Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Malice was sharp and painful, it felt like a thousand tiny needles puncturing your skin, it was almost like mosquitoes biting you. It would crawl around your clothes looking for skin, and you would have to run to get away from it before it could. The afflicted area was always painful, begging to be scratched at until it was able to fully heal. It was painful, yes, but it would go away after a week and was easy to ignore once you got used to it. But the gloom was different, it would soak through your clothes, even the thickest of leather, it was a searing pain that spread throughout your body, it was lasting and excruciating, it felt as though your heart was being directly poisoned, your lungs were being filled with lava, and your brain couldn't form a single thought, it was pure, blinding pain.

“Link!” He heard a distressed shout behind him, he dared not to look, he knew if he turned around right now both of them would be dead.

The mummified corpse in front of him laughed as Link suffered, his arm scared and lashed with deep scars from the whips of gloom that had taken a hold of the Master Sword and his arm. The blade in his hand felt too light, but also too heavy, his arm screamed, begging to release the sword to gain any kind of leniency from the pain. Link backed up, using his other arm to attempt to block Zelda from the monster in front of them, he could hear her breath shaking as the mummy approached them, he grit his teeth, he didn't know how to get out of this, he couldn't protect Zelda, he didn't want to fail after causing her a century of suffering last time.

But reality dawned on him, he was about to fail once again, it was inevitable.

They continued to back up even as the ground beneath them started to crumble. Link grit his teeth, he had no choice, they would have to jump, their doom after the fall into the seemingly endless void beneath them was clear, but he would much rather die to the unknown than allow Zelda to be afflicted by the pure condensed gloom that was the man in front of him.

Link quickly made up his mind, grabbing Zelda's wrist with still usable left hand as he quickly turned around pulled her with as he leaped into the unknown beneath them. Zelda screamed above him as they fell, Link's head snapped up, looking to see if she was okay. However, Zelda started flailing her arms causing Link to lose his hold on her, he didn't know why, he could barely concentrate.

Link felt heavy as he fell, it was almost as if the Master Sword's weight was dragging him down quicker than normal. He watched as Zelda panicked above him, the pain in his arm making his thoughts fail. He held out his uninjured arm, hoping to reach her.

He called out Zelda's name, his throat sore and strained as his horse voice echoed through the chamber, but he couldn't hear himself the air that passed him as he fell was deafening.

Link was about to lose consciousness, the edges of his vision were turning black, but a blinding light kept him awake, it was getting closer and closer until he could reach it with his outreaches hand. Grabbing the source of the light slightly shocked Link, it was so small, he wondered how could it have made that light, he glanced at it the best he could without dropping it. It was the stone Zelda has picked up earlier, the one from the hand that appeared to be holding down the mummy.

Suddenly everything around him started to glow, he looked back up at Zelda, he saw her face in tears as the light started to completely envelope him, he wished he had stopped her from comming down here, he should have known it was dangerous. Link's eyes started to sting, as tears left his own eyes, he had failed.

He could no longer see past the bright light, he closed his eyes to protect from the bright rays as he resigned to his fate.

…and then he was gone.

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A fleeting light in the distance caught the attention of a tan hylian with rather large ears, she caught the attention of the goat-like man next to her, who had even larger ears, signaling to him to follow her as she rushed over to the source of the light.

“What?” The woman was shocked as she saw a young Hylian boy laying there, holding a decayed sword that, however diminished, she could sense the power of light flowing through. The hand that held the blade looked to be badly burnt as well. 

The woman rushed to the side of the boy, her blond hair flowing through the wind, she kneeled down and looked upon the boy upon closer observation the arm of the boy was obviously not burnt, it seemed to be afflicted with a horrible illness that reeked of darkness. The goat-like man followed behind her quickly kneeling beside her, his nose scrunched up in disgust from the smell.

The arm was decayed…

Rotting.

“Oh Hylia!” The sight of the arm almost made her throw up, it was viscerally disgusting, but also extremely concerning. What had happened for this young boy to be in this condition. The goat man came behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder as he covered his nose.

The woman hesitated before shaking the boy, she shook him by the hip to avoid touching the arm, she didn't know if whatever afflicted him was contagious, and just the thought of touching that tainted skin irked her. 

She prayed for him to wake up.

.

