Change of fate : A The Legend of Zelda Story

Chapter 7 : What time does to us

Fifteen months of terror, and as many weeks of hunger. The kingdom of Hyrule was at its lowest and descending further by the day. The economy went down and the markets took the hit. Most farms were no longer safe for their owners, and on top of all, Magnus raised the taxes continuously. Stealing from others was no longer a problem, but a necessity for some Hylians.

Most Zoras tried to get back to Riverside, their homeland. Only a few made it in one piece. Monsters have been anormaly more present for more than a year. The travellers stopped going from one spot to another without a good reason. All of those events transformed Hyrule in a morbid place disconnected from its own inhabitants.

Many have lost hope that things would get better. The rest that still vainly hopes for salvation keep going, despite the difficulties...

*****

Deep in the great forest of Hyrule, lies an abandonned abbey, ruins from another time. It is the nest of many animals, mostly birds. A chunk of the roof had fallen due to the doubtable solidity of the building. The trees were masking the sun, giving the forest that strange, dark ambiance.

Against the wall, an inanimate entity has been there, motionless for a very, very long time. His empty grey eyes were reflecting the cement of the abbey. In front of him, a blurred red thread had merged with the floor. His skin got paler due to not be exposed to the sunlight. At his feet, a squirrel's collection of nuts as a reserve for the colder days was set.

In front of him was a pedestal reserved for a specific weapon, drawed two years ago. The slot seemed so deep that it could go down for miles. A ghost with a purple aura was floating above it, with his limbless hands hanging a meter away from his headless eyes. One could describe his ''head'' by looking at the hood covering it, only showing his sharp eyes.

The spectrum placed his hands close to each other and slowly raised them, allowing a small purple stray to appear His hands turned around it, molding it. He continued turning his hands until the stray got shaped like a small sphere.

He pulled back his hands and pushed them against the orb. It flew directly to the corpse and impacted on it. The orb melted at the contact, its energy absorbing and spreading itself on the body. The ghost would've smiled if he could. He disappeared within a hollow of wind.

The corpse tilted his head a milimeter to his left. Gravity did the rest. The sitting body's side gradually fell faster until it hit the ground. He opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurred. His throat began to swell and he felt sick. Unable to hold it in any more, he threw up an impressive amount of dark-green matter. His body's temperature got through the roof and he was visibly shaking.

He coughed a few times before focusing on what just came out of his mouth. His vision got better again and he could, despite not wanting to, very clearly see the mess he did. Worms and bugs were wriggling out of it. After pushing back that hideous vision away, he noticed the horrible smell coming out of him. And finally... he looked down at his degrading body.

Luminex : ...W-what...?

He was surprised both by the sound of his voice, which sounded so old, and how much it hurt to use it. He tried to clear his throat loudly to get rid of the pain, only to make it worse. He placed himself back in a sitting position and reached for his pants. The belt got untied and was dislocked, but he was sure he could patch it up.

He pulled them up and twisted the belt before making a node to make it hold by itself. Once that was done, he focused on his other clothes. His tunic had lost its colors, his pieces of gears got rusty, with holes here and there. He knew they were worthless in that state, so he got rid of them. Only his boots seemed intact. He painfully lifted himself against the wall, holding to it with his skinny hands.