Julius had been chosen for an assignment-- one of the three portals known, so far, to actually lead to another dimension. This is known because he and Silas actually survived Starsend. Along with two others -- Horus and Luna were their names -- but they hadn't officially reported them. Sure, their names were known -- how could they not be? -- but their actions spoke for themselves. Julius had had nightmares for months about Starsend, and now was going to be going to the appropriately named Sunwell. Well, this was it. This was where he'd die. He threw down the papers, having read that someone named something vaguely Gerudo sounding was holding it down. Wait... Was he actually a male? Julius dug through the papers on his desk, all possessing some form of relation to Sunwell. He found it. The Gerudo actually had a male! His name was... Mahirid? Odd, but true to the more formal names for the rare male in their society. Well, that was that. The Gerudo had an actual male, now, so who knew when the next war would break loose. He tried hard not to think about the losses on either side of the war; the war that was said to be so great that they sent the Wind Tribe into the skies, floating on an area only known as Skyloft. They had told him that as a recruit-- that there was once a war so great that it tore people apart. He looked into it and actually found out that it was true. Truer than he thought, in fact-- that the two races used to be one. But then a bunch of rowdy Lizalfos and Dinolfos started rising up, taking their time to hone their skills even further. It was funny, in a way-- they had apparently enslaved the Lizalfos for so long that eventually, the tides ended up turning in the Lizalfos' favor. But that was another story for another time. He overlooked his paper work one final time. Soon enough, it was time to get back to the docks that he so begrudgingly loathed. Not that they were shoddily constructed, by any means-- just that... It hadn't really been the same ever since Impa sank. ... He was arriving to the forefront of where the crisis was. Soon, he'd be entering into the portal, and facing off against... well, nothing, as far as he was aware. That was just it-- there was a huge roving desert just full of nothing, that nobody could even find a way to its apparent sun, which was already a large enough hassle. Then, the fact that gravity was tied to light... Well, it was going to be an enjoyable experience for him. He'd doubted he'd feel much, thanks to his raiment. Speaking of which, it was nearly time to go down into the hold for his belongings... He paused. He was watching a real-life Shadow Folk, up close and in person. Of course, that's not to say he was exactly visible-- he was attempting to meld into the shadows underneath the deck, which was mitigated by Julius' Lens of Truth. He spoke in a broken Twilit language, "You. Why here?"
"...!" Fion had been quietly humming to himself, creeping around in the dark of the ship's hold, rifling through the cargo on the hunt for food. After stacks and stacks of crates filled with various trinkets and all kinds of equipment, the Twili had found a sack with hard biscuits crammed between other packs, as well as a jar of pickled... something. Eggs? The biscuits were tough and had little to no flavour, and the smell that came from the jar made Fion close it just as quickly as he had opened it. But at least it was something that would quell the hollow feeling of hunger gnawing at him. So busy with trying to bite into the biscuits he'd been, that he had not heard the footsteps coming down the stairs. Until it was too late. The Twili whirled around, big pupilless eyes widened in fear. Someone caught him. The half-eaten biscuit in his hand fell to the ground, bounced off the wooden planks and rolled off into the dark. He tried to vanish, backing away further into the shadows, but the man's eyes kept following him. Why was his magic not working?! Should he summon his walls? No... Fion's desperate- and increasingly pathetic attempts at fading into the shadows were disrupted when the man spoke. The man spoke Twilit. Kind of. The Twili was too shocked to register that the man had asked him a question. Instead, he simply stared, dumbfounded, trying to process his words. Then he guiltily glanced at the open sack and crumbs scattered across the planks. And back to the man. "Hungry. And the sun- too bright." Fion was not even entirely sure how he had found his way aboard, and where the ship was bound. All he had been looking for was a place to hide form the sun. And food. "You... can speak. In Twilit. How?"
