Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda
Author notes at the bottom.
Chapter 10
Down the Rabbit Hole
Wrongness. So much wrongness. A whirlpool, a flood of colour yet it was all an illusion for there was so much darkness. A pressure and a void all at once, and here he was, squeezing through the cracks of something he had no name for.
There was no air. No perception, no feeling. All he could do was move forward.
The path before him was non-existent, yet endless. It stretched, thin and long like a thread, and so he walked on it, like a careful balancing act even though there was nothing to walk on. All that was there was the tension, that a wrong step could easily sway the balance, that he could fall and nothing would ever find him again.
The thread snapped.
Suddenly, there was a glimpse. Of light yet look how wrong this feels of air. Of an ending. Of escape.
He reached out.
Freedom.
Link fell on his knees. That was… he had no idea what in the name of the Three Goddesses and all of Hyrule that was. He had merged into walls more times than he could count at this point, but that crack… Link felt as if he had breached something that should have never been breached. A point of no turning back.
For a few moments, all he could do was shudder against the wall he had just escaped from, hands between his knees and eyes shut tight. He focused on his breathing, trying to slow it down, and then the smell infiltrated his nostrils. Stale, with hints of smoke and a strong scent of perfume. Where was he?
Slowly, Link opened his eyes. It took him a few moments to adjust. It was dark in here, like the entire sky was covered with stormy clouds.
The thick carpet was covered with dust and worn at spots, making its colour hard to tell. Purple, maybe… though with the light it looked more like a dark grey. It was littered with shards – broken plates and mirrors, a light coating of dust on them as well. Next to the mirror shards there were perfume bottles, expensive-looking, their contents carelessly spilled. That explained the scent.
Further in, Link could see papers scattered all over the floor, crumbled, torn or just stepped on. An ink bottle was thrown there too, staining the carpet even more. The bookcase across him had only a handful of books left, and even those were in disarray. Blue curtains lined the walls, but they were dirty and torn. A chair with a broken leg was thrown at the side, splinters of all sizes covering the spot.
Somebody had torn through this place.
A flash of lightning filled the room with eerie light. Link only dimly registered the roar of thunder that came a few moments later.
It looked just like Zelda's office.
What?
Link slowly stood up to examine this room more carefully. To his surprise, a bright light shone behind him, casting a long shadow before him. He turned around and saw a crack on the wall.
Looking at it directly was a mistake. The light was too strong for this room. But as Link's vision adjusted, he could see that it was a crack just like the one he had just gone through. I mirror image to the strange crack in Zelda's office. Only except for darkness, sickness and death, this one shone in the colours of the rainbow, and smelled like life and spring. Link knew beyond a shadow of doubt, that this was his way home.
Now he had to figure out where he was.
Before he had been too focused on the damage but now that he saw the room as a whole… It was a mirror image of Zelda's office. More than just the shape of the room; even the arrangement of the furniture and the décor were exactly the same, if only in different shades and colours, with different designs. That was his only reassurance that it was not indeed the same room. That, and the… air in it.
This room looked like a fight had broken out in it. There was simply no way somebody walked out of this place unscathed.
Link took out his magic lantern; for all their brightness, the lightning and the crack hardly provided proper visibility. He started searching the room left and right, looking for any other clues of what happened here; marks on the walls and the furniture that could be caused by a sword or a spear, the blood that must have most certainly been spilled. Surely there was something that could clue him in, right?
He found nothing of the sort.
There were only the wrecks; not the fight. Link stared at confusion for a few moments before a new thought dawned on him.
Did someone break these on purpose?
Link had never seen anything like that before, but even he could not deny that this room appeared to have been destroyed in a fit of rage. Someone was angry enough to spill the papers and break the crystals, the porcelains and the furniture… But why? What happened here?
Link reached for the papers on his feet; they had been stomped on and something had been spilled on them and he could hardly read them. They were all complaints. Damage to their property. Not having jobs anymore. Not having enough food anymore. He did not continue.
Feeling numb, he carefully removed the door. It barely hung from its hinges.
Outside he could make out those same ominous dark clouds, and a long bridge surrounded by colourful lights. The torches around the door caught his attention; they were lit with fire in the colours of the rainbow, but without any real heat coming from them, without them leaving behind any ash or smoke.
