Okay, so maybe it was something of a risk to send a telepathic message directly into the soul of an extremely powerful sorcerer—but in all fairness, it would be even more dangerous to draw his sword without even trying to contact him first. With any luck, Zelda would be able to get some sort of leverage against him if she spoke with him beforehand.
She shivered as an icy wind wrapped suddenly around her shoulders, hissing like a sharp inhalation. Opening her eyes cautiously, Zelda realized that though her own ghostly form glowed with a faint light, the darkness all around her was utterly impenetrable. Trembling slightly, she hugged her arms instinctively closer to herself to keep warm. So this was Vaati's consciousness…
"Who dares cast such forceful light into these ancient shadows?"
Zelda jumped as a deep and powerful yet somehow distorted voice surrounded her. The sorcerer's presence stirred around her, and eyes seemed to burn into her from all directions, but she swallowed her sudden fear and looked up, unsure where else to turn her blind gaze. "I am Princess Zelda of Lorule," she announced, as steadily as possible. Most souls shone white, or misty gray, but they were never so dark that she could not see.
Her own light did not travel far enough for her to tell whether anything else existed in this emptiness, but she could still sense the shadows swirling as if in surprise. "Why have you entered my sanctuary, Princess?" asked Vaati, his voice accompanied by another cold current. Whether her eyes were adjusting to the darkness or not, Zelda couldn't tell, but she thought the blackness lightened a little at the mention of her title, revealing inky clouds like a storm in the night.
"I seek the Mage's Cap," said Zelda uncertainly. The end of her statement turned up slightly, as if it wanted to be a question, and she cursed herself for the slip-up. If she didn't assert herself now, she had no chance of winning the esteem of a being so powerful as Vaati.
Sure enough, he only chuckled, as if amused by the idea. "Idiot girl," he said, and his tone might have made Zelda angry if they hadn't sent chills down her spine. "I never could have been sealed away like this if I still had it."
Zelda's heart almost stopped, and she stared at nothing. "Then… where is it now?" she asked, voice faint and distant to her ears as her mind raced far ahead of her mouth. Every source she'd ever examined indicated that Vaati still possessed the Mage's Cap. If he didn't have it, how could she find it?
"I see no reason to tell you."
Hope flickered once more in Zelda's heart at the implication that he knew, and her light expanded slightly, though the shadows remained inscrutable. If she could only get the information out of him somehow… "If you do," said Zelda, her voice gaining strength, "I'll draw this sword and set you free."
The shadows stirred as if with renewed interest, and she felt Vaati's focus sharpen as if he were examining her more closely, more suspiciously. Oddly, the sensation was encouraging, and Zelda mustered a small smile. She'd gotten his attention, and that was the first step to earning his respect.
"Given a little more time," said Vaati eventually, thoughtfully, his presence relaxing again, "I could break the seal on my own." As he spoke, his voice became lighter, smoother—more persuasive than intimidating—and Zelda narrowed her eyes. There was a silent but clear invitation in his tone: make me an offer.
"Then name your price." Whatever Vaati requested, Zelda would probably be able to convince him she could grant it. After all, as the crown princess, Zelda had spent most of her life cultivating an ability to persuade people of what they wanted to hear. (Lying, in other words.)
Vaati chuckled again, as if sensing her thoughts, and Zelda reminded herself too late that she was a guest in his mind. "To do so would be a fool's errand," he said, sounding much more amused than angry as she anticipated. "You are not bound to make good on any agreements between us."
Glowering grudgingly, Zelda paced forward. Feeling out with her mind, she tried to locate the center of Vaati's consciousness so she could level the playing field by facing him, but he seemed to be formless, omniscient. "That's… true, I suppose, but—"
"What would a human want with the Mage's Cap?" interrupted Vaati suspiciously, though there was a surprising undercurrent of dry curiosity in his voice. "I wasn't aware that any of your kind knew of its existence, let alone its true name."
