fleets: The super-crazy updating is still happening I guess. This chapter is a little shorter though, unfortunately! I did write more, but it didn't flow that well so I decided to stop it where I did.

Also some of you were wondering last chapter why Link wouldn't tell Zelda the other half of the story where she actually liked Vaati. I tried to explain it vaguely in the prior chapters and also at the end of WIR, but the reason is that he doesn't actually believe that half of the story, see. There's still a part of him that thinks that it was all some kind of mistake, that she doesn't actually like him, that she really was tricked into liking him. The accident was a perfect opportunity for him to really reinforce the fact that yeah, it was a mistake that she used to like Vaati, so he gave her that side of the story instead :/


Chapter 7: On the Move

Once Vaati had warped outside, he flew up to the rooftops of the castle towers. He moved quickly and with a purpose as he clutched the glass bottle tightly. He took his free hand to his lips and gave a single, sharp whistle, and then dark clouds surrounded him as he transformed into the demon eye. Today he didn't care about appearances or frightening the people below; he wanted them to see exactly what they were messing with.

Sharp winds whipped after him as the huge eye shot across the sky, and just as Vaati made it over the southern gates, another enormous shadow joined him. It was a large, helmed bird with maroon feathers, with a wingspan that could cover several houses in length. The Helmaroc King glanced his way questioningly.

"Come with me." Vaati ordered, and he led the boss monster towards the mountains, away from curious ears.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The Helmaroc King perched wordlessly on top of a boulder while Vaati recounted what had been going on in Hyrule the past few days. He wasn't really sure why the sorcerer had summoned him on top of a mountain to tell him about Zelda's memory loss and the plague, so he just sat patiently and listened. From the sound of it, it seemed that an enemy had removed Zelda's memory of Vaati and had turned everyone in Hyrule against him.

Hah, well, that wasn't really news, was it? The Helmaroc King didn't see anything unusual about being enemies to Hyrule. In fact, he could have said that he'd seen this coming, in a way: monsters and Hylians were never meant to get along. "Ah, so we're allowed to hunt those pitiful Hylians now, Lord Vaati? I suppose that's why you called me." The great bird stretched his wings.

"No."

Helmaroc folded his wings back against his sides, and returned a quizzical look.

"I called you so you know what kind of fool we're going to go after," Vaati replied. The wind mage was sitting on a different rock a few feet away. It was actually close to the spot where he'd decimated the lizalfos a year ago, and the forest far below the mountain was still full of young trees that had sprouted from the ashes. "Zelda's accident, that wasn't an accident."

"It certainly doesn't sound like it," the Helmaroc King agreed.

"And neither is the plague."

"What makes you say that?" the bird asked, even though he himself knew the answer. The Helmaroc King preened his feathers feigning disinterest, but his eyes glanced back towards the sorcerer from time to time, betraying his curiosity.

"It's too convenient, that's why," Vaati mused, a small smile on his face. However, there was a dangerous edge to his voice that indicated he was a hair's breadth away from exploding in violent anger. "Immediately afterwards they are all blaming me for placing a curse on the princess. Everyone is certain that my arcane knowledge was to blame for convincing Zelda to allow monsters to roam freely in Hyrule. And then the plague hits," Vaati snorted bitterly, "Perfect timing, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed a perfect way to frame you," Helmaroc nodded.

Vaati fell to brooding silence, and the great bird couldn't help but notice. This wasn't just about Vaati going to hunt down an idiot who picked the wrong fight. That wasn't why the sorcerer had summoned him. "Something else is bothering you."

Vaati laughed in short, harsh chuckles. That smile was still on his face, but it was demented. Broken. The sorcerer finally turned to look at the Helmaroc King, laughing as he did so. If the stoic bird was actually concerned about him, then he must have looked incredibly pitiful. He always did kind of hate how perceptive the Helmaroc King was – it had actually been part of the reason for their conflict last year – but at the same time it was what made the monster an interesting ally. He chuckled to himself some more while the Helmaroc King waited patiently for the sorcerer to explain, and then eventually his laughter died down, almost abruptly, into a deadly calm. There was a memory that haunted Vaati. He couldn't get rid of it, much as he tried. He could still see her face; her blue eyes filled with terror and disgust…

I sense dark magic from you.

