Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. OCs, original locations and other things belong to me.
Soul Remnants
Chapter 3
Victor hastily adjusted the dark red sash that crossed his black uniform, the chest of which was absolutely covered in various medals, most of whom he had no idea what were for. They simply came with the title, he supposed. He hurried down the hallway that would take him to the newly constructed landing pad on the back side of the castle, where the ceremony would take place. Two guards flanked him, their armour clinking loudly as the steel plates bumped into each other. Victor's boots—riding boots of black leather—clicked loudly on the marble floor, the echoes being absorbed by the tapestries and paintings on the walls. Outside, the sun was shining down on the gardens, bathing the large maze in enough heat to make the poor gardeners down there pass out.
He pulled at his high collar, which was chafing his neck, as he rounded a corner and became aware of a subtle hum that was steadily rising in volume, along with a definite tremor in the floor. It was going to land here as well? Now?
He finally reached the large doors that led to what had once been the grand balcony (which now housed the landing pad instead) and threw them open. He almost yelped when the humming sound turned into a roar of engines that were struggling with keeping the leviathan of an airship steady as it descended upon the dock—and the people gathered there. Nobles of all statures had crammed into every possible nook and cranny of what remained of the balcony, looking up at The Chimera as it touched down on the platform, causing another tremor to go through the castle.
Victor pushed through the crowd, the members of which quickly got out of his way, and joined his father on a small podium that had been set up on the very edge of the platform, facing the nobles.
King Robar XI, a thin, gangly-looking man of fifty-three, gave his son a look of disapproval as they waited for the noise from the engines to die down. He gave one of the ends of his carefully waxed moustache a small tug, a sign of annoyance, and then brushed his fingers through his slicked-back, coal-black hair. His pale, grey eyes stared into Victor's mismatched ones. They were wearing the same uniform (though the king's had even more medals and trinkets, and his sash was a darker shade of red), but he looked far more intimidating than Victor could ever hope to achieve.
"You're late," he said above the noise. "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."
"I apologise, father," Victor said, unable to match his gaze, preferring to look at his boots. "I was…held up."
"By him, no doubt," the king said, casting a glance at Rial, who had arranged his men in strategic positions around the balcony and was currently doing his very best not to look at them, it seemed. "I do wonder what you could possibly hope to gain from befriending a commoner…"
"He is our protector, is he not?" Victor asked, wanting to sound defiant, though he had a feeling he sounded more like a child that was being denied something he wanted. "I thought it best to get to know the man who may once be called upon to save my life."
"Hm," Robar said and turned his head to look at the audience as the final rumble faded. That meant he was done discussing the issue at the moment, but that he would certainly bring it up again later. The king fixed a brilliant, undoubtedly fake smile on his face and raised his arms. The nobles broke out in loud cheering and polite clapping, as if it had been the king himself who had set the machine down. "Friends, my friends!" he shouted over their voices, waiting for them to finally go quiet before speaking again. "For centuries, Lumina has been a bastion of security! War has been declared upon us again and again by our jealous neighbours, and their armies have marched upon our refuge innumerable times. And time and time again, we have beaten them back! Our natural defences have protected us, and our brave men and women in the army have spilled their blood, so that our ancestors could live in peace. But times are moving ahead, and swords, shields, spears, bows and arrows will soon not be enough to protect ourselves against the evils of the world!
"I, Robar the Eleventh, have taken it upon myself to ensure the safety of our kingdom by commissioning the construction of this awesome machine, this pinnacle of technology new and old! With The Chimera, our armed forces will be unstoppable on the offense and unbreakable on defence! With her mighty cannons, she will lay waste to any invading army long before they reach any of our settlements! We can take the fight to the enemy's capitol long before any of our blood needs to be spilled! My lords and ladies, with this airship, we cannot be defeated. Lumina is safe once again, and our future is a bright and shining one!"
The small speech, horrible as it was, went over well with the nobles. King Robar had never been a man of words, but he had charisma and authority, which always went over well with the upper class. Victor wanted to shake his head in disbelief, hoping that the people gathered before them were drunk or being affected by some sort of illegal substance in order to applaud such a speech. The only reason he joined in was because it was expected of him. All the while he clapped, however, he kept wondering how big a price the brass-and-steel monstrosity behind him would fetch when they undoubtedly had to sell it.
