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Chapter Text

Wild groaned as he slowly pushed himself off the stone bricks of the Skyloft plaza.

"Looks like we've shifted again." He mumbled aloud.

"Tch. No kidding." Legend muttered back as he readjusted his cap. He sighed, seemingly satisfied with his cap. Turning to his brothers who had yet to get off the floor, he held out a hand for the smithy to take.

Four gratefully accepted the gesture and pulled himself up. Intelligent eyes examined his surroundings in an almost suspicious manner.

"Hey guys," he called to the others. "Is it just me or does Skyloft look different to you?"

Warriors brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Why don't you ask the local boy." He gestured to where he thought Sky was.

"Wars," Hyrule stated, "That's Twilight."

"Um... Yeah. I was just 'bout to say 'what are you doing?'" The Ordonian added.

"I'm gesturing at Sky."

"No you're not." Legend chimed in. "By the looks of it he's not even here."

"What?" Time interjected from behind Warriors. The startled Captain let a barely audible squeak escape.

Wind gasped worriedly. "He didn't get left behind during the switch. Did he?"

"It's his own Hyrule." Legend reminded them. "He probably left to go get someone or to do something."

"You know he wouldn't leave us here without guidance, Vet," Twilight vetoed.

Legend held up his hands. "I'm just trying not to jump to conclusions. He could be totally fine and you would be giving yourself a headache for nothing."

"I-"

The rancher was cut off by a little girl's voice.

"Link!"

Naturally, the entire group glanced in that direction.

Running down the path that turned right into the plaza, a little golden haired boy bolted towards them. A grin shined on his face as the breeze tousled his locks.

Then came a little girl, also a blonde, sprinting to catch her friend. Giggles bubbled from her mouth, though it caused her to lose more of her breath.

The pure joy of childhood radiated off the pair. The light of their smiles outshined the sun.

All heaviness in the air seemed to dissipate as the children danced around each other like butterflies at play.

Wild resisted the urge to say oop when the boy finally exhausted his stamina and the little girl barreled into him. He crouched in front of the pile of children to see if they were alright.

Before he could ask however, the two friends shattered the moment of quiet with peals of laughter. The girl rolled off the boy's back and hugged her stomach as mirth vibrated through her tiny body.

Some hearty chuckles joining the children's quickly stole the champion's attention. He glanced up at the big man who was rounding the corner from the way to the academy.

"Hoo hoo! It seems you have taken quite the tumble little ones."

"Hiya, Father!" The girl greeted from the floor of the plaza while the boy waved.

The man lumbered over to them just as Wild realized the uncanny fact that all three people didn't seem to notice him.

The others seemed to have caught on. Stealing a gaze at his mentor, Wild appraised the slight pallor Twilight bore. He remembered the rancher telling him about certain parts of his adventure in which he remained unseen by his friends and family, yet he was right in front of them.

Returning his attention to the strangers, he found that the father had picked up his little girl, and the boy had gotten up.

"Alright, Zelda. We best get washed up for lunch." The man ruffled the boy's hair. "You too, Link. Run along now. I believe your parents are waiting for you."

The boy, Link, nodded enthusiastically with a smile before running off to his house. Straight through Wild.

Nothing but stunned silence echoed in the group.

"I guess we found him..."

Chapter Text

"He- he just went straight through Wild!" Wind yelped in surprise.

Time pondered for a moment. "Judging by Sky's current age and the state of Skyloft, I think we may have traveled to the past when Sky was a child."

"But that doesn't explain why nobody can see or feel us!" Four interjected. "I believe we are in fact witnessing his memories. Therefore we can't alter them and affect the present."

"Ughhhh," Legend growled, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I really hate this kind of crap."

"Same here," Twilight agreed. "It's too trippy."

Warriors pressed a finger to his chin eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Where have I seen...? How could I have even...?" He murmured.

"Wars? What's up?" Wind asked as he watched his brother carefully.

