Illuminations of Mind

Chapter 1

The Twilight Realm

Link moaned.

Very Loudly.

His head collapsed onto the desk with a quiet thump.

"Will you just be quiet!?" Midna snapped back to him from her seat one row ahead of him.

'But I'm huuuuungry…" He whispered back.

"Not now! Shhh!"

The teacher walked by them slowly, eyes still on his book in hand, as if to say, 'Shut up or die'. He twitched his long black ears and went back to the board at the front of the room, then continued his lecture.

Link was bored, that simple.

These Twilight Realm schools were horrible. Entirely different from the ones back home, even! Instead of having grades, there were Levels. Age did not matter. Level 1 was usually of younger Twili, and focused on physical ability, as well as basic knowledge.

Levels 2-4 were brutal. Only pain could describe them, and Link felt insanely embarrassed when he had to go through all the lower classes when he first arrived in the Twilight Realm. If not for Midna's rigorous training, he would still be in Level 2.

Levels 2-4 were all knowledge. Twili graduating from each of these levels were expected to know things that were never taught back in the Light Realm, such as advanced Magic(class 4 spells, matter displacement, and creation of a weapon from Twilight Particles), and even how to make a skilled politician feel woozy with your rambling of facts contradicting them.

And then there were levels 5-7.

The ninth level of hell.

All hope in life gone like that.

It was all combat. Hand-to-hand, sword, staff, magical, making anything into a weapon, body dexterity, flexibility, and then the only thing that wasn't getting your life shortened with each blow to the gut, Twili History.

Which is what Link, Midna, and her young bodyguard Knil were in right now, at level 6. To pass the deathly final, he had to defeat a tristar-class knight in magical ability, then another in armed combat.

At the same time.

Link groaned again just thinking about it.

This time thought, the teacher whapped him on the head with his book, and hard. Even Zelda's occasional slaps on the back of the head were lighter, and that was really saying something. Even though he couldn't see it, both Midna and Knil rolled their eyes.

-------

"What the hell was that about!?" Midna bellowed in Link's face as their classes came to a close, and they embarked home from the 'school' that was conveniently shaped like a light realm castle.

Link blinked, his ears back against his head.

"I must agree with Midna here," Knil added, saying what would be most of his daily speech that was not lecturing Link, "You annoy that teacher and you'll be a dead man.

They were walking down the path to the stairs up to the Palace of Twilight. The majestic gold-colored sky loomed overhead, only the sound of the Twilight Ravens cawing in the forests on either side of them broke the ominous, but beautiful silence.

Link had not noticed the sheer beauty of this place last time he was here, which was, much to his annoyance, when he and the amazing-in-all-aspects woman on his left had ended Zant's iron hold on this realm.

Midna sighed. "Linky, you certainly zone out more than I remember." Her voice quieting as she spoke.

"Huh? I zone?" Link asked stupidly, looking at the young Twili woman who was almost exactly his height. She was intensely gorgeous, and it made most of the boys in his school(or whatever they called it here; as he couldn't remember the menacingly long name, so Midna and he dubbed It school for convenience) sinful towards him and his luck, being one of the few who was able to freely talk to the technical next ruler of their country of Tielna, even though she really didn't want the crown now that Zant was gone. Too much trouble, but her care for her people never faded.

One of the many aspects of the Twili Link just could not seem to grasp was their bodies. Apparently their forms were very tentative, and depending on how much 'light' they were exposed to, their bodies could take shapes closer to Twili resemblance, or to Hylian resemblance.

Link was still confused on this, so he decided to ask Midna about it again.

"Hey Midna," He began,

"Hmmm?" She spoke, looking over at him softly, their paces down the dirt path almost exact.

"Tell me again, what's the deal with your Twili bodies and light?"

She stopped, and looked at him, flabbergasted.

"Oh, come on Link, I've told you so many times already! GRRRR! Knil, please explain to this dope how we work again."

She got ahead of them on the trail, and Knil matched his quick pace to Link. Link looked up at him, still perplexed on how they were practically the same, yet so different. Knil was his height, had his hair, his strength, and someone would confuse the two if not for Knil's airplane ears and body markings. The similarities were easily explained, for, as Midna put it, Knil is to her as Link is to Zelda. Protector and princess.

