Thistles

The group of Links tumbled out of the portal to land in a heap on a sandy shore. Various complaints rose up almost immediately about someone's foot being dug into their side, or that sand was getting in their mouth. The portal disappeared with a pop.

Time was the first to extract himself from the group, immediately taking in the surrounding land, along with the massive body of water stretching out in front of them. He had only seen this much water when he was in Termina, and since he didn't recognize this shore, it must be one of the other Link's realms. They seemed to be on an island, so most likely Wind's.

The boy had also managed to finally extract himself from the slowly separating pile, and was already taking in the island around them. He seemed… confused though.

"Hey, Wind, got an idea of where we ended up?" Time asked, concerned that he assumed wrong.

"This is Mercay island." Wind answered, but it was with an almost uncertain tone to his voice. He was still surveying the island with a frown. "Guess the portal got confused since I was here when it grabbed me, and not in the area of the Great Sea"

The boy still seemed bothered by it though. Time wondered if it was due to the fact that Wind had been snatched in the middle of his second quest and had been unable to give his companions any kind of idea of it.

Time was just glad he and the other Links had been able to reassure the boy that he would be returned with little time having passed, as evident when they were passing through previous realms for their quest.

"It just doesn't look right…" Wind said quietly, looking around at the island.

There were no leaves on the palm trees. The grass near the shore was dry and yellow. Wind was trying to see if he could spy the few houses that were on this side of the island when a speck of gold caught his attention instead.

Apprehension twisted up in Wind's gut. Sure, he knew Ciela wasn't going to be mad at him, but he did know that she was going to be worried out of her mind, and when Ciela was worried, she could get a little overbearing and frantic.

Wind couldn't imagine how she was gonna be after he disappeared quite unexpectedly.

As Ciela got closer, Wind tried to figure out where he was gonna start in his explanation. He figured it was gonna be about his brothers. Though Ciela might not even pick up on that right away if she was glad to have found Wind again, and demand to know where he had gone. She could tend to tunnel vision like that.

To explain that he was going to have to leave again, Wind couldn't even think about that yet. Stirrings of guilt still tripped him up, even with his brother's assurances. He just couldn't shake the idea that he basically abandoned his quest for one other's deemed more important, even if he was going to be returned only a few hours later, a day at most.

In the end, Wind decided that he would let Ciela take the lead. He figured she was gonna end up doing so anyway, she was pretty strong headed in that regard.

When she finally reached the group, she did nothing that Wind had expected.

She stopped a few feet from Wind, not fluttering around him in a frantic whirlwind of questions and worry. Her arms were crossed, her glow was dark, and her eyes were narrowed, barely containing fury behind them. She was silent.

Wind winced. Oh, yeah, he was in trouble. He was also rethinking the whole idea of Ciela never getting mad at him.

He swallowed, licking his suddenly dry lips. "Hey Ciela…" He gave her a comforting smile. Hopefully not in too much trouble since it looks like he must have been gone for just the night, judging by the sun's placement in the sky.

"So. It is you." Ciela said, words clipped and curt and cold.

Wind froze, brain short circuiting having not expected this kind of response. Shit, they all must be really mad. Wind never saw Ciela get this way even when she and Linebeck got into the worst of their rows.

Oshus will probably be even worse, along with some heavy handed disappointment in Wind. He had been trusting Wind with saving not only the seas, but the deity himself.

Linebeck shouldn't be too angry though, right? He must have worried over Wind, of course, Wind knew the captain to be a giant softie deep down, but angry? Wind doubted it. Yeah, he probably even enjoyed having a moment to rest, not have to sail off immediately. It would have been like a vacation!

Ciela had continued. "Wasn't sure at first, especially with such a large group." Her eyes barely glanced at the other Links. "Who the hell are they anyway?"

It took Wind a moment to realize what Ciela asked, still trying to figure out her reaction. He shook his head, mentally gathering himself together. "Oh uh- These are my… well we've been using the term brothers, but we're not really related? But we're all Links!" Wind started to get into who was exactly who, but Ciela cut him off.

Ciela never cut him off. Sure, sometimes she accidentally did, but that was when she was pretty excited about something, and she was just following Wind's wavelength so much she was just blurting out what Link was just about to say.

But she never cut him off like she didn't actually care what Wind was saying.

"I don't need to know the whole life story about your new pals." Her tone was dismissive, and still rather frosty.

Wind frowned, a flare of anger rising up amongst the guilt at the obvious snub of his brothers. "Look, Ciela, I know me leaving was rather unexpected and I know it scared everyone badly. But I really didn't mean-" Ciela cut him off again.

"Oh yeah, we had been really scared, really terrified about the fact that the 'hero' that was supposed to save this land, suddenly abandoned us all. Without any note, or warning, or any kind of 'Oh hey, just gonna fucking disappear, good luck!'"Ciela spat, eyes flashing in anger. "Ocean King damned Traitor!"

Wind gritted his teeth, anger rising to match Ciela's. "Look, I'm sorry! I didn't intend to disappear without any warning!" He snapped back. "I had been taken, and I couldn't find my way back! Is this much anger really warranted for only a night of being missing?!"

Ciela went silent. Deadly silent. "A night?" She murmured, sounding like she couldn't believe what Wind had said.

She started to laugh. A cruel, callous, and completely humorless laugh.

"Fuck, you really think you've only been gone a night, don't you?" Ciela snickered, shaking her head.

Time couldn't help himself, butting in. "That's all that should have passed." He said firmly. He wanted to step in earlier, but the sound of the spirit's voice made him hesitate, a certain blue fairy coming to mind. "After all, that's the amount of time that's passed in our respective Hyrule's times."

Ciela's harsh wheat colored eyes didn't even look at the eldest Link. "Key word is 'should'." She said, keeping her gaze on Wind.

