If you have beaten the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, you will see the bittersweet ending where… (SPOILER WARNING STARTING) I advise the people who have yet to beat the game do so, before reading on. If you haven't beaten it yet, you may find yourself confused. For those of you who did beat it, enjoy! (SPOILER WARNING OVER) (START OF SPOILER)Midna was changed back into her original form. Zelda, Link and Midna meet at the mirror chamber. Zelda goes on to say that light and darkness cannot live without each other. Link and Zelda said goodbye to Midna. Midna turned back to say goodbye to Link, and said that she would see Link again, before breaking the mirror. The mirror having only a little power left, sent Midna back to the twilight realm, back to the twili, and breaking the only tie with the light. As I was saying, the ending for me was unsatisfying. Also, it was a little conflicting. Zelda says that darkness and light are two sides of the same coin. If so, why did Midna destroy the mirror? This was a question that I simply could not answer. If light and darkness cannot exist without the other, I told myself that the story could not be over. Even Midna said that Link and her would see each other again. (END OF SPOILER) The following story is the aftermath of the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This is my follow-up story.
Your favorite gamer/writer- 8-Bit
The Legend of Zelda:
The Twilight Princess's Return
Link's job was never done. Rounding up the goats in Ordon was anything but fun. Before his big adventure, rounding the goats was a lot of fun. Now his job couldn't hold a candle to the excitement of turning into the wolf, the intrigue of their story, and the rush of his swordplay. Most of all, he missed Midna. She helped him so many times with the problems that they faced. He still had connections to Zelda. Link would visit Zelda every day, in her room behind the throne room. One day in particular sent Link wondering.
Zelda was in the middle of some paperwork, when Link came by to discuss the day Midna left. The two started to talk.
"Hello," said Zelda. "I was expecting you would come. Sit down." Link took a seat on the edge of Zelda's four poster bed. Zelda got up from the small writing desk to sit next to him.
"Did you find anything out about Midna? Something doesn't feel right. I have a bad feeling about this, about breaking the ties between our realms," Link said all at once. Zelda looked down at the floor. Link looked at her. He couldn't help but notice that she had bags under her eyes. Zelda finally looked up.
"Link… I… I know you want to see her again. You seem to be worked up over nothing. What she did was for the best. I guess she was right, we can't live together with darkness." She stood up and walked toward the door. Link was angry.
"Zelda. Is there something you're not telling me?"
Zelda stopped. "You're hiding something, I know it," said Link. Zelda turned around.
"Link, I've been working all night, and all of this morning because we found a lead in a connection to the darkness. He's very unusual. I'll show you." Zelda opened the door to the room, and ran down the throne room. She hurried down the spiral staircase into a room that was hidden in the stone. Link was coming up behind her.
As Link entered, he saw what she meant. The boy sitting on the bed was dressed very weirdly. He was in a black robe with a swirly grey stitching. As they entered, the boy took his hood off, revealing his face or half of it at least. His hair covered the left side of his face. He had piercing blue eyes, black hair, and a somewhat pale complection. Zelda approached him with a bow. The boy stood up. He bowed back. He looked at Link, and he squinted.
"Who is this?" he asked. His voice sounded unlike anything he had heard. His voice seemed to echo, and it was deeper than Link had expectd.
"My name is Link, pleased to meet you-"
"Merin" the boy said. For a moment, all was silent and still, until Merin fixed his long hair on his right ear. This was maybe the most unusual thing about him; his ears were rounded. Everyone Link had ever seen had pointed ears, but this boy was different.
Zelda interrupted their silence. "Alright, why don't we talk in the dining area." Zelda started down the stairs, when Merin knocked over a vase sitting on the night table. Zelda stopped, but all she did was smile, and kept on walking. Link looked at the vase, broken on the floor, and he didn't have a reason why he should say anything. Link too walked after Zelda, and when both were gone, Merin lifted the lock of hair covering his eye. The skin on the left side of his face was jet black, and dark red lines all around. Even the eye covered by the black substance was blood red. He looked into the mirror on the opposite side.
"So it begins," He said to himself, his pale skin crawled slowly over the gigantic jet black spot. His ears became pointed. His transformation was complete.
Merin met the two down in the dining area. He sat down on the nearest chair. His flowing robe overlapped the arms of the chair. He looked at the glass of juice, and quickly threw it at the wall. Both Zelda and Link said nothing, and they started the conversation.
