Chapter Fifteen: Ian's Farewell

Once back at the tower, Ian sat on the couch while levitating slightly. He was in lotus position and meditating. He kept this up for over two hours; we were all beginning to worry. Vaati was now sealed inside of Ian, more specifically within his soul, and just like before, Ian had to keep himself calm in order to keep the demon's evil power from taking control of him. Before though, only a portion of Vaati's power had affected him. Now, all of Vaati's power was imprisoned within him, so he had to keep an even tighter hold on his emotions. By the next day, he was still in the same position, and we were all gathered around him.

"Is Ian going to be okay?" I asked.

"Don't worry. He's trying to keep himself calm. It's just… Ian's not used to having to control Vaati's full power, and it's taking longer for him to adapt to it." Raven implied.

A moment later, Ian's eyes opened, and he descended back onto the couch. Raven asked if he had everything under control. Ian put his hand upon the mark on his forehead and sighed.

"I'm in control, but… it's really hard to keep Vaati back. I feel like the slightest thought will cause me to lose it, and I feel like it's only going to get worse." Ian said.

Raven took Ian's hand in hers and told him not to worry; that if Ian continued his mental training, that everything would be okay. Ian, however, did not look very assured. Everything that Vaati had done, how he possessed Ian, tortured us, and nearly destroyed the city, Ian felt like it was all his fault.

"Raven… I hate to say this, but… I don't think your lessons are going to be enough. And I feel like as long as I'm here, it is going to be even difficult to stay in control." Ian said sadly. "I have to go somewhere else… somewhere where I'll be able to focus on staying in control, and where I won't be a threat to anyone."

Ian had to leave? But we had only met him about two weeks ago! Besides, where would he go where he could get better mental training than here? Apparently, Raven had the answer; she mentioned Azarath, the place where she grew up. Ian and the rest of us were curious, so Raven told us more.

"I was born in Azarath. It is a city suspended in a dimension of eternal twilight. It is also where I was trained to control my emotions." She told us. "I could take Ian there, but… if I do, then we might not see him for a while."

"It sounds like the best option. If I stay here as I am now, I will only cause more trouble." Ian replied.

Raven nodded, and went off to her room to get something that could open a portal to Azarath. We all gave each other looks of uncertainty. Ian was really going to go to another dimension to train? Robin hadn't even given Ian a communicator yet, and besides, after all they have been through wouldn't Raven miss him? Actually, I'm pretty sure that we would all miss him.

"Are you sure about this Ian? I mean, I can understand wanting to stay in control, but… moving to another dimension?" Robin asked him.

"Yeah, that seems a bit extreme to me." Cyborg said.

"You should not be so hasty to leave, Ian. For all you know, being away from your friends could make your situation worse!" Starfire claimed.

"It's my best option right now. Besides, if I did lose control there, at least I wouldn't be harming any of you." Ian replied.

The others still had worried looks on their faces, and Starfire was trying to come up with another reason for him to stay. Before she could come up with anything I interrupted her, saying that if Ian felt that this was what he had to do, that we shouldn't stop him. Starfire did not like the idea, but she agreed.

"I only regret that the Four Sword was destroyed. Well… at least it's power is still within me." Ian said disappointingly.

"Actually, that's not entirely true…" I said.

Ian and the others questioned what I meant. What I meant was that while the sword was broken, it wasn't gone, because I had managed to retrieve the shattered parts of it before we defeated Vaati. I pulled them out of my pack and held them out for everyone to see. Ian's eyes widened, no doubt glad to see that his family heirloom hadn't been lost forever.

"It's still broken, but I bet that with enough time, Cyborg might be able to fix it." I told him.

"Well… I've never worked with swords before, but I'll give it a shot!" Cyborg replied.

Ian claimed that that was wonderful. It would take some time, but there was a chance that if we got the Four Sword fixed that we might be able to re-seal Vaati into it, and Ian wouldn't have to act as Vaati's prison anymore. It was a stretch, but it could work. A minute later, Raven came back into the room carrying a bottle of sand-like substance in one hand, and a very old looking book in the other.

