Conflict:

Chapter Nine:

Do You Believe in Magic-

Luna grunted as she rotated the fourth and final pillar into the proper position, aligning the strange markings with the ones on the floor and ceiling. "Why would this be designed this way? In what way is this better than, say, a switch or a lever? I can barely rotate these things, and my Power Suit makes me far stronger than any normal person..."

The whirring of the generators she'd repositioned three rooms prior alerted her that power had been restored through the strange, glowing (when powered, at least) lines on the various surfaces in the room. She scanned them to make sure that the lines were transmitting power properly- and, to her satisfaction, they were.

"It's almost as if this whole thing has been one big-" She stopped walking towards the door that had opened when supplied with power from the lines and grimaced. "These... tasks I've had to complete... they aren't maintenance, they're puzzles- a test... to make sure that the person attempting to enter was wearing a Power Suit..."

She paused as she stepped through the doorway and into the large, circular room. "No, that can't be right... this door's too short for a Luminoth to walk through, and they couldn't use the Morph Ball- it requires Chozo genetic code... and the last Chozo warriors died out long before this place was created, if the markings are anything to go by..."

She frowned. "They wouldn't have made this by mistake- no, they probably knew exactly what they were doing... which means that this was made to test whether or not the person trying to gain entry was Samus Aran or not." She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Unless they anticipated my existence, too..." She stopped laughing and considered the possibility... and decided that she wouldn't put it past them to have done exactly that.

Her machinations were interrupted by the humming of a large viewscreen that was set into the far wall. It looked rather silly, as it ruined the otherwise perfectly circular room's impressive contour. The viewscreen was positioned at such an angle that Luna only had to look slightly up to see it. The humming sound faded away, and a creature resembling a thin, bipedal moth- one of the Luminoth- appeared on the screen.

"Warrior... born of, clad in, and opposing darkness... do not be afraid. I am U-Mos, Sentinel of the Luminoth. Please listen, and I will relay to you a message from the beings once known as the Chozo."

Luna deactivated her Power Suit, remembering that the Luminoth, being a species with significant psionic powers, communicated telepathically, and looking into the eyes of a conversational partner was a sign of sincerity, respect, and trust. U-Mos' red eyes met Luna's red eyes, and the Luminoth nodded, showing his approval. "I am listening," Luna said politely, uncomfortably aware of the fact that she had come extremely close to eliminating his entire species.

"We move freely through time and space. We have seen many things. The past, present, and future... things that never were, things that are not, things that might be. We have watched the universe go from beginning to end without interfering, and we have guided the universe from beginning to end through minute changes in things that do not seem nearly as important as they are. We have seen many paths, witnessed the way the timelines fork and split, diverge and converge, start and finish, and seen the points at which they do so.

"You stand now at one such point- a tree with many branches, but the tree itself is but a branch on yet another tree, which also happens to be a mere branch on another tree- and the direction you choose is just that... yours to choose. You stand now at a crucial point in your existence- one which could influence the fate of everything as you know it.

"The corridors that extend from this room are but a few paths you may take... from this point on, everything you do- as well as everything you do not do- will change the path you walk... the choice is yours, warrior, and though you do not understand what these choices mean, the events preceding this moment have directly, indirectly- and perhaps even semi-directly- caused this point to exist.

"Regardless, you -and you alone- will determine your role in the coming battle. Will you fight alongside those you have befriended? Join the forces of darkness? Leave, believing that you have no part in the fighting? Or will you do something else? The choice is yours, and you will have to make it soon...

"No matter what happens, we will be watching. We are curious to see how this timeline will progress."
Abruptly, the viewscreen flickered off, and Luna blinked several times. "I feel insignificant... but in the most significant way possible..." She snickered. "The fate of the universe depends on which of these doors I take, don't take, or whatever..." She looked around the room. There were sixteen corridors branching from the 'hub'- not counting the one she'd come through- and not a single one of them was labeled in any way.

"There's only one way to solve this dilemma." Luna closed her eyes, spun around for approximately twelve-point-seven-two seconds, and, with her eyes still closed, walked backwards... and into the narrow bit of wall that separated two corridors.

A heated game of eenie-meenie-minie-moe determined that, of the two passageways that shared the wall, the left one was the very best one.

Four steps into the left corridor, she stopped, turned around, and went into the one on the right for no apparent reason, thus preventing the horrible demise of all life in the universe at the hands of the sentient grasses of Tallon IV (it's always the quiet ones), which would have occurred within two years of her selecting that path.

She didn't need to walk far- she reached the 'Magical Technology Research and Development Laboratory' after walking for less than a minute. The room was far larger- and taller (it had an elevator) than it had any right to be, with countless prototypes, models, and fully developed weapons, upgrades and armor suits, all neatly organized by some system Luna couldn't recognize at first glance (the next few glances didn't reveal much more, either).

Naturally, Luna scanned the nearest terminal- it didn't even strike her as odd that there was a high tech computer (let alone all of the advanced technologies in the room) on such an otherwise primitive planet.

