Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
Weiss walked across a bridge hovering above lava where plumes of fire shot up from the lava below.
"Muh huh huh huh."
A giant boar turned around to face Weiss. "So, you've come to defeat me… but this is where it ends for you."
Weiss unsheathed the Master Sword. "Bring it, Ganon!"
Both of them lunged, clashing with their blades as they kept swinging at each other until Ganon jumped up, giving Weiss a massive opening as she slid underneath him and ran straight toward the end of the bridge, diving for the axe that was standing there as she picked it up and swung it down, causing the bridge to collapse and making Ganon hover above the lava.
"Ooooh, this is gonna hurt…" Ganon grimaced as he fell into the lava. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
With a smirk, Weiss hopped off and walked over to a bag, opening it up to reveal Princess Ruby.
"Oh, thank you Weiss~! But the princess is in another castle~"
Weiss smacked Ruby upside the head. "Yeah, nice try."
"Ahehe~ Worth it~!" Ruby giggled as Weiss scooped her up and walked outside.
Ruby sniffed the air. "Do you smell bacon?"
"YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF MEEEEE!" Ganon roared.
"Eh, it's still a bit raw."
Ruby snickered. "Okay!"
"And they lived happily ever after, the end!"
In reality…
BGM: Hateno Village - Day (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Ruby closed the book as the young kids clapped while Weiss leaned against a wall with a small chuckle.
"Thank you so much for the story, Miss Ruby!" A child happily said.
"Yeah, it was really wonderful!" Another complimented as the kids stood up and ran out the door.
"You ready to go?" Weiss asked.
"Absolutely!" Ruby smiled as she took Weiss' hand and walked out the school with her, locking the door as they walked back home.
"So, I know you love to write stories these days, but I have to ask… why make me go through eight castles to find you? Wouldn't it just make sense if I just went straight for the eighth one?"
"Ah, then it wouldn't be much of a story now, would it~?"
Weiss sweatdropped. "I… suppose that makes sense. Still, your books are always phenomenal. Star Wolfos, Hyrule Fantasy and it's MANY sequels and spinoffs, Hyrulemon, Chuchu's Adventure and its sequels, plus that weird racing one… Chuchu Air Ride or whatever. Hyrulevania, Gerudotroid Prime, Resident ReDead, Hylian Hearts… just to name a few."
Ruby giggled. "All these years and I'm still surprised I have a knack for writing and publishing a lot of books!"
Weiss nodded. "So, you want to go anywhere for tonight?"
"I'm thinking just staying home for dinner."
"Fair enough." Weiss nodded and then giggled at a memory.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I just remembered our first date…"
Five years ago…
"Weiss, why are you ordering an alcoholic drink?" Ruby asked. "We're underage."
"Ruby, we're a hundred and seventeen years old. We're technically old enough."
"Ooooh, right… duh."
"So, you can order a stronger drink than milk, ya know."
Ruby's eyes sparkled. "I can?"
"Yes!"
Ruby looked at the bartender. "Waiter, give me an apple cider!"
"Coming right up!"
Weiss facepalmed. "Not what I meant!"
Back in the present…
"Well, I… don't really like the taste of alcohol." Ruby shuddered.
"Yeah, fair." Weiss nodded. "It's an acquired taste."
"Yet you drink it?"
"Not all the time… I'm not like that surrogate uncle of yours."
Ruby snickered. "Drunk-le Qrow~"
Both of them giggled as they walked into their home together.
End BGM
Later…
BGM: Hateno Village - Night (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Ruby hummed to herself, planting some flowers in the garden.
"Ahem!"
"Hmm…?" Ruby turned her head to see Kohga standing above her.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Kohga…? What are you doing here?"
"I have a request for you and your wife."
"...Honey!" Ruby called out to her.
Weiss walked out, munching on some beef jerky. "Yeah, what is i-... Kohga? What are you doing here?"
"Apparently, he has a request for the both of us."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Let's discuss this inside. Too many prying ears… and the last thing I need is being turned into a pincushion by that snowflake sister of yours again. She still hasn't forgiven me after turning Hyrule Castle into a bachelor pad. I'm still surprised that you were okay with it."
"Honestly, living in a destroyed castle with no one there is… saddening. I'd rather live out in the countryside with my Mage Knight." Ruby said.
