Funny thing, getting sick. It takes your corny story ideas and makes them make sense. Well, hopefully they still make sense when I can think straight, but here goes nothing!
Chapter Thirteen
Master Ezlo never knew.
He never knew that the magical cap he created harbored a demon, never knew that even after that ancient Hero freed me the demon continued to live on, deep in a hidden place within me.
The others could see it, I think, could see the demon I harbored. No Minish wanted anything to do with me, none but Master Ezlo. Ironically, it was their cruelty that allowed the demon to retain a foothold in my heart, an opening by which he could steal my mind, my body, and my power, and bend it all to his will.
I gave him too much control in my efforts to dull my pain. When he took over completely, pushed my consciousness to the back of my mind and ordered me to sleep, I could not fight him. Thus, I spent many years outside the world of the living.
But there was a flaw in the demon's power. Every night for one hour only he lost control of my body, and was forced to return it. He prepared well for these times; I woke bound and gagged, my magic repressed. Often, I wasn't certain that I was awake at all, instead dreaming of ruby red eyes and pale, gentle hands.
I will never return to that state again. I would gladly die first.
High-pitched laughter and deep chuckles echoed around the alleyway as Dark Link slowly stood to his feet, arms outstretched to the sky as he reveled in his power. Turning, he strode towards Link with a measured, unhurried pace, an insane grin on his face.
He lifted the boy by the front of his collar and shadows wrapped around him unbidden, shrinking him to Link's too-small size. He didn't seem to notice, merely hoisting the choking Link higher with a strength he shouldn't have.
"Kill him, Darkling!" Dark Zelda squealed. "Kill him, and be free!"
"Here I am, myself once more. And here you are, Hero, just a weak little boy, too small for your power." He cackled insanely, slamming Link against the wall when he tried to struggle, drawing a pained cry. He leaned in close, his lips by the Hylian boy's pointed ear.
"I know you're awake, Hero, you have been for a while. I can feel it. But Link isn't ready for you, and you know it. Your power is going to rip him apart. Or at least it would, if I let him live that long." Dark power, deeper than shadow, gathered ominously around his hand.
"I won't let you!" A burst of wind shot forth, catching Dark Link off guard and knocking him back. Link scrambled away from him, coughing and gasping for breath. Vaati swayed on his feet, forced to put a hand on the brick wall for balance.
Dark Zelda laughed, swooping down to float around him in taunting circles. "Look here Darkling. The great Wind Mage, Vaati, reduced to such a state as this." She leaned in close, observing him as he panted for breath, beads of sweat trickling down his face. The teasing expression dropped. "Such a weak little boy you are, even after all these years. I much prefer Gufuu."
"Gufuu will NEVER return!" Vaati shouted, forcing her away from him with a gust of wind.
She tumbled head over heels backwards before she managed to recover with a shriek, black lightning shooting from her hands to envelope him. Vaati screamed as the dark energy coursed through his body, shocking the demon in his soul.
"And now, brat?" She asked, sauntering closer. Vaati panted and gasped, sweat dripping from his brow as he felt the familiar stirring in his chest, the laughter in his mind.
No, no, no! Vaati fought back with everything he had, shoving the demon back down within him, but Dark Zelda was having none of it. Lightning shot from her fingertips once more, and Vaati screamed himself hoarse, writhing painfully on the ground.
Dark Link had recovered by now, and delivered a devastating kick to Link to keep him down before turning his attention to the pair, laughing himself silly. Link tried to struggle to his feet, but Dark Link whirled on him, tackling him to the filthy ground of the alley and pinning him there with a foot on his neck. "Stay down!"
Vaati fell limp when Dark Zelda lifted her assault, leaning in close to him. "Gufuu?" She crooned.
"Never!" His voice came out distorted, pained, but still his. Dark Zelda scowled her displeasure, blasting him hard, sending him careening into Dark Link and both out of the alley and into the town square beyond.
Vaati's red eyes opened, clouded and half-lidded with pain. His gaze met Dark Link's for the briefest of moments. He struggled to speak. "You'll hate yourself for hurting him, Shadow Link. I. . .couldn't let you. . ."
Dark Link's own ruby eyes narrowed and he snarled his annoyance, shoving Vaati's limp form off of him and standing with his arms crossed, not even so much as glancing at the fallen Minish again. Dark Zelda exited the alley holding the dazed Link by the collar. She dropped him at Dark Link's feet.
"Finish him off, Darkling!" She ordered, pointing at the boy as though he were only so much trash Dark Link had forgotten to take out.
