A/N: Rated T, but be aware there is some violence and heavy themes of death throughout. I don't think it's enough to warrant an M rating, so I am just putting this here so you're starting off well aware that it's pretty present as an overall theme.


The Spirit Realm is a quiet place. Heavenly billowing clouds of pure white and an endless sea of blue coat the domain of the gods. The only sound is that of wind, air, and then nothing at all. There is an occasional waterfall, the odd tree, the creak of a branch, the steady stream that passes, but for the most part, it's a quiet place.

The souls of the departed do not linger in the same place as these waterfalls and trees and blues and whites. No, the souls dwell in their own area of the realm, a wash of light, lit up by the glow of the essence that each was once a person in their own right. Each once had a family, and a memory. But each time that soul died, it returned to the Sacred Realm to the care of the three Goddesses.

Din was the Goddess of Death. She ferried the departed to the Sacred Realm and kept their light safe until Nayru needed to return them to the earth, to another body, another family, a new mind. But it was the same soul. It was always the same soul.

One great phenomenon that even Din couldn't explain was how some souls pulled another. They gravitated towards the light of another and clung to it in desperation, silently begging the gods not to separate them. When Din noticed this, she'd often keep them together. Though she was the Goddess of Death, they were all still her creations and her responsibility. And watching those souls walk the land until they found one another was often a compelling tale that each Goddess enjoyed.

The Goddesses enjoyed watching the journey those souls often traversed just to find the other, the pull too much to resist, whether their host knew it or not. Sometimes, one died before they could reunite, and the show was over, forgotten by the Goddesses and they returned to their tasks as usual.

Nayru, the Goddess of Life, watched her creations much as any parent would watch their newborn sleep, awed and incredulous of the lives she'd created. She would guide those she took notice of, bringing them to wealth, prosperity, love, and happiness.

But Din enjoyed a good laugh, often at the expense of her divine sisters.

When she wanted to, Din would take Nayru's creations and end their lives, suddenly, abruptly, violently. It was a pastime that she'd had for a millennium. After all, as the Goddess of Death, it was Din's very job to ensure that all life ended at some point. She and Nayru were the guardians of humanity, ensuring that neither Goddess became too content, too infatuated with any one human or area.

It was then that Din visited a peaceful village that was nestled in a forest. The people were hard-working, and she knew it was a place Nayru and Farore favored.

Farore was often the forgotten sister of the three. As the one who didn't interfere in the lives of humans at all, Farore, the Goddess of Nature, controlled the winds, the seas, the grass, the plants. It was all her domain. Sometimes, she'd allow Nayru to ensure that a field was well fertilized so her people could thrive, and she'd allow Din to start a new ecosystem by wiping out the old, but she had the true final say over everything that was not of humanity, and she loved to wander outside the Spirit Realm, barefoot in the grass that she could feel warming her in thanks for her care, or dipping into the calm waters of a once-raging ocean, soothing her after a time of stress. This village was one she allowed to prosper and thrive.

The three goddesses were the all-powerful puppeteers of the world they'd created. For the most part, they did their jobs, and did them well. There was no need to mettle.

But the Sacred Realm was quiet.

And quietness leads to boredom.

For all their ethereal natures, the goddesses were, in fact, creatures of life. They had minds, thoughts, emotions, and desires.

And Din was bored.

She watched the village without interest; her only desire to act stemming soley from boredom. There was no ulterior motive—though she had to admit her choice of location was simply to spite her sisters.

With a sigh of resigned boredom, Din ran her hand along every tree she passed, feeling the life sucked out of them, infecting them with a toxin that would kill them all. The villagers nearby would call it a disease, 'death by the Hand of Din' they'd say. Though Din rarely showed herself to mortals, it was as if they could tell she'd touched them and cursed their lives to end.

"Din! Din, they're screaming in pain! Please!" she heard from behind her. With a roll of her eyes, she turned to see both her sisters watching her with a disgusted look, the light from the flames flickering in their eyes as they watched on. It was Farore who looked close to tears, feeling the agony of the trees deep within her, as all three could when they were near their creations. For Din, the dying trees made her feel powerful. For Nayru and Farore, the destruction of life hurt.

"Please, stop! For me," Farore begged again, placing her own hand on the trees to soothe their pain, though she couldn't reverse the effects. Only Din could reverse the power of death.

"No," Din said simply, touching the next tree. "I want this." Her voice was monotone, as though the withering trees were simply not enough to bring her from her stupor. And at her own revelation, Din blinked, appearing closer to the village. Lively and full, she watched them for a moment, contemplating her decision before letting out a long breath that snaked towards the village in tendrils that were unseen to the mortals.

"Din, no!"

Nayru pushed past her sister and made for the village. She looked around helplessly, watching Din's breath touch too many for her to stop. But she called as many of the furthest villagers together, drawing them to her and pulling them into an area where she could protect them all at once. None thought it odd that they'd gathered outside of a house in a large group, but she wrapped her arms around them, shielding them from Din's infection.

