Holy... so a lot of crap happens in this chapter and that's why it's so long. O.o;
Also, EARLY-ISH UPDATE! Oh Em Gee I updated sooner than usual the world is going to end as we know it D:
Chapter 23: King of Talon - Helmaroc
"I sat there once…"
Vaati brushed his hand along a small, simple stool with some of the colors bleached out of the wood. It wasn't anything fancy like the other furniture in the palace, and it didn't look comfortable at all. This room was for experimenting with spells, and Vaati recalled that he had felt it pointless to risk ruining good furniture so he'd settled for a simple one. He then walked over to the bookshelf, magically lighting the candles with green flame as he maneuvered through the dim, cozily familiar room. The bookshelf was in surprisingly good condition with only a few hints of dust, and upon further inspection he discovered it to be protected by some sort of spell. The spell had weakened from time but it was still intact, and Vaati vaguely remembered taking the time to painstakingly place shields around it to make the books last longer. He was amazed they were still here in his palace today.
"I picked up this book…"
He reached over and grabbed a grey-covered book whose pages had been slightly abused from having them flipped so many times. Vaati moved back over to the stool. The muscles on his face tensed angrily, his voice becoming a soft, menacing hiss of anger.
" – and I performed that goddess-damned spell." Suddenly scowling, he raised his hand, paused for a second to think a little, and then blasted the stool in splinters with a burst of dark magic. Blowing up the stool should have been a feel-good thing, but instead it gave him something else to be angry about. He growled when the splinters backfired and flew towards him, causing some of the wood to cut the exposed part of his skin. "Fuck!"
As soon as he'd cursed, Vaati blinked in surprise at himself, and then slunk back to the cramped corners of the room and plopped against the wall. What a mess.
He stared at his fist as he clenched and relaxed them. His sorcery had become so crude and messy. He used to be effortless with magic. He used to be clean. He never had a brain fart when he used to perform sorcery in the old days when he'd been the best.
He used to have style.
Vaati frowned, and then tossed the book he'd been holding into the air and concentrated on it. He waved his right hand uncertainly, and when he noticed the book continue to fall to the floor, the sorcerer hastily switched to his left hand and circled it in the air frantically. Just before the book hit the floor with a smack, it stopped with the help of wind and slowly began to float its way back to its place on the bookshelf. Vaati sighed, and then hung his head between his knees.
I'm out of practice…
His trepidation about his magical abilities had begun the moment he had attempted to warp everyone to the Palace of Winds earlier. Granted they had arrived here safely, he still felt it had been a close call to complete disaster. He was amazed he had succeeded at all, because warping to the Palace of Winds was more difficult than any other kind of warping.
Back in the day when Vaati had reigned from the Palace of Winds, he had made sure that no other magical practitioners would be able to reach his abode easily. After all, he hadn't trusted his minions to do a good job of keeping outsiders away, and he also hadn't wanted to expend the effort of keeping watch himself. Therefore, he had set up an extremely complicated and powerful spell to keep the Palace inaccessible to anyone besides him, and to keep it invisible from curious eyes. It was quintessentially a small Bermuda Triangle in the sense that if anything approached it, it would become terribly lost in a magical rift that kept the palace safe.
Come to think of it, I wonder if the Palace of Winds was responsible for some of the missing pilot stories you hear every now and then.
The spell worked fantastically, and no one besides Link had ever successfully infiltrated the Palace of Winds. Even then, that green nuisance had needed the help of Hyrule's magically powerful maidens just to get a pathway open.
Wow. I used to be so good, Vaati brightened happily. His happiness was temporary, however, when he thought back to his situation now. Now I'm so bad. He'd become absentminded in the miniscule details in sorcery that was so extremely important in performing any spell. Of course it was expected that he would make mistakes now since he hadn't done any sorcery in over 8000 years, but it was still depressing.
At this rate I'll be the world's most incompetent sorcerer.
Vaati's eyes widened and he froze as that petrifying thought crossed his mind. Shaking his head vehemently, he tried to get that thought out of his head.
No! I'm the world's only sorcerer. That makes me the most powerful sorcerer by default!
The sorcerer calmed down, and his mouth relaxed into a smile. He chuckled in relief, and pumped a fist into the air. "Ha! Logic wins!"
…
Within seconds, he deflated at the pitiful measures he was resorting to in order to keep his precious title.
Standing up, Vaati moved through his old study and then opened the door to step outside into a windy corridor. Moving towards one of the railings, he placed a hand on it to look down over the edge, and then pulled his hand back when the stone crumbled away and disappeared. Somewhat disappointedly, he put his arms behind his back and peered over the edge again. The clouds were rushing past without a purpose in their movements, and between them he could see a fuzzy view of forests and towns miles below. The view distracted him from his lack of mastery over magic, and it cheered him up a little. He then looked up and saw Dark and Zelda walking off a balcony to head indoors all the way on the other side of the palace.
He could have been helping them find the sealed maidens' spirits to stop a possible flood, but at the moment he was feeling unmotivated. Ever since his memories had returned, he felt a slight pang of revulsion at the thought of helping them, even if his lack of help could entail the end of all coastal life. My "hometown" in New Jersey would be wiped off the map for sure…
Vaati kicked a lone pebble off the edge of the skywalk. He'd helped those fools enough already by bringing them to the palace; after all, that's all they ever wanted him to do and he'd done his part. It was silly of them to think he'd care enough about the world that he'd make that extra effort to save it as well. As Gale, all he'd really wanted was to find out more about Vaati and that goal had been achieved. It wasn't that he wished half the world to go swimming – he truly didn't care about what happened to it as long as it didn't inconvenience him. With the memories of living in so many different eras, he'd become quite jaded with the concept of home. Home could have been the Palace of Winds, but even the flying castle had disappointed him – home was only a vague term of where he had current residence.