"Ah, but we spruced up the place. We even filled in that giant hole in the throne room… ah, but that's beside the point! Go in! Go!" Kohga pushed the two inside the building.
Once inside…
End BGM
"So, what do you want to tell us?" Weiss asked.
"So I have a request… and that request is…"
Kohga immediately fell on his knees, clasping his hands together and looking down.
"OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GET RID OF THE DARK MONSTER UNDERNEATH OUR BACHELOR PAD!" He cried.
"Whoa! Where did this come from?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What dark monster? I took care of Calamity Ganon five years ago."
"This is nothing like Calamity Ganon!" Kohga said. "So, to give some context… a few of my men went down into the basement to see if we could find anything fun, but then they discover a new door that we haven't seen before. So they come get me and I walk over to see what all the fuss was about. I see a sign that said "No entry permitted, not even the royal family are allowed in here", so I'm like "I'm not royalty", so with a little bit of elbow grease, I open up the door… and we all heard something really really spooky that scared us terribly! There's a dark monster in there, we just know it!"
"You probably saw your own shadow and got spooked." Weiss said.
"Oh, pish posh! I'd fight my own shadow compared to that thing!"
Ruby rubbed her chin in thought. "Ya know, I've always wondered why I was forbidden to go through that door. Not even my dad was allowed back there… and I don't think mom was either."
"So a warning that was passed down to your own old man. Huh, interesting." Kohga said.
Ruby turned to Weiss. "What do you say… we go investigate?"
"Mmmm… I dunno, I think this is something Kohga should face head on."
"Aw, come on! It'll be fun!" Ruby said. "Just think, we go in, find the monster that he's so afraid of and then come out and he can go back to living the bachelor life."
"...Oh, alright." Weiss nodded.
"Thank you!" Kohga exclaimed happily as Weiss walked outside and pulled off a cloth that was hiding the Master Cycle Zero.
Weiss pulled it out and pushed it through the front, whistling to get Ruby's attention as she walked out as Weiss climbed on, then Ruby climbed in the back and wrapped her arms around her wife.
"We'll be back. We need to go get something real quick and then we'll head to the castle."
"Alright. I'll meet ya the bachelor pad!" Kohga said as Weiss pressed a button on the Master Cycle Zero as a little side carriage came out as Ruby whistled, then Zwei came running over and hopped into the little side carriage as Revali flew over and landed on the little window in front of Zwei.
"Gotta love the upgrade Purah gave this~" Ruby giggled.
"She sure knows what she's doing." Weiss smiled as she drove off.
End BGM
At Korok Forest…
Weiss parked the Master Cycle near the entrance and walked over toward the Master Sword with Ruby, all the while Zwei spotted a Korok, where he jumped out and started to chase after it.
BGM: Korok Forest - Day (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"Waaaah!" The Korok cried as he ran off as Zwei playfully chased him as Revali flew over to try and contain the hyperactive corgi.
"It is good to see you… Princess Ruby of Hyrule, and Weiss, keeper of the Master Sword." The Deku Tree greeted. "Your blade has been fully restored. Go on then, Weiss. Draw it once more."
Weiss nodded and then walked over, grabbing the hilt and pulling the Master Sword out of the ground. "You feel better after being weakened from the Calamity?"
"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't know the Calamity would weaken me so…" Jinn admitted.
Weiss smiled and put the Master Sword in its sheathe.
"Thank you so much, Great Deku Tree!" Ruby smiled.
"Ha ha ha… there is no need for thanks. I merely watched over its renewal."
Ruby looked over at the Master Sword. "I'm still amazed that Jinn can actually repair the sword, no matter how badly damaged it gets."
"It can do more than heal. The sword will continue to gain strength if bathed in sacred power. The stronger the power, the more powerful the sword becomes. The potential of this fabled blade may well be limitless. Truly the work of a goddess."
Ruby chuckled. "The Master Sword has never let us down."
"Right." Weiss nodded as she turned around. "Let's go."
Ruby turned her head. "Zwei, that Korok is not a chew toy! C'mere, boy!"
"Woof!" Zwei ran back to Ruby as the Korok had drool all over him, thankfully no teeth marks as Revali bowed in respect toward the Korok and flew back.
"Man, I just took a bath too…" The Korok mumbled as Weiss turned around and drove off.
End BGM
Later, near Hyrule Castle…
"Look at that." Ruby said as Weiss turned her eyes to see people dancing around over a fully restored Castle Town.
