Chapter 12: Oaths in the Night

Try as she might, the young girl could not wake herself from the nightmare. Little by little she lost the comforting embrace of the darkness to the lifeless grey sand until her bare feet stood upon it. The mist closed in all around her leaving only the calm yet dangerous dark ocean before her. The sea's dark depths entirely opposite to the comfort she had found in the previous darkness.

Closing her eyes and covering her face with her hands, desperately the child kept trying to visualise her bedroom, attempted to focus on the mental image of her sleeping form hiding under the covers. Still she felt the sand beneath her bare feet. Still she heard the whisper of the waves.

Her fingers parted so her red eyes could peak out at her surroundings. Shadows in some form of humanoid shape had begun to emerge from the depths of the ocean. Some began to step onto the shore, others remained in the shallows.

She covered her eyes once more and kept wishing to wake up, tried her best to ignore the nightmares being conjured up.

There on the wind another sound was carried. Far more than a whisper, rather it was the call of multiple unnatural voices.

"You can not hide."

"You can not escape."

"Despair brings you to where you belong."

Thunder rumbled in the distance across the ocean, a storm beginning to roll in.

"You can feel the truth. Your selfish desires will bring -have brought- pain."

The storm closed in. The sea turbulent as its waves crashed against the shore. The thunder as if the sky itself roared.

"The heart falls into the abyss."

The strength in the girl had begun to fade, dropping to her knees in the sand and her arms hanging limply. The very nature of this place fed upon and fuelled a wellspring of negativity within her mind and soul, what child could possibly handle being made to feel like a source of pain?

"The stars fade."

Her stare became more vacant, the colour of her red eyes fading ever so slightly. Her unfocused gaze left upon the ocean that had begun to swirl and spiral into a beckoning whirlpool.

"Now sink. Sink into a whirlpool of delusion as you face the truth."

A new shadowy shape took form within the storm above the dark ocean and its whirlpool. Lightning cracked the sky and thunder shook the land. The void of darkness took the shape of a humanoid figure, lines of green energy flowing across its form like some kind of nervous system. Upon the outline of a head was one glowing green circle as if to be an eye, with a wide red smile shape beneath it.

With each flash of lightning, the smiling shadow would switch between this form and the shape of a demonic armoured form hiding within the storm.

"The truth that is despair."

The shadows advanced towards her, the ocean's waves crashed forward to engulf her.

…The waves of despair never made it. The shadows were denied their advance. The lifeless sands were now ablaze in the colour of a burning firestorm surrounding the girl within its circle.

Water boiled into steam, sand melted into glass, yet the girl felt only the rejuvenation of life return to her as the flames danced around her like a protective barrier.

Little by little the scenery around her began to fade back to the comforting darkness. She was enveloped in darkness as gentle as the night sky while the circle of fire shielded her as the warmth of a star.

"Lucy." The voice of a woman, so motherly in concern called out to her and finally the child awoke from the nightmare.

The young child that was Lucy was back in her bedroom, lying in her bed as she was brought back to the waking world in a panic before her senses caught up with her. She calmed at the gentle touch of hands holding her own and looked up to the concerned but bright and gentle smile of a white skinned woman with long white hair and bright blue eyes, she wore a violet night dress at the moment.

She sat on the side of the bed and kept hold of Lucy's hands as she gave her a reassuring smile, her presence soothing as she leaned closer. "You're okay, Lucy. You were crying out in your sleep. But you're here safe and sound."

Lucy sat up and wrapped her arms around the woman, she buried her sobbing face against her. "It-it felt so real. Mum…I was so scared."

Kallen Valentine wrapped her arms around her crying daughter to comfort her. "That dark ocean again?" At the response of a nod, she moved one hand up to gently stroke the top of Lucy's head. "I know how much these nightmares trouble you, but it troubling you is proof you're not what it wants you to believe. You're so much stronger than you think."

"…But I'm too scared to be as strong as you."

The smile on Kallen's face only showed more gentle understanding as she lifted her daughter with ease and began to carry her out of the room. "Both of your mothers have almost been lost too, Lucy. My strength comes from the most important gift my father gave to me and that I'll keep giving to you."

"What?"

"Belief. Belief, without question, that we'll get through it in the end. That is our family's oath."

They entered another room, Kallen's bedroom, and Lucy pulled her head back enough to see her surroundings. There was still an occupant of the large bed, one who had left space for Kallen's return and in expectance of Lucy being brought in.

Laying there on one side of the bed was another woman, A Japanese woman with long pink hair and a deeper shade of blue to her eyes, almost purple. Her own night dress white with red trimmings and styled in a more robe/yukata like fashion.

