Chapter Text
“ Princess,”
Zelda whipped her head up from her field journal, only to find everyone in the vicinity engrossed in their own tasks: Urbosa was quietly conversing with Laila, the guard that had accompanied their group on this little research expedition, while the other three researchers had their heads bent over their various tasks. And Link, as always, was standing a professional and silent six paces away. Despite the long pause that had been taken to examine the carvings along this section of the tunnel, the stubborn fool refused to rest: he stood stalwart and silent at the rear of the group, the tip of his sheathed sword on the ground and his hands folded on the pommel. And, because he was infuriatingly observant, he quickly noticed Zelda’s look of alarm and raised his chin in a silent question: All right?
Realizing that no one had called out to her and feeling foolish for jumping at her own shadow, Zelda bristled and gave him a curt nod in reply before hunching over her journal again. It wasn’t fair of her, she knew, but Zelda had been on edge from the moment they entered this goddess-forsaken cave, and her curiosity and stubbornness were the only things driving her further and further into the blackness of this endless ruin.
The cave itself had been an accidental discovery - Urbosa had blown up the side of a cliff while running “practice drills” with Vah Naboris, and an errant lightning strike had revealed its yawning mouth. Although largely reduced to rubble by time, rockslides, and Urbosa’s fury, the remnants of the once ornate and grand carvings lining the mouth of the cave were obvious enough, and on an initial examination, had been dated to a period in Gerudo history that was very poorly recorded.
“The Gerudo were divided into tribes at the time, and were… shall we say, less than cooperative with each other,” Urbosa had explained in her letter to Zelda. “When the tribes finally united a few hundred years ago, they combined our histories into one, but much was still lost either due to arrogance, or sheer apathy. If correctly dated, this cave system could be a time capsule, waiting to be discovered.” This possibility, combined with its proximity to the location Vah Naboris had been unearthed, had been enough to warrant an official delve into the ruin - after, of course, Zelda had worn a hole in the carpet of her father’s study; pacing back and forth angrily as she argued the value in examining the caves for herself.
Thus, after all the effort it had taken just for her to be here, it mattered little that Zelda’s stomach had churned the moment she stepped across the threshold of the cave; the hairs on her neck standing on end, her limbs prickling with unease and a feeling of being watched. She’d acted an utter fool to be allowed the opportunity to explore this cave for herself. Her pride demanded that she see it through.
“Something on your mind, little bird?”
Zelda started and whipped her head up to find Urbosa crouched at her side. Goddess above, Zelda hadn’t even heard her approach.
“I’m… fine,” she replied stiffly. “Just claustrophobic, I think.”
Urbosa grimaced, glancing up at the low ceiling; the once ornate tiling and carvings now cracked and strewn with spiderwebs and tree roots. “Can’t blame you there,” she grumbled. Then, she flicked her eyes to Zelda’s journal. “Any more ideas?”
“I dare say you’d still know more than I,” she admitted wryly, gesturing at her journal with its sparse and ultimately unhelpful notes.
“The dating at least seems to be correct,” Urbosa hummed. “This cave system definitely belonged to one of the northern mountain tribes, but none of the paintings or carvings we’ve found match what we have in the city archive.”
Zelda tried to ignore the sinking in her gut. “Would that imply that whatever was left here was just… not important enough to be remembered?”
Urbosa’s expression darkened. “Or, better left forgotten.”
The back of Zelda’s neck prickled, and once more, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her unease was only growing the longer they stayed in this murky, forgotten place, and yet Zelda could not bring herself to turn back now.
Something is strange here, she thought decisively. We cannot give in so soon. Not before we find the truth.
“Let’s keep moving,” Zelda announced, quickly rising to her feet. She turned to face the rest of the group with what she hoped was a confident expression. “If we find nothing in the next hour, we’ll head back.”
The other Gerudo nodded and fell into line as Laila took the lead, followed by the rest of their group. As they walked, Zelda felt Link’s quiet presence at her back once more. Six dutiful paces behind; as reliable as the rising and setting of the sun.
