Vio x Shadow - Dark Luster (Four Swords)

Chapter 2

Just one more day.

Just one more day until it was marked the Four Swords Heroes' first annual anniversary of their split.

Vio eyed the open door of his wardrobe where his most elegant and formal outfit sat, as it was requested by Princess Zelda herself to wear it at the great event tomorrow. He frowned at the white cuffs of the collar and sleeves and the silky violet fabric that lined the vest. Formal clothes were never his forte, and he knew that he'd feel much more comfortable in his traditional tunic which he thought would deem more fitting for their anniversary. It wasn't like they were meeting another royal family.

Just one more day.

Just one more day until it had been a full year since Vio had been searching for a way to bring Shadow back.

The wooden legs of Vio's chair creaked as he sat back with a groan. Three candles illuminated the space on his writing desk and the wall above it that had masses of paper covered in writing and sketches. A small pile of books lay in one corner of the desk, but an even bigger pile was stacked beside it on the floor. Vio wasn't in the mood to reorder everything on the shelves of his large bookcase that sat opposite his purple-sheeted bed. His eyes had very definable bags sagging underneath them but he refused to sleep until he found the right solution. He'd been up all night and couldn't be bothered to open the curtains to let the early morning light in.

He hated having to come up with excuses all the time to the librarians just so he could research about dark power and foreboding myths without it seeming too suspicious, but so far all of it had been a complete waste of time. Every single thread of trying to come to a conclusion had drawn to a dead end, and it was damaging him. He rarely came out of his room and almost never ate, but he also didn't want to be around people nor was he ever hungry. His mind was too focused on the piece of him that was missing, and he'd rather die than live without it. Shadow was his responsibility – he could have changed everything a year and a half ago, but every decision he had made only caused the writhing regret in the deep corners of his chest to painfully swell more than he wanted it to. He was glad that he was no longer a part of Link, otherwise the boy would have met a fate worse than him.

He leaned forward and caught his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the hard desk. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath through his teeth before looking up at his wall. So far the best piece of information he'd discovered was an old hag that lived in a cave not far from the borders of Hyrule, but even so, that was a long journey and he wanted to know if her wisdom and knowledge on all things magic was worth it. He needed to be certain that she'd know something about how to bring Shadow back, and he'd ask if his own ideas were on the right track – he thought that the best way was to make another Dark Mirror, but he couldn't see how that was possible considering that it was the King of Darkness, Ganon, who had made it and brought Shadow to life. It would take an immense amount of dark energy to reconstruct such an object, and there weren't any items that he could use without either corrupting himself or destroying something in the processes. Holy items wouldn't work because they were, well, holy. There was no way they could make something like the Dark Mirror even if he tried. However, if it wasn't another Dark mirror that he had to make, then maybe such a spell existed that could bring Shadow back? He highly doubted it, but he was getting desperate, and any option was a good option.

Vio groaned once more and pressed his fingers into his temples; all of this unprofitable thinking was giving him a headache.

His head shot up at the unexpected knock that sounded from his door, and he gazed in its direction tiredly.

"Vio, you awake yet? Zelly wanted to see us early this morning!" called a voice that was unmistakably Red's. He'd recently gained the habit of calling the princess "Zelly" and blamed it on the fact that he saw her as a sister instead of a potential crush like Link had developed. However, no one complained and was fine with it as long as he didn't use the nickname in public.