Chapter 3

"Do you think she ate anything before coming here?" Colin asked as he peeked out from behind Link. Aryll was leaning against the wall, watching the woman breathe heavily.

Link shrugged. "We won't know until she wakes back up."

"Did you see how she was dressed?" Colin asked, wide-eyed.

Link chuckled and turned to Ilia. She kept her eyes down, lost in thought. Turning his attention back to Colin, Link nodded. "People from different places dress… different."

Aryll sighed. "Dad would have killed me if I wore something like that… right?"

Instead of Link, it was their uncle, who sat at the table beside Rusl, Colin's father, who responded. "If he didn't, I would have. It's too revealing." He turned his attention to Rusl. "The kids shouldn't be seeing that."

Before he could respond, the door opened and the mayor, Bo, Ilia's father, came into the room. "I ain't heard about anyone travellin'. I'll keep lookin', but she's come outta nowhere."

"Father!" Illia cried, reacting for the first time. "How could someone get into the village without you realizing it? What if she had been some great, evil creature?" She stood and offered Aryll and Collin her hands. "We should go. I think Epona could use some company right now."

The two followed her out, but not without a look back, missing the excitement before they'd even left the room.

"Rusl," Link asked, sitting forward. He'd always deferred to his oldest mentor. Rusl had trained Link long before he'd joined the Knights of Hyrule. "Do you want me to ride to get the soldiers? If there's a missing woman, or if she's hurt, we'll be the ones responsible for her."

Rusl, on the other hand, was always one for the chain of command. He looked to Mayor Bo for the answer.

"Hrmm," Bo said, scratching at his mustache. "Yes, perhaps that's the best course of action. I still wish we knew more about this 'Cia,' though." He snapped his fingers together, one of his quirkier traits. "Link, you go to work tomorrow, like usual. When you're done, go to Thelma's. Find out anything about Cia. Rusl, you'll take Tarin and see the knights."

Link's eyebrows furrowed. "My uncle? Who will watch Aryll?"

Bo's forehead wrinkled, but it was Rusl who clasped Link's shoulders seriously. "Link, your uncle and I are retired knights. We can still get answers from them. You cannot take this task in place of your uncle."

"Because I was forced to leave."

"Yes." Rusl stepped back. He was never one to mince words. "Uli will watch her. You need to go as soon as you're done at work. Fado can manage here."

Link looked away, disgusted at his unwelcome station as a rancher. If he were a knight, he'd have been able to find out who this 'Cia' was before the morning light broke.

As it was, he had to get to sleep. His shift at Lon Lon would start early, and then the day would be a long one. He waited outside as Rusl and Tarin left on their horses. Each of them gave Link a regretful look.

He wished nothing more than to be riding beside them.

Zelda could feel her eyes getting heavier as she poured another customer a drink. But Vaati was on stage with Veran setting up a stand, and she was eager to see what 'The Sorcerers' would do.

It wasn't long until he swung his cape around, demanding the attention of the room with a dimmer light. One bright spotlight illuminated his body, and he laughed, eerie as it was.

"Good evening. Tonight, you will not see card tricks. I will not juggle, or pull a Blupee from a hat, though I'm sure you'd all like to be in possession of a Blupee, even for a moment. What we do is not a trick as many perform at the Carnival of Time. And so, before we begin, we'd like to thank you for your attendance. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a contribution to our pockets so that we might continue risking our lives for your entertainment." The crowd chuckled, despite being familiar with the speech given by every performer. Vaati nodded once and clasped his hands together. Zelda could have sworn she could see his cape swaying in the wind, despite being indoors. "Thank you. Let us begin."

The lights went out for a moment, the typical signal to the start of the show. Every server knew not to leave their spots when the speeches were done until they could see again, but it always drew a surprised gasp from the crowd.

A moment later, a much shorter time than Zelda had seem before, the lights returned. Vaati was no longer on the stage.

The murmurs of the crowd were showing their immediate interest, but Zelda could feel the hairs on her neck stand up.

