Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a rainy night, in the grand city of Castletown. There wasn't a star in the sky visible, and scarcely anyone was out, the rain was so heavy. People shut their windows, closed their doors, and brought their loved ones inside. The storm discouraged anyone from staying outside, pounding raindrops striking anyone who couldn't get indoors fast enough.

Or those who simply couldn’t get inside.

Hyrule slammed his shoulder against the door, cursing softly as it refused to budge. The door loomed over him, stubborn as any dungeon door as the water soaked into his clothes and hair. The drip drip drip of the rain seemed to be the sky, giggling at his misfortune. Sighing, he headed to the shop next door, in hopes it might be open.

This always happened during the rain, he mused. It was odd, how something about the humidity froze the hinges of the door shut. He hoped that Mr Sekret wouldn’t be too mad that he didn’t come in to work today. The Ex–Moblin gang member was a really nice person, and the best boss Hyrule had ever had. He really didn’t want to disappoint the old man.

He seemed to disappoint a lot of people.

Just as he thought his day couldn’t get any worse, he felt a creeping sensation behind him. He felt an unpleasantly sharp hand on his shoulder. “Aww, is the little freak locked out again?” Hyrule whipped around to see an unfortunately familiar face.

The Moblin Gang. The thugs of lower castletown. The Bokoblins were mostly dumb teenagers spray painting people’s cars, and the Kese were pickpockets, but the Moblins were bullies. They shook down people in the streets, laughing at a good haul and, during a bad haul, well. There was a reason people were afraid of them.

Sometimes, Mimic or one of the other heroes came and stopped them. Those were nice days. Hyrule had always admired Mimic in particular. He was one of the first people to care about Lowe Hyrule outside of its residents. After him came the others, and Hyrule loved seeing them too! He would never complain about being rescued. But, even though heroes had existed for years before Mimic, none of them had come here. Mimic was the unofficial patron of Lower Hyrule, and Hyrule would always be grateful to him for that.

Suffice to say, the Moblin Gang wasn't particularly known for being nice. But this one, this specific member seemed to have it out for him. Scowling, Hyrule attempted to shake his shoulder out of the grasp of the moblin. “I don't have time for this right now, go bother someone else.”

The offending Moblin simply laughed, releasing his shoulder. Hyrule relaxed, turning away before the moblin grabbed Hyrule by his shirt collar. “Well, that's just rude! Someone ought to teach you a little respect!” He swung him slightly as he spoke, and Hyrule could feel his shirt tearing under his weight. Damnit, he really couldn't be buying replacement clothes right now!

He couldn’t count on a hero rescue right now, either. With the pounding rain, anyone with sense would’ve stayed indoors. Despite that, Hyrule could almost imagine that there was a blur of pink rushing towards him. It was a nice thought.

He tensed as he felt his feet lift up off the ground, grabbed by the shirt collar. He pounded his hands against his attacker frantically. The amused gang member slammed him against the wall, laughing as he cried out in pain. Dropping to the floor, he barely had time to stand up before he was grabbed again.

As he felt himself being raised off the ground once more, he was suddenly struck with a moment of perfect clarity. Straightening up with a speed that some of the moblins flinched back, he slammed his hands against the angry Moblin. As his fingertips made contact, he felt something flow through him, coursing out through his hands. The Moblin dropped to the floor, crying out in pain. Sparks floated up from his twitching mustache.

He had just electrocuted someone to death.

Someone was rounding the corner. He had just electrocuted someone to death and someone else was about to see.

Hyrule did what he does best.

He ran.

Legend was having a strange night.

The rain was terrible, so much so that Ravio yelled and asked if he was crazy for going out in the weather. His ridiculous roommate had insisted on him taking an umbrella. It was the one that he had bought as a joke, bright pink with floppy bunny ears. When he had first started teaching himself to control his powers, he had thought it was a funny reminder of his limitations. He still thought it was a funny reminder, but he couldn’t really bring it to places anymore. If he seemed too friendly about the heroes, castle guards might turn their suspicions on him. Legend really did not want to go home.

He didn’t always hate the kingdom, hate his parents, hate the world. He once loved everything about being a prince, he loved his home in the palace, he loved going with his parents to see what crazy thing they were supervising. One day, though, Artemis came back from one of the trips with their parents and refused to let anyone go with them anymore. That was when he started to think about what he saw at home.

