Chapter Text
Taking a day off from working in the forge, is supposed to be peaceful isn't it? Ha! I wish. Link sighed as he hooked his item bag to his belt before grabbing his shield, and headed downstairs to where Dot and Grandad Smith were chatting. Dot looked up at him smiling, though it was strained. I wonder what's wrong? Came the warm and worried thought once more. It must be rather important. She looks really worried. Crisp and curious.
"Ready Link?" Dot asked, rising from the kitchen table. Her tea was completely untouched, he noted with no small amount of worry.
Link shook his head, "I need to grab a sword first. Give me a second." Link headed to the forge, quickly locating and grabbing a sword, strapping it on and rejoined with his best friend and granddad. "Now, I'm ready."
"Be careful you two." Smith rumbled from the table to his only grandson and pseudo granddaughter, concern in his eyes but a fond smile on his lips.
"Of course, Grandad Smith. I'll be sure to keep Link in line." Dot chimed as she headed for the door with her auburn pony tail swishing behind her, with a teasing smile on her face and mischief in her eyes.
"H-Hey!" Link laughed after her, jogging to keep up with the taller girl, able to hear Smith chuckle from the table as the door closed. "Dot!" He whined while falling in step with her as they headed down the small hill Link’s childhood home resided upon.
She giggled, bumping shoulders with him, “I simply couldn’t resist, Link!"
Fondly shaking his head, "It's such a ‘Green’ thing to say though." Quiet fondness mixed with longing in his voice.
"It is."
They walk in silence for a few minutes with Dot leading the way, whose worry swiftly returned with nothing but the sound of their feet and the wind to occupy her thoughts. "What's going on?” Link broke the silence as he watched the tension build in her shoulders, “It's not every day you show up and ask me to gear up. Last time you did…" Link trailed off, his meaning clear.
"I know, I know. It’s just… I feel like something… bad is going to happen..." She side eyed him, "It's one those times I wish you four hadn’t decided to leave the Four Sword to rest in the sanctuary."
Link inhaled sharply, white hot anger and ice cold fear sparking to life in his chest, "W-What?" He stuttered, gaze sharply snapping up to see Dot bite her lower lip worryingly. His thoughts immediately started racing, the four normally rather subdued voices in his head roaring to life so suddenly he had to rub his temples against the sudden headache.
"But…but it hasn't even been a year yet! What could be going wrong already?" It sounded faint even to his own ears, blood pounding as his heart rate picked up from the sudden emotional strain. Link really, really did not want to go on another adventure so soon. He had hardly even finished readjusting from his latest quest!
Dot released a shuddering breath, eyes trained to the path below their feet, not meeting his tetrachromatic gaze. She suddenly inhaled sharply and straightened her posture before deflating just as quickly into a more slumped manner, as if only then remembering she didn’t have to be the princess with Link.
She glanced at his mildly pained expression now that everyone had started to calm down in his head, and her worry is clear as she speaks up after a few minutes of silence. "I don't know Link. It doesn't feel like it did when the seals were breaking, but something feels… off."
Biting down on a sudden crash of anger and faint hope, his curiosity grounded him through the onslaught, and it shows in his voice, "’Off,’ how?"
Her brows furrowed, looking up in the direction of the Four Sword Sanctuary, "It feels like dark magic… but it's flickering. As if it's here, but not at the same time."
A flare of disbelieving wonder mixed into his voice, “How can something be here, but not be here at the same time?"
"I don't know. But if something is going on, I want you there. Besides the obvious, it's your sword after all."
"It'll be nice to be separate again, that's for sure." Link hummed in agreement to both the whispering sentiments in his head and the statement, "If something is going to happen to the Four Sword while I'm still alive, I'm going to be in the middle of it." Its power is dangerous, especially when you don’t understand it. That… and I may be a little possessive of it. Make that very possessive actually. I’ve been through too much with that blade to let some ignorant kid go running around with it...
"Same here. We're in this together." Dot agreed, picking up the pace, Link following step for step. "Let's hurry."
"Right."