Zelda bit her lip; it was high time she gave Vaati a taste of his own medicine. It may be a risk, but she knew he couldn't destroy her in this form without great cost to himself. "I see no reason to tell you," she said pointedly, wishing she could look him in the eye. All too aware of her unseemly insolence, she braced herself for the brunt of Vaati's infamous wrath, but he only laughed. (Zelda frowned slightly: he acted nothing like the ballads proclaimed.)
"In any case," said Vaati, his voice coiling unnervingly around her like a great dark snake, "my freedom for my cap is hardly an equal trade."
Zelda squinted into the restless shadows, uncomfortably claustrophobic, and took a deep breath. She would actually have preferred overt displays of fury to subtle intimidation. "What would you consider a fair trade, then?" she asked, redirecting her abundant nervous energy into as ferocious a glare as possible.
A breeze brushed past her ears, carrying whispers that might have been indistinct thoughts, before the winds stilled abruptly; the space around her seemed to become much cooler. "If you're so intent on bargaining, I want the Mage's Cap returned to me. Not that I believe for a moment you'll actually do it," he added in a mutter, sounding almost as though he spoke only to himself.
Zelda raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips. "I can't give you the Mage's Cap in exchange for information on where to find it," growled Zelda, anxiety turning temporarily to annoyance. "That's just ridiculous." And inadvisable, she continued, in thoughts she hoped were private.
"Indeed," agreed Vaati, suddenly serious. "But telling you won't be necessary." Shadows shifted all around Zelda, and her light dimmed along with her courage, despite her best efforts to keep it up. "I can lead you to it."
And then keep it for himself so he could take over Lorule a second time? No thank you. "That's not exactly a fair trade, either," returned Zelda, crossing her arms and staring upwards. If the only payment he would accept was the Mage's Cap itself, there was no way she could lie about handing it over.
"No?" asked Vaati disinterestedly, his presence billowing away from her like a cape in the wind. "That's too bad."
Narrowing her eyes, Zelda contemplated the ways in which she could possibly hold his slippery attention. "I could always take you captive and force the information out of you," she remarked, keeping her tone as light and conversational as possible.
Vaati's movements halted halfway through the sentence, but there was no time for Zelda to feel victorious. As soon as the last word left her mouth, her shadowy surroundings turned deathly cold, and she gave an involuntary gasp at the sudden shift in temperature. "Is that a threat, Princess?" asked Vaati softly, dangerously, the last syllable a menacing hiss.
Zelda shivered helplessly as a chill gripped her, but forced her heart to slow down. "I prefer to use the word 'possibility'," she said, though she could not keep her voice from trembling slightly.
Vaati's low laugh rumbled like thunder through dusky clouds. It was all too clear that he didn't believe her, which came as no surprise whatsoever. At this point, she felt more like a shy little girl than the authoritative princess she was supposed to be. "I see," observed Vaati, the last remnants of his somewhat sinister laughter echoing gradually into silence. "Then we have nothing further to say to one another here."
His presence retreated slowly, gliding away through the unfathomable darkness, and Zelda moved to pursue him, opening her mouth to protest—but she was forced to stop and protect herself as the scattered shadows swept around her, threatening to extinguish her flickering light. When the dark smoke cleared, she could no longer sense Vaati's presence, nor even tell which way he had gone in this directionless void.
Stamping her foot frustratedly, Zelda clenched her fists and thought a few choice curses as loudly as she could in the hopes of drawing him out: much to her dismay, nothing happened. But just as she was about to admit defeat and let herself dissolve, a frigid breeze carried Vaati's final words to her ears, and she found herself shivering one last time: "You need only draw my sword to meet me face-to-face, and then, you can try to make those possibilities a reality."
Zelda's physical eyes flew open in panic, and she immediately groaned and squeezed them shut again, unused to the sudden daylight. However, as she opened them again slowly, she found that the sky had actually clouded over—and if the ominous thunder rolling in the distance was anything to go by, a storm was coming.
A gentle touch on her shoulder distracted her; she jumped, glancing back to find Link steadying her with concern in his eyes. "Zel," he said quietly, a hint of hope in his light voice. (She hadn't realized how much she'd missed his presence until he spoke.) "We don't have to do this."
