I'm so excited to post this chapter! Flying and Abyssal Zoras were among the first ideas I had for this story, and now I get to lore-dump and post art I've been sitting on for a while. Now on garden-eel-draws dot tumblr dot com: under "concept art", I've put up more examples of Flying Zoras (now with girls!), the uniforms and weapons the guard NPCs in this chapter have, and a full-body illustration and a couple of high-effort portraits of the big scary grandma in this chapter. (Seriously, those portraits are the peak of my art skills. Pretty please look at them please). Under "pixel art", I've posted an example of what Five-Spear Island would look like "in-game". All of that stuff is embedded in the Ao3 version of this chapter, too.
Content warning for somewhat scary sudden sickness. Not everyone has experienced the dimensional shift as smoothly as others.
The Harrys stumbled off of their second train of the day, no less dizzy than they'd been falling out of the first. While Hylian bullet-trains were very cool to watch in action, being inside of one as it flew down the tracks was an incredibly disorienting and all-around terrible experience. There were seat belts made from lengths of slim rope, which the conductors checked before the vehicle took off, and no standing room whatsoever. There couldn't be standing room; the centrifugal force of every turn would knock anyone not sitting off their feet.
Harry wobbled over to one of the support pillars of the little train station and held onto it while he regained his balance. 'Is every train ride going to be like this?' he thought miserably. He hoped they'd get used to the roller-coaster ride soon. The only other forms of transport he'd seen in Hyrule so far were rickshaws and oxen-drawn carriages, which weren't nearly fast enough for the kind of cross-country travel their quest called for. He couldn't wait to get back to his broom.
"We still have to ride two more of those?" Red groaned. "I'd rather fight the bloody giant eel again."
"Maybe the one up to the mainland won't be as twisty," Yellow said hopefully. "These trains have to wind around the islands, but that one only has to go north."
Blue uncurled from where he'd crouched on the ground, making the small trickle of disembarking passengers part around him. "Let's not eat anything until we're done riding trains," he groaned.
"Definitely," the other Harrys chorused. Together, they left the protective shade of the train stop.
Harry stared up unflinchingly at the bright sky, the Lenses of Truth filtering out the harsh sunlight. True to its name, Five-Spear Isle featured five towering rock spires stabbing toward the heavens. They stuck out of the sandy basin filling the tall stone mound that formed the center of the island. The rest of Five-Spear Isle consisted of a high, fortified rock wall surrounding the central mound, connected to it by an ornate bridge of bronze and stone designed to look like a leaping fish. Large cubbyholes dotted the dark, polished sides of the stone wall, painted in a rainbow of colors. Images of sea birds and bright tropical fish swam and flew among the many doorways. Flying Zoras, too, flitted along the walls, just as bright as the paintings. They jumped from place to place or climbed up using handholds chipped into the stone. The turquoise waters within the walled border were a further hive of activity, hosting what looked like an aquatic marketplace under the rippling waves. Dominating the central island was a shining bronze and stone building shaped like a conch shell. More bronze had been built into each of the island's distinctive "spears", forming wide chimneys that stuck out of the tops and grand fortress doors at the bottom. It looked like the formations had been hollowed out to allow for whatever was causing bluish smoke to vent from their chimneys.
The Harrys had been deposited on one of the corners of the border wall, which seemed to be a jumping-off point for anyone who wanted to swim outside the bounds of the island. Zoras ran along the large flat slabs of dark stone that formed the upper side of the wall, using it like a runway to fuel flying leaps that carried them dozens of yards over the deep, dark blue ocean. They reentered the enclosed island via tunnels at the bottom of the wall.
"Hello! Your names wouldn't happen to be colors, would they?" a voice said.
Harry's head snapped up. A pair of Flying Zoras carrying bronze spears were looking at him and his brothers with friendly interest. They wore knee-length leather dungarees with all sorts of gaps to allow their fins to move. Likewise, their metal helmets sported openings for their ears and ridged Mohawks. The tips of their wickedly barbed weapons were fish-shaped, with inlaid eyes made of glowing orange stone.
"Ruka came by a coupla hours ago. Told us to expect four rainbow humans all carryin' the same sword," the female guard said in a thick New York accent. She was taller and broader than the male guard next to her, easily the same size as a human man, with deeper teal skin and ruby-red fins. "You're from a whole 'nother dimension, we heard. Is that right, or was the young master makin' up stories to dress up his adventures again?"
Harry's eyebrows went up. It felt like they had left that last labyrinth ages ago. Had it really just been a few hours? "He was telling the truth. We're from a place that used to be called Lorule. It's Scotland now," he said. "But, er, how old is Ruka in terms of human ages?" Because now he just had to know. This lady had spoken of him like he was a little kid! "He said he was seventy-five years old."
