Chapter Text
In the throne room of the empire sat Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, facing him was a shaky scout, one shaking in fear at his lord "Report" the emperor demand "My lord we have lost Alnus Hill, Italica is reported to begin negotiations with the kingdom of the other side in what's likely a rebellion, and tall tales spread of a hero who killed an ancient dragon and defeated an apostle" the scout shakily reported.
Molt slammed his fist into his throne, startling the scout, he then begin thinking deeply on how to win this war. He needed to buy time to gather the might of the empire once more, he also needs to kill this knight to destory enemy morale, and lastly he needs more allies. Then he spotted his daughter "Pina" he called and his daughter immediately had her full attention "go to Italica with your order and convince the count to go back to the empire, if not able then kill him." he ordered "yes father, I shall not fail you" she said almost instantly before taking her leave.
Molt then turned to a cloaked figure that stand beside him "I hope you don't disappoint me" he said and the figure chuckled "don't worry my lord, victory shall come once I summon the grey man"
Pina gathered her order as they agreed to gather at a local tavern that began the tall tale of the hero that killed the dragon and defeated an apostle.
Entering it, she found a sat near the counter and ordered a drink to blend in. When she spotted a bartender "Say sir can you tell me about that story about the hero that slayed an ancient dragon?" she ask "ah yes miss, allow me to tell you that story" the man replied.
He then went into detail about his day in Koda village making drinks when two horses with a family of 3 elves came in and warned about the ancient dragon, which set in motion their evacuation. He then told how the elves displayed a strange magical slate that can do many things such a control metal and store endless objects within it. He then told how they meet Rory Mercury which made Pina worried if she needs to face against an apostle but she shook it off for now. "then we heard that roar" the man said as he then told how the hero named Link brutally attacked and kill the dragon with an assortment of weapons and tools such as a chain that send him flying skyward or a hammer that caved in the skull of the beast. "but then she came" the man said with anger, he told how he and many others witness a battle between light and dark between the hero and demon that is Giselle, ultimately ending with the Hero cutting Giselle nearly in half.
"this tavern we set up is actually a reminder of this victory, that dragon head over there isn't a fake" he said pointing to the dragon head that now lay as a trophy on the wall. "and the food here are of his craft" he chuckled "really glad I can enjoy that sea salt rice with eggs again" he said to himself.
However Pina began to process the story told, she notice some inconsistencies such as if this hero is so strong why no word spread of his actions before or how his blade was never explained. She then made the conclusion that the story was twisted by the family of 3 who are from another world and she needs to be careful.
She got up after paying and found the rest of her order "everyone we are going now" she said "aw please mam can I enjoy the food?" one her members ask and Pina glared at her, which made her teammate quickly abandon all manners and eat all the food she can "ready mam!" Pina sighed.
In the walls of Italica, Link And Tuka swung their training swords in front of them, she wanted to be like her father, a fearless hero who can beat the odds and had requested he trained her, it took a while but he complied. They were given some room in the barracks to train by a rather friendly captain and they have used that time to do practice swings.
While it's exhausting Tuka followed the instructions given to her, focus, swing her sword, adjust grip, repeat. Her father said that it was to train her mind on how to swing a blade more proficiently but she's growing tired of it.
"break" he declared after looking at her, Tuka wiped the sweet off her head as she crashed down on the nearby bench and drink a bottle of water, spirits this is going to be a long path but she shall do it no matter what!
The they heard some incoming footsteps "Sir Link" it was one of Count Formal's maids this one having bunny ears "Princess Zelda request your presents in the meeting room" he informed, Link nodded and ran to the exit of the barracks, master sword on his back, the maid following closely behind.
Tuka then got back up, grabbing her training sword and begin swinging again, no matter what she's going to become a fearless hero like her father!
Link opened the door of the meeting room, two royal guards - one Italican and one Hylian - closed the door behind him as they continued to stand guard. In the room everyone sat around a round table, those being Count Formal, two advisers who are fluid in both emperial and hylian, King Rhoam, Zelda, and now himself.
"we got word from a rito scout that an emperial unit, most of which are wowen, are heading towards Italica" an advisor informed them of the situation "it's likely the rose order, they are where all female knights join in the army led by the kingdom's princess, Pina Co Lada" Count Formal Formal rasionalise "hmm did this scout ever tell you what is their size?" King Rhoam ask "yes sir, by the looks of it they seem to be a diplomatic mission arriving by next dawn" the other advisor informed at which the king nodded.
"they are most likely here to convince me to join the empire again" the Count theories "let it be known that I won't join them again" he then assured which the hylians nodded. "if worse comes to worse then it's likely that they would try assassinate you and your daughter is way to young to carry that burden, I would know" Zelda said, King Rhoam's face showed a man ashamed of what he did. "let them come, I have no doubt that your chosen knight can spot any attempt from the horizons" Italica's leader said and Link nodded in confirmation, it's a skill he picked up when fending off many assassination attempts by the Yiga when they were still their enemy.
"on another note, I must thank you for loaning over some troops to us royals of Hyrule, Italica is short on man power after the failed campaign" the first advisor said and Zelda nodded "it's our duty to support our allies" she said. "now is there anything else to discuss?" Count Formal ask, when no one answered the meeting is adjourned.
Rory waited around the corner, she really wanted to talk to Fi again but it's hard to convince Link to let her do it.
The Hylian turned the corner and immediately snaps to her location which cause her to jump, she was not expecting that reaction time. But when he realised it was her, he relaxes his stance and keeps on walking to his destination.
