fleets: I may not be doing Nano this year, but that won't stop me from writing completely. Thank you everyone who's still reading this during the busy months of fall. Lots of references from previous chapters here, so try not to get too confused! It has been a while since updates.

Chapter 16: Reshuffle

"No thank you," was the immediate reply to Vaati's offer.

There was a brief, awkward pause as the sorcerer's brain attempted to register those three simple words, and then he exploded.

"What?! What do you mean, no? Do you even know what you're refusing, you ignoramus?" Vaati sputtered, offended by Thistle's rejection.

Thistle returned an equally offended expression, crossing his arms over his chest and giving him a long look. "If you think your offer to make the Wishing Cap in return for your release is a good one, well, it's not."

"How is the Wishing Cap not a good offer?! You can wish for anything! Anything!" Vaati cried. He would have waved his arms widely in emphasis if they weren't bound behind his back.

"Have you ever considered I don't need your help to make the Wishing Cap?" Thistle shook his head dismissively. "You're not the only sorcerer around here, you know."

Vaati's fists clenched behind his back, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Although he resented Ezlo for many things that he had put him through when the old man had been his mentor, there was one thing, (just one, he emphasized), that he would acknowledge the sage had gotten right: the creation of the Wishing Cap. It was one thing Vaati would allow himself to admit was actually ingenious of the old man, and as his former apprentice, it made his blood boil to hear some other sorcerer claim that the process of making the cap could be copied. Vaati may not have taken the traditional route to gain powerful sorcery, but that didn't mean he wouldn't uphold some values of students of magic, and such a transgression of intellectual integrity made him want to revoke all rights of sorcery from this unacceptable fraud. "You of all people won't be able to recreate the cap. No one would ever have the inventive genius of Ezlo," he spat.

"Oh, I know that. That's why I'm going to have a bit of help from your old master himself." Thistle brushed the comment aside, unbothered. The wizzrobe's careless demeanor annoyed Vaati even more. Thistle shrugged. "I found a few records citing the process of making the cap written by Ezlo himself."

Vaati snorted. "So that's why you wanted to find the Palace of Winds. You thought you could find the rest of the records."

"Hmmm, so you know about the missing records," Thistle mused. "Well since you know about it, yes, I admit the ones I found were incomplete and in the current state I would not be able to create the completed cap myself. Kehaha, you caught me there!" he laughed. "But what would it matter? I doubt you'll tell me, even if I ask nicely, so I'll just have to find the rest on my own. I'm sure they exist. I'm a patient fellow, unlike you, and since time isn't an issue I know I'll find it eventually," Thistle replied dismissively.

A gleam shot across Vaati's eyes, his expression snakelike and predatory as he found his opportunity to strike his deal once again. "And that's where you're wrong. Why do you think I know that some of the records are missing?" Vaati sneered malevolently. "The first thing I ever did as soon as I got my hands on that cap was to destroy the critical half of Ezlo's records. No one would ever be able to make the cap again."

For the first time during the conversation, Thistle appeared genuinely irked. His green eyes narrowed behind his mask, and his grip around the hourglass and the gem tightened noticeably. "I… can't believe you did such a thing."

"No one would ever be able to make the cap again," Vaati repeated, "except me. So I'll do you a huge favor and ask you again, since you messed up your answer the first time. Release me, and I'll recreate the Wishing Cap."

The clock ticked as Thistle carefully reconsidered the offer. The wizzrobe knew he didn't exactly need the Wishing Cap to continue having his fun – his original plan to run the world didn't need the cap's powers at all – but at the same time, it was The Cap. If he missed his chance now, then he would very well never have the same opportunity again, and a powerful item like a cap that could grant any wish in the universe wasn't something anybody should ever pass up. "All right," Thistle said slowly, deliberating on his words. Beside him, Condor's metallic head slowly tilted towards his direction, somewhat surprised by his decision. "I am not exactly sure why you would make such an unbalanced deal, Vaati. Although you will be granted freedom, I don't exactly see you as the type to remain content with the fact that someone else will have their hands on something as powerful as the Wishing Cap. And believe me, I will take measures to make sure you won't just run off with the cap yourself once you complete it." Thistle watched Vaati's expression carefully. "I know half of what is required to complete the cap. I will let you make the cap to a certain point, and then I'll do the finishing touches. So what is it, Vaati? You must have something else in mind that will cause you to pursue this deal." Then, he rolled his eyes, "unless you really thought I'd be silly enough to give you an opportunity to disappear with it after you completed it."