"Lords and ladies," his father continued, "allow me to introduce the man who designed The Chimera, the genius whose efforts we have to thank for the complete and utter safety of our people: Master Engineer Jedistern Tadian!"
To Victor's left, a thin man with head of wild, bushy red hair and wearing a large leather apron and a pair of thick goggles stepped out of the crowd, nodded modestly to the nobles, who were once again cheering with reckless abandon, and then disappeared back among the people.
"Modesty is the sign of a true intellect!" Robar shouted! "And now, let us meet the intrepid crew of our new protector!"
A large door on the side of the ship opened, revealing what was most likely the cargo hold. A large group of people were standing inside. They were all wearing the new uniforms of the newly established Luminan Air Navy, which was supposedly meant to reflect other nations' sea navies, but just came off as pretentious. There were dark blue jackets, shining epaulettes and who knew what else. The faces presented were all freshly shaved (at least in the men's case) and crisp, ready to take on the world, apparently. They all stood to attention when Robar and Victor stepped up to inspect them. Or, rather, when Robar stepped up to inspect them and Victor was forced along to appear official.
By the time Robar invited the nobility to inspect the inside of the airship for themselves and partake in a guided and very detailed tour by the captain of The Chimera himself, Victor was all but ready to leave. He hated events like these, having to mingle with pompous, snivelling and brownnosing nobles who were only looking to grease their own wheels by introducing their daughters (and, in some cases, their sons) to the young prince. And now, with economic and regicidal matters coursing through his head, everything was made so much worse. He followed his father into the gaping maw of The Chimera, led by the captain, whose name kept slipping from Victor's mind and who was already pointing at steam engines and pipes, explaining loudly to the gathering onlookers what they did and why. The crew didn't seem too pleased about their presence, probably thinking that they were contaminating their ship.
Victor happened to glance at the crowd and caught the eye Countess Marlotta. She gave him a small smile and a nod before focusing her attention on the wildly gesturing captain, who was definitely enthusiastic about his ship.
The tour lasted for several hours, the captain promising that they had only seen the main parts of the ship (the most successful part being the drawing room and its well-stocked liquor cabinet), neglecting several vitals systems and service tunnels, but the king soon decided that the tour was over and that it was time to move the celebration to the grand hall. The guests were escorted there by Rial's men, who performed a tightly coordinated routine involving spinning swords and pikes and carefully timed floor stomps, which was quite impressive, though Victor could see the exasperation in his friend's face as he too was forced to twirl his pike.
The king excused himself, intending to withdraw to his chambers to freshen up before rejoining the guests. Victor made the same excuse, but quickly followed his father.
"Father, can we talk?" he asked as he drew alongside the thin man's rapid gait. Victor was decidedly shorter than his father, struggling to keep up, yet another aspect of his son the king was surely disappointed with.
"Victor, we have a very important celebration to go to, can it not wait?" Robar said, not even looking at him.
"No, father, it cannot," Victor said, gulping when his father stopped abruptly and look at him, searching his face.
"Very well," Robar said. "But not here. My chambers. Come."
To say that Robar's bedchambers were of the royal kind would be an understatement. The ridiculous size of the bed, which could probably have provided room for ten people, was the centrepiece of the room, but the equally large desk, sofa and fireplace spoke volumes of the occupant's ego. That, and Victor wondered if his father was compensating for something...but that sent his thoughts dangerously close to a territory he did not even want to acknowledge.
Robar went to the sofa, sat down and then gestured for his son to take a seat as well. "Well, son?" he asked. "What is it?" The coldness of his tone bit into Victor. He had always been like this, never showing his son the least bit of warmth.
"..." Victor opened and closed is mouth. How was he supposed to go forward with this? He wanted to tell the king that Rehm and the others were planning on getting rid of him and wanted Victor to participate, but if what they had told him was true... "Father, how much did The Chimera cost?"
Robar stared at him for a few seconds before blinking. "A frighteningly large sum," he answered, picking up a grape from the fruit bowl that stood on the table.
"How large a sum?"
"More than you can imagine. But as I have always said, you cannot put a price on the safety of your people. With that ship, Victor, no one will dare to declare war on us."
"But why would they, father?" Victor asked, shaking his head when Robar gestured towards the bowl. "We haven't fought anyone for decades, and our allies all signed a non-aggression pact. We haven't any enemies to fight off, father."
