Zelda talked about them all the time. They were her favorites.
The kingdom of Hyrule, formed tens of thousands of years past. They say the Hylians used to live in the skies, on islands so high above the clouds they forgot the ground below them was real, only returning to the land when the hero of the time defeated Demise. Hylia's antithesis. The incarnate of hatred and malice himself.
So why the FUCK was it happening right now?
Calamity was losing his mind. This morning was supposed to start fairly simple; inspect the castle, start making plans to rebuild the kingdom, finally make good on their promise to the people to lead them into a time of prosperity.
But now Zelda fell into a hole- maybe alive, maybe not- Calamity has a piece of the triforce burning, searing on the back of his hand (is it even his hand anymore? he doesn't want to look at it.) parts of hyrule are floating, islands so high in the sky most of them can barely be seen. The air is heavy, hard to breathe, and the feeling of dread will not leave his body.
He can't stop thinking about the broken-down corpse hidden in the chasm below the castle. He can't hear anything but the manical laughter echoing across the entire kingdom. He can't stop staring at the tall scaled figure standing in the throne room, hair like flames and eyes looking to be full of liquid malice (maybe they were)
thanks to @littlerainbowsparrow for putting this idea into my head <333
"So... where are we exactly?"
The question came from Era, eyes sweeping the terrain. Everything was very bright, colorful, almost painfully so. Nowhere he had ever seen before that much was clear.
"Ah, this would be mine." Dreamer came to the front of the group. "Not sure why we would be here though..." He trailed off, pausing for a moment before shrugging his shoulders as if to shake off the thought. "Well, the castle should be just north of here, that's probably the best place to start."
"Wrong."
Dreamer turned back to face the group. "What do you mean wrong? I'm the one who lives here."
The rest of the group offered confused, if not blank faces back.
"Uh.. none of us said anything?" Venture offered.
"Well then who-?"
"I did silly." A cloaked figure jumps down from the surrounding trees, empty sheath strapped along their back.
The group tenses, some stepping back and others drawing weapons.
Dreamer perked up, walking towards the new arrival.
"What are you doing here? Why are you out of the castle? There could be something dangerous out here!"
"Something dangerous? And who exactly was it that dealt with the last "something dangerous" while someone was playing damsel in distress?"
"That is NOT my point-"
"Not to interrupt-" Loft spoke, "But, who exactly are you?"
The cloaked figure laughed. "Oh, sorry! How rude of me!" Reaching a hand up to take down their hood "I'm Zelda, but you all can call me Echo."
She focused her attention back on dreamer. "Anyway, speaking of dealing with dangerous things, can I have my sword back now?"
"Your sword? This is not your sword thank you, you only borrowed it."
"And clearly used it better than you, come on."
"Shut UP no you did not."
"Did too."
"Did NOT!"
"Did too."
"DID N-"
"Will you both shut up already?" Light groaned. "You're hurting my ears."
"Sorry." Dreamer stated, turning away from Zelda. "Anyway, guys, meet my Zelda."
"Echo." Zelda corrected.
"We are not calling you Echo." Dreamer sighs, turning back to her. "Pick something else."
"What? Why not?"
"Because we can't."
"What do you mean you can't? Aren't you all named after your adventures or something? My adventure had me following the echoes of the lost sages of wisdom. So I should get to be called Echo."
"Her adventure?" A couple confused mutters passed through the group. They went ignored.
"No, you can't be called Echo because they're already called Echo." Dreamer points to one of the Links standing in the front of the group, hair in a messy ponytail. They looked like they had just crawled out of the woods or something, Zelda thought. Maybe they had.
"Oh. Well that doesn't make sense." Zelda stated. She turned toward them. "What happened on your adventure that got you your name, huh?"
The Link just shook their head, not giving an answer.
"Oooooooookay then." Zelda turned back to Dreamer. "Well then what do you say I should be called then?"
"I don't care. Rift? Chasm? Pain in my ass?" Dreamer said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue.
"Savior of your ass?"
"Shut up."
"Okay fine." Zelda rolled her eyes and turned back to the group. "I guess we can figure that part out later. For now just call me Zelda.
Now, care to share why you're all here?"
