Chapter 9
What is taking them so long? Vaati wondered.
At first, he had thought that there would be no way for his target to approach this abandoned old village from the south. The entire south side was protected by a high wall. He remembered, however, that Ganon had said they would get in through the graveyard, so Vaati followed the wall farther into the village until he found it. Sure enough, in the south wall of this run-down graveyard, there was a large crack in the barrier wall, wide enough for a man to get through. So he had found a large tombstone nearby to hide behind, where he had been crouched in wait ever since.
He had been waiting here for almost an hour, passing the time by watching the shadows around him dance. The sun was starting to set, and it was growing darker by the minute. His view of the break in the wall was growing dimmer. If they didn’t arrive soon, he would barely be able to see them at all. He shifted slightly and heaved an irritated sigh. His legs were starting to cramp.
He knew he had to have patience. This was his only chance to defeat his enemies. If sacrificing one nameless person meant he could gain the power to keep himself from being sealed away again, then so be it. His madness kept him from having any other thoughts than this.
Finally, he could hear faint voices. At first he wondered if it was just the wind brushing against the dead trees all around, but the voices continued and became stronger as they got closer.
Vaati shifted his stance and peeked out from his hiding place. He ground his teeth together when he saw that a very troublesome shadow had settled itself right over the break in the wall. He wouldn’t be able to see who was coming through until they were a few steps out.
The voices were very close now, speaking in hushed tones. A shape started to come through the break. Vaati’s heart raced.
He couldn’t see too much of him with the shadow in his way, but the shape was definitely male. He squeezed through the crack in the wall, and once he stepped out of the shadow, he could see that it was definitely one of the Four Sword warriors, specifically, the one that was dressed in red. Another followed close behind, this one dressed in dark violet.
The third person in the group was coming through the crack now, but this one was about a head shorter, with girlish curves and long hair flowing behind…
Now! Vaati’s mind screamed at him. Move, man! Move!
Calling his magic forth, he leapt out from his hiding place, and he ran inhumanly fast toward his target. He reared his arm back, holding two fingers out straight. Dark magic gathered around those fingers. He would be quick and efficient – one swipe with that hand across her neck would remove her head, and it would be over. He would be gone again before anyone around her could react.
He was moving so quickly that none of them had even turned to look in his direction yet. Any moment now they know he was there, but by then, it would be too late. The deed would be done, and he would be retreating again faster than any of them would be able to follow.
So close now! He was so close to gaining the ability to finally defeat his enemies! If he could just follow through…!
He was almost upon her now. Time seemed to slow down all around him. As he planted his feet next to her and prepared to make his strike, the shadow that was hiding her face suddenly shifted as some clouds above changed their position in the sky. Her big, green eyes shifted in slow motion to face him, finally realizing he was there, realizing it only a second too late to do anything to save herself. It was over for her now.
Suddenly, Vaati stopped in mid-strike. The environment all around him continued to move in slow-motion as he stood there, frozen in place, with his arm still reared up in the air. The magic crackled silently on his fingers, waiting impatiently to be put to use.
Those eyes… This face…!
No!
He stood there frozen still as the magic his fingers faded and time resumed its normal flow around him. His target stood frozen, as well, looking at him with confusion in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but someone yelled angrily and tackled Vaati hard from somewhere off to his left, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground.
Somebody was sitting on stop of him. Vaati opened his eyes in time to see a fist coming straight at him, hitting him hard across his jaw. Stars danced in front of his eyes and he tasted blood. Whoever had tackled him hit him hard a few more times, until Lydia’s familiar voice called out.
“Red! No, stop it!”
Vaati cracked one eye open and saw that it was the red Four Sword warrior on top of him. He twisted around to look back at the girl, his arm reared back for another strike.
“What? Why?!”, he demanded.
The other two Four Sword warriors had come through the break at some point during the fight, and with a sick feeling in his stomach, Vaati could now see that Gordon was among them, too. Still in shock from the blows to his head, he was still lying unmoving where he had fallen.
Lydia was there with him suddenly, gently pushing Vaati’s attacker off of him. She leaned over him and touched the side of his head where he had been slugged.
She stared into his eyes. Her face showed the confusing in her heart she was feeling. She finally managed to speak. “…What were you…?”
His mind suddenly snapped back into gear again, and he fully realized what had just happened. He had almost killed…
No! his mind screamed.
Panic welling up again, he pushed Lydia’s hand away and leapt to his feet. Calling upon his magic again, he sprinted through the graveyard and into the village and disappeared from view.
“Why’d you stop me?” Red demanded again. “That guy almost— Hey!”