Only Knil's time of heroism had not yet come, for he was taken out by Zant very quickly and turned into a Shadow Beast until the time he was killed, thus, Knil was not awed by every girl in as Link was back in the Light Realm.

Knil then began, "Link, here are the basics. A Twili's body is not put in stone, we alter our shapes when exposed to light of your world. However, we can protect against transformation by using technology we have created known as Twilight Spores. When Midna was in her smaller form, at least 2 or 3 of these spores had infected her, heavily altering her shape to look more Twilight based than her regular. When the evil king Ganondorf was killed by you," He paused, looking into Link's eyes, wondering, "Midna's Twilight Spores were destroyed, and the light in the realm caused her to attain a more Hylian appearance, until she returned here and shattered the Mirror of Twilight, the supposed last entrance to our Realm, which is obviously not true due to your presence here.

Link grinned, he really had worked hard to find a way into this realm again, which ended up being in another country altogether, the one directly south of Hyrule, to be exact.

Knil continued his long and boring explanation, finishing that a Twili's normal form, or at least as normal as you can get, is much like Midna's cursed form, only in reasonable proportions. Meaning, the long ears, fire-colored hair(Knil's hair was in fact blood red), black and pale markings, along with the occasional neon green symbols a Twili could be born with, only with Hylian size proportions.

Link followed most of this, and concluded mentally that even with no Twilight Spores in her, she was, in fact, still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and she was only a year older than him. He was 18, one year since Ganondorf's final breath, his legacy of war, fear, and blood ended at last, and with no heir, things seemed well on the Light side of the realms.

Knil concluded his speech, and quickened his pace once again to match Minda's. Link had no idea how the guy could move like that, but decided not to think on it much, as he caught up to them just as they arrived at the massive, circular staircase up to the palace.

Link groaned again, and Midna snickered back at him.

They were halfway up when Link had to stop to rest. Even the countless "educational" battles at school could not toughen him up to tackle the entire stone staircase without stopping at least once. He was panting, and Midna came up from behind him. She patted him on the back, and smiled warmly.

"Come on, Linky. What kind of Hero are you? Losing to a feeble staircase. That massive dick-thing in the forest temple was tougher."

He laughed. The things she could always do for him. Encouragement, help, care. They had gotten off to a pretty bad start, but over their adventure they had truly began to care for one another. They were family.

That was the reason he came back here to see her. She was a part of him now, part of who he was, his essence, and he felt fine acknowledging that.

Midna knew it too, and the same applied to her. She just couldn't live without the guy, he was fun, and so caring and helpful to everything she was.

They both grinned at each other, and then laughed, before continuing up the stairs in silence.

It had been a month since Link had thrown away everything he had, friends, family, fame, for her. And now, he loved it. Every aspect of this world was amazing to him. He couldn't get enough of it. Still, deep in his mind, down the hall he didn't like to think about, he knew he had to return to Light Realm one day.

Soon. And that was slowly eating away at him.

He looked out at the brilliant black-yellow sky, snaking its hands in every direction. The majesty of it truly awesome.

He loved this sky so much, yet there were people that lived under another sky he also loved, and he realized to his horror as he walked side by side with Midna, the sole reason for his being here, that he never even told Ilia or Zelda he left.

God Fucking damnit.

-------

Zelda paced quickly back and forth in Telma's Bar, wearing a black, skintight long sleeve under a loose, white shirt with a black Triforce on the back, near her neck. Her bottom half was covered by dark blue Cargo Pants, her newest love in lower garments now that she wasn't needing to wear a dress everywhere she went.

The kingdom was in a rebuild stage, lives being saved, villages helped, and many new monster hunters cleaning up after Ganondorf. Link had been the leader of them all, the Hero of Twilight they called him, before he disappeared into thin air not a month earlier.

"Settle down. They're on their way, dear." Telma smiled over to Zelda as she stopped pacing and walked over to where she stood behind the bar.

"I'm really sorry Telma, I'm just so…well, distressed since Link left. We really need to find him. He's inspiration, someone to look up to, a hero…" She sighed, and her head fell limp, letting her long, golden brown hair to slither across the table in all directions.