Vaati lowered his face to avoid letting Thistle see his flicker of disappointment from learning that it wouldn't be as easy as he thought it would to take the cap for himself. "Of course not," he muttered, although not very confidently. "I want you to tell me about the reincarnation curse. A way out."

"Ah yes! I did promise earlier that I'll tell you all about it, didn't I? I'll tell you, yes. But it will have to wait."

"And you have to let me in on whatever it is you're doing," Vaati interrupted the wizzrobe before he went on another pointless ramble.

Thistle cackled. "Ooooh look at you, trying to bargain with me. You think I'll be stupid enough to let a potential usurper be a part of my plans? Kehahaha!" Thistle snickered some more, and then he snapped his fingers. The binds that kept Vaati from casting spells immediately released. "Deal!"

"Good."

"Sir." Condor, who rarely lost his composure, managed to look flustered even with his metallic face that severely limited the number of expressions he could make to one (i.e. expressionless). His hands lifted and fell as though he wasn't sure where to put them, and then he backed off, deciding he'll just stay put and resume being expressionless: it didn't really suit him to go against superiors. He valiantly ignored Vaati who was shaking the tension out of his wrists and smirking at him smugly.

"It's fine, Condor. It won't hurt me to allow this fellow sorcerer to do as he likes," Thistle reassured him. The wizzrobe was carefree in his demeanor, but his tone said otherwise: it was a warning in disguise. "Vaati can't really do anything about what I've planned. Let's say he decides to kill me right now. Thanks to my completed reincarnation spell," the wizzrobe stressed once again, not dropping the chance to taunt the wind mage about his curse, "I'll be back shortly, and with full knowledge on who was responsible for being an annoyance. I'll have the entire country after him until he is nothing but an obituary. He understands that well, doesn't he?" Thistle added in cheerful mockery. He watched Vaati carefully from behind his mask, almost daring him to try something, but the sorcerer gave the wizzrobe no such satisfaction. Slightly disappointed, Thistle turned his attention back to Dugal who had been quietly watching the entire scene calmly, either contemplating his escape or at acceptance that they were currently too outmatched for him to do anything. "And you? Are you going to bargain for your life too, or are we done with you?"

Dugal looked up, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. His only response was to spit at the ground by Thistle's feet.

"Mmm, I see. That's not a very good offer I'm afraid. I feel just a bit of pity seeing that the value you place your own life is a gob of spit." The wizzrobe tutted, and then he took a few steps towards his prisoner so that his mask was uncomfortably close to the other man's face. "You were always a little annoying, you know. The Air Force would probably have let you stay if you were just a little dumber. When the medics asked you if you remembered anything, the correct answer was 'no.'"

It took a couple of seconds for Dugal to realize just what Thistle was referring to. He finally made the connection, then, that this beak-faced bastard was also responsible for that incident at the Air Force Academy that had started it all. Until that day he'd been set on becoming an Air Force pilot – that day, he'd seen a nightmare come to life. He'd been out running with his academy friend in the early morning hours when his friend had complained of a sharp pain from his hand. He'd spoken of some shard that was digging into his wrist, and within minutes he'd lost all ability of coherent speech and had turned into some bizarre, charcoal skinned monster without a face.

It was the incident that had him chase after the existence of the otherworldly, it was the incident that had him put under the target of the upper brass of the academy, and it was the incident that had resulted in the creation of Talon Three.

Thistle chuckled when he saw the former Talon leader's jaw drop a little. "We were running a test, then. That running buddy of yours was also a volunteer to help take care of the dogs we were testing our first round of Shadow Shard Tech on. He overheard some things he wasn't supposed to be hearing, and due to a staff oversight he managed to steal one of the shards that were going to be for the dogs. He paid for that theft dearly, as you might recall, but at the same time he gave us the idea to try it on people! He was a good chap."

