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The battle ended and Legend groaned, dropping down to the ground to just lay there.
"No excuse," he exclaimed. "There is no excuse to be fighting a battle for a whole hour straight!"
"Obviously you've never fought a war," Warriors deadpanned. "Got any injuries?"
"No, for both, but still! Unholy amounts of enemies? Fine. I get it. But barely twenty? Against the nine of us? Goddesses, I could take out twenty alone on half my adventures within ten minutes!"
"Oh shut up," Wild snorted. "Yeah right."
"No I believe it--"
"You believe anything the Scholar says, Calatian."
Hyrule scowled. "I do not!"
Legend had sat up fair quickly, eyes wide, but between Warriors checking the others for injuries and Wild and Hyrule arguing, Time was the only one who noticed.
Time approached him as he rather frantically stood.
"Vet? What's--breathe."
Legend inhaled immediately.
"Good--No, what's wrong?" Time asked because apparently breathing made the veteran panic even more. Yet he wasn't making a sound either. "Veteran, I can't read minds. You have to tell me what's wrong--"
"I can't!" His voice nearly exploded across the area before he yelped and slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide.
Time hadn't seen their veteran shaken aside from when one of the others displayed one of their more powerful abilities without warning, usually that was just being taken off guard before their scholar started questioning them on the ability. Actually, also during storms the vet was rather shaken.
"What's wrong?" Time asked again.
"I don’t--I don’t know, I shut up and--" their usually eloquent veteran just gestured helplessly.
"Shut up--Because I told you to?" Wild frowned.
"He'd never," Twilight scoffed, but he did seem a bit concerned. "Shut up because someone told him to?"
"I did though," Legend sounded so confused and panicked. "And then the Old Man said to breathe and it was--I mean obviously I'm breathing but it wasn't--It wasn't voluntary."
Time grew concerned, but an idea hit him. "Vet?"
"What?"
"Draw your sword."
The oddest thing was, despite the flash of confusion, he immediately did so and that confusion was promptly destroyed by the panic.
A moment later he dropped his sword, stepping back as he pulled his hands close to his chest and stared at Time like he was a danger. At all of them like they were a danger.
"What the hell..." Wind gaped.
"You didn't do that voluntarily either, did you?" Warriors croaked.
"Oh goddesses, oh goddesses, no," Legend whispered yet in the shaken clearing it was so loud. "I can't--No."
He ran.
"Veteran! Do--"
Wild slapped his hand over Twilight's mouth. "Don’t tell him what to do! We go after him and talk him down, no orders involved. Got it?"
Problem was, in the moment it took Wild to say that, Legend was gone.
Naturally, they started searching for him.
Time found their scholar partially on accident, but he found him nonetheless.
"No. No," Legend said immediately once he saw Time.
"Veteran--"
"No!" He covered his ears. "Don't you say a thing!"
Time held his hands up placatingly. "I won't. I won't say anything. I only wanted to ask... to suggest if you would be willing to--if you wanted to talk this out?"
"No," Legend said immediately and slapped his hand over his mouth. He was panicked, Time noticed, terrified even. "No! Shut up! Don't--I can't risk this. Oh goddesses above I can't risk this. I know way too much, can do too much, to risk anyone forcing me to do or say anything. Okay? So stay the hell away from me and-and I'll wait until the spell wears off."
Time actually hated that idea. "If someone or something attacks you while you’re alone?"
Legend didn't respond immediately, which clearly had been a breath of fresh air for the panicked veteran. "I'll handle it."
"And the shadow?"
"I can handle it too--Look, Link," Legend sighed, his breathing steadying. "I cannot explain how bad it could become if someone managed to control me. I have items that could complete destabilize the world. I--I could light the Flames of Destruction and Sorrow and revive Ganon. I could--I could kill all of you because even for all your power we don’t use our strongest abilities because of our allies nearby."
"Scholar..."
"No. No, I need you to understand that I cannot let anyone control me like that. It would put the whole world at risk--"
A voice that was distinctly Time's but he hadn't opened his mouth entered the clearing.
"Scholar, don’t move."
Legend froze, he glanced at Time who quickly drew his blade.
"Who's there?" He demanded, quickly pulling the stagnant hero against his chest.
"Old man," Legend breathed, and Time heard the absolute terror in his voice. "Please--"
"Shut up. Kill him."
Time could barely get away before something exploded off of Legend and sent him flying too far.
He rolled across the ground, groaning.
A shadow blocked the light and he barely dodged the sword that embedded into the ground.
Legend stood, tearing his precious blade from the rock with way too much carelessness. He always treated that blade with respect, for reasons Time just didn't know.
His armor was hot, he could feel it softening purely from that explosion. Somehow he managed to protect his head enough it didn't burn off, but it was ringing.
He met Legend's crimson eyes and he saw the way they were filled with pure grief and fear, pleading with Time.
"Scholar--"
"Don’t listen to him," Legend's head twitched as the foreign entity using Time's voice spoke before he could.
With the previous order still apparently controlling him, Legend flickered through the shadows and Time barely was able to block the swinging blade. He didn't block the ice that exploded off Legend's blade and froze the Biggoron Sword.
"Old man! Vet--Holy shit!"
