fleets: huh, so Starcraft II didn't take up as much time as I thought it would. Weird O.o;
Chapter 27: The Life of Vaati Engst
The snow fell steadily, accentuating the lonely atmosphere that suddenly befell them. It came with soft quiescence, pulling a curtain over the air. The temperature was becoming noticeably nippy, and Vaati rubbed his bare arms that were beginning to feel chilled. No one said anything for some time – after everything that had happened, it was strange to have nothing more to go after. More importantly, each one could feel that they were on the brink of losing the connection that had been forged between them through chance circumstance.
"Skull Kid." Link broke the silence with an uncomfortable cough. The little troublemaker looked up from behind Zelda's arm he was holding onto with one hand. Skull Kid glanced at the Ocarina of Time in his hands, and then sheepishly passed it back to Link.
Skull Kid muttered without meeting the blond teen's eyes. "I told you I'll give it back after I played one song."
Link laughed despite himself with a sad sort of laughter. "Hahaha, and that was one hell of a song you played."
"You're not mad at me?" Skull Kid asked, still not able to look at Link.
The Hero of Time shook his head. "No." He turned to Vaati, Zelda, and Dark. "It was… exciting. I would never have met these guys if it weren't for you."
Another awkward quiet settled with no one wanting to bring up the fact that their adventure was over. It was time to say goodbye.
"You have to go now?" Zelda whispered. She couldn't really describe her mixed emotions of feeling elated that it was over but sad that… that…
She was surprised by Link pulling her closely into an embrace. "I have someone waiting for me," Link murmured. Zelda closed her eyes as she hugged him back.
That's right… the other me is waiting for him. Is that why I feel sad yet happy? She let him go slowly and then knelt beside Skull Kid while Dark stepped forward.
The darker Link scratched his head. "Well, I only got to know you for a brief while." He brushed the snow that had landed on his nose. Dark's expression turned serious and he seemed to be having trouble finding the right words to say. Finally, he rubbed his nose again but this time it wasn't because of the snow. "I'm going to be a better Link than you." Dark turned away. "You better not slack!"
Link allowed himself to smile. "You too…"
Behind Dark, a certain sorcerer was fidgeting with a scowl on his face. It wasn't a surprise to see a scowl since he was almost always seen with one around Link, but this time it was a slightly different sort of scowl. It could have been from the discomfort of letting his "enemy for life" get away from his sight. It could have been from how little regard he had for the entire somber mood of the others. Or probably the most likely reason; it could have been because, after all of this time of keeping up with the act of hating Link, it was too weird to show anything else.
Link looked up towards Vaati when he heard him huff with a scorn. With his arms crossed over his chest and his red eyes looking down his nose and past his bangs, Vaati reminded Link of the way Gale looked at him when he first talked to him on the streets of Ariko, New Jersey.
"Hmph. You remember what the deal was, right?" Vaati's voice was gruff. "I follow you on this trip and I'll never have to see you ever again."
Link watched Vaati with mild curiosity. How silly of him to have once worried that he was unleashing a terrible demon when he revived Vaati's memories. Granted he became slightly more caustic, Vaati was still human and he wasn't too different from Gale. "That's right."
Vaati paused. Then, he waved him away with a bored air. "Well that's good. What are you waiting for? Don't make me blast you out of here."
"All right, all right," Link laughed. He brought the Ocarina of Time to his lips. He took a deep breath and his toes twisted the dirt on the ground. "Goodbye everyone. I'm sorry about the troubles we've caused."
"Bye!" Skull Kid waved, jumping towards Link and grabbing his sleeve.
On cue, Link began to play the Song of Time that was to take him and Skull Kid back to the time they belonged in. It was a forlorn tune that matched the grey sky of the snow clouds. As the curious time travelers began to disappear, Vaati squeezed his hands together and took a moment to think if he could attempt magic. Finally making up his mind, he swept his arms across and a breeze started up, swirling the falling snow. As Vaati, Zelda, and Dark began to vanish in the snow with the sorcerer's warping spell, the wind mage gave one small nod of respect. Link barely caught it between the flurry of snow, but when he did catch it he wondered if he'd imagined it.
