If I choose not to die? If I choose not to die... If I choose to "live"... I have to submit to Shadow either way... Either way I have to give Dark up to Shadow? All this because... Vaati, a psychopath with no means of reason, has decided that I must die because out of defense... I wounded him?

My brows scrunched, pained. The feeling of my emptiness only seeming to broaden into a black hole of indecisiveness. "What...?" I mouthed as my hands raised to my head, running through my bangs to comfort me in this predicament. Offer Dark up because you... You're worried... because he has access to these "powers" that can ultimately destroy the world? What are the means to this, anyway? He couldn't. He couldn't possibly destroy an "entire world". What sort of power with actual common ground is capable of... Why?! Why would Dark be able to do such a thing?! What would...

"What?! What are you guys talking about?!" Zelda scoffed. "Vaati? Dark? Link... What? The end of the world? That's absurd!" She shook my arm, desperately. "What?! What's going on?! Can you explain, Shadow? None of this makes ANY sense!" I could hear her panicking through my swollen cloud of anxiety, begging me to get out of my mood and speak.

Shadow's voice lingered with a sigh. "Sure. I can explain." I watched his hand fall to the crystal ashtray and tap the small crisps of the burnt tobacco into it, immediately crushing the cigarette into a deformed shape with its black dust and all. "First, you need to understand that Dark has these powers... even though, you may have never noticed. I am unsure why Dark rarely uses these powers, but... I'm quite sure Link has seen it before... A few times, actually."

"W-Well... Link's told me before... that..." Hesitation, but words drew back out. "Dark can... manipulate portals. That's what I'm somewhat struggling at grasping, exactly... but..."

Shadow drew forward. "Yes. Yes, Dark can manipulate portals... But, these are very unique portals, if I do say so myself..." He collected his breath. "See..." He sighed of frustration. "Portals are... well, there are two types of portals: a portal that can take one through walls and ceilings, and a... very special portal that, well, in simple terms, I guess, has a special connection to dimensions, allowing the user to quite literally enter other dimensions."

Quite literally another dimension: meaning another world, right? I rolled my eyes to Zelda's hand that held my own.

"So..." Zelda's voice stirred. "Dark can manipulate... this special portal? You're saying that he can just... vanish... and enter another... dimension or..." She didn't understand her words one bit. Her mouth and ears weren't connecting with what she knew—this was foreign to her. Although, I'm not sure what to say about myself either.

"Yes and no..." Shadow answered, grumbling. "Dark..." He released an exhausted sigh. "Even though it depends on the user on what ability out of the two types of portals they can use—typically only one is available—Dark is capable of using both."

Asking more: "How does it depend on the..."

Shadow interrupted. "By how powerful the magic user is... Everyone's born different. Everyone is born with their own strengths and weaknesses, but, usually... you don't find someone with two-part abilities. It is rare to find someone with two-part abilities unless... Well... the user goes on their own line to receive; although, even if they receive it's still incredibly unlikely."

"So... what would Dark have to do to... receive? How is it possible that he has, uh... a 'two-part ability'?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Well..."

My scowl peeled. "Just how powerful is Vaati, though? And, what about yourself, Shadow? Can't you manipulate anything? You know a whole lot about this topic."

Those cold aquas made their way back to me like a snake—yet only a transition from serious to something aggravating. His smirk gripped. "Well, Link... As you know, Vaati has quite interesting powers. You've seen them before—"

"Nearly killing me, yes. Yes, I have, Shadow; and you know, Shadow, I don't completely trust you." My eyes dimmed. "Why don't you explain to me? Why can't you explain why AND how Dark's going to destroy this world?! What's with the portal? What about Vaati? And, what do YOU have to say about yourself, anyway?! What do you and Vaati not have?! What do you want from me, exactly, and how do you plan on getting me to even trust you after what you've..." I stopped myself—my blazing eyes settling away, catching the first sight of Zelda. The first frustrated scoff of my shaky mind released from me, and I shuddered. Who is there to really trust if I'm just going to die anyway? I began to get hooked up on this idea.

