tetra. Now the two had known each other since they were toddlers, but the two really became close as the result of one incident; the death of Tetra's mother. While always tough and hot headed around others this was the first time in her life she started to show any real vulnerability. While she did her best to hide her emotions from everybody else Nick was the one to find her sobbing to herself on the pier of Windfall Island, and he, in a moment that she made him swear to take to his grave, became the one to offer her the shoulder she desperately needed to cry on. Afterward Tetra took over control of her mother's pirate crew and set sail on her own with them. However, she would always make sure to pay Nick a friendly visit whenever she stopped by the island. Little did Nick suspect though that on one of these visits everything he thought he knew would be completely turned on its head...

-One day earlier-

It was the eeriest night anyone could remember. There was suffocating feel to it. It was as if time itself had come to a halt in this overwhelming storm of despair. Recent events simply weren't sitting well with Nick. He sat in his house looking over some papers he had gathered it was a combination of research on Hyrule and some news reports he had been receiving the past few days on the abduction of girls from their various homes. A few of them had been girls he actually knew and combining his own knowledge with the reports he'd gotten from Quill one thing was for sure. Each victim was a young girl of Hylian descent as evidenced by their distinctively pointed ears. A fact when combined with the stories of monsters popping up in the oddest places, a young boy he spotted running around the island wearing the Hero of Time's clothes, and this now seemingly endless and almost evil night time certainly did not sit well with him in the slightest. From the stories, he knew his instincts told him that something huge was going down and it was all he could do to try to figure out what. It was then that his reading was interrupted by a knock on the door. Nick rose from his seat and answered the knock to be greeted by the sight of his longtime pal.

"Hey Nick!" Tetra greeted her friend enthusiastically as she entered house.

"Tetra!" Nick replied happily, "My mom and dad are currently out on a research expedition, so please make yourself at home. Just what have you been up to anyway? It's been a while."

"Thanks, I will!" she accepted as she took a seat, "It's been absolutely crazy these past few days. I was abducted by this giant bird, I launched some weird kid in green off a catapult into the Forsaken Fortress, and now I just got back from Greatfish Isle and it got totally devastated by some vicious monster."

"Wait... you too!" Nick suddenly exclaimed.

"Me... too?" she questioned him.

"Quill told me all about it. Recently a giant bird has been going around kidnapping girls with pointed ears like you. How did you manage to get away?"

"It dropped me into a forest and then nabbed another girl in my place a few minutes later."

"If it's taking Hylian girls that indiscriminately that means it's probably not just abducting girls but searching for a particular one..." Nick muttered to himself, "Could it be... her?"

"What are you mumbling about?" Tetra interrupted him.

"It's nothing... So why did you end up going to Forsaken Fortress?"

"The abducted girl's brother was determined to save her and that Rito mailman guilted me into helping him out."

"Sounds rough," Nick noted with a laugh.

"It was an interesting way to kill some time though it didn't go that well for him," she answered as she pulled a light blue stone from her pocket, "Speaking of which I need to take care of something,"

Tetra then immediately proceeded to pull a bright blue stone from out of her pocket. Looking into it Nick could see an image of the kid in the hero's clothes that he had seen earlier but he was much more taken in by the stone itself.

"That stone..." he thought, "Could that be... a Gossip Stone... but those only belong to..."

"That's mighty courageous of you..." Tetra pulled him out of his thoughts by speaking into the stone, "trying to steal treasure from pirates. I suppose I should be shocked... but I'm more amazed that you managed to survive after being tossed out of that tower... From the look on your face, I have to guess you haven't saved your sister yet, huh? You don't give things much thought, do you? You just rush in, never thinking how badly things could go for you. Like just now... The only reason you got what you did was because we left a simple-minded little rat like Niko behind to look after things. No one else would have parted with our treasure so easily. I assure you! And just how do you intend to use those bombs, anyway? Don't tell me you're going after Jabun's treasure, too... Right now, Jabun is hiding in a cave at the back of the island you were born on. But the entrance is blocked by a giant stone doorway. You can't get in without breaking down the door. We're going to relax in town and eat our fill of whatever this town has to offer, but we'll be leaving for Outset first thing in the morning. If you manage to find Jabun tonight, then I guess you win. But if you take too long, we'll come sailing right by you tomorrow morning. And believe me, you didn't get ALL of our bombs. You'd better be quick, kid!"

