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Chapter Text

They did it. The heroes of the Four Sword won. Though, not without loss. Shadow sacrificed his life by breaking the dark mirror, and that sacrifice weighed heavily on the heroes. It was clear though that this effected Vio greatly. The other heroes didn't know the specific relationship between those two, but it was obvious that they were close.

Now, they had to put the Four Sword back into its pedestal. None of the colors really 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to put the sword back. What would happen to 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? Would they just go back to being Link? The people wanted the 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 Link, not the 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 who once 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 Link. They may have once been only mere fragments of Link's base personality, but throughout the course of their adventure, they all became their own people. They didn't want to never be able to see each other again. They 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 Link. Not anymore at least, but what choice do they have?

Many of the townsfolk will only talk to Green and will completely ignore the other colours. That's a good case scenario. Other times during their adventure, they would get aggressive towards the heroes, mistaking Shadow's actions for their own. Even if the heroes were to explain that it was someone else, the people would claim that since Shadow shared the same appearance with the other colours that 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, he was one of them. The only people who would talk to each of the colours normally were those who either didn't know of the Four Sword and its powers or those who only saw one of the colours individually and thus wouldn't know that their existence had any correlation to the Four Sword. The heroes weren't wanted. They had to return the sword. They had to just hope that they would be able to see each other again at some point. They had to hope they wouldn't just cease to exist.

The heroes were currently standing in the palace of the Four Sword, directly in front of the sword's pedestal. Though they now had a problem. There were 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 swords and 𝘰𝘯𝘦 pedestal.

"Sooo, how do we exactly 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. We pulled one sword, and now there are four Four Swords. Do we have to somehow fuse it back into one sword?"

"That may be the only plausible solution. The question is 𝘩𝘰𝘸 we are to go about that."

"Would fusing the swords back into one also fuse 𝘶𝘴 back into one, too? The sword split when we did, so maybe it will fuse when we do?"

"I was under the assumption that putting the sword back into its pedestal would re-fuse us as well. Though, if the only way for us to potentially return the sword to its pedestal is for us to fuse back together, then with our current knowledge, this would be a cycle of impossibility."

"𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰, why do you use such big words all the time? Can't you just explain something simply?"

"I refuse to simplify my vocabulary just because it is 'complex'. If I'm going to explain my thoughts on a situation, I'm going to use the words of my choosing, even if those words are, quote, 'big words'."

"Well, then maybe, you shouldn't explain your thoughts on a situation. It would save everyone some time if we didn't have to listen to you."

Vio's body language visibly changed, becoming more tense and slouched with their ears being noticeably downturned.

"Blue! That's 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯!"

Blue tensed up a bit and looked between both Red, with his disappointed face, and Vio, who didn't look necessarily 𝘴𝘢𝘥, but more hurt than anything. Though, it's always difficult to interpret Vio's expression. They have a very neutral expression most of the time, which makes trying to gauge what he's feeling almost impossible. If someone really gets to know him though, they could sort of understand what he's feeling based off their body language and the very mild facial expression he does have. Blue sighed and turned to properly face Vio.

"I- tch.. 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

Vio stood up straighter, but they still seemed tense and his ears were still drooped.

"What? I said I was 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺!"

"Yes, you did, and I appreciate that. That doesn't change the fact that what you said was still hurtful."

"I'm trying, okay! I'm not good at being nice to people. I lose control of my anger too often. I'm 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

"I know. I know all of that. That's why I said I appreciate your apology. I know you wouldn't have apologized at the beginning of our adventure, you likely wouldn't have even in the middle of our adventure either. You have improved. You are trying. However, '𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨' doesn't mean that all is instantly forgiven when you say something hurtful. It still impacts that person."

"I know... I'm sorry... Heh, looks like we both changed quite a bit. At the beginning of our adventure, you spoke like you didn't experience emotions, like you were above them in some way. Now, though you still don't express much with your face and tone, you're more expensive with your body language and word choice. I also want to say that I mean this 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺. We 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 aren't very good at expressing our emotions, though in different 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴... It's nice to see you express yourself more is what I'm 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 to say!"

"I understood what you were trying to say. At the beginning of our adventure, I felt as if I really 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 experience emotions. That's why I came up with the plan to pretend to join the enemy side, that way I could gain information. However, due to having not felt strong emotions previously, I didn't account for them when I came up with my plan. So, I didn't think of the emotions of you three, the emotions of Shadow, or my own emotions. I didn't really think of how betrayal would feel, with pretending to betray you all and actually betraying Shadow. I also didn't think I myself would begin to experience emotions and care about other people as I improved more as a person. I began to care about both you three and Shadow, meaning I had put myself in a position where I cared about both parties and didn't want to betray either while also betraying both, even if my betrayal towards you was only acting."

"Wow. I didn't know you felt that way. Why didn't you talk to us about this sooner? You... you really cared about Shadow didn't you?"

"I feel that should be obvious. Shadow was a good person. He may have not done good things, but he had a good heart. He was manipulated into believing that he was evil and that he 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be evil. He believed that what he was doing was right because the only frame of reference he had on what was right was evil. He however, dispite being a 'villain', still tried to ensure everyone was happy and content to the best of his abilities. He always treated the monsters kindly and would attempt to cheer up anyone who was upset. After my fight with Green, he took me on a ride on a actual dragon. Though... he 𝘥𝘪𝘥 burn down a forest with that dragon. In his defense, he was just trying to make me feel better. He was also astounding at entertaining. If he wasn't forced to be evil, he probably would have been an entertainer of some kind."

"You sound very fond of him."

"I 𝘢𝘮 very fond of him... Personal improvements and emotions aside, we don't even know if any of that will matter soon. We'll be presumably fused back into a singular person, with whatever implications come with that. Well, as soon as we figure out what to do about the issue regarding the quantity of swords."

"I believe when we were all still 'Link', we only split once we raised the Four Sword skyward. So, maybe if we all raise our Four Swords, we may fuse back together?"

"It's worth a try."

The multicolored heroes then raised their swords skyward, only to be enveloped in a bright, golden light. The same light from when they had previously split. When the light dissipated, only one, very colourful, hero was standing with their sword raised.

The hero wore a quad-colour tunic with four sections of Green, Blue, Violet, and Red. The hero mysteriously seemed to have no shadow. The hero opened their emerald green eyes and looked around a bit dazed.

"Wha- I... how am I... "

Green looked around the room. There was nobody else here? Where were the others? Green looked down at their body and noticed their new multicolor tunic. Well, that's interesting. The sword must have actually fused them back together, but if that was the case, why was Green still here? Were the others here? Green hoped they were.

There was no way Green was... the "real" Link, right? No, that's not possible. They've already established that they are each only fragments of Link. So where were the others?

"Guys? Are you... there?"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝙄'𝙢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭?"

"Vio?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵? 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺."

"Yeah, it's me. I don't know why I would be the one with control over our body. It's really odd."

"𝘔𝘮𝘮... 𝘞𝘩𝘢- 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱... 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦?"

"Red?"

"𝘜𝘩𝘶𝘩... 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥?"

"We fused back together. Well, our bodies fused at least. It seems our minds are still separate. I have control of our body at the moment for some reason."

"𝘛𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰?!"

"Nice to see you too, Blue. Let me try something."

If technically they were all sharing a brain and could talk to each other in their head, then they should also be able to interact with each other mentally, too. Green tried to imagine physically switching places with Blue in their mind.

After only a moment, Green felt what could only be described as the gentle tug of cool water on his arms. It didn't feel like he was really 𝘪𝘯 water exactly. It was more like laying in a shallow tub of water where the water is only about the hight of six sevenths of one's arms while laying on their back, with the lightest movements sending small waves of water across the surface of the arms. Except this was like a vertical version of that. The odd thing was that this strange feeling of water was only on Green's arms, and the water didn't even feel wet. It just felt cool and comforting. It also felt like there wasn't any gravity effecting almost any parts of Green's body. The only gravity seemed to be a light pull at Green's feet, keeping him from falling over, and the gentle tug of the water pulling him backwards. Green felt what seemed to be a body of similar size and with a similar pull beside him, but their pull seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.

This odd state lasted for only about two to three seconds before Green's conscious returned to their body. Only difference was that now, Green was no longer in control of their body.

The hero's eyes were now a brilliant ocean blue.

Blue lifted her hand to their face to inspect it. He noted that this shared body's hand was both so similar and so different from their own. It's like it was her hand, but also simultaneously just isn't. Well, he has control of the body now. That... vision... thingy was weird though.

"𝘏𝘮𝘮, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

"Yeah, I got control at the moment."

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘥𝘥."

"So, did we experience the same thing when we switched control, or did we experience something completely different?"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

"Oh, shush, my tone's just generally pretty flat unless I'm aggravated."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘵."

"Well, that's definitely different from what I experienced. For me, it was like sitting in an endless grassy meadow where, while sitting, the grass was about chest height. There was also this very nice breeze. It was blowing towards me from the front and it was strong enough to be comforting, but not too strong to the point that it would be annoying. It only lasted two to three seconds, but it felt like the wind was getting stronger and stronger the whole time. Like it was trying to push me back in a non-forceful way. The whole time I felt what seemed like Green's presence somewhere nearby. It felt like, for him, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, but he was still facing it. It's like the wind was pushing us both back in opposite directions. Though I mean opposite directions as in towards and then past each other, not away from each other."

"𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."

"𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦... 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"Yeah, what he said."

"𝘏𝘮𝘮... 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥."

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭?"

"𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

"Fine by me."

"𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥."

"𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩."

After a moment, Blue felt herself in another strange out-of-body experience. He felt as if though they were laying down on the dirt of a mountain, or at the very least a place of higher altitude than they were in previously. The altitude difference wasn't enough to be sickening, but it was noticeable. The dirt he was laying on felt like it was a mixture of very loose and heavily packed dirt. There seemed to be little sprouts poking out of the loose dirt. Blue felt themself being pulled into the ground by an indiscernible force. It wasn't a strong force to the point that it felt forceful. It was more similar to feeling grounding and secure. Blue could sense Vio over to her left, laying on the ground as well. However, this unknown force seemed to be pulling Vio upwards rather than down. The force wasn't strong enough for Vio to be floating, but there was much less force keeping them on the ground than what gravity would normally allow. Suddenly, it felt like the pull completely stopped and Blue was shoved back into their mutual body.

The hero's eyes were now a memorable violet.

Vio took a better look at their clothing. The four colours of this tunic seemed to match each of the heroes tunics exactly. He felt the texture of each of the different colours on the tunic. The violet section was exactly the same material as Vio's own tunic was. They hadn't previously noticed that the other heroes' tunics were different materials, but with what was basically just part of each of their tunics combined into one, it was extraordinary obvious. Vio's tunic had always been a noticeably easy to clean material that didn't get dirt on it easily, Red's tunic was a material that was very likely completely flame resistant, Blue's tunic was a smooth material that is very likely waterproof, and Green's tunic is a material similar to what most windbreakers would be made of with a texture and shape that would allow wind to pass by easily. None of these things were particularly useful though when their tunics were combined into one, due to the other sections not having the same effect, but it was still interesting.

"I never realized our tunics were different textures. Oh, I must say, the switching control experience was very peculiar."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯."

"Really? I experienced exactly what Green described as their experience. What was your experience like?"

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴? 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘪𝘰."

"It seems that our experiences may be dependent on who we switch with. My reasoning is that when me and Green switched with Blue, we both had the same experience, but when Blue switched with us, they had different experiences for switching with us both."

"𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩?"

"It would seem so."

"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥?"

"𝘛𝘤𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮."

"With the same logic as Blue's point, I feel that we should probably pretend to be a singular individual for the general populous, and should only tell those who we know wouldn't react negatively that we are still separate people."

