#the goddess' chosen hero left

[ladyrijus]

Skyward Sword Zelda is such a tragic figure in my opinion. Just put yourself in her shoes and imagine this.

It's the best day of your life. Your dearest friend, dork that he is, has finally become a knight. It's what every kid on Skyloft works towards and he finally did it. You're so proud of him. When you fly together, you muster up the courage to tell him you love him.

You never get the chance.

Instead you're whisked away into a world you believed was left behind, and saved by a woman who declares that she is your guardian, chosen by you. You have never met her before. You didn't even know there were people like you who lived down here, in the Surface.

"You must purify yourself if you are to transcend time and hold the seal," the mysterious woman with the painted tear remarks as she shepherds you through strange destinations unlike anything your books have ever taught you, "it was your will." No matter how many times she tells you this, in every iteration the language could allow, it doesn't make sense. Why would a goddess need to turn human? What could you do, that she could not?

Where does divinity and humanity diverge?

Connection.

A goddess is revered by her people who pray, in spite of her silence, for her benevolence and guidance. She is their unwavering stone, a higher power to rely on. But a girl? A girl is loved. She is someone tangible, a figure who people will see, and know, and care about, and fight for.

And that's when it clicks. Your friend isn't really your friend at all, but a hero, a pawn, who was intended to be used against an enemy of yours you no longer recognize.

You're using him. You've been using him all this time. It's sickening.

With each prayer, with each goddess damned spring you rush to, you are faced with your own marbled reflection, a testament to the fact your humanity is only a pretense, carefully timed to ensnare your friend into a hero's fate.

He doesn't seem to understand that though. He keeps running after you like the fool he is, hoping to save Zelda, his precious Zelda, that you no longer are. The smile you wear becomes harder to hold. You were Hylia first, and that is all you will ever be.

You play into the charade anyways. After all, Zelda was the reason why he went through his trials. To tell him now that she was gone would mean to destroy everything you had worked for. So you tell him everything he wants to hear: that you're your father's daughter, that you're his friend, that you're his Zelda.

And when you close your eyes, smiling from within the amber and ignoring the dull thuds of his fist against its surface, you wonder if you look anything like the statue you and your love had stood upon on the best day of your life.

"Maybe all of this is a dream," you wonder while drifting in between millennia. Time passes like the waterfalls in Skyloft, rapid, yet everlasting. Maybe you'd wake up in your bed in the Academy again. Your love would have been sleeping in (again) and everything would be how it used to be. You could be Zelda once more. And most importantly, Hylia would be nothing beyond a giant statue for you to ignore for the rest of your days.

... There's something to be said about how you fall again once you wake up.

"What kind of goddess am I," you think crudely, "to sever my own wings?"

But this time, your love is there to catch you. And he does. In that moment you pray, in your own name, he doesn't let you go.

[insomniacirl]

Chip was pulled from the hole in the sea, where the ocean turned black and rotten- he climbed out and stayed alive, and the only thing on his mind for the next decade of his life was based around going back into it.

NOW. CHIP JRWI. *Poking him with a ten foot pole* What has made you so special?

This man basically bases this one, sole aspiration that has plagued him his entire life around himself wanting some form of closure and to save Arlin I guess- but when you compare that desire to the voices whispering "Welcome home." to Chip, over 100 episodes in, as they finally get to the hole in the sea, as Chip re-enters that impossible, vapid whirlpool that threw his life so off kilter to begin with? THIS MAN IS AN ORPHAN. THIS MAN IS A BASTARD. BY NATURE YES- FUNNY HAHA- BUT AS A FACT, TOO: HE IS A BASTARD. HE HAS NO PARENTS. And by assumption, maybe his mother/father left him for someone to find.

I'VE CONNECTED THE DOTS. I'VE CONNECTED THEM.

Anyway though, I have no idea- some theories but it's mostly just very interesting to me to think about.

Yall know that post that talks about pirates slaying a sea beast for a treasure chest, but inside is actually the baby it's been protecting??? *Cough* Chip JRWI. *Cough* It wants him back. *Cough cough*

Hmmmmmm, but who is the voice? Not sure if it was mentioned in the episode, but I'm guessing it's multiple- which is giving other undead (like him rn ohhhh lord, I am sad tbh) but also they can breathe under there??? Which means it wouldn't have been totally impossible to survive down there for a while- but I think the main question is how he got there.

Moving on because I have many thoughts not enough attention span to write them all down- my original point was actually gonna be more about the fact that he left this black hole, escaped death alive, the cold grabbed for him and he ran away to be so warm and so alive, lighting matches and leading riots.

And he swept away a soldier from the overseas, threw her life for a loop- earnt himself a sister, a best-friend, a co-captain, descendant of the sun, godliness flowing through her veins, golden light spilling from her eye, wings of a bird, a show of her freedom, of her vow to fight for what's right- not that he knew any of that when he first met her, he took her in because he knew together they could become something more.

And he held his hand out to an exiled hero from the undersea, another ex-soldier, lost on the path his destiny always promised was straight- Chip earnt himself the best kiss of his life, a best-friend, a co-captain, child of the moon goddess, wielding destiny's blade, trained to be the saviour of his people, cast out for doing what he knew was right, the chosen one, learning to live, holding a new vow, to protect, save those in need- and now Gillion's favourite colour is brown and Chip can speak to the sword only linked to the triton.

They're the sun and the moon, and the sky and the sea. And chip is the eclipse as they're brought together. Chip is the earth warmed by the rising sun and coloured by the water as he soaks them both in.

Yet Chip is welcomed home where the sun cannot reach. Chip is welcomed home where the sea is punctured and left dry.

[breannasfluff]

Forgotten Hero

When Wild wakes, it’s to a sword at his throat.

“Get up. Slowly.” Twilight’s face is stern as he glares.

Wild blinks at him, then closes his eyes. Weird dream. The sword prods his throat a little harder, threatening to prick. He opens his eyes. Twilight still glares.

“Twi?”

“How do you know my name?”

“How–” Wild starts to sit up, only to stop as cold metal presses harder.

“Time,” the rancher calls. “Get over here.”

Time joins Twilight, face set in stone. There’s no hint of recognition. “Who are you? How did you sneak into our camp?”

Wild shakes his head, thoroughly at a loss. He swallows and eases back from the sword an inch. “I…I don’t know what you mean? What’s going on?”

“That’s what we are asking you.”

Twilight pulls back enough that Wild sits up, glancing around the camp in confusion. The other heroes are waking up, but there’s not a familiar look on any of their faces. 

“Sky?” He turns to the Chosen Hero, but he’s still being shaken awake by Legend. “Hyrule?” The traveler edges behind Warriors. “Guys?” His voice cracks and he coughs, trying to clear it. “This isn’t funny.”

Time is imposing, even without his full armor on. “I would say it’s not. Now, answer our questions. Who are you? Why are you here?”

He shakes his head, at a loss. “I’m–you know me. It’s me, Wild. Is, is there a spell or something disguising me?” He glances down, but familiar scarred skin is all he sees. 

“Woah, who’s the new guy?” Wind pushes past Warrior’s grab for him. “Where’d you come from?”

“Wind–”

Twilight steps between them. “Don’t talk to him, stranger.”

Wild is left opening and closing his mouth, glancing around in confusion. “I…I don’t understand.” 

The captain joins Twilight and TIme and the three form a solid wall between him and the rest of the group. Sky’s groans are quickly shushed and then he joins as well. “What’s going on?”

The rancher rolls his eyes. “Look, we’ve asked that multiple times and no one seems to know. This kid was here when I woke up. No idea how he got here or where he came from.”

“I’m traveling with you!” Wild is a little shrill as confusion slowly turns into fear. “We–we’re on a mission from the Goddess together. I’m a hero, just like you!

“Where’s your triforce?”

The champion stares at his friend, his heart sinking. “I don’t…have one. You knew that.”

His answer is a derisive snort. “Likely story. I don’t know what you want or what trick you’re trying to play, but we don’t have time.”

Read the rest here!

[tw1l1te]

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓷𝓼- 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 3

Part 3! We finally get to Wars, Sky, and Wind! WIND IS PLATONIC ONLY DON'T BE GROSS

Warnings: possible suggestive themes (AGAIN NOT FOR WIND), angst, mental health topics, scars/wounds

⋆｡°✩

𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗𝖘

21-22 years old, one of the captain's of the Hylian Army. Zelda offered him a higher rank (general I'm assuming) and a position on the Hylian Council, but he refused almost right away.

Pretty tall, an inch above Twilight, but still shorter than Time

Blonde hair, shaggy but in a fashionable way. Idk y'all, he makes it work

Leaner muscle, double pierced lobes, wears chain linked earrings when at fromal events but usually sticks to his signature blue hoops

Can't read Hylian that well, but can understand/speak several languages, such as Twili (Twi is kinda jealous)

The strategist of the group. He was always under a time limit during the war, so he knows how to handle a tricky situation quickly and efficiently most of the time

Went to school in his developmental years, though was recruited at around 14-15 because he was way better in the fighting field than in academics. It worked out for him though, so he's not complaining.

As much as he cares about appearance and fighting for his country, he hates balls/formal events. The fake interactions and smiles make him sweat and he usually leaves an hour into them. He'll suck it up if you're there with him though

Closest to Time, Wild and Legend ironically enough. Wild and himself can relate on the aspect of being in the Hylian army, and they typically talk about how their experience was. Legend and him mostly bicker, but its all fun n' games. Time and Wars are essentially the higher-ups, though nobody actually says that, its just been silently established.

Super wary of Y/n, especially with his expriences with other dimensions and eras. He was honestly convinced you were part of Cia's plan or the shadow, since your timing seemed a little convenient, but you've gained his trust little by little, maybe a little too much.

Unlike his usual demeanor with women, he doesn't outwardly flirt with our protagonist. Yes, he throws a few quips here and there when appropriate, but he respects Y/n. He doesn't see them as everyone else. He has them on a pedestal towering over everyone

Has scars from the war, duh. He was mostly up close in the front lines, so a lot of slashes and nicks. Has a pretty bad burn on his left arm from Volga's fire, it's healed but still pretty scarred on his skin.

𝖘𝖐𝖞

20-21 years old, the "Chosen One".

Average height, light freckles across his face and shoulders, he was living right under the sun, you can't tell me he doesn't have freckles!!

Also... sleeper build. I said it. He has a sleeper build and boy when Y/n first sees him shirtless?? AWOOGA-

I headcanon him as having a gigantic triforce insignia tattoo all over his upper back. It was part of his ceremonial return, more on that later.

Suprisingly very school smart for falling asleep in class all the time. Sun was and still is very jealous of his natural smarts.

Has his lobes pierced, wears small red hoops. He wants to get more stacked piercings, a loftwing feather to match with Y/n in the future, who knows?

Doesn't have the biggest sweetest tooth, but he does love pastires of almost any kind. Pumpkin ones are his favorites, though Y/n's cinnamon rolls are quickly climbing up the ladder.

One of the most conflicted about Hylia and the whole "following the goddess" thing. He s=has insomnia because of it, causes him a lot of anxiety.

He was very depressed after his journey was finished, as he didn't identify as anything else besides a hero, and since his purpose was completed, he was nobody.

Struggled a lot with isolation and self-deprecation right up until joining the Chain. He still struggles with it, despite it being years later.

After meeting you and learning about your similar struggles of identity and burden's of mental health, he felt so much less lonely. Sure the Chain were his brothers and they knew what he had been through, you really understood him. You went through the same thing, you knew what it felt like.

Close to Hyrule and Four, but probably most attached to Y/n, even before the romantic feelings set in. He's got a big heart.

Biggest sleepyhead. Will sleep almost anywhere, especially if he's exhausted.

Hobbies include woodworking and playing his harp, but recently took up making a piece of jewelry for Y/n. He's been working on it for months, adventuring prevents him from working on it too long. He wants to give it to you during the winter festival, when you're all his.

𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖉

little shit

...

I would say I'm kidding, but he is :3

around 13 I wanna say, it's only been about a year since his adventure.

Short, duh, but his growth spurt is kicking in. He's catching up to Y/n, and you are not excited to be the shortest in a few years.

Sandy blonde hair, a bit wavy. Somehow always has a tiny bit of sand in it, no matter how many times he washes his hair.

If you think Twi or Hyrule had the biggest sweet tooth? HELL NO

If Wind ever found out about energy drinks or soda/pop, we're done for

Not the best in terms of speaking and reading Hylian, though being a pirate has helped him develop his own colorful vocabulary

Very skilled with up close combat, though the others hardly ever let him be on the front offensive

Similar to Wild, likes taking pics of anything (mostly weird faces that the others make)

Y/n and him clicked INSTANTLY. He might've not trusted them immediately, but they were best friends super fast. Wind has helped you get through homesickness by tellng you his own stories about his home.

"Captain" of Tetra's ship, or that's what he believes

Everyone knows Tetra's in charge though

Struggles a bit with alcoholism, being a pirate and all kinda leads you to be reliant on alcohol. The boys are trying to help him with it, but its the main coping skills he uses when after a high stress situation or he's feeling lost mentally.

Everyone sees him as a little brother, despite how much of a little shit he is >:3c

[bunny-yan]

Hi!! Would you write more about Tasman past before his and Y/n soul got tied by the goddess?? Like what were they before things got worse since Tasman was chosen as hero, what was his thought leading to this decision? Feel like Tasman and Y/n were just average childhood friend before something happened to Y/n that traumatized him so much (could be Demon's army raid their village leading to Darling first death and Tasman was chosen as hero the same day but he got no motivation to do it so the goddess convinced that she could bind your two souls together so you both alive in any timeline and that make him agree with her condition to see Y/n again). Only thing is Y/n can't know the true reason why he did it to Darling because of the guilt would eat them up and it could easily become unstable

i really like this ask because i feel like you want to redeem Tasman when the man is honestly not worth it. not anymore.

you're completely correct in assuming that the two of you were normal childhood friends before he left. but in your first life there was no catalyst for his abandonment. he simply never returned.

it's makes sense that you would be confused.

the two of you made a pretty heavy promise when you were growing up and it was supposed to have been an unbreakable vow before he left which makes it even more upsetting when you realize he isn't coming back.

for your first four lives, this pattern continues and by the time you reach your fifth life you begin to realize that something is off. that there's a strange sense of deja vu, but your hero assures you that nothing is wrong.

by your seventh life you begin to stray away from the choices you're "meant" to make and this leads to you eventually figuring it out.

six lives worth of abandonment crashing down into one.

at first you want to deny it, because tasman would never do something like that to you.

but then his words seem awfully familiar. as if you'd heard them before.

he notices that you're clingier than usual and when he reciprocates, holding you tighter it makes you feel safe. makes you think that you were just being paranoid before, and although it creates an ache so deep in your soul, you want to trust that what you've seen to be true is wrong.

but he never did like proving you wrong.

you ask yourself, why?

why would he do that to me? after everything the two of you had been through, after the memories you created together and shared, why would he leave you behind and never look back?

here's a little hint

.

.

Rushing through the door, a half-smile on his boyish face his eyes were alight with exhilaration as he looked at you.

"I did it." he said, taking a step towards you as you rose from the couch you were resting on, reading a book at your leisure since there wasn't much else to do in your luxurious cage.

The smile stretched wider on his face and in two steps, you were in his arms. He ignored your surprised and seemingly unhappy remarks as he hugged you tight before spinning you around.

"I finally did it." he said, resting his head in your neck. "I kept our promise."

Cracks rang forth in the street and if you stepped outside you'd smell the gunpowder from the bursts of light in the sky.

The demon king had been vanquished.

Celebration was afoot and despite the cheers that rang through the streets, your bedroom was quiet, except for Tasman's heavy breathing.

Backing away, Tasman gripped your shoulders. "Lover, why aren't you saying anything? Aren't you happy?" he asked, shaking you lightly with a laugh.

You only stared at him. Unable to share his joy.

You would've guessed that accomplishing the same thing eight times over would've grown dull. From the way your chest still ached, you felt it was naive train of thought.

"And?" you asked simply. "What happens now?"

"Now," he said, looking between your eyes, searching for something he couldn't seem to find. "We live. Happily. Together."

Stepping in for a kiss, he paused when you angled your head away.

All of his excitement fizzled out.

"What if that isn't what I want?" you asked quietly.

He visibly deflated, a mixture of disgust and desperation flashing across his features before he shook it off with a nervous smile.

"Lover, you don't know what you're saying."

You had no choice as you were led to sit back down on the couch.

"I want to go back." you said, before he could tell you that you were confused, that maybe you didn't understand the gravity of his accomplishments, that he'd kept the promise the two of you made.

Strange that he expected you to hold onto something made more than 800 years ago.

"I want to go to the village we grew up in and-"

"That's fine!" he said, grasping your hands in his. "If you want to go back. We can go back. I'll buy the farm we grew up, I'll buy the village if you want me to and I'll build us a house anywhere you want."

"You're not understanding me, Tasman."

The disdainful look in your eyes told him. The words didn't have to come out of your mouth.

He wouldn't let them.

Shooting up, he grit his teeth to calm his anger. This is the thanks he got after risking his life‽

"I think you need some time to process things. I'll be back."

He didn't give you a chance to respond, going to the bathroom before slamming the door a little too hard. He knew he had to reign in his emotions when cracks began to form along the wall.

Tasman took a huge breath. It was unhelpful.

Going to the sink, he ran water before splashing it in his face.

He didn't know why he thought you'd magically go back to loving him.

The two of you had a fight that shook the wall just the night before.

It was about nothing. And Everything.

All of your fights seemed to be nowadays.

But he thought... He'd done what you wanted! You were the first person he thought of the minute the battle was over and he rushed back to see you, ignoring congratulations and accolades to fulfill that longstanding wish.

And you didn't look happy to see him.

The sink cracked under the pressure of his hands and he stared at himself in the mirror.

Was this what life was going to be like even after accomplishing the one thing keeping the two of you apart? More fighting and arguing until you grew old and died?

The image hit him before he felt it coming.

Your hand was lifted to touch his cheek. Your eyes smiled and within your reflection he saw himself.

Wrinkled with grey hair.

It was just a glimpse.

That was all his precognitive ability gave him.

But a glimpse was enough to send his stomach into his chest. Mouth agape in horror, he didn't notice his grip tightening or the sink shattering.

He was still stuck in the future memory of him getting old.

[hanayori89]

A Hero’s Choice: A Skyward Sword Fanfic

🪶 Hello all! I just wrote this for fun and have no direction with this. I just like Skyward Sword and fluff as comfort writing material 🪶

***** Some Fluff *****

Lesson 1: A Repulsive Romance

 It was pretty nauseating. 

Your elbow was planted firmly on your desk, and your hand curled beneath your chin, causing your arm to resemble a doric column as it supported the heavy infrastructure of your head. Your eyes kept fluttering closed. 

"Y/N!"

Professor Owlan's voice boomed across the classroom. "Would you like to answer my question?"

"Uh-" Your frantic eyes searched the patient expressions of your fellow classmates. 

Your friend Karane elbowed you from your left side." He was asking how to soothe a distraught Loftwing midflight." She sighed beneath her breath.

"Oh, yes, to soothe a Loftwing midflight, it is imperative to make sure you speak in a mild tone, find the pressure point on top of its head, and rub it."

"Why?" Professor Owlan inquired. From the harsh cut of his voice, it was clear he caught you dozing off.

"Because this pressure point, when massaged, is connected to the Loftwing's central nervous system and will flood it with feel-good endorphins."

"Very well. Take your hand off your head, please." He reprimanded you before continuing to swat the whiteboard with his ruler.

"Y/N, you are training too hard." Karane chided from beside you. "It's important to keep your grades up too. Being a knight isn't all about brawn, you know?" 

"I know that, but I have to! I can't let-" Your eyes looked over to see your rival and friend, Link, gazing at you from over his shoulder. When he caught you staring at him, he looked away.

Karane continued, "Link will always have an advantage because of Zelda."

And there it was. The name that made your stomach churn.

Zelda.

She was Headmaster Gaepora's daughter and the most sought-after girl in all of Skyloft. With cascading strands of gold and features symmetrical like the grand goddess statue, Zelda had a face that could rob a man of his voice.  

And she was in love with Link.

You let your eyes wander in Zelda's direction. She sat behind Link, her eyes half-massed, as she stared at him as if he were a freshly baked cake. 

"Y/N..."

You turned to see Karane observing you.

"Are you sure you don't like Link?"

"Um. Ew. Actually, Ew." 

"You're the only girl that thinks Link is "ew." She chuckled as you made an exaggerated grimace. 

"Y/N, Karane," Professor Owlan hissed. "Would you care to share with the class what is so important you need to whisper during this lecture. 

You saw Link's blue eyes bubble with curiosity as he peered at you once more from over his shoulder. 

"Y/N here isn't taking care of herself, and I am imploring her; she needs to do better because the upcoming Loftwing ceremony is a mere week away." She stood up, causing a scene, which, as your best friend, you knew was her tactic to distract the class from Professor Owlan's question.

"Are you all making sure you're sleeping? Eating your protein and vegetables? Staying hydrated? This ceremony is a big deal, and we all need to make sure we are taking care of ourselves for this competition."

Fletch raised his hand; his eyebrows were knit upward in a way that made his face constantly appear clueless. "Actually, I haven't been sleeping well myself. I am quite nervous."

The sound of a slam made the entire class jump. Groose stood, his massive hands slapping his desk once again. "Psht. As if eight hours of sleep are going to give you all some magical benefit against me. We all know I will be Zelda's chosen hero." Groose stood, pumping his bicep muscles in a slow and deliberate manner, as if someone were inflating a balloon beneath his flesh.

"Ok, enough!" But as the chatter of uncertain voices began to carry throughout the class, the bell sounded, and Professor Owlan's admonishment went unacknowledged. 

As books began to slam shut and chairs slid across the polished wooden floors of the classroom, you began to gather your things. You were hoping to sneak in a quick nap before you went over to Eagus's dojo and did another round of grueling sword training.

"Y/N." 

You turned to see Link staring at you.

"You really are pushing yourself too hard." His voice was feathery, like his dark blond hair. "You have bags beneath your eyes."

You dropped your bookbag, your hands flying to your hips. "Not all of us have favoritism on our side, Link!" 

His expression shifted, and he looked down at his shoes, hurt plastered on his face.

"Well?" You kept goading him on. "Did I hit a nerve? Your Zelda's favorite; we all know who really is going to win, but at the very least, I want to lose knowing I tried my very best."

"You're amazing, Y/N. Your determination and persistence are unlike anyone here, including myself."

His unexpected compliment knocked you off your high horse. You allowed yourself a momentary glance at him, the sincerity in his eyes made your chest constrict. A feeling that would happen sometimes when your eyes would meet. 

Something else that you found nauseating.

"I just want to be better than you." Your response offered him no other opening to continue the conversation.

He opened his lips, but Zelda came running over. "Link!" She laced her fingers into his. Come on, let's go practice with our Loftwing. There's a perfect breeze that will be beneficial for our practice today." Zelda turned and looked at you. A surreptitious glint was reflected in the way she looked at you, and you could translate it simply as jealousy. It couldn't even be hidden beneath her saccharine smile. 

"Hello Y/N. You should get some practice, too. Perhaps you and Karane can take advantage of this phenomenal weather we are having."

There it was. You and Karane. Because Link was hers and would never be anyone else's.

Not that you cared. 

Link was nothing more than a pretty face who could somewhat wield a sword. 

She could have him.

But as she pulled him away, he gave you a lingering look, and your chest began to constrict in that familiar way you despised.

It was pretty nauseating. 

