-1A/N: Although I have gotten no reviews for this story, I shall continue it. Sorry it took so long though! I do not own the musketeers or the names and situations used on their past selves! Some situations and almost all the names of the past selves are property of Nintendo! Got a problem with this story? Then don't read it!

P.S. Italics are the past people speaking and their situations. Just so there's no confusion. I've also put lines between the parts of past and past watchers. Now, on with the story!!

Colours seemed to fly by as the musketeers and Sun King fell with not a clue as to where other than a few sketchbooks. Their faces masks of terror and excitement at the prospect of discovering the unknown of their colourful pasts. With a sudden jolt, they hit the ground in heap of flailing limbs. After a bit of struggling, Athos was able to stand and look around. His eyes widened and his mouth gaped in a fashion most unlike him.

"Whoa… Would you look at all this space?" The others stood up to find they were standing on the peak of a hill in the middle of a seemingly never-ending field, a field spreading out as far as the eye could see. Raoul appeared in front of them in a cloud of vapours, his face covered with a smug smirk.

"Welcome to the past gentlemen. I take it you like what you see so far?" They were all too stunned to speak. They just nodded.

"Good. There's plenty more to see but I'll give you the names of the places we visit so please listen closely." He cleared his throat roughly before continuing.

"Where we are standing is called Hyrule Field. It connects the provinces which are each protected by a Province Master. Now, you already know the names of these Masters. They are your ancestors." He paused to take in their blank stares.

"I take it you are not following me? Alright, let me show you." He pulled out a deep brown parchment map with a flourish and unfolded it with practiced ease. He pulled out a long stick after spreading the map down flat on the ground, placing four rocks on the corners.

"This…" He said, pointing out to a bordered land with his stick.

"This is where we are now. We are standing in the Faron Province. This is his land as well as the forest south of here. Now, over in the east of France, known in this time as Hyrule…" His dragged his stick lightly over to another bordered portion of the map.

"This is Eldin's lands. He controls these two fields, Death Mountain immediately north of the village Kakariko where he governs his lands. He also guards one of the main bridges of transport. Without the Eldin bridge, the people of his land would be without supplies from town and the lake. With me so far?" He paused for a brief minute to make sure they were all following what he said before continuing.

"The last of the most important lands in the Lanayru Province. As you can see, it is the biggest…" At this comment, Aramis smirked in self pride which quickly turned to a grimace of pain as Porthos elbowed him in the ribs. Raoul gave him a sharp glare before returning to the map with a sigh.

"But it is also the most important. People can live for a fair bit of time without food but nothing can survive without water. What Lanayru guards is Lake Hylia and the Castle Town, which will become Paris in many years, as well as these paths and another bridge of transport, the Great Bridge of Hylia. Now, I think I've gotten everybody…." Raoul stared at the map, pondering silently. D'Artagnan gave a sharp cough and a cold look. Raoul glanced at him briefly then turned back to the map.

'Thanks for the hint' He thought to himself before clearing his throat once more.

"Looks like I have forgotten a province. Just south of the Faron Woods…" He dragged his stick to a very small area below the aforementioned woods.

"This is the Ordona Province. It's small yes but it does provide the whole country with very healthy food. Some say it has… magical properties. It's well valued throughout Hyrule so no one can say that the people here are not treated with a great amount of respect. Especially since this place, at this time, does not have a Province Master and was cultivated by only a small group of people from the Lanayru Province who wanted their own way of life. It's too bad really…" Raoul said with a frown.

"What's too bad?" Porthos asked curiously.

"What's bad is that this province, because it doesn't have a master, is simply called the "Unknown" Province. It is also rather unguarded and vulnerable to attack without a master's blessing. Now that I think about it…. It has already fallen to the evil that this time period has to offer…" He stood up and looked just south of where they were standing to see what looked to be an onyx coloured wall, shifting and swirling, covering the "Unknown" Province.

"If you stand up and look south, you can see what I mean." The others all stood alongside each other, staring at the wall that seemed to divide the land into two separate parts, sectioning off the tiniest province from the rest of the world.

"What is that… thing?" D'Artagnan asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Raoul bent forward a little so he could look down the line to see D'Artagnan staring at the wall, his expression cold, unreadable.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that just yet." He said mysteriously before looking around behind him over the sprawling plains of Hyrule. A moving cloud of dust seemed to be making its steady way across the plain, heading towards the Eldin lands.

