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It had started innocently enough. Zelda had snuck into the house for an afternoon tea, Impa following an hour later.
“That reminds me, Impa showed me an ancient Royal family technique the other day.”
Link just hummed his interest as he sipped at his honey-lemon tea. He and Impa shared a look. The motherly old woman was smiling so it couldn’t be a bad thing.
“Alright, let’s hear it.”
“Link, the court will not take kindly to hearing you speak like the common folk.”
Link snorted. “They donna even want me near dier ‘precious princess’, Zellie.”
“This technique will fix that!”
Link coughed on his sip of tea. “What?”
Impa nodded. “Considering your skills, you should be able to perform the technique, although I believe it will act differently to what we’re used to.” She gave him a scolding look. “So you should clean up your speech.”
Link groaned. “Fine. Let’s see it.”
Zelda grinned and got up. One moment, he was faced with his princess of a sister, complete with smug air, and the next, in a puff of smoke tinted in gold, he was facing a Sheikah warrior, in blue and white uniform with only a messy blond fridge covering parts of their features.
“I have rings that can do stuff like that,” he said, pointing at his jewelry box. “I can turn into a subrosian.”
“The Royal family have used a disguise spell for a long time. It’s how Queen Zelda of the Sages managed to hide long enough to locate the power of the sages after the hero fell. It grants the princess the form of a warrior.”
“I go by Sheik in this form, as have the Zeldas before me,” Sheik commented, looking very much like the picture of an assassin warrior. “And I’m going to teach you this technique.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m curious if you’ll be able to do it and what form you might take. Impa thinks you might get a prince or princess form since you’re already a warrior.”
Link sighed. Impa grinned and picked up his empty tea cup and saucer in one hand and slapped his back heavily with the other. “I’ll take care of the dishes, have fun you two.”
Smoke caused him to cough as he felt his appearance morph and change in an instant. He was wearing a dress but that didn’t restrict his movement at all.
Looking down, the blue dress with pink ribbon belt seemed familiar.
“Wow, your hair turned red,” Sheik commented. He looked him up and down and then examined his face. “If you were blond, you could act as a double for the princess.”
“Why would I-” He froze at the sound of his voice. He knew that voice, it haunted his nightmares. Reaching up, he felt a hibiscus flower in his, now long, hair. “No way.”
He bolted for a mirror, finding the familiar appearance of Marin staring back. Had the Wind Fish or the Nightmare within somehow known about this and stolen his own appearance to tempt him on the island?
“Link, is everything alright?” Impa asked, her form dwarfing his in the mirror. “I see you managed the technique. Does the disguise upset you?”
“It looks like Marin,” he said, voice coming out tight. His eyes stung.
“Ah.” Impa knew about his island adventure, she was the only one he had told. Not even Zelda knew. “Fate works in mysterious ways. Zelda took the inherited name of Sheik and it seems your name might have been also granted to you. Do you want to go by Marin in this guise?”
It didn’t take much thought before Link nodded. Now others would be able to know Marin, in some manner.
“Link, are you okay?” Zelda asked, back in her princess form.
“Marin,” Impa corrected.
Marin nodded in agreement.
“Marin?” Zelda questioned looking between them. Then she grinned and transformed herself again. “Well, Marin,” Sheik said with a grin and a bow, “how would you like to explore the markets?”
Marin laughed at Sheik’s attempts to cheer them up, the sound ringing like a bell. Oh, they would be able to sing now! Link could play any instrument but couldn’t sing but Marin could sing! “I would love to.”
Impa shook her head fondly at her two idiots. At least they weren’t going off to save the world this time.
Marin got used to walking around the town and then the castle. Zelda introduced her to high society and, although she hated the dress, she loved meeting new people.
People reacted so differently to her than Link and they loved it.
However, it was during one of these times as Marin, that they fell through a portal. On the other side was a war.
Marin had been frightened at first as she wasn’t the warrior that Link was and she didn’t have a sword. However, the Wind Fish had reached out, slightly redeeming himself in her mind as he gifted her a way to fight back.
Marin met Captain Link, the young Link and the pirate Link. They also met Ravio (who they would meet again in Ravio’s past and their future).
