The Legend of Zelda: Divine Intervention: Part 13
Because the end just isn't enough
Or
The Epilogue
By
Quincy007
Author's notes: This is the epilogue, obviously. I think it rounds out the story a little better and answers one or two strings.
* Hyrule Castle Town
In the months following the Kakariko disaster, and the war with AAA a kind of peace returned to the Kingdom of Hyrule. The rebuilding process began and scholars and geologists were explaining things in ways that people would never understand, but left religion out of it. Amazingly enough, the amount of church goers was at an all time high, something about near end of the world experiences tending to make people fear for their immortal souls.
Still, for most, their lives returned to a semblance of routine, while the remaining few had nothing to return to. Nil for instance, never returned to the castle or to his job at as a guard. He found some well paying work as a training advisor for the ZSDF, and had been scouted by the GSFF for the same purpose, though who gave them his name was unknown to him. Having profited immensely from the large and varied world of military expansion that always happens when people find themselves somewhat lacking after a confrontation, he found himself back in Hyrule castle town almost a year later looking to stop running around and maybe open a shop or something.
"Don't do no good, they never be working when they oughta should. They waste your time, they're wasting mine." Nil said with a sigh and continued talking to no one in particular, "I asked as nice as I could if my job could somehow be started by Friday, well, the whole damn weekend came and went and they didn't do nothing, but they charged me double for Sunday."
"Now, to the untrained eye, it might appear as if we didn't do anything, but you contracted us to build you a house and that requires just a little bit more planning than location." Ganondorf said as he marked the ground with a piece of chalk.
Nil looked over at the two, "You guys are lucky I'm nice enough to throw you some business."
"Hrmph. You should know that we are up to necks in offers." Majora said indignantly.
True to their word, the Goddesses granted Ganondorf and Majora second chances at life. Ganondorf was exactly the same, just no longer living in a demonic undead body. Majora however, was a tall blonde man with a lanky frame that possessed some wiry strength to it. That and a caustic tongue. Nil remembered briefly how he had run into the pair standing outside the Bazaar with a hand painted sign that said 'Ganjora Masonry & Construction.' While he suspected they had done all right for themselves in Kakariko there just wasn't the need for laborers in Castle Town, "Whatever. Just remember that I'm deducting your room and board from your fee."
Ganondorf cringed as he looked at the plans, "Hrm…very well."
"Nil? Nil Chavez!"
He turned to see Link walking up to him, "Hello. What's a man of your stature doing in these parts?"
The Hero chucked and pointed at Nil, "Checking up on you. Zelda was getting nervous seeing as you weren't in the best of condition when we saw you last, and then you disappear. I heard rumors about you hanging around Zora's Domain and the Gerudo camps. I was about to head down there myself, but lo and behold."
"Yea, well, what can I do? I have skills that were in demand your 'brother' by the way says 'Hi'. Apparently a man who disappears in shadows is rather popular among thieves."
Link gave a shrug of his shoulders and an 'awe shucks' expression that annoyed Nil to no end, pondering briefly if Link hadn't had something to do with it. Anyway, the hero moved the conversation elsewhere, "I haven't seen you in so long, and I never got to hear how the fight with Angmar ended. I've speculated but…"
"They took care of him. Like that." Nil snapped his fingers, "But what can you expect from Goddesses? To get him to reveal his weakness by keeping him talking? They just act, and they did. Rather abrupt, a little anti-climatic to look at, but it works."
After Link agreed, there was an awkward silence. Several moments of silent contemplation of those days and the events thereunto, Nil glanced at his Triforce mark and frowned, "A little."
Link didn't understand what he meant, but he remembered that Nil had a tendency to mutter things that meant nothing to anyone but himself. But that time probably still hurt to talk about, "Sorry to bring it up."
He waved a hand, "Ah, don't worry about it, anyway, I've been told that If you love something set it free."
"If it returns to you its yours to keep, but if it never returns it wasn't meant to be." Link finished the phrase; positive that Nil was less than truthful about how he was handling the situation.
Nil gave a glance at Ganondorf and Majora who while eavesdropping, were dutifully working on the house. Currently, that involved ensuring the ground was level by way of moving shovelfulls of dirt.
"Who was I kidding Link? She's a Goddess for crying out loud. With responsibilities I probably couldn't even begin to fathom. Its not like we could live happily ever after."
