The day started as it typically would. Expecting nothing special at all, Green got up and went through the motions of the morning: fixed his hair (which had suffered a severe case of bedhead), got dressed, gave his schedule a quick glance (the usual training was all he had planned for today), and then, with a small adjustment to his belt, left for the mess hall. He already knew how things would go. He'd walk into the mess hall, see Blue and Red already waiting there for him, and sit down. Blue would be trying to avoid eating the eggs on his plate for fear that he'd get the yolk all over his sleeves, and Red would be happily munching away on some bread with sweet jam. Vio would stumble in next and sit in his seat half-asleep (during which time Green would teasingly try to steal his bread), and finally Shadow would trudge into the room looking dead tired after a night of blogging and gaming. That was how it always went.
So it was a surprise when Green entered the mess hall and found not just Blue and Red there, but also Zelda and the Shrine Maidens. That didn't seem to phase Blue, though, because as soon as Green walked in, he said the same thing he always did.
"Nice of you to show up for breakfast."
"Good morning to you too," Green answered with a grin. Blue's tone wasn't full of malice. It was actually more of a tease than an insult, and Blue broke his sleepy expression to give him a wink as Green took his seat.
"So, uh-"
"You want to know why the Maidens are here?"
Green faced Zelda, who had asked the question, and gave her a nod. She nodded back and simply said, "You'll have to wait and see. Go ahead and eat."
"I can't do that until Vio gets here! We always trade food. It's kind of like a miniature market between us, I'd say. It's a shame you two don't get in on it," Green smirked and looked back at the two Links sitting across from him. Blue shrugged and continued poking around the eggs on his plate.
"I don't need to trade any food."
"Really? You wouldn't trade those eggs you love so much for something less messy? Say, some bread?" Green asked and held up his own bread slice as if he were showing it off in a market stall. Blue snorted and made a motion at Green to put the slice back on his plate, which earned another smirk from Green as he shrugged and put it down.
"Speaking of trading food, you might want to look behind you."
No sooner had Blue said that when Vio walked into the room, as if on cue, and waved to the others at the table. They waved back as he slowly made his way to his seat, and though it happened almost every day, they couldn't help but smile a bit when he flopped down into his seat and gave his plate a blank stare.
"Good morning, princess," Blue jokingly singsonged at Vio, only to realize that the real princess was in the room before adding, "Violet."
"Good morning, Blue," Vio returned with a pleasant half-asleep smile before leaning back in his seat with a sigh.
"Don't fall asleep again!" Red said, about to get out of his seat to go shake his teammate until he woke up again. Vio held out a hand while keeping his head upturned.
"I'm not going to fall asleep again."
"So, you didn't notice that we have some, uh… guests with us today?" Blue asked.
"I did. Good morning, Princess."
"Good morning to you, Vio," Zelda answered with a small giggle. She'd never seen Vio like this in the morning.
"Good morning to you, Maidens."
The Blue Maiden spoke out first.
"Good morning."
"May I ask why you're all gathered here, Princess?"
"You'll have to wait for Shadow to see."
"Alright. I'm going back to my room then," Vio jokingly asserted as he pretended to get up from his seat. Red gave a small objection as Vio sat back down, prompting a laugh from everyone at the table.
"Why does Shadow have to be here?" Green interjected, his brows raised.
"What we're here for involves him as well as the rest of you," the Yellow Maiden answered this time.
"Are we in trouble?" Red asked, shrinking into his seat a bit. "Is something wrong with the Four Sword or Dark Mirror?"
"Of course not," the Yellow Maiden assured him. "The Four Sword and Dark Mirror are both stable at the moment. This is about something my fellow Maidens and I came up with on our own."
"Is it something good?" Blue asked before casually taking another bite of his meal.
The Red Maiden was eager to answer this time.
"We hope it will be! But we have to wait for you all to be here first before we can say what it is - and see what you all think about it."
"What we think about it, huh…" Blue's voice trailed off.