Link had only seen flames like that once. In Yuga's hands, that was.
A feeling of dread settled in his stomach.
There was carpet on the bridge, coated with dirt and dust, its colour barely visible. In the flashes of lightning it appeared almost purple. Red jewels decorated the handrails, their old shine long since grown dull.
There was light coming from the door ahead. Dark pink and ominous, his scar ached at the presence of Yuga's magic.
He rushed in. He barely noticed the symbol beneath his feet.
His breath heavy with something between exertion and anxiety, Link came to a halt at the sight before him.
It was Yuga.
Surrounded by the eight portraits of the Sages and the Princess, a magic circle was pulsing with dark power beneath his feet. Yuga stood in the center of it all, the portraits floating around him like they were drawn to him. Link could not see the faces on them – their backs were turned to him, the light was too bright, and the gaps in their formation were too small to try and distinguish their features.
The sorcerer was laughing like it was the best day in his life, almost sounding like a nosy woman sharing the latest gossip. The thought was so absurd Link would have laughed at it, if not for his sheer terror at the sight before him.
"Ah, little worm! You've arrived just in time! A splendid collection, don't you think? All Seven Sages, and Zelda herself…"
Eight total… Oh, Din, give him strength…
"But even they pale in comparison to my NEXT artful creation."
"Your next?"
"ME!"
"What!?" What was he talking about!? What did he mean!? Was he going to turn himself into a painting!? That made no sense!
"I will use the Sages to reach the one who shall help me attain true beauty."
No. Oh, NO. NOT him.
"I mean, of course…"
He was not going to summon Ganon here. He just could not.
"GANON!"
"NO!"
The paintings fell on the ground on their backs, and pillars of light erupted from them in all the colours of the rainbow. They spun faster and faster around Yuga and his magic circle, and lightning filled the chamber they were all in. Still spinning, the paintings rose on the air and dark lightning gathered at the center, creating an orb of magic and energy so vile they made his whole body tremble.
And then, a portal opened.
Pitch black like the abyss, a gigantic dark form started to slowly emerge from the portal. As more and more of it was revealed, Link could make out an armor filled with huge spikes, dark blue skin and glowing eyes like those of a beast. A low rumble shook his bones.
That was… Just like that dream he had…
The bestial features of the monster before him were unveiled before the portal faded. And there he was, in all his glory. The King of Evil, Ganon, floating over Yuga and roaring in contentment.
Something started glowing inside the body of the beast, and Link could only watch in awe as a golden floating triangle emerged from within.
Th-That's… It can't be…
Yuga confirmed his suspicions. "Behold! The Triforce of Power!" The sorcerer spread his arms wide, the madness in his eyes sparkling brighter than his magic.
"Ganon! Join with me! Let us destroy all the ugliness in this world and any other. We shall be TRULY superior!"
I have to do something. I have to move. But he could not. Something, maybe the magic, maybe the terror, had frozen him in place and he could not take a single step. No, he could only watched helplessly as Yuga laughed and laughed and Ganon embraced him, a red light overtaking everything, filling the room with Miasma.
A geyser of crimson magic blew everything away. Link was pushed back by the wild winds, and he barely caught a glimpse of the portraits being blown out of the windows to places unknown.
A cocoon of black magic engulfed Yuga and Ganon both, and before a moment had passed, it hatched.
Darkness overtook Link's sight for a moment. When it cleared, the sight was not any better.
The first thing he noticed was the huge hulking form. The second was the Triforce of Power, shining brightly. The third was that the spiked armor was gone, replaced with the torn remains of Yuga's clothes, how its skin changed colour and how those braids was so familiar.
"No… What have you done…?"
Link could not keep the tremble out of his voice. "Did you… Did you fuse with Ganon!?"
A roar knocked him back again. Link's vision blurred, and thundering footsteps approached him.
It's going to kill me. At this rate, it's going to kill me.
Link closed his eyes, waiting for the incoming impact…
…which never came.
A flash of light was seen even through his eyelids. The wind picked up. A woman's voice – no, a girl yelling. Powerful magic sending shocks all over his arm but not Yuga.
