Chapter 9
"I think we should leave today," Twilight announced.
"What?" The sailor dropped his fork with a clatter. "But we just got here!"
"Yeah, it's nice," 'Rule agreed. "We haven't had a break like this in a while."
"Don't you want to spend more time with your family?" Sky wondered, frowning deeply at the notion of Twilight being separated from his home village so soon.
"It's not that," Twilight objected. "I just—the storm the other night. It did a lot of damage. We don't normally have storms like that here."
"You think it was connected to The Shadow?" Warrior queried, his half-eaten stack of pancakes all but forgotten.
Green pushed the remains of his own breakfast around his plate. Shadow had been a dream—a nightmare. Nothing more.
Twilight shrugged. "Maybe."
"Pup, not to dismiss your claim, but we haven't seen any evidence that this evil can manipulate the weather."
"We haven't seen any that it can't either, Time," Twilight argued. "I don't want to take that risk."
"I'm fine with moving out," Warrior mentioned.
"We never get a break anyway," Legend drawled, twirling his glass of juice lackadaisically in the air before taking a sip.
"I'd like to see more of your Hyrule," Wild added with an optimistic grin. His support was practically a given. The champion wasn't accustomed to laid-back village life, and it showed in the way he never sat still. Even now, eating his own fill of breakfast, the champion bounced his leg.
Time sighed. "Resting a bit longer would be preferable." Green didn't miss the way the eldest hero's single eye drifted to him. Oh no. None of that.
"I'm ready to go whenever." Sitting idle never did appeal to him. He would much rather be doing something than nothing. Besides, Twilight's senses were typically correct. If he suspected the storm was unnatural, then there was a good chance it was unnatural. Even if Time was right, and it was just paranoia well then…so what? One could never be too careful in their line of work. There were always people that needed help. Monsters that needed slaying. They couldn't do any of that lounging around Twi's hometown.
"What about the others?" Sky worried. "Are they okay with leaving?"
"I wanna stay at Twi's a little longer."
"We should take another day off."
"If the village isn't safe, then let's leave."
"They're fine with it," Green said without really taking the time to process any of the noise in his brain.
"Green, we really should stay at least another day."
"Oh, can it, Vio. It's fine."
"Are you sure?"
He struggled to keep the scowl off his face. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's just that you guys had a hard time the other night—"
"Every one of us has hard nights sometimes, Sky. That doesn't mean we aren't fit to travel," Green asserted. He'd just had a nightmare and freaked out. That was it. At least, that was all he allowed himself to believe it was because anything else…well, there couldn't be any other explanation. But just in case he was having the others stay close. He could feel them now. Vio's tranquility, Red's brightness, Blue's discontent.
"Point taken," Time consented with a dip of his head. But everyone's eyes crawled across Green's skin like so many multi-legged creatures. They didn't believe him.
Time pressed on anyway, pretending he did. "If we do leave, where would you have us go, Twilight?"
"Queen Zelda. With how many patrols she always has walking around, I'd be surprised if she didn't know something."
Wind perked up. "We get to go to the castle?"
"The queen lives in the castle, so yes," Twilight confirmed with a soft smile.
"Awesome! When do we leave?"
Warrior chuckled. "You're eager for not wanting to leave in the first place."
"Well, I didn't know we were going to the castle."
As breakfast wore on, Wind continued to gush about Hyrule Castle, but Green couldn't bring himself to share his friend's excitement. He'd visited the Hyrule Castle in his era enough times to know there was nothing fascinating about it. Frankly, he found the castle's never-ending hallways and frill-filled rooms suffocating. That was why he elected to live at the smithy with his grandfather instead of in the castle barracks with his father. Hopefully Twilight's Zelda would point them in the right direction, and they could go on their merry way without having to spend the night.
Wild's restlessness must have been contagious because Green found his own leg bouncing, then his fingers spinning and spinning and spinning the fork in his hand while he chewed. Anything to give him the sensation of moving, of being productive.
It felt like a century and a day before the dishes were cleared away and cleaned and everyone packed up, ready to go. Only when Green's feet hit the road, did he begin to feel a semblance of peace.
"Where are you going?"
Red's question halted Vio in his tracks. He had been hoping to escape unnoticed.
"I'll be back," he pledged.
"That's not what he asked," Blue said, eyes narrowed as he stomped closer. His blue-clothed brother knew exactly where he was going, and he didn't have to say a word for Vio to be aware of his displeasure. Nonetheless, Blue voiced it. "You're going to see Shadow."
Red bounced over, giddy and bright. Too bright. "Can I come?"
"No one's going," Blue snarled before Vio could utter a word. "We're all staying here."
"I thought you didn't want to stay here." Vio recalled. "Something about Green not being the boss of you?"
"Green isn't the boss of me. I'm staying here because I feel like it, and you're staying too." Blue grabbed his wrist in a crushing fist.
Vio didn't even flinch. His nerve-endings were numb here. "I don't see why I need to stay if you two are here."
"Because Green might need your stupid brain, moron."
"I'm sure if he needs something, the two of you can figure it out. You have brains of your own, after all, and two heads are better than one."
Blue spluttered for a response that wouldn't label him as an idiot, and Vio took the opportunity to reclaim his appendage.
"I'm going to check on him; that's all."
Vio took a step back, but Blue captured his forearm. This grip was even more bone-crushing than the last. "You don't need to check on him. No one does. Let him rot in that cave; it'll serve him right. He shouldn't even be here anyway."
