fleets: Sorry I had limited internet access this winter so I couldn't really work on stories or demonstrate any semblance of being alive. Are people still following this story? I feel like my long absences are causing people to abandon ship. Oops.
Anyways I hope this longer chapter makes up for the fact that I haven't updated in a while D:
Chapter 18: The Moon
The Moon:
Ah, and here is the warning; the card of The Moon. There is trickery ahead. The Magician and his other will fall from grace, disregarding peers and becoming filled with envy and avarice. They will do well to guard against their overwhelming ambitions.
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The next day, right around lunch time, Dark made his way to the university where he'd agreed to meet up with Zelda. He sighed. This morning had been stressful and not very fun. In fact, it hadn't been fun since yesterday afternoon, when he had returned to the apartment to face two very upset people who were more than willing to kill him if they had to.
Convincing them they didn't have to kill him had been a long and grueling argument, akin to taking a chainsaw to remove a splinter from a toe. As soon as he had reached the first two steps to the apartment door and reached for the doorknob, the door had swung open and a hand, which he could have sworn was an evil crooked talon of some bird of prey, had snagged around his collar and had pretty much thrown him inside. By the time he'd gotten his bearings, there was an ominous click and he found himself pinned to the floor by a silenced gun pointed on his forehead, ready to shoot with a single wrong move.
Hawk had given him thirty seconds to explain just what the hell he had been thinking when he had irresponsibly wandered off without telling anyone. In other circumstances, Dark probably would have told the older man that he sounded like a mother, or maybe given him the finger, but in those other circumstances a gun wasn't involved. So instead, Dark had managed to angrily blurt out the script he had prepared in his head during his walk home, about how he'd fucking felt like it, was it such a big deal?
Alright, so that hadn't been the best response either and not much of a script… but when people got angry Dark got angry at them too.
Of course Hawk, or maybe it had been Kestrel he wasn't sure because of all the chaos, had felt the need to give him a painful reminder about how serious Talon was, so Dark had received a nice hit across his face with the metal barrel of a pistol and a warning shot by his ear. It took a lot of convincing to get Hawk and Kestrel to believe Dark's simple, truthful story that he had wandered off because he had felt restless and stuffy, sitting and waiting in the apartment for something to happen. For one thing, Hawk seemed to have trouble believing that Dark would do such a dumb, careless thing like that, especially when there were people out looking for them.
It took all of Dark's pride and maybe a little more to convince the two Talon men that yes, he was in fact that stupid. Not his fault they assumed he was smart, for the love of Nayru. Oh my fucking god.
For another thing, they had become even more suspicious when he had mentioned he would have to leave the house again around noon the next day. By then, however, they had somewhat bought into the fact that Dark was that stupid and careless, so they just sighed tiredly and looked as though they had a headache when he told them he was going on a date with a local girl. Bates had helped considerably as well, reassuring them that the young idiot would be under his watch, and that he would help Hawk and Kestrel get rid of him if he saw that Dark was up to no good.
While Dark knew Bates had been lying, the little sentry had been frighteningly persuasive: he took after Vaati after all, and the sorcerer had always been good with words. He'd second-guessed their alliance for a second before Bates confided later that he believed Dark was looking out for his Master's interests more so than Hawk or Kestrel. Bates even summoned a copy of himself so that Kestrel could continue decoding the encryptions while Bates "babysat the imbecile." Kestrel would hold on to the alpha stone that would let him see the copy's sight, while Dark would keep the beta stone that would let him see the original's sight.
Oh. Yes. It should be mentioned here that now there were two verbose flying invisible eyeballs. They operated much like a radio system, and anything that was understood by one eye was also understood by the other – anything one eye saw, the other eye did as well.
The only downside was that having Bates split up would cause his Master to use a little more magic to maintain them. The magic used to keep Bates around was miniscule, and Vaati probably barely noticed it. However, this new development without Vaati's consent might make him notice. Bates explained to Hawk and Kestrel, however, that it shouldn't be a big deal because we want the Master to notice, don't we? No doubt he is on our side, and will help defeat whoever we are trying to beat.
At any rate, after all of that arguing and explaining and convincing, Dark had been allowed to wake up the next day without a bullet in his head and walk outside to meet up with Zelda. He found her in front of the Cambridge University Library. She was already waiting for him eagerly, and immediately pointed him towards a different building. "I found an empty classroom we can use. Here, follow me."
Dark briefly exchanged glances with Bates. Zelda seemed to have something she wanted to share even before Dark had explained what he wanted to know, and he was curious about what she had in mind. She swiftly led him to a classroom that wasn't being used, and they set up two classroom desks together and she opened her laptop.
"I know that look on your face," she explained as she waited for her computer to start up. "You don't have the luxury of time, so I'll start right away unless you have something you want to say first. You wanted to know about Corbin Robespierre?"
