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Link slowly walked up the long, steep hill to the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. He had been wandering around Hyrule with a small sense of direction for about a month now, the kingdom’s last events of a century ago progressively making themselves known to him once again in his memory. He had visited Zora’s Domain and learned about their Champion, the Zora princess, Mipha, setting the Divine Beast Vah Ruta and Mipha’s spirit free. He had braved the trail to Death Mountain and had befriended the Gorons, meeting Yunobo and guiding him to become the brave descendant of Daruk like everyone knew he could be. Link had left the mountain range and now he pressed on to find the remaining pair, while making pit stops when a Shrine was near.
Link had ventured into the northeast province of Akkala after learning about Robbie and his proficiency for ancient Sheikah technology. Perhaps Robbie could give him more information regarding Link’s forgotten past…?
To Link’s right, a red laser pointed itself at his chest. A Guardian!
Knowing time was essential to coming out of this scuffle alive, the Hero unsheathed his Knight’s Broadsword and his Knight’s Shield. The automaton quickly charged its laser eye and then fired it directly at Link’s chest. The Hero’s reflexes were near inhuman as he held his shield in front of him, deflecting the deadly laser meant to end his life. The blue blast ricocheted off his shield and hit its original source in a fiery explosion. But this did not end the machine; again, Link parried blast after blast, barely thrusting his shield forward in time for the last one.
The Guardian, despite being almost destroyed, was still fully functional as it charged yet another laser. This one found its mark and hit Link squarely in his chest; if not for the Soldier’s Armor he had purchased in Hateno Village, and then upgraded at Kakariko’s Fairy Fountain, the laser would have surely killed him.
Link was flown through the air backwards and landed roughly on his back in a hard thump. His breath was knocked out of his lungs, but he still heard the click click click sound of the Guardian charging its laser for a fourth time. Link struggled to his feet, his broadsword laying a few feet behind him, and readied his shield once again. His forehead knit in concentration as he waited for the telltale beep before the Guardian was set to fire--and he successfully deflected this blast back, and that was the end of this fell beast: it ceased movement, smoke rose from its crevices, and beams of light surrounded the body of the robot before it exploded into pieces.
These Guardians were another foe entirely, organic or not, and Link had encountered quite a few of them in his travels since awakening. Live monsters he could dispatch of, bokoblins, moblins, lizalfos, and even the savage lynels, were less ruthless. Well, maybe not the lynels, but they at least weren’t hellbent on Link’s annihilation and they had to pause in the middle of battle to regroup. The Guardians literally appeared out of thin air or so it seemed to Link, and could spot him from a mile away.
Link panted slowly as he collected his weapon and placed his shield on his back again. He also gathered the supplies the Guardian left behind: ancient screws, shafts, and a core. He had managed to collect quite an amassment of materials such as these. Pocketing his spoils, Link continued his path up to the Tech Lab.
Once at the Lab, he knocked on the door to be polite, and he heard Robbie call from inside, “Come in, come in!”
Link entered the lab with a soft smile as he greeted Robbie.
“Welcome, Hero!” Robbie replied. “What brings you here today? Was that you I heard just outside? That annoying Guardian spot you?”
Link nodded sadly, but then reached into his pockets and produced the many ancient tools and supplies he had gathered across the land. He presented them to the researcher.
The old Sheikah gasped. “Wow, Link! You’ve bagged a lot of those fiends, haven’t you? Well, what would you like Cherry to make for you?”
Robbie stepped aside and swept his arm out, indicating Link to step up to the friendly Cherry robot. Link made his selection and began to place all the necessary equipment, gears, shafts, springs, and cores, as well as the monetary requirements. After a few moments, Link’s purchase was complete.
Robbie had gotten distracted by his wife asking him a question so he had not been paying attention to Link’s actions with Cherry. When he turned back around he was startled to see the Hero entirely clothed in his Ancient Armor set, helm, cuirass, and greaves. His eyes softened and he really looked at Link, his gaze sad.
The old Sheikah slowly walked up to Link and said softly, “I am glad you are able to have that armor, my lad. It will protect you from a Guardian’s harsh laser beam more than other armor can. It’s my masterpiece work for you, Champion.”
Robbie knew Link had not recovered all of his memories from a century prior. But he remembered that day like it was yesterday--he had been there that day on Blatchery Plain, just west of Fort Hateno. The battle with the Guardians there had been fierce, and he had been one of the few survivors of that battle. He and a fellow Sheikah warrior named Terrowyn had been fighting at the Fort when, from the east, a golden light had sprung from the ground in a great cloud, growing larger and larger until it reached him and his comrade. This golden light had not harmed them, but the Guardians immediately stopped in their tracks, and all lights shut off as if they had never been operational in the first place. It had been nothing short of a miracle.
Once their area was secure, he and Terrowyn had raced to the light’s source. Robbie, then known as Robin, knew that the princess, and in theory, her appointed knight, were nearby. The group had been forced apart earlier in the midst of battle but they needed to return to the princess as quickly as possible. The warriors made quick time and made it to see Princess Zelda kneeling next to the Sword’s Chosen Hero, the knight’s head cradled in her lap.
Robbie had feared the worst for the young knight. His wounds looked grievous, his face was pale, and his eyes were closed. He appeared dead. The princess’s words, though, were reassuring, for she had instructed them to take the knight to the Shrine of Resurrection. Robbie and Terrowyn had done as instructed without hesitation or questions, and the rest was, as they say, history.
Robbie shook his head at the memories, attempting to keep emotions in check. Robbie, being a much younger man at the time, had fallen in love with the princess, and had been jealous of Link, who had managed to win Zelda’s heart. Whether or not Link had reciprocated Zelda’s feelings didn’t matter to Robbie. Link had had Zelda’s affection and he was envious.
That day on the battlefield, after seeing the light that the princess had been able to conjure, the defunct Guardians, and then Link unconscious in the princess’s arms, Robbie had put two and two together: Zelda truly loved Link and that had awakened her sealing power.
So he had carried out his princess’s last request with humility and had tempered the jealousy in his heart. That day he had vowed to expiate his actions to Link. He had poured his soul into his research once he had constructed a new lab, and immediately set to work on armor that could shield a man from the unforgiving onslaught of a lethal Guardian, no matter the type. After years of blueprints, patterns, and technological advances, Robbie had produced and programmed Cherry, his beloved autonomous assistant, to make the Ancient Armor set, complete with the Hero’s measurements.
And now here Link stood, clad in the armor that should have protected him one hundred years ago. Had Link been wearing this armor, he might have not been so gravely injured. And things would have transpired very differently. Of course, there was no real way to know that, but Robbie couldn’t help but feel that way.
Robbie resisted the urge to grasp Link’s shoulders in a brotherly embrace and said instead, “Use it well.”
Link merely smiled happily, his brow creased in determination. He thanked Robbie and waved to Purah, and then left in the same manner in which he came.
Robbie sighed deeply, and murmured, “And now it is complete, my Princess.”