I never have a muse do my disclaimer… I know, I'll have the new guy do it. You, Link! Do the disclaimer!
Link: (Poof) Whoa… where am I?
Never mind, just say the disclaimer.
Link: Okay… I.K.A. Valian does not own either Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda. However, he did invent this slightly altered idea of the original Symphonia Plot, and me, so I guess he owns the changes, but not the original.
You know, you speak too much. Anyway, he's right. This is an AU of TOS, and I am using a Link from the Zelda universe that doesn't exist. That's right, I created a new Link. I'm not going to spoil the story though, so you'll have to read on to find out what I've changed.
Link: I do not speak too much!
Never mind, on with the story.
"Link!" The young boy in question, no older than 13, sat up quickly in bed, sweating profusely. He looked for the origin of the voice that he'd heard as clear as a bell, but the only thing he saw in his room was the wooden bed he was sleeping on, the picture of his family on the table, and his wooden sword and shield that his uncle had carved for him sitting in the corner of the room. Undeterred, and also unable to sleep anymore, Link slowly got out of bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he did so.
"Link!" This time the voice interrupted a really strong yawn.
"Who's there," he asked the darkness.
"Good, you can hear me. Hurry, you must come to the castle immediately!"
"Who…" Link made sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and that his room was indeed empty. "Where is that voice coming from?"
"Link! You must hurry! I am speaking to you through the power of telepathy. It is a trait known only to those of royal blood and sages of the realm. Please, I don't have much time left. They're coming back soon. Hurry!"
"But… I don't even know how to get into the castle!" Link felt a little foolish, speaking into an empty room, but this person talking to him seemed to be important and in great danger. He couldn't help but feel the need to rush to their defense.
"Link, I will guide you. Just hurry."
"Okay. I'm on my way." Link rushed about the room as quietly as he could, gathering his brand new forest green tunic he'd just gotten for his birthday yesterday and putting it on. Once he was satisfied that the belt he fastened around his waist would hold the ensemble together, he donned the large cone shaped hat and headed to the door of his room. He stopped momentarily to gather his shield and sword, which he had ingeniously named 'Woody', and then he slowly opened his door and peeked into the hallway.
Seeing a dark and foreboding stretch of wooden paneled hallway in front of him, Link swallowed hard and crept into the darkness. He had to hurry to help whoever this person calling to him was. Making his way down the hallway by feel alone, he emerged into the front room of the small house he lived in with his parents.
He picked up a lantern from the table and using the small bit of magic his grandfather had taught him how to use, he lit the wick. Now having a source of light to guide his footsteps, he stopped and looked around the room. He felt like he was about to step into a world from which he'd never return. But after thinking about it for several seconds, he realized that it didn't matter. He had to go. Without a second thought, he ran out into the dark streets of downtown Castle Town.
"Go left here, and at the end of the alley, push the second stone from the bottom of the middle."
"Got it," Link said aloud, holding the lantern above his head as he ran to light the way. He reached the end of the alley and started searching for the stone that the voice had told him about. As he searched, he could hear the footsteps of guards far above, patrolling on the top of the wall that surrounded the night enshrouded grounds of Hyrule Castle. After pushing on nearly all the blocks that the wall had to offer, he finally found the right one. When the wall moved back and away to reveal a dark passage that lead into the depths of the castle depths, the voice spoke to him again.
"Link, in order to get into the castle and to where I'm being kept prisoner, you must travel through the sewer. On the other side is a door that leads directly into the castle basement. Hurry Link, there isn't much time left."
Link set his jaw and charged into the darkness once more. He was slightly amused by the fact that he seemed to be doing that a lot tonight. But he pushed such thoughts and emotions aside as he confronted sewer rats the size of a cucco and snakes even bigger than that. He pulled out his trusty sword and shield and started hacking and slashing his way through the den of darkness with somewhat clumsy maneuvers. Several of the vile creatures scratched him, cut him, and knocked him nearly senseless. But he didn't let that stop him. He just kept on going forward, focused intently on his goal of saving whoever this person was. Finally, after slaying many a snake and rat, a slightly bloodied Link arrived at the door that lead into Hyrule Castle.
On the other side of the door, Link ran into a problem. There were four different paths that he could take. Two went down, one went off in another direction, and the fourth went upwards. He was about to head down the tunnel when he received yet another, much more faint telepathic message.
