open 🌻 a not so welcome return

[multidisciplinary]

Who: Zelda and OPEN
Which: Open log
Where: Around town
What: Zelda returns to Song after disappearing for a canon update two weeks ago.
Warnings: Major Tears of the Kingdom spoilers in the first prompt. (opt out of TOTK spoilers here.) Also minor descriptions of choking and vomiting.



1. choking hazard

This isn't how it was supposed to happen.

They had it all planned out, Zelda and Mineru. They knew everything that needed to be prepared in advance, every task to plan or delegate so that all the necessary tools would be available to Link in the distant future. It was just a matter of getting it all in order before the end. They had only this once chance to get everything right. There would be no going back, no correcting mistakes, once Zelda swallowed her secret stone.

They had tried to plan for contingencies as well. What if Ganondorf broke free too early? What if the Temple of Time were damaged? What if Mineru's spirit faded before she could meet Link?

'What if the Princess is suddenly spirited away to a strange dream world before she could transform?'—was not among those contingencies.

Hidden away in a quiet alleyway not far from the Plaza, Zelda sits on the cobbled stone and tries to take stock of her situation. The Master Sword—more a stump than a sword at this point, its brilliant blade almost entirely corroded away—lays beside her on the ground. The princess's right hand rests protectively over its hilt, ready to grab the blade at a moment's notice, should anyone intrude on her.

'Songerein.' She knows that name. It stirs recognition somewhere deep, deep in the back of Zelda's mind. She had a dream like this once, during the long century she spent sealed away with Calamity Ganon. To think it was not (quite) a dream after all...

But that doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is getting back to Hyrule, protecting the Master Sword, and--

Zelda tries to swallow a lump in her throat.

--giving up her life for the sake of the future.

For the sake of Link.

Her brows furrow. She already tried (and failed) to use her power over time to return herself to the moment before she woke up here in Songerein. But she isn't willing to give up that easily. Zelda absently rubs the stone attached to her choker with her thumb. A mortal might be beholden to the rules of this realm, but what about a dragon? Mineru said that a dragon is unbound from the shackles of time, becoming ageless—deathless—an immortal shell of one's former self. Surely such a being could not be bound by the rules of dreams either. Perhaps the transformation will be enough to wake her and free her from this purgatory so that she can do her duty.

She'll do anything if it's for Link.

Clenching her jaw, Zelda yanks the stone from her choker and cups it in her palms. Such a little thing, and yet it's capable of such great—and terrible—things. It can draw out the greatest strength in anyone, allow them to build a kingdom of prosperity and paradise. But it can also draw out terrible evil, the cruelest of ambitions, the downfall of any goodness in the world. It is capable of allowing someone to live forever—at the cost of everything that they are.

She'll do anything if it's for Link.

Zelda clasps her hands over the stone and presses her forehead against them. "You must find me, Link. I may not know it's you... You may not know it's me... But you must come for me. You must protect everyone."

She raises her hands to her lips and swallows the stone whole.

The lump sticks in the back of her throat. Zelda swallows again and again, trying to push the stone down, but it holds fast. She tilts her chin up and strokes her throat, trying to coax it to relax. Come on, go down. Zelda tries to take a breath in order to swallow again, but only manages to suck in the tiniest hiss of air. The stone won't move.

The edges of her vision start getting dark. Growing frantic, she slaps at her throat with both hands. Please, just go down...

All of the sudden, Zelda lurches forward, falling onto her hands and knees. Against her will, she heaves. Up comes the stone, along with the contents of her stomach, splattering over the cobblestones.

It takes a minute for her to stop retching and catch her breath. When Zelda opens her eyes and spots the stone, her gut clenches up again and she lets out a wrenching sob.

"Why?! Why won't you let me go?"

What a horrible scene to come across, should anyone be so unlucky.



2. about town

It's the next day.

Zelda is still playing over the events of the previous day in her mind—she went to sleep in Hyrule, assured of her plans and ready to enact them. But when she woke, she was in this strange world, Songerein. A dream from long ago, a lifetime past, when the princess held back an ancient evil all by herself for one hundred years. Sometimes she was awake, watching over the land of Hyrule, watching over her knight as he slumbered. Other times, she slept, dreaming strange dreams about people from strange worlds and magic powered by the combination of dreams and emotions.

So it wasn't a dream after all.

