So after two years of not posting anything, I finally decided to publish a story. Not without help from a friend of mine, FlameFalcon. He's an amazing writer and has written some awesome stories so make sure to check out his profile. I gave this story an 'M' rating because of the violence that is still to come in later chapters.
Disclaimer: Eeverything belongs to Nintendo. I own nothing.
Edit (11.3.2014): Changed the rating to T, but I may change it back later.
Enjoy!
"...and may thy wisdom, Nayru, protect and give me strength."
She wasn't finished yet, but the annoying sound of a stiletto heel constantly tapping on the floor made Zelda want to burn the person responsible for it. Still on her knees, she flew around, fury in her eyes.
"Could you finally stop that, for Din's sake?!"
"What, no reason to get cocky, dear" Peach said and ignored Zelda's request. "We've been in here for, like, fifteen minutes and the welcoming party begins any minute now."
"Well, just go without me then, Peach! There won't be any time left for me to pray today and I really want to do this before the season begins."
Peach crossed her arms and leaned back on the bench, but her pink heel ceased tapping on the floor. "Make it quick."
The hylian gave her blonde friend a sour smile and turned back around to continue her prayers to the Golden Goddesses.
"Oh eww, look at that, there's some kind of stain on my shoe!"
"Peach!"
The two princesses arrived just seconds before Master Hand jumped up on the stage, positioned himself in front of the microphone and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. The Smashers fell silent.
"Welcome to the new term, everyone", the Hand spoke. "Some of you I have been here before, some of you haven't. I am very excited to have all of you here and proud to say that every Smasher from last season is back, and I especially want to welcome back somebody who hasn't been here in almost two years but decided to join us- again. Welcome back, Roy!"
Everyone turned to the prince, whose face turned almost as red as his hair, and started cheering. Zelda clapped and smiled too, but she didn't really know the guy. Peach had told her stories about Roy, apparently she didn't like him very much. Zelda decided to introduce herself to the prince later and see for herself. As a matter of fact, she would introduce herself to every single one of the newcomers, just like proper princess etiquette required, and as Master Hand went on and on about the upcoming tournaments and events, Zelda grabbed an info sheet from a nearby table and started studying the names of the newcomers.
Almost an hour later, Master Hand was done with the talking (but he had to cut his speech short because Crazy Hand, in a corner in the back of the room, had been jumping up and down for half an hour and started to get on everyone's nerves).
Peach materialized in front of her friend and handed her a glass filled with red wine, which Zelda gladly accepted. The blonde explained that she wanted to talk to Marth just for a second, but Zelda knew better than that. The second Peach had vanished in the crowd, Zelda turned on her heel looked out for one of the newcomers. She was pretty sure she wouldn't see Peach again tonight. Suddenly, she felt someone pushing her from behind and a pair of hands covered her eyes. "Guess who?" someone chuckled and Zelda's eyebrow went up.
"Link."
"Nope", Link said and a much lighter chuckle rung out next to Zelda's pointed ear.
"Midna?"
"Correct!" Midna took her hands off Zelda's eyes and stepped in front of her friend. Her eyes were full of glee as they looked around the room. "I'm so glad to be here, I just arrived half an hour ago and didn't have time to unpack or even see the place! Link said he's going to show me around after the party-"
"Yeah", Link said, and all Zelda could do was hug the Twili Princess hard in order to shut her up. Midna gladly wrapped her arms around her friend. They hadn't seen each other since the mirror, the portal between their realms, had shattered into pieces, which was almost two years ago. Midna didn't look much different, and Zelda was looking orward to spend some time together. After a few more words, Link pulled Midna away to introduce her to some Smashers and and thus, Zelda was left alone, again.
"Hi!", someone said behind her and the brunette almost jumped in fright. She turned around to face a red-headed young man, beaming at her. "I'm Roy. You must be Zelda?"
He took her hand in his and kissed it. "Princess regent of Hyrule, it is my honor to make your acquaintance. I have heard a lot about you and cannot wait to meet you on the battlefield."
Zelda smiled gracefully. Peach had told her Roy was 'stupid' and 'annoying', but so far, he didn't seem like that at all. "Likewise" she said, but before she could continue, he interrupted her.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for Peach." And off he went.
Some time later, Zelda was sitting at one of the tables in the room, very content with herself for having introduced herself to almost all of the newcomers. The info sheet in front of her, she was crossing off the names of the people she had met.
