Heyo Heyo, my lovely readers! I came up with this a long while back, but I decided not to publish it until I had finished my other story, "Wanted Dead or Alive."
Someone once asked what I preferred: Pirates or Ninjas. I immediately answered pirates without even having to really think about it, 'cause come on, they're pretty awesome! Sailing on the open waters, finding hidden treasures, sword fights, ship battles on the high seas…
Ahem. Yeah, I'm rambling now.
Hope you guys enjoy my Legend of Zelda fanfiction:Not What They Seem.
(Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, but this fanfiction belongs to me, so no stealing, Story Thieves!)
… Psst! By the way, this may be a bit darker than my other stories because I like to be realistic, so I've rated it T instead to be safe for the kiddos. o_o
X-X-X
Chatter filled the large white ballroom as crowds of nobles mingled with one another, elegantly sipping on champagne and punch. All of the royals ceased their actions, however, at the booming voice of the king who stood from his place at the throne...
"As King Daphnes Nohansen of Hyrule, I would like to thank you all for coming to Princess Zelda's eighteenth birthday celebration." He gestured to his beautiful daughter at his side, who stood and curtsied gracefully, "We are all aware that my daughter will become the Queen of Hyrule, and she has been prepared for the moment the crown will be placed atop her head. I am very proud of her. Ever since… day… was…"
The Princess began to drown out her father's words as she glanced over the large crowds. "I never imagined that so many people would show," She thought to herself. "And yet... I still feel lonely, somehow."
It was true, she had felt extremely lonely.
Although there were at least hundred people of nobility there, Zelda had only known half of them, none of which she actually considered her friends. People that she had never met before would introduce themselves and begin talking about dull things that had never interested her.
Zelda would never admit to her father that she was actually quite bored of her life. Bored of fame, fortune, nobility, etiquette, and expectations. Expectations of her that would probably never come true.
But she accepted her lifestyle. After all, she could be a poor girl living on the streets with no one to even care for her well-being.
"Practically no one here cares for my well-being anyhow," Zelda mused silently. "Not one noble would come to this event simply because they wished to. They came because I am royalty and political reasons."
"-ncess Zelda?"
Zelda snapped back into reality at the sound of her name. She turned her head towards the king, and answered, "Yes, Father?"
"Do you agree that you shall become a wonderful queen one day?"
"...Well, I'm not quite certain of how great I shall become in the near future, but I shall certainly strive to perform royal duties with perfection as the ruler of my people."
The king laughed cheerfully before looking to the audience, "You see how humble she is? My daughter is definitely prepared to take the crown!" The crowd laughed along with him while Zelda curtsied. The king made another kind comment, and Zelda chuckled quietly while the audience joined in, but stopped when movement beside the courtrooms doors caught her eye.
A tall Gerudo man was clapping very slowly, his ominous yellow eyes boring into her blue ones.
The princess felt a chill crawl up her spine as he continued to stare, but it was when he smirked devilishly that Zelda turned towards King Daphnes. "Father?" She whispered after the crowds went back to mingling.
"Yes, my dear Zelda?"
"Who is the man standing in the doorway?"
"... Which man do you speak of? I don't see anyone."
"Why, the tall one right th-"
Zelda quickly looked to the place where the stranger was standing at, but he had disappeared. Her brow furrowed in confusion, "He was just there a moment ago."
Daphnes chuckled, "Well then, perhaps he went to get some more champagne, hm?" A small frown was still marring Zelda's features, but she nodded nonetheless. "Yes, perhaps."
X-X-X
The princess nearly sighed for what had seemed like the twentieth time that evening. Before her stood a stiff older man asking about boring political topics, almost lulling her to sleep.
"... And therefore, I believe that Termina's King should go fourth with his proposal. What are your thoughts on the subject, Princess Zelda? I think that the taxes shall surely help with economy in advance."
Zelda snapped out of her thoughts and blinked, "Hmm?" The man was waiting for her answer with a dull expression. "Oh, yes, well… I'm not entirely sure, Sir Warlan. I believe the opinions of the citizens matters just as much as the opinions of nobility."
"What?" Warlan frowned, obviously offended. "Lowly commoners?! How is that so?"