"He'd be, uh…about fifteen-ish," the male guard said after counting on his fingers. "What, did you think he was a whole adult?" He laughed. "Nah, that kid's goin' to be a kid for a while yet. You should've heard the chewin' out he got when the Master Craftsman got ahold of 'im." He shuddered dramatically. "Grounded from adventurin' for a whole year. Probably woulda been worse if he hadn't brought that vase back. He got sent down to his room, so you're gonna have to get permission from the Boss Lady if you want to talk to the kid. C'mon, we'll take you there."
The guards turned and started leading them toward the fancy bronze bridge. "They're taking us to meet some lady they call the 'Master Craftsman'. Ruka got grounded after he got back, so we have to talk to the Craftsman if we want to talk to him," he informed his brothers. "I'm thinking she's probably the grandma he mentioned back in the temple."
"He got grounded? That doesn't seem fair. He didn't get stuck in our world on purpose," Yellow said. "Maybe we can talk to the Master Craftsman and ask if she can make the punishment nicer."
"How about we don't risk making enemies of powerful people on our first day in Hyrule?" Blue suggested. "Or ever, if we can help it? Vaati and Shadow Harry are bad enough."
"I dunno, I think I'd like to have an arm-wrestle with one of the girls around here," Red said. "They're bigger than the blokes, did you notice? How does that work?"
Blue rolled his eyes. "The same way human men generally being larger than human women does, but the other way," he said slowly.
Red gave him a flat glare. "You don't have to be an arse about it every time I say something dumb, you know."
"Oh, but I do."
A darker-colored, grayish-teal Zora climbed up the wall and flapped her faded burgundy fins dry. She was over two meters tall and leaner than the cyan and coral-colored Zoras, with sharp blue eyes and pursed crimson lips. When she saw the Harrys, her face lit up in a delighted, needle-toothed smile and she ran over with springing steps. As she approached, the two guards snapped to attention. The tall girl ignored them as she leaned down to address the Harrys.
"Are you the Hylians that helped my baby brother?" she asked brightly. "He snuck out ages ago on one of those quests of his, and then he just vanished! Poof! Like he was never there. And then he comes back with the Abyssal Vase, of all things! He almost gave Grammy a heart-attack. It was the funniest thing I've seen all month!" She cackled like a cartoon witch. "The old hag shouldn't tell all those stories if she doesn't want our little dreamer goin' treasure-huntin'. Every time Ruka disappears and comes back with somethin' weird, Grammy gets all mad and grounds 'im." She waved a hand at the guards. "I'll handle this. You can go back to your posts."
"But Craftsman Rutari, isn't it your day off?" the male guard politely protested. "You don't have to bother with somethin' like this."
"They're goin' to talk to Grammy, Kauta. You know how she is about land-dwellers. She'll be grumpy enough after all the time she's spent negotiating work contracts this afternoon. Seems like everyone today wants her to give her an attitude while askin' her to make 'em stuff," Rutari said. "I've got this, fellas."
"Yes ma'am," the female guard said with a slight bow. She hooked her arm through her partner's and marched off toward the train stop.
Rutari resumed leading the Harrys down the wall. Her long-legged strides had the boys speed-walking to catch up. "Have you ever dealt with Abyssal Zoras before?" she asked. "I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't."
Harry assumed that dead ones didn't count. "No, but Ruka said his grandma was kind of…er, temperamental?" He'd gotten the impression that Ruka was fond of the woman, but still a little wary. Not that Harry considered himself the greatest at judging other people's family dynamics.
"She's a crabby old coot," Rutari said matter-of-factly. "But she's a master blacksmith and the most skilled enchanter in the isles, so she can get away with the attitude. Grammy's actually pretty nice for an Abyssal. They're known for stinging people they don't like, but she hasn't killed anybody since the last time some burglars broke in."
Harry was suddenly reminded of the Zora ReDeads he'd seen, with their jellyfish bells and glowing tentacle hair. He hadn't realized those were functional; avoiding the zombies' teeth had been his main priority. What if all the glowing bits on those monsters had been deadly? He hadn't even considered that! "She can kill people just by stinging them?" he asked, his voice a little shrill.
"Well, it kills humans and Gorons. For Flying and Inland Zoras, it just feels like being set on fire for a couple of hours," she clarified with a shrug. "She won't sting you, though. Like I said, she's a friendly Abyssal. And you saved her littlest grandkid, so she'll be nicer to you. Ruka doesn't believe it, but he's definitely the favorite." She leaned down and dropped her voice to a whisper. "I think Grammy worries about him 'cause he's so small and hasn't gone to earn his magic from Lanuatu yet. Thanks for lookin' out for him in that weird world of yours, kid."
They stepped onto the wide, fancy bridge. Red drifted toward the side of it, marveling at the engraved metalwork, while Blue frowned at the smooth stone under their feet, probably wondering what specific kind of rock it was. Yellow stared up at the grand, spiraling building they were headed toward.