As for Gramps Loze, well, he didn't know what to think of him. That old geezer had been annoying, but it would be unfair of him to say that he hadn't treated him well. Maybe he'll help spare that man from whatever world disaster may come, but only because he'd been under his service for his life as Gale. It wasn't that he didn't like him, it was just that he was…
Annoying, nagging, and far too much like Ezlo.
Vaati cringed at the thought of his old master. He had mixed feelings about Ezlo. On one hand he had been militaristically strict with unreasonably high expectations, self-absorbed, condescending, and a real killjoy. On the other,
…
I suppose he meant well?
Vaati scoffed. Well I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for him, he thought sarcastically.
Looking down at the view again, he tried to take his mind off of things. He'd nearly forgotten how much he'd enjoyed seeing the view from the palace where everything was beneath his feet. Instead of the other way around when I was a Minish. Din, why couldn't those memories omit themselves?
Stretching, Vaati yawned and then stuck his hands inside the pockets of his sweatshirt. He appreciated the horizon some more, and then smiled when he remembered something. Oh yeah, I used to float around for the heck of it. That was a ton of fun.
Tentatively, he stuck his foot off the edge of the skywalk, and then pulled it back. What was he thinking? Teleporting was the way to go. Grinning, he cracked his knuckles and casted a spell. In an instant, he blinked out of existence on the skywalk he had been standing on and appeared several meters away in the middle of the open air.
"Oh shi – AAAH!"
In a display that would make Vaati want to go sit in a hole and die, the rusty sorcerer panicked and waved his arms in an attempt to steady himself. Glowering, it took him several seconds of freefall and concentration to get him to levitate back up again. Once he was back on the level of the skywalk, he approached it and climbed over the railings to return to solid ground. There was no way he was going to attempt teleporting in this state, where one mistake might cause him to have his body teleport into a pillar resulting in instant death: especially since earlier he had overshot teleporting, as well as fail to levitate.
"Stupid modern Gale mindset," he growled to himself. It was going to take some time to convince himself that magic wasn't impossible, and until then his sorcery was going to be unpredictable. Shaking his head in frustration, Vaati wandered to explore a different part of the palace to change his disgruntled mood.
XXXXXXXXX
"Where did Vaati go?"
Dark and Zelda had followed Link inside the palace where the teen was standing by himself, the wind mage in question nowhere to be seen. At the sound of Vaati's name, Zelda stiffened and crossed her arms.
"We can go without him. We don't need him anymore anyways."
The two Links looked at each other, both of them reluctant to be the first one to say anything since Zelda's mood had obviously turned sour. They stepped out of the way when the girl roughly pushed past them.
"Were we looking for the sealed spirits of the maidens? There were six right? Link, talk to me please."
"Uh…" Link trailed off when Zelda disappeared from sight, mentioning under her breath about wanting to get things over with quickly. He scratched his head at a loss.
"Someone's upset with someone," Dark observed once he was sure he was out of earshot and was safe.
"It's all Vaati's fault."
"I hadn't spent too much time with you guys before he got his memories back, but I hear that Vaati's Gale except worse."
Link nodded. "Yup. If Gale was a natural disaster, then Vaati is the apocalypse." He shook his head. "Dang it. Monsters I can deal with, but I never know what to do with an angry woman."
"Huh. I stopped distinguishing those two categories a long time ago."
"I wonder if Zelda's scary when she's angry. I mean the Zelda from my time," Link clarified when Dark was looking at him funny.
Dark's pierced eyebrow slowly inched upwards and he took a closer look at Link. The blond had a faraway expression that Dark could describe as Romeo-esque. Then, a mischievous grin that made Link uncomfortable appeared on his face. "She's usually nice though, isn't she?"
"Yeah…" Link replied without skipping a beat.
"Fun?"
"Yeah."
"Smart?"
"Yeah."
"Pretty?"
"Ye –" Link stopped. "What is it to you, anyways?"
"Oh, nothing." Dark smiled knowingly.
Recognizing what his modern twin was referring to, Link threw up his hands in the air in exasperation. "Look, it's not like that." Even as he said it he felt foolish, however, since he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. His usually calm exterior broke as he stuttered, attempting to redeem himself. "All right! Fine, I admit I like her but I like a different Zelda more."
Dark snickered. "Hehe, no wonder Vaati likes to screw with your head by making passes at Zelda – you are so crazy about that girl."
Before Link could give Dark a piece of his mind, a shout from somewhere above interrupted him. Zelda's voice rang out with urgency. The two boys exchanged glances, and Dark picked up a sword from among the random objects in the room.
"I think that was our queue to go."
They hurried to the sound of Zelda's voice, their footsteps echoing faintly between the soft wail of the wind.
XXXXXXXXXX
Zelda had stormed off away from the boys to look for the maidens on her own to avoid the topic of Vaati. She couldn't forgive him for doing that at the Temple of Time; and the nerve of him to suggest she'd liked it! It made him worse than those guys who always hit on her because she'd always managed to intimidate them enough to get them to leave her alone.
