4 Swords: Shadowed Truth ch5

Chapter 5: Vio

The passage leads to a small cave that seems to be a storage room of some sort. As Shadow comes through the entrance, he quickly realizes that he isn't alone. Someone leans against the wall across from where Shadow is standing, his appearance masked by darkness because this room doesn't have as much luminous fungi growing in it as the large cavern Shadow just came from. The only detail Shadow can make out is a pale purple-skinned hand absentmindedly tapping against the rough stone wall of the cave, but it's more than enough for him to know that it's the mysterious informant from earlier.

"(Shadow) You again."

Shadow glares at the mysterious figure who still chooses to keep his identity a secret.

"(???) What are you so angry about, "Hero's Shadow?" Oh, I see. You still haven't figured it out yet, have you? I assure you, Vio is here in these caves... Hihihi, would you like a hint?"

Shadow looks even more annoyed now, but speaks relatively calmly.

"(Shadow) Quit calling me "Hero's Shadow." I'm my own person. And it's rude to keep your appearance hidden like that without at least giving a reason for it. Now explain yourself, or I'll make you do it."

"(???) Hihihi, how scary! *sarcastic tone* To tell you the truth, I simply enjoy the thrill of being cloaked in a veil of mystery, "Hero's Shadow." That's all it is, a hobby."

"(Shadow) Stop calling me that. *death-glare* And tell me the truth already! Where is Vio?!"

'He's hiding something, I just know it!'

He laughs, waving one pale purple hand towards Shadow in an obviously-patronizing gesture.

"(???) Silly boy. You've already found him, you just don't know it yet. Also, I hid something I assumed he wouldn't want anyone but you to have here in this room for you to find. I thought I'd do him a little favor, seeing as he's my second favorite out of you "Links" of this time. Doubt my words if you wish, it matters not to me. I've completed my end of the deal. I'll be back... As a special treat, I may even reveal myself to you then! Hihihi! See you then, "Hero's Shadow!""

"(Shadow) I said stop calling me that!"

He simply laughs, then disappears yet again in a swirl of wind.

"(Shadow) Argh!!! He's so INFURIATING!!!"

Shadow angrily kicks at the wall the person was leaning on and part of it shifts, startling him. He crouches down to look and sees that there is a little rock slab covering part of the wall. He moves it over, revealing a small alcove.

"(Shadow) Huh...? What's this thing?"

Shadow reaches into the opening and pulls out a book. It's the one Vio is always carrying around. Shadow notices that one of the pages is dog-eared and that its edges and those of a whole chapter's worth of pages behind it are all a bit worn from being handled many times. Curious, he opens the book to the dog-eared page. It is the first page in a chapter about shadows, curses, and the like, and how to break all manner of malevolent charms, hexes, curses, and whatnot.

'This... He was looking for a way to bring me back...'

Shadow gently closes the book and sits quietly for a moment with it in his lap, thoughts of Vio and the mysterious person's words echoing in his head. A tear streaks down the Gray Hero's cheek, though he doesn't notice.

'Vio...'

Shadow attaches the book to his belt and heads back to the cavern with the snake. It is still there along with the Triforce fragment, which is glowing even brighter than before. Shadow walks over to stand next to the snake's head again, staring into one of its barely open, milky white eyes.

"(Shadow) It's really you, isn't it? Vio..."

Shadow's voice is full of a strange sorrow and he speaks in little more than a whisper. He hesitates for a moment, then wraps his arms as far as he can around the snake's huge head, his left hand beginning to glow bright white, pulsing in time with the purple Triforce fragment. Streams of deep violet light wrap around the snake's body like a glowing tattoo that doesn't quite touch its rocky skin while the Triforce fragment floats above it.

"(snake) ...Sssssh...."

"(Shadow) Huh...?"

'That hiss sounded strange...'

"(snake) ...Sssssh....a.... ....Ssssha....d...."