"You!" Dugal shot, "You're that cadet!" He remembered clearly now: that cadet who had incidentally happened by near the area where the incident with the shard had occurred. The cadet had been the only person who had assured him that he believed the things Dugal had seen, and had later vanished mysteriously when he'd desperately needed another witness to testify for him. There was no doubt now, he remembered the laugh. The cadet had laughed at him with the same, knowing, cackling laugh of the masked man in front of him. Now that his memory was clearer, he realized that his witness hadn't been a lowly cadet, but someone from the upper brass: his memory had only supposed it couldn't have been someone from the upper ranks because then academy wouldn't have discarded his claims of monsters so readily.

But now it all made sense: the Academy had been in cahoots with Thistle, and they'd wanted to get rid of him because he'd seen too much. Thistle had undoubtedly been in the vicinity to check up on him when the incident had occurred.

"Yes. 'That' cadet. I was actually a lieutenant then, I'd have you know. Too bad you couldn't find him later to testify for you, huh? Kehahaha." Thistle tittered. "I probably could have wiped your memory clean of that incident, but I have my hands full keeping track of whose memory I cleared and who I've brainwashed. It's not as easy as it sounds. You were pretty low priority, since no one would believe your stories anyway," he scoffed. "At any rate, can you appreciate how great I am now? I was behind everything! From before Avilux, too. Avilux was also working from our grant, though the fact that they kept the whole fourth deity thing a secret until too late was unexpected… Ah well. It's not like they could have known, and they were so full of themselves, thinking they were the only ones who understood anything about magic with science. Anyway," Thistle stood up straight and lazily crossed his arms over his chest, "I just wanted to rub that in your face before you died. We have no use for you now. He's all yours, Cond – "

"No."

"… No?" Thistle gave a loud, exasperated sigh, and turned to Vaati who had interjected shortly. "I said you were allowed to have fun, but I did not say you were allowed to stop me from having fun."

"And I'm telling you to keep him alive," Vaati replied slowly, "he's useful for the cap."

While Thistle and Dugal had been having their conversation, the sorcerer had been trying to think of what to do with the former Talon leader. He'd been correct in assuming Thistle would make the suggestion to have the man dead. Vaati was pretty sure he wasn't going to miss having Dugal around if Thistle killed him, but at the same time, the Talon leader was someone who sounded like less of an asshole than the renegade wizzrobe. First off, Dugal didn't already have a huge army to exploit. Second, Dugal didn't have a clue about magic, so that naturally put Vaati ahead. Third, Dugal wasn't laughing at him every goddessdamned second. Considering he didn't really know what weaknesses Thistle had at the moment, he'd figured anyone with the same kind of grudge against the wizzrobe was someone useful.

But then, how to get Thistle to agree to keep him alive?

"The cap needs a large amount of Life Force that will parallel the power of the Light Force. Let him," Vaati cocked his head towards Dugal, "collect it. He has experience using the Phantom Hourglass, I believe you called it?"

Dugal gazed towards his direction with an expression of faint incredulity, but remained silent. Thistle, on the other hand, appeared skeptical. "And why should I ask him to do it specifically? I have much more loyal followers than him."

Vaati frowned. Yeah, he didn't have a good response to that. Oh well. At least he tried, right? He gave a half-hearted shrug towards Dugal. Did he feel sorry? In all honesty, not really. Comparing between Dugal and Thistle was like comparing which one was the shinier of two shits.

Also, it annoyed him quite a bit when he saw Dugal follow up his incredulous look to one with exasperated headshaking, complete with the full eye-roll. Apparently the Talon leader had thought Vaati's suggestion had been a useless one and made a great show to indicate it.

Yeah. Vaati was not going to be sorry if Dugal died within the next few seconds.

Suddenly, Thistle perked up as an idea came to him. "Actually! I just thought of something!" Thistle's wide sleeves flapped as he waved his hands excitedly towards Dugal. "You! I am well aware you're very efficient and capable if you're paid well. So how about I hire you, hmmm? I will buy your loyalty."

Before any of them could react, Thistle had summoned his ghostly scythe again with a spinning arc. Then, he swung it across the Talon leader's neck as though to behead him, and the scythe went right through. Unlike last time, Dugal's reaction was less severe. However, he bent over double as though he were in pain and he gasped for air.

