fleets: a chapter shorter than the previous ones (well, the most recent one was a monster and I'm thinking that I should've stuck the latter half of that chapter onto this one. Oh wells).
Chapter 24: I Wish You Luck, Mr. Engst
Vaati swung his previously injured arm in a circle to test it out. Dugal had relinquished a bottle of blue potion he'd found, and though most of the pain in his arm had subsided, he could tell that it wasn't completely healed yet. Blue potions were less potent than red ones, but at least he didn't have to wince every time he moved the arm that had been shot. He then frowned at Dugal who was standing a few feet away, watching with fascination as a hawk might a mouse. The sorcerer growled. "You might have called a truce and you might have given me that potion you found, but you still did try to kill us so I don't trust you at all."
The man shrugged lazily, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "I would feel the same if I were in your position. Actually," he tapped his chin, "if I were you, I would have made sure someone like me was disposed of as soon as possible. Like let's say I turn my back on you right here, you should attack me, no?"
Vaati rolled his eyes when Dugal turned his back on them. "And risk getting into another fight with you instead of figuring out what to do about that fire thing down there? No thanks."
The man turned around and fixed his tie cheerfully. "Exactly. You can't beat me."
"Well if you keep that up, you're just asking us to attack you."
"But you won't."
Dugal sounded so sure of himself that Vaati almost shot a blast of magic. Almost. Instead, he changed the subject to ask something that had been bothering him from the time he'd seen the Talon leader in his Palace. "How did you get here anyway?"
"Yo Vaati! Hurry up and warp us out of here!" Dark's voice called impatiently. He was waving the sword he'd found frantically at the phoenix-like creature that appeared to be bracing itself to attack the city several miles away.
Dugal glanced over to the titanic bird far below them, and then to Vaati who had an uncomfortable expression on his face. The teen appeared to be grinding his teeth together and his muscles were tense. Dugal gave a sly smile when he began to realize why the sorcerer wanted to know how he'd arrived at the Palace. "I came here on my private jet. Why?"
As soon as he'd heard the answer, Vaati cursed under his breath. He'd been careless – when he'd teleported everyone to the Palace of Winds, he'd taken down the defenses that had made the Palace unreachable, but then he'd forgotten to put them up again. It was worrisome, how he was making careless mistakes left and right, and that was another reason why he wanted to avoid teleporting for some time.
"Vaati, come on we don't have time!" This time it was Link, and Vaati shot them an annoyed look. The annoyed look turned outright venomous when Dugal laughed in amusement.
"Haha, you can't take them back, can you?"
Zelda's eyes widened when she heard those words. "You can't?" She turned from Vaati to Dugal, and the two Links seemed equally shocked.
"I can," Vaati muttered indignantly. Then he added lamely, "It's just that I shouldn't."
"What do you mean?" Dark demanded.
The sorcerer glared. "It means that I suck at sorcery right now and that if there's a better alternative to reaching that thing then we should take it." The words were nippy with a twinge of sarcastic pessimism. "Unless you want to risk warping straight into a tree, then be my guest."
All too gleefully, Dugal bowed mockingly and then strutted over to another section of the Palace. Each fading chuckle made everyone want to punch something – namely his face. If only they could get away with it. "Aren't you children lucky that I'm around to help you? Follow me, I can fly us towards that monstrosity."
Had they had more time, they probably would have discussed their options and made sure they should even follow the man who had been trying to kill them previously. At the moment, however, time wasn't a luxury and they had no choice but to follow the Talon leader.
It didn't make them feel any better that Dugal knew full well of their situation and was rubbing it in their faces with an overly smug grin.
XXXXXXXXX
Wasting no time, they all ran towards the small plane that was sitting on the edge of one of the many outdoor platforms in the palace. Painted black and silver, the luxury jet with all the best modern improvements was out of place within the old castle in the sky. It annoyed Vaati a little to see the thing sitting there as an intruder that didn't belong. He admitted it fit Dugal's irritatingly condescending attitude perfectly, and he could swear that if the plane had a face, it would be mocking them right now with a perfect Dugal grin.
It was obvious that Dugal was proud of his plane, and he made sure to mention that it was a modified M20TN Acclaim, one of the best private jets on the market and the fastest one of its size. It was a time of urgency, yes, but the Talon leader wasn't the type of man to pass up the opportunity to brag a little. This wasn't winning him any fans from the teens, especially since the two Links had been forced to share one seat between each other. Vaati had called shotgun, and neither of the Links had had the courage to ask Zelda if she could share seats with them, leaving them the only option of sitting on top of each other.