.

.

Link felt someone softly shake him as he laid on the ground, he groaned as his eyes opened. The two figures above him were unfamiliar, in both the person and their race, they both had extremely large ears, one was a tan woman that appeared similar to a Hylian, and the other was a man that looked strangely like a goat. He quickly got up realizing the potential danger, he held his left hand to his chest, unconsciously protecting the small stone he held; he raised his right arm, clutching the Master Sword before screaming in pain and falling to the ground on his knee. 

“Oh my!” The woman exclaimed before rushing up to him and reaching out to touch him.

Link flinched back, attempting to raise the Master Sword again, he was frenzied as he tried to protect himself. He failed and fell again. He fell to the ground, starting to pass out despite the potential dangers, as he did, there was only one thought in his head. 

“Zel..da…”

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His body felt like it was floating, his sore muscles calm and at rest, the bed beneath him felt like a cloud, it was soft, and seemed as though it almost wasn't there. The feeling of calm made him unable to move his limbs, his body felt so numb and weighted.

A soft gust tickled his nose as Link lay on the soft bed, his eyelids were heavy and he loathed to move. His hair lightly brushed across his face, though soft, the build up of oil made it uncomfortable, but he was able to easily disregard it, he was used to the feeling after years of knighthood. 

Link could faintly feel the sun dance across his face in tandem with shadows, passing over his eyelids in rhythm with the wind. The breeze seemed to whisper sweet nothings as it grazed his ear, calling him to rise from his rest.

Link struggled to open his eyes, his eyelashes seemed to weigh down on his eyelids. The sunlight peeked through the slit between his eyelids, pouring into his vision. The light felt as though it was engulfing him, warming his body as he began to wake.

He tried to cover his face with his hand, only for it to protest him and send shooting pain up his arm. He grimaced at the feeling, realizing the reason his body had felt weird was because he was so sore he couldn't bring himself to move.

Link resigned himself to his motionless state with a sigh, he was anxious about his current state but reasoned that if he was in danger, he would have been attacked while he was incapacitated, and he most definitely would not have been brought to rest on such a comfortable bed.

…Speaking of which, where was he?

As Link looked around, he didn't recognize the architecture, it was unlike what he had ever seen in his past journeys, but it was reminiscent of the ancient ruins he had seen in his most recent expedition beneath the castle…

…beneath the castle?

Link threw himself out of the bed, pushing against the pain in his muscles as he loudly fell to the floor, dropping something he had unknowingly been holding that clattered as it skidded across the ground.

Link tried to push himself up off the floor in a hurry, but failed when only his left arm came beneath him to carry his weight, having been positioned incorrectly to lift his body by itself.

Link's eyes snapped to his right arm to look at it accusatorily for failing to follow his commands, but he was met with nothing, not that he was expecting his arm to grow eyes and stare back at him… but it wasn't there.

Link stared in confusion and shock, he leaned his back against the bed and sat on the floor with the tangled blanket draped over his legs, he raised the nub that used to be his arm as he stared at it, he thought it might have been a mirage of sorts. He took his left hand and touched where his arm should be; immediately, his hope of it being a hallucination was destroyed when his hand passed through the area with no collision or resistance. 

Link could barely comprehend what he was seeing, his arm was gone . A knight without an arm was like a bird without a wing, he couldn't do what he was supposed to, what he needed to.

“Hello there,” a woman's voice came to Link's ears; his head snapped towards the sound, he didn't even notice the door open.

His eyes landed on a taller woman in unfamiliar garments, she had such gentle eyes and blond curly hair that was impressively long, her skin was tan with markings that were more pale. Link stared at her for a moment before realizing she was waiting for a response from him.

“...Hel lo,” Link's voice cracked and strained, he struggled on such a simple word, his throat seemed to be sore and dry from his lack of speaking. His tongue truly had to be the weakest muscle in his body.

The unfamiliar woman smiled softly at Link, but despite the smile her eyes were sad and concerned. She approached Link at a slow but steady pace, kneeling down next to him. Her movements were so graceful, just like Zelda. 

Link did his best to conceal his panic and stress, he couldn't even efficiently communicate, his throat was too raw to speak correctly, and his arm was gone, preventing him from properly signing.