For once, she tried to let his presence be a comfort.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Further and further they walked, and still they found nothing. The cave stretched into a seemingly endless blackness; a singular line without any sudden twists or curves, or branching paths. The paintings along the walls eventually began to repeat themselves, and then eventually faded into crumbling stone and sand. It was becoming clear the further they went that whatever this ruin had once been, it had been lost to time. There was no history to be found here. There were no remnants of a lost culture or tribe, and certainly no further clues towards this Calamity.
And yet, Zelda could not bring herself to stop walking. Her unease had shifted in increments into something like anticipation; but for what, she could not rightly say. There was only a quiet, insistent thought, niggling at the back of her mind:
There is something here, for you.
“I think we need to turn back.” Urbosa’s voice was full of calm authority, but Zelda knew better - she saw the tightness around her eyes, the set of her jaw. Zelda’s stomach flipped. So there is something here after all.
“The tunnel seems to go on for quite a ways further,” Zelda protested. “What if there really is something at the end?”
“I’m sorry your highness, but the chief is right,” Nani spoke up. She looked tense and guarded, her eyes flickering at every strange shadow cast by the light of their torches. “There is something off about this place. We don’t know what kind of danger it poses.”
Only as dangerous as they assume it to be.
“Princess,” Link’s voice at her side, so close and unexpected that it made Zelda whirl around in alarm. His expression was no different than it ever was, but his hand was clenched tightly on the pommel of his sword at his hip. “I think we need to turn around. We’re not equipped for this.”
Of course he chose now to speak, Zelda thought hotly - but he was right, even if it infuriated her to admit so. Zelda rubbed her brow and tried to hide her irritation.
“Fine,” she relented. Her head was beginning to throb with a dull ache. The sensation of uneasy anticipation had not lessened. She felt… wrong.
Urbosa was watching her with a look of concern, the other gerudo with unease. And Link… Well, she still couldn’t read Link’s expression, but it was a less familiar version of his typical stoic and impassive mask. He was watching her closely, eyes bright and deep in the torchlight, his brow pinched and mouth set in a line. She might have thought he was angry, had she not known better.
But then, do you really know him at all?
“Whenever you’re ready, your highness,” Link said quietly.
And, with no other recourse, Zelda straightened her shoulders and turned to begin the march back. This time, she could feel the eyes of her companions on her back.
They know something is amiss.
It made her want to shrink into herself. To hide from the unseen eyes and well-intentioned concern and the suffocating walls of the cave. Goddess above, was every one of her desperate attempts at progress doomed to be a display of shame? Would she always be treated like a fragile, delicate thing, that had to be hidden away from the world?
Don’t you deserve better than this?
In her periphery, Zelda noticed that Link had quickened his pace to catch up with her, and was walking a few awkward paces away. He obviously had something he wanted to say, and as much as Zelda wanted to ignore him, she knew it would be utterly childish to do so.
It’s his fault.
“What do you need, Sir Link?” she asked.
His fault. His fault. His fault.
“Are you alright?” Link asked quietly, and that… took her by surprise. Since when did Link ask about her well-being? Or, more aptly, since when did he speak to her at all? In any other circumstance, Zelda might have given him a polite but chilly response, and brushed off the inquiry as yet another blow to her pride. But… something about this goddess-damned cave, and this goddess-damned magic had gotten to her, and despite how her throat knotted to admit it, she was desperate for a lifeline.
“I am fine,” she replied haltingly. “Just… unsettled, is all.”
Link only nodded in reply. Then, he glanced away, as if uncomfortable. “I… I’m sorry, princess.”
Zelda blinked in alarm. “Whatever for?”
Somehow, Link looked even more uncomfortable. “For forcing us to leave.”
Oh. Zelda was too disoriented by the sudden turn in Link’s behavior to even muster a suitably terse reply. He had never apologized to her before, even under the heat of her fury, because there was never really any need for him to apologize: he was only ever doing his job, just as he was now. But Link looked sincerely contrite, even as he kept glancing at their surroundings with obvious suspicion and unease - and while it wasn’t necessarily an olive branch, it was sincere and decent. In spite of her irritation towards him, it was more than Zelda felt she deserved, after everything. And so she swallowed her reply, and endeavored to act decently for once.
“You did not force us to do anything,” Zelda replied; a bit stiffly, but decidedly civil. “I chose to leave of my own accord, under the advisement of my colleagues and friends, and my own understanding that this ruin is…” Her indignation faltered, and she suddenly deflated with a sigh. “Well, as you said. Out of our depth.”