It was too late to wonder, because by then the entire group that had gathered in the clearing had faded away. The only hint of anyone ever being there were the footprints left in the snow covered mud.
XXXXXXXXXX
Link's eyelids fluttered open to the sound of a flute. If he'd woken up to something beautiful he wouldn't have been as irritated as he was now. Link could gather that the flutist was purposely putting together an unpleasant cacophony. Grumbling, he rolled over on his side and shook his head to get rid of the leaves that had sneaked their way between his hair. His head felt fuzzy from travelling through time so he was especially unappreciative of the jarring dissonance.
Link groaned and sat up. He noticed that he was no longer wearing his modern clothes but his old green tunic. Next to him, he noticed Skull Kid playing notes on his flute gloomily; it was a change from the spark of cheerfulness he had left the others before they had returned to the past. "Hey Skull Kid."
The imp's straw hat rustled when he shifted his weight. Bright golden orbs swiveled over to Link from under the hat. He paused, and then blew a note loudly making Link flinch momentarily.
Link tried to put a comforting hand on Skull Kid's shoulder. "Cheer up."
Skull Kid hesitated, and then gave him an overly happy smile. "I'm not sad!" He laughed, and then turned away and gazed deeper into the Lost Woods.
It was an act of fake happiness of course, and Link could see right through it. Link sighed. I hope Zelda won't hate me for this. "You can come play in the castle whenever you want." Skull Kid smiled for a second, but then resumed looking away with a faraway expression. Noticing this, Link added, "I'll also visit the Lost Woods when I can."
Skull Kid fiddled around with the flute in his hands. With a small voice he mumbled with his face still towards the trees. "Really?" he asked almost inaudibly.
Link nodded. "I'll be your friend."
The blond was a little unnerved when Skull Kid's head shot around and stared at him with his glinting eerie eyes. Then, he yelped when he was knocked backwards from the force of an unruly little imp jumping to hug him. Then, as soon as his back hit the leaves on the ground he felt Skull Kid's weight leave him. There was a rustle from somewhere up above and he heard Skull Kid's giggles. It was a little different from the other times he'd heard Skull Kid laugh – this time, it seemed there was less strain to the giggles and they were more genuine.
"Ahaha! Sorry about the adventure!" He snickered off, leaving Link with a faint reminiscing tune of Saria's Song that eventually died away.
The blond brushed himself off as he stood up to his feet. He took a moment to let his ears get used to the stifling quiet that was characteristic of the Lost Woods. If he strained his ears hard enough he thought he could catch pieces of Skull Kid's flute; then again, it could have been his imagination.
Link allowed himself to take a well earned stretch and began his final walk to return home. He walked for roughly an hour before his surroundings became lighter from the decreasing density of the trees. A breeze picked up the closer he came to the edge of the forest, and Link picked up his pace. By the time he was out of the woods he was running in a sprint.
He slowed for a moment and took in the view of the landscape; his landscape. There were no weird planes flying in the sky, no cars roaring by with their loud engines, and no steel colored buildings that were taller than castles. The season was early fall instead of winter, and snow hadn't touched the ground yet. He was truly home.
A whinny called him from somewhere in the distance and Link was overjoyed to see a chestnut mare trotting over eagerly. "Epona!" he exclaimed. Laughing freely for the first time in a long while, Link pat his horse on the neck while the animal nuzzled him affectionately. Hoisting himself onto the saddle, he took one last look at the Lost Woods. It was a surprisingly familiar view.
"Ready to go back Epona?"
Epona gave a shrill whinny and she shot forward in a gallop. For the mare, Link had been gone no longer than a few hours: still, she felt as though he had been gone for more than a few months.
XXXXXXXXXX
Rrriiinng!
"Class dismissed! I will hand back your draft on Wednesday and the final paper will be due next week. In the meanwhile, be prepared to discuss pages 220 to 235 from the book. Oh and, I would like to see Opal again please."
