The official story, to those who knew of the "snafu," was that the princess had suffered a mental breakdown. Zelda had given up trying to convince her father and the doctor otherwise, that despite the intact seal – double checked by the local priest and the fortune teller –, Vaati was loose. No matter how many times she said she was mentally sound, it only seemed to make them think she was mentally unstable. When you were desperate in trying to prove you weren't crazy, though, then of course you would sound so.
More frustration bottling up inside of her and being so sick of people, she had holed herself in her room and refused to come out for the last three days. The princess simply lay down on her bed in a tight ball of stress. She ignored her father's knocking on her door, trying to get her out to "talk," she ignored the knocking of servants offering sweets or tea (though they did leave them by her door, and she'd sneak them inside her room when she was sure they were gone)… She didn't want to deal with these people who gave her their pitying gazes. Oh the poor princess was so stressed, we should treat her nice so she doesn't go crazier!
But he was real. She knew it. Every head pain she suffered, every suspicious visit to the Shrine, perhaps even her nightmares all had led to that moment in the Shrine where he finally came face to face with her. Where the mage simply stood there, absently commenting on her own ranting… Come to think of it, for a mage who should've been out for her bloodline, he seemed rather… non-threatening.
"I think he just wants to better know the girl who released him."
She sat up on her bed, remembering the little Beholder the mage had been petting on his shoulder. She looked out her balcony doors, seeing no trace at all of bats. But of course there wouldn't be, it was still the afternoon. But that never stopped her from seeing any during the day before. Had the bats always been Beholders? Is that really what she had been seeing?
Another voice popped into her head. "These bats are different from ordinary bats – they're really hard to catch. Not that you need to catch one… One day, those bats are going to be real friendly with you."
Memories of a voice whispering in her head as a child, nightmares of a beast crushing her before blackness overtook her… and her best friend, the man that had saved her from anarchists… She never remembered anarchists. Had her nightmares really not been so? Memories disguised, supported by her rescuer…
A new fear began to well up inside of her as she began to see a connection that she never thought she would ever make. Zelda curled up into a ball again; even more confused and distressed than before.
But also confused and distressed was the girl's father. Link had so many questions of his own, so many pressures weighing down upon him. At the stables, he began to vent to Malon, the only one he could seem to ever let know any of these worries.
"I can't help but wonder where I've gone wrong. Have I done anything wrong?" He asked as he sat upon a stool, looking like a man at the end of his rope. Malon remained quiet, pretending to stay focused on her notes of the horses of the castle's stable, waiting for Link to finish his words. "Had I kept her from the responsibilities of the kingdom for too long? Would I have been better off raising her like Zelda had been? Was raising Ione as a normal child wrong? She's not a normal child… She's a princess with sacred blood in her veins… I just wanted her to have what Zelda had missed… Now I can't help but wonder if Zelda would have known any better…"
At that, Malon snorted and looked away from her notes, giving her longtime friend a flat expression. "She would have been just as clueless as you, Link." The blond man frowned, offended, no doubt, but Malon continued, "Link, just because she was the mother of your daughter does not mean she automatically knows everything about mothering. There's no guidebook on how to raise kids, and anyone who says there is is trying to sell you something. So don't go putting all the blame on yourself – you raised the princess as you thought she ought to have been raised and there's nothing wrong in that. Keepin' so much stuff from her, though – that might have been where you've gone wrong."
The Prince-regent sighed and hung his head, "I suppose you're right… But now I'm afraid to tell her anything. I don't want her suffering more than she is now."
Malon pulled up another stool by Link, sat down and dropped her notes. "Link, suffering is a part of life. I know you don't want her to go through it, but it's going to happen. It happens to all of us. I'm not telling you what to do, mind you, but I think you've been protecting her too much from what life actually is."
The man looked to his friend and asked in a quivering, helpless voice, "Then what do I do?"
