"Today marks the remembrance of a tragedy that took place here in Lorule Castle, when our King, my father, Aldus Lorania of Lorule, left our world and joined our dear Queen Tara, my mother, in the stars."

Hilda stood on a small platform in the Throne Room of Lorule Castle, and in front of her was the casket that held Aldus's body.

In the room were all of the servants and their children, Hilda on the stage, Yuga in front of the casket, and Ravio at the back of the platform, Sheerow on his shoulder.

Today was the King's funeral, and tomorrow marked the day when Hilda would ascend the throne as sole ruler of Lorule, and likely the last ruler of Lorule, unless Yuga and her were able to form a plan to steal Hyrule's Triforce in order to restore Lorule's Triforce.

Every night for the past few days, Ravio had spent the night with Hilda, holding her close to him so she wouldn't feel lonely, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to do so.

Ravio had known for a long time that he was in love with his Princess, but those feelings were becoming more complicated, as Hilda was becoming slowly more and more obsessed with capturing Hyrule's Triforce.

She spent most nights before falling asleep using her magic to plot where they would capture the Sages and Princess Zelda, and Ravio couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at what Hyrule will soon have to face.

While Hilda had promised Ravio that this was the only way to save Lorule, and that she wouldn't focus on the plan until after her ascension, Ravio knew that she had lied to him.

Whenever he woke up throughout the night, he saw Hilda disappearing out the door of her room, leaving him alone, as she eagerly went to Yuga to scheme out their plan.

However, Yuga and Hilda weren't even looking at each other, and he could see that whenever Hilda did look glance over at the magician, it was with a frosty glare, as if Yuga had done something wrong.

Ravio had hoped they had gotten into an argument, and that she had finally realized that stealing another kingdom's Triforce and basically making their kingdom fall was wrong, and should not be done.

He was so deep in thought, that he didn't notice Hilda had finished with her speech, and that she had her hands clasped together, and was delivering the last lines of the service.

"Long live the King." She said solemnly, and everyone in the room echoed her, except for Yuga.

Ravio looked at Yuga, to see that he was staring at him, smiling widely as if he had just saw something utterly delightful, while the rest of the room had their hands clasped together and eyes closed, in remembrance of the King of Lorule.

~~~

"Hilda, are you all right?"

Ravio was sitting on Hilda's bed in her quarters, while Sheerow fluttered around the room, tweeting as he zipped around the young couple.

Hilda was pacing around her room, while her magic was showing off each location of the Seven Sages, Princess Zelda, and Link.

Ravio could barely keep track of all nine of them, so he focused on the Hero of Hyrule instead.

He appeared to be quite young, and was completely lacking in skill when it came to his chosen apprenticeship, which was becoming a blacksmith.

However, Ravio had seen that at night, through Hilda's magic portals, that the boy was practicing how to wield a sword, without his master finding out, as he had secretly made a sword, and stolen it away from the forge, without his master's knowledge.

The sword itself was poorly made, but it served its purpose as a training weapon, and both Hilda and Ravio couldn't help but notice that he was quite proficient at fighting, even as a young child.

Now, he was hard at work in the forge, creating a sword that could actually be used in combat, but the blacksmith still outshined him in skill in every way.

Still, Ravio couldn't help but admire his persistence, and that he wasn't afraid to take the blacksmith's constant barrage of insults about how he was a lazy boy who would never amount to a good blacksmith if he didn't fix his way of life.

They both heard a knock at the door, and Hilda went to open it, and Yuga was standing just outside in the hallway.

"Good evening, Your Grace." He said, and bowed, while Hilda stared at him, confused.

"Yuga, this is a surprise. What are you doing here at my room?" She asked, and Yuga smiled.

"I have actually come to speak with Ravio, if I may. Can I borrow him for a moment?" He asked, and Ravio stood up, wary about what Yuga was asking, as he knew it would not be good.

"I am not busy, so if you need to speak to me, why don't you ask me directly?" Ravio said, and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Yuga smiled unsettlingly at Ravio, before waving his hand.

"Let's walk and talk, shall we? I wouldn't want to keep you too long from your dearest Princess, especially in her time of mourning." He said, and placed an arm around Ravio's shoulder, forcing him to walk with him.

Ravio felt the bracelet from the crack in the slate in his pocket weigh heavily.

"So, what is it that you want?" Ravio asked, and Yuga smiled serenely.

"Oh, I know that the closest person to the Princess is you, so I making sure that you understand the gravity of the situation that she is in, and that this kingdom is in, understand?" He said, and Ravio frowned, but said nothing.

They walked along the long hallway, and down a staircase, before walking along another long hallway.

Ravio knew that Yuga could easily transport him to his study, but he figured that Yuga was trying to make Ravio panic at what he could have done wrong, because there was no way Yuga would want to speak to him alone for no reason.

The two of them soon arrived at Yuga's study, and the door swung open as Yuga basically pushed Ravio inside, slamming the door behind him.

"So, you stole the bracelet from the Princess, didn't you?" Yuga said, his smile gone, and Ravio glared at him.

"I didn't steal it, I completely forgot I had it in the first place." He said, and Yuga pointed his staff at Ravio's pocket.

"If you forgot you had it, then why is it in your pocket?" He asked, and Ravio could see that the flames atop his staff were glowing white-hot.

"I've been keeping it safe." He finally said, and Yuga laughed, and Ravio felt as though the magician had gone insane.

"Well, would you look to see what it does, peasant?" He said, and swung his staff around, the magical fire hitting Ravio in the chest.

He looked down to see that his legs were going into the wall, as pain shot throughout his entire body, and he screamed in agony, which Yuga cackled.

"I believe you remember my magic can turn people into paintings, correct? Well, I am growing tired of your meddling in my plans to take over Lorule, so perhaps this will teach you a lesson."

The magic reached Ravio's torso, and he felt that he couldn't breathe as his lungs collapsed into the wall as a painting, and Ravio could only wish for relief, as his head was turned last, and he had turned completely into a painting.

Yuga smirked as he admired his expertise, as Ravio lay on the wall, his stare as blank as the stone that he was stuck on.

"Well, I thought your appearance couldn't be improved, but I guess I was wrong, though I shouldn't be surprised. My magic does have a knack at turning even the most ugly things in this world or any other beautiful." He said, and then noticed that the bracelet that was in Ravio's pocket was now starting to glow pink.

Ravio felt his vision return first, as he saw Yuga staring directly at him with a look of what appeared to be panic upon his face.

He felt all of his senses return gradually, as he was pushed out the wall, and he looked down to see the bracelet glowing pink, and he fell onto the ground as he was finally pushed completely out the wall.

He immediately got up, and flicked his wrist, causing a small dagger to appear in his hand, as he pointed it directly at Yuga.

"You turned me into a painting? What exactly was your plan with that? What would you have told Hilda?" Ravio demanded, and Yuga glared at him.

"The point was that I needed to reactivate that bracelet, and you would have been too stubborn to give it up, so that was the only way to do so." He said simply, and Ravio rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure it was the only way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my Princess." He said, and walked out of the study, and slammed the door.

Ravio began to run back, before he saw a portal open up underneath him, and he was pulled through, and landed in front of Hilda.

"Hilda? How'd you know where I was?" He asked, and Hilda looked up into his eyes, her eyes frantic.

"Are you okay? What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost!" She asked, and Ravio looked down at her, her eyes searching his frantically.

"I-I'm fine, I'm here. Are you all right?" He asked, and she nodded, and placed her hand on his face.

"Ravio, I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't be a good ruler. I'm scared I won't be able to save Lorule." Hilda said, and Ravio looked at her sadly.

"Hilda, you're going to be a fantastic ruler, and I know you'll save Lorule, but I know that you know that stealing Hyrule's Triforce is wrong. There has to be another way, right?" He asked, and Hilda sighed.

"I-I don't know anymore. Perhaps, we can look for another way, but Yuga won't be happy. He won't be happy at all." She said, and Ravio laughed, before holding her face in his hand.

"We summoned him here to help us. I suppose he'll just have to find another way to help us, right?"

Hilda laughed with him, and she dropped her head onto his chest, as she laughed.

"Thanks for being here for me over these past few days. I know that you would have done it regardless if I had asked you or not, but I really appreciate you being here." She said, and looked back up at him, and saw that both their faces were only a few inches apart.

They both hesitated for a moment, as they felt that someone would knock at the door the last time this had happened, but no interruption occurred.

Ravio, for the first time in his life, was the one that was brave, and he pulled Hilda towards him, and kissed her on the lips.

It was strange to the both of them, and if anyone in the castle found out, they would both be shunned.

Luckily, neither of them cared, as Ravio pulled Hilda closer to him, and didn't let go again for the rest of the night.

