Chapter 1.1
"And then I stomped my way out of his house and we haven't talked since," Lillian says, "And if he ever wants to talk again he's going to have to do a lot more than apologize, don't you think? Arden? Arden? Are you okay?" She asks when I don't respond to her latest boyfriend's behaviour.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," I say, shifting my gaze from the ground to Lillian sitting next to me on the bench, "I was just, I don't know…"
"Thinking about your sister again?" She guesses from our prior conversation.
"Yeah," I reply, stirring my spoon around in my ice cream float.
"You're still trying to find some way to… help her?"
"Yeah, wouldn't you if you had a sister like Agitha? I huff, "I'm thinking of taking her to Kakariko Village for a few days. Telma told me there is a fantastic shaman there and I've been thinking it's time we tried something new, Dr. Borville has been pretty useless and he's the only doctor I know of in Castle town."
Lillian is quiet for a moment before she asks, "You're sure Agitha needs to be…. Cured? Fixed? Every time I see her she seems happy, and that's what counts isn't it?"
"I know, but think of the future. She has no friends, no real ones anyway, and someday she will need to find a way to make money. Our father won't be around to send us money forever." I tell her, staring at the water pouring out of the fountain in the middle of the square.
"Of course she has friends. She has you, and I like her okay," Lillian says, "And whatever happens in the future can stay in the future. Just worry about how Agitha is now and, like I said before, she's happy now so really there's nothing to worry about," She tries to assure me. I continue to stare at the fountain. "Are you going to finish your ice cream float, or can I….?"
"Go ahead," I hand her the cup. "I should probably be going anyway."
"Yeah, me too," She agrees, glancing in the direction of her home on the west road, "I'll see you later."
"Alright, see you later," I say as we part and I head for my home on the south road.
The hustle and bustle of Castle Town is slowly quieting down as the day draws on. The outdoor café is pulling in all of its tables and chairs, Chudley is locking the doors to his shop, and the musicians who play near the road to the castle are putting their instruments in their cases.
On the south road the vendors are starting to pack up their goods and the torches lining the walls on either side of the road are being lit as I walk past. I continue to think about Agitha and Kakariko Village. I resolve to talk to her about it, start by seeing if she will even come with me willingly.
Passing my house, I knock on the door of the building beside it, Agitha's house, or Agitha's Castle as she calls it. When no one answers I try the door, but it's locked. I knock once more before giving up and walking over to my door, only to find it too is locked. Great, and Fanadi has our only key, I think, regretting the day I decided it was a good idea to rent the bottom floor of my house to an eccentric fortune teller. Fanadi must have a customer, I figure. This isn't the first time I've been locked out due to her occupation. Guess I'll try the roof again.
A little ways down the road is a small bar, in front of which Telma, the owner, stores her inventory in crates. Telma had helped me move them the first time Fanadi had locked me out and ever since then they had remained in the same formation, a rough staircase I could use to climb onto her roof.
After doing so I walk across a few roofs until I come to a gap in the houses, the south road. The first time I went home this way Telma told me to turn back. Standing there now I remember why. The road beneath was much wider than the other roads in Castle Town, but I had jumped it once and I would jump it again.
I get a good running start, jumping at the last possible second. I aim to grab onto the ledge of the building on the other side, knowing that landing on top of it is impossible. I succeed in grabbing on with one hand, but the other slips as my body is slammed into the building, taking all the air out of my lungs.
I rest for a moment with one foot on a ridge it the stone work of the wall and the other higher up in a beam protruding from the building. Once I can breathe again I swing the lower leg onto the ledge and rolled onto the roof, pausing briefly to look at the road two stories below me and thank the goddesses I had made it.
Smoothing out my skirt, I skip over to the window above my room. It doesn't open all the way, but it opens wide enough for me to squeeze through. I let my shoes fall down first and am just about to follow when I look towards the sky and notice the setting sun.
Never one to refuse a sunset I climb back onto the roof and sit with my legs dangling over the edge of the building, eyes glued to the gorgeous sky. I guess things turned out okay in the end, I think. My anger at Fanadi fades and I wonder why I don't climb up here every night to watch the sunset. A couple minutes later I discover why, as the sun painfully inches it's way closer to the horizon and I find my eyes drifting over the quiet town to the south field, which is where I find her.
Even from my spot on the roof in the diminishing light I can make out a figure holding a parasol and a basket, and who else could that be but my sister Agitha. What is she doing out there, it's almost dark out, doesn't she know how dangerous it is, she's twelve for the goddess's sake, frustrated thoughts cloud my head. I seriously hope she doesn't get herself killed in the time it takes me to go get her.
"Hello Arden," Agitha says when she sees me coming, "Have you come to help find a friend for Mr. Legs? How wonderful! That will make him so happy, you see, he's been real lonely lately and I know this will cheer him right up!" Seriously!?, I think, that's the reason she's out here! I quicken my pace and think of all the things I plan to say to her.
"AGITHA," I start, trying to sound as harsh as I can, but no matter how hard I try I can't do it, I can't yell at her. She looks at me and I look back at her standing there, her blond hair tied up in two pigtails, hands clutching her parasol, basket hanging from one arm, and as always, wearing her blue and pink dress, the dress our mother made for her a few months before she died. Agitha had been six then, so naturally we had had to get it altered a few times over the years as she grew. The top half of it had once been the entire dress. Since then we had added a whole new skirt, more frills, and of course, more butterflies.