"Ready?" Dugal asked, though he proceeded to start the engine without waiting for a reply.
"Yeah sure why not," Dark muttered unhappily, sitting uncomfortably on top of Link's lap who appeared just as disgruntled. They had both brought their swords on board, and they were poking Dark's ribs.
The plane lurched forward and picked up speed on the platform. Then, it nose-dived off of the edge instead of take off steadily like the teens had been expecting. The three in the back yelped, and Vaati was wracking his brains to see if he should attempt a warping spell after all, despite all of the risks involved.
Dugal calmly watched the ground approach, and occasionally smiled with pleasant amusement at the panicked passengers. "We're fine. I couldn't gain enough speed for takeoff on that tiny platform up there." He kept his eye on the speed, and then yanked the nose back up so that the little black plane was finally heading towards the bird-like deity. For several minutes, the others sat stiff in their seats with their fingers dug tightly into the leather armrests. Even the two Links seemed to have forgotten they were cramped together.
"Oh," Zelda managed at last.
"Thanks for warning us," Vaati grumbled, slightly frazzled. "I was this close to involving everyone in an extremely sketchy teleportation attempt."
Ignoring the grumbles from the rest of the crew, Dugal leaned forward and squinted at the blinding light coming from the deity. It had stopped circling the area above the destroyed Avilux I research facility, and was now slowly flapping its wings so that it floated steadily in one place. It was directly facing them, and they could hear a high-pitched screech vibrate above the engine's roar before its wings quickened and began to shoot straight for the plane. Dugal bit the corner of his lip when he saw the thing approach rapidly from a distance. "All right, so what plans did you kids have to stop that thing?"
There was an uncomfortable silence at the question, and when Vaati twisted his head to see the back seats he saw Link, Dark, and Zelda look to each other for ideas. The truth was, no one knew what they were going to do once they got close enough to the deity. Dugal sighed, and he would have pinched the bridge of his nose if he didn't have to direct the jet sharply to the right to avoid Avilux Ignis. The temperature inside the plane grew a few degrees hotter even though the bird had swooped by meters away. "I figured as much. You are terribly unprepared."
Link grimaced from having his ears pop from the change in pressure, as well as from Dugal's truthful comment. "Er, I have the Master Sword…" he suggested.
Vaati scowled. "Oh yeah, 'you have the Master Sword.' Wonderful. Because that's totally going to work against a flying fireball."
"Well a sword worked against a flying eyeball," Link retorted. Vaati shut up quickly from the comment. It was annoying, but it was true that the sorcerer who had once taunted that no one could defeat a god like him had been defeated by a mere boy with a sword. It worked once, no twice…
No.
Vaati shook his head, upset. It worked three effing times…
"It can work again, right?" Dark finished his thought, unaware of the increasingly angry glare of the sorcerer sitting in the front seat. Vaati's steely gaze looked like it would melt the windows off of Dugal's plane.
Dugal peered at them over the rim of his glasses. "Now how are you going to use a sword against an airborne target?" He frowned. "Well, first of all, how did a flying eye – and I'm not going to bother asking what that's supposed to mean – get defeated by a sword?"
Vaati suddenly slammed his fist against the window. "I got a little cocky, alright? Don't insult me!"
There was another lapse of silence. In the meanwhile, the plane spiraled expertly away from another pass made by Avilux Ignis. It seemed the deity was playing with them for the time being; giving Dugal chances to dodge it. Once they were clear, the Talon leader shook his head in disbelief. "Well. I have no idea what you're talking about, but from what I gather none of you have any plans. Ah well. I suppose we can fly around until I run out of fuel." He chuckled light-heartedly. "It's amazing what people can come up with when their lives are in immediate danger. Perhaps all we need is a little more…" his face darkened, "urgency."
He jerked his hands, causing the plane to dip its left wing towards the ground. Link felt his breath catch as they accelerated sharply downwards and into a tight circle. He then became highly disoriented when the plane barrel rolled the other way, away from a blinding beam of energy. Steadying himself and pushing Dark a little away from him, Link frowned when he noticed the two people up front actually seemed to be enjoying the ride. Though upset from before, Vaati was slightly smiling and Dugal wasn't even trying to hide the fact he was having fun with the aerial maneuvers. "I wasn't the best in the Air Force Academy for nothing," he grinned. He motioned a free hand towards the teens. "Come on, come on. Have you thought of any ideas yet? You know more about these things than I do, I imagine."