The last straw was Aurora. Legend loved his siblings, but when his brother went crazy and cursed their sister, Legend knew he couldn’t stay in the castle. It had taken so much from him already. Lullaby barely even looked at anyone anymore, flinching when her name was called. Perhaps she wanted a different one, but would their parents let her? Even his own twin was growing distant, as the constant pressure forced her into the mold of a perfect princess. When he broke down, told Fable that he wanted to leave, she knew what to do immediately. Their parents wouldn’t notice for days, so wrapped up in getting little Flora to manifest some incredible power.

He took the tunnels out, escaping into Hyrule at last. He found a cheap place to call his own, with an annoying but tolerable roommate, Ravio, and a nice old man next door he ended up calling Uncle Alphon.

Becoming a hero was never on his list of priorities.

But you can’t always choose what you end up doing in life.

His musings were paused as there was a commotion a few streets over. The Moblin Gang was attacking someone. Again. He should really get Fractal to help him destabilize the damn thing, it was a nightmare to keep stopping these morons.

Some part of him regretted not helping out when the kid first started out. Goddesses know he could’ve used a hand when he started out.

As he whirled into the alleyway, he heard someone cry out. There was a large man lying on the ground, sparks flying up from his body- no. His corpse. Someone was sprinting away from the scene, panicked gasps following him as he ran.

Legend crouched down, inspecting the corpse with a detached interest. Judging by the appearance, this was the Moblin that he had been coming to stop. Small sparks flew off of the body, twitching with electricity.

An elemental mage.

Hyrule had banned the use of unregulated magic for centuries, if you wanted anything enchanted, and not on a registry, you’d have to go to a neighboring country. Legend had bought his rod of seasons out in Holodrum, the most useful thing he owned. It had gotten him out of many tough situations before, though that meant he had an even bigger target on his head, as his staff couldn’t be traced back to him.

Whoever this person was, they were an untrained mage.

Legend would have to act fast to keep them safe.

Chapter Text

Hyrule was running, and he didn’t think he could stop. He dashed down the street, hot tears mixing with the cold rain. He had killed someone. He had killed someone. He had killed-

Someone grabbed his arm.

He startled, wildly attempting to yank his arm out of the grip of the stranger, to no avail. Turning to face his assailant, he came face to face with a masked figure, rings on every finger as his hand wrapped around his forearm. Mimic.

Panicked, he swung his fist in the general direction of his hero, which was easily deflected. “Easy there, kid.” Mimic said, pushing his hand down. He didn’t seem to be mad, but it was hard to tell with the mask. The air was heavy with humidity, and the rain fell down the shiny material of the mask, making it appear as if the rabbit was crying.

He had killed a person, and now his favorite hero was going to arrest him.

Hyrule felt his heart slam against his ribcage, breath so fast he felt as if he might pass out. He stumbled, stepping back and Mimic released his arm. He ran like his life depended on it, puddles splashing as he dashed through them. The hero attempted to follow, but Hyrule knew these streets better than anyone, honed by the need to escape the Moblins. And now he was using his skill to escape his hero. Thunder crashed, disguising his footsteps, and Hyrule took a moment to be thankful that everything was so loud around him. Including his heartbeat. Especially his heartbeat.

How had everything fallen apart so fast?

Legend cursed as the kid bolted. He really didn’t want to scare him any further, but he seriously needed to talk to that kid. Giving chase, he watched as the water splashed on the ground, the most easily noticeable sign of movement. Twisting one of his rings along his finger, he watched carefully for any sign of life.

There- to the left! He took off in a dead sprint, catching up to the kid. “I’m trying to protect you, dumbass!”

The kid ignored him, dashing through the streets with reckless abandon. He wove in and out of various alleys, expertly avoiding obstacles. Legend was good, avoidance skills honed with years of practice. He could outrun the guards any day, but this kid was a league of his own. Obviously a local, then. He lost sight of the kid almost immediately, cursing as the low light and rain made seeing near impossible.

The sky was impossibly dark, lightning illuminating the sky in short bursts. Perfect weather for storm magic, most likely why the magic manifested itself then.

He frowned, letting his innate magic shift his face from human form to that of a rabbit. He sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of the kid. Nothing. Most likely, it was the faint scent of ozone in the air that was hiding him. Having just cast such a powerful lightning spell, the kid’s natural trail would have been covered up by the residual magic.

Damn, this day just got worse and worse. If he couldn’t catch the kid, the castle guards wouldn’t stand a chance, but he was more worried about what the gangs of the city would do. Goddesses only know what Ganondorf or Yuga would do if they got their hands on an untrained elemental mage.

