#dolcia

What happens when you cross a Hylian divination mage and Symphonyxian Timewalker? A ball of sass and magic, that’s what. Astia is the result of the fusion spell used on Dolcia and Astor, gaining the arcane abilities of both mages. Astia has Dolcia’s optimism, energeticness and arcane stamina, and Astor’s strategic tendencies, cockiness, and stubbornness. Astia tends to be overconfident and laid-back but knows when to take a situation seriously. They take pride in their arcane abilities and has a tendency to let their ego get the best of them. The combination of Astor’s divination and Dolcia’s time magic allows Astia to quickly react to incoming attacks and even predict the outcomes of battles before they even begin.

A descendant of Harmonia and Octavo, Dolcia is the current heir to Symphonyxia’s throne. She doesn’t have a ‘title’ yet, (Harmonia the Dark, Soloria the Undaunted, etc), as a title is only bestowed via an enchanted tapestry when a member of the royal family has done something title-worthy. Dolcia is actually old enough to be queen but opted to allow the Symphonyxian Royal Council to watch over the kingdom while she explores the lands outside her home. When Dolcia was young, her parents died while defending the kingdom from a Guardian attack, leaving the council to rule until she was old enough to take the throne. Dolcia travels wherever the wind takes her, trying her hardest to solve any problems that need fixing and maintaining balance. While usually quiet and soft-spoken, Dolcia won’t hesitate to voice her opinion if she feels like it’s crucial or necessary to the situation at hand. Like the members of the Royal Family before her, Dolcia can use music magic alongside wind magic via the wind charm that had been passed down through the family for generations. Passed down alongside it was the enchanted baton gifted to Octavo by Harmonia, which Dolcia can use to summon the four champions if needed. Dolcia also has access to an unnamed type of magic which seems to grant her rapid-fire reflexes, almost able to react to things before they even happen. When questioned about this magic, Dolcia just describes it as ‘a thing she can do’ before brushing it off. It is known that Dolcia and Astor know each other well as they met soon after Dolcia left her kingdom, but the nature of their relationship is unknown with rumours speculating that they are friends, rivals, or just flat-out enemies. Yet another topic Dolcia is very secretive about.

And while the reason remains unknown, some people describe a ‘strange sense of Deja Vu’ when they meet her for the first time...

Bonus - Dolcia in her royal attire:

Timeline I, A Hylian village

 “How did today go?” Dolcia asked as Astor closed up his tent.

It had been a week since Dolcia had met Astor. Since then, she had been staying with the seer in his house outside the village and had been studying magic alongside him.

“Not terrible, actually.” Astor replied, “I predicted that a young lady would marry her crush today and she seemed quite pleased. It’s a good feeling when a positive prediction comes along.”

“I would imagine so!”

The two began walking through the village back towards Astor’s house.

“Have you ever had a prediction that turned out differently?” Dolcia asked.

“Very rarely, but it has happened.” Astor replied, “Time is a very strange thing. My predictions show the most likely outcome based on information I have about the target in question. Even if something is 99.9% likely, that 0.1% is still possible.”

“Strange indeed.” Dolcia agreed as they began to cross a road. Dolcia gasped as her eyes briefly flashed gold before quickly dragging Astor back from the road.

“Agh! Hey, what-?”

Before Astor could finish his exclamation, a runaway cart of cabbages went careening past them and crashed into a wall.

“I’m so sorry!” A merchant came running down the road after it, “I turned around for one second and my cart started rolling down the hill. Are you two alright?”

“Uh…yes, we’re okay.” Astor replied, a tad amazed and confused, “Do you need help?”

“No, no, it’s fine. It looks like the damage wasn’t major. I’ll be on the move in no time. Thank you for the offer though!”

The merchant quickly hurried off to his cart as Astor turned to Dolcia, “How…how did you know that was going to happen…?”

“You may or may not be the only mage who dabbles with time.” Dolcia winked before motioning down the road towards Astor’s house.

 ~

 “Timewalker?”

Dolcia nodded as the two sat in Astor’s study, “Every century or so, one member of the Symphonyxian royal family is born with a rare form of magic. Queen Dolcia the Dark was born with the ability to safely cast dark magic safely, and I was born with time magic. Those who can use time magic are called Timewalkers; mages blessed by the deity of time, Tutti. We were given that name due to our ability to jump through timelines if we die before we’re meant to. I still haven’t mastered all my abilities yet but as of now, I can react to things before they happen and occasionally receive my own glimpses into the future. I tend to keep it a secret due to the council’s fear that some may want to exploit it for their own gain.”

“I see…” Astor muttered, “But…why tell me then?”

“Well…I trust you.” Dolcia smiled, “Ever since my parents died, I didn’t have many friends…okay, I didn’t have any friends. You’re my first. And I’m grateful for that.”

Astor’s eyes widened in surprise but was distracted as the strands of hair fell in front of his eye again.

Dolcia giggled, “Those bothersome strands, eh?”

“I can’t get the damned things to sit still…” Astor grumbled as he tried to push them behind his ear.

