Months earlier . . .

Castle Town market square was busy as ever, people selling, buying, moving, bartering. Saria was here with Grandpa, who was selling milk. Saria had no interest in selling milk, so she had wandered to the center of the square, where she sat at the fountain. The noise of the fountain helped her to drown out the rest of the market. She had carried a flower with her from the field, which she occasionally dipped the stem of into the fountain. Kneeling down, with her elbows on the side of the fountain, she dropped her flower and watched it float and spin, distorting her reflection even more than the ripples.

She sighed and looked across the fountain. There was someone standing on the other side, she could see through the fountain's spray. It looked like a young boy, very tall. To others he would have seemed strange, with chin-length lavender hair and almost silver skin. He wore a lavender tunic and purple cap, and, of all things, bright red knee-length poofy pants and red sandals. He was looking right at her, so she waved. He immediately turned around, looking behind him, as if looking for who she really waved at. When he slowly turned back, Saria stared at him with an expectant expression.

He pointed at himself.

Saria nodded.

He straightened in some surprise, and Saria crossed her eyebrows. The boy started glancing around skittishly instead of coming over, so Saria stood up and walked around the fountain to him instead.

"Ah!" the boy exclaimed when he realized she was right next to him.

"Hello," said Saria.

"You can't see me!" he replied, taking two steps back.

"Uh . . . yes, I can. My name's Saria."

"Oh. Um. Uh. This is bad. Um. My name's Vaati—I MEAN, um . . . I have to go!"

He disappeared. Into thin air. Instead of being surprised at this, Saria shrugged her shoulders and returned to her side of the fountain, watching her flower spin.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that she saw the boy again. This time it was at the castle, during a visit with Aunt Zelda and Uncle Shadow. She didn't question how he got in the castle. Saria was very sensitive to non-material things. She figured Vaati was a ghost. She saw ghosts sometimes. But it was strange that she saw him first at the fountain and now in the castle—and he was watching them all from an out-of-the-way hallway. Assuming the others couldn't see him, as usual with these things, Saria carefully stepped around the room out of his sight until she reached the hallway. She jumped out in front of him. "BOO!"

"AAH!" and he disappeared again.

"Saria, what are you looking at?" Aunt Zelda called. Saria gave a long-suffering sigh and didn't answer.

Nobody understood her.

That whole visit, she kept finding Vaati watching them shyly, and he kept trying more and more obscure hiding places, but Saria always found him eventually. On her most recent try, he was hiding under a table. Saria bent down and yelled quickly, "I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!"

Vaati jumped in surprise, smacking his head on the bottom of the table. "Ow!" He held his head, dazed. Saria took it as an opportunity. She sat down next to him and pretended to place a hand on his arm—you couldn't touch a ghost, but they appreciated the attempt anyway. However, her hand met cloth, and she was surprised to find he was not a ghost after all. "I'm sorry," she said, "But you kept running away and I just want to talk to you."

"Oh, I can't!" Vaati cried. "I'll get in trouble again."

"Why?"

He was still rubbing his head. "Grandpa doesn't like me getting side-tracked."

"Side-tracked from what?"

"Oh . . . nothing. I should go—"

"Wait! What's your favorite color?"

Vaati paused. "My favorite . . . color?"

"Yeah."

"Um . . . red."

"Is that why you wear red sandals?"

A bit of color reached Vaati's cheeks. "Yes . . ."

"I knew it! My favorite color is green—but not papa's green. I like forest green."

"Is that why you're wearing that dress?"

Saria grinned. "Yep! It's my favorite color!"

Vaati smiled shyly. Then his breath caught. "I should really go."

"Okay," Saria said reluctantly. "Will I see you again soon?"

"Yes . . . Don't tell anyone about me?"

"Don't worry. They wouldn't understand me anyway!" She rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

Vaati began to visit Saria quite often. He began to get very talkative. Well, sorta. He was timid, and always seemed to have his head lowered and shoulders hunched, as if he expected danger around every corner. Saria introduced him to her other "friends," the spirits she spoke to, the fairies she'd met. Her parents believed her well enough when she spoke of these things, but if she spoke to much they started to get worried and she had started to feel they might think she was crazy. So she had closed up. Vaati, however, seemed to understand her completely, even going so far as to greet each one of her friends. He could even see some of them. When he couldn't, he would have conversations with them through Saria, who would translate.

"You're really special, Saria," Vaati said one night as they sat outside under the stars.

She shrugged. "Oh. I dunno."

"Well I like you a lot."

She pulled her knees to her chest and giggled. "I like you, too, Vaati!"

His brow furrowed in a worried way.

"What's wrong, Vaati?"

"It's just . . ." he glanced at the farmhouse where her family slept. He was quiet for a long time. "Never mind. Saria?"

"Yeah?"

