the universe has moved for us *:༄ؘ art & drabbles

the bears and the butterflies have stolen my gods

- originally from january 2021, peak of my zelda era. a piece about young botw zelda, the people (and goddesses) around her, and scattered memories from her childhood. more notes at the end. [word count: 1,697]

Hylia really hadn't meant for her mortal creations to become so smart. Really, they were just supposed to wander peacefully around like butterflies or bears and not do things like bring the gods onto the earth in the form of Divine Beasts. Those gods were supposed to gaze down from the clouds and marvel at the harmless, stupid creatures below. Instead they have become mechanical behemoths with really strong lasers and haunting cries. They're called Divine for a reason. Hylia hears them yelling out to her with angry words (that you probably shouldn't teach your children but it's not like you can understand the tongue of the gods anyways) and thinks how unfortunate it is that the gods are controlled by the bears and the butterflies, when really, it should be the other way around. When she speaks telepathically with Queen Zelda she tells her this:

"You're too smart."

"Pardon?"

"Hyruleans. Too smart. I don't like having my gods become metal colossuses. No one comes to my dinner parties anymore because they're stuck as Shakee slave-beasts."

"It's Sheikah, Your Grace."

"Whatever. I don't care. I'm sick of seeing all these prematurely-white-haired ice-cream-heads piloting my gods around. And building those "Guardian" rampage machines. And those ugly Stables. Seriously! The design is revolting. Malanya has never been the picture of beauty, darling. And cutting down trees to make diaries where you write down all your silly Hylian thoughts. I can hear them just fine without having to squint and read them."

"Well, why don't you just eradicate us all, then?"

"Don't be short with me, Zelda. That's my role."

"Sorry, Your Grace. We've had a long day. Zelda and I are having a bit of trouble repairing Terrako."

"I hope you can't fix the problem. Really, we don't need any more of those rampage machines."

What Hylia doesn't add is how frightening it is that the young girl who carries the blood of the sun has an obsession with destruction machinery. What she doesn't add is how sometimes the moon glows faintly red at night, and even though the Hyruleans don't notice it, the bears and the butterflies do and are growing uneasy. What she doesn't add is that she has a growing feeling that the god-beasts and the rampage machines will turn on the Hyruleans and she will have to watch them burn which, no matter how much she despises their intelligence and god-theft, will be hard.

Hylia has a lot of don't-tell-Queen-Zelda thoughts these days.

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Queen Zelda turns from the star-strewn night sky to little Zelda, the precious princess of Hyrule. The Queen watches her daughter's hunched shoulders, as the girl tinkers with her egg-shaped rampage machine. Those are some small shoulders to fit the whole world on.

How could either of them know how sharp blades can be?

Princess Zelda is frustrated. A bolt won't fit back into Terrako's body.

"Aaaargh," she groans in frustration, chubby six-year-old hands tossing the bolt aside and pushing the egg away.

"Zelda, darling, you're just tired. I'll help you with Terrako in the morning. How about a story and then bedtime?"

How could either of them know how the strongest shields can shatter?

Princess Zelda agrees with a smile and a bounce of the locks of sun on her head.