Deity
The Helpful Specter
The Elidin Volcano was one of the highest natural landmarks in Hyrule. Twenty miles from Hyrule Castle, it stood overlooking the green fields. A great battle was currently raging in the fields below.
In a small alcove near the top, a ball of light flitted about nervously as it watched the conflict. This ball of light was a fairy, a rather common sight in Hyrule. However, while most fairies glowed blue or red, this fairy's glow was a bright yellow.
"What's with all this chaos?" she asked.
A figure stood next to her, invisible to those without extrasensory abilities. His arms were crossed as he glared down to the battle.
"It's a war, Tatl," he said softly.
Though he looked like a ten year old in a green tunic, his sharp blue eyes displayed a maturity beyond his years. However, deep in his eyes lay a spark of innocence, one not put out by the darkness he had seen through the ages.
"It's just so horrible," she said with a shiver. "Even Skull Kid at his worst was better than this."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'd say dropping the moon on everyone is just as bad."
Tatl grunted. "At least it would a' been quick. This is just agony."
"I don't like it any more than you," he said tucking a strand of blond hair under his green stocking cap. "War is what claimed my parents."
"Let's just leave, Link," she said flying closer to him. "We already talked to the Great Fairy and she sent what's her face, Prixie? Praxie?"
"Proxi," Link corrected.
"Yeah, her. She sent her to this world's hero. I say we've done enough."
Link shook his head. "No. I don't think we have. None of the other heroes ever had to deal with something like this. They need my help."
"Uhg," Tatl scoffed. "You and your stupid hero complex. Just once, can't you let your successors deal with it?"
Link frowned as he turned to her. "You don't need to be here, Tatl. You could go back to Termina and be with Tael and Skull Kid."
"You know I can't," she yelled, the light around her body flaring up. Her glow dimmed as she spoke softly. "I promised Navi that you'd always have someone by your side." She perked up. "So even if you don't want me here, I'm stuck with you, Hero Boy."
Link smiled. "Thanks. It means a lot to me, Tatl."
"Yeah, yeah," she said waving it off. "So what's your plan? Gonna train up the hero with your 'Hero's Shade' routine?"
Link shook his head, staring down intently as the battle drew to a close.
"No, I need to do more than just pass on my skills." He looked skyward. "Who ever this 'Cia' is, she's messing with the fabric of time."
"Oh, I see," she giggled. "You take offense to her copying your schtick."
Link rolled his eyes. "Tatl."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Hero of Time," she said with a fake exuberance. "Please, tell me how you plan to save this Hyrule, oh, Hero of Two Worlds, Brother of Gorons, Future King of the Zoras."
"I regret telling you about Ruto."
"I don't," she giggled. "But, seriously, what's your game?"
"We know she's messing with the fabric of time."
"Yeah, I got that."
"Well, since I'm a spirit, I can feel it. I know what she's trying to do," he said looking at his hands.
"And what is she trying to do?"
"From what I can tell, she is trying to bring three locations from three different timelines into this one." Link put a hand to his chin as his eyes narrowed. "She essentially has them marked, but doesn't have enough power to pull them through, yet."
Tatl floated closer to his side, staying just within his peripheral.
"That's a good thing, right?" she asked bewildered. "That sounds like a good thing."
"Look up there, Tatl." He pointed to the western skyline.
Tatl stared at the sky. Thirty second revealed nothing but pale blue sky. She was about to ask Link what she was looking at when her eyes caught a shimmer. A chain of floating island flashed into existence. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.
"By the Four Giants! What was that?" she cried.
"One of the eras she's trying to pull here,"Link said with a sigh. "Even just marking them is putting tremendous strain on time itself. If she's able to pull them through, it could be disastrous."
"Like destroy the world bad?"
"Worse." He looked to the sky. "It'd be like pulling cloth through a jagged grate. Something is bound to rip. And since these are eras with heroes, it would unravel everything the soul of the hero has done."
"Everything? You mean…"
"Hyrule, Lorule, the Dark World, Holodrum, Labrynna," he listed. With a grim look, he turned his head to Tatl. "Even Termina. All destroyed.