"You don't have the Phantom Hourglass anymore, Dugal. You know what that means, right? I stole not the Sands of Time, but some of your life," Thistle explained quietly. "You have three months to live. If you want your life back, ensure that the cap is completed. Work with me. This cannot be undone, except by the power of the Wishing Cap. I will also promise to clear all of your suspicions, records on file, and give you all the federal protection you need so that you will never be pursued again. Of course you have to do this within two months, or you will be dead."

Vaati stood frozen, unable to wrench his eyes off of Dugal who was projected to die in three months. When he'd suggested to Thistle to keep the man alive, this wasn't what he'd counted on.

Thistle continued with his calm, quiet voice. "I trust you will get things done, Dugal. Blackmail Vaati if you have to, if you think he's not working fast enough. I will allow you to use any means necessary, and don't worry." Dugal, who had recovered by now, exchanged uncertain, wavering glances with Vaati. It was a look of dread and shock slowly bubbling to the surface as a numb panic set in, and Dugal's gaze towards Vaati was one of a starving man determined to take the last of the bread no matter what the cost. "Nothing you will have to do to ensure the cap's completion will go on your records. After all, you might have to kill more than a few people if you want to collect the Life Force fast enough." Thistle tossed the Phantom Hourglass to Dugal, who caught it heavily.

Vaati bit his lip. Whatever miniscule percent there had been for he and Dugal to work together was now effectively zero. The Talon leader was either going to be dead in two months, or would force Vaati to comply with the wizzrobe's wishes. They could not work together like this.

He was on his own, and the game was rigged from the start.

Thistle slipped the red gem of the Wishing Cap into his pocket and motioned them to follow. Condor walked over to Dugal and kicked him up as though he were nothing but a stray dog, a scene that was completely unheard of just a year ago. Vaati wordlessly followed Thistle to the door. Although he was free to use his sorcery now, as Thistle had claimed earlier, he couldn't do anything with them.

Oh how far they had fallen.

In good humor, Thistle swung open the door and the humid, salty warm air of the tropical night winds greeted them. They were free from the labyrinth but they were far from freedom. The wizzrobe gestured towards Thyme, who greeted them in plain business attire. "Now why don't I show you where you'll be staying for the next few months? I am nothing if not hospitable to the people who work for me. Kehahaha!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time the sun was up over Cambridge the next morning, Dark found Hawk passed out on the floor in front of the sofa where he'd fallen asleep where he'd been working last night. He could hear the water running from the bathroom, so he figured Hawk was already awake and taking a shower. The teenager stepped over the older man sprawled on the carpet and took a seat in the space that he had claimed his own: the corner of the sofa closest to the wall. Looking at the scene of messy food scraps and empty cans of Red Bull and stained plastic coffee cups, he figured it wasn't all that different from what a college dormitory might look like.

Come to think of it, Dark mused as he took another glance at Kestrel passed out on the floor, the Talon guys didn't look a whole lot older than college graduates. It was all kind of… weird, really. Ever since his dad had been murdered when he'd gotten himself too involved in a Talon affair, he'd imagined the men of Talon to be a group of ruthless, cold killers with greying hair and bloodshot eyes, maybe a few wrinkles from the stress and savagery of a mercenary life. Seeing Kestrel now, relatively harmless and drooling a little, really took that imagery right to the trash.

Dark… didn't really know what to think of it, actually. He preferred to continue seeing them as horrific, monstrous bastards after what they did to his life. It was a lot easier to hate and despise them that way…

Granted apparently the one responsible hadn't been Kestrel or Hawk, but the psychotic Harrier who was now dead, but still. He couldn't forgive Talon for the things they had done.

He sighed. No use thinking about that now. The only thing that should be on his mind was on how to get out of this mess. He wondered if Grandpa Loze was all right. A twinge of guilt crept up on him, when he realized he hadn't thought about Loze until now. The last thing he remembered was Loze's shouts when Hawk and Kestrel's flash bombs had gone off inside the house. He didn't think Loze had been harmed, but he was pretty sure that the government had taken him on their side, especially since an Amber Alert had been issued for Vaati.

How in the world were they going to explain what they had been up to, assuming they got out of this mess at all, to Gramps?

That was another thing he wasn't going to think about now.

In fact, he needed to escape this suffocating atmosphere. He needed to get away, be alone, forget about Talon and the government and Vaati.

