Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
I would like to dedicate this story to Yuma911, his story Hero's Landing is what inspired me to write this.
Overlord: Courage within
Prologue
Third Person POV
It appeared to be a normal day, waking up after spending the whole night playing Zelda the player goes with his morning routine, first, he takes a bath noticing his hair was too long and it was time for cutting it, then, after taking a bath, he goes to brush their teeth, but once he looks at himself in the mirror shock is the only thing he feels, followed by a scream.
"AAAAAAAAAH" He screams once he sees his reflection.
Long blond hair, blue eyes, pointy ears, just like the game, only now, it was reality.
Not only did he look exactly like Link, but even his scream was identical. Once the shock passes he takes a better look at himself. There was no doubt, somehow he became Link, his favorite video game character. Looking around he also realizes his house was completely different, what once was a modern-looking place now felt like it belongs to a fantasy world.
'How did this happen?' The player, now Link, asks himself. 'I was playing Tears of the Kingdom and fall asleep on my couch and woke up in here, whatever here is'.
For a moment Link wonders if he was transported into the game, it might've sounded stupid to some, but he believed in the multiverse theory and wormholes, so it wouldn't surprise him if his TV was actually a wormhole that brought him to the universe it was currently transmitting.
To test his theory Link tries to open his inventory, but instead of a window open in front of him his hand just disappears in thin air, bringing with it the classic Hylian Shield. Mesmerizing the blue shield for a few seconds Link reverses his action and puts it back in his inventory.
Link wonders for a moment about how to proceed, if he is in Hyrule the best option is to go find Zelda, whether he is in a time of peace or in a time of war she is the best option if he wants to be safe if Hyrule really became a reality.
Link goes out of his house and realizes it is in the middle of a giant forest, making him wonder if this is really Hyrule since he doesn't remember the adventurer ever living in the middle of a forest in any of the games. Not willing to take any risks Link opens his inventory and grabs his classic green tunic and hat, and when he does, another surprise, instead of the TOTK green tunic or any of the Amiibos' ones he had, he instead had the Hyrule Warriors' outfit, this was really strange for him.
Link had collected and upgraded to the max all his TOTK items, the weight of being a completionist, and he was sure the Hyrule Warriors' outfit wasn't in the game. For curiosity's sake, Link reaches his inventory one more time, in an attempt to take another item he was sure wasn't present in TOTK, to his surprise he finds it, and out of his inventory, the golden gauntlets come out.
'This doesn't make sense, unless… I'm not in any Zelda game'. He thought.
After finishing dressing, Link adjusts his blue scarf and takes a look around the sight of the forest one last time. He takes his Sheikah Slate that was wrapped around his belt and looks with curiosity at the map inside, he doesn't know how to explain, but his map fulfills itself, it doesn't show much, and by his calculations, only 10 meters ahead of him in every direction were filled, making him wonder if the map will fill itself only if he is being used or even if Link has it on his inventory.
'So many possibilities." Link thinks.
Undecided about which direction to pick Link decides to follow the wind, when he left the house he saw it had a small stable in the backyard, Link doesn't want to be too hopeful but he was willing to try, taking his blue ocarina from the inventory he starts playing the familiar song, Link watches his surroundings waiting for movement and smiles once he hears the sound of hooves hitting the ground, looking at the source he sees the loyal mare that accompanied the hero in many adventures and smiles.
Link gets on his mount and they both depart this place. On his cavalcade Link starts to think about his old life, it wasn't bad, he had a nice job, friends, and enough free time to have fun.
'Should I go back?' Link asks himself.
Since arriving at this place, the former player realizes his way of thinking and acting were already changing, but he wasn't becoming Link, at least not fully, in a way, all the memories he had of his playthroughs of every Zelda game were coming to life, as if instead of games all actually happened, and these memories were making him decide to stay instead of going back, telling things like this place might have problems and need help, or that some great evil might be lurking and the people need someone to protect them.
While thinking about wanting to go back or not the former player already noticed that he had accepted that there might not be a way to return, yet he wasn't depressed or worried, instead, he was optimist, making him believe that maybe the best aspects of Link's personality, and his former one, were fusing together, but that could be worrisome since the worst parts could also melt together.
'Man, when one problem appears to be resolved, two more appear'. He tells himself while petting Epona's mane.
After a few minutes of travel Link stops and spots a village on the horizon, he takes off his map and looks at it once more, the path he walked was on the map and so was the village, making Link reach the conclusion that his map fills itself from whenever route he chooses and whenever location he finds.
'This will come in handy.' Link thinks as he marks his house on the map so he can always know where it is and find it.
Now that he knows where he is going Link grabs Epona's reins and the mare charges in the village's direction.
A few meters away from the village Link ties Epona into a nearby tree, if the village was hostile he could make a run for it and not risk losing his precious companion.
