First-person – On the road, just beyond Hylia]
We walked in silence.
Not the kind born from exhaustion, or even peace—but the heavy silence of things unspoken. The kind that hangs over a battlefield before the swords are drawn.
Ever since the temple under the lake, the others had started… watching me.
More than before.
Zelda tracked every flicker of my mood like a scholar studying cursed runes.
Riju tested me in combat at dusk, always smiling—but never playfully.
Yona? She hovered near constantly, her hand brushing mine whenever I didn't pull away fast enough.
They were all waiting for something.
So was I.
---
[The Shrine Appears]
It was Mineru who spotted it.
High on a rocky ledge to the east, near the ancient edge of the Lanayru range—a structure carved not into the land, but grown from it. Vines wrapped in golden thread curled across pale stone. No Zonai tech. No Sheikah steel.
Just... emotion.
Raw and ancient.
Zelda gasped. "A Shrine of Feelings. I thought they were legend."
Riju frowned. "What does it do?"
"It shows you," I answered.
"Shows you what?" Yona asked.
I swallowed.
"Your truth."
---
[Inside the Shrine – First-person]
The moment I stepped in, the world vanished.
No stone, no light, no sound.
Just… me.
A space of stillness.
Until suddenly, voices echoed—mine, theirs, fragments of thoughts.
> "Why does Zelda look at him like that?"
> "If I have to hurt them to keep him, I will."
> "He's not just powerful… he's mine."
The world reformed.
Not as it was.
But as it wanted to be.
---
[Hall of Reflections]
We were in a wide open hall, mirrors on every wall.
Each mirror shimmered differently.
Not glass—but emotion made visible.
As I stepped past one, it showed me holding Yona in my arms… her smile peaceful, her scales glowing in the sunset.
Another? Zelda, in my arms, sobbing against my chest as Hyrule burned behind us—and she smiled anyway.
Another?
Riju, bloodied, laughing on a throne of sand and bones. My hand on her hip. A crown on her head.
My crown.
---
I looked away. "This place is wrong."
Zelda shook her head. "No. It's honest."
Riju chuckled darkly. "Maybe we should see what you look like in our mirrors."
Yona was quiet.
But her hand never left the dagger hidden behind her sash.
---
[Third-person – Zelda's Vision]
In her mirror, Zelda saw a wedding.
A quiet field of Hylian lilies.
She wore a crown, simple and elegant.
But she wasn't marrying Link.
It was him. The one beside her now.
He smiled—not as a hero—but as a king.
And the crowd?
Empty.
Because she'd erased them.
Everyone but him.
She touched the mirror, lips trembling.
"Soon," she whispered. "You'll see."
---
[First-person – My own Reflection]
I stepped before my mirror.
The glass rippled.
And showed me—standing over three bodies.
Zelda.
Riju.
Yona.
Dead.
Smiling.
And behind me stood the other me, his hands on my shoulders.
"You'll choose," he said. "Eventually."
And when I looked down in the reflection—my hands were stained with blood and gold.
---
[Back to Reality]
The shrine cracked suddenly, stone moaning like a wounded beast.
"Too many feelings at once," Zelda murmured. "It's overloading."
Riju turned. "We need to leave."
I backed away—but the mirror followed.
My reflection still stared at me, even as we exited the shrine.
---
[Outside the Shrine – First-person]
It was dark when we emerged.
The stars were cold, watching.
I didn't speak.
Neither did they.
Not until we made camp, and I turned to look at them—Zelda, Riju, Yona—gathered in a circle like a storm waiting to fall.
"I saw things," I said quietly.
"So did we," Yona replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Zelda looked at me. "Did it scare you?"
"Yes," I admitted.
Riju tilted her head, smiling like a knife. "Then maybe it's the truth."
---
[Later That Night – First-person]
I couldn't sleep.
They took turns watching me—like guardians, or hunters.
I lay awake, listening to them breathe.
Wondering how far each would go for love.
Wondering how far I would go to keep them from killing each other.
Wondering…
If I still had a choice.