Sheik

He didn't waste a second later. As soon as the cloud of dust and debris shooting away from Saria settled, Sheik called for the advance. The Hyruleans and their Bulblin allies charged towards Saria Town, finding not a single monster, Imperial or Ganon's, on the eastern side. However, Sheik was more concerned about the human victims of the blast and divided the forces between searching for the nine teenagers that initially fought in the city and those who would continue the fight against the monsters if any more appear.

It wasn't long before Sheik and some fighters found an enormous crater in the ground along the center of the city in the north-south direction. There they were, Link, Zelda and the others, including the Oracle of Ages, lying still within the depression. The only missing is the lady Gerudo, Riju, but in her place stands a lone man at the northern edge of the crater.

Sheik narrows his eyes and turns to his group. "Stay here. Keep watch for any of the Imperials."

"But...isn't that the king?"

"Yes." Before any could protest, Sheik steps away into the light of destruction, not bothering to use the shadows to sneak up on Vaati. With each step taken, the Sheikah's anger rises. He takes out a short sword from behind his back and points it at the King of Hyrule once he gets close. No doubt Vaati knows the Sheikah is there, but he doesn't acknowledge him at all. It pisses Sheik off that they are the last two survivors of the destruction of Hyrule Castle and of the first rebellion's failure in Rauru and Vaati ignores him. Is he not worthy of acknowledgment like Link, Auru, and Impa?

"Sheik, you point your sword at the wrong being."

Sheik tsks and steps closer, walking between the kids and the Wind Mage. "No, I do not."

"Zelda and the others need to be taken to safety." Sheik gasps as Vaati raises his eyes beyond that of the fallen warriors. He ignored all other presences before, but as he lowers that guard, a sinister power from the south punches Sheik's brain. So he finally came off his perch… Sheik turns back around, angling his sword to Vaati's chin.

"Why? Of all the… You captured Zelda, killed Link and Impa! The Sages, my friends, died because of you! People, innocent, have died because of your tyranny! You expect me to let you get away?"

"I do not intend to run." Vaati steps to the edge of the crater, standing beside Sheik. "Everything here is orchestrated by his hand. Whether he intended it to happen or not, he got the Triforce away from me and had me unleash Vah Medoh on the city earlier than I wanted to. Maybe it was not manipulation at all, but the error of my own creation. But the facts are there, lying in front of us. In my anger, I turned on the heroes and struck them down, but at the same time, I split the Triforce. I could have retrieved all three pieces as I did before, but even I know that I cannot kill him. Only Link and Zelda have that power. With the Triforce of Power at their side, the Demon King should be driven back and defeated. So put your sword down and get them out of here."

Sheik grits his teeth. How much he would like to drive this blade through Vaati's neck if only that would kill him. Yet, despite everything, Vaati speaks the truth. Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are the only ones who can defeat Ganon. Better judgment calls for personal sacrifice. Lowering his sword, he turns to his subordinates and points to the fallen nine. As the kids are reclaimed, Sheik sheathes his blade and looks to the Wind Mage. He continues to look beyond the crater. Sheik knows what he's going to do. "You intend to fight him."

"Yes."

"Even after all you just said?"

"He wants the Triforce. Someone must prevent that pig from getting it." Vaati blinks and for the first time in a week, he looks to Sheik. Red eyes meet, but for the first time in 18 years-possibly for as long as they've known each other-it is not the look of two enemies, but two unallied forces with a common goal: the fall of the demon. Sheik sees the truth in Vaati's eyes. If he wanted to, he could have killed those kids easily. He could have taken the Triforce back, and Sheik knows the vibrant presence of the golden power well enough to sense Vaati didn't take it back.

"Sheik."

"Hm?"

"I know you have the Four Sword. I had a chat with Ezlo earlier. Whatever the queen planned, it culminates here, but I know one thing about those sacred swords. The Master Sword and the Bow of Light are not enough for the likes of Ganon anymore, no matter how strong the weapons or the user is. So I must ask if you have it, the one that truly defeats evil?"

"...Yes." Reluctant but being wise, Sheik backs down. Turning away, he takes a few steps before a question bubbles up. "Vatis… Why did you let me live after that day? You had me dead to rights."

Vaati shrugs. "I don't know. I don't know why I let anyone live when I could end their lives. Or I didn't know until I met Link again, but I still don't know the answer."

Sheik sighs. In a momentary lapse (or greater sense) of judgment, he reaches in his pouch and tosses an object at Vaati's feet. "Well… I do not know how you plan to fight him...or even if you can, but… Good luck, Your Majesty."


Vaati

As Sheik vanishes, Vaati takes a breath. The decision wasn't easy, "leaving" the Triforce with the heroes, but Vaati would rather play the long game rather than give Ganon everything at once. The single factor that made him choose to let Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf "keep" the Triforces is that it keeps Ganon from getting it all at once.

Meanwhile, he did lie to Sheik; Vaati did reclaim the golden power but decided to send it to North Castle. For the moment, the imprints on the kids' hands will resonate in a similar signature to the actual relic.

