Sparky watched the Repairman’s reaction with a sort of pride. He loved his home and enjoyed it when others did too! He almost wished he’d brought Wind along, as one of the founders he surely would have had some stories about all the places he was showing off, but alas. Perhaps he would pop up on his own later anyways, the ghosts all had a habit of doing that. 

“Yup, it looks pretty grand, doesn’t it? Castle Town’s one of the few cities that looks as old as it is. There’s others, like Papuchia, Aboda, Whittleton- that’s where the new kid lives by the way- that are just as old, but they weren’t built out of stone so the old buildings didn’t last as long. The only clue the uninitiated would have about their age is the fact that they have train stations on the Spirit Tracks, whereas the newer cities have younger depots on the tracks they built as the population grew.

So what else would you like to see? We could go to another city, or see one of the Temples- there’s one underwater that’s pretty cool- or even the Tower of Spirits! There’s some settlements of Anouki and Gorons up north that I always like visiting. We could even show you the new kid if you wanted! Or, we could just chill around here, it’s up to you really.”

“…Huh.”

He would have to remember that. Maybe not cement and staples, but rocks needed to go into Fourth Wall cracks.

Immediately, he realized the problem with this and shook his head. Nah, that would make things worse.

“Um,” he started, considering the options. Definitely not the underwater temple (not with an inky body)…Oh, gosh, several neat-sounding options. But did Sparky say…

“…New kid?” he asked. “You mean, a new hero?”

It would actually be kinda nice to see the new guy. Besides, it might help if the “flesh-and-blood” incarnation knew about the Wall, too…

Sparky grinned at the Repairman’s comment. “Whew, I’m glad you do! We were really afraid it was gonna come down on us. Oh, and yeah, things are pretty different from when I was alive! Thank goodness for the Spirit Tracks though, as long as they’re around I can still find my way!” He started leading the group along a set of unusual railroad tracks. The ties were tringular and alternated between light and dark green, and the rails themselves were bright yellow. If the Repairman was sensitive to such things, he might be able to feel a humming magical aura gently pulsing outwards from the tracks. There were other rails- normal looking ones- that intersected the Spirit Tracks, leading to cities whose architecture had a much less diverse mix of modern and ancient styles than the ones served by the Spirit Tracks alone. 

Green addressed Inky as they walked.

“You sounded really confused about what Vio said earlier. So the thing is, me and Vio- and there’s two more of us named Red and Blue-” he gestured at Vio’s and his tunics, illustrating the origin of the nicknames “we’re not twins. We’re actually the same person. We used this sacred sword called the Four Sword, and as its name implies, it split me into four copies of myself when I drew it. We each got a different part of my original personality, so that’s why we seem so different. We all merged when we put it back, but after I died we could all be separate people again. It’s more fun that way!”

Vio added “You don’t really have to worry about it. The four of us act like different people anyways, so if you just pretend we’re actually separate people, we wouldn’t mind.”

“Yeah, well…” the Repairman laughed, trying to sound modest. It wasn’t often he was outright told he was necessary.

“All right, after you!”

He didn’t really feel anything odd as they followed the strange train tracks. However, something (or, more likely, some things) in his blue toolbox, which was resting on the lower shelf of his cart, clearly did, given that humming, beeping, and other sounds softly came out of it. There was even a bit of multicolor glow emerging from the crack between the lid and the box.

He looked at it, curious as to what magic was happening. Not that this wasn’t a world where magic existed, but if the ghosts of heroes past didn’t set those doodads off, then what was?

He shook his head. If these guys weren’t worried, why should he be?

“Ah, okay,” he said, after Green and Vio finished explaining, “I’ve heard of things like that before.”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “…So no one else got to that sword?”

“Yeah, Sparky’s another one of the heroes. There’s ten of us, actually, thirteen if you count Red, Blue, Green and myself as separate people. I’ll go get him.” Vio walked away, vanishing after a few steps as he entered the ghostly ether the ghosts were inhabiting in their spare time.

Green bounced a little in place as he told Inky about Hyrule’s technological advances. “Yeah, cars and computer thingies and all sorts of mechanical and electric contraptions! It’s pretty cool, although I’ll admit I get pretty lost trying to understand it all.” He grinned at the repairman’s bewildered expression. “I guess to an outsider, all of us seem pretty close together, but hundreds of years pass in between our gaaaaaarand grand adventures, so it’s kinda a blink-and-you-miss-it thing for someone not from out world. Or at least I think that’s how it works.”

