fleets: (Yawn) oh geez I'm so tired. And stuffed. Curse you, Thanksgiving turkey even though you tasted great (shakes fists)

Anyhoo, here's the chapter.

Chapter 9: The Unresolved – Triforce Paradox

They'd arrived at Labrynna the next morning. They still hadn't reached the main castle town, but Vaati had figured that they were in Labrynna after he'd passed a sign post with the words "Welcome to Labrynna" etched into it with multiple dents that appeared to have come from something hard hitting the board multiple times. Just beneath it had been the print "Don't Forget to Visit The Local Deku Dealers," the words written somewhat forcefully to make it bold.

Soon after they'd passed the sign, they had encountered a group of Deku scrubs that had eagerly blockaded the forest path: after some so-called diplomatic persuasion, the normally temperamental scrubs had instead eagerly led them through the fastest path toward Lynna Village, Labrynna's castle town. Vaati had also made sure to teach Daeia the proper way to thank the Deku scrubs that had helped them through the forest to reach Lynna Village by midday – Daeia had thrown stones at the scrubs under Vaati's instructions, even though with each throw she became more uncertain about the truth of Vaati's insistence that chucking stones was "the scrub's way of saying thank you." The short monsters had run yelping with each throw, and Vaati had almost cut one scrub's tentacle off with his glowing wind powered stones.

They were currently at an inn in Lynna Village, and Vaati was incredibly pleased that they had finally made it to the main town.

"Good goddesses, I'm thankful we finally made it. With your slow walking I was afraid we would never reach Labrynna. Those scrubs certainly helped save time," Vaati said cheerfully, flipping a fake silver rupee in his hands.

"At least you could've shown some gratitude," Fey muttered. "It's like you make an effort to make people hate you."

"Nonsense. Of course I showed gratitude. It's their fault if they don't take it as such."

"Only a madman would interpret having stones thrown at him as gratitude."

"You obviously don't know Deku culture. They shoot stones at everyone and everything. I was just reciprocating their way of communication." He flipped the rupee again in his hand and then slapped it down onto the counter. "Two rooms. You do not know us, you've never heard of us, and we were never in your inn. If you agree to these terms, I'll give you three more of these for every night we stay," Vaati told the ogling innkeeper.

Fey's wings sagged in annoyance as she watched the innkeeper eagerly take the fake rupees. They were only pebbles that Vaati had magically manipulated to make them appear like rupees; in a few weeks they would go back to being pebbles. In the meanwhile, Labrynna would suffer minor inflation. "You're setting a bad example for Daeia, too."

The mage snorted and whirled around. "She's learning important life skills. Now, if you two would excuse me I'm going to go look around town for a bit. Stay here and don't leave the inn. If you do, I'll make sure to hunt you down and it won't be pleasant when I find you. Daeia, if you're bored just keep practicing magic you'll never be able to do. Understood? Good."

"Hey! Wait!" Fey flew after Vaati who was about to leave the inn. She pointed a wing at the girl. "Can you at least find her something else to wear?"

"What? I'm not a babysitter." Vaati cast an irritated glance at Daeia. He reconsidered, however, when he noticed that Daeia's current wardrobe might catch too much attention. Her dress was obviously expensive and high-class, but it was stained with dirt, blood, and grass, and was torn in a few places. His lips flattened. "Fine. Follow me."

"Vaati, are you going to buy me new clothes?" Daeia asked as she hopped after him. She barely escaped being hit by the inn door that closed shut after the mage. She looked from side to side, trying to see where Vaati had disappeared. Labrynna's castle was superimposed onto the sky in the image of grandeur, but it fell short of Hyrule's majesty. The air was a bit more somber here and was a little less lively. There was also the subtle hint of salt in the air as Labrynna was a coastal region, and it reminded her of just how far away she was from home. Daeia heard a whistle to her left, and she quickly hurried after Vaati who was already a good distance away and was tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'm going to hand you over to a tailor so you won't bug me while I go do my own research," Vaati said as he made his way around the houses. "Think about what you want."

"Can it be anything?"

"Yes. Now stop talking to me."

"Then I want to wear something like what you're wearing."

Vaati waved his hand absent-mindedly. He wasn't listening. "Do what you want." He stopped a man and asked for directions to the nearest tailor. The passerby arched his eyebrows at the unusual features of the sorcerer and quickly scrambled off after pointing towards one of the houses.

"Now Daeia, why would you want that?" Fey asked. She was getting exasperated by the girl's increasing idolization of one of the nastiest people she had ever met.

