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Legend glared at the island.
Nobody was comfortable being this close to it, least of all him. It had hurt him, hurt his friend, and ripped him away from someone he’d truly loved. And now here he was, floating in a old ship directly next to it. Such irony.
He tightened his grip on the railing. Somewhere in those town streets and warm, friendly faces, Wind had lost himself. In a place Legend had once tentatively thought could be a home after his harrowing experiences, his little brother had been stamped out, all of that fierce fight and mischievous tricks pulled from his chest and replaced with this quiet, broken boy clutching a seashell to his chest.
Legend hated it. He wanted Wind to scare him again, to just barely wrap his grappling hook around the mast and swoop by, stealing Legend’s blue hat in the process. He would empty out the Chain’s collective wallets to get Wind back to the way he was before he was shredded away by the waves on a distant, heartless shore, and he knew the others would do the same.
Time coughed into his fist, and the rest of the Chain onboard turned to look at him. “Is this everyone?” the Hero asked politely.
“Hyrule’s looking after Wind,” Sky said pensively. “We can fill him in later. Right now, we need to get this plan down.”
Legend sighed, peeling his gaze back to the stupid egg on top of the stupid mountain. He hated that stupid fish and the stupid prison it had made Koholint out to be. “I certainly hope you guys know what you’re doing with this fight, because last time I was here, all I did was wake him up. Barely even saw him.”
A series of “ums” and “ahs” and awkward laughs rang out behind him, and Legend turned to face them, irritated. “Was I expected to be the one who carried this? Seriously?”
“You’re the only one with experience here, Legend,” Time pointed out, logically, just like always, and it made Legend want to scream. But that wouldn’t be productive. He had to focus on their gameplan - beat the stupid fish and hopefully have Wind snap out of it. At least it’d be satisfying.
Legend glanced at the island thoughtfully. “I know a way we can get up to just below the egg, and I’ve got the instruments to open it. I’m just not sure of… well, anything beyond that.”
Sky bit his lip. “So we’re flying planless?”
“Unfortunately,” Legend sighed. “We could try cracking the egg, but I doubt that would have the desired effect. This thing isn’t natural.”
Warriors rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder why this Wind Fish was so interested in Wind in the first place.”
Now that was a topic no one had thought about. Why did the Wind Fish snatch Wind away? Somehow, Legend doubted it was about the whole similar names thing. Nothing was ever that easy.
Then, he heard something.
A faint squelching noise, becoming slightly louder. Legend scowled cautiously. “You guys hear that?”
Twilight’s face went blank. “I don’t hear anything.”
“You listened for like two seconds!” Sky scolded, and Twilight turned to shoot over a sharp retort, but Time was already gently intervening.
Wild’s eyes locked with Legend’s, fraught with worry. He could hear it too.
“So you’re wondering why that little brat is among the Ocean King’s chosen, hm?”
Wild stiffened. Twilight, Sky, and Time glanced around, faces masks of confusion. Warriors slowly set a hand on his sword. Four’s eyes narrowed, burning with confusion.
Then all of a sudden, there was this huge black blur, and Legend felt something long and sticky slapping around his arms, his legs, his chest, restricting his movement and dragging him back, closer to the railing.
With a shout of alarm, he wrestled against the odd bindings—no, tentacles. These were tentacles. Some sea creature he’d never met before was trying to drag him overboard.
Time’s Biggoron blade slashed down against the tentacles, but it slid off them and more just filled in the slithering blanket. He pulled back, looking like he wasn’t sure whether to be concerned or panicked. “Okay, so we need a special blade to conquer this… thing. Doesn’t seem like more run-of-the-mill swords will work.”
“GREAT!” Legend screeched. “That’s just perfect! What magic blade do we-need…?”
A faint whisper sounded off in his mind, a warm yet cold feeling gushing over his brain. He couldn’t quite place the voice yet, but it seemed friendly enough. Maybe it didn’t mean harm? It could be trying to help him out of his rather precarious situation-
No, Legend! Snap out of it! he reprimanded, shaking the fog out of his head. That slinking presence at the back of his mind reached out again, this time much stronger, and it took Legend all his willpower not to give in. He would not go under.
Then a faint, familiar voice reached his ears, one Legend had to strain to hear, much to his dismay.
“LEGEND! Stay with me!” Twilight’s howl was there, echoing at the edge of his eardrums. Legend tried to muster up a response, but it was all he had to repress this thing trying to take his body from him. His breaths felt oddly ragged, air barely reaching his lungs. There was a certain detachment in his mind, like he was slowly being peeled away from himself, and a lethargic exhaustion washed over him.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Legend dropped his head to his chest, the desperate voices of the rest of the Chain reduced to a faint ringing in his ears. His mind was slow, and organizing a thought in a straight line felt like wading through maple syrup. It took a second to realize how relaxed his body had become, how he’d quit fighting on the outside. It took so much more effort than he would expect to muster up the willpower, but Legend began trying again, although his efforts were minuscule. It was almost as if he subconsciously didn’t want to move, as if he was comfortable in the position he was suspended in, and that terrified him.
