Chapter Text
The package on Legend’s desk seemed innocuous enough. Indeed, had it been received the day before, he would have thought it nothing more than his boyfriend’s chocolate chip cookies and a hand knit scarf or two; for as busy as the man was, Ravio was surprisingly domestic.
Then again, so was he, and Legend wondered briefly if, when this posting was over, he could request a few months of leave to go tend his apples. It'd been a year since he's been home more than a few days, after all.
Now, he approached the box as one might a coiled viper, almost as if it would open and some other world-changing revelation would appear.
What actually waited in the box was fairly close; under the tin of cookies and red-and-blue sweater (both of which were stashed in a drawer) lay a manilla envelope. Legend picked it up and debated tossing it. A pair of stamped seals on the flap stopped him- he knew both of those seals, and the fact that it came from both the Twili and Lorulean intelligence agencies, along with Malon’s insistence that he check the package, stopped him.
Fuck it.
The swipe of a blade broke the seals.
A handful of photos fell from the envelope, all depicting the same person. Legend pulled a folder from it, then chucked the envelope onto the desk and opened the folder. The first couple of pages were standard- name, rank, a brief history of service. A good chunk of the file was redacted, but that was normal.
Breath left his lungs in a whoosh of air as he read the header on the last page. Hands trembling, he stuffed the photos and folder back in the envelope and jammed it into his bag.
Lolia-dammit, he was never going to truly escape that place, was he?
Four didn’t like this. Didn’t like that he’d been taken off the field because of an injury, away from his teammates at such a crucial time. He felt like he’d failed them; it was his job to keep everyone connected, everyone on the same page, and he’d failed to realize what was going on until everything was over.
Instead, Time had been- Four collapsed a hand over his mouth as his stomach wrenched, the wave of emotion causing his body to shudder and try to expel the bit of food he’d managed to eat.
Damn concussion.
The few people that had come to visit him had tried to dissuade him of that notion, to convince him that it hadn’t been his fault, but he’d seen it. His vision had been swimming, graying at the edges, but he’d seen it and now he couldn’t even try and help his squad.
His squad.
He’d tried to form bonds with them. He really had! Something kept him back, though. For some reason, he always got… scared. Four curled up, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, staring at the wall. There wasn’t a whole lot to do here besides wait and think and dwell on what had happened.
Some time later, the door creaked as it opened, and Four looked up.
Malon smiled gently as she poked her head in. “Hey, Four. Mind if we visit for a bit?”
Malon.
Four mustered up a smile, letting his legs fall into a loose cross as he sat up a bit straighter. It was always nice to see her, even if it did take effort to try and rein himself in. Concussions always made things difficult, but for some reason control was a slippery thing this time around.
“It's nice to see you,” he replied, then frowned as her words caught up. “We?”
“Yeah.” Malon moved into the room. Legend followed and shut the door. “Someone asked to tag along.”
“Hope you don't mind,” Legend added. “There are… things we need to discuss.”
“Things?” The shorter guide asked, tilting his head questioningly as the two came in. He gestured toward the single seat that accompanied his bed, the only other furniture that was in the room. “I've already told them all I know about- about what happened.”
Legend took the chair, while Malon seemed content to stand aside and pretend to be engrossed in her phone. Legend sent her a grateful look. “That's not…” The older guide cleared his throat and fumbled with his bag for a second. “There's more going on here than you realize. Than anyone realizes.”
Setting his hands In his lap, Four frowned. That sounded… Bad. Very bad. if it wasn't about Time, though, what was this guy - Legend, a part of him reminded - referring to? And why was Malon here at the same time? “What do you mean?”
“It means,” Legend said, pulling an envelope out of the bag and glancing at Malon, who nodded, “that I know about the experiments. I know this, because they tried to do the same thing to me. I only got out because a certain well-placed family member intervened, although I wasn't aware of that until this afternoon.”
“Wait- free from- what?” Four asked, his hands fisting in the thin, standard issue blanket as his gaze searched the other's. Experiments? What experiments?
Four wasn't stupid; he'd had his suspicions. Recovery times that didn't make sense. Being kept away from everyone ‘for his own safety’. Waking up after battles alone and missing time. He knew there was more, but his head pounded as he tried to think.
“What are you talking about?”