Vaati sighed heavily. Disgust. Disgust! Of all the emotions he had to endure from her, it had been that one. Hate… hate he could deal with. Hate was simply a different kind of passion, and one that he was well acquainted with. But disgust? She'd looked upon him like an insect that she couldn't dare look at. Once upon a time that same face had looked at him with warmth and joy. They'd laughed together and shared memories together, and even in the most difficult times she'd led him to believe that they could conquer it together. He couldn't face that expression of disgust again.

Who are you?

Her voice had wavered slightly, betraying her fear. She'd been afraid. Afraid of him. The voice held back and demanded he keep his distance. Her heart was closed and guarded.

"She didn't know who I was, Helmaroc," Vaati mumbled softly. "She didn't recognize me."

I will never forget you.

"She doesn't remember me."

The words fell heavily out of his mouth, each one carrying a greater weight than the last. It was the first time he'd said it aloud to someone, and now that it was out of his mouth the reality was overwhelming. He didn't want to believe that all the times they had spent together, learning about each other, was gone.

Everything. Gone.

Despite the promises of never forgetting, Princess Zelda had lost her memories of the time she'd spent with him at the Palace of Winds.

The Helmaroc King ruffled his feathers, an equivalent of a shrug. He didn't really understand why the Lord was so distraught over this development; then again, he didn't really understand why the creatures of Light placed so much importance on relationships and feelings. The sly glint of a hunter gleamed in his eye as he looked towards the sky in the direction of Hyrule castle. Even if he didn't understand anything about feelings, he could make sure to keep Lord Vaati on the honorable path of reclaiming his respect. Vengeance. "What are you going to do about it, Lord Vaati?" he asked slowly, an invisible grin tugging along the corners of his battle-scarred beak.

Vaati stirred at the question. He started speaking contemplatively at first, and then his voice began to hold more conviction. He knew what he had to do. There was only one thing he could do. "The princess's memory loss was no accident," he repeated, "someone made her lose her memories. They most likely wanted to pit Hyrule and the monsters together, just like in the past. They wanted to get rid of me." He was snickering darkly now between his words, and his red eyes burned with rage. "I'll find the one responsible, and they'll regret ever making a fool of me. I'll unleash all of the hellish monsters on them until they reverse what they've done to Zelda. If they can't, I'll end them"

Vaati's fingers curled into fists.

"And I'll win her over again if I have to."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Part of the reason why Zelda had managed to arrange an in-person meeting with King Roland so quickly was because he hadn't left for Labrynna proper yet, and was near castle town. Apparently three days ago, Zelda had already met King Roland of Labrynna to talk about the tension between the two kingdoms resulting from her alliance with monsters. Of course she didn't remember any of it, and it made her embarrassed and nervous to have to talk to Roland again without knowing what, exactly, had been spoken in their previous meeting. Thankfully, Roland had already been informed by Impa about her "condition," and he had enough tact not to mention it and pretend nothing was wrong in that regard. Zelda was grateful for it: she'd always liked Roland for their mutual understanding of their stressful situations that comes with running a kingdom. He was almost like an older brother, a friend, and a collaborator all in one.

"My feelings go out to those affected by the plague," Roland began. They were seated around a roundtable, with Roland and Zelda sitting across from each other and Impa standing next to Zelda for support. The air was heavy, and it was clear that none of them really wanted to be having this meeting.

"Roughly half of the kingdom is affected. We're struggling to keep the kingdom functioning with half of the population incapacitated," Zelda said with a worried expression. One thing to know about the princess, however (as Vaati found out quickly enough after he'd kidnapped her), was that she wasn't exactly the type of princess who wrung her hands and waited for help to fall on her lap when there was trouble. The worried expression could have been considered to be calculated, since her eyes were sharp and searched the other ruler's expression with intense scrutiny. She knew Roland had a cure for the plague, and from what Impa informed her she also knew it was conditional. She would guilt him for withholding the cure if she had to.

Roland fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably. "Yes, and I wanted to reach out to you regarding a cure that Labrynna has." The king wiped his brow, and then propped his hands on the table in front of him. He stared at his thumbs, wondering the best way to phrase his words. "Our kingdom was affected by the same sickness a few months ago, and one of our chemists was able to find a cure."

