Autumn in Akkala

Ch. 1 Akkala: My Home, My Hell

Princess Zelda's Coronation
! Link                                           Hyrule Castle
Today is the official day that Princess Zelda will no longer serve Hyrule in her current role, but rather as our queen. I could feel King Rhoam's presence, much like that first day I awoke from my slumber on the Great Plateau.

There is no doubt in my mind that Zelda will fulfill her duties to restore Hyrule to its former glory. There is a more pressing matter that selfishly plagues me within my chest.

It is our relationship. I am ashamed to admit I haven't recovered many memories since I awoke inside of the Shrine of Resurrection. What I do know is that Queen Zelda has designs on me as more than just her trustworthy knight. My father would be much obliged by this!

And yet I can't help but feel as though something is missing...

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"Y/N," Jerrin blocked the view of your Shiekah slate with her hand. "It's getting dark. Are you sure you don't want to stay at the lab tonight?"

You looked at the time. 7 'o'clock. Where has the time gone?

Oh yeah, it had gone to the guardians.

Guardians. The word denotes something similar to a protector or warden. Thanks to the occurrence of the Great Calamity, we humans have had to become guardians of the guardians themselves. Their sole purpose was to work as stewards of Hyrule. Protecting, guiding, directing, and above all else, eliminating threats.

Thanks to Calamity Ganon, the guardians themselves were the threats. Now that the calamity has been laid to rest, the daunting task of rebuilding the guardian empire had begun. Your job is to locate abandoned guardians throughout Hyrule that can be repaired and reformatted. Your job is rewarding, albeit not a high paying one. You work at the Ancient Akkala Tech Lab. Your job as a guardian technician ends in the evening.

You descend the hill, through the cascades of flaming trees to the East Akkala Stable, where you rent a bed.

You are currently homeless.

You could work in Hateno, but the rent is much higher. You also heard that Purah, head of Hateno's lab, can be quite rambunctious. And a tad demanding.

Truthfully, you were happy in Akkala. Robbie is a simple man. A primitive man. It may sound crazy, but his old-fashioned way of working adds a fresh panache to guardian research.

For instance, Akkala does a lot of research with books. Whereas in Hateno, they rely more on the Shiekah slate system. This goes into your secret evening hobby, the one that helps you connect with Queen Zelda, and that's history. Yes, by day you're a guardian technician and at night a historian. Robbie's lab is home to hundreds of books, all bursting at the seams with tales.

So once your shift ends, you make your way down to the stable and indulge your hungry mind with the many tales of Hylia's chosen hero.

Particularly, the Hero of Time. Legend has it that he was selected by Hylia as a child. Through the divine instrument known as the Ocarina of Time, he was transformed into an adult. The 7-year time jump was where he slayed the nefarious King of Thieves, Ganondorf. His journey doesn't end there, but his recognition does. Once he defeats the King of Thieves, he is sent back to his original timeline, where nobody knew the threat of evil existed.  On his adventures, it is said he spoke of a parallel universe known as "Termina." Locals rumored that the hero was mad. Upon his death, his heroic deeds were not acknowledged, and his knowledge of Termina was never recorded.

You wanted to find proof in the Hero of Time's story. If you could prove Termina existed, you would not only be infamous amongst Hyrule's historians, but maybe you'd have enough money to own a home.

You set your Shiekah slate down and rubbed your eyes, the exhaustion finally kicking in. "Robbie doesn't want you burning yourself out, you know? Especially with Princess-er," Jerrin scratched her head and chuckled. "Queen Zelda and her knight are coming tomorrow. It will take some time to remember to address her properly."

"Ah, yes, the coronation was today! Well, all the more reason to work hard. I think I was able to pinpoint some guardians in the Lanayru region that need reformatting. I pinned it on my slate. I can't wait to see what ideas she has in store for us."

Jerrin nodded in agreement. "I do wish you wouldn't walk around at night. Just because there is no longer a calamity doesn't mean there is no longer danger. Whenever Granté returns home, maybe he can help find some cheap real estate for you."

You agreed with Jerrin, if only to appease her. You were perfectly fine as things were for the moment. You'd keep working hard and saving. They were kind enough to offer you a bed and rupees to live off of.

Once you proved that Termina was real, you'd be able to afford to live in Hateno. Perhaps even start your own history lab.

Yes, you were convinced that the answer to your future was written somewhere in these pages of the great past.

You slid your threadbare backpack on and began your descent down to the East Akkala stable. The brisk autumn breeze seemed to echo something between the swarms of falling crimson leaves.

The breeze was somehow different than the one that usually whipped against your skin every night.

Ominous, even.

You couldn't help but feel the Akkala terrain was warning you.

Change was coming.

Edited:5/20/23