"Are you sure 'Master Craftsman' doesn't mean 'Queen?" he asked Harry. "All the buildings on Outset were wood with a little bit of stone, but this building is all metal and shiny. Maybe it's the Zora version of a palace."
"Ruka did say his family was rich," Harry reasoned. "I'm guessing they have a lot of money from all the people in the islands that come here to have stuff made. Rutari said her grandma is the best magic blacksmith out here."
They stopped by the open doorway to the conch-shell building. From here, Harry could see it was dark inside, lit only by sunlight and glowing blue tracery that covered the walls in images of deep-sea creatures like angler fish and giant squid. Tiny mosaic tiles laid into the floor formed a monochrome blue seascape exactly like the ones that had decorated the last temple. The center of the building's interior was taken up by a circular pool edged with glowing turquoise stones.
Rutari leaned down and spoke to Harry in a low voice. "Okay, last-minute advice: only speak when she gives you permission and always use her title. Don't waste any words, either, 'cause she's paranoid about land-dwellers who talk too fancy," she said. "I'm gonna take a guess that you're the only one of the four who knows Hylian, so you're the designated spokesperson here. Tell your bros to keep their yaps shut if they don't want a terrifyin' old lady rantin' at 'em about manners." She strode into the conch-shell building.
"The Master Craftsman is a big, scary grandma, and you can't talk while we're in there because it'll make her cross," Harry passed along to his brothers. "It sounds like she has a really short temper."
"The first living Abyssal Zora we see, and we can't ask her any questions?" Blue whined. "How many times are we going to get a chance like this?"
"What questions would you even ask her? 'How deep do you usually live'? 'See any zombies lately?'" Harry retorted. "And it wouldn't be you asking, it would be me. I'm not going to get stung to death because you had me ask her something that she thinks is an insult."
"She can sting people to death? Wicked!" Red exclaimed. "How often does she do it?"
Harry flapped his hands at them. "Just…Shhh!" he hissed. "Yellow, keep them quiet, will you?"
Yellow did a salute. "Okey-dokey!"
They entered the cool interior of the conch-shell building. It was unnaturally cool, actually. Harry wondered whether it was magically air-conditioned. Rutari knelt by the pool, sticking her head into the water. She stood as the Harrys approached and gestured for them to step up.
The water rippled, a multicolored glow lighting up the center. A jellyfish like an orange and pink firework broke the water, followed by a scowling, near-human face and trailing pink tentacles. Wiry black arms—each longer than Harry was tall—reached from the pool and pushed the giant farther out of the water before crossing under the looming figure. She was a silhouette against their dark surroundings, made visible by her luminous markings and narrowed blue eyes. Long, knobby fingers with manicured claws tapped irritably on the tiles, making the floor shiver under Harry's feet.
The giant looked down her long nose at the human children who'd dared enter her lair, her wrinkled upper lip curling slightly. "Hmph. It appears my little storyteller spoke the truth. Good of you to come promptly," she rumbled in clipped, posh tones. Though her voice wasn't too loud, it vibrated through the metal-walled room. "I am Master Craftsman Haalitraphas Bentha, descendant of the ruling family of the lost kingdom of Jabun and High Matriarch to the families of Five-Spear Isle. You may address me only as 'Master Craftsman or 'Matriarch'. Is that clear? You may answer."
"Yes, Master Craftsman," Harry said nervously. This lady spoke like a combination of Professor McGonagall and Lucius Malfoy, with none of the warmth of either. He could feel her sizing them up like large bugs she was debating how to squash.
"My youngest grandchild disappeared some weeks back, vowing to return with a famous lost treasure of Jabun, and lo and behold, he achieved the impossible. My family has searched Jabun's Eye for generations, retrieving our past creations, and yet were never able to find the Abyssal Vase," Haalitraphas went on. "How did you, four air-breathers even younger than Ruka, manage to assist him? As much as he takes after his skimmer heritage, he is still a far better diver than any land-dweller could hope to be. I have seen human thieves die after stealing my people's treasures, just from the strain of surfacing from such depths. Even Jabun, the shallowest kingdom, is a dangerous descent for anyone not of my race, and that isn't even accounting for the creatures of dark magic that continue to populate its poisoned depths." She leaned toward Harry, her lips peeling back to show an array of translucent blue needles—a natural cage designed to keep prey from escaping her jaws. A few of the long, neon tendrils trailing from her head slid over her shoulders and dangled to the ground. "Have you perhaps stolen something that allows you to trespass in my people's waters, children?" she asked in an even lower growl that buzzed in Harry's chest. "Did you assist my grandchild only for the sake of stealing the Abyssal Vase for yourself?"