"Krystal- check." Krystal was Fox McCloud's long-time girlfriend and incredibly interesting to talk to. As far as Zelda could tell that was, because unfortunately, she didn't get to talk to the vixen as much as she would've wanted to since Wolf had come out of nowhere and started talking to them. It was clear that Krystal and Wolf already knew each other and had gotten lost in their conversation while totally forgetting about the confused princess and a very jealous Fox, who had chosen to stand in a corner with a drink in each hand and stare Wolf down instead of joining their conversation. "Very effective", Zelda mumbled.
"Knuckles- check, Amy- check" Sonic had introduced Zelda to the red echidna and the pink hedgehog after Roy had so suddenly left in search of Peach. Amy Rose was a very sweet girl and constantly reminded everyone around her how glad she was to be part of the Smashers now, and while Sonic had smiled and laughed at most of Amy's jokes, Zelda had found his smile to be clenched whenever the pink hedgehog was close to him- so basically the whole time, since their arms were linked and Amy seemingly refused to let go of Sonic, dragging him around the room. Knuckles however was a rather silent fellow who let Amy to all the talking and socializing. He had pulled a very serious face and his answers to Zelda's questions had turned out to be very taciturn. But that didn't bother Zelda. The Smashers really were a weird bunch of people, and she had gotten used to almost all of their weird customs and habits.
Knuckles' name obviously came from the two spike-like knuckles on his hands, which made it obvious that he wasn't to be messed with. Zelda decided that he'd fit in here very well.
There were two people left on the list, and the hylian princess spotted one of them standing at the bar, getting a drink. Jumping up, Zelda stuffed the piece of paper in her pocket and made her way over to the girl with the silver hair, who saw her coming. A lovely smile appeared on the girl's face when Zelda introduced herself.
"Princess Zelda? I'm honored. Your name seems so familiar... I think someone mentioned you before, one of the Smashers..."
"May that have been Link? An elf all dressed in green?"
The girl's face turned a crimson shade. "Ah, yes, that's his name! Oh, how embarrassing, I already forgot his name, please don't tell him." Zelda laughed, assuring that Link would never hear it from her, when the girl blushed even harder. "By Yune, where are my manners? My name is Micaiah, fifteenth Queen of Daein."
"Yes, I- I know."
"You do?" Micaiah looked puzzled.
"Yes, I, uh, read the info sheet" Zelda said, and Micaiah's eyes widened when she finally got it. This could easily turn into an awkward situation, and Zelda wanted to avoid that at all cost, when all of a sudden a young man materialised next to Micaiah. His light brown eyes pierced the Princess as if she was some kind of serial murderer, sent shivers down her spine. Upon realising his presence, Micaiah smiled and put a slender hand on the man's shoulder. "Zelda, may I introduce you to my husband, Sothe? Sothe, this is Zelda, Princess regent of Hyrule."
Sothe merely nodded and kissed Zelda's hand before inching a little closer to Micaiah. "Sothe, dear, I'll be fine. Why don't you go and talk a little to Lord Ike?" Without a word, Sothe complied and wandered off to where Zelda presumed Ike had to be, but not without sending her one last sharp look. Micaiah cleared her throat, and Zelda turned back to her. "You must excuse my husband, he's very protective of me."
"Of course, I understand. He must love you dearly."
"Oh, that he does. But it's not just that, I... I haven't been queen for long now, and he's still rather concerned about assassination attempts and such, you know. We led the liberation and these things happened all the time, day after day. It's been a hard decision to leave for the Smash Mansion but ultimately, it was actually Sothe who convinced me. So I can get more experience in fighting and defending myself."
Zelda nodded. If Micaiah needed practice, that had probably been a very wise choice. The hylian smiled, encouraging the silver-haired woman. "He will not regret it, and neither will you. But Daein and Crimea are both on Tellius, aren't they?"
Micaiah nodded in confirmation, but her brows furrowed a little, as if she knew what would come.
"You must know Ike then. Have you already met him?"
The young woman downed her glass of wine (which, to be honest, caught Zelda a little off guard) and shook her head. "I did not see Lord Ike yet."
