fleets: wooowwww, thank you everyone for all of those reviews O.o

Chapter 22: The Chaotic Neutral

Even though Vaati's previous arrogance had everyone convinced that he would be able to take them to the Palace of Winds without a problem, the sorcerer was trying to hide the fact that he was still feeling shaky with some of his spells. To say he was feeling rusty was the understatement of the century; his mind was as foggy as the smog over Los Angeles.

Because even with his big words earlier about his complete return, he had lived more lives as an alter ego without the knowledge of magic: on the inside, he was still the average, jaded teenager that was Gale.

How did he warp again? And how the heck did he get to his palace? He'd been able to knock Link around with a basic wind spell earlier, but that had been spurred from his pent-up frustration for the blond pest. This lack of confidence was, as the world's most powerful sorcerer, painfully humiliating.

Vaati noticed the other three waiting expectantly, and gave them all a long look. "I need some time, okay?" He sighed, and tried to jog his mind for some hint. It surfaced slowly, reminding him of those times where multiple choice answers on history tests would vaguely float around his mind. Oy, how stupid he thought those history tests were. He could give his history teachers a first hand lesson about the past now…

Vaati snapped his fingers, and everyone flinched. Getting into his self-confident character again, the wind sorcerer smirked. "All right kids, I hope you're ready." There was a violent turbulence and the small group that had come together in a strange turn of events vanished in a flash.

XXXXXXXXX

The sunglasses propped on Kestrel's nose wiggled when the man squinted through the tinted lenses at the small laptop monitor. He gently pulled the lenses down to see if they were the reason he could no longer see the two yellow dots that had previously been present on the computer screen. Talon Three's program master completely took his shades off after staring at the screen some more.

Where did the dots disappear? The tracking devices planted on the target and his friend should still have a sufficient battery life so they couldn't have died out already. He stared at it some more, daring them to reappear at a moments notice. All he got in return, however, was the soft glow of the laptop between the dark surroundings of the ancient trees.

Frowning, Kestrel immediately pressed the button on his earpiece that would allow him to contact his other teammates. "Condor!" he whispered urgently while making sure no one was around. There was a slight buzz, and then Condor's gruff voice answered in a hush.

"What is it?"

Kestrel's finger tapped the empty radar screen on his laptop, and he brushed away a leaf that had wandered onto the keyboard. "I've lost the signal from both targets. Can you check with your proximity radar to see if it's only my computer that's not catching the transmissions?"

There was a pause, and then, "Mine's not catching anything either."

Cursing under his breath, Kestrel straightened his tie and punched in a few commands on his keyboard before shaking his head. "Here, I'm going to contact Dugal and put you on conference call. We lost them about a quarter of a mile North-East from your current location, so – "

"Got it. I'll go check it out."

Kestrel momentarily hung up with Condor, and then pressed a different button on his earpiece to get in touch with Dugal. "Sir, we have a problem."

When Dugal came on the other end of the line, he didn't sound too pleased. "What is it?"

Kestrel wished the dots to reappear again. Based on his previous experiences with Dugal, he wasn't too keen on working with him when he was unhappy. "The signals from the tracking devices have… disappeared…"

There were a few seconds of dreadful silence, and Kestrel slowly picked up his sunglasses and put them back on in hopes that shielding his eyes from the world would make everything less nerve-wracking. He wondered what Condor was thinking, since he was sure his partner was listening in on the conversation.

Finally, Dugal said slowly, "Kestrel, are you sure those ridiculous shades of yours aren't blocking your view of the computer screen?"

Kestrel guiltily brought a hand up to his sunglasses. "…No sir. The dots are completely gone. Condor's proximity reader isn't picking anything up either, sir."

"Ah, so you're not doing anything stupid like wearing sunglasses in the middle of a sunless forest."

"No sir," Kestrel replied quickly, hastily propping his shades back on top of his head.

"Mmm, well anyway, you've lost their signals. That's troublesome indeed…"

Rubbing his eyes, Kestrel waited patiently for whatever wrath his boss was going to deliver. He wished he could put his shades back on since they gave him a sense of security, but more than anything he wished the signals to return even if they proved to be fake. Any signal was better than no signal.

A faint flicker on the radar screen caught the Asian man's attention. Upon closer inspection, he saw that his wish had actually come true; two yellow dots had reappeared on the screen where they had disappeared. Kestrel would have cried out in surprise if his degree of professionalism didn't keep his mouth firmly shut. Instead, he began cautiously, "Sir, we have the signals back." Kestrel's head jerked closer towards the radar, causing his sunglasses to drop back onto his nose. He watched Condor's dot approach the two yellow dots on the screen. "Condor? Condor! Careful, the signals have reappeared and you're closing in on them."

