The entire kingdom was a mess over the appearance of meteor
The entire kingdom was a mess over the appearance of meteor. It had been confirmed that it was indeed the doing of Vaati's brother whose name was still unknown, the only bright side was that the deathly wind had stoped, presumably due to the amount of power required to pull it into the planet's atmosphere.
Zelda's life was now turmoil the decision had to be made, evacuate and let fate play its part, or intervene and stop him yet Zelda truly doubted the latter option. With Vaati's disappearance it seemed that her world was about to be destroyed in front of her very eyes. Yet she would feel guilty for the rest of her days if she allowed Link's quest to die in vain. But what was a queen to do, rule a crumbling and failing empire or leave to a new land where she could begin again, slowly nurturing her people back to the mighty Hylians they once were.
Zelda realised that the choice was not hers to make, she would let the people decide. She had been the one to lead them into this untimely death if they had any chance of surviving she would let them choose there path.
She stared from her balcony at the mighty rock looming down upon them, it was only adding to the fact she and her people were doomed. But always, always there was hope even if it was just a spark it was still there, the possibility that Link would return with Vaati and he would stop this all. But again she truly doubted it, the hopes of it were slim, Zelda just prayed that Link would be here with her if meteor came crashing down anytime soon.
Time travelled fast and in no time at all night was awaiting her. Zelda left her window and started going to some place more relaxing where she wouldn't have to be constantly reminded of the grim tidings.
Vaati could tell by now that something very suspicious was going on. He entered the door and found what looked to be a well but with rotting planks of wood put in to make a spiral staircase leading down to the unknown depths. He wearily stepped down one at a time, making sure that each step was safe. He continued down the dark steps all the way to the end where he found a passage leading to a new underground part of the haunted place. Vaati walked along the ancient passage which was illuminated by glowing patches of light blue moss, he reached the end of the spooky corridor to find a wall of solid silver. In front of the wall lay a pedestal with a mouldy old diary on top of it. He flicked through the pages scanning it briefly, it mainly consisted of research notes about projects that had failed occasionally some were a success but it never gave any details on what the experiment was conducted on. About midway through the book Vaati found a page consisting no more than two lines, they read:
What can you feel but can't touch
What can you hear but can't see.
Vaati studied the puzzle but he couldn't make any sense out of it, nothing he could think of had any relevance to the rhyme at all. The boy stood there for moments racking his brain for anything that could be felt yet remain untouched. The answer stood right under his nose for a few painstaking minutes before finally revealing itself to his flow of thoughts, Vaati picked up the quill that was lying on the pedestal and wrote in the answer on the spare line in the decaying old diary.
(I shall let you solve the puzzle, it's not that hard)
When he was finished writing the last letter the silver wall began to crack, bits began crumbling to the floor until only a pile of precious metal lay at the bottom of the doorway. Vaati entered the room and was shocked, hovering above a pool of water lay a golden triangle, yet instead of it being a piece of the triforce it was like the triforce had been cut vertically in half. Then he heard clapping from behind.
"Well done."
Vaati spun swiftly on his heels "Vincent" he muttered.
"Oh how perfect you remembered my name."
"What the hell do you want" Vaati growled.
"That mystical object at you back" he said sourly.
"What is it?"
"It is how I bought my ticket home, only that's the other half."
"What do you mean… home?"
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you in on my… no fathers, way out of this foolish planet, you better sit down this is going to take some time" Vincent clicked his fingers and two lavish chairs appeared. He sat down but Vaati wasn't so certain.
"Oh come on now brother I'm not here to hurt you, unless you get in my way now sit while I tell our story" Vaati did as he was instructed but he didn"t let his guard down.
"This story is long however and I do not wish to waste too much time here so I will be as quick as I can. It started about four centuries ago; our father became too powerful for the liking of the leaders of our race, as you know he sought the golden power so they made him a deal the would tell him which planet it lay on but he would never be able to return to Itaa, out of lust for power he agreed and was sent to Hyrule. He searched for centuries before he finally found it in the sacred realm, there was no hero of time, princess of destiny.
"You did not mention the king of evil" interrupted Vaati.
"Yes Gannondorf was alive back then however he did not possess the triforce of power he was just the king of the Gerudo with no evil intentions of taking control of Hyrule, however being a male his lifespan greatly outnumbered that of any Gerudo or Hylian."
