10008 Years Before Calamity (I)
He was the new hero, fresh from a battle with an ice witch. He was only 14, two years her junior, and the current princess was unsure about their destiny. The witch was a pre-rumbling to the return of Ganon, a confirmation of the dreams she'd been having ever since she was 9 years old. She was 16 now and the weight of her responsibilities was ever growing. Magic had never been something she'd had aptitude in and while she worked hard, it was clear even with the triforce of wisdom she lacked the raw power to subdue Ganon on her own.
Of course she would have her Hero, but he was still so young. She didn't want to place any more pressure than what he was already feeling. Unlike her, he was a prodigy with most things to do with combat, and picked up the skills he didn't know at an incredible rate. Though no one would claim he didn't work hard. She at least was good at diplomacy, if only she could parle with the embodiment of evil instead of fight. She would certainly bare the brunt of that load as In a verbal battle her Hero would be at a disadvantage...
Zelda tried not to think about their entwined destiny, and what that meant for hope of a peaceful life, but he kept staring at her. Well, staring was a bit of a strong word perhaps, but she did feel his eyes on her constantly. They were so blue, how could she not? After the awards ceremony, because yes, the slaying of the witch deserved a reward even if it was just the start, she approached him as her mother had prompted her to before the ceremony had started.
"Hero," she greeted.
His eyes went wide and he froze.
Apparently he was an orphan, raised by an old hermit in the isolation of Hebra. That was what had started his first quest, revenge for the death of his adopted father. Quite noble. The fact he was unused to human interaction shouldn't have surprised her.
"Would you like me to introduce you to people?" she asked.
He nodded once and she took his arm. His hair was wild, at shoulder length it stuck out from under his cap. The red color contrasted sharply with the green. She forced her eyes away from his hair.
As she led him around the courtyard, introducing all of the important people, like her Sheikah guard Paya, the delegates from the Zora and Rito, a few Hylian nobles, the Goron prince, and the Gerudo Matriarch, he didn't say a word. The most he would do was bow or nod.
Impa, the court scientist, had been seeking to talk to Link since she heard about his status as Hero. Zelda had been avoiding her… friend? Impa was over two decades her senior, and their relationship was mostly professional, but they were close. Mentor felt closer, though Zelda had no real interest beyond practicality in the newly dubbed Sheikah Technology. Still, Impa was a very intense person, and considering how nervous Link looked she wanted to avoid scaring him too much. She failed in this endeavor.
"Hero!" Impa started enthusiastically, "I see you've met our dear princess, it's good you two are getting along, now, I heard you found the Master Sword, and that was what you used to defeat the witch. Do you happen to have it on you?" she asked, inspecting his person as if he would've brought such an artifact to a dinner party.
Slowly, he shook his head. His face was unreadable, but it'd been like that since she met him.
Zelda answered for him. "He put the Master Sword back."
"Still, if we could somehow study and create a weapon like it…" Impa pulled out a notepad. "Link, how is your duel wielding capability?"
Link looked unsure how to respond. He was retreating further into himself and Zelda began to worry more. She turned to Impa. "Can't this wait until later? You mix work and play too much Impa."
"Now, Your Highness, this hardly qualifies as work," Impa tried to reason, "You see–"
"Oh, Impa, there you are!" Impa's husband called, coming to save Zelda. "I thought we were going to try that cake together."
Impa's face lit up. "Oh, the cake! I did have my eye on that… they brought more out?"
Her attention temporarily diverted, Zelda mouthed 'thank you' to Koshia, who winked in response. Finally able to focus on the Hero again, she pulled him aside into a hallway.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"You're just so quiet, I was wondering if you were unwell or tired. I can show you your rooms if you need to rest." She smiled slightly. "You may be the guest of honor, but that only means the party goes as long as you wish it to."
His ears went red, blending in better with his hair, and he muttered something. When he saw she didn't hear he said, "You're the princess of destiny and I… I don't want to disappoint you."
She couldn't help but snort at that. It was adorable. Adorable, but ill timed. "As long as you try your hardest you won't disappoint me." she lowered her lashes and bent so they were at the same eye level. "And you better get used to me since we're going to be working together."
He swallowed and nodded. She raised an eyebrow and he answered, "I'll try."
"Of course you will." She smiled and escorted him out.
...
The party ended not long after that, as Link was actually quite tired. He had just made a journey, on foot, from Hebra to central Hyrule. Servants showed him the way to his room.
"You did well," her mother commented after she'd said her goodbyes to the guests. "I know you weren't excited about that."
"Hospitality is a princess' duty, right?" Zelda said with a very practiced smile.