Vio clasped Blue's arm just as tightly, tugging him forward so they were nose-to-nose, narrowed eye to narrowed eye. "That attitude is the exact reason why I need to check on him. He has just as much a right to be here as the rest of us."
"Not when he hurts us, he doesn't!" Blue shouted.
"It was an accident."
"Where's your proof?!"
"If you'll let me go, I'll get it." The words hissed between his teeth, and Vio wondered how Blue could stand it, being angry all the time. This tense, twisting feeling in his gut was enough to make him feel sick. It was like slivers of white hot metal winding around his insides and squeezing tighter and tighter until all he wanted to do was scream.
Red wriggled between them. His presence loosened the coils of metal in Vio's chest just enough for him to take a much needed breath. He released his brother, but Blue only held on tighter.
"Stop it!" Red implored. "Blue, let him go. It's fine. I'll stay here with you and Green."
"Don't you get it?!" Blue rounded on Red, causing the boy to shrink back into Vio. "If he goes, we might never see him again! Shadow could take him captive, and then we won't even be able to rescue him because we can't get in that stupid cave!"
"Blue," Vio hadn't seen it before, but his hot-headed brother was just as frightened as Green. He was simply hiding it better, stacking on a hotter emotion to mask it. But Vio could see straight through the steam. "That won't happen. I can leave anytime I want, just like last time."
"No, last time you were lucky!" Blue retorted. "Last time Shadow wasn't aware of what he could do, and now he is, and…and you are not going to that cave. No one is! It's off limits."
"That isn't for you to decide." Vio couldn't abandon Shadow. Not again.
"Green agrees with me," Blue shot back. "I know he does. He wouldn't have ordered us all to stay close otherwise, so it's two to one. You're outvoted. No one goes to the cave."
"But what if Shadow does need—" Red tried but Blue cut him off with a roar.
"He doesn't need anything!"
Red frowned. The expression looked wrong on his face, like a blemish. But he wore it bravely as he stuck his chin in the air to address Blue. "I don't agree. I think Shadow will get lonely all by himself."
"I don't care."
"I care."
"You're an idiot then," Blue snapped. He relinquished Vio's arm with a furious shove. "You both are. But go ahead! Be idiots. Get lost. Don't say I didn't warn you."
He stomped back into the sanctuary proper, leaving Red and Vio in his wake.
Vio took a moment to watch his brother glare at the blurry images of travel in the cascading water as if they had personally wronged him. Then he turned on his heel. Shadow had been alone long enough.
A tug on his sleeve stopped him. It was much gentler than Blue's grasp had been, and though Vio could have easily torn out of the hold, he didn't.
"Red?"
"Don't…you—I-I don't agree with Blue but…" Red raised his teary eyes to meet Vio's. "I don't want you to leave either."
"I won't be long," Vio said. "I'll try not to be."
"Can I come with you?"
Gently, Vio pried Red's fingers loose. "Apologies but you can't enter the cave."
"I know but…if I just—just sit outside. Won't that be okay?"
Perhaps it would be. Perhaps Shadow wouldn't be scared of Red because Red was so kind and loving and willing to help. But all that warmth, that brightness, could be overwhelming, and the last thing Shadow needed right now was to be overwhelmed.
"I think it will be best if I'm the only one that goes. Shadow was really scared last time I saw him. You don't want to scare him more, do you?"
"No, but…" Red sniffed, wiping a sleeve across his leaking nose. "What if you lose track of time again and don't come back for a really long time? Or…or ever?"
Vio grasped his brother by the shoulders, waiting to make sure Red was looking at him before speaking. "Red, I'm going to come back. I promise. I'll try to keep better track of time, but I need to talk to Shadow. I can't leave him by himself."
Red nodded, but that out-of-place frown remained on his tear-streaked face.
"I need you to stay with Blue and Green. Look after them until I get back. Can you do that for me?"
"Mmhmm."
Vio pulled Red into a secure embrace and didn't break it until Red did.
"I'll be back soon. A couple hours at the most," he pledged before setting off for the mountains. They rose just as tall and fog-filled as before, but they weren't imposing this time. Now they were just sad, their largeness more akin to a puffed up cat than a ferocious giant.
Vio trailed the Great Tree's shadow, letting it guide him to the cave. He refused to believe Shadow wasn't supposed to be here. Why else would the world accommodate him like this? Give him a place of his own where he could feel safe, or at least, somewhat? Even the Great Tree acknowledged him, using its significant berth to shield his hiding place from the harsh light of the sun. The only ones in denial of Shadow's existence were Blue and Green. He would have to change that. But one problem at a time.
As he came to the mouth of the cave, he reminded himself that he was one person, and could, therefore, only reasonably fix a single issue at once.
The mouth of the cave was the kind of dark Vio imagined only existed in the deepest depths of the ocean. It was all consuming, a wall of spilled ink, and yet Vio wasn't afraid as he crossed the threshold, and a film of black blotted out his vision.
Before he hadn't been expecting it. This time, he chose it.
Heavy, smoke-filled breathing met his ears first. The dragon. He sensed its presence somewhere to his right and reached out a timid hand in thanks for allowing him passage. Nothing met his open palm, but he wasn't surprised. Time was warped here. Why not space as well?
Sniffles and hitched breaths drifted into his ears next, faint and muffled. Shadow. There was no telling how far or how close he was. As much as Vio wanted to comfort Shadow, he wanted to keep his promise to Red as well. That was why Vio only shuffled a four steps farther into the void before quietly calling for his friend.
