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"Children of the Triforce: Redemption", chapters 1 & 2Children of the Triforce: RedemptionBy : Alexandra SpearsChapter One Sixteen-year-old Princess Kristin of Hyrule lay in her bed early one morning, not wanting to face the day. Her long golden blonde hair, the same shade as her mother's, was spread out on her pillows. She closed her brown eyes and moaned, not feeling well at all. But who would feel well, with the pure hell she'd been through a few weeks ago? Her innocence had been torn away by her parents' worst enemy, Ganon, and she didn't think she could ever get over it. On top of that, her younger sister Kyla had actually been married to Ganon! And all Kyla cared about was that Ganon had found Kristin attractive, so to speak--never mind about the pain her own sister had gone through. "Goddesses, why me?" Kristin whispered. "Why was I so cursed?" A wave of nausea washed over her and her stomach churned. Kristin tried to swallow to keep from vomiting, but it was no use. Throwing her blankets aside, she rushed into her bathroom and threw up, feeling as if every single muscle in her body were locking up. As soon as it was over she collapsed onto the cold floor and sobbed. "I just want to die," she whispered, over and over. "What man will have me? What will they think of me?" From far away she thought she heard knocking. She felt too weak to get up and answer it or even to call out. Minutes later she saw a pair of brown boots in front of her face. Looking up, she saw her father, Link, standing there, looking concerned. "Kristin, are you all right?" he asked as he bent over and helped her to her feet. "I'll never be all right again, Daddy...not ever...," she replied as he hugged her to him. "I'll never be all right...." Link led her to her bed and there she sat and started crying again. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Kristin, it was not your fault. What Ganon did to you was terrible beyond words," he said. "You did nothing wrong. Ganon had no business doing that to you." "I'm scared, Daddy...." She sounded like a little girl, the years seemingly falling away. "Of what?" Link asked. "I--I don't know," she replied. "Dad...please...get Mom in here...." Link turned, faced his daughter. "Kristin, there's something wrong," he said, looking into her eyes, eyes that were exactly like his. "Your mother will tell me anyway...what is it you want to tell her?" Kristin took a deep breath.
"Dad...I might be...pregnant...."
Princess Kyla had fled to her favorite palace, on the island east of Mido Town, as her parents and siblings were fighting Ganon. She hadn't bothered to help Ganon. He didn't deserve it, not after he'd betrayed her. That wasn't all he'd done. Kyla knew that she was expecting his child. She had all the signs. Before her death the first time around, she'd pretty much matured physically, so it didn't really come as a shock to her. Kyla didn't know whether or not to be happy. She sat on her throne, the red Triforce of Power hovering before her, and thought about it. "Well, at least I have an heir to the throne of Hyrule...provided I manage to become Queen of Hyrule," she said aloud, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. She'd become so tired lately. She'd read about this in books. Kyla smirked to herself when
she recalled the day last month when her parents had actually caught her
in bed with Ganondorf. As she'd predicted, they had just about shot
themselves through the roof. They'd been practically speechless.
Kyla wasn't embarrassed about it at all; she found it rather amusing.
Kristin was crying after she'd been examined by a local midwife. She was indeed pregnant, which only added more pain. "Mother, I don't know what to do," Kristin sobbed as her mother, Queen Zelda, held her in her arms. "There really isn't anything I can do, is there?" "I'm afraid not, sweetheart," Zelda said as she hugged her daughter close. "There isn't anything that would--um--terminate the pregnancy?" Link asked gently, trying to be tactful. He had a feeling that this was a very delicate situation here. "It isn't the child's fault," said Zelda. "It's a matter of who the father is and all the circumstances. There may be something, but I want to leave it up to Kristin to decide." "I don't want to kill an unborn baby...but I feel it would be a disgrace to have Ganon's child...I don't know what to do," Kristin wept. "I'm so confused...." "Don't try to come to a decision right now," said Link. "Kristin, why don't you try to sleep? You need time to think things out. Your mother and I are here for you, and we do not think that you're a disgrace at all." He bent over and kissed his daughter's cheek. "We'll help you." "Whatever you decide, Kristin," said Zelda gently. "We're keeping in mind that this child is also part of you--and of us. Whatever you decide, you will have our full support. I can't imagine how hard this must be on you...." "We both love you very much, Kristin," Link added. Zelda hugged and kissed her daughter. "Get some sleep. You've been through quite a lot." That was an understatement,
Kristin thought as she lay down. Her father pulled the blankets up
over her and tucked them around her chin. Her parents smiled gently
at her and left the room so she could sleep--or at least try to.
