Chapter 12
Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and Red was very warm. Even better, no one was yelling, inside or out. Other than the group's footfalls and the soft sounds of nature, it was quiet. That was probably why the painful headache he'd fallen asleep with had disappeared, but Red didn't dwell on it too much. He was feeling good. Well, mostly. His stomach grumbled in discontent, but that was an easy fix.
As soon as Twi put him down—it took some time convincing him he really did feel alright and could walk—Red made a beeline for the cook.
"Wild, I'm hungry," he announced.
The corner of Wild's mouth quirked upwards. "I can fix that." Of course he could! That was why Red had gone to him over any of the others. Wild always had food.
With a flick of his fingers and a swirl of turquoise ribbons, an apple appeared in Wild's hand. He held it out to Red. "Sorry, I don't have anything better."
"It's okay! I like apples," Red assured his friend, taking the fruit from Wild's palm with a big smile.
Wild's small smile should have widened then, but it didn't. In fact, to Red's horror, the tiny upturn of his lips curved downwards.
"What's wrong?" Something had made Wild upset. Was it because he'd asked for food? Did Wild think he only liked him for his food? He gasped, sure that was it, and it was wrong because it wasn't true at all! Red hurried to wrap the scarred boy in a hug. It was a little awkward since they were both walking, but he managed. "I love you even if you don't give me food."
"Wha—? Uh, thanks I mean…I love you too, but that's not—um," Wild released a breathy laugh, wrapping an arm around Red and squeezing him back. "I'm not worried about that."
"What then?"
"I just…I'm used to making breakfast for all of you, you know? I didn't get to today." Wild explained, disappointment heavy in his tone.
"That's okay," Red said, releasing Wild with one last squeeze. "I don't care, and I don't think anyone else does either."
Wild rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, yeah…I guess not."
The frown on his friend's face remained, so Red must not have been convincing enough. "It's really okay! You always make us breakfast. You deserve a break too."
"Yeah, but…I like cooking."
"Oh," Red looked down at the crimson apple in his hands, beginning to understand what the problem was. Wild liked cooking and handing him an apple didn't count as cooking.
The scarred boy didn't say anything more after that, and Red didn't either. He took to rolling the fruit between his palms. There had to be something he could do to make Wild feel better. The answer, Red realized a minute later, lay in his hands.
He perked up and held out the apple to Wild. "Can you cut my apple for me?" It wasn't the same kind of cooking that Wild normally did, but he usually had to chop up food to make meals so slicing an apple should make him feel a little better. Besides, Red liked apple slices. They were easier to eat.
Wild blinked at the question for a moment before nodding, the smile Red had been waiting for splitting his face. "Sure."
Taking the apple back, Wild produced a small knife from his slate and started to cut. Or at least, tried to. He nearly fumbled the apple on his first attempt and quickly switched which hand held the fruit and which held the knife. The new positioning appeared steadier, but Red didn't miss the wince on Wild's face when he pressed the blade into the apple.
"Sorry," Wild apologized, briefly glancing at Red before resuming his war with the apple. "My wrist is still…hmm."
Now Red understood why Wild hadn't made them breakfast. He was hurt!
"Never mind." Red snatched the apple from Wild's good hand. "I'll do it." He did want the apple sliced, after all.
He accepted the knife Wild offered him and pressed it to the skin of the apple. But that was as far as he got. The apple felt slippery in his hand and putting pressure on it would either make it fall or send the knife into his palm. Stopping to get a better grip on the apple, Red tried again. But he couldn't get the blade through. It kept slipping. He knew he could do it. He'd done it before. He knew he had. But for some reason his hands weren't cooperating.
Wrinkling his nose in frustration, Red looked around for a flat surface to lay the apple on. Slicing an apple while it was in his hand was too hard, but he was sure he could do it if he could put the apple on something.
"Here, give it to me," Wild said. He'd stopped as well and was watching Red's struggle over his shoulder.
Red pulled away as Wild reached for the knife and apple. "No, I can do it!"
