The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness
Chapter Two
Link was drenched in cold sweat. His heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing was shallow.
"Link?" came Midna's mostly-asleep voice from beside him. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Midna sat up. "You had one of those dreams again, didn't you?" Link said nothing. "Link, you really need to see someone about that."
"I've been to see Quaron," he said through shallow breaths. "He gave me some medicine but it didn't do any good."
"Well," she said, "perhaps Renado can help, or Luda, if he can't help. Besides, it'll be good for you to see the world of light again."
"Yeah," said Link. "That'd be nice. We could all go, make a vacation out of it. It'd be nice to see Ordon again."
"Alright," said Midna. "We'll talk more about it tomorrow. Try to go back to sleep."
"I think I'll step outside for a minute, actually," he said. "Maybe it'll clear my head." He made his way across the room and slid the door open. Out on the balcony, the cold night air stung Link's skin. He hated winter in the Twilight Realm. This world was cold enough without any sun, but winter was the worst. The shade of the sky was darker than in summer, and it was much colder. That was the worst part of it for Link. At least in Hyrule there was snow to show for the temperature, but here there was no snow, just intense cold. He barely lasted a minute out on the balcony before having to go back inside.
"Midna's right," he said to himself. "Renado will know what to do."
Orange light filled the room as Link finished dressing the next morning. Even after fifteen years, he still felt awkward in his clothes. He wore a dark green padded doublet over a black shirt, cinched at the waist by a wide, black belt with a square silver buckle, along with black pants and knee level black leather boots. Over all of that was a dark green velvet robe with black fur trim. On his right hand he wore a silver ring set with onyx, and on his head he wore a crown fashioned from silver encrusted with a sapphire in the center, an emerald on either side of the sapphire, and two pieces of jet outside of the emeralds on both sides. Dark green velvet made the cap inside the crown's silver band. Link hated having to wear all of this when he was in public, but he was a king, after all, and so he was required to look like a king.
"It'll be good to be back in Hyrule again," said Link and Midna entered the room, dressed in her familiar traveling gown.
"Especially for you," she said as she sat down on the bed. "I don't mind it so much, but I'm not sure how well I'll do, we haven't been there in so long. I'm more anxious to see what Renado says about your dreams."
"So am I. Have you told Eoghan and Siobhán we're going yet?" said Link as he fastened his robe. Midna had already finished dressing, as she had a servant to help her dress (Link, being a man, could take care of himself).
"Not yet," she said. "I thought it would be best not to get them wound up sooner than necessary."
"Good point," Link acknowledged, "except that I think it may be too late for that. I see someone peeking through the door. Siobhán, come in here!" Slowly the door opened. There stood Siobhán, the older of Link and Midna's twin children by four minutes. She had just turned sixteen, but she exuded beauty beyond her years. She very much resembled her mother; her skin was the pale blue of the Twili, and she was tall for a girl by Hylian standards. However, she had inherited dirty blonde hair and blue eyes from her father. She kept her eyes to the floor as she shuffled into the room.
"Am I in trouble?" she said in a soft voice the very much belied her strong appearance.
"Well, that depends," said Link. "Shut the door." Siobhán did as she was told. "Now, how much did you hear?"
"All of it," she confessed. "We're going to the world of light, mom isn't sure how she'll do in the light after not having been in it for so long, and you've been having dreams."
"Well," said Midna. "What shall we do, then?" She turned her eyes to Link. He was the king, so the final decision rested with him.
"So," he said, "the question is 'are you in trouble'. Well, I'll make you a deal." Siobhán snapped her head up to look her father in the eyes. "You will be in no trouble at all, if, and only if, you promise not to say a word about it to your brother."
Siobhán beamed. "I can do that! I promise it'll stay a complete secret."
"Good," said Midna. "Now, go change. We're leaving in a few hours." Siobhán turned and ran off down the hall.
"You know," said Midna, her eyes toward the floor, "before the whole Zant fiasco, I never thought I wanted kids." She got up and glided over to where Link stood, took his chin in her hand and turned his head to face her. "But now, I couldn't imagine it any other way, and it's all thanks to you."
"You mean you wouldn't rather be married to a Twili and have full-blooded Twili children?"
"No, Link," she said with utmost sincerity. "Never in a million years would I want our kids any other way than what they are, or would I choose anyone over you. If I had it all to do over again," she fought back tears, "it would be you. It's always been you, even before I knew you existed. I love you." She pressed her lips to his and leaned into him, savoring every second of it. After a moment she let him go.
"I love you too," he said, before frowning. "Midna, are you crying?"
"A little bit," she confessed. "I always tear up when I think about it. Partly because of how I feel about you, partly because the joy and pride I feel just knowing that Siobhán and Eoghan are my kids…but then it's also partly guilt because I remember when all I cared about was myself, and I think…I almost threw all of this away." Link sat down beside her on the bed.
"Midna, please," he took her hand in his. "Don't cry, there's no reason to. You didn't throw anything away, I'm here, Siobhán and Eoghan are here, everything's fine. I hate to see you cry."
"I know, it's silly," she said, wiping her eyes. "Ugh…okay, I feel a lot better now. I've wanted to do that for a long time." She stood up. "Alright, well, let's get things ready. Patar will need to know how long we'll be gone."
"I'm really surprised Patar still leads the council," said Link, laughing to himself. "Wasn't he at death's door when we came for the Sword of Kings?"
"He's not that old," Midna contested. "Okay, maybe he is that old, but he's still capable…" She let voice trail off and Link gave her an appraising look. "Okay," she said finally, "maybe he's not capable, but neither are any of the other councilors and he's been doing it for this long…"
That afternoon, the four of them gathered in the palace atrium. They were just about to leave when Midna stopped short.
"Where's Eoghan?" she said, darting her eyes back and forth. "He was just here."
"Eoghan!" shouted Siobhán, "get out here NOW! Don't make me hurt you!" Suddenly Eoghan appeared out of nowhere. Although they were twins, Eoghan had mastered his shadowjump ability before Siobhán.
"Sorry," he said mischievously. Eoghan was much like his father. His skin only had a faint bluish tint, his Hylian blood dominating his pigmentation. He had inherited Midna's red hair and amber-and-yellow eyes, but was otherwise identical to Link when he was fourteen.
"Eoghan," said Link, "that's fine now but you can't do that in Hyrule."
"Why not?" he whined. "It's so much fun."
"Because," he Link, "in Hyrule that isn't normal."
"So?" Eoghan retorted. "We aren't normal."
"Listen," Link said, more powerfully this time, "I am your father and I said don't do it. Understand?"
"Yes…" Eoghan began to sulk.
"Siobhán," Link said, "make sure your brother doesn't shadowjump while we're in Hyrule. Or if he does, make sure no one's around to see."
"Got it," she said with a nod. Eoghan would never dare shadowjump on this trip now. If there was one thing he feared more than anything else, it was his sister.
"Ready, Link?" said Midna. He nodded. "Alright then. Kids, come on. We're going."
Together the exited the palace and made their way across the islands to the Mirror Stone. Link and his family stepped into the portal, and Link felt a familiar pull somewhere behind his navel as everything went black. After a moment, they found themselves in the Mirror Chamber of the Arbiter's Grounds. They were in Hyrule once again.
Link was home.