Despite his well practiced poker face, the woman appeared to sense his distress, talking to him in what was likely an attempt to calm him down, “I'm Sonia,” the now named woman introduced herself, “me and my husband brought you here-to our house. You were badly injured when we found you.”

Link looked at Sonia, unresponsive for a moment before he tried to sign with his left hand; he pointed at himself and spelt out his name in Hylian sign ‘I'm Link.’

Sonia appeared confused for a moment, before she realized that he was signing, “My apologies, could you do that again?” She inquires, hastily followed by an explanation, “I'm not used to people using their left hand for signing.”

Link nods at her softly, before repeating the signs a bit slower, ‘I'm Link.’

“Ah!” Sonia exclaims joyfully, “Link. Your name is Link, is that correct?” She asks, Link nods in confirmation, “It's nice to meet you Link.”

‘Likewise,’ Link signs sloppily, though signing was second nature to him, the main hand used for it was usually the right hand, which he no longer had.

Link is lost in thought for a moment before Sonia speaks to him once again, “Would you like help back up on the bed?” She asks politely. 

Link shakes his head, slowly signing, ‘I can do it by myself,’ some of the signs had to be filled in by the imagination as only one hand was being used, but Sonia seemed to understand what he was trying to say because she backed up a bit to give him space.

Link nodded in appreciation, putting his left hand up behind him on the bed before he pushed himself up. The angle his shoulder was at was uncomfortable, but thankfully he was flexible, but his sore muscles didn’t appreciate the movement. However, before he was able to completely push himself up he noticed something small lightly glowing near the wall on the floor. Link let himself drop back down the floor, earning a curious glance from Sonia. He kneeled as he reached for the object, grasping it in his hand.

Link turned his palm to look at the item, which turned out to be a small stone with a yellow glow. He recognized it as the one Zelda had picked up before he was separated from her. The stone emitted a small warm light while the surface was smooth and cool to the touch. He examined it carefully, holding it close to his face; the stone had engravings that were reminiscent of the symbols he had seen when Zelda researched ancient languages. If Link were to be honest, it reminded him more of a polished crystal than a stone once he had observed it closely.

.

.

.

Sonia hovered over the young man's shoulder, he had picked something up off the floor and appeared to be quite enamored with the item. However dishonest it was to try and look without asking, she didn't want to disturb him. 

After a few moments of failing to peek at the item in Link's hand, the boy in question lifted his head to meet Sonia’s eyes, his eyes were sharp with such vibrant and piercing blue irises, they reminded her of both the sea and the sky all at once.

Sonia was snapped out of her thoughts when Link brought his hand up to her to show her the item; Sonia gasped.

The boy's eyebrow quirked up at her reaction, “Y.. ou kno-w it?” He inquires. 

Sonia nods.

Of course Sonia knew what this was, she had one of her own right on her necklace. She hadn't heard of any other secret stones; in fact, Rauru had told her that she had kept the remaining ones in a safe that only he could access located in the ancient temple within Tanagar Canyon. Within her knowledge, Rauru, Mineru, and herself were the only 3 people that currently had possession of a secret stone. The one the boy had looked exactly like the one Rauru wore on his arm.

“That is what we called a secret stone,” she says in response to Link's unspoken question, “they are very important, they're special. They help amplify the powers of the wearer… You should keep that close to you for now, keep it safe.” Sonia was full of questions, and extremely confused, but she knew It would be counter productive to try and communicate with the boy that spoke in a broken hoarse voice, and only had one hand to sign, even the signs themselves were unfamiliar sometimes, and only vaguely resembled the Hylian sign she had learned, leaving her to make an educated guess what he was saying.

‘Maybe I could have him write instead, no matter how unsteady the writing, it will at least be consistent,’ Sonia thinks.

“I should be going for now,” She says to Link, she had to talk to Rauru about the stone the boy held. Link looked at her curiously, as if to ask why she would leave him alone without any more conversation, “I know you must have many questions, but trust me, it’s best if we wait for now, I myself have many questions, however, our communication would be quite… strained if we were to converse at this time.” She implies the many struggles that she had when trying to understand Link, even in such simple conversation. He makes a quiet noise of understanding.

Sonia smiles at Link as she leaves, “I will see you later in the day, I shall bring my husband as well to meet you,” she says before exiting the room. She was hoping Rauru would be better at explaining things to the boy.

