Help From a Godess
"Looking back isn't going to help you. Moving forward is the thing to do."-McKayla Maroney. former Olympic Gymnast
Zelda's eyes opened as her spirit finally left her body. For hours she'd knelt in the Spring of Wisdom at the peak of Mount Lanayru, letting the warm water bubble around her, somehow preserved from the below freezing temperatures. It finally paid off.
"I did it," she shrieked in delight as she saw her body still in a prayer position, but her spirit rose higher and higher, until the highest mountain in Hyrule was no bigger than an ant.
Only very few had ever been gifted the opportunity of viewing the home of the Goddesses in person. Limited mostly to the priests/priestesses of the Temple of Time, it had never been granted to a princess, much less her, the princess who couldn't do anything. As her life force slowly rose from Hyrule, it rose through the clouds, into a vast expanse she'd only seen at night.
"Aaah," she cooed in wonder as millions of tiny stars emerged from pitch black darkness, many more than the endless nights she'd spent outside gazing at them as a child.
Passing through a white portal, she emerged to see a vibrant city in the background. The priests' writings she'd spent hours perusing failed to do it justice. Huge golden skyscrapers rose from green mountain forests. Below the golden skyscrapers, orange buildings built out of some kind of stone dotted the lower foundations. Vast waterfalls, built into the buildings, flowed to the edge of the city, which sat on a vast golden cloud foundation. Light from a distant star illuminated the mist coming from the waterfalls, giving the whole city a rainbow look.
As she drew closer, eager to meet her patron Goddess, something was wrong, very wrong. Now that the screen of mist had worn off, she could see many of the golden and blue buildings had dark smudges on them. As the Princess watched, one of them collapsed and plunged into the heart of the city. Dark smoke began to rise blotting out the sun. As the star's ray diminished, small beams of light shooting back and forth in the could be seen. Urging her spirit on, Zelda floated towards the city center.
She could now see the streets of the city was one huge battlefield. Mass of different creatures that she didn't recognize where firing from black devices at a mass of Ganon-like monsters approaching them. She drifted towards a barricade in the center of the city, invisible to all.
"They're breaking through," a Goron-like man called back to a woman in a blue dress.
"The comm link is dead," a Parella-like creature yelled, firing a few shots, taking down some Wynels.
"Leanne, we must retreat," the Goron pleaded.
"No, we stand our ground," Leanne retorted, pushing some brown hair out of her eyes. She was human, unlike the others, with a petite yet agile build, long brown hair, and eyes that made anyone she looked at shudder for too long. "We are the center. If we lose our position, then all is lost."
"Daah," one of her soldiers shouted as a burst of green light collided with him.
The power of the blast lifted him into the air and he crashed again to the ground, eyes staring into nothingness.
"Look out-", as another took a hit and went down.
The four Wynels firing at the brave defenders suddenly went down violently. Another woman in a blue dress, with a three circular circle embroidered on the front of it flew into the city center. Her shots were merciless: every one took down an enemy. Unlike Leanne, she had waist long blue hair, and like her subordinate, she showed the signs of battles. Angry red rashes were on her arms, she had a large burn on her right cheek, and her dress was scorched in many places.
"Where is my other guardian?" she said, more to herself than anyone. "Leanne, have you seen him yet?"
"No. That b*** better show..."
A mass explosion answered her question. Several monsters were blown sky high as a nearby building imploded into millions of tiny pieces. Moving at inhuman speed, a human fired at two more, taking them down. He kicked a piece of stone into the air and landed on it, using it as a board to slide down to where the woman was waiting.
"Sorry I'm late," he said.
"WHERE WERE YOU LIAM?" she and Leanne screamed together, nearly flattening him out with their combined powers.
"Sorry Nayru, it takes a lot of power to transport here, you know that," he said, shooting a Moblin that tried to sneak behind them.
Zelda's heart shot to the moon: she had finally found her patron Goddess. But how could she make herself known? She was now right next to them, and they didn't even know she was there. Nayru's eyes flitted back to where she was, but just as quickly they returned to the current situation, which even Zelda could see was becoming untenable.
Suddenly the sound of landings attracted the Goddess of Wisdom's attention. Terror clouded Nayru's eyes as more Wynels, Moblins, and all manner of creatures materialized out of nowhere on the buildings in front of them. They were outnumbered at least ten to one.
"Finish them off," said one of the Moblins.
"I can't believe my Sister would use such despicable means," Nayru muttered to herself. She could see it was hopeless, so Plan B was now in order. "Everyone fall back. Get to the escape pods."
Her small group of six soldiers and her Champions feel back, tightening up, providing covering fire for the retreat. All across the city, Zelda could hear Nayru's words telepathically carried to her forces all around the city. Thousands of beings retreated in various groups, each one trying to make it to the pods.
The chief Moblin turned to a group of Wynels.
