Chapter 13

Hours later I woke up, feeling rested for the first time in a while. Next to me was a plain blue gray dress; Hue had done what I had asked for once. I quickly got dressed and attempted to get cleaned up. I still had blood and mud clinging to me and it was beginning to become disgustingly uncomfortable.

It almost felt like a normal morning- or early afternoon truthfully. I felt as if I would go downstairs and help Syrup run the potion shop, maybe read for a while or visit with Link. I shook my head, trying not to dwell on what would likely never happen again. Thinking about it would only make me unhappy and unable to make a proper decision in regard to Vaati's offer.

I cringed at that thought. Had I a choice in the matter? He essentially threatened to kill me or leave me to Jahalla's wrath if I left. If I stayed I would be a pawn in whatever he had planned, which was certainly unpleasant considering he was a demon that seemed quite vengeful for a past slight, whatever that slight was. I honestly did not want to be part of what would likely turn into a massacre.

One thing I knew for sure was that I would not return to Castle Town. I had caused enough problems for them already, and did not wish to burden them with more. Zelda had enough to deal with considering the Gerudo and the King's illness. Link had the monsters to worry about and did not need another bothering him.

For a moment, I tried to sense where Hue was. He was in the palace, though nowhere near my room. I would try to find him and bother him for more information, I decided.

I walked to the door and peered up and down the hallway. A Darknut paced the hall, armor clicking together as it moved. Without much thought, I quickly and quietly sneaked past it and around the corner. I would rather not find out if the creature would decide me a threat or not. I guessed Hue was near the room I had been in yesterday and went that direction, remembering vaguely where to go.

As I went down flights of stairs, I could sense better where Hue was. He was in fact in the very room from yesterday. I slowed down, being more wary of how loud I was. There was something else bothering me that I only now took notice of. No matter how faint, I could tell Vaati was there as well. It was a new sensation to me. With Poes I just knew they were near, no feeling accompanying them unless they were a different form, like the Imps, or a powerful creature like Gomess. Vaati put me on edge, made me cautious of how powerful he was. That was why I froze up when he turned into that bat demon yesterday. I feared being ripped apart upon his whim. Even now the uneasy feeling was present. In years past I never felt this, perhaps because he himself did not know how much power he had. Now he flaunted it as a sign of authority.

I abruptly stopped, hearing Vaati speaking with Hue. I tried to remain hidden as I listened in, hoping that I would learn something useful.

"You want me to return? After this long? I will be killed!" Hue spat out, seeming quite enraged.

"Inform Jahalla that the Death Sword has returned," Vaati ordered, ignoring Hue's objection.

"He probably already knows! I am not his sole messenger, sorcerer. Sending me would prove useless… especially considering I would be killed for being so late to return…"

"Just do as I say, you belligerent Poe. Jahalla is no fool. He will not dare send Poes here to attack, but he will likely send you as a spy because he wishes death upon you already. This way Eivie will not be bothered while she is here, but, should she leave, Jahalla will be the first to know."

"And what if he doesn't send me here?"

"Then you die. Hardly a substantial loss considering I will still have Death Sword."

Hue sighed in frustration, giving into Vaati's orders. Apparently what Vaati had threatened Hue with was worse than death. "It will not listen to you," Hue muttered just loud enough for me to hear. "It is as thick-headed as you are. It does not take orders, which is why it tried to kill Jahalla."

"Leave." Vaati commanded, ignoring Hue's warning.

The conversation between the two ended there. Hue's presence slowly faded away as he left, while Vaati remained. I slide down the wall and sat down, staring at the ceiling.

I could not leave, Vaati had just guaranteed that. Jahalla would be waiting for me, giving me no option but stay. Vaati never intended on giving me a choice. It had been an act.

"Eivie, why do you not join me?"

My eyes widened. How long had he known I was here? Had he… Had he done this on purpose? Had he deliberately let me overhear his orders for Hue just to ensure I stayed?

I stood up and walked down the stairs, a calculating glare fixed on the purple clad mage. He smirked, likely knowing that I had caught on. It was all a game to him, and he was winning.

"I will apparently be staying here," I stated with a hint of bitter sarcasm. There was no need to wait until this evening seeing as how the decision was made for me.

He flashed a mocking smile. "You have made the correct decision, I assure you."

