Chapter 4
The First Nightmare
The sun shone bright and clear over a field of tall, uncut grass and pretty flowers which seemed to stretch on forever, with no sign of a single road, house, or even tree in sight.
The wind blew gently, rustling the long grass harmoniously, making whistles and songs as they danced when the air touched them.
It was beautiful, serene, peaceful...safe.
There were no expectations here, no restraints, no prisons...only freedom and harmony.
Standing alone in this tranquil paradise was a young girl with long golden hair, blue eyes and pointy ears. She was smiling as brightly as the sun while happily skipping away through the field, occasionally picking flowers or laying down in the soft, comfortable grass.
She was free...free and happy. No one could tell her what to do here, no one was forcing her to do anything she didn't want to do, and no one could stop her from doing what she wanted.
This was...what she had always wanted.
A harp, or rather a lyre, appeared in her hands, and as she closed her eyes, her small fingers began to strum it.
Her form and talent was flawless, and she proved it when a beautiful song began to play, one which could have made a grown man weep after letting those harmonies grace his ears.
What song was it? Doesn't matter. It was beautiful and flawless, that was all that mattered.
There was no one around, no one at all; none to listen to her song...but also no one to yell at her, control her, or take her joy away from her. She welcomed the solitude, the escape. This was what she wanted.
Yet, like all things good and perfect...they don't last forever...
A cold wind swept through the field, blowing dark clouds over to block out the bright sun, robbing the warmth and light from the field below...and the happy girl felt it.
Her smile vanished, replaced by eyes filled with fear. The lovely musical instrument was no longer in her hands. It was gone, and so was the music, so was the joy.
There was no more happiness when the winds turned cold and dark.
The dark clouds swirled and condensed into an evil and violent twister, which destroyed every strand of grass or flower that stood in its path as it came closer and closer towards the scared girl.
She tried to run, seeking refuge as the tornado only got closer and closer...
...she wasn't fast enough to escape it...
...and just when it was about to catch her with its powerful winds...
...Princess Zelda woke up.
No, she didn't catapult out of her bed like you'd often see in movies, but she did let out a panicked gasp and spent her first waking moments frantically looking around the darkened room with wide-open eyes.
After her mind had been able to process where she was and what was happening, the young princess calmed her frantic breathing and put her head back down on her soft silk pillow, staring at the ceiling.
She brought her hands up to her face to rub at her tired eyes, but as she did, she noticed something.
Rotating her left hand around just enough to see the peculiarity she noticed, she spotted a glowing symbol at the back of her hand...something that wasn't usually there.
Three small triangles arranged to form a greater triangle, with two of them practically faded...while one of them, particularly the one at the bottom left, glowing brighter than the other two. Almost immediately after she saw it though, the mark disappeared, making her hand look perfectly normal again.
Zelda closed her eyes and muttered, "...but what does it mean?" in a quiet voice.
No answers came to her this morning.
Judging by the lack of sun sneaking in through the gaps in the curtains from the windows, it was still very early in the morning...if not still in the middle of the night. Clocks were invented and available in Hyrule at this time, and many were installed inside the very same castle that she was in right now, but none were currently in this bedroom. It's not that Zelda didn't understand the benefits of having a clock available in her personal chambers, it's just that the incessant ticking made it downright impossible for her to relax, let alone fall asleep, as long as something as noisy a clock was anywhere in the room.
Her long pointy ears were rather sensitive after all...at least when coupled with her borderline inability to filter out background noise the way most people did.
Regardless of what time it was though, she wasn't exactly in the mood to go back to sleep, not with the nightmare so close to memory, so she gently slipped out of the covers and stretched her arms with a yawn. She was wearing a nightgown...and not much else, her hair was loose and free, not braided like it usually was when Zelda went out in public, nor was she currently wearing shoes of any kind.
She shivered a bit as her bare feet touched the cold floor, but pushed past it and got herself out of bed and out the door.
The hallways outside were usually beautiful and ornate, with a long red carpet going the length of the floor, and majestic paintings of kings and queens of Hyrule's past, along with artistic depictions of great epics from the country's legends, myths, and even historical events, decorating every wall. However, at this time of night, the halls were too dark to see any of that...and instead, just felt a bit creepy.