Taking her chances, Rory calls for Fi in her mind "hello?" she thought and the sword chimes "greetings Rory Mercury" the spirit greets. "I want to ask about Hylia again" she said "affirmative, I shall continue where we leaved off. Hylia is my creator tasked by the golden goddesses who are Din, the goddess of power; Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom; and Farore, the goddess of courage; to watch over the land, protect creation, and guard the triforce, an artifact that grants the user a wish however requires a balance heart" Fi explained
"can you tell me more about these golden goddesses?" Rory ask "certainly. Din is the goddess that created the world which our world stands on, she's competitive and protective, her strength amongst the gods is the strongest, responsible for dropping an island of Skyloft to crush demise and flooding the world with near endless oceans. Nayru is the goddess that created the laws of our world, she's wise and gentle, she is one that know everything and responsible for hard decisions such as leaving the triforce in the first place and causing the great flood. Farore is the goddess that created all life in our world, she's energetic and loves to interact with her creations, amongst the gods she's the one that is willing to do tough actions and responsible for choosing who holds the spirit of the hero. When Hatred rose to Hyrule, the golden goddesses would bless the hero with trials to test his power, wisdom, and courage and grant him various items. When hatred isn't a threat, they would bless Hyrule with more subtle blessings."
"How about Hylia?" she asked, while Zelda did indeed explain a lot, Rory wanted to ask her direct creation for information and to fill in some answers to questions she has "As I informed before, Hylia is my creator, a creation of the golden goddesses that was created by merging together parts of themselves into a single vessel. As such Hylia can be seen as a type of daughter to the golden goddesses, she inherited Din's wish to protect, Nayru's wisdom, and Farore's energy; she lived amongst the mortals in one would consider as a simple life, having a normal house and pet loftwing - a type of large rideable bird - that is loyal to her. When Demise came to claim the triforce, Hylia sought out a chosen knight to battle against him, a hylian by the name of Link pulled her interest as he displayed his will to fight for hope to the end, ultimately choosing him to weild me and falling in love with him. She and Link battled against the demon king army, ultimately leading to victory but both were mortaly wounded in battle, while Hylia would have rises again after 7 years, Link would not. So in their final moments Hylia used the last of her powers to give up her immortality and shared it with Link's soul to be forever be with him, putting them in a cycle of endless reincarnation in mortal bodies, Link's courageous soul is forever bound to be someone who would fight for justice and protect those her cares while Hylia reincarnated as Zelda and a part of her soul is still bound to her bloodline"
"fascinating" Rory thought, she was never the type to study a lot but this was a lot more interesting than her world. However she envied Hyrule's gods a lot, especially Hylia. She envied that they can feel all emotions and cared for the people much more then their own, but Hylia is one she envied the most, a goddess that can live amongst her people as a mortal. Rory never wanted to leave her friends, but no matter what it seems like time always wanted her to ascended to godhood no matter how long she tried slowing it down, she wondered if she can be like Hylia, to live a normal life from young to old and die and be brought back in a new life to start a new, better then going to Hardy at least, she heard many saying that they rathe die in Hyrule then here.
"Rory Mercury I'm detecting high levels of negative emotions, all closely associated with envy, may I inquire the source of this?" Fi ask, her voice sounded worried. "it's just" Rory sighed "do you know how apostles work?" she ask "unfortunately no, my only data of 'apostles' of which I assume to be you and Giselle, are of combat data and personality" came the answer. "okay, you see when an apostle reaches 1000 years of age, they would ascend to what's godhood, where they become all powerful, however it comes at the cost of many things, you must leave everything behind and your emotions fade away. I don't want this to happen but I can't simply ask Amroy, the god I serve under, to strip away my power and live a normal life, the damage done to my body and soul would be unimaginable and it's hard to convince the gods to do so in the first place as they only care about control, technology didn't advance to the likes of your world because of us, and I'm a valuable piece kept in check" she explained, a long silence came over their mental link before the sword chimed with a hint of unnatural anger came through "I am sure that Farore in particular would hate them" the spirit finally said which Rory interpreted as Fi's way of saying she hates her world's gods and Hyrule's gods would equally not enjoy it judging by how Fi described the goddess of courage.
"regardless, I shall search my database to see if I can help you on your quest more mortality" Fi said as Link finally reached the exit, he and Rory then went their seperate ways.
Lelei watch as a group of carriages carrying various supplies into the city, she can see that they are all transported by hylians who came from Alnus Hill. She can also spot large rock creatures she learned are called gorons beside many construction equipment no doubt for refugees like her, alongside humanoid birds that are called rito that fly above the carriages to protect them.
Ever since she got her hands on some Hylian books, she spent hours learning about it's history and it was a lot. She recently finish reading about Nayru, the goddess of wisdom who is similar to Elange and the twins, both wise gods.
"hey goro!" a loud voice said behind her, whipping around she saw a Goron with a large hammer waving at her and she waved back.
Now entering a local inn, Lelei opened a book about hyllain magic, reading up on how their magic work. From her understanding, the user must draw from their soul and mind to unleash a spell of their choice, however for most people this would take away a lot of energy and such needs something called a magic potion to restore which the book shows that it needs green chu jelly which has become mysteriously rare in Hyrule so magic isn't practice much more then past generations but people are still looking for alternatives. The next page shows a list of magic, ranging from a small barrier to-, Lelei had to do a double take when she read that there was a song that can control day and night, luckily such spell required music which was lost. But she continued to read the book, she would master this magic one day!
In the dawn of the next day, a band of female knights made their way in front of Italica.