"Here's something Oshus hadn't wanted to tell you before, not wanting your attention to be split during such a vital time." Ciela said. "You're not in your Hyrule or any Hyrule. The King's Ocean is a parallel world."

Wind's eyes widened, and all anger was washed away in a sick feeling.

Ciela kept going. "So our time doesn't work like your realms'. A few hours, Ocean King, that's real rich." She sneered at Wind. "It's been years, Link."

Wind felt like he just had all of the air stolen from him. Behind him, the chain let out horrified noises, coming to the realization of what that meant.

Starting to shake, Wind shook his head in denial. "No, hang on, I don't-"

"Years." Ciela repeated firmly. "Since we all woke up on the ship and realized you were gone. We were concerned, but first waited, thinking that you must have gone to get supplies, since we had been on a longer than normal journey hunting the Ghost Ship. When a few hours had passed, Linebeck went out first, saying that he needed to make sure you weren't getting swindled by the shipyard manager. When he didn't find you there, he went to every building in the area, knocking on doors, thinking you must have gotten wrapped up in helping some villager cause even he knew you couldn't turn down helping someone. When he got back and reported that you were nowhere in town, that was when we first started getting worried."

"We were afraid you had headed to the temple alone to start the hunt for the next map piece, and yes, without any of your supplies. It would have been out of character for you, but fuck, you just found your friend was nothing but stone, maybe you were feeling more desprate. You had been ready to charge in without any kind of protection before, maybe you thought you could handle it after all the battles you had."

"I couldn't search the temple on my own, not with the puzzles and locks needing human hands. I had to beg poor Linebeck to head back into that cursed temple with your gear to make sure you weren't trapped or Ocean King forbid, had gotten killed. I was with him every step to guide him, your borrowed sword shaking in his grip, and we even found the third map piece. But we didn't find you."

"After that, that was when we got scared. We spent weeks of precious time trying to find you at every island we visited, praying that maybe, somehow you managed to get transported to one of them. Fuck, we were so desperate, we even tracked down the fucking Ghost Ship again, and practically tore that ship apart, so scared that we were going to find that Bellum managed to somehow steal you as well, and we were going to find a statue of you that was gonna join Tetra's!"

All through her rant, Ciela had been flying back and forth in a frenzied airborne pace. Her words had gotten more and more angry as she spoke, wings moving so fast they were just a blur. She suddenly paused, looking at Wind.

"I wish that had been the case. That would have been a better excuse than whatever this is." Ciela hissed, pointing at the Chain.

Wind floundered for words, heart hammering as he tried to process everything Ciela said. Linebeck had braved the Temple of the Ocean King and the Ghost Ship trying to find him? He tried to speak. "I, I didn't realize- I thought time-" He looked back at the Links behind him. "I was told I had a duty to help them."

At that, Ciela snapped. "YOU HAD A DUTY TO US!" She screamed, voice filled with fury and anguish.

"I didn't want to leave!" Wind yelled back, trying to make Ciela understand that. "Ciela, what happened?! Please, at least tell me that."

Ciela was silent for a long while, before finally answering with, "We managed. That's what happened." The fight seemed to have left her, even though anger still simmered in her eyes. "Look, it's time you go. Especially before Linebeck finds you." And with that cryptic statement, Ciela turned her back on Wind and flew away.

The chain was silent for a long while, until Twilight broke the silence. "Hey Wind, I don't mean to be rude, but your fairy companion is kind of a bitch."

Wind let out a strangled scream, whirling on Twilight to bodily throw himself at him. Before the youngest hero could reach him, Time caught the boy mid-air, keeping him close to his chest.

"Hey, calm down! There's gonna be none of that now." Time said firmly. "I know this is a lot that has been dropped on you, but you can't fight him over comments made by a dumbass."

"Hey!" Twilight said.

Time ignored him. "Now are you going to settle down, or am I gonna have to restrain you until the portal reappears?"

Wind made a few more futile attempts of struggling free, but soon gave up when he realized there was no chance of him freeing himself from Time's strong grip. The moment he felt Time's arms loosen, Wind tore himself from them.

He immediately whirled on Time. "You said it was going to be okay! I almost had a way to get back and you made me stop! You said they were going to be fine! It would only be a few hours! You said that, you swore!" Wind screamed at Time.

"Wind.." Time started to say, trying to figure out what to say in response that didn't sound empty to his own ears.

Wind didn't allow Time the chance. He shook his head, beginning to stalk from the chain. "Look, I'm not going back through that portal, not until I get some straight answers about what happened here."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Wind." Time said, trying to rein back in Wind without resorting to physical restraint again.

Wind turned to give an irked glare back at him. "Well, too bad since I'm done listening to what you think." Wind said through gritted teeth. He turned back around and kept going.

Despite Ciela's words, Wind was determined to find his captain. Even though Linebeck could sometimes give statements more cryptic than Oshus's, he would tell things straight to Wind when it really counted.

Even as committed to his plan as he was, Wind's steps still faltered when he finally reached Mercay town and port.

The bridge had been out again, forcing the Chain to travel through the cave passage. Wind felt more and more unease and trepidation the further they went.

The homes on the other side of the island had obvious signs of being run down, windows busted out, gardens and yards filled with dead foliage. Wind realized it was just a warning of what awaited him here.

A somber wind blew through the ruins of the town. The buildings here were even more rotted, structures falling apart to expose the guts of the houses and stores. The grass was just like everywhere else, dead and yellow, no chance of life within them. Wind could hear Wild make a comment that the place looked like the ruins in his realm, all that was missing was the puddles of malice. Giving a quick glance toward Time, all Wind saw was thinned lips and distant eyes, like he was seeing another town in its place.

