Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo's licensed characters, trademarks, etc.
Midway
Peach and Zelda stepped out of the portal and found themselves in a lobby of some sort. The floor was shiny and bronzed, letting them see their reflections. The walls were made of mahogany. There were two crystal chandeliers hanging from what seemed to be an inexistent ceiling of blackness. There was also a wide, white marble staircase that led to a pair of double doors.
"Is this your castle?" Peach asked, looking around.
"No," Zelda said, looking distrustful of their surroundings. "I've never seen this place before. Were we sent to the wrong place?" When they heard a rippling sound, they turned to find the portal collapsing on itself. There was a blinding light as it vanished and left a small rush of air in its wake.
"Oh, no!" Peach screamed. "Daisy! Luigi! Geno!"
"Peach, look up," Zelda said, staring opposite the staircase.
Peach turned and gasped. Two large statues of Mario and Link were standing side by side. Mario held up the V-sign with his two fingers, while Link had his sword raised. "Zelda, where are we?"
"Someone's coming!" Zelda said, hearing someone upstairs.
"Mr. Mario! Sir Link!" a voice called from upstairs. They could see the blue hood of a cloaked figure running to the stairs and then down them. "I've been waiting some time to finally meet you. Fate has carried you here to free your lands as well as your beloved…Peach and Zelda…" He came to a stop when he saw the two women standing there. "What in heaven's name are you two doing here?"
"We were hoping you could tell us," Zelda said, not trusting the blue-robed Shaman.
"I haven't the slightest idea," he said, sounding offended. "You're supposed to be locked away as a concubine in the Sacred Realm…or Dark World…whatever it is you people call it now. And Peach, you're supposed to be…well…dead."
"What?" Peach exclaimed.
"You were destined to die by the claw of Bowser," he said.
"Who are you?" Peach asked, now upset.
"And how do you know this?" Zelda added.
"Answer this first," he said. "Where are the heroes I was supposed to meet.? Where is the plucky plumber who is Peach's eternal savior? Where is the Hero of Time who is to save Zelda forevermore?"
"Link was captured by Ganondorf," Zelda said somberly. "I believe he is in the Dark World."
"I'm not sure where Mario is," Peach said softly.
"Bah!" the Shaman said. "Millennia's worth of planning…all for a botched arrival."
"Your name, please," Zelda said insistently.
"…Oracle."
"And this place?" Peach asked.
"A midway point," he said, turning back to the staircase. "Your two worlds are both crossroads. They lead to a great many different worlds…"
"What were our heroes to do here?" Zelda asked.
"Attain powers necessary to defeat evil, though it seems that idea has been tossed out the window…I suppose I'll just have to find something more suitable to you…Heaven, help us."
"You'll help us?" Peach asked.
"Princess Toadstool," he began.
"Queen Koopa, actually," she said. "Bowser…"
"Somebody is going to get fired once I have a talk with the higher-ups," he muttered. "Anyway, go up these stairs, enter, make a left, and go into the door at the end of the hall. There you will find a holy relic secured upon a pedestal. Absorb its power, through physical contact of course, and sit quietly until I arrive. DO NOTHING ELSE!"
"Okay," Peach said nervously.
"Zelda, I must personally guide you, for your power-up is at the end of a small maze. Come with me."
"Will you be all right?" Zelda asked Peach.
"I'll be fine," she said, walking up the stairs.
"Come along, Zelda," the Shaman said, opening a door at the base of the stairway. "And watch your step. It's quite dark down there."
Peach glanced at the Mario and Link statues once more before walking down the hall. There were numerous doors on the walls, each somewhat different from the others. She finally came to the white door at the end of the hall and entered. To her amazement, the room inside was nearly identical to the lobby she had been in, except that it was completely white and there were no statues. In the center of the floor, there was a pedestal with a white pillow holding a miniature statue of an angel.
"I guess that's it," she said, picking up the statue. With the weight lifted off the pedestal, it activated the rise of a stone chair from the floor. Peach sat down, but found the chair much too uncomfortable. She snatched the pillow from the pedestal and used it as a cushion after fluffing it a bit. She stared down at the statuette in her hands and concentrated. The chair began to glow and rumble as a signal that she was absorbing power. Though she could feel it herself, something felt odd about it.
Every door the Shaman had taken Zelda through always led to a dark variation of the lobby. Every time, they entered one of the ground floor doors next to the staircase. The first room was gray. The second was blackened. The third was so dark, Zelda had to hold onto the Shaman so as not to get lost. The final room was dark, but not pitch black. Zelda could see everything clearly enough. There were two statues facing the entrance this time. They were a scythe and an hourglass, which had actual sand pouring into the bottom. The rest of the room looked as if it had not been in use for decades. There were cobwebs everywhere. The floor was covered in a thick layer of slippery dust.
"Why keep anything of value in such a poorly maintained room?" Zelda asked.
"This particular room correlates with you, Zelda," he said, placing emphasis on her name. "Within this room, you will become one step closer to realizing your place as Sage of Time."
"I already know that I am destined to become that," she said. "But I haven't been able to unlock my power."
"That is why you are here," he said, taking her to the center of the room. "You can't become the Seventh Sage of Hyrule until the time is right, when destiny chooses for you to ascend…and probably when you find all the other Sages or something… For now, you'll gain, or rather, improve one of your powers."