Edited: 5/8/24

[justpoliteconversations]

Graveyard Waltz [Deity!Reader + Fallen!Time]

One deity's failure is another's champion, or something like that.

Reveling in the new smell of uncommon trash.

Masterlist

TW: Choosing not to display warnings. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

Hylia's destined hero was small, even by the standards of his species. His hands were smooth with youth and a life of peace among the Kokiri, face still plush with baby fat, shoulders thin below a delicate neck.

Red. All the softness of childhood was bathed in the red of his lifeblood, still warm against his pale skin. His eyes open wide and frozen in childish horror, the realization of death's inevitability settled upon his features like the masks he so loves.

Hylia has always been cold to her champions, but never had she been so callous. To send a child so young is not new to her, but to cast him aside so readily. Your own divine sensibilities bristled, displeased at the thought.

It was your nature. To love and cherish that which has been discarded. You are the Deity of Passing after all, the one to comfort those who have been torn from the world of the living. Be them saint, child or sinner, you accept them all.

The power of Hylia's favor has long gone stale on this one's young body, her grace long left him even before Death had laid its hands upon him.

In the distance, 6 sages cast their power over the entity known as Ganon (an unnatural creature, far removed from the cycle of death and passing), sealing him away in the Sacred Realm. It is sacrilegious, to cast such a creature into the Goddess' cradle. But what else can they do.

A dead hero, an unawoken princess, an abandoned world. What else can mortals do against the might of a being whom even the Goddess herself had failed to strike down.

You pay the happenings of the living world no mind, for that is not your duty. It lies instead in this fallen hero, this child of the forest, still clinging to his mortal body with childish determination. Still so desperate to live, despite the fear festering within his heart.

The strength of mortal spirits. How you adore the bright spark of firelight in the vast stretch of eternity, fluttering like ambers in the night.

"Little one." You call to him, sweetly, as you have always called to the ones taken too young. "You need not fear, for pain will not find you here. You are safe."

"No!" A young voice raises in defiance, a single blue eye peeking out from within the still body bathed in the cooling red of blood. It is a small spirit, barely big enough to fill the body it once resided in. Nothing like his predecessors, who possessed souls so strong and unyielding you'd had to call upon your divine might to take them across the dead realms.

The sight of him, so small but possessing a spirit so potent, was enough to pull at the reigns of your instincts. The will to take this young soul as your own, to call upon your right to choose a champion.

"Link, child of the forest. It is your time to pass on from this plain of existence. I will guide you, and across the realms of the dead, you will find peace." You coaxed, maintaining careful distance from the young, belligerent soul.

The small soul glares at you, still hiding from your gentle, patient gaze. You are tempted to step closer, to take the lost being in your arms and comfort him, but you hold back. Faded though it may be, the remnants of Hylia's power still lingers on the boy, ready to lash out at the insult.

She has ever been a jealous goddess. That she would withdraw her favor from her own chosen, before even the inevitability of death, is incomprehensible to you.

She had clung to the Hero of Skies for years after he'd passed, until Death itself had come to reap him from her arms. She'd latched with divine fiery to the Hero of Man and Minish with steadfast defiance, until the influence of Death's touch had severed the bond between them.

Yet she would leave this one to perish, deprived of her favor and the Sword of Legend that was her gift to those who possessed it. To not even fight for his life as she had for those before, leaving him to face the burdens of passing alone.

Abandoned. Forgotten. Even by the sages who spared not a glance for the broken body laying at thier feet. Still clinging futilely to life, staring down a messenger of death with the will to live pulsing through his diminutive spiritual form.

It was too pathetic. Not even the weeping hearts of poets could capture the pain that seared through you at this tragety.

You kneeled down beside the frightened soul, quietly waiting.

Your decision was made. Hylia be damned for her callousness, but you were willing to fight for this one's soul if she chose to return to this place.

Hours passed, days. The sages had long left, taking the young body with them. The soul it once housed had been left behind, bound to the place in which he'd died.

He'd cried and raged as they'd taken his body, small hands grasping at the limp flesh with desperate strength. Though it had meant nothing against the influence of the living. The dead were not meant to transverse the realms of flesh and blood, after all.

He'd stared to you with fear then, a bone deep grief at the inevitability of death. Not much different to his final expression, faced against forces he did not understand nor could he defeat. Helplessness brought to his feet by a destiny that'd long abandoned him.

You'd waited. Until his fear turned to confusion. Till confusion turned to apprehension. Until apprehension turned to boredom. And in that boredom, the child came forth.

"I'm not going to die yet!" He proclaimed quite suddenly many weeks later, standing before you with feet apart and hands on his hips. You merely nodded at that, and he faulted, not expecting such easy acceptance.

"Good!" He pushed on regardless, though his voice was shaken. "So you should return me to my body!"

You shook your head, and for the first time in weeks, spoke. "It is not within my power to return souls to departed flesh."

His lips pulled downwards, looking annoyed. You knew though, by the wavering of his soul, that he was scared of what that meant. That he understood to some extent, even if he did not.

"Then, what do we do?" He asked, and you ached at the unsaid admission. A lost child, torn from everything he'd ever known and seeking guidance in a world that was suddenly so big and so unknown.

Guidance he'd been denied once before. The absence of which had brought him here, at your side, seeking that guidance from a messenger of the dead.

You gave it to him, because you had already decided.

"I will bestow upon you my favor. Should you accept, you will become my champion and I will grant you a body of my own divine essence."

He blinked, unnecessarily, then frowned. "But I'm Hylia's champion." He said simply, not quite denying, but bordering on incredulous.

You stared at him, taking the measure of his soul. He knew, but he needed it said. Even if he'd known for some time, the mortal heart is stubborn and defiant.

Sometimes you have to break it honestly for it to heal.

"She abandoned you. Long before you passed from the living world." You didn't bother to soften your words, wouldn't give him the chance to hide from the truth any longer. No now. Not ever again.

Lies are for the living. Neither of you have that luxury anymore. Not you, and now, not him either.

Your champion.

He didn't fight as you moved closer, he didn't fight as you reached down to cup his small face in your hands. He didn't shed a single tear, just met your gaze with steely determination. That fighter's spirit shining though, hardened by the harshness of a spoken truth.

"Okay." He said, and it echoed within the furthest reaches of his heart, like fire burning away the stagnant rot. "I will be your hero."

You smiled. The fires of divinity burst forth from your hands and cast him aflame, burning away the golden light of Hylia and pouring forth the somber gray of your essence. Like the dim light of an overcast day, like fog rolling over the land.

He didn't shy away, didn't avert his eyes. Just stared up at you with acceptance. Then the flames reached his eyes, cast away the veil of mortality upon them, and the light of divine clarity entered them. He beheld you for the first time as you were, and his spirit burned too with understanding.

'Do you see me, my Champion.' You spoke, not with your lips, but with the pulsing of your essence running through his veins.

He nodded, entranced by your soft, divine light. So different from Hylia's wrathful gold, gentle like shade upon the eyes. Sweet and cool. Accepting of all. Rejecting none.

'Then go forth, my Champion.' You whispered into his heart, your hands upon his narrow shoulders. 'Carry my will with you, always. Bring back the lost souls tainted by Ganon's wrathful malice. Slay them with righteous fiery.'

You placed you forehead to his, and he reached out, grabbed your face with devoted care.

'Bring them home to me.'

"I will not fail you." He vowed, never breaking your gaze as he gave his first solemn promise. "I will liberate my brothers and sisters from the bondage of hatred. I will bring them back to your grace."

'Then go. Fear not the inevitability of Death's touch. For I shall be there beside it, to guide you across the realms one final time.'

He nodded, and you kissed his forehead. Sealing the promise between you, the black symbol of deliverance blooming upon his brow.

'Now live free of divine burden. For you are not alone.'

He closed his eyes. The world disappears around him. Your touch turning inward, settling like warm coals into his heart.

You were gone, but you were not. You'd spoken truth. He would never be alone again.

Suddenly, the warmth of sun is upon his face, the soft give of grass and wet soil beneath his feet the sweetest of homecomings. Fresh, cool air enters his lungs, heavy with the promise of early spring.

He opens his eyes, and below him lies a grassland as far as the eye can see. And within it, trailing great lines within the tall grass, 9 men.

'Your brothers.' He felt your whisper, pushing him forward. 'Go to them. For they are yours still, even if they are not yet mine.'

And he did. Walking into an uncertain future, with you in his heart and his brothers by his side.

---

Back to the shadows to rest.

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Maddening One, My Goddess (S.R.)

*Picture is not indicative of Reader's appearance.

Summary: Spencer hooked up with a goddess on February 13 and almost immediately comes to regret it when he attends a pre-planned Valentine's Day blind date.

Request: Spencer has a one night stand with a random woman but on valentines he's supposed to go on a blind date with one of Penelope's friends and it turns out it's the same woman Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Fluff (16+ for sexual themes) Content Warning: Fade to black scene with sexual themes, alludes to sex, one night stand, Greek mythology, Reader as Aphrodite, second hand embarrassment, awkward dinners, kissing/making out Word Count: 4.85k

MASTERLIST

Many mistakes begin with a poorly timed question. There is no more obvious rendition of this tired trope than a book chosen at random from the romance section of a bookstore.

So often had it happened, where the hero seals his own fate by misunderstanding the weight of his words. Whether he had been the one asking or the one being asked, it always ended with tragedy reminiscent of the Greek Gods.

I knew I would be that hero from the moment I saw my heroine sitting lonely at the cafe on the corner. Her eyes, half-lidded but filled with yearning, remain affixed on the empty chair across from her. 

The place was packed with busy bodies, but she seemed so still. It was as if an oil painting of Aphrodite had come to life and left her without her other.

Perhaps it was just the foolhardy romantic in me, but I found that a woman waiting for nothing to arrive was a bit too tragic with Valentine’s Day only one night away.

“Are you waiting for someone?” I had asked.

Those eyes that had been lost resurfaced. They’d turned to me with a dreamy sigh and a demure charade to hide the deviance hidden betwixt the words.

“No, I wasn’t,” she had purred, “but now I’m hoping you’ll ask me to stay.”

Who was I to deny Cupid’s arrow, no matter how poorly timed? Was it chauvinistic to want to save her from solitude when she was so clearly aware of her own tragedy? She had not been a woman who needed to be saved. But she had wanted someone to try.

Try, I had. We spoke until long past the flickering of shy streetlights. I’d watched the sun set behind her, casting its halo as her backdrop. The jealous star had burned twice as beautifully in an effort to outshine her. When it had finally accepted defeat and gave in to the night, she also had to take her leave.

It had only been a few hours. It was only a few hours before the day of the lovers’ feast. I’d spent the afternoon fantasizing about an alternate reality where I could let myself be consumed by her. I had trailed behind her, her Icarus chasing what felt both unattainable and inevitable.

When she had leaned forward to kiss me, wax wings turned to a puddle at my feet. I had been trapped in place, powerless to her as she kissed me again, and again, and again. I fell for her then, with no reservations.

The chilly February air had presented the perfect contrast to her warmth. Her scorching lips were still soft. I had felt the intensity growing stronger with each meeting of our lips. When she had shyly asked for entrance, I had given it without hesitation.

Like the fools in every Greek tragedy, we plummeted swiftly into the inferno of lust. Cupid had claimed another victim, but I hadn’t been able to find a reason to resist her.

It was inevitable, after all. Fated by Eros himself.

Yet I’d been surprised that she’d lingered when her had chariot arrived.

Still sporting that intoxicating stare, she had asked, “Are you coming?”

So many mistakes begin just like that.

“I-I just met you,” I’d answered honestly, “I’ve uh… I’ve never done this before.”

She’d tipped her head back and laughed. It had hurt less than I would have expected. How could it, when the sound had been so beautiful?

“Oh, honey, I know,” she’d giggled, “But don’t worry, I’ve done it enough for the both of us.”

The animal in me trembled as it puffed it’s chest at the taunt.

