Hey readers! I know, I've got a lot of explaining to do. :(

First, let me tell you all what I had originally intended- to write a single, large chapter about the tests the Links undergo in Dark Hyrule Castle, as hinted by the Keaton in Chapter 25.

However, my stupid imagination got the best of me and I ended up writing full-length chapters for each individual Link. If you smush that all up in one giant chapter, well... That makes it about a 24-page chapter, nearing 24k words.

Sorry, but I just can't make a chapter that large. D: It would disrupt the whole flow of the story and make it too tedious to read in one sitting. I also wasn't able to write four chapters worth of story in just one day to fit it all into one upload. I've definitely run into a snag in planning this whole fic, so I apologize for causing all this confusion. It's entirely my fault, and I'm sorry.

HOWEVER- I do still intend to make good my earlier promise as best I can. SO, I will be uploading TWO chapters today, and from now on, (yes, this has been edited), I will do my absolute, 100% very best to try and upload one chapter a day until the end of the fic. I'm not sure on which chapter it'll end, though... Again, I'm sorry for getting anyone's hopes up about when the final chapter will be uploaded. :( I'm doing my very best to bring you guys the very best ending to this fic as I possibly can!

I hope ya'll can forgive me! Please enjoy the next two chapters! :)

Chapter 26 – Vio

Dark shadows were cast along every square inch of blackened stone as the Four Heroes silently and carefully entered through the open gates of Dark Hyrule Castle. The grand entryway was nearly pitch-black, if not for the sliver of light which shone through the half-open gateway. It was a surprise to each of the Links that the gates were even open in the first place- and not a single enemy had met them on their way to the front of the tower. Instead, they had proceeded with a confused caution, entering the very bowels of the enemy and wasting not a moment as they instead proceeded to take in their surroundings.

Green was first to pull out his weapon, lighting the room around them with his torch. Swinging it around in a small arc, he watched as the flames flickered around them brightly, illuminating the once-grand room around them. The great hall, the first room in the familiar, yet changed, Hyrule Castle, was exactly as they remembered it- and yet, like the castle itself, was so much different than before. The once beautiful, golden-blue draperies were now tattered and singed a dark, blood red- where the coat of arms once hung in the corner instead stood a foreboding suit of armor, wielding a spear. All around them, the sights which greeted them were horrendous and terrible.

"Be careful, everyone," Vio warned quietly as he clutched the hilt of his sword, his suspicious eyes darting back and forth through the darkness. "We cannot attack what we cannot see… keep within Green's torch and we should be able to make it through this hall. Green, head for the main stairs in the chamber room- it's the quickest way to the King's Tower."

"Look what Ganondorf's done to this place," Red sighed beneath his breath as he looked around them, keeping close to the other three with his own hand gripping the handle of his sword. "It used to be such a beautiful, peaceful castle…"

Blue frowned. "And it will be again, Red," he grunted, his teeth grit in an angry sneer. "He'll pay for what he did. But now's not the time for talk… we've got to keep moving on."

Green nodded quietly towards Blue, though only looking at them for a moment before returning his gaze outwards into the blackness as they carried on. His eyes focused on the side hallway he knew to take in order to reach the chamber room. The young hero considered themselves lucky- they knew the castle like the back of their hands, having spent so much time playing games with Zelda in it. The quickest way to the King's Tower, the highest perch where they all knew Ganondorf would be waiting for them- once they reached the Chamber room, it would be just a few staircases away.

Turning into the hallway which the four knew would lead them to the Chamber room, the four Links walked closer together in the narrow passage- and as it grew darker, each of them silently drew their swords, an uneasy feeling sweeping over them all the further in they walked…

"Guys, do… do you feel that?" Green whispered beneath his breath, his eyes narrowed in concentration and confusion. He shook his head, trying to shake the unsettling feeling. It was like he was going to be physically ill… Such a poisoning wave of darkness that had suddenly settled over the four…

Red nodded viciously, his eyes full of worry and fear as he clutched onto his sword and shield. "Guys, I… I don't like this! It feels like when that Shadow Darknut came through the portal…"

"Be on your guard, everyone!" Vio quickly snapped, drawing his own sword as the four edged closer. He could feel it as well, wallowing in the pits of his stomach like sour milk. Close by, there was an evil presence… a presence which was sucking the spirit out of each of them. Looking past Green, he watched as the flame's light continued piercing through the darkness in front of them- and then expanded as it broke through the narrow passageway, leading the way into the wide open room they drew close to.

And yet, as the four Links entered the large chamber-room… their eyes widened in surprise as they looked around them. It was entirely empty. The stairs were waiting for them, plain as day, in the center of the room, where they led upwards to the next floor above them.

