Chapter Text
[TAPE RECORDER CLICKS ON]
ARCHIVIST
Statement of, uh-
SKY
Sky.
ARCHIVIST
‘Sky’- nothing else?
SKY
No.
ARCHIVIST
Okay then. Statement of ‘Sky’, regarding?
SKY
Being a hero. The journey. Demise.
ARCHIVIST
…Right. Recording taken direct from subject, October 4th, 2024. Statement begins.
SKY
…I didn’t mean it.
I didn’t want this all to happen, it just- I didn’t-
[SKY TAKES A HEAVY BREATH]
SKY (CONT.)
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I… being the hero wasn’t something I wanted to share. I’ll be honest, it sucks. Yeah, there's the glory and fame, but it really doesn’t outweigh nights spent wrapping your own wounds and hoping you don’t bleed out.
I was supposed to be the end of it. I thought that if I could do this… well, I don’t know what I thought. If I won, if I could kill Demise, kill that evil, it would be over. It's never over. I don’t know what to do-
[A LONG MOMENT OF SILENCE]
SKY (CONT.)
(Shakily) I think… A lot of people think being a hero puts you in control. Like you're the one who decides the fate of the kingdom. It's not like that. Half of my journey was praying I didn’t die, and the other was split second decisions that could have gone really badly.
I’ve never felt so… powerless before. There's no control in watching your kingdom fall apart, it's all reaction. Being a hero isn’t a choice, it's a necessity, there's no power there, ‘chosen one’ nonsense be damned.
It's a little like… Have you ever played chess? I feel like if you work in a place like this, you’ve played chess. Regardless, the journey, it's a little like a chess board.
I’m some knight, traveling between the squares, trying to kill the enemy's king. The enemy has units too, so I have to get between those first, all while not dying to anything. Chess is a difficult game, especially trying to keep a specific piece alive that isn’t your king.
I dont… I don’t think I like being a part of the chess board. I mean, I’m being played on the board, and I’m working towards something, at least I think I am, but I don’t know what. I know what I’m fighting for, but I don’t know where my king sits, or what their end goal is.
The player has little interest in an individual piece's well being. Chess, it's all a means to an end, isn’t it? You have to sacrifice a couple pieces to win at chess. I… I don’t know what that means for me. I don’t think I like it.
[SKY MAKES A DISTRESSED SOUND, STUMBLING OVER HIS WORDS]
SKY (CONT.)
It wasn’t a choice. To be a hero, it wasn’t my choice. Well… maybe that's not true. I made a choice when I jumped after Zelda but that… I think I would have ended up here one way or another.
I never really believed in the idea of fate. I liked the idea that I could choose my own paths, make my own choices, but I think I made all the wrong ones. I don’t even know if those choices mattered! I should have done something differently. I… I don’t know what but- something, anything so we didn’t end up here.
…I suppose if the timeline already exists as it does, that means fate has to be a thing in some capacity, doesn’t it? I don’t know if that makes me feel better.
Would you rather make the wrong choices and condemn your successors to suffering, or know that you couldn’t have made a different choice, no matter what you did or knew?
[A SLIGHT HUM OF STATIC PICKS UP IN THE FOLLOWING SILENCE. AFTER A MOMENT, THE ARCHIVIST MAKES AN UNCOMFORTABLE SOUND, AND SKY SIGHS TIREDLY]
SKY (CONT.)
I don’t want it to go like this. I… I don’t think I have a choice though. (Sarcastically, and almost aggressive) Despite everything I’ve done, the gods just get to do whatever they want, don’t they?
I tried! I swear! I fought Demise and I won. Did I win? I killed him, I killed a god, but it seems like none of that mattered in the end! Nothing I’ve done has mattered in the end.
Because I didn't end it. I was supposed to end it, and I can’t. I don’t know how to save them.
(Growing Hysterical) I- I’m supposed to be a hero, right? What kind of hero am I if I can’t save the people who come after me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!
I’ve condemned everyone after me to live with this evil. How could I do that to them? All of those people I love and care about, it's my fault and I don’t know how to get them out.
Everything I’ve tried to change, it doesn’t matter. Their lives- It's my fault it happened, but now I’m powerless to change it.
I guess the universe, or gods, or whatever must find it funny. Why else would someone do that? Like we’re dolls, being puppeted around to tell whatever story fits the universe's fancy.
(Under his breath) There has to be a way out
(Slightly elevated in volume) What about you? I mean, you must know something about this. Gods and fear and things out of your control. How do I fix it? How do I… I don’t know, take it back?
I want to do better for them, I can’t leave them to this mess but I don’t know if that's a choice I get to make. You can help me get around that, right? I cant- There has to be some way to get out, something I can do that's my choice.
ARCHIVIST
I don’t- I’m sorry but-
SKY
No. No! You have to know, there has to be something!
[CLATTER OF CHAIRS, AND SKY LETS OUT A FRUSTRATED YELL. THE ARCHIVIST SAYS SOMETHING, BUT IT'S UNINTELLIGIBLE OVER THE RUSTLE OF PAPERS AND THE DOOR CLATTERING OPEN.]
[DOOR SHUTS, AND STATIC SWEEPS OUT WITH ITS CLOSE. THE OFFICE IS LEFT IN SILENCE. THE ARCHIVIST SIGHS.]
[TAPE RECORDER STOPS. STATEMENT ENDS]