Lydia was already running after the man that attacked her. She ran for several paces before lifting off of the ground and taking off in flight. She disappeared over the cliffs.
Red looked back at Gordon, his mouth hanging open, apparently at a complete loss for words.
The other three warriors look eagerly at the sorcerer. “What was that about?” Blue asked him.
The boy’s eyebrows were wrinkled in apparent confusion. “That was Vaati,” he answered.
“That guy?!” Red pressed. “The guy that you guys said you trusted?”
Gordon shook his head and said, “No, no, something’s not right about this.”
“I’ll say something’s not right! He just tried to kill Lyd!”
“But he didn’t. He stopped just as he was about to. Why would he do that?”
Already starting forward to join the pursuit, Green said, “We’re not going to find out just standing here. Come on, we have to catch up!”
------
Peeking out of the window, Vaati could see her. She was up in the air a ways south of where he was hiding, flying around rather erratically. She’d fly in one direction, stop to look around, then fly off in another direction. He knew she was looking for him, but he wasn’t going to let her find him. He couldn’t face her again.
He had fled to the only place that was familiar to him, which was, unfortunately, the ReDead-infested town that was only a stone’s throw from where Ganon’s keep was. He had managed to avoid the ReDeads completely and had broken into one of the abandoned shops and hidden himself there.
And here he now sat, feeling disgusted with himself.
How could he have allowed this to happen? After all of his bravado in the face of Ganon the day before, he had so easily given in to his irrational madness and fear of the Four Sword. He had let it himself so easily lose control of his senses. In a moment of weakness, he allowed Ganon to use him again. Even after all he had been through, he had let Ganon use him again! So much for principles. So much for pride.
And it had led him to almost kill one of the only people that have been genuinely kind to him.
What a worthless creature he was.
What was he supposed to do now? How did he ever expect to get home? He couldn’t stand the thought of facing the sorcerers again, not after what he had done.
He had to make this up to them somehow. He had little hope that they would forgive him after this, but he had to try. That is, if he expected to be able to live with himself to any degree.
The matter of Ganon was the first thing that came to mind. It was painfully clear now that it was Lydia that was the thorn in his side. It was strange that Ganon hadn’t so much as mentioned Gordon to him. They both had to be pretty nasty opponents in battle, based on what he knew about their magic. Why had he just wanted Lydia killed?
More importantly, the two sorcerers and the Four Sword warriors must be fighting Ganon, trying to stop him from whatever he was doing in this time.
Vaati felt another guilty jab in the pit of his stomach. He had gone temporarily insane over nothing. The Four Sword warriors weren’t his enemies this time around. He had let his assumptions run wild, and look at what had almost happened! Terrible.
He had to make this up to them! But how? It’s not like he could just go to Ganon’s keep and defeat him for them.
His head shot up when he suddenly remembered something. Something Ganon had said to him before he left to intercept them in the village. He had showed him a piece of blue clay, and said that if Lydia had any like it, he was supposed to get them and bring them back.
Multiple pieces of something… What was it? Why was it so important?
If Lydia was supposed to have some, were they collecting pieces just like the one Ganon had? If he had one, wouldn’t they need that piece, too?
Vaati got to his feet, with a new kind of determination in his eyes. He might not be able to defeat Ganon himself, but…
Not bothering to hide his magic anymore, he burst back out of the building and sprinted through the square. Throwing his black lightning ahead of him, he cleared a path for himself through the mass of ReDeads. As he turned down the valley that lead to Ganon’s keep, he used his power to feel at the air. He could detect Ganon’s presence, somewhere up above him. He must be inside this time, up in the tower.
Going around the edge of the lake of lava, he got a magically-aided running start toward the entrance to the keep. With a powerful leap, he soared over the gap between the path and the keep itself, feeling a rush of heat from the lava below him. He landed hard inside of the keep’s door, not breaking stride. He continued inside, blowing past hallways branching out in other directions. The tower was more toward the center of the keep, so he kept running that way, hoping to find some stairs.
He broke out into a large room with a high ceiling. This room was very dungeon-like, with tiny windows high off the ground as the only source of natural light, which was quickly waning as the sun dipped further below the horizon.
What caught Vaati’s attention here was a large opening in the right wall that led to a wide staircase. Without slowing down in the slightest, he started up those stairs, and when they started to wind, he knew he was going to the right way. Ganon’s presence was growing stronger. He was just ahead.
When he finally got to the top, he was in some kind of throne room. Tapestries hung from the walls and the windows were larger than they were downstairs.
