songoftime | alternate universe ➸ legend of zelda: puella magi

[art source]
[song one]
[song two]
[song three]

first cycle.
original timeline.
Zelda contracts with Kyuubey before meeting Link.
together, they go to face Ganon at the Castle Town drawbridge.
Zelda dies.
Impa arrives in time to see Zelda die, but not to save her, but she saves Link.
she teaches Link the Song of Time ("Goddess of Time, help this boy save Hyrule"), and tells Link to save Zelda. "Save the Princess!"

second cycle.
Link goes for the Master Sword, in hopes that it would have the power to put an end to it all somehow.
wakes up to find surprise!witch Zelda.
Ruto has become a magical girl, too, to save her people from the ice.
Ruto helps Link fight witch Zelda.
during the battle, witch Zelda kills Kyuubey, who comes back regardless "to support Ruto."
the Master Sword has the power to purify, so just before she dies, Zelda un-witches and then they all realize what happened. "what have I done?"
in the face of this reality, Ruto also witches.
rewind

third cycle.
Zelda contracts to save her father.
Link tells her "Wait for me" before going into stasis.
she witches during the seven years from grief brought on by Hyrule's suffering.
once he sees her on Hyrule Field, like in the previous cycle, he rewinds time.
shortest cycle.

fourth cycle
Link gets there before Kyuubey, but he's distraught and panicked, doesn't explain anything. "JUST RUN."
he gets kicked out of the castle.
Impa, thinking there's more to it all than meets the eye, finds him, asks wtf, he explains, she goes back to Zelda, but it's too late.
Impa takes Zelda, goes into hiding early.
Link goes into stasis; Zelda doesn't use her magic for seven years, Impa gets grief seeds, Kyuubey: "You don't have to be a burden, you know."
Link shows up, cue temples a la canon.
Kyuubey contracts Malon.
Malon encourages Zelda to fight, too, because doing good things can only bring about more good, right?
Link doesn't let her help, either, but Zelda misinterprets and thinks Link thinks Malon is capable where Zelda isn't.
Malon sneaks into Fire Temple to help, gets killed by Volvagia.
Zelda storms off to fight Ganon by herself.
Link finds out and gets there in time to see the fight, but can't get to where it is because it's too dangerous.
Zelda thinks she defeats him, turns to greet Link, and Ganon rises and breaks her soul gem.
cue rewind

fifth cycle
Link gets to Zelda before Kyuubey, explains everything, asks her not to give in to Kyuubey while he's in stasis, because when he comes back, he'll be able to put a stop to it all once and for all. "have faith in me."
Navi stays with Zelda for those seven years.
Kyuubey isn't about to give up that much power without a fight, though, and for seven years is on Zelda's case. "You could put an end to this all right now, you know."
Link takes too long in the Water Temple because he's never done it before.
he gets out in time to, for the first time, witness Zelda make her contract. "I wish for the power to defeat the evil that plagues Hyrule."
she helps Link through the rest of the temples.
they reach the final battle together, but in a moment when Ganon would strike a blow that would kill Link, Zelda teleports him to safety outside the castle, leaving her there at the top.
she defeats Ganondorf, but refuses to accept sealing him away as the best way to end it, so she destroys her soul gem.
the resulting holybomb destroys the tower and leaves nothing but a crater.
Link can't accept this ending.
rewind

sixth cycle
when Link approaches Zelda, he is inexplicably tired.
without meaning to, he leads her to the conclusion, without meaning to, that everything is terrible and life is pain and Hyrule's future is suffering.
this time, instead of going into stasis, he waits out the seven years at Zelda's side.
they both go into hiding, but he can't keep from helping people regardless, and so she gets to see the suffering more firsthand.
this is the timeline where Link has had e-fucking-nough and starts killing Kyuubeys.
in order to make his quota, Kyuubey turns elsewhere and contracts with Malon, Ruto, Saria.
Ganon watches Malon's contract take place, and he corners Kyuubey and convinces him to explain wtf, including the witches.
Ganon and Kyuubey come to an agreement, because they both want to save Hyrule, in their own special ways.
Ganon then goes out of his way to pressure the puella, adding despair and throwing monsters at them to spend magic on.
once they witch, he controls and then devours them (going against his plan with Kyuubey for the sake of Power), growing more and more powerful each time.
Link and Zelda are late to catch on to what's happening, but they fight to stop it, failing each time.
meanwhile, Link is paranoid and overprotective of Zelda.
this creates tension between them, and they have an argument that results in Link stepping outside to calm down.
Kyuubey takes this chance to approach Zelda, and he convinces her to contract: "I wish to save [the Hyrule people, and especially Link] from their despair!"
despairbomb right on her soul gem.
she immediately witches.
Ganon is drawn to the event because you can't fucking miss it.
Link witnesses Ganon the superboss battle against Zelda the megawitch, destroying Hyrule as they try to kill each other.
rewind

seventh cycle
Link makes the transition from Moemura to Homura.
this time, he plays the role of distant guardian, not wanting to reveal despair to her like last time.
Kyuubey wants Zelda to contract with him so badly that he tells her the truth about puella in order to play on her self-sacrificial side.
Link skirts around Zelda for several years, despite her trying to reach out to him.
what little he tells her is vague and fragmented.
Link frees the sages, kills Kyuubeys, and then goes to take on Ganon without talking to Zelda first.
he struggles without the Light Arrows, but manages to bring Ganondorf down.
Ganon the pigdemon rises, knocks the Master Sword from Link's hands a la canon.
Zelda interferes at this moment, having put together all the pieces that Link left for her over the years, and makes her contract after apologizing to Link ("I have to disobey you one last time").
her wish: "I wish to remove Link's burden... I wish to change our destiny!"
and so Zelda is the one who gets sent back

dawn of the final day
Kyuubey never appears, because if he did, Link's burden would just be renewed.
Zelda's father believes her about Ganondorf.
there is no need for Link to be a hero.
Ganondorf is executed, except cue "divine prank."
this time, though, Link and Zelda are there to fight him.
they spend the seven years together, working around Ganondorf's plans -- not having to hide this time, since the castle isn't attacked and taken over.
they hurry to awaken the sages first thing, and with the power of the sages, they merge her soul with the Triforce of Wisdom, which is still intricately a part of her, and if it's removed, she dies anyway.
the holy power of the Triforce keeps her soul clean and thus, safe from witching.
once Link is old enough to wield the Master Sword, they defeat and seal Ganondorf away.

the witches.
Ruto --> Asterope
Malon --> Áine
Saria --> Mielikki
Zelda --> Ananke