“Hang on, I have an idea.” Dolcia took a metal clasp from the study’s desk, leaned over to Astor, and began fiddling with the hair strands.

“E-er, Dolcia?” Astor stuttered, blushing slightly at the sudden closeness between him and Dolcia.

“Gimme a sec, I’m almost done.” Dolcia stuck out her tongue impishly as she braided the hair strands together, “Aaand…done! Ta-dah!”

Dolcia leaned back to admire her handiwork. She had turned the strands into two separate braids; one falling straight down, and the other looping towards the back of his head.

“There we go! No more bothersome bangs.” Dolcia smiled proudly as Astor picked up his desk mirror to view the braids.

“Huh…this isn’t half bad.” He muttered, impressed.

“Of course it’s great! I had a vision that I’d have mad hair-styling skills!” Dolcia stated dramatically. This was enough to earn a full laugh out of Astor, prompting Dolcia to join in.

“Y-you’re ridiculous!” Astor chuckled.

“Ridiculously awesome!” Dolcia countered.

Astor sighed as he recovered from the laughing fit, “Hey, Dolcia?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. Admittedly, you’re…you’re my first friend too.”

“It’s my honour.”

 ~

 Timeline II, Korok Forest

 “What were those clones?” Zelda asked as the group ran through the forest.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen magic like that before.” Dolcia replied.

“No match for the real thing, obviously.” Revali added.

As opposed to the first timeline where Dolcia mainly aided the group from Hyrule Castle after meeting them for the first time, Dolcia managed to convince Zelda to have her tag along. She decided it was best to not reveal her time abilities to the group and hoped that she could find Astor before he joined Calamity Ganon.

 As the group arrived at the resting place of the fabled Master Sword, Link raised his hand, signalling for the group to stop.

“Link? What’s-” Dolcia began but cut herself off with a gasp as her eyes followed Link’s.

Standing at the shrine was a hooded figure in dark purple robes with a glowing orb floating in his hand. It emitted a purple light as the hollows of the four pilots reappeared. They dashed towards Link who tried to fight back, but they were too fast and would teleport away before Link could land a blow.

Dolcia turned to yell toward the figure, “Hey! What do you think you’re-?!”

Dolcia froze. She had gotten a good look at the figure’s face as they lifted it to glare at her.

“A…Astor…?” Dolcia stuttered in a mix of fear, shock, and disbelief.

“You know this mage?” Urbosa asked.

Before Dolcia could reply, Link was thrown backwards into the shrine, his broken sword lying beside him.

“Link!” Zelda exclaimed.

Astor slowly raised a finger towards Zelda with a malicious glint in his eye, “Kill her.”

“Astor, no!!” Dolcia jumped in front of Zelda alongside the other pilots to defend Zelda as the hollows charged toward them.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the area as the hollows began to fade away. Behind Link, the Master Sword began to glow brightly.

“What?!” Astor gasped as he turned to face Link, who had begun to lift the Master Sword from its pedestal. With a mighty tug, the blade came free from its stone binding as Link raised it high before pointing it towards Astor. The seer cursed under his breath as he summoned more of the hollows to fight Link. The Master Sword, however, made quick work of them, slicing through as if they were made of butter.

 Astor glared at Link, “Fine. I will end you myself, you nuisance! Your power is mine for the taking.”

Astor fired a blast of the strange magic at Link, but it was shot off course by a blast of golden magic. Astor glared at its source: Dolcia, who was holding her golden baton.

“Astor, what are you doing?!” Dolcia demanded.

“What I must to ensure the Calamity ensues!” Astor shot back as he began firing blasts towards Dolcia, who parried them away by firing blasts of her own. They were by no means more powerful than Astor’s but bought enough time for Link to attack from behind, the two performing a pincer manoeuvre on Astor as the pilots took care of any hollows he summoned.

“That sword…It is too powerful…” Astor cursed. He shot one last glare towards Dolcia – his eyes cold and unfeeling – before disappearing in a flash of magic.

 As Zelda and Link conversed with the Great Deku Tree, Dolcia was lost in her thoughts.

‘He was allied with Calamity Ganon this early…? This is bad…if I can only be sent back a month before my death, then that means I can’t prevent him from joining Ganon. But why would he even join Ganon in the first place? And those eyes…that thing on his forehead…he’s not acting like himself at all…Astor, what happened to you…?’

As the Great Deku Tree fell back into slumber, Dolcia turned to leave only to be greeted by Revali’s bow aimed inches from her face, “G-gyah!!”

“Revali?! What are you-?” Zelda exclaimed as Revali glared at Dolcia.

“I knew I had a reason to be suspicious of you.” Revali’s eyes narrowed as Dolcia shakingly took a step back.

“Revali, what do you think you’re doing?” Urbosa demanded.

“Does no one else here find it a little odd that your ‘new friend’ seemed very familiar with the mage who tried to kill us?”

“W-wait! I can explain-” Dolcia stuttered.