Ganon was sitting in a large armchair against one of the walls, resting his chin in one of his hands, looking like he had been expecting Vaati. It wasn’t surprising. Vaati hadn’t been making any effort to mask his approach.
“Since you’re still alive,” Ganon began, slowly getting to his feet and starting toward where Vaati stood, “I’m going to assume that you were successful. If you had failed, I know for a fact they would have killed you very easily and very quickly. Yet here you are, breathless. It must have been quite an exciting retreat.”
He stopped several paces away from Vaati. This poor, deluded kid. He didn’t even suspect that he was about to die. He had outlived his usefulness.
As he prepared himself to strike, Ganondorf suddenly felt a familiar and sickening presence somewhere outside of his keep. In disbelief, his eyes darted to the nearest window. There was no way he was imagining it, and it there was no way it was anything else. This kid hadn’t killed the sorceress! She was still alive, and she was nearby!
In nearly-mindless fury, Ganondorf turned back toward Vaati, but the boy was already in midair, and he slammed into him, knocking them both over. As they grappled on the floor, Vaati punched into Ganondorf’s chest and sent his magic directly into body. Ganondorf yelled with fury and swung at Vaati’s head, but the nimble boy ducked out of the path of the strike and sent another jab of magic into his torso.
Finally, Ganondorf was able to get a hit in. He slammed his fist into Vaati’s stomach, and the follow-through sent him sliding across the room. The boy finally came to a stop near one of the room’s tall windows.
He lay on the ground for a moment, then pushed himself up on his elbows, coughing and gasping for air. He looked up at Ganondorf with a hateful glare as he continued to slowly rise. Ganondorf almost missed it, but the kid now held something in the hand that he had been striking him with. With a triumphant smirk on his face, Vaati continued to glare at Ganondorf as he tucked the thing he was holding into his clothes.
Ganondorf caught a glimpse of what the object was before it disappeared into Vaati’s clothes. A piece of blue clay. His heart jumped, and he unconsciously patted at his armor, as if he needed to feel for himself that the piece of the Ocarina of Time was no longer there. How…?!
The kid had tricked him!
The most unimaginable fury welled up inside him. Both of the Triforce pieces he held churned in response, and with an angry roar, Ganondorf sent a wave of magic at Vaati, meaning to turn him to ash where he stood. Vaati, however, put up defenses with his own magic just in time, and Ganondorf’s magic broke apart when it hit him. Though he managed to save his own life, Ganondorf’s attack was very powerful, and the shockwave knocked him backward. He flew through the air and crashed through the window behind him, and he began the long plummet toward the lava pit below.
The world was moving in slow motion again, but not from his magic this time. His life began flashing before his eyes, and he tried to close his eyes against it, because there weren’t too many fond memories there. A childhood spent as a loner, a misguided adolescence, a young adulthood where he was influenced by the likes of Ganon and was manipulated into doing terrible things…
And even at the end, he couldn’t even manage a single good deed in the hopes of redeeming himself. He had managed to get the piece of whatever-it-was from Ganon, but it was about to be destroyed along with him in the lava pit. If only he had more time, he could make all this right!
Something slammed into him, and he found himself suddenly flying sideways instead of straight down. A slim pair of arms was wrapped around his midsection, carrying him up and away from the lava pit. He heard a voice above him that at this moment, to him, sounded like the singing of angels.
“Hang the heck on!” Lydia yelled over the wind in his ear. “This is gonna be wild!”
As she carried them higher and higher into the air, so high that the entirety of Ganon’s keep was below their feet, the sorceress began to recite something forcefully.
“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows,
Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows!”
Even with the wind seeming to rush in all directions around him, Vaati could feel the air pressure around them drop. The small hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight. There was intense magical energy gathering here unlike anything he’d ever felt before.
“I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand,
Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand.”
Ganondorf leaned out of the broken tower window, staring up at them with a murderous fury in his eyes.
“Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed,
By the power you and I possess!”
Lydia readjusted her grip in a way that allowed her to temporarily hang onto Vaati with one arm. The threw her free arm toward the keep below, and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“DRAGON SLAVE!!”
A beam of red magic the width of a large tree trunk shot out from her open palm with so much force that the two of them were blown even higher up into the air. Vaati caught a final glimpse of Ganondorf’s angry face just as the beam of energy slammed into the keep. A deafening explosion followed, and the magic spread out from the keep in an expanding dome of energy.
Lydia swung them around and started flying south toward the field. Behind them, the spell continued to spread. The entire keep was now engulfed in it, and even then, it kept going. It destroyed the entire valley, and spread down into the ReDead town as well. Buildings and abandoned houses were uplifted by the preceding shockwave before being reduced to timbers by the main spell that followed.
