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He was the last one standing. They had landed in his own Hyrule and soon learned of the darkness that had begun to appear in the Skyview Temple. The moment they stepped foot into the temple, they had been ambushed by horde after horde of monsters. Initially, it had been going well. It was only when a lynel (from Wild’s Hyrule nonetheless!) materialized out of nowhere and cut through Four was when things began to go downhill.
Sky flashed a glare at the shadow, who mockingly laughed in response. The master sword was coated in infected blood, but its pristine light still shone through the dark. He had a broken arrow sticking out of his shoulder and definitely some bruised ribs from when Warriors got thrown into him, but nevertheless, he stood tall.
“Hylia’s chosen heroes…” Dark Link laughed, “You lot are the most pathetic heroes I’ve ever seen.” The shadow slowly walked towards the chosen hero, stepping over Wild’s unconscious body as if he were a mere pebble on the ground.
“We’re also the only heroes you’ve seen,” Sky quipped automatically. He wasn’t doing too well himself if he was being honest. But he refused to let the shadow see him falter. He was the only one standing between him and his fellow heroes, his brothers. If he fell now, their deaths would be on his hands.
As if them being here in the first place wasn’t your fault, to begin with. Sky shook his head. Now wasn’t the time for internal loathing. He charged forward, the master sword at the ready, only for Dark to send him flying backward with a ball of concentrated dark magic. Sky crashed a few steps away from where Time had been propped against the wall, still recovering from the wounds the gohma gave him earlier. Sky got to his feet, slightly dazed.
"I'll tell you what," the shadow boasted, "Yield and I might consider sparing your life. Master does have an interest in you after all." Alarm bells were ringing in Sky's head. Why would an incarnation of Ganondorf be interested in me? "He's been eager to face you for some reason but won't tell me why." Sky's breath hitched in his throat at Dark Link's implication. His master isn't Ganondorf. It's him. Stilling his spiralling thoughts, Sky regained his composure and glared at the shadow.
"And let my brothers die? Never."
“Then enjoy your final moments, hero of the sky,” Dark dragged his claymore against the ground. “Because after I kill the rest of them, I will take my sweet time ending your life.”
“No. If you want to touch them,” he gritted his teeth, “you have to get through me first.”
Such courage. And such power. A voice rang in Sky’s head. Allow me to help you, hero of the skies.
“Huh?” he mumbled. He glanced around for the source of the voice, only for him to lock eyes with Time’s bag.
Use me. I won’t corrupt you if that’s your fear. We shall defend our brethren together. Sky’s eyes went wide with realization as to who exactly was talking to him. He dug through Time’s bag and pulled out a mask that matched the markings on Time’s face. His gaze was torn away from the mask as Hyrule cried out in pain. Dark Link was standing over him, his boot crushing the traveler’s hand and his sword raised above him, poised to strike him in the heart. Hyrule, despite him nearly bleeding out, still tried to move away from the shadow.
Sky put on the mask without a second thought.
Pain exploded through his body for a mere minute before he felt pure, unadulterated power surge through him. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed the dungeon room and had kicked Dark Link into the wall. Hyrule sat up and looked at Sky with a mix of confusion and horror. Gone were the sleepy blue eyes the traveler was so accustomed to seeing. Instead in their place was a pair of soulless white voids. His face was twisted into an angry frown that sent shivers down Hyrule's (definitely bruised) spine. His loftwing cloak changed into a long white cape, hylias emblem embroidered on the back of it. However, the most notable change was the master sword itself. It had grown in size and the magic radiating off of it was almost palpable.
“Get them out of here. We shall take care of this,” Sky ordered, two voices overlapped as one. He didn’t stick around for Hyrule to respond, instead, walking over to where Dark Link was staggering to his feet. He grabbed him by the scruff of his tunic and threw him back into the hole the shadow just crawled out of.
“I do believe I said, if you want to hurt them, you will have to go through me.”
“You think you’re so bad because you’ve put on the Old Man’s mask well guess what,” the shadow sneered, climbing out a second time. “You’re just the same old hero, just as pathetic and weak as the rest of them.” Dark switched his claymore for a broadsword and locked blades with the chosen hero.
“Are you certain of that, shadow?” Sky smirked at him. The master sword sang as Sky sliced through the shadow’s arms like they were made of butter. Dark howled in pain as black blood spilled from the wounds, making steaming puddles all over the ground. “I am merely giving the boy stamina. The power he is using to defeat you is entirely his own.”