The sounds of distress cut off abruptly, and as the seconds ticked by with no response, Vio began to wonder if he'd scared off the already petrified boy.
Shadow assured him that wasn't the case when he tackled Vio, sending them both to the floor. He didn't mind. The fall hadn't hurt and even if it had, the trembling mess in his arms blubbering "Vio, Vio, Vio" like it was some kind of magic word to ward off evil, would have made him forget it in half a heartbeat.
"I'm here. I'm here, Shadow. Shh, it's okay. Everything's alright," Vio soothed, sitting up and wrapping his arms more securely around the boy. He was frigid to the touch, just like he'd been in life. Vio knew from experience there was no hope of warming him, but he ran a hand up and down Shadow's back anyway. The friction generated plenty phantom heat in his own palm and yet Shadow remained cold as ice. More disturbingly, he didn't push him away or tell him to stop. Didn't call him weird or a nerd. Not like he used to when Vio first touched him and tried to chase away the permanent chill. He simply sobbed.
Shadow had never cried. Not like this. His sadness had manifested itself in contorted facial expressions and hard, misty eyes. But this new reaction didn't mean he wasn't Shadow. He was just scared. He'd died and come back to life, and he didn't even have his own body aside from the one inside their shared mind. Such an ordeal would reduce anyone to a sobbing mess.
Vio kept Shadow entangled in a firm embrace and continued to mumble empty reassurances, knowing any attempt at conversation with Shadow in this state would fail spectacularly.
Even so, after a couple minutes he decided to get the discussion moving anyway. If each minute here equaled an hour then he'd already been gone for at least three, and he hadn't solved anything yet. Maybe if they could talk outside of the cave, the time difference would be reduced or even nullified.
The thought invigorated him. "Hey, Shadow? Do you think we can talk outside?"
It was a rather vacuous question considering Shadow could scarcely speak at the moment, but it was worth a shot.
Shadow burrowed his head deeper into Vio's shoulder, and he thought that answered the question well enough. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to give up. He drew in a deep, even breath and hoped Shadow could glean some solace from it.
"It's just that I can't see you," Vio said. "I'd like to. I haven't seen you in so long."
"I ca-can see—see y-you," Shadow rasped, voice thick.
He chuckled a little at that. "I know you can. But I can't see in the dark. Remember?"
"Oh…I-I couldn't…couldn't see," Shadow whimpered.
Vio furrowed his brow. "When?"
"I—when I—t-the bad—" A sob choked off his next words and though Shadow kept speaking, Vio couldn't understand any of it.
He returned to rubbing Shadow's back. There was no way Vio could push him to move outside. Not when he was this torn up. "Okay, that's okay. It's alright." Hopefully being close to the cave's entrance would be enough to keep Vio's time away from the rest to a minimum.
Vio waited until Shadow's cries had died down to sniffles before speaking again. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I-I dunno," Shadow mumbled.
"You left the cave."
The statement was supposed to be nudge in the right direction, but it must have been more forceful than Vio realized because Shadow shot out of his arms. Glowing red eyes were Vio's only indicator that Shadow hadn't retreated completely. "I didn't mean to!"
He held out his arms, inviting Shadow to fall back into them. "I know you didn't."
"Then why'd you leave? Why weren't you here when I came back?"
"Because I was trying to find you, to bring you back here. You beat me to it."
Shadow seemed satisfied with that because he burrowed back into Vio's embrace, clutching him like he was afraid one of them was about to disappear again. Vio held him just as tightly. "What happened when you left? Can you tell me?"
Shadow sniffed. "Bad things."
"What kind of bad things?"
"There…there was light a-an-and…"
"Take your time," Vio encouraged him. "It's okay. You're with me now. You're safe."
It took a plethora of similar reassurements before Shadow spoke again. "I went to the Bad Place again."
"Again?" So his suspicions were correct. Shadow had been out more than once.
Shadow nodded against his chest.
"What's in the…the Bad Place?" Vio couldn't help wincing as he said it. He desperately wanted to correct Shadow but he didn't want to risk the boy clamming up. There was no use in correcting Shadow about technical terms at the moment. For now, Vio would play along.
"Light." Shadow whimpered. "It burns."
"You're here with me in the dark," Vio reminded him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "There's no light."
"But there is there."
"What else is there?" Vio asked. He didn't want Shadow to get hung up on the light thing.
"The banging creature and…" Shadow shuddered. "…he-heroes." He uttered the word the same way a terrified child would utter monsters when asked what was in their closet. "They were going to hurt me…"
"What made you think that?" Vio kept his own voice soft, barely above a whisper so as not to startle Shadow.
"The lights and they yelled and they had weapons and they chased me. And then…then I saw you."
"Me?"
"Link," Shadow amended. "In the mirror, and I thought they trapped you there because you were friends with me, so I tried to get you out because I know how awful Dark Mirrors are so Light Mirrors couldn't be any better but..." Shadow took a shuddering breath before continuing. "But I couldn't. I broke it but you weren't there. Then they thought I was you because I looked like you but my powers weren't working, so I don't even know how. A-and…and I don't wa-want—want to go back."
Shadow began to cry in full again, and Vio let him, rubbing his back and running his fingers through his hair. He understood exactly what had happened now. Shadow breaking the mirror had been intentional, but it was for a noble reason. Did that make it right? No. Of course not. But from Shadow's perspective, the real world sounded like a nightmare so he couldn't exactly blame the boy for his reaction.
Nonetheless, Vio had to ensure it never happened again.
