The Revival of Shadow Link

62:

We had assumed that the blood had fallen off the person who screamed, who was apparently being attacked by Desiderium and Briar, who disappeared the moment we got closer.

And this girl who screamed looked at me, and her eyes glowed with recognition.

"Shadow!" She shouted and all of a sudden, I was pulled away from Vio and the girl had wrapped her arms around me tightly, pressing our bodies so close together that I thought she was trying to merge them into one.

"I finally found you! I missed you!"

Maybe there was some form of etiquette that I could have used, but instead, I just said, "Who are you?" It didn't help she had—probably not intentionally—pushed away Vio when she hugged me.

"What are you talking about, it's me! Geez, I get it if you're angry, but pretending you don't recognize me is cruel."

I had no idea I was into girls. The other Link's had drooled over Erune, but I hadn't, and it had always been Vio with me. But, I realized looking at this total stranger, she was really...pretty.

"Shadow...don't you recognize me? At least my voice?"

"...Are you that other voice I've been hearing?"

"Well, yeah, but..." She sighed. "Never mind, it's clear you don't." She swallowed. "Guess I need to introduce myself again." She chuckled dryly, without any actual humor. "I'm Era."

Thick, dark, inky black hair fell around her shoulders and giant purple eyes filled with sorrow looked at mine. She donned a crimson jacket over her clothes and black pants. She was my height and was...curvy. She had brown skin and wore leather boots, her nails were a blood red and...I was ashamed to admit that I felt I should know her but felt no sense of familiarity. At all, actually.

On top of the other Links, I realized Zelda was also staring at Era, her face tinted slightly pink and a look on her face like she didn't even know who this person was but was already daydreaming about how many kids they were gonna have together. 

Vio noticed I was staring at her and cleared his throat. Had I just forgotten he was right there?

"Wait...if you don't remember me, do you remember Aki? Or, fuck, do you remember Bethany? Goddesses, I'm hoping you remember Bethany!"

"No, I...I don't... I'm sorry."

Vio grabbed my hand and whispered in my ear. "Shadow, I don't like her."

"Vi, you don't even know her."

"I don't care, I just...something's off about her. I don't..."

"If she does anything, we don't have to put up with it, but she literally hasn't done anything yet. Plus, Zelda's enjoying her."

He looked over to the two girls who were speaking with each other happily.

"That's true...but I still don't like her."

"Don't worry about a thing, Vi..."

He kissed me on the cheek and pulled my hand so I stayed close to him. No one was looking at us. He kissed a spot on my neck. "Love you, Shadow."

"Love you too, Vio."

"Wow, you're really pretty," Era said, looking at her. "And...your eyes are huge. Oh, I'm staring, aren't I? Sorry...You remind me of a friend I used to have, her name was April, goddesses, she would have loved to meet you." All of a sudden, Era looked really sad.

I felt Vio grab my shoulder a little possessively. "If she hugs you again, I might bitch slap her."

"Vio...are you jealous...?"

"A little, but I'm trying to contain it...hey, what's that over there?"