Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story.
"Ozpin?" Teba wondered. "I swear I've heard that name somewhere before…"
"So have I." Weiss said, rubbing her eyes. "I've come across that name in Whitley's journal, about how you were in the Imprisoning War."
"Ah… so this Whitley had documented the Imprisoning War?"
"He wanted to uncover the true roots of the Guardian tech that the ancient Sheikah had made. He made a lot of impressive finds… and even went as far as to make an AI version of himself in case he… died. That AI still lives on."
"Pardon my curiosity, but… AI?" Ozpin wondered.
"Artificial Intelligence."
"Ah, I see." Ozpin nodded. "So, you probably know about the Imprisoning War."
"From what I've gathered, he mentioned the four sages in the four corners of Hyrule, plus King Rauru and Queen Sonia fighting Ganondorf in the Imprisoning War. Sonia was assassinated and Ganondorf took her Secret Stone and nearly brought Hyrule to ruin. Rauru sacrificed himself to stop him… and well, fast forward to the future and well… here we are. He had one thing wrong… apparently Ganondorf was innocent and you guys fought Salem instead."
"That is correct." Ozpin nodded. "We had all been fooled. Because of some prophecy that a great calamity would happen in the distant future of Hyrule, it was called "Calamity Ganon". We were all cautious of Ganondorf because of the prefix in his name. Little did we realize that Salem was pulling the strings all along."
"So Ganondorf was a puppet?" Ren wondered.
"He wasn't." Ozpin shook his head. "He was unaware of what his daughter was doing before it was too late."
"Agh, slow down!" Tulin groaned. "This is so much to take in! Ganondorf was innocent? Salem was pulling the strings? My ancestor came down to greet me and was guiding us along? This… King Rauru guy? Agh, my head…"
"Yes, I was guiding you along. I called for your help during the wintry storm. Salem made sure to freeze the Rito into extinction. Luckily, that was stopped. You have my condolences over Vah Medoh. It was unexpected for a Divine Beast to be taken over and destroyed. I can imagine all of you are shaken up over this."
"We'll recover… but we'll be reeling from that one for a while." Teba said.
"Indeed."
"Ozpin… in the Imprisoning War, did you see a girl that was a red head and wielded a scythe?"
"Ah, Ruby Rose… the Sage of Time."
"...Huh?" Tulin blinked.
"Such a remarkable girl. She helped out in the Imprisoning War… and she requested my help to aid a courageous swordswoman. I have no doubt that she meant you." He said, causing Weiss to nod.
"That sounds like her. It also sounds like you've taken a liking to her."
"It's not every day you have a silver eyed girl come to our aid and fight by our side. I've no idea why, but I feel like in another lifetime, I would be the one mentoring the young princess."
Weiss smiled. "So… how is she? Is she okay?"
Ozpin stiffened, looking uncomfortable. "Ruby is… this is not my place to tell you. It would be more important if you found out yourself."
Weiss's heart sank. "...She's… dead?"
"Oh no! She's not dead. But… there is a fate that I would not wish on my worst enemy. It was the only thing she could possibly do."
Weiss closed her eyes. "I see… so she's sealed somewhere."
She reopened her eyes, determined. "I'll get her out."
Oh… how I wish to tell you… Ozpin thought.
What does he know…? Teba wondered.
"So um… Ozpin? Is there another reason why you're here?" Tulin asked. "I don't mean to sound rude but-"
"Of course! I will bestow my Secret Stone to you!" Ozpin exclaimed as the Secret Stone latched onto Tulin's ankle.
"Whoa!" Tulin exclaimed. "Wait… does this mean…?"
"You are now the Sage of Wind. Use your powers wisely and you will help Weiss defeat the Demon Queen."
Teba's eyes widened in surprise. "Th-the Sage of W-Wind?! My son?!"
"Yes." Ozpin nodded, latching onto his cane. "I believe it will serve everyone well."
"Wooooow!" Tulin's eyes sparkled. "Ren, check it out! I'm a sage!"
"Yes, you are." Ren chuckled.
"Check it out, I can do this!" Tulin said, summoning a clone of himself as it flew freely. "That's the power of the sage~!"
"...He's grown up way too fast on us." Weiss said.
"Indeed. It's a bit ridiculous." Teba agreed, not hiding his pride in his son.
"Weiss! Pull out your hand." Tulin requested.
"Okay…" Weiss put her arm out, trying to compose herself over how Tulin grew up way too fast for her. Tulin immediately latched on to her arm.
