Deep in the shadows, voices spoke, but were heard only in secret.

"If everything you say is true, then there's no way we can defeat them!" The young man's voice shook with anger at the news he was just told.

"Calm yourself!" The oily, cold voiced man hardly sounded calm himself.

"How are we supposed to stay calm when our entire plan hinged on that damn thing?" The third man's voice was deep and commanding, as if he were in control of the situation.

"Do you think I went in there without a backup plan?"

"Oh, I thought your plan was throwing the fifth member of our little 'council' to the wolves, so to speak."

"Hold your tongue! I'm the one who'll get us out of this mess and-"

"Silence!" The twisted and distorted voice barely sounded human, but it held weight and rang with dignity.

"Gyu- O-of course."

"If you fools would stop squabbling between yourselves, we have bigger problems then Gomess, we have more effective means than that shadow anyway."

"Then what do you suggest we do? And what problems do we have exactly?"

"The one I warned you about is mere hours from entering this realm and-"

"What? I thought you had that under control!"

"There is more going on here than any of us know, I don't understand how, but he's coming, and I still don't have a suitable host."

"Then why don't you go get one? It's not like any of our number are compatible, right?

"If it were that simple then I'd have done it already, but the host has to choose me, and that's if I can even find one."

"Then maybe you should go looking, instead of sitting around here doing nothing!"

"I have tolerated your indignity up until now, but if you continue to show disrespect in my presence then you will have forced my hand!"

"Whatever, but we had better leave before he notices us."

"Very well, Deekle, relay your orders and prepare for our next move, the same goes for the rest of you."

With that, the fourth being left to move about another shadow.

"Deekle?" The young man could barely contain his laughter.

"Silence, one does not anger a being of that much power, if one is smart."

"Was that supposed to be an insult, maybe you should try and grow a pair, see you Deekie."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"He's already gone, why don't you do something useful and report to your and his squads."

"W-what? Why should I report to that man's squad?"

"You're the one that killed him, deal with it."

"Grrr."

With that, the remaining two left, neither knowing that they were being watched.

The full moon shone on to a small hill, a lone boy's silhouette framed by it's rays.

"I can't believe it's all over," the voice of the small boy spoke into the silence, "After seven years, we can start our lives again."

A small yellow fairy appeared from the boy's hat, flitting about excitedly.

"And to think," The fairy spoke with the voice of a young woman, "We never would've met without this torture."

"Hehe, yeah, I guess so."

Suddenly, the sky filled up with fireworks, illuminating the boy wearing green clothes, a sword and shield on his back.

"We'd better hurry, I don't want to waste a second of my new life."

"Heehee, let's go!"

Castle town was usually quiet, the only sound being the occasional ReDead moving about.

But tonight was different.

Black armored knights walked through the main street, their blood-red capes flowing behind them, at their lead was a knight with gold trim along his cape and armour.

These knights were the new elite of Ganondorf's army: The Darknuts.

Vincent's eyes widened as he and F Link reached the door to the house.

"We've got problems here."

"Eh?" F Link turned to him, a bored look on his face, "You want me to help, or can you do it?"

"Get the others, we need all the help we can get."

F Link's face turned serious, "That bad?"

"Worse," Vincent held his left hand up, summoning the Great Fairy's Sword, "I had hoped not to use both together so quickly."

Lowering his left, Vincent raised his right, a white glow building in his palm, and suddenly striking him with white lightning.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Vincent was picked up and thrown by the white energy, landing far away in the horse corral.

"What the..." F Link ran to Vincent, ignoring the door slamming open behind him, and kneeling before the dark mirror of himself, "You alright?"

Link ran up behind with Sora and Malon, "What the hell happened?"

Vincent got up slowly, small amounts of some dark gas wafting from his body into the ground, turning it black.

"You have to run away from here."

Malon stepped forward and looked him in the eye, "What do you mean by that?"

"We're no match for what's coming, but I can hold them off for a while, you all need to get away as fast as possible."

Vincent tried to walk past, but Sora stopped him, "There's no way we can leave you behind!"

"Head deep into the Kokiri Forest, Farore willing, you'll find a man living in a hut, tell him that it's the 'dawn of the first day', and you have only weak masks."

Link walked up and grabbed him by the collar, "Stop speaking in riddles, we're not going anywhere without you, and besides, if all of us can't take whatever is coming this way, then how could you even stall it."

"You would be surprised what a man can do when he is tasked with protecting what's dear to him."

Vincent shoved Link away roughly, walking past determinedly.

Link was about to chase after him, when F Link ran forward, swung Vincent around, and punched him square in the jaw, sprawling him out flat.

"Take a note, Vinny, a hero isn't afraid to give his life, a hero will fight for what's right until the last breath, if he must die then so be it, but damn his soul if he goes down quietly."

