Unexpected | Zelink (modern AU)

History {pt. 2}

"Do you know the language it's written in?" Zelda asked again, excitement bursting through just slightly. Finding out Link was able to decipher a few words was enough for her.

"Yeah," Link confirmed. He looked up from the book to look at Zelda, who was waiting on him with a fascinated look crossing her face. "I don't know if you know how to read it, but it's the Sheikah language." He glanced again at the book. "Old, actually."

"I had just a little guess on what the language may be, and I guessed right," Zelda laughed out. "But, how do you know how to read it? I surely can't."

Link gazed into her focused eyes, the corner of his lips twitching upward. "My aunt—she's a Sheikah, remember?" Zelda nodded, so he continued. "Yeah, well she ended up teaching me a few of her language, new and old, throughout the years. I guess it's finally coming in handy," he laughed.

Zelda smiled wide, looking back down onto the book, her thumb holding the cover down to keep it in place. "Do you know what this first page is trying to say?"

Link looked back down at the book, opening his mouth to say, "Um...it's probably a little rusty, but..." His eyes skimmed over the characters carefully, nodding. "Well, it's something about Goddess Hylia, for one." His eyes moved over to the next page, confusion over his features. "And, uh...how she fought for the people of her land? Not sure—I'm telling you, it's rusty. And I'm pretty sure the rest are...really old Sheikah, which is odd. It's either really old, or I just can't decipher it because I'm more current with the present Sheikah language "

Zelda shook her head softly. "No, no. It's okay. This changes it now. Just those few words give me an idea." She skipped over to somewhere in the middle of the book, moving the book closer to Link's side, watching as he looked over the characters imprinted on the old book. "Can you read this part for me?"

Link nodded, already ahead of her. "Ah, here we go. I can read this a little bit more fluently. The only words I can catch are '...he saved the land of Hyrule' and 'The beast is no longer needed to fight, he is free from his duty and is now set as the Princess''..." Link paused, shaking his head. "I dunno what that says, sorry..."

Zelda shook her head again, her voice so soft Link almost missed it. "It's okay..." Her voice rose just a bit more. "Um, it's okay. Sorry, this is kinda a lot to take in. That's a bit more from the last and..." She couldn't continue talking, her head suddenly throbbing as a thought suddenly hit her—a vague scene of someone akin to the Hero being blurred into a beast, a wolf.

"The beast..." she muttered, her eyes jumping to Link's concerned own.

"Do you have an idea on what that may mean?" Link asked, searching her eyes. "I mean, it went from the Hero saving Hyrule to a beast fulfilling his duty..." He contorted his face, confused. "Which is...weird."

Zelda nodded, agreeing with him. Not even she knew what the beast was, but the weird tricks her mind was playing on her were confusing her even more so she said nothing of it. "Yeah." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she took an audible swallow to get rid of the nervous lump in her throat, clenching her jaw as she nodded, trying to stay steady and focused. "I-in the end...there's some Hylian. Old, I believe."

Link tilted his head, watching as Zelda turned over to the last page. "Why is that the only part with old Hylian when the rest is old Sheikah?"

Zelda shrugged, not even sure as to why herself. "We gotta ask the person who wrote this, but we'll never be able to."

She had made it to the page, pointing to where the Hylian was to maneuver Link easily to it. "There."

Link looked taken aback, confusion all over his face. "Um, that's old Hylian?"