Chapter Text
They woke up in Termina. Wild had only heard about the realm in the footnotes of legends, brief mentions in the tales of heroes. Only Time had been here before, and after taking one look at the crimson skies over Termina Field his face curdled into a sour look. The frown didn’t leave his face as they arrived at clock town. Time took one look at the city preparing for a festival of some sort and took a deep breath.
“Ah fuck it.” He made no effort in censorship. He looked up at the sky like he was waiting for something to fall out of it. “I’m not dealing with this again.”
“What, having fun for once?” Wind murmured, hungry eyes scanning the stalls and booths lining the city center. Their shields and armor glowed with the golden light of crystals adorning a tall pole in the center of town. Time and Twi ducked under purple and orange ribbons that covered the town like a web. Garlic and grilled meat filled their noses, and Wild heard several bellies growl as they walked through town. Children were running around with masks and painted faces, smiles on their lips and bags in their arms. Every corner had something knew pulling Wild in a new direction, demanding his attention. The town was alive and beautiful and glowing.
Wild could understand where Time was coming from. The world felt off.
He couldn’t put it into words, but the world felt out of place. Or maybe they were out of place in it. The people in town seemed normal, until Wild watched them for longer than a minute. They walked a little too gracefully, smiled a little too wide. People are strange, this Wild knows to be the only universal truth worth believing. Maybe Clock Town had a little extra strange at its core. Still, strange didn’t mean bad, and he was considered strange by others too, so who was he to judge?
Time either didn’t notice Wind’s comments or didn’t care. He cut through the crowd like a knife, not bothering to look at anything but the nearest inn. The Golden Moon Inn was a whimsical place that did not deserve the dour mood Time dragged into it. The walls were done up in soft pastel blue with faux gold trim along each panel. Shelves full of brightly painted porcelain animals and busts of old city officials lined the hall. Wild took great care to avoid these, as each one looked expensive and he was a known klutz. Framed paintings of serious men and beautiful women decorated the wall. As the heroes marched in and made their way through a crowded lobby, full of tourists from lands Wild could only imagine, he was keen to take in the little inn and it’s peaceful atmosphere. In the back corner of the square lobby a Zora couple held hands and read separate books together. To the left of the entrance he could see a connected tea room with a Goron by the iron fireplace and a small family out to an early dinner, the little girl with them picked through the pile of candy. In the center of the lobby was an oval table with a vase full of Blue Roses, and on either end of it were two plush couches with silk pillows and polished wooden legs. Wild’s shoulders relaxed in the homey little Inn. He had never been in a place so colorful and refined. Wind spoke of having a grandmother, and though Wild never knew his (or had since forgotten) he imagined this is what a grandmother would like in her house. Not everyone was as enchanted by the inn, however. Time marched through the lobby on a warpath, heading straight to the front desk. He slammed down a silver rupee in front of a wide eyed clerk before the man could ask his name.
“Four rooms. Two beds each. Send a pot of the strongest coffee you have to my room, please and thank you.” The clerk gave Time nine keys with shaking hands. Time’s voice grew deep and rough every so often, especially in battle. Wild shuddered as his leader spoke. All the boys gathered in the far end of the room, forming something like a lopsided circle as Time passed them out to the group without a word. Wild could see the way his jaw tightened and his eyes met no one else’s. Time fled to the stairs, a metallic clink clink of armor filling the room. He didn’t say a word.
“Hang on Time!” Warriors called after him from across the room, “Are you just going to leave us right away? You’re the only one who's been here, what are we supposed to do?” Time paused on the staircase, glancing over his shoulder. Time’s face was half in shadow.
“Have fun.” The old man said, the clinking of his armor growing softer and softer until he was gone. No one said a word or followed his lead. Not even Twilight. Just as the air began to grow heavy, Wind hopped onto a table in the center of the room.
“You all heard the man! We haven’t been to a party all together before, so who's up for actually having a good time for once?” Wind had a smile on his face so big it almost looked painful. Wind always seemed to ooze light with every word he said, like it was so easy and effortless. People from the other end of the lobby looked to their little corner of the room, watching as Wind spoke. Wild couldn’t blame them, he couldn’t look away from the boy’s scheming either.
