Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The prefect was awoken by a frantic knocking on their door.

“Who is it?” They groaned as they pulled themselves up. It was six in the morning.

“The headmaster.” One of the Ramshackle ghosts answered.

“What does he want?”

“He said it has to do with Grim.”

That woke them up. In an instant they were downstairs and at the door.

“You have an update on Grim?”

Headmaster Crowley winced a little. “I do, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

Neither of them said anything else as they walked to Crowley’s office. When they finally entered the prefect saw what Crowley was so concerned about. Grim was gone. The cage he was in? Gone. In their place was a black hole that was slowly consuming the rest of Crowley’s desk.

“...what happened?”

“I don’t know! I came here first thing and he was gone!”

The prefect grabbed the side of Crowley’s desk that wasn’t consumed by the void and pulled it. It was missing the chunk that was in the hole.

“...I had important documents there...”

At a little past seven they had gotten all the housewardens and vice housewardens to gawk at the hole as well.

“So what do we know about it?” Jamil asked.

“Anything that goes in doesn’t come back out.” The prefect gestured to Crowley’s desk and the rulers that were a few inches shorted than they were supposed to be laying on top of it.

“Did you really need to confirm it that many times?” Vil asked.

“Shush...”

“No magic seems to work on it either.” Riddle said.

“What happens if something living touches it?” Azul asked, giving it a tense stare.

“We don’t know, it’s way too risky to try.” The prefect sighed as they observed the steadily growing hole. A swift kick sent them face first into it.

“Jade!”

“Why did you do that?!”

“It was a matter of science. We gained valuable information; living things appear to be completely consumed.” Jade’s remorseless grin suggested that it was more than science. Everyone took a step back from the hole.

“If they are dead, rest assured that you are going in next.” Malleus glared.

“Oh dear.” Jade said, still smiling.

“How will we know if they’re dead?” Trey asked, adjusting his glasses.

There was a long silence.

“Could we shoot them a text or something?” Idia asked.

“Do they have cell service in the void?” Leona asked.

“...not in my experience...”

Silence resumed.

“We should call an evacuation of campus.” Riddle asserted.

Meanwhile, the prefect was not dead, rather they landed face first on the ground.

They groaned as they sat up. “Whichever one of you...” they saw that they were no longer on campus, and no longer surrounded by their students.

Instead, there were three identical boys, and they realized that they landed on top of a fourth one. The only visible differences between them were the colors of their outfits, red (the one they landed on), purple, blue, and green. They reminded them of the knights’ uniforms from back home, the green one especially.

“Could you get off of him?”

“Oh, sorry.” They stood up and offered the boy a hand.

“Thank you.” The boy smiled as he took their hand and stood as well. “So... you came from the hole?”

“Yep...” they looked at the hole they emerged from, it was larger than the one in Crowley’s office and was also slowly growing. “My name is Link, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

The red boy perked up. “What a coincidence! That’s our name as well!”

“...what?”

“We should probably explain.” The purple one said. “We were all previously one person, but when we drew the Four Sword, we were split into four.”

“We go by nicknames to avoid confusion,” the green one continued, “but our original name was also Link. I go by Green, he’s Vio, that’s Red, and that one’s Blue.”

So they were named after the colors of their outfits. That made things simple enough.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all, but I do have to get back to where I was.” They had some disciplinary action they needed to carry out.

“How do you plan to do that?” Vio asked.

They thought for a moment. “I think I’m going to try going back through the hole.”

“Is that safe?” Green asked.

“I was fine the first time.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Blue nodded.

“Ciao.” Link gave them a two fingered salute as they walked back into the hole.

Instead of Crowley’s office, the exited onto a hill. Where they immediately lost their footing on the sudden change in slope. They tumbled down to the base of the hill where they landed on top of someone.

“Oh, sorry-”

They tried to get up, but something landed on their back and pushed them back down.

“Vio, you’re on my leg!”

“What’re you guys doing here?” Link tried to push themselves up despite the four kids on their back.

“We followed you!” Red said.

“Yeah, I can see that, why, though?”

“Nothing we were doing was working.” Blue shrugged.

“And our swords glowed when we got close, which could only mean good things!”

“Could you please get off of me?” The boy Link landed on asked.

“Sorry!” All five of them scrambled off of the poor boy and the prefect helped him to his feet.

“Are you alright?”

“Yep!” The boy smiled brightly, then thought a moment. “Did you all just come out of the world eating hole?”

“Yep.”

“So is this where you came from, Link?” Red asked.

“Nope.”

“Wait, you’re name’s Link too?” The other boy, Link, apparently, asked.

“So a sixth Link?” Vio asked. “It can’t be a coincidence at this point. And besides the hair color, he does look a lot like...”

“Doesn’t matter.” The prefect turned back to the hole. “I’ve got places to be.”

“Hey before you go,” the newest Link started, “could you help me find my shield?”

The prefect paused mid-stride and turned on their heel. “Alright, what’s it look like?”

“It’s brown and has a red cross on it.”

The six of them looked around the area. The prefect was about to give up when-

“Is that it?” Red asked, pointing up a tree.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“How’d it even get up there?” The prefect asked.

Link shrugged. “But hey, this one’s shorter than the last tree!”

“The last tree...” the prefect echoed as they approached it. After a quick evaluation they started climbing. “Look out below!” They dropped the shield and quickly fell down after it.

“Thank you!” Link smiled brightly. So bright that the prefect almost had to avert their eyes.

“Yeah, no problem.” They gave him a pat on the head as they walked past. “I’ve gotta get going now.”

“Where are you in such a hurry to get to?” Red rushed to match their pace.

“I... well... it’s a long story, but to put it quickly I am in charge of something and I need to get back. Au revoir.”

The last thing they heard was “has anybody seen my sword?”

They emerged in a plain surrounded by train tracks, a crashed train rested at the end of one. It reminded them so much of home. A loud clang of metal against metal pulled them out of their reminiscing.

“Owww...”

The prefect got closer to where they heard the noise, a train.

“Are you alright?”

“Who’s there?” The voice called back. “Uh, I’m fine, but it’s pretty dangerous around here, so you should leave.”

“Are you sure? It sounded like it really hurt.”

“Yeah, no need to worry.”

Clang!

“Owww...”

“Alright I’m definitely worried.”

“Seriously,” the voice moved to talk to them face to face, “I’m fine,”

They couldn’t help their knee-jerk reaction. “Green?”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, you look a lot like someone I know.” Uncannily like him, even.

“Right, well, you should-”

“Alright, where are we now?”

Green, Red, Blue, Vio and Other Link emerged from the hole.

“What the-?!”

“Oh there you are!” Red waved at the prefect. “Who’s your friend?"

“It’s like looking in a mirror...” the boy muttered.

“You can see how I got mixed up, right?”

The boy nodded silently.

“I’m Red, what’s your name?”

“Link... wait, are you guys named for your clothes?”

“So we’ve got another Link.” Vio looked around. “There’s definitely something about this.”

“If we keep getting new Links at our current rate,” Red thought a moment, “we’ll have... a lot.”

“Good job.” Vio patted the other on the shoulder.

“And that means you’ll need nicknames!”

