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aventurineswife · 26 days ago

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Even Immortals Have Limits

Tags: Aventurine x Reader, Sunday x Reader, Ratio x Reader, Immortal!Reader, Angst, Romance, Death, Immortality, Heartbreak, Loss, Emotional Pain, Final Moments, Heartfelt Farewells, Bittersweet, Grief, Sorrow.

Warnings: Character death, Emotional Distress, Grief, Heart-wrenching Scenes, References To Immortality and Its Limitations, Heavy Angst, Themes Of Letting Go and Moving On.

A/N: was originally a Wattpad req but I liked it too much so I decided to post here too...��‍♀️

The night sky above Penacony was alight with streaks of neon, a false dawn cast by the city's endless chaos. Aventurine held you close against him, his usually warm eyes clouded with something unreadable-something far more painful than his ever-present mask of amusement could hide.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered, his voice trembling. For once, his words were devoid of the calculated charm that so often graced them. They were raw, unpolished-a reflection of his shattered heart.

"I didn't want you to worry," you murmured, your voice weak but steady. Immortality had its limits, and you had reached yours. Every breath was harder than the last, and yet, you forced a smile, mirroring his signature expression. "Besides, you would've tried to gamble with death itself to stop this."

Aventurine chuckled, a hollow sound that held no mirth. "And what's wrong with that? I would've bet the entire universe if it meant keeping you here."

You reached up, your trembling fingers brushing against his cheek. His smile faltered, his mask cracking further. "Some things... even you can't outplay, Kakavasha."

Hearing his true name on your lips sent a pang through him, more searing than any loss he had ever endured. He pressed his forehead to yours, his golden rings glinting as he held your hand to his face. "Don't say that," he begged, his voice breaking. "Don't you dare say goodbye."

Your breaths grew shallower, but you mustered the strength to whisper, "It's not goodbye. Just... the end of my turn."

Aventurine shook his head, tears falling freely now. "I hate this game. I hate losing you."

"You're not losing me," you whispered, a bittersweet smile on your lips. "You're just... letting me go."

His lips found yours in a desperate, lingering kiss, one that spoke of all the words he couldn't say. When he pulled back, your eyes had already begun to close, your body growing still in his arms.

Aventurine clung to you, the weight of his grief crushing him as he pressed a final kiss to your forehead.

For the first time in his life, the master gambler felt truly defeated.

The laboratory was silent, save for the rhythmic ticking of a clock. Ratio sat by your side, his normally sharp and unshakable demeanor unraveling as he held your hand in his. His hair fell into his eyes, and for once, he didn't bother brushing it aside.

"This isn't logical," he muttered, his voice low and strained. "You're immortal. You-there's no data to support this."

You gave him a faint smile, your golden eyes dimmed but still warm. "Even immortals have limits, Ratio. I'm just... reaching mine."

He clenched his jaw, his hands tightening around yours. "No," he said firmly. "I refuse to accept that. There's always a solution. A cure, a method-something I've overlooked."

You reached up weakly, cupping his cheek. "You can't solve everything, Ratio. Some equations... just don't have answers."

His eyes, ringed with yellow, filled with unshed tears. "That's not true. If I had more time, I could-"

"Stop," you interrupted softly, your voice barely a whisper. "You gave me so much more than I ever thought I'd have. You gave me... you."

Ratio's hand trembled as he placed it over yours, his chest tightening with a pain he couldn't calculate. "That's not enough," he said, his voice breaking. "It's not enough if I lose you."

"You're not losing me," you said gently. "I'll always be with you. In every discovery, every equation you solve... I'll be there."

His tears fell silently as he leaned down, capturing your lips in a tender kiss. It was soft, lingering, and filled with a love he couldn't put into words. When he pulled back, your hand fell limp in his grasp.

For the first time in his life, Ratio found himself faced with a problem he could not solve-and a loss he could not quantify.

The Astral Express was quiet, the hum of the engines a soft backdrop to the heartbreaking stillness in Sunday's arms. His hair framed his face, his eyes filled with unspeakable sorrow as he held you close, his wings trembling behind him.

"I thought we'd have more time," he whispered, his voice barely audible. The golden halo behind his head dimmed, its eye-like symbols closing one by one.

"So did I," you replied weakly, your fingers brushing against the flowing scarf draped over his shoulders. "But... maybe this is enough."

His brows furrowed, a flash of pain crossing his serene features. "It's not. You mean everything to me. How can this ever be enough?"

You smiled faintly, your pupils shimmering with the last light of your life. "You taught me... that dreams are worth chasing. Even fleeting ones."

Tears slid down Sunday's cheeks, his dignified composure crumbling. "And you were my dream," he said, his voice breaking. "You still are."

You reached up, your hand brushing against his feathered wings. "Don't stop dreaming, Sunday. Promise me."

