Disclaimer: GrimGrave does not own any of the characters of their respective franchises; Metroid and Legend of Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo, while Soul Calibur belongs to Namco Bandai. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.

Please read this under the premise that this chapter won't be particularly serious.

A Hylian's Harem

Epilogue #8

A Hylian's Harem

Link woke up with the morning's hush, groaning as he did. His life had been drastically changed; he lived in a house, built with the finest wood of Kokiri Forest, on the southern part of Hyrule Field. No house in Market Town or Kakariko could possibly accommodate him or his company, nor would any neighbours appreciate the ruckus that frequently occurred.

His head hurt something fierce; being used to sleeping in, Link's sleeping habits had drastically changed as well, especially since he didn't live alone.

That, too, was part of the change; the Hero did not live alone – the house was big enough to accommodate eight people.

Eight.

The bed shifted from bodies tossing and turning besides him and, desperate to stay quiet, Link slowly moved to the end of the bed –

"Where do you think you're going, love?" A pair of hands grabbed the Hylian by the wrists and yanked him backwards into the bed.

Link yelped as he landed on his pillow and in-between two of the house's other residents. They pinned him down from either side, their sly grins draining all colour from his face. He was the mouse, trapped in a corner between two cats.

"Can't have you leave without a good morning kiss," Ivy – to his right – stated.

"Indeed," Veran – to his left – added. "You didn't think we were done after last night, did you? Sleep is merely respite…"

Link paled – paler than before – and struggled to no avail. "Uhm… Ladies, I was kind of hoping I could –"

"No ´if´'s, ´and´'s, or ´but´'s, Link," the silver-haired noblewoman interrupted. "We want to continue what we started last night…"

As if the Goddesses had heard his silent plea, the bounty hunter stormed into the room with paralyzer in hand. The two women didn't even realize what happened before they limply fell into the bed.

Samus sighed. "Honestly, you're too easy to push around, Link. You could have easily shaken them off you."

The Hero droop his head, dejected. "I know, but…"

"Come," she said and helped him to his feet. "Get dressed, and then come down for breakfast. Sophitia has outdone herself this time."

Doing what he was told, the Hylian joined the others for breakfast down below; Impa and Sheik stood at the end of the stairs as if waiting for him, while Aveil – as soon as she met his eyes – beckoned him to sit next to her.

"Good morning, Link," Sheik said and immediately hugged his arm. "Allow me to guide you to your seat."

"His seat is over here," Aveil exclaimed and patted the space next to her. "Over here, darling."

"Give it a rest, you lot," Impa interrupted. "Link is a grown man who can make his own decisions."

Decision… That's right; these changes had he himself chosen.

That day, now one year ago, Link had made a decision that was not only absurd but also selfish and surreal. He had faced a dilemma, way back then, when he thought things through; he loved none of the women more than the rest. He was a good friend to them all and had a history with majority of them, and as such he didn't want to part with any of the women.

He cared for them all equally. And perhaps the better outcome should have been to either choose one of them, or none.

Instead, he was now stuck with eight beautiful women who wanted him for themselves, marriage or not. It was crazy, to say the least, that he even suggested to live with them all.

But then again, which was crazier; him suggesting it, or them agreeing to it?

"Link, darling," Sophitia chirped as she set the table. "Would you care for a little taste?"

"Leave it to me," the Gerudo interrupted and stuck a piece of bread into her mouth, pucking her lips. "Come and get it, Link."

The older Sheikah sighed. "Would you girls behave already?"

"That's right," Sheik added and looked up at the Hylian lovingly. "Besides, it's mine and Impa's turn today."

"I believe it's my turn, actually," the bounty hunter stated and tugged at Link's other arm.

And like every other day before this one, it ended chaotically. Link counted himself blessed for having so many, caring friends, but at the same time he wished that perhaps he could've settled with one.

After all, having a harem full of women might not always be the sweet dream most people think it'll be. But at the end of the day, Link found himself happy.

x.x.x.x.x.x.

Allow me to apologize, first of all; this wasn't quite the Harem-ending I wanted. And I know you folks deserve better.

But I kept drawing blank. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to write such an ending realistically, and I think some of you were right when you wrote that there were too many. I'm inclined to agree. Perhaps I was over-ambitious at the beginning – I chose women I thought would be hilarious to group up and have them interact with each other over Link. Partially, Dark Lord Link helped me with the choosing (and no, I'm not passing the bucket over to him, I made the final decisions) and it seemed fine at the time.

But I stuck with it, until the end. I'm so glad this is over, but at the same time, it's… well, sad. But my goodness gracious, I first began this in 2013! The hell was I doing all the time?!

Anywho, here's what I really want to say; fucking thank you for supporting me until the end, and for reading, of course, as well as reviewing the story! Reviews help me, and you people have most certainly been helpful as all hell.

Again, THANK YOU so, so much! I hope you really enjoyed these different endings, and whatever stories that'll come in the future. And I promise, I'll tone down the number of ladies chasing Link.(Yes, there'll be more of these stories!)

Until next time, take care! Thanks for reading!

-Grim