Ok, my beautiful people! So, as was the case with Blood and Spirit (and Wisdom an Courage), I do plan on responding to my reviewers before each chapter, mostly because I'm already anticipating your reactions to a LOT of stuff and I know that you all will want to hear what I have to say (I hope!) But anyway, I can already tell that you guys are just as excited for this as I am, so I won't keep you here for too long. Thank you to GO ZeldaXLink, Havarth, LooneyCat55, Nintendoman01, Puxie, RandomButLoved and Legionary Prime for following/favoriting! Now onto the reivews!
Beforethedawnbreaks: Well... I suppose that's ok, but you might get a few spoilers for B&S and W&C, though L&S can stand as a solo piece for the most part, I'd like to think. So enjoy!
RandomButLoved: Thanks! I like Verona's name too (especially since it sounds like Veran, Veress, ect.), And Yes, I can promise you that this story will be AMAZING (hopefully I'm not getting too far ahead of myself!)
LooneyCat55: I've been having that feeling when it comes to L&S for so long now and so it feels so good to finally write all of my ideas out for it! :D
GO ZeldaXLink: Indeed. I've been wanting to get L&S out for ages it feels like, and I am very eager to unleash all of my ideas for it out for everyone to see!
Legionary Prime: Yeah, since this is sorta a sequel to Twilight Princess, it would be important to know the plot, since it takes place like a few months after it ;D
Alrighty, now before we begin, I'd just like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has already shown support for this story, even if it hasn't officially begun yet! I promise you that I won't let you down! And with that said, I now humbly (FINALLY!) present...
Light and Shadow
Chapter 1: Turmoil in the Twilight
"The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!"
-Ganondorf, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Twilight Realm was on the verge of collapse once again.
It had scarcely seemed like several months had passed since the fall of the usurper king, Zant, and now, the peaceful residents of the darkened world were facing an all new threat, one that was much more destructive and deadly. The people of the Twilight Realm had been ill-prepared to face this unexpected onslaught to say the least, as they were all still trying to recover from the last attack upon their homeland, and none of them could have seen this strike coming even if they had been ready for it. The vast legions of wicked forces had set upon the central complex near the royal palace and had overpowered most of the Twili forces with ease. Already the area had gone up in smoke as the people who lived nearby fled for their lives, lest they be slaughter by the mindless, rampaging shadow beasts that had invaded their home and attacked their kingdom.
Even the normally fortified Palace of Twilight was not safe from the violent attack, something that had been proven the moment its guards were slaughtered and its thick doors crashed in. The siege had been going on for hours, and even if the shadow beasts had managed to make their way in fairly easily, the loyal Twili guards had been through such a savage attack before when Zant had let a similar strike upon the palace months ago. And so, the loyal forces were able to hold their own in battle against the monsters for quite some time, but even still, the dark creatures kept coming without end, even despite the vast numbers they struck down. All too soon, the enemy pressed their way past the last line of defense and burst into the throne room of the palace, ready to follow through on their orders to take down the leader of the Twilight Realm herself.
The one thing that none of the shadow beasts could have been expecting however, was the strong blast of power that annihilated about five of them as they entered into the throne room. The Twili guards who all stood throughout the room, ready to fend off their foes, all turned back and looked to their princess in amazement as she formed another orb of scarlet energy over her palm, her normally kind and benevolent face replaced with a piercing, furious glare. Like the rest of her people, Midna had faced such a threat before, but this time, she had no intentions of running or hiding now. This time, she planned of staying by her kingdom and fighting for it with everything she had, even if she lost it all in the process.
Even despite the obviously strong magic that the Twilight Princess wielded, the shadow beasts kept coming nonetheless, their numbers seemingly endless as they pounced upon the significantly weaker guards. While Midna did everything in her power to protect her own loyal defenders, she found that she could only do so much. After all, there was only one of her and already she was starting to feel worn from the strain that using so much magic at once was putting upon her. But she did not give up, not even for a single second, for she knew that her domain could not fall into the hands of evil. Not again.