It doesn't take long for the pair to reach the sanctuary, but the closer they got, the more weary they felt. Link frowned with brows furrowed, feeling something odd. His gaze snapped to Dot as she suddenly gasped with a wide eyed gaze. Without a word she pulled forward, Link hot on her heels, running for the inner sanctum. For the Four Sword. Dread rocked in the pit of his stomach, unable to shake the feeling of wrongness… just like the last time he came here with Dot in such a hurry.
Crossing the threshold to the swords pedestal Dot exclaimed in shock, "It's gone!"
Though the sight of his sword and the anticipatory pull of its magic had him distracted for a moment, her words broke him from the mildly entranced feeling he got from being here. Link wheeled on her, unable to keep the burst of anger from rearing its head in the form of frustration. His eyes lit blue as Blue’s temper refused to be tapered down this time, and snapped out, "What do you mean, ‘ it's gone?!’"
Dot’s gaze was frantic- far too used his sudden mood shifts to be fazed by the outburst- gaze racking over every nook and cranny, searching but not finding. "The wavering dark magic! It appeared, shifted, then vanished again!"
Link closed his eyes as he took a deep breath to calm the sudden burst of anger, only to stiffen when he felt eyes on him. His mind stilled at the feeling of hatred and bloodlust, suddenly hyper focused as his violet glinting gaze slowly opened, voice lowered with a stone cold edge, "Princess, we're not alone in here."
Not moving his head, Link looked around to try and locate the source, Dot stiffening as she felt it as well, and as his search yielded nothing, panic started to rise from faint embers. It feels like eyes… Of course it's eyes… It's always fucking eyes! Forcing his rising panic down– the growing buzz of voices within– he met Dot’s gaze, the other thinking along the same lines as they both moved closer to the sacred blade.
Link tried to calm his mind, but the proximity to his magical blade was starting to react with him. The Colors were getting louder. Voices sharper. The magic that had long since settled inside of Link- the Links - crawling just beneath his skin, demanding his attention. His hand twitched traitorously. Calm down! We need to calm down.
"Link…" Dot whispered, hands raised and ready to cast a spell if needed, pinning him with an accusatory look. She could no doubt feel the way the Four Sword was reacting with him, but he needed to stay focused. "Hold steady!"
A rustle.
A step closer to the sword.
Where did that come from? Link looked around slowly once more, those eyes seeming to come from everywhere now, and it made his skin crawl . It was getting into his head, but he couldn’t stop it. He felt exposed. His hand twitched for his sword again, adrenaline making his ears pound with the rush of blood, the itch for battle.
A flash of movement from behind caused Link to turn half way, hand hovering and reaching for the cloth bound hilt he knew better than the back of his own hand by now. A sickly green shadow writhed against the wall, and Link heard Dot take a step back, whispering rightful fear, “T-that's the source… a dark wizard…” her voice wavered at the end, having had her fair share of trouble with dark mages, Link wasn't surprised by this reaction.
The awful mass of shadows suddenly lashed out, and Link’s hand twitched on pure instinct. "Link!”
It was such a simple action on the surface, but it was so, so much more to Link. The world seemed to slow down as the two different magics raced to see which would act faster. He lunged for the blade, seeing a sickly bolt of magic racing in their direction, but his primary focus was on the Four Sword.
The Four Sword, which had started to resonant with Link from the instant he came in contact with the grip, the magic all but lunging at Link, latching onto him in its vice-like grip, but welcoming like the old friend it was by this point. Even without drawing the sword yet, he felt better. Perfectly balanced with all parts of himself, almost weightless, an extension- no- a part of himself. No compromise, nothing unsteady or unbalanced.
Not like trying to live with fragmented parts or yourself, or using a blade that is not your own. No other blade felt correct in his hands after wielding the Picori Blade as he forged it into the Four Sword, a part of himself given to the blade and its magic, and how much it had given back to its creator.
He braced his hand around the wrapped grip, taking one quick glance at the dark wizard, before letting the magic of the Four Sword surge into his body in such familiar manner, the soothing elation of becoming one with his creation.
Everything went white as he felt the joint parts of his mind start to slide apart as he started drawing the blade. It felt natural, familiar…easy.
Everything went black.
A headache. Ringing in his ears. Are… are those hands shaking him? He can't tell. Everything feels hollow. Empty. Numb.