There was no sign of life, no residents strolling through the pleasant weather, no cuccos pecking at the grass for bugs and seeds. Wind felt like he got another punch to the gut.

"Where is everyone? What- What even happened here?" Wind asked to no one really. There were only a few people he was gonna get that answer from, and one of them seemed pretty firm in not telling Wind, making it clear she felt like he didn't deserve it.

But it was obvious something terrible happened. And despite it all, Wind couldn't help but feel baffled that Linebeck would choose to live in such a haunted looking town.

But this was the only port on the island, so he had to be here. Wind kept going, and the others kept following him. He could hear them making muttered comments to each other, but he ignored them to stay focused on his goal.

But the day continued to be unkind.

When they finally reached the docks, Wind was confused by the fact that the S.S. Linebeck was nowhere in sight. Ciela had made it sound like Linebeck was here on the island, and the sailor was rarely far from his ship. Perhaps another dock had been built, even if Wind hadn't seen any sign of one. Ciela did say years after all.

Twilight hesitantly cleared his throat. "Hey, Wind… What did your friend's boat look like?"

Wind started to explain what the S.S. Linebeck looked like, but realized that it seemed like Twilight wasn't really looking at him, but more past him. At the waves that were gently breaking on the dock posts.

Following his gaze, Wind immediately regretted it, feeling yet another metaphorical punch to the gut. He wasn't sure how many more he could take.

The prow of the ship was the only thing left above water, the waves innocently lapping around the faded red wood. The rest was submerged, the algae, barnacles, and other sea life (the only life Wind had seen since arriving) attached to it showing how long the ship had been sunk. One of the water wheels was broken in pieces from where it had rubbed against the dock. A hole gaped in the side, a ghastly wound to a once proud ship, and the obvious reason for her sinking.

Wind couldn't stare at the hole for too long, too afraid that he would spy a barnacle covered statue within it. He was obviously worried about Linebeck, but… Tetra had still been a statue when Wind was stolen. Surely, hopefully, they had been able to rescue her as the ship sank?

Wind felt himself beginning to tremble with his emotions threatening to spill out of him. He took it all and shoved it deep within himself. He still hadn't found Linebeck, he had no time for a breakdown.

Linebeck had to be alive, Ciela had ordered Wind to leave before Linebeck saw him. Dead people can't see someone. Wind resolutely chose to ignore the memory of the ghostly Kato fading into existence over a pile of bones.

There were no bones here. There were no ghosts here. Especially no ghost of his Captain.

Wind made his way back off the dock, trying to think through his scrambled emotions.

"Wind…" Time stepped closer to the boy, placing what he hoped would be a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Is this a wise decision to be making? We should be looking for the portal… finding a way to leave here-"

"I am not leaving until I figure out what happened!" Wind snapped, harshly shrugging TIme's hand off of him and moving further away.

The others looked conflicted. Only Wild was looking at Wind with grim understanding. He nodded to the boy.

"You will, Wind. One way or another, the past will find its way to show itself to you." Wild stated.

Wind scrunched up his eyes, thinking through the possible locations Linebeck could be on Mercay.

Oshus's hut? Possibly, it still looked in decent shape when the Chain walked by it when checking out the status of the bridge. Yet, wouldn't Linebeck have been lured out with all of the commotion? Wasn't like they were being exactly quiet.

The caves were also sheltered from the elements, but they had just gone through there. And while there were no signs of monsters, there were also no signs of anyone living there either, nixing the idea that Ciela could have possibly moved Linebeck away from there, knowing Wind would start hunting down the captain.

Ciela…

Wind's eyes snapped open, looking northward.

The only remaining structure that could possibly be standing and give shelter from the elements would be the Temple of the Ocean King. Wind would have considered Linebeck living there even less likely than the caves, with the soul sucking curse and traps… but Ciela must have flown off in that direction for a reason.

And so Wind set off again, continuing to trace his path from his first day on Mercay Island, once again in hunt of Captain Linebeck.

The other Links silently followed behind, filled with unease, but not wanting to let their brother face whatever awaited him at the end of this alone.

The island remained disturbing to Wind, as the feeling of death… just surrounded them. The trees bare, dead grass crunching under the group's boots. There were no gull cries in the air, or bugs trilling in the ground. There weren't even monsters, when a place like this should be ripe with them. No chu-chus wobbling around, or even those annoying crows that would keep robbing him if Link let down his guard around them. There was nothing.

Just silence and death.

Finally, Wind reached his destination.

Almost like it was mocking him, the Temple of the Ocean King looked no different from how Wind remembered it. Guess ruins couldn't even become more ruined.

Beginning to enter the doorway, for the first time, Wind felt himself hesitate as uncertainty rose up. His intuition, honed from his journeys, made it clear that something final awaited him through this doorway and he wouldn't be able to back away once he walked through.

Was he certain about this? Were the others right?

No. Wind steeled himself. He wanted to know, no, he needed to know. Otherwise it would haunt him to the ends of the oceans.

Wind stepped through the doorway.

The cool temple air enveloped him, along with darkness. Quickly, a few members of the chain lit up their lanterns to illuminate the area.

Here, Wind realized some things had changed with the temple. The bones of the former fallen adventures that he would pass each time he ran through the entryway had been cleared away. A sure sign Linebeck must be here.

However, on the more unnerving sign of things was the pedestal on the upper level. It was nothing more than rubble, even the stone around it cracked from the force of whatever destroyed it.

Wind ripped his gaze away from it, even though it only added to the sick feeling that followed him ever since Ciela flew away from him.

Wind resolutely forged ahead.

Finally, just like the first time, Wind found who he was looking for in the next room.

Through the dim and foggy lighting of his companions' lanterns, Wind could just make out the back of Linebeck, standing in the center section of the room. The dim glow of the safe zone also slightly cast the captain into shadow.

