why not write the fic where the chain magically sees what happened between sky and demise
Finally a request! I wasn't sure which Sky and Demise confrontation you meant. Whether it was the one in SS or the one I wrote a little while ago. So I assumed it was the one from the game. Hope you guys like it, I uh, I spent too long on this.
Strangely enough, writing Sky and Wild’s fight was the hardest part.
~~~
Recovered Regrets
At some point in the adventure the chain are compelled to find out more about their purpose, why they were all brought together and the cyclical nature of their existence.
Four suggests that they go back to the beginning, find out how it all started and maybe that will lead them to answers. It is assumed that Sky was first, since none of them know about Allen (that’s what I call First, see my Era of Hylia series), so they ask him about who he fought and what happened.
However, Sky’s memory of the fight is “hazy”. The only thing the chain are able to get out of him is an oddly detailed description of how it felt to channel lightning, showing his scars as a graphic visual. Two things that are very out of character for him.
As it so happens they’re in Warriors’ era (technically a few decades ahead). After a lot of complaining, arguing and nagging, the Captain reluctantly takes the chain to see Lana and Cia at the Valley of Seers. After explaining their situation the all-seeing sorceresses give them a crystal with the same magic as their orb, if Sky asks sincerely enough it will show him what happened that day.
They try activating the crystal there and then but it doesn’t work. They wait until they leave the Valley of Seers (to Warriors’ relief) and try again...nothing. It’s not until a week later when they’re camping in a completely different era does the crystal finally awaken and let them witness Sky’s battle.
---
“Idiot, parry it.” Wild barely spoke above a hushed whisper. He couldn't risk raising his voice any louder lest Legend snap at him. Again.
He'd already made more than a few unwanted comments regarding the placement and timing of Sky’s sword strikes. To him it was all worth pointing out, but the others didn’t see it that way, including the person they were aimed at. In fact, Sky had become relatively unresponsive since the crystal had come to life. While a little strange, Wild tolerated his silence, giving him the benefit of the doubt since he'd vaguely said that he couldn’t quite remember what happened.
Wild's eyes had been glued to the moving images for so long that the colours began to bleed together, and for some reason, instead of staying at a fixed third person view the angles kept changing. At one point he saw Sky's back, the other he saw the Demon's, and sometimes there were even close ups of their faces. It was jarring.
However despite all that, he and the other heroes were able to follow along with the flow of battle, each analysing the dual with the knowledge of his own past experiences. The group sat in a messy semicircle with the campfire to their backs, a few of them were wrapped in a blanket to keep out the night chill and sat on a sleeping mat. Despite the brutal fight playing out before them, the overall mood was light-hearted. Wind, Four and Hyrule cheered when Sky landed a particularly well executed move. Legend smiled, Warriors nodded and Twilight reached out to playfully nudge him when he blocked a particularly heavy blow, taking the impact without yielding. Even Time seemed impressed upon seeing the first lightning enhanced Skyward strike.
Wild seemed to be the only critic. The strange thing was that he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t be as enthusiastic as the others. Was it jealousy? Perhaps. Wild had long been bitter of Sky’s achievements, his ease at completing his quest and how he seemed to be favoured by the Master Sword. Whatever entity was inside that blade Wild was convinced it resented his weakness.
Even though he knew he wouldn’t like watching the fight, he didn’t expect to feel this agitated. It wasn’t that Sky was doing well against the demon that bothered Wild, because it wasn’t flawless, excluding the 101 mistakes Wild had pointed out without request, he could tell the fight was taking its toll on Sky. Haggard breaths, stumbling back from heavy hitting blows and channelling lightning...Wild knew that feeling well and he’d only ever wielded a fraction of such a power.
Yet despite all that, something felt off.
Sure Sky’s scars were distinctive. The jagged discoloured streaks that branched up from his hands to his upper arms would have been enough of a reminder to the events of the battle. For him to want to never recall the specifics was understandable, but what could the crystal show them that Sky could’ve just told? Nothing Wild was seeing seemed to warrant such forgetfulness.
Something his Zelda once told him came to mind: “They say you don't forget what you want to remember.”
That being said there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about.
Wild switched over his legs into a more comfortable sitting position on his shared mat with Hyrule. The fight was over now. He was surprised to see that Sky and the Demon were just standing still facing each other, but looking at the monster it was clear he was defeated.
