ANACHRONISM:
1. The representation of an event, person, or thing in a historical context in which it could not have existed.
Time goes, you say? Ah no!
Alas, Time stays, we go.
~Henry Austin Dobson
A QUCK AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It's not my first fanfic, but first in the Zelda section. Essentially, it's a story about Link meets Zelda and they save the world, but not in the way you think they would. Going deeper, it is about the clash of cultures, or in this case time lines. It is a modern fic, although if its AU or just future- I haven't decided yet. Sorry for the length of this chapter. It'll get shorter, this one's mostly background.
FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS:
Think about it. If you met someone who was from somewhere completely different than you, experienced a completely different life style, had a completely different environment, believed in things completely diferent from you- how could you understand him/her?
"Come on, let's go" Malon waved at her impatiently, as they reached the gate to the cemetery, the sound of pulsating music far off in the background.
Zelda had seen it many times, both when she came to visit and every day, in the car, on the way to school, but somehow, it always managed to catch her off guard.
It was impossible to ignore. Before the last century, Kakariko graveyard and the lands nearby were completely untouched and undeveloped, just the vast seas of green and trees and peaceful, grazing, cows, the kind of landscape Zelda had only really seen on vacation pamphlets.
Now though, it was almost unrecognizable. With the latest population boom and strains on housing in the more densely populated Hylian and Goron quarters, people swarmed to the fairly undeveloped Sheikah quarter, where Kakariko cemetery (and her house) was located.
The square, white houses came up with their square, green yards alongside the cars jammed up on the flat, asphault roads by the clean stucco buildings.
It was perfect suburbia.
She'd lived here practically all 16 years of her life and now, couldn't even tell the difference from what once was the quaint Sheikah quarter to the bustling metropolis that made up the Hylian quarter; everything had changed.
Everything it seemed, except for the Graveyard. For whatever reason or purpose, she never saw any white contract signs in front of its gate or any construction trucks parked along its road. But the land around it was sold by the acre, and almost instantaneously, gleaming stucco malls and shops towered over the small thrift stalls that sold cheap "Sheikah" trinkets.
The trees were chopped and the grass weeded out, replaced with gleaming white or concrete gray. But nothing ever happened to Kakariko Graveyard, which as old as it was, never seemed to get any older or younger— it just was.
It was a blight on the gleaming landscape, an anomaly, an anachronism, as if some god had just picked it up from the past and placed it right in the middle of a completely foreign country, foreign time.
Naturally, the place was shrouded with mysteries and myths, some of them so ridiculous, she had a hard time believing how anyone could even make up the stories in the first place.
There were reports of blood-curdling shrieks at night, strange blue lines that appeared on certain gravestones only at twilight, blue-eyed beasts that snarled at anyone who tried to approach the gravestones, catacombs that went on for miles beyond the surface. It was even rumored that it was the final resting place of the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny, and that their tombs were protected by the roaming spirits of the fallen shadows, faithful to the royal house and its destiny even beyond the end.
Impa had told her all the stories and myths of that place a long time ago, back when she was little to keep her from crying during the funeral and yearly visits to her grave. But it was best to move away from such thoughts…
It was also a popular dare for kids to camp out for one night in the middle of the graveyard, in the middle of the largest tomb in the graveyard, colloquially known as the "White Tomb" for its remarkable color, and sleep inside the crypt. It was empty, apparently ransacked by invading desert people called the Gerudo millennia ago, but most kids (understandably) never made it past sundown.
Sometimes though, they would carry out "investigations" and bring in an entire team of archaeologists and anthropologists and whoever else they could scrounge up to spend days on end examining the headstones, taking samples of the blood or bones found in the crypts, digging under the tombstones, drilling local residents on family history. But they would never find anything important or breakthrough news worthy, so they would leave as quickly as they arrived and the Graveyard would be left to its mourners and eerie, quiet atmosphere.
She liked it better that way.
