This chapter is dedicated to Mr. Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and main character and monster designer of the Dragon Quest series. While I've never gotten into Dragon Ball, I cannot deny it's along with his own influence on the world of anime, gaming, and other communities. Rest in peace, sir, and I hope you all enjoy.
-Justan
Shattering the Stars
Chapter 15: A Fate Which Still Remains
Eight held his breath as Empyrea and Landia soared higher into the sky and roared, portals opening just a couple meters away. As they neared the tears in reality, the regal Godbird noticed the slightly fearful look on the hero's face and chuckled warmly.
"Oh, Eight, there's no need to hold your breath, I can ensure that no harm will come to you as we travel," Empyrea explained, having cast a shield around herself and her dragon companion, allowing for Eight to survive in the vacuum of the dimensional portal.
"Alright!" Eight let his lungs relax as Empyrea and Landia flew through the doorway between the realms, getting almost blinded by a quick flash of light. When his vision returned, he was able to see a beautiful display of colors, light blue, to white, to green, streaming past him as he sat on the goddess's back. "Wow… I forgot just how gorgeous this view was…"
Landia could concur. Before all this had started, he rarely traveled the multiverse, but now that he had been jumping between realms so frequently, he found himself often admiring the sights. A small piece of him knew that Kirby would find it even more mesmerizing than Eight did.
The journey lasted but a moment, as the pair of legendary figures appeared in a new realms sky, sailing through the atmosphere like a kite on a breezy day, the need to flap their wings absent. They glided along a vast ocean, and eventually they saw a small, circular continent lining the southeastern horizon. On it, in front of a mountain range stretching from north to south, sat the kingdom of Aliahan, home of this worlds hero.
As the group reached land, flying over hundreds of acres of open fields by the continents northern region, a peculiar sight caught each of their eyes. West of Aliahan, on a miniscule island just off the coast of the kingdom's bay, were the remains of some structure. The Dreamer's Tower, Empyrea surmised, somehow destroyed by an event that she was not present for.
"I don't quite remember this place, in all honesty…" Eight admitted to himself as the group touched down on the outskirts of a forest that neighbored the cliffside overlooking the island with Dreamer's Tower.
Empyrea stood motionless while locked on the remnants of the tower across the stretch of water. Eight thought he noticed a part of the Godbird's shadow that didn't show up on Empyrea herself. Around where her wings blocked the light, along the ground, the outline of a vine was present. It bared thorns and moved on its own, like a snake slithering around. The hero blinked a couple times, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but when his view returned to Empyrea's shadow, it was perfectly normal.
"So where is this hero that we're looking for, hm?" Landia thought.
"He has a residence in Aliahan, visible across the ocean, there," Empyrea nudged her head towards the opposite coast. "It has been quite a while since his adventure, so I assume he is at home, however," She then looked at where Dreamer's Tower once stood, "I have a suspicion that he is somewhere there…"
"Then I guess we know where we're looking first," Eight said resignedly, somewhat unprepared to search through the pebbled ruins of what used to be a dungeon. He was at least glad that he had his sword and other equipment, although he was without the company of Munchie. Eleven was still fond of the fuzzy companion, even in its advancing age.
Landia looked passively at the base of the tower, thinking about how he'd survey the area effectively. There seemed to be a number of openings around the wreckage of rubble, perhaps he could blow them open with his fire and clear it out. But then what Empyrea and Eight guessed caught his mind. If the person they were looking for was there, what if they were hurt? The dragon's train of thought continued until he felt something jump onto him.
"What the-" Landia's upper head swerved and was just barely able to peek behind himself. On his back he saw Eight mounting him, as if he wanted to ride. "No," The dragon said plainly, clearly annoyed.
"If we're doing this together, we may as well get into the habit of working with each other," Eight explained, patting Landia's back and wearing a sly smirk. With one look at Empyrea, Landia huffed, knowing that there was no use arguing.
The wind rushed to fill the gap that Landia left when he suddenly took off, accelerating so fast that he nearly blew Eight away. The hero's bandana flapped wildly as he struggled to see, the dry air making his eyes water. Empyrea wasn't far behind, and once the trio made it to the tower site, they started looking around.
For a few moments, all was quiet, only the flap of wings filling the air, until a sudden blast rocketed out from the depths of the ruins and into the sky. It nearly hit Landia, but he swerved out of the way.