"This is the Book of Azar. Within it's pages is one of the only known spells that can open a portal to Azarath." Raven said.

She then poured the sand out of the bottle and formed a circle upon the floor. Both Raven and Ian stepped into the portal; Ian told her that he was ready. Raven opened the book and placed her hand on it.

"One last thing before I go…" Ian told us. "Can you let my brother know where I'm going? He probably won't care too much, but he should still know."

"No problem, man. I'll look into that." Cyborg responded.

After saying our good-byes, Raven chanted an incantation in a language I did not understand. A white portal opened up above them, and a light beam shot down onto them. When the light cleared, they were gone. We knew that Raven would be back soon, but as for Ian, we didn't know when we would see him again.

About five hours had passed since Ian had left with Raven for Azarath, and Raven was still not back yet. I started to worry that she wouldn't be able to get back, but the others assured me that she'd be able to get back fine, and that she was probably just spending a little time with Ian before she had to leave. I guess that would make sense, as Ian and Raven definitely had a thing for each other. With my worries put to rest, I headed back to my room. On the way back though, I ran into Cyborg. He claimed that he had been looking for me.

"Did you need something, Cyborg?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I was thinking, in addition to repairing the Four Sword, I was wondering if I could take a look at your bow too." Cyborg answered.

My bow? I questioned why Cyborg would want to do something with my bow. He mentioned that he noticed how I had run out of arrows so quickly when we were fighting Majora, and said that he wanted to try and upgrade my bow so that I would not need arrows to use it. A bow that could work without arrows? How could that even be possible? He just said that it would be a surprise for me. I was a little confused, but if he was able to make my bow perform better than it did now then I didn't see any problem with him fiddling with it. I went to my room, grabbed my bow, and handed it to Cyborg. He thanked me and patted me on the back, hard enough that it almost knocked me down…again. He then walked off, most likely to his room, saying that I wouldn't regret it.

I once again began walking back to my room. I was about halfway there when I happened to bump into Robin.

"Link. Just the guy I was looking for." He said.

"Uhh… Hi Robin. Is there something I can help you with?" I asked him.

"Yeah. It's about what happened before this whole 'Vaati' incident. When you and Starfire were on that journey together. I'd like to know more about that." Robin answered.

He wanted me to tell him about the journey to the Phantom Island that Starfire and I had? That was a relief; I had thought that this was about the argument that he and I had before that journey began. I went through all of the important details; such as Starfire meeting me at Lanayru's Spring, our journey to Steel City, our voyage upon the S.S. Linebeck, and finally our time on the Phantom Island where Starfire and I happened upon an interesting story. However, I also mentioned the part when Starfire and I were stuck down in the chasm after I had unintentionally removed Majora's Mask from the box it was sealed in. Robin was a little suspicious about that scenario.

"Uh-huh…" Robin responded. "And what happened while you two were stuck in there?"

"Nothing much. Just a conversation about…" I began to say, but quickly cut myself off.

I had remembered that the conversation that she and I had involved the feeling one gets when they are kissed by someone they like; and that Starfire was going to kiss me! Robin's suspicion grew and he told me to 'spit it out'. I stuttered for a moment, trying to think of something else to tell him. I simply told him that it had been a conversation about 'things', and that Majora interrupted us in the middle.

"Starfire was going to kiss you, wasn't she?" Robin asked me, with a big scowl on his face.

"What?! What makes you think that?" I responded nervously.

Robin did not buy my bluff. Had it been that obvious? Apparently, it was. I was sweating nervously; worried about what Robin would do to me for almost kissing his ex-girlfriend. I hastily assured him that nothing had happened between me and Starfire while on the Phantom Island; that she and I simply had an adventure and a friendly conversation. Robin angrily pointed at me and glared.

"Just keep your hands off of her! If I see you lay one finger on her, I'm gonna kick your….!" Robin snarled.

But he was cut off someone else; someone we both knew very well. Starfire had just so happened to overhear us, and was now standing behind Robin. Her arms were crossed and she did not look at all pleased.

