Hello again! Wow, thank you for all the support I've received so far. I can't believe I have 5 follows and faves already, and we're only on chapter 4! Thanks to Mage Vaati, Legendoffun, YoungAndOutstandingIndividual, Cheesecake Superstar, Abagail Grace Mandogirl, and isagonj! Please feel free to leave a review, as I really do like to hear your feedback.
"Go off and read the next volume of beginners elemental spells, I need a rest."
"But Master Ezlo, I want to actually learn magic!"
"Not now, my boy. It's much too dangerous."
"Then when can I learn?"
"You can learn once you're older."
"But why? All the kids at school tease me cause I'm an orphan and they think I look weird, but if I learn magic then they may not tease me anymore! They might even be my friends! Could you just teach me one spell? I'll be extra careful, I promise!"
"No, no... I'm sorry Vaati, but you're still too young. Maybe another time."
"Oh... Alright then, I'll just go read some more..."
...
Silence. Nothing but pure, empty silence. There was no rustling of leaves or the blowing of wind through the trees, not a creature made a sound nor did ocean waves crash upon a shoreline.
That was because none of these things were anywhere in sight. No, there was nothing at all but a plain white void that seemed to stretch on forever without an end. In the middle of the void of white was a single, lone figure laying curled up on the ground.
Battered and gravely injured was none other than the sorcerer Vaati. Blood was drying from his many wounds, and his cape and tunic were in tatters. Once perfect lavender hair now fell in matted clumps over his eye, hair that was stained with the red color of his own blood. Across his cheek was a long cut that ran from his temple to his chin, and there was another huge gash deep across his stomach. He had bruised arms and legs that hurt to move an inch, and his cap had gone crooked atop his head.
The only thing missing from the injuries he had attained during his battle with the Links were the four stab marks that should have cut deep into his chest and heart. So Vaati was alive, no longer having the mark of the final, fateful blow, but still retaining all of his other injuries. He was miraculously alive.
It is hard to say exactly how long he lay on the ground unconscious, but his wounds healed slowly, and when the pain had somewhat subsided he finally woke up. The feeling of hurt coming from his injuries was still there, but now it was slightly more bearable.
Vaati's eyes fluttered open in surprise and he looked around to try to figure out where he was, and more importantly, why he was still alive.
Wincing in pain he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, still not having the energy to stand. Taking in his blank surroundings, his mind went numb as he realized where he was.
No, not again he thought to himself. Please no, even death would have been better than this! Why here?
By the love of Din, Nayru and Farore... He was stuck in the dreaded four sword yet again. It was just like he remembered it had been last time; blank, lifeless, and empty. Not to mention white, the goddesses favorite color that was used to represent purity. Oh, how they mocked him so, shoving in his face the fact that his own heart was tainted black with evil.
Vaati didn't know what to do, and after looking around himself in shock once more, he closed his eyes and began to cry. What did it matter anyways? No one would see him, as he was obviously alone. Sometimes even the strongest of all people break down once in a while.
Vaati's body shook with sobs and throbbed with pain from his wounds as he came upon the sad fact that there was no longer anything left for him. He had no way of escaping the seal of the four sword in his current state, and had nothing to do but wait around for at least a couple thousand years for someone to break the seal again. That, or he would just wait alone forever in the tormenting emptiness of the four sword.
Even though crying wasn't something he would ever resort to doing in the real world, he didn't care wether he broke down or not in the four sword. There was no one here to judge him except the goddesses, and he could care less about their opinion of him. Last time he was stuck in the sword, he had tried to keep his composure the whole time. This time was different, for he no longer cared what he did.
After the sobs had died away, Vaati decided to look around his confinement space to see if there was anything of interest or if it really was just an endless white void like it had been the last time he was trapped in here.
He got up slowly, trying his best to ignore the pains covering every inch of his body. Now that he had gotten all his sadness out earlier when he cried, he was now filling up with anger.
He felt anger at Link for confining him inside this stupid sword yet again, anger at Zelda for being such a numbskull when it came to serious matters, and anger at the goddesses themselves for being so damn good all the time! Couldn't they see that nobody was perfect, and that sometimes a second chance was nice? Of course, he was the last person they would be giving a second chance to.
Laughing, he realized that it would actually be a third chance. Vaati shook his head to clear out these wishful thoughts. Even though he had all the time in the world to daydream about escape and such, it wasn't exactly what he wanted to fill his mind with for the next couple thousand years.
Slowly and carefully, so as to not reopen any of his wounds, Vaati made his way around the blank space of the four sword. After a while he realized with a huff that it was exactly the same as it had been last time, blank and empty. There wasn't even a breeze to calm him as the lovely wind had always done back in the real world.
By now his anger had built up until he was practically ready to explode at the emptiness. That was when he decided to test his powers, hoping that the goddesses hadn't taken that away from him too. If his powers worked, he could vent his anger through summoning rough winds and such without losing his composure.
Raising his hands up, Vaati tried to summon a gust of wind to come and surround himself in the form of a tornado. To his annoyance, nothing happened. Again he tried a simpler elemental spell with the hopes of it working, but it didn't. He lowered his hands again with his hopes crushed, his pent up anger finally coming to the surface.
