Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(A boy stood alone in the center of a large room. He clutched a blue cane, and stared in horror at the scene around him.

This couldn’t be how things ended.

He reached for—)

Hyrule missed a step halfway up the stairs. He hardly had enough time to brace himself for the fall before a strong hand caught hold of his arm.

“Woah!” Twilight pulled him back to his feet, saving him from what would be a few painful bruises at the very least. “You alright there, Traveler?”

 He smiled, “Yeah…Just got distracted, I guess.”

“No problem. Though you might want to start paying attention—we’re almost there.”

Right. They were hiking up to a temple that the locals were wary of. According to the rumors, it had originally been a place of worship that was abandoned a few generations ago. Now it was little but a deathtrap. Monsters had moved into the lower levels, regularly coming out to raid nearby settlements and retreating behind the temple’s defensive traps when hunters attempted pursuit.

That was where they came in. A group of wandering heroes was perfect for this sort of job.

There was nothing out of the ordinary when they arrived at the temple’s entrance. It was almost disconcerting. The air inside was cold and dead in a way that felt as if the whole building was holding its breath. They were on edge the entire descent into the dungeon…not that the average outsider would be able to tell with the chatter among heroes.

“So this is a dungeon? It’s not what I’d expect from all your guys’ tales,” Warriors’ voice drifted from the front of the group, echoing on the stone walls.

“Well…this one is weird, even for a dungeon. Normally we’d have run into some kind of monster or trap by now.”

“Don’t jinx it!”

“Whatcha looking at, ‘Rule?”

He turned to see that Wild had slowed down to hang back with him. “Ah, nothing much. Just an empty chest hidden in the wall.”

The champion’s brows furrowed, “Why would anyone bother to hide an empty chest?”

“I don’t know,” Hyrule shrugged, “Maybe they forgot to put something there?”

“Maybe it’s a trick! Like, ha-ha, made you look?” Wind chimed in from somewhere up ahead. The others must’ve noticed them lagging behind.

Hyrule started walking again. “I guess? But at that point they could’ve made it an actual trap…not that I’m complaining.”

“Guys, I see light up ahead!”

Everyone’s pace picked up at that, more than eager to get out of these empty halls and into a more familiar dungeoneering experience. 

His heart sank once he got a better look at the doorway.

“Someone beat us here,” he realized out loud.

A tense silence fell over them. Time was the first to break it, “What makes you say that?”

“Wait, I see it now,” Four gestured to the blocks pushed against the wall. “This puzzle has already been solved.”

“That’s a puzzle? Warriors asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s supposed to be lined up across the hall to block the way through. If you move them the wrong way, you can get yourself locked out.”

A shudder ran through the group. The only fate worse than death for an adventurer—getting stuck without a way forward.

Then again, this journey was teaching Hyrule that there might be another one worse than that…

“So we’re late again?!” Wind threw up his hands in frustration.

Similar groans and complaints echoed all around, tension forgotten now that they knew why everything had seemed so empty earlier. Hyrule was willing to bet that all the good loot in this place had already been taken (along with the lives of any monsters within).

It was far from the first time this had happened to them. More often than not, they would hear tales of monster camps and dungeons only to find the places cleared out by the time they got there. And while it was nice to see that the world could manage without heroes doing everything, something wasn’t right. If the people of the era didn’t know it was dealt with…then that implied that someone else was responsible.

And considering that this was starting to become a pattern…

“We might as well keep going to ensure that everything has really been cleared out,” Time said with a sigh.

“You want us to explore another empty dungeon?”

“Ugh, this is going to be. So. Boring.”

“It’s good practice for the captain I guess.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Wind stuck his tongue out.

Hyrule broke away from the main group once they emerged into a courtyard. He walked along the edges, tossing his magic boomerang at anything mildly interesting to check for any traps or switches. It did little to help his mood.

“Hey, Traveler!” He turned to see Four approaching him. “We’re pairing off to investigate the lower floors. Just to double check—you have a lantern?”

“Sort of. I have a magic candle that works as one. Who’s with who?”

“You’re with Sky, the champion’s with the captain, Rancher’s with the sailor, and I’m with the old man.”

“Okay,” he followed Four back towards where everyone had gathered to talk while he was hitting things with his boomerang. Even Wild and Wind were there, nodding along with whatever Warriors was saying.

Oops.

He quickly struck up a conversation to distract Four from saying anything about his wandering habits. “It was your bow, right? The thing that you lost?”

“I don’t think ‘lost’ is the right word for it, but yes. A bow of light I got on my first quest. You?”

“Ah, well…it was my magic key. One that could unlock any door.”

The smith paused, “...I can see why you’d want that back.”

“Yeah, there’s no telling what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. I only ever used it in dungeons, but if someone with bad intentions were to get hold of it…it’s not anything big or flashy like a weapon but it can still cause trouble.”

“No, I get that. I was worried about the damage light arrows do, but at least they’re only really effective on monsters. But an item like that key…” Four sighed, “No wonder all these dungeons have been cleared so quickly.”

Hyrule tensed, “You think it’s the same guy?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? We all lose something important right before going on a quest where everything has already been dealt with. Like we’re a few steps behind someone who knows what’s going to happen before it does.”

“That would explain the disturbances in the timeline that the captain was talking about.” His eyes widened, “But wait, what about him? He said he wasn’t missing anything when we all met.”

“There could be a few reasons for that. The good captain doesn’t exactly have a large inventory, so it could be that nothing interested the thief. Considering that he’s only here because he was ordered to, he might not have been one of the intended targets at all. Or maybe…”

“Maybe…?”

Four frowned, looking grim. “Maybe they took something before Warriors could get it in the first place.”

“...I hadn’t thought about that. I don’t have as much experience with time travel as some of the others, but…I'd like to think that we’d notice anything changing on that kind of scale.” He shivered. 