Yawning, Opal accidentally hit a few students while she stretched and her charcoal dyed hair bobbed towards Mrs. Hemmer's desk with a routine air. Just like any other day, she smiled and nodded as though she were paying attention and counted the seconds on the clock to see how quickly the teacher would let her go today. Yes, school was back in session after winter break and nothing had changed one… bit?
Suddenly alert, she whirled around in confusion while ignoring Mrs. Hemmer who had begun lecturing her on her work habits. Why was she alone today?
"Opal! Listen when I'm talking to you or I'm going to send you to detention!" the English teacher roared.
Not noticing how her teacher was beginning to look at her with a near demonic aura, Opal stammered at the sight of Gale leaving the classroom while speaking to Link; or rather, "Vaati" and "Dark" they now preferred to be called. "Um, what about Ga – I mean Vaati?"
Mrs. Hemmer tapped the tip of her pencil against her desk impatiently. "I have no reason to call him up today as he happened to submit one of the best drafts in the class."
The girl stared at the silver-haired teen stride outside. "Huh?" She had never seen this one coming. Although she had noticed Gale and Link had changed considerably after they had returned from break (especially Link, who had changed his hair from blond to jet-black and had a silver piercing on his eyebrow), she would never have expected either of them to change into better students. Worse students, maybe, but better? This was too weird.
"Now I suggest you start worrying about your other peers less and start worrying about yourself more. Perhaps you should follow Mr. Engst's example and straighten yourself out."
It took a moment for Opal to snap out of it. After a few minutes, she nodded in a daze. "Yes ma'am."
Outside the classroom, Vaati and Dark moved slowly to their next class. "So, how are you adjusting to taking Link's place?" Vaati asked. After their adventure had concluded, Dark had agreed to pretend to be Link so that there wouldn't be any complications involving Grandpa Loze and the school. Moving out hadn't been too much of a problem since Dark didn't have any relatives or friends in Japan who would become worried if he suddenly moved overseas.
Dark shrugged. "It's not too hard. He was a little too 'good' for my attitude it seems." He swept past a group of girls who had stopped to gossip in the middle of the hallway. "Everyone's shocked about my new looks – then again, the reaction's not too different from what I experienced back in Japan when I quit being the Gold Wolf."
"Mm," Vaati murmured, half attentive. He remembered the yelling Dark had suffered when Gramps had seen him with piercings. He also remembered the yelling he had gone through since Gramps had thought he had been responsible for turning Dark into a punk.
Just outside their next classroom, Dark sighed and shifted his backpack. "Still, I gather people are more shocked about your new work ethics Vaati. What's that all about?"
"Mm?" Vaati threw his backpack all the way across the room towards the desk in the corner. A few students ducked their heads to avoid the flying backpack and frowned unappreciatively at the behavior, while a few awed at how perfectly it landed next to the seat. No one was aware that some magic had been involved. "Oh… I just felt like I want to go to college now."
"Huh. Why now?"
Vaati made his way over to his seat and Dark followed. He waved his hand. "Well you know… a degree gives you an edge."
Dark grinned. "Want to be the best in this world too, hmm?"
Vaati chuckled, and a few heads turned as they wondered what the two in the corner were laughing about. "Heh, something like that."
"Gale and Link, class is starting," the teacher called while picking up a marker for the white board. Dark rolled his eyes in mild irritation from hearing his alternate name; not everyone was used to their name change yet.
Vaati smirked, biting the edge of his pen. "All right." When he was Gale, he hadn't been able to get up the effort to be ambitious about anything. Now, however, he actually wanted to do something for himself. He was going to start up a storm.
XXXXXXXXXX
It was a week since Link had returned home, and he found it slightly unnerving that no one was aware that he had been gone. It was expected, of course, since that was the nature of time travel: even though he had spent several months in the future to sort out all of the problems, he had returned to the same exact time in the past. No one knew of his adventures, and besides Zelda he doubted anyone would believe him.
It was kind of annoying how no one recognized how he had helped avert disaster once again, but it couldn't be helped since everything had happened in the future. At least Skull Kid knew; occasionally Link would visit him so as to remind himself that he hadn't imagined the whole thing. Before the whole Avilux business, Link would never have dreamed that Skull Kid would be someone to keep him sane.