"Are you insane?" Vincent stood up, anger making his voice shake, "Who are you helping if you're dead? No-one, that's who! If you die then what hope is there left for this world?"

"Well I was going to make that argument, but thanks for taking my side, c'mon everyone, this is gonna be the big one." F Link stepped past Vincent, not even registering his dumbfound look.

Link walked by, "What hope is there without you by our side?"

Sora laid a hand on Vincent's shoulder as he went by, "You are coming with us right? The last thing we need is for you to stand here looking like an idiot."

Vincent sighed deeply, "This is why I'll never get heros."

"Hey, Vincent?"

The dark Link looked up to see Malon standing right in front of him, "What's up, Mal-"

He was cut off suddenly as Malon wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the lips, leaving him standing there stuttering when she parted.

"Don't die, and maybe you'll get a better reward." At that, she left with a wink.

Vincent looked up at the moon, it's silvery surface reflected in his crimson eyes.

"I don't know if I'm really lucky, or unlucky," He looked down to think, when something important occurred to him, "Oh, we're under attack by a powerful group of foes, aren't we?"

Vincent picked the Great Fairy's Sword up from where it lay, and ran off to join the others.

"Dammit!"

In the dark stone basement, the boy clothed in green stood, his bleeding fist thrust towards a steel door in front of him, the wound not even registering with him.

Once again the yellow fairy popped out from under his hat.

"Link, please, calm down!"

The boy, revealed to be Link, rounded on the fairy, "Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down after what just happened?"

"I..." The yellow fairy backed away, shocked ny Link's yelling.

"You've met a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Startled, Link turned to the wooden walkway behind him, where a bulky figure stood, hidden by shadow.

"Are you going to come clean, or do we have to wait another seven years?"

The three Links stood with Sora, facing the incoming legion, still a while away, each had their swords drawn, ready to fight, to the end if need be.

"This is it, guys," Vincent stepped forward, the Great Fairy's Sword shining with an ethereal glow, "Despite your heroic speech, I have no intention of dying here, and you had better not either."

"Don't worry, Vincent," Sora stepped beside him, "We don't have anything to worry about right?"

"Just give me a moment," F Link walked ahead of them an kneled down, squinting for a better look, "Single-weapon wielding Darknuts, medium protection armor designed for speed, re-enforced with what seems to be some type of leather, it's just a guess, but I'd say it'll hold up against our blades, for a time anyway."

"You can tell all that from here?" Link asked, surprise evident on his face.

"I've faced similar foes before, but they were no-where near this level, and I'll bet that their swordplay is just as improved."

Vincent knelt beside him, giving him a sideways look, "What are your orders, captain?"

"Well," he took a moment to get to his feet, Vincent joining him, "I run in the front, you to my left, the Hero of Clocks to the right, and Sora, you can provide magic support, correct?"

"Uh, sure, no problem," Sora replied, a touch of indicison in his voice."

"Then you're behind me, we charge in, cut them down as quickly as we can manage, back off, make a defense, oh and try to aim for the throat, their armor looks thinner there, but it's behind a plate, so we'll have to 'remove' those first."

"Wait a minute," Link stepped in front of his doppelganger, clearly flustered, "You can really tell all that from a distance?"

F Link gave the other a steely glare, "I am more than a man, look into my eyes, the eyes of the blue-eyed beast, and tell me if there is any confusion."

Link stared into his eyes for a moment, "A yes would've worked, too."

"Just get into position, you."

"If I may," Vincent stepped forward, raising his right hand, "I can weave and illusion that will make it seem like we're close to the ranch, then we just have to approach under a cloak, and take them by surprise."

"Then do it," The four warriors got into position, "When I strike, follow my example."

The Darknts marched forward, their leader's eyes held keenly on their foes, weapons drawn as they waited by the entrance to the ranch, some ways away still.

Just as Lord Ganondorf said, the Hero of Time has allies, and it seems, a traitor to our cause, The commander's cold stare directed at Vincent, Lord Ganon will be pleased, when I bring back his head.

The commander stopped, raising his fist in a signal to halt, "Men, ready your magics!"

Unbeknownst to the Darknuts, their enemies lay in wait just two metres in front of them.

"Magic?" F Link asked to no-one in particular, "Fall back! Drop the illusion!"

"Got it!" Vincent ran back first, quickly followed by Link and Sora, who turned back to see the Hero of Twilight facing the Darknuts, who continued to charge their dark magic without missing a beat.

"Link, what are you doing?"

"I said fall back!" F Link ran toward the enemy, leaping at the commander with his sword held high, "Die you bastard!"

The Darknuts released their magic, and the huge blast of darkness met the charging warrior head on.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Link!"

