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[scionofwisdom]

[There is a clunk, and by the way the person is talking, it sounds rather like someone has accidentally pressed a button on the communicator.]

What...is this magic? [The decidedly feminine voice is composed but strained, and there is evident confusion interlaced with a bit of suspicion. The speaker is examining the device, and as she begins to figure out how to use it, her voice strengthens, though her next words sound...tired.]

Where am I...? [She seems to be talking to herself, and her voice is faint; she isn't speaking directly into the device anymore.] How...odd.

[She clears her throat, then directs her voice into the communicator, fully intending on finding out just what is going on.]

Being as I am quite obviously not in Hyrule Castle, nor even Hyrule itself; I must ask for some sort of explanation. If there is someone out there that can offer that, I would be deeply indebted to you.

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[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[Something is off, here.]

That would be entirely acceptable; though I must confess that while you know my name, I do not know yours...? [Her voice ends with a question; the slight lilt in her sentence at the end left an opening for Zelda to introduce herself.]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[Zelda's silent. She's thinking. This is awkward. She's introducing herself to someone... who... might as well be the same. Except not. This feels different. Familiar, sure, but identical? Nonsense.

She manages to speak, however.]

I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.

It is a privilege, Princess.

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[Either this woman had the courage of a hero to impersonate a Princess or she was absolutely out of her mind. Zelda's mind did not know how to process this new development; it was simply unheard of for someone to introduce themselves as...well, her.

Then again, the girl might be telling the truth. That fact in itself gave Zelda an icy tingle that stretched the length of her spine.]

I believe that I must see you for myself, as well.

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[She can easily be contrived as either--perhaps, given her mental capacity or based on actions she has taken.]

I did imagine you would share my sentiments, my lady. Simply state the place and the time. Surely you could use a hand in acquainting yourself with the vessel. I am not against offering this.

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

It would be...to my advantage, I think, to have someone show me around this strange...place. I would prefer not to be lost. I admit that as I am not in my own Hyrule, I find myself rather...free.

[Zelda is still not sure what to make of her yet.]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[This ship is like a prison, but Zelda has come to find that being confined to her throne and her title is as much hostility as being under Ganondorf's 'mercy'. She can certainly understand well enough what it means to have freedom. It is only one of the luxuries she's had while she's been aboard.]

I will come to you. What residence have you been provided upon your arrival?

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[She has to do a moment of looking around, but once she speaks again she knows her room, and her deck.]

Room sixty-two zero seven, deck seven.

[Commentlog y/y?]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[They're always on the same floor... This is clearly intentional.]

Simply down the corridor from me. I will be there in a moment.

[Commentlog y!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[Most likely.]

Alright. I will be here. [Waiting...anxiously.]

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[Zelda pieces herself together. Oh, look at that. By this time, she's acquired everything she had before. Except the Seal of Mar--which is still at large.

Have a blonde-haired princess at your door, Her Majesty Zelda. She's younger than you, but only by a couple of years. She's likely smaller too, but... There's definitely a similarity.

She hesitates before she knocks.]

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[Zelda is wearing her entire royal regalia; the black cloak she had donned was tossed casually on the bed as it was not presently needed.

She hesitated herself before resting a gloved hand on the doorknob. She inhales deeply before opening it to admit the other woman.

Once she sees her, Zelda knows immediately the girl isn't lying. It's also rather clear she herself isn't lying either, but the Zelda that stood before her had not seemed to ever assume that.]


...Princess. [She inclined her head, as much of a bow as she ever gave.] It is...an honor to meet you. [A strange honor, but an honor nonetheless.]

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[This Zelda is not against curtsying in the least.

Once again, her suspicions are confirmed. Her companion is older. Older and beautiful, a fine representation of what Zelda, herself, would like to be in the future. She seems to far more in... control of herself and hardly on the same wavelength.

She raises, turns a few shades of pink and her lips upturn. She wishes to share her optimism with her newly-found companion. She won't survive on the ship without turning into a dark and corrupt person otherwise.]

Allow me to explain. It... is very blatant to me that you are... How to say.

Familiar and yet, entirely different. As though you are a part of me. I can feel that. I can sense it. And yet, perhaps we have never met until now. Somehow, I feel that is not entirely probable, however.

There are three others from Hyrule here with me, prior to your arrival.

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[She nods slowly, moving back a bit to let the other in if she wishes.

One in the same yet entirely different. Somehow, Zelda understood.]

Improbable, yet somehow not impossible. [Her voice is quiet, the slight intonations changing with her words.]

Three prior...?

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[She's a little surprised when her companion grants her entry. She accepts it gratefully with an inclination of the head and draws her hands together in quiet thought.

How to describe each one.]

The Hero of Time is here, after the tales of him being returned to his original time.

There is a one Link, a knight in service to Her Majesty Zelda, who I can only presume must be you.

Then there is a very beauteous woman by the name of Midna, who... also seems to be familiar with you. She told me that she saw much of you in me. Aside from that, it would seem the five of us are the only ones aboard who are from one time in Hyrule or another.

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[She inhaled sharply at the mention of...her Link; she had heard someone say it but she supposed she could not truly believe it until she saw him for herself. She had, after all, never seen him as a human before. Only a wolf.]

A knight...[So, she would knight him, then. And that meant he would succeed. Hyrule would not suffer Twilight's taint forever. Good news, then.]

Midna I know, yes. We met...briefly. [Zelda remembers her as an imp, but...this Zelda's description makes Midna sound entirely different.]

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[It wasn't until she noticed the other Zelda's expression that she realized she probably should have been more careful with how she worded things. Then again, what was the possibility of influencing the future? After all, the Hero of Time had told her of things that happened in their future and it hadn't affected anything, except perhaps how she felt about it.