“I don’t know. I guess it depends—the old man knows more than I do about that kind of thing. You’d be better off asking him to explain it.”

“Right. It’s just…we’ve been the ones doing the traveling, so I never thought about what it’s like from the perspective of the people being affected by the changes we made. That someone could go back and change something like the equipment on my belt without me knowing anything happened is…unsettling.”

“Sorry. This probably isn’t the best place to talk about something like that.”

“No, it’s fine.” He dug out his candle and moved to join the others, “Let’s just focus on this dungeon, for now.”

“Right.”

And yet, even as he and Sky worked through the whole dungeon and reunited with everyone at an abandoned boss room…Hyrule never quite shook off that uneasy feeling.

(That night when they camped outside the temple’s entrance, Hyrule dreamt of walking in a forest with the others. 

Beside him was a boy his age dressed in a red tunic, who was grumbling about the weather. Warriors called out something…sarcastic? It was odd to associate that with the serious captain he knew, but there was no mistaking that teasing smirk. The boy in red rolled his eyes and shouted something in response, and he felt laughter bubbling up in his chest.)

The Gate of Souls shone with a light that was only comparable to that of the holy Triforce.

Which wasn’t too surprising, once Hyrule thought about it. Lana, the sorceress responsible for watching over the timeline and the one who sent Warriors to investigate the eras in the first place, was also technically in charge of the Triforce. It made sense that her magic would be similar to something she’d no doubt spent ages studying.

…how old was she, again?

Hyrule was quickly distracted from his thoughts as the sorceress in question welcomed them through the portal. 

“Hello, honored heroes. Did you have any luck finding the source of the disturbance in that era between heroes?”

Warriors stepped forward. “No, not much. It was the same as the last few times—we were too late to find anything of worth.”

Lana hummed, looking troubled as she flipped through her spell book. “That’s unfortunate. I thought for sure…but I suppose not…”

“Uh. Question?” Wind raised a hand. “Why don’t you send us back a few days earlier? Then we’d be able to see what happened, and maybe confront whoever’s been doing this.”

“No can do,” she shook her head, “The Gate of Souls operates in a manner to have minimal impact on the timeline, so I can only send you to specific points in time where there won't be lasting consequences for your interference.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Four interjected. “How are we supposed to be solving anything if nothing we do will change how the events play out? How does someone even mess with the timeline in the first place if it’s all predetermined anyway?”

“You misunderstand. One, your job right now is to find out what is going on, not to fix it. Two, I’m talking about the Gate of Souls specifically, not time travel in general.” She propped a hand on her hip. “Our own resident Hero of Time can attest to there being other means of travel that do allow you to make a difference.”

Time hummed, “Yes, that is true. But I’m more experienced on smaller scales—nothing like the traveling we’ve been doing across hundreds of years.”

“Oh! I’ve traveled using a time gate, if that counts,” Sky offered.

“If that counts, then there was one dungeon that I had to travel into the distant past to access. But it was a closed system—I don’t know whether what I did inside was what had always happened since it was all decayed in the present regardless,” Twilight mused.

Sky tilted his head, “I think I made a difference, but now that you mention it I was also kind of limited? I didn’t really travel far from the gate…oh, and there were also timeshift stones, which don’t really make sense if I'm being entirely honest. A friend tried explaining it to me once and it went right over my head.”

A thought occurred to Hyrule as he perked up, “Wait, I think I know something! What about that old story with the Hero of Legend?”

He looked around for confirmation, only to be met with blank stares—and Lana’s contemplative one.

“Which hero? There’s kind of a lot of us…” Wind tilted his head, “And I don’t think it’s any of us here.”

“You know, the hero who came before me? The one who traveled the world and continuously beat back the followers of Ganon as they attempted to resurrect him, who opened the way for the kingdom’s golden age?” He tried not to falter as nobody reacted. “How does nobody know who I’m talking about?! He literally defined an era!”

“Easy there—it’s probably just a timeline difference. He might’ve come after the rest of us,” Twilight comforted as he patted him on the back.

It didn’t help.

“I think that the Hero of Hyrule may be onto something,” Lana paged through her book, faster this time. “The Hero of Legend had to regularly traverse the span of four hundred years during his journey to save the country of Labrynna, which is where an oracle charged with watching over that branch of the timeline resides. If nothing else, talking to her could help—I mostly preside over history’s turning points, so I’m not of very much help regarding the finer details she specializes in.”

Hyrule’s heart skipped a beat.

“Does that mean we’re picking up another hero?” 

“Not necessarily,” Warriors cast a look at Time, “It depends on whether we cross paths, or if he wants to join. There are already more of us than we really need for this sort of thing.”

The old man huffed, “You’re still not getting rid of me that easily, Captain.”

He threw his hands up in the air, “Forgive me for trying to get you back home to your wife so you can enjoy your retirement!”

“Just how old do you think I am?”

The conversation escalated in volume from there, but Hyrule wasn’t paying attention. His mind was racing at the thought of visiting the Golden Era, the era of the Hero of Legend. The very hero whose tales Hyrule used to study obsessively when he was a kid learning how to read.

…he hoped that he’d make a decent first impression, if they did end up meeting the guy. 

(In his dreams, he was helping Four make a sword in the middle of the woods.

He’d normally chalk it up to strange dream logic, but the hammer in his hands and the magical rod wielded by Warriors lent some realism to the scene. Of course, just adding heat wouldn’t be enough. Four said he needed some way to cool it without setting the forest on fire—

“Watch it!” The smithy scolded a guy in a black undertunic. He flinched backwards, the rod in his hands radiating cool air.

Huh. It wasn’t too much of a leap in logic to assume that other kinds of elemental rods must exist, but he’s only ever heard of fire. What would a rod enchanted to work with ice be capable of?

“Don’t you dare freeze it!”

To his credit, the guy did seem to take his warning seriously. He gently waved the ice rod towards the hot blade.