He was about to visit him today, and Epona kept a good pace towards the Lost Woods. He also felt obliged to keep his promise to visit, and it was nice to see how a simple hello made the lonely creature incredibly happy.
Link became lost in thought as he appreciated the view. When no monsters were prowling about, Hyrule field was such a tranquil place…
"AHHH! Hey, watch it!"
A string of curses hollered loudly from somewhere in front of Epona, and the mare gave a troubled whinny as she reared in response to the noise. So much for tranquil. "Whoa, steady!" Link pulled the reigns hard to his left as he was pulled out of his reverie. He frowned when the nasty curses continued even after the horse had calmed down, and he craned his neck to see whom he had offended.
"A Royal Guard of the castle, huh? Well just because you work for the princess don't think you're so high and mighty." The owner of the voice paused a moment to spit on the ground by Link. "Dirt toilers like us are so insignificant you think you can just run us over, do you?"
"Er…" Link was at a loss of words under this onslaught of insults and accusations. "Sorry about… almost running you over," he finally managed between the continuing string of acerbic words. From the looks of it, the person was a peasant.
"Oh just look at you, gaping at me like I need sympathy. Are you going to throw a few rupees at me because you feel sorry for me? Pah!" The owner of the voice crawled onto his feet and brushed away the dirt from where he had fallen. Even though his clothes were the simple brown leather tunics that most peasants wore around these parts, the teen that Link had nearly run over wore them proudly. He made sure every piece of dirt was gone as he continued to rant. "Even the act of giving us rupees is a selfish act. You only do it because it makes you feel better about yourselves for doing a 'good deed.'"
"What a twisted outlook you have on the world." Though Link was taken aback by the peasant boy's attitude, he recognized it was stemming from the teen's own lack of self-esteem for being a peasant. He wanted something more, but his own life circumstances prevented him from progressing. Link could see it in his demeanor: this peasant boy wanted to be great.
"But it's true. I don't believe there is such a thing as true benevolence. There's always another motive that's based on selfishness." The peasant boy crossed his arms and huffed indignantly. "I'll tell you up front I don't need your pity, knight. Don't you dare insult me by thinking I need you to feel sorry for me. I am the last person in the world who needs someone like you to pity me."
Blinking, Link regarded the peasant for some time. Taking a better look at him, he realized that the haughty teen was nostalgically familiar. He got on his nerves in a way only a certain sorcerer had, and he took a good look at the peasant boy. He had silver hair that was grown out past his shoulders and his pale complexion was unusual for someone who worked outside in the fields. More striking were his eyes; they were familiar crimson eyes that glowed with a determined flame. Even though Link knew he would risk offending the peasant boy, he couldn't help but smile a little.
"What are you laughing at?" The Vaati lookalike scowled, mistaking Link's smile for ridicule.
"Oh, you reminded me of someone I once traveled with," Link replied, remembering the first time he'd run into Gale. Considering how the Sorcerer of Winds had cursed himself to be reincarnated again and again with no memories of the past, it shouldn't have been so surprising to meet one of his reincarnations in this age. The blond chuckled, thinking how upset Vaati would be if he knew he had once been a peasant working in the outskirts of Hyrule Field. "What's your name? I'm Link."
The peasant hesitated and gave Link a scrutinizing gaze. After a few seconds, he determined his name was something he could offer. "Vasheel Gallows."
Link frowned momentarily. "Gallows? What a morbid name…"
"No one asked for your opinion, you sycophant!"
The blond was slightly surprised by the vocabulary the peasant knew, but this was Vaati after all; whatever situation he found himself in, he probably had a natural interest in scholarly topics. He couldn't really feel offended. Instead, he apologized and looked off towards the castle. "Sorry. Say, if you ever want to use any of the castle resources like the library, feel free to drop by any time."
Vasheel's proud composure dropped for a second by this offer. It was too nice of the knight after everything that had come out of his mouth, and it was a blasted good offer. Then, his face contorted into a snarl. "Are you mocking me?" he hissed.