Condor's dot stopped momentarily before it reached the two yellow dots, and then it inched forward until it was on top of them. Kestrel's face contorted into one of puzzlement. What in Farore's name was Condor doing? There was a buzz, and Condor's voice came through that was equally puzzled.

"There's… no one here. But the signals are from the coordinates I'm standing on…"

There was a sharp cough, reminding the two that Dugal was still listening. "So there's no problem with catching the signals anymore?" He sounded a little bored.

"Well, maybe." Kestrel began typing frantically into his computer to check for bugs.

"Mmhmm, mhmm, I see." They could just see Dugal nodding to himself. "Condor, check the ground to see if the tracking chips were removed."

"Yes sir. I've been checking the ground but I haven't been having any luck so far sir."

Dugal's voice became harder to hear when his voice softened thoughtfully. "There's no luck to it. If they're not there they're not there…" After some time, Dugal seemed to have caught the hesitation behind the static of Condor's line. "Something's worrying you, Condor?"

Condor's breath caught, and there was a slight rustle as the man shifted his weight. "Well… it's nothing."

"Out with it."

"Er, I just thought I saw something like rubble from a ruin, but it seems to be a trick of the light."

Kestrel sighed, addressing Dugal. "Sir, I wouldn't have believed it before, but now I don't think it's so farfetched that some of the stories about Aokigahara are true." He expected Dugal to scoff and dismiss his idea as ridiculous like he did half the time, so his eyebrows almost shot off his face in surprise when his boss actually took him seriously.

"I was beginning to consider that possibility," Dugal agreed. He waited for his two subordinates to stop stumbling over themselves in shock that Kestrel's partly joking comment was being considered. "I have some orders for you two."

"Y-yes sir!" Kestrel stammered.

"Sir!"

"Get yourselves together," Dugal said irritably. Then, "I want both of you to stay there and find out what happened to the tracking devices. However, I'm going to be perfectly honest when I say I don't think you'll find them in the forest anymore." The man stood up from his desk and put on his jacket. Straightening his purple tie, he did a quick walk around the house to make sure the traces of him and Hawk being there was left to a minimum. Once convinced he was satisfied, Dugal strolled out of the house. "I'm going fox hunting, and I will contact you again when I'm done."

There was a click when Dugal disconnected abruptly, and the sound was wincingly loud in the eerily quiet forest. It left the other two hanging. Kestrel blinked, bringing the hand on his earpiece down slowly. He watched the two yellow dots move around a little on the radar, and Condor's green dot wiggle with puzzlement in its movement. "Well," his partner's voice sounded through the device, "not much we can do if he's going fox hunting."

"Right…"

"… I'll let you know if I find something."

"Same here."

There was another click with Condor disconnecting. With a hiss of breath, Kestrel leaned against the rotting log propped behind him. He shook his head, slightly relieved yet nervous about the recent developments. 'Fox hunting' was Dugal's way of telling Talon Three that he was going to be very mad at them if they contacted him for anything besides emergencies. It also meant that something had caught his attention, and he had determined that it would be faster if he went out to finish the assignment by himself. It always left the rest of the team feeling pretty useless. Kestrel fiddled with the Argos tracking program for a little more, and zoomed out so he could see Dugal's dot on the radar as well. It was moving quickly along the roads in the direction opposite to where they were. Huh, seems like he's heading for the airport. He grinned a little, enjoying the fact he was technically spying on his boss. Condor's proximity radar had a field that was too small for this kind of thing.

Ah, poor Condor. He must be bored to tears from trying to find the pinky-nail sized tracking chips somewhere in the dirt; not to mention Dugal had sounded positive he wouldn't be able to find them there.

"By the way, Kestrel?" Speak of the devil it was Condor. Kestrel sat up a little.

"Mmm?"

"You can help me, you know. You're less than a ten minute walk from me."

"Ah ah? Sorry, I'm very busy with programming now. Speak with Hawk instead, please." Kestrel smiled gleefully, letting his Japanese accent come out a little.

There was a pause as though Condor was struggling to stay professional. "…Kestrel?"

"Yes?"

"Screw you."

XXXXXXXXX

Link had already experienced extreme heights when he'd adventured to Death Mountain in the past. He thought he would be used to the thin air and the cool chill that came with increased altitude, but boy was he wrong. The first reaction the four of them had upon arrival to the Palace was to press their fingers against their temples and cringe with the onset of ringing pain in their eardrums from reduced air pressure.

