Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, a mother, bloodied and bruised, brought her child to the Lost Forest.

"Take care of him, please," she had begged, handing her child- a Hylian, as she was- to one of the Forest's own children.

They buried her in those woods, though they never knew her name.

Or, perhaps they did, once. None of them knew how long ago that had been. A few years? A few decades? 

The Lost Forest is a paradox. It is both static, and transformative. It is cyclical, it is cunning, and it is very fond of children.

Perhaps in another world it might not have latched on to the child so tightly. Perhaps there he might've remained as Hylian as his mother. But this is not that world.

The child was named Link, and he was as much of a Kokiri as any of his siblings. 

This is his story.

You see, Kokiri are odd little things. They're neither spirit nor mortal- their bodies are quite real, but they depend on their Guardian for their youth, and on their fairy for their life. They are born of saplings, created by the Great Deku Tree, and grow into something called a Korok. Many stay in this form, but others are chosen by a guarding spirit, a fairy, and with her help they become Kokiri.

Because of this symbiotic relationship, it is impossible for a Kokiri to exist without a fairy- if their fairy dies, so too do they. 

Except for one.

---

"I am asking much of you, my child. It is within your right to refuse me."

"...I can't, " whispered Link, his voice echoing with whatever ancient magic had lingered with him since birth. " There's no-one else."

The Tree sighed. "True... your brothers and sisters, they would fade outside this Forest, even with their fairies. I could not condemn them to such a fate. And yet... you too shall fade, in time."

Link nodded.

"You will never see your siblings again."

"But they will live," Link whispered.

"...yes."

And the choice was made.

---

The world outside the Forest was loud .

The people were too big, the sun too bright, the buildings too cold. Without Navi at his side, Link was certain he would have broken down the moment he entered the city.

...with her, he at least managed to find somewhere to hide, first.

The people all stared at him with something akin to horror when he spoke to them, hearing too many voices out of the mouth of a child. He learned to stop talking, after that. Even with Navi, he only spoke to her in his mind.

Link ran from the city for a time, promising to return as soon as he was able. And in doing so, he found his way onto a ranch.

Talon was the first person to give him shelter, after days of wandering the city streets, asking for any information he could get about the princess. He and his daughter Malon recognized him for the forest spirit he was, treating him with respect- though Talon still cared for him as a child.

(Link hadn't realized how much he had needed this.)

He needed to return, though. He had a task to complete, and one that might have a time limit. 

But at least now he had a home to return to.

---

Link didn't even bother trying to get in through the front gates. He couldn't even talk to the guards, let alone get them to listen to him.

So instead, he snuck into the courtyard, and was immediately greeted by a very confused princess.

"Um."

Link stared at her silently. His thoughts had ground to a halt.

The princess tilted her head to the side. "You have a fairy on your shoulder," she informed him politely. He nodded. "Oh. Are you here to kidnap me?" Link frowned, and shook his head. "Well that's good. I think I'm meant to call the guards now, but I'm very bored and you look very interesting so I'm not going to do that."

Seeing his opportunity, Link held out his hand, uncurling his fingers to reveal the Emerald he held. The princess's eyes went wide.

" So you are real," she whispered reverently.

---

The princess told him her name was Zelda- Zelda Lullan Hyrule, specifically, though she wasn't very fond of the name.

"Impa calls me Lullaby," she'd said, "but I think that sounds a bit... childish, I suppose."

She explained as much of the situation as she could- about Ganondorf the Gerudo King, about the Spiritual Stones, about her dreams.

"He is unnerving, yes, but... I don't know what to think," Zelda muttered. "Father hates the Gerudo- am I just following his biases? Am I reading too much into this?"

Link looked down at the ground, wishing he could speak without scaring her.

"I just... they all treat me like some dumb little kid. I'm almost thirteen! And I know magic when I see it! But I don't- I... maybe they're right, maybe I'm just-"

"Stop. " Link's voice was nothing more than a whisper, as always, yet it held a power to it. The princess froze, staring. " I believe you."

"...you do?" 

Link nodded.

Zelda's shoulders sagged in relief. "I... you're the first person who's said that, you know. Even Impa seems to think I'm just playing a game."

"...you're not frightened by me?"

Zelda shrugged. "I don't know. Don't all Kokiri sound like that?" Link shook his head. "Oh. Well, I don't care. You're my friend, and friends aren't scared of each other."

"We're friends?"

"Yes. I decided so. And since I'm the princess that technically counts as a royal decree."

"Oh. Okay."

---

They made a plan, the kind of plan only children could make. 

Since Ganondorf had poisoned the Great Deku Tree, they figured he was going after the other Spiritual Stone, to access the Sacred Realm. ("Father says that's where something called the Triforce is, and if you have it you can do anything you want, so I bet that's what he's doing!")

So, of course, they decided that that meant Link had to get it first.

(Maybe, just maybe, something that powerful could bring the Deku Tree back... and perhaps, let him return home.)

They didn't act on it quickly- they couldn't, really. The two could only meet in secret, and Link was hardly prepared for a journey across the Skylands. He returned to the ranch and told Talon and Malon that the princess had given him a very important quest, though he wasn't sure Talon entirely believed him. Either way, Malon insisted she go with him to the castle next time.

---

"...Link, why is there a person in my room."

"Hiya! Ahm Malon! Fairy Boy said he met the princess, so ah told him ah was comin' with!" 

"She's very persuasive," Link added.

"Ah told him ah'd sic the cuccos on him if he didn't," Malon said proudly.

And that was just the start.

It took more than a bit of pleading from the princess, but Zelda eventually managed to convince her father that it would be good for her to get to know some children her own age- like, perhaps, that nice redhead girl that lived on Lon Lon Farm. Impa and Queen Zelda agreed, and the King was overruled by democracy.

Link continued to explore the area, getting used to the busy city, helping anyone he could, and developing a small arsenal of weapons and gadgets.

In time, he was ready to get the second Stone: the Gorons' Ruby.

Ready, but for one minor problem.

"How can I talk to them without scaring them away?"

"Could you write things down?" Zelda suggested. "The mountain is hot, but not so hot as to ignite paper."

Link stared at her. "...I can't write, " he explained. " Or read."

"Wh- I thought you were a hundred years old or something!"

"I said I could live to be that old," he corrected, not mentioning that that was no longer true.

(He was still a Kokiri. He had to be. He still had the ears of a Kokiri, could still feel the music of the wild places. He had gotten new boots because the old ones were worn down, not because they were too small. His hair certainly hadn't gotten any longer. He was still a Kokiri .)

Malon raised her hand. "What about your fairy?"

"I think Navi can only talk to me."

" Nope! "

All three children stared at the little ball of light that flitted above Link's shoulder. The light shifted, coalescing into the shape of a young woman- still barely more than a few inches tall, still a pale blue, still with gossamer wings at her back. Above all, she looked very annoyed. " You've just never asked, " she corrected.

" Oh my Hylia she's so small, " gasped Zelda. 

"That's a fuckin' fairy," said Malon in flat disbelief.

"Wh- language! " 

"Hylian," Malon replied.

"Do you think people will listen to you?" Link asked of his fairy, ignoring his friends' bickering. 

" They had better, or I'll make them, " said Navi, grinning wickedly. 

"...thank you. I... I can't imagine... "  

Navi held up a finger to Link's lips, glaring at his welling tears. " Save the waterworks for Zora's Domain. "

---

Getting the other Stones wasn't as difficult as Link had expected. Time-consuming, certainly, but not difficult. It seemed almost too simple, really.

And when he returned home, he knew why.

He had barely managed to process what he'd seen- Zelda and her Sheikah caretaker, Impa, fleeing the city on horseback- when a man called out to him.

"You there! Little voe!"

The man was huge, with yellow-amber eyes and hair as red as Malon's. Something about him terrified Link to his core, and, for some reason, made the birthmark on the back of his hand burn .

"The horse and riders that just left- did you see where they went?" His voice boomed in the empty streets, though, he remained polite. "I can pay you well, if that's what you'd like."

Silent, Link shook his head, and Navi remained hidden behind his cap. The man huffed in frustration.

"Very well. Thank you for your time."

And with that, Ganondorf Dragmire left in pursuit of the princess.

---

He didn't have time to think. That was always it- time, time, just a little more time!  

Link stood in the Temple of Time, ocarina in hand, trembling .

He had to make up his mind. The Gerudo King would be here any second and he didn't have time to think.

I'm doing this for Zelda, he told himself as he stepped towards the pedestal. I'm doing this for the Great Deku Tree. I'm doing this for Malon and Talon and Saria and even Mido.

It was a beautiful sword, really. 

As his hand wrapped around the hilt, it almost felt like it was made for him.

---

" No more children," her Grace had told her, sobbing tears of golden light. "I don't care if you have to find someone less worthy- no more children."

The Hero of Light had been nine years old when he first picked up a blade. He'd been fourteen when he pulled the Four Sword from its resting place. Never on Hylia's behest, only his own.

But her Grace hadn't cared.

"Fi, I give you this command," she'd said. "No-one under the age of sixteen shall be allowed to wield you. If they be Zora, they must be at least eighty years of age."

"I understand."

Fi wanted to serve her new master well. But he was Kokiri. Did the same rules apply to him? He had lived much longer than his nine-year-old body implied, but, he was still a child.

...she would find a solution. Her master was desperate for her help, she couldn't just abandon him.

She just hoped she was doing the right thing.

---

They would say he slept for those seven years. They would say he was held in a stasis of sorts, almost like a coma.

This is almost true.

He was aware something was happening, but he didn't know what. He could feel his body ache, could feel a constant soreness in every muscle. He could hear his own heartbeat. He could hear Navi's frantic voice against the growing winds, even if he couldn't make out the words.

Link kept his eyes shut out of sheer terror, not knowing what he'd see should he open them. The raging winds drew his breath from his lungs, but he couldn't move. His body ached and it hurt and he sobbed.

Please make it stop

But it didn't. Not just yet. Not until after the hilt burned against his hands, filling his arms with a fiery warmth. It moved through his body, even as he desperately tried to pull away. It didn't hurt, but he could recognize magic in his sleep, and whatever this was, he didn't want it.

But finally it was done, and Link fell back against the Temple floor. He didn't move, at first, instead letting his quiet tears fall from his eyes.

" ...Link? Is- is that… is that really you? "

"Navi?" he croaked out, barely recognizing the sound of his own voice. "What… what happened to me?"

" I can't… " Navi's voice was quiet, almost frightened. " I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, is- I don't think that… I can't…"

Link frowned. Groaning, he moved a hand to his face to rub his eyes, and-

That's not my face

He sat up with a panicked gasp, blinking the exhaustion from his eyes. His hands, they looked- bigger, rougher, almost like-

almost like an adult's. 

"N- no, this- this isn't-" His breath quickened, his lungs seizing and stuttering as he tried and failed to stand. "This- this isn't real, I'm not- I'm a Kokiri! "

" Link… "

"I'm a Kokiri," he repeated. "Im- I'm a- I-" his breath hitched in his throat and he gasped for air, unfamiliar hands clutching at an unfamiliar throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe-!

What am I?

“Be calm, Hero of Time.”

Link’s gaze snapped up to see a strange man standing in front of him, looking down with a detached expression. “Wh- who-?” Anything further Link would’ve said was broken as his body continued to shudder and seize.

Navi settled at his side in her physical form, tiny hands pressing gently at the cloth of his tunic. “ Breathe, Link- focus on your breathing, okay? Don’t you give up on me after everything you’ve put me through! ” The strange man said nothing, made no move to help.

Navi spent ten minutes helping Link to breathe, to process- though for both of them it felt like hours. Even when the constant gasping faded, he still sobbed quietly- crying, not because he wanted to, but because he couldn’t stop.

“ Now- ” Navi shifted back to her spirit form, fluttering angrily in front of the stranger’s face. “ Who the hell are you!? What did you do to Link? ”

“I am the Sage of Light,” said the man calmly, as if that answered anything. “I guard this place, the Temple of Light, and its ancient seal- the barrier between this world, and the Sacred Realm.” He ignored Navi, his constant gaze boring down on Link. “I have been awaiting your return, Hero of Time.”

“Why do-” Link paused, both to hold back his tears, and to feel at his throat- that wasn’t his voice, was it? Why did… why did he sound normal? “Why do you keep calling me that?”

The Sage smiled. “Because it is your name, of course. Or rather, your title. When you return, I suggest you avoid using your actual name- it will bring far more questions than you might like.”

“ You still haven’t answered my other question, ” grumbled Navi, retreating to her usual place above Link’s shoulder.

“I have done nothing to your companion, fairy,” the Sage told her. “His fate is tied to that sword at your side- the Master Sword.” Link didn’t recall finding and wearing a scabbard for the strange sword he’d found in the Temple of Time, and yet there it was at his hip. “Tell me, Hero- why did you draw the sword?”

“...I wanted to save Zelda,” he replied meekly. “There was a man who was going to kidnap her and use the Sacred Stones to get into the Temple of Time, so, I thought, whatever was in there had to be really powerful, right? So- maybe I could use it to save her.”

The Sage’s expression turned to one of pity. “...of course. You were both just children. You were right about Ganondorf’s intentions, but… Hero of Time, by drawing the sword when you did, you gave him access to the Sacred Realm. That was…” The Sage sighed. “That was seven years ago now.”

The Temple was silent, save for Link’s shuddering breaths, his quiet whispers to himself. 

“Your journey is not done yet, Hero,” said the Sage quietly, solemnly. “I do not know why the Sword hid you away for these years, or why it chose to return you now. But you are needed here.”

“ What he needs is for you to leave him alone! ”

“N- Navi-”

“ No! I don’t care what grand fate you want to dump on his shoulders, I won’t have it! ”

“Navi- please, just… hear him out.”

Navi stilled, then sighed, settling atop Link’s shoulder. “ ...fine. ”

The Sage nodded. “I am- I am one of seven different Sages,” he explained. “With the power of all seven, I believe that we can seal Ganondorf away, confine him to the Sacred Realm. But a Sage cannot take up their role if they have not been awakened- if they have not realized their true potential. But they can be recognized with these-” The Sage held out a shining gold medallion in his hand, offering it to Link. “Once all seven medallions are returned to this Temple, the other Sages will be summoned.”

“ But why him? Why not do it yourself, or pay some mercenary to do it? ” grumbled Navi.

“Because only another Sage can hold a medallion- a Sage, or, a Hero.”

“...I’m not a hero, though,” said Link, staring at the item in his hands. “I’m the reason Ganondorf got to this- this Sacred Realm in the first place.”

“...perhaps. Or, perhaps, he would have found a way to it on his own. Or perhaps you managed to prevent something even greater,” replied the Sage. “It does not do well to dwell on the past.”

The past? What else did Link have, now? Seven years… was Zelda still alive, or had she been taken away by Ganondorf? What about Malon? Were the oth- the Kokiri safe?

...but the Sage was right. He couldn’t go back. The past was gone, now. He’d long since run out of time.

“I’ll do it,” said the Hero of Time. “I’ll go.”

And the world faded to grey.

---

Seven Sages.

A single Hero and his fairy.

Hyrule is a large place, let alone the rest of the Skylands. And scouring the known world? 

Later on, others would ask him how long his first adventure took him. How many months? How many years? And he would simply smile, and leave the question unanswered.

(It was the sort of question best left that way.)

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. 

Upon leaving the Temple of Light, the Hero returned to where he had left- the Temple of Time- to be greeted by an unfamiliar face.

“...what the fuck? ” replied the masked stranger. “Why did you just fall out of a portal?”

“ Why are you wearing bandages on your face? ”

“That’s- it’s a scarf, and you haven’t answered my question. And what are you…” The stranger trailed off, his eyes growing wide upon fully registering Navi. “...ah. It’s you, then.”

“ Is this some more ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ stuff? ”

“Unfortunately, yes.” The stranger moved to help the Hero up off the ground where he’d landed rather awkwardly- which, he noted, would be the second time he’d greeted a stranger by falling over. “I am Sheik, last of the Sheikah people.”

“I’m…” The Hero trailed off, frowning. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to call myself. The Sage guy said I shouldn’t call myself ‘Link’ anymore.”

Sheik nodded. “You are the Hero of Time, are you not?” he asked. “Perhaps, then, just… ‘Time’.”

“...I think I like that,” said Time, and Sheik smiled beneath his mask.

---

After fighting his way through the hellish husk that remained of Castle Town, Time’s first goal was to answer the question that had been burning in his head since he’d awoken- what happened to Malon?

He didn’t find her at first, instead finding a man he only vaguely remembered running the place in Talon’s stead. Time quickly decided that he very much did not like this ‘Ingo’ person.

How this led to him stealing a horse, he wasn’t sure, but Epona seemed quite content with the whole affair.

Time assumed that this whole ‘adventure’ thing might put the thought of home out of his mind, but… it turned out that the Forest Temple was somewhere in the Lost Woods. 

(They didn’t even recognize him anymore. But how could he blame them? He didn’t even recognize himself.)

So when Sheik taught him a song that would allow him to return whenever he wished, Time thanked him, told him he’d return soon, and rode Epona back towards Lon Lon Ranch. They rode through the night, and by the time they arrived, it was barely dawn.

Time practically fell out of the saddle, exhausted by his emotions. He told Epona to wait for him out in the fields- even if he wasn’t really Kokiri anymore, some bits of the Forest’s magic lingered on him, enough that Epona understood him. Pulling the traveling cloak that Sheik had given him tightly around his shoulders, he fell back against one of the outlying sheds.

This was real.

It hadn’t really caught up to him until now. Since the Temple of Light, everything had felt distant, illusory, like walking in a dream. Even the few injuries he’d sustained fighting his way out of Castle Town had felt… they hadn’t even been painful. They just existed.

Then… then he saw the Kokiri. And reality slammed into him like a hammer to an anvil, pounding it in: this is real, and there’s no going back.

Time stared at his own hands in silence. They ached, and it felt like they were burning. Everything was too- too real? He didn’t even know how to describe it. All of his senses were screaming at him. There was nowhere to run, because he couldn’t run from his own mind. So he just sat there, silent, numb. 

“Wh- hey! Th’ hell’re ya doin’ out here!?”

Time was jolted out of his thoughts by a very annoyed and very familiar voice.

...Malon?

“Don’t just sit there lookin’ like a fool!” she continued, marching over to him with her sleeves rolled up. Almost everything about her was different, from the clothes she wore to the shape of her body, but Time knew it was her. If her voice hadn’t given it away, her brilliant Gerudo-red hair would have.

...she doesn’t recognize me either, he realized, stumbling to his feet at Malon got nearer. “I- I’m sorry,” he mumbled, still unused to the sound of his own voice. “I wasn’t-”

“Ahm not gonna just let someone sit out there in th’ cold, now am ah?” she asked rhetorically, still sounding just as annoyed. “Come on, now, let’s get ya inside- Ingo’s got a fire goin’. Lazy bastard’s not good for much, but he at least knows not t’ burn down his own house.”

Time followed her without argument, sending a thought to Navi to stay hidden in his cloak, which she did, though not without complaint. Once inside, Malon sat him down on one of the couches, very politely and very forcefully telling him he wasn’t going anywhere until he had some food in his stomach. Time noted that Malon’s core personality hadn’t changed in the slightest.

...maybe it’s best she doesn’t recognize me, he thought. I disappeared for seven years, and… and I ruined everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hates me- or would if she knew what I did.

Regretting his decision, Time moved quietly back to the door, hoping that Malon wouldn’t-

“Now where d’ya think you’re goin’?”

Shit.

“I shouldn’t be here,” muttered Time, refusing to meet her eyes. “I- I need to go.”

“Oh no ya don’t!” insisted Malon. “You’re gonna sit your ass right back down so ah can thank ya for bringin’ Ingo down a peg with that stunt ya pulled with Epona.”

“...what?”

Malon placed a tray of warm bread rolls down on the room’s main table, before very pointedly sitting down and smiling at him. “Don’t be shy, now.”

Slowly, Time stepped back towards the couch and sat back down. “Y- you saw…?”

“No. But ah heard,” she said, taking one of the bread rolls. “And that’s th’ odd thing, y’see. ‘cause th’ only people who know Epona’s Song are me, m’ pa, and an old friend of mine. And you ain’t any one of ‘em, and ah know me n’ pa haven’t taught anyone else.” Malon smiled ever so sweetly, not quite hiding the malicious glint in her eyes. “So. Where’d ya learn that song, stranger?”

“...a friend taught me,” Time replied quietly, trying to hide how his hands shook. “A- a long time ago.”

“Mhm. An’ what might that friend’s name be?”

“...Malon. Her name was Malon.”

The room was quiet enough that the sound of Malon’s bread roll hitting the floor was all too clear. “...prove it.”

Time looked over at her in surprise. “Wh…?”

She stood up suddenly, her face flat and emotionless. “If ya are who ya say ya are, y’should be able t’ prove it.” Time realized very suddenly that his cloak also served the purpose of hiding his very much non-Hylian ears. 

“ I should be proof enough, I think. ”

Time watched in silent concern as Navi drifted from her hiding spot, hovering in the air in front of Malon. 

“...tha- but- but y’all were…” Malon’s eyes darted back and forth between Navi and Time. “... how? ”

“...it’s a long story,” said Time quietly, solemnly. “I… Malon, I’m so sorry. I- I didn’t mean for any of this-!” His breath hitched as tears welled up in his eyes once again, and he gripped at the thick cloth of his cloak.

Malon sat back down, still staring at him. “...you’re alive,” she whispered in awe. Time just nodded silently. “You’re… ah thought- ah thought Kokiri-?”

“I’m not Kokiri anymore. I- I haven’t been since I left the Lost Forest.”

“But- seven years! Ganondorf’s had his soldiers lookin’ for ya since th’ day he took over!”

“I- I wasn’t-” Time shook his head. “I don’t really understand it either? There was a sword, and when I tried to pull it, it…” He looked down at his hands again. “Something happened. And when I woke up… seven years had passed. There was a man who called himself a Sage, he said I was the ‘Hero of Time’ or something. Sh- Sheik just calls me ‘Time’ though…”

Malon shook her head slowly in disbelief. “Holy Hylia… ah don’ even… are you okay? ”

“...no? I don’t know? It’s… it’s kind of a long story.”

Malon sighed, looking at the plate of bread rolls. “...well then. Ah’ve got a damn busy day ahead a’ me, an’ Ingo’s not gonna be any help. So how ‘bout this, fairy boy- you tell me what th’ hell happened since ah last saw you while ya help me out, yeah?”

Time smiled. “I… I think that would be nice.”

---

It became a comfortable pattern between the two of them. Time at first returned to the Lost Forest, where Sheik waited for him, but found the Forest Temple too difficult a challenge for the time being. He still had all his equipment with him, but, it was all made for a child. Furthermore, he was still getting used to his body, and exploring a Temple was fairly difficult when you kept tripping over your own feet. So he returned to Sheik once again, and the two agreed that, all things considered, it would be better for Time to return again once he was ready.

So Time explored the world, helping anyone he came across, finding tools and trinkets and anything he thought could help. He’d sleep at inns or make camp come nightfall, but both he and Malon knew that it wouldn’t be long before he ended up at the ranch again. So, she would put him to work, always patient with his clumsiness, and they would talk.

Sometimes it was concerning Time’s mission- where had he gone, what had he learned, had Malon heard any rumors?- but more often than not, they simply… talked. 

“How old are ya now, anyways?” Malon asked him one day.

Time’s only response was, “I don’t know. I don’t know how old I was before.”

“Huh. Y’look sixteen or so.”

“Is that a lot?”

“Ah’d like to think so, since that’s how old ah am, an’ ah’ve managed pretty well on my own.”

“What about Talon?”

Malon didn’t answer. Time asked a few times after that, but every time, she didn’t answer. 

He stopped asking after that.

---

When Time returned from the Forest Temple, he was in tears before he even got off the saddle. Secrets came spilling out as soon as Malon sat him down, stories of Kokiri and Hylians and something in between. A story of a sister, the closest thing he had to a mother, bound to the Forest when he was not.

A story of two children being forced to grow up, each in their own way.

He always came back with a story, really- some sad, some happy, some simply bizarre. A story of a family cursed to become monsters. A story of some very brave Gorons that helped him slay a dragon. A story of floor tiles that came to life to smack him in the face. 

There was another story, though, Malon was sure of it. A story he was hiding. Something to do with that ocarina he carried- hadn’t that belonged to Zelda, way back when? It looked worn and used, though it still held a beautiful blue gleam to it.

She ended up finding out on accident, really. Mind you, were it not for her curiosity, it wouldn’t’ve happened at all, but that’s not the point.

Malon had been running after a stray cow near nightfall, when she heard Time’s ocarina playing in the distance. So, once she found the cow and leashed it to a nearby tree, she followed. And she saw a ghost.

Time appeared out of nothing, fading into view, looking as he had seven years ago. As the song played on, the image flickered, and Time stood before her as the (probably) sixteen-year-old she knew. He saw her, and froze. “ Well, shit, ” muttered Navi.

Malon didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip, and Time practically wilted. “This- I can explain,” he insisted.

“...this some more of that fairy magic nonsense?”

“I… I don’t think so,” Time admitted. “Sheik taught it to me. The song- it lets me affect the past, but… only in little ways. I can talk to people, but they… they never recognize me. And as soon as I leave they forget.” The haunted look in his eyes told Malon just how many times he’d tried. “I- I can’t stay there for very long either. A half-hour, maybe.”

“An’ when ya go back, ya look how ya did back then,” said Malon. Time nodded. “Can ya… can ya take anyone else with ya? Other than Navi, ah mean.”

“No,” Time told her bluntly. “Is it possible? Maybe. Am I willing to? No. ”

Malon nodded. “That’s… prob’ly for th’ best, really.”

“...I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

“We all have our secrets, fairy boy,” she said quietly. Her mind briefly drifted to her father, but she pushed the thought away as soon as it came. “Speakin’ of- when am ah gonna meet this ‘Sheik’ character of yours? Ah’ve got a few pieces o’ mah mind to give to him!”