Koume, Ghirahim, and Veran will not be backing him up. They're at the castle, where they're out of Ganon's reach and protecting the Triforce. Agahnim and the reanimated body of the older Link are dead. He commanded them to not return, not because the battle is lost but because the battle, no matter who wins, will come to North Castle. He needs them to be ready at all costs, whether it is the Hero, the Princess, or the Demon who enters the castle doors.

Why does he fight in their stead? Why didn't he kill them? What changed him? Vaati lied to Sheik about not knowing what makes him merciful. He did find out when he met Link again, the Hero sacrificing himself for the rebellion. He found out something he didn't find (or look for) in the Hero and Princess of his original age or the one after. He was fascinated with the evil, rotten heart of humanity when he took possession of the Minish Cap, but in this era, he saw a different side of it. He felt that himself, having grown up as a human instead of a Minish in this era. He saw it when Queen Zelda sacrificed herself for her people and daughter and when Link asked for Vaati to spar his Calatian family instead of begging to be sparred himself.

The human heart, for all the evil within, possesses good. Even Vaati's, for odd reasons, has a good side to his heart. What makes the heart "good" is not definitive, just as what makes the heart "evil" isn't. Those two traits are different between people but at times it can correlate. No man is inherently good or evil, but given time, they can lean towards each pole. Good deeds don't make an evil man redeemed, and evil deeds don't make a good man a fallen soul.

Vaati seeks not redemption, but to challenge good and evil. If Link and Zelda is the model of good, Ganon the quintessential evil, then Vaati must be somewhere in the middle. It is his right as the middle to challenge the extremes, to balance the likes of good and evil. It calls for the elimination of legends.

"Ganon!" Vaati shouts to the quiet air. The Demon King's presence is close, so close it makes the air around Vaati putrid. "I know you are here. So show yourself, you bastard!" For aa moment longer, the quiet lingers, so quiet it hurts Vaati's ears. Then it breaks with a low but powerful chuckle. That chuckle forms a body across the crater, becoming a tall, muscular, spiked armor blue boar that stands on two hooved feet. His humanoid hands are behind his back, underneath the fluttering red cape. Yellow is the only color Vaati sees in the boar's beastly eyes. So this is the Demon King, a beast that stands no taller than Vaati does in his reborn form? Is this it? How utterly...disappointing.

Link and Zelda were kids when they faced him, so the images of a big, scary monster are just that, the viewpoint of children. Standing here, Vaati feels nothing but a desire to laugh. This is the beast who was once King of the Gerudo, the beast who entered the Sacred Realm and reshaped it in his image, the beast who terrorized Hyrule 30 years ago? This is the reincarnation of Demise, the terror who came after Vaati? This is Link and Zelda's mortal enemy? Vaati cannot bear to contain it anymore. In the face of Hyrule's great scourge, the walking example of malice and hatred, the devil himself, Vaati breaks down into laughter.

Ganon cocks his head like a confused puppy as the Wind Mage loses his composure. "What is it that makes you laugh?"

"This. The irony of our situations. You, me, we have the same enemy in Link and Zelda. In another world, we would be allies against them. But in this one, we stand against each other on the battlefield and I realize just how much of a fool I was to be afraid of you."

"Oh?"

"You're nothing like they say, and I should know better, I was done wrong in the writings of history. You're the great calamity, but I don't feel fear. All this time, I did everything to prevent you from returning because I was afraid of you. Hero and Princess, I faced them twice long ago and had to live with them not so long ago. I planned how to best them and I did. The ones now, I bested them. Not once did I consider them a threat to me, but you, I did. But it turns out I had nothing to fear. You are just another monster. Just like them, another legend of the world to be snuffed out."

Ganon grins like a kid who just got told he is going to get his favorite candy. "You are right, the recurring cataclysm is getting old. This cycle deserves to come to an end. That's what you seek, to end the curse of Demise? Well… So do I. I care not to rule the world anymore. I tire of being beaten by those teenagers. I tire of returning to repeat my attempt to conquer. I just want to rest eternally. But not without making them suffer. I seek to end everything. This curse, this Hyrule, this world… Everything Din sculpted, everything Nayru brought order to, everything Farore breathed life into, I want to end it all."

Vaati almost sees a shred of humanity in Ganon. "This world doesn't need to end for you to rest, Dragmire. I will happily put you to rest and rule this world." Vaati whisks the object Sheik tossed him to his hand and gazes at it. The Four Sword, originally the Picori Sword, his people's gift to the Hylians along with the Light Force. They both now belong to him for the most part, but the little of the ancient power of the Minish residing in the princess will have to be wait once more. No one here has a Triforce, raw power and resolve will win the day. Vaati looks back to Ganon as he holds the Four Sword in stance.

"Ganon, your end is here. The wind blows of your death." Vaati shoots forward, splitting into four as he charges Ganon. The Prince of Darkness, taking his trident in hand, swipes away the three clones and vanishes before the real Vaati gets close. As he lands on the other side of the crater, fireballs zip towards Vaati from random directions. Vaati bats them away, but they only serve as a distraction as lightning zaps Vaati's back. Luckily, the attack isn't as effective as it could've been if he was hit in the front, but it hurts nonetheless. Turning around and spotting Ganon on a building, several one-eyed organisms surround Vaati and fire lasers at the demon. Ganon doesn't flinch as the lasers hone in and crash against his barrier.