And he knew from first hand experience that the near- cults the gang leaders of the city ran were much more competent than the city guards.

Twisting his rings around his fingers in an attempt to ward off the phantom pain, he decided to start looking for the kid the old fashioned way. He returned back to the street where he found the body, deciding to make sure it couldn’t be traced back to the kid.

The sky was dark as a pair of figures approached the closed shop, Lightning struck, briefly illuminating them for a brief moment. Mostly covered by a thick purple jacket, the first figure wore a gruesome mask, red shining out through the lenses. The other was slightly in front, walking with the authority you only get by believing everything belongs to you. The figure was dressed much much more lavishly than their companion, although they had absolutely no sense of style. As they came up to the body, the figure in purple crouched down to inspect the corpse on the ground.

“Yeah, that’s lightning magic. The sheer amount that’s left over makes me think this is an ametuer, too. Probably have no idea how to protect themself from another mage.”

“Perfect. Send the others out. I want him in my custody by daylight.” A bolt of lightning crashed behind the two, illuminating the harsh grins.

“We’ll have the perfect entrance ticket back home in our hands soon enough, my friend.”

Chapter Text

Legend raced down the street, thunder pounding around him as he ran. He was up against the clock, rushing to get to the felled Moblin before the Castle Guards got there. 

His feet pounded against the wet concrete, kicking up puddles as he turned from hylian to rabbit. The speed boost assisted him as he skidded to a stop in front of the store, ears flapping wildly in the fierce wind and rain. 

There were a pair of figures next to the body.

 Instinctively, he leapt against the wall, flattening himself against the concrete to the point he appeared to be nothing more than a stray image of graffiti detailing himself. 

That was one of his favorite forms, solely for how funny it could be. He told Fractal once, about the time he accidentally scared the shit out of a couple mural painters while on a stakeout. They screeched like banshees when he jumped out of the wall to finally grab the idiot who was harassing the local businesses. He still felt a little bad about that. 

He was pulled from memory lane as the larger figure brushed past him, scoffing as he passed. 

“Those ridiculous heroes have murals now. How vain can they get?”

The smaller one ignored him, still staring down at the body. “So? We're here for the body, Magician.”

“Yeah, that’s lightning magic. The sheer amount that’s left over makes me think this is an ametuer, too. Probably have no idea how to protect themself from another mage.”

“Perfect. Send the others out. I want him in my custody by daylight.” 

“We’ll have the perfect entrance ticket back home in our hands soon enough, my friend.”

Something about that voice was so familiar, but for the life of him Legend couldn’t figure out who it was. Now that there were other players involved, he couldn’t clean up without revealing himself and putting the kid in more danger. 

He’d just have to deal with the consequences of the body being discovered. 

The body was removed by the duo (Well, by the one in the purple jacket. The one in expensive clothes didn’t do anything, just sneered at the corpse.) Legend scrutinized the face, but it was too dark, and with the rain, it was near impossible to see what was going on, let alone the faces of the figures. 

They left with the body. 

Well shit. 

The next morning, Hyrule did his best to pretend like nothing happened last night. The rain left deep puddles on the streets, making it difficult to tell where the potholes were. 

Perfectly average day. 

Perfectly average day, nothing strange or unusual here. Nothing at all happened yesterday. 

Hyrule could’ve swore that there were people watching him, eyes peeling back the layers of his soul and condemning him. He was sure that his guilt was etched into his very bones as he walked down the road to the shop. 

The body was gone. 

Of course the body was gone, it would be ridiculous to just keep it there. 

But that meant- that meant someone had taken it- Someone had found the body, and now they were just waiting for Hyrule to return and then they were going to arrest him, and his life was over, and he’d never get to apologise to Mr Sekkret, and-

“Hey, Rule, you okay?” Hyrule spun around to see Mr Sekkret there, hand on his shoulder. 

“Oh, I'm fine. Rough night. How are you today, Mr Sekkret?” 

The older man sighed. “I’m alright, kiddo. Sorry bout not being here yesterday, the storm was so bad I couldn’t get outta bed. Hope you didn’t come while the shop was closed”

“Oh, no, I stayed too. Figured if i couldn’t get there, you definitely wouldn’t.” Hyrule flapped his hand a bit as he spoke, attempting to convey collectedness. His heart was racing as he lied, but if nobody suspected him- wait, why wasn’t there any police there? Did someone take the body before the police were called? Or were they just investigating?