"Leave me alone!" A terror-filled voice screamed as another surge of gleaming yellow magic burst from the rubble and tried to hit the four-headed dragon. To Eight it looked like one of his spells, specifically Sizzle, only being sent much farther than he could send his. "I won't let you try and take me again," the voice continued, shouting as loud as they could.
"What in the world?! Alright, that's it," Landia growled as he charged up some fire within his mouths and aimed for where the blasts were coming from.
"Wait! Stop!" Eight shouted, tugging on Landia's horns right as the fire crept up the dragon's throats. The fireballs shot out into the sky and Landia roared ferociously. Then, Eight suddenly decided to jump from the beast and down into the ruins, diving for one of the many gaps in the large mass of debris.
Stone fell past Eight's body as he touched down roughly, rolling out and using his boots for traction the moment they hit solid ground. Sliding down a pile of shattered bricks and splintered wood, the hero came to a stop, finding himself surrounded by shadows and a strange, familiar feeling that was also laced with danger. Almost immediately he unsheathed his sword and channeled Flame Slash, the embers engulfing the blade. He then used them to light up his surroundings, holding his arms out to show that he didn't mean any harm to whoever was lurking nearby.
There was an awkward stretch of nothing until the sound of exhausted panting reached Eight's ears. A couple of feet away, he saw a brief glint, and then another pillar of flames appeared, these ones forming a wall behind whoever had cast them. Sizzle again. Now Eight could see who he was facing, their spiked hair and purple cape easily recognizable.
"Eight?!" exclaimed Erdrick, true name Arusu. His face, regardless of how bruised or cut up it was, expressed some unfathomable shock.
"Wha- Erdrick?!" Eight extinguished his own flames and walked towards the battered hero before him. There was noticeable misery in the fellow hero's eyes, one of them closed due to blood trickling down his forehead and then cheek. "You remember me? But what are you- What are you doing here?"
"It's…" Erdrick seemed reluctant to explain, "I'd rather not talk about it now. I need to get out of here, I think I'm seeing things. I could've sworn I had seen another hydra or something flying above the ruins…"
"There… are no hydra's here, at least not that I've seen," Eight inspected his old friend before urging, "Come on, we're getting out of here." He wrapped his arm around Erdrick's left shoulder to help him walk. Even with the assistance, he still had a limp, clearly having been injured by something.
"Thanks…" Erdrick said gloomily, still in disbelief that a hero from another realm was here, let alone one that he knew.
When the duo emerged from the ruins, Empyrea and Landia had landed on what used to be a parapet, waiting for Eight to return. Erdrick, as soon as he saw Landia, tensed up, his nerves flaring, thinking that the dragon was one of the hydras. He brandished his weapon, the Sword of Kings, and a dark determination blazed in his tired irises. Landia only cocked an eyebrow, amused at the pitiful display of courage despite the hero's injuries.
"Hey, stop, he's with me, don't worry," Eight stepped in between Erdrick and his murderous intent, calming the dark determination. Once the clouded glare left the wounded swordsman, another friend caught his attention.
Erdrick was silenced in awe, and he slowly limped over to Empyrea, looking up at her with wide eyes. The serene Godbird was pleased to see the man who helped bring her to life so many years ago, a smile forming along her golden beak. He too wore a smile, forgetting all about the pain seething through his body.
"Ramia?" Erdrick whispered.
"It's lovely to see you again, Arusu," Empyrea replied, wrapping her wings around her dear friend.
Link walked out of the bedroom with a renewed interest in light. It had been so dark during the night, the storm never letting up for even a second. Fortunately, there was a slight calm, the weather report stating that it'd only be a few minutes before the downpour picked up again. A splash of color appeared out of the corner of Link's eye, making him stop in his tracks and look towards it.
Direct sunlight was visible outside the window, the shafts of yellow rays beaming down to the ground. They were scarce, but vibrant in contrast to the darkened clouds of the morning. The Terminian sighed and continued down the hallway.
Everything at first seemed numb, but this morning, against all odds, Link felt alive. Happy, almost. An unknown sense had told him that things were getting better. He didn't smile yet, but he had a feeling that the day would at least be better than the last. Maybe that would lead to a smile.