“Wh- Malon, no- ”

---

“...can I ask you something?”

“You’re askin’ me somethin’ right now.”

“Very funny.”

“Naw, ya go right ahead.”

“Both Sheik and the Sage of Light said I probably shouldn’t go by ‘Link’ anymore- do you know why that is?”

Malon grimaced. “Well, y’see… it’s not really a name anymore. Ah mean, it is? But ah can’t imagine anyone namin’ their kid that.”

“What? Why?”

“Uh, there was some fancy king or th’ like named ‘Link’, so everyone just had to name their kid th’ same, and after a while it was so common it just started bein’ used as like, ‘hey, you!’ if y’didn’t know someone’s name,” Malon explained. “Someone don’t wanna give their actual name? They call ‘emselves ‘Link’.”

“Huh.”

“Yep.”

“I think I actually like ‘Time’ better even without that. I don’t know why, though.”

“Ah think it suits ya.”

---

Malon opened the door to be greeted not just by Time- who looked absolutely delighted- but also by a very small child. “Uh.”

“You’re Malon Lon, then?” asked the little girl, who didn’t speak much like a little girl ought to. Malon nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you!”

And then Malon noticed the ears.

“...you’re a Kokiri,” she realized. The girl nodded, and a tiny blue fairy that wasn’t quite the same color as Navi flew over from one of the fence posts and onto the girl’s shoulder. Malon looked up at Time in confusion. “Ah thought y’alls couldn’t leave the forest?”

“Saria’s the Sage of the Forest Temple,” Time explained excitedly. “Darunia- he’s the Sage of the Fire Temple- figured out that, even though they’re bound to the Temple of Light, they can leave as long as they’re with another Sage- or, um, with me,” he added awkwardly.

“My little brother’s been telling me all about you,” said Saria, grinning. “I’m so glad I’m able to meet with you in person.”

Malon laughed. “Your little brother’s an absolute gremlin, Saria,” she said as she gestured for them both to come in. 

“Malon…” Time just groaned, blushing.

“We Kokiri do tend to be a bit, ah, chaotic, ” Saria admitted, despite being the polar opposite of that description as she sat down politely in the main room. “And Li- er, Time, got along rather well with the Skull Children. Probably better than he did with other Kokiri, I would argue.”

“That was kinda Mido’s fault,” Time muttered, as Malon grabbed some tea for herself and Saria- Time couldn’t stand the stuff, she knew. “At least the Skull Kids made fun of each other just as much as they made fun of me.”

Saria. “Link…”

“ Time, ” corrected Navi. 

“Time. I- I’m sorry. For everything.”

Time looked up in surprise. “Wh- no, no, Saria, you didn’t do anything wrong!” he insisted. “I- I was never meant to be a Kokiri. Everyone else knew that. That was never your fault.”

Malon frowned as she set down the tea set, but didn’t say anything. A parent can try their best an’ still make mistakes, she thought to herself. Ah guess the same counts with big sisters.

“...I think, in some ways, you were more in tune with the Forest than any of the rest of us,” Saria mused as she took her cup and stirred in some of the fresh milk. “If you hadn’t been chosen as the Hero, I imagine you would have taken my place as Sage. A Kokiri that can survive without a fairy, a Hylian chosen by the Forest itself. A child that speaks with too many voices. It’s no wonder the Skull Kids saw you as one of their own.”

Time said nothing, choosing instead to look down at his hands where Navi had chosen to perch. She, too, was silent, though Malon was almost certain that was only because she was fairly loud in Time’s head. “Ah thought that whole voice nonsense was a Kokiri thing in th’ first place,” she said, trying to change the subject, even if only slightly. “Ain’t that why he don’t sound like that anymore?”

Saria shook her head. “No. Not even the Great Deku Tree knows.”

“...I might, actually,” said Time quietly, not looking up. “It’s, ah… I didn’t say anything before because I figured you might think I was mad.”

Malon frowned. “What d’ya mean? Are ya alright?”

“I think I know what you’re talking about,” said Saria. “You’re talking about your old ‘imaginary friends’, aren't’ you?” Time nodded. 

“As long as I can remember, I would hear… not voices? But thoughts in my head that I knew came from someone else,” he explained hesitantly. “They’re still there, now, but, they’re clearer- I can actually talk to them. And I realized, it’s their voices. When I would talk, they’d be speaking too.”

“...ah wish ah could say that was one o’ the weirder things ah’ve heard lately, but unfortunately ah cannot.”

Time chuckled. “They, uh- I can’t really see them that clearly? And I hear them the most when I’m fighting, or in danger in some way. I don’t really know why they’re not speaking alongside me anymore, though.”

Saria frowned. “There are… there have been other Heroes throughout history, said to be blessed by either Hylia or Farore- the stories vary. The Chosen Hero- who may also be the Hero of the Skies, or that might be someone else- the Hero of Men, the Hero of Light, the Hero of the Minish, the Hero of the Four Sword… though, again, the records are quite spotty; it’s not known if those last four are four different Heroes or just the one. Apparently that’s quite the debate among some scholars. I wonder if these ‘voices’ are past Heroes, guiding you.”

“...maybe,” said Time. “I kind of doubt it, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because they’re all just as scared as I am.”

---

Time had returned to the ranch wounded before- sometimes it was nothing more than some scrapes and bruises, and sometimes he’d pass out as soon as Malon got him in the house. But he’d always been able to come home before. 

She’d wanted to meet Sheik. She had never wanted to meet him like this.

The Sheikah man was standing at the entrance to the ranch, carrying someone in his arms, both of them bloodied and bruised. “Please,” he whispered, his voice scratched and torn. “He said you… you could help…”

Malon’s heart skipped a beat as she realized that the figure in Sheik’s arms wasn’t a corpse, but was Time- his tunic stained rust-red, his leg twisted unnaturally, scratches covering his arms and face…

“I’ll help you get him into the house,” she said bluntly. “The moment he’s laying down, you lay down as well- no arguments!” she added, seeing Sheik’s face. “You’re in almost as bad a shape as he is.”

“I can see why he likes you,” Sheik mumbled, sounding almost delirious (he must’ve been losing blood for a while- they both needed help, soon). “You’ve got spirit.”

They got Time onto the guest bed where he usually slept, and Malon eventually managed to get Sheik to stay laying down on one of the couches. “Where’s Navi?”

“Mmm… dunno,” said Sheik. “Uhh… hiding. Was… scary. Really scary.” He laughed- he was definitely delirious now. “Scared of th’ bongo man! Bongo bongo bongo bongo bongo man…”

Leaving Sheik to his rambling, Malon rushed over to the threshold of the guest room. “Navi? Navi, you’re safe now. We need your help.” A moment passed before Navi finally peeked out from Time’s bag, in her physical form rather than her spirit form- something Malon had learned was rather comforting for fairies at times, helping to ground them. “I need you to send one of your sisters to get the healer from in town. Can you do that?” Navi nodded, uncharacteristically silent (she would normally talk up a storm when Time was injured) as she flew out the open window.

The next fifteen minutes was little more than a blur. She rather forcibly recruited Ingo’s help in bandaging the two patients and trying to keep their wounds from opening further. Sheik would come in and out of consciousness, babbling about bongos and secrets and dresses, while Time remained unconscious the whole time. As soon as Navi had passed on her message, Malon assigned her to keeping a constant eye on Time to make sure he was still breathing.

The healer arrived quickly, thankfully. She was as old as the hills and just as good as them when it came to keeping secrets. Anyone else might’ve ratted them out to Ganondorf’s forces, but Pya had seen plenty of kings and queens come and go, and wasn’t about to let politics get in her way. She treated Time first, recruiting the help of three of Navi’s sisters just to get him to a point where Pya was willing to leave him on his own for a minute. Another two fairies were needed to get Sheik stable and lucid, though he was (thankfully) far too tired still to try and fight. For the most part, that is.

The issue came when Pya started to remove Sheik’s scarf.

His eye opened in terror. “Please…”

“If I don’t treat you proper-like, you could very well die,” said Pya flatly. “I can’t do that if I can’t see your wounds. I don’t care if you’re the lost princess herself, you’re going to let me treat your wounds or so help me Hylia.”

Sheik stared at her in suspicion, before giving a huff of amusement and laying back down. “Funny you should say that,” he muttered. “Y’can’t- you can’t tell anyone. They’ll… they’ll kill me. He’ll kill me…”

“I have never answered to any king of Hyrule before, and I’m not about to make an exception now,” Pya assured him. 

Malon frowned. “Ingo? Go back to your nap.”

“What?”

“I don’t think he wants anyone else here,” said Malon. “I’ll leave too, so-”

“No!” Sheik desperately tried to sit up, before Pya gently pushed him back down. “No, I… you… please, Malon. Stay.”

“I’ll have to remove your binder,” Pya added as she began unwrapping Sheik’s scarf. “Don’t worry- you’re not the first man like you I’ve met, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

Malon wanted to ask what Pya meant like that, but, she didn’t get the chance. Because she recognized the face under the scarf.

“... Zelda? ”

“Sheik. I- I haven’t been ‘Zelda’ in a while now.”

“...does Time know?”

“No. And he can’t,” Zel- Sheik insisted. “It was… it was a disguise, at first, but… well. I never did feel like much of a girl in the first place.”

He fell asleep soon after that. 

Pya returned to her apothecary, having accepted some fresh milk and eggs as payment. Malon ended up having to pay Ingo, as well, if only to make sure no secrets were spilt. Ingo was more than happy to accept, though, he admitted, he didn’t actually hear any of what happened after he left. Navi stayed with Time, and Malon stayed with Sheik.

...a few years ago, just before this all started, if you’d told her she would soon see both of her childhood friends again, she wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here she was. Her fairy boy and her princess- well, prince, rather. 

The next few days were ones of stories, of course. Stories of a well ( “Sheik couldn’t go with me. It was just me and Navi. I… I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared before.” ), stories of a man that had been mutilated into a monster ( “It was in so much pain…” ), stories of a place full of death ( “We both went in.” “I’d not been able to accompany him before, but… I’m glad that this was the exception. I can’t imagine facing such a place alone.” ), stories of past atrocities ( “I had heard stories of my people doing such things in service of the crown, but… even the darkest horror stories pale in comparison. I can’t help but wonder… who else knew? How many of those I once looked up to, knew?” ), and stories of a beast, warped and twisted ( “Y’can’t really expect me t’ believe this thing was called ‘Bongo Bongo’.” “I wish it had been as playful as the name suggested.” “Sheik, did that thing really used to be a person?” “...there is a reason I’ve advised you to avoid using the Lens of Truth too often, Time.” ).

“...ah wish ya didn’t have t’ do this, fairy boy,” said Malon solemnly. “Ah know there’s not a better option, but…”

“Only one Sage remains, yet,” Sheik told her quietly. It wasn’t much of a reassurance, though, and they both knew it. 

“...then what?”

Time’s voice was flat, and barely more than a whisper. He stared down at his hands- even now, they felt wrong, like they weren’t really his. How old was he, now? Mentally, he was around fifteen, by his estimate. Physically, though? Probably somewhere in his early twenties already. The curve of his ears and the fairy on his shoulder screamed Kokiri, but… Kokiri don’t grow old. 

He’d stopped being a Kokiri six years ago.

But he still had a world to save.

(Before he and Time fully left, Sheik held back to speak with Malon. “I stayed back, before,” he told her, regret evident in his voice. “I thought that would be better- safer, for both of us. But I was wrong. Whatever else remains, he won’t face it on his own.”)

(“He never did,” Malon told him, smiling. “Not with Navi at his side, and a home t’ come back to. But, ah think… he still has need of an old friend.”)

(“I’m not who I used to be,” Sheik insisted.)

(“An’ neither am ah.” Malon grinned. “Go help him save th’ world, Prince Sheik. I’ll be here waiting for you when ya get back.”)

---

Having Sheik by his side made Time’s exploration of the Gerudo fortress much, much easier than it could’ve been

Sheik actually knew of the Gerudo’s customs, and that the only voe permitted would be those who proved themselves worthy. And if there was one thing Time was very sure he was skilled at, it was combat.

(He’d never thought of himself as a violent person before- he still didn’t, really- but that was a thought for another time.)

Sheik spoke with the temporary Gerudo leader, Aveil, while Time waited outside. He wasn’t very good at negotiating with people, but the Gerudo seemed okay with Sheik as long as Time was okay with him. Which was odd, since Sheik had proven himself just as much as Time had. When he brought this up with one of the Gerudo guards, she just scoffed.

“He is a skilled warrior,” she admitted, “but I simply cannot understand why someone would choose to be a voe.”

“Oh.”

“Mm.”

“...what’s a voe?”

The guard stared at him. “Wh- you know, ” she insisted, stumbling over her words. “There are voe and there are vai. I am a vai, as is Aveil,” she explained. “You and your friend Sheik are voe.”

“Oh! Because people call you ‘she’ but they call me ‘he’,” said Time.

“Well, yes…” The guard shuffled in place. “I mean. It’s more complicated than that. It’s… voe are different from vai.”

“How?”

The guard blushed bright red. “I- I mean- it’s complicated. ”

Time kicked his feet against the wall of the tiered fortress where he sat. Kokiri all came from Koroks, and Koroks all came from the Great Deku Tree. Malon had rather exasperatedly explained to him that most species were different, after his confusion over the various farm animals. 

But didn’t that just determine if people called you ‘he’ or ‘she’? Why would the Gerudo be so hung up on something that small? Time already knew Sheik used to go by ‘she’, but, why did they care that he liked ‘he’ better? 

It was bizarre. In the back of his mind, Navi silently agreed. Maybe Sheik could explain better.

---

“...excuse me? We’re in the middle of a temple that’s trying to kill us, and you want to ask me why I’m a boy? ”

“...I mean, we can talk as we keep going,” said Time plainly. “I was just curious.”

“Oh Hylia. This is.. this is not a discussion I want to have with you right now. Or ever, actually.”

Time frowned. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just- I was just curious why you stopped liking being called ‘she’.”

Sheik froze in place. “What.”

“I mean, I understand not wanting to be called ‘Zelda’ anymore? But I don’t understand why ‘he’ is any different from ‘she’.”

Sheik spun on his heel, staring at Time incredulously. “ What the fuck? ”

Time blinked. “Is that a rude question?”

“ How do you even know that!? ”

“...was it supposed to be a secret?”

“Wh- ‘was it supposed to be a secret’, of course it was!” Sheik threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. “How did you even figure that out!?”

Time shuffled awkwardly. “Oh, um. Just a lot of little things, I guess? You like that chocolate that tastes like oranges, and you’re scared of spiders, and you’re really good with music- oh! And you taught me how to play that song that Impa used to play for you as a lullaby.”

Sheik just stared at him. “I… how long have you known?”

Time shrugged. “Um, a few years, now. I haven’t really kept track.”

“You… you never thought it was weird?”

“That you changed your name? I mean, I did too, kind of.”

“No, I- me being a boy.”

“...that part I’m still confused on. What’s the difference? Other than, uh. Stuff I’m not supposed to talk about.”

Sheik held his face in his hands. “ Din, give me your strength, ” he muttered weakly. “I- okay, um. People treat you differently based on if they see you as a boy or as a girl. And I liked it better when they saw me as a boy,” he explained.

“Oh! That makes sense.” Time grinned. “Anyways, we should probably keep going. Navi says there’s a fairy fountain somewhere nearby.”

Sheik stood there motionless for a moment as Time continued forwards, before shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts. 

Huh. Kid’s still full of surprises, it seems.

---

The battle with Twinrova went quickly, with Sheik acting as a distraction while Time reflected their own magic back to them. Soon, Nabooru, leader of the Gerudo, was freed from them, and revealed as the Sage of Spirit.

Time and Sheik returned again to Lon Lon Ranch, where Malon awaited them and their stories. The three of them talked and ate and laughed together, excited by their victory. But it was a victory tainted by anxiety.

The Sages were gathered.

They knew what needed to be done.

“...I don’t want this to end,” Time admitted to Malon that night, as Sheik slept outside (he was too paranoid of potential attackers to be able to fall asleep without seeing his surroundings). “Is that bad?”

“You’ve gotten used t’ it,” Malon told him. “It’s not bad t’ be scared of lettin’ that go. Besides- everyone’s afraid of change, not just you.”

“I wish you could come with us.” His blond hair looked white in the moonlight that poured through the windows. “But I couldn’t stand seeing you get hurt.”

“Then ah’ll just wait for you t’ come back.”

“...what if I don’t? I don’t want to imagine it either, and- and I won’t let myself fail. But I don’t want you to wait for me if I’m not coming back.”

Malon sighed deeply. “Ah don’t know. Ah don’t wanna think about it.”

“I know.”

“...I guess… ah’ll keep livin’. Ah’ll mourn ya, but ah’ll keep livin’. Find a way t’ be happy. T’ keep going.”

Time smiled, looking, for once, so much older than he was. “That’s all I can ask.”

The room was quiet for a moment. Navi snored quietly, curled up on Time’s discarded cap. Owls called out in the darkness, met by the howling of the wind. It was peaceful. It was perfect.

It was not meant to last.

“...it would’ve been my sixteenth birthday today,” Time whispered, unable to disrupt the still night. “As far as I can tell, I mean. I’ve been counting the day I left the forest as my ninth birthday.”

“...isn’t that-?”

“How old the Sword decided I needed to be? Yeah. It is.”

“...ah’m sorry. Ah wish… ah wish that-”

“Don’t,” said Time, placing his hand over hers. “Neither of us can change the past, not really. And… I wouldn’t give up these years even if I could. Not for all the rupees in the world.”

“...ah can’t tell if you’re flirtin’ with me or not.”

Time shrugged. “Neither can I? And you’re still a lot older than me. Which is weird.”

Malon snorted. “Never woulda thought you the type t’ go for older women, fairy boy.”

“Oh shush- ”

---

“Ah want ya t’ have this.”

“...this- this is your mother’s necklace, isn’t it?”

“It’s yours now.”

“No, I- I can’t just take something like this-”

“That’s why ah’m givin’ it t’ ya, silly.”

“Malon… thank you. I promise to do everything I can to protect this.”

“You’d better, or else Ganondork’s gonna be th’ last of your worries.”

“ Ganondork- ”

“Ah know what ah said, and ah meant it.”

Malon smiled softly as Time laughed, before pulling him into a tight hug.

“Now then… go save the world, fairy boy. Go save the world, and come back to me.”

---

Sheik sat on the stairs of the Temple of Time, waiting patiently.

“I had this whole dramatic reveal planned out,” he mused, looking fairly glum. “I even practiced my illusion magic for this.” With a wave of his hand, his usual Sheikah garb vanished into motes of light, revealing what seemed to be a modified royal dress, turned into a fairly simple tunic paired with dun trousers and very pragmatic boots. “But nooo, you just had to go and ruin this for me.”

“Well ex cuse me, prince, it’s not my fault you can’t keep a secret.”

Sheik just stuck his tongue out. “Whatever. Anyways, we are actually here for a reason- this place is a focal point for certain types of magic, which I can use to make- these!” He pulled out a large bundle of arrows from the pack at his side, each arrow tipped with metal that seemed to dance like rippling water while glowing like the moon. “They’re light arrows, they should help with any kind of dark magic that Ganondorf uses to shield himself.”

“Oh! That’s clever,” said Time happily as he stored the arrows in his own pouch. 

“I also wanted to explain something to you,” Sheik added as Time sorted through the arrows. “It’s taken me a while to figure out the details, but I think I finally understand what exactly happened when you pulled the Master Sword. I think… I think we did exactly what Ganondorf wanted us to.”

Time stilled in his sorting, staring at Sheik. “What do you mean?”

“The Master Sword will only allow Hylia’s Chosen to wield it, which is why it was the perfect lock for the Sacred Realm,” Sheik explained. “The mark you had on your hand- it was a way of marking you as someone who, when the need arose, would take the mantle of Hero. Someone who could pull the Sword from its resting place.”

“...oh.”

“You have such a way with words.”

“I’m processing, alright?”

“Anyways, when Ganondorf tried to steal the Triforce from the Sacred Realm, he disrupted its balance- it’s not really meant to be whole like that, but rather, equalized between three individuals. Three individuals to represent three aspects: Courage,” Sheik pointed at Time, “Wisdom,” then pointed at himself, “and… Power.” He removed his left glove, showing the geometric mark on the back of his hand, now with the lower left section filled in. Time followed suit, looking at his own mark- the lower right section was filled instead.

Sheik gently took his hand in his own, and the two marks glowed with a faint, golden light.

“We’re the only people who could use the Triforce’s power without it killing us,” he explained. “The two of us, and… Ganondorf.”

“He must’ve had the mark his whole life too,” Time mused, rubbing a thumb over the back of his hand. “I wonder if… if that’s why he went after the Triforce in the first place.”

You’re smarter than you look, little hero.

Time and Sheik both jumped to their feet, weapons immediately in hand. Right there, in front of the Temple of Time, stood Ganondorf, looking fairly annoyed.

“...you were going to do a dramatic reveal too, weren’t you?” realized Sheik, almost laughing. “Oh Hylia that’s hilarious.”

Quiet, princess-

“Oh, fuck you!”

Ganondorf’s eyes flashed gold, and instantly Sheik was encased in a crystalline prison. His expression was one of pure indignation as he pounded against the transparent walls, but any noise he made was silenced.

Much better. Ganondorf’s gaze returned to Time. Now we can speak properly.

“You’re not actually here, are you?” guessed Time, noticing the slight transparency to Ganondorf’s form. “Just an image of you.”

Ganondorf nodded. If I were truly present, you would attack me, which would be rather irritating. But first, I wish to ask you this: do you know what you fight for?

“...what?” Time hadn’t really been expecting that.

You wish to return the Hylian royal family to power, yes? Do you know who you are fighting for? Your princess here-

“Prince,” Time corrected. Ganondorf blinked curiously.

Ah. My mistake. Your prince here may be a friend to you, but what of the rest of his kind? What of those who constructed the Shadow Temple? Do you really wish to fight for them?

“...I don’t, though,” said Time. “I’m not a noble. I’m just a kid. I know that. But I also know that people are suffering because of you- not just Hylians, but Gorons, Zora- even your own people are suffering. Maybe- I don’t know, maybe you think you’re the good guy here, and if so, then… I’m sorry that I have to do this. But I won’t let more people get hurt!”

Ganondorf watched him with some surprise, though his expression stayed largely neutral. I am impressed, little hero. I will admit, I had thought your motives were driven purely by the royal family. But they are not. He bowed his head in something akin to respect. I do not hate you, Hero of Time, and even if you should kill me, I still will not. But do not think I will be passive. His eyes seemed to bore into Time’s soul as he spoke. If you try to retrieve your prince, I will not hesitate to try and kill you.

Time stared Ganondorf down, even though he knew he wasn’t exactly an impressive figure against the towering Gerudo man. “I know. I didn’t expect anything else.

Ganondorf nodded solemnly. Then, o Hero of Time, I shall await you in my castle. He smiled politely, but Time could see the malice behind his eyes. And there, I shall be your downfall.

The image faded, and Time fell to his knees, his heart racing like a rabbit’s. Tears fell from his eyes unbidden, brought forth by sheer terror.

“Are you okay?” asked Navi, ever so quietly, even though she already knew the answer.

Time sobbed silently, staring blankly at the Temple ahead of him. The only thing he could say was,

“I don’t want to die.”

---

He’s silent all the way through the castle.

Navi tried to fill the silence, and while Time did listen to her, even respond with a nod or a shrug or the like, he didn’t say a word.

(He was certain that the moment he spoke, he’d start crying again.)

Each monster he encountered he destroyed with a frightening efficiency. Not a second was wasted. Time didn’t search the rooms, or look for hidden chests- he didn’t even break any of the pots, for Hylia’s sake. Navi stayed by his side, but… well, she was scared. 

What happened to the little boy she had chosen to help?

(She knew exactly what happened.)

(He’d grown up.)

Time took down another pair of Iron Knuckles, kicking them aside before moving on. Once his hand touched the door, though, he paused. 

“This is it,” he said flatly. Navi didn’t ask him how he knew. “...stay with me?”

“Of course,” she promised him. Time nodded, and stepped through the door.

Ganondorf sat in a grand hall, his back turned to them as he played the massive organ that spanned most of the wall. Sheik was still contained in his crystalline prison, suspended high in the air.

Time wasted no time in shooting a light arrow straight at the King of Evil’s head.

Ganondorf simply tilted to the side, chuckling. “That’s not very polite, you know.”

Time didn’t respond.

“Oh? Have you nothing more to say, then?” Ganondorf stood, moving much more gracefully than his build might suggest. “Disappointing.”

Time unsheathed his sword, readying his stance.

“I would allow you to leave, if you wished to. Simply leave the prince and return to Lon Lon Ranch.”

He mentally checked and rechecked all of his equipment.

“Hmm.” Ganondorf’s face shifted from amusement to impassiveness. “Very well then, child. Let it not be said that I never showed you mercy.”

The ground burst open, and the battle began.

---

In later years, Time would tell anyone who might ask that the battle was really just a blur to him.

This is a lie.

He remembers every movement he made, every parry, every attack.

They’ll tell him that in another reality, he died in that battle. He will believe them.

He will not tell them that he knows the exact moment he should have died.

One misstep had led to him almost wasting an extra arrow. 

The Beast pinned him to the ground, and Time reached for his final arrow. Rather than firing it, he drove it through the Beast’s skull.

(If he thinks about it too long, he starts seeing bits and pieces of that other reality. The one where he didn’t have that final arrow.)

(He will not tell them this, either.)

He will tell them about how it was Sheik who saved him, throwing the Master Sword back through the barrier. About how he joined the battle the moment the barrier dropped. About how exhausting the fight was.

He will not tell them what happened after.

He will not tell them about how Ganondorf- about how the Beast was sealed away by the Sages. About how the Sages gave up their lives in doing so.

About what Sheik did afterwards.

