#Red Anvil Comics

[theperfessor]

Here is an old article of mine that originally appeared on another website with which I'm no longer associated, so I wanted to move the article to my own blog page.

[theoneeyedgoldenwolf]

Witness the deaths, change their fate

Whumptober 2024, number 22: Bleeding Through Bandages, Reopening Wounds, "Oh that's not good."

Inspiration from @la-sera's comic:

Summary: The flaming red blade of the Shadow’s strikes Time into nightmare of prophecies. Is he capable of changing what his twisted mind brings out?

CW: Nightmares, torture, murder, drowning, ripped apart, blown apart, Major Character Death (in nightmares), blood, bleeding, stabbed, beating, death by being squished by an anvil, Malice, broken bones, dislocated bones, exhaustion, mind control, slashed, near death situation

Notion: - As I wrote this, I didn’t have any idea of putting the line from one of the Moon Children from Majora’s Mask into here. Yet, the moment Time repeated Legend’s words, that quote just struck me.

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“TIME!”

The Chain’s leader gave out half a gasp, half a scream as the sword with red sheen around it was yanked out of his body. He sagged to the ground while gasping for air. The beast the Shadow had taken a form this time around was smirking right at him. “Try and survive that.” He snarled before vanishing into pool of blackness to avoid a swing of a sword as the eight Heroes dashed into the scene. The Shadow laughed as it escaped the scene and left the one eyed male falling unconscious and fighting for his life.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time was just coming out of the house at Lon-Lon Ranch. He was ready to head to handle some simple monster problem Princess Zelda had informed of at last evening. It wasn’t anything of big or what would need the Chain to follow him.

“Good morning, Link!” Malon’s bright call brought a wide smile to the one eyed male’s face. He raised his gaze up from strapping his gauntlets to see both Twilight and Malon handling laundry. There certainly was lot of that with nine Heroes living at the house for the time being.

Suddenly excruciating pain struck and everything fell into black for a while. When he snapped his gaze open, the sight that befell him was horrendous. Malon and Twilight has been stuck down by arrows. He barely realized to be laying on the ground too as tears formed in his eye. He didn’t understand what in Goddesses Highest Throne had just happened.

Suddenly he felt a painful tug at his shoulder and the realization of an arrow having struck into him through his armor hit him. Before he could realize more, the projectile was cruelly snapped and he screamed in pain. He was gasping for air while just barely being able to open his eye to see his enemy.

If he would’ve had the air, he would’ve gasped at the sight of Dark Link. His reflection still wore the clothes he had had back in the Water Temple. It took a moment from him to realize that the bastard was standing on his hands to keep him from moving. He barely realized the blood pooling underneath him. He wasn’t certain if Dark Link had shot him and his closest family or if there had been other beasts. Either way, he hoped the rest of the Chain was still safe somewhere.

The sound of a sword being drawn out of its sheath snapped his notion back into his enemy. He flinched a bit as the dark version of the Master Sword’s tip was brought to his throat. “Say hello to Navi for me.” Dark Link smirked and this time Time gasped in shock as the realization struck. “That’s right. That’s why you never found her.” Dark Link laughed and struck the blade down.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Chain of eight Heroes wished they could’ve chased after the Shadow but if the bastard had struck Time down, they weren’t going to risk their lives by not facing their enemy together. Besides, right now they needed to do all they could to save their oldest brother. They gathered quickly around the one eyed male and started to get his armor off.

Few of the Links stood in guard while the more experienced members with healing and medical work of their group were doing all they could to fix the situation. Most of the wounds were quite shallow and no danger at all. Warriors swiftly bandaged them to be on safe side. Hyrule worked hard to try and get his healing magic into working.

For first time in his life, he screamed out a curse. It startled the others while the Traveler was nearly snarling. “I can’t fix it.” He almost whispered while feeling the tears at his eyes. “It’s like back with Twilight. Something’s blocking me out.” He explained before taking a deep breath. “If nothing else, I can—“ He started before all eight members of the Chain of legendary Heroes gasped in start as Time suddenly screamed and arched.

“NO! TWI! MALON! YOU SON OF A—! NO!” The Old Man screamed and started to get up. His eye was open but he wasn’t seeing the forest or the Chain around him.

“Keep him down!” Warriors commanded while already pushing his little brother back to the ground. “Sprite! Calm down! It’s gonna be okay!” He half shouted as the oldest Hero started to struggle against the hold.

“NO! LET GO OF ME! TWILIGHT! MALON!” The one eyed male screamed before slowly reducing his fighting and just limply laid on the ground and sobbed. “No… Please… No…” He whispered before slowly falling unconscious again.

“Do what you can, Traveler.” The Captain stated out while bandaging the cruel stab wound.

“I know this is going to be a waste of a good potion but maybe it can help a bit.” Legend offered while having fished out a red potion. The war Hero just nodded and carefully pulled Time bit upwards to get the potion into him.

“There’s a town close by.” Wild told while checking his Slate for a map. “I think we can look after Time better at an Inn.” He commented and the others nodded in agreement. Twilight called Epona over and they carefully got the Old Man to her back with the Rancher behind him to keep him secured. Hyrule changed into his fairy form and hid into mare’s owner’s pocket so he could continue to try and help with his healing magic once they’d get to the Inn.

“Get him there swiftly. We’ll follow as quickly as we can.” Warriors told while sending the trio off. After that he glanced at his brothers. The five with him nodded firmly and they dashed after the horse.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time growled and fought against the hold. He and the Captain had been taken off guard at the street and he woke up finding himself tied and held against someone. The horse’s movement felt too fast for the calm walking it was doing but the confusion wasn’t enough to snap him out of the hellish situation.

Warriors was in a cart in front of him inside a sturdy looking cage. His arms were tied behind his back and there were five Knights inside the cage with him. The group smirked as they attacked the Captain with and without weapons.

The one eyed male snarled and fought but the gag around his mouth prevented him from screaming. The ropes were made to withstand fire so he couldn’t burn himself free either. The arm around him was too strong for him to move much. All he could do was to watch as those traitorous soldiers murdered his brother before his eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Twilight hated how hard he had to hold on to Time. The unconscious mentor of his was trashing and whining while crying. The Rancher whispered reassuring words but he felt like his voice and actions were going right past the Chain’s leader’s understanding.

Hyrule came out of Twilight’s pocket the moment they had reached the Inn. He went inside to book the biggest room the place had while knowing he wasn’t much of help in carrying Time in. Yet, all he could do was to keep the doors open for him and lead him to the right room.

While the Rancher went to take Epona to the stable, the Traveler stayed with their leader. He checked the bandaged wounds and took most off of the areas where the cuts had already been healed by the potion.

Just when the Chain’s leader’s blood relative came back, Time screamed and arched again. “WARS!” He screamed out and sat up abruptly. He growled and snarled while fighting as Twilight and Hyrule tried to get him back down. “NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE! WARS!” The one eyed male screamed while seeing something the others couldn’t. Slowly the Old Man just slumped and cried.

“What the hell’s he’s going through?” The half-fairy queried quietly while feeling tad freaked out.

“I don’t know. But I think it’s different compared to what I saw.” The Rancher replied sorrowfully. He and the Traveler glanced at each other before doing their best to ease out their oldest brother’s trapped mind. Hyrule gently braided the one eyed male’s hair while Twilight ran his fingers through the untouched golden hair of his mentor’s.

Soon enough the others came into there. “How is he?” Warriors inquired straight off while noticing the anguish on his little brother’s face.

“He screamed for you, Warriors.” The half-fairy replied while moving off the way to let the Captain to the bed. The war Hero nodded while taking the place and doing his best to calm his little brother down. Sadly, it seemed like his words weren’t heard and his actions weren’t felt. Time just kept crying while having bit curled up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time couldn’t move. Something or someone was holding him down but he couldn’t care of what that was. His gaze was in the group smirking wickedly. There were trapped fairies right before them and Hyrule was one of those colorful beings.

“NO! NONONO! LEAVE THEM ALONE!” The one eyed male screamed but he couldn’t get freed. He couldn’t do anything as the people tore the small beings to pieces. He was crying and screaming. He tried to struggle and get free. He tried all the magics he had but nothing worked. Nothing came out.

“PIXIE!” The Chain’s leader screamed in terror and horror as the small half-fairy’s wings were torn from his back. The screams of the fairies would haunt him for the rest of his life. And there was nothing he could do to stop these people from torturing and murdering those benevolent helpers.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The eight Heroes fought to keep Time down as he trashed and fought to get free. The one eyed male was crying and screaming but nothing his boys did to soothe him reached his terrorized mind. Their actions only made things worse.

Wolfie carefully laid down over his mentor in hopes of soothing and keeping him down. That seemed to stop the fighting but it didn’t help to clear the hell the Chain’s leader’s mind was trapped into. The canine whined miserably while searching for help from the others. His brothers didn’t meet his gaze as they watched their oldest brother suffer without being able to aid him even one bit.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“WIND!”

Time fought hard to get through the pirates. The Bokoblins had entirely outnumbered them and flanked the Sailor’s ship. They were going down with the beautiful wooden vessel. It was already sinking and the beasts were keeping them from overtaking their ships.

The pirate-Hero, though, had been overpowered but the monsters didn’t kill him. No, they tied him up and added heavy weights all around him before throwing him overboard. After that the creatures turned back into the battle at the Sailor’s ship.

The Chain’s leader didn’t think as he reached the edge of the vessel and dived. He gasped when something took hold of him and yanked him back into the ship’s floor. “NO!” He screamed out and fought to get up to his feet. Twilight dashed past him and dived into the water.

“Damn it, Sprite! If you jump into there, you’ll sink like a rock!” Warriors snapped while undoing the Hookshot from his little brother’s armor.

“At least I could’ve caught him!” Time snarled back and dashed to the railing the moment he was free. Yet, he didn’t jump into the water. He searched the surface while ignoring the battle and sinking ship. Eventually Twilight came back to the surface and just shook his head.

The one eyed male crashed to his knees and screamed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Some hours had gone past when the Chain suddenly jerked at the agony filled scream and they snapped their notion right into their leader. Time had curled up and broken down. “No.. Nononono…. Pirate….” He whined miserably and the eight Heroes glanced at each other.

“Guys…” Four called and nodded towards their oldest brother’s back.

“Oh that’s not good.” Wild half whispered before already working with his Slate to bring out more bandages.

“Damn it…” Warriors growled and gently forced his little brother to turn to his back. The one eyed male didn’t fight back against the action. “His trashing has probably reopened the wound.” The war Hero whispered while starting to change the bandages.

“We gotta keep better check on him.” Wind commented while hating when the wounds didn’t heal as they should. It never was a good thing when one of his brothers bled through the bandages.

“I’ll try to stop the bleeding and fix the wound a bit.” Hyrule offered while already starting his magic. He couldn’t fix it as well as he wished to but at least he could keep his brother from bleeding to death. “Give him a red potion. I need to work it into covering for the lost blood.” He requested and Sky quickly gave the needed drink. While the Captain carefully forced it down his little brother’s throat, the Traveler changed his magic and worked with the rearranging the potion’s work into renewing lost blood. It wasn’t easy and he needed to take a nap afterwards but at least it secured Time’s life for the moment.

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Time found himself from the field of Wild’s Hyrule. He looked around but he didn’t see any of his boys around. He couldn’t even feel them. Suddenly an explosion caught his notion.

The one eyed male didn’t think twice as he already dashed to the scene beyond the close by hill. He gasped in full horror when the scene came to his sight. Before he even could fully comprehend anything, he was already dashing into the battle.

Wild had been struck by a blast from a Guardian Stalker. There were two of them. They took turns in blowing the Champion up until they were close enough. At then they struck with their sharp claws and began to tear the Hero of Wild into pieces.

Time screamed while drawing out his Biggoron Sword. He swung it while knowing his attack would cause devastating damage into the mechanical enemies. And yet, his strike went right past the things. Those things didn’t even acknowledge him in any of way. Even Wild didn’t see him.

The Old Man stared petrified at the situation before him. He was a ghost. He couldn’t save his boy. The sword slipped from his hold as he sank to his knees. He was doomed to watch his family die right before his eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Chain did their best to soothe their crying oldest brother. “Wild… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I failed you.” Time whispered while having curled up again and hidden his face into his hand. The Champion carefully moved to be in front of his leader. He gently pulled the one eyed male’s arms around him and scooted as close to him as he could.

“I’m here, Time. I’m okay. You haven’t failed me in any of way.” The master archer whispered while holding the older male as tightly as he dared without causing harm to him. And yet, his attempts and reassuring words went to deaf ears.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time heard the ruckus coming from the forge. It didn’t sound normal so he dashed over to check the situation. He gasped in shock when he saw the Moblin. He drew out his knife as all the other weapons were at the Inn. His armor was the reason the Smithy was in here.

Before the one eyed male had a chance to attack, the beast raised its current weapon high above its head. The terror struck hard when he saw the bloodied anvil. Right after that it was already struck down before being accompanied by a sound of splash instead of metal striking floor. And he knew on that second what he’d see on the creature’s other side.

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Time screamed and abruptly sat up. “Hold him down!” The command went past him but he started to fight when the Chain forced him back down. He didn’t see them. He saw the forge and the Moblin. He needed to kill the beast but clearly that thing hadn’t been there alone.

“Fucking hell! Let me go!” He snarled and fought. “I’m going to fucking murder that thing! It killed Four! That son of a bitch!” He shouted and struggled against the hold with all he got. Yet, even he wasn’t capable to get free from all the strength increasing items and accessories.

“Tie him down!” Warriors commanded unwillingly.

“What?” Most of the Chain queried in unison with full shock in their voice. That slight distraction almost gave their oldest brother a chance to get free. Yet, before he got far with his attempt, the Links were already forcing him back down.

“Tie him down. He’s a danger to himself at the moment.” The Captain told sorrowfully. “That trashing won’t do anything good to the wound.”

The war Hero’s brothers hesitated for a moment before nodding. Unwillingly they tied the one eyed male into the bed as securely as they could.

“He’s not going to like this.” Hyrule commented after pulling off a bit. He checked the wound and grimaced as it had reopened again.

The Captain sighed heavily and nodded. “I know. But he’ll understand when we explain.” He replied sorrowfully before starting to change the bandages and letting the Traveler fix the bleeding again.

“While he’s immobilized we need to keep better watch.” Legend reminded and the others nodded.

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Time heard the metal creek and felt the air swish around him. It took a moment from him to realize he was standing in a huge room. The sound of a battle slowly started to register in his mind. When he turned his notion towards the source of the noise, he stared wide-eyed at the scene.