"Kick Link's what, Robin?" She questioned him.

At the sound of her voice, Robin immediately turned around to face her, and now he looked nervous. Robin nervously claimed that he was just telling me that he was glad that I had decided to return to the tower. Starfire, however, did not seem to be buying his lie, and still looked rather annoyed. It is very likely that she knew exactly what he was going to say to me.

"You are not fooling me Robin. You were threatening Link again!" She said.

Robin looked a little frightened; even more so when Starfire pointed her finger at him and began to scold him.

"Must I remind you that you and I are done?! You have not the rights to threaten Link! He has done nothing to deserve such treatment! Besides, he happens to be the one who rid us of Slade, who was your person demon! You of all people should be thankful to him for that!" She shouted at him, while her eyes were flaming with green aura in anger.

By now, Robin looked pretty helpless to find a way out of this. I did not like to see friends argue like this. Sure, I had been jealous of Robin because Starfire had been his girlfriend, but I didn't want to make it so that she hated him! I had to do something to stop this!

"Calm down Starfire!" I interrupted. "Robin was just… umm… laying down some of the towers ground rules to me."

"Really?" Starfire asked me, in a tone that betrayed the fact that she wasn't convinced. "Did one of those 'rules' happen to be 'do not come within ten feet of Starfire or I will break your neck?!'"

"Umm… no." I replied, even though that actually was similar to what he was telling me. "He was mentioning something about, umm… not touching his motorcycle."

That was not at all what he had been trying to tell me, and the slightly stupefied look on his face betrayed that. I wonder if he was grateful for me trying to defend him from Starfire's anger, even after he was such a jerk to me; actually it was more like he was confused. Starfire however, even as naive as she is, did not buy it.

"Somehow, I doubt highly that is what he actually said to you. I have not forgotten all of the hurtful things he said to you. I had never imagined that Robin would act like that, especially towards a friend." She remarked.

Afterwards, she grabbed my hand and began to lead me off towards my room, saying that she and I were going somewhere more 'private', and away from any 'Klorbags', which I assumed was an insult aimed towards Robin. Honestly, I was still a bit perplexed by all of this, so I just went with it. Before we left though, she turned her head to Robin and told him one last thing.

"Oh, and Robin? Do not meaninglessly threaten Link again… Or else you will answer to me!" She warned him.

Robin now looked really frightened, and at this point even I was a little scared. Was she actually implying that she would hurt him if he tried threatening me again?! She probably meant something else, but still… it was surprising for me to see her that angry at him.

Once Starfire and I had gotten to my room, she and I sat down on my bed and began another conversation. I was still surprised by how she had behaved towards Robin, and all because of me.

"Link, I am so sorry about how Robin was treating you. You do not need to worry. You can be around me as often as you like." She told me.

She had placed her hand on my shoulder as she said that. I was fortunate to have a friend who cared about me this much, but I still thought that her actions towards Robin were a little extreme.

"It's fine, Kori. But don't you think that you were a bit too harsh on him? I mean, he was only trying to protect you." I told her.

She and I both knew what I had meant by that. Robin no doubt remembered the time when I turned evil and attempted to kill everyone. He must have been worried that it could happen again, and that I may end up hurting Starfire if I am too close to her. Starfire did not seem to care about this, she was going to be my friend no matter what, but I know that even though she had broken up with Robin she still had feelings for him; at least a little. I just hoped that it wouldn't cause me to lose it again.

"I suppose I was rather… loud towards him." Kori agreed. "Do not get me in the wrong, I do still like Robin, just not in 'the way' anymore. Though I do not see why he would want you to stay away from me… other than because of the jealousy."

"He's probably worried that I might lose it again and hurt you. I did turn evil out of my own feelings before. You never know… something like that could happen again. It is actually good judgment; I wouldn't want you to get hurt either." I replied.

She placed her hand on my shoulder again and turned to look at me. Her beautiful green eyes met with my blue eyes, and my heart began to race. Even after that incident, even after everything I have put her and our friends through, she was still here for me; she was willing to take the risk, willing to be friends with… with a monster.

