Chapter 14: The Sanctuary

Week Eleven, Tuesday 1:00am

Link and Vaati's room

Link awoke to a completely silent, dark room. She blinked several times, wondering what had caused her to wake up so suddenly. The clock on her desk told her it was one in the morning. Sighing, she rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow. It was never fun when her sleep was interrupted, and even more annoying when there was no reason to wake up.

But then she heard something—mumbling? Link lifted up her head so she could hear more clearly. There it was again; low murmurs and incoherent mumbles, strained in tone. Slowly she sat up and slid out from under her blankets, creeping silently across the room towards the source of the sounds.

It was Vaati, talking in his sleep, his blankets pushed away from him even though the room was chilly. Link knelt by his bed, listening curiously.

"Get me out... get me out..." Vaati repeated the same phrase several times. "I won't vanish... I refuse to lose to..." He made a frustrated growl and rolled over.

A nightmare, Link assumed. Part of her wanted to wake Vaati up, but another part told her that this was a rare opportunity to do some prying. She'd heard that people who talked in their sleep would sometimes reply if you spoke to them. There was a high probability that Vaati's nightmare held no significant meaning even if he did talk back to her, but it didn't hurt to try.

"I will get out..." Vaati mumbled.

"What are you trying to escape from?" Link quietly murmured, inching closer.

Vaati stiffened, and she feared that she'd broken the dream. He spoke a moment later, however. "Nothing... There's nothing. Get me out..."

She wasn't really sure if that was a reply to her question. "...You're trapped in nothing?"

"No light... nothing... can't even feel… myself... out, must get out..."

Link watched his face, illuminated by the little light that came through the gaps in the window curtains. His eyebrows were drawn together, a constant grimace tugging at his mouth. He kept mumbling the same kinds of things—about how he was trapped, how he had to get out, how he refused to vanish. The mumblings became faster, more panicked, and Vaati dug his fingers into his sheets, balling the fabric in his hands while his expression descended into fear. Concerned, Link reached out a hand to shake him awake.

"Link... why..."

Her hand froze mere inches from his shoulder. No way—she was in his dream? Normally that would be prime teasing material, but the way Vaati said her name was so confused and frustrated that it worried her. Sighing, she lowered her hand onto Vaati's clammy hand. He instantly gripped her fingers in a painful deathlock but didn't wake.

"Well, whatever you're dreaming about," Link murmured softly, "you'll get out. You're too stubborn to lose to anything."

Vaati's grip gradually loosened and he looked calmer, though not completely at peace. Link carefully pulled her hand away and stood, her legs complaining after crouching for so long. She was just going to hop back into her bed, but an idea tugged at her. "Where'd he put it..." Pulling out one of his desk drawers, she grinned. "Aw, he didn't throw it away," Link giggled, grabbing the stuffed bat hidden inside the top drawer. It was basically a big ball with little wings stuck on the sides and an embroidered face that was supposed to be threatening but was too cute to actually be scary. She carefully wiggled the bat under Vaati's hand.

Snickering quietly, Link crept back to her bed. As she was situating herself under her blankets, she felt a buzzing from under her pillow. She frowned; her Sheikah Slate, which she'd been keeping underneath her pillow at night, was supposed to be on silent. Curious, she slid the tablet out and checked the screen.

Impa: Your grandmother is seriously ill. Come to the Eastern Abbey as soon as possible.

Link pondered over the message, sent so early in the morning. She had no grandmother, but that wasn't what struck her as curious; it was a code phrase, telling her to go to a certain location immediately—in this case, the Eastern Abbey. It was the location that seemed strange. The Eastern Abbey was a historical building maintained by priests and nuns, a sort of museum but also an active place of study and worship. Link couldn't come up with any ideas as to why Impa wanted her there all of a sudden.

Well, orders were orders. After a quick search to see when the next train left, Link hid her tablet away and closed her eyes. No trains were operating until about 4:30, so she had a whole three hours to sleep. Maybe she'd sleep some on the train ride, too. Yeah, she'd definitely sleep on the train ride.