He’d fought for so, so long. He was too tired to think, let alone argue. He’ll wonder if he should’ve. If he would’ve been able to convince Sheik otherwise.

But he didn’t.

He simply watched as Sheik held the ocarina against his lips and played a familiar song. Light surrounded Time and Navi, lifting away, and Sheik watched with tears in his eyes.

“Live, Time,” he’d told them. “Live the life I took from you.”

Time wanted to beg, to cry, to scream- you owe me nothing, Sheik, you don’t need to do this-

But he didn’t.

He didn’t.

The sun rose on a new day, and somewhere in the vastness of Hyrule field, a child with too many voices screamed to the goddesses for mercy.

The sun rose on a new day. And the goddesses did not reply.

Chapter Text

He doesn’t know how long he stayed there, crying, screaming, praying.

(That’s a lie.)

(He spent four hours, twelve minutes, and fifteen seconds, before finally succumbing to exhaustion.)

It’s a miracle he didn’t get attacked during the night.

Probably.

(When he fell asleep, he didn’t want to ever wake up again.)

I’m sure it was for the best.

Probably.

He didn’t see Navi leave, he was too deeply asleep to notice.

(That’s a lie, too.)

I’m sure she had a good reason.

(She must’ve, right?)

Probably.

( Why did you leave me? )

---

Now what?

Time wandered the open field in a mindless haze. He could fix things, now. Keep the Sacred Realm safe. Leave the Sword where it lay.

...if he had never taken the Emerald from the Lost Woods, none of this would've happened. 

He kept walking. None of his thoughts stayed for more than a moment, lost in a sea of nothing.

Now what?

He was alone. 

Malon wouldn't know him. Sheik wouldn't know him- he wouldn't even be called 'Sheik' yet. Or 'he', for that matter.

Maybe he never would, now. Time wasn't sure. He wasn't sure about anything, really.

Now what?

A pain in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten since he… since he got sent back.

He looked down at his hands, and saw that they were his own. Small and child-like, yet with years of living in the forest etched into them like carved wood. If you didn't look too hard, he looked like a nine-year-old.

He'd turned sixteen less than a week ago.

Am I worthy enough for you now?

Oh. Right. He still needed to get some food. Somehow.

Malon's father had taken him in before, hadn't he? Time looked around, trying to figure out where he actually was.

He was… he was definitely somewhere. He was very certain of that.

Trying to focus through the fog in his mind, Time marched towards the only road he could see. He had a goal now. He could focus on that.

He wasn't sure how long it took for a traveler to pass him by (it was fourteen minutes and three seconds). He waved down the man on horseback, who stopped in surprise upon seeing a child wandering on his own.

"Oh goodness! Hello there. Do your parents know where you are, little one?"

"I need a ride to Lon Lon Ranch, " Time replied tersely. " I can pay you. I just need to get there quickly."

The man stared at him in horror, his eyes wide and his face pale. "Wh- what are you? " he whispered.

Oh. Right. 

Time tried to give a reassuring smile, though it mostly just came off as tired. "A weary fool who has had a very, very long day. " He dug through his bag, pulling out a small pile of red rupees. " The offer of payment still stands."

The man gasped at him like a fish, before finally nodding. Time sighed in relief before clambering onto the horse and holding tight to the driver. "W- we should be at the ranch before sundown."

"Mm. Good. Thank you."

"I… will you be displeased if I were to tell others of you, spirit?"

Huh. Having a reputation as a wandering spirit might be kinda useful. Also I'm too tired to argue. " I don't care either way."

"What should I call you, then?"

"... Time. My name is Time."

---

Time hadn't bothered trying to push back when the man refused his rupees upon arrival. All he'd wanted to do was sleep. Besides, that was sixty rupees he didn't have to lose, now.

He'd collapsed before even reaching the front door. He'd just accepted his fate, rather than trying to push himself even further.

I suppose… this is as good a place to die as any.

---

He did not die.

Instead, he woke up in a soft bed, awoken by a crowing cucco. Sunlight streamed into the room to illuminate the dust that danced in the air. The room was cozy, familiar. Oddly familiar, actually.

Time shot up, gasping. Was he home again? Had it all been a dream? Oh goddesses he hoped it was, he couldn't-

"Ah, you're finally awake, then."

Time scrambled in place, trying to find a footing in reaction to the unfamiliar voice, until he saw who it was that spoke. Talon smiled softly.

"Ah never expected to see one o' your kind this far from th' Lost Woods. Ah found ya outside last night, lookin' dead t' th' world. Was worried you were dead, actually- never seen a forest child without a fairy."

Time stared back at him, silent, his expression pleading. I can't do this. Please, please, don't make me do this.

Talon cocked his head to the side. "Y'alright? You're lookin' a little pale there."

"You died, " was all Time could say, unable to process what he was seeing. " She- she told me- she never said where you went…"

Talon frowned. "Ah- do ah know you?"

Time laughed. "You don't, you don't, you couldn't- " His laughter turned to sobs. " It's gone, everything's gone, Talon, I can't- what do I do? "

Talon stared at him in shock, and for a second, Time was certain he'd react in horror, or worse, reverence. But instead, he sighed, gesturing to Time with open arms. "C'mere, kid. Just let it all out, okay? Ah'll help ya figure something out."

Time broke. He cried like the child he was, sobbing into Talon's arms. " I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

"Shh, shh, no more apologies. You're okay now. You're safe now."

...oh how I wish I could let myself believe you.

---

"You're saying that you're- you're from th' end of the world?"

Time shrugged, holding the bowl of broth that Talon had given him close to his chest. "Not really? More like… a future that hasn't happened yet. Or never will happen."

"... how far in th' future?"

"... sixteen years."

"An'… how old are you?"

Time paused, thinking. "Late teens? I think. Maybe a bit younger. It's… hard to tell."

"Sweet Nayru." Talon shook his head in disbelief. "An' ya knew my daughter in all that?"

"Mm. She was… this place was the closest thing I had to home. Malon would always put me to work, but, I think she knew it helped me keep my mind off things."

Talon sighed. "This… you know ah've no reason t' believe ya, right?"

Time shrugged. "I wasn't even expecting you to listen to me."

"Ah… suppose that's fair." He frowned, tapping on his knee. "Ya got any weird forest spirit powers?"

"I'm not a Kokiri anymore. But… animals listen to me, still. I'm not really sure why."

Talon nodded. "Well, that's good enough for me. How'd ya like a proper job?"

Time stared at him. "... excuse me?"

"Ah mean, since you are a proper adult an' all, ah figure ah might as well put ya to work if you're gonna be staying here." Talon smiled softly. "If'n you were jus' a kid, ah might go easy on ya, but you'll have t' carry your weight around here."

"I… " Time grappled desperately for something to say. " ...why?"

"...Ah lied when ah said ah had no reason t’ believe ya. That necklace you're wearing belonged t' my wife's mother,'' Talon told him hesitantly. "An' ah already checked- it ain't stolen. So ah think you're actually tellin' th' truth. An' besides, who am ah to leave ya on your own?"

"I won't be able to stay here all the time. I still need to prevent- well, the end of the world, as you put it."

Talon shrugged. "Ah'll just put Ingo t' work then."

Time pulled a face. "Don't guilt-trip me."

"Now ah know you're tellin' th' truth."

---

Last time, Malon and Time had become friends quickly. They just… clicked.

This time, though, it was harder.

The first few days were mostly just recovery for Time, both physically and mentally. His exhaustion from the fight had transferred over with him, and he’d spent hours wandering aimlessly in search of nothing. And the nightmares…

(Too many times he had awoken screaming.)

Time understood why Malon was nervous around him. He was a stranger to her, one that knew too many little things about her. Her favorite foods, which animals she liked, where she liked to play. He was a fae child with eyes so much older than his body who spoke with voices not his own. He couldn’t blame her for being afraid.

Which was why he was so surprised that she objected to him leaving.

It was about two weeks after he’d first arrived. He’d already gotten his things packed to head to Castletown- he knew how to get in, and knew the prince- princess, he had to remind himself- wouldn’t object to his intrusion. Probably.

“Malon.”

Malon stood in the entry gate of the ranch, arms crossed. She might’ve looked intimidating if she weren’t nine. “ Time. ” 

“Why are you standing there angrily.”

“Because you’re goin’ t’ meet th’ princess without me!”

Time almost laughed. “What?”

That just made Malon even angrier. “It’s not fair! ” she insisted. “You know everythin’ about me when ah hardly know you, an’ Papa always gives you th’ jobs he says are too dangerous for me, an’ now you’re gonna go meet the princess! Well, ah’m not lettin’ ya go this time!”

Time stared at her. “Malon…”

“Don’ you patronize me, mister!”

“Malon, you can come with me if you want to,” he told her bluntly, even though he knew it was probably a terrible idea. 

Malon froze. “...really?”

Time nodded. “Is that really why you’ve been annoyed with me? You’re… jealous?”

“...maybe.” 

Time just shook his head, laughing. “Come on. It’s a long walk to Castletown, and you should bring some extra supplies in case we have to stay there. ” He paused. “ You should also probably tell Talon where we’re going. Just, quickly enough that he can’t stop you.”

Malon cocked her head to the side. “Ah thought Papa said you were supposed t’ be ‘a mature influence on me’?”

“...I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”

---

Time had actually been looking forwards to seeing Castletown again, now restored to its former glory (and no longer filled with Redeads, filled with dried husks and corpses all of them screaming- )

It was fine. The plan worked fine. Zelda had reacted almost the exact same way as she(?) had last time. Time gave her the Kokiri Emerald for safekeeping, explaining what Ganondorf’s real plan was, telling her that he’d had visions of his own. He explained he was going to visit the Gorons and the Zora, to help them with their own issues, and ensure they knew how important it was that the Sacred Stones stay in their hands.

He could have left it at that. Events were in place- Malon and Zelda had met and quickly became friends, the Sacred Realm would be safe, the world would be saved.

He could have left it at that.

He didn’t.

---

It was only four months after he’d arrived in this time. Helping the other races had been fairly easy this time around, now that he knew what he was doing. The three Sacred Stones were being kept safe, and far away from the Temple of Time.

Time looked at the back of his hand. The mark of the Triforce was still there, still thankfully hollow. Zelda had shown him her own mark, and wondered aloud if there was anyone else with one. Time had told her he didn’t know.

He stood at the entrance of the Gerudo fortress. Waiting.

It wasn’t long before one of them finally walked over to him, if only out of curiosity. (It was eight minutes and forty seconds. Why did he know that?) Hilariously enough, Time recognized her as the one who had done her best to explain gender to him, though he didn’t allow himself to show any kind of recognition. “What are you doing here, little one?” she asked sharply. “This place is off limits.”

“I am here to speak with the Dragmire.”

Time was grateful, for once, for the way people tended to react to his voice. He’d managed to catch the attention of a few of the guards, all of whom looked at least a bit unsettled- which was quite a feat, all things considered. “I- wh- what business do you have with him?” the guard stuttered, quickly regaining her composure. 

“The Great Deku Tree is dead. I have been visiting with various leaders in the hope they could shed some light on the tragedy,” Time explained to her. It was a complete lie- the Tree was hurt, but not dead, just dormant- but he’d gotten rather good at those. 

“You- you are Kokiri.”

“Of sorts. Could you please inform the Dragmire that I wish to meet with him? And- if he is not able to meet immediately, could I request a place to stay, or at least wait? I am not as well-suited to the desert heat as you and your people are.”

The guard nodded. “Of course, sir.” Time had to stop himself from grinning- about time someone treated him with some actual respect. “Who should I tell him is awaiting him?”

“Time, child of the Great Deku Tree.”

---

Time was pretty sure he was going to have a panic attack right there in the waiting room.

He wanted to do this, he wanted answers- he needed answers! Even if he could get Zelda to believe him, she didn’t have any kind of political power. But Ganondorf… Time was certain the man was not truly ‘pure evil’- he was fairly certain there was no such thing, really. Power-hungry, greedy, ambitious, sure, but not evil. 

So he sat, munching on a fruit he didn’t know the name of.

It was a very good fruit, actually.

“ - have told me! How long has he been here?”

“Not long, Dragmire, and I did try to send a messenger after you, but-”

“Let me guess, my mothers insisted no-one be allowed to enter. Again.”

“As far as I can tell.”

“ Din’s balls. ”

Time did his best not to choke as he heard the ‘King of Evil’ swear like a sailor, and instead tried to compose himself like a proper representative. 

After a few more moments of disgruntled mumbling, Ganondorf Dragmire finally stepped into the waiting room, pushing aside a patterned curtain. "I apologise for the delay, sir Time," he noted, before giving Time a polite bow. "I was informed there was something of grave importance you wished to discuss with me?

Grave importance- what a choice of words.

"The Great Deku Tree is dead."

Ganondorf froze in place, eyes wide. "... dead? Is such a thing even possible?"

Time looked just as surprised. "You didn't know?"

"No, I- I did not know." Ganondorf looked… nervous? Guilty? The man was good at hiding his emotions, yes, but Time was better at reading them.

...fuck it. He's probably gonna try and kill me anyways, so I might as well drop the vagueness.

"If you didn't wish for him to die, Dragmire, why did you poison him?"

"Wh- how dare-! "

Great going, Time, you've pissed him off.

Time just rolled his eyes. "No-one else knows, and I'm not going to tell them. I didn't come here to point fingers. " Well, he kind of did, but that wasn't the point.

"...if that truly is the case, then why are you here?"

Y'know, that's a great question. Wish I had an answer.

"To warn you. If not to kill him, then why did you poison the Tree? I know it involves the Sacred Stones."

Ganondorf frowned at him. "I imagine that you’d not answer me if I asked you how you know that?"

Well you see, it all started with a stupid fucking Sword, and the most annoying owl I've ever met.

"I will eventually. But I'd like you to answer my own question first."

Ganondorf sighed deeply, falling back against his seat. "...I will confirm nothing, forest child. But I will say that I spoke with the Great Tree, yes, in the hope he would part with the Emerald he held. And he refused."

"And so you poisoned him, to… persuade him? Threaten him?"

Ganondorf did not reply, simply took a drink from the glasses of water that had been provided. Time assumed that meant, 'yes, but I'm not going to say so'. 

"I imagine you covered your trail quite well. And I imagine that your meetings with the Zora and Goron leaders would have gone similarly if the roads weren't blocked."

"I assume that was your doing, then?"

"Mm. " Time leant back, watching the Gerudo king, studying him. " If you had gotten the Stones, what would you have done with them?"

"Studied them," Ganondorf replied bluntly. "There's no reason for them to be locked away, the Sacred Realm can only be opened by Hylia's chosen. The Stones contain powerful elemental magic, and what do the others do with them?" He scoffed. "Either hide them, or wear them as trinkets."

He… I don't think he's lying. So then why…?

"Dragmire… if you had a way to obtain the Triforce, would you take it?"

"Yes," Ganondorf replied instantly. "You're seen these lands. My people are kept on the verge of starvation, and the Hyrulian king does nothing when we ask for aid. Why should we suffer?"

...oh.

If I hadn't opened up the Sacred Realm… if I hadn't assumed that was his goal from the start…

"I told you before that I came here with a warning."

"Yes."

"...there is a future where you do take the Triforce, " Time told him, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he did. " I've seen it. I've lived it, in fact."

Ganondorf's breath caught in his throat. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it destroyed you. The Triforce shattered, giving only one third- Power. In seven years, all the Skylands were as barren as this desert. And your people were no better off for it. " Time stared at the Gerudo king, blue eyes boring through him. " I had intended to threaten you, really. That future ended with me killing you, you see. But even then I still saw some good in you."

Ganondorf set his glass down slowly, and Time saw that his hands shook just as badly as his own. "I… you called yourself 'Time'. And you've no fairy with you. You're not just a Kokiri, are you?"

"Did you ever think I was?"

"...have you come to kill me, god of time?"

Time laughed. "No, and I'm certainly not a god. But I appreciate the thought. " He sighed. " No… I came here to ensure the future I saw never happens. And from what I've seen, I don't think I have to worry about that."

"I will not stop fighting for my people, Time. And I will do whatever it takes for them to survive."

"You'd better. They need you, Dragmire, and they need you in your right mind."

Ganondorf nodded. "You said I only obtained a third of the Triforce. What of the rest?"

Time smiled. "Do you really think a child could beat you on his own?"

Ganondorf gave him a flat look. "Do you really expect me to believe you're a mere child?" Time chuckled and shook his head. "You claim you are no deity, but I will not believe you are not blessed with some great power. Such would be an insult to both of us."

Time grinned, standing from his seat and stretching. "I've no idea what you mean, Dragmire. I'm just a lost little kid."

"Yeah, and Hylia's my uncle. Let's get you out of here before people start asking questions." Ganondorf grimaced. "Or before my mothers start looking for me."

Time hummed thoughtfully. "Keep an eye on those two. I know nothing of them in this timeline, but I'm guessing they have little love for Nabooru."

"...I'll remember that. Where will you go afterwards, if I may ask?" said Ganondorf as they neared the gates. "Have you other futures to prevent?"

Time shrugged. "I hope not. No, for now… for now, there's an old friend of mine who's gone missing. And I'm going to find her."

---

He’d seen Navi fly away.

He’d seen the fear in her expression, the guilt, the terror.

He didn’t blame her, honestly. 

He just wanted closure.

Everything he’d gone through- had it even been real? It must’ve, right? He couldn’t have just dreamt it up, not when it gave him knowledge he shouldn’t’ve had.

But Navi was the only other person who’d seen it all with him. The only other person who remembered.

Malon and Sh- Zelda were just children. Saria had never left the forest. Impa, Darunia, Ruto- they didn’t even recognize him.

...the Lost Forest is a paradox. It is both static, and transformative. It is cyclical, it is cunning, and it is very fond of children.

Time didn’t know if he counted as a child anymore.

But he wasn’t sure he had much to lose.

Wait, hold on a second-

Time gasped as he was thrown from Epona’s back, the (definitely not stolen) horse rearing back in surprise, and-

Oh shit that’s a tree-

The world spun around him, black spots dancing in his vision as he tried to get up, but his limbs didn’t want to move. He was so tired … when was the last time he slept? Or ate? It was before he left the ranch, right? How long ago was that…?

Time groaned in frustration as he forced himself up off the ground, only to be met with a very familiar laughter, and some off-key notes. He blinked the spots from his eyes as he tried to sit up, looking around the misty forest.

“...Crow?”

The Skull Kid stopped in his playing, looking up at Time and giggling, but not saying a word. That was odd- Crow was nothing if not talkative, and yet now he simply stared back at Time, his face hidden by the strange, vibrant mask he wore. It looked… not familiar, per se, but there was something about it that made Time feel like he knew what it was.

[a prison for something unspeakable]

“Crow, what’s going on? I- ” Time sighed, running a hand through his hair. “ I know it’s been a while. And I’m sorry I haven’t come back to play with you. Are you mad at me? Is that what’s happening?”

Crow cocked his head to the side, his oak-wood hands tap-tap-tapping against the ocarina he held. Two fairies- one gold and one a dark maroon- flitted around him. They’d been arguing at one point, drowned out by the ocarina, but now they too were silent.

Crow bolted. He moved too quickly for Time to stop him as he jumped on Epona’s saddle, taking the reins and pushing the horse onwards. Time yelped, dashing forwards to try and stop him, but only managing to grab Epona’s leg- which, in hindsight, might have been a bad idea.

Because he couldn’t hold on for very long, but even that was enough to drag him deeper and deeper into the woods.

Time lay on the ground, exhausted from effort, staring up at the hints of night that were visible through the treetops above.

...goddess-dammit, Crow. Not this again.

---

Since when did Crow have the ability to turn people into Deku Scrubs of all things?

Not that this was the worst prank he’d pulled. Time shuddered just thinking about what had been dubbed as ‘The Termite Incident’ by the Kokiri. But… this didn’t seem like Crow’s usual sort of trick. Nor his usual sort of magic.

...what was that mask? 

[that’s not your friend anymore]

Whatever it was, Crow was as good with fairies as any other child of the forest, especially ones that hadn’t chosen a role yet, or had decided to remain without one. Though Navi had the color of a soul-anchor, she was as much a free agent as the two fairies Crow’d had with him.

Actually, speaking of those particular fairies…

“ - piece of Wolfos dung! I can’t believe this, this is absolute garbage- ”

“Are you done yet?” asked Time flatly. He couldn’t speak Common in this form, but Faespeak was his first language, after all, not to mention that its inherent magical properties covered up whatever magic affected his voice- he still wasn’t sold on Saria’s theory about the souls of other heroes. 

The gold fairy huffed at him, switching to a physical form to place her hands at her hips. “Don’t you sound all high-and-mighty, Mr Lettuce Head. This is all your fault, you know!” 

“If you say so,” replied Time with a bored shrug, before moving on to look for an exit to the room he was in.

“Wh- hey! Listen! Where the heck do you think you’re going!?”

“First of all, I am actually an adult, despite appearances. You can swear,” said Time with a roll of his eyes. It was lucky that he was already used to dealing with a body that was completely unfamiliar to him, though he had to admit that having wooden joints was fairly annoying. “Second of all, I’d like to get back to Crow and get an explanation for all this. He’s acting…” Time paused, trying to frown but realizing that this form didn’t quite allow it. “Stranger than usual. Not like himself.”

The gold fairy paused, hovering in place. “...he really has, hasn’t he?” she mused. “Ever since we sto- uh, found , that mask, he’s been getting weirder and weirder, and not in a fun way.”

“Will you help me, then?” asked Time, pausing in his search. “Since we’ve both got the same goal- getting answers.”

The fairy scoffed. “Yeah, right. Like there’s anything I need help with.”

“Well, you can’t just float through the walls here or you’d have done it already. And if we run into any monsters…”

“Ugh! Fine, whatever. Just don’t expect me to be nice about it.”

“I would never,” said Time, holding a hand to his chest in mock offense. He realized belatedly that he only had a skirt, some boots, and his green cap on. If he was going to be stuck in this form for very long, he decided, he was going to have to find some actual clothes. “I don’t actually know your name, I’m realizing.”

“...Tatl.”

“Very terrible to meet you, Tatl. I’m called Time.”

“That’s a shitty name.”

“Oh, trust me. It’s led to more puns than you can imagine.”

---

“This is ridiculous!” shouted Tatl, yanking at her hair in frustration. “ Three days!? How are we supposed to do anything in three days? ”

“Quickly.”

“You’re the worst. Have I mentioned that? The. Worst.”

“A few times now.”

Tatl groaned, flopping down on top of Time’s head. “...this whole thing is strange, honestly,” she muttered.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about T-”

“I DON’T!” Tatl nearly screamed, making Time laugh, even though he was just as disturbed by the strange man they’d bought a map from. “But like- okay, sure, weird guy wants his mask back. Whatever. But did you see the way he smiled? It was- it wasn’t natural. Something about him was wrong- and this is coming from someone who hangs out with the undead on a daily basis.”

“You’re right,” Time agreed. “But what options do we have?” He paused, looking down at his wooden hands. “What options do I have?”

Tatl didn’t have an answer to that.

---

“You should probably write down the code those kids gave you.”

“I’ll remember it,” said Time dismissively. 

“No you won’t.”

“I told you, I’m not a child. I’ll remember it.”

---

“...Tatl.”

“Yes, Time.”

“I’ve messed up.”

“You forgot the code, didn’t you.”

“...maybe.”

“ Wow , you’re useless. I thought adults were smart?”

Time sighed. “Yeah. Most people think that.”

---

“Is the moon… crying?”

Time glanced up. “...apparently.”

“Can it do that?”

“Apparently.”

---

“That was weirdly convenient,” Tatl muttered, looking at the title deed that Time now held. “Why’d you even want that thing, anyways?”

“...I have no idea.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

“...did you see that guy’s leaf mustache though? Hilarious.”

---

“Tatl? Are you alright?”

Tatl jerked away from Time, refusing to look at him. “I’m fine. Shut up.” 

The two of them stood at the door to the clocktower’s roof, where Crow and Tael awaited them. Crow, Tael, and the mask.

“...you’re worried about Crow, aren’t you?” Tatl didn’t say anything, but eventually nodded. “We’ll figure this out. I’m sure it’s all just part of a big prank or something. Crow would never intentionally hurt you, he’s not that kind of person.” Time paused. “C’mon, Tatl. Let’s go.”

Don’t leave me alone, please. Not you too.

---

He was going to die.

He was going to die as a Deku Scrub, crushed by a crying moon, brought down by his childhood friend wearing a probably-cursed mask, while Tatl screamed in his ear.

...the crying moon was a surprise.

He just wished he’d had some more time to-

time

He still had the ocarina in his hands.

Would this even work? Would this cursed land allow it? Would this cursed form allow it? Can Deku Scrubs even play the ocarina in the first place?

Well.

He was about to find out.

---

You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?

---

“A deal is a deal, you know,” said the salesman with his ever-present smile. “You have your form back. And I want my mask back.”

“How did you know that song?” asked Time, staring down at the mask in his hands.

Or, rather, he tried to ask that.

Instead his voice was layer upon layer of quiet, discordant noises, merging together into something wrong, something even he himself couldn’t understand. Time gasped, dropping the mask and covering his mouth with both hands.

The mask salesman just laughed to himself. “Termina’s a curious place, you know. Does all sorts of things to magic. Looks like you’ll have to make do without your voice, then.” He turned around, giggling. “Tick tock, little one. You’ve a debt to repay.”

---

When he went back to Clocktown, it wasn’t surprising that no-one recognized him. After all, he’d been a Deku Scrub the whole time, not a Ko- a Hylian child. Tatl pointed out that they should’ve still recognized her, at least, but Time brushed it off. He needed to find better equipment to try and stop Crow properly this time. 

He wandered around a bit, listening to people, listening to their plights. Some girls were having a hard time finding a new dance. A lady got robbed right in front of him, and as a reward for threatening him with a sword, she gave Time a mask that blew up for some reason. Another guy got stuck in a toilet somehow, which led to some much-needed laughter.