Sky was dealing with a huge metallic being. It had way too many hands and a smiling face. The blades in its hands were sharp and swishing in all possible ways. The Chosen Hero was swift and agile against the being. And, for a moment, the one eyed male hoped for a better outcome. But that wasn’t given to him.

Instead, he saw the Skyloftian Knight falter once. And that was more than enough for the stationary being to finish him off. One quick move of all arms. Two different directions for the blades to slash in horizontal strike… And Sky was in five different pieces on the ground.

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When the Chain’s leader started to trash and fight against the bindings, Twilight turned into Wolfie and very carefully went to lay over him. The rest of the Links did their best to try and soothe their oldest brother. And yet, the music, reassuring words, running fingers through hair and braiding the hair didn’t aid even one bit.

This time the one eyed male was screaming after Sky. It was clear the Old Man was raged about whatever had happened in his mind’s visions. “I guess I’ll be the next one.” Legend whispered while already trying to do all he could to ease the upcoming nightmare into something else. Yet, as he believed, there wasn’t anything he could do to prevent Time from falling into that hellish situation.

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Time didn’t want to kill. He couldn’t kill. It just wasn’t what he was capable of. And yet, when he saw those fully armored Knights of Hyrule attacking Legend, he was more than ready to commit murder. He didn’t care at the moment that those men were influenced by mind control magic. All that he DID care was the fact they were ready and willing to kill one of his boys.

The one eyed male stormed forward and the whole army of the Veteran’s era came between him and the Specialist. He tore through them with his Biggoron Sword while ignoring the slashes and stabs those avoiding his strikes were giving him. He needed to get past them as fast as possible.

And yet, the Chain’s leader was too slow. By the time he reached the main bad guys of the situation, it was already too late. Legend laid dead on the ground with the ten Knights having bloodied swords.

The Old Man saw red. He screamed and attacked every single Knight in his vicinity. None of them survived through his hatred and agony as he turned those against the ones responsible for his boy’s death.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Chain of Heroes hated to see their oldest brother first fight against the ropes that held him down before succumbing into anguish. Part of them rather took the rage and fight than see their leader break down. Legend tried his best to get Time to understand that he was safe and sound. Yet, like all the times before, their desperate attempts were useless.

“We can’t do anything else than wait and hope for the best.” Twilight whispered sorrowfully while sitting on the bed.

“You didn’t trash and scream and break down.” Hyrule reminded bit roughly even though he didn’t mean the words to come out as such.

“Maybe not but the blade’s the same. The Shadow struck with same cruel magic.” The Rancher reminded. “He just… Has far more regrets of which that asshole can use as its playground.”

“What do you think he’s seen so far?” Four inquired bit curiously.

“I wish he didn’t see any of what he’s seen so far.” Warriors almost snapped while trying to hold back his roughness.

“I… Didn’t meant it like that…” The Smithy apologized.

“I know.” The Captain sighed and gave a weak smile. “I’m sorry too.” He half whispered while returning his gaze into Time.

“We’re all worried. It’s why we’re so edgy right now.” Sky soothed the situation as well as he could. “Time will pull through. We just have to believe in that and not give up on the hope.” The others nodded but it still was rough situation to bear.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time found himself from a pitch black cave. It didn’t feel like it would’ve been big but the lightlessness made it way too eerie for him. The sound of heavy breathing got him to turn around swiftly. He gasped in shock and terror while taking unconscious step backwards.

The Chain stood right before him. Their eyes weren’t of the different shades of blue he had learned to know. Instead they were almost golden and shining. The black goo was dripping off of them. There were other golden eyes around their bodies. The smile the eight had was wicked and crooked.

“Join us…” They nearly chanted while slowly reaching towards the one eyed male. He took another freaked out step backwards while staring wide-eyed at the scene. “N-no… B-boys… W-what the hell…” He stammered while trying to understand the situation. Yet, suddenly the realization struck. Malice. It was the only plausible answer.

“NO!” Time screamed in rage. He called forth the Light Magic and struck it on full force against the ground like he would with the first three magics he had learned. The golden dome spread fast and strong. He flinched roughly and began to tremble when he heard his boys scream.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Chain sighed heavily and sorrowfully when Time began to whimper. Even though they knew actions wouldn’t get through, they got up from the card game they had going and moved towards their leader. Yet, before they got close to the bed, the one eyed male screamed in rage. That sound was followed by rough and uncontrolled strike of Light Magic.

The eight Heroes gasped in near fright while shutting their eyes as tightly as they could. They turned their backs to the scene while trying to defend themselves from the unexpected attack. When the light faded and they slowly blinked their eyes open, it took a moment for them to realize their oldest brother groaning.

The Old Man slowly opened his eye before gasping as he couldn’t move. His freaked out gaze fell into the ropes. “T-the hell…?” He half queried while first tugging at the restraints before already yanking. “No… Oh, Deities, no…” He mumbled with rising panic.

“Sprite?” Warriors called and the one eyed male snapped his notion into him. “Calm down, little brother. We’ll set you free.” He assured while approaching the bed carefully with the others in tow.

“Wars? W-what…? Why am I…?” The Chain’s leader queried while trying to understand the situation.

“You with us, Old Man?” Legend half asked while starting to open the straps at the middle of the bed. The others quickly joined in to set their oldest brother free.

“W-what that’s supposed to mean?” The one eyed male inquired while swiftly sitting up the moment he was free enough to do so.

“Whoa! Easy! You’re still healing, Sprite!” Warriors half shouted and gently forced his little brother back down. Time had groaned in pain and allowed the action just to ease the feeling down.

“What happened?” The oldest Link queried while frowning in confusion. “I… I remember….” He started before trailing off and growling. “Fuck. That blade.” He nearly snarled while digging his fingers into his hair.

“Sprite.” The Captain called bit warningly while slightly fearing for his brother to start harming himself.

Time huffed and gave bit of a rough look to his older brother. He pulled his hands out of his hair and closed his eye. “I was struck by that flaming sword of Shadow’s. How long I’ve been out of count?” He stated out before opening his eye to look around in search of an answer.

“For about a day.” Sky answered sorrowfully.

“You’ve been having rough nightmares. Remember anything of those?” Four continued and bit tilted his head to side.

The one eyed male sighed and slowly shook his head while bit frowning. “Not much. Just bits and pieces.” He answered and shivered violently. “I’d rather not remember that little what I do remember.” He mumbled before bit pushing himself upwards.

“Sprite.” The war Hero called and raised an eyebrow as Time rolled his eye.

“I’d like to sit up…..” The Chain’s leader started before slumping beneath the look his older brother was giving him. “…wards. Upwards. I’m not happy of laying and not seeing you guys that of well.” He quickly continued with bit of a sheepish look.

Warriors stared at the oldest Link for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Gather the pillows.” He half commanded and the others swiftly went to fetch the extras from the other beds in the room. The one eyed male gave a grateful look to the war Hero before bit yelping as the Captain gently ran his hand past his brother’s face. “Seriously, Sprite. You should be resting and not trying to get up.”

“I know. And I will.” The Old Man replied and smiled fondly as the others gently and carefully placed the pillows around him to tuck him into better position. “Thank you.” He half whispered before turning his gaze back into Warriors. “Honestly speaking, I just want a group hug after all those nightmares.” Yet, before he even got to the end of his sentence, the seven already glomped him while being careful of his wounds.

The war Hero chuckled and joined in while feeling grateful of Time still being alive and with them. The oldest Link sighed in relief and relaxed while feeling entirely content in the hold. Yet, even though he had claimed he didn’t really remember those nightmares, it wasn’t entirely truthful.

Those horrid situations were slowly sliding right into his memory and he fought not to shiver at the hell he had witnessed. Even though those had been given roughly and in the wrong way, he knew exactly what those nightmares had been: Prophetic dreams. And he was adamant of making them different. The only thing was that he wasn’t certain if he should actually let the others know of them or not. Telling them out made them real. And yet, telling them out would help him to change them. Still, he hesitated as he felt like this time around it was better to keep the others out of the loop.

Time wasn’t certain if that hesitation was his own or the remnant of Shadow’s cruel magic. Either way, it was clear the others would do everything in their power to change things if they knew. And that might’ve turned things from bad to worse. After all, he was already making plans and choosing his actions. Sadly, some of those situation would need bit of luring the bad guys out. That was why he eventually held the information to himself while hoping for the best.

Couple of weeks later the Chain’s leader had healed well enough from the near death bringing stab given by the Shadow. He felt full dread when they found the portal and moved through it with him in the lead. Something within him told he needed to reach other end before his boys or he’d regret it.

The moment the one eyed male felt to have reached the other side, he already knew. Without thinking he already performed the moves and screamed as he struck with the Light Magic. The black goo he had been standing in moved away from the glow of the light that had already appeared into his hands. The moment he struck his palms into the uneven floor of the cave, the magic spread fast and rough.

The Old Man flinched a bit when he heard his boys gasp in shock but he didn’t give up on his work. The Light Magic spread as far as the cave went. On the same time he gained a map of the area through his magic. “Come on! We need to move!” He commanded while quite well forced the eight into action. “Run!” He nearly shouted while making sure everyone was going to right road.

“Time, what’s going on?” Wind called while bit stumbling. His oldest brother yanked him up into his arms while pushing the others forward.

“No time for explanation! Just keep running!” Time commanded while making sure everyone was along. “Out! Out of the cave! NOW!” He shouted while feeling the Malice returning from the unexpected attack against it.

The second the oldest Link was out, he already set Wind down and behind him as he turned around to face the cave they had just come out of. Without thinking, he screamed and struck with beam of Light Magic at the mouth of the cave. The Malice screeched and recoiled backwards into the deeper darkness of the area.

Time staggered few steps backwards before gasping and falling to his knees while gasping for air. “What the hell was that?” Legend queried in shock.

“Malice.” Wild half whispered before turning his gaze into Time. “How did you…?” He started before already understanding. “Those nightmares… You do remember them.”

“Prophecies.” The Chain’s leader replied. “They were prophecies that need to be changed.” He stated out while forcing himself back to his feet. “Let’s get out of here.” He half commanded and began to usher the eight Links towards the field instead of the forest. “We need lighter area. A place the Malice can’t come.” He explained while wishing it would’ve been bright daylight instead of evening and the moment of setting sun.

“I know where we can go. It’s safe and sacred.” The Champion told and took the lead swiftly.

“Sprite? What did you see?” Warriors inquired while coming next to his brother to make sure he was capable of making the trip to the closest Stable.

“The less you know, the better.” Time answered and gave bit of pleading look to the war Hero. “It’s the only way I can change them.” He explained sorrowfully. “I know it’s not how we did it during the war. And I know it’s not how my first and second quests went but…” He trailed off uncertainly while turning his gaze away.

“You fear us changing things will throw it into different kind of hell?” The Captain asked and the older male nodded sorrowfully.

“I’ll tell if I feel like it’s the only way to change things.” Time promised while already having a feeling there would come such turns.  Warriors nodded while bit frowning as he thought it through.

“I think we should talk with the others too. They deserve some answers.” The war Hero stated out. The one eyed male sighed but he nodded in understanding. “I’ll handle the talking, don’t worry.” He said with a slight reassuring smile.

After about an hour of walking, the Chain of nine Heroes reached the Stable. Wild swiftly bargained a stay for them before already handling evening meal. The Captain looked around at his brothers by the cooking fire before giving out a signal whistle to catch everyone’s notion.

“As we heard, Time’s had prophetic dreams due that red flared sword.” Warriors started as calmly as he could. “Of course, we all wish to change what he saw.” He raised his hand to silence the upcoming requests to tell the nightmares out. “Time’s dealt with prophetic dreams before so he knows how to handle them. And right now he believes the right action is to keep them to himself. I know you guys aren’t happy of that. Neither am I, to be honest. But, I’d rather we don’t force Time into revealing those dreams.” He continued as firmly as he could. “Time will tell us what we need to know of them.”

The Chain’s leader took a deep breath and raised his gaze up from the fire. “I know none of you is happy of this. And I don’t blame you for that.” He started bit sorrowfully. “The problem is that I don’t know how swiftly these situations will come forth. I don’t want you to wait for things that won’t happen. If you know, you’ll worry too much. I…” He trailed off for a moment with a slight frown while dropping his gaze down for a moment. “The thing is that I’m in tune with time magic. It gives me bit of heads-up when the prophecies are up for coming forth. I’ll be able to react swiftly enough. Like at that cave of Malice.”

“Even if we would’ve known, we wouldn’t have reacted fast enough.” Twilight half whispered and the one eyed male nodded.

“I know most of you have Light Magic in usage but… In that darkness… Would you have known when you’re through the portal?” The Old Man half queried and saw the uncertainty within his boys. “That’s the kind of heads-up I’ll get. I know when the situation is on and I need to react to it.” He explained and the others nodded in understanding. “When I tell you guys to do something, no matter how confusing or odd—“

“We’ll follow your command to the letter.” Legend promised firmly and the seven brothers of his nodded firmly. “If any of chances… Can you give any heads-up on what’s to wait for?”

Time calmed down a bit and nodded with a slight smile. “I’m not sure. It’s bit hard to know in what order things happen but…” He started with slight frown. He thought through the prophecies while trying to find anything he could give out. “I think… Each of them happened in your own eras. Except for one which is in mine. So, on that line…” He half thought aloud  before making his choice. He took quite determined look onto his face as he pointed at the Veteran. “Magic Cape.” His notion went to Four. “I’ll be with you at the forge.” Next he pointed at Wild. “Stay behind me.” From there he picked Wind. “Stay with your brothers and make sure you won’t be fighting alone.” Lastly he turned to Warriors. “You and me… No night walk.���

“And the rest of us?” Hyrule asked bit worriedly.

The Chain’s leader sighed bit heavily. “I didn’t see enough to know the full situation. Things jut were already on before I could catch the reasons or how we ended into them.” He confessed sorrowfully and the remaining three Links nodded in understanding.

Couple of days later the next portal opened up. Wild frowned as he recognized his own era. “I don’t think we’ve before been brought straight back to one’s own era through the portal.” He told while checking the Slate.

“Wild.” Time called with slight dread within his voice.

“Got it.” The Champion straight off stated out and moved behind his leader. The others swiftly surrounded him to give more protection to their brother.

“No.” The Old Man commanded. “Spread.” He stated out while looking around the grassy field. “Two of those mechanical walking things. I can only get one down. The rest of you need to deal with the other one.”

“Guardian Stalkers?” Wild gulped before shaking his head and throwing the memory of his death out of his head. “Which way?” He queried instead while already taking his Slate back up. Time took a check on the map before nodding slowly.