The other two holders of the triforce were weak, and he managed to kill them without much of a challenge. With the entire Triforce he conquered Hyrule within a matter of years, however he became bored and longed to return to his people to show off his newfound power yet as the deal said they would not provide transport back home to Itaa."
"Transport… what do you mean" interrupted Vaati a second time.
"Let me finish and I will tell you. With an unlimited amount of time to research, he began making his own "vessel" to carry him home. But he was soon to find out that the triforce alone would not be enough for it to work, so he decided to start work on his own variation of the triforce which he named the lightforce, which is what you see over there" he said referring to the triangle behind Vaati. " It took him multiple decades for him to complete it but eventually he had a power stronger than the entire triforce, yet the most unexpected turn of events unfolded as he was about to succeed, tired of living in slavery the foolish Hylian's staged a revolt. The gods angered by something more powerful than there triforce blessed a single Hylian with the sword that is now known as the master sword, with that and a princess with enchanted arrows of light, the pair succeeded in foiling father's plan and sending him to the bowels of hell."
"What about us, were do we come in" asked Vaati
"During his years of research he did mate, meaning you and I are not entirely Itaavis."
"So what happened, the princess and the hero killed father?"
"Precisely, but he did leave his works scattered around this mansion, which I managed to collect and compile into a sort of book."
"And what exactly did you find out after reading his works?"
"I found out his intentions and plans for returning home."
"I suppose this has something to do with meteor then."
"Meteor is the centre of the entire operation my brother."
"So what is it for then?"
"After all this are you still puzzled… you mentioned it yourself, transport."
Vaati just stared at him.
"I see it isn't coming to you… I'm going to launch meteor into Hyrule blowing up the entire planet while I ride meteor home to Itaa."
"WHAT!!" gasped Vaati?
"That's right you heard."
"Then what are you doing here" said Vaati.
"With the entire light force and triforce I will be the most powerful person in the universe, even the gods will have reason to fear me."
"Now for my offer… join me."
"You mean ride home with you leaving Hyrule a crumbling ruin."
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
"That is one offer I'll have pass you up on."
Vincent's smile turned to a frown "I expected as such… very well brother you will burn with the rest of Hyrule."
"You are no brother of mine" he muttered.
"Well then when you come back on your hands and knees begging for me to reconsider, I will remember that you are no brother of mine and let you burn with the rest of this world" he said beginning to laugh.
"You know only too well that I would die before pleading for mercy from you."
"Whatever, I have work to do if you have no further questions I'll be leaving with the ENTIRE light force"
"But before Vincent could finish his business Vaati dashed to the golden triangle, and with the speed of the winds he got there before Vincent could analyse the situation. A golden beam shot into him bestowing upon him ultimate powers.
Vincent just smirked "With or without the lightforce you can't stop meteor, its decent has begun, you have twenty seven hours before it arrives" and with that he was gone.
Link dropped his horse off at the ranch and then hurried to castle town hoping to find Zelda. He entered the town and found it in a huge mess. People ran about screaming, yelling shouting trying to grab as much stuff as they could and get as far away from Hyrule as they could little did they know no matter where they went the entire planet was going to blow. Link ran through the overpopulated streets trying to get to the castle unfortunately as he was running his shoulder snagged against another mans and he was sent spinning to the ground in a daze. Before the young hero had a chance to get his bearings he was being trampled, kicked and mercilessly beaten by the unwitting townsfolk. Through many bumps and bruises Link managed to rise to his feet and continue to the castle in his vain attempt to find the princess who had probably already left the country.
(26:41, hours remain)
He reached the castle courtyard and looked around there was no sign of anyone, the waiters and servants had all left in an attempt to escape with there lives. Link stopped abruptly he could hear something… music. He hurried to the gardens, all of the plants were dead or dying, Link followed the sound where he found Princess Zelda sitting on the last remaining patch of green grass, playing her harp.
"Zel?"
"Link" she gasped and ran over to him embracing him in her arms.
"Zelda" he managed to get out.
"Link I…I couldn't do it… I couldn't save my kingdom" she sobbed.
Link just cradled her in his arms "It's not your fault Zely" he said trying to comfort her.
"Link were going… to die, aren't we?"