"What do you think, should we help them?"

The boy Link stood, watching the approach of the Darknuts, the same yellow fairy by his side.

"Well, we need to get his help any way you look at it," she paused for a moment, shuddering slightly, "And I can feel a huge amount of dark energy coming from those soldiers."

Link put his hands on his hips, looking to the sky as if for answers, "Well, then what do you recommend?"

"You had your fill of Chateau Romani before we left, right?"

At this, Link smiled, "You know it."

"Then I think you already have a plan."

"Right," Link looked back at the scene before him, as the soldiers were enveloped in a dark aura, visible only to a few, when all hell broke loose.

The four who were waiting for the soldiers suddenly appeared not far in front of them, three of them ran, but the last ran and jumped toward the leader, when the rest loosed a torrent of dark energy, and to any other, it would seem like he met his end, but Link saw him being surrounded by white light just before, the magics impact causing a loud explosion that didn't even phase the soldiers.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The man fell from the smoke cloud, suddenly clothed in gold and crimson armour, as his blade pierced through the helmet of the leader.

"W-what just happened?" The yellow fairy asked, perplexed, when suddenly she saw a spiked ball racing towards the battle, "Wha-? can't that idiot stay still for five seconds?"

The fairy took off toward the fight, not knowing what lay in wait for them all.

This is it, So thought the Hero of Twilight as he ran at his quarry, Timing is everything, and I may not get another chance.

F Link took a bold chance, leaping high, and just as he planned, the Darknuts loosed every spell at him. An instant before he was killed, he summoned the only thing that could save him, the magic hit, but he was already protected.

"This is for Midnaaaa!" The first part of his war cry went unheard as he fell from the smoke cloud, falling toward the Darknut Commander, who didn't have time to react before a blade was struck through his forehead.

"Link!"

Sora ran to the sound of metal on metal, but hesitating as the smoke cloud parted to reveal F Link, garbed in regal-looking crimson and gold armour, fighting the Darknuts alone.

"A little help, guys?" He called back to the others.

"You don't need to ask twice!" Link quickly leaped into the fray, knocking one Darknuts neck-guard, before chapping his head clean off with the Master Sword.

Vincent quickly sprang up from a Darknuts shadow, cutting him in half lengthwise with the Great Fairy's Sword.

The Darknuts quickly formed a defensive circle, realising that they were surrounded, but far greater in number.

But just that instant a large spiked ball appeared from no-where, crashing into the Darknuts and dispersing those that weren't killed by the impact. Suddenly the ball sprang up to reveal a Goron wearing a green skirt, hat, and large leather gloves.

The Goron wasted no time, grabbing hold of two confused Darknuts and smashing their heads together, killing them instantly. The Goron was quickly joined by the other four who were fighting the Darknuts, the five warriors quickly dispatching their confused and scattered foes.

Link, F Link and Sora were conversing a little ways away, while Vincent stood, looking the Goron in the eyes, thinking deeply.

"So, how long has it bee-" Vincent was suddenly cut off by a huge punch from the Goron, sending him flying back several feet, rolling across the ground for a bit.

"Hey!" Sora ran up to the Goron, a defensive look in his eyes, "I thought you were helping us just now, what gives?"

"Stand aside, kid," The Goron's voice was deep and intimidating, "He and I have unfinished business."

"Hehehe," Sora and the Goron both looked to where Vincent was getting up slowly, "If you want to settle things, then show me your true face."

Upon hearing this, the Goron smiled, bringing his gloved hands up, as if to remove a mask. A sudden flash of light, and in place of the Goron, stood a boy dressed in green, a mask in his hands, the mask that could trnasform him into the mighty Goron warrior, Darmani.

"The face behind the mask," The young Link walked slowly to Vincent as he spoke, "Is that your true face? Or maybe people hide their true faces behind yet another, unseen mask."

Young Link stopped in front of Vincent, looking up at him curiously.

"Maybe you should remove your mask, Vince."

"Link," Vincent knelt down, looking into Young Link's eyes, "I'm not the little brother anymore, could you please call me Vincent?"

Young Link was about to speak when his yellow Fairy suddenly popped out of his hat, ramming herself into Vincent's face, knocking him down.

"Just who do you think you are?" She screeched at him, glowing red with anger.

"T-Tatl, I have this under contr-" Young Link was also interrupted by the fairy, apparently named Tatl rammed into his face, and consequently knocked him down as well.

"Under control? This bastard abandoned us, left us in Termina with our curse, and you just welcome him back with open arms?"

"Of course I do!" Young Link got up, anger shining in his eyes.

"Wh-what?" Tatl's colour faded back to her regular appearance, her voice shaking.

"It's the same as it would be between you and Tael, he's my brother, and that is what matters."

