It was a rainy Saturday evening, and there I was, on my computer like a good 19-year-old schmuck with no future. Typing away at some stupid writing assignment, I of course drifted off to think about other things.
Where was I going?
What was I doing?
Why haven't I done anything?
So many questions my parents and I asked myself, but I had no answers. All I could think about was video games, the damn video games that I grew to love more than family or friends. It wasn't my fault they were good games!
The Legend of Zelda, God of War, Dead Space, and Halo, all of them drew me in with their stories and characters, the music and action, even the sadness and loss. I admired Link's courage, Kratos' strength, Isaac Clarke's ingenuity, and Master Chief's luck. They were the mentors who taught me to fight, to love, to stand.
Such a dreary existence I had, it had no excitement, no adventure. I wanted so badly to vanish into my games and live out the rest of my life in them, to feel the warmth of the Gerudo Mesa, to climb the heights of Mount Olympus, to explore the depths of the Sprawl on Titan Station, to sail the stars and discover the seven Halo Installations.
Yes, I had such dreams of grandeur. I had no future here on Earth, in this time, in this place. No, my destiny lay elsewhere, in the codes and programming of video games. Well, that was what I wanted to believe.
I continued typing away, not realizing that the lights around me had gone out. I could hear footsteps resounding above my head and assumed it was my parents or brother coming down to the basement to use the TV. As I clicked the 'Save' button for the document, I heard a very distinct voice echo above me. It was female, yet sounded daring and youthful. My mother could be daring, sure, but she was not youthful, as much as I hated to think it. Another voice echoed down, and I understood it to be female as well but older and with the authority of a regent or monarch. Just as I was about to dismiss the voices as my thoughts only, a third voice met my ears. Female again, with a hint of knowledge beyond her presumed years. I could hear their voices faintly, but I could not discern the words.
Great, a trio of women is robbing me, I thought to myself. With a shrug, I rose from my computer desk at the bottom of the stairs and made my way up, only to stop when I heard a clear sentence from the intelligent-sounding voice.
"He thinks we're robbers. He won't trust us."
That sentence made my mind go blank. She had just vocalized what I was thinking! I shook my head and convinced myself that I just said that thought aloud. With a new spur of energy, I emerged from the stairs and walked into the kitchen, noticing but ignoring the three women seated in the living room across the way.
If I die, I'll at least have something to eat first.
As I opened the fridge, I heard a faint scoff from the living room, but ignored it as I pulled out the grape jelly. I closed the door and stepped over to the pantry when I heard the authoritative voice. Though she tried to whisper, it was difficult with such a commanding tone.
"He assumes too much. How do you know he'll be willing to do it, Farore?"
That caught my attention. I slowly put the peanut butter back as the chipper voice replied, "I trust him, Sister Din. There's more to him than you or even he knows."
I couldn't help but smile a little. I've never met those women and yet they were gossiping about me like schoolgirls. One was even vouching for me! I replaced the jelly and stepped outside the kitchen to find a young girl standing right there, which caused me to jump in surprise.
She seemed no older than ten, maybe twelve years old at the most, with mildly tanned skin and freckles atop her nose. Her hair was down to her shoulders and was a beautiful emerald shade and every strand seemed to be comprised of the jewel itself. Her eyes were a similar color and were wide with curiosity as her thin lips widened into a fearless grin. She wore what seemed like adventure gear, with tan cargo pants tucked into brown knee-high boots, and a dark green T-shirt under a brown leather jacket with a bandolier around her chest.
She giggled at my reaction and stretched out her childish hand in greeting.
"Hi! I'm Farore!" she chirped.
With one brow raised, I shook her hand gently but she had other plans, as she began to drag me past the dining room and into the living room. I began to marvel at the girl's strength until I saw the other two women seated on the red velvet love seat.
One had ruby hair that reached down just past her collarbone, and again seemed to be millions of slivers of the gem. Her eyes matched the shade of her hair as she glared passively at me. She wore a deep red poet shirt beneath a regal gold vest and an ankle-length black dress bottom, with black pumps underneath. Her skin was tan, nearly bronze, and was perfectly smooth, save for a beauty mark just above her left eyebrow, and her lips glistened with red lipstick and pursed to show her disapproval at me.
The other woman had sapphire hair, with a similar sheen and shine to her companions, though hers sat in a ponytail with bangs draping over eyes that again matched her hair. She wore a sleeveless navy blue poet shirt above a long-sleeved gray T-shirt with a white scarf wrapped around her slender neck, black slacks, and finally dark gray booties. Her skin was fair and pale, with lips set in a gentle smile of understanding.
Since her hair was pulled back unlike the others, I could see that her ears were very pointed and elf-like. The green-haired girl, Farore, tugged at my arm and plopped me down on the couch across from the love seat, with a crisp fire burning to my left in the fireplace.
As I observed the two women across from me, the chipper little girl kept bouncing in her seat as the others studied me as well.
After a seeming eternity, the redhead cleared her throat and spoke up, her voice even more regal up close. "You seem calm for someone whose home has been intruded upon."
I blinked and turned to look at Farore with a raised brow. She smiled brightly, showing a slight gap between her two front teeth. Then I realized why her name sounded so familiar. "You said your name was Farore, right?" I asked. She nodded eagerly, never losing that slightly adorable smile. I turned to the redhead and narrowed my eyes slightly. "Sister Din, I presume?" Din nodded once as she continued to burn holes through my head. Now that I had a stable hypothesis, I decided to perform an experiment and turned my attention to the blue-haired woman. "I suppose your name is Nayru."
It was not a question as much as a realization. She nodded with a graceful smile and extended her hand. I shook it gently and was surprised at the warmth of her skin and strength of her grip.