"Uhhhhh…" Dark and Zelda uttered simultaneously, while Link and Vaati sat staring flatly at the view. The sorcerer shrugged, and plopped his chin on his hand, muttering something about how initiating the flood may have been the best idea after all.
Just then, the plane lurched violently, throwing everyone against the backs of their seats. There was an unsettling rattle, and a sickening steel groan from somewhere below them. Zelda knew that something was terrifyingly wrong when the normally calm Dugal turned as pale as the sorcerer sitting next to him. "What was that?" Leaning forward, she gripped the back of the man's chair.
He laughed nervously – it was uncharacteristically weird coming from the overconfident man. "Well well well. It seems the engine has overheated: probably from that wretched bird."
"And what does that mean?" Dark asked cautiously, though he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer when the plane gave a weak putter and began to fall rapidly. The beautiful snow covered pines no longer looked so beautiful; especially with their sharp, spear-like points.
Dugal threw his hands up in the air and lazily rested them on the back of his head. It was an over exaggerated show of acting casual in the face of danger – perspiration was dripping from the Talon leader's forehead. "It means we have to think fast since urgency is at a maximum." He watched the view for a few seconds, and then brought his hands back on the controls. The plane angled slightly away from the ground though it continued to fall. "The most I can do right now is steady the plane while it falls. It won't glide for long, especially since we have more people on here than there are supposed to be."
Zelda was the first to act, quickly unstrapping herself and reaching under her seat. "Emergency parachutes," she directed sharply. The two Links and Vaati scrambled to grab their own. A dismayed voice came from Dark.
"There aren't enough for everyone!"
Arguing ensued.
"Hey Vaati, you can fly, right? Give us yours since you don't need it!"
"What? Don't assume I can fly just because I'm a wind mage! I'm not giving this up."
"What kind of a wind mage can't fly?"
"I can fly! I'm just… ah… a little out of practice right now and I'm not sure I can pull it off…"
"Gosh, you suck."
"Fuck you."
"You're useless."
"You think you can do better, brat?"
"What about warping? Vaati, can't you at least try that?"
"Princess, I know you know I'm amazing, but that's a risk I don't want to take right now."
"Then what ARE we going to do right now?"
Their bickering came to an abrupt halt when Dugal plopped an emergency parachute onto Dark's lap from the front seat. The teens stared at him in disbelief, to which he responded with a careless shrug. "You know, parachutes won't work too well if we become too close to the ground. I suggest you all jump, and jump soon." There was a click, and the emergency doors on the plane dropped away. The wind screamed outside as the plane continued to fall towards its doom. "Go on. All of you have your parachutes, so there's no longer a problem, correct?"
"Dugal…" Zelda began, but was stopped short by a silver ringed finger.
"Ms. Sterling, either you jump or I shoot a bullet into each and every one of you for wasting my time."
They fidgeted uneasily. "But why?" the girl tried again.
A sly grin crept across the man's face. "I have my reasons." He shooed them away. "Go on now before I change my mind. I will be thoroughly upset if you waste my parachute." Seeing the look on everyone's faces, Dugal growled. "Oh would you stop looking at me like I just announced my fetish for coloring books and frilled dresses?"
Dark took a hesitant step towards the rushing air, and then paused. "Do you have a fetish for coloring boo –" he stopped talking when Dugal pulled out his gun with deliberation. One piercing look was all he needed to listen to the Talon leader and jump off the plane.
Link reached out a hand towards Zelda. The girl took it gingerly and the two stood on the edge of the doorway. With each passing second, the ground became closer and the details of the mountain forest became clearer. Link bowed his head, then looked up with determination. "Thanks Dugal." He turned to Zelda. "Ready?"
Zelda nodded, though her eyes were on the man who was giving up his life to save them. At least, that's what it looked like. It was difficult to read whether or not Dugal's sly grin was out of a final show of bravado or because he had some other plans they weren't aware of. She quickly turned away when Dugal gave a curt nod in return. "Yes." Without waiting for Link, she jumped, her hands slipping out of his. Link raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then followed.