“They come from here and here.” The Chain’s leader told while tapping on the screen.

“Okay. You guys can hide into here.” The Champion told while pointing to a place. “Cut its feet and ram a sword into its eye. That should handle it off.” He advised and the others nodded in acceptance before glancing at Time.

“Go. I and Wild will catch their notion.” The one eyed male replied while starting to lead the way. The others dashed off to get to right place. They all were bit worried of the situation but they trusted each other to handle their parts of the simple plan.

Soon enough the two Guardian Stalkers caught the notion of the Hylian Champion. Time pushed Wild behind him while raising his hand and pointing it at the one that was coming from right in front of them. He glanced at the other before bit grinning as the seven Links attacked it. “Just bit closer… Get into my reach…” He half whispered before taking a deep breath and closing his eye. “Let’s see how you deal with electricity when it’s turned against you.” He mused bit wickedly.

Just as the mechanical being was up for charging its attack, the thing jerked roughly. Right after that it started to buzz as electricity was seen all around its body. It twitched and jerked like a ragdoll. After a while it just crumbled to the ground until it suddenly blew up.

The one eyed male sighed in relief before bit gasping as he fell to his knees. “Shit… Haven’t worked with electricity that of much.” He told with a slight chuckle. Only a moment later another explosion was heard as the second Guardian Stalker was taken down. Wild helped Time up and they headed off towards the area to check on their brothers.

The duo sighed in relief when they came to the scene and found all seven safe and sound. When the Links saw their leader and cook, they already dashed over in worry. “Just bit exhausted.” The oldest Hero straight off told while waving his hand dismissively. Yet, before he could go further with his words or decline, Legend had already handed out a green potion. He huffed a bit and rolled his eye but he accepted the helping drink.

The next portal opened up nearly instantly after the Chain’s leader had regained his strength and stamina. The eight with him felt uncertain of going through it but their oldest brother just took the lead. “The quicker these are done, the better for everyone.” He offered as a reassurance even though he was certain it didn’t fully hit as such. The others sighed a bit but they nodded and followed him forward into the next situation that needed to be changed.

When the nine Heroes got through the portal, Sky gasped in shock as he looked around. “I’ve been to here.” He told while recognizing his era and the Temple. “There’s an enemy right ahead of us at the next room. Koloktos. A mechanical swordsman.” He explained while checking his whip to be ready to tear its limbs off so he’d get to attack the main part.

“No.” Time half commanded while placing his hand onto the younger Hero’s shoulder. “We all enter the room but you’re not fighting like you used to.” He partly reminded while going through all he knew of his brothers. “Wild.” He called while turning towards the Champion. “Once the beast is together, you freeze it. The rest of us will tear its core to pieces.”He planned out and the master archer nodded in acceptance.

“Sounds fast and easy.” The Chosen Hero commented while calming down. He returned the whip to his pocket and nodded firmly. After that they walked to the door and entered the round room. The moment everyone was inside the door locked behind them, the golden colored metals moved and the huge creature came to life.

The creatures stood straight off to its feet which didn’t only take Sky but the oldest Hero too out of guard. “That’s not…” The oldest Link started before calming down and grinning. “Wild, if you please.” He simply called and nodded towards the creature.

“On it!” The Champion half shouted while already working with the Slate. The creature was whole time coming towards the nine swordsmen while swishing its weapons in wide and powerful slashes. “NOW!” The master archer shouted the moment the Stasis hit and froze their enemy to its place.

The eight dashed forward while drawing out their sword. They quickly took places from where they all could strike at their target without being on someone else’s way. Even with the Stasis in work, Time, Twilight and Legend forced the bars open to increase the chances for striking. “Guys, back!” Wild shouted as he noticed the timer running out.

“Just a moment!” Four shouted as he placed a bomb inside the cage where their enemy’s core was at.

Time smirked widely at the action. “Oh that’s a perfect idea!” He half shouted while taking out his own bomb and placing it next to the Smithy’s. Several more quickly joined the two before the eight Heroes ran away from the Koloktos frozen in time. They swiftly turned around after having reached their Chain’s cook to see if they needed to keep fighting against their enemy.

The Stasis flashed off and the metallic multi-handed creature began to retch and jerk roughly as the strikes the Heroes had given it finally found their target. When it was up for recovering enough to continue the battle, one of the bombs blew up while creating a enormous blast as it caused the other bombs to go off too. Time quickly and unconsciously called out Nayru’s Love to defend himself and his boys from the pieces that flew into all possible directions as the Koloktos exploded.

After calming down, the Chain, one to few at a time, began to laugh. “Oh Goddesses! That was awesome!” Wind cheered in delight. The others agreed while nodding and grinning widely.

“Well, that certainly was perfect way to take down a monster.” The one eyed male grinned. He quite well wished they could redo this at some point to other beasts too. The others nodded before already feeling tad uncertain as a portal suddenly opened up into middle of the room. “Guess we just gotta head forward.” He half sighed before grinning. “Who knows, maybe we’ll come up with more ways to deal with the problems.” He offered as a reassurance before leading his boys into the next era.

As the nine Heroes walked through the dark hallway of sinister magic, Time already knew. He grit his teeth while knowing he couldn’t hide his older brother or the fact of who he was. He tried not to show his uncertainty as he came into middle of the Castle Market from the portal and found lot of people staring in shock, fear and awe.

The Chain followed him soon and the Captain recognized the area and era swiftly. The Old Man gave him a sharp look and the war Hero stayed silent. “Let’s find an Inn and make plans.” He commanded while making sure everyone stayed close by.

Once at the safety of the Inn’s biggest room, the one eyed male already paced around. “No-one goes around after the evening.” He started commandingly while finally raising his gaze up into his brothers. “We’ll be around the town only during bright daylight. And no-one goes alone.” He stated out while not being able to push away the dread and fear of the situation. “And while we’re at here, we’ll keep night watches. I don’t trust this place even one bit.”

“Restocking and information gathering tomorrow. Three teams.” Legend stated out while raising an eyebrow as he searched for a confirmation from his oldest brother. Time nodded in agreement and bit calmed down as the groups were swiftly formed. The Veteran would stay with him and the war Hero. Twilight, Wild and Four created the second group. Third had Wind, Hyrule and Sky. It seemed wise enough combinations.

After that the Old Man did his best to describe the men he had seen in his vision. He made the Chain swear they wouldn’t approach the group or its members for any of reason. It was lot asked from group of Heroes but they agreed to it in hopes of keeping Warriors safe and Time with one worry less on his shoulders.

It took couple of days before the Chain’s leader felt himself calm down. Something told him that the danger had passed and the group wasn’t around anymore. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel bit grateful when the portal opened up to the market at the next day. At least they had managed to restock and get some rest in actual beds even with the night shifts.

The portal brought the nine Links right into middle of a ship’s deck. The Sailor squealed in full delight when he recognized the pirate ship. Before anyone could stop him, he already dashed off to find Tetra and her crew. Time sighed and shook his head while the rest of the Chain scattered around. Yet, Warriors stayed by his little brother. “Tell me.” He simply whispered while having already figured out who’s turn it was.

“Keep your eyes open and search for enemy ships. When those are sighted, gather everyone close to me.” The oldest Link stated out firmly and the Captain nodded in understanding. The war Hero took once a check around before he went to find his brothers. The one eyed male noticed how his older brother gave the heads-up to the others and how the Chain, one to few at a time, ended up bit startled but very swiftly getting to be more alert of their surroundings. He smiled a bit and slightly relaxed as he knew there were more eyes searching for enemies and being ready to react at then.

It took a day of sailing before the alarm was given. The Chain’s leader dashed up to the deck while already fearing to be too late. Yet, he sighed in relief as he saw how far the other ships were. “Everyone! Gather around!” He commanded even though he wasn’t the captain of the given vessel. Yet, for his relief Tetra and her crew came close along with his boys. “Keep eye on them and tell me when they’re in the reach of those cannons.” He requested as he was unaware of how far one could shoot those heavy balls.

“Mikau, you awake?” Time called while feeling uncertain of the situation.

“Entirely. Ready whenever you need me.” The Zora guitarist replied while being up and about for sharing his Water Magic.

“You know when to lend me the helping hand.” The oldest Link nodded inwardly while feeling tad grateful of the back-up he had within him. The aquatic male nodded back and kept close check on the situation. Yet, Mikau gave out the same warning that came from Wind only seconds later: The enemy was in the reach.

The Old Man nodded firmly before already performing the moves for Nayru’s Love. He needed it to be wide and strong enough to cover for the whole ship. He gasped a bit when he felt Fierce lend his own strength in magic to keep the shield up and working.

Time relaxed a bit as he had the aid from two of his ghostly companions. He kept close check on the other ships while bit flinching as the cannonballs struck into the shield every now and then. “They’re close enough.” Dextri called and the other three nodded in confirmation.

The one eyed male grinned a bit and began to perform the next magic. Yet, he didn’t hit the full work of Farore’s Wind as he extracted the wind part from it. His grin widened as he felt the Deku Butler’s Son and Darmani III lend their strength, accuracy and magic into his work. He screamed when he struck his hands against the wooden floor of the pirate ship’s deck.

The crowd around him gasped a bit at the rough gale that whirled off from the Chain’s leader. He slowly stood up while having the storm wind circling around them. After that he began to dance around while commanding the magic to do as he wished of it. The tornados crashed into the ships and tore them apart while throwing the Bokoblins high into the air and straight into the raging water below.

Time was panting when he had destroyed eight enemy ships out of fourteen. The storm died off and the ocean calmed down. The ships commanded by monsters turned their vessels back into crashing and flanking their target. “Not on my watch.” He growled while beginning to perform third magic’s moves. Moves that Mikau showed to him while sharing his Water Magic with his close friend.

Again the Hero of Termina struck his hands against the deck of the ship to initiate the magic fully. He listened to the Zora’s commands of sorts while doing as told and he screamed again as he stood back up and struck his hands high above him. The people with him gasped in full shock as the water suddenly rose around them before already rushing off towards the enemies. The tidal wave crashed roughly into their ships and shattered them while sending two crashing against each other before the waves reached them.

When the last ship fell, the Old Man gasped and fell roughly to his knees. “W-was… W-was that all…?” He queried quietly while raising his gaze up into something only Wind saw: Mikau. The Zora glanced once around before closing his eyes and connecting with the water around him. After that he opened his eyes and nodded firmly.

“You got them all, Link.” The ghost of the guitarist replied with a slight smile. Yet, he nearly instantly gasped when his friend closed his eye and let the exhaustion overtake him. The Zora moved swiftly and caught him before already laying him gently down to the deck. After that he turned his notion into the Sailor. “Link will be all right. He just needs bit of rest.” He assured with a small smile before getting up to his feet. He took a step backwards and vanished back to the Realm of the Spirits.

The ship’s full crew already surrounded the one eyed male before the Zora even was fully gone. “Guys, he’ll be okay. He just needs rest.” Wind told as firmly as he could. “That water magic belonged to the Zora ghost, Mikau.” He explained and shrugged a bit. “He was there aiding him.”

With things having calmed down, Warriors carefully picked his little brother up and carried him below the deck to sleep more comfortably at a bed. He and Twilight stayed by him to guard his rest while the others started to work around the ship. They were up for finding the closest patch of land to dock at. It felt like they all needed bit of safety of the dry land for a moment after having seen the one eyed male control the wind and ocean like that.

Time woke up into a scent of Wild cooking. He groaned a bit and slowly opened his eye. “Hey there, little brother.” Warriors half whispered while sitting on the floor right next to the bed.

“How long was I out?” The one eyed male queried while sitting up. He ran a hand through his hair before stretching.

“About a day.” The Captain answered as he stood up and sat onto the bed. He leaned backwards to get behind the Chain’s leader before starting to work massaging his brother’s shoulders and back. “Not surprised, though. You hit one hell of a show.”

The Old Man gave a nearly delighted whine at the action and closed his eye while relaxing. “Is everyone all right?” He queried while pretty much melting beneath his older brother’s work.

“Safe and sound.” The war Hero replied calmly. “We’ve docked to an island for a while.” He explained and Time just nodded at the information. “How are you feeling?”

The oldest Link sighed and gave a slight shrug. “Better the longer you work with my stiff muscles.” He replied with a grin. Warriors chuckled and kissed the side of the one eyed male’s head. “And hungry.” The Chain’s leader continued before unwillingly pulling away from the touch. “Can you finish later, please?” He half begged while giving the younger male nearly a pleading look.

“Certainly.” The Captain answered before already following his little brother out of the room and up to the deck. At there, once by the road to the shore, he already grinned. “Check who decided to wake up!” He called to the Chain, Tetra and her crew at the beach of the island.

Time huffed a bit but he couldn’t help but smile and bit chuckle as his boys screamed out his name and already dashed over to him. The war Hero just moved off the way and smiled as the others engulfed their oldest brother into a group hug. Their leader relaxed and smiled while trying to return the hold.

After a while everyone was at the beach enjoying the Champion’s creation. The whole current crew of the ship decided to stay at the island for a while and restock with what the place could offer. It wasn’t much but Wild was happy to gain new food items into his Slate to figure out how to use them.

Just when they were up for continuing sailing, the next portal opened up at the beach. The Chain bid their goodbyes to Tetra and her crew before approaching the vortex. Yet, before they could enter it, Time actually stopped them. He frowned and listened while closing his eye. He felt everyone stare at him but he concentrated into the feeling of where the dark pathway would lead them to.

After a while the Chain’s leader took a deep breath and turned his notion into Legend while letting the air out. “Legend. The Cape.” He simply stated out and the Veteran nodded in understanding. He dug the red fabric out before his leader actually stopped him. “Wait! I… A-actually, I have a better idea.” He partly stammered while pulling out the Stone Mask. “Same effect but no need keeping the magic up.” He told while offering the item to him.

The Specialist nodded while taking the mask and putting it on. The others gasped a bit when he just vanished from sight. “I’ll give it back once we’ve either cleared the problem at my era or left from there.” He promised and the Old Man simply nodded before leading his boys through the portal.

The moment the Links came through the vortex, they found themselves surrounded by heavily armored Knights with their weapons pointed right at them. “Where is the Hero of Legend?” One of the high ranked soldiers asked with commanding voice.

“Not with us.” Time answered as calmly as he could while taking in the situation. Suddenly one of the Knights moved forward from his blind side. He turned toward it before bit gasping as the armored fighter grabbed the front of his armor and yanked him forward. Right after that the rough fist already collided with the side of his face. The Knight let go and his target crashed to his knees with a growl by the strength of the strike.

“TIME!” The Chain screamed out and dashed forward in full worry. The one eyed male shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.