"There's a completed armor suit," she noted, "flagged 'for the other'... must be for me!" She took the elevator to the third tier from the top, where the suit was located. She felt inexplicably giddy- little did she know that she was feeling that same excitement that a child feels before opening their first Christmas or birthday present.

Gleefully, she ran to it, not even bothering to scan the pod containing the suit- it was shiny, spherical (as were most of the pods), and, best of all, it was black. She giggled. "It... it really is for me, isn't it?"

She placed a hand on the pod. "I've been feeling so many things," she whispered to it, "and I think I understand, now... these are the emotions I read about. This is what it means to be a person... this is what I'd been lacking."

She activated the pod, and everything went black. Then, she passed out, as the new suit replaced the old suit, and her nervous system was rewired in the process (it's rather impressive that she managed to stay conscious long enough to see the pod engulf her, really).

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Farore frowned. "I don't understand."

Din patted her on the head. "Neither do I, to be honest. I fail to see the significance of that speech. He just stated the obvious."

Nayru shook her head. "No, he didn't..." She paused. "At least, not for her. She didn't understand what it meant to be free, to have a choice- look at how emotional she became afterwords! She realized that she didn't need to make sense all the time- subconsciously, perhaps, but the difference is plain as day."

Din raised an eyebrow. "...You're right. She was becoming more and more emotional as time went on... and I didn't even realize..."

Nayru smiled gently."The emotional growth was practically exponential, dear... you were just paying too much attention to see it happening." Din nodded, accepting the explanation, and returned her gaze to those below.

For awhile, the three Golden Goddesses watched in silence as the various figures and forces continued to prepare for war.

Farore broke the silence. "Am I the only one who thinks it's really weird that Agatha sells Sheikah weaponry... just to get the money to fund her bug-collecting hobby?"

Din made a sound. "I think it's weird that she has access to such things. She's just a kid."

Nayru shrugged. "I think it's odd that she's the one that provides such supplies to Sheik... don't you, dears?"

Farore groaned. "Is Luna awake yet?"

"No," Din said, "she's only been out for, what, seven minutes now?"

Farore groaned again. "What about Link?"

"No, dear sister," Nayru said, "Link is still asleep."

Farore groaned a groan that may have been the most groany groan of all time.

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'You know,' Sheik said, 'I still can't get over how strange that girl is.'

Zelda shrugged- mentally, of course- and replied, 'I think she has more rupees than we do.'

'Well,' Sheik said, 'you should find Samus- take her out for lunch or something.'

Zelda smiled. 'Good idea, Sheik.' She made her way to the fountain in the center of Castle Town, moving through the crowd with the finesse and skill of a Sheikah.

'I forget how good you are at this,' Sheik commented, having noticed the way Zelda had scythed through the crowd.

'I have you in my head, Sheik. It's hard not to pick up on things.'

'I suppose... you know, Princess, I'm still really concerned about Ganondorf... I see no reason for him to delay in attacking.'

'That's why I'm in charge, and you're not. There could be any number of reasons- he could be amassing his troops, playing it defensively, waiting for an opportune time to attack, or perhaps even readying his forces for a siege...' Zelda began to search the area around the fountain. 'I think he's probably trying to familiarize himself with his new troops- he probably knows even less of these 'Space Pirates' than we do.'

When Zelda didn't see Samus anywhere in the town square (which was, somewhat ironically, a near-perfect circle), she enacted her backup plan... which consisted of making her way to Telma's bar.

'You don't think Samus is drunk off her ass or anything, do you?'

'I don't think Telma would let her drink too much- you know how she is... always knows way more than she should...' Zelda opened the door and entered the mostly-empty tavern- it wouldn't be full until the evening, when it was considered acceptable to drink and do other tavern-y things. 'Mostly-empty' does not mean 'empty', however, and Samus, Ashei, and a some random people were all present.

Telma, the big, buxom barkeep, greeted Zelda with a warm smile. "Ah! Hello, Princess."

Ashei, the young woman Zelda had knighted (and subsequently granted the title of 'Knight-Captain,' due to the lack of an appropriate feminine equivalent of 'Sir'- the title 'Sera' had been considered, but was determined to be too archaic) rose from her seat beside Samus and saluted, as alert and ready as ever. "Milady?"

'Does she even drink when she comes here?' Sheik asked. She paused for a moment and performed a mental reaction analogous to a physical cringe,'And... is she even old enough to be drinking?'

'She's older than we are,' Zelda replied.

"Relax, Ashei," Zelda said, "there's no need to be so formal all the time. If something's wrong, you'll know about it."

Samus stood slowly. Her cheeks were flushed, and she seemed unsteady on her feet. "Hey... Zelda..." She said, swaying from side to side ever-so-slightly as she slowly approached Zelda.