He closed his eyes, his wings folding around you protectively as he pressed his forehead to yours. "I promise," he whispered, his voice trembling.

Your breaths grew shallow, and he pulled you into a final kiss, a gentle and lingering touch that spoke of all the love he couldn't put into words. When he pulled back, your eyes had closed, and the warmth in your body faded.

Sunday clutched you tightly, his golden halo dimming completely as he whispered, "Goodnight, my love."

For the first time, the celestial protector felt as if he had lost his way in the Dreamscape-without you to guide him back.

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phoenixcatch7 · 6 months ago

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Just finished oracle of ages!!! Good game, good game. I have Thoughts.

I actually really enjoyed the story and characters! I figured going into the oracle games that it'd be a simple, cliché story, not much nuance or depth, and with Seasons that's basically what I got: din gets fridged in a crystal at the start of the game -> go get her -> you need a set of maguffins to do so -> fight big monster.

Admittedly it was the first game, which meant less story, but even if I hadn't linked (heh) the games for extra end game content Ages just did so much more.

Unlike din, naryu has someone else willing to help her. Ralph (the twinkiest twink to ever twink) was a young man who was her devoted friend (there was a weird crush triangle thing going on with him, Link and naryu, I always felt like I was missing subtext) and, spoilers for a 20yo game?? I guess?

He was the dethroned descendant of the ancient queen Ami. His family definitely still have big money though. He was pretty clearly supposed to be a comic relief character with a twist, but I ended up really liking him! He was over enthusiastic and over confident, but not unintelligent, a decent swordsman (I think) who was incredibly loyal to his friends and held some deep rooted responsibility for the people his family used to rule. Kind, determined, good with kids and people in general, he was terrified but willing to sacrifice his very existence to save the people.

The world building was also great! I don't think I've ever played a zelda game without gorons, but hylians were in short supply. To be expected outside of hyrule, I guess? Anyway, there were also lizard people on an island (tokay!) whose entire deal was.. A bit outdated? Rude, brazen and aggressive to outsiders, they lived in crude huts, worshipped things they didn't quite understand and were generally the old Hollywood stereotype of an isolated jungle tribe.

There was also, like, zora racism? There's a zora village underwater, and one of them was like 'us sea zora are nothing like those river zora 😒' which handily solved both my question of if the river/ocean zora divide was canon or fanon and the relationships between the two. Are they even the same species?? It just makes the rito even weirder but hey lmao. In all honesty I was pretty sick of the river zora at that point too, I swear there were two of them popping up in every screen that had even a sliver of water deeper than the knees and they CONSTANTLY shot fireballs istg they were such a pain. They were literally everywhere and so hard to kill.

On the plus side mermaid suit ^u^!! A dungeon item (the mermaids cave), the item had a desc like 'the skin of the mythical beast' which raised SO many more questions than it answered. The zora were delighted to see a young mermaid! The use of 'maid' implied either a) the zora all thought link was a girl and he didn't correct them (eyo genderqueer androgeny) b) the zora don't subscribe to gender the way humans do (eyo genderqueer androgeny) or c) all fish people look like mermaids regardless of their specific gender (eyo genderqueer androgeny). It literally could have been all three who knows. Maybe one day we'll actually meet a mermaid in zelda.

Also, there's a mini game in Seasons, which I played first, the subrosian dance. It's a pretty popular part of their culture, it's got music, it's got professional dancers. In Ages, you find the gorons doing the exact same dance! Rosa, a subrosian performer you meet in Seasons, is also there, saying her people's dance is better (tbf it is), but if you go to the past you'll find the gorons actually invented the dance first, as part of their love of games and entertainment, and you can talk to two subrosians who are talking about bringing the dance home! It's so interesting to see little details like this, where the travelling subrosians visited their fellow cave dweller lava eating people centuries ago, brought it back home where it exploded in popularity and centuries later became refined as a whole folk dance with spinning and everything, with the people forgetting where it came from, where the gorons keep their dance exactly the same (having to do a rhythm game without rhythm is hard).

Actually, there was so much political fantasy drama going on in the past?? Like, you've got the childless queen taking care of her people, a budding village and a few more settlements across the kingdom. Early in her reign she tried to build a tower to act as a beacon to her fiancé lost at sea, which is a romance story all on its own, but it was cut short (maybe because of funding?). Centuries in the future, it's just ruins. You've got people living on an ACTIVE VOLCANO starting a symmetry cult around a artifact called 'tuni nut' which, presumably, stabilises the volcano? And it's entirely cut off from the outside world. The goron elder is crushed under rocks and their economy is failing. The zora king got poisoned and he's about to die without an heir because a witch turned the fairy queen into an octorock, but the man in charge of the only cure refuses to hand it over until someone passes his tests.