…and nearly ruined everything by instantly freezing the air around it..

Four hollered for him to stop, and went off on a whole rant about temperature control. The guy protested that the rod wasn't meant for finer control like that. Which led to an argument over why he hadn't mentioned that sooner, they wouldn't have known that just by working with the fire rod since there was much more room for error there—

His heart ached when he woke up.)

They departed through the Gate in the morning, after Warriors returned from a check in with the nearest military outpost.

Lynna City was surprisingly quiet considering its size. A nice in-between of the bustling crowds of the Castle Towns of other eras and the villages from his own time.

Hyrule probably looked dumb gawking at everything, but in his defense this was a dream come true. He was pretty sure that Aurora would kill to get the chance to be here with him—she was just as much a fan as he was, if not more. The two of them had reread various accounts of the hero’s time in Labrynna on multiple occasions. Puzzling out a linear narrative following the hero from bits of information scattered across the ages was both fun and endlessly frustrating. To think he’d be able to see it in person!

The others humored his excitement, and Wild even started taking photos on his slate as an offering to their respective princesses.

“Guys, look over here!”

His head whipped over to Wind, who was pointing at…

Hyrule gasped.

There, in the center of the plaza, stood a statue of a boy raising his sword high in his left hand, which was marked with the symbol of the Triforce. He didn’t need to check the plaque to know who this statue was made to look like.

The Hero of Legend.

“So…another kid, huh?” Twilight asked from where he stood next to him.

“Yeah. The stories disagree on how old he was when he first started, but considering the sheer amount of things he’s credited for…he would’ve had to dedicate his whole life to it.”

Country after country, any town that kept a long enough history had a story of what happened when the Hero of Legend visited. Of monsters slain and contests won and quests fulfilled—more stories than Hyrule could ever imagine being told about himself. And yet, he never really thought about it from the perspective of someone who was now technically a hero himself.

How must the Hero of Legend feel about his endless adventures? Was he like Warriors, who did it as a job, or more like Wind who was in it for the thrill? Someone like Four who loved to learn about everything about a place, or like Twilight who was more interested in what he could do for the people there? Did he prefer to live on the road like Wild, or to return home frequently like Sky?

Was he like Time, retired with a family and yet still coming along on the occasional quest?

Or like himself, who didn’t see a future for himself outside of this?

He snapped out of thoughts at the sound of footsteps approaching. He glanced over his shoulder to see a woman with long blue hair looking up at the statue. Her expression was oddly bittersweet.

“Uh…hello there?”

She turned towards him. For some reason, he got the impression that she was seeing right through him. “Hello, Hero of Hyrule.”

His blood went cold. Twilight tensed beside him, and he could see the others reacting from their positions scattered around the plaza.

“At ease. I am no enemy of yours, travelers of my domain.”

It clicked. “You’re the Oracle of Ages?”

She smiled, “Indeed. It’s a pleasure to meet you—I’ve heard many great things about you from a dear friend of mine.”

“Ah, well…” Hyrule’s face burned as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve, uh. Heard stories of you, too.”

Warriors, thank the stars, intervened before he could embarrass himself further. “The Guardian of Time sent us to ask about the disturbances across time. She thought that you might be able to point us in the right direction.”

“I see,” she hummed. “I’m afraid that I can’t be of much help. For you see, I do not currently possess my harp.”

“Your…harp?” Warriors asked with a bland smile.

“Oh! You mean the Harp of Ages?” Hyrule asked, valiantly throwing himself back into the conversation he just escaped.

“Yes. Without it, your group will never be able to find the source of the distortions.”

“Well, where is it then? A dungeon?” Wind chimed in hopefully.

Four popped up from behind the statue, holding a hooked staff. “Did a monster steal it?”

“Was it the thief?” Wild asked while hopping down from a nearby lamppost and stashing his bow away.

The oracle shook her head, “No worries, it is in safe hands—I lent it to the hero of this era.”

No. Way.

Hyrule did his best to sound casual, “So…do you know where we would find him?”

“There’s a port not too far from here with a ship that will set sail for the country of Hyrule. Once there, travel towards Kakariko Village. You’ll know when you see him. Though I must warn you: the one behind the distortions will try to stop you from meeting him.”

“Wait,” Warriors interjected, “We have some more questions—”

“Nayru!!”

A boy in an…elaborate outfit rushed forward, inserting himself between the oracle and Warriors. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Come on, we’re late to meet with the nobles of Kanalet—”

The oracle waved to them in farewell as she was pulled away by the insistent boy. They watched her go with varying degrees of surprise.

“...well then,” Sky shrugged, “I guess we’re going to Hyrule?”

“But he’s right there,” Wild said with an innocent tone, making them all groan.

“Still, sailing there normally is going to take forever,” Wind whined as they started walking. “I don’t even have the Wind Waker so I can help with the wind direction.”

“I’ll take sailing over hiking any day,” Sky said with a heavy sigh. “Or better: flying.”

“But we only ever fly in your era? And there aren’t as many places to travel to when we’re there.”

“I said what I said.”

“Rancher,” Hyrule said suddenly. “Don’t you have a horse?”

Twilight startled a bit, “Wha—oh, yeah! Her name’s Epona, she’s a good girl. Why do you ask?”

“Have you ever thought of bringing her with you through the Gates?”

“Nah, not at all.”

A beat.

“...okay, well…maybe a little bit. I probably would’ve taken her along in the heat of the moment if I was with her when I ran into Warriors, but he was deep in Castle Town so no. Besides, Ilia would kill me for endangering her like that.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Just a thought. Which reminds me—I need to go ask the old man something.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Alright then. Don’t let me keep you.”

Hyrule nodded to him, jogging forward past the others to fall in step with Time. “Hey, can I ask you a quick question?”

He tilted his head, “What is it?”