“I’m in!” Four replied “Did you see all those kids with candy? I bet I could get more in an hour than you, Wind.” Wind rolled his eyes.
“You’re not a child.”
“Yeah," he grinned, "but they don’t know that.”
Slowly, a devilish smile made it's way to Wind's face.
“Allright Four. Lets go.” Wind hopped off the table and grabbed a pillow off the couch, gutting it for its silk cover. They were going to have to pay for that. It really isn’t fair Wild thought, that I’m the one who gets yelled at for breaking things, and Wind does this!
He threw the improvised bag over his shoulder and merely marched out the door grinning like a demon. Their youngest member could be terrifying at times.
“Oh wait for me! I want to get some candy!” Hyrule bolted out from the group after them. Wild supposed he could pass as a tall child if he had a mask, but he’d be pushing it. Hyrule grabbed Legend as he walked past, “Want to come with Legend?”. Legend rolled his eyes, but Wild could see the bounce in his step as he followed.
“Why not, someone has to keep you three from getting too crazy.” Wind ran out, the thump of boots on wood echoing through the inn. Wild winced as a loud crash accompanied the quartet's departure.
“Well if the shorty squad is going out, I’m hitting a pub!” Warriors said, standing from the couch with a flourish. He walked over to Sky, wrapped an arm around his shoulders with a blinding smile. “Care to join me?”
“Oh, uh, sure! I guess I can try…” Sky murmured as he dragged behind Warriors grip. Silence filled the room, his only other companion not even looking at him, just staring at where Time had been standing.
“Do you want to talk to him?” Wild asked. Twilight shook his head.
“He’ll deal with it in his way. Come on,” He nodded at the door “Lets go see what all the fuss is about.”
Golden lights danced across the walls of the city, their color growing more vibrant as the sun set. Wild took a deep breath of the crisp air, savoring the light and electric feeling of the night. Even the air seemed cleaner and lighter than his own world. It wasn’t until he left his time that he realized the way his world felt heavier than the others. Like a weight had settled over every living thing kept them all pressed down. Every world felt different, some like Legend’s felt like a constant rush, Wind’s like the eye of a hurricane, but so far Termina had the best, most electric feeling.
Wild relaxed a little more with each plate of food eaten (he was on plate five) and each booth visited (his favorite so far was the hair braider, he now sported a classic clock town twist with blue roses woven in it). While Wild walked a little lighter, Twilight walked with his shoulders tensed, he nibbled slowly at the world’s saddest shish-kabob. They sat down at a bench on the edge of town, just outside the light of the lanterns. Twilight looked over the city with a stone jaw and calm eyes, but Wild could guess where his focus was.
“Is there a reason you’re not having fun with me? I must be worse company than I thought.” Twilight snapped his head back to Wild, as if he forgot he was there. Wild always considered Twilight to be, in his heart of hearts, a caring person. He worried about people even when it wasn’t necessary, often taking on the role of an older brother to the point that sometimes he forgot to let himself be young. Now, lying against the bench with the shadows draped across him, he seemed older than just his twenty five years.
“You’re not bad company, I just don’t have much love for festivals. Not much that I want to do.” Wild rolled his eyes.
“ This is my first festival. Not much time for celebration when the world is in ruins. So far I’m just doing whatever I want.”
“Yeah, which seems to be eating the town out of house and home. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look more terrified than the woman you ordered ten meat rolls from.” Wild pushed him on the shoulder. Twilight snorted, his laugh a little pig like.
“ What can I say, I have simple pleasures. I bet I can find something that you’ll like though?” Wild stood and took Twilight by the hand, pulling him to his feet and towards the lights. Twilight stumbled along behind his protege.
“Really, is that a bet? Some kind of quest you’re giving yourself?”
“Yes the very important quest of making you have a little fun.” Wild scanned through the shops and stalls as he dragged Twilight along, pointing at every stall along the way.
“Face painting booth?”
“I’m not twelve Wild.”
“What about this puppet show?”
“Yeah, not my thing either.”
“Fire walking!”
“NO.”