“Why are you being so lazy about all this?” asked Tatl, laying on top of his head.

“No reason not to,” replied Time in Faespeech. It made talking with Tatl possible, but unfortunately, no-one here seemed to understand Faespeech at all. “We just need to get Crow to realize this isn’t a very good prank, right? He’s probably just having too much fun with that new mask of his.”

Tatl was silent.

---

He didn’t listen.

Crow didn’t even speak to them.

The moon fell.

Time went on.

---

You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?

---

“...that’s not Crow anymore, Time.”

Time ignored her, just kept marching on. “He has to be. He’s not just gone. ”

I won’t lose him, too

---

No-one in town remembered him. Everyone he’d helped was back to square one, and Time no longer had the exploding mask he’d been given. Everything else stayed with him, though, including Tatl. She was the only one who remembered.

Or… maybe the mask salesman did, too. 

But that wasn’t quite as relieving as Time had hoped.

Tatl was the one to ask the question they were both thinking. “Why’s that guy want that mask so badly, anyways. By Din, why’d he even have the thing in the first place?”

Time didn’t answer her.

---

He wasted time getting more masks. Some were kind of useful. Others seemed completely pointless. But it was better than waiting around doing nothing. And besides, it was kind of fun. He wasn’t fighting monsters or saving the world, just… helping people.

(just so long as he never looked up at the sky)

But once again, three days wound down to a close.

---

“Crow, please! I’m your friend! Don’t you remember? Please, don’t do this!”

The mask stared back at him.

Crow laughed.

The moon fell.

---

You’ve met

---

“CROW! PLEASE, JUST LOOK AT ME!”

---

with a terrible fate,

---

“Please, just… give me something, Crow. Any sign that you remember me. Please. ”

---

haven’t you?

---

No-one in town remembered him.

And no-one would remember the way he screamed at the sky, cursing in a demonic voice that seemed more fitting of the thing atop the clocktower than a little boy.

---

“A debt is a debt, little one. I can hardly let you just leave, now can I? All you have to do is bring me that mask.”

---

Twenty days since he’d arrived in Termina.

Twenty days, and the moon still wept.

“I don’t know what to do,” Time admitted quietly. “I don’t think there’s anything I can say to get him to listen.”

“...then we try something else,” said Tatl. “ Make him stop.”

“He’s your friend!”

“ Crow is my friend. The thing inside that mask is not. ”

Time looked down at the Deku Scrub mask in his hands. “What can I even do, then? Get more of these masks?” The Deku Scrub mask was the only one that remained with him- he hadn’t even noticed, before, not wanting to pay too much attention to the cursed thing. 

Tatl shrugged. “Dunno. But if we don’t have to be in Clocktown to reset things we can start looking around some more.”

Time stared up at the sky, at the full moon. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am, idiot,” Tatl retorted. But her usual venom was gone, replaced only with worry. 

---

“Oh! Hello there, little one. I didn’t see you.”

Time stared up at the strange man, dancing in the moonlight, surrounded by a circle of mushrooms. He frowned, doing his best to look curious and concerned. Why are you so sad?

“Hmm? Oh, don’t look so down. Come, dance with me.” The man held out a hand, but when Time tried to take it, his own hand simply passed through it. “Ah. I’d almost forgotten about that,” he mused, looking at Time’s wide eyes. “I should probably have mentioned that I’m dead.”

Time’s flat annoyance was more than enough of an answer. The man laughed. “My name is Kamaro,” he explained, sitting down on a nearby stone. “I was quite a skilled dancer in my time, but I never had an apprentice. And it seems that regret was enough to bind me to this world.”

Time frowned in sympathy, then lit up. He moved back towards the town, paused to give Kamaro a just a moment gesture, then continued running.

He came back only a few minutes later, with two women in dancing costumes in tow, to whom he gestured proudly. The women stared at Kamaro in surprise. “You… you can teach us?”

And Kamaro grinned.

Time only played the Song of Healing to give the trio a rhythm, really. He hadn’t expected another mask to be left behind. Tatl told him it had a remnant of Kamaro’s skill in it, a gift of sorts.

Time simply put it away. It would be gone in a few days anyways.

Were all these masks left behind by someone’s death?

---

They were.

Maybe… maybe not all of them. Maybe some of them really were just decorated wood, imbued with some sort of magic.

Time hoped so very very desperately that that was the case. After all, why would some of the masks travel with him while others were left behind? 

(Because those were the ones he actually used more than once or twice. The ones he relied on for their magic. Kamaro’s mask had long since vanished.)

He wished he didn’t have any need of Mikau’s mask. That he could just leave it alone. But he had to see this through to completion, even just this once. He wasn’t really sure why. 

The mask clung to his skin like burrs, weaving into his flesh in intricate patterns as it changed him. Time was certain he must have screamed at some point, with the way his bones shifted and broke just to mend again, the way his skin pulled and stretched like a bowstring pulled taught. 

But when he pulled at the seams, the mask was just a mask again. If there really had been a soul in it, it was long gone.

(Probably.)

---

How long had he been here?

It was strange that he had to ask himself that, in a way. He could tell you the exact moment in the current loop down to the millisecond. Three days. Seventy-two hours. Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes. Two hundred fifty-nine thousand and two hundred seconds. Two million five hundred and ninety-two thousand milliseconds. And so on and so on.

But how many times? How many loops?

Time had been given a journal at some point, though he’d never used it. Tatl would just make fun of him for his shoddy handwriting.

She didn’t anymore. She was tired. Spent.

So he tricked her. Left her behind as he rewound the days. Let her forget. This wasn’t her burden to bear.

---

Time was starting to forget things.

He almost forgot about Tatl- or, at least her name. So he wrote it down in a panic, making notes about every detail he could remember about her. 

He forgot Malon’s name for two loops, only remembering that the necklace he wore came from someone important to him. Even when he wrote down what he could remember, Time had already forgotten her face.

He didn’t recognize his own reflection sometimes. 

(Maybe some things were better left forgotten.)

---

Why did he come here?

He wasn’t always here, was he? Or was the real world just a fever dream?

Did anything really exist outside of Termina?

No, no, that was silly. Everything outside the boundaries was just wastelands. There was nothing else.

The moon was falling, and he had to stop it. He had three days. At the end of three days, he went back to the first dawn.

His name was Time. Every three days, the world forgot about him. He would forget things too, so he wrote them down. He’d filled out four different journals, now. He wasn’t really sure where he got them from, but that didn’t matter.

He was Time.

And the moon was falling.

Why did he care? Even if the world didn’t end, he still had to reset, didn’t he? Wasn’t that why he was here?

He tried to ask them, but they just screamed, tried to attack him. 

He learned, then, that if he killed someone, they would come back at the end of the third day. It hurt, though, even if he didn’t remember why. 

So when they attacked him again, he didn’t fight back. It would be interesting to see what happened, after all. If he wasn’t there to reset the clock.

If he died before the moon fell.

---

I’ve done this before, haven’t I?

I always thought I was just seeing premonitions or something- visions of the future, like… what was his name? He was a prince, I think. 

But this isn’t just a vision.

What’s happening to me?

---

There was a new mask in his bag. It wore his own face, with white-stained wood and colorful markings.

He put it on.

The pain was immediate, and knocked him out in seconds.

Though, really, it wasn't that much worse than dying.

---

WHY HAVE YOU CALLED UPON MY POWER?

Time blinked curiously, looking around at his surroundings. He wasn't anywhere, it seemed. Just standing in an endless night sky.

I ASKED YOU A QUESTION

Time frowned. Could he talk? He couldn't remember if he had. He pointed to his throat and shook his head, hoping to get the point across.

DIRECT YOUR THOUGHTS AND I WILL HEAR THEM

Ah. That made things easier. Time nodded, and tried to push forth his thoughts of confusion- he didn't know what this place was, and he hadn't been trying to call on any power. He just wanted to see what the mask was.

...WHO ARE YOU?

Time shrugged. He didn't know. He used to. Probably.

The stars parted, and slowly, slowly, a man appeared. He looked oddly familiar, and towered over Time, gazing down with blank eyes. "You're just a child…"

Time glared at him. Not a child.

"I am sorry. I meant no disrespect. But how did you find me?"

Memories of death, of an angry mob. Of waking up again and finding a mask of his own face.

The man's expression softened. "I see." With surprising grace for his size, he sat down, making him the same height as Time while still standing up. "Do you remember how you arrived in the land of Termina?"

So he was from somewhere else, then. If so, then, where? Why couldn't he go there again? Was he trapped here?

The man stared at him. "What is your name?"

That he could answer. He was Time. A very simple answer, really. What could be simpler than time itself?

"Do you think yourself a deity?"

Was he a deity? He might be. It would explain why he didn't die. Why he didn't know where he came from.

The man frowned, reaching for Time's gloved hand, and looking at the marking on his skin. "I imagine you knew what this meant before you were trapped here," he mused. "I'm in the same hole as you, you see. I have no memory of who I am. Not even a name. They call me the Fierce Deity, but that is all I know."

Why does your mask have my face?

"That is a very long story," the Fierce Deity told him. "One I wish to tell you in full someday. But for now… I think there is a reason you found me, little one. How long have you been in Termina?"

He didn't know. He knew it was thirteen minutes and fifteen seconds after the first dawn, and that was all.

The Deity nodded. "Will you let me help you in your task, whatever it may be? And… will you let me help you regain your mind?"

... his mind? Had he gone mad? He hadn't noticed, really. But it made sense. And he did need to complete his task. It would probably be easier with his memory intact. So, he nodded in agreement.

The Deity smiled. "Thank you. Simply keep my mask with you, and I will be there."

...why, though? What did he have to gain from this?

"I don't remember," the Deity said plainly, smiling as the vast nothing slipped away. "But I'd like to."

---

The moon still fell.

The world still ended.

But there was someone by his side again.

And Time was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

---

TIME. WHY ARE YOU WEARING THAT.

Time didn't pause in his work. It lets me run faster.

IT MAKES YOU LOOK VERY CUTE. LIKE A BUNNY.

You are the dorkiest god I've ever met.

AN ADORABLE BUNNY RABBIT, TIME.

---

"You cannot speak at all, then?"

Time shook his head. He was fairly certain he had, but he couldn't anymore. Maybe he was physically capable of it, but… the words never came.

" Do you know of Zoran sign?" asked the Deity. Time shook his head. "It is a language of physical gestures rather than words, for situations where speaking is impossible or impractical. I do not know if it is still commonly known, but it may be helpful to you."

Can you teach me?

The Deity smiled. "I certainly can."

---

YOU HAD A COMPANION WITH YOU BEFORE, DID YOU NOT?

Time paused, frowning. How do you know that?

I AM QUITE LITERALLY IN YOUR HEAD. I DO TRY NOT TO PRY, BUT I CANNOT HELP BUT ‘EAVESDROP’ AT TIMES.

Oh. I guess that’s good to know.

YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED MY QUESTION.

Time scoffed. And I’m not going to.

---

He started wearing some of his masks on his hip at some point. It was easier than having to dig them out of his bag, and he’d already (accidentally) proven that they were basically indestructible. 

The Zora Mask (Mikau’s mask), the Fierce Deity Mask, the Keaton Mask, the Mask of Truth, and the Stone Mask. He kept the Bunny Hood around his neck like a scarf most of the time.

If he was being honest, the Keaton Mask was rarely actually at his hip. If Time had no need for any other masks, he’d wear that one. It made things… easier. Not physically, it didn’t seem to have any real powers. But being around people. Even if they didn’t understand his rudimentary signing, they still spoke to him, watched him, expected things of him. The mask seemed to take those pressures off of him, at least a little bit.

The Fierce Deity assured him he was making progress, both with his mind, and with his task. Time wasn’t sure he agreed. He was still trapped here, trapped in these three days. 

How long had he been here?

---

Time found her by accident. 

She didn’t even recognize him, at first. She had been looped like everyone else, and only remembered the cursed version of him.

Time wasn’t sure he could accept that. So he did something very, very stupid.

Three days reset again, and this time, he had a fairy with him. Not sitting at his shoulder, though, as he hadn’t really known how to explain any of this to her. 

Tatl was not happy at all about being put in a bottle.

Three days reset, and Time returned to that strange in-between where he could see his friend in person.

---

“I had suggested you find her again. I did not suggest you kidnap her.”

“ I panicked! ” argued Time, signing his words even though he knew the Deity would be able to understand him anyways. “ She didn’t remember me at all! ”

“So I saw.” The Deity sighed, holding his head in his hands. “We’re not going to be doing any training today.”

“ What? Why? ”

“Because I’m not going to give you an excuse to put off talking to her.” The Deity held his hands at his back, and the vast expanse began to shrank. “Wake up, Time.”

---

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME!?”

Time groaned. This wasn’t the first time he’d awoken to an angry fairy, though it was the first time he’d woken up to an angrily swearing one. “ Hi, Tatl, ” he signed. Tatl paused, pulling back.

“Since when do you know Zoran Sign? And- what- what just…” She drooped in place, hands on her head, her eyes frantic. “I- I was with Crow- no, no, I was with you, you left me- and then you’re here again and I-”

Tatl hovered slowly to the ground, her wings slumped at her back. Time wanted to comfort her, but had no idea how to do so without making things worse. “ You were stuck in a time loop with me. ”

“And then I wasn’t,” she agreed. “And I forgot. How long…?”

“ Too long. I can barely remember anything outside of Termina. ”

“Is that why you’re not talking anymore?”

Time nodded. “ I don’t really know if I can anymore. ”

Tatl stared off to the side, her eyes swirling with confusion and conflicting thoughts. “I want to be angry at you. I want to be so, so angry with you.”

“ You should be. I left you behind. ”

“ Why, then? Why did you do it?”

Time paused. “ Because I didn’t want to hurt you. ”

Tatl didn’t respond, for a while, her head bowed. “I think… I think it was killing me,” she said quietly. “The repetition. Not being able to get anywhere. Doing the same thing over and over and over again without an end in sight.”

“ We’ve made progress, ” Time told her with something that could almost be excitement. “ We woke one of the Giants up, but we need all four. ”

Tatl frowned, looking up at Time sharply. “‘We’?”

Time removed the Deity’s Mask from his hip, placing it ever-so-gently on the ground. “ He’s called the Fierce Deity. He doesn’t remember who he is, either. He’s scary, but he’s kind, too. He’s been trying to help me. ”

Tatl peered at the mask with the utmost suspicion. “...I guess I’ll have to trust you,” she decided. 

---

They made a good trio. It took a while for Time to rebuild his connection with Tatl, but it wasn’t long before she could hear the Deity’s voice as well. Admittedly, though, Time was starting to regret it.

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU SLEPT, TIME?

Time shrugged. “ I slept through most of the last loop, I’ll be fine. ”

“You’re practically dead on your feet,” Tatl argued. “You’re gonna get yourself killed at this rate, and I will laugh and say ‘I told you so’.”

“ Stop bugging me! I’m trying to solve a puzzle and I can’t do that if I keep talking to you! ”

PERHAPS YOU WOULD FIND THIS PUZZLE EASIER IF YOU WERE FULLY AWAKE

Time threw his hands up in frustration. “ Fine! I’ll take a damn nap! ”

Both fairy and deity cheered.

---

“What’s this?”

Time frowned, yanking his bag out of Tatl’s grasp. It was too late to keep her from claiming her prize, though- an old, leather-bound journal. Time blinked.

“Is it yours?”

Time’s mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air before he remembered to sign his response. “ It is. I’d forgotten I had it… ” Ever so delicately, he pulled it from Tatl’s grasp, and opened it.

Memories. Memories he’d written down to avoid forgetting. Quests and numbers and needs, yes, but also people. Family. Home. Malon.

A tiny gasp escaped from Tatl’s mouth as she settled at Time’s shoulder. “You’re a very good artist,” she told him softly. I’ve had time to practice, he thought, but did not say, as his hands were busy moving through weather-worn pages.

There wasn’t much in there, really. Fragments. Bits and pieces. Not enough to make a whole. But something to work with. Answers to questions he never thought to ask. Questions he could now work to answer.

They would set out in a few hours to find the next Giant.

The light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter every three days.

---

“What are you going to do, after this?”

“ Probably rest for a bit. You guys are gonna get on my back if I don’t. ”

I BELIEVE SHE MEANS AFTER WE HAVE DEFEATED OUR ENEMY

“ ...I don’t know. I don’t have much to go back to. Malon doesn’t know me. Zelda… is a stranger. ” Time scoffed. “ I think the only person who might understand what I’ve gone through is the Dragmire. ”

“Oh, that’s the Gerudo word for their king, right? How come you know him?”

“ I killed him. Except I didn’t, because it never happened. ”

“...are you ever going to stop being vague and mysterious?”

“ No. ”

(One day, years later, someone would say much the same thing in response to Time telling him that he’d once fought the moon.)

“Figures.”

“ ...what about you? ”

Tatl fidgeted. “I don’t… I don’t think I want to do any more adventuring,” she admitted. “ Not because of you! I’m not going to just- I’m not going to abandon you.” Time hadn’t told her about Navi, not directly. But she’d read his journal alongside him, and there were too many pages to ignore, all asking why? “But I don’t think I could keep doing this. I just want my brother back.”

Time figured he should feel sad or disappointed by that, but he simply nodded and returned to his task.

---

Four Giants.

Three days.

Too many masks to count.

Crow barely even put up a fight.

Is that really it? wondered Time as Tatl rushed to reunite with Tael, as he watched himself rush to Crow and check the Skull Kid for injury.

LOOK OUT!

Time pulled Crow back to the other side of the clocktower’s roof, just barely quick enough to avoid the dark tentacles of the hovering mask. Painted with all the colors of the sunset, with eyes too lifelike to be simply wood and pigment. A curled beak seemed to mock them, and the spikes on its side were colored in the most painful yellow possible.

The moon did not fall. The Giants had stopped it. But they could not stop it from opening its mouth, and letting the mask retreat inside. 

A stairway shimmered into existence, made of little more than starlight.

Time stared upwards in awe, but it was Tatl that spoke.

“Does anybody know what the hell just happened?”

---

Only the Deity could accompany him into the moon. Instead of barren rocks, or perhaps a stomach of sorts, there was a calm field, decorated with flowers and a single tree.

A single tree, watching over children as they ran and played. How familiar. 

Time couldn’t help but flinch as one of them tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. “ What do you want? ” he asked, trying not to seem harsh. Despite the circumstances, he didn’t know if these children were part of the mask-thing’s plan.

“I like your mask,” said the child, giggling, pointing to Time’s Keaton Mask. “I want to have one too. One that looks like an angry windmill!”

Time frowned in suspicion, but, with an uncharacteristic hesitance, the Deity spoke up in his mind.

GIVE IT TO HIM. THE ODOLWA MASK. 

What? Why?

...PLEASE. JUST TRUST ME.

Time sighed, pulling the mask from his bag, and handing it to the child, who cheered with delight as soon as they put it on. “Thank you! I have to ask you something before you move on, though.” Time nodded for them to proceed. “I want to know about your friends. What kind of people are they?” 

Time frowned. “ I don’t understand. ”

“Do you think they think of you as a friend too?”

Time’s hands moved in jerky motions as he tried to find the right words. But then the child simply laughed and skipped off, joining their friends, and Time was left floundering.

I guess they never said I had to answer, he decided.

The next child to come up to him asked for a mask of ‘a man with horns’, and was awarded the Goht Mask.

“ Do you have a question for me too? ”

The child shuffled in place shyly. “I was just wondering… what makes you happy? And… do the things that make you happy, make others happy too?”

Time didn’t move to respond. Eventually the child left, disappointed.

PERHAPS YOU SHOULD ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS

I haven’t the answers to give them.

“You were really rude to my friends,” the next child informed him. “You didn’t answer them. They were just curious, you know.”

Time frowned. “ Do you know where you are? ”

“Of course we do. That doesn’t change the questions, though. So… could you at least answer them?”

...SHE REALLY IS ASKING, ISN’T SHE? THIS ISN’T JUST A TRICK. IT’S LEGITIMATE CURIOSITY.

Time stared at the child curiously. They looked a lot like the Happy Mask Salesman, and yet, not at all. “ Do you want a mask first? ”

“I want you to answer the questions first. I’ll want a mask after, and I’ll have questions for you too. But you have to say sorry first.”

“ ...I’m sorry. I should have at least tried to answer. ”

The child nodded. “That’s better. So…?”

Time sighed, trying to think. “ My friends… I don’t think there’s any one word to describe all of them. Some of them are gone. Some of them aren’t. Some of them are the kindest people I’ve ever met. Some of them would tear down the world if they had the chance. I don’t know if they think of me as a friend. But… I hope they do. ”

The child’s eyes were wide with curiosity, and the other three had stopped playing simply to watch as Time signed. 

“ I don’t know what makes me happy anymore. I don’t like hurting people, but I like fighting, and I don’t really understand why. I haven’t felt happy in a long time. I’m not really the best person to ask about these things. ”

The child nodded. “That’s okay. Sometimes saying you don’t know is a good answer too. Can I have the scary fish mask now?”

Time almost considered giving him the Zora Mask, but decided that it wouldn’t be worth the joke. The child accepted Gyorg’s Mask with glee. “ So what’s your question, then? ”

“What’s the right thing to do?” they asked bluntly. “And, if you do it, does it make everybody happy?”

“ No, ” said Time without hesitation. “ It never will. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still the right thing. The right thing to do is the one that makes as many people happy, and as few people unhappy. It’s good to make someone laugh, but not if it hurts them, or hurts someone else. And some people just aren’t happy. ”

“Like you?”

“ Like me. ”

The child seemed saddened by this, but still joined their friends. The fourth and final child walked up to Time, almost solemnly. “Hi,” they greeted.

“ Hello. Would you like a mask? ”

The child grinned. “Mm-hmm. I think you already know which one I want.” Time nodded, and offered up Twinmold’s Mask. “You’re wearing a mask too,” they noted. “Your true face… what kind of face is it? The face under the mask- is that your true face?”

“ I’m afraid I don’t know this one either. I don’t really know what my true face is. But the mask makes me feel safe. I can take it off, if you’d like? ”

“No, you don’t have to. I think… I think the mask is a good face too.”

The child joined its friends, and silently, they vanished into mist, laughing and playing in a way oh-so reminiscent of the Kokiri. And from that same mist came a fifth child, who already had a mask on.

Painted with all the colors of the sunset, with eyes too lifelike to be simply wood and pigment. A curled beak seemed to mock them, and the spikes on its side were colored in the most painful yellow possible.

“ You’re the mask, aren’t you? ”

The child giggled. YOU’RE SMART, AREN’T YOU? they asked him, rocking side to side. They looked around, humming. EVERYONE ELSE IS GONE.

“ Yes. It’s just us, now. Though I suppose that was the case from the start. ”

OF COURSE , the child told him. WHO ELSE WOULD BE INSIDE THE MOON? LET’S DO SOMETHING ELSE. LET’S PLAY SOMETHING. IT’S QUITE BORING HERE OTHERWISE.

...the child’s voice was the same as the Deity’s. Perhaps a bit higher pitched, and they certainly spoke in a different manner. But it was still the same.

“ Can I ask you something first? Since you’ve been asking me so many things. ”

OF COURSE! FAIR IS FAIR, AFTER ALL~

“ Who are you? ”

I AM MAJORA. 

“ What does that mean? ” 

THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU ASKED, IS IT? Majora giggled. I WANT TO PLAY NOW. LET’S PLAY GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS!

“ What are the rules? ” 

WELL THAT’S THE THING, ISN’T IT? WHEN YOU’RE A GOOD GUY, YOU WIN. AND WHEN YOU’RE A BAD GUY…

The sky darkened, and Time curled his hand around the Fierce Deity’s Mask.

YOU JUST RUN

---

Time had never put on the Deity’s Mask before this, save for that very first instance, when it had only been used to create a conduit. The two spoke in the spaces between days, after the end of the third day and before the beginning of the first. He’d expected it to be powerful.

He didn’t expect this.

He didn’t expect the Deity to cry out in panic, to force Time into the depths of his own mind, to take over his body while whispering apologies. He didn’t expect to feel a vague, distant pain, or to hear the sound of his own screams.

He didn’t expect to be grown up again.

Through eyes that were no longer his own he looked down at familiar hands and wondered if they’d have the same scars as before if he took the gloves off. In the reflection of a strange sword he saw white eyes and white hair.

“Why did you do that?” whispered the Deity with a voice that was no longer Time’s. “You could have died!”

Because I trust you, Time said. Because I can’t win this fight.

Time noticed his face felt wet, and wondered if gods could cry. “I was locked away for a reason, Time. I’m not safe. You are lucky to have only met me in your mind.”

There’s nobody else here, you know. 

“What?”

I felt your power, even if for a second. You’re not just some minor deity, are you?

“I- Time, I never meant to lie to you-”

I know. I don’t care. I’m sure I’ve lied to you too. And I know you’re scared. But there’s no-one else around who can get hurt.

White eyes stared at gloved hands, at a twisted sword, at a necklace of three blue beads. 

A mask floated in the air with nobody wearing it.

The battle had already begun.

---

Only a few people would ever know what really happened in that strange place.

Time and the Fierce Deity knew, of course, as they had been there. If you asked someone from Termina, they’d tell of a savior that appeared from nowhere and summoned the Giants, of how he was praised as a hero upon his return. If you asked most of this hero’s friends, they’d give you the bare bones of the things, the story that Time was willing to tell them.

There were four others that knew the details. That knew of the children in the moon, of their questions. That knew the way Time watched in silent horror as his body was puppetted by a vengeful god. The way that god had broken down as soon as the battle was over.

There are only two more who know the full truth. But we haven’t quite gotten there yet, have we? For now, let us see what that truth is.

The spirit was driven back into the mask, sealed away and powerless until it found a new host to feed upon. But our heroes knew how dangerous that could be. So they found a loophole.

Time offered up Majora’s Mask to the Salesman, wordlessly imploring the man to take it.

“...this is not the thing I asked for,” he said, yet it took it anyways.

