Chapter 4

Lunch was a bit too much for Link. Those girls from the beginning of school were there, talking their asses off with Zelda. He supposed that was the way of princesses, something he'd never understand. The only comfort was when the boys came over, distracting the girls so he could breathe. He supposed Samus wasn't too bad, as she gave him sympathetic smiles when the girls would nearly smother him.

Still, he was glad to be done with lunch.

He and Zelda walked into the General Art classroom. It was mostly empty, since they had been among the first to leave. A blonde woman stood at the front, absentmindedly drawing on the chalkboard. Paint seemed to cover every part of her body, including a long pink streak across her face. "Go ahead, sit anywhere you want." She said, voice as if she was in a faraway land.

"Come on, let's sit up front!" Zelda smiled, sitting at one of the six-person tables at the front. Link sat across from her, more excited than he had been for any other class. He was an artist through and through, and he really hoped this class would help. He'd been in some shitty art classes.

After a few moments, Namine and what looked to be her redheaded twin sister (Oh, shit, that was Kairi from English.) came into the classroom. Her eyes lit up when she noticed them, and she pulled her sister to their table. "Hello, Link and Zelda. It's nice to see you again. Mind if Kairi and I sit here?"

"No, go ahead! It's nice to see you again." Zelda smiled. "And we had English together, so we've met."

Namine sat down next to Link, and Kairi hopped down into the seat next to Zelda. "Good to see you guys again!"

Next to join the table was that spacy girl from lunch, Rosalina. She waved to everyone and mumbled her name as she sat next to Namine, but she seemed to be in her own head. Link's eyes rested on her for just a moment. What could possibly be on her mind? Was she like this before, or could it be something she learned?

His eyes were torn from her as the last seat at their table was filled by some mullet dude in a black trenchcoat. Kairi tensed up, while Namine gave her a conflicted look.

Mullet Guy sighed and leaned back. "I know it says I'm a villain, but I'm not. Dunno why I'd join a gang in that universe or anything, but I'm not like that here." He looked over at everyone. "I'm Demyx, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Zelda." Zelda smiled, reaching in front of Kairi to shake his hand.

"If you weren't a villain, why would you sit with the rest of them?" Kairi asked.

Demyx sighed again. "Look, your table had enough people as it was. I just wanted to know, okay?"

"Do you know what Marluxia did to my sister?" Kairi's eyes went wide when she noticed a pink-haired man sitting at the next table over. Still, she shook her head. "I swear, if you do anything to her, I'll kick your ass!"

"Man, I wish I had friends as cool as you." Demyx sighed.

"I- what?"

He piqued an eyebrow. "All the people I belong with are assholes. Me, not so much. Like, come on, it takes so much effort to be mean." He looked over at Kairi. "I wish any of them would stick up for people like you."

Kairi seemed frustrated for a second. "Uh, thanks, I guess."

Before anything else could happen, their teacher called their attention. "Welcome, students. My name is Mina, and I'll be teaching your General Arts class. I hope this class is therapeutic for you, as I understand that these… changes might be stressful." She started walking around, passing out papers. "This semester, we will be doing a mix of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. Next semester, you will get to choose one as your focus. Deadlines will be loose, as I don't believe in a rigid structure for a creative class."

The papers got to Link's table, so he grabbed one. It was one of those 'get to know you' things, but instead of writing, you drew. Seemed easy enough. Mina went over the assignment, and Link started drawing. The first prompt was to draw a place that made him happy.

He had to think for a moment, as most of the places he'd been to made him feel lukewarm at best. Eventually, an expansive field full of waist-high grass that ended in a cliff overlooking a variety of other landscapes appeared in his mind, so he drew that. He wasn't sure where, exactly, he was drawing, but it felt like home. He glanced over to Zelda, who appeared to be drawing a library.