6:00am

Eastern Abbey

"Zelda? What are you doing here?" Link stopped abruptly in the Abbey doorway, nearly causing Impa to run into her from behind.

Zelda appeared equally surprised to see her classmate; she stared at Link with wide eyes for several moments before answering. "I... I'm not actually sure," she replied, looking around uncomfortably. "I received a message from my father saying that I was urgently needed here, but... I haven't seen him at all."

Impa stepped around Link, bowing her head respectfully to Zelda. "I must apologize for summoning you here in that manner. I had Mr. Nohansen send that message, as it seemed the best way to ensure you would come. You are needed, as is Link, to help with an investigation. Come, we'll discuss the details in a better location." She glanced around at the visitors and nuns milling about in the Abbey foyer.

The two students followed the tall woman to the Abbey library, then down a flight of stairs marked "No Public Access Beyond This Point." As they walked, Link briefly explained to Zelda how Impa was both her adoptive mother and Sheikah superior, so she knew that Zelda was aware of Link's identity. The girl's earlier anxiety seemed to fade as Link spoke and she looked around curiously at the old architecture around them, eyes bright. Link kept an eye out as well, hoping to find any clues as to what they were here for.

The stairs took them to the library archives; Impa led them on through to a hallway at the end, to what looked like one of the priests' offices. She pulled back a tall bookshelf to reveal another staircase. As they descended, Link felt goosebumps ripple across her arms, the underground air chilly and damp. Hushed voices echoed up from below.

The voices turned out to be a small group of priests and Sheikah agents. They were standing in front of a large, ancient stone mural, the engravings covered in moss and difficult to decipher. In the center, the engravings depicted an arched door, but it had crumbled to a pile of rocks, leaving a gaping hole. It was this that the priests and Sheikah looked at anxiously as they whispered.

"What is this place?" Link murmured to Impa.

"I will let Father Gaepora explain. He will make it clear as to why you are here."

Impa approached one of the priests, a tall, bald man with thick, severe eyebrows, bowing her head and whispering a few quick words. He nodded and turned to Link and Zelda, eyes grave. "I thank you for coming," he said, voice low. "This—" he gestured to the mural "—is—or rather, was the sealed entrance to the Four Sword Sanctuary. It has always been the duty of the Abbey to protect the Sanctuary, keeping it a secret and warding off those who would enter. It has been many centuries since it was sealed, with the intention that it remain so for all time. However, as you can see..."

Link glanced once at Impa. So, this was why she had been summoned here. The Four Sword Sanctuary, the legendary resting place where Vaati the Wind Mage was sealed away within the sword. Zelda stared at the broken mural, understanding lighting in her blue eyes as well.

"Is the sword still there...?" Zelda timidly asked.

Father Gaepora nodded once. "It appears to be untouched, but we are not certain. Impa told me you may be able to sense whether or not the seal was broken, Miss Nohansen."

"Ah, I..." She cast a flustered look at Link, who tried to give a reassuring smile. "I can try my best."

The group stepped over the pile of stones and through to the room beyond the mural. Father Gaepora shone a flashlight into the darkness, casting it about as they walked. Link caught glimpses of a high ceiling and more murals on the walls. Something glinted in the darkness, flashing back the light. Father Gaepora fixed the beam on a simple stone pedestal and the ancient sword set deep inside it. Rust was creeping over its edges and moss grew both on the hilt and the pedestal. Still, the jewel within its hilt sparkled brightly in the light.

"That's... the Four Sword?" Link breathed, feeling as though she shouldn't speak. Her chest felt tight just looking at it. It was one thing to see a Korok or to see magic, but to see one of the legendary blades that had saved Hyrule—no matter how eroded... It made something within her stir excitedly, almost painfully.

At Father Gaepora's gesture, Zelda approached the Four Sword, her steps slow and timid. "Don't touch the sword," he warned.