I stopped a few feet away from him, still frowning. He had played with my emotions yesterday. I would not give him that pleasure again, especially because I was not as emotionally and physically drained as I had been. I could at least control myself now.

There was a silence as we stared each other down. I stared into his crimson eyes, not breaking my gaze away. He narrowed his eyes, seeing how I was challenging him. He laughed a few times before turning around.

"Vaati. I have agreed to assist you. What exactly are you scheming?" I paused, waiting for him to answer. Like usual, he did not respond. "Vaati, I demand you at least give me some clue. Who is it you are fighting against? What does your plan entail? I would very much like to have an idea of what you plan on using me for."

He whirled around to face me. "Are you curious?" he mocked. "Have you absolutely no inkling to what I seek? Who stands in my way?"

"No," I snapped, "that is why I am asking!"

"I see your attitude has returned. Yesterday you had been a pathetic, whining child." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "You are always so unpleasant, no matter your mood."

"Stop changing the topic."

"Fine," he stated after a brief silence. "I had never agreed to share my plans with you. I only mentioned that I would help you understand your abilities."

I was about to speak when he held up his hand. With the snap of his fingers, three puffs of smoke brought with them three Darknuts. I stumbled back a step, already having guessed what was about to happen. Vaati walked forward, summoning a cleaver-like weapon. He offered it to me and I reluctantly accepted the blade. Upon closer inspection, the weapon seemed quite similar to what a Bokoblin might use, but lacking in wear and in better condition.

"It is similar to what the Death Sword wields, only smaller in scale so you are able to use it." As he walked past me, he signaled the Darknuts to attack.

"You are a foul being, Vaati," I muttered, gauging my odds against the armored monsters. I bit my lip nervously, knowing that I had little chance against them.

I quickly summoned a burst of blue flames. While they were distracted, I ran, hoping I would be able to lose then in the maze of a palace.

I had stumbled through countless corridors and rooms, fleeing from the Darknuts. They had been faster than I assumed, easily keeping pace with me throughout much of the frantic chase. I had managed to take one down after casting a jinx and using my ghost state to attack it from behind.

Now I leaned against a pillar, trying to catch my breath. I was not made for running, that much was clear. My heart pounded in my ears, almost to the point I almost missed the thundering steps of the remaining monsters chasing me. I glanced at the sentry flying nearby. Vaati had been watching my sad endeavors to defeat the Darknuts, but still ignored any pleas for him to stop the monsters' attack.

I screamed as the pillar shattered with the swing of a sword. When rubble stopped showering down, I tried to run once more. A Darknut stood in front of me, sword raised and ready to strike. My eyes widened, my mouth slightly agape as I watched, as if in slow motion, the blade swinging down.

I fell to the ground, my side cut open and blood rushing out of the wound. I landed on my back, knocking the air from my lungs. The Darknut towered above me, studying me as I gasped for air and coughed up blood.

It was there. In the back of mind the Death Sword fought to overthrow my will and face the monster. I held on, focusing on caging the crazed monster rather than the pain of the massive gash. I pinched my eyes together in attempt to forget the Darknut.

"Why is it you fight against it?"

I opened my eyes and squinted through my blurring vision. Vaati stood next to my head, looking down at me with indifference. The Darknut had stepped back, waiting for Vaati to finish speaking with me. I coughed when I tried to answer, only ending up smiling awkwardly through my pained expression.

"You should not fight against your instincts. You will only die faster that way." He nudged my head with his foot, earning a groan from me. "Embrace the Death Sword's power as your own. You are the same, you only chose to identify as separate."

"No," I whispered. "I am… not that monster."

"You are," he stated harshly. "No matter how much you deny it, the Death Sword has always been you. You have inhabited the same body for over a decade. You have taken on its traits and mannerisms." He motioned for the Darknut to step forward and raise its sword. "Pretending to be human is what is holding you back from your true nature. You are a monster no matter what you do, how you act. There is no fleeing from yourself."

"I am not…"

"Stop deluding yourself and accept the fact you are an inhuman creature!" He walked away, his cape smacking me in the face. "Or die as a pathetic human."

The Darknut brought down its sword, prepared to stab me through the stomach. The fear of death broke my concentration.

The blade crashed through the tiled floor, dust and debris filling the air once more. I hopped to my feet, gritting my teeth as pain shot through my body. The Darknut searched the room, expecting me to become visible soon after disappearing.

