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three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat · 9 months

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You are Zelda.

You are told that you are part of a great destiny, and you must pray at two temples to prepare yourself.

You go. This place you are in, this forest, is difficult to navigate. You find yourself forced to run and hide from monsters, and desperately missing the blade you were training with. You are alone and it's terrifying.

You wonder again why the old woman had so vehemently denied your request for a sword. Why she said it would sully you.

You did not protest. Something about her had unsettled you, her words about your true identity scaring you, and you wanted to leave as soon as you could.

You miss your clothes and your sword. You miss Skyloft and your bird. You miss Link and your father. You do not belong on this surface world, where trees block out the sky.

There is another woman waiting for you at the temple. She introduces herself as Impa, as your guardian. She says she will guide you through the temple, and watch over you as you pray. She tells you of the demon chasing you.

You wonder why she is here, when you are perfectly capable of protecting yourself. You wonder where she was when you had to bludgeon a monster to death with your harp.

(You wonder how the old woman would feel if she knew that you had to wash monsters' blood and guts out of your dress. That never would have happened if she had just let you have a sword. You wonder how you can possibly be "unsullied" now.)

She leads you around the back of the temple, through a gate in the fence. She says it is dangerous inside, and that she knows a secret way into the spring.

You trust her, because you have no other choice. You cannot see any way into the temple. She leads you to the spring, through a dark and damp cave, and tells you to kneel in the spring and pray.

You don't understand what you are supposed to do, but you bow your head anyway. Skyloft's prayers and ceremonies are all joyful things, nothing like this solemn quiet. Even funerals are louder, a celebration of life rather than a mourning of death.

When you open your eyes, you do not recognize the spring. The goddess statue has been replaced by another figure, some strange being carrying a club. The water has a strange, mirroring effect, and the sky is obscured by odd clouds. Everything is tinted an unnatural blue, and when you look at your hands, they shimmer and shine oddly.

You are wearing strange armor, and your hair is tied back into a heavy braid. There is an empty sword sheath on your back, but you still feel powerful, like a warrior. For the first time since you've fallen from Skyloft, you feel comfortable in your own skin.

A voice you do not recognize, but still sounds familiar, speaks to you. It says you have a trial you must go through to recover your lost memories. It says there are sixteen tears hidden in the temple, and you must find them all.

It says it will be dangerous, and it will be painful. It says that if you do not find each tear within ten minutes of each other, the guardians of the realm will awaken, and they will try to kill you. It says that the water is dangerous, and that you must not touch it.

You do not understand, but you listen to the voice. There doesn't seem to be any way to leave this strange place; the entrance you and Impa came through is blocked by a strange fence.

You step off the flower on the ground, and the sky turns red. The guardian behind you comes to life, eyes flashing red, and you start to run, heartbeat echoing loud in your ears. You reach the first tear, and when you turn to look back, the guardian has its club raised above you, frozen in place.

You cup the tear in your hands; it doesn't look like anything special, like it contains your memories– although what memories it's supposed to have, you still don't know. It's small, teardrop shaped, and made of the same metal as your bracelets and hair ties. As you inspect it, it fades away into light, flowing into you. You poke your chest, but nothing seems to have changed.

The back of your hands burns, and when you pull off your glove, there's a flower there, burned on your flesh. The edge of one petal is slowly crumbling away with a faint tingling sensation, and you know– this is how much time you have left before the guardians reawaken.

You move through the temple, collecting the tears. There are odd puzzles, and some of the tears are in high up or strange places.

You don't reach them all in time. The guardians hit you, blades tearing into your spirit and shattering it like ice. The armor does nothing to protect you.

It hurts. After the tenth time, you start to lose count of how many times you've woken up on that flower, throat still aching from your screams.

Eventually you collect all the tears, and return to the flower. You wonder what you are supposed to do next, but before you can do anything, the edges of your vision turn to light, and you remember–

("We bestow upon you this name — and–"

"—, it is an honor to be in your presence! How may we serve you?"

"–the duties of protecting our land and–"

"You are quite skilled with a blade, —. I would not expect it from such a beautiful and pure —."

"–our people. Guard the — with your life, and ensure it does not fall into — hands."

"We erect this statue in your honor, O merciful —. May your light shine down on us."

"Rise, Hylia, the white goddess. Take sword in hand, and go.")

You open your eyes.

You haven't moved from your kneeling position, and you feel stiff. Impa stands behind you, watching you. She helps you to your feet, calls you "Your Grace", and says that she is your ever faithful servant.

You don't say anything back. You follow her instructions to use the harp and open a portal, and let her lead you through it. You clutch your harp to your chest, and think that this is all a dream.

You know it's not. You can feel your memories settling into places you didn't know were empty. You feel uncomfortable in your skin, and uncomfortable in the clothes you are forced to wear.