"You're going to cut yourself."
"No, I'm not," Red objected. He knew how to do it. "I just need…" He crouched down and placed the fruit on the grass. He readied the knife. Now, how to cut it? Did he start on the side or in the middle? How did Grandpa do it?
"What are you two doing?" Sky wondered, peering around Wild.
Red was too busy thinking so Wild answered. "Slicing an apple."
"On the ground?"
"Well, I'm trying to get him to give it me but—"
"No!" Red exclaimed. "You can't do it. Your wrist is hurt."
"It's fine. I can manage," Wild insisted.
"No, he's right, Wild. You shouldn't be using that hand yet. The potion didn't heal it all the way." Sky spared a glance at the retreating backs of their companions. "Come on, we can't fall too far behind."
"Wait!" Red wailed. "I want apple slices."
"Then hurry," Wild urged him, also glancing nervously at the heroes ahead of them.
His eyes began to burn. "I don't remember how."
"No need to get upset," Sky cooed, crouching down beside him. He held out a hand. "If you want the apple sliced, I can do it for you."
A growl from his tummy encouraged him to hand off the fruit and the knife to Sky. If he did it himself, he'd never eat.
Satisfied, Sky pulled him to his feet and the three of them resumed their walk. The Skyloftian had much better luck with apple slicing than he and Wild, and with a few swift flicks of the knife, Red found himself munching on a wedge of fruit.
"So…Red?"
"Hmm?" He looked up at Wild.
"You forget things too sometimes?"
He nodded. "But only when I'm small."
Wild laughed, patting him on the head. "You're always small."
Red giggled. "Not that kind of small."
"He means age," Sky piped up, passing another slice of apple to Red when he reached for more. "Are you seven again, Red?"
He hummed, tilting his head from side-to-side while chewing thoughtfully. The number didn't feel right. "No."
"How old?"
Red stared at his hands. Compared to Sky's and Wild's they were small, but to his own mind they were too big. Too big for…he squinted beginning to lift and lower his fingers until the number felt right. He held up a splayed hand towards Sky.
"Five?" Sky rounded on Wild, a mixture of incredulity and horror on his face. "You gave a five-year-old a knife?!"
"I guess? But so what?"
"So—?! Sky balked. "Kids aren't supposed to have sharp objects, Wild! It's dangerous!"
"Really? I know a little girl that cooks a lot in my Hyrule. She can handle a knife pretty well. Besides, if what I've heard about my past life is true, I had a sword in my hand at four." Wild ruffled Red's hair and shot him a wink. "Going off that, I'd say five's plenty old enough for a knife."
Sky drew in a breath to protest but before he could, the cook continued.
"But! Going off your performance a minute ago…" Wild sucked in air through his teeth, and the look on his face said he was thinking back to all the slips of the knife that just barely missed Red's skin. "Sorry, but I think I have to agree with Sky on this one. No more knives for you until you get bigger."
Sky sighed in obvious relief.
Though Red didn't entirely disagree with their decision, he made sure to stick his tongue out at them before popping the last bite of apple in his mouth. Maybe he hadn't been as careful as he could have been, but he also hadn't cut himself. That was practically proof of his responsibility with sharp objects. Practically.
Red reached for another piece, but Sky didn't place one in this palm.
"Wait a minute. I'm trying something." Sky said, fiddling with the apple. It took him a moment more before he placed a slice onto Red's awaiting palm.
Bringing it to eye level, Red realized it was different from the others. This one was shaped into…
"It's a bunny," Sky explained, pointing to the two upside-down v's of red skin sticking up. "Well, I tried anyway. These are supposed to be ears."
"Wow! That's cool!" Red exclaimed, turning the apple bunny every which way to better see how Sky had carved it. Most of it was bare apple insides. Only the head and ears still had scarlet red skin on them.
"That is cool!" Wild agreed, eyeing the carving as Red made it hop in the air. "Can you show me how you did that?"
"Yeah, like this," Sky said, angling the fruit in his hand so Wild could see.