"Destroy them, but bring Nayru to her Highness alive," he shouted.
Several Wynels charged forward into a hailstorm of fire. Liam pulled a small device out of his pocket and tossed it up to a building. The foundations blew up, collapsing a skyscraper's worth of rubble to cover the retreat. In a matter of minutes, hundreds of Nayru's allies were converging on the edge of the city where it fell into the nothingness of space. Small white pods lifted from underneath the city in front of them.
"Hurry," Nayru screamed as dozens of her followers scrambled into them. "We have others who still believe scattered across the cosmos. We must reach them if we are to have a chance."
"But Nayru," Liam said behind her as soldiers rushed past. "This is your home."
His counsel was always wise, and he'd gotten her out of more scrapes than she could care to admit, but for once, she discounted it.
"We'll fight to the last man, but we need to regroup, the vastness of space will be our cover. We must go to Hyrule..."
"Are you kidding? It's the first place they'll look," Leanne protested, arriving from covering the retreat of more of their allies.
"No it won't be, the magic will be so dense it will conceal us. Plus we have allies there."
Nayru gently exposed the palm of her hand. Slowly, an image of some snowy mountains appeared above it.
"The Hebra Region, there is a small structure that will conceal us, we'll travel there and establish the base for our forces. But if we are found, we are finished. Let's go."
Zelda had floated alongside her patron Goddess for the entire time, witnessing the catastrophe unfolding.
"Zelda, not a good time to visit," Nayru said, suddenly yanking her from behind them.
She can see me?!
Shock filled Zelda as her entire body left Hyrule and materialized into the City of Light. Naryu tossed her into one of the pods before she could say anything.
"I'm sorry..." Nayru said as a door closed around the princess. Sadness in her eyes showed her deep regret. "We will meet again someday."
She turned and raced back to Liam and Leanne, who were waiting for her as one last pod hovered into view. Both clambered into it, only to find it was a little cramped. Liam flinched as Nayru brushed into him by accident.
"Oh, are you too afraid to touch a goddess?" Nayru teased as it closed behind them, causing him to deeply blush.
Fire ignited below the pod as a figure emerged from the city to watch it zoom off into space.
"Sorry Sister, but the Golden City cannot serve as your base," Nayru said, blinking tears away from her eyes. She pushed a small button from deep within her dress.
Nayru, Liam, Leanne, and Zelda watched with sad eyes as explosives carefully planted by Nayru herself blew. Flames erupted from deep within the foundations, consuming the largest library in the cosmos, temples, splendid palaces, and the central repository that held the records of Hyrule's founding.
"I hope your plan works," Liam said as Nayru looked away in shame.
-
Zelda held onto her pod's walls tightly, wishing someone had taught her how to control it. Awed by the sights at first, she had to admit that the past several hours she'd spent traveling had worn off much of the fun. Bumping through space, the pod shook every time a nearby ball of light or planet passed by.
"Seriously!" Zelda cursed as it shook again as a vast supernova blinded her.
After several more hours of this, a planet appeared as Zelda passed what she recognized as Hyrule's moon. She was almost home! Excitement buzzed within her veins as she contemplated what had happened. She'd learned more about the Goddesses and space than anyone had in the past 10,000 years since the Shiekah era. Despite how big the Hebra Region, she finally had a shred of hope. She now potentially had access to someone who could help her unlock the power that eluded her for so long-the power to seal away Ganon.
"You never said it was so bumpy," Liam complained.
All had brought their firearms, and between the three of them, the lack of space was making it a difficult journey-and tempers were flaring.
"I'm sorry, you didn't have Din breathing down your neck for the last however long, try and fail to save the City of Light, while her best soldier remained missing," Nayru snorted, her flowering powers causing her two Champions to cower before her.
"Ok, ok," Leanne intervened, cooling the tension. "Enough bickering. We have more than enough troubles right now."
"You're right," Liam conceded, resolving never to complain again.
Many hours passed in silent, and mournful contemplation as each pondered the events of the last seventy two hours.
"Liam, where were you?" Leanne finally asked, trying to figure out why her counterpart was late for the first time in her long memory.
"On the west side of the city," he said, looking out a window at the Helix Nebula. "I was trying to prevent Din from accessing the Pool of Knowledge. I kinda had to blow it up because she came personally herself."
"It's okay," Nayru said, patting him on the shoulder. "It had to be done."
"Who was that girl you threw into the pod?" Liam asked, trying to dispell the tension.
"Zelda."
"The Zelda?"
"Yes, the Zelda," Nayru said without meeting their eyes. "We might need her help soon."
The pod curved around Hyrule's moon and a massive planet filled up the viewer screen. Instead of heading towards green, the pod swerved sharply to a white region.
"Get ready for lots of cold," Leanne noted as the atmosphere began to heat everything up.