“Wrong answer.” The leader of the Knights stated out while glaring at the Hero of Time. “I’m sure the Queen will get the answers out of you.” He continued before giving a sharp nod towards the road to the castle. The other Knights began to force the Chain of Links forward.

Legend hated it as he took the given chance to escape from middle of his brothers. He knew Time did this kind of things without thinking. Just giving his boys the needed chance to escape or do something needed while he took the brunt of the situation. And in this case it was one simple line and a cruel punch to face. At least it got one of the armored Knights to move out of the line and create the needed gap between their capturers for him to use.

The Chain followed calmly the Knights while being surrounded by them. The Veteran kept bit of distance but he followed the group. He really wanted to just attack and get those people away from his brothers. Yet, that wouldn’t give him the chance to fix this and set the Knights free from the mind control that clearly was going on.

Soon enough they reached the castle and Legend moved closer to the last Knight so he could easily slip inside before the doors would be closed. He wanted to follow his brothers and hear what awaited them but he didn’t. He grit his teeth and tore his gaze away from the Chain of Heroes before starting to sneak around the castle. He was entirely certain he’d find a way to break the mind control magic one way or the other from somewhere within the castle.

While the Weapon Specialist left to handle the needed task, the eight Links were brought into the throne room. The Knights moved off the way to let their leader see their captives. Time knelt down straight off and his brothers followed his action instantaneously. Queen Zelda stood up from her throne while narrowing her gaze at the eight before her.

“Your Highness, forgive me for speaking bluntly but this is a great mistake.” The one eyed male started as calmly as he could. “The Hero of Legend is not with us.”

“I was informed differently, Hero of Time.” Zelda stated out with almost cruel gaze. “We have been waiting for the portal to open for quite a while now.” She told while approaching the group of Heroes. “I waited for honesty from your kind.” She nearly snarled while crouching downwards just to grab Time’s throat.

The Chain’s leader gasped and shot his eye open while being forced up from his position. Yet, nearly instantly after getting up to his feet, he gasped and screamed voicelessly. The Queen let go of him and smirked as he crashed to the ground before already curling up a bit and whining in pain. “Take him. Let’s see if the others are more cooperating while watching him fight for his life.” She commanded and very swiftly several more Knights already moved and came to grab and drag the one eyed male along.

The seven younger males had screamed out their oldest brother’s name but the other Knights had moved swiftly and brought swords and spears to their throats to keep them to their places. They couldn’t do anything else than watch the Old Man get dragged away until they were forced to move too. Zelda led them into different road until eventually reaching a balcony like area.

From there it was a perfect view into lower being round battle arena. In the middle of the sandy area was a sturdy looking pole. People were already gathering around the place to watch the soon to start show. The area had rough magic around them that prevented the Heroes from drawing out any weapon they had with them. It didn’t entirely deny magic from being used but they suspected Zelda to uphold an unseen shield. Yet, more so, they feared for her to have blocked their brother’s magic by the earlier action she had done.

When the amphitheater of sorts had filled with spectators, Time was dragged into middle of the area. He was quite well unceremoniously just dumped onto the sandy floor before one of the Knights shackled his ankle into one of the chains connected into the pole. After that they left the area.

The Chain’s leader was almost gasping for air while trying to ease out the turmoil of his magic. He had his armor and weapons but he could feel the blades, shield and all of his items to be blocked from his usage. Same as his magic that was in full disarray within him. When the door opposite from him opened, he forced himself up to his feet to face whatever was to come forth. He grimaced when the monsters flooded into the round battle arena.

“You may save his life by telling me where the Hero of Legend is.” Queen Zelda told while watching the unfair battle begin. The Hero of Time had no weapons in his usage so all he could do was to try and avoid the attacks. The chain wasn’t giving him much of room to do such while ending his backflips and attempts of backing away from the attacks quite abruptly while giving the beasts a chance to strike at him.

“He’s not with us.”

“He’s dead.”

“He chose to stay at different era.”

“He was captured but the portal opened up beneath us. We weren’t given a chance to save him.”

“He found love and decided to end his own quest at then and there.”

“He ran away and we weren’t able to find him.”

“He ended up changed into a rabbit and we couldn’t turn him back. He didn’t want to follow us in the form he was in.”

The Queen snorted and shook her head. “Very well. Don’t give me the answer, then. Just enjoy of the show. He won’t survive at there.” She stated out almost casually while feeling like the seven were ready to sacrifice the one eyed Link just to keep her from knowing where the era’s Hero was at.

Most of the monsters stayed at back while letting the three bigger beasts handle their opponent’s armor off. The Dark Nut, Iron Knuckle and Moblin were more than eager to land their cruel attacks into the golden armor of the Hero of Time. They especially enjoyed of the turns where the chain snapped to its full length and abruptly crashed the one eyed fighter into the ground. They dragged him close from the chain before landing few rough strikes into the protective material until giving him a chance to try and avoid them again.

When the armor finally was too shattered to be too much of use and Time just forced it off to have more chances to move, the rest of the monsters dashed in. He wasn’t the best one with a fight without weapons but he did his best. From time to time he snatched a weapon from his enemies but he was way too outnumbered and overpowered. Besides, the beasts very much loved to yank on the chain and knock him off his feet to make it all worse for him. With such rough movement they eventually dislocated his knee and broke his hip. That only made things even worse for him.

Just when the Chain’s leader was certain he wouldn’t survive from the battle arena, the area suddenly flashed brightly. He gasped in shock and shut his eye while, for his relief, the beasts hissed and staggered a step backwards. It gave a moment of peace and the realization of something having changed. Yet, he didn’t need to try and fight in the condition he was in.

As Time opened his eye, he saw four surprisingly solid looking ghosts around him. They gave out raged screams before attacking the monsters with Fierce taking on the Dark Nut, Iron Knuckle and Moblin. Dextri fought against Miniblins while engulfing some bigger monsters into bubbles every now and then. Mikau faced the Bokoblins while Darmani III beat the Lizalfos. The four stayed close to him to make sure none of the creations of Darkness would get past them and to attack him again.

Suddenly the Knights that had imprisoned the Old Man and his boys dashed into the area and attacked the monsters from behind. The beasts were left between two lines of fighters which meant they’d be taken down soon. “Dextri. Fierce. I need my boys informed that they should go and help Legend. I’ll be fine.” He stated out and the duo nodded.

The Deity and the Deku Butler’s Son checked the road to the high being balcony where the Chain of seven Heroes were with the era’s Queen. The Links were more than willing to go aid their leader but they were held back. Fierce nodded and he and Dextri changed places. The small Deku took bit of distance before already running towards the God of Protection.

Fierce struck his sword into the ground and when Dextri jumped onto the blade, he swung it as hard as he could upwards in vertical move. The Deku took the speed and jumped high into the air. He let the swing’s power throw him towards the balcony until at the peak of his ascent, he finally brought the swirling flowers to move further forward. He grinned a bit at the startled looks on the people at his destination. Eventually he let go of the flowers and easily dropped into the railing of the place.

“Link wishes you seven to head to Legend. Find him and help him to deal with the main enemy. Link is safe now.” Dextri told out as firmly as he could. “There’s enough of fighters to clear the monsters. You seven would only prolong the needed actions.” He continued while seeing the hesitation within his friend’s teammates.

“Give him this, at least. Please?” Four requested while taking out a bottle with a fairy within it.

“I have one fairy too.” Wild assured while swiftly checking his Slate to be certain.

“Thank you.” The small Deku nodded while accepting the bottle. “Now, go!” He half commanded before pocketing the item and turning back towards the way he had come from. Without waiting for longer, he jumped and brought out the flowers to get closer to the battle. I took couple of works with the swirling flowers before he landed and attacked the monsters.

“Your boys will do as said. They also sent this to you.” The Deku Butler’s Son told while taking the bottled fairy out. By then one of the Knights had gotten through and unlocked the shackle at Time’s ankle as well as set his bones to right places. The one eyed male nodded while feeling tad uncertain of the situation. “Wild has a fairy along too. They’ll be fine.” Dextri assured before setting the small healer free.

While the Chain’s leader was in safer situation, the seven finally tore their gaze out of the arena and dashed off to find Legend. It took bit of searching but they eventually found the right floor and correct room. The moment they saw the dragonic Lizalfos, they attacked on full force. Hyrule, though, pulled off to check on his predecessor as he had pulled the mask off when the Links dashed in. He luckily was well as he had been capable of staying out of sight and attack with all he got. With Sky having the full powered sacred blade of Evil’s Bane, the beast went down swiftly and easily.

The moment the enemy was dealt with, the Chain dashed out of the room. Only two floors lower they saw Time coming towards them. The one eyed male was still looking bit beaten up but he was as well as he could be after the hell he had gone through at the arena. The eight Heroes dashed to him and engulfed him into a group hug. Before he had a chance to say against it, the Traveler already worked with his magic to fix the rest of the damage.

Sadly, the nine Heroes didn’t have more time than to rest one night before the next portal opened up. The Smithy had along what was left of his oldest brother’s armor while hoping they’d find a town and a forge he could use. Yet, on that second he already had a feeling he was the next one to be saved. And once they got through the dark pathway, he already turned his gaze into the Old Man whom just simply gave a firm nod of confirmation.

The Chain of Links didn’t find a town but they found an abandoned house with a forge. They took the place for their usage for the time being as the shortest Hero set the blacksmith’s place into usage. Wild gave the needed ores while Hyrule, Legend, Wind and Warriors aided in getting everything done.

Fixing and recreating the armor took several days. Most of the Chain had gone to do some foraging and fishing at the close by river while the Smithy was up for doing finishing touches into the armor. It still was delicate work and taking quite well the youngster’s full notion. That was the reason he didn’t hear the Moblin arriving. He just simply noticed Time pushing himself off of the wall and locking his gaze into something. “Just keep working, Mousekin. I got this.” He told calmly while picking the Biggoron Sword from next to him before already heading to face the brown Moblin of his own era.

Unlike what the one eyed male had seen, it wasn’t just one Moblin. It was one from each of the eras the Heroes came from. Six beasts did their best in trying to get past the oldest Link but the sword he wielded was deadly and fast in his hands. His own era’s Moblin went down by two strikes while Wild’s was defeated by one that cut it into two.

While the rest took one to two strikes to kill Sky’s era’s Moblin needed three. It wasn’t because of the shield but due to the black blood running in its veins. It avoided more and tried to round its target but the Old Man stood in front of it and blocked its road whole time… Until the beast got close enough and he struck.

Once the last one of the different Moblins had vanished, Time sighed in relief and calmed down. He moved back into the forge’s area and sat down to unused anvil before starting to clean the blade. “How’s the armor coming?” He inquired as calmly as he could while having felt Four’s gaze in his back nearly whole time the battle had been going.

The Smithy almost gasped and jerked before already blinking several times. “Um…. A-almost finished…” He stammered while tad blushing and turning his notion back into his work. “You know… I’ve seen you do lot of badass things but this… This really takes the win.” He confessed while turning his gaze into his oldest brother.

The Chain’s leader chuckled a bit while blushing slightly and shrugging. He kept his notion in his sword in hopes of keeping the younger male from seeing the reaction. He rarely got this kind of praise so it meant even more when it came from his boys. “It’s nothing really. Just strength and unbreakable sword.” He explained as casually as he could.

“And skill.” Four pointed out firmly. “Anyone can have strength and a weapon but you gotta have the knowledge of how to fight efficiently and use the weapon to its full potential. You struck at three Moblins by one strike while killing one of them by it. Before the rest came forth, you had already taken down the earlier two. Just swift, certain and badass.”

Time chuckled bit nervously and scratched the back of his head. “Thanks… I guess…?” He half replied before getting tad surprised as the shortest Hero came next to him.

“May I?” The Smithy inquired and pointed at the Biggoron Sword with hopeful look on his face.

“You sure? It’s my blade. It’s my responsibility.” The one eyed male replied while feeling bit contradicted about the situation. Yet, Four simply nodded as an answer. “O-okay…” He bit stammered and let the Hero with the ability of turning into a Minish to look after his weapon and clean it precisely. He just watched while admiring the dedication and love one of his boys was putting into his actions.

It took a while before the Smithy was content with his work. After that he offered the sword back to his oldest brother. “Good as new.” He told with a smile while watching his leader admire the fully clean and sharp blade.

“Thank you. I owe you hugely for fixing my armor and looking after my sword.” Time replied while crouching down and pulling Four into a hug.

The shortest Hero happily returned the hold. “It’s the least I can do. You protected me here and you’ve kept everyone safe and sound all the way through this quest. I want to return the favor in every possible way I’m capable of.”

“You certainly are.” The oldest Link whispered before pulling off. The others started to return to the area and the moment they saw the blood and signs of a battle, they already were asking questions. Time just winked at Four and went to explain the situation to his boys.

At the next day the Chain’s leader put the fixed and recreated armor on. They were up for heading forward from the house with a forge in the back. In fact, they didn’t go far before they already found a portal. The one eyed male checked that everyone was ready before he led them through the dark pathway into a new era.

When the portal closed behind him, Time only found Hyrule being there. He held back the annoyed sigh of having been separated from the rest of the group and just closed his eye to concentrate. Just when he caught the feeling of the others and relaxed a bit of finding them all being together, the air was split by a scream. Both he and the Traveler jerked roughly at the sound before he already stopped the half-fairy from dashing towards his kin in need of aid.

“NO.” The one eyed male growled out but he wasn’t angry at his boy, just worried and freaked out. “Do NOT change forms, Traveler.” He commanded while gritting his teeth at the situation.

“But…!” Hyrule started before bit flinching as his oldest brother glanced at him. He nodded even though he felt entirely uncertain of the situation.

“Go that way.” The Old Man gave a sharp nod to their left. “Don’t change for any of reason. Just get to the others and lead them here.” He commanded before already pushing the youngster to correct way. “I’ll do what I can for the fairies.” He told before already dashing towards the way where the pain filled screams were coming from.

Hyrule hesitated for a moment longer before he growled and dashed to the road he had been commanded to. It shattered his heart as he heard the screams while being unable to save his sisters and brothers. Yet, clearly, that situation had caused his death and Time was up for saving him. So, he ran and prayed he could get to his brothers in time to bring them over to save the Chain’s leader too.

The moment the one eyed male reached the place where the fairies were being held captive and tortured, he already screamed as he drew out the Biggoron Sword and swung it. The men at the area in middle of the forest were startled of his sudden appearance. That short moment was enough for him to kill one of the guys by one strike before turning towards the rest of the group.

