- ORIGINS -
CHAPTER I - A Map Collection
Beneath the prosperous Castle Town lies something much darker than the clean front of the city would ever have let on. The Black Market - known amongst peculiar collectors, men and women of odd trade, merchants of dark arts and odd substances, but to any ordinary citizen completely unheard of. Here gathers people to trade, buy and sell objects that were extremely hard to catch except for the skilled few and objects couldn't be sold so that just everyone could see. The Black Market was a perfect success, flourishing and growing beneath the city, broken into several sections in the damp underground halls connected together by the wide web of sewers. There were numerous entrances - all hidden well and out of the sight of the public.
In one such hall a merchant - a skinny man wearing an off-white robe and brown hair in a bowl cut - was greeting a man in a dark green cloak with a hood casting a shadow to hide his eyes. "Oh, a customer! Welcome! Welcome! Anything you want to buy?" The merchant said while making a wide motion with his hand to show his wares - there were several bottles containing curiously coloured liquids and something that seemed to be organs on display.
The hooded man smiled, his jaw and the tip of his nose being highlighted by the light from the green flames on the table and said, "No, Beedle, but I might have something that could interest you, eh, wanna see?"
"Oh, is this about our previous deal?" Beedle seemed to smile, his skinny face looking instantly a bit lighter. "If you have it then show it!"
"Patience is a virtue, you know," the man said with mock sagely tone and pushed his hand into his cloak, rummaging around for something from inside of the pouch resting on his belt. "Here you...aha!" Soon an ornamented bottle made from fine crystal was pulled out and with it a creature that glowed like an orange fire. "A Big Poe Soul, just as you ordered," the man tapped the bottle with his index finger and the flame inside screeched at him.
"Oooh, this is it! This truly is it, thank you my man!" Beedle clapped his hands together and then tried to extend his hand out to the man. "Give it!"
"No, I think I get the payment first." The bastard had guts to smirk.
"500 Rupees and some cheap item. That's all you're getting." Beedle's tone turned cold, he knew this wasn't going to work.
"1 000 Rupees and a medium price range item of my choice." That infuriating bastard...!
"What? No deal, there are several ways of getting Poe Souls-"
"And none of them are better than me, though I guess I can go and sell this to someone else. There are a lot of odd folk interested in something as simple as this," the man sounded so smug...
Beedle eyed the bottle still held firmly in the man's left hand as he was contemplating his options...he really did not afford loosing this deal. "Okay, okay. Do not go to sell this to anyone!"
"So you want this?" The douche- no, the important associate asked with a victorious tone.
"Yes, yes...of course I do...just...give me the bottle and I'll give you your money!" Reaching out for the bottle once again Beedle hoped that this time he'd be faster than this man. Of course he was wrong as the man instantly dodged his hand and pulled the bottle farther from the merchant.
"I'd like to see the money first, y'know, good work requires good payment." Even the Poe cackled at Beedle's misfortune, this wasn't his day...
As Beedle turned around to look for his money chest the hooded man lifted the bottle to his eye level to look directly at the Poe Soul leering at him and tiresomely asked, "Why do you even want this? It doesn't look like it'd make a good pet...or be useful in any other way." While the two men weren't what you would describe as friends there was an air of mutual trust between them. The man would not sell his findings to anyone before he had checked with Beedle first and the merchant would not use his wares for evil - or sell them to people who might.
"For scientific purposes. Humankind is shamefully oblivious to the workings of the realm of the dead." Beedle muttered while he turned back to the man and handed him eight orange Rupees and four purple ones, "Here's your money. Now give me the bottle!"
The man smiled, it was so easy to get Beedle aggravated and get him discard that customer service demeanour he put on. Without a word he took the money and handed the crystal container to the underground dealer, who instantly clutched it close to his chest. While he put the money into his wallet he glanced at other wares Beedle's store had for display, noticing an old-looking purple lens with a red crying eye symbol in the middle. "What's that?"
"Ah, this, my loyal customer, is the Lens of Truth. A truly rare, fascinating piece of Sheikah magic - created to help those with untrained mind's eye to take a look to the world beyond. A window to the realm of the dead, if you will." Beedle's tone was one of pride - clearly it had been hard to get such rarity to his stock.
"Looks cheap," the man noted not sharing the merchant's enthusiasm.