I heard his breath draw and a moment later his voice came. "I understand. Really, I do." The sudden change in his tone alarmed me. The smooth roll—yet I still felt deceived... I wasn't sure if it was stubborn behavior or if it was true that he was false towards me. The disguise he wore. It was similar to Vio's tone. "I've felt the exact same as you. I... well... still do, actually..." He sighed, sending his gaze elsewhere. "I feel vulnerable. I have so many questions, and I don't get many answers. I'm still trying to settle my predicament. I feel stuck in this world, and... since Dark's gone..."

"I'm not..." My head shook, and my widen eyes wandered. I moved away from Zelda, taking my hand to massage the tension in my palms. "I'm not... I'm not handing Dark over to you! I won't allow it! I'm not doing it! If Dark came back... I wouldn't hurt him... I wouldn't—I couldn't, I couldn't..." I heaved my breath. "I couldn't do that!" I cried, exasperated from my tangled thoughts and his words as everything became jumbled up in my head and my stomach, twisting into more knots. I couldn't betray him like that!

I wanted to leave! I couldn't stand this anymore! I held my tears back, but how long would that last?! With the thoughts I was fed, and Shadow's words serving as a catalyst, I became delirious and vulnerable that even Zelda couldn't contain me and only made my reactions worsen. But, what was there to argue? I'm overreacting? They might as well kill me! If Dark can't come back... But, what about Zelda? My brows scrunched in stress but loosened my face.

Shadow's face stiffened. "I'm not going to kill him. I just want what I asked for. I want him to give me back what he's stolen from me!" His eyes narrowed. "He shot you in the arm, right? You saw him go. This has happened before... You've seen that portal at least twice now, Link. That portal—"

My brows rose, and my eyes narrowed in thought as something came to mind. "No..." Shadow... I didn't see him at the wedding, but there was Vaati. Vaati is the only reason why Shadow would know anything, but... I shot Vaati... I weakened him... He had to have... gotten away in a panic... So, how would Shadow know if DARK shot ME?! There couldn't have been...

"No?" His brows drew, befuddled. "No, what? You didn't see—"

My lip dropped. "Vaati...." I mumbled in thought. He knew I was at the hospital. Shadow knew I was the hospital, and he knew I was shot. But, he knew I was shot by Dark; yet, I didn't see him! I was stalked, but the question is really: was he there? Was Shadow there at the scene? Although, that idea seemed impossible. That couldn't be right. Shadow would've done something, right...? There was just one other factor, though... At that scene... when Dark tried to put a bullet into my head, Vio saved the action, stopping him—was it Vio that stopped him?

My head tilted, eyeballing him. "It was Vaati."

His brows fussed. "Link..." He scoffed. "Dark isn't..."

The glasses clashed behind the bar, the opening sign flickered its light through the window, and the crystal ashtray sparkled in the neutral light from the sun outside tauntingly. The subliminal message gave me suspicion to that "glove". The manipulated, "artificial" scene. The conversation he wanted. A scene just too perfect and so "serene".

My eyes met with the working bartender once more, finding him cleaning the spots in a glass, but I wondered how long he's been cleaning that glass since Zelda had asked if the bartender ever pays attention to the news... wondering if he'd flicker up to our conversation. It was the bartender.

My lips firmed. "You said that... 'It was Vaati'. You said that a few minutes ago." I kept my eye on him. "What did you mean by that?" I asked.

The silence hissed for a moment, but the look in his aquas sharpened, collecting a new frontier to himself—a new perception. They glimmered, but he scoffed, brightening those eyes with deception. "Vaati..." He nodded off to the bartender. "Vaati is..."

I bit my lip. "Where is he? Vaati? You're holding him back, right? Where is he?" I scoffed. "Actually, how? How are you holding him back? I know he would..." Vaati would kill me with every chance. He would! What would stop him?!