“As the closest time travel expert: if someone was to go back in time to take something of yours before you ever got it, would you notice?”

“I’m guessing this is related to what the smith has been asking me about?”

“...maybe.” Hyrule smiled sheepishly, “He’s the one who got me thinking about it.”

“Hm…well, to answer your question, it depends on the kind of item. Something like rupees or bombs tend to be lost as easily as they’re obtained, so they don’t stick in our memory the way that, say, a bomb bag would.”

“So it depends on how attached you are to the item?”

“Partially. Let’s say…a kid approaches you one day, and helps out with something very important to you. As a thanks, you give him a cherished belonging of yours—a toy mask. What do you think would happen if the kid then traveled back in time with the item to before you met?”

“Uh…would it disappear?”

Time smiled at him, “Correct. It might not happen immediately, but reality would eventually reassert itself so that only one version of that item would exist at any given time. Maybe one of them would get destroyed, or misplaced, or forgotten about entirely. Whatever is the path of least resistance…which is probably why stubborn souls like us Triforce wielders tend to remain aware of themselves whenever the timeline is messed with. It’s easier to let us be aware of the changes than to try to justify all the discrepancies in the world around us.”

“I guess that makes sense…but wait. Are you implying that the thief…?”

The old man sighed, “I can’t say for certain, but the way my mask disappeared before this quest bore many similarities to unique rewards I received on previous trips through time. It’s entirely likely that nothing was stolen at all, but was instead given of our own free will.”

Hyrule fell silent as he thought over Time’s words. He could imagine passing his key to one of the others if he thought they might need it. Sky’s whip, Wild’s paraglider, heck—even Four’s bow was something normal to lend someone who was going to do something like scout ahead in a dungeon.

But according to Wind, Twilight, and Time, they’d all lost dangerous magical items. Artifacts that normally never left their person. Just what would it take for them to willingly hand over something like that?

And if that was the case…what happened to the person they gave it to?

(He chased a boy with pink hair through a field of multicolored flowers.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep up. The boy ran like the wind carried him with every step and laughed like he knew he would never be caught.

“Hurry up, Traveler! We gotta beat the others back to the ranch if we wanna win that bet—I am not sleeping on the floor for the third night in a row when there’s a perfectly good guest bedroom that Warriors has been hogging!”

“Easy for you to say,” he wheezed, attempting to speed up nonetheless.

The boy did slow down a bit, poorly concealed worry painting his features. “Hey, are you alright? You’re running like Sky does.”

“Just…tired…”

“Wait, stop for a second. Lemme give you a lift.”

“Wha—I’m not gonna make you carry me! I can still run!”

“Eh, it’s fine. You don’t weigh a thing with this bracelet on. Besides, I’m the one with the pegasus boots.”

He hesitated.

“C’mon Rulie. We won’t get there any faster just standing around.”

He gave in, climbing on his back. “Fine. But you’re getting the bed.”

“We’ll share, dumbass.”

Hyrule made to protest, but the breath was ripped from his lungs as the boy started running. The dream dissolved into a blur of color.)

He thought that he should be commended for managing to contain his excited squeal upon setting foot on the shores of Hyrule Kingdom.

One would think that Hyrule would get used to it after seeing so many different towns across various points in time. Or that there was less to be impressed with in a fairly normal-looking village after sights like Skyloft in its prime. But that would be forgetting a key detail that set this apart from the rest: this was the direct past of the land he called home.

Sure, most of it was unrecognizable. There were fewer towns, for one—which he guessed wasn’t too surprising considering that people were still recovering from the aftereffects of the Imprisoning War at this point in history. And the geography wasn’t an exact match in the slightest. But the little things were what caught his attention. The clothes, the language, the plant life. All of it familiar to what he knew back in his era.

But that was beside the point—they had finally made it to Kakariko! Hyrule had to actively keep himself from wandering off towards the tantalizing food stalls. There must be some sort of special occasion going on for there to be so many vendors set up in a relatively small village like this.

The others were clustered together, debating something. He caught the occasional word—Warriors wanted to head straight for the castle, while everyone else was inclined towards taking a break in Kakariko for some time. Hyrule should probably be contributing his own opinions, but it seemed like things were already leaning in favor of staying, so he let his mind wander.

A flash of color caught his eye.

He turned away from the group, scanning the crowd. The Kakariko Village market was busier than Lynna had been, but it was easy enough for him to find what had grabbed his attention.

It was a boy his age. He had bright pink hair that clashed with the red of his cloak, and was walking with a blue cane. Hyrule watched him move with surprising grace. The boy’s stride didn’t falter once, even as he moved through the densest parts of the crowd.

Hyrule’s breath stuttered as they made eye contact across the street.

I know him.

Panic rushed through him as the boy turned on his heel and started to walk away. Hyrule surged forward, pushing his way through the crowd. He paid no mind to the various shouts and curses tossed his way. 

“Wait! I need to ask you something!”

He kept walking, unbothered.

“Please, I think—! Have we met before?”

Nothing. 

Hyrule forced his way closer, finally grabbing ahold of his cloak, “I said—!”

The boy suddenly whipped around, eyes wide.

For a single moment, they just stood there. Staring at each other.

He was promptly decked across the face.

Hyrule staggered backwards, hand reaching up towards his cheek, “Agh—What is wrong with you?!”

“What is wrong with me?! You’re the one who grabbed me!!” The boy retorted.

That was…probably fair, but Hyrule didn’t particularly care for that kind of logical thinking at the moment. So he did the first thing he could think of:

He punched the guy in the nose.

It very quickly devolved from there, trading blows as they rolled (when had they ended up on the ground?) around on the cobblestone. He was distantly aware of people yelling. A small part of his brain was insisting that he slow down to properly take stock of the situation, but it was quickly overruled by the majority voting to grab this familiar stranger by the hair and pull.

The burning feeling in his soul was abruptly extinguished when he felt hands pull the two of them apart.