Her footsteps wavered, and she didn't notice she had walked right into the middle of a circular hall with six pillars around the perimeters. The different colored gems set firmly on top of them glinted faintly as she walked past.
Becoming increasingly upset the more she remembered what had happened at the Temple of Time, Zelda's fists became clenched. "Ohhh that filthy jerk!"
A familiar voice intruded her thoughts. It was uninvited and disconcerting, and she didn't like its smug confidence in the least. But you can't get me out of your head now, can you dear?
"Huh?"
She whirled around, and she steadied herself, her hand reflexively moving up to her temples when her vision swirled and she felt lightheaded. Zelda stumbled in a daze, and then she froze as still as a statue when she saw a ghostly shadow in the form of a person standing mockingly before her. His thin lips were twisted into a leer, and a dark, maroon cape covered most of his figure. A pointed purple hat was neatly propped on top of his silver lavender hair that grew past his shoulders.
"Vaati…" she whispered hoarsely. The apparition took a few steps towards her with a sneer.
You may hate me, but you can't stop thinking about me. One of these days, all you'll ever think about is me and you'll forget about your little hero. Then I will have truly won.
"I will never forget Link. Never. You can't take that away from me, and you'll never understand why. You don't know what it's like to love somebody because all you care about is yourself."
While she spoke to the shadow of Vaati in her distorting reality, Zelda recognized that this was something out of a past life that she was reenacting. Even the Palace of Winds was no longer run down and eroding, but was brilliant and restored to its former glory. Sunlight beamed through the curved arches and casted shadows around the six pillars, but the crystals that were there in the modern times had disappeared. Like a puppet on strings, all she could do was watch as her body acted out an old memory. The sorcerer vanished and appeared by her side, wrenching her face towards him.
I've let you get away with defying me, princess, but you had better watch yourself. When I run out of patience I will not be as nice to you as I am now.
"Villain! Link will defeat you."
You still dare mention that name to me? Hmm. You will lose that conviction soon enough when Shadow Link brings the news that he has died.
"You underestimate him."
And likewise you underestimate me. When this world bows before my heel and you have lost all that you've had to care for, you will come running to me. I will get you to embrace being my queen when you can bare loneliness no longer.
To rub it in her face and to torment her even more, Vaati's cold hands tilted her head and tried to make her kiss him. Zelda spat in his face, and he pulled back in surprise. Rage appeared on his features before he laughed freely. Wiping his face with his sleeve, he smirked malevolently.
I WILL win, princess. I will win against everything. Against Link, against the goddesses, and against you. It is inevitable, and one of these days you will not be able to oppose me.
The vision faded, and when Zelda rubbed her eyes she realized she had bruised her knees on the hard stone floor where she had fallen. Her hands were shaking and tears were running down her face. "What's going on… ?"
Unbeknownst to her, the crystals on top of the pillars flickered again and Zelda's vision flickered. She clutched her head and closed her eyes, afraid of what her next ordeal would be. She flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Tentatively, she looked up and she gasped in relief when she saw Link standing next to her. But… was it her imagination? She couldn't tell if he was the teen or a young boy with the same firm expression burdened by responsibility.
I'll do anything to help you, Zelda. You can count on me.
Those words – those words sounded like something she'd heard many years ago. Now completely confused as to who was acting for her, Zelda reached up and hugged Link tightly, burying her face in his shoulders. "Link!" She sobbed from the stress of everything, "I missed you…"
Brought to his knees by a distraught Zelda pulling him down into an embrace, Link Petrov was caught by surprise and his hands flopped uselessly by his side in befuddlement. He and Dark had found the girl sitting in the middle of a large, open hall with ominously glowing crystals in the perimeter, and crying in a soft whimper. Link hugged her back awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "What happened?" He asked. And you just saw me two minutes ago, he thought to himself. What do you mean, you missed me?
Zelda didn't seem to hear him, and with her voice muffled by the cloth of his jacket, she murmured. "Stay at Hyrule Castle with me."
"What?" Link grabbed Zelda by the shoulders and pushed her away from him to take a better look at her face. Her eyes were still unsteady in a panicked way without understanding what was happening. It was then that the familiarity of the scene hit Link – it was the same phrase the Zelda at his time had spoken to him after he had defeated Ganondorf. This wasn't Zelda Sterling speaking, but Zelda Harkinian. He didn't know what had caused this upset, but he figured it had something to do with the magical nature of the Palace and the flickering gems in the hall. A pained, homesick smile appeared and Link pulled Zelda in for a comforting hug. "I'm sorry, Zelda. I'll come back soon when I'm done here, I promise."
Her blue eyes softening, she closed them slowly and hugged him back, feeling safe in his arms. After a few seconds, her eyes shot open again and she whispered, "I saw the past and Vaati, he…" She shook away the memory. "Link, who am I?"
A female voice emanated from somewhere within the hall, making all of them twist their heads to find the speaker. She spoke with an unusual accent, and Link noticed it was English tainted with old Hylian. You carry royal blood. You are indeed Princess Zelda, the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom and one of the Maidens.
Dark, who had been standing behind Link and watching the entire happening with mild surprise, crouched down and grabbed the sheath of his sword he had taken earlier. "Who's there?" he growled.
This time, a different voice of a young woman answered. We are the six Maidens sealed as spirits to forever protect this Palace. We are the ones who watch over the world when the hero fails to appear.
