Chapter 19: I Guess It Isn't the End

Castle Town

"The shaking. It stopped," said Zelda.

"..."(Link). He told her to get some clothes on.

Both of them got dressed, and Link went to unlock the door. Zelda stopped him, telling him "Don't. You're forgetting that you just slept with a member of the royal family." She motioned her hands in an oval shape, and brought them together, and she changed into Sheik. She was fully clothed in the same garments, but this time, the blanket scarf around her neck was red. "Take the hat and the tunic off." She rummaged through her closet, which was on the ground. She took out a cyan blanket scarf, and a cloak with a hood formed on the top, and threw them to Link. He put them on, with the hood on and the scarf covering the bottom half of his face.

"We don't know what we're getting into,"she said. She moved the side of the bed to the left, revealing a hidden trapdoor under. "The royal family's bedrooms always have secret exits." They opened the door and went down on to the ladder. They landed in a sparsely lit tunnel, with a few cracks leaking light in. Sheik put her hands together, and shot a fireball straight ahead, lighting up torches as it shot through. After lighting six torches, the fireball dissipated. The two of them walked to the other end, finding a ladder. Sheik climbed up first, removing the stone that concealed the hole. They climbed up, reaching what appeared to be the front courtyard of the castle. They laid low, and crept against the stone walls.

"This doesn't look much like an afterlife," said Sheik.

They climbed up the ladder to the top of the wall, and surveyed what they could see. It just looked like normal Castle Town, albeit with some chunks of rubble lying on the ground. In the distance they saw panicking citizens mucking about the streets, crowding up the town square. Some guards were rushing in, hoping to mediate the crisis. Link and Sheik leaned against the wall, of the catwalk, and tried to ponder what was going on.

"Is this the end, or did nothing happen?" Sheik questioned.

"..."(Link). He asked Sheik for her knife. She handed it to him, and Link lifted up his sleeve. He quickly made a small cut in his upper arm. He flinched as he did it, pulling away the knife when he finished. He handed the knife back, and Sheik quickly took it and sheathed it.

"What are you doing!?" she uttered quietly.

"..." (Link). He said that cutting his arm definitely hurt, as if he was alive.

"Hm. I wonder," she replied. She took the knife back out, and did the same, making a small cut in her upper arm. She pulled it away and flinched, and sheathed the knife back. "We're definitely alive."

"...?"(Link). But why? If the worlds collided, then shouldn't their existence have been erased in the destruction of two realms?

"I don't know either. But the sky is still shining in mysterious colors, so something had to have happened," Sheik replied.

Link looked at the sky, and the vibrant purple colors were still present. But as he scanned the sky to the north, the colors blended and darkened until it was black, with the dots of stars above. When he panned down to the south, the colors turned into a dark purple, and then grew brighter into a magenta. Farther down, they saw hints of red and dark blue.

"..."(Link). The changing colors indicate something.

"Let's get out of here, first, then down south," Sheik said.

They scuttled down the wall's catwalk, and onto the border walls. The quickly made their way to the southern wall, where they stopped and jumped down. They purposely avoided the guards, since their attire would get them caught, and they'd have to stay to help explain that the end of the world was happening, but for some odd reason it didn't. And they'd have to explain it to a frantic Castle Town populous.

They exited into Hyrule Field, and Link called Epona. She came dashing from the east, and they mounted on to her. They rode south, across the empty fields, with the exception of the infrequent fauna of the fields and forests. They entered the southern Faron Woods, passing Coro's house, and into the Northern Faron Woods. They front of the small shop, and where the bridges to the Sacred Grove were. They dismounted, and observed the sky above. They were definitely closer to what was causing the sudden shift in the sky's color.

"...!" (Link). He called out to the Hero's Shade.

"Uh, why did you just utter your name?" asked Sheik.

"...!" (Link). He called out again.

A large skeleton-like figure approached to the front of them, slowly fading out of nothingness into reality. The Hero's Shade stopped in front of them and said "He's not the only one who has carried that name before."