The duo walked back to the shop, getting ready to start the day. The routine was familiar, and Hyrule started to relax as time went on. The familiarity did a lot to calm his fears of discovery, but he couldn’t help but let his mind wander. Aside from the obvious downside of its discovery, he was curious about his abilities. Magic is often hereditary, and Hyrule had never known his parents. Was it possible he was from a noble house? It sounded like a daydream, honestly. 

“Kid?” Hyrule looked up from the shelves to see Mr Sekkret looking at him curiously. “Ya good? You’ve been staring at that can for twelve minutes.” 

“Oh- Yes, just fine. These tomatoes are… interesting?” 

Mr Sekkret simply raised an eyebrow, and Hyrule slumped. “...Mr Sekkret?”

“Yeah kid?”

“...What do you think about heroes?” 

The man paused for a long whole, thinking. “Why do you ask?”

“Humor me?”

“I think the heroes are doing what the guards can't, or won't do. They’re protecting this city. Faroe knows how easy it was to bribe the castletown guards when I was a Moblin.”

“So, you think they’re in the right?”

“I think so, yes. I think, if you have the kind of gift the heroes have, it’s the right thing to do, to use it to help. With great power comes great responsibility and all that.”

Hyrule just stared at him for a while. The elderly ex-moblin smiled at him, ruffling his hair. “That answers your question, kid?”

“I think it did.”

“Good. Whatever’s happenin to ya, kid, i’ll be there for ya.”

Chapter Text

This was stupid. This was so stupid. Why was he doing this? He was going to get himself arrested! 

Hyrule slowly turned a corner, walking through the streets in the middle of the night. He had rifled through his closet for anything that could conceivably work as a disguise, and came up with his pajamas, an apron and a bandanna with holes cut through it as a mask.

To put it simply, he looked like a kid playing dress-up. 

But he needed to find a hero. Probably someone other than Mimic, since Mimic saw him kill someone. He wandered through the streets, watching cars go by, deals get made in alleyways, people sleeping on the road. This isn’t Castletown Square, appearances are thrown to the wind here. He watched as another shady deal was made between a knight and a Moblin, keeping out of sight. Of course. 

He was there for several minutes, pressed close to an old mural of the Heroes as he watched the Moblin pay off the knight. He glares at them. Honestly, even without the money, the cops would probably ignore them anyways, it’s practically tradition at this point. Typical Castletown guards. 

At long last, the deal was finalized and the Moblin and guard went their separate ways. Hyrule gave a sigh of relief, stepping away from the mural and out into the nearby streetlight. 

He froze when he noticed someone else doing the same thing. 

Or, not the same thing. Because when he stepped away from the mural, it started to move, colors shifting around the central figure. It swirled in shades of pink, the hero depicted stepping out of the wall, standing on the pavement! It was-

“I shouldn’t even be surprised at this point. They’re practically the same organization at this poi- Kid? Din’s tits, you’re the kid from earlier! What are you doing here?” 

Hyrule froze as the painting of Mimic stepped into existence, becoming the shapeshifting hero himself. 

“Kid, what are you doing here? In your sleepwear, no less.”

“I- I need your help.” 

The awkwardness was palpable in the air as Legend sat across from the kid. They had decided to go somewhere that wouldn’t ask questions, that was private, not exposed. Syrup’s Speakeasy was the perfect place. Named for the potion smuggling that had happened in another kingdom, Syrup was the go-to witch for if you needed to fly under the radar. Knight, Moblin, hero, escaping prince , she didn’t care. 

Which made it a perfect place to talk. 

“So, I assume you’re asking for help on your powers?” Legend asked, looking up and down at the painfully homemade costume the kid was wearing.

“I don’t know. I just- I don’t know what to do. But I want to help. I want to help people. Like you.” Legend stared at the kid as he curled into himself under Legend’s gaze, and he quickly looked away. 

“You realise what being a hero means? The sacrifices you’ll make, the enemies you’ll face? Nobody will blame you if you leave, head to Labrannya to learn to control your powers.”

The kid turned to face him, for the first time since coming here. “No. I won’t run away. This place is my home, there are people here I care about. I’m going to stay.” 

Legend smiled at him, reminded of another spitfire that cared too much about the people in Hyrule. The kid and Aurora should meet someday, he thinks, if she’s ever woken up. 

“Okay. Welcome to the world of heroes, kid. It doesn’t get better from here, just easier to manage. Lesson one. How not to electrocute people to death.”