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩... 𝘜𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"We could use they/them plural? We could say to people in general that our pronouns are they/them and they'll likely assume we just prefer gender neutral pronouns, but to those that do know we are still separate people, they'll know that we mean they/them plural. That way, whether they know of us still being here or not, they would still address all of us."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴... 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦/𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴... 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴?"

"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵."

"Well, if Blue won't say anything, I will. I prefer he/they pronouns. Though, with they/them pronouns being used a bit more frequently than he/him. I still request that both sets of pronouns are used."

"𝘐... 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦/𝘩𝘦/𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴. 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺/𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝘝𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥?"

"On one hand, because the people seem to hate us no matter what we do, they could accuse us of stealing it. On the other hand, if we keep our sword, we could potentially split when necessary, so we could physically see each other again."

"𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭!"

"I suppose. So, do we go home now?"

"𝘔𝘩𝘮! 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩... 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢? 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵... 𝘶𝘴?"

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵... 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 '𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬', 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴... 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?"

"𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯- 𝘦𝘳- 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭."

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴... 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘚𝘰... 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢?"

"It seems we are. Let's go home now, we've been standing here for long enough."

Ａｗｈｉｌｅ ｌａｔｅｒ:

The hero now stood in front of their home. They experienced a moment's hesitation before entering.

"𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸."

"He probably is home. I believe there was smoke emanating from the chimney."

"𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦..."

Vio gently pushed open the front door to their home. He immediately noticed an intense soup-like smell coming from the kitchen. Their grandpa must have been cooking something.

"Grandpa?"

"Link?"

Their grandpa came out of the kitchen and approached them.

"Link, my dear grandchild. You're finally home."

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥? 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝙨𝙤𝙣? 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯... 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵... 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦/𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."

Their grandpa held out his arms and Vio walked over and hugged him. All the colors 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 missed their grandfather.

"How have you been on your adventure? Were you keeping yourself safe and healthy?"

"𝘖𝘩, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"We were as safe and healthy as an adventure would allow."

"𝘖𝘰𝘩, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯."

"We? Were you traveling with others on your adventure?"

"Yes, we actually wanted to talk with you about that. Can we sit first?"

"Yes, let's go take a seat."

"𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 '𝘺𝘦𝘴' at 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 '𝘺𝘦𝘴' 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 '𝘺𝘦𝘴'? 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 '𝘺𝘦𝘴'. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬."

Vio never noticed they did that. Did Shadow ever notice Vio did that? Why were they thinking of Shadow right now? Now's not a good time. He can think of Shadow later. Right now, they have to explain the situation to grandpa.

Vio went into the kitchen and sat at the dinning table on the far side of the room. Their grandpa stopped for a moment to stir the soup he had been cooking. Vio noticed their small kitchen timer was set to eighteen minutes. They had time. After their grandpa finished stirring the soup he joined them at the table.

"So what is it you would like to talk with me about, Link?"

"𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯' 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 '𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬'?"

"𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯... 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭' 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭."

"𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬."

A lot of rumors had formed about the Four Sword, and with them splitting having proved many of those rumors true, their grandpa must have at least heard of the Four Sword's power. Luckily -- or unluckily, with their luck, who knows -- their identity was left out of the rumors.

"We wanted to talk about something that is the result of our adventure. At the start of our adventure, we had to pull the Four Sword... "

"I see... so, you were... "

"Split into four people? Yeah. We were."

"And you're one person now?"

"Yes and no. We're in the 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 of a singular person... but, we didn't fuse our consciousnesses together. Only our bodies re-merged."

"So you're still four people? How exactly does that work with sharing a body?"

"Well, one person has control of the body, and the rest are just sort of there. We can switch who has control, and those of us who are not in control can still talk with each other in our head. Though, for the person who's in control of the body to reply to the conversation in our head, they have to speak aloud."

"𝘈𝘩, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 '𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘝𝘪𝘰. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝙨𝙤 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥."

Is that sarcasm? ...That has to be sarcasm.

Vio has never been good at detecting sarcasm.

"Do you have individual names?"

"We do. My name is Violet, though I prefer to go by Vio. There's also Red, Blue, and Green."

"Is that why your eyes are purple? Or, well, violet."

"They are?"

"Yes, did you not know?"

"𝘚𝘦𝘦! 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 '𝘺𝘦𝘴'."

"𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺?"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸! '𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩'? '𝘔𝘩𝘮'? 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨!"

"𝘏𝘦𝘩𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 '𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩' 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺!"

"𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺! '𝘊𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 '𝘺𝘦𝘴' 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!"

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴... 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵?"

"𝘏𝘶𝘩?"

"𝘜𝘩, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥."

"Vio?"

"Huh?"

"𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭."

"You seemed a little spaced out for a minute there, are you alright?"

"Oh... yes, I'm fine. I was just distracted from the others talking so much... they are rather loud. My apologies, I'm just not used to this yet."

"𝘖𝘩, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘰!"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺!"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘙𝘦𝘥."

"𝘚𝘩𝘩𝘩, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵."

"If you are every too bothered by them, or anything else for that matter, just know that you can talk to me about it at any time. That goes for the other three of you in there, too, if they can hear me."

"They can hear you."

"Good, I want them to know that I am always available to talk about anything they may need to talk about. You are all still my grandchild, or, grandchildren in this case?"

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 '𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 '𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯' 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴."

"𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦, '𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥' 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳."

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴! 𝘚𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥."

"We actually prefer 'grandchild' over 'grandchildren' as 'grandchildren' makes us sound like siblings."

Their grandpa nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now, as for my previous question, were you aware that your eye changed colour?"

"I... wasn't. I need to go look at my reflection."

"Alright, I'll tend to the soup in the meantime."

Vio got up from the table and went to their room. When they got there, they opened a small drawer in their desk, and pulled out a hand mirror that Zelda had gifted them. Vio stared into the reflection, and sure enough, their eyes were violet in colour.

"𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭?"

"Only one way to test it. Red, would you like to take control?"

"𝘜𝘩𝘩𝘶𝘩!"

"How about you try to take control then. Blue, Green, can one of you see what we look like as we switch? We do have a mirror to see our appearance."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘎𝘰 𝘰𝘯, 𝘙𝘦𝘥."

"𝘒, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺!"

After around six-ish seconds, another experience began to take form. This one appeared to be in a clearing of a secluded forest. The clearing was pretty close to being perfectly circular, with a decent amount of space, but not so much to the point that it felt vast and empty. There was a roaring campfire directly in the middle which gave the place a cozy warmth and made the air smell smokey. It had a similar atmosphere to that of a camping trip. There was also a perfectly circular waterway that surrounded the campfire at a decent distance. The waterway was big enough for a small canoe to circle around it. There were two canoes in the circle on opposite sides. Vio was in one of the canoes and he could sense Red in the other. It felt like there was a force pushing both of their canoes around the circle. They were going around the circle in the same direction at the same speed, meaning they were constantly the same distance apart. Vio noticed that there was a small flame in the palms of his hands. It didn't burn. It was just warm and gentle. Like holding a warm mug of tea. In the same pattern as the other experiences, after two to three seconds, the experience ended. Vio faded gently back into reality. This time, with the mirror in front of him, they could see it.

The hero's eyes were a fiery scarlet red.

Red looked into the mirror in front of him. Why did his eyes look so scary? He looked monstrous. Red began to cry a bit.

"Why do I look scary!"

"𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺."

"B- but my eyes are red like a monster's!"

"𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴."

"𝘜𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴."

"You really mean that?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

Red wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"I would hug you right now if we weren't in the same body."

"𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?"

"Okay... I'ma go see grampa."

Red put their mirror back in the drawer and left their room to go to the kitchen.

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭?"

"𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴' 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦."

"𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺."

"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, I had the same experience as Blue described having when they switched with Vio, so I think Vio's right about it being person specific."

"𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"Oop, sorry! But aren't we basically alone already? Grampa's the only one nearby."

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵."

Red gave a very firm head nod to show he had listened without talking aloud.

"𝘏𝘮𝘮, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯."

"𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰. 𝘠𝘦𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢."

"𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰."

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺."

Red had now made it to the kitchen and was now smiling at their grandpa.

"Hey grampa!"

Their grandpa looked over towards them. He seemed to notice that their eye color changed.

"Hello. I see your eye color changed, is this Red that I'm speaking to, or someone else?"

"Yeah! I'm, Red!"

"Well, Red. Would you mind helping me set the table? The soups almost ready."

"Of course! I'd love to help!"

Ｌａｔｅｒ ｔｈａｔ ｎｉｇｈｔ:

The hero was currently laying on their bed within their room. It was extremely dark out and moonlight was pouring through their window.

"𝘏𝘮𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

"𝘠𝘦𝘴... 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦."

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴."

"I liked being able to just spend time with grampa, I missed him a lot."

"𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺."

"Yeah, you were right."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵."

"𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?"

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘕𝘰. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬."

"𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩?"

"You can bring him back!?"

"𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤. 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤. 𝘐 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘎𝘶𝘩, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

"Mmm, can we sleep now? I'm tired."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵."

With that, Red began to drift off into sleep. He had a long day, and an even longer adventure. He needed some rest.

The hero's eyes were, yet again, a memorable violet.

Vio opened their eyes and was immediately confused. Why we're they in control? Why didn't they have one of those experiences? He moved their hand up to their face to make sure that he was actually in control of the body. He was. That left more questions than answers.

"That's... odd."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥?

"I think Red fell asleep, thus forcing me into control."

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱."

"Yes, but that switch left more questions than answers. I didn't have one of those experiences, and due to the circumstances, I can't determine why. It could be that, since Red was asleep, he couldn't have one of those experiences himself, so I didn't have one either. It also could be that, when Red fell asleep, he may have been sent into our mind, leaving nobody in control, thus when I was forced into control, I wasn't actually switching with anybody. There are also a few reasons unrelated to Red being asleep that may be the cause for not having an experience. One being that we may only have an experience the first time we switch with a person, and the other being that since me and Red were the ones who switched previously, it could be that we just wouldn't have another experience while switching back. Another unknown is why 𝘐 was put into control. It could just be random, or it could be because I was the one in control previously before Red."

"𝘏𝘮𝘮... 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥."

"Hey! That is utterly preposterous! I am not a nerd! I just overanalyze everything!"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵. 𝘎𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘝𝘪. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"Fine."

Vio did go to sleep not long after, but they waited for Green to go to sleep first as to prevent another random switch. With all four of their consciousnesses asleep, their body could now rest.

The hero finally slept.

Chapter Text

After living as a singular person for three years, the colours had gotten quite used to it. They would wake up each day, have breakfast, work in the forge for a few hours, have lunch, allow Vio to research dark magic for two hours, work in the forge for a few more hours, have dinner, spend time with their grandpa, then go to bed. Though, since the other colours had a tendency to fall asleep before Vio, he had a habit of staying up late and reading in bed.

Today however, Vio was confident. They could revive Shadow. There was just one small problem they would need to talk to the other colours about first.

"Vi, what is this 'problem'?"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵."

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩?"

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 '𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯'. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺."

"Vio, you're telling us, to bring Shadow back, we would have to add him to our body as well? How would we even do that? Would he even be alright with that?"

"𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴?"

"𝘐 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵! 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩! 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳!"

"If they're alright with it, then I guess I am as well. I don't see how it could be that bad. That is if he's truly how you describe him. Now, what would we need to do to fuse him with us?"

"We... would need to make a replica of the Four Sword with an ore the heavily resonates with shadow magic. More specifically, obsidian."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦? 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘰, 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥? 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳."

"That works for me. Shall we go get the obsidian?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭?"

"Go ahead."

A moment later, Green felt the familiar comfort of cool water from Blue switching control. They had switched control with each other so many times at this point that their switching just felt normal.

The hero's eyes were once again, a brilliant ocean blue.

"Welp, time to get some half price obsidian."

Blue walked over to their desk and pulled off the back, revealing a secret compartment.

"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?"

Blue then pulled out a sealed envelope from the back of the compartment which had the only the word "read" written on the back.