And the ranch mistress knew all too well what he had meant. Link had spent his whole life protecting – protecting Zelda, protecting Hyrule, protecting his daughter… he didn't know how to do anything else. For nearly twenty years he'd monitored everything and shielded his child from everything, all in an attempt to bring her some normalcy. And he wanted her to grow up, to learn the things her mother knew and that he knew, but wasn't sure how to do it. She smiled at him gently, reached out, and gripped his hand softly. "Link, right now… After everything she's been through… I think she needs some time to herself. Just let her go about her business and do what she likes. She's a seventeen year old girl who's been through a lot in the past few weeks, the headaches, learning all those politics, and girl troubles… After today, I think the doctor's guess about mental stress was right. Give her space, let her go to you. But have that Poe fella keep an eye her, though, just in case she needs you but doesn't think she does."
And for the brief moments after Malon finished speaking, Link felt something. There was a tingle of extra warmth from the woman's calloused, working hands that he'd never felt before but somehow had always been there. For a brief second, despite his worries about Ione, he'd forgotten the anxiety; Malon's words gave him a courage he hadn't felt since…
Perhaps when the realization dawned on him, awkwardness dropped in between the two adults like a thick fog. Malon had taken her hand back, quickly picking up her notes and going back to logging whatever it was she had been logging. Link stared into space for a moment, a slight flush coming to his cheeks when he realized that he wasn't sure he'd be able to look at his friend the same way again. He stood up, too quickly to look as if it were normal, and stuttered a thanks to the woman before heading back to the castle, the woman only nodding in acknowledgement as she tried to hide her own reddened face.
She'd abandoned any semblance of princess-hood that afternoon, changing into a common dress and grabbing a plain sheet and using it as a makeshift coat. It may have looked silly, yes, but she didn't want anyone to know she'd left the castle. Zelda had been careful in making sure her exit was unnoticed, but was in too much of a hurry to make sure no one had noticed the odd girl in the bedsheet cloak shuffle out of the castle.
What I saw was real. He was really there. Just an hour ago, it was the thought that she had been chanting in her head to tell herself she was sane. Now, she found herself dearly wishing she was as loony as everyone no doubt thought she was. Because if Vaati really had been there… And Poe who seemed to know about those awful little beholders! There's no concrete evidence! She had to tell herself. It's all completely circumstantial! But if it was so unlikely, how come the very thought of the connection was making her heart wrench?
She just had to hear it from Poe. She had to hear the truth from him, that it was nothing! If she didn't hear it straight from him… Honestly, Zelda didn't know what would happen. Maybe she really would have a mental breakdown.
Even as she wandered into town, her makeshift disguise seemed to work. No one paid any attention to the strange girl who hid her face in a hood, though it also helped that she could hear those huddled together in circles whispering about rumors of the princess. She was incredibly glad no one could see the tinges of reddening embarrassment and fury upon her face.
After making her way deep into Hyrule Town's housing district, she knocked on the door of her friend. There was no answer. The knot in her stomach tightened. Poe had to be home. She knew for a fact his shift was over the day. Unless he was replacing Shiro again… She knocked again, just in case he hadn't heard. But the result was the same. A third harder, cautionary knock again provided no change. She dragged both her hands down her face in frustration.
And then she remembered Poe's family home. Gibdo was there, no doubt. Perhaps Gibdo might know where his brother was! She grimaced, however, remembering she didn't know the elder brother's schedule. It was the only lead she had, though, so she went down the streets once again until she came upon the house she knew Poe used to live in with his brother. She knocked.
For a moment, she feared she would receive the same result she had gotten when knocking upon Poe's door. But after a moment, she could hear the shuffling of steps moving around from behind the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Gibdo stood there in his casual dress. It was extremely strange for Zelda to see Gibdo dressed so normally, even though something in the way he held himself still said "Guardsman and Soldier to the Crown." Perhaps he never really was off-duty, as it didn't take him long to recognize her.
"Princess? What on earth are you doing? And… is that a bedsheet?"
"Where's Poe?" She asked, getting straight to business.
But the off-duty guard frowned at her, "Princess, you shouldn't be wandering about-"
"Where's Poe?"