Hyrule spun in a circle. "Uhhh... guys?! The place is changing!"

Warriors' eyes shot wide open when his ears picked up battle cries, clashing metal and storming feet. All breath escaped his lungs as he took in the disastrous state the floating island was now in. The forms of his men raced past and through him. Monsters swarmed everywhere. It all rushed back to Warriors' mind like a torrent.

Fluffy golden hair. Deep blue eyes. A small boy curled up in the corner of a wrecked house. The crimson staining the floor.

"No. No. No. It can't be right." Warriors chanted frantically under his breath.

"Warriors...?" Wind's worried voice shook as he grasped his friend's arms.

"What's going on?" Time glanced over at the duo in concern.

"No. No. No! It's impossible!" Warriors yelled tearing out of Wind's grip and sprinting down the path young Sky took to his house.

"Captain!" Time called as he chased after him.

Warriors charged through friends and foes as he navigated the way to the house. He heard the others calling after him, but he had to stay focused. He can't be late again. He won't.

At last he reached the door he recognized. He prayed to Hylia that he was wrong as he attempted to open the door.

His hand phased through the doorknob.

With a sigh, Warriors stepped through the door. His heart skipped a beat when he was greeted by the scene of a mother running desperately around the house for items to barricade the door.

It was the same house.

"Mama?"

Little feet patted into the room.

"Where's Dad?" Little Sky asked in a small voice.

Warriors' heart sank as he witnessed the part of the story he had not seen.

"Mama?" The boy asked again, clinging to the woman's skirt.

"Come on sweetie." Came the reply.

Warriors sucked in a painful breath, knowing too well what that sentence meant. Hesitantly, he followed the mother and child to the back of the house. He watched as Sky's mother teased and tickled the boy's feet. He could feel the purity of the moment being oppressed by the darkness looming over the home.

Sky had mentioned his parents only once before. Only to say that they were gone...

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

The question brought Warriors out of his mind.

"I... hear lots of screaming and yelling. Is something really bad happening? Some people sound really mad."

"The innocence in his voice..."

Warriors whirled around to find Time observing with the same pained expression he himself was wearing.

"You know what Dad told me earlier today?" The mother asked. "He told me to have courage. Do you know what courage means? ...Courage means staying strong through the hard times even when it's really scary."

"I'm really scared, Mama." Sky told her in a whisper.

"That's part of it. Courage can't exist without fear. You can't stay strong through the bad stuff if you aren't afraid."

"Wise words." Time commented quietly. "It seems Sky had some great parents."

"It's alright to be a little afraid. Do you understand now, Link?"

Sky nodded and embraced his mother.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder Warriors turns to face Time.

"Hey. You alright? You ran off earlier." Time inquired.

"Honestly, I don't know." The captain sighed.

"You know what's happening here."

Before Warriors could answer, a crash sounded from the door.

Sky's mom jogged through them to grab a pan from the kitchen.

"I need you to stay in there, okay?" She commanded.

Warriors unsheathed his sword and stood in front of her and watched the splintering door.

"Mama?"

Time stood by the frightened child, but since Sky didn't know he was there he couldn't be comforted.

A bokoblin burst through the door eyes blazing with malice. It charged straight at Warriors, who had his sword raised.

He swung at the monster and his blade swept clean through...

As he soon did.

"No!"Warriors cried.

The monster's blade was parried by a frying pan.

The captain swung again at the bokoblin only for it to phase once again. He yelled in frustration as it became clear that he was helpless to do anything.

Sky's mother fought fiercely. Warriors couldn't bare to watch, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Link, run!"

Her shrill scream echoed off the walls and pierced his chest like a spear.

He collapsed to his knees. His sword clattered against the ground.

He couldn't save her. He failed. He was too late.

Now he could see more clearly that Sky was orphaned because he wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough, wasn't good enough.

A lump formed in his throat.

It was his  fault.

"Get away from him!" Time's angered voice yelled in the next room.