"That place you went to," he began, "it's not a bad place. Those heroes weren't trying to hurt you. They would never hurt you."
"Yes they will," Shadow insisted.
"Why?"
"Because I'm bad. That's why I go to the Bad Place."
Vio sighed. "Shadow, you're not bad. You're a hero, too, remember? You sacrificed yourself for us. You destroyed Ganon."
Shadow shook his head. "It wasn't enough."
"It was," Vio insisted. "It had to be because you're back. You're not dead anymore."
"Yes, I am. I'm dead and you are too and—" Shadow's words hitched on sorrow, and Vio took the opportunity to correct him.
"No one is dead. We're both very much alive. It's just that we're sharing a body now."
"I have my own body," Shadow mumbled, wriggling in Vio's arms to prove it. He squeezed Vio tighter. "So do you."
"Yes, in this place we do," he confirmed. "This is the inside world; it exists in our shared mind. But there's an outside world too, the real world, and there we share a body."
Vio couldn't see Shadow, but he could imagine his frown as Shadow pushed out of his hold to regard him with gleaming red eyes. "No, we don't. I'm me." An icicle jabbed into Vio's arm. "And you're you. We can't share a mind because then we'd be hearing each other's thoughts, and we're not so we can't."
"Well…" Vio trailed off, both impressed with Shadow's reasoning and irritated by it because there was little he could say to refute it. Technically, all of that was true in the inner world, but it wasn't in the outside world—not all the time. Yet it was clear Vio couldn't begin to speak of the real world and their shared body when Shadow was still struggling to wrap his head around the concept of the inner world.
To Shadow, this place was reality, so Vio needed to convince him it wasn't. He knew exactly how to do that, too.
"I can prove it to you," he said, getting to his feet and holding out a hand for Shadow to take. "I can prove this place isn't as real as you think, but you have to come outside the cave—"
Shadow's eyes became a fine line of crimson as he furiously shook his head. "No! It's too bright."
Vio glanced back at where he recalled the entrance being. It was a slightly less all-encompassing black. Less like an inkwell and more like a sheer curtain of ebony. "I'm going to make it dark."
Twin crimson orbs winked on and off in response.
He smiled, knowing Shadow could see it, and stepped towards the exit.
"Don't go!" Shadow begged, icy limbs wrapping around Vio's arm.
"I'm not leaving," Vio said, giving Shadow's arm a reassuring squeeze. He simply wanted to make sure he knew where the exit was. All he had to do was take a couple steps back. Then he would be outside. The inside of the cave was better for his purposes anyway. Its permanent darkness was more than enough to inspire visions of nighttime. With the deep navy night imprinted in his mind's eye, Vio imagined a sky splattered with twinkling stars and a waning moon shedding just enough light to let shadows roam free and fearless.
He pictured people and birds bedding down for the night, while nocturnal creatures and critters awoke, stretching limbs and wings alike as they crawled out of their shadowed homes.
Once Vio could hear the chirping of crickets and the hooting of a far-off owl, he took a step back.
Shadow stumbled after him, if only because he was too frightened to let go. "V-Vio."
"It's okay." He took another step back, feeling cool air cup his neck. "I made it nighttime."
"You didn't," Shadow refuted, digging his heels into the ground. "It's day."
"Not anymore." With that, Vio heaved both himself and Shadow out of the cave. The sudden return of his sight was jarring, and Vio found himself blinking rapidly at the shock of it. Fortunately, he recovered quickly. The moonlight wasn't that harsh. He'd made sure of it.
Honestly, as Vio cast his gaze to the sky, he couldn't help being impressed. Manifesting objects was one thing, but changing the world in such a drastic way was another. It was impossible, to be frank. Hopefully, Shadow thought the same.
Like him, Shadow squinted in the moonlight, shrinking away from the moon and the stars but as Vio studied him, he could tell the boy wasn't afraid of the celestial bodies. The way his eyes widened in wonder as they adjusted were a tell-tale sign.
"See?" he said. "No light."
Shadow's brow creased. "But it was just…wasn't it?"
"It was. But I turned it to night."
"How?"
"I wanted it to be that way, so I thought about it and made it so."
A skeptical frown stole over Shadow's face. "I'm not a light dweller but even I know that's not how day-night cycles work."
Vio chuckled. "You're right. In reality, they don't work like that, but here they can. That's what I've been trying to tell you. This world is not the real world. It's a world inside our mind. We can bend the rules."
"Even me?"
"Yes."
The skeptical frown remained.
"What do you want to change?" Vio prodded gently a few minutes later. Shadow had released him, and the duo now sat amongst the rocks and the fog.
The shadow being took a moment to contemplate his answer before speaking. "I want…how old are you?"
He blinked, uncomprehending. Had he missed something? Even if he had, Vio thought it in his best interest to answer. As long as he kept Shadow talking, it was a success. "I'm sixteen."
"Is that a lot more since last time we saw each other?"
"It's been a lifetime," he wanted to say because that's how it felt. However, that wasn't the truth. "It's been four years."
"Is that a lot?"
A wan smile touched his lips. Of course Shadow wouldn't measure time the same way humans did. "Kind of."
"That's why your hair is longer? And your outfit is different?" Shadow wondered.
"Yes," he confirmed, taking in Shadow's own appearance for the first time. He looked exactly as Vio remembered him, a juxtaposition of Vio's own appearance at twelve. "That's why."
