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Legend was wary of Four.
It wasn't entirely because of the Palace of the Four Sword.
Four was calm, collected, kind, but could also dish out the worst insults and completely lose his shit at the drop of a hat.
He was capable of the most devious, underhanded, and downright cruel plans, but more often than not he fought fairly.
He had his shit together, but would act like a child on a whim.
But he could deal with Four's mood swings, that was fine.
He could deal with the fact that he had no fucking idea what Four's actual eye color was just fine.
It was the fact that he reeked of dark magic that made him suspicious.
Twilight saw it too.
They both went about their suspicion in different ways.
Twilight wasn't around Four unless absolutely necessary, while Legend was around him as much as possible.
Just in case.
Unfortunately, he forgot to account for the fact that he was soft.
He got attached.
He knew it was stupid, really.
Four could be fucking dramatic, something that usually annoyed him, but after Ravio, the theatrics made him even fonder of Four.
He wasn't Hyrule by any means, but Legend could see Four claiming second place, above Sky, which disturbed him greatly.
So when he caught Four using dark magic in a secluded clearing, a pile of wood nearby to cover his alibi, he was pissed.
"Four! What the fuck are you doing!?"
Four turned sharply, his eyes went half red before shifting completely back to violet,
His response was calm, thought out, clearly ready for whenever he was inevitably caught,
"I'm obviously practicing dark magic. Light magic paths were exhausted."
More truthful than he expected, but Four knew he'd call out bullshit, so it was probably easier to just tell the truth.
Legend could tell there was underlying sadness in Four's eyes.
The type that he didn't see unless Four was staring at his shadow.
His eyes were only ever like that when they were violet.
It snapped into place.
What could dark magic do that light magic wouldn't touch?
Bring back the dead.
Legend was pissed.
"Four, you aren't trying to revive someone, are you?"
Four froze slightly, before shaking his head, going to pick up the wood,
"No, I'm certain he's still alive. I just....I need to get him back. He's been trapped in the Dark Realm for three years now. At this point I don't care if he forgives me for what I did, I just want him back and safe."
What could Four have done to trap someone in the Dark Realm?
There aren't many ways to completely trap someone there.
If there were, Dark Link would've been easily taken care of.
Legend could see that Four was holding back tears, which took priority.
Normally when he cried, his eyes were partially or completely red, but right now his eyes were completely violet.
Legend had managed to puzzle together what the different colors meant, for the most part at least.
When they were red, Four was more likely to act like a child, he was more happy, he was more likely to join Wind and Wild on their stupid stunts, he was more likely to cry and show vulnerability.
Essentially, red meant that he was more emotional and more prone to both expressing and giving in to those emotions.
When they were green, Four was calm, he was a little more bossy than usual, a little more focused on whatever task he was assigned, a little more motivated to do things. He was less likely to go along with Wind and Wild's stunts, but this was the best time to grab him as he'd be extremely dedicated to the task.
Essentially, green meant he was more motivated and focused, but also a little less fun to be around.
When they were cobalt, he was more likely to lash out, more likely to throw around insults like candy, more likely to get physically violent, but also more likely to stand up for a friend, to help where he was needed, to give silent comfort if he thought it necessary. He preferred being around Legend in this state, but he'd help out Wind and Wild if he thought it would be funny.
Essentially, blue meant that he was more impulsive, angry, and mean, but also made his loyalties present themselves, and his need to help others more apparent. Even if it was hidden with quips and a sharp tongue.
When his eyes were violet, Four was always calm, he usually had his nose in a book, always sure to hide the title even if it meant an awkward position, he was always depressed, he was more underhanded when fighting, more likely to call out stupidity, he was always one word away from correcting someone with a long explanation no matter what he was doing, he was less emotional, he was more logical, he almost never gave in to his urges, and he disappeared often. He never helped Wind and Wild in this state, too stuck researching to even care about them.
Essentially, violet meant that Four was more logical and showed less emotion, he'd always be researching and would only stop when they were in a fight or if he felt off about the area.
He was selfish and didn't care about anyone when he was in this mode. When he hit a brick wall in his research, he'd gaze at his shadow, near tears, apologizing under his breath.
Legend hated when Four's eyes were violet.
There was no way to get him out of the pit of depression he'd fallen into, there was no way to make him sleep, no way to make him eat.
