Chapter One: Hated
This is a very special piece. Not only is it for The Stupendous Jimbo's contest, but it is also my first try to write in first person in a very, very long time. Also… this is very, very different from what I usually write.
Now, let's see if I can do it, hm?
This shall be a three or four chaptered story.
For those of you following Guardians Arise, the next chapter will hopefully be finished soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own the SSB series.
She was my Queen, the Princess of Hyrule. She was Zelda, Queen Zelda, the jewel of all jewels. Blessed with the strength of three goddesses and the brains to match, she was the most desirable thing in all the known worlds.
And I hated everything about her.
Oh, she was a sight to behold. Her locks of gold would bounce and flow with the breeze as she glided through the halls. Her lips, so rosy red, would change shape so smoothly and so fluidly as she spoke. Her eyes would flash glorious periwinkle blue as they darted about, taking in every sight and sound.
But they were cold, always cold.
Something within her had destroyed her the day she was crowned Queen. I had known her since I was a ten year old boy and way back then, she would laugh and play. She was the impish one of us, always being the one with the most ideas, whether it was to steal sweets from the cook or to mess with the Royal Advisor as he went about on his day.
But that was eight years ago…
She had always, always been a sister to me. A sister that I never had. Being an orphan since the time I first drew breath, I had no idea what it was like to have a younger sibling. Sure, there was Toon Link and Young Link, but they weren't the same. After all, they were just different incarnations of me.
I am the true Hero of Time.
I opened the door to my room, ignoring Pit's snoring form on the other bed, and began walking. I didn't know where or why, but I just began walking. It usually relaxed me when my head was full of thoughts about her.
Thoughts about the woman that I had come to hate.
When did this hatred start? In truth, I don't know. It had been so long since she had been crowned, but I am sure, quite sure, that it was when she had chosen to not lower the taxes like she had promised. No, she instead raised them even higher than before! The citizens of Hyrule had been devastated!
The citizens I had given everything to save.
How they hated her for that! Protests against the newly crowned Queen rang through the streets of Hyrule Castle Town as her reign went on. Though I had tried to intervene and begged her to change the taxes countless times, she would only scoff coldly and raise them all the more higher.
How I hated her…
I found myself by the edge of the lake near the mansion, staring into the crystal blue water. I did not know how my footsteps had brought me here, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was that I would do something, anything to help me forget all about her before I had to go back inside and grab some breakfast.
I fumbled slightly with the clasp of my bag before I was finally able to open it. The rough leather pouch was actually the one thing I owned, besides the clothes on my back and the hat on my head, that she had not forced me to take. After I had saved Hyrule, she found my attire and every possession to be "unfit" for a hero.
So she took everything I had and replaced them.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I absolutely thanked her to no end when she gave me these new things. Back then, it was the two of us, two children fooling about in the courtyard of Hyrule Castle.
Before she was ripped apart piece by piece, her very soul thrown into the abyss of hatred and despair.
I found what I was looking for: the Ocarina of Time. Though I would have been perfectly content with the Fairy Ocarina, she instead gave me one of the most important treasures of the Hylian Royal Family. I did not deserve such a beautiful and valuable relic of ancient history.
Then again, what was I to think that it would be so useful here at the mansion, where I could never avoid her?
I raised the little instrument to my lips and experimentally played a tiny note. Beautiful and mysterious, the note seemed to float right out of the ocarina and dance in the air. I played another note, then another, then another…
What song was this? I had heard this song before. It flowed like a river into a cool and calming spring of melody and rhythm. The song itself seemed to be singing as it danced circles in the air around me. For a moment, I could almost see that little scene in the courtyard, that last time we spent a happy moment together before she was so cruelly ripped away.
The day she had promised to always be my friend.
Well, where was this friendship now? From the moment that golden circlet sat upon her head, she seemed to collapse inwardly and became as cold and distant as her father had been to us. When I had tried to approach her, she had only looked upon me like I was some filth and turned away.
Our friendship was a thing of the past.
My fingers stopped their spider- like dance across the holes. No matter how much I played, I could not fathom what kind of song this was. It sounded so familiar and so distant all at once.
Like a memory shattered to bits by the cruel wiles of a woman so evil.
I suddenly became aware of a presence near me. I looked to my right and found myself face to face with Pit, my roommate. He raised an eyebrow when I gave a start of surprise. He always snuck up on people like this without a warning.
That kid really needs to learn some manners.
He pointed to the Ocarina of Time, his expression wondering. I shook my head and put it away, making sure that he didn't notice all the other things I carried within my bag.
The boy was notorious for stealing and hiding stuff.
He pouted slightly before reaching out his hand, a piece of paper fluttering into my lap. I knew what it was. It was a summoning for a battle.