"No, we do not," Robar replied, nodding. "But that could change quickly. You know how politics are. But as long as we have our trump card, we will not gain any enemies either."
"Can we afford it, though?"
"Pardon?"
"Father, I know of our debts. We owe our allies so much money, yet you keep spending what little we have on war machines and siege engines, and now the airship. I have received some disturbing reports from the villages, tax collectors being ambushed and—"
"Rehm put you up to this, didn't he?" his father said, his expression wooden. Once again, Victor was unable to meet his gaze for more than a few seconds. "The old fool has always been trying to meddle in my affairs."
"He is the councillor, fath—"
"And as the councillor, he is to advise me, not tell me what to do!" Robar exclaimed, rising from his seat and pacing around the room.
Victor wanted to say that, technically, that was Rehm's job if the king was uncertain, but the anger that was currently radiating off the man told him that it would not be wise to do so.
"Victor, don't you understand that in these trying economic times, it is important to maintain appearances?" Robar asked, gesturing towards the massive windows, outside which a small part of The Chimera could be seen. "If our allies knew that we have no money, they would invade without fail!"
"But, since they lend us money, they already know that we—"
"And The Chimera is not enough, no," Robar continued, not caring that his son was quickly losing faith in his father's reasoning and ability to see the truth. "I have commissioned Jedistern to design two additional airships of equal power to The Chimera. With them, we will be unstoppable, and we can quickly silence anyone who believes that we are too weak to defend ourselves. In fact, we will destroy them for even considering the idea."
Robar was sweating heavily now, his face growing redder by the second, but he kept talking for at least ten minutes about how Lumina was superior, how Lumina would crush her enemies, how Lumina could take over the world if she so wished.
Victor remained quiet, wondering if his father was losing his mind. Wishing for the safety of his people was one thing, but claiming that the only way to ensure said security was to destroy every other nation on earth... But it was what Robar said next that truly tipped the glass over.
"...as for those who are ambushing my tax collectors," he said slowly, "I shall have them all executed for treason. Vermin shall not be tolerated. I have already dispatched soldiers to the affected areas, in fact."
Victor swallowed. He was insane. "Father, think about what you are saying," he pleaded, "what would mother sa—"
"If you mother were here," Robar said, "she would agree with me. She died to give birth to you, Victor, and I am simply ensuring that you will have a kingdom to rule when the time comes. I am doing you a favour."
The prince couldn't stand hearing any more after that, quickly excusing himself and leaving the chambers. He ran through the hallways, not stopping until he reached his own chambers, flung open the windows and leaned out of them, breathing in heavily. He felt ill, like he was about to throw up. He just had to bring up his mother, didn't he?
There was no other way to look at it. Rehm was right. His father had no idea on how to properly rule a kingdom that was rapidly descending into destitution, getting ideas of grandeur and world conquest instead—all within the span of ten minutes. Something had to be done. Victor was not going to sit by and watch as his country fell apart.
Sheik was nearly knocked down as another strong gust of freezing wind hurled across the path they were currently following up the mountainside. He and Link were leading Maladict, Epona and Shun by their reigns (though in Shun's case it was a matter of biting on to her mother's tail and not letting go) due to the narrow path, on one side of which there was a sheer drop to the bottom of the of cliffs. No one could survive such a fall, not even magical horses.
"You alright?" Link shouted over the wind, shielding his face with his hand. His heavy jacket was bellowing around his body.
"Yes, I'm fine!" Sheik shouted back, shivering. He was wearing his (correction: Zelda's) exoskeleton beneath several layers of warm clothing they had obtained at a trading station at the bottom of the mountain, and even that didn't help against the freezing temperatures up here.
Sheik understood why so few invasions of Lumina had been successful. The mountains themselves were difficult to climb with only two people in the group—doing so with an army would be a nightmare without equal. They reached a small ledge close to a bend in the path, which curled around and around towards one of the lowest, snow-covered peaks. It gave them a fantastic view of the magnificent mountain range that provided Lumina with its primary means of defence. Craggy tops, vertical walls and sloping hills were all that could be seen, all of them covered in a thick layer of snow. Looking at the path they were following, it seemed to Sheik that it stretched on forever and ever, never crossing the peaks in front of them, just meandering along the tops on a never-ending road that could only result in their deaths. But the man in the trading station had assured them that the path would lead them across the range and into Lumina.