The men scrambled to their feet and just barely avoided the deadly weapon. They quickly surrounded the newcomer before one already blew red dust into their attacker’s face. The swordsman gasped and staggered a step away. He was ready to strike again when suddenly he gasped in pain and fell to his knees.

“Well, well, didn’t wait for fairies to be in Hylian form too.” The one in lead, smirked while putting the pouch of Dark Magic Powder away. He smirked while his newest victim tried to get the dust off of his face. “You already inhaled it.” He stated out before kicking Time to the side of his head and crashed him into the ground.

“Take his armor off. Let’s see how much of a fairy he is.” The guy commanded while enjoying of seeing the man writhe in pain. The Chain’s leader’s attempts of fighting back were fully in vain and weak. The men around him easily held him to the ground as they undid his armor.

The leader of the small group drew out a knife and struck it into the Old Man’s shoulder. Even though Time had very high pain tolerance, he screamed in agony. It wasn’t because of the strike or breaking his bones by that one hit. It was because of the dust having put his fairy magic within him into chaos. The blade wasn’t normal. It was invading by the way of searching for anything fairy related. And right now it was latching itself into his magic.

The turmoil of his magic that had replaced his innate one wasn’t in such a way it would’ve made the oldest Hero sick. It was rather trying to tear a road out of him and get freed. The blade felt like it was going to steal them and he screamed as the weapon was being twisted and turned in the wound.

“No blood connection but the magic’s not his.” The guy mused wickedly while chuckling at the agony he was causing. “How about we take what doesn’t even belong to you.” He rather stated out than queried while rather twirling the knife instead of twisting and moving.

Time screamed while hating how paralyzed that dust had left him. The agony of his own magic trying to tear him apart from inside was bad enough. Feeling the guy binding something that was so connected into him into that blade was nearly excruciating. The terror of losing his magic was only the cherry on the top of the whole hell.

Slowly, as the weapon captured the magics the Chain’s leader had learned, his screams turned into miserable whimper. He was trembling and crying while knowing his begging would only make the trio around him laugh. He closed his eye and just accepted his defeat. He knew it would take long while before he’d get used to the lack of magic to use and his body temperature turned to be probably lower than anyone else’s. After all, ever since he had been to Termina, he had unconsciously held little bit of Din’s Fire up and going to keep himself warm.

Suddenly the one eyed male half gasped, half screamed as the blade jerked in the wound but it wasn’t pulled out. The sound of scuffle got him to gasp and snap his eye open. It took a moment from him to realize that his boys had arrived just in time to there.

Wolfie was mauling the one whom had used the knife. Sky and Warriors had attacked the man on Time’s right side. Hyrule, Four and Wind were dealing with the third man. Wild was setting the fairies free from the bottles and chains. Legend had crouched down next to him while hesitating to touch the knife.

“D-don’t…” Time whimpered out and snapped the Veteran’s notion into him. “M-my m-magic…” He stammered while having no idea of how to fix the situation. He unintentionally flinched when the Specialist brushed some of the dust off of his face.

Legend growled as he felt the foul magic within those tiny specks of powder. “I gotta clean that stuff off of you, Old Man. Not anything of fun but I have a feeling I know what to do.” He explained while taking out a rag and his waterskin.

The Chain’s leader closed his eye and tried to hold back the whimpering as his boy gently wiped the Dark Magic Powder off of him. He even cleaned the hair and clothes before giving a check on the armor. Yet, surprisingly, the stuff hadn’t gotten into there. Once done, he burned the cloth just to make sure the stuff wouldn’t be left lingering into anywhere.

The Chain slowly gathered around their oldest brother and the Veteran pretty much commanded them not to touch the knife. After that he took out his own Magic Powder out while wishing he was right. “Just breathe, Time.” He half commanded before blowing a handful of the dust at him.

The oldest Link coughed few times before sighing and relaxing as he closed his eye. “Help the others, please.” He pretty much begged while feeing his magic unwind from the knife and return where it belonged to. The hellish chaos that had been ranging within him had calmed down.

“Don’t take the knife off until Time says it’s okay to be removed.” Legend commanded before getting up and going over to where the tortured fairies were at. Wild looked almost fearfully at his brother while feeling so useless. The small beings on the flat rock were whimpering and trembling in pain. Some had destroyed wings while others’ wings were torn off of their backs. There were bleeding wounds and broken bones. And yet, the worst was, the effects of the Dark Magic Powder that had destroyed their magic and vanquished the glow from them.

The Weapon Specialist felt like his brothers hadn’t made the torturers suffer enough for what they had done. He crouched down in front of the fairies and brought out the Magic Powder pouch and drew out a handful of it. After that he blew the dust at the small beings while hoping for the best.

Both the Champion and the Veteran sighed in relief when the fairies, even though in bad shape still, regained their glow and magic. It wouldn’t heal them but at least it gave them what had been stolen from them. “We need to find a way to heal them.” The cook of the Chain whispered and Legend only nodded.

“There’s a well hidden Great Fairy Fountain close by.” Hyrule suddenly told while coming over to the duo. He glanced worriedly behind him at the Chain’s leader. Even though the knife was off and the wound healed, he was still weak after what had happened with his magic. “The Great Fairy is able to heal her little sisters and brothers.” He explained while trying not to sound so sorrowful.

The Chain came over and each of them took several of the fairies gently into their hands and shoulders to carry them. None of them felt like trapping any of the small healers into bottles. Such had already been used against them as it certainly had been the easiest way to strike that foul dust into them.

The Great Fairy appeared nearly instantly after the nine Heroes had arrived to her fountain. The small fairies were gently placed onto the railing of the water area. From there the small beings slipped into the water to swim and dive. The Great Fairy smiled sorrowfully at her small siblings before turning her notion into the Hero of Time.

“I’ll be all right. I just need bit of time. Bit of rest will do wonders.” The Chain’s leader half whispered before bit wincing at the pain of using the Fairy Language. He ignored the worried and concerned looks his boys were giving him while trying to regain his strength back.

“Maybe so but I’m here now and I want to help like you were up for protecting my kin, brother not bound by blood.” The Great Fairy replied and crouched down. After that she very gently reached out and placed her hand against the oldest Link’s chest. She closed her eyes and, even though the stab wound and shattered bones had already been fixed, she made sure it was safe and sound while easing out the last remnants of the chaos within the one eyed male’s magic.

Time sighed in relief and relaxed while feeling the calmness return into the midst of his magic. It also brought back his strength and stamina. With a grateful smile, he pulled off from leaning against Warriors and stood steadily on his own feet. He bowed his head while half whispering his thanks.

“You are very welcome.” The Great Fairy replied with a fond smile and a nod while standing back up. “You may stay here and rest. The forest will provide all you need.” She told while wishing more than anything to show her own gratitude and do something in return for the nine that had saved her kin.

The Chain of nine Heroes stayed for few days. With each meal Wild did, he made food for the fairies too. He brought the dishes in fairy size to the fountain and placed the plates and bowls at the railing. Even though the fairies were doing much better, they all were delighted of the offered food. The small beings were sorrowful when the next portal opened up and sent the Links forward in their quest. After all, that snatched their unique meal maker away.

The swirly pathway brought the Chain right into Time’s own era and they straight off made their way towards the Lon-Lon Ranch. Bigger part of the one eyed male was happy of being back home but the other part feared for his family. This was where he had seen Twilight and Malon die. He had already saved everyone else, there was NO chance he’d fail this.

Like many times before, the one eyed male kept the ones in danger out of the loop while asking the rest to keep full check of the area in search of archers. Yet, he did one simple mistake as he was securing his wife’s and blood relative’s lives. He entirely forgot to have seen his own death too.

When the request for help came, it wasn’t from the Princess but from some random person somewhere from Hyrule. It didn’t seem too hard and the Old Man was certain of it being swiftly done. Yet, bigger part was that he knew this was the initiation for the situation he desperately needed to change. Before he left the house with the armor on and the weapons along, he reminded his brothers about the somewhere lurking archers. Most of the Chain scattered to search for the danger while he put himself as the target and beginning of the situation.

“Good morning, Link!” Malon greeted before gasping and turning her notion into the sound of scuffle. Yet, nearly instantly afterwards she already snapped her notion into her husband. There had been a screech of metal on metal. She screamed as she saw her Link crash to the ground back first.

Dark Link growled when he realized that the situation had changed. The archers had been taken down before they’d get a chance to shoot the two of the closest family members of his worst enemy. He moved swiftly and performed the move his Light Counterpart knew: The Back Slash. He smirked as the currently unbreakable darker version of the Master Sword cut through the back of Time’s armor and deep into his flesh.

The dark reflection of the one eyed male snatched a hold of his opponent’s shoulder and yanked him roughly into the ground. He quickly came over him while smirking as that sole eye snapped open and the terror struck as the bloodied blade was seen. “You fucked up.” He snarled while striking the blade downwards.

Yet, before Dark Link could actually kill the Link whose dark side he was, a gigantic wolf attacked. He didn’t have any other choice than to pull off and backflip away from his target. The beast snarled and attacked again. The shadowy figure of the canine’s mentor growled as he avoided again until hightailing out of there. He created a portal as swiftly as he could and dashing through it before already shutting it. The predator skidded into a stop at where the dark corridor had just been. Yet, nearly instantly after, he already turned around and dashed back to the spot where the others were already gathering to.

Time was growling in pain as the Chain worked to get his weapons, armor and tunics off to reach the wound. “Oh that’s not good. Not at all. Shit… It’s bleeding way too much…” He wasn’t certain whom said that as he was fighting to stay conscious.

“Even if we’d stitch it, it would still bleed through the bandages. We gotta fix the wound somehow!”

“We’re not having potions! No-one realized to leave the ranch to go restock!”

“Yeah, well, Time denied that!”

“What?! Why?!”

“To save you and Malon.”

*a loud gasp of shock*

The Chain’s leader was certain the arguments and work on his back continued but he couldn’t hear or feel it anymore. The darkness had fallen all around him while just feeling grateful that he had managed with his work. His boys and wife were safe. It was what he had worked so hard to achieve for the past portals and eras. He partly felt like this just was the price he needed to pay to keep his family safe and sound.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Time frowned as he found himself from the top of the Death Mountain. It was early morning and the Cucco had just made its call. He had a feeling he had been in this situation before.

“You will see him again.”

The spoken words snapped the one eyed male’s notion into the scene not far from him. He gasped a bit as he saw the younger version of himself and the ghost of Fierce Deity. “Those words were yours back then.” He half whispered without really knowing how to feel.

The God of Protection was tad startled and he turned around to face his friend’s older version. “They are.” He replied while standing up from the crouched position. He glanced after the young Hero before returning his notion into the boy’s future self. “You should not be here.”

“I’m rarely where I should be.” Time answered bit sorrowfully and nodded after his child version. “You should go. You can’t be far from your mask.” He reminded while sitting down to watch the rising sun.

“I cannot leave you here.” Fierce answered and offered his hand to the one eyed male. “Come. You will not find the answers you seek from here.” He told firmly before snatching a hold of his friend’s arm and just yanking him up.

The Chain’s leader gasped a bit at the action as he had had full decision of staying put. He scowled at the Deity but let the divine being drag him along. “Where are we going?” He inquired as they followed the child whom had to climb down while the two of them just walked without fear of falling or slipping.

“To where you need to be at.” The Deity simply answered with a grin. He chuckled as his friend rolled his eye at the given answer.

When they reached the base of the volcano, Time gasped as there was a sudden change in the area and time. He gasped when Fierce gave him rough push and forced him forward. He shot a glare at the Deity’s way before a call of his name caught his notion and he turned his gaze into where the God of Protection had brought him.

“Time?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Chain was freaking out. Everything they tried was for nothing. Even the fairy Malon and Hyrule had found couldn’t change the situation.

“I can’t fix it!”

“The fairy’s powerless too!”

“We’re losing him!”

“NO! We CAN’T lose him!”

“Link, fight!”

“Stay with us, Time! Please!”

“Sprite! Don’t do this time!”

Wind heard the quiet gasp and turned his gaze to his right. “Time?” He called while frowning as he saw the Chain’s leader standing there all see-through. He shakily stood up and moved away from his brothers. “Time, please. Don’t leave us.” He begged with wavering voice and tears in his eyes.

The eight others glanced at him before gasping in shock. “Sprite?” Warriors called tentatively while unwillingly getting up and moving closer to the ghost.

The one eyed male slumped and grimaced at the situation. “Damn you, Fierce. I’ll get you back for this…” He grumbled quietly while having not wanted to see this scene.

The Old Man could hear the Deity laugh and grin. “I would love to see you try.” The words echoed in his head and he scowled at the given reply. Yet, very soon he turned his notion into the nine persons that made his family. Most of them were begging him to not leave them.

“Guys!” Legend eventually snapped and shot a slight glare at the people around him. He sighed heavily while slumping and letting his ears droop. He raised his tear-filled gaze into his leader. “Do what you see right, Time. That’s what you’ve always done. Whatever your choice is, we’ll accept it.”

Malon and the seven Heroes were shocked of the Veteran’s words. Yet, they very soon slumped and nodded. “I love you, Sprite. But, if this is as far as you say your life goes, then… J-just….” Warriors started before already biting down to his lower lip while breaking down. “I’ll be missing you, little brother. I’d rather have you with me longer but… Your choice, Sprite. I’ll honor whatever you choose.” He told with shattered voice.

The others nodded while feeling like this was goodbyes. Twilight desperately wanted to say that this wasn’t the way he’d lose his mentor but he stayed silent. They had gone through so many eras and timelines that maybe this really was where the end came. At least for this version.

“The right thing…” Time half whispered while looking around his shattered family. The nine before him nodded while crying and having bowed their heads in sorrow. Suddenly the words from the one of the Moon Children snapped right into his mind.

“The right thing… What is it? I wonder… If you do the right thing… Does it really make… everybody… happy?”

The one eyed male nearly jerked as the words sank in. He looked around the nine that he loved from full heart and more. He smiled as he knew perfectly well what he needed to do.

The Chain’s leader moved in front of Hyrule. “My little friend and my dear boy, be ready for I will need the help from both of you very soon.” He told in Fairy Language as he noticed the small pink fairy in his boy’s hair. The duo gasped a bit and snapped their gaze open and into him. “Sshh, eyes closed.” He half requested with a small fond smile and the duo nodded while doing as requested.

Time moved forward and bit grimaced as he saw his own body. He really didn’t like the amount of blood in the ground around himself. Yet, he took a deep breath, moved closer and closed his eye. After that he let himself fall right back into his body.

The Chain and Malon gasped in shock when they heard the sharp inhale that was followed by pain filled growl. The ghost of their loved one was gone and Time was trembling on the rough ground. “TIME!” The screams cut through the air before they all already surrounded him.

