Smummber has begun which means I have way too much free time on my hands. Just as promised I've been writing more so I got this done and edited in record time even though my brother was over cause of his wedding. I'm really excited to be rewriting this part so I hope you-

Enjoy bro!


Men and ladies dressed in ornate fabrics gave us perplexed looks as we went by. The few children that played in the street were scolded promptly by caretakers and ushered back inside. Link peered past me at the other side of the street, scanning every house front through iron gates and fencing. We stopped by the street and began asking around.

The name Telma gave us left our lips at every opportunity. Some people's faces would turn to disgust before dismissing us while others never recalled a man with the name. As we traveled up the street, a building found itself behind the woman I was about to question, tall and brooding, two spires reaching up to the heavens. Although the woman saw me approaching, I left her eye contact and ran back to Link.

"Link!"

He spun, eyebrows knit with worry, "Yeah?"

I pointed to the other side of the street, "That looks like Monich's house, right?"

He studied the stone building slowly, then nodded. We found our way onto the steps, knocking on the big wooden door and waiting for a response. When none came, Link conceded they were probably still out, but before he could fully turn around, Monich's voice called from the road.

"You two? It's barely past noon, what are you doing here so early?"

The storm clouds had encroached closer on the sun, but it still remained high and away from them. Gingerly, I spoke up, "We're looking for someone."

"Yeah, do you know Destrain?" Link stepped down.

Monich laughed somewhat, gesturing to the house next door, "You haven't gotten yourselves tangled up with him, have you? He doesn't have the best reputation around here."

"I know," Link crossed his arms, "That's why we're looking for him."

"Well give him a warning first...at least." Monich guided Agitha in front of him, pushing her through us to the door. Before he went inside, he gave us one last word of advice, "There's way more about him than he lets on."

As the door shut, a cloud passed over the sun and cast us in brief grey. The air went cold, wind billowing from all directions. Link and I walked down to the house, wooden but sturdy and still finely made. His hand grasped the knocker, breathing in as he lifted it higher, then slammed it down, down, and down.

Our figures wavered in silence before a young woman answered the door, eyes bloodshot and watery. "Mm?" she blinked, squinting against the light outside.

"Is this where Destrian lives?" Link forced the door open further.

She shook her head cautiously, "What do you want with him?"

Link pushed on the door again, hitting the woman on the other side with its edge. She stumbled backwards, clinging to its side still, "He isn't here, I live with my husband and children!" Her voice rose drastically, echoing throughout the foyer opposing the threshold.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe you." He jerked it open the rest of the way, throwing the woman to the carpeted floor. The inside was decorated in artwork on every wall, exquisite furniture waiting to be sat on or covered with vases. A bookshelf on the wall held volumes, names written in Hylian. Link and I stepped in, staring around into every corner, but finding nothing suspicious.

That's weird…

"What?" I asked aloud.

Link narrowed his eyes at me, "What?"

"Nothing," I shook my head vigorously, looking away.

The woman got up and shut the door with a slam. I jumped, but Link merely turned to her and crossed his arms again, "So where is he?"

She swept the black hair out of her face and smiled, "He's right behind you, didn't you see him when you walked in uninvited?"

I spun over on my heel, reeling at the sight of the man, appearing taller than even the moment I met him face to face that horrific night. He approached us with open arms, "Ah! I've been expecting you! Glad to see you've made it." The glint in his eye as he talked gave me chills that rolled down my spine like a massage given by a serial killer.

Link placed himself between him and me, holding his hands in fists at his sides, "Cut to the chase, where the hell is Ilia?" he spat.

Destrian threw up his arms, sneering, "Well excuse me for attempting formalities. I, however, don't yet know your names if you would care to bless me with them." His arms dropped, but his demeanor still rose far above the room.

"Give her back."

"Mm," he laughed, "and what do I get?"

Link's hand shot to his hilt, drawing the long blade out of its sheath without warning, "You get nothing," The blade swung across him, stopping just short of a vase sat precariously on a table.

Unfortunately, Destrian wasn't phased, "Okay, kid, let's make a deal. You give me that girl right there, and you get your little girlfriend back, no harm done."

The summer air dissipated from the room, chilling me to the bone. I backed away to the door, hand on the knob behind my back. Destrian's eyes still shined, watching me and as I turned it slowly and it suddenly turned no more.

"I'm not here to negotiate." Link pointed his blade at Destrian, the strain in his voice creeping in behind gritted teeth.

I let go of the doorknob, but didn't move.

"Oh, so you want to do it this way then?" Destrian waved off the woman with a flick, "Mm...yes, perhaps this might need a little force."