"𝘖𝘰𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳?"

"Envelope? What envelope? There's no envelope."

Blue grabbed their bag and placed the envelope inside it. The content of that letter was none of their business. She then went to the common room to say bye to their grandfather.

"Hey, gramps, we're gonna swing on over to this place I know to get some materials for a sword we're making. We'll be back in about two hours."

"Some materials? What kind of materials are you getting?"

"Obsidian, we need it for something specific. No substitutes would work. I don't really know why we need obsidian specifically, but Vio's the one who's knowledgeable on what we need it for. I know a guy who will sell it to us for half price though."

"Okay, you kids be safe, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're always safe. Well, except for when we're not. Aside from then, we're always safe."

"Ah, yes, of course. You kids run along now. Be good!"

"Alright, bye gramps!"

"Goodbye, Blue."

Blue walked out the front door and made a sharp left turn. He knew where to go. She had gone there almost everytime they left the house in his own individual body.

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺, '𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦' 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺?"

"Not ya business."

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦?"

"Positive."

They now stood in front of a small house on the edge of town. Blue then knocked on the door. She hoped he remembered their agreement. The door swung open a moment later.

"Hello there, the name Blue ring a bell? I'm look'n for some obsidian. Remember our deal?"

Blue gestured towards their clothes. The guy, who was almost the same age as the colors, seemed to understand what Blue was referring to.

"Yes, sir. Um, ma'am? I- I can get you some obsidian for you at only half price."

"Sir will do for now. I need obsidian of high quality."

"Y- yes, sir. I'll go fetch that right away for you, sir."

Once the guy disappeared into a back room of their house, Blue whispered to the other colors.

"Vio, does it matter what obsidian we use for the sword?"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵."

"You better, because I have no clue how I would be able to tell which random piece of obsidian has a 'strong resonance with shadow magic'. How does one even identify such a thing. And no, that wasn't actually a question."

"𝘉𝘵𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘺'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 '𝙨𝙞𝙧'? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

"𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

"𝘝𝘪, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦, 𝘝𝘪. 𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭."

"He's not a 'kid', he's only two years younger than us. I also told you, that's none of your business."

"𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴? 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵."

"𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯-𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥."

"𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰."

"𝘚𝘦𝘦, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴!"

"𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝙛𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣, 𝘙𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯."

"𝘏𝘮𝘱𝘩."

The guy returned from the other room carrying a red cloth with various different kinds of obsidian strewn across it. He then presented the various obsidian to Blue.

"𝘞𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤."

"A- Are any of these to your liking, sir?"

"𝘏𝘮... 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘳𝘣-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥?"

Blue just nodded in response to both questions.

"Can I get that piece?"

Blue pointed to the chunk of obsidian Vio was referring to.

"Y- Yes, that will be 2,500 rupees."

Blue nodded again.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴... 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴."

The guy went to set the rest of the obsidian on a nearby table while Blue dug through their bag for the rupees. It 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 needed organised, but Blue knew he was the only one of them who would actually organize it. When the guy came back to the door, Blue handed over the rupees.

"𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

The guy then went back over to the table and wrapped the obsidian in a thick cloth, which he then handed to Blue. Blue handed him the envelope from their bag in exchange.

"𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳."

He looked at the word "read" on the back of the envelope and looked back at Blue.

"Now?"

"Later."

Blue gestured to her clothes again. The guy nodded.

"Well, you have a good day, 𝘴𝘪𝘳."

"You, too."

Blue then gave a sly smile and walked away from the house to head back home.

"Do we need any other materials to make this sword?"

"𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵... 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳! 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦!"

"Really? Like, actually?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩! 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦? 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥! 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!"

Blue then began hysterically laughing. They probably looked insane from an outside perspective, but he didn't really care.

"𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?"

"I know, I know. Just- did he seriously set fire to a village? And frame 𝙮𝙤𝙪?"

"𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝙢𝙚 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝙄 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝙄 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳."

"𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."

"So he didn't set a village on fire, but he did frame Red?"

"𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"Oh, hush, we have to get home to go make a sword."

Ｎｕｍｅｒｏｕｓ ｈｏｕｒｓ ｌａｔｅｒ:

The colors were split and were standing around the now completed replica of the Four Sword. It was exactly like the Four Sword down to the smallest intricate details.

"Finally! It's done!"

"Yeah, the stupid sword's complete. What do we do now?"

"Well, we would need to be split anyway for this next step, so us already being split is convenient. I need all of our swords."

"What for?"

"We need to see if the swords accept this replica as sufficient. If they do, the swords will give power to the replica, thus giving it and the person wielding it the power to fuse with us."

Each of the colors handed Vio their sword. Vio positioned all four of their swords on the ground in a way where they all were in an "X" shape. All the swords were about the length of another Four Sword away from each other, and were pointed inward. Vio then grabbed the replica sword and placed it in the center.

Initially, it appeared as though nothing was happening, but then, the four Four Swords began to glow. At first, all of them glowed golden, like when the colors split or fused, but then each of the swords began to glow their owner's respective colour. A second later, the swords began to shake. The swords trembled and shook, but miraculously, they stayed perfectly in place.

Soon, the replica sword began to glow as well. Well, if that could even be called glowing. It was more emanating darkness. It somehow was darker around the sword than the entire rest of the room. A few seconds later, the four original Four Swords ceased all actions and returned to their initial state. The new replica Four Sword however, it now had an ominous dark purple glow as well as the same sheen as the other swords.

"It worked."

Vio had a small smile on their face as they went to grab their sword.

"You can grab your swords now. They already did what they were intended to."

The other heroes grabbed their swords as well.

"Woah! The sword we made is glowing now!"

"Technically, me and Green did most of the work."

"Well, me and Vio helped, too!"

"The sword will stop glowing in a few minutes, it's best to leave it be until it stops."

"So we just leave the sword on the ground?"

"Until it stops glowing, yes."

Vio went over to a nearby window and looked outside. His eyes rapidly moved while looking towards the sky as if looking for something. They then turned back towards the other heroes.

"At four tomorrow morning, we need to leave and go out into the woods."

"At four? Seriously? That's so early. We're going to be exhausted."

"Well, we need to leave so early so we have time to travel, and so I have time to set up so I can cast the spell. I have to cast it at exactly 4:44ᴀᴍ on a night with a waning gibbous moon."

"A waning gibbous? Don't most spells that need a certain moon phase require a full moon?"

"Most do, but this one requires a waning gibbous. It's technically possible with a waxing crescent as well, but that has a lower success rate."

"If we are going to have to go out so early in the morning, I propose that we get something to eat, then go to sleep now. That way we won't be as tired."

"Fine by me."

"So, Vi, are we going to be fused or split while your doing this?"

"We will have to be split. It wouldn't work fused."

"What will we be doing during this then?"

"I'm going to cast the spell, and I'm going to enter a dark portal which will appear in front of us. Your only job is to keep your swords raised and to not lower them for any reason."

"I'm not going against your plan or anything, but why do we need to keep our swords raised?"

"My only way out of that dark portal is re-fusing. I can't get out of there otherwise, so I require you three to already have your swords raised so I can get out of there once I give this new sword to Shadow."

"Alright, sounds like a plan."

Ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ:
sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ's ᴘ.ᴏ.ᴠ.

The void was dark and black. It's been like this forever, or at the very least, for as long as Shadow's been here. How long had he been here? Shadow didn't have a clue. He just wanted out. The darkness was always the same. Always unchanging, forever... 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. The only thing Shadow could do was talk to himself for entertainment.

"Ugh, this. place. is. 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜. What is this eternal torment I have been subjected to? Even one of those hylian prisons would be better than this! At least then, I would at least have some form of entertainment. I could perhaps even dance! Dancing is much more fun than floating here. Prisons also have colour. Much better than this endless void."

Shadow did a flip, which was much less impressive than it would be if there was gravity.

"Oh, for how life has forsaken me. Or is it death in this case? I live my life wishing to entertain, only to be brought to the most boring place in existence in death... does this place even exist? If it doesn't, it can't really qualify for 'most boring place in existence' then, can it?"

Shadow stretched out as much as he could, but this void would allow no satisfaction.

"... Did I deserve this? I know I was evil and all and that I caused people suffering, but I didn't know any better. I always wanted to be good in life, and I thought I was. Even when I realized I actually was in the wrong, I sacrificed my life to try to make it right. I came into existence being told to do evil and that the heroes were bad. The heroes were against everything I was told was right, yet I still sacrificed my life to help them so they could save the kingdom. I may have been bad in life, but I tried to fix it in the end. Did my bad deeds outweigh my sacrifice? Were the heroes actually bad? Did I make a mistake?"

Shadow closed his eyes. It was no different from when they were open. The darkness was inescapable.

"... Vio would know. Vio knew everything... including my weaknesses. Did... did they ever care about me? I know him actually joining me was all a lie, but... our entire relationship couldn't also have all been a lie right? ...Maybe it was. Vi was always a good actor. They literally faked their own friend's death and the other two heroes thought it was real. I thought it was real. I thought it was a sign I could trust him. Maybe they just went along with my affection towards them because it was convenient to get more information. Maybe what I thought was a relationship was just me having a stupid childish crush on the person who I thought was my friend... If they weren't even my friend... I didn't have a single real friend in life did I?"

Shadow tucked his knees against his chest. This caused him to start to spin, but spinning wasn't much different from being upright. Well, "upright" being the assumption that "up" was whatever direction was above Shadow's head. That definition of upright technically meant Shadow was still upright even while spinning.

"If everything about our relationship was fake... why do I still miss them? Vio... he may have been a good actor, but he wasn't an awful person. They wouldn't have pretended to love me if they truly didn't care. They didn't have to love me. They knew they were going to betray me from the minute we met in that forest that night... they could have maybe pretended to be my friend, he would go that far when toying with other's emotions, but he told me he loved me. He... he wouldn't go that far with messing with someone emotionally. He had to have ment it... right? I don't know. I guess I'll never know."

Suddenly, it felt like the whole world spun. One moment Shadow was weightless, and the next, there was suddenly gravity which forced him down on a ground which wasn't there before. Based on the way Shadow fell, he actually was upright. Though, whether that was coincidental or if "up" actually was the direction above his head, he would never know.

Moments later, a loud ringing noise started and a bright light appeared off in the distance in front of Shadow. He covered his ears with his hands and closed his eyes. He was extremely overstimulated from suddenly going from having no sensory inputs to instantaneously being able to hear, see, and feel all at once.

Strangely, despite having been in zero gravity for an unknown amount of time, Shadow's body seemed to have not suffered any negative effects that would normally happen to one's body after that. His muscles weren't weakened and it didn't feel like it took more effort to move. It was like his body instantly re-adjusted to the new gravity.

Thankfully for Shadow, the ringing noise was fading from the moment it started, and it had completely stopped at this point. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the light as well. He could finally see his surroundings. There was no visual indication for where the ground stopped and the walls began. If there even were any walls that is. Everything was just a swirling mess of dark blues, dark purples, and black. Every once in a while, the blues and purples would brighten in some sections, appearing to glow, but also clearly not emitting any light.

Shadow looked over towards the source of the light. It wasn't actually as bright as it initially seemed, but it was still so bright that its shape couldn't be discerned from the light it was giving off. In front of the light was a silhouette of what appeared to be a person. Shadow couldn't see any details about the person due to the light behind them, but they seemed pretty short. Shadow himself was about that short too, though.

Shadow managed to stand up, though his legs were wobbly. The person seemed to be approaching him. As the person got closer, Shadow began to be able to see them better. This person was strange though, they didn't seem to really have any features. They seemed to consist entirely of shapes and colors in a two-dimensional looking form. Though they definitely had a body, they didn't seem to have a face. When they were right in front of Shadow, he could see them properly. They were almost exactly Shadow's hight, if not a little taller. They had golden-blond hair which was short in the front and seemingly tied in the back, and they appeared to be wearing a... violet-coloured tunic... Was he hallucinating? This person, featureless as they may be, looked like Vio.