When Zant had attacked, things had been so much different. The Twilight Princess had been so young and naive back then. Her selfishness and her own fear had blinded her from seeing what was truly important: the lives of her people. And in her foolishness, she had fled from her people, cursed and terrified, to the world of light, where her main motivation had been reclaiming her own form and glory rather than peace and salvation for her fallen kingdom. And yet, in her relentless search for a way to defeat the usurper king, she had found something else instead, something that she had not known that she ever needed before. She had found selflessness, kindness, honesty, and most of all, courage. And she owed it all to the one who had been her constant companion throughout those many months of wandering through the world of light, for just as she had been there for him as he struggled on his own destined path, he had been there to show her a path that had led her to becoming a better monarch when it was all said and done. And even more than that, Midna knew that even though their relationship had stated off very rough, they had grown to become the closest of friends by the end of it all, which had made leaving him behind all the more painful.
The Twilight Princess shook her head to clear it of such distracting thoughts as she focused on the task at hand: ridding her home and kingdom of these violent marauders. Though most of her guards lay either dead or indisposed around her, Midna remained standing, even if her powers were steadily growing weaker and her breathing had grown heavy from all of the exertion she was putting upon herself. However, as she took a moment to catch her breath, she suddenly noticed that all of the shadow beasts had fallen back, lowering themselves to the ground in reverence for some reason as they finally ceased their attack. The Twilight Princess looked at them in wary confusion for a moment, before a sudden voice spoke from behind her, immediately catching her attention from its first word.
"My, my, Midna… It certainly has been a while…"
Midna's eyes widened in shock as she hesitated for a moment, before slowly turning her head to see the woman who had wrongfully seated herself upon the royal throne. "Verona…" the princess growled as she glared at the other Twili woman, scolding herself for not guessing that she had been responsible for all this chaos.
Verona grinned calmly, her dark red lips curling up in perverse amusement as she sat casually upon Midna's throne as if she owned it. "You don't look very pleased to see me, cousin," she said knowingly, a hint of superiority in her tone.
"That's because I'm not," the Twilight Princess retorted sharply, her fists clenching tightly at her sides. Midna and Verona had quite a difficult history together to say the least. They were cousins, both born into the Twili royal family, though Midna was born into the direct line for the throne, which was why she had ascended to it upon the death of her predecessor. However, even before that, it was always known that she would be the one to eventually take the throne out of her generation, something that Verona resented greatly.
Ambitious from a very young age, Verona had always been known throughout the Twilight Realm for her high intelligence, her cunning charisma and her ability to take charge in any situation. And while such worthy attributes were normally praised and valued by the inhabitants of the Twilight Realm, Verona found that her aspirations and dreams of rising to power within her own kingdom were not met as she watched with silent fury as her cousin took the throne instead. Midna and Verona had grown up alongside one another since they were about the same age, though Verona was a few years older, but even despite that, the two of them had never been close. Their respective intermediate families had never really gotten along, and even beyond that, the two cousins seemed to bicker and fight whenever they saw each another, largely because of their conflicting personalities. While Midna was hot-tempered, hard headed and outspoken, Verona was much more reserved with her words, instead taking more of a regal, laid-back, formal stance than even the Twilight Princess herself. Which was why the fact that Midna became the Twilight Princess instead of her, simply because of bloodlines despite the fact that she was clearly more qualified, made Verona's blood boil in passionate anger. She became bitter, and in her heated jealousy, she turned to hatred and vengeance. In secret, Verona studied the forbidden magic of the Twili, secrets of dark sorcery that had been locked away for countless generations. However, before she could make her move against the newly-crowned Twilight Princess, she was discovered,and quickly banished from her home in the Palace of Twilight for the wicked magic she had come to wield, as well as plotting to overtake the throne. Upon her banishment, Verona had seemingly vanished, disappearing to parts unknown, and she had not been seen since.
Until today.
"What are you even doing here!?" Midna spat harshly, not trusting the sudden reappearance of her vanished cousin.
