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An imposing cold stone entrance loomed over The Chain, ornate carvings of ancient Hylian symbols filled the doorway. Decor consisting of reliefs of skulls and alchemical symbols that looked eerily familiar to Four. Legend growled low “Goddess damn it… this damn place again.” Warriors turned away from studying the carvings on the thick stone doorframe, facing the sour faced veteran, “You know this place? Any words of wisdom before we go in?” Legend scoffed and kicked at the dry dirt path, “Bah… seeing it in any form is a sight too soon…” he gave an unreadable glance towards Four before sighing heavily, “It’s called the Palace of the Four Sword, it should be clear now but…” Four felt a spike of panic flood his body, rooting him to the ground, wordlessly reaching out for his partner’s hand. Wind quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Time squinted in thought, an uneasiness was spreading quickly through his men, “Legend, do you know if this place has any connection to the Four Sword itself?” To Four himself went unspoken. Legend simply took off his hat, brushing back sweat filled bangs with a sound of consternation, before replying, “I don’t know… there wasn’t one single sword but four different ones, but the ghosts… they looked like…” he trailed off, the message was clear and Four stared hard into the ground willing himself to disappear back to the safety of their home by the Southern Great Sea. Wind spoke up in defense of his anxious partner, "Do we have to go in? Maybe the nightmares are just… I don’t know, echoes from when the worlds merged? What if this place isn’t the source? It could just be some leftover bad magic, right? Why risk it if we don’t have to?” Time frowned, his one clear blue eye scanning each of the faces of the men he’d grown so close to… so protective of, before turning his gaze to the mossy and ancient looking structure, appearing dark and foreboding despite the midday sun shining down through the forest canopy. Time’s sense of protectiveness could only war so much against his sense of duty… they all knew it. His heart felt heavy, “The structure described in the letter matches this place too well to ignore. I know how much I’m asking of you, but if this dark energy is hurting the people of Hyrule, we can’t turn back now. I won’t risk anyone’s safety… yours or theirs. Stay sharp, boys. We’ll get through this together.” I’m so sorry Four floated in his thoughts as he caught Four attempting to look less anxious. Hopefully this would be quick, in and out. 

The palace was dimly lit inside, soft light from hanging lanterns was dancing against gray walls and mosaic tile flooring, all embossed with familiar symbols of the Triforce and ancient writings. The sheer silence in such an ancient and foreboding place was unnerving, only broken by the occasional creak of shifting stone or swinging chain. The men slowly filed into the main hall, the grand room felt empty save for a massive emblem above a huge pointed archway, clearly gleaming in the fragmented light, four swords arranged into a cross, each hilt decorated with the elemental symbols on Four’s tunic, carved in gold, corresponding with a pommel filled with a glittering gemstone in one of the four colors. Ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, and finally tanzanite purple. Four felt as though a magnetic force was drawing him to the majestic display. To marvel in its glow… He felt so small and yet, here were HIS colors, his own symbols that he’d carefully embroidered into his tunic, that he’d taken on the day he was split apart by the Four sword. And to know that they weren’t even originally from his era… “Four?” He heard Wind’s voice behind him, perhaps urging him to follow the rest of the group. He shook his head, thoughts back to the present, right… nightmares, The Chain… he needed… he needed to help his teammates. He couldn’t help but cast one more longing glance at the emblem before following his brothers in arms down the narrow labyrinthian hallways.

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Wind felt chillingly cold fear grip at his chest as he watched Four almost mindlessly walk towards the crest of four swords that hung prominently in the main hall. He knew he wasn’t the only one worried, each Link now seemed dead set on keeping Four in their peripheral, if not altogether surrounding him as inconspicuously as the narrow halls would allow, especially Legend. The whole group seemed hyper vigilant… could they even fight like this? He supposed they’d have to cross that bridge when they got there. Four was a perfectly competent fighter… but his partner’s attention seemed… anywhere but here, and he didn’t like the way the colors inside Four’s irises swirled, normally so beautiful but… something seemed wrong . Still Four gently squeezed his hand back when he reached out so… he’d have to believe it was okay. 

The Chain entered another grand hall, this time with a dais in the middle. Everyone pulled to a sudden stop, Legend sputtered in alarm, “ That wasn’t there the last time… there’s supposed to be four of them!” There in the middle of the dais, a beam of light illuminating it from the cracked window from above, was the Four Sword, not four different swords but… one. Its multicolored pommel shone at the crest of its golden hilt. Most of them had only ever seen the replica and yet here seemed to be the real deal, singing with a hollow ethereal magic that seemed to ring in everyone’s ears. It only took a moment, a single breath of time, but by the time anyone had properly noticed, Four had nearly cleared the distance like a man dying of thirst seeing an oasis for the first time. Wind felt his feet moving before his brain could catch up, Four’s outstretched hand had already begun to lightly touch the gold and in a desperate bid to stop the inevitable, Wind grasped at the edge of his partner’s cloak expecting to be able to pull back on the fabric and prevent Four from pulling the sword from its plinth. 