Despite this not being a game anymore Link was still able to see the stats of his equipment, unlike in the game though where his Sheikah Slate is basically his pause menu, in this world it serves as some sort of tablet so he can see what items he has in his inventory and their stats, his Hyrule Warriors' tunic has the highest stats of all his armors, which was ironic since appearance wise it was just a piece of clothing but he wouldn't look a gifted horse on the teeth, hanging on his back was his Hylian Shield and the Master Sword, he still couldn't believe such an iconic weapon was now real and belonged to him, something curious though was that all his items now have some sort of classification, his outfit, and shield, for example, were classified as Divine and for some reason it was written in orange, the Master Sword, on the other hand, was classified as World Item and it was written on turquoise letters, Link would have to look into it in the future. After taking a last check into his gear, Link walks toward the village hoping to meet new people that could help him find his way to Zelda if this is Hyrule or to the nearest city so he can decide what course of action to take.
When he entered the village Link was nervous, not because there were a lot of people, but because there weren't, then there was the quiet, the kind of quiet that nature makes when a predator is lurking in the middle of the trees. There was no doubt Link's Hylian ears were better than human's so the fact that he hadn't heard anything was even more alarming.
Link approaches the closest house and knocks on the door, the former player wanted to say something but ever since he became his favorite character not only he didn't want to speak unless it was inside his mind, but also felt as if speaking was something unnatural despite still being capable of doing it.
When no one responded Link turns the knob of the door and slowly opens it, taking a peek inside he doesn't see anything, he fully opens the door and decides to enter, at this point, it was already established that this world was akin to earth's middle age, the architecture of this village more than prove it, Link observes first the 'living room' it has two chairs in front of each other, a hearth, and a rug, then he goes towards the kitchen and his heart starts to beat faster, the wood burning stove was lit.
Link when he was human and in his chuunibyou phase loved playing detective, he'd read all Sherlock Holmes books, and Batman comics, and spent hours playing detective games and studying forensic science, he didn't follow the career path but still trained his skills now and then, so seeing the fire lit was a red flag, the village apparently being desert was already one, but the lit stove raised two hypotheses, one, the owners forgot, which is unlikely since this stove uses wood, not gas, risking burn the whole place, two, whoever the owners were they were taken away, either by force or by their own will.
'They would've extinguished the fire after the food was ready every time to not risk burning the place down' Link tells himself. 'Whatever happened here made them give up or forced them to leave before they could extinguish the flame'.
Link takes his Lens of Truth from his inventory and starts looking throughout the place with it, the item allows Link to see things that are not normally visible to the naked eye. It can show fake walls and floors, and invisible objects and enemies. As time passes Link feels something draining from him, but he doesn't feel tired, in the games he lost magic whenever he used the item so it's safe to assume that the same is happening here. Link doesn't waste time and searches for anything that might explain what happened in this place, and he does find something, blood, many marks of blood, he came to the conclusion that the blood was cleansed since he could only see it now that he was using his item, and since the lens are used to show things hidden by magic Link also concludes that the people who did this used magic to clean the blood.
Link puts his item back in his inventory and starts to feel what was drained being recovered, it was a strange sensation, in the games he needed to drink potions or collect small vials from fallen enemies to refill his magic meter, but it appears that in this new world Link only need to not use his magic meter and it will be filled automatically.
'Well, that's helpful'. Link says.
Link leaves the house and closes the door, he was in a stalemate, whatever happened in this village probably took away his only chance to gather information and find civilization for now. Since this isn't a game but reality Link was sure that he would need to eat, drink and sleep, and while he wasn't low on funds since he gladly had 9,999,999 rupees, but, his lack of knowledge would not help since people might explore him and/or it might not even be enough. There was an open path that led to the village on the other side of what appeared to be the village's plaza, but following without knowing where it leads was a great risk, the next town or village could be weeks or months away, and without provisions Link doubt he is going to make it.
When everything seems lost Link hears something, many by the sound of it, he recognizes the sound as hooves and from the frequency he decided there were at least fifty of them on the move, coming right to this village. Link ponders over all the knowledge he gathers, for all he knows these people approaching could be the ones who killed the villagers or were sent to investigate their disappearance. It was a gamble, but Link decided to wait and talk to them, if they wanted a fight maybe he could give them If they were weak.
Link goes to the village entrance and sees the men approaching, it doesn't take long for one, the leader Link assumes, to notice the Hylian.
The closer they were getting the slower their horses were running, and in a matter of minutes they all stopped, with the leader in the front, approaching Link still on top of his horse.
"I am warrior chief Gazef Stronoff". Gazef says. "Who are you Elf?".
Link confirmed. He wasn't on Hyrule, there were no 'humans' on Hyrule since the term is mostly used in the games as a euphemism for mortals, and despite their appearance, Hylians aren't elves. Link doesn't know why but he felt uncomfortable being called an elf. He grabs his Sheikah Slate and starts writing on it the words; not an elf.
Link gives Gazef the item once he finishes writing and the warrior captain stares at it for a few seconds before giving it back to Link with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand the language which you wrote". Gazef says.
Link signs, of course this place would have its own alphabet, with no more option Link decides to speak.