She taps her chin as her lips turn down into a faint pout.]

Perhaps that is enough for now. I am not in the position to say anything more on anyone I am not personally familiar with. Instead, it is more of my... right to inform you of any questions you may have about me. And hopefully, I am allowed to learn something of you as well.

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

Of course. [She nodded once, letting her breath out in a slow exhale. She was right; these things were...not something that should be discussed.]

Where...[She caught herself with a tiny frown. No, not where.] When...are you from...?

[If Zelda's memory serves her correctly (and it usually does) the Hero of Time lived...approximately a hundred years ago. If that were the case, and she were the same Zelda...

Well. She had to make sure, first.]

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[Although Zelda's caught onto the slip of the tongue, she thinks nothing of it. It's only natural for her... otherwise descendant to react in such a way. Zelda's had time to grow acquainted with the idea. Even if it is a little strange.

Is anything stranger than sharing her body with a man, though? And... having... a suitor on top of it all?]

I am the one who sent the Hero of Time back to his original time. Alongside the Hero of Time and the other six Sages, I sealed Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm.

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[This was slightly confusing for Zelda, but she remembers the stories vividly.]

I remember...[There is a faint wisp of memory that tugs at her mind, but she cannot seem to collect it.]

My...home is covered in Twilight's taint. [She looks curious at the younger Zelda, putting the puzzle together piece by piece.] I would imagine I am from your...future.

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

Twilight's taint.

[She considers this. Midna has told her a little of the Twilight. Not much, and Zelda's never seen it, so she can't begin to imagine what it would look like.]

Given your connection to Sir Link and to Midna, I had arrived at this conclusion. [Can she remember how far, however? Her companion's Link has told her once before, hasn't he? She can't seem to recall in the current standing.]

It would seem with your homeland in peril, it fuels your very desire to return home and right the wrongs for your people. [She frowns.] I apologize, yet it seems that we are not returned to our homes by our own desires. We are at the compassion of the captain and his crew.

[Condemned people, they are. Zelda has no intentions of telling the other the horrors of the ship just yet. She will, however, make it a point to keep her safe.]

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

It spreads throughout the land like a diseases; causing Hyrule's inhabitants to move as ghosts, spirits. They see...darkness. They fear. They do not understand. [Her hand balls into a fist.] It is only through my surrender that they still live, and if I am here...[She ground her teeth.]

Then I do not know what will become of them. [She took a slow, even breath. Once she had regained her composure, she was able to listen to the rest of Zelda's words.]

Then...how are we returned home? [If not by their own desires...then...what? Just the crew...? That felt so very wrong
indeed.]

The crew. They are...hospitable people?

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

...I... see...

[She's not even sure what to say. Perhaps it's empathy, but Zelda seems to feel just as distressed. It seems that unlike her, the other Zelda has no one else to watch Hyrule in her absence. She at least has Impa and the other Sages, and her own Hero of Time to help Hyrule in its reconstructive efforts.

But to be able to do everything and anything for the people... She can relate to it all, and her companion's words strike her hard.]

...Let us hope for the best. In this place, at times we can only hold the ideal within the palms of our hands. It is a powerful implement. We may not be able to help our people directly, but there are those aboard that we can help. If we so choose to.

[She thinks. How do they return home? Zelda doesn't have an answer to this. Not specifically.]

I... am afraid I do not know at this point. It is an answer we are all seeking. It is the one thing that ties all of us together.

[And just like that, her demeanor changes at the thoughts of the crew. Kage, in particular. She feels a great animosity for him. She feels a great hatred for him. For what he's allowed her to do. For what he coerced her into. For exposing her weakness.]

...They are not to be trusted. Not a single one. Hold your guard up carefully. Your kindness here will be contrived as weakness. You should always be wary and observant and look for the deeper meaning to the words that are showered upon you.

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

Mmm. [She makes a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat, the expression on her face perplexed. Hopeing for the best had not yet gotten Zelda very far, though she had never once lost faith in the Hero. She supposed that in itself was reason enough not to lose it.

Zelda is a very perceptive individual; reading people is something she prides herself on, and is also something that she is very good at. She had always supposed that had been partially her fathers insistence she always be aware, and also because of the essence of Nayru herself. So when her new companions demeanor changed in an instant, Zelda had to wonder just what had happened to cause this change.]

I…see. I will most certainly keep that in mind. [Something to think on, certainly.]

[Commentlog!]

[oblique-wisdom.livejournal.com]

[To think this woman before her is a relation of sorts. A descendant. It really does prove that one day in her own time, she'll be married and birth offspring. She's upset about this, but not in the way where it's detrimental toward Her Majesty Zelda. Rather that it's personal and sentimental attachment that only further proves 'eternity' is just another word used in books to toy with the minds and thoughts of innocent people.

She sighs, trying to think of where to go from there.]

You must be hungry. Are you at all interested in finding something to fill your appetite? We may discuss more about the ship, its inhabitants, and its environment if such would please you.

[And she was remarkably certain it would.]

[Commentlog!]

[scionofwisdom.livejournal.com]

[This is all very hard to believe. The woman before her confirmed her suspicions with her words; Zelda now stood before her ancestor, who was, instead of being older and remarkably more wrinkled, in her prime. It was a difficult concept to accept.]

I am.[She was starving. The prospect of a decent meal sounded wonderful.] I would also be very…pleased if you could tell me whatever you can of this ship, yes. [Idle, gloved fingers brush against the folds of her gown; not so very long ago the material had been cold, damp, and lifeless in that tower. Here, that was no longer so. The change in environment was remarkable. She had to admit, it was…refreshing.]