He opened his eyes.
He could barely make out her shape through the light. Long dress, long hair, a staff and a cape… And that voice, so familiar…
…Zelda?
The beast was pushed back. The light that was previously a barrier transformed into a net made of shadows that bound its whole body.
She turned around.
Link was hit with the worst déjà vu. She looked just like Zelda. She might as well be her twin.
She might as well be her total opposite.
Hair black like the night gleaming at the poor light. Eyes like rubies and just as dark and sharp. Skin pale but not in a fair way, but in an unhealthy one. Elegant features twisted to a severe expression like a statue. Her violet dress was as expensive and fine as expected from a princess, but the fabric was crumbled like she had been wearing it for a while. She was tired and yet stood with her back as straight as she could, the long and heavy staff cutting an imposing figure.
She was cold and powerful. How could he mistake her for sweet Princess Zelda?
She sighed and it might as well betray the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"Hero of Hyrule, I can hold the beast at bay for only so long."
Her voice was beautiful and melodic, but whereas Zelda chirped with mirth and life, hers was heavy and solemn.
"It should prove enough time to bid you a most sorrowful welcome to my kingdom. Welcome to Lorule. My name is Princess Hilda, and I have failed you in every way."
He was dizzy…
"I knew Yuga planned to slip into your world to abduct Zelda and the Sages. I… I couldn't stop him. Now he has used them to summon the Demon King and siphon his power."
He knows that, they were talking about it all along but still-
"Yuga's appetite will soon consume our worlds. Hyrule and Lorule – the beast's for the taking."
A roar resounded through the chamber again, as if to emphasize her words. A second roar followed it; one that came from a different voice, that was distinctly more human.
"I cannot hold him back much longer. So… I must see you to safety."
Wait. "What about-"
Before he could finish his question, a circle of dark magic surrounded him, before the dark tendrils.
The darkness was deep, but not as deep as the shadows. There were flickers of light dancing in the non-existent wind; faint and fading, but there, casting a beautiful yet melancholic blue hue in the void.
Except that it was no void. There laid the Triforce. But it was not the Triforce. It was all wrong, inverted and the virtues were ever so slightly off
-and then it shattered becoming million specks of gold dust before vanishing into the void swallowed by the blue
"Ah, here we are… A moment more of safety, Link."
Hilda. Princess Hilda. Of Lorule. She was here.
Was this her doing? If so, she was powerful. Incredibly so. Yuga was strong but this was on another realm entirely, he could hear her whisper in his mind and it was- no, she was drowning him in her mind yet keeping him afloat.
"Though Yuga is slipping his bonds, I will try to keep you safe from him as long as I can."
He could see him. It. Yuga. Ganon. The beast great and terrible yet bound by the dark of Hilda's magic, with faint flickers of light in all colours surrounding it – the colours of the Sages. Their spirit manifesting as flame.
"I'm afraid I must ask you to do what I cannot – defeat the beast."
Defeat… That…
"To do that, you must awaken your full potential, Hero of Hyrule."
He was tired. He was so tired. Even here, whatever this place was, he could hardly stand. His breath was coming in gasps and his vision was swimming. His ribs were hurting with each and every movement. The rest of his body was hardly any better.
He knew he should be smelling smoke.
But where was the fire?
"I sense that the paintings of Hyrule's Sages are being sent to the far corners of Lorule. You must steal those paintings back. The secret to Yuga's defeat lies in uniting your friends!"
Friends…
"Farewell, Hero of Hyrule… We shall meet again…"
Wait… the sparks… fade.
Clang!
It pierced his ears.
Clang!
It passed through his body.
Clang!
He was laying on something hard… It vibrated…
Clang!
There was an intense heat coming from the side. The smells of burning wood, smoke, charcoal, and sweat. Smells that he was all too familiar with. The smells of a forge.
He could hear a woman's voice, high-pitched and full of anger and impatience. "How does this kid expect to survive two seconds in Lorule if he's-?"
Link opened his eyes. He saw a wooden ceiling. The orange glow of an open fire, with a shadow looming over it. So familiar…
He tried to get up but all he got out was a groan.