Shadow sighed and turned back to me, moving the violet hair from out of his face. "I'm holding Vaati back from you. How I'm doing that doesn't concern you, and it's simply unimportant. So, whatever you think of it, it doesn't matter. I'll manage Vaati as you manage Dark, and if you think about it, we're both doing ourselves a favor. Vaati won't kill you... and since you can control Dark well... everything will settle in place as long as you communicate to Dark."

My brows furrowed. As long as I communicate to Dark?! Meaning: how I persuade him into coming back and offering him to you?! My temper rose. "But... HOW you hold Vaati back MATTERS to me because you SAID you won't be able to RESTRAIN him much longer! Right?! And, how much time is that?! Does it matter how LONG it takes for me to get Dark back?! How LONG it will take me to bring him to you even IF I DO?!" I exclaimed. "Vaati is just going to kill me no matter what, right?! I mean, how is it possible that I, myself... HOW AM I GOING TO BRING DARK BACK...?! You and Vaati have something I don't have, right... You..."

"You're the only one Dark listens to." he objected.

"So, I capture him, I influence him, I betray him, and you two use him?" I glared, my eyes glowing. "Vaati is a criminal, Shadow. He is. He is a criminal. And, Dark..."

Shadow took a deep breath and released a shaky laugh as his face contorted with distaste. "Oh, we're all criminals, Link! And, so are we all victims! Each of us... All of us... You, me, Zelda, Vaati... We're all victims to Dark. I've waited for too long. Five years and I've only suffered from this TORTURE! I've watched him use you. All he's ever done is cloud you of the truth and completely manipulate you. Dark is the villain, and he has completely lost his mind—he corrupted it on his own free will!" His eyes narrowed. "You can say whatever you want, Link. You can believe whatever, but, Vaati... is the only source there is, and you're the only one who can influence Dark. Dark isn't stable, Link!"

I froze... bewildered by his words. His dramatic expression of contorted rage and pain could only reveal a man who has gone through such suffering with the intent want for vengeance. Almost as if... possibly Dark had scarred him. But, could this be a facade? It seemed too real, however... It was the anguish on his face and his scratchy throat. But, on the matter of Dark... as the villain... I could understand that Dark could be unstable—Zelda would fully agree... But, to understand that he's "completely lost his mind..." with the corruption from his own free will... it didn't wrap around my mind. The Dark I knew was beginning to seem like someone... who was distant. Maybe I haven't truly recognized the signs, but, maybe Dark is someone... completely someone else... Some person I don't know... Yet, there was the question I had in late June before the wedding... Vio had brought me to question why Dark lived with us... and, I froze up with no response... only being able to adjust that... I simply couldn't remember... Even though it had been... two years.

I thought long and hard for a moment, however, but, I didn't know what to say. I began to wonder if... I could trust Dark. I really wanted answers, though... I wanted to understand... "How has Dark... How has he 'corrupted his mind out of his own free will'?" My heart skipped a beat in asking that question. How is that?

Only silence, though. It stung the air, leaving an eerie feeling of panic inside me. Shadow's expression remained of distaste as if in thought—complex thought—leaving more to wonder and ask and doubt. I felt as if I were being swallowed by suffocating dry air.

Although, Zelda's melodious, yet stern voice charmed in. "Shadow... I'm just curious... But, why does Dark bother you? I mean, he is a jerk... I am aware... I mean... he's always been..." A tired sigh came out from her. "an asshole... He gets weird with his emotions sometimes... He can get real dramatic, and then sometimes he's distant for... sometimes a week."

Shadow rolled his eyes with a bobbing nod, releasing his tense breath. "Yes... an asshole." He scoffed quietly, tugging a smirk. "A defiant asshole who can't follow any simple orders because he wants to get ahead of himself and follow some SELFISH drive...! For his disobedience, he would be one to be executed because for someone to go completely out of line..."

"Stop..." I murmured, widening my eyes, changing my stance.

Shadow scoffed. "Look, Link... Just, for once... look at it from another perspective! I'm sure you're aware that Dark is completely unstable. You can't trust someone like that... and... I'm sure you don't want to hear me speaking ill of him since he's not here, but..."

