Chapter Text
It had been about two months since Link had performed the ritual from the bargainer statue, a dark ritual that allowed him to marry his true love, Mipha, and one since they had defeated Calamity Ganon. Already the dark magic of the calamity was beginning to fade, but that didn’t include what clung to Link and Mipha from the ritual. Link got away mostly ok, Zelda was able to purify most of it and what remained simply altered his behavior slightly to be more aggressive, and even that wasn’t much considering he was half feral. Mipha however, was not so lucky. Should any girl other than Zelda get within 5 feet of Link and Mipha would begin muttering about finding a way to kill someone as a spirit. She hated when anyone touched him, especially girls. The only people she had no problems with were her brother and father’s interactions with Link, physical or not, and she seemed to tolerate Zelda touching him as long as she didn’t make Link uncomfortable. Link found this behavior both terrifying and endearing. Mipha was very protective of him but couldn’t interact with anyone or anything but Link, so she settled for making him practically immortal instead.
Oh yeah, Link was immortal now. Ever since the ritual Mipha’s grace had been in overdrive. It did not matter the wound, as soon as he received it the wound would instantly heal within a fraction of a second, not even leaving a scar. The only proof he was hurt in the first place being the blood on whatever hurt him. While this made Link exceedingly reckless, he still tried not to get hit as doing so would set off Mipha. Mipha herself didn’t really care about Link getting hurt, mainly because her grace would heal him from even death in the span of a second. She cared more about making sure whatever had hurt Link received what was in her mind “righteous retribution.” In the two months they had been wed and bonded she had already learned two ways to use the dark magic that clung to her, although Link and Zelda were the only ones that even knew she now had dark magic. She could use it to empower Link or use it to send nearby monsters into a frenzy. Either way the monster died. Whether it was by Link’s hand or its own kind, she didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was her precious Link .
You see, the ritual was dark magic because it could forcibly bond two souls together. It said that it should be performed during a time of heightened dark magic. However, it also warned against doing so when you could physically feel the magic in the air, like a blood moon. It was right in the part that Link skipped over. So, it was natural that there was backlash in the form of the dark magic that now clings to them. While it did negatively impact their behavior it also had some positives. Enough positives to convince Zelda to not purge all of it. Link had perfect night vision and his already low need for sleep caused by the shrine got enhanced so he didn’t need any at all. Link could still sleep if he wanted to, but he hardly ever did. Why sleep when there are so many other things he could be doing. Mipha had all of her magic enhanced, although most of it was still not accessible to her due to being a spirit. Lastly, they were both highly sensitive to divinity and despite that fact they should be having a negative reaction to it. The dark magic had meshed with their own, becoming part of them making it so they could stand it. However, it was this sensitivity that led to both of their current confusion.
…
Link had been digging up a few mushrooms as Mipha floated around him when he felt it. A sudden spike in Hylia’s divinity before some sort of gateway opened up in the distance and unceremoniously dumped eight men onto the ground before vanishing. Hylia’s divinity only lingering a few seconds before vanishing with it. He quickly flipped up his cloak and went to investigate. While the chance these men where Yiga was incredibly low considering Link flipped the roles and was now hunting them . It was still better to be safe than sorry. As the men slowly got up and gathered themselves the man in full plate armor was the first to notice Link who was now crouched next to a tree. He saw the man’s hand twitch towards his sword for a moment. So, they wanted to fight? Link was more than happy to oblige. He quickly sprung to his feet placing both of his hands on his royal broadswords as Mipha, unseen by the living, bared her teeth, the threat clear.
The man put his hands up in a nonthreatening way as the others began to notice him. It looked like Link wouldn’t get to have his fun after all. “ Shame, I would have enjoyed watching you tear into these fools. ” Link thought the same thing, at least until the man? boy? with brown hair’s eyes suddenly widened and he drew his sword, pointing it at Link. Link let a grin cross his face but remember what Zelda had said about chances. So, he unsheathed his swords in return but remained still, giving them one last chance. A quick glance to his right revealed Mipha had a smile almost as large as his. “ These scum are quite brave. I'll give them that. ” Link nodded, ignoring the few confused looks he gained by doing so. The group seemed to finally properly notice his threat as hands came off sword hilts. Only the brown-haired boy still held his sword although he lowered it. “We don’t mean any harm,” the man with the wolf pelt said while another in some sort of white cape lightly smacked the brown-haired boy’s hand. “We are just a bit lost, would you be able to point us to the nearest town or village?” Link paused before speaking.
