Bittersweet Seduction

Bittersweet Seduction: A TLoZ Fanfiction

Chapter 1: Link

            An Icy-cold wind blew steadily over the shadowy roof of the Dark Hyrule Castle. Two figures were all that could be clearly seen in the waning sun.

            The first figure, a bloodied and battle-stricken ten-year-old boy, pushed himself to his knees. His closed eyes opened, showing the fatigue of a long and hard struggle. His deep blonde hair had become matted with sweat and tears. Several fresh wounds had been bleeding, staining his grass-green tunic.

            The second figure walked up to him. In sharp contrast, he was all purple, from his dark violet clothing to his straight, lilac hair. Unlike the first figure, he had no signs of a battle. He looked as though he had merely been a bystander, yet both of them knew better. His one visible red eye gleamed with victory as he kneeled down.

            “Pathetic” Vaati stated simply. He was almost at eye level with Link now, and something in his smirk showed that he wasn’t done with the beaten hero.

            “Although” The sorcerer continued in a dark voice, “It would be a shame to lose one so…” He paused to take Link’s chin in his long fingers, “…tempting”

            Link looked up. Something didn’t seem right. He’d never seen Vaati act this way before. As he struggled to sit up, all he could do was helplessly stare ahead. He was too weak to do anything else.

            “So… instead…” Vaati’s smirk twisted into a malicious grin as he said some incantation in Picorean. His right hand, the free one, became alit with ferocious, violet flames. They hardly burned, however, and he moved his hand to the side of Link’s exposed neck.

            As the fire touched his skin, Link felt as though he was going to be ripped apart. The burning sensation spread like electricity through his entire body, and for a second it felt as though Link was even seeing them.

            “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!”

His skin began to numb from the pain as Vaati traced a symbol onto his neck that resembled fire itself. Link could barely feel by now as he felt Vaati finish with an elaborate “V” in the center of the mark. Once the mage finished, Link nearly fainted, weakened by his wounds and the strange fire.

            Vaati stood up, satisfied. “Instead,” he repeated, this time with a lighter voice, “I’ll mark you. You will crave the pain” He focused his capturing gaze from the fresh mark to Link’s denim-blue eyes. “That way… you will always know when I am near.”

            Link gingerly touched the mark left by the fire. It still stung. Through the pain, he could barely hear what Vaati had been saying.

            Vaati smirked again, and turned his back on Link. After, that he turned back only enough to glance at the hero. “Until we meet again, Link” He whispered, and then vanished, leaving nothing behind but a violet wisp of wind and the burn on Link’s neck.

(*^*)Five Years Later (*^*)

            Link was fishing in Lake Hylia. So far, he’d had little luck. That hadn’t lowered his spirits any, however.

            “Link!” called a familiar, carefree voice. Link looked up to see the Princess Zelda walking up to him. Her golden hair caught the light of the sun, making it glow with an inhylian beauty.

            “Oh, hey Zelda.” Link muttered absentmindedly, and cast the fishing rod again.

            Zelda cleared her throat. “Um… your bandage?” She tried to catch Link’s attention by waving a small first-aid kit in front of him.

            Link came out of his daze. “Eh? …oh! Right!” he giggled softly, embarrassed. Every week for the past five years, Zelda had had to refresh the bandage on his neck. Even now, it continued to bleed. It hadn’t been enough to kill him, but it was still an annoyance.

            Zelda’s sweet smile faded. “Are you okay, Link?”

            “Uh?” Link had started to daze off already as Zelda began to measure and cut the gauze. “I- I’m fine.”

            Thinking about the scar had brought him to remember something he hadn’t thought about before. Today, June 18, was the exact fifth anniversary of the Picori Festival where the sorcerer Vaati had turned Zelda to stone and nearly killed her. Even though it had been a long time since he had seen Vaati, something about what he had said that evening had stayed in his mind…

            “That way… you will always know when I am near.”

            Link shook his head. Everything would be fine. Vaati was long gone… as far as he knew.

            Apparently, however, Link’s knowledge did not go very far…

            “Link!” Zelda called again. Link snapped back to reality. Zelda held the piece of gauze in her hands. Carefully she wrapped it around his neck, and used a clip to fasten it in place.  “There! All finished!” she declared.

