#I actually made two him and veran

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

My favorite parts from that time lord name poll I did:

- people saying they didn’t recognize redred but it sounded so stupid that it had to be a real time lord name

- veklin losing, because she has the ultimate time lord name and I’ll stand by that

- multiple people saying they knew leridan was the fake because it sounded too normal

[secretariatess]

Arvek 17

           Breakfast was an uncomfortable affair.

           King Tyrovo had no issues with informing the queen that castle’s servants who attended to them that morning missed the mark in the service the provided, and that their incompetence had stretched to how poorly they set the dining table. Tyrovo set all these faults of the servants at Niara’s feet, as though they were personal offenses set because they knew of his arrival.

           Niara handled herself graciously, taking in Tyrovo’s complaints and only responding with a, “I am sorry it was not to your liking.”

           With each complaint, Arvek’s appetite ebbed away and his hand gripped his eating utensils all the harder.  He could feel the metal edges digging into his skin, but it was better than doing something completely undiplomatic, thus ruining the alliance the two kingdoms were about to enter.  It was surprising to him that his father did nothing.  Perhaps seeing the ancient king had bolstered Masitof’s visions of taking over the Phrompt kingdom, and anything that Tyrovo had to say was worth it knowing that the Phrompt king had nothing else.

           The criticism briefly stopped as Tyrovo ate some of the food.  The entire time, Rovyna sat beside him, quietly eating her food.  She surveyed everyone at the table curiously, yet with a knowing look in her eye that would have held more of Arvek’s attention had her father not been the epitome of poor manners.

           After Tyrovo took a few bites, he set down his fork and his body rose slightly as he took in a deep breath.  Arvek twisted the fork in his hand, his jaw tightening.  He felt rather than saw Cor glance at him nervously.  He didn’t care though.  He wasn’t sure if he could take one more thing Tyrovo had to say about Harlofelp.

           Before Tyrovo had a chance to open his mouth, Rovyna loudly and suddenly set the cup she was drinking from down on the table, causing everyone at the table to startle and turn their attention to her.

           “My sincerest apologies,” she said in the same smooth and diplomatic tone of the day before.  “I suppose I am not used to such heavy goblets. If you would ever be so kind as to excuse me? Now that we have finished, it would be best for us to take a moment to recline in the sun and take in all that it has to offer us.”

           Masitof made a gesture of dismissal and Rovyna helped her father to his feet. He was mumbling something under his breath to her, but she ignored whatever it was he said, dipping her head at the others at the table as she guided her father away to find a patch of sun.

           The royal family waited until they were well out of the room before making any comment.

           “I would think that anyone who was raised too be king would have better manners than that,” Veran remarked.  “Who insults his host so thoroughly? Not even a commoner would do that.”

           “I suppose he has nothing else to bring him joy,” Masitof answered simply, taking a sip from his goblet.  “His kingdom is falling to a plague, all of his sons are dead, and he has to rely on the help of a stronger kingdom to keep everyone from dying. Verbal attacks are all he has left.”

           Veran did not seem to notice his father’s answer.  He instead turned to look at Arvek.  “If Rovyna is anything like her father, you’re going to have your hands full.”

           “She seems to handle herself well,” Niara retorted, a warning tone in her voice. “I would save harsh judgment for her until she actually does something worthy of it.”

           Arvek agreed with her, but the warning tone aside, there was something else in her voice that brought him pause.  Was it annoyance?  It was the closest thing he could think of.

             After everyone had finished with their breakfast, Tyrovo and Rovyna were retrieved and brought to Masitof’s private chambers so the final negotiations could be discussed.  As Arvek entered, Masitof glanced at him with an expression that clearly said Arvek was not there for his own input.  He was there for formality’s sake.

           At what point, he wondered, would his father let of his anger?  Certainly it would be forgiven now?  How serious of an offense was it for Arvek to want to make sure Selim was well?

           When the two guests arrived, Rovyna settled herself primly into a seat closet to Arvek, leaning against the back of the chair and watching everyone as carefully as she watched them at the breakfast table.  Her father still had the grimace he had from the morning meal, and he looked as though he had every intention of informing Masitof just what was wrong with the seats they had the moment he sat down.

           It was Rovyna who once again interrupted the oncoming tirade of complaints.  “We would like to thank you for taking time to see us,” she said.  “I hope we can come to agreeable terms for both of us at this time.”

           The statement seemed to refocus her father.  He cleared his throat and directed his attention to Masitof.  Without waiting for Masitof to say anything, he launched into a list of expectations on Phrompt’s end.

           Arvek leaned forward, pressing his chin against his fingers as he listened to what Tyrovo felt the union should entail for Phrompt.  One of the things Arvek noticed he listed was military aid.

           Military aid indeed.  While Arvek knew that would be expected of an allied kingdom, having it listed as part of the negotiations meant that Phrompt could call on Harlofelp’s help when they inevitably got themselves into a fight with another one of the northern kingdoms. The reality should only be that Phrompt would gain medical aid as a certainty, with the understanding that Harlofelp could very well overtake them because of the lack of an heir.

           Tyrovo went out to list other demands, many of which were ridiculous.  Tyrovo knew full well that they would be cut out, putting them in there so that what he really wanted would be overlooked.

           Listening to Tyrovo’s list, Arvek couldn’t help but hope his father would push for more expectations from Phrompt.  They wanted military aid?  Then when they were better, it was only fair for Harlofelp to expect the same kind of help from them.  Especially if the tension in the Veil boiled over with the Rangers.  Moreso since the Veil was likely where they were going to get what Phrompt needed for the plague.

           As he came to this conclusion in his mind, the image of the mass graves flashed back into his mind.

           A war with Phrompt’s enemies or with the Rangers would end the same for Harlofelp’s citizens.

           He was distracted by seeing Rovyna watching him carefully.  Without moving his head, he looked over to her, wondering if there was something she was trying communicate.

           But she wasn’t trying to communicate.  Just observing him with an expression he wasn’t sure what to make of. The expression only intensified, without even the slightest muscle movement from her, when Tyrovo came to a stop and Masitof began telling him off on the things he wasn’t going to go along with, and what he expected of Phrompt in return.

           Then it seemed to click.  The expression she was giving him could only be best described as waiting.  She was waiting for something.  He wasn’t sure what, but he was sure that she was waiting.

           He tried to keep his face as blank as possible, not allowing her to get a read on him in this situation, especially as he couldn’t figure out what she was up to herself.  He maintained eye contact, waiting for her to look away first.

           While he did not look away, his focus did slip a second when he did not hear his father rebut the idea of military aid to Phrompt.  Something must have given away his thoughts on his face, for Rovyna raised an eyebrow.  He clenched his jaw, hoping his expression would return to normal.  Unfortunately, it caused him to lose track of the conversation for a few moments.

           When his mind tuned back into what the two kings were saying, he found them discussing the necessity of Phrompt getting medicinal supplies by going to the Veil themselves, or by letting Harlofelp retrieve what was needed and bringing it to them, so that Phrompt was limited in what they saw of Harlofelp.  Masitof argued the latter, though he was making a few more concessions than Arvek would have liked.

           But right now he was expected to bite his tongue.

           The kings seemed to reach a momentary impasse and called a break to the meeting.  Their discussion apparently was so intense that they forgot they had their children in the room with them.  Tyrovo reached for his cane and shakily got to his feet, stomping out of the room without glance or word to Rovyna.  Masitof leaned back in his chair, oblivious to the fact that his firstborn sat next to him. Both men started when Arvek and Rovyna stirred.

           Rovyna quickly stepped over to aid of her father, looping her arm around his free arm and keeping him steady as they left.

           Arvek waited until the door had closed behind them.  He glanced back at his father to see if there was anything Masitof had to say to him.

           But Masitof was deep in thought, and there was no invitation for Arvek to join him.

           Stifling the sigh of irritation, Arvek left the room.

[aardvark-123]

I've decided to make a spirited attempt at video game blogging. (It was getting tricky to find time to record Orolinwethil's lines, now that she's living in New Zealand.) Without further ado, I present to you the Silver-Heart Chronicles.

~The Silver-Heart Chronicles Part 1: A Barrow for Golldir~

Yngvar Silver-Heart had joined the Stormcloak rebellion as a young man, and during his time at war he'd seen Windhelm and the eastern holds grow colder towards anyone who wasn't a Nord while Tamriel's political situation stayed exactly the same.

Yngvar gradually grew disillusioned with Ulfric and the whole "Skyrim belongs to the Nords" ethos, and so, after two long weeks, he quit the rebellion and moved back to his home village of Kynesgrove. Some might argue that Yngvar had "deserted", in response to which he argued that they could "get stuffed".

Yngvar's family had left Kynesgrove and their house had been repossessed by spriggans, so he became a semi-permanent resident in the Braidwood Inn. He made his living as an odd-job man, picking crops, mending houses and fetching frost salts for Dravynea, until one day Dotira the miner asked him for help.

Dotira's friend was missing, feared kidnapped by draugr near the ancient Hillgrund's Tomb. "This is it," Yngvar cried, leaping into action. "The perfect pretext to buy that crossbow I've had my eye on!"

The crossbow was an expensive piece of kit, but one that would surely be worth it. Yngvar left Kynesgrove with his pockets empty and his heart full of determination to find Doriselyn, then claim the favour Dotira would owe him.

Yngvar headed southwest across Eastmarch's famous volcanic tundra, the cold breeze ruffling his hair and carrying a faint smell of sulphur. The wind died down as he approached the river and wandered along the rocky bank, looking for a place to cross. All too soon a friend came out to meet him.

"Hmm... Tastes like salmon. I could probably make a potion of stamina from those," muttered Yngvar, nibbling on the bear's claws.

He carried on west past Mixwater Mill, finding only a few wild skeevers and a feral necromancer on the road. The necromancer was politely turned down when she offered to teach Yngvar how to make skeever slippers. Hillgrund's Tomb soon loomed in front of him, and inside the lobby waited an unexpected man.

"Offered to teach you the art of slipper-crafting as well, did she? I've never heard of anything so disgusting," Yngvar bantered. "Skeevers are obviously better as leg-warmers, opera gloves at a pinch, but never slippers! They don't have the durability for it."

Golldir explained politely that it was a different necromancer he meant. This was his (Golldir's) family tomb, but one Vals Veran had decided to help himself to the free dead people inside, and he (Golldir) had stayed behind while his aunt Agna (Agna) went to stop him (Vals).

Terrific, Yngvar thought. Still, I'll have a better chance of getting Doriselyn out of here with a partner... "Why, Golldir, I'd be delighted to help you! Lead the way."

