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Ch. 17 - Those Chained to Calamity

WARNING: MENTIONS OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE AND DEATHS

“Did you cut your hair yourself?” Wild’s fingers hovered by the jagged edges of Aoife’s hair. The young princess avoided looking at him, keeping her eyes on her hands. They both sat on the steps of a riverside stable Fissure and the others had brought Aoife and her boys to after they were finally able to move on their own.

“Yes. Took scissors to it.” Aoife’s voice was barely above a whisper. Wild rested his arm on his knee, shooting a glance at Fissure and Sil, who both shrugged.

“How old are you, Aoife?”

“Old enough to know telling strangers my age isn’t smart.”

Sean snorts, earning a smack in the arm from Lucas. Wild sighs, shaking his head.

“Your Zelda might have been easy to crack, Wild, but this one won’t be the same type of challenge.” Saoirse chuckles from beside the cooking pot.

The stable they were currently staying at was one Aoife recognized, though it looked a lot newer than it did in her Era. Young children ran around, playing sword fights with sticks they had found on the ground. A river ran behind it, small outcroppings with fences holding livestock. A man in a cropped white shirt and blue shorts sat on the ground outside, a massive backpack situated on his back. He waved happily to every passerby, once in a while someone would come up to him and take a look at his wares. He reminded Aoife of the young boy that ran around her Castle Town, waving down whoever he could, just to tell them about a beetle he found. He even had the same hair and ruddy-colored nose.

“So why are we just sitting here? Don’t you have the Slate?” Sean asks from the floor next to one of the beds. Lucas was lying in said bed, half of his body hanging upside-down off of the edge.

“Oh...no. We only have two of them currently. One is the one Wild used, and then one we managed to make, though it doesn’t work at its full capacity just yet.” Sil hopped up on the counter of the stable, the worker sitting behind it simply chuckling at her actions.

“Huh...Well by our time I guess you made a lot of them. All of the noble or researcher families have one for their household.”

“Are you nobility?”

Sean shakes his head. “Researcher. Plus I’m from Kakariko, so most of the families there have them anyways. My mom’s an assistant of the Hateno Director.”

“And who would that be in your time?”

“I don’t know his name. We all just call him Director, honestly. I think my mom knew his name, but she never called him by it, and I’ve never heard anyone call him by anything so…” Sean shrugs, fiddling with a bracelet on his wrist. Sil hums.

“Our Hateno Director is a woman named Purah. She’s the one who made the second Sheikah Slate.”

“I’ve heard of her. Didn’t she use a rune that turned her into a child?”

Sil and Wild snort in tandem, Wild failing to hold back his laugh. “Yes, she did. That was only a few years ago, so she’s still rather small. But back to your earlier question. The Slate we have with us, its teleportation abilities are a bit….inaccurate. We couldn’t risk using it earlier while you all were injured, and we found it would just be safer to wait for escorts from the castle. We still get the occasional Yiga or monster popping up here and there, and I’d rather avoid that as much as possible.”

“Fair enough.” Sean sighs, leaning his head against the edge of the bed, Lucas’s head moving to press against his.

“Lucas,” Wild starts, “You’re Riju’s great-great….great-grandson? Right?”

“Yeah. I have four little sisters and one elder sister, too. My mom’s the current Gerudo Champion. Our great-grandmother was the one before her. My mom’s grandmother.”

“Oh, so she’s fifth generation. That’s crazy. Who are your other Champions? I’m assuming you’re the current Knight, since you came here with the Master Sword.” Wild gestures to the sword laying across Lucas’s chest.

“Uuuhhhh. So we got my mom, Jameela. Then we have Prince Rani, our Zora Champion. Chief Manivo, the Goron Champion. And then Miss Quinn, she’s our Rito Champion. A lot of people are really scared of my mom, cause they think she’s super intimidating, but she’s honestly the weirdest in our family and just wants to eat voltfruit and scream from the top of Vah Naboris.” This earns a laugh from the group, Aoife attempting to hide hers.

“Manivo is a big uncle type. He looks so scary until he starts talking, and he’s so head over heels for this one stable worker at the foot of Death Mountain, that he’ll forget how to talk and just end up burping really loud. Rani always makes fun of him for it. Then of course, Rani’s a psycho. He’s the elder son of the current Zora Queen, who’s actually Sidon’s granddaughter, by the way. The whole Zora Royal Family is made up of absolute dorks. Quinn’s a shy little thing, but damn can she shoot a bow. Pretty sure Rani’s got a thing for her, too.” Lucas laughs, sharing a knowing look with Sean. They both nod, busting out in raucous laughter. Aoife chuckles from her spot, shaking her head.