His eyelids flutter open slowly, painfully, a pair of unfocused emeralds seeing but not recognizing anything. Green blinked a few times as color swirled before his eyes, his achingly slow focus attached blue and red. Zelda. Dot. His- no their- best friend. His vision blurred all over again, almost like being under water, Green blinked, it clears for a second before everything is fuzzy again. His face felt… wet? Did it start raining? He can’t really feel anything though, the fact that that isn’t bothering him should be alarming when it isn’t.
"Green? Green, can you hear me? Oh, Goddesses, Green!" Dot’s panicked voice finally started to register through the ringing. She sounded frantic, but not as if she were in tears. He can’t hear rain echoing in the air either.
My face is wet… Dot’s not crying though… A sharp pain suddenly erupted from his chest causing Green to groan aloud, which came out as a chopped sob, much to his distant surprise. As if it was a trigger of some sort, pained sobbing wretched its way out of Green, causing him to screw his eyes shut as the pain continued to assault him.
Try as he might, Green’s body refused to cooperate, refusing to flop him onto his side to curl up into himself to try and escape the pain as he was forced to lay there, weak and numb. Unable to think. Unable to make any sort of sense of what was happening to him?
"Green…" Dot whispered now, seeming to have retreated from his side upon his waking up, but closed the distance as it became clear that Green was struggling against himself. He finally managed to get an arm over his chest though it does nothing at all to ease the pain, Dot’s hand now on his shoulder wasn’t doing him any good either.
Another sob tore from his throat uncontrollably as he came to his senses enough to realize that he was the one crying. "Dot?" He whimpered out and in a choked gasp, "W-Wha…I…wh-where… hhurrrtssss…" Green slurred off at the end, the sharp hollow aching his chest growing rapidly sharper, leaving him gasping as panic started to set in. Lost and confused, he hyperventilated, eyes flying open through the tears as he tried in vain to move again.
The feeling of wrongness settled deep within, matching the hollow ache in his chest, and Green could see it in Dot’s eyes that something really was wrong. There was something missing. Something was gone . He feared the answer, the answer that caused the pain in Dot’s eyes, The answer that seemed to radiate from every fiber of her stiff form and settled a pit of despair in his stomach.
Where are the others? Why do I hurt so much?
What just happened?
Tears welled up in her eyes, as Dot pulled Green’s trembling form upward into a hug, his body still not responding properly, but the action gave him a full view of the inner sanctum. It's… empty. Green froze, suddenly fully unable to breathe as well, the soul deep ache in his chest flaring to life once more as he flicked his gaze desperately around the chamber. Hoping with every fiber of his being that his eyes are fooling him. That what he saw was a lie.
Plain as day, the Four Sword- the original Four Sword- was sitting partially drawn from its pedestal. A smokey, sickly black-green wreath of dark magic was twining around the sword, crawling along the polished surface of the blade. He didn’t want to believe it, but...Green couldn’t deny it. The Four Sword was cursed . It was cursed halfway through being drawn, just far enough… to rip Link apart to his fragments.
"I'm so sorry, Green…"
The soft whisper broke the dam, and he finally found the strength to latch onto Dot, gasping for air through the pounding in his chest. He was alone. That dark wizard not only ripped them apart...it also took his brothers away.
Red…! A chasm where there was no warmth.
Blue! Dry and empty where there was no storm.
VIO! Unbalanced in a gaping void with no support.
NNOOO!!!
Darkness took Green again, lost in the gales despair.
When he came to next, the gaping hole- fracture, missing, lost- held firm, almost making him breathless from the pain. A pain that isn’t physical, mental, emotional, or magical…his soul ached. He's part of Link’s soul ached.
The other three were still missing.
Green forced down the sob that tried to force its way out, and slowly came to the realization that he was in his own bed, no, their bed, no, Link’s bed. Forcing himself upright on weak and trembling arms, Green looked around for any clue as to how he got there, and found Dot dozing in the bedside chair. Swallowing past the dryness in his throat, grimacing at how rough it was, he reached out with a shaking hand to touch her arm, not trusting his voice to work correctly.
