lucetilogs | Brave New World

Entry tags:

Brave New World

Who: Link (Skyward Sword) and YOU!
What: Newfeather time~
Where: Right smack in the middle of everything.
When: March 5th, midafternoon
Summary: Apparently going to bed is dangerous business and you might wake up somewhere completely random!
Rating: T tops, probably.

The sun glaring on the back of his eyelids wasn't a way that Link particularly enjoyed waking up but he was quite used to it by now. Work had to be done. There was still the rest of the house to build and food to gather and later Ledd was going to help him dig a field so they could grow pumpkins and the like. And of course there was Zelda's answer to look forward to...

Link supposed he shouldn't have sprung his confession on her, but he'd been fit to burst ever since their journey ended and they'd started about the task of getting settled on the surface; he just couldn't keep it to himself anymore! He knew he shouldn't pressure her, not after all she'd been through, but he couldn't help but be anxious.

With a sigh, the hero opened his eyes, expecting to see hasty, rough walls and the sun rudely streaming in on his face but was instead startled into sitting up by the sight of several buildings, strange plants, and people. He let out a cry of surprise and dismay, pushing himself to his feet and whirling around, finding nothing familiar in his surroundings and more worrying, not finding Zelda either.

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Luceti's winter had been horrible as far as Zelda was concerned. Now that it was clearing up, she was out for a walk. It was a little cool still and overcast, but she didn't mind. She was even enjoying herself before she heard Link making such a loud fuss. It never even entered her mind that it might not be the Link that she knew.

"Link, what is it? Did something happen?"

Link barely registered the cold, or the fact that he was shirtless, and completely overlooked the small pile of clothing and sailcloth he'd kicked over in his distress all in favor of turning at the sound of his name.

"Zelda! Oh thank goodness, I thought I'd lost you again." A wave of relief washed over the hero and he closed the gap between them, reaching immediately for her hands. "I don't know where we are, but as long as we're together we'll be fine."

His brow furrows for a moment, scrutinizing her face. "Did you do something to your hair?"

It isn't the fact that he'd grabbed her hands that made her blush. She's held onto Link's hand before, after all. It wasn't even the fact that he had been worried for her, that wasn't strange either. It was the relief on his face, the look in his eyes as he studied her. She froze for a moment, unsure of what to say.

And then she finally registered the New Feather pants and the wings on his back that weren't the right color. This wasn't the Link that she knew. He looked almost exactly like him, but he was a different person. She swallowed, shaking her head no.

"No, I did not. Link, there is... something rather strange I'm going to have to explain to you. Let's get you indoors so you can put your clothes on. Be sure to pick up that book with your name on it as well, alright?"

"Um, alright, sure Zel, no problem." Well, Zelda'd never steered him wrong before so there's no reason why she would start now. He slid into the childish nickname easily as he bent to pick up the messy bundle of clothes and journal, completely unabashed at being shirtless in front of Zelda. They'd spent summers swimming in their underwear as kids, why be embarrassed now?

"Alright, all set! Where'd this book come from anyway?" He fell into step behind the princess, still convinced she really must have done something different with her hair.

He called her Zel? Oh... "That is part of what we need to talk about. Please be patient."

She led him through the town to House 49. Zelda had always been a graceful creature, but being born a princess and receiving Sheikah training on top of that... chances were that she moved a little differently from Skyloft's Zelda. The princess ushered him inside, directing him to the bathroom so that he could change clothes.

"The restroom is right that way."

Of course with Link staring open-mouthed at everything he completely missed the differences. Heck, he completely missed her wings even though they were right in front of him the whole walk, instead commenting on the sheer amount of people. "Where did they all come from? Were they hiding on the surface?"

He entered the house with the same provincial gawk as Zelda pointed him towards the bathroom, impressed at the size. "Woah, it's huge! And the fixtures are ceramic!" How posh!

"I'll just be a sec." He glanced at Zelda with a grin and shut the door for privacy.