"Well, well, well… Lookit this!" Goddesses she was so loud. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
Yeah, she did. He decided not to voice it. Instead with another groan he finally managed to sit up. He felt like lead. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of his tiredness, but it did not do much. Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over him. Crap, got up too fast…
"How was your nap?!" Dear Din, could not she say that quieter!? Who was she anyway!?
Link finally felt well enough to actually get off the table, so he did just that. He turned to the source of the voice and…
And…
"Don't even know why I brought you back. Shoulda just left you there passed out in the middle of the road."
She was identical to Mrs. Lily.
"Now that you're awake and I see you're OK, you can see yourself to the door. Go on now. Scoot!"
But definitely not like her. Now that he was looking more closely, her hair was red…
"Um, Mrs…?"
"Whaddya want this time!? Here I am, taking all this time just to help folks out… Since when did I get so… nice!?" That is not the word he would use.
"The nerve… Passing out right in the middle of the road and then mumbling that name… What was it? Gulley?"
He was sleep talking about Gulley? Middle of the road? He did not remember ANY of that!
I'm fainting way too much as of late.
"Whoever heard of such a name? Even if I had kids, I would never name one Gulley! Now go on! Scoot!" Geez, he is not a dog.
But now that he thought about it, he still had no real idea where he was. This place was clearly a forge, and it looked… really similar to Mr. Nick's own workshop… And the palace earlier…
Just what kind of place did he land in?
That lady was glaring daggers at him, so she was not going to be of any help. But that red-headed guy was there... Maybe he should ask him instead.
"Hello."
"Heh." The craftsman examined him from head to toe. "You're the kid Mrs. Petunia picked up, eh?" So her name was Petunia. Good to know. "I don't know what I can do for ya. I just work here, y'know what I mean? I say "work" but it's not like we're all that busy here, y'know?"
They were not? To Link it felt like there was not a single quiet day back in the forge; there was always some kind of request to fix anything from cauldrons to swords, or to make new things like door hinges or flag poles or… basically anything.
"Don't you guys get requests or anything?" The craftsman looked at him quizzically. "Like repairing stuff."
The guy laughed a bit. "Nah, not really. Plenty of stuff to be repaired but nobody really cares, y'know? And if we do it for free then we'd get no money at all, y'know?"
Link was getting a very bad feeling about this place. He probably had to get out of here.
"Where is my stuff?"
"Corner over there. You're lucky Mrs. Petunia didn't take some of that for herself. You have some nice stuff. Nothing's free, y'know?"
What.
What was wrong with this place?!
Link could not help the wave of relief he felt at strapping on the Master Sword and his shield again. This place was seriously giving him a nasty vibe. Just to be on the safe side, he inspected the content of his bag. Fortunately, everything was there. With a sigh of relief he strapped it around his waist.
Time to get out of here.
Without a goodbye – they probably would not appreciate it anyway – he stepped out to the world, and into the unknown.
No sooner did he step out that a voice rang through his mind.
"Can you hear me, Hero of Hyrule? It is I, Princess Hilda."
Hilda… That encounter…
"I wanted to warn you about the Kingdom in which you found yourself."
The Kingdom… Lorule…
"My Lorule may remind you of your own home. But, in fact, our kingdoms are as different as night and day. Worlds apart, as they say."
Link was starting to see that. The destroyed office, the rude lady, and a forge with no work… It was like somebody took his home and made it… Nasty.
"But Yuga's scheme has forced our two kingdoms close together. So close, they are now connected."
The strange cracks on the walls… Now that Link thought about it, magic like that seemed right up his alley. A crack thin enough that only a painting could get through.
"What's more, the Seven Sages you seek are spread across my land, locked away in dungeons."
Dungeons…? Was she talking about those weird, fortress-like places like the Tower of Hera or the House of Gales? He would not exactly call them dungeons. More like… vaults.
Hilda was still talking.
"But because parts of Lorule have long crumbled away, you cannot get to them from where you now are."
What did "crumbled away" mean? An avalanche? Anyway, it was going to be a problem.
"To reach them, you must find a way back to Hyrule. From various parts of your world, you can reach the same parts of mine."