Gibdo looked startled at the forcefulness in her voice. Perhaps he'd even noticed the slight waver in her tone and the desperate expression on her face. Puzzled, he answered, "I don't know." That certainly wasn't the answer she wanted or needed to hear. She was sure she couldn't hide the anxiety in her visage. The guard stepped aside, "Come inside, Princess, before anyone notices you out of the castle…"
She didn't argue, but only because she had no idea where to possibly go from there. She numbly entered the guard's home, a sparsely furnished place that said the man likely lived more for his job than anything else. It had once been home to the whole of Gibdo's family, his parents, his brother, his sister and so on, until the sister eloped, the parents died, and Poe found his own residence. To Zelda, the house appeared spacious, but in a lonely, depressing way. Her friend's brother invited her to sit down at the small table by the kitchen as he went about to make some tea for his guest.
The princess sat where she had been invited to sit, but all she could do was really stare at the old wood of the table and its various grooves and notches. If she didn't find Poe and get the answers to her questions soon, she really would break down, she just knew it. She could already feel the grimy fingers of panic gripping themselves her brain, threatening to clamp down forcefully. Or it might have been her own fingers gripped her head tightly as she failed to calm herself down. She hadn't even noticed that the hood of her makeshift cloak and fallen onto her shoulders.
"Princess."
Zelda snapped back to her shaky reality at Gibdo's voice. She looked up to see the guard, standing by her with two cups of tea in his hands. She could see he was trying to identify the nature of her distress, even if his expression was a complete poker face. He set her cup down before her and then took a seat across from her.
"Why do you want to find my brother so badly?"
She didn't pick up the tea. If she did, she knew her hands would be shaking the cup. She focused on her own reflection in the dark liquid, her wide eyes and worry making her think she was perhaps looking at a different person. "I just really need to speak to him."
"But why?"
The princess pursed her lips, and finally brought her gaze up to the older man's face. "Has Poe ever given you the impression that… that he's not content working for the crown?"
She could tell it was an odd question for him, but Gibdo did put thought into it before he answered. "Jokingly, I suppose he does give that impression. But seriously? I couldn't imagine it."
She didn't respond, but it was plain that she was unsure whether or not to believe the answer. The guardsman looked on at her with a worried expression. "Princess… Did something happen with my brother?"
Zelda kept her eyes on the tea, not sure how to answer. She never should have asked Gibdo such a question, she thought to herself. She shouldn't have brought those suspicions to Poe's brother. But to deny that her question was silly at this point would be stupid. Her circumstances of the past day and her arrival in a bedsheet cloak were enough to say that she was either crazy or deathly serious.
"Princess… I want you to know that while my brother and I may not be close, I know that any affection he has for you is real." The princess looked to older man, puzzled and hesitant to believe his words, even though she desperately wanted to. Gibdo elaborated, "Poe's not a sociable person, Princess. You're the only one I can think of off the top of my head he's actually close to. When he's not working or with you, he usually wanders around alone. He always finds some part in his day for you. The last few days since the… erm, incident… well, he's been worrying his head off, believe it or not. He's certainly been telling off Shiro for trying to send you any gifts too; says you don't need any more pestering and his "useless" attempts can be tried later." The older man even chuckled a bit at the last statement, "He's been taking out a lot on Shiro, actually."
A little smile did creep upon her face then. Gibdo really did believe his brother was loyal… if not to the crown then at least to her. That was something, then… But still, the doubt outweighed anything else. Vaati's words and the circumstantial evidence her mind provided were outweighing anything else. His brother could speak praises about him, but she didn't think she could believe anyone but Poe himself. Regardless, she kept those thoughts to herself and hoped her face was showing that she felt better, even if she really didn't.
"Thank you, Mr. Gibdo," she said, standing up, "For the tea and your words. But still, if you see Poe, please tell him I really want to speak with him."
The elder guard stood with her, apparently not minding that she actually hadn't touched her tea at all. He led her to the door, promised her he would, and she took the road into the town proper, again pulling up her bedsheet hood and hoping to be unnoticed.
Mr. Gibdo believes Poe is innocent… I should too. She wanted to believe Gibdo, she really did… But even so, she still couldn't bring herself to. Poe was the only one who had the real answers, yet she had no idea where he was. An off-duty guard could be anywhere, and she had to confess that she really had no idea what Poe did when he wasn't working or around her. In fact, the sun was almost completely set, and if Poe had any sort of life he was no doubt doing something in town.