"What do you want with her anyway?" He glanced back at me, a moment that I tried to grasp in my fingertips, but unlike the flower, I lost him to the water. A tear slipped out of my eye.

That same smirk never left Destrian's face, not while he spoke, not while he was threatened. He strolled over to a painting, the size of the wall in which was depicted a battle, gruesome and dark. "That is none of your business."

Wait.

The woman came back around, a girl trudging alongside her, gagged and tied at the wrists. Link lowered his sword at the sight of her green eyes, wide and watery against the dim lights. His foot went towards her, but his body stayed put as she was brought right in front of him.

Destrian laid a hand on her shoulder, "Let's compromise then, shall we?" A twisted glare fixated on me, "You give me her, or I kill the girl."

Maizy, that woman, you need to kill her now.

Ilia tried to shrug off Destrian's hand, but neither he nor the woman would let go. I cowered under his eyes, feeling my back press the wooden door. My chest hurt, pounding away in my ears and fingers and toes. Anywhere my pulse went, I could feel it, consuming me. No, I didn't want to die. I didn't want to kill another human being. I had never been capable of that before and I didn't want to prove to myself that I was capable now. But I didn't know what to do. I didn't.

"I'm not letting her go that easily. If you want to fight me about, then go ahead."

Deep down, I wanted to believe in Link, but those storm clouds were so close. I fit my palm over the doorknob and squeezed, letting energy flow to my fingertips, numb.

Destrian suddenly threw Ilia forward out of the woman's hold, "Have fun."

Maizy, kill that woman, kill her now. She's a Vinderendetta.

The woman's figure began to hunch over, her skin turning ashy grey as her eyes went bright red. I released the energy in my hand, wood cracking and giving way behind me. It swung open as her back hit the ceiling, breaking it away while the room collapsed. Link grabbed Ilia and ran, leaving me tripping after them.

We tumbled onto the street, safe for a few blissful seconds as we watched the house implode. In that time, Link cut off Ilia's restraints and yelled at her to run, but when she started away, the ground shook and she fell to the cobblestone again. The front of the house blew out, a large reptilian creature clawing into the road. Screams erupted, men, women, children alike terrified for their lives.

Three of us stood within it all, face to face with a beast that wasn't all that different from the one inside of me.

Listen to me as you go, don't do anything careless, I need you.

Link lifted Ilia into his arms and picked her up, dragging her along until he got passed me and shoved her away like a toy car, expecting her roll away out of sight. Her face was engraved with forehead wrinkles, wide eyes, and an open mouth. I stood up on my two quivering legs and brought my hands out in front of me. "Take her, I'll hold the Vinderendetta off until you get back."

The Vinderendetta extended three long claws, beady eyes glaring out over a long snout. My blood rushed to my palms as she swung it down towards me, red crackling out into a fragile pane. They connected, the world frozen there for a moment before everything shattered. Her claws struck through, my shield fizzling out in front of me as I felt one enter and exit the flesh in my side.

When I hit the ground, the Vinderendetta leapt forward over me, running after the pair that had taken off. I rolled onto my stomach, helplessly witnessing Link turn around and draw his sword. Her arm winded back, and although he started to retreat, he was still well within range by the time she swept down towards him. I pushed myself up, flinching from the pain in my side, staring straight ahead.

Link sliced, up one of the claws, shaving off the tip and jumping backwards. I breathed out, glancing down at the wound through my side, readily piecing itself together. When I looked back, she had swung at him again, a green aura surrounding her remaining claws. Link attempted to slice again, but it didn't strike through, sword falling out of his hand into the cobblestone.

"No…"

The two claws entered his chest and he fell beside his blade, face down. I tried to run to him, but my body froze in place as the Vinderendetta caught up to Ilia. Although they were so far off in the distance, the flash of green and the girl's small figure slumping to the ground was enough to know. Link pushed up, staring down the road, blank. Her name left his lips like a gentle kiss before his body lied limp in the street.

I kneeled down and shook him, but with every jerk, the Vinderendetta stalked closer. Soon enough I gave up and left him.

The only way to kill her is to either sever her head or strike her through the heart, right between the shoulder blades. I've been trying to finish something, but it's not going to come in time, you're going to have to rely on yourself.

"That's fine," I rubbed my side, skin smooth and new, healed over in minutes. If I could at least survive, maybe I could help Link...if I could at least survive.