Telma sighed. "Sweetie, you really need to stop moping over him. I know he's your good friend, and he should have told you when he left, but only the goddesses know where he is right now. He just saved an entire world from a madman of power that really shouldn't exist." Zelda raised her head and looked through her silky hair at her, "And that can make one need some time to think. He's likely off in Gerudo Desert pondering the things that have happened."

Zelda sighed again deeply, worry in her liquid golden eyes. She agreed to Telma's words, and decided it was a time of patience.

At that moment, the door jingled, and a familiar loud and boisterous voice entered the small room. Zelda smiled.

"We're baaaaaaack!" Drei called, his poofy striped tail waving in the air behind him. He walked over and leaned on the bar, grinning most happily.

Drei, Zelda thought. Link's right hand man in the monster hunting world. A enthusiastic guy only a few years older than Link, and a Sancure, a race of Desert dwellers from the country of Exlian, directly northwest of Hyrule. A truly massive country of only sand and giant fucking moldorms the size of houses.

After him came the others of his party.

Dhimina, a witty and intelligent Gerudo from Northern Gerudo Desert, and Drei's girlfriend.

Amira, a Veren, a peaceful race who fed on the blood of animals and monsters alike. They had really tough feet, and large, ultrasonic ears. Their race bore red markings on various places of their bodies as well. The Verens came from the southeastern country of Valirne, another wasteland. This time no desert, just endless rocks and mountains with no life at all. Only the dead center 500 square miles of the massive country had life in the form of forests, abundant in peaceful living environment in an otherwise deadly place. Amira was a wild one, that's for sure. Strong, Happy, full of life, but shy as well. And easy to piss off. A deadly combination. Zelda shuddered at the thought of her bad side.

Then came Azrien, a strong and caring Werevnal, the other of the two "fuzzy" races alongside the Sancure, yet the only fuzz on him was his ears and tail. The Werevnal are known for their high intelligence, cool and collected personalities, and light brown skin to complement their ears and tails of the same color. They rise from the deep Faron forests, and many prefer no contact with other races. The one close to him was the wise and beautiful Yunri of the Rito tribe, winged people of the northeastern costal country of Roalii. Azrien and Yunri were likely the most open about their relationship of the entire group.

They really didn't hide their love, including the noise they made at night Zel heard occasionally when they shared a house for brief periods of time. That bugged her quite a bit.

These people were some of Link and her's closest friends, along with Zelda, Malon, Saria, and the Hyrule Resistance. Now not much of a resistance with Ganondorf's fall, they were all inseparable, with Telma acting as something of motherly figure to all the younger ones, which was pretty much everyone except Auru and Rusl, as the rest were under 24, the youngest being Saria, a very fun and loving Hylian of 15, and the oldest of the 'kids' being Azrien, at 23.

The gathering of the Monster Hunters at the bar was Zelda's idea. Literally everyone in the kingdom now knew of Link's disappearance, and now it was time to find him.

"Alright, people," She began, looking at them happily as they lined up against the wall parallel to the bar where Zelda sat," First of all, it's nice to see you all again, it's been what, a week?" She smiled. "We need to find Link. Now. Any ideas?"

"Well, he could be in Gerudo Desert thinking, it's a good place for that, you know." Azrien suggested, his tone light and convincing.

"Ha." Telma said from behind the bar, arms crossed, her nose up.

Zelda shot her an annoyed look, then, went back to the monster hunters. "It's always a possibility, yet I don't see Link there just to think about things. And, he definitely would not stay there for a month. It's hot as hell, and there are Moldorms everywhere."

"Psshhh, freakin' tiny ones. Nothin' to 'em."

"Shuddit, Drei" Zelda snapped at him. He backed away grinning.

"Let's think about this for a moment," Yunri said quickly from under Azrien's arms. Who is Link? Do we really know him enough to predict his conscience? If he's been gone for almost a month, he likely isn't on some thinking trip. He's probably not planning on coming back anytime soon, too. So, where would he go? He's not in Ordon or Kakariko. Rusl would know, and we ourselves have base camp in Kakariko Village for our hunting across the country, not the best site, but it's worth it for the hot springs."

"Oh yesssss…" Amira said for the first time that discussion, "Ever so heavenly…" She wrapped her arms around herself dramatically.

"So we've narrowed it down to no towns." Dhimina concluded for Yunri, "That's not much, we still have an entire country, maybe more."