Harry's body went cold. His eyes locked onto the deadly, white-tipped lines of pink falling from the giant's head. He had technically stolen some Zora artifacts. It hadn't been out of greed, or even by choice, but he didn't think Haalitraphas would care about little details like coercion by evil spirits.
Rutari nudged her grandmother in the elbow with her foot. "Grammy, they brought the baby back in one piece. Be nice," she muttered.
"I have lived for four centuries and most of that time has been spent beating human treasure-hunters back with a metaphorical broom," the older woman hissed back. "Land-dwellers crave anything they don't know how to make for themselves. It is an unfortunate fact that you somehow have yet to learn, despite the bandits that broke into your workshop mere months ago."
"That was five years ago, Grammy. You're gettin' senile."
"We'll see how precise your perception of time is once you're my age, hatchling," she huffed, poking Rutari in the side. "Now, air-breathers," she turned her weighty, scrutinizing gaze back to the Harrys, "how did you assist my grandson? What did you steal? Speak, children."
"We didn't find the thing that helped us on purpose, or even because we wanted to," Harry said quickly. "An evil spirit stranded me here, away from my brothers, and my friends and I had to play his game so all four of me wouldn't die. He wanted us to find something in the sea caves Ruka had been exploring and made it so we couldn't go back through the portal home until we found it."
"An 'evil spirit'? I doubt a manifestation of ill feeling would be capable of such a thing. And what brothers would—?" The Zora cut herself off mid-scoff and leaned over to peer more closely at Harry's sword. Harry stood stock-still, his eyes flicking nervously to the glowing orange-pink tentacles swaying nearer to him. He almost wished Rutari hadn't told him those were lethal. Now it felt like he was standing a couple of meters away from live, sparking power lines.
The Master Craftsman was entirely focused on his sword, either not noticing or caring that her deadly appendages were getting a little too close. Her ancient brow furrowed quizzically. "The Four Sword should be in the Kubozai Kingdom," she said. "That's four thousand meters down and far from any islands; I've never heard of a surface-skimmer reaching that place, let alone a human. How on earth did you come across the Four Sword's altar in the vastness of that abyssal plain? How did a tiny, clumsy, air-breather hatchling like you get past the guards around the city, let alone the shrine?" Her icy blue eyes bored into him, her big voice getting deeper and more ominous as she spoke. "Tell me."
Harry suddenly had no doubt that not only was this woman's species carnivorous, but he was something she'd consider prey if they came across one another in her natural habitat. "I, erm…" He forced himself to look away from her swaying tentacles and braved her terrifying glower. "Well, one day I followed what I think is the spirit of the school I live in to a sword that got into the basement somehow…" He went on to explain the effects of the sword, his general lack of knowledge, and Vaati's interdimensional shenanigans.
"Ah, so it's time for trouble again," Haalitraphas said once he'd finished, drawing back to lean contemplatively on her elbows.
Harry breathed out a shaky sigh of relief when she gave him some space. Beyond her tentacles, this lady just had a lot of glowing, probably-lethal bits on her. They made her look really cool, but in the way that a really toxic animal was cool—like a blue-ringed octopus or a poison arrow frog.
"Knowing what kinds of situations you sword-bearers typically get into, am I to understand that you looted my ancestral kingdom for your own survival?" Haalitraphas asked archly. "Troubles or not, that doesn't give you the right to—"
Rutari laid a hand on her arm. "Grammy, Ruka was there to loot the place. These kids just wound up held hostage," she pointed out.
"Ruka is of the Bentha bloodline, for all that he might not look it," the Master Craftsman said. "These Hylians were merely carrying out the human tradition of taking what they cannot make."
Harry fidgeted uncomfortably. Yes, he had stolen something, but the caves had only been populated by jellyfish, Zora ReDeads, and the thing behind the "stars", so he hadn't known there was anyone still laying claim to the place. Still, he could own up to his actions. And, as a silver lining…
"Erm, Master Craftsman?" he said timidly.
Cold blue eyes slid down toward him. Their pale striations made them look like icy stars. "Yes, air-breather?"
"The thing I took from the caves—there might be an original of it somewhere in there, still. That evil spirit I mentioned can craft these, erm, spell scrolls that work with the wizard-magic we use. All of us can make one of these," he conjured the Zora Earring, "and the Abyssal Vase, but I don't think they're the original ones. Ruka probably has the real vase."