Apparently, the twins and Demyx all drew beaches, but different ones and in different styles. While everyone else at the table used the colored pencils provided, Namine had her own set. They looked well taken care of, and had a much better variety than what was on the table. Kairi started talking about the beach she and Namine (along with their sister Xion) used to play on as kids, and Demyx started talking about his own. Zelda mentioned that she'd been to a few.

Link stayed silent. He wasn't particularly interested, as he'd heard they smelled like dead fish.

The next prompt was something abstract. He started sketching something out, like he'd done with his skateboard. He enjoyed just letting his pencil flow and do what it desired.

The last one was something he was scared of.

Fuck, what was he scared of? Not much. Failure? Hard to fail when you have no ambition. Death? He wanted to die anyway. Love? No, that was bullshit.

Aloneness. He was afraid of being alone forever. He loved being alone most of the time, but to have no one to turn to?

He just drew a stick figure surrounded in a black haze. Figure drawing was never his strong suit.

When he was done, he rested his head on the desk. It wasn't the most comfortable, but he'd slept in worst. Comfort was never his main goal, as long as it got the job done. Everyone else talked around him, but he was done for the day. How the hell was he going to survive the next two hours? Thankfully, every time the conversation drifted towards him, Zelda deflected it.

The bell rang after a while, and Link got up and slung his bag over his shoulder. Zelda was going to a different class, her General Sciences, but Link knew where it was, so he was going to walk her to it. Kairi, Namine, and Demyx were heading there two, so they all walked together. Rosalina just seemed to pick a direction and wander, but Link had the feeling she'd end up exactly where she'd need to be.

"So, I heard you talking about me earlier." A deep voice sneered. Everyone turned to see the pink-haired boy, Marluxia, standing over them. "I find it insulting that you'd say such things without knowing the whole story."

Kairi stepped in front of her sister. "You locked her in a cage and forced her to use her powers to hurt people!"

"And she was helping take down the very same organization that kept you and Sora apart for so long. Who cares how I treated the little witch?"

Link wasn't going to let someone bully someone smaller than themselves. He stepped between Marluxia and the others.

"Oh, a hero type, hmm? This isn't your place. Move aside."

No way in hell he was going to move. Instead, his body seemed to act on its own, snapping his left arm to the side and his other into a shield-like stance. Without even realizing it, he was wielding his sword and shield. A surge of power ran through him, like that was exactly where he belonged. He tightened his grip on his weapons.

Marluxia's eyes widened for a moment, but then he returned to his cool demeanor. "Suit yourself." He then proceeded to make his way down the hall like nothing had happened.

"Link Everard!" Fuck, it was Mrs. Shephard. His weapons dematerialized instantly. "Come see me right now."

It was then that he realized that everyone was staring at them.

"I'll take them to class, don't worry," Zelda said. He noticed that Demyx was long gone, probably running at the first sign of conflict.

Link nodded, then ducked into Mrs. Shepard's room. There were a few people, but Mrs. Shepard took him to the corner so they could speak privately.

"I assume you know why you're here?" She asked.

Link nodded. Drawing his weapons wasn't allowed, even if he hadn't meant to do it. He didn't try and defend himself though.

"Normally, you'd be punished, but given the circumstances I witnessed, I'll let you off with a warning. While I don't condone violence, I understand that it can be effective if other things may not work." She stared at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him. "And you're the first person to successfully call their weapon."

That was a surprise. He wasn't even trying.

"A few people in my homeroom attempted, but no one was successful." She gave him a proud smile. "Anyway, I'll have to write you up, but I'll tell them to clear it. I just have to report it in case another teacher saw. Understood?"

Link nodded.

"You're not one for words, are you? I understand. In fact, two of my children are the same." She sighed. "I'll write you a pass so you won't be late to class."

And so, thankful that he wouldn't be punished, Link went to his next class. Only two left, then he could get his hands on his sword again.

0-0-0-0-0

"Oh my God, did you see that?!" Daisy asked, frantically tugging at Peach's dress. "That boy is such a hero!"

Peach couldn't help but stare in awe. Link really, really was a hero. Saving those girls from an asshole, even summoning a sword like that… wow. It was a shame he got in trouble for it.