The snake's hisses have become a faint, whispery voice. A shocked-looking Shadow takes a step backwards as he is gently bumped by the snake so that he'd let go. The huge beast struggles to turn its head, and slowly but surely succeeds. Shimmering white eyes stare into Shadow's flame red ones, no longer dead and soulless.

"(Shadow) Vio?"

'That's why it sounded strange! He's not just hissing anymore, he's trying to speak!'

"(Vio) ...Ssssshaaaa...doooowwww... ...Ssshadow... ...Isss that... you...? ...But... ...how...?! ...Isss... isss thisss... ...a... ...dream...?"

'A dream... Yeah, it must be. How else could he be here? This is a pretty weird dream, though... I'm happy he's here, but I feel so weak. I can't move very well... My vision's a little blurry, and all the colors I can see are faded and grayer than they should be, too. My body feels strange, and I'm achy all over. ...Ugh... My head feels like it's splitting... Wait. If this is a dream... why am I feeling pain? Could this be... Could this be real...?!!'

The look of confusion on the snake's face is very obvious and Shadow finds it absolutely hilarious for some reason. He starts laughing a bit, which makes Vio even more confused.

"(Shadow) Haha, the look on your face...! This isn't a dream, Vio! And if it was, it'd be one heck of a weird nightmare, now wouldn't it!"

"(Vio) ...Huh...??????"

Vio doesn't seem to realize that he's not exactly human right now.

"(Shadow) Vio, you're a snake. A giant snake. Look."

Shadow shows Vio his reflection by using his shield like a mirror.

'Wh-wh-wh-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!!'

"(Vio) ...A... sssnake... I'm a.... SSSNAKE...?! ...And I'm... HISSSSING...!! ...Thisss isss... freaky...!"

'Not only that, but... I took on the form of the Guardian of the Element of Earth from that old legend... ...Wait, what legend? ...Can't remember... I'll think about it later, I guess.'

"(Shadow) You can say that again. Sorry about beating you up, by the way."

"(Vio) ...Wha...? ...Isss that... why my body... hurtsss...? ...Ugh... ...! My... book...?! Where'd you...?!"

"(Shadow) Some weird jerk with a superiority complex helped me out, dropping a few hints and hiding the book in a storage room near here. Vio, what's with this book? Its pages seem endless, but it barely weighs anything! And the whole thing's in ancient Hylian!"

"(Vio) ...I've... alwaysss had it... Even when... Green firssst pulled out the Four Ssssword... ...It'sss magic... and linked to me ssssomehow... It holdsss whatever... information the one holding it... may need or want... even though itssss ssssizzzze and weight alwayssss... sssstayssss the sssame..."

"(Shadow) It's always been with you? That sounds like my dagger... Wait, whatever information the one holding it wants or needs? Of course! There must be something in here that can help you, Vio!"

Shadow quickly opens the book to the dog-eared page and starts looking through the chapter on curses until he finds the section on ones that change a person's form, and starts quickly skimming through it.

"(Vio) ...Sssshadow... I think... there'ssss... sssome kind of barrier... around me... It'ssss... blocking the Triforcccce pieccce... If you can... break it... I sssshould... go back to... normal...!"

"(Shadow) A barrier? Figures, nothing's EVER easy... Hey, does this thing have a table of contents?"

"(Vio) Of coursssse... Without one, it'd be uselessssss, sssssincccce the amount... and layout of the pagessss changessss depending on... what'ssss in it...!"

"(Shadow) Right. Okay, magic barriers then..."

Shadow checks the table of contents, then finally finds the information he needs, which is in a small section on particularly nasty transformation curses.

"(Shadow) So that crystal thing was more than just a weak spot... It stores evil energy! Uh, Vio, this might hurt. I have to cut it off."

"(Vio) Cut... what off...??"

Shadow sighs, then explains the whole fight against the snake, who he hadn't known was Vio at the time.

"(Vio) ...That mussst be... what'sss making me... feel ssssick, too... Do it..."

"(Shadow) Just... try not to squish me, alright?"

