Unveiled Shadows
Night had completely fallen. With some effort on Aine's part, the both of them managed to carry Link and Marickiya back to their loft. They ambled into the darkened room, which was immediately lit by Vaati's magic. He was too annoyed to do it conventionally, and with a single exhale through his nose, fire sprung to life in each of the lanterns.
"Place Mari there," he nodded towards his bed. Aine obeyed wordlessly, fearful of doing anything else. He hefted the light girl he was carrying onto the cot he motioned toward.
"Good. Now, help me get Link onto the table."
The table was littered with things from the last time someone had sat at it and Aine was quick to start cleaning it off. Once cleared, he went to hoist the Hylian's legs up while Vaati held him by his shoulders. Everything had been settled except for Vaati's nerves.
'This again,' he thought as he gazed at Marickiya lying comatose. He looked over at Link to his right. He had him laid out on the table so that he stood between the two. Both of his friends were missing in action this time and it was physically painful for him.
"Is there anything I can do to-" Aine had begun to say but Vaati cut him off.
"You can stay out of the way and not say a word." He said aggressively. The young Sheikah boy obliged and stood by the door with his hands behind his back looking grim but not saying a word as suggested.
Vaati, without the distraction, fixated his attention first on Link. He moved closer and held a hand over the Hylian's eyes, muttering an incoherent incantation. He paused, waiting. After a moment, his eyebrows raised. A wave of relief washed over him. He moved to Marickiya and performed the same incantation. He let out a breathy laugh so that Aine could not hear. The ailment that affected them both were the same and could be easily remedied. He took another deep breath to calm himself.
He reached into his bag beside his cot and quickly pulled out a small empty bottle. He uncorked it and held it in his palm before him. Aine watched curiously as the mage closed his eyes and began whispering under his breath in an unrecognizable tongue. Almost instantly, something purple and hazy, gritty even, lifted from Marickiya and Link's closed eyes. The strange vapor like substance swirled in the air for a moment then it seemed to get sucked into the tiny glass container. It swallowed up every bit of it and the bottle was filled to the brim with deep violet. Vaati put the stopper back into the neck.
With his other hand, he drew an intricate marking in the air with his index finger, a glowing trail left in its wake. The bottle gleamed brightly and then everything faded, leaving an innocent looking vessel with a interesting dark liquid residing within. Finished, Vaati replaced the thing back in his bag.
"What was that?" Aine asked meekly from the door. Vaati shot him a disdainful look which shut him up immediately. But he decided to answer his question.
"It was a curse." He said simply, making it evident he wasn't going to give him any more than that.
It was becoming increasingly apparent to him just how much he cared about what happened to these two. He couldn't hold it back. When he had seen Aine standing over them, he lost control. Because his blood magic relied on feeling instead of power by word, whenever he was emotionally compromised, he would sometimes fire off magic instinctively. At that time, he wanted to separate Aine from his friends and his blood reacted. This was another reason why he did not make friends often. His fear of losing them was too great.
They would awaken soon and that thought helped calm him. They would be fine. He looked between their faces sadly. He was at fault for this again. He should have joined them. He had been overly confident that nothing would happen, that they would be able to get what they needed and get out. It never worked out that way.
Marickiya was the first to rise, sucking in a deep breath in alarm and sitting bolt upright with a hand clutched to her abdomen. Vaati rushed to her, fearing he may have missed something.
"Marickiya." He said it gently and pulled her hand away from her midriff. Nothing was visibly wrong.
"I'm alright." Her breathing started to even out. "I'm alright." She said again, taking sweeping looks of her surroundings. He noticed she was trembling and anxiety emanated from her. He thought maybe it was an after effect from the curse he had lifted. Before he could ask, a great crash erupted behind him.
"Link!" He heard Aine cry out. He quickly turned to find Link had also awoken and had kicked over a chair in a panic. He was flailing his arms about wildly as if fighting off an unseen force. He rushed to the side of the table as Link was frantically yelling at something to 'stop'. Vaati reached out and grasped one of Link's hands.
"Link." He used simple magic. Every action invokes this simple magic. The act of a firm touch and saying someone's name aloud brings calmness, for instance. It took a moment, but Link was settling down and stared at Vaati with fear in his eyes.