"You claim to know of a path into the twilight realm." Zelda said. Merin shifted in his seat.
"Yes, indeed I do. It is something I am personally striving for. I'm trying to get the twilis. I have found the source, but I cannot find the solution." Merin said. Link stood up, he looked excited now.
"We also are looking for a twili. If there is anything we can do to help?" Merin too stood up, and knocked over the chair. Yet again, Link and Zelda said nothing.
"I can help you, if you help me. I need the chosen hero, and the blade of evil's bane. You wouldn't know who this person is, would you?" said Merin grinning. Link looked at Merin with a wider grin.
"I'm the chosen hero, and I also have the Master Sword. I can help you!" Link said. Merin walked to the door. He turned to face Link.
"Then we must depart, for we have little time," Merin replied as he exited. Link followed soon after.
The plains of Hyrule were a nice change of pace for Link. Merin and Link approached Epona. Epona bucked at the sight of Merin, but she was calmed down by Link. They both got on, and Merin pointed to the right direction. After a half hour of riding, a thought occurred to Link. Why was he so quick to trust this total stranger? He did knock down the vase, the juice, and the chair. That was… it was… Link could not think of the word. Wro- wr- Link was drawing a blank. It was a word he used almost every day. It was a word that described whether something was… or… He had fought the … and protected the… He was panicky now. He couldn't think of all those words. He quickly chased the thoughts out of his head, and they reached Lake Hilia.
Link and Merin spoke to the cannon expert to shoot off into Gerudo desert. They ran through the Arbiter's Grounds with ease with the spinner. They finally arrived at the mirror chamber. Link cleared something up.
"Merin, the mirror is long gone, Midna destroyed it." Merin quickly shot around, and looked at Link, His expression was a look of worry.
"The Twilight Princess!?!?" Merin shouted. Link nodded.
"She is the one I am looking for." Merin started breathing heavy. Sweat was pouring down his face. He tried to keep calm. After a quick second to take a breather, he replied
"Follow me" Merin walked past the mirror stand and came up to the big stone. He put his hand on the huge black boulder.
"If I am not mistaken, this is where Gannondorf was attempted to be killed here. It left him with a hole in his chest. Dark magic filled in the gap, but do you know what is still sitting in the stone itself? Part of Gannondorf's power was transferred into this stone. Dark magic is encased into this oversized pebble. All that needs to be done, it the hero to stab the rock, and the sword will hold the power." Merin said.
He placed his hand on the rock. Link unsheathed his sword, and with one over the head stab, the Master sword was enveloped with a thick, dark substance, and Merin slammed into Link, knocking Link down and making him dazed. Merin took hold of the hilt, and he too was taken over by the dark substance. He quickly transformed from an almost innocent boy into a large shadow beast. Link scrambled on the floor trying to get away. He got onto his feet and ran out, through the Arbiter's Grounds, and dove off the cliff of the Gerudo desert, into Lake Hilia. Link swam ashore, and took Epona back to Ordon. He ran to the spring. He remembered his old friend Ordona.
"Ordona I need your help. I have lost my sword to the… and I can't remember these words. What does it all mean?" Link asked. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, a golden light erupted from the spring. Ordona appeared, and he took Link into his realm to talk and discuss the matters at hand.
"Ordona, I-"
"Link, I know what is going on, and it is not good. When Midna closed the portal to darkness, there was only good left. Evil is just another part of nature. One cannot know good if there is no evil, and one cannot know evil without good. You did not know the bad intentions of your false comrade Merin because there is no connection to darkness. There is no time to tell you who he is, but I can tell you this: you must open the door to darkness, It is our only hope. When you go back to reality, you will no longer know of good and evil. You must remember only your mission, do not listen to anyone but me. Just remember. You must open a portal to darkness." Ordona clapped his bony hand, and Link was sent back to reality. He knew what he had to do.
He knew what to do, but he had no idea how to do it. He used his whistle to find Epona, and he rode off to the castle to speak with Zelda. She would know what to do. Link whipped Epona through the fields, and he came to the castle gates, when he looked up at the sky. It was pitch black. The sky was being covered by it. Link ran into the castle where he saw Zelda in the corner of the room. The whole room was being covered in the same darkness that took Merin. The door behind Link was sealed with it, and Link ran to Zelda.
"I was at the top of the castle when I saw what happened. Merin covered the castle with this…this… I can't think of the word!" Zelda exclaimed.