"Okay." With that, Shadow changed before Vio's eyes. His deep purple hair lengthened to his chin and his basic tunic and undershirt transformed into a black copy of Vio's own outfit. The details themselves were sparse, but then again, Shadow never had been one for decoration. It was a marvel that the little Ezlo ornament on the end of his hat made it, though Vio noted it was silver, not gold, as Shadow tugged the hood up and over his head.
He stood. "How do I look?"
"Perfect." Vio reported.
Shadow scoffed. "Nothing's ever perfect to you. Be serious. Did I miss something? I can't tell. Usually it helps if I can look at a mirro—"
Shadow paled, lips prematurely clamping shut, and Vio didn't blame him. Not after all he'd been through.
"There's a lake," Vio mentioned kindly. "You can use that."
Shadow scuffed a dark boot across the rough ground. "How far is it?"
"We could walk, but your dragon would be faster," Vio mused.
Shadow perked up, a gleam of excitement in his eye as he rushed to the mouth of the cave and called for his dragon in a slippery foreign tongue. The creature had a name, but Vio couldn't pronounce it for the life of him. He would need a special dragon-grade jabber nut to do so. Provided such a thing existed, of course, which he wasn't confident it did.
Fortunately, there was no reason for that since Shadow could speak the dragon language fluently. He coaxed the armor-scaled creature out of the cave and floated up to take a seat on its back.
Even with the dragon laying on its belly for his benefit, Vio had to do quite a bit of climbing to reach its back. Shadow held out a hand to hoist him up, and Vio took it, basking in the nostalgia despite himself as Shadow pulled him up to sit behind him.
Once they were both situated, the dragon beat its great leathery wings, and they took to the night sky.
"That change you did was fast," Vio said with a proud smile as they circled over the mountains, presumably so Shadow's dragon could get its bearings. "I didn't even have to teach you."
"Of course you didn't." He could hear the smirk in Shadow's voice and was reassured by it. This was the Shadow he knew. "I know how to make a shade. It's easy magic."
Vio's carefree expression fell. "What you just did wasn't magic."
"Then what was it?" Shadow tested him.
"It was…" Vio trailed off. He didn't know what to call it, but it certainly wasn't magic.
"I think I know what magic feels like, Vio."
"But don't you need to maintain such spells?" he tried, leaning forward as far as he dared to peer over Shadow's shoulder and catch his eye. "It's draining, right? Plus, you need a power source and—"
"Vio, what are you trying to say?" Shadow's tone was much less jovial than before. Dangerous—no—anxious. Scared.
He swallowed thickly. Shadow couldn't be using magic because his power source was gone. He had destroyed it himself. But was reminding Shadow of that fact worth it? He couldn't utter the word "mirror" without retreating into himself. If Vio mentioned it, Shadow might shut down again. He might revert back to that demure, weeping ghost in the cave, and Vio did not want that.
"Nothing." He laid his forehead against Shadow's chilly back, letting his eyes slip closed. He would find a different way to prove the truth. "It's nothing."
Evening exploded into being like a bomb, chucking shadows and stardust every which way.
A swear tumbled from Blue's mouth, and he barely noticed Red latching onto his arm. He was too busy scanning the immediate area for the culprit. But no matter how much he strained his eyes in the darkness, nothing presented itself.
That didn't mean much when dealing with Shadow, he knew. Sneaky demon could blend into the dark. He could disguise himself as anyone, too, and Blue would have suspected the boy hanging off his arm if not for the fact that Red had summoned a fire rod and was now clutching it to his chest like his life depended on it. The amber light cast dramatic shadows on Red's face, exaggerating his already fearful expression.
Any other time, Blue might have teased him for being such a scaredy-cat, but this time Red's fear was warranted. There was a lot to worry about. Darn it. He should never have let Vio run off!
Blue tsked, willing a flickering lantern into his own hand. Red relaxed a little at the extra light.
But only a little.
The waterfall picture was predictably unclear, but he could just see the way the image tilted down and to the side. Green had picked up on their distress. The barely audible whisper that rustled the treetops confirmed it. "What?"
"Nothing!" Red exclaimed, voice higher than usual and tinny with false cheer. "Everything's A-okay!"
Wow, he couldn't sound less convincing if he tried.
"Vio's an idiot is what's happening," Blue growled. He swiveled on his heel and began to stomp off, lantern swinging.
"Wait!" Red hissed, hurrying after him and obviously trying to keep his voice down so Green didn't hear. "Don't do anything rash."
"I'll do whatever I want."
"Just…it might be an accident!" Red insisted.
He scoffed and jabbed a finger at the dark sky without breaking stride. "That look like an accident to you?"
"I'm serious! Maybe Vio was teaching Shadow—"
"He shouldn't be teaching that monster anything," Blue snapped.
"Shadow's not a monster, Blue..."
"He is if he's hurting us and messing with our head," Blue retorted. "What? Do you think that he's just going to turn it back to day in a few hours? No, he's going to keep it dark because he's a dark being, and they live to smother light."
"But Shadow's not like that."
"How do you know? Were you buddy-buddy with him like Vio?"
"Well, no, but—"
"Just buzz off. Go back to the Sanctuary and protect Green." If Red's facial expression crumpled with hurt, Blue didn't see it. His gaze was locked on the distant mountains where a dark shape circled above the jagged peaks. That confirmed it; Shadow was loose.
He began to run, conjuring up an image of a dragon of his own. But no matter how much detail he poured into the beast, it remained nonexistent. Stupid inner world!
