Chapter 18: Don't Touch
Friday, 3:23pm
Location: Eastern Abbey
Status: En route to investigate the Four Sword with Impa, Link, and Zelda
Vaati couldn't help but feel that Impa had become more intimidating ever since he'd found out she and Link were Sheikah spies. Or maybe the way she watched him with sharp eyes as he walked with Link and Zelda through the Abbey was just his imagination. It was easy to become paranoid when your roommate and his mother were both spies investigating a case about you. He decided to ignore it, however and focused his mind on the purpose of their visit to the Abbey: the Four Sword Sanctuary.
According to Zelda, the Four Sword no longer held the Wind Sorcerer within its blade. The seal had faded a decade or two ago. No one knew for sure what had become of the Wind Mage, but apparently, Vaati shared the same magical signature as his namesake. Their mission today was to confirm if the magical signature truly was the same and to see if Vaati had any reactions to the Four Sword. As Impa had said, there was an increasing amount of evidence pointing to Vaati actually being the Wind Mage, and this trip could very well be the final piece of the puzzle.
Of course, he had wondered 'what if' before. What if he really had been born with the Wind Mage's power? When he was younger, he had feared that the government would take him and lock him away for his magic. As he grew older, however, he gradually realized that very few people even believed in magic or the legends of the Wind Mage anymore. Sure, he was bullied for his name, but no one actually thought he was that dangerous. His fear of magic became curiosity, as he sought to find out why he alone of all people could use it. The bullying didn't stop, but neither did his interest in magic. Even if his power were the same as the Wind Mage's, he'd told himself, he was a different person. He would bring magic back to all of Hyrule. He would bring it back, and then... then maybe he'd be free.
The bitter side of himself always laughed at that part. What, he'd be free from the bullying and judgment? Yeah, right. There was no erasing the uneasiness in the eyes of those who had seen his magic. It didn't matter if he used it to protect others—those eyes would still look at him with barely hidden fear. There was only one person who had never shown fear or uneasiness when they found out about his magic—Link. But Vaati pushed the thought away. Link had no place in his feelings anymore.
As he followed Impa, Link, and Zelda down a flight of stairs, Vaati steeled himself for what was coming. Possibly nothing would happen, but he was the kind that prepared for the worst. His palms were growing sweaty. Would seeing the Four Sword unlock his magic? Would Zelda be able to confirm that he was, in fact, the Wind Mage?
"Vaati?"
Link's sudden voice made him jump, and Vaati blinked, abruptly realizing that he'd stopped following and was standing, frozen, on the stairs. He shook his head and swiftly caught up. Perhaps it was the narrow, dark staircase that was making him so uneasy.
Impa led them to a priest's office where the head priest, Father Gaepora, was waiting for them. His gentle bearded face took on a serious expression when he was introduced to Vaati, and the violet-haired student recalled that school trip, so long ago, when all of the monks had looked at him with that same exact expression. The uneasiness was growing stronger, as well, and he could barely concentrate on what the priest was saying. What was it about this place that made him feel so strange? Vaati ignored the looks that Link kept sending his way.
"I shall show you to the Sanctuary, then," Father Gaepora said. He turned to a bookshelf behind his desk, pulling one of the books partly out. There was a soft click, and the bookshelf swung gently open. "Please follow me."
The hidden entrance led to another staircase, this one even more steep, dark, and narrow than the last. Vaati hesitated to descend, but when he saw the concerned look Link gave him yet again, he gritted his teeth and plunged after Father Gaepora. The air was different—damp and cold. How far underground were they going? There were lights at the bottom of the staircase, and Vaati kept his eyes fixed on them, one hand against the wall as he descended.
When his foot landed at the bottom, some unknown dread washed over him. He shrugged it off as best he could and looked around the cavern he'd arrived in.
Several lights had been placed within the area, illuminating the crumbled stone mural that dominated the cavern. The engravings were ancient and near impossible to understand, covered in moss as they were. Right in the center, a large chunk of the mural had fallen to pieces, leaving a dark hole. Two priests and two people that Vaati assumed were Sheikah agents stood in front of the said hole.
Vaati stared at the crumbled stones and the darkness beyond them. In there, he knew, was the Four Sword. He curled his fingers into fists, fighting down the uneasiness that kept making his throat tighten. It must be the darkness. The dark had always made him uneasy.
"Hey, Vaati, you okay?" Link asked in a whisper, standing by Vaati's side.
He cast a weak glare at his roommate. "I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"I said, I'm fine!" he snapped loudly. "Let's go look at that sword already." Without waiting for the others, Vaati marched forward, pulling out the flashlight he'd been given earlier.