Golldir led the way. His honoured ancestors were out in droves, driven into a frenzy by Vals's machinations, not that it takes much to drive a draugr into a frenzy on the best of days. Yngvar and Golldir cut their way through dozens of extended family members before they found a prisoner dressed in rags.

"Don't look now, Doriselyn, but I think there's someone behind you. Stay very, very still..."

"Problem solved!"

Doriselyn was more than a little annoyed at his treatment, and the thought of taking revenge on Vals was very tempting, so he joined Yngvar's fast-growing boy band as they descended further into the tomb. Yngvar scrounged up a set of draugr armour for Doriselyn, but he refused to wear it, saying it would clash with his beard.

Yngvar at least had the presence of mind to put some armour on. He wasn't sure his furry merchant's hat actually offered any protection, but it might keep any water from dripping on his head.

Further on, it seemed that Agna had sadly perished.

"Because you were scared? I know how that feels," Yngvar confided in Golldir. "The first time I ever faced a sabre cat, I nearly ruined a fine pair of breeches. Next time, though, I saw her coming for my axe-brother Ralof, so I ran her through without a moment's thought. Perhaps you'll save your other aunt from the next necromancer defiling one of your clan's old holdings."

"Is that how you try and help people feel better?!" sobbed Golldir, weeping over his aunt's motionless body.

"Er..." Yngvar looked at his feet. "It might be."

The ancient halls went deeper and further, past more enemies than just draugr. Watched by an aghast Golldir and a dispassionate Doriselyn, Yngvar took a moment to harvest the spider's venom before they carried on.

Vals was waiting in the deepest chamber of Hillgrund's Tomb, where the legendary Thane Hillgrund had been interred a thousand years ago with his pet spider in a cute little terrarium. Scoffing at the notion that dead people should be allowed some time to relax, he (Vals) called forth all the draugr in the chamber.

The fight was on. Fearsome mummified warriors attacked our heroes from all sides while Vals pelted them with sorcerous blasts, but Yngvar, his blade dripping with hastily-applied spider venom, beat a path through the enemy hordes to face him.

Sword met staff in a desperate duel, but when Yngvar drank his potion of vigorous healing Vals knew he had met his match. His head thumped down onto the floor, and as one the draugr sheathed their weapons and settled back down in their tombs.

The day was won, but at a terrible cost. Doriselyn had leapt in front of an arrow to protect Golldir, and without any armour to stop it, the arrow had pierced his courageous heart. Yngvar and Golldir wept for Doriselyn as they stuffed him into an unoccupied tomb.

It was dark when they got back to the lobby. Golldir was happy for Yngvar to stay for the night, especially since he'd brought a bottle of Honningbrew mead, and Yngvar was happy to oblige. They drank beside the fire and slept six feet apart because, while they were both gay, they weren't each other's types.

There were some glimmers of light. Golldir had the family tomb back, even if it had cost him an aunt, and Yngvar had helped himself to a new sword. Although it was dented and probably thousands of years old, it held an edge as sharp as his steel blade which burned with deadly cold.

After sharing breakfast and saying goodbye, Yngvar set off back to Kynesgrove. He didn't know what he was going to tell Dotira; nor, he realised, was there much chance of her giving him a reward. You won some and you lost some as an adventurer.

Kynesgrove was much as Yngvar remembered it, probably because he'd only been gone for a day. However, while he was selling a bunch of ancient weaponry to Throk the smith, a courier ran up to Yngvar and handed him a letter.

"In the name of Jarl Ulfric?" Yngvar bit his lip. "They know I'm here. Well, time to dye my hair and put on a strong Colovian accent. Dotira! Dotira, I need to borrow some of your war paint...!"

[aion-rsa]

Lupin Part 2: What to Expect

https://ift.tt/2MkPGVl

This piece contains spoilers for Netflix’s Lupin.

Netflix’s compelling French crime comedy-drama Lupin ended Part 1 on a hell of a cliffhanger. Yes, there’s Assane Diop’s (Omar Sy) son Raoul (Etan Simon) getting snatched by Pellegrini’s cleaner Leonard (Adama Niane) in the Maurice Leblanc-obsessed town of Étretat, though honestly that had been telegraphed throughout “Chapter 5.” The real stunner is when Officer Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab), perhaps the only person whose Lupin fandom rivals Assane’s, tracks down the gentleman thief and addresses him as, “Arsène Lupin?”

And that’s where Part 1 ends, with two adversaries—who might well become allies—finally meeting on the beach while fellow fans in top hats, capes, and monocles venture out to the Hollow Needle, not knowing the potential tragedy that could unfold in Étretat. Where can Lupin go from here?

Thankfully, Netflix has already confirmed that Part 2 will premiere later in 2021. While we wait for an exact release date, we’re going back over the dangling plot threads and pondering Leblanc-related clues to make our predictions for where the second season could go.

The Hollow Needle

The most obvious lead would appear to be The Hollow Needle, Leblanc’s 1909 novel set at Étretat; Assane and Claire (because of course he made her read the book) challenge each other with quotes from it in “Chapter 5”:

Downstream from Étretat, the maidens’ room Under the Fréfossé fortress, the hollow needle

The Normandy rock formation is said to hide the secret treasures of the kings of France, from precious stones to queens’ dowries. In The Hollow Needle, Lupin’s main rival is Isidore Beautrelet, boy detective, who catches on to the mystery of the hollow rocks—though he is aided by a Great Detective known (for copyright reasons) as Holmlock Shears. In Lupin, Guediera would seem to embody a mashup of the two: He’s got Sherlock Holmes’ instincts for deduction, yet he’s treated by the other French police as juvenile for basing all of his investigative theories on the Lupin books. Having gotten no support from his fellow officers, and now confronted with the man who embodies his favorite literary character, Guedira will likely be tempted to help Assane rather than arrest him.

Their most pressing priority will be safely rescuing Raoul from Leonard, or possibly Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), if he gets him back to Paris before Assane and the others catch up to him. In the book, the Hollow Needle eventually houses Lupin’s most valuable possessions, as revealed by Assane and Claire teasing each other by reciting the treasure map:

Two feet on the letters in stone Measure 19 fathoms Turn the cross Climb onto the 44th step Then, on the 357th… You will find Arsène Lupin’s treasure

Yet this takes on an ominous glow when you consider that Raoul would be considered Assane’s treasure, and that Leonard has proven himself to be a vicious assassin. After all, Assane humiliated him twice in “Chapter 5,” between locking him on the train and framing him as Paul Sernine to the French police. Furthermore, when “Chapter 1” flashed back to the day that Babakar (Fargass Assandé) allegedly killed himself, a young Assane saw Leonard—who clearly made eye contact and smiled—before he got the news that his father had hanged himself in his cell. Which is to say, Leonard has been part of the Pellegrinis’ cover-up from the beginning, and will stop at nothing to tie up loose ends. I would not be surprised if he were tempted to deviate from the Pellegrinis’ plan to personally hurt Assane through Raoul.

Assane and Clair

On a personal level, there’s unfinished business—in the present and the past—between Claire (Ludivine Sagnier) and Assane. While Claire has spent all of Part 1 suspicious of Assane’s business, preferring not to know how he’s getting his alimony, that lack of knowledge led to Raoul’s abduction. She didn’t have enough time in “Chapter 5” to process the confirmation, via Leonard’s presence, that Assane has gotten mixed back up with the Pellegrinis. In fact, when he does reveal that it’s related to Babakar’s death, Claire challenges him that he has never spoken about his father in 25 years, so she actually knows the least. Hopefully Assane will finally let her in on what happened to Babakar and the justice he’s been trying to enact.

Read more

TV

From Lupin III to Inspector Gadget: Examining the Heirs of Arsène Lupin

By Natalie Zutter

TV

Netflix’s Lupin: Is Arsène Lupin Real?

By Natalie Zutter

Of course, I can’t help but imagine that even if Claire is sympathetic to his vendetta, she will be less so when she inevitably finds out that he and Juliet were carrying on an affair 14 years ago. Even though Assane ended things before Claire told him she was pregnant with Raoul, the fact that his revenge scheme has him interacting with Juliet will probably tank any trust he regains with Claire.

With Lupin having teased that Juliet and Assane mean more to each other than just adolescent flirtation, but not revealing to what extent, it seems likely that they’ll move toward a romance as adults. Whether that’s Juliet turning on her abusive father and imprisoned mother, or Assane seducing her as a way to infiltrate the family home once more, we’re bound to see a lot more of Juliet in Part 2.

As for the elder Pellegrinis? At this point, I don’t expect Anne Pellegrini (Nicole Garcia) to redeem herself; the reveal that she paid for Assane’s schooling seems to be the extent of her apology for what her family did to Babakar and to him. But a showdown between Assane and Hubert Pellegrini seems all but guaranteed. Part 1 had Assane interrogating members of Pellegrini’s inner circle and trying to gather incriminating information, only to be foiled by the rich man’s standing and connections each time. But Assane has become a gentleman in his own right—moreso than Pellegrini, frankly—and will likely find a devastating way to confront him face-to-face.

Louis Valmerás

The Hollow Needle sees Lupin take on yet another alter ego, Louis Valmerás, and actually “go straight” and retire from a life of crime with his new wife, Raymonde de Saint-Veran, who knows nothing of his past. The final showdown with Beautrelet and Holmes has a shocked Raymonde learning the truth about her husband’s past and ultimately taking a bullet for him; a grieving Lupin manages to escape, alone.

Depending how closely Lupin Part 2 decides to draw from this tragic Lupin installment, things could go very poorly for Assane Diop. Pellegrini has proven that he has no scruples about disposing of people in his way, like poor disgraced journalist Fabienne Beriot (Anne Benoit) after her brief return to glory. I’d like to think that Lupin is not the kind of series that would kill off a child, but we have to consider the source material.

That said, despite all of the tense stakes that Part 1 established, let us not forget that Netflix’s Lupin is a comedy-drama. I don’t doubt that there will be personal fallout from Lupin’s actions, but I trust that we will get more intricate heists and clever disguises in order for the gentleman thief to evade his enemies once more.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

How do you think Lupin Part 2 will end?

Lupin is streaming now on Netflix.

The post Lupin Part 2: What to Expect appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2MiMQ30

[tomboyjessie13-artblog]

Here's the digital drawing I promised, it's of Majora's Mask in their human form and in Modern era Hyrule. They're actually a bit of a redesign of a base drawing from 2016(Don't judge, it was years ago). I also made two of Majora's outfits before the modern era. Anyways, here's the bio and description. Keep in mind that there's gonna be some stuff based on Zelda canon but there's also stuff that are non-canon and made for RP purposes and personal enjoyment only, so don't take it seriously. But you're more than welcome to draw my version of Majora if you want, just remember to credit me. This also took hours to upload due to getting carried away with the backstory here.