She settled before me, my chin turned to the sky just to see her giant maw. Her body was showered in golden scales, glinting off the dying sunlight. Every other moment a cloud would sweep by and drown the world in grey. As the wind blew by, my hair and clothes flicked towards the creature, however, her stiff body remained still, bending to nobody's will but her own.

"So you're a Vinderendetta?" she hummed, her voice ethereal, harmonious as if she spoke in two octaves.

I shook my head, "No, not like you."

Don't say my name.

"Are you a translation then?"

I scowled, "What do you mean?"

She lowered her head, eyes meeting mine straight on, "It doesn't matter, you're with the hero, are you not?"

"I am," I stepped back.

"Well then my mercy ends here. If you are a vessel, then perhaps the traitor inside will get what's coming to them." She stood back, lifting her head to its full height again. I felt my blood rush, pulse thrumming throughout my body.

That's Celincia, I remember she was always so gentle...

A ball of green fire flew towards me, its heat progressively dancing across my skin. Before it could envelope me, I threw up a panel of red, catching the fire on its surface. My muscles tensed under its force, breaking through the shield bit by bit. As it shattered, I leapt to the side, tripping over my feet into the road.

You want to dispel the attack as quickly as possible. Usually splitting it in half dissipates its energy.

Celincia took a step forward, shaking the ground and knocking me down once again. When I looked back up, another fiery ball was surging at me. I didn't waste time standing up and throwing a flash of red into the space between us. The ball hit and I evaporated the shield, my hand shooting with pain as green lightning erupted from my fingertips into it. Fire fell away, the bolt spiraling toward her, but just as I had done, she struck it away and paused.

"Vox?"

Her timber was strained.

Don't listen to her, just keep going.

I stepped back, anxiously hesitating to continue, "But-"

There's no talking sense into them, just kill. She killed Ilia.

My limbs went numb, pain striking through my flesh like bullets. Celincia stood still, "Vox is that you? Please…"

Kill her!

Water. It fell from the heavens as if the goddesses were weeping. The pain consumed my chest making my breath stagger, grating out of my throat. My mind bubbled with questions, adrenaline tossing them out, throwing away doubt and replacing it with blindness.

Celincia's eyes watched, pleading.

The connection between my brain and my muscles was severed, numb and pain tumbling out as light, too bright to determine its color. Passed my raised hand I saw it enter her chest and expel gold out into the rain, exiting into the night air and fizzling out from white to green to nothing. Through her shoulderblades, blood dripped out into the street. She stumbled, red irises succumbing to her eyelids, golden scales turning a muddy brown.

The Vinderendetta hit the cobblestone, splashing water up from small puddles. It didn't move, body dormant like a sleeping dragon, wingless and chained. My jaw hung, stomach tangling into knots. I slowly moved my hands to my mouth, panic taking over my head like a parasite.

"Vox, she didn't even fight back."

She would've seen a much worse fate if you didn't kill her.

"I-" I fell into the creature, hugging its nose tightly, "She knew you."

We knew each other when we were kids. But that's over now, go get Link, he's still alive.

I laid a kiss on her scales then stood up, wiping away tears that fell with the rain. Link was unconscious and as I kneeled down to try to move him, he didn't stir. Nonetheless I was too weak to even drag him that far and sat defeated until a familiar voice yelled out over the patter of the storm.

"Maizy?! My god, you're out here?" Monich came racing from his home, tripping down his steps and over debris to get to us. "Come here, let's get out of the rain."

He picked up Link with ease, turning off back towards his house, unalarmed although a monster sat not far off. I wavered in place, looking back down the street where Ilia had fallen. If I had checked on her then, maybe I would have found her alive, but my heart didn't want to see a pale face, once so full of life, the color of a ghost.

Monich's home opened up to a grand entrance, a wide staircase leading up to the second floor lit by a chandelier. The walls were bare and I had little time to inspect the other rooms on the first floor because he wasted no time bringing us up to a guest room and laying Link out on a bed, ornate sheets getting stained with blood. He started trying to rip aside clothes, then left me in a rush.

When the door shut, Midna flew out, flustered and grappling at the fabric of his tunic. I peered over, the blood draining from my face as I saw the wound at Link's side, a gaping tear of red flesh. "Idiot! No amount of red potion can fix this!" Midna slammed her fists into his chest, holding back tears.

"I'm sorry."

Midna didn't hear me, she buried her face in her hands, turned away.

There's a way to help him...but I don't know if you want that commitment.

"What is it? Anything…" I made myself look into Link's face, his ashy skin creased along his forehead. Sweat poured at his brow, slick.

Midna peaked through her fingers at me.

