Summary:
Finally, the chain can investigate the tower.
Notes:
For anyone wondering, i didn't write this with TotK in mind. I don't even have a Switch lmao.
Also big thanks to SourceSpy91 whose TPHD playthrough helped me crosscheck for the fic.
In the end, Twilight went last.
Apparently out no else knew how to whistle grass and none were interested in trying their luck with it and risk being left behind, go figure. Sky was pretty sure he could call it back himself, but alas. The... bird had been getting a little miffed about hauling the lot of them around, but once Twilight haggled Wild into parting with some of the leftover meat the creature relented. The resemblance between and his trusty loftwing was striking. Well not his loftwing specifically, who is much more gentle than the snappy kargarok. Apparently there are regular kargarok in Twilight's actual Hyrule: They're more natural greys with the head of a turkey instead of a blowhorn, though they were similarly featherless. Sky has some misgivings about what Twilight thinks constitutes natural, but the things were different on the Surface and a lot of time had passed anyway.
Regardless, now that they had all gathered they could actually set about scaling down this thing. Since they couldn't actually enter via the roof.
They oughta be able to scale down via the vines creeping up the building, but there would be no avoiding the mist. They're not exactly sure. Whether the moonpearls are potent enough to nullify it's effects. This time the Hero of Time will go first, apparently the old man has experience with transformation, so he'll have the best shot at adapting should the need arise. Still Sky himself will be following, keeping the Blade of Evil's Bane at the ready.
"There's enough vines for us to climb towards the frontside as we descent," Time states, "that way we'll already be at ground level before entering the mist. No need to push our luck after all."
Sky nods his head. As exhilarating as jumping into the unfamiliar can be, it's just not the same when it's more than your own skin on the line.
Time goes and asks Warriors for a hand as. Apparently the tippy top ones don't look quite sturdy enough for him and his armor. But otherwise they move without issue. He isn't even that tired when they're at the end of it. Though Sky's unsure if he'd make the journey back in one go, without a potion that is. Time's just about to put his foot down when the thought strikes him. "Wait!" he shouts, halting the old man's movement.
"What?" he asks, making no effort to keep the mix of annoyance and bewilderment out of his face.
In lieu of a response Sky simply shifts his weight along his left and pulls out the Mastersword with his right. Just as he had hoped, it's light shines bright and dispels the mist.
It worked! Sky doesn't resist his smile when turning towards his companion, who simply raises his brow at the Skyloftian's antics.
"Good thinking," he concedes, before skipping down to the floor now cleared of mist.
Sheathing his sword and following suit only takes Sky a beat. When he does he quickly rereleases the blade to ward off the mist, stopping it from creeping back in. Previously he'd just have to hold up the sword and maybe wack a little to dispel the mist. He hadn't considered to be going at it for as long as they'll here with whatever is spewing it out. He can always switch out with one of the others if it comes down to it, best not to worry too much.
Speaking of which, looks like the others are already descending as well. Wind and Four are already halfway, though the rest is so high it's hard to tell who is who. Then again the triple glint from up top has go to be Wild.
There's slithering to his left.
It's instinct more than any scrap of conscious awareness that has him split the Baba clean between the jaws. It wasn't quite the more common Deku he knew from the Surface and across all the Hyrules with a black much more suited to this realm, there might have been a red hue on it too. It was hard to tell, given that he had only had a moment to look at it before the remains exploded into a black not unlike the mist, if not for it's shine. Which would have unsettled him more if he hadn't already seen it staring off into the ether, before which he'd only seen the phenomenon once. Not that Sky was completely at ease with the connection, the rancher's explanation hadn't been what he was hoping for. But Twilight was trustworthy, so he at least had to believe it to be true and that had to count for something.
Fi burns his right. A hand pulls him back.
"Now's not the time to start dreaming kid," says Time, "There's probably more where that came from."
They had christened him a knight back home, after he killed a god. They called him humble when he referred to himself as but a man. Sky looks into into the Hero of Time's eye and sealed shut eyehole. "Right." is all he says. He turns around and picks up the Master Sword. The handle soothing the burn in his sword hand as his left skims over the blade to check for any nicks or scratches. As usual there are none. Perhaps he seeing things, but he thinks he sees the sword shine a little brighter as he does.
This time he does see the gust coming before he feels it. It's their youngest, grinning form eye to eye. Apparently he had used this trick quite a bit on his first adventure and starts to regale them with various tales of all those times he did. The Skyloftian simply lets the words wash over him for bit, before trading out Sword duty when Legend touches the ground and finally taking a bit of a breather.
It's not until Twilight arrives with Warriors in tow that Sky notices Wild is still up there. Who then jumps. Before he can fear the worst though, the Champion reveals a sail cloth of his own, slowing his descent to a more manageable rate.
With their cook no longer in freefall Sky turns to Twilight and Warriors. "So do we go inside now?" he ventures.
"Of course," the rancher replies, before asking Legend to burn the vines off who nods and returns Sky the sword. Then he sets the greenery ablaze with his wand, though he is careful not to let the flames spread. By the time Wild lands and Wind shoots the guy an odd look the fire has already abated and a door is revealed behind.
How any of them figure these things out without Fi whispering in their ear is beyond him.