Dark's eyes darted to the bathroom, where the water was still running. Then, they darted to the door that led outside. Finally, the landed resolutely back on the sleeping Kestrel. Making up his mind, Dark quickly but quietly stood up from the sofa, and careful not to wake the sleeping man, he gently plucked Bates' stone from between Kestrel's fingertips. Almost immediately, Bates' voice greeted him loudly, and Dark was just about to shush the little sentry before he realized that no one but him could hear Bates.

"And where are you ambulating to, degenerate?"

Dark ignored him and stealthily snuck his way out the door, making sure to take the spare key. He wrote a quick note that he would return in about an hour and a half, and left it on Kestrel's computer so he would be sure the two men would see it. They would no doubt be upset that he had left on his own, but he couldn't tolerate being stuck indoors like he was some prisoner.

Well… he kind of was a prisoner, wasn't he… For starters, he'd been kidnapped, and then taken away overseas with no promise on when he'd be able to go back home.

It wasn't until he was a few blocks away from the apartment that he allowed himself to relax and answer Bates, who had been flittering around him with increasing concern that something was not right.

"It's not a big problem, Bates. I just needed to… needed to get some fresh air." He mentally told Bates. He hesitated a little, but not just because he had to remind himself that he didn't actually have to talk aloud to communicate with Bates. He could feel his pulse, pounding against his ears, only begin to slow back down to normal now: the fact that he'd probably come back to the apartment to confront to very annoyed mercenaries, ready to shoot him if necessary, was more than a little unnerving. Yes, walking out of the apartment without talking to them about it first wasn't the best of ideas, but he needed this. The atmosphere in the apartment was stifling and claustrophobic. "Just keep an eye out for me, alright? Make sure no one's tailing me or nothing suspicious is going on."

Bates didn't respond, but he stopped flitting around and flew next to Dark understandingly. The sentry circled back now and again to make sure no one was following them, but the urgent flapping about had stopped. They walked a couple of blocks, approaching the university campus, and although Dark had been slightly paranoid that someone would stop him, they blended right in with the college commuters, professors, tourists, and residents who were huddled within their winter coats and walked quickly towards their destination with purpose. "You've been working closely with Kestrel," Dark began again, after some time. "Either him or Hawk is going to ask you a lot of questions when we get back, I bet."

Bates continued to listen quietly. Dark appreciated, then, that Bates wasn't actually talkative. The only times he talked a lot was when the sentry had been offended, was purposely trying to be annoying, or was giving information. Sometimes he forgot that Bates wasn't talkative in nature.

"Don't tell them anything, alright? I'll tell them everything I want them to know, so if they ever ask you for anything else I haven't told them voluntarily, then it's sealed lips. Er… minds." Dark didn't really know where he was walking to, but it was nice to wander around aimlessly for once. He'd done it a lot, back when he was still in Japan, whenever he needed to take his mind off things. Sometimes it took him to interesting places. Other times it let him encounter curious characters, such as Vaati, Zelda, and… the other Link. "We need a sign," he rambled on, "Something that will let you know to stop listening to them and to follow me closely. Here, if I rub the side of my nose with my shoulder and then bite my lip for three seconds, that's my sign to let you know I need your help. At any moment, those Talon guys could turn on us. This is a sign they won't know to watch out for." They walked into a Starbucks. Dark later figured he'd walked there out of familiarity. "You're the only one I can trust out here, Bates. Please, help me out."

Bates, who had been listening quietly all this time, finally answered. "I will do everything in my faculty to assist Lord Vaati. If that means alleviating your dilemmas, then so be it."

Dark sighed. Oh well. He supposed that was as good an agreement he was going to get from Bates. The sentry was, after all, a servant of Vaati, and answered the sorcerer above anyone else. At least the fact that the little floating eye intended to help him since that helped Vaati indirectly was a start.

