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Blank.
All blank.
Time stands in this place, wearily glancing around trying to find an exit or some kind of explanation. The further he walks though, the more confusing and sort of lost he feels. The air is heavy with tension, voices echoing through it's emptiness. Is this heaven? Is this the thin line between dream and reality? Is this freedom?
Light footsteps approach him, and he turns around.
Standing right before him is the pink haired veteran of the group, Legend. Though he is almost always salty and sarcastic, something feels a bit... off. Legend glares at him with his reddish eyes ablaze with anger. Before Time can question why he is in such a bad mood, Legend speaks.
"I hate you."
What? No... That can't be... The veteran might be rash and ignorant most times, but never hateful towards anyone. He still has the kind heart of a hero... Why would he be saying this to him, especially now? Time is unsure what to say so he just stands there, taken aback by his words.
Legend scoffs, "Confused, Old Man? It's a shame you still don't realize what you've done."
What he's done... What does he mean? Time has done many things. Save a world trapped in a loop full of suffering, aged to an adult twice, defeated the evil king Ganondorf, time travelled... Wait... Oh... Time grasps the shiny blue ocarina on his waist, hopeful that what he's thinking isn't the true reason for the sudden bitterness.
He was wrong.
Legend crosses his arms. "That took you long enough," he says scornfully, "You think you suffered the most? Have you even thought about the possibility of millions upon billions of alternate worlds that have been crushed and destroyed because you were messing around with that ocarina!?"
The words stabbed like knives, each prospect of a world with no hope that was caused by him pounding him down to the ground. Words don't escape his lips. Words can't escape his lips, he realizes. So he just stands there, silently watching.
"Old Man, you do realize that the endless worlds that have fallen into chaos is a world that I have grown up in? That I have lived in?"
He says, voice slowly rising, eyes blazing with fury and hate. Time recoils, pained by the veteran's harsh words. He understands that Legend has a good reason to despise him, but it still hurts to think about it. To think that he's the reason for so much suffering.
Behind Legend, a horrible visual starts to form.
A land trying it's best to survive despite the circumstances. Monsters roam freely around the place, trashing towns, houses, markets... Anything in it's surroundings. Yet no one does a single thing to stop it. Sure, the knights seem to be dealing with them, but it isn't often.
The people just stand there, watching. Like hollow, empty creatures. It's like they've seen this landscape before so many times, for so many centuries that it's just a daily activity. Kids show fear, but any adult or elderly person hurries then inside, before they can let out a scream of fear or get themselves in trouble.
It's a terrible sight to behold.
Legend sighs, "This is the kinda world where I live in. The knights will go as far as to turn against the townsfolk. Themselves, even. I can't count how many times I've had to hide from them just to stay safe."
"People die of so many illnesses and injuries. Most are too afraid of the several possibilities of death that they never even leave their own houses. As for the ones that do..."
Legend turns to Time, his gaze suddenly unnerving and eerie.
"Let's say they meet a terrible fate."
Shadows blind Time, and he feels like he's suffocating in them. Another vision appears. Time feels like the audience to a show, just watching and reacting. A young and happy Legend comes on in front of him, and he has to rub his eye to be sure that's the same person.
Young Legend looks so... carefree.
Oh, the burden of the hero's spirit must've been cruel on him.
A dungeon with mossy stone bricks cover the walls. A man lies almost unconscious on the floor of the hallway. Somebody comes into view with a bright object. Time shields his eyes from the sheer brightness but when his vision adjusts, it's just all too painful to watch.
A young - but older Legend than before - holds a candlelit lantern. He's cloaked in a dusty old cape, but the same strawberry blond hair tells Time this is still the same person he knows.
The expression on poor young Legend's face is heartbreaking as he tightly grips his chest, his hand starting to shake. Time watches as Legend rushes to the man, shivering horribly in fear. He is clearly saying something, shouting even, but Time can't hear. The only thing he can read from his lips are...
Uncle
The word rings in Time's mind like the bells in Clock Town. Nothing young Legend says is audible for Time, but he can almost hear him screaming, "UNCLE! UNCLE!!" Over and over again, to the point where his voice gives up into a quiet sob. His shoulders shaking, large tears streaking down his cheeks and splashing on the cold floor.
The amount of empathy Time feels from this scene is so much, it overflows. His heart feels heavy, but the vision soon disappears, the darkness fading away and back into the light. Back into the empty room.
The next person that seems to have joined him is none other than their youngster, Wind. His stands parallel to Time, his curly bright blond hair swaying in an unexisting breeze. Another slight - but odd change - is that his vibrant and optimistic expression is now replaced with a sad, disappointed, gaze.
Time already knows what the young sailor was going to say, but it still hits hard, crashing down on him like a giant tide.
"I hate you Time. No... Not hate actually..."
"I'm disappointed in you Time. Why... Why did you leave?"
Why did he leave? Why did he leave where? Where did he go? He's always done his best to be there for his new travel mates, taking the role of leader to watch over them. To take care of them both physically and mentally. Where has he gone that has disappointed even the youngest member?
His sea green eyes are filled with sadness. His ears droop.
"Where were you? Where were you when everyone died? People prayed, people cried, people just gave up and died. You never came, though."
"What kind of hero are you?"
More words that hit like bricks. It was obvious now that Wind was talking about the timeline he had left when Zelda sent him back to 'relieve his childhood'. Not the smartest choice on her part, but the guilt of not stopping her beforehand always lurked within him.
In a general sense though, Wind's last words hurt. Every one of them tries to be their best hero and yet... Sometimes the words like what Wind said are the only forms of response they get. No thank you, no respect, no kindness... No recognition for their hard and life threatening work.
The scenery changed again like the last time, but now it showed a prosperous land of Hyrule. A place where people could actually get from one place to another without any harm. The only really bad things being some robberies here and there. Wind spoke again,
"The land that you left was a very bustling place, Hylians living their carefree lives as they worked out daily activities. But of course, all stories meet a devastating end..."
At his words, a loud crash of lightning strikes the very spot between him and Time, making the man flinch from surprise. Flames rise and cover every last bit of Hyrule. Sparks fly everywhere as buildings, people burn down to the ground. The whole place is in utter chaos as townsfolk run around the town like mice, searching for a safe spot.
"The seals to lock Ganon away weakened, and it wasn't long until he finally bursted out of his cage. Hyrule was sent into a world of destruction. Many people and things burned up in the flames, lost in the flow of time. Lost forever in history."
"They prayed, you know? They yelled at the sky, in the loudest voice they could in their weakened state. Hoping for you to come back. Just hoping. That's all they could do at this point."
As Ganon rises in the horizon, towering over the vast land of Hyrule, a giant wave came down on everything. It was like rain but instead of tiny droplets, huge house sized pools of water fell from the sky. People were swept away in it's destructiveness, head bobbed in the water but slowly sunk and disappeared out of sight.
It was a nightmareish scene to behold.
Time got caught in one of the large waves, his feet lifted off from the ground and the force pushed him with the flow. He struggled to even stay upright as water splashed around him, engulfing him. More lightning crashed down onto the land and thunder rumbled up above.
"The Gods' were angry. Furious. The hero they chose to save us was gone because of a foolish act. Hyrule got flooded and barely anyone survived."
"It's all your fault, Time. All your fault."
He caught a glimpse of Wind through his blurry eyesight before he was sinking. He was sinking deep, and the sunshine faded quickly. He just floated there, going deeper and deeper. Though under the water, the screams of terror did not once go quiet as it filled the growing ocean.
Blank.
He was back in the white room again. The room that was stuck between joy and regret. He was curled up into a ball like a child, covering his ears, desperately trying to block out the noise. Even the silence was painful to hear.
More footsteps. Why...
He didn't even care to look up. The person just kept approaching, until he stopped right behind Time.
"That was pretty rough, eh?"
That was Wild. There's no doubt. Time can hear his own voice return.
"Why... Aren't you going to tell me how much you hate me?"
"Hate you? Well of course I hate you."
There it is again. How many more times will he have to go through the same pattern of hatred and--
"But, unlike them I know how you feel."
"I failed the kingdom of Hyrule. I died and no one was there to save everyone. People were left to scavenge and suffer for a hundred years!"
Well this is new. Time finally looked up to see Wild standing over him, his face plastered with the scars that would always remind him of his failure. Time replies, still keeping the childish attitude.
"You're just saying that so you can make me feel worse about myself before you stab me with your sharp words."
Wild narrowed his eyes, his expression changing into a more serious one. There definitely was something different about Wild compared the Legend and Wind. He did say that he hated Time, but he refused to elaborate on why unlike the past two. Rather he was telling him his own regret.
"You think I'd joke about how much I hate myself for not saving the world, which was my destined duty!?"
"My destined duty like all of you and yet here I am, having to drown in the constant reminder of my own failure!?"
The amnesiac's voice was rising into a yell, but he stopped himself from saying anymore.
"I'm...sorry. I'm so very sorry..."
Time said quietly, but loud enough for Wild to hear. He didn't just mean it to Wild though. He meant it for Wind and Legend, too. He meant it for Zelda. He meant it for the dying townsfolk. He meant it for everyone and everything he did.
"Of course you're sorry."
Wild says to him, in a softer voice than before.
"But that doesn't change what you did. People will always hate you, despise you. Many won't acknowledge your hard work, and it doesn't get paid off. They won't get why you did those things. They'll always have a countering answer."
"I hope you haven't lost to their harsh words yet."
Right before his eyes, Wild vanished. Time just sat there in that room, once again quiet and just staring into nothing.
Blank.
All blank.
Time sits in this room, feeling both empty and full. He has a sense of longing, yet can't put his finger on what. He's got his answer, he's got his response to the regret he's been carrying ever since that day but... Something still isn't fulfilled.
So he sits there, in the blank room. The blank room between lies and the truth.