"Learned. Broken." "Name?" He asked, then proceeded to introduce himself as best he could with what he knew. "Julius." "Come," he had said, arriving above deck with a seeming stow-away. He stopped them all when he rose his hands, apparently the commanding officer of this ship. He departed from within the ship, with Fion in tow. A hundred meters away, there were gates-- they certainly had made it a good distance to where they were supposed to be, that much was certain. They had sailed the ship until it was pretty much within distance to port, in fact. But he didn't (and who, at his age, would? It was a laughable effort) trust these Gerudo, so he had decided to walk right in. "Gerudo. Only the strong are respected." He said, quietly approaching the gates. Showing them his badge of identification, and staking claim for his Shadow Folk companion, he continued until he reached the cave entrance. "Wage war on us. Do not trust Gerudo." He said while motioning towards the Gerudo. "This way, please," a Gerudo woman showed them the way to the portal. He tried to spy out anyone who may have survived Kakariko, and actually spied a few, but no one that was particularly close to him.
“Fion.” He gave the man- Julius, a curious look. Someone that learned, or attempted to learn Twilit? What on earth could have prompted him to do that? The question died on his lips when the man told him to follow, back up the stairs, into the light. Come with him? Was he in danger? The man's words had a certain gravity to them, and did not invite any argument. And yet... Fion gave a hesistant 'hmmm', not moving from his spot. Aside from the burning sunlight, there were also people upstairs. He had slipped past them before, slipping through the shadows, but he could hardly hide from them now. And he didn't feel like having Julius make the decision for him and dragging him up. Meekly, the Twili nodded, trailing after the towering man, following him up to the deck. He squinted against the harsh sunlight, although the man's size gave him ample shadow to stand in. "Why did you learn? How?" As they climbed up, curiosity got the better of him. The two stepped off the boat, onto a rocky shore, the landscape soon turning into a sandy waste dotted with enormous rock formations. What meager explanation Fion had gotten for their destination made little sense to him. Gerudo? He could not remember if he had ever heard that before. Julius did not seem to like them. Were they walking straight into the enemy camp? What was Julius' plan? What was Julius himself? Fion's eyes darted around nervously, spotting a few flashes of purple against the red rocks. "Are you here to fight?" Soon enough, they reached a huge stone structure, a large gate leading deeper inside. While glad for respite from the harsh sun, Fion felt anything but at ease. Something about the place felt hostile. As far as he could see, the fortress was manned only by women, all with bright red hair and imposing physiques. Julius' comment did not seem out of place. The Twili nodded, staying close to the older man's side.
He looked around. They were... relatively relaxed with their defenses, which meant that whatever was in there was too big to come out. Probably. He opened a box. Inside were Shadow Orbs, which would be vital to their survival, if what he read had been true. "Ohh, I don't like this." He commented about their entire... situation. "Orb. Take one. If you're coming, anyways," he said to Fion, with an expectant gaze. "So, status report?" He asked their... leader, who didn't seem to be necessarily in charge. "I'm aware of what needs to be done, but what is there immediately outside the portal?" "Take a wild guess," she told him. "Sand. There's the occasional leviathan attack, and I'd really worry about them. Even with Goron Tunics, they burned our scouts when we'd first engaged them to a crisp." "I'll... stay aware of that. Thanks." The rest of his squadron was getting ready. "Well? Coming, or no?"