As the smoke clears around Ganon, Vaati and his three clones swing their respective versions of the Four Sword into the barrier, shattering it. Vaati unleashes a pulse attack, pushing Ganon to lower ground. Raising their swords up, the four Vaatis surround their swords with energy and blasts it at the defenseless Ganon. The blast lights the city and the darkening skies above, the area with and around it crumbles to the energy and force of the attack, but what truly brings music to Vaati's ears is the howl of the boar underneath it all.

Seconds later, all there remains is a dust cloud. Vaati and his clones land many feet away from the edge of the cloud and with a wave of his hand he calls the wind to part the cloud. With the air clear, Vaati sees a crater of greater depth than the previous one. As he looks down, his mouth drops in shock and awe. Ganon stands tall, seemingly unaffected by the blast. The boar looks up to the Wind Mage and now does Vaati feels a slight tremor in his body. He now understands why Ganon is to be feared. That was a powerful attack and he simply seems unfazed. Only the devil could do this.

Ganon slowly rises out of the depression, brandishing a smirk on his porky face as his eyes gleam with amusement. "Heh."


"Welcome back, heroes."

Link slowly wakes and rises up to his waist. Ganondorf and Zelda are standing, with the princess watching the prince pace back and forth. It's just them alone on a tall structure with a flat top underneath a dark, cloudy sky. The scenery, it feels familiar, like he's been here before...months ago.

"Youths chosen by the three," a voice says as green light shines to Link's left. The light takes form, shifting into a feminine body that, once expelled, is a green-haired lady wearing a green dress. The faired skinned woman flashes her green eyes to Link, smiling sweetly as she continues to sing. "Unite north and south, and return the light to the darkened land. At the final battle, you shall stand, united as nine. An age-old war you shall fight."

"Farore," Link says softly as he hops on his feet to the Goddess of Courage's side.

Another light appears, blue in color, beside Zelda and forms the Goddess of Wisdom. "As a war brews, the bell of destiny rings for the rise of heroes and villains. The golden power, sealed away, beckons the fight for freedom." As Nayru finishes her verse, Din appears in behind Ganondorf, and the three goddesses begin to sing together.

"Sing with us one final time for the hope of blood. Let the fates guide you to the end. The contested throne of Hyrule awaits the true ruler. Just make the final wish."

Din chuckles as she spins around her chosen champion, leaving a dark-skinned finger under his chin. "I told you we'll meet again."

"Such a pleasure," he says with blatant sarcasm.

Zelda clears her throat. "Lady Nayru, what is the nature of our visit back here?"

"Yes," Link interjects. "Last time I saw you three, you did nothing to stop Vaati. Tell me why you now decide to aid us."

Din faces Link to give a biting remark, but Nayru raises her hand to stop her. "No, he is right, they do deserve an explanation." Dropping her hand, Nayru faces the three humans. "The reason I did nothing against Vaati is that the tale had not been fulfilled. No matter the result of Darunia's battle, whether the Resistance or the Imperials won, the war wouldn't have ended there. No, the age-old war between good and evil-the fight between a hero, a maiden, and the dark one-must commence. With the return of Ganon, that fight is now on."

"Link, Zelda." Farore holds Link's shoulder and looks to the two she named. "Right now, Vaati fights Ganon to give you whatever time you need to prepare, but he doesn't plan to win. He has the Triforce back at his castle, safely in his clutches. I say this to ask you as we have asked of your predecessors and ancestors. But your challenge is now harder than any before. No Triforce to aid you and Ganon is vastly superior to you both, but I ask of thee, no, now I beg of thee to fight him and then take on Vaati." In an unprecedented move, Farore kneels in front of the Hero and Princess. Nayru steps on over and performs the same gesture.

"Link! Zelda! Our chosen hero and our beloved sister… Lend us and Hyrule your power one final time." They both look up to Din, who stands beside Ganondorf with her back to them. She says nothing, but the Hylians know she asks the same of them.

"We will do everything in our power," Zelda says.

"Good." Nayru stands back up, smiling softly. "Zelda, your mother orchestrated your destinies well. Every plan made, every counter to Vaati's ambition, it has gone accordingly to her wishes. Not saying Ganon or your father's return was part of it, but...she has seen what we have not. And now, she has given you the means to end all evil. The Master Sword and the Bow of Light, the ancient weaponry of the Hero and Princess, is not truly enough to eradicate evil. That weapon now lies with Impa's beloved and with it lies the hope of the world. They are the most powerful weapon in the world, one that the Hero of Legend and the Hero of Hyrule have killed Ganon with before...the Silver Arrows."

"And what of me?" Ganondorf asks, noting that he has been ignored in the goddesses' plea.

"Don't get so impatient, princeling. We've got something to give you..."