Sakura Valentine held her arms out and brought her daughter from Kallen's arms to her own, bringing her into a comforting embrace besides her in the bed. Her own smile was just as gentle and concerned as Kallen's but her eyes held more of a calm coolness rather than the bright energy in Kallen's. "These dreams still trouble you so?"

"I'm sorry. You're both awake because of me."

Sakura brought Lucy closer to her, stroking her head with gentle touches as she soothingly spoke. "There's nothing selfish about needing the comfort of your loved ones."

"We're here for you, Lucy." Kallen spoke up as she slid back into the bed, reaching out a hand to affectionately touch at Lucy who was now between the two. Lucy began to calm bit by bit from the embrace of her mothers, her sobbing beginning to slow as the warmth of love took away the cold fear her nightmares had tried to fill her with.

She soon found one of her hands held by Kallen and the other by Sakura, she laid on her back in-between them as they both leaned their smiling faces into her view. "We're never going anywhere."

Lucy's closed eyes twitched as she stirred from the memories within her dreams. She felt the softness of a bed beneath her, heard the soft hum of a laptop's fans. Slowly she opened her eyes to see an almost dark room, the sky outside the window clearly night, what little lighting was coming from the dim orange glow of a nearby table lamp, and a brighter white light from the other side of the room. Enough light for Lucy to recognise she was in her own bedroom.

She sat up and looked to the secondary light source to see Richard sitting in a chair, facing her with a laptop on his lap, the light of the screen illuminated his presence as he looked to her.

They both shared a silent look at the other, both of their minds trying to decide between addressing the situation or to keep things light first.

Eventually Lucy chose to address it directly with gratitude, "…Richard…thanks for keeping wa-"

"-You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right?" Richard's words came out with a heavily forced accent, like a fantasy focused Viking. Evidently his decision wasn't in sync with hers.

"Richard-"

"-Walked right into that Imperial ambush-"

"-Richard!"

He stopped at her insistence, sitting upright more to look across at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine…I think? I don't even remember coming home."

"Sara and the others brought you back here. Summer said you were in a daze the entire time."

"…oh." She averted her eyes from his, looking downward as her hands awkwardly began to fidget in her lap. "Guess the tiredness really has caught up with me, huh?"

"They told me what you were discussing." Richard wasn't having it, immediate and blunt in his response.

"…I'm just so tired, Richard. All of this, one after another, it's just too much to process for a tired brain." She met his gaze again while giving a smile that even she herself knew looked weak. "That's all it is."

Narrowed eyes remained locked on hers. She could hear one of his fingers idly tapping impatiently against the frame of the laptop. Lucy averted her eyes again, waiting in uncomfortable silence for him to say something.

Seconds passed with nothing but the tapping.

She sighed and looked over to him once more. "Richard, I just-"

"-think you're the key, that's it's all to do with you and therefore somehow your fault. Right?"

"You can't just call this a coincidence at this point!"

"I'm not-" Richard's hands clasped together as he took a deep breath. "-I'm not calling this a coincidence. It's absurd but there is definitely something happening that we can't even begin to explain. I don't know how to handle any of this! I can't even deny that you're smack in the middle of it, linking all these threads together."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because it pisses me off that you think that makes it your fault!" Lucy blinked at his bluntness while Richard's hands finally began to relax, his narrowed eyes softening a little. "I'm sorry. It's just…I don't want you to think of yourself as the problem that needs to be fixed. This feeling you have of guilt? It's a delusion. You're a victim of whatever this is too, Lucy."

Her eyes broke away from his again, only this time to glance over at the picture of her mothers and her younger self. "You're right." She sighed and smiled back over at him. "I'm so-…thank you. I thought slipping like this was behind me."

"It's alright." Richard relaxed more into his own smile. "Just make sure you don't shoulder it alone."

All she could give him was a nod and a smile in response. His words helped ease her down though, remembering the support of her parents really had come at a perfect time. She shuffled herself closer to the edge of her bed and swung her legs over and down onto the floor, facing Richard directly now. "How's everyone else?"

"They're concerned for you but knew you were fine with me here. I told them to get going after they filled me in."

That reminded Lucy of what she was curious about. "About that. I'm happy if this is just a call-in to see me. But this late at night I feel you've got something too?"

Now he was the one to break eye contact. His gaze lingered on his laptop's screen, the light not masking the hesitation at all. "I wasn't going to mention this originally. But after what you've been discussing..."

"What is it?"

"When you left my house last night, something happened. I remained awake for the next couple of hours so it wasn't a dream. The only rational explanation would be stress-induced hallucinations."

She gave him her support in the best amused smile she could muster right now, "What's rational thinking done for us at this point?"