"They don't really seem to care about the Yiga turning the castle into their personal pad." Weiss said.
Ruby giggled. "They're just happy that we all don't have to live in fear of the Calamity anymore."
Weiss turned the corner and drove up the path to the castle before stopping the moment they saw Kohga waving them over.
"I'll show you where you need to go!" Kohga said. "...Oh, you went to grab the sword?"
"Just in case." Weiss responded as they started to walk, but Zwei suddenly started to get a bad feeling and whined, turning around and going back to the Master Cycle.
"Huh? What's wrong, boy?" Ruby asked. "It's just the castle."
Revali let out a screech and decided to stay behind as well, sticking near Zwei as the latter let out a growl toward the castle.
"Something's got them spooked…" Weiss said. "Now that I think about it, I feel as if there's some sort of evil energy coming out."
She turned toward Kohga. "And this is why we don't open up restricted areas."
"How should I know? I thought there would be some buried treasure in there!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go."
"Right behind ya." Ruby nodded as Kohga guided them to the door as several Yiga footsoldiers and Blademasters cowering in fear.
"...Even the Blademasters? What did you guys even wake up?" Weiss asked.
"Good question!" Kohga responded.
"Alright… let's go see what's terrifying all of you." Ruby said as the ladies walked through the door.
"Good luck! You're gonna need it!" Kohga said.
"...They're gonna die." A Yiga said.
"Now now, this is Weiss and her princess. We just gotta think positive!"
"Okay, I'm positive that they're gonna die!"
A few minutes later…
BGM: Beneath Hyrule Castle (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"Hooo…" Ruby shuddered. "It just gets thicker down here, doesn't it?"
"Yeah…" Weiss nodded as an orb of light was levitating around them, acting as a source of light to illuminate the path.
"Ya know… I… kinda don't blame Kohga for being scared. Whatever is down here is making my skin crawl. How about you?"
"Honestly? The sooner we find whatever it is that spooked the Yiga, the sooner we can get the heck out of here."
"You're scared too."
"What? No, I'm not!" Weiss said. "...Okay, maybe a little."
Ruby giggled, taking her hand. "Don't worry, we'll get through this together."
"Yeah." Weiss nodded as Ruby kissed her on the cheek as they continued to descend into the depths.
"Hmm?" Ruby turned her head to see some ruins as she knelt down. "The… Zonai?"
"Zonai?" Weiss perked up. "I recall Whitley talking about them in his research notes. I wanted to explore the one in Gerudo Desert but a Molduga had to go and destroy it."
"Now why would this place be restricted if history is hidden underneath here?"
"Well, let's see… gloomy atmosphere to the point that it's suffocating, an eerie feeling from the both of us, total pitch black darkness, a mist of gloom is around us… need I go on?"
Ruby snickered. "Okay, you got me there."
The duo continued through the hallway, both of them getting a clear idea of what Zonai looked like.
"From what I read in my studies, the Zonai once lived in the sky… or something. It's been a while. I think it was called… Skyloft, I think?"
"Skyloft. A city in the sky?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't buy it."
"Well, it is legend."
"True, but It's not like floating islands are real." Weiss walked off.
"You might be surprised." Ruby said, and then noticed the Master Sword glowing. "Oh! Weiss, the Master Sword's glowing."
"Hmm?" Weiss looked behind her. "Picking up on something, Jinn?"
"I am… and whatever it is, I'm not liking it."
"Great, even the Master Sword isn't liking whatever it is down here." Weiss said.
"Let's just hope it's a really nice monster, like a… miniature rabbid bunny or something."
"...A rabid rabbit? How is that supposed to be nice?"
"Well, uh… putting it out of its misery? I dunno!"
Weiss rolled her eyes as they walked into the next room, where they were swarmed by a couple of Keese.
"Ack!" Ruby yelped in surprise as Weiss immediately took care of them.
"The monster were just some Keese. Come on, let's go back." Weiss started to walk back up.
"Whoa, hold on a second. There's a mural down here!" Ruby walked over.
"Rubes!" Weiss sighed as she walked back after her wife as they both looked at the mural, where they saw a demon controlling monsters.
"Wait a minute…" Ruby looked at the murals. "The Zonai descending from the heavens… a union with the Hylians by marrying one of them… someone assassinating the queen, looks like the Demon King… then the war between the Demon King and the Hylians… OH MY HYLIA, THIS IS THE IMPRISONING WAR!"