“Is that supposed to be attractive? Because it is,” I’d laughed.

It had been enough of a yes for her. She took my hand in hers and began leading me away from the remnants of wax wings that I no longer needed. Like them, I’d shed my insecurities in exchange for a promise of a bed less painfully empty.

“Really? Not worried about where you’ll end up on the rankings?” she’d snickered.

“Terrified, actually.”

She had paused before she could climb into the backseat. She’d turned to me with an overwhelming, paradoxical nature. Still somehow seeming shy, she’d tugged me forward until her lips ghosted over my ear.

“Good boy,” she’d whispered, “you’ll be on your best behavior, then.”

And I had tried. I’d tried with everything I had to please her any way that she would let me. We had remained tangled together from the moment we’d crossed the threshold to her hotel room until long after the clock had struck midnight.

She had been every bit as idyllic as I’d expected. My shy seductress with her eyes full of wonder and ambrosia spilling from her lips. I had worshipped her like Aphrodite herself, and like her devout followers, I felt no shame in my own humility.

But as the sun peeked through thin veils, I knew that reality had persisted. The jealous sun rose and shone brightly as it sought to reveal the aftermath of a night with a goddess.

I woke to an empty bed and the distant sound of the shower. The feeling of regret was nonexistent up until I heard the raucous reminder of exactly what day it has been.

Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.

At first, I thought about ignoring the call. I considered the most cowardly option of not alerting Penelope Garcia of my indiscretions. If I simply didn’t answer, maybe it would spare me some of the humiliation.

Of course, that also risked her searching the location of my cell phone, which would take her approximately fifty five seconds to do. If she were to do that, I feared that the moment she discovered I was in a hotel room a couple blocks from my apartment, she might come kick my ass herself.

I knew I had to be brave. I had to tell Penelope the truth that, despite her kindness in finding some poor woman who would put up with me on Valentine’s Day, I had to cancel.

I had to cancel because I had made the truly heinous, foolish mistake of a one-night stand on February 13th.

Without allowing myself to dwell on my idiocy any longer, I picked up the phone and spoke as quickly and quietly as I could.

“Penelope, I have to cancel.”

“What?!” she shouted back.

“I’m sorry!” I tried to interject, but she shouted over me with a contained fury, “Reid, what the hell are you talking about? You can’t cancel, the date is tonight!”

When I didn’t answer, she continued—much louder— “It’s Valentine’s Day! The day of love, Cupid’s birthday, the holiest of Hallmark holidays, the day on which we agreed that you would come with me on a double date with a woman I very carefully chose specifically for you!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry just—.”

I stopped as soon as the shower had. The sweet sound of her humming in delight caused butterflies to roar in my chest before they were caught in the vortex of anxiety that was beginning to peak.

“I have to go,” I rushed, but she hasn’t understood.

“Damn right you do!”

“No! I meant I have to get off the phone. I can’t go tonight,” I repeated.

On the other end of the phone, Penelope remained blissfully unaware of my predicament.

“Reid, if you abandon me on my favorite day and leave me to pick up the pieces of this poor girl’s broken heart, I am never going to personally make sure that—!”

The door opened.

“I’ll call you back,” I said before hanging up.

Despite the obvious fear plastered on my face and coursing through my veins, my Aphrodite strolled past me with a wave of her hand.

“You’re bad at whispering,” she droned.

I hadn’t exactly been trying to, but I realized that actually just made me seem worse, so I didn’t dare correct her. Instead, I just watched her nonchalantly drop the towel from her naked body.

I was so distracted by her beauty in the morning light that I almost missed when she spoke again.

“Also, relax,” she sighed, “I already have plans today, so I’m not interested in whatever you were planning.”

Perhaps I had been wrong about how it would feel to be struck through the heart by Eros. I had thought it felt like sweet torture, but in that moment, any remnant of sweetness turned to bitter waves in my stomach.

“Oh, okay,” I muttered.

I’d tried—and failed—to hide my disappointment. In a way, I think she was doing the same.

I thought about saying something, anything to prolong my time with her. I looked at her again. Just the same as the day before, the sun hung behind her and made her appear like a vision from the heavens. She glanced at me over her shoulder as she tried to collect her clothing scattered on the floor.

I opened my mouth to ask her if she was sure she’d wanted me to leave when she still looked so tragic.

The words never made their way through my lips. They died on my tongue the second that she spoke.

“Do you need me to order you a cab?” she asked.

So many mistakes had started just like that.

The walk home to my apartment had been a grueling endeavor. Partially because of the vengeful wrath of Penelope Garcia in my ear, but mostly because I couldn’t help but feel that I’d made the most horrible mistake by accepting her invitation to leave.

It would have been rude to overstay my welcome, of course. But there was something about the way she’d looked at me as we had stood at her door.

I’d expected her to shut it in my face, but she hadn’t. In fact, before I had departed for likely the last time, she had taken the time to press a lingering kiss to my burning cheek.

“If you ever work up the nerve…” she’d whispered, “I’ll be waiting.”

The nerve for what, though? The question had haunted me the whole day. I feared it might haunt me forever.

But this had hardly been an opportune time and place to ponder and yearn for another woman. There, in a beautiful restaurant on Valentine’s Day, with two close friends and waiting on a woman whose heart I was fully prepared to break.

My own heart pounded with the anticipation of the disappointment. I carried my own heartbreak in a lead arrow that would surely drive everyone away.

I knew when she’d arrived because I could hear Penelope’s excitement from across the table. She nearly leapt from her chair to greet my date.

By contrast, my eyes stayed fixated on her feet. That was, until Penelope said something that seemed impossible.

“(Y/n),” she said so simply, as if it hadn’t been an earth-shattering revelation. “This is Spencer. Spencer, this is…”

My Aphrodite, my damsel, my greatest desire and my greatest regret. I stared at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw that floundered rather than spoke.

“(Y/n),” I muttered when my mouth managed to make words.

She smiled.

Then, as if no part of this was strange or fateful, she continued, “It’s so nice to meet you, Spencer.”

Each step of her perfectly polished heels felt like a knife to my heart. When she took the seat beside me, her perfume hit me the same as her lips against my cheek that morning.

I was so stunned, I couldn’t even breathe. I was waiting for everyone to reveal that this had all been a twisted joke they were all in on.

She seemed so… calm. So prepared to pretend. I wondered how I’d ever thought of her as a damsel. If anything, in that moment, she was more of a villain.

The wrath of Aphrodite came with a quirk of her lips and her hand resting gently on my forearm.

“You know, Spencer…”

How cruel it was, the sound of my name on her lips at a time when I could not kiss them.

“Penelope told me you got cold feet this morning.”

“Uh,” I blabbered. My eyes darted up and down from her hand to her eyes.

I tried to find a way to pretend. It seemed so futile. From the corner of my eye, I saw Luke’s eyes expertly navigating the tumultuous waves between the two of us.

It would only take one poorly worded statement, one question, one answer—one mistake—and he would know the truth.

Assuming he hadn’t already.

“It’s nothing,” I said as confidently as I could, “I uh… It had nothing to do with you.”

Great job. Super convincing.

The bustling sounds of the restaurant felt overwhelming, but still nowhere near as deafening as the way she giggled under her breath. She took her time slowly dragging her hand down my arm until it finally fell away.

“Well, that’s a relief,” she said with a sigh. “I would hate to have ruined such a wonderful evening.”

Of course, she hadn’t. I had. I had become so consumed with the weight of my feelings for her that the mask I would’ve worn was heavier than any lead arrow that Eros might craft.

Even when Penelope and Luke tried so hard to help her maintain the facade that any of this was normal, I remained stubbornly stuck to the truth.

There was a goddess beside me with revenge to exact on the man who thought himself worthy of worshipping her. And, my god, she knew how to make a man suffer and squirm beneath her heel.

She didn’t even need to touch me to make my body react. Her voice alone was enough to cause goosebumps to ripple over my skin. I nearly dropped my fork against the ceramic from the shock of her speaking so boldly.

“So, Spencer, what do you like to do for fun?”

“I don’t have fun,” I answered immediately.

Just like she had the night before, she tipped her head back and laughed. She bared her neck to me and I tried not to think about how it felt against my lips. I tried to drown out the memory of her calling my name with a trembling timbre.

“Really?” she said between chuckles, “So no crazy late nights with people you’ve just met?”

Instead of answering, I just stared at her as I took a long drink of water. I didn’t bother pleading with her because I knew it wouldn’t work. My gaze was not made of saccharine attempts to please her into showing me mercy. It was heavy and filled with the rocks now lining my stomach.

Underneath the table, hidden from prying eyes, that damned woman punished my insubordination by running her foot up my leg.

I jumped hard enough that I bashed my knee against the table. It backfired—or rather, worked exactly as she’d intended it to—when she took the opportunity to rest a warm, gentle palm against my thigh.

“Are you alright?” she asked, still smiling.

“Yes. A-And the answer to your question is… no. No, I-I don’t do that.”

Smooth.

Smooth like the supple skin of her thighs as she perched herself against my hips. Stinging like the drag of her nails down my back.

I had to stop picturing her naked when her hand was on my thigh.

From the other side of the table, Penelope and Luke broke free from each other and attempted to dissipate the awkwardness ensuing between my Aphrodite and I.

At least, I would like to think Penelope had good intentions. Then again, I had scorned her first thing in the morning while still laying in a hotel room with the most beautiful manifestation of God.

“He says that,” Penelope ushered with an excited and accusatory hand gesturing wildly to me, “but he’s definitely kissed both a movie star and a serial killer, so…”

Yeah. She was pissed.

“Garcia!” I pleaded because I thought she might show me mercy.

She didn’t.

“Stop being weird and I’ll stop saying embarrassing things. Like this one time—!”

Thankfully, though, Luke was familiar with the wrath of women and had no problem neutralizing both threats with a simple question.

“(Y/n),” he called, “what about you? What do you like to do?”

Unfortunately, poorly timed questions never boded well for me.

“Most of my time alone is spent at local places,” she answered.

The truth. The terrifying, dangerous truth.

“I meet the most interesting people,” she sighed.

I could feel it on my skin. Not literally, but figuratively. What I could feel literally, was the way she gripped my thigh tighter until her nails could make marks to match the others she left behind in her wake. 

I nearly whimpered. I swallowed it with a bite of food that could never taste as good as her. I had abandoned all hope of Luke not figuring out what was happening. Judging by the shit-eating grin he sported, he had probably known from the moment she’d arrived.

I was in full blown damage control, and absolutely none of it was working.

She was, though. She was working so hard at ensuring my downfall would come swiftly and in the most embarrassing manner.

“For example, yesterday, I met the most beautiful man, and he…”

With a sigh of defeat and absolutely no self-preservation, I groaned, “I’m not going to like this story, am I?”

“Why?” she snickered. She had this glimmer in her eye as she removed her hand from my thigh. “Which part are you worried about?”

She’d won. She knew she had won.

Penelope’s patience snapped like a twig beneath a boulder.

“If one of you beautiful, infuriating people doesn’t explain to me what the hell is going on at my dinner table right now, I’m gonna lose it!”

That dastardly goddess turned to me and smiled. I stared at the ceiling and prayed for a miracle.

I got Luke instead.

“These two already know each other,” he explained very gracefully with a wave of his fork in our general direction. When Penelope still didn’t understand what he was saying, he clarified, “They know each other… very well.”

“Actually, we just met last night,” I corrected.  

It had been in the spirit of my incessant need to ruin everything.

“That’s definitely not what he meant,” explained my Aphrodite, who had apparently decided to join in on the celebration of my descent into madness and debauchery.

“I know,” I sighed.

As soon as I looked at the woman beside me, I couldn’t help but drown in the residual feelings left behind from Cupid’s bow. I looked at her, dressed beautifully for what she must’ve thought was another man. I thought about how her beauty never waned, only altered in its theme.

She was still smiling. I wondered how much of it had been driven by her adversarial teasing. I would be lying if I said I’d hadn’t sensed the competitive spirit in her the day before.

