He wouldn’t say the world was young... but he felt like he was old in comparison.
Termina had changed him, and he had grown. Termina had let him grow from a child to an adult, but the Goddess of Time, who governed over him, had told him to go. That there was a world out there who needed him. Link had stood on the ridge, staring out at the world and knowing - perhaps feeling - that he had changed. Hyrule was completely alien to him now.
His powers were great, but he felt a sickening revulsion as he stared at the twisted horrors that was the castle. He should have gone there, but this was not where he had to be. Not now. There were other things he needed to do.
He walked down the road, feeling worn and weary already. The stable he had seen from a ways out, and the idea of taking a moment to speak and see how the world changed sounded good.
Not that the Deity was giving her a choice. The towering man effortlessly reached out and scooped her up, making sure to keep the staff out of hitting distance. “If you collapse, you can’t help anyone.”
The excited fairy child signed over and over, bounding over towards her. He was running errands for Ike, and it was hard to get someone’s attention when you were mute.
He should have been there, he should have been there--!
Ike hadn’t seen it happen, but he’d heard it. Ballistas were dangerous for all of them, but for someone like Mist, who was small and had the lightest armor on at the best of times, they were incredibly worrisome.
It seemed to have missed damaging anything...vital, but...
“You’re fine, Mist, you -- you did exactly as we planned. You did...nothing to cause this,” Ike spoke rapidly, kneeling by his sister’s side as soon as he reached her. “You will be fine. Rhys can fix you up, you’ll be up and about faster than any of us can blink, I’ll bet,” he continued, trying to support her without moving her too much.
They had made it so far, reaching the apex of the Tower of Guidance. They’d fought their way through waves of golden soldiers, Begnion’s traitorous senators, Goldoan dragons – creatures Ike didn’t even have a name for, clusters of energy that felt like a condensed form of magic itself. Even facing off against the Black Knight, Zelgius, as well as the man they had known as Sephiran – who had orchestrated so much of this, in the end.
The group of chosen warriors – made up of Crimeans, those of Begnion, Daien, and the Laguz nations – stood outside of the massive, stone doors leading to Ashera’s chamber. Tellius stood strong with them, for once banded together for a common cause, not divided.
It was all or nothing now. The people of the world would be doomed to a state of stone-encased death if they did not prevail here.
Yune wasn’t strong enough to bring them back from the beyond, as Ashera did so freely with her own army. but she had the power to make their weapons powerful enough to actually harm the Goddess of Order. The group selected their best weapons, the Laguz among them shifting into their battle forms so that they could receive the blessing.
It was silent, the ornate doors swinging open without any hint of sound; no scrape of stone, no creak of weight.
Ashera was utterly otherworldly in appearance; stoic, tranquil, but with an underlying tone of danger that kept them all on edge. She seemed a stark contrast to Yune, who sounded so very human in her speech and mannerisms.
The battle was brutal.
Ashera could summon those strange, elemental spirits at will; the unthinking beings winking in and out of existence around them, striking with the power of fire, thunder and wind. There was no real defense against them, especially when their group was spread out. Ike would have preferred to strike forward in a close group, but there was danger in clumping together – every other minute or so, Ashera would bring down some sort of strike that effected the entire field of battle – save for a handful of safe spots. Magical damage, paralysis, their healers and magic users being struck mute; all designed to leave them utterly vulnerable.
When they finally got close enough to actually attack the Goddess head on, they ran into a barrier that surrounded her. Tibarn had struck the first blow, able to get there faster and expertly dodging around magical attacks through the air, but it was like he had hit an invisible wall. The air seemed to crack where he had hit, the barrier flashing into their view for a moment as it glowed – and then retaliated.
The Hawk King was pushed back with the same amount of force he had attacked with, blood and feathers smearing across the polished floors as he fell from the air. Elincia and Mist were quick to come to his aid, several others fending off the spirits that swirled to take advantage.
It became clear that they would suffer extreme injuries simply attacking Ashera, but they had no other choice. Those protective shields of magic needed to be beat down, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to even scratch the Deity.