"Great…"
"No, don't you see? This is hidden history underneath the castle!" Ruby exclaimed. "You got the Sheikah Slate, right?"
Weiss pulled it out. "You mean Purah Pad? You and Purah redesigned this thing."
"Agh, force of habit… but you know what I mean!" Ruby chuckled as Weiss pointed it at the murals and snapped a few pictures. "...Oh. Rocks obscuring the last piece of mural. Aww… bummer…" Ruby frowned as Weiss summoned a Remote Bomb, tossing it up in her hand. "Wait! What are you doing?!"
"Gonna blow up the obscurity, what's it look like?"
"And potentially blow up history?! No way, I won't allow it!"
"Okay, I won't throw it. I'll just set it a few inches away from-"
"Weiss…"
Weiss sighed. "Fine, I'll leave it alone." She got rid of it. "Well, let's head back. I'm pretty sure the monster were just a few Keese."
"We gotta dig deeper! There's potential history in here! Maybe it's further along that pathway down there!"
"Let's not and say we did. The atmosphere is getting thicker and I'm starting to feel a little heavy from the gloominess."
"Eh, we can sleep it off when we get back. Besides, maybe the monster is just up ahead."
"Alright…" Weiss sighed as she took the lead. "Though I think I should take the lead just in case."
"Okay."
Both of them walked through the dark depths with the orb of light shining as brightly as it could into the depths… before they both saw a green swirling vortex coming out of a glowing hand on top of a corpse.
"What… is that?" Ruby wondered. "Is that the monster that Kohga probably saw?"
End BGM
Weiss unsheathed the Master Sword. "Stay close."
Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose. "I'm right behind you, babe."
The two of them slowly made their way toward the corpse, when suddenly the glowing hand fell over and dropped to the ground as a stone fell off and slid toward Ruby.
"Hmm? What's this?" Ruby wondered as she picked it up.
Weiss glanced at it. "Interesting…"
Ba-thump!
The girls turned their attention toward the corpse as it slowly started to rise up, before it fell back down and turned its attention toward them, eyes opening up as suddenly, a wave of gloom started shooting out and moved toward Ruby.
"RUBY!" Weiss immediately swung the Master Sword to protect Ruby, deflecting the gloom… but all it did was turn its attention toward Weiss as it immediately went for her. She immediately thrust her sword into it, hoping it would pierce the darkness… but it wrapped around the sword and dug into her arm.
"Nnngh! Agh! AAAAAAGH!" She cried as it went up toward her shoulder, burning it intensely.
"Weiss!" Ruby called out as she growled, putting away Crescent Rose and summoning a Silver Bow of Light and firing at the gloom to get it off of Weiss, making it back off.
"Agh… nnngh…" She grunted in agony, her arm barely recognizable.
"Weiss… your arm!"
"I'm… f-fine…" Weiss panted, feeling her energy leaving her entire body as the Master Sword was badly damaged.
The gloom lunged again as Weiss swung her sword down, but it shattered upon impact as a shard shot through and grazed the corpse's cheek.
"Was that the sword that seals the darkness?" The corpse spoke. "A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me."
"Who… nnngh… are you…?" Weiss panted.
The corpse smirked. "Salem."
"Salem…?" Ruby wondered as Weiss' eyes widened.
"While Ganondorf hated the idea of Zonai technology ruining the land and he wanted Hyrule to go back to its roots, he was also open to changing his mind. Perhaps Hyrule could be blended together in nature and technology. During his re-evaluation and talks with the first king of Hyrule… he was betrayed."
"By whom?"
"Legend has it that he picked up a street rat and took her in. She heeded Ganondorf's council but twisted it into thinking he wanted the Zonai destroyed, so she started a rampage. Ganondorf saw through it and stopped her. He was forced to apologize to the Zonai… and sought retribution toward his daughter. But before he could punish her… he fell ill… some food poisoning managed to get him and then his daughter slaughtered him before he could recover! The relations between the Zonai and the Gerudo was at an all time low and his daughter took advantage of that!"
"And who is this daughter?"