Richard showed his own amused smile, hesitant as it was before going all in. "I saw and spoke briefly to this man." He turned his laptop around to face her. There on the screen was a screenshot from the game of Fallout: New Vegas. A screenshot of Ulysses. "And I don't mean: 'I spoke to someone who looks like him'. It was too vivid, Lucy. The voice, his looks. Thought I was going mad…but now…"

"…What did he even say?"

"The same kind of thing he says in the games. Cryptic commentary about The Road, he spoke to me the same way he'd speak to The Courier. Only difference is he called me: 'Game Master.'" Richard paused, sitting back in the chair to groan as one frustrated hand rubbed at his eyes "I can't believe we're even discussing this."

She stayed silent as she let Richard just attempt to ease his frustrations. She crossed her arms while continuing to look at the picture. Barely focusing on it though as she instead focused on recapping everything mentally.

Any line between reality and fiction had blurred irreversibly for her at this point. Jokes about her pink hair and red eyes seemed far too accurate now. She had never questioned it, not even the pink hair and white hair of her mothers. She and others had just accepted it as some kind of 'genetic anomaly'. Even now as she pulled at this thread she struggled to think on it. Her head pounding either from frustration or tiredness the more she questioned it. Her hands gripped her crossed over arms as she tried to ignore the headache. She was almost positive she was on the edge of what else she needed to question, if she could just ignore the aching thud in her skull…

"I need more coffee or something stronger." With Richard's speaking interrupting her, the focus was gone and it slipped away. "Any thoughts, Lucy?"

"I'm not saying we completely believe that our reality and a 'fictional' reality are connecting," she took a deep breath. "But let's just speculate as if that is the case. Does Ulysses treat you like the Courier because that's the nameable playable character?"

Richard closed the laptop and put it on the nearby desk, granting himself freedom to move as he leant forward. "Maybe, but the save file where I'm using my own name hasn't been used as much as my other character save files."

"But it does still exist."

"So does one in Skyrim but we don't see Alduin swooping down on me." Richard stopped to glance at the window then slowly reached over and touched the wooden desk for a moment before returning to his previous position.

"I'm going to speak to Kyoko tomorrow. I want to look into this Harrison Wells. A scientist and a lab incident is probably the closest thing we've got to a fictional cliché going on around here."

"I'll help however I can, if you're investigating a shady scientist then you could do with one of your own." At Richard's words, Lucy tilted her head to stare questioningly at the claim. An amused smile flashed on his face, "You're the one dreaming of Chad running about in his self-insert outfit, why can't I embrace being a Wily?"

She shared in the amusement, some relief coming to her before she got up and stretched "Let me at least get you some coffee before you go anywhere."

Richard watched her go before picking back up his laptop. Having a private detective look into this Dr. Wells would help tomorrow but if he had the free time, he figured he might as well make a start.

It took almost no time for a simple web search to start coming up with information and articles. He was a virtually unknown scientist until March of the year 2000. A car accident a month prior had made him, in his own words, 'realise life can speed away in a flash.'

Nothing jumped out at him immediately. If they were really focusing on the absurdity of reality and fiction blurring together then he could see some points that could be key to focus on. Dr. Wells had a strong focus on quantum physics and talking about particle accelerators. Richard was all too familiar with how common those areas were for sci-fi. But it was also normal too, not enough evidence to build an entire connection on.

He kept slowly scrolling through the page. His attention was only half-focused as the craving for coffee became more and more of a necessity. Then he stopped. The laptop almost fell off his lap from his quick movements to sit upright and concentrate on the screen.

He almost missed it. He only just caught the words 'Ashby' and 'Verne' before his mind focused him back onto that part of the page.

"Determination played a strong part in the rise of Wells to recognition. However he has also attributed gratitude to the funding left behind to him in the will of his recently departed friend and mentor: Professor George Verne." He found himself mumbling the words on the screen, his voice quiet just from trying to process this as his eyes remained transfixed upon it. "With the exception of mentoring Harrison Wells, George Verne retired in 1993 in his hometown of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. His last contribution was not to science but instead offering to a company a fictional story for a video game. He had named the main character in honour of his late nephew...Boris Verne"

Richard knew it. He knew the names. He knew the town name. The nostalgic memories of early games were impossible to forget. He switched to another tab; he searched for and pulled up the page for an old Amiga game: Universe.

A story of an English teenager pulled into a different universe, foretold by legend to arrive and save it, travelling across worlds and the space colony structure known as Wheelworld. But he returned. Richard knew that from the game's ending, Boris and his Uncle returned to Earth. Did he? His mind questioned.