He was stuck. The moment Julius dragged him through the portal, the Twili knew he would not be getting out soon. Or at all. The light was blinding, more painful that Fion had even experienced. And not only that, the very light seemed to weigh him down, as if it had a physical form, pressing him into the burning sand. Fion attempted to struggle back, but found he could not push himself upright. That is, until Julius loomed over him, holding one of the orbs in his hand. The sunlight dimmed, and with it the pressing weight as well. Fion accepted the offered hand, but gave the captain a suspicious look. First he dragged him into here, and now he offered to help him? He was about to open his mouth for a retort when the quiet desert air was ripped apart by a great roar. Something approached from the horizon, something shining and glinting under the sun. A river? Or a train like he had encountered in the other portal? No, it wasn't that... A great beast bursted from the sand, scattering a rain of glass, the mere heat coming off the wyrm melting the very sand it moved through. All Fion could think about was getting away from certain death, sprinting and climbing up the dune as fast as he could. The wyrm was relentless, spewing jets of flame where it surfaced from the great sand sea. He could not hear the cries of the men over the roar of the beast. Julius hoisted him on his back as easily as a sack of luggage, using the shadowy orb to clear their way as they fled from the wyrm. But halfway up the hill the man stumbled, exhausted from running through sand and carrying the Twili. Fion could run, yes. He did not see any other choices, as running from the man would leave him all alone in this hostile world. No, he had to take his chances with him, if only to find shelter from the harsh light that burned his eyes and skin. He nodded to Julius, taking off up the dune, the monster still approaching. The roar became deafening, the very air distorting with heat, burning in the Twili's throat. And then it was gone. At the last second, the wyrm had changed its course, disappearing off into the desert again. Had it not seen them? With its size and heat the dune would not have had a single chance against stopping it, and yet... Only then did Fion notice the ground under his feet was solid. He didn't sink into it like he did in the sand. Stone? Roughly hewn and worn down by ages of sand blowing across it, but stone all the same. More sand had slid away from where they had climbed, and as Julius made his way up, more stone was unveiled. The wyrm had not been stopped by the dune, no. It had been stopped by a building. From the looks of it, they were on top of some sort of tower or balcony, a dune having formed around it from an eternity of sand moving across the desert. Fion peered through the haze of the shadow orb, looking out over the endless sand Amidst the waves of sands, rising like rocks from a sea, were many more remnants of buildings.
"Well, I guess that explains why that thing stopped chasing us," Julius said, staring, just more than a bit confused about these apparent buildings. "How did they not notice these, though?" He asked Fion, more than a little confused about how... sporadic these buildings were placed. "Did they somehow just... not notice them? I could have sworn this was a flat dune, as flat as a dune can be, at least." With that, he also noticed ancient carvings all around them. "Whoa," Julius said, taking a knee to take a closer look at all of this. "These carvings are almost like Hylian... Only it doesn't seem like our Hylian. Going off my theory, then, it would be wise to say that this is another dimension connected by the Triforce... Goddesses, please, no. Not again." He said, getting up from kneeling. "Basically, there's this theory that I've developed... All realms must have one thing in common, the Triforce. If that's true, then this realm is the result of..." He took one look around, unsure of what to say. "I don't know. Is it possible for such a place to look like this?" The topic fell off into silence. A seed of melancholy had just been planted deep within him. If Ganon really did have the Triforce, then that meant he was practically unstoppable. "Anyways, let's go ahead and try to find... wherever this place leads." With that, he pulled out a trowel, careful to not make any damages to... whatever was holding them up at the moment. After digging for a long while, he finally posed Fion a question: "So, what exactly are you?"
