When I arrived once again back in the future of Hyrule by taking out the legendary blade, I was met by a curious sight – myself. Ordinarily I will go to any lengths to avoid meeting myself at any point along any timeline because there are some serious implications involved. If I encounter a future version of myself, as this clearly was since I didn't remember this, I could and would go out of my way to ensure I experienced both sides of it perfectly. Take it from me, you don't want to cause a paradox when its your own life on the line.

This future me, complete with a future Navi, was definitely real. I could sense the near-perfect similarity to both of them. Neither one of them said a word, but that isn't remarkable. If nothing is said, nothing can be revealed, and its easier to avoid a paradox. He quickly raised a finger to his lips, aimed more at my Navi than me because I already knew this, she didn't.

I gave him a questioning look, to which he responded by taking out a small cloth-wrapped package that had a note tucked under the string holding it together, handing it over to me. Only when he was certain I'd taken it did he give me a knowing wink, glance at his Navi who took cover in the cap, then vanish into a green flash.

Navi at last broke the silence. "Was that really us?"

"You should have been able to tell that with your own mind, Navi," I replied. "They were future versions of us, but they were definitely us."

"Why didn't they say anything?"

"Because whenever you meet yourself, you have to replicate what your future self did exactly to avoid a paradox. The less you do the better. No words means we haven't revealed anything that's going to happen, which means we can't cause a paradox there."

"But that package..."

"Whatever is inside, we must be given a good reason to take the risks of meeting our past selves to deliver it," I replied, carefully setting it down to read the note. It was written in the simplified and more easily understandable version of the Hylian language, but not in my own hand – I recognised it as the same handwriting as Zelda had used on the letter she'd given me before.

"What does it say?" Navi asked, flying down to illuminate it better with her own light. "Does it say why you did this?"

"No, but listen to this. 'Contained within you will find three pieces of a powerful artefact. You must take one piece to each of the first three Temples you went to and entrust it to the spirit of light you see there. You must not speak a word to them, but heed their words if they speak to you. I will explain all that remains when I give these to you. Signed, her Royal Highness, Princess Zelda IV'. I'd say I had good reason, but I won't find out until then. I must have stressed the risks involved to make her write such a note."

"So what do we do?"

"We deliver the artefact pieces, of course. We'll use the warp songs to go to each of the locations."

The strings made for an easy way to carry the package, hanging it from my elbow so I could still play the ocarina at the same time. First of course was the Minuet of Forest, taking us swiftly to the Sacred Forest Meadow outside the Forest Temple.

"Don't forget to change your tunic before you go to Death Mountain," Navi warned. "It might have calmed down, but it'll still be too hot there."

"In a moment. Remember what Zelda's note said – not a word to this light spirit. I don't know why, but she wouldn't tell me something like that without good reason."

Navi flew up to the ruined entrance, while I of course just floated up as usual. Immediately apparent as soon as I rose to the same level as the opening was that there was a strong source of golden light emanating from the initial room of the Forest Temple, with a presence that was not so much concealing itself as it was concealing any details I might have otherwise been able to learn about it.

The two Wolfos that usually haunted this area were gone, apparently banished by this light spirit which I now saw as a great golden monkey with an oddly spiked tail, watching me with unblinking golden eyes.

Wordlessly I untied the strings from the package and unfolded the cloth to take out one of the pieces of the artefact, a dark, strangely shaped item with unusual designs over it. I couldn't tell what it was made of, but I could sense a faint, dark presence about it.

The monkey spirit extended a paw to me, the Triforce of Courage pulsing in my hand in response to the close proximity and flaring brighter when I took the first piece in hand. The spirit glanced to it as it took the artefact, causing my piece of the Triforce to pulse a few more times. I had the distinct impression it was communing with the spirit.

It turned to head into deeper into the Temple, but paused at the door and glanced back. My piece of Triforce pulse once again, and at last the spirit spoke, only two words in a resonating choral voice. "Best luck," it said, then headed in, somehow going right through the wall complete with the artefact piece.

"Gods," Navi breathed in awe when it had left. "Whatever that was, it was powerful."

"Gods, indeed," I agreed, folding the cloth over the remaining pieces to tie it up again. "If not them, then something to do with them."

A quick change of tunic later to withstand the heat of Death Mountain and then the Bolero of Fire took us to the local warp pad. Two Gorons were there, looking toward the Temple entrance.

"Silver, you've got to do something," one of them pleaded with me as soon as I'd arrived. "There's some kind of creature of pure light in the Temple that's stopping us from entering. We have to go in there now its empty of monsters so we can find new ore veins, but it won't let us!"

