Warnings: Detailed descriptions of blood, gore, and violence. Read this chapter at your own risk.

While Sheik may have been ready to leave in terms of his gear, he certainly wasn't emotionally ready to leave. Corrin wasn't awake yet, and after last night...

Sheik knew that Corrin wasn't the biggest fan of this mission to begin with, but he didn't have much say in the matter. Plus, it was for the sake of their future together that he was leaving. Every scouting mission that he did brought a peaceful future closer to reality. Checking to make sure that the letter was lying on the desk, in plain view should Corrin need to read it, Sheik stood and took a deep breath. Softly, making sure he didn't wake his sleeping boyfriend, he pressed a kiss to Corrin's forehead and whispered "I love you, and I promise I'll be back soon."

As he walked out of their bedroom and exited the apartment the two boys shared, Sheik felt his heart ache. This felt so... final. Like it was the last time that he would do this.

He shook his head and scoffed lightly. Lack of sleep and anxiety must be making him paranoid.

When Sheik arrived in the briefing room, he did a quick headcount to make sure he wasn't missing anyone. Matthew, Leila, Kohga, and Paya were here, but where was Kellam?

Oh, there he was. He just hadn't been visible from where Sheik was standing at the moment.

"Is everybody here?" Chrom asked as he walked into the room. There was literally nobody here at this hour, and the briefing now was just for going over last minute details.

"Yes, sir." Sheik replied. "All six of us are here and ready for action."

"Excellent." Chrom said, though he sounded tired. "As you're all aware, this mission is primarily for scouting. You'll be headed around the perimeter of the Headmaster's main facility in order to get to your real target, so be on your guard. You should map while you go, taking notes of troop movements and such. However, don't stress if you can't risk that while you're close to the man facility. When you're near the Manufacturing Facility, you definitely need to make sure you pay close attention. We need every bit of information about it that we can get."

Sheik and the rest of his team nodded. This was a tough task, but Sheik knew that he and his team could handle it. He was even confident that Kohga couldn't screw this up, even if the eccentric man had messed up in the past. Sure, it had been small mistakes, but mistakes were mistakes.

"Alright. You are dismissed. May Naga protect you all." Chrom stepped back from the briefing table and nodded his head towards the door.

"Behind me. I've got some things I'd like to add while we're en route." Sheik commanded softly. His voice wasn't loud, but it demanded respect. His team members all obeyed without hesitation, as they were used to his leadership by now.

Once they were out of the briefing room, Matthew spoke up. "Okay, I'll bite. What're your special orders, boss?"

At the blond man's remark, Sheik had to suppress a smile. Not that anybody could tell, due to the cloth mask he wore over his face, of course. "No blades showing unless we're in the middle of a fight. We don't want the metal to give our position away. Also, I think we're going to be using the buddy system. Keep an eye on your surroundings and your buddy at all times. If something goes wrong, I want to hear about it. Immediately. Use codenames when necessary." he explained, only glancing back to see the affirmative nods that his team members gave him.

Everything was going fine until the Headmaster's main facility came into view. Sheik had been on scouting missions to this part of enemy territory several times before, but now... something felt different. He couldn't explain it, but some sixth sense was ringing major alarm bells in his head.

"Get down. Now." Sheik hissed softly.

Six people dropped to a crouch. He counted to fifteen before motioning to move forward, staying low and using natural cover whenever possible. All the while, Sheik cursed his breath for sounding just a bit too loud.

They snuck around like this for fifteen minutes with no trouble, and they had nearly cleared the perimeter of the Headmaster's facility when the sound of steel sliding on leather sounded behind them.

The next thing Sheik heard was Leila's choked cry of pain, which was quickly cut off and followed by the ominous sound of two separate thuds on the grassy plain.

"Leila?" Matthew asked, completely forgetting to use her codename. "Leila, answer me!" When he didn't get a response, Sheik saw him stand and draw his weapon, which was a long-bladed dagger with a wicked curve to it.

"Matthew, get down!" Sheik commanded sharply, but it was no use. A shadowy figure with red hair came walking towards Matthew, and he laughed.

The laugh sent chills down Sheik's spine.

It was Roy.

"Oh my. Were you close with that poor girl? I'm afraid she couldn't take the pressure. It might have been a bit much for her pretty little head..." Roy chuckled darkly.

"What did you do to her?" Matthew yelled.

In response, Roy held up his blade. It was slick with blood, which could only have come from one person. But the red-headed boy didn't stop there. He knelt in the grass, and then after a moment of searching, he held up Leila's severed head.

It still dripped blood from the gash on her neck- or what used to be her neck. Leila's face was frozen in an expression of horror. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a soundless scream.