"Aaarrghh, ah damn it I forgot…" Vaati groaned, and then waved his hand. A flickering blue light moved around them, and Link felt their discomfort gradually dissipate. For several seconds, they all took deep, gulping breaths from the lack of oxygen in the thin air before Vaati's spell made them accustomed to their surroundings.

"Jeez, that felt awful," Dark wheezed. "A gradual ascent we can handle, but a sudden one? I'm surprised none of us exploded into a bloody mess."

Sniffing indignantly, Vaati pulled his hood over his head when the cool chill nipped his ears. He wasn't about to admit he was still far from what his level of mastery once was. "You're welcome for inviting you pests to my Palace."

As soon as his words were out of his mouth, a cold, unwelcoming wind stole them away. It was then that the little group really noticed the place they had arrived at. With the onset of the wind, Vaati's eyes widened in surprise at how empty it felt to him.

The Palace of Winds was dying.

From his foggy memories, the sorcerer had foolishly expected the Palace to be as it had once been. Time and erosion hadn't done the place any favors, and he could see most of the place was falling apart. The white walls were cracking like splintered porcelain, and the pollution that had followed the water droplets to the sky had transformed the brilliant shine into charcoal grime. Acid had also corroded some of the stone into ugly, bumpy chunks.

The wind howled a mourning song through the archways, and he watched Dark and Zelda inch their way nervously to the edge of the platform they were on to look over the edge. They giggled happily, reaching out to touch the clouds that passed by. Besides the sorcerer, the rest of them seemed to find the Palace of Winds mystical and enchanting.

For Vaati, this place was haunting.

He had set his expectations too high, and his excitement of finally returning to his former lair had blocked any notion that it would only be a ghost of what it had once been. The reality of the time that had passed since he had been dubbed the Sorcerer of Winds really struck home.

Vaati wandered away from the little courtyard to the corridor leading inside. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw Vaati separate himself from the group. Tightening his grip on his sword, Link followed him, leaving Dark and Zelda to continue awing at the magical nature of the Palace that they were still unused to.

He found the sorcerer standing in the middle of a magnificent hall where ancient relics were piled around the walls. They were strewn about in a "neat mess," just like you might do when throwing your junk into a closet out of sight from guests. Faded purple tapestries were draped along the walls, and melted wax froze in mid-drip in the lanterns left unlit for hundreds of years. Vaati knelt down and picked up a green hexagonal cut gem.

"That's a rupee."

Vaati looked up at the sound of Link's voice. "I'm aware."

"Oh. Sorry, it's easy to forget you know about the old days," Link apologized. "When you were Gale you refused to acknowledge anything that had to do with the past."

"I am still Gale you know," Vaati muttered. "I just like my original name better, especially since I have a better understanding of what had happened to me."

Out of habit, Link reached into his pocket for his rupee bag. Finding a wallet instead, he put it back with a shrug of his shoulders and knelt down next to Vaati. He picked up a red rupee and played with it in his hands. "Can I ask you something?" Link asked the rupee in his hands. "Or will I have to get my sword at the ready for you blowing up at me?"

Upon noticing Link holding a rupee in a similar fashion, Vaati dropped his like a rotten egg where it tinkled on the hard floor. "That depends on the question, doesn't it?" He gave Link a withering look.

Link gave a short laugh. "Heh, do you hate me that much?"

Vaati smiled despite himself. "Was that actually your question? Of course I do. Everything I've worked for was taken away by you."

"Well, no, that wasn't really my question."

"Then out with it already. I'm not a patient person," the sorcerer snapped.

Link sighed, glancing behind him. Dark and Zelda were still busy looking around the palace in wonder. The blond hero fiddled with the rupee some more. "… What do you have against everything?"

Vaati frowned. "What the hell kind of question is that?"

Link shrugged. "Well, isn't it true that you used to go around trying to take over the world like you had a vendetta?" His blue eyes turned to the wind mage. When Vaati avoided his gaze, he pressed on. "I just don't understand. I don't understand types like you and Ganondorf where you're not satisfied with what you have, so you try to take everything by force."

"Don't compare me with that desert pig," Vaati growled.

"You're avoiding my question."

There was a clatter as Vaati's hand shot out and gripped Link's collar in a menacing choke, causing the other teen to drop the rupee he had been holding. In a soft hiss of breath, Vaati snarled. "You really know how to push my buttons, boy."