After all, Aphrodite could be jealous and petty. She could be vindictive and clever and, when she wanted to be, she could be human. Those were the moments where I would love her the most. The quiet vulnerabilities and wordless exchanges in the middle of the modern warfare that was a double date with an established couple on Valentine’s Day.

I’m the midst of my internal monologue of adoration for the woman, I heard a sharp, scandalous gasp come from across the table.

Followed by a salacious whisper from my Aphrodite.

“Oops.”

“Spencer!” Penelope screeched in a failed whisper, “Why the hell would you sleep with someone the night before your very thoughtful friend sets you up on a blind date?!”

Before I could respond, the woman beside me held her hand to her chest in feigned disbelief as she sarcastically cried, “Really, how awful.”

I couldn’t help but voice the obvious, despite Luke warning me not to with a quick, almost imperceptible shake of his head.

“Why are you only asking me?!”

Mistake.

As the only merciful one remaining, Luke chimed in with a desperate attempt to save me from being devoured for dessert.

“He’s got a point. Not sure I’m meant to believe he was the Casanova here.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. Normally, it might wound my pride, but in that moment I was willing to slaughter the beast inside me for any freedom from my current, personally crafted hell.

“No offense, Reid,” Luke managed through his lighthearted laughter. Then, he turned to the beautiful goddess beside me and offered more bashfully, “A-And no offense to you, ma’am, you’re just uh… a little intimidating.”

To her, it was the highest compliment a man could give.

“Thank you,” she purred.

I took the concession and tried to wield it as both shield and sword.

“Yes! What Luke said!” I squeaked, instinctively leaning away from her when she swayed closer. As if proximity made her more powerful, because it did. I could practically feel the warmth emitting from her. I could smell the champagne on her breath as it mixed with her perfume. My olfactory organs failed me, clinging instead to the memory of her and the way it both calmed and excited me.

Snap out of it!

“She’s the one who asked me to go to her hotel room! Ask her!”

The accused raised her hand further to cover her treacherous lips and she mimicked Penelope’s gasp. Behind lithe fingers, I saw how she still smiled.

“You can’t just ask a woman why she has sex with someone, Spencer,” she chastised playfully, “I wouldn’t answer such an impertinent question anyway, I’m a proper lady.”

For the first time of the night, I laughed. It was a loud, bitter, uncontrollable sound immediately followed by something we both knew was true. 

“Oh, you are not—!”

Unfortunately (and fortunately), I wasn’t able to finish the thought because Penelope’s clutch whacked the words out of me.

“Stop it!” she scolded before bringing it down on my head for a second time.

“Ow! Why are you hitting me?!” I whined.

“Don’t slut shame her!”

Fair point.

“You should only be so lucky!” she huffed.

Then, in the spirit of the continued chaos that had led to basically everyone in the room staring at us slack jawed and fascinated, Luke decided to throw all caution and good will to the wind.

“It seems like he was that lucky,” he chuckled.

It earned us two whacks each.

We looked at each other and tried to stifle the laughter. From beside me, I heard my partner in crime snickering along with us.

Worth it, I thought.

Worshipping her was always worth whatever punishment would come.

“You two— Ugh!” she groaned in disgust as she finally took her seat. Defeated, she stubbornly remained angry only at the two of us who really should have known better. “You have ruined my plans to make these two fall in love. I hope you’re happy.”

Raising a celebratory glass to perfectly painted lips, my Aphrodite smirked.

“I’m having a great time,” she said dreamily.

Then, to make it absolutely clear that she had only been teasing for the drama of it all, she cheekily whispered to me, “Had fun last night, too.”

Penelope watched the scene unfold with an apathy that was so unlike her. It was if her excitement from her plan having worked—albeit in an unexpected way—had canceled out her anger.

In the end, she had nothing left to say but, “You two deserve each other.”

I turned to the woman in question at the same time she turned to me. I was immediately caught in the inferno of lust and adoration in her eyes. The flames felt all consuming. The longer I looked at her, the harder I fell. If I hadn’t been sitting, I’m certain I would have fallen to my knees trembling.

She knew it, too. That’s why when she smiled, it was softer and more genuine than the rest.

“There are worse fates,” she hummed.

She would know. Aphrodite was familiar with the Fates.

I, on the other hand, was a mere mortal who had sacrificed almost everything he had. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, and an overwhelming desire to kiss the goddess hidden in plain sight, I had to test my torturer one more time.

“Does this mean I can leave now?” I asked.

That time when Penelope raised her hand towards me, it was firmly grasping a knife that was pointed straight at me.

“No, you’re going to sit here and be respectful and eat your damn cake!”

Just once more.

“… She started it.”

“Eat your damn food!”

So, we did. We ate our food with calmer heads. Throughout the meal, the distance between each half of the couples diminished. Eventually, I’d even managed to summon up the courage to accept a perfectly manicured hand resting against my palm.

That night ended in an eerily familiar way. Once Penelope and Luke had abandoned us in the night, only the two of us remained. The streetlights shone down on Aphrodite in a pathetic attempt at mirroring the relationship between the sun and the moon.

She just stood there, still tragic, still beautiful. She looked off at the blanket of darkness to find any sign of stars fighting against the man made mimicries of their wonder. 

I wondered if her soul seemed so sad because she had missed laying alongside the universes. I had been so enraptured by the theory that when she addressed me, I’d jumped. 

“So, Spencer…”

“I’m sorry,” I replied immediately. What for? It didn’t seem to matter. I had been sorry. I was sorry for not having asked to stay.

She laughed and my heart shivered at the sound. I watched how her whole body relaxed as the joy fell from her lips.

Don’t think about kissing her.

But oh, how I wanted to.

“Please, Spencer, that was the most entertaining Valentine’s date I’ve ever been on, by far,” she said between wonderful sounds, “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Oh, good,” I strained nervously, “I had fun, too.”

A lie, but she already knew that.

“No, you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.”

But we still could.

“What I was going to ask was…” she trailed off. She turned to reveal a wicked smile and provocative eyes that would forever render me helpless. “You are coming home with me, right?”

All the fight left me at once. I surrendered myself to her. My head and shoulders fell with a wave of relief.

“Oh, thank god, I thought you’d never ask.”

Thank Goddess, I corrected myself. But she had already known that, too.

“Were you really planning on leaving me alone on Valentine’s Day?” she teased. She swayed closer to me until the floral scent of sweetness felt almost suffocating. The intoxicating taste of ambrosia, the indulgence of her lips haunted me still.

I fought past the lowered inhibition and overwhelming lust to offer her a more genuine vulnerability.

“Well, I uh… I found someone else I wanted to spend the day with, but she kicked me out of her hotel room.”

She accepted the piece of my heart with a godlike grace. She took my hand in hers and rested a weary head against my shoulder.

It had been soft. There was no ulterior motive in the movement. She had simply wanted to be closer to me, and I had offered her a place to perch among the mortal coil.

I thought of how different it had been from that morning. Even more so, I thought of how it had been exactly like the night before.

“Did you know it was me?” I asked.

She wordlessly tilted her head to the side with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

“I just figured you might’ve heard me say Penelope’s name.”

After a quiet, saturnine moment, she confessed in a whisper, “No, I didn’t.”

My heart sunk in my chest, if only for a moment. Like she was so loath to do, my Aphrodite willed her way into my heart and held it up with strong yet quivering hands.

“But I was hoping that you would ask me to stay.”

It was soft. It was fated. It was human.

That time, we opted not to take the chariot. Together we ventured through the concrete jungles and climbed Mount Olympus. We sought comfort in each other through the trials and tribulations that was our blasphemous feelings.

We worshipped each other in Eros’s name and never stopped to think about what would happen in the morning.

I realized that it was true that many mistakes began with a poorly timed question. But it was not the question itself, it was the timing that mattered most.

So when the time was perfect, when the sun served as her backdrop and the intoxication from Cupid’s bow had finally subsided, I would ask her again.

I would ask her to stay.

(Tell me what you thought about this piece here!)

Looking for more to read? Check out my Masterlist here!

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[mylove-iv]

❝golden child, lion boy; tell me what it's like to conquer.❞

ʚ aged up, botw! link x fem! reader ɞ

synopsis: when the kingdom goes to war, the goddess's chosen Hero is desperate to keep you safe. in his attempts to give you everything, you gradually became nothing.

genres: angst, romance. | mentions an established relationship, set pre-calamity.

rating: mature, 18+ (mdni).

content warnings: unclear time skips,mild/implied sexual content, slight spoilers (slight canon divergence), (indirect) mentions of war.

reader specifications: reader was detailed to have curves and dips, was also implied that reader wears/uses a silk nightie, no pronouns were used but was written with a female reader in mind.

word count: 1.09k words.

―originally posted on @mydarling-iv, aug. 25, 2023

ʚ part ii ɞ | ʚ masterlist ɞ

Sleep does not come to Link that easily. Despite holding you in his arms as you slept, your warmth did not beckon his eyelids to fall. Instead, he gazes fondly at your sleeping face.

Link's heart soars as a smile tugs at his lips but soon falters as he feels fear creep in. The over-looming threat of the Calamity continuously draws near. Then, the view of you blurs as Link drowns himself in his thoughts.

He hesitates, questioning whether or not his decision is right, if the lack of your say in the matters is the correct thing to do. It feels wrong, a raw disgust filling his veins but his fear overpowers his rationality, rearing its ugly head that Link is forced to look at.

But as he stares into the eyes of the King of Hyrule, he is forced to come to terms that if he refuses the offer, you may be vulnerable to the incoming Calamity’s wrath. And so, Link deludes himself into believing that this is what is necessary to keep you out of harms way.

He’s snapped back into reality as you snuggle further into him, your warmth permeating through his skin and into his soul. Gradually, Link feels his fears melt away. It needs to be done, for no cost is too great to keep you safe. He thinks, hand gently cupping your sleeping face.

“You are dear to me, I don’t want to ever let you go nor would I ever give you up,” Link’s words are hushed—masked as a promise—only heard by the moon and stars above. He presses a sweet kiss to your forehead as unshed tears glaze his eyes.

“I want to protect you, I want to guard you from the world that tries to so desperately dim your light—And by the stars, this I promise you for I love you too much.”

┊ ੈ✩‧₊*°࿐ྂ。

The move to Castle Town was much livelier than expected. Despite having to tear himself from you due to knightly duties, Link made an effort to always give you his time.

Laughter rings in your new, quaint home, smiles are pressed against each other, you both embrace each other when the moon rises and Link finds it hard to leave your serene hug but he must do what he is bound to and you continuously find yourself awaking to a cold bed.

┊ ੈ✩‧₊*°࿐ྂ。

As the brightness of Spring quickly passes, Winter arrives, taking all the sweet liveliness of Spring with it, leaving the world—your world—cold and barren as a distance stretches itself between you and Link, your lover returning home more guarded and unreadable as time passes.

He is repeatedly sent on countless missions, tasked with being at the very forefront of wiping out monster and enemy camps. Your heart aches whenever he softly kisses you goodbye, and yet whenever he arrives home safely—alive—you find that the ache in your chest has never left in the first place.

You kiss him passionately, wanting to bruise him so that he wouldn’t be able to forget you. Though now much silent, Link shares the same sentiments as he worships your body, engraving marks reminding you of him into your soft skin that both reassures you and intensifies the longing in your heart.

┊ ੈ✩‧₊*°࿐ྂ。

Time passes and Link steadily climbs the ranks, his time split between fighting at the frontlines and guarding Hyrule’s sole princess.

He’s given a noble title, land to go with it, and prestige. Yet, when you move into the estate he’s given, it doesn’t feel like home, instead it’s cold and barren, devoid of the love you and Link once filled your cozy apartment with.

Your lover dominates high society, titles falling at his feet whenever he’d come home victorious, yet why does it feel like you’ve lost him throughout his feats?