"I do not care if I am at risk of being hurt by your darker half. You are the nicest person I have ever met, Link… and I do not enjoy seeing you being bullied." She told me.

There was a sparkle in her eyes as she said that. She could see that I was blushing, which was not really surprising, I always blush whenever she gets this close to me. I appreciated her kind words.

"Thank you, Kori. That's… nice of you to say." I replied. "I still think you were too hard on Robin, though. It almost looked like you would've hurt him, which of course I know you wouldn't, but still… I think you should go apologize to him."

"Okay. I do not think I can forgive him for the mean things he said to you before, but I will apologize to him for my behavior." She responded.

Before she left though she brought up something else, the very topic that Robin had been questioning me about before.

"That reminds me, Link! I… umm… never finished the… umm… 'demonstration' of the thing that you asked me about while we were on the Phantom Island. Perhaps now we could…?" Kori asked me while smiling very cutely.

"Uhh… Do you mean when you were about to kiss me?!" I questioned nervously. "After everything that has just happened I think that should wait!"

Kori looked disappointed to hear that, but she respected my decision and agreed. Besides, I did not think that this was the right moment for such a thing.

"Oh… all right… Before I go though, may I do one thing?" She asked me.

"Uhh… sure, Kori." I answered. "What is it?"

She did not answer with words, however. She first gazed at me with her eyes slightly parted, which made her look very pretty. Then with barely any warning, she quickly leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek! I blushed again, this time even more than before. Afterwards, she got up and walked out the door while waving good-bye to me. I placed my hand on my cheek, in the same area where she kissed me. It wasn't the same as the kiss that we had almost done on the Phantom Island, but it still felt wonderful. I would've said that I was never going to wash my cheek again, but I knew that I would have to eventually.

That evening, Raven had returned from dropping off Ian in Azarath. Most of us had been gathered in the ops room when she returned, and we were relieved that she had come back safely. We were, however, curious as to why she had taken so long. When we asked her, her answer was exactly what most of us had thought.

"I decided to spend a little time with Ian before I had to leave him in Azarath. I dropped him off with the Azarathian monks. There is no need to worry, Ian is in good hands." Raven told us.

Starfire and I questioned Raven about what she and Ian while they were in Azarath. Raven had a slightly nervous look in her eyes as she answered us, but otherwise she answered us just as calmly as she normally was… well, most of the time. She told us that she had simply given Ian a tour of Azarath, stopped for some refreshments, and then visited the great palace where she dropped off Ian. Knowing Raven she was likely telling the truth, but something was telling me that she and Ian had done just a little more than that. I don't know, maybe Raven had hugged Ian good-bye or something and she just didn't want to tell us. She liked to keep to herself, so I could understand why.

"Cyborg? Did you let Ian's brother know where he went?" Raven asked Cyborg.

"Yeah, I did." Cyborg responded. "And get this: Ian's brother happens to be that goth guy that you've hung out with sometimes."

Raven looked a little surprised by that statement. I didn't know what they were talking about, but they quickly filled me in. Ian's brother was a goth boy that Raven had spent time with on several occasions before, although she and him never had a real relationship. Despite this, Raven admitted that she liked Ian more than his brother. That was good; Raven had clearly developed a close bond with Ian. I just hoped that she would be able to cope with his absence. I didn't need to worry though, as Raven was very good at controlling her emotions, so Ian's absence probably wouldn't affect her too badly.

Before any of us left the room, Cyborg said that he had a surprise for us, particularly for me. He mentioned how he had asked if he could work on my bow earlier, and after hours of working on it he was finally done. He pulled out my bow, which didn't look like a bow at first, more like a small metal tube. But then he pressed a button on its side and the device expanded out on both sides to form a bow coated in metal. We all awed at it; it was impressive, but I noticed that there was no string. How was I going to fire arrows with it?

"I spent all day on this: Link's new and improved bow. Not only is it collapsable and easy to carry, but it can also fire arrows without arrows!" Cyborg claimed.

"It fires arrows without arrows? How does that work?" I inquired.