Dark faltered a little, slightly taken aback by Zelda's straight-to-the-point demeanor. He smiled despite himself, thankful that she was understanding about not nagging about what his situation was. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks."
"All right. So I was trying to look up as many things about him as possible last night, because I could have sworn I'd seen that name come up a couple of times during my research for my advisor."
"Really?!" Dark exclaimed excitedly. This girl was good!
Zelda gave him… well, 'a look' was the best description he could come up with, the kind that put the brakes on everything. "There's good news, and there's also really bad news about this," she began.
Dark slouched back into his seat. "Oh…"
"The good news is that about a year ago, someone had contacted my advisor about needing any texts regarding ancient Hyrule, fictional or otherwise. They'd specifically asked to keep an eye out for anything and everything with Corbin Robespierre. Well, so my advisor finally found the time to come up with a list of all the texts from the university library where Corbin was mentioned and had asked me to send it to this guy who wanted them. It was all pretty weird, in retrospect. The library would never let any books leave the rare books collection permanently, as this guy had requested, unless they had a really special reason. I don't know what this guy did to get them, but the university must have liked him a lot to have given those books away. Or he bribed them somehow, I don't know. I have the titles right here – there's not a whole lot though." She pulled up an email correspondence on her computer with a list of books.
"And the bad news?" Dark asked cautiously, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"The bad news is that all of the titles that had been available at the library have all been shipped out. We don't have them anymore, and because a lot of these were from the rare books collection, I don't think you'll get your hands on them easily." She kind of flopped her hands towards her sides in defeat. She gave a small shrug and sighed. "I don't really remember what I'd read about when I encountered them. I kind of remember the gist that he was some noble or something? I'm sorry, Dark, the titles to the books are all that I can give you but I hope you can find this somewhat useful. There were only five volumes out of the thousands of books in the university library, so you can imagine he wasn't mentioned much in history."
"Wait, go back for a moment," Dark interjected, suddenly curious and not at all dejected. Bates was also on alert now, and was carefully looking at the correspondence that was up on Zelda's laptop. Dark tried to contain his excitement – this could be the mysterious guy they were looking for! "You said they were shipped out to some guy who wanted to know about Corbin Robespierre," he tried to keep his voice steady, "did you get his name?"
Zelda looked at him for a few seconds, wondering, and then scrolled the screen on her computer. "Well I do have his name and address, and also his email if you want to get in touch with him about them?"
"You… you have all of that?" Dark blanched. Okay, so there was a chance that this guy wasn't the same mystery guy they were looking for, but if he was, well… was this really that guy they had been having so much trouble tracking down? And sure there was a chance that the email address was a temporary account and that the address was as well, but this had the potential to be a huge gain for him and Bates. Oh and Hawk and Kestrel too.
"Yes, I do," Zelda confirmed, slowly. "He said his name was Ernest Constantine. Why?"
Dark took a deep breath, containing his excitement. He tried to keep his voice level. "So the thing is, we've – I've been," he corrected hastily, "trying to track a certain person who has been collecting everything related to Corbin Robespierre." He noticed Zelda watching him with more or less a poker face, and he hesitated, fumbling for words. Then, he gave up. "Zelda, I just… I need your help…"
"I know," she replied patiently. She put a gentle hand on the flustered boy's shoulder. "But?"
"But if I tell you, then you'll want to get involved and that would put you in danger," Dark mumbled.
Zelda watched him intently. Then, she snapped her laptop closed and gave him a smirk. "Can I make a guess?"
Dark met her gazed, questioningly.
"You didn't come to England because you wanted to, did you?" Zelda continued. "Can you trust the friends you are with now?"
"She sure knows how to interpret your countenance," Bates chuckled by Dark's ear.
Dark hesitated, scrambling for an answer that would keep things as less complicated as possible. However, he didn't know what the right thing to do anymore even was – should he tell her or should he not tell her, when she was already figuring things out on her own so quickly? No, he didn't trust Hawk and Kestrel, so didn't that mean it would be even worse to bring Zelda in the loop, because then he would have put her under the mercy of two untrustworthy men? But at the same time, wouldn't it be good for him to have an ally he trusted?
The hesitation was enough for Zelda to get the answer. She leaned back, and gave a small sympathetic smile. "I think I understand your situation, Dark. Would it put you at ease if I promised I won't do any more than you want me to do? You might think 'help' means I'll run off and fight a bunch of bad guys myself, but that kind of recklessness is the stuff you do – "
"Hey," Dark frowned.
Zelda laughed. "It's true! Didn't you used to do that sort of thing, back in Japan?"
Dark smiled, despite himself. "Haha, I guess so."
"Anyways, there's other kinds of help that's less flashy, but is still crucial to success. The kind of help no one knows about because it's all been going on in the background, but nonetheless important. Even if I can't do anything for you," she said, quietly now, "at least let me be that person you know you can count on when you can't count on anyone else."