Vio's eyes narrowed in suspicion. It… it couldn't be this easy. What of the words the Keaton had told them, of their tests? Was this all just… a trick?

"Well, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth," Green said, shaking his head as he looked back at the others. "Let's just get up those stairs and into the next room. We all know the King's Tower is up the fifth floor, so we have five more staircases to go. We can't afford to waste any time." Red and Blue, content with Green's reasoning, nodded as they contently followed behind their leader. Vio followed along as well, but with a grudge- and as Green took his first step on the stairs, a quiet voice cleaved through the silence of the room.

"…Link? … Is that you?"

Instantly, the eyes of all four heroes snapped open, their hearts nearly hiccupping in their chests as they whirled around to face the words which had been spoken behind them.

Against the shadows of the walls, a small figure approached the boys, emerging from the darkness and looking up at the four boys with wide, innocent eyes. A soft smile broke across her face, and she brought a hand to her mouth with a giggle.

"Link! It is you!" Princess Zelda cried cheerfully, nearly jumping up in excitement.

"ZELDA?-!-?-!"

Instantly, the Links found themselves tripping over each other as they ran, as fast as they could, towards the center of the room, eagerly crowding around the small girl who stood smiling in the middle.

"Zelda, is that really you?-!"

"How did you escape from Ganondorf?-!"

"We're so glad you're okay!"

Blue, Green, and Red laughed and cheered as they talked eagerly around the Princess, babbling about how they could hardly believe they'd found her, at long last! She was safe! And yet… as they looked at each other, their eyes wide in their own amazement, each of them blinked with a quiet realization as they noticed… something was missing…

Or rather, some one.

Vio stood a few feet off from the others, quietly looking at the group in front of him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Slowly, he bowed his head, his left hand grasping around his sword while the light rod shone forebodingly in his right hand's grasp.

"This… this is a trick."

The others gaped at their friend, their mouths and eyes wide open at Vio's calm, quiet words. "How can you say that?-!" Green cried in protesting voice, while Blue took a step forward, his hands balling angrily into fists.

"Are you blind?-! Of course it's not a trick! Zelda's right here, genius, and she's safe! Can't you see her?" he shouted, waving an arm to the Princess who stood beside them.

The young princess looked sadly at the fourth Link, her chin bowing as a small pout grew on her lips. "Vio… you really don't believe it's me?" she whined, a soft glint shining in her eyes as tears began to form, welling up at her eyelids.

"Hey, Vio, you made her cry!" Red shouted sadly.

The fourth Link was quiet, ignoring the multiple cries of "Vio" from every angle around him… instead, his mind wandered as he began to think, looking at the saddened figure of the Princess.

Vio… Vio… Vio…

Wait a minute… His eyes snapped open, wide in realization and anger. "Oh yeah? Well, I have proof she's not the real Zelda!" he shouted suddenly, stepping towards the Links with his hands curled into fists. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it right away. It was so obvious now…! This phony had worked herself right into her own hole!

"Proof?" Green asked, still confused, but his anger mounting. What had come over Vio? "What proof?"

"Yeah!" Blue shouted, angry as well. "And don't say that because she's free, 'cause it's completely possible she escaped on her own!"

Smugly, Vio smiled as he looked over at Zelda. True… it was a tough riddle. But it was one he had already figured all out.

He nodded as his arms crossed and he spoke calmly to the others, "Alright then, Zelda. If you're really the princess… how do you know my nickname? I thought we were all just "Link", as far as you knew?" He smirked, knowing he had caught her. His nickname was different than the others had given him- it was shortened from Violet. There was no way she would have known his individual nickname if she were truly Zelda- the Princess was never told the names each of the Links had given themselves from their first adventure. And even if she just guessed by the color of his tunic, she still wouldn't have known the shortened version of his moniker.

The princess' eyes snapped open in realization at her slip up. "Well, I… Um…" She stuttered as she began to take a step back, looking at the three other heroes who had now turned to look at her curiously. "I… I heard them say your name, is all!" she finally concluded, nodding as she gave a weak grin. "Come on… Green, you believe me, don't you?" she implored to the others. "Red… Blue?"

Once more, Vio smirked as he took another step forward. "You've undone yourself, imposter," he spoke quietly beneath his breath. Instantly, without waiting for a single word from the others, the purple-vested hero took another large step forward as he swung out his rod of light out in front of him.

"SHOW US YOUR TRUE FORM!" he roared in fury as he aimed the swirling ball of light at the end of his weapon towards the doppelganger. Moving at its master's command, the bright energy shot from its sheath, blasting through the air and slamming into the false figure of Princess Zelda.