Her mother's smile was wide and unguarded. "Quite right. Oh Zelda, I think your future is very bright with such a promising young man defending you."
"But isn't he too young?" she asked.
"The young grow. You have time, both of you."
Her mother wasn't wrong. Zelda knew that. If they didn't have so much time she would probably have had a few mental breakdowns by then.
"Anyways, I would like it if you could take him on a tour of the castle tomorrow."
Zelda wanted to protest. She had nothing against Link, she just had better things to do, like– well, the only actually worthwhile thing was probably helping Impa with her machines which wasn't exactly fun… Her protest was stemming from being told what to do. Reluctantly, she nodded.
"That's my girl," her mother said, kissing her on the forehead.
…
The next morning she did as her mother asked her to and gave the new Hero a tour of the castle. He followed her wide eyed, staring a bit too much. Didn't he know staring was rude? Well, maybe he didn't, he had been raised in the mountains. At least he wasn't just staring at her. The castle held many a wondrous sight. It was the peak of Hyrulian architecture after all. And the fifth one built in a millennia.
"We're not even to the throne room yet, and you're finding this all interesting?" she asked.
"I've never seen a building so large. It's like a man-made mountain."
Man-made mountain… in a way it was. "It has tunnels going under it too."
"Underground tunnels?"
"The castle dungeon," she announced. His expression turned fearful, "Oh, don't worry, we hardly use it anymore…" she turned on him, making her hands into claws, "Because the prisoners kept finding their end long before their execution!"
He jumped and she started laughing. He chuckled, so Zelda didn't feel like too much of a bully in her teasing.
"The newest part we have a fairly good idea of, and luckily crime is so low there's hardly a need for a 'Royal Dungeon' anymore. Although, the older parts… they're pretty labyrinthine. Legend says they have a mind of their own."
Instead of getting scared this time at her ominous words, Link looked almost excited. "Is the dungeon on the tour?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Maybe some other time," she said, "it gives me the creeps. Also we're technically not supposed to go down there. But…" She thought for a moment. "I guess I could show you the crypts. They're a part of the underground, but kept up much better. And," she added, "they just have my ancestors in them which is much less creepy."
He nodded, but smiled oddly.
"Now what are you thinking?" she asked.
"You think an empty dungeon is less scary than a crypt?"
"Did I ever say it was empty?" she asked, "besides, I doubt my great great great grandpa would mean us any harm. Now, the ghost of a convict killed by a cursed dungeon?"
He muttered something that sounded like 'so it's cursed now,' but Zelda ignored him and continued on their way.
They arrived at a side door to the throne room and Zelda opened it a crack. When there was no booming voice of an announcer or any other commotion she could see, she threw it open. The room echoed as they walked in the lower portion.
"This," She gestured, "is the throne room. You saw it briefly on your way to the dining hall. Normally we would've awarded you in here, but due to the weather and the amount of people projected to want to watch, it was decided the tournament arena would be better. You can see the throne of the king and queen up there."
"Do you have a throne?" he asked.
"Oh, no. I have a fancy bench they pull up sometimes, but I'm only a princess."
He looked slightly confused, but nodded. She continued on a brief history of the place before moving on to their next point of interest: the library.
"This," She made another grand sweeping motion with her arm, "is the library."
She was shushed by a librarian.
Zelda frowned, but continued in a whisper. "Hyrule's Royal LIbrary is the largest library in Hyrule. It's especially amazing considering the number of times the castle's been burnt down."
The library had shelves covering every wall, and there were three stories. Ladders lined the shelves and were the only way to reach the top most books. She led him through the maze that it was until they came to a relatively secluded part of the library.
"This is Hyrule's history section, or more accurately, the history we can only know through myth and legend," she whispered. He didn't look properly awed. "This is where most of the stuff about us is."
He turned to her with a furrowed brow.
"You didn't think we're the first Hero and Princess, did you?"
He shook his head.
"We're not sure how many exactly there have been, or even how many of these are verifiable. Records have gotten lost in the fires, you know."
"Of which there have been five," he said.
She smiled. "So you have been listening." She turned abruptly, and said, "Onto the next attraction: The Royal Temple."
They went on their way, but Zelda took a winding path. It was slightly out of the way, but she did want to keep him interested. She turned down a hallway that seemingly ended. "This is an entrance to the dungeon."
His eyes scanned the bare walls and she shook her head slightly. Zelda tapped the ground with her foot, then hummed the code song. With a rumble the ground lowered into steep stairs leading to a dark abyss. He took a step forward, but she waved her hand to close it.
"We can go check it out later."