He seemed really nervous. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Um . . . your father's the Hero of Time, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, do you know . . . which one of you gets to be the Hero next?"

"What do you mean?"

Vaati's eyes darted everywhere. "You know, who inherited the hero-ness, if anybody? Who gets the Master Sword after Link dies?"

Saria began to get a weird feeling. "Why are you asking these questions?" she asked quietly.

"N-no reason!" Vaati waved his hands and then closed in on himself. "I'm just . . . curious. I'm sorry. Just forget I asked."

"Well, I don't know if anybody inherited it, anyway." She sat back on her hands. "I guess it would be Melody since she's the oldest. I can't really see her as a hero, though."

Vaati giggled in response. "The Hero of Whine."

Saria giggled, too. "Stop, she's my sister! You're really funny, Vaati—"

He grinned, then his face changed. "OH NO!"

He disappeared.

Saria blinked in confusion.

Saria didn't see Vaati for a week after that. When she did, he seemed very sad and subdued. There was a dark mark on one cheek, and Saria asked, "Where did that come from?"

Vaati covered the mark with a hand, and said, "Nowhere. I mean . . . we can't be friends anymore."

"Why?!"

"Because . . ." a conflict of emotions flashed across his face. Suddenly it split into a huge, desperate smile. "Never mind! I was just in a really bad mood!" His voice trembled. "I don't want to stop being friends."

Saria took his hand and began leading him to the windmill at the end of the corral. "I don't want to stop being friends, either."

They sat in the windmill and played tic-tac-toe and other games that Saria had stashed in there. After a few games of hopscotch, they sat down cross-legged to play marbles. "Laruto wants to play, too, is that okay?" Saria asked.

"Yeah."

Vaati went first, Saria second, and then Laruto. The marbles appeared to move by themselves on Laruto's turn, but Saria knew there was somebody making them move.

"Why do you think the sages talk to you?" Vaati asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Because I was named after one, I guess."

"Can't you ask them?"

"Sometimes they don't answer." Her mouth became a straight line. "Or they just grin."

This made Vaati laugh.

"Hey Vaati, how come sometimes I catch you watching my family? Why were you watching them to begin with?"

"I . . ." He clenched his fists. He seemed unable to speak, and his head lowered.

"Vaati?" Saria asked. She felt weird again. "Are you alright?"

A sob. Then another.

Saria stood up and quickly went to Vaati's side. "What's wrong?"

"Don't get near me!" Vaati pleaded, scooting away from her. "I'm bad. I'm a bad person."

"What do you mean? You're not a bad person."

"Yes I am. That's why we can't be friends!" He stood up, tears flowing down his face.

"You're not BAD. You don't FEEL bad!" Saria complained, grabbing his arm as he tried to step even further away. It was true. If he were evil, she would know it. She always did. Right?

"Please let go," he said. She did. He wiped his eyes, but it didn't help. "I don't know what's going on, but I don't want to hurt you. Goodbye, Saria."

"No, wait!" She reached for him, but not quick enough. She sat on the ground, pulling her knees up, and began to cry.

She didn't want to go to the castle. It had only been one day since Vaati had said goodbye. She had never felt so disconnected from her family. They didn't even know about Vaati. He had seemed awfully scared, and she still didn't know why he had been watching her family, or asking weird questions. She was irritable all day, during the trip, at the castle, playing her ocarina . . . she finally decided she had better tell her father about Vaati—well, she had to tell somebody. She didn't want to get into trouble, or worse, be called crazy. Maybe she would talk to Aunt Zelda. She had prophetic dreams, maybe she would understand. That's why she wasn't in the courtyard after Uncle Shadow blew up and Colin was babysitting. She was looking for Aunt Zelda.

The castle corridors were dark and cool, a relief from the hot courtyard.

"Saria?" Colin had appeared around a corner and came up to her. "Where've you been? I've been looking everywhere!"

"I'm looking for Aunt Zelda."

"I think she's still talking to Shadow."

"Oh."

"Why don't you come to the nursery until she's finished?"

"Can't I just be by myself?"

"I don't know. The adults seem kind of worried about something, I don't know what."

"Huh." Saria followed him.

She ran from Uncle Shadow, still terrified of the pale-faced sorcerer that had appeared and disappeared in the hallway. That man. That man! The waves of dangerous energy that flowed off of him had sent her into full panic.

It didn't help that he looked like an older version of Vaati. He felt so different from her friend . . . something appeared in front of her and she crashed into it. The whole world spun and she closed her eyes on instinct.

When she opened them again, she found she had crashed into none other than Vaati, and everything around her had changed.

She was no longer at Hyrule Castle. The stones were much darker here. "Vaati! What's going on?!"

Vaati had his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry! He wanted me to turn you to stone! I HAD to save you!"

"Who? Who wanted you to turn me to stone?"

