Long ago, Hyrule was devastated by a being known as Calamity Ganon, who laid waste to the land and almost certainly destroyed all of Hyrule's civilization. But 100 years later, a lone swordsman and his allies traveled across the land, defeated the evil, and rescued the princess who had been held captive for so long. Now, Hyrule is going through an age of reconstruction as the people work to rebuild the world that Calamity Ganon had destroyed. But, amid this, an unknown gloom crept from the underground of Hyrule Castle, one much worse than the Malice that Calamity Ganon emitted. Seeing this as their duty, the Hylian Champion Link and Princess Zelda of Hyrule, venture down under Hyrule Castle to find the source.
Of course…they are not the only ones venturing deep into the earth.
"So, tell us. Between Cheetah, Raine, and Robin, whose idea was it to come down here again?" Kaito asked.
"Well Tiki said she could feel the bracelet coming from down here so…all of us?" Dan said.
"Oh come on, Kaito. It's not that bad. I mean, just take a look at the scriptures on these walls." David said.
"Although…we are going much deeper than we planned. It's like these tunnels lead directly to the center of the world." Yaoyorozu said.
"It's no surprise. This cavern is very deep within the castle. We're lucky to have even gotten here at all." Cheetah said.
"Still, I wonder what is down here. These drawings look pretty aged. I wonder how long those have been here." Shuichi said.
"A lot longer than my time, from the looks of it." Revali said.
"You know…this reminds me of a legend involving the Hylian Royal Family. About a great war that took place during the days of the kingdom's founding. It was between allied tribes and someone who was only referred to as the Demon King." Robin said.
"Ganondorf?" Lana asked.
"Who else could it be? After all, he's been the source of catastrophe in every timeline- Okay, not exactly every timeline, but you get the idea." Cia said.
"Hmm…he seems more intimidating than the one we have back in Nazarick." Ainz said. "Although…" he said looking to some mammalian creature at the start. "That one catches my curiosity."
"It's a Zonai." Sheer said. "They were considered gods thousands of years ago. The first rulers of Hyrule."
"Zonai? They were never mentioned in previous timelines." Lana said.
"Probably because there were no indications of them. Their power would surpass even ours, Lana." Cia said.
"True." Lana said.
"However, the Zonai died out centuries ago. It's unknown if there are even any living Zonai left in this or any world. Such is the fate of any ancient civilization." Sheer said. "The Demon King took something sacred to the Zonai and used it to empower himself. Thus led to the war you see before you. The Imprisoning War."
"You guys don't think the Zonai could be… You know, the founders of Hyrule, do you?" David asked.
"Founders, not so sure. But they would definitely be among its first rulers." Cheetah said.
"Hmm…" Theo pondered as he looked at some chips in the mural.
"Excavation tools…someone else was down here…recently." Rimuru said.
"Guess we shouldn't be surprised." Theo said. "Might be graverobbers or treasure hunters."
"Seriously?! Uh…Tiki…any chance that bracelet thing is…" Mineta said.
"Nope. Still further down." Tiki said.
"Well…looks like we're moving deeper in." Zelda said.
"Agreed." Link said as they all descended down further and further.
Upon reaching another cavern, they looked in awe at a certain site. They saw a mummified being bending backward as a hand was thrust into their chest with a stream of blue energy flowing upward.
"Is that…the Demon King?" Sheer said.
"It appears so. Looks like his body has been down here all this time. Although it's withered and crumbly…it has withstood almost 100,000 years of age." Robin said.
"Look what's on its arm." Klonoa said.
"What are…" Connor said as the group's faces paled when they saw the Emblem Bracelet hanging right on the mummy's arm. "You gotta be kidding me…"
"Oh, this is just great. Any bright ideas?" David asked.
"Well…let's just take it." Subaru said.
"You can't do that. What about the….mummy's curse?" Usopp said.
"You don't actually believe in that stuff, do ya? It's just superstition from old mummy horror movies." Sunset said.
"Still a little uneasy. I mean… Down here, bottom of a cavern, a priceless artifact on a mummy. This practically screams that something is gonna trigger." Kaito said.
"Look, we're not going to get it just standing here. So, one of us will go over slowly and gently slide it off his wrist." Gray said.
"Klonoa, you were the one that spotted it… Maybe you should do it." David said.
"No way, I'm not getting near that!" Klonoa said.
"Mummy's curse. Remember to think of that." Kazuma said.
"There's no such thing. Okay…for the sake of ending this chicken fest, I'll go over and get it." Nami said, heading over to the body.
As she got close to the body, they felt the ground shake as the arm that was pinned to the mummy's chest lost its power and fell right off, a sacred stone falling from it as Zelda collected it.
