-Madeline's POV-

Link and I charged into battle side-by-side. After fighting so many big, irritating bosses, I'd grown very comfortable of the Kokiri Silverblade in my hand. I guess this is how Link feels with the Master Sword. Your blade really is your blade. You know how it feels, how it turns in your hand. Those feelings are magnified while holding a magical blade. It speaks to you like a mother to a child, guiding you where to go, informing you when and how to step, warning you when to dodge. As a fought, I could feel the power of the blade rushing through me, even stronger than ever. Was this what the Silver Forests meant by the blade choosing who it answers to? I conclude that that's why the rune dared not force my body to hold the sword, instead killing the woman with an arrow. Though my magic normally would tire me if used excessively, the power from hummed through my fingers, making it easier for me to use my magic for the enemies that stood farther off, for I had no time to load the Fairy Bow.

Link and I were each able to take down enemies in one hit. We blazed through the battle like a tornado of magic, force, and speed. Emma held our backs with her magic seeds and curved blades she snagged from the fallen Gerudo. I couldn't help but smile as we continued to fight off anyone who dared come near us. We may have been separated for quite a while, but when we combine, Ganondorf is no match for the Three, I thought triumphantly.

When most of the monsters had fallen, one of them yelled, calling his fellow warriors to fall back. I stood with Link and Emma, all of our swords at the ready, as we awaited their next strategy. The monsters dispersed to the sides, allowing a pathway for a black horse to stride through the the battlefield. The man riding it lead his horse slowly over to us. It stepped over its fallen allies, as if their deaths meant nothing.

"Ganondorf," Link growled.

The evil king laughed. "Why, hello, Link. You never cease to anger me, do you?" He turned his piercing gaze towards me. My body instantly grew heavy, but I resisted the urge to collapse. Ganondorf will never get the best of me again.

"Not even you" - he hissed at my title - "Eye of Silver, was smart enough to run when my minions revealed a war. I think I liked you better when you were no more than a servant to the rune."

I glared at Ganon, fighting against the hidden force that held me back from attacking. Stupid prophecy, I cursed silently.

Ganondorf dismounted his horse and strut closer to us. We stumbled back, and he grinned. "I must say, I am sick of your little tricks." He pulled out two objects from his robes. I gasped. My ocarina!

Ganon's eyes flared as he growled, "After eleven years...of searching for the Ocarina of Time...I keep...ending up with..." He held the two instruments up over his head. I could now see the other ocarina clearly. It was a cream color with the same number of holes as mine and Link's. Instead of the Triforce like on the Ocarina of Time, it bore a single green triangle. I vaguely remembered seeing the Kokiri holding an ocarina similar to this. Ganondorf's eyes flared and I could see his grip on the instruments tighten in fury.

"...THESE USELESS CHUNKS OF POTTERY!"

I yelped as the Gerudo King threw my precious ocarina to the ground. It shattered instantly at his feet, its wooden pieces scattering with the white pottery. "No!" I protested. Anger surged through me, and I rushed at the so-named king. He grasped my arm and twisted it away from him as if it were made of melted iron. I screamed and Ganondorf threw me to the ground. I could barely move myself. An unseen power sizzled through my body from the place where the evil king had touched.

My vision was blurry, but I saw Link charge at Ganondorf, his sword poised. I could barely see the fight from the corner of my eye, but I heard Link wail in agony and the clatter of the Master Sword dropping to the ground. I turned my head weakly to the side. Ganondorf thrust Link onto his back. "We end this now," he announced.

Ganondorf raised his giant sword over his head, glared at Link with a mix of triumph and hatred, and thrust his sword downward.

.

There was a time a few years back when I was learning to ride my horse, and I fell off into a patch of ice shards. A few of the larger shards had been stuck deeply into my hands. The feeling was cold and somewhat metallic, but I was scared to death because I couldn't feel or move my hands after a while. It had taken me a long time to be able to pick up a sword after that, with the fear that I would accidentally stab myself and I wouldn't get the medicine fast enough to heal.

I've always hated weapons. I don't know why, but I've never been able to stop shaking when I hold one, with the exception of the Kokiri Silverblade. That day when I met the Stalfos in the Forest Temple, I was sure I was about to die. Most enemies are okay, but if a sword is pointed at me, I freak out. Which is why I am still so baffled that I had the courage to do what I just did.

The tip of the blade entered my body, leaving it with a cold, metallic feeling of darkness and pain. Ganondorf's eyes grew wide. He had never noticed me crawling up to Link. I cried out in pain. The sword had pierced just below my heart, sending shock waves all throughout my body.

I don't know why I did what I did. Somehow, deep inside, I knew what Ganondorf was planning to do. Link had banished him once before. Why would he not crave revenge?

I barely heard Link scream. I could barely see Emma hold him back. I failed to process anything as the voices and images crept into my mind.

In the place where Time was found... The Eye of Silver lies unbound...

I saw Link. I saw him riding a bright red bird with the Princess Zelda in the sky...no - it was simply Zelda. They looked so happy together...just as him with Midna and Ilia...and Saria...

I can see everything.

New pathways felt as if they began to open and flow through the hidden areas in my brain.

I know who I am now.

My mother was a runaway Gerudo after she met my father, a merchant from Hyrule Castle. He was a descendant of a man who's name was long forgotten. He was known as the Man Who Sees Truth...and he was the one who created the prophecy.

Grief flooded my literally bleeding heart as I saw the woman who had once begged for mercy when I was under the rune.

I killed my own mother.

Ganon was keeping her hostage this whole time?

I saw the future. Link would have a son. The forest would fall, just as the prophecy suggested, but it would be reborn in the new era of Hyrule. Emma...Emma would save the forest...

The thought of my old friend snapped me back to reality. I looked Ganondorf in the eye and laughed. "You do know that if you kill me, then you die too, right?"

Ganondorf held his gaze and grinned evilly. "This does not matter to me. I can control my armies even when I am dead. Death does not stop the King of the Gerudo. This war will not end at this. I will kill you, and everyone you love who stands in my way."

I chuckled, stopping abruptly as another shock of pain coursed through my body. "Good luck with that," I choked.

I looked at Link. "Link," I said, tears flowing from my eyes, "I know you'll be fine without me. I want you to know that" - I coughed out a hunk of blood - "this is my choice. Don't blame yourself." I shook my head and blinked back the tears.

"Good-bye, Link..."