Or maybe it wasn't the inside world's fault at all. Maybe it was just Shadow's. The more Blue rolled the thought over in his mind, the more sure he became. Shadow had sunk his claws in deep. Now darkness was spreading like a plague, infecting everything it came in contact with. It wouldn't be long before it infected them, too. Not unless he did something.
Maintaining his pace, Blue tore all thoughts of light to the forefront. He imagined he sun, blazing bright and blinding in a cerulean sky. He imagined warmth on his skin and the tweeting of birds announcing the day and blossoms revealing their soft-petaled faces to the sun.
And as he pushed, the sky began to lighten at the edges, fire catching on the edge of a page. Hope surged in his chest.
But it didn't last.
The darkness snapped back into place, leaving Blue sputtering along with his lantern. He wasn't one to give up so easily, however. This was not Shadow's domain. It was Green's. It was Red's. It was Vio's.
It was his.
Reclaiming it, unfortunately, proved to be a problem. Blue couldn't force much more than a lightening of the horizon before the curtain of night fell back in full. Clearly, he had to deal with the source if he wanted to rectify the wrong.
He knew exactly where Shadow was going, too. The dragon was a rather large indicator.
Blue narrowed its destination down to the lake, though it arrived far sooner than he did, being a dragon and all. Stranger still, it returned to the air shortly after landing, angling itself towards the mountains. Between the dark and the distance, Blue couldn't make out if there were figures aboard its back. Nonetheless, he resolved to pass by the lake anyway. Just in case. If Shadow wasn't there, he would definitely be at the cave, and thanks to the dragon Blue had a direction.
Physical exertion didn't feel the same here as it did in reality. Blue could run forever without his muscles protesting or his lungs begging for air. This, he found, was a wonderful thing if only because it meant when he finally reached the lake, he did not have to delay expressing his disapproval for something as trivial as catching his breath.
There was plenty of breath to work with, and Blue elected to use it to yell. "Change it back!"
Both Shadow's and Vio's heads snapped up at his shout. Shadow's appearance only added heat to the already boiling pot. He looked exactly like them, and it was wrong. It was wrong because Shadow couldn't know what they looked like. He'd died forever ago. They'd grown up. The real Shadow had no way of knowing that. This Shadow could only be a fake, an imposter sent by evil to invade and tear apart their already fragile mind. Well, Blue wasn't going to let anything get away with such a wicked scheme.
His hands were already balled into fists. Coupled with his momentum, it took zero effort to draw back his arm and punch Shadow in the face.
Of course, he only remembered that attacking a shadow being was never that simple when his fist had already phased through Shadow's shocked features. They swiftly transformed into an expression of perplexed outrage. Good. Maybe now Vio could see this monster for what it was.
Vio shouted at him to wait, but there was no waiting. He'd let Shadow roam free for too long. Had enabled Vio to let him. And now look what had happened!
"Change it back!" Blue bellowed once more, swinging his lantern in Shadow's personal space this time. He was rewarded with a pained hiss. Encouraged, Blue swung the lantern again, willing it to burn brighter, to eradicate that which did not belong. "You're not welcome here."
"Blue, stop!" Vio shouted as Shadow cowered away from the light. His form was fading into wisps of darkness leaving only narrowed coals of eyes behind, but Blue knew better than to regard it as a victory. The fight was far from over.
Especially since Vio insisted on being an oblivious nuisance, halting his arm before he could attack again. Vio was supposed to be the smart one. How could he not see how wrong this was? There were supposed to be four of them. Four swords, four heroes. There was no room for another. Maybe there could have been if Shadow had lived, but he hadn't. He'd died and one thing Blue knew for certain was that the dead did not come back to life.
"Vio, let go, you numbskull!" The two grappled with the lantern, one willing it to blaze brighter, the other willing it to disappear. Neither succeeded completely. "He's going to plunge our entire mind into darkness if you don't let go!"
"He will not," Vio argued, tugging particularly hard on the lantern and nearly unbalancing Blue. Growling, Blue tightened his grip. Vio was not winning this.
"Did you not see what he did to the sky?"
"He didn't do that! I did!"
Shock startled Blue into letting go and the lantern flew into Vio's hands. It popped out of existence almost immediately, plunging them into true darkness. "You—why?!"
Vio drew in a breath to explain but something tackled Blue from behind. He slammed into the ground hard enough to bruise as a weight settled atop his back and claws sent pinpricks of tingling pain through his shoulders.
"Shadow, no!"
Shadow dug his claws in deeper, heedless of Vio's shout. Of course he didn't listen. Monsters could not be controlled. But they could be defeated.
Materializing a blade of fire in his hand, Blue stabbed over his shoulder. The wounded hiss and lack of weight on his back signified his success, and Blue scrambled to his feet.
No sooner had he done so than did a ball of frigid darkness slam into his spine. He gasped, feeling like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs and whirled around, his heart skittering around his chest like a frightened animal.
But he wasn't frightened. No. So what if he couldn't breathe? So what if it felt like millions of skeletal fingers were wrapping around his limbs, his chest, his throat? This wasn't as real as it felt. It was a trick meant to mess with him. He wasn't going to let it win. Blue brandished the flaming blade, beating back the dark with a spin attack. Shadow couldn't sneak up on him if he covered all sides.
Yet his blade met resistance not even halfway through his second spin, clanging against iron.
Vio's hardened expression met his over their locked swords. "Stop." His gaze drifted somewhere over Blue's shoulder and a chill skittered down his spine. "Both of you, stop."