A blinding light, brighter than the sun on a clear sea, forced Wind to squeeze his eyes shut as searing heat surged around him. The high-pitched magic, louder than cannon fire, shook him to his very core, forcing his fingers into his ears. By the time he found himself lying sideways in a dark room, it felt as though his whole body had been chewed up and spat out. The smooth stone beneath him was cool to the touch but his eyes had trouble adjusting to the dim light. Flashes of color and light danced across his vision as he tried to make sense of what just happened. The unnerving sound of tiny nails against the stone seemed a bit too close for comfort as he fully opened his eyes, there was a… minish? Wait, why could he see a minish? He wasn’t even magically shrunk down, was he? He sat up, patting himself as if to confirm he was indeed full sized. Where was he? He cast a glance around as he tried to orient himself. The room he found himself in was rather plain, a stark contrast to the ornate carvings and decor of the grand room he’d just been in. Simple stone walls and flooring better resembled a prison cell than anything else. The light filtering under the rough hewn door was the only real illumination in the whole room. Which incidentally was where the only other living thing, the little minish creature, slipped underneath. “Hey wait!” He called to it but it was no use, the little thing had already skittered away before he could get his bearings. 

Wind sighed before crawling over to the doorway and trying to peek underneath. He couldn’t make out much though, the narrow gap provided very little in terms of visibility. Sighing once more, he gingerly tested the knob… it twisted easily, unlocked… good. At least now he knew he wasn’t trapped here. Reaching for his trusty sword, he slowly opened the door and was greeted by a rather dull looking hallway; he’d seen more than his fair share of castle halls that looked just like this one, stone stone, and more… stone. Still, he couldn’t be too careful, dungeons, no matter how plain, were almost always armed to the teeth with traps, and while he assumed he was still in the Palace, that didn’t mean that Legend had managed to deactivate all of them. He just hoped the others were alright. By Zephos, he hoped Four was alright.

He made his way down the hall slowly and quietly, passing by murals worn away by time, unreadable and dusty… he didn’t really want to stop for too long to decipher them but… the way the flickering light of the lanterns made his shadow dance against the chipped and peeling paint… it made him feel… uneasy. Like the disfigured subjects were judging him… glaring at him as if it were entirely his fault for being here. As if broken images of the triforce and such could actually stare at him… or well… he thought it was the triforce… it didn’t quite look right but it couldn’t be anything else, right? Right.

He forced himself to take as deep a breath as the dusty dour place would allow. It’d do him no good to sneeze from a damn cobweb on the off chance that there were monsters still lurking around, feelings of anxiety be damned. Maybe he could find clues to the source of the nightmares down here, up here? He wasn’t sure about the where… but he’d have to trust that his boyfriend and brothers in arms were also in this place and looking for him. Then he heard it… it was really soft and hard to make out at first but… crying? He carefully rounded a corner and saw a door ajar, a warm light coming from within. The sound of quiet sobs echoed and bounced off the cold stone and was difficult to pinpoint but it seemed to be coming from the room beyond the door. The voice sounded young, what would a child be doing here? Wind glanced around, this seemed almost too easy… a trap perhaps? Looking further down the hall, away from the door, he saw tons of other rooms but no other open doorways. Trap or puzzle? Wind wilted under the realization that sometimes there really wasn't much of a difference… 

Pressing his back to the wall he inched closer to the sound… the soft hiccuping cry grew a little louder, bit by bit, as he drew nearer to the doorframe. The sight that greeted him as he peeked into the doorway left him feeling an odd mix of confusion and dread. His stomach twisted in a way that he didn’t fully understand. The room was aglow with an unnaturally red light, everything seemed to be a shade of the color… in the corner he could see a… crib? Empty, save for a little bunny plush pressed against the bars as though trying to get out; around its little neck, shimmering in the crimson glow, was what looked like some sort of collar, golden chain and bright red rubies… Oh, he didn’t like this one bit… he pressed on the door; it swung open smoothly, the sound of crying fell still. The air almost seemed to be sucked out of the room with the sudden silence. As soon as he stepped across the threshold he felt a heaviness sitting in his chest… you don’t belong here… rang in his head.