And then, because she apparently couldn’t help herself, she turned up her nose at him again: “I also thought to take pity on my poor knight, and his apparent fear of dark places.”
It was a half-hearted jab compared to other, more creative ones she’d thrown at him in the past, and there wasn’t any real heat behind it. At best, Zelda had thought she might make him blush and balk a little bit, but it appeared Link was still full of surprises:
To her utter shock, he smiled.
It was the tiniest quirk of his lips, but Zelda knew it for what it was in the way his eyes softened around the edges, and the way his cheek dimpled ever-so slightly. “You are generous indeed,” he replied, in that quiet, rasping voice of his.
Zelda did not know what to do with the sincerity in his voice, and evidently Link was a bit abashed as well. He was the first to look away, and sure enough, his ears were tinged pink.
If only it could always be this way.
The thought came unexpectedly and without precedent, and unsettled as she was by Link’s bizarre turn in behavior, it nearly sent Zelda into a tailspin. She didn’t actually want to be friends with Link, did she? Her initial hostility towards him had certainly been unwarranted, but Link hadn’t exactly demonstrated a desire to be friendly with her, either. Perhaps that was the real reason she was furious with him, she thought: Shouldn’t they have been partners in this? Shouldn’t they have been friends?
You are a goddess among mortals. The hero is worthless to you.
Amidst the turmoil of her anger and doubt, Zelda paused. That… didn’t feel right. Zelda was angry, but this hatred did not seem to belong to her. It was bitter and foul and cruel, and…
And not at all like you, of course.
Zelda felt her blood run cold. This was not her voice. These were not her thoughts.
Noticed, did you?
A voice was whispering in her mind. A voice that did not belong to her. There was something in this ruin after all. Zelda was frozen in place, and Link did not notice. He kept walking with the others, slowly retreating into the darkness, all of them completely oblivious to the fact that Zelda was no longer with them. It was more than fear that paralyzed her in place as the full extent of danger finally dawned in her: the eyes on her back, the source-less whispers, the strange, twisted magic of this place…
I can taste your curiosity, princess, the voice whispered; wrapping itself around her like smoke. You thirst for knowledge. You slake your appetite with prayers and worship, but I can give you what you truly hunger for.
“What are you?” Zelda whispered in horror.
Come and find out, the voice replied. Come and have a taste.
Then, she saw the door. Tall, ornate, wrought with gold and gems, and seated in the wall of the cave as if it had been there from the start. And yet, it had not been there before, she was certain - or, if it had, it had been concealed. Hidden away until the magic of this place grew strong enough to ensnare its prey. She could feel the draw to open it. She could feel the compulsion of anticipation and want, of the glimmer of an idea that what she desperately wanted was just beyond that door…
Zelda’s mind screamed in protest, but her body moved on its own.
She took a step forward.
Zelda fought against the pull of magic, tried to regain control of her own body. But the pull was too intense. The magic’s grip was nearly total over her limbs.
Another step. The others were so far ahead, their torch light nearly disappearing into the blackness. They were going to leave her, and never notice she was missing. They would leave her behind, and no one would ever know what happened to her.
One final step. Her hand closed around the doorknob, and Zelda wrenched enough control over her body to scream:
“ LINK!”
The door opened. Zelda heard the rush of footsteps, the cries of alarm, and as she stepped through the doorway into the inky blackness beyond, she felt the weight of two strong arms wrap around her torso and pull .
But the magic was stronger.
The world seemed to invert itself, the pull became a push, and together, they tumbled forward into the blackness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One moment, she was falling.
When Zelda opened her eyes again, she was standing on her own two feet on solid ground, and Link was still clutching her tightly around her stomach - then, releasing her quickly, and stumbling away.
“Are you alright, princess?” Link moved in front of her; sword drawn, tension in every line of him as he surveyed their surroundings for danger. Zelda shivered.
“I’m fine,” she replied, shaking herself. At least she appeared to have full control of her body once more - but that left the question of what the fuck kind of creature had just tried to kill her.
The thought made her sick to her stomach, and she forced herself to focus. She needed to be rational. First things first - where on earth are we?