"Just when you think things can't get worse," Link whispered to Zelda as he shut the door to Kristin's room. "Ganon's child as our grandchild...!" "We have to forget that part, especially if Kristin decides she wants to keep the baby," Zelda told him. "It's going to be very hard for her either way. Either she terminates the pregnancy and kills an unborn child or she gives birth to the child of our worst enemy. The choice is not easy at all." "I wish I could have worked
Ganon over real good before we got rid of him," said Link.
"No doubt we'll hear from her," said Zelda dully. She turned to her husband. Seeing the look in her eyes,
Link held her to him, hugging her tightly as she started to cry.
He wanted to say everything would be all right but he didn't believe it
himself.
After breakfast Prince Cecil, Link and Zelda's oldest child, got on his horse and took off for Calatia to see his girlfriend, Princess Bettina, grandniece of Queen Seline of Calatia. He and Bettina were in love with each other and for eighteen-year-old Cecil it was a handy excuse to get away from the madness, at least temporarily. He could not get that image out of his mind, of his sister Kristin naked and bleeding thanks to what Ganondorf had done to her. She'd been so hysterical and for the past few weeks now she'd remained holed up in her bedroom. Now she was pregnant. Great. Just great. Just what the family needed, he was thinking as he sped westward on his horse. He wondered what his sister would do and he could pretty much understand the dilemma she was in. Hylians, for the most part, believed that life began at conception rather than at birth as some races might believe. Pregnancies were terminated only in special cases, such as if the pregnancy endangered the mother's life, and even then most women were willing to take that risk, and in cases of rape, which Kristin's was. Kristin did not know what she wanted to do. She was torn between ending a life and giving birth to Ganon's child. Their parents were ready to support her in whatever she decided. Cecil felt so sorry for his sister. He'd gone into her room just before he left and given her a gentle, brotherly kiss on her forehead. She'd been sleeping. Maybe a talk with Bettina
would help, he thought. She was a great friend who was always willing
to help him, and he was seriously considering asking her to marry him.
He not only loved her, he needed her.
"What happened to Kristin? Oh my," Bettina said, covering her mouth with her hand, when Cecil was finished telling her what had happened. "What is she going to do?" "That's the question of the hour," Cecil said, smiling wryly. "How terrible...to have to make a decision like that...," Bettina said softly. "What do you think?" "I'm not exactly thrilled at the idea of being the uncle of Ganon's child to be honest," said Cecil. "I just don't know. What if she does give birth and the child is just like its father?" "On the other hand, what if the child is good?" Bettina asked. "You're not making this any easier, Bet...." "Sorry." She took his arm and let him to the castle's sitting room. The room was nice and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows covered by sheer pink curtains. They sat down together on a lavender-colored love seat. Cecil gently placed his arm around her shoulders and ran his fingers through her red-gold hair. Bettina sighed contentedly and leaned up against her handsome boyfriend, reflecting that he looked so much like his father, even though his hair was light brown and he had his mother's green eyes. "My sister's getting married next month...we'll be sending out invitations but I figured I'd invite you personally," said Bettina as they sat there together. "You and your family." "Thanks," said Cecil. He sat up straight. "Bettina...I've been wanting to ask you something but given the circumstances...well, I just don't know...." "What is it?" "I want to ask you to marry me...but with all the craziness going on at home...." "Cecil, I'd marry you in a heartbeat," Bettina said firmly. "And it's your youngest sister that's caused most of the trouble and from what you've told me she's off somewhere else. Besides, I could help Kristin as her sister-in-law." "You would marry me?" "I just said so, silly!" She threw her arms around him and they shared a long kiss. "Well, at least I'll have
some good news to bring to my family. And I'll be sure to tell them
about your sister's wedding."