“What, like yours?” The prefect asked. “I don’t think using the our clothes’ colors will work.”

Red thought for a moment, before he snapped his fingers. “What about your titles!”

“What?”

“Your hero titles! Like how we’re the Hero of Light. What are your guys’ hero titles?”

“I’m the hero of trains, I guess.”

“Wait you are?” The prefect looked at him.

“...Vio, what’s a train?” Red asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Am I in New Hyrule?”

“Yeah.”

The prefect pumped a fist in the air. “Finally! Take that, you stupid crow!” They were finally back home! Granted, the Hero of Trains being there meant that they were not in the correct time, but a win was a win!

“What’s happening?” Blue asked.

“Alright, remember when I was talking about a long story? Well get comfortable, cause I’m about to explain.”

“Ooh! Story time!” Red sat down. “Do you have any snacks?”

The prefect rummaged through their bag and tossed him some macaroons.

“...can I have a snack?” The Hero of Trains asked.

The prefect looked in their bag again. “Do you like waffles?”

“...yeah, I like waffles.”

The prefect explained that a year ago, they were a regular citizen of New Hyrule until they were spirited away to Twisted Wonderland, where they were declared a “beast tamer” and made prefect of Night Raven College.

After they were done, the others shared their own adventures. There were train battles, a sword that split people into four, and lots of getting lost. And after everyone had trains explained to them, Red went on to give everyone their nicknames: the Hero of Trains was called Steam and the Hero of Hyrule was called Realm. As for the prefect...

“What’s your hero title?”

“Oh, I don’t have one.”

“Oh, what about one of your other titles then? Prefect or beast tamer?”

“I’m not sure if I’m really a beast tamer, so let’s go with prefect.”

“Okay... and what’s a prefect?”

“It’s like a student director. I was in charge of helping the students work together.” They were also the student snitch, but they purposefully left that out.

“So... what about Union?”

“That’s... kinda clunky for a nickname, isn’t it?”

“We can shorten it to Yu!”

They winced as they thought about it. Then Red hit them with the puppy dog eyes, and they were weak to cute puppies, darn it!

“Alright, Yu’s good.”

“It’ll grow on you.” Blue patted their shoulder.

“Like a mold...” They straitened up. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Guys, I lost my sword again.”

“Right after we find Realm’s sword.”

Chapter Text

Farore stared down at her Aspects, one group moving away from the hole in reality they needed to go through and the other one stubbornly rooted in place.

“Well, what about the third timeline? Where’s Courage there?” Din suggested.

The green goddess sighed and looked off into the distance. “That one... they were taken to somewhere else, where we don’t have jurisdiction...”

“What?!”

“Is that possible?!”

“Apparently! And the guys in charge over there aren’t fans of sharing... not even with each other... I haven’t been able to get in touch with them for a long while now.”

Din and Nayru were aghast. Of course, they weren’t the only higher powers, but to meddle with another goddess’s Aspect like that? The sheer audacity! And Farore was especially protective of Courage, so it’s quite a blow.

Nayru’s eye twitched.

“Woah, are you alright?” Din asked. She knew why Farore was upset, but she didn’t realize the other goddess was so protective of their sister’s Aspect.

“I just got a timeline headache again...”

“What?!” Farore’s attention snapped back to her sisters. “What now?!” Was it possible for an immortal goddess to get gray hairs? Cause she felt like she was getting gray hairs.

Nayru took a look through the reality window and quirked a brow. “Farore? I think I found your Aspect.”

“Really?!” The green goddess dove for the reality window and shoved her sister out of the way to get a look. “Oh, it’s them!”

Din leaned over her shoulder. “Seriously? They’ve been MIA for however long now and, what, those other guys just gave them back?”

“From the looks of it, they’re still not in Hyrule. Or anywhere adjacent...” Nayru shook her head.

“So what’s going on then?”

“Oh, I think I see.” Farore scrutinized the area. “Demise managed to get his claws in that place as well.”

“And that gave you access to them again?”

“That, or those guys who took them are trying to ask for our help.” Din scoffed.

“It seems unlikely, they are a proud sort,” Farore rubbed her chin, “but if they did, I would expect it to be this indirect.”

“You’ve had dealings with them before?” Nayru asked.

“Yes, I confronted them when they first took Courage. An unruly group, I hope they weren’t a bad influence.”

“How did we not know about this?” Din scrunched her face in bafflement.

“I have a life outside of you guys.”

“Since when?!”

Farore loudly shushed her sister as she waved a hand in her face. “I have Courage back. I need to catch up with them.” Since they lived outside of time, the three of them could view events anachronistically. When she was done watching through her missing Aspect’s adventure, she let out a sigh of relief. “It seems if anything, they’ve been an influence on everyone else.”

“Have they ever even lifted a weapon before?” Din raised a brow. “It looks like they got through their adventure with the power of friendship.”

“Do not underestimate the power of friendship! They might not have raised a weapon themselves, but they managed to get others to do what they want, including inflicting violence against people. They’re a great asset, considering how wily some of the other Courage can get.”

“Sure, I get that part; Goddess of Power here, but do you really think they’re up to the challenge? Demise isn’t just some teenager with mommy issues that they can just talk it out with.”

“They don’t have weapons, they aren’t a knight, they don’t even have armor...” Nayru listed, “but they do have a pretty good head on their shoulders.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s our decision anymore.”

The three watched as Courage was kicked into the black hole.

Yu sat down as they reflected on their situation. There was finally a moment of repose and they took advantage of the free time to get their thoughts together.

The group had gone through a number of different gaps in reality by that point and they still weren’t sure what the purpose of everything was. Not in the existentialist sense, more like nobody knew what they were doing.

All black holes lead to a different world with a hero named Link. There were a few exceptions; there was the one who had been tossed into the hole by his companion and landed on Realm after they’d found his sword, there was the island that had two heroes named Link and the castle that had no Links because the Link that was supposed to be there was on that island, there was the one with two Links in which one was a time clone of the other from the future (or the other was his time clone from the past, depending on perspective), and there was the world where they were taking their rest which had four heroes that were previously one hero (much like the first group of Links Yu had met) and still considered themselves a single unit.

...Yu wondered the most appropriate way to refer to The Four, as a single he or plural they. They’d notice that The Four would say “we” when referring to themselves, so they’d decided that they’d treat them as a group who just happened to have a telepathic bond and moved and spoke in unison, at least until they told them otherwise.

In any case, it was The Four’s world that they’d took a break in while they got through the designated story time. Those kept getting longer with each added Link. Actually, it seemed they’d already wrapped up story time and were being all but dissected by Vio instead. In any case, it didn’t feel entirely accurate to say they were traveling between worlds, it seemed more like they were moving backward through time; they’d met not only the Hero of Trains, but the Hero of Wind and even the Hero of Time. Two of them, even.

In total, their ragtag group of people who shared a name was at 17 if their math was right. They also seemed to share a fashion sense, considering most of them wore almost identical green tunics and hats. The only exceptions were Red, Blue, Vio, three of The Four, and Yu themselves, who was still wearing their Night Raven College uniform. They felt like the odd one out, at least the other six’s outfits looked like they belonged.