"Don't talk like that Zel everything is going to be just fine."
The pair stayed there for some time, perfectly consent with dying in each others arms, though as all hope seemed lost, the machinations of fate would not have Hyrule turn that way.
As the first caravans began exiting Castle Town the unexpected happened, a host of strange three clawed, human like monsters appeared on top of a nearby hill, each brandishing long, wavy, two-handed swords fit for cutting through anything. The screams of the first few caravans soon reached the ears of the inhabitants of castle town. Without a second thought Aziel, second in command of Hyrule's army began organizing the tatty remains of the once mighty Hylian army. Rallying any of the few soldiers he could find his small platoon managed raise the castle drawbridge then align archers and sentries to the walls.
In the field the first convoy had been completely annihilated by the unknown attackers, luckily the second had seen the destruction of its comrades and hastily returned to the safety of Castle Town. The strange race of people began marching upon the Hylian's and it was soon clear that there army was tiny, smaller than what Aziel had mustered. But to Aziel this was not good an army that small obviously had either: no thoughts of self preservation or was so powerful that large numbers were not critical to the success of their mission, he suspected the latter was the more likely meaning that the odds of winning were very slim indeed.
As the strange men/monsters began to encroach the castle, Aziel ordered off his first volley of arrows. It looked as though he was going to wipe out nearly the entire army with just that single volley, but as the arrows drew near to killing any of them, the fiends used there swords to swat them aside. It was unbelievable, none of them had been touched let alone killed, and this was extremely discouraging to the Hylian soldiers who stood atop the walls, swords drawn, ready to be hacked limb from limb by these ruthless opponents. Aziel drew his long-sword, given to him upon initiation of becoming a knight, "I don't think I can give a speech nearly as good as Link's but I have to try" he said to himself. Raising his sword in the air he shouted his words of encouragement against the ever increasing wind "Today we fight for glory… we fight for honour… we fight for our families… but above all else we fight for HYRULE!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. All of the men atop the wall screamed back in reply their confidence bolstered once more.
"For glory, for honour, for Hyrule" they chanted over and over again.
Vaati walked up the old well and exited the mansion, he looked around he sky was dark, there were no stars or clouds just the giant rock looming ominously over Hyrule. He walked around the forest eventually finding his way out of the maze and started on his long journey to the one last place he had to visit before beginning his final encounter with Vincent. The purple boy mused over the recent events in his mind, his father's previous life, Vincent's plan, the new powers bestowed upon him by the light force yet one thing concerned him the most: what if Vincent was right and not even with the lightforce can meteor be stopped, if that was true then all hope was lost, but Vaati had one more idea on his mind… if he could convince Zelda and Link to give him their pieces of the triforce then perhaps there was yet a glint of hope in the ocean of destruction. The young mage walked through the rocky outcropping that served as the entrance to the unforgiving desert.
"For Hyrule" shouted Aziel as he lead a small group of soldiers into the fray. Currently the battle was not going in their favour most of their men had been killed atop the walls so they had retreated back into the town using the many houses to unsuccessfully ambush this new threat. These creatures they fought were inhuman, their strength was far greater than any Hylian, they were faster than any Hylian, and they were more cunning than any Hylian leaving the Hylians at a huge disadvantage. Out of the one hundred that had attacked not even an eighth had been killed while the three hundred strong Hylians had been reduced to about one hundred and fifty. Aziel and his group of battered, weathered, puny and feeble men stood little chance, but what choice did they have there princess had abandoned them.
Aziel thrust his sword at another of the foul minions but it was carelessly parried aside yet he had to be quick to bring it back into place before his enemy had a chance to launch a fatal strike at him. The monster attacked with a series of jabs leaving the captain of the guards as weakened as ever, but he continued to fight on regardless of his condition, as long as he bought his family long enough to escape the savage clutches of this unstoppable horde. As his fight continued, Aziel staying on the defensive while his attacker hacked at him without end, yet his time came when the beast made a careless swing. Seizing the moment Aziel swung his sword in a diagonal cut severing the things arm then brining his blade up in the same strike, forfeiting its head. With a chance check his bearings he looked around, seven of his fellow soldiers were lying copped to bits around with many more about to follow suit. Creeping up on an unsuspecting victim he dismantled its head leaving it to fall helplessly to the ground in a spew of fresh blood. He helped the man to his feet, Giles if he remembered correctly then hurried on to aid more of his fellow people. Giles stood rooted to the spot, blood… blood everywhere it just made him want to… the young man pulled up his visor and hauled all over the fallen monster, there wasn't a place in the world he would rather be than here, yet he had to stay there, if not for his families sake, then for the sake of everyone else.