Kristin woke up and slowly changed into a pink dress. She wondered whom she'd offended, to be faced with this situation. "I hold the Triforce of Wisdom and I don't think it's even helping!" she mumbled as she sat down at her vanity table and brushed her long hair. She looked at herself in the mirror, noticed she seemed to look a lot older than sixteen. Kristin hurled her brush at the mirror, cracking it. She just sat there, looked at the crack in the mirror. After several minutes she laid her head on her hands and sobbed miserably. "What am I to do?" she wailed. "No decision seems like the right one!" She got up, not caring that she'd knocked her little stool over, and rushed from her room. An idea was coming to her, one she was sure would solve the whole thing. Kristin quietly crept through the corridors, hoping that she wouldn't run into either of her parents. They would not understand. Soon she was at the stables, and she mounted her horse. "Let's go!" she said to her horse. "To the docks near Mido Town!" At the docks there were rafts for rent, so Kristin paid some rupees and got on a raft, leaving her horse behind. She sat on her wooden raft and paddled her way halfway across the sea. The renter had thought she was going to East Hyrule but she wasn't. Kristin paddled until there was nothing but water clear to the horizon. Then she took a deep breath and jumped off the raft, treading water as she watched the current carry the raft away. After what seemed to be an
eternity, Kristin became exhausted and finally began to go under.
She didn't fight it; she welcomed it even as blackness claimed her.
Chapter Two That afternoon, Cecil rode back to Hyrule, keeping his eyes open for any signs of trouble. So far they hadn't heard from his youngest sister in the past few weeks, which made him all the more wary. His father ran into him in the corridor. "Cecil--have you seen Kristin?" Link asked, taking him by the shoulders. "No--I was in Calatia--why?" "She's missing. Your mother thinks she might have run away. Her mirror was broken, as if she'd thrown something at it." "Oh no," Cecil moaned. His good news could wait until later. Right now he had to look for his sister. "The guards saw her racing out of here on her horse not too long after breakfast, she was headed east," Link continued. "We've already been searching, and she took a raft, apparently to East Hyrule." "Why would she go there?" Cecil wondered. Link closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Someone else was going to East Hyrule and they found her raft...empty...." "Dad--do you think she--" "I don't know...I keep hoping it's a mistake," said Link, tears coming to his eyes. He wiped them away impatiently. "Your mother...she's at her wit's end...she's ordering all sorts of search parties all over Hyrule." "I'll help. Where should I start?" Link sighed. "Probably
around the eastern coast here in West Hyrule."
The next thing Kristin knew, she was standing in a grassy meadow somewhere. She did not recognize the place at all. "Where am I?" she asked. "Am I dead?" "No, Princess Kristin...not yet," said an echoing, unearthly, feminine voice. Kristin looked up into the bright, sunless sky and saw a deep blue glow. "Who are you?" she asked nervously. "It is I, the Goddess of Wisdom--Nayru. You are my chosen one, like your mother was, and like your royal ancestors," replied the voice. The glow intensified, then waned. Standing there, in front of Kristin, was a beautiful woman with flowing blue hair and sky-blue eyes. She wore a white gown that had the faintest blue tint to it and her feet were bare. "Nayru?" Immediately Kristin got down on her knees. "Surely, Nayru, you know of my problem and of my solution." Nayru got down on her own knees in front of Kristin. "Of course I know. You have a child growing within you that people will very likely be suspicious of." "I don't know what to do...it seems that any decision I make will be the wrong one. Please, O Nayru, help me!" Kristin sobbed. Nayru wiped the tears from Kristin's cheeks and held her hands. "Let the child be born," she said. Her voice turned chiding. "Kristin...you value life yet you were willing to destroy yours and that of your child's. Why?" "Because, Nayru, I'm so afraid that my child will be evil, and the fact that Ganondorf is the father won't help matters any. I'm afraid that my child will grow