"𝘏𝘪? 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 -- 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬?"

Shadow looked downward at their body and realized that they, themself, are also entirely comprised of shapes and colors.

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵... 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?"

Shadow looked back up at the figure who looked like Vio. Despite them not having a face, it still looked like they were trying to say something. No words came however, and it seems like they realized this as well.

It was then that Shadow noticed that this person was holding a sword in each hand. Two swords that... looked like the Four Sword. The one in their left hand specifically looking like 𝘝𝘪𝘰'𝘴 Four Sword. Was this Vio? How could that be possible? Shadow's dead. Vio wasn't dead too, was he?

The person -- Vio? -- seemed to pause for a moment after realizing they couldn't speak. They then seemed to point to Shadow's hands before... offering Shadow the Four Sword in their right hand? Shadow didn't really know what they expected him to do, so he tilted his head in the side in hopes of conveying his confusion. They, in response, just shoved the hilt of the sword into Shadow's hand. Well, that message was clear at least.

Shadow properly grabbed the sword. If this is Vio, why would he give Shadow one of the Four Swords? Whose sword is this, anyway? Vio then, with their now free hand, pointed to Shadow's hand again, then pointed upwards. To make it even more clear, Vio also grabbed Shadow's wrist and lifted it upwards. When they let go, Shadow raised the sword the rest of way. Once he did, Vio nodded and raised their sword up, too. After Vio raised their Four Sword, they were both engulfed in a blinding golden light. Now that was 𝘸𝘢𝘺 too bright for Shadow's liking.

Next thing he knew, Shadow was in a forest in front of a huge ritual circle. Wait -- Shadow recognized these runes -- these were for a powerful shadow revival spell that could only be cast with dark magic. What was this doing here? Is that how he was brought back? Shadow also now realized, he couldn't move.

"Ooh! Nice, I have control! Did it work, Vi?"

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘴𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?"

Was that Vio's voice? They seem to know Shadow's here. Well, they seem to have an intention of him being here anyway.

"𝘜𝘮, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺."

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘰. 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰. 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬."

"𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

"Aww! That's so long! I can't hug Blue while we're fused!"

"𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦."

"𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘖𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 '𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵' 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺."

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?"

"Can we start walking home while you explain? I wanna go to bed... I'm starting to feel sorta sick. "

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯."

"𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴?"

"𝘏𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦... 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬."

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘝𝘪, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘝𝘪. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵."

"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴."

The body, or more specifically Red, grabbed a stick off the ground and began dragging it across the runes, ensuring none remained. Shadow was starting to feel sort of sick, too. He had a feeling he knew why.

"𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."

"𝘝𝘪... 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

"𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴?"

"𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴! 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬?"

"𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵."

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘝𝘪𝘰'𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵-𝘶𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤."

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸."

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴."

Red had now finished destroying the runes from the ritual circle. He tossed the stick off to the side.

"Mmm, can we go home now? I'm starting to feel worse."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝙬𝙝𝙮?"

Red started walking off in a direction through the woods. Shadow figured that way was the direction of the heroes' home.

"𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭."

"𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳."

"... 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵."

Ａ ｍｏｎｔｈ ｌａｔｅｒ:

"Hey, Vio. It's been a month right? Can we finally split again?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰."

"𝘠𝘢𝘺! 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦!"

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘮𝘦."

"𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?"

"Yep. Your body should be the way it was before you died."

"𝘚𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴?"

"Um. Sure?"

"𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭."

Green grabbed the Four Sword that was propped against their desk and raised it skyward. When he did, they were enveloped in that same blinding light as when they had fused previously. Shadow would have hated that light before, but while fused with the heroes, it wasn't actually that bad.

When the light dissipated, Shadow was in his own body and the other colors were standing beside him. He had the sword Vio had given him in his left hand. He took a moment to inspect it. It looked exactly like the other Four Swords except for the obsidian in the hilt. How did they get this? Did they 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 this?

Wait, how did Shadow look? He recalled there being a hand mirror in the heroes' desk. He went and got it out of the desk.

"Hey! That's ours!"

"Yeah, and I want to look at my appearance. It's not like I'm going to 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 it."

Shadow leaned back on the desk and looked at himself in the mirror. He could confirm, he definitely still looked fabulous. With his gorgeous dark purple hair, his gerudo skin, and his... slate grey eyes? No, that simply wouldn't do. Shadow snapped his fingers with his free hand. His eyes then became a crystal blue.

"Much better! I 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 still look fabulous!"

"No fair! How come you get to change your eye colour!"

"Well, I've always been able to switch my eye colour between red and blue, so I just did what I normally do to change it. I'm fine with grey eyes in our shared body to differentiate when I'm in control, but in my own body, grey is definitely 𝘯𝘰𝘵 my colour."

Shadow put the hand mirror back into the desk. He then struck a pose that exudes confidence, with his hand on his hip, and his other hand down and out to his side. He even had a big smirk on his face. A cocky smile only Shadow could do.

"Soooo, what now?"

Shadow looked at the other colors. Green was standing with a similar confidence as Shadow, Red was hugging Blue like they hadn't seen each other in months, and Vio looked like he was contemplating something. Vio glanced over at the other colors before looking back at Shadow.

"The four of us need need to get some work done in the forge. Since you don't have any form of smithing experience, you can do whatever you desire as long as you don't mess with anything."

Vio then looked over towards the other colors.

"Do you think you could start without me? I need to talk with Shadow."

"Sure, just don't be too long. Goddess forbid, we have to 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 something while you're gone. The world would surely end."

The other colors then left the room to head for the forge. Leaving Shadow and Vio by themselves. Vio them walked right up to Shadow and paused for a moment before speaking.

"... Can I hug you?"

Well, that was not what Shadow was expecting them to say. He didn't know exactly what he was expecting, but it wasn't that.

"Of course?"

Vio then wrapped his arms around Shadow and hugged him tight. Vio was just as warm and huggable as Shadow remembered. He hadn't realized how much he missed Vio's hugs until now. Shadow obviously hugged back.

"... I missed you."

"Did you really?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why would you miss me? I was your enemy."

"I didn't want you to be, I truly cared about you."

"If you mean that, then why would you still betray me."

"I ended up in a position where I had to betray someone. I could have gone with my original plan where I betrayed you, or I could have stayed with you and betrayed not only my friends, but the entire kingdom as well. Not only that, but if I were to stay with you, it would have been against all of my morals. You are a kind, amazing, fun person, but you were also on the side of evil."

"... I understand. ...but... I'm evil, you said it yourself. Why would you want to bring me back? I've done awful things."

"Though you were evil, it was obvious you didn't want to be. You have an unbelievably kind heart, Shadow. You always tried to do the right thing, you always tried to make your allies happy, you always tried to make 𝘮𝘦 happy. You were just told that being evil was good and what you should be. You deserved to be able to have a life where you truly could be good, where you weren't held back from what you wanted to do in life. I'll admit, I was selfish. I partially wanted you back because I missed you, but I also wanted you back because 𝘺𝘰𝘶 deserved it."

Shadow began to tear up. Why was Vio being so nice? He didn't deserve this. He was bad in life, so how could Vio see so much good in him? Vio just hugged him tighter.

"No, I don't deserve this. I was evil. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I'm being so nice because I love you. I fully meant it when I told you I loved you before, and I still mean it now."

"I... I love you too."

Vio looked at Shadow and smiled. Vio didn't show much emotion with their face often, but when he did, Shadow couldn't help but find him adorable.

Next thing Shadow knew, both their faces were mere inches apart. They were starting into each other's eyes, and then... they kissed. It was a quick kiss, but it still ment a lot to both of them.

"That was my first kiss, y'know."

"Mine too."

Vio kept hugging Shadow for a moment longer before pulling away. It was much colder without Vio's warmth.

"I would like to propose an idea."

"Hmm? And that is?"

"The five of us should style our hair."

"You're amazing, Vi. You go from the idea of literally bringing someone back from the dead because you love them, to wanting us to style our hair."

"It's a good idea though. I can even think of how I could get each of the others to agree. I'm thinking of a style where our hair is mostly straight, and it's held back with a headband that matches our colour. Of course with some variations between each of our hair styles depending on our preferences."

"Hm, sounds nice. I'll agree as long as I get a say in the style of my hair. I still have to look fabulous after all. How will you get the others to agree?"

"Blue will agree because of the function the headband would have in keeping their hair out of their face while in the forge. Though they would require that their hair be completely strait, no longer than shoulder length, and androgynous. The main thing they like about their hair now is that depending on their clothes, they can look feminine or masculine without having to change their hairstyle. Red would agree as long as he gets to take part in designing the overall hairstyle. Red's job in the forge is designing for a reason. Green would agree to just about anything as long as the rest of us agree. Though, he would probably want his hair to make him more attractive. Aside from that, he wouldn't really care."

"You really thought this through, didn't you?"

"I just made it up on the spot."

"Sounds about right. What are you thinking for your hair? Your hair's already pretty long."

"I'm thinking of maybe having my hair be a little longer than shoulder length in the front and sides, but really long in the back. Specifically long enough to braid it. What do you think of that idea?"

"I think it sounds fabulous."

Vio nodded. Shadow still couldn't get over how cute Vio was.

"Well, I have to get down to the forge before the others start wondering what's taking me so long."

"Can I come with you? I don't really have anything else to do."

"Sure, as long as you stay out of Blue and Green's way and don't cause any trouble."

"Who? Little ol' me? Cause trouble? I would never!"

"Oh, come on."

Vio grabbed Shadow by the hand and left their room to go to the forge.

They had a lot more free time everyday now that Vio didn't have to spend so much time researching how to revive Shadow. Now they just needed to figure out what to do with all that time.

Chapter Text

As always, as the sun caressed the horizon, Vio was the first one awake.

Due to a notable lack of bed space, the heroes opted to remain fused while sleeping. For years, this hadn't been a problem. That is until Vio developed insomnia in their later teenage years. Since their body only rested once all of its consciousnesses slept, the heroes were still just as physically exhausted as Vio despite themselves sleeping.

There was 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 a solution to Vio's inability to sleep. Though, that solution would basically just be to split.

Vio had a noticeably easier time falling asleep and 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 asleep when they slept beside someone they loved. Whether that love is romantic or platonic, it doesn't really matter. Though, they do have a strong preference for that "someone" to be Shadow, but he 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 that any of the other colors would be... 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵.

This solution simply just wasn't plausible though due to being unable to fit five people in their bed. So unless the heroes magically gained enough money to afford another bed, they were stuck dealing with Vio's insomnia.

And they were 𝘯𝘰𝘵 about to ask Zelda for money for a new bed. They could deal with Vio's insomnia without asking her for help.

Either way, this meant Vio was the first one in control every morning.

Vio eyed their bag which was sitting near their bed. They could definitely reach that without disturbing the other's slumber. Definitely.

Vio attempted to reach for their bag.

Just a little farther.

It's almost within reach.

Got it.

They pulled their bag onto their lap. The bag was brand new, and extremely expensive. All of them would likely agree that it was worth it, though.

It had five equally sized sections, all of which were magically enchanted to be essentially bottomless.

When they first got this bag, Shadow suggested that they try to fit an entire tree inside of it, but Green declined, claiming that they shouldn't risk damaging such an expensive bag.

Admittedly, Vio also wanted to see Shadow try to fit a tree into the bag, but merely to just see its capacity. For science. No other reason. Certainly not because... never mind.

Another thing that was truly great about the bag was that when they split, each 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 of the bag became their own individual bag. That way they didn't have to deal with the annoyance of the contents of their bag being randomly distributed amongst them.

They had no idea why this bag worked so well with the Four Sword's splitting. Blue suggested that it worked the way it did because it forced them to be somewhat organized, but Vio personally disagreed. Not because of any real proof indicating a different reason, but simply because he wanted to disagree with Blue and their obsession with organization.