“Quinn has a thing for Zora in general, I’m sure she’s got a thing for Rani, too.” Aoife snorts, leaning back to lay on the floorboards of the stable. “So when’s this escort gonna be here?”

“Should be any minute now, but I should warn you. She’s a bit...uh...intimidating at first. But I promise, she’s a little softie.” Sil snickers, hopping off of the counter. The worker sitting behind the counter grimaces, and proceeds to sit down on the floorboards, hiding. “Oh, right. Sorry, Ember, I forgot you aren’t exactly a fan of...wolves.”

“Wolves?” Aoife raises an eyebrow, but before she can do anything, a mass of bright orange furs completely blocks her view.

Massive paws plant themselves on either side of Aoife’s body, claws digging into the floorboards. Ember ducks under the counter, but the rest of the stableworkers seem unfazed. Bright, glowing blue eyes peer down at Aoife over a muzzle filled with oddly blunt teeth for a wolf of this size. Speaking of size, this wolf took up most of the doorway, and with the bend of its legs, it was clear it was easily taller than the doorway as well.

The wolf stepped back, letting Aoife sit up, and soon stood to its full height. It was massive, red-orange fur seeming to match the fire that burned beneath the cooking pot Saoirse sat by. It was bigger than any creature Aoife had seen, and even rivaled most of the animal-like machines she had seen researchers in the castle work on. The wolf sat on its haunches, patiently waiting, its tail slowly wagging back and forth on the ground.

“Everyone. This is-” Sil starts, but is cut off by Aoife.

“Fera.” Sil stares at Aoife in surprise, and soon that gaze is turned on Sean and Lucas as well, who sprint from their spots to approach the wolf. It bends slightly, nuzzling its nose against Lucas’s cheek, and huffs at Sean.

“Wait...you know her?”

“She’s around in our Era, too. I used to play with her as a child, when McCormick would take me to Korok Forest.” Aoife slowly approached Fera, gently pressing a hand against the wolf’s forehead. “I hadn’t seen her in a while...And it seems she recognizes us, even though we won’t technically meet for another few hundred years. But I guess time never really works the same for goddesses.”

The wolf huffs, her tail wagging faster. Wild takes a step forward, placing a hand against Fera’s ear, giving her a scratch. “Wait, Aoife...Who’s McCormick?”

“Sean’s brother...the last Knight before Lucas.” Her voice is rough and strained, and it sounds as though she’s trying to hold back from crying. She sniffs, clearing her throat. “Fera never really left the Forest by then, but somehow she always managed to be there when it counted.”

Wild stared at Aoife in shock, but said nothing.

Something doesn’t feel right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Huh...so this is what the castle looked like after the Calamity...You’ve only been rebuilding...3 years now?” Aoife stared up at the large metal crest of Hyrule that towered above the room. The sanctum had fresh wooden floorboards, jagged spots with stone and holes that led down below it along the walls. “This is where he was kept, right? Calamity Ganon?” Fera had run off as soon as she dropped the group off, her massive fiery form streaking across the plains of Hyrule.

“Yes...When he was released, it broke the floor here...That’s why there are these spots along the edges where the boards don’t really fit.” Sil led the group through a doorway in the back of the room, leading down a long hallway.

“What did he look like?” Lucas was staring up at the pictures along the walls when he asked the question, shifting the Master Sword’s sheath on his back as he walked.

“Gross.” Wild answers. “Really gross. It was a mass of nothing but Malice, with old Sheikah tech absorbed into him. Like a giant spider with blue weapons sticking out of him in every direction, it was just...gross.”

“Huh...sounds... Gross.” Lucas chuckles.

“Did you ever see his mortal form?” Aoife’s voice had a haunting tone to it, as she stared up at a large painting on the wall. It was incredibly faded from age, but the image of a blonde woman with blue eyes that felt like her own peering down back at her. “Do you know what he was like as a man instead of a beast?”

The group stops. Sean and Lucas keep their eyes averted from Aoife, while Sil, Fissure and Wild stare at her in complete shock. Saoirse sighs.

“Yes. I knew a mortal form of his a very long time ago. I am forever Bound to the Princesses and Princes of Hyrule, so I have met a few incarnations of Ganon. He was a father, you know. A person. A chief. He was a good man, once. But like any person Bound to Malice...he lost his way, whether he wished to or not. And now I believe he wishes to find his way back home.”