Freeing his throat from Vaati's tight grip, Link coughed. "I just find it odd."

Vaati narrowed his eyes, and then abruptly let Link go so that he dropped to the floor. Crossing his arms, he arched one eyebrow, demanding Link to elaborate. "What?"

"Do you still say you're the same as Gale? Are you completely serious about that?"

"Yeah," Vaati scoffed, a little annoyed that no one seemed to believe him.

"To me, Gale didn't seem too keen on taking over the world, but you sound almost obsessed. If Gale and Vaati are one and the same, then where does the difference come from?" Link shook his head slowly. "It's something from the past, isn't it?" Vaati's expression flickered, but of what, Link couldn't tell. However, the sorcerer's silence was all he needed to realize that he had hit a bit of truth.

"Vaati, the past is more than 8000 years ago. Let it go."

"I… I can't." The sorcerer surprised Link when he stammered, unsure of himself. His strong exterior had finally crumbled, and behind it Link was able to see that Gale was, in fact, still Gale. Crows feet appeared on the teen's forehead when his brows scrunched together. "It's all I've lived for. At least… that's what it feels like. I can't remember anything besides the driving feeling that I have to be the best." He hesitated, and then his eyes hardened once more as though realizing how weak he must have sounded. "I need to prove myself."

Link shook his head. "But why? For what?" He wanted to shake the sorcerer by the shoulders to knock some sense into him. "From all the time I've spent with you I know you're not unreasonable. You don't have to feel like you need to go against the entire world."

"What would you know?" Vaati hissed, lashing out. "You, who probably never had to work to be noticed. It took a lot of effort for me to reach the level of prominence I have today," he shot.

Link looked taken aback for a few seconds, and then blinked. "You're wrong," he said slowly, "I do know."

Now it was Vaati's turn to be surprised. His voice caught, and he closed his mouth that had been open in mid-sentence. This had been a completely unexpected response, since every other incarnation of Link he had fought before had been an annoyingly naïve one who had seemed untainted to the unfairness of life. Vaati sneered at Link skeptically. "You do, do you?"

Link walked over to a vase that was flipped upside-down and sat on top of it. "I grew up with the Kokiri, but I was never really one of them. I was ostracized because they thought I was a fairy-less freak."

Vaati's disbelieving gaze softened and disappeared. Ostracism – he was familiar with that one. However, he wasn't about to give this one to Link yet, so he continued to listen with a scornful look.

"To start things off, they just found me in the forest and no one really knew where I came from besides the Great Deku Tree – who, by the way, didn't feel it necessary to mention to me until people needed a hero. Heh," Link gave a slightly bitter huff. "Secondly, I didn't have a fairy of my own. I didn't realize it was because I wasn't actually a Kokiri at the time, so the others almost had me convinced I was a defect. Most of them treated me like I was missing a head or something. I almost broke, you know. Some days I wanted to hurt Mido and the rest so badly. Can you believe that? Me, a destiny chosen hero, one who is supposed to be full of pure intentions, wanting to hurt someone?"

Vaati didn't say anything. He shifted his weight, seemingly bothered by something and his eyes wandered around the room.

"I knew it was wrong though, so I tried my best to ignore them. My best friend Saria helped me keep my sanity, too." Link sighed. "After I left the Kokiri, I eventually found out that Mido didn't really hate me. I later found the courage to forgive." He looked at the sorcerer who was staring at the floor. "I was wary about trusting you at first, and even in the beginning I told you that if I didn't need your help, I would have wanted nothing to do with you. The stories I heard about you disgusted me, because they reminded me so much of what Ganondorf was like."

At the sound of the Gerudo's name, Vaati's eyes narrowed but he kept his silence. Link continued.

"But after spending time with you, I have a feeling you might be different than that evil man. Gale wasn't evil – he was just… difficult to get along with. I don't want to follow my predecessors in killing you again because I know you're not like Ganondorf."

Vaati stood up abruptly, his expression tense and irritated. Shooting a terse look at Link, he turned on his heel. Just before he reached the end of the corridor, he took a deep, tiresome breath. "Was I too weak to forgive and forget?" Then, he stormed off angrily and out of sight.