"Which one?" she asked. Suddenly, a mist began to fall onto her from above. As it engulfed her, the Shaman took out a green jewel and placed it on the floor. Sparkles danced around the mist until it all subsided.
"Now, then. I want you to use your improved telekinesis to pick up that jewel."
That particular power had always been Zelda's weakest. It took so much concentration to do so little. She looked at the jewel and concentrated on it, outstretching her hand. The jewel shook on the floor, but did not move any closer.
"You seem to need quite a bit of practice," he said. "Try to focus a little less and simply will the jewel to yourself, as if an invisible arm simply grabbed it and pulled it in."
Zelda took a breath and relaxed. She imagined her soul reaching out to the jewel and touching it. It felt slippery to her, yet the jewel was at least moving around on the floor a bit instead of shaking.
"Try to get a grip on it."
She squeezed her actual hand as if it were holding the jewel and the green ball cracked, soon falling to pieces. "That's not what I intended," she frowned.
"Oh, well. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time. Just wait for the true ascension. In the mean time, I'm sure you'll make good use of your crushing psychic hold…"
The image of Zelda using her power to strangle Ruto suddenly flashed through her mind. Zelda looked back to the statue of the scythe and sighed. "May I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Does the sentence, 'the darkness shall consume you,' mean anything to you…anything important I should keep in mind?"
The Shaman seemed to be surprised about that sentence. He thought for a moment and replied, "You have nothing to fear in the darkness. However, do not let the light blind you."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Just keep that in mind," he said. "Now, come along…before Peach gets bored and does something foolish."
Peach had been sitting in the chair for quite some time, quickly becoming bored. She had already wondered what happened her friends in Sarasaland, but decided to simply pray for the best. Then, she had wondered what her new power would be, but she could not seem to do anything new. She certainly had not sprouted wings like the angel statuette, nor did she gain a halo. She did not even know if she was supposed to still hold onto it. She looked around at the doors curiously, wondering if all of them led to lobbies like this. Just as she was about to get up, the door she had entered through opened and out came the Shaman and Zelda. Zelda's eyes did not seem to be adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room.
"I see you followed my instructions," the Shaman said, glancing at the pedestal. "…But where is the relic?"
"Right here," Peach said, holding out the angel in plain view.
"That's not the relic!" he shouted.
"But I found it on the pedestal just as you said."
"That's just a trinket! I'll be in so much trouble if I don't find the relic."
"Peach," Zelda spoke in a calmer fashion. "Was there anything else on the pedestal?"
"Just a pillow cushion…"
"Pillow cushion?" the Shaman said as if he had never had one there. "Strange…Where is it now?"
"She's sitting on it," Zelda noted.
The Shaman looked and saw the white pillow under her. His eyes arched and he spoke in a low, angry voice. "Please, tell me you are not sitting on the relic…"
"What?" Peach exclaimed. "It's just a pillow. This chair is too hard to be comfortable."
"Rise!" he said, approaching the chair. She got up and he sighed as he saw the white pillow. "This is all so horribly wrong. You sat on the holy relic!"
"…Which happens to look like a perfectly normal pillow," Zelda muttered.
"Well, I still absorbed its power, so there's nothing to worry about," Peach said optimistically. "I'm sorry for sitting on it, though."
"It's not that simple," he said. "Its power is transferred to whatever touches it. I had intended for you to simply hold it to channel the power into your hands, or even embrace it to transfer power to your core…but now that you've sat on it, the power has been transferred to your…your…"
"Peach," Zelda suggested.
"…Quite," the Shaman agreed.
"My what? Just tell me what that word means."
The Shaman spoke bluntly, "In this case, it means your ever so lovely derriere, my dear."
"Oh," Peach blushed. "…So…what new power do I have?" There was a brief, awkward silence.
"…Ahem, perhaps I should send you two along to Hyrule then," the Shaman said suddenly.
"Good idea," Zelda quickly agreed. "One question, though. How am I to return Peach home?"
"How did you get here?"
"A long range teleporter that most likely no longer exists," Zelda said.
"Ah, technology. I see…Well, it was totally unnecessary."
"What!" Zelda exclaimed.
"I did say your worlds were both crossroads," he reminded them. "The Dark World is a bridge accessible through both worlds. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few ways to go directly from Hyrule to the Mushroom World and vice versa. Anything else?"
"…No," Zelda said, now frustrated.
"I have a question," Peach said.
"If it's about your power, then forget about it."
"No, it's different."
"All right…"
"Isn't the name Oracle for girls?" she asked, catching both Zelda and the Shaman off-guard. "I've never heard of one that was a boy."
"Young lady, I can be whatever I want," Oracle said. He proved his point by turning into Mario, then Bowser, then Peach, and back to a Shaman.
"What are you?" Zelda asked, backing away.
"That's for me to know," he said.
"You're a Duplighost, aren't you?" Peach spoke, stepping forward and looking into his hood. "A girl Duplighost…"
"………….Maybe," Oracle spoke. "Not that you can prove any of what you can say…"
Peach smirked and raised her hands high into the air. A blue balloon with an X on it appeared and it burst onto the Shaman. The illusion was blown away, and there stood a figure under a blue sheet with eyeholes and a mouth hole. There was a tuft of pink hair sticking out through the head area. The face was an expression of quiet shock. The muted Duplighost swallowed her pride and summoned a pillar of light. Peach giggled as she and Zelda floated up into the light and disappeared.