Wind approached the crib with a reverent carefulness, gently picking the little plush rabbit up. Looking at its sad face made him feel some sense of loss that he couldn’t place… There was something familiar in those soulful button eyes. He held the bunny close to his chest, cradling it like a little lost child. He was startled from his repose by a small voice, “That’s… n… not yours.” The stuttering, shaking voice caused him to whip around in surprise, facing… “Four?” Wind remarked in shock as the very image of his partner stood in the corner opposite him, pointing a fire rod at him with wide amber eyes, his face a conflicted blend of fear and determination. Wind went to step forward, trying to reassure his partner that it was just him… but the shivering man simply barked, “D…don’t move… or I’ll… I’ll light this whole place up.” There was no recognition in Four’s eyes… only a disquiet tension threatening to overflow in the form of tears. Wind instinctively stepped back, raising his hands aloft to show he meant no harm. The bunny plush held above his head as he tried in vain to get his best friend to understand it was him… “Please… Four… it’s… it’s me… please… . ” He pleaded to no avail as the man’s eyes squinted in righteous anger, stating “I… I don’t care who you are… just… just put Bun Bun down and I won’t have to hurt you.” Bun bun? Wind thought, but that was the name of Four’s childhood plush, the one he kept by his bed and sometimes reached for when he was really upset… Wind slowly lowered his hands, looking at the plush in his grip. The plush looked far too clean and new , but it DID look an awful lot like Four’s Bun Bun… What was it doing here? What had the magic burst done to him and Four? Either way, the man who looked like his boyfriend seemed very intent on setting him ablaze if he didn’t surrender the plush. So, he slowly and very carefully placed the bunny on the floor, backing into the crib railing as he did so. 

It was only as ‘Four’ darted forwards to grasp the bunny that Wind noticed his tunic wasn’t four different colors but one, bright fire red, the same color that surrounded them in the room. He didn’t get much chance to think about it though, for as soon as the bunny was securely in his partner’s arms, did a soft sob turn to a scream of pain. A flash of flames burst upwards, licking up the man’s clothing and hair… causing him to collapse to the ground, all the while still clinging desperately to the bunny in his arms. At this horrific sight, Wind froze… unable to look away as he watched the love of his life be swallowed by the flames, to be reduced to nothing but a pile of ash, atop of which sat, what he now recognized as, a ruby studded bracelet that he’d first noticed around the little plush’s neck. Oh… oh sweet merciful Goddesses… a cold sick feeling flooded him from head to toe. Wind felt his limbs quivering, knocking him to the ground, causing him to crawl weakly towards the small pile and shakily pluck the bracelet from the top. 

On his knees, he stared listlessly at the thing in his palm. The warm fire magic made his hand tingle a bit. Was this… was this his own version of the twisted, malevolent Dark World? Some sort of Divine punishment for not being fast enough to stop Four from touching the sword? Red… red … the room was suffocatingly red . He needed to get out of here. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled back out in the hallway, the door behind him snapping shut and the one across the way creaking open… a rush of icy air chilling him. He really, really didn’t want to do this… and he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t like what he saw in the next room either.

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The Chain had all but been completely knocked back by the blast of magical energy that exploded from the dais. The feeling of powerlessness was quickly amplified by the horrifying image that burned into their eyes as the light slowly faded out. There, on the steps of that accursed dais was what appeared to be Four and Wind, frozen in place, seemingly carved from the stone itself. “FUCK!” Legend screeched in agony, echoing the group’s sentiments… Sky went to rush forward but Time caught him by the cloak and sternly ordered “Don’t… whatever turned them… it could still affect us if we were to touch them.” Someone whimpered in grief… Just as Time turned to address his men, the ground began to rumble beneath them, the quaking causing sections of stone to crumble revealing many coffins. The redeads and stalfos that had lied within those boxes reanimated, encircling the Chain, forcing the men to draw their weapons and leap into battle. Time shouted out over the ear piercing screams of angry redeads, “Protect them!”. Who to protect wasn’t questioned as each Link went to slash or shoot at the horde, desperately trying to keep the foes away from the center of the room. Hyrule’s and Legend’s magic blasted away at the corpses, while Sky shot blasts from his Master Sword. The clashing of steel deep into bone echoed in and around the room as Time and Warriors pushed the assault forwards, driving the enemies back towards the outer walls. All the while Wild took the openings as an opportunity to plunge arrows of ice and fire into the eyes and bellies of the undead’s rotten and bloated flesh. That then left Twilight, in the form of Wolfie biting and charging the monsters into the path of oncoming blows. One by one the animated dead fell to the earth, bones clattering across the floor and disgusting flesh melting into puddles of bloody red gelatinous clumps. The scene and smell was enough to make even the Vet gag a bit as the adrenaline started to wear off… the last of the foes downed by a particularly zealous Sky, the bright blue glow of the Master Sword finally fading to reveal it was safe once more. 