Ecstatic, Wind moved to open the door, but Twilight stills his hand. "The might be more of that inside," he explains, nudging towards the mist. Meanwhile Warriors calls to Sky. "You mind?" he asks.
Sky just nods and unsheathes the Master Sword. Twilight presses the palm of his left against the sigil and with a blue hue, the door opens. More mist does come out. Not for the first time, Sky wonders where its even all coming from. Is it smoke? Are they burning things? He hadn't seen any fire. Twilight wasn't sure either. He'd never gotten the chance to ask, most buildings in the palace released some, though apparently he had also seen Zant simply conjure it.
As the room becomes clear a some vermin and faceless keese do spring onto them, but the others take care of them before they even come near the Skyloftian. There's a platform moving up in the corner and the same mist flowing down some parts of the side of the ceiling along the wall, not all of it was going through the hole underneath though and he could spy a few half formed Baba along the edge.
They move onto the platform, hoping to find what has been causing the excess of the mist. They don't stop until they're at the top. Most of the floor there is walled off aside from two doorways both already opened. Some mist was clearly seeping out of the right, but right as Sky ventures towards it a shrill reverberates throughout the room. From their left.
Soon the knight makes quick work of the mist revealing another shadow beast, larger than the previous ones. It has a huge stamp for a face, not unlike the sigil adorning the building. It's shape is vaguely like that of a hylian, though it is a bit lumpy even ignoring the claws and hairlike tendrils from behind the oversized mask-face. It shrills again, this time getting up and facing down the Blade of Evil's Bane.
"Wait!"
Before Sky can turn to see who decides now was a good time to yell at him he has already been tackled down to the floor.
Staring back at him is Twilight's panicked face.
"Don't hurt him!" he pleads, "that's a Twili transformed by the mist. Like we were. Please just hold out the Mastersword and he'll return to normal as we did."
Sky glances over the beast, which is when he notices this room is more of a hallway, though it doesn't lead to anything aside from the shadow creature, still tense but as safe a distance they're gonna get in this cramped space. Sky isn't sure whether to take it as proof of the things innocence or if gleam of the sharp swords and arrowheads of his companions are holding it at bay.
But there's little reason not to try.
So the Hero of the Skies acquiesces and motions for the Hero of Twilight that he can get off now~. He gets up, lets Fi work her magic and lo and behold she does shine brighter. The creature merely huddles in the corner as if hoping to escape through a crevice, shrilling as light starts to beams off of it. Gingerly the Hero moves closer, but the creature does not otherwise react, perhaps it knows there is no escape. Finally, the shrilling turns to a bloodcurdling scream as the light envelopes the creature completely and the underneath changes shape.
"Is that really what it looks like when we... ?" Hyrule doesn't finish the thought. He doesn't need to.
"Yup." Sky doesn't exactly expect to join a chorus when he says it, but it doesn't surprise him that Twilight, Legend and Time make up the rest of it.
Bewildered, Hyrule turns towards the Twilight. "And you do this every time?" his features warring between concern and disbelief.
"You get used to it." Twilight states, though Time's subsequent eyeroll does little to affirm the dismissal.
"What happened?" a garbled voice asks. It must be a twili. He looks strange, his sides are still black but seems more like a garb than skin, instead across his belly is a grayish blue, his face is the same and adorned by red eyes, thin lips and an almost flat nose with the barest hints of orange hair before it too is hidden by the black. Compared to even the races of the Surface and across time, this one looked clearly otherworldly, but that didn't mean this one meant any harm.
It is Twilight who answers the question. "You were transformed by the mist, something seems to have caused whatever's releasing it to go haywire."
Facing the now kneeling rancher the twili's eyes turn wild. "You! Hylian, you're not from here. Are you the hero?"
Twilight blinks. "I'm the one that helped saved this Realm, yes," he says, turning towards the rest of them, "but my companions are just as deserving of that title."
"You could say we're cut from the same cloth." Four chimes in.
"Or kindred spirits." Legend can't resist but add.
Wind finishes it, "like nine peas in a pod," because such is the Law of the Seas, apparently.
The local doesn't seem approve of their antics He returns his attention to Twilight. "So you've returned," he affirms, "but how? The Queen said She had destroyed the mirror."
His face turns downcast. "We followed a dangerous entity that can move between realms," he answers, "i fear you may have been a victim of it, but that thing doesn't appear to be here anymore."
For a moment, the twili looks beyond them. Sky can't help but follow his gaze through the doorway. he speaks. "It was so sudden," he mutters. Shaking his head he continues: "A strange storm of the Waste came over the tower. The Source reacted poorly and the tower became overrun with the Waste as well. I isolated the tower and sealed myself in. But something pried open the doors. When the Waste blew inside, there was no escape..." He stands up. "How long have i been Changed?"
Twilight puts a hand on his slim shoulder. "Two days at most." he answers, before elaborating: "We entered the Realm only yesterday ourselves and those portals aren't meant to remain open for long." he flicks away a strand of hair from his markings. "It's unlikely there'll be any lasting changes."
The twili lets his head fall back. "Good," he says, "I'll go about stabilizing the core and release the island from isolation. In the meantime, would you please warn the rest of the Realm? I can warp you to the palace if you wish."
Twilight smile went so wide, Sky forgot the Realm didn't have a sun.
"Thank you," he replies, "but please let us help clearing the tower first."