Jumping at the faint touch, Dot was awake in an instant, gasping at the sight of him up and awake. "Green!" She instantly pulled him into a much needed hug, which he gladly returned despite his shaking. "Oh Green, I'm so so sorry…"
"What… "He rasped out, easily accepting the quickly offered glass of water, and continued once his throat was soothed somewhat. "W-what…what are you sorry for? What ha-happened back there?"
Dot helped Green lean into the headboard before settling back into her seat, her lips pursed for a moment before responding. "I'm sorry I didn't help you more… I… I expected that thing to go after me… it went after Link. I was too startled to try and stop the attack. I shouldn’t have frozen up like that. I know better than that by now.”
“Hey.” Green cut in quietly, catching her attention immediately. “Its okay, Dot. You did what you could, and that’s what’s important. We… we don’t always get it right the first time either. Or the second. Or even the third.”
Dot chuckled weakly at that, but he could tell that she was relieved that he didn’t blame her. “Thanks, Green. I should have known that myself by now, watching my brave heroes stumble about so many times by now.” She sobered up quickly, fists clenching tightly as she brought the memories back up. “While the light from the Four Sword was glowing its brightest… its attack must have landed. Then it simply vanished, so I thought maybe the light from the sword did something. I turned to look for all of you, but… it was just you . Collapsing. I never even saw Red or Blue or Vio… just you… and I-I…" She choked, tears finally spilling.
Green reached and took one of her hands in his, squeezing comfortingly, holding back his own pain and grief. “It’s going to be okay Dot, promise. We had no way of knowing what could’ve happened, so now we just have to keep going. Keep trying. We’ll… we’ll find them…” Green trailed off at the end, even though he meant every word, he couldn’t stop the grief and pain from overwhelming him again, as a sob wretched its way out of him again. Dot nodded in response, moving to pull Green into another tight hug, both taking solace in still having one another.
They're alive out there. Somewhere… I know it.
A pained sob ripped from his throat as Red came to, tears springing freely to life as he gasped for air through the pain. Whimpering, he curled up on his side, wrapping his arms around himself, he pushed the best he could through the nausea that came with the action. Wha… What's going on? Why does everything hurt so much!? Splitting never hurts like this!!
He tried to calm himself down so he could try to think past the pain, but ended up hiccuping into his sobs, his head and heart feeling far, far to empty. Feeling lost and out of touch with himself, floating through a heavily painful existence, unable to ground himself. Cold... cold as if drifting in a cloud trapped behind a thick icy wall.
Through the gasps, shivers, and hiccups, Red finally managed a fearful pain filled whimper, prying his eyes open to a world of blurry color that didn’t feel real. It hurts… everything hurts so much… Red whispered in confusion when he got no response, "G-Green?… Blu-Blue...? V-V-Vio?" Silence met his words, and terrifying dread gripped him harsher than the pain in his heart, "G-Guys!?" He was louder this time, managing to drag a hand up to try and wipe away at least a bit of the tears so he can look for his brothers.
Red’s breathing stuttered to a halt as alarm struck him like lightning, even though the world still looked fuzzy he was pretty sure he was seeing things. He didn’t recognize where he was. Where were the grey-green stone walls of the Four Sword Sanctuary? Why was he in a forest of pointy looking trees?
Red lifted his head a little to call out again, "Guys…?" a bit louder this time, while he forced himself to uncurl, wincing and struggling against the urge to curl up and throw up once again. Sniffling furiously as he tried to take stock of himself, he raised a hand to rest on his chest, where the pain seemed to be coming from. What was going on?
The realization hit like an anvil hammer, that it's a deep soul pain. A Soul Ache. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and forced himself to sit up slowly. Something is very wrong if I can feel this… If I'm hurting… They're hurting too.
Biting his lip to try to keep the worst of his pained cries in, Red wiped his eyes before blinking them open, hopeful. He looked around slowly, and disappointment crushed his faint hope as he clutched his tunic above his heart painfully, a fresh round of hiccups, subs, and blurry vision coming to life as he found his surrounding area empty of his brother's figures.
