Woo, been a while. Long while, in fact. Just ended up being so busy that I eventually completely forgot about this story! Bad Saengen, bad! xD
Anywho…let's answer the reviews, shall we?
Principessa Dell'Opera - Glad you enjoyed it xD
Wawert's Lazy Brother- We'll see what happens, won't we? :3
Things are gonna get a little…weird in this chapter, I think.
Something was wrong. This couldn't possibly be Hyrule Castle. It couldn't even be Hyrule field.
"Guys...this isn't right." Link's hushed voice once again drew Marth's attention, this time too quiet for even Roy or Ike to hear. The castle loomed ominously in the distance, torches flickering in the dead of night. Despite the worn appearance of the stone walls, the drawbridge appeared to be brand new. Had it been broken recently? Marth had never seen a drawbridge so immaculate, it must have been made only a few months ago.
Yet again, the strange triangular symbols-the Triforce-glistened brightly. It made little sense for them to appear so clearly from so far away. Perhaps they truly were holy. Was it those Goddesses who blessed Marth in battle, had his people been wrong? He snapped from his reverie, glancing at Link to let him know that he heard him.
"During my quest, the King brought me to Hyrule. This isn't...this isn't how it looked. Unless Gannon somehow changed the entire country to have lots more mountains, and, and a massive bridge separating the castle from anything else, and, and...everything is just wrong!" Marth's eyes narrowed, shifting to stare at the strange woman. What did she call herself, Nabooru? It was quite possible that this was a trap.
"If what you say is true, Link, then we will need to be most careful. Expect an ambush." The energetic child nodded back at home, eyes just as narrow. Surely if anything happened both Roy and Ike would be just as prepared to leap into action.
"I will advise you, we are not permitted to bring our horses into Hyrule Castle Town. Hopefully you know how to call your horses to you, as there are no public stables. Lon Lon Ranch may have allowed you to keep your horse there, if not for the inconvenient time." Nabooru chuckled lightly, ignoring the three sets of eyes now glaring at her. Was she really suggesting that none of them could control their horses?
Link seemed even more distressed. Marth didn't need to know why; a quick gaze at the toon's face told him what was amiss. The town. Those walls, they'd all assumed were castle walls. Apparently the walls were for a town in front of the castle. A town that Link had never seen. If an entire town were to simply vanish in the future, with no evidence that it had ever existed, what chance did any of the places they'd seen have of surviving?
All at once, Marth felt immense pity for the young man. He couldn't imagine it; meeting with your ancestors? Ancestors that you knew were going to die? Ancestors that were going to die pleading for your help? Where was their hero?
"The sun rises. We timed our journey well." Nabooru seemed quite pleased, casting a sultry smile back at the adventurers. Her smile vanished completely only once she faced away from them. Ike and Roy seemed content, if not exhausted. Link, in his odd state, was exceptionally expressive. Both he and Marth looked deep in thought, and so very miserable. Clearly, they knew something that they were withholding.
They all dismounted, watching as the drawbridge mechanism somehow operated on its own. The gears were all internal, suggesting that perhaps someone was hidden away that threw the switch. It nevertheless was quite inspiring to the four swordsmen. Someone would need a clock of sorts to know when to do this, apparently only changing its position for the sunrise and sunset. While they were impressed, they would be far more impressed if they realized that this happened at precisely the same time every day.
Time seemed disturbingly flawed within the town. Marth found that the sunrise seemed to hang quite suspiciously, as if the sun itself could not continue its march. Such a thing was unfeasible. Perhaps it was a trick of his eyes. Perhaps the sun was continuing on ordinarily.
He hoped it was a trick of his eyes.
The town looked quite similar to any number of villages within Altea's borders. Quaint and idyllic. Link's confused look told him that this would not be ordinary in the future. What a strange thought to have; to be confronted with the knowledge that everything you know will be gone. Marth trembled faintly, staying back with the cartoon. Roy and Ike were beginning to sense that something was not right; they constantly stole glances back at him.
"Nabooru! Please, we have discovered a most troubling problem!" Nabooru looked quite relieved to see Zelda, rushing forward from the group. She bowed politely, waving a hand back at Link.
"Yes, I understand entirely. I found Link in this state wandering with these swordsmen!" Zelda appeared to almost go cross eyed, turning her attention sharply away from the toon.
"Nay, that was not the troubling problem. I discovered Link in an entirely different state. This is far more troubling!" Cerulean eyes darted once again to Link, causing him to yelp slightly and back away. Seeing Zelda brought back fleeting memories of Tetra; the resemblance was uncanny. And yet, she was so tall and different, just as the swordsmen. Just as this entire world.