The room certainly didn’t appear to be part of the tunnel they’d been exploring. It almost seemed to be an antechamber; large and echoing, and made of crumbling granite that looked to have once been ornate and beautiful, but had decayed with the passage of time. The room was awash in a source-less light; casting darkened shades of blues and purples across the crumbling statues and pillars. Sand and dust whispered across the floor, scattered in small flurries by a strange wind that carried the sound of voiceless whispers and the hush of falling sand.
“What is this place?” Zelda found herself saying aloud.
Welcome to my home, little princess.
Zelda and Link both whirled in alarm - the voice had seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once; as if it belonged to the stones itself. Link lifted the master sword again.
“Show yourself,” he barked into the gloom.
There came a rasping chuckle; like a snake sliding across sand. It sounded like the fwush of silk and twinkling coins; like perfumes and spices and…
Zelda gasped as she realized that amidst the mottled light of the room, smoke had begun to twist and writhe in strange shapes; gathering just above a stone dais. To her horror, it began twisting into the shape of a man; lounging languidly against the stone. Zelda could almost imagine this place as it once must have been: ornate and beautiful; hung with silks and cushions and finery; draping curtains and golden decor.
Horror dawned as Zelda finally realized what this ruin really was. What this creature before them was.
“You are a djinn,” she whispered in fear.
The smoky figure barely had any discernible features, but Zelda could imagine the sneering amusement as that same shifting laugh echoed through the hall.
“How clever you are, little princess,” the djinn purred in reply, curling a ghostly hand at her. “I could sense your cleverness, as soon as you entered my domain, you know. Your intelligence. Your drive. Your hunger, ”
Zelda shuddered as the word seemed to rumble through her chest.
“Oh, but it has been so long since I entertained guests!” the djinn bemoaned. “I have forgotten my manners. Welcome, little princess, to my home.”
It spread its arms grandly to the ruin around them, and Zelda did not miss the irony. What empty promises it made.
“I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule,” she replied, forcing herself to be calm, and regal. “I am accompanied by my Knight Attendant, Sir Link. What may we call you?”
“Ohhhhh, I have no name, little princess,” the djinn said languidly, waving a ghostly hand. “And if I ever did, it has long been forgotten. Such is the cruelty of time… And I have been trapped in this cavern for such a very long time indeed. The vai who once lived near my home were afraid of me, could you imagine!”
“How upsetting,” Zelda replied flatly. She wondered if she was imagining the flash of sharp teeth in the djinn’s smiling mouth.
“ Deeply,” the djinn replied. “I only ever wished to help the vai who came to me - all of them, desperate for a cure for their ailing mother, for glory in battle, for a husband, for wealth… and all of them were so very grateful to me for granting them their greatest desires.”
Zelda was sure they were - at first. That was what djinns preyed upon: desires, dreams, ambitions… it lured in its victims with promises of all of this and more, and then fed on the despair of their dreams crumbling to ash in their hands.
Zelda possessed no small number of wants. What a perfect victim she must have seemed.
Your mistake, she thought furiously.
She’d listened to enough of Urbosa’s tall tales growing up to know how djinn worked. They could “grant” their victim any wish they desired, but there was always a catch. Djinn were masters of cunning and subtlety; they could twist their victims' words into entirely different meanings, and then, when the victim realized they had been tricked and that their greatest desire was nothing more than smoke and mirrors and ruin, the djinn preyed upon the desperation and anguish. They were not dangerous, in the typical sense - they could not feed on the suffering of the dead, after all. But they were powerful, and easily slighted.
Zelda’s mind whirled with adrenaline, panic, and anger. They needed a plan. They couldn’t fight their way out, but they could not risk making a deal with the djinn either; not with so much already at stake…
Think, Zelda, think!
“Tell me, Princess Zelda of Hyrule,” the djinn purred. “What is it that you desire?”
To awaken my powers, my people’s respect, my father’s love, for my mother to still be alive, for the Calamity to never rise, to have a friend in this goddess-forsaken life…
“I am a princess,” she replied coolly, forcing her racing thoughts to calm. She couldn’t give the djinn a foothold. “I have a kingdom at my disposal; a castle, a fortune, power… I live a very charmed life indeed.”
“Assuredly, you do,” the djinn chuckled cruelly, and Zelda suddenly felt a sick churn in her stomach. “And all of it is as fleeting and false as you believe my gifts to be.”