Entering the living room, Link saw those two ladies, their names right on the tip of his tongue. They were snuggled together on the couch, snoring lightly, holding each other. Something clicked inside the hero's head, and for a moment, his heart ached. Right there he could tell that they were lovers, and they reminded him of Tatl and Navi almost to a painful degree. Link considered reaching into his pocket to see the picture of Romani again, but when the two girls stirred and there was an approaching sound of footsteps, he refrained, not wanting to expose them to that yet.
"Oh, Link, you're up," it was Luigi, rubbing his eyes groggily, trying to get rid of the dark bags underneath them. The mustachioed man yawned heavily, scratching his neck, and looking around the room lazily. "Want to see if there's anything to eat? I'm starving."
"Are you suggesting we rummage through their fridge?" Link turned around, whispering rather loudly. He was astonished that Luigi would even throw around the idea of doing that.
"Well, we are their guests. They literally told us to help ourselves to anything," Luigi reinstated, countering Link's argument.
"Fine," Link just went along with it.
After a decent ten minutes of searching through the refrigerator, Link and Luigi concluded that there wasn't a lick of edible food in sight. Everything they found had been dipped in or were made out of this strange goopy substance. They both correctly assumed that it was ink, something that normally should never be ingested. That alone presented a new problem, that being what they ever could eat, if anything.
"Whatever, we can probably just ask them if there's anything else when they wake up," Luigi said hopefully, walking out of the kitchen with a pronounced slouch. The way he moved made one of his red and white socks scrunch up, allowing Link to catch a glimpse of a new scar around his ankle.
"Yeah… By the way, how are your wounds?" Link asked, walking beside the green plumber, concern evident in his voice.
"Huh? Oh, they're fine," Luigi said without much care. "They've all scarred over," He rolled up one of his sleeves, showing Link one of his new badges of honor. "It's been a while since I've been hit hard enough to get one, so I don't mind. I don't have many, so it'll make for a great story to tell one day, right?"
Link didn't answer, a shadow appearing over his eyes. Those words to him were almost a slap in the face. Seeing his expression wiped the smile from Luigi's face, and a strong, fearful gulp followed.
"H-How many do you have?" Luigi asked hesitantly, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Too many," Link answered easily, standing in the hallway like a statue. He had covered his eyes with his golden bangs, the silver portion of his hair visible to him. "Luigi…" He said, "You and I are very, very different, I think that much is obvious. Your brother hates me right now, but I can understand why. But he's not the only one that needs to learn something. Scars you gain, no matter how few you had before, are never something to just overlook like a simple scab. They're reminders."
"Reminders of what?" Luigi wondered out loud.
"Reminders that you are not invincible. The things we've faced, they could've taken a lot more from you than some skin. They come with stories, but not ones that you should share," Link rolled up one of his own sleeves, showing off over a dozen scars on his forearm alone. The sight made Luigi turn pale. Then, Link pulled up his tunic a bit, allowing the plumber to see his stomach. Along his abs was a massive, horrendous scar, courtesy of Gomess. "I was fortunate enough to have a potion to help heal these. If I didn't, I would be a dead man, rotting at the foot of Stone Tower Temple."
Luigi shakily nodded his head, pulling up his sleeve to hide one of his scars. It somehow slipped his mind that Link was a very serious person, clearly having been humbled by a life of action fueled by agony.
"I'm not trying to scare you, it's just… things like this aren't something to be proud of. They should be hidden," Link explained.
"You're afraid," Another voice startled to two. Mario, arms crossed, was standing at the other end of the hallway. He and Link put on a scowl as they stared at each other. "Afraid that those scars will push others away, am I right?"
"Tch…" Link grunted, rolling his eyes.
"Look," Mario sauntered up to Link and his brother, turning his head to the right and pushing one of the wings of his moustache up. There, along his cheek and lip were four new scars in total, all from his battle with Shatterhand. "I have a number of these too, and I hide them as well. But they can be a thing of good."
"Whatcha mean, bro?" Luigi asked, a little lost in what his brother was saying.
"These things come with stories, that's what you said, right Link?" Mario put his moustache back and looked straight. Link only nodded. "Well, they are reminders, both of the things we've faced and of how much we've overcome. We aren't invincible, but we're still strong."
Link turned around, away from the Mario Brothers. The red one was right, and all his talk of how scars aren't something to be afraid of caused memories of Anju to well to the surface of his consciousness.