Your blood, if you heal him with it he'll be fine in a few hours. But it hurts like hell and he'll feel pain every time you use your magic aside from a leiyn.

"I don't care, I don't need it." I ripped the knife from my side, holding my palm over where his open wound pulsed. Midna caught my other arm, about to cut deep into my flesh.

She glared at me, "What do you think you're pulling, who are you talking to?!"

"Midna, please, trust me."

Her grip loosened then released and I brought the blade to my skin. My heartbeat caught in my throat, stuck there with so many emotions. With a breath, I sliced through and fought the urge to pull my hand back, waiting for anything to drip. After a few seconds, a single golden orb fell.

Link's eyes shot open, gasping as he sat up, then yelped in pain. Midna forced him back down into the bed, prying his hand away to see the skin smooth and dark in a small circle where the golden blood had fallen. "We're not doing this bit by bit, hold on."

A knock resonated from the wooden door. I jumped, waving Midna off back into Link's shadow. Monich peaked through the door, holding bandages and nothing else, strolling in as if there was no rush. Dropping them on a couch in the corner, he turned to me, "There's not much we can do-"

"I need some privacy."

Monich narrowed his eyes, "And why is that? You want him to die?"

I shook my head, gripping Link's hand in mine, "I need to talk to him."

"He's in hysterics, we need to help him now or-"

"I can help him, I know how to help him. Just leave me alone and he'll be fine." I bit my tongue, cursing myself.

Monich's skepticism turned into something new, his demeanor altering, face morphing into pretension. "Oh…" he muttered, "Oh I get it…" Suddenly he backed out of the room, disappearing behind the door, a click from the knob resounding off the walls like a priest's blessings over a church.

Hurry, there's something off about him.

"Midna, what is it?"

The imp lurched out, fiddling around with the buckle over the pouch at Link's hip. I reached and unhooked it for her, waiting in anticipation for something to happen. She came back up with an empty bottle and handed it to me, "Collect it in here, quick."

Hold the knife in, you're going to have to keep cutting or it'll just repair itself too soon each time.

I held my palm over the jar, breathing deeply. Midna watched anxiously as I made the first dig and winced. The pain only intensified the longer I held it in, but I kept my resolve knowing that it wasn't even the half of it. That Link would be feeling much worse. As blood started dripping off the edge of the blade, I stole a glance at Link. He was breathing heavily, conscious and silent. When the bottle's bottom was covered completely, I found myself ready to ruin that false peace.

"Okay," I mumbled, "It's ready."

Link opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but flinched, freezing in place. He panted, looking at me with wide, piercing eyes. I tilted the bottle, my chest rising with the sliding of golden liquid, then stopping. One fluent motion sent it all across his wound. When it connected with his flesh, he screamed.

At first it came like pulses, but the longer I sat there, watching him, the more he writhed and seethed, the more Midna pulled him back from hurting himself. I set the bottle down and backed away, wringing my fingers through the hole in my clothes.

"I'm sorry," my words caught in my throat. I swallowed around something thick lodged there.

He'll be okay, remember what I said, don't use your magic if you can help it, right?

"Right...right…"

A knock came from the door again, this time the man on the other side opened it quickly and walked in with purpose. Monich shut it behind him and spoke over Link's shrieks, "What's going on in here?!"

I glanced back, Midna no where to be seen, then rose my hands in defense, "He's gonna be fine, I just gave him a-a...potion!" No taste on my tongue would let me believe even my own lie, and the reciprocator of my words continued towards me without hesitation.

"There's something waiting for you at the front door." Monich pushed me aside gruffly.

"What?" I squeaked.

"Go, I'll see to Link."

My feet tried to stay, but my brain quickly shut off their free will and I was carried out of the room by my own two legs. Monich swung the door shut behind me, muffling Link's screams from my ringing ears. Suddenly I wanted to pry open the door and stay with him until he stopped, until he was okay.

Instead I turned my back on the noise and headed down the stairs. Across the hardwood floor I opened the door and stared out into the rain. Celincia was gone, but that was all I could find.

Oh my god.

My eyes traced the view downward, then froze on the small soaked kitten whose blood pooled around them. I kneeled, scooping up its limp body in my arms. Creota's little maw opened wide in a yawn, blinking against the house lights. Although I sighed, Vox brought back every inch of anxiety I thought I dispelled.

Someone tried to kill her, but they didn't know she was just a vessel. She would be dead if she was real.

"Why would they? Monich had to know that this was at the door…" I mumbled to myself.

"Oh yeah..."

I leapt back, snapping around only to come face to face with a nightmare.

"He knew very well."