Suddenly, it twisted and writhed in the air, coming to stand just before Link. Her knight did not falter - but neither did the djinn.
“What about you, little hero?” it purred, its voice suddenly silky and feminine. Its hand traced the tip of Link’s sword in a way that nearly made Zelda blush. “You stand so brave and stalwart before me; every inch the perfect knight… but one cannot be hardened forever. You must yearn for softness. A gentle touch… a soft word… a companion , perhaps.”
And then, to Zelda’s horror, the djinn began to transform. Its body remained spectral and indistinct, but she could see the fall of long hair, the gentle swell of breasts and hips, a soft face that looked like…
“Do not mock Her Highness,” Link snarled, in a voice Zelda had never heard from him before. It made her blood run cold, even though she was not the target of his wrath. The djinn quickly danced away with a mocking laugh.
“But of course,” it sneered from its pedestal. “You are dutiful indeed, Sir Knight. Such thoughts would never befit a man like you,”
“Enough,” Zelda barked, stepping to Link’s side. He cast her a sideways glare, obviously nervous, obviously wondering what the hell she was doing, but Zelda only shook her head.
Trust me.
“We are grateful for your kindness, but our duty prevents us from accepting it,” she said carefully. “We must return to our friends, now.”
The air in the room was growing thicker. Zelda fought down the rise of panic. Calm. Stay calm.
“I would have assumed a princess would know it is impolite to refuse a gift freely given,” the djinn snarled. The atmosphere had changed. It smelled like ozone and tar. She was only making it angry by refusing outright… she needed to be clever. She needed to trick it, somehow; to wish for something that would satisfy the djinn without risking catastrophe... but how?
"I offer my apologies," she said carefully. She wasn't sure how far the djinn could twist her words, especially if she pissed it off enough to try. "You must understand our hesitancy to accept. Much misfortune befell those who accepted your gifts - how can we know the same will not befall us?"
Again, a flash of white, sharp teeth in the smoke. "Misfortune has long dogged your footsteps, little princess," the djinn sneered. "So much like that knight of yours dogs them now. Whatever gifts I give cannot be worse than what awaits you."
Zelda's blood ran cold. "You know of the calamity?" she breathed.
"I know your fear," the djinn corrected, swirling impatiently. "You tell me you have all you could ever wish for, but I know how you fear its loss. I know you fear you are leading your kingdom to ruin. I know you fear your own failure. And most of all, little princess, I know how you desire... oh how you desire..."
Something snapped inside of her.
“I am a descendent of the Goddess Hylia; Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Hyrule," Zelda barked, slashing away the smoke with an imperious wave of her hand. "There is nothing I desire."
And then, with horror, Zelda realized what she had done.
On its pedestal, the djinn churned furiously; its smoky body beginning to bubble and warp like boiling oil. The air was too hot; the magic burned across her skin. Link backed into her, sword still held aloft:
“Get behind me, princess!” he commanded, and Zelda clutched to him with a shriek as the djinn lashed at them furiously. Link parried the smoky attack with his sword. It glowed faint blue in the light, and the djinn hissed as the blessed metal touched it, but it did not retreat.
“You claim you desire nothing? ” the djinn sneered. “I have seen your heart, princess; I know the darkness it possesses. I know what forbidden things it craves.”
“ Leave her!” Link shouted.
“And you!” the djinn thrashed once more; swirling around them in fury. “You, who claims to be more hero than man; who believes himself to be above the petty wants of flesh… You and your princess are vain, arrogant…”
“Link, we need to get out of here!” Zelda shouted, tugging at Link’s back, searching desperately for an escape…
“You shun my gifts? You believe you desire nothing? ” the djinn sneered in fury. Zelda felt the swell of magic shift and change; felt it begin to fill her lungs, seep through her veins. “I will teach you the folly of temperance. I curse you, Hero and Princess: I curse you with your greatest desire. I curse you with want. You will have no peace. You will have no virtue. You will only want.”
The magic burned. It was burning, and Zelda was screaming, and over the howl of the wind and her wretched voice, she could hear Link screaming too.
“Begone from my sight,” the djinn snarled. “Begone, and seek your desire.”