"As you wish, princess." He replied, taking her hand and kissing it before turning back to Link. He nudged the boy with his foot, turning him over onto his back. Kneeling beside him he bent close, staring into those blue eyes, flecked with violet. He could see the Hero struggling, fighting against his child's body, doing more damage still. The sight of it amused him. He taunted the Hero, his hand crackling with energy held just above the boy's chest, close enough that stray wisps of power stung and burned him, but didn't kill him, not yet. The Hero fought harder still, succeeding only in hurting himself more in a form that couldn't handle his power.
This was why the Hero wasn't allowed to be a child.
A chuckle of amusement escaped Dark Link's lips, and he leaned in close as he pressed his hand against the boy's chest, drawing a tortured scream. He felt the boy's heart stop for a moment, then start to beat again, weak and fluttery. . .
. . .like a bird's.
NO! Dark Link viciously threw off any stirring of remorse. This was the Hero! This was the reason he was stuck as a measly shadow, unwanted, unloved, alone-
What did the boy just say?
Dark Link leaned closer still, pressing his ear to Link's lips. The boy took a ragged breath, his whisper (and it was little Link, not the Hero's words) so quiet even Hylian ears had trouble hearing him.
"What would Sheik think of you now?"
Dark Link froze for just a moment, but it was enough. Reaching down into that secret place of strength all Heroes hold, Link kicked out at him, driving him away. Dark Zelda reacted, power gathering in her hands to end his life, but she never had a chance to use it.
In that moment dawn finally broke through the lightening sky, Din's fiery sun burning brightly through the gloom, its light searing into the shadowy beings. Tortured screams tore from their throats; Dark Link dropped to the ground with his hands over his head, trying to protect himself, while Dark Zelda flailed and writhed in the air, having forgotten that she was just as vulnerable as he without her Sheikah Shield.
Giving a cry of anger and rage, Dark Zelda blasted her black magic at the fountain in the middle of the square, exploding it in a shower of water and dust that darkened the sky just enough to save them. She leapt for Dark Link, wrapping her arms around him before the dust hid them from view.
Vaati's eyes opened slowly and he forced himself up, wincing in pain as he coughed. Giving a tired wave of his hand he forced the dust to disperse. As expected, the shadows had vanished, and Link lay still where Dark Link had left him.
What was unexpected, however, was the sound of shouts and clanking armor as hostile-looking castle guards moved into formation around them, drawn by the commotion. Neither had the strength to fight them.
"Put your hands up where we can see them, you trouble makers!" Shouted one of the guards, spear aimed in their direction.
Vaati moved to take a protective stance in front of the vulnerable Link, but his legs gave out and he fell to his knees, muscles twitching and body trembling.
"I will not ask you again, boy, hands in the air!" The guards were closing in.
"Why not simply turn them to stone? You remember the spell, I know you do."
"I won't! I have another way."
Vaati began to chuckle.
"I'll put more than that in the air, foolish human!" Reaching for Link he pulled the boy into his arms, his face contorted with effort as he called the winds to surround them and lift them up, up towards safety.
The guard snarled, motioning to his archers. "Wizards! Shoot them down!"
Vaati batted away the first two arrows, but each maneuver caused them to drop another foot or so. One of the guards jumped, grabbing hold of Link's ankle. Link cried out, and though Vaati tried to blast the guard away, he lost his grip and Link plummeted to land on top of the man. More arrows headed his way, and Vaati barely managed to dodge them all.
The guard had a firm hold on Link now, and the child didn't have the strength to fight him.
"Go Vaati! GO! Please!" Link cried out, before the guard smacked him into silence.
"Link, I. . ."
"GO!" Those blue eyes were pleading. Link could not let harm come to him. He was Vio, the most logical of the Links. He would not let Vaati stay if there was a chance he could escape unharmed.
Vaati's eyes lingered on Link, but what could he do in his state? Whirling about, eyes blurred with tears of shame and anger and Gufuu's laughter echoing in his head, he flew towards the outer wall of the castle just as quickly as he could.
The guards shouted in rage, and the next thing Vaati knew was a burning fire in his shoulder before he plummeted towards the moat below. The last thought to cross his mind before he hit the water was that at least if he drowned, Gufuu could not rise to plague this Hero too.
"You stupid, stupid boy. . ."
It was a dream, a nightmare. It must have been.
But it wasn't.