The two walked into Mrs. Shephard's room, and Peach froze. There he was, Mario Mario himself. She'd almost been avoiding him for reasons that were too vain to admit. Compared to men like Marth or Link, Mario was… he wasn't hot. He was round and cartoony and weird. She hoped he didn't notice them as they sat down at another group of desks with a reindeer girl and someone of an indiscernible gender.

"Hey, guys, I'm Peach! Nice to meet you.".

"And I'm Daisy!"

The reindeer girl smiled a bit. "I'm Noelle, good to meet you both."

The genderless person held up a sign saying "Frisk. They/them pronouns, mute.".

"Thank you for telling me." Peach smiled.

Class started soon after, and Mrs. Shephard did her opening speech about how she wants everyone to be good. It was sweet, a good sentiment. She also found out that Frisk, along with the other two genderless kids Chara and Kris, were her kids. Frisk smiled when Mrs. Shephard pointed it out.

And then it was time for People Bingo. Usually, Peach would be excited, but there was a portly plumber of an elephant in the room. She supposed they'd keep it brief if they did have to talk.

She also noticed the pink-haired guy who Link stood up to. Man, even though he was hot, she got major creep vibes from him. Yuck.

She started going around, chatting people up and filling in her spot (Go Karting was a unique sport, right?) on everyone's papers. Luckily, at least the creep and his girlfriend with antenna hair were equally fine with as brief conversation as possible.

And then there was Mario.

"Oh, um, hello." Peach smiled, trying her best to not be a valid bitch like everyone thought she was.

"Hello, Peach! It's-a me, Mario!" He smiled. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine. Do you still need the unusual sport box filled in?"

Mario looked slightly disappointed, but said nothing of it. "I do! Let me see your paper so I can-a fill out a box." God, his accent sounded so fake. They took each other's papers and signed them. "Well, I guess we should move on, eh?"

Peach smiled. "Yeah, I guess so. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

It felt like she'd rejected him before he'd even asked. She actually felt kind of… bad. After all, they were close in their other life. But that was then, this was now. She didn't have to maintain any of her ties.

After she was done with the People Bingo, she got on her tablet and back into the chatroom.

[Console] Welcome Peach T to the chat!

Axel R welcome back Fvck God

Malon F ?

Daisy S inside joke

Stahl B if you scroll up enough you can still see it

Paya S but yeah, did you guys see what that guy Link did? He's such a hero!

Peach T oh my god he is

Namine M It was kind of him to stand up for me and my sister.

Demyx H cute too

[Console] Welcome Larxene R to the chat!

Peach T like honestly I would kill for that.

[Console] Welcome Marluxia S to the chat!

Marluxia S Don't gossip about things you have no context for.

[Console] Say goodbye to Marluxia S!

[Console] Say goodbye to Larxene R!

Daisy S bruh

Axel R yet the asshole leaves without providing context

Peach T he's the guy who was bullying those girls, right?

Paya S pink hair?

Axel R ye he's a dick

Demyx H yeye

Malon F What was it about, anyway?

Axel R dunno

Stahl B We should probably drop it, maybe there was more going on.

Peach T who cares, he was being a bully

[Console] Welcome Ventus A to the chat!

Malon F i mean, it says Link's a hero, at least in my tablet, so…

Daisy S doesn't mean he's not a dick? He doesn't seem like it tho

Peach T v quiet

Stahl B wait, Malon, you're in my class lol

Malon F :D

Peach T cuuute

[Console] Welcome Roy E to the chat!

Daisy S welcoe back cherry cock

Roy E fvck you

Malon F ?

Axel R scroll allllllllll the way up

Malon F k

Roy E that's my name for the rest of the year, isn't it

[Console] Welcome Tifa L to the chat!

Tifa L hello

Stahl B Hi!

Daisy S sup

[Console] Say goodbye to Namine M!