"Vaati," he uttered breathlessly. He sounded like he was reassuring himself, reorienting. He was still catching his breath as he turned his head one direction, then the other, in search of something. Craning his neck, he spotted Marickiya. He gazed at her with that fearful look.
"I'm sorry." He choked. "I'm so sorry." He let go of Vaati's hand and covered his eyes. Without the strength to sit up anymore, he laid his head back onto the table and wept, the tears pouring into his hair, and continuously apologized. Vaati gave Marickiya a questioning look but she merely shook her head in response.
'Not now,' was what she said without saying. She quietly hopped off of the cot and went to Link's side. She placed a hand upon his that he held over his face. She whispered soothing words to him, asking if he wanted to move to his bed. She managed to coerce him up and walk over to it. He fell heavily upon the soft bedding, holding tightly onto her hand that had led him. He curled up with her sitting propped up against the wall beside him. Vaati approached the two.
"I think we're in for the night." She said softly. Vaati nodded. He put out the lamps, this time manually, one by one until the one beneath the stairs was left. He turned the last one down low so that they could still see. Marickiya looked past him.
"When did Aine get here?" She asked quietly. A flicker of annoyance passed over his feature that she did not notice.
"He rode in looking for you both. He helped me bring you back here." He explained. She nodded solemnly.
"He looks ready to leave. Can you let him know he's welcome to spend the night since it's so dark?" He shrugged in response, then turned toward the boy.
Aine had been watching everything, and tensed as Vaati neared him. He stopped right in front of him.
"At least you are able to keep quiet." He mumbled to the Sheikah. Aine continued his silence as Vaati spoke, looking at the ground. The mage eyed him for moment longer, then he let out a light breath. "You are welcome to stay for the night. Over there," he gestured toward his own cot and Aine acquiesced, hurrying over. He laid down without another word.
Vaati watched him for another few seconds before making his way back to the others. He slid down to the floor against the wall, letting out a sigh of relief on his way down.
"Long day, huh," she said with a stifled giggle.
"Just what I was going to say." He said. He could sense she was finally relaxing and that helped to calm him as well. He wanted to ask about what happened, but didn't want to cause her distress. He tried posing his question in a different way. "Did you find anything?" Marickiya grew somber and he felt a twinge of guilt for saying anything at all.
"No," she said quietly. "We didn't even get past the first room we found..."
...
A great stone slab was slowly receding into a part of the wall that they were looking at through an interesting violet lens. He had explained that it was called the 'Lens of Truth' and he could see like the Sheikah do.
"I never thought to use it outside the temple," he mumbled offhandedly. The stone door finally disappeared into its crevice and the way forward was revealed.
"It's pretty dark in there." Marickiya said, starting to look a little uncertain. Link offered his hand to her and she took it.
"Let's just not get separated," and with that, they crossed into the blackness.
It didn't take too long for their eyes to adjust a little to the pure darkness that surrounded them, able to see shapes at least. The hall soon opened up into a small circular room with two branching hallways.
"Left or right?" Marickiya asked. She felt him shift around in the dark.
"I'm thinking right." He sounded a little unsure, but without anything else to go off of, they headed through the door to the right.
On the other side was another hallway. The only difference was that they could see this one ended a short way ahead in a solid wall. Dead end.
"I guess we head back?" Marickiya asked but Link walked forward.
"This wouldn't be here if it didn't have a purpose." He said under his breath. He brought his hand up, looking like he was about to place it on the wall, but he hesitated. Instead, he reached into a pouch on his side and pulled out the Lens of Truth again. He looked through it at the wall before him and let out a chuckle. "That's what I thought." He motioned for her to look through it as well. When the lens was placed in front of her eyes, the brickwork she had seen a second ago vanished. In its stead was another 'wall' made up of a smoky substance that looked all too uninviting. Before she could protest though, Link was already moving into the wall. Without the lens, it was an odd sight seeing her brother simply phase through the bricks.
She winced as she was pulled by Link through the fake wall, not sure what to expect. It felt like walking through a sheet of cascading water, but without the wetness. Almost immediately after passing through the mist, she lost her hold on Link's hand...
