fleets: This chapter may be rerevised and rewritten later as I rushed to get this done...Ah, impatience won out in the end...

Chapter 19: A Journey's End

Vaati nodded as they trudged onwards through a segment of what used to be Hyrule field to go after the dragon that had flown away into the distance. Link had just finished explaining to him everything he knew about the girl who had been determined to repay the mage for releasing her from the seal of the Four Sword many hundreds of years ago.

"So you say she changed into a Hylian appearance after my first loss."

"Yeah. That's what I got from her at least." Link paused to let Vaati catch up. Vaati just waved his hands to signal Link to keep moving.

"Form changing is one of the most risky spells you can learn to do. If you don't know how to control yourself, you can let the form control you."

Link's sword hit his side rhythmically as he jogged up a small hill. "What do you mean?"

The sorcerer sighed impatiently. "I mean to say that one can lose all inhibitions and go on a rampage. When you change forms and lose control, you basically go insane. It doesn't matter even if you change into a less menacing form; the result will be the same."

"Ah. So that explains why you're so scary and angry when you turn into that freaky looking eye."

"No, I'm just 'scary and angry' because a little green brat is annoying the hell out of me. I always have full control of myself. Anyway," Vaati frowned, "I think Ganondorf possessing the girl pushed her to insanity. From what she told you, her Hylian form is her transformation while her dragon form is her true state. That means she was possessed during her alternative stage, and was therefore more prone to be affected by the consequences of the transformation."

"Ok, sure. So she's gone crazy?"

"Were you even listening? I just explained everything to you. That means YES, you dolt," Vaati muttered after Link continued to look at him with incomprehension.

They reached the top of the hill and were met by a wall of water. Vaati ran his hands through the water, and to Link's surprise, the water disappeared and they were able to continue onwards. Up ahead, they could see a disturbance in space as the surroundings shifted and blurred in a jumbled mess, and they could only guess that that was where the dragon had disappeared.

"So, what are we going to do when we catch up to her?" Link asked.

The mage remained quiet for a couple of minutes before answering. "I'm not sure. But we don't have any other choice than to follow right now. I'm hoping…I'm hoping we can bring her back to her senses but if not…" he let the rest of the sentence trail off and Link looked at him, horrified.

"But that means we can't…"

Vaati cut him off. "We'll think about that when the time comes. We'll get back, one way or another."

They were interrupted by a violent ripple in the air and the surroundings around them began to change shape. A marble doorframe materialized before them, and then matching pillars sprung up next to the floating door. Link and Vaati exchanged glances before stepping through.

Link took a look back at the door after he had entered a queer, square, symmetrical room with three other exits, four counting the one they had come through. The door they had come from had glazed over, and they could no longer see what was beyond it; only a murky grey swirl could be seen past the door.

"What is this place?" Link asked as he scanned the hideously purple and black walls accented by the deep green floor. He could go nuts in this place. "It's a bit familiar." Link frowned, and then made a step towards the door they had come from in hopes of getting away from the horrible color scheme of the room. He felt a firm grip on his arm and found Vaati scowling at him.

"Of course it's familiar; it's the Labyrinth from the Palace of Winds. Stay put or you'll be lost here until you're nothing but bones." Vaati tapped a finger on his chin and his fingers made small motions as he tried to recall the right directions.

Link popped a fist against a palm. "Oh! I remember now! I forgot the right way to go, though."

Vaati snorted. "I designed it, fool. Do you think I would be so stupid to forget how to escape it myself? Now shut up so I can remember." His fingers continued to flick in four directions as he began to mutter to himself.

Link looked around again. "You sure have strange ideas for decorating rooms."

"Shut up, you idiot. I purposely made it this way so whoever gets stuck here will go insane. Now stay quiet so I don't have to start over for the third time." Link shrugged, and let the mage continue muttering to himself as his pale finger moved left, right, left, up, down, and left again. After several minutes, Vaati snapped his fingers and began to drag Link towards the door on the left. "Got it. Follow me, and don't do anything stupid."

When they stepped through the door, Link couldn't tell if they had gone into a different room or if they had somehow returned to the same room through some strange warping magic. Link remembered how it had been Vio who had figured out how to escape the Labyrinth. Why couldn't his smart half take over during times like this so Vaati wouldn't make fun of him? The fact that Vio was perspective proved that he had it in him to be incredibly sharp.

Just as Link was beginning to become bored by finding himself in the same room again and again, he stepped out into total chaos. They were in the middle of a village that was in the process of being burned to the ground by violent fires. There was a mound of dead bodies piled a few feet away from them, and Link began to retch from the disturbing sight.

"Please," a feeble voice begged them. "You boys have to run while you have time. Go to Hyrule and let them know what's become of us. Hurry! Go before the monsters return." A dying woman with most of her face charred fell to her knees. Link felt sick, and he could tell his face boiling red in anger with the blood curdling sight. The air rippled, and the woman disappeared, along with the piles of the dead. Instead, they were replaced by a group of morose people standing in line before them.