Was Vio standardly that petty? No, not usually. To Blue, though? Absolutely.

Now, one thing Vio 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 loved about the bag was that each of the sections had a lockable subsection. Vio loved their privacy. None of them knew what the others kept in their locked compartment. This was great for each of them, since sharing a body generally leaves little in the way of privacy.

What Vio decided to keep in their locked section were books that they didn't particularly want the others to know they read. Yeah, they wouldn't particularly care that he read these types of books, but they would tease him endlessly, regardless.

Vio fiddled with the lock in their section and pulled out a book. '𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵' was its title. The book was old, and its cover was faded to the point that the author's name could no longer be read. It was a shame, really. Vio strongly wished to know who wrote it. It was their current favourite book, after all.

They opened the book to where it was bookmarked. One thing that always bothered Vio was when the others folded the corner of the page to mark where they left off. That is 𝘴𝘰 damaging to a book. There's a reason Vio's the only one allowed to borrow books from the castle library.

He read for a few hours. The others always slept late, or at least slept much later than Vio, so it was highly unlikely that any of them would wake up while Vio was reading.

Just as they reached chapter twenty-nine, which was a very... 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵 chapter, Green decided that this would be a 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 time to wake up.

"𝘞𝘰𝘸. 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢? 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘰? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?"

Vio, very abruptly, slammed their book shut.

"𝘖𝘰𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙?"

"I am 𝘯𝘰𝘵. Why are you even awake right now, anyway? You never wake up this early."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺?"

Vio just sighed and placed their book back into their locked section of the bag.

"𝘚𝘰 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!"

They then gently tossed their bag back to where it had been sitting beside their bed.

"So... is there anything you want to do 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 than try to embarrass me while waiting for the others to wake up?"

"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬?"

"I borrowed it from the castle library."

"𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝙕𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙖 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢?"

"I'm unsure, but due to it being there, either she would have read it, or one of her ancestors did. The book 𝘪𝘴 rather old."

"𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘝𝘪𝘰."

"I may have 'weird' taste in books, but your taste in everything else is peculiar as well."

"𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜?"

"Yes, everything."

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯?"

"In the nicest way possible, yes... Why are women the first thing you think of?"

"𝘜𝘩... 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥? 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯!"

"Your 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 taste in women, sure. You're demiromantic and have only expressed romantic interest in someone once before. Your 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 taste in women, however... "

"𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯-- "

"Zelda? It's rather obvious that you 'have a crush' on her. Either way, not 'sleeping around' as much as you once did doesn't mean your taste in women, as well as your taste in men, isn't peculiar."

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 '𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳'?"

"Green, a couple years ago you said that, if given the chance, you would sleep with Vaati. With 𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘰 hesitation."

"𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘝𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝙨𝙤 𝘩𝘰𝘵."

"Green, you are saying this, about 𝘝𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘪. The powerful, 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, wind mage. I honestly have no idea how you can even 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 to tease me on my taste in literature, when you turn right around and make a statement like that."

"𝘌𝘩, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘡𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘢, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘢, 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴?"

"It's 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 obvious."

"𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴?"

"Hmm. Perhaps."

"𝘎𝘦𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘩, 𝙨𝙤 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘧𝘶𝘭."

"You could just inform her of your feelings."

"𝘕𝘰??"

"Why not? We've been friends with her since we were a child. It's completely possible that she reciprocates your feelings, and even if she doesn't, it's not like she'd react negatively."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵."

"Perhaps I wouldn't. After all, the one time I developed feelings for someone, I told them."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶... 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵!? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦?? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺?!"

"Are you saying you weren't aware?"

"𝘕𝘰, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸!?"

"... They've officially been my boyfriend for the past six years, Green. How did you genuinely not know?"

"𝘐... 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?"

"Unbelievably stupid."

"𝙊𝙠𝙖𝙮... 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦... 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵... 𝘰𝘳... 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦?"

"It was not at all a secret. I have literally kissed him right in front of you, on numerous occasions."

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶... 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

"... Green, the only logical conclusion I can come to is that you are blind."

"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴?"

"You can figure it out yourself. If you are being completely serious about having no idea, then perhaps you should try to be at least 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 bit more observant."

"𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳."

"𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝙨𝙝𝙪𝙩 𝙪𝙥. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥."

"My apologies, Blue."

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥... 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨... "

"𝘚𝘦𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘙𝘦𝘥."

"𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦... 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥..."

"𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘸... 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳?"

"𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱."

"𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥?"

"Has. Present tense."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?"

"... 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘝𝘪."

At that, Shadow just began laughing. 𝘏𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. To be fair, Vio also found this a bit ironic. In literature, this would likely be classified as 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘺. Which, honestly suited Shadow really well as he's a very dramatic person. Shadow just laughed for about a minute straight before finally calming down.

"𝘏𝘦𝘩, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘋𝘶𝘩, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺'𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯'?"

"𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘝𝘪?"

"I assumed that they were already aware. It's not like we were hiding it."

"𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯... 𝘐𝘵 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵."

"Well, since we're all awake, I'm going to split us, and go cook breakfast."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝙨𝙤 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺."

"It's not that early. It's only approximately an hour earlier than when we usually wake up. Once we split, you could just continue to sleep for a while longer, if you so desire. You would actually feel more rested due to sleeping in your own body."

"𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴."

"𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢!"

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢."

"𝘚𝘰, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬? 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳?"

"Perhaps Minish Woods?"

"𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯."

Vio then got out of bed and grabbed their bag and the Four Sword. They had to make sure their bag split, too. They then raised the sword upward, causing them to split with a bright golden light. Once they were split they all propped their swords up against the wall. It's not like they were using them at the moment.

Red and Blue got straight back into bed, Green left the room, stating, "I'm going to go find some arbitrary place to take a nap," and Vio went to the kitchen to go make breakfast with Shadow following close behind.

\

Ａｆｔｅｒ Ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ:
ʙʟᴜᴇ's ᴘ.ᴏ.ᴠ.

/

Blue had a 𝘣𝘢𝘥 feeling. He couldn't pinpoint the exact cause, but something was wrong. However, they were supposed to be going on a walk soon, and Red seemed 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 excited. She 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 didn't want to ruin their walk, but they had to at least take a few precautions.

"Vi, I had no idea you were so good at cooking!"

"Ah, well, I'm really not. I just followed a recipe from a cookbook."

"They make books on how to cook food? You really do read 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 don't you."

"Cookbooks are actually getting rather popular. They can include recipes from all around the world. The specific cookbook I used included recipes from a place called Termina. However, oddly enough, there are very few records other than this book about Termina. Any records seeming to have a connection to Termina claim that after having left, the entire place disappeared. Some records state that it appears at random at different points across time."

"So if this book is one of the only records of this place, then why do 𝘺𝘰𝘶 have it?"

"The version I have isn't the original. It's just a copy. It's unknown where the original book is located, but multiple kingdoms have copies of the book. I borrowed this copy from Zelda."

"Mmm... Can we go on our walk now? I'm bored."

"Yes, does anyone want to bring anything?"

"We should bring our swords."

"Why? It's not like we're going to be fighting anything."

"I... well, uh... people may decide to be dicks? We should be able to fuse to escape harassment if necessary."

Blue honestly had no idea 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 was causing this bad feeling, but they figured convincing the others to bring their swords would hopefully be good enough.

"Sure, I guess? Blue, you're not usually the type to worry about what others think. You always insist we 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 fuse when others antagonize us, and just prefer to verbally fight them instead. What's with the sudden... pacifism? I think that's the right word..."

Oh, for fuck's sake. Why does Green always have to be so difficult? This is for their own good! Of course, Blue doesn't exactly know 𝘩𝘰𝘸 this is for their own good. However, he has a bad feeling, and her feelings have never let them down!

"Uh, I don't know? What's with 𝘺𝘰𝘶 questioning me? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 don't usually ask questions so much."

"Sorry, sorry. I was just wondering! We can grab our swords and bags then go, alright?"

Finally. This bad feeling was still eating away at Blue, but at least they felt a little more reassured now that they were bringing their swords. Though, Blue 𝘥𝘪𝘥 want to change into a skirt before they leave. He was feeling particularly feminine today.

"Before we go, I'm going to go change clothes first. 'M feeling feminine today."

"Since it seems we'll have some more time before we go, I should probably style my hair. I haven't had a chance this morning."

"Look at all these silly troubles you 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 normal people have to deal with. 𝘐, in all my fabulousness, can just use 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 to change my clothes and style my hair!"

"We are well aware. You are also 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 helpful when we need to change the 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 of our clothes and hair, but actually physically changing those things is very different. Y'know, like when you physically changed your hair from how it used to be to how it is now? It clearly feels very different, doesn't it?"

"I 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦."

"I'm going retrieve our mirror from our room, then you can go change clothes. Alright, Blue?"

"Sure, whatever."

Vio then quickly went back to their room to get their hand mirror. As the moments passed, Blue began to feel worse. Something was horribly wrong. She had to make sure they were ready for just about anything.

"I've returned."

Vio came back carrying their hand mirror with a few violet coloured ribbons in their hand. He sat down at their kitchen table, propped up the mirror, and began to braid their hair.

Blue headed to their room. Once they entered, they got their other outfit out of the drawer. The others got this for them after Blue expressed that she occasionally wished that he could dress more feminine. She... honestly really appreciated them for that.

The outfit was the exact same colour as their regular tunic. It was even still waterproof! Its primary difference was that what 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be her tunic in his regular outfit was instead a particularly short blue shirt and a thick knee-length blue skirt. It also had a large bright yellow bow on the front of the skirt's waistband.

Blue quickly changed clothes and got their bag. They decided to put their normal clothes in their bag. He had to be ready for 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 that could happen.

Blue wasn't usually this paranoid, but this wasn't normal. Should she just tell the others? What if something bad happens and it's their fault for not saying anything? Though, what if it's nothing and he just ruins their walk for no reason?

Red's 𝘴𝘰 happy about this. Blue can't ruin this for them... but what if- No, no. She can just heavily over prepare. If it's nothing, then at least they 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 have been prepared, and if it 𝘪𝘴 something bad... then they'll be ready.

Blue made the decision to grab each if their weapons of choice. Vio, Green, and Shadow already had their bags, but Red left their bag on the bed. Blue grabbed Red's firerod and put it into his bag. Blue hated how messy and unorganized Red's bag was, but since they were no longer sharing a bag, it wasn't really Blue's business how Red kept his bag.

They then collected Green's boomerang, Vio's bow, and her own hammer. Blue was very glad that this new bag was enchanted to be bottomless, because he quite frankly had no idea how all of these could possibly fit into a singular bag otherwise.

Blue also quickly wrote a small note to leave for their grandfather in case something bad happened. They hid it, of course, so the others wouldn't find it in a good case scenario, but it was still somewhere that their grandfather would look right away. Basically, all it said was that Blue had a bad feeling about going out today, and that if they don't return, something bad may have happened.

Blue 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 hoped she was just being paranoid, but he had to plan for the worst.

As Blue was about to leave the room, she considered wearing the flower crown that Red made them awhile ago, but decided against it due to not wanting anything to happen to it. He made sure she had both their own bag and Red's bag as they went to rejoin the others.

When Blue got back to the kitchen, she instantly handed Red his bag.

"Here, gotcha bag for ya."

"Oh! Thank you!"

Red had a huge smile as he took his bag. Blue couldn't help but find Red's smile adorable. They would never admit that, though. As Blue pulled her hand away, they briefly brushed hands. 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, Blue wanted to go crawl in a hole and die now. Wait... was Red's face also as vibrantly, well... 𝘳𝘦𝘥 as Blue's face felt? No, that's simply not possible.

Blue heard a snicker from over where the others were standing. He looked towards them and saw Green covering his mouth with his hand like he was laughing. Blue glared at him and he just started laughing harder. Shadow also began laughing as well. Once Shadow began laughing, Vio gently elbowed him in the side.