Beedle was taken aback by the straightforward comment and glared at him, "Perhaps you should train your actual eyes before even considering using your mind's eye then, eh?" The dealer seemed quite happy for the opportunity to insult the man, "This costs 10 000 Rupees, choose something else." Beedle might not have been fond of any kind of loyal customer discounts, but at least he kept his promises.
The man eyed the items on display some more until he saw a thin, old book with an already-faded title written in ancient Hylian. "Ah, you're interested in this old map collection, eh? It's just your price range, too, take it."
"Wanting to get rid of me this fast? You Black Market folk really don't like customer service as much as the vendors in the actual market," the man commented and took the collection, looking through it quickly, noting a couple of pages of text within as well. "Maybe I'll take this..."
"Good, now, if you aren't buying anything then scram!" Beedle screeched similarly to the bottled Poe and pointed towards the exit.
"Keep that lens on hold for me," was all the man said as he obeyed and walked out from the underground hall with the map collection held close by his side. He exited into one of the many sewer corridors leaving only the faint echo of his footsteps behind.
-x-
Exiting the damp corridors of the sewers was always a rewarding experience - even in the busiest streets of Castle Town the air felt lighter to breathe, the scents were pleasant even with the side smell of a day old fish and best of all: you didn't have to be afraid of a rat suddenly attacking your feet. Quickly stepping into the busy southern market road and joining the group of people advancing there the hooded man pulled back his hood, ruffled his blonde hair with a gauntleted hand and sighed contently. Earning 1 000 Rupees was always a pleasant way to finish up a day. Letting his cloak open up a bit while walking fast, revealing the armour of a Hyrulian soldier beneath it the man walked down the street, only stopping by to buy an apple for a few Rupees, until he arrived to the Central Square. Perhaps he could grab a drink at the café and then sneak to his room in the castle and sleep until the morning...then he could have a quick chat with Auru about the maps...
"Mr. Link!"
Faron damn it. He could already see the Postman running towards him, waving a letter. "Mr. Link! I have a letter to you from Talus the Castle Guard!"
Talus...he was a cold man fully dedicated to his duty. A good soldier but a poor friend - he was hard to distract from his duty and followed the Queen's orders with abnormal precision. Link was quite sure he had never even seen Talus smile; much less laugh at the crude jokes the castle guards told each other.
"Thanks," Link smiled as the Postman hummed his regular fanfare while he handed the letter to the soldier.
The Postman nodded his head so furiously it almost looked like he was bowing and yelled, "Well, my business here is concluded; onward to mail!"
Link looked amused as he watched the Postman run off to deliver rest of his letters, shaking his head as he walked towards the last empty table in the café, asking only for a glass of water. Curse Talus, the only reason he might have sent him a letter would be important business in the Castle, meaning he had no time to relax.
While taking loud gulps from his water Link ripped the letter open, starting to read while tossing up the apple and catching it with his left hand.
Sir Link,
You have been ordered to have an urgent meeting with Her Highness, the Queen. You are currently expected at the Castle and I would recommend you reporting there immediately upon getting this letter. They did make it my responsibility to find you, after all, and I would prefer not having to be the one explaining your absence to anyone.
-Talus, the Guard Captain
He really was not getting a moment's rest? And Talus didn't have the courtesy to inform him of what this meeting would be about... Quickly drinking the rest of his water Link got up, grabbed his belongings and marched towards the Castle. As he walked he noted that several citizens were already preparing to finish their day's work and leave to the comfort of their homes - most of them were almost running and Link had to dodge them several times to not get knocked onto ground. Guards stationed at the gates didn't stop to check his identity and what business he might have had at the Castle - they all already recognised the famed Hero, the man, who solely brought the end to the War of Twilight. Instead they just nodded in respect as Link walked past them to the outer courtyard of Hyrule Castle, the brightly shining sun making the garden look extremely vibrant. A perfect courtyard for a perfect Castle, just what people visiting needed to see. The Queen had once offhandedly mentioned that political visitors rarely paid attention to the life on the streets - instead they preferred getting the image of royalty that the Castle presented.
Stepping inside the Castle Link searched for a guard to ask where he was supposed to meet the Queen. "In her study, Sir!" The man said while saluting him, his light armour clanking due to the sudden movement.