Sky tumbled out followed by Time and the bokoblin.

When the boy had tripped, Time tried in vain to scoop him up and out of harm's way. Instead, he stood between the child and the creature as best he could.

Abruptly, the bokoblin turned towards the door. Two seconds later it had a sword in its chest.

Warriors, in the memory of the past, crouched in front of tiny Sky.

"Hey," he spoke softly. "I need to get you out of here to where it's safe."

With the kid cradled in his arms, he fled the wreckage of the house.

After the pair left, Time's ice blue eyes landed on Warriors' melancholy form.

"Captain...?" Time called to him in a hushed voice. He carefully approached the other Hylian and crouched beside him. "Are you-"

"No I'm not okay, Sprite." He cut the man off in a choked voice. He hid his face from him. "I should have been better. I should've..."

"Done what, War?! Nothing! You of all people would know that you can't save everybody. You did what you could..." Time's voice trailed off in a more gentle tone. "You saved him Warriors. You saved our brother."

The sound of rain caused the two men to glance up.

The house was gone and in its place stood a graveyard.

To the right of it, a boy curled up against a stone that read...

Freya Hyrule

Loving Wife, Mother and Friend

Chapter Text

"Great! Now Time's gone," Legend grumbled irritated like.

"Should we follow them?" Hyrule asks as he jogs up to him.

Four cut in with a finger to his temple, "hold on a minute. I'm still trying to figure out what just happened."

"We can figure it out if we just ask what happened." Wind turned toward the smithy. "Can't we? Wars looked really... I'm worried about him."

Legend started walking in the direction that Time had gone. He called to everyone.

"I want this to be over and done as soon as possible so let's get going already! We need to catch up with them!"

The rest of the Links glanced at each other with a wide assortment of emotions and jogged after the veteran.

Legend hated this. There were Hylian soldiers everywhere. They were swinging their weapons seemingly at him only to faze through. It made him flinch horribly. They didn't look see through at all.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance and scanned the area for any signs of the captain and the old man. His eye caught the royal blue of the captain's scarf.

"Oi, Captain! What are—" Legend stopped himself as he examined the man further. Warriors wasn't wearing the same clothes. His shoulder armor was missing and he was wearing the traditional long green hat.

"I don't think he even heard me." He realized. "He's an illusion too? Why is he here?"

His eyes widened when the illusion of Warriors turned toward him. Wrapped in the folds of his scarf was little Sky.

"What the hell!" Legend yelled as he tugged on his pink-tipped bangs in frustration. "This doesn't make any sense!"

"He's moving away!" Wild said urgently as he sprinted past. "Come on!"

Legend followed, needlessly dodging people as he ran. He kept his eyes focused on the green of the illusion's hat so he didn't loose him in the fray.

At last the illusion of the captain came to a stop. The place the group had entered into appeared to be a fort for refugees. It was full of people who dressed in the same manner as their resident Skyloftan.

When Legend spotted the illusion of Warriors once more, he was standing before Zelda's father.

"Where's the boy's mother?" Legend heard the big man ask worriedly as he slowly approached.

He watched as Warriors frowned and glanced away clearly ashamed of himself. Now that he was closer, Legend easily noticed that this Warriors was younger than the one he knew. Perhaps a year older than himself.

"I'm sorry. She's... gone." Young Warriors replied quietly.

"I... I see." Zelda's father stated sadly. "I will take care of him. He's a family friend."

Young Warriors gently gave him the sleeping child with a silent nod. Then he turned to the battlefield, wrapping his scarf about his neck.

Legend observed in heavy silence.

"It's changing again..." Wind whispered next to him. He'd forgotten the others were here too.

Turning his face to the sky, he watched as it turned grey with rain clouds. The rain fell, but his clothes remained dry.

"Wars!"

Legend glanced down to see his friend kneeling on the ground with Time crouched next to him.

Wind sprinted ahead to the two men.

"Time! Wars! Is everything alright..." the boy trailed off as he noticed what they were looking at.