It took a few more minutes of waiting filled with casual and light banter before Shadow finally made his grand entrance - if you can call walking into the room while hunched over and moaning a grand entrance. Blue said what they were all thinking after Shadow took his seat next to Red (he refused to sit on the same side of the table as Vio).
"You look like a zombie!"
"I'm a demon, actually."
"I said you look like a zombie. Not that you are one."
"I know, genius."
With that, Shadow stood up quickly to do an awkward bow in Zelda's direction. She stood up and curtsied in response, and the two sat down again.
"What's that all about?" Blue asked.
"It's the princess. I kind of need to show some respect."
"But she's basically our sister."
"Nothing wrong with showing respect to my sister."
"And what about the Maidens?"
Shadow went still for a second as he looked over at the Shrine Maidens standing by Zelda's side. An awkward silence fell over the room before the White Maiden interrupted.
"It is okay, child. You do not need to be afraid of us. We are not afraid of you - well, not anymore. The Princess has vouched for you, and we are willing to let the past be the past. Please do not be afraid to address us."
"Even so…" Shadow's voice trailed off as he sat back down. Green could see that he had physically retracted himself, holding his arms close to his sides and keeping his eyes off of the other people in the room. The silence lingered for just a bit longer before Red spoke up.
"Shadow's here now, so can we finally learn what's going on?"
"Oh, yes," Zelda replied before turning to the Maidens behind her. "Shall I explain, or will one of you do it?"
"I'd like to do it, if possible, Princess," the Blue Maiden suggested. Zelda gave her a nod, and everyone in the room's eyes were directed towards her (though Shadow only looked reluctantly and kept to himself as much as possible).
"Well, as you boys know, the six of us are sworn to be maidens for our entire lives. We have no spouses and no children of our own. Our days are occupied with keeping the Four Sword - and now the Dark Mirror - stable and healthy and enjoying our own little hobbies. Though we have each other for company, things can still be a bit… lonely at times, since we only have each other and cannot leave our convent often. We do not regret this lifestyle or dread our duties! We chose this life. But even so, we have come to a consensus about a potential way to make our lives a little less lonely."
"You're getting spouses after all? No, wait! You're going to get a pet!" Red said with a smile. The Blue Maiden shook her head in reply, and Red's smile faded. Green tried to give him an understanding smile to cheer him up, which worked as Red's smile returned just a bit.
"No, we're not getting spouses or a pet. Those were good guesses. Don't feel sad. You're very energetic. That's a good thing."
Red giggled and shyly rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks."
"Our consensus does involve us inviting more people to the convent, but not spouses of any sort. We understand that…" The Blue Maiden's voice trailed off for a bit. There was a pause, and the tension in the room rose a bit as the Blue Maiden struggled to find her words. With the Green Maiden's hand on her shoulder for encouragement, the Blue Maiden spoke again.
"We understand that your father, The Captain of the Knights of Hyrule, is busy, and your mother…" she stopped for a second, as if flinching, expecting one of the boys to suddenly grow angry and yell at her to not mention their mother. Instead, they simply kept their eyes on her, and she took another breath. Green had a feeling he knew where this was going, though he didn't want to believe it just yet.
"Your mother has been gone for years-"
"You can say she's dead," Blue interrupted. The Blue Maiden shrunk back a little, which prompted the Green Maiden to begin rubbing her arm gently until she regained her confidence. Meanwhile, Blue shrunk back a bit as well, realizing his tone had been a bit snappy. Red patted his hand and held it while Blue tried to find his words. The other two heroes at the table stayed quiet, though Vio could see that Green had put his hands in his lap, and now they were fists.
"I'm sorry, Miss… Blue Maiden. I just don't like sugar-coating. You can say she's dead. We know it," Blue apologized, his voice a lot quieter.
"If you say so…" The Blue Maiden swallowed before continuing her explanation. "Your mother has been dead for years. We know you all get to see your father on a daily basis when you train and go on missions, but you all don't really get the chance to do typical familial things with him because he has to constantly focus on his duties as a knight."