"A… chemist?" Zelda asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Or an alchemist. I forget what he refers to himself as, but it's basically no different than a potion brewer," Roland explained. "Labrynna will lend you his services if," he trailed off, scratched his head in a troubled way, and then started again, "Zelda I believe you've been informed of our discussion a few days ago regarding Labrynna's unease with Hyrule's alliance with the monsters…?"

Zelda nodded. "If it's the alliance that is keeping Labrynna from sharing the cure, then Hyrule will terminate the alliance with the monsters." She still wasn't sure how she'd managed to get the monsters to agree to such an alliance since they'd always been violent in nature, but she had no doubt in her mind that the alliance with monsters wouldn't last very long anyway. She didn't understand them, and her people hated them – it wasn't a good foundation.

"I'm afraid it's still more complicated than that," Roland sighed. "When you first made the alliance, you were apparently with an individual who had a considerable amount of control over the monsters. They say he might have, erm, tricked you into this alliance that caused much tension between Labrynna and Hyrule." The king leaned forward, and this time he was more confident with what he had to say. "What I am proposing is that you put an end to this, 'Vaati,' to ensure that he doesn't trick you again, and we will reopen all friendly negotiations with Hyrule as well as offer the chemist in our employ."

Vaati. Zelda's brows wrinkled, and she shot a brief glance towards Impa standing next to her. She knew, then, why Impa had told her that they would need to find the sorcerer again. Zelda lowered her gaze and stared intently at her hands that were clenched together on the table. Roland wanted Vaati gone. Zelda still wasn't sure if she wanted the infamous wind mage dead yet, at least not until she had some answers. At the same time, it was the best chance for Hyrule to find a cure quickly. The fact that half of her kingdom was in a wakeless sleep meant that there were families who'd lost a source of income, there were businesses that were no longer running, healers who were no longer available, farms that no longer had farmers to tend and distribute food. Her kingdom really couldn't last long like this, especially without help.

Her head hurt from the decision she would have to make, and even though she'd been disappointed that Vaati had escaped, she was somehow glad that he'd made the decision easier for her. If he was still in that cell, she would be agonizing what to do. Since he was gone, all she had to focus on now was to find him. Detain him. Stop him. It was the price of one man she hardly knew for her kingdom's survival. "Alright Roland," she said quietly, after a confirmatory nod from Impa.

Roland stood up, and sighed one last time with a shake of his head. He looked as though he wanted to say something, perhaps an apology about the things that had been going on or a word of sympathy, but he left it with a shake of his head. He still thought highly of Hyrule's willful princess, but given the circumstances he wasn't sure if it was appropriate for him to give any encouragement. After all, he was half of her problems. Instead, Roland gave Zelda a single nod, wishing her luck, and left the room, leaving the troubled princess and her guardian to solemnly go over their options.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I know there is a wizzrobe you might want to talk to, regarding the poison," the Helmaroc King suggested. He and Vaati had been discussing the blue flower that had been in Zelda's hands, and what kind of substance it had been affected with to cause a memory loss.

Vaati frowned. "A wizzrobe and poisons? I thought they only did fire magic, ice magic, and summoning."

"Yes, well, this one is one of those 'renegades.'"

"Oh…" Vaati's frown deepened. He'd never before met a renegade wizzrobe before, and he'd only ever heard the rumors surrounding them. Wizzrobes were unique from most monsters in the sense that they had their own quirky community with their own extremely strict rules (which was strange, considering how giggly and spontaneous most seemed to be). He didn't involve himself in the affairs of the lower monsters, but he did hear a few things about the Guild Laws that all wizzrobes were mandated to follow. They involved such things like foregoing individuality, forbidding names, and sticking to using one type of magic. If any of the rules were broken, it was said that the other wizzrobes would hastily work to kill the one who had broken them. Renegades were wizzrobes who'd managed to elude the guild and survive; he'd never encountered one himself since they were quite rare to begin with.

Suddenly, Maribel's comment from before made a lot more sense. "I think I heard something about the wizzrobes looking for a renegade," Vaati mentioned.