“ It is, ” Time told him plainly. “ This is the mask that was stolen from you. ”

The Happy Mask Salesman simply chuckled. “It is, isn’t it? I suppose you’re right.” He placed the mask atop the piano at his side. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“ Safe. Somewhere they can’t hurt anyone else. ”

There was something akin to joy in the Salesman’s eyes. “You did what I could not,” he told Time quietly. “Was it worth it?”

“ We’ll just have to wait and see. ”

---

It was the dawn of the fourth day.

“They’re having a celebration, you know,” Tatl mused from Time’s shoulder as he looked down at the streets from his perch upon the clocktower. “They’re alive because of you.”

Time didn’t say anything. 

“You should join them.”

“ Where is Tael? I thought you’d be happy to see him again. ”

Tatl shrugged. “Hanging out with Crow again. They both went through a lot. But they don’t understand. Tael doesn’t understand. We’ve done everything together, and now it’s… it’s like we’re strangers.” She sighed. “But he’s safe. He’s alive. And that’s enough.”

“ None of them know me. ”

“No, but you could get to know them.”

“ That’s not what I said. I know them plenty. They don’t know me. ”

“Where will you go, then? Home?”

“ I don’t know where that is. This- monsters and puzzles and danger- I don’t know anything else. I would like to. But I don’t think I could just… stop. ” Time looked over at Tatl, glad of how the Keaton mask kept his tears hidden. “ I can’t force you to come with me. ”

Tatl nodded. “That doesn’t mean we’ll never see each other again.”

“ Doesn’t it? ”

“No. Even if the universe tries to force us apart, we will see each other again. This is not goodbye,” Tatl said forcefully. “It’s just… ‘until next time’.”

“ Is that a pun? ”

“Mm. Might be. You can’t prove it, though.”

“ ...I’ll miss you. And I won’t let myself forget you. So you’d better not forget me. ”

“How could I? You’re the weirdest kid I’ve ever met.”

Time decided not to argue with her calling him a kid. She was probably hundreds of years older, after all. “ Until next time, Tatl. ”

“Until then, Time.”

Chapter Text

This wasn’t the first battlefield the Hero of Time had seen before. Nor, he suspected, would it be the last.

That didn’t mean he had to like it.

The battle was over, now- it had been for a while. But the signs were still there. The ground, torn and churned by explosions. Broken weapons and abandoned armor scattered like leaves. The smell of death.

This wasn’t Hyrule, though. This wasn’t anywhere in the Skylands, at least not that he could recognize. Time looked around at the horizon, trying to figure out his location.

...huh. That was not what Hyrule Castle looked like, but it sure was Hyrule Castle nonetheless.

Alright, so, probably time-travel? he thought to himself, pausing a moment to let Tatl or the Fierce Deity reply, then smacking himself in the face. Tatl was back with Tael and Crow in Termina, and the Fierce Deity was… busy. Time had been robbed of his peanut gallery for the moment.

He sighed, running over to the nearby forest edge, further away from the battlefield, if only to take a moment to remove his mask. He’d been wearing the Keaton Mask for so long now that he’d forgotten what his face looked like, and, honestly? He preferred it that way. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have to remove the thing every now and then.

Wherever, or, more likely, when ever he was, he was still going to need food and shelter. He could always make do on his own if he needed to, but he figured he’d at least see if there were options.

He hadn’t even managed to find his way back to the Lost Woods before that damned portal opened up. Time knew dark magic when he saw it, but it had appeared in his path, and he’d fallen in before he could process how bad of an idea it would be to go through. 

Whoops.

Well, he wasn’t dead yet, so that was probably a plus. For now he needed to find his way to the nearest town and hope there was someone who understood Zoran sign.

There wasn’t.

Not a single goddess-damned person.

To be fair, it was a very small town, just a quaint little village that barely deserved a spot on the map. Not a lot of people back in Termina had known it either, but that small handful was still more than if Time had no way of communicating at all, and if need be, Tatl could stand in as a translator for him. She’d had to learn Hylian Common from him and the Deity, but, then again, she’d had all the time in the world to do so.

The townspeople did understand money, at least, and a handful of rupees plus some very insistent pointing earned Time enough food to get him through the day. Shelter, not so much, as the innkeeper just kept asking him where his parents were and why he was wearing that silly mask. Back in Termina it was fairly common to hide your face with a mask, but whatever history had led to that didn’t apply here.

Time did manage to find a place to sleep, though, after clambering his way up through the inside of the windmill. It was no Happy Hearth Inn, but it was a roof above his head and walls to protect him from monsters, so that would have to be enough.

“Kid? Hey, kid-” Time paused as he realized he was the one being addressed by the Hylian soldier that was jogging after him. “Are you all alone out here?”

Time hesitated, then nodded. He got this quite often, and generally found that saying he was, in fact, with his ‘parents’ resulted in the questioner asking to speak with them, which was of course impossible as the only real parent he had was a tree. And possibly a haunted mask, but he wasn’t about to tell the Deity about that; he’d get far too smug about it.

“Did you come here through some kind of portal? Like a big hole in the air?”

Time looked up at the soldier with some surprise, and nodded. “Do you know where the portals came from?” he signed, actually curious now. “Has anyone else come through them?”

The soldier sighed. “Look, kid, I don’t have time for charades. You need to come with me to Castle Town, okay? It’s safe there, we can help you get back to your parents.”

Interesting. So Time wasn’t the only one lost through those portals, and the people here were aware of it. The soldier seemed prepared to-

The soldier put a hand on Time’s shoulder to lead him along, and Time let out an unexpected yelp and pulled his sword in panic, making the soldier back up and raise his hands. “Holy shit! Jeez, calm down! Who gave you a sword!?”

Time huffed in annoyance, sheathing the sword once again and pushing past the soldier. It was unlikely he was alone, so Time hoped his commanding officer might understand sign.

He did not, it turned out. Nor did anyone in his unit. 

“Who gave a six-year-old a sword?” muttered the soldier Time had first met, who Time was able to identify based on the simple green pendant he wore. He’d had brought him back to some strange, boxy device that looked a bit like a carriage without a horse, if you ignored the obviously magic symbols plastered all over it. 

“He’s probably a runaway or something, I doubt he’s even one of the refugees,” grumbled the group’s captain. “We’ll bring him back to Castle Town anyways, though. See if anyone recognizes him. Lady Impa will have our heads if she finds out we left some whelp behind.”

Time perked up. “I-M-P-A?” he spelled out slowly, hoping that would be simple enough for one of the men to understand. None of them reacted, though, just looked at him oddly. He sighed.

“C’mon, kid, let’s get going,” said one of the soldiers, placing a hand on his back, though Time kept himself from pulling out his sword this time. Instead, though, seeing he was about to be corralled into the magic-box-carriage-thing, he snatched the Stone Mask off his belt and swapped it out with the Keaton Mask, all in a single motion. As soon as the wood touched his face, he darted out from the soldier’s grasp, grinning as he heard sounds of confusion behind him.

Curiosity kept him from running immediately, and from just around the corner he heard the captain grumbling to himself. “‘nother fuckin’... we always get the weirdos, don’t we? First that rabbit bastard and now a disappearing toddler.”

“What do we tell Lady Impa?”

“That we didn’t find anyone out here.”

Time permitted himself an internal smile. He had at least two, maybe three weeks before the Deity was finished wrapping things up with his new friend. Which meant there was no-one to stop him from doing something very stupid and very, very petty.

Step 1: Keep going from town to town, never speaking, only staying to purchase food. Easy enough, since that’s what he’d already been doing in the first place. He stopped trying to see if there was anyone who knew sign, though.

Step 2: Let the soldiers see you, even ‘catch’ you, then slip away before they load you onto their magic-box-carriage-thing. The soldiers called it a ‘cart’ but since it was very obviously not a cart, Time refused to call it that.

Step 3: Show up at the various military keeps dotted around what Time could only assume was Hyrule Field. It was far too fun, just poking his masked face in through their windows, letting them wonder how he managed to get to the second or third story. 

Despite what it may seem, Time had never intentionally become a cryptid before, but Crow had, and Crow was very very proud of this fact. Time knew exactly what kind of stunts the Skull Kid liked to pull off, and how to replicate them.

When the Fierce Deity finally returned, it was to a very smug Hero of Time, holding a missive that, while written in a foreign script, had an unmistakable drawing of a small figure in a Keaton Mask.

TIME.

Deity.

I WASN’T EVEN GONE THAT LONG, TIME. 

And yet.

Time felt amusement at the long-suffering sigh he got in response. WHERE ARE WE? THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE TERMINA.

Time winced. Right, the Deity hadn’t been awake for any of that. Hyrule Field, but I don’t know when. I can see the castle in the distance but it doesn’t look like the one I know. They also have some pretty strange magic.

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFE PLACE TO SPEAK WITH HER?

...no. Maybe? Probably not. There’s too many people.

THEN WE SHALL WAIT. AND IN THE MEANTIME, YOU WILL TELL ME WHAT EXACTLY IT IS YOU’VE GOTTEN UP TO.

What I’ve been doing is figuring out what’s going on here while also becoming a local cryptid. Some kind of dark portal showed up and pulled me in, and apparently I’m not the only one. The military is going around rounding up ‘temporal refugees’ that’ve gotten stuck here, but no-one knows where the portals came from, or why they’re bringing people here.

The Deity ignored the cryptid remark, and focused on the rest of Time’s ‘statement’. THIS ERA IS… I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH A CONCENTRATION OF DARK MAGIC, YET THERE IS NO SIGN OF CORROSION OR DECAY. HOW HAVE YOU OBTAINED YOUR INFORMATION?

Snooping. No-one knows Zoran sign and no-one’s willing to pay attention to a ‘child’.

THEY ARE IGNORANT, TIME. THEY DO NOT KNOW YOU. DO NOT LET THEIR FOOLISH WORDS HARM YOU.

Time scowled, but ‘said’ nothing. Whatever. The point is, I haven’t been able to get any good answers, and I have no idea how to get back h- back to my own era. 

AN INTERESTING PREDICAMENT. 

Aaand that’s your way of saying you’re not going to help, isn’t it? Time huffed, hopping off his seat of a worn-down tree stump and stuffing the missive in his bag for safe-keeping. I don’t know why I tolerate you sometimes.

…

That was a joke.

AH.

Time rolled his eyes in amusement as the Deity settled back into his familiar spot in Time’s mind, watching and listening and simply being there. Both Hero and Deity knew that, more often than not, that was enough for Time. Not an audience, but an acknowledgement. A shoulder to lean on.

...he could smell smoke in the distance.

Time froze as he tried to identify the direction of the scent, but with the sun setting he needn’t bother, as the light of distant fires was easily visible. Pulling the Bunny Hood up over his own rabbit-like ears, he sped through the Inverted Song of Time (did so many of his spells and items really need to be that on the nose?) and watched as the battlefield rushed closer and closer.

The song ran out and the tail end of a scream split through the clouds of ash. Time listened for anything more, but heard nothing else past that final note of death. Nothing else, until a churlish cackle echoed its way through a mob of monsters.

It was the last moments of a massacre. 

Time clutched a hand to his wooden ‘face’ as he looked and saw a cluster of white tents with an unmistakable red Viritus plastered on each front, with an overturned magical ‘cart’ accompanying them. The stench of blood and burning hit him with full force, and Time couldn’t help but gag, falling to his knees to escape the stench, to no avail. The camp- what was left of the camp- smelled of sickness and the sickly-sweet of red potions, now overshadowed by the smell of burning meat.

The monsters just laughed.

I TRUST YOU.

I- what?

THERE IS NOBODY ELSE HERE. NO-ONE AROUND TO GET HURT.

Time felt his hand unconsciously drifting towards that impossibly familiar mask, fingertips sliding over its wooden surface. Is that even safe? What if she…?

SHE WON’T.  

Time stared at the simple green pendant on the ground. Listened to the distant laughter.

Just as before, the mask fit over his face like it belonged there.

Zalle cursed her luck for the second time in as many hours. Of course she just had to be the only person assigned to rounding up refugees that knew Zoran sign, because why not! Captain Cirron couldn’t be bothered to, oh I don’t know, read a book, because he could just send out good old ‘’’Captain Link’’’! Because, y’know, not being able to speak translates to ‘not having a name’ in his book. His book he can’t even read.

‘Captain Link’ my ass. 

And then. And then there was this.

She’d gone out alone, being sent off on a wild goose chase. ‘Go find that kid in the mask, bring him back to Castle Town’. Something to get her out of his hair.

This was not a wild goose chase.

Zalle re-adjusted her grip on her sword, looking out on the smouldering remnants of a fire. This must’ve been the group that came back from the Whistling Hill… didn’t they send out a messenger? No, no. They did, it looks like. A Rito in pale garb lay on the ground with a trio of arrows in their back. Too far out for anyone to hear them. Mostly medical tents… keep’s barely standing, they wouldn’t’ve been able to retreat. 

The fires crackled on as Zalle sent a silent prayer to the Spirits of Good before moving on to check for either survivors or monsters.

She found something else.

She had assumed, when sent out to collect another dimensional refugee, that they'd be odd, sure, that was to be expected, especially given this kid’s reputation. She hadn't expected this.

She saw eyes, blank and glowing. An aura of unfamiliar magic. Movement in the darkness. The culprit? No, not when she saw the gleaming of a sword, not when every corpse was littered with arrows.

She saw eyes, a flat blue glow peering out at her from the darkness, and she couldn't help but ready her stance should this... being, decide to attack. But, no.

A child, with eyes so much older than the rest of him, stared back at her, a painted wooden mask in his hands.

The click of wood being slotted back in place. The silence of a curious gaze. The muffled movement of signs.

“The rest of the bokoblins have been dealt with.”

Zalle wanted to laugh, at first, at the utter gall of this child claiming to have defeated the monsters that wiped out an entire encampment. But he wasn’t lying, was he? No. No, this wasn’t a child playing a game. She questioned if this was even a child.

Cautiously, Zalle sheathed her sword, stepping closer to the stranger so he could see her hands. “What happened here?”

The stranger balked in a moment of shock, their mouth dropping open in awe before their expression flickered back into a flat neutrality and left Zalle wondering if she was imagining things. “I don’t know. I got here too late.” He paused. “You think this is my fault.”

Zalle shook her head. “These people were killed with arrows, and by a massive group, not an individual.”

“You can tell just by looking at them?”

Zalle considered correcting him, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “I don’t think anyone would believe me. You’ve got a habit of showing up at our keeps, though. I guess I could say I found you here, hiding from the monsters.”

The stranger hesitated. “You don’t know me.”

“You came through one of the portals, right? You’re in an unfamiliar place with no-one to rely on. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Enough to lie to your commanding officer.”

Zalle shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“You aren’t going to ask me where my parents are? Or force me into one of those magic box things?”

“Nope. I will bring you back to Castle Town, though, and ‘magic box thing’ is the fastest way there.”

The stranger scowled. “If your box tries to attack me I won’t hesitate to stab you.”

“Is that a yes, then?”

The stranger simply lowered their hands to replace the Keaton Mask they’d become so infamous for, striding up to Zalle and staring up at her. 

She decided that that was, in fact, a ‘yes’, and that the stranger would surely let her know if she was wrong. 

Probably by stabbing her.

Time let the blue-eyed soldier lead him back to his magic box, where another soldier stood, probably his captain. "Lieutenant! Anything to report?"

The blue-eyed soldier nodded, and as he raised his hands to sign, Time watched curiously as a pink and green fairy flitted over to him. "You left without me," she scolded. "Lady Impa assigned me to you, so let me do my job."

The soldier signed a brief apology, then turned to his captain. As he began signing, Time watched the fairy speak his message aloud. " 'I found the Whistling Hill squadron. They were ambushed by archers. I found this one hiding in the keep.' " The soldier gestured to Time, much to the captain's shock.

"No shit. You found the kid?"

" Not a kid. Kokiri," Time corrected.

"He says he's a Kokiri, sir, but that's unlikely," said the fairy. "They never leave the forest, and are bound to a fairy companion. I've never seen a Kokiri on their own."

The captain hummed. "He's a violent one, too, and those forest kids are as pacifist as they get. Well, good job, lieutenant," he said with a smarmy grin, "you managed to wrangle a toddler." The captain laughed and slapped the blue-eyed lieutenant on the back, making him scowl. "Well, come on, then. You're the last one back; even Phanem got back before you did."

" 'Sir, I don't think it's a good idea to bring the child in the cart with us.' "

"Eh, just throw him in the back, it's a short enough ride."

" '... requesting permission to remain with the temporal refugee during the trip, sir.' " At the captain's questioning look, the blue-eyed lieutenant continued. " 'He's just a child, sir, one who's just gone through a traumatic event. He hasn't been seen with any parents. If he got separated from them by the portal…' "

The captain sighed, his shoulders sagging. "No, no, you're right. With everything that's been going on…" He trailer off, leaving the statement unfinished. "Go get comfortable, then. And bring Lumine with you this time!"

" I'm sorry about Captain Cirron, " said the blue-eyed lieutenant once the magic box started moving. There were grated windows on either side, placed too high up for Time to see out of them. The fairy, Lumine, had briefly taken up a spot on the lieutenant's shoulder, before alighting on his head to avoid being shaken off. 

" Is he always like that? "

" More or less. He's a good man, just a very busy one. I think he considers messing with me to be stress relief. " The lieutenant paused. " I probably deserve it, though. I'm not exactly easy to deal with myself. "

"Should I assume my services aren't necessary here?" mused Lumine.

" You assume correctly. Cirron'll yell at you if you ditch me though. "

"No, Captain Cirron will yell at you, since you're the one who keeps running off."

" What's been going on here? " interrupted Time. " I've figured some of it out- I haven't been breaking into your keeps for no reason- but none of it makes sense. Opening up this many portals would take a nearly limitless magic source, and unless someone stole the Triforce again, it just isn't possible. Time travel is already difficult, but bringing things through it? And for what? "

The blue-eyed lieutenant stared at Time with surprise. " You've been busy, haven't you? "

" I have nowhere else to go. If I'm going to get back to my own time, I'm gonna have to know how I got here in the first place. "

The lieutenant nodded. " Are you really a Kokiri, then? "

" I am. " Was he, anymore? He wasn’t sure. " Don't ask me how old I am, you won't get an answer. "

" I wasn't planning on it, but, noted. " The magic box came to a gentle stop, and the lieutenant stood, gesturing for Time to do the same. " We're here. "

'Here?' Weren't they going to Castle Town? They'd been at least an hour away by horseback, let alone by magic box. The thing couldn't have been moving faster than walking speed. Yet, now that he focused, Time could hear the muffled voices of a crowd.

His heart froze for a split second. What was I thinking!? Idiot! I let them trap me!

The blue-eyed soldier paused. " 'You're nervous,' " Lumine relayed.

"I'm fine."

" 'I will vouch for you,' " the soldier insisted. " '...stay by my side. Lumine can translate for you, if you'd like.' " 

"I'm fine," Time repeated, pushing past the soldier and pushing open the back door of the magic box, only to find himself in… a very strange stable?

It was a large stone room, with three other magic boxes. One was hovering softly and silently above the ground, even as a half-dozen soldiers clambered in. Despite the strangeness of the box, their armor and weapons were still familiar. The other magic box rested on the ground, with a… was that a Watarara? They certainly looked like it, regardless of the fact that they were happily working alongside Humans, seemingly casting some complex spell or ritual on the front of the magic box.

"Zael! Take the kid to records, get him checked in and all that," ordered the man that the blue-eyed soldier called Captain Cirron. “And take that sword of his! We don’t wanna risk another incident.” The blue-eyed soldier saluted in turn, and gestured for Time to follow him.

"Zael?" questioned Time. Is that your name?"

The soldier hesitated, then nodded. "Just "Lieutenant" works fine."  

"Name?"

"Link. "

A tired sigh. "This isn't for anything else but figuring out where- er, when - you're from, and keeping track of how many people are stuck here."

Time gaved a bored shrug in reply. 

The aged Zora frowned at the Kokiri sitting before her. He refused to budge. "Perhaps just list him as "the Keaton mask kid" or something," suggested the Lieutenant. "I t'd probably be easier…"

"Mm. Fair. Even I recognize that mask and I'm just a Nayru-damned pencil pusher," mused the Zora. Despite the phrase, the Zora didn’t seem to have any sort of pencil at all, but rather a completely featureless black stick, and a flat, rectangular stone, which glowed a vibrant blue on one side. "Place of birth and/or creation?"

"The Lost Woods."

The Zora nodded. "Species?"

"Kokiri," came the automatic answer. He had no intention of specifying further.

"Mm. Do you know what year you came from, and what the current calendar is?"

Time made an active effort to hold back a whole slew of witty remarks that would make sense to only himself and the Deity. "No."

"Can you tell me any recent events? Political changes, natural disasters, wars…"

“No.”

The Zora pinched the space between their eyes. “Okay,” they replied slowly, making Time almost feel bad for not cooperating. Almost. “Do you know the names of any current rulers?”

Time considered it. “King Tellarus Naeren Hyrule and Princess Zelda Lullan Hyrule. King Ganondorf Dragmire. The current Goron chief is named Darunia… I don’t remember the Zora king’s name, but I know his heir is named Princess Ruto.” A pause. “Both princesses are children, if that helps.”

The Zora looked shocked at Time’s sudden cooperation, which was understandable. Really, he didn’t mind offering general information like that, but he could hardly be expected to keep up on current events, especially considering how many of them didn’t actually happen. “That helps quite a bit, actually.” To the Lieutenant, they noted, “300 into Age of Myths.”

The blue-eyed lieutenant nodded, gesturing for Time to follow, and off they went, down yet another hallway.

A Kokiri from the Age of Myths… thought Zalle. Wonder if he knows the Arbiter’s Prophet? A question for another time, when things weren’t quite so hectic. 

The Kokiri wove through the busy hallways like he was weaving through enemies, and Zalle noticed his hand brushing against where the hilt of his sword ought to be- a sword that the Kokiri had refused to give up, but had agreed to store in what Zalle could only assume to be a bag of holding. Every now and then he seemed to vanish into the noise, just to reappear beside Zalle. 

“Not used to crowds?”

The Kokiri glanced at her with a (quite literally) unreadable expression, and said nothing. Eh, fair enough. “Sorry about all this. With so many people showing up out of nowhere, it’s been hard to keep track of everything.”

"There can't be that many portals, can there?"

Zalle sighed deeply, before gesturing for the Kokiri to follow her through the next hallway. Even outside the room itself, all the signs and notes and lost articles showed just what kind of a mess to expect.

She had to admit, even now, she could never fully wrap her head around it all.

Zalle unlocked the door with a spark of magic, and the two entered into the administration room.

"DENARAE, AGE OF NIGHTFALL, PLEASE STEP UP TO DESK THREE!"

"This is a reminder that neither physical nor verbal violence will be permitted-"

"- fucking shadow freak-!"

"- giant bird! "

"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into her-"

"- literal monster!"

"I ASKED FOR A MEDIUM HALF AN HOUR AGO, WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?"

"Please remain in orderly lines!"

"I wanna go home…"

"- SHARING A ROOM WITH THAT THING! "

"Dude, chill-"

"- racist weirdo-"

"DAZIR, AGE OF THE GREAT SEA, DESK ONE!"

"Welcome to the admin room," signed Zalle wearily, though she couldn't help but smirk at the flabbergasted expression she knew the Kokiri must be wearing. "The more morbid here like to call it "hell's waiting room"."

"How many portals are there?"

Zalle couldn't help but grin at the Kokiri's haltering signs- and at the fact that the two of them could talk just fine in the racket. Take that , anyone that claimed only invalids and foreigners used Zora Sign anymore. The fool. "This isn’t even a quarter of everyone that's come through. We only recently figured out how to organize everyone properly. History is always a lot more complicated than you'd think." By the Spirits of Good, wasn't that an understatement.

The Kokiri surveyed the room with silent awe… or maybe just silence. "You brought me here so they can write me down in their books."

Zalle nodded.

"You know I'm not staying, right?"

... what? Zalle couldn't read the Kokiri's expression, couldn't hear the tone of his voice, and yet… she knew he was completely serious. He was hardly the first temporal refugee to deny their circumstances, but-

"LINK! Get your ass over here, we've got another ghost to deal with!"

Zalle glanced over to indicate to Lumine that she wanted her to respond, just to realize that she'd managed to leave the fairy behind somewhere in the halls. Instead she waved over to- Secretary Valen? Either Valen or Pinna- and when she looked back to let the Kokiri know she had to bail on him for a sec, he was gone.

Because of course he was. This was the Keaton Mask Kid, of course he wasn't going to cooperate with anyone. 

Cirron was going to have her head…

Damn this place . Damn that Lieutenant. Damn emotions in general.

YOU KNEW FROM THE START THIS WAS HIS INTENT

Shut up, I know that! It's not my fault my fucking brain can't handle people being nice to me.

I NEVER INTENDED TO PLACE FAULT ON YOU-

Just- give me a second to process, okay!?

The Deity gave him a mental nod, and a feeling of recognition. A silent "do what you need to". Time sighed, not wanting to argue with a literal god, and instead wove his way through the crowds with the help of the Stone Mask. The soldier had been called away to the far right of the room, so Time stuck to the left.

The biggest point of attention, and the first thing Time had noticed upon entering hell's waiting room, was a Hylian(?) man trying to calm a very, very large bird. As in, "could probably kill him with one kick". So Time did the rational thing and got closer.

The bird was quite beautiful, he had to admit, with sea-green plumage and orange, brown, and white markings. The man was wearing one of its feathers on his belt, and looked like some middle-of-nowhere farmer. He had strange ears, like someone had started sculpting Hylian ears and just… gave up halfway. Not that that meant anything to Time- despite the name, he didn't know shit about history.

Hmm. That bird was weird. And possibly deadly. Someone should probably deal with it.

...damn his fucking hero complex.

Time sighed and fished out one of his less-used masks, one that was shaped like an eagle's gaze and only covered the top half of his face.