Zelda took a deep breath, clearing her mind, and shook her head, readjusting her grip on the hilt of the Picori Blade—glancing briefly up at the sky as the first few heavy drops of rain plummeted down. "Sorry, Link," she said, meeting her brother's disappointed eyes with some difficulty, "but… we've come too far to stop now."
Link only bowed his head, his red gaze hardening, and said nothing; Zelda struggled to suppress her guilt. Pacing around to the other side of the pedestal, Link drew the Master Sword, which gleamed silver in the waning sunlight. Inhaling slowly, Zelda counted down from three on her fingers; the rain quickened and thickened, as though sensing her intent.
It was now or never…
She yanked upwards with all her strength, letting out a battle cry, and the world seemed to slow down. As though her body's actions were beyond her control, Zelda found herself raising the sword to the sky. A bolt of lightning surged into it as deafening thunder rattled her body and soul, drowning out her instinctive scream.
Even after the flash ebbed back into stormy darkness, the Picori Blade blazed blindingly bright in Zelda's trembling grasp, as though all its energy was stored within the blade. Its broken tip was replaced with crackling light, and she wondered fleetingly how she was still alive after such a powerful strike. Perhaps she had been spared because all its ample electrical energy seemed to be trapped inside the blade somehow?
Adrenaline kicking in at the possibility of her imminent death by electrocution, Zelda tried desperately to unclench her fingers from around the hilt—but soon realized, as if in a nightmare, that her muscles were locked in place against her will so that she could not move. "Link!" she managed to cry, but her brother only focused on the sword in her hand, poised to attack should a more obvious threat present itself.
He didn't have long to wait: the glowing energy seeped downward like melting liquid, spilling over Zelda's hands, and her eyes widened. It wasn't at all wet, but soft and warm, and felt alive, a faint pulse like a heartbeat growing ever stronger within it.
It flowed down into open air like a sheet of molten light, but it didn't fall towards the earth as she expected. Instead, it extended sideways, slowly shaping itself into an arm whose hand still grasped the hilt. Zelda jumped, startled, as she noticed the Master Sword slice through it; she had not noticed Link circling around. But the liquid only reconnected to itself, smooth and unbroken, as soon as the blade passed through.
Zelda thought she heard Vaati's distinctive laugh at her brother's failure, but it seemed higher in pitch now, less monstrous. Glaring at his helplessness, Link kept his sword at the ready, watching carefully as the rest of a largely featureless Hylian body was formed. Zelda gasped as the liquid darkened to a deep purple from the fingers outward, becoming distinctly more solid.
In response to her involuntary utterance, Link plunged the Master Sword into where the figure's heart might be and held it there, unmoving. The world shook with thunder, as if in anger or warning, but the process was by no means halted. Red, gold, and lighter shades of violet rippled across the newly created body, twisting and turning into skin and markings, hair and eyes, garments and accessories.
Eventually, only the patch immediately surrounding the Master Sword remained in its original, semi-fluid state, and the rest of it had become a fully clothed male Hylian body—but Zelda's attention was more focused on relaxing her rigid muscles, to no avail. "Link," she said, struggling to make herself heard over the thunder, "I don't think I'll be able to move… till you stand down."
Link narrowed his eyes as if considering his alternatives, but could think of none, and finally slid the sword out. As the last remnant of light finally darkened and solidified, all the strength went abruptly out of Zelda's limbs. Dropping the sword, she collapsed onto her side with a weak cry, shaking from head to toe, and squeezed her eyes shut—but they flew open again as she registered a slick sort of sound, followed by a guttural gasp.
Through her unfocused gaze, Zelda first noticed the newly reborn Vaati (a blur of purple, gold, and red) clutching wide-eyed at the Master Sword, once again buried in his incomplete heart. He tried to stagger backwards, out of range, but Link caught him by the collar of his cape and dragged him closer, sliding the blade in to the hilt and twisting it slightly. He spasmed, but either could not or would not fight back.
Zelda's exhausted eyes closed suddenly without her consent, and tried to open them again, but to no avail. She felt her consciousness slipping away, but even as the darkness washed over her like the rain, she could still hear her brother's quiet and furious voice: "Don't you ever hurt Zelda like that again."