The stack of mugs on the counter where she'd been sitting was considerable in size. 'Telma must have watered down the mead,' thought Zelda, 'there are enough mugs there to get a Goron tipsy.' She looked to Telma and said, "Put her drinks on my tab..." Zelda pretended to brush a stray hair over her right ear- a subtle gesture used by people who knew things they shouldn't that indicated she wanted to hear a lie (due to the old belief that the right hand was the hand of the unholy, as opposed to the left, which was the hand of those chosen by the goddesses) "How much did she have?"

Ashei grinned a little. "She had about twice my limit- wouldn't you say so, Telma?"

Telma closed her left eye once, then her right eye four times. "Mead, or tea," teased the barkeep. Ashei played along and acted as if she'd been offended.

'So, around a fourth of what she drank was mead,' Sheik mused.

'But... that's practically nothing, especially for a woman of her size...' Zelda caught Samus in her arms as she stumbled and fell over, 'why would Samus be so strongly affected by it?'

'Maybe... maybe she's never gone drinking before? Or... it could be something to do with her armor or something.'

With a grunt, Zelda managed to lift Samus from up from her previous position -her head and shoulders against Zelda's waist- to an upright one. 'I forget how heavy she is sometimes... if I didn't know it was because of her armor, I might think she ate bricks of-' Zelda would have facepalmed if her arms hadn't been keeping Samus upright. 'She was drinking on an empty stomach. Of course.'

Sheik snickered. 'At least we can fix that.'

"Well," Zelda said as she lead Samus out of the bar, "I was hoping for something a bit nicer, but I suppose we'll be having bread and black coffee."

Samus groaned. "Ya know," she said, "I'm really rather proud of myself. Even you thought I was drunk off my ass."

'Clever girl,' Sheik commented.
Zelda sighed. "Do I even want to ask why it is you feigned inebriation?"

"They were giving me tea with a bit of mead mixed in- they thought I couldn't handle it, and I figured it'd be better if they thought they were right... it's easier to trust the dainty girl who can't hold her alcohol than the genetically-engineered warrior who could down a barrel of ethanol with little to no adverse effects... though I was pretty buzzed for awhile there, before the computer figured out how best to negate the intoxication."

"But you're supposed to be a strong Nord warrior, not..." Zelda sighed. "No, you're right- if those mugs hadn't been watered down, and you were a normal person, you'd be incredibly drunk... just like a Nord... only Telma and Ashei would see anything wrong with you being as drunk as you were pretending to be, and they'd keep it to themselves... I'm sure they figured out that you were with me, even before I showed up, right?"

Samus smirked. "Yeah- Ashei even called me out on my fake nobility... I almost thought I'd have to fight my way out for a bit... but neither of the two tried anything funny when I was 'drunk,' so I suppose they're trustworthy."

"Well, then," Zelda said, offering a hand to Samus, "shall we have some lunch?"

Samus accepted Zelda's hand. "I'd love to... but I really, reeeeeeeally need to take a piss. I drank a lot of tea in there... and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go to 'relieve myself'."

Zelda recoiled a little, barely concealing the shock that would have marred the face of one with less control over their expressions. "Uh... the bathroom? Are you sure you're okay?"

Samus flushed with embarrassment. "I just wasn't sure if you guys had bathrooms or not, and I didn't want to risk looking strange by asking."

"Well, then, I suppose we can make a detour to the public bathrooms." With that goal in mind, Zelda began to lead Samus by the hand to the bathrooms she'd mentioned.

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Samus watched as Zelda tore the meat off of her second meat-leg-thing (Samus hadn't recognized the name of the animal it came from, and she didn't care enough to ask any questions) with a jerk of the head. She allowed herself a small smile. 'Is this love? Or a side-effect? It can't be normal to think that the way she eats is cute...'

Samus could have sworn that the rings in her pocket were made of some impossibly dense substance- she wanted so badly to present them to Zelda that not doing so felt eerie and unnatural. 'Alright, Aran,' she thought, 'if you're gonna do this, you're gonna do it right... and wait 'til she's finished. We have no idea how she might react if her feeding is interrupted.'

As soon as Zelda had cleaned her plate, she reverted to being a proper lady and dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. "Ah, what a delightful meal," she said contentedly, closing her eyes and leaning back slightly in her chair.

Samus steeled herself. 'Alright,' she thought, 'it's time to do this... everything's calm- for now- and you have the rings... just do it. It's how it works, here- you've had more prior relationship stuff than most would. You're ready... down on one knee, and say the words...'

Samus swallowed the lump in her throat, slid out of her seat without making a sound, and dropped down into a kneel. She retrieved the rings from her pocket. "Zelda."

Zelda opened her eyes and looked down at Samus. "What're you doing down th-" Her eyes widened, and she gasped.

Samus blushed. Sweat began to bead on her forehead. People started to look and whisper amongst themselves. 'Oh holy fuck,' she thought desperately.

Samus had seen some serious shit over the course of her life, but this was the first (and second-to-last) time she found herself paralyzed by fear. She felt like she'd been kneeling there for hours.