"Well…that was a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting something…" Theo said as the arms on the mummy twitched. "Like that!"
"Wait…you mean…that being was still alive?!" Sheer said in shock as the body was trying to make itself upright only to slump as its eyes lit up.
"No such thing as a mummy's curse, huh?!" Kazuma said. "Dust him! Dust him now!"
Multiple members of the group unleashed a barrage of ranged attacks at the awakening corpse, only for red malice to erupt from its chest towards the group. It was at this moment that Link guarded against it, the malice covering his blade, draining his life force, and devouring his arm. As Link attempted to block again, the Master Sword finally broke as a piece of it slashed the mummy's cheek.
"Was that the sword that seals the darkness…such a feeble blade cannot defend you…from me." the mummy spoke.
"Ganondorf…" Lana said in shock.
"The self-proclaimed seerer of our world's time. Even someone as you shakes in my power." Ganondorf said. "Ah…Zelda…and that is Link, along with the so-called Hero Alliance. None of you…can stand before my power."
"How…do you know us?" Jexi said.
"Hmm…" Ganondorf pondered as he looked at the bracelet. "Ah…such an incredible power."
"Oh boy, that's never a good thing to hear." Eddy gulped.
"Kazuma, quick, use Steal!" G. Aqua said.
"Normally, I would, but…something tells me there's no Luck stat high enough to swipe something from him." Kazuma said in fear.
"Plus, he shattered the Master Sword. We don't have anything against him right now. We need to run." David said.
"Ah…but before we depart…" Ganondorf said as he grabbed Nami by the neck. "Divine Dragon that stands before me…offer a prayer to fully awaken this dormant power. Or…I shall kill this woman where she stands."
"Damn, this will give him a power boost, but Nami's life hangs in the balance. Using hostages is the worst." Kaito said.
Alear was unsure what to do before she took a breath. "I'll do it. Just promise you'll let her go." Alear said.
"Do not stall me…do it…now!" Ganondorf said.
Alear looked on before she spoke. "Heed our summons, Emblem of Heroes." she said as the bracelet glowed as a young girl with short ash blonde hair wearing a gold and black dress with black angel wings on the back appeared as Ganondorf tossed Nami back to the group.
"I do not remember summoning you. I am known as Veronica. And you will…" she said before Ganondorf had her by the neck as she looked in shock.
"You are mine now. Your power is mine!" Ganondorf said as he gathered darkness. "As we bring this era…into a new age of darkness!" he said, blasting it all the way up to the ceiling.
Up above, the entirety of Hyrule Castle shook as the whole building was propelled into the sky by the blasting darkness.
"Such unparalleled force…" Sectonia muttered.
"Uh, so about that running plan we had?!" Nemo said.
"Yeah, I think now is a good time to run." David said.
"It does not matter where you run…this world…is mine. Ahahahaha!" Ganondorf laughed as the ground crumbled and he fell deeper into the darkness as the ground collapsed under the group's feet.
"AAAHHH!" the group yelled as they plunged into the darkness…
"Ugh… Ow!" David said as he felt a scratch mark on his face when he woke up.
"I see you're finally up." Cheetah said.
"Yeah, but… There are better ways to wake me up, you know." David said as he got on his feet. "Speaking of waking up… Where are we?"
"No clue. All I remember was that weird hand grabbing Link and all of us grabbing onto him." Theo said.
"Ugh…how long were we out?" Ethox asked, rubbing his head.
"Given the number of messages Luz and Amity left me from the ship…it's been about 4 days." Theo said.
"Four days…oh crap, Ganondorf's had free reign over Hyrule for four days." Ultra realized.
"And he has an Emblem Bracelet as well. The Bracelet of the Lonely Heir." Tiki said. "Its power allows you to summon warriors to fight for you."
"He can summon people now? Oh, that does not sound good." David said.
"I think the summons depend on the person. And I doubt what Ganondorf would summon could be called…people." Ainz said.
"Yeah… And the fact that we lost Zelda in the chasm is even more disheartening. I-I'm sure she's fine, but… First we need to figure out where we are. Maybe then we'll get a better plan of action." David said..
"Well, I think I remember the castle rumbling when Ganondorf did his thing, so we're probably buried underground, and-" Kazuma started.
"Uh…fellows? I believe you should come out here and witness this!" Double D said from outside.
The group then came to a large opening to see a vast number of floating islands before their eyes that stretched across the sky.
"No way! This has gotta be…Hyrule's version of Sky Island!" Luffy said as he and the others in the group seemed excited.
"Whoa… I never imagined the sky looked so vast from here." Sectonia said.
"Incredible." Mari said.
"The hand must have pulled us here to protect us from the fall." Naofumi said.
