Whumptober Day 25

hide and seek

escape | flight | 

runaway baby - banned magic au finale

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

warnings: death mention, fire

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The chilly air was welcome on her stinging and sweaty skin, though in less than an hour of her forced return to that little room, she was shivering. Zelda couldn’t see whatever mark they’d branded into her back, but she couldn’t imagine it was anything but vulgar and humiliating. Is that what they did, then? They rounded up those capable of magic and marked them as an outcast, shunning them from society until it drove them away? Or was that just a way to display power? Surely the fate of all that had been captured could not be as bad as hers.

King Astor himself had blessed her with a visit while she was trying in vain to nurse the charred skin on her back. 

“You lie,” she accused him before he could get a word out. He lifted an eyebrow in amusement, like her fire was something funny and not a dangerous thing that could spread. “You have magic yourself, don’t you?”

“And what would make you say that, exactly?” he asked, leaning against the bars of the cell so casually, she wanted to reach through the bars and strangle him. 

“Whatever you used to brand me– you laced it with magic. I would have been able to heal it otherwise, so what is it? What makes your magic more righteous than mine?” she challenged, though she didn’t have the strength to stand up. She was dizzy, whether it be from the dull ache of her body, the lasting concussion, or the fact that she hadn’t eaten since she was arrested the day before. 

Whumptober Day 14

alternate prompt 5: forgotten

forget me not - part 1 

part 2

warnings: memory loss, survivor’s guilt, death mention, major character death (obviously), sensations of numbness, slight gore (descriptive of Ganon), grief

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Everything was loud. The roaring of fire, the screeching of a demon, the squelching malice that seethed anything it touched with a loud hiss, the blood rushing in her ears to the time of her heartbeat, steadily growing and growing in volume until it was deafening. The only thing louder was the physical manifestation of hatred, a thing of indescribable consistency, as it rushed towards her with its mouth wide open and jaw unhinged. Zelda squared her shoulders and extended her hand, but the creature of mass destruction did not obey. She had not expected it to. The sacred power of the goddess enveloped her in warm, golden light, but it wasn’t enough to prevent her harm. The Calamity engulfed her, swallowing her whole, and the malice that could bypass the sealing power stung when it stuck to her skin. She screamed, in pain, in sorrow, in rage, and pushed the power further and further until there was nothing. Until the excruciating noise was silent and the physical sensation of agony was gone–until she could open her eyes and find herself standing in the very center of the sanctum at the top of Hyrule Castle. 

Everything was desaturated. Where warm reds and golden trimming once sat in the lavish decor, only cool shades of blue remained now. Blues, grays, silvers–even the grotesque, malice-created chamber above her head, where she knew Calamity Ganon and her physical body must have lied. She’d sealed it at last, but it would return eventually without the Hero and the Sword that Seals the Darkness to slay it. Still, for now, she’d done all she could. 

“Princess..?”

Zelda turned at the voice. How natural Link blended in here. His tunic, his eyes–they stood out the most amongst his grayish skin and silvered hair. No matter the form, she was happy to see him again. Maybe not alive, as there was really nothing alive about the Spirit Realm, but the sentiment was all the same. She ran to him, her feet silent over the marble floors, and she threw her arms around him with no promise that he would be solid. But he was, and so was she, and she buried her face in his shoulder and tried not to sob when he tangled his fingers into her hair to hold her closer.

Whumptober Day 3

sticks and stones may break my bones but...

taunting | insults | “who did this to you?”

kingdom come - corrupt!zelda au part 2 | part 1 | part 3

warnings: gaslighting, manipulation, death mention, cursing, survivor’s guilt

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From what little he could remember, Princess Zelda was nothing short of lovely. She was the sort of kind that came from a genuine place, unlike the fake kind that so many had offered him because he was the one burdened with the sword. Even when she was mean to him in the beginning, he could see the good in her heart, the passion in her voice, the brilliance in her mind. She was a girl willing to do anything for her kingdom and for people who didn’t even bother believing in her. She was so painfully human beneath the crown and the gods and the sealing power that it was impossible not to like her. The only thing she wanted above all else was to save her people.

And now, a century later, she was nothing short of cruel. 

For days, Link could not go outside of the Sanctum for fear of Zelda setting the Calamity loose on him. On Hyrule. 

“You can go,” she’d told him from her seat in the throne, looking every bit the queen she was always meant to be, “but he will follow you, and wouldn’t it be a shame if the Calamity was brought about by the very hero destined to slay it?”