Link scoffed, "That's a little self defeating don't you think? You can't be down like that…"
"Says the man who's going to marry the Crown Princess. Though, I'll admit you're a stronger man than I, cause after the whole Sheik thing I would never know what to say."
"Don't think about it, I've found that helps."
Nil took off his sword and set it next to the plot of land, then he pulled off his tunic and gloves. Grabbing a spare shovel, he began to help, "Yea. Me too."
* Heaven
Time is relative to the position of the planet's rotation as it moves around the sun. However, Heaven is not a planet, and has no sun, therefore time as Hylians would know it does not exist. That could mean one of two things: Time can pass so quickly that ages travel by in an instant, or every moment of life is an agonizingly slow progression moving towards the ultimate doom. It all depended on how you looked at things, though one could guess that regret might make time seem to…drag a little.
With a wistful sigh, Din moved a pawn, "Are you really that cold?"
Nayru looked up from where she was watching Angmar, "Nil and I agreed—"
"Oh, please, he'd do anything that you wanted him to do probably for no more than a smile."
Nayru looked away for a moment "…I know."
Farore set down her knight, "You know? And you still do nothing? That is cold. Did you even day good-bye?
If she were human, remembering that particular night might have caused Nayru to blush, but as an omnipotent Goddess she was in perfect control of her emotions, "Yes."
Farore shook her head and turned back to her chess game, "Well, that's something at least."
The Goddesses of Power and Courage started a long discussion about proper good-byes, and how if you didn't phrase it just right it could lead to it being misinterpreted, especially by men, who often thought that women were playing games with them. Yet, throughout the whole thing, Nayru never gave her opinion, as she would often do when Farore and Din discussed something. She was wisdom for a reason, and it wasn't because she liked the 'w'. Din scowled as Farore took her last rook, "Its no fun when she doesn't take the hints, I mean, how un-vague do we have to be for her realize we're talking about her?"
"I think she's ignoring us."
"Well, that's her problem, I know she wants to go back, but can't justify it."
Farore took Din's queen, "Maybe she feels like she has to stay."
"Why? It's no fun up here when she doesn't argue with me. She could take junior over there to Hyrule with her for all I care. Personally, I liked it when she wasn't burdened with omnipotence, she was much more relaxed and impulsive."
"So were you. Even I, I admit, were much more relaxed when not weighed down with such knowledge of every possible consequence, some of which might not occur."
Nayru gave them another glance, but continued ignoring them.
* Hyrule Castle Town—four weeks later
It took constant supervision and a stern reminder of who was paying the bill, but Ganondorf and Majora finally finished the construction of Nil's new house. A sturdy two level that he could run a store from the first floor and live on the second, Ganondorf thought that living where you worked just reeked bad karma, but then again his job never kept him in one place very long. However, as Nil looked at his new abode he couldn't help but think that as he looked at it, something seemed off.
"Maybe it's my untrained eye, but I think that the right wall is just a tad higher than the left."
"What? Surely you jest! This is sheer Masonic perfection. Hovel-modern I call it. Very cutting edge."
Someone passing by said a little loudly, "That house looks like a Picasso. I wouldn't stand for it if I were you."
Ganondorf frowned, he had no idea who Picasso was, but the tone of voice was bad enough. It must really be bad to their eyes. With a sigh he started gesturing and muttered,
House of mud, wood and stoneTell us—it must be known
Are your walls askew?
How jacked up is this crew?
Who made it so critics groan?
A cloud of dust and a quiet poof accompanied the small scroll that Ganondorf had summoned. With an annoyed look at Nil, he snatched it up, broke the seal and read it carefully. His annoyed look slowly melted to one of curiosity as he read the scroll, "Hmm…I'll be damned. The right wall is about an inch higher than the left…Majora!"
"Well, you said nine feet to the ceiling. I can't help it if you have big feet!"
"A foot is 12 inches you ninnyhammer!"
"Something that could have brought to my attention yesterday!"
"Yesterday? We've been doing this for a year already!"
Nil rolled his eyes. He could live with an inch. Turning to the passer by who made the comment, "Just who is this Picasso? He an architect or something…"
"Never mind, it's ahead of your time." Nayru said with a grin.
