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[forhylia]

Characters: Link and whoever wishes to poke him
Setting: Room 04-04 and Floor 1, breakfast time
Format: Prose preferred, but feel free to use action/brackets
Summary: Link wakes up, completely unsurprised and unbothered that his world has ended. That's old news. Time to go eat some oatmeal and figure out where he is.
Warnings: Spoilers for the Skyward Sword prequel manga


Link was only half-surprised to be waking up. One does wake in the afterlife after death, no? But as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, something was quite wrong. This strange suit was uncomfortable and strange looking. The room was sparse and seemed overly sterile. And how in the world did the ceiling glow? He tugged at the collar around his neck, frowning. Thankfully it wasn't restricting his breathing, but it was bothersome.

This was far from what he had pictured.

There were a few things to be inspected, though. Three other beds, all empty, as well as a nightstand with two envelops upon it. Frowning curiously, Link lifted the first one and carefully tore it open. Strange, that it did not require a seal to remain shut. There was a slight ache in his chest as he read it. Yes, he knew that his home had been destroyed. He didn't need that reminder of his failure. At least he could rest assured that his people were safe in the White Goddess's loving arms.

The second letter, however...

The further Link read, the stranger things became. All these things that were expected of him... This was where he would sleep; unexpectedly three others would be occupying the room with him. Food could be found downstairs. What was a 'network'? A postal system of some sort? Link placed the second letter on his nightstand next to the first. Perhaps he could find somebody to speak with about it.

He got out of bed, cracking the cricks out of his neck and approaching the chest that was obviously his and thankfully unlocked. He pulled it open with a grin.

"Excellent." He smiled as he pulled the Master Sword from the chest, inspecting it carefully. As expected, it had taken no damage in the battle. He pulled it partially from the scabbard, closely inspecting the triangular symbol that had appeared on the blade. He set the sword aside, pulling out his various other belongings. The ridiculous white jumpsuit was on the floor within seconds, soon to be replaced with Link's signature green tunic, hat, and boots. He contemplated putting on his mail and gloves, but chose not to. They would stay in the trunk. He was only going to eat breakfast, hopefully. Link put in his earrings, setting his gloves, sword, and armor back in the trunk and closing it. He opened his door and set out into the hallway.

Time to find out what this afterlife was all about.




Link fumbled for a moment with the elevator buttons before making his way to the first floor. The dining area was a reasonable place to look for people, and he was hungry.

He settled himself at a table with the bowl of oatmeal a worker had handed to him, taking a look around the room. There were other people milling about, chatting and eating. He dug into his oatmeal, which wasn't half bad. The food quality in Hylia had suffered significantly under the crumbling regime of the king.

Link had intentionally sat himself at one of the larger tables as if to hopefully invite company.

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer plops down in a chair next to Link's table, not even setting his food down before tearing off a chunk of his waffle and popping it in his mouth.]

Mm?

[He stares at Link's oatmeal.]

Oatmeal? You're new?

[forhylia]

[Link looks up from his bowl of lovely, delicious slop.]

Yes, I have only just woken up in my room.

[He doesn't seem too shaken by the sudden change.]

[puppy_lancer]

And nobody's told you anything about this place yet?

[At least this guy is calm about it.]

[forhylia]

[The Hylian shakes his head.]

No, but I was assuming it is a sort of afterlife. [A slightly wistful look comes over his face.] I already knew that most of my home was gone.

[The letter had hardly been a shock.]

[puppy_lancer]

[He gives a dry laugh.]

Well, this ain't heaven. But most of the people in here don't deserve hell.

[forhylia]

[Link's eyes narrow.]

Would you say that this is hell, then?

[It doesn't seem it. Free food, a library, an advanced infirmary...]

[puppy_lancer]

Nothing of the sort.

[He slowly shakes his head.]

Well...you could say it sort of is, given that our souls are stuck here. But it won't be hell for long. Not if we have anything to say about it.

[forhylia]

You mean people are resisting the authorities here?

[It certainly is strange. They claim to have saved them from their dying world, yet this man is calling it hell. That's quite a contrast.]

[puppy_lancer]

Yeah, we've got people working on that.

[He's helping them out. Mostly because Ruana is dangerous and probably can't be trusted to run the Tower. He's not quite sure how he feels about the other stuff on their agenda.]

[forhylia]

So we are trapped here and cannot leave, and we aren't certain of the intentions of those running this place, and people are fighting to find a way out?

[It is difficult to absorb all at once. No, being taken here does not sit well with him, but he has yet to see anything overtly bad.]

[puppy_lancer]

You've pretty much got it. Don't worry--this place is livable, even if sometimes it's not pleasant. Just watch out for the experiments.

[forhylia]

[Now he frowns.]

What sorts of experiments?

[Coming from a world of very limited science, the only sorts of experiments Link has ever heard of have been magical ones. Is that what they are here for? All of these people gathered to one place to be used for experimentation?]

[puppy_lancer]

Sickness, aging, body swaps. Just some sick stuff that messes with your head if not your body.

[forhylia]

That's strange... Experiments that hardly sound as if they would be of any scientific merit at all.

[They can't all just be here for fun.]

[puppy_lancer]

Who knows how Jason's sciences work.

[He won't rule out sadism. At least, not for Jason.]

[forhylia]

Jason? Is this the person in power here, then?

[It isn't a name Link is familiar with, but he assumes it would be a woman... The most powerful gods always are, and who but a god could create a place like this?]

[puppy_lancer]

One of them. Others are Ruana, Riki, and Zo. And there used to be Dax.

[forhylia]

Ruana, Riki, and Zo.

[Link repeats the names to commit them to memory.]

They sound like no gods I have ever heard of... Do you mean to tell me that humans are capable of this?

[puppy_lancer]

[He places his elbow on the table and cups his chin in his hand.]

I don't know what they are. They say they're humans, but they have this power called psionics.

[forhylia]

Psionics... I have never heard of anything of the sort. What does the power do?

[puppy_lancer]

[He shakes his head.]

I dunno. Zo can bring souls from their worlds into here. Ruana can..."watch" people. Dax had this power that could shift reality at its very basis.

[forhylia]

[Link's eyes widen, brows furrowing.]

That sounds more like magic than science.

[puppy_lancer]

They call it science. But what it does is classified as magic in my world as well.

[forhylia]

Do we at least know where they are?

[puppy_lancer]

Admin floors under the cafeteria. You can only get there through a special elevator, and you can't break into the elevator either. It's only open when the administrators wanna come up.