chapter 20 The Temple Below

[First-person – Gerudo Desert, just before dawn]

The moon hadn't yet fallen, but the sand was already moving.

A chasm had opened just beyond Gerudo Town—silent, unnatural, jagged like a wound. It hadn't been there yesterday. Now, it bled darkness.

Zelda stood beside me, one hand clutching her torch, the other resting on her sheath.

Riju was on my other side, calm and battle-ready, though I could see the flicker of concern behind her proud gaze.

"I've never seen a tear in the desert like this," Riju muttered. "Not even the Depths twist the world this way."

"It wasn't made by Malice," Zelda said, lowering her torch. "This… feels older. More divine. Or something close to it."

They both turned to me.

Because this thing, this gash in the world—it had responded to me.

To the Tear of Balance pulsing softly in my chest pocket.

I nodded. "Let's go."

---

[Deep beneath – Temple Threshold]

We moved through the opening like whispers sliding down a throat of stone. The further we descended, the more the air changed. It smelled of forgotten time—like dust soaked in memory.

Bioluminescent glyphs glowed along the tunnel walls, shaped in curves unlike Sheikah or Zonai script.

I placed my hand on one.

The glow flared… and the symbols rearranged themselves into words I understood.

> "Temple of Echoed Balance. Vault of the First Guardian. Trespassers must carry memory… or be consumed."

Zelda stepped back. "Did it just… change for you?"

"I think it remembered me," I whispered.

Because it had.

---

[First-person – Temple Interior]

The Temple's inner chamber was massive—a cathedral carved into the bones of the earth.

A spiraling mosaic covered the floor. At its center: me. Or rather, someone who looked exactly like me, wearing an older version of the cloak I now wore. One arm extended forward, holding a Tear glowing silver. Around the figure: seven beings—each shaped like gods, monsters, or both.

Beneath it all, in the deepest tiles: a black glyph, erased by time, but still bleeding magic.

"I've been here before…" I murmured.

Riju ran her fingers along a statue's broken base. "The First Guardian. You were someone before Link. A prototype."

Zelda's gaze had gone hollow. "You weren't just abandoned. You were sealed."

---

[Third-person – Zelda's thoughts]

Zelda didn't want to admit it aloud.

But as she stared at the carvings, the ancient inscriptions… a sick feeling twisted in her gut.

> The gods hadn't simply forgotten the OC.

They had tried to bury him.

Because he had done something they feared.

And now, that power was returning to him.

And… she loved him still.

But if the gods turned on him once, would they again?

Would she?

She looked at his face.

> "No," she thought. "I'll protect him from them. From everyone. He's mine."

---

[First-person – OC]

A hidden door clicked open at the far end of the chamber, revealing a shrine room shaped like a broken star. Inside, a pedestal. On it… an old journal, bound in obsidian leather.

I stepped forward.

My fingers trembled as I opened the first page.

> "To the Guardian of Balance, should memory ever return to you."

> "You were not created. You were born. Before Hylia rose. Before Demise fell. You were the first echo of resistance. The gods offered fate. You offered freedom. They feared you for it."

> "You sealed the Broken One beneath this world—knowing one day, your reincarnation would be the key."

> "And now, you have returned. The Balance must be tested again."

The next page was blank. So was the next. But the last held a single warning, scrawled in my own handwriting.

> "If I awaken fully… remind me what it means to love. Or kill me."

---

My hands shook.

The girls were silent.

Zelda's voice was barely a whisper: "What… what did you do back then?"

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know yet.

But the ache in my chest, the echo behind my eyes—it told me the truth was close. And terrifying.

"I wasn't the hero Hyrule wanted," I said, voice tight. "I was the one who said no."

Zelda touched my shoulder. "You're not alone now."

Riju's fingers laced with mine. "Whatever you were… I choose you now."

And even as the ground trembled again, even as a low growl echoed from deeper below…

I felt something warm in that moment.

> Hope.