"It's the crystals! They're the ones talking." Dark whirled around and pointed his sword at the nearest crystal.
Drying her eyes, Zelda slowly stood up with as much regality as she could muster. The voices seemed to make her aware of what was going on around her, instead of the inner turmoil she was going through. "Dark, put that down. They mean no harm." She didn't know why, but a distant memory was giving her more confidence about her power. Dark seemed to have noticed this difference as well.
"Zelda… you've changed."
The girl smiled sadly, hooking her stray yellow hair behind her ears. "No, I've only been asleep. Now I know… now I know what my responsibility is. I saw what I had to do." Turning to each of the six crystals, she addressed them. "Sisters, is it true that you will drown the evil that will appear in this era?"
Yes, my lady. We will protect Hyrule.
"The hero stands before you now. Do you not have faith in him?" She gestured towards Link who unsheathed the Master Sword and held it in front of him to demonstrate.
There was a hesitation, and then the voice repeated, We will protect Hyrule.
Zelda frowned at the reply. "You can't drown the world! Hyrule doesn't even exist anymore!"
We have sworn to protect Hyrule, the voice repeated, unyielding.
The girl's brows knitted together, her eyes gleaming fiercely. "Then so be it." She turned to the two Links who were observing the entire exchange speechlessly. "The spirits have grown old and are weakening. They have little coherent judgment left besides the strong drive to protect Hyrule." She walked over to the pillar with a topaz yellow crystal. These crystals had once been the maidens she had worked together with in a past lifetime to keep the seal on Vaati. It had been cruel to keep them ageless in this bodiless state, but when the decision had been made to seal their spirits, each maiden had agreed to sacrifice herself to protect the world forever. Now after so many years and forgotten in the sky above, no one could have foreseen the toll it had taken on the spirits. The only thing left to them was an ancient conviction that was no longer helpful but harmful, and they had lost all power to adapt and make the right choices. Zelda hung her head. "We have to destroy them." It would free them from their long ordeal at last.
"I would like to object."
The three whirled around at the silky voice that suddenly interrupted them. Link and Dark both shot their hands to their swords while Zelda stood firmly, staring coolly at the unexpected visitor. Slightly out of breath from the thin air, Halstead Dugal neatly fixed his tie and cleared his throat, all the while strafing his pistol in their direction. Just like when they had met him previously, he retained the business casual demeanor of a confident executive. "Judging from your conversation, I believe these crystals have the power to flood the world, yes? Such powerful tools should not be wasted." The leader of Talon Three gave a pleasant smile that was sickeningly fake. "My employer may have the power of Avilux Ignis, but I am not about to give him complete monopoly. We should even out the playing field, wouldn't you agree kids?"
"Dugal," Link said between gritted teeth. "How did you find us here?"
Dugal chuckled, the muzzle of his pistol rhythmically waving between the three targets and daring one of them to make the first move. "Ah, just a simple case of satellite tracking and the sense to look up when you don't see anything in any other direction. I admit I was surprised when I came across this outstanding treasure trove floating in the sky. I was right when I decided to wait so you could lead me here. Let me show you a portion of the terrific properties of some of the things lying about in this palace."
To their horrific surprise, the man's right arm whipped towards his left thigh with blinding speed and the three flinched when a deafening bang cracked through the Palace. With his face still in a chillingly calm smile, Dugal brought his gun back to the three of them while ignoring his thigh where there was now a bullet wound. His glasses wobbled a little when his face twitched in repressed pain, but for the most part Dugal ignored his busted leg that was now bleeding profusely and creating a crimson patch on his expensive suit. "Look what I found," he cracked a grin while bringing out a small bottle from the pocket of his Armani jacket with his free hand. Inside the bottle was a ruby colored liquid, and with one fell swoop he drank the entire contents and tossed the bottle behind him. "A man can be king here." He then swung his previously injured leg and hopped on it to demonstrate its recovery. The rest of them took a step back.
"What… what the hell?" Dark stammered. Link tensed.
"Red Potions. Those are the most potent kind and can help a person recover from almost any injury instantaneously as long as they're still alive."
"I actually wasn't sure it would work completely, but I'm glad it did," Dugal laughed. "Now, now, there's no need to look so terrified," he chided.
The three of them stared in shock at what Dugal had done, as they had not expected to go up against someone who was completely fine with self-injury. Dark was surprised that Dugal hadn't even uttered a single cry indicating pain when he had shot himself. "This guy is trouble," Dark mentioned to Link. "He's got nerves of steel if he could shoot himself in the leg and stay completely calm, and that also means he'll have a steady gun hand even in the most stressful situations. The only way we'll win with swords is if we can get him to miss, and he just proved how difficult that would be."
"I think that demonstration was to show us that," Link muttered bitterly.
Dugal nodded. "Correct. Now that you know how pointless it is to go against me, why don't you sit still for a pleasant chat?"
The three teens exchanged glances, each of them turning to each other for some queue on how to proceed. They were reluctant to play by the Talon Three leader's rules, but at the moment it appeared that they had no choice. "Dugal," Zelda stepped up. "What do you want from us, really?"
Dugal adjusted his glasses. "Why hello Ms. Sterling. We will still consider hiring you if we deem you loyal to the company."
"No thank you," she said tersely. The man shrugged.