There was a brief, embarrassed quiet, and then Zelda blushed and waved her hand in front of her face as though she could wave the words away. "Hahaha, that came out a lot more awkward than I'd intended, didn't it? Anyways, I won't press the matter further," she quickly tried to keep the conversation going, "but just know that I'm here for you. I'm your friend, Dark, don't suffer alone."
Dark scratched his head and fidgeted, slightly embarrassed as well for having stared maybe a second too long. No wonder Vaati had taken an interest in her before: she had one of those endearing personalities that was difficult to dislike. "No, no I was wrong. I should trust you more than… well…" he looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze, "basically Dugal's involved again."
"Don't tell me that's who your 'friends' are," Zelda's tone changed abruptly, becoming cautious and incredulous.
"No, but it's not any better either. Vaati's with him."
"Din, what is he thinking?"
"Not much?"
"Apparently," Zelda rested her forehead in her hands exasperatedly.
"On top of that, the government is after us right now, but we don't really know why."
"Well if you know you didn't do anything wrong, what's there to be afraid of with the government?"
Dark gave a long frown. "For one thing, even though I might not have done anything, the idiot sorcerer might have."
"Good point."
"For another thing, I just have a really bad feeling about the government right now. Something about them rubs me the wrong way, and I'm not just talking about their tax policies. It's complicated."
Zelda leaned back with a tired smile. "When is it ever not? It can't be as crazy as what happened with Avilux two years ago though?"
Dark paused to think, and then looked down at his feet. "Actually, it might be. Maybe even crazier even."
At this, Zelda blinked. Then, she gave a long whistle. "Wooow. That is… wow. That's really something. Are you saying," she brought her face closer to his, "magic again?"
"Probably," Dark muttered sourly. Maybe back when he was little he thought magic was cool, but with all of the unfortunate incidents happening because of it he was a little more than resentful of it sometimes. He noticed Zelda had a different, wide-eyed and curious expression.
"Oh no don't give me that look! You look excited!" Dark snapped. "That's the kind of look that worries me!"
Zelda giggled. "I said it once, Dark, I promise not to get involved! I just can't help but think it's kind of exciting, you know?"
"Right, because hanging out with killers and being hounded by your own government while trying to find your psychopathic roommate is really fun."
"Haha, I'm sorry I can't help it. You have to admit it is kind of awesome. The magic, I mean. Anyways, here, let me give you the address and contact info of Mr. Constantine." She reached into her bag and tore off a piece of notebook paper from her notebook, and then scribbled down an address. "By the way, what's so special about Corbin Robespierre anyway?"
Dark shrugged. "We don't really know. They say he was obsessed with becoming some kind of wizard or something."
"Weirder and weirder," Zelda shook her head. She handed the slip of paper towards Dark. The address was somewhere in Guam. Dark didn't really know where that was, but he figured he'd find out pretty soon after he'd brought the information back to Hawk and Kestrel. He hoped it was somewhere warm. "There."
He took the sheet and tucked it in his pocket. "Thanks," he said as he stood up. He turned away quickly to leave for the door, somewhat in a hurry to leave. It wasn't because he didn't like Zelda – rather it was because he hated ending conversations. It made him feel awkward. What was he supposed to do when a conversation ended? Like there, he got what he wanted, was he supposed to drabble on about unimportant things, or take the notebook paper and slap it with the back of his hand and say, "Well, there's that," which would inevitably lead up to a conversation consisting of "Yep," "Uh huh," "Right," "Yup," "Well," "So yeah…"?
Vaati was better at this sort of thing.
An urgent thought, however, overrode his awkwardness and forced him to stop just short of the door for one last word. He briefly looked over his shoulder to where Zelda was packing her things, getting ready to leave as well. "I don't think I'll be able to talk to you for a while, but before I go I just have to make sure one last time,"
Zelda rolled her eyes with a smile. "I won't get in trouble even though I'm super worried about you. You have my word." A little more serious, she looked at him straight in the eye. "I was part of the apocalyptic magic problem the last time with you, Vaati, and Link. I know what magic can do. If it seems like I'm taking things lightly, well, it's because I'm actually really scared for you but it'll be worse if I act scared."
Dark paused, and gave a sad smile back. "Then that makes the two of us."
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"You were right, Bates, it was a good thing we met up with Zelda. Now we have a better chance to find out who that mystery guy is," Dark exclaimed on their way back. It was still somewhat difficult to keep his facial expression flat as he spoke to Bates in his thoughts, lest he risk looking like a mentally unstable person talking to himself, but he was getting used to it. Bates huffed and rolled his eye just barely on the edge of his field of vision.
"I verbally suggested to you so," he muttered.
"I know, I know, don't give me that attitude. I listened to you at the end, didn't I?"