"Triforce?" To Fion, Julius' words sounded like mere ramblings, terms and names he did not recognise. Although... alternate dimensions? Could it be that this place was like what he had found up north? But the Hylian soon trailed off the topic, instead focusing on digging through the sand and rubble under their feet. Until he spoke up again. "Twili." He said in response to the man's question, sounding a little confused. Julius knew what he was, yes? He had to, if he knew to speak in his own tongue to him. "I'm nothing special, back home..." The Twili shrugged, not sure what else to say. "Trained to become a spellcaster, until... an accident happened. But here-" Here he was an outcast, a monster, even. There had been precious few kind folk out there who did not greet him with suspicion or outright hostility. "It's different here." The trowel thudded against something else than rock, something softer. Julius laid the tool aside and swept the last drift of sand aside with his arms. Nestled between the stones was a hatch, it's wood well worn and dried out from the harsh desert climate. The Twili and captain looked at each other for a moment, a silent agreement to take this opporturnity. The hatch groaned and creaked when they pulled it open, and a welcome gust of cold air wafted upwards. The revealed hole led into the tower, no doubt. But in the darkness it was hard to see what exactly was inside. Fion knelt next to the edge, peering in. With his eyes more accostumed to darkness than light, he would be able to make out more of the tower's interior. "I see stairs. And something in the air." From a distance, it looked much like the fragments of darkness that flitted through the air in his homeland. But Fion knew it could not be that. He scooted forward, grabbing the edge of the hole and dropped down. But he did not quite hit solid ground. No, the moment his hands let go and he expected to fall into the darkness below him, he instead drifted on the air, much like a feather. Slowly drifting down, until his feet were only barely touching the ground. Perhaps if he jumped he might float back up. It took a moment for the Twili to adjust himself to this new sense of balance, and the oddness of his surroundings. He called back to the small square of light above him, where Julius was no doubt waiting for a report. "The sand here floats. Rocks too."
"Not what I had in mind, but it still answers my question." Julius finished, dusting off the old hatch. He watched as Fion took his first steps down into the abyss. Apparently, their assumptions about light tying into gravity was correct. Now, all they had to do was find a way to get to the sun... "Here-- this will help." As crazy as it sounded, he was actually willing to make it brighter, in an area where light was tied to gravity. Well-- this had a purpose, it turned out, and it's purpose was to cement their feet to the floor. "I don't suppose you have any spells that create light, do you? No? Ah well, this will have to do, then." He set foot into the tower where doubtless, he figured, they might face some form of opposition. That was pretty much the only thing on his mind at this point: disposing of whatever may get in their way, save the Wurm from earlier (because honestly, how are you going to fight something that was wider than Julius was tall?). He figured this was getting a step closer to their end goal of finding where the portal to the sun was, and was in a hurry to find it. Not much longer after Julius had set foot on what appeared to be solid ground than he noticed it was actually a different color-- grey. Maybe they had advanced enough to form some chemical compound that was somehow sturdy enough to support them? It was too smooth to be rock from the earth, after all. Well, whatever, he thought, it's just going to -- hopefully -- disappear whenever we reach the portal... Which I pray is soon. As he thought, he noticed markings similar to the ones he had seen outside. "Huh," Julius tried reading them, only for it to not work at all. "Well, let's follow them." With that simple comment, he headed toward the writing-- only to find another hatch. "Let's keep going down, aye?" He gave Fion the torch, then stopped. He noticed something from the corner of his eye... Like a shape was following them. Immediately, he drew his blade. "Come out of hiding. Now." He attempted to lock eyes with the figure-- wrong move, as this foe apparently had laser eyes. "Gah!" He screamed, rubbing his eyes like they were on fire. A series of clicks and whirs came from what could be called a machine. If one really examined it, they would find it was indeed a robot -- though not of Hylian make. No... This one was more like something a God or Goddess might produce. Then, after many more clicks and whirs, it finally began speaking in an over-advanced form of Hylian-- thankfully Julius knew the words all too well. "I will not harm you," it spoke as though it were registering Julius as a threat. "Great job on that, I tell you!" He replied back in the over-advanced dialect. It was strange, speaking a tongue that was potentially thousands of years ahead of their own. "You already burned my eyes!" "That is because you were attempting to locate me visually," the machine responded. It continued to whir. "Whatever," Julius said, regaining his vision. "Look. We're here attempting to locate a portal that leads to the sun-- do you know of such a place?" He questioned, not wanting to try his interrogation skills on a robot. Hell, for all he knew robots couldn't even feel pain. Then, another question immediately sprang to his mind. "Who made you?" "Lanayru," he replied simply. "That is common knowledge to all who speak our tongue. Tell me, traveler, how do you understand me?" "I ate a Jabber Nut," Julius replied. "It lets me understand all the languages in the world-- and apparently, outside of the world, too. It worked for Twilit and apparently even future Hylian." The robot made another clicking sound, this time to indicate it was adding knowledge to its database. "I see. While I do not know where the portal to the sun may be-- if there truly is one-- but our central controller might. He is known by the name Levox." "I see. Where can I find him?" Julius replied, sheathing his blade. "Levox is... due southwest of here. Look at the sun, and start heading south and west." "I see. Thank you." With that entire conversation finished, he told Fion about Lanayru and his apparent creation of the robots that inhabit this realm. He also told him of Levox, who was apparently due southwest of here. Well, he thought idly, it's better than nothing.
