Pre T.A.A.H
Link was the legendary Hero of Time. He was a boy who had become a man after a seven year slumber, only to awaken as a savior to an entire country. In him rested limitless potential, buds that could one day blossom into unspeakable amounts of strength and power. There was no questioning that.
He was, after all, one of the few non godly beings with the ability to control time and bend it to his will. In fact, Siegfried was sure that Link was the only being in this world, a land that had never even heard of Hyruel's gifts, who could say they had the ability to turn back the clock. Many would kill for that ability. Many would give their lives to have a chance at doing something, anything, all over again. And then there was Link.
Link was special. Link had the ability to change the flow of time. He had saved the future and then went back to the past to ensure that he never had to rise up against such demonic terror again. Then he landed in a world parallel to his own and bent the clock to his will dozens of more times in order to see that a village was not destroyed by a falling moon. Traveling through time was second nature to him by now. He had experienced it. He had perfected it. He had no reason to bite into the forbidden fruit because he already had an entire tree full of the stuff growing in his own private garden.
Yet, even though the gift was his to use as he saw fit, he never used it to its full potential. He gave himself limits and restrictions so that he would never see just how far he could push the envelope. Three days at the most, preferably less, was as far back as he would go. And never once had he tried to venture off into the future. Siegfried was sure Link could do it if he put his mind to it. He just chose never to exercise the right.
"Why not try once? Just to see what it's like?" Siegfried had asked him one day.
Link had looked at him so intently it made his face burn a bright red. "I'm afraid of what I would lose if I take things too far."
Post T.A.A.H
Siegfried did not like his family. Correction, he loved his father dearly, and his mother was an absolute saint. That was as far as any good affection for his family went.
His father had no other siblings, and Siegfried's grandparents from his paternal side had died long ago. He was fairly young when they died and he could not really remember much about them at all. He remembered his grandmother always smelled like mint, and his grandfather's hands were always smooth and firm when he held his grandson, but that was the extent of his vague recollections. He wished he could say more, but his father never spoke of them. Now that they were all dead, Siegfried would never have the opportunity to ask about them.
His mother's side of the family was, unfortunately, still alive and well.
His grandfather Wilfried was in the throes of old age, and could never remember who Siegfried was for more than two minutes. Sometimes he thought the knight was a burglar, an enemy soldier, or some other brand of unsavory stranger. Sometimes he even thought that the blonde was Frederick come back from the grave to haunt him. There were also several instances when the old man thought Siegfried was a devil who had come to drag him down into the pit of fire and brimstone. Very rarely was the knight ever Siegfried the grandson, but he was always someone to be hated. That was the one thing that Wilfried's memory would never let him forget.
His grandmother, Madeline, never did anything more than smile at him. She never spoke, to anyone, at all. Margaret said that the old woman had come down with a terrible fever one night that left her unable to speak once she recovered. It also left her unable to bear any kind of expression other than a creepy smile, apparently. She therefore had to find other ways to relay what she was thinking. She kicked you if you said something she did not like. She spat at you when she felt you were being disgusting. She hit you with her cane if she just flat out did not like your presence, Siegfried got this reaction often, and she slapped you if she did not want you near her. The only good reaction she ever gave anyone was the immediate harsh clutching of the wrist when she wanted someone close to her.
His uncles were mostly drunks, and the ones that were not tended to be abusive. Kale's father Sven was a prime example of both unfavorable qualities. He had been a drunk for a good portion of his early career as a soldier. He had stopped, miraculously, when he married Kale's mother. However, that only solved one problem and turned it into another. Sven no longer drank more than he could handle, true, but now he took all his sober frustrations out on his wife and son in a verbal and physical manner respectfully. He only got worse when he was challenged or insulted. Siegfried always managed to unintentionally do one of the two whenever he saw the man at family get-togethers. It was not long before someone wound up with a black eye.
His aunts were usually embarrassing and took great care to pick him apart whenever they saw him. They, like most mothers, felt their children were so much better than anyone else's. It did not matter what Siegfried did. He would never be good enough for these women to acknowledge. Lord knows Margret tried her best to brag about her child to her family when she could. It just never worked. Siegfried became a knight? Well Kale had been the best of his troop for years, his mother said. Siegfried found himself a romantic partner? Well his cousin Eva had been married for three years with just as many children in tow, her mother argued. Siegfried became a world renowned Smasher? That was only because the ones who ran the competition had never met his cousins, all of his aunts agreed.
His female cousins were never nice to him. None of them were even remotely close to lady like. If he were honest with himself, they were more like boys then their brothers. They were also a great deal scarier than any monster Siegfried had ever seen in his life, and he had seen plenty. He was actually sure these female relatives could be classified as such. That or some of them were in fact evil witches who attempted to cast a spell on him every time they visited. Why else would 'sophisticated' women carry foul smelling bottles and various parts of reptiles?
His male cousins, especially his cousin Kale, were loudmouths who picked on Siegfried whenever the family got together. Siegfried was one of the youngest in the family, and he was smaller than they were when it came to body build. Kale in particular must have been 80% muscle, which was much larger than his blonde cousin could amount to. Siegfried was muscular enough for his size, but compared to his cousins he was puny. He was also about half an inch shorter than Kale was, and the boy never let his cousin forget it.
He had long ago accepted the fact that his family was hell on earth, would never like him, and it would be better to forget the prospect of what a 'loving' family should be like. Over time, he began to think they were all like that.
Imagine his surprise when Link had made him an interesting offer he found he could not refuse. "Come and take a look at my family."
Siegfried had been in shock.
An uncle who was proud of everything Link was and had accepted Mini when he had been brought into town without question. An aunt who would always treat the boys who visited her as though she had carried, birthed, and nursed them herself. A little cousin who admired Link's abilities, and saw Mini as the best friend he had ever had. There was even a newborn baby girl who could sense the approach of her traveling cousins without so much as opening her eyes. A loving group of people, though smaller than what the knight was used to, who had welcomed him without question.
He had to admit. He liked this family a lot better than his own.
Fang: Quite the family trees you've concocted. So different, though.
MistressOfTime: Isn't that true for everybody? Not one family is the same as another.
Fang: Guess that's why there's no definition for a normal family anymore.
MistressOfTime: I think that works out better. R&R kay?