“I doubt that.” Aoife’s voice drips with spite and anger.

“Why do you say that, Aoife?”

Aoife doesn’t respond, and simply continues to stare at the painting, blinking back tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Unfortunately, we do not have the barracks and such rebuilt just yet, so we’ve set up beds here in the library. Our friends in Rito Village have graced us with Rito-down beds, though, so they are very comfortable.” Sil sets down her bag onto one of the beds. Lucas and Sean almost immediately faceplant into their own, curling up into the blankets.

The library had various parts of it still broken down and collapsed, but for the most part it was rebuilt pretty well. The collapsed staircases had been boarded off, ladders allowing passage a different way. Holes that once marred the ceiling were now covered by thick grey tarps, keeping any weather from coming in.

Aoife sat down on one of the cots that had been set up, and began to search through her bag absent-mindedly. Lost her in thoughts, she didn’t notice Fissure coming up and sitting beside her on the edge of the bed.

“It’s been a while, Aoife.” His voice was softer than usual, but the careful tone just made the young princess angrier.

“Yes. It has. What do you want?” She stops rummaging through the bag, but doesn’t take her hands out of it, and keeps her head down, eyes locked on a small bit of blue peeking out of it.

“I want to know if you’re alright. You’re not usually this quiet when you aren’t around your mother.”

“And what would you know, Fissure. Dumb nickname, by the way. Do these people even know your real one? I fucking doubt it.”

“What is going on with you?”

“What’s going on with me?!” Aoife pulls her hands out of the bag, tugging a bright blue cloth out of it. “What’s going on with me, is that I’ve been yanked through Eras for the past month, not knowing when or if I will ever get home. I have had to watch as some kid I’m traveling with pukes up fucking tar out of his mouth and passes out. I was almost killed by a fucking Lizalfos when a wolf the size of a fucking horse rips its head off and then turns into a man. I’ve had to sit here, with the scarf of my dead knight in my bag because I had planned to run off and hang myself with it, but instead I’m here. Running around with a bunch of freaks with this damn thing still here, reminding me of what I was going to fucking do.” She stands, holding the blue scarf in her shaking hands.

“I was the one that found them, Fissure. I was the one that found Sean and Link on the ground that day. All because Link didn’t know how to control his temper and got himself killed and Sean badly injured. And now I have to sit, knowing that the reason he even got upset was because of me, so all I feel is guilty that I couldn’t have stopped it from happening. That I couldn’t stop that burden going onto Lucas.”

“Aoife, that is not your fault, you know that…” Sean starts, but flinches back at the sight of her glare.

“No, it is my fault. Because that’s always how it goes. The people I care about get hurt. Malice always follows me. Conflict, hatred, arguments. They are always here.” Tears start flowing down Aoife’s cheeks, the scarf getting balled up in her fists. “People always worried so much about Lucas being the next incarnation of the Calamity. It made me so angry. I got in so many fights with the children in Castle Town when I’d hear them whisper their little omens.”

“Aoife…” Lucas stood, quickly stepping to Aoife’s side, placing a hand on her wrist.

“But they never realized I was the real Calamity. I’m the next to be Bound to Malice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE IS THE NEXT MALICE-BOUND?!” Mali screamed, earning an annoyed sigh from Vanity.

“I mean. She’s the next Malice-Bound. We were wrong about Lucasari. Just because Mise is Lucas’s Dark, and he’s the next Prince here. We thought Lucas would be the next Ganondorf. But we were wrong. It’s Aoife.”

“She just has Power. There have been plenty of princesses with Power before, how could she be the next Ganon?!”

“She just is, Mali. Now can you calm the fuck down so I can get back to work? You have Pitches to chase any minute now.”

“Ghirahim will be taking care of that.” Mali jumped on top of the table Vanity was seated by, crossing his legs.

“Yes, because we can rely on Ghirahim, who is injured, to catch a newborn Pitch. Yes, very smart fucking idea, Maligna.” Vanity scoffs, fiddling with a piece of glowing red technology. The piece was cylindrical, glowing red runes covering it. It had gone silent as he did so, which opted him to send a glance towards Mali.

The Prince was staring at his hands in his lap, slouched over. His hair draped onto his face, glowing red only visible through the cracks in the pitch black strands.

“What in Fayra’s name is wrong with you right now, Mali?” Vanity sets the wrench and piece of tech down on the table, and leans back in his chair.