The only person remaining was Vaati. The sorcerer watched Dugal putting a tremendous effort in keeping the accelerating plane steady.
The man tilted his chin towards the door. "I suggest you hurry up, Mr. Engst."
Wordlessly, the pale mage stepped towards the door with his parachute. He placed a hand on the edge of the door where the wind ripped across his face. "It'll make more sense if I try to save myself with my own abilities and you take the parachute." He gave a slightly accusatory look at the pilot. "You know that, don't you?"
"Would you please jump out of the plane? We are running out of time." Hazel eyes stared straight ahead.
"It's true I'm not that good with warping or anything yet, but at least I can try."
"Based on your reaction with your friends earlier, there's a high risk involved, yes? You might not survive it."
"But I have a higher chance of surviving without a parachute than yo-"
He was cut short by the end of a pistol pointed at him. "I am running out of patience," Dugal snapped.
Vaati hesitated. He wanted to talk to the man a little longer to see what his motives were for playing martyr. It made no sense to the sorcerer, and he had a gnawing suspicion that Dugal was hiding something. The inside of the plane gradually started glowing a warm orange color, signifying the approach of Avilux Ignis – there was no time to talk.
Just as Vaati was about to jump, Dugal's glasses glinted. "I wish you luck, Mr. Engst."
Vaati stepped out of the plane.
XXXXXXXX
The shrieking rattles from the dying plane were the only thing accompanying the infamous leader of Talon Three. He watched the ground rushing up with an amused expression of acceptance. It was inevitable that he was going to crash into one of the many trees that covered the mountains. He never really worried too much about sticky situations – perhaps he'd become too jaded by them, or maybe it was this tendency not to worry that kept him in such a shady business for so long.
A part of him was second-guessing whether or not giving up his lifeline to the teens was a good idea. What the Engst boy had said was true – it made more sense to let the pale teen handle the risks since he seemed to be gifted with extraordinary abilities. The plane jerked, and Dugal shook away his unease in wondering if he'd made the right choice.
Half of it had to do with pride. He was more dramatic than he cared to admit, and it pleased him when he thought of the last impressions of him he'd left the troublesome teens. It had bothered Dugal that the kids had made him admit defeat up on the floating palace, and he wasn't about to let them steal his show.
Because it was his show. He was supposed to have been the ringmaster in this entire enterprise, and he wasn't about to let some brat from New Jersey one-up him.
The other half… well…
Dugal gently let go of the controls and moved towards the door of the plane. The ground below was so close now that he could hear the rustle of the pines. The plane roared in protest, but it was no use. It was going to crash.
The man straightened his tie one last time. The truth was, he had no intention of self-sacrificing himself for a bunch of kids he had initially gone after to dispose of. There was a trump card he hadn't wanted to reveal, and if he could take this opportunity to separate himself from the teens then he was damn well going to take it. He reached his hand inside his suit jacket.
Halstead Dugal wasn't about to go down that easily.
XXXXXXXXX
Vaati groaned. The last thing he remembered was tugging the release on the parachutes before seeing Avilux Ignis charge him with a deafening scream. He could have sworn the deity had collided with him, and that he should have been burned to cinders.
His palm slid across a cool, glass-like floor. Startled by feeling something foreign where he had expected pine leaves and dirt at the very least, the sorcerer shot up from the ground. What he saw surprised him.
The rest of them were all there, standing with confused expressions as they took in a dark surrounding that seemed to light with a magical blue. The ground appeared to be transparent save for ancient runes that occasionally blinked and flickered with the same electric color. Beneath was a tumultuous jumble of dark clouds that weaved back and forth in a thick fog. Vaati recognized what this was: it was a dimensional trap.
"What happened?" Dark asked. They all had the same question. "After I jumped, I think that bird ran over me."
"Us too," Zelda nodded. She looked around. "I guess Dugal didn't get caught in that…"
There was a flash, and everyone braced themselves when Avilux Ignis suddenly spread its wings of light and screeched its entrance. Slow, rhythmical beatings of its wings filled the silence, and it regarded the four with mild curiosity. A melodious, sexless voice rang in the four's ears as the deity spoke.
"Keepers of Courage, Keeper of Wisdom, and the Sorcerer gifted with the power of a god. What an interesting collection."
Link pulled out the Master Sword from its sheath. "What are you?"