"This place..."

"It's a graveyard. Yeah." Twilight finished Hyrule's sentence.

Legend slowly approached the three at the forefront. He grimaced at the depressing scene displayed.

Wind crouched next to Sky's small figure and reached out. Of course all the boy's efforts to comfort his friend were fruitless.

The sailor let his head fall.

"This is so unfair," he mumbled bitterly.

Legend simply placed a hand on the frustrated boy's shoulder.

***

Twilight had only closed his eyes for a brief moment, but the group appeared to be on the other side of the island.

The scene had shifted again and was reverted back to sunny weather. The ground beneath them was crafted of wood. To their left a stairway connected the larger floating landmass to a smaller one which held what appeared to be the knights academy.

"Are you alright, Wars?" Twilight turned to look at Hyrule who was the one who spoke. "What happened?"

Warriors stood shakily to his feet and brushed off his pants.

"Ah. I'll be fine, Traveler. I just need to... mull things over, but I suppose it can be put on the back burner for the time being."

Twilight studied the man's face for a moment. He recognized the haunted look in his eyes. He decided not to press for further information. Though curiosity nagged at him, he instead settled with the pieces he'd been given by the illusions.

"He blames himself..." he realized. He glanced back at Warriors. The captain stood close to Time who reassuringly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey! It's Sky again!" Wind announced grasping everyone's attention.

Everyone went silent as they all watched Sky, who was notably older yet still not surpassing Wind, sit down with his back to the rock wall behind them.

Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, he let out a tired sigh.

"I'm not dumb. I'm not stupid. Why are they so mean?" Sky mumbled to himself.

Twilight bristled at the words. Sky didn't say anything about being bullied during his childhood. The more he thought about it the more it didn't make sense to him. His friend, his brother, was such a sweet person. He was strong, courageous and wise too.

Twilight growled quietly. "A bunch of little jerks whoever they are."

"HEY!"

Startled by the voice, Sky leapt to his feet.

A kid with bright red hair marched up to him, glowering menacingly.

"When did I say I was done, huh?" Sky backed away from the other boy whom towered over him. The boy however, quickly grabbed the collar of Sky's light green tunic and dragged him back. "You won't get out of this one, shrimp!"

Fists clenched at Twilight's sides. He glared in rising anger at the red haired fool and also in his frustration at being unable to intervene.

"Oi!

He watched as Wind tried in vain to separate the two children.

"Agh! I hate these stupid illusions! I can't-" the teen huffed and stomped back to the group in a frustrated manner. Warriors patted him on the back, causing Wind to relax a bit.

Helpless... That's how they all felt as they watched these visions unfold.

"Hylia, what is the meaning of this?!"

Chapter Text

"Link, you gotta at least defend yourself..."

"I guess... ow." Sky hissed as Zelda cleaned the scrape on his elbow. "I don't understand why he hates me so much. I mean we were never friends in the first place, but now... Like what did I do?"

"He's just a jerk, sleepyhead. There's nothing else to it."

Hyrule blinked his chocolate brown eyes at his surroundings the scene had changed again. The walls were painted green and blue. There was a plain closet by the door and a desk with books piled upon it next to a small window. To his right nestled three empty shelves. Finally, there was a bed on the left of the window where the two friends sat.

"This is Sky's room. It looks a bit different, but that's not a surprise." He thought to himself.

"These memories are changing faster now," Time muttered aloud.

"I noticed. Why is that?" Wild peeped out behind Warriors to glance at the display.

"Likely they're showing us only what is important, Champion," Warriors replied to the curious teen. He crossed his arms.

"But who is they?" Four asked to no-one in particular. "That's what I want to know."

Legend sighed, "That's what we all want to know. I also want to know what they want. Once they get that, I believe we're home free."

"How can you be so sure?" Wind questioned doubtfully.

"I've gotten out of a similar situation, let's just say."

"Sure! Yet so far, I haven't found anything we can do. Everything is untouchable!"