The entrance was a gate made of two towers of solid gray stone, the type of imposing figures that seemed huge in the distance, but as you walked closer, suddenly smaller and shrunken with age. She sometimes liked to imagine they were old morticians guarding the secrets of their dead.
Carved inscriptions snaked across the worn gray stone like runes, and in some places were completely interrupted, eroded away by weather and old age. The runes of Kakariko village were another mystery the graveyard kept, as no one could read or understand them anymore. They were thought to be a form of Ancient Hylian, Sheikah, but since so much of the script was missing, linguists couldn't identify it for sure—some even thought it might be Ancient Twili or a language from even before the time of the Great Flood.
There was however, one clear distinct rune that she could make out. It was a just a triangle, and so faded, she couldn't make out the details of it, but it was carved in the center of the gates, just above the tattered sign that probably once said "Welcome to Kakariko Graveyard" but now just had "WE CO E T KA RIK RAVEY D"
The rune in itself was not remarkable, but having been to the graveyard more than a few times, Zelda had seen the sign in the most unlikely places: in gravestones, tombs, even on the old gravediggers hut, and often wondered about it. Was it some sort of age old gang conspiracy back then? Some invaders mark of victory over this land? Just a bunch of triangles that everybody liked to draw? Even the leading authorities hadn't a clue…
"Earth to Zelda, Earth to Zelda—" Malon was suddenly snapping her fingers in her face.
"Oh—What?—Sorry…"
"I love you and everything Zellie, but if you were any more spacey, I'd think you were an alien." Malon looked at her with a mix of exasperation and mischief. "You're definitely creepy enough"
"Thanks…" she said sarcastically.
The sun was already beginning to set, bathing the cemetery in a golden light that did nothing to make it look friendlier or younger. Instead, the shadows seemed longer and the darkness all the more darker, and foreboding.
From the cold or excitement, Zelda couldn't tell (probably a mix of both, though- Malon's ranch girl costume was short sleeved) Malon started bouncing up and down like an excited tektite.
"Isn't it wonderful that Mikau and Darmani reserved the Kakariko Graveyard just for our class? This party is going to be totally AMAZING! I can just feel it!"
"Yeah, it is pretty cool…" she said half-heartedly.
What a strange place to have a party, she thought. Sure, it was All Hallow's Eve and it made sense to have the annual party in the scariest part of town, but it was…just wrong. She didn't believe in ghosts or anything, but she learned from an early age that the dead should be respected, and beer, lights, and pounding music weren't exactly the greatest forms of reverence.
Anyways, she should've been ecstatic to have been invited to the biggest party of the year...but she was terrible with crowds and never knew how to react when guys said or did things in jest or cruelty. She was just fine wallowing in a pit of social awkwardness by herself, at home, reading a book or watching a movie or something.
Malon was the girl who could flirt, talk, joke her way out of those situations—Malon was life and spirit at parties and as her best friend , well, she tried not to weigh down too heavily on her and usually lurked somewhere by the punch, talking to some of her other friends and looking as inconspicuous as possible.
She wasn't anti-social—she just only felt comfortable enough around a certain amount of people to be social with….
Wow, I'm pathetic…
Well, now at least she had the dead for company this time.
"Mal, maybe I should just go home."
"What?" That knocked Malon from her happy suppor. "Why? We haven't even seen anybody yet?"
"Because," she tried not to look at the look of rapid disappointment and determination on Malon's face –curse her and her puppy-dog stares of doom-
"I never have that great of a time at these kind of parties anyways, there are too many drunk people, there's probably not any decent punch here, and I'd probably be happier at home going over the new Shad Canola book about the Oocoo, and how they might actually be the creators of Hyrule—it looks really fas—"
"But— Zel-ly, you already have your costume on and you look so pretty in it—" she whined
"This thing?" she picked up her sleeve, part of her long, flowy dress.