He was lucky that the violet was almost always, seemingly forcefully, kicked out before bed time; the other colors seemed to know that what it was doing wasn't healthy.
None of the other colors gazed at Four's shadow intentionally, and when they caught sight of it, it was never full of guilt or regret.
Green stared with pity, blue with anger, and red with hope.
This meant that the colors were four different people.
Legend knew this.
It also meant Four was hiding an extreme advantage.
It also also meant that whatever he was doing would speed up the process of corruption.
Legend couldn't let that happen.
But he also didn't want Four to be depressed.
He didn't know what to do.
He couldn't exactly stop him....
With a heavy sigh, he stopped Four,
"Give me a complete explanation, and I'll cover you."
The most he could do was ensure he was doing it safely, make sure he knew about it, just in case something went wrong.
Four blinked, confusion evident.
Legend would only do this with one, maybe two other people; Four had a chance.
A chance that he better not blow.
Four seemed to be having an inner conflict, before sighing,
"Please don't tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you..."
Legend nodded, not in the business of revealing other people's secrets unless it was dangerous.
They all had secrets, and secrets existed for a reason.
"When we got the four sword, we split into four different people: Green, Blue, Red, and Vio. Green is the leader, and for good reason, he keeps the others motivated and focused, even if he butts heads with Blue a lot. His secondary weapon is the boomerang. He's usually calm, and always willing to fight if he needs to. He's more wary than the others about dark magic, but if it's doing no harm he'll just keep an eye on it and not step in unless necessary.
"Blue is the heavy hitter, his secondary weapon a hammer, he can be violent, but he prefers actions over words. He will fight for us 'til the very end, he'll take as many hits as he needs to to keep everyone safe, he has a sharp tongue, but he'd never go too far, not unless he was angry at himself and taking it out on others.
"Red is the mage. He's talented with most forms of light magic, though he prefers fire to everything else. He's sweet and astoundingly innocent. But he isn't naive, not by a long shot; he knows how to deal with Blue when he goes too far, he knows our emotions in and out, and he will take advantage of our collective soft spot for him when he deems it necessary. He only manipulates when he finds it necessary. He's the most emotionally mature out of all of us. Maybe that's why he wouldn't let them hurt me. He knew before I knew...."
Four gave a pause, before sighing,
"I'm Vio, currently in control. I'm essentially the braincell. The strategist. I can manipulate almost as well as Red, but I'm far more willing to do it. Before....I would help them out of tough situations, I'm their ranger, good with archery, I'm...emotionally stunted, I find that after....everything, I was the least able to cope with it. They all help me, but, well, the most they can do is make sure I sleep at least once a week, and bring me food so I don't starve to death. After we reformed Four, they had to make sure that I was kicked out of control before meal times and bed time, because they didn't want me hurting Four. They let me practice dark magic, but only because they know I won't do anything risky."
Fo-Vio, was sizing him up, before sighing.
"You asked for a complete explanation, I hope you don't take our trust lightly, because what I'm about to tell you is something that I've only partially told to them. They don't even know the entire story."
Legend wasn't about to break Vio's trust.
Not when doing so would risk his fragile mental state.
He wasn't stupid.
Vio could snap any second and he'd stand no chance.
Vio took a breath, before continuing,
"Shadow is literally our shadow. He was summoned by Vaati to serve Ganon. On one of our adventures, I wandered off on my own, fed up with the other three and their stupidity. Shadow approached me, trying to recruit me, and I knew that the best way to defeat him would be from the inside. So I went along with it. My willingness to go through with the plan started to crumble though, when I got attached."
Fuck.
He knew where this was going.
Images of a redheaded girl penetrated his mind before he shoved them away.
He needed to focus on Vio.
He could be wrong.
It was a slim chance, but he could be wrong.
"He wasn't evil, just lonely, willing to latch on to whoever gave him the time of day, it's the only reason he served Ganon. He was fun, mischievous, but...he was kind. A little manipulative and under handed, sure, but he was nice. He taught me a little dark magic when he saw that I expressed interest, but he also made sure that I never went too far, he was concerned for my safety. He taught me not to be afraid of using my knowledge to my advantage, to not be afraid to use less than moral tactics to win a fight that I needed to win or to simply survive. He was intelligent, both willing to teach and willing to learn. He was a little naive, unused to being corporeal and having to deal with reality. Slowly, I managed to fall in love with him. Of course, I didn't realize it until it was too late."