"Hm. Disappointing. As for what I want, I already got it when you revealed this Palace to me." He sighed, shaking his head in mock sorrow. "Pity, but since you are threatening to destroy some of its best pieces, I cannot spare you any longer. My employer wanted you to disappear, and disappear you shall. I'm certain I will be questioned extensively for delaying my job for this long anyway. It will be annoying, but these prizes will be worth every stupid question thrown at me."
"You don't understand! You can't control the spirits Dugal, they will threaten the world when you least expect it. It's like trying to control the gods – it's just impossible." Zelda exclaimed.
The man blinked. "Well, Ms. Sterling. As an aspiring scientist, those words were the last things I would have expected you to say. I'm sure that once we understand how they work we will be able to – "
"That's how science works, not how magic works! Those zerons you've been endorsing; the reason why they don't follow the rules of classical science is because they have an entirely different set of laws. They are based on the laws of magic, and I'm telling you that you will never be able to have control over these crystals."
"I don't quite understand what you're saying," Dugal shrugged. "I thought the whole point of the field of energy manipulation was to discover those unknown laws so you can understand them. You didn't strike me as one to give up, but it seems you have convinced yourself to stop pursuing this."
"No, you don't understand at all. Pursuing this scientifically was the wrong approach from the start. You can't control – "
BANG!
Zelda froze, and she felt a few strands of hair brush her cheeks as the tips of her bangs were cut by a passing bullet. A wisp of white vapor floated around the air of Dugal's custom M1911. "I believe this discussion is going nowhere. Let's talk about something else," Dugal said cheerfully.
The girl brought her hand up to her cheek and felt a tiny scratch where the rushing air from the bullet had grazed her. The atmosphere had become a few notches more urgent with the warning gunshot.
Dugal waved his free hand in the general direction outside. His right arm, however, remained as steady as ever. "I have two questions before I complete my assignment: one, where is Mr. Engst and two, who wants the honor of dying first? I would eliminate all of you together if I could, but unfortunately I can only shoot you one at a time."
The man in the suit waited pleasantly for a few seconds, and then his eyes widened when he sensed something behind him. With lightning quick reflexes, Dugal ducked to the floor as an electric blue sphere of energy narrowly missed his head. It was the first time anyone had seen Avilux I's executive consultant lose his posture.
Vaati stood beneath one of the arches, the sunlight shining behind him dramatically. Magic crackled between his fingers as he snarled. "One, I'm right here. Two, you should be the first to die."
Dugal brushed himself off, and his gun wandered a little, unsure of which way to face now that he was sandwiched between his opponents. He was no longer smiling cheerfully, and instead pushed his glasses up with his lips in a thin line. "Good afternoon, Mr. Engst. You have impeccable timing."
"I don't recall inviting you here," Vaati snapped.
Dugal guffawed, and then smiled curtly. His gun waved towards the two Links and Zelda, and he fired seven shots in even spaces right before their feet. The gunfire rang throughout the palace, and the three cautiously looked up from where they had jumped back in defense. Dugal calmly reloaded his pistol with a casual air. "If any of you kids take one step across that line, you will be very, very dead."
He clicked the rounds into the gun and proceeded to aim it at Vaati's head. "I believe you should be first, Mr. Engst."
What happened within the next few seconds was complete and utter chaos of flying bullets and magical energy. When Vaati initially attempted to blow the gun away from Dugal's hand, a bullet had forced him to go on the defensive instead. The sorcerer managed to keep himself shielded until Dugal had to reload, and then he switched to hurling spheres of dark magic towards the man in the suit. Dugal was quick, however, and stopped the spheres from reaching their targets with expertly aimed shots.
Trying a different tactic, Vaati teleported behind Dugal to get a clear shot. It seemed to work at first, when the man paused in wonder at what had happened to the pale teen, but the cover was blown when Vaati yelped from having teleported too far back and almost off the edge of the palace through the archways. Another exchange of magic and bullets occurred, bringing the two adversaries back to square one.
Both characters were stiff from the intensity of the last few seconds, and they stood at a standstill with their respective weapons aimed at each other: Dugal with his gun, and Vaati with his sorcery.
"A Mexican Standoff, Mr. Engst? Your ability is remarkable and I would hate to lose you, but considering your headstrong personality I feel this is the only option left." Dugal's pointer finger gradually applied pressure to the gun's trigger.
"I'm not going to lose to you," Vaati sneered.
Seconds passed in what seemed like hours as the tension became unbearably stifling. Even though Vaati had spoken big words earlier, he was undeniably nervous. He wasn't at complete control over his magic yet, and modern weapons such as guns were far more difficult to deal with in a contest of speed and accuracy than arrows. This wasn't like any fight he'd ever had when he had fought using magic, and Gale's memories were useless since he'd never been against a man with a gun before. From the quick scuffle earlier, Vaati had recognized that Dugal's speed with the bullet forced him to go on defensive most of the time except for when the man reloaded his gun. That was his only chance, so a standoff like this wasn't ideal at all.
On top of all that, casting magic was glacier pace compared to pulling a trigger. Damn.
Vaati braced himself.
BANG!
The moment he'd done so, there was a roar from the silver barrel as the shot thundered with a deafening crack.
Vaati gave a shout of agony, and Dugal stumbled while curled painfully to his left side and holding his face with his free hand. The sorcerer's right sleeve was quickly turning from dark grey to red from the wound on his arm, and Vaati winced as he pressed down on it to suppress the bleeding. Dark dashed towards Vaati and helped steady him. "Your arm, how bad is it?"