It would be easy to dismiss this. The explanation he was reading was a believable one. Yet every normal explanation they could think of kept getting thrown into doubt. He looked back to the information on Dr. Wells, thought back on what he had been told.

In the game, George Verne had built some form of device known as The Trans-Dimensional Inducer. That was what led to Boris accidentally being sent into another universe. If all of that was real, and if Dr. Wells was associated with George Verne, then was this lab accident an attempt to replicate the machine? It would explain why no bodies could be found.

"Richard?" Lucy's voice snapped his attention up fast to the doorway to see her standing there with two cups. "You look spooked?"

"We're going to really need more of that coffee."

This long day was at last coming to a close, the atmospheric shell around the Palace of Power showing the night sky in all its beauty. An exterior door on the home area floor was open, leading to a balcony where Anna leant against the railing. Her gaze was not on the starry sky but on the weapon cradled in her hands. Her weapon.

It had been a long day. An exhaustingly long day. Despite this, Anna's concerns were still lingering on the first incident of the day: the strength of Cor Leonis. That was just someone who worked with Chaos and they could barely handle him. She sighed, that wasn't quite right either was it? Cor ended the fight on his own terms, they hadn't had a handle on it from the start.

Her parents had been hunting Chaos for a while now; she could admit it always was a little naïve to think she'd make headway where they hadn't. But could she be blamed on that? Living her life around heroes and warriors who had managed to make things just work out? Her father had joked often about Hero's Luck with how the pieces just fell conveniently together to figure out the next move. So where was this luck for her?

She kept rotating the gun, studying it. It really was an almost perfect imitation of her father's zapper. A weapon tied directly to her soul for years now and yet still it remained an attempt to live up to someone else's strength, rather than taking on an independent form for her. Even her psychic powers were an inheritance passed down from her mother.

She sighed again and disagreed with her earlier thoughts. It wasn't naïve to think she could succeed where her parents hadn't. It was naïve to think she'd succeed as she was now. "What would you think if you saw me acting like this, Willem?"

"Oh? Guess I'm not the only one up and about?"

The familiar voice made her turn with such abrupt speed that it startled both her and the one who had spoken to her. As her eyes fell on Chad back further in the room, she began to calm back down. "Sorry, I didn't realise anyone was there."

"I just walked in." His eyes lowered to the gun in her hand. "Are you getting in some target practice or something?"

She looked at him puzzled before remembering that the gun was in her hands, she released her grip and let it vanish away. "I'm just thinking on some things, that's all."

"Late night dwelling, huh?" He said with an understanding smile. She nodded and he continued, "sorry to say that I've never figured out the answer to preventing that either."

"I'm surprised you're moving around. The day we've had, I thought you'd be exhausted."

"Oh. I am." Chad spoke back, cheery smile on his face even as his flat tone of voice betrayed that. "I can get brought to a different universe, spend a day travelling and fighting but I guess I still live in insomnia." He shrugged with a noticeable exhale while keeping a smile on his face. "So I'll just pace the halls for a little while longer and see what happens."

It was Anna's turn to give her own understanding smile this time, "Hope it goes well."

"Same to you."

He began to walk off. He was out of a sight for only a second before Anna quickly called out to him, stepping to the doorway. "Hey, Chad?"

He stepped back into sight, leaning back a little "What's up?"

"Does it…bother you that we can't get a weapon to tether to your soul?"

He stood where he was, deep in thought for a moment before he walked up to join her at the balcony. Moving past her to relax and lean on the railing like she was previously, he began to speak while just looking out to the night sky. "I mean I won't deny it's a little disappointing. Of course I'd like a cool weapon of my very own. But I figure I just got here, you know? It'll happen eventually. I can't complain too much when I've managed to get Chaos Control abilities."

Anna returned to her own spot at the balcony. "I guess that leads to my next question. Does it bother you that your power is something that already belongs to others?"

He didn't need to think much this time around. "I've told you before about putting myself into stories, right? That meant changing to fit or intentionally break the rules of that material. Having abilities based on an existing source is just already something I'm used to. Chaos Control has always been what I've felt most comfortable with though. And I've seen and respected characters…I guess characters isn't really right to say anymore. Seen people who have a power built on imitation or inspiration. But they've made it their own. I guess that's all I can try to do myself." He paused for a moment before looking over to her. "But it's easy for me to say that as someone who hasn't been in the same position as you or anyone else here."

She looked to him too, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, no, no. I was just curious, I'm not-" His smile was a doubtful one and she just sighed and lowered her hand, relenting to him. "Alright, so it's about me."

"It's not going to mean much coming from a guy without his own weapon, a guy who feels comfortable taking after something else. But I'm sure it's one of those situations where every step takes you closer to it."

