Zelda launched a fire ball from her palm. It hit the target, causing it to burst into flame. The princess grinned. She might not be as muscular or tough as other contenders, but with magic on her side, she would be a force to be reckoned with. The times she sparred with one of the Links were paying off. They were obviously different from the boy she knew as Link, but they all shared some similarities. They all also said that they knew someone back home named Zelda, something that they all found kind of odd. Despite this, they all became friends for the most part. Toon Link was a little distant, but he was friendly enough.

Today they were all off doing something, so Zelda was alone. She decided to try out her powers combined with items. As such an easy target, she needed to compensate with a versatile range of useable items. She picked up some sort of grey gun out of the pile of items she borrowed from the training center. She fired off three consecutive shots, and then charged up one powerful shot. Then the princess held up the weapon to admire it. Zelda hadn't seen anything quite like it before.

The next item she tried out was some sort of sword. It's blade was glowing with energy. Zelda swung it around, trying to imitate attacks she'd seen Link do. After a while she got bored and her arm started to hurt. She took out the next item she could reach, which happened to be a deku nut. Zelda knew that they exploded on impact, so she was careful while moving it. She placed it on the pedestal that the blast box was, curious to see what would happen to the nut when given the same treatment.

From a relatively safe distance, Zelda charged up another fireball. She pushed it away from her, launching it at the nut. Zelda prepared herself for a huge explosion, and was surprised when nothing happened. She cautiously approached the nut to see what went wrong. Nothing happened. The princess decided it was safe to pick up the deku nut. Zelda brought it to her face to check it.

At that moment, it exploded, showering Zelda in bits of shell. Shrapnel ended up in her left eye.

Zelda fell to her knees, crying out in pain. She clutched the left side of her face, as if that might stop the searing pain. Zelda shuddered at the warm fluid spilling over her fingers from what remained of her eye. She tried, in vain, to keep what was left in her eye socket. She realized how useless it was to try and salvage it on her own. Zelda slowing rose to her feet and sped walked to the on-site infirmary.

———

"Well, your eye is beyond repair," Doctor Mario said, pacing in front of Zelda while holding a clipboard. Doctor Mario was really just Mario in a costume, which seemed shady, but he had good intentions. Zelda's posture changed as her shoulders curled in defeat.

"So, you can't fix it?"

"That's what I said," Doctor Mario confirmed. "Here's an eye patch to cover the socket so it doesn't get infected."

Zelda begrudgingly took the eyepatch and put it on. She wondered what everyone would think. As she walked out of the infirmary, her cheeks turned pink as she realized that people would probably think she was even weaker than before.

"Good going, Z," She mentally yelled at herself.