            Link smiled. Ah… Zelda… my childhood friend. She’s always nice and sweet to me, despite me being a commoner. I love her…

            Zelda picked up the first aid kit, and began to leave, waving casually behind her.

            …like a sister.

(*^*) That night (*^*)

            Link walked up to the door to his tree-house. After climbing up and in, he declared, “I’m home!”

            There was no response. “Oh… right. I… live alone” he muttered. For a moment, it seemed as though a shroud of chilling emptiness seemed to envelop him.

            “Eh…hehe…” he tried to shake the feeling as he pulled off his dark green tunic. It seemed somewhat tedious each night to remove so many layers, he figured, as he removed the chainmail underneath, leaving nothing but a white undershirt and tights.

First came off the shirt, revealing his semi-muscular build. It was often hard to tell he was a hero, considering there were few signs that he did much work at all. Afterwards he rolled down the thick tights that he always wore under his tunic. They were somewhat tough, as to provide extra protection. They rarely did that, as could be seen by the many scars on his legs. None of them, however, compared to the one on his neck, which always seemed to pulse with a purple glow. 

Some minutes had passed while Link slipped on a pair of pajamas and a top, both green yet decorated with mini golden Triforces. The top had a larger gold Triforce, with the word “courage” written underneath it. 

Link took a second to stretch, emitting a soft but open yawn as he did. It was almost ten o’clock. He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up on top of him. It did not take very long before he was sound asleep.

(*^*) Midnight that night (*^*)

            Link was fully dressed again. He had no clue where he was, except that it was very dark. He saw nothing but shadows, and at the front of it all… Vaati.

            Vaati looked exactly as he had last time Link had seen him. The scar on Link’s neck burned with uncontrollable fire.

            “Don’t try to run, Link. You know you can’t resist…” Vaati’s voice was much different. It was lighter, softer, and somewhat… ethereal. Now that Link noticed, he looked different, too. He seemed only half there, faded out.

            He was confused. Where was he? The sky was not the vivid blue he knew, but a dark red-orange. So many shadows surrounded him, but Vaati’s was the only one that was clear.

            “I marked you so that I’d find you again. Now Link… come to me…” Vaati’s voice was… almost soothing. Something didn’t seem right.

            Link tried to talk, but the pain at his throat was too much. He had no idea what to do.

            “Come, Link… come… to me….”

            Link awoke in a sweat. He sat up immediately. He had heard it. That last time… that last sentence had seemed so unmistakably real. He tried to shake it, No… I’m acting crazy… Vaati’s gone…

            His throat did feel dry, however, “I… just need a glass of… water” he muttered to himself. He stood up and started to cross the floor.

            Just a few steps away from the bed, however, the scar exploded with fire. The pain was too much. It shot through him, burning every inch of him. Link fell to his knees, desperately groping the scar with all the hope that his fingers could extinguish it. The gauze burned and the remaining ashes fell off, sprinkled black onto his pajamas.  

            Link finally found the will to think after the initial pain numbed his neck. He didn’t burn, but oddly enough the pain was still there. For a minute, he had forgotten all about the dream. Something was familiar, but he couldn’t recall what.

            Then it hit him. The scar! Vaati said- Link realized. If it’s burning… he must be near… He struggled to comprehend this new info. Then, just as the fire at his neck began to die down, he heard it.

            “Hehehe… we meet again, Link” Leaning against the doorway was Vaati. He looked comfortable, although he had changed considerably. His light, silvery-purple hair had darkened over time to form a dark plum color, and now nearly reached his waist rather that the elbow-length Link recalled. Vaati’s hat and cape were gone. Now he appeared to have traded his trademark tunic for a short-cut violet shirt that ended a few inches shy of his belly button.

            His voice, though, sounded almost exactly as it had in Link’s dream. It was lighter and somewhat ghostly, yet deeper than the childlike voice he had possessed years ago. Hearing it almost comforted some part of the hero.

Link was too shocked and confused to say anything. Vaati, however, emitted a low laugh. Strangely, it seemed to be the only thing about him that had scarcely changed. It was now much deeper, like his voice, but had the same quality that made Link suspicious. Before Link could say anything, Vaati walked over to the shocked teenager, and smirked.

“I hope you didn’t miss me.”