The Revival of Shadow Link

22:

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Vio said, shoving my face in his neck and resting his chin on the top of my head.

He was sitting cross legged on the ground inside our tent and everyone else was asleep. He had made me sit in his lap—not that I was complaining—and he was still hugging me.

"Vio, you didn't do anything, it was just..."

"Just what?" He pulled away slightly and made me look up at him and he was so concerned. "It's okay if I was bothering you, maybe I said something, I-I-I don't even remember what I said, I was just so worried I lost you already, I don't want to lose you again."

"He's going to harm you. Can't you see? Believe me, harm is inevitable," the voice said. "You're doing this to yourself."

"It's Vaati," I admitted.

"Fool. He's going to think you're insane. Remember what he said? 'I was just so worried I lost you already.' You're his plaything. He has every intention of losing you at a later date, he's holding onto you for fun."

"What about him, Shadow?" Vio asked softly, cupping my cheek.

"Go ahead! Tell him! Witness what happens and rue it for the rest of your miserable existence, I hope he stabs you with that damned sacred blade."

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. "He... He said I died, I didn't believe him. I think he brought me back somehow. Without the Dark Mirror. He spent so much time pretty much interrogating me, wanting answers about you guys. He must have known that I didn't know everything about you he wanted to, but he didn't care, and every time I couldn't give him and answer or if it was an answer he didn't like, he...would stab me, threaten to kill me, remind me that I was at his nonexistent mercy. Several times, he..."

"It's okay, you don't need to tell me," He whispered.

"He made me think that you guys had lost. That you failed to defeat Ganon. And he said that at any moment he could drag you down to where I was and kill you in front of me." I swallowed, and the voice started again.

"I clearly misspoke. They hadn't lost, as I'm sure you've figured out by now. But they were going to, you are going to. And then I promise you, Shadow Link, I will kill him in front of you. I'll make him suffer, I'll make him beg for mercy, nothing will remain of any of you when I'm done."

I swallowed again and spoke up, "and he's been communicating with me somehow."

"What?"

"I can hear his voice inside my head."

"What does he say?"

"Just now, he said that you guys were going to lose against him and that he was going to kill you." His eyes were wide with fear and he was caressing my cheek.

"Oh, be specific with him. Tell your lover that I have every intention of making him plead for his end. Say I'm going to make it the longest, most agonizing experience of his life, and that his life is going to be cut very short. Tell him."

He kissed my forehead. "Whatever he's telling you right now, I promise everything's going to be okay. He'll be stopped. Do you think he know about what's going on around you?"

Vaati was laughing. "I do. I need to know what's happening with my puppet, because that's all you are. I can hear every word you say and every word everyone else around you says. I know exactly what you are doing right now and who you are with. ...And I know about the princess."

But how?

"I also know that you have one less person than you should. Better do a head count."

I paled and looked back up at Vio. "Where are the others?"

"In their tents," he said. "Why...?" He must have realized why.

Remember how last chapter ended?