After around three seconds of silence, Zelda rose from her seat. For a split-second, Samus thought she was going to cry. When Zelda got down on one knee and took one of the rings from Samus' hand, Samus thought she didn't know what was happening anymore (if you must know, she was correct in thinking so).

"Samus," Zelda said softly, sliding the ring onto Samus' ring finger.

"Z-Zelda..." Samus stammered, clumsily mimicking the action.

"Will you marry me?"

The shock of hearing those words coming from Zelda spurred Samus into action. 'That's my line,' she thought, 'I'm the one wearing pants... er, tights... tight pants?' The absurdity of that last thought spurred Samus into actual action. She shook her head. "You marry me."

Zelda crossed her arms and smiled a wryly. "Convince me to and I will."

Samus narrowed her eyes and rose to her feet, lifting Zelda with her. Zelda seemed exasperated and whispered, "One of us is supposed to be knee-" Samus cut her off with a kiss. It was the single most passionate thing either of them had ever done, and probably one of the clumsiest, too... not that anyone cared.

None of the citizens of Castle Town would say anything aloud, but they were all glad that their Princess was showing romantic interest in someone. The fact that they were two beautiful young ladies and were, as the young people would say, 'making out' in the town square was also a large factor in causing no-one to complain about the awkward proposal.

In fact, it was this very kiss that inspired one young man to invent a device that could capture such sexy- err, heartwarming- moments and allow them to be viewed later, at the convenience of the owner of said device... but that's a weird, somewhat creepy story that probably won't ever be told.

Once Samus and Zelda had realized that they had started drooling all over one another, they separated. Zelda dusted herself off and cleared her throat. She took the ring off of her finger and handed it to Samus, who got down on one knee. "Zelda, will you marry me?"

Zelda smirked. "Yeah, sure," she said dryly, "why not?"

Samus crossed her arms and pouted. "I'm trying to be serious here."

Zelda held out her hand, and Samus slid the ring onto the appropriate finger.

"Will you marry me?"

Zelda nodded. "Of course I will, Samus," she said sweetly, before adopting the mischievous grin again. "You stole my first kiss, after all. I can't marry anyone but you."

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Nayru massaged her temples. "It could have gone worse, I suppose..."

Din snickered. "Are you kidding? That was glorious."

Farore nodded excitedly. "Yeah! It was sexy- er... I mean, heartwarming!" She frowned. "No, wait, I meant sexy."

"It was embarrassing," Nayru snapped, "and far too public. Such things should occur in private- this could be a major scandal!"

"It was endearing," Din countered, "and it cemented Samus as dedicated to the Princess in public. It was excellent for morale... and the kiss didn't hurt, either."

Nayru sighed. "I suppose you may be right, dear sister... but I just don't remember Zelda being such a tease."

"She's learned how to be playful with her chosen partner- no harm can come of that."

Abruptly, Farore gasped. "Oh no."

"What is it, dearest?"

"They're getting married! Do you know what that means in a time like this?!"

Din grimaced. "Oh. Shit. Farore's right. A wedding is just begging for an attack."

Nayru shook her head. "This isn't a children's story, my dear sisters- an attack is no more likely to come during a wedding than it is at any other time."

Din snorted. "Statistically, that is true. In practice... any sort of special event is going to coincide with a battle."

Farore nodded. "You're the wise one, Nayru- to assume that this isn't all just a story... can you prove it? Do none of the things that we have witnessed over the ages strike you as being odd or implausible? Do you not see the forces of darkness, gathering in the desert from whence they were once banished? Surely you cannot be so blind as to presume that anything other than fate drives this nearing conflict forth. Surely you cannot say that statistics played any role in the events that have lead to the current situation. No, you are not so blind as to believe that..."

Din shuddered. "Even Farore's dropped her usual carefree idiocy and removed the wool from her eyes, Nayru... you aren't fooling anyone. This is a tale of some sort... whether it be a triumphant epic, a children's story, or a tragedy... that is the real question."

Nayru looked across the whole of Hyrule, observed the calm preparations and tranquil skies that preceded the frantic battles and raging storms that were sure to come. "You may be right... but the occurrence of a joyful event, like a wedding, does not guarantee the occurrence of a disaster... after all, we still don't know what kind of story this is, my dearest sisters."

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The Delta-Class Strike Fighter, Delano 7, entered the orbit of the planet that would come to be known as 'Cylosis'. It came in behind the GFS Neith, making use of the dreadnought's massive size to avoid being detected by the Space Pirate Battle Cruiser, VĂ¡li.

"GFS Neith, this is Hunter Sylux of the Delano 7. Requesting permission to dock in bay S-4."

"Delano 7, this is GFS Neith. We read you loud and clear. Requesting confirmation of your Gamma-level access codes."

Sylux pressed the necessary keys on the control panel to her left.

"Delano 7, this is GFS Neith. You are cleared for landing in bay S-4."

Sylux frowned under her helmet. 'I knew this ship was big,' she thought, 'but I didn't realize there was enough room to actually land in the smaller docking bays...' She ignored her wonderment, however, and focused on the task at hand. "That's a solid copy, GFS Neith. Landing now."

