Translator

Link looked across the empty, white void in front of him, mentally sighing as he stared. He refused to blink, to even move from the position he sat in. His right arm rested on his right knee, which bent upward, as his left leg stayed stretched ahead of him with his left arm by his side. His mind was focused on staring ahead of him, and only that.

One would ask, "What could he be staring at? He's in the middle of an endless, abyss of the void." While, normally, that would be a good point since there's typically nothing look at in the void, it, however, was not the case here.

What Link stared so intently at, was what looked to be a young boy. His long, lilac hair gave off an almost alluring glow, very noticeable through the brightened surroundings between them. His one exposed red eye reminded Link of blood, of the many, many monsters he fought with the same look. He was seated as well, only wearing a cap and cape of a royal purple, a blank expression on his face as he stared back at him.

That's how it's been for a few months now. Was it months? Or was it years? Link couldn't tell. Time wasn't a sense one had in this type of space. It didn't feel fast or slow, it just felt as though he existed.

He remembered how this happened. He remembered the seal, luring the Wind Demon into piercing their claw though his chest as he held the latter down with his sword through their eye, restraining the evil mage with his mortally wounded body so Zelda and Ezlo could seal the both of them. Performing the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone. He left everybody behind, to make sure they were safe. That was something he believed was worth it. The fact his 'body' here had none of the scars and bruises he had gained in life is something he could only call a bonus, in some way that is.

He remembered when they first arrived. The Mage was infuriated, using every inch of his power available to him, that being none, alongside the limits of his own body in a mad attempt at escape. It didn't work, but he kept trying, and trying to the point Link gave up counting after the third hundredth-whatever attempt. At that point Link had taken notice that his inventory, on the other hand was still full, sans the sword, but he still didn't even try escaping. And Vaati noticed.

It hadn't even been a minute before the mage boldly tried attacking him with his bare hands. When one of his strikes made contact with Link's shield, his body had not only taken zero damage, but confirmed soon after that neither of them could feel any physical pain or come close to dying.

Basic human needs like eating and drinking were also unnecessary, the only thing that did remain were their emotions. But even then Vaati showed only rage for hours and hours, the lack of a need to sleep and what's essentially infinite energy fueling tantrum and tantrum until he imploded.

And by implode, Link meant that with one final and very loud curse, Vaati finally dropped to his knees, a move that took him centuries. Had his face display a variety of different emotions, all of which had an edge of madness in them, and finally gave up, sitting down, still like a statue.

For a moment, Link felt dissapointed then instead of relieved. Sure, the evil sorcerer was not the kind of company he'd ever choose to have in his life. But inside a never-changing void, the purple man was a constant source for his attention to focus on, be it him trying to steal his equipment when it looks like Link is meditating. Using one of his many items to repel the sorcerer whenever the latter tried to 'assassinate' him. Or be it just tuning out the many threats that were thrown his way.

The antagonism had brought a little routine to it all. And with that gone, Link decided to do what he was the best at.

Exploring.

Unfortunately that thought soon turned out to be impossible. As at some point, Link learned that even though the void seemed infinite, it was not. In reality, it was merely a small, invisible box that surrounded him and Vaati on all sides. It certainly explained why they were able to stand, sit and generally exist. It wasn't long before the two of them chose two separate ends and occupied them, or well, Link chose the opposite end while Vaati remained still like the people he turned to stone.

Ever since then, after many attempts to get the demon to move again, not including but not limited to: Throwing a boomerang against him, throwing large and noisy gusts of wind his way with the gust jar, flipping him upside down with the Cane of Pacci only to gain no reaction and so on.

It eventually dawned on Link, when he was in the middle of escalating the attempts with bombs of all things, that since this space existed outside of the natural realm, preventing them from needing basic mortal necessities and all. He – they – would outlast decades, centuries, maybe eons worth of progression and life. It didn't bother him, really. As long as they were able to live and grow old and happy then he was content with that.

They hated one another, hero and villain. The spark came to Link the moment his best friend was turned into a statue, the ever so lively and always excited Zelda forced into emotionless stillness.

To say that he wasn't thinking of Vaati whenever he smashed a dummy in one of the many sword dojos would be a lie. The thought of turning his smug sneer into a look of shock gave him the bravery needed to keep going if not the little boost needed to get up and finish a losing fight.