Link came through the other side and halted, as he became aware of two things. The first, he'd lost sight of Marickiya. The second, he had been inside the room he just entered before. He stood on a little island of dirt; the rest of the room was filled about a foot high with water. In the center, on a second lone island, stood a leafless tree. His breath caught in his throat.
It was the Illusory Room from inside the Water Temple.
Instantly, all of muscles tensed. He sensed something inside with him and it definitely was not friendly. He drew his sword, and at the sound, he saw movement. Something humanoid had stepped out from behind the tree's trunk. It wasn't hard to guess what it was.
"You!" He snarled at the dark figure. In response, the shadowy being grinned. Then it twirled back to its spot behind the tree out of his vision, chuckling. It wanted him to come closer. He took another sweeping look for Marickiya, then waded into the water, trying to make as little sound as he could.
About five feet off of his island, his ears perked at a sound that came from behind him. He looked down and behind him at the water's reflection. Seeing that same entity, he reacted. He swung his sword around in a wide horizontal slash.
The thing reacted just as quickly, arching its back to avoid the blade. It leered at him tauntingly and laughed again. Link was becoming frustrated.
"Where's Marickiya?" He demanded from the shadow. Not surprising to him, it did not give an answer. It gave him another grin before melting into the water at its feet. Link whipped his head around in search of it, but it did not reappear. Maybe it wanted him to move again. He was getting rather fed up with this game already. He needed to find Marickiya.
He took another few steps forward and he heard the sound of trickling water behind him again. This time, without looking, he swung his sword around and made contact with something. He turned to face the shadow and saw that it had brought up a shield to deflect his blow. Link used both of his hands to put more weight on his sword, trying to drive his opponent to its knees. Quick as a flash, however, the shadow allowed the sword to slide off the shield, into the water. Then it shoved it's shoulder into Link's torso, knocking him away.
Something was weird. Why hadn't it taken out its own sword yet? It vanished again, but Link was prepared for that. He got back up took off at a run.
It was a second after that he heard loud splashing behind him. He needed to make it where the shadow couldn't dodge his attack and he had an idea.
He stopped suddenly, taking out his shield and turning in a swift motion. He then threw the shield in the direction of the shadow in an unorthodox way, catching it off guard. It ducked and he grinned triumphantly.
In the blink of an eye, Link lunged forward and plunged his blade straight through its chest.
Everything froze. He was unable to move, staring into the surprised red eyes of the shadow. It was then that he realized that something was indeed wrong with the situation.
Resounding laughter echoed around the entire chamber, seemingly made up of many different voices. He tore his eyes away from the imitating shadow in search of those the laughter belonged to, but saw nothing. Everything was eerily still, like it was frozen in time. What was happening?
The laughing abruptly stopped and another voice spoke.
"Did you finally wake up?"
The voice was annoyed. It came from in front of him. All he could do was look towards the shadow, not yet comprehending what was going on. It would soon become clear.
He stared at the shadow's indistinguishable face. A moment ago he was staring into red eyes, but now it was blank. Nothing.
Wait. It was changing. Taking on a new persona. His face drained of all color.
"Welcome back." Marickiya. She said the words with a grimace, unable to speak above a whisper.
"Mari-" something warm was dripping onto his hands, forcing him to look down. "Wha- I-" he couldn't finish any complete thoughts from the shock of what he was seeing.
Red. So much red. It spilled relentlessly all over his hands that held his blade. The blade that was plunged deep into Marickiya's abdomen.
"Mari!" he let go of the Master Sword and they slumped to the ground into the impossibly still water. He placed his hands on her face. "Mari, can you here me?!" No answer. White hot pain seared through him. "No, no, NO! Please," he looked into her half lidded stare and saw nothingness in them. "Please," he was breaking, "I'm sorry."
The laughter from no where began again, but he couldn't care less. Then, something forced him out of his catatonia. Long, slender, black arms were coming forth from the water and dragging Marickiya away. He was overcome by fury.
"You will NOT!" He bellowed and made to grab her but she was just out of his reach and he couldn't move. He looked around him to find more arms were pulling him into the water. He struggled viciously, but it was no use. He screamed out until his head was pulled under the surface and he was no longer able to see Marickiya, only darkness...
0000
"I could see what was happening, but could do nothing to stop it.
"He thought," she swallowed hard and her hand unconsciously moved to her chest, "He thought he had killed me."