"Oh my gods..." Paya murmured. She was no stranger to severed heads, Sheik knew, but seeing someone you were close with was a different matter entirely.

"You... you monster!" Matthew shouted. He ran at Roy directly, completely abandoning everything he'd been taught in favor of a wild, rage-fueled dash.

Roy merely sidestepped his dash and plunged the bloody sword he held into Matthew's back. He twisted the blade, then removed it with a cruel jerk. As the spy fell to the ground, Roy leaned down and whispered "You'll be with her soon, don't worry."

His response to Matthew's agonized groan was to stab him again, this time in the approximate area that his heart was.

Matthew didn't move or cry out after that.

With a swift gesture, a group of white-robed soldiers carrying various different weapons appeared in a circle around the remaining members of Sheik's patrol.

They were trapped.

"On your feet. Now." Roy commanded. "That is, if you want to live a little bit longer than I was planning to let you."

Slowly, Sheik, Kohga, Paya, and Kellam did as they were told. In the eerie pre-dawn light, Sheik could barely make out Leila's body without its head lying in the approximate location that her scream had come from. Matthew's body lay at Roy's feet, and while he watched, Roy tossed Leila's head to the ground like it was nothing.

Roy walked forward.

"Ah, Sheik. It's so good to see you, my old friend." Roy said, voice laced with sarcasm.

"I wish I could say the same." Sheik replied dryly. 

"You wound me." Roy pretended to look hurt, and he placed his free hand above his heart. Or the space where his heart was supposed to be, anyway.

"Save your pretty words for someone who will listen." Sheik snapped.

"If you keep talking back to me, I might just have to kill one of your friends here." Roy purred, stepping closer to him. "Stay quiet, and they'll live."

"What do you want?" Sheik asked, trying not to cringe away from the redhead in front of him.

"I want to see you dead at my feet, but the Headmaster requested to see you. So you'll be coming with me, and your friends... oops, they'll die anyway." Roy giggled and gestured to one of the white-robed soldiers behind him. "Kill them. Kill them all. And make it quick, because my friend and I have an appointment to catch."

The soldiers surged forward, and Sheik knew it was a losing battle before it even began. Kellam fell first, crumpling under an axe that slipped past his guard and ended its deadly arc buried under his arm.

Kellam's cry of pain that followed was heart-wrenching to hear, if only because the brown-haired spy was so quiet all of the time. Sheik had seen him take harder blows than that without flinching, but from the angle of the axe's blade... he knew it was fatal before Kellam fell to the ground and didn't move again.

Roy stepped even closer to Sheik and whispered "Isn't it funny how fragile humans are? No matter what blood flows in their veins, it has a habit of ending up on the ground so easily..."

As Roy spoke, Kohga shoved Paya out of the path of a longsword, ending up with the sword buried in his own chest. The white-haired man coughed and spat blood in the face of his attacker. "You think you could best me with a simple sword stroke? Allow me to prove you wrong! I, Kohga Himura, will best you!"

"Shut up, fool." the soldier sneered at him, drawing a dagger from their belt and burying it in Kohga's gut.

With the last of his strength, Kohga drew one of his kunai knives and stabbed the soldier in the heart. He must have slipped the blade just between the soldier's ribs, because the agonized gasp that the soldier let out was quickly choked off.

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me. Bastard." Kohga wheezed a laugh and then collapsed, blood slowly pooling on the ground below him.

Paya was putting up one hell of a fight, as she'd managed to use the opportunity Kohga had given her to draw her katana. The deceivingly slender blade was slick with blood, and Paya herself had several minor wounds already.

For a moment, it seemed as thought she could actually pull off a victory. But then Roy sighed and started moving forwards. "Looks like I'll have to do this myself. Can't trust these fools to do anything." While he spoke, he kicked the arm of one soldier that Paya had taken care of, not even bothering to look to see who it used to be.

Almost without thinking, Sheik called a warning to Paya. "Cousin! Behind you!"

It turned out to be the death of her.

Paya turned towards the sound of his voice, sword whirling in an arc to face the supposed threat behind her.

And a soldier with a simple, standard-issue bastard sword stabbed her through the chest. They twisted the blade as they jerked it out, and his dear cousin collapsed.

Roy looked back at him and smirked. "Why do work myself if I have you to do it for me?"

The red-headed boy crouched down and sliced his blade across Paya's throat for good measure, then used her clothes to clean his blade off.

"It's funny, really. I don't know what color I was expecting you Sheikah to bleed. Maybe black, like the shadows your ancestors so enjoyed messing with? Or perhaps gold, like the Goddess Hylia herself? Though you always were her least favorite children. No wonder you turned to the shadows." Roy sneered. "Though I suppose red is fitting. For all that posturing you guys do about being superior to us humans, your blood says otherwise."

