Chapter Text
After all of the battles, hardships, and monsters he had faced before, Twilight had thought that there wasn’t much left to make him freeze up. He’d faced down blizzard monsters, giant parasites, living fossils, and even a Twilit Dragon. Given the circumstances he’d been under in the past, Twilight considered himself cool under pressure.
But this was no dragon. Somehow, this was worse.
Four’s Hyrule was beautiful. Hyrule town was bustling with activity. It reminded him of his own Hyrule Castle Town, but brighter and more cheerful. Of course, there was also no huge crisis or general tension of poverty or lack of protection hanging over everyone’s heads, so it was probably easier to be a bit carefree. The group had spent a good amount of time in that town, restocking their supplies and enjoying the lighthearted atmosphere while they still could. But eventually, inevitably, they had to resume their journey, searching for the reason why Hylia, or whoever else was directing them, sent them to this place.
There were minor skirmishes between them and the local monsters and menaces, but nothing of note. As Four led them through the land, occasionally stopping, weirdly to inspect a tree stump or cracked boulder; everyone couldn’t help but sense the general air of aimlessness. They had no idea where to go or who to talk to. All they could do was wander, taking out whatever rogue threats that they happened to run into. Twilight even found himself laying on his bedroll one night practically begging for something, anything at all, to happen.
A wish he would quickly come to regret.
It would happen soon after they began their travel the next day, seemingly like any of the other previous mornings. Everything would seem peaceful, almost tranquil. Warriors would be laughing at one of Wind’s many tall tales. Legend and Wild would be bickering between themselves over sword technique, with Hyrule trying his best to keep the peace. Time would be near the front with Four, talking about where they should head next, with Four giving him a rundown of the landscape. Sky and Twilight would be at the back of the group. No conversation, just enjoying each other’s silent company. Like any other day traveling through the woods.
So when a long, charcoal black arm shot out from the shadows of the bushes to wrap itself tightly around Sky’s head and neck, one could see how Twilight could have been a bit caught off guard. A cry of alarm did manage to leave both his and Sky’s lips, alerting their companions of the danger, but Twilight’s died almost as quickly as it had started when the rest of the creature emerged from the underbrush.
It couldn’t be.
He’d defeated them.
The mirror was shattered.
They couldn’t be here.
He’d sacrificed too much.
They couldn’t invade another land.
Never again.
And yet, there it stood. The muscular, smoke colored body of a Shadow Beast, looming over him once more, holding his friend aloft by the head, Sky’s legs peddling the air as it did so.
He could hear the faint, distant sounds of the other heroes’ battle cries and the scraping of metal on metal as they drew their various weapons in their charges. But it was all muted and far away. Twilight wasn’t there anymore. All he could truly hear was her unfinished sentence. The shattering of a mirror. And the suffocating silence that followed, choking him of his air. Cut off as it was the first trip into the twilight, himself held in the fist of a different Shadow Beast, struggling to breathe. Even as the beast inexplicably threw him aside, the oppressive haze of the twilight that filled his senses seemed to strangle him, the nausea hitting him like a punch in the gut. Distantly Twilight wondered about that blow, whether it had happened in the past or just now. The pain felt so recent… But the thought quickly faded to the back of the turmoil of his mind. Quickly overshadowed by a dying Twili on his back as he rushed through Castle Town, screams of terror emitting from the civilians that surrounded him. Zelda fading away before his very eyes. Colin, tied to a post on a Bullbos like a trophy, as Twilight and King Bulblin did battle on the Bridge of Eldin. Ilia struggling to remember anything about her past. Beth, Malo, and Talo huddled around Renado in fear of the monsters that could come after them.
All of the loss, fear, and sacrifices that were made in order to shatter that mirror. Twilight felt like he was falling. He felt his body go limp as that horrible thought crept its way into his mind.
Was it all for nothing?
SMACK!
A sharp stinging exploded on the side of Twilight's face as Legend drew back his hand again. Twilight quickly blocked the second incoming blow as he blinked away the memories. His other hand went to his gut, which actually was still incredibly sore, and it was about then that he realized he was sprawled out on the ground.
“Hey!” Legend shook his shoulder as he regained Twilight’s attention. “Snap out of it, farm boy! What are these things? No one else recognizes them, and you went fucking comatose for a good second when you saw them!” He grabbed Twilight’s arm and hauled him to his feet, none too gently. “What the hell do we do rancher? There were only a few at first, but then more dropped from the sky! They just won’t stay down!”