Majora, Born "Tsukiyomi Majora" and formally called "Court Witch Majora", was a demon sorcerer who once lived peacefully in the Demon Realm prior to the events of "Skyward Sword". They once served the Merry-Go-Round royal family as their Court Witch before Demon King Demise took the throne, and is a family friend to them and Demise's four daughters. Unfortunately, when the Demon Realm fell due to Malladus' recklessness, Majora was gravely injured during the destruction and ended up falling into the primitive Termina through a wormhole and became a mask by a member of the ancient tribe. Consumed by their hatred and MALICE from the incident and being used for hexing, they snapped under the weight and became the most evil and cruel being who nearly brought Termina to it's end, infamously named: "Majora's Mask", before they were defeated by the current Link's ancestor; the Hero of Time. They, alongside Zant, currently reside in New Clock Town as a resident hexer after receiving a Mud Golum body by Veran.

~Technical Information~ Japanese: ムジュラ Romaji: Mujura Other Names: Tsukiyomi Majora(birth name), Court Witch Majora(former title), Majora's Mask(Infamous name), Parasite(Zant), Little Monster(Link), Aunt Jojo(Beelzebub and Lucifer) ~Biographical Information~ Born: Centuries before "Skyward Sword" Age: Ancient(physically in their mid-late 20's in Demon and Mud Golum forms) Classification: Demon(till catastrophe), Mask(till "Majora's Mask"), Mud Golum(currently) Gender: Genderless(currently) Sexual Orientation: Asexual Hair Color: Red Eye Color: Green Affiliation(s): Demon Realm(place of birth/formally), Termina(currently), Ancient tribe(formally), Clock Town/New Clock Town(currently), Court Witch(formally), Hexer(currently)

History and Personality

As a Demon

They were said to be a eccentric yet talented, charming, and funny demon sorcerer in the Demon Realm, thus earning their reputation, but is also criticized for being childish and bratty when things don't go their way, regardless, they were once a sane individual. In the Demon Realm, Majora was actually close friends with Queen Mirai Merry-Go-Round and Royal Chef Bellum, but is rather cautious around Demise due to his "strange behavior", they're also rivals with Demise's aid Malladus. They also have a soft spot for Demise and Mirai's daughters, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Aku no, and Karma, even acting as a surrogate "Mother" to them, and often hang out by Majora's favorite tree(It's rumored that the four remains are the masks the daughters created with them, and the tree is the same tree from the moon).

Later, Majora have grown to greatly despise both Demise and Malladus, the former for killing his own daughters to secure his throne, and the latter for foolishly destroying the Demon Realm and injuring them, both of their actions were one of the few factors that pushed Majora over the edge. During the destruction of the Demon Realm, they fell into one of the expanding wormholes that lead to worlds outside the realm, this one landed Majora in a primitive Termina.

There, they witnessed a group of humans celebrating a festival with four giant beings known as the Four Giants(these people will later build "Clock Town", and the festival will later become "The Carnival of Time"). They tried seeking their help but were too weak to move. Soon enough, a "man with white hair"(Whom the Fierce Deity's Mask's appearance would be based on) walked by and asked what happened, Majora explained what happened to them and told him that they'll die soon because their injuries are so severe. The man, feeling pity for the Demon, healed their soul with a "soothing song" with a instrument and their body was turned into a tree.

As a Mask

The man took the tree to his home and carved it into a mask based on Majora's original body, he made a small grave for them in his home, Majora had gave the man gratitude for giving them peace. Unfortunately, the white haired man died from old age years later, and a stranger walked into the home and found Majora's Mask. He examined the Mask and discovered that it contained all of Majora's magic, Majora tried asking what he was doing but their voice has fallen on deaf ears. The man took Majora to a settlement of land belonging to the ancient tribe that specializes in hexes and claimed that he created Majora's Mask to house magical powers, Majora called him out on his bull, but was ignored again.

The tribe began to use Majora for hexing rituals, they tried to stop them but was once again ignored, this continued for years causing Majora to slowly grow insane from the constant exposure of the hexes, even becoming desensitized to the twisted curses they created. During this time, Majora was left alone with memories of their past life, remembering what Demise and Malladus had done to them, their family, and their home back to the day, causing Majora to grow angry and unstable by the day, even developing a bloodthirsty hatred towards humanity for using Majora for their selfish gain, and blaming the white haired man for turning into a mask, thinking it was all a trick when really he was just trying to help. Regardless, they only have the memories of Mirai's four daughters to keep them sane. Until one day, there was one hexing ritual became so great that it caused them to lose memories of Mirai's four daughters, leaving them as a empty husk fueled by anger and hatred.

This acted as the breaking point for Majora and they snapped, their anger turned into rage, and their rage turned into MALICE, the very thing that plagued the Demon Realm for so long, and used it to get back at the tribe that used them by possessing a human. They eventually used their concealed powers and started destroying the tribe's home and it's inhabitants, developing a sadistic glee and enjoyment for chaos and destruction in the process. Laughing insanely, they happily proclaimed that they want all of humanity to die by their hands, and threatened to drag the moon from orbit to do that. But the surviving tribe members, fearing such a catastrophe, used a spell to put them in their place, knocking them out cold. The surviving tribe members then sealed Majora away, preventing misuse and the world from ending.

Pre-"Majora's Mask"

Centuries later, long after the tribe disappeared, Majora's obsession with destroying the world grew, while also trying to remember who the "four people" were. Then one day, a smiling man with a backpack full of masks(Happy Mask Salesman) arrived to Majora's prison, proclaimed that they're the ancient tribe's sacred artifact, and that they would make a proper addition to his collection, taking them away. Majora sees this as a chance to get back at humanity and tries coursing the salesman into wearing them, only to discover that he's too strong-hearted and sound of mind to be corrupted, and instead made the salesman pass out from trying to resist Majora.

Not long after, a Skull Kid and his fairy companions arrived out of curiosity, sensing that the imp isn't as strong in heart and mind as the salesman, they coursed him into wearing them and succeeded, giving Majora a new body and Skull Kid their tremendous power. During their that time, Majora learned that the Skull Kid was once friends with the Four Giants of Termina, and used that as leverage to push him into creating chaos and curses throughout the world and trap the Giants using the four masks the four daughters supposedly created, first starting with the Ikana Valley, then Snowhead, then Clock Town, then Great Bay, and then Woodfall, at some point they murdered the Deku Butler's son and took his soul, turned Kafei into a child just to satisfy their twisted sense of humor, and tried pulling the moon from it's orbit again to destroy Termina, creating a hideous looking face in the process.

Afterwards, Majora heard the Skull Kid crying and created a mental version of the tree on the moon to confront him. The Skull Kid cried that this isn't what he wanted, he just wanted his friends back, Majora berated them for being weak, telling him that they had all but abandoned him and caused mischief in the past in retaliation. While the Skull Kid had admitted that, they told Majora that they're hurting and murdering people who had nothing to do with both of their torment. Majora doesn't care, they just wanted all of Termina to die, and whither the Skull Kid likes it or not, they're dragging everyone with them to do so, thus leaving him trapped in the mental world. Soon enough, the Hero of Time arrives to the Lost Woods, and the events of "Majora's Mask" takes place.

Post-"Hyrule Warriors"

After being defeated, their soul was banished from their body and lost all of their magic, causing them to be even more angry. They spent more centuries roaming Termina and all the lands outside of it as a evil spirit, watching the worlds as they grew and watching the Hero of Time's descendants from afar, eventually they watched the events of "Hyrule Warriors" take place, at on point they met the Usuper King Zant and shared a lot of things in common with him. After which, they found the descendant of the Hero of Time(Warrior!Link) and snapped again, they began haunting his nightmares in an effort to drive him to insanity as revenge until they were sought out by Beelzebub, who recognized them as Majora.

Realizing that Majora has lost their memories of their past life, Beelzebub used her Black Box(a device that can only be used by Demon Gods) to try and restore it, while also reviewing what has happened to Majora during these last eons. Majora felt their first tears upon gaining their memories back, feeling like the daughters would never forgive them for trying to destroy Termina, while Beelzebub agreed what they did was unforgivable and chastised them for it, Beelzebub was willing to help them recover and get them a new body, but would require bribery. She took Majora to the newly revived Veran who gave them a new Mud Golum body, but was told that their new body would not possess any feelings of hunger nor fullness no matter how much they ate or drank, and that they would not bare children because the body's interfile.

Afterwards, Beelzebub took Majora to the Skull Kid they possessed and forced them to apologize to the imp, but was understandably rejected. After which, Majora began to hide out in Termina and the Lost Woods again since they have nowhere to go, but was warned to not cause anymore trouble in that world again like the last time. Because they had no magic, they're forced to use other means to gain it such as potions and food consumption, at some point they found their old Mask body being guarded by the Great Deku Tree in the Lost Woods, but was disappointed to learned that it doesn't contain any magic, but took it with them as it was their old body.

"Breath of the Wild" and Afterwards

Majora has gained a reputation in Termina as a Hexer, but is also criticized for being childish and sadistic. Soon enough, the Guardians, autonomous machines created by the Sheikah, entered Termina and started causing mass mayhem and destruction through the world much to Majora's sadistic glee. But that glee stopped when one of the Guardians started targeting them and shot at them, not having any strong magic to stop them, they lost their right leg during the carnage. Thankfully the Four Giants were called upon and the Guardians were deposed of, Majora was founded by Beelzebub and was taken to a doctor to be given a new prosthetic leg made from dark wood and Sheikah tech.

They were surprised to know that the humans and even the Giants would allow them to stay in Clock Town to recover after what Majora tried doing to them, Beelzebub explained that it's because they're compassionate to those in need, no matter how cruel the person is. She then told them that if Majora want to continue to stay in Town, they outta help them rebuild the town, Majora caved in and agreed, saying that they needed a roof over their head anyways, they participated hesitantly in the rebuild of Clock Town, now named "New Clock Town", using the Sheikah tech they salvaged from the broken Guardians.

After 100 years, they met the new hero(Wild!Link) and Princess Zelda who stumbled upon Termina, and teased Link ruthlessly, but was easily bested by him much to their chagrin. After a while, Aku no destroyed the worlds with her Key, but teamed up with Beelzebub to restore it and defeat MALICE. Once the worlds are restored, they joined Beelzebub and her friends in searching for the old Demon Realm. At some point they returned to Hyrule and Termina, during the Modern Era, they met up with Zant once more after having been banished from the Twilight Realm for his past crimes, they allowed Zant to live with them in Termina, becoming their roommate and partner in crime.