“Explain what? That you’re secretly working to bring about the Calamity? That you’re trying to take us down from the inside?”

“Waah! Bird guy is scary when he’s angry!” Hestu cried as he attempted to hide behind Daruk…the key word being attempted as he was much taller than the Goron.

“Revali, that’s enough.” Zelda placed a hand on Revali’s bow, lowering it gently, “I don’t know how or why Dolcia knows that mage, but now is not the time to be brash. For now, let’s return to the castle where it’s safer. Dolcia can explain herself there.”

“The princess is right.” Impa added, “We’re all a little on edge from… whatever those were. I’m sure once we’ve cleared our heads, things will make sense.”

Revali glared at Dolcia before fully lowering his bow and walking off.

“Are you alright, miss Dolcia?” Mipha asked.

“I…I’m okay…” Dolcia replied, “A little shaken, that’s all. I’ll feel better when we get back home.”

‘I hope…’

 ~

 Hyrule Castle

 Dolcia sat uncomfortably between Daruk, Hestu and Mipha as the rest of the group had an intense discussion about Dolcia’s trustworthiness. Dolcia kept opening her mouth to get a word in but would be cut off by someone else talking, mostly by Revali.

“I’m telling you, we can’t trust her!” Revali retorted.

Impa sighed, “Revali, will you please-?”

“TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!”

Everyone covered their ears as the small white guardian let out a sharp whistle.

“Beep bewoop!” The guardian pointed at Dolcia as it beeped aggressively at Dolcia.

“I think it wants us to let Dolcia speak.” Impa said as the guardian scuttled over to Dolcia.

“Thank you, little friend.” Dolcia gave a small smile before addressing the rest of the group, “I know you have your suspicions of me, but I’m not trying to bring the Calamity. Astor was a close friend of mine I met about a year ago, back when I first arrived in Hyrule. But a few months after I met him, I received a vision and left to investigate. When I returned a few weeks later, he was gone, and nobody knew where he went. I don’t know why he would try to bring about the Calamity…he’s never acted like this before. I know it’s hard to believe, but I swear I’d never do anything to hurt you guys!”

The group was silent for a moment before Zelda spoke, “I believe her.”

Everyone turned to the princess with surprised expressions as Zelda continued, “I don’t think Dolcia’s working against us. She’s done nothing to hinder us thus far and seemed just as shocked to see Astor as the rest of us.” Zelda then turned to Dolcia, “I don’t know why your friend is trying to bring about the Calamity, but we won’t allow it to happen. And if possible, we’ll get to the bottom of this and find out why he’s acting this way.”

Dolcia breathed a sigh of relief as she smiled, “Thank you, princess.”

“How asinine…” Revali muttered, “Fine. But if you do anything remotely shifty, I won’t hesitate to end you on the spot. Understood.”

Dolcia nodded.

Zelda gave Dolcia a warm smile, giving her hope that maybe things would work out after all.

 ~

 A few weeks later, Hyrule Castle

 “This humiliation…cannot be my destiny. It cannot be!”

Astor glared at the heroes before him with frenzied rage in his eyes, “Hear me, Calamity Ganon!”

Dolcia’s eyes widened in horror, the situation all too familiar to her.

‘No…’

“It’s time for you to devour these…these…”

Astor stared at his extended arm in horror as it slowly became infected with Malice.

‘No, no, no, no, no!!!’

Dolcia darted for Astor and pushed him away from Harbinger Ganon in an attempt to distance him from the malice. The strange headpiece fell from his forehead as the two hit the ground, but the Malice continued to spread. Dolcia tried to use a healing spell on it in an attempt to slow it down at least, but nothing seemed to work.

“No…no, no, please no!” Dolcia cried, panic filling her voice.

“Dol…cia...” Astor choked, his body searing with pain from the Malice, “Your power…please…go back…stop me…stop me from being…being a fool…please.” Astor looked up at Dolcia pleadingly as he begged, barely managing to get the words out.

“Astor…I…I will. I promise…”

“Dolcia, watch-!”

Dolcia looked up just in time to see a beam of Malice come flying at her.

 ~

 Timeline Null, The Sea of Time

 Dolcia gasped as she sat up, clutching her chest as she could still feel lingering pain from the Malice.

“Take deep breaths.” Tutti lay beside Dolcia as they rubbed her back with their tail soothingly. Once Dolcia had caught her breath, Tutti’s expression saddened, “Tragedy again…”

Dolcia nodded.

“Take your time.” Tutti reassured, “There’s no need to rush into the next shard immediately. Take as long as you need to clear your head.”

“Thank you…” Dolcia replied as she tried to calm her breathing. She looked up at the shards floating around her. She noticed one shard – the shard she had entered before – was no longer a shining blue, but a dull grey.

“Shards you’ve entered and died in will turn grey,” Tutti explained, following Dolcia’s gaze, “Indicating you cannot return to that timeline.”

Dolcia nodded in understanding before looking out at the countless shards still shining before her.

‘I’ll see this though, Astor…I promise…’