They were talking, or more accurately, the Demon was praising Sky’s abilities. Wild rolled his eyes and leaned on Hyrule’s shoulder, facing up to focus on the starless sky; he’d seen enough.
This was pointless. All they were learning from was what Sky’s version of Ganon looked like, where they fought and how that all went down. In other words, nothing about the nature of their existence or why they had all been brought together had been revealed by watching this fight.
“What’s Demise saying?” Hyrule whispered.
“Is he still fawning over Sky?!” Wild muttered rubbing his temple, now barely paying attention.
“Shh, I can’t hear him,” Four said and he nudged Hyrule.
““born anew in a cycle”.” Warriors leaned forward. “What...the hell?”
“Pathetic,” Wind chuckled, but his voice sounded unsteady and he was glancing nervously at the others. “He’s just whining because he’s butthurt he lost.”
“Of course,” Wild scoffed, earning a brief grin from Wind.
“That’s not it.” Four frowned and looked over at where Time, Legend, and Twilight were sat, and being worryingly quiet.
Wild took notice of the seriousness in Four’s voice. He tore his eyes from the night sky and ran his gaze across the semi-circle, finally noticing the drastic shift in mood. The once comfortable silence became oppressive, necks were craned forward, faces had hardened and bodies stiffened into statues. Wild raised an eyebrow at the sea of confused and frustrated expressions.
Twilight's expression was especially sobering, everything about it was neutral except for the searing focus in his eyes and distinct creased brow. Wild sat up properly and listened attentively to what the demon was slowly saying.
"I will rise again," the fiend boomed.
Wild grit his teeth remembering the similar wording Impa once used to describe the Calamity. Surely he wasn't connected to that, his era is thousands of years ahead of Sky's. Wind was right this was just-
"Those like you, those who hold the spirit of the hero and the blood of the goddess..."
"Those like you"? What did he mean by that? Sky wasn't like the rest of them, he was the first, he was the chosen hero, one of the founders of Hyrule, the one they all followed after.
...Was this really just the ramblings of a pathetic dying creature? This wasn’t just any creature, he called himself the demon king and judging from that fight incredibly powerful. Why wasn't Sky doing anything to stop him talking? Why was he letting him live? He was just standing there! What was he waiting for?
"Move." Wild couldn't keep his mouth anymore, but this time no one told him to be quiet. "Move."
"What's going on here?" Warriors uttered, becoming increasingly restless.
"Is he chanting a spell?" Hyrule asked, tilting his head.
“They are eternally bound to this curse...”
Legend’s eyes went wide as he put the pieces together. "He's not only vowing to reincarnate, but he's tying his future lifetimes to Sky and his Zelda."
"Does that mean we're involved too?" Wind asked.
"Us and our respective Princesses," Legend said through gritted teeth, not looking at Sky. In fact none of them were.
"Do something!" Wild exclaimed at the screen. Only the demon was in the frame, but it was clear that it was from Sky’s perspective, meaning that for this to happen he was just standing there.
But to their dismay the hero clad in green on the crystal screen did not listen, allowing the demon to finish his spiel. “An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!” And with that the screen froze on a cruel shot of Demise pointing right at his once again silent audience. It wasn’t just paused, the screen had inexplicably stopped playing.
The campsite remained silent for some time after the recording ended. Although each member of the chain was processing what they had just witnessed to varying degrees of success, what was universal for all of them at that moment was a new distrust of the chosen hero. Sky, didn’t have to try too hard to avoid their eyes, he was already sat quite far from the group with his closest neighbour being Twilight. Ironically, this normally quiet man spoke first.
"Why didn't you leave the sword in?" Twilight asked quietly. "That worked for me. It stopped Ganondorf talking mid-sentence and prevented him from calling on more power."
“At the time I didn’t think that...” Sky was sat cross-legged bundled up in his stained sailcloth, forehead lowered and resting on his clasped hands, eyes to the damp soil below. “I didn’t think he was serious. I thought I’d beaten him.”
Warriors raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Would that have done anything?”
“He could have tried,” Legend spat.
Hyrule shifted uncomfortably in on his mat. “He can’t be connected to every version of Ganon, right? What about the ones really far down the timeline?”
