Midna

I clenched my teeth, grimacing in pain as I crawled pitifully forward across the ground. How I had escaped, I wasn't sure, but I knew that I was barely conscious as I moved sluggishly. I couldn't even register where I was trying to go, but my body—damaged beyond immediate repair—seemed to know. I clawed forward, my hands covered in cyon blood—cyon: the color of the turquoise-ish glyphs on my arms and legs. I remembered that Twili peoples' blood wasn't crimson like it was in the light world. People of the Twilight had cyon colored blood.

I clenched my fist and tried not to whimper as I moved forward—trying to save at least a bit of my dignity. I was almost away—almost completely away from the battlefield when something grabbed my ankle. I gasped as I turned and saw it. A skewered monster lying on the ground had its slimy hand wrapped around my ankle, and it was twisting farther up my leg like a vine. I screamed and raked my nails across the ground as I tried to get away. That wasn't working so well.

Panicking, I whipped my torso around and held my hand towards the beast. A blast of green lightening erupted from my palm and it instantly unwound from my leg. I collapsed against the ground, now completely drained from such use of power. I was breathing laboriously, and my vision was blurry. Yet I didn't pass out like I thought I would. Instead, I started crawling again. Much slower this time, but still crawling. There was a part of my mind that couldn't comprehend where I was going, but the other part was thinking, 'Find her. Find her. I must find her.' I didn't even have the strength to think of who this "her" was.

All I saw was the ground shifting beneath me, and then flying. Or maybe falling. I couldn't tell which because my eyes were already closed. I only felt an electric current rushing through my body and the crackling of lightening. Was there a thunderstorm? But the Twilight didn't have weather. And I didn't feel any rain or wind, so how could it be a thunderstorm? I didn't know. My head was spinning and I thought I might be sick. I kept falling, and falling, and falling… and then I hit the ground. I hit the ground with such force that the breath was taken from me and I couldn't pull it back.

Once again I collapsed against the ground, gasping for air. My eyes opened. They were practically just slits, but it was still enough to semi-see my surroundings. I saw feet. Small feet running towards me, and I heard a voice. I couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but I thought I could tell that it was a female's voice. Whoever it was took hold of my hand and was saying something very fast, but I didn't even try to concentrate on her voice. I just stared at our clasped hands. When there was silence I was about to say something. I was going to, but a jolt of pain shot through me and I gasped, my fingers tightening around hers.

My eyes met hers, and all I thought about for a moment was how beautiful her eyes were. They were blue… what a pretty color. I hadn't seen blue eyes in a long time. My voice was labored and hoarse when I spoke. "I have to find her!" I whispered, my eyes widening as the sweat slid down the sides of my face. "I have to find Princess Zelda!" I took a few more deep breaths before my eyes closed and my head fell back against the stone. I couldn't concentrate on my surroundings with how fast my head was swirling. I was too consumed in my own exhaustion to even notice the unusually gentle breeze that swirled my hair around my face as I passed out.

. . . .

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't sure where I was. All I knew was that I felt completely and totally drained as I looked around me. I was lying on a red colored couch in a small room with wooden floors, a tiny wooden table in the corner, one chair, a small bed, and a window with sunlight streaming through and leaving its bright imprint on the room. Wait. I turned to look at the window, or more like to look at the sun beaming through it. Sunlight. I tried to move from the couch, but the pounding of my head sent me backwards onto the cushions.

For a few minutes I just sat there, staring at the sunshine that came through the window. It wasn't possible. How was I here? What had brought me here? I had thought it was impossible to come back, but here I was, in the world of the light. It was like a dream as I held up my hand and reached towards the sunshine, like I could grasp it in my palm. I realized how heavily I was breathing after a few moments. I realized how cold I felt. And I realized how my hand and arm trembled with the effort of holding themselves up in the air. I lowered my arm and lay back on the cushions. I just stared at the sunlight for a little while, and barely noticed when the wooden door creaked open and a young girl entered the room.

It took a few moments of staring at her in silence to recognize her. What was her name again? Imira? Ikira? Oh, yeah! Ilia! That was her name. My eyes widened in wonder as hers met mine. I was about to ask her where I was when I noticed the horror evident in her eyes. The pot she was holding fell to the floor and shattered, sending water across the carpet. I flinched backwards into the couch, alarmed that she was alarmed. Ilia backed away from me, her hand cupping over her mouth as though trying to keep from screaming.