I lite the creature aflame, further distracting it as I slowly dragged my feet. Its back was vulnerable, particularly with its preoccupation with the flames. I slashed at the straps holding the armor in place. Plates clattered at they hit the ground, the Darknut grunting in surprise as it turned to face me.

It was too late to save itself. As it spun and aimed its sword for my head, my blade bit into its neck, dark blood spattering across the room. The beast's sword smashed into the floor when the creature dropped it. For a second it managed to fight falling, but as the pool around it grew, the weaker it became. Soon enough it hit the floor, exploding as it died.

The other Darknut charged forward. As it drew near, I cast a jinx spell, disabling its ability to use weapons against me. Despite this it continued charging, knowing that it could still use its massive, metal clad body against me. I snarled in annoyance. The creature was stubborn.

The room filled with a blast of blue fire. I faded away from sight amongst the chaotic fire. The Darknut stumbled to a stop, frantically searching for where I had gone. My cackling at the confused monster bounced around the room.

With the inferno blazing, I quickly slashed away the Darknut's armor. It swung blindly, hoping to strike something, only to have its sword smash into a wall, ground, or pillar. It was sad really, how desperate the thing had become after losing its sight and armor. The frantic creature tripped over the rubble it had created, falling to the ground with a thunderous crash. I let the blinding flames dissipate.

Its sword arm was first to go, my cleaver easily slicing through the limb. I kicked the sword so it was just out of the reach of the Darknut. Next to go was a leg; did not want it running away, now did I? Stepping on its chest, I looked at the bloodied creature with a crooked smile, admiring my work.

With a final few slashes to the chest, the creature lie motionless before exploding in a puff of smoke. The whining human should have let me do this sooner. We would have not been injured if I had been allowed to fight. I glanced down at my side, the clothing torn and bloody once more. The wound had begun to close, but still burned with pain. Human bodies were too frail.

The sorcerer clapped his hands, applauding my actions. My eyes narrowed in response. I had not forgotten about how he nearly killed me by summoning these Darknuts. Oh, no. This would not be tolerated.

I turned to face him, lifting the gifted sword and resting it on my shoulder. This cheap weapon should be returned. I smirked before flinging the sword across the room, aimed directly at the blasted mage's smug face. His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly teleported out of the way. As the sword impaled itself in the wall, I found myself slapped with so much force I was knocked to the ground. Wiping blood from my split lip, I chuckled at his seething expression.

"Give me one reason I should not kill you for your actions," he growled.

"You are the one that seems desperate to have me." I stood back up, only to have him grab me by the front of my dress. "I would not damage this body too badly. Would not lose your only ally, would you?"

"Infuriating creature," he hissed. He pushed me away and took a few steps back, disgusted with my insolence. "Why are you even bothering to hide in that body? You would be much more useful if you resumed your monster form."

I was forced to hold my side, trying to stay on my feet despite the pain. "Never one for answering questions. We are annoyed by your avoidance, mage. I see not why I should answer you when you do not extend the same courtesy."

"This is not an equal partnership. You are to answer to me, not question me at every opportunity."

I shrugged. As if the demon would consider me of equal standing; I knew better than think that. He had been arrogant enough to assume I would blindly follow his lead, though. "For now, I am bound to this body. The girl has been fighting me as of late; our personalities have separated to a degree. We are different beings again, unlike years prior. Those humans have been a poor influence on her." I paused, considering what I had said. She had rejected me when she became convinced she could play human. Her caretaker should have not moved her from the village, have allowed her to befriend the knight and princess. "Once we stabilize I will be able to have complete control over this body."

The sorcerer scoffed. "I appreciated her more when she had wit. Now she just whines and that is simply intolerable. I will be sure to continue assuring her she is a monster to eliminate this human aspect she has taken." He paused and seemed to consider something briefly. "So are you the Death Sword then? You act more reasonable than the Poes say."