Paya S tbh a lot of people seem realy nice here

Stahl B I always try to be welcoming

Malon F soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo uh cherry cock?

Roy E oof i know

Malon F I'm so sorry…

Daisy S f

Axel R f

Demyx H f

Ventus A F

Malon F Why is everyone typing f?

Paya S like i wish i had the courage to talk to people in class and stuff…

Stahl B Hey, if you want, I can come find you between classes! What are you in right now?

Daisy S it's a meme

Paya S General Sciences with Dr. Alphys, and then English with my grandma Ms. Shiekah

Stahl B I'll come find you if that's cool! I think that's also my next class :)

Paya S :)

Peach T it's from a thing "press F to pay respects"

Malon F oh…

Axel R do you even internet

Malon F No, i grew up on a ranch

Axel R oof

Peach T don't be mean to her

Axel R okay Fvck God

Peach T you know it ;)

Demyx H i ship it

Axel R boi

Roy E i mean i ship her with me lol

Axel R BOI

[Console] Welcome Marth L to the chat!

Marth L Fvck God and Cherry Cock, huh. Perfect combo

Roy E …

Daisy S u right

Ventus A I barely know any of you, but u right indeed

Marth L see?

It was in that moment Peach realized she fucked up. Now the object of her affection was shipping her with someone else? At least Roy was cute too, if a little young. She frowned a bit, hoping he was joking.

She decided to get on Instagram and scroll through, taking her mind off things. She hadn't fucked up that bad, yet. She'd be fine.

0-0-0-0-0

Stahl Bauer tried to pride himself on being kind. He was never the smartest, or most athletic, or most talented in any group, but that didn't matter to him, not really. He was perfectly fine with being average but nice.

He supposed Boy Scouts helped with that attitude. While he was never the best, especially in sales (hell, he always bought a lot of his own popcorn to eat it, so his sales were even worse than they looked), his troop leader always told him he had a certain dedication that a lot of the boys didn't have. She also insisted that he was a good Christain boy, even though he certainly was not. While he wasn't sure what was out there, he chose to believe in the Greek gods. They were flawed, and Stahl could learn from their mistakes.

One of the lessons he tried to live by was to always be friends with strangers. Being cold and spiteful never worked out, and he could never imagine being such a bitter person. Besides, he knew what lonely was. Growing up on a farm in some middle-of-nowhere town in southern Indiana had its drawbacks. By high school, at least, he had a group of friends who he was sad to leave behind.

He was no longer average, at least in this world.

He'd just gotten out of his History class with Mr. Lowell. The teacher himself was interesting, but going over American history again was rather dull. The curriculum here wasn't particularly advanced. Not that he minded, of course. College wasn't really in his plans, and saving the world was much more important than school.

The thought almost made him giddy. Stahl Bauer, a hero.

Anyway, he was on a mission. He'd promised this girl Paya he'd hang out with her and go to their next class together, and to hell if he was going to break that. She seemed sweet, and he felt bad that she was having a hard time finding anyone.

He could see her from a while away, her white hair pulled into a bun that he could only describe as resembling a burrito with chopsticks in it. It wasn't a bad thing, not at all. It was kind of cute, honestly. Wait, was she in his homeroom? She may have been.

"Hello, Paya, nice to meet you." He said as he approached. He held out his hand, and she jumped a bit when she noticed him. She quickly shook his hand though.

"Oh my gosh, thank you for meeting me!" She grinned. "I always feel weird going up to people and saying hi, so it's nice to have someone do that for me, you understand?"

Stahl grinned. "Completely! You need to stop by your locker before English?"

Paya shook her head. "No, I think I have everything. You?"

"I'm probably forgetting something, but I can't think of what, so I think we'll be alright."

She smiled as they started heading to class. "Hopefully you don't remember in the middle of class when you need it."

Stahl chuckled a little. "Probably not. Anyway, you mentioned that Ms. Sheikah is your grandmother?"

"Oh, yes! She's really smart, so I think she'll be a good teacher." Paya smiled. "She used to teach martial arts, and everyone liked her, so I think she'll be good at English, too."