An odd hiss echoes around the cavern and Shadow realizes that Vio is laughing.

"(Shadow) Was it really that funny?"

"(Vio) ...Yessss...! *still laughing*"

"(Shadow) I'm serious, Vio. Try to stay still. I can't help you if I'm a living pancake."

"(Vio) I know... I know...!"

'Agh, I can't stop laughing! Just the thought of me squishing Shadow... It's so absurd!'

Shadow sighs and sweat drops, then goes around to the snake's tail. A few shards of the strange crystal-like growth still remain, slightly embedded in the dark purple-gray boulders that make up the snake's body. The gray-clad boy stares guiltily at the chips and cracks in the dusky stone, having the feeling that they're injuries to Vio's actual body.

'My sword's too big for this kind of delicate stuff...'

Shadow takes a small silver-bladed dagger from his pocket. It is oddly plain, with a pitch black hilt and a small red gem embedded in the pommel. He stares at the gleaming blade for a moment, then slips it between one of the crystal shards and the dusky purple stone and begins to lever the crystal out.

"(Vio) Uhhk...!!"

Vio lets out a shriek of pain, an eerie hiss mixed with a tiny hint of a human scream, but forces himself to hold still. Shadow winces at the sound, feeling intense guilt and self-loathing for the pain he's putting Vio through, but grits his teeth and pulls the shard free, getting to work on another. One by one the pieces come out, puffing into black smoke and disappearing as they do. Vio's screams get more and more human and less reptilian with each shard that is removed.

'Agh, I hate this. I'm hurting him... No, I have to stay calm, or I could hurt him even more than I already have. I need to focus. Only one more to go...'

Shadow pries the final shard free with a loud *pop!* and Vio's screams gradually come to a halt as the worst of the pain ebbs away. The snake makes a huge effort and twists around to look at Shadow.

"(Vio) D-don't... worry... sssso... much... I-I'm... okay... R-really... ...Ugh!!"

"(Shadow) Vio?!"

Shadow runs back to the snake's head, panicked and extremely worried about his friend. Vio has his eyes tightly shut and is emitting a weak, half-human, half-reptilian moan.

"(Vio) ...unnnh..."

Vio's Triforce fragment is glowing brightly, zipping right into the snake's huge body. That huge, rocky form begins to glow with a bright white luminescence that engulfs the cavern in its light, causing Shadow to shield his eyes with a wince. The huge silhouette of the snake begins to shrink and change, becoming that of a blonde child with pointed, Hylian ears.

'It worked! Thank you, Farore!'

Shadow catches the unconscious boy in his arms and lowers him gently to the ground, blushing bright red as he does so, as well as looking more than a little bit miserable when he sees the multitude of cuts and sword wounds on his legs. Having nowhere else but the hard cavern floor to lay Vio down on, Shadow puts the boy's head on his lap, blushing even more furiously than before.

'Even though over a year's gone by, he looks the same as ever...'

Vio wears an outfit identical in style to Shadow's except for the fact that his hat doesn't defy gravity. His hat and tunic are violet in color, and his undershirt is pale purple, with white leggings, brown boots and a brown belt with the same golden spiral-pattern buckle as Shadow's. His skin is a bit darker than the red-eyed boy and his messy hair is corn yellow.

"(Shadow) Except for all those cuts and bruises, he's alright... What a relief. ...Huh...?"

Shadow suddenly notices that his tunic is soaking wet and touches it curiously. It's oddly warm... He holds his now-wet hand up to see. It's covered in blood, looking black in the eerie fungus-light. He gets dizzy just seeing it as he begins to realize what happened.

'...I was so focused on finding Vio and helping him, that I didn't even notice, or feel any pain... By Farore, I'm stupid... I'm hurt bad... I think... at least a few ribs must be... broken... One of them... ...at least... ...must've... ...pierced the... skin...'

He blacks out as the pain hits, his head hitting the floor with a soft thump as he loses consciousness.