Walking up the stairs to one of the smaller halls and turning right he arrived to a wide corridor with several doors - he didn't have to search for long to know which was the Queen's, noticing the big, wooden pair of doors with a carved Hylian crest on them and red Hyrulian flags attached to each side of the doors. And of course two suspiciously glaring guards holding their lances tightly, it was an honour to guard Her Highness, even if she probably would have survived on her own. As Link walked closer to them they moved out of his way, muttering quiet Sirs and informed the Queen that she had a visitor. Link only heard a small "come in" and the doors were opened for him.
The Queen's study was something Link himself would still consider well-decorated, but yet it was much more simplistic than the rest of the Castle. There were two seats; one big and regal-looking, while the other one was comfortable and smaller to give the ruling monarch an air of authority - a thing that the young Queen really did not need, seeing as she was quite good with giving off a presence of authority all on her own, Link noted. What separated the seats was a table made from dark wood ordered from Faron, nearly covered in different sorts of papers and writing equipment. Behind the table sat the Queen, barely acknowledging him whilst writing furiously on some stately business document.
"You asked for me, Your Highness?" Link decided that he should be the one to break the silence; he knew that the Queen was able to multitask and talking would not bother her.
"Yes I did, sit down Sir Link, we need to discuss about your...most recent outings." Link avoided gulping out loud; he really didn't want to talk about this subject, at least, not to the Queen. When Link didn't say anything the Queen continued, "I heard about you doing some side business while working on state matters, such as delivering orders of cheese to the Yeti when asked to inspect the state of the Snowpeak mansion."
Ah, it was about that.
"Well Your Highness, I was merely-"
The Queen lifted her hand to stop him from speaking and continued, "I also heard about your little side mission to catch a Big Poe and sell it to some black market dealer, Sir Link. Taxless income, if I might add."
Link couldn't help but smile awkwardly at this, "You seem to 'hear' everything I do." He could see a small smile stretching her lips - success!
"I wouldn't make a good Queen if I didn't, now would I?" Link was relieved to hear some humour in her voice and relaxed in his seat.
"You make a good Queen already," Link smiled, hoping that flattering might bring her attention elsewhere from his undertakings that weren't exactly recommended behaviour for a Hyrulian knight.
"I wouldn't be a good Queen if I didn't follow what happened in my country. This land has suffered from such rulers before," the Queen had a small pause in her speech, and then continued, "But I did not order you here to discuss good leadership qualities. I wanted to talk about this whole Black Market thing."
Clearly Link wasn't as charming as he had hoped to be then.
"Apparently you caught a Big Poe Soul, bottled it and sold it to some dealer? You are aware how troublesome this might turn out to be if he uses it to enhance his magical abilities? Or uses it to possess someone? As if we already do not have several rumours that there are ghosts in the underground waterways, now we have to start worrying that they are real."
"There have been several Poes being traded before, this isn't the first. Besides, I don't sell something that is potentially dangerous just to anyone."
"Oh, so you are watching this person right now, making sure he doesn't do anything out of ordinary- ...no, anything possibly disastrous to the citizens?"
Okay, this was where he had gone wrong. But Beedle was an honest man...usually...so this wouldn't go badly. At least that's what Link hoped. "Your Highness, I assure you that the dealer I sold it to will only use it for scientific purposes. And you know, this whole Black Market could be easily erased if you had given an order to do so. But you don't because you find it useful for your experiments, which is the reason you act like you don't even know that it exists, then ask me to fetch you something from there."
Link felt victorious when he saw her face change from that of the rigid monarch to an abashed one. Quickly changing the subject she asked, "So, what did you get from that trade? Rupees?"
Link smiled, knowing that she wouldn't bother him about this any longer for time being, "1 000 Rupees and a map collection." He set the thin book from his lap to her table. The Queen looked at it instantly, asking for a permission to leaf through it quickly getting a nod for an answer.
"These are written in Ancient Hylian," she mentioned while looking at the beautiful maps drawn on now-yellowed paper. "How old are these? From the Second Era?"
"I do not know, Your Majesty, I was going to show these to Sir Auru tomorrow."
She only hummed in response, still looking at the maps. While she read the texts Link took the time to look around the study. The walls had several paintings on them, most of them of the Royal Family while a few had a more religious topic such as the creation of Triforce. There were a couple large windows which lighted the room pleasantly; a couple of birds had gathered on the window sill and they seemed to be eating some grains set out for them. Link amusedly glanced at the monarch who was still translating the map with intense concentration and he continued with his examinations. On one wall there was a huge map of Hyrule and several bookshelves filled with books about Hyrulian laws and history.
