No Pov

As the evening went on the activities came to an end. "Thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoyed our celebration. As this night draws to an end I wish for our peace to continue and Hyrule to prosper, the people knowing it's safe because of our heroes. It is a truly joyous day. I bid you farewell and goodnight." Zelda said, making her voice reach everyone.

People said their goodbyes and left to rest after the exciting celebration.

The Links and Shadow approached Zelda.

"That was so fun!" Red said with an adorable smile.

"Yeah, but we'd better go home since it's really late." Green said.

"Yes, we should. Goodnight boys, I hope you all sleep well." Zelda said.

"You too Zelda!" Red said and they parted ways.

"You guys can head home first, I'm going to go to the restroom real quick." Vio said.

"Later nerd!" Blue said as Vio walked away deciding not to reply.

Vio walked to the closest castle restrooms and yawned as he entered, not realizing he went into the girls restroom. There, he stopped and stared, too shocked to move. Standing there before him were two girls, Willow and Anise. It wasn't the fact that he accidentally walked into the girls restroom that shocked him, what they were doing overwhelmed that. The two froze and stared back at him.

On Willow's arm and Anise's back, areas that their dress cardigans previously covered, was smudged ink. Willow was holding an inkwell in one hand and her other hand was over Anise's back with ink on her pointer finger. Instead of dark green long hair and emerald green eyes Willow had dark grey hair with light grey streaks and hazel eyes. Instead of dark brown hair and light brown eyes Anise had dark grey hair with purple bangs and brown eyes. For both of them their skin tone was paler too.

"You guys...are shadows?" Vio said, stunned.

"W-we can explain! Don't tell anyone else please!" Willow begged. The maiden instantly dropped the ink while Anise just continued to stare in shock.

It took Vio a moment to fully register what was happening, trying to understand. Anise jumped when she finally noticed the ink spill.

"What in the name of the goddesses..." was all Vio could get out, still not able to process this discovery. "Explain... right now, before I warn the princess of intruders." He didn't really think they were intruders, but if the threat would get them talking rather than running away that would be better.

The sisters nodded, trying to keep the ink from ruining their dresses as they stood up properly. "Listen, we aren't here to bring an attack. We just wanted a safe life here, which Shadow painfully ruined for us," Anise started, hoping it was good enough for Willow to continue

"She's right. Remember, during never have I ever earlier, we ran from our old kingdom which was in the Dark Mirror because they were hunting beings like us. We moved here just because we wanted to live peacefully, not bring any fight." Willow explained.

"But aren't the rest of the beings there shadows as well right?" Vio questioned.

Anise shook her head. "There's all kinds of dark monsters and creatures there too." She clarified.

"And we're not full shadows, we're half shadows, half light and half dark. We ran because the nobles were commanded by the royal family to kill us all," Willow explained. Anise lowered herself to his level in hopes it would make him feel safer. Looking up at tall threats wasn't always the easiest thing when trying to prove their innocence

In an instant, it all came together. The weird looks, the tone changes, the late night visit, these two were Shadow's old friends. "Is that why you have such a strong hatred for him? Cause you knew what he was like beforehand?" Vio asked calmly

"How can you ask something so simply?! I'm not even the one who found out, but I'm in full panic!" Anise stated while beginning to hyperventilate, eyes tearing up in the process.

Willow hugged her sister from the side, trying to calm her down.

"Relax, I'm not telling anyone that you're a threat. I won't tell anyone that you're half shadows too, but we have to tell Zelda at least." Vio said calmly, trying to assess the situation.

"Are you crazy?! The moment she finds out she'll banish us from the kingdom like her opposite!" Anise shouted.

"She won't! She's not like her opposite and besides she's letting Shadow stay here so why not for you two? Besides, since you're our friends she'll know that you don't mean harm," Vio reasoned.

"But you're our friend and you threatened us a moment ago!" Anise said.

"That was to get information out of you quickly. After all, you never know what could happen when your friends have lied to you about their identities." Vio explained.

"That's...true," Anise grumbled.

"I'll tell you what. We don't have to tell her yet. We can tell her when you guys are ready. You can have time to prepare yourselves but we must tell her. Okay?" Vio reasoned.

The sisters looked at each other hesitantly but nodded after a few moments. Willow looked to Vio with hesitation before speaking. "Alright. We will. Just give us time like you said."

"Okay. But don't run away in the meantime. Hyrule is your home. I'll be there with you when you tell Zelda so I can help you guys stay," said Vio wholeheartedly.

"Promise?" Anise asked nervously.

"I promise," Vio said sincerely. "Though I am curious, are John and the twins also half shadows? And what happened between you and Shadow?"

"First off, yes they are. John is the one who had the idea to come here to hide and live. The twins were still babies when we first ran away. And Shadow...We thought he was dead until a year ago. He betrayed us by invading our new home with Vaati and Ganon. He's changed so much. The old him would never even think of killing or harming a person or even a fly! But now...He's grown to be a monster," said Willow, a glint of pure hatred in her eyes.

"Since he's changed back then he can change again. He already has. Shadow's heart has never left him. He's a good person," Vio said.

"What hasn't changed about him is that he's a trickster. How do you know if he isn't fooling you all that he's good?" Anise asked.

"I doubt it. If he is then that's our fault but I believe in him. You should too," Vio said.

"We'll give him a chance like we said before. But only one!" Willow said.