He could not afford to lose this battle.
He could still feel it, though - the presence draping itself across his mind, reaching out, trying to seize control. It was growing stronger, and Legend knew he couldn’t hold out forever.
“Help…” he gritted out, his voice barely audible. A second terrifying yet comforting layer floated over his voice, stealing his inflection, his pronunciation, near silencing him. It was off, wrong, yet it sent a cozy sense of calm over Legend. He knew he should scream, but he was being buried in gentle, mindless warmth, his body slowly slipping from his control. He tried to muster up some fear, but nothing came up; there was only an overwhelming sense of relaxed, thoughtless apathy.
Then there was a sensation of something running through his memory. Something that was not him brushed up against his mind, sinking its fangs into his incredibly sluggish brain, and Legend knew he was done. He couldn’t fight it anymore - his strength was spent. Hopefully, the Chain would stop him before the thing taking him over hurt somebody.
I’m sorry, he thought plaintively, his own mental voice a faint echo within the prison of his skull.
…
……..
……………..
“…gend! Legend! Can you hear me?!”
Who was shouting at him? He couldn’t place the voice, couldn’t see a person. All he was aware of was a blissfully quiet, cold void. This voice was tinny, echoing like it came from far, far away.
Hands grabbed his face, and a voice sternly said, “Legend. Wake up. Look at me. Can you hear me?”
Legend. That was—familiar? Right, but not? It was like he was drowning within the abyss of darkness. Swimming up was hard, but he still made an effort to concentrate on the voice, curiosity and faint traces of memory tugging him onwards, dragging open his eyelids.
Time.
He saw the face, and the name snapped into his head quick as a whip. What…? How could I forget Time? Goddess, my head hurts….
He slowly twitched his fingers, checking that each one worked in tandem, then pressed a hand against the side of his head, groaning. His memory was clicking back together, broken shards of a mirror knitting back together to provide a reflection of a person he knew very well.
“Legend.” Time grasped his free hand, eyes dark with worry. “Tell me your name.”
“You just said it,” he mumbled, his voice sounding unfamiliar, simultaneously too heavy and too light on his tongue.
Time’s face quirked up slightly with relief at Legend’s snark. “I said your nickname. What’s your real name?”
It took Legend a moment to call it to memory, a moment in which Time’s face again masked itself with concern, but he lifted his head, set his jaw, and through the honey coating his brain, confidently answered, “Link.”
Time’s face eased in relief. Not by much, but it was clear that Legend was passing some sort of test. “You’re a hundred percent certain? Nothing else nagging at you at all?”
“There’s only two names in my head,” Legend said, feeling more and more like himself as his mind came back to him, “and both of them are mine. This wasn’t like something trying to change who I was - it was more like possession. Something trying to—to take me over. Like my knights of Hyrule in my first adventure.”
As his vision sharpened, he realized that Time was not the only one leaning over him. Twilight was kneeling besides Time, eyebrows creased. Four was carding a comforting hand through his pink-stained hair, eyes gentle with concern. Sky was standing with his back turned to Legend, Master Sword in hand, eyes alight with an upset fire. Warriors stood beside him, sword also at the ready, incensed.
A faint sob reached Legend’s ears, and he looked over to see Wild, his arms wrapped around Legend’s shoulders, face buried in the latter’s tunic. Legend lowered the hand at his head down to brush comfortingly against Wild’s arm.
“I’m so sorry,” Wild whimpered. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“It’s not your fault,” Legend comforted. “You didn’t try to possess me. Don’t go apologizing for things you didn’t do, alright, Wild?”
His breath hitched. “All I could think about when you were going under was how scared you looked, a-and… I thought we might have to fight you. We could have l-lost you, and… and I didn’t wanna lose someone else… I’m so sorry…”
“Wild…” Legend murmured, unsure how else he could react.
Black schlooped over the edge the ship, and something rose up above it.
A sea monster, wrapped up in a golden-yellow-brown shell, fuzzy in some places and slick in others. Tentacles waved around it, and a singular, bulbous eye twitched around inside its shell.
Warriors gave a shout of alarm, and Sky readied his Master Sword. The sea monster made a dismissive gesture. “Do not waste your precious time. I am only able to be harmed by one sword, and those are not the blade I fear.”
Sky lowered the Master Sword, looking injured, while Warriors backed up a step. Time helped Legend into a position against the wall before shouting, “What do you want? Who are you? Why’d you try to possess Legend?”
“My name is Bellum,” it answered, looking Time in the eye. “I want to destroy the Ocean King. You spoke of this Legend here having been on Koholint before, and naturally I assumed he was one of the Ocean King’s favorites. Just like those little flitting fairies, or that young boy of the winds emblazoned in our memories.”