Link laughed. "No, no, I'm serious!" He extended a warm hand. "All right, I have to get going. It was nice meeting you Vaat… er… Vasheel."
Vasheel hesitated again in his surprise by the Royal Knight's behavior. He could only think that the knight was making fun of him, but that also didn't seem to be the case. He really loathed the Royal Knights because he always imagined them to be so full of themselves and thought they were pathetic for listening to the Princess like lost puppies. Conflict bloomed on his pale face. Then, he resumed his determined scowl and slapped Link's hand away. "I don't need any favors from you."
With that, Vasheel ran off in the other direction towards a picturesque cottage blowing smoke rings. Link watched the cursed sorcerer disappear into a dot. He smiled and then ushered Epona into a trot towards the Lost Woods. Good luck until you regain your memories, Vaati.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Zelda applied pressure on the pedal and her car accelerated slowly when the traffic light turned green. It was now almost exactly a year after the events with Avilux Ignis had concluded, and she was still feeling a little tired from its aftereffects. She hadn't been able to rest even when she had gone back home; she had had a lot of explaining to do regarding Skull Kid's disappearance and her 'canceled' collaboration plans with Dr. Willits. Because of all the turmoil that was going on, she hadn't been able to tell her lab that she was going to quit researching zerons. She didn't want to think about the explaining she was going to have to do when she told everyone that piece of news.
She was going to change her major. Maybe International Relations? Her father always told her she had a knack for those kinds of things. It was disappointing she was going to throw away all the time she had spent on her work, but she knew now that no one would be able to make sense of magic. Magic was magic for a reason, and pursuing research on zerons would lead her to a dead end.
Zelda shook her head and gripped the steering wheel tightly. This wasn't the time to be worrying about something like that right now. Something more troubling had come up earlier in the week, and she hated how uneasy she was feeling. Though Letti had been defeated and Avilux I had been disbanded, not everything was over.
Zelda took a deep breath when she pulled up in the parking lot of the community park. It was a Thursday afternoon and a snowball fight was starting in the baseball field. She tensed when she saw a familiar silver Mercedes-Benz in one of the lots.
Halstead Dugal: so you really were alive.
Three days ago, she had been jarred by a phone call by a prim secretary voice that had requested for her to go to the park to meet the Talon leader.
"Is Miss Zelda Sterling available?"
"Yes this is she. Who is this?"
"Ah, I have a message from Mr. Dugal. He has something he would like to discuss with you and your friends, Mr. Engst and Mr. Petrov. They have already agreed to go and he is awaiting your reply."
"D-Dugal? Did you just say Dugal?"
"Will you comply?"
"…"
"…Miss? Are you still there?"
"Ah, y-yes. Yes. Uhm… did he say what he wanted to talk about?"
"I'm sorry, he explained it was strictly personal business."
"…Alright. If Vaati and Dark agreed then I'll go as well."
"Mr. Dugal would like to meet you at Pinegrove Park at three o'clock on Thursday. Please make sure you have no scheduled plans at that time. Thank you, and have a nice day."
Zelda stepped outside of her car and carefully closed the door behind her. She couldn't fathom how that man had managed to survive or what he wanted to talk to them about, and a part of her was shouting that this was a trap. It had been a year since Avilux I had fallen – why did he want to talk to them all of a sudden?
The snow crunched beneath her boots and she brightened a little bit when she noticed two familiar figures sitting in one of the benches next to the sidewalk by the frozen lake. Vaati and Dark waved when they saw her, and she could tell that both of them were befuddled by the recent developments.
"Dugal called you here too?" Vaati muttered.
Zelda nodded. "Yes. It's been a while, you two. How've you been?"
Dark sighed while Vaati grumbled inaudibly next to him. "Okay I guess. I gotta say neither of us were expecting to hear back from Dugal though."
"Same."
Vaati picked his head up slightly when he noticed someone approaching them. "Din, he's really here." He stood up and brushed off some snow. Dark stood up as well, and the three teens turned to face the man that had strode over to them. His deceivingly cheerful voice was something they had learned to associate with misfortune since they had first met him.