(19:57 remain)
Vaati walked through the valley taking in the details as if it was his last time in Hyrule, but who knows it could be. Maybe Vincent would kill and return to Itaa maybe the world was destined to end this way, even the goddesses of this land have no control over such an event. More he thought it over the more likely it became, like Vincent had said it didn't matter if he had the light force or not , and what help would the triforce be anyway. Vaati stopped he pulled up his fist and slammed it with all his strength into his face. He fell over, blood dripping from his nose. "No" he snapped at himself "None of that is going to happen, alls well that ends well."
He reached the end of the road and entered the old fortress of mud bricks, and made his way to Nabooru's chamber. He found it with the same purple curtain covering the entrance, he pulled it back and found her in the middle of getting dressed and immediately pulled back the curtain, realising how high an insult it was in Gerudo culture.
"Show yourself" came a voice from inside the room, along with the sound of a scimitar being drawn.
"Who's there" came the voice again.
Vaati couldn't help but smile at hearing her voice again, "An old friend" came the reply.
Naboooru revealed the curtains to find Vaati smiling back at her. Tears welled in her eye's and she hugged him with all her might, as if testing if he was real.
She finally brought her eye's up to meet his. "I've missed you so much" she mumbled through a fresh set of tears.
"Not as much as I have missed you" he said.
"I dreamt of this happening ever since you left, but now here you are right in front of me."
Vaati couldn't help but smile once more, until he remembered why he had come in the first place. He pulled her head from his chest and gazed into her beautiful orange eye's.
"I didn't come without meaning though" he said through gritted teeth.
"What do you mean" she replied.
"I came to bid you farewell" he said.
"Your not leaving Hyrule are you" she asked sounding slightly scared.
"No, but surely you have noticed the infernal rock looming over us."
She just nodded.
"It is the work of my brother" he said drawing a gasp from his friend.
"Although he is one with an evil heart, the story concerning meteor is a long and confusing one which I will explain another day."
"But you can't die" she whispered her voice almost broken. "I lost you once before I cannot let it happen again."
"Don't worry" he said in an attempt to comfort her "I'll be fine."
(16:07 remain)
Link and Zelda were still at the castle when the battle had begun, for once in his life he would not be the hero to lead Hyrule to victory even if it was possible. Him and Zelda had remained in the courtyard discussing old time's in a feeble attempt to forget their troubles and have a happy exit from Hyrule… that was until Link had a crazy idea pop into his head.
"Do you… think G-Ganon could kill Vincent and stop this all?"
"Link what are you getting at" she said, a concerned look forming on her face.
"Maybe we could enlist Ganondorf's help, I mean surely with the entire triforce we could defeat him."
"And what makes you so sure Ganondorf would aid us in our time of need when we have foiled his plans many a time."
"He is always seeking to conquer Hyrule right, I can't imagine him letting it be blown apart especially when his life is concerned."
Zelda just sighed "It's the best plan and the only plan we have, beside we have nothing to lose so I guess we might as well try it."
Link grinned sheepishly.
"Well come on then we better hurry if were going to come out of this alive."
The two quickly dusted themselves off then made their way to the Temple of Time, as they passed through the back alleys to avoid prying eyes they could hear the terrible screams of the people trying to defend their loved ones. The pair continued going despite seeing countless people in need f help. When at last they reached the temple they shut the door to escape the sounds of death, they walked up to the altar and Zelda removed the Ocarina of time from her dress and put it to her lips. A moment later when the last note rang out clearly in the ensuing silence. As the note faded away the door of time began to rumble and split vertically. Hands gripped together for comfort the hero and the princess made their way to the pedestal. Hand firmly clasped on the hilt he pulled with all his might, the familiar blue glow surrounded them and then as they passed from the sacred realm back to Hyrule it slowly died down and standing in its wake was their most despised enemy.
"Did you miss me?" he smirked.
(9:13 remain)
End of Part 1