You no longer embrace each other before bed, his side of the bed remaining cold from dusk till dawn, nor does a boyish smile ever grace his face whenever you try to crack a joke, instead you’re only met with his furrowed brows and tired eyes. 

Despite how Link has become dismissive and cold, you hold him gently in your arms, bare skin against bare skin and only now do you see that he’s been cracked enough as it is, his heart more shattered than he lets on.

┊ ੈ✩‧₊*°࿐ྂ。

He envelops you whole, skin feverish as Link’s lips are merciless, leaving no spot of your skin untouched—unmarked—and your heart swells as a small part of you mourns.

“I love you and I will love you as long as I am able to love.” Link whispers, his words soft compared to the blatant sin he commits.

Your eyes flutter to a close, your hand finding home in his hair before you gently tug at his roots, eliciting a satisfying groan from your lover.

“I want everything back, the way it was.” Your words are a breathy as you speak and Link has to resist the urge to capture your lips.

But before you’re able to continue, a quick knock interrupts, breaking the bubble you and your lover were in. “Captain, you are needed.” A man, who you suppose was your lover’s subordinate, stated.

Link’s eyes stay glued to you, committing every slope, dip, and curve of yours to memory. “Is it urgent?” Link mutters loud enough for the man to hear, his blue eyes dark as an ocean’s, and you think that this is how people drown.

A quiet sigh leaves your lips as you go to grab your silken nightie, your body tensing as Link’s bare chest meets your back. He places soft kisses to your bare shoulder before he reaches the junction of your neck and shoulder.

“It’s Princess Zelda, sire, she was reported to be missing and seen on horseback heading to Gerudo.” The kisses on your shoulder ceases, an inaudible curse falling from Link’s lips and before you know it, your lover’s warmth is ripped from your back.

His clothes rustle, almost seeming to mock you and you feel your heart slowly sink again. Link gently cups your face, pivoting slightly so he’s able to see your face. Yet, you avoid his gaze.

Link places a delicate kiss to your forehead, silently promising that he’ll be back soon but yet, he becomes a blind eye to how your eyes dim.

The door shuts behind him and you’re left alone, feeling used and cold. “I want everything back, the way it was.” Tears run down your cheeks as his absence burns a deeper hole into your heart. “But there is no point to it, this wanting.”

© 2024 𝐌𝐘𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄-𝐈𝐕. do not copy, repost, share, or translate any of my works to tumblr, social media, and any other websites/platforms.

[bokettochild]

hi! I don't know if you know the fallen timeliness theory? For linked Universe if you do could you explain it to me a bit? Because I read a fic with it were legend was from a fallen time and was times other descendent? So if you know could you pls explain to me of so ty!

P.s. I really want to know about because I'm suckered for time and legend angst or them just bonding.

Alright! So, LoZ lore does have an "official" timeline as published in the Hyrule Historia, detailing the canon placement of all games prior to BotW in 2017. According to this official guide, there are three cannonical timelines in the LoZ universe (potentially four after the release of AoC). These timelines all result from events within the adventure of the Hero of Time.

The general names are the timelines are the Adult Timeline, the Child Timeline, and the Fallen Timeline/Downfall Timeline.

The Child Timeline

The Child Timeline is the result of Princess Zelda (OoT/Lullaby/Sheik) sending back the hero's soul to his childhood before Ganon ever came into power. This timeline features the fact that the Hero of Time's adventure is not known in his era, but rather left behind when he traveled back to before it happened. He then proceeded to go off and undertake the events of Majora's Mask and later becomes the Hero's Shade after his death. In terms of LU, this is the timeline Twilight comes from.

The Adult Timeline

The Adult Timeline is also the result of Princess Zelda sending the Hero of Time back to his original timeline. However, despite the hero being sent back to alter time, it still happened, and continues to exist even after he left it. This era has had the Hero's Spirit removed from it, unable to reincarnate without the hero first dying, so there are no more Heroes of Courage. There are heroes however, including Wind Waker's Link, known in LU as Wind. Here, because there is no Hero's Spirit, when trouble came, the goddesses flooded the world to get rid of it, creating the Great Ocean. Wind is the successor to the Hero of Time here, claiming the triforce of courage rather than being chosen by it and establishing a new era of heroes.

The Fallen/Downfall Timeline

This timeline is the one you asked about. While more debated and with many more variations, the general idea here is that the Hero of Time was killed by Ganon, and only be being sealed by Princess Zelda (OoT/Lullaby/Sheik), the Sages and the Knights of Hyrule. The seal on Ganon lasts a few hundred years before it is broken by Aganim, and a young boy named Link (LU Legend) is the one called to defeat him as a result.

The Downfall Timeline tends to have many variations on the course of events leading up to the death of the hero. Hyrule's Downfall by RwanLink is a fan animation that shows an alternate trail of events than the "official" timeline. Many fanfiction authors also have their own theories, varying from the hero still being a child to the hero having grown up and spent seven years training rather than being asleep, and his seven year nap actually being a preventative measure by Fi to prevent the timeline from occurring.

Usually, when reading fanfic, it's fair game what the events surrounding the Death of the Hero of Time are, so be aware of that!

The Legend and Time angst usually stems from Time's guilt at learning that not only did he leave behind alternate timelines, he also left one in utter ruin because he Failed.

Again, deviations regarding his fate do make it difficult to pin down how old he might have been at his death, but some author's (myself included) have written Time as being old enough to have messed around and left some progeny. Legend is NOT canonically Time's descendant. He IS, however, descended from a line of knights commonly associated with Time (the Knights of Hyrule*), as well as a knight who looked crazily similar to a young Time (Raven from the Oracle of Ages manga). This has led to theories of relations between Time and Legend. I've seen some theories where Raven and Time are biological brothers, Raven is Time's descendant, and even one featuring Raven as Time's father! All of these leave a lot of room for Legend and Time bonding/angst dynamics, so I love them all!

*this is actually the same Knights family which Ashei from TP is descended from, making them distant cousins!

[luimagines]

Looking for Someone

Our second place winner for the 1200 follower raffle was mushroom anon! :D

They asked for some Sky and Wild bonding.

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

Sky knew exactly where they were.

He didn’t even know this place was still around, let alone in decent condition. He felt a sense of deja vu as he walked further into the area. It was sickening to a degree. Sky could feel his stomach doing flips but he tried to keep his lunch down for the sake of the others. They didn’t seem as bothered by the find, seeing as they were well enough to look around and banter. Somewhere behind him he could hear them discussing the meaning of the place and where they should head to next since it appeared empty.

But Sky knew better. He was almost expecting someone to jump out and attack him.

“Hey.” Wild puts a hand on his shoulder.

Sky jumps and pulls out his sword, aiming it at Wild’s neck without a moment’s hesitation.

The whole group freezes.

Sky takes a moment to pause and remind himself that he is, in fact, not where he thinks he is. He puts the Master Sword back in her sheath. The group eyes him wearily.

“Sorry.” Sky clears his throat, holding his hand out for peace. “I’m… I’m not… you startled me. Are you ok?”

Wild seems to get a knowing look on his face and waves the others away.

The leaves hesitantly.

“I think this place bothers you more than it bothers me.” He says quietly, putting his hand back on Sky’s shoulder.

The Chosen Hero allows himself to relax for a minute and claps Wild in his shoulder as well. Fellow knights are in agreement. All is well. “This place bothers you? You know what this place is?”

“I do.” Wild says bitterly. “We call this the Spring of Courage. You know this place as well?”

Sky nods and looks back out beyond the waters and straight into the face of the goddess statue. “Zelda came here to divinely cleanse herself as she grew into her powers of Hylia. I was always locked on the other side of the door. By the time I got through she was gone. I was always a second too late. I just wanted to find her.”

Wild listens silently. He, like the others, haven’t asked much of their adventures for the sake of privacy. For as much as Sky obviously thinks about his Zelda, Wild can confidently say he knows next to nothing about her. He’s not even sure what her ‘powers of Hylia’ even means. Maybe it’s similar to what his Zelda had to go through.

Wild clears his throat. “Did it work?”

“Hm?” Sky looks at Wild. “What do you mean?”

“The.. cleansing, as you called it. Did it work?” Wild stresses again.

Sky takes a moment to think about it. “I’m… not sure. Like I said, I was never there. But Zelda did eventually get some power of hers returned to her. So it might have done something to her.”

Wild thinks about it some more as well, bitterness welling up inside him. Frustration is on the rise as he thinks about what happened before that day. He remembers Zelda’s sobs and self doubt. It echoes behind her every move even today. A smaller voice behind all that reminds him that this is not the same case. Perhaps this is the reason why the king commanded the princess to come here to begin with.

Not that it did anyone any good.

“Don’t like that idea?” Sky ventures hesitantly. He’s never seen Wild look wrathful before. It’s an unsettling look for someone he’s come to know as mostly smiles outside of the battlefield. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“No, not that.” Wild shakes his head. He should save this for later. Sky had done nothing to deserve any left over ire from the life long lost.

“My Zelda came here to pray.” He finds himself admitting. “She also needed to unlock her power. It didn’t work.”

Sky stays silent and  looks over at their reflection in the pool. Similar eyes that are not his own stare back at him. They have the same nose. If Sky looks close enough he thinks he can even see the same tired look in their figures. It’s strange.

Sky looks around again, feeling tense and unnerved once more. Despite the fact that he knows Ghirahim is no more- the idea of something waiting for him to turn his back is ever present in his mind. It was always right before the pool. Oh how he wishes Fi would talk again. He wishes she could talk some sense into him like she always seemed to do.

Wild clears his throat. “Sorry.’

It’s enough to break Sky out of his own thoughts. “Huh?”

“For starling you earlier.” He amends. “You keep getting lost in thought.”

“...I hate this place.” Sky spits.

Something in Wild relaxes. His whole body slumps with relief at his words. “Thank the goddess. I do too. Let’s get out of here.”

They leave.

It’s a comfortable silence until Wild pokes Sky’s shoulder once more. “One question.”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned trying to find your Zelda.” Wild mentions quietly. “What did you mean by that?”

They see the rest of the group up ahead, waiting for them. Wild takes the initiative to wave them off again, letting them know to continue further up without them.  This time they are less hesitant to leave them alone.

Sky takes a deep breath. “She fell from our home. I went down to the surface to find her. I searched everywhere.”

Wild says nothing at first. It doesn’t feel like Sky actually answered his question but at the same time, what was he expecting?

“What about you?” Sky asks quietly. “You don’t actually talk a lot about your Zelda despite being her personal guard.”

The Champion blushes. “It’s not like that…”

Sky doesn’t comment on it.

“When I woke up, I didn’t remember her. Even though she was the first person I heard from. She told me my name before I even knew who I was. Despite what the old man and what Ipa told me to do- which was to find her and help her- I felt like she was just a concept. An idea. When I finally remembered her, it felt weird to think that I still wasn’t sure if she was even dead or alive. Our relationship…  It’s… different now, whether we like it or not.”

Sky let’s Wild ramble. He didn’t think this would have gotten this much information out of the Champion as it did. He wonders if he’s told anyone else this. He has an inkling that perhaps Twilight knew, but seeing the speed at which Wild was willing to ramble, he doubts that too.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine in the end.” Sky says, unhelpfully. He cringes at his own words.

Wild thankfully sees the attempt for what it is. “You think so?”

“Yeah.” Sky continues on. “Things are different now anyway, right? For your time and your people. It’s all about finding a new normal. It can't be that much different from simply moving from one place to another right?”

Sky can feel himself start to ramble as well as he sticks his foot in his mouth.

“”Like… The people you know aren’t close to you any more- The ground is different from how you knew it growing up- The sounds are different- There’s plenty of new people to meet- The food is different- The animals are different- The air is different-”

“It’s a different place entirely.”

“Yeah! Exactly!” Sky can feel himself flustering. Is he making this worse or better? He can’t tell.

Wild thinks about it for longer and it makes Sky anxious.