Haalitraphas leaned down to freeze him in place with her analytical, suspicious stare. Then she plucked the earring out of his hand with delicate dexterity. She held the blue speck of stone between her claws, which appeared to have been trimmed precisely for that kind of fine object manipulation. "My thrice-great grandmother crafted this using a scale from Lanuatu and self-drafted songs," she mused as she inspected the tiny earring, which she laid atop one giant fingertip. "Master Craftsman Aekaria was an idealist—one of those surface-lovers who welcomed air-breathing craftsmen into her workshop. She wasted weeks drafting prototypes to refine her enchantment, then sang magic into ten trinkets like this one, all to welcome surface races to see her people's work. When some went missing, she enchanted more. After Jabun was massacred by a pack of Yiga poisoners using the missing earrings, other land-dwellers used those stolen artifacts to invade the lost kingdom and steal whatever they could find from the abandoned workrooms and treasure holds. How droll, that one of the few things those greedy humans and my desperate ancestors missed in their search was one of these." She dropped the earring and Harry fumbled to catch it. "Does it mean anything to you, human? That you can now invade my peoples' cities without fear of depth or deadly chill? Do you long to find more artifacts you can show off as rare curiosities to other land-dwellers?"
"If I could avoid going in deep water ever again, I would. Down there was the scariest place I've ever been," Harry said truthfully. He had no desire to test just how drowning-resistant he now was; his head was full of enough nightmares, thanks. "And I mean, I go to a whole magic school full of magic things. If I'm going to steal any magic stuff from anywhere, it'll probably be from there, honestly."
Haalitraphas laughed, her tentacles and the bright filaments under her jellyfish bell pulsing with light. Harry jumped and almost hid behind Red at the harsh, unexpected noise. "A magical school! If only the art of enchantment were simple enough to explain to an entire class at once!" she boomed incredulously. "What a strange world you come from!"
Harry found himself once more paralyzed by her luminous arctic stare. "You are an interesting creature, young sword-bearer," Haalitraphas said, extending one long finger toward his face. Harry fought instincts that told him to flee and stayed put, his brothers going similarly still.
The giant Zora lightly chucked him under the chin with one massive finger, her wrinkled blue lips twitching upward in an amused smirk. "I sense no greed from you, and you can be assured that I've seen many forms of avarice from many different air-breathers. You are small and fragile, barely out of the egg, and yet you risked your life to save a young member of my clan without knowing of his pedigree. You fought a beast of legend—one of those that invaded my ancestral homeland in the wake of the dark poison—and yet were reluctant to accept whatever pittance my grandchild had to offer. While I hold all air-breathers, especially humans, in suspicion for good reason, I can appreciate the occasional honest standout." She settled her pointed chin on her overlaid hands. "I will allow Ruka to grant you what he promised, as well as let you visit him. Be assured, however, that any attempts at a 'prison break' will be met with harsh punishment." She beckoned to them. "You will have to swim, children."
The giant turned and dove in a smooth act of grace, disappearing quietly under the water. Harry stepped up to it, his stomach swooping at the illuminated depths within. At least there was light, keeping the well from turning into a shadowy void, but all it did was reveal how far down it went.
"Don't keep her waitin' or she might take her niceness back," Rutari advised. "It's safe, just deeper than most Hylians can go. The most dangerous thing down there is Grammy."
Harry closed his eyes and bit his lower lip. He had gone through an entire temple full of deep water, and he could do one more dive. "We have to swim," he told his brothers, summoning his Zora Earring. The other Harrys did the same. "The Craftsman is showing us to Ruka. I guess he lives down there."
Red shrugged. "Okay. At least there's better lighting this time." He dove right in.
"Keep it together, Green. You can do it." Blue gave him an encouraging nod before doing a cannonball.
"I want to see what an underwater Zora place looks like when it's not haunted," Yellow said cheerfully. He held out his hand to Harry. "I'm sure it's a lot less scary when there's people who aren't zombies."
Harry smiled weakly and took his hand. "Yeah, I'll take a big cranky grandma over a ReDead any day." They jumped into the water together.
"It's rude to make your elders wait," Haalitraphas sniffed, watching them swim down with her hands on her hips. She was an elegant-looking woman despite her age and size, five meters of willowy limbs held in the water with refined poise by rippling orange and pink fins. Her jellyfish bell looked all the more like a firework underwater, with her long tendrils drifting around it like a gently waving explosion. She took off the wide band of blue cloth tied at her waist and used it to pull her tentacles back into a bun that tucked at the nape of her neck. "Consider yourself honored to behold me in my element, Hylians," she said imperiously. "Few land-dwellers live to see an Abyssal Zora below the surface, let alone one of my age and stature. If not for my love of my less fortunate, surface-skimming descendants, I would have migrated to the Fathomless Kingdom once I came of age—far out of the reach of any sun-loving thieves."
The ancient matriarch swam down through the cylindrical cavern, her voice thrumming through the water as she greeted the smaller Zoras flitting around. Most of the others were shades of teal to charcoal, with proportions varying from human average to considerably lanky. Comparing his mental image of short, stout Ruka against these relatives, Harry could understand why they would be protective. Ruka was definitely younger and smaller than most of the Zoras in the cavern, the only exceptions being toddlers who were most likely great and great-great grandchildren of the giant passing by.