"Looks like one of the masters is on the move." He said with a warm smile. The others turned and gathered around Raoul, watching the horse back rider make his way across the never-ending land towards the mountain range.

"Are we going to follow him?" Philippe asked. Everybody jumped, obviously having forgotten he was there with them. Raoul gave a bright smile.

"That we are Philippe. How else are we going to learn about the past?" Raoul started walking down the small hill, his pace steady and relaxed. The others shared sceptical looks before following him down the gentle slope.

"Umm… Raoul?" Aramis spoke tentatively.

"Hmm?" Raoul made a small sound to show he was listening.

"They are moving quite a bit faster than us, whoever that is. Shouldn't we be going a bit faster?" Raoul turned around and started walking backwards down the hill, a little smirk on his young face.

"No. We'll get there is decent time." He spun back around and continued his steady pace, seeming to be without a care in the world. The others followed obediently but were still doubting that such a slow pace would get them there at the same time as the mystery rider.

None of them were focused on their surroundings, not noticing as everything suddenly started to blur and speed up. It was almost like they were moving at such high speeds, it seemed to them as if they were just walking while to everyone else, they were moving faster than the wind.

They only noticed when Raoul stopped walking and started looking up, staring up at the tall mountain, at the base of which was a rather small, crowded village with dusty buildings lined along either side of the small canyon the made the road through the village. As soon as they entered, they saw a large pool to their immediate right that spanned even farther, going back into a roofless cavern and becoming an even deeper pool. A small, one step high waterfall splashed down the excess, creating the foremost (and shallower) pool. A rounded building stood a little to the left of them with what seemed to be a one horse stable built into the side where a yellow, almost white, horse was housed.

The man riding with such haste through the plains arrived suddenly and horse and rider slid right through the group of six as they stood taking in their newest stop. Porthos gave a frightful jump and started brushing his arms frantically. Aramis raised an eyebrow at him.

"Porthos, just what do you think you are doing?" Porthos glanced up as his brushing hands slowed and finally stopped their frantic movements.

"I felt like I had bugs crawling all over me when that rider passed through us. How'd he do that anyway?" Raoul smiled.

"We don't exist yet so we are mere spirits, except we can't be seen to the naked eye. Which for all purposes and intents, is a very good thing for us. Now hush up. You're about to meet a couple of your ancestors." He said solemnly.


The rider dismounted from his black horse with fluid-like movement. He was wearing a pair of brown fabric pants, a white shirt, boots of brown leather, and a long, flowing cloak that seemed to shimmer as if made of water itself. Upon closer expression, this cloak was revealed to be made of finely interwoven scales, but of what animal, they did not even dare to venture a guess. When he brushed his cloak aside briefly, a long thin sword was revealed, attached to his belt as well as a couple of claw-like objects. His hair was shoulder length and brown (like Aramis), his face giving a shrewd, calculating stare with his somewhat beady blue eyes. He held the air of someone well brought up and well used to a position of power. He also seemed to be preoccupied, his expression frowning, his forehead furrowed in thought.

He stood for a moment in contemplation, almost hesitant, before nodding to himself and grabbing the reins of his horse, made his way to the round building with the one horse stable. After securing his horse to a fence post, he returned to the door, gave himself a quick dust off (as he was rather dusty from riding the horse so hard) and raised a pale hand to knock. The door opened before he had the chance.

A blond-haired man stood framed in the doorway, his hair pulled back from his face by a short length of brown sack cloth. Perched his head was what looked to be a well crafted crown or headdress of golden feathers, easily distinguished even with his blond hair, draping down along the sides of his face and stopping just below the back of his shoulders. He was also wearing a white shirt but had chose black pants instead of brown, and black, hardened leather boots. His blue eyes were (unlike Athos) warm, friendly, and almost the same shade as the sky. He gave a knowing smile at his visitor's visible shock.

"Lanayru, if wanted to show up without my knowing, you should've come by the bridge route. I have no windows on that side and I would not have seen your approach." His voice was low, smooth, the tone of which just made you want to listen to him. The other man, now known as Lanayru, gave a sheepish smile.