With a shrill scream, the body of the girl was suddenly lifted into the air as the light pierced through her very being, swirling around her angrily as it began to glow, slowly but surely breaking apart the image of the fair princess…

And as the horrified three Links looked on, their expressions went from terrified to amazed as the last shard of the demon's perfect disguise shattered into oblivion, and the true monster within fell back down to the ground, its armored feet crashing onto the ground as its fists twirled around in its grasp a massive, triple-bladed axe. Looking through its skull-socket eyes, the fires of its hate blazed in the crevice where its eyes should have been as the evil phantom stared down furiously at the heroes.

With a mighty roar, Phantom Ganondorf, armored all around and lashing at the air with his axe, faced the Links in his hate and determination.

"You… Zelda…" Blue found himself gasping in surprise as he took a step back, regrouping with the other Links who had gathered around each other, swords in hand.

"Vio… you were-" Green started to say as he looked back to the other, at a loss and ashamed.

Quickly, the Link shook his head. "Nevermind that," he snapped, looking up at the new warrior who they faced. As the beast roared in hate and advanced upon them, Vio's eyes looked carefully up at the phantom… where had his light struck him? Or had it merely broken his façade, leaving the ghost behind unscathed? His eyes snapped open- he didn't have any more time to think on this, as the Phantom suddenly stepped forward, swinging his mighty axe at the group of Links.

Instantly, the four heroes dodged and rolled out of the way, surrounding the knight on all sides of him. Green gasped as he gripped his sword, "Guys! Don't get caught by that axe!" His eyes dodged towards Vio in an instant. "Vio! How do we beat him?"

Vio grit his teeth in frustration as he rolled away from another near-miss by the Phantom. He needed to find a weak point, anything… any sign of weakness from the enemy which would indicate how he could beat him. But at this rate, he didn't even have time to get a good look at him before it was once again storming his way!

"Oi! Bolt-bucket!" a loud shout came from behind the evil spirit, and he whirled around, his flame-eyes glaring at who had caught his attention. From the other side of Vio, Blue grinned as he held his sword out in front of him. "That's right, this way, ya little ghost! Come and get me!" He snuck a brief grin Vio's way- it was all he could do, but he hoped it would be enough. Charging forward, Blue brought both hands to his sword as he swung at the Phantom.

Instantly, the massive knight side-stepped the attack, rearing back his axe as he aimed to swing it down at the Blue hero. Red, his eyes wide, shouted out as he ran towards his friend, arms extended as he rushed in to push him out of the way…

And as the Phantom lifted his axe, high over his head, across Vio's eyes flashed a shocking realization. At his back, near the base of his neck, a small glint of light had appeared in the space between his shoulder armor and helmet- for a brief moment, when he reared back to strike against the lone, strong hero, he had left a crucial spot open- and Vio had seen it.

But the seconds passed in seconds, and time could not be slowed down as the Shadow roared, bringing down heavily his axe. Blue looked up with wide eyes, unable to get away from the slicing blades in time… Instantly, he felt his back lurch forward, his breath stolen from his chest as he found himself flung to the ground, Red landing heavily on top of him.

Gasping, Red got up and instantly pulled Blue back to his feet by grabbing on his shoulders. "Blue, get up!" Red cried, his face sweating from the exertion of having intervened with only seconds to spare before his friend was sliced by the advancing Phantom's axe. He looked up, eyes wide, as the Phantom readied for another attack….

The loud sound of metal on metal shattered the sound waves in the dungeon as Green leapt forward with his sword, bringing it down hard against the Phantom's unarmed hand. Gasping, he took a few steps back, his sword gripped tightly in both hands, as he looked up at the enemy, who had turned to face him.

"G… Green!" Vio shouted, the answer having come to him. He looked over at Red and Blue as they struggled to get up and out of the way, then back to their leader. "Move within his swing radius! Get him to attack you!"

The leader of the Links looked through panicked eyes as the other told him what to do. He couldn't believe it… was Vio actually telling him to go get himself hit? Even Blue and Red, who had managed to get up and out of the way, looked at each other worriedly before looking back at Vio.

"I know, I know it sounds crazy," Vio shouted in the heat of the battle as he rolled to the side, quickly evading another slice from the advancing hero. He… he knew what had to be done, even if the others hadn't seen the opening of the weak point. And though he knew his words were true, he was beginning to understand… the others could not be expected to know what he knew, and he had no right to order them around without considering this. He shook his head as he dodged another attack by the Phantom, a jolt sending down his spine as he felt the wind of the slice just barely cut past his hair.

"There's a weak spot which opens up when he attacks," he shouted to the others, sheathing his sword as he instead held out in front of him his light rod. His eyes narrowed; he had to get the Phantom distracted away from him, to get at his neck. He took a deep breath as he looked at the other Links.

"Just trust me!"