But when Blue turned around it became all too clear that stopping wasn't an option. He had to crane his neck to see the shadow looming over him in full. The creature looked nothing like them anymore. It was a towering mass of black, tall and lanky with bloody pinpricks for eyes that bored into Blue's soul.
He wasn't afraid.
He disengaged his sword from Vio's and struck.
The darkness crashed over him like a wave, numbing his senses and extinguishing his light.
Howling screams and cutting shards of glass and a flash of light so bright it seared his retinas sent Blue reeling. But the worst part was the cold. It sucked all warmth from his body and left him frozen.
Literally.
He couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't breathe. Ice encased his entire body, but it didn't stop there. It crept down his mouth, crystalizing his lungs, his stomach, his heart until Blue could feel nothing but numb.
This, he knew, was death. He had been alone when that monster froze him, and he'd die alone too. No one would be out in such a nasty blizzard. And even if there were someone, even if, by some goddess-given miracle, they did happen upon the ice cave and him, they would only share his fate.
Stupid! How stupid he was for fighting with his brothers. How useless to be laid low by the first monster he encountered.
And now he would never get to make it up to them. Never get to right his wrongs because the ice had become him. He'd become the ice. A living ice sculpture but not for much longer. No. Already he could feel his consciousness slipping while his eyes remained stuck wide open. He could feel it in the weary ache in his temples, just behind his eyes.
A voice, faint and indistinguishable floated past his ears, but he was alone so it must have been a hallucination. His mind was already half asleep. He was dreaming while awake. It was the only explanation.
But then the voice came again, muffled, but clearer than before. Clear enough to snatch a syllable or two from the air as they drifted by. "-ow…bad!"
Like the snap of a string pulled too tight, the blue-black darkness lifted to reveal a star-speckled sky. Clear. No clouds. No snow. No blizzard.
"I…I'm bad?" Blue turned his head on a neck still stiff with frostbite to identify the speaker. Shadow.
He'd shrunk back to Hylian size, no longer a monster, but a child. The way he huddled into himself and constantly shifted his wounded gaze from the ground to Vio, Vio to the ground, stirred pity in Blue's heart. But it was quickly snuffed out by the shivers that wracked his frame.
This creature was not something to be pitied. It had attacked him! This was nothing but an act!
The way Vio fidgeted and stammered multiple stops and starts proved his brother's stupidity. Fortunately, Blue was there to take care of it.
He heaved himself upright on shaky limbs. "That's right," Blue rasped. Every breath felt like swallowing ice shards and speaking only made it worse, but Blue pressed on. He cleared his throat and raised his voice as if that would warm him. "You're bad, so get lost! I never want to see your face here ever again! If I do, I'll kill you."
With a barely audible gasp, Shadow dissipated into wisps of smoke and streaked towards the mountains.
"You shouldn't have said that." Vio's sigh drew Blue's ire his way.
"Shut up! At least I said something!" He heaved for breath, forehead creased in the most severe expression he could muster. No matter how loudly or how much he shouted, it lacked fire. Even his expression fell short, numb. He could feel it, the way his muscles refused to cooperate. Almost like they were stuck.
Frozen.
No. Stop.
Blue pressed the heels of his hands hard into his eyes, hoping that would inspire warmth. But his palms were frigid. Ice lined his eyelashes, dripped down his cheeks. He was freezing.
"Blue, are you alright?"
He whipped his too-cold hands away from his face to glare at his violet-clad brother. "I was just attacked. What do you think, brainiac?!"
The concern on Vio's face assured Blue he hadn't missed the way Blue's voice shook. "What happened? What did he do?"
"Blue!" Red barreled into him before he could fully register his brother's presence, much less answer Vio. Normally he would push Red away, but this time he welcomed the contact. It meant he wasn't alone and freezing to death.
"Why are you here? You're supposed to be with Green." He tried for stern but didn't quite manage it. Even if he had, Red was close enough to feel his trembling, so it wouldn't have mattered.
"Green's fine. You're not," Red pulled away to look him in the eye, and Blue resisted the urge to pull him back into a hug. "Where are you hurt?"
"I'm not hurt," he mumbled. "Jus' cold."
Red handed him the fire rod he was clutching. The object produced heat and yet Blue could barely feel it. Perhaps sensing this, or just because he was him, Red enveloped him in a hug. Blue jerkily lifted his free hand to return it.
"What did Shadow do?" Vio asked again.
"I—i-it doesn't matter." He balled his trembling hands into fists and clutched both the fire-rod and Red closer. "The point is, he's dangerous."
"You provoked him."
"I—?!" Blue spluttered, whipping his head up to glare at Vio over Red's shoulder. "He provoked me!"
Vio raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "How?"
"By existing," he hissed.
"That's not a reasonable answer."
"Oh please! You're far from an expert on reasonable!" Blue shot back, disentangling himself from Red's hold. "There's no reason to change day to night!"
"You changed it?" Red piped up, confused.
Vio didn't even acknowledge him, too focused on convincing Blue of Shadow's supposed innocence. "There was. If you let me speak, I'll explain."
"Explain then!"
Red silently reattached himself to Blue's side, while Vio took a moment to compose himself. "I was trying to minimize my time away from the rest of you. To do that, I needed to be outside the cave, but I can't speak with Shadow outside if the sun is up because the light hurts him. At the same time, I was trying to show Shadow that this world is not reality with a demonstration."
"You could have picked a smaller demonstration!"
Vio considered this. "Perhaps, but—"
"And actually," Blue forged ahead, despite Vio's interjection, "you shouldn't have showed him anything! He doesn't belong here."
