He had the Palace of Winds. He had Princess Zelda captive. He had free reign to begin his march on Hyrule. And yet, Vaati was more dissatisfied than ever.

He let out a low growl, shutting his one enormous eye again as colors started to flash behind it. His misshapen body trembled. He heard a low wail, and it was not his. When the episode subsided, he opened his eye again and growled. He knew this would not be the last one.

He needed a solution, and he needed it fast.

When the prisoners had found themselves taken from Hyrule Castle, they had found themselves beset by another threat. The Hinoxes, the great cyclopses who typically roamed Death Mountain, had rounded them up and put them in chains. Some had fought back, determined to uphold their knightly standards to the end, but even the smallest of the Hinoxes towered over the humans, and they had the strength to match. The Deku Scrubs had watched and laughed out loud at the process.

The knights had been funneled into cells. Only one prisoner had a private location.

Princess Zelda wandered the open-air prison. She was alone on the tallest tower of the Palace of Winds. The top of the monstrous pillar was composed entirely of small, polished stones. Even her footsteps never made much of a sound on them.

She squinted. Collecting her nerve, she edged closer to the edge of the tower. As soon as she did, an enormous gust of gray wind flashed upwards, blocking the empty space. She took a step to the right, and a second gust of wind appeared. The princess stood by, her hair flapping behind her as the gusts of wind reached their peak energy, and then slowly dissipated into nothing.

"The wind walls will not let you take a single step off the tower, Your Highness."

Zelda turned around. Shadow had manifested behind her. He strode towards her, wagging his finger.

"Even if they would, where would you go but straight down to your death? A grisly fate, you know. Doesn't that idea frighten you?"

Zelda stood still, her face undisturbed. Shadow suppressed a scowl. That was not the reaction he wanted. He took a few more steps forward.

"Have you come to gloat?" Zelda's voice was cool and even.

"No." Shadow reached behind his back. "I'm here for this."

There was almost no time to see the dagger, let alone move out of the way. But it did not matter. As soon as the tip of the blade got within one inch of Zelda, there was a flash of light. Shadow's arm snapped back, and Zelda gasped as she looked down at her hands. They were coated with a yellow aura that she could only assume surrounded the rest of her body. A few seconds later, the light vanished.

Shadow grimaced as he massaged his shoulder. "So it's true...the power of the Light Force really does fill the veins of the royal princesses."

Zelda's eyes twitched, her mind suddenly flashing back to the history books and myths she had been told to read as part of her royal education.

"I imagine you never though the legend would come true for you." Shadow snickered. "But then, you've never been kidnapped and put sky high before. At any rate, I'll be happy to tell Vaati he has what he needs."

Zelda hesitated. She would instinctively ask what Vaati would want from her. But Shadow had said "need."

"What is the matter with him?"

Shadow was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "You could say everything." He watched Zelda carefully. She was silent. She would not start the conversation, so she would make him do it.

"You already know about how Vaati was sealed in the Four Sword. But you may not have known that it was used against more than just him." Shadow began to move again, walking circles around the captive.

'What if...there was a lost village in the desert? What if, and hear me out, Princess, what if they had a king who...got too ambitious? Someone who posed a threat to not just to the people of the village, but Hyrule as a whole?"

A desert...Gerudo Desert...

"He builds his forces. He uses one hand to shake, and the other to backstab. He gets his hands on a great and terrible power, and he plans to wreak havoc. And so, the kingdom has no choice but to send one of their champions to hunt him down to the Great Pyramid with the Four Sword in hand."

Zelda tightened her hands into fists.

"The fight is long and hard, but eventually, the beast is sealed into the Four Sword to give Vaati a little company. And that, dear Highness, was the first time there was more than one entity locked away inside the Four Sword. To be honest, even I didn't know exactly what would happen when your pet hero yanked the blade out."

"Is Ganon...interfering with Vaati?"

"You catch on quick." Shadow smirked. He stopped moving, standing right in front of his prisoner. "He has bonded with Vaati. Of course, Vaati still looks like Vaati, and for the most part, he thinks and feels the same as always. But sometimes, and it happens more often now than before, Vaati loses control of himself. The body's only big enough for one, and the newcomer doesn't like to share."

"Vaati expects that it's just a matter of time before he's replaced completely. For now, he's been able to fight the interloper off. But every clash takes longer and longer to fix, and our dear old master can feel his mind slipping away." He pointed at Zelda. "And that's where you come in."

Zelda took a step back. If memory served, the Light Force was a cure-all when it came to confronting evil. She bit her lip. "So Vaati wants me to cure him?"

"That is the long and short end of it."

Zelda shook her head. "I have no intention of helping such a foul creature. Besides, even if I were to dispel his affliction, what would Vaati do afterwards? Would he set my kingdom free? Would he guarantee the safety of my people?"

Shadow's face broke out into an ear-to-ear grin. "In all honesty? Probably not. That's who Vaati is. He takes what he can, and the rest can burn for all he cares."

"Then why even serve him? How could you serve him?"

Shadow shrugged. "I have my own angle."

Zelda huffed. "Do whatever you want. Link...or rather, the Links will save me. They will put an end to Vaati, and an end to you."

"Don't get your hopes up." Shadow's grin seemed to grow even wider, baring his teeth. "I've already bagged one, and the other three are no problem at all."

"Then why are you here?" Zelda stared into Shadow's eyes. She told herself that there was no reason to believe Shadow, that there was no way he could have conquered one of her heroes. "There is no reason you would not confront those boys, unless you doubt that you can take them down all by yourself."

"Why, you..." Shadow's good mood left him. He raised his hand, but just before he could slap the princess, there was another flash of light. This time, he was sent flying backwards.

Zelda shook her head. "You can waste as much time as you want. Do not waste mine."

"What is the delay?"

Shadow was in the middle of the dark chamber, kneeling before the floating Vaati. It had taken nearly half an hour, but he had finally calmed himself. The only other thing in the room was a purplish blob in the corner.

"I was interrogating Princess Zelda, Great Vaati. I was hoping her to get her to see things our way."

Vaati growled. "Then why are you here? Surely torture is an option."

Shadow lowered his head further. "The Light Force is as much her shield as it might be a sword against what ails you."

Vaati fought back his temper. Shadow raised his head, hoping to offer better news.

"Vio, for his part, has come around. He will find Red and Blue, and he knows what to do. Green will probably approach this palace soon, but he won't be a threat."

"Hmph." Vaati took a moment to collect himself. "Well done, Shadow. Now, the only issue left is who will dispose of those fools."

"If I may..."

The purplish blob shifted, unwinding itself as it rose in the air. As it fully unentangled itself, it revealed a gleaming white mask with bright red eyes and a fanged mouth.

"I would like the honor of dispatching them. I will succeed where Shadow failed."

The phantom hero barely suppressed his rage a second time.

"Very well, Jalhalla. They must have no oppurtunity to meet with their leader or get close to Death Mountain. Both of you are dismissed. The plan to conquer Hyrule shall not be abated!"

I put the Light Force in as a call-back to The Minish Cap. Also, I felt that for a story that already focused on Shadow Link and Vaati, Ganon seemed a little tacked on. I thought this "possession" scenario was the best way to flesh out Vaati's role and add more context to Ganon's activities.