Fion had slipped behind Julius the moment he heard the captain shout, half blending into the shadows. Were they being attacked? No… After Julius’ initial cry of pain it became quiet again, until a series of whirrs and clicks slowly turned into a mechanical voice. Curiously, the Twili peeked out of his shadowy hiding place. If no one drew weapons, they would be safe, right? A metal claw was resting motionless on the ground, supporting what appeared to be some sort of arm- an extremely bendable one, judging by its many segments. Four of such limbs carried the construction around, but Fion could not tell what its top half looked like, its face. Somewhere it reminded him of the constructs he knew from home, and yet, it was entirely different. Julius seemed ill-pleased with their conversation, ending in the machine lifting one slender limb and pointing it to the hatch and bending it in one direction. Where was it leading them? Julius gestured for him to follow, and Fion meekly materialised the rest of himself. If the machine had any emotions like surprise, it did not show them. Instead, it simply stood there as they ventured deeper into the ruin, the silence only broken by soft whirrs and clicks. As they moved, the captain filled him in on what information he had gleaned. “Follow the sun?” Fion sounded incredulous. “There is no sun down here. And up there- it’s dangerous. That worm will kill us.” And yet, that was their mission, he now understood. Find a way into the heart of the burning sun and put an end to whatever this madness was. The corridor was narrow and dimly lit by glowing circles engraved into the walls, sand trickling down through cracks in the ceiling. Fion would swear he heard more whirring and clicking coming from inside the wall. It was unnerving, to say the least, and he was desperate for something to break the silence. “This place. It’s like the dark portal, up in the mountains. Didn’t have machines, though. It’s… gone, now. I think.” Suddenly, the Twili halted as if struck. Of course, the other portal. He pushed the torch back into Julius’ hand, fishing out a slender, if quite damaged and splintered branch. Fion held it in two hands, almost reverently, as if it was a priceless treasure. “This stick, it is magic. It knows things. Where they are. If… if you know what to ask for, it will point the way. Maybe it knows where Levox is?” It was unlikely, as it would only point out the direction of what they sought, not how to get there. And even then, how would they know what to look for? They had a name, but little else. Fion frowned. If only Triton was here, he surely would have known what to do. But Triton did not even know where the Twili had gone off to. No one did. ‘Show the way to the central controller. To Levox.’ Fion held the branch out like brandishing a sword, staring intently at it as he focused his mind entirely on what they hoped to find. Then, suddenly, the branch twitched to the left. Straight at the wall, but a start was a start.
He was a bit shocked by the mention of 'the portal in the mountains'. Did he mean he had personally conquered it?! ...Now that he actually thought about what was known, it became clear to him. There were two-- far less than his four, when he had entered into Starsend. He began to ask, "Do... you mean Moonshadow?! Holy hells!" He was in utter disbelief. Sure, he had heard things from Silas, but to think he'd actually meet the very same Twili that had conquered it! "By the great order of Hylia, man, I've got even more questions now than I did before!" His mind was racing, now; he had so many questions to ask him. Like, what did he fight? Who was alongside him? Obviously, they knew it to be a Zora warrior; but who were they? More importantly, how did he get all the way onto one of the Snowhead's mountain's peaks? Of all of these questions, he decided it would be most important to learn how he ascended all the way up there, then what he fought. And so he did. "I have a question. If you really did conquer Moonshadow... Why did you decide to climb all the way up a mountain in Snowhead? That's the area you were in, if you weren't aware. Snowhead." Julius listened to his explanation quite quaintly; hearing why was a much better reason than assuming 'just because'. Then, he went ahead and asked him what, exactly, he fought. "So... While we have the report from a Zora soldier-- his name started with a... T? Maybe? It was something like Trident. Anyways. We need your half of the story, too," he added, noticing... a thick, sort of gooey literal wad of shadow. Huh. This... wasn't supposed to happen. Not now, at least! So Julius decided to ignore it, continuing on. "We need to know what you fought, as well. It seems he included bits of conversation with you-- what you managed to say, at least. I'd like to hear about it while we're traveling, in fact-- why don't you start from the top, and work your way down to where it ended?"