As she had reentered the castle, she simply shrugged off her bedsheet cloak, no longer caring who saw her as she returned to her self-imposed exile in her room. If anyone tried to get her attention, she paid them none. She'd returned to her room, locking the door behind her and making her way through her shadowed room towards her small desk. She hastily threw out the chair, plopped down, and buried herself in her arms on the desk. Zelda could feel that real mental breakdown coming…
Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
Something was pattering upon the glass of her balcony doors. Her body tensed up anxiously, but she sat up and looked to the doors near her. She didn't see anything until he gaze trailed downwards. Up until three days ago, she might have thought it was a bat that fell on her balcony and was struggling to catch the air again. Now seeing that black, bat winged silhouette, she knew it was a little Beholding Eye.
The mental breakdown she'd felt coming on was quickly pushed aside in favor of fury. How long had this horrible mage had his disgusting little Beholders watching her? And Poe, who'd said she'd befriend them! There was no denying it, her friend really was a traitor! She just wanted to be rid of Vaati and his Beholders - and even Poe now that she was so sure where his loyalties lay. Zelda kicked herself off her chair and stomped towards her bow and quiver. She picked them up, readied them in her hands as she marched towards the doors, threw them open and immediately nocked a bow aimed right at the Beholder. The little ting tried to beat its wings quickly, to avoid its grim fate, but she released the arrow, and with a puff of purple smoke the Beholder expired.
"Well that's unfair; it didn't do anything to you."
She immediately readied another arrow, aiming it at the roof where the sound of the wretched sorcerer's voice came from. But he wasn't there. There was just another Beholder. She shot it anyways, and it too expired with a puff of smoke.
"You really are in a hostile mood at the moment."
On her left. Another arrow nocked, she turned quickly. Just a Beholder upon the balustrade. The mage was projecting himself through them… And for a moment, she considered shooting this one as well. But this was the third. He wanted to speak to her, and he would keep sending them after her until she was out of arrows, she knew. She still kept the arrow aimed and ready at the little beastie, but snarled, "It's all your fault. Everyone thinks I'm crazy."
The little Beholder rolled its eye. "Oh yes, because you run to your father to come and defeat me and I'm just going to remain and let him, am I? Use your sense, girl, why on earth would I do that?"
She was dumbstruck. In her anger, she hadn't exactly been thinking, and the mage's words were logical. But she didn't want him to be right so she let the arrow loose. The Beholder expected it and flew away in time, flapping around erratically so she couldn't aim at it properly as she readied her next arrow.
"Very mature, Princess!" The mage's tone was snide, "Shoot an arrow at innocent party!"
"You're not innocent!" Zelda snarled.
"Oh really?" The Beholder flew quickly towards her, hovering barely an inch from her face, "Name one misdeed I've committed since you released me ten years ago."
Zelda stepped back, flabbergasted not only from the close proximity of the Beholder but also the fact that he'd brought up another good point. It took her a moment, but she finally came up with one. Proudly she said, "You've made a traitor of a Hylian soldier."
The Beholder continued to hover, its red eye considering her seriously before taking on an amused glimmer, "I suppose that does count, but you'll be hard pressed to find anything else." The triumph she'd had in saying that answer quickly vanished as she felt a stab of pain through her heart. No doubt it showed on her face, as the mage's Beholder circled her, "Now, now, Princess, after you released me, I couldn't have any news going around that I had been released. Consider it an act of mercy – I could've killed him instead."
She kept her bow and arrow steady as she found her mark again, but she didn't shoot her arrow at the mage's creature. Her anger was still there, but it was a jumbled mess of other things too. Confusion and grief were letting her think clearly, and the mage seized the opportunity to speak again, "If you really think about it, him being my thrall has worked out to your advantage. If you had told anyone else of your suspicions of me, they would have been dismissed in a second. But since Poe has always known, he's always believed you – always been telling you that everyone else would doubt."
I should shoot it. Even if he does bring another, I should shoot it. The princess told herself, but she still hesitated. Even as the Beholder perched itself back on the balustrade, no longer a moving target, she couldn't find it in herself to shoot it.
"He is your only friend, you know."
"St... stop lying to me." It came out of her mouth feebly, unsure.
"I assure you, Princess, I haven't lied to you once. And isn't that more than you can say about your father?"