They all pushed ahead, doing what they could to minimize their casualties. The barriers cracked, and gave way – Ashera finally open to a direct strike. Just a few more hits, just a little more time, and this would all be over. Sanaki launched powerful spells, enveloping the Goddess in a searing vortex of flames, followed up with savage blows from the mighty ax of Nolan – one of the Dawn Brigade, a man that Ike had hardly had any time to even speak to before all this, but he trusted the words that Sothe had imparted to him when they chose who would go into the Tower.
The Goddess faltered, almost…taken by surprise – but then, she rallied, her neutral mask not shifting a bit as her torn body mended back together.
There was a palpable drop in their collective hope; bleeding and broken, it would only be a matter of time before they started to stumble and fall to the onslaught.
Desperation. It was starting to take hold of them all.
“Yune…We can’t hold out much longer,” Ike huffed out, exhaustion clear in his voice. “There has to be a way to end this…”
The Goddess of Chaos, using Micaiah as a vessel so that she could speak to everyone, nodded at the Commander, and told him to ready himself. Armed with Ragnell, one of the two holy blades, Ike would be the only one who could strike Ashera down for good. As he was now, though, he couldn’t do it – Yune would have to give him all the power she could muster up.
Ike did as he was told, gripping Ragnell’s pommel tightly as he braced himself for the transfer of power. He had no real idea what to prepare himself for, but when the torrent of blue fire left Micaiah’s body and entered into his own, it was a rush of memories, emotions, and a cold burn through his veins. The vague thought passed through his head, wondering if this chaotic writhing beneath his skin was what it had felt like to his father when he touched the Medallion.
Now a match for the embodiment of Order, Ike charged forward at Ashera, delivering the final killing blow. She made no noise, though her mouth gaped open, eyes wide and clear as she fell back. There was no blood, she didn’t even hit the ground – just a brief, bright burst of sparkling blue.
Order had fallen, Chaos had prevailed.
There was a collective breath of relief, everyone lowering their weapons and easing out of the life-and-death state they’d been stuck in since entering the Tower. Even as high as they were, they could hear the cheer of their comrades outside, rising up into the air as Ashera’s army collapsed.
It was infectious, relief and happiness spreading through the group of heroes.
And then, Ike turned back to them, blue flames still enveloping his body and eyes burning with an unnatural light. One sweeping movement of Ragnell, and his comrades were nearly wiped out by the strike of ethereal energy that cut through them.
They struggled to defend themselves, wounded and worn from the previous fights as they had been. Arrows pierced him, claws and teeth ripped at his flesh, but he didn’t falter for lack of feeling any of the damage being done to his body. The only thing that stopped Ike was a blinding flash of Light magic from an injured Micaiah, robbing him of his vision as Elincia and Mist rushed forward to try and incapacitate him. But he still struck out, blinded and enraged; as he whirled around to strike a blow at the Queen’s pegasus, Mist urged her mount forward.
Her blade sank into his chest with a sort of ease that felt odd, even with the momentum behind it. He stood for a moment, Ragnell raised high, before the holy blade slipped from deadening fingers and Ike fell back with a thud that echoed around the stone room. The blue flames on his body slowly burnt themselves out, fading to nothingness as the contrast of red blood started to ooze from the fatal wound he’d been dealt.
It was over, and Tellius had no more need of Gods.
SEND A URL AND I WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING; @a-healing-breeze
Do I Follow Them?: heck ye!!
Why Did I Follow Them?: man i forget the specifics, but i think i saw you?? interactin’ with?? one of trikey’s blogs? then i followed, bc Tellius Friends!!! or you followed first?? LMAO it’s been awhile!
Do We Role Play?: kinda yeah!
Do I Want To Role Play With Them: of course I do!!!!
An AU Idea For Our Muses: botw, obviously!!! but feel free to hmu for any other ideas hahaha.
A Song For Our Muses: pop drop candy !!! by giga p !! haha. v cutesy song, i feel like it’d fit em tbh
Do I Ship Our Muses?: nothing yet, because we haven’t done much! but i get the feel they’d be v good friends? ye.
What I Think About The Mun: Scoots is v sweet, also v fun to talk to and I’m v glad you gave me the link to that Discord chat ??? I was really happy to chat w y’all !!! you’re v sweet like mist, and i hope to have more fun with you in the future too!!!! <3
Overall Opinion: a cute mist, who i am excited to nteract with and scoots is v fun too!!! A++ cleric of the group.