"Hurts like hell." Vaati grit his teeth, his right side shaking from trying to suppress the pain. "What about that bastard in the suit?"
Dugal appeared extremely upset, and was snarling profanities while he steadily waved his gun towards Vaati and the rest of the teens. The man's suit had a nasty burn on his left side from where Vaati's blast had grazed him, yet that didn't seem to be the thing that was upsetting Dugal so much. His left hand was rubbing the bridge of his nose, and he had his eyes in a narrow squint.
It was then that Vaati noticed that Dugal's glasses were lying several feet away from the man, and how unsure the gun's aim seemed to be. The sorcerer cracked a smile when Link circled Dugal with a slingshot aimed at him; the blond had managed to shoot the glasses off of the man's face, taking away his aim. "Heh, take away your sight and you're hopeless."
"Hopeless, Mr. Engst? Think again," Dugal growled. With one swift movement, Dugal cocked the pistol and fired a shot in the direction of Vaati's voice, which he used to judge where the wind mage's face was.
Vaati managed to cast a spell to narrowly protect himself from the bullet. He and Dark breathed a sigh of relief, slightly shaken by how the bullet still managed to go right towards his chin – he figured it would have been between the eyes if Dugal didn't have impaired vision. "Fine, you're obviously not hopeless."
Like a wounded animal, Dugal rubbed his eyes with frustration as though that would help his vision. Holding his free arm out, he crouched and waved them frantically to find the glasses he had lost. He gave a furious shout when Link carefully aimed a shot at the hand holding the pistol. The weapon flew out of his hands and spun away on the smooth floor, skidding away to an unreachable distance. Dugal smashed his fist to the floor with his face contorted in anger, and then froze when Link held the Master Sword at his neck.
"I know you can't see well, but you can probably recognize that I have you at sword point."
Dugal blinked. Still crouching, he frowned disdainfully at the sword and scooted away while patting his hand on the floor in search of his glasses. Finally, his hand hit a wire frame and they immediately snatched them up and propped them on his nose. Dugal scrubbed the lenses with his sleeves, shaking his head sadly when he noticed a thin crack in one of them. He peered at Link. "Well, I am at your mercy Mr. Petrov," he shrugged. The man brushed himself off and stood up, avoiding the point of Link's sword. He made a face at the weapon, and then tugged at his jacket to straighten out the wrinkles. "Hmm, pity about the jacket," he mentioned disappointedly, going back to the demeanor of the bored businessman.
Link hesitated, though he kept his grip firmly on the Master Sword. Vaati's voice called out behind him.
"What are you waiting for? That guy is dangerous, Link!" There was a muffled yelp when pain shot up the sorcerer's arm from Dark tightening a piece of cloth around his wound.
Dugal smiled cheerfully. "Your friend is right, Mr. Petrov. It would be wise to get rid of me when I am completely helpless before you. However, that presents another problem, doesn't it?" He chuckled as though they were casually talking about the weather. "Can you kill a helpless man in cold blood, Mr. Petrov?"
Before Link could answer that question, the crystals around the perimeter flashed.
The maiden's voice from earlier echoed eerily. The world will perish…
Glowing brightly, the various colors glittered around the room in a beautiful display. It took a moment for Link to realize that the shine was not something to be appreciated, but feared. "The crystals! We have to – urk!"
As soon as Link's attention had left Dugal for a fraction of a second, the man had pounced on him and had twisted the sword out of Link's grasp. "Never take your eyes off of your opponent, Mr. Petrov," Dugal sneered, hooking his arm around the boy's neck in a guillotine choke. There was a clatter as the Master Sword fell on the ground.
At the same time, a tinkling shatter made everyone turn to see crystal shards raining down on Zelda on the other side of the room. She knelt down and picked up a moderate sized rock and swung herself around, throwing it into the second crystal to shatter it. Bits of shards glittered in her hair, but she paid them no heed as she hurried to destroy them all. When the last one was destroyed, she wiped the sweat off of her face and took a deep breath. "Those maidens were about to flood the world just now."
There was a silence, and then the rustle of the wind carried one last vanishing note from the sealed maidens. The world will perish… When we are gone, who will take responsibility for the chaos that comes?
Dead silence greeted them. Even the howl of the winds seemed to have vanished after the crystals had been destroyed, emphasizing everyone's feeling of surprise at what the girl had done.
Dugal involuntarily loosened his grip on Link in his shock at what Zelda had done, and then tightened them again when the teen attempted to struggle free. He glared down at Zelda like a hawk, and he didn't sound pleased at all. "Ms. Sterling, I am very unhappy with you right now." The man dragged Link over to where his pistol was on the floor, and picked it up. Armed once again and this time with a hostage, the teens had lost their edge over Talon's leader.
Link tilted his head away when he felt the cool metal of the pistol press against his temples. "Dugal! We have bigger problems than you right now! If you want to live, let us go."
Dugal arched his brows. "I feel you are in no position to be making threats."
"It's not a threat, it's the truth!" Zelda was about to take a step forward, but stopped when Dugal growled a warning and jammed his gun against Link's head. Instead, she waved her hands towards the shattered crystals. "The fact that the maidens were trying to activate the flood can only mean that – "
"Skull Kid finished his song," Vaati finished for her. He sighed tiredly. "That means something worse than the flood is waiting to happen, and soon, too."
