Invasion

Summary: In Hyrule Castle, Princess Zelda flees in search for safety as the palace is being invaded by the artistic sorcerer, Yuga. Warning: spoilers.

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Within a day, Hyrule Castle changed from being a peaceful paradise, to a living nightmare.

The chaos started shortly after the strange barrier had been put over the castle—allowing no one in, nor out. Soon, monsters appeared and roamed inside the palace. Many shouts sounded the walls as men yelled out their orders and warnings to their comrades. For a while, everything was relatively under control.

Until, that is, the one responsible for such mayhem arrived inside the castle—spreading yet even more chaos.

Assuming the magic-using intruder's target was their beloved princess, several of the guards immediately escorted her—along with her attendant, Impa—out of harm's way and searched for the safest available room they could find to put her in.

Unfortunately, one by one, the guards were struck down by their enemies. Soon, all who remained in the group were Princess Zelda and Impa. They continued to run until they found themselves in a large room filled with many soldiers resting from battle.

"One...one moment, Princess. I need a...small rest," Impa said, panting from exhaustion.

"Y-yeah...me too," the young princess breathed out. Taking a moment to catch their breath, they overheard some of the soldiers converse with each other.

"I can't believe the guy asked him what gender he was right in his face."

"Yeah, poor fool. Got himself turned into some kind of drawing for that."

"Huh, so it was a guy then?"

Zelda sighed. She truly questioned her soldiers' intelligence sometimes.

"Princess Zelda, Lady Impa, over here!"

Alerted by the shout, the two saw a knight wave his arm over to them. They quickly approached him as he said, "My Ladies, quickly, you must get to the highest room in the castle. You should be safe up there. We will hold off the intruder in the meantime." He gestured to a flight of stairs leading to the higher floors.

"Thank you. Let's go, Princess," the old woman said. The girl responded with a nod of her head.

Soon after running up the stairs, they reached the next floor and made their way to the next flight of stairs. However, as she ran, Zelda noticed that her caretaker wasn't next to her. Stopping, she turned around to see the woman standing a couple feet from her.

"Impa...?"

The nanny waved her hand onward. "Continue on ahead, Princess. I am only slowing you down. An old woman such as myself can't possibly keep up with you. I shall remain here and face this terrible threat to buy you some more time. I will stop him myself if I must," she said.

Zelda stared at her attendant, mouth agape. "What? No, Impa! You can't—"

"Princess, you must not delay any longer. Hurry, before he has the chance to find you!" Impa desperately insisted.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard, followed by insane laughter.

"Oh no... Could we already be too late?" the elderly woman murmured.

"Impa, please, come with me. You don't have to stay here and fight him," the golden-haired maiden pleaded.

Her nanny gave her a stern look. "Princess Zelda, it is my sworn duty to protect you at all costs. Besides...I'm not as frail as I look," she said with a sly smirk on her face.

"I should hope not. Capturing you sages has been rather dull lately."

Startled, the two turned to see Hyrule Castle's invader, Yuga, standing at the entrance of the stairway.

He continued, "But I do wonder if you'll prove to be more of a challenge than the others."

Zelda was stunned. "Sages? Impa, you're a—"

"Run, Zelda! Leave him to me," her caretaker ordered.

"But..."

"Go! Now!"

Distraught, the young princess hesitantly took a few steps back, before turning around and running as fast as she could.

Oh great goddesses above, please don't let any harm come to her, she prayed. As much as she wanted to go back and see if her attendant was all right, her legs refused to stop and turn around—as if they had a mind of their own.

She reached the fourth floor, climbed up some more steps, before once again stopping to catch her breath.

What am I going to do now? she thought to herself.

"Ah, there you are, my sweet. I was wondering where you ran off to."

The maiden's blood turned cold as she released a surprised cry. When she looked down the stairs, she saw Yuga standing there, smiling proudly. Fearing the worst, the girl asked, "W-what have you done to Impa?"

"Hmm, the old woman you were with? Do not worry about her, for she's become a fine addition to my collection of sages," he chuckled.

Zelda's hopes sank. No, Impa...

The artist walked up the steps leading to her as he said, "To my disappointment, she hardly put up a decent fight. In fact, all the sages were far weaker than I initially thought." He stopped his saunter as he climbed the last step.

The princess gasped. "All of them?"

Yuga laughed at her surprise. "Yes, I've already found all seven sages! Capturing them has been little more than a simple chore."

Gathering her courage, Zelda asked the man, "Yuga, why are you doing all this? What is it that you want?"

The sorcerer ignored her question. Instead, he examined her body—seeming to concentrate on every detail of her person.

Frustrated, the young princess yelled, "Answer me, monster! You're wanting to use the sages to resurrect Ganon, aren't you?!"

"Now, now. No need to get so upset, little princess," Yuga playfully chided. "In fact, do me a favor and wipe away such distasteful expressions. I want you to be at your most perfection."

The girl became confused, and worried. "What do you mean by that?"

The strange man seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he said, "Oh, you are going to make for a gorgeous painting. Yes, I would even say you're a match to Her Highness."

Panicked, the maiden's eyes started wondering around the room—looking for a possible way of escape—when she caught sight of a boy her age, dressed in a green tunic, at the entrance of the room under the stairs. He stared back at her, worry showing on his face.

Is that...Link? she wondered to herself. Yuga's cackling soon brought her attention back to him.

"Oh, I can hardly wait another moment! Your portrait shall be absolutely flawless, my dear!"

Before Zelda could react, the artistic sorcerer swung his staff. All she could do was scream in terror as she felt herself being transformed into a painting. Before her consciousness faded, thoughts of a certain boy in green entered her mind.

O hero, our fate is in your hands now...