Meanwhile, Red hopped the bunny into his mouth. Sweet juice exploded on his tongue, and the grin splitting his face grew wider.
"Sky, Sky, Sky!" he sing-songed, bouncing closer to the cape-wearing man's side. "Your apple bunnies taste really good!"
Sky laughed. "Do they?"
"Yeah! I want more."
"Okay, hold on. I'm almost finished." With one last flourish of his knife, Sky completed another rabbit and handed it to Red.
After thanking Sky, Red darted ahead to show off the treat to the nearest person.
"Wind, look what Sky made!" He waved the apple bunny in the other boy's startled face.
He blinked at the snack. "Uh…that's neat?"
"It's a bunny," Red chirped since Wind didn't sound like he recognized it.
"I don't know what that is."
"It's…it's a bunny." He hopped the apple rabbit in the air to show him. The blank look on Wind's face told Red he didn't get it.
"A animal," he tried to explain.
Wind seemed to deflate even more with the information. He turned his downcast gaze back to the path ahead. "Oh."
Red frowned. He'd made Wind sad. Or maybe Wind had been sad to begin with? He didn't know.
But one thing was for sure. The bunny wasn't helping. He was delicious, but he wasn't helping. Red bit his head off.
"Why are you sad?" he asked, tilting his head to try to catch Wind's eye.
"I'm not," Wind said, sending a pebble skittering ahead with a sharp kick. "I'm annoyed."
"Why?"
"Because Hyrule healed me."
"That sounds like a good thing," Red observed. Being hurt was never fun. If 'Rule made Wind's pain go away, that was good.
But for some reason, Wind didn't agree. "It isn't."
"Why?"
"Because he shouldn't have."
"Why?"
"Because—" Wind kicked another pebble. "—I was fine. Bruised ribs aren't a big deal. They can heal on their own. 'Rule should have healed Wild's wrist after he was finished with Legend's head but noooo." He rolled his eyes into the back of his skull. "Goddesses forbid, the baby of the group gets a little scratch. Now Hyrule is conked out again."
Red glanced around to locate their healer. Sure enough, he found the brunette dozing peacefully on Warrior's back.
"He'll wake up soon," Red offered, turning back to Wind with a smile. Nothing kept 'Rule down for long.
"That's not the point," Wind grumbled, his scowl deepening.
Red mirrored Wind's expression as best he could, hoping it would help him figure out what the real point was. Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective so he wound up having to ask. "What is the point?"
"Everyone treats me like a kid."
"I don't." Wind was fun to play with, but he wasn't little the same way Red was little.
"Yes, you do," Wind objected. "Maybe not all the time but…you do."
"Sorry."
Wind shrugged off the apology and grumbled at the ground. "S'okay."
But it wasn't. Red might not have been the smartest of his brothers, but he was super observant. He always knew when Blue was upset—and it wasn't all the time like the others liked to joke. Fortunately, that meant he was also an expert in cheering up Blue moods.
Flipping his hood up and over his head, Red grabbed the end and lightly tapped the tip of Ezlo's beak on Wind's head. "No bad thoughts, my boy! Liven up!"
Wind shot him a puzzled look, but there was the familiar glint of interest in his eye, and Red rolled with it.
"You can't save the world if you're moping!" he said, parroting the words he remembered Ezlo saying to him whenever he got sad. "Besides you can't out-grump me! I'm the grumpiest hat in all the land!"
A grin slowly graced Wind's lips. "Are you?"
"Yeah!" Red exclaimed, forgetting his Ezlo façade for a moment in his joy at seeing Wind smile. "I mean…" He adjusted the tip of his hat so Ezlo's little golden head tilted proudly towards the sky. "Yes."
"What's your name?"
"Ezlo, and don't you forget it!" he announced in that super adult important way of Ezlo's. "I'm the grumpiest grumpy grump hat ever."
He giggled, and Wind did too.
"Why are you so grumpy?"
"'Cause I'm old!"
Wind nearly doubled over with laughter. "How old?"