"I, Tulin, Sage of the Winds, vow to help you out against the wicked Demon Queen and bring peace back to Hyrule!" He declared as light wrapped around Tulin and went into Weiss's hand, as it formed into a ring on her pinky finger. "That's how you know I'm with you." '
Weiss smiled. "C'mere you." She roped him into a hug as he happily hugged her back.
"My work here is done." Ozpin said as he started to disappear. "Go forth, brave fledgling."
"Will do!" Tulin saluted as Ozpin disappeared. "Come on, let's head back home."
At Rito Village…
BGM: Rito Village (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"Hmm… it stopped snowing." Li mused as the skies cleared as the snow started melting. "Oh!" He exclaimed as Rito Village had completely thawed out.
Of course, it made the damages to Vah Medoh and the surrounding land much more visible.
Ka-crack!
"Bwah! Hup!" Kass shuddered. "It seems the weather has passed. Now to play a song to commemor-... WHAT IN BLAZES?!" He yelled as he walked over to see Vah Medoh in ruins along with several downed trees from the avalanche.
"Vah Medoh was hijacked." Teba landed on Revali's Landing with everyone. "We destroyed the beast that hijacked it, but… the damages were too much for Vah Medoh."
"...We will rebuild." A Rito said. "Revali didn't save Hyrule from the Calamity for this. We will rebuild."
"Right. I'm not sure if we have it in us to repair it fully, but I imagine we can make something out of it." Teba said.
"I can help too." Weiss said.
"Weiss… you need to save Hyrule from Salem. I know how much we mean to you, but… this is something only we can do while you're travelling. Hyrule won't save itself." Teba explained.
Weiss frowned. "Right… I understand." She then looked at Tulin. "Tulin-"
"You don't need to say anything. My sage-y twin will help you out!"
"Tulin." Teba gave him his bow. "I realize I've been holding you back… but you're ready."
"Dad…"
"You've grown up so much, especially becoming a sage. I'm proud of you… you've earned it." Teba smiled.
"Thanks!" Tulin hugged him. "Now come on, Ren! Let's get to working on trying to fix Vah Medoh!"
"Right."
Weiss chuckled as she looked back at the ruins as a tear ran down her cheek before she turned around. "Come on, boys."
"Woof!" Zwei nodded as he and Revali followed her down the steps as she soon reached a Hylia statue, where she clasped her hands and prayed to it where she felt herself get stronger and her stamina slowly but surely returned to her.
She turned around and summoned her Master Cycle and hopped on.
Overwhelming sadness swarmed her, as she couldn't help but feel like she wanted to cry some more over what happened with Vah Medoh.
Not to mention what Ozpin said. Ruby probably sealed herself for who knows how long, waiting for Weiss to free her once Salem was truly gone.
She heard the sound of a dragon as she looked up to see the peculiar silver dragon off in the distance, but high above Rito Village.
"That dragon again…" Weiss whispered, feeling a sense of hope upon seeing it as she turned to face the large gap where the bridge once stood. She put her hands on the ground and created an ice bridge all on her own.
With a smile, she hopped back on the Master Cycle and pondered where to go next. Gerudo Desert was close by, but… she had been keeping an eye on Death Mountain every time she saw it. Something gloomy was seeping out of it and it bothered the heck out of her, yet she was focused on the task at hand regarding the Hebra Region.
Time to go see what Yunobo and the gang are up to.
She drove over the ice bridge and was ready to drive off to Death Mountain.
End BGM
…However, a pool of Gloom suddenly came up from underneath, latching onto the tires to prevent her from moving.
"Huh?" Weiss looked down right as a Gloom Hand shot up and grabbed her face. "MMMPH?!" She shrieked as she was pulled right off as the other Gloom Hands grabbed a hold of her.
Zwei and Revali both barked/screeched in surprise as they tried to help her, but one Gloom Hand backhanded them away as they latched onto her and started to pull her into the ground. Weiss desperately tried to fight back as she could, but the Gloom Hands relentlessly pulled her down as she reached out toward the duo for help while the hands muffled her screams.
…And then she was fully pulled in.
Zwei and Revali looked at the spot in shock before they both took off toward Rito Village, both screeching and barking as loud as they could to get someone's attention.
Meanwhile, in the past…
Ganondorf approached Salem's room. "How is she?"
"About as well as you'd expect." The guard responded.
"Very well." Ganondorf nodded as he walked into the room to see Salem having set up some tea for the both of them.
"Oh, hello father. You came back earlier than I expected."
"Salem… we need to talk."
"Very well."