The Brawl Tournament was absolutely packed this year, so it was now an optional thing to be a spectator of the matches. If the fighter for the next battle happened to not be in the audience at the time, he would get summoned by a note. And the summonses were usually immediate, so a fighter must be prepared at all times.
So much for breakfast.
I got up and Pit followed suit, stretching as he did. He looked at me once before reaching into a bag hanging around his shoulder that I had not noticed and pulled out a canteen. He offered it to me, his eyes pleading.
I suddenly became aware of how dry my throat was. Playing an instrument for a long while could take a lot out of you. I accepted it with a nod of thanks and a smile to accompany it.
How I curse myself now for not noticing the tiny pink vial within his bag!
I gulped down as much as I could fit in my mouth and handed it back to him, my body suddenly filled with energy. I felt like I could leap tall mountains and rip them apart with my bare hands. Today's match would be no problem for me!
Oh, if only, if only I had known…
I entered the arena and unsheathed my sword, breathing in the cool night air of Spear Pillar. Yes, Spear Pillar was the stage I was to fight on. But who my opponent was, I did not know.
I look back now and oh, how I wish I had backed out of the match!
My opponent arrived in a flurry of sparkles and smoke. I could tell that this was no mere little trick, but magic more powerful than anything I could fathom. I readied my battle stance as the tall, slim figure of my opponent stepped out from the cloud of smoke they had created and faced me.
She was my opponent!
I almost dropped the Master Sword in surprise. I had once specifically asked Master Hand to never let her into my sight as long as I was at this mansion! Had he forgotten?
Or was he doing this to torture my already ravaged soul?
Her palm connected with my chest, powerful sparks dancing around her fingertips. Before I knew it, a blast of electricity coursed through my body and I was knocked a few feet back. I gritted my teeth and in one great sweep, my sword was at her waist. Though the blade was sharp, it had been blunted by the safety protocol of the mansion. No matter how hard I tried, I could never cleave off her head.
But that didn't mean that I couldn't punish her for all she had done.
I never let her have a moment's rest as my sword weaved in and out, punctuating her every move and wracking up her damage. On the scoreboard in the back, I could easily see how much damage we had. Though she managed to land a hit or two on my occasionally, the score was clear:
Link: 32% and Zelda: 89%.
Blood pounded in my ears, my vision swam before my eyes. I at first dismissed this as nothing more than me missing breakfast, but then my vision started changing colors. Blue, red, pink, green, and purple danced before my eyes as the fight went on and on. The princess before me was a blur of colors, her magic a great blast of light. My legs shook like jell-o and it wasn't long before my sword felt like it weighed a ton. It shook in my one handed grip and though I grabbed onto it with two hands, I could feel them shaking with effort.
My strength was waning.
I fell to my knees and suddenly became aware of my heart as it beat faster and faster. It was fast, too fast for any mere mortal to bear. A fire burned bright in the very center of it, sending pain through every vein in my body. My skin burned as if a thousand needles were slowly skinning me bit by bit. I screamed to the heavens, as begging the Three Goddesses to set me free.
My chest heaved in and out; my lungs were completely empty of air. My heart wanted to rip its way out of my torso and run off, the fire in it wished to consume it. Emotions I didn't know flooded through me, tossing me as if I was bobbing in a great stormy sea. I writhed and curled up into a ball, my face contorted into shapes too twisted for this world.
All was black.
Her face swam before me. Her ten year old face. I reached out to it, but she turned away, the face of a girl growing into that of a woman.
A woman I hated.
I blinked and found myself lying down upon a feather soft mattress, surrounded by pillows. I looked about and recognized the infirmary of the Smash Mansion. Pit was there, so were Ike, Marth, Roy, and my two younger selves.
And so was she.
All of them- except her- sighed in relief when they saw me awake. Grins were plastered on all of the male faces around me. I could not help but grin back.
Pit walked over to me and slapped me on the back. I knew he had thought they lost me. The Fire Emblem Trio, meanwhile, continued to smile their goofy grins. My two younger selves jumped upon my bed and hugged my neck. I had every chance to notice the tiny pink vial Pit had placed near my bed, but I didn't.
All that mattered was her.
She backed cautiously out of the room, her solid gold locks gently framing her face as she did. Her slim, frail body was still flushed with the heat of the battle, her pale skin seemed to radiate a pale white light. Her pink lips were upturned in the tiniest of all smiles. Though the smile was warm, her periwinkle eyes remained cold as she closed the door behind her.
She looked like a goddess blessed to earth.
I gripped my bed stand, my thoughts a muddled mess. I didn't understand why my heart burned for her so much when she had been so cruel to her own people. I should be hating her, wishing to rip her apart for tearing away the people from their happiness.
She was my Queen, the Princess of Hyrule. She was Zelda, Queen Zelda, the jewel of all jewels. Blessed with the strength of three goddesses and the brains to match, she was the most desirable thing in all the known worlds.
And I loved everything about her.