Trivia and Personality traits

- The name Majora may have been inspired by the ancient Brazilian society of a similar name, Marajoara, a culture that created masks, some of which look strikingly similar to Majora's Mask, this may also explain Majora's human appearance. The Japanese name "Majou" means "Witch" in Japanese, hence Majora's evil magic and previous occupation as a Court Witch.

- Majora follows a Japanese moon motif here; their family name is an alternate name to "Tsukuyomi", the Japanese god of the Moon, and their pigtails in their Mud Golum form resemble rabbit ears, which references the Japanese Moon rabbit. Both of them references Majora's infamous deed of dragging the moon from it's orbit in an effort to destroy Termina by crushing it.

- Despite being genderless, Majora prefers appearing female due to hearing the human belief that "all women are innocent little angels" when they know it's not true, thus uses this to lull people into a false sense of security and get away with things. 

- Majora was described as very beautiful in their original Demon form, even having several suitors coming onto them because of this. But they turned them all down, saying they have better things to do than be tied down by marriage, though they admitted to liking Zant, they only see him as a partner and nothing more. They also don't seem to mind being infertile since they're asexual and don't like raising kids, Mirai's daughters being the only exception however. 

- While they got their memories back and their malice exorcised, they still act as sadistic and childish as they were before due to the over exposure of hexing and games, becoming just as twisted as the tribe's hexers. They also gained the ability create small versions of the moon to throw at people.

- While displeased about having to consume human food and drinks for health, magic, energy, and climate resistance at first, they eventually became a bit of a Epicurean due to developing strong taste buds. They admitted that their favorite drink is Chateau Romani due to it's delicious flavors and great magical potential. 

Design belongs to me

[tauriatalksmonkeys]

Ideas on Xan's relationship with Antauri and Mandarin and how he could have treated them differently?

:D i’ve seen a few different people’s answers to this, so i think it’s. finally time that i give you some as well :P (also this ended up kind of long, so! i’ve put a lot of it under a readmore :D)

I believe this is something that I’ve halfway talked about before? But that was... idk, a year or so ago? So, I don’t necessarily think that my thoughts now will match up with my thoughts then XD

As a mentor, I think Xan was very strict and distant? I think he was a very tough mentor who expected the best from both of them at all times. He wasn’t necessarily cruel when they failed, but there was always that... disappointed feeling from him, behind the mask. Success, though, was usually rewarded. Rare compliments were given out, or maybe they would be allowed to take a long break / a day off, or something? I don’t know. I feel like he rewarded excellence, did nothing for mediocrity, and assigned tougher / crueler tasks if you were slacking off.

I also feel like Xan had a very holier-than-thou attitude that was sort of... encouraged / cultivated by the other Verans. I mean. You have this whole group of people who are just... super entrenched in the Power Primate (and the fact that theyre apparently glowing humanoid beings is honestly a waste. a planet full of sapient gorillas or smth would have been cooler, imo. but i should stop, before i go on a tangent / give myself ideas :p). They know a lot about it, they’ve obviously collected all the lore that they can about various galactic mythos and such, and...

They do nothing with it.

Did they warn the people of Shuggazoom that their planet was the host of a Dark One egg? No! Did they monitor the state of the Dark One egg? No! Did they keep an eye on Skeleton King, someone corrupted by Dark One forces? No! What about Yoggasoth (or whatever the water-god’s name was)? Did they take the box he was sealed in away for containment? No!

They seem very much content to ignore the goings-on of the rest of the universe, and that’s why I have the tag #varon mystics hate blog.

I feel like Mandarin was always something of a perfectionist. The type who could not, would not accept failure. I feel like the Alchemist would have done his best to sort of... get him to accept failure as part of the process? But that Xan, on the other hand, encouraged those perfectionist tendencies, making them more prominent and perhaps even worse. 

Which, like, I don’t want to take away all of Mandarin’s agency, BUT I also like to think that if certain things had been different, he would have tried to take over Shuggazoom. And one of those things might have been having a better mentor.

*clears throat*

Anyway!

However, outside of that, I feel like Mandarin and Xan clashed a lot. Xan strikes me as someone who very much likes to hear himself talk, and to wax poetic---two things Mandarin has no patience for. In part because Mandarin also likes to hear himself talk---though he’s more likely to get straight to the point.

I also feel like part of Mandarin’s desire to sort of take over the city stemmed from wanting to help. Like. I definitely think there was some arrogance to the plan, maybe he got a little lost in being the absolute boss---but I think at the end of the day he really did just want to make the city safer? Like. The people of Shuggazoom really don’t seem to know how to handle being attacked, even though it literally happens all the time.

So, obviously, Mandarin wanting to do the opposite of the Verans and actually, y’know, keep people out of danger; wanting to implement proper safety procedures; and... well. Live out some of his more grandiose fantasies, where he’s the kickass leader / ruler that everyone looks up to.

But, of course, it backfires, and that’s part of the reason that he clashes with his team, because they don’t get where he’s coming from, because all they read from him is arrogance.

And probably other, more complicated things to? Because like I said, I don’t want to take agency from him, or gloss over / remove the fact that he was wrong, but I also think it was more complicated than it was presented in the show.

As for Antauri, I think he was very much the model student in some ways, and less so in others? I think parts of the Veran’s training came easily to him, like meditation & the inner primate & such, but I think other parts came harder to him. So he and Mandarin were more or less equal in that way?

However, I feel like he got on better with Xan. The two of them could engage in long, complicated philosophical debates, PLUS Antauri was (unfortunately) more easily manipulated than Mandarin. So, Xan very much treated him like a teacher’s pet / someone to use. & he very much filled Antauri’s head with a lot of things---like emotional distance & not letting people in & doing his duty above all else & other, not immediately obviously harmful stuff, but which (in my headcanon) did do damage to him, and very much affected his relationships to the team.

Part of Mandarin (the part that look for approval, however much he denies doing so) was jealous / angry about that. The other part felt sorry for Antauri, because... oof.

I also kind of feel like Xan would have pitted them against each other? Made them compete for his approval / affection? Not necessarily in an obvious way, but! & I feel like, it wasn’t until after they left Koralodal that Mandarin & Antauri’s relationship recovered. (Though it never really did fully, which is why Mandarin considered Otto his closest confidante. Maybe?)

As for how he could have done things differently!! Um, I think he could have been easier on them, and let them know it was okay to fail. I think he could have taught them that yes, making decisions based on logic and not emotion is a good idea, but feeling things isn’t bad --- and neither is cultivating relationships!

[formless-monkeys]

1 So Otto being autistic is something I've accepted as canon (haha yeah sorry Ciro, no takin' that from me now) and you've made me kind of fond of Antauri being autistic too. MAY I PRESENT, HOWEVER: Mandarin being somewhere on the spectrum, too.

2 This is potentially why he considered Otto HIS "closest ally," but Otto didn't consider him to be his. Mandy could've felt Otto was the only person he didn't have to stifle himself around (since Otto clearly wouldn't have been taught to do so like I suspect Mandy and Tauri were by the Verans, and would never judge him anyway), whereas Otto just saw him as another pal.

3 ALSO, some of Skelemandarin's behavior when he was really happy in I, Chiro could almost be taken as like. Monkey-flapping. (This entire idea is 100% your fault by the way; your post describing your antics when you cosplayed Skelemandy made me THINK, the nerve of you.)

Haha. Haha.

May have thought about this during class.

Mandarin would've spent a good chunk of his time trying to live up to neurotypical standards. Knowing him, he might have taken "I shouldn't act/think like this" down to the core. He'd have to brute force his way through training, repeating lessons not made for people who think like him until he eventually got it. He had to be perfect or else he wasn't good enough for the Verons. He'd come out of training a master of the power primate, with perfect form and perfect precision... but all that repression would lead to a lot of but up energy. He wouldn't allow himself to stim to get rid of it, he wouldn't leave stressful situations because 'normal monkeys can put up with this', so he'd attempt to bottle up the feelings, or use then during battle. It would likely manifest in lashing out at others and a need for control.

Antauri was probably already quiet, so would probably have less trouble conforming to the standards. He wouldn't need to take the conformity to heart, so he would take the lessons and reinterpret them in a way he could understand. He would still be a master of the power primate, but his form would be of his own creation. Using your hands to manipulate the power could've been seen as a sign of someone lesser skilled, but in reality, he was equally matched with Mandarin. He was still raised in an environment where his behaviors were discouraged, so he likely had shame associated with his stims, only allowing himself to do it in private. You cant be reprimanded if they dont see you doing it. Meditation would be the best way for him to recharge from all the sensory hell that he has to deal with every day. He was quiet before, and might've been encouraged to speak more, so he began using quotes from the readings of the Verons. He thinks they make him sound wise (and they do). One must show their best selves to the world, but your best self isnt what the world wants. You put together scripts and predetermined responses to make a best self to show the world what they want. (Aka how I've survived 16 years, haha fake it till you make it!)

Mandarin and Antauri could be on opposite ends of the 'empathy' part of the autism spectrum. Mandarin may need to work hard to read other people's feelings, and may make assumptions that aren't true, "I brute force my way through new sensations, Nova can do that too, by being in the elements to learn to face them!" "Surely the rest of the team thinks we should have more control over everything, right?" "Otto doesn't mind some of the things I'm incredibly shameful about, we must be BESTIES" he probably comes across as rude, when really he just has no idea the impact of what he's saying, it just sounds really cool.

Wheras Antauri seems to be good at reading people, and follows the extreme empath person trend of "I must become therapist/parent figure/support to make them feel better, even if it hurts me." Bottling up your feelings isn't healthy my dude.

Otto, on the COMPLETE other end of things, was just bound by Gibson and Sprx. He could flap his hands and climb around and use his feet for stuff and the other two monkeys would just be like "aight, sure". The worst he'd get is a bit of dismissal if they think he's being annoying... which. It kinda sounds like he's gotten from Gibson, even during the show. (Kinda blanking on if Sparx did this, and I could probably make a whole other post on just Otto). He thinks along the same logic as Mandarin and Antauri, but without the shame being drilled into him. He's a perfect engineer, finding creative solutions and quickly too!

He's probably SUPER empathetic, but not the best at showing it. He makes gadgets and gifts for his friends but really doesnt know how to help on the emotional side of things. He cares just as much but shows it a little differently.

After training with the Verons and working with the team, Mandarin would've latched onto Otto like a fly to sugar. He would've been drowning in shame and self-hatred and Otto would've been the closest thing to a life raft. (Even though antauri would understand just as much. Mandarin might not trust him to not judge because they both had the same training and Antauri doesn't display as openly as otto. Or maybe he misinterpreted something Antauri said as 'oh, he hates these tendencies too!') He was probably so starved for positive affirmation, that he latched on to every source of it he could. (Probably a reason the Chiro clones were Like That to Mandarin) Otto naturally wants to help him, but Mandarin's issues are a giant pile of dirt and Otto has a spoon. If he was more open and honest with the team, they couldve helped him, or worked with him... but he wasn't. He kept as much of it inside as he could, until it manifested in into trying to medicate the feeling of being out of crlontrol. With trying to control the entire city...