Hyrule shook his head and walked away from the bickering group and crouched by the bed. He studied the two children with a careful curiosity as they chatted with each other. He watched as Zelda gently wrapped a bandage around Sky's arm all the while keeping him distracted with discussion.

"Aaand done!" the blonde cheered when she finished her care.

Sky stared at it wide eyed. "Whoa... This looks great! Where'd you learn to do this? You're definitely going to ace the med course!"

"Thanks! I hope so." Her grin dropped to a small smile. "My mom taught me."

"O-oh," Sky stammered. "Sorry... I mean she was great. I miss her too."

Zelda giggled softly. "You're so silly sometimes."

She pulled him into a side hug.

"We'll always have each other though, won't we, sleepyhead?"

"I promise."

Hyrule smiled at them as a warm feeling settled in his heart. The warm feeling was familiar, but different.

"They are really close. It's kind of like what I have with the others, but somehow different."

***

Wind glared up at the bright blue sky. They had shifted to a new memory already! It's going too fast!

He shifted his gaze to what was before him. The statue of the goddess Hylia loomed over his head. A crowd of children gathered there with the adults waiting to the side.

"What are they waiting for?" He thought as he moved toward the children.

"This must be some kind of ceremonial thing," Hyrule hypothesized following the youngest.

Wind glanced back at him. "A ceremony?" He frowned unimpressed at the others who were still bickering. "Oi! If you're all so concerned about what the entity wants, you should look at what it's showing you!"

At the sailor's voice and the fluttering of feathers, the other Links sprinted over. A flock of brightly colored young birds settled down before the children. Slowly, each child approached a bird with a hand outstretched.

Wind blinked. It was quite strange to watch. As each child found their bird, it seemed like they were being pulled towards each other like magnets. When they finally reached each other, the spell seemed to break and they began to interact with their own various personalities.

He observed a blonde girl uniting with her periwinkle blue bird. She giggled with joy and threw her arms around its neck. The bird chirped excitedly in response and nuzzled her head. "That's Sun alright."

Finally, the only one left standing alone was a boy. Sky.

"Shouldn't there be enough?" Wind heard Legend mutter beneath his breath. He agreed with him.

"What's going on?" Hyrule voiced everyone's thoughts. "Where's his bird?"

Sky raised his face to the sky eyes closed. With a sharp caw a bright crimson blur soared into view. It circled above the boy before flapping to rest before him.

Sky stared into the loftwing's eyes for a long moment. He nodded as if they had agreed upon something and climbed up onto the bird's back.

"Link! You're not ready to-"

The Loftwing unfurled its wings and launched into the air.

Wind's jaw dropped.

"I mean I shouldn't have been surprised..."Warriors chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair.

Legend grinned watching his brother fly his bird with a natural ease. "You little show off."

Sky finally brought his loftwing down to rest. The instructor rushed to him frantically and began berating him for his recklessness.

The crimson loftwing covered the boy with his wing and lent down to hide him from view. Much to the instructor's surprise. The bird glared at him with a noise that sounded like a hiss.

The headmaster addressed the young hylian from a friendly distance. "That's quite the bird you got there, Link! Crimson loftwings are incredibly rare you know? And that was quite a show you put on too! I'm sure the other kids are jealous. Hoo hoo."

"That is true." The instructor shook his head with a sigh. "Please wait until you've actually gone through the training process before riding your loftwing again. Alright?"

The child nodded sheepishly before burying his slightly flushed face into the red feathers.

Wind grinned proudly, " Our brother is so cool. Even before he was a hero! Hehe."

"I see..." Time chuckled to himself. "We had a reckless nature from the very beginning."

"This is kinda obvious... I mean, it's been obvious since we've known him, but Sky is really giving all the telltale signs of a prophecy fulfillment. It's almost like someone wrote 'the chosen one' in bold letters on his forehead." Legend points out as he leans on Wind. Wind bats him away in annoyance.