"Dear boy, you're from Hyrule, are you not? Then you must not know how the king treats us. We now wait for the dragon to take us out of this world and into the next one; a better one," one of the men said, and the group behind him nodded solemnly. Link's eyes went wide in bewilderment at both the disappearance of the dying woman and the claims of the villagers before him.

"What? But Zelda's father is kind and he would never mistreat anyone. And – " he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw it was Vaati.

"Link, this is a memory of the past. Or someone's version of the past, at least. It's more than likely the sight of the burned woman is what really occurred."

"How do you know it's the past?"

Vaati gave him a twisted smile. "This is Opal we're going after. We have to think of time travel. I also have reason to believe it's the past because I know how memories work." He released Link and gave a sharp look around before he began to address someone they couldn't see. "So you still have a sense of guilt left? Good. Then you might have retained some of your sanity. I must say it isn't healthy to hide what you have done behind some sad excuse that never happened. 'The villagers wanted to die to be free from misery?' Please, give me a break. That just doesn't happen. I, on the other hand, know exactly what I've done in my life and I don't try to deny what I've done." There was a low growl and the villagers and the burning houses vanished into the air. Two glowing blue orbs blinked before them, and Link felt the air become hotter. Vaati continued, this time speaking to the orbs. "I'll say this again, Opal. Snap out of it and take us back to the time period we belong in. Don't forget to break my curse."

The orbs narrowed until they were sharp lines, and the growling became louder. The air shifted again, and this time, they found themselves high above the underwater Hyrule on top of a submerged stone tower that resembled the remains of the Palace of Winds. They had returned to the future again, and walls of ocean water prevented them from escaping. Link took an uncertain step forward to the glittering sheets of plated scales and the ominous gleaming fangs.

"Don't you remember? You don't like to kill people any more. You said you've changed." Link could just hear Vaati's eyes rolling. He heard the word "naïve" spat out behind him. Link continued on. "You don't have to fight us, just take us home."

There was a deep rumbling growl that began from the back of the dragon's throat that quickly turned into a menacing roar. Opal wasn't going to listen, and the two travelers braced themselves as the dragon lurched into the air and circled around the broken palace. Link's face fell and he whispered nervously to Vaati who was gazing above him with thoughtful eyes. "What are we going to do now?"

Vaati slowly turned his eyes to his feet, and his voice could barely be heard. "We kill it."

"But…"

"Link, we might not go back."

"But there has to be a way." Vaati remained silent as the dragon turned in the distance to begin charging them. "Vaati, aren't you worried at all?"

Finally, the mage looked him in the eyes. The red eyes had lost their glint and appeared sunken and far away. "Goddesses, yeah I'm worried. But you just have to accept these things sometimes, Link. I hope you like the ocean, boy," he chuckled, and took out the Wind Waker for their final battle as allies. "At least I get to take revenge for all the misfortunes the girl had caused me. I'll rip her to shreds."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a rush of wind as the dragon zipped by and slammed the ground they had been standing on with its thick tail. Vaati blocked the flying stone with a wall of wind created by the Wind Waker while Link brought up his shield. Just as they were recovering from the attack, the giant had returned to blast them with an explosion of blue flame. Link scrambled away and watched with terror filled fascination as the flame's pathway caused the air to bend in on itself and distort space. Along the charred trail was a line of strange objects: a gnarled tree, a postbox, a part of a house, and even half a moblin. The collection of things that had been forced to warp wisped away as they disintegrated into the air.

Link didn't want to think about what would happen to him if the dragon's attack ever hit him. He looked around to see how Vaati was doing. The mage held both his hands in front of him and appeared to be readying a spell. As soon as the dragon got near enough, he threw down the hand with the Wind Waker and the wind began to push the dragon savagely downwards. The dragon roared as it was forced to fold its wings and land in front of Link.

Upon seeing Vaati give him a short nod, Link dashed towards the fallen beast and plunged the sword into its neck. The Master Sword, however, didn't penetrate the black scales so far and Link couldn't tell if the dragon even took any damage. He retreated back to Vaati as the dragon reared on its hind legs and faced them down with its full height.

"Vaati, I don't think it worked."

The mage scowled. "I should've known." He jumped out of the way as another space distorting blast of flame blew past them. "One, the sword is meant to strike down things that are evil, and the dragon is only insane. Two, that beast is far too big for your sword; it's like poking something with a toothpick."

Link tried to swat down some stalfos that had appeared from the distortion, but they disappeared as quickly as they had come. He realized too late that the stalfos had only acted as a distraction when a scaly claw came rushing towards him. Link felt himself fly several feet into the air as Vaati got a cyclone going to move him out of the path of the claw that crushed the side of the palace wall instead. One hit was all it took for them to die, and Link was becoming nervous.