It was very nice, with its golden shoulder plates and rich purple cloth, but it looked like something that had been sitting in attic of an old great-grandmother from the 5th century, thankfully, minus the old cabbage smell and cobwebs. Then again, the Sheikah merchant she got it from was sort of shifty, but it was so cheap, she hadn't questioned it at the time.
"Yes, the dress! You look exactly like a princess, and who knows," she winked conspiratorly, "maybe you'll even find a Prince Charming"
"God Forbid he wear tights."
"Oh, you know you like it."
"Oh darn, you caught me."
She tried to keep a straight face, but once she saw the corner of Malon's mouth twitch, she couldn't hold it in anymore, and they both started giggling.
"Come on, let's go find you your knight in shining armor" Malon smiled, with a wickedly mischievous look in her eyes.
Malon was the kind of person with her feet on the ground and her head on the clouds. She was level-headed and kind-hearted, but at the same time a hopeless romantic and self-proclaimed matchmaker who meant well, but often created destruction in her wake.
Zelda tried to avoid her friend whenever she got that glint in her eyes. It usually meant something embarrassing or awkward was to follow.
"But as much as I'd love to find my fairy loving, crotch-stuffed, dangerously handsome prince, I'm pretty sure he's not due until the next hundred years, so I'm just going to go home—"
"Zelly, please, I love you, but no wonder everyone thinks you're a bore- I mention boys and parties just once and you run off like a headless cucco!"
She stopped in her tracks and her spirits plummeted.
"I'm not boring! I just can't do this—I don't even like going to parties!"
"First step, Denial."
"Hey! I'm plenty fun!"
"Mmm Hmmm" Malon nodded.
"I am!"
"Prove it." Malon crossed her arms. "Just one party, Zel…"
Did she realize what Malon was up to? Yes. Was she stupid enough to fall for it? Also Yes.
Oh, she was going to regret this…
She put up her hands wearily, and pushed open the creaky, iron bars of the gate. "Fine I'll do it!"
"Mwahahaa, the guilt trip never fails!"
The party really wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.
Instead of having it directly in the graveyard, by the graves, it was a distance off in the newer part of the graveyard, which was basically just a big pit of dirt and grass, but large enough to fit what looked like the entire junior class and five monstrous tables for food and drinks.
Zelda was impressed with the decorations- they really went all out this year. Streamers and Glowing blue lights hung everywhere, suspended in air, and the black line that held them was so thin that it really did look like they were floating in midair, like Poes haunting their next victims.
There were pumpkins, most of them carved quite badly and lewdly, decorating every table, along with a customary beer keg and not red, but black plastic cups. Beyond the tables, a little further in the distance, probably to give some people privacy, were games and kissing booths and…ditches for gods know what, she didn't want to go and find out.
Most people though, like her were on the dance floor though, dressed in various degrees of costumes. She saw pirates, vampires, bunnies, re-deads, more slutty costumes than she could name, and she swore she saw somebody dressed in a spandex fairy costume. But no princesses…or any princes either.
Well, it was stupid of her to look for them in the first place, what was she, 7? She knew that no boy would come to the biggest party of the year dressed like a prince and get teased mercilessly about it by his friends, no matter what Malon would say otherwise.
Where was Malon anyways? How long did it take for her to go get some punch?
Anyways, she didn't come here to get depressed, so she quickly pushed the feelings of self-pity (ugh, how she hated feeling sorry for herself) away and kept dancing, meeting some of her friends and chatting briefly along the way. She couldn't explain, but tonight, as she twirled and danced in the crowd, she felt different, free and weightless, like a soul without a body.
The music was blasting so loud it seemed to run through her and make her vibrate, the flashing lanterns bathed everything in an eerie green light, people were gyrating all around her, and just like that, she tripped and lost her footing, and felt herself shutting her eyes, falling to the ground…
"Hey."