I laughed at the question. How to answer in a way that made sense? We were two souls in one body that had begun to split apart. "To a degree, but at the same moment, I am not. The Death Sword and the original human eventually had their personalities merge into the one called Eivie. The one parading around as Eivie as of late has been more human in disposition. I am more like the monster. Years ago, around the time of our meeting, we were the same. Our soul was one. She accepted that she was inhuman then, but those humans gave her the opportunity to be different. The more she fell into denial, the more our personalities split and fought." I paused, taking a few steps closer to the mage, dragging my feet. "The Death Sword owes you a great deal. If you had not put us in peril and we had not rediscovered our abilities, the Death Sword would have stayed dormant and eventually lost to the human." I moved closer. My legs suddenly buckled and I caught myself by grabbing onto the front of his shirt. I looked away from my bloody hands staining his clothes to coldly stare him in the eyes. "I absolutely despise you for that," I whispered. "I had almost escaped from my fate but you had ruined any chance of my survival. When the Death Sword returns, Eivie will die. I will die. You guaranteed our death because of your damned selfishness."

I looked away, stumbling a step back, and clutching my side once more. I felt like myself again. All of the anger I had built up seemed to fade until I was left with pain and emptiness. I had known this, hadn't I? I wanted to be human so I rejected what I was. The Death Sword did not want to die, so it reminded me. Now I was a mess of emotions that I could barely make sense of. I could not even tell who I was anymore. Eivie? Death Sword? Someone else? I felt completely insane not being able to answer something so seemingly simple.

"I have been planning to defeat Ganondorf, the Gerudo King," Vaati suddenly stated. "He has been the one gathering monsters and, if I am correct, planning on using them to conquer Hyrule."

"Do not tell me you plan on stopping him without gaining something in return," I muttered, not expecting any reply.

"That is correct, but I have not planned that far ahead yet. He needs to be eliminated first."

"You are lying."

"I am," he admitted bluntly. "I do have an idea of what I want, but you do not need to know that just yet."

"Can I at least know what you plan to do with me?" I asked before muttering, "Death might be the better option knowing you."

"I will not ask you to hurt your precious humans. I only need someone they will trust."

"That who will trust?"

"No more questions," he sighed, turning to leave. "Go rest. You have a lot to learn before you will be any help to me."

I watched quietly as he paced down the room. He teleported after his dramatic storming off. With his departure, I slowly made my way to a wall and collapsed against it. My side felt horrible and climbing the stairs back to my room would be impossible. I would have to rest amongst the rubble and blood of the fight with Darknuts.

At least now I had an idea of what Vaati wanted. The Gerudo king needed to be killed in order for Vaati to reach whatever goal he had in mind. It could be worse. If I helped with Ganondorf, the monsters harassing Castle Town would perhaps leave. If the Gerudo had in fact been after the king, then they would be gone as well. I could still help them, even if it meant helping Vaati.

A/N- Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting! I hope you all enjoyed. This was mainly a set up chapter for the next big obstacle: Ganon. Link will be back soon as well (like next chapter). Vaati has also been really into planning lately, which is sort of different than Minish Cap and Four Swords. But this is set after Four Swords and he has learned his lesson about impatience. Just in case that bothered anyone, that's the mini-explanation. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to try and answer them.

I guess I just want to try to explain Eivie and the Death Sword. I have seen them as separate beings even though they are in the same body. The Death Sword is dormant because it had to hide from Jahalla while it recovered, but Eivie's personality took over in the meanwhile, although some of the Death Sword's traits remained. These being its ability to communicate with Poes, the eye color, finger nails, and even its speech patterns (no normal child would have spoken as Eivie did in the first chapters). Over that time Eivie gradually became more concerned with being human and moved away from identifying with the monsters. With Jahalla's return and Eivie's reluctance to fight, the Death Sword tried to return to save itself. This caused them to begin to split apart again, leading to the struggle with identity Eivie has now. It is a confusing mess and I hope it makes some sense. I will probably explaining it more in later chapters.

Miss Ominous- I hope I explained the Eivie/Death Sword thing all right. I reread everything I have so far and I think I have shown that she has gradually became more "human" than "monster." The actual Death Sword has a far different personality than Eivie too. While she doubts herself and wishes to fit in, the Death Sword is cocky and wants to be recognized as superior, which is not really seen much yet. Eivie is her own character while the Death Sword is another, is what I want to show, I guess. I actually have a separate OC for the Death Sword that will possibly be in a prequel to this story (if I actually make it). Your review really forced me to consider the Eivie/Death Sword relationship and gave me some good ideas to use, so thank you! And thank you for reviewing again!

-AwkwardBlackCat