The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Got Amnesia? (Part 2)

Time's sudden and drastic amnesia came as a shock to his fellow Links. As the third eldest Legendary Hero, Time was looked up to by those who came after him as a paragon of fortitude and an example of how any hardship could be overcome. Now, however, he stood among them as a naive child, one they all had to look after until he regained his lost memories; which, hopefully, would occur sooner rather than later.

At the moment, Engie and Mini were with the amnesiac Hero of Time, distracting him with stories and showing him how to use the various items from their own journeys. Like a small child in a toy store, he eagerly tried out everything - he flipped over rocks with the Cane of Pacci, stole Engie's hat with his own whip ("This is a lot more fun than doing it with a fishing rod!" he mused), and even attempted to put on a pair of pegasus boots (they were too small for his adult-sized feet, much to his disappointment). Now, however, he was busy entertaining himself with Engie's pinwheel, blowing away the leaves scattered about the ground and grinning as they flew around in the air. And though watching the eons-old Time play around so childishly was a little unnerving, the other two Heroes also thought it was kind of endearing.

Time inhaled deeply, then blew again into the pinwheel, causing red and orange leaves to flutter about. He lowered the item, reached out to catch one of the leaves, then turned back to Mini and Engie, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Wow, and I thought I got some cool stuff on my adventure!" He waved the pinwheel around a little. "I could play with this thing all day!"

Engie snickered. "Yeah, it's pretty fun to use, isn't it?" He walked over and reached for his item back. "You'll run out of breath if you use it too much, though."

The elder Hero pouted. "But I want to try it some more..."

"Hey, come on, we've got plenty of other stuff to show you!"

Time looked at the pinwheel once more, pondering. Then, he smiled and gave it back. "Okay. But you've gotta let me show it to Navi when she gets here!"

With a sheepish smile, Engie put the pinwheel back in his pouch. "Don't worry, I will."

"...Hey, when is Navi gonna get here, anyway?"

From a few feet away, Mini spoke up. "Sky's out looking for her right now," he assured him; though he knew that finding one fairy within the entirety of the afterlife would take quite a while, and that wasn't counting the time it would take for her to yell at them all for letting Time lose his memory in the first place. "You'll see her soon, I promise."

Time's face fell slightly. "Are you sure?" His gaze fell to his boots. "I miss her... I don't think I've been away from her this long since... ever."

"Mini and Sky are like big brothers to us," said Engie. "If they say they're going to do something, they'll definitely keep their word."

The forlorn Link nodded a little. "You guys are all really nice," he said, sitting down, crossing his legs, and drawing circles in the grass, "...but I've gotta get back to Hyrule somehow. Everyone's still in danger - I still have four Sages left to awaken." He looked back towards Mini. "Am I gonna even be able to go back?"

Mini suddenly found himself at a loss for words, as did Engie, who exchanged glances with him. They, too, wondered what to say to their friend who had forgotten that he was already dead. After a silent moment of pondering, Mini returned his attention to Time, walking over and placing a small hand on his head. He patted it affectionately.

"You'll get to finish your journey," he said, "so don't worry about that."

Time blinked. "How do you know that? Are you from the future, too?"

"There's a lot of things I know," replied Mini with a smile. "I know that you'll awaken all of the Sages and that all of Hyrule will be safe because of you. You'll be remembered throughout the ages as the Hero of Time who saved everybody, and one day, when your time in Hyrule has ended, the goddesses will reward you greatly for your deeds!"

"They... They will?" asked Time, his eyes widened.

Mini nodded. "That's what They've promised to Their chosen ones."

At this, Time beamed. "I'm really gonna save everybody... wow, wait until Navi hears about - " Suddenly, he winced, holding a hand to his head.

Lowering his own hand, Mini frowned in worry. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I dunno," muttered Time, "my head feels funny..."

"We should get him to a bed," said Engie, walking over to help his elder up to his feet. "Come on, you need to get some rest."

Time groaned as he stood. "Where's Twilight?" He said, rubbing his eyes, "I wanna go to his house."

The other two Links looked at each other, wondering for a moment why he had asked for Twilight specifically. Perhaps he'd begun to remember things again?

"Twilight," came a whiny voice from behind the door along with a loud series of knocks. "Twilight, are you there? Twiliiiiight...!"

Startled, Twilight looked away from the book on potions and herbal remedies he had been perusing all afternoon and towards the door. He knew Sky had said that Time would get better on his own, but he had been worried enough to do the research in case he didn't. He stood quickly, walked to the door, and opened it, revealing a lethargic and slightly pale Time, who immediately began to whine at him.

"My head hurts," he groaned, "and I feel weird."

Twilight gulped nervously. "Oh, hell..." He touched Time's head, which felt warm to the touch. "You're burning up, too... dammit, I knew this would happen!"

"Mini and Engie said I needed to lay down," whimpered Time, "can I sleep in your house?"

"Eh? Um, sure, of course." He wondered why Engie and Mini hadn't simply taken him to his own house, but he took Time's wrist and began leading him regardless. "You can use my bed."

