Note: I was worried Chapter 1 was too long and decided to let this part be its own stand alone chapter.
Chapter 2
It was a sensation like flying…and then floating. His movements were swift and flowing, smooth, and liquid. Florian had never moved so deftly in his life. His footsteps lightly padded from rooftop to rooftop as he leaped through the cool, late-night air.
He remembered seeing Sheikah warriors practicing their skills during the one time he had visited Kakariko village as a child with his father, a traveling merchant. He had envied them and been in awe of their abilities. Now here he was, moving like one of them but in great pain and with great strain. The effort left him breathless and exhausted.
When he finally came to land on the largest house in the village, it was all his body could do to not lose his footing. His legs felt numb and loosely attached. The entire trip to this very spot had felt like being lost in a hazy dream from which he was slowly awakening. He suddenly heard the voice of the Thing that had violently taken control of his body at Hyrule castle. Its voice was loud in his head.
"So frail and so weak," it spat in frustration, words dripping with disgust. Feeling foggy-headed, Florian wanted to rest, but the Thing wrenched him straight and erect, forcing him to look for a way to enter the house through an unobtrusive opening. Once inside, they crept stealthily along a hallway with no hint of a squeak or groan from the wooden floorboards. Florian felt his body forced to a jarring halt as he neared a staircase when they heard two voices coming from a sitting room just below.
"I have told you already once before Yuzu," said a voice belonging to an older man. The voice spoke irritably with tiredness. "I have yet no intention of announcing who is to succeed me as village chief." The old man launched into a terrible fit of coughing.
"Let me pour you—" said the voice of the man whom Florian recognized as Yuzu. Dread crept through him. The older man interrupted briskly.
"My successor," the old man said, raising his voice, "is concerning themselves with the work that needs to be done right now, and not wasting time pursuing selfish interests."
"I assume you are referring to Impa," Yuzu said with genuine disappointment tinged with bitterness.
"Under Impa's leadership, many great rediscoveries in the use of our people's lost technology have been made," the older man replied. His voice burst with approval and something very much like fatherly pride, before turning back to admonishment. "What have you been doing besides pretending to check on the failing health of an old man?"
"Elder Butan," Yuzu began, delivering his words in a clear effort at restraint, "with all due respect, it may have escaped your notice during your convalescence, but my son and brother have greatly contributed to the efforts made in researching our people's technology. My family—"
"Stop!" the older man rebuked sharply. His voice lashed like a whip. "There is nothing more shameful than to use the accomplishments of others to exalt yourself." A long, tense pause between the two men ensued.
Florian could feel the impatience of the Thing within him swell to a breaking point. It was searching for something and tired of being delayed. It directed its baleful attention upon him again.
"Tell me where it is," it thundered harsh and vicious in an internal monologue only he could hear. It was prepared to forcefully glean any and all knowledge possessed by Florian to help it get what it wanted. A sharp spear of pain lashed his nerves. Florian wanted to scream. An orb…large enough to fit in clasped palms, round, polished smooth and made of blue moonstone appeared at the forefront of his mind. The orb sat on a pedestal in the same room as the one Elder Butan and Yuzu were currently occupying. Florian felt the Thing's anger come ablaze, and he recoiled expecting further assault.
"Yuzu, I grow tired of this conversation," Elder Butan simmered. "While I do not approve of your reasons for wanting the role of chief," the Elder's voice paused for a moment as though he had come to a sudden realization. "I… I know your motivations are not rooted in…great darkness. I will speak of succession no further tonight."
"I apologize. Please forgive my misplaced concerns," Yuzu forced out brisk and tight. There was a pause before he continued in that same tone of realization as the Elder. "Yes…At the moment, we should focus our attention on more important matters."
Florian could hear Yuzu collect himself and then retire from the Elder's home. Quick and stealthily, the Thing forced him to hide and wait patiently in the shadows. They waited until they heard the old man retire to his rooms. Once certain the perfect opportunity had arrived, Florian was moved to the floor below. The room was dark and illuminated by little light coming through the windows from the night sky. The Thing worked quickly to find the orb exactly where Florian's memory had shown it'd be. Florian had recalled as a child the globe appearing more crystal clear with a tinge of glassy blue. The orb in front of him looked like a glittering, black ball in the darkness. His hand reached greedily to grasp it.