"I'm not an Elf… I am a Hylian". Link says, his voice sounding calm and serene despite his face not demonstrating any emotion. "My name… is Link".
Gazef gets down from his horse. Link presumes he is around his thirties, he is muscular and has a sunbathed dark face with noticeable wrinkles, short, trimmed, black hair, and black eyes that were as sharp as a sword.
"What are you doing on this village Link? And where are the villagers?" Gazef asks with a stern but not accusatory tone while tilting his torso to the side so he can take a better look at the village behind Link.
"Came… for information". Link says, then gestures to the whole village with his hands. "Didn't find… anyone".
Gazef raises an eyebrow and then signs, Link was sure now that he wasn't responsible for whatever happened in this village, and dared to assume he knew Link wasn't one to blame.
"Lieutenant. With me". Gazef says.
"Yes sir!" The lieutenant says and gets off his horse, approaching the captain and the Hylian.
"Link". Gazef says making Link turn his eyes back to him. "Would you mind showing us the place and what you found?".
Link shakes his head in response and gestures for the two to follow him.
"The rest of you watch for anything or anyone outside the village, if you see something come to tell us immediately". Gazef says before following Link to the village.
Back inside the village Link takes Gazef and the lieutenant to the same house he first entered when he arrived. He enters first and the two follow right behind, like Link, the two search the place for a few seconds before going back to the main hall where the Hylian was waiting for them.
"So. You find it like this?" The lieutenant asks.
Link nods in response.
Link then puts his hand inside his rupees bag, he was going to take off his Lens of Truth but decided to hide his hand while doing it so he wouldn't freak out these men who despite giving him the benefit of the doubt still didn't trust him.
He gives the Lens of Truth to Gazef and points it to the place where he first found the blood, gesturing for the captain warrior to put it in front of his eyes. Gazef looks at the item in his hands, probably wondering what it would do, he hesitates but only for a second and does as Link has said.
Gazef raises his eyebrow once he sees the blood on the walls, he felts dizzy after a few seconds of using the item, Link, noticing this, grabs the Lens and holds the captain before he would fall.
"What did you do to him?" The lieutenant asks between grit teeth and hands on his sword's handle, Link only shakes his head in response.
"Stand down lieutenant". Gazef orders, already recovered from the effect and looking at Link. "This was a magic item, wasn't it?".
Link nods in response.
"I thought so. I'm not a magician and don't have magic, the item must have fed on my energy instead, and that's why I felt tired". Gazef tells them and looks at the lieutenant. "Lieutenant, tell the men to get ready to depart, whatever happened here we are already too late to do anything".
"Yes sir". The lieutenant says and leaves the house.
Link puts the item back in his inventory the same way to avoid suspicion and looks at the captain who has been staring at him.
"You are not from the Elven Kingdom are you?" Gazef asks.
Link shakes his head in response.
"Where are you from?". The warrior captain asks.
"…Hyrule". Link answers.
"You are in the RE-Estize Kingdom now". Gazef says, never hearing about Hyrule, so he puts it aside. "May I ask what brings you to the kingdom as it seems you are far away from home?".
"Looking… for adventure…". Link says.
Gazef sighs, he can tell the Hylian in front of him is not involved, and whatever his motives and objectives are, it was none of his business, but he didn't want to let him go on his own knowing how people might treat him due to being a demi-human, not after Link helped him out of the good of his heart.
"The closest city is E-Rantel". Gazef says, letting Link decides what he will do on his own. "I can show you the direction, but I can't go with you, I am acting under orders of the king so you will have to go on your own".
Link's ears caught that immediately, if Gazef was working under orders of the reign monarch it meant that there might be a fight and adventure ahead, the former player smiles inside his head, already anxious that there might be on an interesting journey with new people to meet if he goes with the captain.
"May I… go with you?". Link says. "Helped royalty… in the past.".
Gazef crosses his arms, he sees the sword and shield on Link's back and doesn't think they are just there for decoration, but he doesn't know how good in a fight he is and can't test it since he is in a hurry and already lost too much time on this empty village already.
"Can you fight?" Gazef asks, receiving a nod from Link. "Very well then, we will see if there is any horse we can give you".
"No need… have my own". Link says.
Link leaves the house and goes towards Epona, Gazef goes after him, not wanting to leave the young man alone. They didn't walk much and soon reached the mare, still tied to the tree and eating grass from the ground. Gazef notices the horse is well nourished and how well it was raised with a single glance, he wonders if Link is related to a lord or if he bought his mount from one since a horse like this could never be raised and trained by a simple peasant like Gazef, before becoming warrior captain, the costs would be too high.
"That is a nice mare Link-dono". Gazef says.
Link smiles at his words and gets on his horse after untying it from the tree, following the captain as they both go back to the men that were waiting and from there, towards adventure.
Author's note: I dropped my Overlord/Warcraft crossover, sorry, but I can't support Blizzard anymore.
New chapter drops tomorrow.
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English is not my first language.