"Well," she gulped. "That's bad."
Link nodded. "But it does give me an advantage."
"Oh yeah?" Tatl hummed. "What's that?"
"See over there?" he asked while pointing to the east.
Another shimmer showed a glimpse of a large mountain.
"Yeah," she replied. "What era is that?"
"That is Death Mountain. My era." He grinned. "Specifically, just after Zelda sent me back in time after beating Ganon."
Tatl floated in front of his face.
"How does that help?"
"Spirit or not, I'm still the Hero of Time," he said with a hand to his chest. "It's my era, therefore, my duty to protect it."
"Again, hero complex. And again. How? Does? That? Help?"
With each word, she bopped him in the head. Link rubbed his forehead, silently wondering how such a tiny thing could kick so hard.
"Well," he started. "Since my Hyrule is in danger, I can manafest."
Tatl flew back slightly. "Wait," she gasped. "Like, become a real person again?"
He nodded. "Loophole in the curse. The goddesses told me about it."
"That's great, Link." She turned out towards the fields again. "All we gotta do is get that Master Sword and-"
"No," Link interrupted.
"Why not?" she yelled. "And don't you dare say it rightfully belongs to this era's hero?"
"Well it does…"
She growled.
"Let me finish," he said holding his hands out in front of him. " It does rightfully belong to this era's hero, but even if i wanted to take it, I can't wield it anymore."
"What? Why?"
"It can only be wielded by the one who has the Soul of the Hero." Link shook his head. "I don't have that anymore because of Majora's curse."
"Stupid curse," she growled. A sigh escaped her throat. "Okay, you can still fight."
"That's another thing."
Tatl's light flared in anger. "What now?"
"Know how I said that the witch wasn't powerful enough to pull the locations through yet?" he said rubbing the back of his neck.
She nodded.
"Three guesses what could give her enough."
"The Triforce," she deadpanned.
"Yep." Link rubbed the back of his left hand. "The tie is faint now. I may not have the Triforce of Courage, but I'm still linked to it. This witch could use that to draw it out of the hero."
He looked out towards the distance.
"We can't let anyone know I'm here."
"So use the masks," she said. "No one will recognize you as a goron or a zora."
He shook his head.
"Those forms can't hide that power." His eyes narrowed. "There's only one thing that can."
Tatl gasped. "No. You don't mean…"
He nodded and pulled a mask from his pack. A dark aura emanated from it. Tatl shrunk back as he brought it out. Said mask appeared to be carved from some sort of bone, cold and smooth to the touch. It's apperance bore an uncanny resemblance to Link's adult form, but with noticeable differences. The hair was white. Pupiless eyes stared forward, narrowed in rage. Red lines curved under and over each eye and a blue triangular outline extended from it's forehead halfway to it's nose.
"Link, you can't use that. It's too powerful," she cried. "You nearly lost control fighting Majora."
"It's power will mask my link to the Triforce. We have no choice."
"Yes, we do," she yelled as she flew in between him and the mask. "I know your brain's not much bigger than a deku nut, but use it! Do you have any idea what that thing could do to you now that you're a spirit? It could gobble you up! It could-"
"Tatl!" Link yelled. His eyes held a glare. "This isn't up for discussion. Using the Fierce Deity Mask is the only option we have. This is a war, Tatl. Even at my best I've only ever fought four enemies at one time, six, tops. The mask power will allow me to deal with the hundreds of monsters I'll be up against."
"Yeah, it's got power," Tatl conceeded. "But that power is a flood, a veritable dark ocean dropping down on your head. You could drown in it and there's no scale or tunic to help keep you floating."
"Which is why I have you to keep my head above water, as it were." His gaze softened. "Tatl," he pleaded. "Please, Tatl. I need you to trust me."
Tatl fluttered between several spots in the air, the fairy equivalent to pacing. Growls, groans, and sounds of distress accompanied her flight.