“How?” Dark Link asked, his voice strained as his appendages grew back, “Nobody has that much raw power except for the gods themselves.” The familiar stench of ozone filled the room and Hyrule immediately caught onto what was happening. Deciding to question how it was happening later, the traveler used a quick wind spell to swiftly move everyone else’s weapons away from them and conjured a barrier around himself with the last of his magic.
“A god, you say?” The room echoed with Sky’s (just Sky’s) laughter, bordering on hysterical. “So what do you wager happens to that godly power when a god has passed on?”
“The gods can’t die,” Dark Link persisted, conjuring another wave of shadow magic to throw at Sky. “They can only be sealed.” Sky hummed to himself as he ducked, like a performer bowing at the end of a show. He hopped backward, putting some distance between himself and the shadow.
“They can’t die? Are you certain?”
“It’s never been done.” Dark Link’s right arm grew back just in time for him to raise his blade to parry what would have been a lethal blow from Sky. “Hylia never died, she gave up her immorality and chose reincarnation.”
“For a servant of the demon king, you’re quite uneducated, shadow.” Sky ducked Dark Link’s haphazardous strike and retaliated with slamming the hilt of his sword into the shadow’s chest. “You speak of Her Grace but not of your own master.”
“Ganondorf doesn't count as a god. You know this,” Dark Link shot back, using the shadows around him to conjure copies of him. The copies all charged at Sky in tandem.
“And we both know that your master isn’t Ganondorf, you said so yourself. Plus, if he had the ability to transcend time, he would have killed us before we became heroes. But your master has no form. He is a mere spirit in any era outside of his own. Do you know why?” Lightning coursed through the master sword as the chosen hero raised it skyward.
“How... how do you know all of this?” Dark Link moved backwards, putting some distance between him and the chosen hero.
“Simple: I was the one that killed him.” Acting on muscle memory alone, he swung, the skyward strike hitting its target with deadly precision and illuminating the temple in a blinding white light.
“Are you awake, hero?”
Sky sat up and immediately reached for his sword, only to find it was missing. He scrambled to his feet and took in his surroundings. He was no longer in the temple and none of the other heroes were around, only adding to Sky’s alarm. A thick fog permeated through the air. Floating platforms that were interconnected by light were scattered around him. Then it hit him where exactly he had ended up.
“The silent realm…” he realized. However, instead of Faore’s tears being scattered about, a lone figure in a green tunic and a red cape sat atop one of the platforms smiling down at him.
“It’s wonderful to finally meet one of you face to face rather than face on face I suppose.” He hopped off the platform and was standing face to face with Sky.
“Your voice… Are you the spirit in Time’s mask?”
“I am. You know me as the Fierce Deity, but I’m actually the first of Hylia’s champions.” Sky looked at him, incredulous. “But you can refer to me as First if it’s more convenient.”
“You mean, there was a hero before me?” First nodded. “But the curse-” He held a hand up to stop Sky’s downward spiral in its tracks.
“When you donned my mask, I was made privy to your inner turmoil.” Sky went pale at First’s statement. “Fret not, I won’t be sharing it with anyone. But regardless, Demise was around long before he invaded the sky. If anything, the fault lies with me, for he mortally wounded me in one blow, before I could even strike him. You had to finish him off for me.”
“I see. But you managed to get everyone away to safety, which takes priority over Demise in my book.”
“I do believe I was trying to convince you that the curse was not your fault and yet here you are convincing me of the same,” First chuckled.
“Wait, how did we end up in the sky? And how come you reached out to me when you’ve been with Time all this time?”
“I would wager it’s because of Her Grace,” First had a wistful smile on his face. “It was her and I that gathered all the people on the plateau you now call Skyloft. I then channeled the magic of the three dragons through the goddess sword which Hylia used to raise everyone skyward. I would also imagine that it was our shared connection to her that allowed me to reach you specifically.”
“The others are also connected to my goddess,” Sky countered.
“But not the same way as you and I.” He gave Sky a knowing look, causing him to blush. “Regardless, I have something to ask of you when you regain consciousness, well, rather two things.”
“Name them.”
“Firstly, give the Hero of Time my apologies,” First bowed, “I never meant to hurt him the way I did. He donned the mask as a young boy and to make up for the lack of magic, I was forced to do something in exchange.”
“The markings?” First nodded in response. “Alright, I will pass on your apologies. What’s the second thing?”
“Very soon, the portals will drop you off in my Hyrule, or rather, what remains of it. I ask that you find me.” Sky’s eyes blew wide in excitement.
“You mean that you’re joining us?”
“Yes. Provided that I’m not dead by the time you all arrive.” First messed with the edges of his cape. “It’s likely I will be facing the remnants of Demise’s army or even the demon king himself when you arrive.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Sky said resolutely, “I swear it.” As if on cue, the fog around them began to swirl into a windstorm.