Princess Zelda luckily did know her way around the castle, even in the dark. While she couldn't see much, her unusually sharp, nearly photographic, memory of how the place looked in daylight made it easy to navigate.
That was something her father taught her actually...
"No matter how scary the dark may seem, remember that nothing in the room changes when the lights go out. The walls, the door, the windows, they're still in the same place. The monster that you imagine hiding in the shadows, it wasn't there when the lights were on, so why would it be here now?"
Zelda was around...six (maybe seven?) years old when her father spoke those words to her, and yet, even now at age 12, she remembered them perfectly. She mentally repeated the words to herself every time she became even the least bit scared of the dark, and that usually made it easier for her to overcome that fear.
Still...that did not mean that she wasn't startled when a voice suddenly called out to her in the pitch black.
"You shouldn't be wandering around all alone..."
Zelda was not particularly proud of the less than dignified high-pitched sound that came out of her mouth when she heard it. Seems she wasn't quite as brave as she thought she was.
Of course, the involuntary fear response faded mere seconds after it appeared, as Zelda recognised that voice very well. "Uncle Ozshen, will you please stop sneaking up on me in the dark!? It's really annoying," she said, trying to calm her startled breathing.
The voice, apparently belonging to a man named Ozshen, had a certain quality to it, hinting of a person who wasn't just old, but also experienced and sharp. He also sounded composed and serious, his voice not really fit for excitement, humour or joy.
"My apologies, but as I keep reminding you, Your Highness, you really shouldn't wander the halls alone in the middle of the night," he replied, a slight bit of frustration evident in his tone.
Zelda could only make out a vague silhouette of the man she was speaking to, namely that he was quite a bit taller than her (not surprising considering she was a child at this time) as well as his posture...but not much else. Of course, she had seen him in the light so many times that she knew full well what he looked like anyway.
"I know, I know, but I just needed to clear my head," she said, tiredly pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not unreasonable, is it?"
Ozshen tilted his head, the light reflecting off of his red eyes ever so slightly. "Hmm...by my count there's still six hours left until you're required to wake up, and you'll need to be rested properly for your duties today. Go back to sleep."
Zelda let out a childish groan, "Arghhhh...come on, really? I just need to get some fresh air and a glass of water!"
Ozshen let out a small huff and calmly crossed his arms.
"Look, I won't leave the castle or anything this time, I just need a breather, okay?!" she argued, sounding less like a graceful princess and more like an annoyed 12-year old. Fitting though, since she was somehow both of those things.
After a moment's hesitation, Ozshen decided, "Very well, Princess...but I will keep an eye on you the whole time, so if you try anything, trust that I will know."
Zelda rolled her eyes and turned away from him, "Fine...whatever."
While she had no real ill will towards Master Ozshen (she did call him 'uncle' for a reason), he could be...a bit of a killjoy at times. Though he would willingly give his life to keep her safe if he needed to, he was also a very strict, very serious, and a very uncompromising man, one whom had always loomed over Zelda's shoulder, and rarely offered her any kind of privacy.
This of course meant that there was no escaping him, and so she had to make herself content with his presence as she walked through the castle hallways, seeking some sanctuary from her, still fresh-in-her-mind, nightmares.
Making her way to the castle kitchen, where a bit of light, reflected from the moon, peered through the window, Zelda poured herself a glass of water from a faucet.
In the last couple centuries, technology had advanced quite a bit, and if there was one recent innovation that she very much appreciated, it was running water. Sure, not every house in Hyrule had indoor plumbing, but most buildings in the cities and towns had them, especially those owned by nobles and royals...such as herself.
The water she drank wasn't quite as ice cold as one you could get from your modern home, but it was still refreshing. Oh, and there was no warm water, but she didn't really need that right now anyway.
She could spot the dark outline of Ozshen standing in a darkened corner, still watching...always watching.
Sure, he was the appointed protector of Hyrule's Royal Family, and he was only doing his job to the best of his ability, and Zelda definitely had no desire to be kidnapped or assassinated, but it was still uncomfortable to have him constantly babysit her 24/7.
Having him around so much made Zelda at least see why his people, the Sheikah, were sometimes referred to as the 'Shadow Folk', as he really did feel like her shadow sometimes, always there now matter where she goes.