Link's studies were cut short as the Queen stood up and walked to one of the bookshelves searching for something. The knight quickly jumped to his feet, following the proper conduct and rambled a quick "what are you doing, Your Highness?" before standing rigidly in attention.
"I just need to find a dictionary...you can sit down Sir Link, I'm sure I have one about ancient Hylian here somewhere..." She stood on tiptoes to look at the books on the highest shelf. Link walked behind her and having grown a bit taller in the past few years he could easily take the dictionary from the shelf. Just as he was reaching to grasp the dictionary it floated right next to him, straight into the awaiting monarch's hand.
"You just couldn't let me take it for you, Your Highness?" Link said in a good-humoured manner, quite used to these small displays of magic.
"While I do appreciate your occasional chivalrous acts I can take a book from the shelf on my own, Sir Link." The Queen said and sat back to her chair, searching through the book for something. Link settled back on his chair and rested his cheek against his right hand, looking at the young monarch, hoping to get an explanation for this sudden interest. After a while he had dozed off a bit and startled when he heard a question, "Did you notice anything extraordinary about these maps?"
"Huh? Oh, right," Link was a bit surprised by the sudden question and didn't quite understand what he was asked. After quickly collecting his thoughts he managed to respond, "I haven't really had time to actually look into them yet, Your Highness. I just...got them." He ended lamely, but the Queen didn't really pay attention.
"Have you ever heard of a so-called 'Temple of Border'? Or 'Temple of Limit', depending on what translation you prefer?" The Queen continued with her questioning while the Hero blinked the traces of sleep from his eyes. He really needed to get some rest soon... Talus would have Link's head if he heard about the knight dozing off in the presence of the Queen herself!
"Uh, no...At least I don't think..." He mumbled while looking at the huge map of Hyrule, reading the place names, searching for anything that would be even remotely connected to the aforementioned temple. "I've never at least heard either of those names, Your Highness. Where is it?"
"This map here shows that it is somewhere near Faron...but...this is just so different to our current maps. Entirely different landmarks or same landmarks but in odd locations..."
"Well, Hyrule did move after the civil war with the Gerudo a few centuries back...and if that map really is from the Second Era then-"
"Then it'll take some careful research to find out the location of this temple." She finished for him, finally looking up from the map and noticing that the sun was already setting. She looked a bit embarrassed for having kept him there for so long, "I am sorry. I lost the track of time, Sir Link."
"It's nothing," he waved it off not completely out of knightly conduct but also from friendly understanding. He knew that the Queen rarely got time to study something that really interested her, which was why he had no problem going to the Black Market and getting her ingredients for whatever experiments she wanted to do. It had been three years since the end of the war - he had been promoted a knight for 'heroics and valour in battle and the aid in rebuilding the city' and started working close to the Queen, taking care of both stately and personal business. Maybe he wasn't a traditional knight that had been trained with proper etiquette and manners from the crib, but he did perform all of his tasks with his - and the Queen's - honour in mind. He and the Queen weren't exactly closest of friends, more like comrades with special understanding for the burden they both bore.
"I am sorry for having kept you this long from your duties Sir Link," she said while handing the thin book back to him. "Please, talk with Auru about this; I'm sure he can at least help with the correct coordinates. And then report back to me. I want to hear everything about this temple."
"What's with the sudden interest in some temple, Your Highness?" Link asked while preparing to leave the study. He stretched a bit as he got up, waiting for the answer with the thin book once again resting against his ribs. He would speak with Auru first thing in the morning, now he really wanted to go to sleep in his room.
The Queen only smiled, walked to the door with the knight and said, "According to the ancient writings on the map it contains the secrets of Hyrule's origins within. And this might be a quite reliable source too - apparently this collection was drawn and written by the First Hero himself."
-x-
AN: So here is the first chapter of Origins! This will be a multi-chaptered fic containing shameless amounts of Zelda theory (and history). This had begun as a simple writing exercise then evolved into this. Will most likely be around ten chapters, and yes, will be Post-TP and quite Link-centric (though I will give other characters much spotlight, 'cause hey, TP had some extremely interesting characters that could use a bit more spotlight. Plus the writing will feel more...full).
All I am going to say about this that I spent far too long comparing every single map of Hyrule in the main games since OoT.
The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo
