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Sometimes a child could be found standing behind Time. A boy with blonde hair, a green tunic and a green hat, standing on a small plate. The others have seen him. But everytime they try to look, he disappears.
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They get trapped in one of Time's dungeons. The only way out is to keep this one switch down. So, Time plays the Elegy of Emptiness on his ocarina to keep the others from getting trapped.
Out of nowhere, a small boy wearing a green tunic and hat with blonde hair on a gold and white plate. His face was tightened in a weird grimace/smile.
Things got strange.
Once all the Links had left the previous room, the statue had suddenly appeared where time stood despite him not have played the song.
Time’s face morphs into one of immense fear. He tries to walk farther and the statue appears again.
"Old man, what's going on?"
Time didn't respond. He couldn't. *This shouldn't be happening. Not again!*
They end up in a dark, mysterious room. The exit closes from behind them. They're trapped.
The statue appears again. This time in front of the group rather than where Time was standing.
There's now blood trailing down the child's cheeks. His eyes have turned full black and his irises were red. The child doesn't move or make any sound.
Time is frozen. They can't get through their leader so they don't bother.
Some links try to talk to the child. He says nothing. Some approach the statue and poke it, even. Nothing.
Then, someone swings their sword and attacks the child. The blade phases through and nothing happens.
Suddenly, a loud chorus of screams echo through the room. Everyone covers their ears to try and block out the screams.
It doesn't work. It's as if the screams were inside them.
Time is all too familiar with the sound. It was his own scream from many, many years ago. It now is thrown back at him like it once was. He can't escape.
Warriors knew this voice. It was Time's voice from when he was a child. He hated the sound of his brother's pain. Now it resonates inside his mind
The others saw a change in Warriors' and Time's demeanor but before anyone could comment on it, the screaming stopped and music began to play all around them. It sounded kind of familiar to Twilight.
A different scream rings out. The child is gone. A sickening feeling, akin to teleportation, pulses through the entire group's bodies.
Dawn of a new day.
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The group wakes up. However, instead of arising to the day in their bed rolls, they were already standing and in a dark, dark room. In front of them stands the child.
No one moves. They were terrified of the child. What happened last time was a nightmare. What even did happen last time? It was so confusing.
They prepare for screaming, but instead hear shrill, childish laughter ring from around them. The child shows no signs of movement or anything though.
Suddenly, Time is levitated into the air. He looks around, terrified and confused yet his eyes shine with familiarity.
He then bursts into flames mid-air and electricity visibly moves throughout his body. A blood curdling scream echoes from Time.
Cries ring out. Eyes are filled with fear and tears. Twilight wants to hurl.
Their mentor and father's charred body crumple onto the floor. The fire and electricity has yet to dissipate.
Twilight rushes over to his father's side.
He traces the burned, crispy face of Time, tears dripping onto the blackened skin. He hugs the corpse tightly as laughter once again rings throughout the room.
Dawn of a new day
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The group reawakes. Time now stands with them again, panicked. Twilight runs to his mentor and hugs him tightly as he cries.
The moment is quickly broken when Time is lifted away from him again.
"No. No, please-!"
Time combusts again. His scream, louder than the first one.
He collapses.
Twi doesn't bother to run to him. He just collapses onto his knees and wails.
Dawn of a new day
They wake up again in the same room. Loud music plays around them. But instead of Time standing, he's lying on the floor.
Twi slowly walks to him this time. The others watch from a distance. He kneels near the old man but doesn't cry.
Laughter. Sickening, childish laughter echoes around him and slowly crescendos.
Twilight pounds his fists on the ground and lets out a loud scream of anguish. It's nearly loud enough to cover the snickers and giggles surrounding them.
The world goes dark once more and they awake in their bed rolls.
They all look around and pat each other. Is this the real life?
A loud screech is heard from the camp. Legend's voice.
Everyone turns their head and regrets it immensely.
The old man is awake but with a blank stare on his face. His back is bent awkwardly to the right and he tries to speak.
All that comes out of his mouth are bits and pieces of sounds and sentences.
He stands up and walks toward the others, not sensing their unease.
Everyone backs away out of fear. His bones could just barely be heard crackling from inside.
Time stops in the center of camp and the statue appears right through his body.
The world shakes and the boys struggle to keep their balance. Their vision warps and the last thing they hear is a loud, ear piercing shriek.
Dawn of a new day.
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They wake up in their bed rolls again. Everyone was scared to check on the old man.
Sky snaps. "No more... Please no more!" He cries and holds his head in his hands. His voice cracks and he's reduced to a wailing mess.
They all get up eventually and votes on who checks on Time.
Wild was voted highest.
Wild carefully approaches him, afraid of what he might find.
He shakes the old man's shoulder and removes the blanket.
Everything was normal.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he shook him awake.
"Time. You gotta get up,"
The nightmare seemed to be over. Everything was fine! There was nothing to worry about.
The group ate breakfast and head out.
Then, as they walked, strange distorted music started to play.
They tried to ignore it, but it was a little hard to. They hoped it didn't mean anything...
From a distance, some people were seen. Malon... Ravio....
And the child.
They all stopped.
"No, no. T-they shouldn't be here!" Warriors panickally exclaimed.
Then, as if under control, Time pulled out his ocarina and begun to play.
Everyone stood back as Time burst into flames. His screams fill the air. Twi and Sky visibly break. Wind is hiding behind Warriors while the rest just stand and stare, frozen.
They expect the body to immediately hit the ground, but it doesn't.
The world turns pitch black and their vision flickers. The old man slowly collapses onto the ground. Malon, Ravio and the child don't move.
The world turns dark once more…
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They all wake up again in a stony building to the sounds of pained yelling. Once again, the noises are coming from the old man.
They all watch from a distance.
Time is curled in on himself, howling in pain. Just as quickly as it started, however, he stops and turns to their direction.
He may not have seen them, but they saw him.
His eyes were an inky blsck with no light coming through. The blackness trailed down his cheeks as well and dripped into the stone.
Time walks out the building. Morbidly curious, the others follow.
Outside the building was a beach of sorts. There were umbrellas in the sand and the sky was a beautiful indigo. The moon and stars shone brightly and gave light to the night.
Time walked down the beach and by the water. There, he proceeded to walk into the ocean.
Before anyone could stop him, Warriors was already bolting to the old man in an attempt to keep him from drowning.
He reaches him and clings onto his waist.
"Pops, no!"
Time stops. Warriors feels him freeze against him. The night is silent.
That silence is broken by the sound of someone appearing.
Warriors looked past Time and saw the child statue, staring.
Warriors doesn't move. He can't. He tries to let go and run away but something is keeping him there.
He feels a painful tug on his soul. He tries to cry out but can't. Something is keeping him from doing so.
His vision gets blurry and his head is spinning. His hold on Time goes slack and he collapses on top of him.
The last thing he saw was the child's bleeding eyes before succumbing to the darkness.
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The group opens their eyes and finds a bright, green forest surrounding surrounding them. The scenery would be beautiful if it weren't for the situation they were in.
They walk around aimlessly, waiting for the next disaster that awaits them.
Time seems to be a husk of himself. They aren't sure if he remembers anything that's been happening and they sure hope he doesn't.
They look around and find no way out of the area. The group feels tense but allows themselves to relax for a bit. These days have been intense.
Time stands. He doesn't do anything. They try to get him to eat but he doesn't budge. They try to get him to sit but he's too stiff and heavy. So, they gave up.
They shouldn't have ignored him for so long, though.
As the group was calming down, the old man unties his ocarina from his waist and pulls it to his lips. Then, he begins to play the elegy of emptiness.
The song ends. Everyone's quiet.
Then a voice whispers in the distance.
You shouldn't have done that…
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They all end up in a strange extra room. Strange music plays everywhere they go. Every corner they hear those same words.
You shouldn't have done that...
They wander a bit and find nothing there. The old man refuses to move from his spot.
They go back to the area they entered from and somehow end up near Castle Town.
An owl calls from the distance.
You shouldn't have done that...
The world turns white and they all end up in a strange shop. Wind turns to the man.
"... Hi..."
"*You shouldn't have done that... *"
Wind gulps.
A few of them read the sign by the counter. Every line says the same thing.
You shouldn't have done that...
They feel a strange presence appear. They all freeze in fear.
BEN is getting lonely.....
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They're all standing in an empty field. The only thing visible is a large tree on a hill in the distance.
Everyone's on edge. The group is breaking. They're so tired of all of this. They want it to end. They want Time back...
Speaking of, where was Time?
They panic. The group quickly disperses in search for their leader. But all they can see is empty space.
They group up. Twilight is struggling to breathe. Sky and Hyrule are almost the same way. The only ones who seem somewhat okay were Four and Wild. Other than that, it was chaos.
"Why us? Why us? Why us?" Legend kept angrily muttering to himself.
Wind was oddly silent. This was strange. He was scared. He didn't know what was happening?
Warriors could still feel his life being taken from him along with the old man's. He's trying to keep himself together. He's trying...
Sky and Hyrule both felt exactly the same. They wanted to die. They want this nightmare to end. They want to wake up.
Four had a war raging inside himself. He's so done with this place. He feels like he's going to snap.
Wild was the only one moderately okay. He's too busy processing what's going on to really feel anything about it. And with where they were located, it seems that there's only one right answer.
Wild finally speaks up. "We need to go to the tree. That's where Time is most likely located."
No one argued.
They all quickly composed themselves and began their hike.
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It takes a while, but they finally arrive at the tree.
The group looks around for the old man but are unable to find him anywhere.
Slowly, the song they've been hearing plays again and they all feel a strange presence behind them.
The child.