The blindingly-bright dome continue to burn as they touched down safely some ways south into the field. Vaati dropped to the ground, and Lydia crouched down next to him. They continued to watch as the magically finally started to fade. The dome of magic dimmed and shrank, until it finally disappeared completely. The air pressure slowly rose to normal, and the wind finally stopped howling. All was as it was again, save for the gigantic debris-littered crater that now replaced the keep, the valley, and the Market.
“Whoo!” Lydia cheered, throwing a fist in the air. “That was my best one yet! Oh, man, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time!” She patted Vaati’s arm enthusiastically. “How was that for a demonstration, huh?”
Vaati stammered, trying to find words. “Is… Is he...?”
The sorceress scoffed. “I wish. The guy’s like a cockroach. That’s the fourth one of those he’s been hit with over the years. There’s no way that’s the last of him. At best, I may have bought us a little time.”
Somebody off in the distance called Lydia’s name. Even in the ever-increasing darkness of the night, Vaati could see her five companions reaching the crest of a nearby hill, running toward them.
He turned to Lydia, who was still looking very proud of herself.
“…Why?” he asked her. “Why did you save me like that? Even after…”
The girl looked at him as if he had asked her why her hair was brown. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked with a grin. “I said I had a gut feeling about you, and it turns out I was right after all. I can’t believe you fought Ganondorf on your own like that! You are a gusty thing, aren’t you?”
“I don’t understand. I almost…”
“But you didn’t. I’m sure you have your reasons for what happened back there, but you can tell me later. Right now, we have to get the hell out of here.”
She started to stand, but Vaati grabbed her shirt sleeve and held her fast. “Wait. Wait, please. It’s true, I did have my reasons for what happened, but I was an idiot, and I want to try to make it up to you.” He reached into his clothes and produced the piece of blue clay he had stolen, and held it in his open palm for her to see. “I don’t know what this is, but you’re collecting these, aren’t you? He said you might have others like it.”
Vaati jumped when Lydia suddenly let out an excited shriek. She dropped to her knees and grabbed the piece from his hand.
“Holy crap!” she yelled. “How did you get this?!”
“I… I stole if from him during the fight…”
The girl shrieked happily again and threw her arms around Vaati’s neck. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it! You got it!” She released her grip and looked him straight in the eye. “Forget about making anything up to me – you just saved Hyrule!”
“I did?”
“Damn right, you did!”
The others caught up right about then, and they were all talking so quickly that it was hard to tell who was saying what.
“Was that a Dragon Slave?!”
“What are you yelling about?”
“What happened?”
“You’d better explain yourself quickly, little man, before I hurt you some more!” That last one was definitely Red.
Lydia’s reply to everything was to triumphantly hold up the sixth piece of the Ocarina of Time for them all to see. “Look what he got!”
“Is that the last one?!” Gordon shouted.
“It sure is! He stole it from the big baddie!”
“How long is going to take to put it back together?” Green asked.
A loud, animalistic roar ripped through air from the ruins of the north. The center of the crater shook and the soil began to fall away as something large rose from under the ground.
“Longer than we have,” Lydia answered through her clenched teeth. “Look who’s back already.”
Ganondorf rose out of the crater, but he was no longer in his human form. He had transformed into the giant monster with the pig’s head and tusks that they remembered from the battle four years before. He stood at least fifty feet high in this form, with big, strong arms that he swung around angrily as he shook the rest of the soil off of himself. Once again, he had a large bladed weapon in each massive hand.
With a growl so intense that it made the ground beneath their feet rumble, he started to stomp out of the crater and toward them. They had less than a minute before he would be on top of them.
“Oh, great,” Red growled. “He’s not going to wait for us to get the Master Sword back. We can’t fight him like this and hope to win.”
“But where can we possibly go?” Blue asked. “We can’t go back to the forest – we’ll lead him right to where everyone else is hiding!”
“And even if we can get away from him for now,” Lydia added, “who knows how long it’ll take to put the Ocarina back together? Dammit, we just don’t have the time we need!”
Lydia felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned and saw it was Vaati that was trying to get her attention.
“I’m assuming you and your brother are responsible for your friend here getting to my time to get that sword. Can you take us all back there? He wouldn’t be able to follow us there, and you’d have the time you need to get ready for this.”
Everyone turned and stared at Vaati for a moment. He was right, they all realized. They could go back to the future, prepare themselves for this battle, and go back to the point they left from. It would almost be like they were never gone.