"My father. I couldn't take you anywhere else, they only let me go from here to the castle. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to kidnap you!"

"Kidnap me? Where am I?"

Vaati took a breath to steady his voice. "Your in my grandpa's castle. You're in the Sacred Realm."

Saria's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

Vaati let go of her and covered his face. "I know! I'm sorry!"

"Take me back!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?!"

"Because you won't be safe there!"

"But your grandpa's a jerk! I'm not safe HERE! It feels REALLY REALLY BAD here, Vaati!"

"Why do you think I had to save you? It's BAD here. I didn't want to be here anymore! But grandpa banned me from talking to you, so I disobeyed, and then he punished me, and . . . then—then I overheard him and Father talking and they were going to turn everyone in Hyrule Castle to stone, even you."

Saria's stomach plummeted. "What do you mean . . . everyone in Hyrule Castle?"

Vaati stood with his eyes scrunched shut, swallowing continuously. "I mean . . . you can't go back . . . because everyone at Hyrule Castle will by now be turned to stone."

Saria was speechless. Everyone turned to stone?! Papa, Mama, Uncle Shadow, Aunt Zelda, her brothers and sisters, Zelly . . . all the guards, Miss Impa, that weird Shad guy? Suddenly she yelled, "Why didn't you warn me sooner? This is all your fault!"

"I didn't know they were going to turn everyone to stone! They just had me asking questions and spying!"

Disgust filled Saria. "I HATE you, Vaati! I HATE you!" She ran away from him.

"Stop! You'll get caught! You can't go anywhere, remember?!"

Vaati chased after her. They went through many hallways and rooms big and small, everything was bare except for a few sconces holding bright yellow torches, and occasionally a broken desk of drawers. For all Vaati's talk about getting "caught," there didn't seem to actually be anyone in the castle.

Until suddenly there was.

That man with the weasel face, the one who attacked Colin, appeared in the air with a startled cry, and fell down on his back on the hard, stone ground. Saria jumped behind a dilapidated desk. Vaati soon followed, then paused. "Uh, h-hi, Father."

The sorcerer sat up with a wince.

"Where's the princess?" Vaati asked in an innocent voice, purposely standing as far away from Saria's hiding place as possible.

The older man rubbed his head. "Hello Junior!" His voice was deeper than Vaati's, and held none of the shyness. "I told Dad this wasn't a job for you, and I was right!"

"Why? What happened?"

"Shadow Link happened, that's what!" Vaati's father stood up, his clothes magically straightening themselves. "He somehow managed to follow me, then he grabbed the princess right out of my arms and ran. No idea where."

Vaati looked relieved.

"VAATI!"

Both Vaati and his father looked at where the voice came from and responded, "Yes?"

The darkest presence of all came into the room from a hallway. Saria stamped down every tiny bit of her that had any sort of Light at all, glad she had taken those lessons from Aunt Zelda. The newcomer was not like the other two at all. He made Vaati's dad feel almost . . . neutral. Where the Vaati's were slim and skinny, this man was large and brutish, with short black hair hugging his head, and a round, mean face and gray skin. He wore a simple black tunic and pants and a black armored vest. Somehow the simplicity of it made him seem even more sinister. All he had for decoration were aged silver spikes, four on each shoulder. He walked up to Vaati Junior, who shrank just a tad. Saria shook her head. She would have been running!

"You disobeyed," the new man said in a menacing voice, his mouth curled in a snarl. "Again."

"Now, Dad," said the older Vaati, stepping between the two. "I told you this would happen, and look what happened to me," he said in a melodramatic tone, "I was attacked very viciously and I lost the princess. You can't blame Junior for being scared."

That must mean that the scary new man was Vaati's grandpa, the one he said punished him. He growled into the older Vaati's face. "He wasn't scared, he was WEAK!" He pushed older Vaati aside and bore down on Vaati Junior. "Who did you go see?"

"Go see?" Vaati's father repeated.

"Yes," Grandpa responded. "I only gave him ONE teleportation spell to get him to Hyrule Castle and back for the mission, and he's used it."

Vaati Junior began to slowly shrink away.

Exactly the opposite of Grandpa, Vaati's father became quite interested and asked curiously, "Who DID you go see?"

Vaati bit his lower lip. Grandpa growled again. "He went to save that girl." His arm rose and swiped down, but Vaati somehow magically zipped a few feet away.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Grandpa demanded, striding forward and grabbing Vaati by the collar with both hands. He was so much bigger than Vaati. There was no need for such force. Saria made herself as small as she could.

"I couldn't get to her in time," Vaati lied, and put on a pretty convincing upset face. Not like it would be hard. Everything about this scene made Saria upset, too. "She's turned to stone like all the others, Grandpa Bellum."

Grandpa froze for a second and then let go of Vaati.