The healing fairy swiftly started her work while the Traveler initiated his own magic. He turned some of the healer’s work into blood to compensate the lost amount of it. Other than that he strengthened the work with his own healing magic to do more of fixing in the damage Dark Link had caused. “Don’t overdo yourself, Pixie…” The one eyed male’s quiet request startled the half-fairy but before he could reply, Legend already gave him one of the green potions.

“Nothing to worry, Time. I know what I’m doing.” Hyrule answered firmly while taking the drink and continuing the work. He knew he couldn’t fix it fully but at least he could save his leader’s life. Once he pulled off, Warriors took his place and started to stitch the wound close. After him came Malon and Twilight to bandage the damaged area.

Time was in lot of pain and exhausted but he knew he was going to be all right. He reached out to Legend and grabbed his hand. “Thank you.” He half whispered with a small smile before drifting off into a calm sleep.

The nine members of the Chain’s leader’s family didn’t dare to move him. Instead, they brought out the bedroll and carefully got him onto it. After that they covered him with Warriors’ scarf, Sky’s Sailcloth and a blanket. Only after that, few at a time, they pretty much went to clean up until coming back to keep eye on their beloved member of their family.

When Time finally woke up, they didn’t dare to let him move much in fear of him opening the wound. He accepted the restriction and took the red potion after a meal created by Wild. The Chain and Malon had done bit of restocking now that the worst danger was over.

It took several days before the one eyed male was moving around. The fairy, Hyrule and the potion had done lot but there still was healing to be done. Nonetheless, things were looking very good and the residents of the Lon-Lon Ranch had significantly calmed down and relaxed the more he healed and regained the usage of his body.

“So, Sprite, tell me…” Warriors started at one evening while trying to keep his seriousness off of his tone. “How come you left yourself from the list of people to be saved?”

The war Hero’s little brother sighed and shrugged a bit. “I forgot.” He admitted and raised an eyebrow at the baffled look his family was giving. “What? I kept going from one hellish prophetic dream into another.” He explained as calmly as he could.

“And you just decided to jump over the fact that Dark Link killed you?” The Captain queried while not really believing the older male’s claim.

Time sighed almost exaggerated and ran his hand through his hair. “It was hellish enough to watch the deaths happen.” He replied bit defensively before slightly frowning. “Yet… I wasn’t aware how I ended up struck down. I just…” He shook his head and glanced at Malon and Twilight. “On one moment everyone’s alive and in the next I’m laying on the ground with Malon and Twilight dead. I wasn’t given the knowledge of what happened between.”

“So… You really didn’t know….” Warriors half whispered sorrowfully.

“I only knew that Dark Link killed me but I didn’t know how I ended up into the situation I was in.” Time admitted and shrugged a bit. “There were few other prophetic dreams too that left lot untold. Some bits and pieces I got when we entered the right area. Some I just had to trust to be plausible of changing once it would be on. On the others I was able to do some preparations for the change.” He explained as well as he could.

“I’m just glad you’re still with us, little brother.” The strategist of the Chain told and moved next to the Chain’s leader before pulling him into an embrace. The others took that as an invitation and soon he found himself from middle of a group hug.

“So am I.” Time whispered quietly while relaxing and enjoying of the moment. His back still hurt but it was healing well. He hated to admit it but it was a good reminder. And as long as he could make the choice, he would always stay right by his family. After all, that was exactly the right thing to do.

[alienssstufff]

If we’re going off of the “All genloss deaths were real and shot through a silly filter”:

-CHARLIE: Survives DAY1. The death as the Slime Demon was staged and he was taken away offscreen through special effects. His real death however happens on DAY2 when Ranboo performs surgery on him in the Second Puzzle Room (Surgeon Simulator) this is also the first time we see the red camera (the set without the silly) for the first time. The ‘Charlie’ Ranboo was talking to in the second room was his dead body with the SFX put in. I also think his voice was pre-recorded (like the cutaways on DAY1) before that -which makes everything even more fucked up knowing he was recording lines to replace himself in case he died. This ALSO also implies that Snowfall made Charlie eat ?? A bunch of micro plastics back when he was made the protagonist which I think is very funny cuz why??? He got a whole mouse trap and hotwheels car in him dude 😭

-SNEEG: Survives DAY1. Like Charlie we see him get taken away offscreen for DAY2. We see that red camera again as he tries to get away during the second room through a bathroom break but Snowfall brainwashes him. The original plan was supposed to be one person would survive the second room but by what happened. A second person (Sneeg) would be picked to survive and essentially act as an enforcer to make sure the other actors stay in line. He ultimately dies keeping himself and Austin at the other side of the wall, crushing them to death in Seventh Puzzle Room (Hole in the Wall).

-NIKI: Is shot twice offscreen by Jerma in the Fourth Puzzle Room (Candy Crush) DAY2. Theorise the game masters (Charlie DAY1, Jerma DAY2) like Sneeg were there to supervise the actors. Theorise the first shot at Niki was a deliberate mercy shot to keep her quiet but alive. It’s implied through watching Sneeg get brainwashed that Jerma was terrified that the same would happen to him if he failed - the second shot was reluctant but fatal.

-VINNY: Burnt by lasers and blunt head trauma in the Fifth Puzzle Room (Oceans 11 Heist) DAY2. Kinda a weird one I think they actually did try to throw Vinny over the lasers but it both wasn’t far enough and too high. He’s burnt by lasers but we also see him hit his head on the ceiling which might have been the final blow rather than a comically small anvil.

-ETHAN: murdered offscreen in the Sixth Puzzle Room (Top Model) DAY2. Similar case to Niki he went backstage where he wasn’t supposed to go (the blacklight signs just extra warning to the actors NOT to use that way in)

-AUSTIN: Crushed to death by a wall in the Seventh Puzzle Room (Hole in the Wall) while being held back by Sneeg on DAY2.

-JERMA: Murdered offscreen in the final room (Mall of America entrance) DAY2. Snowfall found out about the recording Jerma was going to use to help Ranboo find the truth after witnessing the deaths and they killed him.

-FRANK (bonus): Unknown if he was an actual person or a prop (hard to tell atp). If he was he’d be long dead before DAY1. He could have been Sneeg’s friend, he could have been a staff member at Snowfall who rebelled and tried to escape. Those ‘slime’ parts on Charlie’s set on DAY1 might have even been Frank’s body parts.

[veilantares]

Assigned Shard At Emergence ///// RED DREAD AGONY

The Red Dread is me, obviously, in Agony.

Here's something as an expression of a specific mood or feeling, and not quite as an expression of technical ability or my love of patterns. It was important to break out of making this look too good, because there is an intended message here, maybe even only to myself.

I think the message is pretty obvious here. Hate being assigned shard at emergence, compliments about being a good shard feel like an insult to me. I'm literally exploding every moment I'm unseen, bloodboilingly livid. But I don't want to be lashing out at anyone, they don't deserve this. How do I talk about this without pulling the pin in my neck and transforming into a million whirling swords? Is just having the text right there saying it too on point? Is this a conversation or am I just screaming? Silence. These are for me to answer.

A comic would have said this better, but I don't want a dozen panels to lead up to this, it had to be striking and immediate.

For this piece it was pretty important that the figure capture me as I currently actually am, more closely than usual. It's not like the usual me I draw myself as is a lie, but it's certainly quite idealised... though maybe this one still is anyway. In reality someone told me I look like a refridgerator once, which I think is true, and I think this gets that across. That impression is great if you're a shard and want to look strong, but I can't recover from this.

The notes I had while making this were that my eyes are deep set, when I'm not speaking I have an incredible glare, my teeth are viciously sharp, my jaw is like an anvil and I'm as large as an ox. Fairly uncharitable, but somehow still insightful, maybe it helps me be at peace a little that I can put it to "paper".

I was at a loss for a while at what the next piece should be. It feels like this is a breakthrough as far as experiments goes. It's different and the same. Maybe I should stop talking

[guilty-ff]

𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐭. 𝟑

ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 ˚⁎⁺˳ .

This story takes place after Jason's death (warning: not 100% Comic accurate)

Pairings: Dick Grayson/Nightwing x (fem!Reader), Slight Jason Todd/Red hood x (fem!Reader)

Genre: Action, Angst, Revenge, Violence, DC

Warnings: Comic Spoilers!, Explicit content, Child abuse, swearing, torture, mental health, weapons

Word count: 3855

The room is quiet, too quiet for the intensity of the sparring session that had been going on for what seemed like hours. Sweat beads on her forehead, dripping down her face, her movements become sloppy. She is exhausted, physically and emotionally drained, but she does not stop. She cannot stop. Not yet.

Jason's strikes are relentless, but controlled. He does not give her any space to breathe, forcing her to respond, forcing her to push through the pain, the exhaustion.

It's nothing like Ra's training, nothing like the harsh, brutal sessions under her grandfather's command. Yet, as Jason's fist connects with her side, the pain is sharp, shaking her, and her mind flashes back.

Her grandfather's voice echoes in her ears, harsh and demanding. "Behave, or you will never survive this world"

Suddenly, it is like she is no longer in the present. She is back there, back in the cold, dim-lit training chambers under Ra's al Ghul's eye, pinned against the stone floor with his hands forcing her to stay down, her body aching from countless hours of torture disguised as training. "You will learn to endure. You will learn to obey." Ra's voice echoes in her mind. "Obey."

Her breathing quickens. Jason's figure blurs before her eyes, moving into her grandfather's form, his dark eyes cold with that same ruthless command. He is there again, towering over her, forcing her to submit, telling her that her pain meant nothing, that her will did not matter. "You will learn to follow orders, or you will be destroyed."

No.

She shakes her head, trying to snap out of it. But the more she fights it, the more the memories hold her down, suffocating her.

"Behave."

The words drill into her head like a hammer against an anvil.

Suddenly, the world around her blurs, becoming distant, distorted, and then- snap.

A primal surge erupts from deep within her chest, her hands trembling violently as she moves. Anger. Fear. Pain. They mix, boiling up in a violent wave, and in that instant, the dagger forms in her hand. It is an instinct she did not even know she had, a violent force she had not learned to control, and she does not think, does not hesitate. She throws it.

The blade cuts through the air in a blur of black, shimmering in the dim light of the room. Jason sees it coming too late, his body reacting out of reflex. He jerks to the side, barely avoiding the deadly strike, but the dagger slices across his hand, blood spilling from the wound.

He stumbles back, looking down at the cut that is quickly staining his gloves and then back at her. His face is frozen in a mixture of disbelief and shock, but more than that, there is something else- concern.

"Jesus, what the hell, Y/n?"

She does not hear him. She cannot hear anything anymore. She is barely aware of her surroundings, only aware of what just happened. What she just did.

The cold weight of the dagger still lingers in her hand, and she drops it. The cold, unfamiliar feeling of control lost rattles her to her core.

Her body trembles violently as she stares at the floor in front of her, the air around her thick with the silence that follows the chaos. What the hell is wrong with me?

Jason takes a cautious step forward, his eyes flickering between the dagger and her. He does not rush to attack, does not yell. Instead, his movements are slow, deliberate, and when he speaks again, his voice is softer, gentler, but still edged with an undertone of concern.

"Y/n..." he starts, his voice trembling a little with the same unspoken tension that is settling in her chest. "You didn't-"

But she cannot hear him. She cannot hear anything except her own mind, screaming at her.

Her body goes limp. I did this. She did this. She is no better than the monsters who turned her into this. The power she never asked for. The power that came to life in the middle of her panic, of her brokenness.

Her mind swirls with guilt, self-hatred, and confusion. I'm just like them.

Tears burn in her eyes as she collapses to her knees, her hands clutching her chest. "I'm a monster... I'm a monster..." Her sobs are ragged, uncontrollable, and she feels as though her entire body is trembling, the weight of everything coming crashing down on her at once.

She hears Jason's footsteps as he approaches, but she does not look up. Does not want to see his face. Does not want to face the truth. Does not want to know what he thinks of her.

Jason kneels beside her. She can feel his presence next to her, but she does not acknowledge it at first. Not until he places a hand on her shoulder, a gentle touch that feels like a lifeline in the storm inside her.

"Hey." His voice is quieter now, softer. "You're not a monster. You're not. What happened wasn't your fault."

The words are there, but they feel hollow, meaningless. Of course it's my fault. I just- Her thoughts break off as she looks up at him, eyes blurred with tears. His hand still rests on her shoulder, warm and steady, and his voice is not angry, is not accusing her. It is calm. It is... almost soothing.

Jason looks at her, his expression serious but not harsh. "You didn't mean to hurt me. You were just-" He cuts himself off and looks down at his hand, the blood still dripping steadily. His gaze lifts back to her, not in anger, but in something else- something like understanding.

"I've been there," he says softly. "Hell, I've been a weapon, too. I know what it feels like to be pushed, broken down until you don't know who you are anymore. You're not a monster. You're just... trying to survive."

His words settle into her chest, but the storm still rages. Her body still shakes, still shudders with the weight of what she is just done. She clutches her hands together, digging her nails into her skin to feel anything other than this overwhelming guilt.

"I don't know what's happening to me," she whispers, her voice barely audible. "I'm scared, Jason. I don't know how to stop."

The words come out in a broken, uneven rush, and she feels her chest constrict as the weight of everything crushes her from all sides. She feels small, like a child again, like the girl who used to hide under her blankets, praying for the nightmares to stop.

Jason does not flinch. He does not pull away. Instead, he pulls her closer, his arms wrapping around her in a way that is surprising- gentle, steady. He is there, a solid anchor in the storm she is drowning in.

"Hey," he murmurs softly. "I've been there, okay? I know what it's like to feel lost, to feel like you're broken beyond repair. But you're not alone in this. You've got me. And I know you think that's not enough, but trust me, it is. You don't have to go through this alone. Not anymore."

The warmth of his embrace is like a lifeline she did not even know she needed. And for the first time in a long time, she feels safe. For the first time in a long time, she lets herself fall into the comfort of someone who does not want to fix her. Someone who does not want to make her a weapon.

Jason holds her as she lets go, her sobs shaking her entire body. She does not know how long they stay like that, the only sound the faint hum of the city in the distance and the quiet rasp of her breath. But in that moment, she does not care. For once, she does not feel like she has to be strong. For once, she is allowed to just feel.

And Jason lets her.

─────────────────────────────────── The sound of heavy, hurried footsteps echoed through the corridors, growing louder with each passing second. Y/n's trembling body was still pressed against Jason's chest, her sobs shaking her to the core.

Jason's hand gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, but the intensity of the moment was overwhelming. She could not escape the memory of what she had just done. The power-her power- had terrified her, and now all she could feel was guilt.