"More…" Zelda murmured, deep in thought. "It's more than possible he's outside the country, or maybe he's up with those Yetis again…?" She cocked her head, and leaned against the bar next to Telma, who was now washing dishes.

"And there goes our second super thinker," Amira said happily, "She'll figure it out. She always does."

"I certainly hope so," Dhimina added, "I need to get back in the field. I care about Link, yes, but I need action! C'mon Drei, let's go bash some Bokoblin skulls!" She said enthusiastically to her boyfriend, mimicking a boxing position.

Drei laughed, then put his arm around her affectionately and asked whispered in her ear for patience. She frowned a bit, then melted into his side, and closed her eyes for a moment, content with her position as long as he was there too.

"Awwwwww" Amira teased, "You two are so cuuuuuute!" She squealed happily, hopping up and down. "When can we expect wedding bells!?"

Dhimina opened her eyes lightning fast and shot her a 'shut up' glare, her face bright red. Drei was smiling, his face equally crimson, if not more.

"Ahhhhh…" Yunri sighed contently, "You're just jealous Amira."

"WHAT!?"

"Yup, admit it. You want the pleasures of having someone to love."

Now it was Amira's turn to blush, lowering her head.

"L-Lies…"

"Riiiight." Yunri said softly, rubbing it in by slowly allowing Azrien to further pull her toward his warm body. "I have Azrien, Dhimina has Drei, hell, even Zel here has her knight in shining armor, Link."

That grounded Zelda in the real world. She sputtered.

"W-What?! Hardly! He's my close friend!"

"How close are we talking? Didn't you two fall asleep once at his place?" Yunri said suggestively.

"AAAARGGGH!!" Zelda bellowed, flinging her arms into the air, "Why are we talking about lovers when I'm trying to think about where Link is!?"

Everyone laughed, Drei bellowed with the humor. Zelda was red as a rose.

"Oh, to be young again…" Telma said softly to herself, smiling.

Then Zelda thought of something she hadn't considered before.

"W-Wait…" She mumbled, and everyone stopped and looked at her. Even Telma, who was washing mugs contently looked over at her, recognizing the seriousness in her voice.

"Lovers…women…friends…" She trailed off, then mumbled, "Midna…"

Everyone froze. They knew well of Link and Midna's travels, and how close they were to each other.

They all thought about it. It really did make a lot of sense for them to try and meet again…

-------

Link was pacing back and forth around the large room. Dark light poured in through a window carved into the wall, and through a skylight in the ceiling designed in much of the same fashion.

Midna lay comfortably on her bed, in the back of the Palace of Twilight Throne Room. Only herself, Knil, and Link were ever allowed back there. Not even her advisors were granted admittance.

The room was nice, that's for sure. It was mostly dark colored, built entirely from Twilight Particles. The ceiling high, massive bed in the head of the room, with steps up in the corners that housed desks and dressers.

A room fit for a princess.

A twilight princess.

"C'mon, Link! Take a rest from walking! I bet you need it!" Midna yelled over at him from her bed, as he paced from the large stone door to the right hand corner of her room and back. She was still fully dressed in her usual black cargos and orange tank top, with a bleach white overcoat on over it.

She sighed. Link was being paranoid, stressing too much about his little slip-up of not telling anyone he was here. He came to see her, and it ticked her off slightly that he was worrying about the girls back home already.

He was now muttering to himself, and she had it.

Before he could hear her yell at him, he had a dark green pillow in his face, and he was sprawled on the ground where he fell.

"Ouch." He whimpered, looking over at Midna after forcing himself on his feet again, "That was mean." He tossed the pillow back onto the bed.

She smirked, "Now that you're off the City in the Sky, how about you come over here and tell me what your thinking." She said, patting the area of soft bed next to her.

He sighed, then obliged, "Well," he began, his voice tired, "Knowing the family I left behind, they'll be starting a search right about now. And, with Zel and Yunri on their side, it'll be quite easy for them to figure out where I am."

"Yunri? Another girlfriend?" She was shocked.

"No no, she's actually deathly in love with my good friend Azrien, and I really can see them under wedding bells eventually." He grinned at the thought, before laying back on the softer-than-it-should-be bed, with his hands relaxed behind his head.

Midna looked back at him curiously before pressing the subject again.