“—won’t stop resisting—subdue—sleep potion—”

His arms were restrained, and Hyrule desperately struggled to break free. He threw back his head just in time to see a soldier cover the lower half of his face with a soaked rag. A sickly sweet smell filled his nose as the world went dark.

(“Please, stop! Wake up!!” The boy begged, a fearful look in his eyes. “You have to fight it!”

The sound of dark laughter rose over the din of clashing metal. “It’s no use, Hero of Legend. He can’t hear a single thing you say. None of them can.”

A sword slashed towards the boy, which he quickly deflected with his own. The boy hissed in pain.

‘But you already know that, don’t you? You’re familiar with this kind of magic,” They taunted. “You know how this will end.”

“Please,” The boy’s tearful eyes met his own. “Rulie—Link, you have to wake up!”

He raised his sword.

The boy lowered his head. “...I’m sorry.”

Hyrule went for the kill.

With a swift move, the boy threw up his other arm, hand clutching a blue cane that emanated power.

The last thing he saw was tears freely rolling down a face framed in faded pink hair.

Then, his world exploded in pain.)

Hyrule woke with a start, surging to his feet.

He was…indoors? He looked around at the brick walls, the guy sitting in the shadows, the rotting wood floors, and…metal bars blocking off the far end of the room.

Was he in prison or something—wait. A guy?

“Good morning~” The guy from earlier greeted him sarcastically. “Welcome to the best accommodations in the kingdom, provided by none other than Hyrule’s finest for the best prices around. Hope you enjoy your stay.”

Hyrule stumbled back, hitting the wall behind him. 

“What happened?”

“Easy. Someone caused a commotion in the middle of town, so some self-important snitch called the soldiers to deal with it,” he huffed. “Believe it or not, this is actually an improvement—gotta hand it to the new captain of this division, getting knocked out via potion is a million times better than getting stabbed to death about it.”

He had no idea how to respond to that.

Instead, he let himself slide down the grimy brick wall, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face in them.

This was the worst. He’d not only gotten himself lost, but he’d gone and ended up arrested within the first hour of being here. The others were never going to let him live this down…assuming they even still wanted him around after this. Warriors was already looking for any excuse to send them back to their respective eras and leave this quest to him. And Hyrule already wasn’t like the others. Honored heroes in their times. Knights.

He tightened his grip on his legs.

Hyrule wasn’t jealous. He knew that he was a capable fighter. The only reason he himself wasn’t knighted despite working missions for the royal family was so that he had an easier time going undercover. Knighthood came with certain rules and expectations that he couldn’t afford to uphold if he wanted to keep a low profile while traveling—something he’d seen Warriors clearly struggling with throughout their time together. Half the group weren’t knights at all. It shouldn’t mean anything.

But it was difficult to remember that when he was surrounded by so many others who had done everything he had and more.

Much like how Warriors had been ordered to investigate the disturbances across time, Dawn had unofficially asked him to follow along and see how things played out. To intervene if he believed anything they found would threaten the royal family. Specifically, if it was decided that Aurora’s presence in his era was something that needed to be ‘fixed’. A mission of utmost importance to protect a person he cared for.

And here he was, separated from the people he was supposed to be keeping an eye on while chasing after some random guy instead—and getting in a fight, of all things! What the heck inspired him to do that?!

“What a mess.”

His head jerked upwards to see the guy, who had stood up and was now tapping at the bars with his cane. Which, come to think of it…wasn’t it kind of stupid to toss them in the same cell? They were arrested for fighting in the middle of town, who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to lock them in close quarters?? He still had his sword and everything!

No, now wasn’t the time to think about things like the justice system of past times. He needed to focus on the present. Which was in the past—Focus!

“Sorry,” Hyrule mumbled, averting his eyes towards the floor. “I didn’t mean to start anything. I just thought that I…”

“Recognized me, right.” A sigh. “Whatever. Let’s just get out of here and forget this ever happened.”

He flinched as a blanket was thrown over him. Hyrule clawed at it, freeing his head from what turned out to be the guy’s cloak. “Hey, what gives?!”

“It’s magic. Put it on and channel some energy into it—it’ll let you phase through the bars.”

Oh. “What about you?”

He rolled his eyes, “Pass the cape back to me once you’re through, duh.”

“Right.” He really should’ve thought it through before saying anything. Hyrule scrambled to his feet and fixed the fabric around his shoulders, before cautiously feeding it some magic.

The cape’s enchantments swirled around him. He swayed on his feet as a dizzying feeling overcame him, the world falling away. He pushed through the nausea and stumbled through the metal bars of the cell. The second he was free, Hyrule quickly cut off his magic and gasped for air.

A slow clapping sound echoed through his head, “Congrats, you’re a natural. Now hand it over.”

Hyrule was more than happy to oblige. 

The guy was much more smooth with it, wielding it with clear experience as he easily phased through the metal.

“Showoff,” he grumbled as he rubbed his aching head.

A pause, “...you could see me?”

“Uh. Yeah? Was I not supposed to?”

“Huh…I guess there’s no reason why you wouldn’t also be able to see through that kind of invisibility. That explains how you found me earlier.”

“Found you..?” His mind flashed back to the stranger’s apparent ease navigating the crowded street. “Oh. I didn’t realize…”

“Like I said, whatever.”

“But I—”

The guy spun around to point a finger in his face. “Look, I don’t care. What happened, happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t feel like hanging around waiting for the guards to decide to come check on us.”

Hyrule huffed, letting it drop for now. “Fine. Lead the way.”

“My pleasure,” he mocked with a flourishing bow, before walking down the hall. The wood creaked under their steps as they made their way through the otherwise empty prison.

“Are we the only ones here?”

“Ha! Hopefully—I frequent this place often enough, and as far as I know I’m the only idiot they toss down here.”

