Here is my fourth story of Cleo's adventures. This time, it's a full on crossover between Legend of Zelda and Book of Life. I was inspired to write this fanfic ever since I watched the movie by Jorge R. Gutierrez and fell in love with it. And I knew it would blend very well into the Zelda series in a crossover because it has a lot of elements that the game shares.

I know it's been a long time since I last posted here in this website, in fact, this fanfic should've been finished months ago. But I was forced into a long hiatus last January because I bought a laptop that happened to have a faulty hardrive. Long storty short: There were complications involving incompetent manufacturers and I had to use a rental for awhile. :(

Anyway, if this is your first time reading a story by Narutotoro, I would strongly suggest reading the other stories in chronological order before you read this one. Here is the order in which to read from: Mysterious Tavel Guide, Skribal Sword, Bermuda Triangle, and then Lands of the Dead. The Game of Chicken is an optional short story that takes place right after BT.

This fanfic is prewritten in Deviant Art and each chapter will be uploaded every few days. Then I will be uploading the bonus chapters explaining the trivia of this story.

The Legend of Zelda series do not belong to me, they belong to Shigeru Miyamoto. And the gods in the story, the Sanchez, and Chakal belong to Jorge Gutierrez. What does belong to me are Cleo, Finn, Syrilla, Joseph, and the kids in the prologue.

Here it is, I present to you, the Legend of Zelda: the Lands of the Dead.

Prologue

"C'mon Sam, let me have my 3DS back!"

"No."

"You've had it for days!"

"So?"

"So you've borrowed it long enough! It's mine and you know it!"

"Well, it's mine now."

"No it's not!"

"Kae, when I let you borrow my kite, you wrecked it to pieces. So I'm gonna play your 3DS until I break it."

"That's not fair!"

"It is too! It's about time you learn not to mess with other people's stuff!"

"Why you-!"

The boy of seven started grabbing for his 3DS only for his year older sister to pull it out of his reach, pushing him back.

"You two better stop it back there! Unless you want me to turn around and take us right back home!" their mother scolded. Sam and Kae stopped their squabbling and just sat in the backseat of the car, sulking. "Remember, this is a museum you're going to, so you better not misbehave, especially not in front of the night guard."

They were silent for five minutes, Kae shooting Sam a scathing look. Their mother pulled up at the front of the museum. The kids got out and looked up the stone steps leading to the main entrance of the white marble building.

They started up when their mother too got out. "Wait Sam, I'm gonna have to take the 3DS," her mom said. Sam huffed. "Don't you start fussing now, young lady. You know that wasn't fair to your brother."

"Fine." Sam handed her the game.

"No Kae, I'm not handing it back to you," their mother responded to her son's eager face which fell at her words. "You do still owe her an apology for the kite. In fact, neither of you will get to play any video games until you both learn to get along. Understand?" Her voice wasn't stern, but it held a fairly firm tone that told them it was not wise to argue.

"Yes mom..." they both answered in unison.

"Looks like your cousins have already arrived."

Their cousins, who were approaching the steps, were quite different from themselves. While Sam and Kae were silver haired and blonde respectively with pale beige skin, the three kids accompanying them all had red hair and bronzed skin. Two of them were twin, twelve-year-old girls while the third was a ten-year-old boy. "Hey guys!" the boy greeted.

"Tino!" Kae rushed to meet his favorite cousin, giving him a high-five.

"Kat, Hirga, you two have grown!"

"Thanks auntie!" said Kat.

"Now I want all of you to go ahead up to the museum. There is a tour guide waiting for you, listen to everything she says okay?"

"You sure you won't come with us mom?" Kae asked, a bit unsure.

"You'll be fine, sweetheart." She kissed each of her kids on the forehead. "Trust me, you're going to have a great time. I'll see you at the museum's coffee shop with your uncle."

So the five kids climbed up the steps and, sure enough, there was a woman standing at the entrance, obviously expecting them. She had long hair as red as the three cousins' and blue eyes. She looked a lot like a flight attendant. "Hello kids, and welcome to the museum! My name is Mary Beth, and I'll be your host today!" She held a sign that said "FOLLOW ME" and flipped and spun it, like a marching band baton, in a remarkable fashion. "Ready for the tour everyone?" asked Mary Beth, now holding it upright. The kids just stared in amazement and their reaction seemed like a good enough answer, so she smiled and walked ahead of them.

"Dude, was she a cheerleader once?" Tino wondered. They followed the tour guide, who suddenly took a sharp turn to the right before she even reached the front doors.

"Uh, Ma'am? Where are we going?" Hirga asked.

"We are going somewhere very special." She stopped at a brick wall and gestured to it. "After you."