Desperate he called out waveringly, "Green? Blue? Vio? Dot? Where… Where are you guys?!" He wiped his running nose with his sleeve, sniffling as he tried to keep himself from reaching hysterics, "Guys?… Where are you?!!" He was gasping for air as he looked around wildly.
As he whipped his head back-and-forth, he realized something else was off. It came to him slowly, like a nagging feeling of ‘wrong’, but it took time to get to the surface through everything, but he froze as it came to the surface in his mind. Why does my back feel so light?
Still sniffling furiously through his hiccups, he blindly reached for his sword, sitting ramrod straight as he couldn't feel it . It's not there.
Both hands flew to his back, finding his scabbard there, but the red Four Sword was not. Quickly pulling it off his back, he stared at it in shock. It's his scabbard all right, but it's empty. He can't even feel the sword nearby. It's missing.… Just like his brothers.
Something in broke Red as the realization hit like a landslide. It's not some sort of prank, joke, or trickery. Red was alone . Completely alone. He can feel it. It's been pounding in his chest since he woke up. His fourth of Link’s soul had been crying out in a painfully deep Soul Ache. It wasn't meant to be so violently broken.
Someone broke them. Painfully. On purpose.
Vision blurred all over again as the realization sank it's icy claws deeper into him, while Red clutched his empty scabbard to his empty feeling chest and cried out loud into the void, pain fully consuming him again.
He's alone in this forest so far from his brothers, that he can't even feel them or even the ever present pull of their parts of the shared soul, and he knows they are hurting as well.
Red wasn’t sure what hurt more, the pain of his own fractured soul fragment, or the pain in his heart that his brothers are alone and he can't help them with their own pain.
Red had been walking for a few days now, Fire Rod pointed at every shadow and strange noise, trying desperately to keep from breaking down from the hammering pain in his chest. The absence of his brothers and his sword, was mixed with the yawning open chasm inside that beat louder than his pounding heart, and it was more painful than getting burned by his own Fire Rod. Red… Red didn't know what to do. All that he did know, was that he had to find them. No matter what, no matter how.
H-He would find them, make them feel better, and then go and beat up whatever did this to them together! Blue would ruffle his hair, boast a bit, and grin dangerously at the threat to their family, then go beat it up! Vio would ask him questions with poorly hidden worry in his eyes, do some investigating, and work out a great plan! Green would let him hug him as long as he needed, scold Blue for being in such a hurry, and work with Vio to make the best plan!
They would make this new weird villain regret hurting them!
Red had to blink furiously again though, sniffling, as his distracting thoughts brought on a fresh onslaught of pain and tears, forcing him to stop walking to wipe his face and nose once more.
He really hated being alone…
A few weeks of scavenging and restless sleep, Red broke out of the forest, a great wide open plane greeting him. It looked… off . Kinda like the forest. The off-ness has been slowly noticed– he had other things on his mind after all– but now he could see it. It was the middle of summer here, it was really warm too, but the grass looked…sick. Still growing, but sick. No, not just sick. Almost like… like it was dying.
It was painful to see, even if he didn't really like this place– he was separated from his loved ones here after all- he couldn't help but feel bad for the land. He could almost feel himself tearing up at the sorry state of the land.
I want to go home really really badly… I don't like being this alone… But I think I want to help this place too. It needs help. He looked up, noticed some mountains in the distance, and looked around as he saw more sick looking land. I have no idea how to get home anyways… So maybe I can do both? Can I do both alone? Trying is better than doing nothing though…
Blue came to suddenly, a panied yell breaking free of his lips as he bolted upright, and the sound of birds squawking in offence ringing in his ears. Before he could even register what he was seeing and hearing, he collapsed back onto something hard and soft, sharp pain flooding his body starting in his chest. The light brown and blue that he was seeing instantly blurred before he could register it, tears- fucking tears – flowing down his face in response to the intense pain he suddenly himself in.
A pain cry– almost a sob, but not quite, that was Red’s thing- stuttered free of him as he curled up upon the… sand? The thoughts on where he was were violently shoved to the side as he reacted to all the pain he found himself in, pulling harshly at his clothes to just get them off!! Everything hurt so much! Everything was too hot, too cold, too loud, too bright, too, too… too…much! With shaking hands and blurry vision, Blue wrenched himself upward, swaying as he yanked his clothes off, fearing what he would or wouldn't, fine under the layers.