He moved Ezlo's head around to make it look like he was thinking to give Red time to think. Ezlo never did tell him how old he was. Red decided to guess. "A hundred."
"Wow! That's a long time to be grumpy."
"Mmhmm!" Red agreed.
"Here, I think I have something for you…where is it?" Wind patted his clothes and bag, searching super hard for the something before landing on his necklace with a triumphant, "Aha!" He held up the little butterfly pendant to Ezlo's face and pitched his voice higher before speaking, "My name's Joy and I'm super happy all the time. You can't be grumpy around me!"
Wind's performance tickled Red's insides, and he doubled over with laughter.
Grinning, Wind tugged on his arm. "What?"
Shaking with giggles, Red stumbled into Wind's side. The other boy held onto him so he wouldn't fall over. "Red, what? What's funny? What'd I say?"
Wind was beginning to laugh now and that only made Red laugh harder.
"Butterflies can't talk!" he got out finally, peering at Wind through squinted eyes.
"But hats can?"
Red nodded, making sure Ezlo nodded too. "Yup!"
"Hmm…in that case I think I know a hat grumpier than yours!" Wind announced.
Surprise blew his eyes wide. "Who?"
Wind pointed, and Red followed his finger to Legend. The older boy was walking ahead of them, blue cap swaying with every step.
"Hee hee, Legend's hat can't be grumpy." He giggled, playfully shoving Wind's arm.
Wind gently shoved him back. "Why not?"
"It doesn't have a face!"
"That's why it's the grumpiest hat in all the eras!" Wind exclaimed, throwing his arms wide to demonstrate the sheer scale of Legend's hat's grumpiness. "In fact, it's so grumpy that it infects Legend with its grumpiness. That's why he's moody all the time."
Red gasped. "Oh no! We have to fix it." He didn't want Legend being grumpy all the time.
Nodding seriously, Wind said, "We need to make his hat a face. I'll go get the hat. You collect stuff to make it a face."
"'Kay!"
Wind ran ahead to fulfill his task and Red directed his attention to the grass, searching for things to stick onto the grumpy hat. A cluster of dandelions caught his eye first, and he rushed over to pick them. Their fuzzy golden heads tickled his fingers. What could he use them for? Eyes? Or maybe a mouth? The dandelions made him smile so it would make sense to make a smile out of them. But for that he'd need a lot.
An angry shout, followed by a triumphant cry let Red know Wind had succeeded in his task. His smile grew. They were going to make Legend happy!
He plucked the last flower out of the ground. He didn't know how many he would need so he looked around for more. Another cluster swayed in the breeze up ahead and Red rushed over to pick them.
"Red!"
Sky's call made him glance over his shoulder.
"Don't wander off, okay? Stay close."
He nodded, turning back around to grab one last dandelion before returning to the path the rest of his friends were walking on. Sky and Wild were waiting for him.
"Sorry," he apologized, unable to shake the feeling he'd done something wrong. He twisted the waxy dandelion stems nervously.
"It's okay," Sky reassured him, smoothing down stray wisps of Red's hair with a hand. His hood had blown off in the breeze. "I just don't want you getting lost."
"I won't," he promised. "I'll stay on the path." A fluffy puff of white by the side of the road caught his attention, and he raced over to inspect it. A wish! Well, he was pretty sure that wasn't what they were actually called but Grandpa called them wishes so he did too.
"What are you and Wind up to?" Wild asked curiously as Red plucked the fluffy flower.
"Making Legend's hat happy!" He held up the dandelions. "It doesn't have a face so we're making it one. I'm going to make it a mouth out of these."
Sky laughed. "I'm sure Legend will appreciate that."
"What are you going to do for eyes?" Wild wondered, his own shining with interest.
Red shrugged, beginning to count the blossoms in his fist. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Was that enough for eyes and a mouth? Somehow he didn't think so. It definitely wasn't enough for a nose as well.
