Damn. I spent several hours wondering how I was going to show off Shade's ability without scaring everyone off and unfortunately all I could come up with was just reminding people that he isn't going to be the main focus of the story. Instead, he will be acting as something like a teacher/guide for Link as the situation warrants. Fortunately, he will be showing it off in a way that quickly benefits the plot in this chapter so that should hopefully soak up some of the rage and despair it creates.

Finally, I apologize for this and any future ideas that I won't be using to their full potential but I just don't have them factored into the future of my story and I have enough balls to juggle their as it is.

Start

That night saw a Link far too restless to sleep. Over and over in his mind he recounted his encounter with the strange crystalline monster and found himself with far more questions than answers.

'What was that thing? It wasn't like any monsters or animals that I've ever seen or so much as heard about. Even if it was something natural, a monster of that level of power should be somewhere in the Snowpeak mountain area or the Gerudo Mesa, not down here in Faron Woods.' The swordsman tossed and turned in his bed as the thoughts swirled around in his head. Despite his best efforts, Link was left with just his hopes that things would sort themselves out just as they had done countless times before.

Regretfully, life had far more audacious plans for the Magus.

/

Despite the obstacles, Link had found himself an hour of sleep before he needed to begin his preparations for the trip. After securing everything he would need on Epona he began to walk her out to the border of the village when a wrathful voice screamed out to him.

"What the hell are you doing Link; can't you see Epona's hurt?" The swordsman was off his horse in a moment as the girls voice rang in his ears in a way that only hers could (As far as he knew of course.)

"What do you mean Ilia; I didn't think she was injured from my inspection." The teenager's friend took a position that clearly showed the irritation she felt even as he grumbled out a response.

"What I mean, idiot, is that bruise on her back leg that your little 'inspection' clearly missed. What, were you jumping her over fences again, or just being foolish. Honestly, you know that she hasn't quiet learned how to take more than one or two at a time yet." Link shook his head in an attempt to clear some of the ringing even as she began her lecture.

"Well it's not like I've really had the time to do anything about it either before or after she got hurt." He began after she had calmed down a bit.

"What reason could you possibly have that would make it all right to get her hurt like this." Ilia bit out.

"So I should have just trotted after Talo when he ran off into the woods? Further, I shouldn't have worried at all about this new and abnormally powerful monster that attacked just as I caught up with them?" Link asked with clear rhetoric in his voice.

That made the girl step back reflexively as if stung by something. "I….I had no idea that all of that happened. I just…" Ilia's head was hung with uncontainable shame.

"Look, I'll take her to the spirit spring before I go. That should fix her up pretty fast if I remember correctly. However, with all these changes going on in the world right now, I think it would be best if you and the others remained in the village until Rusl thinks its safe enough." Link took one last look as his childhood friend shook her head in confirmation. "Well, see you when I get back Ilia."

Thus the swordsman left his village, not to return for a long time.

/

Link sat down on the outer edge of the spring as the healing properties of its waters quickly mended the horse's legs. At this time he once more found himself reflecting on the yesterday's fight. In fact, he was so embroiled in his introspective that he had tuned out the world around him.

In another timeline, he would pay for a similar mistake, but not this one.

Suddenly, the teenager was ripped from his thoughts by a shaking in the ground. Quickly it grew, and with it came the sound of hooves. Link didn't even have time to get to his feet before the creators of the noise appeared on the scene.

In an instant, a pair of Bulblin raiders came crashing into the spring astride their Bullbo. With them came an entire raiding party led by the very king of their people.

As chance would have it, Link was hidden behind a good deal of foliage at the time and was well hidden from the beasts before him. However, with Epona left out in the open and ripe for the taking in the enclosure, the swordsman had only seconds to come up with a plan of action.

'Dammit, of all the things that could have happened today, it just had to be a royal Bulblin raiding party didn't it. Worse, I don't even have anything to hit them with aside from my projections. I really wish I hadn't left it all with the packs.' His mind raced as the Bulblins closed in on his horse.

'How am I supposed to beat them with just those though? I know Kanshou and Bakuya held up fairly well when I was fighting that one monster, but I can't hope for such a miracle this time and I just can't do that much with a bunch of swords that shatter after four impacts at the most. Excalibur won't be much help either with how superior their force is. I refuse to abandon Epona no matter how impossible it may be. Their just has to be a…"

Link's thoughts cut off as another force took control of his body, one that he was innately familiar with.

/

King Bulblin was not exactly enthusiastic about his task today. He and his men were warriors, not run-of-the-mill highwaymen. Somewhat barbaric warriors perhaps, but they did have something of a code of honor in their ways. Unfortunately, ever since Ganondorf's minions had proven themselves superior to most any force in the land, the Bulblins had found themselves being forced to perform more and more distasteful tasks.