“But why? Shouldn’t there at least be a guard?”

“Ehhh…probably. But nobody wants to spend their day standing around in a rotten place like this. They have someone posted at the exit, but there’s a different way out that connects to the old castle sewers.”

“...do I want to know why you know this?”

“How I—Hey, I’m not a criminal or anything!”

“You just said you regularly get thrown in jail!”

“Yeah, because of an old curse! It wasn’t anything I’ve actually done!”

Hyrule stopped short, “A curse?”

He sighed, not slowing his pace in the slightest as he fished a lantern out of his bag. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn—of course it does! If it’s impacting your life enough for you to need to be invisible when you enter town, then I’d say it’s pretty fucking important!”

“Look, it’s just, well—ugh!” 

He slammed his cane down on the floor, which Hyrule thought was a bit excessive until he heard the click of a switch. The wall beside them slid open to reveal a set of stairs descending into darkness. The guy went down them without hesitation, and Hyrule was quick to follow.

“It was a long time ago, alright? A sorcerer got all pissy at me, and so he cast a curse to compel people to attack me. The strength varies from person to person, and it had mostly faded by the time a copycat decided to refresh it. I’ve already consulted with Ze—the princess, there’s not really much to do besides wait for it to fade again.”

“That’s…” Hyrule searched for the right word, “...unfortunate.”

A snort. “Story of my life. What about you?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Is there anyone else I'd be asking? What brings a traveler like you to town?”

“Oh, well…I’m tagging along with a group.” He tried not to wince as he remembered that yes, they had probably heard that he’d gotten arrested by now. “All of us suddenly lost an important item of ours, so we’ve been traveling around looking for them.”

“Is that so?” He asked with a strained voice. “Could I ask what exactly you’re missing?”

Hyrule counted it off on his fingers, “A key, a bow, a whip, a wand, a crystal, a mask, and a paraglider.”

He hummed…but didn’t say anything more.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. “We’re actually here because an oracle told us to visit this town. The one in Labrynna…what was her name again? Nabooru? Naydra?”

Hyrule watched closely as the guy’s shoulders stiffened, then forcibly relaxed. “You’ve traveled a long way, then. What makes you think you’ll find what you’re looking for here?”

“Not ‘what’,” he corrected. “She told us to look for the hero of this land. That he’d be able to help us.”

“Is that so.”

“That’s not all,” Hyrule said with a light tone, mind racing. “She said that someone was messing with the timeline, and that they’d try to keep us from meeting him.”

The discrepancies, the missing items, the dreams—

“Are you sure you should be telling me all this? It sounds awfully important—not something you should share with any average nobody you come across on your journey.”

“I’m sure that everyone else would be fine with it…they were when we explained what was going on to all the other heroes we met.”

The Hero of Legend went rigid.

Hyrule lunged, missing him by a hair as he bolted.

“Get back here!” he shouted as he sprinted down the tunnels in pursuit.

“When has saying that worked for anyone?!”

“It was worth a shot!”

Startled laughter echoed around him, spurring him further.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re unfairly fast with a cane?!”

“Nah, they’re normally too busy shouting death threats to care for compliments!”

He stumbled around a corner, the light of the lantern flickering ahead,  “We’re not trying to kill you! We just want to talk!”

“A likely story!”

“Seriously!” He yelped as a keese flew at him, batting it out of the air. “Are you the one that’s been messing with the timeline?!”

“...No?” He called out with an uncertain note in his voice.

“Really?”

“Hey, you totally believed me for a second!”

Hyrule huffed as he ran up a set of stairs, “You’re ridiculous!”

“You’re a pain in the ass!”

“Stubborn bastard!”

“I know what you are, but what am I?!”

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that. Here he was, chasing his childhood hero through the sewers of ancient Hyrule after getting them both arrested, and he was smiling so wide it hurt.

Eventually, though, he started to fall behind. Hyrule tried to push himself as hard as he could—but there was no outrunning the Hero of Legend. He cried out as his foot slipped on a particularly wet tile and sent him crashing onto cold, unforgiving stone.

For a moment, he thought that was it. That the hero would take the chance to ditch him once and for all. But then his ears caught the gentle sound of boots and cane on stone, backtracking.

“...you alright there?”

He groaned, “I’ll live. How about you?”

“I’m not the one that fell,” he snarked.

“You came back.”

He sighed, offering a hand. “I figured that if you got lost down here, I’d be the one sent to retrieve your sorry ass. I’m just saving us both the trouble, that’s all.”

He huffed, accepting the hand up. “Well, thanks…can I pretty please get some answers now?”

“...fine. Talk as we walk—there’s still a ways to go until we get to the exit.”

“Right.” He moved to walk beside him. “So…are you the one who has our missing things?”

“Getting straight into it? Nah, don’t apologize. But yeah. I had them on me while I traveled through time, and I forgot that meant they could disappear on your end.” He pulled at the necklace hiding underneath his collar, unhooking something from the chain and tossing it to him.

Hyrule caught it, eyes widening at the sight of his magical key.

“I’ll give you the others’ shit later, but I figure you’d like to have that back as soon as possible.”

“Thanks…why did you have it in the first place, though? I’d understand just one or two items, but one from each of us?”

“Hey, Warriors was the one who borrowed that fire rod from me. I didn’t steal shit from him.”

“Fine. You took something from most of us. Why?”

He looked away from him. “...earlier. You said you recognized me. How?”

Hyrule paused, hearing something that sounded too much like desperation in his words. “I’ve been having dreams. Visions of someone—you—traveling with us. Only glimpses, but…but enough to make it obvious that someone was missing.”

The hero was quiet.

“...can you please tell me what happened?”

He inhaled a shuddering breath. “It’s not a fun story, Ru—Traveler. The kind that’s better left forgotten.”

“I need to know.” Hyrule bit his lip, then decided to go for it. “That curse you mentioned earlier. It was used to turn us against you, wasn’t it?”