"Because that's what sorcerers wear!" the girl skipped off ahead towards the tailor's house, a modest building snuggled between the rows of closely packed quarters. "Come on, Vaati. Let's go!"

Fey and Vaati both grumbled irritably and made their way to the tailor's.

XXXXXXXXXX

Fifteen minutes later, Vaati was in the town library.

Ugh, peace and quiet at last, Vaati thought to himself as he rifled through some books. He had left Daeia with a somewhat flustered tailor, ordering the scrawny little man to make whatever the girl ordered. Vaati had given him one of his fake silver rupees and had promised five more after he came back to relieve him of the girl. He had also lightly threatened him to be finished by sundown.

He didn't understand why Daeia seemed so happy about her new clothes. A hunch told him that he would be more annoyed with the girl when he returned to get her, but he put that thought aside for more important things. Besides, why would a new set of clothes annoy him? Blasted subliminal consciousness, making me worry about unimportant things.

His finger slid down page after page of a tattered old book. He had collected all the oldest books in the library, some of them with spines that were ripping apart and others with titles too faded to be legible.

Vaati growled and tossed the book aside and made a frustrated grab for the next one. He flipped through the pages, and then tossed it again into a growing pile of 'useless' books. So far, he hadn't encountered anything that would help him with his current plan. No, that wasn't the right way to put it. He didn't really have a plan – he only had an idea that was so general that he didn't know where to start. Vaati took a deep breath. Calm down. Let's go over the idea again one more time.

First off, he knew his goal was to attain all three pieces of the Triforce to get ultimate power. It was a goal that he had never really been interested in before recently because it had always seemed too risky to pull off.

Ah, but now it's a lot easier because I have Daeia, Vaati grinned to himself. He doubted that he could take Link's Triforce of Courage forcefully after all his failed attempts to kill the damned hero. With the hero's daughter, however, he could use her as hostage and make him give up the Triforce willingly. So much as a hint of struggle from Link and Vaati could just threaten to torture Daeia before daddy's very eyes. And then I can kill Link for good.

Vaati hesitated, and then shook his head. Hm, I'll think about Link's fate when the time comes.

The second piece of the Triforce held by Zelda should be easy to obtain. He could choose to get it before Link's, true, but he wanted to keep Daeia and Fey's small trust in him alive before they encountered the hero. He had also considered getting it first so he could use the power of the Triforce to overpower Link, but he doubted it would work because the annoying brat had been able to kill him three times when he had believed he had supreme power. Zelda's piece was the easiest to get, so he wasn't too worried about it.

The third one…

Vaati tapped the tip of his nose as he stared at the ink-filled pages of the book he was holding. The third one is going to be…complicated.

The third one was supposed to be held by Ganondork, the fool, but after the Opal Dragon had killed him in the future he had supposedly been rendered nonexistent from history. He still didn't quite understand the reasoning behind this even though Opal and Ganondorf had appeared confident that the reincarnation cycle would end if Link, Zelda, or Ganondorf died in the future. And that's why I'm currently in a room full of musty old books looking for hints! his voice snapped impatiently.

Vaati nodded to himself and began to scan the pages again. He needed to find a book that mentioned something about the Triforce.

Or maybe even "Biforce" if there're only two now.

Anything. Anything at all that would give him a hint as to what, exactly, happened as a consequence of his last misadventure. He was sure he could handle the old pig (if he even exists now) with his magic combined with the two pieces of the Triforce, but what had happened to Ganondorf?

Finally, after another hour of book tossing, Vaati came across a strange entry in the book Ancient Lore and History:

Each Triforce is representative of one of the three goddesses; Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, Farore, the goddess of courage, and Din, the goddess of power. Legends say the Great Hero and the Royal females of Hyrule to be the wielders of the divine essence, with the wielders reincarnating every generation to be the new vessels of the Triforce.

Vaati read the passage over and over again before he shut his eyes and tried to think. What the heck? He cursed. So how many are there, two or three? The first sentence hinted that there were three with one representing each goddess. However, the next sentence failed to mention anything about the third Triforce.

Vaati frowned and tossed the book aside, slightly disturbed by the findings. He finished the rest of his pile of books he had collected from the library shelves, found nothing new, and put them back before he walked outside with one hand on his chin. As much as he hated dealing with priests and other divine followers, he decided that if he were to gain any new knowledge he'd have to talk to the people who were most knowledgeable in the field.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, so have you come to pay grace to the goddesses?" a white robed priest asked pleasantly the moment Vaati stepped into the goddesses' temple. The entire atmosphere made Vaati want to gag, but he repressed his feelings because he needed helpful information. Perhaps on the way out he could remember to throw up on their doorstep. Or even on the altar.