"Oh, please," Din muttered, wandering up to them. "What's the loss of one village? You have so many others. Give these to me. I want them."

"And I want them as well!" Nayru had infused her light into each of them, and she let go, turning fully to face her sister. "And now they're mine. You're a menace when you want to be, sister."

Din touched one of the humans, flinching away when she felt a sharp pain in her hand, Nayru's love for her people keeping Din at bay.

With a disgusted sound, Din sent a wave of her powers at her sister, knowing it wouldn't harm her, but it was an annoyance, and if she enjoyed one thing, it was annoying her siblings.

"Din! You're such a child!" Nayru said, her body shuddering at the sensation of the ineffective curse.

"Am I a child? Perhaps I should take one of the village children back to the Sacred Realm with me to show you what a child I am!"

Nayru stormed off, disappearing into smoke, followed by Farore.

Din was left alone to watch her curse take out most of the village. And once they'd fallen, she collected their souls and brought them home with her to the Sacred Realm.

When she set them down among the others who awaited a new mortal body, one of the fierce lights began to move, pulled across the nothingness that they all floated in. Din watched it with a smile, always intrigued by those drawn to others. It latched onto another with a fierce snap, held together so tightly that it was easy to mistake them as one. She didn't even know which she'd just taken from the village.

Din squinted at them, reaching out carefully to brush her finger along the light. A soul of great strength and wisdom, determination and an unmatched force of will. She touched the other. Courage so strong it had been the bearer's downfall in past lives. Determination and a stubborn refusal to give up that only rivaled the one it was attached to.

No wonder they hold so tightly to the other.

She picked up the first, examining it in her hand. But the second flew at her, determined to stay with its match. And Din grinned when she found it a struggle to hold them separate from each other.

"Interesting," she muttered, her muscles straining until she had to let them both go, and they snapped together again.

Time was not the same in the Sacred Realm, and Din stared at the orbs for a long time. So long that Nayru had to retrieve souls on her own to replace those lost on the earth below that they usually watched so carefully.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, eyeing the bright lights.

Din demonstrated the intense pull between the two, and sat back, returning to her pensive vigil.

"Oh," Nayru said, reaching for them. "I'll let them down. Looks like you may have kept them separated through death for some time now. They want to be together once again."

But Din swatted her hand away. "No. I want to keep them. I've never seen such a pull. I like them."

"Let them free, Din. Watch from afar and see the same pull from there. You aren't a hoarder."

"No. I'm going to keep them."

Nayru walked away, muttering something under her breath. It was only then, in the comfort and welcome silence that Din returned to her work, leaving the two tightly wound souls alone.

So, when she returned later to find them missing, she let out an enraged screech.

"Nayru!" she screamed, pushing her way through the space where the orbs floated, making sure she wasn't simply missing them. "Nayru!"

"Yes?" she asked calmly, walking into the room.

"Where are they? What did you do!?"

"I did my job, unlike you. They're where they belong now. I sent them down to the earth."

"No!"

Din stood and pushed past Nayru, descending to where she sensed those that she wanted. A beautiful blonde baby boy was wrapped in his mother's arms, screaming with life. Life that Din hadn't intended to allow him yet. She took another step, appearing before another family, a calm baby already asleep in her mother's arms.

Nayru was beside her sister in an instant. "You see? They're where they are meant to be."

But Din's eyes were red with fury, and she grabbed tight to the mother's wrist.

"Oh, Din, no," Nayru breathed, watching tendrils of death wrap around the mother until she began to choke on them.

Post-birth complications, the mortals believed. Common and unavoidable. Like the Hand of Din.

"I am stronger than you," Din hissed, her eyes narrowing at her sister. "And I take what I want."

Nayru knew the look of pure determination and pride on her sister's face. And she knew a decision had to be made. To reach for the girl, or to return to the boy. There was no way she could save them both, though she knew Din was going to try.

And the girl was too close to Din.

Nayru faded out, returning to the boy as she rested her hand on his head, coating him in her life and love and protection before returning to Din, fully expecting that they'd be seeing off the souls of the girl and her mother back to the Sacred Realm.

But upon her return, the baby girl was still alive.

"Din?"

The Goddess of Death was smiling down at the baby, her hand brushing back the strands of blonde on her tiny head. "I think you're right. I want to see what happens to them. How strong is the pull? How many years will pass until they find each other? And when they finally do, I will take her, and she will be mine. And I will watch his soul break, so close, but so far. And it will hurt you most of all, sister. What is their life worth when the one you live for is gone?"

Nayru shook her head. "I'll protect them both from you."

But Din simply smiled, crooked and vengeful.

"You can't. I've touched her. As you've touched him. We have our pieces. Now let's play, sister."