Before he could speculate more, Vio returned with a new Hero, presumably the one they had called “Sparky”.

“Uh, hi?” He waved timidly at the toon. “Vio kinda rushed the explanation, do you really fix the Fourth Wall?”

“Oh, okay,” he nodded. Made sense; more timelines meant more heroes. “Wait, ‘count as separate’…?”

But Vio was already gone. Ah, well.

“Hmm,” he said, turning to Green, “Makes sense. I’ve seen everything from the Stone Age to the far future, several times. I just didn’t expect this world to make such a leap, I guess…”

He realized how mean that sounded and quickly added: “I mean, a lot of magical worlds tend to stay the same. I guess magic makes a lot of ’em complacent.”

He idly looked around as he spoke, and as he did so, he saw Vio and a new ghost, presumably Sparky, appear.

“OH!” he exclaimed, jumping slightly. “Um, yes, that would be me. We were just talking about how much this place has changed…”

“Oh dear… are you stuck?” Vio asked. He scanned their surroundings, looking for… some sort of portal or something, but obviously found none. “Well, I’m sure there’s a way for you to get home- or, wherever you’re going next- but to be honest, I haven’t the faintest idea where that would be.” He tapped his lips in thought again. “You did just show up when the… ah, when you were clearly needed, so maybe you’ll be able to find your way when you’re needed elsewhere?”

Green considered this. Brightening, he snapped his fingers excitedly.

“I’ve got it! You haven’t been to our world in a really long time, right? Things are really different, I bet you didn’t know that we had… what were they called? Oh right, cars and stuff now! Trains have been around for a while, but like a hundred years ago or so technology just like, exploded and the world changed super fast. We could show you around, and you can see what’s new and all!” he rambled, pacing around in excitement.

“That would be fun! Although if we are going to give you a tour, we should probably go get Sparky, since he knows New Hyrule better than we do.”

“I… guess?”

The Repairman didn’t pay attention to the why’s or how’s until recently, but that sounded plausible enough. He just hoped Vio was right.

“Let’s just see, then.”

He looked at Green in bewilderment as he asked, “Wait, this place has cars now?”

Well, he did miss a lot. He just didn’t expect this world of swords, magic, and castles to get such a technological overhaul.

“Uh, sure, that sounds good!” he replied, on a lighter note. “But…who’s Sparky? Another ghost?”

“Inky’s the turquoise one actually, but, details. If you’re made of ink, then Inky’s as good a name as any.” Green chuckled. “Wait, you’re made of ink? Really? Why would a repairman be made of ink?”

Vio, meanwhile, was still more interested in the Wall itself. It was a little bit bizarre, watching the repairman scoop up and smear the cement, and then seeing the Wall magically weave itself back together. Based on his previous comments, Vio was pretty sure that what the repairman saw was not what he did.

“I have a question, Mr. Inky! What does the Wa- um, it look like to you while you’re fixing it? Oh! I’m guessing you get to visit other worl-…” Vio cut himself off again and groaned. Dear Nayru it was exceedingly difficult to talk about something without directly talking about it! “…augh! I’m guessing you get to travel quite a bit for… work. What are some of the other places you’ve seen like?”

“Eh, fair enough.”

The Repairman looked at himself. Sure, he wasn’t much to look at as far as Toons went, but being ink had nothing to do with that. Many of the finest Toons were ink and paint.

“Does it matter?” he asked, somewhat defensively. “If a bunch of pixels can save a kingdom, a blob of ink can maintain a wall.”

He didn’t seem to notice the crack that formed behind him.

He turned to Vio, somewhat amused by but mostly cringing at his attempts to avoid the topic directly.

“No, you can mention other universes, just try to avoid…“ he moved his head vaguely towards the wall, “that.”

Pulling out a roll of Scotch tape, he continued, “But yeah, I’ve seen a lot of worlds. Most of them are too self-aware for their own good. There’s Toontown, a place where folks from every universe can meet. Pretty nice there.”

He thought as he began taping over the cement and the newer cracks.

“There are universes that you might feel at home at, with magic and swords and all that. Others still have futuristic technology, or dinosaurs, or horrifying abominations, or…”

The Repairman stopped, gasping for breath, after a full minute of rambling like this.

“On second thought, could you narrow it down a little?“