"Wait, no, you're taking this the wrong way!" Link jumped off the vase suddenly, making it crash to the floor and crack. Ignoring the rupees that clattered out of the vase, he followed Vaati only to find the sorcerer had disappeared. Alone in the dim hall of the palace, the blond shook his head. "If fate hadn't forced me to be the hero, I might have been like you too…"

XXXXXXXXX

Pale, sickly fingers that hadn't seen the light of day for months nervously tugged at the collar of Dr. Willits' ironed lab coat. The sleeves sagged from being a few sizes too large for the thin doctor, and his other hand occasionally moved them out of his way. The doctor fidgeted nervously in front of the dark skinned, formidable, and highly intimidating man in front of him. "Mr. Ganon, I'm sorry but we're not ready to make a full demonstration yet. We still have to test out some kinks to make sure nothing goes wrong, especially after one of our assistants was burned the last time." Though physically taller than most people, Dr. Willits had shrunk to a laughable size with his shoulders cringing under the other man's boring gaze. His boss and idol wanted to see the complete demonstration of the zeron now, and his team wasn't ready for that.

On their last run, Skull Kid had managed to conjure a fire fairy as large as a beach ball – the largest one they had seen so far. With the doctor's machine, they had been able to stabilize the thing to keep it from vanishing, but when they had tried to turn it off it had flared out at one of his assistants who had ventured too close. The assistant had suffered second-degree burns, and the entire lab was deeply disturbed by the incident. It was an unspoken truth that there was a highly likely scenario that the fire things had a mind of their own, and this had the possibility of upsetting the entire research. After all, who would want a weapon… er, "infinite energy source," that was sentient? It would be uncontrollable and therefore dangerous. "I can show you around the facility instead?"

Ganon's steely gaze remained fixed where they were. "I've already seen the facility before, Stan. I want to see your latest project; I flew all the way over here from business in Indonesia because I had heard you had made progress."

"Uh… well, we were worried about safety…"

The crime lord brushed his hand across his red-brown hair. "Tell me," he leaned forward, his crooked nose inches away from the doctor's face, "did I ever give you the impression I care about safety?"

"No sir…" the doctor mumbled. He shuffled away, grabbing the keys out of his pocket. He dared to make one more comment. "I don't see why there's a need to rush though."

Ganon gave a smile the doctor had come to fear seeing. "I had a premonition," his eagle eyes glinted, "those kids who gave you trouble earlier are still running around somewhere, and they're going to come back and upset this operation if we don't hurry."

"Isn't the infamous Talon Three doing their job?" Dr. Willits said the name with disgust. "Dugal always gloats about never failing his assignments."

"I haven't heard from Dugal for some time," Ganon said flatly. "I believe he's become distracted by something. At any rate, he will have to consider himself unemployed when he returns – I have had to question his loyalty one too many times," he chuckled darkly.

The doctor laughed along nervously, glad that he wasn't in Dugal's position. He felt no sympathy for the arrogant man who he hated with a passion, but he did pity him for what he had in store: no one should ever get on the wrong side of Ganon. "Alright sir. I'll go fetch Skull Kid now."

Fifteen minutes later, the doctor returned with the cat-eyed boy rattling off with bubbly energy. The sleeves of the boy's oversized sweatshirt flopped around as he waved them around excitedly, and they hit the doctor several times before they were held firmly in place with a stern, pale hand. Ganon could pick up some of the boy's frantic talking from where he was standing.

"It's almost perfect Dr. Skinny! You're going to be so proud of me that you're going to get me something nice again. The song is so good now, but I know it's not perfect yet because if it were perfect then it would sound even better. And when it's perfect you'll be…" Skull Kid trailed off at the sight of the imposing desert man. The boy almost fell forward when he stopped walking, and the doctor, still holding onto his arm, continued to move forward. Dr. Willits turned around to see what was wrong.

"Come along now," he tugged the boy's arm. At the same time, he threw an apologetic glance towards Ganon.

Skull Kid raised his chin towards the doctor, but kept his eyes on the man. "Who's Big Nose?" he whispered. He yelped when the doctor yanked his arm sternly.

"Be more respectful! That's Mr. Ganon, and he's a very important man."

"I don't like the way he's looking at me…" Skull Kid mumbled, inching behind the doctor.

The doctor couldn't really blame the boy, because Ganon was looking at him with both interest and revulsion. He figured his boss didn't like kids much, and Skull Kid was an especially difficult one to deal with. Ganon took a few strides forward, closing the gap between them.

"Ah, so this is the boy?" he said half-heartedly. The doctor nodded.

"Yes. And he can do extraordinary things with that Ocarina. Can't you, boy?" He asked Skull Kid, praying he would be obedient today.

Skull Kid nodded, still mistrustful of the visitor.

"Can you play like you always do for Mr. Ganon here?"