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A single tear formed in the corner of Falco's eye. "Princess," he said, "you can go now. Your job's done."

Fox rolled his eyes. "I'm not agreeing to hire our arch-rival to be a combat pilot on our team base on the claim that he can cook."

"It's not just a claim," Peach interjected, "he prepared a magnificent chowder the other day."

Lucario nodded. "That he did. It was very possibly the best thing I've ever tasted."

"C'mon, Fox," Adam said, "you're not hiring him for his cooking, because you're hiring him for his valuable skills and experience. Not only will he be a good addition to your team, he can serve as our inside man-er, bipedal canine."

Wolf crossed his arms. "I'm doing this whether you're helping me or not, Fox. I'm sick of playing for the asshole side, and I'm not letting innocent people die because of my mistakes."

Fox bared his teeth. "And why the hell should I trust you?

Wolf pulled out a data card and offered it to Fox. "As a token of goodwill- those are the locations where your girl frequents."

Falco put a feathered wing-hand-thing on Fox's shoulder. "What more could you ask of him, Fox?"

Fox sighed. Hesitantly, he accepted the data card. "Welcome to Team StarFox, Wolf."

"Excellent," Adam said. "Now all that's left to do is get aboard the Great Fox and prepare..."

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Luna awoke with a start. The fingers on her right hand instinctively moved into the firing position for the Power Beam... but nothing happened. She quickly realized that her Arm Cannon was no longer present. Her right arm was just that- a right arm.

She held up her hands and looked at them, wiggling her fingers and clenching them into fists. There was a small, circular groove in the palm of each hand, as well as on the pads of each finger. On the back of her hands were smooth, round crystals that were flush with the surrounding black metal.

She stood, and was surprised at how light she felt. She looked down at herself- her armor was still black, but it was much... smaller. It was sleek and streamlined. A triangular crystal that looked to be of the same species as the ones in her hands was mounted into center of the breastplate. The huge pauldrons she used to have were replaced by smaller ones that were barely noticeable.

After a few moments, the suit activated. 'The suit wasn't powered?! I lifted myself up and managed to stand in an un-powered suit? That... this is very unusual.'

She watched the text scroll by on her visor, only becoming more confused.

Main power restored.

System check initiated.

Chozo Rapid Assault Suit Ver. LA1-J1:5-DS2-O

Main Computer: Online

-Communications Module: ERROR

-Logbook: Online

-Targeting Computer: Online

Arm Cannon: ERROR

-Power Beam: ERROR

-Unidentified Beam 1: ERROR

Luminoth Psionic Energy Channeling: Active

-R. Casting Apparatus: Active

-L. Casting Apparatus: Active

Armor: Engaged

Shields: Engaged

-Stealth Field Generator: Active [Standby]

Morph Ball: ERROR

-Morph Ball Bomb: ERROR

-Power Bomb: ERROR

-Boost Ball: ERROR

Helmet Mounted Display: Online

-Combat Visor: Responding [Online]

-Scan Visor: Responding [Standby]

-Thermal Visor: Responding [Standby]

-Psionic Visor: Responding [Standby]

Missile Launcher: ERROR

-Super Missiles: ERROR

-Missile Cache (All): ERROR

Spell Databank: Engaged

-Spells Known: N/A

Energy Tanks: Online

-Current Capacity: 4

-Energy Tanks Online: 4

...

Luna found herself strongly desiring an explanation of some sort, as the data displayed had, rather than allaying her confusion, had compounded it. The fact that hew new suit lacked a Missile Launcher wasn't much of a surprise after having found that it lacked an Arm Cannon, but the lack of a Morph Ball mode could end up being a big problem. She expressed this feeling very concisely. "What the fuck."

Would you like to run the Tutorial Program?

"Yes, please."

Please proceed to the archives at the lowest floor of this chamber.

Lunalooked at her hands once more- the gems were glowing red, now. She felt light- remarkably so- and agile. 'This Suit's so light,' she thought, 'it must be a lot less protective than my Power Suit was.'

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Link yawned and stretched his arms. He inclined his head to the Zora man and woman. "Thank you."

"It was the least we could do," the female said.

"We should be thanking you, hero," the man added, "I've never seen Prince Ralis behave so... regally... before."

"You should get going," the woman said, "if what you were mumbling about in your sleep is anything to go by, your girl's waiting for you." She winked.

The male cringed. "You were actually listening to him talk in his sleep?! I thought you were joking!"

Link cleared his throat. "Thankyouagainbye!" He turned and dove into the water- the current was with him, this time, and the water was pleasantly warm. 'I'll hit Lake Hylia in no-time,' he thought, 'and, from there, I can reach Castle Town in a matter of minutes... I should be able to make it to Ordon before dinnertime.'

He effortlessly rocketed through the water. 'I hope Luna's alright,' he thought, 'and I hope nothing has changed for the worse...'

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Samus gaped. "Wedding... tomorrow?"