Less than five seconds after Zelda had finished her glass, he called out, "There, you've had your glass of water! Now let's return you to your room so you can go back to-"
"I said a glass of water and some fresh air!" She interrupted, now sounding a fair bit angry. "For goodness sake, can't you just...GHRRR! Just...leave me alone for a few minutes, alright?!"
"You know I can't do that, Your Highness," Ozshen replied in his stern and hard voice. "Your father, my king, ordered me to always be by your side until-"
While she wouldn't normally, thanks in no small part to her parents' royal etiquette training, be so impolite to anyone, let alone her family's most faithful servant, her anger, frustration, and lack of sleep, made her forget all about proper etiquette and shout, "I don't care! Just leave me alone, for Din's sake! All I'm asking for is a few stupid minutes of privacy, can't you just give me that!?"
The princess' sudden outburst gave Ozshen pause. Though he was remarkably observant, being able to see in near-pitch darkness, hear a pin drop across the room, the slightest smell of sweat from an opponent, the most minor change in the wind, and can even tell if a person is lying just by the sound of their heartbeat, and was rumoured to even be able to see the truth (an extremely rare trait)...he wasn't particularly empathetic, and thus was caught a bit off guard by Zelda's anger.
He remained silent for well over ten seconds before he asked, "...is that an order, Princess?"
Zelda took in a breath to compose herself, closed her eyes and decided, "Yes...that is an order."
"As you wish," he said, then disappeared into the shadows like a ghost, giving his princess at least a brief moment of privacy in the darkened castle. Though judging by the sound of his voice, he seemed anything but happy about it.
Did Zelda feel a bit guilty for lashing out at him? Yes. Did she regret doing it? No.
If she had to be honest with herself, she very much doubted that she'd be able to keep herself together for much longer if he kept following her around, at least tonight.
Privacy was something most people needed to some extent, but Zelda needed it more than most. Visual and auditory noise, social interaction, and just the feeling of someone watching her...those could often be just too much for the young princess, and she have had a history of blowing up on people if she got no reprieve from those things every once in awhile.
This wasn't the first time she'd yelled at Ozshen in particular to leave her alone.
After letting out a deep breath, the princess left the kitchen in the direction of the nearby balcony, a place she often frequented whenever she wanted to be alone and reflect.
The view was as beautiful at night as it was in the day, if not even more so, when the stars and the moon come out, and, with it being so high up that no one on the ground floor would get close enough to accurately hit her with an arrow, it was one of the few places where she could look at the outside world without Ozshen, her father, or his legion of royal guards worrying about her safety.
Though unlike most times she sought out this secluded place, it didn't bring her the same level of privacy as she was hoping for...because someone else was currently using it.
It was a woman about ten years older than Princess Zelda, with red curled hair that didn't quite reach past her shoulders, and though she, much like Zelda, was dressed in only her nightgown, she knew this woman was also royalty...though on a different place in the line of succession than herself of course.
Noticing Zelda's presence, the woman asked, "Couldn't sleep either?" without taking her eyes off of the full moon shining bright in the night sky.
After a moment's hesitation, Zelda ran a hand through her sunny blonde hair and answered, "No...I...I had a nightmare," and joined the woman's side on the balcony, setting her eyes on the full moon as well.
The woman let out a deep sigh. "So did I..." she confessed before turning around to look at Zelda, revealing herself to have striking green eyes and a face full of freckles. "What was yours about?"
Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "There was this...field; peaceful, remote...and I was happy and free...but then the darkness came, winds of...shadow. I remember feeling not just fear, but dread, as if...something bad is about to happen."
She opened her eyes again, then looked at the person beside her to ask, "What about you, Duelia?"
Duelia, as Zelda had just called her, let out a humourless chuckle at the question, yet not showing even a hint of a smile as she did so. "Hehe...nothing as poetic as that, but I do remember myself being on trial for 'crimes against the throne'...while all the judges were Chuchus for some insane reason. I couldn't understand what they were saying. They kept making those strange high-pitched noises they make all the time instead of talking normally. And yes, I know It sounds absolutely ridiculous when I say it like that, but I didn't question it in the dream, and it felt very much real...and terrifying."