You are–

Who are you?

-------

You are Zelda.

That's not–

You are Hylia.

Wait, that's– that's–

You are hot.

The air in Eldin Volcano is hot and dry, and you are anything but. Your hair and dress clings to your skin uncomfortably, and what you wouldn't give for a knife– to cut the dress or your hair, you don't know.

Impa leaves you. She says she has something important she must do. She says she will meet you at the temple, and gives you directions.

It takes you two weeks to reach the temple. You would not make it without the help of the strange people here, the mogmas. You would long since have died of starvation or dehydration.

You find their company pleasant. They speak a bit strange, but you imagine your speech must be just as strange to them. They do not treat you differently for who you are, but rather what you are– you get the feeling that they don't interact much with people outside of their species.

You are given a dagger, although it resembles more a kitchen knife, because seeing you bludgeon monsters with rocks is "unsettling". You sheath it under your dress, against your leg, and accept their offer of a needle and thread to hem the sleeves.

(You don't end up cutting your hair, but the thought is oh so tempting.)

You don't think Impa would like this, how you have chosen to fight instead of run, but if she did not want this then she should have stayed.

You wait for Impa at the temple, but she does not come. Instead, monsters appear from the shadows, and you are dragged, kicking and biting and punching, into the temple. They carry you to the back, and chain you up, a shackle on your ankle.

They leave you there. It takes two days to pick the lock with your dagger.

You find your way to the spring, and collapse. The fairies swirl around you, asking you worried questions in their small voices, heal your wounds and clean your clothes. They bring you food and water, and when Impa finds her way to the spring, they flee.

She is surprised to see you. She says Link is here, and that you must complete your prayers before he finds you.

You do not understand. Link? What is his part in this? How did he get here? Why is he here, why does Impa not want you to see him?

She doesn't answer your questions, merely pushes you to the statue with a tight-lipped expression.

You bow your head and pray again, and find yourself in that strange realm again. The voice speaks to you once more, reminding you of your goal and the dangers.

You recognize the armor you wear, now. It's your armor, that you wore everyday and into battle for your people. You wonder how they could possibly get the statues so wrong. You wonder how they could possibly get you so wrong, because every story of Hylia that you have heard speaks nothing of how you truly are.

You look for the tears. It is easier this time, because you have seen the temple, and you know the dangers, and you have thousands of years of combat experience helping you dodge and run from your guardians.

It still hurts when you are hit.

You find the last tear, and return to the flower, dreading the memories you will receive. You wonder if they will erase what you have left of Zelda.

They are so much worse than you could have thought.

Nausea turns in your stomach. The part of you that's still Zelda screams, questioning your plan, why you must put Link through this, why you must hurt your friend. The part of you that is Hylia is sickened at the newly fresh memories of your people dying.

Impa helps you open another portal. She seems unaware of the war taking place inside of you.

There is a noise from the behind you, and you both turn, shifting into battle ready stances. Link stands there, an uncertain expression on his face and a familiar blue spirit floating behind him.

You–

You were not supposed to see him here. You were supposed to be gone by the time he arrived.

He reaches towards you, a smile forming his face and the beginning of your name on his lips, and you are just Zelda not Hylia, and you reach ba–

Impa stops you, arm held out in front of you. She reminds you of your duty, and you can see the happiness on Link's face shatter in perfect time with your heart.

You turn away, hiding the tears threatening to fall. As you go through the portal, you can hear Impa berating Link for not being fast enough, how she had to protect you.

You don't understand. It was her plan for you two not to meet, yet she is calling him too slow when he was too fast. She is taking the credit for rescuing you from Ghirahim, when you were the one that picked the lock with a gifted dagger and bloody fingers.

You should stop her. You can't. You are weak, shaky from the plans your returned memories have revealed. You feel out of place in your skin, and you do not know who you are, and you cannot stop her from hurting your friend your pawn your love your chosen Link.

You make up your mind, turning back to set her straight, because even if you are not Zelda, and you are not supposed to be attached, you cannot allow her to be so cruel to him.

She steps through the portal, and before it closes you catch one glimpse of Link's devastated expression.

You open your mouth, meaning to reprimand Impa, because you are her goddess and she has no right to say such things to your chosen–

But you are not her goddess.

You are not Hylia.

You are not Zelda.

You are some horrible amalgamation of a person, memories that are yours but are not yours filling your head, divine power leaching out through the seams of your mortal flesh.

You are a warrior, yet you are raised on a pedestal as nothing but a delicate, merciful, and kind goddess, when you are none of those things– but should you not be those things, if that is what your people say you are?

You close your mouth. You do not say anything.

#skyward sword #loz #ss zelda #loz hylia #ss impa #loz ss #mb's writing

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