"It was an illusion brought on by a curse that protected that passage." Vaati explained. She nodded shakily. He sighed to himself, feeling they twinge of guilt again.
"Marickiya," he spoke softly, and she looked up forlornly, but still astute. "I am sorry." His words brought her out of her reverie. He never apologized like that before, with true emotion behind it.
"For what?" She asked, more awake then. She watched his shoulders sag in the dark.
"For not accompanying you." She studied the side of his face. He was truly worrying about it.
"It's alright." She breathed. She could tell he wasn't letting go of it though. They were very quiet for a long while.
"Does that mean you're coming with us tomorrow?" She asked. She received a sigh in return.
"Yes." he said. "I am not looking forward to it, however."
"After what we just went through, I have to say I'm a little nervous about going back, too." She paused before adopting a determined expression. "But we have to do this."
"Agreed." He said, nodding grimly.
For the remainder of the night, Vaati stayed beside the two siblings, watching over them. Tomorrow was going to be a full day...
0000
The four adventures, after having climbed up and over the gated alcove, stood shoulder to shoulder facing the depths of the Shadow Temple's entrance.
Earlier in the morning, it had been decided that Vaati and Aine would be joining Link and Marickiya into the temple, much to each others annoyance. Aine wanted to make up for not remembering about them needing a Sheikah to accompany them from before. Vaati was going not only to offer more protection for the other two, but also to keep an eye on the Sheikah. Aine, of course, knew of Vaati's intentions, and was uncomfortable with his proximity. He couldn't very well protest the arrangement, he was afraid of eliciting the mage's anger again. His back still ached from yesterday's mishap. He had to stay focused, telling himself this was just a normal jaunt through the temple.
"Well," Link began with as much bravado as he could muster, "Let's get this over with, then." None of them were as eager as Marickiya to do this, but even she was a bit reluctant after her first visit. Still, one by one, they descended the steps into the foyer. Aine had explained before they left that with a Sheikah guide, there shouldn't be any instances like what happened before.
Vaati sniffed at his bold proclamation, and at the fact that Marickiya, looking relieved, appeared to have believed him. He wouldn't believe the youth's words until they were all out of this place without a scratch.
Aine led the way through the torches to the western part of the circular room. They quickly had to stop, however.
"Vaati!" Marickiya exclaimed in alarm. He was leaning heavily on Link, looking even more pale than usual, and had broken out in a sweat. Link, having already witnessed this behavior before, had been keeping an eye on him and was the only reason he hadn't fallen over completely.
"I am fine." He said through his teeth. He pushed off the Hylian, righting himself, but was quickly listing again. Link caught him, then grabbed one of his arms and draped it over his shoulders. Vaati resigned to the help.
"Are you sure you-"
"Yes." Vaati declared resiliently, interrupting her question. She pursed her lips.
"Okay," she breathed back.
Vaati was out of sorts and she knew it must have something to do with the temple. Even she could feel a tightness in her chest that wasn't because of her experience with Link the day before. The place freaked her out. She had to do this, though, and Vaati knew that. It was why he decided to tag along. She was a little overwhelmed. Between him, Link, and Aine offering their support to this project of hers, she was feeling quite happy despite the negativity of their surroundings.
They followed after Aine who had waited for them at the opening they needed to venture through.
"What's going on?" Link whispered to Vaati, trying to be discrete. "I thought you were only affected when you were inside." Vaati shook his head.
"I am unsure." He whispered back, not wanting to concern the Gerudo girl further, and to not let on that he was weakened in front of Aine. "The spirits... They seem a lot more," he fished around for the right word, "Agitated. We are not welcome here."
"Great." Link said flatly.
Quietness blanketed them as they entered the western entryway and started their trek through the temple. Just like before, they all arrived at another circular chamber, this one smaller. This was where Aine stood in front of everyone.
"We will take the right passage." With one hand behind his back, he gestured at the aforementioned door as if this were a simple tour. Marickiya fidgeted nervously for a second and Vaati was still hanging off Link. He looked between them expectantly. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no." Marickiya said. "It's just," her gaze wandered over to her brother, "That was the way we took last time..." she faltered at the end of her statement.