“I found him, Luculen.” Mali’s voice is strained, barely above a whisper.

“Who?”

“You know who.”

“Well, then where’d you find him?”

“The Keepsake. To the south.”

“The one that was destroyed by Daija over 10,000 years ago?”

“Yes. There’s a small group of people that had taken up residence there. He was with them. He had only been passing through. The villagers didn’t want anything to do with him, they knew he was a Pitch.”

“Do you let them live?”

“I did.”

“Surprising from you. Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. I just saw him for a moment. Then he disappeared. He always was good at hiding where I couldn’t find him. He didn’t tell the villagers where he was going. Just requested a place to sleep and food. They gave it to him, and he left before any of them had woken up.”

“What’s your plan then?” Vanity rolled the chair over closer to Mali, pulling Mali’s hands into his own. “You should really quit scratching at your hands.”

“Can’t help it. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t think he wants to be found anyways. At this point, I should probably give up.” Something catches Vanity’s eyes while Mali is speaking.

A single strand of hair hanging by Mali’s ear.

Shining purple in the light of the lab’s monitors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you know what you are?”

“A Dark.”

“Yes. The Shadow of a being Bound to a Goddess. Do you know whose Dark you are?”

“Link’s.”

“Yes. But which one?”

“The wolf’s.”

“Which one, child?”

“The chained one.”

“Correct. Do you know your name?”

“No.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What are the little one’s abilities?”

“Unknown.”

“Hm...And you found him outside the Fortress?”

“Yes.”

“Those Fayrins are not gonna be happy.”

“Well, they won’t find out. They wouldn’t expect anyone to try and kidnap an infant Pitch, so they’ll likely assume he was eaten by one of the Ferals.”

“Yes, but they can still sense their own if they get close enough. You better hope they never manage to come near him.”

“Fayrins have no reason to come into the Keepsakes. They won’t find him.”

“How can you even tell if it’s a him?”

“Male Fayrins are much smaller than female Fayrins. Though the males have a lot less power and are much less useful as soldiers. Female Fayrins are more closely connected to the Black Goddess, but are much rarer, and stronger, but also lack control and go berserk much easier. The intersex Fayrins are the perfect in-between. Good amount of power, good control. Most Fayrins are intersex. None of them exactly conform to human concepts of biological sex, because they can all look completely different or exactly the same across their sexes. You can only tell by how they handle their abilities or by physical stature. Eyes can sometimes be a good indicator as well. Females have much bigger eyes, since they’re the hunters. Males have dimmer color, and intersex often have discernible irises and movement.”

“How do you know so much about these beasts?”

“You learn things when you can’t do anythin else but sit in a house full of science books and old legends.”

“Fair enough. What should we do with ‘im?”

“No idea. He’s not very powerful, so hopefully he won’t destroy anythin. We can’t risk treatin him badly though, cause who knows? He could still kill us with just those claws.” The man kneeled beside the young Dark, extending a hand. “Hi, kiddo. Do you have a name?”

The little one stared up at the man, glowing red eyes boring into his soul. The man shivers, but tries again. “My name is Devan. This nice man next to me is Lima.” He presses his hand against his chest. “Devan.” He points to the woman beside him. “Lima.” He then points his finger at the Dark, tilting his head.

The young Pitch shakes his head, still staring at the duo silently.

“Do you not have one, dear?” Lima’s curly brown seemed to float around her head like a cloud, and it definitely caught the child’s attention. He slowly moves to his knees, crawling towards her. She kneels down to his height, a hesitant expression on her face. He raises a velvety claw to swipe gently at a curl, and she smiles at him. “Do you like my hair, dear? Lots of people in our towns have this hair. Maybe we can try and curl yours?”

He stares at her a bit longer, and slowly, his hair rises into the air, small wisps of shadows surrounding his head. It changes, gaining the same coarse curls Lima’s held, as well as color. His skin shifts as well, taking on the same dark brown tone she and Devan both had. His eyes mimicked the honey color Lima’s had, the sclera turning white. The only thing that didn’t change were his nails, still long and a deep black-blue color.

Lima looked to Devan, sharing an amazed look. “The thing can fuckin’ shape-shift. Those claws will need to be covered, but at least this will help avoid suspicion.”

The child giggled, shaking his head to make the curls bounce wildly. Devan hummed, placing a hand on Lima’s shoulder.