"Salem! She hated Ganondorf so much that she used his dark power against everyone to spite him, as a huge… as the teenage Hylians would say… "up yours" to him. Calamity Ganon is nothing but a spiteful image of Ganon just so she can destroy Hyrule as she saw fit! Of course, the Zonai stopped her, but her anger lives on and it finally came to fruition a century ago! Of course, your princess made sure to stop it… but now the time is nigh. The Calamity will rise and destroy Hyrule! And yet, not even the princess knows the true nature of the Calamity!"
"That's a load of bogus! There's no way that any of that is true! You're just saying this just to make me sympathize with him and lower my guard! There is no Salem! There is only the calamity!"
"Believe how you will. Nothing will change in the end."
"Salem… Astor was right…?" Weiss whispered in shock.
"The Sword That Seals the Darkness… and that was all it can do? Rauru's faith in it has been misplaced… hahahaha…"
"We-we'll stop… you…" Weiss said.
"In that state? Don't make me laugh." The corpse said aridly as suddenly, darkness surrounded her hands as they shot out toward the ground as bone-like creatures rose up from the ground. "The Grimm will destroy this land and I will reshape it into my own."
"Grimm…?" Ruby wondered.
"SCOUR THE LAND UNTIL NOTHING BUT BONE REMAIN!" Salem roared, lifting her hands up as gloom shot out of her hands and struck the ceiling, where the whole ground started to shake violently.
Above ground…
"Wh-whoa whoa whoa! What the heck?! An earthquake?!" A Yiga yelled.
"Quick! Everyone get out of here! Stat!" Kohga ordered as all the Yiga ran out as Kohga did the same where he immediately saw the Master Cycle and hopped on, quickly backing it up. "Backing up, backing up! Excuse me, pardon me, beep beep! Dog on board!"
"Oh!"
"Whoa!"
"What's going on?"
Revali let out a surprised screech and pecked at Kohga. "Ow! What is it?" Kohga asked as Revali moved his head toward the castle as he looked up to see the castle starting to rise out of the sky. "MY BACHELOR PAD! IT… IT… can do that? What button did Weiss and Ruby press? I gotta know! My pad just got sweeter!"
Both animals gave him a deadpanned "Really?" look.
"...What?"
Zwei turned his head, his ears twitching as he let out a bark as Kohga turned to see Grimm starting to crawl out of the crater as the Hylians screamed in terror.
"Wuh oh! Gotta go! I am not equipped to deal with whatever those things are!" Kohga turned the bike around, and floored it… but instead of stepping on the gas, he used his legs to kick against the ground and started running while also riding on the Master Cycle at the same time… and was surprisingly fast at it.
Several soldiers picked up spears as they ran ahead to attack the Grimm as they were starting to destroy Castle Town.
Back underground…
The ground underneath Salem started to cave in as she started to fall into the abyss as Weiss fell on one knee, holding on what was left of the sword. "We… we need to get out of here…" Weiss panted.
"Right. Come on!" Ruby took Weiss' other arm and started to run, but the ground underneath Ruby caved in and she started to fall. "Ack!"
Weiss gasped. "RUBY!" She screamed as she jumped after her, slowly reaching for her with her damaged arm and closed her hand, but didn't get to her in time. She gasped as Ruby fell into the abyss… before she was surrounded by light and disappeared, while at the same time, the glowing hand grabbed a hold of Weiss.
"Huh…?!" Weiss turned her attention toward the hand as it pulled her in and surrounded her with light.
Meanwhile, with Ruby…
"Oh my…" A woman whispered as she and a man approached an unconscious Ruby.
"Uuungh… my head…" Ruby groaned as she slowly came around and looked at the two beings before her. "Waaagh!" She cried as she backed up. "Wh-who are you?! Where am I?! Where's Weiss?! Is she okay?!"
"Easy easy… it's okay. We didn't mean to startle you…" The woman said gently. "I am Sonia, and this is my husband, Rauru."
"Could we ask what your name is?" Rauru asked.
"I-I'm… the daughter of King Rhoam and Queen Summer of Hyrule, Ruby."
"What an unexpected answer." Rauru said. "We are the king and queen who founded Hyrule, after all. Or at least we were the last time I checked."
"You two… founded Hyrule? And you're the king?"
"Mhm. As my wife had said, I am Rauru. King Rauru of Hyrule."
"King Rauru… Queen Sonia…?" Ruby wondered as her eyes widened in realization. "Wait… then that must mean…!"
...Must mean that the second half of the Legend of Ruby story is underway!