There were a few more things about the group that confused them; the others also all had someone important that was replaced with a steadily growing void in reality and, if they were all understanding correctly, they were on a mission to save all of reality as they knew it. However, the “important people” that the others talked about were all evil villains out to destroy or rule the world.

Grim wasn’t evil, though. Sure, he was kind of selfish and mischievous, had a bit of an unchecked ego and temper, and sometimes went into blot-induced hazes where he violently lashed out at anyone around him including Yu, but he wasn’t evil.

Something else that they learned was that only Links could go through the holes, non-Links seemed to just be deleted from reality. They hoped their students didn’t get any bright ideas.

They heard a mischievous giggle which almost sent them into fight or flight mode as they found the source, that being Mask holding the small bag that contained Dusk’s cursed stone.

“What are you up to?”

Mask put a finger over his mouth and nodded towards Lore, who was sleeping prone on the ground. He snored like a dragon.

They quirked a brow.

He waved his hand dismissively and pointed at Dusk.

Dusk gave them a thumbs up.

They shrugged and took a step away from Mask, who fist pumped in triumph. He crept over to Lore, opened the bag, and touched the cursed stone to the other boy.

Lore was awoken by the act, but only had the time to let out a quick yelp before he was turned into a pink rabbit. Most of the others started laughing. Yu felt a little bad for him, but they couldn’t help but find it cute. So cute that they just had to take a picture.

“Hey! Get rid of that!” Lore huffed indignantly as his foot stomped against the ground.

“No way! It’s a good picture! And I already used the film.”

Lore stared at them for a second. “Can you understand me?”

“...yeah?”

“Even though I’m a rabbit?”

“Yeah?”

“Wait,” Wind cut in, “are you talking to him?”

“Why is everyone so surprised? I’m pretty good at Animal Linguistics.” There was a brief pause. “Did I not mention that?”

“No!” Was the resounding response.

“Sorry. I guess it just doesn’t come up that often.”

“So you can learn to speak with animals?” Red asked, eyes shining. “Without magic?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Blue laughed a little. “You’re like a real life Disney pr-”

He was interrupted by Yu grabbing his shoulder, their face was very intense. “Do not speak that name.”

“...okay.”

After a brief second, they lit up. “Thank you!”

“Hey!” Lore drew their attention back. “Where’s my Moon Pearl?!”

“Does anyone know where his Moon Pearl is?” They translated.

Dusk reached down to Mask, who was too busy laughing, and took the pearl from his pocket. Pearl secured, Lore was once again Hylian, and Dusk reclaimed his cursed stone.

Once the reasoning was explained to him, Lore was actually pretty calm about what happened, besides a declaration of vengeance against Mask. “Now then,” he turned to Yu, “gimme that!” He made a grab for the photograph.

“No way!” They held it overhead. Lore may have had a small height advantage, but they had plenty of experience dealing with unruly teens, most of which were taller than him.

Though, Lore was more persistent than their students. They worried for a moment that he’d actually manage to take it. In a last ditch effort to keep their photo in tact, they took another.

Lore, blinded by the flash, let go for a moment, and that moment was all they needed. As he was busy blinking the spots out of his eyes, Yu leapt through the nearby void.

They landed in a small forest clearing. After brushing themselves off, they put both pictures in their photo album.

The others came tumbling out after. Despite his best effort, Lore had to wait for everyone to de-tangle themselves before he could return to his pursuit.

“Guys, I think we landed on a town.”

Inspecting their landing spot revealed that there were tiny houses, or the remains of them, at least. There didn’t seem to be anyone in there luckily enough.

“They probably evacuated already.” Yu inspected the small settlement. “It’s pretty close to that hole.” They thought about the void back at Night Raven. They hoped everyone had evacuated safely.

“So is there any hero out here?” Sketch asked.

“I haven’t seen anyone.” The prefect put their album back into their bag. That would make it the first time they’d arrived somewhere and hadn’t immediately landed on the hero. Literally, in some cases.

“Hey!” Lore pointed at them. “Don’t think I forgot about that picture!”

“What picture?”

He narrowed his eyes at them.

“Will you let me keep it if I promise to help you learn Animal Linguistics?”

The boy hummed. “Using my love for languages against me...” to punctuate this point, he said something in a language Yu didn’t understand accompanied by a frustrated snap. “Deal.”

“Wow, you’re really good at that.” Steam said.

“At what?”

“Manipulating people.” Blue cut in.

“...please... don’t say it like that.”

Dusk cleared his throat, gaining the group’s attention. “So, are we going to find the new Link?”

Wind glanced around. “Uh, we should find Realm first.”

There was a prolonged silence.

“Din, don’t tell me we left him in the last Hyrule.” Sketch face-palmed.

That would be a terrible problem, seeing as they had gone through those holes numerous times without ever seeing the same place twice, and it was unlikely Realm would be able to find his way back on his own in a reasonable amount of time.

“Look,” Yu started, “it’s kinda my fault that everyone rushed through, so I’ll go back and look for him.” They hoped their lack of confidence didn’t show.

“We’ll go too,” The Four volunteered. “We know the place best.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait a second.” Dusk stepped in. “Can you even get back there?”

They thought for a moment, then they grabbed Dusk’s left hand and held it toward the void. “Oh, great, almighty whoever-it-is-that-controls-this-thing,”

“I think she prefers ‘Farore’.” Wind interjected.

“Oh, great, almighty Farore, if Realm is in the previous Hyrule, would you please give us a sign?”

The triangle on the back of his hand began to glow.

“And if you will allow us to go back and collect him, will you give us another sign?”

This time, it was the gems on the pommel of The Fours’ swords that began to glow.

“Great, thank you!”

The five of them walked back through the hole. The last thing they heard before they disappeared was “We can do that?”

Now, nothing had explicitly told them they needed however many dozens of Links that there were, but they didn’t like the idea of leaving anyone behind. Certainly not in a foreign time and place.

Realm was found down the mountain, across a river, and in some other temple. Quite impressive for a boy who allegedly couldn’t swim.

“Oh, hey guys!” He greeted them with a bright smile.

“Way too chipper...” Yu muttered. Then they threw the boy over their shoulder. “C’mon, the others are already on the other side.”

“...they left without me?”

“Uh, that’s my fault. Sorry. They wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t caused a rush...”

“Why were you in such a rush?”

“Mask turned Lore into a rabbit. I took a picture. Lore wanted to destroy it.”

“Oh... can I see?”

“Yeah, once we get back to the hole.”

“All is forgiven, then.” They could hear the boy’s sunny smile.

“Wow, Blue was right. You are good at manipulating people.”

“Please... stop saying that...”

They eventually trekked back past the river, up the mountain and back into the original temple. It was only then did Yu put the boy back on his feet. Then, as promised, they pulled out their album. They ran a finger over the picture, and the image started to move; Lore thumped his rabbit foot in indignation.

The other five gasped at the sight.

“How’s it doing that?!”

“Oh, I dunno, magic?”

The Four leveled them an unimpressed stare.

“It’s a special ability of my ghost camera.”

“Oh, the one the crow gave you?”

“His name is Crowley, but he’s not a bird.” Granted, he did kind of dress like one. “In any case, we need to catch up with the others. Everyone got everything?” Once they got the affirmative, they put away their photos and threw Realm back over their shoulder.