“And that’s not a bad thing either! Because it was like that already before you got there.” Sky scratches the back of his neck. “Everyone else is used to it, you know?”

“It’s their normal.”

“Precisely.” Sky’s voice gets quieter. Wild seems to be listening to him intently. Sky’s still not sure what to make of it. “So you have to find a new normal despite the change in circumstance.”

They’re slowly catching up to the group once more. It’s like they meant to be repeated for long anyway. 

Wild takes a breath and sighs. “You get to go back to your ‘normal’ though.”

“...I don’t know.” Sky looks to the people in front of him. They all descend from the choice he has yet to make. He has to pave the way for everyone… just to get to Wild. He looks at the young man next to him. “I don’t think I will.”

Wild falls silent again before reaching out and wrapping his arm around Sky’s shoulder. “...That’s mighty noble of you then.”

Sky says nothing. He’s not sure if it’s true or not but he’s not about to ruin the moment further on purpose now.

“...I still hate that place though.”

Sky laughs out loud for a long time.

“You and me both.”

[breannasfluff]

What if... through time/portal shenanigans, Eldritch!Chain met Wing!Wild for a shift

Traveling through time? Check. Meeting alternate versions of a hero? Also check. Legend sits up in his bedroll and stares at Wild. Or…not-Wild. Not their creepy vibes Wild. No, this one is crouched by the fire, cooking what looks like bugs. Oh, and he’s got wings. Because yeah, that’s how this day is going to go.

Legend points, which is rude, but so is dealing with this so early in the morning. “Who are you?”

Not-Wild looks up and honest-to-Hylia chirps at him. Yeah. No. He’s not dealing with this alone. The vet leans across and whacks at Twilight’s bed roll. ���Fix this!”

The rancher blinks slowly, entirely too comfortable. “Mornin’. Cub cookin?”

“He’s weird now. What did you do?”

“Me?” Twilight blinks again and sits up, turning to the fire. “Whadja–oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

They both stare at the not-Wild. The person? Bird? Avian? Ruffles feathers and fluffs his wings up around his ears at their stare.

Twilight cheats and slaps Time awake. “Somthin’s goin on.”

By the time the old man extracts himself from the bedding, everyone else is awake and staring as well. Time manages an impassive face pretty well, but his tells give him away. The vein next to his eye is twitching. 

“Good morning.”

Bird boy whistles again and looks at his pan. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Er, right.” Time shares a helpless glance with Twilight. Goddesses, they really make the vet do all the work, don’t they?

“Hey, kid. Where did you come from? Where’s our Wild?”

He cocks his head and flutters his wings. “I’m with you for now, I guess.”

“Who said?”

“Hylia.”

Well, shit. She would inflict some kind of dimensional weirdness on them. 

Wild gives the pan a shake and waves Four over. “Here. You can have half,” he stresses.

Four sidles closer, the wariness growing to confusion as, likely, he doesn’t feel the need to run for the hills. Then he glances in the pan. “Are those bugs?”

“Yeah. Got some nice crunchy bees.” The avian pops one in his mouth and crunches and oh–Legend would like his weird Wild back. Sure he eats animals whole but they aren’t…bugs. “I’ve got a nice big spider we can split, want some of the legs?”

Four blanches and skitters away to the other side of the clearing. Insane-Wild turns his attention on Warriors. “Catch!” Then he chucks something that smacks the captain in the face. Warriors shrieks and flails. The thing falls to the ground. Wild chatters in what must be disappointment. “That was good quality meat!”

“You threw it in my face!”

“Yeah?”

“I have meat juice. On my face.”

“...why didn’t you catch it?”

The captain joins Four on the other side of the clearing. Most of the others back up as well. 

Twilight makes the next move, coming to stand by Wing Boy. Wild sidles away. Twilight shuffles closer. The champion sidles away again. They continue the weird shuffle all the way around the fire as Wild’s wings get higher and higher. Finally, he gives a strange tsksksks and bites the rancher on the arm.

Now Twilight is yelping and hopping away. “What was that for!”

Wild eyes him, wings ruffled. “Too close. You know better.”

“Nah, I don’t!” He rubs his arm with a truly wounded like. Like a kicked puppy. Fitting, considering his transformation.

Sky steps into the fray, but his eyes are glued to the wings. “Is your nickname still Wild?” he asks, only he’s addressing the wingbone rather than the boy attached to it.

“...yeah.”

“Your wings are beautiful! They remind me of my loftwing.”

Wild loosens slightly, wings drooping. “Yeah, your loftwings are cool.”

The chosen hero, because he has rocks for brains, reaches out and pats some feathers. Wild shrieks and explodes off the ground. His wings kick up clouds of dust and he launches straight up, then flaps into a tree and balances on a branch, hissing down at them. Sky is left blinking in confusion, hand still outstretched. 

It takes a good ten minutes for Wild to flutter back down, during which the bugs have been moved out of sight and eggs and potatoes set to cooking in a new pan. 

Legend watches from the corner of his eye as Wild paces around the edge of the group, then zeroes in on where he sits with Hyrule. He gives a funny bird call and trots over, shoving his way between them. 

“Hey!” Hyrule moves entirely, annoyed at being ousted from his seat. Legend gets a face full of feathers which he doesn’t dare push away. 

The avian trills again, wings pulling in tighter.

“Wild,” Legend says, or tries, muffled by feathers. “We don’t know what you want.”

He chatters at them both. “Force of habit.”

“To steal seats?” Hyrule’s prickly, both because he hasn’t had his morning tea, and because his fae sensibilities have been offended.

“Not stealing.” Wild’s attention is caught by the bag at his feet and he dives for it.

“Hands off!” Time jumps for it as well and a wrestling match begins before Wild lets go of the bag. The old man falls back on his butt and masks spill everywhere. 

Everyone tenses as the fierce Deity mask lands in the dirt, but the avian ignores it to grab for a cow mask. He holds it up with a grin. “This is my favorite.”

Time is still sputtering and Hyrule grabs some of the masks, passing them over. “You can’t just–take things!”

Bird boy blinks back, the picture of innocence. On the other side of the clearing, Twilight sulks. Warriors considers his scarf with misery; must have gotten meat juice on it. Sky’s wariness fades into resignation and he sits next to Four, who’s still a little peaky. 

This Wild inspires no strange feelings, but the absence of them is…disconcerting. It’s like a small piece of Legend’s awareness is missing; like he grew an inch without realizing. 

Wind, who was out collecting wood after his watch enters the clearing with a cheery smile. “Good morning! What did I miss?”

The champion perks up and taps his slate, pulling out a crab and tossing it at the sailor. The crab is, unfortunately, still alive. And angry at being thrown before breakfast–or to be breakfast. The crab attaches itself to Wind with vengeance. 

Wind starts screaming.

Legend closes his eyes to the chaos. Hylia, please give them their old Wild back. Nothing is worth this much chaos in the morning.

[sapphicseasapphire]

So- I had a question regarding someone else’s question on Sky doing a duel wield on Fi and (I think it was Wars, forgive me if it isn't-) but since Ghirahim was left in the past at the end of Skyward Sword, will he be somewhere in the feature? If he's no longer alive, will his sword fragments (like an artifact) be somewhere in anyone else’s Time Era like a museum, or will it be in a forgotten temple for the chain to find? Would Sky be able to see the so-called “Red string of fate” that would lead him to the sword?

If so: How would Sky react to seeing Ghirahim’s sword? Would he be scared and immediately get away from it? Would he try and fix it outta guilt for how Ghirahim’s fate turned out to be? Or would he feel sorry/ nothing at all for how Ghirahim turned out?

But-

If Ghirahim was still alive but just badly wounded that would take X amount of time to heal (Like the Master Sword did in Tears of the Kingdom) do you think he would actively try and seek out Sky to end his life for revenge for his fallen master? (If so would he be close to ending Sky but would still be too weak to actually properly kill him and just end up nearby waiting for a chance to end him?)

Or: Would Sky find/ spot Ghirahim and offer to wield his sword in order to save him, or, would Sky give the sword spirit mercy and put him out of his misery and finally put him to rest? (If so, how would Wars [or whoever it was rip my memory] react to seeing Sky put another sword spirit out of their misery even if they were badly wounded/ hella sick?)

Sorry, this is so long! I wanted to be clear on what I was asking and what your thoughts were based on these two scenarios!

I have to be… really, really careful with what I say here.

First off, I am a Skyward Sword FANATIC. I’m obsessed with Skyward Sword and have been since I was quite literally seven years old. There’s a reason that the majority of my ideas are about Sky. So this is gonna have some Skyward Sword spoilers!! Just putting that warning in!!

At the very end of Skyward Sword, when Demise is dying, his sword is the first thing to be destroyed. He stuck it into the ground to lean on, and then it literally disintegrated. Into dust. Gone. Demise watched it disappear and then cursed Sky, and then he himself started to disintegrate. After all that, the dust the Demise became was absorbed into the Master Sword to be destroyed over time. Fi did not say how long it would take for Demise’s remains to be destroyed, but she was pretty clear in her purpose.

My entire life, I’ve kind of operated in the belief that Ghirahim was also absorbed into the Master Sword and destroyed. But maybe that’s not the case? Maybe the remains of his sword still lie within the Battlefield of Demise, where the Goddess’s power cannot reach. Maybe he’s recovering, biding his time, maybe he has been rebuilding himself for thousands of years. Maybe he did get absorbed, but has not been destroyed (as he is not Demise). Maybe he’s just trapped within the Master Sword, weakened and shattered, strapped at the side of the unknowing Chosen Hero.

Bro, I can’t tell you what exactly Demise did to Ghirahim. When he pulled the sword out of his chest??? And then took his spirit into the sword??? How Ghirahim laughed??? That traumatized me as a kid and it’s still burned into my memory.

It also traumatized Sky. I’m not going to reveal all of my cards right now. But I can tell you- what you mentioned about guilt- that’s a HUGE part of how Sky remembers Ghirahim. Sky hated Ghirahim. But he truly believes that he did not deserve the fate that befell him. Sky just stood there. He stood and watched as Demise- did Demise kill him? He heard that manic laugh, the silence that followed it. Silent in a way it never was with Ghirahim. It still echos in his ears. He has nightmares about it.

In all honesty, if Ghirahim were still alive, he’d make it his goal not only to get revenge on Sky, but to destroy Fi. After all, the remains of his Master are sealed away inside of her, and if Ghirahim is still living, then there’s a chance that Demise is, as well.

And if Sky were to ever see Ghirahim/Ghirahim’s sword, his first reaction would be fear. And what is Sky’s fear?? It becomes power. Sky is the Godkiller, and he will not be underestimated again. Ghirahim… will not underestimate him again. The fight would be real. Ghirahim’s not playing anymore.

Neither is Sky.

This is all hypothetical, of course. I can make no promises about Ghirahim’s status. Is he alive? Is he trapped? Is he coming back? Does he exist only in Sky’s nightmares? The world may never know.

(I know)

The main thing I want to focus on here is how his memories of Ghirahim affect his relationship with Warriors. Sky has Ghirahim nightmares… a lot. And I don’t want to minimize the pain of the rest of the Chain, but Sky’s nightmares are objectively the worst. He gets them frequently, but the thing that really makes them worse than the others’ is that sometimes, he genuinely can’t tell if he’s just having a nightmare or seeing a prophecy. He doesn’t know what’s real or not and that sucks.

He has a nightmare one night. He’s fighting Ghirahim- Sword Spirit form Ghirahim (like the final battle)- and he thrusts his sword into the diamond on his chest. Ghirahim would cry out as the diamond cracked and broke, as his form wavered. Sky had won. But then he’d blink, and suddenly it’s not Ghirahim’s chest that Sky had stabbed his sword into, it’s Wars’. And Sky watches as his friend shatters around his blade.

When he wakes, it’s with tears on his cheeks and nausea swimming in his stomach. He can’t talk to Wars that day, but he finds himself staring at that diamond. Wondering if the Goddess had shown him that dream as a warning.