But then, the door to the training room slammed open with a violent force.

Ra's al Ghul stood in the doorway, his dark eyes locked onto Y/n, and his cold, calculating expression never faltered. His voice, when it came, was a sharp command that cut through the air.

"Y/n," he spat, his tone dripping with fury. "Get up."

Y/n froze. Her heart clenched in terror. She could not look at him- could not bear to face the man who had made her this way. The man who had shaped her into nothing more than a tool for his twisted goals.

Ra's al Ghul took in the scene before him, his gaze quickly flickering over the blood pooling around Jason's hand and the uncontrollable sobs wracking Y/n's body. But his anger only deepened. He did not care about her broken state. He did not care that she was crumbling.

"Now." His voice was low, dangerous.

Y/n flinched, her body tensing in Jason's arms. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream. But she could not. Not now. Not in front of him. Not when her grandfather's grip on her was already suffocating enough. She knew better than anyone that if she did not go now, Jason would suffer.

Jason's grip on her tightened as he saw the way she struggled with the idea of leaving. "Don't listen to him," Jason growled, his voice harsh but protective. He did not want to let her go, not now, not like this. He had already seen enough of her suffering. "Stay, we'll deal with this- together."

But Y/n's heart was sinking. She knew her grandfather. She knew what would happen if she did not comply. Ra's al Ghul did not give second chances.

With a deep, shuddering breath, she tried to push away from Jason's arms. Her hands shook as she stood unsteadily on her feet. Her vision blurred from the tears and the terror building in her chest. She had to do this.

Jason reached out to grab her arm, his touch soft yet insistent. "Y/n, no. Don't-"

"I have to," she whispered, her voice barely audible, her eyes locking with his. "It's the only way. I can't let him hurt you, Jason. I won't let him hurt you because of me."

Her words hit him like a slap in the face. His grip tightened, but it was not to hold her back- it was to keep her close. "Don't make me do this," he snarled, his own voice cracking with frustration.

But it was too late.

Y/n pulled away from him with as much force as she could muster. Her body trembled from the emotional storm inside her, but her mind was sharp. She did not want to leave him. She couldn't leave him. But if she did not, there would be consequences. She could not put Jason in more danger. Not like this. Not because of her.

Ra's al Ghul's hand shot out like a snake, grabbing her wrist with a bone-crushing grip. Y/n winced as he yanked her towards him, the force of his pull almost knocking her off balance. She could hear Jason's angry shout, his frustration and fear echoing behind her.

"No!" Jason screamed, his voice raw. He tried to rush toward them, but Ra's al Ghul moved with terrifying speed, placing himself between Y/n and Jason.

"Step away," Ra's growled at Jason, his voice laced with malice. "This doesn't concern you. I'm dealing with my granddaughter. You, on the other hand-" He glared at Jason, his face twisted with cold disdain. "I will deal with you later."

Y/n's heart skipped a beat, her stomach dropping as the words rang in her ears. She felt like a weight was being forced onto her chest. She wanted to scream, to fight, but her grandfather's iron grip on her arm made it impossible to move.

Jason's eyes were wide with fury, his body rigid as he stared at the two of them, unwilling to back down. "You're a monster," he spat at Ra's, his voice thick with venom.

Ra's did not even blink. His expression was unreadable, a mask of cold superiority as he dragged Y/n toward the door. She stumbled, her legs barely holding her up as he pulled her through the doorway, his fingers digging deeper into her skin.

"I said, step aside," Ra's snarled at Jason, not even giving him a second thought as he began to drag Y/n away.

Y/n did not look back. She could not. Her body felt numb, but her mind screamed in terror, telling her to break free, to fight back. But the cruel reality of her grandfather's hold on her was too much to bear. She felt a cold emptiness in her chest as he dragged her down the hall, her thoughts spinning out of control.

Jason's voice echoed behind her, his last attempt to reach her. "Y/n, don't let him—!"

But it was too late.

The door slammed shut behind her as Ra's al Ghul threw it open, his grip tightening on her arm, dragging her toward the depths of the mansion. His voice was cold and final, as if nothing could break his will.

"You've disobeyed me," he murmured, his words a deadly whisper. "You will learn the consequences of disobedience."

Y/n's heart thudded painfully in her chest. She was too weak to fight. Too broken. But she had to keep going. She had to keep fighting for Jason's sake.

She had to survive.

But as her grandfather's cold laughter echoed in the hallway, she could not shake the feeling that everything was slipping away. And Jason? He was left behind, a fading voice in the distance. She had no choice.

Y/n stumbled as her grandfather dragged her from the training room. The sound of Jason's voice faded behind her, a mix of anger, confusion, and pain that cut through her heart like a dagger. His blood was on her hands, but the weight of it was nothing compared to the crushing guilt and fear she felt as Ra's al Ghul pulled her away.

"Grandfather, please," she gasped, trying to pull free. But Ra's' grip was powerful. His hand on her arm felt like it would snap her bones if she did not comply. She could not see Jason anymore, could not hear him, but she could still feel the weight of his pain.

He had fought for her, for something between them. Yet, in that moment, she had betrayed him, not by choice but by the rage and control her grandfather had always instilled in her.

With one final, forceful tug, Ra's yanked her into her room and shoved her inside. He did not say anything more- just locked the door behind her, leaving her to drown in her thoughts. The room was suffocating, her chest tight with the crushing weight of everything that had just transpired.

Y/n collapsed on the bed, her hands trembling as she ran them through her hair, trying to steady herself. Jason's blood stained her hands, her arms, her very soul. It was her fault. All of it. She had let the darkness consume her, and now there was no way back.

She tried to think, tried to focus on a way out. But there was none. She was trapped in this gilded cage, with nothing but guilt and despair to keep her company. The pounding against the door did not stop- her desperate fists slamming into the wood, shouting for someone to let her out. But no one came.

Meanwhile, back in the training room, Jason was still struggling to regain his bearings. The pain in his hand had dulled, but the ache in his chest- where his heart used to beat was more consuming than any physical injury. Ra's had taken Y/n. He had dragged her away, like she was just some possession, and Jason was not going to stand for it.

Ra's' words haunted him. "She's mine," the man had said. And Jason had known deep down that he had no place in Ra's world. But he could not- he would not- just let Y/n be controlled by him any longer.

With his bloodied hand still clutching a nearby weapon, Jason stalked out of the room, his eyes full of fury. He needed to confront Ra's. The man had to understand that Y/n was not his property. He would fight for her, even if it killed him.

Jason found Ra's al Ghul standing in the large, quiet hallway, his back turned, staring at some distant point down the corridor. The moment Jason's steps echoed through the stone, Ra's did not flinch. He did not even look back.

"Do you know what you've done?" Ra's' voice was cold, carrying an edge of disappointment, like a father scolding a misbehaving child.

Jason stopped a few feet behind him, his fists clenched, his breath heavy. "You think I'm the one who's messed up here? You've taken everything from me. From her."

Ra's al Ghul turned slowly, finally locking eyes with Jason. His expression was unreadable, like stone. "She doesn't belong to you. She never has." His voice was like ice, cutting through the air. "She is mine. My creation. My heir."

Jason's jaw clenched, the anger rising up inside him like a storm. "She's not your possession," he spat, his voice thick with frustration. "She's a person, not some weapon you can control."

Ra's al Ghul let out a low, humourless laugh, the sound chilling in the silence between them. "You think she's better off with you, a broken boy in a mask? A shadow of what Bruce Wayne failed to save?" He stepped forward, his voice lowering to a dangerous whisper. "You should be grateful that I gave you a second chance at life. But it seems you're too blind to see that I gave you that gift, only for you to squander it on her."

Jason's blood ran cold. Ra's had just mentioned Bruce Wayne, the name that always triggered something deep inside him- something raw, something painful. Bruce had been his saviour, his mentor, but he had also abandoned him.

Ra's noticed the shift in Jason's expression. His lips curled into a smile, knowing he had struck a nerve. "You're just like him, aren't you?" Ra's continued, his voice taunting. "Bruce's broken little Robin. His failure. The boy he didn't know how to save."

Jason's breath hitched. The words Robin and failure echoed in his mind like a bang. They made the rage inside him surge again, stronger than ever.

"Don't you dare bring Bruce into this," Jason hissed, stepping closer, his voice full of venom. "I'm not his failure. I'm not anyone's failure."

Ra's took a slow step forward, his eyes gleaming with malicious intent. "Oh, but you are," he murmured, as if savouring every word. "Just like Bruce, you were meant to be his partner. His tool. His protector. But you couldn't handle it, could you? That's why you failed him. That's why you ended up dead."

The words cut deeper than anything Jason had ever felt. The pain of being discarded by Bruce, of being cast aside, flooded his mind, and his anger flared. He was done being the boy who lived in Bruce's shadow, done being the Robin who was not good enough.

With a shout, Jason launched himself at Ra's, his fists flying. The older man blocked the first strike, his movements fluid and precise, but Jason's fury made him unpredictable. Every punch he threw came from years of pain and abandonment, from the grief of losing his family- first to crime, then to betrayal.

Ra's fought back with his usual poise, his calm demeanour never faltering. His strikes were sharp, and he moved with the deadly elegance of someone who had fought for centuries. But Jason was faster now, driven by sheer determination and rage.

Jason's mind was in overdrive, his body almost moving without thought. He was fighting for Y/n, fighting for himself, and for everything he had lost. But most of all, he was fighting for control over his own fate.

Ra's managed to sidestep another of Jason's wild blows, but Jason was already on him, landing a heavy strike to his ribs that sent the older man stumbling back. Ra's steadied himself, but Jason pressed forward. The blows came faster, harder, each one hitting with the weight of a lifetime of suffering.

"You think you can stand in my way?" Ra's sneered, launching a punch toward Jason's face.

"You're nothing but a broken toy. I taught Bruce everything he knows. He was my finest student, and yet, you think you can compare to him?"

The mention of Bruce's name, the reminder of the rejection he had felt, almost drove Jason mad with rage. His heart pounded, and without thinking, he shoved Ra's back, using his weight to slam the man against the stone wall.

"Bruce was never my father!" Jason yelled, his voice ragged. "And you're not my damn master!"

With one final surge of strength, Jason sent a fist into Ra's' stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Ra's staggered back, eyes narrowing with growing frustration.

"You will be my downfall," Ra's hissed, but Jason was not listening anymore.

Jason surged forward again, using every ounce of his pain and anger to fuel the final blow. His fist landed with a sickening crack against Ra's' throat, the sound echoing through the room.

Ra's gasped, his hands flying to his throat, his eyes wide with disbelief. His body crumpled to the floor, but Jason did not stop. The weight of everything- the years of pain, of being abandoned, of being used- drove him to finish it.

"I'm not like Bruce," Jason said again, his voice cold, filled with finality. "He won't kill. But I will."

He drove his knee into Ra's chest, pinning him to the ground, his breath ragged.

The older man's body stilled beneath him, his eyes glazing over. Jason stood over him, his chest heaving, his body covered in sweat and blood. He had done it. He had killed Ra's al Ghul.

Jason stood over Ra's body, breathing hard, the room thick with the weight of what he had just done. The air was thick with sweat and blood. He had won, but it did not feel like victory. It felt hollow, empty.

In his heart, Jason knew there would be no going back. He had killed Ra's al Ghul, the man who had controlled Y/n's life for so long, and the man who had once been his mentor's greatest adversary. Jason had crossed a line, a line that Batman never would have crossed. But in that moment, it had felt necessary.

He had done it to protect Y/n and his own codex. He had done it to make sure she never became a tool of Ra's, a weapon of his creation.

But now, with Ra's dead, Jason knew the real battle was just beginning. Y/n was still out there, and he had to find her. Had to make sure she was safe.

And when he did, they would finally be free. Together.

Part 4

[askymzbuki]

hey man can you stand in the middle of this red bull's-eye, ignore the comically large anvil hanging overhead.

[robotleech]

so excited for roosterteeth to never touch red vs blue again. the rvb19 news is really getting me down rn. ive loved this show forever and will continue to love it no matter what happens but i need rt to have a comically large anvil fall on top of them and die. fucking cockbites.

[kookaburra1701]

WIP Wednesday - Aristeia

tagged by @dirty-bosmer and @mareenavee - like you, my friend, I have no chill so here's a long snippet ha ha.

I am tagging @skyrim-forever @gilgamish @greyborn2 @moriche @thana-topsy @nientedenada @totally-not-deacon

Fandom: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Rating: T (blood and violence) Category: gen Genre(s): Adventure, Homer retelling Main characters: Borgakh the Steel Heart, the orcs of Mor Khazgur

Summary: Borgakh is a dutiful daughter of Mor Khazgur, an orc stronghold in a remote corner of the Reach that has existed since the Merethic era. Expected to someday become the shield-wife of a distant chieftain, Borgakh tries to uphold the Code of Malacath as best she can. But when her father, the chief of their stronghold, goes missing while on a quest for vengeance, the suitors that show up to vie for his place cause no end of trouble and threaten the strength of Mor Khazgur. Borgakh soon finds herself traveling far from home across the Druadach Mountains to find her father and save the stronghold.

The first chapter is here on AO3.

Here's some more for chapter 2!

“Borgakh,” Bagrak’s voice pulled Borgakh’s attention away from the work at the forge. “We will be doing shield drills today. Warm up appropriately.”

“Yes, mother,” Borgakh said, and moved to the small sparring ground in front of the longhouse. Several training dummies and a clear, leveled area marked where the members of the stronghold trained for battle. Borgakh had already thrown her threadbare gambeson over the dummy to keep it at hand, and quickly selected her waster and wooden shield from the weapon racks before donning the gambeson. It was getting hard to close over her chest and the hem no longer reached her knees.

Borgakh had thought it comically large when Grutha had made it for her.

She grimaced as she turned away from the memory, and swung the waster a few times – it possessed the same proportions and balance as her orchalcum sword, but it was half again as heavy. The hornbeam practice shield was likewise much heavier than the fine laminated shield Borgakh called her own. She settled the guige around her neck and adjusted the length until a small portion of the weight was removed from her arm and distributed across her shoulders.

The sounds of the stronghold faded from her awareness as Borgakh executed the forms her mother had taught her.

Bagrak came from a stronghold near Shornhelm; the name meant nothing to Borgakh beyond an abstract point on the maps Sharamph kept in a cedar chest in the longhouse storeroom. Bagrak had impressed upon her as a young child that all the orcs of Yarzul stronghold and especially the Shield-Wives had been taught the sword-forms by their mothers, and in turn it would someday be Borgakh’s duty to pass them down to her sons and daughters.

