Chapter 20

When I became aware that I was even alive, all I felt was dull, throbbing pain. I did not remember being injured to this degree, but I assumed the Death Sword was to blame for the added wounds. I knew I was in a bed by the feel of fabric and cushioning beneath me. It was a slow process to force myself to open my eyes and take in my surroundings fully, though.

Eventually I finally forced myself awake. At first my vision was blurry, but, after blinking a few times, I saw familiar stone walls. I was back at the Palace of Winds. My immediate reaction was to attempt sitting up and to look around. What had Vaati done with Link? How long had I been unconscious? I winced, a slight gasp escaping my mouth. The moment I moved pain seared across my body.

"I would refrain from moving for now, Eivie."

I slowly turned my head to the voice. Vaati was sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. His hands was held over my arm, a dim glow surrounding them. A healing spell. The wounds were slowly closing, although my arm did not look completely normal. When the Death Sword assumed control the illusion Vaati had used must have broken. I could see bones through the gray-blue skin of my arm. The rest of my body probably appeared monstrous as well.

"How badly am I injured?" I coughed a few times. My throat was still raw on the account of swallowing so much poisonous water during the battle.

"I am actually surprised you have awoken so soon. I expected you to sleep for at least a few more hours, if not another day. No matter, though. The worst of your wounds have already begun to heal on account of my magic. Although," he trailed off as he moved to touch my face. His fingers brushed across my face briefly before he gave a disgusted look. "You managed to break my illusion spell. Your appearance has become quite repulsive."

With that comment I stuttered at what I would have said in response to the spell's condition. That had been completely uncalled for. I was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "How bad is it, then? Is the spell beyond repair?"

To answer my first question Vaati gabbed the mirror from the nightstand beside the bed. When he held it up, I… I wanted to agree with his earlier insult. I was repulsive indeed. The monster's curved horns remained. My face had become hollow, the graying skin stretched thin over the bones. My eyes were now fully yellow, no pupil to be seen. When my mouth fell open with the horror of my appearance I was greeted with the sight of the sharp jagged points of my teeth.

"I have found a spell that would revert your appearance back, but the effects will be temporary. The next time the Death Sword surfaces you will lose yourself to it." He frowned. "There will be nothing more I can do until I have the Triforce," he added. For him to admit he was unable to help, I must truly be in a precarious situation.

"I understand," I muttered. This would be the last time I appeared human, then. The Death Sword would try to take over again, that was assured. If I was adamant in my plans to keep the Triforce from him I would be giving up being human forever. "I understand," I repeated under my breath.

"Very well." He stood up from the bed and leaned over, grabbing me by my shoulder and hip. With one fluid moment he had me rolled over onto my stomach. As I was gasping in pain from the sudden movement he had his hands working to untie the back of my dress. Before I could protest he shushed me and said, "I need to place a rune on your back, nothing more. Stop moving around or I may change mind about helping you."

I gritted my teeth and nodded. I felt him lay his hand between my shoulder blades. For a second I only felt warmth, but then an all too familiar pain spread across my back. I screamed, the memory of searing flames and corrosive water returning with the flaring pain. He held me down and yelled for me to shut up. I bit my lip, a few tears sliding down my face. Once the spell was placed, he took his hand from my back before reaching for the mirror again.

I was back to normal, for the most part. I caught a glimpse of the so called rune burned onto my skin. Before I had the chance to study the mark, Vaati sat the mirror back down and reached for me again. He quickly tied the laces of my dress, then rolled me onto my back once more. As quickly as the pain of the rune had started it had dissipated, only my previous injuries stinging with the movement.

"Much better," he murmured, running his fingers through my hair. His face was blank. He did not seem so focused on me now and more like he was thinking of something else.

"Where is Link?" My voice shook with the question. "And Zelda? Are they okay?"