Legend glared at him. “He is, he confirmed it himself. This is where it began.” He ran a bejewelled hand through his hair and finally turned his attention to Sky, who flinched when they made eye contact. “This whole time I thought it was Hylia stringing us along, making us do her dirty work. But in fact, we were all just cleaning up your mess. You let this happen- this is all your fault!”
Sky shook his head slightly and said, “He would have come back anyway. What could I have done differently? None of you were able to defeat him for good.”
“What?!”
Wild’s outburst made the younger members jump. Hyrule looked at him worriedly and Wind hid the bottom half of his face in Warriors’ cape. Warrior only raised his eyebrows at the Champion and Twilight too far away to do anything but offer him a sympathetic nod. Legend was unfazed and Time was still silently looking at the screen.
“We can’t be sure,” Four said, resting his head in the palm of his small hand. “Legend was right; by his wording it sounded like he was tying his incarnations to Sky and Zelda’s...he must have done that for a reason. And I don’t just mean revenge.”
“Maybe that was just to guarantee that he would come back,” Warriors said. “He seemed pretty desperate when he was speaking, like he was out of options.”
“No,” Four said slowly. “There’s more to it...”
“Yeah, fuck that. Can we just rewind a second?” Legend said. “Hey cloud boy. Are you really gonna sit there and tell us you forgot all of this?”
“I didn’t forget! Not in the way you think, it just kind of faded from my mind,” said Sky. “Back then I-”
“Back then? What about when we were all sharing our origins and you laughed with us about what a funny coincidence it was that we all just appeared from nowhere when he reincarnates,” Legend said. “What the hell was going through your mind back then?”
“I guess I felt sorry for you guys-”
“Wild no!”
Sky didn’t even get to finish his sentence as the cold metal of a blade pierced the air the chosen hero drew for breath, the tip would have sliced his face had he not jumped back in time. Wild, unnoticed by the others, had taken his scavenged sword and without warning thrust it at Sky, who as expected dodged the attack near perfectly. Hyrule tried to call out, but his effort was in vain, as was that of Warriors’ and Twilight’s, who attempted to apprehend the young swordsman. Their reaction time dulled by the sheer suddenness of the attack.
Wild himself wasn’t quite sure of what he was doing either. He moved without thinking. He wasn’t even sure of the true extent of his current feelings. A lot was racing through his mind, but the emotion that dominated every fibre of his being was anger. Anger at Sky’s hypocrisy, at his lack of accountability, his infuriating silence and above all the fact that he didn’t feel even a hint of guilt.
He felt sorry for them?! As if he cares.
“What are you doing?!” Sky asked in confusion, ducking to avoid another swing of Wild’s blade. He instinctively reached for the Master sword which sat close by among his other belongings, however like before, the moment he touched the handle furious violet flames erupted and swiftly burned his hand. The sudden searing pain distracted him long enough for Wild to accidently land a hit. His blade drew an ugly scarlet line across Sky’s right cheek and sliced off a noticeable lock of his chestnut brown hair, narrowly missing his ear.
“If that scars you’ll have another reminder of what you did- or rather didn’t do,” Wild said bitterly.
But his voice wavered slightly, as he watched Sky clutch the bloodied part of his face and delicate strands of his hair flutter to the ground. Wild was still angry but his rage subsided a little when he cut Sky. The two looked at each other like they couldn’t quite believe that actually happened. The others seemed just as shocked as they were, and many were stood up like they were going to do something. However, not one of them moved.
“Finished?” Sky wiped his cheek carelessly and eyed his attacker, bracing for another swing.
It didn’t come in the way he anticipated.
“No! You- you always had this stupid air of superiority!” Wild yelled, brandishing his sword as he spoke, “Acting like you were perfect, like you were better than me. Whenever you handed me the Master sword you looked at me like I was something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe.”
“I never...” Sky stammered in confusion. Where was this coming from? Had Wild always felt that way about him? Was it because he yelled at him because he thought the sword was broken? That was months ago; he thought they’d moved on from that. Sure he still didn’t trust Wild with the blade, but he tolerated him using it like Time said. “Wha-? Well I have every reason to be wary of you using it. You act so irresponsibly and- and carelessly- she’s not one of your tools-!”
“This is what I’m talking about! You don’t believe I’m fit to wield it!” cried Wild. “Always putting yourself above me because I failed where you succeeded. To think you acted like this perfect hero, when you’re actually the cause of everything. The curse happened because of you!”
