The Traveler's wings fluttered, keeping his tiny form aloft just outside the cave. He observed the two sleeping Heroes. They didn't seem tainted, but he couldn't see their eyes. Cautiously he flew above them. Their skin looked the same at least.

He flew down to the Champion. "Hey," he said, ready to bolt if necessary. "Hey Champ, wake up."

"Nga?" The Champion's eyes blinked open.

"It's me, the Traveler," he said frantically, fearing his comrade would reach for an empty bottle at any moment.

"Wha… huh‽" He jolted awake.

"H-hi! Boy, am I glad to see you, you know. Normal."

"What happened?" He sat up. "Did you escape? Where are the others?"

"Easy, easy." The Traveler rubbed the back of his head. "So, me, the Smith, and the Veteran were all able to—well, resist whatever that cloud was. The Veteran's got that tempered version of the Master Sword, and apparently the Four Sword protects against that kind of stuff too."

"And you— are you a fairy?"

"Yep!" He beamed. "This is one of the spells I learned on my journey. I was just trying to fly above whatever that stuff was, but it still got to me. Thankfully fairy magic resists it too. But what about you? How were you able to escape it?"

"I um…" He cast his gaze downward. "I just ran."

"Oh. Hm. That might be a problem later. But hey! I'm glad you're okay for now, at least." He glanced at the sleeping child. "Did you… find the Master Sword?"

The Champion shook his head. He too glanced at the youngest Hero. "I… haven't really had a good opportunity to ask about that."

"The Veteran told me what happened. I— I don't know what to say. I'm glad you guys got to him in time, but… jeez. Considering how close you two have been—"

"He's my s—" The word caught in his throat. He was surprised he'd even said anything. He dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, choking on the words as he forced them out. "He called me… Dad."

The Traveler's eyes widened, but he said nothing.

"I haven't… really been able to ask about that, either. He was really out of it, so maybe he just mistook me, but…"

"You've had a lot on your mind," the Traveler finished for him. "We should get you to the others. They're, kinda stuck in a hole right now."

"Wait, what?"

The traveler pointed up. "There's a hole in the ground, not far from here, actually. Monsters backed them into it, and right now I'm the only one who can get out. The problem is… it's surrounded by that black mist. If you can't resist it, then—" He stopped, thinking.

"He can resist it." The Champion gestured to the boy.

The Traveler perked up. "Whoa, really? Does he have like a magic item or something?"

The Champion shook his head. "I don't know. He sounded… like he knew what it was, like he's seen it before. He said he was trying to protect us—"

"That would explain the note."

"—and that he can resist it. That's all he had time to say before we had to make a run for it."

"I'm surprised you were able to outrun it. We all tried, but—" He paused. "Only those of us who could resist it made it out. It caught—it turned—everyone else."

"I've got a rune that summons a machine that can move faster than a horse," said the Champion. "That's the only reason we were able to get out of there."

"That Sheikah Slate of yours is very interesting," said the Traveler.

"And very useful."

"I'm curious, what else can it do?"

The Champion, happy for an excuse to keep his mind off of recent events, began flicking through the different runes. He stopped once he got to Magnesis. "Hey, wait a minute—" A section of the back wall lit up in the cool red hue of the rune.

"What does that mean?"

"It means it's metal, which should mean— Hey, do you know if that hole they're stuck in— is that dark stuff in there?"

"Well… I mean, the hole's pretty dark, so it's hard to tell."

"I'm wondering if moving this will open up a passage, but…"

"You don't want to risk it."

The Champion nodded.

"Um…"

The two Heroes turned. The little boy was awake. "You said, that—" He paused, closed his eyes, and continued. "The Veteran has, a version, of, the Master Sword?"

The Champion and Traveler looked at each other. "Yeah," said the Traveler. "Speaking of, do you happen to know what happened to the original Master Sword? You know, the one Sky carried?"

The boy shook his head, his face scrunched up in worry. "I was h-hoping you would have it— or, I mean, that S-Sky would h-have it, 'cause that, would have p-protected him."

"So, you didn't take it with you?" asked the Champion.