“Then I look forward to meeting you again, hero of the skies.” First held his hand out, smiling. Sky took the first hero’s hand just as the world went white.
“I think he’s coming to!” a voice exclaimed.
“Oh thank the goddess,” another one sighed in relief
“Easy boys, give him some space,” a third one ordered.
“Wha-?” Sky blearily opened his eyes to find himself in his old room, in Skyloft. Hyrule sat at the edge of the bed, a relieved expression on his face. Next to him was Wild, who was messing with his whip. Sky tried to sit up, just to get pushed back down by Time, who had been sitting nearby.
“You’ve been out for three whole days, take it easy.” Two days?! That was probably the longest he’s been out. What had he been doing?! Realization slammed into him like Groose did as they fell off of Skyloft.
“Dark, Is he-?”
“You got him,” Hyrule confirmed. “Even if he isn’t dead forever, it’s going to be a long time before he can come back.”
“Hyrule told me about the fight,” Wild spoke up, “Kinda sucks I missed it. It sounded so badass!”
“It wasn’t anything much, honestly,” Sky turned red from embarrassment.
“Striking a deal with the Fierce Deity is a feat within itself,” Time chimed in, “Please never do it again. I don’t think my heart could handle hearing that you did this again.”
“I can’t promise anything but I’ll avoid it if I have to,” Sky agreed. “But if it comes down to a situation like that again…” Time smiled and ruffled Sky’s hair.
“Then we’ll just have to be better prepared.”
“I’m more curious what you were talking about when you were fighting Dark,” Hyrule piped up. “You killed his master?”
“Wait, I said that?” Sky looked at the traveler in confusion, then his eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh. I did say that.”
“So this Ganondorf guy you all fought isn’t his master?” Wild asked. Sky shook his head.
“I kinda had a suspicion from the beginning because I didn't fight him either," he explained, "but then while we were fighting, he said his master was excited to face me again and I kinda pieced it together from that."
“You didn’t fight him?!” Hyrule gasped. Time looked at him in surprise.
“I didn’t want to tell you guys but I fought the original demon king, a god called Demise.” Sky continued, avoiding all eye contact.
“So that’s what you meant when you told Dark you’ve killed a god before,” Hyrule noted.
“But why not tell us? If anything, this just makes you more of a badass,” the champion chimed in.
“Because when I struck him down, he cursed Sun and I, and you all paid the price for it. Any time the spirit of the hero exists alongside the blood of the goddess, the incarnation of his hatred will follow them.” A beat of silence. Sky mentally braced himself for the chaos that was about to unfold, only to be embraced by Time.
“You protected your home and your people,” Time said with a gentle sternness, “I fail to see how Demise cursing you is your fault.”
“It’s kinda like blaming myself for catching on fire or something,” Wild agreed.
“Cub, you have caught yourself on fire before.” Wild opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out.
“Regardless,” Hyrule piped up, “even if he hadn't cursed you, there will always be someone or something causing chaos. And we would always step up to oppose them because in the end, that’s our nature, we’re heroes. And you, Sky, are probably one of the strongest heroes I’ve ever seen.” The chosen hero was as red as the potion sitting at his bedside.
“I think you broke him, Rule,” Wild stage whispered.
“No, it’s just- I was so worried that you all would hate me over this…”
“We could never hate you Sky,” Time smiled at him.
“Yeah, you’re stuck with us no matter what,” Wild playfully punched him in the shoulder.
“I’m glad to be stuck with you guys.” Sky said, the tension draining out of him. “Oh and, Time?”
“Yes?”
“How much would you believe me if I told you I met the spirit residing inside the mask?” Time’s singular eye went wide in bewilderment, but he quickly regained his composure. Wild and Hyrule exchanged looks.
“I’d say I'm a bit skeptical, but it wouldn't be the first I’ve heard of encountering a spirit. Did he tell you anything?” Sky nodded in response.
“He told me to tell you he’s sorry for the pain he put you through. There was a magic imbalance since you channeled his spirit at such a young age.”
“Alright…” Time answered uneasily, “I suppose I see where he’s coming from with this. Did he tell you anything else?”
“Yes. He told me the next portal will drop us in his Hyrule. He’s in danger, Time, and we have to go find him.”
“Awesome! Another hero!” Wild cheered.
“You missed the part where Sky said he’s in danger,” Hyrule piped up.
“No, I got that part…”
“You two go call the others. Looks like we’re going to be traveling soon,” Time said before returning his attention towards Sky. “So what should we be expecting?”