Fun thing about certain types of autism, is that being kept in one place, not allowed to move, not allowed to speak, with only your mind to occupy you. It's hell. It is actually hell. Understimulation is a special type of hell.

So glad that after the Verons were destroyed Skelemandarin was able to stim during I, Chiro. Probably was the best moment of his life before being thrown into the OTHER type of sensory hell, overstimulation. The walls are 29394 neon colors and the floor is sticky and squishy and you're actually starving and you're alone and its loud and you keep getting attacked by sticky squirmy monsters.

I'm so glad my cosplaying shenanigans sparked this. This headcanon is... v important to me.

Also, based on this massive ramble; Otto loves mint and Antauri hates mint.

[jadeender]

Back to his Roots

They had awoken the next morning to find Four split, his fragments asleep curled up together where Four has been before. With the storm gone they set out early. Leaving their cave they looked an odd bunch, with their normal clothes dry again the links had adopted an odd fashion sense.

They wore an odd mismatch of their own clothes and their darks. Four’s selves were still wearing their darker colors, Twilight had doned all his own clothes again including his wolf pelt, and Time was redressed in his full armor though a hint of black tunic peaked out from where white normally did.

Legend had chosen to keep Acidics long black under tunic placing his red tunic over it and forgoing wearing either of their caps, it showed off how Legend’s hair had gained some green streaks like those in Acidics. Wind had also gone back to his normal clothes though he didn’t have much to mix and match like the others did.

Hyrule looked like he was going through a goth phase, he had kept all of Callous’s clothes except for replacing the top layer with his own green tunic, likely Callous had made a big fuss about it leading to the current situation. Or so Warriors thought. Wild had returned to his normal clothes in addition to doning a simple black cloak, his clothes were perfectly clean and unwrinkled, his hair brushed and made into a simple ponytail. Sky as well had gone back to his own clothes completely.

Everyone had packed away their darks clothes in case they ever needed them again and headed out.

Warriors himself had gone back to his usual clothes and armor with his and Conqueror’s scarves, it was quite sweltering normally wearing two scarves but the mountains they were currently traveling through were quite cold so he was thankful for the extra layers.

As always Hyrule’s home was full of monsters and these mountains were crawling with axe wielding Diara and wallmasters. By noontime they were all drenched in sweat and tired the fights were near constant and their progress was slow. Not that Warriors minded a good fight occasionally but even he was tired.

Conqueror on the other hand, he lived for this. Everytime their sword decapitated another foe he delighted. His bloodlust was stronger than any Warriors had ever seen. It honestly scared Warriors a little to think that he could ever be consumed by that same kind of desire for blood.

Turning his thoughts back outward Warriors noticed things were changing, a tingling feeling rose on the back of his neck before a feeling like pouring water washed over him. In a moment their surrounding shifted from the mountainous tunnels they had been traversing into an open field in front of a magnificent castle. Warriors knew it in a second, he was home.

The gates of Hyrule Castle opened as the heroes stood there attempting to get their bearings. Once the gate was open the forces of Hyrule marched forth in rows and rows of armed warriors. Dressed simply in blue and white tunics bearing the hyrule crest, light armor, and helms adorned with the hyrule crest as well, they marched out creating a corridor back towards the castle.

“This is a high class welcome.” Legend commented.

“Welcome to my home.” Warriors said flourishing at his castle and his men that surrounded them. “They don't do a welcome like this for anyone, but I’m an exception.”

Warriors started down the corridor his head held high but as he attempted to go three soldiers broke off and made a line keeping him from continuing.

“Ah Warriors, is this normal?” Wild asked from behind them.

“No, its not.” Warriors said eyeing the soldiers in front off him. “Who has been in charge in my absence? I wanted to speak with them.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about them darling. They’re a bit tied up at the moment. You’ll be dealing with me today.” The voice of a woman floated from down the line and the boys watched dumbfounded as Veran strood confidently down the corridor towards them.

Immediately Warriors grabbed for his sword and made ready.

“This bitch again. Now’s the perfect time to end her.” Conqueror commented as Warriors sword twitched in his hands and he could feel his dark gearing up to take control for the fight.

“Not now Barbie.” Warriors grunted. “Let them go Veran.”

The woman merely laughed. “But I’ve only just enslaved them, it was rather easy actually. Once I told them off how their hero and beloved leader had turned traitor, consorting with beings of darkness and slaughtering nations, they all willing joined my side.”

Warriors seethed at the accusation, him a traitor? There was nothing on this earth he hated more than traitors, not cia or even ganon himself.

As his anger grew Warriors didn’t even notice Conqueror taking control smoothly he charged at Veran.

“Warriors no!” Someone called out as he went to cut off her head only to have one of his soldiers, his men, to step in front taking the blow meant for her. The man's head toppled to the ground. And he laughed.

Warriors laughed looking at the dead man, he honestly couldn't tell if it was Conqueror’s or his own excitement he was feeling but the prospect of an all out battle, a real battle excited him.

“It seems you will have your work cut out for you men.” Veran called to soldiers. “These men are criminals and traitors the crown, see this ones red eyes? Proof he has given over to the forces of darkness and turned traitor. Destroy them in the name of your princess.”

Veran gave a rallying cry and the soldiers joined in before rushing at the heroes with sword, lance, and bow at the ready.

Warriors shut everyone out completely as he raised his sword and began to swing, his friends could be dead in the ground but all he could think about was getting to Veran and destroying her. For once he didn’t feel the need to resist Conqueror and found their intentions and motivations aligning as they fought.

Raising his shield the man blocked a hail fire of arrows before running forward slicing in a wide arc taking out the first rank of soldiers, as they fell another with locked shields took their place.

“Excellent.” His voice slurred falling in between Warriors and Conquerors tones.

Warriors took out yet another wave as he turned around for the first time his clothes soaked in blood to look at his companions. None of them were fighting, they had their weapons out but were completely unmoving, they appeared disinterested or shocked.

“Traitors all of them.” He whispered, turning back to the battle at hand. Summoning part of his powers the man created several copies of himself each bearing a black image with glowing red eyes. The clones went to work pushing back against the army their might together clearing the way as the man himself strolled up to Veran.

“What power you’ve shown darlin.” The woman complimented. “Are you sure you’re really a hero? You seem rather…. Dark.”

Veran laughed at her own pun as the man readied his sword.

“You’ll pay for doing this to us.” The man grunted out. He slashed down at the witch who disappeared in a flash and reappeared floating in the air.

“Tisk tisk, not yet my dear. You may seek me at the home of my master.” With that Veran disappeared into black smoke.

A scream ripped from Warriors throat as he looked at where she had been not a second ago. The man turned back towards his companions and found the clones gone and the army in ruins, those left were running now that they’d seen what kind of monster their captain had become. Serves them right the traitors for believing the words off that witch.

The man stalked back towards his companions who met him with raised sword.

“What the hell Warriors, or Conqueror or whoever you are right now.” Time bellowed his sword stretched out front.

“C’mon Eternal you love a good blood bath as much as any true dark.” Conqueror said his words slurring against Warriors sarcastic answer of “Whatever I want.”

“You need to stop.” Time continued. “Don’t you see the innocent men that lay dead around you? That you slaughtered?”

“Of course I do, it was fun haven't let loose in awhile. ‘Side Stygian said I’d have a time to be angry, this is it. Even got control of this body while I was at it.” Conqueror said as he cleaned off the blood from their sword with Warriors royal blue scarf.

Hearing those words snapped Warriors back into reality, he found his control slippin away by the second, in anger he’d allowed Conqueror to distract him and take control.

“No.” He gurgled out as Warriors fought to take control again. Time who had been ranted about something stopped seeing the change.

“Fight him Warriors!” Wind yelled. The others joined in a similar vein.

“I won't go back, never again soldier boy.” Conqueror swore. “You better get used to it.”

Conqueror reached and unwound the blue scarf from his neck and dropped it to the ground in an act of finality.

[randomramblingtidbits]

Spova Week: Future

A/N: So I didn’t get this done in time for Spova Week because I was worried about my future, i.e. board exams. But I passed the first exam, so why don’t we see what the future has in store for Sprx and Nova now? This also includes some head cannons I have for what I imagine post War of the Undead/Season Five would be like for the entire team as well. 

“So this is the gift from Quint?”  

Sprx flicked the lights in the garage on, beaming with pride at the new ship among Otto’s moon buggies. “Yep, it’s a top of the line ST5-Starcarrier.”  

You’re going to have to jog my memory about what that means.”  

“It’s not as maneuverable as a ZZ3X-Starspeeder, but it makes up for it with amenities and capacity. Quint figures that properly stocked it could support a small squad for a month before needing to dock. And it has a hyperdrive so it can do warp jumps if necessary.”  

Nova looked over the ship. It was about three-fourth the size of a Foot Cruiser so it dwarfed the buggies that surrounded it and nearly hit the top of the garage. The wings and jets attached to it did give it a slick and aerodynamic look. “It’s not exactly what I would think of as a parting gift.”  

“Yeah, I told Quint he didn’t owe us anything,” Sprx shook his head, “It’s not like we were expecting a reward when we rescued his crew the first time and coming to our aid more than made up for that anyway. But he insisted, saying that it’s the least he could do since he did also still us a neutron generator.”  

“Uh-huh,” Nova put her hands on her hip as she gave him a smirk. “I think he just used this as an excuse to give you a ship. He probably wants you to come visit him so you can keep swapping pilot stories.”  

Sprx gave her smile in return as he ran his hand over the ship’s hull, stopping to wipe away a smudge. “Hey, technically it’s the team’s ship. I’m just the driver for wherever we need to go.”  

Well, he just gave her an opening for what she actually came to talk about. Nova took a deep breath. “What about Galaxia?”

“Hm?” Sprx looked away from the ship to her. “Sure, I could get the coordinates from the Robot and take you there if you want. Planning on visiting your master already?”

“Master Offay mentioned that he was planning of having a tournament soon to celebrate the return of Galaxia. I figured I could participate and learn a thing or two from the other fighters.”  

“Or you could teach them a thing or two.” Now it was his time to give her a smirk. “Alright, just clear it with the rest of the team and I’ll be your personal chauffer.”

“You could go visit Quint afterwards.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “I doubt it. The tournament would probably take a couple weeks at least and with you gone I don’t think the team would be fine with me also leaving.”