"Please excuse my bluntness, Sir Warlan. I hadn't meant to be rude with my previous statement. What I had meant was that the citizen's happiness is usually placed above all else. If your people are not happy, they will not respect you. If they do not respect you, there will be multiple chances for downfall in the kingdom."
Walan still had a frown upon his lips, but he nodded nonetheless. "I suppose you are correct, Your Highness."
The young woman nearly rolled her eyes at his almost sarcastic words. "'I suppose you are correct...' Of course I am, you pompous old man! My people are my priority, and now you shall not be the one I come to for advice in the future."
Walan cleared his throat and smiled. "Well then, I must ask what you plan on achieving when you become the queen?"
"I am not entirely aware of wh-"
Boom!
Zelda paused mid sentence, furrowing her brow at the slight noise behind her. "Did you hear that, Sir Walan?" The older man looked just as confused while Zelda looked over her shoulder to the tall glass window. "I thought I heard…"
The princess gasped at the sight of a cannonball hurtling towards them.
CRASH!
Glass flew every which way in the ballroom, sending people running and screaming to the opposite side of the large dance hall.
"PIRATES!" A woman cried. "IT'S PIRATES!"
Zelda ducked and covered her ears at the sound of another cannonball flying through the thick entrance and over her head, embedding itself into the wall behind her. Brushing brown strands of hair out of her face, the princess surveyed the damaged room with fearful blue eyes. "How could this happen?!"
"Come with me, King Daphnes! We must get you to safety!" A royal guard called as he ran to the king who was now standing and staring out the blown up window at the giant ship. "But the people! M-my daughter!" The king cried. The guard shook his head, "Someone is already searching for her, Your Majesty, but you must remain safe!"
"Father!" Zelda tried calling over the screaming and shouting of the panicked crowd and the sounds of gunshots coming from outside the castle. "Father, where are you?!" When she caught a glimpse of the king hurrying down the front hallway with a castle guard, she sighed in relief before she suddenly realized something else.
She gasped in shock, "Oh no, the Triforce!"
With a new adrenaline rush, she ran down the same hallway her father had and sprinted to the long spiral staircase at the end of the hall. Taking two steps at a time, Zelda hastened her pace at the thought of the Triforce being in the wrong hands.
"No, I can't let that happen," She shook her head at the horrible "What if" thoughts that popped in her mind. "I won't let it happen!"
A loud growl echoed throughout the stone staircase.
Zelda gasped as she looked over her shoulder at the ugly Bulblin that was quickly jumping the stairs behind her.
"Get away from me, you evil creature!"
Its hand grasped her ankle and tried to yank her down the steps. "Let go of me!" The princess kicked the bulblin hard in the face, yet it still held her foot in a steel grip.
"I said… Let go of me!"
This time, she conjured up ball of fire and threw it at the ugly thing, sending it screeching in pain as it tripped and fell to the bottom of the staircase.
Wasting no more time, Zelda leapt up the remaining stairs and gasped when she saw that the large wooden door had been bashed in by some kind of force, and the two watchmen who had been guarding the room laid motionless by the doorway. She quickly ran inside the room and froze at the sight before her.
On his knees was the king of Hyrule tied up with rope and the guard that had wanted to guide him to safety. Standing before the king was the tall dark man she'd seen earlier. His back was facing her, however, so he must have not known that she had entered.
Her father had noticed immediately, yet he said nothing. Zelda assumed that he wanted her to leave so that she would be safe, but she wouldn't dare turn her back on the only family she had left.
"I will gain all of the power of the Triforce, and there's nothing you can do to stop me," The gerudo man cackled as he turned towards the three triangles floating on the stone pedestal. "I can be controlled by no mortal man such as yourself."
"No, stop this madness, Ganondorf!" Daphnes yelled and tried to stand, but the "guard" placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down on his knees.
"Wait, does Father know this Ganondorf?" Zelda was confused.
"If you do this, the Triforce will…!"
Ganondorf gave the grey-headed man a hard kick in the stomach, knocking him over and silencing his words… it caused the opposite reaction for the princess spying from the doorway, however.
"Father!" Zelda gasped and ran to his aid, but was stopped by a large dark hand grasping her forearm roughly. "H-Hey! Let go of me!"
"Well, well, well. I heard you had a daughter, yet I had no idea how spirited she is."