He pointed the beam of light straight ahead, seeking out the Four Sword. There was a metallic glint as he swept the beam slightly side to side. Vaati bit the inside of his cheek, trying to drown out his rapidly beating heart, and trotted forward to the simple stone pedestal resting at the back of the cave. His eyes fell on the sword resting within the pedestal: its blade was edged with rust, moss creeping up from the pedestal to the sword's hilt. Only the jewel in its hilt retained any of its former glory.
It was clearly an unusable relic, devoid of magic or power. So why did Vaati's chest constrict just from looking at it?
"Enlil, be careful!" came Impa's sharp voice from behind him. There were similar exclamations of warning from the others, but he gave no reaction.
Someone grabbed his wrist and jerked him around. "Seriously, Vaati," Link pressed, face mostly hidden in shadow but the concern clear in his voice, "what's going on? You've been acting weird ever since we got to the Abbey." He slid his hand down to squeeze Vaati's palm. "Your hands are sweaty and shaky."
"Perhaps he should not have been brought here," Father Gaepora said.
"That's right," Vaati murmured. "I shouldn't be here. This place is... that sword..." He bit the inside of his cheek again and pulled his hand away from Link's. No, this fear was irrational. It was just a cave and just a sword. He wasn't the Wind Sorcerer. It was all just irrational and a waste of time. And to prove it...
"Don't touch it!"
He didn't know who shouted that, but Vaati's fingers had already closed around the mossy handle of the Four Sword. And then everything went black.
The darkness. It was familiar, and for a moment comforting in its familiarity. Within the darkness, there was no one to judge him, no one to betray him, no one to hurt him. Within the darkness, he had no identity and no expectations. He was free from the weight of life.
Perhaps it was not freedom he wanted but escape. Running away was something he was good at. He ran from interacting with others, ran from the truth, ran from his own self. Though he had relentlessly questioned Link's actions, when he had actually found out the truth, his first reaction had been to run away from it. It had taken him so long to accept Link as his friend, to accept that there was one person he trusted, only to find out that it was all fake, and now he wanted to run away from the truth that that hurt more than all the bullying he'd ever endured. Two weeks he'd spent avoiding Link at all costs. It seemed as though he was seeking out the meaning behind his magic, spending all his spare time researching it, but when confronted with the Four Sword, all his fear had surfaced. Grabbing it had been a final, desperate act, an attempt to deny his fear and the growing certainty of who he was.
Here in the darkness, he could escape all that.
But the darkness stretched on, and he began to lose track of time. Moments, or minutes? Hours? There was no way to tell. He counted seconds, just to see, but it wasn't long before he lost count.
How long would he be in darkness this time? Centuries? Centuries, without sight or sound or feeling. Centuries, forgetting what color was, forgetting the sound of his own voice, forgetting what sunshine felt like.
He wanted to run—surely the darkness was not endless? But he had no body, no legs to run with, no eyes to see with, no voice with which to scream out.
Not again. Not again. Not again.
Why was it always the darkness? What god had invented this prison? Was this the punishment for running from the truth? This time, his anger and defiance melted into despair.
I can't get out. This is the final time. I will cease to exist, swallowed in the darkness. Why—why—WHY?! I JUST WANT TO EXIST!
He heard his name called.
"Vaati! Wake up!"
Blinding light assaulted Vaati's eyes when he tried to open them, and he cringed away from the flashlight pointed at his face. "Oh, Hylia," the voice gasped. The light left his face. Something bumped against his shoulder several times. "You idiot, why did you grab the sword?!"
Vaati opened his eyes fully again, taking in the sensations of the hard stone under him and the shadowed faces above him, the echo of their voices and the damp underground air. "How long...?" he murmured.
"You were out for almost fifteen minutes!" It was Link's voice—not surprisingly. Vaati could just make out his roommate's expression: his eyebrows were furrowed deeply, his eyes glinting and hard. "Zelda specifically told you not to touch it!"
"Can you move?" Impa asked, cutting into Link's rant.
He moved his arms to push himself up, but they felt like lead, and his head swam when he finally did get into a sitting position. "What exactly happened when I grabbed it? I feel like... like my energy's been drained."
Zelda and Impa exchanged a look. "Well," the younger girl said nervously, "the Four Sword was used for sealing away the Wind Mage. Since your magical energy matches the Wind Mage's, touching it may have activated its sealing power, even if only a little." She knelt down next to Vaati and placed a hand on his shoulder, quiet for a moment. Then she shook her head. "Almost all of your magic energy is gone..."
"Yeah, that's exactly what it feels like..." Vaati turned his head to look at the Four Sword, still resting in its pedestal. Perhaps it was his imagination, but the jewel in its hilt seemed to gleam a little brighter than before. Otherwise, it was unchanged. "So... it's all in that sword now?"