Zelda nodded. "That's how it usually works," she said, "it can't happen on the day of the proposal- a wedding requires some preparations, after all."

"I thought... I thought it'd be in a few months!"

Zelda smiled warmly, putting her hands on Samus' shoulders. "Your civilization really is quite different, isn't it?"

"Yeah... not that I saw much of it." She smirked. "Usually, when things happen this quickly around me, the planet explodes."

"Let's... let's try to avoid that, if at all possible."

"It was a joke... it's just that, this has all happened so fast. We went from bickering all the time to you being all like "I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABIES" to getting married tomorrow... over the course of... what, a week? Isn't that weird?"

Zelda stifled a laugh. "What does it matter if we're a little strange? It seems to me like this has all worked out for us thus far, so what's the point of worrying about the past? I love you, and you love me, and I wanna rip your clothes off and make sweet, sweet love to you all night long. Isn't that what matters?"

Samus blushed. "I guess... though your eagerness to bed me gets a little creepy sometimes."

Zelda winked. "It's because you're so cute when you're embarrassed~"

"Shouldn't we be more worried that that guy and Ridley will attack?"

Zelda blinked a few times. "You mean to say... that you think they might interrupt our wedding?" Her eye twitched. "Or worse... our honeymoon?"

Samus was afraid. "It's... it's a possibility."

Zelda threw her arms around Samus' neck and held on to her tightly."... No. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope-"

The mirror in the room shimmered, and Midna stepped though. "Zelda," she said.

Zelda stopped babbling and looked at the Twilight Princess, but didn't relinquish her hold on Samus. "Midna?"

"Ganondorf and his troops should be attacking the day after tomorrow- if what I've observed is anything to go by. Your wedding will be fine... so calm the fuck down."

Zelda nodded gratefully. "Thank you... I'm... I'm sorry I freaked out there, Samus."

Samus patted her head. "I think we've both done plenty of freaking out," she said.

"WHOA," Midna exclaimed, pinwheeling her arms and falling onto her bum.

Samus furrowed her brow, confused. "Are you alright?"

Zelda gasped. "Are you... being summoned?"

Midna crossed her arms and pouted. "Am I sliding towards the mirror?"

Samus and Zelda nodded.

"It would seem I'm being summoned. You don't see that every day..." she shrugged. "You've got a big mirror that isn't on a dresser, and the floor isn't wooden, so I won't be getting any splinters- that's always nice, I suppose."

Samus cleared her throat. "Should we be panicking or anything?"

Midna shrugged again, thoroughly unconcerned. "An experienced summoner would have yanked me through the mirror so quickly you wouldn't have heard me scream. It's probably a talented young boy or girl who found a book of spells and wanted to summon someone to advise them."

Zelda sighed happily. "Ah, memories."

Midna nodded appreciatively. "I guess this is a sign that the realms have once again become completely normal, huh?"

'What the fuck is going on right now,' Samus wondered.

"It sure seems that way," Zelda replied.

"It also means that Ganondorf doesn't have any of the magical power of the Twilight Realm behind him this time," Midna added. "If those bug guys are anywhere near as incompetent as the Bulblins, you guys should tear them apart."

"Thanks, Midna. It was good to see you again!"

"You too, Zelda. Try not to get too carried away with that honeymoon, eh? You don't want to be out of the fight because of something like that."

"No promises."

Midna slowly slipped back into the mirror. The surface rippled like water, solidifying once more when her entire body, ending with her gray toes, had passed through.

"It's nice to know that there are prospective students of magic out there," Zelda said, "it gives me hope that even our frailest young ones can grow up to be productive members of society."

Samus paused. "It seems to me that a child being able to summon the ruler of another dimension could cause a lot of problems..."

Zelda scoffed. "It's not like Midna has to do much. The Twilight Realm is peaceful, small, and full of powerful sorcerers and sorceresses. Her primary duty is to keep their magic from falling into the wrong hands- and, after what happened before, she takes it very seriously."

"Oh. Alright... what do we do now?"

Zelda stiffened. "I almost forgot!" She rose and began running to and fro in the room, grabbing various things. "I am to be coronated this evening- so that I may be Queen before we are wed!"

Samus swallowed. "What do I need to do?"

"Nothing," Zelda said, "the coronation is a formality- and you, as a Jarl, won't be receiving a new title, because 'Jarl' is a universal term that refers to a Nord noble of any sort- only the High King has a different title..."

"Do you need any help getting ready?"

Zelda paused. "Yes- if you could brush my hair, that'd be lovely."

Samus nodded. "I think I can manage that."

Zelda stood in front of the big mirror and began doing all sorts of things that Samus wasn't certain she understood. "Traditionally, the groom and the bride aren't supposed to see one another between their respective coronations and the wedding, but you've been staying in my room, and we're both 'brides', so I don't expect that to be too big a deal..."

Samus began brushing Zelda's hair. 'My life has become insanity,' she thought, 'and... I don't mind.'