Heads up, Zelda and the-Link-with-red-wings - the Link with green wings is wandering over, pausing curiously when he sees Zelda lingering outside the restroom.

"If there's someone in there, you can use the upstairs restroom, okay?" he says with a quick smile.

"Oh, Link! You changed quickly." Wait. Wait just a moment. "No, wait, you're my Link..."

It took her a second to realize what she just said. She flailed her hands in front of her trying to explain it, blushing wildly. "I mean, the one from my timeline! There's, ah, there's another Link here!"

With all that going on outside the door, Skyloft's Link was running into a problem of his own. He'd changed pants easily enough but for some reason his shirt kept running into trouble. A quick look in the mirror elicited a loud cry of surprise and delight and a yet still half dressed Link bursted back out into the hall with a giant smile on his face.

"I have wings!" He flaps them as if to illustrate the point before realizing there was another person standing with Zelda.

"Oh, hi! My na-..." The introduction died on his lips as blue eyes met their mirror.

...Stare. Link isn't exactly a stranger to other Links - there's two others in Luceti, after all - but he's never actually met one who looks quite so much like him.

"There's more of us?"

Thank you, Link, for diffusing that awkward moment. She smiles pleasantly.

"Yes, it appears so. This Link just arrived here. I was about to explain everything to him about Luceti, but if you would like to do the honors?" Zelda might like to talk, but she's still not completely comfortable with this place. It's beyond strange.

Skyloft's Link looked between Zelda and his doppleganger in complete confusion, plain as day on his face. The details were settling in; how Zelda's hair was a different shade and cut, how she also had wings, and this mirror image of himself, this other Link, was more angular in comparison to his own boyish face.

Out of habit he looked to Zelda for answers but a theory of his own formed as well, not well thought but born of life experience. There were stranger things on the surface world than he had ever dreamed of in the sky and the Gate of Time was one of them. "...Am I in the future?"

...Good guess, actually. "No, but... we might be from yours." Link rubs a hand over the back of his head, smiling a little sheepishly. "This is actually a different world - it's called Luceti, and people get brought in from lots of other worlds. And lots of other times."

He gestures back in the direction of the living room. "D'you want to sit down? I can explain properly."

The way that this slightly younger Link kept looking to her like she could answer all his questions was endearing to say the least. She nods, gesturing towards the living room.

"Sitting down is probably a good idea. I will say this before we begin explaining though, since it's important to keep in mind - time in your home is not moving while you are here. Please do not be concerned for anyone that you may have left behind."

Their gentle tones calmed Link somewhat and he nodded, ducking back into the bathroom to retrieve the remainder of his clothing and the journal. As he made his way to the indicated sitting area, he managed to fold his wings against his back in such a way that he could fit his shirt over them. It was slightly awkward, but at least controlling the new limbs he had taken to quite quickly, though given his life-long experience with the birds of Skyloft, it's not entirely surprising.

Pulling the white cloth with the academy's crest around his shoulders, Link plunked himself down on a couch, looking at the other two expectantly. "I get the feeling this is going to be a long story."

"It sort of is, yeah," Link says with a sheepish smile, grabbing a seat as well. "Well, we're in a place called Luceti, and everyone here got taken here from their own times and places - it's not just people from Hyrule, it's people from all sorts of worlds."

Reaching for his own journal, he flips it open to the Guide. "That has a lot of stuff about it. But there's these people called the Malnosso here - they sort of run things." His expression darkens briefly. "They're the ones who do experiments and make people go on drafts."

The experiments are not among Zelda's favorite things, so she darkens as well.

"It is not all bad, though. There are people alive and well here in Luceti that would not be as such in their own world. It is not home, but it is not a place to be hated, either."

It wasn't her home, at least. Zelda could never separate herself from Hyrule, the land was in her blood. Possibly even more than she already knew.

That was a lot to take in all at once and Link again found himself looking at Zelda for answers, though he addressed both. "Drafts? Experiments? Other worlds? Why would they do all that? Are they the ones that gave us wings? I didn't have them before, at least..."