So caught up in the euphoria of finally seeing his Captain again, Wind didn't take in the fact that while his soul wasn't being sucked away… the safe zones weren't the same vibrance they had been before.

And that the silhouette of Linebeck wasn't quite right.

"Linebeck!" Wind cried, throwing Ciela's warning to the side and springing toward the man.

"...Link?" A hoarse voice called back, sounding almost disbelieving.

"Yes, yes, it's me!" Wind was almost to Linebeck, who was turning around to meet the boy. He kept speaking, trying to get everything out, to explain it all to Linebeck. "I'm so sorry I disappeared and scared you all, I really didn't want-"

A coarse hand unexpectedly wrapped around Wind's throat, cutting off both his apologies and his airway.

"YOU."

Wind choked as he felt himself get lifted into the air. He was roughly slammed into the temple wall, crying out in pain as starbursts appeared when his head cracked against the stone. Blinking past them, Wind felt… fear grip his heart as the sick feeling returned full force upon staring directly into the eyes of Captain Linebeck.

One eye was emerald green, normal and human looking… but for the other, the sclera was black as midnight, the iris a harsh yellow with a ring of orange around it.

Both eyes were filled with pure and undeniable hatred.

"Linebeck.. I can't.." Wind choked out, trying to get some breath back in his lungs. His thoughts raced, but the only thing Wind could find himself uselessly focusing on was the fact that Linebeck had never been this rough with him before. Sure, some of his manhandling left Wind a wee bit unsteady on his feet as his head swirled with dizziness. But Linebeck never actually hurt the boy.

"How dare you come crawling back here." Linebeck (?) growled at Wind, voice filled with venom. He looked ready to kill the hero. In fact, Wind felt the hand around his throat grip even tighter, cutting off any chance of air.

Vision starting to go fuzzy, Wind could only weakly scrabble at the single hand around his throat, still trying to get just even a single word of begging out to Linebeck.

At this moment, several things happened in quick succession.

Time, Twilight and Wild leapt forward together. Time wrapped his arms around Linebeck, keeping him immobilized, as Twilight and Wild ripped his hands away from Wind's neck.

As his airways suddenly opened up, Wind cried out as pain blossomed around his throat, feeling Linebeck's nails digging into his skin as he was dragged away.

He collapsed to the ground and was immediately surrounded by his other brothers. Four, Legend and Hyrule kneeling around him while Sky and Warriors stood protectively in front of them. Wind coughed harshly as he tried to get air back into his lungs, trying to look past the tears watering in his eyes.

Time, Twilight, and Wild were advancing upon Linebeck, swords drawn and looking ready to kill the man. Linebeck himself had his own sword drawn, one Wind had never seen before. He was snarling, sounding downright animalistic.

Wind tried to call out, trying to order them, to tell them, to beg them to not hurt his Captain. He only coughed in pain as his throat seized up.

He was attempting to force himself to his feet, trying to shake off the resisting hands of his brothers when a new voice joined the fray.

"What in the hell is going on here?!"

Linebeck swung his sword in a wide arc. Twilight, Time, and Wild jumped back to avoid the blade, but they didn't expect the three blasts of energy to shoot out, nailing them all in the chest and sending them skidding back away from the captain with grunts of pain.

In front of Linebeck, Ciela fluttered protectively, an almost comically overlarged hammer hanging in her hands. She looked ready to use it on all of the heroes.

"Ciela?" Wind croaked out, half in relief, half in confusion.

Ciela barely gave Wind a passing glare, keeping her gaze solely focused on the three still aggressive heroes. "Didn't I tell you that you're not welcome here?" She stated in a scathing tone.

Wind tried to find his words, to explain himself, but now with things starting to calm down, Wind found his attention being grabbed by Linebeck once again. Metaphorically this time.

Speaking of metaphors, Wind was getting another punch to the gut, the worst one so far. Which considering the day's events said a lot.

With Ciela's glow illuminating Linebeck, Wind was really able to study his new appearance. At first glance, the right angle… one would think nothing was wrong. Sure, his skin was a little pale from a lack of sun, more gaunt and hollow looking than Wind remembered. His clothes were in quite a rough shape and rather filthy, some attempts at mending rips having been given up halfway through. A far cry from the captain who took great pride in his appearance, yes, but he at least still looked human.

As long as you were only looking at Linebeck's left side.

The right side was the real horror show, in more ways than one. There was that evil looking eye, one that Wind felt a shiver go up his spine when he finally remembered it from Oshus's paintings of Bellum. Streaks of black were laced through brown locks. Linebeck's normal human colored skin faded into a sickly purple, traveling down his throat and underneath the collar of his button up, to assumedly continue down his arm.

… What was left of it at least.

Wind felt lightheaded as he could only stare at the knotted sleeve of Linebeck's navy blue jacket, clear evidence that no limb could be hiding anywhere.

Wind felt himself wilting, all the fight and determination that propelled him through everything just draining out of him. Feelings overwhelmed him, the confusion from Mercay being in desolate ruins, the torment of Ciela only looking at him with hate and Linebeck being willing to kill him. Grief that Linebeck was suffering from some cursed and grievous injury. And just to top it all off, the misery that Tetra was most likely still drained of life, still a stone statue, to be forever frozen in fear because- Because-

Wind had failed.

Crumbling back down a heap against the wall, Wind began sobbing. It hurt, his throat complaining at the further abuse it was being put through, but Wind didn't care. He welcomed it as he bowed his head, grabbing fistfuls of hair. He sobbed out apologies to whoever was bothering to listen, knowing that it was too late for them. Nothing could fix what broke due to him leaving.

His broken cries filled the now silent temple. Time, Twilight and Wild let down their guard to focus on the sobbing boy in worry. Really, all of the Links focused on him, instantly surrounding him, trying to comfort Wind.