So there were multiple magic wall cracks. Good thing that nobody could go through one by accident.
"Now, one more thing. I have welcomed you to Lorule, but my kingdom…? It ISN'T so kind to strangers."
YEAH, he figured that out pretty quickly.
"Farewell – and be careful out there, Link."
And with that, she was gone.
Link rubbed his temples, fighting off an incoming headache. He had eight paintings to find. Which meant eight "dungeons". Even the three he went through completely drained him. How many times had he passed out since… Yesterday? The day before? Nayru, he even lost track of time.
That was when a cough caught his attention.
There was a man there. That was kind of awkward. He had just been standing there listening to a voice in his head for… how long? And this guy was probably the owner of this place.
Maybe he should apologize… But the man seemed to just stare in space. And he was swaying while sitting. And he smelled like Chateau Romani except way stronger and without the milk. Maybe he should not talk to him after all…
And the man just noticed him.
"Are you really running around with a sword like that? Sheesh… I pour my heart and soul into crafting fine weapons, and folks still just battle with whatever they find lying around…"
Link felt personally attacked. This was the Master Sword! The MASTER SWORD! The legendary Blade of Evil's Bane! He stormed ancient ruins and explored dangerous places and fought whatever the hell that was just to get this weapon and this drunkard was just dismissing it as a piece of junk!? How dare he!?
But it's incomplete…
He dismissed the odd thought.
Having said his piece, the man went back to swaying on his seat. Link decided not to talk to him again. He would probably not be of any help either.
Hilda said that Lorule was like Hyrule, but like day and night… So this place would logically be in the same place as the forge…
He saw the dried yellow grass on his feet. Flowers in a deep blue colour that he had never seen before. To his left there was a weather vane, but… Was that a crow? A bat? Or a monster of some sort? It was snoozing with bubbles coming out of its nose like the actual weather vanes. It was kind of cute, dark blue and pink.
Link touched it. It woke up with a startle, but immediately it twirled and trilled the same happy melody Link had come to know. Only a bit raspy.
This place was going to completely screw over his head.
And that thought was only confirmed as he finally turned to the sky.
Heavy clouds, as far as the eye could see, in sickly yellows and angry reds, like the sky itself was on fire, hanging low in the sky as if to suffocate the land beneath. The faint sweet scent of rot and ash clung into the thick air. No sign of where the sun may be hiding in the gloom – if there even was one. Even the wind seemed to stand still, as strange as that may sound.
And the wind was deafening, swallowing everything and carrying nothing with it. No sounds of life, no birds trilling, no shouts of people carrying their lives. Only rot and the muted sound of leaves, cold and heavy and stealing away the warmth in his limbs, yet there was no frost, only this heaviness that engulfed him.
What would it feel like to live under a sky like this your whole life?
Link's mind flashed to the torn papers on the desk, all cries of despair, and decided he did not want to know.
There was a clanging noise behind him. Link turned in alarm.
The man had dropped an empty bottle, his gaze vacant.
Link ran.
Link ran and ran and ran, his mind filled with thoughts and his chest swelling with emotions, holding back vomit at the sheer pity and disgust the sight had filled him with, that stench filling his nostrils and not leaving because it was wrong wrong wrong WRONG
Pain
It took him a moment to realise what happened. He stumbled on something and fell on his face. Just another stinging pain to add to the long list.
He tried pushing himself up, ignoring the scrapes and a shadow loomed.
He turned. And the world slowed down to a crawl.
It was a bomb.
Link barely even registered what he had just seen before it blew up. It was by pure panic that he covered his eyes the moment he did, protecting them from the debris.
There was a roar and a laughter, guttural and yet echoic. Monsters.
No time to think. Link brandished his shield and the Master sword, just in time to bat away another bomb that had been hurled his way. It landed somewhere to the side, and with the explosion there was a dying warbling squeak that followed it. How many monsters were there?
Link got a glimpse of his adversary, and it was tall and heavy, and there was another bomb in its hand. He had to stop them.
He rushed forward. He could feel a boost in his step. The bomb zoomed above him. He raised his sword. He struck.