Sheik subtly put her hand behind her back, reaching for her knife handle, and said, while trying to hide her slight nervousness, "Who are you?"

"Relax. Lower your arm. I'm not a stalfos. I'm, well, I guess you can know. I'm an ancestor of Link. A previous hero, chosen by the gods," he answered. "I now carry the title of the Hero's Shade."

"Link, why are we here?" asked Sheik.

"..?" (Link). The end came, but for some reason, it wasn't the end. The world still existed, after crashing into the other world.

"I myself do not know. I was expecting that this world and the world of your foreign acquaintances would crash and inevitably die in a fiery cataclysm. But here we are, Hero of Twilight, and the Hylian Princess. I guess that alter of ego of hers was passed down all the way to you," said the Shade.

"How did you know?" asked Sheik. "That this was a disguise?"

"The first person to use those acrobatic Sheikah garbs was the Princess Zelda from my time," he answered.

"Well, since you're here, I should warn you that the bridge connecting the woods to Ordon Village is destroyed. But I do see that a peculiar valley has opened in the southern woods," said the Shade. "Until our paths cross again."

He walked away and faded out of sight. Link and Zelda mounted back on to Epona and rode to the new valley in the southern woods. As they got closer, they saw more debris and boulders on the ground. They reached the valley, and the slipshod arrangement of the rocks in between slightly obstructed the path. They dismounted, and started to walk through the valley. Who knows what would be in it, or what they've uncovered. Frankly, they wouldn't expect what would come.

Ylisstol, Balcony of the Royal Bedroom

"Your highness, what was that!?" shouted the guard, for the twentieth time.

"That's weird. I thought we'd be dead by now. Maybe that was just a precursor to an even larger end?" Chrom questioned.

"A larger end to what?!" the other guard shouted. "Your highness, what is going on!?"

"The end of the world should have happened from what we understand," Chrom nonchalantly said.

"What?! Why aren't we doing anything then?!" he shouted.

"Well, there's no escaping a giant apocalyptic end to the world, is there? It's not like we can just slay a dragon again to prevent it," answered Chrom.

"But...the people of Ylisstol," the guard interjected.

"Ignorance is bliss. I wouldn't want to have the city turn into a sprawl of chaos," said Chrom. "Even if people are still panicking right now. But I'd rather they panic now and think it was just an earthquake, considering we're still alive."

"Uh, well, what if..."the guard stammered.

"Rally up some soldiers. Go into the streets and help any hysterical citizens, and help mediate the situation," Chrom ordered. "AND DO NOT tell them that the end of the world was happening. All they need to know is that it was an earthquake."

"Uh, yes sir," the other guard said.

Both of them left. After a few moments, Chrom said, "I guess this is a turn for the better, if we're still alive. But why?"

"Maybe Grateau was wrong about the worlds colliding," Sumia responded.

"Unless something happened to prevent that. But what though?"

Tactician's Bedroom

"This doesn't seem like the end. Although I'm annoyed that the earthquake knocked down my wardrobe and my bookshelf," said Robin.

He and Say'ri got off the bed and lifted the fallen furniture pieces back up. The rest of the room looked as if nothing happened. The windows and curtains remained intact, and there was not a speck of debris on the floor. Robin and Say'ri might as well have gone to sleep. Which is exactly what they did next. Robin tore a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote "Do not disturb, sleeping. Yes, we know that nothing happened," on it. He hung it off the doorknob with a string, and closed and locked the door.

Streets of Ylisstol

"Man, one measly earthquake and everyone acts like it's the end of the world!" Lon'qu exclaimed.

"Well, that's kind of what it was. Except we aren't dead," Sully said.

The streets were bustling with panicked citizens, and soldiers hustling through the streets. Some poorly built structures collapsed, and so far, the only injuries were minor, and nothing else. But overall, the end of the world was boring. Although, they still had the night sky to look at. A night sky where the colors suddenly shifted to the southeast, like an arrow pointing to something.

