Bugs of Twilight

Midna floated out of the magical space-time portal, and found herself in a land covered with familiar twilight. Helping out with the War across the Ages was fun and all, but she had a kingdom still to rule. The Twilight Realm still hadn't fully recovered from Zant's usurpation, and the War across the Ages was a distraction that had taken her away from leading the reconstruction process. She'd have to see how things were going without her supervision.

"Oh, my!" a high-pitched voice from behind her said. "Where in the world are we?"

Midna turned around, finding the other so-called "princess" from her era coming out of the portal, which was already starting to close.

Wait, hold on.

"Agitha, what are you doing here?" Midna asked. "You're not from the Twilight Realm; how are you supposed to get back from here to the Light World?" She tried to reach out her arm to stop the closing portal, but it passed through her hand and disappeared.

"Actually, Miss Kitty, I don't think we're in the Twilight Realm," the young girl said.

"What?" Upon looking closer, Midna realized that, indeed, this layout of the land was quite unfamiliar to her. And the twilight, though it also felt ethereal, was completely different from that of her homeland. "Did that scatterbrained sorceress send us to a wrong place and time?"

"Well, she did just lose a part of herself—literally," Agitha said. "I can't blame her for a teensy little mistake like this. Besides, isn't this a great time to go exploring? Come on, Miss Kitty! What kind of bugs do you think are around here?"

Before Midna could object, Agitha grabbed Midna's tiny hand and went forward in a far-too-jolly skip straight into a dark forest. Through her frustration, Midna became astutely aware that she was still in her imp form. This form had its uses, certainly—just as Link's Wolf form was useful—but now that Cia was defeated, there was nothing stopping her from changing back at will. She willed herself to phase into shadow, out of Agitha's grasp, before rematerializing in a much taller form.

Agitha merely paused a brief moment to look back at Midna. "Oh, Miss Kitty, you've changed shaped! I didn't know you could do that! Hmm, but you don't look much like a Miss Kitty anymore… I know! I'll call you Madam Kitty now! Come on, Madam Kitty. What kind of bugs do you think are in this forest?"

Agitha grabbed Midna's hand again and started to run deeper into the forest, but this time, with her larger size, Midna managed to stop the overactive girl.

"Look, Agitha," Midna said, "we have no idea where we are. We're not in the Twilight Realm; we might not even be in Hyrule. Do you really want to go running across what might be the Dark World for all we know?"

"Oh, the Dark World! I've heard about that before! It's where bad people go when they die. Do you think we'll meet any bad people here? Ooh, what about bad bugs? Do they come to the Dark World when they die, too? Oh, I'm so excited! Let's go, Madam Kitty!" With that, she let go of Midna's hand and rocketed off through the forest, leaving Midna to hurriedly try to catch up to her.

"Oh, for the love of—"

"Oh boy, how adorable! A flaming bug!" Agitha pointed ahead, where the forest cleared out and an alarmingly large bug stood in the gloom of twilight. The five red tufts of hair protruding from its head did indeed resemble a flame somewhat, but Midna thought that it was a little bit of a stretch to consider it "flaming."

That is, until Agitha merrily sauntered up to it and reached out to it to pet it. The bug, evidently alarmed, spit out a stream of fire into the air.

Midna flinched back from the sudden heat, but Agitha was unfazed. "Little flaming bug, don't be scared. I just wanted to say hello!"

The bug, however, was less enthusiastic. It gave a little yelp and backed away from the girl, growling.

"Hey, what's happening?" a new voice called out. An unfamiliar young woman came out of the forest, clutching a red-and-white parasol defensively. "Excuse me, but please don't mistreat my Larvesta."

"Oh, this cute little bug is yours?" Agitha said. "How wonderful! I would love for it to join me in the ball that I'm throwing for bugs at my castle! You can come, too, miss."

A look of confusion crossed the woman's face. "Which kingdom are you from? Why have I never seen you before? And your friend over there—if you don't mind me asking, who is she? …What is she?"

"This is Madam Kitty, and she's a Twili from the Twilight Realm. My name is Agitha, and I'm the Princess of the Insect Kingdom. Pleased to make your acquaintance! My castle is in Hyrule Castle Town, though it's not actually Hyrule Castle itself; that's for Princess Zelda. But drop by if you ever have time to visit!"

When the woman just stared blankly, Midna decided to speak up. "My name is Midna, actually. We're travelers from what I suspect might be an entirely different universe. We got teleported here when a mentally unhinged sorceress tried to send us home. You don't happen to have heard of the Kingdom of Hyrule or the Twilight Realm is, do you?"