Haalitraphas stopped in front of one round metal door among the many and knocked on it. The door swung in to reveal the pouting face of Ruka. "Grammy, you already grounded me for a whole year. What else—?" He noticed the Harrys and brightened. "You made it! That was so fast!"
"I'm letting them visit so you can grant them your promised boon," his grandmother said. "It was very cute, how insistent you were. These children must have done much to impress you." She fondly ran a finger over his middle head fin. "Now, no giving them family heirlooms, my dear. They already have two. Apart from that, I trust your judgment." She swam back up the tall column and disappeared through a large opening higher in the wall.
"Come in, come in!" Ruka took Harry's hand and tugged him through the doorway. "I've got that stuff I promised all lined up already, since Grammy's made sure I have nothin' else to do. Now I can show you how Hyrule's magic works!"
Harry sat quietly, his head spinning, as Ruka went on a long and detailed lecture about the kinds of magic and the power of music and will. He had a distinct feeling that he wasn't smart enough for this conversation, and lamented the fact that Blue couldn't listen for him.
In Hyrule, there were three kinds of magic: the power of land, the abilities unique to each one of its peoples, and the unusual individual power that enchanting called for. The magic of the land included spirits and the animals, plants, and rocks used in potions, magic-boosted foods, and a wide array of magical items. The abilities of the peoples accounted for the inherent magical natures of Hyrule's different races. Zoras could ignore things like water resistance, for example, allowing them to swim faster than any humanoid creature should. Ritos had a measure of control over the wind, making them able to fly at their size and weight without needing wings the size of sails. Sheikah all had a small amount of shadow magic, boosting their ability to move silently and unseen in the dark. Hylians were especially able to see and interact with spirits and divine entities, the Gerudo were able to weather high temperatures that could kill Hylians and resist electric shocks, the Gorons were as close to lava-proof as a living being could manage, and Deku Scrubs were mostly immune to spells that acted on the mind. Individual magic was more like what wizards had, but still not quite the same. One could be born with magic or blessed with it, and it tended to be very narrow in what it could do. A magical talent might be casting fireballs from one's hands, telling the future in a crystal ball, or generating shields, and nothing more. It was rare for someone to be able to use a caster-powered item like the Magic Rod without ill effects and almost unheard-of for a mage to be able to use a non-specialized staff like Hermione's.
Enchanting gave mages more options for channeling their abilities. It set a level playing field where having power meant you could craft any kind of spell if you had the patience and energy for it, regardless of what specific talent your magic manifested as. As a result, pretty much every magical person in Hyrule was an enchanter; it let you do the most with what you had, and most people didn't have much compared to mages in the Dark World. Now, as for the mechanics of enchanting…
Harry thoroughly did not get it.
Music magic? Musical phrasing doing specific things? Every chant or song was essentially a prayer, but you could also pray without words? It sounded like you just sang about what you wanted the item to do, but you had to do it really specifically, otherwise the thing wouldn't work and you'd have to come up with a whole new song to fix the holes in the first one. That was just classical enchanting, though. There was a new field of enchanting that used something called "spell nodes" and had really revolutionized the industry and guhhh…
Harry looked around, Ruka's voice becoming background noise. He politely nodded every now and then as he took in his interesting surroundings. Ruka's room was a vertical, egg-shaped cave with a sleeping basin and vanity on the bottom and everything else neatly slotted onto the shelves carved into the walls all the way to the top. Treasure glittered in the light cast by the glowing blue-white domes and turquoise lines decorating the cave. Harry saw all kinds of weapons, jewelry, lines of shields, various pieces of deep-sea pottery (including the Abyssal vase), and ancient Hylian magical items, all carefully set up on display stands. They all looked like new.
Ruka's big yellow eyes blinked and he followed Harry's line of sight. He beamed when he noticed what had caught Harry's interest. "I fixed all those up myself!" he declared proudly before swimming over to the shelf of shields. "Wanna see?"
Harry paddled over to get a closer look. His brothers were already scattered around looking at the collection, their attention spans having burned out even faster than his because of the language barrier. Ruka turned the shield toward him, and Harry was shocked to recognize the design. It was a kind of Hylian shield, though not the iconic blue style that Ron had. This was smaller and brown, the design under the golden Triforce symbol less abstract and resembling a winged goat-man more than a bird. Through the Four Sword's game of mental Telephone, he could remember carrying a shield like this many a time.