Legend stared at him in disbelief, then violet eyes faded into sympathy- not pity, Four could feel the emotion emanating from him. “You don't even know, do you? Oh, Hylia, I'm so sorry. I thought…” The guide ran a hand down his face. “Okay. Goddesses, I hate doing this. Malon, if this goes wrong, you know how to pull us out, right?”
Malon gave him a look. “Are ya doing what I think you’re doing? Is that wise?”
“No, but it's all I got. We don't have the time or the luxury of me holding his hand through this.” Legend closed his eyes. “Honestly, if those fuckers did what I think they did, brute force might be the only way to stabilize it. Fable and I got ahold of the records after they shut the program down.”
Violet eyes opened once more, and a wave of regret, determination, and a trace of fear radiated from him. “Four. What you're going through isn't just a concussion. It's the result of someone tampering with your abilities. And, possibly, the beginning of a bond, but I'm not entirely sure of that.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Four asked with sudden uncharacteristic anger, eyes blazing cerulean as he leaned forward, before suddenly he was pulling back, eyes wide with crimson uncertainty and tears. “This isn't me. You… you said someone messed with me - with my abilities. How? Why?”
His fists, still clenched in the blanket, trembled for a different reason now, as his fear and uncertainty bled through the widening cracks in his shields. The shields he hadn't been able to fix, that gave under the slightest strain.
Legend opened his mouth to answer, but before he could Malon was there, engulfing Four in a warm hug. “Evil men,” she said quietly. “Ones who tried to force yer gift into somethin’ it shouldn't be. And I am so, so sorry I couldna get it shut down sooner, Four.”
The regret Four felt from Legend was stronger now, almost morphing into grief. He took a deep breath. “Six years ago, about the time you joined the military, there was a… split, for lack of a better term, in Command. A small faction wasn't happy with the lack of full-fledged Guides and Sentinels, so they decided to do something about it.”
The grief- that was definitely grief, now- intensified. “They took young Guide candidates and put them through… well. Torture is one word for it. I’m actually kind of glad you don't remember that part.”
The twenty-year-old sank into Malon's arms, trying desperately to pull himself together even as he couldn't help but take in Legend’s projected feelings. It was a bit hard to pull yourself together though, when you felt like soup someone was trying to keep in a colander, seeping through the holes with no way to stop it. Some part of him, no longer so deep and remorseful, latched onto Legend’s grief, matching it with unexpected empathy. Through some effort of will that came from some unrecognized part of himself, or maybe he just couldn't be bothered to identify it, Four lifted his hands, clutching Malon's shirt tightly as he trembled in her arms. His head ached and what scraps of his shield remained were in tatters.
“What did they do?” Four whispered, muffled from where he was pressed against the tall woman's chest.
Malon and Legend shared a look. “I won't give you all the details,” Legend said softly. “It's just nightmares you don't need. But the end result… it shattered us. They were trying to make Guides that could bond with more than two Sentinels. And it worked, sort of, on those of us who survived. But at a cost.”
He sat back, head resting against the back of the chair, and closed his eyes again. “I got out before they could break me completely, and it still took nearly a year for me to get my head back on straight. I can only imagine what it's been like for you.”
A small, wry, tired smile flitted onto his lips. “Tell me, Four. Does it ever feel like you have more than one person in your head? Like someone else is constantly fighting for control, and it's all you can do to hold on to what you think is your sanity?”
Four moved his head just enough that he could catch a glimpse of Legend’s face, momentarily shocked out of the grief and uncertainty he'd been drowning in. He'd… he'd put words to it. To the feeling that had been niggling at the back of his mind, why his control had been slipping more and more over time, why he forgot things people told him sometimes.
All too soon, he was back to being overwhelmed, although now it was a little less. Some part of him (was it truly a part of him, he wondered) nudged him to loosen his grip on Malon’s shirt, even if it was a difficult feat.
“How did you…”
“Because I've been there. Still sort of am, it never truly goes away, but I can… not control it, but we coexist now. Like I said, took me a while. But I didn't have help for most of it. You do, now. If you're willing to let me.”
“Where do we even start?” Four closed his eyes, relishing in the unwavering hold Malon had on him. He wouldn't be alone. Someone knew what was going on, and even if he didn't trust Legend (he couldn't, not yet, it was too early, But he was being honest, as far as he knew) Malon was here too. She wouldn't let anything happen to him.
The determination was back, pushing the grief off to the side. “Drop your shields and let me in.” A request, not a demand. “I need to see the extent of the damage, first.”