"He's called the Chosen Hero for a reason," Four stated glancing up at the veteran.

"Exactly my point," Legend continued. "And he said Hylia doesn't have favorites. Ha."

Wind smiled softly at the boy and his loftwing snuggling together. Sky had to be about Aryl's age in this memory. It was hard to see his brother so blissfully unaware of what dangers lurked in his future. It hurt to think of his baby sister experiencing anything like his own adventures again. His sister, so young and innocent... He frowned.

"At least, Sky was older than I was when I started out..."

Chapter Text

Time glanced about as the image of the sunny island faded into the lantern lit darkness of a large building. He rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable with the sharp contrast in mood.

Wooden logs were set up on either side of the room. Large notches ran across each of them in different directions. At the back of the building, a small platform was raised slightly above the floor. In the center of the room, a large circle of  flat stones was cemented smoothly in the floor.

Warriors stood next to him. "This is a training hall," he clarified not too loudly.

A couple of hums of understanding arose among them.

Time watched intently as Sky, still a child, emerged from the back room with a practice sword in his grasp. The boy set himself up before one log with a diagonal notch in it.

"Judging by the dim lighting in the room, it's in the middle of the night." Time spoke to the man next to him. "He shouldn't be here right now right?"

"No he shouldn't." The captain agreed simply.

Sky glared at the log with intense focus and shifted his tiny feet into the proper position. Then with one swift stroke he sliced through the log at a strict diagonal angle. The top half of the log slid and tumbled to the floor.

The boy cringed. "Ah. Oops. I'll move on to the next then."

Legend raised a brow. "Oops?" He repeated incredulously. "He had near perfect form and everything!"

"Why is he here so late if he's already got good enough form to cut a small log in half?" Four asked aloud.

A frown settled on Time's lips as he observed how Sky set his stance to slice at the next log. He voiced his own concerns, "Why is his form already this advanced at his current age? When he has no knowledge of his future as a hero, why is he toiling to perfect his skills with a blade?"

Silence descended upon the group as they pondered. They all knew that Sky was the best swordsman in their troop, but they hadn't known how he came to be such until now. It was clear that Sky was determined to perfect his swordsmanship since he was very young. The "why" however, remained a mystery.

The creak of a door opening caused all Links, including young Sky, to turn their attention to the entrance of the training hall. A tall man lumbered in.

"Link?" Instructor Eagus called out in surprise. "What are you doing out here at this hour?"

With a palpable air of guilt, Sky slid the practice sword into its sheath and stared at the ground silently.

Eagus sighed as he observed the despondent boy. He kneeled down to look the kid in the eyes and gently placed his hands on his shoulders. "Somethings bothering you, yeah? You can tell me."

Sky took a shaky breath, but didn't speak a word. His normally soft features hardened in an unreadable visage.

Eagus chuckled softly. "Ever the stoic one... but Link, even the strongest knights have to depend upon others at times. I know I do. So don't bottle up your emotions for too long."

Time felt something twist painfully in his chest. His boys and himself all carried the weight of the world on their shoulders. The man's words seemed to speak to them all.

"I..." The boy stopped himself when his voice wobbled. Tears flooded his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"It's alright, Link..." Eagus reassured him with a soft pat on the shoulder. "You're the strongest lad I know."

Sky covered his mouth as a sob slipped out. "I... I miss them... I want them back! But I couldn't do anything... Nothing like that should happen again... I won't let it!"

"You were a child, Link..." Eagus reminded him. "You still are. You can train hard to grow your strength, but you shouldn't run yourself into the ground because of unknown peril. You've got your whole childhood to live, lad. Precious hours burned away in the training room won't bring you any more peace."

Time winced, thinking of his own journey. Words like these were hard to hear, even if they were mostly true in Sky's case. The same could not be said for many of them. He could only be thankful that Sky wasn't as young as he was in this moment when his quest began... the age that he was when he himself did.