Even with his uncontrollable tears- and sniffles to now- blocking his sight somewhat, he still couldn't see anything strange. But… but it hurt so much! Something had to be wrong!
Still, just a few old and familiar scars littered his exposed torso, chest heaving, and the feeling of hot tears running down his body. Nothing else, except for the deep, soul wrenching pain in his chest, as if… as if his body was trying to crack itself open.
Crack open and widen the deep chasm of pain, as if that would provide some relief.
It wouldn't. He could just tell. He knew.
There had to be something he could do! Anything!
Furiously wiping his bare arms- gross- over his face, he hunched over into himself, and did the one thing he could. Look for his brothers. Maybe they had answers? Were they also in pain?
Blinking, Blue found… Nothing. Not another fucking soul.
It's just…a beach.
Gasping as he was suddenly assaulted with a fresh round of pain, Blue barely held in a yell of pain and frustration as he pressed his hands against his aching and pounding chest. What the hell is happening to me!!??
Where the hell was he? Or better yet… where are his brothers?
Blue had been on the island for not even three days, and he was beyond ready to get off of it. He was pissed, and alone. He was pissed, and in pain. He was pissed, swordless. Did he say pissed? No, Blue was livid.
Beyond the fact of being alone also brought up bad memories (ice cold mountains. That damnable Wizzrobe. So, so, so much ice.), he was stuck on a tiny island with endless amounts of seagulls. Annoying seagulls. If he had his sword, many more of them would be dead by now.
Wasn't that just fucking amazing as well! He had a scabbard, but no sword. Only his hammer. What had happened? Did something like this also happen to his brothers?
Blue grit his teeth as he forced himself to exhale slowly as that soul deep ache in his chest flared up once again at the thought of what he had lost.
Which bright Blue to a dilemma. To make the pain stop- or go away somewhat– he had to stop thinking about his brothers. But… he couldn’t do that. The hot headed Four Sword wielder refused to do that. To stop thinking of them. They were everything to each other, a family, and a part of one another.
To do that sort of thing… That would be like letting his pride get to his head again, something that got him into heaps of trouble. It was something he couldn't let himself do again. There wasn't anybody around to save his stupid ass this time. He had to keep it level enough head- or try to– to be able to save his own neck. And try to find a way home. Somehow, he woul-
CRUNCH!!
Blue stopped, midstep, jolted from his thoughts by stepping on something that felt like an egg beneath his foot. Frowning, he pulled his foot back to see nothing? No, wait, there was something there, but it was almost invisible?
It looked… kind of like a cross between thin flat stones and steel filings… But… translucent? Was that the word for it? Nothing moved though, so it was probably nothing? Confused, Blue stepped over the area, looking at it from different angles, but still nothing. Shrugging, he just continued on, but made sure to watch his footing a bit more.
Although… if it was nothing… Why did he suddenly feel like he was being watched?
Vio awoke slowly, able to feel himself shaking, but unable to move. Something that was terrifying, especially since his body- starting and rippling from his chest- felt like every nerve ending was on fire. Never before had Vio felt so much pain at once.
He could feel his throat quiver, the need to yell seizing him, but unable to do more than lay there as pain wrecked his body. And the tears? Tears... it made sense that his body had found an outlet to release some sort of pain response.
Vio could hardly think, the pain was so intense, although it marginally eased after a while, he still couldn't move. It passively crossed his mind that the pain was only so intense due to his paralysis, but there was nothing he could do about it. Hopefully, either the pain or the paralysis would end soon so he could get some reprieve to figure out the other problem.
Hopefully.
It was the paralysis that ended first. Slowly and painfully, but end it did. Bit by bit, Vio was regaining the ability to move his body, the shaking and tension letting up at the same time. The sensation of fire along his nerves and in his blood abated with it, and though he could open his eyes, he didn't dare, for the sake of not aggravating… whatever could be going on.
As he slowly came back to himself, hands clenching partially and unclenching, Vio came to an important realization. Where were his brothers? Why hadn’t they tried to help him yet? Were they in the same state as himself?