Hmm…the ground wasn't quite as hard as she remembered it, maybe the soil around Kakariko graveyard was naturally more loamy because all of the decomposition going on. Then again, it probably wouldn't be squishy either…
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
What? Was someone talking to her? Couldn't they at least help her up first? Muttering, she opened her eyes, and squeaked in fright.
No wonder the ground felt so soft and squishy, she fell into somebody! She turned bright red.
She always started mumbling and looking down when she got nervous; she couldn't bring herself to look at his face, and instead settled for his rather small, pointed, black boots."Oh my god, I'm so sorry- I just tripped, and lost my balance—"
He laughed, but it was short and somewhat cold. "You didn't fall into me, if that's what you're apologizing for. I caught you before you fell."
She laughed weakly. What was she supposed to say to that? "Oh, uh, well, thank you."
He swept into a bow, that seemed sincere, but somehow radiated sarcasm to Zelda in waves. But, she was probably just overanalyzing, as usual.
"It was my pleasure."
But it did give her an opportunity to see who her mysterious savior was. For one thing, he was much…shorter than she expected, about 5 ft. 6in height, though she really couldn't tell as his hat seemed to give him a couple of more inches.
He had a small, angled face that was handsome, but rather cold and severe, like a statue. Even in the darkness, she could tell he was even paler than she was, with skin so white the barest shadow made it seem gray. His hair was almost the same color of his skin, white-blonde, with a darker hint of gray or purple and his eyes were the color of rubies, intense and bright.
Zelda had never seen anyone with eyes that color in anyone except for Impa and couple others with strong Sheikah blood in them, but never at school or in someone with his fair complexion.
"Who are you?"
He chuckled, like he had a secret joke. "Vaati, the wind mage."
So that explained his very purple costume. It was very well made, with every detail from the silk cape to the jeweled belt, but still, it was an unusual costume- she'd never heard of any wind mages in recent movies or stories or anything.
"Is that your real name or who you're dressed up as?"
He smirked. "Both. My name is Vaati and I was named after a…a namesake in the family who was once the greatest sorcerer in the world, or so it says in the legends."
Her curiosity piqued, she moved closer to him. How interesting! He probably liked the old stories too! Maybe it was a stroke of luck that she tripped. Still…
"It's going to sound really weird, but have we met before? I feel like I've met you before, although if I did, I'd probably know who you were, you know, since you have a really…unique…appearance…" she trailed off lamely.
She saw something flash in his eyes for a second, but it vanished, and he smiled in good humor. He kept on getting stranger and stranger, and Zelda felt herself get drawn into the mystery. Who was he? "Yes, well, we have met before…but that was a long, long time ago, and I'm actually shocked that you remember. Then again, you are her."
Her. Suddenly, she was struck by a sense, almost divine or innate, that this was of critical importance. She didn't even know who he was talking about or if he was talking about her at all, but she needed to know, she had to know.
She grabbed the sleeve of his cloak and pulled on it, ignoring his surprised look. "Who are you talk-"
"Zelda!"
The spell was broken.
"Malon?" she cried out. "What are you doing here?"
"Silly-hic-it's the party of the year, and I was the one who dragged you here Zelly," she smiled dopily as she moved uncertainly through the crowd, knocking into people as she careened about, and finally collapsing heavily on Zelda for support, causing the other girl's knees to buckle and bend.
"Yes," she groaned over Malon's increasing inability to make conscious movement, "I realize that Malon, but what I meant to say is what are you doing here now? You said you were going to get some punch for us thirty minutes ago! I got worried and thought you ditched me!"
"Hic-Silly Zelly- haha, that rhymes!"
She sniffed at the air suspiciously. "Malon, have you been drinking?"
"No, no, Zelly- I just went over to get some punch, and it was really delicious, but kinda wierd, so I kinda had your cup too, and—Whoa, who are you?" Malon finally seemed to have noticed Vaati, who had been watching the conversation with neutral boredom.
"Vaati."