"Well, isn't it obvious, Midna?" Verona asked smoothly, her cunning smile still present. "I've returned after two long, hard years, to finally take what should have been mine in the first place: the throne."
"The Twilight Realm will never be yours!" the Twilight Princess exclaimed with determination. "I'll make sure of that!"
"Oh, you will?" Verona said with a taunting laugh. "Just like how you made sure that the throne didn't fall into Zant's hands a few months ago, right? Oh, but wait… It did…"
Verona let out a mocking laugh at Midna's expense, as the Twilight Princess glared harshly at her cousin. "Why have you finally come back now, two whole years later?" she asked suspiciously. "Why wait so long since you've always been so eager to try and steal the throne from me?"
Verona chuckled lightly once more as she sat up straighter upon the throne. "The answer to that, my dear cousin, is quite simple," she said eloquently. "In the time that I have been gone, I have traveled across the Twilight Realm, uncovering quite a bit of knowledge that was previously lost to our tribe. But before I get to that, tell me, Midna… What do you know of Veran, the Sorceress of Shadow?"
"Veran?" the Twilight Princess asked, raising a confused eyebrow. She wanted to ask Verona why she would even bring a historical figure like the Sorceress of Shadow up at a moment like this, but nonetheless, she began answering her question, simply to see where this conversation was going. "Um… Veran was a Twili woman who lived about five hundred years ago. She somehow found her way into Hyrule without using the Mirror of Twilight and caused a great war there on two separate occasions. The legends say that she was brought to an end by a famous Hylian hero and the princess of the land at the time, but not before she caused untold amounts of destruction."
"Correct…" Verona said with a mysterious smile as she finally rose to stand. "However, that is only a brief summary of her story. History has obscured many of the finer details, such as how, as she was abruptly ended at the hands of the hero and the princess, Veran vowed that her descendants would rise up and avenge her death one day. The magic she wielded was strong and devastating, unlike any ever used by our people before. It would have been enough to destroy Hyrule entirely had it not been for that young hero and the princess all those centuries ago… Which brings us back to today… In my studies, I came across some very fascinating information. I learned that even though Veran died, she did indeed bear children beforehand. And those children bore children of their own, and so on and so forth, all the way down to our day and age. And believe it or not, I discovered something that you're just going to love, Midna: though our shared family line, we are both direct descendants of the Sorceress of Shadow herself!"
Midna gasped upon hearing this news, wondering how in the world Verona could take pride in something like that. All of the Twili knew of Veran's horrific conquests and violent attacks on Hyrule years ago, and all of them had denounced her for it, since the Sorceress of Shadow had broken off from her own people upon invading the world of light in the first place. But the fact that the Twilight Realm's own royal family was related to such a notorious woman was certainly hard to believe, even if the annals of history recorded it to be true.
Seeing that Midna was shocked at this revelation, Verona continued, holding her hands behind her back as she spoke. "Upon learning this, I knew that it was my duty to be the one who would avenge our ancestor. After all, I had idolized Veran all my life; her power and might were unmatched, and according to legend, the hero and the princess barely won against her. It only makes sense that I follow in her footsteps and accomplish what she failed to do. And so, I learned all of the secrets of her forbidden magic, imbuing myself with her ancient strength and finding all new power along the way. And so, in answer to your question, after I learned all I could, I began planning my glorious return, when I would come back to the very place I had been wrongfully banished from and finally rise to the power I was always destined to have! And while Veran may have gone down in history as the Sorceress of Shadow, I will go on to become something greater. I do not simply wish to become the 'Twilight Princess'. Such a title is weak and holds nothing close to the power I seek in my new name. From this moment on, I shall be known by one name alone, a name that will show everyone near and far just how strong I truly have become. Now and forever, all beings of this realm and every other realm shall bow to the unstoppable might of Verona, Queen of Shadows!"
"Not if I have anything to do about it!" Midna proclaimed in fury, knowing that Verona's audacious claims were absolutely insane. "I will do everything in my power to prove that the power you possess is a false one! I will protect my kingdom and my people from you, no matter what!"