Glancing around, Twilight felt his stomach drop further. The greatest number of Shadow Beasts he had ever taken down at a time was five. And that had been a rough fight. As he still shook off the terrifying implications, which wouldn’t be giving him peace any time soon, Twilight counted six of these beasts now, slowly wearing down his companions in a desperate fight.
Four and Wind were back-to-back, each blocking blows from a different creature with their shields. Wind had a deep gash on his upper right arm, and Four had blood running down his temple. Warriors was squaring off with a larger one, hacking away with reckless abandon, doing his best to ignore the large furrows cut into his chest by a massive claw. Hyrule was limping back from an advancing beast, flames scorching its mask as he slashed his sword at it. Sky stumbled back as one lashed out at him, but a giant blade flashed through the air in time to cleave a few of the darkened tendrils from the rest of the massive head of the Twilit monster. Time’s face was set with determination as he hefted his Biggoron sword up again, moving up next to Sky. Wild was on the outskirts of the fight, bow drawn, raining arrows on any of the beasts that tried to lumber toward him. Judging by the monster’s corpse riddled with shafts to his right, Wild must have been having at least a modicum of success. But for how long it would last, Twilight couldn’t be sure.
Drawing his own sword, Twilight charged forward to Hyrule’s defense, shouting as he went. “They have to be taken down together! If one is left standing, it’ll revive the others!” As Legend rushed to Warrior’s aid, Twilight brought his shield up to block an incoming blow. He felt his eyes briefly slide closed as he let his instincts and old habits take over. The creature brought its arms up to slam them down onto his head; but just before it made contact, Twilight let the tensed muscles in his legs release, throwing himself to its unprotected side. Muscle memory reminded him to tuck his head in before going into a roll, allowing him to spring up, slashing at its exposed back with an explosive spinning attack. The beast roared in fury, whirling around to face him, its previous opponent completely forgotten.
Black blood dripped slowly off of Twilight’s blade as he raised his shield yet again. The twilit monster lunged yet again, rather predictably. Twilight almost smirked as he bashed its giant mask with his shield, sending it reeling. His legs practically moved without him telling them to, bounding over the flailing creature into a flip, striking a brutal slash to its head and neck as he went. Landing on the other side, he looked back at the beast, wounded but still standing, but then looked up to see Hyrule readying his own attack. Twilight leapt to the side with a grin as a fiery inferno burst from Hyrule’s blade and consumed the creature, its death rattle being drowned out by the cacophonous sounds of the surrounding battle.
Glancing around, breathing hard, Twilight saw more corpses on the ground than before. Legend and Warriors were working in tandem, one striking the beast they were up against when the other had exposed a weak point, eventually causing the creature to stumble to the ground and expire with a weak hiss of fury. Sky cleaved a leg from one with a triumphant cry, allowing Time to wind up a massive swing of his sword. The head of the Shadow Beast hit the ground a few seconds before the rest of it did, falling like a puppet with its strings cut.
Twilight stood to help take the remaining ones out, but gasped as he saw Wind go for a blow on one of the remaining two. “Wait!” He shouted hoarsely across the clearing. But it was too late. The Phantom Blade stabbed deeply into the gut of the creature. Twilight could hear the screech of death as it fell, but his eyes were on the remaining one. Instinctually, his hands came up to cover his ears for the incoming wail, and Twilight braced, hoping it was enough to not have his hearing be completely shot for a while.
But nothing happened.
The beast lashed out at Four again, who shoved it back with its shield then leapt back to regroup. “It’s not doing anything, Twi.” Four observed. “You sure that’s how they work?” Twilight blinked in confusion. “Yes, I’m sure Four. I’ve fought enough of them to know.”
Legend rolled his eyes as they all collectively kept their distance from this slowly advancing monster. “Well, something’s different. Why wouldn’t it revive them?”
“I don’t know!” Twilight hissed, “The only thing I can think of is-” He stopped as his blood ran cold. “…if that’s not the last one.”
The snap of a branch made Twilight whirl around just in time to see a remaining Shadow Beast step out from the foliage.
Right behind Wild.
Before he could even open his mouth to shout a warning, the creature had its hand gripped tightly onto Wild’s left shoulder. Like a rag doll, it yanked him into the air, completely caught off guard. Wild’s name had only just passed Twilight’s lips as the beast swiveled and slammed the boy back to the ground, putting its entire strength and weight onto his shoulder, which it still had tightly in its grip. Everyone in the clearing could hear the horrible crunching sound it made before Wild’s scream of agony echoed through the forest.