"But... there's nothing there," Sam pointed out. The other kids were beginning to think this was a silly waste of time.

"Things are not always as they seem. Just give it a try," Mary Beth encouraged.

They still looked doubtful, but Kae decided to give it a try and walk forward. To the others confusion, he kept walking even when he should've hit the wall. He looked around and started to grin. "Hey guys, c'mere and look at this!" He walked to one side and suddenly disappeared into the bricks. They gasped and shouted in surprise. In an instant, the optical illusion of the wall was gone. There was an opening in the brick wall in the shape of a skull and, when the kids took a closer look, there was a dark doorway to one side.

"Don't be afraid kids. You're in for a magical tour." Mary Beth coaxed them farther in until they were walking in total darkness.

"Where are we going?" asked one of the twins girls (whichever one it was, it was impossible to tell when everything was black). As their eyes were adjusting to the darkness, something lurked in the corner of their vision, casting a big shadow.

"Guys, did you see-AAAH!" Kae and all the rest screamed in fright as a sudden harsh light flashed in their faces accompanied by a roar.

The attacker laughed and they realized it was just an old security guard with a long bulbous nose. "You little tikes better not have snuck in, or you'll get it big time!"

"Oh, Guicho... must you jump out and scare children every time?" Mary Beth asked him with a purr.

His expression softened when he looked at her. "Just doing my duty, protecting this place from intruders." He turned back to the children. "Another group of 'special case' kids, eh? You haven't been naughty, have you?" He eyed them suspiciously.

"Now, now. These are the kids I told you about earlier, remember?"

"You mean they're...?" He looked at them again. He smiled as his gaze stopped at Sam and Kae. "I see now. Very well then, carry on."

And they passed Guicho without another comment. Mary Beth reached a switch to light up the room and their mouths hung open in awe. The whole place was absolutely stunning and colorful. It was decorated with the architecture and designs of Aztec, Mayan, Incan, and Hispanic cultures, and also had sugar skulls, papel picado, marigolds, and ofrendas like it was the Day of the Dead. And on the wall there was painted an elaborate tree, showing images of characters between its branches. At the trunk, sat a big leather bound book with a heart at the center.

"This, you see before you, is the Tree of Life. It is the symbol of connection between all living things, even those beyond worlds."

"Beyond worlds?" Tino repeated.

"That's right. Now you may not know it, but there is more than one world. In fact, there are many. One person was fortunate enough to discover another world. And it is her story I am about to tell you." Mary Beth pointed to a painting of a girl wearing green in the very center of the tree's image. Kae raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Why is that girl wearing Link's uniform?" he asked.

"Well, I'll tell you," she replied with a soft chuckle. "Because the world she discovered is none other than the legendary Hyrule."

"No way," Sam responded. "Hyrule's from a video game. It doesn't exist."

"Well, maybe. But you know about it and have seen its wonder and heard its stories. As long as people know about it, then in some small way, it does exist. The girl was about your age when she stumbled upon that world. But we are going to a time where she has one of her adventures involving two great deities of death."

"Whoa! Deities of death? Seriously?" exclaimed Kat.

"Who are they?" asked Hirga.

"Look higher," Mary Beth now pointed at the two images above the girl on each side. "That woman is La Muerte, a goddess made of sweet candy. And the dark one there is Xibalba, a man made of tar and all the gross, icky stuff in the word."

"He looks like Discord," said Kae.

"Brony," Sam said, pointing a thumb at her brother in answer to Mary Beth's curious look.

There was a snort behind them and they turned around. Guicho was back in the semi-darkness listening. "Oh, don't mind me!" He turned around to leave them only to knock over a tall model of a building shaped like an upside down triangle topped by two serpent heads. Trying to prevent it from falling he barked "Just ignore me!" Dust hit his face and he slipped and fell, causing the model to break into pieces on top of him.

They all stared for an awkward minute, including Mary Beth. "So," she started as though there had been no interruption. "There is also a third deity right at the very top there." They finally looked at the large golden man. "The Candlemaker, he is made of wax with clouds for a beard. He creates candles that hold the life of all the people that ever lived and looks after them until they burn out and their life ends. And to observe their lives' progress, he looks into this book right here. The Book of Life.

"It is in this book where I will tell you the tale of the heroine and her great quest through both life and death itself."

The kids sat down on the floor. "This sounds like a fanfic, taking place in Hyrule. But I'm pretty excited though, aren't you?" said Kat.

Mary Beth gave them all a very warm smile. "Let's take a journey into the past... the time when the girl nearly comes of age." She opened the Book of Life and a light shined brightly from its pages... ...