He took a seat in one of the small corner booths by the table. Dark didn't really plan on buying anything; just sitting, taking a rest, and letting the time pass by. Since the past several days had been so hectic, he hadn't been able to just have time where he was allowed to do nothing at all. He watched the people make their way through the slush-covered road outside, and the others who had retreated inside the café to study somewhere warm with coffee. While he was looking around, his eyes landed on a pretty girl around his age, sitting by herself a few tables away. She was fashionable in layers, and even though it was cold out she wore a pink corduroy skirt and sweater tights with legwarmers. It wasn't her fashion sense or her neatly straightened, shoulder length platinum blond hair that caught Dark's attention. Neither was it her cutely flushed face as she poured over the article on her laptop with a slight pout that would catch even the most uninterested guy's attention.

Dark recognized this girl. It was Zelda.

Shit! He thought to himself, forgetting that Bates could overhear his thoughts. I can't make eye contact. I can't let her notice me, she can't get involved in this fuckery too! What is she even doing in England now anyway?

Dark cursed when he remembered how Hawk had mentioned that Zelda was momentarily safe from the reach of the American government because she was overseas. It was incredibly bad luck that of all the countries and cities they could have gone to, they had flown to the place where Zelda was. He could not let Zelda notice him. Not here. Not now.

Dark stood up quickly, but not so quickly that he would come off as suspicious. He ignored Bates' queries, asking him what was wrong. He checked on Zelda one more time, to make sure she hadn't noticed him. He was relieved to see that she was still reading the article on her screen intently: she hadn't noticed Dark. So far so good.

Then by some divine prank, just as he had taken a step towards the door, Zelda had decided to take that moment to look up from her computer and rest her eyes, stretching. It was then that their gaze met. As Zelda's soft blue eyes gradually widened in surprise, Dark imagined his were doing the same, except in fear.

Yes, he would admit he was afraid. This was the last person on earth he'd wanted to involve in his and Vaati's troubles again.

"… Dark? Is that you?"

fleets: Vaati and Dugal become servants to Thistle for the rest of their days. The End. Hope you guys liked it because that's all I have.

... yeah, like you'd believe that. Anyways, everything's out! Well, almost everything. That incident Dugal mentioned in Avilux? Yeah, I hadn't planned on using it as a plot-point for this story, but that's the beauty of outlines: Thistle's plot with this story just... fit. Perfectly. And since Thistle was created for the purpose of being a villain for this story, I've made every attempt to make sure he screws everyone over. It's a villain's job. Hope he's doing a good enough job of it.
Also, Zelda! She wasn't in my original plans, but I received a request and several queries wondering if she'd be in the story, so I made a little more effort to think about where she could fit. Turned out that I actually did have a good spot for her: I just wasn't considering the options so much because she hadn't been a favorite in Avilux. Now that I'm a little more serious about including her, I don't think I mind having her around that much. She won't take over the story, I'll promise you that. I hope you find she adds more to the story than detracts!

dark digidestined: Yep, he's the big bad! That's what I tried to hint whenever I claimed that Thistle was meant for this story hehe ;) As for Vaati remembering Rend... I'm not sure how big a role that will play. It's not critically important, and I wouldn't want that to become the focus of this story. I might sneak it in there if an opportunity presents itself.

SubZeroChimera: No, but now he's kind of screwed himself over. Unless, of course, he actually does come up with a way to take the cap for himself. Right now the situation is looking pretty bleak - Thistle knows what he's doing. He's been in the overlord business for many many many years now, after all XD

Lord Siravant: And after the conclusion of the election today I just might have to move to Canada.

Sybdoodles: Aaaaand his situation keeps getting better. And by better I mean worse XD. Dark, we're counting on you (though he's kind of messing up everywhere too).

Reily96: Ahahahahaha I like that. Everyone wins! And yeahhhh Vaati's just blundering and blundering. He pretty much gave Thistle the Wishing Cap for free.

DarkSakura2256: Baby kestrels are so adorable too! They're like little footballs with faces haha. Annnd ahyup, Vaati's just digging himself a bigger hole in the ground.

Iris Martinez: Ahhh, well so I have a policy that I only take requests if it's part of an event I do on deviantart. The requests I have to do currently is all part of a backlog of requests from an event a while ago that I still haven't finished yet... T_T. One way to get a request is to look out for any of the free-request events I might do on deviantart, and sign up for it! The reason why I do this is so I can keep things fair with request schedules and so I don't get too many requests. Haha yeah those wizzrobes were such a pain! As for Vaati... well... while he managed to stay alive this time, he didn't really succeed in getting himself into a better situation... lol