"Yet, he is here," Vio said, forever patient.
But Blue could see the tell-tale twitch of his left eye. He was growing irritated. Good. Maybe then he'd listen. Maybe then he'd hear Blue when he said, "It's wrong."
"What's so wrong about it?"
Blue threw out his arms to encompass the grand scope of the situation, nearly smacking Red in the face. "Everything! Vio, look, I know Shadow was your friend. Maybe he could have been a friend to the rest of us if he'd lived, but he didn't. He died and the dead don't come back so whatever that" he jabbed the fire-rod in the direction the monster left in, "is, it isn't Shadow."
"Shut up. Just…" Vio sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "Be quiet."
"Why? Because I'm right?"
"No."
"Because you don't want to hear the truth?" Blue pressed.
"No!" Vio snapped his gaze up to meet Blue's, determination to be right burning in his pupils. Because Vio always had to be right. Always. "You're spouting nonsense! Do you know why he broke that mirror?"
"Because he wanted to hurt us!"
"Because he wanted to save us."
Blue scoffed. "Where's your proof?"
"He told me so."
"He lied." That was this evil's game. Acting, lies, trickery. He may not have had to work hard on Vio's grief or Red's innate compassion, but Blue wouldn't be manipulated so easily. He refused to let his brothers be swayed like the hopeless idiots they were.
"He didn't lie," Vio insisted. "He got confused when he saw the body's reflection in the mirror. He thought it was similar to the Dark Mirror, and we were trapped there. He shattered it to release us."
"I don't believe that," Blue asserted, crossing his arms over his chest. Anyone could make up a story.
"I do," Red peeped.
"You shouldn't," he advised, frowning severely at his brother. "Before he turned into the shadow monster, he looked exactly like we do now, and that's impossible. The real Shadow would have no idea what we look like now. That thing is a fake."
Red's eyes grew teary at the prospect, and for once Blue was glad to see the waterworks. It meant Red believed him.
But of course Vio had to speak up and ruin it. "He's not a fake. He only looks like us because he saw me and wanted to match. Before that, he looked the same as the day he died."
Red perked up, wiping the remnants of water from his eyes. "Then he really is back!"
"No," Blue objected but he might as well not have said anything. Red's excitement was carrying him down a rabbit hole, and he couldn't hear a word Blue uttered.
"I want to thank him for helping us on our adventure. Wait, no, I want to hug him. No—I want to do both!" Red turned to Vio, hopeful. "Can you get him out of the cave again?"
Vio's expression hardened. "I can't guarantee anything. It was difficult enough the first time, and Blue certainly didn't help just now."
"I didn't—?! Excuse you! I just saved your sorry butt!" Blue roared. "But I guess I should just let him kill you next time, huh?"
Vio shook his head as if disappointed. "He's not going to kill me."
"He will. Maybe he'll leave you for last, but he will eventually kill all of us and that's why I'm going to kill him first." Blue took a heavy step towards the mountains, then stopped. But it wasn't because of Red's tightening arms around his midsection or a sudden change of heart. It was because phantom ice had frozen his feet to the ground.
"Don't do that!" Red cried as Blue fought off shivers.
"I have to." No one else had the guts to do it. His brothers were too soft.
And yet Blue remained immobile.
"No, you don't," Vio said. "Shadow's not going to hurt any of us, and I don't want to hear any more of this killing nonsense from your mouth."
Vio's admonishment nearly melted the frost from Blue's face. "Nonsense?! It's not nonsense! What's nonsense is you changing things to accommodate him!"
"But that makes sense," Red said. "It's only fair if Shadow's going to be living with us now. He should be comfortable, too."
"Red, did you not hear a single word I said? He's not Shadow!"
Red pouted. "Vio said he is."
"Vio's an idiot!"
"Vio's standing right here," Vio interjected calmly. "And in my opinion, you're the only vacuous one here, Blue. Shadow is scared and hurt and you making threats is only making it worse."
"I don't care! He doesn't belong here," Blue seethed.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but it's not going to change anything," Vio said. "He's staying."
"If that's the case then he's staying in that cave where he can't do anything to anyone." Blue retorted. Glaring pointedly at Vio, he jabbed a finger at the sky. "Change it back."
"If he changes it back to day then Shadow can't come out," Red lamented.
"Exactly." He narrowed his eyes at his purple-clad brother. "Do it, now."
"I don't take orders from you."
Blue threw Red off of him and marched over to Vio. He fisted the front of Vio's tunic, getting in his face. "You do now."
"Stop it!" Red forced himself between them. If Blue's fingers weren't so stiff and uncooperative he might have been able to resist, but as it was, Red easily separated the two of them. "Why don't we compromise? Instead of having it be night all the time or day all the time, we should make it even. Twenty four hours in a day so that means twelve hours of light and twelve hours of dark."
"That sounds fair," Vio agreed with a nod.
Blue threw his hands up, exasperated. "You're both morons!" With that, he stomped off, intent on disappearing into the forge he knew existed somewhere. He couldn't take the cold anymore.
"Blue—"
"Leave him. Let him cool off." Vio advised.
Cool off. Ha! He couldn't get warm. That Shadow look-alike had done something to him. No matter how much Blue shouted or how much he moved, his limbs remained frigid. Hopefully the light and warmth of the kiln could thaw this curse because Goddesses knew his brothers were useless.
YouTube Resources:
"Fictives and Factives" –The Entropy System
"Splitting - When a New Identity Forms" –The Entropy System