Of all the tasks they had been given though, driving the villagers from the Ordona province's sacred spring was definitely the most degrading. The only enemy they had found to fight was this one horse that, while of excellent breeding, wasn't exactly what one might call a warhorse. However, orders were orders, and King Bulblin would obey his no matter how undignified they were.

Figuring he might as well make the most of the situation, he gave his men the go ahead to take the horse as their spoils, meager thought they were. Quickly they set to work boxing the horse in even as it struggled to escape. Everything seemed to be going to whatever plans his masters had laid.

And then it all went to hell.

A white blur burst out from the nearby foliage, moving so fast that he couldn't make out its shape. What he could make out was two discs, no swords, suddenly being launched from the shape that arced in to cut down the men that had been attempting to bring the horse in.

In less than a second, the blur reached its first pair of Bullbo riders. With a spinning kick it drove them from their seats. "Hrunting" it, no he, called in a rough, monotone voice even as he spun in the air. In his hand, a black blade suddenly appeared only to be immediately hurled at his other pair of riders.

By this time the Bulblins had recovered from their shock well enough that the riders attempted to dodge the blade that had been thrown at them. On a normal blade this might have sufficed, but against the blade of Beowulf, their maneuvering was pointless. In an instant the blade had arced its trajectory to continue after its targets, both of whom it speared down as if it had originally been thrown in that direction.

The King quickly shifted his focus to the rest of his men, hoping in the back of his mind that they had held together well enough for him to get them out of this. What he saw instead shocked him to his very core.

Half of the remaining raiders had already been cut down by this…Swordsman; the King hesitantly identified their foe. The other have rapidly began joining them. The swordsman blurring once more as his white and black blades severed limbs, ripped through throats, and left gaping holes in their chests. 'My men are just getting massacred out there.'

Finally, at the end of the slaughter, King Bulblin got his first good look at the swordsman before him. He wore a mere patchwork farmer's garment, his hair was blond, his blades were of a unique make, and his stance seemed both suicide and dominating at the same time. What stood out in his mind though was not any of those details. Instead, he focus was drawn to the swordsman's steel-gray eyes; they had the appearance of a wolf's yet at the same time were completely lifeless. All the king could see in them was a mechanical gaze that was constantly appraising how best to deal with the foes around him.

Never one to let fear get the best of him, the King grabbed and lifted his horn to his lips, preparing to call for reinforcements. 'Wait, why is he shifting his swords around like that?'

The thought had barely come to the King's mind before the first pair of blades returned. Noticing them far too late, the King only managed to shift himself just enough in his seat to save his life. Instead, the blades came together to shatter his horn and rip his right arm open to the point of uselessness.

The swordsman didn't even flinch in response as King Bulblin fled the scene. His bosses would not be happy about this he reflected. However, even in defeat, the King wore a smile on his face.

'I believe that we will meet again in the future, gray-eyed swordsman. Then we can see who wins in a real fight.'

/

Several minutes passed with Link standing still in the center of the spring before he regained control over his body. Depression filled his eyes as he gazed over the carnage his other side had left in its wake.

'I really wish that I could fight like that. Even if I never actually reach that level of skill, I at least want to be able to project weapons that don't break after a little bit of wear.' Link took a few moments to reminisce over his shortcomings before saddling up on Epona and riding off on his trip.

He was just entering the gorge leading to the Woods when a he heard someone call out to him from across the bridge.

"Do you mean to tell me that after all this evidence that there are greater problems in your world then you know, you are still going to just ride off into the world without even being able to use your greatest weapon properly?" The swordsman turned to see a cloaked figure carrying a green sword about the size of his body on his back.

"I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about stranger. I need to get this sword to the royal family in all haste so I don't really have time to talk right now." The teenager began to ride off again thinking the conversation over.

"Oh sorry, I forgot that you haven't really mentioned your abilities to anyone else yet. Hmmmm…How to get you to pay attention….Let's see here….Oh yes, does the phrase 'I am the bone of my sword' mean anything to you?" The figure asked Link without altering his voice in the slightest.

Stunned, all the swordsman could do was turn around and ride up the cloaked figure.

"Looks like that rang a bell."

"Who are you and why do you know that phrase?" Link questioned the man in earnest.

"My name is Shade, and as to your second question, well, it would be best if we sat down first. This conversation is going to take awhile." With a gesture, the man led the teenager off into the glade near Ordon.

/

A few minutes later, Link found himself seated with Shade around a fire inside a small cavern. Countless questions had boiled over into his mind on the ride over and he barely managed to control himself as the cloaked man got them both large bottles of milk.

"As I said before, this is going to take awhile. I figured we should both drink something that is going to help us maintain our focus as this goes on. I'm sure you have a lot of questions just as I have a lot to talk about so I think I'll let you go first." Shade began the conversation grimly.

"Alright, why did you wish to speak with me?"