And then, blessedly, the world went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Zelda opened her eyes again, she realized she was back in the tunnel. The wall before her where the door had been was once again smoothed over; as if the djinn’s home had never been there at all. Link was standing next to her, blinking at the wall dazedly. For a moment, Zelda felt elated: They were free. They’d escaped.
And then, she turned to face him, and her stomach dropped again.
His eyes were so blue - had they always been so beautiful, she wondered? Certainly, they had been; so deep and pensive, burning into her spine wherever she went, but he would never meet her eye when they spoke, and now they bore into hers; so wide, so blue, so wanting…
Want.
Her skin was burning, but not with magic. Electricity shot down her spine. Something inside of her throbbed.
Want. Want. Want.
“Link,” Zelda exhaled on a shuddering breath. She quaked and trembled, and her fingers twitched; desperate for something, desperate for him…
“Fuck,” Link whispered.
Something snapped. She had no idea who moved first. Both of them were propelled forward by the momentum of sudden insanity. There was no clear, conscious thought guiding her actions as she clung to the front of his tunic and attempted to eat him alive. His lips were slightly chapped against hers, his tongue licked a filthy line into her mouth; gasping, panting, more, more, more… There was fear, somewhere, beneath the haze of madness and lust that had suddenly overtaken her, but she could hardly focus on it; not with the way her thoughts had been consumed in the way he consumed her. And still it was not enough; his skin beneath her hands where she’d rucked them under his shirt wasn’t enough, his grip on her breast over her shirt was not enough, the way he moaned into her mouth was not enough, she needed more…
Fear broke through the surface. Just as suddenly as they collided, they sprang apart from each other with a cry of both pleasure, and dismay. Zelda stumbled back so quickly her back hit the wall. Link backpedaled with uncharacteristic gracelessness and fell in a heap on the ground. For a moment, they could only stare wide-eyed: breathing heavily, high and thin and reedy and desperate. Zelda waited - surely this sudden madness would leave them. Surely this was nothing more than adrenaline and fear, poorly manifested in… whatever just happened.
Silence between them. She waited for her reasoning to return to her. What had come over her? What was wrong with her?
Still, she throbbed.
Zelda had never known a hunger like this. Her body ached and thrummed; twitching towards him even as she desperately fought to regain control. But even then, she was spiraling right back towards him once more; the taste of him in her mouth, the ghost of his touches along her hips, the press of his erection…
Oh, goddess. She couldn’t have stopped her wandering eyes, anymore than she could have stopped the racing of her thoughts. Her eyes dragged down his panting, flushed face, tracing the lines of his heaving chest, his chiseled abdomen, before finally falling on the tent in his trousers.
I curse you with your greatest desire.
Horror rose as she realized what the djinn had done to them. Why her body was screaming for touch, taste, sensation, need.
But not just from anyone. From him.
Link came to the same realization just as she did. His expression was still wild and horrified, all in one; his chest heaving, running his tongue over his chapped lips. Zelda felt her entire body lean towards his in anticipation; waiting for something, anything…
Please, some desperate part of her whispered. Please, don’t shut me out now.
“Princess,” he rasped, and Zelda’s breath hitched as the word lingered in the air between them; more charged than even the tension in every line of her body. His eyes clenched shut. His body tensed and flexed. Zelda watched, captivated, as a bead of sweat trickled down his jaw and pooled in his clavicle. She wanted to lick it away. She wanted to trace its path back up his neck, scrape her teeth along the line of his jaw, following the path to his mouth once more.
His eyes opened again, and for the briefest moment, Zelda saw her desire reflected in the bright, beautiful, terrifying blue of his eyes, and she knew they were doomed.
The sound of running footsteps and angry shouts broke the spell - or, at least, their attention: Urbosa and the researchers were sprinting down the tunnel, the light from their torches growing closer and closer.
“ Zelda!” Urbosa shouted, skidding to a halt, her sword drawn and eyes flashing with fury. “By the seven, you’re here! Are you hurt?”
For a moment, all she could do was gape at Urbosa; mouth working uselessly. She glanced at Link, who looked just as bewildered as her - why had she even tried, she thought angrily. Of course, even now, he would be no help.
Like cold water, the anger and frustration washed over her, and gave her just enough clarity of mind to reply.
“We need to get back to town. Fast. ”