Author's Note: Um…HEY GUYS! WHAT'S UP?! *Crickets* Good talk, guys. I'm sorry for not updating this in a while and I'm going to give you lame excuses such as life's been acting up—you know how it is…right? *Ahem* But anyway, I completely lost track on who had been reviewing, favoring and following the story which means…THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAD BEEN DOING THAT SO FAR! Also, we're half way of reaching 10,000 views! WHOO! THANK YOU!

Chapter 18: The Dark Link

Purple made an irritated look as he stared ahead. He impatiently tapped his foot against the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. Damn it, where is that boy? He was supposed to be here at least half an hour ago. So much for a small walk, eh? And when he gets here, Purple's going to give him Hell.

"Ah! There he is!" Blue suddenly exclaimed, annoyed.

Looks like Purple wasn't the only one who was angry.

Almost instinctively, Purple marched towards him and shouted.

"Where the hell have you been? You said you were going for a small walk! And was that a small walk? No! It felt like an hour of a walk!" Purple flared.

Twilight rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Time stared at him as he brushed past by Purple. He narrowed his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows at the odd behaviour from him. Sure, Twilight can be obnoxious sometimes but he's always so cheerful from what Time had observed. Something's definitely up with his descendant. Either that or Time is still too tired and he's just imaging things. Shaking his head, Time brushed it off but made a mental note to check out Twilight later.

Sensing the awkward silence, Green shifted uncomfortable in his spot; his eyes not being taken off from Twilight.

"So um…Arbiter's Grounds?" Green asked hesitantly.

Twilight stared at him blankly, for a moment, before he nodded as though he suddenly remembered what their plan was.

"Um…yeah…Arbiter's Grounds…right…"

They eventually reached to Lake Hylia again but by the time they did, it was already evening. The sky was splashed with colors of red, orange, yellow and pink. All of it being blended to create the perfect sunset. As they reached the strange attraction, Sky grimaced as flashes of memories came into him when he got launched from the cannon.

That was not fun and something told him that he was about to have another moment of the same memory.

"Great freakin' fantastic," Sky muttered bitterly.

Once they came up to the old man, Blue and Green seemed to have scream from the appearance from one of them.

"Oh my Goddess! It's a clown!" Blue shrieked while Green was mutely staring at the clown as he wondered if he should faint right here or not.

However, Time found this amusing. The little brat

"You're afraid of clowns? Well, I'll be…" Time cackled.

Both Blue and Green turned on him and seethed, clenching their fists tightly until it turned white.

"Shut it, Time."

Twilight ignored them which Sky found rather odd. Not that he cares, anyway. He was still seething mad at Twilight for keeping such a large secret away from him. Regardless, Twilight would usually either chuckle or grin at them after he made a smart remark. Also, Sky remembered how he felt…cold from him. Cold, not in the sense of the weather, but as in a 'cold vibe'. Sky wasn't sure if this was because of Twilight being part wolf or if it was something else.

Sky still didn't fully know him.

Either way though, Sky should probably keep an eye on him in case or maybe it really was nothing. He wondered if Time had sensed that something was off about Twilight.

After Twilight made arrangements, everyone lined up while Sky was nervously shaking in his spot, not really wanting to into a cannon…again. One by one, they all got launched but when Sky's turn was coming near, Time raised an eyebrow as he stared at him, wondering if he should comfort to him about something or let it be.

Nevertheless, Time shrugged it off and stepped into the cannon before he got blasted off.

"Hey…Twilight…? Maybe I should sit this one out or try and find a new way around…I don't particularly find myself…well," Sky said nervously.

Twilight glared at him and that gave Sky to jump back a little from the sudden glare.

"I don't have time to waste," Twilight hissed. "Either you summon up the courage that you supposedly have or get out of my way."

Abruptly, Twilight stepped into the cannon while leaving a stunned Sky.

Something was definitely up with him.

"Right foot…check. Left foot…check…hand…check…" Sky muttered as he absent-mindedly looked down at himself which earned strange looks—minus from Twilight—from other Links.

"You okay there, Sky?" Purple asked cautiously while wondering if this was normal behaviour from people of the Sky.

"Huh? What? Oh yeah, I'm fine…" Sky dismissed him though that only made Green shrug.

Twilight stared at the vast desert and all the memories what he had from this place came down, raining upon him. He hated this place. More than anything. If he thought Temple of Time was creepier then he was wrong. Arbiter's Ground was just a…mess. He didn't want to go back in here but if the vortex will appear here then might as well.

"Shall we?" Time asked, nudging him.

Twilight blinked. "What? Oh…yeah…"

They began to trek their way to the prison. They did encountered some few small enemies that were burying underneath the sand but they served no problem as the foes were easily defeated. The sun started to set down, much Red's relief as the burning hot sun was blazing down at them with no mercy but he wished he had the sun's warmth now as the evening started to be cooler, making him to shiver.

"C—can't we stop o—or something?" Red shivered. "Its t—too cold to m—move on…"

Purple nodded. "I agree with Red. Why don't we just stop for a while? Make a campfire or something…"

"Fine," Twilight said abruptly which made Sky raise an eyebrow.

The others sighed with relief but Twilight seemed to disappear. Probably to do some patrolling but this made Sky to have a chance to talk with Time about Twilight's recent behaviour.

"Hey, you have a moment?" Sky asked as Time looked up from his spot.

"Uh, sure?"

Sky sat down beside him but he hesitated for a moment, unsure where to begin.

"Uh…look…I still don't care about Twilight…I'm still pissed off about him but…does he seem strange to you?" Sky finally asked.