"Oh, poor boy," Vaati's father exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and walking over to Vaati. He pulled Vaati into a giant hug. "Young love, shattered." He trailed a pointed finger delicately down Vaati's cheek. "But you know, guess what! Good news, when I was attacked by that Shadow guy, somehow I lost control of the stone spell."

Saria's ears perked up. Vaati's face cleared a little. "You mean . . . everyone at Hyrule Castle is . . . okay?"

Vaati's father grinned. "Yep! You got your way, Junior! For today."

Saria covered her mouth to keep from crying out in happiness.

Grandpa Bellum put his hands on his hips. "This is a mess. Did we get anything from this?"

Vaati's father released him from the hug and flourished a hand. "Well, from what I can tell, that Shadow man was able to do magic, but he wasn't very coordinated. I don't know exactly where he went, but he's not in Hyrule, and since he was the one causing all our difficulties, all we have to do now is . . . try again! The Shadow has Zelly, but we still have the queen."

"Good," Grandpa Bellum noted. "We may be able to salvage this quest and get me out of here yet." He turned on Vaati once more. "And when I do, the first thing I'm going to do is hunt down that little witch of yours and DESTROY HER!"

Vaati ran at his grandfather in rage, but Vaati Senior grabbed him and held him back. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Vaati struggled to get free, to just get in one hit. Just one. "Why can't you just leave her be?!"

Grandpa Bellum just growled at him, taunting him by stepping closer.

"Now, now, Junior, this is NOT how we behave! Don't make your grandpa mad!" Vaati's father said before Vaati finally broke free.

"I HATE you, Grandpa Bellum! I HATE you!" He zipped away magically as fast as he could before Grandpa Bellum reached him, and suddenly Saria felt very alone.

Vaati Senior watched the boy go with a displeased expression. He turned to Bellum. "Now," he said, voice deadpan. "Was that really necessary?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question when you're stuck here with me?"

Vaati's father leaned slightly away from Bellum. "I guess not." He sighed theatrically and began walking down a hall in a different direction from Vaati. "Let's go figure out our second wave attack plan," he said, exasperatedly.

When they were gone, Saria silently came out from behind the desk and went in search of Vaati. It wasn't that hard. For whatever reason, in this place, she was able to see magic. Vaati had left a trail of it in his wake. She followed it for several minutes, still not finding anyone else in this castle, until she found a door. A simple door. A regular, good old door. She heard someone muttering behind it, so she knocked.

Silence.

"It's me," she whispered. Vaati opened the door and let her inside. For a bedroom, it was pretty bare. There was a bed and a desk, but it was really dark and Saria didn't think anyone would actually want to write anything in here. There were a few dilapidated books, and there was a doll with a big head and small body hanging from the ceiling in a corner. It had a sloppily drawn red mouth that was grinning in a way that suggested this was a doll of Vaati Senior. When Vaati shut the door, the wind from it blew past the doll, making it sway. Kweek, kweek, kweek, kweek, was the noise it made.

What a ridiculous toy, Saria thought. "So," she said, sitting on the bed. "That was your family, huh?"

Vaati nodded.

She had little hope, but she had to ask. "Can you get me out of here?"

Vaati didn't respond. He looked despondent.

"Didn't think so." Saria looked at her feet. "So I guess your grandpa's the one that let's you travel back and forth?"

Vaati nodded. "My father does sometimes, but Grandpa Bellum really doesn't like it, and my dad always does what grandpa says."

"What did he mean when he said that they were both stuck here?"

"Well, a long time ago Grandpa was sealed in here by a hero. Somehow he got out and my dad was born, and then when my dad grew up he decided to be evil, too, and got sealed in here as well. I was born in here."

"Who's your mom?"

"My dad won't tell me. He won't even tell Grandpa Bellum."

"But if they're both stuck here, how did your dad get to Hyrule?"

"His seal isn't as strong as Grandpa Bellum's. Every once in a while they can work together to get my dad over the seal, for a while anyway."

Saria nodded thoughtfully. They sat in silence for a minute.

"I'm sorry I said I hate you," Saria said, looking at her hands and twiddling her thumbs.

"It's okay. I deserved it."

"It's not your fault."

"How is it not my fault?! I didn't have to actually do what he told me to."

"But he would have hurt you."

"So? Now he can hurt everybody."

Saria's eyebrows crossed and she considered. "So you grew up here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Have you been outside of here much?"

"Not before they sent me to spy on your family, no."

"Well then it's definitely not your fault! You couldn't have known any better. And anyways, once you found out what they really meant to do you got REALLY upset!"

"Well, thank you . . . but I still think it's my fault."

Saria put an arm around him. "Well, at least my family's okay."

"For now."

"Will you help me save them?"

"I don't know how . . ."

"We'll work together!"

Vaati lowered his face into his hands. "I'm afraid . . ."

Saria leaned her head on his arm. "Yeah. Me too."