When they reemerged from the void, they found Dusk waiting for them. He was tapping his foot anxiously before he saw them.

“Good. We found the local Link already, the others are all over with him.”

They followed Dusk through a town and into a library. The others were crowded in the back.

“Now we can begin story time!”

“Can I stand now?” Realm asked.

“Right.” Yu set the boy back on his feet.

“This is Speck,” Red introduced the newest Link, “and this is his hat, Ezlo.” The hat sat up on the boy’s head. He looked like a bird.

“For your information, I do not belong to him.”

So, Speck went into his story with Ezlo there to provide additional commentary. The way they spoke made Yu feel a kinship with the boy. Once he was done, it was Lore’s turn, since he had called dibs.

Several hours later, story time was over and they realized that they lost Realm again. Several more hours later, he was found in the crater of a volcano. Speck was really confused, since the other managed to get somewhere only reachable with size magic. Yu almost gave him sympathetic a pat on the head, but pivoted last second to pat his shoulder instead.

“Alright, let’s get a move on.” The group made their way back down the volcano, Yu kept a firm grasp on Realm’s hand the whole way back.

The walk was long, since they had an entire country to cross. In the meantime, they started a small competition over who had the best abilities. They paused as Speck shrunk down and scaled Sketch. As they kept walking the competition evolved into an argument. Speck began his decent, Sketch crouched down to help him, and the group waited for them. They didn’t want to leave anyone behind... again...

It was decided that items were fair game, which kept Dusk and Yu from withdrawing. In fact the decision felt almost just to spite them for trying. Everyone was giving their items for consideration.

“What about you... Yu?” Vio, who seemed to have declared himself scorekeeper at some point, asked.

“...I have snacks.”

“That is pretty cool...” Red muttered.

“But any of us can carry snacks.” Blue said.

“They can talk to animals.” Steam interjected.

“Submission accepted.” Vio noted.

“What about your thing?” Realm added. “Your, uh, pictograph?”

“But I also have a pictograph.” Wind retorted.

“Yeah, but their pictures can move!”

“They showed us.” The Four nodded.

There was a long silence as they mulled that over.

“I guess that’s kinda cool...” Sketch relented, “but that doesn’t sound particularly useful.”

“Well, they can do a little more than move...”

“Now what does that mean?” Mask leaned in with an intrigued smile.

“I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee that it’ll work here... it’s pretty... finicky, I guess.”

“What’s that mean?” Ocarina asked.

“It needs certain conditions to work.” They reluctantly let go of Realm’s hand as they dug out their photo album. “Let’s see...” which photo did they want to use? Eventually, they decided on General Vanrouge, and activated the picture.

In a flash of light, Lilia appeared. It was a bit of a relief, they’d been worried that the pictures wouldn’t work since the subjects didn’t exist in their current dimension.

“Prefect, is something the matter?” He asked.

“I just wanted you to meet some people.”

He shook his head. “Did you really summon me for such a frivolous purpose? Even though you know I won’t remember them?”

“Modern Lilia woulda been fine with it...” They muttered.

“I heard that.”

“I know.”

Lilia turned back to the rest of the group. “General Lilia Vanrouge, at your service.”

“So you can summon people from your pictures?” Steam’s eyes sparkled.

“What does he mean he won’t remember us?” Mask’s brows furrowed.

“He’s not actually Lilia, just, kinda, a memory of him. When I summon someone like this, they know they’ve been summoned, but they don’t know what happens. So if I summon him again later, it’ll be the same rigmarole. Unless you met the actual Lilia.” But that probably wasn’t going to happen, not any time soon at least.

“If you are done,” General Vanrouge put his hands on his hips, “I would appreciate if you wouldn’t call on me unless you actually need me.”

“Sorry.”

With a flash, Lilia disappeared.

“That’s pretty cool.” Sketch nodded.

“So could you summon Lore too?” Realm asked as Yu took his hand again.

“Well, it’s based on how close the photographer is with the subject, the ‘soulbond’, as it was described to me. So, in time, maybe I could summon any of you. As long as I have a picture.”

“So that’s why you were so determined to keep that picture.” Lore rubbed his chin.

“And here I thought you just wanted to hold it over his head.” Mask nodded.

“There’s a lot of pictures in there.” Wind observed.

“You can summon all these guys?” Red asked, flipping through.

“Yeah, I’d be pretty helpless without them.” The prefect chuckled and rubbed the back of their neck.

“Now don’t say that.” Lore shook his head. “Never underestimate the power of your wit.” He poked them on the forehead.

“Look, Lore, that one’s dressed as a bunny.” Blue pointed at one. “You’re not alone.”

Green leaned over his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, is that the guy who took down that chandelier?”

Yu’s laugh was much more boisterous that time. “Yeah, he meant well, though.” They hummed a little. “Hey, can I see that back for a second?”

“Of course!” Red chirped.

They flipped through until they found the pictures of Lore and ran a finger over one. Suddenly, a small illusory rabbit appeared, stomping his foot on the ground.

Realm and The Four gasped. “It didn’t do that last time!”

Lore crouched down to look at it. “That’s new!” He waved his hand at the rabbit. “Hey, me!”

“I don’t think he can actually see you.” Dusk said, judging the body language.

“Yeah, not quite at sentience level yet.” Yu shook their head.

Lore pouted. “Looks like we’ll just have to get closer!”

“...that felt like a threat.”

Lore simply smiled. It didn’t make it feel like less of a threat.

It was eventually decided that Lore was the winner, since he had picked up a lot of powerful magic items over his 4 adventures.

“Although,” Dusk started, “if Yu could summon any of us, then they’d have access to all of our abilities and items as well.”

“And there’s the people they already have in their book.” Wind added. “One of which is a General.”

“Well, one of them can manipulate the weather, but I don’t think any of them have anything on the level of changing the seasons or time travel.” Though, Malleus could pause time...

“These guys dress up a lot.” Red noted. “Do you have a bunch of different outfits too?”

“Oh, yeah, but most of them are back in my dorm.”

“You don’t carry them on you?” Ocarina asked.

“No, I don’t need to change that often during a day, and most of these are for special occasions anyway.”

“Here we are!” Speck pointed to the void that was consuming reality.

After a brief conversation, Speck was picked up and thrown into the void, and the others followed after. It was then discovered that non-Links that did get through the voids unscathed (with the help of a Link) were put into a stasis.

In any case, the group had been dropped into a forest without any notable characteristics nor any people. It didn’t even have a void eating reality either, so that must have been progress.

Lore kicked a bush in frustration and they discovered that the forest did, in fact, have a notable characteristic; the bushes had birds attached to them. The bird seemed to be flightless, since he tried to flee them on foot. Tried being the operative word, as he soon ran into a tree and fell over.

Dusk managed to get some information from the timid critter about the local Link, that being that he had a talking sword and he only visited the area when there was a big monster to fight. He’d vetoed terrorizing the locals to lure in the Link, so they simply had to wait.

Yu saw Mask, Ocarina, and Steam, all gathered around talking, probably about the mask in Mask’s hands. The small Hero of Time looked so emotional about whatever Steam was telling him. Yu crouched down and took a picture of him. When they looked at it, there was another person in the picture; a little Deku Scrub, identical to the mask the small hero held.