"Hey!"

"It's rude to laugh, they can't help how oblivious they are."

"But it's just so 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺."

"It's still impolite... that applies to you, too, Green."

"Sorry! Hᥲһ-- һᥲһᥲһᥲ!"

At that, Vio picked up a nearby apple off of the table and chucked it at the back of Green's head. This is why Vio is, occasionally, pretty alright.

"Ow!"

"Can we 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 go on our walk now?"

"Yeah! I wanna go on this walk!"

"Let's tell grandpa we're leaving, then go."

\

Ｉｎ Ｍｉｎｉｓｈ Ｗｏｏｄｓ:

/

Their walk had been going well so far. Maybe Blue didn't have to worry so much. Though... that bad feeling was still strongly present.

Red was skipping on ahead just slightly further down the path while Shadow was trying to climb a tree. Vio was trying to make sure Shadow didn't fall off the tree, and Green was having a conversation with some Picori.

Everything seemed fine, so why was Blue so anxious?

Suddenly, the Picori that Green was talking with seemed to get freaked out, and scurried off. Green seemed rather confused about this, so they likely hadn't given a warning about running off beforehand. Green then got up and joined Blue.

"That was weird. I was talking with some very nice Picori, but they suddenly just ran off."

"Yeah, I saw..."

Green looked at Blue with an expression of confusion and concern. It was... uncomfortable.

"Blue? Are you... alright? You've been acting strange since breakfast. I'm worried about you."

Should he just tell Green? As much as Blue doesn't want to potentially ruin their walk, Green 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be the one to know if Blue was just being paranoid or if this was serious. Green isn't the type to blow things out of proportion like Blue does. He 𝘪𝘴 the leader for reasons other than just wearing green, after all... She should tell Green.

"I... I have a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 bad feeling. Like, something's going to go horribly wrong. I... I don't know what, but something's just so, 𝘴𝘰 wrong. I didn't want to bring it up earlier because I didn't want to ruin our walk if it wasn't actually anything, but I just can't ignore it now."

"Hmm... Do you think we should just go back home?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm telling you! I don't want to make us go home just because of a 'bad feeling', but I also feel like something terrible is about to happen, and I've been feeling paranoid about it since breakfast!"

Just then, Red stopped skipping along the path, and he just... froze there for a moment before turning around and speed-walking back down the path. He stopped just in front of where Blue and Green were standing.

"Something's wrong. We need to fuse. I wanna go home."

Well, now Blue doesn't feel guilty about potentially ruining their walk, but they do feel guilty about having not said anything earlier.

Blue noticed Shadow shift in the tree that he had now successfully climbed. He looked the most serious Blue had ever seem him, like he was focusing really hard on something. He then hopped down, off of the tree, looking very concerned and... scared? That's 𝘯𝘰𝘵 a good sign.

"We should fuse. 𝘕𝘰𝘸. This area is drenched in darkness. I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier."

"Why would Minish Woods be 'drenched in darkness'?"

"It's not the woods. The darkness is drenching the area around 𝘶𝘴. Going home won't help. I... It was building up slowly so I wouldn't notice it, but for it to be this strong with the rate it was building, it would have had to have been building around us since early this morning. Potentially even since when Vi woke up. We really need to fuse, it could be dangerous for us to be separate right now."

Well, if it's following them, mentioning Blue's bad feeling earlier probably wouldn't have helped. It might have even been worse if she mentioned it. Blue may have not gotten their weapons, or maybe if he mentioned it, they wouldn't have gone out so this 'darkness' would have been on their home instead.

The five of them lifted their swords the sky. They were covered in a golden light as they fused. Blue's bad feeling had gone away temporarily while fusing, but as soon as that light went away, their bad feeling was 𝘴𝘰 much stronger. Based on the feeling going through their body, after having been exposed to the light of the Four Sword, they were all 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 aware of the darkness around them.

"𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺?"

"I am."

"𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘪𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."

"All we can do is 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘱."

Blue wished there was a bit more they could do other than just 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵. He wasn't necessarily complaining, though. Waiting isn't the worst possible thing to have to do. It's just... the tension in the air was so 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. The air felt thick and it 𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘥 of dark magic. It made Blue feel sort of sick.

She tightened their grip on the Four Sword. Blue didn't know what was going to happen, but he had to be ready.

Suddenly, Blue heard a noise come from behind them. She quickly spun around, but saw nothing. Without warning, the dark magic surrounding them spiked in intensity and a dark portal appeared beneath their feet.

"Fuck!"

They fell into the portal and blacked out.

\

Ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ ｔｈｅ ｐｏｒｔａｌ:
ʙʟᴜᴇ ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ's ᴘ.ᴏ.ᴠ.

/

When Blue woke up, something felt wrong. Not wrong like the bad feeling he had earlier, but 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 like something was wrong with their 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. -----
When Shadow woke up, he could immediately tell something was horrendously wrong. Their body felt wrong. What was going on? -----

Blue: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯!?

Shade: 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦? 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯... 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬.

Blue: 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘨𝘦𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Shade: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨... 𝘕𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬'𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?! 𝘏𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘰!? 𝘏𝘰𝘸'𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?

Shade: ...𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦?

Blue: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰!? .....𝘜𝘩, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬!?

Shade: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴.

Blue: 𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦?

Shade: ...𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘯' 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘺. ...𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘯, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴.

They were both silent for a moment, seemingly both stunned by Shadow's honesty.

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶... 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬. 𝘕𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯.

Shade: 𝘈𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨-𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘺-𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 '𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶' 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦! 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!

Blue: 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Shade: 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

Blue: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴!

Shade: 𝘔𝘮𝘮, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘥... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯', 𝘺𝘶𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦.

Blue: 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦!

Shade: 𝘚𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴?

Blue: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

Shade: 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦?

Blue tried to move, but quickly found that she could only move the left side of the body---excluding the body's left ankle---and the body's head. He couldn't move the rest of the body at all. -----
Shadow could feel half of the body move, trying to get up, but the other half was unresponsive. -----

Shade: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯'?

Blue: 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴! 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴...

Shade: 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺.

Blue: 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰--

Blue was immediately interrupted when the right side of their shared body moved from an action that was not his own. This was an awful sign. -----
Shadow tried to move the body, and, very concerningly, only the right side of the body---and the body's left ankle---responded. Shadow could however open the body's eyes to see that they were laying on the ground in what seemed to be a forest. Though it clearly wasn't the Minish Woods. -----

Blue: 𝘖𝘩, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?

If Blue could mentally punch somebody, he would, but that requires a body to punch with. -----
If Shadow could mentally sigh, he would, but that requires having a body to breathe oxygen. Oh, yeah. He can just think of the sound of sighing. -----

Shade: '𝙎𝙞𝙜𝙝', 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰.

Blue: 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 '𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩' 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

Shade: 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?

Blue: 𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴.

Shade: 𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸!

Blue: 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘢. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵?

Shade: 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰... 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱?

Blue: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

Shade: 𝘖𝘯𝘦... 𝘵𝘸𝘰... 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦!

Blue sat up with the left side of the body. Surprisingly, they didn't instantly fall over. She supposed it was at least a small win, even if they still had to actually get on their feet. That left ankle was going to be a nightmare. -----
Shadow sat up with the right side of the body as he said 'three'. It wasn't really all that difficult, all things considered. Though it's better not to jinx it. -----

Blue tried to look around by moving their head. They may have not been able to move the body's eyes, but he could still look around. -----
Shadow tried to look around by moving their eyes. He may have not been able to move the body's head, but he could still look around. -----

Of course, they both tried to look the opposite direction, because why wouldn't they? This was getting them nowhere.

Blue: 𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

Shade: 𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢? 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵.

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

Shade: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

Blue: 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘱𝘶𝘵.

Shade: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦.

Blue: 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.

"𝘏𝘦𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺?"

Shade: 𝘜𝘩, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦.

Blue: 𝘕𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳.

Shade: 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺.

"Uhhhh- I- cn- sertuh- tulk. Hi- Green."
(Uhhhh...I can sorta talk. Hi, Green.)

Blue: 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺.

"𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬?"

"Problm- Shahow- an Blue- both- contrul- body."
(Problem. Shadow and Blue both control body.)

"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬?"

Blue: 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝙞𝙨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬!? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺! 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Shade: 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.

Shade: 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘥𝘰 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴?

Blue: ... 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺?

Shade: ...'𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦'?

Blue: 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

Shade: 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦?

Blue: 𝘠𝘦𝘱. 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

Shade: 𝘖𝘯𝘦... 𝘛𝘸𝘰... 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦!

"This is a test sentence."

Blue: 𝘔𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.

Shade: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 '𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥'.

Blue: 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

Shade: 𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴!

Blue: 𝘍𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵?

Shade: 𝘕𝘰!

"𝘖𝘩! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."

Blue: ... 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦? 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦?

Shade: 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"We- cn- tulk- if- both seh- aht- sahm- tyeme."
(We can talk if both say at same time.)

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵. 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺?"

Blue nodded the body's head. It was much easier than trying to communicate verbally would be. -----
Shadow felt Blue nod the body's head. Trying to talk like this was going to be exhausting. However, he's honestly not sure which is worse. This, or constantly trying to talk over each other. -----

Just then, they felt an intense concentration of dark magic build up in the area. It wasn't trying to hide itself this time. It was coming fast.

Blue: 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴!

Shade: 𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦.

Shade: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤...𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.

"𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭?"
.
.
In almost the exact spot Shadow had felt the magic concentrating, a large portal, just like the one they themselves had fallen through, appeared. Out of it fell a strange man with pink hair and an outfit almost as colourful as their own quad-coloured tunic. He landed face-first with his legs only hitting the ground a moment later in a fashion that could be considered comical.

"I fucking hate those portals," the man grumbled, still laying in the dirt.
.
.
Shade: 𝘈𝘸! 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧!

Blue: 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺.

"𝘏𝘶𝘩, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥."

The dark magic in the area didn't fade as the portal closed, and instead moved.

"𝘜𝘩𝘩𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

Shade: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬-𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

Blue: 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯?

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦..."

Blue: 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱.

Shade: 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵.
.
.
Just then, another portal appeared. Nobody 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 out of this one. Instead, a tall, slender man, dressed in green, with heavy chainmail under his tunic, and a long blue scarf calmly stepped out of the portal. He definitely looked like a royal knight of some kind. He had light blond hair and bright blue eyes. He practically reeked of pretentiousness.

This new guy stopped to take in his surroundings. When he noticed the pink-haired guy laying on the ground, he snickered. "Really, Legend?"

The pick-haired guy---apparently named Legend---pushed himself up off the ground and glared at the strange knight. "Fuck you, Scarfy."

That comment seemed to offend Scarfy. He scoffed, "How many times must I tell you, Legend? My agreed upon name is Warriors!"

Legend, now fully sitting, made eye-contact with Scarfy---or apparently Warriors, but Scarfy was funnier---and flipped him off. "Scarfy."

Scarfy, now fully frustrated, sighed. "You're insufferable."
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Blue: 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 '𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥' 𝘨𝘶𝘺.

Shade: 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘺, '𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘯'.

"𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴."

Shade: 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘰'𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.

Blue: 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘺 𝘢𝘴 '𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴'.

"... 𝘔𝘮𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯' 𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?"

Blue: 𝘙𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦! ...𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐'𝘮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!

Shade: 𝘠'𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘶𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Blue: 𝘖𝘩, 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘩!

Even without control of the body, the others could hear the smile in Green's voice, "𝘖𝘩, 𝘙𝘦𝘥! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦."

"...𝘔𝘩𝘮! 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺... 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺?"

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦?"

"𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."
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Legend stopped flipping off Scarfy as another man stepped out of the same portal Scarfy came from. This man seemed older than the other two. He wore heavy enchanted armour, and had strange red and blue markings on his face. One of his eyes remained perpetually closed. He gave a strange unreadable look to the other two. "Since you have time to sit around, I presume the area is safe?"