His silence said it all.

“Please, Legend,” the title flowed smoothly off his tongue, almost as if he’d called that name a thousand times before.

“...we originally were hunting down someone who was using dark magic to power up monsters and stirring chaos across the timeline. It was too late when we realized that they had a different end goal in mind—a personal grudge against heroes. We…didn’t anticipate them using the remnants from an old curse cast on me to make us all try to kill each other.”

Hyrule carefully didn’t react as Legend laughed, a hollow and aching thing.

“Sky and I were the only ones to realize what was happening. Fi snapped us right out of it.” He raised his left hand to show a burn scar, as if he’d grabbed a metal pole while it was red hot. “But everyone else…nothing we tried worked. It’s already difficult to disarm one guy with nonlethal measures. But seven of them? All with skills befitting a hero?”

“...who died first?”

“It was Sky. He wasn’t as used to holding his own without a sword, and didn't have as many items to fall back on. At that point it stopped being about a peaceful resolution. I was going to go back in time to undo it no matter what or who went down after that. The top priority was to make sure I survived to make that happen.”

“That cane,” Hyrule realized, eyeing the one in his hand. “It—protected you against me.”

It killed me, went unsaid.

“Cane of Byrna. Summons a shield to protect the wielder that will hurt anyone who tries to attack. I didn’t have my cape on me at the time, so it was the only thing I had that could shield me while I fought. I…I hoped that maybe you’d all back off when you realized your attacks were only backfiring.”

Hyrule snorted, a terrible feeling gnawing at his insides. “Stupid. You should’ve known that we all have more stubbornness than sense.”

“One could hope,” Legend shrugged with a weak smile on his face.

“...so what happened…after?”

“After? Well…I, uh. Wasn’t sure if going back to change things would split the timeline, and I didn’t want you all to just rot there, so I might have…brought everyone home.”

Hyrule blinked. “Please tell me you burned my body first.”

“Oh, don’t worry—we’d already talked about funeral rites before going to face that boss. None of us wanted to, but you insisted on sharing yours and we all followed. Talking about burial versus cremation, how to split our belongings…following all those instructions for that last quest might’ve been the one thing keeping me together, actually. I was kind of a mess.”

“I don’t blame you,” he said faintly.

“So…yeah. After that,” he said casually, as if he hadn’t been forced to execute their last wishes eight times over, “I went back to my era and used the Harp of Ages to travel to before I met you all, since I wasn’t sure about any of the other dates while we were on the road. From there I just went straight to the boss’ hideout and dealt with them before they could become a threat.”

…oh.

Legend kept rambling. “No idea why you’re all still on a quest, though I guess that we did enough to change things all across the timeline that it would leave things unstable and cause a quite frankly dumb number of paradoxes if nobody was there to do the things we already did—”

“Can I hug you?”

“...come again?”

“A hug.” Hyrule opened his arms in invitation.

Legend stared at him for a long moment. Just as Hyrule was starting to get self-conscious (did he seriously just say that, the guy is literally equipped with gear to keep people from touching him, wait if the Hero of Legend was friends with him in the past then he probably knew embarrassing things about him that hadn’t even happened yet— ), he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him.

They stood like that for what felt like forever, quietly hugging.

“...so. What now?” Hyrule asked as they stepped apart.

Legend sighed, looking very tired all of a sudden. “Now we go and find the others, who are probably out there causing a commotion over your disappearance. I give them back their shit, explain that I went and fought a time traveling monster and that’s why the timeline’s fucked up, and we see how it goes from there.”

Hyrule went to respond, but quickly forgot what he was going to say when he was cut off by the sound of distant explosions reverberating through the ground. Small bits of sunlight started to slip through some cracks in the earth.

“Aaand that would be them finding the exit. Dampé’s gonna kill them for setting off bombs in his graveyard. The last thing this tunnel needs is another reason to collapse and disturb the graves of all the nobles from the last few centuries.”

Hyrule fought back a grin. “Ready to meet them again?”

“No. Now let’s go before I change my mind.”

He laughed, grabbing Legend by the hand and leading the way towards the light.

Chapter Text

It wasn't the kind of solution that Legend wanted to consider.

Of course not—he was a puzzle solver at heart, a firm believer that there was always a way forward. But something like this was a last resort. Magic to fall back on when nothing else was working. The sort of thing that was only appealing in the eyes of a desperate man.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Legend had hit the point where this was no longer a hypothetical.

The battlefield had fallen dead (ha) silent after he dealt the final blow. He didn't need to look around him to know how the conflict played out. He’d long since learned how to keep track of everyone even in the most chaotic of battles. There was no question about what he’d see when he tore his eyes away from the dissolving corpse of the one responsible for all of this.

And still, Legend found himself hesitating.

It wasn't like dragging it out would mean anything in the long run. Not at the scale he was working with. The past would always be waiting for him, no matter how long it took him to get there.

What a terrible power. Lucky for him, Legend was practically raised to carry this burden.

He didn't want to wait. But even if nobody would know…they deserved better than to be left here, so far from their homes with no hope of return. And so he sucked it up and ripped his sword free. Forced himself to his feet and turned to properly survey the battlefield.

Nine portals stood around the edges of the boss arena, courtesy of their patron. Eight heroes who needed to be returned home. And one who would never fully be able to.

Well. No time like the present.

He fell into a rhythm after the first few times.

It was a horrible thing to realize, but the undeniable truth. Legend fell into a certain state of numbness as he wrapped his brothers in their blankets. Epona was a blessing—once he managed to lead her down into the depths of the dungeon, she stuck by his side throughout the whole process and bore the weight that he couldn't manage alone. She carried each hero on her back with deliberate caution as they walked. He didn't want to think about what he would've done without her.

If Legend was in the mood to thank the goddesses for anything, it would be for giving him the chance to visit everyone’s homes under better circumstances beforehand. He knew exactly where to take each of them.