“Actually, Chiro and Antauri already gave us a leave of absence.”

“Yeah, see-what?” His mouth hung open as he stared at her.

Nova nodded and held his hands. “Well, how else are you going to break in the new ship? I figured we could start with three months off and go from there.”

“You’re serious? But what about the team? What about protecting Shuggazoom?”

“Shuggazoom does need protectors, but that doesn’t mean it always has to be us. The Super Robot can pilot himself now and there are plenty of other heroes here to help out.”

Defeating the Skeleton King once and for all hadn’t been the only outcome of their victory. The Dark One corruption that had tainted places like the jungles and Blasted Lands had been also dealt with. The end result was that there was suddenly a lot of land outside of Shuggazoom City suitable for civilization. Land that they had offered to their allies, especially the groups that had nowhere else to go.

The Robo-Apes were one of the groups who took up their offer, to Otto’s delight. He quickly settled in to the group, offering his mechanical expertise for things from repairs to lessons. Being in such a setting seemed provide him with nonstop inspiration, resulting in the largest streak of inventions from him that the team had ever seen.  

Alliana and the rest of the Arcadia survivors also settled down. Jinmay, who knew what it was like to be new to Shuggazoom, was always ready to help them out however she could. Just like how Otto endured himself to the Robo-Apes, so too did Jinmay become a beloved figure to the settlement.  

Chiro helped out with both groups when he could, but often he was busy in Shuggazoom. It wasn’t just that he was the hero of the city, but also an inspiration. He was an example of how any citizen could stand up to defend the city. So like how the monkeys had taught him how to be a hero all those years ago, he now taught the bright eyed youths of the city. It was weird seeing the student becoming the teacher, but Chiro thrived in the role.  

And regarding teachers, Antauri found himself with some new students. The disciples of the Veran Mystics that had survived the destruction of their order had tracked him down and also set down roots in Shuggazoom. They sought a way to undo the corrupted teachings of the previous masters, so Antauri taught them. He had even considered the idea of reestablishing the order, or at least a successor of some sort to it.  

And then there was Gibson, who was taking advantage of the untainted jungle to frequent the Alchemist’s old labs. He spent days going through his books, notes, and files. He even brought the spell book from among their battle trophies with him, intending on following their creator’s lead in combining science and magic.  

Everyone one else has their own plans and goals, something of their own to focus on that had nothing to do with being Hyperforce, except for Sprx. Maybe it was penance for his doubt that lead to the war, or maybe it was fear that if his dedication wavered for even a moment he would cause another. Whatever it was, the monkey that had once taken every opportunity to laze about now refused to take a break.  

Well, Nova had a goal of her own.  

“I know you want to go and explore the stars. So now you can.” Then she blushed, “And I want to be with my boyfriend. So I'd like to go with you...if you’ll have me.”

She yelped as he picked her up and spun her around, which quickly became a laugh alongside his own. He put her down, holding her close as he nudged his forehead against hers. “How did I ever get a girl as wonderful as you?”  

“I believe you said something about being my personal chauffeur.” She said with a laugh. “I take it that is a yes?”  

Sprx answered her with a kiss, surprising her but it was a good kind of surprise as she melted into the embrace.  

“Whatever you want,” He said when they parted, a bit out of breath from the long kiss. “So, Galaxia?“

“That, and don’t forget about seeing Quint. We have three months to begin with, and then we can request some more time if we want. You got any recommendations?”  

She could just see his mind spinning, planning out an itinerary for their trip already and figuring out what other stops to include. Maybe they could go to that one stop with the Lugs again? They did have some cute plushies there that she wouldn’t mind getting, though Sprx would probably insist on being the one to purchase them for her.  

They would return to Shuggazoom, of course. It was their home and they would always be members of the Hyperforce, their family. But for now, it would just be him, her, and the stars. 

[sobdasha]

11 - ALBW headcanon that Ravio is actually the mastermind of the game

and the one manipulating Link into his Hero destiny.

Well...I mean, not entirely, not all the way from the start. Yuga's agenda is Yuga's alone, to get a Triforce and remake Lorule according to his own divine design. But once the ball is rolling, it's Ravio who runs with it for his own parallel-right-up-until-the-end goals.

I don't think Ravio's role in the game is supposed to be a mirror of Link's--finding courage and becoming a hero by facing your fears and no longer running away. I think he's playing up his ridiculous persona while pulling strings and directing Link--more of a Triforce of Wisdom role, more like Sheik in Ocarina of Time or Zelda in Skyward Sword. He's the one who gives Link the magic bracelet that enables him stand against Yuga and travel to Lorule; he's the one who provides the items Link needs to rescue the sages. Ravio's not a fighter, he's a strategist.

(And, following that, I don't think Princess Hilda is so much a mirror of Princess Zelda as her role reminds me of Link. Her persistence, her determination, her quest to save her kingdom even if it means she has to dirty her hands a bit, her cluelessly holding open doors for the evil villain [haha remember that time in Ocarina of Time when Link let Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm, and that time in Oracle of Ages when Link broke a sacred barrier so Veran could steal Nayru? Good going, Hero…]. Hilda almost doesn't give up at the end of the game. She strikes me as the kind of "strategist" whose strategy is "I'll fight them, and if that doesn't work, I'll just fight them harder.")

So when Lorule looked doomed, and Hilda couldn't find any way to save her kingdom, and Ravio was the last person left in her court, and suddenly Yuga showed up with his magic and his revelation of the Sacred Realm and, beyond that, Hyrule and its still-perfect Triforce, and revealed his plan to get their hands on it and restore Lorule…

I see Ravio trying to get Princess Hilda alone to go: "Okay, okay, so this sounds like a valid plan, I don't trust Yuga as far as I can throw him which, I can't, but his strategy sounds solid. So like we go to this Hyrule and we 'kidnap' the sages, alright, I'm with you there, so then that makes Hyrule's Hero pop up out of nowhere just like in all their legends and he comes to save them, good good. We let the Hero do his thing, the sages give the Hero Hyrule's Triforce in the Sacred Realm, so now it's out and about in the world, that's all great. But like okay hear me out here WHAT IF, novel idea I know but what if instead of stealing it we just, like, ask the Hero. Who likes saving people and kingdoms and shit. If he would use Hyrule's Triforce the way it's intended in the legends and you know. Just wish for Lorule to have a Triforce again. No stealing no doom just two happy kingdoms, let's totally ditch Yuga and start kidnapping people ourselves what do you say?"

And when Hilda doesn't listen--when she's too caught up in Yuga's plan, too afraid of losing everything to trust Hyrule, too stupidly noble to realize that Yuga is obviously planning to betray her in the end, too difficult to get alone and in private where Yuga's not gonna know what's up and probably turn Ravio into a painting...Ravio decides, you know what, he can work with this. It's still a pretty solid plan, except for that end bit, it's the best plan they've ever had, now that they know about Hyrule and its Triforce and how you go about getting it into a usable position.

So long as he wears a disguise and no one catches him interfering with their Hero it's all good, right? Haha, it's going to be all good, yessiree, Sheerow please remember him fondly if he gets murdered for this.

And so Ravio finds Link (okay, first he finds Osfala, but in hindsight he probably should have known that the guy bragging about saving the kingdom was gonna be a bust, while the guy who knocked himself out running into a wall trying to fight Yuga had "hero" written all over him), and he gives him the bracelet while lying his ass off (woooow, it did what now? Who knew that would happen it's not like that's what I used to get over here to Hyrule, haha!), and he rents and sells him items (Triforce of Wisdom not Triforce of Poverty, lining his pockets in the course of helping out the Hero is called resourcefulness! Consider it donations to the Lorule Restoration Fund!), and then he bursts in on the final boss battle to go "PRINCESS HILDA NO YOU ARE NOT AN EVIL VILLAIN SO WHY U DO THIS."

And I really don't think that Ravio was content to just give up on Lorule and let it perish. He finally convinced Princess Hilda to give up the fight at long last...but it was strategy, all along. Lose the battle win the war, run away to fight another day, etc etc.

Let Princess Zelda and Link walk away with Hyrule's Triforce, okay, we don't have to doom Hyrule to Lorule's fate. Because we've met them now, they're both clearly nice empathetic people who likes being heroes and saving people and they've just heard our sob story, in about three minutes at least one of the two of them is going to say "Hey but what if we made a wish on the Triforce for Lorule to be saved???", especially after we've just made a huge show of being nobly resigned to our fates, trust in their bleeding hearts, it's all going to be great.

Don't worry about all your villain schpeals, Hilda, they know Yuga was manipulating you and anyway I totally Stockholmed Link good, he won't just leave his buddy to die.

...haha man I hope he's not holding a grudge about the item rental shop biz...

[secretariatess]

Arvek 16

           It was unnatural how everything went back to its normal state after he returned with King Masitof.  While it was not a long trip, it should have been long enough -and abrupt enough, he felt- that something was disturbed in the way things went.

           However, everyone treated it like he had just gone for a day’s trip around the city. Instead, all the attention went into the preparations for the party from Phrompt, not just in making sure the guests were well accommodated, but also that they had as little interaction as possible with anyone outside of the castle.  Rasinod, the castle healer, was forced to surreptitiously get large quantities of medical supplies to ensure the public was not alarmed, and believed the party from Phrompt were indeed infected instead of realizing that they were taking precautionary measures.

           Things had not been resolved between Masitof and Arvek, and the bustling atmosphere of the castle did not help the relationship.  When Arvek was no longer needed for his duties as prince, he found himself more often than not in the company of his mother or Cor, the only two in the castle who seemed to acknowledge his impromptu quest.  Even though Arvek did not return with Selim, Niara made sure to express her gratitude several times for his attempt.

           The queen had adopted an air of weariness since Arvek had left.  To the public, she did everything in her power to maintain the grace and control of a queen.  In private, her shoulders drooped, her head hung, and the life had left her eyes.

           If there was something more that he could do, if there was something that he could say, Arvek would’ve done it in a heartbeat.  Seeing her like that made his heart twist in pain, made worse by the fact that he knew the only way her own pain could be eased was in the assurance that Selim was safe.

           And who knew how long that would take?  Who could say how well the instructions to the Veil would be followed?

           He was not allowed to ponder this question for long, as the party arrived within the week of his return.

           When the party’s arrival to the city was announced, Arvek, his younger brothers, and Niara went to watch their procession through streets from the palace’s balcony overlooking the city.  It was hard to miss them, as they had quite a colorful display that clashed with the streets, as well as banners with Phrompt’s crest, lest there be any mistaking this decadently dressed parade was somehow from Harlofelp.  Had Arvek been in a lighter mood, he may have considered it quite humorous.