"Mother said in her diary that details are irrelevant in dreams, and that it's the emotions that you should be focusing on.
In your sleep, the mind can only process the bare minimum of details required to make you feel something," Zelda explained, taking on not only the words, but the tone, of her late mother as she spoke them...not even realising that she was doing so.
"That does sound like something she would say," Duelia mused with a sigh, the slightest hint of a tear building at the edge of her eye. "Always with the big speeches, always philosophising, always...thinking. She was a great queen, a great leader...a great...mother. Hmmm...one day I'll say the same about you, I'm sure."
Duelia's words were like a stab to the young princess' heart, and almost seemed to physically weigh her down as she slumped down more on the balcony railing. Duelia noticed that reaction, but didn't comment on it.
"So what do you think your dream meant?" Zelda asked, trying to steer the topic away from their mother. Duelia always got sad whenever she was mentioned, and Zelda didn't want to add to that.
"That I think Chuchus are annoying," she grumbled with a scoff, while still retaining a dash of humour in her voice. A moment later however, she switched to a more serious and introspective tone, "...or that I feel like...I'm going to be judged for my actions, maybe tomorrow, maybe later...and not kindly."
Zelda raised a curious eyebrow, "What do you have to regret? From what father told me, Hyrule is at peace pretty much because of you. He's very impressed with how you handled that thing with the Gerudo pirates, the Dodongos in the Eldin Mines, and wasn't it you who took down Blind the Thief? Actually, it's kinda annoying how impressed he is. He never shuts up about you."
"So you're saying the ends justify the means?" Duelia questioned with a serious expression, one that gave Zelda chills.
"What?" Zelda voiced, not sure she was following what Duelia was on about.
"I defeated the Gerudo pirates by hiring another crew of pirates to attack them, then, when they'd worn each other down, I betrayed the pirates I hired and sunk both ships, killing half of their respective crews while imprisoning the rest," Duelia confessed, making no show of sugarcoating a single detail. "The Dodongos? Them I exterminated by having my soldiers roll bombs into their egg chambers, causing a cave in that crushed all of their eggs, hatchlings, and females under the weight of the mountain. The adult males became so angry and vengeful that they became stupid, and were easy to handle after that. And when I tracked down Blind the Thief in Kakariko, I not only killed him, I also decapitated him, and kept his severed head on display for his followers and sympathisers, so that they would truly grasp the consequences of defying Hyrule's laws."
The younger of the two, who might have actually been too young to hear all the grizzly details, looked upon Duelia with shocked, wide-open eyes. Only after a few moments of processing what she had just heard did Zelda finally say something.
"I...I didn't know all of that. Father only-"
"Let me guess; he left out all the morally dubious things I did?" Duelia interrupted.
Zelda could only nod.
"I see," Duelia noted, looking pissed. "Well, I suppose he wanted to keep such nastiness out of his little girl's ears, to protect your precious innocence. A foolish sentimentality if you ask me."
"How so?"
"The world is a horrible and miserable place, and the sooner you learn that, the better. People suffer, people are selfish, monsters roam the land, and the safety and comfort our citizens enjoy is barely hanging on by a delicate thread. I have done many terrible things for this kingdom, and yet I do not regret a single one of them. I did what I had to do, what I still have to do, to keep the people safe. You, my dear little sister, you will one day be crowned queen, and I pray that, when that day comes, you will understand this."
The two of them remained silent for some time after Duelia spoke her piece. Zelda was considering her sister's words, whether they held any wisdom or not. Duelia was ten years older than her, and quite experienced judging by her feats, while Zelda herself was merely a child, who could count the number of times she'd left the castle on one hand...so of course Duelia would know better, right?
Still, despite knowing that what she was about to say might be out of line, Zelda still asked, "But does it always need to be that way?"
Now it was Duelia's turn to raise her brow...which was even more noticeable in her case considering she had pretty big eyebrows.
"You chose violence over a more peaceful solution all of those times. Was that really necessary? Was there no other choice?"
That question actually exposed a bit of anger in Duelia's face, as her red eyebrows narrowed ever so slightly. However, she did not lose her composure...not yet. She was a lady, a dame, a commander, and a princess, all at once, and no respectable person of any of those titles would lose their cool over a mere question from a child. So she kept it together, and instead held her voice at a calm level as she replied, "No, there wasn't. Pirates, fire-breathing cave lizards and greedy sociopaths do not listen to reason. Do you think any of them would cave in if I asked them nicely?"