That was made abundantly clear to Link when he was woken by a douse of cold water on his aching body. He gasped and coughed, the chains about his neck and wrist clinking when he tried to wipe his face and found he could not. He opened his eyes to look and immediately shut them again, the light from the shadow-disperser above his head searing his retinas painfully.
He heard a grunt and the sound of footsteps walking away, and finally he managed to open his eyes. He was in a small stone room with one wall made up entirely of bars. A cell, then. So he'd been captured, his secret blessing exposed. He hung in the middle of the room, small chains affixed to his ankles, wrists and about his neck, keeping him suspended with his limbs splayed and making breathing more difficult than it already was.
A movement by the door snapped him from his observations. An aristocratic man, dressed in a dark, finely-crafted suit complete with black silk gloves stood before him, a look of disgust on his face, hatred in his dark eyes. He motioned for the guards to leave them, and did not speak until they were alone.
"So, boy, a part of my past has come back to haunt me. No matter." He strode around the suspended boy, his eyes falling on Link's marked left hand. His lips turned up in a snarl. "I will right the mistake I made eight years ago, when I didn't kill you on sight."
Link's brow drew together in confusion, and he turned his head to the side to observe the man. "What. . .what are you talking about?"
The man snorted but did not answer. Instead, he said, "That mark on your hand, do you know what it is, boy?"
Link didn't like this man one bit. "The blessing of the Goddess, Farore."
The man growled and Link's head snapped to the side, momentarily stunned by a blow across his cheek. "It is a curse, boy! A curse that has been damning Hyrule for centuries! The Triforce is not meant to be wielded by human hands! It belongs in the Sacred Realm, the Realm of the Goddesses! Don't you see, boy?" He gripped Link's chin hard, forcing the small prisoner to look at him. "You have angered the Goddesses, trying to keep their power for yourself! The Goddesses will not return to this land until their treasure has been returned! Their magic is dying in this land, boy, dying! And it is all your fault!" His eyes were wild, hands gesticulating wildly as he spoke. He heaved for breath, calming slowly. When he spoke again, his tone was measured.
"Each Triforce holder must be properly punished, Wisdom, Courage, and Power in turn. The pieces must be rejoined, and then all will be right again. If history has taught us nothing, it has taught us this." His voice was softer now, though his eyes still held a gleam that Link didn't like. Link's eyes slowly slipped shut.
"You're wrong." Link whispered.
"I beg your pardon, boy?" The man hissed.
"I said you're wrong." Link's head lifted to glare with eyes flecked with violet, dark blue, red and even green, at the man, his voice gaining a new strength. "The Goddesses chose us. The only one who is a threat to Hyrule is the bearer of the Triforce of Power. Wisdom and Courage will fight him, always we will rise to fight and seal him-"
"Don't even give me that chosen nonsense! You stole the Triforce! You stole it, and arranged this whole thing! You awaken the demon so you can seal it and look the part of the Hero! That is the way it has always been, boy! All the old stories say it is so!" He turned to study the wall, as though the tales of Hyrule's past were written upon the stone. Perhaps they had been, once.
His voice fell quiet. "A Goddess's gift cannot be taken from you, not by mortal hands. If you did not steal it from them, nobody would be able to steal it from you!" The man all but ripped off his right glove, shoving his hand in Link's face. Link's eyes grew wide, the other colors bleeding more deeply into his eyes as the Hero within him fought to the surface.
"Where," he breathed, voice hoarse, "Where did you get that? Where is Princess Zelda?"
For on the back of the dark man's hand glowed the stolen Triforce of Wisdom.
The man chuckled, pulling his glove back on. "I wouldn't worry about her, boy. I would worry about yourself. I need your piece still, and Power after that. As I understand it, I will need your blood, and hers, to call forth Power." There was a strange smile on his face when he turned to look at Link again. "Perhaps its best I didn't kill you when you were born. I still need your blood, and there will be plenty of it after your execution tomorrow."
His right hand glowing with a garish golden light, the man stepped forward to grasp Link's left hand.
I'm not going too heavy on the drama here, am I?
Thank you to the Chapter Twelve reviewers darkwolflink1 (most of those pairings were completely unintentional, I swear! Although. . . this chapter seems to have just contributed even MORE to at least one of those and possibly suggested another. . . oh. . . bugger. I haven't quite decided how old Vaati is meant to be. He's been around for ages, but spent most of that time shut up in seals, so I don't think it counts. . .), Sergeant Dreamer (*Hides so I don't get killed for hurting Vaati*), FourSwordsAddict, Kick-Aft, and Claradwor (Hey a new reviewer! Hi! Glad you could join us!).