First Impressions

This story precedes 'Catalyst, or The Ghost Princess,' another story of mine. I take certain liberties with the arrangement of Zelda's room – namely by arranging a vanity with mirror in one corner, and a bookshelf, neither of which is unlikely. Those liberties aside, enjoy and thanks!

The day that Midna arrived for the first time, Zelda was on the verge of a panic attack. Living every day for a fortnight – at least, Zelda thought it was a fortnight – with the same rain battering at the windows, the same sick colors floating in the air, the grunts and shouts of the horrid monsters crawling outside – drained Zelda of her energy. She slept less, ate nearly nothing, and, on this notable morning, was starting to lose her mind.

Looking outside the window, Zelda, as was her habit, searched for the faint green glows that were all that remained of her people. On this day, however, Zelda had chanced to wake up an hour earlier than the rest of her subjects, who all had their friends and families to ward off despair.

Zelda, however, did not know this. All that she knew was that she could no longer see a collection of glows from her castle window. And this knowledge terrified her. She staggered at the window.

"Where are they?" she whispered, rubbing her eyes. "I can't see them. Did something happen to them? I thought – they must be there – but I can't – I can't – I'm losing my sight –" she rubbed her forehead now with one hand, while her other one moved along the wall to the seat of her vanity. "I'm losing my vision – I'm going blind – I –"

She sank onto the seat in front of the cracked mirror, her head in her hands. She was like that for a minute until, suddenly, she felt that she was not alone in the room. She raised her head slowly and looked around the room. Seeing no other presence, she cautiously turned to the mirror – and froze. For what she saw in the mirror was not merely her own face split into fragments by a broken mirror, but, in some fragments, a different face altogether – an inhuman face with a small, sharp-toothed mouth, and glowing blue tattoos, and a large, red eye –

Zelda gave a shriek. The thing in the mirror raised a finger to its lips, but it was too late, Zelda already heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She stood up, hurriedly replaced her hood, and tried to decide whether to inform the guard of the strange creature in the mirror, or to keep silent, or – the guard was at the door, his face, covered with a pewter mask, leering in.

"What wrong?" he grunted.

Zelda took a breath – and heard her voice say, without her, "Nothing. A bird flew in at the window and frightened me. See that it doesn't happen again."

The goblin pointed a stubby, dull blade at Zelda's form, silhouetted against the window. "No more screams," he threatened. "It make Zant angry."

"Tell Zant," the user of Zelda's voice declared, "that I will scream loud and long if he forbids it."

Another grunt, and the goblin vanished, limping down the hall. Zelda's voice started to laugh, and then that changed into a higher, stranger laugh, that echoed slightly in the room. "Not a bad dupe, eh?" said a voice to match the laugh. "I've always prided myself on my imitations."

Zelda's eyes widened. She looked into the mirror apprehensively.

"Oh, come on, don't be frightened."

She again saw the little imp from before, with a small mouth, blue tattoos, and red eye. But the mouth was grinning now in a mischievous, secretive way, and now Zelda was not quite so frightened as before. She relaxed – very slightly. Sitting down in front of the vanity, she leaned closer to the mirror to try and inspect her visitor a little better.

The imp in the mirror cocked – his? Its? Her? – head in an amused fashion. "I'm afraid I'm not much to look at right now, but if you wish, fine, admire all you like. I'd like, however, to know for sure that I'm speaking to Princess Zelda?"

Zelda leaned back in her chair, looking the figure straight in the eye. "You are."

"Excellent. Now, Princess, could you give me a hand?"

Zelda blinked.

"I mean literally, give me a hand. Just place your hand on that wide crack in the mirror, would you please?"

"Er…" Zelda hesitantly lifted one arm, then placed two of her fingers carefully on the crack in the mirror. The figure receded from sight –and then a hand, with four immense red fingers surged from the crack and gripped Zelda's hand. She bit her lip – she mustn't cry out again – but, in a panic, stood up, and tried to yank her hand away.

To her horror, the red hand was pulled further out of the mirror as she pulled her hand, and gave no indication of relaxing its grip. Pulling now with her fear, Zelda watched as the hand expanded into an arm, and then – here she feared her arm would come off – a plate of armor slowly, painfully started to seep and squeeze out from the edges of the crack. Now Zelda could not bear to look at it – she turned her head away – with her left hand she tried to pull her right hand out of the horrible red thing's grasp – and then, suddenly, the Triforce on her left hand glowed, and the grip relaxed.