Four snorted. “I don't exactly have much left in the way of shields, but…” he took a deep breath, letting Malon’s arms squeeze him for a second, before he let it out and nodded. “Let's do this.”
He let go of his attempt to hold his shields altogether, knowing Malon could hold him through it all.
I'm in. The words were soft, a whisper in his mind. And then, Wow, it really is a mess in here. This might take a minute.
There was a sensation of footsteps, almost a feeling of someone rummaging around in his mind. It was going well, until…
An explosion of blue light, strong and bright, and Four opened his eyes as he heard Legend swearing.
“Sonofa… of course it's fucking blue. Why is it always blue? Fuck, that hurt. Bloody fucking protectiveness. I'm trying to help, you Dindamned bastard.”
Malon's voice. “Are you alright, Leg?”
“Yeah, fine, Auntie. Just Four’s protective instincts. By the way, I don't know where the nickname came from, but it's apt. There are definitely four presences there.”
Four presences? The guides’ brow furrowed as he looked over to Legend. “I have four people in my head now? Then who am I?”
Legend snorted. “Who is anyone? You're still you. The presences aren't other people, they're… fragments. Pieces of your personality given shape. And, for some reason, a fucking color that seems to hold true for everyone. Green is… sort of our base personality. It's the closest to who we were before all this shit. Blue is protection and, oddly enough, aggression. Very annoying combination. Red is emotion. He holds your empathy, your wonder, anything that can be viewed as childlike or innocent. And then there's purple. Logic and knowledge.”
Malon laughed. “Legend didn't get that one. He says it's because it's his base, I say his boyfriend stole it.”
“Malon, please don't bring Ravio into this.”
Four's lips twitched into some semblance of a smile and he thought for a moment, letting Legend’s words sink in. The fact that the other had gotten all of that in such a short amount of life time was impressive - he certainly had practice as a guide. Of course, maybe it was also the fact that Four had never let another Guide into his consciousness like that.
“You got a look… what now?”
“There are a couple of options. Now that you know about them, you can let them develop naturally. Given the choice, I'd recommend it. Unfortunately, that takes time we don't really have.” Legend brought one hand up to massage a temple. “Secondly, you do it the way I did, which, 0/10 do not recommend.”
Four tilted his head with a questioning raise of an eyebrow and Legend sighed. “Near death experience and a month long coma that put me in a dream state I really didn't want to leave. Then I woke up, eventually ended up in Hytopia, and discovered, hey, I can pilot two doppels now. Great. Still have no clue why they think fighting in a Lolia-damned totem is a good idea.”
“Well if we don't have time for the first option, but don't want to do the second, we don't exactly have much choice,” the shorter guide responded, thinking hard. “Unless you have a third option you haven't mentioned yet?”
“There is. Brute force. I go in and we force them to coalesce. It's probably going to hurt like hell, and might knock you out for a while, but you'd have some control and actually be able to get to work with them a hell of a lot sooner. Maybe enough to get you out of lockdown.”
“Force them? How are we sure that's not going to cause problems in the long run?” Four asked with concern, brow still furrowed.
Legend’s voice dropped to something distinctly more serious. “Four, your shields are basically nonexistent and your psyche is fractured. If this continues, not only are you not going to be able to go back to being a guide, you'll be leaving yourself open to something much worse. Those migraines? They’re not going to get better. I've seen the end result. Trust me, this is the best option we have right now.”
“How is brute forcing the issue going to make it any better, though?” Four challenged him. “You say they're not people, in here, but you haven't felt them the way I do. I may have a migraine, but now that I have some context… They've been nudging me, for a while now. Things I thought were random flashes of emotion or general weird thoughts… I don't know. They don't seem like mere fragments,” his anger bled out of him after his little rant and his cheeks turned red. “Sorry, sorry. I'm a mess right now. You have a better idea what's going on than I do.”
“If it helps, hon,” Malon said gently, “Ah’ve known Legend since he was but a lad barely even to mah knee. He won’ do yah no harm. I trust him.”
“I'm leaving this decision up to you,” Legend replied, unfazed by Four’s burst of anger. He'd expected it, given Blue’s response to Legend poking around. “But you do need to do something.”
Four sighed out a breath, trying to forcibly bring some measure of calm to the situation. “If we don't do something, I go nuclear, to put it bluntly?” Legend's nod had him closing his eyes, trying to think past the migraine and racing thoughts that slipped out of his fingers. “Right. We don't have time for option one, option two isn't exactly an option anyway, so three is really our only way to go. I'd say I want to know exactly what'll happen, but it's a little hard to tell, huh?”