"Link? Everything alright?" Luigi walked over to see the side of the Terminian's profile and saw that he was covering his mouth, and his eyes were slammed shut.
"I'm sorry, I…" Link muttered. "It just brought back something from home, that's all."
Mario went past the two green men and into the living room, leaving the pair be. When he left their view, a small gasp was heard.
"Ah! M-Mr. Mario!" Freddy cried, his shocked audible from around the apartment. He must have just arrived while Mario, Luigi, and Link were talking. "I-I-I didn't know you were awake up, I was just coming over to check on my friends, a-and I…" It was clear he was going on a nervous rant.
"Come on," Luigi said, heading out to join his brother.
Link remained stationary for another moment, again reconstructing his view of Mario. There was so much to consider, even if the time he had spent with the plumber being relatively short compared to Kirby or Meta Knight. He wondered just how much he had seen, and if he was ready to try and forgive Mario for his outburst the other day. With his hand in his pocket, fingers clasped around the picture of Romani, he went to the living room.
Eight cast Midheal on Erdrick again, helping seal up a number of his cuts along his body. The injured hero huffed as he sat on a pile of rubble, thinking about the second looming threat that had been explained to him. That man by the name of Shatterhand.
A gust of wind rushed over the area where Eight and Erdrick rested, Landia returning from a brief patrol of the continent. Before he spoke to the heroes, he observed the sky, checking to make sure he wasn't followed.
"No sign of any hydras," Landia thought.
"Good, they must be in their dens somewhere," Erdrick said, stretching his arms. "It seems that they retreat to them at random, but a few of my friends have guessed that it may be to replenish their energy," Erdrick tried to stand, but was swiftly stopped by Eight, keeping him sitting so that he could ready up another healing spell to cast. "Thank you, by the way, for helping me out, Landia."
"It's no problem," Landia grunted, not doing out of the kindness of his heart.
"Arusu, tell me," Empyrea began, perched atop a large remnant of the Dreamer's Tower, "Why are these hydras such a problem now? If I recall correctly, you had slain their king while on the road to defeating Zoma."
"I did, however, a few months ago, they started resurfacing. None of us know why. Ones like Orochi and the Gran Dragon have been a particularly big nuisance," Erdrick explained. Eight and Empyrea gave him a baffled expression. "Just because we beat Zoma, doesn't mean everything just magically becomes fine. There are a lot of things still going on across the realms, I'm sure you know that, Ramia."
"How long has it been since the hydras started to retaliate?" Empyrea asked.
"Four months now," Erdrick said as Eight cast Midheal for the third time. Rejuvenation surged through his veins, and he was finally able to stand properly. "Anyways, the first sighting of them came from Dreamer's Tower, and they began attacking various dungeons around the world, like Cloudsgate Citadel, before returning here and finishing it off," Erdrick picked up a cracked brick and stared at it for a moment. A slight wave of melancholy washed over him until he dropped the stone, wincing at the sound of it hitting the ground and splitting apart.
"Hm…" Empyrea dwelled on the dilemma, "Have you investigated the cave that once was Orochi's Lair?"
"We've tried, but a number of hydras keep impeding our progress whenever we try. It's very likely that's where they're hiding, but we can't confirm anything yet…" Erdrick's glum attitude was overwhelming to the others, unable to shake the feeling of uselessness and futility when thinking about how Erdrick was going to even respond to their proposition of joining them to stop Shatterhand. "My friends went off to search the other temples, but I haven't gotten any word back in over three weeks. That's when I decided to search the remains of Dreamer's Tower to see if there was anything we missed."
"What did you find down there?" Eight asked.
"I-" Erdrick paused, struggling to figure out how he'd explain it.
"We don't have time for this," Landia interjected. Steam rushed from his nostrils, a sign of his growing annoyance. "Erik, we-"
"Landia, refer to his as Erdrick," Empyrea corrected the dragon, displaying a rare sense of anger in her tone whenever someone got Arusu's title wrong. Eight, Landia, and even Erdrick was shocked at her whip-like voice.
"Erdrick," Landia began, "We need your help to try and find and vanquish Shatterhand, the man we told you about," Erdrick gave him the side-eye, already disliking how Landia away pushed his predicament.
A bit of the hero's darker side bubbled forth, making him give a snarky lip to Landia. He was wondering which spell he had that could dispose of the dragon easiest, but he quickly swam out of the pool of darkness before he could do anything he'd regret. A faint memory of his rage when he held his dying father came back to him.