Duelia expected her point to stick in the younger princess' naive head, and that would be that, but she underestimated just how good Zelda was at questioning others' judgements and decisions.
"Pirates want money and treasure, right? So why not extend them an offer that doesn't end in betrayal? You used the Dodongos parental instincts against them, right? But you could have used it another way. If you had taken their eggs and relocated them to a cave far away from the Eldin Mines, the adults would have followed the scent and left the Gorons alone. As for Blind, couldn't you just have arrested him and his gang? Was a public execution really necessary?"
Princess Duelia just stared at her younger sister with a tense, more obviously angry glare. 'You mouthy little bratty know-it-all!' was what she wanted to say, what her eyes were saying without words, but it would have been improper of her to say such a thing to the king's, her ruler's, her stepfather's, only daughter by blood. So instead, she said, "Our mother was the wisest and most intelligent woman I have ever known, and I can see that you're desperately trying to emulate her, but with all due respect, young princess, you have yet to go beyond the walls of the city, rarely even being allowed outside the castle itself, and even then, never without an escort. You don't know the harshness of the world beyond, you know nothing of what it's truly like out there. I will not have you question my decisions until after you have experienced the same harsh reality I learned when I was just two years younger than you are right now. Is that understood?"
Her words were spoken calmly and with dignity, and yet, even the young and sheltered Princess Zelda could pick up on the anger and passive aggression hidden underneath them. To be truthful, that subtle rage actually frightened her quite a bit, and she could only dread how Duelia would react if she ever truly angered her. While Zelda was ahead of Duelia in the line of succession for the throne of Hyrule by virtue of being the eldest daughter of the king, rather than just the daughter of the woman he married, she still recognised the older monarch as her superior due to her age and experience, and politely bowed out of respect while saying, "I apologise, Lady Duelia, it was rude of me to criticise you."
A tired sigh passed Duelia's lips, and she ran a hand across her face and through her curly red hair before she looked back at her sister and responded, "No...no, it's alright. It's just that you're hardly the first person to question my decisions, and I find it very tiresome. The very suggestions that you offered are all things that I've asked myself, questions that have kept me awake at night. The only comfort I've found, to quell the guilt, is to remind myself that I did the right thing, that there were no better options. Sometimes you have no choice but to do something bad to prevent something worse. If I don't believe that...then how can I trust myself to ever make the right decision again?"
Zelda honestly didn't have a good answer to that question, at least that she could come up with right here and now.
All her life had she wanted to make her sister happy in some way, shape or form, because...well, even with her near-photographic memory of plenty of conversations and proximity to her, Zelda could not remember a single smile ever appearing on Duelia's face. Her father said she used to smile, she used to laugh, she used to be happy, but Zelda had never seen that side of her, not even once...and that broke her heart.
She reached out to lay a comforting hand on Duelia's arm, but her sister withdrew it before she could even make contact with her skin. Though she didn't say anything, Zelda got the message: 'don't touch me!'
The reaction hurt Zelda on an emotional level, no matter how subtle it was. She only wanted to comfort her sister, why wasn't Duelia letting her?
"I need to get back to my room and get some sleep. I suggest you do the same," Duelia said dismissively, and unceremoniously turned away and went back into the castle without so much as making eye-contact with her younger sister on the way there.
The little princess sighed, not really knowing why Duelia kept being so hostile and dismissive towards her. What made it stranger was that she wasn't always that abrasive, and in fact, at times she gave the false sense of comfort and warmth, and then it was like she suddenly reminded herself of something and that warmth and comfort was gone in an instant. Whatever it was that hurt Duelia so much about Zelda, she wasn't talking about it, and getting her to open up over the years had turned out to be a futile endeavor.
"Family, huh? Always so much drama."
Zelda nearly leapt out of her skin in surprise at the mysterious unfamiliar voice that had spoken from the cold night air, and spun around to look where it came from...and was greeted with a sight that didn't comfort her all that much.
A black lantern was floating in the sky outside the balcony, alight with a green flame, the silhouette of a strange dark figure with glowing green eyes and a big, wide-brimmed hat was holding it, though Zelda could barely see him, like he was...a ghost.