"I often like to begin with a pleasant shock," his voice echoed. Zelda turned to see him standing in the back of the room. He could never have made it there so quickly. She watched him meander back to the stage amid the amazed faces. "But if every trick were done in the dark, you'd likely question my skills."

Zelda grabbed her tray and began to make her way around the room as he continued talking, showing small tricks as he did. Some of the customers were too engrossed in the show to even respond to Zelda's inquiries. She instead went to Anju and Lulu, taking the empty Château Romani.

"Do you need anything else?"

Anju turned to Zelda with excited eyes. "This guy is good!"

"He's done one trick so far."

"I might just hire him for my wedding," Anju said with mock superiority. Zelda chuckled and headed back behind the counter, serving the patrons at the bar while Barten watched the show with guilty pleasure. Zelda couldn't help but flick her eyes up to the stage every once in a while.

"Now, we seem to be missing something, Veran…" Vaati looked around dramatically. "Didn't the Sorcerers consist of three people as of our last show?

Veran looked as bored as she had at the table. "As I recall."

Vaati looked around again and made a show of seeming surprised as he spun the stand he'd set up earlier, revealing the back side to the audience. Painted onto the stand was a man. From the distance Zelda stood at, he looked almost like a clown. Looking closer, she wasn't so sure.

"Ahh," Vaati sighed. "Here he is! It seems our friend has gotten himself stuck once again. Yuga will not be happy to know we have left him here for a full show." He looked to the audience, his charming smile inviting them deeper into the show. "What do you say? Shall we hide from his ire, or take him from the stand?"

The crowd erupted into shouts, calling for the trick, of course.

Vaati gave everyone a rye look. "You're all horrible. You want to see us in trouble." He waited for the chucked to die down. "Very well. Let's see here…"

As he bent down to inspect the drawing, it moved.

Zelda had to blink several times to be sure of what she was seeing, but the painting had up and walked to the other side of the stand. Vaati looked out to the audience with faked wide-eyes, pretending to be shocked. He looked back down and reached to grab Yuga, but the painting moved once again.

The audience had been stunned into silence. There were gasps, but there wasn't a peep. Zelda herself had forgotten that she was meant to be serving. She was entranced by the real-life magic actually transpiring in front of her.

She'd had doubts, as anyone attending a show would, but before her eyes, the painting began to glow. Colorful sparkles, or more like paint splatters, began to spray off of it, followed shortly after by a tall man: Yuga. He's literally come out from the painting on the stand.

Her breath caught as she wondered how that had happened. She looked for a door, for some small space he may have been hiding. There were no trap doors on their stage, she knew that much, but there wasn't nearly enough room on the short stand from him to come out standing so tall as he did.

Vaati caught her eye and winked before turning back to his companions. "Yuga! What happened? How did you get yourself in that predicament?"

An airy voice, one alit with laughter, almost to a sinister fault, filled the room. "Why, I was squished! When we did our last show, I became trapped between this stand and a fast-moving barrel and was splattered straight back. I became a painting! You took so long to find me, I fell asleep waiting!"

The audience finally had life breathed back into them. They erupted into hoots and hollars, cheers and applause. Whistles from several people broke over the thunder, making all three of the performers stop to smile. Zelda found herself clapping along as well.

The three of them bantered a bit more, a time which Zelda was grateful to return to work. They continued on, picking a volunteer from the audience and bringing him on stage. Veran moved forward with a distinct sway to her walk, likely from her tight floor-length skirt. She smiled. "Tell me, darling, what is your biggest fear?"

"Why?" the man asked with a chuckle. "Are you going to make it appear in front of me?"

Veran shrugged innocently. The man laughed. "Dying, I suppose."

She circled him, like a vulture. "What would you say if I told you I could control you? It's not hypnosis, but a physical possession."

The man laughed again. "I'd like to see that."