If he counted the wish that made eight flowers, but the wish was fragile. It probably couldn't work as anything. Deeming it useless, Red brought the delicate blossom to his lips and blew, watching the fluffy petals fly. A strong breeze whisked them away into the field, and Red longed to follow, if only to pick the flowers that caught his eye. But he'd made a promise, so he stayed on the path.
A tap on his shoulder, momentarily dispelled the longing, and he turned to Wild. "I have a bunch of flowers stored in my slate if you want to have a look."
Red brightened, beginning to bounce in place. "Can I?"
Wild nodded, removing the Sheikah Slate from his hip and lowering it so Red could reach it too. Since Wild only had one good hand at the moment, Red took on the job of swiping through the slate's contents. The champion collected a lot of stuff so he had to scroll for a while before he reached the flowers and herbs. Red didn't recognize many of them, so Wild showed him how to pull some out of storage to get a closer look.
Wind joined them a minute later, Legend's hat clutched securely in a fist, and helped them decide what to use. Any blue flowers were automatically ruled out since they would blend in too much with the cap. That left a rod of tiny red flowers Wild called warm safflina and swift violets, which were bigger and a pretty purple color. They almost matched the patch on his tunic!
Attaching the flowers was trickier than selecting them but he, Wind, and Wild were creative and managed to stick them on the hat with a bit of mud. The dirt beneath their feet was more or less dry but a few drops of water from Wind's waterskin fixed that fast.
In no time at all, the top brim of Legend's hat was outfitted with a simple face of swift-violet eyes, a warm safflina flower nose, and bright dandelion smile. Originally Red wanted to make it like Ezlo's face but doing so on such a tiny strip of fabric with flowers and mud was near impossible. It still looked good in any case and that's what counted.
"Thank you! I'm soooo happy!" Wind said in a funny, stuffed-up voice while holding the hat so its new smiling face was beaming at Red.
Red giggled, reaching for the cap. "Let's give it to Legend."
"Hurry, hurry!" Wind urged. "Or else the grumpiness is going to eat his brain!"
"Ahhhh no!" Red cried, breaking into a run. He had to give Legend the happy hat before all the bad feelings made him moody forever! Legend wasn't close either. None of the rest of their brothers were.
Creating the hat's face had slowed their pace more than Red realized, and now a great distance separated him from his goal. Red wasn't one to be deterred, though, and he plowed ahead, feet pounding the well-worn path even weller.
Warrior and 'Rule were the first two he passed, the captain yelling after him, wanting to know where the fire was. Red didn't have time to explain and neither did Wind or Wild judging by the way their footsteps never faltered behind him. Sky's dropped out, though, and he spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure his older brother hadn't fallen. He wasn't the best with running, Red knew.
Thankfully, Sky was upright, and only slightly out of breath as he began to fill War and 'Rule in on the mission. Satisfied that his brother was safe, Red refocused his attention on the bare blonde head in front of him.
Red raised the hat overhead as he drew closer and closer and closer and…there! With a great leap, Red slammed the new and improved hat on Legend's skull.
The older boy had turned at the last second, making the exact placement of the cap lopsided, but it was on. Red reached out to straighten it, but Legend slapped his hands away. "What are you do—"
Legend's expression transformed from annoyed to confused when his hand brushed over a flower. He whipped the hat off before Red could stop him.
"What did you do to my hat?!" Legend roared, rounding on Red with the full force of a hurricane.
He did his best not to flinch. Legend was only mad because he took the hat off. Stretching his own lips into a smile to remind Legend how it was done, Red explained. "We made it happy!"
"No, you ruined it!" Legend retorted, crushing the hat in a fist. Some mud leaked out and onto Legend's hand. He flicked it off irritably. "Ugh."
"Stop! You're going to mess it up," Red cried, grabbing for the cap. It would lose its magic if Legend destroyed its face.
The older boy raised it high out of his reach. "You already messed it up, idiot! Hands off! What part of 'don't touch my stuff' don't you people understand?!"
"What's going on here?" All the shouting had drawn Time and Twilight over.