"I found this up on a mountain at around two thousand meters down—the deepest Grammy will let me swim until I turn eighty. She even made me a depth gauge I have to wear on trips or I'll get double-grounded," Ruka said with a little pout. He slid his fingers around the silver edge of the shield. "This old thing was all crusty and dinged up when I found it, but I scraped all the barnacles off, treated the tarnish, polished it up, and re-enameled it to look like new! It's nothin' special, just a Small Shield from not long before the Great Flood, but I found it on the outskirts of Stauros City without gettin' caught." He flashed his sharp teeth in a cheeky smirk. "That place used to be Kakariko Town, an important landmark, so the Abyssals there are extra territorial. Just 'cause their ancestors stuck around down there instead of bookin' it like everyone else, they think they're real big-shots—the 'true' inheritors of the Old Kingdom. If you want to go anywhere interestin' on the bottom of the Great Sea, you'll have to sneak past the big grumps guardin' the places first. They're too stubborn for you to talk your way past 'em and not the kind of fellas you want to fight, with all those nasty jellyfish stings."
Ruka put the humble brown shield back and swam up to fetch a black bangle studded with rubies and decorated with a wiggling silver line. "This is a piece of Abyssal jewelry I tripped over while I was toolin' around tryin' to find a nice cave to explore. A real classic magnetite and ruby deal that somebody dropped in the sand about five hundred years back, goin' by the marine worm design. I actually got caught gettin' this one—went too close to a city patrol route—but I shoved it in my bag before the guards spotted it. The looks on those guys' faces was priceless." He spun the bracelet around on one finger, looking pleased as punch. "Flying Zoras can't dive farther than two hundred meters without gettin' seriously sick, and I was almost three thousand meters down. I didn't get Grammy's looks, but I'm one of the best divers in the family." He puffed his chest out. "That was the trip that got Grammy to put a depth cap on me, actually. The Abyssals who nabbed me thought they were seein' things at first—a skimmer all the way down there!—and then they dragged me back home so they could tattle to my parents about me bein' a trespasser." He rolled his eyes. "Joke's on them: Grammy ripped those guys a new one for failin' to recognize kin. I mean, how the hell else would I get down there without somethin' like a Zora Earring? Just goes to show the kinds of mooks that Abyssals put on patrol duty." He put the bracelet back and zipped off to where Red was poking around a higher shelf. "Oh, you like my Hookshots? I can't get the damn things to work, but those chains are awesome, right?"
Memories of Old Hyrule swam through Harry's mind as he and the Four Sword took in the fact that there were still people there. The original kingdom had been banished to a watery grave thousands of meters deep by an aquatic apocalypse, and yet it still lived! Harry hoped to hell and back that he never, ever had to go there, but that was pretty cool. Seeing all these artifacts from the Old Kingdom and the civilization that had grown to fill its bones, he found himself amazed by Hyrule's ridiculous resilience. No wonder Vaati had decided to try his hand at taking over the Dark World instead!
Remus awoke on the floor of his classroom, where he'd run to tie down his class materials when the windstorm had started. He had a few magical creatures waiting in the wings for future lessons and possible review sessions. His memory cut off after securing the lid on his Grindylow tank. Had the creature gotten ahold of him?
He sat up, then swayed. Ugh, he felt terrible. Not like he'd been strangled by a Grindylow, but feverish. His head both spun and pounded, and sweat had already formed on his brow before he regained consciousness.
Climbing unsteadily to his feet, he returned to checking over his classroom. He groaned at the mess. The windstorm had picked up a great many things and tossed them around. The Grindylow's tank was cracked from something that had smacked against the glass—strange, given how magically-reinforced that barrier should have been—and the small habitat for the second Boggart he'd found that year had fallen off of his desk.
A heavy wave of dizziness crashed over him and he stumbled into the table the Grindylow's tank lay on. It bobbled dangerously and he only managed to save it with a desperate hug. Bringing the table and tank back into a stable position, he frowned. Shaken up or not, the Grindylow should have tried to attack him.
He cast a Mending Charm on the enclosure, which only sealed the cracks partway. What? He stared at it, befuddled. Mending Charms were things he'd been casting since his first year at school. How could he possibly have screwed that up?
Feverish weakness hit him, this time causing his knees to fold. Remus struggled not to collapse completely. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
This wasn't any normal illness. His blood felt like it was on fire. He hadn't noticed at first how bad it was because it had already had him in his grip; right now, in this moment of painful clarity, he realized he was delirious from fever. As bad as he felt, he was definitely in an even worse state.
Remus pried himself off of the floor. He needed to get to the Hospital Wing before he forgot. He couldn't stay here, or he might die of whatever this was.
He cast another couple of Mending Charms on the tank to make sure it wouldn't drain while he was away and then staggered toward the door. The act of taking a few steps was enough to steal his breath away. He leaned heavily against the wall outside his classroom as he dragged his weakening body onward. His vision was turning to gray fuzz and his ears felt like they were stuffed with wet cotton. With every difficult, shuffling step, his heart pounded harder and his breaths shortened further. His lungs were clear, and yet ached and strained in his chest.