Wind cried until he was sure he had shed enough tears to fill the entire ocean again. He cried until he couldn't anymore, feeling completely dried up and numb. His throat ached in pain, and he thought he was tasting blood in his mouth. He kept his gaze downward, not wanting to see both the expressions of worry in his brothers' faces as well the hate filled eyes of his former companions. He roughly scrubbed the sleeve of his undershirt over his face, halfheartedly wiping away the tears and snot from his face, just waiting for someone to speak.

To Wind's surprise, it was Ciela.

"...I'll tell you what happened, every bitter moment from the panicked beginning to the final doomed ending." She simply stated.

At this, Wind's head snapped up in shock. He tried to speak, but after even more abuse from himself, his vocal cords once again failed him and caused him to choke. Once he recovered enough, Wind didn't try to speak again, just mutely shook his head. He tried to wordlessly convey to Ciela that he finally realized that he didn't deserve the tale, that he needed to be there to know it.

Ciela fluttered closer, the hammer having disappeared somewhere. "Link." She sighed, and alighted onto the boy's knee. "I know you, you need to know or else you'll go mad." It was the kindest thing she had said to Wind since this whole nightmare began.

Wind tried to swallow, knowing Ciela spoke the truth. He only gave a single nod of understanding.

With the temple feeling extremely claustrophobic with ten plus people inside of it, they all made their way outside.

Linebeck found a large piece of fallen rubble to sit upon, Ciela sitting on his good shoulder. Hesitating for a moment, still feeling guilt, Wind followed them, finding a tree stump to sit on himself. The other Links stayed a few yards back, wanting to give the trio some privacy, but also making sure to be close in case things started to go sideways.

Mustering what little courage Wind felt like he had in him, he made himself speak first. "What… What happened after I left?" He rasped out.

"Well, I told you most of it earlier. We waited, and then we searched and searched. It had been weeks when we finally were forced to realize that you were no longer in this realm. You were gone, and we had no clue if it was your choice or not." Ciela started. "So we had to figure out what happens, what you do when your hero abandons his quest halfway through it."

"Turns out what happens is the resident coward decides to take up the task himself." Linebeck said. His voice lost that demonic bite to it, but it was no less bitter.

"It really did surprise us all back then." Ciela softly stated. "None of us really expected that from you, even yourself it seemed like."

"That was a really weird time." Linebeck replied to her. "Really thinking about it… I think I was still reeling from the fact that Link really was gone with so many things undone. Was thinking that if anyone was gonna disappear in the middle of the night, it was gonna be me, the coward."

"You are not a coward. Never really was, and never will be." Ciela said. It was so quick, and like it was automatic for her. One hand lifted up to gently touch Linebeck's cheek.

Well, if there was only one good thing that came from Wind's disappearance, it was apparently the loss of animosity between Linebeck and Ciela. When Wind… left them, they could barely go five minutes of interaction before they were ready to kill the other. Now? Linebeck let Ciela sit on him and comfort him with ease, and Ciela had been ready to throw down with three well seasoned adult heroes to protect him.

Linebeck rolled his mismatched eyes. "Keep telling yourself that, Sparkles. Regardless, I was the one that took up the task. Really wasn't much of a choice. Things were at a point where Oshus couldn't wait for another plucky hero to wash up on shore, and while I still had to properly train with a few of the odder gadgets, I was at least familiar with them from you showing them off to me."

"And once we decided that Linebeck was as ready as he could ever be… we set off in our new normal." Ciela said. "Neri, Leaf, and I did our best guiding Linebeck through the remaining three temples, and the last parts of the Ocean King temple. Especially in the temple. Linebeck probably would have gotten stuck in more traps if not for us. And… we just managed. Like I said earlier. It wasn't a smooth process, it was messy and slow. But we still got it done."

"Still gained countless scars and trauma."

"But we got it done, and the three metals were finally achieved." Ciela kept going, even with Linebeck's interruption.

"Afterwards, all that was left was forging this damn blade." Linebeck drew the mysterious sword from earlier, laying it across his lap. His eyes were distant as his only hand laid on the hilt of the sword. "Turns out, Zuaz was only able to forge the blade part. The hilt part, that was apparently Oshus's job. So off to Mercay we went."

"You didn't sleep a lot during that journey." Ciela murmured.

"How could I? Each mile we sailed meant the closer I was to having to face ultimate evil." Linebeck shook his head, before continuing the story.

"When Oshus did his weird god powers and combined the Phantom Hourglass and the sword blade… I had a moment where I wondered if the thing was even going to accept me. I didn't know jack about magical evil banishing blades, surely there was some kind of worthiness test to 'em. I wasn't anyone's first choice, hell, I wasn't anyone's choice. I wasn't a hero, just some guy who felt like he had to step up to keep the ocean from getting destroyed."

"But it did, and then I truly realized I really was stuck as the last hope for the ocean." Linebeck gave a long stare at Wind. "You know, even then, I still held out some kind of hope that you were going to waltz through Oshus's door, with some grandiose tale of what happened to you. I was starting to already feel some resentment that you left me with such an important task, but if you had shown up then, I would have forgiven it all, forgiven you."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"With the Phantom Blade finally finished, that meant only one thing." Ciela said, breaking the silence. "It was finally time to face Bellum."

"So I descended the steps in that cursed temple in what I had hoped to be the final time. I thought I was good at sneaking around, but those armored bastards really tested that fact." Linebeck narrowed his eyes at the temple, bitterness evident. "Hated that place back then and hate it now."

Wind didn't voice it aloud, not wanting to interrupt, but he couldn't help but wonder why Linebeck would even choose to live there, if he hated the place so much.

Some of it must have still shown on his face, as Ciela simply said. "We'll get there eventually."