I was too shocked to ask her what her problem was, like I wanted to. Instead I tried to stand from the couch. There were two problems with that. First, when I stepped down on my right foot, my ankle received a jolt of pain that almost made me scream (I managed to hold it in and just grimace). Second, when I tried to stand, I realized just how drained I was. My arms and legs felt like noodles and I keeled over on the wooden floor, careful not to jostle my ankle again. Ilia's eyes were still horrified, but they also gained an edge of resigned worry as she hesitantly moved toward me, her movements slow and warning.

She kneeled down next to me and pulled a small bottle from her pocket. It was filled with some kind of silver mixture that, even in my pain, made me curious. She pulled the cork out of the lid and slowly held the opening over my ankle. The silver goop was very dense—like syrup—as it swarmed around my swollen ankle and seemed to sink into my skin. We waited…and nothing happened. My eyes moved to her surprised face with suspicion. "Where did you get that bottle?" Our eyes met, but she didn't answer, so I went on. "That is a mixture from the world of the light—it cannot help me." I turned away and tried to hoist myself back onto the couch, but the energy loss kept me on the ground.

She put her hand on my shoulder, and it was contact that neither of us seemingly found pleasant. She pulled a bandage from her other pocket and started raveling it around my ankle. "Now, where am I?" I finally asked. She allowed me one quick glance before looking back down at my ankle. "This is Link's house." A thousand questions rose up in my mind at once. Is he here? Is he well? Is he coming soon? Does he know I'm here? Does he know you're here? Why isn't he here? Why are you here? Why are you helping me? Why isn't Link helping me? But instead of asking any of those I simply said, "Where is he?" I felt like her expression turned a tad stiffer. "He's going to Castle Town to find Princess Zelda and to find some medicine for you. He left this morning." Did that mean he had been here? He had been here while I was unconscious? I inwardly cursed myself for being incoherent in his presence. I was pleased though that when he was back I would also be able to see Princess Zelda again.

"Why am I here?—in the World of the Light, I mean." She hesitated before answering. "I—I found you." "Found me?" "Yeah, you kind of appeared out of thin air near the spring. So…I brought you back here. Link left right away for Castle Town." It felt like there was something that she was leaving out, but I didn't push it. "Where are you originally from, though?" She asked, half-curious and seemingly half-scared to know. I sighed before answering. "The Twilight Realm." Her small hands paused on my foot, and her eyes met mine, the horror evident again. "I knew it…" She muttered, slowly backing away from me.

"Knew what?" I couldn't fathom why she was so scared. All of the sudden, I found myself having to dodge out of the way as something flew towards my head and then shattered against the wall. I looked to her and saw that Ilia was breathing heavily and looking scared out of her wits. "Get out of here!" She yelled, grabbing the staff that was leaned against the wall and holding it above her head as she charged at me. I didn't have time to move as she swung it downwards, but I did have time to catch it with my hand. I pushed against the bamboo staff and easily kept her from attacking me.

Though Ilia was pushing with all her might, she would never be able to beat me in strength. "Hey! What's your problem!" I snapped, shoving her away from me. Ilia didn't answer and instead started charging me again, so I had no choice but to stand up. I stumbled to my feet, cringing at the immense pain, and stood my ground as she ran towards me. I grabbed the staff before she even had time to swing and pulled it from her hands. She wasn't very willing though, and there was a moment when she was trying to pull it back from me and I was merely sedating her, trying not to hurt her too much.

"UGH! Knock it OFF!" I growled, growing tired of this girl. Ilia continued to fight me despite my outburst and it was growing harder and harder not to fight back. I knew that if I fought back I would only feel more exhausted, and that she would get hurt, but she was very irritating. A growl built up in my throat as I shoved against the staff, hurling her backwards into the couch. I pulled back my hand and was seconds away from ending her insane routine when I heard the voice. The voice that made me stop dead in my tracks. "Midna," It said. "Do not harm that child." Slowly, my eyes shifted to the doorway and my jaw dropped. For only a few moments did my shock show on my face and then a mischievous grin spread across my lips. "Hello, Princess Zelda."