His red eyes narrowed at the mention of Link and Zelda. "They are fine," he said. As he glared at me, he seemed to notice something. He stopped combing through my hair. That was when I remembered I was still wearing the necklace Link had given me. "Is that why you are so concerned with his well-being?" He grabbed the stone of the necklace and lifted it off of my chest. "Do you truly believe that he cares for you?" With a rough tug he broke the string and pulled the necklace off. "That he is your friend? You do not understand your predicament, do you? There is only one way you will survive the Death Sword and that is with me. If you continue chasing whatever fantasies you have of that brat, you will die." The necklace went flying through the air, smashing into the wall on the opposite side of the room with a clatter. The pale stone cracked, but did not shatter.

"Do you really care if I live or die?" I asked flatly. "I am not an irreplaceable ally. I am merely some human possessed by a monster you could easily destroy. Have you some other reason?"

He snapped his mouth shut, choosing to glare instead of answering. After a moment he snarled, "Do not question my motives, Eivie. You know nothing."

There was a silence that followed. Vaati looked away and seemed to be considering something else. I had struck a nerve, as I had planned to. Admitting he felt anything would be painful, especially if he felt something for another being. Why else would he bother keeping me around? I was not essential. I never was. I was entertainment at best. I was willing to do as he said, motivated by desperation for survival and acceptance. He knew that was how he could manipulate me, and now it was painfully obvious.

The only thing he did not account for was growing even moderately attached to me. I had been one of his few friends in Castle Town and he one of mine. That may be the sole reason he even thought to keep me alive; a more human version of Vaati remembered me before he regained all of his past memories.

"Where are Link and Zelda?" I asked again.

His face twitched at the names being brought up once more. "In the castle, not harmed as of yet. That knight is resting before we go to defeat Ganondorf."

"We?" I forced myself to sit up, pain shooting through my body as I did. "I thought I was to accompany him?"

"Well, seeing as how you incapacitated yourself so thoroughly, I will be forced to."

"No. I can go." As soon as Ganondorf was dead, Vaati would kill Link. There would be no more use for him when Vaati gets the Triforce of Power. "I am capable of accompanying him."

Vaati scoffed at me. "You, help in a fight against Ganondorf? Even without these injuries, you would be a distraction at most. I have decided that I would ensure that he is defeated, even if that means having to work with the knight."

"But-"

"Eivie," he hissed. "I have made my decision. Do not make me regret saving you."

I opened my mouth but decided to snap it shut again. It was no use arguing with him. I would need to come up with a different plan if I couldn't go with Link. After a brief silence, I said, "Thank you. You could have left me to die, but you helped me. I apologize if I seem ungrateful, because I am."

He scrunched his nose and rolled his eyes. "You were hardly believable. What other irritating questions do you have if you see the need to flatter me?"

"When are you leaving?"

Before he had a chance to answer, a ghostly presence entered the palace area. We both looked at the floor, in the Poe's direction, even though we knew we could not see it. The Poe was drifting towards the room.

"When the sun raises." Vaati answered, standing up. "Anything else before I leave you and your visitor?

"Can I at least bid Link and you goodbye before you leave?"

He sighed. "If you must, but know I will not come fetch you." Without waiting for my response, he teleported out of the room.

I cringed as I moved myself so I could rest my back against the headboard of the bed. A few moments later a dark shadow drifted through the floor, green eyes glowing brightly. Gomess floated beside my bed, his scythe rested on his shoulder. His lantern now hung around his neck instead of being clutched by his feet. The cape he wore now billowed behind him, similar to how he had first appeared. If I was not imagining things, he also seemed to be a few inches taller than before. He almost appeared to have regained some of the power he had lost switching objects.

"Gomess, how have you regained your power so quickly?"

The phantom laughed. "The living dead noticed the change? If you must know, there were plenty Poes defiant to your rule. I merely took care of them in a manner most helpful to me."

"You mean to say you took their power? Poes are able to kill one another to gain the other's power?"