Zelda turned to look, expecting to see the red hand gone, but it was still there, and now – it was attached to the head, or the large strange helmet that belonged to that imp from the mirror, the imp who was now just squeezing her right foot out from the crack in the mirror. Now she was all out, and looking at Zelda, and – laughing?

"You should see the look on your face, it's really priceless. I'm much obliged for your help, by the way, thanks."

As if in jest, the red hand shook Zelda's hand warmly before shrinking into was looked like a shock of orange hair on top of the imp's head. Zelda stared, all courtly rules forgotten.

"What are you?" she asked.

The imp giggled again. "A good question, and, frankly, one that's none of your business, so I'll not answer. But any other question, however, I promise to answer with truth."

Not exactly calmed, Zelda pressed on, "Who are you, then?"

"A better question!" the imp clapped her hands with glee, as if Zelda was a well-trained puppy. "And you can call me –" here the imp paused, and seemed to be considering several options, before she closed her eye, nodded, and said, "Midna."

"Midna?" Zelda repeated.

"Midna. I won't be hurt if you forget it."

"I won't forget it…" Zelda said absently. She was trying to remember when and if she had ever heard the name Midna before – usually, you could rely on any name to have belonged to another vague hero, or sage, or Cuckoo keeper, but Zelda could not recall any variant on Midna from a past legend. It was a peculiar name, but not altogether unpleasant.

"Now, Midna…" Zelda paused, a bit embarrassed.

"Yes?"

"Are you a male or a female, or can I not ask you that?"

The thing called Midna froze, and did not speak for what seemed like several minutes.

The silence lengthened, until, finally, the imp set arms akimbo and demanded, "Is it really that hard to tell?"

Zelda nodded.

"Well, I'm – I'm – " the imp waved a hand in Zelda's general direction, not looking at her, "I'm whatever you are, okay?"

"I'm a girl – er, a young lady."

"Then fine, it's settled, but don't ask me that again! … Hey, what are you covering your face for?"

Zelda took her hand away from her face. "Nothing, nothing." She wanted to laugh – the look on the imp's face was priceless – but she was apprehensive, too, and didn't want to let her guard down.

Midna glared at Zelda. "You asked me a rather rude question, I hope you know."

"I know, but I needed to know that in order to… address you properly." Zelda nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"Well, I don't care about formalities," Midna tossed her head back arrogantly. "I'm here to get what I want."

"All right - what do you want?"

"I want your help."

The two from different worlds looked at each other, grey eyes into red, and neither looked away.

"What do you need my help for?"

"Revenge." Then, by way of an afterthought, "and peace."

Zelda's brow furrowed. "Revenge never leads to peace."

"Never? I don't know about that. I'm willing to take my chances."

"Against whom do you want revenge?"

"Zant."

Zelda froze. Midna cackled softly. "That got your attention, didn't it? Are you rethinking your revenge philosophy now?"

"No." Zelda folded her arms across her chest, took a deep breath, and then looked at Midna again. "Why do you want to take revenge on Zant?" She bit her lip, then added, "Aren't you the same race that he is?"

Midna lifted her chin in defiance, "Because he's my kin, does that mean I can't hate him? I want to snap his neck with my own hands, and it'll take more than a few friendly chats that to help him!"

"So you are of the same race," Zelda said.

"Yes – if you insist on knowing that, yes, we are."

"And what race is that?"

Midna grinned. "That comes dangerously close to asking me what I am, remember?"

Zelda frowned. "I won't help you if you're being so rude and secretive – for all I know you want me to – "

"Relax, will you? I want to kill Zant in order to undo what he's done in my world, which means, of course, undoing what he's done in your world."

"So – you say you'll help me if I help you?"

"Exactly. Tit for tat. Are we agreed?" Midna smiled broadly and offered her hand.

"No."

Midna drew her hand back and pouted. "You're very negative, you know that?"

"Every word you say could be a lie."

"A lie? I wouldn't – okay, so I could lie, but that would get me nowhere."

"How can I trust you, then?"

"You can trust me –" Midna glanced away from Zelda's face, "Because – because I – " Midna's one red eye closed, and then, a second later, opened again. "Here! Let me show you why you can trust me."

She zipped towards the vanity mirror with alacrity, then, as the red hand came out of her helmet again, she stopped short, glanced at the door, then at Zelda. "Can you cover me if any of the guards come?"

Zelda's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"First, yes or no, can you?"

"Yes, I can, I have some power left – but, why?"

"Because," now Midna was tracing the edge of the cracked mirror with the glowing red hand – "in order to show you, I'll have to briefly give up the channel by which I can use my magic, so I'd like to make sure you've got my back." Now with her two… 'normal' hands, she was writing seals in the air and casting them onto the mirror, which began to glow softly in the gloom.