They walked along the sloshy winter sidewalk around the University town, and while Dark normally would have been less than cheerful having to walk in the cold, dreary, and just oppressingly grey weather, he was so super chipper that even passerby couldn't help but catch his contagious chipper mood.
The two continued to discuss their findings, and 'Beta' Bates relayed what Kestrel was finding in real-time as the sentry had already passed along what Dark had found out to 'Alpha' Bates, who was with Kestrel. Guam, he informed Dark, was a small tropical island about a couple hours away from Japan by plane, and a military-based territory owned by the United States. They chattered to each other excitedly for a while, talking about how even though they didn't know how that information fit in the grand scheme of things, it seemed to make sense. They laughed at each other's half-joking, half-serious conspiracy theories about how the tiny island with a firm military base was a great place for secret, suspicious experiments of a forbidden nature.
"Master Vaati might have even overseen the operation," Bates chuckled as they trudged down the town, bustling now with people making their way back to work after lunch. As the sentry was about to make another comment, a painfully familiar presence interrupted him. It stopped him in a jolt, and he lagged behind Dark as he tried to get his bearings.
"Do not indicate any difference in behavior. Continue as though nothing had happened," the voice in his head ordered.
Bates trembled a little, eyes wide in fearful awe, before he snapped back and calmly fluttered back to Dark's side with a deadpan expression. It was such a thorough transition that even Dark, who had noticed Bates fall behind, had not noticed the brief flicker in Bates' expression. Bates was, after all, a sophisticated spy for the greatest sorcerer in the world.
He calmly waited for the voice to command something once again. He had a lot he wanted to say, but it wouldn't be in his place to speak to such a presence without permission.
Master Vaati had finally reached out to them. Finally spoken to them after all this time. Bates would have melted in a puddle of relief at the sign of his Master's safety, maybe even crying up a little, if it weren't for that steel-hardened discipline of servitude. With the skill of a masterfully deceiving spy, Bates assuaged Dark that nothing had changed and the two continued to wander cheerfully back to their apartment, all the while Dark remaining unsuspecting of the fact that there was a third listener amongst their group.
"So, I see that Dark has gone and taken some sort of exotic vacation somewhere? I don't recognize this place. This isn't near Ariko anymore, is it? Where are you now?" Vaati's voice wondered. Bates gave him a prompt reply.
"Cambridge. In England. Right by the University."
"Really?" Vaati mused, "Now what is he doing there for? Report everything he has been up to these past few weeks."
Bates gladly filled his master in on everything that they had been up to, including how they had been kidnapped by the remaining Talon mercs and were now working together to find where Vaati was and what the government was up to. The little sentry also briefed Vaati on how they had also encountered computer code laced with magic reinforcements, and that they were tracking down a mysterious individual who seemed obsessed with 'Corbin Robespierre.' Vaati took great interest in the findings about the mystery person, but he cut Bates off short when he learned that Dark was nearing the apartment where Kestrel and Hawk were.
"That was good. You have done more than I could have hoped for," Vaati praised, and Bates did his best to contain his joy as the sorcerer continued, "I have special orders for you now, and it is critical that you do them. Lead Dark away to a private location, away from prying eyes. Lead him to an abandoned ally, and take him on a long walk. Buy me some time. I may need to intervene if his answer is not one I like."
Bates didn't mean to hesitate, especially not with Master Vaati. Maybe it was from hanging around Dark too much, that guy kept treating him like… well… more like equals than Master Vaati ever would. Of course it was expected that he wasn't anywhere near equals with Master Vaati, but being on the same footing with Dark might have given him too much independence: independence led to identity and individuality…
If Bates could have blushed, his skin would have flushed a bright crimson of shame when Vaati caught his hesitation – that wasn't appropriate behavior for a loyal servant. "You hesitated," Vaati's voice cut through the air accusingly like a hot knife through ice.
"W-wondering…" Bates stammered brokenly. He couldn't put sentences together in his current state of nerves.
The silence was near unbearable as Vaati seemed to consider Bates' confession. Even though the sorcerer said nothing, the sentry could sense a reflecting sort of puzzlement. He couldn't tell, however, whether it was accompanied with a disdainful frown or a mild, curious one. Servants never, ever questioned or wondered. They were always supposed to follow the Master's orders with blind faith. They weren't supposed to know the 'why's' of Vaati's operations. Bates had surprised even himself with his reaction, and although he was ashamed by the fact he had dared to question his creator himself, another part secretly hoped Vaati would humor him and explain what was going on.
For the sake of Dark… he needed to know.
Finally, Vaati decided to explain. "I'm going to help Dark. All I plan to do is to advise him to stay put, and stop getting involved. And if he refuses, well, then I intend to provide him with the best protection he can hope to get."