Linebeck continued where he left off. "But at least with the Phantom Blade, sneaking around the phantoms was a lot simpler. Since it just took one good blade to the back, and poof! They were gone."

"And then we finally were on the last floor. And that meant Bellum." Ciela said.

Linebeck's grip of the hilt of the Phantom Blade tightened. "That meant Bellum." He echoed, voice hollow. "You know, I actually held up pretty decently in that fight. Only a few major injuries to myself, and I even managed to get the squid to cough up the last part of Ciela's memories and powers."

At Wind's confused look, Ciela explained further. "Turns out I'm not just the Spirit of Courage, but of Time as well."

Time gave a bit of a start at that, one hand starting to go for the blue ocarina in his pack.

"Really could do some wild stuff, was even able to freeze time, which really made it easy to deal with Bellum's patterns, since he was well, frozen and all." Linebeck said. "And then all of a sudden, it was done. With one final attack from my blade, Bellum was sent crashing into the goop he came from. Which left us in a room that then started to collapse."

"Luckily the Old Man had enough juice recovered from Bellum's defeat to warp us out of there before we were all squished." Linebeck finished.

"... As well enough to give Tetra's life force back to her, freeing her from her stone prison." Ciela added in.

Wind felt lightheaded at that news. Tetra was… okay?! They had managed to save her? But when Wind saw the loss of Linebeck's arm and the state of the island, he shoved down his excitement. Just because they freed her from being a stone statue didn't mean something else hadn't happened to her. Bellum had apparently been defeated, and Linebeck and Ciela hadn't even mentioned yet how Linebeck was cursed and down an arm and how the whole island was devoid of life.

"Sure wish we had time to actually talk to her. Thought maybe she might have some explanations of what happened to you, but well." Linebeck's lips curled back into a grimace. His hand curled into a fist and he looked away from Wind, a dark look crossing his face.

"That was when everything went downhill." Ciela could only say.

Linebeck's voice was low and angry. "Maybe it was because I wasn't a true hero, or hell, maybe it would have happened to you as well, but turns out Bellum needed more than one battle before he would go down."

"Bellum had reappeared, badly injured, but still alive." Ciela explained. "But Grandpa must have expected this or had some kind of warning. Bellum had tried to go after Tetra again, since she was full of life force once more. But before he could, Grandpa shoved Tetra back into your realm, keeping her safe from Bellum's clutches."

So Tetra really was safe, Wind could at least have that comfort. But not for long as Linebeck continued.

"But that left Bellum without a target, so he simply decided to pick a new one." Linebeck hissed, anger returning in full force. "I just happened to be closest and weakest to him."

Ciela leaned in comfort against Linebeck's neck, but stayed silent and let Linebeck keep talking.

"With his injuries, he was off kilter in his trajectory. Think he had been aiming for my back, which, if he had been able to achieve that, you probably would have come back to something that might have been worse than this." Linebeck explained. "Instead, he got my arm. Ripped me clean from the ship, causing that hole that fucking sank my ship. And then that was when he started to try and possess me."

Linebeck leveled a hard gaze at Wind. Wind resisted the urge to squirm and look away, knowing Linebeck deserved Wind's full attention on him and that Wind deserved the rage being directed at him.

"No one could really do anything. Oshus wasn't at full power and was a little occupied with escaping from a sinking ship. Ciela, Leaf, Neri, same story basically. Just not strong enough or having the right abilities to do a thing."

"But… I still had the Phantom Blade, gripped tight in a trembling hand. And after everything I had been forced to go through, I was not going to be forced to be some oversized squid's plaything."

"Turns out magical evil defeating swords are pretty damn sharp. Only took one swing to cleave my arm right off."

Wind's hands twisted in the bottom of his tunic. He felt like he was gonna be sick.

Linebeck gave a harsh, bitter laugh. "Just wasn't quick enough to rid myself of all of him. Sacrificed my arm to him, and yet I still get stuck with enough of that creature to ruin me." Linebeck gestured to his cursed, no, his possessed side with a hateful smile.

"How…" Wind paused, wondering if he should even ask, but plunging into it anyway. "How is he affecting you?"

Linebeck cocked his head to the side, staring at Wind with narrow eyes. "Why the hell should I tell you?"

Wind bowed his head. "... I just want to know how far things went wrong because I wasn't here."

"Oh, we still have plenty to tell you on that fine front." Ciela bit out.

Linebeck was silent for a long while, studying Wind. He shook his head with a disbelieving look. "Fine." Another hateful smile was given. "Fine, if you're so desperate for answers."

"My physical appearance is, of course, the most obvious. Loss of an arm, well, now that I could have handled. Could have spun a million and one tales about what really happened. But looking half like a demon, well, that's a bit more tricky. Shocking, I know." Linebeck sarcastically drawled out.

"What really sucks, is I still have a part of that squid fucker stuck in my head. Constantly in the background, always having a comment to make, edging my emotions just that little further over the edge, making me want to do things I never did before."

Wind couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe Linebeck didn't actually want to kill him? Hate he could understand, especially since Ciela made it clear her feelings about Wind now, but she didn't want to kill Wind…

Linebeck snickered, raising one eyebrow at Wind with a grin. "Oh I can see that look, I know just what you're thinking right now. Let me make it clear. Bellum or no, I wanted to throttle you for leaving before I got stuck with him. He just makes me act on it a little quicker."

Wind wilted. Behind him, the chain made some disapproving noises, shifting in the positions to be a little more ready to spring into action.

Wind held up a hand to them, silently telling them to settle down. He knew he wasn't going to like the answers he had gotten so far and will get, but he needed the truth.

Even though it massively sucked.

Trying to move the conversion along before his brothers try to kill Linebeck again, Wind gestured around the group. "What happened after?" He rasped out. "Mercay is just… so dead. And- and Oshus, Leaf, Neri… where are they? What happened to them?"