Time raised an eyebrow. "Strange as in how he doesn't find anything funny and seems cold and distant?"

Sky nodded though this seemed to have Time to let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed it. He's not acting himself. I don't know how or why but…he's weird…" Time shook his head, looking down at the fire before he smirked, giving Sky a side glance. "You sure you don't care about him?"

Sky rolled his eyes but he looked at the crackling flames before he answered. "…I'm sure."

The group didn't know how many days had passed but they were finally relieved that they finally saw the building. They might not be close to it but they could see the tall structure from years ago, still standing today.

"Wow, that's the building?" Red asked, eyes glued to the prison.

Blue shrugged. "I guess. It looks…creepy…" he shivered. "Do we have to go in there?"

"Yes," Time muttered as he also felt the bad vibes that came off from the building. "Like, if Twilight can do it, then we could do it too! I mean, just look at him go!"

Time motioned his head up ahead where he saw Twilight was a bit further from the group.

"Hey, Twilight! How about you slow down and let us try and catch up to you?" Time called out. But this didn't seem to work for Twilight as he seemed to ignore Time and resumed walking ahead.

Green frowned. "What's up with him? You guys got into another fight?"

Sky tensed but Time seemed offended.

"A fight? Why, I can get along with anyone just fine!" Time said a bit too cheerfully. "Why on Goddess would anyone have a fight with me?"

"Why, indeed," Green said sarcastically. "I mean, it's not like you're a brat or anything…"

Time scowled but continued on their trek where they finally reached up to Twilight who appeared to have stop in front of the stairs. Even the entrance did not seem welcoming at all. The negative vibes keeps getting worse and the group felt uneasy the entire time.

"Come on. I'm pretty sure the vortex would be inside…" Twilight said after a while.

"Oh so his Highness finally talked to us…Wow, we're so honored…" Time sneered though he only got a nudge in the rib from Sky who shook his head as to say 'not now.'

Grunting, Time followed in suit after the group went first. They all tried to get rid of the negative feeling that kept emitting from this place but no matter how much they tried, it was still there. Time was also cautiously reading the writings that would occasionally appear on the walls. He might not be able to understand them fully but the message was still there and it wasn't pretty. From his readings, it was more along the lines of a warning sign and how they shouldn't be here. Perhaps Twilight could help him out…if he wasn't busy being a brat.

"What do these readings mean?" Red asked curiously, staring at the wall.

"Nothing. Let's get moving," Time would often responded.

Twilight grunted as he used his strength to open the familiar and soon, they found themselves in a nearly pitch black room with barely any light. The only light that they had were seemingly from the walls; the reflection beamed off them.

Sky tensed. "I don't like this…"

Let me out… a voice pricked in Twilight's mind. You're so close…

Twilight stared at the empty large circle that was ahead of them. Yet, another memory flashed back into his mind as he remembered how he had to defeat the large Poe with a strange head.

"This doesn't seem like the place for a vortex to be in either," Green pointed it out as he was also being uneasy. "Are you sure about this, Twilight?"

There seemed to be no answer from him.

"Twilight?" there was caution in Green's voice.

Sky narrowed his eyes and he walked towards Twilight. "Listen here, pal. Your attitude is really getting old. You think you're better than all of us? No, you're not. We're all the same. So if you would just—"

"Sky, get out of the way!" Time roared.

It all happened too quickly. The next thing Sky knew was that he found himself being pushed away, having him fall to the floor. He looked up to see Time being in front of him but his sword was up as though he was blocking something. Sky peered from Time's shoulder and he widened his eyes when he saw Twilight, who also withdrew his sword, but Twilight didn't seemed to be getting anywhere with the strike as his sword was blocked by Time.

"I knew there was something off about you, Twilight," Time struggled from the weight.

Twilight chuckled darkly. "Did you? If so, then why didn't you do anything to save your dear friend, old timer?"

Time frowned. "Old timer? I'm sorry. Do we know each other…?" Time gasped as he trailed off. He stared dumbfounded as he saw Twilight's transformation. Twilight transformed his being into darkness, a shadow but it was still him. The red eyes bored into Time's eyes, hauntingly. But the whole persona seemed familiar to him. Almost like…

"Dark Link?!" Time exclaimed, horrified.

"Aww, you do remember me? How…touching…" Dark Link sneered.

"What are you doing here?" Time snarled. "And get away from Twilight!"

"No can do kiddo," Dark Link smirked before he used his full strength and he managed to knock down Time away. Time fell down to the floor, right next to Sky though his sword scattered away from him.

Seeing this, Dark Link smirked and he kicked Time's sword away. He put his blade on his shoulder and walked up towards him, menacingly.

"It's so nice to see old friends, don't you agree? Now…what do you say that we make the most out of it, hmm?"

Author's Note: Well, snap. Time is not happy with Dark Link…oops. Also, SORRY FOR NOT POSTING FOR LIKE…FOREVER! Oops…I haven't updated in like two years…damn…I'M SORRY! Reasons why: I've been writing my novel since last year (it's finally complete) As novel as in a book. As in becoming an AUTHOR! WHOOOO! So currently, I'm looking for an editor/publisher. Publisher as in who would be interested enough to publish my book worldwide and editor well…pretty self-explanatory… And also, I've been busy working on my blog where I talk about books and stuff. Website is: www . pride pastel crown . weebly . com and if I remember correctly, Fanfiction doesn't allow links so as always…without spaces! But yes, I'm determined to finish this story. We're not that far from completing it. Only eleven more chapters to go and hopefully, I won't take this long to update…oops. Now…how do you update this again…? Tally ho!