The appreciation showed in her smile. Deep down she already knew this, her sister had told her as much many times. But it was easy to just believe that was biased belief from a family member, it was nice to hear the sentiment shared from someone else. She let the silence hang for a little while longer…before she just had to ask it. "So chaos control was your preferred power, what did you come up with for your weapon?" The grimace on Chad's face only made her press the question further. "Come on, it can't be that bad?"

"Ask me something else."

"Come on."

The words barely came out as a mumble, "Blade of Darkness."

"What?"

"I called it the Blade of Darkness, alright. Stop giggling! I was twelve!"

"Did you come up with anything else afterwards?"

"…no." He grumbled at the repeated laugh from her, looking back to the sky. Complaining about his past self all the while, "It wasn't even a sword of evil; its base form was just really good at channelling and absorbing darkness if an enemy attacked with it. Where the hell was your imagination past me?" A realisation hit and he used it as an attempt to divert the conversation. "But see that helps prove the point. Maybe the reason I haven't got a unique weapon is built on that same problem. I could never come up with a good unique weapon for myself. Powers I've often gone with a variation of chaos control but had the freedom to choose others in different stories. However when it comes to making a weapon? I've never been able to move past that one. Maybe when I do, I'll find my own here too. It's probably the same situation for you."

"Thank you, Chad." She smiled a smile that Chad was almost positive was still somewhat amused by his naming choice. "…Are you worried about what we spoke about earlier?"

"What specifically?"

"A third game master."

Chad sighed; he had almost put it out of his head intentionally so that he wouldn't worry about it. As they had all caught up and discussed what little they knew, they recapped everything Yagami had said to both Chad and Blue. They had called Blue the first of the new Game Masters. Had told him his martial arts training would be an advantage over the other two. He had told Chad that he wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last. So that could only mean one more person they knew would be pulled in for this same role, could've already been pulled in for all they knew.

"I'm trying not to. Yagami had told Blue that all they wanted was him in place. I don't know what the game is but I don't think the intention is to have us killed early. If someone I know does show up here, I have to have faith they'll be okay until we find them."

Anna remained silent for a moment, it was still unsettling after all to just be waiting for what actions this mysterious individual would do next but it was better not to press the topic and add even more onto the anxious feelings. What she did want to be clear on however: "Are you sure you're okay with us not pursuing this Lavos creature any time soon?"

During the gathering of information, Chad had finally brought up the strange dream encounter he had. Anna really was not happy that he hadn't brought it up sooner. His defence of not having a chance to before they set out for the planet of Aurora did not put him in the clear. "I'm more than okay with that."

"You said this Chirithy called it a Lord of Calamity." The gathering of information had Anna also bring up the same fairy tale she had told the children of Hyrule. Cor's mention of the term Descender meant the fairy tale was worth keeping in mind more than ever. "I can't imagine it's easy to know something like that came after you."

Lord of Calamity was certainly an accurate description for a creature such as it. Lavos wasn't even its actual name. Simply a name given to it by a world's equivalent of cavemen using words from their language for Fire and Big. It fell upon that world as a blazing meteor. Immediately burrowed deep under the planet's crust upon impact and there it slept as it grew. Influencing civilisation only when certain individuals came into contact with a piece that had separated from it, an artefact known as The Frozen Flame. Until eventually the creature matured and erupted out into the surface, decimating the world.

It was Anna's decision for them not to go up against it yet after Chad had informed them what he knew of it. She may have wanted desperately to follow any lead they could but she was smart enough to know this was currently beyond them, especially with the early days of the new Game Master's abilities. However they still felt it wise to see if they could trace the location of that world, Chad had told Dr. Light names of various locations upon that world. They couldn't find anything. All the worlds they knew of and this wasn't one of them.

Chad then had revealed to them that finding the world probably wouldn't be enough at this stage. The truth was that the way he encountered Lavos meant that in a way it must've already been dealt with. Through the events of that game, power over time travel was used to destroy Lavos and save the world…for a time.

Lavos itself was so deeply entwined with the paradoxes and alterations time travel had wrought on that world that killing it merely banished it to a void outside of time and space. The Darkness Beyond Time. It survived, it latched onto another victim sent there, and it evolved. It was as Chirithy had said: it was now a Devourer that would consume dreams and eventually time and space itself.

"Anna, you may have been the one to make the decision but I completely agree. Does it bother me that it's connected to what we're all going through? Definitely. Add it to the growing pile of concerns. But I know we can't fight it right now, can't even get to it. If its world's events are going on then maybe someone else will deal with it. If not? We've got a lot of complicated time travel to get involved in first before we even stand a chance."