Bonus:
"The castle is west of here you know. And I know that because I've been all over the entire kingdom, you know, when I was rescuing you?"
so they're kinda a mix of a wyvren and a tp light spirit (and a bit inspired by linked maze)
wyvren body obv with big fairy wings n they're so fluffly but i am bad at drawing fluffy n they got lil horns n big floppy ears
and they look like scars but yk how the light spirits have gold stripes (???) yeah that's what those are supposed so be.. plus the Light that they hold in their tail similar to the ones the light spirits have (that's why they're glowy and hard to see to the untrained eye cuz they BRIGHT)
they will lay on your head they are v cuddly but they WILL also chew on your hair so...
i don't actually know what to say i am just rotating them in the microwave that is my brain so take some random stuff-
Calamity can see ghosts!! This is a side effect from the whole Death Thing.. but he can only see the ones that LET HIM see them. King Rhoam? The champions? They WANTED him to see them, so he could. Fallen? Didn't even want Calamity to know he existed (dangit Sailor-) so even though he hangs around, never made himself known. There have been a few other ghosts around Hyrule that tried to talk to him, but they were few and far in between, and most contact stopped after realizing he didn't remember any of them.
Venture really doesn't like to use her fairy form all that much. Sure he can, and he will on occasion if it seems like it would be helpful, but he much prefers to be Human Sized. It makes casting, especially for big magic effects such as her healing or lightning abilities, much more accessible and powerful as well when her magic isn't being depleted on holding an alternate form.
Loft gets horrendous vertigo when on the surface. Above the clouds he's fine, but as soon as he can see the ground and realizes "oh I could fall and hit that and die" he gets a lil queasy.. especially thinking of them in relation to the platforms he had to fight Ghirahim on.
Versi has a really hard time actually Finishing swords. They'll start making new ones all the time, but the sharpening process is just So Tedious.. so there's a lot of unfinished blades just laying around.
Oracle is tone deaf. Don't ask me why I believe this but he totally is.
Light has A LOT of wolf-like tendencies even when human. (I think I made another post on this a while back but if I did I can't find it.) Habits such as herding, heightened hearing and scent, preference for meat diets, protectiveness to an almost violent degree, and love for head scratches are commonly observed. Also he sleeps as a wolf because Warm.
Echo can still tell the exact time down to the second no matter where (or when) they are. They also have an extremely close connection with nature, having grown up in the lost woods, to the point of being able to communicate with plants and other natural objects. (Not in the direct conversation way.. but in the way of being able to know if something bad happened recently.. what else is in the area.. how things are growing..) Combine these two perceptions together and you get a kid who is Violently Aware of how the world is growing and changing around them. They are highly sensitized to change, and normally one of the first (if not The first) to be aware of an oncoming attack, especially in a densely wooded area. They are also very quick to distinguish between whose time period they are in.. as each one measures time at slightly different rates.
A beacon that could likely be seen from across Hyrule, the streets of castle town bright as day despite the sun having set hours ago.
Why was the temple of time glowing?
Link stood in front of the doors, hand resting on the hilt of the sword strapped to their back.
Ganon was long dead, trapped in a timeline that didn't even exist. Majora had been sealed away, reduced to nothing but a soul inside a mask.
So why was the temple of time glowing?
They placed their opposite hand on the door, prepared to enter.
The doors flung open before they could move, sword unsheathed from their back in the blink of an eye.
The temple of time was no longer glowing.
No monster emerged from the shadows, only the silhouette of a man. A dark sorcerer perhaps, a mercenary.
"Who are you?" They wanted to call. "Why are you here?"
The figure stepped forward, hands held open in front of him, green tunic- much like Link's own- tattered and carried by the breeze, braided hair matted, stains that appeared to be blood smeared across his face and hands.
"Please." The figure whispered. "My name is Link. Can- can you tell me where I am?"
The sun was setting over the horizon, the sky painted with strokes of gold and pink and blue, light reflecting off of the scales of the zora atop divine beast Vah Ruta, and the armor of the knight sitting next to her.
"Mipha? Can I ask a stupid question?"
The zora princess turned to her companion, a soft smile on her face.
"Of course Link, you know you can ask me anything."