If the news of Poe's true loyalties had been a stab in the heart, these words had crushed it. She dropped her weapon, her arms falling limply to her sides. Zelda wanted to scream and shout, demand that she be left alone else she do something horrible to the Beholder that the mage spoke through. She wanted nothing more than to call the sorcerer out on his vicious lie, but the truth was that he was right. Vaati hadn't harmed her. He had grabbed her as a child and crushed her, but in the end, she was alive. He hadn't truly hurt her. He'd left her alone for so long, Poe had been there for her, listening to worries that would no doubt sound crazy to anyone else…
"Princess," Vaati continued, "I said it before – I only wish to get know you better. I owe you my freedom, after all."
And nothing more was said. The little Beholder simply took off of the balustrade and flew into the darkness of the night, leaving the Princess of Hyrule more confused and doubtful than ever before.
Trigger Warning: Gore and murder most foul.
"The Princess isn't interested, Shiro."
"I know but-"
"She isn't interested. You're just annoying her."
"I was hoping-"
"Shiro, she's not interested."
"…"
"But I'm willing to help you out."
"You are?"
"Why wouldn't I? I cover your shifts all the time out of the goodness of my heart."
"… I just always thought you didn't like me that much."
"Don't be a dumbass; you're okay in my book. Now if you want to get the Princess's attention…"
And so Poe relayed instructions to Shiro. The princess, distressed in the last few days, was distraught over the serial murders that had been happening. To get the princess's attention and gratitude, Shiro would have to catch the killer. It was daunting, and the young soldier hesitated, but he would do it. Poe told him that he had received a lead concerning the possible identity of the murderer. It would be a team effort. Poe would chase the culprit down and Shiro would be waiting at the dead end of an alleyway to arrest the murderer. They couldn't be obvious as to their occupations, though, so of course they would be out of armor.
So the two went their separate ways, and Shiro waited at the appointed alleyway. A dank, dark place in between two abandoned buildings in what was becoming the "bad" part of Hyrule Town. It was really late, and the younger man began to wonder if his mother would be worrying about his whereabouts. Perhaps Poe couldn't find the killer, or something had gone wrong. He was getting nervous.
Just when he was about to make his way down the alleyway to find his partner, a silhouette of a man appeared. Shiro stood at the ready, his hand on his sword, until he heard Poe's voice, "Calm down, Shiro, it's just me."
Shiro relaxed, but looked around anxiously. "Where is he?"
In the darkness, Shiro couldn't see the nasty grin on Poe's face. Nor could he see the leather butcher's apron that the older guard was now wearing. So nervously was he looking around, he didn't notice the knife the other man held as he closed the proximity between them. It was only when Poe quickly cupped his hand over Shiro's mouth and skillfully stabbed the knife upward in between the ribs and into a lung did the young man realize his most grievous mistake.
"Right here." Poe whispered gleefully, taking in the sound of Shiro's muffled attempts at a scream through his hand. But the scream broke out into a bloody cough, the young man staggered back, wheezing, actually trying to hold in his breaths through this indescribable pain. Everything was going fuzzy, he couldn't see.
And Poe absolutely loved it. His young victim here, trying to drag himself away. It was useless, of course, as Poe was blocking the only exit out of this crappy part of town. Happily, the older man kicked the younger right in the chest, exacerbating the pain of the younger's punctured lung and his attempts at a half scream. He knelt down and turned his victim onto his back. To keep him from moving further he straddled him, and with all too much delight he took his handy dandy knife and skillfully stabbed the other lung.
He loved killing by lung punctures. The victims couldn't scream, because the pain was so unbearable. They'd puke up their blood helplessly as the slowly succumbed to their terrible death of choking on their own blood. That wasn't usually enough for Poe, or at least in good ol' Shiro's case.
With a sadistic grin, Poe lowered himself so that his lips were right by the young man's ears. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this." He sat up again, watching the young man's wide-eyed fear and suffering. What should he do next? Perhaps the eyes? No, he was never a fan of eyes. He liked his victims to watch themselves die. Ah, the guts. The guts were always good. He pulled up the younger man's shirt and wasted no time bringing the knife down over Shiro's stomach and sawing through the flesh. The young man wheezed out.