Verona simply smirked upon hearing her cousin's bold words. "Interesting…" she mused thoughtfully. "I see that you've changed much over these past two years, Midna. No longer are you that reckless, irresponsible little girl you were when I was banished. Having your kingdom torn from you and being transformed into an ugly little imp was certainly a wake-up call for you, wasn't it? Oh, but how could I forget the contributions that your heroic little friend from the world of light made to your shift of character, as well as the salvation of this land? Had it not been for him, I have to say that I wouldn't have been in the advantageous position I am now. After all, I couldn't have a loose cannon like Zant running around while trying to start my own coup, so I owe both of you I suppose… But what a shame it is, Midna, that you're just going to have your kingdom ripped from you yet again though, this time permanently…"
"You wanna bet?" Midna hissed as she conjured up an energy orb above her palm and held it up in an offensive stance.
Verona grinned confidently as she began to step closer to Midna. "I most certainly do," she said with confidence, accepting the challenge being offered to her.
The two cousins stood at an equal distance from one another, surrounded by both Verona's shadow beasts and many of Midna's guards as well, all of them knowing not to interfere in the deciding battle of magic and might that was about to take place before them. After what seemed like ages of simply facing off against one another, Verona was the first one to make a move, sending a burst of powerful dark violet flame flying towards the princess. Midna used some of her own magic to block the attack, before sending out two scarlet orbs all her own. Not anticipating their accuracy, one of them manage to graze the Queen of Shadow on the arm, though it didn't hurt her nearly as much as Midna had wanted it to.
"I see that you've gotten better, cousin!" Verona called out as she began to send a barrage of flames Midna's way. "But even so, your petty magic is nowhere near the level of power that I have obtained!"
With an icy laugh, the self-proclaimed queen continued to set attack after attack upon the Twilight Princess, who either repelled or dodged most of them as she countered the best she could. The duel continued for quite some time, neither one of them flinching nor missing a single beat as their attacks grew gradually more violent and powerful. However, as the battle raged on, it eventually became quite clear that Midna was growing more and more fatigued with each strike, her excessive use of magic wearing her down physically, while Verona remained strong and unphased, as if she had an unlimited supply of power. Befuddled at this, the Twilight Princess still continued to give it her all nonetheless, even if she knew she would not be able to fight forever.
Upon evading yet another one of Verona's strikes, Midna paused to catch her breath for a moment, something that she desperately needed to do. Despite her defenses, she had already taken quite a few hits, though none of them had proved to be too serious yet. On the other hand, while she had managed to land a few strikes against the Queen of Shadows, Verona clearly wasn't suffering from them like Midna was. The Twilight Princess wasn't sure how much longer she could last in this battle, especially when she realized that not only was her energy depleting, but so too was the strength of her magic, which had already proved to be weaker than the dark powers that Verona now wielded.
"Why don't you just give up while you're ahead, Midna?" Verona asked as she created another flame above her palm. "If you surrender now, I might let you walk away from this fight with your life… After all, I'm not too keen on killing family members unless I absolutely have to."
In between heavy breaths, Midna glared up at her foe, knowing that she had to overcome her own physical limits for the sake of her people who stood all around her, watching her with fearful eyes as she fought for their fate and her own. "Never…" she growled under her breath, immediately sending out a heavy burst of magic with the hopes that it would hit Verona. Unfortunately, it missed, and the Twilight Princess found that even that single attack alone had taken so much out of her. Upon seeing this, the Queen of Shadows immediately took advantage of her cousin's weariness, unleashing a massive force of power that she had been saving for such a moment. Before Midna could even try to block or dodge it, she was struck squarely in the chest by the large burst of hot flame that Verona had launched at her, the force of it knocking her to the ground as it left severe burns across her exposed chest and arms. The Twilight Princess let out a broken cry of pain as she collapsed to her knees, unable to pick herself back up as she languished in agony over her stinging burns. As Verona slowly approached her, she desperately tried to ignite an energy orb, but found that her magic would only weakly spark at the most, leaving her completely defenseless as the Queen of Shadows stood over her with a triumphant grin.
