“Link!” I scream, and run to the edge of Skyloft. He’s nowhere to be see. “LINK!” I cry at the top of my lungs, and collapse onto my front. He can’t be... Link can’t be dead...

My breaths heave and I struggle for oxygen, and feel hot tears streaming down my face. I clench my fist, and punch the ground repeatedly. I punch with more power than I ever thought I had, punching until my knuckles bleed. The bleeding doesn’t stop me. I stop when I hear something crack and shriek again—not in pain, but in agony.

Midna falls to her knees beside me, and just cries and sniffles. She can’t even say anything. She wipes her eyes continually, but just opens her mouth and wails. Fi looks down at the ground, and her cloak isn’t flying in the wind as usual.

As soon as I got pushed into the safe zone, all the Guardians, Watchers, Waking Water, and Silent Realm disappeared. We now stand in the true Skyloft.

“Hero, my ass...” Midna whispers from beside me. I barely turn my head, and I can barely see her with all the tears in my eyes. “Can’t even save yourself from a stupid Guardian... Stupid Link... Stupid Link!”

I grab Midna in my arms, and she doesn’t object. She latches onto my gray hoodie, and rubs her wet face into the fabric. I hug her tight, and cry into her hair.

“Whoa!” echoes in the wind, like it was said a million years ago but didn’t reach us until now.

My head lifts up. “Midna, did you hear that? Fi?”

“Neri!” The echo screams faintly, and have to strain to hear it. Link just can’t leave my mind. I’m even imagining his voice. His sweet voice... ”Midna! Fi!” I ignore it. I’m obviously the only hearing it, so I’m imagining it. It isn’t real.

I wipe my eyes on my sleeve, and stand up shakily. A blue glowing portal has appeared at the peak of the Light Tower, so I guess it’ll take us back.

“Come on, guys. Link wouldn’t want us to stand around wasting time,” I say, and my voice breaks off when I say his name. Midna clenches my hoodie tighter when I mention him.

“Wait!” the echo says. I wish it would just go away already... I’m tired of it. Tired of everything. I just want everything to end, and be done with. I want to wake up from this crazy dream, from this crazy reality. I’m done with it!

“Dammit!” I shout, and slam my fist into the tower again. The stone cracks a bit, and excruciating pain radiates through my arm, but not enough to satisfy me.

“Neri!” It yells again.

“SHUT UP!” I yell back, so loud my ears ring. “Shut up, shut up, shut up! No matter what, Link will always be gone! So just shut the hell up!”

As soon as I scream that, a huge red blur flies in front of me at such incredible speed that I fall onto my bottom. It flies towards the sun, then turns and dives towards us. I backpedal, and Midna comes out of my arms.

The red thing turns last second, and something hops off it. Something in green, with a heart-thumping smile, and blush-inducing eyes, with an adorable hat I’ve worn.

Link.

I stand there, in utter shock. We saw Link die, did we not?

No, we saw him fall. We never saw him die.

Midna stands beside me, her eyes the size of dinner plates. Fi floats, with no expression in her otherwise empty eyes. He mouths my name, and stands there, with a colossal crimson bird flying away behind him.

I take one step forward, and tears start to hit the white stone. I take another, and another, until it grows into a sprint, and I jump into his arms.

His arms snake around my waist, holding me close to his body. “L-Link...” I weep into his chest, choked by sobs.

“Shhh... Just calm down, Neri. Calm down,” he soothes me.

“Link!” Midna screeches and flies into his leg, effectively tripping him and making us both fall. I fall onto my back, and he catches himself as his face is inches from mine when he falls forward. Light pink paints my cheeks, and I look up at his smiling face.

“Where you worried about me?” Link asks, his voice a whisper. I can’t even say anything, I just bury my face into his tunic again so he doesn’t see me cry.

As my hands ball up his tunic, a sharp twist stops me. My stupid hand that I stupidly sprained when I stupidly punched the stupidly white stone of the stupid Light Tower.

“Gah!” I gasp, and clutch my hand.

“What’s wrong?” Link quickly asks as he stands up and grasps my forearm to pull me to my feet. “Did you break it?”

I nod feebly, and grit my teeth. I won’t cry because of a small broken bone. Link immediately reaches into one of the four pouches strung along his waist and pulls like a stiff white cloth. He takes my hand and begins wrapping it so my wrist can be held in place while we wait for real medical attention.

“How did you manage to break it?” Link asks incredulously as he ties it around my palm.

“I...” I mutter, “punched the ground.” I can hear him stifle a laugh, and I scowl at him.

“What about you? What was that scream I heard when we started collecting crystals?” Link shuts up, and looks down to focus on his knot.

“I tripped...” he mumbles. I hold in my laugh, barely. Link shoots me a look, but I just laugh harder. To make a point, he pulls the knot of the cloth too tight for a moment and the feeling of my broken finger being shifted makes me squeal and go quiet.