Zelda turned her head to look as well. "I can check." She stood and moved over to the Four Sword, holding out a hand near it and closing her eyes. Then she nodded. "Yes, I can sense a stronger presence of wind magic within the sword."
"It is more evidence," Impa said thoughtfully, "but still nothing conclusive. Unfortunately, with Enlil in this condition, there's nothing more we can do for today." She bowed her head to Father Gaepora. "I apologize for the trouble, but we will need to come back again tomorrow."
Father Gaepora's face was drawn, but he nodded and replied, "Of course. Let me show you to the guest rooms."
Link helped Vaati to his feet; the violet-haired man was annoyed to find his legs were too weak to walk on his own, so he had to hang an arm around Link's shoulders and limp out of the cave. His roommate said nothing, though. The unusual quiet made Vaati look at Link, confused, to see the blonde casting a long, serious look at the Four Sword behind them. Then he faced forward, but the look in his blue eyes did not soften.
That night, Vaati could not sleep. Though he spent the rest of the afternoon resting in the guest room he'd been given, sleep was impossible for him. The fear that he'd fall into darkness again was too great, and he stared for hours at the stone ceiling, stone walls, stained glass window, wooden bookshelf, and the leather-bound books on its shelves—every little thing in the room that he could see without getting out of bed.
Night came, however, and the room grew dark. Vaati slowly crawled out of bed and turned on the small lamp on the desk near the window. He stood for a moment, staring at the different pieces of colored glass. It was a depiction of the Master Sword, with its royal blue hilt and shining blue-silver blade. Somewhere in Hyrule, he thought, the Master Sword was hidden, just like the Four Sword. Just how many of the myths were actually fact?
He should have known better than to grab the Four Sword; he really had to question his sanity. Vaati continued to stare at the window without actually seeing it. Just like the reality of the Four Sword, he knew the reality of the Wind Mage, but his heart did not want to accept it. Nothing was conclusive yet, he told himself.
His body was still a bit sluggish, but at least he could walk on his own. Vaati pulled out a book from the shelf at random and opened it up to the first page: 'Hylia's People: A History of Hylian Worship.' Skimming through the pages, Vaati sat back down on his bed, letting the book occupy his mind and replace the worried thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him.
Before long—or at least, it felt like a short time—Vaati had finished the book. He sighed and shut it firmly, looking around for the time. The clock on the desk read 10:54. There were other books in his room, but for once he did not feel like reading. That uneasy feeling had never gone away, and he felt the need to move around, to try to find somewhere where that feeling did not follow him. Since he wasn't going to sleep anyway, Vaati left the guest room, deciding to take a walk down to the Abbey library.
It was just as he entered the library that he saw a figure entering the restricted staircase that led to the priests' offices. Normally, Vaati would have dismissed it as just a priest going down to their office, but he had caught a glimpse of the person's hair—short and light-colored, with a small ponytail at the base and longer locks of hair near the ears. Just like a certain blue-eyed spy he knew.
Vaati followed after the figure as quickly as he dared and as quietly as he could. The uneasy feeling grew as he descended the stairs, and this time he knew it was correlated to how close he was to the Four Sword. But as long as he did not touch it, Vaati told himself, he could endure it. He needed to know why this person—if it was who he thought it was—was going down to the Sanctuary in the middle of the night.
All the way down to Father Gaepora's office they went. Vaati ducked out of sight when the figure stopped suddenly in front of the office door. Peeking, he saw the person fiddling with the lock—probably picking it. His guess was correct, as the figure was quickly able to open the previously locked door, slipping inside. Vaati hastened to follow, pausing to give the person time to unlock the bookshelf door. When he heard the distinctive click, he waited a few more seconds, then entered the office, shutting the door behind him. His heart was racing in his throat by now and he was sweating, both from the nervousness of trailing someone and from his growing proximity to the Sanctuary. Taking a deep breath, Vaati plunged into the dark staircase for the second time that day.
Near the bottom of the stair, Vaati stopped, keeping out of sight. How would they get past the Sheikah guards? He held his breath and listened for any sounds.
"...when a Lynel spots you, right?" It was a familiar voice.
"It's best to run at that point," replied a voice Vaati didn't know.
"Or wear a Lynel mask!"
"Alright... you can go in, then. But don't touch anything."
"I know that!"
Vaati frowned; was that some sort of password exchange? It looked like the person had passed, though, and was going into the Sanctuary. He curled his fingers into fists. There wasn't any way he could get past the Sheikah guards, and, when he really thought about it, it wasn't like he really wanted to go into the Sanctuary. There was sweat on his palms and under his arms, despite the cold underground air, and his hands were shaking again.
It was a waste of time, Vaati told himself. He wouldn't repeat the same mistake again and go near the sword. He had just turned to go back up the stairs when a voice rang out, "Don't touch it!"