Ganondorf sat down on a stool while Salem sat on the bed, pulling up a cart holding the tea cups. "We need to discuss your actions."
"Why? What's so wrong about wanting to take control of Hyrule? Aren't you a warlord yourself?"
Ganondorf folded his arms. "Yes."
"Then why are you suddenly an apologist? You were all hellbent on destroying the Zonai, but now you want to… be friends with them? After everything you taught me?"
"People are allowed to change their minds." Ganondorf said. "Their technology scared me, yes… I feared Hyrule would change for the worse, but once I got a few pieces of the technology for myself, I realized it was not as bad as I had feared."
"I understand that… but-"
"Do you?" Ganondorf narrowed his eyes, leaning forward a bit. "Because it's clear that you don't."
"Well, excuse me for thinking Gerudo Desert is a living hell. You ever think about how the harsh winds would kill us in the daytime while it brings a harsh death at night? You ever think that we're the unlucky ones while the Zonai and Hylians flourish against the gentle winds of Hyrule?"
"I'm well aware of our conditions, but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. As Gerudo, we've survived the harsh conditions of the desert and we will continue as such."
"Well, I'm not a Gerudo! I'm just a Gerudo in name only and you know it."
"Yes. Your family had abandoned you at Mistral. A quaint little spot just near the Thundra Plateau. However, Mistral is no more."
"Because you slaughtered them and wiped Mistral off the map. So why won't you do the same for the Zonai?! They invaded our land!"
"Because people can change." Ganondorf scowled. "For better or worse."
"Clearly!"
Ganondorf sighed. "You were determined to survive out on your own and you were in the desert for five days until I found you. You are a hell of a survivor, and that I admire. However, this poisonous mindset of yours needs to stop. Otherwise, you may do something that you will regret later down the line."
Ganondorf reached for his teacup. "I'm worried about you, kiddo."
"Well, I certainly didn't regret leaving my family."
"...Didn't they abandon you?" Ganondorf raised an eyebrow while bringing the cup to his lips.
"No, they chose that comfy magic-less lifestyle. They thought I wasn't ready for using magic because they believed it was meant for "holy ones" who are close to Hylia, and were concerned over the magic I choose to learn for myself. They took it away from me."
"Ah, so you ran away then…" Ganondorf sipped his tea.
"No. I killed them."
"...You what?"
BGM: Disquiet (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity)
"They made me abandon my curiosity over dark magic. They did not support it nor they supported me for my decision. They abandoned me. So… I killed them. Set the house on fire and made my merry way in hopes someone would pick me up and let me be able to use my magic to my heart's content."
"...So that home you pointed me towards in Mistral, it-..."
"It was an ordinary innocent family~ I just simply told everyone that the whole village hated me and wanted me dead. To think that all of you were so… gullible. Your caring hearts blinded you from the truth."
"Salem… I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that you are absolutely joking. If this is one of your games to get a rise out of me-"
Salem shook her head. "What I'm saying is the truth, father… and you are abandoning me as well."
"That is not true! I'm simply just trying to course correct your deci-nnngh!" Ganondorf clutched his chest. "Wh-what…"
"Ah, it seems the poison has kicked in~" Salem smirked as Ganondorf fell on his knees.
"You p-poisoned me…?!"
"You sealed your fate the moment you interrupted my fun and humiliated me in front of everyone." Salem explained.
"You… wr-wretched child…! I should… should have left you in the streets…!"
"That was in the past, dear father…" She whispered as Ganondorf fell on his side, barely breathing. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of the Gerudo and Hyrule."
She grabbed his sword. "I'll make sure of it."
A few minutes later…
Crash!
Bang!
Smash!
The Gerudo guard grimaced. "Throwing a tantrum in front of her father… hate to be in there…"
"AUUUUUUGGGHHHH!"
"What the…?" The guard turned around and burst through the door. "Your majesty! Princess Salem, is everything oka-... WHAT THE?!" She screamed.
Salem was covered in blood as Ganondorf had been decapitated as blood was splattered all over, a window was destroyed as her furniture had been destroyed as well.
"I-It was… it was awful…!" Salem whimpered.
"What happened?!"
"An assassin came out of nowhere and attacked us! Father protected me but… but…" Salem put her hands over her face and started sobbing. "I fended him off after he sacrificed himself but… but… he ran away! He's somewhere deep within Gerudo Desert!"
A growl escaped the guard's lips. "We'll search every corner of the desert for the assassin! Go to the throne room, princess! We'll make sure you are protected!"