Then Mask slapped the mask onto Lore’s sleeping face. The ginger hero was transformed into a Deku Scrub, once again identical to the one in their photo.

Lore was involuntarily spitting Deku seeds. This soon turned to very intentionally spitting seeds at anyone who was laughing at him, and even those who weren’t by proxy.

It took a few minutes for things to calm down, and Mask returned Lore to his Hylian form. Evidently, their shenanigans drew the attention of the local Link. Lore was upset that the new guy was taller than him. Something exploded in the distance, so they went to check it out, and Realm explained the situation to the new guy on the way.

They soon got to the source of the explosion, a giant hole in the ground with a guy and the smoldering crater of whatever it was that he blew up in it. The hole had a large spiral path to the bottom.

“His hair’s on fire...” Yu muttered. A distant ancestor to the Shrouds?

“Sweet Hylia,” the new guy gasped, “that’s Demise.”

“Sounds dangerous.” They said.

“He is. He’s the god of destruction, the Demon King. He wants to wipe everything from existence. It’s my job to defeat him.”

It was quick work to figure out that he was the one behind all those holes in reality.

“Alright, let’s beat this guy up. I want Grim back.”

“Wait,” the new guy interrupted, “I’m the one who’s supposed to stop him.”

“We can help!” Realm volunteered.

Despite the boy’s protests, it was decided that they were going to help and absorbed him into the group. Given the official seal with Red’s nickname; Genesis, Gen for short.

“You’ll get used to it.” Yu consoled him with a pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah,” the new guy, Gen, sighed. “but, more importantly, you guys are going to help me fight Demise?”

“Of course.”

“How hard could it be?” Lore shrugged. He was promptly ignored.

“I have no idea what he’s capable of, so be prepared for anything.”

“Like super senses and projectiles?” Yu asked.

“Why...?” Gen looked toward the god of destruction, only to be met with a magic missile headed their way.

“Move!”

They all jumped out of the way as the ledge exploded.

“So much for the element of surprise...”

Yu watched the others descend into the chasm. They went through their pictures, trying to find the best combination for the maximum damage output. There had been several blasts emerging from the hole, doing terrible damage to the ecosystem. After a brief glance below, they changed their strategy.

By the time they had made their selections, there was no longer a spiral path to the bottom of the chasm. Instead it was reduced to a hundred foot drop, with their teammates scattered on the ground among the rubble.

“How the heck are we supposed to get down there?” Ruggie asked.

Floyd lit up. “What if we flooded the entire hole? We’d bring the fight to us.”

“I’m on it!” Kalim readied his pen when Yu grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“No, we can’t risk drowning everyone down there. We should be careful about using water anyway.”

“Why?”

“He’s using electricity.” Ortho pointed out. “Water is a conductor, and if we aren’t careful, we risk making ourselves or our allies more susceptible to his attacks!”

“...yeah.” They didn’t need to bring up one of their teammate’s debilitating hydrophobia. It was simply irrelevant. It would only waste more time than they already had.

“I imagine that even without those factors, filling the entire hole with water would take far too long.” Malleus added.

“So we’re back at square one.” Ruggie sighed.

“Malleus and Ortho can fly.” The prefect stated. “They can help bring us to the bottom.”

“That’s perfect, Link!” Ortho smiled.

“Then let’s go already!” Floyd urged. “I’m just itchin’ for a good fight.”

“Just remember the plan. And who we’re fighting.” The prefect said.

“Of course. We’re fighting the little sea vent down there.”

“...if you’re referring to the shirtless man with the long red fire hair, then yes. And I’m sure he’s only small in perspective.”

They began their descent. It was actually much faster than if they had walked the path... while there was still a path to be walked. The group planted themselves between Demise and the group of prone Links.

“Sorry for being late.”

“Yu-!” Speck squeaked.

Demise smiled. “It seems we have some volunteers.” He raised a hand to them. “If you would stay still, that will make things much easier.” He paused. “Easier for me.”

“...excuse me?” Yu asked.

“Not you.” The god waved a hand in their direction, continuing to talk to himself.

“...who is he speaking to?” Malleus asked.

“Right, you guys weren’t here for that part.” Steam muttered.

“He’s got all our villains in his head.” Ocarina said.

“And he has access to all their magic.” Sketch added.

The prefect looked back at him, still yelling at people no one could see like a madman. They turned their attention back to the group, who had taken quite the tumble while Yu was still up top.

“Let’s get you guys patched up while he’s distracted.”

The group started handing out red potions to those who needed them.

“Hey, who are these people?” Gen asked, looking at the newcomers.

“They’re some of my students.”

“You brought in civilians?!”

“No need to worry!” Kalim smiled.

“We aren’t in any real danger.” Ruggie snickered.

“What?”

“We’re just apparitions, summoned by the prefect to help you!” Ortho informed. “The real versions of us are safe back at home.”

Gen looked conflicted by the answer.

“What’s going on with your outfit?” Wind asked Floyd.

“Huh? You don’t like my camo?”

“Camo?! It’s white with orange spots! What are you camouflaging with?!”

“It’s magically enchanted.” The prefect cut in.

“Why’d you summon these guys?” Sketch asked. “I mean, no offense, but most of these guys don’t seem combat ready.”

“Probably not,” they agreed, “but they’ve got some of the best healing spells I have access to.”

“You guys have healing spells?” Gen lit up.

“One each.” Yu nodded.

“Thank Hylia...”

Ruggie’s ear twitched. “Someone’s coming.”

A man dropped down from the top of the hole. He landed and in a flash was at Demise’s feet.

“Link,” Ortho exhaled, “I’m not sensing any vitals from that man.”

“Contrarily, he has a strong magical energy.” Malleus noted.

“What’s he doing?” Kalim asked.

“Nothing good.” The prefect stated. “We need to intercept them.”

“My most humble and sins-seak!” The man’s prostrating was interrupted when Ruggie’s fishing hook caught in his hair and yanked him backwards.

“I’ve caught a lively one!” The boy joked as he reeled in the strange man.

“I’ve never considered the humble fishing rod...” Lore muttered.

“You-!” The man squawked as he stood, plucking the hook from his hair. “How dare you try to keep me from my Master any longer!” He turned back, but was again stopped by two more fishing hooks snagging his scarf and pulling him back again.

Dusk and Wind held up their own fishing rods.

The man was unamused. He tugged on the stings, snapping them with ease. “Now, my Master,” he returned himself to the god’s feet, “allow me to make it up to you, and destroy these obtrusive peons!”

Demise smiled and wordlessly plunged his hand into the man’s chest.

“Gen, what’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” he breathed, “that’s Ghirahim, but I don’t know what they’re...”

When Demise raised his hand again, he held a sword, and Ghirahim was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ve never seen magic like that!” Ortho gasped.

“I have.” Gen said in between his strings of curses.

The god brandished the sword and sent most of the group flying with a magical pulse. Only Yu and their students were still standing, thanks to Floyd.

Ortho and Malleus once again took to the air. Kalim and Ruggie ran in opposite directions of each other. Floyd covered the once again prone group of Links.

Demise stepped toward Yu with a menacing grin.