Even so, had it not been for Zelda's orders, Sheik would have turned around. This was too rough of a climb to take so soon. Had it been a gradual increase in steepness and difficulty, they could have eased into it, but the second they had taken this path...
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Link shouted, suddenly standing next to him, staring at the mountains.
"What?"
"I said, 'beautiful, isn't it?'!"
"Oh, right! Yes, very much so!"
Sheik glanced at their mounts, who were all huddling together for warmth, Shun pressed tightly between her mother and father. Kaiza was tucked into one of the saddlebags, refusing to come out. "I think we'd better get a move on!" he told Link, pointing at the rising path. "Find a cave! Rest until tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Link asked, his hand going to his head, undoubtedly grabbing at the cap he still subconsciously thought he had on. Instead, he found the hood of his heavy snow jacket. "But we're making such good time!"
"Yes!" Sheik didn't agree. They were making terrible time, but the sun was going to set soon, and then they would be in real trouble if they didn't find shelter somewhere, which, again, the man at the trading station had assured them there was plenty of. "But the nights here are even colder! We're going to die if we stay out much longer!"
"Alright, then!" Link said, grabbing Epona's reigns. "Lead on!"
Half an hour later, they were sitting in a spacious, roughly square cave that was clearly artificial, with smooth, rounded edges everywhere, a mostly level floor and a clever ventilation channel placed directly above a deep groove in the floor, which was filled with the remains of countless fires. The cave itself could probably fit over thirty people comfortably, and at least twenty more if they didn't mind physical intimacy. Epona, Maladict and Shun were trotting around, not sure what to make of the place, which was so unlike any other cave they had been forced into by their riders. Kaiza was sleeping, perched on Sheik's pack.
Torches were hanging at even distances on the walls, which when lit brightened the cave considerably. Sheik was lighting them with a burning stick from the fire Link was currently tending in the pit. Firewood had been left behind by considerate travellers who had used the cave before them.
"Now this is what I call a cave," Link said, prodding at the small flames. "No animals to chase out, no dung and no sharp corners to sleep on and develop back pain..."
"It is certainly something," Sheik said, smiling as the last torch caught fire and lit up the last part of the cave. Around the bend, he could see the cave entrance. A snow storm had started to roar outside, and he had a feeling they had been incredibly lucky to find this place when they had. "But since most of Lumina relies on a constant flow of trading over the mountains, it was only a matter of time until someone figured that making them would be a good idea."
"So what're these called?" Link asked.
"I don't know," Sheik replied honestly. He really had no idea. "The man at the trading station just called it a cave."
"This is too good to be called a cave," Link said. He leaned back, confident that the fire wouldn't go out, sighing. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if this was a good idea..."
Sheik joined him by the pit, looking at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Coming here."
"Why?"
"I dunno," Link said, shaking his head. "It's just...getting across this mountain isn't exactly easy, and I can only imagine what the kingdom itself is like. They must be a hardy people..."
Sheik smiled. "I can assure you, then, that Lumina is much like Hyrule, both in climate and its people. And when have you ever been afraid of a little hardship on a mountain? I seem to recall you climbing an active volcano back home...several times, in fact."
"Yeah, but that was different," Link said. "I did it 'cause I had to, not because I wanted to. Going to Lumina is just for fun, after all—"
"Not entirely," Sheik said, recalling Zelda's letter. "We are to bring the princess' thanks to the king."
"Yeah, but that's not exactly something that needs to be done to save the world, is it?" Link reached for his pack and fished out a pair of sausages of some sort of unidentifiable and most likely disgusting type of meat. They were quite pale, with dark splotches beneath the skin. The Hero wrinkled his nose. "Did they look like this when we bought them?" he asked.
"They did," Sheik said, eyeing the meat by-product with distaste. "You even tossed one down raw after you bought them, despite my protests. I expected you to be ill by now, to be honest." Sheik had wanted to buy some fish wrapped in various layers of preservatives since they would keep longer, but nooooooo, Link wouldn't have that.
"Well, since I'm not ill, I guess they're edible," Link said and skewered the sausages on a pair of sticks, handing one to Sheik, who took it gingerly, like it might explode in his face at any moment. "Don't be such a cuccoo," the Hero laughed.