The dark Poe grinned before fishing a bottle out from somewhere under his cape. His spindly hands offered it to me. I took it, noticing the swirling purple, almost mist-like substance in it. "Drink it," Gomess said, his smile making me wary.

"What is it?" I held the bottle up. It reminded me of the mist from the poison lake.

"Just drink it, mortal Poe." He stared at me, waiting.

I frowned at him. Gomess was becoming more and more odd. He presented himself as an enemy at first, but now an ally. He did not even seem to be helping just the Death Sword, but me as well. He was watching me now like I was an experiment's test subject.

I turned the bottle from side to side, contemplating if it would kill me. Whatever the purple substance was it had an evil look to it. Like when a monster faded from existence the moment after exploding. It may be the answer to my question judging by the timing.

I popped the lid off of the bottle. The mist began rising out in small wisps. Before it all escaped I downed the mystery concoction. Immediately I gagged and nearly vomited. Vile. Disgusting. I covered my mouth, waiting for the nauseous feeling to subside.

Gomess cackled at my reaction. "Did the human ghost find that unpleasant?"

I swallowed, the initial reaction to the drink lessening. When I moved to place my feet of the ground, I noticed I was not as sore. I glanced at my hands, seeing that some of the wounds had closed even more. "What was that?"

"A Poe."

"A Poe?" I repeated, staring at the empty bottle. I just drank a Poe's soul, and it had helped me. Both things were disturbing to a degree. "Why did you think to do that?"

"A suspicion."

"Do all Poes do this? Eat each other for strength?"

"The Devourer of Souls is a title earned not by Poes, but humans." He reached his hand out for the bottle.

"Why would a human eat a Poe?" I handed him the bottle. His babbling was beginning to grow old. "And why would you want me to eat one?"

"To become a monster."

I stared at the creature. Could a human really eat a monster to become one? Gomess was certainly up to something, bringing this up now. He hinted that he had done the same; devoured the Poes loyal to Jahalla even in its defeat. He could not have been telling me he had once been a human that had ate Poes to become a Poe. Poes were spirits born of hatred. Perhaps they were human once, but certainly not from a human eating a monster.

Even giving me one made little sense. I was already possessed by the Death Sword; a monster. If he meant me to turn into a monster, perhaps he meant it as waking the Death Sword up.

"Gomess, what are you trying to say? I do not have the time or patience to play guessing games."

"Nothing important, my human master. It was a game I made to entertain myself." He turned away, ending the debate.

"I do not believe you," I mumbled.

I ignored the Poe, deciding to try standing. The tiled floor was cold beneath my feet. As I slide off of the bed, my muscles ached, but compared to earlier it was nothing. Vaati's spells and Gomess' Poe had helped considerably when thinking back to the fight. I found my shoes next to the bed ad sat back down to put them on.

"How many days has it been since the battle with Jahalla?" I rose again, my legs still shaking under my weight.

Gomess glanced over his shoulder. "Two and a half."

"When is daylight?"

"In an hour or so."

"Where is Hue?"

The ghost burst into laughter again. I could seem him reach under his cloak again. He held another bottle in the air, a yellow wisp trapped inside. "I figured you would wish to see your most reliable underling. I caught him in Castle Town, hiding in his tomb."

I smiled. Serves the liar right. "Keep him for now. I will speak to him later." I took a step forward, muscles protesting. I could fight through the soreness. "Follow." Vaati and Link would leave from the ballroom. I would just need to get there in the next hour to see them off. Then I could question Hue and plan -hopefully with Zelda's help- my next move.

"As you wish, mortal Poe." The chain around his neck creaked as the lantern swung when he moved.

I picked up the necklace and tied it back around my neck.

No more running away. It was time to act. No matter what happens to me, I would not let Vaati win. I would not let Link or Zelda get hurt.

A/N- I have not abandoned this. I just had writer's block followed by school. Not much else to say other than I hope people will enjoy this despite the months of no updates.