"Link… own bel… dungeon. Hurry!" Link didn't hesitate to launch himself down the nearest downward set of stairs. He was skipping over several steps of the spiral staircase as he descended down into the deepest innards of Hyrule Castle. When he finally reached the bottom, he skidded to a halt on the rough stone floor as he came face to face with an armored behemoth.
Seeing no other way around the large armored guard, Link did the only thing he could think of, he ran in head first. It was only providence, the good will of the goddesses above, and a bit of luck that the guard turned just as Link reached him, completely missing the small boy running past him and behind his back. Link couldn't believe what had happed either, but he didn't waste any time standing there to think about it. He had a job to do.
He entered another set of stairs and, much to his aching legs relief it ended after what seemed like one story of descent. On the next floor Link emerged onto, Link saw his goal. In the back of the room was a row of jail cells. And just as Link stepped onto the floor, a minimally armed guard was pulling the one who'd been telepathically summoning him, the Heir of Hyrule, Princess Zelda. Link gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and readjusted the grip he had on his shield. Then he rushed in.
The battle was a swift one. The guard had, unlike the previous one, seen Link coming. So he let go of the princess to quickly unsheathe his sword and face the crazed boy running full tilt at him. That was when the princess punched him in the side of his unarmored head. That blow, which couldn't have killed a fly much less hurt the guard, had distracted him long enough for Link to close the distance and bash him in the head with his shield. The guard would have recovered easily, but Link leaped at the much taller man and kicked him in the head. That as well would not have been enough to take out the guard, but he flew back far enough to slam face first into the stone wall where he slumped to the ground unconscious.
"Thank you, Link." The young boy turned to the princess and bowed.
"It was no problem princess."
"Please," she said anxiously, "get up. We are not clear of danger yet. Surely you have felt it. An evil presence pervades the Castle. I am sad to say that this great evil has already gotten to my father, the King." Link stood up and took the princess' hand.
"Don't worry Princess," he said, "I'll protect you."
"Hahahahaha. I'm sure you would have kid." Zelda looked up and gasped. Link spun around and held his shield and sword at the ready. "But not this time around." The man speaking slowly walked into the center of the room. His dark green tinged skin made him look like he was the remains of a once might man, the rest of him burned away by the utterly evil presence that radiated from him. So evil was this presence that Link could barely stand to look at him without his eyes starting to sting and get all teary. "Well, now that we have you both here, why don't I end this worthless cycle once and for all?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," shouted Link, "But I won't let you harm the Princess."
"Ah," chuckled the dark skinned man, "Courageous to the last. Such is your gift. Not that it's any use to me. Now it's time you both were banished from this dimension. Say good by, to your dear land Princess. For you and the boy will never set foot here again."
"It doesn't matter what you do to us Gannondorf," shouted the princess defiantly, "you will never gain the power of the Gods!"
"I don't need it anymore. I'll just get rid of you two and then there won't be anything, or anyone, strong enough to oppose me. Now, it is time for you to go." With a mighty roar, the man named Gannondorf held up his right hand in a fist. On the back of his hand was a glowing symbol that consisted of three golden triangles, the top most of which was glowing the brightest.
Link hoisted his shield higher in front of him, preparing to intercept any attack that the larger, bulkier, and quite imposing man was preparing. He moved so that he was directly between the princess and Gannondorf. The King of Evil smiled sinisterly and reared his fist back. Link braced himself for the attack he knew was coming. However, instead of punching at or in any direction that Link and Zelda were standing, he slammed his golden ball of a hand into the ground.
Immediately the ground began to shake and shimmy, a great roar filled the air, and streams of golden light shot out along the floor, as if it were pain dribbling down a wall at super extreme speeds. Zelda reached out and grabbed Link for support as she collapsed. Link, somehow, stood steadfast in the midst of what looked like certain doom. The golden lines formed an enormous rune circle around the two, the intricacy of the patters that were formed were well beyond anything that had ever been concocted by magi before.
Even the great King of Evil hadn't known what was going to happen when he unleashed this spell. All he knew was that when all was said and done, and the bright golden rune circle had exploded with a dull thud, when the rumbling and the great ground shake had come to a complete stop, the would be hero and the princess of Hyrule were gone. Leaving him the uncontested ruler of the world. And that was all he, Gannondorf, had ever cared about.