"That'll be enough," Vio answered. "Anyway, I should go. We can talk more later. The others are probably wondering why I'm taking so long. John is probably wondering where you guys are too. Do you guys have extra ink or should I get more for you?" Vio asked.

"That was the last of it that we had on us. Get John. He has some more. You can just tell him to go to the bathroom." Willow responded.

"Should I explain the situation to him? That I know?" Vio asked.

"Might as well, otherwise he'd be suspicious of you telling him to go to this bathroom when we're like this." Willow answered.

"Alright. And... I am sorry for scaring you two. That wasn't my intention. We're friends, after all." Vio said.

"Good to know. Thanks Vio," Anise mumbled.

With that Vio left, searching for John. He spotted him standing by a tree, waiting for his sisters.

"Johnathan," Vio greeted seriously as he walked towards him.

John turned around and looked down at Vio. "Hey. Is something up?" John asked, noticing how serious Vio looked.

"I need to tell you something," Vio said, feeling nervous.

"What is it? You can tell me anything Vio," John said.

Vio took a deep breath then explained what had occurred. John widened his eyes but stayed silent till Vio was finished.

"I see... and you're keeping this a secret?" John asked.

"Yes but I think we should at least tell Zelda. We don't have to tell her till you guys are ready but it's important coming from you guys rather than anyone else, just in case," Vio said.

John sighed, knowing he was right but felt frightened. "If you think that Zelda will still accept us and still let us live here then I'm okay with it. Just know I will do anything for my family. Our parents are dead so it's up to me to protect my siblings. Understand?" John explained as calmly as he could.

"Yes, I do. I only want what's best for you guys too," Vio said.

"I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for understanding Vio," John replied. "Anyway, I should help my sisters out and you should head home. Act like none of this happened."

Vio nodded. "I have one last question before we go though."

"Shadow?" John questioned.

Vio nodded once more.

"He was our friend, yes. I'd like to be friends with him again, however my sisters are still holding a grudge as you can tell. He was a good kid till everything went wrong. Him turning evil was likely partially our fault," John said sadly.

"What went wrong?" Vio asked.

"The E.O.H. or rather the Elimination of Half is what made things go wrong."

"The reason why you had to run was because you were half shadows. Your sisters already told me that. But what does this event have to do with Shadow?" Vio asked.

"Shadow had a-" John started but got startled when someone shouted.

"Vio!" The two quickly turned and saw Raule.

"Father? What are you doing here?" Vio asked calmly as if nothing was going on.

"Your mother and brothers were growing worried for you as you've been gone a while. I know it's nice to chat with friends, but come home earlier so you don't worry us. I thought you had gotten in some sort of trouble," Raule said.

Vio glanced at John who was nervous but very good at hiding it. "I have gotten myself into so much trouble," Vio thought and held back a sigh. Vio looked back at Raule. "Sorry Father. We were having a deep conversation."

"What was it about?" Raule asked, interested.

"A book that we both like. I read it just the other day," Vio lied.

"Ah I see. Anyway you'll have to continue it later. Sorry but it's really late," Raule said.

"Okay. See you later John," Vio said and gave a small wave.

"Goodbye Vio," John answered as relief flooded his eyes.

Vio and Raule walked home as John walked to the restrooms to deliver the ink he had to his sisters. On their way home it started to get windy. As Raule watched the trees wave in the breeze, he saw a person with messy black hair and green eyes. He blinked and they were gone.

Vio glanced at him. "Is something the matter father?" Vio questioned.

"I could've sworn I just saw..." Raule trailed off.

"Saw what?" Vio asked.

"...It's nothing. Probably my imagination. It is late," Raule said.

Vio didn't believe him but decided to let it go. He didn't need to dabble into other people's lives more than he already had. They continued walking home.

"Why were you taking so long Vio? You know it's not safe to be outside at night for long," Green stated when they had arrived home.

"Your brother's right," Lizzy added.

"I was talking to John. I didn't even get to go to the restroom because I was caught up in a conversation with him," Vio told them.

"Oh, what were you talking about?" Red asked with innocent curiosity.

"A book of some sort apparently," Raule answered.

"What was it about? The book?" Red asked.

"A fox transforming into a human and falling in love with a wood cutter basically," Vio lied.

"Oh really? I feel like that makes sense for John," Green said.

"He's such a loverboy. It's annoying," Blue commented.

"Don't say that. You'll understand when you fall in love someday," Lizzy said.

"Yeah, yeah," Blue grumbled.

"I'm going to go to the restroom here since I didn't get to earlier," Vio said and walked away to the restroom.

"Alright just don't stay in there all night reading books! I need my beauty sleep you know!" Blue said.

"I won't. I don't even have any on me right now," Vio answered and went in the restroom.

He sighed and put his hands on his face. "What have I gotten myself into?" He mumbled.

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Hello! I hope you enjoyed this informative chapter. Who knew that the Althea's were half-shadows?! I mean I knew but I'm the author so duh. Anyway, I hope I surprised you with this twist, I've been planning it since the beginning! I had some help from betterocarinaoftime- again, read their stuff, they're a good friend.

(And yes, if you read webtoon I referenced "Dating With A Tail". It's a good story, y'all should read it.)

(2194 words!)

Courtesy of betterocarinaoftime: (🎶If we changed back then, we can change aga📉in. We can be beautiful (beautifu📈l) AH! Hey Martha (hey)🎶)