Seeing as I was supposedly in the presence of the Three Golden Goddesses, I decided to be the smooth charmer I never was and kissed the back of Nayru's hand. I was again surprised by how warm and smooth her skin was as Farore giggled at my show of suave.
I released her hand and leaned back in my seat, then began mulling over my thoughts. It all seemed so surreal, to have two beautiful women and a young girl in my living room, even if they were out of their minds with the Zelda themed dress up party. I was good at being rational despite most circumstances, so I came up with three explanations: This was all a dream and I was asleep at my computer desk, these women broke in to rob me and distract me with the getup while they did so, or these women were the Golden Goddesses of the Triforce.
If you can hear my thoughts, say applesauce, I said in my mind. If they could read my mind, maybe the third explanation wouldn't be so—
"Applesauce," all three said.
My eyebrow shot up as I surveyed the three. 'Farore' giggled and moved down to sit on the floor between 'Din' and 'Nayru', both of whom had knowing smiles on their faces, though one was more condescending than the other.
One more test, I thought, and moved my hands behind my back with three fingers raised.
With a mischievous smirk, I asked, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
'Din' scoffed and pointed an accusing finger at me as she said, "We will not waste our time with these games."
"Hey, if you can't do it, no sweat—"
"Three. Two. Nine. Seven. Five. One. Four."
Not only did all three speak at the exact same time with the exact same pace, they were right every single time. I was never one to give up, so I tried one more time with a vigorous shake of my hands.
"How many now?" I asked with eight fingers raised, but I quickly drew in the fingers on my left hand.
'Nayru' was the only one to speak as she said, "Eight."
Victorious in my deception, I raised my right hand in triumph to show off the five I was holding. They may be psychic, but they couldn't just grow new fingers on people!
That was when I noticed I had three extra fingers wedged between the knuckles of my natural four. With a girlish whimper, I shook my hand to discard the appendages.
Okay, so the second theory is out. I'm either dreaming, these are the actual Goddesses, or the Goddesses are visiting me but in a dream.
Din cleared her throat and said, "This is no dream. I assure you that we are as real as the clothes you wear."
With a sigh as I saw that my hand was back to normal, I turned back to Din and shrugged slightly as I slapped myself in the face. I waited several seconds for the sting to wear off, and when it did, I was still on the couch facing the Golden Goddesses themselves.
"Not a dream, got it," I said. I couldn't deny evidence like that no matter how crazy the whole thing was. Now that I accepted the fact that I was in the presence of the Golden Goddesses, I felt two separate urges; one begged me to kneel down and pay respect, the other had a question for them. I decided to forgo the kneeling and ask the question instead.
"Why are you here?"
The Three lowered their heads and turned solemn and almost bitter. Even Farore lost her cheeriness.
Nayru locked eyes with me and said, "We need your help."
My eyes widened at that, and I could feel a slight dizziness in my head.
"What do you need help with?" I asked, though I was starting to get nervous about why I had three deities sitting in my living room with me. More importantly, I was getting nervous because these three deities should be fictional. They belonged to the Legend of Zelda franchise, not the real world.
"We cannot explain everything to you," said Din, her glare softening but her voice still imposing. "Your mind cannot comprehend the wealth of information."
Gee, thanks.
Nayru frowned and said, "Suffice to say that this universe is one of trillions upon trillions of others. Our universe exists in reality, as does any other story you have ever heard, seen, or even thought of. The same is true of all other universes. In ours, there are stories about America and Earth. Every story, movie, television show, video game, and comic book exists at the same time in different universes. There is an actual Goku, there is an actual Necronomicon ex Mortis, and there is a Debo and his land of Amasea."
Now I knew I was going crazy. I was in the process of writing a novel, with a character named Debo and a world called Amasea. I kept the project to myself, so no one could possibly have known anything about it.
Farore pouted and scooted closer to me. She sat up and held my hand in hers. Her skin was just as warm as Nayru's but much smaller because of her childlike stature.
"The universes are all in great danger," she said, though it seemed more like a whisper. "There is a great evil that is coming for all of us. It desires not conquest or power, only absolute destruction and annihilation. This evil will erase all of existence if it is not stopped."
I took pity on the Goddess of Courage and squeezed her hand gently. If I were crazy, then I'd at least have an adventure in my own mind. If I weren't, then I'd have an actual adventure with excitement and danger.
A question nagged in the back of my mind, so I asked, "Why me? Why of all the people in all the universes do you turn to me, some rundown schmuck with no future? I'm nobody; I'm almost twenty but I still live with my parents. I play enough video games to be a little clever, but only because I had a guide or something to help me. How am I supposed to be the savior of the universes?"
There was a brief pause as the Three glanced at one another. Farore bit her lip, Nayru fidgeted with her hands, and Din furrowed her brow. After a weary sigh, Nayru answered, "You are the great evil."
I did not so much as blink. "That a fact?"
Clenching her perfect jaw, Din snarled, "I opined that we should simply destroy you, but there are certain... circumstances that we cannot ignore." She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "Perhaps you can defeat yourself. You humans are especially gifted for self-destruction."
"Meanwhile, you're running scared because of a teeny little human." I huffed and looked to the side. "I noticed that you did not answer my question."
Farore sat beside me and squeezed my hands. She leaned in and her eyes screamed out her sadness and fright. She gently grabbed my arm and tugged on me, then, with a trembling lip, she asked me, "Will you help us?"
After a semi-weary sigh, I rose from the couch and moved so that all three Goddesses were in my field of vision, then I knelt down on one knee and bowed my head.
"What must I do, O Golden Goddesses?"