The monster howled in pain, but Link gritted his teeth. Its hide was much harder than he expected. He was not able to do any real damage-
The sword glowed. There was a flash.
With a roar Link finished the slash, the light cutting through the monster and cleaving it in half. It was banished in a puff of smoke. The bomb it was holding dropped to the ground.
It was lit.
Link hastily kicked it away, and no sooner did it explode. Link barely caught a glimpse of some tiny, plant-worm thing bopping on it before it exploded, taking it out.
After confirming that there were no other monsters around, Link fell on his knees.
"Note to self; Never, EVER go running blind here."
If he had been half a second slower back then, he would be dead now. He was sure of it. A monster hurling bombs! Just what was that!?
Actually, what was that?
Link had no idea what the things he fought were. Normally, he could recognize every single monster in Hyrule. There were quite a few books back home that described in detail how each monster looked like, acted like, and more.
But the monsters here were complete enough to him. The bomb maniac was a red-skinned one-eyed giant and the other… Link had no idea how to describe it, other than "green and yellow with wiggly bits".
He had no idea what he just fought. And he was certain that there were many more monsters like that in this world.
He was in this completely blind.
The thought was… terrifying.
Still, I guess I'll fight whatever comes my way. That was pretty much how he fought all this time. He still had no idea what that giant gear thing in the House of Gales was and he still managed to defeat it. He would have to be on his toes at all times now. And if he was able to find some book on monsters here, that would be very helpful.
But speaking of finding stuff… He had no idea where the Sages where.
He did not have a map of this place. From the way Hilda made it sound, Lorule had a layout very similar to Hyrule, but Link already did not trust this place. Not to mention her warnings about this land "crumbling away". Whatever that meant.
Actually, where was he?
Sheesh, he was so focused on running away that he never thought about where he was going. It was stupid.
Looking at his surrounding, he noticed he was in some… forested area. Going by his mental map of Hyrule, he was either close to the entrance of Kakariko Village – or whatever passed for Kakariko Village in this place – or he was near the small hill where his house was.
Which was also where the castle was.
He should probably check that.
It took an embarrassingly long time to get his bearings, but soon he found himself before a long bridge.
This was definitely the entrance to Lorule Castle.
The entrance to the long bridge was framed by a heavy and imposing stone arch engraved with sharp patterns and embedded with large rubies. Two thick walls framed the arch, like the walls of a fortress, lit with the same torches of magic fire that the corridors high above did. To his absolute shock, there were hylian skulls littered around them.
And on the bridge… monsters.
Hiding behind the wall, Link could easily see the orange, pig-like monster armed with a spear, patrolling. There was a second one further back. There may even be more monsters hiding nearby, like that plant-tentacle thing earlier.
No wonder there were so many bones here.
For the umpteenth time that day, Link felt sick. His flashed back to the torn complaints again. He quickly cut off that line of thought.
Though he could not stop the chills through his spine.
Monsters aside – ones that would definitely skewer him in his current state – he could make out a long series of magic torches lighting it up, and further in, a weather vane. And way in the back, there was something black and… pulsating…
Worth it?
He needed answers. And Hilda had them. But if he could not get inside…
Link silently weighted the pros and cons. The more he lingered here, the more likely monsters here to notice him…
No, it was not worth it.
What he had to do right now was trying to get information on where each of those "dungeons" was. In Hyrule, they were places of legend filled with strange mechanisms, maybe that was also the case here?
It was only as he turned to leave that he noticed just what kind of gap that bridge covered.
He was standing next to a chasm.
An improbably, impossibly, deep chasm.
Oh. That's what she meant by "crumbling away".
The sight before him looked like something straight out of a nightmare. Right at his feet the land was just torn off, exposing the various minerals and crystals to the wind. And it was going deeper, and deeper, and deeper, and deeper… until the gleaming crystals faded into the impenetrable darkness beneath.
There was the occasional floating boulder hanging in the chasm with water flowing out of it – and Link was not going to try and figure out how that worked – but otherwise, if anybody fell, there was absolutely no way to climb back up.
Link took a step back. Then another. He had never been afraid of heights, but this… This may be worse than the Tower of Hera.