"Arusu, I hate to admit it, but we do need your help. Shatterhand poses a threat to everything we know among the realms, and with his ability to travel across them, he may choose to launch an attack on the ones who can stop him at any time he pleases," Empyrea again displayed a rare side of herself, worry. "Please, I implore you, join us, and I promise I will assist you in finding a way to stop the hydras that trouble you."
"Will we live long enough for you to fulfil that promise if I join your 'crusaders', as you called them?" Erdrick glanced at Empyrea with some abrasiveness. He was aware that a journey to defeat such a fiend as described as Shatterhand wouldn't be easy.
"I hope so," Empyrea responded.
Erdrick sighed, not getting a very optimistic feeling from how Empyrea replied. However, something festered in the back of his head, his unfinished thought from before Landia interrupted him.
"Right, I had been meaning to explain what I found down in the depths of this place," He looked down at the rubble beneath his feet. "There was a passageway that we never found, and in there, I think I came across where exactly the hydras came from. It was this massive gateway made of stone, it looked almost like your portals, Ramia."
"My portals?" Empyrea repeated.
"Yes, the very ones you can summon, and the ones that I have little doubt you used to get here," Erdrick continued, "It was ancient, the structure I found, but I was able to make out inscriptions that mentioned your names, both of them."
"Hm… Perhaps someone from a different era paid a visit to the tower," Empyrea guessed.
"My thoughts exactly, but now I wonder if it has anything to do with your man, Shatterhand," Erdrick deemed it a coincidence, but there was always a chance that things were more connected than they seemed. "So yes, I will join you, but under the condition that you swear to assist me with the hydras once this is over."
"Very well, Arusu," Empyrea said, giving her companion a smile. It just occurred to the others that she called Erdrick by what was presumably his real name, since she referred to the name 'Erdrick' as a title when correcting Landia.
"And Eight?" Erdrick turned to his brother in arms before hopping onto Empyrea's back. For a moment, everything stopped, words only existing between the two stalwart heroes. "It's really good to see you again," Erdrick commented, a bright grin on his face.
"It's good to see you too," Eight said back, wearing a matching smile. "I have to say, I'm somewhat excited about seeing the others again,"
"The others?" Erdrick looked surprised.
"Yes, Arusu, we didn't plan on only recruiting you and Eight," Empyrea's beak gleamed as she took to the air, flying across the sea. "We're heading to two more realms so see if some other folks you know are willing to accompany us on this quest to finish Shatterhand."
"Wait, wait, like… Solo? The Luminary?" Erdrick asked, his voice practically a shout as the Godbird picked up speed. Eight just chuckled at his friend's bewilderment.
Meanwhile, in realm ADS-2017, the other crusaders were finally awake and gathered in the living room. A few of them had been discussing what they could do for breakfast, with the Inklings and Octoling needing to think about what they could possibly eat. Murmurs, questions, and little answers danced through the air as the rain outside picked up again.
"Poyo?" Kirby asked as he sat down on the couch. He was a little afraid of the purple woman, Violet, as she sat down next to him and looked like she wanted to wrap her arms around his puffy, pink form and never let go.
"Uhm… Is she gonna be alright around him?" Luigi asked for Kirby, using his thumb to point back at the pair.
"Oh, she won't bite… I think…" Crystal replied.
"Wow…" Freddy panted with joy, hands around his mouth and cheeks all rosy. It felt like a dream he often had, seeing all his video game heroes standing together in one room again. The past two, no, three days didn't even feel real, and yet it was still before noon. "It's such an… Woo…"
"Buddy, calm down," Amy put her hand on Freddy's shoulder to help him return from his awe-induced trance. "You can't be shocked by them being here now, 'cause I can assure you; you aren't dreaming."
"I know, I know, it's just… still a little hard to believe!" Freddy said excitedly. By the door was his bag with his Switch inside, as he intended to show off more of the video games he knew the visitors from. The signature giddiness that followed the Inkling like an infection was too much to handle. "B-But I don't want those two to fight anymore… They shouldn't be fighting!"
"Poyo!" Kirby agreed all the way from the couch.
Link and Tael still kept a decent distance away from Mario and Luigi, the tension between the two men still present. But there was something new that wrapped around their hearts and begged for them to settle. It was a small, thin string of respect that formed from their own memories.
