[Calibrations] It's dangerous to go alone, take this

[newmemorywhodis]

WHO: Link and you!
WHERE: Link's Calibration room
WHAT: Calibrations
WHEN: June 10th to July 10th
WARNINGS: CW for death in the pool memory

On first appearances, Link's room is the inside of cosy little cottage.

There's rustic wooden furniture - that will appear to many as old fashioned - and Link is humming away as he cooks something at the small corner that serves as the kitchen. Propped up on the wall next to Link and the kitchen is the Sword the Seals the Darkness, a blade that many will recognise as the one that has been a constant presence on Link's back.

Draped over the back of one of the dining table chairs is the Champion's tunic, a distinctive blue garment. Sitting on that same chair, hidden partially by the fabric of the tunic, is the Sheikah Slate, a rectangular device that's sitting on one of the chairs. Atop the table itself sits the Thunder Helm.

In one corner, there's a small bookcase. On the shelves are a few assorted objects: a massively large scale, and a whistle.

---

There is, however, something odd that happens in this room. Sometimes, if you tilt your head at just the right angle or look out of the corner of your eye, the appears of it shifts - like a lenticular image. The cottage will be gone, and Link won't be humming away at the kitchen anymore. Instead, it will be a mysterious underground space, lit by soft blue glowing lights and faint orange constellations on the walls.

In the middle of this space is a small pool, or perhaps a kind of tub. It's filled with a bright blue water - and inside, as well, is Link. He's completely under the surface, dressed only in a pair of boxers, eyes closed. He's not moving.

To one side of the chamber, a picture hands on the wall.

On the other side, a pedestal - out of which grows a single silent princess flower.

---

And if, while within the mysterious underground space, if you tilt your head and gaze in just the right way again, there will be another shift. This time, it's strange in a different way. Large sections of the space seem to be just...gone, leaving behind only a blank white nothingness. In between those blank spaces are what is perhaps stone walls, something that might - maybe? - look like a room in a castle. But the details that do exist are so fuzzy and indistinct, it's hard to really tell.

There are a few pictures on the walls. But they feature only people with blank, featureless faces.

No matter what you touch, or interact with, there are no memories to be found here. And Link isn't anywhere to be seen at all. From this place, he is absent.

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

As he touches the picture, Gladio will be immediately swept into a memory. One with six now familiar faces.

The base of a mountain. Link and a young Hylian woman - Zelda - walk down the path towards a group of four people, waiting. A large Goron, born of the rocks: Daruk. A winged bird-like Rito: Revali. A red-scaled Zora, built for the water: Mipha. A tall Gerudo woman, with long red hair: Urbosa.

The same people, it must be noted, as were in the picture.

"Well? Don't keep us in suspense. How'd everything go up there on the mountain?" Daruk asks Zelda.

She shakes her head. There's a moment of silence, as the group takes this in. It's not good news.

"So you didn't feel anything? No power at all?" asks Revali.

"I'm sorry, no," says Zelda.

"Then let's move on," says Urbosa. "You've done all you could. Feeling sorry for yourself won't be of any help. After all, it's not like your last shot was up there on Mount Lanayru. Anything could finally spark the power to seal Ganon away. We just have to keep looking for that...thing."

"That's kind of you. Thank you," Zelda says. Though it is clear, she is not reassured.

Mipha steps forward. "If I may...I thought you...Well, I'm not sure how to put this into words. I'm actually quite embarrassed to say it. But I was thinking about what I do when I'm healing. You know, what usually goes through my mind. It helps when I think - when I think about -"

Suddenly, an incredibly loud rumble. The ground shakes, and the group stumbles as they try to keep their balance.

Revali flies up, and gasps. There's a dark red storm, in the distance.

"It's here," says Urbosa, her voice grim.

"This is it then..." says Daruk.

"Are you sure?" Mipha says.

Revali confirms it. "Positive."

"It's awake. Ganon!" gasps Zelda. For a moment all she can do is stare, in horror.

"Let's stop wasting time!" says Daruk. "We're going to need everything we got to take that thing down! Now Champions! To your Divine Beasts! Show that swirling swine who's boss! Link will need to meet Ganon head on when we attack. This needs to be a unified assault!"

Daruk looks towards Link. "Little guy! You get to Hyrule Castle. You can count on us for support. But it's up to you to pound Ganon into oblivion!"