Stahl smiled. "That's good. All the teachers here seem pretty good, if a bit disorganized."

"I suppose they would be, considering this school isn't, well, mainly for school." Paya sighed a bit.

The two walked into the classroom, and Paya took one of the seats in the front row. Stahl sat next to her, not minding sitting up front. He preferred to sit in the middle, blending in with the crowd, but things were different here. Besides, he had a friend to keep company.

The old woman, presumably Ms. Sheikah, seemed impossibly old. She sat on top of the desk, seemingly meditating. At most schools, that would be completely unprofessional, but this school was all kinds of weird.

Another girl slid into the seat next to him with a smile. "Hello, I'm Yuna! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Stahl, and this is my friend Paya. Good to meet you!"

"This school is so weird, you know?" Yuna said, getting her tablet out of her bookbag. "It's so different than what I'm used to."

The three of them chatted for a couple minutes before Ms. Sheikah got the class's attention. Honestly, Stahl couldn't tell anyone the specifics of what she said, just generally about rules and about the classic books they'd be reading. The only one he remembered offhand was that they'd be reading Dracula around October because spooky month. Probably not her words.

After she was done with her speech, she passed around a 'get to know you' style sheet. It was general stuff like names, pronouns, hobbies, all of that. He'd done a fair amount of them already, so he had his answers memorized. The three of them talked a bit about their answers. He learned that both Paya and Yuna lived in Japan at various points in their lives. Stahl was jealous, since he'd never left the country. He wanted to go to Germany someday, given his ancestry, but he hadn't been able to go yet.

Towards the end of class, his stomach growled. Loudly. Hell. "Hey, uh, Paya, I think I remember what I forgot."

"Oh?"

"My snack."

She burst out laughing, and everything was going to be okay.

0-0-0-0-0

When Malon Farmer read about her past, all she could do was laugh. She was the exact same person in both lives, just a girl who raised horses alongside her father Talon. She wasn't even a fighter, just some horse girl waiting for a knight in shining armor to whisk her away.

How pathetic.

Whenever she learned what this school was for, when memories started to quietly creep in, she thought that she might actually be worth something. She read through her backstory, hoping to find something, but it turned out all she did was raise horses so that Link could save the world.

No abilities.

It said she was a Peripheral, someone without an innate battling capability but was brought here alongside everyone else. Many of them lived in the town, some aware and some not. No one's parents were aware, minus those who were directly involved in the school, it seemed. Not yet.

Whenever it was time to go to the Arena to start training for battle, Malon had no idea what was in store for her. She sat in the stands next to this boy, Roy, who she'd met in a couple of her classes before. He was nice, if a bit goofy. He was chatting with a few other boys, and Malon… well, she wasn't a swordsman, so she couldn't relate. He tried to include her, but it never quite worked.

After a couple minutes, the teachers began to call up students by their abilities. The Swordsmen went with Mr. Lowell, Magic Users with Palutena, etc. Once everyone was divided up, it was just the Peripherals. Isabelle, the small dog, called them all to sit in the bleachers together so she could talk to them.

"Hello, students!" She smiled. "We've decided that, instead of teaching you to battle, we should instead let you have some free time. You can stay here and watch, or you can explore the school. The library, computer lab, the art studio, the track, and the basketball court are all open, plus, if you all decide you want to do something, we can go out on field trips, too!" She clapped her little paws together with a smile, and Malon couldn't help but grin. She was one of the most adorable things she'd ever seen. Excluding her horses, of course.

Well, damn. What was there to do? Malon would typically use a study hall to, well, study, but there wasn't much for her to do. None of her classes had assigned any homework yet. The closest thing was her Basic Math with Dr. Mewtwo, but she got that done in class with Roy. She supposed she could go to the library and see if they had any good books.

"Hey, do you want to come walk around with us?"

Malon looked up and saw a girl in an orange tank top and brown hair standing in front of her. Behind her were two dudes, one lean and blonde, the other portly and black-haired.