How dare the goddesses take away his magic, the only thing he had left? Were they afraid of him? Vaati laughed, thinking of the three goddesses cowering in a corner at the very thought of him, now wouldn't that be a fun sight to see...
That would never happen though, at least not anymore. He was no longer a powerful wind mage but a pitiful, powerless Hylian covered with wounds and looking worn beyond belief. Without his magical abilities he was nothing but a vainly arrogant guy, but why have arrogance when you were no longer better than everyone else? The thought that he was now lesser in status and importance compared to practically every common person in Hyrule was what made Vaati finally lose it.
"What is wrong with you!?" Vaati shouted in anger up at the goddesses. "I hope you can hear me, because I have some things I have to say to you three."
Taking a deep breath, he yelled. "You're all bloody cowards, you know that? Farore, when I hear that you are the sacred goddess of courage I have no other option but to laugh in your face. You are the exact opposite of courageous if you can't even face me!"
"Din, you call yourself powerful? I have high doubts of that, in my eyes you're no better then a common peasant who gets scared at the slightest disturbance in your pathetic little life."
"Nayru, there is no way in the world that you are the goddess of wisdom. If you are, then the people's definition of wise must come with really low standards because you're about as wise as the stupid Minish race!"
At this Vaati gasped, clutching the wound in his side that had reopened because of the sudden strain he had put on his body. Although he was even more worn out then he had been before, he smiled to himself. He hoped the goddesses had heard that!
Laughing maniacally, he faced upwards and yelled to the dense white realm again. "Hahaha, I know why you're keeping me sealed in here! It's because you're secretly weak and worthless, and I'm the only one who's seen past your silly brigade! You want to be known as the all powerful goddesses, but really you're nothing more than scared little fakes!"
Not really believing what he had just said was true, Vaati continued to laugh insanely. He had completely lost every ounce of self composure and worth that he once had, because he just didn't care anymore and had finally realized how hopeless his situation was. Let the goddesses keep him here forever! He didn't care, nothing mattered to him anymore.
If anyone else could see Vaati in his current state, they would say he had finally lost his mind. Yelling curses up at the goddesses and laughing, he kept this up for hours until his throat was sore and the cut in his side was bleeding hard and left him doubled over in pain. When he was done with his pointless taunting he sat down on the ground once again, no longer able to stand.
Now that he got the anger out of his system, Vaati was feeling absolutely miserable. Head in his hands, he tried to forget how moments ago he crossed the border into insanity. He couldn't let that happen again, it left him disappointed in himself for resorting to such humiliation.
Was that what he had come to? A mentally unstable person, almost losing any ounce of sanity he had left? He tried to collect himself, taking a deep breath in and out. He didn't want to have another breakdown, and hoped that he never would again.
Laying down, Vaati closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. He was tired from the strain he had put on himself, and almost all of his wounds had reopened. Yes, the best thing he could do right now was to rest and try to heal.
For the next few days, Vaati kept up the same routine. He would wake up and wander around aimlessly, hanging onto a false hope of possibly finding an escape. It was pointless, as everywhere looked the same. He couldn't tell if he was walking in circles or if he was actually accomplishing something. Not that it really mattered, but it was better then sitting around and doing nothing.
As he walked around he mulled over everything he had done, going over life events and making up different scenarios in which the end result of his life would have been different. What if he had never taken Master Ezlo's wishing cap, would he still be a Minish or would he have come to gain power in a different way? Or what if he hadn't battled Link and took up the princesses offer of no fight in exchange for forgiveness?
That was probably what what bothered him the most, wondering if the princess would have kept her word and left him alone, removing the death sentence and letting him become a regular citizen. Would it have worked? Well, now he would never know. He would have the next thousand years to think that one over.
Suddenly, Vaati caught a glimpse of something glowing in the distance. Forgetting his thoughts on the past he ran towards this new object, wishing with all his heart that it wasn't a mirage or a trick of his mind. As he got closer to the mysterious object he could see that it was glowing red, blue and green. Now he was suspicious, as those were the patented colours of goddesses themselves. Red for Din, blue for Nayru, and green for Farore. Could it be...?
When he was but a few feet away from the glowing object, he saw that it was not one but three glowing orbs, each a different color. He stopped running towards them and stood to watch in amazement as he saw the orbs begin to float gracefully towards him. His eyes widened in stunned surprise as the orbs began to transform right in front of him. Slowly they morphed into three beautiful young women.
Dressed majestically in satin robes that glowed with sparkling colours, the three lovely ladies gracefully walked closer towards Vaati until they were face to face with the sorcerer. Smiling, the one wearing red spoke. "Hello young mage, I am the Goddess of Power, Din." Gesturing at the woman in blue beside her, she said "this is the Goddess of Wisdom, Nayru. And this," she said, looking at the woman wearing green on her other side, "is the Goddess of Courage, Farore."
At this Vaati was left completely dumbstruck, and he only managed to say a few words.
"What do you want from me?"
Okay, now onto chapter 5! This was a sort of filler chapter, but I really wanted to show how difficult it was for Vaati the last time he was in the four sword and why he dreaded coming back there so much. Now he has to answer to the goddesses! Hmm, I wonder how that will turn out... By the way, next chapter I will answer to reviews!