Sky turned to look over each of his brothers, “Is everyone okay? Injuries?” he inquired as each man did their best to catch their breath and do a routine body check. “One of the bastards bit me before Wild sunk an arrow in its head” Legend shook his arm as Hyrule gave him a once over and examined the wound. Wild raised his hand and revealed a burn on his hand, a result of a mishap with a fire arrow mid shot, he explained. Time nodded and asked “Any one else? Hyrule, do you need any magical supplementation?” The others shook their heads while Hyrule took his time between each Link, just to double check, “I’m fine Time. Thank you though.” he politely answered while healing Wild’s burn. 

Quelling the immediate danger now left the room feeling hauntingly empty. Legend’s voice had an undercurrent of grief to it as he questioned, “What do we do now?” All attention was drawn once more to the pair of what everyone hoped and prayed were just… statues… Time looked conflicted, almost lost, he couldn’t just leave Four and Wind to their fates… and yet, he had no way to fix them. If they even could be fixed… “I don’t… know…” came out quiet and yet it fell on the ears of each man. Warriors broke the heavy and solemn silence with delicate optimism, “Come on men, every temple has a solution, even if it isn’t immediately obvious.” The statement rekindled a tentative feeling of hope in the remaining Chain. But, there was still the issue of not wanting to leave Four and Wind’s… statues… vulnerable in case of further attack. It wasn’t an option Time wanted to consider, but it might be the only way to bring all of them back from this. So he made an executive decision, one he hoped wouldn’t haunt him later, “We’ll split up… Hyrule, Sky, Wild, you three will stay here. Warriors, Twilight, Legend… we’ll search for some sort of solution. Since this is a dungeon you’ve gone through before, Legend, you’re in the lead.” Legend squared his shoulders and nodded with grim resolve, “Let’s go then.” 

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Wind entered the open door, fully expecting it to be a simple room like that last one had been, however what greeted him instead was a narrow cavern of ice, crystalline patterns carved into light blue walls. His fingers traced the shapes and swirls, trying in vain to understand them, a chill ran through him. Reluctantly he realized he’d have to wear the fire jewelry in order to progress… he put the macabre bracelet around his wrist, a bit of ash falling from between the chain links, he shivered once more, this time it wasn’t from the cold.

A voice, angry in tone, caught his attention as he cautiously made his way deeper into the narrow passageway. The fire magic kept him warm as the air around him seemed to grow icier, his breath becoming visible as puffs of mist. The voice grew louder, and though mumbled and disjointed, sounded familiar… The recognition caused the knots in his stomach and throat to thicken, nausea and choking breath fighting for his attention as he withdrew his blade. Please… please don’t make me fight him... Please…

As he crept ever nearer to the end of the passageway, it opened into what seemed to be a room. The voice now clearer and more disturbing, “They call you a hero… but which one of us can claim that stupid title anyways, hmm?” “Pathetic… we couldn’t even save ourselves. Now look at us, all the pretty little shattered pieces, pretending to be whole…” it hissed. Wind swallowed his grief down and peeked into the room proper. There, in front of a wall of ice that had been polished to a mirror finish, stood a blue clad ‘Four’ angrily spitting pure vitriol toward himself. His voice raising and lowering from near scream to poisoned whisper.