"…It just bothers me that there are people and groups targeting you Game Masters, and I don't even know how to begin on protecting all of you." She let her words trail off. It wasn't going to do any of them any good to try and grasp all the answers now. She'd focus on the basics for now, continue to strengthen their group and help out across the universe, and then they could worry about the greater threats.

Another neglected the call of sleep as they explored the palace. Wandered would not be accurate to explain the way Iris stepped throughout the halls of the Palace of Power. Her eyes gazed upon rooms with a focus as if visualising how they might once have been. Her hands once again brushed against the marble walls as if to confirm this was all real and not a fantasy to slip away.

The fear of it slipping away certainly wasn't unfounded. Iris's exploration had confirmed what Anna had told them. No personal belongings to be found. The monument outside cracked and faded, obscuring the name it respected. One room she had not entered was the throne room although she had investigated the hall connected to it. What should have been murals that decorated the walls were instead just blank canvases.

She called herself an adventurer; it would be disappointing to any adventurer to come across something from as far back as the era of The Chaos Lord only for its history to have been stripped away. Yet it wouldn't be truthful to call that the reason for the lonely sorrow that filled her heart with each passing room.

Her explorations brought her beneath the 'street' level to a basement floor of the building. A spacious room that was just as empty as anywhere else in the palace, an underground car park assumedly by the layout.

No vehicles of any kind to be found down here. What was thought of as a personal belonging could vary from person to person and so she had wondered on the possibility of vehicles being left behind. It was not to be.

History could be taken, forgotten…just like memories. They greeted me for the first time. Her mind dwelled on the long day's events, the sorrow and loneliness eating away at her further.

If there were any memories left to be found here then it was only to be found in the firmly planted flowers of the garden. She rubbed at her eyes, wiping away both tiredness and small traces of tears threatening to build up. A fresh start in the morning, that's what she needed.

By the time she made it back to the home floor, she almost bumped into a once again pacing Chad. "Ah, sorry!" He awkwardly apologised even though they never collided. "Guess most of us are roaming tonight, you alright?"

Iris shook her head, her own manner just as awkward. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking. I lost focus while exploring."

"Yyyyeah, that's understandable. Still feel like I haven't seen everything yet. Oh!" He immediately switched tracks, smiling gratefully at her. "Thanks for looking out for Blue all this time. I mean he's a trained better fighter than me. But it's a relief to know he wasn't in this alone."

"…You're welcome." One hand held onto her other arm nervously rubbing at it, her eyes never making contact with his.

Not wanting to make this any more oddly awkward than it was, Chad began to move past her "well, hope you get some good sleep. Nice to have you with us though." He barely got further down the hallway before-

"Hey…Chad?"

Stopping and turning to look at her all while feeling a sense of déjà vu from his earlier conversation with Anna, Chad looked to her. "Yeah?"

"Blue told me a little about your stories, about a version of me in them."

Now it was him averting his eyes and awkwardly fidgeting as his hand rubbed at the back of his head. "Ah…he did? This is awkward."

"Don't hold it against him; he kind of let it slip when we first met. After that there was little point keeping things quiet."

"Sorry…can't imagine how weird it is. I can assure you I won't let it affect anything though."

"Can I ask-" she hesitated for a moment. "-where did you get the idea to write an Iris as your sister?"

His hand rubbed at his head even more, the awkwardness in his nerves so high he wondered if he was going to pull out hair at this rate. Boy wasn't this one hell of an uncomfortable conversation to be having. The exact kind of topic he had been trying to avoid with Anna. "Couldn't tell you, really. The mind of a writer is an enigma. It just felt…right."

Silence.

More silence.

Before Chad could panic further at the uncomfortable situation, Iris finally met his eyes. A smile on her lips yet barely carried to her eyes. "I see…well, we're all pretty tired so I won't keep you. I look forward to getting to know you as well. Goodnight, Chad."

He watched her go, only an awkward "night" in response to her until she was out of sight. His shoulders slumped down; he heavily sighed at the fading tension and looked to his reflection in the nearby window. "Did we do something wrong?" he questioned his reflection as if expecting an answer. "…You're never any help."

It couldn't be called 'good-as-new' but the repairs done so far to the castle town of Hyrule were a testament to the unified community of the kingdom's people.

Life was returning to normal for the people after Dr. Wily's attack, it was a night that many could sleep peacefully on knowing they were still protected.

Not that that was on the table for some of the night shift guards of the town. They continued into the night their patrols through the town and across the walls around it to observe the land.

With the exception of Dr. Wily's attack, they were in a time of peace…but that didn't mean there wasn't always the potential risk of a threat. Even if no one was out there worshipping Ganon, there was still the occasional skirmish with ordinary monsters.