Instantly, the three nodded- without hesitation, though they knew they hadn't the slightest idea of what Vio was saying… each of them knew that Vio would never put them in danger or in harm's way. If he had a plan which involved doing so… they knew they could trust him to keep them safe. Grouping together, the three Links shouted and waved their swords around as they distracted the Phantom from their friend, who quickly ran around to the back of the enemy.

Gripping their shields, the three Links were quiet as they looked up at the approaching enemy. Raising high his axe, the Phantom chuckled darkly, his menacing voice rattling throughout his armor, as he cast his fiery gaze down at the three calm Links…

Vio, his sword sheathed but instead his light rod raised, smiled quietly as he took a step forward, looking up at the back of the shadow. "You couldn't fool me," he said with a quiet laugh, raising his rod as the glint at the back of Phantom Ganondorf's neck shone against his eyes.

"And you never will!"

At his cry, the rod of light held firmly in the hero's hand shot out once more its brilliant blast of white energy, the familiar light flying through the air, its pinpoint precision striking the Phantom right through the crack in its armor, penetrating through his protective covering of metal and sending his entire frame bursting with its divine glow.

The painful roar of the monster shook the walls of the large chamber room as he was frozen in place, his arm still lifted high as his hand wielding the mighty three-bladed axe shook in pain… Slowly, the light began to shine through him in rays, peeking out across cracks in his armor which were decimating his strength… And, before long, the light had completely enveloped the dark shadow, bursting entirely through his figure and sending shattering splinters of shadow out across the room in a mighty explosion.

As the shards of darkness faded away into the dim light of the large chamber, the three Links who had stood together against the threat of the Phantom looked over at the lone hero who stood apart from them all. A small silence descended upon the four heroes… those standing grouped together instead looked over at their friend in quiet amazement.

A small smile tugged at the ends of Vio's mouth, and he calmly put his powerful rod of light away, walking up to the others and crossing his arms.

"Well?" he said, quietly amused, as he looked at the quiet, confused yet happy faces of his friends. He shrugged their looks off, instead looking at the unblocked stairs. With the small smile gracing his face, he walked over to the steps as he began to calmly climb them- stopping to look over his shoulder after the first few steps. His eyebrows raised. "Aren't you all coming? We've got four more flights to go."

Blue and Red gave a wide grin to each other as they shrugged and followed Vio. Neither of them could ever understand their friend and his strange ways- but, they had trusted, and he had safely gotten them out of the harm's way which he had put them in. To both of them, there was no need to question further what Vio obviously wasn't going to talk on about- so, with another shrug, they continued up towards the stairs.

Green, however… He was more curious as to the inner workings of his friend's mind, and a quiet smile came across him as he also walked up to the other three, walking alongside Vio as they climbed the stairs. He raised an eyebrow at the silent Link as they continued on- and couldn't help himself.

"How'd you figure out she was a fake?" he asked, almost eagerly, looking at Vio in quiet amazement. Though for a moment after the Phantom had revealed himself, he had felt ridden with guilt and shame- they were too far along to let those feelings get them down. He had gotten over it quickly, accepting Vio's discovery and hesitating not a moment before going along with his friend's plan.

Vio smiled as he nodded over towards Red, the four heroes continuing the trek up the stairs. "It was Red who first gave me the idea, actually," he said matter-of-factly, looking back up as the one he'd nodded to looked over at him in amazement. Smiling, the quiet hero continued his story. "When we all felt that ominous feeling… and Red said it reminded him of when the Shadow Darknut came. And when Zelda appeared, I still had that feeling… it was clear to me then that she was an impostor."

Blue grinned as he jogged up the stairs next to his friend. He elbowed him playfully, winking as he finally caught on to his drift. "Well, looks like Green, Red and I got an F on the first test! Good thing Vio knows what he's doing, eh?"

Vio smiled, remembering the Keaton's words. Perhaps… perhaps that had been his test. Though he nodded, he turned back to look up at the stairs as they grew closer to the next floor. "Yes… but we must all be on our guards now. Three tests remain. And we do not know what they will be like."

"Hey, as long as we get to kick some more evil butt, I'm game!" Blue shouted triumphantly with a grin as he dashed up the final stretch of stairs, the others hot on his heels as they laughed and cheered, revitalized from clearing the first hurdle of the final stretch and ready for the next.

... What? A chapter that DIDN'T end on an "oh-my-god-what-just-happened" cliffhanger? Tiggz, you feeling okay? :o

Don't forget that I've also uploaded the next chapter today, Chapter Twenty Seven: Red!

(Note: If it feels like it, then yes, I was trying to give a bit of an "Ace Attorney" vibe to Vio's reasoning. ;P Just as a little shout-out to one of my favorite games. Whoo-hoo! OBJECTION!)