"Okay…let's do this." Luffy said as he wrapped his arms around the whole group.
"Oh no…don't you…" Lucy said as they were all pulled off and falling right out of the sky.
"Oh heck yeah. Always loved skydiving!" David said.
"I don't!" Kazuma yelled in panic. "Subaru, you gotta back me up on this!"
"Yeah, we're gonna die since we don't have parachutes, dude!" Subaru said.
"Don't worry. We just need to land somewhere soft, and we're golden." David said.
The two stared at him before snapping. "We're in the middle of the sky!"
"Hold on…let's do this instead." Ainz said as he rose his staff as the group was suddenly teleported out of the sky and onto the largest of the Sky Islands, landing gently on the ground being only a few inches from it.
"Hoo… Crazy." David said, fixing his hair. "Still, insanity aside, so much happened back there, I'm not sure we can make heads or tails of it."
"Our first step would be to figure out what is actually going on." Link said. "And…find out more about the owner of this." he said, holding his right arm out, showing that it was the arm that was holding down the mummy.
"Whoa, what happened to your arm, man?" David asked.
"His arm was too damaged by the gloom so it had to be removed and replaced." a voice said.
"Uh… Did anyone else hear that?" David asked.
"Yeah, you're not going crazy. Who…?" DJ asked, as the group turned to see a ghostly figure standing there, resembling the same creature from the mural.
"You're…a Zonai…" Sheer said.
"Yes, I am. Link, I hope you don't mind the replacement. That arm originally belonged to me once upon a time. I am Rauru. I've heard a great deal about all of you from Zelda." he said.
"Zelda? She's still alive? Oh, that's a relief." Sectonia said.
"But you say that you are Rauru. That would make you…the first king of Hyrule." Cheetah said.
"Indeed. I am impressed that you know this." Rauru said. "And yes, allow me to dispel your worries. Zelda is in fact still alive."
"Alright!" Ethox said happily. "Then we'll go find her, then find Ganondorf and take him down!"
"Just a minute. It's not as simple as you are making it sound." Cheetah said.
"Cheetah is right, Ethox. Ganondorf shattered the Master Sword, remember?" David asked. "Not to mention with Veronica's Bracelet, he can summon a legion of soldiers of many kinds to serve his beck and call."
"David's right. We have no way to fight him and are seriously outgunned. He's probably got monsters swarming all over Hyrule by now." Jexi said.
"Oh, right." Ethox said, shaking his head. "So…what should our next move be then?"
"Why don't we head to that place?" Megumin said, pointing to a temple not far from where they were.
"Seems like the best option right now." Al said.
"Ah, before you do, I fear the door is locked." Rauru said. "My arm could open it…but I believe it's lost some of its power. Exploring the islands could help in regaining its lost power."
"Thanks for the tip." Scarlet said.
The group searched across the islands, finding a number of shrines and using their power to help Link regain the arm's power. This power also came with three abilities: Ultrahand, Fuse, and Ascend. With these powers in hand, Link once more approached the temple doors and was able to open them wide for the group to enter.
The group made their way up the stairs as they reached a large sacred stone floating on an altar before it glowed and engulfed the area in a bright light. Upon touching it, the group could see themselves inside of a misty void of some kind, and floating in front of them was Zelda wearing a different outfit with her eyes closed and her hands in prayer before holding her right hand out to Link. Link took her hand, her form vanishing before filling the sacred jewel in his new arm with celestial power.
"Ah, Recall…" Rauru said, appearing alongside the group. "The ability to reverse the movement of an object through time. And Zelda has disappeared as well… though perhaps it was an echo - one that reflects her sheer will. In any case, that you've received this ability, Link…no doubt it will prove important."
"Considering the moving stone clockwork in front of us, I'd agree with that statement." Moltar said. "Go ahead and give that ability a test drive."
Link then proceeded to do so, reversing the movements of the machinery to reach the top floor, where a large door stood between them and the outside. Link attempted to open it, but after a few moments, was left panting for exhaustion.
"Whoa, are you okay, Link?" ZS asked.
"Yes…just a bit drained." Link said.
"Your life force must've been drained when Ganondorf tried to attack us." Roy said.
"Yes…though you have regained quite a bit of it through exploring the shrines." Rauru said. "There is nothing else I can do here. The rest is up to you. Though our time was short, it was an honor to know you all."
"Likewise." Jexi said as they went out to a diving spot that seemed to overlook a settlement on the ground below.
"Lookout Landing…that's where Purah and the others should be." Link said.
"Well…let's not waste time then." Jexi said as they went and jumped down towards said lookout. Their adventure in Hyrule had only just begun with a number of surprises happening along the way.