One knight was just finishing up his break in the guard house, almost relieved to as it had been really dull to spend the entire time witnessing an arm wrestle fight that seemed to be in a stalemate but was decided before it even began.

"I can feel her arm weakening!" The male knight of the two competitors insisted.

"It does not look like its budging."

"That's because it's not." The female knight flatly told the observer.

"How much did he put on this again?"

With her free hand, she motioned over to the two silver rupees on a nearby table, each one the equivalent of one hundred green rupees; one belonged to her and the other to her foolish challenger.

The observing knight put his helmet back on and stood up, calling over to the straining male knight. "…Your wife is going to kill you."

"Not if I win!"

"You challenged someone who is part Gerudo."

"My victory will be all the sweeter."

"Was the princess's knight beating you when he was just a kid not enough humiliation?"

"He beat all of us!" The male knight protested then panicked as his arm began to lower from his momentary distraction.

The inevitably victorious knight smirked then turned her head to their leaving observer "Try not to trip over a cucco out there."

"One time."

Leaving the guard house he closed the door behind him, the sound of it shutting almost synced with the sound of something slamming down onto a wooden table. It truly had been inevitable.

So began the next part of his nightly patrols through the town. The market long since closed down for the day, shops closed and locked. Even most of the night entertainment was coming to a close by now. The shooting gallery was empty and quiet, the bombchu alley also thankfully silent. Barely anyone was out on the streets at this hour. Occasionally he would pass by another knight or someone heading home, or familiar faces ones got used to seeing enjoy a nightly stroll, but nothing of concern to take note of.

His patrol brought him near the tavern, just closing up for the night. There he was not surprised to see two familiar faces he had gotten used to seeing on his night patrols. A young red-headed woman barely in her twenties was easily moving a large adult man away from the tavern, keeping the visibly drunk man lifted up enough with surprising strength. "Evening, Malon" he greeted her.

"Good evening, Orville."

"Talon drinking until closing time again?"

Malon glanced at the barely conscious drunken man hanging over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "You know my father."

"And knowing you there's an early morning cucco in his future."

Almost falling asleep in his drunken haze, Talon slurred out the words "so long…king bowser…"

"Make it two," Malon decided.

"I won't keep you then, see you again." And that too was inevitable. Talon certainly feared his daughter but not quite enough to be completely responsible. This encounter would definitely happen again as it always did. The sad part to Orville was that this was actually a lot better than how he used to be.

His patrols brought him to the more closed off areas of the town, away from the open and enticing market areas. The back alleys held a few shops but were mostly where one would find various housing areas. It always felt uncomfortably quiet down here and like one was being pinned in by the closeness of the buildings. It was always worth patrolling the back alleys though; it was an often chosen spot for the few times questionable individuals made their way into the kingdom.

There was a wide-open doorway down one alley ahead of him, which brought a pause to his patrols. The small one room building belonged to a fortune teller, a strange hooded individual that kept mostly to his own devices and yet was known to have a good record for being accurate. Commander Impa had kept a close eye on him in the past; there was something about him that she just did not trust. In the experience of any knight Impa's gut instinct was one to be trusted; however they had never discovered anything to worry about so far.

The fortune teller had been out of the kingdom for a while now, the building remaining completely locked all this time. Yet here it now was with the door wide open.

It could've been that the fortune teller returned, or it could've been someone breaking in. Regardless, it was out of the ordinary and therefore well within his jurisdiction to check it out.

Approaching the doorway calmly but cautiously with one hand resting on the hilt of his blade hanging by his side, Orville prepared for any possibility he could imagine. He even hoped for something to occur, the bragging rights alone would be worth it.

The inside of the building was a mess. Furniture moved or knocked over, chests and shelving stripped bare. Orville stepped into the building and glanced over everything. Nothing looked broken. He felt it was a safe bet that no one had broken in, the fortune teller must've returned…but why the apparent rush in collecting his belongings?

This was the kind of mess that could've only been made by an owner leaving with everything they own in a desperate rush. Had he foreseen a danger to the town? Or was it something more personal to just him?

A glint in the corner of his eye caught his attention. There on the floor near the chest was a small discarded open case, next to it on the floor were its contents: an ornate ring with symbols he didn't recognise decorating it. Atop it was a strange red gem, a faint glow appearing and fading in a slow rhythm.

Orville took steps towards it. It must've been dropped in the assumed rush. The smart thing to do would be to leave it there, close this building back up and inform the rest of the knights and General Impa herself. He took more steps closer.

The rhythmic pace of the gem's glow seemed to quicken with each step Orville drew closer to it. It was an alluring light… calling to him. What would be the harm in just picking it up to inspect it further?