"Uhhhhh... Well, nothing attacked me when I fell out of the portal, so I think the area's safe."

The armoured man halfway glared at Legend. "Did you not check?"

"No, I fell out of the portal less than a minute ago. How the fuck would I have had time to check?"

The three of them went quiet for a moment. Likely listening for monsters. They were quickly interrupted by another man coming out of the portal. This man had darker hair than the other three. He had a wolf pelt draped over his back, and had strange dark markings on his forehead. Strangely his attire seemed equally suited for combat and ranch work. This new guy was very likely a rancher or something similar.

The wolf-pelt man, upon seeing that the other three weren't in any direct danger, loosened up and took a look around. "Good to see we ain't have to fight right outta the portal... Oh, hey, y'all, I think this may be my Hyrule? I know this area..."

"Truly? Twilight, are there standardly any monsters around here?"

"In this area? No, there ain't no monsters 'round 'ere. There are some not too far off, but y'ain't gonna find none in these parts."
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"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?"

"𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦! 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭!"

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘙𝘦𝘥."

Blue: 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵.

Shade: '𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵' 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.
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Again, yet another person stepped out of the portal, but this time, the portal closed behind him. This boy looked pretty young, probably around sixteen. He wore very simple clothes, and had messy hair which was about the same colour 𝘢𝘴 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵'𝘴. "𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 '𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦', 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦."
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Blue: 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦? ...𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦?

Shade: 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦?

Blue: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.

"'𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦' 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯."

"𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦."
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"Anyway, this is apparently Twilight's time, or at the very least, close enough that he can recognize the area."

"Yeah, there's a town that ain't all that far. We could head there if that's alright with y'all?"

"That would work just fin--"

The only one who has yet to be named, the man in full armour, finally noticed Link---if they could even still be called that---sitting on the ground. His sudden stop in speech drew the other four's attention to them as well.

"Who the fuck are you?"
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Blue: 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺?!

Shade: 𝘜𝘩. 𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬?

Blue: 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬! 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸!

Shade: 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 '𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬', 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. '𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬'. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳.

Blue: 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, '𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

Shade: 𝘖𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦.. 𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘰... 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦!
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"Link."

The odd strangers looked at each other, seeming a bit shocked, and mumbling under their breath to one another about "...another one..." or something like that.
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"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

"𝘈𝘤𝘬! 𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯'𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱?"

"...𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘥. 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵."

Shade: 𝘈𝘸! 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘝𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨!

Blue: 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴.

Shade: 𝘕𝘰𝘰, 𝘝𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!

Blue: 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘏𝘺𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭.

Shade: 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝙛𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨!

Blue: ...𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.

"𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?"

"𝘠𝘦𝘴... 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺."

Shade: 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵?

Blue: 𝘞𝘶𝘩, 𝘮𝘦? 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯... 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴.

Blue, being herself, obviously thought of moving to Red's location within their body because it's impossible to separate those two with a ten-foot pole, even within their own headspace.

Blue and Shadow could feel the 'experience', as they've dubbed them, corresponding to Red overtake their senses.

The smell of campfire smoke filled their nostrils, a very gentle breeze floated fallen leaves throughout the air, and aside from the crackling campfire, there was the subtle sound of water as the canoes floated across it, a soothing warmth overtook them. The warmth was rejuvenating-- revitalizing-- ...comfortable. Yet, despite the experience mostly feeling the same as always, something was missing. Across the water, on the other side of the campfire, where Red's presence standardly lingered, it was instead notably absent. This was likely only due to simply moving to where Red was rather than fully switching with him, but it was disturbing for his presence to be missing after being so used to it being there.

After a few seconds, both Shadow and Blue were back in the body, except now Shadow was the only one in control.

Upon regaining control of the body, Shadow tried to lean forward, and actually succeed. He had full control again! Success! Vio's such a genius.

"𝘖𝘩, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩! 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥!"

"𝘠𝘢𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘝𝘪!"

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳."

"𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦."

"𝘛𝘤𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."
.
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Legend was staring at them particularly hard, but Shadow opted to ignore it. Shadow actually wanted to like Legend.

The youngest looking boy, Hyrule, looked at them a bit cautiously. "How long have you been there."

"Since before Legend fell face first out of that portal."

Shadow got up and approached the strange new people. Making sure he had a certain energy in his step and a friendly-but-somewhat-snarky smile. He did still have to give these people a good impression of Rainbow, after all. "If we were a dragon we would have bit ya! Funny how the people so worried about monsters can overlook a whole person."

To Shadow's annoyance, the group got more on guard as he approached.

"How did you know Legend's name?"

Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We just told you we were here before he fell out of the portal. Also meaning we overheard Scarfy, here, call him that."

Scarfy went wide-eyed like a blubbering fish. "My name is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 Scarfy!"

"Sure, Scarfy."

Legend snickered at that. "Okay, I like you, kid."

"Hey, we are twenty-one years old! We are not a kid!"

Legend dawned a snarky smirk upon hearing his retort. "And I'm twenty-three, 𝙠𝙞𝙙. What's your point?"

Mystery one-eyed man stared at them like he was trying to solve a broken puzzle. "Why do you keep saying 'we'?"
.
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"𝘖𝘩, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸!"

Oops.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
.
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"Because we use plural pronouns? Seems pretty simple to us. If you don't understand it, that's a you problem." Shadow tried his best to return the look armoured guy was giving, but it probably came across more as a glare than... whatever that look was.

"I'm sorry, I didn't intended to offend you."

Legend, for some reason, decided to lay on the ground again from his sitting position and point at them. "So's that mean you use they/them? Because, plural?"

"...Yeah?"

"Cool."
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"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘱, 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭."

"𝘕𝘰 𝘥𝘶𝘩. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮!"

"...𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨."
.
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Twilight looked to the others. "Guess we gotta explain?"

"Yeah, we have 𝘵𝘰... 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?" Hyrule looked to Legend like he was expecting him to provide an epiphany.

"We could just leave them in the dark and let them guess?"

"Have us guess what?"

Still unnamed old dude 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 glared at Legend. It was somewhat intimidating. "𝘕𝘰, we will be explaining to them."

"Explaining what?!" Shadow was beginning to get a bit frustrated.

Scarfy sighed and looked at them. "Alright, to start... wait, we didn't ask, are you a hero?"

Shadow was thoroughly confused now. "Yeah? Why?"

"That was a stupid question, Wars. Of course they're heroes." Now Legend was calling Scarfy 'Wars'? Meh, 'Scarfy' seems like the most annoying name, so Shadow's gonna stick with it. Shadow did appreciate Legend continuing to use plural by saying 'heroes', though.

"I was just making sure! We've never ran into another Link since we all met a week ago! I didn't think there were any more!"

Scarfy looked at them again, now somehow resembling a ruffled up bird. "Oookay... So first, we're all named Link."

Oh no, there's more of them.

After an annoying explanation that essentially chalked up to "we don't know what's happening either", Shadow learned a total of four things. One: these portals are apparently taking them to different time-periods of Hyrule to fight some weird black-blooded monsters. Two: these idiots have been travelling together for a week. Three: old, one-eyed, heavily armoured, mystery man is apparently named Time. Four: it's a Link trait to be terrible at naming themselves.

Either way, seeing as they're lost in time, Link's going to have to join them whether they like it or not. Which also means they'll need a nickname to differentiate them.

"So, new kids? What's your name going to be? Our names are based on our hero titles, hence the... oddity. My full title is the Hero of Legend. Unless you're stupid, you should be able to see the connection from there."

"What if we have multiple titles?"

"Pick either the one you're best known for, or your favourite. Doesn't matter."
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"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬?"

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 '𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵' 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 '𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵' 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦."

"𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 '𝘔𝘦𝘯' 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺!"

"𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘙𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

"𝘔𝘮𝘮! 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘏𝘮𝘱𝘩."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦?"

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 '𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳' 𝘢𝘯𝘥 '𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥'.

"𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦! 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 '𝘶𝘴'! 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 '𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴'!"

"𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 '𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳', 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦."

"... 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩?"

"𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘦, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩."

"𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦."
"𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺!"
"𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺..."

"𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘖𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦."

"𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥!"
"𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥."
"𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳!!"
"...𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳?"

"𝘈𝘩, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬."

"𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦."
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He gets to decide? Well... he's gotta say, he definitely prefers 'Four'. Primarily because of the humour Red mentioned. You gotta love when your Four is actually five. After all, you can't have too much of a good thing, and clearly, they're 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 good things! Though 'Sword' is a good name. Maybe outside of this adventure, Rainbow can use the name Sword instead of Link, since clearly, none of them are very fond of that name after their last adventure.

Either way, for right now, Four it is!

"Four."

Scarfy raised a brow. "You're the Hero of Four?"

"No, we're the 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 of the Four 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥."

Legend gave a somewhat shocked look, but didn't say anything. He must have heard of them.

Shadow pulled the Four Sword off their back to show it off. "This pretty little thing."

"Hm, quite the impressive blade. Looks well maintained."

"Obviously. We're the best blacksmiths in Hyrule!"

"Does that mean you can do weapon maintenance?"

"Well, seeing as we aren't in a forge, we can't really 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 any weapons, at least not easily, if that's what you're asking. However we always have stuff for basic weapon maintenance."

"So you can upkeep our weapons after battles?"
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"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴."

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴."

"𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵! 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!"
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"Yeah, we can upkeep maintenance on your weapons, but you better not be careless with them, or else our inner Blacksmiths will punch you in the face without hesitation."

"Noted."

"So, shall we head to that town, Twilight?"

"Yep. Come on, y'all. It's this way."

Twilight, and the other heroes, began walking off into the woods. Without any real choice, Shadow followed.

"Sooo, um. Pleasant weather we're having, eh?"
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"𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘝𝘪𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

"𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵."

"𝘝𝘪𝘰. 𝘈𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?"

𝘝𝘪𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥.
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"Uhm, yeah the weather's fine, I guess?"

How dare they? Shadow is the world's 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 speaker! He'll prove it! "So, what's your favorite word?"

\

Ｔｈｒｅｅ Ｍｉｎｕｔｅｓ ｌａｔｅｒ:

/

"--and that's the story of how I turned skydiving off of my dragon into a romantic date!"

"...Four? I think y'all are the most unique people I've ever met..."

"Thank you! I know, we're oh, so fabulous!"
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"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴."

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘝𝘪?"

"𝘏𝘮."

"...𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
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"Anyway... How far away is that town, now?"

"It ain't too far, now. Only 'bout a ten-minute stroll."

Suddenly, that dark magic filled the air again. Legend was the first to draw his sword. "It is too soon for another portal."

Shadow could feel the magic concentrating in a small clearing in the trees, just like the portals did before. "The magic feels that same as the previous portals. It's condensing over there." Shadow pointed to the clearing the magic was in.

As if on cue, a portal opened and dropped a sleeping young boy onto the grass. The kid looked like a teenager, younger than Hyrule. He had tan skin and very yellow-blond hair. Oddly, he looked kind of like Link did when they were young, before the Four Sword split them. The boy wore a light blue shirt with the design of some weird, probably oceanic creature on the front. His clothes looked like they were designed for a hot-climate, this combined with other details about him, suggested he lived on an island on the ocean.

The portal closed immediately after the boy came out of it, but the magic didn't disperse. It instead moved deeper into the woods in the direction they had initially been going, before condensing, separating, moving even farther in the same direction again, condensing once more, and then finally dispersing. This likely ment that there were three portals total, but they could only see who or what came out of one.

"You could sense where the portal was going to appear?"

"Yeah, I can estimate within ten-centimetres of where the portal is going to appear exactly. Also, if you couldn't feel where the portal was going to appear, then I figure you probably weren't aware, but two more portals appeared even farther down the path we were travelling."