The doctor panicked slightly when Skull Kid made a disagreeable face. "He'll be mean to me if he doesn't like it."

"What? Haha, that's just nonsense. Mr. Ganon wouldn't be mean to you in the least," the doctor laughed nervously. Somewhere in the back of Dr. Willits' panicked mind, a part of him was paralyzed in disbelief that he had just said that. Now that was a lie if he'd ever heard one. Apparently Ganon had found that to be a stupid thing to say as well.

"Stan, you shouldn't lie to kids." He knelt down so that he was at the boy's level, and put a hand intimidating enough to make a bear run on Skull Kid's shoulders. "I'll be very mean to you if you don't do what the doctor asks you to do, boy," Ganon growled.

Skull Kid's usually mischievously cheerful demeanor disappeared. Instead, he was a timid little boy who seemed to be regretting a prank that had gone too far. Skull Kid nodded slowly, and he winced when the bear claw patted him roughly on the shoulders.

"Good." Standing up and straightening out his jacket, Ganon turned to the doctor. "May I see the demonstration, doctor?"

"Yes of course!" The doctor hurried Skull Kid over to the machine he had been working on for months, and barked some orders to his staff. He was slightly bossier than usual since he wanted to show his boss that he was reliable. This part was crucial, since he was pretty sure that something was going to go horribly wrong today – they still hadn't been able to figure out what had caused the fire beings to attack, and the doctor knew it could very well happen again. He was even more worried since Skull Kid had been excited about editing his song, and any time that happened the fire fairies came back bigger and fiercer. At least if he looked assertive right now, the doctor figured, the damage to his reputation would be lessened in his boss's eyes. "All right, we're ready for you Skull Kid." He cringed when one of his assistant's cell phones rang loudly. "Damn it Nakajima, I thought I told you to turn your cell phone off." He sighed, noticing his boss didn't seem amused.

Everyone looked up when the clear sound of an ocarina sang an expertly done rendition of the cell phone ring tone. Skull Kid blew the last note softly, and then his Cheshire cat grin slowly crept up the corner of his mouth. "That's it… I finally got it." He talked rapidly to an unseen person for a while, and the rest of the people in the room credited it to the boy's eccentricity. After a few minutes, the boy began playing the Adagio with bits of the ring tone thrown in, and Dr. Willits gave a sigh of relief.

"The zeron conjures these balls of pure energy," the doctor began explaining to Ganon who had strolled over, his eyes still fixed on the boy playing the ocarina. "What this machine does is it keeps the energy from dissipating once the song is finished. It will continue to stay there until we stop the machine from running; we've managed to figure out how to make it a self-sustaining system with the machine running on the fire fairies' energy."

"Fairies?" Ganon raised an eyebrow. The doctor fell quiet, feeling somewhat silly when he turned to see that the fire things were no longer cute little fairy-like objects but a frightening inferno behind Skull Kid.

"Uh… well, that's what they looked like when we first started," he said lamely. A bead of sweat rolled off his nose when he saw some of his assistants backing themselves to the farthest reaches of the room to avoid being burned. He coughed. "At any rate, once this project is complete we won't have any need for the boy nor the ocarina to keep the things running. We might even consider constructing more of these if this goes well."

"Then Avilux will be truly unstoppable…" Ganon smiled. He waved a hand at the light behind Skull Kid that had arranged itself to form a massive phoenix-like bird of prey. "What is it called?"

"Huh?" The doctor blinked. His attention was now entirely focused on what was going on behind Skull Kid, and he did his best not to let his panic show through. This was the first time he had seen the fire things to be anything other than flitting winged orbs, and this firebird was menacingly huge. It didn't seem to have any solid core, and its light dazzled the eyes. The thing reminded the doctor of the symbols he occasionally found on some zerons of a bird of prey beneath three triangles. He wished now that he had taken the time to look for any literature pertaining to the symbols. "Uh… we don't have a name for it yet, sir."

"Hmm," Ganon tapped his chin, oblivious to the fright the firebird was causing to the rest of the staff. "Then it will be called the Avilux Ignis after the syndicate." He laughed. "It will be appropriate since Avilux already has the roots of the word 'bird' and 'light' and Ignis means 'fire.'"

"I-I think that's perfect sir," the doctor stammered. He scrambled to check the status of the machinery on the computer, not really caring about the darned thing's name. Right now, he was worried that more than one person was going to be burned today – they had completely underestimated the power and size of the thing they had conjured. His assistants had caught on to the potential trouble and were now running around making sure everything was in control. Ganon frowned slightly at the commotion, but he didn't seem to be aware of the potential danger Avilux Ignis presented.