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Link was sitting on the bed, staring at the nub of what was left of his arm when he heard a soft knock on the door. Sonia entered into the room, smiling and elegantly swaying as she stepped aside, allowing someone else to enter the room. 

The man who followed behind Sonia was barely that, his ears large and facial features goat-like, his white, fluffy hair was extremely long, reaching down to his heels, contrasting the dark green-gray color of the rest of his body. He held a commanding yet kind air about him, one that fit the mold of a commander who would receive a great deal of respect from his soldiers. Link couldn't get it out of his head that he recognized this man in one way or another.

“Link,” Sonia spoke, drawing his attention, “this is my husband I spoke of, Rauru.” She gestured to the strange man as she introduced him to Link.

The man, now identified as Rauru, approached the bed slowly as he began to speak to Link, “As Sonia said, my name is Rauru, King and ruler of Hyrule,”

…Huh?

Link was confused, how were they the leaders of Hyrule? Zelda should have been the only one left of the royal family, had he fallen asleep for another century?

Rauru seemed to notice his confusion, “Ah, do you have a question? I suppose not everyone may know as we have only recently officially founded the kingdom,”

This statement confused Link even further, Hyrule? Only recently founded? From his knowledge it had been established for hundreds if not thousands of years. Was this truly the Hyrule Link knew?

Rauru watched as Link's confusion grew, he did not believe he said something that would be so curiously strange to the boy, so he wished to ask about it. Sonia had told him the boy couldn't properly communicate, so that's why he did his best to resolve his confusion with more information, but Rauru was at a loss trying to find what puzzled the boy.

“Is there something you do not yet understand?” Rauru asked, perhaps the boy was not properly educated on some things, he thought.

“Re..cently…?” Link croaked out, now that was not what Rauru expected him to be concerned about.

“Well not too recent to be fair, it has been nearly a year, but we acted as an unofficial kingdom before that,” Rauru explained as he watched the boy grow even more confused, looking at him as if Link knew Rauru was lying, which he was not. Rauru himself was starting to become confused, almost second guessing the facts he knew were true without any doubt, this boy had such a condemning stare about him that one would believe it to be filled with Malice. 

“D.. you kn…ow Zelda?” Link questions, despite his voice being so raw, he was able to speak that name clearly, as if it was the only thing he ever said.

“...I do not recall ever meeting or hearing of a Zelda,” Rauru answered, “do you need to see her for something? Were you perhaps going to meet her before we found you?”

Now that was impossible, Link may not remember all of Hyrule's complex history, but he had been very knowledgeable about much of the history when it came to the royal family due to being the princesses' personal guard, he was taught as much about it as he could retain by his father. With his extensive understanding of it Link knew that every single princess since the founding of the kingdom was named Zelda, it was one of the few facts he could recall after awakening on the Great Plateau.

Link stared at Rauru blankly, there's no chance that this was happening, he realized. Either he was having a weird dream while in a coma, or he truly had gone back in time.

Link stared at Rauru blankly, his face not displaying any emotion, just a blank, emotionless stare that sent shivers down the Zonai's spine. Rauru didn't speak, feeling uncomfortable, as if he was endangered just from those eyes.

Sonia cleared her throat and asked Link a simple question, “How old are you?” She thought a simple question would ease the tension, and it was a significantly important question in her opinion. Link snapped out of his daze and looked at Sonia, slowly lifting his hand and holding up two fingers quickly followed by one. “Twenty-one?” she verified, Link nodded. 

Though I'm technically 121, that doesn't matter too much, it'd be too hard to explain… Link thought.

“You're an adult then,” Sonia said gleefully, Rauru gave a wry smile, looking between the two. The boy seemed to be on edge while talking to Rauru, but was so attentive when it came to Sonia, did he mistrust him because he was a man? Most people hailed his people as Demigods, so it likely wasn't due to him being a Zonai, he could just be more open to talking to Sonia because she was there when he first woke up… “Can you recall why you were here or how you got here?” Sonia asked, Link's face fell slightly at the question and he shook his head.