"I can?"

"Yeah."

Time smiled drowsily. "Thanks, Twilight. You're the best descendent ever."

Twilight found himself slightly flustered by the remark. "You're... you're welcome, I guess." He reached his bed and pulled back the covers, allowing Time to sit down while he reached down to remove his sickly senior's boots. "How come you came here, anyway? To my house, I mean."

"'Cause we're family, right?" answered Time. "It's weird, but I kinda feel like we know each other already - like you've been with me for a really long time." He yawned loudly. "Mini said I'm gonna go back to Hyrule and save everybody, but, after that... I can come see you again, right?"

The younger Hero stared at him for a moment, then sighed, relieved - maybe he really would start remembering everything soon. He nodded. "Yeah," he said, "you'll see me again."

"And the others, too?"

"And the others, too."

Time laid down and lazily pulled the blankets over him. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Okay."

Twilight smiled slightly, then turned to leave the room and quietly shut the door. Before he could close it completely, however, he heard yet another pathetic whine.

"...Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm thirsty."

The younger Link sighed again, this time in slight irritation, then wandered into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Time slept well into the evening, and though Twilight had planned to wait for him to awaken, he nevertheless found himself dozing off on the couch. When he next opened his eyes, it was late into the morning, and when he went to check on Time, the bed was already empty.

Dreading that perhaps his confused ancestor had gotten himself into more trouble, he grabbed his hat from where it had fallen off onto his couch, put it on, then headed towards the door. When he opened it, however, Duo was already standing on his porch, huffing slightly.

"Sky told me to come get you," he said breathlessly, "I came as fast as I could!"

"What?" Twilight tensed. "Did something happen to Time?"

"That's the thing," Duo answered with a slight grin, "he's all better now!"

Twilight immediately brightened at the news. "He is? Well, where is he!?"

"He's with Sky at his house," said Duo, beckoning Twilight to follow him. "Come on!"

Eager to see his mentor as his usual self once again, Twilight shut the door behind him and began following Duo down the road. When they arrived at Sky's house, there was already quite a scene going on - Time and Sky were hovering over Wind and Light, who were on their hands and knees with their foreheads pressed against the ground in an apparent gesture of prostration. Green and his personas, meanwhile, were watching from a distance, with Green, Blue, and Vio snickering at the sight.

"Looks like they're already getting yelled at," chuckled Duo bashfully as they approached the Heroes of the Four Sword.

"'Yelled at' is an understatement," sneered Blue, "they're getting completely and utterly chewed out."

Red was not joining his alternates in their mockery, however. "But that's okay, right?" he said, wiping away a few happy tears. "I mean, Time's back to normal! I was so scared he'd - "

Vio pressed a hand against Red's mouth to silence him as Time's stern voice continued to berate Wind and Light.

"Honestly, what were you thinking, tossing around something that dangerous!?" He crossed his arms. "You're Legendary Heroes, for Din's sake! You ought to know better!"

"W-We're sorry!" whimpered Wind, his voice muffled from speaking directly into the ground, "We won't do it again!"

"Forgive us, Honorable Predecessor!" added Light.

"I hope you two have learned your lesson," said Sky, pointing at the two repenting Links. "I'll say it again - no more caneball, ever! Are we clear?"

"Yes sir!"

Sky nodded firmly, then turned to Time. "So, have they prostrated themselves enough for your liking, Time?"

Time tapped his chin in thought for a moment, then spoke. "I suppose." He reached down and pulled Light and Wind up by their tunics, turning and dragging the two away. "Now get up, you two! Goddesses almighty, I have half a mind to - "

When he locked eyes with Twilight, however, Time stopped, his icy glare turning into a sadistic grin. "Ah, Twilight," he said, letting go of the other two and storming towards his successor, "I was wondering when you'd show up...!"

Twilight froze in place, a terror that could have only been brought about by an angered Time gripping him. "I-I - "

Still grinning, Time elbowed his protege in the stomach, causing him to keel over. Then, he shoved him down further to his knees. "Don't think you can get away with this just because you were so kind to me yesterday!" He stomped on Twilight's back, forcing him to the floor in a position similar to Wind and Light's. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You're a disgrace to your fellow Heroes, and you're a disgrace to your ancestors...!"

"For - " Twilight coughed, " - Forgive me, Teacher! I-I was wrong! This was my fault, too...!"

"You're damn right it's your fault!" Time dug his heel further into Twilight's back. "From now on, you're running double your usual laps during training! Got that!?"

Twilight let out a pathetic, pained croak. Meanwhile, Green glanced over to Vio.

"Hey, is it just me, or is Time enjoying this way too much?"

Vio shrugged. "I always did think he had a bit of a sadistic streak."

"I-In any case," said Duo, "the important thing is that Time's back to normal, right? Hopefully, nothing like this will happen again."

Twilight choked back on a sob as his predecessor continued to dish out his punishment, and suddenly he found himself wishing for the sweet and innocent Time from yesterday to come back.