When Link woke up, he wasn't in the castle. He was in the middle of a forest. His sword and shield were gone. And he was alone. He looked for the Princess, whom he was sure had been sucked into whatever that attack was with him. When he came up empty handed, he followed the path that he'd stumbled across while looking, hoping that it would lead to someplace in Hyrule that he was familiar with. At all cost, he sword that he would make that Gannondorf pay for what he did, as soon as he found out where Gannondorf was.
It didn't take long before Link was completely lost, for the poor boy was born without any sense of direction. The entire day he walked, passing the same point five times before he found a berry bush and sat down to eat. The berries were like nothing he'd ever seen in Hyrule, but they were also the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten. Half an hour later, he was moaning and holding his midsection as all the berries he'd eaten started giving him cramps.
Sitting down on the ground, and sitting still, while trying to deal with the pain that his abdomen was giving him, Link realized that he could hear running water. He also realized, a bit slowly, that running water almost always led out of forests. After sitting for another fifteen minutes in hopes that his stomach would calm down, which it didn't, Link started walking toward the sound of running water.
He'd just about reached the water, clearly the stream was much closer than it had sounded, when he was hit from behind and sent flying over a hedge and into the small creek that he had been searching for. When he finally managed to sit up, soaking wet, he found his attacker had been no bigger than a rabbit. In fact, his attacker had been a rabbit. A white, fluffy, red eyed, frothing at the mouth rabbit, with razor sharp fangs and claws.
Link raised his arms to fend off the rabbit as it jumped at him. The creature never reached him. With a cry of "Demon Fang!", a wave of energy roared across the ground and slammed into the rabbit. The creature gave off a pitiful cry and exploded in a puff of smoke.
Link lowered his arms and looked around for the rabbit and then the source of the strange attack. He found his savior in a red gloved hand thrust into his face. Link took the hand and was hauled up by another teenager who looked a few years older than he was.
"Hi. I'll bet you're glad I came along." Link could only nod and smile. This guy was the strangest dressed man he'd ever seen. Not to mention that he didn't have pointed ears, which irked Link the most, since the only other person he'd ever seen that didn't have pointed ears like everyone else in Hyrule was Gannondorf.
"Uh… heh heh, are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day. Sheesh, you look just like Professor Raine does when she's talking about the Martel Temple Ruins."
"I… uh… sorry." Link sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and looked down. "I've just never seen anyone who looked quite like you. Uh, could you tell me, which province of Hyrule this is? I've got to get back there as soon as possible."
"Huh? Hyrule?" Lloyd scratched his head in confusion. "I've never heard of that place before. Is it near Palmacosta? If it is, that's all the way across the ocean." Link shook his head and repressed a disgruntled sigh. He wouldn't get anywhere if he let his emotions control him. He had to keep a clear head.
"No, I've never heard of any place called Palmacosta." Palmacosta? Link thought. I've never heard of that place before. I wonder if the spell that Gannondorf used teleported Zelda and me to another continent. If so, I wonder how far away from Hyrule I am. Lloyd looked deep in thought when an idea dawned on him. And now that I'm thinking about it, where did the princess go?
"Oh, I know," Lloyd said, snapping his fingers, "we should ask the Professor. She knows everything. She should know where this Hyrule is. Come on, I was on my way to school anyway, I'll take you there."
"Okay." This Professor was his only hope then. "Oh, by the way, my name is Link. What's yours?"
"Well, normally, I don't give my name out freely. But for some reason I feel I can trust you. My name is Lloyd, Lloyd Irving."
"Lloyd huh? Well, Lloyd, it's nice to meet you." Link reached out and shook hands with Lloyd.
"Heh, you too Link," responded the other boy.
The two of them started making their way, and with a little help from Lloyd's much better sense of direction, the two finally made it out of the forest. Thus began the journey of the Hero of Hyrule.
Yeah, that's that.
Link: "Hey, what the heck happened to me? And where is the princess?"
Eh... I don't know if I want to continue this story. It will depend heavily on what the reviewers think. So if you thought this was good and want to see it continued, please tell me. I seriously have too many stories going, so if I don't have to continue this it's no sweat off my back, though I will continue if enough people want me to.