Oh. Well, that sounded extremely reasonable and not at all sinister. For a second Bates had been worried that Master Vaati had been planning on hurting Dark for some reason – why else would an abandoned alley be so necessary along with all of this secretiveness from Dark? Bates' wings flapped loosely, then, as he was overcome with shame that he had wasted his Master's time by wanting an explanation. This was why servants were supposed to listen without question, so they wouldn't waste the Master's time…
Master Vaati already had plans for them. He was looking out for them. Master Vaati was kind.
Bates listened intently as Vaati explained just what, exactly, he was going to have to do to help him make preparations for his talk with Dark. As the little sentry listened to the details, he couldn't help but wonder at all of the trouble Vaati was going through to keep them safe. Master Vaati was looking out for lowly life-forms like them, but was he looking out for himself? Was Master Vaati all right? Did he need help?
Bates, however, couldn't find it in himself to ask any of these things. It would be greatly offensive to Master Vaati if he'd asked: the last thing the great sorcerer would want is to be worried over by a pitiful sentry spy, a disposable creature worth as much as a penny in a wallet full of a hundred dollar bills.
So Bates didn't ask, and remained obediently quiet.
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It was right around when they were back near their apartment that Dark noticed something different about the sentry eye. They had been in mid-conversation about Hawk and Kestrel when, all of a sudden, Bates stopped abruptly in his tracks and stared blankly forward, almost as though something had possessed him. Dark slowed down, and tilted his head, puzzled. "What's up?"
Bates' eye slowly locked on to his. He stared at him for a few seconds, and then turned around in a wide circle before wordlessly floating off into a deserted alley nearby. It was extremely sudden, and this new behavior had come out of nowhere. Thoroughly confused, Dark stood in place, looking after where the sentry had disappeared for a few seconds, deep creases marking his forehead.
Thrown off from his cheerful demeanor from the sentry's new, slightly creepy vibe, Dark frowned and began to follow him with a gradually quickening pace. "Hey, where are you going?"
Dark ran after the sentry, who led him on a fifteen minute trek around the Cambridge streets. The sentry flew further and further away as it could just fly through the walking crowd while Dark had to push his way through while trying to keep an eye on Bates. At the same time, however, Bates seemed to wait for Dark when it seemed like they were just about to be separated, and would occasionally glance back to see if the teen was still following him. Eventually, Bates turned into an alley, making a few turns into several more abandoned corners where the snow had turned brown and sloshy from the dirt and the trash. Dark could feel his heart quicken as he became cautious and alert, and he had a bad feeling about Bates' sudden change in behavior. It had come from absolutely nowhere, and although his instincts told him he shouldn't follow the sentry further down the alley he couldn't just leave Bates to wander off to who-knows-where. What was going on?
"Bates, hey, snap out of it. Why did you fly off like that?!" Dark demanded as soon as he had caught up to Bates, who had stopped abruptly at a dead end. The brick walls of the buildings loomed above them, and it almost felt as though they were leaning down towards them so as to block out the sun. Dark wanted to get out of this claustrophobic place as soon as possible.
Bates gave a sinister chuckle before he turned around to face the teen, though the voice wasn't exactly his own. It was a familiar one that Dark hadn't heard in a few weeks, and it gave him a jolt to hear it here.
"How is your vacation going, Dark?" Bates eyes glowed red as Vaati spoke through him. Dark could just imagine the sneer that accompanied that voice.
"Vaati…?" his mind swam. He hadn't expected to be contacted by the very sorcerer he had been looking for all this time. What was he up to, and why was he contacting him now all of a sudden? And where the heck was he?
"Just thought I'd check up on you. Make sure you weren't getting yourself into trouble. I noticed the sentry I'd lent you had duplicated itself without my permission, so I was curious what was going on." Vaati paused, as though giving Dark a chance to give an explanation. Dark, however, was in the middle of collecting his thoughts and didn't seem to be able to come up with anything coherent to say at the moment. There was a deep, annoyed sigh from Vaati before the sorcerer continued. "And it seems like you just couldn't stay out of trouble after all. I see from your other sentry that you're with the other remaining Talon members."
At the mention of Talon, Dark found his voice. "Vaati, you're with Dugal right now, aren't you?" he clenched his fists, "Where the hell are you?"
"By Farore, Dark, that's not how this works. I'm trying to keep your ass out of this and I'm not going to accomplish that by telling you where I am. I'm pretty sure you'll find the first plane to where I am as soon as I tell you, and if you do that I'm going to have to hurt you. Maybe even kill you. Let that sink into your head a little."
Even as Bates watched him in an eerie, trance-like state, Dark could tell from Vaati's tone alone that the sorcerer was serious about his threats this time. Vaati would warn how he would destroy anyone who annoyed him all the time, but he'd never really meant any of those threats before. This time, it sounded as though the sorcerer was seriously considering harming Dark. "Kill me. This… isn't one of your usual empty threats, is it," Dark confirmed slowly.