He had to find a map. Who knew how many of these chasms were around. By the looks of it, this particular one was surrounding the whole castle. If he knew where the chasms were, he would know which parts of Lorule were currently inaccessible to him. He could not count on his mental map of Hyrule and this "counterpart" thing forever.
Wait…
If there were counterparts to the smithy, the forest, and the castle… was there one of his house?
A feeling of dread settled in his stomach at the thought. Based on everything else he saw here, he had a feeling that he would not like what he would find there. But… maybe he would find something…
Urgh, why was he so freaked out!? He was literally thrown here without a plan, he should at least get a grip on his surroundings!
A round snort distracted him.
Right. The monsters. Better get moving.
Welp… this was the right place.
Finding the tiny hill was a ridiculously easy task. He had ran into some other odd monsters on the way here – ones that looked like hopping mouths with tentacle hair – but they were not difficult to take down.
And there was a… house, there. At least he thought it was a house. It looked like some purple stone, mushroom thing. There were some odd snail-like shells embedded on the "roof". And some odd kind of chimney that was more like a whole on top like the top of a volcano or something. It made the black wooden door and the round window look absurd in how plain they were.
There was also a weather vane, which woke up with a raspy trill, as well as some purple bushes neatly arranged and several blue flowers like the ones he had seen previously.
Lorulean vegetation was weird.
More importantly, the window was lit. Maybe there was someone inside?
Normally, Link would barge right in. In Hyrule, anyone could walk into everyone's house as they wished. He doubted that was the case in Lorule. What if someone was inside and decided they did not want visitors?
One way to find out.
Link knocked on the door. He waited a few moments. No response. He knocked again. No response. He waited a while more. "Excuse me, is anybody inside?"
No answer.
Maybe it was empty?
With a deep breath, Link opened the door.
And he came face to face with a wall of junk.
The entire back of the house was cut off by a bunch of stacked furniture. Desks, tables, beds, boxes, even tree stumps and cupboards. Somebody had haphazardly stacked them together to ensure that nobody could get to the back. Heck, Link could barely even see the back. There were a couple of lit candles on the walls – regular fire, this time around – but that was the only sign of the space being usable.
Was this a storage? A blockade? Could they not just use a lock? It would give the smithy some work to do… Sheesh.
Though maybe he would be able to find something useful in the house. There were a lot of papers here.
Link decided to take a glance at their contents.
They were complaints.
A whole bunch of complaints, near identical to the ones he found at Hilda's office. Some of them were complaining about Hilda not taking complaints, even. There were so many of them they made entire piles.
Other papers were on completely different subjects. Link could barely grasp the content but it was… magical theory?
Goddesses, whose house was this? Some high ranking official? Would someone show up to arrest him!? Then again, he did not see any soldiers around the castle…
Link was suddenly hit with the mental image of the spear monsters from earlier showing up to take him to the castle, and had to snort.
Still, if nobody would show up to arrest him – which seemed very likely – then maybe he could search this place for something useful.
With that in mind, he started going through the papers.
It felt like he was looking forever before he stumbled on something useful. It was a thin parchment that looked quite worn, but Link's eyes lit up as soon as he saw it.
"A map!"
And despite the wear, it was a surprisingly detailed map. It even recorded the floating boulders he saw.
The first thing that struck him was how similar this map was to the map of Hyrule. He had more or less been moving with that presumption, but this here only emphasized it. Of course, this made all the differences stand out even more. The desert had been replaced with what appeared to be a swamp, the mountain at the north was covered in snow, and he could not even begin to figure out what was happening in the east ruins. They just looked… dark.
Then there was how enormous the chasms were. His first impression of the one around Lorule Castle turned out to be underselling it. Not only did it go all round the castle, but it also cut off access to the north forest, the mountain, the east ruins, and the lake. The same chasm also cut off access between the mountain and the forest. There was also a tiny chasm that cut off access between the south plains and the swamp.
So right now, Link would only be able to reach the south plains, the round forest, and the village. At least he had a starting point.
And yet… could he really find a "dungeon" – okay that word was starting to sound more fitting now that he thought about it – in this area? All the matching locations that had vaults in Hyrule were out of reach. Though now that he was looking more closely, there was an odd monument in the south plains. It would be worth to check it out.