Throughout the day, Zelda can be found wandering around town, looking lost and hesitant. She clutches the hilt of the corroded Master Sword with both hands, never once setting it down. She walks streets she used to know by heart, trying to stir memories that have been long dormant.

So lost in her thoughts, Zelda isn't entirely paying attention to where she's going, so it's very likely that she'll bump right into someone.

But even if she doesn't, she might stop you to ask for directions. Do you know the way to the library?—no, it was an archive. There's supposed to be a smithy around here, isn't there? Do you know of a place where they teach music?

Or maybe Zelda will make it to her destination—the smithy, the archives, dreambucks, the Plaza, or any such place. She'll linger outside, hesitant. Does she remember this place? Did she know someone here? Maybe she'll even step inside, milling around with the uncertainty of someone who knows they are looking for something but has forgotten what it is.



3. the wildcard option

Want a different prompt to meet or reunite with Zelda? Plot with me on plurk (knighted), discord (triforce1960) or DM.

Also, feel free to reply in brackets instead of prose if you prefer.

Comments

[luciing]

[ With her appearing more stable, Somnus removes his hand from her back, although he remains crouched at her side for now. There is not much else he can discern from her expression, but every word of hers reveals more and more. ]

Little time has passed. [ He confirms with a quiet nod. ]

[ Yet for her, it's been sixty years within a seal. Then over four years out of it, a time, hopefully, she spent rebuilding the devastation caused by the calamity, as is the duty of royalty whether or not that kingdom still stands. As for her garb, there could be a number of other reasons besides a second fall of Hyrule for the reason she wears no mark of her family. Perhaps there was reason to hide her status, or perhaps she was wed to a neighboring kingdom to assist in rebuilding her own. He cannot be sure, and so he holds his speculations at bay. There is a more important question to ask.

Somnus' gaze leaves hers, and he looks to the stone. ]

Is it dangerous?

[ She needn't know the details that he fought a blight version of herself. However, she and her knight did have a serious impact on the dream realm, warping it and spreading the blight of their world. Hopefully, she did not bring something else back from her world that would presage similar peril. ]

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda presses her lips together, hesitant to respond. The secret stones of the Zonai were once their ultimate secret. How Ganondorf ever learned about them, Zelda still does not know; Sonia and Rauru told the princess about them in confidence, only because it was the stone that brought her to their era in the first place. She took the utmost care to keep that secret, but still it got out somehow. It would probably be wisest to keep that confidence.

But the thought of keeping this a secret from everyone sits ill in Zelda's mind. She knows full well how hard it is to bear burdens alone—she did it for many long years before the Calamity and for the entire century that followed. She always thought she was the only one who could carry that burden. By the time she realized she didn't have to do it alone, it was already too late. It would be foolish to repeat that same mistake. ]

In the wrong hands. [ Is the answer she finally gives.

Zelda leans over and picks up the stone, unfazed by the mess upon it. She wipes it clean with the edge of her dress. ]

The Zonai referred to it as a "secret stone," although I expect its true name has long since been lost to time. It is capable of amplifying one's power exponentially.

[ Satisfied that it is mostly clean, Zelda lays it in her palm and then taps the glassy surface with the index finger of her opposite hand. A little -thunk- sounds, then the stone and the air around it fade to monochrome. It lifts out of Zelda's hand, then zips back to the ground where it had been laying. (So much for cleaning it.) It sits there for for several long moments, then lifts up again and zips back to Zelda, floating around by her face before finally attaching itself to her choker. She makes a motion with her free hand to dismiss the enchantment, leaving the stone firmly affixed, as if she had never torn it off. ]

[luciing]

[ Dangerous in the wrong hands, and from it seems, the stone, unlike the Ring, has no vetting process for whoever dares to wield it. A dangerous artifact, indeed, and yet here she was, minutes ago, attempting to consume it-- and he doubts she attempted to do so in order to prevent it from being stolen, like some noble swallowing their jewelry during a siege. No, she is the one that needed powe--

The sound and shift in the immediate area breaks his thoughts, causing his eyes to narrow immediately. Unblinking, his eyes follow the stone. It moves from her hand, to the ground, then back to her necklace as if it had never been ripped from the chain.

His lips part, press together, then part again. His voice is low, a touch hushed. ] Astrals...