The cold bolt dread that came with those thoughts was nothing compared to the fresh wave of pain that left Vio wheezing for air, eyes flying open in shock. Dazed and shaking anew, Vio strained against his partially mobile body, the desire to curl up overwhelmingly strong. Stronger than his desire to stay as still as possible.
He managed to flop onto his side after a few tries, arm flopping over with the motion. He crunched himself together halfway, fingers digging into the dirt feebly trying to alleviate some of the pain.
Wait… dirt…
Shouldn't… shouldn't he be feeling stone? The Sanctuary was covered in stone… not dirt and grass… What was going on? Forcing himself to focus past the pain and focusing his gaze, he found himself in a very very different location than he should be.
As a matter of fact, he didn’t even remotely recognize the surroundings.
Confused and concerned, Vio forced his mostly functioning body upwards- he was still shaking, his chest pounding unfortunately- into a sitting position, and looked around. He was in a fairly dense forest with moderate vegetation, and he could hear birds chirping in the distance, but the fact remains that it was all unfamiliar to Vio.
Where was he?
Taking a deep breath and holding it before releasing, Vio repeated this a few times to calm his racing thoughts. He closed his eyes to remove the distractions, and started to take in what he could. I need to stay calm. There is no need to freak out or ask useless questions. I should take some time to take stock of what I do know, and then start asking questions. Best not to get ahead of myself, and take it slow. No need to be in a rush.
Shaking and pounding ache nearly subsided and body mobile once more, Vio opened his eyes and slowly looked all around himself. I am an unknown forest in an unknown location, with no recollection as to how I arrived here. It also appears to be around mid morning, which implies that I have been unconscious for a while, as it was mid day when we arrived in the sanctuary.
In his observations, he noticed something else that left him frowning with worry. I'm alone? That is rather concerning. I don't see a single trace of my brothers anywhere…
His eyes widened as a fresh and sharp wave a pain rammed its way through his chest, leaving him inhaling sharply all over again as he bent over into himself, forehead nearly touching his knees as a clutched at his tunic above his heart. This pain… it's the same from when I first woke up! But, why now? What triggered it? Goddesses above it hurts…
Forcing himself to take deep even breaths, Vio rubbed at his aching chest, quickly coming to the conclusion but it wasn't a physical wound. It was something… deeper. Something vaguely… familiar. His expression blanked as he realized why, leaving regret, fear, and grief to swirl deep within him.
This feels like… the pain from when I betrayed my brothers… He grimaced at the thought of his brothers which brought on a fresh round pain, the trigger clear as day now. It’s worse than before. We had discussed it before… the discordant soul feedback, or ‘Soul Ache,’ as Red dubbed it. The negative consequence from doing something so inherently wrong as betraying oneself. Something that I, for the first time, felt stronger than the three of them.
Vio frowned. How, just how, is it back? As well as worse for that matter? We were all in agreement and the sanctuary, to draw the sword- regardless of the consequences- to defend Hyrule, after choosing to leave the sword behind to begin with. It wasn't needed any longer, even as we wished to some extent to keep it and use it for ourselves.
His gaze narrowed as he raked over his memory. That attack wasn’t aimed for Dot. It was aimed at Link. We were the target… probably? Link wasn't really looking at the attack, but from what I can recall the trajectory, it seemed to be headed for us. Or maybe, the Four Sword? That is all I remember though… and the feeling of the sword’s magic. All four of us were pulling for it, yearning for it.
The purple clad smithy closed his eyes with a sigh. Sitting up straighter despite the pain, he reached for his sword, fingers meeting nothing but air, as he had a feeling they would. They never actually drew the sword from the pedestal after all, not completely, at least.
But clearly it was enough to activate the magic in the blade before the dark mage must have gotten them. It explained the ‘Soul Ache,’ from them being wrenched apart so forcefully. What it didn’t explain was how he ended up completely alone in this foreign location. Vio would worry about that part later. His brothers could take care of themselves just fine. They had done so before, they could do so again.
Instead, Vio opened his eyes and looked skyward with a thoughtful frown.
They should have listened to me back then. But… I was outvoted.
We shouldn’t have returned the Four Sword so soon.