They pulled something from their bag. “Would you stop destroying the world for some tuna? It’s the expensive stuff.”

The Demon King simply leveled a hand at the can and blasted it. The prefect tossed it on reflex. When the can hit the ground it was pure stone.

Before he could advance, Ortho dove and slashed his back, flying up again while the god reached to grab him.

While Demise aimed another shot at Ortho, Yu picked up the stone can and pelted it at his head.

He growled and whipped around, sending a blast at them. Floyd jumped in front of them, smacking the beam away.

The god lunged at the prefect, sword at the ready. His attack was interrupted by Gen, who locked blades with him.

“Are you going to move?” Demise asked him. “Or am I going to have to move you?”

Gen opened his mouth to respond, but abruptly rolled out of the way. Demise’s blade embedded into the ground where he stood.

Floyd jumped in, smacking the Demon King on the head with his bean blades. They didn’t hurt him as much as they annoyed him.

“What was that?!” Gen gasped, still on the ground.

“You were doing something stupid reckless.” Ruggie said, brushing dirt off his coat. “I got you out of the way.”

“Please... a little warning next time.”

“Sure, do you want me to send the demon guy the play-by-play beforehand too?”

Demise shot a bolt of lightning at Floyd, who batted it away. He spun a bean blade in one of his hands, watching the residual electricity spark off of it.

Dusk attacked with a large iron ball and chain, while a thorny vine shot toward the god, courtesy of Malleus. Demise caught both with ease, yanking the vine from the ground with hardly even a scratch, before dragging Dusk forward by the chain and raising his sword to strike.

Wind tried to get the drop on him with his hammer, but Demise struck him with Dusk’s iron ball. As he went flying back, Ortho caught him out of the air and used his healing spell, which stirred the boy back to consciousness.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah... yeah, I’m good.”

Ortho set him gently back on his feet and the hero ran back into the fray.

Meanwhile, before Demise could bring his sword down on Dusk, a vine wrapped around the boy’s torso and pulled him away.

Malleus floated to the ground next to Dusk as the vine retracted.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, save your healing for someone who needs it.”

“Of course.”

Green, Red, Blue, and Vio launched their own assaults, with Kalim using his spells to support them. Wind once again attacked, this attempt more successful than his previous one. He managed to get a few slashes in before Demise roared and slapped him, Red and Vio away. He was once again caught by Ortho while Malleus teleported across the chasm to intercept the other two before they collided with the wall.

They were still conscious, thanks to Kalim’s gradual healing spell, and as soon as they were on the ground Red and Vio ran back to the fight.

Ortho, meanwhile, continued to hold Wind. “I wouldn’t advise running back in again. Do you have any ranged moves you could use?”

“Yeah.” Wind rasped as he dug through his bag.

Demise performed a spin attack, knocking away everyone around him.

Gen jumped at him, bringing down his sword. Demise blocked and punched him in the face, sending him flying back into Floyd.

Dusk lunged while he was turned, though the Demon King whipped around and slashed him across his chest and an arm.

Kalim shot water at Demise to distract him while Ruggie pulled the injured hero out of blade radius. Sketch shot his hookshot at the Demon King’s head as he and Steam ran in to attack. At the same time, Speck used his roc’s cape to attack from above. The god quickly sidestepped them and attacked while their swords were locked.

Yu approached Lore, who was in the middle of the slowly growing “dispatched pile” where Floyd was trying to pull himself out from under Gen. The boy did his best to shuffle off the other whilst undoubtedly battling a concussion.

Before they could ask anything, they were struck by lightning, courtesy of Demise.

Lore caught them before they hit the ground.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “...conscious, at least?”

They coughed, some smoke escaped their mouth. “I’m awake.”

“They’re fine,” Floyd stood and leaned over them, “Shrimpy’s real hearty.”

He was about to say something else when he was struck in the side with a magic blast.

Floyd turned to stone.

The stone turned to dust.

Yu watched as the dust that was once Floyd was carried away by the wind.

“He’s okay,” Lore said, “right?”

“They said they weren’t in danger.” Gen slurred.

“Right. Right, he’s fine.” They turned their attention back to Demise just in time to see The Four being launched in their direction. They did their best to catch the group before they hit the wall, though catching four people thrown at top speeds is very difficult.

Yu watched as Demise struck Mask with his blade, launching the boy into the air. He flew into Malleus much too fast for him to react, sending them both into a wall.

Wind shot arrows at the god, per recommendation, getting in some good hits. Demise lunged at Wind, grabbing the boy and throwing him across the chasm. He was once again caught by Ortho, though they were struck with Demise’s lightning. Ortho disappeared in a flash, leaving Wind to drop to the ground.

Ruggie and Kalim both ran to catch the boy before he landed. Kalim was shot by a beam of Twilight, reducing his form to little more than shadow. As soon as Ruggie caught Wind, he ground his heels into the dirt as a beam shot right in front of him. He scampered toward the group, though was stopped in his tracks when he was hit with a blast. He turned as fast as he could to shield Wind with his own body, turning to stone. Wind slid out of the crumbling statue’s grasp, softly hitting the ground.

Malleus drifted down with Mask unconscious in his arms.

“Child of man, are you alright?”

“Fine.” They grunted as they stood.

Ocarina and Blue attacked in tandem. Demise electrocuted Ocarina. Before he could bring his blade down on Blue, Malleus was in front of him in a flash, taking the slash in his stead. Yu staggered forward.

Demise lifted Blue by his tunic collar, the small hero thrashed against his grasp.

“Hey!” Yu called as they hucked another rock at the god’s head to get his attention.

The Demon King slowly turned to them. “You are very desperate to die.” He tossed Blue aside.

In less than a blink, he was in front of them. He lifted them by their bicep, a wicked grin on his face. Demise lifted his blade, slowly, arrogantly drawing out the moment.

Click!

They took a picture, getting the flash as close to his eyes as possible. Unlike when they did it against Lore earlier, Demise did not let them go. In fact, he only gripped their arm harder. They could hear their bone breaking as much as they could feel it.

“What an annoyance.” He growled.

Demise lifted them a little, before slamming them to the ground with such force that they rebounded. They barely processed that fact before they were hit, sending them flying. It wasn’t long before they hit the wall. The world spun, even after they laded back in the dirt.

Their blinks felt sluggish. Everything did, in fact, but their eyelids felt the heaviest.

“Wake up.” Someone begged them. They sounded so distant. “Please wake up.”

Blearily, the prefect blinked their eyes open. They took in the features of the person in front of them, despite their blurry vision.

Sandy blonde hair... blue eyes...

“Ruggie?” Link rasped.

He looked taken aback, before holding up a hand. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Six. No...”

Ruggie sighed. Behind him, they noticed movement.

They squinted to get as clear of a look as they could. There was a large figure with fire for hair. Idia? No, couldn’t have been, besides the hair, he hardly looked like the boy. Idia’s dad? Maybe, they’d never actually seen Mr. Shroud.

And in front of him... that stark orange hair...

“Why’s Cater fighting Mr. Shroud?”

Ruggie looked at someone they couldn’t see. “They can’t keep going in this condition.”