“I did what I could,” Sky cried, “I didn’t know the curse was real and I am sorry for what it’s done. I’m sorry it’s caused you, and all of Hyrule to suffer! But I can’t go back and change what I did.”
“Are you serious?” Wild said exasperated, “Do you not feel any guilt?”
“What’s done is done. I won’t torture myself over what I can’t change,” Sky said, “And Wars was right, what could I have done differently? He would have come back anyway.”
“I can’t believe you’re this self-centred!” Wild said, swinging his sword close enough for Sky to smartly step back, “You’ve had it so much better than the rest of us-”
“Don’t go there,” Sky said coldly. “You don’t know anything about what I’ve been through.”
“Well, you never told me anything,” Wild said, letting the hand with the sword fall to his side. “But whatever, what you’ve been through can’t be worse than us. As the hero you have a duty to-”
“I never wanted to be the chosen one!” Sky cried, “I didn’t ask for all this power, I didn’t ask for all this responsibility I never wanted this role. I just, I just wanted to save her.”
“So what?! I didn’t ask for this either! None of us did,” Wild retorted. “I had to save my Zelda too- yet she wasn’t my priority. I understood that my duty doesn’t just lie with her, but all of Hyrule.” He paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to bring this up, before continuing with, “...sometimes it feels like you only care about your Zelda, like you think that your role ends with protecting her- but it doesn’t! Is that why you stopped attacking when you thought Demise was defeated? You were convinced it was over and didn’t even bother to consider what his words might mean?”
“Come again?” A breathy and shaky laugh escaped Sky. “Do you actually expect me to have some kind of foresight a-and magically know every event in the future?”
“No! No, that’s not what I,” Wild huffed, even though he wasn’t physically fighting his body was shaking all over, “It’s just...there’s this detachment I’m getting from you that’s pissing me off. You’re not just bound to Zelda, you’re also responsible for every creature in the land and their futures.”
“Why should all this responsibility fall on me? How is that fair?” Sky shook his head and ruffled the now uneven hair on his right side. “And in what way can I take responsibility?”
“That responsibility doesn’t just fall on you but all of us. You’re not special,” Wild said. “And...well, you could have had the decency to have thought more about your choice and not go on like you did such a good job. You didn’t even remember when Legend spelled it out for you months ago! Do you...do you even care?”
“Of course I care, why would you...?” Sky looked at Wild a hurt expression. He shared that expression with the others too, hoping someone would speak up and take his side. But they just stayed where they were. Why weren’t they doing anything? Did they all take Wild’s side? Their stares made him feel so uncomfortable. “You didn’t answer the first question.”
Wild didn’t know why he said that. He only wanted Sky to acknowledge his faults, yet he ended up parroting something he heard from Farosh years ago, just months after waking up from his 100 year slumber. Why was he thinking about that now? Should Sky not be called out for not understanding his duty, when Wild was so heavily shunned for failing to do his?
After a fairly long pause, in which Wild could feel the eyes of his comrades now on him but didn’t turn around to face them, he answered, “...I don’t know. Forget I said that.”
Sky wasn’t satisfied with that response. “Then answer me this: why should only I take responsibility for what was a small in the moment decision? Demise’s incarnations haven’t been stopped permanently in any timeline, by anyone or anything else. And yet you’re going to stand there and blame me for everything wrong following my era? How is that fair?!”
“But it is fair, you started it!” Wild yelled, unable to fathom why Sky was still making excuses. “It could have ended with you, but you failed! No, it’s worse than that- you did nothing! Why can’t you just accept that? I never said all of it was your fault, you didn’t flood Hyrule, you didn’t organise the Twilight invasion and you didn’t start the Calamity- but all that might not have happened if you’d just acted when you could have and done your job! It’s exactly as Legend said, we’re all dealing with what you let happen!”
This struck a chord with Sky. He stood up straighter and tilted his head, the blood from his wound spilling onto his shirt, staining the white fabric crimson. “You talk of regrets and remorse I should feel, but actually you’re projecting your own feelings. I didn’t train for years before facing Demise, but you had years to prepare for the Calamity. What’s your excuse for failing?”
“Huh...?” Wild’s breath hitched and he gripped his sword tightly.
“At least I defeated Demise and saved my world,” Sky continued, glancing to the side. “I’m far from the perfect hero you’ve made me out to be...but let’s be honest. You’re the worst out of all of us.”