She nodded and stared at it for a long time, then held out a hand close to the hilt, closing her eyes. Gradually a frown creased her forehead. "I-I may be wrong, but..." She cast a confused look back at the others. "It feels as though there hasn't been any magic within the sword for a long time... I can only sense traces left behind."

"A long time?" Impa queried. "Can you be more specific?"

"A couple of decades? I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure, but all I know is that the seal and whatever was sealed within the sword are both gone by now."

Impa and Father Gaepora looked at each other, the priest seeming perplexed while Impa kept a neutral expression. Link spoke up. "When was the Sanctuary broken into?"

"Last night," said Father Gaepora gravely.

"Do you know who did it and how?"

"No. No one saw anyone; there was only what seemed like a small earthquake in the middle of the night. We checked the Sanctuary to make sure it hadn't been affected and found this."

"According to our investigation," Impa supplied, "there were no explosives used."

Zelda raised her hand slightly. "I sensed leftover traces of magic at the entrance..."

The four stood in perplexed silence, staring solemnly at the Four Sword. Someone had broken in—or out—of the Sanctuary last night, but the seal had already faded years before now. If the Wind Mage had escaped either one of those times, everyone would know by now. He had a tendency to attack Hyrule's leaders, after all. Not exactly a subtle person.

"Zelda, exactly what kinds of magic do you sense from the sword and from the broken mural? Are they the same? Familiar at all?" Link queried.

"They are different kinds. But the one from the sword..." She held her hand out towards it once again. "The magic of the Wind Mage is familiar. It... it's the same as Vaati's..."

"Vaati Enlil's...?"

Zelda nodded seriously. Link took in a sharp breath and turned to Impa, catching her sharp red eyes. No one dared to say it aloud, but Link could read it in her companions' faces: was Vaati Enlil actually the Wind Mage?

"This merits further investigation," Impa stated. She bowed to Father Gaepora. "We thank you for your help. The Sheikah will continue the search for whoever broke into this Sanctuary."

Father Gaepora replied with a shake of his head. "To think we were guarding an empty sword all this time..."

Link, Impa, and Zelda departed from the underground sanctuary, climbing the stairs in silence. Once in the priests' office, Impa stopped to close the secret door, then fixed her gaze on the two young girls. "Both of you, tell me your honest thoughts on the situation."

Knowing Zelda wouldn't speak first, Link sighed and said in a calm tone, "Looks like someone wanted to release the Wind Sorcerer, but they were too late. I would say that he faded away, except Zelda says Vaati's magic is the same as the Wind Mage's. What that means, I'm not sure..."

"There is reincarnation," Zelda murmured timidly. "But that I know of, it has only ever applied to the Princess, the Hero, and Ganon. The Wind Mage was never reincarnated; he was simply freed from the Four Sword and then resealed. He was always the same being. If the seal faded, he should have been released..."

The Sheikah listened without any change in expression, arms crossed. When Zelda grew quiet, she nodded, braid swinging. "I would like to ask the two of you to officially investigate Vaati Enlil."

"In addition to the Yiga?" Link frowned.

"Yes. They may not be unrelated. You are familiar with the ancient foundation of the Yiga, aren't you?"

Calling up the stories, Link murmured softly, "They wanted to revive Ganon..."

"And Ganon and the Wind Mage once worked together," Zelda added, eyes growing wide. "Y-you think that they are trying to resurrect Ganon?!"

Link's eyes narrowed. "Using Vaati's power..."

"It is not impossible. It may very well be the reason that the girl going by Tiv was interested in obtaining Enlil's assistance. However, we have no conclusive evidence. Zelda, you are not one of my agents, so you are free to decline, but your help would be appreciated."

Zelda bowed her head deeply, not looking up as she responded, "I'm honored to be asked by the head of the Sheikah herself. Of course, I will help." She flashed a small smile in Link's direction. "I was already helping Link investigate Vaati in a way, anyways."

"Thank you. And thank you for coming at such short notice. You may return to the Academy now, both of you."

Impa walked with the two of them out to the Abbey entrance. At the steps, Zelda and Link waved goodbye and started off, but then Impa called out, "Link, I forgot to mention something."