He nods, as Urbosa walks towards the young Hylian woman, embracing her shoulders. "Come. We should go. We need to get you someplace safe."

"No," Zelda says. "I am not a child anymore! I may not be much use on the battlefield...But there must...There must be something I can do to help!"

What that is, however, as they all look towards the looming darkness, isn't clear.

[ziedrich_bearer]

This was a damn thing to see. The... futility. Gladio takes a deep breath when the memory ends. That's really just a thing.

"It's like home."

[newmemorywhodis]

The mysterious underground space returns. Link and his friends are still there in the picture; a snapshot of happier days than the memory that accompanied it.

The Shrine is quiet. Apart from the sounds Gladio makes himself, there is only the faint hum that comes from the pool in the centre of the room.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Yeah, that's really like home. He sighs. Then he moves to the pool of water, moving to look at it.

[newmemorywhodis]

Even before moving towards the pool, Gladio will see the pretty blue flower growing out of the edge of it. Once he gets close, however, he'll see the bright blue water inside - and Link, still and unmoving with his eyes closed, under the surface.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Huh. Link. Sleeping in something glowing.

"Fuck. Sorta like Noctis, huh?"

With a sigh because he doesn't want to wake the guy, he moves instead to inspect the flower.

[newmemorywhodis]

As Gladio touches the flower, once more he will be swept up into a memory.

A forest, the rain pouring down.

Link and Zelda run. Their clothes are covered in dirt and grime. He pulls her along by one hand, the Sword held in the other as they run.

But she slips out from his grip, and falls to her knees. "How," she says, as he sheaths the sword and walks back to her. "How did it come to this?"

Link kneels in front of her. He says nothing, but his face says that he's asking himself the exact same thing.

"The Divine Beasts...the Guardians...they've all turned against us," she continues, her voice wracked with despair. "It was...Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us!

"And everyone - Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk...they're all trapped inside those things."

She looks up, her eyes welling with tears. "It's all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost, all because i couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything - everything I've done up until now. It was all for nothing!

"So I really just a failure! All my friends...the entire kingdom...my father most of all...I tried, and I failed them all. I've left them...all to die."

She sobs. Falls into Link's arms. His fingers slowly close around around her shoulders. There's a swirling mess of emotions in his eyes, but they all go unvoiced. He just holds her, as she cries.

STOP HAVING PARALLELS!

[ziedrich_bearer]

And that, when Gladio gets back to the room, makes him wrap his arms around himself. Noctis. He's hurting for Noctis right now.

"Your lady and my King suggested much the same thing. I guess we all did."

NO LINK REFUSES, HE'LL PARALLEL YOU IF HE WANTS TO

[newmemorywhodis]

Link says nothing. Still and unresponsive under the water as he is, he cannot reply. He simply exists.

And perhaps some instinct will tell Gladio that there's still one more thing left to see. One more memory, that the dream wants to show him.

Gladio hasn't touched the water yet.

[ziedrich_bearer]

At last he touches the water, a bit shy about it too. He saw Noctis absorbed into a crystal. Why couldn't Link be grabbed into this.

[Content warning: death]

[newmemorywhodis]

The water is cool to touch, and brings with it one last memory of Link's Princess.

An open field. Across it crawls an army of strange robots, like giant upside-down pots skittering across the land on spider-like mechanical legs. Guardians. Even though the field is already littered with their dead, that doesn't stop more of them from continuing to march, relentless.

Standing in the field is a young woman, her white dress stained with dirt and grime. Zelda. The other one is Link, down on one knee and breathing heavily. Only his own sword keeps him propped up.

"Link, save yourself!" Zelda says. "Go! I'll be fine! Don't worry about me. Run!"

It's an order, of course, that Link wan't follow. But even if he wanted to, he couldn't. The injuries he's taken are hidden under blood and muck, but they've done their work.

At this point, Link is already beyond saving.

But he uses the Sword to push himself up. Stumbles to his feet. Faces the Guardian's that's spotted them. Faces its great, terrible glowing blue eye. A thin red dot appears in the middle of Link's forehead, as the Guardian begins to emit a high-pitched noise.

"No!" Zelda cries, pushing herself in front of Link. She holds out one hand. And suddenly...