"Well, I was pretty out of it after my sudden amputation, so I think you'll need to take over for this part, Sparkles. Share with the class this part of the history lesson." Linebeck said, tilting his head back to look at the golden fairy on his shoulder.

"Even with being even more grievously injured, Bellum was still infuriatingly alive." Ciela shook her head. "And even though he knocked the wielder of the Phantom Blade out of the way, he was still facing three mostly powered spirits, and a partially powered god that could have taken him out, if we had the chance. But he started a last ditch effort to save himself."

Ciela words were spoken unceremoniously. "He began stealing all of the life present on Mercay. Seas, he might have even kept going to the rest of the ocean. Grandpa told Leaf and Neri to save us, and then he…"

"It was too late for Mercay, Bellum stole it from everyone too quickly, leaving behind a cursed place. So Grandpa did the only thing he could do to save the rest of his realm. He sealed Bellum away… and himself as well. They both are now trapped in the bottom of the temple."

"Through all of this, Leaf and Neri fulfilled the Ocean King's last orders. Leaf surrounded all of us with a barrier of fire as a shield, doing his best to keep Bellum's life stealing curse away from us. Neri did her best to heal Linebeck. With being in the part that was poisoned by Bellum… it took a lot more than it normally would have to scab over the wound."

"They used up all of their power doing this. Just… faded from existence when it was apparent that Grandpas was 'successful'." Ciela said. "And then it was just Linebeck and I."

"When I woke up, the island was as you see it now. I did what I could to scavenge what little I could find from the remains, but with no ship myself and no chance of another ship coming along, I soon resigned myself to a slow death of starvation." Linebeck paused for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Oh! So there's actually one more way Bellum's parting gift affects me."

"Days passed and I started to realize that… I wasn't dying of starvation. Or dehydration. Or whatever would make a normal person succumb from being stuck on a dead island. This little part of Bellum is sorta connected to the main part trapped in the temple. And that's been the only damn thing keeping me alive." Linebeck explained. He gestured to the temple. "Hence, my new home that you so rudely barged into."

"And so it's just Linebeck and I here. Couldn't abandon him, had enough of that from you." Ciela said in a scathing tone. "And that's been that. Any further questions?"

It was spoken so matter of factly, the tale retold with such… callousness, that Wind had to remind himself that while for him that it had only been a few weeks ago that everything was okay, that for Linebeck and Ciela, this happened years ago.

Wind's mind swirled, trying to comprehend everything, trying to make sense of everything that was caused because he allowed himself to get wrapped up in yet another quest before finishing the one he was already in. This… couldn't be it. How things are going to end.

"There… There must be something I can do. I need to fix this." Wind stated, eyes distant as he thought through options. "I have to fix this, I can't leave you stuck in this mess, not when I caused it."

"Link-" Ciela started to speak, but she was cut off by Wind.

"No, no, no, I can at least make some things right. I… I can't bring back Neri or Leaf… but, but, but I can take the Phantom Blade! I'll go after Bellum, just me, I'll defeat him, free Oshus, and maybe… maybe, maybe defeating Bellum will rid you, Linebeck, of that part of him!" Wind got up from the stump. He firmly made his way toward Linebeck, toward the blade that still sat in Linebeck's lap. "I just need the blade-"

"NO."

There was a flash of white, and Wind felt himself be roughly pushed back. Not expecting it, Wind stumbled, landing hard on his backside. He started to get up, but froze when he felt cold metal against the side of his neck.

Linebeck was standing above him, the Phantom Blade gripped tight in his remaining hand. Ciela fluttered behind him, silent. Hate raged in Linebeck's eyes once more, the demonic tone back in full force.

Wind felt himself get swallowed up with fear and heartbreak. He couldn't deny it or avoid it any longer. Linebeck truly hated him, really wanted to kill him. And Ciela… his once closest companion, was fine with watching it happen.

Uselessly, Wind wondered why his brothers hadn't sprang to action. Maybe they didn't want to risk Wind getting seriously hurt? As he was in a rather precarious situation.

Making sure to keep his head completely still, Wind tried to glance around, and realized that the surrounding area was completely black and white, except for himself, Linebeck and Ciela. He could just make out the other Links completely frozen behind him, maybe having just the beginnings of panic on their faces.

The confusion must have shown on his face even through his fear, as Linebeck gave a cruel smirk.

"Time stop. And though I am on a bit of a time limit, I know I have enough time to hurt you in all the ways I want to." Linebeck's smirk dropped away. "To finally kill you like I thought of doing every day since this hell began."

Wind felt the sword press tighter against his neck, and he couldn't help the small whimper of pain that escaped when he felt it cut into his skin. He wanted to close his eyes, to pretend that this wasn't happening. But couldn't help but helplessly stare into Linebeck's eyes.

Linebeck gave a soft 'tch', rolling his eyes. "But after all the bullshit I endured, I'm not really interested in finding my end as a new pin-cushion for some overly righteous heroes."

"I'm gonna make something clear here, Hero. There is nothing you can do to fix this, to change things for the better."

"So, what you can do. Is get the FUCK OF MY ISLAND." Linebeck growled, voice dripping with venom and resentment.

After several silent moments between them, Wind felt the Phantom Blade finally leave his neck.

Linebeck stepped away, sheathing the Phantom Blade with a resolute snick. With another flash of white, color returned to the world around them.

Wind remained frozen on the ground. He was just numb, heart and mind unable to handle any more. He bowed his head in defeat, body slumping. He wanted to say so much, explain that he would always regret going through the portal, but he knew Linebeck and Ciela would see it for what they were, just empty words of remorse. So he only said what he knew they wanted to hear.

"Okay."