Avilux Ignis gave an unsettling giggle in the voice of a little girl. "The Blade of Evil's Bane only works for evil beings, little hero. I am the Goddess of Chaos; a sword that serves the goddesses will not turn against a goddess." Now in the voice mimicking Skull Kid, the goddess laughed. "I think you can keep me entertained. I have entrapped you in a timeless dimension so you have all the time in the world. Play with me for a little while."
"What… what kind of a goddess is this?" Zelda whispered in disbelief.
"A chaotic one." Dark readied his sword as well, even though he wasn't really sure how much help it was going to be against something that didn't have a solid body.
Avilux Ignis's voice changed one more time, this time into one that Link recognized all too well. It was a rough, gravelly voice of the desert. It was Ganondorf's.
"You have something that I want," it growled with the voice of the Gerudo. "The desire for it was especially prominent in the Keeper of Power. It's… fascinating." It was then that Link noticed a small gold triangle floating just above the bird's crown. He felt sick to the stomach when he realized what it was and where it must have come from.
"I want the world, but before that…"
In a creepily cheerful voice, the girl's giggles returned.
"I want the power of my sisters."
fleets: Whoops, that little alliance with Dugal was more short lived than I had anticipated. And now he's gone to who knows where (well, I know where but I'm going to be mean and not tell you right now).
No cookies will be awarded yet to the people who've guessed the identity of Letti's brother mentioned on my devart account. It was initially supposed to be mentioned in this chapter, but it didn't happen since my plans for the chapter partitioning have changed. It'll be mentioned in the next one, or even the one after depending on how much I end up writing.
Some of you have been getting the feeling that the story is wrapping up to a close. You're right, it is. However, I still do have a few major twists left. I'll try to keep you entertained until the very end ;)
Kishoto: short lived alliance is short lived lol. Ah well. Dugal is so full of himself.
I've only played one FE game, but I think I might get the reference. ;)
Shadow R-B: Ah, well, not really. I only look at how the reviews are signed, and yours was already changed when I checked. And yeah, Vaati needs to step up his game because right now he's just making a fool of himself (not that I blame him, 8000 years is a long time of not doing anything). The final battle is definitely close. So close, in fact, that I can tell you that it'll be in the next chapter.
Midna Hytwilian: Pride is such a sin. And now Dugal is being affected with it too (these two should never work together). Too bad Zelda's the type to believe in true love (in this story) and Vaati is... well... Vaati.
i-wish-799: I completely, 100 percent agree with you. I feel that it would have been better if I stuck the latter half of the last chapter onto this one (think about it if I ever re-edit this). Vaati's still not getting it yet. He will though, before long. :D
Sapphiet: Temporary truce was indeed temporary - it was so short-lived! And what ARE they going to do? Things aren't looking very bright for them (or rather, too blindingly bright from Avi... ok, that was a bad joke).
Vaati the wind mage1: You're right, you shouldn't trust him. ;)
msfcatlover: I actually had that quote in mind when I was writing that, and I was going to mention it in a later chapter, so good job for catching the reference! Oh Skull Kid... his fate will be mentioned for sure since he's a character too important to let go.
xBlackDragoonx: 8000 years is such a long time. Even five years is a long time to me, so I don't know what that must feel like (nor do I want to know - that sounds absolutely miserable). Aw, yeah, me too. It'll feel weird when I don't have to work on this anymore.
Reily96: Hahaha, I might have to change that quote lol. But uh... yeah, Dugal left. O.o; Ionno how I feel about that right now.
Purplegc: Potions! If we had those we'll never need doctors, hence we'll save billions of dollars that thousands of people spend on med school.
Ephriokko: Ahaha! I laughed so much at your last comment about the cell phone. And yeahhhhh I dunno how I'm going to feel when this huge project finally ends. It'll feel weird for sure.
LinkxDarkLink: That fight scene gave me a lot of problems (since Dugal had a modern weapon and I also didn't want to make Vaati be automatic pwnage to an unfair degree). Glad it worked out though!
SGarrison: Thanks!
SubZeroChimera: Whoohoo, thank you!
henslight: I give props to game designers who can come up with really good villains, since people expect epic bosses that aren't SO epic that they'll kill the hero with one hit. And they can't be so stupid either, since that'll just make the audience face palm and wonder why he/she managed to present a threat in the first place.
I'm missing Skull Kid too... I wanted to write about him but couldn't find a way to fit him in.