“Fell.. do..wn, unde.. the.. cas…le, wok.. up..he..re,” Link said, his broken words barely coming through, “Swor..d br..ken by… gan..on..?” Link wasn't actually sure that the corpse he and Zelda had been attacked by was truly Ganon, but the gloom produced by it was much the same to malice that had been produced by Calamity Ganon. Link suddenly realized something, looking up with concern, “My.. Swo..rd?” He looked between Sonia and Rauru, he had only been without the Master Sword before he had been revealed to have the Triforce of Courage, and when he had woken up with amnesia after a century of recovery. It had been his most reliable weapon, it was bonded to him, it was bonded to his very soul.

Sonia was shocked by the boy's sudden outburst, well, as much of an outburst as it could be, his voice was hardly louder than normal, and his normally stoic face had dilated pupils, nothing more to express his distress, “Don't worry, I will go get it for you-” Sonia said nervously before turning around and hastily walking out of the room. She felt a bit guilty having not thought to keep it in the room with him, after all, even with an arm that was nearly rotted off, he never let go of it.

Link and Rauru both watched as Sonia left the room, leaving them in complete, awkward silence, though the boy being naturally quiet didn't help that. Rauru turned back to look at Link, who was staring at him once again, and despite his discomfort, Rauru cleared his throat and continued to question the boy, “You mentioned a castle-I believe- what castle do you speak of? I do not know of one in the nation other than our own here, but it is quite modest compared to most designs, and surely I would know if there was an area beneath it,”

Link knew that this wasn't the Hyrule castle he learned of, the one that has stood for centuries with a man-made moat and towering grey stone walls that felt oppressive to the people living in Central Hyrule and the bell that would toll and ring through the pitchest of nights, “Not.. this… a differ-ent Hy..rule cas..le,” Link said while looking around, it felt as if he was in a different world.

Rauru watched Link, there had been no other Hyrule Castle, no kingdom of Hyrule had existed before this one, at least not to his knowledge, he decided not to press further and simply nodded. Instead, Rauru changed the subject to something that had been bothering him. He looked at the small, yellow stone that Link held, its polite glow illuminating the boy's hand, “That stone you have… where did you find it?” He asked, nodding to Link's hand. 

“Under.. the.. cast..le,” Link answered, holding it up to eye level with his thumb and index, allowing it to catch the light as he showed it to Rauru. The Zonai inspected it closely, eyes tracing every engraving on it, It looks exactly the same as mine… how curious, he thought, glancing down at his own secret stone that was embedded in the jewelry on his right hand.

“...Do you know how to use it?” Rauru asked, still inspecting the stone, Link shook his head in response, “I see…” Rauru acknowledged with a nod, even if the boy ended up being dangerous, he had no way of using the power that lies within the secret stone if he didn't have an ability already, and if he did, there were few who even knew about their ability unless they had used it before.

A sudden yet gentle knock was heard on the door, Rauru and Link both turned to look at it as Sonia gracefully stepped into the room, holding a broken and decayed blade that faintly emitted the power of light, the purple hold had green leather crossed on it for a grip, and the the still untarnished parts of the blade had a cool blue glow to them, seemingly pulsing at certain intervals. Link's eyes grew when he saw the destroyed blade, shocked at its state. Sonia walked up to him, holding the handle with one hand, and the decayed end with the other, she set the blade in Link's lap, allowing him to pick it up with his left hand. The weight of the blade in his left hand felt so strange, the blade was lighter than ever, but that wasn't the reason it was weird, it was because the blade didn't belong in that hand, but it felt like it did. Ever since Link could remember, he always used his right hand when holding any blade, but holding it in his left hand didn't feel as awkward as he would think, it came naturally to him, which made him feel uncomfortable. Link still hadn't recovered all his memories, most of the ones he had recalled had to do with Zelda and they champions, along with his time training to be a knight; there was no one else left alive from any other part of his life, and the people that were still among the living had no knowledge of him before his knighthood.

Rauru and Sonia had been watching Link silently as he turned the ruined blade in his hand, looking over it as he appeared deep in thought, “It is likely best we leave him alone for the time being,” Sonia whispered to her husband, quietly walking out of the room, Rauru nodded and followed after her, giving Link a nod as he left the room.

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Hey guys sorry for not updating without notice, my dog suddenly died and I wasn't feeling the best for these past few months, especially with it being only a year or so after my cat died, but hopefully I'll be able to continue updating soon!