1760, Amestrian-Ordonian Border,
Hohenheim had never seen a woman like her before. Nor had he seen anyone like the clan of people around her. The most human-like had pointed ears, like the woman: Hylians. The others surrounding her had even odder traits. Some had a more piscine appearance with their scaly blue flesh and fins protruding from their bodies. These were called "Zora." Others looked like they were a cross between man, lizard, and rock: called "Gorons."
"Hello. My associates have told me your name is Van Hohenheim," the woman said. She was tall, blonde, and had crystal blue eyes set in an ageless beautiful face. There was something familiar to Hohenheim about her eyes.
"It is," Hohenheim said bowing his head to her. Though she dressed as commonly as the others, Hohenheim knew she was the former ruler of the land Homunculus had started to conquer: Queen Zelda Harkinian, Fifty-Fifth of her name.
"I have a task of you, he who looks like our would-be conquerer," Zelda said as she motioned a small group of Hylians forwards. In the lead was a brunette girl with wide blue eyes holding a golden harp. Hohenheim flinched at the reminder of Homunculus's container looking like him.
"What is it you ask of me?" Hohenheim said.
"Escort my cousin Myra to the Hero's Shrine," Zelda said, "The small contingent I send with you are all that remain of my Hyrulian Knights. Guard them and her well."
"My lady! Why!?" a somewhat hulking Hylian male said this.
"Lord Armstrong, it is not a very good start to our marriage for you to question me like this in front of others," Zelda said.
"My apologies, Zelda," Lord Armstrong said.
"I'm also curious, my lady," Hohenheim said, "Why send off your best and only remaining warriors with your cousin and I?"
"Because, the goddesses have sent me a vision," Zelda said making eye contact with Hohenheim, "And this is the way things must be."
It was then that Hohenheim realized what he'd recognized as familiar in the deposed monarch's eyes; loneliness. The same loneliness that plagued Hohenheim, he saw it in her eyes even though she was surrounded by loyal vassals.
"I will do it, my lady," Hohenheim said. Zelda smiled a little before she turned to her men and women.
"Let's say a prayer to the goddesses before they depart, for we won't be seeing them again," she said.
A few days later, Risem Province a few miles outside the village of Risembul.
Hohenheim found himself enjoying the company of the Hylians. Though, they could be grim at times, they were also able to carry on and sing in the face of their quest.
"Dance with me, Mr. Ho!" Hohenheim looked up to see one of the female Hylian knights was trying to get him to join her.
"I'd rather not," he said, "But your friend seems to want to dance with you."
"That's why. I want to make him jealous," the knight said. Hoeheim shook his head with a chuckle before she shrugged and walked away, chestnut ponytail bouncing behind her as she bounded over to another victim as she successfully made the green eyed male knight jealous.
"That Elric is going to get himself in trouble over Lonnie someday." Hohenheim looked up to see the cousin of the Queen had taken a seat next to him.
"She does this to him often?" Hoeheim said.
"Often enough. Everyone knows she loves him, but she loves to drive him up the wall whenever she can," Myra said.
"Any young men catch your eye that you want to drive insane?" Hohenheim said.
"Maybe, but I'd rather do that in private," Myra said.
"Is the shrine so dangerous that your cousin expects everyone to perish?" Hohenheim said.
"No, it's the fact that we're supposed to settle into the region as protectors of the shrine once we've completed our mission," Myra said, "Why did you decide to help us, ageless one?"
"What did you call me?"
"Ageless one. My cousin foresaw your coming a year ago. She was gifted with prophetic dreams from the goddesses," Myra said, "She also foresaw that this quest would be important to you as well. How so, I don't know. Zelda chose not to tell me." Myra stood and walked towards the fire, and joined in the merry making and singing. She strummed the harp in her hands playing a few notes that made the camp fall into a hushed silence as she sang,
"En dashevu, nobé shyundu,
tʏeh, shyu-tu, kewaynu salé.
En dashevu, nobé dushu.
Tʏeh shyu-tu, nobé dezu dotshé."
The next morning, everyone was ready to head to the shrine.
The group left at dawn and arrived in a small grove of trees. In the center was a set of stairs leading into the ground. It looked like the entrance to a tomb.
"You must enter alone, Hohenheim," Myra said handing him the golden harp, "My part in this mission was to guide you here and protect the Goddess Harp. Your part is to place it within the Hero's Shrine."
"What?!"