"I'll tell you all about it later, when we have time. First let's try to survive." said Link. The darkness was slowly invading their space, and they had little more than one foot on either side of them.
"Alright, we've got to stay together. We'll hold on to each other to stop us from separating," said Link. The darkness slowly creeped up their feet. As Link and Zelda hung on to each other, The darkness had reached their knees. The two held tighter, and the darkness had gotten to their necks.
"Don't worry, I promise you this won't be goodbye," Link said, as the two of them were completely taken over by the darkness.
As soon as the darkness was done, Link could see nothing. It felt like he was going at an extremely fast speed. He began to spin, slow at first, but faster and faster, and it became harder and harder to hang on. Everything stopped for a second. They were no longer moving. A large force tugged on Link, and separated him from Zelda. NO! Link thought, but the light soon returned. He looked down, but he only saw the ground. He then realized that he was the blue eyed beast: The wolf.
Link took a second to realize that Zelda was with him, but of course, she was no longer human. She was transformed into a dove. A white dove. Zelda fluttered over to Link and she looked a little surprised.
"Oh no! A wolf I'd better back away," Zelda said.
"Zelda. It's me, Link. We've been transformed into our animal forms. I'm a wolf and you're a dove." Zelda looked down at her feet, obviously not noticing she had transformed. She flapped her wings, and took off to the sky, before swooping in for a graceful landing.
"I think I've got the hang of it," said Zelda. Link looked around him. It was familiar. It looked as if it was always dawn, and apparently, the whole place was floating in the sky. Link knew this place as the twilight realm. This was where Midna was. Her realm. Her home.
Midna was sitting in the dark of her room, looking out the window, being distracted from her paperwork. In a flash of a second, a little white bird landed on the windowsill. Midna got up from the desk, and slowly she approached the bird. Unflinching, the bird continued to look at her. Midna picked up the bird, and looked at it.
"You don't want to say with me," said Midna "No one is… here, no one is like my only friends. Zelda and Link were the only ones I really cared about. These people are my subjects, we're not… people. We did grow up from…ancestors, but the generations knew… from…" Midna knew that good and evil were missing from her sentences. She noticed it as soon as she broke the ties between the worlds. "They knew to do the… thing. They turned…throughout the years. The only reason we are considered… is because of our roots." The bird looked down and then it spoke. It's chirp was heavenly, and Midna translated it to; You still have us Midna.
Midna dropped the bird onto the floor, and she looked out the window, a figure was standing on the nearest structure. It was fairly small, and Midna recognized him in a second. It was a wolf, it was Link, and he was smiling. The trio met again in Midna's room. The three talked about what was happening, and Link explained that they could not tell good from evil, or use any words associated. The three of them were so glad to see each other, and were so relieved that good and evil could live together.
"We need a plan," Link said. He trotted around Midna's room thinking. "There has to be some way to get back. There's something we're missing, something we're forgetting. The mirror broke, but obviously there is no other passage. One needs to be created, but How? How? Somehow Merin transported us here, possibly using his new power. We're safe here, because nothing is happening here, but I have deep worry for Hyrule. I want to make things-"
Link's sentence stopped, not because he couldn't say the word "right," but because a tearing sound was vibrating through the air like a phantom's echo. The three ran to the window in panic, and they saw a white rip in the darkness. Another portal was opening. Link, without thinking, jumped onto the sill, and leapt into the rip. Zelda flew into the rip too. Midna was hesitant. The light looked too pure to go into, but she thought about it. I would rather stop living, than never see them again. Without doubt, she dove straight in. Instantly, and without warning, everything went black. Her first thought was that the rift was closed, but she then realized that she had hit the ground. She opened her eyes. It was a landscape that was familiar. Green, and gold, blue sky. Hyrule Field.
"Good to have you back," said Link. He was looking down at her. Not because she had fallen, but because she was once again the imp. It did make sense. Link and Zelda had transformed going through the darkness. Midna floated up to Link.
"I thought I was done with this form, but I guess that was untrue," Midna replied. "Oh, I just remembered, I kept the dark crystal if you need to transform again." Link took something out of his pocket. It was very similar to the dark crystal, only, it was very bright. It was so iridescent, they could hardly look at it.
"I think I know what this is, it was given to me when I was falling; it appeared in my pocket," Link said, and with that, he gave it to Midna. Like the dark crystal, it was meant for transformation. Midna once again regained her true form. They called Epona, and they rode off to the castle. They wondered if it would be consumed by darkness, when they arrived, it seemed untouched.
