Fifteen months of terror, and as many weeks of hunger. The kingdom of Hyrule was at its lowest and descending further by the day. The economy went down and the markets took the hit. Most farms were no longer safe for their owners, and on top of all, Magnus raised the taxes continuously. Stealing from others was no longer a problem, but a necessity for some Hylians.
Most Zoras tried to get back to Riverside, their homeland. Only a few made it in one piece. Monsters have been anormaly more present for more than a year. The travellers stopped going from one spot to another without a good reason. All of those events transformed Hyrule in a morbid place disconnected from its own inhabitants.
Many have lost hope that things would get better. The rest that still vainly hopes for salvation keep going, despite the difficulties...
*****
Deep in the great forest of Hyrule, lies an abandonned abbey, ruins from another time. It is the nest of many animals, mostly birds. A chunk of the roof had fallen due to the doubtable solidity of the building. The trees were masking the sun, giving the forest that strange, dark ambiance.
Against the wall, an inanimate entity has been there, motionless for a very, very long time. His empty grey eyes were reflecting the cement of the abbey. In front of him, a blurred red thread had merged with the floor. His skin got paler due to not be exposed to the sunlight. At his feet, a squirrel's collection of nuts as a reserve for the colder days was set.
In front of him was a pedestal reserved for a specific weapon, drawed two years ago. The slot seemed so deep that it could go down for miles. A ghost with a purple aura was floating above it, with his limbless hands hanging a meter away from his headless eyes. One could describe his ''head'' by looking at the hood covering it, only showing his sharp eyes.
The spectrum placed his hands close to each other and slowly raised them, allowing a small purple stray to appear His hands turned around it, molding it. He continued turning his hands until the stray got shaped like a small sphere.
He pulled back his hands and pushed them against the orb. It flew directly to the corpse and impacted on it. The orb melted at the contact, its energy absorbing and spreading itself on the body. The ghost would've smiled if he could. He disappeared within a hollow of wind.
The corpse tilted his head a milimeter to his left. Gravity did the rest. The sitting body's side gradually fell faster until it hit the ground. He opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurred. His throat began to swell and he felt sick. Unable to hold it in any more, he threw up an impressive amount of dark-green matter. His body's temperature got through the roof and he was visibly shaking.
He coughed a few times before focusing on what just came out of his mouth. His vision got better again and he could, despite not wanting to, very clearly see the mess he did. Worms and bugs were wriggling out of it. After pushing back that hideous vision away, he noticed the horrible smell coming out of him. And finally... he looked down at his degrading body.
Luminex : ...W-what...?
He was surprised both by the sound of his voice, which sounded so old, and how much it hurt to use it. He tried to clear his throat loudly to get rid of the pain, only to make it worse. He placed himself back in a sitting position and reached for his pants. The belt got untied and was dislocked, but he was sure he could patch it up.
He pulled them up and twisted the belt before making a node to make it hold by itself. Once that was done, he focused on his other clothes. His tunic had lost its colors, his pieces of gears got rusty, with holes here and there. He knew they were worthless in that state, so he got rid of them. Only his boots seemed intact. He painfully lifted himself against the wall, holding to it with his skinny hands.
He let go one hand, then the second one. He lifted his right foot and tried to make a step. He did the same with his other foot. One step at a time, he regained slowly his motricity. After a while practicing in the abbey, he could slowly walk without problem. In the meantime, he admired the silent beauty of the ruins in which he slept for so long.
Then, it hit him... What was happening? His last memories were of being pursued and fearing incoming death. This dilemma was one he couldn't figure out by himself alone, so he decided to ask questions about it later with others. He left the abbey and travelled through the forest.
While he was walking, the trees seemed less large than in his memories. Most of the snow once present melted, which seemed odd, because being near the Snowy Mountains, it was always there. Finally, after fifteen minutes, he made it out. However, nothing could've prepared Luminex for what he saw.
The sky was silver-gray with no sun piercing through. The grass seemed bland and the dirt colorless. Only the oppressing wind could be heard, no travellers or animals could be seen. He looked around, hoping to see another soul wandering, yet no one was there. Such desolation saddened Luminex.
He decided to go south, to the east's town. It was the closest place he could go. He stretched what was left of his tunic, which got stiff from not moving for so long. He started to wonder what happened in the kingdom to be in such a state. Obviously, things don't change in the snap of a finger, there was always reasons to the why and the how.
When he finally arrived, the iron gate was removed from the entrance. Instead, a barricade was placed, with two guards standing behind it. One of them alarmed the other as Luminex approached.
Guard 1 : Halt! Who are you and what are your intentions, trespasser?
Luminex : I... want somethin' to drink... My name's... *cough, cough* It pains me to speak...
The two guards looked at each other, shrugged and opened a small trapdoor in the barricade.
Guard 2 : Here, enter quickly. We can't risk monsters to come in.
Luminex ducked and entered through the opening. Once inside the walls, he noticed the shameful state in which the town was. Half of the woodhouses were in a pitiful shape while the others were mostly taken apart. Some of them had no privacy, since most of the walls were taken down to fuel the chimney inside the house.
Like each town, a fountain was placed at the center of it. When Luminex got closer however, he had a bad surprise. The water was dirty and he knew that for hygiene reasons, he wouldn't be able to clear his throat with it. That's when he heard shouting next to him.
He turned around and saw two farmers holding pitchforks facing three soldiers wearing light-blue armor. New Militia's soldiers.
Farmer 1 : What do you mean? Another tax increase?!
Farmer 2 : We're already half dead both on our health and financially, and now we have to get back at it?! And all that for what, just so the king can get richer and us a whack?!
Soldier 1 : Calm down, sir. We execute orders, that's all.
The second farmer took a bag out of his pocket and held it in front of the soldiers.
