Legend of Zelda ~ Sealed Away

Dark Servant

In a dark structure, camouflaged by shadows and not easily noticeable to the untrained eye, a hidden dungeon lay in wait of a victim to succumb to it's daunting puzzles. Inside, at the heart of the temple, a gerudo man stood in an empty room waiting for his servant to return bringing new information. Impatiently he drummed his fingers and looked around, wishing for a way to pass the time. Suddenly, a new figure burst into the room with news to bear.

"Shadow," said the gerudo man. "What took you so long? I sent you out yesterday, and it's been hours since then. Surely checking to see if there were any boss monster survivors shouldn't have taken that long?" He arched an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

"Many apologies, Lord Ganon," Shadow Link replied, slightly inclining his head in respect as he spoke. Shadow wouldn't admit that the respect he was displaying was forced, or that he wanted nothing more then to rip Ganon's throat out then and there. Of course, he had to pretend he was still loyal to his master. "I checked for any boss monsters who might have survived their battle with Link as you instructed, but unfortunately it seems as though all of them have been killed and disposed of."

"Even Helmaroc?" Ganondorf questioned. "He was our strongest, I was certain he would have survived."

"No, my Lord," Shadow said regretfully. "Actually, he was alive when I came to check for him atop Death Mountain. It was all rather odd, the series of events that occurred next, and I'm sure you will be very interested in what I've got to say." Looking at Ganon, who made a gesture for him to carry on speaking, Shadow continued with his tale.

He recounted how he had reached the top of the mountain to speak with Helmaroc when Vaati appeared with a girl. He mentioned that the three had a brief exchange and then fought to the death, Vaati managing to defeat Helmaroc.

By the end of Shadow's explanation, Ganon was practically speechless. "How is that possible?" He demanded, confusing and anger evident in his words. "I thought we had gotten rid of Vaati already! I didn't 'team up' with him and send him to battle Link first because I wanted him to win and survive! There's only room for one villain, and that's me! I thought Link had defeated Vaati, after which I went into hiding, so why has he returned?"

"I was curious as to why that was as well," Shadow began. "You see, the reason I took so long in returning is because I stayed behind to spy on Vaati and the girl he was fighting alongside. By sticking around and listening to the conversation they had with each other in the morning, I learned some things that answer your questions."

"Apparently, Vaati was defeated by Link and given a chance at redemption. He told the girl he was with that the goddesses themselves promised to forgive him for his crimes if he in turn promised to complete three specific tasks. It sounded like defeating Helmaroc was the first of these tasks, and it seems to me as though he no longer wants to be evil but has had a change of heart and now wishes to become good."

"Why, we can't let that happen," Ganon said, still trying to get over the initial shock of his newfound knowledge. "One hero is bad enough, and knowing Vaati he won't want to stop at forgiveness and becoming a normal person. No, he always goes over the top in all that he does, so if he wants to be good I'm certain he'll stop at nothing short of heroic. Link is difficult enough to deal with, so imagine what would happen if we had to start dealing with Vaati as well."

"You're right, my Lord," Shadow said in reply. "So what do you think we should we do about it?"

"I want you to go do some more snooping around," Ganon stated. "Find out what his second task will be, because if we find out what it is maybe we could add to its difficulty somehow." He finished with a thoughtful look on his face, as though contemplating something.