Fuck, he was right.
At least he knew he was in love.
At least he got the chance to date her.
He didn't know if that made the heartbreak worse or better.
"I....I'm sure he loved me back, Red wouldn't have let me keep going if he didn't. I'm sure I could've managed to bring him to the other side....but I didn't. Instead....instead I backstabbed him. I betrayed him. I'm....I'm more evil than he could ever hope to be."
Vio was starting to cry, and Legend couldn't help but feeling like his heart was being crushed by a horse.
"A-And even after I did that to him, he helped us fight Vaati. He went into the mirror with Vaati and smashed it from the inside. I felt his presence die for a week, our shadow completely normal."
He murdered Marin.
But Vio betrayed Shadow, and he still sacrificed himself to save them.
Legend didn't know which was worse.
Didn't know if knowing that his girlfriend wasn't real after murdering her and her entire village was worse than knowing that Vio's boyfriend was very real and knowing that he was trapped in the Dark Realm after sacrificing himself after being betrayed.
All he knew was that Vio was on the ground and barely managing to hold himself together.
"Then I felt it. If Shadow hadn't taught me any dark magic it would've gone over my head. I felt him return, incredibly weak, but there. So I threw myself into my research. I had to get him back. I didn't care if he forgave me or not, and I still don't, I just needed him back. Red kept the others from holding me back, he knew that I needed to do this. It's been three years and I still haven't managed it."
Vio was sobbing. Legend almost kept Vio from grabbing his sword, worried about what he'd do.
Then he remembered.
And Four split.
Vio was sobbing on the ground, and Red immediately rushed over to comfort him. Blue seemed like he wanted to do the same, and Green approached him instead.
Giving a sigh, Green continued,
"We made him use Light Magic first, but we knew it was a long shot from the start. Vio hasn't been okay since Shadow's....disappearance. We hope that bringing him back will help the depression, but there's no guarantee."
No there wasn't.
Especially not if Shadow's mental stability was damaged by the Dark Realm.
Legend nodded, seeing Red slowly get Vio under control.
Blue turned to him, glaring,
"You better keep this a secret."
Legend would.
And not just because he saw the look Red was giving him and he wanted to live, thank you very much.
Green clicked his tongue,
"We didn't know half of that. Red probably figured it out, but Vio didn't exactly tell us anything about Shadow. He just suddenly threw himself into getting him back. Blue and I were worried he'd been possessed or manipulated by him, but Red pulled us aside and told us that he was in love and that if we tried to stop him there would be consequences."
Legend nodded and they all waited for Vio to calm down, conversation silent and sky nearly dark.
Soon Four was back and they headed back to camp. They fielded questions with excuses, but he made it evident that if they ask questions, they were not going to be bothering Four.
He knew they understood why when Four sat down on his own and stared at his shadow, exhausted, but unwilling to be productive or sleep.
Twilight was giving him looks, but Legend didn't acknowledge him.
There was the sound of light footsteps behind him,
"Is he going to be okay?"
Wind was quiet.
Unusually so.
He was worried.
Legend bit back his tongue.
"He should be."
Wind wasn't comforted.
"What's wrong?"
Legend sighed,
"He was reminded of something bad. He'll be back to normal soon."
Wind stared at Four's shadow, understanding flooding his features.
"Oh."
He looked over Legend's shoulder at an empty space, eyes wide.
"Oh."
Wind was hiding something too.
Legend could take a guess, but Wind deserved what little privacy they could afford.
They'd all probably spill their secrets eventually.
Twilight wasn't very subtle, but then again, neither were Time or Warriors.
Wind and Wild were unusually subtle, hiding behind their "open book" personalities so that any suspicion was written off as paranoia instead of finding a loose thread in their facades.
Hyrule didn't seem to be intentionally hiding anything, and Sky didn't appear to have secrets at all.
Four wasn't subtle, but he managed to hide it behind a shit ton of medical excuses that were actually plausible.
He wasn't about to guess whether or not he was subtle.
Wind went back to what he was doing, and Legend sat down next to Four, a silent comfort.