He should probably start with the village, though. While he could see quite a few suspicious locations on the map, he had to find more information.
He put the map in his pouch.
Could he find anything else in here?
Some digging, climbing and a near accident with the silverware later, Link found what he was looking for. An encyclopedia of monsters. It was quite thick, but that was not surprising.
Link soon was able to find what he was looking for. The one-eyed bomb thrower was called a Hinox, the weird tentacle plant thing was called a Ropa, the pig spear monsters were Moblins, and the mouth on legs was called Snap Dragon, even though it looked nothing like the plant. There were also several other dangerous-looking monsters in the book. Link would have to make sure to read through it.
He placed the book on his pouch as well.
As he decided to leave, he felt a wave of shame wash over him. He basically just walked into a stranger's house – some overworked office person's, by the looks of it – and stole precious stuff without second thought. It was not right.
Still, he really needed those items…
Link decided to throw a silver rupee over the furniture block. Hopefully nobody would find it.
When he finally left, he made sure the door was tightly shut – or as much as he could get it without a key. Afterwards, he mentally reviewed his plan.
His first destination was the village, but he was not too eager to get into any fights with monsters on the way. Normally he would call Irene, but…
…But…
Wait. What if he could use the broom here? It was a magic broom, right? It flew Link on its own.
It was a long shot, but it was worth checking. He brought out the bell and rang.
A few seconds later, the broom arrived before him.
Link blinked in surprise. He grabbed the end of the broom. "Um… The town?" The broom did not badge. It probably did not know that place.
Or maybe it was because Link did not know that place. He tried a different location. "The blacksmith's?"
This time the broom did respond. With a slight shake, he was off.
Link tried not to get overwhelmed with surprise and instead use his brief time airborne to scan his surroundings. As he passed over the round forest, in the clearing he saw a… was that a giant Octorock? In a fence? And people? That was weird.
However, the distance between the empty house and the blacksmith's was too short. In no time at all Link was let on the ground.
The drunken blacksmith groggily stared at him. "You're still here, kid?"
Link truly struggled between his urge to yell at the guy, and the raw disbelief that he was this out of it. He settled for rolling his eyes. He could not quite hold back the sense of disdain. It must have shown in his gaze because the man shrunk back.
Without a word, Link adjusted his equipment, and set off to the village.
Author notes:
First of all, I wanted to make that Lily and Petunia joke for YEARS.
So, this is Link's first impression of Lorule. Not the best. I wanted to portray a kingdom of hopelessness and decay, and I did my best to convey that sense. It'll be expanded more upon in future chapters. Sure, Lorule has a more strange and quirky side, but it won't become obvious to Link immediately.
As you can probably tell, or already know, I had a pretty hard time with this chapter. I think the length, under 7000 words, reflects that. First of all, I really could not include the entrance to Lorule in the previous chapter, and I also felt that sticking the Thieves' Town in here would be too rushed.
My idea of progression was to have Link explore his surroundings and gather information, take in the area and form a plan. After all, unlike us the players, Link has absolutely no clue what's going on, and he has no map in the lower screen to show him where to go next.
Which is where Ravio's house comes in. You know, at first I really, REALLY wanted to include his diary. But throwing in Link being suspicious at Ravio already would not fit in, not with everything else going on. So instead, I used it as a plot device. Both to give Link the means he needs to proceed, and to perhaps add a bit more depth in Ravio and his role in Lorule. I tried to do a similar thing with the state of Hilda's office. The two of them are NOT in a good place.
Now, for the technical difficulties. As I said earlier, I had a really hard time writing this chapter. When I started it I was exhausted by everything and the opening segment was not up to par, so I had to rewrite it. Then real life kept kicking my butt, and any energy for writing was hard to find. I was seriously considering cutting off the chapter at the point when Link finally leaves the blacksmith's house (the first time). The walkthrough I was following did NOT help. Dude ran straight to the dungeon the moment the obligatory cutscenes were over. I can't work with that!
Anyway, that's it for me! I hope the chapter is to your liking! Up next, Thieves Town.
Until next time!
HelenTheMoon