"Straight to the point I see. Well, to put it simply, I am here to prevent the destruction of your entire world by an entity from an entirely different universe." Link almost choked on his milk as he heard that.

"What do you mean, 'prevent my world from being destroyed by something from a different universe? That makes absolutely no sense at all!" He nearly shouted in irritation.

"How doesn't it make sense? I would assume that having people try to destroy your world would be normal considering the fact that there were several heroes in your history stated to have fought against such things. I would also assume that the man with a powerful ability capable of literally rewriting reality for a time, which obviously came from a completely different universe if you've been going through the dream cycle like you should have, would have already figured out that at least one other universe exists. The fact that I'm here to help should be obvious from the fact that I contacted you at all instead of simply killing you or watching the fireworks go off from a distance, although I guess there are a few extremely powerful assholes who like the whole 'double agent' thing so I guess I can understand your confusion there."

"Wellll…" Link deflated as his question was ruthlessly picked apart. It didn't help that the man had done it with honest curiosity throughout the whole process, or even that he felt like he had just smashed his head into a stone wall after being given that much information that fast.

"Next question please." Shade said upon noticing that Link had abandoned his disbelief.

"O.K. How do you know about my powers?" The teenager hoped that this question would have a much saner answer then the last.

"I know about your powers because I have been observing you and knew the original owner of your reality marble rather well and….What are you doing?" The cloaked man suddenly shifted focus as he noticed the shocked look on the teenagers face.

"Sorry, I was a bit worried when you said you were observing me so, I decided to check you out with my circuits. That's when I noticed that your element is….Weird." Link shook his head to refocus himself and downed a whole swig of milk.

"Oh, I forgot that your origin is Balance. Being able to notice distortions in the world is an innate ability of yours." Shade drank some of his own milk as the magus tried to figure out how to phrase his discoveries.

"The thing is, you don't actually seem to have a set element." The magus began carefully. "Instead it seems to be constantly shifting around. The only thing I get consistently is a feeling of…Timelessness you could say."

"The reason for that is rather unique my friend, but I believe that it will come up with your next question so I think I will abstain from telling you for now." Shade put some more wood on the fire as Link decided what to ask next.

"Why are you asking me to help you with this? How could I possibly be of aid to someone like you?"

"Well, as to why I'm asking for your help, it's because I actually can't do it myself. Your world is in such a fragile state right known that if I used the power required to stop the threat myself, I would simply end up destroying the world in its place." The cloaked man sat back as Link voiced a question.

"How am I supposed to defeat something using less power than you would? Last I checked, you were the multiversal security guy with a ton of experience not me."

Shade chuckled before continuing. "You aren't going to be using less power than me; you're going to be using more. Thanks to the Triforce Piece inside you, nothing you do will damage this world's integrity unless you want it to. Before you ask, you have the Triforce of courage inside of you, as evidenced by the symbol on your left hand." Shade gave Link a few moments to look himself over before continuing.

"The reason I think that you can do it is not only because of the things we have already pointed out, but also because you are the current reincarnation of the legendary hero of your land."

Memories from his dreams flashed into his consciousness as the teenager digested the information. "What makes you think that I am this reincarnation of the hero you are looking for?" He looked straight into the darkness of the man's hooded face, as if trying to pierce the darkness.

Shade simply stood up and put his empty milk bottle on the ground. "I told you that the reason for my shifting element would come up." Suddenly the cloaked man…Shifted would be the most accurate term for it…into a completely different form.

Upon looking at it, Link found it hard not to drop his jaw. Before him now stood a mirror image of himself except that in place of his farm clothes, the man before him wore the Hero's Tunic, and on his back, the man carried one of the most beautiful and powerful blades he had ever seen.

"I call this ability of mine Absolution. It allows me to take the form of any of the great entities that I knew of while I lived in my own world. Guess what that makes you." Shade chuckled in a perfect rendition of Link's own voice before shifting back to his own form.

The teenager shook his head as he reorganized his thoughts. After several minutes passed he decided on his next question. "Even if I am this…Reincarnation of the Hero that you think I am. How am I going to gain this power you are asking for fast enough to help you? I can't even use projection all that well!"

The cloaked man considered this for a moment before answering in turn. "That depends on your current situation. For now though, you should let me know about anything special in regards to your reality marble that has happened up to now. I already know about the dreams and abilities it has given you, but I need to know if it has had any other affects or if someone or something inconceivably tampered with it somehow."

Link was taken aback by this, and could only find one thing of note to inform his host of. "I don't know if this is just some hidden potential of mine or not now…But if you are looking for weird affects then the best thing I can think of would be that I occasionally…am possessed for lack of a better term, by this other person that fights a lot like Archer. He's even better at magecraft then I am."

Shade began to pace back and forth as he pondered this. The swordsman found himself unable to contain his anticipation for the man's reaction to his statement.