Dugal said nothing for several seconds, turning his head between each teen with a look of disbelief. They seemed to know something he didn't, and he didn't like that. He always knew everything that was going on, and he hated the fact that he was the one who was left in the dark. Frowning, he shrugged. "So my employer's company now has access to infinite energy. I don't see how that is a bad thing for you, since all it means is that Avilux I now has incredible leverage on the world's economy and politics. Why would it bother a bunch of kids like you on who has the monopoly on the world's energy?"
The four of them exchanged glances of surprise. Finally, Vaati asked, "Are you serious?"
"What?" Dugal sounded annoyed. He was on the verge of losing his patience.
"Your boss isn't trying to obtain infinite energy: he's trying to obtain the perfect weapon."
"An economical weapon that will allow the company to have complete control over world politics, yes," the man nodded with an irritated edge in his voice.
Zelda shook her head. "No no no, it's not just an economical advantage. He's planning to use it with military force – it will be something more frightening than a nuclear bomb."
Dugal was taken aback by the statement, and they could clearly see that he had not been informed of the real plans of the company. He stuttered at the news. "Nonsense! The research that the jittery doctor was doing was nothing of the sort. He wouldn't have the stomach to create a weapon like that."
Seeing how the executive's confidence in his information was breaking, Vaati cackled gleefully between the pains from his arm. "Hahaha! You weren't as trusted as you thought you were, were you? They didn't even tell you what the doctor was really studying."
There was a gunshot when Dugal fired at Vaati, but the sorcerer blocked it again with his magic. The wind mage tittered, knowing it would get on the man's nerves. "You were a little off with your perfect aim again. Was it because of your glasses again, or was it your failing nerves?"
Dugal grit his teeth and his hand clenched with murderous intent. However, he took a deep breath until he relaxed and shook his head with his usual fake smile. He looked at them with pity and shook his head sadly. "You must be misinformed. There is no way I would allow one man to have so much power with a weapon of that sort."
"Well maybe that's why they hid that from you," Link muttered. He twisted his head upwards and noticed Dugal frowning again. "So you really didn't know?"
"It's not true," Dugal repeated stubbornly.
"It is. Here, reach into my pocket and read the paper that's in there. It'll tell you everything you need to know." Link shifted his weight, and found that the steel grip around his neck had loosened somewhat with Dugal growing unsure of himself. The pistol against his neck lowered slightly, and then moved towards his jacket pockets. "It's in the right one."
With the rustling of paper, Dugal carefully opened the documents that outlined the true nature of Dr. Willits' research. The farther his eyes moved down the page, the narrower they became until they were thin, angry lines. Once he was finished reading, Dugal stuffed the document inside his jacket and yanked Link up, causing the teen to choke and stand up with him. "Well then," Dugal laughed with a creepily cheery grin, "I guess I was wrong. They really did have the audacity to attempt to create a demonic weapon."
Zelda crossed her arms. "And that's why we have to sto-"
"And that's why I'm going to be the one to get my hands on it," Dugal interrupted, his cheerfulness taking on a malevolent tone. "You kids know too much about this. I sincerely apologize, but I have to get rid of you."
An explosion blared through their ears, and everyone flinched with the force that rocked the palace floor. The sound wasn't from Dugal's gun, however, and they slowly turned to look outside where the sky had gone from blue to a blinding, crimson flash. The entire palace shook and the ancient stone crumbled from the vibrations, and the sound of crashing artifacts occasionally echoed the halls.
"What was that?" Dark asked the question that was on everyone's minds.
"It's started," Link said quietly. He tugged at the arm that was holding him in place. "I say this again, Dugal: we have bigger problems to deal with than you. If we don't stop that thing that your boss summoned, then everyone is dead."
There was a pause, and then Dugal slowly dragged Link over to the balcony to get a better view of what was happening down below. The rest followed him at a distance until they were all standing around the edge of the Palace. Miles away from the foot of Mt. Fuji, there was a bright shining ball that was floating in the middle of a crater surrounded by mountains. It was in the general direction of where the Avilux I research facility had been, and the thing's light was so intense that it was painful to see even from the Palace of Winds. The area surrounding it steamed from the snow that had melted, and there was a circular green-brown patch where the ground lay exposed. Gusts of hot air reached them after a few seconds. Dugal turned his head towards Link who he still held hostage. "…And just what is that thing?" he asked expressionlessly.
"A troublesome deity." The blond watched the light grow dimmer, revealing the outline of a gigantic bird. "It can't be controlled. The only option we have is to stop it. Do you understand why we have to stop it?"
Dugal wasn't entirely convinced. "And you kids think you can stop that thing, do you?"
"…We have to."
Zelda glanced at the phoenix, and then at Vaati and Dark, and then at Link and Dugal. She shook her head. "Dugal, please, release Link. We need to stop that before it's too late, and we don't have time to waste fighting amongst ourselves."
After several seconds, it seemed as though Dugal wouldn't agree when he stared flatly at them with an unsatisfied expression. With each passing moment, the sound of destruction that was being dealt by the chaotic goddess was becoming terrifyingly clear. However, there was a noticeable release in tension when the man cautiously let Link go at last. The blond shot away from him and rubbed his neck, clearing his throat several times. Dugal sniffed, glancing at the increasing destruction in the distance. "All right. I admit I was wrong." He tipped the point of his pistol in the air in a sign of temporary truce. "I thought I had been the mastermind, but it seems I have been played all along." He tried not to sound ashamed, but the strain in his voice made it apparent that he was bothered by how Gagnon had had the upper hand and not him. "I won't stop you. However, if you plan to destroy that thing, then I am going with you."