“So that was you!” Legend accused, aware enough to be upset. “You were the one digging around in my head! My brain is private, you know!”
“Fairies…?” Time mumbled, disoriented. Warriors tapped him on the shoulder and mumbled, “Get yourself together.”
Bellum chuffed, a sound you’d never expect to hear from a squidlike sea monster. “I suppose your party knows the Wind Waker.”
Wind Waker? The Chain exchanged looks of confusion for a moment until it suddenly clicked in their brains. Wind. Wind was the Wind Waker. It was so stupidly obvious Legend wanted to scream. If it would be any Link’s title, it would be the Hero of Winds’ title, wouldn’t it? How had it taken them THAT long to put two and two together?
“We do,” Sky said slowly. “Why do you ask?”
“His sword.” Bellum blinked slowly at them. “That is the weapon he used to strike me down. It—and he—are the only things I fear. And if what I have seen in your memories is correct, Legend, then I have made a grave mistake in my judgement of you and him. You were almost chosen, but not quite.”
Legend choked. Almost chosen. Almost chosen. Almost chosen to lose himself and rot away for the rest of his broken life on Koholint? No wonder he’d started feeling so comfortable near the end of his adventure—had the Wind Fish been messing with his head?
If he had, well, at least Wind wouldn’t be alone. But then Hyrule might never exist—wasn’t he Legend’s direct successor? And Legend would never get to meet the rest of the Chain. He would never get the chance to rescue Wind. This was his only shot to rescue the people who mattered most and fulfill his role as hero. He couldn’t pass it up and become some brainwashed islander. Past him would agree, too. He hoped.
Wild squeezed him a little tighter, and Legend gently patted his arm. “No need to worry, Wild. I don’t think he’d want to choose me now, since I woke him up so long ago.”
“Indeed,” Bellum answered. “The Ocean King fancies himself a collector. As with any creature that has lived as long as he has, that equates to godhood. Every being on that island is a figure he has snatched from a point in time and transformed to keep them under his control. Koholint’s citizens are about as real as the island itself. You broke that and released his collection, and he had spent years repairing the damages you inflicted. He is not happy with you, of all people.”
Legend huffed out a breath. “I wouldn’t expect him to. I’m not exactly happy with him, either. Where does he get off messing with innocent people?”
Bellum’s eye narrowed. “The Ocean King did not always believe in such cruelty. But immortality is a surefire way to rot a noble being’s mind. So I ask of you—help me defeat the Ocean King, and I will dispose of any grievances I may hold against your Wind Waker.”
“Well, we were planning to do that, anyways,” Warriors noted. “It’s a mutual relationship. Same goals, same motivations. This all feels a little too good to be true.”
Twilight grabbed his shoulder. “But what do we have to lose?”
“Our lives, for one,” Legend reminded.
“The Ocean King does not have the Phantom Sword,” Bellum informed, glancing over each of them in turn. “As long as he does not possess that blade, I will not falter. I swear you that.”
Four scowled. “How are we supposed to trust you? You just tried to possess Legend.”
Bellum winced, dropping down a few inches, closer to the water around the boat. “I made an assumption and acted accordingly. That is my fault. I know I cannot justify or apologize properly for my actions, but I will try to do so to the best of my ability.”
Legend eased up, surprised that his legs could bear his weight again, if they were a little stiff, and eased over to Time’s side. Time inched over a bit, putting himself between Legend and Bellum. Legend leaned sideways and said, “As long as you leave us alone.”
He and Bellum stared each other down for a few seconds before the sound of harried footsteps echoed up the stairwell. The trapdoor slammed open, and Hyrule burst onto the deck, face the color of ash-stained snow, eyes flashing around the upper deck.
“Hyrule?” Time called, hurrying over to the panicked teenager. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”
“I-I-“ Hyrule stammered, his hands shaking, no, his entire body quaking. “Wind is-I went to get him a blanket because he went to sleep and when I came back he was nowhere to be found!!”
For a moment, there was sheer silence. Legend’s heart dropped into his stomach. He hated the idea, but there was only one place Wind could be if he wasn’t here.
While the Chain panicked around him, Legend, half in a trance, walked over to the railing and glared out at the island right next door.
At the giant pink-spotted egg sitting on top of the mountain.
“Need to see Grandfather… he’s calling.”
This would not go unpunished. Legend swore it to himself.
A hand came down on his shoulder, and Legend was roughly jerked back to reality as he twisted around to face the other Link. Wild stood firmly at his shoulder, face icy. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Leg?”
“No,” Legend answered honestly. “But I don’t have much of a choice.”
Wild laughed dryly. “I guess we heroes never do.”
“How will Bellum help?” Time asked. “We can’t get him onto dry land. He’s a squid, for Hylia’s sake, the most we can do is shove him in a bucket.”
Legend paused and rubbed at his back where Bellum had been attached a minute ago, glancing down at the squidlike creature. “I think I have an idea…”