“Or you'll subconsciously fight it,” Legend eyed him, his tone carefully neutral now. ‘Best to just let it happen, if you can. Ready?”
Four’s grip tightened on Malon’s shirt for just a second before he forcibly released it, curling his hands into fists instead and holding them to himself, pinning them between his body and the redhead's. “Do it.”
Legend glanced at Malon again. “I've got him. Do what ya have to.”
“Okay.” Legend reached into his bag and pulled out a vial of green liquid. “This is going to take a fuckton of magic. Give me this the instant I wake up. Okay. Going in.”
This time, he knew what to expect and threw up a shield just as Blue attacked. Not this time. Four, concentrate. I need you to visualize four spots. Flames, balls of light, whatever you wish, but one in each color. Red, blue, green, purple.
Four closed his eyes, concentrating. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do, but visualization was a simple enough concept. What to envision, though, was harder, and he found himself drifting to his weapon, as he often did when he had free time. It was a simple enough sword, passed down from his grandfather, with an opal inlaid into the pommel, enchanted for durability and longevity.
Opal, with flecks of red, blue, violet, and green.
Imagining the gems in each color was easy, laid out beside each other, with flecks of deeper color within.
Gems and a sword. Fitting for a weaponsmith.
Legend’s presence swelled, coalescing into a hazy form. Not putting too much effort into that. Now comes the fun part.
Brace yourselves. This is probably gonna hurt.
Ghostly hands performed a complicated series of maneuvers, touching each stone in turn. As he did, the gems glowed brighter, and matching energy seemed to flow from all corners of the space. Graceful movements and words in a language Four didn't understand siphoned the energy into the gems.
The light grew, brighter and brighter, and if Legend had had a physical form he would've covered his eyes. He had a distant sense of Four, screaming, but pushed it from his concentration.
And then, the light exploded.
Legend had barely a split second to throw up a shield. He watched the lights fade into four distinct forms, replicas of Four, and gave an exhausted smile.
Hi. It's nice to meet you all.
The Four fragments fell to their knees against an invisible floor, leaning against each other as they looked around, confused and wary. Their emotions warred for a moment, a give and take that settled into an uneasy equilibrium.
Take your time. You're not used to being your own identities yet. That will take time, but you should settle eventually.
Settle-what-identities-who-being? The jumble of thoughts tumbled over itself, tied up with a few emotions (confusionapprehensionfear) as one of the copies of Four, clad in red, shakily stood, looking to Legend with not a small bit of fear, but also a hint of curiosity.
Hello, Red. I'm not surprised you're the first. You're Four’s emotions, I suspect. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you.
One by one, the others stood, shaky but leaning on each other as they got used to having bodies. Green (Hello, fellow green), Blue (we meet again), and Purple (Violet. Let's go with Vio. Purple just sounds weird) regarded the intruder with varying degrees of concern and curiosity, each showing it to different degrees. Green looked mostly curious, but still wary. Blue straight up glared at the other guide, silently daring him to move closer. Vio was equally concerned and curious, gaze drifting between everyone as they took everything in. Legend regarded them back, drifting slightly closer to inspect his handiwork, when he noticed a mark on Violet's neck.
Shit, is that-?
Fuck. This explains a lot and nothing at all.
Why is that there????
Four, who are you bonded with? And why only one of you?
What? Vio blinked, looking at the others before focusing on Legend.
We didn't bond. We can't bond. Green said, seemingly reflexively as he frowned at them.
What's wrong? Red, who looked to Vio with wide eyes.
That's a bond mark, Legend said, drifting closer. Let me… oh, Hylia. I've seen that before. Where did I…
Legend stilled as the memory of a hastily-scanned photo hit him. Fuck.
Vio, does the name Shadow mean anything to you?
The Violet aspect of Four frowned, thinking hard, but nothing came to mind.
It sounds familiar, but I-we-Four doesn't know? How do we even address ourselves?
Collectively, I am Link or Legend. Aspect-wise, I am Epic-Myth-Lore. One is for public, one for private. Only a few know I have fragments. You can reveal it, or not. It is your decision.
Anyway, I think that's one of the reasons your gift is going haywire. Your bondmate is in danger, and it's reacting. Now that we know we can mitigate that.