Sheik scowled and hung the meat tube over the fire, which was finally putting out enough heat for them to remove the outer layers of their clothing. Like he was going to be afraid of a damn sausage! He blushed when he realised what he had just thought and the unfortunate implications it had. Link didn't seem to notice—or maybe he did and was grinning on the inside. The Hero could be surprisingly sneaky when he wanted to.
Link removed his jacket, leaving him in his usual outfit minus that horrible cap, and looked at Sheik. "So, tell me about Lumina," he said.
Sheik cleared his throat. "What do you want to know? And before you ask, let me remind you that I know very little of recent events there because of the war."
"Alright," Link said, thinking hard. "You said it's like Hyrule, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, so what're the people there like?"
"Well, they're humans, for one—"
"Humans?"
Sheik blinked. Link had never heard of humans? Surely he knew that they were the dominant race in the world? "They're...not very different from us, actually," he said slowly. "The only physical characteristic that distinguishes them from us are their ears. They're not long and pointed, but short and round."
Link frowned. "Sounds weird," he said, reaching up to touch his own left ear, fiddling with the metal hoop that had mysteriously appeared in it during his seven-year long sleep. "How can they hear?"
Sheik hid a smile, knowing that the mystery of the earring was gnawing at the Hero. Reflexively, he reached up to touch his own, slightly smaller ears. They were smaller than the average Hylian's, though that was not really noticeable unless you had a very keen eye and decided to get a ruler out. He was supposed to have an earring too, it being a rite of passage for young Sheikah warriors, but that had been pushed aside by the war, and now that Impa was busy with being a Sage...
"Apart from that, though," Sheik continued, "there are no big differences. I suppose humans have a taller average height than Hylians too, but that does not count for much in the big picture. Anyway, their culture differs quite a bit from ours."
"How so?" Link asked, still fiddling with the earring. Had Impa done that while the Hero slept?
"They don't worship the Goddesses, for one," Sheik said, anticipating the widening of Link's eyes.
"What?"
"You heard me. The reason for this is that...well, it's difficult to get an accurate picture of what happened, but roughly a thousand years ago, a man whose name has been forgotten waged a war on the Goddesses, wielding powers much greater than any wizard or witch could possess. Come to think of it, I don't believe anyone actually knew his name, even at the time, but he was known as The Enlightened One. The title was probably based on his claims that the Goddesses had been lying to the people the entire time and were playing cruel tricks and games with them." He was desperately trying to recall all the details that had been in the books in the library of the old castle in Hyrule, but he could only remember the larger events.
"What happened to him?" Link asked, grimacing at the blasphemy Sheik was describing. The Goddesses were right and just, in his opinion. If the truth were to be otherwise, why did they even care to name him their chosen one and have him save Hyrule?
"Again, details are scarce," Sheik said, "but he and his cult were obviously defeated, and The Enlightened One was cast down and imprisoned somewhere in Lumina, though no one knows where. The Goddesses were very wrathful back then, apparently, and granted him eternal life so that he may spend his immortal existence contemplating his actions."
"Serves him right," Link said.
"I suppose so," Sheik said, nodding. But he was not entirely sure if he agreed, but then again, theological debates were not his strong suit. "But the Goddesses were not done. For their treachery, the Luminans were punished with plagues and natural disasters, leaving the land in ruins. They began to fear the Goddesses as much as they had The Enlightened One, in the end, and as a result, they fear both parties."
"So...what do they worship?"
"Nothing, I believe," Sheik said, noticing that his sausage looked about done—meaning that it was still pale like a corpse and blotchy like a leper, but at least it was actually cooked. "They simply...live. The Goddesses have left them alone ever since the war, so why should they bother?"
"I don't get it," Link said.
"Neither do I, but there we are."
Link had no more questions at the moment, so they ate in silence, enjoying each other's company and the sounds of the howling wind outside. Then they went to bed.
An hour later, they were both throwing up.
That's the last time I let Link decide what we should eat, Sheik thought, holding his stomach. This night would not be easy.
To be continued...
So...I know I keep saying I don't intend for updates to be so few and far between, but here we are again, weeks behind schedule. I am so sorry about that, and I can only hope you will forgive me :)
Also, I made a minor retcon regarding Sheik's appearance in this chapter. It's hardly noticeable, but it's been bugging me for a while.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone! If you like the story, please leave one!