Vaati scoffed. "First off, my threats are never empty. Second, I really don't want you come looking for me because then it will be such an annoying nuisance to have to get rid of you. Do you realize what your interference will do? I have these really amazing plans all laid out for me, and I won't stand for it if yet ANOTHER pesky idiot named Link comes and ruins it!" There was an audible huff as Vaati snorted irritably, wherever he was. "I'm asking you nicely for now because out of all the Links you're a little more reasonable, but honestly you're trying my patience and I am THIS close to ruining your day with an air strike. "
"Yeah, like you can really call an air strike," Dark muttered under his breath sarcastically. He began to look around him, trying to map a way to get out of the ally and somewhere safer in the event that Vaati had something unpleasant planned for him.
"Ha! I actually can," Vaati exclaimed, to Dark's surprise. "You see? You don't know a thing about how great my plans are. You don't understand the scope of this campaign. I have the backing of the entire government, you fool, so if you insist on interfering you'll have the entire country going against you."
Dark's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. He'd almost let his eyes widen in surprise, but this time he kept his emotions under control. He was good at that.
So… it seemed like Vaati was working with the very people he, Hawk, and Kestrel were going against. What could that possibly mean? Did that mean he had been working with the wrong side this whole entire time? No, it didn't mean a whole lot, actually, considering how Vaati never had a great track record for being a good citizen of the law: he'd been portrayed as a villain in history, even. But still, Vaati was his friend, and that meant he should look out for him.
In this case, looking out for him most definitely meant getting Vaati out of whatever trouble he was in now. After everything he'd begun to piece together about the government, he doubted they could be considered trustworthy allies. In fact, all of this crap about magic and mysterious security systems gave him the feeling that something sinister was up. Throw Vaati into the mix, and he was almost certain that whatever the government was up to, was probably not good. A good friend would do what was best, even if the other friend would hate them forever, right?
"You'll go against even me?" Dark asked one last time.
"For fuck's sake Dark, how dense can you be? YES," Vaati snapped. There was a pause, and then there was a sharp exhale of air as Vaati hissed. "You're really not going to stay out of this, are you," Vaati stated. "I'm not going to particularly enjoy getting rid of you, you know, since you're alright I suppose, but you're forcing my hand here."
Dark wasn't really paying attention to Vaati's words anymore. Screw this. He'd gotten his answer and it was that Vaati was going to be the stubborn idiot that he was. If they were going to be enemies from here on out, then he had to get the fuck away from where Vaati could see him. Now.
Dark made a break for it, running in the opposite direction of Bates as fast as he could, his feet slipping in the melted snow. As he ran, he took Bates' stone between his fingers and chucked it as far away from him as he could – there was a possibility that having that on him could be used to track him somehow, and he wasn't going to take chances.
Unexpectedly, however, the stone stopped in midair just in front of his face, and in his surprise he skidded to a stop. It was a good thing he had stopped, too, because a hot laser shot right across his path. The moisture in the air evaporated into a thin smoke where the laser had trailed.
"Shit, Bates," Dark slowly turned to see the sentry's eye glowing the same bright red the laser had been. The teen's voice cracked in a hoarse, disbelieving whisper, "shit, Bates," he repeated, "you can't do this."
Vaati's loud cackle reverberated around the narrow alley walls as Bates relayed his master's voice. "Ahahaha! I thought I'd misheard you earlier but you really did give it a name! This sentry isn't some kind of a pet, you know. It's more like a super-high-tech video camera or something."
"No, he's my partner," Dark growled savagely, now thoroughly annoyed by Vaati. Sometimes he forgot just how awful the sorcerer could be. "Bates, why are you doing this?" Dark pleaded. "Don't listen to him."
The dark-haired Link made another attempt to run, but was again stopped by a searing red laser cutting across his path by the sentry. All this time he'd thought Bates was relatively harmless: he'd never imagined the flying eye was also a flying laser weapon. Maybe it was something only Vaati could do…
"Master Vaati is only attempting to assist us."
Dark, who'd had his mouth open in protest, immediately clamped it shut as soon as he heard Bates' voice this time. The teen looked at the sentry closely, and what he saw made his gut sink like a heavy iron. Dark could read Bates' subtle expressions pretty well by now, and he realized Bates was looking at him with a finality laced with regret. He was doing something he didn't want to do if he could avoid it.
And it was all Vaati's fault.
Blood boiled up, heating Dark's face in red hot fury. How dare Vaati use Bates like that? Dark could only imagine how Vaati must have bullied Bates into this. Bates should know how wrong it was to derail everything he and Dark had worked on these past few weeks – they were so close to uncovering the truth! There was no way Bates would allow Vaati to put an end to everything they had worked on. Bates knew this was wrong: Dark could read it on his face! The only reason the sentry was helping must be because Vaati had forced him to help. Why else would he do this?
