Legend of Zelda ~ Sealed Away

Prologue

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Hyrule, a truly legendary series of events took place. But everyone knows that old tale, don't they? It is only one of the greatest tales of our time, so of course you have heard of it before.

What, you don't recall having ever heard this old story before? Why, settle down, my friend, and prepare to hear the most glorious narrative of a legend.

It all began precisely eight thousand years ago today in an older Hyrule than it is now, on the day of the annual Picori festival, fair and sword fighting tournament. Picori, also known as the Minish, are a tiny race that devotes their lives to helping us humans. Honestly, how do you think your lost objects suddenly appear after having been missing for a long while, and who do you think hides rupees in grass and under rocks for us humans to find? The Minish do!

As I was saying, it was the day of the Picori festival, and the young princess Zelda was very excited to attend. Her royal Highness, along with her childhood friend Link, raced through Castle Town playing games and looking at street vendor's wares. All seemed fine and dandy, as it was a glorious day and all the townsfolk were enjoying themselves.

Then it came time to watch the sword fighting tournament, and boy, what a show that was said to have been! All of the very best swordsmen and experienced knights from all around the region came to test their skills at the tournament to win the prize of the legendary Picori blade, a sword said to have been made by the Minish themselves. Yet the winner of the tournament was an unexpected one.

It wasn't a burly guard nor an experienced sword wielder, but a young boy who was about the same age as the princess was at the time. As you can probably guess, he was no ordinary child, in both ability and physical appearance. He was swift as the wind and light on his feet, and with a single swing of his sword it seemed as though the most powerful storm was his ally. When he spun in a full out spin attack it was like a hurricane surrounded him, not only adding force to the blade of his sword, but acting as a protective shield as well. His moves were preformed with such grace and mastery that the crowd went wild for him, and couldn't help but cheer at his many victories.

The boy's strange appearance was something else all together, and his looks attracted lots of comments and stares that day. His skin was pale, tinged with a purple color that gave him a look that was almost sickly. Light lavender hair fell down below his shoulders and long bangs covered half of his face, coming to a point just underneath his chin. The remaining visible eye was bright red and striking, and underneath the eye was a black birthmark shaped like a T.

He was short and frail looking, built like a dancer with a slender frame and proud demeanour. Clothed in a tunic of purple, vibrant red shorts and sandals, a golden belt, and a cape in the most majestic violet hue that swirled around his ankles made him look like royalty. Most stunning of all was his lovely purple hat, complete with a gold trim and a gleaming ruby coloured gemstone set in the middle. He had this gleam in his eye that suggested more experience than his age implied, and he walked with this vain arrogance, head always held high.

This boy's name was Vaati. Sounds familiar, you say? I'm not at all surprised.

So young Vaati won the tournament, to the great delight of the many spectators. By winning the tournament he would receive the grand prize, the great Picori blade, and they say you could see a sort of mad happiness gleam in Vaati's eyes as he approached the blade to claim it as his prize. Thus the troubles began.

Vaati approached the blade with a sinister aura around himself. Warning bells started to go off in people's heads that something bad was about to occur, and the crowd quickly thinned out. Instead of pulling the Picori blade from its chest with utmost care, Vaati broke the blade with malicious intent, opening the sacred Bound Chest that it resided in and releasing all the monsters that had been sealed away inside, flooding Hyrule with these beasts. Vaati then turned Princess Zelda to stone and fled.

Now, this is where the princess's childhood friend Link makes his appearance. The only way to break the curse put on Zelda was to use the magic of the Picori blade, but since the blade was now broken its magic wouldn't work. To fix the blade the help of the Minish was necessary, but since Minish folk are only visible to children, Link was the only one who would be able to find them to ask for their help in restoring the blade. He wished to help save his princess, so he decided to go look for the Minish, and set out on his adventure.

Link journeyed into the woods to look for the Minish, and stumbled upon a talking green hat named Ezlo who claimed he was also looking to end a curse set upon him by Vaati. Together, Link and Ezlo found the Minish and went through dangerous temples to gather the four elements needed to mend the blade. Once the elements were found, the Minish blacksmith then mended the sword. Link and Ezlo then went off to defeat Vaati and break the curse he set on Zelda once and for all.

Vaati's hideout was at the Palace of Winds, a majestic fortress floating up in the sky. There he kept Zelda, waiting until the time was right to end her. You see, Vaati didn't really want just a pretty princess statue to decorate his Palace of Winds, oh no! Princess Zelda, being holder of the triforce of wisdom as well as being pure of heart, contained within her a powerful substance called the light force. Vaati's main goal was to drain Zelda of her light force to obtain its power and to gain God like status in the world, even though that by taking Zelda's light force, the princess would die.

Why did Vaati want all that power, do you ask? Well, Vaati wasn't always evil. Once, he was a happy little Minish, training to become a sage under his master. But Vaati's once pure heart was tainted by the evil in the hearts of men. Slowly he changed, growing cold and closed off to the world. One day his master showed him a completed project he had been working on with the intent of presenting it to the humans at that years Picori festival as a humble gift. It was a hat with magical properties called the wishing cap. The wearer of this magical hat would have their any wish granted. Vaati took the hat, and with it he wished to be the world's greatest sorcerer, and when he got these powers he found they specialized in elemental wind spells. With these new abilities, Vaati turned his master into a hat to mock him on his creation having landed in the wrong hands, then he took the form of a Hylian and made his way to the Picori festival, looking for the light force.

Yes, Vaati's master was Ezlo, who was once a Minish sage before he was turned into a hat.

So Link and Ezlo made their way to the Palace of Winds. They got there just as Zelda was in the process of having her life force drained by Vaati. Claiming that he was already strong enough to take on Link, Vaati transformed into a huge, looming demon eye. In his most powerful form, he put up quite the epic fight against our hero Link, but with the power of the goddesses on Links side, Link prevailed and won the fight. He sealed Vaati away in the sword and put an end to the curses set on Princess Zelda and Ezlo. The Minish were ever grateful, and the wind mage Vaati has been sealed away ever since.

That is, until now...

Surely you've heard the news about how our fair princess was recently kidnapped by a gruesome winged monster? Well, that monster is none other than Vaati in his demonic form, having finally escaped from being sealed away in the goddess blessed sword. Again our hero Link is about to face off against him with the help of the four sword, granting him the ability to split into four copies of himself. Thus, my friend, does our story really begin.