Chapter Text
The hero was no stranger to oddities. They’d cast magic that others couldn’t possibly comprehend, defeated the manifestation of evil itself, had their body molded and warped into beings overflowing with power. They’d pioneered a new era of technology and seamlessly integrated it with the natural magic of the world. For Goddess’s sake, they’d even temporarily held the role of Hylia and the Triforce itself. However, out of all the horrors they faced, all the monsters that were slain, the most bizarre and confusing entity they’d even encountered had been the most mundane - the mirror sitting in their room.
Their reflection had always been confusing, even before they set out on their adventures. It taunted them, showing only the feeble princess the world was convinced they saw. As a child, they looked and saw not their own reflection, but a captive chained and a Goddess keeping them in line. They saw a promise that was made for them before they were even born, a life carved out before they ever had a chance to live any other.
They’d give anything to see that again.
Now, they saw a feathered girl who gave up her own life to settle a quarrel amongst gods, a girl thrown from the only life she knew and given the monumental task of rebuilding a long abandoned civilization. They saw a young girl who judged too fast and loved too much, and a man who took his life into his own hands, a ruler who sacrificed everything to give a child another chance at peace. They saw a queen harassed for protecting her people, who gave her soul to a helpless stranger, who became a puppet for her selflessness. They saw a girl who grew up too fast, living amongst the open seas under a lie, who watched her father die minutes after their first meeting. They saw two young princesses who had to rebuild their entire world, who had been forced into slumber for fear of their rebellion, their strength.
They saw a terrified child picking a glowing sword off of the corpse of their protector. They saw that child, a little older, commanding the ancient deities against a primal evil. They saw that child as a teen, taking the burden of godhood onto their shoulders.
They saw themself.
But who are they to decide where they really start and end? They're just the next soldier in an ancient war. There’s no need for them to be a person at all. They’re a vessel, an object.
They put the cover back over the mirror.
Their ancestors can haunt them another day. Today, they have a job to do. They are the hero. They are the princess. They are the vessel of the gods.
And maybe, just maybe, they can one day be themself.