"Excuse me, Mr. Link?" Crystal approached Link and tugged on his tunic to get his attention.
"Yes?" Link turned to face the teenager.
"From what Freddy tells us, you're a pretty noble guy, right? You've been through a lot, so how come you're so caught up on something Mario said?" Amy asked, a naive frown lining her lips.
Link glanced from Amy to Mario and then back again, thinking. The battle against Shatterhand flashed before his eyes, and he thought about the distinct smirk from the vile monster that posed as a man.
"Mario?" Link called. The plumber eyed him, and he jerked his head the other way, silently asking him to come over.
"What? What is it?" Mario crossed his arms when he stood before Link.
"Do you believe in fate?"
"No, not really…"
"Well, when I opened that portal, I didn't know where we'd end up," Link said, the others, including Violet, placing their attention on him and Mario. "We could've found ourselves in the swamp of some random realm, or falling down a chasm, anything, but…" Link took a quick look at everyone and everything around the room, "But we landed in that alley, here, in this strange city, and met these kids. They helped us, and we even talked about something that I personally hold very dear to myself. I think that's what some call destiny."
"What does this have to do with you dragging us from the Mushroom Kingdom to here?!" Mario grew frustrated, but for whatever reason, didn't flare up and raise a fist.
"Let me finish," Link ordered. He took a deep breath and continued to speak. "If we stayed to fight Shatterhand, we may have been killed, but something in the back of my head told me, that despite all of our injuries, we could beat him. I ignored it, because I didn't want to lose everything, or even you guys. I felt something tugging on my heart that lead me to bringing us here, even if it was unintentional."
"So you think that was fate?" Mario wondered.
"Yes, because I've had that same feeling before. It was how I met the woman that I would one day marry," Link looked down at his hand, having unconsciously pulled out the picture of Romani.
"Wait, you have a wife?" Mario's arms slacked and eyes widened.
"You're MARRIED?!" Freddy screamed. He quickly grew lightheaded and then fainted, his friends coming to his aid. After only a couple seconds, he was back, shock still riddled through his head.
"Fate brought me and her together, and I think it also did with me and you. With everyone here," Link smiled at the photo in his hands, fighting the urge to cry. "You might not believe it, but I do, and that's why I did it. Why I forced us to leave your world. But I promise that we'll return and finish what we started, as I feel like that might be our fate as a team."
Mario was quiet.
"Ugh, I guess you're not so bad after all," The plumber mumbled, tipping his cap to avert his eyes. Tael flew down and nudged Mario's hat, thinking that he didn't want to face Link's own gaze. When he finally complied, the men viewed each other in a bit of a new light.
"Wait, wait, WAIT! Roll that back! Hang on, lemme see that!" Freddy pushed between the pair and snatched the photo before Link could even object. Disbelief muddled his mind as he tried to process everything.
"This is impossible! How are you- No, you can't be! W-Who is this in this photo, Link?!" Freddy's unnatural outburst worried even his own friends, as they had rarely seen him so distraught. Violet's mind raced back to how Freddy reacted when she brought up his mask, making her sink into herself with the slightest hint of shame.
"Her- Her name is Romani," Link blushed.
"Romani?! It's not Malon?! But that's not right!" Freddy gave the photo back and rushed to zip open his bag, throwing its contents out onto the floor in search of his Switch.
"What do you mean, 'That's not right'? What's going on?" Link became defensive.
"Wait a minute!" Freddy stopped and scurried across the floor back to Link, not bothering to walk on his feet. "Where… Where do you live? Or- Where do you currently live? Like before all this started?"
"I live in Termina?" Link answered as if he himself was asking a question.
"That's-!" Freddy's mouth was agape. "How did you…" He then trailed off, struggling to come to terms with such a revelation.
"Alright, Freds, what are you talking about? What's got you so… crazy?" Violet grabbed Freddy's collar and pulled him up and onto his feet. She then held him by both of his shoulders and kept him still just so he wouldn't fidget around like he often did. "Come on, you can say it."
"It's… it's that…" Freddy muttered. He slowly turned from Violet over to Link and pointed at his hair, the silver portion that he had noticed, but at first thought was a part of the games that he simply forgot about. Now he was certain that it wasn't present in the media he knew Link from. "It's that he went on a different path than normal… He's not the same Link…"