They all blinked at once and found him to have disappeared.
weird...
They turn and the presence returns. Wind whips his head around and finds the child staring at him, closer.
"Gagh!"
They group hears a scream in Wind's direction...
And find him lying on the dirt. His chest didn't move. The child standing over his body.
Knowing this wasn't a battle they would win, they all ran away.
That didn't do anything to stop the child.
Screams rang throughout the field as the child took each of the Links, one by one.
Wild was the last one. He turned his back to see if he was safe. All he saw behind him was the bodies of all of his family.
Two hands grab his face and the world goes dark.
You will be given one last chance...
Back to where it all began…
Come play with us….
Dawn of the Final Day.
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They all awaken in a desert. The air was arid and dry but it wasn't very hot as the sun was low.
The group would've cried but they were exhausted from this whole fiasco.
The child and Time were nowhere to be found, but a familiar, green tunic steals all of their attention.
Without thinking, they all stealthily follow the green.
At a good angle, they were able to see who it was.
To the others, they thought that it was just the child, but alive. To Warriors, however, he knew.
That was Young Link.
That was Time.
Warriors holds his tongue and the group continues to follow the kid into a temple. There, he fights a group ad dead hands and goes through a door of an open room.
Before any of the Links can enter, the door is closed.
"What are we gonna do now?!" Hyrule exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
Suddenly, they hear talking.
All of them try to listen in, but only Warriors, Twilight and Legend can fit. They press their ears tightly against the door to listen in. However, instead of actual words, they hear strange, incoherent noises.
Then, they hear that horrible song.
The Elegy of Emptiness
The song ends and growling and roaring are heard inside and the groan of a child rings from the room.
The world goes dark again. A voice is heard again.
Why is he smiling? The father?
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Warriors open his eyes, sits up and looks around.
Statues and headstones stand along an open path. The sky is dark and stars shine brightly. Crows squawk from around them and strange ominous noises are heard. Occasionally, a sound, that almost sounds like someone speaking, whispers in the wind.
"Where the hell are we this time?" He hears Legend complain from next to him.
Warriors lets out a humorless laugh. "What does it look like? A graveyard."
No other words are spoken after that.
Hyrule ventures off on his own for a bit, looking at all the graves, reading the stones.
They say mostly normal things; people's names, obituaries, one said something about a song.
Then, he reaches one specific grave. There wasn't anything special about it. The stone simply said "A vessel that holds wandering spirits rests here". But when he read the stone, a sudden, pulling force was grabbing him and pulling him to the ground.
Yelping, he fell into the grass.
It'll be our little secret, okay?
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The others didn't want to move. Hyrule had already left and went to wander around the graves.
They were so tired of these games and all the pulling and pushing and everything. They just want Time back. They just want everything to go back to normal...
A shout catches their attention. Hyrule.
They all frantically rush to find their teammate. Ducking behind graves and looking through the fields. Calling and shouting his name.
But they couldn't find him.
They lost another...
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Hyrule pushes himself from the ground, wiping his nose. Sticky, red blood sticks to his sleeve, but he doesn't care.
"What is this place?" He breathes out. The corridor was all... twisted. The grass was on the ceiling and the ceiling was on the floor. The hall was dark and he couldn't see the end of it. Behind him was nothing but wall. There was only one way out.
Forward...
Taking in a deep breath, he walks ahead, sword in hand.
As Hyrule walked, the walls roted back into what they should've been. But even so, the atmosphere seemed to darken. It suffocated him.
He started running. He was struggling to breathe. He needed to get out.
A strange, dark force stops him. He can't move. He's frozen.
Next to him, the child stands. His breathing hitches.
Snap!
The child turns to face him.
He wants to scream.
You can't run.
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Warriors and the others have given up. They should've a long time ago. Now they're missing two of their own to that cursed child.
A wave of nothingness washes over them. The familiar feeling of darkness pulls them in.
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They wake up standing once again. That same, obnoxious and creepy song plays from all around them once more.
None of them want to open their eyes. They don't want to have to face the terrors ahead.
Wind opens his left eye a small sliver.
Fear strikes him frozen. His eyes fly wide open in fear. He can't move.
Time and Hyrule stand next to the child. The two swaying side to side a little. Their eyes are pitch black with blood dripping down their cheeks in thin rivers.
A small, meek voice calls out to them, ringing in each of their ears.
Please... Help me...
The world fades once more.
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Darkness. All there was was darkness.
…
The counter resets....
…
I'm glad you did that…
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Warriors rises and anticipates for the music to start playing. For his brothers to be missing.
He looks around. Everyone is peacefully asleep. Eight bed rolls are filled.
Was that the end? Are... Are they free?
The rest of the group wakes up with him. Only two remain asleep.
Time and Hyrule...
They all wait; breaths held and fear grips their hearts.
...
Soft, calm music echoes through their heads.
The two remaining Links stir in their bed rolls.
...
They wake up.