But what surprised the entire team was when a boy stepped out from behind Zelda. He brushed a honey lock from his face, staring with wide icy eyes at the toon. If he were wearing the white tights and white undershirt, they would be identical. If only he were a cartoon as well.
The two Links stared at each other with unsurpassed horror. What could one do when faced with a doppelganger? The young Link behind Zelda knew what to do; he'd been forced to slay his shadow. But this Link baffled his senses. So false, and yet an aura of good radiated from him.
With an echoed groan, both Links fainted.
All at once, a din of steel being unsheathed filled the marketplace. Nabooru stood with her scimitar in hand, glaring at the three swordsmen and their unconscious friend. The guards had poured out from every corner of the town, surrounding them in a circle. Marth's hand rested on Falchion's hilt, eyes focused on the princess past the swordswoman. Roy and Ike both had their weapons out, hurling insults at the pressing crowd of guards. Throughout the cacophony, his eyes never left Zelda.
"We need to speak." Her eyes narrowed at his plea. If they were truly just travelers, then they were surely peaceful; even with weapons drawn they were refusing to strike first. If they were pawns of Gannondorf, then Link was here to dispatch of them. The Hero of Time would not be stopped by puppets.
She raised her right hand. As if she herself were a Goddess, each Hylian around them lowered their weapons and backed away. Even Nabooru sheathed her scimitar, although her eyes burned with distrust. Marth's fingers ghosted away from his own sword, breathing a sigh of relief. He did not wish for his first move in this foreign land to be one of wanton murder.
"Very well. Come." She turned almost immediately, dismissing Nabooru so quickly that none were the wiser to even argue it.
"Amazing. We'd never bothered to explore past the Spirit Temple. We had always...assumed that Hyrule was all there was." They stood awkwardly, watching as Zelda paced. The courtyard they were in, while beautiful, raised many questions. Why was the only entrance so convoluted and hidden? Why was there a peep hole to spy on the throne room? Who were those people in the paintings?
"You thought the world to end?" Marth raised a delicate eyebrow, his question ending her pacing immediately.
"Of course! If we strayed too far in the desert, we were turned around! The fact that you came from that very desert confuses us all." He shrank back at her sudden aggression, surprised at how sharp her tongue could be. Just as quickly, however, a warm smile appeared on her face.
The Links were back.
Marth turned to face the two, Ike and Roy quickly following suit. He wondered if Zelda would believe what the toon Link had to say. These too-white stone walls indicated that this, too, had been freshly rebuilt. Fresh grass had been sown, slightly muddied hot water reached fathomless depths in the moat surrounding the castle, young saplings had swayed in the breeze...from what Marth could gather, Gannon had struck recently. They, too, were rebuilding from a tragedy. Could there be a connection?
"First of all, we need to differentiate between you two. You are Link's child form...therefore you shall be Young Link. You appear to be rather...toon-like, so you shall therefore be Toon Link." The two did not seem to mind their names, apparently having become fast friends in their brief time spent together.
"Zel, you have to see this!" Young Link's surprised excitement brought confusion to the princess, watching as Toon Link approached her. When he unsheathed his sword, however, she audibly gasped. Almost instinctively, a gloved hand delicately covered her mouth.
"The Master Sword? But...h-how?" The toon's mouth flew open, soon erupting with the tale passed down in legend. How Hyrule came to rest under a vast ocean, how Gannon returned to raise Hyrule and conquer it, how he claimed the Master Sword with the help of the King and reconstructed the Triforce of Courage. Much to her surprise, even when Young Link raised his hand to show his own piece, Toon Link had the same thing.
"Then...what you speak is the truth. Incredible. This surely explains why Young Link is here, in the present and not the past. Time itself has unraveled." At this, Marth stepped forward, breaking the three from their reverie.
"Yes, but what does that mean? How did it happen? How can we fix it?" Zelda looked thoughtful, turning away from them. If time was unraveling, then why was Hyrule the center of this?
"It must be the work of Gannondorf. He must somehow be affecting time. To what end, however, I am uncertain." Marth nodded his head slowly, accepting this. The ability to manipulate time? If not for the evidence he'd seen so far, he would not have believed it. Yet, if Gannondorf was so powerful...
Marth felt intimidated.
"Zel! What the hell is going on?!" Zelda turned swiftly, eliciting yet another gasp.
There stood Link, in his adult form. His eyes widened at the sight of two Links, one which he couldn't even begin to conceive. The Master Sword lay bare on the floor, and yet weighed heavily on his back.
"I tried to return to Ordon, and found all of Hyrule to be in disarray! Even the castle is wrong! If I did not see you with my own eyes, I would believe something terrible to have happened!" Her eyes widened at what he said.