"You were heading in the right direction." He halted when he saw that what he meant as encouragement had everyone shifting around uncomfortably. He cleared his throat. "Let's move on, shall we?" And he gestured to the right passage. Marickiya grimaced, but followed after.
"Link," Vaati said softly, "I believe I am alright to walk."
Without a word, Link let the mage go and watched as he steadied himself. He was still pale, but was also holding out well. They gave each other a nod.
"How deep do you suppose we will be going?" Vaati asked. Link shook his head.
"I don't know." Then his face brightened. "But, I have an idea." He reached into one his belt pouches and quickly pulled out a green gem. Vaati stared at it, intrigued.
He had seen Link use a gem like this once before, when he followed them to the Temple of Time. That one had been red and caused a dome of fire to spread from the user. As much as he wanted to examine the small gem in Link's hand, he merely watched as the Hylian worked his magic.
He held it over his head and a shimmering green light erupted above them. The light gathered into a ball that hovered in Link's hand for a second before shooting off to float in the center of the room near the ceiling.
"Fascinating," Vaati mumbled looking up at the bright light that was casting a green hue on everything.
"Would you like to know what it does?" Link was looking a little excited to share but Vaati gave him a cheeky grin.
"I already know." Link looked a little put out as Vaati explained. "It is retracing magic. I assume when you use that again, you would be transported to where you created your check point," he pointed at the green orb. Link crossed his arms.
"Way to take the fun out of it."
"What's the hold up you two?" Marickiya called in a subdued tone. They hurried down the hall after her and came upon she and Aine standing at a dead end. Vaati surmised that this was the false wall Marickiya described from her and Link's incident. Speaking of the Hylian, upon realizing where they arrived, he adopted a hardened look. Vaati decided to await a situational explanation.
"This was as far as you got, wasn't it?" Aine noticed Link's demeanor as well. Marickiya nodded. "Don't worry," he smiled sweetly, "With me here, we'll get through."
Vaati nearly scoffed out loud. He sounded so pompous. He let the comment slide for the most part when he saw Marickiya was still visibly distressed. He brushed a hand to her arm and she gave him a side glance, then looked back to the wall. His brow furrowed. Even his presence there wasn't enough to console her. He sneered, deriding himself for that last thought. Who was pompous?
"This way." Aine said to them quietly.
Had he not already know what was going to happen, he might have been shocked to see the Sheikah standing part way through the wall as if he had been cut in half. As it were, he more interested in how the illusion worked than anything.
Marickiya was the first to move, stepping forward, then looking back at Link. He was still rooted to the spot. She held out her hand. With a hint of hesitation, he took it, palm sweaty. She started leading him through the wall Aine disappeared through and felt him squeeze tightly. She wanted to erase his doubt, but could barely mask her own. All she could think to do was squeeze back and trudge on, wide eyes staring ahead.
That same cascading feeling washed over her as she entered into the fake wall. It felt like it took a lot longer to find the other side than the last time. Finally breaking the barrier, the first thing she realized was that the darkness wasn't as permeating here. Then she spotted Aine waiting for them and let out a shaky breath. Once she crossed all the way over, she pulled Link along to join her. His face swam into view and he looked as relieved as she felt. They smiled at one another. Vaati immediately appeared just behind her brother, undaunted. She giggled.
"What's funny?" Link asked, bemused. Vaati raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, nothing." She said still grinning widely. Everything was suddenly funny to her.
"Alright." Aine interjected. "It's mostly a straight shot from here on out. We're going to be doing a lot of walking though," he turned and motioned for them to follow. Marickiya was the first to move again, bouncing after him. "This is the easiest way to get to where we're going."
"Easiest?" Link asked. "Is there a quicker way?" Vaati thought this was a good question. Aine spoke over his shoulder.
"Technically, the other passage we saw ends up in the same place and is shorter. But," he paused, chewing on his tongue. Should he tell them what he saw in there? There were also the 'Trials'... "It is... dangerous." He kept his pace determinedly even. Vaati's face grew dark.
The boy knew something, but wasn't letting anyone else in on it. He did not like that. His irateness alerted the Hylian who fell back in step with him.
"How are you?" He asked of the mage out of the corner of his mouth. Momentarily dropping his sullen look, he gave another raised eyebrow.