"Of course," Zelda said, now confused, "why do you need a channel to access your own magic?"

"Because of Zant," Midna answered shortly.

"Oh… and that's why you want revenge?"

"That, and this – " Now the mirror glowed golden with silver seals, and Midna beckoned Zelda to stand in front of it. Then, Zelda watched as Midna carefully removed her helmet, revealing one closed eye and a mass of orange hair. For a minute, the oddly-crafted piece of stone spun in midair. Midna's second eye opened, and then, with one finger, she pushed the stone onto the crack in the mirror. It sank into the crack, except for one jutting piece of stone which had covered her eye, which rested on the surface. Dark patterns seeped out from the stone into the mirror shards, and, as Zelda watched, the patterns and the seals melded to form a cloudy, muted palate, and then, on the separate shards, pictures began to emerge.

Every picture inhabited the same world: a place where whiteness glowed and the sky was never clearly light or dark, a world lit as Hyrule Castle was now – Twilit. But here, in the mirror-world, the light seemed natural and gentle, and it was oddly becoming to the inhabitants of the world.

Strange inhabitants they were, too. Stretched in different ways, with softly glowing red eyes, black bodies, white marks on them – Zelda was struck by a resemblance, and would have turned her eyes to look at Midna, except that she could not turn her head. Her vision was fixed upon the mirror and its scenes.

The people in the mirror-world, she saw, were all doing various things. In one, a group was harvesting thinly growing plants on a mountaintop. In another, she saw a mother and father tending to their children. On the greatest fragment of all, there was a celebration in progress, with lilting, light music and gentle dancing before a darkly colored castle. (All over the castle, Zelda observed red, glowing seals. She wondered what they were for.) On the balcony of this castle – Zelda leaned in closer to see – there was a group of people who were taller, and seemed more humanoid than the other beings. All of them had yellow and red eyes, like Midna's. Zelda surmised them to be the rulers of this country.

Zelda saw that the honored person in this assembly sat in a throne upon the balcony, looking out proudly over the city. The way that everyone waved at this person, Zelda decided that the celebration was of a newly named sovereign. Although Zelda tried to see the face of the celebrated person, that face was always averted and hidden under a hood.

Then, the vision in the mirror shifted to a light-faced being standing behind the new ruler. Zelda watched a look of hatred cross his face. The mirror darkened. Zelda heard Midna's voice say,

"That jealous one was Zant. He was driven mad by what he saw as a personal insult. He turned to dark magic in order to avenge this insult."

"So – was he a prince in that world, the world you've shown me?"

"Something like that."

"And the kingship fell to the other one, the hooded one, over him."

"That's right."

Zelda began to ask, "Then, what became of that other one –"

"Ssh! Watch!"

The mirror lit up again, this time the sky was dark and slashed with lightning. The landscape's serene coloring was poisoned into jarring waves of purple and black. As Zelda watched, the gentle inhabitants of the land were each attacked by an unseen force, and fell to the ground. The blue tattoos turned red, and pulsed more violently. A plate grew on their faces, obscuring them as they rose up as monsters, cruel and mindless.

Then the mirror darkened again, and relit itself: now all the fragments looked out, like a telescope, on one scene: a landscape covered by monsters, some standing indifferently, looking at the sky, and others attacking one another with no purpose.

"There, that's enough."

The stone was taken out of the crack of the mirror, and the patterns showed themselves again and then disappeared. The image in the mirror turned back into a reflection of Princess Zelda's face, half-hidden beneath her scarf and hood. Midna flew to the other side of the mirror and returned wearing her helmet, with her one eye covered, as before. Zelda looked closely at her.

"What world do you come from?"

"That's asking what I am," Midna idly readjusted her helmet. "I'll tell you anything else, but I must keep some secrets to myself."

"How can I trust you, then?" Zelda sighed. She felt very tired after that heartbreaking scene in the mirror.

"If I told you what I was, you wouldn't trust me. I know your sort. You'll be happier not knowing."

"Then I can't trust you."

Midna turned, and fixed Zelda with an imperious glare. "You just saw what happened to my world, didn't you? We were a kind people who never did harm to others, and he turned every one of them into his monsters." Her voice became angry, "At least your people get to continue their day-to-day lives. You're so miserable, when they're just as well off as before! I can't stand it, you pitying yourself that way!"

Midna quieted herself after this harangue. Not looking at Zelda, she pretended to tend to her nails. Zelda spoke quietly.