"I'd like to know about the Triforce," he said brusquely to the priest that had addressed him. "Are there two or are there three?"

The priest cocked his head at the visitor's abruptness. "That's a rather unusual question." He turned to the somewhat obese priest standing next to him who also had a similar look of surprise. "Of course there are three pieces of the Triforce. Even the name has 'Tri' in it."

"But then where are they?" Vaati snapped.

The round priest chuckled, causing the sorcerer to suppress a surfacing glare. "Now now, no one knows for certain where they may be. The three worthy of the power of the goddesses carry the sacred Triforce. My comrade here can tell you the same, isn't that right?" he gave a pat on the tall priest's arm. The taller one nodded, and then his eyebrows began to gradually scrunch together and a look of confusion appeared.

"Wait…but what of Din's power?" the priest thought out loud. Vaati perked up at the mention of Ganondorf's questionable piece.

The fat one continued to smile. "Well, what of it?"

"The gentleman here has a point, dear Saint Blithe. Don't you remember the story of the third Triforce? How Din refused to create her piece lest it be abused?"

Saint Blithe appeared offended. "What? How can you say such a thing? Of course there are three pieces! All three goddesses each created one piece of the Triforce to create a balance between each one. My dear fellow, without one we lose all harmony."

"We should not try to make sense of the desires of the goddesses. I am pretty sure I recall learning that Din was the only goddess who didn't create her representative piece of the Triforce."

"But that is nonsensical! You must have remembered incorrectly. There are three pieces of the Triforce."

"No, I am sure there are only two that exist. I also happen to recall that I am much better at remembering things Saint Blithe."

Color flushed up the round priest's face and he grabbed the tall one by the arms and began to guide him out the temple. "There's only one way to conclude this, my good man. Come, we're going to look this up. I'll show you that there are three, and then we'll see who's better at remembering divine lore." He turned to the pale sorcerer on his way out. "Would you like to come with us? We're going to the library to see the truth to this matter."

"No thank you. I think I have heard enough." Vaati gave a curt nod and glided out before the two arguing priests. He walked in a quick pace around town and tried to get his thoughts together. Goddesses, something's wrong. He warped onto one of the roofs and rested his head on his hands.

Ever since he had traveled to Hyrule's future with Link, he had wondered if they were seriously messing up history and time. With each passing day Vaati had become increasingly suspicious that things were too…normal. He didn't know how to put it, but he assumed that after all that mucking about with history, something was bound go screwy someday. Now, he had a growing suspicion that the ambiguity of the Triforce was the first hint of something gone wrong in time. What if the "harmony" the priest talked about was disrupted? What if he was going after something too big for him to handle? What if history could "fix" itself so that…so that he had died at the gallows like he was supposed to have had before Opal had messed everything up?

Vaati closed his eyes and took another deep breath. For the moment, I won't worry myself over these things, he told himself. For all I know, it's nothing of concern. The sorcerer clenched his fists tightly. All I'm going to focus on now is to get the first piece of the Triforce, and that means I have to find Link.

OXXXXXXO

A.N. : kk, so, you'll be confused if you don't remember some stuff from the BC stories. Some of the things Vaati talks about is paired with Ganondorf's talk in the last chapter of Cursed Sorcerer.

Astral S. Kepeire: Thanks! Glad the chappie worked out. :)

JeanneAndHerAlters: Oh noez, someone save us from noporih selling fairies! xD

Reily96: Gotta love the crazies (gets weird looks). Erhm, anyways, good luck with NaNoWriMo.

D3atrav3n92: Vaati's gonna get a whupping from Link! Bad Vaati, Bad!

I luv Vaati: Vaati is confuzzled. I kinda have an explanation for Vaati being able to "learn" magic that I was thinking of writing about in the prequel (if I ever get to it....grumble). It's not going to come up in this story, so I'll just give a hint and say that it has something to do with a passage in Cursed Sorcerer's "dying Vaati monologue." ;)

mpalmer89: Yep. Last thing Vaati wants is to be like "the old fart." :)

Peka the Corsair: Yaaay, my explanation made sense! :D

Rune Caster: No need to be sorry! Thanks for reviewing. Jeral?? (goes to see who Jeral is).