"Leave it to me," I assured the Goron. "I know exactly what to do."

The second light spirit awaited in the entrance room of this Temple, at the foot of the stairs that lead into the two main caverns, one toward Volvagia's former haunt, the other into the giant cavern where I'd managed to lose Scourge. This one was in the form of a giant bird, stood patiently awaiting me where it too looked on with the same, unblinking golden eyes.

"So you have come," it said in a voice similar to the first's. "Have you seen Faron at the Forest Temple?" I just nodded. Zelda had told me not to say a word, remember. "Good. We weren't sure if you would go in the correct order. Timing is important here. Hand over the next piece of the Fused Shadow, Silver, and proceed without delay to the Water Temple. Lanayru will meet you at the island in the lake, rather than in the Temple itself."

That was useful to know. I once again untied the package to take out the second piece, handing it over to the outstretched talon the spirit extended for it. Again, the Triforce pulsed when I reached close, and the spirit dipped its head briefly in acknowledgement of it before it too left for deeper in the Temple.

I left too, but outside to the waiting Gorons. "It just needed something, that's all," I told them. "Give it a couple of hours to do what it needs to, then you'll be able to go in safely." Telling them to wait hadn't been mentioned anywhere, but I wanted to ensure the light spirit wasn't disturbed in whatever it was doing.
Then I played the Serenade of Water, taking me directly to Lake Hylia – where just as the spirit had said, the last light spirit, Lanayru awaited me, appearing as a great serpent rising up out of the lake.

"Right on time," Lanayru murmured. "As is to be expected from the Hero of Time. You have seen Faron and Eldin?" Again, I just nodded, already reaching for the last remaining piece of the Fused Shadow. "Before I take this piece from you, you must know something, Silver. You both must forget all that has taken place between returning to this time and the moment after you have seen me depart. These are the words you have spoken yourself, and to do so you must ask the Triforce to assist you lest your mind betray you. You must arrange to remember it only after you have handed the Fused Shadow to your prior self. May the Goddesses be with you, Great Hero," Lanayru concluded, taking the last piece from me in its mouth as it had no other means of retrieving it, thrashing its long coils to rapidly descend for the Water Temple below.

I looked to the expectantly glowing triangle of my piece of the Triforce, then over to Navi. "You'll have to be affected by this too," I told her. "I think for best results, you'll want to stay in contact with me. I remember hearing once that when affecting someone's mind, physical contact eases the process."

"Maybe we should go to the Temple of Time first?" she suggested. "That way after we've forgotten we won't wonder how we ended up here."

"Good idea. You can wait, can't you?" I said to the Triforce, which simply pulsed acknowledgement. Don't ask me how I know that, I just do. "I'll leave it in your hands then," I told it. "Figuratively speaking."


"So that's how the pieces of the Fused Shadow got there," Tails said. "But the places I went through were different to yours."

"I'm guessing there's been enough time between my visit and yours to allow them, and the light spirits themselves probably had something to do with it," Silver shrugged.

"But why did they get you to deliver them to the light spirits? Why did you have to do it then, instead of... whenever you got them in the first place – when you got the note I mean, not when you gave them to yourself." Tails frowned. "You know this is really confusing."

"Like I said earlier, time travel does that to you," Silver nodded knowingly. "Why do you think I try to avoid getting too close to encountering myself?"

"You must have had good reason then," Knuckles decided thoughtfully. "There's one thing I don't get though. Lanayru told you it was your own suggestion to make you forget, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Before you continue... just wait and see. I'll explain that when we get to that point. Can't expect me to give you spoilers to my own story now, can you?"


The next thing I knew I was back at the Temple of Time, stood over the Pedestal with the Master Sword in hand just as if I'd emerged from the past – which to my mind at that point, I had. Through the combination of my own abilities and the Triforce of Courage, which had settled down and no longer glowed through my gauntlets, I had no memory of what had just happened.

Unbeknownst to me, it had also conveniently fixed something I'd overlooked – I had still been wearing the Goron Tunic before, so it had arranged to replace it back with the usual Kokiri green I'd been wearing when I'd really emerged, so there wouldn't be anything to raise my suspicions.

Since I believed I'd only just arrived, the first thing I did was, rather reluctantly, to switch the serviceable plain gauntlets with the Silver Gauntlets, identical except for an overlapping series of silver plates that covered the back of my hand and arm. There was a red gem set into the back, but it appeared to be ornamental.

Aside from keenly feeling the silver present there, there appeared to be no real difference. The telling point would be when I got back to the Spirit Temple and saw how they reacted to the great silver block.