He picked it up off the floor, the calling of it stronger than ever. Just holding it gave off the sensation of power. Years of training fuelled a survival instinct that begged him to just drop it to the floor. Instead the calling of power had him inspect the ring further, turning it over and over. "How strange it is to suffer such fear and doubt over so small a thing."

A finger on his other hand slid up towards the ring. "…such a little thing." It slid perfectly onto that finger. He never had a chance to admire its placement there. Pain. Pain flowed through his body like being struck by white-hot iron again and again.

He couldn't even scream, his body seized up as the entire room bathed in the shining red glow of the ring's gem. His very life essence was stolen away into the ring in mere moments. The ring slid itself off of him, floating there in mid-air while the body collapsed to the ground.

Dark energy flickering like flames emerged from and around the cursed ring until it manifested as a new figure wearing the ring. It floated there in the air with bony claws for hands, but no legs. A purple hooded robe formed its body with a single large red eye staring out from the darkness beneath the hood. It was like some kind of bizarre cross between the spiritual entities known as Big Poes and a Wizzrobe.

Its clawed hands stretched and flexed, readjusting to the feeling of having them. Its singular eye glanced down at the unwilling sacrifice and then the creature began to cackle in delight. "Restored at last."

It swirled around in the air, observing its new surroundings. No commotion outside. No signs of magical energy rushing this location to seal him again. The eye vanished beneath the hood for a moment to be replaced by a wide monstrous smile. "Those Mildians lost me?! Wonderful!"

Too excited to restrain itself it flew out of the open door and up into the air to gaze out over the castle town. The land of Hyrule was different to the one it remembered attacking. There was no way for it to know how many ages had passed since it was sealed away. The town itself seemed different but civilisation itself never gained an opportunity to change much over the eras of this world. Any time progress was made; there was Ganon to undo it all.

Its gaze fell upon the castle, the life essence of the incarnation of Hylia and her Chosen Hero unmistakable even from this distance. The only thing that curbed its temptation to attack them in their sleep was sensing the various magical wards and detection spells surrounding the castle. It would be a shame to be caught so easily after only just reawakening.

But...if it was to gather its strength and others first…

Sensing dark powers away from the town, perhaps monsters or whoever it was that had brought him to this location in the first place, the spiritual monster morphed into a flickering dark flame. If any had seen it flying away from the town, they would've just thought of it as no more than a trick of tired eyes.

All except for one.

A man, clad in dark purple and black hooded robes, stood in the fields of Hyrule watching the flame pass over the land in the distance. The slain body of a Sheikah lay near his feet, a dagger still embedded into the corpse. The fortune teller couldn't deny he had been a tad sloppy. He knew the Sheikah bodyguard to the princess had been watching his home, had instructed Sheikah all across the land to look out for anyone matching his appearance.

Travelling nearby the town of Kakariko was a risky move after getting back in and out of Hyrule Castle Town with no one the wiser. A Sheikah scout outside their hometown of Kakariko had spotted him, followed him across the fields until attempting to stop him. If this had been months prior, the Sheikah would've apprehended him with ease. But now? The dark arts he had become an expert in served him well.

In one hand was a small picture frame. What should've been an ordinary painting canvas in it was instead moving. The moving shape was a shadowy figure in the form of something both man and demon. "It is done," the fortune-teller addressed the phantom. "The ring found a victim. Wizzro has been made manifest."

"Move on to the next stage, Astor. Tomorrow the princess, the hero and their allies will respond to this. I will be freed from this gap between dimensions, only then shall you witness true power."

"I obey."

An unnatural chill fell upon the air of Hyrule that night. Flowers wilted when the dark flame passed too close to them. Many citizens faced a restless sleep they had not felt in a long time. Various animal species instinctually sheltered themselves further. All while the dark monsters of the land stirred in the shadows.

The risk of calamity had crept its way in. The very order of the land had shifted…

…and the whole world felt it.

Author Notes:

Note 1: Alright. Who's not dead? Sound off. Hell of a year, eh? Hell of a year.

Note 2: Kallen and Sakura's appearance based on Kallen Kaslana and Yae Sakura of Honkai Impact 3rd.

Note 3: As mentioned before. Timeline for Hyrule in this story is inspired primarily by Hyrule Warriors but mixed with my own ideas. The Zelda series has always reused characters so for people like Malon and Talon, they're whole new versions for this period as they have had before.

Note 4: That brings us to the Fortune-Teller. It was just going to be some random dark mage, but with the recently released Age of Calamity, his inspiration is now of course Astor.

Note 5: There is no note 5, just keep being safe out there.

See ya next time.