"Link..." Tatl looked down sadly, the young hero's words seeming to have struck down her confidence.

"Link?" Young Link froze, his eyes widening at the familiar voice.

Oh crap,the young boy eyed Tatl carefully, noticing that she was still rattled from when Link yelled at her, I think I've been too hard on her lately, most of the time, it's her yelling at me. Wait, why am I thinking about that at a time like this?

Young Link turned to look at the blue Fairy hovering behind him, "Navi?"

"Link, it really is you, isn't it?" Navi fluttered closer to the young boy, "But then... how are you he-"

Navi was suddenly interrupted by a furious Tatl, glowing a rich crimson.

"You!" Tatl rammed into Navi again, sending her to the ground, "You're Navi?"

"What the?" Navi flew up toward Tatl, a pink-ish hue surrounding her, "Who are you?"

"My name is Tatl, and I'm Link's Fairy companion, the question here is why you're approaching him like you're old buddies!"

"T-Tatl, p-please don't..." The flustered Young Link wasn't even able to form a full sentence, obviously unaware of how to handle the situation.

"Hey kid," Young Link looked up to see F Link watching the Fairy's fight calmly, "I find that when two people have a personal dispute, it's best to let them handle things."

"But I-"

"Isn't Fairy Boy over there you?" Young Link looked over to his adult self, equally as flustered as himself, "Maybe you should give him an insight into his future."

Young Link looked up shocked, "F-future? H-how could you...?"

"There is more to every person than meets the eye, even if mine and yours see more, truly knowing a person takes something deeper."

"Well then..." Young Link smiled slightly, "Maybe we should talk later?"

"Who knows? All that matters to me is that I get back to my time as soon as I can."

Young Link's eyes narrowed, his smile disappearing altogether, "Then we definitely need to talk."

F Link watched as the young boy walked over to his older counterpart.

Well, younger really,The Hero of Twilight looked to the firey ring around Death Mountain, What other tricks await us in the coming days? What dangers will we face?

"I trust you can take a life, when necessary?"

F Link turned to Vincent, one eyebrow raised.

"I know it's a strange question, but I doubt the rest of our number have the guts to kill when necessary."

"I'll do whatever it takes," F Link turned back to watching the squabbling Fairies, "But I suggest we get moving, the longer we stay here, the worse off we are, and I'm sure Ganondorf will include the kid into his calculations, whatever he sends next will be much worse than Darknuts."

"He's not the only one we have to worry about."

"That's news to me," F Link turned to face Vincent, "Have you told anyone else about this third party?"

"No, and it seems there's more going on here than any of us realise, how many forces have come into play, I don't know, but I do know this," Vincent's eyes strayed to the ominous clouds above Castle Town, "Gomess can't exist, not here, not ever, whatever Ganondorf did when he came back, the repercussions of those actions have sent ripples spreading through our world, a world that was sealed from Sora and the worlds he traverses."

"What do you mean our world was sealed?"

"When the Goddesses created Hyrule, they sensed the evil of Heartless, a terrible darkness that might infect their pure land," Vincent closed his eyes, his voice turning uncertain, "And so they created certain safeguards to prevent the darkness from finding this pure world."

"Safeguards that obviously failed."

"Safeguards I destroyed, in my recklessness."

F Link was about to ask what he meant when Young Link called to them.

"Are you two done having your heart-to-heart? We're going into Castle Town, so hurry up!"

"Castle Town?" Vincent ran towards the young boy, stopping between him and the path to town, "Now listen here, that's the last place we should be heading, anywhere closer to Ganondorf is a bad place, if anything we should avoid that place at all costs!"

"Well..." Young Link casually put his arms behind his head, "If you just wanna leave Mr. Harp to the wolves, then be my guest."

Vincent gasped, his eyes moving to the ground, "Damn, I forgot about that bastard..."

"That guy might be the only person who really understands what's going on here," Sora walked forward, eyes set on Castle Town, "And besides, Ganondorf probably won't expect us to get so close to him after he sent those soldiers after us."

"That's besides the point, if-"

"I say it's better than bringing any more trouble to these people," F Link stepped in fron of Vincent, "Let's go see this bastard you're all so fond of."

"That won't be necessary," A man called out from atop a nearby tree, his slim figure clothed in a tight suit with the Sheikah eyedrop emblazoned on the chest, his blond hair peeking out through the bandages around his face.

"I am Sheik, and I have something important to tell you all."

A/N:

Oooh, cliffhanger time! And I have an issue I'd like to bring up, it's about F Link, is that nickname working? Please mention in your review if I should call him something else, and if so, then what?

Otherwise, please leave honest reviews, and point out anything in my writing that needs work, and this update was WAY faster than the last one, eh? Anyway, I'll try to update at this speed or better in the future.