“Mistress, we best be leaving, so we can adhere to our goal and annihilate Ghirahim,” Fi claims. “Therefore, I request my ritual at your earliest convenience.”

I get up and brush off some dirt, and stand up. “Okay. We can do the ritual thing now.” Closing my eyes, Midna pushes the twilight crystal towards me and I try not to focus on the feeling of having four legs, lacking opposable thumbs, and having a soft fur coat. And soon enough, I feel all those things come to reality as I warp into a canine.

I nod at Fi, and amazingly, she lowers herself to the ground other than the air, and kneels before me.

Now I can see why her element is air. She’s in it all the time. Link grew up in the forest, the pure Earth, I would rather be on water than be on land, and Midna has a fiery attitude. It all makes sense.

Swathed in her blue cloak is the true Air Crystal, which she wraps around her tightly over her chest. Her purple cloak wraps over the blue one, across her midsection.

Her head lowers, and her voice echoes loud and clear, “I oath on my life and the Goddesses, that to incarnation of Hylia, I will show my allegiance for eternity. I will serve as your loyal servant, always at your side, in life and death; for you, and all incarnations and descendants of yours.”

Wow... Allegiance, huh? That’s a pretty big burden. When she’s finished, I step forward and press my wet nose to her forehead, and focus my thoughts.

Fi’s very loyal to her Master or Mistress, whoever draws the sword. Allegiance is a thing that not everyone has, though. It takes power, wisdom, and courage to uphold allegiance. So for that reason I know that Fi will keep to her promise.

I open my eyes and step back. Fi’s layered cloaks unravel, first the violet one and then the cerulean one. Her chest glows a yellow light over her heart where the crystal was. The Air Crystal’s been absorbed into her.

So Link has pledged to protect, Midna to be honest, I pledged to respect my people, and Fi pledged allegiance to the incarnations of Hylia. I mean, that’s really all you need to defeat someone, right? The strength to protect, the mind to be honest, the purity to be respectful, and the passion to allege yourself. Now that we’ve got everything, we can finally finish this.

“Let’s get out of here,” Link says. I couldn’t agree more. He helps me climb the ladder, Midna flies up, and so does Fi. I think Midna has actually started to like Fi, if I do say so myself. Link climbs up after me, until we stand at the top of the tower.

The blue portal ripples in front of us, looking the same as the one that took us here. As I step towards the light, something pulls me back and wraps around my neck. Link, Midna, and Fi turn around, and take up a battle stance immediately.

“Greetings, Hylia,” it says. The cold hand tightens around my neck, and I squeak.

“Ghirahim,” Link growls.

“Now, now, don’t take up that tone with me,” Ghirahim tsks. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Lively One,” he hisses in my ear. I claw his arms around my neck, trying to get him to loosen. I can’t breathe. “Don’t even try, darling. I won’t hesitate to spill your luscious blood over the pretty white stone,” he whispers. His fingers snap, and a small poof of black, red, and yellow diamonds clear to show his black longsword that never leaves his side. He holds it to my neck, a hair away from touching my skin.

“Let her go!” Link yells, and charges at him. I try to scream at him to stop, but I can barely even say a whisper. Small dots are invading my vision, and I’m starting to panic.

Link jumps in the air and brings his sword down, and Ghirahim just chuckles and teleports him and myself behind Link. The hero whips around in a spin attack, but Ghirahim frowns and holds up his arm, stopping the attack. Sparks fly, like the sword is grinding against metal.

“Calm down, Lover Boy. You don’t want to see her dead, do you?” Ghirahim mocks.

For a second, I see fear in his eyes, but he just thrusts with his sword again, against Ghirahim’s impenetrable arm. He growls, and puts his arm down and holds me out in a millisecond. Link’s sword whistles through the air, stopping just barely before it hits my wide eyes.

“I’m telling you, it’s futile. Your girlfriend here is my shield. Unless you want to wager her life, you’d better stop,” he warns. I can barely see anymore, and I’m feeling limp. My hands slide down, and touch something cool in my belt loop. My dagger!

I grab the hilt and snap my wrist up, hitting the Demon Lord’s vulnerable palm. He shrieks in anger, and throws me down onto the ground at his feet. My head hits the rock and I gasp in pain, and to get my breath back. While I’m coughing, Ghirahim backs up, and Link stands his ground by Midna and Fi, not taking the chance to come to my aid.

“You witch!” Ghirahim cries, and runs at me. I feel something cold, something stopping everything I do.

Fear. Undeniable fear.

He stops and reaches down with his gray hands, and grabs my brown hair. Ghirahim lifts me up by my hair, and I scream. Link grinds his teeth, and comes again. “Stop!” Ghirahim screams. Link skids across the stone, coming to a halt.

“I’ll cut her head clean off her shoulders,” he says menacingly. My blood starts pounding in my ears, and all I see is his dark eyes looking through me. “But maybe I’ll wait until later. I should’ve stopped your little adventure earlier, but the risks make it more fun, no? It doesn’t matter anyhow, because I’ll get what I want in the end.” Ghirahim raises me higher, and I claw my scalp as my hair being yanked. “Now get back to where you came from, boy!”