"Really?" he asked.
"Really."
She danced past him, calling out, "This isn't even the best one."
She went on to show him the Royal Temple, which had a class of some sort in progress. Zelda didn't want to interrupt it and let him peek in. "We can come back later as well."
He nodded.
Next they were down to the crypts, a gloomy, but well kept stairwell. Zelda lit the way with a conjured ball of light, wanting to show off just a little. To prove that she was a descendent of these powerful people.
Link's eyes went wide as he gazed around. It was impressive, the statues and the rows, not as much as the temple in terms of grandeur of course, but there was a sense of age that was absent with the rest of the castle. She entered more fully and came to the oldest sarcophagus.
It was so old, none of the writing could be read, and the carved statue on the top of it was only vaguely in the shape of a Hylian. "Legend says there's a way through that one to the dungeons too," she said, "I've never checked it though, as I'm not strong enough to lift it, and I don't know any magic words."
He studied the writings and tapestries on the walls. "There are only a few here. Your family has more than," he counted the sarcophagi, "12 members."
"These are only the ones from a specific part of our history. For a thousand years now, my family has been buried in a mausoleum in a cemetery."
He nodded. "I don't think I would want to be buried in a place like this," he decided, though without judgment.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes. It feels…" He didn't look at her, too focused on the royal crest carved into a post. "Stagnant."
"In a way, I suppose you're right. This place hasn't changed since it was built, and it probably won't for the foreseeable future. I feel like that… stability is almost comforting, but I'll admit I've never put much thought into where I'll be buried. Have you?"
He was quiet, and his face unreadable. She worried she'd offended him somehow, but then he spoke.
"I'd like… I'd like to be buried in a meadow, surrounded by trees. That way, if I were a ghost I wouldn't be a bother and I'd…" he drifted off, an unsure look on his face.
"That does sound peaceful." She frowned. "Though, why do you think you'll come back as a ghost?"
He shrugged.
Fair enough.
Zelda tired of the dour atmosphere and decided it was enough time in the crypts. Onward, she led him out back into the fresh air and out to the gardens. After the gardens, she showed the kitchen (where they had lunch), and servant's quarters, then to the stables, and a few other places. Finally, they ended on the wall overlooking Castletown. Ever since the crypts she'd been feeling restless, and admittedly she rushed around erratically giving a half hearted tour. Link, to his credit, didn't seem any less interested, perhaps proving he was only half listening.
It was getting close to dinner time, and she was wanting to wrap it up. One walk about the outer wall would be a good final feature.
"And this," she said, "is Castletown. You probably saw it when you came into the castle."
"It looks different though," he murmured.
"How do you mean?"
He blushed and turned away. "I don't know exactly."
"Yes… well, Castletown is the capital of Hyrule and the largest city as well."
He looked the right amount of impressed.
"I hope this tour was satisfactory," she said formally.
"Y-yes," he stuttered, "Thank you!" He bowed stiffly.
And though her duty was technically done, neither of them moved from their spot on the wall. The city below was bustling and the Castle above was readying for dinner. The smell of cooking food overwhelmed the other less pleasant smells that usually drifted over the they were upwind from the stables.
"Will you be having dinner with us?" she asked.
He froze and she couldn't tell why. Finally he asked, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
The question caught her off guard. She didn't know how to answer.
Quickly he hurried on, "Not that I'm not thankful or that I thought you would be mean or something–" He averted his eyes again. "I just figure you must have more important things to do other than look after me."
So that was it.
"Would you believe me if I said part of my duty is protecting you?"
He shook his head. "I was under the impression I was to protect you."
"Why can't it be both?" she asked lightly. He finally looked at her. "I'm sure you're better at monster killing than me, but if I'm not wrong social situations are all quite new to you. My thoughts are we can help the other get stronger, and by the time Ganon revives he won't know what hit him. What say you?"
A soft smile covered his features. A very sweet expression in Zelda's opinion. "That does sound nice," he said, "but…" He shook his head. "Never mind. I won't let you down."
She almost insisted he continue, but stopped herself. He could tell her when he wanted to. He looked so slight at that moment and Zelda reavowed she would protect him from whatever she could.
Finally, they started the walk back to the castle and Zelda asked with a teasing smile, "So, you got used to me yet?"
He turned red again and after a few moments he said quite honestly, "I don't think I'll ever get used to you… but that's not a bad thing."
Zelda was unsure how to respond to such a bold declaration. She wasn't offended, if anything, it was sort of cute. "We'll see," was the response she settled on. "Dinner?"
He was startled by the change of pace, but said, "Yes please."
And back to the castle they went.