"Would you really?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Veran stepped back, and her body began to shimmer until it seemed to move faster than the eye could keep up. A large black mass was in her place and it loomed closer to the volunteer. He didn't move, as if he was already possessed, but several members of the crowd gasped and jumped from their chairs, scurrying to the back of the room.

The dark mass loomed over the man and disappeared into him, making him turn a few shades bluer than he usually was. He stepped forward, the familiar sway of his hips immediately betraying his lack of control. Zelda couldn't believe her eyes. She was practically leaning up against the counter.

"What?" Veran asked in the man's voice. "Did you think I'd kill him? If only he'd been afraid of something simpler. But alas, we cannot choose our volunteers' fears."

The black mass appeared above his head again and shimmered until Veran was back in her place. The man didn't seem worse for wear, only mumbling his amazement as he practically stumbled off stage. Veran ignored the eruption of applause she also received, taking her place with hawk-like eyes scanning the crowd.

"Well," Vaati said, stepping to the front. "I suppose that means it's my turn."

Zelda tuned out his little audience-rallying speech, but her ears pricked up at the sound of Vaati's voice and the audible swivel of the audience.

"My dear blonde waitress," Vaati's voice rang. Zelda turned begrudgingly, uncomfortable with all eyes on her. "You looked rather enthralled with our previous trick. Would you care to be a participant in our next one?" He held his hand out to her and the room began to applaud.

With a look to Barten, who nodded his approval. Though she was wary, Barten had often said to do anything for the customers, never to refuse, and always to boost popularity. There was no way she could turn this down, no matter how much she might have wanted to.

"Why don't you tell the crowd your name?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Zelda."

"Pleasure to meet you. You make quite the drink, might I say! I had one earlier and it was just divine! Be sure to order all future drinks from this young woman here!"

The crowd laughed along with him, though Zelda couldn't hear the joke.

"Now, Zelda, have you ever longed to disappear? To vanish completely from sight?"

She could barely see with the blinding stage light in her eyes. "Occasionally."

"Well," Vaati said in a sultry voice, "Would you like to try? It's quick. You will feel like you've blinked."

Skeptically, she squinted at him. "Sure. Why not?" She was looking for a hint or a sign that he was going to give her, some means to hide and disappear, or a curtain that would fall over her.

"You may want to close your eyes, love," he whispered. But to the crowd, he simply raised his arms. "Please join me in a countdown! Five! Four! Three! Two!"

Zelda couldn't help but close her eyes as she heard the one. She expected to feel something drop around her, or for a pile of confetti to pop out of something. Instead, she heard murmurs, applause and gasps.

Opening her eyes, she nearly fell over. She was behind the bar once more.

Her hands started to shake and her eyes went to Vaati. He smiled, superior smugness radiating off of him. She grabbed the bar to steady herself and waited, stunned into stillness, until everyone had finally looked away and back to the stage where the show continued.

His magic was real.

"Barten," she finally managed.

He came over to her and placed his arm around her. "You're white as a Wolfos in the snow!"

"I think I have to go, Barten. I wasn't prepared for that… not really. I just… you don't have to pay me. I just have to go. I'm sorry." She headed into the back room and threw off her apron, draping it over a chair.

Barten popped his head into the doorway. "You remember what I said earlier about tomorrow, okay? You're welcome in our home, if you need it. Go take care of yourself tonight. And you are getting paid."

A/N: Honestly, this wasn't meant to be an entire chapter; it was meant to be a short section last chapter, but a mistake in pacing made this happen which is why it's a shorter chapter than I usually do. But the next one is where I actually wanted to be, so that will be better, I promise. Plus, you see the actual plot unraveling instead of an unintentionally long magic show that introduces characters and real magic. Sorry about that if corny magic shows aren't your thing. There won't be one in the next chapter.

Guest (whoever you are, if you're still there) you're really spot-on! There's Yuga! And there's the possession! Not quite at the point where everyone's souls have been sucked dry, but you never know! I'm not sure yet if Ghirahim or Ganondorf will appear. I'm TYRING not to use Ganondorf, at least. Can't really speak for any of the other villains yet.