Nearly did the Twili vanish into the shadows, so much the captain had startled him. Fion jumped at Julius' suddenly exclamation. Had he said something wrong? Was he not supposed to speak about the portal? The man fired a barrage of questions at him, which was hard to follow even in his native language. In the end Julius collected himself, prompting more coherent questions. Though he seemed to be having trouble remembering the other's name. "Triton." Fion said, a small smile curling the corners of his lips. He had fond memories of the scholar, and the time he spent with him. He had been friendly and welcoming, caring, even. Perhaps he would even have found a place to stay had he remained with him after their ordeal, but the number of people in the camp nearby scared the Twili. And so he had slunk off into the shadows yet again. Julius' other question made him pause. Why indeed? Would he believe him? "I... Followed the dark. At first- maybe a way home, I thought, it felt like that... It wasn't. Then I was trapped." He continued his story while they followed after the stick in his hands, telling Julius of the strange reflective water, the colourless men they had found amidst ruins of what once must have been a civilisation not unlike theirs. Then of the black creatures, sucking all colour and life from everything they touched, how the water had slowly grown clearer as the moon grew fuller, and how eventually it was like looking through glass, and they had to run for the black writhing mass that was coming for them. The metal snake, or train, or whatever the contraption was called was still a challenge to explain, as Fion hardly understood it himself. "Think of a... of a cart. But as long as a hundred of them, with as many seats. It glides over... a path. And rattles. And it speaks." The crystal maze was something he could not tell much about, considering he had walked it with his eyes closed most of the way. But he did tell about what they found at the end, the melting heart that sucked- no, devoured the very world itself. Until there was nothing left but the mirror on which they fought themselves. And after that, nothing. "It was like waking up. Except it wasn't. We were outside, on the grass. I left them." Fion stopped abruptly, head turning left to right, and back again as if he saw something. Or heard. A chill crept down his spine, making the Twili shudder. He shook his head, it were the unpleasant memories, he told himself. He still had nightmares, in the rare moments he slept. "How many of these... portals are there? Where do they lead?" There was a sliver of hope in his voice. What if there was a portal out there that would lead him back home? The branch in Fion's hand twitched, veering right towards a steeply descending tunnel. Through the darkness, he could make out the remains of a broken door, leading to a huge cavernous hall beyond. Something did not seem right about the place. About the shadows.