"Worried?" he jested. Link smirked back.
"I just wanted to make sure our all powerful sorcerer is in top shape for the task at hand." Vaati actually laughed at that.
"I see how it is." He crossed his arms and concentrated. "I have regained my senses, though their range is significantly diminished."
"Ah," Link nodded. Then he shook his head. "What does that mean exactly?"
"It means," Vaati said, exasperated, though still amused, "That I am able to feel where things and people are but for a shorter distance than what I am used to."
"Okay." Link thought he understood a little better. "Do you know why you weren't able to before?"
"I suspect there was some kind of ward at the entrance. Possibly to discourage any-"
He stopped in his tracks. Link stopped with him and was about to ask him if anything was wrong when his eye glowed a bright red. He'd seen him do that before and took it to mean that something bad was happening. 'That was fast,' he thought to himself.
"They're gone." He said fiercely.
"What?" Link blinked in surprise.
"I cannot see the others." He had meant it both physically and magically. Link turned and made to sprint forward, but after a few steps, there was a small 'smack' and Link was forced to stop, bouncing back a bit.
"There's a wall here," he said meekly while rubbing his nose. Vaati quickly joined him and found that they were blocked from making any further progress, this time by a very solid wall. A swift glance around told him there were no other branching paths. Before Vaati could begin probing the wall for any possible ways through, Link was pounding his fist on the stonework.
"Marickiya!" He shouted into the dense quiet, causing Vaati to wince. "Aine!" He feared stirring up anything unfriendly and urged the Hylian to quiet down. They stood still, listening, Vaati searching the floor for anything else he might have missed. Then...
"Link?" It was so soft, they both thought they had imagined it. There was another call a little louder than the first. "Vaati?" It had been closer. The heard some muffled sounds from the other side of the wall.
"What's going on?" They heard Aine's voice then. Marickiya was saying something quiet that they couldn't understand. Then there was a loud swear.
"What is it?" Link said loudly again. Vaati gave up trying to keep him from yelling. Marickiya piped up.
"Aine says this was a trick wall meant to cut off intruders."
"Wonderful." Vaati pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remain calm. "Simply wonderful."
"Is there any way to get through?" Link asked. Some more mumbling.
"The only way to meet back up is to head the other way around." She explained. The two looked between each other.
"We can't let them go on their own." Link said worriedly.
"I am aware of that fact." Vaati's patience was growing extremely thin. "I want to know what we'll be getting into if we take the other path." Link nodded and shouted this concern.
"Just keep going straight. Don't take any turns and our paths will reconnect. There are few Trials you will have to pass to get through." They heard Aine say.
"Trials? You mean like puzzles?" Link said, losing his worried look.
"Sort of." Aine conceded.
"That shouldn't be too much of a problem." Link said to Vaati.
"Link," came Aine's voice again, though it sounded more serious. "I have to tell you. I went through that door yesterday and was attacked by a Dead Hand." Link backed away from the wall, a look of shock replacing his one of confidence.
"A Dead Hand?" Vaati said, but Link ignored him. He was looking pensive. Then his face was set with resolve.
"We're not leaving you both. We can handle whatever we find." He said without consulting the mage. As much as it annoyed him, he probably would have made the same decision. "We'll meet back up with you as soon as we can."
"Alright." Aine called back. As Link backed away and started retracing his steps back the way they'd come with Vaati in tow, they heard Marickiya call out as well.
"Please, be careful."
0000
After her warning, Marickiya stood with her palms upon the wall separating them from the others, waiting. She looked disheartened when she didn't get a reply. Aine was disquieted as well.
"Don't worry," he felt like the phrase was worn out at that point, "We'll meet up with them again." She backed away slowly, but kept her attention firmly affixed. "We should keep going."
She still stood, like she was waiting for their friends to simply appear right back at their side. He bit his lip, then reach towards her. He gently pulled her hand and began leading her on.
Solitude. That was what she was feeling even with Aine there holding her hand. The touch was foreign to her. She already missed Link and Vaati's company. It wasn't that she disliked or doubted Aine, she had grown accustomed to their presence it was so empty with the two of them gone. After losing the functionality of her dominant hand, the crippling dependency on her friends was tearing away at her. Her hand slipped from Aine's fingers.