"Excellent! I was slightly worried none of you would want to talk to me; and with good reason, too, considering everything we'd gone through." Using one hand, he wiped the snow that had landed on his glasses. His black suit was considerably white around the shoulders from the snow and he kept half of his grin hidden behind a maroon scarf. "I apologize if I kept you waiting. I had to make sure we wouldn't be bothered by ah, authorities… here."
"Enough with the formalities. What are you up to?" Vaati growled, still suspicious of the man who had once been hired to kill them.
Dugal laughed. "Oh, no need to get so defensive Mr. Engst. Talon Three has disbanded, and my assignment by Avilux I to get rid of you troublemakers is moot. I truly only wanted to have a little chat about what had happened in Japan."
"Talon Three disbanded?" Dark asked, his voice full of skepticism. The others echoed his disbelief.
For a brief moment, Dugal's composure broke and his smile cracked. He covered his mouth with his fist as he coughed, and his eyes wandered uncharacteristically. "Yes. Disbanded. After all," he finally brought out his right hand he had had propped behind his back all this time. Unlike his left, which was tinged red from the cold, his right hand was covered with a black glove. It moved awkwardly, and the three teens watched with a puzzled expression as he rolled his fingers slowly. "After all, an injured leader is a dead leader in my line of work."
Dugal's cheery smile returned as he waved his right arm in a circle. "Amazing what the newest technology in prosthetics can accomplish, no? It's all machinery from below the elbows. Hawk and Kestrel were kind enough to get a hold of the prototype of this arm from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's a goodbye gift before we scattered." His blatant omission of Condor made the teens wonder if something had happened between them. Dugal turned his head to the sky a little wistfully. "Of course I am no longer as powerful as I used to be. If it had been my left arm it wouldn't have been so bad, but since it had been my right I have lost my aim. This is the end of my reign…"
The three teens took a moment to gawk at the prosthetic limb. After a while, Dark muttered "Serves you right," under his breath. More audibly he asked, "How did that happen?"
"Surely you can expect how difficult it was to escape that falling plane without injury."
Vaati kept his narrowed eyes straight on Dugal. "I was meaning to ask you that earlier; how did you survive? From what I remember, there's no way you should have gotten out of that alive."
The man returned his gaze coolly. "Then you were wrong, Mr. Engst." He left it at that, making it obvious that he didn't plan on divulging anything more on how he had miraculously survived crashing into a forest from several kilometers up in the air. He waved them away with his biomechanical arm and they could hear the gears whirr softly as it moved. "Enough about me. I told you earlier I wanted to know more about what had transpired a year ago. Please give me the full details, and then I will let you leave."
The three exchanged glances. Who was he to demand them they tell him everything? Upon seeing the hesitation and reluctance from the group, Dugal sighed impatiently. "I will give each of you a present of a thousand dollars for the full story. Mr. Engst, I believe I also owe you a new longboard for the one I broke?"
"I'm no longer interested in boarding," Vaati replied flatly. However, while it was true that having magic had made him less interested in boarding activities since everything became too easy, his lack of interest in boarding wasn't the reason why he refused Dugal's offer. No one trusted the man at all, and none of them wanted to have anything to do with him. "In fact, I don't think any of us are interested in whatever it is you have to offer."
When Dark and Zelda nodded in agreement, Dugal shook his head in disappointment. "Pity. And here I was being nice by keeping the government off of your tails. Did you ever wonder why, in the course of a whole year, Homeland Security never bothered you about the mysterious explosion over the Avilux I research facility? If you've followed the news you should know about the fire the United States is under because of it, as well as all of the political turmoil that has begun from the prospect of an unknown devastating weapon."
A fleeting look of panic passed over Zelda's face. Her brows scrunched together in her attempt to deny what she had just heard. "Homeland Security? But all of that happened in Japan… why would the US be involved?"