"Wow-hic- you're kinda hot- but—what's-what's with all the-hic- purple-you're wearin'"
Malon paused and waved her fingers in the air, distractedly, at various purple pieces of his costume, which admittedly was pretty much ALL of it, while Vaati settled into stony disapproval or brooding anger (she really couldn't tell with that expression on his face), and Zelda felt like burying her head in one of those ditches.
Malon gasped with stunning revelation. "You-You're not- GAY- are you?"
Vaati's eyes flashed dangerously, and she saw his fingers clench briefly into a fist, all while Malon let out high pitched giggles, seemingly unaware at the danger she was in.
Oh Gods, kill me now, Zelda thought.
Fortunately, she was saved. Both from an untimely death and future embarrassment.
"Midna, thank the lords!"
"Yes, I like being known as a form of divine intervention, the Twilit Lords accept your gracious words of gratitude." Her other best friend smirked at her while managing to support and separate a red-faced Malon from an almost equally red-faced Vaati.
"They might, however," Midna's face lowered into a dark look, "—not be too pleased with the idiots who spiked the only bowl of NON-alcoholic punch with cheap milkwine and caused hapless lightweights like ginger over here to pitch around like they're sea sick and barf all over a certain person's costume that once belonged to her GRANDMOTHER and her GRANDMOTHER's MOTHER—"
"Bad day, huh?" Zelda shot her a sympathetic look.
"Now, why would you say that, Zelly?"
"…That was totally unnecessary."
"Mmmm, it's part of the job."
"Anyways," Midna smiled secretly and discretely nudged her in the direction of Vaati, who much to Zelda's surprise, had not taken the opportunity to leave and keep his sanity intact as any normal person would. "he's definitely into you, and he's cute- even if he is on the short side."
In a louder and completely unconvincing voice (Zelda tried not to wince), she called out and literally dragged an unwilling Malon behind her. Zelda often wondered how someone so small could have such monstrous strength.
"Well, I'm going to go extort and blackmail the charges of dry-cleaning and a little extra from my unfortunate victim here, have fun you two-" she winked at Zelda before shortly disappearing in the crowd, Malon still in tow.
"Wait!" she called out at their retreating backs. That sneaky little twili- she must've been planning this from the start! "Don't leave…me…"
But they had already gone.
"Ahem" he coughed.
Zelda jumped in fright. She had totally forgotten he was still here, although, she was positive that he wasn't this close five minutes ago…
He held out his arm, like a lord asking for a lady's permission to dance (which was probably what he was going for) and asked very courteously, "Would you like a drink?"
Partly flattered, partly nervous, but mostly trying to avoid rudeness, she took it, hesitantly, ignoring the chill she felt when she touched his arm.
"Sure."
Somehow, they ended up on the opposite side of the field where the refreshment booths were set up, and Zelda wasn't sure how they got here or how Vaati managed to get their drinks when they didn't even manage to reach the booths…
She really hoped she wasn't going crazy. Or getting an early case of Alzheimer's.
But just to be on the safe side, she wasn't going to drink anything he gave her.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said softly, looking out to the horizon, away from the party.
It was. This area was mostly deserted, as most people were crowded around the refreshment stands or out on the main dance floor, but still lit with the blue poe-lights that seemed to burn like fire underneath the sickle light of moonshine.
"It is. But there aren't any stars out tonight to see the rest of the graveyard with," she smiled wistfully.
"Maybe we don't need any stars," he said mysteriously.
She glanced sharply at him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh nothing," he said lightly, but sharp eyes watched her reaction closely. "just that they might surprise us by magically lighting up with golden light and leading us to the catacombs underneath to find all sorts of treasure hidden in the tombs."
She wanted to laugh, but something in the way he was looking at her constricted her throat. She chuckled nervously. "You're not serious though, are you?"
"I am Deadly Serious," he said with no emotion.