By the time Skull Kid was finished playing the song, the bird was at least ten feet in height alone and its wings extended the full length of the room. It flapped them several times in a surprisingly life-like way, and then it settled down beside the boy. Skull Kid looked up at it with a smile, and then he turned towards the researchers and took a comical bow. At that moment, the bird gave an ear splitting screech, making the tripping researchers skid to a halt. Once the ringing had subsided, Ganon tilted his head towards the stricken doctor next to him.

"Are you going to tell me we have a living thing in our hands, doctor?"

Dr. Willits gradually raised his head behind the computer terminal to look at the firebird that had its flickering head in their direction. "A living thing with enough power to hold two Nagasaki nuclear bombs, yes. This was unexpected, Mr. Ganon."

"Is it controllable?"

"Well sir…"

Before the doctor could finish, a clear, musical, yet sexless voice echoed in their heads. "Avilux Ignis, did you call me?"

"It can speak!" the doctor almost fell out of his chair in surprise.

"You of Gerudo decent, did you call me Avilux Ignis?" the voice repeated, disregarding the doctor. From the way the firebird snapped its beak angrily, it was apparent that the voice's owner was the bird's.

There weren't many instances where Ganon was thrown off guard, but this was one of them. He certainly hadn't been expecting their latest weapons project to talk to them. Still, no successful crime lord would let his surprise show for long, and Ganon quickly regained his cool demeanor. "Is there a different name you would prefer to go by?" he asked civilly.

The firebird ignored his question, and the voice changed to that of a little girl's. It was off-putting at best, and it was weird coming from a huge bird. "Avilux Ignis – it was named after your syndicate. Is your syndicate important to you?"

Ganon hesitated, once again thrown off by the direction of the conversation. "Yes, it is extremely important," he stated simply.

There was a pause, and there was a tinny sound as the girl's voice laughed. "Then it is important to me."

There was a noticeable release of tension with those words as everyone in the room relaxed. Avilux Ignis appeared willing to listen to the boss, and that was good news. Gaining confidence, Ganon took a step towards the firebird.

Another screech exploded from Avilux Ignis and everyone, with the exception of Ganon, flew to their respective corners of perceived safety. Even Skull Kid, who had appeared happy earlier, was huddled by the edge of the doctor's machine with both hands over his ears and a worried frown on his face. The boy was starting to have second thoughts of reviving this creature that had promised to be his friend – though he was enjoying how it was giving the big people something to fear, he was having doubts on how much fun he would have with this 'friend.' After all, though he liked to pull pranks on people, he never enjoyed seriously hurting anybody and Avilux Ignis didn't strike him to be the type that would stop with a mere prank. The bird rolled its head as much as a light being could, and then it fixed its gaze on Ganon. Its eyes gleamed a brilliant white.

"You have it." Its voice was back to the musical, genderless voice.

"What?" Ganon asked, taking a step back.

"You want the others badly, I can feel it. You have always wanted them, and you treasure your own like your life. But more than anything, you want to use those powers to claim the world. Use the Triforce to claim the world." Avilux Ignis raised its wings and a hooked talon clicked forward beyond the machine's reach. Skull Kid had ducked away in time to avoid being hit, since the bird seemed to have no consideration for his well-being. This caused a ruckus amongst the staff.

"I've seen enough, doctor." In an impressive show, Ganon managed to keep his voice steady. The doctor, however, was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"We've been trying to turn it off, sir, we've been trying!" His fingers fumbled over the keys of his computer, deleting commands several times from multiple mistakes.

"Get a grip you fools!" Ganon barked. He shielded his eyes from the blinding fire of the power of the Fourth part of the legendary Triforce. It was the chaotic neutral, and it knew no difference between good and evil.

"Is the world important to you, Keeper of Power?"

"TURN IT OFF!"

The flames from the bird's wings shot out and engulfed the doctor who had been frantically going through the programs in the computer to shut down the machine. With a sickening scream, Ganon's partner to his scheme to create an unstoppable weapon disintegrated instantaneously into ash. Only his ghostly shadow remained imprinted on the wall that had been behind him. The room fell to a hush as everyone stared at the stenciled outline of the late Dr. Willits.

The bird fluttered its wings, and the voice became that of a little girl's once again. All Ganon could do was to stare at the deity they had revived. Avilux Ignis clicked its beak, the girlish giggles endlessly taunting them.