"So then if they're coming after you, and with Zelda and this 'Yunri' person's quick thinking, it won't be long at all before they consider the possibility that you risked you hide to see yours truly again." She was grinning like Amira now, the edges of her mouth stretching across her face in that evil fashion of hers.

It made Link twitch.

Midna frowned, "Some thing wrong, Linky?"

"No, no…"

"Whaaaat, I remind you of Yuuuuunri…?"

"No, Amira, actually."

"Whoah! Whatta player!"

"Eh!?" He snapped his eyes open from the trans he was in, not realizing what he had said, "No way! She's cute, good intentioned and a nice person, but psychotic at the same time!"

He was now gesticulating with his hands flying everywhere, and Midna burst out laughing, her wavy magma-orange hair flowing behind her. It was truly funny and cute at the same time to see Link so flustered. Deep down, he really was a good guy. She hit herself in the head when she realized she was blushing.

Link had clamed down now, and was resuming his lying position on the bed, eyes closed, yet she could see he was still tense, awaiting another remark from her.

She sighed, and tried to get some conversation going again.

"So…How many girls have you made friends with now?"

He chuckled. "More girls than guys, I can say that…"

"Reeeeally?"

"Yup. Zel, Amira, Malon, Saria, Dhimina, Yunri, Ashei, and now your Twili friends I met recently, Risa and Khalia. And I must ask, are all Twili as beautiful as the ones I've met?" He inquired of her, as he gazed up at the skylight.

She laughed, her face only a little red, yet this time only mentally hit herself. "Yeah, pretty much. We have really high metabolisms, and our…boobs…are naturally large due to such harsh living conditions thousands of years ago when we first arrived here."

When she finished, she looked over at Link, and his face was heavy crimson. She giggled, something she rarely did. His face was all red, even up to his ears.

"Touchy subject, maybe?" She inquired, falling backwards onto the bed with a soft thump. She was lying directly next to him, her bright red and yellow eyes on the back of his head. He was obviously trying to hide his flustered face. His hair smelled nice. What the hell was he washing it with!? It was really puzzling her. No, no! She thought! Do not start thinking about his hair again!

"So, then…" She began, trying to get her mind off things, but was interrupted by Knil opening the door and walking in almost entirely silent. This would have annoyed her, but the first thing he said changed her mind.

"Link, are you sick? You're face is on fire!"

Midna bawled so hard the maids in the other room could hear it. She was on the verge of tears when Link finally shot her an annoyed glance, red only slightly gone from his face. She looked up at the ceiling innocently, her fingertip in her mouth.

"Err…Midna, even though you are technically ruler of this kingdom, the people living here are requesting you call it a night, you too Link. You may not know it, but you make quite a ruckus."

Both Link and Midna went red again. What an awkward day.

Knil rolled his eyes at them.

Midna was first to get up, and literally pushed Link off her bed.

"Ooof! Midna, you're so cruel!" He moaned, dramatized pain and torture in his voice.

"Hah! Guilty."

"Please, we all do have Telianeris Levels again tomorrow."

Link looked at him puzzled. Knil sighed, annoyed, and looked at Link, now off the floor and brushing himself off, "Fine," Knil said, "School."

"Ah. Right then," Link realized, knocking himself on the head jokingly. "I'll be off then to my quarters. G'Night Midna, you too Knil."

"Night Linky!" Midna called after him, waving her hand in the air.

"Good night Link." Knil said as Link waved a hand back at them.

Link exited the room, the large door opening and closing behind him entirely on it's own. Midna sighed, and lay back on the bed. Knil put the usual glass of water and apple on her bedside before saying good night and making his leave.

"Ahh…Another day of fun awaits." She said smugly. It took her a moment to change out of her dirty clothes and into her fine black nightgown. She looked quickly down at her sleek body imprint through the dress, wondering if she was really so ;gifted' as Link thought. She told herself to forget it, then jumped onto the massive bed happily and buried herself among the large, poofy blankets and fell into a deep and relaxed sleep.

-------

Link awoke abruptly. Knil was knocking annoyingly at the stone door that led to his room, yelling at him to get the hell up. He shouted back at his twili double, then lazily got out of bed.

His eyes were droopy as he began to dress. He could only guess how the fluff Knil got around the Palace so fast, it was huge. He figured he had better not know, then slipped into his clothes. A nice, dark green outfit with a frilled collar and a thin neckline, and tan pants.