Sheik didn't answer. Or look at him. He just stared straight ahead, chin held high and stance proud.

He'd heard all of this before, so it wasn't anything new. Still, the pure hatred he felt was... out of the ordinary.

"Come on, blood-eye. Why won't you answer me? Or do I have to dye my hair blond and make my ears pointed to get you to reply? Wait, that probably won't work anyway. You still wouldn't listen, because you're a traitor." Roy laughed again, which was just as chilling as it had been before.

Despite himself, Sheik's hands curled into fists at his side. "My people may not have a very... peaceful past, but at least I have pride. Unlike you."

"Oh, so it speaks!" Roy exclaimed mockingly. "Shocking. Come on, beast, we've got places to be. We've wasted enough time with these pathetic creatures." Roy kicked at Kohga's limp body as he walked past, smirking while he did so. He pointed to one of his soldiers and said "You. Make sure these bodies get back to the facility. The Headmaster wants the Rebellion to know what happened here. Don't worry too much about the beheaded one's body. Just the head will be enough of a statement."

The soldier nodded and started directing the others.

Sheik didn't move, so Roy turned back to look at him. "If you won't come willingly, you won't like the consequences."

One of the soldiers gave Sheik a rough shove, sending him stumbling forwards. Roy took the opportunity to grab his forearm and start dragging him. Off-balance as he was, it took all of Sheik's considerable grace to avoid falling flat on his face.

As he was marched away, Sheik took one last glance back at the clearing where everything had gone wrong. He saw a soldier carrying Kohga's body away, then another one with Paya's body.

He felt horrible. Kohga had been like a brother to him. A stupid, obnoxious, idiot of an older brother, but he hadn't been cruel. He had understood Sheik. He had accepted him without question.

And Paya was his cousin. She had been fiercely defensive of him, even though she struggled with anxiety. She was always there for him.

Together, the two of them had guided Sheik through the code of the Sheikah, teaching him everything he needed to know. Because of them, he had found his place in the world. Because of them, he had finally been able to make peace with his past and move on. Sure, the trauma was still there, but he could finally talk about it without falling apart.

Now they were both gone.

Paya was dead because of him.

He had failed his brother and his cousin, and now he was being taken prisoner.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but by the time that the main gate of the Headmaster's main facility was in view, Sheik was pretty sure that any of his pride had been lost. He kept his head down, praying that his bangs covered his face. Two soldiers were marching on either side of him, and Roy was behind and to his side, keeping a firm grip on Sheik's wrists.

In short, it was humiliating. He wasn't tied up, but he knew he couldn't run any longer. His opportunity for that had vanished.

Roy and the soldiers marched him into a main hall, where the Headmaster sat on a white throne. They wore the same clothes that they had been wearing when Sheik had last seen them, and their blue eyes glimmered cruelly under their mask.

And suddenly, Sheik realized that the pattern on their mask was a Sheikah eye, painted over their left eye.

Right where the eye tattoo would go on a non-Sheikah who had married into the clan and wished to show their support.

That realization shocked him to his core. The genealogy records that he had found...

Vincent Harkinian, married to Kaori Ishida.

Children: Sheik and Zelda Ishida-Harkinan, aged one month at time of writing.

"Hello, son. It's so good to see you." the Headmaster laughed.

Sheik could hardly find the words to respond. His limbs felt weak, and he was sure his face was as white as a sheet. "No... no, you can't be..."

"What's the matter? Don't believe me?" the Headmaster asked. Slowly, they reached up and removed their mask. "Perhaps this will help."

And Sheik found himself staring at the spitting image of himself, albeit older and with blue eyes instead of red.

The hair... blond and cut short. The shape of the jawline... so familiar. The cheekbones... nearly a copy of his own.

"No. No. It can't be." Sheik murmured.

"We're the same, you and I. Except for your eyes. You have your mother's eyes." At the mention of his mother, the Headmaster's mouth tightened almost imperceptibly.

"No. You're lying to me. This can't be... I've met my father and mother already." Sheik protested weakly.

"The ones who are lying to you are the people who claim to be your parents, my son." 

He was quiet for a long moment, so shocked he could hardly think straight. Finally, he pulled himself together enough to snap "I won't fall for it! You're the same person who stood by and watched your minions torture me. And now you've brought me here to do what, exactly? Kill me? Torture me more? I won't tell you anything. I swear it on my life." 

"You really don't trust me that much?" the Headmaster asked. "What do I need to do to get you to believe me?"