Farmer 2 : I've spared money as much as I could for six week in order to get this bag of nuts, but y'know what? I'm not gonna give it!-
He got interrupted by one of the soldiers punching him in the nose and grabbing the bag.
Soldier 2 : Serves you right, peasant!
Farmer 1 : Hey, you alright?
Farmer 2 : No...
Farmer 1 : ... Here, you can have my tax!
The first farmer took out a package and handed it to the soldiers. When the latters opened it, it was filled with vegetables poorly grown.
Soldier 3 : ... Is this a joke of some sort? What is that?
Farmer 1 : You can clearly see what it is! It's all I managed to get with this shitty weather! And here's a bonus for the king: That's what happens when he keeps bullying us with his abusing stupidity regarding the ones giving him the dough!
Luminex knew things would get out of control if someone didn't interfere. He approached and got next to the five persons arguing.
Luminex : Excuse me, would any of you have water...?
They all looked at him, clearly pissed to be interrupted at first, but all took a step back noticing the horrible smell coming out of Luminex. They were about to tell him to mind his own business, when a scream was heard from the other side of the fountain. The people around started to run away. Five skeletons were standing there, swords in hands.
It had became a common thing for certain monsters to be able to spawn anywhere, even in a town. It started to get more frequent a few months ago.
Soldier 2 : We'll settle this later. Let's deal with those remnants, guys!
The three soldiers pulled out their swords together and ran around the fountain to attack the skeletons. Quickly, Luminex remembered that he too was a soldier and that despite not liking the New Militia, he still had to protect those who couldn't defend themselves. He turned towards one of the farmers and grabbed his pitchfork.
Farmer 2 : Hey! What are you doing?!
Without listening, Luminex trusted his instinct and sprinted to the fountain. He jumped in the water, ran to the other side, pressed his left foot on the edge of the fountain to jump on one of the skeletons. He aimed the pitchfork mid-air and landed on the closest of them, crushing him with the pitchfork going through the ribcage.
Luminex pulled back the pitchfork and continued his assault on the skeleton, avoiding carefully the ripostes of his adversary. Finally, Luminex's weapon got through the thick skull of the skeleton, making the latter stop moving. As he looked up, Luminex noticed the three soldiers were keeping busy one skeleton each, leaving one to him.
He got up while picking the pitchfork and placed himself in a defensive position, awaiting his opponent. He wasn't at ease with a spear-like weapon, yet he'd have to make his way out with it. He attacked from afar, pulling back his weapon after touching the skeleton. After a while, he managed to hit his foe between the head and the shoulders, creating a gap between the two parts.
The skeleton fell down, turning to dust. When Luminex looked around, the other soldiers finished their battle and placed their swords back in their sheaths. They looked at Luminex with doubtful eyes. Luminex bent over and picked one of the skeleton's swords on the ground. He tied it into his belt. The two farmers approached him and Luminex gave back the pitchfork.
Farmer 1 : Well, I've never seen that! A hobo that goes right into the action and takes down two skeletons by himself! It was great to see and a nice change of pace compared to only look at soldiers fighting.
Farmer 2 : Yeah, great skills you got here! And oh, here, you wanted water, right? Here, I've got some for you. It's all I have left, but after what you did-
He got interrupted by Luminex who grabbed the water bottle and drank it. His throat pumping the liquid started to release the squeezed pression and looked like it was at ease.
Luminex : Pwfah... Thank you. Felt like I haven't drink for an eternity. Pretty hungry, too.
Farmer 2 : Oh, uh... Sorry, the soldiers already took my bag of nuts.
Luminex : That's alright. Might be able to go on without... To be honest, I don't know what's happening. I have an idea of where to go. Here's some advice, also: Please, don't lash out on soldiers, they're just obeying Magnus.
With that done, Luminex went away, in direction of the west. There was one place he wished to go. However, a pair of eyes were fixating him from behind the building.
??? : Ain't that... Luminex? What in an awful shape he is... I may not be sure but... I got to warn Larcan.
*****
When he arrived at the barrack, his heart shattered. The training field seemed deserted since years. Wooden weapons scattered everywhere near training dummies, all of this took Luminex back to much simpler times, before the New Militia. He approached the barrack, whose wooden door got weakened by time and lack of maintaining.
For a moment, he wanted to get inside... But he retained himself. He already knew the inside all too well, no need to check once more... He went here, hoping that everything was back in order, but no. The Old Militia hasn't returned...
That's when he heard and focused on the sounds. It sounded like wood knocking against each other. Was he hallucinating sounds? Was his mind playing him dumb tricks? As he focused deeply, those sounds were coming from around the barrack.
He walked around, getting closer to the sounds. From the other side, four teenagers were using wooden swords and badly imitating the Old Militia's fighting techniques on each other. Luminex was confused as to what was happening.
Finally, one of them noticed him and alerted the others. They all dropped their weapons and regrouped.
Luminex : No no no, I'm not the owner of this place, I'm not here to chase you... What are you... What are you all doing here? Who are you youngsters?
??? : We come here weekly to train ourselves at wielding swords, mister. These two buildings have been abandonned since a long time, and we figured we're not bothering anyone by going here.
Luminex : Hold on, this place is abandonned? I was half-expecting the New Militia to still use their barracks... Have you any idea of where they went?
??? : Probably at Hyrule's Castle. Oh, sorry! We haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Jake and those are Zack, Frederick and Donald.
Luminex : Nice to meet y'all. Name's Luminex. You don't mind if I rest here, do you? Also, I'm starving. I wouldn't be against something nice to eat.
Donald : Oh, sure! We've brought our own rations, but we can share.
Luminex, for a short moment, felt proud. Those young people were willing to spend their free time trying to wield swords to protect their families. Maybe the kingdom wasn't entirely doomed after all, he thought...