Marin spent the whole war as Marin and never as Link. Once the war was over and they were back in their world, they changed back to Link and Marin ended up being stuck to Zelda approved events for a while. The technique was supposed to be a royal secret after all.
Marin sipped at her tea. She glanced around, the guards and maids seemed out of hearing range.
“Well, why did you ask me to visit?”
Zelda sighed. “Refine your speech, dear sister.”
“My greatest apologies, Princess,” Marin huffed in an offended tone. She frowned and straightened up her back. “Surely this is a private gathering for you and I to discuss things as equals?”
“It brings Hyrule great joy when my sister is the refined second princess of Hyrule.”
Marin bit down a groan. She hadn’t wanted the second princess spot, especially not when she’s the hero but Impa and Zelda had made logical arguments for it. If there was a second princess, then assassinating Zelda would take more work, since anyone looking to benefit would have to account for Marin. And that argument had been all the convincing that Link needed.
“The second princess of Hyrule is a title that feels like a cage,” Marin lamented. “I would rather have my sister and the fields.”
“Understandable.” Zelda took a bite of her sandwich and then a sip of her tea. “How is the wonderlust? You have been occupied with travelling these last few months.”
“It is not by choice. Similar to how the Triforce calls those to action and sends them across oceans.”
Zelda smiled at the reminder of when Link had been called the Triforce and the artifact had tossed him in a portal to Holodrum and Labrynna.
“The letters I receive speak of lands above the clouds and oceans wider than this country.”
“Hyrule has a fascinating history and future,” Marin confirmed.
“And your travelling companions?”
“The ones I have met before have not met me again, if the thought is troubling you.”
“It is not. Do go on.”
“Your highness, sorry to interrupt!” Marin froze at the sound of Ravio’s voice. “I was delayed by Mr Hero’s friends- oh, Marin? How-?”
Marin gave Zelda a wide-eyed look. Zelda smiled smugly and Marin felt her stomach drop.
Zelda found out about the war.
She pulled at Link’s heartstrings while arranging this teatime; talking about how she missed him and wanted to spend time together before he was sent away to another time where she might not see him again. But really, she had probably just learnt about the War of the Eras and wanted a little revenge.
“Ravio, are you able to confirm that this Marin is the same that fought alongside you in the War of Eras that you mentioned to me during our last meeting?”
“Um,” Ravio’s mask swished from one princess to the other as he realised he had walked into a trap. “Maybe?”
Marin glared at her sister. “This is a horrible trick, dearest sister and ruler of Hyrule. It was not my actions that led to fighting a war.”
“I am certain that Marin did not have to fight,” Zelda huffed.
So either Marin was to sit out or Link should have done the fighting, huh? Marin frowned.
“I received the blessing of the Ocean God, the Wind Fish. Was I to ignore the God’s call?”
“And I thought the last thing dear sister would want to be was a priestess of the Wind Fish.”
Ravio took a step back, wondering if maybe he should leave. He hadn’t been dismissed though.
“Excuse me, Princess and… Marin. Marin, you came from this land?”
“I did,” Marin huffed without looking away from Zelda.
“I had no clue.”
“Because I hid it from you.”
Zelda stood up tall and smiled. She held up a hand to keep Marin from saying anything more for a moment as voices cried out from beyond the garden door.
“Your companions are causing a disturbance. Bring them in,” she called to a guard.
Moments later, Marin’s hands were pressed to her face as all the Links were corralled onto the balcony.
“Zellie, why?” Marin groaned.
“Apologies for interrupting your tea, your highness,” Warriors said, bowing.
“Which of you is the hero whose world provided the setting for the War of Eras that Ravio told me about?”
“That is me.”
“Allow me to reintroduce you to my dearest sister, our beloved second princess, light and hope of Hyrule, Marin.”
Marin’s face felt redder than a tomato. She wanted the ground to swallow her up. Maybe the Triforce would be kind enough to teleport her out of this situation? She wished but nothing happened.
Except Wind grinning and calling out, “Hi Marin! So you were a princess? I never would have guessed!”
“Indeed,” Warriors said tightly. “We were unaware that Marin- sorry, Princess Marin, was of Royal blood.”
“I wasn’t the only Royal fighting in that war, Zelda,” Marin quickly said. She shoved a finger at Warriors. “His Zelda was, as both Zelda and Sheik! And so was his Zelda,” her hand moved to point at Wind.