"Release me this instance, you barbarian!" Zelda placed her hand on his and sent electric shocks into his skin, causing him to reel back and hiss at the burning sensation.
Ganondorf glared at the young woman that had dared to defy him. "I must wonder if you know that there is a difference between bravery… and stupidity."
"And I must wonder how you even know of bravery, since you seem to posses only one of those attributes!" Zelda's head snapped to the side and fell back at the backhand she received from the ruthless man before her.
"... You cannot take the Triforce, Ganondorf," The princess spat angrily.
"And just who would have enough power to stop me, Your Highness?"
As if to prove the point behind his words, Ganondorf suddenly spun on his heel and grabbed the Triforce without hesitation.
"NO!" Zelda cried, reaching out to the Triforce herself, but the sacred treasure instantly separated into three parts. The triangular pieces then shown with an extremely bright light, blinding everyone in the room.
When the light vanished, Zelda opened her eyes once more. "Ganondorf, you fool…" She muttered through clenched teeth.
Ganondorf closed his hands into fists and laughed darkly. "I can feel the power of the Triforce flowing through my veins. I feel even stronger than I was before! Yes, I am more powerful, yet, there's something missing…" He glanced down at his right hand and saw one triforce piece glowing dimly before it faded.
"... The other two."
Zelda looked to her father, who looked to her as well. At that moment, she knew they were both thinking the same thing.
Ganondorf grabbed the old king by the front of his robes and held up up high. "Where are the other two?!" He growled.
"I-I have no idea!" The king stuttered, then fell face first after the gerudo released his grip on his robes. "You have no idea?" Ganondorf repeated. "You have no idea?! You are a lying old coot, Daphnes!" He stalked over to Zelda and used a magic bond to haul her off the floor and into the air.
"Tell me," Ganondorf ordered.
"I know not where they've gone."
"Tell. Me. Now."
"I speak the honest truth."
Ganondorf held such a strong hatred in his black eyes at that moment, but it then vanished in an instant and was replaced with a wicked gleam. "Alright then, fine..."
The gerudo turned towards King Daphne's and grinned darkly before leaning down near his face. "If I can't have all the Triforce pieces… I'll just have your daughter instead."
Said woman gasped in shock, as did her father. Her eyes widened in fear and anger when her mind finally registered what had been announced.
"You mad man!" The king seethed furiously. "I told you, I don't know where they are! I tried to tell you that they would separate, but you would not let me! Just let my daughter go, she has nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, but she does, Your Majesty. Afterall, she is not just any regular girl. She is the princess of Hyrule... and the Guardian of the Triforce. Please, correct me if I am wrong, O' King of Hyrule!"
Daphne's swallowed audibly before letting out a shaky breath, "H-How did you come to know this, Ganondorf?"
"You can thank that traitor standing next to you, you old fool. Goes to show you that you can't trust anyone, hmn?"
The guard only nodded in response.
"And that is why I must eliminate you now, Falisus."
The man named Falisus visibly stiffened and sputtered nonsense as Ganondorf wrapped his giant hand around his neck, lifting him off his feet. "B-But you s-said you'd spare me! You said t-that I'd be s-safe and… and…!"
"People lie, you naive mortal," Ganondorf squinted his yellow eyes before a dark purple haze emitted from his hand around Falisus' neck, and within moments, the guard melted into thin air. "And I cannot trust a traitor such as you."
Zelda nearly screamed when Ganondorf whipped his gaze towards her unexpectedly. She would have ran had she not been in the magic bond.
"Until I have the other pieces in my grasp... you will be mine, Princess Zelda, Guardian of the Triforce."
Hearing such malice in his voice, the princess felt the strongest feeling of dread than ever before.
X-X-X
DONE WITH CHAPTER ONE!
This was originally going to be just an intro, but I got carried away! I also originally planned to post this after I finished Wanted Dead or Alive, but like I said… I GOT CARRIED AWAY!
I truly hope you enjoyed Chapter One of Not What They Seem! I do not know when I'll be updating because, as you can see above, I wanted to finish WDA first, and I also have Takes Two To Square Dance to write… Plus, I have High School Days and The Search to edit…
… I have a very long writing list. Facepalm.
Thank you for reading! See you later in WDA!
-Beautiful Creation