"They destroyed my hat!" Legend shouted, waving the offending object in the men's faces.
"No, we didn't!" Wind objected.
"We made it happy," Red added softly, close to tears.
"It doesn't look destroyed to me," Time said.
To Red's horror, Legend balled up the hat and chucked it at Time. "See for yourself!"
Unfolding the hat with much more care than Legend ever showed it, Time examined their masterpiece. Twilight peered over his shoulder.
He snorted.
"Shut up, Rancher," Legend scowled.
"I didn't say anything."
"You're thinking it."
"You two did this?" Time interjected, glancing between Red and Wind.
Heart in throat, Red nodded.
"Wild helped too," Wind hurried to add, earning a small slap on the arm from Wild. "What? You did!"
A smile stretched the old man's lips. "Well done."
Red and his partners in crime exchanged surprised looks that quickly turned to delight. They weren't in trouble!
"What?" Legend exclaimed in outrage. "Old man, you can't be seriously praising them! They messed up my hat!"
"It doesn't look messed up to me," Time said, offering the hat to Legend. The face of flowers was still intact, if a bit rumpled. A drop of mud had leaked from the left eye, forming a dark tear. "It is a bit messy at the moment," Time admitted, "but I wouldn't call it destroyed. It can be cleaned."
Begrudgingly, Legend snatched the hat back.
"That being said, I would ask first next time," Time said, turning his single eye on Red, Wind, and Wild.
"We just wanted to make Legend happy." Red explained, scuffing a boot across the dirt like that could erase his mistake.
"How is this supposed to make me happy?!" Legend demanded, shaking the hat. A purple petal fell to the ground.
"Because your hat's grumpy! It's grumpier than Ezlo." Red held up the golden ornament on the end of his hat as proof. "And that's making you grumpy, and I want you to be happy, so can you please wear the happy hat?"
Smirking, Warrior came up behind Legend and clapped him on the back. "Aww. Can't say no to that, Vet."
For a long time, Legend didn't say anything. He simply scowled at the flowery face. Finally, he raised his gaze to meet Red's.
"Are you in little land right now?"
Giggling a little at the phrase, Red nodded.
With that, Legend heaved a sigh that could shake Death Mountain, and after wiping away the muddy tear, placed the cap on his head.
"Happy now?" Red checked.
Legend rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
"Yay!"
"Smile, Legend!" Wild goaded, holding up his slate with a mischievous grin.
Legend held up a hand, ducking out of the slate's range. "No way!"
"Haha yes way or else it didn't work!" Wind teased, tugging on Legend's tunic to get him to stay in frame. "And then you'll upset Red."
"I hate you all," Legend huffed, giving in and crossing his arms over his chest. No one took his words to heart. Red knew because the air was lighter than it had been all day.
"You can't hate this face," Twi objected, nudging a giddy Red closer to Legend.
"Or this one!" Wind exclaimed cheekily, bouncing over to crowd the veteran's personal space with a beaming smile.
Legend drew them both into headlocks, mussing up their hair. Wind screeched and so did Red. He thought he heard the click of Wild's Sheikah slate too, but over all the screaming and laughter it was hard to tell.
In any case, joy filled the air, light and chiming. Best of all, in the middle of twisting out of Legend's hold, Red caught the tail end of a smile on the normally moody boy's face.
He was happy!
Curled up by the fireplace with a mug of tea with extra sugar should have been comforting to Green. At any other time, in any other place, it would be. But in the house within their head where the fire was cold and the tea tasteless, Green could only feel disconcerted.
Blue's yelling certainly didn't help matters. He'd stopped trying to interrupt a while ago and just let his hot-headed brother get it out of his system. Most of it was repeated anyway.
What were you thinking? You've endangered us all. Time thinks he understands, but he doesn't. What are we supposed to do now? Time will definitely tell Twilight about what you said. He said he won't, but he will because he and Twi are too close to keep secrets from each other. Then Twilight will be on our case. He'll press us for answers, and you'll give them to him because you're naïve. Then someone else will overhear, and they'll all hate us.