"Stop where you are," came a steely voice from behind him. Florian recognized it as belonging to Elder Butan. "What are you doing in my home?"
Florian grasped the black orb tightly. He leaped high in the air to land on the banister at the top of the staircase and then stepped down with supernatural grace. The possessed young man halted when Yuzu stepped out from the entrance of the upstairs hallway. He was a middle-aged man trim and lithe, dressed in traditional Sheikah garments of white, red, and dark blue. His white hair, like the Elder, was pulled up into a top knot.
"You are skilled without a doubt," Yuzu observed, genuinely impressed. "I've known few with such light footsteps, but even if you were completely noiseless, we were still made aware of your presence." Yuzu's eyes went to the black orb in Florian's hands.
"It absorbs the intentions of others – dark and pure. And I never have in all my days as an elder seen the moonstone blacken as it has tonight." Elder Butan leveled in a flinty, graveled voice. "Who are you?"
Florian ignored the old man. Instead, he tucked the orb into a pack on his back with the skillful hands of a magician and replaced it with a single short blade. Elder Butan and Yuzu were cutting off his exits. The Thing seemed to have every intention of leaving the way it came, and that meant going through Yuzu. However, Florian felt his gaze forcefully shift to the elderly man who, despite his show of strength, was clearly not in good health. This had not stopped the old man from moving with surprising quickness to position himself at the bottom of the staircase. Florian watched the old man quiver as he suppressed another violent coughing fit. In his moment of weakness, the old man staggered forward.
Knife in hand, Florian launched himself down the stairs with what looked like the intention of burying it deep in the Elder's chest. Yuzu was quick to come to the defense of the old man and barreled into Florian from behind with his arms wrapped around Florian's waist. Florian was horrified when the click from the knife in his hand sent its blade projecting forward with great speed and force. A new blade ejected from the knife hilt a split second later.
Yuzu and Florian continued their tumble down the steps. Florian twisted in Yuzu's grasp, and with a quick jab, he plunged the new blade into Yuzu's back. He raised his hand again to plunge once more, but Yuzu shifted his weight and managed to grasp the wrist of Florian's knife-hand. Still tumbling, Florian came to straddle Yuzu and began pressing his weight down in an attempt to bring the blade home to rest in the other man's chest.
Florian felt his strength and stamina quickly ebbing. Sheer terror and panic coursed through him, but the Thing within him was wholly immersed in the pleasure of battle. Despite the skills of The Thing controlling his limbs, Florian's body had not been honed and hardened for battle. While Yuzu on the other hand was a trained Sheikah warrior from birth. In a competition of direct strength, Yuzu had the upper hand. In spite of this, the Thing merely sneered down knowingly at Yuzu. Yuzu's eyes widened when the click of the knife went off once again.
Florian watched in great sorrow as the Sheikah man's eyes flashed in surprise and pain. Yuzu's gaze went down to his chest, where a blade was embedded deep. Dark blood pooled around the wound, and his strong grip on Florian's wrist loosened. Florian still had the bladeless knife in his hand. Yuzu's eyes went to linger on the familiar carvings of the empty hilt and then focused on Florian's naked face as though piecing together a puzzle. In their struggle down the stairs, Florian's face covering had come undone.
Blood trickled out of Yuzu's mouth. "I know you," recognition flooded his voice.
Florian had never killed anyone before, and though he knew it was not himself who had done this terrible thing, it had still been done by his hands. His mouth moved on its own, and ominous words that were not his own came out.
"Soon, all will know and remember me. And many will remember and know me again."
Yuzu's eyes grew lazy and dull before finally closing.
Florian felt his stomach sicken in horror as he was forced to plunge his hilt down on the end of the blade sticking out of Yuzu's chest. The blade clicked back in place easily. He then looked up to stare at Elder Butan, who had slumped to his knees, his back pressed to the wall and his head resting lifelessly to one side. The old man's hand was wrapped around the blade sunk deep through his heart. Florian moved involuntarily to retrieve this blade as well.
He wanted so badly to look away from it all. He felt the sickness in his belly grow as it mixed with perverse satisfaction. The satisfaction didn't belong to him, but the intermingling of it with his own horror made his stomach roll. He was grateful when he felt himself begin to sink into the haze from earlier. Full of guilt and shame, he thought about Yuzu's final words. Yuzu had not been talking to the vicious Thing that had mercilessly ended his life. He had been speaking directly to Florian.