Her mouth smiled but her eyes didn't, and Zelda wondered whether she might have just imagined it, but Daein's Queen's fingers suddenly clenched the glass she was holding so hard that Zelda knew something might be off there. And it immediately sparked her interest, but being the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda knew better than to ask her new acquaintance about it. No, it was none of her concern and she would think about it no more, she told herself. Of course she would, though. And she would report to the Queen of Gossip, better known as Peach, on the next occasion. She felt bad about it already. "Oh well, there'll be enough time for that later. Come, surely you haven't met Peach yet and I believe your room is next to hers. Maybe we can find her and I'll introduce you two."
They did not find the Mushroom Princess, but that did not further surprise Zelda. Instead, they met Marth who was extremely delighted to have another member of royalty in the mansion. He started to go on and on about Tellius, so obviously proud and eager to boast about his knowledge of the continent. The source of this knowledge was clearly the book Ike had given him for his birthday, Zelda assumed, and felt a little ashamed to know almost nothing about Tellius. But Micaiah seemed to be a little uncomfortable in the feminine prince's presence, so Zelda pulled her away from Marth when he stopped talking for a moment and looked around for a glass of champagne. Completely oblivious to the situation though, Marth quickly found the girls again and continued his history lesson, until Sothe came back and scared the prince away with a sharp look.
He didn't seem to be as sullen as before.
Zelda had one last newcomer to see, though, and so she excused herself and headed to the main entrance. Sothe's appearance had given her a good reason to leave, and as she walked away, she thought about the new faces. All of them were nice company, but she really had hit it off with Micaiah. The girl seemed to be shy but she was a delight to talk to and had quickly opened up to Zelda after they'd been conversing for a while. She could of course not ignore the fact that Micaiah was currently the head of an entire nation, which automatically made her and Zelda share the same interests. The hylian princess quietly smiled to herself and continued walking down the hall. 'Gabriel Van Helsing', opposite to the other newcomers, had apparently not attended the party, and he was in none of the several living rooms in the mansion. Zelda had no idea where his room might be, but she wouldn't dare to boldly knock on his door. If he really was in there, he probably didn't want any company. But she didn't check in the gardens and the training halls yet, and with a determined push, she swung the door to the balcony open. The immense garden lay in front of her, only illuminated by the moon's light, but it seemed to be empty. Of course, why should this Gabriel Van Helsing even stroll around in the garden at night?
Zelda turned around and wanted to go back inside, when at the end of the huge balcony, another door opened and someone stepped outside. The figure stopped dead in his tracks and eyed the Princess, clearly having trouble recognising her in the dim light.
"Zelda?" She was a little disappointed to identify the owner of the voice as Ike. She had hoped for the newcomer.
Still, she had not expected anyone out here and quickly shook off her initial confusion, as she walked towards him. "Yeah. What are you doing here?"
"Getting some fresh air."
For a moment they stood in silence until Zelda realised that Ike wouldn't return the question. He simply didn't care what she was doing here at such late hour. Just when she wanted to say goodnight and go back inside and he made a move to go down the steps to the garden, something came to her mind.
"Ike?"
"Yeah?" He turned around and looked at her inquisitively.
"Micaiah doesn't seem to be very fond of you. Why is that?"
"Micaiah?" His inky eyes had a look of confusion, but it was gone after a second. "Shouldn't you be wise enough not to put your nose in other people's business?"
Touché. Of course she should, and the only thing that saved her from complete embarrassment was Snake, who showed up behind Ike and spoke before Zelda had a chance to.
"Got it, man. You comin'? Princess", he added and nodded as he acknowledged her presence. One of these things he regularly kept importing from his world, a 'cigar', if she recalled correctly, was hanging from Snake's lips, and he handed another one to Ike before walking past Zelda towards the garden. Without another word, Ike followed him and was soon swallowed by the night.
Well, that had been awkward. She shouldn't have asked Ike and knowing that he was rather blunt, she should have expected that kind of answer. Anyway, if Van Helsing wasn't in one of the training rooms, she'd go to bed, she decided. The party had turned out to be rather lame and Peach was nowhere to be found. With quick steps, Zelda approached the training rooms and quickly checked in three of them, which were all empty, before approaching the fourth. She stopped in front of the door and listened for a moment- it sounded like someone was inside, exercising. She opened the door until the gap was just big enough for her to see a figure, standing with its back to her. The man was in a long black cloak and had black, very short, chopped off hair. But she couldn't see his face, and he seemed to be getting a rest from training or whatever he had been doing, so she decided to push the door open and meet the man face to face.
The second she stepped in the room, a throwing knife dripping with water landed in the wall just inches away from her face.