"Aine," she had stopped, "Do you come here a lot?" she asked.
"Yes. It is the Temple of the Sheikah, after all." He said.
"Do things like that happen often?" He was taken aback. Not by the question, but by the answer he had for it.
"No," he admitted, "Not usually." It was true. Every time he had visited this place, it was just another day of his training. He knew there were traps and dangers, but had never experienced any of them himself. That was why he didn't really think anything of it when the other three had gone on to find the statue he told them about. He bit his lip. "This place is where the spirits of Hyrule amass, both good and bad. It seems the bad ones are a little more active than usual." It became exceptionally quiet after he said this.
"Do you... think it's possible they know what we're trying to do?" She asked tentatively.
"I don't know," was his grim response.
She was afraid. Not only for everyone's safety, but she feared the spirits within the temple were acting out against her, that it was her fault they were separated. Ever since she had been attacked by Lana, she was beginning to feel like she was more of a nuisance than anything. She felt like curling up into herself, to get away. It was a hassle burying those feelings.
Aine could tell that his words had upset her. The only thing to do was to keep going and hope that the others caught up quickly. He wanted to cheer her up but was unsure of how he would do it. Maybe a distraction? He turned his head to the side, shooting her a glance and cleared his throat lightly.
"Marickiya?" He began. She only hummed in response. He sucked in a quiet breath. "May I ask you a question?" She looked up and seeing his expression, she nodded.
"Yes, of course." He let out his breath.
"How did you and Link meet?" She hummed again, but this time it wasn't as noncommittal. Then she smiled a little sheepishly as the memory enveloped her mind, effectively distracting her as was his intent.
"It's a little embarrassing," she said, putting a hand to the back of her neck, "He sort of saved me." Aine smiled.
"Nothing less from the Hero of Time." She giggled at this.
"I had been traveling with this man and he-" she paused mid sentence, thinking, "He wasn't very nice." She finished after crossing her arms. Aine got the impression she didn't like to talk bad about others. She continued. "Link thought he was going to attack me, so he ran him off."
"Did this man hurt you?" he asked. She looked sad again.
"Yes." Then she held up her hands quickly. "But not physically." Her arms were back at her sides again. "He just... wasn't really good at expressing his feelings." She lost herself in this thought for a moment. Then she noticed Aine's inclining look and cleared her throat. "I think he was roped into the idea of saving me. Maybe. I don't know..."
"What was it he was saving you from?" Aine was keen on keeping the conversation going.
"I was a prisoner at the Gerudo Fortress and he helped me escape." She stated simply.
"That sounds exciting." Aine said with wide eyes. She chuckled.
"Yeah..." Though she smiled, he could see a dullness in her eye. He sensed that this was a touchy subject for her. He felt lucky that she was sharing as much as she was, but decided to redirect the discussion.
"How did you meet the sorcerer?" He hadn't intended to pose the question like that. His thoughts sort of derailed when it came to saying the man's name and he ended up using a title instead. He berated himself while Marickiya blinked a few times.
"Vaati?" The name gave him chills and he knew why he didn't want to say it himself. "We danced together at the Princess Zelda's memorial service." He heard the fondness in her voice and knew his cheeks were coloring without his permission. He knew without needing to ask; it was too late for him.
"He cares a lot about you," he said abruptly. He even caught himself off guard with what he had said.
"What?" Marickiya started. Words began tumbling out of Aine's lips.
"When I found you and Link, he got really angry. He was worried you were injured." He explained quickly. He was relieved to see her smiling again, despite how foolish he felt.
"Thank you for telling me that." She said sweetly.
He wasn't exactly sure how, but he had managed to find the right words to cheer her up, even if he was flustered by them. It didn't feel as awkward anymore and they had picked up their pace, Marickiya walking in step beside him instead of lagging behind.
Marickiya's thoughts were dwelling on when she had first woke up at the house after falling unconscious in the temple. Vaati was very gentle and it was seldom that she saw him like that. With the little Aine had confessed had happened, she pieced the rest together. Then, when Link had also awoken, he rushed to her brother, calming him and making sure he was alright. That particular thought made her the happiest. She wasn't sure when or how it had happened, but the two boys had put aside their differences. She could say without a doubt that they had become friends while she wasn't looking.