The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Build Your Own Hero

"Skyyyy! Sky Sky Sky Sky Skyyyyyy...!"

Sky jolted upright in his seat on the bench; he'd found himself just about to doze off when Red's unmistakable shrill voice startled him awake again. Immediately he turned around, placing his elbow on the bench's back and watching as Green's gang all ran up towards him.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, easy, you guys," he said with a nervous chuckle, "not so loud! What's up?"

Green snickered. "Sorry about that," he said, "Red's just super excited about - "

"Sky, take a look at this!" Red interrupted as he waved a sheet of paper around in the air. "See? See?"

Blue rolled his eyes. "He's not gonna be able to see it if you don't let him read it, you nitwit."

"Oh! Uh, oops, I guess you're right." Red bashfully handed over the paper to Sky. "Anyway, Sky, I got this really cool idea, and now me and the others are taking a survey of all the other Links!"

Sky smiled in amusement and took the paper. "A survey, huh?" He looked down, blinked a little, then read the heading aloud. "...'Ideas for the Next Hero of Legend'?"

"To be submitted for the approval of the Golden Goddesses," said Vio. "So far we've got about half of the other Hero's ideas and opinions."

With a nod, Red positioned himself over Sky's shoulder and placed a finger on the paper. "Check out what all they've said so far!"

Sky hummed slightly as he skimmed over the list. "Let's see... 'tall and handsome with a cute, loveable face... young and energetic, but not too young to fight... musically talented, friendly with kids, good with the ladies'...?"

"That last one was totally my idea," said Green, pressing a thumb to his chest with a smug grin.

"Was not," said Blue with a hint of annoyance, "Time mentioned it first."

Sky's tickled expression slowly returned as he silently read through the rest of the list. Dark hair, blue eyes, living with family, having a childhood love interest - the more he read, the more he began to realize that his fellow Links had simply projected various aspects of themselves onto a Hero who was yet to appear. When he finished, he began to chuckle, his shoulders shaking as he shook his head.

"You guys," he said, "you do know that this isn't how the cycle actually works, right?"

"Huh?" asked Red, his face falling slightly in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The goddesses have Their own plan for what the next Hero will be like," he explained, "and They know better than us what qualities he will need to have in order to succeed on his journey. I think we ought to just wait and see what They come up with, don't you?"

The four personas looked at each other, as though they'd been so caught up in their brainstorming that they'd forgotten that simple fact. Blue coughed in discomfort, Green lowered his gaze in shame, and Vio took a hold of his chin in deep thought. Red, however, was struck with another idea, and he turned to face Sky again with a bright smile.

"Maybe we can send it to Them anyway," he said, "you know, just in case They run out of ideas."

Sky let out a merry laugh at Red's response, then handed him back the survey and ruffled his bangs. "Hahaha! Well, hey, you never know!" He grinned and placed his hands on his hips. "...But if you're going to send it off anyway, put down that he ought to be right-handed."

"Why, because you're right-handed, Sky?" asked Vio with a cocked eyebrow.

"No," replied the elder Link, "because I made a bet with Twilight about it. If the next of us is right-handed, he has to clean my house for the next century."

"Got it!" cried Red as he reached into his pouch, took out a pencil, and wrote down Sky's suggestion. He then turned to the others. "Okay, next up is Engie - let's go see what he has to say!"

The other personas followed him as he made a beeline for Engies house. Sky watched them leave, still chortling to himself over the whole thing. Though he knew that the will of their creator goddesses was perfect, he figured that They'd probably get a laugh or two out of Red's little list of suggestions.