Gordon’s teeth clenched as he looked back at Ganondorf’s large form getting closer with each passing second. “That spell would take time to cast, and I don’t think he’s going to stand by and let us do it.”
“Hey, wait!” Lydia shouted, her face lighting up like the sun. “I just got the coolest idea I’ve ever had!” With a wild smile on her face, she placed two fingers in her mouth, and whistled up toward the sky as loudly as she could.
Something broke through the clouds and shot through the sky toward them like a bullet. Everyone except the two sorcerers crouched low to the ground, certain that this giant thing was going to land on them. But at the last moment, it spread giant wings out and drastically slowed its descent. It gracefully landed on the ground behind them, crouched down on all fours. It was a giant, golden-colored dragon.
Ganondorf stopped his march toward them. He stood there and glared silently.
The four Links looked at each other, stunned. Except for a color difference, it was almost exactly like the dragon they had fought on top of Death Mountain. They all reached for their swords, prepared to fight it, but stopped when they realized that Lydia was talking to it.
“Goldie! See him?” She swung her arm and pointed toward Ganondorf. “That’s the guy that was trying to steal the artifact! Now he’s after us and we need to get away. Can you buy us some time?”
The dragon crouched lower, like a big cat stalking its prey. Its scaly lips curled back to reveal its numerous teeth. It almost looked like it was smiling.
“With great pleasure, Mistress,” it replied a deep, growly voice.
Goldie leapt over the group in a single bound, hitting the ground on the other side at a gallop. With a roar, he tackled Ganondorf at full speed, and they both rolled around, becoming nothing more than a mass of pounding fists and snapping jaws.
“Come on, Goldie will keep him occupied for a minute!” Lydia shouted. “Let’s get that spell going!”
Managing to push Goldie’s face away for just a moment, Ganondorf roared toward the sky. The ground beneath their feet started to shake and loosen. Small mounds started to rise in the dirt. It looked like something was coming up out of the ground.
“Everybody move!” Green shouted. “Back up!”
The entire group turned and ran until they could no longer feel the ground moving beneath them. When they turned back, they could see hundreds of mounds of dirt rising all around where Ganondorf and Goldie were fighting. They all kept rising higher until they were each about the height of an average man. The dirt fell away, revealing an entire army of Stalfos, all carrying nasty-looking swords, axes, and spears.
“Oh, hell,” Lydia growled. “Okay, Gordon, start the spell.” She stepped forward and shifted into a fighting stance. “I’ll do my best to hold them off.”
“You can’t!” her brother shouted. “You can’t hold off an entire army of those things by yourself! After shooting off a Dragon Slave like that, you need time to rest before you can fight at full power!”
“There’s no need for that!” Vio shouted, pointing off toward the east. “Look!”
They all looked in that direction, and heard the commotion before they really saw it. It sounded like a lot of shouting. Princess Zelda was just emerging over a hill, riding Epona, dressed in her battle armor with a familiar pearl-handled long sword held off to her side. She raised the sword in the air, and then held it out in front of her. It looked like a charge command.
Like a great flood, a swarm of people appeared over the hills, following her. Dozens at first, and then hundreds of people started coming into view. Hylians, Gerudo, Gorons, Zoras, and even the Kokiri were there, men and women, all dressed in their race’s own style of armor and weaponry. Some were on horseback, and the rest were on foot.
The army of Hyruleans roared their battle cries and crashed into the army of Stalfos head on. At first, the two armies were fighting along an invisible line between their respective groups, but it wasn’t long before they started to meld with each other into one indistinguishable mass of swinging weapons and shouting. In the very back of the enemy army, Ganondorf continued to tangle with the dragon, neither really gaining any ground against the other.
Epona broke free from the battle and galloped over to where the group was watching the battle. Princess Zelda was holding tightly to her reigns, her long blond ponytail swinging behind her.
“Do whatever it is you need to do to get the Master Sword back!” the princess shouted to them. “We’ll hold them off as long as we can!” She turned Epona back around to face the ongoing battle, and she loudly whistled a few different times in different pitches. Every time she did, some part of her army would shift position or change tactics. She was leading them even from back here.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gordon was deep in concentration, already half complete in casting the spell that would take them forward to Vaati’s time. His fingers came together to form different seals as he chanted words of magic under his breath. After a couple of tense minutes, he opened his eyes and swung his right arm around in a circle. A bright spot of light appeared in mid-air, quickly spreading to form a human-sized swirling vortex that they all knew well by this point. This was their escape.
“Everybody join hands!” Gordon yelled, waving them all into the portal. “Go, go!”