"You ought to read the papers," he said with a condescending air. "The gist is that everyone is pointing fingers at each other on who was responsible for the fireball that appeared over Mt. Fuji, and the story has become excellent fodder for stirring up panic. Countries are having a field day in accusing each other for experimenting with what appeared to be 'a super-weapon,' and they're using that to push their own research in 'increasing military defense.' Everybody is involved, and if you relax for even one minute then all eyes would go towards the last surviving members of the ones who had been at the destroyed facility. Namely you three, as well as myself and my former cohorts."
He adjusted his glasses and then peered at them with a sly smile. "You would be naïve to think it was easy to divert the attention away from you kids, especially now that the government has become interested in the affair. If you don't give me what I want, then you had best be prepared to answer the government when they come knocking on your door."
There was a long silence that fell between the three as Dugal watched them triumphantly. It was annoying how little power they had about their situation. Vaati frowned, not liking anything he had heard so far. "I don't understand why you want to know the story so badly."
Dugal shrugged. "I was just curious to know, but I also realized you probably wouldn't tell me anything unless I had some leverage over you." He laughed. "I wouldn't have had to scare you with that if you hadn't been so reluctant to tell me the story."
Dark also sounded unconvinced. "Sooo you really don't have any ulterior motives?"
"What does it matter? Either you tell me or you don't." The man's voice suddenly became snappish, probably from reaching the end of his patience. He flicked a snowflake off of his suit with a look of disdain. "Now before you give me an answer, I will remind you that if you refuse, I will direct the investigators towards you. Maybe then you'll be more appreciative of the efforts I placed in giving you three a comparatively peaceful year."
Vaati turned his heel and walked a few paces away, calling to Dark and Zelda to follow. They gathered in a small circle a few yards away and spoke in hushed voices as they discussed their options. After a few minutes, they returned to where Dugal was standing confidently where they had left him. "We'll tell you the story. There's no need to blackmail us," Vaati muttered when he reached the man. "It would've been less suspicious if you hadn't threatened us in the first place."
Dugal grinned and he strutted over to one of the benches and sat down eagerly. "But if I hadn't done so then you wouldn't have agreed, given our history." He ushered them to sit down. "I would have invited you to talk over coffee, but I'm afraid this will have to do for now. I prefer to avoid overly public places for some time." The others sat down in the bench facing him. As soon as Vaati opened his mouth to speak, Dugal stopped him abruptly with a raised hand. "Before you begin, know that I won't tolerate missing or fabricated information. I have an idea on most of what had occurred thanks to trusted sources, so don't think you can trick me."
The sorcerer's lips flattened as he looked at the man with irritation. "If you know so much, then why ask us?" At this moment, Vaati wanted nothing more than to blast Dugal away with sorcery. He refrained, however, when he thought of all the complications that would come with murdering someone – ah, the nuisances of this era that never existed in the old one…
"Because I would like to hear everything firsthand from the people who know the most about it."
Vaati sighed, and next to him Dark whispered to Zelda how this was just as bad as reciting a story to a picky four-year-old. Finally, Vaati rolled his eyes and began reciting the story from the beginning. "It all started with that idiot Link…"
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Vaati and Dark returned home around five and they were grateful for the heat from the pizzeria ovens. When Dugal had asked for the full story he had wanted no details to be left out, which had resulted in them sitting outside in the winter weather for a considerable amount of time. They had expected him to dismiss the story on time travel, but to their surprise the man had taken it all in with little hint of disbelief. Surprise, maybe, but not disbelief: it almost seemed as though he had expected what they had told him. Once they had finished, he had said his thanks and had gone for "other business," leaving the teens wondering if that was really all there was to it.
Vaati shut his room and lay sprawled on his bed as he played around with shooting his pencils across his room with magic. He heard Gramps yelling something downstairs to Dark who was still working on his chores. Vaati, on the other hand, had finished early thanks to a little help with sorcery. Magic was so convenient. Sure it was difficult to master and it wasn't for everyone, but he sometimes wondered why it had almost completely died out in this age. Even jogging his memory of the past gave him no real clues since most of his recollection after he had cursed himself was fuzzy at best.
Less competition for me, he thought with a grin.