This was not a joke
Something was not right, something in her was telling her to leave now, and she looked around and they were deep in the tomb part of the graveyard—how had they gotten there? She had only been pacing around in circles….this was really starting to creep her out.
Leave
She took some deep breaths to calm herself down. It wouldn't do her any good to get a panic attack now. It was like chess. Analyze and act in the most direct and effective method possible. By force of will, she planted both feet firmly into the ground, and looked directly into his eyes.
"I want to go back to the party."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Sure, but you'll have to tell me why you don't believe on the way."
But she had already started walking as quickly as possible to the sound of the music anyways, her heart beating as loud as any drum. "No, I don't think I will."
He vanished and suddenly appeared in front of her, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to him, moving faster and more gracefully than she had expected.
She struggled vainly against his shoulder, managing a couple of hits before he twisted her arm out of position, not painfully, but just enough that she could barely move or bite, caught in a chokehold position.
Damn. For such a short guy, he must've really worked out to get all that muscle.
"Let me go!" she glared at him, trying to mask the fear that shone in her eyes. No response. She continued, in a deadly, cold voice, "If you do anything to me, you will regret it. I will call the police, scream as loudly as possible, hire a private detective, do everything in my power to bring you to justice if you do anything to me or any of my friends."
"Relax, princess," he said smoothly, "I just want to know why you don't believe."
She looked at him critically, but could not read the motive hidden behind his blank face. "If I tell you why I don't believe the stories about the graveyard, will you let me go?" she asked slowly, taking time to choose her words carefully.
"…I will."
"I don't trust you, make an oath on something you hold very dear."
"You're in no position to demand anything from me," he told her. "But, fine, I swear on the grave of my old…teacher Ezlo, who was the only father figure I ever had, that I will let you go once you tell me."
He took the bait. Now if she could just get her head free, she was positive she could make it close enough to the graveyard for someone to help.
"I can't talk- cough, cough- if your hands are squeezing my neck dry", she complained, willing her tell-tale heart beats to grow silent as she waited. "Loosen them up, will you?"
He barked a humorless chuckle, and then moved so she was sitting on his lap, still restrained in a twisted mockery of a kindly grandfather holding his granddaughter. "Nice try, but I'm still waiting."
She took another deep breath, and then something in her came out.
"Fine, you want to know why I don't believe in any of those tales? Because they're ridiculous, improbable, and totally made up! It's impossible for glowing lights to just randomly appear or for wolves to prowl this area—I've been here my whole life, nothing has ever happened, there's no proof!
"You're lying."
Fear, shock, and pain. Memories in the fog. Flashed before her eyes before she could stop them.
"No" she replied coldly.
He touched her cheek with his hands, like he genuinely cared. But nothing could hide the hungry greed in his eyes. "Tell me about it."
She looked away from him. "Let me go. I've already told you all of my reasons."
"You haven't quite finished the story yet. What happened here?"
For a while, there was silence and the faint whistling of a lonely night. He clamped down tighter. She bit back a cry of pain. Then, the words began to pour out of her and she couldn't stop.
"I was five when it happened, we came to the graveyard for a grandmother's funeral or to visit someone close to our family's grave and I was only five when it happened, so I was bored and wandered off after the service and it had been raining the week before, so the ground was really wet and unstable and….and my mother came in after me because she was worried about where I was…and—"
She choked.
He hissed when she stopped and twisted her arms painfully, but she was as limp as a rag doll. "Finish it! Finish it!" But she would not reply. "You saw it then, didn't you? You saw the golden power, You have it, You have it, You have it!" he screamed, with mad look in his eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she yelled. "You're crazy, I don't have anything!"
But he had gripped her hand with inhuman strength and her mind exploded and she felt pain like she had never felt before in her life. Far away, she could hear screaming, the earth was shaking, and everything was turning a black-tinged green—
Except for her right hand, which shone like a pale beacon, illuminated by a set of three golden triangles upon it.
Review? I promise more will happen next chapter. :)