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Time wasn’t sure if he was awake.
He knew the time– as he always did– exactly fourty-three minutes past midnight, but he seemed to know the time in his dreams as well. A feat he picked up in Termina, but not really helpful in determining his consciousness.
Everything was blurry, he was pretty sure he could feel the warm trace of blood dripping down from a head wound, and he could vaguely make out the walls of the room– cell?-- surrounding him.
That was about where the realism of the situation ended, however.
He stared at the figure in front of him. He knew he’d been walking with Tulsi before this… at least, he was pretty sure of that. He’d wanted to see what information he could get from her– it was clear she was hiding more secrets than perhaps even the vet. But without the hero’s spirit to guarantee the quality of her character, he’d wanted to see for himself what she was hiding, and, perhaps, why.
It turned out to be very insightful. So insightful, in fact, that none of his questions were answered, and yet he got the information he wanted just the same.
“Why is it, I wonder, that you always shy away from the captain when he’s giving commands? Were you involved in the army?” He’d asked as they walked the streets.
“Why is it, I wonder, that you carry around so many powerful masks on you? Were you perhaps involved in a theater troupe?” She’d countered.
He'd never brought the masks out around her.
"Hm. Not quite," He answered.
She hummed. He'd take it that was her answer as well.
She'd looked... almost normal, in that moment. There was always something off about her, powers and secrets she was hiding just beneath the surface, but... sometimes she looked just like a normal kid.
He had a feeling she'd never had the chance to be that before.
And she looked... nothing like what was standing before him now.
What he saw now-- at least, what he thought he saw-- was barely human. Some form of terrifying creature, dark wings sprouting from its back and horns on its head, claws sharper than a blacksmith's finest blade and dark fur dripping with the taste of death. One could feel its awful presence permeating the air around it.
But... its hair was purple, with shining black roots. Its eyes had a shine to them, a shine he'd seen in Tulsi's whenever she's engaged in a fight.
It was... too recognizable for comfort.
It threw one of the monsters-- some kind of shadow beast, something that looked like it was from Twilight's era, his addled mind slowly pieced together-- and as it flew, its body seemed to dematerialize, gone by the time it would've hit the wall. The creature didn't stop, tearing its claws through monster after monster, the blood of the monsters that weren't just shadows coating the walls and floor. A torn off limb flew towards him, and he let out a choked as it smacked his chest-- he's pretty sure at least one of his ribs is broken.
The sound seemed to attract the attention of the creature, though, which looked toward him as it decimated the last of the monsters without paying any attention to them.
It approached him.
He backed up. That was-- he's pretty sure had no idea if this was friendly, and his arms wouldn't move enough to draw his weapon. He was practically defenseless against whatever this was.
The creature stilled, though.
"Ss-- afe. Safe," Came the creatures raspy, broken voice. It sounded like it wasn't meant to be speaking hylian.
He stared.
...he was definitely hallucinating.
The creature reached for his neck with its bloodied claws– claws he’d just watched tear through several monsters, covered in the viscera.
He could barely move his limbs, but right there? Adrenaline flowing through his body as he was so convinced he was going to die? His arm shot up, hand grabbing at its claw. It didn’t do much, though, as it reached for the– necklace? When did he get that?
As its claws wrapped around the pearl at the end of the necklace, it began to shift, the claws turning into hands, its fur turning to skin, and–
There was Tulsi, standing in front of him. A solid three taller than usual and with a wing she definitely didn’t usually have, but… that was her.
"Relax," She told him, as if they weren't in a cell drenched in blood and monster guts. As if she wasn't just a literal monster herself. "I'll have you out of here and safe soon."
She moved to pick him up bridal style-- and Hylia, everything hurt and that was not helping. He let out an involuntary groan of pain.
It took him a few seconds of blinking the black out of his vision to realize Tulsi still hadn't let go of the mysterious new necklace. And that the sky was orange.
...there was no hope for him, was there?
The next time he blinked into awareness, the sky was its normal shade of blue, thank Hylia, and the traveler was leaning over him. He could feel his rib snap back into place, as well as several other wounds that he'd been too out of it to be aware of.
And he saw Tulsi, leaning against a nearby tree. Watching him closely.
As soon as Hyrule stepped away with instructions to 'stay down and for the love of all things holy, rest', Time pulled himself up to sit, leveling Tulsi with what some of the younger ones called called 'The Dad Look'. She huffed, but slowly approached, sitting next to him. Not entirely facing him.
She looked... normal. She was at her regular height, there was no wing spreading behind her... but he could still feel it. Now that he'd had it at a higher intensity, he was able to easily sense the aura of destruction that she keeping just below the surface.
...curious.
"...are you okay?" She asked, keeping her distance.
"Me? I should be asking you that," He responded, before adding, "What was that, out there?"
"...what was what?" She countered.
...is this how others felt talking to him? Frustrated by his vague comments and cryptidness?
"You know what I'm talking about. The-- beast. The wing. The fact that you were ten feet tall," He listed off.
There's a pause, then she chuckles.
"Wow, Time. You must've been out of it! You did lose a lot of blood," She easily excused.
He wasn't convinced.
"I know what I saw. What I felt-- what I feel, even now." He reached a hand out to her.
She flinched away.
He dropped his hand. "I can only help you if I know what's going on."
She chuckled bitterly, muttering "Help me?"
At his unrelenting seriousness, she finally met his eyes.
"You have no idea what you saw. So just forget about it. It was just a hallucination, okay?" She tilted her head, giving him a bitter smile.
Before he had the chance to respond, she'd pulled herself up, declaring she was patrolling before leaving.