"Hyrule?" the young woman repeated. "No, I've never heard of it. But you said something about a sorceress? The Warlord of Spectra—that's the kingdom we're in now—dabbles in magical arts. She might know something about how to get you to where you want to go. Please, follow me to the castle!"

The woman turned around, signaling to the little bug to follow her. Agitha scrambled after her, while Midna simply strode forward, grateful for her lengthened stride in this form.

"My name is Okuni, by the way," the woman said. "I'm a priestess in the services of the Warlord Nō. This is Larvesta." She gestured towards the bug that was now crawling alongside her.

"It's so cute!" Agitha squealed.

Okuni looked over to the insect princess in surprise. "Really? You think so? I completely agree, but for some reason, almost no one agrees with me. They all think that bugs like Larvesta are creepy and horrifying."

"Really? That's so terrible! We should have tea sometime and discuss all sorts of bugs!"

Okuni smiled. "Yes, that would be wonderful! Let's first go talk to Lady Nō about getting you back home, and then we can discuss entomology to our hearts' content!"

Midna just sighed and shook her head. Of course the first person they meet in this weird land was another crazy bug lover.

The four of them soon arrived at an ominous castle, glowing by the light of the crescent moon, dim electric lights, and floating will-o'-the-wisps.

"We're here," Okuni announced. She ushered Midna and Agitha through the front gate and led them through a maze of hallways and stairs, past a number of humans and odd creatures: ghost-like ones phasing through the walls, candle-like ones trotting along the edge of the corridors, large bee-like ones with giant stingers…

Okuni turned right, opening up a heavy set of double doors. This room was evidently the throne room, and Midna could only presume that the woman sitting on the ornate purple throne was the kingdom's ruler.

Upon seeing them, the woman dismissed a servant who was telling her something before stepping down towards the three of them. "Hello, Okuni," she said. "Who are these two behind you?"

A slight shiver went down Midna's back; this woman's voice was nearly identical to Cia's. And her clothing—the dark purple color of her dress was similar to Cia's (though significantly more modest, despite the bared shoulders and low neckline). And the eerie smirk on the woman's lips almost exactly mirrored Cia's.

Midna, with all her regal stoicism, avoided showing any emotion, but Agitha just ran up to the woman excitedly. "You look so similar to the sorceress Cia, but you seem so much less evil! My bugs tell me that you aren't nearly as bad as that witch. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Agitha, and I'm the princess of the bug kingdom! The Twilight Princess over here is Madam Kitty."

"My name is Midna," the Twili spoke up. "Don't mind the little bug princess's overexcitement."

"Hey—!" Agitha started to protest, but the royal woman interrupted her.

"Hello and welcome," she said. "My name is Nō, and I am the Warlord of this kingdom. You have already met my Junior Warlord, Okuni. If you please, would kindly tell me why you have arrived here?"

Before Midna could say anything, Agitha said, "I don't know about Madam Kitty, but I'm here to learn all about the bugs in this world! I'm sure Madam Kitty can talk with you some more, but if you don't mind, I shall take my leave and have a pleasant chat with Okuni about all sorts of bugs!" With that, the young princess turned around and grabbed Okuni's hand. Okuni let out a sound of surprise, but quickly smiled and followed Agitha out.

There was a brief silence before Nō turned back to Midna. "I certainly hope you have a more sensible goal in coming here."

"Anything'd be more sensible than Agitha," Midna said, turning away from the pair of bug-lovers. "Anyway, because of various magical shenanigans, she and I were trapped in an era foreign to our own, but a—friend, I suppose I should call her—managed to send us through a space-time portal in an attempt to get us back home. Except she didn't seem to have done a great job, since we ended up here instead. We came to ask if you have any similar magic to return us to our home."

Nō hummed in contemplation. "There are a number of Pokémon who have the power to manipulate time and space, but finding them would be a very difficult task indeed…" She shook her head solemnly. Suddenly, she held up her hand, palm up, and created an orb of blue fire that flickered eerily in the dim lighting. "But I do specialize in Ghost-type Pokémon, and I have learned of some of their tricks. This may prove to be a fun opportunity to practice them. Very well. I will help you as I can. Mismagius, do you have any ideas?"

A purple Poe-like creature floated out from behind the throne, cackling quietly. It made a chattering noise, one that almost sounded like an old woman saying the word Mismagius.

"Well, we can try looking in the library, I guess," Nō said in response to it. She turned back to Midna. "I make no promises, but if there's any information out there on this matter, I'm sure we'll be able to find it in our library in Spectra. In the meantime, I can offer you and your companion housing. Please feel free to explore this castle or indeed our whole kingdom—discover what pleasures our world may present to you. My servants can give you a list of the most famous locations in Spectra."