Agitha was so attached to that dress I was almost certain she slept in it. One thing I wasn't sure about was whether that was because it reminded her of our mother, or if she simply just loved the dress. Agitha and I never talked about our mother. The only person I really ever talked to about her was Lillian. I thought about what I had said to Lillian earlier, about Agitha not having any real friends. Which would mean she has no one to talk to, I realized. Then I remembered what Lillian had said in reply, about Agitha having me.
"Agitha," I repeat myself, this time in a normal tone, "Is Mr. Legs the centipede or the spider and where should I begin looking?"
Chapter 1.2
"And in THREE… TWO… ONE!' Hundreds of Twili shoot into the air on the backs of kargaroks while hundreds more run up the rocky incline on foot, disappearing through the mirror's projection moments later. Whoops and cries of adrenaline could be heard for miles around; few Twili could contain their excitement as they charged towards the world of light.
Zant knew the feeling well. The energy that came from the crowd, the overwhelming sense of awe and wonder as you emerged into the light world in all of its grandness, the marveling, the fleeting taste of freedom, and the anger. Oh the anger.
The hour of twilight was an extraordinary sight, a fantastic spectacle which he usually avoided. But tonight Zant was there at the back of the crowd, hesitant, still deciding. He saw Vepri go through a moment earlier and knew he had nowhere else to be, yet he was still uncertain. If he was to go now was the time, before he was left behind completely.
Forget it, he told himself, all you will get is a foul mood and your evening wasted. Yet his legs still refused to carry him away from the projection. A kargarok flapped its wings near him and Zant's mind was made up. The shadow creature had barely touched its feet to the ground when Zant was upon it, urging it to fly faster so he could catch up with the others.
Zant spend the first half of the hour flying. The kargarok he had taken was a spry and reckless one which suited him perfectly. Swooping and spiraling he pushed the creature to its limits, flying over Gerudo Destert, soaring down into Lake Hylia, skimming its clear water with his foot then pulling the beast up through the channel leading to Upper Zora's River.
He hovered on the kargarok momentarily, deciding whether to follow the upper river leading to Zora's Domain or take the lower, flowing down around Hyrule Castle. It was not a hard decision. Zora's Domain was enchanting and lovely. Zant had spent many twilights swimming in its warm waters, almost forgetting his rivalry with the light world. But there was something about the castle that pulled him towards it. The Hylians who lived there captivated Zant. They fascinated him. And he hated every single one of them.
With that in mind Zant headed down the lower river.
Zant slowed the kargarok as he approached the castle. Flapping over the south field, he stopped to take in the Twilit view of Castle Town. The town was a splendid one, with the ancient beauty of a castle watching over it. He could see some lights still on in a few of the houses, but was too far away to make out what was going on inside.
Before he moved on to get a closer look, a voice called out from below.
"Agitha, it's getting dark and we haven't got a lantern, can we please go home now?"
Zant scanned the field for the source of the voice. He found them straight away, two female Hylians crouched down in a patch of grass. Wanting a better look, Zant flew the kargarok in their direction.
"No! Not until we find . We can't leave him out here over night, he'll be lonely!" The younger of the two called back.
"Or eaten," the older one mumbled.
"Pardon?"
"Agitha bugs don't get lonely!" The older girl told the younger.
"They do too!" The younger one insisted assertively, but without a trace of aggression.
"I'll give it another half an hour, then I'm heading in and you're coming with me," The older said firmly.
As the pair went back to searching Zant moved the kargarok closer. There was something off about the younger girl, Agitha. He could sense that from further away, being up close confirmed it. For one, she was wearing clothes that looked like they should belong to someone much younger than herself. The way she acted matched that observation.
Zant switched his focus to the other girl, who knelt with her back towards him as she searched through the grass. He watched her as he tried to set the kargarok down a few feet away, but the beast had other ideas that did not include landing. It flapped it's wings furiously while screeching in protest, becoming hostile and impossible for Zant to control. The older girl shivered and he panicked. Zant knew she couldn't see or hear them, but it still spooked him as she seemed to feel his presence.
As hard as he tried to force the kargarok down, the creature continued to thrash. Still, Zant refused to let it have it's way. He pulled at the kargarok, trying to get it under control and when that failed he continued to push at it, using his weight to force it towards the ground.
He looked up for a brief moment and that was when he saw her, the older girl, looking almost directly at him. She had light brown hair which fell just past her shoulders after it caressed her wondering purple eyes and curious smile. Freckles dusted the bridge of her nose and part of her cheeks, she looked glamorous in the plain grey dress that hung from her shoulders. She wasn't wearing shoes, and in Zant's opinion she was perfect.
Distracted, he gave up his fight against the Kargarok and the creature flew up and away from the field, up and away from the girl, with Zant on it's back. He stared at her retreating figure until his view was broken by clouds.
At some point Zant realized the Kargarok had stopped flailing, yet they were still moving away from the field. It was the mirror pulling him back to the Twilight Realm. The hour of twilight was over.