Link paused, motioning for Zelda to keep going ahead. "Forgot something?" she replied. No, Impa didn't forget things. Most likely, it was something she had been debating telling Link or not. Which meant it was probably serious.

"No, never mind. You have enough to do as is." With that statement, the tall Sheikah turned crisply and strode back into the Abbey, leaving Link with a distinctly unsettled feeling.


8:49am

Farore Dorms, Link and Vaati's room

The bed creaked in protest as Link threw herself down onto the mattress, letting out a long breath into her pillow. Thankfully Vaati wasn't present; probably he'd gone to get breakfast. Link was a bit too tired to deal with any questions he might have, especially considering the kind of things she'd learned that morning.

Vaati... is the Wind Mage?

Those words, although unspoken, had sent a tremor through Link's heart, which she had quickly pushed down. It was too soon to jump to conclusions. Even Impa had said as much. What Link needed to focus on now was observing and evaluating Vaati until she could be certain one way or another.

There certainly was a lot of evidence pointing to the possibility. His magic was the most obvious one—first, the fact that he could wield magic at all; second, that his magic was the wind type; and third, that his magic signature matched the one from within the Four Sword. Zelda had estimated that the seal on the sword had broken in recent decades; Vaati Enlil was 19, nearly two decades old, matching what Zelda had said. Finally, even his name was suspicious—no one named their child Vaati, and yet here was a young man with the name of the Wind Sorcerer.

Even with all this, Link felt that something was missing. Supposing that he was the Wind Mage, why would he be studying at the Royal Academy? Why would his magic be blocked? And why would Vaati pretend to have such vehement hate towards the Wind Mage, always declaring that he'd be nothing like him? It wasn't the evil Vaati's style to have such an elaborate cover—or any cover at all, for that matter.

Link pulled out her tablet and opened up her messages. The screen popped up with her last conversation with Vaati.

Link, 5:04am: My grandmother is really ill, so I had to leave this morning to see her. Not sure when I'll be back!

Porcupine, 7:28am: why'd you stick the stupid bat in my bed?

Link, 7:29am: so you wouldn't be lonely, of course! Thanks for keeping it btw :)

Porcupine, 7:32am: I'm not keeping it, I just haven't decided what to do with it yet.

She turned off the screen, shifting so she could see Vaati's bed on the other side of the room. Sure, he was a prickly porcupine, but Vaati seemed like any other normal Hylian, not a power-hungry wind-monster. Well, okay—she had to admit to herself that he wasn't completely normal. But close enough.

Just how exactly was he related to the Wind Mage?

Rolling off the bed to the floor, Link opened her tablet again, typing in the codes to access the classified files stored on it. She scrolled through one particular document:

Vaati Enlil

Age: 19

Date of birth: October 8

Place of birth: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Father: Unknown

Relatives: Unknown

Current residence: Hyrule Royal Academy of Higher Education, Farore Dorms, Room 29

Current occupation: Student

Notes: Entered the Academy on a scholarship; previously was supported by Mrs. Marie's Orphanage. Had several foster parents but was never adopted. Two recorded violent incidents which resulted in his removal to a different home.

Link scanned over the profile quickly, having read it several times before. There were so many unknowns listed there, rather like her own. She knew how easy it was to forge documents if you had the right tools, but she also knew that enough digging would eventually reveal inconsistencies. However, according to Impa, Vaati's documented history was completely legitimate, however sparse. He'd been abandoned as a baby and taken in by the local orphanage, raised there and fostered by several parents yet never adopted, excelling at school, and earning a full scholarship to the Royal Academy. Such a history, while unfortunate in some parts, was completely normal; he hadn't suddenly appeared as a full-grown man, not like the Wind Mage always did.

Well, she wasn't going to learn anything from looking over these documents again. She shoved the box back under her bed and stood, stretching out her arms. Time to do a little work on the person himself.