Wind screamed as Legend whipped out some magic rod that caused a geyser to explode beneath Time's feet and send him flying up at least ten feet.
"Sprite!" Warriors cried.
"Only obey me," the voice took on an unrecognized voice. "Kill all of them."
Time slammed into the ground, groaning painfully. Warriors was quick to help him up as Wind ran forward and locked blades with Legend.
"Snap out of it, vet!" Wind pleaded. "You don’t--"
He was cut off by his own cry of pain as Legend flickered into a shadow again and appeared behind Wind, hitting him with the water rod that sent him tumbling. Legend switched that water rod with some kind of hookshot faster than Warriors could pull Time to his feet and suddenly Time was standing, his leg giving out beneath him, right where Legend had been a moment ago. He was disoriented, but clearly the veteran was not as he lunged recklessly at Warriors.
Time quickly drank a red, shaking his leg out to force it at least somewhat into place.
Warriors held his own against their veteran well, but only in sword play and as Legend flitted between the shadows and used his huge arsenal, he lost ground and was stabbed through the arm just as Wind rejoined the fight.
Time realized, as Twilight and Wild stumbled onto them and he explained the situation, that Legend hadn't been lying. The Legendary Hero hadn't told a single lie as he used items none of them could counter, moved faster than most of them could turn, and he used the shadows themselves as if they were his home.
Twilight couldn't even overwhelm him because Legend wouldn't engage a direct fight with him, their blades would not connect, Legend used his heavyweight, wrestling inspired style against him. Likewise, he and Wild was a vicious battle but even Wild lost ground against the teleporting and switching positions with allies. Time tried to help, to fight as well, but even so, Legend held his own against all four of them with ease.
That golden blade was soaked in blood as Legend drove it through Wind's stomach.
Someone screamed.
Wind's eyes filled with tears but he reached to Legend's face, only touching it for a moment before Legend was tearing his blade out and fending off an enraged Warriors.
Time ran in and pulled Wind back. Hyrule and Sky and Four arrived just them, the sky knight running in to help while Hyrule and Four both slid beside Time.
"Hey--Sailor, hold on," Time pleaded as he pressed down on his wound with one hand. He released a fairy, fully aware that would not save him, only help.
"He-He--"
"I know," Time brushed the tears from their sailor's face.
"No," Wind insisted. "He's crying."
Time couldn't help but look over, and sure enough, as Legend kicked Wild over the head and hit Sky in the stomach with the blunt end of some cane Time hadn't seen before, there were tears streaming down his face from glassy, dying eyes.
He'd lost hope. Legend had lost hope, he could see it in his eyes, the way they cried freely, the way he seemed to beg for death as he tried to kill them. There wasn't a flicker of the boy's stubborn fire in those eyes.
"It's okay, you'll be fine," Hyrule promised Wind weakly. "We just--knock him out."
"We haven't landed a single hit on him," Time informed him.
Wind laughed, Hyrule's spell helping him tremendously. "H-He always said--He'd kill us."
"Shut up," Four growled. He got up. "I'll go help them. They need it."
The voice laughed. "Yes! Kill them all! Kill every hero!"
Five voices rang out in horror, screams and shouts not to.
Time looked back quickly, Hyrule and Wind too, Wind forcing himself up prematurely to see.
Legend's blade was sunk into his own chest.
Time wanted to scream, but when he saw the blazing flame of spite and determination returned to his eyes, he realized... if the veteran had to die... better by his own blade than one of theirs.
But, how could he be okay with any of his boys dying?
"NO!" The voice roared and Sky's head snapped toward it, but since it came from everywhere, Time figured that meant Sky was just looking in a direction to figure out where he came from.
His sword pulsed, pointed to the side, and Sky drove it into a tree.
The voice screamed, the Master Sword burning bright as Sky drove it deep into the Shadow.
"Vet! Vet no! Don’t you dare die!" Hyrule screamed. "Link please!"
Whatever spell that was affecting him had clearly let go.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry--" Legend sobbed. "I didn't--I swear--"
Time realized Hyrule had expended a lot of magic saving Wind from a wound that would have killed him, but that hadn't stopped their traveler from trying.
"We know! It's not your fault, just hold on," Hyrule begged. Time realized Wild was only just getting up from the kick to the head and stumbled, Twilight helping him over to Legend as Wind stubbornly brought himself--still not fully healed, but good enough the tight arm against his abdomen would suffice.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry--I didn't--p-please--"
"No, no stop that." Sky dropped beside him, Fi laid beside Legend's sword and Time noticed for the first time how they glowed in proximity to each other. "It's not your fault. Don't you say sorry again. It's okay. It's going to be okay. Fi absorbed it. Fi took care of it, you know she always does."
"I don’t want to die," Legend whispered yet with how close they were gathered, they all heard it. Time heard several of them choke on a sob while others made angry or wounded noises. "B-But--I-I'd rather--I'd rather die than-than be--"
"Just save your strength!" Hyrule begged him.
"I'd rather die than be the reason Hyrule falls... or her heroes."
If Time thought Legend's eyes earlier right after he stabbed Wind was awful, the pain, the grief, the wish for death all bundled in the sea of crimson...
It wasn't as bad as the moment those eyes grew distant and the tears stopped rolling, one last one slipping past and turning red with the blood--only some of which was his own--on his face.