"Vaati how dare you –" Dark snarled. He didn't have time to finish, both because his anger made it impossible to string together a coherent sentence and because sirens began to wail with a piercing shriek near them. Lights flashed red, blue, and white as police vehicles crowded around the ally entrance, blocking the exit. Before he could react, strong arms pinned him against the wall, forcing his cheeks to be pressed against the cold brick wall that was slightly damp from the snow. His arms were yanked unceremoniously behind his back, and he felt the cold, unforgiving metal clamp down on his wrists, binding them in place.
The policemen shoved him down into the back of a police car even as he struggled against them. They didn't even give him a chance to explain himself, or let him know for what crime he was being taken in. Dark didn't doubt that Vaati and his connections had something to do with this. As he was being driven away to goddesses knows where, Bates floated down next to his shoulders sheepishly with his wings curled around himself tightly. The sentry didn't look at him and spoke softly. Apologetically.
"One sunrise later you will understand. This is for the best. It will all become transparent in due time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I was wondering what you were going on about when you said you needed help catching someone within the next fifteen minutes, but now it seems like I have to thank you for pinning down your troublesome friend. He'd been giving us small trouble trying to track him down," Thistle nodded towards Vaati who was next to him, sitting in front of his work desk and fiddling around with the mechanical arm controls in a bored fashion. The wizzrobe hung up the phone he had been on earlier and it disappeared in the palm of his hand with a small puff of smoke. "Next time, though, I'd prefer if you gave me more notice than a mere fifteen minutes. I don't have that much of a grip in Europe as I do in the United States, and if it weren't for the fact that I had an agent around the Cambridge area by happenstance this wouldn't have worked."
"Well it did work, didn't it?" Vaati muttered, curling his shoulders in a way that clearly stated he wanted Thistle to leave. His expression was cold, and he seemed upset from the way he used the equipment in front of him with more force than necessary.
"Do be careful with that, Vaati," Thistle frowned when there was a strained creak from the machinery Vaati was using. Then, he went back to tapping the side of his beaked mask wonderingly. "Honestly, though, I didn't think you'd go above and beyond so early in helping us. You always did seem to be the reluctant type."
"Mmf," Vaati gave an annoyed grunt.
"And what a bastard you are, turning in your own friend! You had such wicked suggestions too," Thistle mused. "I didn't really see the point in using our resources to provide food and accommodations, even if it were in a prison cell, on your friend Dark. Now that I have you, I really didn't need him anymore."
Vaati stared at his hands with a chilling expression while Thistle cheerfully pat him on the shoulder. The sorcerer's hands clenched inside the gloves he was using to control the gadgets in the room beyond the glass windows, but he seemed to hold himself back from breaking something.
Thistle rambled on. "Such a good idea you had! I could have the very Hero himself, the one chosen by the goddesses to be the champion against evil, to be confined and under my jurisdiction like a miserable pet. Kehahaha! I love your humiliation idea, Vaati, it's no wonder many of the Guild mages looked up to you for your ideas and methodology." With an over-exaggerated sweep if his arm, Thistle waved and chuckled out the room, leaving Vaati to himself to continue staring at his hands.
Ten minutes passed after the wizzrobe had left, and Vaati still remained in the same position. His brows were furrowed together at the middle, creases lining the bridge of his nose in the beginnings of a furious snarl.
The part of himself that usually dictated his actions didn't really care what had just happened, what he had done to Dark. He had no choice in the matter, and at the end of the day this was the best course of action. Dark would understand later.
Assuming there was a later.
However, the other part of him, the part with a conscience, hated himself for it. Dark would think that Vaati was completely sold on the opposing team. He'd feel betrayed, no doubt.
And I'm no stranger to betrayal, Vaati thought briefly, as he remembered his old master.
It was an unpleasant thought, and he shook it aside. Things quickly became bitter whenever he reminisced about the past. And it didn't really matter what kind of past he remembered. Even those so-called glory days of his, back when Hyrule was still a monarchy with dragons and knights running around killing each other, his memories were never truly happy. Because back then, a part of him, that stupid part with a conscience that he'd wish would just SHUT UP RIGHT NOW THANKS, would also hate what he was doing.
It had all escalated after he'd stolen the cap. It had begun with him demanding some kind of validation from Ezlo, to show the old man how his own philosophy about power was the truth about the world; how the only winners out there were ones who had the resolve and power to do the most horrific deeds the weak ones couldn't fathom enacting. Vaati had taken over Hyrule with a show of brutal yet magnificent force and if it weren't for the fact that he had, in a silly oversight, hadn't realized he'd had the Light Force under his nose the whole time he would have conquered all.