"Eeeek! What the- who are you?!" she asked, scared out of her mind, as one might expect a twelve-year old girl to react to a strange creature appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the night.
The figure giggled, then made a grandiose bow at her, "Hehihihiheheh...oh I'm nought but a wee humble...Trickster. No need to be afraid, Your Highness, for I assure you I mean you no harm."
Zelda had no idea how to react, and just stared at the Trickster with both her eyes and mouth wide open. She was not sure if she really trusted that last statement; after all, he looked absolutely terrifying, and...were those exposed ribs she saw through the opening of his black coat?!
"Too stunned for words, lassie?" he asked, teasingly. The Trickster's face didn't give much room for facial expressions, thanks to a red scarf blocking everything but his eyes, but his voice was very dynamic and showed all kinds of emotions and inflections, especially with his very distinct accent. "Hehihihiheheheh, that's only fair! I suppose I am a sight to behold, though do try to avoid being distracted by my handsome visage, as I am merely in need of a new...friend. You wouldn't happen to be in the market for one, would you?"
This was far more than the little girl could take, and at this point, Zelda immediately screamed and ran back into the castle, making sure to slam the balcony doors behind her as she left.
The Trickster just sighed and remarked, "I came on too strong, didn't I?"...to nobody in particular. "Well, no matter matter. I have plenty of time to spare. It's still five...or six, no, five years until the game starts."
With dexterity and skill only born out of years of practice, he pulled a deck of cards out his sleeve like a stage magician and blindly fiddled around with them in his gloved hands, mixing and matching them for a good couple of seconds before he pulled out three cards: a Jack of Clubs, a Queen of Hearts, and a King of Diamonds...though the characters represented on the cards weren't the usual generic king, queen and knight figure, but what was clearly the hero in green for the Jack, Princess Zelda for the Queen, and Ganondorf for the King.
"Ah yes...the classic story: the fateful three and the eternal cycle..." he mused as his green eyes inspected the hand he was dealt. "BORING!"
He tossed the Jack and King cards off the edge of the balcony like garbage, but kept the Queen card still in hand. In their place, he pulled out another card: a Joker, represented by the Eye of Vaati...and then yet another card: a Queen of Spades, represented by Duelia.
"What fun we'll have when the game changes a wee bit, when the players...switch, hehihihiheeheheheh!"
...and with that, the Trickster faded away into the night, completely unseen and invisible to all until the next time he wanted to make himself known.
Only he knew what was to come...and he wasn't sharing.
Author notes
Time to address the elephant in the room: the three original characters added to this story.
While OCs can very easily be mishandled in fanfics (I know that from personal experience), I am going to try my best to make them fit into the world of the Legend of Zelda and not overshadow the canon characters. Also, aside from the three who showed up in this chapter, there won't be any more added to the story...at least in major roles. A few random extras might naturally appear, but won't be important characters.
Another thing to note about the three OCs is that they all showed up in my first ever fanfic 'The Accursed Sword' (which was written when I was in the Swedish equivalent of High School), but have all been massively altered to fit into this story, as well as just improved in general once I figured out what worked and especially what didn't work about them previously.
For instance, in the old fic, the Trickster broke the fourth wall as often as Deadpool did, maybe even more...and that got old really fast. This time, he's much, much nicer to the poor fourth wall. Duelia however has changed so much from the original version that the only thing they have in common is being redheads with the same name...give or take some arbitrary similarities.
Just for fun, here's a little taste of characters that either served as inspiration...or are just characters with some similarities to my OCs. How exactly they're similar...well, I'll leave that up to you to figure out.
Duelia: Princess Hilda (A Link Between Worlds), Kuvira (Legend of Korra), Lord Viren (The Dragon Prince), General Ironwood (RWBY), Edelgard Von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem Three Houses)
Trickster: Poes (various Zelda games), The Curious Cat (RWBY)...and by extension the Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland), Dimentio (Super Paper Mario), The Toymaker (Doctor Who)
Ozshen: Yiga Clan (Breath of the Wild), Stick (Daredevil), Adam Taurus (RWBY)
(Also, yes, I have been watching a lot of RWBY lately...)