Sky was ready when Wild charged at him again. He dove to his side, picked up a sword (which happened to be the Phantom sword) and parried every one of Wild’s attacks. This time the others finally stepped in. Twilight ran to hold back Wild and Wars went to apprehend Sky, Wind also rushed in and tried to take back his blade. It didn’t end up going anywhere though, as neither Wild nor Sky were at all interested in stopping, even though now Legend was shouting at them to cut it out.
They were being loud enough for the whole forest to hear them, the discord of their voices creating a din no creature should ever have to hear. It’s a miracle that they even heard the distinct shattering of the crystal by Time’s own blade.
Either to stop the fighting or because he was tired of looking at it, Time made the screen disappear by destroying the crystal given to them. Everyone watched in silence, frozen in their positions as the image of Demise was slowly distorted beyond recognition, with particles flashing at random, showing glimpses of lingering colours before vanishing entirely.
Time stepped forward wordlessly towards the statues and tore the Phantom sword from Sky’s hand in one fluid motion, handing it back to Wind, who mouthed a small “thanks” in return. His immediate presence separated the group near instantly. Wild spared a worried glance at Sky’s injury but didn’t meet his eyes, shrugging off Twilight’s shoulder pat as he stared at the ground. Time turned his attention to Sky, the campfire illuminating the non-scarred side of his face, casting dark shadows on the other. It made him appear weary and old.
“You’re not what we believed,” he began, a stern authority punctuating his words which made the group, especially Sky anxious of his next words. “I’m right in saying that you’re not the first, aren’t I?” Sky looked troubled for a moment before slowly shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. Time gave him a look of pity. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want to believe it. Although, you’re still different to the rest of us in the sense that your existence isn’t tied to this curse. Someone else was responsible. You once mentioned that your Zelda is a reincarnation too, not a blood descendant.” Time gave Legend a strange look. “It seems we’ve been strung along by the gods since the beginning.”
Legend crossed his arms and returned his solemn expression. No one else seemed to fully understand what Time was saying other than him, and unfortunately Time didn’t seem too concerned about elaborating further.
Although this was roughly the validation Sky had been looking for, he oddly enough found it to be of little solace. Warriors had already let go of him by now and he didn’t feel like seeking comfort from the others. So he wrapped his arms around his sides and hugged himself. A small pain jabbed at his chest when he said, “I’m sorry.”
“Not good enough,” Wild muttered but was silenced by a cold glare from Time.
“If you want to discuss this more, do it in the morning once we’ve set off and I’m out of earshot. I’ve had enough,” the old man paused and sighed heavily. “Hyrule patch him up, the rest of you go to sleep. I’m taking the first watch.”
“Wait,” Wind said tentatively, looking around the campsite. “Where’d Four go?”
“...again with this?” Time shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wind can you go-?”
“I’ll find him.” Twilight nodded at Time, grabbed his shadow crystal from his pouch and ran into the woods.
Wind caught Twilight’s reassuring smile and smiled back. He went back to sheath his sword, watching Hyrule tend to Sky’s swollen cheek as he did. He wondered about going over to Wild, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood for talking, already arranging his sleeping mat in his own secluded corner of the campsite. Time and Legend were having their own conversation by the fire, and also didn’t seem very approachable. So Wind went to Warriors and helped him pick up the pieces of the broken crystal. Hopefully the two sorceresses didn’t want it back.
~~~
Thanks for reading!
This was so difficult for me, sorry it took so long. I had nine characters to keep track off and I needed them all to shine without making the story a confusing mess.
I’m going to do something different and link to a post where I’ve put my notes for the story, it’ll also hopefully answer any questions it might have brought up. Like who agrees/disagrees with who and what Time was talking about:
That Legend nightmare was fun, so how about another hero's nightmare?
Every once in a while i see those headcanons of Sky feeling guilty for the others' hardships and like he failed in his quest to defeat evil. Here's my contribution.
Closeups under cut
Originally i wanted to draw like ghostly figures of the evils the boys have faced, like The Fierce Deity and Majora's Mask hovering over Time etc. But then i realized it'd be way too much work and i'd mostly be drawing Ganon/dorf over and over, so i scrapped that thought and settled for just Calamity.
This has been one of my biggest projects yet and while it's not perfect, im really happy with how it turned out. I tried new things and learned i never wanna have a light source right below a character ever again lol.
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