"The sky, it changed. Now it's bright towards that direction," said Lon'qu.

"Eh, I guess the sky will be like that for a few days, and then return back to normal," said Sully.

Two Days Later...

"Hey Robin, wake up dear," said a quiet, but close voice.

Robin opened his eyes and sat up, and Say'ri was beside him.

"Right, it's two days after the supposed end of the world," said Robin.

"Hah, I suppose things do get boring after the battle is over," said Say'ri. "But we are going back to Chon'sin today."

Something sparked in his mind, and he exclaimed "By Naga, I forgot about that!"

"I'll start gathering my things," she said. Then she got off the bed, and started scouring the bedroom for belongings that needed to be packed.

Whilst doing so, she said "I've heard talks from the soldiers. They say that a messenger came back from the eastern deserts, claiming that soldiers encamped there have been defeated by a group of mercenaries. Perhaps we should stay longer?"

"Hm, I wouldn't think so. A small group of bandits isn't much of a concern, and I'm sure the Shepherds can dispose of them quickly," Robin answered.

"Ay, the messenger also claimed it was only two different groups."

"Two? I think I know who they are, and if it's so, our army could definitely finish them."

"Right. So, are you gonna pack your things?"

"Oh, sorry. I'll grab our stuff from the barracks."

Exit of Ylisstol Castle

Robin and Say'ri received farewells from all of the Shepherds. They organized outside of Ylisstol Castle, saying their goodbyes to the two of them. Robin went to hug Lon'qu at one point, but he unknowingly pushed a bit too hard on Lon'qu's right arm. Lon'qu groaned a bit, and Robin quickly let go. He went back to Say'ri, and they said goodbye to Chrom.

"The castle will be two people lonelier," said Chrom. "We're gonna miss you two."

"I wish we could stay, but we have a country to run," said Say'ri.

"Well, this is goodbye. I hope you two have safe travels back to Chon'sin," said Chrom.

"Farewell, Chrom," Robin said. "You know, I guess it's a good thing I didn't say that when we were on top of Grima."

"All of us would certainly agree. Safe travels, you two!"

Morgan went up to them, and Chrom stepped away to leave the three of them.

"Mother, Father, I'm gonna miss you," she said, as she hugged them.

"Morgan, we'll miss you too. Take care, here in Ylisse. I heard you're gonna study under Ylisse's other tacticians," Say'ri said.

"Yeah, that way I can be a tactician like father, and a swordsman like you," Morgan replied.

"You certainly have the ambition of your mother," Robin said.

Robin went and said goodbye to the other Shepherds, and Say'ri noticed Yen'fay lurking away by a tree. She approached him and said "Do I not get a goodbye from my own brother?"

"Saying goodbye is a hard thing for me to do. Especially after, you died in my world," he answered.

"You could come to Chon'sin," said Say'ri.

"I can't go back there. I died on that volcano."

"People in Chon'sin don't know that you're dead for sure. We could say that your death was misreported, and that you were healed quickly after."

"It's not just that. I can't face the same people I ruled in the other world. If I looked at them, all I'd see are the people I failed."

"Then what will you do now?"

"I've spent enough time hiding here in Ylisse. I've considered traveling across this continent. To either Regna Ferox or Plegia."

"...Well, you're always welcome to come to Chon'sin should the need ever occur."

"Thank you, sister," Yen'fay said. "It looks like it's time for your departure."

Say'ri turned and saw Robin ready to mount on to the two wyverns. She began to walk to Robin, and said "Goodbye, Yen'fay."

"Goodbye, sister."

Robin and Say'ri waved goodbye to everyone, and went to Gerome and Cherche. They offered to fly Robin and Say'ri to Port Ferox, in which they'd get on a Chon'sinese ship. The two of them had their light bags and travel belongings, which were small enough that they could strap them on to the harnesses of the wyverns and they'd still be able to fly. Robin and Say'ri mounted on to the wyverns of Gerome and Cherche, respectively.