Wind knew he wouldn’t be able to sneak in behind the man as the entire wall seemed to reflect the other side. So with a steady breath in, he stood and walked into the room. As expected, the blue clad version of his partner noticed him right away. ‘Four’ whipped around with a snarl on his face, immediately dark blue eyes zeroed in on Wind’s ruby clad wrist. Anger wasn’t even the right word for the emotion that flashed dangerously hot in the copy of Four’s eyes. Yes, it had to be a copy, because Wind couldn’t bear to think of him as anything else as ‘Four’ bellowed “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!?” Pulling out a hammer and coming WAY too close to smashing Wind into smitereens. Wind leapt and rolled out of the way just as the weapon came crashing down leaving a small crater where he’d just been standing. He hardly had time to think “Who? Wait…” before he was desperately sprinting out of the way… he didn’t want to fight back at first. Copy or not… he still looked like Four and he was still shaken from the… other ‘Four’ incident. So he switched tactics, going from sword to boomerang, hoping to use it to knock the hammer out of his adversary’s hands. And, he had to give the copy credit, it fought with all the tenacity and power of the real Four. He was more than grateful that he knew his partner’s fighting style really really well… he knew Four’s moveset and saw it hadn’t even changed as the blue one charged over and over, seeming intent on boxing him into a corner. Wind faked another dodge to the right just in time to roll to the left under and out of the way of yet another swing. The hammer then crashed, full force, into the mirror-like surface of the wall… a huge spider web of cracks quickly spread throughout the ice. ‘Four’ screeched, “NO!” as the wall started to crumble and fall, rushing inexplicably toward the massive chunks of ice. And despite only moments ago trying to smash him to bits, Wind grabbed the man by his dark blue tunic and yanked him away from the falling debris. “No, no, NO! Red! Green! Vio! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” The man flailed in Wind’s arms, crying and punching at him in fevered desperation… oddly weak in the face of the devastation caused by his hammer blows. Wind felt the ‘copy’ growing unusually cold in his arms, he looked down to notice crystals of ice forming on the hairs of his arm. Letting go with a yelp, he watched helpless once more as the blue version of his partner slowly became engulfed in ice. Having fallen with his feet already frozen to the floor, the horrible sound of cracking ankle bones echoed off the frozen walls as the man screamed out, only to have his voice stolen from his very throat as the crystals quickly silenced him. Now left frozen solid, forever reaching out towards the broken wall, locked in a look of fear and agony.

A familiar, sickening pit of grief overwhelmed Wind, deepening as he watched the ice—and the eerily perfect copy of Four—begin to dissolve. His hands flung to his mouth in shock as, bit by bit, the man in the ice simply disappeared into a snow-like powder, sprinkling down onto the ground into a little white pile…and before long, that was all that was left. A pile of snow with a necklace of gold and sapphire resting in it. Eerily, all too similar to the pile of ash that had once been the “red copy”.

Wind just stared listlessly at the pile of snow, the sapphire amulet was the very same blue as the one in the pommel of the Four Sword… did that mean… he had to destroy two other versions of Four? He finally scooped the amulet up and dusted away the remainder of ice and snow clinging to the chain… trying not to think about what that ice had once been “it’s just a copy… it’s just a really really good copy…”

He exited the ice cavern with rushed steps, he didn’t want to stay in there any longer than he had to… for the sake of his sanity. Slipping the chain around his neck, under the assumption he might need it, he heard the snap of the door shutting behind him and the now expected creak of another door just down the hall a bit. There were only three doors left now… the other two colors and a boss room, he guessed. He didn't want to think about what or… who the final boss could be.

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Legend grit his teeth, a righteous anger sitting on his tongue, ready to spill into an endless stream of curses to whoever decided to toy with fate this time. The hall stretched out ominously, worn carpets and moth-eaten tapestries hinting at the grandeur that the Palace once held. It looked very much the same as he’d left it all those years ago… and he hated it. Hand squeezing the leather wrapped grip of his sword; he found himself glancing back over and over, a constant reassurance that yes Time, Twilight, and Wars were right behind him, no he hadn’t lost anyone else… yet.

Whispers of long dead voices brushed by his ears… cold… The charred bones of stalfos lay scattered right where he’d left them. Legend felt a knot deep in his stomach, flashes of battles he’d already won blending cruelly with the image of his brothers Four and Wind encapsulated in stone… The hallways felt too narrow, dark corners of cracked cobblestone hiding another enemy, another fight… no? Too quiet… where were all the enemies? Why were they even here? They never should have entered this Hylia forsaken place!

Time broke the suffocating silence, his calm voice sweeping away the cold panic that had started to seep into the cracks of Legend’s mind. “Legend, what room do you think we should check first?” Right, rooms… searching, they were searching for clues and trying to rescue their brothers. Legend tried to sneak in a deeper breath; he was the leader here… clearing his throat he focused on the men he was guiding through his past… “I reckon we should start up the stairs and work our way around the main hall, there are four sections, one for each color. If it were me, I’d start in the red quarter… the flooring might not be stable so best to get that done and over with.” he wondered if the helmasaur king’s remains were still there…

Warriors glanced around the room with a calculated look before speaking up “Do you think the puzzles are still active? Are there any specific tools that we’ll need to safely navigate the rooms?” Legend squinted in thought, a natural scowl settling in on his features before replying, “Eh, if anything? A hookshot if you have one. But the puzzles should already be cleared… just… watch where you step.” With any luck there’d be some deux ex machina that replaced the swords and was the key to getting everyone out… safe and sound. At least that’s what he hoped.