He'd been sealed after that, thanks to that dumb hero. He'd risen again, though, and this time he'd been hit with a sense of skeptical puzzlement – if he'd claimed godhood, then why weren't the goddesses themselves punishing him for it? His existence as a dark deity should have been an insult to the great goddesses themselves, so why weren't they coming down from the clouds or wherever they were, and smiting him down with some classic thunderbolts? If they were so powerful and kind-hearted, then shouldn't they remove the blight that was causing Hyrule so much grief?
These questions, though small in voice at first but growing increasingly louder with every malicious deed he committed, eventually ate him up. He continued to commit more crimes in an infuriated desperation, becoming increasingly angry the more he got away with his acts to the point he didn't even care anymore. He hated the goddesses for being useless, and he hated the people even more for believing in such a worthless religion which had been nothing more than an illusion. The only thing he could believe in was the truth that pure power held.
All of those bitter acts in the past… he couldn't help it because it was the only way to validate what he'd been doing. At some point his only enjoyment was to prove again and again how stupid it was for people to believe that the goddesses would make him pay for everything he'd done. He could take over Hyrule and nothing would stop him until he'd already made a mess of most of it. Years and years of getting away with his crimes and seeing others getting away with theirs made him cynical of the so-called idea that the good triumphs over all. From his point of view, he'd been doing everyone a favor by proving how worthless their beliefs were…
The same thing was happening now… this sort of perverted self-sacrifice to help. People were going to hate him for what he was doing.
He didn't care.
He didn't want help.
Dark would understand later, but until then let the fool hate him for it if only to save him.
Dark had been trying the same thing for Vaati, but when it came down to it…
Dark had been no match for him.
He would always be the greatest evil.
fleets: Meh, I don't know if I pulled off what I wanted to pull off. I wanted to go with a kind of parallel theme here, with both Dark and Vaati refusing help from their friends out of fear that they would be responsible for anything awful that happens to their friends because of it. Dark is finally convinced by Zelda to accept help and that's what friends are there for, while Vaati is utter fail at this.
Also I didn't think we had enough Vaati angst so there. Considering he used to be a Minish, who seem to be inherently helpful, I liked the headcanon that he'd think he was actually helping with all those horrible things he did *shot*
lol sorry for the lack of happy. But look on the bright side! The darker the middle is, it can only get brighter even if it's cloudy!
ok i'll stop now.
sorry.
just too happy to be back again :P
Mirria1: Would it make you feel better if I said Vaati has ideas, and better ones than the ones he's been having these past few chapters? XD
Iris Martinez: We'll see, then :) I have plans for Dark. I see him more like the Vaati in my other stories so far: not exactly a conventional hero that someone like Link might fill, but a hero all the same.
SubZeroChimera: We'll start seeing hints on how all of this can/might resolve itself eventually, but things still look pretty awful for everyone right now, doesn't it XD. I'm finding too much fun in this misery. I might understand Raem a little (maybe he was secretly a fanfic author lol)
Sybdoodles: Well, now he knows it just got worse doesn't he... Haha well don't worry about the love stuff! I think it pairs into the adventure genre, considering most adventure stories have a little bit of everything without any one aspect becoming too overbearing. So it won't be another genre thrown in, just a supplement to what adventure genres should have in the first place (if that makes sense?). Just hinting here and there, nothing real heavy. Kind of like in Avilux, except hopefully better executed. Don't know if I'll succeed though, we'll see...
Reily96: First off... omg is that pony TS I see on your icon there. Secondly, I give you struggling author brofist. Thirdly, glad to be of service!
DarkSakura2256: I'm sorry you're not well :( I hope you've been doing better since you've last written! It's a brand new year, hopefully it gives you the chance to start over! Ohhhhh Thyme. More on her later, for definitely sure :D
Lord Tuxedo: Wow that was one interesting read. You're right, I do intend to navigate the rough, murky, uncertain, and probably not-super-well-thought-out waters of the concept of power in this story. Vaati kind of disregarded Bates as unimportant, mostly because of how Bates behaves around him (compounded by the fact that Bates actually believes that's how servants should behave), but clearly Bates has more thought in him than Vaati gives him credit for. And this dynamic doesn't really work, because Bates would probably have prodded Vaati more on his need for possible help if it hadn't been such a severe servant-master relationship and more like something Dark-Bates has.
The reason why I say it's not that well thought out, though, is because I'm reaaally trying to avoid the cliche scenarios to all of these master-servant themes. One of them is the classic "servants turn on master and master is defeated" scenario, which I hope to avoid. At the same time, I do want to play with the aspect that neither Vaati nor Thistle seem to have a firm grasp, despite all of their control on power, on their own relationships with the ones who would be able to help them best. In this regard, Dugal is probably the only leader character in this story who actually has a cohesive partnership with his team, even if they had disbanded (minus Condor, but it wasn't something Dugal had been completely blind to).
okay i rambled too much... sorry i think way too much about these things...