"Hold on," said Cherche.

The wyverns lifted off of the ground, and ascended high into the air. Robin looked down to see everyone waving goodbye. He waved back, and the wyverns started to take them west, to Port Ferox.

Edge of Ylisstol

Frederick rallied his horseback battalion, and a few from the assassin battalion. This included Gregor, Gaius, Sully, and Stahl. They were to investigate the presence of a group of mysterious individuals that managed to defeat a whole group of Ylissean soldiers. They rode out on horseback to the desert that was southeast of Ylisstol. It would take about a day of travel, and they would get there by night. They would set up camp after, and continue for the next day.

Their travel took them from the Sun's highest point in the sky to sundown, in which they reached the edge of the desert. An oasis was near where they camped, giving them access to clean water.

As they set up camp under the darkening sky, they noticed that it was no longer the vibrant colors of the supposed "collision," except for one small blot of magenta colors, aligned to the southeast. When they finished setting up, Gregor and another cavalier stayed awake to keep guard, in case someone attacked them during the night. After a few hours, they'd rotate out and keep security throughout the night.

It went by without any disturbance, and they picked up their march on the next day. Their march halted when they encountered an uncharted village complex.

"Are you using the right map?" asked Frederick.

"I am! This is the most recent one," answered the soldier.

"I don't suppose there's anyone here, or has a cold bath," said Sully. "Sweating my ass off under this armor."

"Gregor, Gaius, you're up," ordered Frederick.

"Why? The door is open comrade. No need for sneakiness," replied Gregor.

Gregor pushed the wooden gate open, and they found themselves in an empty, abandoned ghost town. Though it wasn't much of a town, since it had at most ten buildings. Gregor and Gaius went in, while the rest of them waited. The two of them climbed up to the roof of one of the buildings, with their hoods on and face masks to protect them from the heat. They looked from their vantage point and found nothing. Just abandoned sandstone houses, and torn wood lying all around. They climbed down into the house and exited through the door.

"It appears to be some abandoned outpost," Gaius said. "And there's nothing here. And nothing to pillage."

"Let's head out, go back to the crew," said Gregor.

Gregor and Gaius walked out, and the unit made their way east. They stopped frequently due to the grueling heat, especially the mounted units. Yet, somehow, Frederick was as stalwart and un-phased as ever.

"I don't know... how... you've made it all this way... without breaking a single drop of sweat, commander," said one of the knights, panting in between phrases.

"I must in top condition when serving Lord Chrom," Frederick answered.

Little did they know that Frederick actually drank a heat resistance potion prior to their departure.

Southeastern Deserts

"There's not a sign of civilization in sight," Sheik said. "And who knows if those mercenaries are tracking us right now."

"..." (Link). They probably shouldn't have gotten involved in the three-way battle between the Riders of Dawn, the Stonewall Knights, and Ylissean Army.

The chasm led to this desert, which they found themselves to be walking on for two days. They interfered in a battle between two mercenary groups and the Ylissean Army in a village. That was the only sight of civilization, and they had to flee from it. It's not like the soldiers were going to attack one by one for Link and Sheik. If they were to attack them in their exhausted state, they would surely fall.

"How were you able to stay in the Gerudo Desert for this long?" Sheik asked, as they trekked along the sand.

"..." There were bulbin camps in the Gerudo Desert. Here, there was one village that they left.

"I feel like this is but an infinite plane of desert. I have not seen any change in the landscape."

They saw sand, sand, and more hills of sand, as far as the eye could see. The grueling heat beat down upon them, as they covered their faces from the sunlight with hoods and wraps. The air appeared as if it were rippling from the heat, and the sand somehow found its way into their clothing.

"Oh great... a mirage of soldiers," Sheik said.

In the distance, Sheik spotted soldiers on horseback, with two people riding per horse.