Wild was beginning to give up on Twilight’s picky nature when he spotted a circular tent in the edge of the festival. It was a little purple booth with no one around it, most of the people in town didn’t spare it a glance. Next to it was a sign that read Tarot Reading.
“Come on, over here.” He began to pull Twilight to the tent. “I have a feeling about this one.” Wild had only heard of tarot cards in folk stories around a stable campfire. It seemed like a fun, quick way to kill time. Twilight seemed interested in them, or at the very least wasn’t protesting. The inside was only big enough to hold him and Twilight, with a table made of twisted iron and glass in the center that Twilight almost tripped over. Wild squinted in the dim light of the crystal hanging in the center, looking for a sign of any other person.
Not a single sign of another person existed in the tent. Just a deck of cards sitting in the center of the table. Face down the cards seemed plain, simple black backs with a blue rose in the center. They were no bigger than playing cards, as only the gold trim of the cards, something that almost flashed in the light, caught Wild’s eye.
These look very different than the ones Kass showed me. Can they really be the same? His hand drifted towards them with no thought of intention, and once he realized did not stop himself. Twilight gave Wild a cautious look as his fingers danced along the edge of the cards.
“Should you be messing with that?” Wild shrugged, used to being at the whims of his impulses.
“ I don’t know. You never complain when Legend and Hyrule break people’s pots, but I can’t play with cards?” Twilight started to speak but paused, deciding against it. Wild sat down, spreading the deck out like an arch.
“So Twilight, do you want your fortune told?” Twilight rolled his eyes, but sat down opposite Wild. He may act annoyed but Wild could see his shoulders relax and his edges soften, his mind forgetting to worry for a moment. He looked from Wild to the cards, not with confusion but with a playful smile.
“And how do I know you won’t just feed me a bunch of bullshit?”
“You can’t, but that’s kind of the fun in it.” Twilight followed along as Wild touched each of the cards. A few months ago, before all the world hopping and mysteries, Kass had told him a story of how spinsters in mountain tops could use cards like these to speak with the universe itself. All one had to do was listen to what the cards had to say.
“Okay so...If I remember how to do this, you close your eyes and ask a question. Not to me, just to yourself. You can say it in your head if you want.” Twilight closed his eyes did so. Something like a cool wind settled over them and Wild shivered. Twilight asked his question silently and Wild felt a little cheated out of knowing what he wanted to ask. He was left with nothing but the sound of breathing and heartbeats...not even the sound of the festival. Laughter, bells, even the sound of sizzling food seemed to grow faint. Distant.
“Okay, next step?” Twilight’s voice jolted Wild back to the table. Twilight reached for the cards, trying to pull a few but Wild grabbed his hand before he could.
“Not yet! Next you have to touch all the cards so they know you.”
“The cards need to know me?”
“Well they probably don’t need your tragic backstory, but I was told touching the cards before a pull helps them.” Twilight snorted but did as he was told, rubbing his fingers lightly over each card.
“Now you can pull one.” Wild said as he was done. Wild didn’t know if Twilight believed in these cards, they certainly wouldn’t be the weirdest things any of them had seen, but Twilight took his time choosing each one. Twilight was just like that, so careful with each decision he made. Eventually three cards had been selected and put in a row. Twilight leaned forward with an expectant look on his face, the “excited puppy look” Wild dubbed it, and Wild simply leaned back in his seat. Neither moved. The long stretch of silence reminded Wild he actually didn’t know what he was doing.
You know, this probably won’t go well, but when have I let not knowing what I’m doing stop me. Wild thought as he leaned forward and flipped the card on the left side. Wild’s eyes widened and the hair on the back of his neck prickled. Twilight tilted his head and looked from the card to Wild, eyebrows drawn in confusion. The cold feeling swept through the room and down Wild’s throat. Painted on the card’s face was a group of nine nine soldiers holding nine wands raised to a fire red sky. Nine soldiers with blond hair and no faces, the details inked out in black.