Within twenty steps, he realized he wasn't going to make it on his own. "Help," he panted. "Help!" He blinked rapidly, begging his consciousness to stay until he could find someone to drag his sorry carcass to the Hospital Wing. "Help…"
Remus slid down the wall, his legs unable to hold him anymore. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Hagrid had no idea how he'd wound up in the middle of a well-kept, foreign-looking kitchen. All he knew was that his head hurt something awful, he badly needed an ice bath, and Fang was barking from another room somewhere. He swung his head around to get a quick look at his surroundings. When he woke back up on the floor, he figured that moving too fast again was a bad idea.
With great care, he sat back up and turned his head more carefully. This looked like a Muggle kitchen. He'd see a few before on rare assignments to fetch the muggleborn children of stubbornly anti-magical parents. They had all those "eclectric" appliances in them, right? He saw something that was probably a big Muggle icebox, some metallic doodads on the counter, blue-white lights shining from insets in the ceiling, and a number of metal-bracketed glowing blue lines running across the walls. Those blue lines weren't familiar. Were they a new Muggle fad?
Hagrid put his feet under him and started standing up.
He suddenly found himself lying flat on his back again, this time looking up at…Harry? Startled blue eyes framed by shaggy green-blond hair peered down at him. It was certainly Harry's face under that bird's nest, though. Maybe Blue had decided to dye his hair? Hagrid wouldn't have expected that color.
His eyes fluttered shut as the heat in his blood became a horrible inferno. It felt like a herd of tiny, territorial dragons were fighting a war in his veins. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so terrible. At least Harry would know to fetch some help, though. He was a good lad, that one.
Notes: (Lots of casual lore-dropping happened in this chapter, but I didn't want to turn it into a boring infodump by cramming in a bunch of explanations for stuff that isn't relevant yet. If you want some early-access basic info for things we'll delve into later, though, I've included that here. This is not required reading for a future quiz, I promise lol)
-Flying Zoras live in multi-family colonies on the Spear Isles (formerly the Eye Reefs of Wind Waker), each led by a central High Matriarch who is advised by the leading females of the satellite families. Haalitraphas is a very weird High Matriarch for a Flying Zora colony to have, but she does her job well, so the other families are happy to have her.
-Haalitraphas Bentha gets her name from both the halitrephes maasi jellyfish her design is based on and the Benthic Zone, a scientific term referring to things at the bottom of a body of water. Her ancestor Aekaria's name comes from aequorea victoria, the crystal jellyfish. The Kubozai Kingdom, located in what was previously Central Hyrule in the Old Kingdom, is named for cubozoa, the class of box jellyfish. The name of Stauros City comes from staurozoa, the class of stalked jellyfish.
-Lanuatu is the predecessor of Naydra and the spirit of Mt. Lanaryu. She's a figure of reverence for Zoras across all corners of Hyrule. Once Ruka is a little older (the equivalent of 16), he'll go to the spring at the top of Mt. Lanayru and show Lanuatu proof of his skills as a metalsmith to impress her and receive the ability to use magic. It's basically like a WW Rito going to Valoo to get their wings.
-So, Hylian magic! You'll learn more as we go, but here are the bare bones. Anyone with individual magic can also enchant, even if their talent is as limited as making flowers grow. Anyone, Muggle or mage, can brew potions or craft special items that rely on magical materials (i.e. use the power of the land or the magic that makes up monsters). Enchanting is much like computer programming, where you dictate through words or musical phrasing what you want the thing to do in a very specific way and pray to the rubber ducky gods that your code/spell works like how you imagined. And, like in coding, enchanters usually use standardized songs/chants that already work instead of making up their own. Classical enchanting, the kind that Ruka's family does, is what has been practiced in Hyrule since all the way back in the Old Kingdom. The spells it produces will endure for eternity unless put under incredible strain, but it's a hard style to master and works best for one-off, custom-made items. Modern enchanting—the kind that bridges the gap between magic and science—requires the blue/orange stone that the Harrys have been seeing around, and it's what's used on a kingdom-wide scale.
-Link exists! No, he and Harry won't run into each other yet. There's one dungeon left before Link's NPC role comes in and there are currently three storylines (the Harrys', Sirius's, and Ron's, Hermione's, and Draco's perspectives back at the castle) going as I juggle establishing the new setting and sinking the HP cast into it, so it'll be a while. Still, I wanted to toss in an early Link cameo because I've been drafting concepts for him lately.
-This will be the last chapter Ruka is in for some time, since I created him to help in the Abandoned Ruin dungeon and give the Harrys a jump-start in Hyrule and he did his job. I might find a narrative use for him later, but for now, I'm not sure. I'm surprised at the positive reception he received! I'm not really an OC-making person, so I was kinda scared to put my first few out there, even if they are just NPCs. I'm glad that you guys seemed to like him!