"But...I have never heard of Ordon..." Now, all eyes were on Adult Link, realizing that Young Link was the "real" Link.
Their talks had now filed into a massive dining hall, sharing tales from each of their far different worlds. The Adult Link told stories of the Twilight realm, of Midna, and of his travels throughout Hyrule. Toon Link spoke of sailing around the world in what was literally Zelda's father, and how he controlled the winds with a baton that no one else had ever heard of, despite how it was used in the legend of how Gannon was first defeated.
Roy spoke of Pharae, and of all that he left behind in the name of adventure. Marth found himself far less interested, choosing to ignore most of what Roy said in the name of gazing at the many impressive tapestries surrounding them. Were they all elves? Ike's mercenary tales bored him as well, although the way that time was set up in Ike's stories told him that perhaps Ike, too, was from the future. How had he missed that before?
Marth told his tale as well, noting that Adult Link appeared to be genuinely interested. Zelda had been quick to assume that each Link was evil; yet the Links themselves seemed quite cordial and open to friendship. Perhaps they were naive.
Young Link told his story of discovering that his childhood was a lie, that he was the Hero of Time. He spoke in great detail about how difficult it was to defeat Gannondorf; a pressing reminder of just how challenging it would be to stop him once again. But when he began to speak of Termina and Majora's Mask, Zelda interrupted him.
"You fell into a different dimension?" He nodded slowly, beginning to understand just how dangerous such a thing could be. Now all eyes were on him, trying to figure it out.
"It sounds like that's the problem, then." Ike leaned back in his chair, ignoring Zelda's protest as he clanged his filthy boots on the table.
"I mean, if we all appeared here after he jumped to a different dimension, then that's gotta be what caused it. So...how do we fix it?" Silence permeated the room. No one knew what to do. If Young Link returned, would everything go back to normal?
"I have to go back. If I do, maybe everything will fix itself." Marth stole a glance at Toon Link, both of them having the same thought.
"Princess Zelda, I strongly disagree." Her sharp eyes settled on the blue prince, frowning deeply. He raised both hands, shaking his head rapidly.
"I'm serious. Think about Toon Link's legend. The hero never returned! If Young Link goes back, he won't be able to come back. We'll disappear, and then Gannon will swoop down and destroy the world. Surely if we work together, we can find a way to make this work." But at this, Toon and Adult alike protested, surprising the entire table. Finally, after exchanging looks, the Adult form spoke.
"Yeah, but if our worlds aren't here, who can protect them? Do they even exist anymore? I mean, I'm all for saving Hyrule...but not if it means two more Hyrule's are destroyed!" Zelda rubbed her forehead, groaning in pain. This wasn't as simple as the Ocarina of Time. They couldn't just play a song and fix everything.
"So...let's just beat the bad guy." Marth cast a surprised look at Roy. It was so simple...and yet...it made sense. Zelda, Ike, and the Links clearly did not follow.
"No...Roy's right. If it's Gannon that is a threat to this place, we should defeat him. Against all of us, he will be easy to kill. We can beat him, and then Young Link can return to Termina and fix the flow of time. Without Gannon to destroy the world, it'll be safe here." But Zelda shook her head, forcing Marth to frown.
"It would be safer for everyone to remain here, in this world. Gannon may no longer be a problem here, but Adult Link is clearly from a different dimension as well as Termina. If there is no Triforce of Courage in those different places, Gannon would only be able to conquer the world here. As he said, Zelda from that world has a sword; and Midna is perfectly capable of raising an army against Gannon. Tetra is quite capable of fighting Gannon; she helped you defeat him!" Marth saw why she wanted them to stay. If they were to leave...Hyrule would have no protector. Any villain could come in and take over. If it weren't Gannon, it would be someone else. Their population was far too small, they couldn't dream to build an army to defend themselves. Not in the short term. Altea could do well without him. Hyrule would die without Link. Judging from their history, it did die every time that Link was gone, until he was reincarnated and returned to restore peace.
"This is a nightmare." Ike closed his eyes, heaving a sigh. There seemed to be no direct solution.
"Princess Zelda! Come quick!" The panicked guard's voice was a full pitch higher than normal. The dining hall was soon empty, save for a few chairs crashing to the floor. They full well expected to see Gannon charging at them. A dark army at the gates. The sun being swallowed by shadow. The dead rising to kill them. Marth idly expected dragons.
They weren't expecting to see a giant crater in the field surrounding the castle. They definitely weren't expecting to see a giant bird made of steel burning in the center of that crater. Nor were they expecting its' back to pop open, with an injured man covered in fur staggering out. It was as if a fox had decided one day to stand on its hind legs and wear clothing.
Author's Note: Gonna be a hell of a culture shock. I vote for Marth's brain exploding XD