Bondmate? Blue growled, crossing his arms over his chest. Oddly enough, it wasn't anger, but something more…deep-seated. Green laid a hand on his shoulder and he calmed a bit.
So you're saying we bonded to someone at some point in the past, forgot about it, and now they're in danger?
We have to do something, if we bonded to them, they have to be a good person, right? Red asked earnestly.
We forgot him though, and we don't know why. Vio reminded him. Legend mentioned experiments, earlier. If we've been subject to that for six years now, who knows what else is going on?
I aim to find out, Legend growled. Meanwhile, I need to go. I'm almost out of magic. Will you all be okay?
All four aspects looked between each other and then back to Legend, shrugging.
We'll figure it out, Green replied.
It seems to be our only course of action for the moment regardless, Vio added.
You're not wrong. Okay, I'm out. See you.
Legend let his ghostly form fade, and, suddenly, he was back in his own head and blinking open eyelids that like they'd been weighed down with rocks. “Potion, now,” he rasped as soon as he could form the words.
Malon nodded- or, he thinks she did, his vision was still blurry- and there was cool glass against his lips and the taste of grass and pepper. He drank, then coughed and grimaced. “Ugh. I hate those things.”
“Four- is he-” Malon asked, and the guide nodded.
“They're fine. The spell worked perfectly.” Legend sighed. “He might sleep for a while. It’ll be easier for the fragments to figure themselves out if they're not trying to process anything else.”
“Oh thank Hylia. He was screaming in pain for a solid minute, then passed out, and you were going gray… I thought something had gone wrong and I was losing both of you,” Malon said, relief and a trace of fear in her voice. “I was half a minute from pulling you out.”
“Sorry, Tante.” The potion was kicking in, but Legend was still exhausted. “Think they'll kick us out anytime soon?”
Malon laughed. “Nah. Ya got at least a couple of hours. Take a nap until Four wakes up.”
“Yes ma’am.” Legend crawled onto a corner of the bed, curled up, and promptly passed out. Malon got up long enough to locate a spare blanket and tucked it around her nephew, then laid a gentle kiss on his temple before settling herself back in the chair to wait.
Four woke slowly, warm and comfortable, until his bed moved and he was yanked to awareness, pushing himself up and instantly regretting it as a migraine pulsed at his temples. “Ow.”
“Easy, lad. Here.” Malon’s voice floated from beside him. She pressed two pills and a glass into his hands. “Pain meds and water.”
“Thanks,” he replied quietly, taking the pills with the ease of practice. Unfortunately once migraines started pills were usually ineffective, but it didn't hurt to try. “Did it work?”
“Legend says it did. I don’t know exactly what he did, just that you were in a great deal of pain and he passed out about two minutes after breaking contact.” Malon gestured to the other end of the bed, where Legend was still curled in a ball under his borrowed blanket. “It's been about three hours. How do you feel?”
Four leaned back against Malon as he took stock. He was still tired, but overall… he felt calmer. More stable than he had in a while even if he hadn't realized it. His shields had even started to recover during his impromptu nap.
“I'm still a bit tired but… what did he do? My shields are starting to come back and everything feels… better.”
“I'm… not entirely sure of the mechanics. It's something he learned during one of his postings; all I know is that it has something to do with the soul magic Hytopia uses for those automatons of theirs and it's not usually taught to outsiders. Let me wake him up- he can explain it better than I ever could.” Malon smiled down at Four, relieved, then moved over to where Legend was sleeping. “Link,” she said softly, “time to wake up, liebchen.”
Legend jerked awake, hand reaching for a knife that wasn't there before registering where he was. “Hello, tante. How long was I out?”
“About three hours. Four’s awake.”
“Oh good.” The guide sat up and stretched, popping sounds coming from his back. He smiled. “Your shields are back up. Good. I think you'll find they're a lot easier to maintain now that your mind isn't trying to tear itself apart.”
“They’re not quite to where they were, but they’re much improved,” Four admitted, feeling himself out and sitting up slowly. “I feel… a lot better, even with the migraine, which is definitely not the worst I’ve had. I thought things would be different, after all that.”
“Like I told your aspects, it'll take a little time. You should be able to talk to them as individuals eventually, once they're settled a bit more. Now I'm glad I learned that spell. Didn't ever think I'd ever have a reason to use it. It's illegal outside Hytopia.” Legend’s smile dropped. “How much do you remember?”