…
“Quite the method of travel.” Hyrule tried his best not to startle at the raspy sound of the stranger’s voice. He had felt the magic around them when they first came through the portal to try and place what era they were in only to be greeted by the reek of dark magic. On instinct he had drawn his sword and looked for the source, which was the cloaked figure now speaking to them. “Purple gateways huh, why don’t you tell me about those.” All of the chain flinched. This figure had seen them come out of the portal. It at least explained why they had already been ready to draw their swords when Hyrule looked at them. Sky smacked his hand again. Right, he still had his sword out. He went to put it away as Time and Twilight fumbled out an excuse. “You see… we use them to travel… very long distances, that’s all it is.” Then the stranger said something that had Hyrule immediately drawing his sword again. “Felt a lot like dark magic, but like it was forced to be light instead.” Hyrule pointed his sword at the stranger. “Of course you would recognize dark magic.”
The strangers turned and locked eyes with Hyrule. He caught a glimpse of a smile under their cloak as they spoke, “quite perceptive of you, have a problem with me dabbling a little into it?” Hyrule looked at the cloaked stranger coldly and answered, “as a matter of fact I do.” Their smile grew, causing Hyrule’s grip to tighten. “Why don’t we settle this then? Feel free to invite the whole gang! However, I won’t blame you if you wish to do this one-on-one.” Hyrule felt the malicious intent of the stranger growing as the stranger bounced from foot to foot. He heard the rest of the chain drawing their swords. The stranger was completely unfazed, taunting him, “it’s up to yooooou.” The taunting seemed to set off Legend as he charged forward. Hyrule felt the malicious intent suddenly be accompanied by another feeling. Excitement. The stranger rushed forward to meet Legend halfway.
This spurred the rest of the chain into action, no one hearing Sky’s sudden yelp of pain. The stranger moved fast and erratically, making it difficult for any of them to surround them let alone hit them. After what seemed like forever, Time scored a blow that even he didn’t seem to intend as his sword plunged straight through the stranger's stomach. However, the stranger was unfazed as they kicked Time away and did something no one predicted. They sheathed their swords and drew the biggoron sword out of their stomach as the wound instantly healed before the chain's eyes. As they admired the blade they glanced back to Time as he got up, “nice sword. Mind if I keep it?” The entire chain had been shocked into silence and Hyrule wondered just who this person was. “GUYS!” In the silence, Sky had finally been able to gain the attention of the chain. “The master sword shocked me when I tried to help the rest of you.” It was what finally made them all lower their blades, but before Sky could continue, they were interrupted by laughing. “Master sword! HAHAHAHA! Nice try but she’s safely resting in the lost woods. I checked myself yesterday.”
That all but confirmed it. This stranger, who clearly gave off dark magic and even admitted to using it, was the hero of this era, whatever era they were in. Sky drew the master sword causing Link’s? laughter to cease. They suddenly blurred forward quickly, disarming Sky and catching the master sword mid-air before examining it. The blade rapidly aged in their hands, shocking everyone as they stared at it intently. “Huh, I guess Zelda was right. I do shoot first and ask questions later.” He let out a small chuckle and held the master sword out back to Sky who quickly took it back. Link? then walked right up to Hyrule. “It looks like we WILL be settling this one-on-one, but not right now, gotta do introductions.” He then took a few steps away before turning to face the chain and speaking once more. “Well, I’m Link, Hero of the Wild,” they gesture to the empty air beside them, “and this is my wife Mipha, she’s a spirit hence why you can’t see her. The reason why both of us have dark magic is because of the ritual we used to get married. Any questions?” Hyrule had so many questions.