“No.” Link tried to push out of the boy’s grasp. As they tried to stand they felt something drip down their face. “I need... I need to help... Cater...”

Speaking of, Cater ran over, while Ruggie and the other person kept them from standing.

“How are they?”

“Bad.”

Perhaps it had been the ringing in their ears that prevented them from noticing sooner, but their students didn’t sound right. Ruggie especially. His voice was deeper than normal, rougher and lacking his usual playful lilt.

“What-”

The sound of an impact somewhere above the group interrupted their question. Whatever it was quickly joined them on the ground.

Their ears were ringing again, Cater seemed to be saying something, but they couldn’t understand what.

Behind Cater, Mr. Shroud stalked toward them with a large blade. The two holding the prefect down stood. That was when they noticed that Ruggie(?) had a long gash across his torso and one arm. An arm that dangled uselessly at his side. The three pulled out shields; and Link thought that maybe, just maybe, they had assessed the situation wrong.

The man brought his sword down on the three, though Link couldn’t see any more past the blinding light that took over their vision.

Lilia put down the box he was carrying. It had Malleus’s gargoyle in it, and it was much too heavy for anyone else. They were evacuating the school, and while most of the students had packed up and left already, the housewardens, vice housewardens, and a handful of especially stubborn kids had lagged behind to assist the faculty with the school items and the animals.

“Father,” speaking of stubborn students...

Silver held a box of his own as he approached. “Has the prefect summoned you again?”

“No,” he sighed. It had been a relief to know that they were alive, though he was still worried. They’d done some experimenting, Cater had used a double to test if they could follow Link through. They couldn’t, and even after he disappeared into cards the image of the boy’s missing hand stuck with Lilia.

“They summoned me.” Malleus informed, as he and Sebek entered. “Just a few minutes ago.”

“Really?” Lilia asked as he lifted the box again. The four of them continued out of Diasomnia.

“Correct.”

“They are clearly in danger!” Sebek declared.

“Not necessarily,” Lilia said, “perhaps they just miss us.”

“I hope that’s all...” Silver muttered as they entered the hall of mirrors.

Before they could get any further, a bright green light engulfed the room. When it subsided, a group of kids were lying on the ground, most of them were unconscious. One of them slowly sat up, clearly disoriented. He looked at the pile of sleeping people around himself before noticing the onlookers. He gasped at the sight of them, before he dove between the two groups and raised a shield to them. His eyes buzzed with adrenaline as they bounced between the four. Then he paused, squinting to get a clearer look at them.

“Are you... general Lilia Vanrouge?”

Lilia quirked a brow. “And who might you be?”

“You... can call me... Lore.”

“Are you alright?” Silver asked. “You’re breathing very hard.”

He lowered his shield a little and glanced behind himself at the group.

“Is that the prefect?!” Sebek asked.

Lo and behold, in the pile of unconscious children was their prefect, asleep without a care in the world.

Lore glanced back at them. “You know them?”

“Prefect Link?” Silver tilted his head. “Yes, we do.”

Lore nodded and put his shield away. “Okay, I trust you. I’m going to sleep now.” Just as he’d said, the boy laid back down and promptly fell asleep, leaving the group dumbstruck.

Leona entered from Savanaclaw. He looked at the group sleeping on the ground. He stepped around them.

“You’re just going to walk away?!” Sebek shouted.

“Not my circus.”

They were once again left in silence.

“...should we tell the headmaster?” Silver asked.

There was a loud crash from somewhere outside the building, a rumble shook the foundation. A roar ripped through the air, rattling the glass.

Chapter Text

“My hate... never perishes.”

Is that... Demise? And who’s that fighting him?

“It is born anew in a cycle with no end!”

No end, huh? Losing over and over must get old eventually.

“I will rise again. Those like you... those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... they are eternally bound to this curse.”

A curse?!

“An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind,”

Wait, I think I can almost make out the person...

“Dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!”

Is...

...that...

“...Genesis?!”

Yu shot bolt upright in their bed, their breathing heavy and ragged. They had plenty of experience with strange dreams, but that one was definitely the strangest. Their attention was drawn to their door as footsteps thudded down the hall. Ace and Deuce burst inside, others not too far behind.

“Link!”

“Give them some space.”

“Guys?! What happened?”

“We could ask you the same thing!” Ace slammed his hands on the side of their bed.

“The guys from Diasomnia filled us in the most they could,” Deuce explained, “how did you just appear out of thin air? And who were those guys you were with?”

“I don’t know... the last thing I remember... wait... the guys I was with! What happened to them?!” They distantly recognized that their injuries were gone, but their attention was more focused on their brothers in arms.

“Woah, calm down.” Trey place a hand on their shoulder. “They’re fine, we managed to get you all here from the hall of mirrors, they’re all sleeping in the other dorm rooms.”

“Dragging those fairies all that way... I considered dropping ‘em.” Leona crossed his arms.

“Why were you with a bunch of fairies anyway?” Jack asked.

“Fairies? They’re not fairies.”

“What? But they have the pointy ears.” Deuce said.

“That doesn’t make them fairies, they’re Hylians, like me.”

...

“...what? Did you guys not know?” They tucked their hair behind their pointed ear as most of their classmates gasped in shock. “Seriously?! I wasn’t exactly keeping it secret.”

“You kids need to be more observant.” Lilia chuckled. “By the way, your friend Lore gave us quite the surprise, suddenly passing out on us.”

“Oh, sorry about him.” They thought for a moment. “Wait, if we appeared in the hall of mirrors, why’d you bring us to Ramshackle? Wouldn’t it have been way easier to take us to one of the other dorms?”

“About that...” Cater fidgeted with his phone.

“At the same time you guys appeared, Grim showed up all monstrous and started wrecking shop.” Idia explained.

“This is the only place left untouched.” Riddle concluded.

“Grim... is destroying the place?”

Ace nodded. “We don’t know why, we can’t seem to get through to him.”

“What happened after you went after him?”

“Did something upset him?” Kalim asked.

“Or did he eat more blotstones?” Idia posited.

“I don’t know, I didn’t find him... but I think I have an idea...”

“Are you just gonna keep it to yourself? Spit it out already!”

“Well, those guys I was with, they had people taken just like me and Grim. We found the source of the disappearances, some scary guy with powerful magic, who tried to kill us. It’s possible that the person who took Grim is connected with his violent behavior now.”

Their conversation was interrupted by scratching at the door. Yu climbed out of their bed and opened it to find

“A wolf?!”

“Woah, hey, calm down!” They stepped in front of their classmates. “This is one of my new friends, he can turn into a wolf.”

“What, like Jack?” Ace asked.

The aforementioned student glared at Dusk.

“Well, not exactly, he can’t do it innately, he has an item to do it.”

Dusk nodded.

“In any case, what are you doing here, Dusk?”

“I was worried when I woke up an unfamiliar room. I’ve been gathering everyone together, we have to explain everything to Gen anyhow.”

“Of course, this is probably so confusing for him.”

Dusk lead them to the room where everyone was meeting up. Wind handed him back his sword and he turned back into a Hylian.

“Uh, Link?”

Deuce’s call was answered by a chorus of “yes?”’s.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, we’re all named Link. We use nicknames to avoid confusion. You can call me Yu.”