Most of it is solved relatively easily by link and a copious amount of time travel, but the thing with the ruling queen only gets worse. When the evil witch invades the kingdom, she possesses the oracle of ages, naryu (who's a little implied to be the Actual Creation Goddess Naryu reincarnated) and travels back to the past to bring about an age of despair in the present. She does this by slipping into the royal court and befriending the queen as a serving girl, rising up the ranks to become her closest advisor and corrupting her (pretty sure mind control magic is used a li'l). She convinces her to restart the black tower project, pouring all of her and the towns resources into it - forcibly conscripting every able bodied worker and working them to the bone, all while monsters start to circle the tower. With all the fear and resentment, it quickly becomes a beacon of dark energy, a perfect focal point to perform black magics.

Link (and Ralph) end up in the past and get hauled in front of the queen, with possessed naryu at her side, who basically jeers at them and ensures the queen won't listen to their untrustworthy lies. The townsfolk are getting increasingly stressed as their village fills with rubble and their men are worked to the point of collapse. Armed guards start to appear to keep the workers under control. Eventually, Ralph uncovers a hole in the guard rotation, and he and link sneak into the palace through a secret entrance Ralph oh so casually knows about. Link and naryu fight, but with stupendous timing the queen walks in to see naryu collapsed on the floor, Link standing over her with a sword. She calls for the guards, but before anyone can react, the witch, banished form her first vessel, leaps into the queen herself instead. Ralph shoves past the arriving guards and into naryus arms, while link moves in from of them. The queen orders the guards to attack, but naryu, reawakened, pulls them back to the present in the nick of time. In the present, the black tower is magically growing, reaching higher and higher into the sky, terrifying the people of the city.

Then! Ralph, who at this point is suspiciously invested now his actual goal is completed and naryu is safe, vows to go back into time again, away from naryu, to live under the now evil queen and bring protection and comfort to the villagers as a direct act of resistance, because the witch is feeding on their sorrow to power an unknown ritual (link knows. Link, canonically, has told nobody). So this teen in fancy robes and cape goes back to the oppressed, poverty stricken town under the thumb if someone who wants him dead and lives there for weeks if not months dedicating himself to supporting the village and bringing people's hopes and spirits back up, presumably while living out of someone else's wooden hut. In the middle of a literal depression inducing miasma that's sapping everyone's joy and will to live.

That just. Takes insane strength of character. That's a feat of pure, distilled, compassion as anarchy.

Link's off bouncing between past and present doing dungeons and solving easier issues through either sword or magic item, but Ralph is out here doing the long hard slog for little reward.

Link finally returns to the black tower completed, affecting even the people of the present, and, preparations complete, rushes to the past. Ralph is nowhere be seen. Talking to the villagers reveals several have a crush on him, but an old man saw him running for the tower, sword drawn. There's a man pacing by the entrance, who saw the kid run in, tried to stop him. He said Ralph said that he no longer cared what happened to him. That the man realised that Ralph had quietly succumbed to the same curse of despair they all were under. Link fights his way up to the top of the tower, where Ralph confronts the evil queen, sword at her heart, but every step she takes into it, he steps back. The witch laughs. She asks him if he's really willing to write himself out of existence - being the queens descendant, and all. Ralph leaps back, into links chest. He's shaking and stuttering, but he lunges, and is knocked out in one blow. The queen now asks link the same question: is he willing to erase Ralph? If he strikes her, kills her, the queen will die, childless, and he will never live. She leaves, and link rushes to Ralph. He's awake but unresponsive, defeated. With a heavy heart, Link leaves him to chase the queen. It's naryu who finds him, brings him out of the tower.

When the witch is defeated, the curse is lifted, and Ralph is once more energetic and kind. He's a little quieter now, though, sticking close to naryu. For all he was a loud and headstrong kid, I gotta say I was very impressed.

He would have made a good king.

#This started out as a general overview of ooa/oos but quickly devolved into a story about a side character #His side story was a better character arc than totks entire main plot fr #Like I didn't think much of him at first but he really grew on me #There's also the fact that Ralph's existence proves that Ami did eventually get the romance she deserved #But whether the fiance one day returned thanks to the finished tower lighthouse or if she one day remarried I don't know #I like the former option though. A happy ending from all the heartbreak and sorrow #loz #legend of zelda #loz link #loz ooa #loz oos #oracle of ages #oracle of seasons #ooa ralph #loz ralph #Unrelated but I think the oracle games are better than lttp just. Gameplay wise #Like the graphics and frame rate and colour pallet was much worse but it's so much better made #The dialogue is smoother the area transitions are cohesive the maps are a MILLION times better the sprites are easier to read #Playing lttp now so.#In oos/ooa you could change the text speed and in lttp it's so sloooooowwwww #tloz #long post #the legend of zelda

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