" Oh Hylia I'm gonna die, so many people, so many people, need to get out, Soul is scared, why, why, need to get out, need to get OUT- "

"Please stop yelling," said Time calmly in Faespeech. "You are very big and very loud. Also I think you're freaking your friend out."

The bird froze like ice, only letting out a confused clacking noise. " Oh, " it said quietly. " You are- where is your Soul? Where is everyone's? Why am I the only Soul here? "

"I don't know," said Time honestly. "But you're scaring a lot of people. You might hurt someone on accident, too."

The bird stared at him. " ...right, " it said blankly. " I… how can you speak to me when I am not your Soul? "

Time shrugged. "Magic, probably."

" ...oh. Okay. "

Having calmed the bird down, and not wanting to be bombarded with more highly unsettling questions, Time put the Stone Mask on again to get back to the Lieutenant. Considering the lengths these people had gone to to find him, it'd be kind of pointless to just run off on his own.

He'd just end up back here again ( and again and again and again and again and- ), after all. Might as well see what the fucker who brought him here was up to. It could be something interesting.

Like talking to thin air.

Okay, talking wasn't right, as she'd gone and recruited a different fairy than the one before to speak for her, and thin air wasn't right either, since a quick glance at the Lens of Truth confirmed the presence of an incredibly confused ghost of some sort.

Time sighed. He did not envy the people working here.

After the utter hassle that the admin room always was nowadays, the Kokiri got shunted off to the side with any other fae, spirits, and undead, including the ghost Zalle had needed to negotiate with, as he was very unhappy to be removed from a night of restless haunting. His words, not her own.

...she managed to make it down the hall before the Kokiri showed up in front of her.

"Hello again."

The Kokiri glanced at her calmly, then startled when he saw her gaze. "You can see me?"

"Should I not be able to?"

"Not really, no."

Whoops. "Any reason you're running off so soon?"

"Aren't you going to force me to stay?"

" You, are officially not my problem right now," signed Zalle emphatically. "My job is to report to Cirron and tell him I got you to admin. Not my fault if you ran off afterwards."

"That seems like a ridiculous way of doing things."

"And easy to exploit, too," Zalle agreed. "Wanna tag along? Might give you some insight into the whole portal business- though it could also be boring shit. About fifty-fifty."

The Kokiri paused. "Can everyone see me?"

"Just me."

"... might as well. Lead the way."

It turned out to be mostly boring shit. Probably a good 80% of it was boring shit, if she had to guess. Maybe 82%. The Kokiri stuck around for it though. Odd, considering he seemed to mostly operate by doing whatever sounded the most interesting, regardless of circumstance. 

"Lieutenant Zael."

Zalle perked up. " 'Yes, Captain?' " Lumine had been waiting for her alongside Captain Cirron, looking… oddly calm. Usually ditching her resulted in a stern talking-to at minimum.

"Report. What's the update on the kid?"

" 'He's not actually a kid, for one,' " translated Lumine. " 'He's a Kokiri, specifically from the Age of Myths. He's been put into records and was being assigned quarters last I saw him.’ " Technically the truth. 

Cirron just chuckled. "Sure he is. Any magic items?"

" 'Only a bag of holding. That mask of his is mundane.' "

Cirron nodded. "Alright. Chevskey, go check on the children's group, make sure that kid is properly searched."

"Yessir."

"Wh- hold on! Why is he in the children's group?" Zalle waited for Lumine's translation, but none came, and Cirron continued with the reports. "Lumine, what's going on!?"

Lumine sighed. "Stop overreacting," she said flatly, and Zalle's hands froze on instinct. "It's clear the Keaton Mask Kid isn't a real Kokiri, even if he kind of looks like one. Or is your vision so bad you can't tell a kid from a sapling?"

"I could see him just fine. He didn't talk like a child, or act like one either."

"Zael, he doesn't have a fairy . He physically cannot be a Kokiri."

"Ask Cirron where he's being sent."

"Zael…"

"WHERE IS HE BEING SENT?"

Lumine stared at her impassively, then nodded and asked the question of Cirron. The man just shrugged. "Boarding house, like all the other tots. And before you start to argue about cruel treatment or whatever you've come up with this time, just remember that no-one else is willing to house the little monsters. Be grateful! That's not too hard, is it?"

Zalle assumed Cirron's grin was meant to be reassuring. It wasn't.

"I'll take him."

"... Lumine? You gonna translate or what?"

"You're an idiot," snapped Lumine, flying right up into Zalle's face. "You don't know how to take care of yourself, let alone a child!"

"I can care for myself just fine," Zalle argued with gritted teeth. "And he isn't a child. You've heard how he talks!"

"That isn't proof of anything!"

Zalle sighed. "Ask Cirron if there is any legal reason I cannot board the Kokiri for the duration of the crisis."

Lumine did.

Cirron laughed.

"Fucking hell, Link. Of course you can't! You've got a job, or did you think you were wearing that tabard for decoration?" Cirron just shook his head, grinning. "Good joke. Now head over to section three. You're on guard duty."

"That went well."

The blue-eyed soldier scowled. "Lumine won't be gone for long. She knows where I'm stationed, and she'll tell Cirron the moment she sees you."

"Mhm. Good thing she and every other fairy in the building is gonna be distracted for the next hour or so." Finally that mask had some use. Turns out it worked even when he wasn't wearing it.

Those fairies were gonna be pissed once they found the thing in the vents.

"So what's your house like?"

"Did you not hear the part where Captain Cirron laughed in my face?"

"Sure did. Can't wait to see who's gonna be trying to deal with me next. What do you think, should I sneak out, or slowly drive them mad until they succumb to my demands?"

...TIME

"Sorry. Got a bit morbid there."

"Please don't drive anyone mad," said the Lieutenant. "There's enough things happening already."

"Fair. So… house?"

"Yeah. More of an apartment, but there's food and shelter and a couch that turns into a bed."

"How well-defended is it? Strategically, that is."

The Lieutenant looked surprised. Wasn't that a common question? Even big cities weren't always safe from monster raids. "I've never thought about it. It holds up to thieves well enough, but I don't know if I can say the same about a siege."

"Any wards or enchantments?" Time had no idea what did and didn't affect the Deity, but he wasn't about to push his luck.

"Not unless you count the electrical wires, no." Question to be answered some other time.

"Good enough." He paused. "This is the part where I allow you to ask your own questions of me."

The Lieutenant blinked at him a few times before responding. "Yeah. What are you planning on doing? Just, in general?"

Time pondered this.

He pondered it some more.

He even pondered it a third time, in case the last two ponderings hadn't made the word "ponder" meaningless yet.

He shrugged. "Whatever I want to."

And Farore's Wind enveloped him, and the building faded away.

…shit. 

He managed to teleport right back to the "children's group" where he'd started.

And he had zero idea where the blue-eyed soldier lived.

...damn his need for dramatic exits.

Zalle smiled with relief as she climbed the stairwell up to her home. Today had been such a mess, even if you ignored the fact that she hadn't slept the previous night, instead spending the hours wrangling an immortal twelve-year-old. Hadn't he said he would show up at her house?

He wasn't there when she opened the door, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. But who cared about that, Zeta was there!

Zalle smiled at her childhood friend, picking up the impossibly huge serpent and draping like a scarf. "Di zu potho mi?" she greeted, the weight of Zeta's body feeling like a giant hug. "E ekasi zu di!"

Zeta, being a snake, did not reply. "Zu A apero loka, zu no," she informed it politely.

Huh. Still no Kokiri.

Zalle gave a mental shrug and went on with her day. Putting Zeta down under its sunlamp, she immediately stripped off her gauntlets, gloves, tabard, and chainmail, placing them all on the table, and leaving her in just a comfortable undershirt. She'd have to start a new load of laundry… maybe she should figure out supper first, though.

What did Kokiri eat? Did they eat? Hmm. Zalle pulled her Slate off the charging port and loaded it up. "Wa du Kokiri toru?"

< Language detected. Would you like to switch your Slate's language?>

"E thelo tu no wa Kokiri toru!"

< Switching language>

"Nevema dane zu…" Fucking Sheikah tech. Zalle was gonna break this thing someday in a fit of rage, she was sure of it.

< Sa torete pepu, Kokiri toru kapo, karidi, beri, buje, ana me oveve the tu zu. The A alithi thathatho, ana ke toru eni thi. >

... alright. So her new friend probably ate bugs. At least she wouldn't poison him on accident.

Though maybe she should still order takeout. Just in case.

Time used to like kids, once. He must've, right? He'd been one for… an amount of years. Definitely some decent amount of them. Many of them, you might even say.

He knew for a fact that Kokiri weren't this gross though. And there was twice as much crying.

Not nearly as many bugs, close encounters with death, and talking trees, though. Which really just made things worse.

Unfortunately, the matron here had a file that showed the Lieutenant's full name, and with that, he could find his way to the guy's house.

Time sighed as he was bodily carried away from the desk for a third time. This was humiliating. And the Deity wasn't even helping.

I'VE DEFEATED GODS! I'M NOT A DAMNED TODDLER!

YET YOU HAVE YET TO BREACH THE WALLS OF YOUR CONFINE.

WHICH IS A KINDERGARTEN.

Time was having a very bad day.

And as a general rule, Time, like most Kokiri, Skull Kids, and other fae being, was the kind of person that, when having a bad day, made that everyone else's problem .

The Lieutenant had told him not to drive anyone mad, but she didn't say anything about a bit of bodily harm. Nothing lethal, of course. Just little things. Little annoyances.

... maybe these kids weren't so bad, actually. After all, it's hard to pull off a prison escape by yourself.

LightOfYourLife: Zael. 

LightOfYourLife: I know you're responsible for this.

ILikeTrains: ???

ILikeTrains: how'd you get this number Lumine

LightOfYourLife: Look at the reports record

ILikeTrains: okay???

ILikeTrains: oh

ILikeTrains: OH

ILikeTrains: this is amazing and I wish I could take credit

ILikeTrains: does Citrus blame me?

ILikeTrains: *Cirron

LightOfYourLife: No. You have a perfect alibi, unfortunately

ILikeTrains: what do you mean "unfortunately"

ILikeTrains: and how did you get this number

ILikeTrains: ... Lumine?

[ User LightOfYourLife has left the conversation ]

ILikeTrains: LUMINE

A small child with rabbit-like ears walked into Zalle's flat without even knocking, carrying a bag of food. 

"I was wondering when you'd get here."

The Kokiri put the bags down with a thud . "You would not believe the things I've gone through in the last five hours."

Zalle quirked an eyebrow. "Something along the lines of recruiting dozens of innocent children into making slingshots out of arts-and-crafts supplies and mobbing the guards while screaming "freedom or death"?"

The Kokiri paused. "Okay, so you do know some of it. But the point still stands. Also, your food smells weird."

"That's because it has spices in it."

"... how rich are you?"

"I'm on a military paycheck and live in a one-person apartment, what do you think?"

The Kokiri looked… uncertain, glancing around the room- seeing the electric lights, the glowing Slate that Zalle held, the soft him of energy that flowed through the walls.

"... how far in the future am I, really?"

"I'm… not supposed to tell you that."

"That far, huh?"

Zalle stared at the ground like she might find something interesting there, like a different conversation topic. "There's, um… there's food in the bag for you, too, if you want some."

The Kokiri didn't respond. Just sifted through the bags until he found a paper box with preservation runes on it and pulled it apart to reveal a warm meal- fried greens, mixed fruits, and some roasted crickets. He brought the second box over to Zalle, this one containing a similar meal but with Gerudo-style duck instead of bugs.

They had looked pretty tempting though. Maybe another day.

The Kokiri switched out his masks in the blink of an eye, replacing his now-iconic Keaton Mask with what looked like stylized boar. It looked like a masquerade mask, not a child's toy, and Zalle couldn't help but feel she'd seen it somewhere. Though… if she was honest with herself, she'd felt that since she met the Kokiri.

"I can't afford pre-made meals like this everyday," Zalle noted, "but the fridge is well-stocked."

"That's alright. I can take care of myself."

Zalle frowned. "Then… why even stay here?"

The Kokiri shrugged. "Like you said- roof over my head, and a bed to rest in."

"No other reasons?"

"No."

They didn't say much after that. Just Zalle letting the Kokiri know when she was usually awake in the morning.

When she slept that night, it was like she was alone in the house again. 

She couldn't hear even a sound from him.

Day one.

Get up. Get dressed. See that someone already made breakfast. Remember you have a guest. Look for said guest. Fail.

Go to work. Find guest in records rooms, invisible to everyone else. Decide it's not your problem. Spend half the day organizing files and trying to pretend there isn't anyone sitting next to you.

Spend the second half doing brutal training exercises because while Cirron might not have any proof you were involved with the Kokiri's escape, it's not something that's ever stopped him before. Dodge arrows because your unit wants to mess with you and see how fast your reflexes are.

Decide not to put up with them. End up in medical with an arrow in your arm. Tell yourself it's worth the punishment the others are sure to get. Return to the training grounds despite your wound and see that Cirron has decided the incident was your fault.

Finally go home, dreading how much time it's going to take to make supper. Find a cooked meal waiting for you on the table, still hot. Decide not to question it.

Wonder what your guest is doing.

Go to bed because you're too tired to do anything else.

Day two.

Get up. Get dressed. See that someone already made breakfast. Remember you have a guest. Look for said guest. Fail.

Go to work. Try not to think about the fact that you're the only person in your unit not living in the barracks. Think about it anyways when Cirron insists you're late- by a whole 30 seconds.

Put on a brave face when Cirron says today is just training. And that they'll be running another Lynel encounter. And that you're the Lynel.

Again.

"You put up with some bullshit, huh."

To her credit, Zalle barely flinched when the Kokiri appeared at her side. "I was wondering where you'd been." 

The Kokiri shrugged. "I keep getting spotted and dragged away to a different boarding house. Turns out there's guards here with True Sight. Would've been nice to know."

"Agreed, considering I didn't know. Why are you out here, then?"

"Got bored. Wanted to see if you could actually hold yourself in a fight or not. I don't usually have high expectations for royal guards."

"I'm not a royal guard, not just yet," argued Zalle. But the point still stood. "We're doing a Lynel run, so that should give me a bit of opportunity to show off." The Kokiri tilted his head in confusion, and elaborated. "One person gets better armor and weapons, everyone else gets next to nothing, save for sheer numbers. It's to see how well you can fare against an opponent that completely outclasses you." She paused. "Mostly it's just an excuse to try and beat the shit out of me."

"That's not very nice."

"I deserve it. I'm a stubborn bastard who finds every loophole possible, has friends in high places- not to mention I've beaten all of them, including Cirron, in one-on-one fights." Zalle grinned. "Like I said. Good chance for me to show off."

Zalle heard the sound of a whistle, and dashed down the hallway, turning around and running backwards for a few places just to sign, "Wish me luck!"

HE IS… HMM

I WANT TO SAY HE IS LYING, AND YET…

He's pretending to be okay. But he’s… scared.

SHE WISHES TO KNOW WHY SOMEONE WOULD DO THAT

Time hummed to himself as he briefly switched out the Stone Mask for the Deku Scrub Mask, flying himself up onto an overhang where he could better watch the fight. He decided to leave it on. It'd been a little while since he wore this body, after all. To make himself feel better, he eventually responded. Or so that people don't pick on him for reacting. If you don't react, or act like it's fine, people can't use that against you as easily.

...YOU SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE

Which one of you is saying that?

The Deity did not respond.

[Hold. Wait for an opening. Wait- there!]

[Rush in with the sword, leave yourself open- duck when they swing- there! Enough force to the lower back to knock them down-]

"Phanem, you're out!"

[Parry, one- two- three times, don't move back, listen, listen-]

[Dodge!] An attack from the back missed and hit the first attacker instead. [Parry. Parry. Dodge. Swing. Hit the knees .]

"Chevskey, out!"

[Another from behind. Dodge, let them trip over the first fallen. Hit them in the ribs.]

"Turin!"

[A swing- catch it with the flat of the blade, push back- two more, flanking-] Chevskey hasn't moved from the field yet, he's up to something-

Zalle leapt. Normally, acrobatics aren't useful for a combat situation- unless you're mad enough to make it work. That, or you have the right teachers.

[Drop the sword, LAND ! Don't get up, grab the sword again-] DAMNIT!

Despite having been hit, Lieutenant Chevskey still laid on the ground, and, having failed to trip Zalle, had now taken her training sword- and if she called it out, of course, that would just make things worse.

[Okay. You can work w- dodge! Move, move, don't hold still, jump back! Move back, keep moving back, force them to overextend their reach-]

There!

Grabbing Lieutenant Kazri's training sword by the handle, Zalle wretched it from his grasp, using his pained reaction to attack.

"Kazri, you're out!"

"But, sir-!"

"Get your ass out of bounds, soldier!"

Four down. Seven more. They're still attacking individually.

[Good. Let's see if they're learning.]

[Rush, leave your side open, dodge, hit the back- MOVE! Revise. Dodge left…]

---

That's… that's my fighting style 

Or, it was, back when I was… taller

I BELIEVE… HMM

I HAVE A HUNCH, BUT I SHALL NOT REVEAL IT JUST YET

I DO NOT WISH TO PRESENT BIAS

He looks so familiar…

---

Captain Cirron stalked across the battlefield, a cocky grin on his face. "Well, well, well, looks like Captain Link outdid us again, boys! Anything to say for yourself?" Cirron laughed, patting Zalle on the back, hard . "Kidding! You did good today, son! This is the kinda thing that'll get you moving up the ranks in no time!"

There's the praise. And now for the catch… 

"Why don't you get started training for your inevitable days of pencil pushing and go help out in admin while I teach everyone else what they did wrong?"

There it was. A "reward" that was really just Cirron trying to get rid of her, which only made everyone else jealous that she'd been praised so much and let off easy.

Joke's on him. She actually liked paperwork.

---

"Which is why you're completely bonkers."

"Thank you, Azra. Any reason why you're here this time?"

Azra shrugged, making her twin braids bounce. "Weeell… it's possible I heard a rumour of sorts… talking about a cryptid kid that keeps appearing and disappearing, and that someone managed to catch him when no-one else could."

Zalle sighed. "He turned out to be a particularly asocial Kokiri. Not that anyone believes me."

"Ouch. Mister Citrus again?"

"One of these days he's going to hear you say that."

"I sure hope so!"

"Who's "Mister Citrus" then?"

Zalle froze, staring at what looked like a small, animated wood sculpture, with massive amber eyes and a round, protruding snout. "Um, hello there. Have we met?"

The creature just… stared at her. Silent. There was something about it… the eyes, maybe?

Even with her eyesight, she could see the empty, soulless gemstones, staring… staring…

"No," signed the creature eventually. "Sorry."

It ran off without another word.

"That was… strange," mused Azra.

"Yeah. I just get the feeling that…"

"What?"

"I don't know. Like… like I've just met someone far older than I could fathom."

---

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

You can't escape it. Even in the most desolate regions of Ikana, it is there.

Always, always there.

Thirty-four, thirty-three, thirty-two…

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

He hadn't left. Of course he hadn't. There was nowhere else to go. There was only here. You can't be anywhere except where you are, after all.

There was a voice in his head again.

He kept walking.

The Clock Tower echoed.

---

The apartment was empty.

There were still things in there, of course. Everything was how she left it.

Why did the clock sound so loud?

The apartment was empty in that it was devoid of… light. Soul. Her brain insisted she couldn't breathe.

She didn't turn the lights on, didn't want to disturb whatever this was.

The Kokiri sat in the main room. His breathing was too quick. His heartbeat was… concerningly slow. Had he been Human, he would be dead. He was looking at a book of some kind… the pages were worn and used and loved.

She walked slowly, making sure her footsteps would be heard. Once in the main room, she turned on a lamp, just enough that the Kokiri could see her. "Are you okay?" No response. "Do you know where you are?"

The Kokiri looked up.

He wasn't wearing a mask.

Piercing blue eyes stared back at her, and a smile constructed itself on a false face. "Sorry for intruding. I was just looking around."

Zalle heard her heart skip a beat. The Kokiri had never… was this even the same person? The way he spoke, his voice, his voices...

"I'll go now, if you want-"

"Don't! Please, don't go…"

The Kokiri frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Zalle almost laughed. He was asking that? "No, it's not! I don't understand why you're acting like this!"

"I'm sorry. You must be confusing me for someone else." The Kokiri's heart sped up. He was scared…

"No, I'm not! You're a Kokiri from the Age of Myths, you say you don't have a name, you have a bunch of magic items- you-" Zalle scrambled for more examples, but that seemed to be enough. The Kokiri’s eyes went wide, and his body stiffened, like he was getting ready for a fight.

“No, that’s not… you don’t…” He put a hand to his head, briefly panicking when it hit skin instead of wood. A carved skull appeared like magic- only the rustling of a bag gave it away. “Y… you…”

Zalle stepped forwards slowly, carefully. “Are you okay?”

“...no,” came the whispered answer of a thousand broken voices. “Not really.”

A silence.

With the mask on his face, the Kokiri calmed, his breathing steadying, his heartbeat slowing to nearly nothing. His posture relaxed. “I should go,” he signed. He made no indication of moving.

“You don’t have to.”

“Mm.” Spirits, his voice… it was so much easier to see him as an adult when he spoke with his hands and covered his face. Now that it was only his own voice, now that she could hear him...

“How old are you, really?”

A shrug. “I lost track.”

Zalle nodded. “That’s a pretty long time.”

“Mm.”

“Can you shapeshift?”

A pause. “What?”

“I saw someone today. I didn’t recognize them at all. But the eyes were the same. They looked like they were carved from wood.”

“...gods, I’m a fool.” The Kokiri gave a huff of amusement, directed at himself. “Yes. I can take different forms. I…” He paused. “I’d forgotten you wouldn’t be able to recognize me.”

Not quite the truth. Zalle didn’t pry further, though. “Do you have other forms?”

“Yeah. A Zora, a Goron, a Deku Scrub, and…” He stopped himself. “Just those three.”

“Do you want to show me?” Zalle offered. “So that I’ll recognize you next time.”

The Kokiri hummed. “Not tonight. But… maybe.”

Zalle grinned. “You wanna come meet my pet snake instead?”

The Kokiri stared at her. “You do not have a pet snake. I would’ve seen it.”

Zalle gave a silent laugh, walking over to the vents and knocking on them. “Ze~ta! Kami!” She could sense the Kokiri perking up a bit upon hearing her voice. It was fair, though. He’d been forced to show her a secret. She’d give him one in return. “I don’t speak Hylian Common,” she told him, “and I’ve got… a lot of speech issues. It’s a lot easier to have someone translate for me.” She didn’t mention that she legally needed to have an assistant anyways, or why her voice sounded so feminine. 

Just one secret. She held tightly to the rest.

Zeta obediently slithered out from the walls, its orange scales shimmering in the lamplight. It glanced over at the Kokiri, looking as bored as ever, before finding its familiar place around Zalle’s neck. “This is Zeta,” Zalle explained. “It’s my best friend.”

“I didn’t know snakes could get that big.”

“Neither did I! It was just a lil’ noodle when I found it, but that was ages ago.” Zalle held out an arm for Zeta to climb down. “Want to pet it?”

The Kokiri nodded vigorously, and Zalle grinned. If there was anything pets could do, it was distracting you from reality. Having one this big just made it that much easier.

---

Day three.

Get up. Get dressed. See that someone already made breakfast. Remember you have a guest. Look for said guest. Fail.

Go to work. Get chewed out by Lumine for something and immediately forget what it was, despite your best efforts. Stand guard for the first half of the day. Do nothing except stand around and look important. Try not to think about the fact that everyone and their aunt agrees that the portals appearing is a precursor to some cataclysmic event, but no-one knows what to do about it. Try to remember what Zora would’ve looked like during the Age of Myths instead. Fail.

Get “exempted” from training again. Wonder why you even bothered going to such lengths to join the army when you’re not even doing anything. Remember that it’s better than the alternative. Head to the records room. See that it’s empty.

Notice the “statue” standing in the corner.

“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

The statue blinked at her, which was a very odd experience, as Zalle hadn’t actually thought it had eyelids. “It didn’t come with one.”

“The… body?”

“Yeah.”

“But it did come with a skirt.”

“Yes.”

Zalle sighed, filing it away as things she didn’t have the time or energy to question. “I won’t be able to chat. I have a lot to get done.”

The wooden Kokiri nodded. “Okay.”

---

Day four.

Get up. Get dressed. See that someone already made breakfast. Remember you have a guest. Look for said guest. Succeed, for once- find him playing with Zeta.

Go to work. Train. Go home. See that your guest has made supper. Find out he’s been exploring the city and trying to figure out how things work. Pull up some tutorials on your Slate despite not technically being allowed to.

Go to sleep.

Day five. 

Get up. Get dressed.

Find the Kokiri looking at his journal again, not wearing a mask. 

Sit with him and wait. Wonder what’s written on the pages. Let him put on his mask again and offer Zeta.

Go to work. Organize files. Go home.

Find him still sitting in the same spot with Zeta. Make food. Try to get him to eat. Fail.

Day six.

Get up. Get dressed. See that someone already made breakfast. Remember you have a guest. Look for said guest. Fail.

Go to work. Get assigned guard duty. Break up a pair of temporal refugees- a Hylian and a Gerudo- and personally escort them through the admin room so they don’t kill each other.

Go home. Find that your guest is trying to use your stovetop. Extinguish the fire. Order takeout instead.

Go to sleep.

Day seven.

Day eight.

Find the Kokiri looking at his journal again. Sit with him. Wait.

Day nine.

Day ten…

Week three…

Week four…

---

“I haven’t seen that lil’ forest friend of yours lately,” said Azra conversationally. “He doing alright?”

Zalle shrugged. “He comes and goes as he pleases. I’m not his mom.”

“Hmm. You heard the rumors from Lakeside?”

Zalle frowned. “What rumors?”