"U-uh Tetra," Nick stammered, "J-just where did you get that stone?..."

"Oh, it's a family heirloom I received from my mother after she... you know..."

"Y-yeah I know," Nick stuttered again.

"No!" he screamed in his head, "It's got to be a coincidence! It has to... Still there's only one way to know sure..."

"Hey Tetra," he worked up the courage to speak out, "This might sound weird to you but are there any... other heirlooms that you received from your family?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh... just curious since we're on the subject... I've never known much about your family and I was just wondering..."

"Well if you insist," she agreed while reaching into her shirt, "I also received this special golden necklace from her too. She specifically told me to guard it with my life."

"Golden... necklace," Nick repeated before freezing in horror as she then presented him with the treasure in question. He felt sick to his stomach at the sight of it. The Hylian ears, the gossip stone, and now this golden necklace that, though broken, still greatly resembled the legendary relic that he had read so much about. Nick's head began to hurt as he tried to wrap his head around the information that was just presented to him.

"This is crazy," Nick reasoned with himself, "Not just crazy but downright impossible. Tetra, my best friend for so many years, to think that she might actually be..."

"Uh Nick..." Tetra waved her hand in front of him to try and get his attention, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" he mumbled, "Sorry I'm just feeling a bit tired is all."

"Jeez I can't blame you," Tetra responded as she got up and started to look over the papers he had spread out over his desk, "Damn, you really look like you've been overworking yourself with all this stuff."

"Hey, it's my hobby," he answered weakly.

"I know," she assured him as she looked through his drawers and took out an ocarina," So why do you have this ocarina in here? I never knew you were into music."

"Ocarinas were very important in the culture of the kingdom I've been studying. It's only natural that I'd learn how to play one."

"My mom actually taught me a thing or two about how to play these things."

"Really? Why don't you show me some of what you know?"

"Well..." she hesitated, "Only because it's you."

She began to blow into it and produce a soothing melody. Nick began to relax to the notes as she played a song that almost seemed familiar to him, but his mind was just too worn out for him to quite put his finger on it. Tetra finished her song and placed the ocarina back on the table as Nick offered her a friendly clap.

"Pretty good playing. Just what song was that anyway?" he asked.

"It was a lullaby my mother would always play for me as a little girl."

"Lullaby..." Nick slowly repeated.

"So, have you had any luck finding that princess or whatever you were looking for?" she suddenly inquired

"No luck yet..." he lied, still unsure if he had completely lost his mind in making Tetra his prime suspect.

"Well good luck with that," she encouraged him as she prepared to leave, "My crew and I are leaving first thing in the morning. Some of these girls look like they belong to some really rich families. I think I just might go rescue them from the fortress for a nice, healthy reward. Now you really ought to get yourself a good night's sleep. You look absolutely awful. "

"Yeah. I will. Thanks for stopping by."

"Not a problem Nick," she waved goodbye as she left the house, "See you later."

"See ya..." Nick waved back as he went back to his desk of papers and continued looking them over.

"Lullaby... lullaby..." he subconsciously repeated to himself as he continued his reading. He continued this for a few minutes until his half-lidded eyes shot wide open with a stunning realization. Without a moment to lose he began to furiously dig through all of the documents he owned until he finally came upon the piece of paper he was looking for. It was a sheet containing various ancient songs and mystical melodies from old Hyrule. He skimmed through it he found the song he was looking for. He grabbed the ocarina Tetra was just playing and began to reproduce the notes on the sheet as he repeated the song she had just played for him in his head. He finished the quick tune and dropped the paper to the ground in shock.

"They're... the same..." he whispered, "the song she just played for me and the song here... the song of the Royal Family of Hyrule... are one and the same... there can be no mistaking it now... The girl I've been searching for... and the girl who's been my best friend as long as I can remember... are the same person... Tetra... is Princess Zelda!"

Nick wasn't sure whether to scream or cheer or whether to laugh or cry. He considered heading over to the ship and trying to explain his findings to her, but he knew that probably wasn't the best way to handle this. Knowing her she'd probably laugh him off, and who could blame her? Sighing with exhaustion Nick could only head over to his bed and try to get some sleep like she had suggested as impossible as it now seemed.

This was going to be a long night...

To be continued...