"..." That wasn't a mirage.

Sheik and Link drew their weapons, and slowly charged forward through the sand.

"They have their weapons drawn, circle around them!" Frederick said.

The cavaliers steered their horses around the two individuals, fully enclosing them in. One rider from each horse dismounted, with their weapons drawn. After enclosing them in, the two people lowered their weapons, and addressed Frederick.

"Sir Frederick? Could it be?" said one, wrapped in form fitting garbs, wielding a knife.

"State your identities and your business here, in the middle of the desert of all places," Frederick commanded.

"You don't recognize us?" they said.

"Who are you two? Wait, that sword..." Frederick said.

The other person was holding the Master Sword in their left hand, and an ornate blue shield with the triforce crest on their right arm.

"Link?" Frederick said.

"..." Yes, it was him. He'd take his hood off, but he felt that if he did, the sun would set his face ablaze.

"And who is this man with you?"

"My name is Sheik, but I'm actually- well, let's just keep at Sheik. I once worked with your exalt and tactician," Sheik said. "So, I'm sure all of us can lower our weapons."

The soldiers did so, and sheathed their swords and lances.

"..." Link asked why they were in the desert.

"We were here hunting down two mercenary groups who attempted to seize control of a village," said Frederick.

"Did they happen to be the Riders of Dawn, and the Stonewall Knights?" Sheik asked.

"Tis actually so, yes. They once tried to hire Gregor. But the pay was bad. Very bad," Gregor said.

"Which one tried to hire you?" Gaius asked.

"Both of them!" He answered, letting out a chuckle after. "Let's just say I didn't leave on good terms with either."

"..." Link explained that they found the two groups in conflict, and saw the Ylissean army join in as well. So he and Sheik went in and tried to assist the Ylisseans, only for them to find Ylisseans fleeing, and the two of them were against way too many mercenaries. They took out a few, but they came harder, and were probably trying to find them.

"You actually fought them? Hah! A foot soldier cannot just attack a group of horseback soldiers, who maybe have spears. Very pointy spears," said Gregor.

Just as Gregor said that, a rush of horseback soldiers rode to them from the east. Gregor looked far ahead, and noticed their red armor and weapons.

"It looks like we have company," said Gregor. "Can you two still fight?"

"Mostly, though we're a bit worn out from traveling for two days straight," Sheik answered.

Gaius walked up in front of them, next to Gregor, and said "Okay, you two can lay behind. We'll do the heavy lifting."

"Get ready!" Frederick shouted.

The soldiers lined up in a row, ready with their weapons. The Riders of Dawn and the Ylisseans were on a flat span of land, so they could see each other just well. Enough that the red soldiers halted a good half dozen meters in front of the Ylisseans. The leader, wearing red-stained armor that covered every part of his body except his head, moved his horse forward, moving a bit closer than the other riders. His weapon was a silver spear, with a rhombus shaped tip the size of his very large hand. It too was red, though not because it was painted, nor was it rusting.

"We have no quarrel with you Ylisseans! Leave, but those two are ours!" he shouted, pointing his spear at Link and Sheik.

"Then why did you attack the village?!" shouted Sully.

"We were liberating it from the Stonewall Knights' control!"

"Yet you attack our soldiers?!" Frederick shouted.

"They attacked us first! We had no desire to kill the Ylissean soldiers. But those two! We've been tracking them for two days. They attacked us! Make this easy and hand them over!"

"We're no allies to ruthless mercenaries!" Gregor shouted.

"Coming from the sellsword himself! How long has it been since we offered you?"

"We're not handing them over!" shouted Frederick.

"It looks like we'll have to take them by force then!" yelled the red leader. "Get them!"

The Riders of Dawn charged forward. The Ylisseans did the same.

"Here we go again," said Frederick.

...And that's the end. Of the whole thing. But I'm not leaving it at that, as there's more that I want to write, but it will be in another fanfiction.

-Kaz