Azra looked around, as if searching for any watching eyes. Everyone else was completely uninterested in anything but their own work. “People are saying there’s an army coming in from the south…”

Zalle scoffed. “This is Castletown, no-one’s gonna get anywhere close. Besides, don’t you think I would’ve heard about it first?”

“Maybe,” said Azra. “But with everything that’s going on… don’t you think people would want to keep it under wraps? Not to mention how weak the borders are right now, since everyone’s busy here…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.”

It couldn’t be. Things like that didn’t happen unless there was a Hero. And everyone knew there hadn’t been a Hero in millenia.

Why would something happen now ?

---

It starts like this.

Just a few outskirt towns, at first. Stories of wind mages and dragonfire. Nothing out of the ordinary- people love to exaggerate, and soon every minor forest fire is the first dragon sighting of the Era.

Some outposts are late to respond. It happens, sometimes. The postmen are overworked already- everyone is, really. Nothing out of the ordinary.

There’s whispers of shadows on the horizon. Seers and fortune tellers start to cry out terrible omens. No-one listens. They’re far too busy.

Death Mountain is more active than usual.

People start noticing little things going missing, minor inconveniences. Nothing to worry about. The Minish must be having a holiday or the like.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

The rumors spread. People are already scared. But they don’t let themselves think about it. It could never happen, after all. This is Hyrule! Things like that only happen in storybooks, not real life. Besides, they have work to do.

It’s been one month and six days.

Lieutenant Zael is training with the rest of his unit, doing one-on-one spars. He wins, of course. 

Zelda Artemisia Hyrule, Princess of Hyrule and its territories, sees him. He sees her. 

The moment passes.

It starts like this: rumors and warnings, ignored until it’s far too late.

Until the enemy is at their door.

Until a frantic messenger kneels before the Princess and tells her: There’s an army at the gate.

We’re under siege.

Chapter Text

The beaches of Nu Iru are quiet.

The waves crash, white foam on cerulean ocean, broken only by the rocks. Seagulls cry overhead, circling whatever beached sealife they’ve found.

Three children sit on the beaches, silent. They all look surprisingly similar, with sun-bleached hair and tan skin.

“I don’t want to go home.”

One of them finally breaks the silence. She’s dressed in regal clothing, with a winged circlet in her hair. There’s something about her that seems ethereal, unreal. Mascara drips down her cheeks.

“Then we don’t,” decides another. She’s dressed for adventure, with a short green tunic, sturdy leggings, and a pale shawl. Twin braids sit on either shoulder. “None of us do. We run away.”

“We can’t ,” says the third, no louder than a whisper, but that whisper is multitudes, layered and layered. She’s wearing a deep blue uniform, and she’s covered in soot and motor oil. “ They won’t let us.”

“How are they gonna stop us? We have a magic train, for Spirits’ sakes!”

The girl with the winged circlet just sighs, curling in on herself. “Father will never stop looking for me. The whole castle will never stop looking.”

“Then what do we do? ” says the girl in the uniform. “ There’s nowhere else to go.”

“There must be,” insists the girl in green. “There has to be! There’s lands beyond Nu Iru- maybe there’s other people that survived the Floods!”

“There’s nothing,” says the princess. “Just wastelands.”

“And beyond that?”

“...I don’t know. No-one does. No-one’s been able to cross them.”

“None of them have had a magic train,” says the girl in green. “We’ll make it.”

“Zee? What do you think?”

The girl in the uniform pauses, thinking. “I… it could work. We would need, um… food and water and things. But sis and I can make it go as long as we want. The, um, train, I mean.”

The girl in green nods. “That’s it, then. We’re getting out of here. If they think we’re liars, too bad for them. They can deal with the next ancient evil that shows up. And if anyone misses us…” She clenches her fists. “Then they should’ve done something sooner.”

--<>--

“What is that!?”

“I don’t know!”

“IT’S ON THE TRACKS!”

“I CAN’T TURN!”

“KARIATI-!”

Everything’s wrong. Everything’s different.

The people… their words are wrong. Their faces are wrong. Their eyes are wrong.

But that’s good, right? They wanted to go somewhere else, and here they are.

…they can’t hear the ocean. None of them can. The Great Sea is gone. How far inland can they be?

Everything is so loud, so everywhere . How can these people stand it? Can they not hear it? Why are all their signs flat? There’s random lights, random splotches of color, nothing makes sense!

The girl in the uniform whimpers, pressing her hands to her ears. The other two aren’t much better off. 

Where are they?

A gasp. “Aze-!”

They turn around, and the princess is gone. “Kay!”

“OVER THERE!”

Voices boom through the massive stone building and footsteps pound, and the girl in green is right beside her sister, wondering why these people are so loud. When she can hear again, all she senses is metal upon metal upon metal- shapes like metal men… phantoms!? No, not phantoms… people?

They’re yelling, clamoring, and the sisters see their friend in the middle of it all, surrounded by metal men. One of them calls her princess, but, how could they know?

Everyone gasps, and the girls realize that the lights have gone out. In the darkness, they can sense movement- people darting through the shadows, attacking in the confusion, prying their friend away.

The lights return. The metal men attack the people who’d held the princess. The two girls can’t get near, but instead, they watch from a distance.

They wait.

The girl in the uniform startles, alerting her sister- someone’s near them. They look up to see one of the shadow people standing above them. She has pale hair and dark skin, and carries a long, spear-like blade. “U s’zevm hfum belf gid’l yvuliv…”

They stare at her. She tries again multiple times, each attempt sounding different, before asking in heavily accented Ritokwi, “Can you understand me?”

They nod. “Who are you?” asks the girl in green defensively.

The white-haired woman pauses. “That’s- that’s none of your business. You were with the princess.”

“Y-yeah, so what?”

“How do you know her?”

“She’s our best friend!” squeaks the girl in uniform, quickly covering her mouth afterwards. Her voice remains many, echoes upon echoes upon echoes, but she stifles the other voices quickly and hopes the woman didn’t hear.

“...where are your parents?”

They don’t reply.

“Oh.”

A pause.

“Do you have anywhere to stay?”

“...no ,” says the girl in uniform. “We’re lost.”

The white-haired woman kneels down, and now that they focus, the girls see that she’s not all that much older than them. “My name is Selene,” she tells them softly. “Will you let me help you out?”

The girls pause. “Where’s our friend?” asks the girl in green.

“I’m right here!” answers the girl with the winged tiara, running over to the sisters. “I’m okay! I, um…” She fiddles with her gown awkwardly. “Apparently I resemble this place’s princess…”

“ Very closely,” Selene added. “You could probably become her body double, if you wanted to.”

The girl with the winged tiara perks up. “What’s that?”

“Why don’t I tell you three more back at my home? I think I might be able to help you out.”

--<>--

It’s like looking in a mirror.

One’s a bit shorter. Her hair’s a bit messier, her ears a bit bigger.

The other is more finely-dressed, and doesn’t look like she’s been on the run for weeks.

“Artemisia, meet your new double,” says an old woman with the same white hair, smiling gently. 

Artemisia’s expression remains unchanged. “You’re a Ritokwati Hylian.”

The girl who once was a princess blinks. “I… I guess so?”

“Is it true you’re completely blind?”

The room is silent.

“...that’s kind of a weird thing to ask,” notes the girl in green. 

Artemisia glances at her. “It is relevant.”

“Why don’t you two spend some time together?” suggests the old woman. “You’ll be seeing each other a lot, after all.”

“What about us?” asks the girl in green. “We’re not going to leave her!”

“Now, now, calm down, dears,” the old woman assures them. “You can come visit her any time you like. You can even stay in the castle!”

The girl in the uniform frowns. “No. What’s the catch?”

“Mm. You’re a sharp one, aren’t you? Well… you do look quite a bit like your friend here. And the more false targets the better.”

“They are children,” Artemisia argues flatly. “You shouldn’t endanger them any more than is necessary, Impa.”

“...of course, your highness.”

--<>--

“ Are you… blind?”

The three girls had introduced themselves as Azera- the girl in green- Zale- the girl in the uniform- and Kariati- the girl in the gown and the winged tiara. Two twins, and a childhood friend.

Azera frowned. “What do you mean by ‘blind’?”

“You can’t see.”

“Of course I can’t see.” Azera pauses. “Can you?”

“Yes.”

There’s a pause. “ Why? ”

Selene sputters. “I- wh- so I can know what’s going on with the world?”

“What about ako-o? ” The word isn’t filtered through the translation spell that’d been put up around them, acting as a crutch while they learn Common.

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Y’know, like, uhh…” Azera waves her hands around, directionless. “When you make a noise and you can hear what the noise hits and that tells you the shape of things?”

“Like echolocation?”

“Sure, if that’s what your word for it is.”

“The Rito have written what it is like to experience the world with their own unique senses,” Kariati muses. “Being able to see more than just light and shadow, able to see a vibrance akin to auras… but not being able to sense magic, or extend their senses. If there was an object between them and what they wished to sense, it was invisible to them.”

Azera and Zale share horrified looks, and Selene realizes now that not once have any of the three made eye contact with anyone . “Is that not how it is for you?”

“Is… is that how you sense things!?”

“Yes? I thought that was the case for most everyone.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence.

“...what is this place?” asks Zale.

“Hyrule Kingdom.”

“Bullshit,” counters Azera immediately. “The old Hyrule is buried in the Great Sea, everyone knows that. There was a whole, uh- Zee, help me out here.”

Zale- “Zee”- looks anxious, turning away from Azera, a hand at her throat. Kariati notices this, and takes her place in explaining. “Hundreds of years ago, an ancient evil was sealed within the land, and tainted the soil above, destroying anything that lived there, be it with plagues, famines, or monsters. The Old Gods saw this, and for thirty years it rained. The people fled to the mountains, and from the skies fell the Great Sea, burying the once-great land of Hyrule. Only the Sea remains.”

“You are just, straight-up reciting that from your history books, aren’t you.”

“Oh, absolutely.”

Selene frowns. “But- that’s the Ritokwati creation myth,” she muses. “Or, half of it, anyways… have you three never left your country?”

“...there isn’t anything else,” says Kariati, confused. “Only the Great Sea, New Hyrule, and the wastelands beyond. If there’s anything on the other side, no-one’s ever found it.”

Selene pulls out a flat piece of stone, writing symbols upon it to summon up  a map of the Skylands. “ This is Hyrule,” she explains, pointing at the map. “ This is the territory of Niru, the Ritokwati homeland. There’s no wastelands there, not that I’ve heard of.”

Azera hums. “Either that’s a blank rock or your magic eye nonsense is showing you something. Could be either one.”

“...I’m gonna go find a three-dimensional map a second.”

“Probably for the best, yeah.”

“Don’t bother,” says Kariati. “Either way… I think we are very, very far away from home.”

--<>--

Three slips of paper, handed out to each of them.

“What do they say?”

“Your new names. To fit your new homes, of course. Azra DePuyo. Zalle Ferin. And Caryatis Empan.”

“Those aren’t our names,” says the girl in uniform, now wearing simpler clothing, cleaned up of ash and soot. The layers of voices fade in and out as she tries to keep them contained. She’s tried not to speak, but she can’t simply lay down and be unheard.

Impa frowns at them. “They are now. All things considered, you should be grateful you kept your first names.”

“But we didn’t.”

“The exact details of pronunciation aren’t important, girl. You should be happy you even have homes to live in.”

The old woman finally leaves, and a shadow creeps out from the rafters, dropping down onto the ground. “Hi, Selene,” greets Azra DePuyo.

“Hi Azera. I’m…” She pauses. “I’m sorry about her. She doesn’t like… outsiders.”

“No kidding,” grumbles Kariyati- or Caryatis Empan, now. 

“...I’m going to make it better, one day,” Selene says- no, promises. “When it’s me instead.”

--<>--

The day comes too soon.

No-one else knows- outsiders aren’t meant to know, after all.

They know because Selene walks into the backstage of the old theatre- the place that, nowadays, is a second home to the four of them- and her eyes are empty.

“She’s gone,” is all she can say. “She’s gone.”

Impa Lunaris is gone.

The mantle has fallen to Impa Selene.

…she’s fifteen years old.

--<>--

"Your job is to assist the Hero?"

"Of course," says Selene- Impa - as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You know! The Hero! The whole, reincarnation thing!"

"N-no, I know what you mean," says Zalle quietly. The echoes are fading back into silence as she forces them to hide once more. "I ju s t did n't think…"

"The same story exists back home," Caryatis explains. "Or something similar, at least. I've never heard of the Hero having guidance of some kind…"

"Yeah, that woulda been fucking helpful."

"You had Anjean!"

"Shush, I'm trying to be indignant."

Se- Impa is staring at them. “What are you guys talking about…?”

A silence.

“We never told her, did we.”

“I KNEW we were forgetting something!”

“Forgetting what!?”

The trio glance at each other. “Do you want to show her, or…?” asks Carya, trailing off. Azra nods decisively, and pulls off her leather glove to show-

“...holy shit.”

“Something like that,” agrees Azra. “Honestly, I never knew this thing was a big deal ‘till we came here. Kinda hard not to, since it’s plastered on everything. All three of us have the mark, so…”

Impa’s eyes widen even further, if even possible. “All three of you!? That’s- that shouldn’t be-!”

Both Carya and Zalle follow in turn, showing three identical markings- flat to the skin, like birthmarks, all in the shape of three triangular outlines, coming together to form a larger shape. There’s nothing particularly special about the marks, save for their shape, and Carya’s is covered up by freckles. “None of us actually have this “Triforce” thing,” Azra notes.

“None of us have it that we know of,” adds Zalle. “But if any of us do, it’s Azra.”

Impa frowns. “Not Carya? She is the princess of your Hyrule, after all.”

“Well you can’t be the reincarnation of someone you’ve met, right?” says Carya. “And my grandma’s the only person I know who had powers like that- well, and my grandpa, but he was… weird.”

“And Azra’s already a hero,” Zalle adds, smiling. 

Azra grins. “Aw, c’mon, we’re both heroes!”

“I just drove you guys around!”

“And fought monsters!”

“ Carya did mos t of that, really…”

“Do you not think you can be a hero?” asks Impa, worried about Zalle. But she just shakes her head.

“It’s not that,” she says with a proud smile. “I don’t think I’d ever want to be “the Hero ” or any of that. I like showing off sometimes, but… I’d never want to be in the spotlight like that.”

“She’d much prefer to be the one inventing a new kind of spotlight and building the entire stage,” Carya grumbles. “‘cause she’s BORING.”

“Yup!”

They all laugh at Zalle’s honest enthusiasm. 

Impa can’t take her eyes off the three marks on their hands. There’s never been two heroes at once… has there? Can there be?

For Zalle’s sake, she hopes so.

--<>--

Caryatis frowns at the injury that takes up most of Zalle’s front arm. “How did this happen?”

“...I tried to fight some bandits,” Zalle replies, no louder than a whisper. “I, um… I didn’t win.” The echoes are almost gone now. Impa’s never asked about them. Zalle doesn’t know what she would’ve said, if she had.

Carya sighs. “You need a hobby.”

“I have a hobby!”

“No, you have jobs. "Cart mechanic" and "mailman" aren’t hobbies.”

There’s a knock on the door, and they both startle. “Uh- come in?” says Carya awkwardly. The door opens to reveal… Artemisia.

Artemisia, wearing a pristine nightgown, with massive bags under her eyes, and her hair tangled into impossible knots. She sees Zalle, and her eyes widen. “Oh. I- I’ll take my leave-”

“Stay,” Carya insists. “Oh, princesses, you… you look exhausted.”

Artemisia hesitates, then nods. “My sleep as of late has been… unpleasant,” she admits. “I feel as if I cannot close my eyes without witnessing some horrific prophecy, and yet I am…” She’s shaking. “They will not listen to me! I try to warn them, but…”

Zalle and Caryatis look at each other, a shared thought passing between them. “You need a break, sweetheart,” Caryatis says decisively. “Y’know what? Let’s not even wait. Zalle, wrap that thing up on your own, we’re breaking out of here.”

“Wh- breaking out!?”

Carya cocks her head. “You’ve never ditched this place before?”

Artemisia stares. “Never.”

“...never?”

Artemisia avoids her gaze. “These walls are all I know.”

“We’re changing that. Tonight.”

--<>--

“YOU KIDNAPPED THE PRINCESS!?”

“She agreed to it,” Carya argues. Zalle nods in agreement.

Artemisia is staring at the abandoned building, at the tattered wood rafters, at the layers of cobwebs. “So this is where you abscond to, late at night…”

Impa blushes. “I- I mean- I am off-duty, officially! I know Sheikah are expected to like, constantly watch from the shadows or whatever, but there’s guards stationed around your room, and like, more enchantments than I can think of, so, y’know, I'm not gonna just watch you sleep…”

Artemisia is staring at her now. “I…” She blinks. “I have never heard you speak like this.”

“...I’m not really supposed to,” Impa admits.

Artemisia smiles. “I like this version of you better. You seem so much… happier. You seem free.”

“Welcome to our home away from home!” says Azra, trying to divert away from Impa’s embarrassment. “It’s no castle, but-”

“It’s perfect,” says Artemisia.

“Really?”

“It is broken, dangerous, and worn down. The roof may cave in on our heads the moment it should rain. You cannot place your hands without risk of splinters or nails embedding themselves.” Artemisia’s smile grows and grows. “It is not soft. It is not safe. And there is no-one here to tell me I cannot be here for worry that I might develop even the most minor injury. Yes, it is perfect. ”

Impa laughs, patting Artemisia on the back. “It’ll always be here for you, until it finally falls down. But even then, we’ll just find a new place to shack up in.”

“I… would like to request something.”

“Go ahead!”

“I… my late mother, she called me “Artemis”, not “Artemisia”. I would like to hear that name again.”

“Whatever you like, Artemis.”

The princess’s smile pushes past tears, and she pushes them away with a lace handkerchief. She pauses. Stares at it.

Throws it to the ground and smears it into the dirt.

And laughs.

--<>--

“Y’know. Sometimes I just… process how weird all this is, and wonder how this even happened, ” Impa muses as Zalle sorts through the various ‘loot’ Artemis has brought from the castle, seeing what she can use to make (yet another) model train.

“What do you mean?”

Impa raises an eyebrow at Caryatis. “I mean, we’ve got the youngest Sheikah matriarch in recent history, the Princess of Hyrule- who also happens to be the living avatar of the goddess Hylia- and three time-travelers, one of whom is the granddaughter of another Child of Hylia plus a Chosen Hero, with the other two being twin Heroes and potential carriers of the Triforce. And we’re sitting in an abandoned building. Hanging out. Arguing about trains.”

There’s a loud metallic crash as Artemis drops the bag she was holding, followed by a screeching “ WHAT!?”

“Ooh,” winces Azra. “We never told Artemis, huh.” In the background, Zalle lets out a pained whine as she scrambles to pick up what Artemis dropped, inspecting it to make sure nothing broke.

“This must be a joke,” insists Artemis. “You- this is a “prank”, right? That’s a thing people do.”

Impa grimaces awkwardly. “Uhhhhh…”

“Impa I swear to Hylia-”

“I thought you were supposed to be the living incarnation of Hylia?” interrupts Caryatis, sounding more bored than anything.

“I- wh- I’m not a philosopher,” stammers Artemis. “Impa, I demand that you explain!”

“First off,” says Impa, “if you wanna be treated as an equal and a friend, demanding stuff from people is a big no. Second off,”

Impa vanishes into smoke.

“She’s in th e rafters,” says Zalle, holding the bag of scrap to her chest like it’s filled with precious treasures. 

“No I’m not!” the rafters insist.

“I thought you knew about the time travel?” asks Caryatis.

“I did, but I was never made aware of who you were in your home eras! I thought you were simply, well, lost!”

“We were,” says Zalle helpfully. 

“Okay, so, uh…” Azra grimaces slightly. “Basically- and this is a massive oversimplification- Carya’s grandpa was the Guardian of Outset, also known as the Hero of Winds, and her grandma was Captain Tetra, Pirate Queen of New Hyrule. Very fancy titles for very impressive and very dorky people. Like, very dorky. They had this one coat they’d had since they were kids and every week they’d come up with a new dare and whoever won got to wear the coat.”

“I think we might still have that coat somewhere,” muses Carya. “Er, had, I guess. I wonder if it’s still around?”

“Anyways, Zalle and I’s grandmother-”

“‘Mine and Zalle’s’, not ‘Zalle and I’s’.”

“Zalle and I’s grandmother was Carya’s grandpa’s little sister, Aryll of Outset. Unfortunately, ‘cause those three had basically founded a proper country for the first time in remembered history? They, uh… didn’t really have time for us. Neither did any of our parents.” Azra looks uncomfortable, her ears flicking at every random noise. “We kinda just got tossed back and forth between every vaguely-competent adult in the area. Don’t get me wrong, they were really amazing people, and I do love them a lot! But…”

“It builds up,” whispers Zalle. “Having to make your own meals as a kid. Having to make your own money, even though you're technically part of the royal family. Living on your own before you’re even thirteen. Being told that, you’re related to the great Pirate Queen! You have to live up to her name! You’ve got ta be something great! All that when you can’t even speak.”

“It hurt,” says Caryatis. “And… we were vulnerable. I was vulnerable.”

“What happened?”

“I died.”

“...what?”

“I- no, that’s not quite right. I didn’t really die. But… my body was stolen from me. And I honestly thought I had died. I was just… floating. No-one could hear me. No-one could sense me. Except for the twins.”

“And Zee here was already the Royal Engineer,” says Azra. “Child prodigy and all that. She and I were the only ones who could sense Carya, and were the only ones that knew one of the Chancellors had kidnapped Carya’s body. Not that anyone believed us, of course.”

Caryatis nods. "That was why I was so empathetic towards your own plight, I suppose."

"And then after that, Zalle stole a train!"

"No I didn't. It was my train."

"And then we all around Nu Iru beating up monsters n' stuff so we could get what we needed to shoot Malladus in the face!"

"I used my incorporeality to assist by possessing suits of armor known as "Phantoms ", as well as anything else I could inhabit."

"I drove them around," adds Zalle.

"And helped solve puzzles!" argues Azra.

"And helped solve puzzles."

"They were immortalized as the Twin Heroes of Nu Iru," says Caryatis sadly. "And yet… not much changed. As the grandchildren of a Hero, it was almost… expected, that we three risk our lives and childhoods to save the day."

"It was a lot of fun!" says Azra. "And I'd totally do it again! But, uh… it was really scary sometimes. And really hard."

"We had Alivonoso," muses Zalle, "and Anjean, and Niko. But Niko was really old, and so was Anjean, and she couldn't even leave her tower. Alivonoso got really hurt right at the start … I don't think he ever fully recovered."

Artemis stares at them, slack-jawed. "I… I don't know what to say…! I've read about you three in my history books - !"

"Don't," says Zalle. "Don't tell us anything."

"What? Why?"

"Trust me . Messing with time travel never goes well."

Artemis frowns. "How do you know?"

"Hero stuff," says Azra, looking away. "I got the combat skills, the people skills, all the typical "Hero" shit. But Zalle got all of the memories and experience."

Artemis is shocked. "All…? "

"Not… not all at once. But I can ask them. The, the other versions of me. And they show me memories or give me advice."

"We believe that's why her voice sounds so odd," notes Caryatis. "If she makes an effort, she can even choose to use the voice of a past Hero." She pauses. "It's quite disturbing, actually."

Zalle smiles. "Ah've no idea what ya mean," she says in the voice of a rough, country-side farmer.

A pause.

"I see. Never do that again, please."

--<>--

“The military!? ”

“You’re the one who keeps getting mad at me for getting in trouble!” Zalle insists. “This way I can actually do something for a change!”

“They’ll never let you in. You know they won’t!”

Zalle smiles, raising her hands to her chest to sign. “But they might just permit one Zael Faronnen.”

Azra realizes that, looking at her sister in layered clothing and chainmail, not hearing her voice, there’s not a single thing that would give away her sex. “You’re crazy.”

“Yes.”

“ Why, though?” argues Impa. “There’s plenty of other things you could do, things that don’t require crossdressing.” She pauses. “Unless that’s what you’re going for. But my point still stands! You can do that elsewhere!”

Zalle looks down. “...I don’t know what I’m doing any more, Selene,” she whispers. “Even back home, at least I was useful. Don't get me wrong , I love my jobs! But I’m no good at talking to people, and I don’t understand the tech here well enough-”

“Then I’ll teach you,” Impa interrupts.

“When? You don’t have the time!”

“I’ll make time.”

“...okay ,” Zalle concedes. “But for now… just this once , I want to make my own decisions, okay? Just for now.”

“...just for now,” Impa agrees. “Just for now.”

--<>--

"We really gotta fix this place up."

Zalle quirks an eyebrow at her twin. "Since when do you care about building safety?" she asks. It's only been a few weeks since she signed on, but her voice is already hoarse, shaky. It hasn't been this bad since they were back in New Hyrule. 

"Since Carya fucking impaled her hand on a nail."

"Wh- when did that happen!?"

Azra huffs. "Last week. Which you would've known, if you actually showed up."

"I've been busy-"

"Impa is the cultural leader of an entire race, Artemis is the heir to the throne, and Carya spends all her time either trying not to get killed and/or kidnapped, or getting better at not getting killed and/or kidnapped. What's your excuse?"

Zalle looks away. "... sorry."

Azra sighs. "C'mon, Zee, seriously, what's going on? It feels like I haven't seen you in ages."

"It's…" Zalle purses her lips, thinking. "I've just been having a hard time with my captain. That's all."

Azra frowns, but doesn't pry. "Okay. Just, tell me if it gets worse."

"I will," Zalle lies.

--<>--

"Artemis…"

"Don't judge me. I've no experience working with my hands."

"Artemis, you’ve glued an entire two-by-four to your dress."

" I asked you not to judge me, Caryatis. "

The theatre has changed. From the outside, it seems untouched. Yet on the inside, the backstage has nearly been fully renovated, all using spare materials, found items, and furniture left on the street. It's still a dump, sure, but it's a comfortable dump.