Ghirahim lifts his arm, and Link, Midna and Fi all get pushed back into the portal by an invisible force. He throws to me the ground, and in a storm of diamonds, disappears. They can’t go into the portal! We have to do it together, or someone will get left behind!

Midna screams my name, and Fi actually looks surprised. Link looks angry and reaches toward my outstretched hand, but it’s too late. The portal fades, along with all my friends. All I’m doing is laying on the ground, reaching towards thin air.

I missed our only way back.

I just sit there, unable to comprehend what just happened. Was I really left in Skyloft? Am I really stuck here with no way out? I’m in another dimension, so I guess there is no way out.

I fall limply to my front, with my face against the cold rock of the roof of the Light Tower. This can’t be possible. Tears slide down my cheeks, and I scream in anger.

How could I have been stupid enough to have been caught again?! Why can’t I be strong like Link, protect myself like Midna, or as smart as Fi? Why do I have to be so weak, dammit!

I slam my other fist into the stone, and scream. I lay there and cry for hours, watching the sun set behind me, getting ready to see that same sunset for the rest of my life on Skyloft. Even the Goddesses can’t reach me—they said that even they aren’t powerful enough to create another portal.

After who knows how many hours, I get up, as a pathetic, weak, sobbing mess. Without anything else to do, I wander around town.

There’s food in the cupboards of the empty houses, washrooms, the running waterfall, and an empty cave behind it. There isn’t any people, animals, monsters, or anything. I temporarily wonder how Link’s red Loftwing appeared if nothing is meant to be here, but decide that it’s not the first unnatural occurrence we’ve experienced. At this moment, I’d gladly have a Guardian here as my new best friend.

As a kid I’d always loved stories with strong female leads as heroes, and as much as I’d like to be one in this story, when you’re a city girl who’s never so much as fought for her life and never been completely separated from her loved ones, the stress builds and circumstances don’t change. As much as there should be development and I should be stronger, many stories depict the change too rapidly—I’ve only been here for a few weeks, is my estimate. Not much muscle can actually be gained in that time period, and God knows experience takes even longer to gain.

At the end of my tour, I walk to the large marble statue of Hylia. Stories tall, with huge wings and closed eyes, with her hands in a prayer.

In the designed tile circle at her feet, I fall to my knees. My body sags and my front falls, until my forehead touches the familiar cold stone that I formerly spent hours crying against. Even though there’s no way back, I can’t help but think about something I could do to return. There are no other ideas, so who really cares? I’ll die here.

Under my breath, I whisper a prayer.

“Please, Hylia. Let me see my friends again.” Tears start to fall again. Why do I have to be such a baby? “I don’t want to die here... I want to get back to my family, my Mom, my Dad...even my little sister. I want to see Link again, and his smile! I want to joke with Midna, and learn about Hyrule with Fi!” I lick my lips, and scream, “I want to go home!”

The ground around me shakes, but I’m not sure why. I don’t care why. I hit the stone again, and see the little pebbles start to levitate and shake. When I lift my fist up, I stare at the dent I’ve made. The rock has cracked, and almost been completely obliterated by my hand. The whole ground has been slanted towards where I made my crater. How can I be this strong?

When I look up, the shaking gets worse. My anger boils over again. I don’t even care—I hope it kills me! I punch the ground again and it shakes, and a tree falls over to my left. The rock splinters, and fragments fly everywhere. Larger portions of rock fly up and white sand lashes my cheeks, feelings like needles.

Am I doing this? Great, I make ground shake. Whoop-dee-freakin’-doo. The ground starts to glow white through the cracks in the stone tiles under me, but I couldn’t care at all. I’m just tired of it all. I just want this to end. The ground starts glowing brighter white, until the circular light beams into the sky and the white swirls around it. Once I’ve looked down, my eyes widen until they can’t anymore.

A white portal ripples around me, surrounding my whole body. My hair lashes my face, being blown upwards. The wind blows from beneath me, making my hair rise and whip above me as rocks levitate and debris flies upwards.

Will this... Take me back?

I stand up cautiously, and look around me, at the white pool cascading around me. This can’t be possible! I couldn’t have created a portal! Because then that would mean...

That I’m stronger than the three Goddesses combined. But that’s impossible. I couldn’t have created this! I’m weaker than Link, than Fi, and Midna...

How could I be stronger than the Goddesses?

Hylia did create the Goddesses, and created her own now-extinct race, along with the Loftwings, like the crimson one that saved Link and disappeared after it saved him.

But because I’m her reincarnation and not her incarnation like Zelda, I’m technically her, and have all her power. Now that I’ve everything figured out, I step through the white portal, through my piece of evidence that proves I’m stronger than the Goddesses.

The white blinds me and I close while eyes while I feel my body lift skyward.