"Uhg, Fine!" she groaned. "But if I have to tell Skull Kid and Tael and Navi and everyone else that you got eaten by a mask, I'll burn the stupid thing with you in it. Got it?"
"Got it, but for the record, I know you won't let that happen," Link said with a smile.
"Whatever, just…" She took a calming breath. "Just what do we do first?"
"First," he said slipping on his hover boots. "Is observe their army and select an ally."
Link walked off the rocky edge, using the hover boots to stop himself before he hit the ground.
Tatl rolled her eyes. "You can stop trying to look cool," she yelled down to him. "You look ten. It just doesn't work."
Link laughed.
To say Link had a hard life was an understatement. When he was ten, he went on a journey to save Hyrule. Said journey had him switching back and forth between child and adult. His mind quickly matured, the time skip depriving him of a childhood, though he took it in stride.
His lost childhood was not something he mourned. As a child, he had always felt out of place, as an adult he knew where he wanted to be. Still, when the journey ended, he let Princess Zelda send him back to his childhood.
She and him retained all memories of the time shift. Eventually they decided that trying to reclaim their childhood was an exercise in futility. Their experiences left them as adults in the bodies of children, though they were still prone to some childish thoughts and actions.
For a year, Link served as Zelda's best friend and confidant. Their shared experiences left them attached to one another. Impa, under Zelda's request, began researching ways for Link to be able to court her when they were old enough, the princess being a hopeless romantic of all things. Meanwhile, Link's desire to stay at Zelda's side was at odds with his urge to go find Navi.
Zelda convinced him to leave. She could see the way it left him conflicted. Link promised to return in a year, though Zelda said he could take three. Her parting gift was the Ocarina of Time and a kiss on the cheek that left Link feeling like he could take on a hundred Ganons.
And then he died.
Four months into his journey, Link was struck down. The details were hazy, but somewhere in the lost woods Link lost his life. Though before he could pass on, the Goddesses had one last task for him. He was sent to Termina, a land between life and death. This land was linked to Hyrule and a cataclysmic event was going to destroy both of them. Despite still reeling from his death and his regrets, Link wasted no time in attempting to stop the moon from dropping. What followed was a cycle of the same three days repeated over and over until the Four giants stopped the moon. With the Fierce Deity Mask, Link went to fight Majora, the entity behind the moon drop.
He won.
However, with the last of it's power, Majora cursed Link, chaining his spirit. Link could not pass on. Though Majora could never stop the Soul of the Hero from moving on, Links spirit, everything that made him who he was, was doomed to traverse through space and time, watching Hyrule forever.
He checked on Zelda first. She had gotten married, arranged to prosper peace between Hyrule and a neighboring kingdom. He was initially thought she had moved on, but her restless sleep said otherwise. She called his name every night. In the throes of nightmares, she screamed for him to come back, to take his place by her side. She spent her mornings cleaning the tears and steeling herself for the trials ahead.
It hurt him, cut deeper than any blade his foes had ever leveled against him. He wanted to run himself through with his own blade. His princess was hurting and he could do nothing to help.
He wallowed in grief for one hundred years.
When Ganondorf resurfaced, using the Usurper King Zant, Link had had enough. If he was to watch Hyrules' timelines till existence itself faded, then he would help protect his former home. His first act was training the Hero of Twilight.
Throughout time, Link did whatever he could to help. Sometimes, he could not do much, a small distraction, the deflection of a fatal blow, but no matter what he made sure to help his descendants somehow.
But this Hero, this Hyrule, needed more than a passing down of techniques, more than a subtle guiding hand. This time, an ally was needed. This time, Link himself would fight.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little excited.
C.T.K: Been playing Hyrule Warriors way too much and this hit me. Young Link is way too much fun to play. Anyone besides me wondering why they didn't just change Proxi's name to Tatl. It is such a simple change. I don't think the stuff that Proxi says are that far off from what Tatl would say. Not complaining, just wondering why they didn't go all the way, yah know.
(10/12/2015)
C.T.K:So I went through and edited this. Some more detail here, better word choice there, work on the general flow of it, that sorta thing. Hope you all enjoy this.