For the briefest of moments, not a word was uttered as Nil felt his heart skip a beat. "I…I…I never thought I'd see you again!"
"Surprise?" Nayru shrugged.
"I mean…wow…this is great! How long are you staying?"
"I've got plenty of time."
Nil pulled her into a hug, "How appropriately vague."
"Hey, being mysterious requires constant practice. I don't want to lose my touch."
"Who am I kidding, it doesn't matter to me. A month, a day, an hour, anytime I get to see you is enough."
They broke their embrace when they heard a terrible gagging noise from Majora, and Ganondorf just looked away, embarrassed, "Majora, as tooth rotting as it is, you will have to forgive them, as this is a greeting between long separated lovers. Now, stop writhing on the ground like you're choking and tell me how I'm going to fix this house."
Nil and Nayru turned from the two, "I can see your influence certainly hasn't helped them."
"Hey, I just keep them out of jail, it's not like me to stifle someone's personal growth."
She raised an eyebrow and had an expression of disbelief. Nil exhaled loudly and sagged his shoulders, "Alright fine, I worry about them every time I can't see them. Are you happy?"
"Extremely. If you can keep Majora and Ganondorf on the straight and narrow, I have an excellent solution to a problem of ours. Tell me Nil, have you ever wanted to be a dad?"
Not chagrined at all about eavesdropping, Majora looked at Ganondorf, "Oh here comes that sinking feeling…"
* Later…
It was a housewarming party of sorts. A simple gathering of a few friends and acquaintances. Perhaps it was his jaded personality, but Nil couldn't help but think of how Zelda kept talking to Nayru about the current state of Hyrule. As nice as the Princess could be, she just couldn't stop being a princess long enough to not interrogate his live-in girlfriend about the future or just how the world worked.
And to perfectly honest, he didn't like the way Attëa looked at Angmar. Or his flatware. Maybe it was because the demon had gotten a promotion to true boss of Hell, or because he watched it take whatever catches its fancy.
"You know, kids are going to make fun of him for that gray hair." Majora said as he sat with Angmar playing with some blocks. The way that the godling looked so innocent and carefree kind of bothered Nil when he realized that, technically, this was the same person who ran him through with a sword the size of a small man.
Nil crossed his arms, "Well, he'll need tough skin, that's for sure. I know he has tough skin, but I mean mentally. And despite my first instinct, I can't go out and beat up all those kid's dads, as much fun as it would be—Nayru is always telling me that violence isn't the solution…so I guess I'll teach him some razor sharp comebacks."
Nayru cut off Zelda to warn Nil, "I just don't you making him cynical and jaded while you're at it."
"Hey, this was your idea."
"And it's a good one, he could use a father figure, though I worry when you let Majora near him."
"You could at least wait until I'm not here to say that." Majora said as he watched the godling make a wall with the blocks, then knock it down with a laugh. Nil and Nayru shook their heads while everyone else cringed.
Link was having a good time watching Din and Farore play chess. "I don't think you should move that rook, Din."
"Look, you couldn't possibly understand my tactics, she's falling right into my trap."
"Oh, right, the trap where you take her bishop and queen with your two pawns and a king."
"Exactly. Now, watch mere mortal, at Din's Maneuver."
The Goddess tipped her king and went to get some wine.
"Does it end like that every time?"
"No. I let her win once."
"Why is she so bad at Chess?"
"Usually, she argues with Nayru about high minded philosophy or right and wrong and garbage like that, but after this mess she wouldn't bicker with Din anymore. She needed something to do, and I don't argue very well. I think it's just something to pass the time, because she started watching things a little more closely here on Earth."
"So she's letting you win."
"I think so, hey, could you be a dear and get me some more wine? This goblet is kind of small."
Nil sat down next to Nayru, keeping an eye on his adopted son. These were his friends, his family as it were. Kind of strange how he found himself annoyed by most of them on any given day for various idiosyncrasies, yet he would trust them with his life in a heartbeat. Only if Majora was supervised though.
Nayru gave him a sidelong glance noting that he was thinking a little too hard again. She grabbed his hand, pulling him from his reverie, "Dear, stop thinking so hard. Just go with it. Eight times out of ten, life works out in the end."
And they all lived happily ever after till the end of their days…
Except for Angmar, but that's another story.
The End