"Hold up," Midna said, walking towards the Warlord. "I'm not a sorceress, exactly, but I have some magical capabilities. I could help you, instead. It'd probably go faster this way."

The purple-clad warlord looked over at Mismagius, and they seemed to reach some silent agreement. "Very well," she said. "Follow me."

The three of them went again through the maze of hallways, ending up finally in what seemed to be a library of some sort. Nō glanced down the rows of tomes and scrolls, picking one out and passing it to Mismagius, who took it and passed it off to Midna. "I assume you are literate, if you dabble in magic," Nō said.

"I'm a princess," Midna said, taking the book awkwardly from the ghost. "Of course I know how to read."

"Fair enough. Now, these shelves are hardly the ideal location for poring over the details of a difficult magic text. Let us go somewhere more comfortable, shall we?"

Nō led Midna and Mismagius to a room with several large tables made of mahogany, surrounded plush chairs upholstered in rich purple velvet. At some of these tables sat several scholars who were experimenting with various magics alongside their Pokémon. Upon seeing their Warlord enter the room, the scholars all stood up and bowed or curtsied to her in greeting. Midna had to admit, Spectra was quite a bit more orderly and luxurious than her own chaos-ridden kingdom—and, although she was too proud to say this out loud, she would probably store this sight in her mind as a goal for the Twilight Realm's reconstruction.

Nō invited Midna to join her at a currently unoccupied table, where she set down the book and started scanning through the index at the back of the book. "Dimensional rifts… Unfortunately, the book only has one reference to rifts… And, with this tome being as ancient as it is, some of its information may be based on incorrect premises…" Nō gave a small smirk. "But of course, this is the reason why I enjoy magic so much. Pushing boundaries, experimentation in new research… Well, let's get started." She turned to the corresponding page, and the three of them gathered at the table began to read.

There seem to be a large number of alternate dimensions to our world. According to legend, certain Pokémon have some ability to open rifts to there—in particular, a mythical water dragon seems to have space-rending powers, but of course the Creator of Ransei, as well, among a slew of others, if various myths originating in various myths around our continent are to be believed. There are also stories of humans trying to access these worlds, but no successes can be confirmed. Supposed methods of doing so are varied but unspecific, such as "following your heart" or "communing with the spirits." As such, we can provide no guidance to anyone searching to create dimensional rifts.

"Wait, this is it?" Midna said, seeing that that was the end of the section. "This is all the information we have to work with?" She gave out a snort of derision. "And it sounds like the moral of some children's story: 'follow your heart and commune with the spirits.'"

Nō raised an eyebrow. "Our children's stories must differ from yours. We don't advise children to seek out spirits before they are ready to handle them. And hearts are much more associated with more adult desires than children's friendships… Still, this is Spectra, the land of ghosts and furtive passions. If anyone in this continent of Ransei can figure out what to do, it's someone here." She suddenly got a contemplative look on her face. "But how could I forget? In Spectra, the heart may be associated with passionate affairs, but across the region of Ransei, the heart is the symbol of the Link between a Pokémon and its Warrior."

She stood up and retrieved an ink brush and a sheet of rice paper. "There is one immediately recognizable symbol for it that can be found in artwork and architecture around the region." She drew a large circle with the brush and split it straight down the middle horizontally. "The top semicircle is the Warrior, and the bottom is the Pokémon. Two halves of the same whole, yet separated by an unyielding boundary." Now, she painted a small filled-in circle at the center of the larger one. "But when the two successfully Link with each other, their hearts join together in the middle, bridging the gap between them."

Midna stared at the symbol on the page, unimpressed. "Are you saying that it's some sort of runic magic? Or was there no purpose to showing me this symbol?"

"I doubt that this symbol holds some sort of runic power, or else it would have activated in one of the many other depictions of it. But come now, does it not give you some satisfaction in learning the symbolism of another's culture? You are here; you might as well enjoy your stay."

"I'm not here just to drink tea and smell the roses," Midna snapped. "My kingdom is in chaos because we're recovering from a war—and now they're missing their princess. I need to get back home!"

"Surely the land you hail from is not devoid of artwork, even despite the war?"