[multidisciplinary]

[ In the quiet alleyway, Zelda easily catches that hushed utterance and it gives her pause. She's never seen Somnus at a loss for words. He's often silent, certainly, but rarely taken by surprise like this.

She watches him carefully, searching his stony features for the meaning behind his reaction.

Astrals... She's heard that word before. Those are the gods of his world, who communicate with the Oracle to make their commands known to mortals. But what brings them to his mind now? The Zonai? The stone? Or the magic the princess just performed? ]

What do you mean? [ Her question is ventured in a low tone, careful. ]

[luciing]

[ She has the stone. The stone enhances power. She sought to swallow it. Logic tells him this means she had meant to acquire more-- more than she already has at her disposal. Divine power in his realm kills those who are mortal. It is not the same in her world, but he has his doubts that too much would be a good thing.

Or perhaps he's wrong. Perhaps being a descendant of a goddess makes her an exception, and she's perfectly capable of handling it.

His lips press together, and a hand raises to his jaw, rubbing it before he speaks. ] The power you seek to amplify... [ He begins to ask, his tone equally careful. ]

It is that? [ Not the power of her light, borne of divinity, that which he's seen her use before. No. That, what she just did. ] Manipulating time.

cw: suicidal ideation

[multidisciplinary]

[ Zelda's expression darkens into a frown. She didn't expect him to put all that together with just the few things she's told him. He's not quite at the answer, but it'll probably only be a matter of time before he gets there. ]

In a sense.

[ Zelda fiddles with the stone on her necklace, hesitant to elaborate. The act of draconification was taboo in Zonai society (for good reason) and was a subject Mineru rarely wished to discuss, even in a hypothetical manner. Few writings mentioned the subject and even fewer explored it in depth. Mineru only ever agreed to Zelda's plan begrudgingly, likely in part because she didn't have the strength to put up more of a fight. How would anyone else react if Zelda explained that she had been trying, in a sense, to end her own life?

But she also has the feeling she won't be able to keep the truth from Somnus for long, even if she tries. He's already much closer to the answer than Zelda realizes. ]

Simply having it on my person is enough to amplify my powers. Consuming it has... a different effect, one that I believe would be strong enough to break this world's hold on me.

[ The memory of how it felt to choke on the stone viscerally returns to her mind. The hand on her choker begins to tremble. ]

It should have transformed my body into a form stronger than a dream could contain.

[luciing]

[ He does not believe her to be someone who craves power for power's sake, to say nothing of the amount she suggests. So when she mentions that consuming the stone would transform her, his expression is, notably, concerned.

Power, he's found, does not corrupt, but instead reveals; and he can only imagine (and fail to imagine) for what she needed such an amount.

Nevertheless, it is evident she wishes to break from this dream, and the stone she sought to use was the key. Except, now it is... inert? malfunctioning? Whatever is going on with it, it's not working as she'd believed. No wonder she is devastated. Reverin does not abide by one world's rules, but by calling her back, it seems the dream has taken not only power from her, but the hope it symbolized.

She does not deserve this cruelty placed upon her. Resentment for her circumstance charges his words. His tone cools to something low, powerful, and rumbling like a glacier carving through a valley, with a quiet, ancient intensity reflected in his gaze. ]

By taking the stone's power, this dream robbed you of choice.

[multidisciplinary]

[ Somnus's comment and the intensity of his expression gives Zelda pause.

Her choice...

He is right, of course. The magic of the dream world has prevented her from using the stone to transform into an ageless dragon, a choice she had already made in Hyrule before she was spirited away to this place. But it's the word, 'choice,' that rings in her head like a sour note—it sounds somehow wrong. She has chosen this path, that is true.... but in a way, was it really a choice at all? After all, using her divine powers to heal and strengthen the Master Sword for eons is something only Zelda can do. Just like her duty to seal Calamity Ganon, her 'choice' of what to do isn't much of a choice at all.

And right now, she has to do whatever she can to make that choice. For the future of Hyrule. For Link. ]

I cannot allow that. I must return to Hyrule before it is too late.

[luciing]

[ His lips press together, forming a thin line as he answers with a silent, definitive nod.

"Before it is too late."

Her words are grim, but true. One would be foolish to believe remaining here has no effect on their actual worlds, or vice versa. To remain idle as this-- a dream-- continues would be to resign oneself to a realm that continues to rob each and every one of their choices. ]

Then unto this realm, do as necessary to return to yours. You will have my aide.