The work continues, the time periodically decorated by Azra's and Carya's attempts at remembering old sea shanties. All in Ritokwi, of course.

It's in between two of these that Artemis, now rid of her damaged dress, speaks up. "Is it possible for an individual's gender to change over time?"

Impa looks up from the couch cushion she's patching up. "What brings this up?"

"I don't know," says Artemis, pausing in her painting. "I suppose… when I was younger, I often thought that perhaps I was meant to be a man, or genderless. I would be certain of it. But then a week would pass, and the feeling would follow it. I always thought it a sign I was fickle and indecisive. But now I wonder."

"Gmbrflld," Azra says intelligently. Then she remembers to take the woodworking pencil out of her mouth and repeats, "Genderfluid. That's what that's called."

The room stills.

"That was a concerningly swift answer."

Azra just shrugs. "I had to do my research when Carya waltzed into my room and shouted that gender was a scam created by nobles to… what was it again?"

"Assert their dominance over their subjects and propagate an unfair monarchy."

"Yeah, that."

"I feel as if I'm being insulted," Artemis muses. "But I can certainly understand such a conclusion. Just to clarify- are you informing me that there are individuals who do have, as you say, a gender that is "fluid", or fluctuating?"

"Yeah! You think that fits you?"

"I am unsure."

"We could always call you by different pronouns for a day," Carya suggests. "If you want to."

The princess considers this. "I think… I would like to be called "he". And… if this is not too bizarre an ask… I would like to be called… "Arty"." The prince looks around at the others, on high alert for any rejection.

He sees none.

"Wow Arty, how come you get two nicknames," Azra grumbles sarcastically.

"'cause he's a royal , that's w hy," adds Zalle quietly from somewhere behind the couch. She pauses. "Quick question , if I were to ask how likely you are to let me upgrade the lights-"

"NO!"

Zalle grins at the unanimous rejection of everyone in the room, and goes back to wiring.

--<>--

let.me.sleep: Zalle.

let.me.sleep: I have heard from your sister that you've been treated unkindly at your station. Is this true?

ILikeTrains: no

ILikeTrains: also, even if it was, im not going to let you fight my battles

let.me.sleep: It would be very easy.

ILikeTrains: exactly

let.me.sleep: Give me a name, "Faronnen"

ILikeTrains: i can and will block your number

let.me.sleep: …

let.me.sleep: I will concede to your bluff. For now...

--<>--

ILikeTrains: WHO TAUGHT AZRA HOW TO BREAK INTO THE TRAINING HALL

SpookyGhost: I have no idea what youre talking about

ILikeTrains: THIS IS BREAKING SO MANY RULES

anime_noises: so is this chatroom, bitch

anime_noises: go complain about nepotism somewhere else

let.me.sleep: Is it still nepotism if we are not all directly related?

anime_noises: i dunno, im not a fucking rocket surgeon

let.me.sleep: Why must you vex me in this way at every turn?

--<>--

"So I hear you've got a roommate."

"Is that really all you came here for? I have work to do- and so do you. You could've texted me."

Impa's expression doesn't change, yet Zalle can hear the smile behind it. "Well, it does mean I can't go breaking into your apartment for fun anymore."

"Oh no. What a shame."

Impa glances around. "And… I also came to tell you that you need to come to the theatre house tonight. It's important."

Zalle's expression steels. "Understood. Anything else, General Impa?"

"That's all, Lieutenant. Return to your duties."

--<>--

"A… dark cloud?"

Arty sits on the couch next to Impa, shaking. "It's… I don't know how else to describe it," he whispers, tears choking his words. "It devoured everything, without warning. It felt so hot, like I was being cooked…"

"You looked like it," muses Impa. "You were covered in sweat…"

"What happened next?" prompts Azra.

Arty shakes his head. "I don't know. I was certain the cloud would- would kill me, and then… Impa woke me up. She said I was screaming."

The building creaks. Arty holds back a sob.

No-one talks.

"What can we do?"

"Nothing," says Impa, scowling. "Arty's never shown Wisdom, and even the science division doesn't listen to me… as much as we might joke about it, we just don't have any power. "

Azra sucks in a breath at that last word. "Arty… this cloud- do you think it was after something?"

"N-no, I… I don't know. It may have been."

Azra glances at her sister for a brief moment. "Alright. From here on out, no more missed nights-"

"Wait," whispers Zalle. "That won't be sustainable if things get any busier. Impa, can you find a way to up the security on our chatroom?"

"I can sure try."

"That will be better than relying on being able to sneak out so often, or forcing ourselves to stay awake. If this thing is after Arty…"

"I can pull double, uh, double duty with Carya," Azra suggests. "Make sure she's out of the way more?"

Zalle hums. "I don't… I think it'd be better if it's Carya. She can contact us if she gets kidnapped, then."

Impa scoffs. "Damn. We really went, "sorry, all of Hyrule's government , but we're different", huh?"

"I think that statement is a fair summary of our lives as a whole."

"You got me there, Arty."

--<>--

ILikeTrains: hey uhhhhhhhh

ILikeTrains: how old can Kokiri get

Cucco_chick: yes

ILikeTrains: ???

Cucco_chick: they're immortal?? like, properly???

ILikeTrains: a h

ILikeTrains: unrelated. do any of you know therapists that work with Kokiri

anime_noises: what the fuck did you do

ILikeTrains: "adopted" a very old and very fucked-up ten-year-old

ILikeTrains: im just worried about the guy, alright? i like hanging out with him and i dont wanna be ignoring a problem that could get worse

ILikeTrains: do you think that immortals can have messed up memories from living too long?

let.me.sleep: Zalle… are you well?

ILikeTrains: ...I'm just stressed

ILikeTrains: don't worry about it

--<>--

anime_noises: hey

anime_noises: bitchface

ILikeTrains: one day i should really stop responding to that

anime_noises: Carya and i are gonna be on the catwalks above the training grounds

anime_noises: show me your sick fighting moves

ILikeTrains : accepted

--<>--

Cucco_chick: guys?

--<>--

Cucco_chick: can someone please fucking respond

Cucco_chick: don't test me, I'll sic Miss Cuddles on you

--<>--

Cucco_chick: I saw the news

Cucco_chick: please tell me you aren't at the castle

Cucco_chick: guys?

Cucco_chick: anyone?

--<>--

Cucco_chick: I think they found me

[ Message could not be sent. ]

[ Please try again. ]

--<>--

It starts like this.

Zalle glanced up at the catwalk, seeing Carya and Impa looking down at the soldiers. Both looked appropriately noble and uninterested in the daily-going ons… until you noticed them whispering to each other and Impa desperately trying not to laugh. Zalle shot them a brief grin before Cirron called out her next opponent.

You wanna see sick fighting moves, I’ll show you s- OH FUCK-

Zalle barely landed her jump, hoping desperately that Impa didn’t notice her brief stumble. It didn’t affect the fight at all- Zalle still won, obviously- but she was trying to be impressive, damnit! She looked up to see if Impa had noticed, but-

“- at the gate- ”

“ -under siege- ”

Zalle froze. Carya glanced at her, and the two shared a panicked gaze. This couldn’t be happening… could it? 

…if they survived this, Azra was going to be such an asshole about it.

--<>--

“Do we just… wait?” mused Kazri, looking uncomfortable.

“I dunno,” said Turin, nonplussed. “Not our problem, not ‘till Captain Cirron says it is.”

“I guess…”

A blue and gold blur passes by them, and the two soldiers look around to find the source. “Hey, Captain Link!”

The blond soldier doesn’t reply, and there’s no fairy at his shoulder. Kazri frowns. “The hell are you going? We haven’t been given any orders!”

“Link” glances back at them, and-

There’s something impossible behind his too-blue eyes, something that keeps the two soldiers from saying anything.

They blink again, and he’s gone.

--<>--

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” hissed Impa.

“Saving your asses,” croaked Zalle, barely able to get the words out. “Situation?”

Impa growled, but conceded. “The city itself is safe for now, but evacuation efforts have already begun. The keeps have set up a blockade system, per orders, but I don’t know how long the walls will last. The only access they have is a mile north of here.”

“Carya?”

“Half-mile northeast. We got cut off by the blockades, and we can’t risk breaking the walls to get to her, but…”

“I’ll find her.”

Zalle moved to run off, but Impa stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Be careful.”

Zalle just stared at her, silently, and without bothering to respond, she was gone.

--<>--

“ HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!”

Was- was that a fairy-?

A pale blue light shot across the battlefield, pursued by a group of… Zalle had assumed they were Bokoblins, but they were the strangest-looking Bokoblins she’d ever seen, with short arms, stout bodies, and armor and weapons that’d clearly been provided by someone else… 

They didn’t die, either… they fell, yes, but decayed as soon as they hit the ground, only leaving the occasional scraps of metal behind. What were these things?

“ SOMEONE HELP ME! I’M TOO LITTLE TO FIGHT! ”

Oh, right. The fairy.

Zalle pushed away the “Bokoblin” in front of her, giving her a moment to whistle to the fairy. It put her in the centre of attention for the moment, sure, but it got the fairy’s attention too. It darted towards her, and then-

…through her? What the fuck-

“ Hi there! ”

Zalle fully stopped, both mentally and physically- which, normally, is not something you want to do on a battlefield. Thankfully, Zalle barely noticed, and batted the encroaching “Bokoblins” away like the little pests they were. “Where are you?” she whispered hoarsely as she continued to fight.

“ Uh… ehehe… funny question, that… ” said the voice that Zalle now identified as coming from inside her head. “ Did you know these guys can catch fairies that’re in spirit form unless that fairy is inside something already? ”

“...”

“ ...I am currently incorporeal and hanging out between your lungs, heart, and sternum. ”

Zalle gave a long, tired sigh. “Yeah. Okay. Please don’t kill me by accident,” she whispered voicelessly. Mentally, she felt the fairy perk up.

“ No problem! My name’s Proxi, by the way. What’s yours? ”

“...Zael. Most people just c all me “Link”.”

“ That’s a cool name! What’s it mean? Where are you from? Ooh! I like your sword! ”

Zalle couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll tell you when we’re not fighting, how’s that sound?”

“ Okay! ”

=”Can anyone hear me?”=

The modified pirate’s charm that Zalle and Impa had fixed up long ago crackled to life, connecting to a communication feed separate from the one linking the other soldiers. Zalle, as a Ritokwati, was completely blinded by the full metal helmets most soldiers wore, helmets providing them with facial protection as well as an electronic display of the world around them, complete with various bits and baubles the higher-ups insisted were important. Zalle never thought of herself as an old-fashioned person, but when a jury-rigged pirate’s charm made by a bunch of teenagers works better (and is easier to repair) than whatever eighteen thousand enchantments were layered on those helmets, well…

=”Loud and clear, princess!”= replied Impa. =”Any news on the evacuation?”=

=”Everything has proceeded smoothly at this point.”=

=”Don’t jinx us!”= yelled Caryatis. =”You can’t just say stuff like that, Artemis!”=

“ Ooh! Who’re they? ” asked Proxi curiously.

The line went silent.

=”Z- Link.”=

“I found a fairy on the battlefield?” Zalle offered awkwardly. 

“ Hi there! I’m Proxi! ”

=”... Link . You need to stop adopting every fae you run into-”=

“I didn’t adopt her!” Zalle insisted, straining her voice too far and forcing her to cough. The pause gave the next group of “Bokoblins” a chance to try and sneak up behind her, but even though she dealt with them easily, she noticed Impa watching her.

=”Proxi. Might you be able to speak for Link?”=

“I don’t nee d help!” argued Zalle, ignoring the fact that she couldn’t talk above a whisper.

“ You can count on me! ”

“Damnit.”

--<>--

“They broke through one of the forts!” Impa hissed, glancing at the blue display hovering over her eye that painted her tattoos a deep violet. “Where’s our reinforcements!?”

“At least an hour away, Lady Impa! It’s just us!”

“What do you mean, it’s JUST US? Who was in charge of unit assignments? I’ll have his head!”

“It’s a bit too late for that… one of the Lizalfos got him.”

Impa bit back a scream of frustration. “Damn! Who’s in command, then?”

The soldier paused. “That would be… you, Lady Impa.”

“... fuck .”

“Yeah. I think that about sums it up.”

--<>--

=”Link? Where are you!?”=

“ He’s on his way! ” said Proxi. “ One of the outpost walls collapsed, and we can’t get through the blockades. Can you see anything on your end? ”

=”Nothing. You’ll just have to find another way.”=

“ I’ll let you know if we get any luck! ”

“Wait!” whispered Zalle, so quiet only Proxi could hear her. “There’s a Goron house inside the blockade!”

“ Oh no! Have they not evacuated? ”

“I don’t know, but- Gorons use explosive powders in their meals, don’t they? We’re blocked off from the engineering corps, but…”

=”What’s going on?’=

“ Um… you know how to do that, right? ”

=”WHAT!?”=

“Yeah, definitely.”

=”WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”=

“ Making homemade explosives, apparently! ” Proxi chirped.

The line went silent for a moment.

=”That’s… far more reasonable than what I assumed,”= said Caryatis. =”Just be careful, okay? We don’t want another blast furnace incident.”=

“I was like, ten, ” grumbled Zalle.

--<>--

“ EVERYONE, CLEAR THE BLAST ZONE! ”

Zalle grinned- having a fairy that didn’t act like either your boss or your mother was a nice change of pace. As soon as Proxi zipped back through the crumbled stones and confirmed that everyone was out of the way, Zalle threw her match and ran.

The resulting blast was loud enough to completely stun her for a good minute, maybe two, before her ears stopped ringing so loudly she couldn’t sense anything. As the world came back into focus with a few short click s, she could see that the bomb had done…

Nothing. Or next to nothing, at least. Zalle sighed. So much for good old pyrotechnics.

=”You may want to get out of the way,”= said Carya calmly.

“ What? Why- ”

The wall shattered as a large, grey-green shape was hurtled through the middle of it, weakened by the blast. The shape- which turned out to be a Dinolfos- landed in a heap of red, the same red that painted the stones it’d been thrown through. A hole large enough to climb through had been opened up, and none other than Caryatis herself poked through. 

“Damnable lizard,” she grumbled. “Good thinking, Lieutenant! Go find Lady Impa- we need to retake this area before we can keep moving. As soon as these forts are held fast, we can reconvene with our allies!”

Zalle nodded obediently before running off in the opposite direction.

--<>--

“ Lady Impa! ”

Impa looked up in surprise, seeing a pale blue light appear suddenly at Zalle’s shoulder. “You must be Proxi. Thank you for your aid.”

“ No problem! The princess wanted to tell you that we’ve gotta clear this area out, then meet up with our allies. ” Proxi paused. “Also, do you guys know each other or not? I’m so confused… ”

Zalle whispered something to her.

“ You keep saying that… ”

Impa turned and barked orders to the soldiers standing with her, sounding far, far more confident than she felt, moving units to the centre of the field to keep the falling blockades secure. The longer they held on, the more likely that everyone would be able to evacuate…

Gods… they had already lost, hadn’t they? Evacuating all of Castletown… how could they have been so foolish to not notice an entire army marching through the kingdom? Was such a thing even possible? It had to be- there was living, dying proof, all around them.

“The princess is well-guarded,” said Impa eventually. “You and I will go north and stop anything more from getting through.”

“ Just the two of you? ” questioned Proxi.

Impa and Zalle glanced at each other. “We’ll have some backup,” Impa insisted. “The blockades will do most of the work.”

Zalle whispered something, and Proxi relayed it in turn: “ ‘Blockades that’re already falling.’ “

“...we’ll survive. We have to,” said Impa. “We’re all there is, right now. Everyone else is too far away to help. By the time they get here…”

“I will follow you,” Zalle promised in her own voices. “ I always will.”

Impa begged herself to tell Zalle that such trust is misplaced, unwanted.

Instead she said, “Let’s move.”

--<>--

They didn’t even notice it until it was too late. And wasn’t that something of a theme, these days? The Lizalfos corralled them, forced them back, back, until they stood inside a natural bottleneck, formed by the hills around them. The blockade behind them stood firm, glowing bright with the endless interlock runes woven into it. They were safe, they thought- or as safe as you can be in a warzone.

Then the other blockade shimmered to life, and they understood what was happening.

“We’re trapped.”

“As vermin should be.”

The two women spun around in shock, weapons raised against their foe- but they saw him, and wondered if it would be enough.

A Man, if he could even be called that, towered over them in crimson armor, jagged and irregular, like it had been grown, not forged. His eyes were hidden by his helmet, wrought into the shape of a dragon’s head with glowing green eyes. He didn’t just speak, he commanded, and smoke fell from his mouth like the maws of Death Mountain.

Zalle could feel Impa trembling at her side. She stepped forwards, raising her sword arm.

Paradoxically cold eyes snapped to her, and she felt like stone. “Get out of my way, boy. This isn’t your fight.”

You made it my fight, thought Zalle, and before she knew it, she rushed towards the man- the thing- in some desperate attempt to…

Nothing. She was thrown to the ground like a sack of flour. What had she expected? She didn’t even have her Lokomo Sword, what good was she like this? And yet, Impa stepped forwards, holding her naginata like a shield.

The being scoffed. “How noble, ” he mused. “ Enjoy your shared grave.”

He raised his arm, and then

and then

             and then he

there is only fire and fire and fire and fire and

light?

             something gold

something

                               something glowing and

it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts and

and

and there’s something glowing

“Zalle…? Are you…?”

What? What’s wrong? The pain isn’t gone but she can’t feel it. There’s something inside her head…

It’s screaming at her

It doesn’t want her

It is her

and she

         and she

                  and she

f

       a

              l

                     l

                            s                                                 

to the ground like a dying bird

“Could you be…?”

--<>--

This was never meant to happen to you…

This fight was meant for another

But I cannot change what is

The king awaits you

One who ought to be His, is not

Because of you

A miracle, perhaps?

I wonder

She is watching you

…I’m so, so sorry

Link

--<>--

“Is he awake?”

“- think I saw him move…”

“Someone get Hearth, I can’t understand a word…”

“- hear me? Lieutenant Zael, can you hear me?”

“- wake up anytime soon, at this rate.”

“What about the others?”

                  “He’s too much of a priority.”

“It’s all my fault.”

--<>--

She woke up to the smell of iron.

Was she bleeding? She still had another two weeks, didn’t she? She tried to sit up, but-

Zalle gasped in pain as her body screamed out in rebellion, forcing her back down onto an uncomfortable bed. Sharp click s showed an unthinkable sight- a medical tent, filled to the brim with doctors, healers, and fairies, hoving, either literally or figuratively, over dozens of patients.

“Lieutenant Zael?”

Zalle searched around in panic before finding a tall, heavily-built Zora standing over her. “Wh… where…?”

“Don’t try to talk,” the Zora insisted calmly. “Your throat’s been badly damaged.” 

At least, that’s what they said out loud. With their hands, they told her, “Stay calm. Impa told me of your situation. Don’t say anything.”

…huh. Okay. She could work with that.

“I’m going to ask some yes-or-no questions. Do you understand?”

A nod, yes.

“Okay. Do you remember being injured?”

Injured? She must be, Zalle supposed, if she was in a medical tent. She shook her head. 

“That’s alright. Do you feel well enough to walk? We need to move you to a separate tent.”

Zalle nodded- she’d try, at least. Slowly, carefully, she moved one leg to the side of the bed, then the other, gradually shifting her weight. But when she put down her arms to balance herself-

“ Hh-! ”

The Zora caught her with ease, having clearly expected this. “Slow down, Lieutenant! I’m so sorry, I thought the medications had worn off enough that you’d noticed…”

…noticed what? What was wrong? She was injured, and the pain came from her left arm, so-

It was covered in bandages. Not ‘covered’ as in, only part of it, but covered, with the cloth running almost to her shoulder. “ It's burning, ” Zalle whispered, making sure only the Zora would be able to hear her. “ What happened…?”

“...follow me.”

--<>--

They’re staring at her. All of them, staring at her. Staring, staring, staring. 

They look, and she wonders what their eyes see.

They whisper, and she hears them.

“If he’s here, then does that mean…?”

“He really is just one of us…”

“I can’t believe this is real!”

“Do you think it’s because of the princess?”

“I know him, you know? Met him in a tavern.”

“He’s staring at us…”

They’re staring at her.

Her eyes see nothing. They can see that there is a sky above. They can see there is ground. They can see vague masses. They can see pale, rectangular shapes.

What do their eyes see?

What must she look like to them?

They’re staring at her.

--<>--

And she stared, too.

She stared at skin that didn’t look like skin anymore. Skin that folded and twisted over itself, sounding unnatural to her sense. She moved to touch it, but the Zora pulled her hand back.

“Don’t,” they said quietly. “It’ll just hurt more.”

“It doesn’t hurt at all,” said Zalle.

The Zora didn’t reply.

“What happened to me? Why was everyone staring?” 

“...I don’t think I’m the right person to tell you that,” said the Zora. “Lady Impa, could you…?”

Impa stepped silently into the tent, her gaze cast down. “I can take over from here, Healer Galia.”

“Thank you.”

The Zora left.

The two women did not speak. They did not look at each other.

They did not know what to do.

“Impa-”

“You saved my life,” Impa blurted. “I should’ve died- you should’ve died- ” Tears welled up in her eyes- a piercing crimson, Artemis described them once. Zalle wondered what they looked like.

They had all stared at her hand.

What were they seeing that she couldn’t?

“What happened to me, Selene?” whispered Zalle. 

Impa didn’t speak.

“ What. Happened. To me? ”

Impa was shaking. “You can’t see it, can you? Your hand…”

Her breathing hitched, and Zalle stayed silent.

“We were attacked by- a Man, a dragon, I don’t know, but there was so much fire, and-”

fire and fire and fire and nothing else, nothing else, nothing else, nothing else, and fire and fire and iT HURTS-

“There was this glow, like nothing I’d ever seen before-”

the divine fragment screaming at her, get out GET OUT GET OUT

YOU ARE NOT HIS, LET ME GO, LET ME OUT!

“When the fire stopped, you just fainted -”

like a bird falling from the sky, its wings dyed Crimson

no- not falling, but plummeting, diving, and she is

“But we were both alive! And- the man in armor, he became enraged, yelling at me, and the blockade fell and I ran- ”

and she is a king on high over a wasteland of her own making       

and she is a queen fighting against invaders

and she is a scholar in a tower       

and she is a knight

and she is a noble       

and she is a smith

and she is       

“Your hand was still glowing, and it was… I… gods…”

and she Is

and she can See them

There was a golden glow on the back of her hand. She couldn’t see it, not with her eyes, not with her sense, but it was there nonetheless, shining like a star in the endless night.

It didn’t look at that complex, really. It was such a simple shape, really. Three edges and three vertices- the simplest two-dimensional polygon possible. And it made sense- things came in threes so often. Things happened in threes.

Or, sometimes, in twos.

The mark on her hand had filled itself in. Two golden shapes, fitted perfectly within the lines. One was missing, but the sum didn’t feel strange, or lopsided. It felt like it’d been there the whole time, and she simply never noticed. Like it was part of her.

On the right sat Courage.

And above it, sat Power.

And she felt like there was nothing she couldn’t do.

And she felt afraid.

And she felt weak.

--<>--

It starts like this.

A girl from the wrong time disobeys orders in order to save her friends. 

She is caught in dragonfire, and the goddesses See her.

There are choices.

There are options.

In one Moment, she dies. So does her companion. Time is shattered beyond repair. 

Everything ends.

In one Moment, she survives by pure luck. But luck alone can only do so much. She’s too badly burned to do anything. The one who Watched her with vile eyes now steals her away without effort. Time stays whole, but… she is so, so broken.

The cost is too great.

In one Moment, only Courage appears. She relives that day- or, she ought to. Something goes wrong. Too many unexpected variables. Courage resets the day again, and again, and again, and again and

They lost one like this already. They won’t let it happen again.

But in one Moment 

(There shouldn't be a fourth, these things are meant to happen in threes, but they are desperate )

They never meant for Power to appear like this. It was meant to stay dormant, untouched. But when this Chosen crossed over to this timeline, her Courage and her Power could not follow. Instead, this time’s Courage and this time’s Power found their way to her, without her even knowing.

A blessing in disguise, perhaps? No. They are goddesses. They give miracles. They don’t get them.

In one Moment, Power shields her body, and Courage shields her mind, and a Hero who was never meant to be, comes to light, and wonders why she was chosen.

It starts like this.

Castletown is taken.

It is not taken with ease. What soldiers remain to fight ensure that. But it’s not enough. A mage in purple summons beasts to fight in his stead, and the Sheikah matriarch realizes they were fools all along- this army didn’t march here, it was summoned here, by some power greater than every mage in Hyrule.

They flee. There’s nothing else they can do. Hundreds die in the takeover, but tens of thousands more survive, safe within the nearby towns and cities. Central communication breaks down. Wisp-lines are shattered at the source, and only local devices work. Radios, news displays, every bluestone device that can be found, are all cobbled together as the remaining government tries to make sense of it all.

The chain of command is in tatters. The King survived, but was badly wounded. And the Princess…

The Princess ( a princess) is missing. And those that remain realize that she had been the target all along.

The next in line is the Royal Sorcerer. He’s died in the line of duty, ensuring that every historical and scientific record in the city was teleported away safely. 

After that is the Captain of the Guard. He’s missing and presumed dead, but no-one’s heard a word from or about him since the attack.

After that is…

After that is the Sheikah matriarch.

And, if applicable- the Chosen Hero.

Hyrule’s done this enough times, after all. They’ve learned from their long history, and they know that if some plucky young lad with a triangle on his hand shows up and says the world’s going to end, it’s usually in your best interest to listen to him.

Lieutenant Zael Faronnen of the coastal territory of Niru is no exception- even if he is as blind as all the other Great Sea Hylians. 

They used to call him “Captain Link” as a joke, he’ll say one day.

He never expected it to be a title.

It starts like this.

The princess is kidnapped. 

A hero appears to save her.

It starts like this.

It never should’ve started in the first place.