Successors

A Way to Rewind Time

 *Ten Years Later*

~~~

"Oh, Symin! It's finally ready for testing! After all these years!" An elderly Sheikah woman, who clearly had been beautiful in her prime, called out in child-like excitement. "Think of the possibilities should this work!"

The remaining survivors of the Calamity had reached ages where even the more longed lived races could no longer serve their kingdom. Her wonderful experiment, whom she'd toiled over for the better part of seventy years, was nearly complete. The ability to rewind biological clocks... It hurt her how something so disruptive and damaging must come into being in order to finally bring peace to all and let healing finally begin. Her aged body grabbed an exact replica of the Slate which Zelda had sealed away with Link.

His progress had been slow, yet steady. She could see the young king's vitals just fine, but she wondered... would he be back in time? Would she, her body worn ragged by almost one hundred and thirty years, still be here when he did return?

She could feel Zelda's struggle and agony in the last time they met up on Mount Lanayru. She was in so much pain... It was truly a miracle that Zelda still held on.

She knows he'll make it back to her... all the agony she's experiencing, it's not just for Hyrule you know. Even more than Hyrule... the fight's for the baby. Her little princess... She fights through her agony every day just so she'll get to meet her daddy.

Those words of Impa's rang through her head whenever doubts about Link crept back.

Zelda knew he would make it. Zelda knew he would come before it was too late and undo it all.

All of the continual suffering at least. The lives lost on that night were never coming back; there was no magic undo for the Champions, Link's family, the Royal Guard, King Rhoam or any of the other thousands of lives who were extinguished.

Whether she was here or with Hylia when he came was of no consequence. This was just an added measure to help Her Majesty.

The replica Slate pinged on the Guidance Stone.

The rune was installed.

"Let's do this, Symin! Can I get a click and a snap?!"

With a snap of his own, Symin booted the rune and directed its rays at Purah's body. Only slightly longer than a few seconds had passed before adverse reactions developed and Purah fell unconscious. There would be time for analytics later.

After an entire day's sleep, Purah's full-body fatigue was only slightly less than extreme.

"Symin! What's this young lady doing here?" Where there once was balding, there was now floor-length hair; and smooth skin replaced deep wrinkles. "I-it's me! The age-reversal has already taken effect! Quick, let's determine just how many years I've regained!"

She quickly noticed, after a few calls of his name, that Symin was still asleep. Instantly, she went to kick him upright to document this scientific achievement. Everything that the lab could test was tested, and the results startled.

Purah was now in her early fifties. Over seventy years overnight. She had rewinded her life more than her body had currently lived. After a morning of accomplishment, concern set in that she would find herself as a newborn the next morning.

Thankfully, the rate of rewind had slowed greatly. The next morning, she met a version of herself she hadn't seen in about ninety years. She was thirty again. She had rewound all the age her body had received since continuing her research following the Calamity... There was so much loss that happened in that time, to see that self again was overwhelming.

She'd had a Gerudo assistant and Link's late sister Sydnei the last time she lived in this body. Esosu had passed long ago, and though Sydnei's funeral was only about two years ago, it still sealed the fact that this body was not supposed to be seen again.

The first thing to do with this newfound energy was not to mourn, oh no, but to science!

There was so much science to use this energy on, energy she hadn't had in decades. She quickly decided on the Sheikah Sensor, who had an expansion done when she was eighty.

All the Slate Tech would go directly to the coming hero, onto the Slate he inherited from his wifey. All the work would be worth it if said tech helped him free Princess Zelda.

People who knew the truth were dying. The Queen was once again just a princess. She was trapped in the past just like Purah now was.

The next day she was twenty. Exactly a century ago. This body witnessed the Calamity, smelled the blood and felt the ashes.

Maybe Ganon was stronger then than he had been ten thousand years before. Or maybe he was expecting us to do what we did...

Regardless, the blood spilled on that night... there was so much. It was unrestrained in its might and reach, merciless to the screams of innocents that had never so much as laid a hand on him.

There were no words that ever existed who could describe the complete destruction of the Great Calamity.

The Champions were lost, the Castle and its inhabitants were lost, Zelda herself was lost...

But one hope was recovered. The body of young Prince Link was recovered one hundred years ago from the plains surrounding Fort Hateno.

His wounds and blood loss were extensive. The chance of him making it through the night was nothing, as his breathing and heart were stopped.

He was so young, so courageous, his death racked her even now. He was the youngest ever Imperial Guard, one of the first Liberated Wolfbreds, eventually he became the Matriarch's Personal Guard; but all these things just led up to his greatest accomplishment as Princess Zelda's beloved. There was no enemy that would frighten him away from defending his pregnant wife and the kingdom they set to share.

And that courage cost him everything.

He had everything on paper to defeat Ganon gloriously, but his efforts collapsed into tragedy.

The Sheikah Researchers and the Royal Family have been closely bound since ancient times, and the devastating loss hurt them just as much as it hurt the family he left behind.

Shortly before his passing, a chamber known as the Shrine of Resurrection was discovered on the Great Plateau on a cliff overlooking the kingdom and Temple of Time.

It had never been tested... there was no guarantee.

But it was the only chance at saving his life.

It was all they could do.

Purah's age continued to regress over the course of two days, finally stopping at the age of six. Her ability to wait patiently was gone. She wanted Link back now . She wanted to jump on and kick him until he woke up. But Symin wouldn't assist her, so she turned her time to developing a way to undo the process. It was finished within a day, but the Guidance Stone and its blue flame had flickered out.

Attempts to restore them failed, and Purah was stuck waiting. Research was halted, and her days were now limited to sunlight and gas lamps. In only a few days, Purah's entire life had managed to be uprooted.

She expected that's what happens when you force nature to do your bidding..

At least now she knows a little more about how the princess has felt these past one hundred years.

Except what clouds her mind and prevents her from fully acknowledging this learning was that she'd disabled her support of the Royal Family through trying to help save it...

And that now the years of research she'd prepared for Link to use was unreachable.

She'd blown his second chance before it had even begun.