Midna frowned for a moment before responding. "My kingdom is made of outcasts from a land of light, created by three Golden Goddesses. We have developed our own set of geometric motifs in our artwork, but the sigil of the land of light still resonates with us. It's called the Triforce, and it's composed of three equilateral triangles, forming a larger triangle." Taking the brush, she drew the shape on the rice paper. "Each of the triangles represents one of the Golden Goddesses: Din, Nayru, and Farore. Even to us outcasts, it's a sacred symbol and reserved primarily for ceremonial items, like the Mirror of Twilight." Upon hearing her own words, her eyes widened.

Nō nodded at Midna. "You look like you've thought of something."

"The Mirror of Twilight is—was—the only connection that we had between the Light World and the Twilight Realm, until I… until it was destroyed. And yet Agitha managed to wind up in the Twilight Realm from the Light World, somehow, right before we both got transported through space and time. I need to go ask her if she knows how to do the same thing from here." She stood up, and Nō followed suit, smiling mischievously.

"Actually, I think I know exactly what happened," Nō said. "Your friend Agitha absolutely loves bugs, does she not? She lives and breathes for them. Indeed, even from as little as I have seen of her, she seems to hold far more passion for them than I have seen almost anyone hold for anything. She must have somehow followed her heart, her absolute love of these bugs, to cross dimensions."

"Seriously?" Midna asked. "I'm going to be saved from this world because a little girl I happen to travel with really likes bugs?"

"People can derive pleasure from a wide variety of things, and can devote themselves to a large number of causes," Nō said. "A fascination of bugs is by far one of the more normal interests I have heard of."

Midna closed her eyes, trying not to imagine what Nō might be referring to. "…Let's just go find Agitha and then we'll be out of here."

"Oh, you don't wish to stay any longer?" Nō asked teasingly. When Midna gave her a flat look, her lips twitched in amusement and she said, "Very well."

With that, they left the laboratory area. (Nō assured Midna that their own workstation would be tidied up by servants later on.) Once more, they found themselves navigating the dim stone hallways of Spectra Castle, making more twists and turns than Midna could keep track of. They stopped in several locations where Nō thought that Okuni and Agitha might have been—the mess hall, Okuni's quarters, the guestroom, the armory—until Midna suggested that they might be outside, tracking down more bugs.

Indeed, they found the pair of bug-lovers along with Okuni's Larvesta crowded around a bush where a small yellow fuzzy spider Pokémon was hiding.

"Okuni, Agitha, there you are," Nō said. "I believe we have come to an agreement on how to return Agitha and Midna to their world."

"Oh, really?" Okuni said. She turned towards Agitha. "That's great news for you!"

"Yeah, but the bugs in this world are so cute and amazing!" Agitha said. "I never knew bugs that can shoot out fire and lightning and acid like the ones that I met today! And they're so big, too! These Joltik are the smallest Bug Pokémon in this world, and these are quite big already! Can't I stay a little longer?"

"Agitha," Midna said firmly.

"Oh, fine," Agitha conceded. She petted the Joltik one last time before stepping away and turning towards Midna. "It's always fun to meet new friends, but I suppose the bugs in my castle back home need me, too. But wait, does that mean you know what do we do to get back?"

Midna frowned. "Actually, we were going to ask you. You arrived in the Twilight Realm from the Light World somehow—I think you mentioned something about a bug. Could we use the same method to get back there again?"

"Oh yes, I was following my little ladybug! But he was just lost; I don't know if he can bring us back to the Twilight Realm…" Agitha paused for a moment in thought before her face lit up in excitement. "Oh! I do have a Shadow Insect, from the Twilight Realm where you're from! She was really naughty and tried to steal the light from my castle, but I scolded her and put her away in a jar. But maybe if I ask her nicely, she will lead us to the Twilight Realm!" She leaned over to rummage through her basket, and retrieved a large glass jar containing a black six-legged creature with a golden sheen.

"How did that fit in that basket of yours?" Midna asked, eyeing the jar that was literally taller than the basket it had fit in. "And besides, aren't these bugs Zant's manifestation of evil, and not real bugs? We've defeated him already—twice. Why is that one still around?"

Agitha ignored her, instead addressing the bug she was holding. "Madam Shadow Insect, I need you to lead us back to your home. If you do that, I'll forgive you for trying to steal all of the light from my castle and let you go free."

She looked at it some more, and seemed satisfied by its response, since she looked back up at Midna and said, "She's agreed to do so! Miss Kitty, are you ready?"

Midna looked towards Nō, "Well, thanks for helping us find out how to leave, I guess."

Nō gave a small mischievous smile. "My pleasure, Twilight Princess."

Agitha, meanwhile, set the jar down carefully before running up to Okuni and hugging her. "Thank you so much for talking about bugs with me! I hope we can talk again sometime!"