The forms started with simple, slow movements; Borgakh repeated them at half-speed until she was fully confident her steps and strikes were precise; only then did she execute the entire sequence at full speed.

Olur’s steady hammering at the forge became a metronome as Borgakh turned her attention to the training dummy – she found herself striking in time with the ringing of his anvil.

Nearside-overhand, offside-underhand.

The training dummy shuddered as it absorbed her rhythmic blows.

Offside-overhand, nearside-underhand.

A chunk of red paint from the center of the target painted on the dummy’s shield was carved off with one of Borgakh’s cuts.

The familiarity of the movement allowed Borgakh to expand her awareness; the haggling over the goods Pavo had brought with him resolved itself from background noise into words.

“-Kolskeggr is practically belching out gold, I can easily extend you credit-” Pavo was saying.

“We do not need your credit, we will make a fair trade for what we can here and now.” Sharamph said. Her cowl was thrown back to reveal the gray streaks in her hair. Borgakh could hear Shuftharz grunt in agreement. “You have been spending too much time with those Nords in Markarth, if you’re talking about nonsense like credit.”

“I don’t want interest or anything-”

“Mor Khazgur does not owe debts,” Shuftharz said with finality.

“Look, if you’re that determined, I can–”

“Your sword is fast, but it outpaces your shield.” Bagrak’s voice cut through Borgakh’s eavesdropping.

Borgakh completed her final thrust, and brought her sword to a low guard before turning to face her mother.

“You leave your hand unprotected when striking.”

“My own shield is larger so–”

“You will not always be fighting with your own shield, and you must be adept with any armament you may find yourself using.” Bagrak picked up Borgakh’s helmet and handed it to her, before placing her own on her head.

“Yes, mother.” With the helm in place, Borgakh’s world contracted again, the narrow field of view afforded by the oculi in the nasal guard. The camail draped over her shoulders and neck, trapping the moisture from her breath as Borgakh settled it over her mouth and nose.

Bagrak was doing the same, her helm had a cascade of fine orichalcum scales that flowed from the brim of her helmet, transitioning into the finest mail Shuftharz’s forge could produce; it veiled her as she hefted her own wooden waster into a high guard position and turned to Borgakh.

Lifting the shield, Borgakh mirrored her mother’s stance, and their sparring began.

[ask-the-parabalis-gang]

hey poly you should step on that not-suspicious giant red X over there

“You know what? Fuck it!” Poly huffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he storms forward onto the totally not-suspicious giant red X. “I’ll do it! I’m not a fucking pussy! Watch me, bitch, watch me-”

Poly then gets crushed by a comically large anvil and fucking dies. The world rejoices.

[my-name-is-siduri]

Okay everyone good news! It's been confirmed that they're all trapped in a cycle of suffering! And as we see with Charlie, it's possible for them to break out of their reprogramming and remember previous sessions.

I was right :D

Curiously, Austin and Vinny are not listed off in either times that the others are named. I'm going to chock it up to real world reasons rather than holding any significance though. Maybe the script was made before they were part of the project, or any other number of reasons. Anyway, the implication is 'and everyone else' in both cases.

Except The Puzzler. He really is dead.

Gone too soon

Sid's GenLoss thoughts, or, how Vinny is the key to all this

gif by hackerling

As I mentioned in my last post, I really don't know who anyone in GenLoss is outside of Jerma and Vinny. But I was immediately invested when I saw it was filled with lore.

I haven't seen too many people talk about gl!Vinny, so I figured I'd make my contribution by talking him in particular. (Spoilers, obviously.)

The carousel.

Vinny is an outlier in episode 2, both in his actions and how others react to him. We see this as soon as Ranboo first enters the carousel room. While there is urgency in Vinny's voice, he doesn't seem nearly as panicked as the others. Compare and contrast how everyone else acts while the carousel is turning:

To how Vinny acts:

For most of the carousel sequence, Vinny is quiet and distant. He doesn't address or even look at the camera when he passes by it on the carousel. The most we get after Ranboo first arrives is as he leaves, but in both instances Vinny's shouts are almost half-hearted.

Then there's his introduction.

The title on this clip upload is inaccurate. Unlike all the others, Vinny makes no attempt to beg for his life. He doesn't beg to be freed or try to escape. Vinny just tells us he's useful because he's a hoarder and spends the rest of the time listing the things he's hoarded. Even after becoming 'the taken', Sneeg still mentioned that looks forward to the chance of staying alive.

But Vinny doesn't do any of that, nor does he does it appear that he wants to. He just wants to talk about something else. Plug and plays. Wooden ducks. Anything other than surviving and escaping.

Vinny doesn't speak much while chat solves the pipe puzzle, but there is one thing he says that stands out: "I welcome death at this point."

Vinny's reaction to death, and the candy room.

As Vinny climbs out of the tunnel and stands up, he pauses and looks at Niki's body.

See clip here.

Although he's not as animated or dramatic as the others, Vinny is clearly shocked that she's dead. He questions why Ranboo and Sneeg are so focused on candy and Mouse Trap while Niki is dead on the floor. Of course, both Ranboo and Sneeg have been heavily brainwashed at this point, while Vinny likely hasn't. Curiously, after they brush off Niki's body, Vinny seems to brush it off too. While it may be that self-awareness only comes in bits and spirts, I think it's more likely (as we'll see later on) that Vinny was still aware and decided it was best to play along.

The other two moments in the candy room are interesting as well. Vinny takes Sneeg's suggestion and tastes a piece of candy, only to spit it out with disgust. "You're eating this stuff?" As others have pointed out, the candy is definitely not candy, but we don't know what it really is. All we know is that it didn't taste good.

And finally, Vinny makes one more comment before they leave the candy room: "What am I even doing in here?" To which, Ranboo can't give an answer.

From this point on, I'm going to skip ahead to Vinny's death and work my way backwards.

Reaction to Vinny's Death, and the laser room.

One of the few times we see Ranboo and Sneeg react to what's happening around them is moments before Vinny's dummy hits the ceiling.

It's curious that they have such a strong reaction. They did nothing as Niki screamed for help and let her die. When Ethan dies later on, they give no reaction. And Ranboo simply moves on when Austin and Sneeg are crushed to death.

But here they are, screaming at him hitting the ceiling. And when Vinny dies, they flinch at the sight. It was a subdued reaction, yes, but it was more than could be said for the others, except for maybe Slimetowel. Even afterwards, when they pass by Vinny's body, they're still uncomfortable by the sight.

Whatever really happened to Vinny was so shocking that pierced through all of their mind-control and scared them.

(By the way, this doesn't quite tie into the bigger theory I'm getting at here, I just thought it was interesting.)

"Goddamnit."

Out of all the on-screen deaths, Vinny is the calmest about his.

Niki cries after she's shot and completely breaks down before being shot again. Ethan screams at whatever it is that happened to him behind the fake wall. Austin and even Sneeg scream as they're crushed by the wall.

But Vinny? Sure, he does yell as he flies through the air and hits his head against the ceiling, but it hardly compares to the sheer horror the others experienced. When he realizes that he's about to die, all he does is lean his head back, says "Goddamnit", and lets the comically tiny anvil crush his head.

If anything, Ranboo and Sneeg have more of a reaction than Vinny does. Vinny is resigned and accepts his fate. Hell, he smiles just before they throw him. And those things he said before: "I welcome death at this point." "What am I even doing in here?"

How is Vinny so apathetic to what's happening without being forced to? Well…

"Guys, don't worry about it. I got this. I've done it before."

When presented with the laser room, Ranboo and Sneeg are at a loss (haha) on how to solve the puzzle. Vinny confidently tells them he's done it before. Ranboo tries to ask what he means by that, but Vinny doesn't elaborate and simply tells them that they need to throw him across the room. (I'll be fully honest, the reason I think that line is important and intentional is because it sounded like he was reciting a script word for word rather than him naturally speaking LOL)

He might be implying that this has happened during one of his funny stories like whatever happened at the wooden duck factory…but I think it's a lot more literal than that.

Repetition is a theme in GenLoss. In fact, it's what 'generation loss' means in the first place: repetition until degradation. Several people seem to have gone through trials before they happen, such as Slimesicle having a part of the Mouse Trap puzzle inside his 'slime.' And wait…didn't Slimesicle and Sneeg die on Day 1?

Everyone being held captive by Showfall has done this before. They've been trapped, put through puzzles, failed to escape, and died.

For whatever reason, Vinny remembers this. He knows the puzzles' solutions. He knows when he's not supposed to be on-screen. He knows that they've failed to escape before, and he's just biding his time until his next death.

But what if he's just being mind-controlled the way Sneeg is, you ask? He's not. Things aren't completely censored for him. He was shocked when he saw Niki dead. He found the not-candy to be revolting. He's still aware of the horrors going on around him. He's just desensitized because he's gone through it before, and he'll probably go through it again.

For a brief moment, however, something different happened. He got through the lasers farther than he ever has before. It's different than before. He smiles. "I made it!"

"Goddamnit."

[catboyfever]

(drops this into ur asks like a comically-sized anvil)

post-dating rabger scenario where Tigger’s the guy to use silly/sappy nicknames 24/7 (so basically just how he is in canon already tbh fjdhd) whilst Rabbit isn’t rly in the habit of using nicknames himself except for the once-in-a-blue-moon instances where he just drops one on Tigger out of nowhere.

Tigger: Got those plates put away just like you asked for, Ra-Ra!

Rabbit: Oh, excellent! Thank you, Sweet pea 💕

Tigger: Aw, t’weren’t noth-

*is squished comically like a looney toons character.*

NAH DUDE I ACTUALLY CANNOT GET OVER HOW CUTE I THINK THIS IS

Rabbit while I'm sure isn't necessarily lovey-dovey to the extent that Tigger is probably doesn't engage in the more gushy things a lot of the time, which I'm sure Tigger is totally fine with! But those moments where he's feeling a little more in the mood with things I'm like sure it absolutely rocks Tigger's world to hear Rabbit use little terms of endearment like Dear, Sweet pea, etc and imagining the bright red blush on Tigger's face as a result is so fucking adorable lkasjdflkjasdklfjasdlkfjkl

ALSO THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME THRU MY ASKS INBOX WITH THIS STUFF AGAIN ASDFLKJASDFLKJ

[saltchurch]

happy presidents' day! like to drop a comically large anvil on joe biden who is standing on a red X

[thetruearchmagos]

Nine People Tag Game!

Thank you kindly for the Tag, @dogmomwrites ! I'll be Tagging @athenswrites @caxycreations @theprissythumbelina @hessdalen-globe @theprissythumbelina and anyone who'd like to participate!

Favorite color? 

Red, of most kinds. Darker ones especially.

Currently reading? 

The Hunt For Red October, technically, though I've borrowed some non-fic from the library for Research

Last series? 

Heartstopper! Haven't been much able to focus on it, but it's nice! Reading the comics of it too.

Sweet, savory, or spicy? 

Pastry is my eternal guilty pleasure, so I'd go with sweet! Spiciness, to me, is something more tolerated than enjoyed.

Currently working on? 

Worldbuilding, and little else! World Ember for my world anvil stuff, and a few more details on the side.

[eviltailsofficial]

here's an idea for a gimmick! drop comically large anvils on people

on an unrelated note can you stand on this red x on the ground real quick i need it for something

[snflwrfieldd]

i hope all people who hatepost someone on main tags step on a comically large red x on the floor and get squashed flat by an anvil

[johnconstantinejld]

The Hammer

The company had collectively been kicked out of the bar and walked across the grassy plain. They walked without direction, aimlessly heading towards the trees in front of them.

‘Me?’ Offered the tall stranger, ‘I work the anvil. I’m a blacksmith. And my friend is…’

‘Project worker.’ Offered the smaller man, ‘I do lots of different tasks. What do you do?’

‘I’m an archaeologist, and he’s a research scientist.’ Donald Blake replied, ‘But we do lots of different things.’

‘You seem sad.’ Said the little fellow. His eyes darted. A million expressions seemed to cross his face at once. ‘You miss someone. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.’

‘Don’t you have someone else to talk to?’

The tall man glanced at the paper rustling at his feet. Tony Stark, once head of a company with bigger finances than the GDP of Lichtenstein, now blown it all and untrustworthy. He was bailed out by Bruce Wayne on condition that no new weapons technology be created. The man was broken. 

The small man coughed. ‘It appears the Norns decided his time was up.’

The archaeologist turned, offended. 

‘I am only son of the All-Father.’ Declared Donald Blake, ‘Who are thou?’

The tall man grimaced and exchanged glances with the little man. This time, the man was angry. His eyes went as red as his hair.

‘And Vali? Vitharr? Where are they? I have many brothers. The late Balder. You have forgotten some.’

‘I am worthy to hold Mjolnir!’ Declared Donald Blake.

‘Do you ride the goat-chariot?’ Laughed the little fellow, ‘Wear the Jarngreipir gauntlets? Wear the belt which increases strength? What of your friend here?’

‘He is Thor.’ Bruce Banner declared, ‘And you got me angry!’

The green man towered over Loki, who politely disappeared. The Hulk felt a small sting on his face. He swatted at it. Something dug into him. He yelled, only for the pain to increase.

‘Come out, Loki Laufeyson!’ Hulk declared.

‘My mother is Laufey.’ Thought Loki, ‘Call me Farbautison, and Odin is my adopted father.’

Donald Blake drew forth his hammer. ‘I am the mighty Thor! I believe you are consorting with the wily Loki. You are my enemy. I can fly at you from all directions, stranger.’

‘So you do not have the goat-chariot.’ The stranger laughed.

His hammer was also one-handed, but equally strong and carved in dark runes which burnt in the stone.

‘I am many things.’ Thor said, ‘Mighty must be a new name. Sif Golden-Hair will like it. But Loki’s enemies are Heimdall on one side and Logi of the Jotunn. Did you know that? And Hel does not deserve the poor attack you did to her.’

Blake swung his hammer and hit Thor over the head. The man ignored it and swung Mjolnir. In his first strike, it broke through the imposter hammer and into his arms. Then, he crushed his head, then his ribs and spine. 

A snake emerged from the Hulk, who fell behind to the ground. Loki dusted himself down.

‘Puny imposters. Hey look-a blood eagle!'

‘You were right, Loki. They were tall fellows. But it wasn’t a good fight. Come on, let’s go home.’

Um, is it Nationalist/full of unfortunate implications to have the actual Thor and Loki from mythology smashing up Marvel's characters? I think because they were introduced in the 60s and come from a more sci-fi based comic world (all credit to Stan Lee and co.) that it's alright. I am far from right wing, I just don't want people like Varg Vikernes complimenting me.