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Sylux cleared her throat."Under Galactic Federation Directive A-H-four-seven-two-nine-point-four-two, the GFS Neith and all accompanying ships will vacate the orbit of Cylosis in forty-eight hours."

The board room erupted in outrage. Sylux glared, causing the room to go eerily silent. "Any questions?"

The captain adjusted his hat. "What reason could there be for leaving when Aran's still down there? What the hell was the point in sending us here if we weren't actually going to capture her?"

Sylux smirked beneath her helmet. "That, Captain, is far above your pay-grade. In twenty-four hours, you and your men will have served your purpose here."

"Is that so? Is some... some merc really above my pay grade?"

Sylux's lip twitched, belying her anger to anyone who might be able to see though her helmet... fortunately, there wasn't a soul present with that ability, and her facade of complete and utter calm and professionalism was maintained- sort of.

"I am no mere mercenary, Captain," Sylux said evenly, "and you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sylux chuckled. "the fact that you haven't figured it out yourselves is proof. I've made no attempt to hide anything from you."

"And just what the fuck is that supposed to mean!?"

A dark-haired young woman cleared her throat. "Permission to speak, sir?"

The captain regarded her for a moment. "Granted. What is it, Specialist Damara?"

Sylux grinned at the woman who would become her mentor, amused by her youth. "Yes, what is it, General Damara?"

Damara's eyes widened, and she gaped for a moment. "The directive issued... is a directive that would only be valid... seventeen years from now... and the ship... the Delano 7... the Delano 2 has been in the prototyping stage for three years, now."

The captain massaged his temples. "You're telling me that this merc's from the goddamn future?"

"That seems to be the case, yes."

Sylux chuckled. "Funny, isn't it? Takes the brass almost twenty years to realize that they sent me back in time... and it causes me to be born. Can you imagine how I feel right now? I'm making it so I can be born... so that I can make it so that I can be born- and so on and so forth."

The captain frowned. "Who the hell are you?"

Sylux wagged her finger. "Where's the fun in telling you when you'll know in seventeen years?"

"I don't believe it," Damara breathed.

The captain looked at Damara and grimaced. "If you're about to say what I think you're about to say, Specialist, I don't believe it either."

"You probably shouldn't," Sylux said, "after all, time travel is impossible, right? You should just follow orders and make sure you're gone the day after tomorrow at this time."

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Luna looked curiously at the woman she'd summoned through the mirror. "Midna?"

"... It's 'Luna', right?" Midna looked her up and down. "Your armor looks different than I remember..." the Twilight Princess looked around. "Interesting place, this one..." She giggled. "So, magical armor? Is that it?"

Luna nodded. "As far as I can tell."

"I suppose you'll be wanting me to teach you the basics of magic, then?"

Luna's absorbed her new suit. "I've downloaded a good number of spells from these archives," she said, "but it was recommended that I summon an adviser to help me understand how to cast them and how they work."

Midna blinked. "Excellent... but, before we start, I have to ask- where'd your boobs go?"

Luna shrugged. "This new suit is smaller- it didn't need as much biomass."

"Anyways," Midna said, shaking her head, "enough about breasts. We're here for magic!"

Luna smiled. "I would be grateful if you taught me."

"Okay... first off is how magic actually works," Midna said, floating cross-legged in front of Luna, "magic is the usage of energy to influence the world around you in one way or another. For most, this energy comes from the ambient magic of this world. For witches, it comes from the magical potions they brew. There are also those who have a certain amount of magical energy within them, and cast spells using that- sometimes it replenishes itself over time, and sometimes it must be restored with potions (or other means of restoring that energy- potions are the most common)." Midna squinted at Luna. "Do you happen to know which method you gather energy with?"

Luna nodded. "My suit seems to gather and replenish energy from the 'ambient magic', and it stores energy in things called Energy Tanks, which provide for both my suit's shields and casting spells."

"Interesting," Midna noted. "Now, I will explain to you the various schools of magic- there are many, and you will almost certainly never dabble in the vast majority of them, but I will tell you of them regardless."

Luna patiently listened to the explanation, which took around a half an hour.

"Now that we've covered all of that random shit no-one cares about, we'll get on to the good stuff- the stuff you'll probably actually use. First off, we have the school of Evocation! Evocation spells are the ones that probably come to mind when you think of magic- they involve manipulating energy and creating something from nothing. Shooting fireballs? Evocation. Magical cage? Evocation. Lightning? Evocation. Magical sword out of nowhere? Evocation.

"If you're trying to protect someone or something, Evocation spells are only as useful as the ability to fight off whatever you're trying to protect from. Abjuration spells, however, are spells designed to protect things. They're used to create barriers, negate magical effects, harm people who are wandering where they shouldn't be, and do all sorts of other things like that. Anti-magic field? Abjuration. Explosive runes? Abjuration. Resist energy? Abjuration. Break enchantment? Abjuration. Magical armor? Abjuration."

Luna kept listening. 'Why does she have to say it in question form, then answer it? Is this some sort of formal technique for listing things that fall under a particular category? Is she attempting to ingrain this into my memory through repetition?'