"Yeah, we saw you sitting alone, so we figured you might need a friend." The taller one grinned. "I'm Hayner, by the way."

"And I'm Pence!" The other boy also smiled.

"I'm Olette! So, you wanna come with us?"

Malon thought for a moment, but they seemed nice, so she stood up. "Sure! I'm Malon."

"Nice to meet you!" Olette smiled and started to head out of the arena.

"You know, I don't think there's anything keeping us in school. We could probably ditch if we wanted to." Hayner said, resting his hand behind his head as they walked.

"Come on, it's the first day! Don't you want to find any weird mysteries around here?" Pence said. "Like, you know there's some cool stuff hidden around here."

"Besides, skipping is a terrible idea." Malon smiled weakly.

"I'm with Malon and Pence. I don't want to be guaranteed to get in trouble so early on." Olette sighed. "Wanna start outside? It's kinda hot, but it's not as bad as it could be."

Everyone agreed, so they found a door and walked out. Immediately, they were greeted by the large track surrounding a multipurpose sports field. Did the school even have sports, given the… advantages people had? Maybe it was just for people in the school to play against each other. No, she'd heard a couple of girls talking about the tennis team.

"Damn, I can't wait to run out here!" Hayner grinned.

"I still can't believe you like running." Pence shook his head as the group started to walk towards the tennis courts and basketball courts. "Like, come on, it just makes you sweaty and gross."

"I like sweaty and gross."

The group passed the basketball court, where a couple people were shooting hoops. Hayner said something to Pence, which made him laugh and elbow the taller boy and return. In that moment, Malon realized that everyone else had known each other for a very long time, and she was all alone.

"Hey, Malon, where are you from?" Olette asked. Malon hadn't even realized she was right there.

"Oh, uh, a little town in Texas. Was pretty similar to this, but, well, everyone was human." Malon smiled a little. "Even had a ranch there too."

"A ranch? That sounds nice."

"Yeah. We mostly take care of horses, but we have a few cows too." A laugh bubbled up in her throat, and there was no way to contain it. "Fuckin' hell, I'm exactly the same person in this world than in a world with fairies and heroes and magic." How stupid was that? She was just a fucking rancher, dreaming of some knight to take her away.

She was fucking pathetic.

She hadn't even realized she'd collapsed to the ground, tears in her eyes.

Everyone around her had stopped.

"You know," Hayner said. "We all feel the same."

"Yeah, magic, cool swords, our world has it all. And we're just townies that the big hero meets, like, three times." Olette said, kneeling down next to her.

"We were only mildly useful at best." Pence scoffed.

"So yay, we're sidekicks." Olette sighed. "But you know what? It's not that bad."

Malon wiped her eyes. "Still, of all the things I could be, I'm just… plain."

"Doesn't mean we can't have fun, though," Hayner said. "I think there's a pool up there, we could skinny dip."

She choked on her tears, more surprised at how casual that statement was than anything else. "What?"

"Hayner, please tell me you were joking." Olette sighed.

"Heh, mostly."

Malon couldn't help but laugh again. "You know we'd get in trouble, right?"

"Is there a rule against it?"

"Hayner, you do realize that public nudity is generally a crime, right?"

"Pssh, so is public sword wielding, but it's allowed here."

"Tell you what, we'll all bring swimsuits next time, okay?" Olette said. "How about you, Malon? You wanna swim with us tomorrow?"

Malon smiled a bit. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Hell, even if she didn't belong, she was going to make the best of it. She wasn't going to wait for some knight to make it all better. She'd do it herself.

0-0-0-0-0

A/N

Well that took a while. Sorry. Been a busy couple of months. I could use some reviews, honestly.

Last name explanations:

Mario Mario (Super Mario Bros): Canon

Paya Shiekah (The Legend of Zelda): She's a Shiekah and I'm getting lazy.

Malon Farmer (The Legend of Zelda): Too on the nose. I don't care.