"You… won't win…" Midna muttered defiantly between heavy breaths, tears of pain threatening to fall from her eyes as she glared up at her cousin. "Even if… you strike me… down… I know… someone who… will stop you…"
"Ah, yes…" Verona mused, her confident grin still ever present. "You're referring to the Hero of Twilight, aren't you? Well, believe me, Midna, I already have very big plans for him…" The Queen of Shadows paused for a moment as she conjured up something else above her palm, something that Midna only had time to see for a moment or two before Verona made it vanish away. From a brief glance, it looked like a magical shard, completely black in color and surprisingly small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand as it floated unmovingly in the air. The Twilight Princess looked at it in confusion for a moment before it vanished, and Verona continued, a sharp, thin blade appearing in her hand in place of the shard. "But it's such a shame that you won't be around to see what those plans are!"
The Queen of Shadows let out a triumphant laugh as she lifted her blade high into the air and brought it down, cutting the Twilight Princess deeply across the chest and causing her immense amounts of pain, but thankfully not killing her yet. Midna's loyal guards all immediately began to race forward to defend their ruler, but they were all stopped by Verona's shadow beasts, who had been commanded to let the dark queen continue her work uninterrupted.
As blood began to pour from her wound, Midna gingerly covered it with her hands, unable to hide her tears of agony as she slowly glanced up at Verona, who still stood over menacingly, ready to finish what she had started. Knowing that she was unable to defend herself any more, the Twilight Princess simply let out a tearful sigh and lowered her head, knowing that she had failed her kingdom yet again, and now she was paying the ultimate price for it.
However, something that even Verona could not have anticipated before she landed the death blow upon her cousin was the Twili reinforcements that happened to burst into the throne room at just the right moment. The large group of guards rushed for the shadow beasts, fighting against them with all their might in an attempt to save their princess and their kingdom. And indeed it worked to some extent; for as Verona was furiously commanding her monsters to slay the guards, Midna saw just the opportunity she needed and took it.
Calling upon some of the last reserves of power she had left, Midna closed her eyes and muttered an ancient incantation to herself, praying and hoping she was strong enough for it to work, even in her injured state. And by some miracle, it did. For as Verona turned her attention back on Midna, she gasped in appalled shock and rage to find that the Twilight Princess was completely gone.
With a burst of incredible pain coursing through her bloodied chest, Midna arrived at the place she had intended to teleport herself to: the Temple of Twilight.
An ancient, revered structure, the Temple of Twilight had been built by the princess's ancestors years ago, in homage to a god that her people had once worshiped but had long since been forgotten. Now, it stood empty and untouched, its isolated location laying a safe distance away from the Palace of Twilight, which Midna was certain had finally fallen into the hands of her wicked cousin and her overwhelming forces.
The Twilight Princess sighed in remorse as she covered her heavy wound, even if that did nothing to drive the ever increasing pain away, hoping that her people could someday forgive her for abandoning them yet again. But, Midna was quick to realize that she was not abandoning them. She knew that she still had a shred of power left in her, and hopefully, that shred would be enough to allow her to get the help she needed in facing the threat her home was struggling under. She knew she wouldn't be able to face Verona alone, especially not in the weakened state she was now. Even when the Twilight Realm had been attacked by Zant, Midna had not been the one to take him down all by herself. Rather, she had only assisted in bringing the crazed usurper down; the hero had been the one who had done most of the work, and the Twilight Princess knew that now, more than ever, she needed his aid once again.
As Midna rushed into the temple as quickly as she could, her light footsteps echoed across the high-vaulted main chamber. Memories of their last meeting flooded her mind as she hurried towards the altar, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before Verona found her here. They had stood before the sole gateway between the worlds of light and Twilight, and, even though it had been her intention and resolve to sever that connection between the two worlds so that such a catastrophe would never happen again, actually going through with it had been almost impossible upon seeing the look on his face that pled with her to stay. But as much as her heart had wanted to, her mind knew it was for the best. And so, she had shattered the Mirror of Twilight upon returning to her homeland once and for all, but not before giving him one last goodbye as a single tear fell from her eyes.