They entered the castle, and they heard a deep, echo like voice, that sounded like it was coming from every direction: Let those of darkness take the royal seat, and knowledge of the answer will shower upon you from the spirit of the hero's domain. Link immediately knew what it meant. He hurried up the winding staircase, all the way to the throne room. Midna and Zelda came up to him soon afterwards.
"Midna, sit on the throne," Link said. Midna then realized what it meant also. She ran to the seat, and as soon as she sat, a rain of magic showered down on Link. Zelda watched as Link was lifted upwards, and an explosion of light erupted in the room, and Link slowly lowered. He knew what to do.
"Follow me," He said "I've figured it all out." Link demanded Midna to warp them all to the mirror chamber. Midna transported them all here, and they saw Merin. He was no longer the shadow beast.
"I thought that you would come here. You can't defeat me. You do not know of light and darkness. To you, I contain just as much light as you do," Merin said. Link smirked, then he laughed.
"What is so funny?" Merin asked, mockingly. Link looked at him in the eyes, and he approached the stone.
"Merin, you don't think I know the difference between good and evil?" Link asked. Merin's eyes widened.
"You're going to have to kill me now. I'm the only one who knows of good and evil. If I tell anyone, your plan will be foiled. Someone will see that what you are doing is wrong. You are trying to rule all of existence. That's not the way anyone wants it. People need to know good from evil. Sometimes the difference might be deceptive. Anyone can change. Midna was only using me for her own personal gain in the beginning, but now she has become kind. Anyone can change. In fact, you were once on the side of good, until you were consumed by darkness. You were angry. Midna had sentenced you to exile in our realm before Gannondorf came into the picture. You were exiled because of who your father was. Your father lost the battle. Zant lost to me. You didn't understand. Midna was just trying to get rid of all of your father's followers. She had no idea you were innocent. You tried for a way back. You recently learned of the mirror, only to find it destroyed. You couldn't get back, so you stole the Master Sword from me to create a portal to connect the world of darkness and light. I cannot defeat you. I surrender." Link said. He put his back to the wall, and spread his arms out.
"Do your worst," Link said. Merin took the Master Sword. Just like what happened to Gannondorf, Link was stabbed through the chest. Dead.
"NO!" screamed Midna, as she ran to Link. Zelda couldn't move, paralyzed with fear and disbelief. Link's body was limp. Midna kneeled down at Link's feet.
"You can't die Link, you just can't. You were the one that showed me that friendship was most important. Being good might be harder than being evil, but it has to be the better cause. I can't accept the fact that you are gone. You were the chosen hero Link, but that isn't so important. What really mattered was that you believed that there was some good in me. You trusted me. You never thought of yourself. Your selfless actions will live on, I promise you," Midna vowed, and she wept for him. She thought of all the things he had done for her, and the twilis.
In the background, bits of light hovered off the ground. Slowly, they lifted higher and higher, and then they were brought together to reform the mirror. The mirror lowered into the pedestal, and it pointed at the stone. Light from it pointed directly onto Link.
Color came back into Link's face. The Master Sword returned itself to Link's sheath. The hole in his chest filled in, and his finger twitched. He was alive. Link's eyes opened slowly, and he smiled. Midna got up, and kissed him.
The mirror stopped glowing, and it was fully restored. Merin looked up at the sky. He had lost. His father, Zant had died. What purpose did he have? Zelda came up to him. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Merin, we can't thank you enough. You helped us restore the mirror. All you wanted was to do good, but you chose the path of darkness. We can't bring back your father, but you can live in the castle," Zelda said. Merin looked at Link and Midna. They were looking at him too.
"That's very kind of you, but I must decline. I must find my purpose," Merin said. Link spoke up, "Nonsense Merin, you helped us. You helped keep order in the universe. Your intentions might have been bad, but you were blinded. You're a hero." Merin smiled.
"Link, I am deeply sorry, I can never make up for what I have done. I will rejoin the side of light. Thank you. I no longer have a home, therefore, I have decided to stay."
In the end, the good twilis, and the people of Hyrule were able to come and leave their realms as they pleased. Link was allowed to live in the castle, and Midna was also allowed. Merin took a remade room in the dungeons, where he liked it best. Zelda continued ruling the kingdom in peace. All was well, as good and evil both returned to the land.
The End…
For Now