Gordon was the first to leap through. All four Links followed immediately, joined by the hands. Vio was in the back, and he grabbed Vaati’s hand and pulled him along behind him. Lydia had a hold of Vaati’s other arm, bringing up the rear. Despite having done this several times now, she still couldn’t help but close her eyes as she jumped in. This was never a very pleasant experience.
Deafening wind rushed all around them as they all experienced the sensation of flying. Lydia didn’t have to open her eyes to know what was going on. They were traveling hundreds of years forward through Hyrule’s time stream. Unintelligible voices from the ages came and went as they continued on.
Suddenly, they burst back into the open air, which was now still again. Lydia stumbled when her feet hit solid ground again, and she dropped to her knees. Carefully opening her eyes, she squinted against bright sunlight. It had been nighttime where they had just been, so it was obvious they were somewhere different now. She had a disturbing thought then – Gordon had found this place originally, but he hadn’t traveled here himself. She hoped he had brought them to the right place.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, it was clear that he had. She recognized the run-down ruins in the grassy field. Nearby stood the same wall with the eye marking that they had seen the last time they were here. And in front of that wall stood the pedestal where the sword they took had been resting.
And, since there was only one of each of them here, it looked like Gordon had had the sense to take them to a point in time somewhere after she and Link had last been here. Good thing, too, Lydia thought. In the heat of the moment, she had forgotten to remind him to try not to destroy space-time with a paradox.
“Is this the right place?” Gordon called.
Expecting his sister or one of the Links to answer, he was surprised when Vaati was the first to speak up.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “This is it. This is where I was sealed.”
Everyone looked at him in surprise. “Sealed?” Vio repeated.
Vaati nodded sadly. “I think I owe you all an explanation.”
------
“So that’s why you attacked Lydia like that,” Green said.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Vaati confirmed.
Everyone was sitting in a circle nearby the sword’s pedestal. Lydia was off a little ways to the side, far enough away to not have anyone in her way, but close enough to still hear the conversation. She had her hands hovering over the six pieces of the broken Ocarina of Time. Her hands were coated with some kind of white magic. She had been worried that she would have no idea how to fix the thing, but once she had all six pieces in front of her, it was like her hands knew what to do and she just went to it. She had playfully suggested that she was ‘channeling her inner Maya’. The once-separate pieces were becoming fuzzy-looking as they slowly started to reconnect into the one main artifact.
Though the reconstruction of the Ocarina of Time was coming along nicely, it was still taking a long time. It had been three hours already. In the meantime, Vaati and everyone else had been telling their respective stories, trying to get everyone on the same page.
“All because of this,” Green continued, pointing back with his thumb to the sword on his back. “The ‘Four Sword’, as you called it, right?”
Vaati sighed, mostly at himself. “I was sealed away here by the Four Sword, by four identical warriors such as yourselves. When you came here and took up the sword, my seal was broken. How I followed you all back into your time… I don’t know. I suppose it doesn’t matter. But when I saw the four of you in the forest, I… I just went insane. So consumed was I by thoughts of self-preservation and revenge that I lost my grip on reality. Even though some part of me acknowledged that you obviously weren’t the same person – the one that sealed me was younger than you are – it didn’t matter at the time. I had already gone mad, mad enough to go back to the likes of Ganon and actually take his dirty deal.”
“Ganondorf,” Blue corrected.
“Yes, sorry. As far as I have always known, he has gone by only ‘Ganon’ for a very long time. Anyway, all this about the Four Sword doesn’t excuse my behavior. Though I managed to stop myself in time, it doesn’t change what I almost did. I’m ashamed.”
“Stop with the guilt thing over there,” Lydia called without taking her eyes off of her work. “I told you I forgive you, so forget it.”
Vaati smiled slightly, and called back, “Yes ma’am.”
Gordon was shaking his head and looking at the ground. “This is really bothersome, though,” he grunted. “If Ganondorf still exists even this far ahead in the future… Then that means we won’t be able to truly defeat him, will we?”
The group fell silent.
“Indeed,” Vaati said, “he still exists in my time. He manipulated me into doing the things I did that eventually got me sealed away here.” His eyebrows came together as he became lost in thought. “Although, it wasn’t like he was living a normal life or anything. You never saw a guy like him walking down the street or in the corner shop. From what I understand… by the time he appeared here… he, too, had been sealed away for a long time.”
His face becoming a little less grim, Gordon said, “So, we may be able to at least seal him away.”
“But, wait,” Vio cut in. “How are we supposed to do that?”