“She prefers Tetra. Call her Zelda to her face and she’ll shoot you,” Wind said gleefully.
“How marvellous,” Zelda mused. She would love to shoot people who annoyed her. She was slightly envious of the princesses that got to fight in the war. “However, Marin knows what is expected of her and I assume she presented herself as ‘an average nobody’?”
“She said she was from an island and that the Wind Fish granted her wish to see the wider world,” Warriors said.
Wind mused, “that was strange though. Her accent was more country girl to me. Like Malon!” He grinned at Time, who nodded.
“A Lon, huh?” Zelda mused, grinning at Marin. “Grandmother would be proud.”
“Please tell me you are done teasing me,” Marin sighed, standing up. “I would like to retire to my room now.”
“You may leave.” Zelda turned to the Links and Ravio. “Thank you all for indulging my little bit of teasing on my sister.”
“That was teasing?” Twilight commented, looking terrified.
“She failed to report to me about the war and I had to find out years later from Ravio. That is not okay. I need to know when things happen to her.”
“No-” Marin started to say, ‘no you don’t’, when something finally answered her prayer.
A portal opened up below her feet and the feet of the Links.
She screamed as she fell.
They landed in Hyrule Field. The Links in a pile and Marin nearby.
“Marin?” a few Links said in surprise.
“Wait, where’s the Vet?” Hyrule questioned, looking around. Legend hadn’t fallen through the portal with them. “Is he stuck in his time?”
“No,” Marin said, raising her hand. “I’m here.” She decided to get it over with and transformed back. In a puff, red haired princess turned blond and pink hero.
“Legend?” Warriors gasped in horror.
“Are you like a body double for the princess?” Hyrule asked.
“Huh, that looks familiar,” Wild mused before shrugging the familiarity of the technique off.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Legend grumbled, pulling out his hero bag and checking everything was there. He was paranoid that something would get lost in the transformation, although it hadn’t happened yet. “And no, I’m not a body double for the ‘princess’, it’s like the Zelda-Sheik thing, okay?” He hoped they understood that. Surely they were close enough to their Zelda’s to have encountered it.
“What Zelda-Sheik thing?” Wild questioned in confusion. Time quietly whispered the correlation to him while Hyrule and Four listened in.
“Then why did your Zelda call you a princess?” Wind asked curiously.
Legend sighed and stood up. “Because she’s my sister. We’re twins. But Hyrule can’t have princes, only princesses. So Impa taught me the technique a few years ago so I could rejoin the royal family and spend time with my sister.”
“So that tea party-?” Wind asked.
“She’s both mad that I never told her about it and that I didn’t fight the war as ‘the hero’.”
“No wonder Marin was so strong,” Warriors mused. “If she had all your experience behind her.”
“Yeah, but to Zelda, it was an unnecessary risk. Despite the fact that your war had way too many Links as is.”
“Rude,” Wind huffed.
“Yeah,” Time agreed.
“I disagree. It was a wise decision,” Warriors said with an approving nod. He got shivers thinking about the what if of having Legend also in the party with the chaos that was young Time and Wind. “Marin provided support and didn’t get caught up in… making chaos.”
“You can say ‘prank wars’,” Time said with a grin.
Marin actually had but just hadn’t been caught. Legend decided to keep that a secret for now. He could torture Warriors with the knowledge later.
“Good news! We’re in my Hyrule and there’s a stable over that hill there,” Wild interrupted.
“That is good news,” Time agreed.
Legend breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they’ll forget about the Marin thing during the walk?
Thankfully, after the first surprising introduction, Marin didn’t come up often and mostly through stories about the War that made up Warriors’ adventure.
Until they ended up in Warriors’ Hyrule.
“I have a favour to ask,” Warriors asked Legend. “Could you attend a tea party with Zelda and Lana this afternoon? As Marin?”
“Why would I-?”
“Zelda doesn’t have many women she can trust and spend time with. And Marin is foreign dignitary, I think she would like to apologise for making a princess fight in our wars.”
“Agatha was a princess too. And Midna.”
“Yes, and there were precautions and conversations that took place for them to participate. We didn’t do that for Marin.”