The knight let out a sigh. "Okay, well, I've been doing some thinking, about what will happen when this is all over, and honestly, I'm sick of being a footsoldier, it's awful there. The food stinks, the soldiers stink even more, the beds are so uncomfortable I think I'll have sore joints for another fifty years-" He cut himself off with a laugh. "It's awful, horrible, terrible, and I get that we're on a quest to save the world and everything but that doesn't mean I don't hate it, and I know that you've been worried about being trapped under your father's thumb- wait does your father even have thumbs?"
It was Mipha's turn to laugh.
"I really don't get where you're going with this."
Link's face morphed into a mocking gape, lifting his hand to his chest.
"You dare question me? Unbelievable." He stifled a smile as the Zora let out another soft laugh. "Hey, no, don't laugh, this is very serious."
"Right, do get on with it then."
"Thank you, so, what I was getting at was uh..." He trailed off, taking a breath. "What if we got married?"
The question came from Sailor, settling himself up against the log Calamity was sitting on.
The other hero paused, looking away from where he had been stirring the stew he was making for dinner, giving a slight tilt of his head.
“Not that I know of. I think I used to have a sister but…”
He cut himself off with a vague hand gesture.
“Right.” Sailor muttered. “The memory loss.”
Calamity nodded. It was something he had long since accepted about himself.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Oh…uh…” Sailor flushed. “I just wanted to know who he was.”
Calamity’s brows furrowed, confusion clear across his features.
“Who?”
Sailor flushed even further, turning his head away so he wouldn’t have to meet the other’s questioning gaze.
“It’s nothing. Forget I asked.”
“It’s clearly something or you wouldn’t have asked.” He placed his hand on Sailor's shoulder, encouraging the younger to look back at him. “Come on, you know you can ask me anything. Even if I don’t remember.”
Sailor let out a small huff. “Yeah I know, it’s just…” He took a breath, steeling himself before meeting Calamity’s gaze again. “Okay, so, all of our journeys kinda messed us up a little bit, yeah?”
Calamity nodded, slight concern visible in in his face.
“Well… Somewhere along the line, I don’t know when, or how, or why, but at some point during mine, I uh…”
He cut himself off. How was he supposed to say this and not sound crazy?
“It’s alright Sailor, I don’t want to push you, I just want to hear what’s on your mind..”
He took one more deep breath, steeling himself. ‘This is Calamity.’ He reminded himself. ‘One of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, well not that that’s an achievement, but I can trust him.’
“I can see ghosts. And there’s one that always hangs around you, and he looks a lot like you just, younger? By a couple years I think, and without the scars. So I just figured he might be your brother, or something, yeah.”
Sailor dopped his gaze, hands fiddling in his lap.
The silence was suffocating, Calamity not responding and Sailor too scared to even try.
There was a light tap on his shoulder. He looked back to see Calamity, opening and closing his mouth, trying to speak but unable to. He huffed after a couple moments, lifting his hands to sign.
‘Is he here? Right now?’
Sailor let his eyes drift to a place just next to his fellow hero, the green flickers of spirit flames swirling aroundthe ghostly figure, who’s eyes were piercing into Sailor’s own.
“Yeah… he’s here.”
Calamity slumped again, expression going blank and sad.
‘Tell him I’m sorry.’
“What?”
‘Tell him I’m sorry. That I took so long, that I wasn’t able to fix things, that I took everything from him, that he wasn’t able to come back and that I did.’
“What are you talking about?”
Calamity’s eyes peered into Sailor’s with the same insistency that the spirit’s had.
‘Make sure he knows that I’m sorry. And that I know I’m a fraud, and I took his place and couldn’t live up to his name.’
Sailor looked back over to the spirit, who’s face had split into a soft smile, hints of laughter shaking his shoulders. They made eye contact, the spirit rolling his eyes before lifting his hands to sign.
‘Tell him that he’s an idiot. He has nothing to apologize for, and that he turned out to be a greater hero than I ever would have been even if I had been brought back. He was there when I couldn’t be, and he did a damn good job.’
Sailor repeated the words back to Calamity as they were signed at him, only looking back at his companion when the spirit dropped his hands.
He was expecting quiet resignation from the older hero. Acceptance of the message even if he didn’t believe it himself.
What he wasn’t expecting was to see his eyes welling up, tears already running down his cheeks and dripping down onto his lap.
“Are- are you okay?”
Calamity let out a sigh, hastily wiping the tears from his face.
His voice came out in a soft croak.
“I will be.”