...a yellow light emerges forth. Enveloping the two Hylians. The Guardian. The entire field. With a silent ring, it washes over them all.

When the light disappears, the Guardians all shudder. A red mist dissipates from them, and they collapse, unmoving.

She stands there, stunned. Looks at her own hand. "Was...was that...the power...?"

Behind her, Link falls to the ground.

"No, no!" she turns, and runs to him. "Link! Get up!"

He coughs, as she holds him. Tries to help him sit up.

"You're going to be just fine..." she says. Even though it's clear that he's not.

He turns his head to look at her. And then his eyes roll into the back of his head, and everything goes black.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Now here was something Gladio was hoping he wasn't going to do, but knows he would for his King.

"I wish you were awake, Link. So you could tell you how alike we really are. Your Princess and my King. Your companions and my friends. Our journeys."

[newmemorywhodis]

No matter Gladio's wishes, Link sleeps on. Unable to hear anything Gladio might tell him.

And yet, there is perhaps a place where he can speak to Link. There is still the cottage. Shifting his gaze in just the right way is what brought Gladio here - perhaps doing the same again will take him back.

(Or perhaps, take him somewhere else again entirely...)

[ziedrich_bearer]

When he tilts his attention, hoping to find solutions, he shudders to find himself in a new place. And there he was. A place that is so... blurred. Empty. Forgotten.

"Lonely," he says with a shuddering breath. He moves around, touching and hoping and trying to find something. But... No.

Nothing.

"Hell."

[newmemorywhodis]

It's a space where much seems to be...missing. Like once there was something here, but now it's simply gone. Replaced with nothing but gaps and blank void.

Link is not here. Not even asleep. And neither are there any memories, no matter what Gladio touches.

But with a shift of his gaze, Gladio can bring himself back to the Shrine. And from there, back to the cottage - where there will now be a door, if Gladio chooses to walk through it.

Link is also there. Awake. He's at the kitchen - it looks like those water buffalo steaks have just finished cooking.

There's a meal to be had, if Gladio chooses to stay a little longer.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Listen, there's a meal to be had, and Gladio's sitting down.

"You've got memory issues, don't you?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Settling the steaks and a nice side dish of sauteed vegetables on two plates, Link sets one down in front of Gladio. Before he moves to sit down himself with the second plate, he nods.

"Shrine of Resurrection took my memories." His eyes glance over towards the chair next to Gladio - upon which lies a rectangular tablet. It bears a striking similarity to the technology of the mysterious underground space Gladio just visited.

Then he takes his plate, and settles down in the seat across from Gladio.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Well fuck, he's not turning away side dishes either. So he pulls his plate toward him.

"A lot of parallels between your journey and ours. Noctis didn't lost memories so much as gain them sorta."

[newmemorywhodis]

Of course, can't just have meat and nothing else. You get sick, that way.

"Gain?" Link asks, before tucking into his own meal. When it comes to food, he doesn't hesitate.

[ziedrich_bearer]

You really do. Teach Noctis that.

"He got trapped in a crystal. Saw everything apparently."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about this.

“…Everything is a lot.” Sometimes just getting his own snippets of memory back was overwhelming enough. Getting everything sounds…unpleasant.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Yeah, quite a lot," Gladio agrees with a nod. He doesn't know if it was everything everything, but he knew it was a lot. "The god responsible wanted to use him as a weapon against darkness."

And Gladio still disapproved of that.

[newmemorywhodis]

And there's those parallels again.

Link's eyes drift over to the Sword in the corner. A holy artifact, one he was chosen to wield. Not exactly the same as Noctis's situation, most likely. But similar, all the same.

"...Didn't the darkness need to be defeated?" he says softly. Because even if being chosen had been...difficult...Link also need that it had been necessary. It wasn't a duty he would choose to set aside, even if he could.

[ziedrich_bearer]

His king, Noctis Lucis Caelum, the True King, the Chosen One, the King of Light. Yeah, there were a lot of parallels. Noctis's weapon, though, was healing light and his very soul.

"It did. But the way it was done... Maybe the gods need to stop messing around and trust us to solve the problems they created."

Noctis, though, agreed more with Link.

[newmemorywhodis]

"They created?"

That certainly sounded differently to Hyrule. The origins of the Calamity were shrouded in mystery, but it certainly wasn't something Hylia had created.