"I mean, we do get to spend time with him when we're off-duty and it's too late in the day to train," Green added before quickly going quiet again. The Blue Maiden nodded, if anything to try and calm Green's nerves.
"We understand that. But there are times when you're not training or patrolling the town and he is still responsible for so many things that keep him busy. That's not his fault or you boys' fault."
"Then what are you suggesting?" Vio asked. "What does all this have to do with your plan?"
"What we're suggesting is that perhaps we could…" The Blue Maiden gulped again and took a few seconds before finishing her statement. "Perhaps we could act as adoptive mothers for you boys that you can visit and spend time with when you're not busy."
The room was silent. The Blue Maiden embraced the Green Maiden as they all waited for a response. The Links, meanwhile, exchanged looks with each other across the table before Green spoke up.
"Could you give us a moment to talk about this together?"
"Of course," the Green Maiden answered as she continued holding the Blue Maiden, who was a bit tense.
"Thank you."
With that, the Links all huddled in the back of the room, diametrically opposed to the group of Shrine Maidens and Zelda in the front of the room. Occasionally, Shadow or Blue would look out from where they were convening to see if the others in the room could hear them.
"I don't know…" Red said, hesitating a bit.
"They mean well," Vio postulated.
"Maybe so, but are they serious? Are they really trying to replace our mother?" Blue asked, frowning a bit. It was clear he wasn't entirely on board with the idea.
"They're not trying to replace her, Blue. They'd never try to do that. Besides, they can't, no matter how hard they try," Green said. Blue just sighed.
"Okay, okay. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit about it. But even so, are they really willing to just take us in like their own kids? We hardly know them!"
"We rescued them," Vio interjected.
"And we rescued you once too, but do you think I know you at all? You're an alien creature to me, Vio. I don't get you at all," Blue teased with a wink as Vio elbowed him.
"You didn't have to rescue me. I was ready to die for my kingdom."
"Funny. That's not what I remember. You resisted being captured," Shadow said.
"Well, excuse me for not liking being manhandled by Hinoxes."
"Wow, that's pretty rude of you, Vio. Those Hinoxes were my buddies!"
"Can we please focus on the issue at hand? Vio, Shadow, you two can kill each other later," Green interrupted. Shadow snorted and stuck his tongue out at Vio, who returned the favor. Blue cleared his throat dramatically.
"Right. So. They want us to be like their… sons, I guess? That's all they want? And in return we basically get more familial care and love?"
"And maybe they'll make us whatever food we want? And buy us things?" Red added eyes bright with anticipation.
"They might spoil us!" Shadow said with a grin, rubbing his hands together.
"Or they might treat us like babies," Blue retorted, suddenly a bit less hopeful.
"And what exactly does that mean to you, Blue? Getting food and hugs whenever you want? Being allowed to sleep and relax whenever you want? I don't see any downsides," Vio replied with his brows raised. Blue sighed.
"It also means they might not let us do whatever we want and enforce strict rules on us, especially since they live in a convent of all places."
"Since when have rules ever stopped us?" Green asked with a smirk. Everyone else in the group gave him a smirk back as he continued talking with the biggest grin on his face.
"Since when was racing around the castle halls within the rules? Since when was stealing Arcy's pastries from the kitchen within the rules? Did the rules ever stop us?"
"Heck no!" Blue answered.
"Are we gonna let the fear of some arbitrary rules stop us from goofing off within reasonable boundaries?"
"Of course not!" Vio chimed in.
"So, are we going to give them a chance if it means we might get more food and more stuff and a reason to be gone from knight duties?"
"And more affection," Vio whispered to himself.
"Absolutely!" Red exclaimed.
And with that, the deal was sealed.
The Links broke apart from the their huddle and walked to the front of the room, standing before the group that had been waiting for them. With an air of importance that was a bit out of place, Green offered their answer.
"We would love to take you up on your offer, Shrine Maidens."
The Blue Maiden, who had finally calmed down, smiled at him excitedly.
"Excellent."