Whoo.

He was out the door and lazy walking down the long hall as Midna came from around the corner with Knil at her side.

"Ah, Link." Knil stated surprised, then spoke politely, "I had just come to violently force you out of bed. Good to see you up."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Midna frowned at him, "Really so tired? Hurry up, Linky! We need to get to 'school'!"

"I know, I know…" He resembled a redead as he slumped his way outside with Midna and Knil trailing after him. The peaceful, twilight air was refreshing, a slight breeze welcoming him outside. The sky still that same, black and yellow color above them. Sometimes, he still longed for real sunlight.

"Link! COME. ON." Midna was pissed at his laziness now. She grabbed his limp hand and proceeded to drag him across the black stone to the massive spiral staircase that led down to the surface world. He was awake now, and suddenly out of the back of his strange mind, a thought arised. He escaped from Midna's death grip on his hand, and hopped onto the edge of the staircase. Midna looked over at him and sighed.

"Don't do it Link. I'm not cleaning up the mess when you hit the ground a mile down." Midna said to him, as he was judging the height they were at.

He looked back at her, grinned, and jumped, doing a flip and swan dive as he left the safety of the stairs.

Midna waited a few seconds, then chuckled, "Idiot."

"He does do things with no point, doesn't he?"

She grinned at Knil, as they started walking again down the hard staircase. "That's just Link, who he is. A crazy idiot with no sense of what could kill him, and a black-hole stomach to boot."

"Well, he is the hero of his world, and also a hero of ours. He can probably survive a half-mile fall if he needed to."

"Ha! I don't doubt his survival abilities, that's for sure! He takes on any obstacle that comes his way. You should have seen that massive eel thing in the Lakebed temple though, I swear he never lost his grin of pleasure during that fight."

"Yeah, he's an idiot, and also one who'll die early."

"Maybe…I'm still surprised he was able to even find another way here, I thought the mirror was the only way." She sighed again and crossed her arms, "Maybe he will die young. Reckless fool. I'll brutally murder him if he dies on me."

"You two are really close. You know him well enough to not be worried when he risks his life for a little exhilaration."

"I guess. We spent a lot of time together fighting in his realm against all sorts of beasts I would have never thought existed. We have our fare share of deadly critters here too, but these things were massive.

"Don't go off topic, just how much do you care for Link?"

She looked to her right, directly into her bodyguard's eyes, her face slightly red. "It's not your business, Knil." She made that Amira smirk again, and stuck her tongue out at him before racing the rest of the way down the staircase.

Link was sore. His whole body ached. At least the pain was gone.

Even though he was able to make a good impact absorbation apparatus out of Twilight Particles floating in the air, it still hurt like hell when he landed.

"Argh." He moaned, lying on his back in the emerald green grass. "That hurt. Maybe I should keep off the life-threatening activities for a while." He sprung himself off the ground in a circular motion, and walked between the trees to where the stairs ended in a large, tiled area. Statues headed the staircase, and appeared again every 100 steps or so. He looked up again to see Midna and Knil racing down the steep decline to greet him.

They were plainly dressed, Midna in a frilled button up white shirt with a red tank top over it, and another pair of black, loose cargo pants. She never seemed to run out of clean pairs.

Knil was plain, Whitish grey shirt of more sophisticated origin, a pair of grey pants and a long sleeve under the upper-class-seeming suit-thing he wore over it of the same color. He even wore a dark grey version of the floppy green hat Link had worn most of his journey over a year ago. He still had that outfit of course, only it was hung up in his basement back in Ordon, and likely dusty by now. He really should wear that hat more. It was just plain cool.

Link smiled as they jumped the last five steps and landed loudly in front of him.

"Ta-daaaaaaa," Midna said happily, her arms out as she stood up, "Not bad eh, Linky?"

"Quite nice." He said to her politely, lightly clapping.

"So," Knil interrupted, "we will be late, shall we go?"

"Sounds good, let's be off."

"Alright, but we still have 10 minutes."

"Nevermind that. I'll race you there!" Link shouted back at her, as he bounded off in the direction of the school.

"Hey! That was cheap! No head starts!" Midna cried after him as she too bounded down the road.

Knil sighed, and followed, walking after them smiling.