Wind pushed himself to his feet, stumbling a little when he was fully upright. He could hear his brothers' various exclamations, mostly about the newfound cut on his neck that was kinda bleeding a decent amount.

"You hurt him!-" Time started to exclaim, turning blazing eyes toward Linebeck and Ciela.

"Time. Don't." Wind weakly called, voice dull. "Just don't. We're leaving." He waited until he was sure none of them were going to attack Linebeck, and then he turned around and started walking.

Wind had to focus on the ground, on putting one foot in front of the other. He walked back down the path through the dead grass and trees, through the rotting ruins of Mercay and the sunken S.S. Linebeck, through the bare caves, until he was finally back on the beach where his journey in this realm had started so, so, long ago.

The portal that would lead them wherever it would next hummed. Wind stared at it, remembering the night it appeared on Linebeck's ship.

He had just been getting ready for bed in the cabin Linebeck gave him. All his collected gear shed, awaiting for the morning when he would put it all on again. Ciela wasn't with him for once. She had regained her memories and spirithood, and they immediately were off for the Ghost Ship after that. Back at Mercay after achieving that goal, she wanted some time with Leaf and Neri, to sit and talk with them about her regained memories, her returned spirithood, and they all finally had a moment to do so.

Wind had started to pull off his green tunic when the portal appeared with a sudden pop.

He had stared at it in confusion and wariness. Was this a trick of Bellum's? It didn't seem malicious, but a lot of things didn't seem that way at first. Wind slowly stepped away from his hammock, deciding he wanted someone else's opinion of it. He put his hand out for the doorknob. He heard an odd noise, and then the purple light of the portal was surrounding him, spitting him out in some lush forest surrounded by other (mostly) blonde-haired men.

Wind hadn't even had the chance to shout for help.

The other Links soon arrived. They silently exchanged looks between themselves behind Wind's back, before slowly beginning to file past him, murmuring words of comfort before stepping through the portal.

When Wind would finally step through the portal himself, this is what happens.

The Chain found themselves on a new sandy shore with an endless ocean stretched before them. They were finally in Wind's realm proper, on the beach of Outset Island.

Tetra's ship was docked there, and the group went there first.

The group was obviously insanely curious about the group as a whole, and Time did most of the explaining. In return, Tetra explained what happened after she was freed from her stone prison.

When Tetra awoke on the Ghost Ship alone, they had worried Wind had been lost to the sea. They sailed for Outset, unsure of what else to do. They tell Wind that it had only been a day.

Wind felt like crying, but he only gave a silent nod, feeling his heart go more numb with pain, before removing himself without saying a word.

No one questioned his muteness, something Wind wondered about until he walked past a mirror in Tetra's ship. He stared, frozen.

Dark, ugly bruises in the shape of hands had bloomed around his neck, along with small scratches, and a scabby thin line that still had flaking dried blood around it was very present. So numb with pain in his heart, Wind almost couldn't feel the physical pain still remaining.

Wind felt fury seize his heart, and with a hoarse snarl, he punched the mirror. He swore as he felt the shards of the mirror dig into his fist. He went to punch the mirror again, but a hand wrapped around his wrist.

Wild had walked up behind him. Wind's eyes darted to look at him through the shattered mirror. Wind's eyes only held sad understanding, placing a hand on Wind's shoulder in solidarity as he released Wind's wrist. They hadn't visited Wild's realm of Hyrule yet, but from what he had told the group, Wind knew only Wild really knew the pain Wind was feeling.

The pain of failing companions and failing their quest.

The two stick closer after this, a new layer of kinship having formed between them.

Wild helped clean and sanitize the cut on Wind's neck, wiping away the dried blood. After this, Wind dug through his chest until he emerged with a red square scrap of cloth. He gingerly tied it around his neck, before forcing himself to look back in the mirror.

Wind heart skipped a beat when he saw the red ascot around his neck, the image of his ex-captain flickering through his head.

Fingers dig into the fabric as Wind struggled to keep himself together. He wanted to tear it off, but he made himself adjust the fabric until it finally covered all of the injuries on his neck. He was going to introduce Aryll and his Grandmother to his brothers, and besides, Wind always made sure to not admit the worst of his injuries to them, and he especially didn't want to try to give answers for questions he wasn't ready for.

Wind had been the last one to go through the portal, still staring at it. Having gone through it countless times now, he knew it wouldn't close before he went through.

He suddenly felt eyes upon his back. Turning, he saw that Ciela and Linebeck had also followed the group, standing at the beginning of the path that led to the caves.

For a moment, Wind felt his heart leap, wondering if they had a change of heart.

But Wind saw the thin line of Linebeck's mouth, his only hand buried in his coat pocket, watching Wind with those awful looking eyes, still filled with anger. Wind could only see Ciela as a ball of light, but with the way she hovered at Linebeck's shoulder, he could guess she had the same expression.

And he realized that they were just making sure Wind did what they demanded. Making sure he really was leaving the island.

Seeing Wind staring back at them, Linebeck and Ciela turned, firmly setting their backs on the boy.

Wind's heart finally shattered apart. He knew it was never going to be the same again.

Hating every bit of it, Wind turned away from them as well. A few final tears escaped down his cheeks as he pushed himself through the portal, leading Wind away from Mercay Island forevermore.

END

I had this idea of Linebeck being only halfway possessed by Bellum rattling in my brain since last spring (and I do have another story idea also coming together based in this AU that would be multiple chapters and not set in the Linked 'Verse) but I finally sat down and got this out in a few late night writing sprees. I hope you all enjoyed the pain as much as I did writing this.

And while I did make things seem pretty final and grim in here... I do find it hard to leave my favorite characters in such an unhappy ending. So I do have thoughts on a fix-it fic that I'll probably end up writing at some point. So if you're interested in that, keep an eye out for that some time in the future!

~Roses