Time's Moving Faster Than I Can Count

It's Time to Talk

Quiet protests went up at that, but Link just nodded. He knew he was with a group of more devout people, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Yeah." He whispered, and everyone shut up. "I don't blame him anymore, and I haven't for a while." He sat up and spoke normally, fury seeping into his tone. "Because how dare they, how fucking dare they, make a child live that three times over?" He tightened his fists until his knuckles went white, and ignored the shocked looks from everyone else. They'd never heard him swear before, but no one said anything. "When we heard that, even Sky was angry at the gods. Sky, the most devout of us all, the one who knows Hylia's reincarnation personally was upset. When we realised Time was the Fallen Hero, he went pale. No amount of telling him that it wasn't his fault would stop him from blaming himself, for any of it."

---

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Legend approached their Old Man.
"What isn't?" He raised his eyebrow, looking confused at the Veteran's words.
"All of this. The timeline breaking and making more heroes. It is not your fault."
"I know, Veteran. I know." He said, shockingly convincing, and walked away.

It had been a few days since their conversation, and not one of them had managed to genuinely convince him. Despite how convincing his words could have been, no one believed him. He had gone too pale, he had gone to bed too early, he had a written a letter a little too long to his wife. It was bothering him and he just wasn't admitting it. They all knew he was saving face again, as he did when every bad situation came up, but they could do nothing about it. They could all be stubborn, but he was by far the worst. He'd hold things in until he was falling apart at the seams, and somehow he'd still manage to hide it from everyone else. All they could do was hope Malon could convince him, but even they knew the chances of that were slim to none.

They watched him walking on as if things were normal. Maybe they were to the rest of them, but to him, he was falling apart.

How could he do that to them?
How could he put them through the same suffering he fought to prevent?
Could he ever do anything right?

He wouldn't worry them though. He was the oldest, he was a grown man. It was his job to handle everything. He posted the letter to Malon, telling her what he'd found out. He knew she'd do what the boys were doing, but that wouldn't change the truth.

He'd doomed more innocent young men to fight the evil that destroyed him.

---

"I don't know how to feel about all this." Auru said, skepticism seeping into his tone.
"In the nicest way possible, Auru," Link looked at him. "I don't care what you think or feel. I've lost my grandpa, my mentor, my friend, and my brothers all at once. Time is a forgotten hero, and his story deserves to be told."
"It just seems a bit far-fetched-"
"But the Twilight Invasion is easy for you to understand? The time travel that connected the nine of us isn't far-fetched for you?" He slammed his fist on the table, making the group jump. "You've got no idea what's possible, and I hope, for your sake, that you never see those horrors." His tone was cold and unflinching, and he narrowed his eyes at the older man. "I don't expect you to understand, I just expect you to listen."
"Ignore him, hun." Telma tapped the table a few times. "Rusl thought bringing you here would help, and we intend to do just that." She told him.
"You're right, Link." Ashei spoke next. "We don't know, and I agree that I don't wanna see those things. Whatever Time didn't wanna speak on, whatever you don't wanna say, they're obviously bad enough."
"Even if we don't understand," Rusl jumped in. "We can try. We understand better than most that these things are hard."
"You need to be more open-minded, Auru." Ashei pointed at him. "This is hard enough for Link to say, and you know that. Put yourself in his shoes, see if you'd be able to speak freely and detail everything."