           “I always heard that they put their horses in dresses,” Veran remarked, leaning over the balcony guard, his hand propping up his chin.  “I never thought it was actually true. But even after seeing it with my own eyes, I still don’t think it’s true. It looks quite ridiculous.”

           “I would hope that you would remember your manners well enough not to say such things in their presence,” Niara said, a hint of a warning in her tone.

           Veran looked affronted.  “Of I wouldn’t. But you can’t tell me you’re not thinking that they look like their horses were invited to a ball.”

           Well, it wasn’t something Arvek was going to admit.  Phrompt had covered their horses, with the exception of the team pulling the carriage, with long flowing cloaks, some of even going up the neck and covering the horses’ heads like masks.  Fitting for a masquerade ball to be sure.  But as far as Arvek was aware, no one was actually planning on having a masquerade ball while the Phrompt party was visiting.

           “Just like their horses, they have their princess well hidden,” Cor noted, as the carriage came closer and they saw that all the windows were covered by curtains. In the time they watched, the curtains did not even flutter once to indicate that the princess was even the slightest curious in where she was headed.

           “It is not so important to see her now,” Niara remined him.  “We will see her in only a few moments.”

           When the carriage disappeared from view, Arvek departed his family and headed to greet the arrivals.  Ignoring the look his father gave him as he entered the entrance hall, he assumed his position -arms folded behind his back, torso straight.

           First entered the herald, announcing the arrival of King Tyrovo of Phrompt, and his daughter Princess Rovyna.

           Next came a handful of guards, positioning themselves symmetrically to the sides so the king and princess could walk down the middle.

           Then came the awaited two themselves.

           King Tyrovo hobbled in, doubled over with a cane in one hand and the other clutching his daughter’s arm.  The metal chain that held his robe in place appeared to weigh him down, swinging happily in the pull of gravity.  Wispy white hair appeared as though it at some point that day had been carefully groomed, but now stuck in every direction and generally doing whatever it pleased.  The king’s wrinkled face had a permanent frown, eyebrows so close together he seemed to have unibrow hanging over two once dark eyes that knew no other expression but a glare.

           Next to his hobble and clunking as the cane hit the ground with every step glided the Princess Rovyna.  She stood a head taller than her father if he stood straight, her chin lifted in the air. Black hair with copper highlights was swept back into a braided bun, held in place by her tiara.  Her eyes watched Masitof and Arvek carefully, but her expression was otherwise unreadable.

           They came to a stop when they were with in a few feet of the king and prince of Harlofelp.

           After a brief pause the four exchanged the proper bows, or in the case of Rovyna, curtsy.

           “Welcome to Harlofelp,” Masitof said, when he had lifted his head.  He spread his hands in welcome, but they only parted so far.  “I hope that your journey here was not too difficult.”

           “It would have been better if the roads were smoother,” Tyrovo said crossly. His voice was a curious noise.  It sounded as though a mouse was attempting to roar.  “I might not be as young as I used to be, but a young man could break his neck out there!”

           Arvek bit back the response he wanted to give upon hearing rather unfair criticism of his kingdom.

           Rovyna made no reaction to her father’s criticism, the expression the same as when she entered.

           Masitof clenched his jaw before continuing to greet his guests.  “That is unfortunate to hear,” he said.  “I hope your stay here will not be as rocky as the road.”

           “We’ll see about that,” Tyrovo muttered under his breath.  He took a glance around the entrance hall.  Arvek could see the very negative things coming to the king’s mind to say.

           Apparently, so did Rovyna.  Before her father could make mention of his surroundings, she said, “Forgive me for being so forward and skipping several formalities, but I am afraid the trip here has quite tired me out. Would it be too much for me to ask if we could be shown somewhere to rest until the evening meal?”  Her tone was smooth and diplomatic, betraying no hint of emotion.

           Masitof stepped to the side, gesturing her onward.  “The servants will show you to your rooms,” he said, matching her tone.

           She dipped into another gracefully curtsy before striding forth, chin still held high.  Her father stumbled a couple of steps beside her, but was too weak to actually hold her back and too reluctant to let go of her.  Arvek caught him grumbling something as they passed, but missed what he said.  As Rovyna glided by, the two of them exchanged a glance with guarded curiosity.

           So this was who he was expected to marry.  Though there was little to glean from their brief encounter, at the very least, she knew how to keep her father in check.

           For now, that was.

[rhobeta-and-epsilon]

I wanna see Leridan he seems silly /pos

My favorite parts from that time lord name poll I did:

- people saying they didn’t recognize redred but it sounded so stupid that it had to be a real time lord name

- veklin losing, because she has the ultimate time lord name and I’ll stand by that

- multiple people saying they knew leridan was the fake because it sounded too normal

[jadeender]

A Desperate Act

As Warriors scarf hit the blood soaked ground Hyrule knew he had to do something, anything, if he didn’t Warriors would end up exactly like him trapped inside his own body with no way out.

“I’m sorry Warriors.” Hyrule whispered as he summoned what strength he could.

“What are you…..?” Callous began before Hyrule stuck forth with incredible speed casting a single spell, thunder.

A bolt of lightning shot from the sky hitting Conqueror dead on causing the man to fall to his knees before passing out completely.

Callous turned on him rapidly. “What the hell did you do? How did you do that? You shouldn’t have that much freedom.”

Hyrule’s attention was still on trying to watch what was happening with the others but a crimson haze was falling over their vision as Callous’s anger grew. Hyrule glimpsed the other running to Warriors to make sure he was ok before his vision was obscured completely.

“I should have felt it. Should have known you were getting a little control after the last time, but it won’t slip my mind again. Tonight we’re going to have some fun.” Callous promised.

____________________________________________________________________________

Wild ran towards Warriors in fear, he hadn’t used Urbosa’s Fury and neither had Noble, who else knew how to use lightning he wondered his mind racing. When they reached Warriors the man was out cold, his clothes signed from the lightning, his breathing was erratic but there.

“We need to get him somewhere safe.” Wild yelled to the others, with Warriors out and Time still unfit to lead them it Wild felt something he didn’t even know he had take over as he started belting out orders.

“Pick him up we need to get out of here fast.” He commanded and Twilight and Legend moved forward to oblige. Looking ahead he could see towns people gathering at the gates their faces horrified at the act they had just seen.

The two hefted Warriors up so Twilight could carry him piggy back style.

“Wait.” Came a single comanding word. A lone woman strode from the gates but her entrance was nothing like that of Veran’s. This woman commanded respect with each footstep and the citizens moved away as she progressed. She was dressed for battle wearing a dress like outfit that showed of pants underneath for mobility and sensible boots.

“Princess Zelda.” Time said before dropping into a bow and the others following suit somewhat awkwardly except for Twilight.

She continued on until she stopped before the group, a rapier strapped at her waist. Zelda eyes Warriors on Twilights back and spoke “Explain.”

Wild stood and as quickly as possible he began “Warriors was being possessed by a dark shadow of himself he wasn’t in control of his actions…”

Zelda cut him off after a moment. “The shadow are back, I’ve fought their kind before. Bring him into the city, straight to the castle, no detours.”

She spun around and began marching towards the castle her braided hair swaying in the wind. They didn’t hesitate to follow her back towards the castle, all of them knowing not to mess with Zelda.

With the question of where to go solved Wild’s mind drifted back to wondering where those leadership instincts had come from but he brushed that aside for now. For now he needed to know who had stuck Warriors.

“Do any of the other darks make lightning?” Wild asked Noble hoping the dark would be cooperative despite his usual disliking of Wild.

“Not that I know of, but we aren’t exactly the feelings and secret sharing types.” Noble replied. Which while it wasnt rather helpful, Noble did actually answer the question which was a welcome change from being ignored or insulted.

Who did that leave that knew big magic out of the links? Wild ran through the list until he stopped at one hero, one who always seemed to rely greatly on magic. Wild stole a glance at Hyrule and found the man walking not ashamedly like the others but holding himself and trying to appear as neutral though he was dramatically failing.

Wild may not have been the most experienced or smartest Link but he had picked up some researcher esque skills from his Zelda. Right now Hyrule was the most likely suspect. As they made their way into the castle Wild kept an eye on the other hero trying not to be very obvious.

Warriors’s Zelda led them to Warriors room in the castle, a rather nice place near her own room. Twilight laid Warriors into his bed and they all waited from Zelda to talk. Once she was inside she deflated slightly and took a breath.

“Is he ok?” Zelda looked at Warriors worridely.

“He’ll be fine.” Time said. “However the um shadow isn’t gone. We need to get him out of here soon, we can’t stay.”

Zelda looked back at Time. “How did this happen? The shades could never do anyting like this before.”

Wild stepped forward slightly. “What exactly did you mean when you said you’d fought shades before?”

Zelda sat down on the end of Warriors bed sighing. “When we were fighting Cia she was able to copies of Link, myself, and even our other allies, they had dark forms and glowing red eyes but they were never able to do anything like this.”

“Shadow clones.” Noble noted.

“What are those?” Wild asked back. Noble huffed but answered.

“Weak imitations created by magic, nothing like us real darks. They’re just mindless servants.” Noble answered scoffing at the idea that he could ever be compared to such weak creatures. Wild thought back to the massacre outside the castle, Conqueror had created several copies of himself, perhaps that's what shadow clones were.

As Wild returned his attention to the conversation Hyrule of all people was explaining the same thing he had just heard to Warrior’s Zelda. Wild filled away another note of suspicion before glancing back at Zelda. Her face remained strong though she did appear somewhat worried.

“Will Link be ok?” Zelda asked.

“With any luck he’ll be back in control and just fine.” Time answered with false hope. “But as soon as he wakes up we need to leave.”

Sky who had been examining Warriors nodded. “We won’t be waking up for hours probably. We should stay the night.”

Time nodded in agreement.

Zelda stood. “I’ll have rooms prepared for you, and you look as though you could use a bath and a good meal.”

Time shook his head. “If it’s allowed we would rather stay here with Warriors.”

If Zelda was confused by the nickname she didn’t show it. “Of course, I don't know how you all know my Link but it’s good that he has you. I’ll have cots and food sent it as soon as I can.”

With that she left and they all relaxed a little shutting the door behind her.

“What now?” Wind asked. “Are we really going to stay the night.”

Time nodded his head, trying to get back into the swing of being leader. “Its better this way, it’s already late and staying here is safer than venturing into an unknown land with a hurt companion and no direction. Try and relax a little while we wait.”

Time took a seat on one of the couches near the balcony and removed his armor the black tunic underneath once again becoming apparent. The others followed suit setting aside their things and sitting around to wait. Four, whom had reformed sometime during the massacre, took up a position sitting near Legend who once again was sitting there examining his mirror, like he had often done since Acidic had….. been lost.