“I remember making the gems- opals, with different colors. Then you started doing… something, and after that it gets a bit fuzzy. I kind of remember there being more, me’s? It's really fuzzy though, all kinda jumbled.”
“Better than I expected,” Legend said. “Alright. In a nutshell, the spell pulled all the scattered bits of your aspects and gave them form. I could go into all the mechanics, but we have much bigger fish to fry. I made a discovery that might explain why Time was taken.”
“What do you mean?” Malon asked.
“Remember that missing Twili sentinel?” Malon nodded, confused. Legend pulled the envelope from his bag and extracted the photos. “Ravio's care package was his dossier. The sentinel, callsign Shadow, was also part of the program. He escaped, but not before being bonded to one of the other subjects. They just didn't know who.”
Legend pointed at the mark on Shadow's neck. “The other side doesn't have any bonded pairs because most guides refuse to work with them and the ones that do don't last long. I think this was a bid to change that.”
“Okay, wait, back up,” Four told him, holding up his hands. “Pretend you're talking to someone who's just had their brain rattled and is still in pain. Someone else was part of this experiment-project thing?”
“Yes. Most of them didn't survive.” The words were softer than Legend intended. “There were three- that I know of, anyway- that made it out more or less intact. You, me, and Shadow. And you're the only one that was there the entire time.”
“It took us far too long to get that shit shut down,” Malon added. “Fucking politicians.”
“Agreed. Anyway, when I was in your head I noticed something. This mark? Vio has a matching one.”
“Wait, one of the… people? In my head, has a bond mark?” Four asked incredulously. “And this Shadow is the missing Twili?”
“Exactly. I have a theory as to how it happened, but yes. And…” Legend glanced at Malon. “They weren’t trying to capture Time, Auntie. They were going for Four, for the other half of that pair. Time must have interfered somehow.”
Malon looked stricken but nodded. “That's something my fairy boy would do.”
“Who?” Four questioned, his gaze firmly on Legend. “If you know who tried to take me, we can get Time back. I don't care if they want me, but I'm not about to let them do something like this to him.”
“It wouldn't work. He's already a full Sentinel,” Malon mused. “Ganon?”
“Most likely. Which means we're gonna need everyone at full capacity. Including Link.” Legend winced. “By the way, Champion woke up. Full-fledged amnesia.”
“Damn, we're not having any luck,” Four slumped slightly. “That makes things more complicated, especially with our squad’s role in things. Flora already knows?”
“Yes, I brought her. He goes by Link now?” Malon replied.
“Yeah. He said Champion didn't feel right, but Link was okay. That's not unheard of; there have been any number of cases where someone has woken up from a coma with a completely different personality,” Legend said with a shrug. “From what I saw, he's more or less healed physically, although there's rather intensive scarring. It's best to just let the rest go naturally. If he remembers, fine. If not, you all learn to live with whoever he becomes, if he decides to stay. Command will give him that choice.”
“They better,” Four grumbled, “they owe us that at least. Hopefully I can meet him soon, if we're going to have to learn to work together quickly. Provided he stays, that is.”
“You will. Now that you're stable I'm pretty sure we can get you moved to barracks. Right, tante?”
Malon nodded. “I'll have Dot and Fable arrange it. They won't ask too many questions.”
“Better not,” Legend muttered. “Fable still owes me for Labrynnia.”
“I'll be sure to remind her, liebchen,” she replied with a chuckle. “Why don't you grab us drinks? I know you know where the mess is.”
“Yeah, yeah. I'll let you talk. What do you want, Four?”
The Guide blinked at Legend’s question before he answered. “Um, I don’t remember if there’s any of the iced tea Time had made, so just water or whatever you find is fine.”
“Got it. I'll be back.” Legend nodded to Malon, rose, and left the room.
“Okay, who the fuck exactly is this guy, Mal?” Four turned, looking at Malon. “You wouldn’t have let him in here if he had any bad intentions, but how the hell does he know so much? He helped, but…” He threw his hands up, struggling to articulate his confusion.
“Legend is… well, to start, he's my nephew,” Malon admitted. “The rest of the Chain already knows. And his name is Link.”
Four stared incredulously. “Yes, he has a Zelda. Fable's his twin sister,” she added. “He's a hero in his own right- this position has taken him quite literally everywhere, he's an accomplished mage, and he's dating the head of the Lorulean intelligence agency.”