He didn't know what to feel when he found himself in this projection of Sky. But the words of the man before him tugged at his youthful yet ancient heart as if they were spoken to him directly.

"Let's get you back to your room in the academy. You need to rest, Link." The man told Sky kindly in a way that left no room for argument.

Sky, with his hiccups fading into sniffles, mumbled, "Yes sir... Sorry for the trouble..."

"None of that, lad." Eagus rose to his feet with a pat on the boy's back. "I forgot something of mine in the back. I'll walk you over in a second."

The training hall faded from sight as pure darkness fell over the heroes.

"AH!" Wind exclaimed. "What now?"

The rest silently agreed as they stood there in the dark void. The quiet echoed in the abyss. A few moments passed in suspense.

A familiar chime shyly spoke up and a spark of blue and purple light appeared before the crowd.

"Masters... Masters!"

The hero of warriors perked up in recognition. "Fi!"

"Yes..." The young feminine voice acknowledged in return. "I believe you are all due an explanation. Her Grace had once told me I could have one final wish granted. That was a long time ago... I finally discovered what my wish was and that is this."

Time glared at the light in distrust, yet an anxious air surrounded him. "What did you do?"

"Master... Hero of Time, I recommend taking deep breaths to calm your heart. I mean you no harm. As you are suspended here no time is passing in the real world. I have calculated and eliminated all the risks that could have occurred. Rest assured that all is taken care of."

"What about Sky?" Wild pressed forward with eyes soft in concern. "Where is he?"

"My..." Fi's tone took on an impossible hint of fondness. "My master is secure. Forgive me, but I must ask that you would curb your concerns and curiosity. I don't have much time."

"Please continue," Twilight quickly offered.

"Thank you, master." She continued, "My wish was in fact for the well being of my master the Chosen Hero. The weight of his past that he holds alone will become too much for him. I could already see him tearing himself apart. I decided to step in. I could not bear it any longer... thus here you are... to witness the truth and end my master's suffering. I'm counting on you heroes... s-save him fr-from hi-i-is own demise."

Wind's brows furrowed as the spirit's voice grew static and glitchy like when his gossip stone lost connection with Tetra's. "You're breaking up. You have to go already?"

Warriors stared at the flickering light in determination, "We'll take care of him, dear friend. We will take care of each other as brothers do. Rest easy."

"I'm glad... I'm-m happy... Thank you, masters. F-fare-re-we-el-l..." The light disappeared leaving the heroes in the darkness once again.

"I don't understand why she couldn't just explain what the "dark truth" was instead." Hyrule piped up.

"Not enough time," their leader replied short and grim.

Chapter Text

"Have you ever wondered what's beneath the clouds? Some say it's an empty, barren place, or even that there's nothing at all down below, but I just have this feeling that they're wrong.

"Some of father's old texts talk about a place called the Surface. The old tales describe a whole world under there, far more vast than Skyloft!"

"Is that so."

"Yes. The thing is that no one's ever been down there to see it, and our loftwings won't even fly through the cloud barrier... But I can't help imagining the wild things that might be waiting below. Someday I want to see for myself."

Wild's first instinct was to whip out his paraglider as the ground seemed to be swallowed up by empty air. A collective cry of terror from his brothers sent his heart racing. Frantically, he took in the scene before him to make sure his family weren't plummeting to their deaths.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that the others were perfectly fine, standing on thin air and screaming their heads off, but fine. He pocketed his paraglider and instead knelt and touched the invisible floor.

Far beneath their feet lay a thick layer of cloud. "The Cloud Barrier." His mind supplied, recalling the youthful voices from a moment ago. Absentmindedly, he noticed that the screams had quieted down and that the sound of the wind had taken its place.

Speaking of Wind, he seemed to be paralyzed where he stood, likely terrified by the environment. The boy, for whom Wild walked carefully through the sky to reach, latched onto him wordlessly.

"I gotcha, Sailor," Wild whispered to him in reassurance as he wrapped his arm around his youngest brother's shoulder.

