Title: Echoes of the Past

Author: Alex Foster

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Category: Drama

Rating: PG

Summary: Imprisoned by prophecy, a woman muses on the fate of the world and the destiny of her unborn son. Set prior to A Link to the Past.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Nintendo. No money is being made and no infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: This story was not supposed to be. I was very much enjoying my sabbatical from all things writing when the plot of this story somehow wormed its way inside my skull and demanded to be written out. I didn't want to, I fought valiantly, but in the end the plot won. With this story, I have tried to stay with canon as much as possible. As with all my works, I drew most of my canon information from the comic Nintendo Power put out several years ago. In that, Link's parents were shown belonging to an order of knights whose duty it was to protect the Triforce. I have taken that idea and expanded on it, I hope I have not stepped on the popular view of the games in doing that. All that said, I shall return to my peaceful sabbatical. Thank you for reading.

Carl Sandburg – Remembrance Rock, chapter two

The sun was setting, but Maia's could not see it. The high stone wall surrounding the palace hid the horizon from view, but also kept unwanted eyes from seeing her. The once blue sky was now blushed with a multitude of reds and oranges. Purple and pink clouds hung low on the skyline as silent witness to the end of yet another day. Like the day preceding it, the night was warm for late autumn. Maia idly wondered if the warm temperature was another prophetic sign, or just Mother Nature being her usual contumacious self.

Because of the warm air, flowers hadn't ended their yearly blooming cycle. The smells of jasmine, lilies, freshly turned earth, and wild catnip filled every breath. In the courtyard below her, Maia could see the fluttering wisps of dragonflies patrolling their territory. Several crickets, hidden by the tall grass in the courtyard, had begun their nightsong early.

From her balcony, Maia had a fine view of the main courtyard of the Eastern Palace. With her mind's eye, she could envision the yard filled with young Knights of the Triforce as they trained. Could hear the clash of blade against blade as the older children sparred with real swords. Could feel the palace walls rumble as hundreds of servants moved through the halls on errands. But those days were gone, she knew. The truth of the forsaken East Palace cut through her musings with cruel agility.

Now there were no Knights of the Triforce, young or old, save for Maia in the Eastern Palace. The servant staff that once numbered in the hundreds was now a small handful that saw to Maia's needs and fought decay from swallowing the palace.

Closing her eyes and trying to escape memories of the past, Maia absently let a hand drift to her swollen belly. Can you hear me, little one? she asked the life inside her. I wish I could show you what you should inherit.

What should be his...Maia grimaced. Her son—there was little question in her mind that she carried a male child—would not be part of the same knighthood she and her husband had served. No, he would be the last. The final Knight of the Triforce who would join with the fallen Princess of Hyrule to defeat the male Gerudo. At least she hoped he would defeat the Gerudo King—the prophecies were a touch unclear about the outcome of their battle.

From where she stood, Maia could see the tip of the highest tower of Hyrule Castle. There her son's destiny waited. It had only been two years since King Harkinian had announced his daughter's birth, but a lifetime of change had already swept through Hyrule. The King had become a recluse; shying from all but the most necessary functions, and the Knights of the Triforce had died.

Maia gave a grim smile at the fact that King Harkinian's odd behavior no doubt stemmed from his knowledge of the prophecies. The daughter he now fought to protect would literally be the death of him. Prophecy foretold of Princess Zelda's birth and her father's death at the hands of a male Gerudo. For if Harkinian did not die, then Zelda could never lead the rebellion against the desert people and free Hyrule.

In many ways, Maia knew, she and Harkinian were the same. Bound by prophecy, by loyalty to Hyrule and the side of right, she, like he, was living what a prophet had dreamed up centuries ago.

The death of the Knights had started generations before Zelda's birth, however. In that, she and Harkinian were different. Growing up, she knew she might be the one to give birth to the final Knight.

It started when the births of new Knights began to dwindle. The children resulting from drunken celebrations between young Knights and palace servants and prostitutes in the towns around the palace suddenly stopped. Before long, the only children born came from prolonged unions between Knight and Knight. And soon, even that dwindled...

Maia had only seen two other Knights with child; and of those two children, only one had lived. Slowly, the fourteen bloodlines that made up the Knights thinned and dried.

Then the Sickness came. It started with a simple tremble in the hands, then progressed until days passed like decades to the victim. No prophecy had spoken of the plague that swept through the ranks of Knights. Some said it resulted from the magic they commanded, but those that refused to touch their swords still became ill.

Through it all, Maia was untouched. Around her, friends and family had wasted away and died while she remained well. She'd watched as her husband became ill and aged thirty years in days before succumbing. He had been the last of his bloodline.

Again, Maia's hand went protectively to her stomach. Until her son's birth, she was the last Knight. Two surviving Knights had left the East Palace several weeks ago on a mission to bury the First Knight's sword in the Lost Woods, but Maia could tell they were no longer alive. She did not know if the Knights had succeeded in their mission, but knew that her son would find the blade when he needed it.

She felt a proud smile pull at her lips. Her son wielding the First Knight's sword, but carrying the title Last Knight. The fates did have a sense of irony...

Responding to her touch, the baby inside her kicked. "Yes, Link," she soothed, "you will live." Above her, the sky began darkening with the coming night. Shadows stretched across the East Palace.

"If you don't," she continued, "all of Hyrule shall be lost." As she pulled her hand away from her belly, she tightened the hand into a fist to keep it from trembling.

End.