"You know I am terrible at any sort of sneaking Eldin. But that is not what I am here about. Might we step inside so we may talk freely? Even the rocks have ears you know." Eldin's face was blank for a moment before his stood aside to admit Lanayru into his home.


Once Lanayru was through the door, it was shut and if you listen hard enough, you would've heard the sound of a plank being set in place to bar the door from outside intruders. Raoul just shook his head at their meagre defences, a mocking smile on his face.

"Well this should be very easy. Follow me gentlemen." He stepped towards the building but instead of heading for the door, he went straight towards the wall. Athos reached a hand and grabbed the arm of his long dead son.

"Raoul just what are you doing?! You can't just walk through walls!" The others raised their protests as well now that the point had been made. Raoul stared at them blankly for a moment, waiting for silence. He then wrenched his arm from his father's grasp and continued through the wall. When he passed through, the others looked at each other uneasily.

"Should we go?" D'Artagnan questioned weakly, still finding the thought of walking through walls a little unbelievable. None of them answered until Philippe shrugged his shoulders in a very un-king like way and marched forward, determination written on his youthful face. D'Artagnan made to stop him but Athos put his arm across his path, letting Philippe go through. He then stepped right back out, seeming to be unharmed.

"That was so cool! Come on! It's not bad at all!" He ran through the walls this time but the musketeers followed nervously. The other side was revealed to be a rather spacious room, even if it was only one room. Four candles sat perched on the walls, their flames casting dark shadows on the walls and making the shadows of the two men appear much larger and much more menacing. It the middle of the room was a tall statue of what appeared to be a giant owl with a heart shape face, its wings flung up in the air and curled at the tips. At the base of this statue was a shallow bowl filled with what used to be kindling but was now a small fire. Two throw rugs lay on opposite sides of the bowl, allowing the users to be able to see each other over the flames. This is where the musketeers, the king, and Raoul found Eldin and Lanayru talking furiously, Lanayru questioning, Eldin pondering.


"Eldin, this has me very worried! You sent a letter ahead to me to expect Nicolas and his family to arrive within three days of leaving your province. I planned to meet them upon arrival and show them the way to get down to the lakeside with their horse and cart. They have yet to arrive!" Lanayru's voice was filled with panic. Whoever 'Nicolas' was, he meant something to him. Eldin raised his head and looked his fellow Province Master right in the eye. Lanayru's mouth shut instantly, his body completely still.

"I don't know where they are Lanayru. I escorted them to the exit of the canyon that lead out onto the field. They should have been there a long time ago. Sooner or later, Faron is going to show up in a panic because they haven't come back yet. His province is the closest to their lost home. They certainly would not give that up."

"Well then where are they? I searched the province! I had the Zora people search as far as they could by river travel. They found nothing!" Eldin sat in contemplation, his eyes closed, head bowed, forehead wrinkled in consternation.

"Maybe… they never made it into your province?" Lanayru looked up sharply and met the now cold gaze of Eldin.

"What do you mean? You do think they… that they were attacked do you?" He said, his voice breaking part way through.

"I don't know. It's just a theory. But all our lands have become much more violent in the past few months, ever since the 'Unknown' lands became covered in permanent shadow." Eldin stood and walked over the window, his arms crossed before him. Lanayru stood, simply watching Eldin think.

"I don't know about you but I intend to find out what happened to them. Even if it means confronting the shadow wall to find the answer." Eldin spun around, his face curled into a look of furious determination.

"You don't have to worry. I'm with you on this. We will find them… We just have to!"


The musketeers watched as Eldin removed the beam across the door and the two masters left to ready their horses for a long ride. Aramis watched, his expression solemn.

"Just what or who do they expect to find? From what we've seen of the country so far, it's huge! It could take them years to search the entire land!" By the end of the small speech, Aramis's eyes were bugged out slightly, giving him a manic look. Raoul raised an eyebrow sceptically. He looked down, shaking his head as he laughed to himself.

"That might not be as hard as you think." Athos looked at him startled.

"What do you mean be that Raoul? Are these people close by?" Raoul gave a mysterious smile.

"You'll see." Whilst they were talking, the two companions were walking down the road, leading their horses by the reins.