and murder people." "Evil is not necessarily inherited," Nayru replied. "Your child can become a good person, if she is brought up properly." "What about my sister?" Kristin asked. "She was born without a conscience," Nayru replied, "as you had suspected. And you must know that she too is expecting a child. You must help her." "How?" Kristin asked. "You will know. Now, Kristin, what do you want to do?" "I want to live...and have my baby," she replied as they both stood up. "Nayru, thank you for helping me." "I know that deep down inside you wanted your baby, and I felt you needed some help," Nayru smiled. "I will leave you in a safe place where your brother will find you. Your family is very worried about you." There was a flash of light-- --and Kristin found herself lying on the beach maybe a quarter of a mile away from the dock near Mido, waves washing over her legs. Slowly she got up on her knees; she thought she could hear someone calling her name. "Cecil...," she murmured, trying to make her voice work. "Cecil...." She flopped back down, feeling nauseous, most likely from her pregnancy. Nayru had said "she." Meaning her child would be a girl. "Kristin! Where are you!?" Cecil's voice sounded desperate. "Here," Kristin tried to call. After what seemed to be an eternity, Cecil was standing in front of her. "Kristin! Are yo all right?" he asked, lifting her into his arms, not caring if his tunic got wet. "Nayru...," she mumbled. "You're really out of it,"
Cecil murmured as he carried her off to his horse. "Let's get you
back home...I think you have a fever."
"Kristin! My baby!" Queen Zelda cried when she saw her son come into the castle, carrying her daughter. "I think she's sick, Mom...she keeps mumbling and all I can make out is 'Nayru,'" Cecil said, sounding concerned. "Get your sister up to her room...I'll get her in a warm bath and have the physician look at her," said Zelda. "I need to find your father and let him know." Cecil obeyed his mother, and he took Kristin up to her room, stripped her of her wet clothes, and laid her down in her bed. Soon after that his mother was up there, drawing a bath in Kristin's bathroom. "I'll find Dad," said Cecil. He'd felt uncomfortable about undressing his sister and he didn't think it would be decent for him to hang around while his mother was giving her a bath. "Thanks for finding her. Where was she?" "Lying on the beach not far from the docks," Cecil replied. "She just kept mumbling Nayru's name over and over." Zelda looked at him strangely.
Then she got Kristin out of bed and led her to her bathroom.
"How is she, Zelda?" Link asked as he entered Kristin's room. Cecil had found him not an hour ago and had told him that Kristin was now safe at home. "She has a bad cold and a fever, but she should be all right--and the baby too," Zelda replied. "She was out of it when Cecil found her." "Yeah, he told me all about it," said Link as he sat in a chair next to Kristin's bed. The girl was sleeping soundly, dressed in a warm nightgown. "I just wonder how Kristin wound up on the beach like that." Zelda blinked. She hadn't
even considered that.
The next day, Kristin was feeling better. Her parents and brother were in her room with her. "I've decided...I want to keep the baby," she told them. "You won't believe this...but I tried to drown myself...and I was with Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom." "Nayru told you to keep the baby?" Cecil asked. Kristin nodded. "She also said that Kyla's also pregnant. And that I have to help her somehow. But right now, I don't know how." Link and Zelda's eyes widened. "Where is she now?" asked Link. "I don't know," said Kristin.
"But it wouldn't surprise me if she's holed up in that one palace again."
"So--my dear older sister is expecting Ganon's baby too, huh?" Kyla smirked, as she gazed into a crystal ball she'd fashioned with the Triforce of Power. "My baby's half-sibling and cousin. Interesting." Kyla sat on her throne and considered this. "That bastard Ganondorf!" she said. "He betrayed me--I'm glad he's gone now! But what to do about Kristin and her baby...?" Suddenly, a red glow filled the throne room. "What is this!? What's going on?" she shrieked. The glow brightened. "I am Din. Goddess of Power," said
the feminine, ethereal voice. "Kyla, Princess of Hyrule--I must speak with you.
It is a matter of great importance." |