“Just try not to get too attached to ‘im, Lim. Fayrins are very dangerous. And he could cause real trouble if we aren’t careful.” Devan looked at the child, sighing. “Try not to kill us all, yeah?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grey hands were yanked up, the still-warm cookie being gently pulled from clawed fingertips.

“Now, Faeles. You know you aren’t supposed to do that! They aren’t done cooling off, you’ll burn your mouth.”

“But Mum!”

“No, Faeles. Go sit with your sister and keep her entertained while I finish up here.” The young Dark groaned, but complied, and trotted off to sit next to the toddler with a head of thick brown curls. She stared up at him with honey eyes that looked just like her mother’s, and smiled at him with the three teeth she had. Faeles smiled back, reaching out a hand to the little girl. She grabbed one of his fingers, shaking it up and down, babbling excitedly. A low rumble sounded outside, as footsteps signalled their father’s descent from upstairs.

“Devan, please go make sure the door is bolted completely. I don’t want those things trying to come in here like they own the fuckin’ place again.”

As the evening passed, the rumbling outside the house settled down. For a moment, everything was quiet. The false light in the sky that acted as the Dark World’s sun slowly dimmed, turning the sky a rich blue and purple color, black and orange beginning to creep along the edges of the world. A humming buzzed through the little house, Faeles singing as he leans over the crib of the young girl, sleeping.

Then it burned.

Light poured out of the house, the ground shaking violently. Faeles’ body shook, his nails digging into the edges of the crib, ripping the fabric with his sharp nails. Thunder rumbled outside, lightning striking the ground. Screams sounded, peeling through the once dead silent village, banging and crashing echoing hollowly in Faeles’ ears.

The young girl started crying, until her mother’s hands wrapped around her, pulling her up. Lima’s voice barely registered to Faeles, her warm hand pressing against his freezing cold cheek. Glowing red eyes stared up at her, iridescent blue tears streaming down his face…

And finally it stopped.

Faeles was curled over Lima’s body, holding his little sister in his arms. Pained sobs ripped through his chest, one hand threaded through the girl’s curly hair, the other balled into Lima’s shirt.

“I’m sorry, Ze’ev. I’m so sorry.” Faeles whispered to her, letting go of Lima’s shirt to brush the little hairs from Ze’ev’s face. He cradled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead. As the light overtook him again, his skin losing the grey tone and changing to match hers’, honey eyes looked over the carnage he had unwillingly caused. The cry of a mother who had lost her child rang in Faeles’s ears, matching his own. A pale pink ribbon was tied around his wrist, having been pulled from Ze’ev’s dress, frayed at the edges.

I’m sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s the only thing that could wake up my brother, Maligna!” Annie’s hands flexed, her claws primed for a fight. “We have to find him!”

“And I told you we would, Annie! But it’s not exactly easy finding a Dark that doesn’t wish to be found. I made you a promise, and despite how I can be, I make good on my promises.” Mali snarled back at her, eyes glancing at the large metal tank that stood in the middle of the messy room. Annie would spend most of her time here, hidden away in a far wing of the Fayrin Stronghold, away from the Labs and the other Creation Vats.

Annie sighed, turning her head back to the tank, and pressed her hand against the glass, staring into the rolling mass of purple-black shadows. A tiny dim red light shone deep in the middle, signaling the eyes of the Pitch that hadn’t yet been freed of his cage.

“15,000 years, Mali. 15,000 years he has been stuck in this thing. Why? Why couldn’t he have come out with me?”

“I don’t know Annira. But we will get Eluvis out. I promise.”

“You haven’t called me Annira since I was a child. Honestly, you haven’t spoken a kind word to me since then, either. Has all of this really made you so terrible? Whatever happened to the kind boy that was always so happy to see his siblings? So happy to play with Zoey and Daija and Saoirse? So happy to speak to me?” Annie stared down at Mali, tears pooling in her large eyes. “Whatever happened to the Prince who swore he’d unite the Dark World and bring happiness to us all?”

“That Prince is gone, Annie. You know that. All that matters now, is that we get revenge on the Light World and fulfill the purpose that we were created for.” Mali turned on his heel, and walked out.

“Yes, because being a weapon against all other forms of life is such an incredible purpose, Maligna!” Annie’s voice called after him, the door shutting as he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FINALLLYYYYYYYY

Gosh these always take so long. .<.

You know what i was gonna wait to post this but I’m posting it now jhjowhjorjoh

If y’all wanna ask questions, feel free, cause the second half will not get much more development until the second arc starts. I’m really just trying to get the last names out and ready to go for the second arc at this point.