"Now that we've covered the schools," Midna said, "I want to see you cast some spells- do you know the Evocation spell called 'Magic Missile'? It is one of the most useful, basic, and overlooked combat spells- it fires a bolt of magic energy that never fails to strike its target. Though it is not very powerful, a more talented spell-caster can cast multiple instances of Magical Missile with a single casting."

Luna's armor materialized around her, and she quickly found 'Magic Missile' in the suit's databank. "I know the spell," she said simply, not knowing what else she could say.

"Good..." Midna looked around the room, then dissolved into a mass of bubbles that darted up a floor before reforming into Midna. "I don't know whether it's safe to cast spells at any of the objects in this room," she said, "so you'll cast the spell at me."

Luna frowned. "Are you sure? Even if you say it's not very powerful-"

"Oh, it's quite alright- while I may 'be' in this realm, my life essence is bound to the Twilight Realm. I cannot be harmed whilst I am here- and I can't do much to anyone else whilst I'm here, either." She winked. "Now, cast Magic Missile at me."

Luna took a deep breath- something that the new suit made far easier- and raised her right hand, pointing her palm at the Twilight Princess. "Magic Missile." A bluish-white bolt of energy (that looked quite a lot like a comet- an orb with a tail) shot forth from her palm and flew at Midna with impressive quickness. The energy lost was minimal- around four units- and had restored itself by the time the bolt reached Midna. Upon impact, the bolt detonated in a flash of light, making a modest pop sound.

Midna smiled. "Good, good! You're a natural!" She turned into bubbles and moved again, returning to her position in front of Luna. "Now," Midna said, a catlike grin forming on her face, "cast it with your left hand AND your right hand."

Luna looked at her left hand- it did seem to house the same mechanism as the right- and nodded. "I think I can do that."

Midna smiled and bubbled away once more. "After this, we'll see if you can cast more in each hand- if you could cast five in both hands, you'd be set."

After an hour-and-a-half of practice, Luna was able to cast three Magic Missiles from each hand- and she could cast four if she was using only one hand.

"Well, I think my time's just about up," Midna said. "I'd have liked to teach you more about Abjuration spells, but you're a formidable Evoker by any standard- I'm sure Zelda would be delighted to teach you more, but you shouldn't need much... if you keep practicing, you should be able to cast spells with-or at- the best of them." She giggled and floated towards the mirror she'd been summoned through. "I guess I'll see you later~"

"Thank you for teaching me," Luna said as Midna disappeared.

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"The Chozo believe you have created a favorable timeline, young one," U-Mos said approvingly, "it seems that referring to Miss Damara as 'General' will give her some degree of inspiration, thus preventing several of the more... unfortunate... events."

Sylux smiled at the Luminoth Sentinel who had appeared on the main viewscreen of the Delano 7. "I'm glad to hear that, U-Mos," Sylux said, removing her helmet, "I was just about to be sick of trying to get this right."

"You were remarkably efficient," U-Mos complimented, "you found a favorable outcome in forty-two iterations. That level of ability is unheard of."

"It was important to me personally," Sylux said, "you know that as well as I do."

"...Perhaps," U-Mos said. "Regardless, you should return to the present."

Sylux nodded. "Right. See you in a few hours."

"See you in seventeen years, Agent."

Sylux paused. "Wait, what? Are you... you're talking from the future, right?"

U-Mos chuckled. "Where's the fun in telling you, when you'll know in seventeen years?"

The viewscreen flickered off. Sylux groaned. "Son of a bitch."

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END CHAPTER NINE

-IN A YOUNG GIRL'S HEART

AUTHOR'S NOTES GO:

Oh, you'd better believe I'm using the obscurity of Sylux's background information to my best interests. I mean, the canon is so vague about everything that I can't help but have an idea or two... If you want to know more, check out dat wiki doe (either one is fine, I just happen to be on the one with the prettier background at the moment) wiki/Sylux

Damara is a character from the Metroid manga- Samus rescued Damara (who was a little girl at the time) from Space Pirates on the far-flung world of Jigrad, during her time as a space cop. Damara was inspired and joined the Federation, and she was top of her class during her freshman year (presumably, she graduated valedictorian). See: wiki/Damara

The canon is very vague, and not all that well established- at least, not compared to, say, Star Wars (I know waaaaaay too much about Star Wars, considering I'm not that big of a fan- Star Wars is great, and I love it, I just don't get as into it as, say, my father). As the canon is full of gaps and such, I figure I might as well fill them with crap, right? I mean, who knows, maybe I'll write a sequel or something. I'll gladly make use of whatever plot bunnies I can- as seen by Sylux, who solved the problem of 'what the hell was gonna happen with the feds'.

If you liked this, and you want to know when there's MOAR, you should consider watching/following it and/or me (depending on the site you're reading this on). You should probably just favorite everything, too- just to be sure, ya know?

It makes me happy.

~~Arcane-Boomeus~~