Blind fury made Twilight rush the Shadow Beast, which in retrospect, was a pretty apt name for it. At first, he didn’t even think to dodge the giant fist as it rushed toward him. And when he finally did realize, all he could do was twist himself for it only to hit him in the side. Seeing stars from the pain, Twilight slashed wildly with his sword at the outstretched arm, and felt a rush of surprised excitement when he felt his blade actually find purchase. It all quickly abandoned him, however, when the arm that the blade was now stuck in drew him closer to its gargantuan mask, cocking its head to one side. Its fist connected with him, square in the chest, ripping the sword from his grasp and sending him sprawling away from the fight.
Blearily, Twilight turned to see Four, Legend, and Wind squaring off against the other beast, trying to communicate their strikes with Time, Warriors, and Sky. Hyrule was on his knees next to Wild, seemingly trying to assess the damage mid fight.
As Twilight struggled to his feet, looking around for his blade, a strange feeling beginning to form in his gut gave him pause. It wasn’t painful. More like a gentle pressure, pulling him in a direction, in this case to his right. He glanced around at the other Heroes, seeing them all hesitating as well, but was surprised to see the beasts doing the same, freezing for a moment as the strange sensation appeared to affect them. It was an increasingly familiar feeling to the Links, though they hadn’t felt it in a long while. And definitely never in the middle of the fight.
Dread creeped into Twilight’s mind as he turned to see a familiar, large, onyx-colored archway with violet runic symbols lining the edges. A portal. The creatures turned to look at each other in that moment of uncertainty following the portal’s appearance. With a short, screeching cry, both of them darted forward at blinding speed.
Twilight twisted around onto his hands and knees. His sword lay discarded on the ground a few yards away, covered in gore. Clambering to get to it while still recovering from the blows he had sustained, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers closed around the handle. However, when he swiveled back around to face the creatures, a cry of panicked warning suddenly ripped itself from him.
A low creaking sound was echoing through the clearing as one of the Shadow Beasts had wrapped its claws around a nearby tree. Its muscles rippled as the tree was wrenched right out of the ground, roots snapping and spraying dirt everywhere. Pivoting back around to face the group of heroes advancing on it, it raised the large trunk over its head and hurled it with brutal ferocity.
As the giant log hurtled through the air, almost in slow motion, Twilight felt the confusion beginning to grow in his mind. Shadow beasts weren’t intelligent creatures. They didn’t use tactics like this. They only ever attacked with their claws, not the environment around them. With questions rolling in his head, Twilight watched as both Four and Wind were both caught in the chest with the projectile. A few grunts of pain and a cloud of dust later, and the smallest two of his companions were pinned to the ground, unable to lift the giant trunk.
But what turned Twilight’s attention away was a cry of pain from across the clearing. He felt his heart leap up to his throat as he saw Wild, his protégé, his friend , crying out in frustration and agony. His left arm was dragging uselessly on the ground as the remaining beast had him in its grip by the scruff of the neck, pulling him toward the portal.
“Hey!” Twilight yelled, scrambling back to his feet. “Get back here! Let him go! Wild!”
The Shadow Beast paid him no mind, quickly skittering over to the doorway. Twilight staggered forward, cursing his legs for not moving fast enough, when a green blur dashed past him. The gleam of the Blade of Evil’s Bane blocked the path of the creature, with Sky standing his ground between it and the portal. The Master Sword seemed to sing through the air as Sky wielded it with practiced skill and grace, forcing the creature back. Wild could be heard cursing from the pain, scrambling to try to stay out of Sky’s way while only having one working arm and being caught in the choking grip of the creature. But the creature was on the defensive, being herded back to the clearing. However, as Twilight stumbled over to head it off in its retreat, a horrible *thunk* echoed through the clearing.
As Sky crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the other creature dropped a large rock, now stained with dull crimson. The Shadow Beasts turned to one another, almost as if to give a nod of acknowledgement, after which the second one scooped up Sky by the ankle and began dragging the unconscious hero to the open maw of the portal.
“Twilight! Warriors! After them!” Time bellowed. He glanced over at Hyrule and Legend, each cracking their knuckles, their Power Bracelets flashing with energy. “We’ll take care of this.”
Twilight gritted his teeth, gave a nod to Warriors, and looked back just in time to see the last of Sky’s form disappear into the inky blackness of the foreboding archway.
Twilight stepped forward, moving to rush after his friends, but before he could, a small sound caught his ear. A musical chiming, coming from his right. Glancing over, he saw no source of the sound, but looking down revealed the Master Sword, lying on the ground, with Sky’s strong grip on it lost to unconsciousness. As Warriors charged toward the portal, Twilight found himself sheathing his own blade and picking the Master Sword up from the dirt. Jaw set with determination, Twilight let his feet carry him across the clearing, through the mysterious gateway into darkness and the unknown.