“...right, I was just about to ask about that. Do you mind introducing us?”

“Sure, you already met Dusk, there’s Lore and Gen, Sketch and Wind, Steam, Red, Green, Blue and Vio, Realm and The Four, Speck, Mask and Ocarina.

Ace stared for a moment. “Could you go through that again but slower?”

“Which one’s Green?”

“You all look pretty green to me.” Leona shook his head.

“That one, between Blue and Vio.”

“How can you keep track of all them?”

“What, I keep track of all of you just fine.”

“Yu, it’s your turn for story time!” Red called.

“Wait, did Gen already tell his story without me?”

“No, we’re doing things in reverse this time.” Wind said.

“Story time? What are you guys, six?”

“It’s so everyone is on the same page, we tell the newest in our group of our adventures and what we can do.”

“Why am I not surprised you’d do something like that?” Ace crossed his arms. “Well, what are you waiting for? I want to make sure you’ve been telling the story right.”

So, with the “help” of their students, Yu told Gen about their stay at Night Raven.

“Have you seriously brought the chandelier up every time?”

“Yep!”

Gen nodded along. He looked a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, but he kept up well.

Once they were done, it was finally Gen’s turn. He told them about how he grew up on an island above the clouds and his journey on the surface.

“And... I took down a chandelier...”

“No way, you too?”

Once Gen was done with his story, a loud roar shook the foundation of the dorm building. The group crowded around the windows, Night Raven students pushing each other out of the way to get a look.

“Grim...”

“That’s Grim?!”

The massive chimera spat fire at the already ruined school building.

“He’s usually much smaller than that.” They frowned. “I don’t get it...”

“What’s not to get?”

“Grim! Why is he doing this? He’s not evil, he’s not a villain!”

“Maybe he’s not in his right state of mind?” Ace suggested.

Dusk placed a comforting hand on their shoulder.

“I think we’re gonna kill him.” Blue said.

“No!” Everyone jumped, clearly not expecting the outburst. “We aren’t killing him!”

“Yu,” Gen started, “I’ve gathered that you care for Grim, but you need to think about the safety of the civilians.”

“He hasn’t hurt anyone yet!”

“He tore down all the buildings on the island!”

“Not this one! Please! Let me try to talk to him! If it goes south... then...”

Dusk nodded. “Alright, we’ll monitor the situation from here. The second it goes wrong-”

“It won’t go wrong.”

Links and students alike watched the prefect exit the room. The heroes readied their weapons and opened the windows.

Yu treaded lightly as they approached the chimera, who was chewing on what they were pretty sure was once the P.E. shed. They straightened up, took a deep breath, and shouted for their friend.

Grim turned to them, charging. When he got closer, they could see recognition in his eyes and he skidded to a halt.

“What happened...?”

Grim chittered softly. Yu lifted a hand, their friend nuzzling against it. Then he shuddered, falling to the ground.

“Grim! Are you okay?”

Tears pricked the cat’s eyes with a quiet whimper.

“H...hurts...”

Yu’s heart broke. They placed their forehead against Grim’s.

“Is he making you do this?”

Grim chirpped weakly.

“I can’t believe it...” Gen gaped at the sight.

“That’s the prefect for you.” Ace sighed. “They’ve never seen a problem they couldn’t magic-of-friendship their way out of.”

“Well, if that’s taken care of...” Deuce looked nervously around at the heroes.

“So you guys are like Link’s family or something?” Kalim asked with a bright smile.

“I suppose that’s one way to put it...” Dusk muttered.

“Another way you could put it is that we’re all the same person from different points on a timeline.” Lore said.

“What does that even mean?” Jack asked, scratching his head.

“We’re all reincarnations of the same spirit.” Vio explained.

“It’s just time travel stuff,” Mask added, “Try not to over think it, it’ll give you a headache.”

“So does that mean you guys are beast tamers too?” Epel inquired.

“I mean... I’m a goat herder,” Dusk started, “But I wouldn’t call myself a beast tamer by any means.”

“We all have our areas of specialty.” Sketch noted.

“Oh, wait, you guys are from the prefect’s homeland, right?” Cater asked. “What’s it like, New Hyrule?”

“I can answer that!” Steam stepped forward. “Well, I can’t speak to what it’s like during Yu’s time, but I’m from New Hyrule too.”

“Perfect.” Ace grinned. “Does New Hyrule seriously not have horses or was the prefect just messing with us?”

“Nope, no horses.”

“Seriously?!”

“We were surprised about that too.” Green nodded.

“No horses on the Great Sea either.” Wind added.

“Man, too bad we evacted all the animals already.” Cater fidgeted with his hair. “Catch us later an we could show you.”

“While I’d love to show the prefects family the horses, are you sure there’s even going to be a ‘later’?” Riddle asked.

“That’s right.” Dusk said. “You all need to get away from here, it’s not safe.”

“We were gonna but Grim kinda interrupted us.” Idia shrugged.

“I don’t think he’ll be bothering you anymore.” Blue gestured out the window, where the prefect was giving Grim headpats.

Gen nodded. “We’ll escort you all off the grounds.”

“Can’t we say goodbye to Grim and the prefect?” Kalim asked.

“I can’t imagine that would be advisable.” Jamil said.

“He’s right. We can’t be sure the situation won’t turn.” Dusk explained.

The mood soured. The students exchanged glances, silently coming to a consensus.

“Let us pack up our stuff.”

“We’ll meet you at the front door.” Gen announced.

The heroes filed out of the room, leaving the students.

“We can’t just leave the prefect.” Deuce pleaded. “Can we?”

“We can’t and we aren’t.” Ace declared.

“But if we can’t go with them, how can we help them?”

“I have an idea.” Azul offered.

“Oh great.” Leona rolled his eyes.

“With my contracts, we’ll be able to support them from home.”

It was silent in the room as they mulled over the offer.

“I’ll do it.” Deuce said.

“Seriously?!”

“If the only way to help the prefect is to give them my magic, then I’ll do it.”

“They are pretty helpless on their own.” Ace chuckled. “Yeah, I’m in too.”

Once the students made their decision, they filtered out to collect their belongings.

At the front door, the heroes watched the students making their way down.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“No, but it’s the only one we have.”

When all the students were down, Azul approached Gen with a golden paper and quill.

“Give these to the prefect, they’ll know what to do.”

Gen nodded. “Now let’s get you all out of here.”

It was a quick enough walk to get everyone to the front gate, and it was an easy send off.

The other heroes approached Yu and Grim. The chimera let out a weak growl at them, but made no move.

“One of your students asked us to give these to you.” Gen explained as he handed over the items. “Said you’d know what to do.”

Unrolling the golden contract, they read it over. They couldn’t help but smile.

“They really do have my back.” They signed the contract, then turned back to Grim. “Things will be back to normal soon, I promise.” They nuzzled his head a little before turning back to the group. “Where’s Realm?”

“Right here!” He jogged up.

“Where have you been?”

“Well there was this place with a bunch of thorn bushes.”

“The Briar Valley?”

“And there was this place where everyone had these weird gray outfits, and they were really upset I was there.”

“The Island of Woe???”

“And then I was here.”

“You are an anomaly.”

He laughed.

“Alright let’s go.”