"Hmmmm…" Suddenly the boy's host snaps his fingers and turns back towards him. "Alright, I have good news and bad news for you, which do you want to hear first?" He looked straight into the boy's eyes as he gave his question.

"I guess I'll go with the bad news considering how weird this conversation has been." Link muttered in exhaustion, the conversation having sapped him of most of his energy.

"Fortunately, the only bad news is that your soul is still rejecting your reality marble, as evidenced by the fact that it hasn't united with you yet." Shade paused to let the magus finish his drink before continuing. "The good news though, is that since your body has begun to treat it as a split personality of yours, it is clear that your physical existence has already accepted the ability as a part of you."

Link set his bottle down carefully even as his irritation mounted again. "How is that supposed to help me, I still can't use projection properly unless I'm controlled by my reality marble!" He turned his head down in frustration.

"It helps because it means that we can actually give you a significant boost to both your current abilities and potential." Shade ignored the incredulous look he was given and continued speaking. "My plan is to use your body's acceptance of Unlimited Bladeworks to our advantage."

A flash of pain passed over the Magus's features but it quickly passed. Shade gave him a quick look-over before outlining the advantages and disadvantages of his idea.

"If this works, not only will your projections see a fair boost in speed and accuracy, but you will also become capable of expanding your arsenal and skills to a level far beyond what you could ever achieve otherwise. However, you will still have to reach Archer's levels of experience and ability on your own for the most part. The choice, though, is yours: keep the split personalities highly refined capabilities, or trade them in for a chance at even greater power."

Link didn't even have to consider the choice. He wanted to make this power his own, not simply relying on it to bail him out of everything. "Let's do it."

The magus could have sworn that the cloaked man was smiling smugly, even if he couldn't see it under that hood. "Well then, before we do this, we need to plan for when you wake up. What we're doing is going to basically be like taking a sledge hammer to your soul and then welding it back together into the form we want, so you're going to be out for awhile. I can't stay here because I need to do some research and make preparations for the coming battles."

"Then what is it you need me to do?" Link's voice seemed to fill the air with his determination.

Shade began putting everything away inside his cloak as he filled out the details of his current plan. "When you wake up, you'll find that I've moved your possessions and some other choice items to the Ordona spring. When you return here you will need to collect them so that you won't be stuck without them later. For now though, I will need you to make your way through a barrier that will be set up around Faron woods. After that you should simply follow an imp by the name Midna, whom you will find rather quickly upon entering the woods. I'll contact you the next time we need to speak."

"So how are we going to go about doing this?" The teenager couldn't keep the curiosity out of his voice.

"You'll see." Shade walked to the center of the cavern and turned to face Link.

"Just remember that this is going to hurt a lot." The man said before shifting into the form of the red Archer.

The magus tried to express his bewilderment at the display but before he could, Shade closed his eyes and began the aria.

"I am the bone of my sword" Link's face once more contorted in pain at the words.

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood" 'No it's not, no one is like that!' His mind began to rage against the words as the continued to flow.

"I have created over a thousand blades," 'You have created nothing!'

"Unknown to death," 'All you hold are mere illusions!"

"Nor known to life." Link fell to his knees as his mind continued to throb and rage more and more with each word.

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons." 'STOP. STOP. STOP.'

"Yet those hands will never hold anything." 'NONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOO'

"So, as I pray –"'ALL YOU SPEAK IS LIES!'

"Unlimited Bladeworks!" Link's scream sounded unearthly and primal as the world reformed around him. By the time the hill of swords had appeared, he had already lost consciousness as his mind and soul struggled to hold themselves together through the merge.

Shade took a few moments to admire the scenery before releasing the reality marble and shifting back into his own form once more. Taking a moment to look at the hero-to-be he smiled once more. Then he flash stepped away, alone with his thoughts.

'Let's see what you can do now kid. I hope you don't disappoint me, for everyone's sake.'

Stop

Holy crap, I did not expect this chapter to be that long when I started it. I certainly broke the 10,000 word mark with gusto. On another note theirs Shade's second, and probably most hax ability, Absolution. I know most of you probably abandoned ship upon seeing it but in all honesty I choose it to add even more flavor to the training fights that will be coming up soon, hopefully. Just think of all the awesome situations I can put Link in by using Shade as a walking mega crossover . If you are still worried just let me know in a review and I will do my best to alleviate such worries and adjust my story as necessary. (See, your reviews help me help you.)

For now, give me your thoughts and don't forget that I want to do this story as much justice as possible. Sure, chances are I'll never reach the level of the really awesome fanfic writers and my purpose is still mainly getting better writers to come up with their own fics for me to read, but that doesn't mean that I won't do everything I can to make this the best story I possibly can. (Maybe I can get on Tvtropes one day ;D).