And that hadn't changed even after they had first been sealed here. He used to smile against every glare the mage threw his way, he defended himself a bit too harshly whenever the magic-less mage attacked him. To see this evil creature brought so low gave him a rush of satisfaction but eventually, with time… it tired him. Holding one emotion constantly for so long extinguished it. That's what happened to Link's hatred for Vaati, and he believes that Vaati feels the same.

Why else would they be returning blank, unwavering stares?

The silence, the loneliness Link felt was agonizing. Trapped within his own mind, the silence from the latter felt like it exploded in his ears. Time felt more prolonged now that there was nothing to do, enabling him to suffer in his head more than before. The years now felt like an eternity.

He didn't know what decided it, perhaps he was on the brink of insanity or the eternal loneliness got to him. But words finally came out of the wall that is Vaati. The wall that stood for years: the wall of silent hate and bitter stubbornness. When words came out that wall and entered Link's ears, he had to reply. He desired someone to talk to, to be with, to quench the feeling of that loneliness.

When they talked, it was about nothing important, details about their lives before the adventure, random thoughts they had, Link didn't dare talking or even reminding Vaati about his actions, the risk of the guy shutting up again were too great and he didn't want it to stop. Even though he had never said more than an affirmative or negative hum or a battle-cry in his life. Link loved talking to Vaati, it grew on him and more as it progressed. He didn't care about what it was, he just wanted someone to talk to him. Eventually Link started calling Vaati by name and Vaati called him by his.

They talked for years.

"You know, I'm not from this world."

The minish realm? Link already knew about that, yeah.

"No, not even from there. Even in that world there were no picori with pale skin and red eyes, that was a fact many of my peers loved to remind me about, coincidentally."

Link tilted his head in thought, asking him about what world he did come from then.

"I don't know, and neither did the oh so Great Sage Ezlo." Vaati said the name with hatred, "Heh, it took me a while to realize that, despite his praised wisdom, he in truth was nothing but an old fool."

Link didn't agree with that, but said nothing. Likewise Vaati ended the conversation after admitting that despite his powers, the wishing cap refused to answer that question for him. How odd.

At some point, Link blurted out, "I almost died." Or well, he communicated that sentence after a painfully long moment of charades with Vaati. "I've almost died so many times…"

"How many times?"

Link shrugged and dusted his hands, showing that the number is more than he can count.

Vaati was silent for a little while after that. Not looking satisfied by the news or returning a cruel quip at that. Link didn't like the silence, it felt like the eternity of loneliness was coming back for him and he had grown to detest that as their conversations grew common.

Eventually, he spoke, "Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Yes, please." Link motioned.

"When was your first close death encounter?"

"The same day I became the size of a Minish, an owl attacked me while I was on a leaf boat and even when I managed to make it release me, it dropped me straight into the deep water."

"That's the danger of being small. Everything wants to kill or eat you."

"How did you live your life then?"

"By living in the villages, those places were well-defended and besides all picori are taught at a young age how to fight and navigate their surroundings. Until then they can't leave the house."

"Great, I had none of those lessons. Just a cap that shouted at me whenever I made a mistake."

"And here I thought he liked you." Vaati said, tone suddenly dark again.

"Honestly? I couldn't tell the difference."

That quip did it's job and allowed the conversation to continue, though eventually it derailed into a rant about how much Vaati hated the old man alongside unasked for details about his own childhood, his own suffering and how he is now beyond all that, how he was supposed to win.

Even as Link kept listening to the words he said, he kept in mind that none of it excuses the actions that Vaati had taken. But he also kept his silence, he didn't want to offend Vaati if it meant he'd be stuck several hundreds of years without anyone to talk to again. So he just waited the rant out.

"Say, Link." Vaati finally says, at the end of it all.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever regret leaving everyone behind?"

"Of course."

"Then why did you?"

Link thought for a moment, "I wanted them to live their future safely and happily, even without me in it."

"That wouldn't make them happy." Vaati scoffed.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't it? What's there not to be happy about?"

"Because their ending doesn't have you in it, it is at best, bittersweet."

