#assumpta

"Oh, so this is the Link you've been talking about last week! He is as handsome one would expect a legendary hero to be!"

Alua's great grandmother was holding his face in her ghostly hands, and while they were cold enough to make him shiver, Link was glad they were cooling down his burning cheeks. Sadly, the sly smirk on the woman's face has frustrating any chances he had of losing his blush.

"Vó, pelo amor da Deusa!", Alua chided, still blushing, "Você está deixando ele desconfortável!"

"Ah, mas ele parecia bem confortável alguns minutos atrás..."

He didn't understand a word of what they said, but he could guess it was embarrassing, for the ghost holding his face wiggled her brows to her granddaughter suggestively. Great, his ears were burning more than Death's Mountain fire.

"Vó!"

"Tá bom, tá bom!", finally releasing the hero's face and taking a few steps back, she smiled gently at him, "I'm Assumpta, the two men are Armelindo and Salvatore. It's nice to meet you, Link."

Link nodded to the two men standing next to Alua, finally taking time to look that the three ghosts. One man was short and pudgy, with big blue eyes and a big mustache that did little to his the even bigger smile. He had a golden crown with red jewels on top of a thick mop of dark hair and was dressed in a red button up shirt, with a white cravat around his neck, dark blue pants and black shoes. The other man was dressed in similar fashion, green instead of red, and his mustache seemed less bushy, more tamed. He was tall and a lot skinnier, the smile just was gentle and eyes just as blue.

Brothers, probably.

Lastly, the blonde took in the older woman appearance. She was taller than the man in red and shorter than the man in green. The crown on her head was silver with blue jewels, her short blond hair and bright green eyes made Link think about Zelda. Her dress was something his sister would never wear, very poofy, very pink and definitely very hard to run with. Luckily ghosts had no need to actually use their legs.

"It's a pleasure, boy. I'm Salvatore.", the man in green said softly, "That's my brother, Armelindo, he's not much of a talker, but he's happy to meet you too.", Armelindo waved a hand. Link waved back.

"Oh, Link is not much of a talker too.", the girl in the dark blue dress assured.

"It's always the silent ones, eh? They're so charming!", Assumpta gushed while hugging Amerlindo tightly. The man was probably thanking their goddess for being a ghost and not needing to breathe, "Segura esse aí, viu? He's a real catch!", she winked, making the young hero and lady blush once more.

"Vó Sumpta!", the white haired girl whined.

"That's enough, cunhada. I don't think it's healthy for them to blush this much."

"You're no fun, Salvatore."

"Don't let Dorcelina hear you say that."

"Tá vendo? Você junta sua irmã com o amor da vida dela é assim que agradecem! Ameaça após ameaça! Ingratidão é fogo mesmo! Depois de tudo que eu fiz pra você, cunhado!"

"Vó, menos."

Link felt very awkward watching the strange family reunion. Almost enough to be very close of forgetting what they were in the catacombs for. Almost. As much as he found the interactions between them amusing, and Assumpta's dramatics, contrasting with Armelindo's calmness, quite hilarious, he was needed in another place. His kingdom. Hyrule. Home. So he silently walked towards Alua and ghosted his fingers over her hand, just like before, hoping her weird ability to know what he was thinking would let her see his anguish and put them back on track. Apparently her "Link senses" were on point, for she immediately turned to him and smiled reassuringly.

"Let's go, yes?", he nodded, "Vó Sumpta, vô Melindo, vô Totó, we need to go now, Link needs to go back to Hyrule."

"There's a shorter way to get to the next level..."

"I know, vô Totó, but I think one encounter with the Masked Fools is enough for Link.", the mere mention of going back to the dungeon infested with the masked monsters was enough to send shivers down said hero's spine.

Never again.

"Very well, we'll let you two continue your journey. Please, be safe."

"And please kiss already, all that tension is not good for young people."

"Vó Sumpta!"

Laughing, the three ghosts suddenly vanished, without leaving proof of ever being there. The boy in green would be lying if he said he didn't want to do it as well. Suddenly, the idea of being grabbed by a Wall Master and thrown back at the beginning of the dungeon was very charming.

"I'm sorry about that, Link.", he shook his head, it was alright.

Seeing a family together bantering and having fun was always heartwarming. His only question was...

"I'm not exactly a princess, thou I do have royal blood."

Link watched her turn, giving him her back and walking deeper into the catacombs. This was clearly a subject Alua didn't like to discuss. It was fine, Link wouldn't pry, and he had some things he wanted to keep untouched for the rest of his life. He walked a little faster to catch up with the lady, hearing a tired sigh come out her pretty lips. She was holding her left arm with her right hand, a gesture he was starting to recognize as a symbol of nervousness.

"I am the bastard daughter of the king."