"I see," was all that Julius spoke, for a time. Then, he continued. "One lead to a... well, I've taken to calling it Starsend, though I doubt that does much to actually inform you of anything about it. I was with a Sheikah, named Silas; I was also with two... Ikanans, I suppose you'd call them. Horus and Luna were their names. We entered into the portal, knowing that once we were in, there wouldn't be a way out. It was what my superiors had deemed a suicide mission. I was certainly ready to give my life for my country, and I think Silas would have too. Goddesses know he almost did," he continued, passing into the open room. "See, there was a tree-- though whether it was of the living or undead, I cannot say. I suppose it may have been somewhere inbetween-- though, I've never told anyone of that. Luna actually figured out what it was doing-- feeding off of our life energies, like the monster that it was." He thought back to what he had seen when it had forced him out of his body with a demonic screech that he prayed he would never hear again. He decided to leave that out of the conversation, but then realized another topic that had never come up. Where they were. "We... we were in-- on, I should say, essentially... asteroids? I've done all I could to research just what we were on. Asteroids is the most probable answer." "These asteroids had bubbles of atmosphere around them-- if you exited one, you would surely die. Which is... I still do not understand how they knew where we would be going, but Silas and I learned this... technique, I guess, from a group of Deku shamans. It allowed us to enter what is known as the Spirit World. I would offer to show you at a point, but this is hardly the time." Ending his sentence, he took a look around the room. Something... didn't seem right. "Anyways, with the portal you went through, the portal I went through, and the portal we're currently going through, this is the last portal that I've read about in any official statements from the Kingdom of Hyrule. And, considering they employ me, I do not think they would willingly hide any information from me, especially seeing as I'm essentially a veteran Knight of Hyrule. But I digress." Looking around the area seemed to reveal rows of ancient machinery-- but somehow even more advanced than anything they had in Hyrule, as weird as that might have been. It was all in major disrepair, though, and Julius himself knew nothing about repairing anything of this caliber. He studied the machines-- seeing a gauge, but it was, curiously, in a dialect that he didn't understand. A shame, really. "...How did a person like you even wind up in Hyrule? From another dimension, I mean."
"As-te-roid?" Fion blinked. He could follow... half of the man's story. He thought. Maybe. He simply nodded, letting Julius ramble on. As long as he wouldn't ask him to repeat what he said back to him, it'd alright, right? The hall was dim and dusty. There was no sand here, but disuse and abandonment had covered everything in a thick layer of dust that whirled around their feet with every step. Once, the sound in this room must have been deafening, with the whirring and claning of the machines. But now, the air was dead. Almost oppressively so. "Hmm. Don't know." Fion said, even if only to break the silence. His face fell. "Wish I knew. If I knew, I could go back. ...I want to." This alien world scares me. I don't belong here. But that was something he did not have to add. Everything about him screamed that he did not belong in the world of light. He sighed, then sniffed, feeling a single tear slide upward. Wait... Upward? Fion watched the small droplet float in front of his face. On touching his finger to it, it gently slid off into the dark, what little light remained gleaming off its liquid form. When had it gotten so dark...? Near his feet, something shifted, launching itself from the shadows with a blinding speed. Fion vanished into thin air just in time to miss a sharp slash of... something. Instead, it slashed through empty air as the Twili materialised behind Julius, tugging on the man's arm, then grabbing onto it as he felt himself slowly float away with the movement. "The shadows...! They're attacking!"
"Yeah, those things in the night sky, that you can barely see." he watched carefully, certain to not let any enemies get the best of him; then, the shadows seemed to come to life, as if they were out of a video game. "What--" Propelling himself upwards, Julius scouted, only to realize it was a futile attempt; he couldn't see anything. Letting out something resembling a grunt, he retrieved a number of things from his bag; bombs, his boomerang (enhanced with Fire Gems), and his hookshot. "Fion--!" Then, something pierced through his chest. It looked similar in appearance to a claw; having a purplish sheen to it, it was also hooked, just like a claw. It disappeared soon enough, causing severe damage; Julius wondered if this was how he'd pass, while digging for his Red Potion. Struggling to even pop its cork off, he wondered just how often he was going to keep exposing himself to such danger, especially in old age. He supposed it came with the title, finally managing to open his Red Potion. He drank deep of its alcoholic goodness, before the familiar pain of accelerated cell growth hit him. Doubling over in pain, he gasped and wheezed for a good moment or two. "God," he murmured, "never going to get over that feeling, I swear." Remembering where was, and what his purpose here was, he quickly remembered exactly what he was here to do. He gave a quick, "Ugh," before unloading another bomb, then giving him flame-enhanced Gale Boomerang a spin. He still couldn't see for shit, though.
