Lost and Found (BEN x FtM reader)

Ch. 10: Midnight

What was I thinking, sympathizing with the enemy?

Every time I remembered what he'd done-- or rather, what he hadn't done for my father, my blood boiled and I felt the unmistakable urge to vomit.

... But I was well aware the feelings weren't entirely of hatred, confusingly enough.

He'd kidnapped me. Forced me into a game. He even outright referred to me as his prey.
But the world he had sent me to didn't seem so bad, right?

"Ben..."

I couldn't help but dwell on what I saw, my legs dangling over the town square below.

... He hadn't, even for a moment, questioned who I was.
Was it wrong to feel liberated by that?

"He's basically a murderer, though..." I muttered to myself, bunching my hands up in my hair for a moment. "Ugh..."

Tatl, who had been silent for most of my agonizing, finally spoke up.

"I think I'm... ready." She whispered. I only just caught the words. I glanced to her, abruptly tensing. I had to know more.

"It's uh- it's okay. You can take your time." I told her, but I couldn't help the restlessness in my tone.

"... He told me I wasn't real." Tatl said bluntly. "That I never was. That Skull Kid never was."

She seemed to have been amping herself up to say it for a while. Her delivery sounded flat and practiced.

I nodded, silently urging her to continue.

"He- and he told me he... was the only real thing for years-"

She paused, her voice trembling.

"Is it true, [Y/N]?? Where did you- where did you really come from?"

... I couldn't say that I expected this question to ever come up. Tatl had seemed so robotic at first that I had never even thought she'd understand.

But here I was, frozen in place as she stared up at me.

I fumbled with my hands, furrowing my eyebrows, and tried to will myself to speak.

No words came. Instead, a choked sob. The very thought of home was tainted now. It was like...

Every time I tried to recall...

The walls must be painted in blood. The creature I saw, hunched over his body, tearing it carefully to pieces, picking out sinew from between its teeth.

I didn't realize I'd covered my eyes until I began to zone back into reality, Tatl's worried voice filling my ears.

"[Y/N]-- [Y/N], I'm- you don't have to tell me, just- it's okay..." She pleaded, evidently worried. She sounded more desperate than usual.

More concerned for me than she had been the entire time I was here.

I wondered why.

"... I'm- fine. Thanks." I answered stiffly, giving a soft sigh.

"I don't think I can explain though..."
I furrowed my brows.

"But I'm not from here. Or from Hyrule. My ears aren't even normally pointed."

Tatl, evidently trying to find something-- anything to latch on to, gave another suggestion.

"So you're... from the Gerudo Desert- you're a Gerudo?"

"Ah, no-- there's no such thing where I'm from." I tried to specify, but Tatl only seemed to grow more confused.

"I promise I'll explain more later." I spoke after a few moments of silence, rubbing my eyes.
"But right now we need to focus on finding, uh, Ben."