"O-Okay!" Salem sniffled as the guard took off running.
Salem then smirked, letting out a chuckle. "These Gerudo are more gullible than I thought~ Now… let's get this party started."
End BGM
Meanwhile…
"I really shouldn't have judged so quickly…" Ruby sighed, drinking tea with Sonia. "Calamity Ganon was so frightening, so to hear "Ganondorf" and see him in person just… brought back horrid memories."
"I can understand that." Sonia said softly. "The prefix in his name, "Ganon", it would certainly bring back some horrific flashbacks."
"Right…" Ruby nodded as she sipped some tea… when all of a sudden, the teacup cracked a bit. "Hmm? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry-"
"It's not your fault. It's not normal for a teacup to crack while being held."
"Worn out it's use, maybe?" Ruby wondered.
"Either that… or it's some bad omen."
Back in the present…
Weiss opened her eyes, only to realize she was in pitch black darkness. The only thing that illuminated the land were ore deposits and an orange glow from a campfire.
"Wh-where…?"
"Ah, I see that you're awake."
Weiss gasped, her eyes widening as she tried to move, but found herself restrained against a rock wall. She looked to see Salem approaching. "Wh-who are…?"
"Don't you recognize your old friend?"
"...Salem…? You're… slightly less wrinkly. Is that what you normally look like? Fair skin, blonde… bitchy?"
Salem chuckled. "I'll ignore that last part. I've heard a great deal about you… how you saved Hyrule from the Great Calamity, though it took a century to do that. And you also destroyed my pet… I had the Rito right where I wanted them and you had to go and play hero."
"Tch, sorry if I stopped your plan. What kind of moisturizer did you use on yourself?"
"A little bit of black magic does wonders on the skin… perhaps we ought to give you a makeover too."
"What do you want? Why did you bother kidnapping me?"
"Because… I wanted to see what you're capable of. I thought the heroine of Hyrule was more… bulky. Instead, we have a twig."
"Rrrgh… I work out."
"And you don't have the muscle mass to show it. My, to think the princess fell in love with a girl like you."
"...What did you do to her? I swear, if you touched a single hair on her-"
"I did no such thing to your princess. She made her choice."
"You LIE! You obviously did something to her!"
Salem smirked. "If that is what you want to believe, then maybe I did."
A deep growl escaped Weiss's throat.
"If you wish to fight me-" Salem snapped her fingers as the chains that held Weiss disappeared. "Then go ahead~ Make the first move."
Weiss pulled out Crescent Rose, activating its scythe mode.
"Oh? The same scythe she used to fight me with? How'd she give it to you?" Salem wondered before chuckling. "No matter… give me your best shot."
BGM: Boss Battle Theme (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
Weiss let out a loud war cry and swung at Salem, who swiftly weaved her body as she casually bent over backwards to avoid a horizontal attack.
Weiss continued to swing at her ferociously until Salem caught the tip of Crescent Rose between her finger tips.
End BGM
"My turn."
Dark magic swirled within Salem's hand and pulled Weiss to her as she shoved her palm into Weiss's chest, causing a small explosion that sent Weiss flying into the rock wall. "Gragh!"
BGM: Tear Streaked - Ice (Fire Emblem: Engage)
Salem conjured up dark balls of energy around her and proceeded to fire them at Weiss. She immediately shook it off and used Nayru's Love to deflect them back, but to her surprise, they went through the reflective shield and struck her.
"Agh!"
"What, you thought you could just simply deflect them?"
With a growl, Weiss's wrists burst into flames where they turned blue as she unleashed a stream of blue flames at Salem. She casually blocked with the palm of her hand as she snapped her fingers as a bolt of dark lightning came down and struck Weiss.
"AGH!"
Salem teleported over to Weiss, gently grasping her chin. "You may be Hyrule's Mage Knight… but you will never surpass my magic."
She snapped her fingers as Weiss was suddenly levitating as Salem held her up telekinetically and then with a wave of her hand, dark energy bolts surrounded her and zapped her.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed as Salem swung her arm down, slamming Weiss to the ground as she teleported toward her and kicked her away. Weiss reached for her Purah Pad as she got up, but realized that it wasn't with her.
"Looking for this?" Salem pulled it out as she tapped a button and tossed a few Remote Bombs to her, then added some magic to make them purple. Weiss gasped as she pressed a button, where the resulting explosion caused the entire Depths to quake.
Once the smoke settled, Weiss had protected herself with her glyphs, but the ground underneath her gave way as she fell into the crater that was made. Salem teleported inside of the crater and telekinetically held her in place.