Some of them had family who recognized him when he approached. Malon, Grandpa Smith, Twilight's whole freaking village. Wind's grandma and sister. Flora. Sun. They all brightened the same way upon recognizing him as a friend of their Link, only for those smiles to falter when they got a better look at him standing alone.

Others simply knew him in passing—Warriors’ fellow knights actually kept him waiting for an hour while they sent word to the higher ups. Their standoff was only resolved when the princess herself arrived to claim her hero.

And some, well…Hyrule had given him explicit instructions on what to do with his body. The only thing he carried into the traveler’s era was a bag full of belongings, wrapped in a spare bedroll he’d lent the hero back when they first met. Hyrule’s princesses understood.

That part was the most unsettling. Where Legend had expected to be receiving the full force of everyone's despair and fury, to shoulder the blame for failing so severely to protect his brothers in arms—he was instead met with compassion. Hugs and whispered thanks for bringing their boys home instead of screaming for him to get lost. Every one of them invited him inside to talk. Wanting to hear about what they had been up to, what was accomplished with their dying breaths. It never felt like it was enough, that it was worth the loss of their light.

He probably cried more that week than he had the rest of his life combined. And these wonderful people who were still practically strangers, only connected to him through someone who was no longer around, wrapped their arms around him and shared in his grief.

No wonder everyone else had turned out so well, growing up around people like these.

Ravio insisted on him sorting through his inventory before going through with his plan.

“You know that it’s important to keep track of everything in your bag, Mr. Hero!” He said with false cheer as he bustled around the shop set up in the living room.

“There’s not really a point. It’s not like I’ll be traveling much after this.”

His counterpart simply raised an eyebrow at that, and Legend conceded that he didn’t have the best track record of following through on statements like that.

To be fair…he did have lots of new equipment to sort through.

Some things were easier to add to his current set of gear than others. Four’s bow easily replaced his own, and the fire rod he lent Warriors already had a spot in his inventory beside Sky’s whip. Hyrule’s magical key fit on the same chain as his medallions, though Twilight’s shard of dark magic stayed on its own cord and was kept inside his bag along with a mask resembling Time’s face. Wild’s paraglider was a bitch—Legend needed to attach a separate pouch to his belt just for it to be easily accessible for emergencies. The Wind Waker was strapped to his left leg where it would be hidden inside his boot. Not that Legend would be able to use it, considering his chronically terrible sense of tempo, but he figured that Wind would appreciate the sneaky placement.

It felt odd. Wearing so many magical items with such a variety of enchantments made his hair stand on end. Like an orchestra where every instrument was playing an entirely different song. It was chaotic and distracting…not unlike the items’ previous owners.

He’d get used to it.

That task done with, Legend ventured down into the basement. As much as Ravio liked to advertise his wares as ‘hero tested and approved’, he was careful to never put Legend’s belongings on display. Something that was probably done both to be polite and out of a sense of self-preservation.

The Harp of Ages was right where he left it, resting on the shelf Legend set it on after taking it back from a curious Sky. It was lighter than he remembered it being.

“Mr. Hero?”

Legend didn't turn around, “Yeah?”

“Will I remember this? Will anyone?”

“...I don't know,” He sighed. “It varies. Some people notice the timeline shifting around them as things change. Others only get an odd sense of déjà vu. And some wouldn’t notice even if you went back and changed their family history. Generally magic users remember more, but it’s a crapshoot.”

“Ah. Okay.” There was the familiar sound of Ravio awkwardly shuffling his feet.

“Are you going to try to stop me?”

He wasn’t sure what he’d do if Ravio said yes. Argue? Pretend to agree, then do it anyway? Ravio historically had good judgement regarding these kinds of matters, but Legend couldn’t imagine a world where he'd be content to let things end like this.

“No.”

That ominous tone made Legend glance over his shoulder. There was a serious look in Ravio’s eyes that he hadn’t seen since his counterpart talked Hilda down from stealing Hyrule’s Triforce.

“...I packed you some food. You better keep track of your rations if you’re going to be traveling on your own. Even if you’re not planning on being gone for very long. Just…promise to come back.”

Oh.

His throat was tight as he accepted the bag that Ravio handed to him. “I promise.”

Ravio’s eyes searched his face. He seemed to find whatever he was looking for, giving him a final nod and backing away to a safe distance. Legend took that as his cue to start strumming the strings of the sacred instrument.

A simple rule of time travel as it functioned under the laws set by the goddess of time declared that the same person could not exist in two different states within the same timeline. Legend didn’t know the finer mechanics of it—he’d once spent an entire afternoon trying to understand Nayru’s explanation on how puzzles could be solved using time travel without creating a paradox, and came to the ultimate conclusion that some things were better left to the divine.

The exact mechanics didn’t matter, anyway. All that he needed to know was that when he traveled back in time to the day before he met Hyrule, the traveler would be alone on that road.

…that was fine. It was for the best.

He put the harp in his bag and left his basement. Ravio wasn’t there, obviously. The merchant didn’t move back in until later. Legend wouldn’t know how much he remembered until then.

As he was walking out, he felt a warm presence in the back of his mind.

“Link? Is everything alright?” Fable projected to him. She’d no doubt felt the disturbance, even if he hadn’t changed much yet.

“Yeah,” he responded out loud as he locked his front door. “Just got pulled into a quick sidequest. Some asshole is messing with time, so I’m doing it better so I can go and kick their ass before they become an actual problem.”

“Oh, alright. Good luck—and you better be back soon! You promised to attend the Kakariko harvest festival.”

Legend rolled his eyes, “It’s time travel, Zel. I’ll be back in time no matter how long it takes.”

He carefully didn’t mention that he missed it last time around. There was no point in wasting time getting scolded over something that wouldn’t happen. 

Besides—he had work to do.