“Marin was an average nobody.”
“No matter the form, you’re hardly an average nobody,” Warriors huffed quickly. “Just talk to them for the afternoon, okay? I think they just want to feel better about bringing you into this.”
“What exactly did you tell them?”
“That I discovered that Marin is the second Princess of Hyrule from the hero of Legend’s time,” Warriors answered. He paused for a moment. “I didn’t tell them that Marin’s the hero as well! That’s your secret. But they did deserve to know that we allowed another princess from another time to fight.”
“You guys were pretty desperate during the war,” Legend agreed. “And it was the easiest way to get home.” He stood up and in a puff of smoke, Marin stood before Warriors. “Guide me to the castle then, let’s do this.”
“Really?”
Marin frowned and stuck out her bottom lip. “Yeah. Might as well get it over with. Besides, I might need you on my side when we get back to my time and I have to face my sister again.”
They hadn’t been to Legend’s time since the time they discovered Marin. Warriors still had nightmares about that day. Legend’s Zelda could be terrifying. She had the mannerisms of a Queen.
“And I would like to formally apologise for involving you in our country’s affairs,” Warriors’ Zelda said as Marin sipped at her tea.
“It’s perfectly fine. I am the one who hid my identity.”
Lana flipped through her book. “It’s strange though, the Zelda of the Hero of Legend’s time doesn’t have a sister mentioned. Only a brother- and how did you get here to visit?”
Warriors’ Zelda and Marin shared a look.
“You know, huh?” Marin had half expected this.
“I suspected.” Zelda whispered the next part, “I don’t think Lana has figured it out yet.”
“Isn’t she supposed to be smart?”
“I think she’s trying to figure out how you entered this time without her noticing and missing the obvious.”
Zelda and Marin giggled together. Marin grabbed a cupcake and munched it down while Lana put her head in her hands and groaned in frustration.
“It’s fine, Lana. Marin is blessed by the Wind Fish, remember?”
“As my sister says, ‘you’re not being refined in this present moment’.”
“Goddesses, does she really?”
Marin sighed. “She wants me to be ‘an exemplary princess of Hyrule’.”
Zelda hummed and took a sip of her tea while she considered those words. “Those sorts of sentiments are familiar to me. Many look to me to set an example as well.”
“I would assume that taking the lead in the war is something that incited disapproval?”
“Certainly. I should have sat around in the castle and waited for Link to save me,” Zelda scoffed. “Ignoring that no one knew where I even was for part of the war.”
“Link put in a lot of effort to locate you, Zelda,” Lana said.
“I know. Try the cupcakes, Lana, they’re lovely.”
Warriors collected Marin from the castle and escorted her back to the inn. It wasn’t until they walked in on the other Links, that she realised she hadn’t changed back.
“Marin?” Wind cried out in surprise. He jumped off the bed, where he had been sorting Four’s kinstones with Four and Hyrule.
Time looked up from the table where he was playing cards with Sky and Twilight. He grinned behind a hand and addressed Warriors, “How did you convince the Vet to go on a date with you?”
“A da-” Warriors choked on his words.
Marin grinned. “I was having tea with his Zelda. She needed a chance to talk about the war with a lady who wasn’t Impa or Lana.”
“And you’re the closest she could get?” Wind questioned.
“You think Tetra would sit for tea for more than a few minutes?” Marin countered. “Also, I know exactly who took one of Ravio’s bombs and placed it under the fire.”
Warriors blinked and then glared at his two boys. He had always suspected that it was one of them. It had panicked the whole camp into thinking they were under attack, until Ravio had admitted that he lost a bomb.
Wind and Time shared a look, both of them suspecting the other. There was annoyance for being blamed for the prank but also respect for being able to steal from Ravio. The purple bunny merchant was good at catching people who were attempting to steal from him.
“I need this story,” Four muttered to Hyrule. Who nodded in agreement.
“I’m going to change back and go for a bath,” Marin said with a smirk.
As soon as she left the room, Warriors demanded to know which of the two had done the prank.
Marin knew who did it because it had been her. But it might take them a while to figure it out, if ever. It had been wake up call for the soldiers who had been slacking and letting people sneak around. And watching everyone blame the kids had been kind of funny.