"Oh, they've been looking for him for months by now I reckon," the Helmaroc King yawned.

"But you know where he is?"

The bird shrugged. "Sure. Arrghus found him bumbling around Eastern Hyrule one day. The only reason he noticed him was because he was acting weirder than normal wizzrobes; something about turning over every single rock around, I don't know."

"I see…" Vaati raised an eyebrow. He wasn't really sure what 'weirder than normal wizzrobes' meant, and wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. "And no one thought to tell any of the wizzrobes this?" he asked.

Helmaroc scoffed. "It's not my damned problem."

Vaati laughed. "Ha. That's what I told them." He played with the tiny glass bottle in his hand with the forget-me-not inside. He was still lost, but he had direction now. This trail might lead him nowhere, but if he could at least find a cure to fix Zelda's memories, then he might be able to find a clue on who was the one responsible for all of this. He had too many suspects right now, especially since nearly everyone in Hyrule had enough of a motive to want Zelda to lose her memories of him. Even Impa, who had helped to point him in the right direction to find a cure and give him confirmation that this wasn't all just an accident, wasn't completely excused from his suspect list. After all, she was a Sheikah, she'd admitted herself that she had more than enough experience to devise a poison that would knock out Zelda's memories, and she could have easily snuck into Zelda's room that morning.

At the same time, why would she help him at all, then? If she was the one responsible, then the only way that would make sense is if she'd wanted him away from Hyrule castle for some reason.

Vaati wasn't stupid. Rash, maybe, and impatient, maybe, but not stupid. He knew with certainty that every single Hylian in Hyrule was a suspect, no matter how helpful they appeared to be. The only people he knew he could trust were his monsters and Zelda herself.

"Well then," he sneered, "let's go find that wizzrobe."


fleets: And cut! I did write more, but I'm stopping it here. Why? Because I threw in some potential hints about the real nature of what's actually going on here (fun fact, there's a breadcrumb in nearly every chapter), and I didn't want that to be lost with new upcoming introductions. Hopefully I can update again soon since I've already written some of the material for the next chapter :)

Thanks for being awesome everyone! I'm always floored by the reader responses to this story, even though it's a sequel!

Reily96: Hahaha ok. I'm putting in hints, tiny ones, in all the chapters so far and sometimes I wonder if I've said too much. I don't think I have yet, but we'll see :P
I TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. It's really hard for me to keep my mouth shut for that very reason you describe XD Fffft it's fine, especially since you're not the type to abandon a story easily ;)

Flufux: I always knew you were a genius. That makes me a genius, too. XD
DesPonte whoooo! I'm excited :D

LovelyKiridia: Hmmm, interesting! Not just one suspect, but several! Certainly a possibility ;) Like Vaati says, pretty much everyone has a motive so it's anything goes right now.

MasterShortPantsx3: Hahaha okay. I updated at a less-crazy hour this time, and I feel much more refreshed and awake than when I updated at 2 in the morning lol. Crazy chapter? Good! There's a lot going on and sometimes I have to make sure I didn't forget anything, because this is all going to come together into something comprehensible eventually :P

Dia Newman: Speaking of Elise, what's she up to now? She'll show up again soon...

Ki: Nooo problem. I updated this chapter uhhh about 4 days since the last one? Yeah idk what came over me. I think it might have to do with the fact that this story is more like a Mystery genre and I'm killing myself with my own cliffhangers. Vaati suspects Impa too ;) TRUST NO ONE

eureka93: She could be helping, she could be hurting... who knows?! XD Hmmm, yeah I'm debating whether or not I should change the Adventure/Romance label into something else. I'm not really sure what this story should be filed under.

LoZMadLover: He's out for blood!

Cutiecat: And here's more to read! I couldn't wait either. lol sometimes I feel like, since the first chapter of this story was called "It's Complicated," I should have just named ch. 2 "It's more complicated," ch. 3 "It's even more complicated," ch. 4 "It's really complicated," ch. 5 "It's really really complicated," etc.

GamerxOtaku: Haha I can see Vaati fitting into the tsundere trope lol. And what indeed is Impa up to? Everyone's a suspect :D

thebeautifulvaati: He sure has a big mess to sort through :O Thanks :D