"Link… I… see you later…"
Even despite her injuries, Midna found that even thinking about their final parting almost drove her to tears now. But at the same time, hope began to fill her as she realized that there was a way for her to see him again. There was a way for her to liberate her terrorized kingdom from the Queen of Shadows, and give it peace and tranquility once more. And though even attempting it was incredibly dangerous, especially considering her poor condition, she knew that this was really the only choice she had left now.
Finally making it to the stone altar at the back of the temple, Midna rested for a moment, catching her breath as she struggled to even remain conscious amidst her pain. She had bled out quite a bit, but she knew she could not give up now. The Twilight Realm was counting on her and she was not about to let her people suffer for too long under Verona's conquest. And so, even though even simple movements brought her immense pain, the Twilight Princess raised both of her hands into the air and created a large blue orb of magic above them. With a loud cry of agony, she called upon all of the power she had left inside of her to help her accomplish what she needed to. The ground under her feet trembled as the magical orb split apart and the light from it re-gathered in front of her in the form of a portal. As the last bit of magic left her, Midna screamed in immense pain, the ache of her wound being multiplied a thousand fold to the point that she almost slipped into unconsciousness right then and there. But somehow, something was keeping her going, but just barely.
With a laborious groan, the Twilight Princess slowly glanced up at the gateway she had made; it was round, glowing in the classic colors of twilight though a golden light shined in the center of it, symbolizing its connection to the world of light. It wasn't the ideal way to travel back and forth between the two worlds, but since the Mirror of Twilight was irreparably broken, it would have to do. Midna knew that this gate was only temporary; once she passed through it, it would instantly vanish, leaving her trapped in the world of light with no foreseeable way back. But she would just have to figure out how to return when the time came. Her sole concern at the moment was escaping to Hyrule and finding the help she so desperately needed.
Midna wasted no more time as she hastily approached the gate, but before she could step through it, she was interrupted by the sound of multiple sets of footsteps booming through the temple out of nowhere. With a fearful gasp, the Twilight Princess spun around to see Verona and her entire army of shadow beasts sanding in the middle of the room. The creatures tried to rush towards the princess, but they were quickly halted by the Queen of Shadows, who firmly commanded them to stay put as she looked to her cousin expectantly, almost as if she wanted Midna to escape from her grasp and flee to the world of light. The Twilight Princess looked at her in confusion for a moment as their eyes met, but neither one of them said anything. And it was in this still, silent moment that Midna realized that even if Verona's motives were strange and unnerving, she knew that she had no time to worry about it now. Her only concern had to be her people, who were no doubt crying out for both their princess and a savior, a savoir that she hoped to find within the realm of light once again. And so, with a heavy, yet determined heart, the Twilight Princess weakly closed her eyes in both physical and emotional agony as she departed from her falling kingdom and stepped into the portal, letting her resolve be the only thing guiding her in a desperate moment such as this.
As both Midna and the gate that she had created vanished away, the shadow beasts were finally free to scour the temple, but Verona paid them no mind as a dark, cunning grin crept onto her lips. "That's right, Midna…" she whispered ominously, knowing that everything was already going according to her intricate plans. "Run to the world of light. Find the great Hero of Twilight… I'll be right behind you, ready to make him mine…"
Ooooooo! BIG first chapter, huh? Already I be pulling out the action, the tension, the drama! And we're not even anywhere close to the really GREAT stuff yet (but it will come, so bear with me!) Now, I hate to say it, but the next several chapters are going to be a lot slower than this as we shift away from Midna and Verona for a little while and go to Link and Zelda instead, setting up their roles in the story and whatnot. After all, I have to have a little time to build that zelink ship up, don't I? Not to mention all the foreshadowing I get to do! Hooray! Now, if you liked what you saw, please don't forget to show it by following/favoriting and most of all REVIEWING! Until next time! :D