Eldin suddenly climbed onto the horses back, pulling what looked to be a bow off his back. He sat on the back of the horse as it walked, positioning himself to shoot except there was no arrow in the slot. He stretched the string until in was taught and let it go, giving a loud, healthy twang. Eldin smirked to himself with satisfaction before swinging the bow back over his head so that the arrow slot rested over the quiver thrown over his shoulder.

Lanayru had climbed up on to his horse while Eldin was checking his weapon. He had pulled the claw-like things from his belt and had slipped them over his pale hands, gripping the handles and triggers under their wrist coverings. He aimed at a bush of to the side of the path and pushed the trigger mechanism. The sprung open and shot out, attached to a long, gleaming iron chain. It latched onto the bush and yanked it out of the ground, roots and all without some much as a squeak. The only sound was of the chain length expanding and retracting. Both of them had swords, sheathed and ready to go should they be required.

"Ready Lanayru?" Eldin inquired when his friend was finished testing. Lanayru gave a sharp nod before turning to look at the gate out of the village.

"Where are we starting? The northern plains of your lands?" Eldin nodded.

"That is the way I sent them. Straight across the plain the bridge which should have taken them right into your province. It couldn't have been simpler." Edlin looked at the gate briefly before continuing.

"I just wish I knew what happened to them…" Lanayru gave a sympathetic smile before nudging the ribs of his horse, pushing him into a canter.

"Well we won't find out standing around! Let's move out!" He then snapped the reins and his horse broke into a trot and then an all out gallop as he made his way to largest of the Hyrule Plains. Eldin knocked his heels against the sides of his horse gently, urging the horse to pick up its pace. The two of them slipped out the gate and into the short canyon road which then took them to great expanse of fields and shallow pools.

They started galloping across, scanning the land around them as they went when a flaming arrow shot past Eldin's haed and landed in the ground behind him. Eldin's horse bucked at the sudden shock, spooking Lanayru's horse and almost throwing him off.

"Whoa there! Whoa! Easy now!" Eldin shouted, tugging at the reins, trying to steady the horse.

"Eldin look!" Lanayru pointed up towards a hill where a group of marauding bandits sat on what looked like wild boars three times their regular size, arrows aimed at the two masters. Eldin's eyes went wide before he and his horse went flying to the left fields, shouting back:

"Split up! This must be what stopped Nicolas!" Lanayru moved just in time as a volley of fire arrows were sent to his last position. The bandits split into two parties, both parties chasing their own master. Eldin ducked his head to avoid the rain of arrows, swerving his horse from side to side to avoid being an easy target. When he found he couldn't shake their relentless pursuit, he set his horse on a straight path for the bridge and spun around in the saddle so his was facing toward the bandits while the horse kept going forward.

He whipped the bow off his back and loaded it with an arrow in a single movement. He raised the feathered end to line up with his right eye and tried to keep a steady hand, which was difficult considering the horse's bouncing movements.

"Steady… Steady now… Just a bit more…" He stretched the string as tight as possible and let the arrow fly. It got the lead bandit between the eyes and shot through to his partner, sitting on the same boar, behind him. Eldin smirked before loading another arrow and aiming again.

While Eldin was giving himself some target practice, Lanayru was flying for the bridge at a speed only panic could produce. He had no weapon of use in situations like these. Lanayru did the only thing he could and grabbing one of his claw shots, (for that is what those claw things were called) aimed it over his shoulder and fired. He heard a cry and snapped his head to see that he had cracked one of the bandits on the back of the head when the claw was retracting. He smirked with pride before urging his horse faster, hoping to meet Eldin at the bridge. He never made it that far.

When Lanayru stopped glancing back and tried to ride harder, the horse started to sputter and whinny, spitting froth as it ran. Lanayru looked down and his eyes widened in horror. He was frozen and didn't move until the horse pitched him from the saddle when it collapsed, now lying dead in the field. Lanayru rolled down a slight incline and stopped in a shallow pool of water at its base. He lay on his back eyes tight shut, playing "possum". The bandit group's leader got off the boar and walked forward slowly, almost tip-toeing towards the man's still form. When he found that he wasn't breathing, he smiled and told this to his band before he got back on his boar and led them away from the sight.

Lanayru lay still for a moment or two before cracking an eye open then opening it fully. He opened the other one and stood, dripping with mud.