"Huh. That's a pretty useful ability. If you can tell were they're going to appear, could you tell the one that took you was coming?"

"No, the magic was very slowly building up all day since even before we woke up, so it was undetected by us until it was far too late. Not only that, but the concentration was following us so it didn't feel like we were even in it. It's much easier to detect when, A, it's not hiding from us, and B, it's not directly under us."

"Makes sense..."

Scarfy stared at the ocean boy as he layed on the ground. His expression then became that of shock and amazement as he approached the boy. "Tune?"

Time seemed to have notable recognition on his face as well. He followed behind Scarfy as went to wake the kid. Legend, Twilight, and Hyrule just shrugged to each other. It seemed only those two knew this obvious sea-dweller.

Scarfy gently shook the boy, trying to wake him. He slightly opened his eyes before closing them again. "....Five more minutes...."

Scarfy shook him again harder this time. "No, Tune. Wake up."

The kid opened his eyes and looked blearily at Scarfy. "Mm... Captain? ..Wait-- Captain!?" The boy Scarfy referred to as Tune abruptly sat up, clearly much more wake now.

"Hey, Tune." ...'Scarfy' smiled at the boy.

Seriously, how many names does Scarfy have?! Scarfy, Warriors, Wars, Captain, and he might as well be called Big Scarf Man. Alright fine. He 𝘪𝘴 now officially 'Big Scarf Man'. He's gaining another name whether he likes it or not!

"Where are we?" Tune asked Big Scarf Man.

Big Scarf Man looked a bit uncertain. "I'm sorry Tune, I don't exactly know, myself. We are travelling through time and we're currently in a completely different time-period. We're currently in the timeline of a different Link going by the name 'Twilight'."

"Huh. Where is this 'Twilight'?"

Big Scarf Man pointed to the other Links. "The guy there with the wolf pelt is Twilight."

Twilight smiled and waved back. "Howdy!"

Tune looked around and noticed Time standing a decent distance away from the two of them. The kid stared at Time's face for an intense moment. Recognition in his eyes, but not fully there. "Mask?"

"Even after at least two decades of aging, you still recognize me." Time slightly smiled at Tune, fondness of memories from long ago evident on his face.

Big Scarf Man quickly looked at Time, whose apparently also called Mask because why not! "Time?! You're... Mask?"

"I'm surprised Tune could recognize me, but you couldn't, 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯." Time/Mask/WhoCaresAtThisPoint---Shadow's losing his mind---gave a knowing look to Big Scarf Man.

Alright. Shadow can't take this reunion shit anymore. This is too disgustingly heartwarming for Shadow's liking.

Shadow walked up to their little group, with the same demeanor he demonstrated when he first approached the Links. "𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, sorry to interrupt your little reunion, but we should 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 check out those other two portals. We don't know for certain if they had other Links come out of them, and even if a new Link came out of one of those portals, 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 may have come out of the other, so we should at least make sure an unconscious Link isn't being 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥."
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"𝘏𝘦𝘩, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘈𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦!"

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥."

"...𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺."

Why does Vio always have a point? He always knows how to make Shadow feel guilty for being unnecessarily rude to others.
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"You have a point. Our apologies that we got sidetracked with our reunion. We can catch up later once we've arrived at the town, but for right now we must investigate to see what came out of those portals." Time had his normal serious expression again. Shadow's not sure if this is worse or just as bad. So far, there don't seem to be many positives to this man.

Tune fully got up and got a look at the other heroes. "You're all Links, too?"

"Yeah, we're all heroes by the name of Link! We've been going by nicknames based on our hero titles. I'm the Hero of Hyrule, known as Hyrule!"

Tune seemed to get excited at that. He looked to Big Scarf Man. "Can I get a new nickname, too!?"

"Uh, sure? What do you want to be called, Tune?"

"Wind! The Hero of the Wind!"

"Alright, 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥." Big Scarf Man patted Tune--now know as Wind---on the the head. The kid seemed too excited to care.

"Alrighty, y'all. So, Four? Y'all said the portals were the direction we were headed?" Twilight inquired while looking at Four. Shadow's gotta say, having a collective name for the five of them is weird, but a welcome change from being called 'Link'.

"Yep. The direction we were already going."

"Let's go then, y'all!"

They then continued back on the path toward the town.

It wasn't very long before they came across another guy taking a good ol' nap in the middle of the woods in about the location Shadow felt a portal form.

This man had messy, honey-blonde hair and soft facial features. He wore simple, perhaps old-fashioned clothes, but the most notable thing on his person was a giant red bird feather that was attached to his clothing at the hip. He also had an interesting looking sword. Shadow could sense powerful light magic emitting from it, but without any knowledge on the sword itself, Shadow personally found the huge feather more interesting. Funnily enough, he didn't seem like he was knocked out by the portal. It seemed like he was asleep upon his own accord.

"Who wants to wake him?"

All of them looked at each other. Time sighed. "I'll wake him, then."

Time shook the sleeping man, but received no response. After a few more minutes of shaking him at increasing intensity, Time gave up and turned back to the group. "We need a new plan."

"Is this dude even breathing?" Legend joked, but it was obviously an attempt to cover his concern. This guy really wasn't waking up.

Twilight eyed the thicker density of trees nearby. "I've got an idea. I'ma go lookin' for that wolf. I'll be back soon."

Twilight went out into the deeper part of the forest, but Shadow could still feel his magic just out of sight.

"What wolf?" Shadow couldn't help but ask.

"We aren't quite sure. We think it's Twilight's pet or something. It's a strange wolf that somehow follows us no matter what time-period we end up in."

Shadow then felt a minor magic spike in the patch of forest Twilight disappeared to. It felt like Twilight's magic, or at the very least, the magic that coated his body. Soon, the magic intensity lowered to just above Twilight's normal amount of magic, and started coming back to where the Links were. Shadow figured that Twilight found his dog and was bringing it back, but what came out of from behind a tree was not Twilight accompanied by his wolf, but just a wolf. That didn't make any sense though, because Twilight's magic couldn't be sensed in that area of trees anymore? However... now that he looked at it, this wolf had the same markings on its forehead as Twilight does... Twilight doesn't think they're stupid enough to not realize that wolf is clearly him, right?

Legend glanced over to the trees Twilight disappeared in and saw the wolf approaching them. "Oh, hey. The dog's here. You were supposed to come back 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 Twilight, not abandon him."

Okay, Legend didn't realize, but certainly someone--

"Aw, doggo! How do you keep losing Twilight!"

Or Hyrule, but--

"Wolf. Do you happen to know what Twilight had in mind? He went deeper into the woods looking for you a moment ago."

...Not even Big Scarf Man? Oh, these people are hopeless.

Wolf Twilight approached the sleeping guy and stopped right beside his face. He then proceeded to howl directly into his ear. The man woke up a bit startled and, reasonably, reached for his sword. Both Time and Wolf Twilight quickly got back out of harm's way.

That's certainly one way to wake up.

After seeing the new Link awake, Wolf Twilight went back into the same area of trees he came from. As soon as he was out of sight, Shadow could feel his magic levels drop that last bit more down to their normal levels. Twilight waited a moment to seem more believable before coming back out of the trees. "Y'all, I couldn't find him, but I heard a howl. Did any of you see him?"

Fine, Twilight, you keep your secrets.

"You just missed him. Your wolf woke up our new friend here."

"Aw, dangnabbit. I keep missin' him."

Sleepy boy was looking around a bit frantically. He still had his sword gripped tight in his hand, but he wasn't swinging it around now that he saw that he wasn't under direct threat. "Who are you? Where am I?!"

And so, the heroes embarked on the treacherous journey of 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. It made sense to explain to Four since they didn't know they were going to get more Links less than ten minutes later, but why couldn't they just wait to check the final portal? Shadow does 𝘯𝘰𝘵 want to hear this story again. At least Wind didn't initially ask for more info and just took Big Scarf Man's initial word on the situation.

Shadow just zoned out and listened to Rainbow talk about random stuff. They also didn't particularly want to hear the explanation again either, but they also didn't seem as irritated about it as Shadow. Not even Blue was very irritated! Must be a hero thing.

Shadow must have zoned out a bit too long though, because when he started paying attention again, the new guy---Sky---had already chosen his name. Apparently, he didn't know of any titles he was called, so Wind suggested the name Sky because he mentioned he lived in the sky, which, sounds unbelievably cool if you ask Shadow. Though, living in the sky is probably way too sunny for his liking.

The group started heading toward the location of last portal. Hopefully this wouldn't take as long as the other two.

However, when they reached the spot Shadow knew the portal had to be in, for he could still feel the magic lingering in the area, there was nobody there. "Stop."

"Huh? Why?"

"This is where the portal appeared."

"...But there's nobody here?"

"Exactly. Now hush while I see if I can sense anyone."

Shadow tried feel out even the subtlest magic in the area. It was a little difficult with all the magic these heroes had on them, especially with Sky's sword, Time's armour, and somehow both Legend and Hyrule's... everything. Hyrule practically felt like he was made of magic, and literally everything on Legend's body was a different kind of magic. Legend even had dark magic polluting his bloodstream like heavy dark magic poisoning. Was he aware of this? Dark magic poisoning this bad almost guarantees mutations. It also felt like Legend is casting a shadow magic spell? Ugh, all these heroes are also 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 light magic out of their left hand. Why are they doing that? Rainbow doesn't do that? The Four Sword's magic was also very distracting.

This is way too much magic, Shadow can barely focus on the less obvious stuff. But just when he's about to quit magically searching, he feels it. A subtle buzzing magic in a nearby tree. If this magic is on another Link, then he must basically not have a drop of magic to his name aside from this small amount. He doesn't even have light magic buzzing from him like the others!

Shadow drew the Four Sword and pointed it at the tree. "If you are a person by the name of Link, I request you come down immediately."
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"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?"

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴."

"𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦?"

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."
.
.
At first, there was no response. Shadow thought for a moment that he might be wrong, but then the buzzing magic intensified slightly, and a quiet mechanical noise could be heard. A second later, to everyone's confusion, a pair of bananas was thrown out of the tree.

"Did he just throw bananas at us?"

Wind approached the tree and hopped excitedly at its base.

"Wind! Get back here! We don't even know if this is another Link! They could be dangerous!"

Wind, completely ignoring Big Scarf Man's order, called up to the stranger in the tree, "Hey! Are you another Link? It's okay! We mean no harm! We're all named Link, too! We can explain more if you come down from that tree?"

Shadow felt more buzzing and more mechanical sounds before a man plopped out of the tree. He was holding a giant claymore of golds and purples out threateningly towards the group. The man had large, visible scars going down along the side of his face, and he wore a light blue tunic about the same colour as Wind's shirt as well as a long cloak that went down to his calves. He was the only man Shadow's ever met who's hair could compare in length to Vio's. It was honestly pretty impressive. The man eyed the group distrustfully. "You're not Yiga, are you?"

"Uh, well we don't know what those are, but we can assure you we mean no harm?"

"There's no reason for aggression. We're all heroes here."

"Time travelling heroes!"

The long-haired man lowered his sword, but didn't put it away. "Elaborate?"

As one might guess, they explained a third time. Black-blooded monsters, time-travelling portals, heroes from across time, blah, blah, blah. At this point, Shadow feels he'd probably be qualified to explain it despite only joining the group around twenty minutes ago.

The, hopefully last, new guy took a moment to process the information before speaking. "So I'll need a nickname, too?"

"Mhm. Based on your hero title if you have one."

"I'm known as the Hero of the Wild and one of the champions?"

"How about 'Wild', then?"

"Works for me."

Shadow, really wanting to go to this town already, sighed. "Can we finally go to the town?"

"Yes, let's go."

"I swear, if any more Links show up, I think I'm going to lose it." For some reason, Legend looked at Four while making this comment. He didn't seem to be talking to them, though.

Whatever. That sounds like a problem for a future them.