"Yes, indeed—it was so much fun hearing about all the little bugs you say you have in your homeland. If I get a chance, I'll try to visit you someday."

"Oh, that would be lovely! Goodbye until then! Goodbye to you too, Larvesta!"

The priestess and the princess both curtsied towards each other. Then, Agitha picked the jar back up, and unscrewed it.

The beetle-like insect darted out of the jar immediately, and Agitha and Midna both ran after it at full speed through the small garden that they were in, and then through the woods surrounding the castle, which soon gave way to a mountain range, clouded in shadows. Midna spared a glance backwards, but the castle was completely hidden now.

Turning her head back around, she found that Agitha had stopped—the walkable path ended abruptly in a cliff that fell away deep into the darkness, but the Shadow Insect simply scuttled along the cliff face.

"Shadow Insect, please wait a moment! You know we can't walk on walls like you can!" Agitha shouted out, but the bug did not heed her calls. Sighing, Agitha took her parasol out and waved it through the air. A giant golden butterfly came out of nowhere, and Agitha hopped on its back. "Hop on, Madam Kitty!"

Midna shook her head. "Your butterfly is made of light. I don't do well with light." Instead, she dematerialized herself into shadow and retook her imp form, one that could float across any sort of chasm.

Agitha giggled. "Oh, I forgot you could fly, too. Well, come on! The naughty little Shadow Insect is getting away!"

With that, the two of them raced after the bug, which continued along the mountain face for some time, before reaching a cave opening. It turned into the cave, and Agitha and Midna followed.

Except it wasn't a cave. The moment the crossed the threshold, they were suddenly flying above a courtyard surrounded by tall, majestic black buildings with glowing red and cyan lines. Behind them was just air, no trace of the mountain that they had crossed.

Agitha giggled again, and with a wave of her hand, her butterfly dissolved into light and she floated down to the ground gently, slowed by her parasol. Midna followed her. "We got back to your Twilight Realm, Miss Kitty!" Agitha announced happily. Turning around, she found the Shadow Insect on the ground, already starting to scurry away. "Thank you, Miss Shadow Bug! It wasn't nice of you to leave us behind when you started to just walk sideways on the mountainside, but at least you got us here!" The bug ignored her, just continuing to move off into the distance.

Midna and Agitha remained there for a moment in awkward silence. Then, Midna asked, "So what are your plans now, Agitha? You'll have to get back to the Light World, right?"

"I mean, eventually, certainly, but I'd love to explore around your world first, too. After all, it'll be a fun new experience for—"

She was suddenly cut off by a golden oval portal appearing in front of her, a blast of dry heat coming out of it. It took Midna an extra moment to recognize it—it was identical to the portal that Lana had created to send them to Ransei. She looked at Agitha, unsure of what to make of it.

A voice floated of the portal, slightly distorted. "Grant my wish!"

"Is that… Lana's voice?" Agitha asked.

"I think so," Midna said.

"Help! Everybody!" Lana's voice sounded frantic.

"We have to go help her!" Agitha said, starting to walk forwards into the portal.

"But we just got back!" Midna said.

"She can send us right back to this place and time, and no one will even know we were ever gone! All we have to do is make sure she gets it right this time!"

"Really? We're going to rely on her again, after our little frantic adventure?" Midna shook her head exasperatedly. "…Fine. I guess we have no choice but to go help that blue-haired scatterbrain out of trouble. Again."

Author's Note: It feels like it's been forever since I've uploaded a new story. Whoops. In any case, I had the idea for this fic way back when Agitha was first announced for Hyrule Warriors, before the game was even released: she and Okuni from Pokémon Conquest have so much in common, as parasol-toting bug lovers in dresses/skirts. (Okuni is of course in a bunch of other Samurai Warriors games, but I haven't played any and also it seems that she doesn't have a connection to bugs outside of Pokémon Conquest.) I decided to wait on writing it before I finished the Legend Mode of the game—which is a good thing, since I could add in the Cia/Nō connection and a reason for them to appear in Ransei. Still, that was a year and a half ago, in January or February of 2015. I started this fic, and then lost interest in it, working on it a little bit every few months when I remembered it. A few days ago, I finally decided to just sit down and write the rest of it. And so here it is now.

Side note: the Pokéball symbol is fairly ubiquitous in designs all across Ransei, despite there not being any Pokéballs there. I added in my own explanation in here.

Also, why has this crossover not been done yet (as far as I know)? Two of the biggest Nintendo crossovers in the last half-decade, and they're both with Koei Tecmo's Warriors franchise—and yet people haven't made this connection much. It's kind of a shame.

Published September 30, 2016