Vaati thought of everything that had occurred, and the scale of the problem that he had caused for himself with that one stupid spell still daunted him. It was eight thousand years he had lost because he hadn't thought of how reincarnation could backfire. The pencil that was in the middle of its trajectory towards a piece of paper floating in midair stopped abruptly. Oh crap… I wonder if I'll lose all of my memories again if I die now.
Vaati scratched his head and the objects floating in his room dropped to the floor. Well, it looked like he had a new project on his hands: he needed to figure out a way to keep his memories intact if he didn't want to go through that whole mess again.
Because, it felt nice to finally understand what had happened. For once, after eight thousand years, he felt at peace and content with life: he was loath to part with that feeling again if he could help it.
From now on I'm Vaati, he picked up the pencil that had landed next to his head and snapped it in two with his fingers. Then, the pencil glimmered a faint blue with magic and it came back together as good as new. My name is Vaati Engst.
fleets: Could this be, the FINAL CHAPTER? Nope. Sorry fellas, I still have one more to go so we're not quite done yet. What more can I possibly talk about, right? Well there was one thing I failed to resolve and it involves a certain dude with a purple tie... ;) I'll be submitting the next chapter within a day or two because I don't want too much time to pass between this one and the next one, so watch out for that.
Also, I don't know if anyone noticed but that one scene with Vasheel and Link appeared briefly in one of Vaati's flashbacks at the Temple of Time ;)
Shadow R-B: I seriously considered having Vaati's demon form appear in the last chapter, but I couldn't figure out a way of putting it in without making the ending fights so repetitive (i.e. Vaati's demon form kicking butt)
Midna Hytwilian: I'm feeling sad already since I'm practically done writing everything... but I'm also feeling relieved. I'm ready to start something new. Hope it's duckful to the end!
i-wish-799: Fight scenes are hard to write, and I think that was the one I put my most time into. Couldn't forget about little Skull Kid there! :)
Vaati the wind mage1: Aw, thanks. That makes me feel all fuzzy and happy. I'm going to be sad but relieved when this is completely done. Thanks for sticking through!
Sapphiet: Ah I realized I skipped over Loze's reaction - it's implied he wasn't happy at all (especially with Dark's "new look").
Reily96: Skull Kid has a friend now, and a good one at that! Hopefully Link doesn't turn out to be a lame one... Ahhhh Terry Pratchett is my literature hero. I absolutely love the Patrician and Death WHO TALKS IN THE MOST EPIC WAY POSSIBLE. lol. They messed it up when they tried to make a TV series on the Hogfather... what a nono. Anyways, I saw it! And I can totally see those two behaving that way D:
Ephriokko: One more chapter to go. The story itself is pretty much done with this chapter, but you can think of the next one as an Epilogue of sorts. It's coming super soon...
LinkxDark Link: I think this version of Vaati has less issues than the other one. The other one was pretty insanified lol. Oh Dugal... we're not quite done with him yet.
xBlackDragoonx: Desperate times call for desperate measures... that was pretty gruesome yeah. And only one more chapter left, and coming to a website near you in 1-2 days!
SubZeroChimera: I didn't give him an easy victory, no. Not to mention he wasn't the one who finally put an end to things :P
LilyMoonstone: Thank you for the reviews! Dugal is/was definitely alive, but he wouldn't have been able to simply jump out and survive at the speed he was falling (they probably would have hit terminal velocity from the height they fell from, and he would have been too close to the ground to be able to kill his speed enough to survive the jump. He had help, but wouldn't say what kind of help in this chapter) ;)
Vaati's Servant: I'm a fan of anagrams, so there are some other names I might have tampered with to make them Zelda themed. For instance, Stan Willits was a kinda sorta anagram of Zant Twili (with additional letters stuck in between), and his Ganon obsessed fidgety character was based on how I saw Zant in Twilight Princess. Some of the fake town names (i.e. Ariko, Irdon High) are from little rearrangements of Zelda locations (i.e. Kakariko, Ordon). :)
msfcatlover: Ohhh, so that's what the peril beam is. I like that idea better and it makes more sense since Dark had taken quite a beating. Alright, peril beam it is! :D