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. But – you should understand, that I don't believe I can trust someone who says that I wouldn't trust them. You shouldn't assume that you know my prejudices."

Midna gave a small sigh. "Perhaps not. But I'd rather keep my identity to myself all the same. I do have more power than you, after all, in the Twilight." She grinned wickedly at Zelda.

Zelda frowned. "You're acting very cruel."

"I'm only doing what I need to do."

Zelda didn't speak for a minute. She looked more closely at Midna's helmet than before.

"What? What are you staring at?"

"The stone that covers your other eye… it's a window into your world, isn't it? That way you can always see what's happening to your people."

Slowly Midna nodded. She muttered, "It's the least I can do for them, to not forget them…"

Zelda was suddenly moved by a new emotion: she realized that she sympathized with Midna.

'She is not evil.' Zelda thought.

"What do you want, then?" Zelda asked.

"I want information." Midna's glance darted to the bookshelf that lined one wall. "I want to hear a few of your old legends."

Zelda blinked. "About what?"

"About your hero, the Hero of Time or whatever he was called. Whoever was the last person to save this land from evil, the one who always arises when a new evil threatens, and on and on and on… what can you tell me about him?"

There was a moment when Zelda didn't say anything. Instead she stared at the peculiar figure floating idly in front of the bookshelf. Her head was swimming with confused thoughts – what could she want with the Hero? Did she mean to call him to arms? Or use him for her own twisted gains? And what, what under the Goddesses was this thing, anyway?

"You know, if you could answer me, that would be nice, considering I came all this way…"

Zelda looked away from Midna and at the mirror. Midna had entered the room through that mirror, and through it, had shown a bit of her own world, a world affected under an evil spell. Midna wanted to fix that. She wanted to…

"Yoo-hoo? Zelda? Anybody home?"

Zelda opened her eyes and looked at Midna. "You're going to find the Hero, aren't you?"

"That's my intent, if you ever get around to telling me about him."

"And you're going to summon him to dispel this darkness from my world?"

"Yes. Actually, my primary concern is my own world, and what he can do over there…"

"But you will…"

"Yes, yes, I'll fix up your world too. Now are you going to tell me about him?"

Zelda, in lieu of replying, took a seat in front of the vanity, as coolly as if this were any game of chess. Midna, recognizing the action, impatiently seated herself on the window ledge.

"First," Zelda started, "I want you to tell me about what you know about the Hero of legend."

Midna gave an irritated little sigh. "Well… not much. Just that a new one arises every time danger threatens your country, and that it's his destiny to wander the land, righting wrongs and restoring peace."

"Is that all?"

Midna hesitated. "There's something else… but you'll think it's silly…"

"Tell me."

Midna closed her eye, as if remembering something of long ago: "Our legends, every one that mentions the Hero, they say that he will come in the form of a great beast."

"A beast?"

"Yes, he will be a proud and noble beast, with eyes bright like the sky of his world. That's what my world says."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing else."

"Well, then, what you said is true, he does rise every time evil threatens Hyrule… But he never remains in the land when his task is done. I remember…" Zelda got up and pulled down a particular volume from the shelf, "I remember reading that the last Hero disappeared without cause when he sealed away the evil King of Thieves, Ganondorf."

"Ganondorf? That's a weird name." Midna murmured, hovering above Zelda's shoulder. "So does the Hero always disappear when his task is done?"

"No. Most every other legend about him ends with the phrase, 'and the hero, when peace was restored to the land, wandered among the winds, and I do not know if he ever stopped.'"

"No 'happily ever after,' hm?"

"No."

"Well, that's very interesting, but what I really want to know is, where will I find him?"

"Where to find him…" Zelda flipped the pages until she reached the beginning of the book, and she began to solemnly read aloud the old legend, "And he came like a leaf from out of the forest, from the green forest he came, those lands being sacred to Farore, blue-eyed goddess of courage, and though he had never before stepped onto the soils sacred to fiery Din nor peaceful Nayru, yea, he was guided by the goddess' hands unto –"

She was interrupted by a yawn.

Zelda looked up. Midna was reclining in mid-air, an expression of complete, agonizing boredom on her face.

"Excuse me," Zelda said delicately, "I thought you wanted to know the legends. I was trying to teach you what I know…"

"Well excuse me, Princess, but I've got a Hero to find, and your stupid epic poems aren't going to help unless you can give me specific directions as to where to go."

Now Zelda was just annoyed. "Well, if you're going to be so rude about it…"

"I will be rude, until I hear what I need to know!"