Sheik just shrugged helplessly, unsure of how he was supposed to respond to that. 

And the Headmaster smiled. They seemed to delight in seeing the confusion evident on his face. 

Honestly, seeing the cruel smile on the face that looked so similar to his own was chilling. It sent shivers down his spine, and a brief memory of that cruel mask staring at him while he was tortured flickered through his consciousness.

Only this time, the mask wasn't there. It was just the Headmaster's face, smiling cruelly at him while it happened. 

"You should probably start by explaining why the hell you thought it was a good idea to torture a bunch of kids. Some of who were your children." Sheik said, if only to snap himself out of the daze he found himself falling into. 

"Hmm. Well. I don't care much for long speeches, so I'll spare you the sob story." the Headmaster rolled their eyes as they spoke. "An oversimplified version of it was that all of this is a long-drawn out revenge plan against the people who murdered my brother." 

Sheik stared blankly at the person who claimed to be his father, hardly comprehending what he had just said. 

"My older brother possessed an incredibly powerful Gift that hadn't manifested in decades. A gang of people killed him for the sake of obtaining his blood. I wanted revenge, and so I created the plan that I enacted on you and your friends. I actually didn't want to torture people, thanks to your mother. Kaori was a remarkably kind woman. Some of it must have rubbed off on me while we were married." the Headmaster's smile turned bitter as he spoke about his wife, though a hint of well controlled anger was still visible in his expression. "Of course, that ended when she ran off with you and Zelda. The two of you were born with the powerful Gifts I needed to go through with my plan. You and your sister were to be the centerpieces of my superhuman race of perfectly obedient soldiers."

"Do you even realize how fucked up that is?" Sheik asked in disbelief.

"Oh, yes." the Headmaster responded, nodding nonchalantly as they spoke. "Your mother certainly did a good job of impressing that into my head the night before she took you and Zelda from me. But I don't care. All I want is to ensure nobody dies like my brother did." 

He didn't have words for that. How the hell was he supposed to respond to something like this? The sudden revelation that he was apparently related to the very person who had taken so much from him was shocking enough, but this?

"I don't believe you." Sheik said flatly. 

"Damn it, Sheik!" the Headmaster suddenly snapped, their features contorting into an angry scowl. "I'm telling you the truth!"

"You took everything from me!" Sheik yelled back at them. "You broke me and did all you could to hurt me and I'm supposed to believe you're my father? No father would ever do such a thing!" 

The Headmaster just laughed, not even bothering to verbally respond. 

"What did I ever do to you, huh? What did I ever do for you to do those things for me?" Sheik was startled to feel tears in his eyes. He refused to cry. He would not give this bastard the satisfaction of seeing him cry any more than he already had. "Why did you do that? Am I really that disappointing?!" 

Their amused stare and continued silence only pushed Sheik's temper further past the breaking point, and he finally snapped "Answer me, damn it! You've got me here, O Great Headmaster. The least you could fucking do is give me some answers." 

Instead of responding with some snarky comment, they flinched. 

They actually flinched. 

"My name is Vincent." they said softly. "Please address me by my name." 

"Are you kidding me?" It was Sheik's turn to laugh sharply. "I shouldn't have to listen to anything you have to say, Father."

Wait. 

He had just called him father.

On accident.

The Headmaster raised one eyebrow, the odd expression that had previously been on their face vanishing completely. "What was that?"

Sheik couldn't respond. He was at a complete loss for words once more. Why had he called him father out of his own volition? And why did it actually feel natural? 

"My son. I am telling you the truth. And I think you know that." they continued once it was clear that Sheik wasn't going to respond. 

It took a considerable amount of willpower to hold himself together as the reality of everything that he had learned settled on his shoulders. 

"Father..."

They nodded.

"Did I... was it my fault that Mother abandoned you?" 

Sudden change of topic, yes, but he needed to know. It was likely his fault. It would explain why the Headmaster- no, Vincent- hated him so much. 

"In essence? Yes." Vincent nodded sharply. "You were a child, so it wasn't really your fault, but you were certainly involved." 

"Is that why you hurt me?" Sheik asked quietly, biting back a sob while he spoke. 

They nodded again.

"I hate you." Sheik choked out. "I wish you were dead."

Vincent's hands tightened on the arms of his chair.

Roy, who had been standing behind him and watching this entire exchange without any reaction whatsoever, grabbed Sheik's hair and pulled, forcing his head back. Suddenly, the pressure of a blade was at his throat. He realized what Roy was going to do as soon as the redhead spoke, and panic overwhelmed any of the other emotions he was feeling. "Any last words, beast?" Roy sneered.

