DECODE

Stella sniffed in the stale air of the Twilight Realm. Another boring day, perhaps with a bit of deviation. She sat up and stretched, sitting in an abandoned alley. There were noises of many footsteps, people talking and shouting, and the usual sounds of a market. Stella stood up and looked around with sleep-laden eyes through her cropped, bright red hair, wondering what she was going to do today. Maybe spy on the other Twili who just did the same thing every day? She snorted to herself. She knew all too well where almost every Twili stepped now. She was even surprised that they hadn't started to wear ruts in the road.

Rubbing the sleepyness from her eyes, she strolled out into the open, looking as red-eyed comuters made their way through the streets without difficulty. Sometimes, for a joke, Stella would trip one of them and all hell would break loose, but she wasn't really up to it today. Instead, she settled herself down on one of the little-used benches and simply watched.

"Oh, there's old Livia. She's off to file some important papers, no doubt," Stella thought to herself. "And there's Zant. He never really does much... And Dusk, she's always scurrying around, probably making trouble as usual. Hey, what is Nevera doing out here? Isn't she usually tailing that stupid princess?" Stella spat at the thought of the Twilight Princess. All that stupid girl did all day was yell at a few servants for not making her soup right, maybe walking around the dull halls of the Twilight Palace for a thrill. Stella got up with a snort.

She was almost startled back into the bench when she saw Zant standing right in front of her. They stood not quite face-to-face, as Zant was several inches shorter than she was. She took a step to the side, a bit intimidated by the short Twili.

"Um, hi?" Stella stuttered.

"Come with me, I have something interesting that I bet you would want to hear," was all that Zant said before grabbing Stella's hand and dragging her across the street and into a different alleyway. This one was darker, and through the darkness Stella could see Zant's unusual pupils glow. They weren't like a regular Twili's, she noticed, but an orangey-yellow color with black outlines. She was jerked out of her thoughts when Zant spoke again.

"So, you dislike the Twilight Princess, too?" he asked.

"What? What do you mean?" Stella replied, shocked.

"Of course you dislike her."

"Well, yeah. But how did you know?"

"That's not important. What IS important is that I have a plan to stop all this monotony going on here. I'm forming a... group. You'd be the first to join, but with some help it can grow bigger. Meet me by the edge of the Twilight Palace this afternoon, and start telling people about this group," Zant said in a somewhat rushed way.

"Um, yeah, sure. I'll get some people," was all that Stella could say in reply.

"Good." And with that, Zant turned and disappeared in a flurry of sleeves and tassels.

-----

Dusk ran through the ranks of other Twili, all scurrying on errands or off to work, with a huge grin on her face. "Excuse me! Pardon me! Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to step on your toe! Sorry!" she yelled as countless Twili yelled rude remarks at her. Her bright orange hair was tied up in two long pigtails, and was streaming out behind her and accidentally blinding a few Twili as she rushed past, earning her more smart remarks. Her bright red tank-top was a flash of unexpected color in the dull Twilight Realm, and her grey shorts jingled as she ran. They were clothes from the Light Realm, she knew, but that didn't stop her from wearing them. She loved everything about the Light Realm, and she was often shunned and ridiculed for it.

"Hey, has anyone seen my sister?!" she yelled to no one in particular.

"Go find her yourself!"

"Scum!"

"Went to the Light Realm yourself, did ya? Traitor!"

More rude phrases were thrown at her, but she didn't care. She just kept running, searching for her missing sister.

-----

Stella was affronted by her new task. How was she going to get other Twili to join Zant's group? She shrugged mentally to herself, slowly forming a plan in her head on how to ask others if they were interested. Deciding to put her new plan to practice, she walked around, asking here and there. Some were not too keen on the idea, and some jumped at the opportunity. She told them all to meet when and where Zant had specified, and then she was done.

By that afternoon, about ten Twili showed up at the Palace, not including Zant and Stella. One, Stella noticed, had bright green hair and pigtails. She didn't know why that hairstyle was familiar to her, but she shrugged off the feeling and listened to what Zant had to say.

Zant cleared his throat to call attention to the eagerly waiting Twili.

"Thank you all for coming today," he said in a less-than-welcoming voice. Zant had never been that social. "I think that all of us gathered here would all agree that all this monotony is getting, well, boring."

This remark was greeted by "Yeahs" and "You bets."

"I think we should grab the ram by the horns and get that stupid princess off the throne!"

"Yeah! She's nothing but a waste of time!"

Zant raised his black hand to silence the crowd of ten.

"Yes, that is exactly my plan. We have been locked up like animals in this realm for too long! No one wants anything anymore, and they are content to slave away for nothing. But not us! We will overcome this, and show the Twilight Realm what it really means to live!" Zant raised his voice. Stella noticed that there was a certain hint in those yellow-orange eyes, like he really didn't care for these people at all. She smiled and cheered with the rest of them, trying to push that thought to the back of her head. Of course he did!

Zant clapped his hands together. "For now, I need every one of you to tell all your friends about this. We're going to need as many people as possible! I need one volunteer to join me now that this session is over, and, Stella, I'll see you after I'm done. We'll meet every other day right here, same time. You are dismissed! I just need one volunteer."

The girl with the bright green pigtails walked up, and Zant lead her away.

Stella couldn't help but shudder. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about this now.