“And he knows enough to do what he did, better than the ones who broke it in the first place?” he asked, more than a little scared yet impressed. “And now he’s helping our squad. Or was? Is he staying?”
“If I have anything to say about it, yes. He's wandered long enough,” Malon said seriously. “For now, though, he'll stick around. This is personal.”
Well, that was understandable, if Legend really was her and Time’s nephew. That would make them related to Fable, who had her own reputation. Then again, all of them did, so… “He’ll fit right in, won’t he?”
“He already is.” Malon glanced at the door with a soft smile. “We've been worried about him. Ravio's amazing, but they really don't get much time together, and the things he's been through…”
She shook her head and reached for the folder Legend had left on the bed. “While we're waiting, want to get a look at your bondmate?”
“That sounds so…” he made a face, even as he scooted closer to her. “Weird. It's true, but doesn't feel like it is, y'know? Why don't I have a mark if we really are bonded?”
Malon shrugged and opened the folder. “I wish I knew, lad. Although, it would have raised any number of questions, so maybe it was engineered that way? Honestly, I'm wondering if he remembers, and why he hasn't sought you out before- oh.”
It was unmistakable. The figure in the photo had purple hair, red eyes, and a bond mark figuring prominently on the lower part of his neck, but the resemblance… “He's your doppelganger,” Malon said. “Half Lolian, half Twili… yeah, that makes sense.”
“It’s like somebody tried using a different color palette on me,” Four says, surprised. “This is who I bonded with?”
“According to Legend, yes. Do you remember him at all?” Malon asked.
The guide stared at the picture for a moment, furrowing his brow, before he shook his head. “I don't know. I don't know, but if it's true that one… fragment of me can hold the bond, maybe it's holding the memories too?”
“It's possible.” The redhead shrugged. “This is more Dot’s area of expertise. Want to give her a call when we get back?”
“Definitely,” Four sighed. He was more than ready to get out of this place by now. “Do you think she'll be coming back here any time soon? They've had her stationed at that southern base for ages now.”
“I'll see if I can't wrangle a visit.”
The conversation was interrupted as a knock came from the door. Both Malon and Four turned curious glances; it was much too soon for Legend to get back.
It wasn't Legend. Instead, a doctor entered, eyes wide as he felt Four’s shields. “Sonofabitch was right,” he muttered under his breath, then shook his head and plastered a professional smile on his face. “Sergeant Smith,” he said tightly, “it has been formally requested that you be remanded to your squad and the care of your own medics. Given the, um, unexpected change in your status, I have no choice but to agree. Your paperwork will be completed and submitted to HQ within the half hour. I'll have an orderly bring your belongings.”
“Oh-uh-thank you, sir,” Four nodded, back straight as he looked to the doctor. That had been… fast. Normally to be released from medical, one had to be examined and cleared, powered folks especially, just to be cleared of any lingering effects. It was like they weren't even going to try pretending that he had a concussion anymore. The lack of any further examination made something twist in his gut, but he ignored it for now. There wasn't anything he could do about it now, and Malon would likely note the oddities too. As the doctor left, Four’s shoulders slumped and his migraine lightened a bit. “Well, at least we got some good news.”
“Aye. He's gotten better at that,” Malon replied, green eyes sparking. “Mein liebchen is a force of nature when he wants to be. He must have pulled the rank card.”
“Rank card?” Four asked before he thought better of it - he knew of Legend. Every Guide did, and now that the shorter man knew the man's family, too… “Nevermind.”
Malon laughed. “Yeah. Sometimes being connected to multiple royal families comes in handy. So, do you want to tell the Chain you're coming home, or shall we just surprise them tomorrow? I promised Legend a night at the ranch and breakfast. You're welcome to join, if you want.”
“As long as you don't mind if I take a nap in the car,” Four yawned, suddenly tired again. Then again, he'd been doing his very best to not let the migraine get in the way of things and his shields (and his mind) were still recovering from everything. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Late. 2200 or so? And yeah, I don't mind,” Malon chuckled. A nervous-looking orderly bothered them just long enough to drop off Four’s bags. “Get dressed. I have a feeling we'll be leaving momentarily.”
“Okay.” Four climbed off of the bed, going to dig through his bags as Malon left to give him some privacy. Before she opened the door, however, Four looked up and borrowed Wind's nickname for the red haired woman. “Thanks, Mamalon.”
“You're welcome, Mäuschen.”