And on and on and on until the front door opened, announcing their brother's return.
"Well?" Blue demanded, narrowing his eyes at Vio as he took a seat next to Green. "What does that creep have to say for himself?"
"Shadow didn't say anything. He wouldn't let me in." Vio's gaze was distant as he made his report.
"You couldn't talk to him at all?" Green didn't know why the knowledge dug a new hole in his stomach. He shared the same stance on Shadow as Blue.
Vio shook his head.
"Good. He's learning his place" Blue declared, sounding as close to satisfied as Green had heard him in the past hour.
"We should tell everyone the truth," Vio said, eyes on the fake flames.
"We're not telling anyone anything!" Blue retorted. "They have no right to know. It'll only end badly for us."
Vio's resolve never wavered. "I disagree. Telling Time went well enough."
"Time doesn't know the full story."
"He knows enough, and I doubt knowing more will change his stance."
Blue scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I don't."
"Look at it like this," Vio invited, turning his severe gaze on Blue. "When Shadow is in control, we can't do anything about it until we realize what happened. That could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours later and even then we might not be able to force a switch. In that time, Shadow could be doing anything, going anywhere, getting the body hurt or someone else hurt because he doesn't understand what's going on.
"However, if the other heroes know of Shadow's existence, they can help. They can protect him and us. They could even prevent Shadow from getting triggered out in the first place, provided they know his triggers."
"We don't even know that," Blue objected.
"Yes, we do," Vio said. "I do. The sound of breaking glass. Mirrors."
Green gasped, feeling like he'd been punched in the stomach. "It's my fault."
Both Blue and Vio turned to him, equally confused. "What is?"
"That Shadow got—and he—we—left in the middle of watch." Green stammered, staring at his hands in horror and remembering the tools that used to be there. "I was polishing Time's mirror shield last night."
"That's not your fault," Vio said, placing a hand on his knee. "You didn't know."
"But I should have!" Green protested, snapping his gaze up to meet Vio's.
"Why? Because you're the leader?"
Green blinked owlishly, stunned at being read like a book.
Vio sighed. "Green, Time's right. You take too much on your shoulders. We're a team, remember? Just because you typically take the lead doesn't mean you have to all the time. You're not required to know everything. You're allowed to make mistakes."
"My mistake could've gotten us killed." Green pointed out, not understanding how the smartest of them all couldn't see that. "It nearly got some of the others killed!"
"But it didn't." Vio gave his knee a reassuring squeeze. Or at least Green guessed it was supposed to be reassuring but the prickly suggestion of touch only made him feel worse. "We're all safe. You couldn't have known what pulls Shadow to the front because you haven't talked to him like I have."
Green couldn't refute that was true, but… "I could have listened." Anytime Shadow was mentioned he forced the others to change the subject or else pushed them away. All because the idea of Shadow made him uncomfortable.
"Sure," Vio conceded. "But you can start listening now. It's not too late."
Green nodded. "So…" He steeled himself, drawing in a deep breath and trying to find comfort in the fake air. "What do we do?"
Vio smiled wanly. "For starters, Time can polish his own mirror shield from now on. Legend too."
"Wait wait wait!" Blue cut in waving his arms to discourage any more words from popping out of Vio's mouth. "Why should we let Shadow stop us from doing upkeep on everyone's weapons? That's one of our jobs, and I happen to enjoy it!"
"Do you want Shadow to keep gaining control?" Vio wondered without a hint of hostility.
"Of course not but—"
"Then this is the best solution. I'm not saying we'll stop fixing and polishing everyone's weapons. Just the mirror ones. Time and Legend took care of their own shields well enough before they met us. I don't see why they can't do the same now."
"They'll do it wrong," Blue huffed.
"Then give them tips if it makes you feel better," Vio said. "But don't touch those shields. Don't even look at them if you can help it."
"What if they're walking in front of me, huh?" Blue challenged, leaning dangerously into Vio's personal space. "We're the shortest. I'm always looking at someone's back."