Twilight sat by himself, while Sky was sitting on the end of Warriors bed watching the wounded hero. Sky pulled out his mirror for a moment and Wild caught a glimpse of the back two triforce symbols adorned it. An upside down triforce etched in red rested over top a normal triforce etched in gold. The points almost touching.

Sky checked the mirror before quickly putting away. That confirmed Wild’s suspicion for sure, all of the mirrors had symbols on them. One or two could have been a coincidence but three is a pattern.

Wild watches the others carefully to see if any of them would pull out their mirrors and none did.

Settling into a chair in the corner Wild pulled out their mirror and looked into the glass. After a moment his reflection changed and morphed into that of Noble. Wild raised an eyebrow but did say his surprise out loud, a lifetime of training and stress had suppressed that reaction.

"Do you want to talk?" Noble asked his voice tired.

"You knew you could do this?" Wild questioned thinking back to the dark rather than voicing his thoughts.

"It's what the mirrors do, they allow us to watch our lights. And I suppose in your hands it allows you to watch us." Noble mussed as he messed with his hair, slowly unbraiding and braiding it combing with his fingers for lack of an actual comb.

Wild looked at the others wondering if any of the others knew, resting his eyes on Legend Wild got the idea that he must as Legend continued to stare into his mirror.

A knock at the door surprised all of them less than an hour later as servants came is bearing cots and a more food then they'd seen in months, by the time the servants were done they'd brought in an entire feast.

As they ate Wild watched his companions a practice he did commonly, once again the chat was non existent the weight of what Warriors and Conqueror had done weighed on all of them.

Once they finished eating Time stood. "We may be safe in the castle but after what happened today we are not safe from the people. We will be hunted by angry family members and vengeful spouses after what they did. We leave at first light whether Warriors wakes up on not."

No one bothered to argue because they all knew it was true, after the massacre that took place they'd be lucky to leave the city without a mob on their hands.

______________________________________

When night feel Callous finally submitted to sleep, an act he didn't do commonly because it made you weak and vulnerable to attack. But tonight was different, tonight he had work to do. When lights were asleep it left a certain opportunity to….. talk.

Callous entered the realm of Hyrule's dreams with ease, practice and training paying off.

As usual Hyrule was dreaming of a maze like ones he spent much of his time in during his quest. Callous watched as his light tried to navigate the maze, without light nor sword. Laughing lightly Callous watched the light run into a wall before turning and continuing on. Hyrule was persistent that's for sure. But all things break with time.

Using his influence Callous caused the dream to shift and suddenly Hyrule found himself strapped into a chair in a dark room.

"Callous?" The light called out questioning.

Without flourish or show Callous appeared from the shadows in front of his light.

"Hello Hyrule. You did something very bad today, and I promised we'd have some fun. Or a least I will." Callous let out a cruel laugh and summoned a knife into his hand. With one had he yanked Hyrules bad quickly so that it slammed into the back of the chair.

Positioning the knife over Hyrules exposed face he said "Let's have some fun."

[jadeender]

The Fortress of Light and Darkness Part 3

After they had left the musical puzzle everyone was on edge but overall the mood had lightened. Sky was still downcast, Four had seen the way he looked at the harp in disgust, as though it was the worst thing ever made. It had to be Stygian but soon they would reach the top of the fortress and would be able to be separated from the darks. 

He’d be able to see Shadow again! Not to say having Shadow in his head wasn’t nice but soon Shadow would be his own person again. That thought fueled him as Four and the others traversed the fortress. 

The hallways they traveled were well lit and spacious, they just seemed to go on forever. The group would activate the occasional switch to reveal a new passage or fight off weak enemies to open a door but nothing complicated like the musical puzzle. 

After what they presumed to be a couple hours the group stopped to rest, without windows and with the constant light it was hard to tell whether it was day or night.

“While we’re stopped we should get some rest. Only an hour or two, we’ll need to be at our best when we get to Veran.” Legend said. 

Four nodded. They all knew to take Legend at face value, anyone who was powerful enough to do this to them had to have some tricks up their sleeve.

“What powers does she have?” Four signed.

“Mainly she shoots fireballs, but her most annoying ability is being able to possess people. The only way to get her out of a host last time was to use magic seeds but I don't have any left. So we’ll have to keep her from possessing anyone.” Legend finished his face grim.

“Any other surprises we should be expecting?” Wild asked. Legend just shook his head.

“That's all I can remember, if she manages to possess someone their skin will go completely blue. That's all I can think of.” 

“Good to know. You all get some sleep, I’ll wake you in an hour.” Twilight ordered and the others easily obliged, even Wild who normally would have insisted to help watch. 

Four feel asleep quickly his hood acting as a pillow.

____________________________________________________________________________

A little while later Twilight was calling for them all to wake up and as Four awoke he stretched and yawned. Turning to Legend Four tried to tell his friend something only to have his voice grate against his messed up vocal chords, the pain of it catching in his throat.

The others looked at him in worry as Four gripped his throat and coughed, a small amount of blood came out into his hand. Still after all this time it hadn’t even healed enough to allow him to speak a little bit. Sign was a fine substitute for most things but still, he missed laughing and singing. 

“Four?” Legend asked looking at him in worry.

“Fine.” He signed back before taking on a “I promise.”

With more reassurances the others left him alone and kept going, they tracked along spacious hallways adorned with light colored bricks and red carpet under their feet, something more fitting of Hyrule Castle. Not that any of them would have complained, better than the dark and dank tunnels of the temples, palaces, and dungeons they’d traversed before. 

As they rounded another corner the roof of the hallway began to slope down towards the end, curious they continued on and the hallway continued to narrow and grow shorter. Four watched the walls noting how the gentle change turned to a rapid one, before long Sky and Twilight were slouching a lot, soon Wild and Legend were too.

When the tunnel got to crawling height they began to worry. 

“Should we go back?” Wild asked the others sitting down his head nearly scraping the ceiling. 

“No, there weren’t any other paths back there. This has to be another puzzle somehow.” Legend observed.

Four had a sinking feeling this particular puzzle was somehow oriented around him. 

Four shook his head and caught the others attention, he signed “I'll go, make sure we can get through.”

After a curt nod from Twilight Four turned and started down the hallway, if need be he could shrink down to minish size, or even if he just split any one of them was smaller than their combined form. 

So he continued on down the mind bendingly long tunnel, feeling as it got tighter and tighter, a feeling he wasn’t quite accustomed to being as small as he is. Eventually he got the point where he was crawling along on his belly and his head kept hitting the ceiling. He has long ago stopped being able to see his friends, and he had no way to communicate at this distance either since he couldn’t shout. 

Finally he got frustrated and grabbed onto the feather that served as an earring on his left ear and spoke a quick spell, the familiar buzz of magic took over and within moments he had shrunk down to his minsh form, this form being barely four inches tall the space that had felt cramped now was open and wide. Four scurried forward to get through the tunnel as quickly as possible. 

Scurrying along the hall he soon came to a small door, Four opened the door noticing how only in minish size would anyone fit through. Whatever this was it had clearly been designed for him.

As he went through the door he found himself in a room bearing four doors each with weighted switches in front of them. Though the room was still minish sized. Walking over to one switch he stepped onto it causing the door in front of him to open, testing a theory he momentarily stepped off causing the door to go shut again.

Sighing Four grabbed his sword which had shrunk down with him and called upon its latent power, the feeling of his mind being pulled apart took over and soon Four minish heroes stood staring at each other. 

“We’re on a time limit.” Green signed. “Never been split while small before.”

The others nodded while Green continued, “Where’s Shadow?”

Blue raised his hand, the usually hot tempered hero signed deftly unused to having to think about that, since Green usually handled it. 

“Take one door each.” Vio signed to his brothers and they nodded taking up spots in front of each door. Once they did the doors opened as Green counted down, 3, 2, 1, go. Quickly all four took off down their hallways.

____________________________________________________________________________

As they scurried down the hallways each copy encountered twists and turns. It was like being a mouse in a maze, and their frustration only grew higher.

“I can't do this anymore!” Blue said to Shadow flopping down on the tunnel floor. “We’re never getting out, I’m just going to wait here for the others to find me.”

“They won’t be able to find you here, and you know what happens when you stay apart for too long.” Shadow warned, normally he wouldn’t have been very talkative but Blue needed the encouragement, otherwise the dark knew he would just sit here and fume until exhaustion overtook them from being apart for so long. “We really will be stuck here forever if you don’t get moving.”

“You’re just as bad as Green.” Blue’s voice mumbled inside their head as he stood up and kept going.

Soon they ran into a new room, this one big like the four hallways, but had only two doors. 

Above them was an inscription “Two doors, one will lead to your reward, the other will lead to your death, choose the right door or perish.”

By this point Blue was exhausted mentally and physically, he was annoyed and he was tired. The few hours of sleep they had gotten only served to make his irritability worse. Noticing the three other tunnels on the wall behind him Blue and Shadow decided the others would likely be there soon.

In line with that prediction the others slowly arrived, first Vio, then Green and finally Red. 

“So, which door do we choose?” Vio signed after Red finished hugging them all. It wasn’t often they were separated anymore so Red had to get his hugs when he could. 

“Why don't we open them both and see?” Blue offered passing on the suggestion from Shadow.

“We might not be able to go back once its open.” Green signed looking at the doors and the surrounding area. 

“It says to choose the ‘right’ door so we should take the left.” Vio signed.

“Why?”

“It's a reverse idea, putting what seems like the right answer but is actually wrong.” Vio explain giving a calculating look over the door.

“Legend did say Veran was cunning. Let's do it.” Green affirmed nodding his head. The four of them headed to the door almost knocking into each other. 

“Oh right.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The once again merged Four opened the left door and carefully walked down the hallways it bended and twisted but never turned, after a time he noticed it began to get bigger again, and bigger, until he could have fit in it a full size. Speaking the reverse incantation Four grew back to full size as his animal like minish features reverted to normal Hylian.

Once he was full size again he heard voices not far away. So he continued forward quickly and soon found himself back in the original hallway, with the other four heroes he had awoken with.

When they noticed him emerging Wild and Twilight ran to him.

“What happened?”

“Did you find the way?”

“It's been hours.”

He signed as quickly as he could without losing meaning, telling them about the tunnels and the maze, and then finally the doors. As he reached that point in his story a voice drifted out.

“So the rat has made it through my maze, and in only a few short hours. Pity, I had hoped it would take days. You may proceed.” As Veran’s voice drained away the hallways warped and turned from the cramped space into a wide hallway once again with a staircase rising in front of them.

“I did it.” Four signed looking up at his friends. His stomach grumbled loudly and his last thought before passing out was “I forgot how much energy that was going to take.”