#msau

Nexus, this you?

(Idc which au you put this to, it works for both I think XD)

MSAU Nexus: I’m not a cat. I hate cats.

When Arthur unexpectedly inherits an ancient tower steeped in legends and history, it seems like the ultimate research opportunity for Vivi’s thesis on the ancient Januterrine Empire, but they quickly discover that far more than they bargained for lies waiting within. The past may be dead, but it doesn’t always stay buried, and old betrayals are surprisingly easy to reawaken. 

Chapter eleven of my and @kirbychan234‘s slow-burn Lewvithur Sleeping Beauty AU, featuring the question of what to do next the boys being more alike than they realize when it comes to suppressing affectionate impulses.

Ooh, that’s an interesting one! I’m hoping you meant MSA cast in LoZ roles, otherwise I’ve gotten this backwards-- and let me know if I did!-- buuuuuuut…

The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, the pieces of the Triforce. I was really torn on this, because I like the idea of mixing up who gets what piece/embodies what value, but for narrative’s sake, let’s go classic. Vivi’s got the Triforce of Wisdom, Lewis has Power, Arthur has Courage. Since we’re going AU, I’m going to say that the royal family doesn’t have any particular tie to the Goddess/Triforce, so Vivi’s not part of the royal family, but a Sheikah. Arthur is a Hylian apprenticed to a Lokomo (which I chose for a number of exceedingly nerdy reasons). This may be cheating a little bit, since it’s a PH race, but I’m going to cast Lewis as a descendant of the Cobbles, taken in by a Gerudo and Wind Tribe couple when he was young. Mystery is a keaton.

So, by all counts-- MSA canon, Cobble lore and the Triforce of Power in TP-- things are not looking great for Lewis’s continued survival. He does, in fact, die before things really start; I don’t know how/why yet, and it doesn’t really matter right now. The main conflict here is that the Cobbles tend toward psychic ability that strengthens after death, and a Triforce piece, inactive, dwells in its bearer’s body. This results in two entities: the psychic imprint of the actual Lewis and the body that should be dead, held together by the Triforce of Power a la That One Scene in TP. I don’t want to go into Skyward Sword territory here, but tl;dr, the rough equivalent of Demise (or, for our purposes ????) possesses his body and Gets Up To Some Shit. Part of The Shit They Start is what kicks off the plot, but fuck if I know what it is.

In this ‘verse, the Sheikah are still protectors of the royal family, but way less secretive/easily recognized in surrounding villages as having some authority. Vivi is sent out to Investigate The Aforementioned Shit; I’m thinking she’s a younger Sheikah, given how old they can get, and is still trying to prove herself on some level. Unfortunately, she gets to the village after ???? has already moved on; she gets a little information from the townsfolk but instead of reporting back, she tries to track ????, and gets waylaid in the equivalent of the Lost Woods. I kind of like the idea that she meets Mystery here, saving him from some manner of trap. To be 100% honest, I don’t know what Mystery’s role is in this, but it doesn’t feel fair to leave him out. Speaking of Things I Want To Include But That Have No Narrative Purpose: Vivi gets an ice-power sword.

Arthur lives in one of the larger settlements, akin to Castle Town, and works with era-appropriate mechanics. He was actually born without a left forearm, has used a prosthetic his entire life, and is constantly tinkering with it to see what he can improve. He wouldn’t have anything to do with our plot thus far, were it not for the fact that The Actual Lewis starts haunting him, subconsciously drawn by the Triforce of Courage. In-universe, though, neither of them has any idea what to make of the other, and, for a little bit, just coexist-- up until Lewis accidentally possesses Arthur’s prosthetic and can’t un-possess it, then it becomes The Quest for a Friendly Exorcist. Predictably, this leads through a number of dangerous locales, but having a ghost with a link to the Triforce of Power physically attached to one’s person helps. (Read: Lewis is the Sheikah Slate, but as a weapon)

I have no idea how/when the two groups meet up, but they do. It’s more complicated than this, but things are already running pretty long here, so I’ll boil this down to: Vivi mentions Lewis’s hometown and enough other info for him to put the pieces together, at which point he urges Arthur to help her track ???? down and stop them. More fantasy stuff, character development/interaction, etc. Our resolution revolves around Lewis reclaiming the Triforce piece, technically possessing it, and Vivi killing his body, which, without the Triforce of Power, stays dead. I don’t know how to justify it, but somewhere in here, Arthur sacrifices his prosthetic because boy howdy, there’s a weird contrast to canon.