"Oh this is disgusting. I may like the water but this is one part I particularly don't like!" He stood and scaled the short hill, watching as Eldin rode hard towards the bridge, not realising he was being ambushed from behind. His eyes widened in fear. He gripped what looked to be a pointed, golden tooth attached to a string around his neck.

"Eldin! Look out!" He screamed to no avail. He was too far away. The tooth glowed through his clasped fingers and a pool of golden light appeared beneath his feet. Then it shot up around him like a geyser.


"What the hell is going on?! Raoul, what's happening?!!" Aramis exclaimed fearfully. Raoul smiled at him disarmingly.

"Relax Aramis. Everything is alright. He's just changing into his… spirit form." They looked at him in wonderment.

"And what might I ask is a spirit form?" Aramis persisted. Raoul shook his head.

"Just wait and see." A roar came from behind them and they turned to see what looked to be a giant golden snake with crocodile-like jaws.


Lanayru let out a loud roar of rage and began slithering with all haste towards Eldin and the bandits. Eldin looked up to see the giant being and spun to see the rest of the bandits coming up behind him. His eyes widened and he faced forward once more and yanked the reins left and pulled out of the way, sending the bandits crashing into each other and being trampled by their own beasts. Lanayru came flying forward and standing his upper half straight in the air, fell upon the now very small bandits, crushing them with his now quadrupled weight. Eldin looked up dismissingly.

"Lanayru, I think they're dead. You can change back now." The snake gave what looked to be a nod and the musketeers watched in wonderment as this monster snake began to shrink down until Lanayru's form was of himself, covered in snake scales, slits for nostrils and a long, skinny, scaly tail stretched out behind him. He finished transforming and his was back to normal, cloak and all. He looked up at Eldin wearily.

"Did you find the cart?"

"I know we don't have to look too much farther." Eldin looked back over shoulder towards the entrance to the bridge where a collapsed and dilapidated cart lay, the picked over bones of what looked to be a horse laying near by. A hand was sticking out from under the cart top. The two of them glanced at each other before rushing over to the cart and trying to raise the roof, pushing themselves underneath it to raise it.

They were able to flip it and found the cold lifeless body of Nicolas underneath, looking like he had died where he'd fallen, seeming to be trying to protect the still standing half of the cart. They dug through the remaining rubble after gently pulling Nicolas's body out and laying it aside. They found the body of Michelle staring at them, his eyes cold, empty spheres in her beautiful face. Her arms were wound tightly around a bundle of blue cloth, protecting it for harm.

The two men looked at each other warily before Eldin kneeled down and began to pry her cold, lifeless fingers from the bundle. It squirmed within Eldin's warm arms. Eldin pulled a bit of the blanket away to reveal a small child about a year or two old with big, sky blue eyes and chocolate brown curls. He stared up at Eldin in childish awe.

"Lanayru, I think we've got a problem."


"Wow. So is that..?" Athos trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

"Yep. That's Ordona, D'Artagnan's ancestor. Tiny isn't he?" Raoul said with sweet smile on his face.

"This when it all began. Such a sad start to an even sadder life…" Raoul frowned in consternation.


"What are we going to do with him?" Lanayru asked worriedly. Eldin looked at the small child in his arms.

"We'll take him back to my province and get him cleaned up. We will take care of him. I got his parents into this mess and t got them killed. The least we can do is look after their little treasure." As Eldin held him, he felt something he had never felt for anybody except Faron and Lanayru. It was a feeling of love, of respect. The only difference was that with Ordona, he felt the first beginnings of fatherly affection towards the small boy as he clung to his covered breast fearfully. Having no one else to comfort him, Eldin just held the tiny child as he began to sob into his shoulder, his voice ringing with his fear. Lanayru reached a hand over and gently rubbed small, comforting circles into the boy's back.

"When will we tell Faron about this plan?" Eldin answered although he continued to watch his new charge.

"Ordona shall stay with me. When you go to return to your province, could you stop and explain everything to Faron? Stay the night if you must. But this boy needs me right now and is not up to any long journey." Lanayru nodded. At least now he knew the boy's name.


"What's next Raoul?" Philippe asked, watching the touching scene with a warm smile.

"I cant remember exactly I don't believe it is very nice." They began their trek back to the Kakariko village when Eldin and Lanayru, holding Ordona, got onto eldin's palomino horse and rode back to the tiny village.