With a wicked smirk, she fired a powerful laser into her chest, causing her to shriek in agonizing pain for several seconds before Salem tossed her out of the crater, teleporting to her and planted her foot on Weiss's burnt chest.
End BGM
"Do you not realize who you are dealing with? I am the Demon Queen… the queen of the Grimm, and soon to be queen of Hyrule!"
"You… you're the queen of nothi-" Salem raised her foot and slammed it into her chest, making Weiss cough.
"I didn't give you permission to speak."
Salem grinded her heel into her chest, making Weiss wince in agony.
"...Now why should I have all the fun?" Salem smirked as she let go of Weiss. She conjured up darkness as a scorpion appeared in front of her. "Say hello to Tyrian."
"Y-You named… a scorpion…?"
"Indeed… but a normal scorpion sting won't do you any good." Salem aimed her hand at the scorpion as magic swirled within her hand and fired into the scorpion. Weiss could only watch in horror as the scorpion grew and changed shape, donning clothing and gaining skin and hair while also gaining metal blades in his hands.
"Hmhmhmhmhm… hahahahaha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Weiss looked up to see a man standing before her as the only thing animalistic about him was the scorpion tail.
"Oh, thank you very much, my queen. I grew tired of being such a shrimp." Tyrian said, stretching his body. He smirked at Weiss who struggled to get up, and with one swift movement, his scorpion tail had already wrapped around Weiss's neck, the stinger dangerously hovering above her lower lip.
"Y-you won't…!"
"-Get away with this? I believe we already have." Salem said. "Your princess won't save you, your friends won't save you, and the Sheikah technology won't save you either. You are down here with just the two of us~"
"Y-you… you're… wrong…!"
"Wrong about what, exactly?" Tyrian asked, the stinger lowering and gently pressed against her lip, but not stinging… yet.
Weiss growled as her foot caught ablaze as she stomped the ground, making an explosion that knocked Tyrian and Salem back, but the latter recovered and launched herself toward Weiss, but she immediately parried her with the Hylian Shield.
"Is this supposed to be a shield… or is this some kind of joke?" Salem wondered, planting her hand on the top of the shield and let the magic run through it, proceeding to disintegrate the Hylian Shield into nothing.
"WHAT?!" Weiss yelled in shock, before feeling a massive stinging sensation on the side of her abdomen. She looked down to see Tyrian stinging her side with his tail. He grinned wickedly as he pulled away. She staggered, coughing out some blood.
"Tick tock~" Tyrian chuckled sadistically.
Weiss immediately burst away from them with a strong explosion of wind, making sure to take the Purah Pad out of Salem's grasp as she took off running. She immediately tried to warp back to the surface.
"Access denied."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "DENIED"?!" Weiss yelled as she ran through the darkness as best as she could, but the scorpion sting was making her feel lousy every second.
She leaned on some Zonaite ore deposits ahead of her to catch her breath.
"Oh Weiiiiisssss~!"
Weiss gasped, quickly hiding behind a tree.
"Weiiiiissssss~!" Tyrian sang sadistically. "Oh Weiiiiisss~! Come out, come out and plaaaa-aaaay~"
A shiver ran up her spine as she turned around into the deep darkness and quickly ran off, following the only light source being Poes seemingly guiding her way.
"Weiiiissss~! Come out, come out and plaaa-aaay~! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Unfortunately, it would probably attract Salem and Tyrian, forcing her to pick up the pace the best she could.
She saw a light illuminating from some rocks as she held on to her wound. Whoever was down here, maybe they could help her out. Maybe heal her.
An idea came to her as she tried to heal her wound by herself, but to her dismay… the poison also drained her magical resources, where she had only used the rest of it with her wind magic just to get away.
"He-Help… help me…" Weiss weakly called out as she staggered toward the light, and rounded the corner… only to collapse the moment she turned. "He-he-help… m-me…"
"...Well, look who decided to show up."
Weiss looked up, seeing a blurry Adam Taurus approaching her. "A-Adam…?!"
Adam gave her a malicious scowl. "You've some nerve being here."
Meanwhile…
Purah pulled up her goggles. "The good news is, you won't turn into a baby like I used to."
"That's good."
"Just one question. Why go back to your youthful appearance, Impa? I thought you lived a good life."
Impa rolled her shoulders. "I thought so too."
"Then what changed your mind?"
"That Hyrule will need all hands on deck for what's about to transpire."
Oh hey, Astro Bot won GOTY. Good for him.