There were objections from Dark and Link, but Vaati held up a hand and smirked, nodding knowingly. "If you can't have it, no one can – is that right?"
Dugal nodded.
The sorcerer regarded the other man for a while, and the grinned despite himself. He couldn't really place why he suddenly felt a bit of camaraderie with the person he had hated and wanted to destroy only a few minutes ago. Maybe it was the way Dugal acted upon things, or maybe it was the simple fact that his nickname as the Helmaroc King reminded him of how his alliance with that monster had been: shaky and antagonistic, but full of mutual respect. "Heh. You know, I should be more upset at you for what you've done, but I'm not. I don't like you, but I respect you. You're kind of like me."
The man snorted. "You shouldn't think so highly of yourself that you think I would take that as a compliment."
There was an exasperated sigh from Link who had a tired hand on his forehead. He mumbled under his breath. "I just hope you won't try anything funny, Dugal."
"Well I'm not really known for my humor, Mr. Petrov."
Link gave him a long look at which the man in the suit laughed.
"Don't worry, I stand corrected and I won't interfere with you for the time being." He brought his hands up in a truce.
Considering Dugal with a mistrustful eye, Link picked up the Master Sword he had dropped and returned it to its sheath. He gripped the sword tightly. "All right. Is everyone ready to take down a god?"
Vaati was the only one to crack a smile. For some reason, that concept seemed hilarious to him.
fleets: I realized I used to call Mr. Ganon "Mr. Gagnon" in the earlier chapters and accidentally called him Ganon in the previous chapter. I'll have to go fix that, but for now I'm not going to worry about it.
I feel there's a lot to say about this chapter, yet nothing is coming to mind. Maybe it's because it's so late...
Zelda's flashback scene might be a little confusing. They're references to the events of FSA and Ocarina of Time, and I mostly just stuck that in there to have the whole Legend of Zelda aspect of the story come out more (instead of just having her stand around like some regular blond OC).
Yeah, I really don't have much to say even though so much was crammed in here. Dugal's fight scene was a pain in the arse to write, but fun nonetheless. The beginning scene with Vaati, however, takes the cake as being my favorite part.
Midna Hytwilian: There's nothing bad about making you want to write XD
Yeah. I sometimes wonder what I'd be like if I had no memory of certain life experiences...
msfcatlover: Poor Skull Kid. And now you have to wonder if he's still alive since Avi blew everything up (of course I know the answer but I'm not telling :P). The Palace of Winds was summoned by Vaati to appear above the Temple of Time, so yeah, it is (I attempted to explain that in the beginning of this chapter, but I don't know how clear I was able to make it). There is no problem of like/dislike for Avilux Ignis. All it cares about is whether or not something is important to somebody. The only reason why it said the syndicate is important to it is because Gagnon said it was important. Now it wants the whole world because that's what most people care about (yeah, so it pretty much has no opinions of its own).
LinkxDarkLink: Happy you liked it! Ahh, plot twists. I don't know how many more I have left, but I do have some left. And hope you enjoyed a sort of early update! :)
Shadow R-B: Me too. Gale/Vaati are my favorites in this story (though writing Dugal is pretty darn fun too).
Vaati the wind mage1: Ah, plain Gale... I don't know if he'll come back now that Vaati's back too. That'll be a difficult character to write, hmmm (scratches head)
RyuuseiBlackAce: Whoo hoo!
Reily96: I made a sprite of Ganon in a suit. It was surprisingly adorable lol. Avilux is probably who you think it is ;)
i-wish-799: Ehehe thank you very much :D
henslight: That's a good way to describe it: a friend who's changed a lot. I kinda sorta mentioned the fact about Link's parents (when Link grumbles about how the Deku Tree never told him until he was about to set off on his adventure to save Hyrule). It wasn't made very obvious though ;)
Kishoto: If Vaati was at full power, I think I would've hit a writer's block since he would have just gone and ended everything in a flash. He'd destroy Dugal easily, destroy the company, destroy Link, and maybe destroy a god or two thus ending my story in a very lame fashion. It would have been a little unrealistic as well, I feel, so in the end his rustiness worked out nicely ;)
Sapphiet: If there's one thing I try to avoid, it's repeated endings. Hopefully I can change things up a bit for this one ;)
Ephriokko: I sometimes go back to seeing Vaati with his mage outfit, and then I have to remember that he's in a modern outfit right now. Gives me a couple of brain stalls while writing this thing sometimes :P
Astral S. Kepeire: It was an important twist, too, since granting him with too much power would have made the ending go by way too quickly :)
Both, actually. I was waiting to put more of him in, and I also listened to your request. The tracking signals disappeared during the warping period, and then reappeared when they arrived at the palace. The radar would still catch them because the Argos program is based on satellite (it's a real program, btw, except Talon Three tweaked it a little to have more coverage) so the signals would still reach (I assume).
Including Vaati's conflict was a tricky one, since I felt it was explored a lot in the BC series and I didn't want to continue whipping a dead horse, if ya know what I mean.
Ohoho I did say that all the characters are out on the table, but there are still some more stuff I can say about them XD. As for the guess with Letti, the quote I posted with the picture and the ending quote in the last chapter are the same: that is no coincidence. ;)
SGarrison: I'm happy you enjoyed it - thanks for the review!