"Why don'tcha give it a try?" Cyborg responded. "Just place your hand where the string would normally be and make the motion of firing an arrow."

He then handed me my bow. I was about to try it, but Robin quickly stopped me, suggesting that we go to the training room to test it rather than testing it in the ops room. That was a good idea; I didn't want to risk breaking anything important. Once we were all in the training room, I resumed the process of testing my new bow. I raised it towards a wooden target and readied it as if I was aiming an arrow. To my surprise, a small laser shot out in-between the bow, forming a makeshift string. The others were surprised too, all except for Cyborg, who was expecting this to happen. I pulled back on the laser string and a laser arrow formed in-between my fingers. So far, I was liking this, so I let fly the laser arrow right at the target. It hit the target in a manner similar to how a normal arrow would. Everyone was impressed, and Cyborg let out a 'booyah', pleased that this project had worked. Cyborg then suggested that I try firing a few arrows while in spirit mode, so I went into spirit mode and fired a few more arrows. Just like when I had used regular arrows, the laser arrows would change into either fire or ice arrows; changing color to either red or blue depending on the kind of arrow used. Honestly, Cyborg had outdone himself!

"Just remember, every shot drains the bow's power supply. I designed it to recharge if it runs out, but it takes some time to completely refill. So you're still gonna have to be smart when using this bow in battle." Cyborg informed me.

The others wanted to try it too. It did not seem fair for me to be the only one to try it out, so I happily let the others give it a try. Robin, Raven, and Starfire were able to use the bow rather well, but Beast Boy didn't fare so well; missing all but one shot. Of course, none of them were able to shoot fire or ice arrows from it since it could only shoot those because of my spirit mode powers, but they all still had fun with it. After our fun, most of the others left the training room, all except for me and Starfire. I questioned why she had stayed.

"I was hoping that you and I could train together right now. I believe that it is a good idea that you and I get as much practice with our swords as possible, especially since Majora is now on the loose." She claimed.

"Oh. Umm… alright. I'll go get my sword." I replied.

"And I shall go retrieve mine." She replied back.

After we had retrieved our swords, we started our training. Starfire and I were beginning to do this rather often, and whenever we did we always ended up enjoying ourselves. Starfire was getting better at using her Spirit's Sword; she was now able to use it with one hand rather easily. Plus, she had discovered a new power she could use while holding it, which sort of made up for the fact that she couldn't use her regular powers while using the Spirit's Sword. With Majora on the loose though, we now had to be prepared for the worst. Who knows what Majora had in store for all of us.

Meanwhile, in one of the darker corners of the city, in a meeting that none of us witnessed, two figures had appeared to meet; one in the shape of a man, and the other in the shape of a large face with sharp teeth and tentacles coming from behind it. It was Ghirahim and Majora, no doubt discussing their next diabolical plot.

"Well, it appears the plan to resurrect the Wind Mage was a complete failure. Any other ideas, partner?" Ghirahim asked Majora.

"Actually, the true purpose behind the Wind Mage's resurrection did indeed go according to plan." Majora claimed.

"What are you talking about?" Ghirahim questioned.

"My intention was not for Vaati to rise to power, but rather to ravage the land around him; and in doing so, he provided the exact kind of power that I needed to form this!" Majora stated.

Majora then rose up one of his tentacles, and a small dark blue flame appeared on the tip. After flaming for a moment, a dark blue, crystalline shard formed from within the flame. As Majora held it in his tentacle, he began to chuckle evilly. He displayed the shard to Ghirahim, who asked what it was.

"This is a Demon Shard, formed from the suffering brought forth from Vaati's rampage. With this shard, and the one that I created long ago from the destruction of the land of Hyrule, we are now one step closer to our goal." Majora said, while another shard appeared in another of one his tentacles; this one being dark red. "And once our goal has been reached, there will be nothing that the Titans can do to stop us!"

Majora unleashed a laugh of pure insanity; one that could be heard for miles, possibly across several planes of existence. What was Majora planning to do with these Demon Shards? And more importantly, would we be able to stop him from achieving this 'goal' of his?