"The world… I want it."

Travel Log: Are you freaking kidding me? I'm not doing these anymore - Vaati

fleets: (fist pump) Aw yeah I finally get to the part where the last deity shows itself! This chapter was originally going to be named 'The Palace of Winds' because I was going to write more about the happenings of the little group way up in the sky, but that got pushed back to a later chapter because I ended up focusing more on AI (and I don't regret in the least). Dahh the next chappie is going to be fun to write. Scratch that, all the chapters from now on are going to be fun, now that all the characters are out on the table. XD

Shadow Blues: That's right - he's still Gale but with an extra set of memories. That's up to interpretation though; since memories are what make us, then the addition of Vaati's memories wouldn't make Gale the same as he was before... (so is he REALLY still Gale? Technically yes but, who knows?).

Midna Hytwilian: The question on whether or not he's Gale or Vaati... I say they're both, since we're shaped by what we remember and Vaati/Gale has both sets of memories. He keeps the name Vaati because that was his original name, and the name he had when he was at his greatest.

henslight: The identity issue I tried to answer as best I could in the responses above (I don't really have a clear answer on which one he really is, because I see his new self as more of an in-between). Yep, that was Vaati's power getting to his head a little - he had a huge rush where he was like "muahaha I have so much power I can do whatever I want." Gale was more like a normal person in that sense, since he wasn't power drunk.

xBlackDragoonx: Luckily for Link Vaati wasn't completely Vaati :) But now everyone in the whole world is pretty screwed...

Reily96: I laughed so much after I read that. Now I might have to go and change that a little so I can actually read that with a straight face (and not burst out laughing)... or I can keep it for the endless lols of amusement I have now from imagining Gale saying that XD
I had a feeling you'd enjoy that part ;)

Dark Scrivener: Skyward Sword! I'm still ambivalent about it, but excited nonetheless. Aw, thanks - that gives me a lot of relief, since that was the section I was feeling unsure about including. Ah, the multipile-personality-disorder. It gives me the headaches trying to sort him out in my head, but at the same time that's why he's so fun to write :)

Astral S. Kepeire: I had a field day writing Vaati. Ah... yeah I had a feeling you wouldn't like that part. Sorries, I couldn't help it.
Distinguishing between Gale and Vaati is one of the trickiest characterizations I've had to do, because they're essentially the same person with extremely slight (yet significant) differences. I think you hit the nail on the head - Gale's definitely a more toned-down Vaati, and it results from him not having sorcery to back up his arrogance. He actually might be closer to what Minish Vaati might have been like (though more bitter because of all that subliminal Vaati frustration). Now that he's got all (well, most of) his magic back, he's as arrogant as ever. Gale's personality still shows through though since he hasn't completely disappeared. Like I said to other people above, I think memories are what make us and Vaati/Gale has both sets that are equally real, so both parts would still exist.
Thanks so much for all the comments Astral! Oh and yep, Skull Kid and the fire-goddess-thing AI appeared (and nearly stole the chapter imo, in terms of moving the plot forward).

Kishoto: That's a perfect way to describe Vaati now, actually (about how all that really happened was him regaining his powers/memories, making him a more extreme case of Gale-ness lol).
... or will it be, none of the above? XP One thing is clear - the authoress is tired of having Ganon as the villain, so expect to have something different ;)

LinkxDarkLink: It's cool. I'm just happy people are still interested in this story :) Oooh yeah, that pic! Maybe I'll go color that when I have the time (hmm). Yeah, poor Zelda wasn't expecting that either :P

Sapphiet: Zelda would agree with you on that. And Link. And Dark. And just about everyone, probably. Of course, lol, they're the same person XD

LunaticEyesInaba: Yay, thank you! :D

Purplegc: Link is definitely missing Gale right now - much more stable a person than Vaati. Now that you mention it, it IS weird isn't it, that Dark is the reasonable one? I didn't notice that when I was writing it.

Mirria1: Me too!

Yaaaay: Thank you, and indeed I will try my best ;)

SGarrison: Thank you! It really makes my day reading reviews like this, 'cause it makes it that much more fun to continue writing to know I'm not the only one enjoying keeping the story going.

SubZeroChimera: w00t!

msfcatlover: Aahhh the pressure! lol. Vaati vs. Dugal is just waiting to happen - it's one of those things that would disappoint me greatly if it didn't happen.

i-wish-799: Gale's still there, don't worry :) He's just a little more difficult to notice since all Vaati's personality is, is an extreme case of Gale. And more updates you shall have :D