"…"

"What, does the hero see himself as expendable in the face of everyone else's happiness? Is that why you took both a mortal blow and came with me? Because you can be sacrificed?"

"…"

"Say, Link."

"Hm?"

"What's it like to be loved by the people around you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because as I have stated, unconditional respect is foreign to me."

"That's not true, Ezlo cared about you."

"Nonsense, the first thing he did when I picked up the cap was denounce me as some demon that always had evil in it's heart. And when he finally reunited with me, has he done anything else but demand I return the cap and pay for my evil deeds? Not once has he tried to reach out for me, perhaps it was even a blessing in disguise for him. Now he didn't need to pretend anymore…"

"That's not true." Link can't help but disagree, "He definitely regretted not giving you more affection, but even so, he gave you multiple chances to stop your evil ways. You're the one that refused to take them. It killed a part of him to fight you, but you left us no choice in the end."

"I was nothing but a nuisance to him!" Vaati protest with more anger. Unable to see that his mentor did care for him, Link pities him a little for it, but again, doesn't forgive any of his actions.

He probably never will, now that he thinks of it. Unless Vaati sincerely apologizes for what he did with regret in his heart, but the odds of that happening are close to zero no matter the circumstance.

So he doesn't bother thinking about it. Instead moving to another topic.

When they ran out of topics, they often theorized about what the world would be like now. Talk of the potential future often took up their time, as they indulged in various possibilities. Sometimes they even put themselves in a brand new world, imagining a new life from zero in a foreign place, or even imagining things in a scenario if they ever went back to the world they knew.

It reminded Link of sharing stories with Zelda, in a way.

Link made sure to hold on each and every conversation. To remember everything. Link didn't want to forget it. The years wouldn't take this from him nor his other memories.

He liked to think his bond with Vaati grew over time. As they talked, necessity and need to avoid madness turned into habit instead. Vaati's words would never possess a sweetness but the bite behind them had also dissapeared. The man that constantly glared at Link was now the same person that amused stupid what-ifs stories with no more than a painful groan before giving his answer.

At one point they became closer. Physically, emotionally and mentally. They had ended up crawling towards one another, meeting in the middle and sitting back to back. They didn't know why, at first. Perhaps it was their loneliness reaching a new peak yet again, making them desperate for physical contact. It didn't bother them, though; if anything the intimacy actually felt quite nice in a way.

"You know what," Vaati suddenly, randomly prompted. "You win."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying you've won. At this point, I'd rather live the life of a farmer or even some filthy sailor then risk the chance of being sealed again inside a prison like this….if we ever come out, that is."

"So you're….giving up on evil?"

"I'm not giving up. As much as I've...decided that I'm fed up with this. I'm not going to put myself on the radar for any wanna be hero until I've regained the powers that are rightfully mine."

"Oh."

"I did not expect such a mundane reaction. Do you not enjoy your victory?"

"It's not that. I just...I don't know what to say. I'm a bit surprised, honestly."

"How dull you are, other than your resolve. What else do you have to boast about?"

"Defeating you."

Silence, for a moment Link thinks that he upset Vaati yet again, only for him to break it.

"You did, but mark my words. It will not happen again."

With yet another conversation ended. They sat again in silence, back to back, neither of them looking at the other. Knowing that they were but moments away anyway from bickering and fighting about anything and everything possible to pass the time. Their philosophies caused it, they disagreed to the point that they agreed. After years of that, it leveled into a constant.

A pure, straight consistency of personality and identity from the both of them.

Even as conversation ceased, true understanding remained. In a way there were now closer than the most friendly allies and bitter enemies. Link and Vaati, the hero and villain, stuck together forever.

One would never admit how important the other's presence has become in their life.

And they didn't need to.

….

….

….

….

….

A whoosh. A small gust of air, in the form of a gentle breeze brushed into them.

Then light arrived, an intense ball of light shined down on them, one not felt for millennia.

The void on all sides began to become lighter, whiter, brighter.

An unfamiliar scent of salt reached their noses.

Their feet felt like they were touching a pool of a thousand pebbles, hot to the touch.

Their surroundings have changed, into something new, something overwhelming.

Blue water could be seen for miles away, the same ball of light in the horizon.