Is… Is Sky the monster?

With Fi gone and Ghirahim… gone, the only Sword Spirit in his life is Warriors, and he clings to Warriors for dear life. He’s so scared that his new friend will meet the same fate as the other two: either willingly going dormant or forcefully becoming a weapon. Sky will do anything to keep Warriors safe- safe from a fate that the Sword Spirit doesn’t even know about.

I know this probably didn’t answer your question. I want to be careful not to spoil too much. And also I got very caught up in my rambling. But yeah, if Ghirahim came back, Sky would fight him because Ghirahim would not give him any other choice.

If Ghirahim were too hurt/sick to fight, Sky would probably still kill him just to be done with it. Warriors would be surprised, for sure, but he trusts Sky. (And he knows how awful Ghirahim is).

Sky would never side with Ghirahim and Ghirahim’s soul purpose is to revive his Master. Which means… going after Fi, which Sky will not stand for.

Sky does feel guilty, but that manifests itself in how he interacts with Warriors, not sympathy for Ghirahim.

[misteria247]

Do you think that Flora is a bit haunted by the fact that she and Wild have done this song and dance before when it comes to the Triforce and Ganon? Do you think that as soon as she seen the other heroes she was filled with this dreadful sense of knowing?

Like Flora looks at them, she sees Time and sees just how much of a toll being the Hero of Time has taken on him. She sees Sky, the very first hero and sees how burdened he looks sometimes. She takes in Wind, and sees how he's barely a teenager shouldering the world already. She notices Legend and his absolute bitterness towards the Goddesses and his fate. She notes how Hyrule always seems so worn down despite his hopeful attitude, and she gets glimpses of Warriors and the scars of war that he now carries with him. She observes Twilight and how he was torn away from his quiet village to become a beast for the Goddesses. She takes heed of Four and how his journey has left him changed and different forever in so many ways.

Flora sees them all, these heroes who were ancestors or reincarnations of one another. All of them born for the sole purpose of the Goddesses plans. All of them forced to become heroes, to fight against a fight with an evil that refuses to die. Flora looks at them and sees how they are all broken in their own ways, and then she sees Wild, her beloved knight and sees that he's joined the long line of heroes chosen by the Goddesses. Who's life will never be the same.

And then she thinks about the other variants of her. Of the other princesses who came long before her, and she can't help but wonder if they saw what she sees. Can't help but wonder if they too are haunted by the knowledge that their heroes are doomed to fight in a war that shouldn't involve them to begin with. Yet they are pulled into it each and every time.

Do you think that Flora grows to dislike the Goddesses? Because they have not only made her suffer but because they have made Wild and his brothers and their princesses suffer as well. Do you think that Flora grows to resent Ganondorf because he refuses to stay dead? Because he refuses to let them have peace?

Like do you think?????

[legendofmorons]

How to fall in love twice- part five

Rating: G

Pairing: Time x Malon x reader

Summary: Malon and you soend some time talking and she reassures you worry is only natural. Time worries, and the boys try to get him to sit down and eat because they're sick of him.

Warnings: None

Other: If I missed anything, please let me know

-------

Two weeks into this adventure and Malon is ready to drop kick whoever is behind this entire mess.

Portals are awful and also the only way to maybe make it home.

She's found no sign of her husband or the others.

And ontop of all of that she fucked up her ankle really good last night and you're not back to help her yet.

Malon sits on the bed, leg up on it to take weight of her ankle until you come back with the healing supplies you'd left to find. She's so bored.

She hopes the farm workers have everything under control...

The door opens to your figure, large bag bulging with unseen items.

"I'm back Malon- oh shit! Are you hurt?" You ask, voice going tight with concern as you take in the stolen ankle on the bed.

"I just hurt my ankle. It's not the worst I've had."

"Still not great! Here I have several potions, lemme just grab one." You say, shutting the door with your foot.

You move quickly to your bed, setting the bag down before beginning to rifle through it. You grab the red potion.

You turn, holding out the corked bottle. "Here, this shoukd help."

"Thank you, (Y/n)." Malon smiles, taking the glass bottle from you.

She drinks the potion quickly. Recoilling like always at the taste. But the relief is almost instant as the potions starts to work it's magic.

"Anytime, Malon. Oh! I grabbed some more arrows for you while I was out."

"Thank you, that's very thoughtful. "

"Oh- I guess. I was just thinking of you is all." You flash a smile.

Why woukd you say it like that? Oh goddess,l- what if Malon knows? That'd be so embarrassing. Goddess- you really need to get a handle on these stupid feelings.

"I really don't know how you're single, you're such a sweetheart!" Malon says, gracing your eyes with a cheerful smile.

"Oh- thanks... Does your ankle feel any better?"

"Much. Thanks for the potion."

"Of course. I wouldn't just leave you like that. Or anyone like that really..."

"Again, you're such a sweetheart. "

You feel your cheeks warm as you move to sit on your bed. Does Malon really have to flatter you so much? Dosen’t she understand that it's overkill?

Usually you'd wonder if it was flirting... but it can't be. So you won't bother to wonder let alone hope.

"So... any plans today?" You ask, "Or just a restock and rest day?"

"Just that mostly. I want to cook some food while we're here."

"Makes sense. I can help."

"I'd like that!"

"Hey... the boys are okay... right?" You ask. And you're know it's ridiculous.

The boys are all chosen heroes of Hylia. There's nine if them. They were hunting down the shadow for weeks before you joined them.

And besides, you should be way more nervous for yourself and Malon. Neither if you are typically adventurous to this degree.

"They're fine. They're all together and they're smart." Malon reassures evenly, calm and gentle woth her words.

"You're right... I shouldn't be so worried."

"I didn't say that. You worry because you care about them. I understand. "

"Still..." You say with a frown.

"I'm worried too you know." She says, turning a sympathetic look on you. "They're still far away."

"Right? I know all of them can handle themselves but it's still scary."

"It really is. I know I worry everytime Link leaves to fight."

"I can't even imagine." You say, voice failing you.

"It's better these days, I know he'll come home."

"I bet that helps."

"It does. Now come on, we need to figure out where to go next."

"Hopefully we go to my hyrule next, I could really use a modern shower."

Malon laughs at that. She may not be familiar with the showers you are used to hit you sound like you're really looking forwards to it.

"Maybe so!" She agrees with a smile.

"And if we do, I can show you my family's farm. You'd like it. Lots of cucoos."

"I do like cucoos."

-------

"If you don't stop runnin' round like a headless cucoo I'm gonna knock you out." Twilight says from his log by the fire.

"I am not- doing that." Time defends in a poor attempt of maintaining dignity.

"You are so!" Wind pipes up from where he's half way up a tree."

"You don't understand. I'm just- the healthy amount of worried for Mal and (Y/n). Neither of them are used to adventuring."

"Time, we've both seen (Y/n) kick ass." Legend sighs, "I know they're less expert, but they're not helpless."

"I know. But being able to protect yourself of only half of adventuring."

"Old man, sit down, would you?" Warriors urges, "They are fine. They're together, aren't they? The way you talk about them both should reassure anyone."

Time stops pacing and shoots a dirty look to Warriors. "I know they're together, Wars."

"Then why are you frantic? We all want to get them back but stressing like this isn't helpful."

"I am just worried. The Nirmal and healthy amount of worried."

"Lunch is ready." Wild calls, "Come be worried over here, would you?"

"You're all ganging up on me over something that is not worth being catty over."

"Look, I'm worried to. (Y/n) ain't exactly a hero like us. But worrying like you are dosen’t help a tick on a hound much less you." Twilight explains, sharing a glance with Hyrule and Legend both. Obviously dome with Time for now.

"But I-"

"We've looked everywhere we can. And if you don't sit down im'ma have to knock you out. I promised (Y/n) Missus Malon I'd keep you in one piece."

"When?"

"Before they left."

"Twilight I just want to know what happened before they left."

"I saw them the last time you did. All I got on this disaster is they fell through some portal or someone. "

"And we've been lookin g for two weeks! We should have found them."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Legend frowns.

"I just wanna-"

"Eat this." Wild says, shoving the stew into Time's hands, "And let us actually strategize."

"Now-"

"I vote we try to find them." Four says helpfully, "Did we try - what does sky call it? Drowning? No..."

"Dousing?" Sky asks. "I mean, I'm not sure that works these days but we could try it."

"We should." Hyrule says. "If only to help everyone sleep."

Time just grumbles, wanting to disagree or miraculously have his belobeds waltz into camp but both seem impossible. He should just let Sky try his thing.

Easier said then done honestly...

He just has to trust that you and Malon are keeping each other safe and healthy. Yeah, he can trust you and Malon. He does!

Just-... He's still so very worried.

[linktotheheart]

I've been thinking of two of my biggest fandom loves, Legend of Zelda and The Locked Tomb.

I've seen so many takes that paint Hylia as evil, cruel, an oppressor who rejects the personhood of her chosen champion and steals away Zelda's chance at a life like a parasite creeping in to fill the shell of the girl who was always meant to be a vessel.

I've seen plenty of takes exactly counter to that, which insist that Hylia is kind, that Hylia is a person too and doing her best to love and be loved and save the world and the people she cares so much about and preserve their personhood.

I've also seen a few (though to my taste, not enough) takes on Hylia's ambitions, desires, and reasoning simply being alien to that of Hylians due to her goddesshood. On a human scale, she is amoral, because she operates on the scale of wars and worlds.

But one thing I haven't seen is: what if it's multiple of those? What if she loves her champion and princess so deeply she hurts them in the cruelest of ways? What if she is imperfect? What if she is abusive but not evil and a victim but not good? What if she's all of the above, and is simply so powerful that the way her actions translate to the tiny lives of people are tidal waves that are tiny in her wide ocean but devastation to the tiny island chains scattered throughout?

What if her actions are necessary and inexcusable? What if she destroys Link and Zelda every time she is trying to save them, her hands too big for the tiny fragile pieces of their heart? What if she is the most flexible narrative force, meant to represent courage, wisdom, power, and love?

What if The Legend of Zelda is just as much a story about the horrors of love as The Locked Tomb is? What if the horrors and wonders are just two sides of the same coin that is love? What if Hylia is kind and cruel and all the messy human things and an unfathomable deity? What if she is more than one thing? What if she is many things?

I dunno. Maybe it's just my adoration for the many different, often contradictory lenses through which the fandom views her. Maybe it's the way each iteration of LoZ paints her in a different light. In Skyward Sword, practically a main character, driving the narrative and being herself swept up in it. In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, nearly absent beyond her fingerprints left on the hearts of Link and Zelda and her faint voice granting her hero back his strength. In still other games, fainter but still present like a slowly beating heart beneath the skin of Hyrule and realms beyond.

I love every interpretation of her. I love takes that pull from classical mythology to make her flawed and as petty and cruel as humans can be. I love takes that pull from the idea of a perfectly good deity that is a paragon of virtue. I love takes that stem from religious trauma that find her more cruel than Demise and more culpable for the destruction of their war.

I love takes in which she destroys Link and Zelda. I love takes in which she saves them. I love takes in which she and Zelda are one and the same, in ways that either maintain their separate personhood or synthesize it into an entirely new being (plurality, hello!). I love takes in which she and her champions control the strings of fate, and ones where they are helplessly entangled and imprisoned by them. I love takes in which she devours and takes in which she is subsumed.

Why should it only ever be one or the other? Why can't it be both? What's mutual exclusivity to an omnipotent goddess? Alternatively, how could she not be many things when she is a deity too helpless to save anyone herself?

Idk. Just, the horrors of love and how they don't erase or negate the wonders of it. How the two build on one another to make each greater. How pain and pleasure are just two kinds of ecstasy, and it's all just stimulation of nerve fibers. How Legend of Zelda is, above all, a mythos being retold throughout the ages in different worlds, and how therefore, it necessitates it's characters being many things.

Y'know?