“Do you know what it means?” Twilight asked. Wild wanted to say ‘no, I don’t know what any of this means.’ but snapping at people never gets you anywhere good in his experience. This is just for fun anyway, he could tell Twilight something silly that would make him smile. He could do that. Or…
“They’re preparing for something, a battle. It’s not a surprise and it’s what they’ve seen before but still they have to prepare. I don’t know why but the red in the sky and on the clothing makes me think of being trapped. It’s something they can’t escape.” Twilight nodded, eyes focused on Wild rather than the card. Wild didn’t know if he was right, but it’s what it felt like.
“What did you ask it?” Twilight shrugged.
“I asked what our purpose here was. If Time would be okay. This doesn’t seem like a good answer, does it?” Wild said nothing, and turned the next card over. This one didn’t seem to be much better. It reminded him of Sky’s stories of his home, of a city floating in the sky. Wild traced his hand over it, A tower covered in flames at the center of a crumbling island in the sky, the image of pure chaos. The flames on the card danced an wiggled and writhed, reveling in their destruction. Wild traced his hands over the tower and immediately pulled his hand back as a flicker of pain shot through his finger tips. The card read “The Tower.”
“What’s with you and touching the cards?” Twilight asked. He didn’t seem to notice the cards at all.
“I don’t know. It just helps me think about them, what they might mean. Does this card seem more...alive to you?” Twilight looked from Wild to the cards, arms crossed in confusion.
“No. Why did it speak to you?” Twilight was sincere as he ever was, no mocking in his voice as he picked up the card and inspected it. Normally Wild would say Twilight had a far keener sense of magic than he did, especially dark magic. That Twilight could pick it up and look it over with no problems should be a good thing.
“Looks like a normal card to me. Do you know what it means though?” Wild nodded. Twilight knows what he’s talking about after all. So he went back to his job of trying to read them. Wild may not have an in depth knowledge of Tarot cards, but he didn’t need to be an expert to get the message. Especially when that message involved a literal burning fire.
“So the middle card is the present. It is a sign of struggle. Something is tearing the foundations of the present apart. A painful and turbulent change is about to begin. Maybe a sign of a difficult trial?”
“So basically an average day.”
“Maybe the cards are telling you that you asked a stupid question.” Twilight playfully kicked Wild’s legs under the table, which just sent them into a fit of giggles. For a while they were content to just be with each other’s laughter.
“Okay, Next card then.” Wild flipped the final card. The picture was of a beautiful woman kneeling in front of a pond in prayer, three stars shining above her head. The title at the bottom read “The High Priestess”. Wild didn’t have to touch it to feel the pull of warmth in his chest and cheeks. It looks just like Zelda.
“I think this one means everything will work out in the end.”
“How do you know?” Twilight asked, his head against one arm, a soft look in his eyes. Wild may not be an expert card reader but Twilight’s worries had left his mind for a moment. That was enough of a skill.
“The high priestess is safe. She’s a protector. I’m just going on instinct here.” Twilight shook his head and stood from the chair, running his hand through Wild’s hair, to the boys protest.
“You seemed to take to these pretty well. Maybe you have a hidden talent?” Wild Yanked Twilight’s hand off his head, a broad grin on his face. If Twilight was one of those people who who showed they liked you through a rough touch, a trait Wild saw a lot on knights and fighters. Normally he would pull away from touch, but not Twilight’s. He thought about the question for a moment. He wouldn’t deny that there was a type of longing in him for these cards, he a pull towards the strange objects.
“I like them. They’re unusual, maybe even magical. I wouldn’t mind having a set.” Wild said casually, putting the cards back into a neat pile.
“Come on,” Twilight said, pulling Wild up from the chair, “ You should practice this.” Twilight opened the tent and they stepped out into the city square, the sun almost down. It hadn't felt like that much time had passed.
“You want me to take these?” Twilight shook his head in a clear ‘No’ and pulled Wild towards the shops.
“No, but I’ll buy you some. There are probably more out there. Maybe we can ask Legend if he knows?” Wild looked back at the tent. They already had so much to do on the road, so much to worry about. Did they really have time for him to take up a hobby? the look on Twilight’s face, finally taking in the light of the city with a grin, chased any doubt from his mind.
“Do you think you can buy me chocolate crepes too?”
“Not a chance.”
Wild grabbed Twilight’s arm and the two brothers made their way into the city.