"Well, fine then," Zelda slammed the book shut with a foomp. "If you really want to know the facts…"

"And I do…"

"Then you'll find the Hero in the southern province, probably in Ordon Village or thereabouts. Those lands are sacred to Farore, who is the patron goddess of the Hero. He should be dressed in green." Zelda made no effort to disguise the annoyance in her voice.

"If not, should I bring him to you for a fashion consultation?"

"No, just go about and try and restore the power of the Light Spirits."

"Oh? Who are they?"

"The four spirits who protect the land on behalf of the goddesses. I think – I think that Zant has targeted them specifically, and taken away their power." Zelda turned to look out the window. "This castle sits within the province protected by the spirit Lanayru. To the west is Kakariko, which sits upon the Eldin spring. To the south are the springs of Faron and Ordona…"

"That's where I'll find the Hero?"

"Right. If you'll find him anywhere, that's the place."

"Well then – is that all that I need to know?"

Zelda nodded, still looking out the window.

"In that case," Midna kicked up her heels and alighted on the window sill next to Zelda, "I had better get going."

"Oh?" Zelda looked up.

"Can't lose any more time, after all." Midna eyed Zelda. "So I can head straight south and I should find him?"

"Yes…" Zelda realized how very tired she felt. "No time must be lost…"

But Midna didn't go just yet. She waved her little hand in front of Zelda's face to get her attention. Then she put her hands behind her back, looked Zelda in the face, and said, "I want your blessing before I go."

Nothing else in this conversation had prepared Zelda for this.

Midna held up her hands. "Just a blessing, from you, to me. You don't have to if you don't want, it would just make me feel a bit – a bit more secure in this."

Zelda covered her mouth with her hand, temporarily at a loss for words. Then she lowered her hand and said, "I would be – honored."

She extended her left hand above Midna's head, and murmured a blessing that she had memorized once, from an old story - one invoking the Three Goddesses, as well as a favorable current in the river of destiny. Somehow, it felt right to bless this peculiar imp – whom Zelda did not know to be good, but whom she did know to not be evil.

Midna bowed her head and closed her eye as she received the blessing. When Zelda lowered her hand, the imp looked up and said, "So, that's that?"

"Well – it seems only fair if you bless me in return," Zelda pointed out.

"True. All right, close your eyes." Midna hovered herself until she was levitating above Zelda's head.

Zelda closed her eyes and bowed her head, and heard Midna say, "May those in the heavenly realms watch over you, may the good of hearts help you, and may you be at peace wherever there be light and shadow.

"Okay, that's done."

Zelda opened her eyes. "That was lovely."

Midna shrugged. "It's the only one I know, but I kind of like it. So – this is goodbye for now, Princess."

"So you will seek the Hero?"

"Yes."

"And, furthermore, as a creature of the Twilight, you will help him in his quest?"

"I didn't say that, but yes, I will do that. You can trust me." And again Midna's grin flashed through the gloom. And then she was gone, dissolved, and Zelda, leaning forward, could make her out through the lattice of the windows, floating out a few meters, a hundred feet above the ground.

"So you'll see me soon, Twilight Princess," Midna called, "And I'll see to it that when you do, I'll have the Hero with me somehow!"

Zelda smiled – for the first time since the Twilight had fallen, she actually smiled – and called out, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you!"

"Until then, Princess!" Midna waved one hand in salute, and disappeared from Zelda's sight.

Zelda had a moment to contemplate her visitor, when suddenly Midna appeared again outside the window.

"Oh yeah," she called, "And you aren't going blind, don't worry." Midna waved her hand towards the city square. "They just weren't up and about yet. See you later –"

And Midna was gone, again.

It took Zelda a moment to recollect what Midna was talking about, and then she spotted the crowd of green glows in the city square.

'Oh,' she thought, 'I'm not losing my sight. The townspeople just weren't awake yet.' And then she felt a warm rush of gratitude for Midna's reassurance.

Looking out into the Twilight, she was struck with a sense of the sheer oddity of it all – she'd broken down weeping, had diplomatic fights with, and entrusted the fate of the Kingdom to a thing that had come out of her mirror and admitted itself to be of the same race as Zant. Now she was left alone, like before the thing had come, alone in a vast murky castle filled with monsters, with no power to leave the room she sat in. But now, she had a new, buoyant sensation of – what other word was there? Hope – hope that she hadn't felt in a long time.

That was a full morning's work. She needed to lie down and rest, and after her rest she would half-believe that the visitor had been a dream, and sink back into despair. It was just too bizarre to be real. But Zelda stood for a bit longer at the window, looking at where the imp had disappeared.

"Godspeed." she whispered.