"Yet another reason why we should tell them everything we know about Shadow."
Blue looked an inch away from slapping him, but Vio didn't bat a single eyelash.
"If they know mirrors are a trigger then perhaps they'll exchange their mirror shields for regular ones. Or they could cover them. The point is, if they know, they can do something."
"You don't want him fronting either," Green observed. As pro-Shadow as his brother was, Vio sounded as desperate for a solution as Blue. Did last night's events shake him too? Did he not trust Shadow blindly anymore? A small, traitorous part of him hoped so.
"No, I don't. At least not until he understands that he's sharing a body with us." Green's hope fizzled out right then and there, but he tried not to show it as Vio continued. "Right now he's scared and confused. That's a dangerous combination as I'm sure I don't have to remind either of you."
"So that's it?" Blue demanded after a moment of soaking Vio's explanation in. "You want us to spill our guts?"
"More or less. Green's already taken us halfway." His purple-clad brother shot him a grateful smile Green wasn't prepared for. All this time Blue had been glaring daggers at him and preaching how stupid Green had been for saying anything. Now, with Vio suggesting the opposite, Green didn't know what to think.
Had he done the right thing after all?
"Even if you hadn't said anything, I don't think it would have mattered." Vio said, likely noticing the conflict on Green's face. "The others know something's up. They're not blind. Polite enough to turn the other cheek maybe, but definitely not blind."
"Oh please," Blue scoffed. "They would never have guessed we have another person in our head."
Vio shrugged, indifferent. "Maybe not. Or maybe they would have. We have no way of knowing and there's no use dwelling on it. As it stands, Time knows, and I think it's in our best interest to inform everyone else. Managing this by ourselves is well…" Vio spread his hands. "I wouldn't say it's impossible, but it's certainly difficult."
He sent meaningful looks at them both, silently requesting their opinion.
"If it means that Shadow won't front anymore then…I agree," Green said with all the courage he could muster. Time really had reacted well and his story with the masks had been a pleasant surprise. In a way, he did understand how scary this was. Green was willing to risk some ridicule for a little more understanding.
"Yeah, fine, whatever," Blue conceded with a blasé wave of his hand.
But Green saw it for what it was: A white flag. He wasn't agreeing. He was surrendering, and for Blue that was unheard of.
"Are you sure?" Green couldn't help but ask even though he knew he probably shouldn't. For once, Blue wasn't screaming. He wasn't fighting. Green should take it as the blessing it was, but he loved his brother too much, respected him too much, to do that.
"Are you?" He blinked dumbly at the question as Blue threw it back in his face. The answer was no. Of course not. He hadn't been sure of anything for a long while, and this was no different. But Vio seemed so certain telling the others about Shadow was the right course of action.
And he trusted Vio.
"I'm sure that Vio's sure this will help," Green said.
Blue scoffed. "You're both idiots."
"Okay, so we're idiots," Vio acquiesced. "What would you have us do instead?"
"Kill Shadow," Blue stated it like such acts of murder were simple.
"How? He's already dead."
Blue spluttered at that. "Well—I—ugh! You know what I mean. Get rid of him. Get him out of our head."
"Again, how?"
"I…we…" Blue trailed off eyes darting this way and that for an answer. Finding none, his brother let out a growl of frustration. "I don't know! But there has to be a way."
"Perhaps there is a way, and perhaps one of our hero companions know of it," Vio suggested. "But we won't know if we don't tell them what's going on."
Vio didn't believe that. Watching his brother's impassive face as he spoke, Green could tell. Blue might have been able to tell too if he could push past his own fear long enough to really look at Vio. But Blue was desperate for a solution, and Vio's words were too logical to deny.
"Okay," Blue ground out. "We can tell. But if this blows up in our faces, it's on you." He poked Vio hard in the chest so his brother had no doubt of where the blame would fall should the plan go awry.
Vio's lips twitched upward into the ghost of a smile. "Fair enough."