“It may not be up to us,” the sorcerer replied. “That part might be up to Zelda and the sages. Our role in all this might be to just weaken him enough for something like that to be possible. Though…” He placed his chin in his hand as he got lost in a thought. “With two Triforce pieces, the Master Sword alone might not be enough… It’s going to need a little extra kick. That might be something Lydia and I can help with. But what can we do…?”
Vaati considered the question and tried to work through all of his previously-useless knowledge of their magic. Something to give the sword extra kick…? Something powerful…
Lydia’s sudden gasp got everybody’s attention, and they turned to face her. She picked something up off of the grass and jumped to her feet. In her hands, she held an intact Ocarina of Time. Giggling with glee, she kissed it a few times, then skipped over to where everyone else was sitting. She crouched down next to Green, still giggling happily, and held it out to him.
“Here, we’re halfway there!” she announced excitedly. “Try playing the Song of Time. That’s connected to the Master Sword, right?”
Green smiled sadly and shook his head. “It won’t work right now.”
“No?” Her face fell. “Why not?”
“Because even if we were in the correct time at the moment, which we definitely are not….” His voice trailed off, and he looked over at his three identical companions. “The Master Sword chose the Hero of Time to wield it. None of us are him.”
Gordon was nodding and said, “That makes sense. We have to put you back together and go home to our own time before we’ll find the sword.”
“Oh yeah,” Lydia muttered, a strongly-disappointed tone in her voice. She smiled again as her mind changed tracks. “Then I guess you know what you have to do next.” She gestured toward the empty pedestal that once held the Four Sword.
The four Links looked around at each other, then at the empty pedestal. Saying nothing, they all stood and drew their copies of the Four Sword. With undisguised determination, they walked the short distance over to the pedestal, and took positions on all four sides of it.
“This is all happening so fast,” Green said. He looked up and saw all of his identical twins back at him. “I’m… I’m going to miss you all.”
“Why?” Blue asked cheerfully. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re just coming back together like we’re supposed to be. We’ll all still be there, just… on the inside.”
“He’s right,” Red agree with a cocky grin. “Every time you learn something new, that’ll be Vio. Every time you get upset about something, this joker will be showing himself.” He pointed over at Blue, who seemed completely unfazed by his teasing. “And whenever you’re just ready to completely destroy an enemy you face, I’ll be there to help.”
Vio said nothing, but simply smiled and nodded his agreement.
Blue waved at Lydia with his whole arm, and she smiled and waved back.
Green looked down at the pedestal in front of him. That’s right, he thought. They weren’t really going away. Just… going home again.
He placed the tip of his copy of the Four Sword in the open notch on top of the pedestal. The other three did the same with their swords. All four copies of the sword met at a single point on the pedestal. In a unison movement, they all slowly pushed the blades downward.
A light appeared at the point where the sword met, and it grew blindingly bright. Vaati and the two sorcerers had to shield their eyes against it as the four warriors disappeared with in it.
Vaati had a terrifying thought. What if replacing this sword would put him back into where he was sealed away? He reached out and gripped Lydia’s shirt sleeve, as if doing so would keep him there. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of a click, the sound of the Four Sword settling back into place in the pedestal. The bright like started to dim down again. When Vaati realized that he could still feel the fabric of Lydia’s shirt between his fingers, he sighed with relief. He was still there.
The light finally disappeared, and the only person left standing by the Four Sword, now at rest again, was a lone warrior dressed in Kokiri green, standing with his back to them. He stood still for a moment, looking at the sword, and then finally turned slowly to face the others. The smile on his face was peaceful.
It was like seeing him for the first time. All four of those identical men had been Link, yet none of them really had been. And now here he was, standing before them, whole once more. His eyes had a familiar glint in them that had been missing while he was split apart. He stood before them a different person than he had been five minutes before.
Lydia quickly passed the Ocarina of Time to Vaati, then ran forward and wrapped her arms around Link’s neck. “I missed you,” she whispered in his ear.
Knowing exactly what she meant, Link said nothing, and just held her close.
Surprised, Vaati leaned over and whispered to Gordon, “I had no idea it was like that.”
Gordon nodded. “Understandably. Having four of them instead of just one made it a little complicated.”
“I see.” Vaati straightened up again and continued to watch the two of them in their embrace. He felt his heart warm and he smiled. He was happy for her.
He looked down at the object she had passed him, the Ocarina of Time. So this was what they were collecting. It must be very important to their quest. He made a mental note to try to find record of it in the history books later.
Lydia finally took a step back, looked up into Link’s deep blue eyes for another moment, then playfully patted on his chest. “Come on, buddy, we’ve got work to do.”