10:00am

Rhoam Hall

Vaati's eyes flickered to Link, then just as quickly away, a frown starting to crease his forehead. Link continued to stare at him from her spot across the table from him. It was difficult not to laugh at how his eye was starting to twitch. Finally, he slammed down his book and glared at the blonde. "What do you want?"

Link grinned widely and swung her arms up into the air. "Studying is making me tired. Let's do something fun instead!"

"I have class soon, genius." Vaati lifted his book back up, clearly wanting to ignore Link again.

"Fiiiiiine. But it's not like you're really reading, anyway. You've been on the same page for twenty minutes."

She smiled even as Vaati scowled at her, completely unamused. "Maybe because you've been staring at me the entire time."

"C'mon, just a little break? Fifteen minutes? And then I'll leave you alone until class!" She gave him a pout, blinking emphatically.

Her roommate looked at her from behind his book, like he was considering it but pretending not to. Then, slowly, he lowered the book, sighing and looking away. "Fifteen minutes," he muttered.

Swinging her arms up again in victory, Link grinned and leaned forward. "Hey, why don't we brainstorm some ideas for when you get your magic under control? I was thinking, you should totally get a costume, so no one recognizes you, and go around pulling pranks on people with your magic. Like, make all the food in the cafeteria float so people have to grab it out of the air!"

"…That's the best thing you could come up with?" Vaati put a hand to his forehead like the idea caused him physical pain. "I'm not messing around like that when I have magic."

"Awww. What about performing, then? You looked so cool last time, with your hair all floating and your eyes glowing—ooh, I bet you'd have lots of fans! Can I be your fan?"

To her surprise, his cheeks grew pink and he shook his head. "Stop saying ridiculous things," he muttered.

Link opened her mouth, then shut it. Something told her that it was a bad idea to tease him about being embarrassed when she wasn't even trying to flirt or anything. His reaction intrigued her, however. Maybe he was just secretly pleased with her praise but didn't want to show it.

A little more seriously, she asked, "Well, what are you gonna do with it, then?"

The violet haired student looked away, crossing his arms, and sitting in thoughtful silence for a while. Link wondered if he really didn't have an idea yet, or if he was uncomfortable sharing it. Finally, Vaati sighed. "I have ideas, but… I just want to focus on even getting it in the first place."

"Well, as long as they're not world-domination ideas, I'm sure they're great ideas!"

His eyes narrowed at that. "Of course, they're not—I told you, I have no intention of being anything like my namesake."

Link chuckled apologetically, leaning back a bit. "Sorry, I know, I know!" She paused, considering her next words carefully. "Hey, but what if… what if your power actually is connected? To the Wind Mage?"

A long silence answered her question. He fiddled with the cover of his textbook. She kept glancing at his face, then the table. She knew she was asking some sensitive questions, things he'd always aggressively denied and fought against. The fact that he was even letting her ask without immediately leaving was huge.

"It doesn't matter," he finally said. "There's no way of ever knowing. And that's with the assumption that he even ever existed. We'd have to prove that, and then prove that he's either still sealed away or dead…" Vaati sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead.

"You mean like, find the Four Sword and see if he's still stuck in there?" queried Link.

"Yes, let's just go on a field trip and look for a legendary sword that somehow no one has seen in centuries," Vaati said sarcastically, staring at her flatly.

She put her hands up defensively. "It was just an idea! I mean, if we did find it, then we could prove everything once and for all. I don't have any idea where it would be, though… Maybe you're right; I don't know how a couple of college students are gonna find something like that." The blonde lowered her head to the table in defeat. "This magic-finding-stuff is hard."

Vaati shook his head and picked up the textbook, staring down at its pages. Peeking at him through her bangs, Link saw his brow furrow, finger tapping the table thoughtfully. Although he'd rejected her idea verbally, she hoped that the pondering expression he wore now was because he thought maybe, just maybe, looking for the Four Sword wasn't a totally far-fetched plan. That was the goal—planting a seed of thought in Vaati's head. If they were ever going to find out the truth behind Vaati's mysterious abilities, they had to solve the mystery of the abandoned Four Sword.