Link figited with one of his earrings, trying to take it all in. "What's Hyrule? This is all really confusing. Zelda and I went to bed, and then suddenly I'm here..." He let out a long breath "with people from my future."

He took another look at the other Link, so like him in many ways but also different in many others. There was no way they didn't share blood of some kind. Did that mean Malnosso worked for Demise? Was he back and making good on his curse, kidnapping his descendants to make them suffer? But if that were true, wouldn't the other Link vanish when he got there, never having been born? It was all too confusing and Link looked again to Zelda, searching for answers.

What's Hyrule? Link frowns a little at that part - the rest are questions he can understand, but is Hyrule really so obscure that so few of the others here know if it?

Exhaling, he lets out a little shrug. "We don't know why we're here - the Malnosso said it wasn't their fault, but they're still in charge." Smiling briefly, he adds, "It's not too bad here, though. I've got to make friends that I'd normally have never met."

Zelda recognizes the overwhelmed look on his face. She felt much that way herself. The princess placed a hand on the younger Link's shoulder, smiling gently.

"You will get used to all of it in time. Why don't you ask any other questions as they come to you and just think on all of that for awhile? I know it's all very strange. For now, just know that it is safe for us to speak like this and that your home will not be harmed while you are here."

The hero from the sky lowered his head to his hands for a moment, eyes closed and sorting things away. If Malnosso said it wasn't their fault, then maybe they weren't working for Demise. He'd wished on the Triforce, after all, and Gaepora had been certain nothing could stand against such a strong wish. Demise couldn't be back, Fi was holding his last remnants in the Master Sword until they could be absorbed and even if he had been transported, the sword had not. Alright, that's one load off his jumbled mind.

Second, if this Zelda was to be believed, time wouldn't pass while he was gone. He had no reason not to trust Zelda, even if she was a different one. Zelda was still Zelda, right? And besides, it wasn't so off that time could be traversed easily. He'd done it several times now.

Those two great worries resolved, Link again raised his head, looking a little more centered but experiencing a sense of foreboding in recalling the dark looks they'd adopted when first mentioning what he was about to question. "So what's this about experiments?"

"They do... all sorts of things," Link said uncomfortably. "Some of them are okay - one turned you into things, and I got to turn into a fairy and fly around. It was kind of fun," he adds with a slightly sheepish smile.

"But others make you think differently and do things you wouldn't normally do -" Like kiss your housemates - "And those ones aren't as good. And sometimes they kidnap you and do other sorts of experiments like making you fight a lot or other things."

Yes, kissing housemates was definitely inappropriate and a thing that Zelda would not be doing again. Unless it was cheek or forehead kissing, she can do that.

Also, why does Link say the scary parts and leave out the parts that make it okay?

"The experiments can be trying, but even if someone is harmed during them or killed, it is alright. Many people here know strong healing magic, and if someone dies they are brought back to life in about a week."

The emotional effects of the experiments, though? Those will never go away.

There was something they weren't telling him, right beneath the surface of the conversation, but Link didn't feel the need to ask in the face of the offered information. "Well that doesn't sound so bad, then, as long as nobody dies permanently or anything."

There he is, trying to look on the bright side, more because the alternative of dwelling on the bad parts wouldn't accomplish anything. If he'd learned anything during his journey, it was to take things as they come.

Link smiled at the two Hylians. "So this is your guys' house? It's really impressive!"

There's something about the way he said it that implied a relationship of the romantic sort; a twinkle in the eye, a quirk of the lip.

Link winces a little at that - dying is still plenty traumatic, even if it is permanent - but he forces a smile back on his face anyway.

Implications? Going way over his head. "Uh huh! We live here with lots of other people - Sheik is from our time, although he's not here all the time, and there's two other Links who are from my future - and Tsuzuki and Hisoka are from a different world called Earth. And Foot is a cat, but she can talk in people's heads - and she has two kittens."

Yeah, let's hope all of them aren't romantic. (Especially given that two are twelve-year-olds and one's a cat...)

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