Link nodded. “That’s true. We have a world to save.”
After looking back at the Four Sword one last time, Link followed Lydia back over to where Gordon and Vaati were standing. Vaati handed the Ocarina of Time to him, and he stood looking at it for a quiet moment. So much had happened because this little thing had been broken. But now, finally, they were close to making everything right again.
“I guess we should get going back to our own time,” Lydia said. She looked over to Vaati and smiled sweetly. “What are you going to do now?”
It wasn’t a tough decision for Vaati to make. It was something he wanted with all of his being.
“I suppose I’ll go back home now,” he said, looking off into the distance. “I’ll live quietly, find honest work… and spend the rest of my life trying to make up for everything I’ve done here. The castle town has a grand archive library… Maybe I can find work there.”
“Don’t live your life burdened with all that guilt, though,” Lydia said with a warning look.
“I’ll try not to,” Vaati agreed, “but with guilt or not, I still have to make amends. And I’m going to do my best.”
“Will you be all right if we leave now?” Gordon asked.
“Oh, yes. I think I have a pretty good idea of where this place is. I should be able to find my way back to town without too much trouble.” His face suddenly turned serious. “But before I go, I have a question for you. Have you two ever tried mixing your most powerful white and black magic together?”
Confused by this question that came out of nowhere, Lydia simply shook her head with a blank look on her face. Gordon, on the other hand, looked almost offended.
“That’s incredibly dangerous,” he declared with a frown. “They’re on opposite ends of the magical spectrum, and melding them together could result in a ridiculous amount of power and fallout. There’s every chance that it would go out of control. The damage would make that spell you saw Lydia use earlier look like nothing but firecrackers. That’s why you never hear of it actually being done.”
“Yes, I understand that,” Vaati said impatiently, “Conceptually, I know it’s dangerous and insane. But what if you had some way to keep it from going out of control?”
“Like what?” Lydia asked.
“It would require some kind of magical object, certainly. Something with enough power in itself to act as a vessel for the magic mixture long enough for it to be used for its intended purpose without destroying the entire kingdom in the process.”
“The Master Sword,” Link said suddenly.
Vaati nodded. “Yes, that’s what I was thinking. And when the sword’s power is added to the mix, even Ganon will not be able to defend himself against it.”
“But can the Master Sword handle something like that?” Gordon asked, his face looking skeptical.
“I believe it can. From what I know about that sword, I truly believe that. It’s one of Hyrule’s greatest artifacts, yet to be matched even in my time.”
“Hm… So, the strongest black magic spell we have is the Dragon Slave, obviously… As for white magic…”
Lydia grinned. “My old secret weapon, the Phoenix Flare. That spell alone almost defeated Ganondorf four years ago. That, plus a Dragon Slave melded with it, plus the Master Sword? We can’t lose.”
Her eyebrows came together, and she added, “You know… I never thought I’d ever say this, but maybe it’s a good thing our magic will be lost after we’re gone. With this kind of potential, can you imagine the damage that could be done if it fell into the wrong hands?”
She felt Link’s hand on her shoulder, and he said, “That may be so, but if this plan works, it’ll go out doing some great good, at least.”
“I hope so. I also hope we don’t screw it up and end up destroying what’s left of Hyrule instead of saving it.”
Link smiled and said with confidence, “I know of no two people better qualified. It’ll be fine.”
No one said anything for a moment. Vaati broke the silence by saying, “I suppose I will take my leave now.” He bowed slightly to them. “I wish you luck. May the goddesses protect you.”
As soon as he straightened up again, Lydia jumped forward and pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you for everything,” she said.
“Huh?”
“Yes,” Link agreed. “I know I had my doubts about you, but truly, we couldn’t have gotten this far without your help. So, thank you.”
Gordon patted Vaati on the back and nodded his agreement.
When Lydia finally let him go, he stepped back to take one last look at his new friends. He couldn’t help but feel sad. After he left this place, he would never see them again. But this was the way it had to be. He had a lot of wrongs to make up for, and they had to go back to where they belonged and fight for their kingdom. He just hoped that what little he had been able to do would help them in the end.
Vaati started to turn, but stopped when he heard Lydia’s cheerful words.
“See you in the history books!”
Indeed, Vaati thought, chuckling to himself. He turned around and started to walk away from the ruins, not looking back again. He was turning his back on his old ways. Even after all he had done, fate had given him a second chance. When he found his way back to town, he was going to start a new life. He resolved to always follow the example of the remarkable people he had met today that had helped him turn his life around.
The young man disappeared over the top of a nearby hill, and was gone.