Ocean, the word came back to them. The sun, that word returned as well.

What is happening?

Link didn't quite know what was happening around him. Suddenly being able to physically feel things again threw his mind more out of loop than it already was. It was all suddenly so jarring, uncomfortable, painful even.

His senses were mostly completely disoriented, too. He couldn't hear anything besides a faint ringing in his ears. His mouth was dry, as if he had been laying out in the sun all day, with nothing to drink, in the middle of a desert. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was a blur. Upon closing them, the fatigue he felt became more apparent to the point he hardly wanted to open his eyes again. In fact, his mind threatened to fall asleep before he could even think about it. The only thing that kept him awake was the constant flow of thoughts cycling through his brain.

He was also cold, very cold, throughout various parts of his body. Though, he also felt a comfortable warmth. That warmth was the only thing keeping him from shivering. It took him some time to process what he was feeling, since his body had been quite uncooperative regarding his own senses.

As his body seemed to adjust, his mind did as well, for the most part. He realized that his arms and legs were wrapped around something, or rather someone, this entire time. Similarly, a separate pair of arms and legs were wrapped around him as well. Just when he thought that was it, he could just barely feel soft breaths on his neck. He seemed to be holding someone close to him; that was the source of his comfortable warmth.

He attempted to wrap his head around it. Currently, his memories were hazy and overall it was hard to recall anything prior to this situation. He could hardly ponder on anything, though he supposed that was a consequence of being overly exhausted. All he could gather, or rather all he knew, was that this position was comfortable. It felt natural and subconsciously he didn't want to move, he didn't want it to change.

In an act of pure willpower, he was able to open his eyes again in an attempt to see what was in front of him. The blur that had been there previously was still obscuring his vision, for the most part, however it had cleared up just enough to get a general outline of some things.

What he first registered was the long, straight lilac hair that belonged to the person he was currently sharing an embrace with. It went down the boy's back almost gorgeously. He seemed to be dressed quite extravagantly, with his robes and jewels. His face was tucked next to his head, so he was unable to see it at all, not that he would have been able to see anything special anyway with his limited vision.

For a small window, nothing of notice stood out to him. But just as he was about to let the overwhelming urge to sleep take him over, movement caught his eye. A girl with a pale face, blonde hair that seemed to extend out to both sides with a flower decorating the left of her head and a beautiful blue dress with a red ribbon attached to the middle.

The moving figure got closer to him, right up into his face. Her eyes, he could barely make out, were a sky-blue, housing something in the middle of them; a shape, one he couldn't determine just yet. He could barely register the outline of surprise coming from her face. Her mouth moved in a singular, looped motion, as if she were repeating something over and over again in a panic.

He felt small hands on his body, mainly his stomach area, trying to rattle or push him into moving out of the embrace he was currently in. He couldn't even if he tried, his body wouldn't listen, nor did he really want to leave the comfortable position he was already in. The hands moved to various places along his stomach, trying to wedge themselves between him and the boy he held. At one point, the hands tried pulling them apart, but they never split.

Despite his petty attempt at fighting back, his eyes closed almost as if they had their own will. His thoughts became nullified, his mind now barely registering anything around him. The ringing and feelings fading away as the threat of sleep overrode him. He was asleep before he even knew what to think.

When he awoke, the first thing he did was try to open his eyes. However, the sudden light that invaded his retinas made him close them again. He would have rubbed them with one of his hands, but it seemed as though they were both being weighed down by two separate things. It took him a little while, but eventually he eased his eyes into adjusting to the light.

He sat up, a feeling of calm washing over him as he began gazing around at his surroundings. He was on a bed, a comfortable one at that, and his clothes were changed. He wore different undergarments and shorts, and he was missing his bag. The room he was in was quite big, spacious even, though unfamiliar to him.

"What a relief!" the same girl from just before shouted, and Link realizes she's not alone, sitting on a table a few feet away is a tall, chunky man with black hair and a mustache.

"I thought you'd never wake up! You were tossing and turning…." the Zelda-look a like continued.

"What? Zelda?" Wait, did he say the name out loud? He can't tell.

"No, my name's Marin! You must still be feeling a little woozy."

Ok, let's ask it once more.

What is happening?