"How do you know her?"
The question came with no warning, and I recoiled in surprise. I stared into his eyes as if demanding him to drop the matter, but he met my gaze with serene confidence.
He was only one of two who had ever been able to do that.
"How do I know who?" I asked innocently, though we both knew who was being spoken of.
My companion shook his head; blonde bangs swaying with the momentum. "Midna, if I have to be direct, I will." He put his face closer to mine, knowing that would unleash the full power of those dreadfully beautiful cerulean eyes. "How do you know Zelda?"
I managed to keep my face level. "Everyone knows Princess Zelda, Link. That's why she's called the princess."
He let out a quiet chuckle. "That's not what I mean." He stood and went to a small pile of twigs, returning with a small armload and putting them on the fire. With his sword, he carefully stirred the flames until they stabilized. "Midna, you've been different since Zelda healed you, and I saw how much it hurt you when that barrier appeared over the castle."
I grimaced, feeling as if a barb long ago placed in my heart had been suddenly twisted. That was what I hated about him. Even in human form, nothing escaped those fey wolf eyes, and we had been traveling together for far too long to keep secrets from one another.
So I stalled. "Get to sleep, Link."
He simply raised an eyebrow at me. "And you?"
"Twili don't need sleep as you humans do," I said simply. I turned my back, but I could feel his gaze piercing me.
Feeling exasperated, I put one hand on my hip and the other in the air as if defeated, then quickly became the actress. I raised my voice an octave in mock despair and then wrung my hands to complete the act. "Oh, Lord Zant, I regret to inform you that you are now free to destroy Hyrule as you will. It seems that the only one who could possibly oppose you died of exhaustion in the Temple of Time. Oh, and you can dispose of Ilya at will too…"
I struck a forbidden chord there, and we both knew it. I saw his face momentarily contort before he regained his regal composure. He didn't say a word, but silently prepared a bedroll on the floor of the forest we had found. I waited a long time before his breathing was slow and even.
I sighed in relief; I had momentarily avoided the bomb. With this satisfaction also came dread. Link would not be one to let the matter go, and he could use it against me much as I used the memory of Ilya against him.
I hovered to the top of an evergreen tree and perched myself on a branch. From there I could see for a long way off. As far as I could tell, no one was near, though I knew that they couldn't be too far off.
Such was the burden of traveling with the hero.
The moon was full that night, and I remember seeing something shimmer in the moonlight. When I turned to look, however, it flitted out of my sight, remaining only on the outermost edge of my peripheral vision. I frowned and continued my silent vigil.
The moon was just past the peak of its travels when I heard the sound. Seeing as how I had been on the edge all night, I contributed the noise to my imagination and ignored it at first. But when the same sorrowful peal was repeated a second and third time, I knew that my mind, frazzled as it was, could not conjure up such an unearthly noise.
The roar struck the marrow of my bones more than it struck my eardrums, and I shivered involuntarily. I recognized that noise far more than any mortal should; it was a Twilit Messenger. Link had fought countless, but numbers defeated do nothing to reveal the strength of the monsters themselves. I hugged myself, feeling cold all of a sudden.
They were in sight now, lumbering toward a clearing with agonizing slowness. I scoffed angrily, thinking that if they wielded such dark power, surely their creator would give them speed to match…but no. They were condemned to plod along like heavy-footed elephants, comical beings bringing with them solemn death.
I would have disregarded them, but the luminescent symbol caught my eye. It was brighter, and pulsed with a blue and milky light. I could distinguish it this time, and I clamped my hand over my mouth in shock. With even more dread came the fact that the Twilit Messengers were headed toward it.
I didn't know I was capable of such rage. The scream that tore from my lips was a sound foreign even to me, and I jetted toward them with speed I didn't know I possessed.
I might have hit one, I can never remember, but I remember a black hand around my throat. I writhed, trying to regain my freedom, but I was no match for the monster. Evil black eyes tore through my defenses, and I felt exposed, like I had betrayed my darkest secret.
And I could only watch helplessly as another approached the carved insignia on the tree. The symbol pulsed even harder, the lighter and darker both becoming far more extreme until it hurt to behold such changes between the two. As the long black fingers stretched forward to snuff it out of existence forever, I screamed something that I could only translate far after the whole incident.
"I'm sorry, Zelda…"
I awoke in Link's strong arms, and the first thing I saw was his blue eyes. My head hurt tremendously, and I let out an involuntary moan. He smiled softly at me. "You're awake."
I groaned as I sat up, shaking off a thick wool blanket that had constricted my movement. "How long have I been…out?"
He shrugged as he released me from his grip. "Not long, an hour at most."
"You killed all of them then?"
Link looked at me, confused. "No…Midna, you did."
I gave a very unladylike snort and looked him in the eye. "Very funny, Mr. Humble."
"Midna," he said sternly. "I am serious. I'm not sure what happened, but you were so angry and just started…well…."
Though startling as this was, it was not overly hard to believe. Twili had been known to do unexpected things in times of danger. I did not, however, want him to know this. "Well, maybe I was a great sorcerer in the last life or something."
Link shook his head. "Midna, what are you hiding from me?"
I looked at him intently. There had been pain in his voice. Pain for me.
"As your friend," he said, "I can't help but think that something is wrong."
Both of us were silent for a long time. I mulled over my miserable thoughts, trying to think of what I would say even if I were to reveal my secret.
"Link," I said, giving up. "You are so much like her."
"Zelda?" he asked.
I nodded. "Both of you…you have a bigger hearts than your brains! That's why Zelda's…!"
I stopped, noticing that Link had been staring at me compassionately, and that I had actually voiced those words allowed. I lowered my head. "Make a fire, Link," I said slowly, my voice cracking. "I have a long story to tell you…."