The boy shook his head again. He stared at the cave floor. "Everything's b-blurry," he said, beginning to rock. "I r-remember g-going to bed, but then, ev-verything th-that happened after—"

The Traveler flew over to the young boy. "Hey," he said, hovering near the boy's head. "It's okay. Take your time—"

"I don't know what happened!" The boy burst into tears. "I tried to protect everyone—! I tried— I tried—"

"Hey hey, shh." The Traveler tried desperately to calm the boy, but the boy's wails only grew louder.

"Give us a minute."

The Traveler turned to him, relief and concern sharing his expression. "You sure?"

The Champion nodded. "Go tell the others what's going on, then come back here. That should give us enough time."

The Traveler nodded, then left.

He felt numb. Compassion still slept under the surface, but as the little boy cried he felt its presence dampened. Maybe he was still overwhelmed.

The Champion got to his feet and moved over to the sobbing child. He sat against the wall and pulled the child into his arms. The motions felt automatic, cold. Heartless.

The boy began pounding on his chest. "I can't do anything right!" he wailed. "I'm not cut out for this, I— I can't even fight! It's not fair! Why—" he stopped pounding, his arms going limp as he folded further into the Champion's embrace. "Why me? Why was I— How come I can hear the voice of the Master Sword when I can't even—" He thumped his fists again. "It doesn't make any sense! Pick my brothers, pick my big sister, pick someone who can actually protect— those they…" He sobbed. "I'll never be like you," he said quietly. "You're amazing, you're so brave and—"

"Hey, hey. Don't go comparing yourself to me, that doesn't help—"

The little boy shot up. "Don't you even say that when you know—!" He stopped, his gaze falling. "You know… who I am, now…" He grimaced before burying his face again. "I messed it up… Oh Goddesses…"

"You didn't mess up anything."

"Time travel is so finicky," he wept. "Sometimes the timeline splits, sometimes it forms a stable loop, and sometimes it just, doesn't add up at all… I thought— I thought it'd be safe, as long as you didn't know, but we're so close— the timeline, everything, our— what if—"

The Champion took the boy's face in his hands. "Stop it. You're worrying about things outside of your control. Take a deep breath, and let it go." He waited until the boy at least made an attempt. "You don't know what's going to happen. Nobody does. And I know that's frustrating, but you're not going to help anything by worrying about it. Okay?"

The boy merely hugged himself in reply.

A warmth began to grow in the Champion's heart. It pushed tears to his eyes and filled his whole body with a love he didn't know he could feel. "You are my son," he said softly. "I've already told you that I'm proud of you. I've already told you that I love you. And that, hasn't, changed. Okay?"

The boy burst into a new bout of tears, wrapping his arms around the Champion as he sobbed. "Dad I'm so scared," he whispered.

"I know." He pulled his arms tighter around his son. "I was scared too, when I went through… everything. That's okay."

"The Captain, he— he said I'm a liability—"

The Champion's whole body tensed. "Then I will punch him in the face the next time I see him."

The boy giggled a bit.

"There we go. You feeling better?"

The boy nodded.

"Good." The Champion kissed his head.

The boy sat up. "Hey, Dad…"

"Hm?"

"Now that you know, I should… probably tell you my nickname."

"Oh?"

"It's… Junior."

There was no stopping the beaming smile that spread across the Champion's face. He chuckled. "Well no wonder you didn't want to say anything!"

"Hey guys!"

They both turned to see the Traveler hovering at the cave entrance.

"Oh, sorry, uh— back too soon?"

"No, no you're fine," said the Champion. "By the way: this is Junior."

"Junior, huh?" The Traveler beamed. "Well! I'm glad we finally got you a nickname. Speaking of—" He looked at the Champion, then averted his gaze. "Well— on the bright side, we know there's none of that black mist in the hole."

The Champion frowned. "On the, not-so-bright side?"

"Uh… I, think you'd better see for yourself. It might not be a bad thing! Could be a big help, actually, depending. It's just— weird. On a, uh, related note… you still have food on you, right?"

The Champion didn't even check his bag. "Probably."

"Oh good. Good."