After hearing the words spat at him, Sheik fought Roy's grip, but it was in vain. Roy just gripped his hair tighter and shoved the blade more violently against his throat. Blood welled up from the shallow cut. "Don't struggle. You'll only make this worse, beast." Roy hissed in his ear, cutting a little deeper.

So Sheik stopped struggling and locked eyes with his father. "I'm sorry I wasn't the son you wanted, Father." He swallowed and felt the edge of Roy's blade dig into his throat a bit more.

His father didn't say anything back, but there was an odd look in his eyes. A dangerous look, even.

A sudden calm washed over him, completely erasing the panic of being grabbed and held in such a compromising position as he felt Roy's arm move, dragging the blade across his throat with a harsh jerking motion.

He barely felt it, really. Almost in a daze, Sheik reached up to his throat. He could feel a gash there, and it was bleeding an alarming amount. His fingers came away red, but that wasn't really a concern of his.

Sheik tried to take a breath, but he felt like he was choking. He coughed, falling to his hands and knees and doubling over. Blood dripped out of his mouth and stained the armor he wore. Again, he coughed, but it was even weaker than before. He couldn't breathe, but he could literally feel the blood clogging his throat.

I can't breathe.

Black spots danced in his vision, and Sheik knew that when he closed his eyes, he wouldn't open them again. With a detached fascination, he came to the conclusion that Roy must have severed his trachea and hit both his carotid artery and his jugular vein, which was a death sentence.

I'm dying.

"It's funny how your sister is the one who led you here in the end. She always hated you, and now she's exacting her revenge on you." Roy sneered. He crouched down and forced Sheik to look at him, a cruel smile on his face.

The obvious shock that his words brought must have been plain as day on Sheik's face, as the redhead laughed and kept talking. "That's right. Your sister has been spying for us. She was the one who told us where to find your patrol. Zelda told us that she wanted you dead, because it would be so much easier for all of your friends if you just died already."

Well, it's not like it was unexpected, considering the argument that the two of them had gotten into after Link's death, but still. The confirmation hurt. 

Sheik kept trying to breathe, his breaths sounding like choked gasps. Panic was beginning to set in as he felt his arms and legs weaken. He coughed once more, spattering blood in Roy's face. He snarled and stood up, kicking at Sheik's ribs.

The kick sent any remaining air out of his lungs, and his ragged gasps started picking up speed as his lungs tried desperately to keep him alive. And he was still bleeding, his blood slowly pooling on the ground below him. There was so much blood... more blood than he would have thought his body contained, really.

"I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to kill you, filthy faggot. It's a shame I won't be able to watch you squirm while I gut your little boyfriend like a fish." Roy sneered.

Weakly, Sheik looked up at his father. Vincent was watching all of this with a scowl on his face, not even looking bothered that his own son was bleeding out before him. Sheik tried to say something- he wasn't even sure what he was trying to say, his own thoughts were sluggish and jumbled. All that came out was a choked noise, followed by more coughing.

He could feel his hold on consciousness slipping. 

Thanks to Roy's confirmation, he now knew that his own sister had hated him for a long time. So, then, had anybody actually cared about him in the first place? 

All these self-loathing thoughts that he had buried were coming to the surface now. In his delirious state, he could do nothing to stop himself from becoming convinced that his friends were just pretending to like him. That his own sister had just been pretending to like him.

Maybe even Corrin had just been pretending to love him.

Despite himself, a broken, gasping sob fell past his lips. Corrin... he'd promised to return. And now here he was, dying at his father's feet. Sheik tried to speak, to voice his thoughts and his apology to his love, but nothing besides a choked noise came out.

I'm sorry, Corrin. It looks like I won't be coming back.

I love you.

As Sheik tried to take one, final breath, he heard his father say "And I'm sorry I couldn't be the father you deserved, Sheik." The words were soft, but Sheik still heard them.

Just like he heard Roy say "You and Corrin never had a chance together anyways. Be glad I killed you."

It was the last thing Sheik would ever hear.

He didn't have too much time to dwell on either of the two statements he had just heard, which was probably for the better, in all honesty. 

His eyes fluttered closed, unable to stay open any longer.

Despite everything, his lungs were working to keep him alive. It was an effort that was in vain, but his lungs hadn't realized that yet. As his thoughts slowed to a trickle, his chest shuddered as he inhaled one last time, and then he was still.

While his breath may have stopped, his heart continued to pump blood out of the gash in his neck. Even then, the flow slowed to a trickle, then stopped entirely.

It was there, lying at the feet of the man who had fathered him, tortured him, beaten him, and broken him, that Sheik Ishida-Harkinian died, slaughtered like an animal and left to bleed out.