Heavy flapping of wings drew his attention back to their surroundings.

Two large birds soared alongside each other. One of them was a soft blue the other a brilliant red. One their backs they each bore a mirthful teenager. A girl and a boy respectively.

"Link? Hey, Link!" The girl called out to the daydreamer, demanding his attention. She shook her head fondly as he finally realized that he was being talked to. "Today was amazing. Watching you win the race and performing the ritual together... I will always remember this."

Wild was thankful that all the boys had ceased their panic by the time Zelda had started speaking, because this seemed to be rather important. Another part of his brain was trying to comprehend how the group was still next to the loftwings despite the lack of movement. A glance behind him showed Skyloft shrinking into the distance. It was disorienting.

"It really was wonderful." Zelda reminisced, causing Sky to grin. She steered her loftwing closer and hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You know... Link... There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

In the quiet of that moment, Wild was abruptly hit by intense feeling of dread. His stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself.

A tiny tug on his tunic had him turn his attention back to the sailor who glared suspiciously at the scene. His brow was set with worry. "Wild, I don't like this."

The champion opened his mouth to reply. Before he could however, the lazy breeze he had heard earlier had kicked up into a furious gale. It caused the Skyloftians' hair to whip about and it yanked on their clothes.

Zelda gave a cry of surprise. "What is that?! What's going on?!"

A ginormous swirling black vortex approached the group at a rapid pace.

"What's something like this doing here above the clouds? This can't be natural!" Wild thinks he hears Legend's voice yell over the raging wind.

Thinking quickly, Sky tucks his arms under his loftwing's neck and leans back. This helps the bird to fly up and out of danger.

Zelda wasn't so lucky. She and her loftwing were dragged closer and closer until the gale swept her off the bird's back.

The two lovers screamed each other's names as she fell.

Wild watched in horror as his brother dived to catch her only to be brutally knocked away. The world grew dark as Sky lost consciousness.

The champion tucked Wind closer to his side. He was grateful that his youngest brother was there with him in the dark. He needed someone to hold onto as his mind screamed.

"Zelda's falling! Zelda's falling! She'll die if you don't catch her! Save her! Save her!" His mind's eye was a cruel thing, playing the memory over and over, replacing Sky's lover with... Wild's own Zelda.

"Wild?" A youthful voice next to him piped up.

"You're okay." Wild reassured him.

"I know. Are you okay?"

"Mhm."

The assembly of heroes waited in the inky space for a moment until a purple light illuminated Sky's body suspended in the air. He appeared to be falling perpetually. The air rushing past him tousled his clothes and hair.

"Link...?" Fi's voice chimed as she appeared from above. Sky opened his eyes and listened to her, surprisingly unfazed by the ethereal being. "I'm waiting for you. The time has come for you to awaken. You are vital to a mission of great importance. Link..."

Zelda appeared above Link and the surrounding black lightened into the familiar sight of clouds falling past them. The scene flipped sending the pair plummeting toward the surface.

Sky reached out to her desperately, struggling against the wind as she fell further and further out of reach.

Zelda screamed for him, eyes wide with terror and flooded with tears. She plunged straight into the waiting jaws of a gargantuan black scaled monster.

Sky shot awake with a gasp.

They were back in his room at the academy.

"As far as dreams go, that was pretty gnarly," Legend commented with his arms crossed. He watched Sky catch his breath with a sympathetic gaze.

"What was that monster? It was huge!" Four asked the room, making big gestures with his arms.

"I've fought it." That statement turned everyone's heads to Warriors who raised his hands to calm them. "I was in Sky's Hyrule at the time and it definitely wasn't as big as what we saw just now. My hope is that, Sky's nightmare was actually exaggerating the size."

Four pressed for more information, "What does it do?"

"I didn't exactly let it out long enough to find out, but from what I've heard from Fi..." he paused and a grim expression painted his face. "sounds like total annihilation. An apocalypse."