Soleil ✧ Ravio x Reader

chapter 2

"So, Link came here, saved the Sages, including Princess Zelda, defeated the evil Yuga, and restored your Triforce?"

"Yep!"

"And that all happened in the last 24 hours?"

"Most of it, yeah! He's been actively rescuing the Sages for about... a month? ish? now. For however long I've been living at his place. But the rest of it was pretty recent! Sheerow witnessed the whole thing. It was crazy."

[Name]'s eyes were spinning in circles. In the past 24 hours, she had been running around Lorule, fighting some minor monsters here and there, but Link was here saving the world.

"But that's why I'm back here—how come you're here?" Ravio asked.

"...A few of my friends turned out to be Sages," she said. "So I thought I'd come save them."

She felt kind of silly for admitting that now—clearly saving them wasn't her purpose in the world. That was Link's job. Knowing that, she thought Ravio would laugh at her for a brief moment... so she was surprised to hear him gasp all of a sudden.

...What?

"A FEW??" Ravio cried. "So not only are you friends with Link the Hero, and not only are you friends with Link the Hero-and-one-Sage—you're friends with Link the Hero and SEVERAL of the Seven Sages?!" He whipped his hooded head towards Sheerow, who chirped in delight. Then he looked back at her. "It feels like I'm talking to a celebrity!"

[Name]'s lashes swept upward; she had never thought of it like that! She was close with Seres, the priest's daughter—but she had thought everyone knew Seres. She was even closer with Osfala, because she was an avid magical history nut, so they took lessons together under Sahasrahla sometimes... and Irene's grandmother had taught her magic, so they met through her.

But all these interactions had felt completely normal to [Name].

Er, they were normal. Just extremely coincidental. Who would've thought three of her closest friends would end up being Sages, and her other close friend would be the Hero of Hyrule?

"...Oh my goddesses," she murmured. How many important people did she know?!

"And now you're stuck here!! That's some fate the gods have got going for ya, Miss [Name]."

[Name] rested her forehead in her hand, trying to stay calm. Having it told to her face that she was stuck here did not ease her much at all.

She flicked her eyes back at Ravio, sighing away her discomfort. "...But you were friends with Link too, right? How'd you two meet?"

"I broke into his house," Ravio stated. [Name] quirked a brow, urging him to elaborate. "I found him shortly after... uh, what's-her-face, green hair, her dad's a priest—"

"Seres?"

"After Miss Seres was turned into a painting. I thought his house was empty, like mine. Shoulda known!"

...It was true Ravio's house was very empty. It looked like he had just started moving his furniture back in, as there were many boxes piled up in here. A bed, a table, and two chair stumps had been set up for immediate use, though.

"But you know, about getting you back to Hyrule... Her Royal Highness is in a bit of a pinch right now. Would you mind waiting a night before we bring your situation to her?"

That's when it dawned on [Name] how late it was, and how she was probably overstaying her welcome here. "Oh, for sure! I didn't mean to impose!" She stood up from the stump she'd been sitting on, feeling embarrassed for taking up his time. "Thank you for explaining everything; I'll be on my way now."

But Ravio jumped up as well, quickly waving his hands for her to stop.

"Wait! I wasn't kicking you out. I know you're not doing so hot either, so you could absolutely take my bed if you wanted to for the night—"

[Name] felt heat rush to her chest once she heard that. But before she got the chance to answer him, four authoritative-sounding knocks rapped against the front door, prompting her to freeze in place. Those were loud... and didn't sound very patient at all.

Ravio, on the other hand, simpered to himself. "...I can take a guess on who that is."

Two Lorulean soldiers were standing outside. When Ravio opened the door, [Name]'s eyes were immediately drawn to their appearances: tall, vigilant, and menacing—and dressed in glistening fullbody armor.

"Ravio," one said. "Her Royal Highness Princess Hilda has requested your presence in the throne room."

Ravio didn't seem surprised. His first response was to turn towards [Name], tilting his head slightly to the side. "Ah, well, this changes things," he told her. "Wanna tag along?"

But she had gone completely silent, nervously flicking her eyes over at the guards. Was Ravio in trouble? She wasn't sure what was going on. She couldn't even gauge the situation from Ravio's casual tone of voice; she just didn't like the two overbearing presences right there.

Ravio took her silence as a reason to ask the soldiers instead. "Is my friend allowed to escort me?"

The two guards simultaneously cocked their heads over at [Name], and at that point she swore she was going to die of fright. Her heart sunk in her chest, but she couldn't break eye contact, unsure of what would happen if she looked away from them.

"She may not be allowed in the throne room," one soldier said.

"That's fine! I'll talk to the princess on her behalf. Come on, Miss [Name]~"

When [Name] still would not move, nor would she tear her gaze away from the guards, Ravio gently took her arm and helped her stand up. She snapped out of her stupor only once they were outside.

"...What does the princess want with you...?" she whispered.

"Hm? I think just to talk..."

[Name]'s jaw slacked. "What...?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? Ever since our Triforce was restored, Princess Hilda promoted me to being her royal advisor. Pretty neat, huh?" Ravio didn't say a word of how exhausting his new role was, or that he really wished he could stay home right now—he was lucky he had his hood to hide the prominent bags under his eyes. Meanwhile, [Name] could not believe what she was hearing.

"You're the princess's royal advisor? And you said I was like a celebrity?" She paused. "...How come you don't live in the castle?"

"Oh, I used to. The servants' quarters. Most days I was terrified out of my mind being in that communal space—there were some pretty tough guys in there, you know—I couldn't make any buddies at all!"

"...You make it sound like a prison," [Name] deadpanned.

"It was an experience~" he laughed. "The princess offered to give me my own room now that I'm her advisor, but I figured it's time I got my own space away from the castle again. Things are changing, you know? I wanna see first-hand what our world's going to turn into. Plus, there's no way I could safely guard my money at the castle."

[Name] went quiet after that. She'd seen for herself the decay that Lorule had constantly been suffering through, and how different it was from her home in Hyrule. And now that she'd had the chance to get to know Ravio, it hit her even harder.

If he had grown up here, she wondered what he had thought of Hyrule when he visited there for the first time.

...It must have felt like magic.