~~~

Ravio awoke the next morning to see himself in Hilda's bed, which was nothing unusual in itself, before he noticed what he was wearing.

Though, it was more of what he wasn't wearing, as he wasn't wearing any clothes.

He looked over at Hilda, who was sound asleep, and she wasn't wearing any clothes either, though her long hair curled around her enough to hide anything the blankets already weren't.

Ravio could guess that it was early morning, around 3 AM, and that yesterday was the King's funeral which meant today was...

"The ascension!" Ravio said to himself, and he quickly got out of bed, and began putting back on his clothes, when Hilda stirred from her sleep, and looked up to see Ravio hurriedly getting dressed.

"Ravio? Is everything all right?" Hilda asked, and Ravio looked over at her, and he felt wrong. He had finally gotten to be with Hilda, why was he running off now?

"I have to go, Hilda, your ascension is today, and I don't believe it'd be be the best of ideas for me to be seen here with you before you are to take the throne." He said, and she sighed, before nodding and falling back into bed.

"You're right. Will you come back tonight?" Hilda asked, and Ravio smiled, before leaning down and kissing her on the cheek.

"Of course, Princess. Good luck." He said, before running out the door.

Ravio rushed down to the Servant's Quarters, and passed by some of the servants who were already awake and preparing for the ceremony later that day.

Ravio burst into his and his mother's shared room, and saw her up and about getting ready for the day.

"Ravio? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be upstairs with Hilda?" She asked, and Ravio looked up at his kind mother's eyes, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

"I'm worried about Hilda. She's been getting worse and worse ever since the King passed away, and she's obsessed over Hyrule and getting their Triforce." He said, and Myra sat down next to her son, and pulled him into a hug.

"Ravio, I know that you're worried about her, but until you can find some way to help her, you cannot try and convince her of anything that may sway her mind, because she will not listen." Myra said, and Ravio sighed.

"I tried talking to her yesterday, but then, I kissed her, and then other things happened, and I didn't get another chance to talk to her."

Myra froze for a moment, and then she began laughing, and smacked Ravio on the back.

"Took you two long enough! I thought I would have to endure you and her dancing around your feelings for the rest of my life!" She said, and Ravio sighed.

"It happened at the worst time, with everything that's going on within her mind. I want to save our kingdom, but I don't want to destroy another kingdom who most likely has no idea of who we are."

Myra smiled sadly, and patted her son on the head.

"Everything will work out, my son, but today, you need to support her as best you can, because she'll need her strength today, and you are her strength."

Myra then stood up from the bed, and patted her hair into place.

"Now get ready for the ascension. I have preparations to make for it, so don't do anything stupid, okay?" She said, and then walked out the door, leaving Ravio alone once again.