Sailor hummed.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He could see the hesitancy clear on the other heroes face, sitting in silence and providing him time to answer.
“One day, one day I’ll tell you all everything. But…”
“But not yet.”
Sailor gave him a smile.
“That’s okay! Just know we’re all here for you whenever you are ready, and if you never are, that’s okay too.”
Calamity simply hummed, giving a small smile before turning back to stare at the abandoned cook pot.
Sailor rose to his feet, deciding it best to leave the other hero alone for a while. He made it no more than two steps before he heard Calamity softly call out to him.
“Sailor?”
He looked back over his shoulder.
“Thank you. For telling me.”
Sailor nodded, turning away to join the rest of the group. Maybe one day he would ask about the other four spirits that hung around him, but that was a conversation for a different time.
Something about Calamity didn’t quite click, and this was just another piece of the puzzle.
Could I have some fun facts about the links from your AU? :DDD
No pressure!
YES OFC YOU CAN OKAY SO- (there is no trend to these btw some of them are lore some of them are designs some of them are things that i have no basis for but are true to me anyway-)
Loft (sksw): Boy has so many allergies- going down to the surface did not mesh well with his immune system-
Versi (fs): She has an undercut. Yes it is messy. Yes he cut it himself. No it was not because they accidentally burned a little bit too much of it off while trying to singe the ends just for the aesthetic shut up
Cori (mc): He is so paranoid around cats now... even when he is normal sized
Echo (oot/mm): THIS KID CANNOT READ. THEY HAVE NEVER GOTTEN A HAIRCUT. THEY CANNOT SPEAK HYLIAN. THEY MADE UP THEIR VERSION OF SIGN THEMSELVES (before malon taught them the proper way) THEY WERE RAISED BY A TREE OKAY. A TREE. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THIS KID WAS THAT PUT TOGETHER AFTER LEAVING THE FOREST AND THE SOCIETY THAT SURROUNDED AROUND NOT LEAVING THE FOREST. I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS OKAY- anyway-
Sailor (ww/ph): Contrary to popular belief this boy DOES NOT swear. He would never. Gramma raised him better than that. Aryll on the other hand...
Light (tp): He sleeps as a wolf. Yeah. More convenient. Also he doesn't have a bed in his house. So. There's that.
Oracle (oos/ooa): hi welcome to another episode of i have nothing to say about oracle because i still haven't finished the mangas or bothered to actually read up on the lore SO they still have barely any development except for the fact that he exists and i love her.
Dreamer (alttp/la): Literally such an amazing sailor that he gives even *Sailor* a run for his money... also definitely knows some magic but will deny it up until... well... forever (won't stop him from doing it directly in literally everyone's faces though)
Portal (tfh/albw): they and rav are NOT KISSING ON THE DL WHAT (and it's totally not because they made one joke about "i'm surprised you didn't charge me for this" and now they have to pay rav 5 rupees per kiss and they're only kinda sorta too broke to afford it right now-)
Venture (loz/aol): I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS BUT HIS EARS FLUTTER OKAY I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND THIS HER EARS FLUTTER WHENEVER SHE'S FEELING REALLY EXTREME EMOTIONS-
Era (hw): i love him so much. he is so stupid. this man never has a coherent thought ever. everyone thinks he's wildly smart but that's just because proxi translates everything. man is so scatterbrained all the time (no its not because of a lack of processing his trauma causing him to lose ability to process even the good or the mundane what are you talking about shush)
Calamity (botw/totk*): THIS TWINK DOES NOT HAVE A DRIVERS LICENSE all jokes aside though he is such a clutz... he tries to seem so cool and he is genuinely so funny and so sweet but believe it or not trying to repeatedly climb up wet stone does not tend to end well... he cannot make it three steps into zora domain without faceplanting... he has tripped over (and into) cracks in bridges too many times... the only time he doesn't fall over is when he's fighting but he will trip over himself trying to collect the spoils...
Fallen (pre-botw): Literally such a goof. his entire personality is Commit To The Bit. he stole from the royal vault for his proposal. he ate rock roast just cuz. this kid acts so silent and obedient but he is FIFTEEN he cannot be left unsupervised (the castle staff still isn't sure where the sudden infestation of hightail lizards came from...)
*I am saying totk so loosely I am bs-ing that entire adventure based off of my dumb theories i am writing the fic before may i promise-
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