What am I supposed to do? He gripped the Master Sword tightly and dodged a fiery attack. The sword existed so he could win against the likes of evil beings such as Ganondorf, not insane dragons that towered several dozen feet above him. He watched Vaati desperately trying to keep a cyclone going around the dragon to slow it down and hold it in place. Link turned his eyes back towards the Master Sword and made up his mind as he got an idea. It was risky, but what other choice did they have?

"Vaati. Can you make your tornado go any faster?"

The mage glared at him. "I'm doing my best. Don't push me." He added aside, "but I can probably make it go just a bit faster."

Link nodded, and threw the Master Sword onto the ground before his feet. Vaati's eyes went wide in confusion, and then they quickly turned serious when he understood what Link was asking him to do. "You know what the risks are?"

Link nodded again.

"If this doesn't work, we might lose the Master Sword and we'll be in an extremely vulnerable position."

"I know, but what else can we do?"

Vaati didn't answer as he couldn't think of one, and he shook his wrists before he muttered a part of a spell. The wind caught the Master Sword that had clattered to the ground and it began to spin around the roaring dragon as it entered the cyclone.

At first it seemed as though the sword wasn't affecting the dragon, and the two flinched as blasts of space distorting fire continued to nearly kill them. After a period of time, however, the blasts came in longer intervals until the dragon could only screech in pain. The beast was now covered in thin gashes all over its scales, and its wings were ripped to shreds. Vaati was gaining better command over the cyclone, and the sword spun faster around the dragon causing it to recoil whenever it slashed across its side. Its color had now changed from black to a deep, rich red as blood ran along its numerous slashes.

"Stop. Vaati, stop," Link cried. He couldn't stand the sight anymore. It was even harder for him as the dragon had never technically been an enemy. "Stop."

The mage put his hands down and the cyclone slowed to a slight breeze. They heard metal clanking as the Master Sword dropped from suspension. Vaati walked over to the defeated and dying dragon, and Link hurried after him.

Link watched as Vaati cautiously approached the dimming blue eye. It rotated weakly towards the sorcerer until the black reptilian slits were level with Vaati. "Your promise, Opal. Break the curse, and bring us back where we belong."

The dragon heaved as it made an effort to breath, and its movement caused some new wounds to open up. Vaati had been right when he laid claim that he was going to rip Opal to shreds. Still, the mage didn't seem happy about what he had done; if anything, he seemed to have trouble looking the dragon in the eye.

"Your promise," Vaati repeated.

The dragon closed its eyes and turned into a dark shadow as it began to morph. At the end of the process, a battered and bloody girl with gashes all over her side lay still at their feet. When she opened her eyes again, Opal made an effort to talk. "That's right. Thanks…for reminding me."

The surroundings began to shift and the Palace of Winds began to disappear. The Palace of Winds: the place where everything had begun, and the place where their journey would finally end. The Palace melted successively into different locations. Link recognized the them as all the places they had visited during their adventure.

Dragon Roost Island, The Great Sea, Windfall Island…

Link looked away. He couldn't believe what they had done now that the girl was herself again.

Opal brought up her shaking hand and clasped Vaati's firmly as he knelt down beside her. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I thought I could repay you for freeing me from my prison and look at what I've done." She fell into a fit of laughter that died down into a pained grimace. "If I had known this would happen…if I had any idea…I would have…given you back your magic back in the jail cell. I'm sorry."

The Tower of Gods, the Temple of Time, Ordon…

Vaati shifted his weight and his mouth flattened as he motioned his free hand over his wrists that still had blue runes circling around them. Opal smiled weakly. "Of course. Don't think…I've forgotten…. You'll be…free." She moved her hand over the wrist and cast a spell, and the runes instantly disappeared.

The City in the Sky, The Forest Temple, Telma's Bar…

She made one last attempt to speak as her breathing began to slow and her eyes began to lose focus. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "Vaati…will…you…forgive me?" And with that, she disappeared with a ripple in the air before the mage had time to answer.

Hyrule field…

The sun was high above their heads and the grass swayed gently in the breeze. Far in the distance was the Hyrule Castle Link had grown up in. The town square was probably bustling with people now. Link took a step towards Vaati who was still crouched beside the flattened grass where Opal had been. The mage was staring at his hands.

"Vaati, we made it." Link felt foolish for saying this. Their last battle didn't feel like a victory, and though they were back home, Link couldn't feel anything but sadness. All this time he had thought the adventure would end with the girl alive with them; his goal had been to save her and Zelda from Ganondorf for Din's sake, not kill her. He looked at the motionless sorcerer and tried again. "Vaati…let's go."

Vaati continued to stare at his hands.

OXXXXXXXXXO

A.N.: Not quite done. We still have unfinished business.

Reily96: Yay thanks! Yeah, she doesn't show up much in the second half. Especially because this story isn't OC driven...

bleu-blizzard: She went nuts. Nope, it's not over yet!

Diablo1123: Hmm

H-bomber: Thanks!

Peka the Corsair: Really?! Yay I improved?! :D

Azure Inu: I've always wondered why Link gets away with it. Thanks for your support! That ending you suggested would be cute :)