"You know, that Kasuto kid was a real dick," Poe began conversationally, his words straining as he pushed and pulled the knife through thick abdominal muscle. "But, there was a benefit to him being huge dick that he was. He fucking cleared this part of town out." He looked to Shiro, his mad grin getting all the more wider as he saw the tears of anguish and suffering trail down his victim's face and blend with the coughed up blood. He sighed wistfully, his wrist rolling the knife around in his hands so casually. "Isn't it wonderful? Even if you could scream, nobody would come to help you because there's nobody here."
Poe then paused a moment to take a deep whiff of the air, saturated now with smell of metal and fear. His cheeks were hurting; he didn't think he could smile any wider than he was at that very moment. He looked back down to the gaping hole he'd put in his victim's stomach and figured he may as well get Shiro looking all pretty for when he'd get found.
"… W… Wh… why…?"
It pathetic, breathy, and barely audible. The sound of a man in his last, pitiful moments. It made Poe tingle with such joy, especially when the expression matched. Shiro's expression was even better because it also had the added look of betrayal.
"Because I hate you." Poe answered simply as he thrust his hand into Shiro's wound, grabbing a handful of the stuff inside and pulling out, making the younger man writhe and gurgle out in his pain. There was something special about the effort put into ripping out guts, in the way it resisted ever so slightly at first but just so readily slipped and slid within fingers, ready to fall out of the body it'd been constrained in. "You needy, sickly, son of a bitch. The moment you started trying to put the moves on my Master's prize was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Not that you'd be any competition mind you, it just gives me a good excuse to do this." He pulled out a string of guts, throwing it nonchalantly upon his victim. Add some horror to Shiro's face.
This was just the best night Poe had had in a long time, hands down. It was amazing how resilient humans could be. Because with both lungs filled with blood and his intestines sprawled all over his torso, Shiro was still alive, in pain and slowly dying. But no doubt he'd be dead soon now. And Poe would be there, watching as the light snuffed out, delighting in his work.
So after a while, we have the next chapter. Sorry about that hold up. I had a few issues and a few realizations in writing this, mostly somewhere along the way I lost the true meaning of fandom, and instead of something just for fun, I began looking at this OTP of mine as something of an unhealthy obsession. SO... I KIND OF NEEDED A BREAK. Now that my mind's clear and I can actually enjoy writing again because it's something that I want to do and not feel it's something I have to, I was able to produce this. From here on out folks, this story is going to be all kinds of messed up.
We also have our first trigger warning of the chapter here. Poe's that serial murderer, if you didn't catch on already. First chapter was a big old hint to that. This fact is going to play a role in his development of the story. And if you've been following me for a super, duper long time, and I mean LONG TIME, and have an excellent memory for obscure references, then you'll know what I'm talking about.
On a more random note, I'll be referencing Vaati's demonic form and the offshoots of as Beholders. To those of the DnD fandom, you have any idea of it. If not, let's just say the beholders of DnD and Vaati share quite a few similarities, and in the long run, Beholder is just way easier to write.
Sapphiet, Oh no, the sword's still there. It would be counterproductive if it wasn't. I just meant empty as in, completely devoid of humanoid life.
eureka93, you have no idea how much I detest the idea of Vaati being a misunderstood villain. You have no idea. So quite frankly, it pisses me off to see people write him and just get his characterization so wrong. I really wanted to write a fic that had my love for my twisted OTP as well as keeping Vaati as the villain he is. And I'm not a fan of Greek myths, so it really says something if I reference one here. XD Though again, must emphasize these stories will have a few parallels, but they will be significantly different. Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying so far.
My Reality Is My Own, because that's the way I typed it up. XD I'm glad you're enjoying.
fleets, oh he appeared all right. XD As for outline and story... I have a better idea of where the hell I'm going now so they shuld be working out from now on. Should be the key word.
FMAYasha12, because that's the way I typed it up! XD Thank you! I take my fanfic writing perhaps more seriously than I'd like to admit, so it's good to be hearing I'm doing a good job. As for how I'll make it work... Trust me, I had to do so much brainstorming myself in order to figure that out. And I did finally figure it out; perhaps certain goings on in this chapter are enlightening you as to how it'll work out.