"Elric, you chose to forsake this position whenever my cousin offered it to you," Myra said. Elric huffed and looked away. Lonnie patted his arm to try to mollify his wounded pride. Hohenheim opened his mouth to protest,
"Zelda told me to tell you this, should you try to protest. You are not what you think you are, and this must be done by you," Myra said, "Please have faith that we Hylians know monsters when we see them. You, Van Hohenheim, are no monster."
Hohenheim nodded before he descended the stairs. Myra turned to the others.
"Zelda's last order was to live and live well," Myra said, "As of this moment, you are no longer Knights of Hyrule. You are free to live and love as you wish."
"Long Live Hyrule!" The knights said drawing their swords and stabbing them into the ground forming a Triforce out of their weapons, symbolically turning their arms over to the goddesses. They walked off leaving Myra behind. She stood for a few moments before she bowed her head,
"Hear my prayer, Nayru, Farore, and Din. Keep the man, Hohenheim, safe and guide him to light."
Hohenheim walked through a dark corridor that sloped downwards for what felt to be at least a hundred meters and blinked as he stepped into the light. Three large torches blazed from above bathing the room in illumination.
It was a large round chamber with a plinth in the center bearing a sword driven into pure stone. Behind it was a set of three pedestals: an ocarina, a green tunic, and an empty space for the harp he held. Hohenheim looked around and saw the walls were covered in murals depicting several scenes of a green clad blond hylian facing evil and triumphing over and over. If he hadn't felt slightly ill at ease this far underground, he might have lost himself in studying the stories being told by those images.
Hohenheim had just placed the harp down when a slight scuffing sound made the last Xerxesian whip around and freeze at what he saw.
The figure was slightly translucent, and dressed in a green tunic, much like the one the figure on the murals wore and like the one folded up on the pedestal. It was a male Hylian with blond hair and blue eyes about his height. What really made Hohenheim pause was it was almost like looking into a younger, blue eyed, Hylian mirror.
"Take heart, Son of Xerxes; there will come a time whenever this country will need your courage," the apparition said. It placed a hand over its heart revealing a triforce mark on the back before they smiled and faded out.
Hohenheim emerged into the daylight alone. The strange spirit's words ringing in his mind as he set off in a new direction.
Risembul, Amestris, February 5, 1899
Hohenheim was still in shock. This child, this innocent human being that was not a monster, had partly come from him.
His son. He was no longer the last Xerxesian.
Though, his son was also Hylian. The small pointed ears were still stuck to the sides of the infant's head, even two days after birth. On top of his son's head, an impressive patch of gold fuzz was already growing.
Their little Edward.
Edward fussed and opened up a pair of yellow-gray eyes. Eyes that would, in time, turn fully golden. He flailed his tiny baby fists as he wriggled and squeaked. Hohenheim happily caught a fist with two fingers as Edward settled back down and fell asleep. He gently played with the hand he'd caught. He'd carefully flexed the hand out of a fist when he spotted something. There was a mark on the back of his son's tiny right hand. A mark shaped like a triforce with the bottom left triangle darkened. Just like-
'Take heart, Son of Xerxes; there will come a time whenever this country will need your courage.'
Fin
Notes:
I hope you all enjoyed this. Let me know if you want the full story these were written around posted. I have part one finished and ready to go.
Oh, by the way the Rito already fled (on Zelda's orders) to find somewhere safe. They're mostly hiding in the mountains to the north of Amestris in Drachma. Drachma doesn't know they're there. Koroks/Kokiri are still safe in their version of the Lost Woods of this world. When I wrote this I had decided they were Kokiri again because it'd be safer to appear human to a country that had been overrun by human looking monsters.
Names and people:
Myra Harknian - I gave her Olivier's middle name for a reason. Cousin of Zelda.
Zelda Harknian LV - Incarnation of Hylia. I did the math and that's about how many Queen Zelda's I figure would have existed over time. Married to Lord Armstrong. Deposed Queen of Hyrule in the wake of Father's conquest.
Lord Louise Armstrong - Husband of the current Zelda. Founder of the Armstrong line.
Elric - Future husband of Lonnie. Ancestor of Trisha.
Lonnie - Knight of Hyrule and future wife of Elric. The name "Lonnie" is a diminutive of "Alonzo" which is a form of "Alphonse." Ancestress of Trisha.
Final note:
About the Ancient Hylian I had Myra sing.
I lifted the lyrics off a Zelda Wiki and it was written in phonetic symbols. I translated them to English letters as best I could.
It's Zelda's song from Skyward Sword, which had been the newest of the Zelda games when I wrote these way back when Breath of the Wild was just trailers and speculation.