I took a deep breath, attempting to keep my composure, but dry air escaped me, and I felt incredibly weak... strained. I felt tired... mentally exhausted suddenly. "You haven't answered any of my questions, Shadow... I asked you several questions already, and... I'm not... getting anything. How am I supposed to trust you? If I can't trust anyone who knows anything... what's the point? You've done things to me. All you do is talk bad about Dark, and, I don't think you understand how..." My lips closed, and slowly, I looked away to the bar.

Shadow's tone rose sharply, "This is a serious predicament, Link! I do NOT want to take this lightly, and YOU of all people should understand. This is at the cost of your life... and—"

An irritated grin formed across my face. "Cost of my life? Why? Because I shot Vaati in the eye?" I eyeballed him, and I saw the distortion occur in his face, rippling up with inner rage... Then, once I saw Zelda turn towards me with shock, my smile faded, and I began to stand up from the booth; although, I kept my eyes on Shadow... I wouldn't drop that—keeping it sincere. "I don't regret it, actually... I'll be real honest with you. After getting fucking beaten by that asshole and getting thrashed against the wall, and my fucking hand... It felt great since I was finally able to get away." I sighed and looked down at Zelda... She wasn't going to move... She didn't believe me... or maybe she did... So, I climbed over the booth, safely maneuvering over the other side to head towards the bar.

"So, what are you leaving?" I could hear the sour attitude in his words... They echoed disgust—I bet his face was painted in the nice colors of disgust... Greens... browns... Blues? Lovely colors.

"No... I'm not," I responded. I turned over to them, but I didn't face Shadow. "I was thinking of actually getting drunk, though. Maybe some fucking tequila will do!" The sarcastic tone in my voice, though, was deceiving. Getting drunk and laying back for a while sounded like a splendid idea. Although, it was curiosity from the two, wondering if I'll actually be that dumb. But, I was tired?

"Link!" Zelda shouted angerly. "Don't be that dumb! Come back here... It's too early to get drunk! Link!" Although, I was already making my way to the bartender. The bartender who cleaned the glasses... The bartender who was suspected of the horrible crime of not watching the news—not receiving the notable events, weather, and sports because what was it to him?

I faced the bartender. I sat across from him on one of the many barstools, and I found him cleaning the spots in a glass... Although, what was peculiar was the fact the glass seemed spotless, sparkling in the light... flaunting its cleanness in the neutral sun's light... However, he continued to rub the cloth into the glass as if... still dirty.

Zelda's voice ruffled with unease. "Link, could you please..."

I narrowed my eyes, observing the bartender... He was an old man... and he didn't seem to notice me. His gnarled hands only scrubbed with the use of the soft cloth to remove the nonexistent spots... There was something vacant about his appearance, though, that dropped me off guard.

A smirk pulled on me. "So, what's wrong with the bartender, Shadow?" I didn't move my head, and only watched the bartender's rhythm. Somehow, it seemed to be a repeated motion. He'd scrub a few times and then he'd stop for a moment... only to repeat the motion again... and again once more.

Silence whispered clarifying Shadow's presence in the room—he had nothing to say. Absolutely nothing. There was nothing to say but nothing. Was there? But, there was to ask what was behind the curtain. And, what was the trap? Was there a trap?

Although, since I got no response... I got an idea that occurred to me. Shadow's been saying it all along. It's part of the reason why he brought me here. There was only one answer. I stood up from the seat and decided I had to end the repeated rhythm. I grasped the glass from the old man, taking it from his weak hold, and threw the glass onto the ground, calling the sound. The glass clashed with the ground, calling upon the deadly, jagged burden—the solid, light reflecting, clear knives—to slam right down onto the floor and cripple.

The glass had spoken.

The silence occurred.

The curtains spread.

The old man's dull eyes emanated with a purple haze, calling my eyes to widen in fear.

Shadow's voice came clearly. "Mind Control Type B."

It was... indirectly Vaati.