A Princess's Problem.

Old Traditions.

Cheers eruptted in the croud as the three new Champions stood up. Teba waved his wings in appreciation while Riju blushed and smiled her cutest smile. Yunobo was so excited, he waved to the croud, swinging his huge arms around making the people laugh.

Zelda kept her chuckles to herself as Sidon and Paya joined them on the platform the Sheikah had managed to put together. Paya blushed and hid her face before finally let her hands down a bit to look through the croud.

Link joined them last on stage. If there wasn't enough screaming when Sidon stepped up, there definitely was when Link came up. Pretty much every girl swooned as soon as he stood up and puffed out his chest proudly. Zelda cocked an eyebrow at him and couldn't help but smile when he turned to her and gave her a quick and discreet wink.

When the cheering finally died down and the swooning girls were brought back to their senses, Zelda her hand out for silence, "This is not all! I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for your help in the cause to restore Hyrule! As a thanks to your work, I have decided to bring back an ancient tradition!" She paused as whispered conversions broke out.

Link couldn't stop smiling. He had suggested this to her at the council meeting. Zelda wanted to give her subjects a moral boost for their hard work in the first few months of her return. Link had taken part in the tradition before, in one of his past lives. Granted it didn't end well, but he was sure that Vaati wouldn't show his face this time...

"The Picori Festival!" Zelda bellowed as the cheers went up again.

Link knew the story well, having already been to a Picori Festival before...

Evil spirits appeared in the land of Hyrule, and just when it seemed that the world was to be cast into the darkest of shadows, the tiny Picori descended from the skies and bestowed on a courageous human a shining golden light and a single sword. This bravest of men used his wisdom and courage, his golden light, and his sword to fight off the demons and restore peace to the world.

The people were so grateful to the Picori that they held an annual celebration in their honor. Whoever won the sword competition held at the festival would earn the honor of touching the sacred blade. The tradition of the Picori Festival continued, but over the generations, the Picori themselves passed into legend. The legend of the Picori tells of a mystic doorway that opens just once every hundred years. When the door is open, the Picori can cross from their world into Hyrule.

Last time Link had been a part of the festival, things hadn't gone to plan. Vaati, the wind mage had shown up and ruined everything. But that sparked Link's Tripeice of courage into action, sending him on an adventure with a Minish called Ezlo. Hopefully, nothing like that would happen again though.

***

There was a puff of darkness and soon there stood the dark soceress. His smile widened as she bowed her head before walking up to him.

"You summoned me?" She mused, walking forward with a bounce in her step and her hands wandering lazily in front of her.

"Yes... I have news..." He tapped the side of his stone chair again, wanting the delicious irony to seep in, "the princess is hosting the Picori Festival!" He threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"So is it time? Time to give him our gift?" She ran a nailed finger down her jaw as she thought hard about her future.

"What exactly did you prepare for our good buddy Link?" He snarled through his laugh.

"Let's just say that she will do the job we want her to..." She didn't know is she should tell Vaati about her sister.

"Ha!" He bust out, "It's a 'she' now? Ha! Of course it is, this is Link!" Vaati rocked back and forth on his throne, laughing uncontrollably.

With another puff of darkness, Cia was gone.

***

Lana woke up to the sounds of her shackles. Her eyes bolted open and saw her sister taking them off. When the chains were off, Cia didn't waste time in grabbing her sister by the throat so as to immobilise her.

Lana clawed at the hands to escape but it was too late. Cia raised her staff and it started to glow a deep red. The light sorceress squirmed in an attempt to evade the spell, but she was weak. She was without her book of spells and without a weapon.

The red glow slowly subsided and Lana went limp. Cia let her sister slip to the ground in a peaceful sleep. She bent down and started to stroke her sister's hair gently, a wicked smile evident even in the shadow.

Finally, she bent down and started to whisper instructions into Lana's ear. When she woke up, she would be physically incapable of telling anyone what had happened to her.

When she was finished her instructions, Cia got back up and grabbed her staff. She raised it again, this time creating a white orb in the middle of the room. Suddenly, the white nothingness was replaced by a figure.

Cia let a sigh escape her lips as she stared at the figure of Link. He looked different from the last time she had seen him, but that didn't mean he wasn't totally handsome still.