"'Welcome back?'" Zelda repeated. "Back to where? What is this place?"
"In your childhood you came here so very often. You called it your Wonderland, a place in your mind where you envisioned a perfect Hyrule." Every word the beast spoke was calm; almost soothing if not for the mouth the words came from.
"This can't be. I put away such childish imaginings years ago. And this Wonderland is certainly not how I remember it." As she spoke Zelda tried to place who it was the beast resembled. Its hideous structure she knew she did not conjure up in her adolescence, but she could not remember what his true form was.
The beast squared his shoulders, his looming body casting a shadow over her from atop the stone. "You may have outgrown this place, but Wonderland is not finished with you. You are in need of it just as it needs you. But first you must put away your desire to lead. Your rational mind will deceive you, and you have no use for it here. Let instinct guide you. Ask, more importantly, and I shall be of service, Your Highness."
So many questions bombarded her mind but out of all she could have asked, all Zelda could say was, "What am I to do?"
"Find your father's gift, and you just might survive."
Before Zelda could say anymore, the beast dissipated into the familiar black twilight particles and was gone. She felt almost betrayed that he would leave her with no idea as to where to go or what was waiting for her. She allowed the small sting to roll off her shoulders, took one last glance about the hallway, and continued onward. She reached another flight of stairs, large and wide with each step dripping with blood. She could hear, despite its faintness, the distinct sound of her boots clicking then squishing with blood with each step she took. Zelda did her best to ignore it as she walked down the stairs and entered the Grand Hall.
The scene of the Grand Hall was no different from what the previous hallway looked like. The curtains and beautiful tapestries of the royal family were aflame. The blue carpet that now looked a deep purple that led to her throne was torn, and there were large cracks in the marble floor. The large statue of the three goddesses around the Triforce was broken. The goddesses' heads and arms were gone, decapitated, and scattered among the rubble and ruins of her once beautiful hall. Even the Triforce was splintered and fractured. Its once golden luster now looked a rusted burgundy as the harsh, crimson light flooded into the hall. Zelda could nearly taste the metal of blood in the air for there was much of it in the Grand Hall too. She could hear far away screams that made her skin crawl. What else could be going on in this false Hyrule, this Wonderland?
Zelda walked up the cracked stairs to her throne below the statue. Upon its bloodied seat was a bow and quiver filled with only a small handful arrows.
"Your mother's bow," she recognized the voice as the beast. Her heart rose in comfort that he hadn't truly abandoned her.
Her gloved hand touched the leather quiver laced in gold as she admired it. "My father taught me how to use it. I practiced with it as often as I could. I felt connected to it, and somehow to my mother, that it truly did belong to me as if a gift from her. I like to believe that she wanted me to have it."
The beast heard what her ears could not. "No time to dwell on useless matters. We have company."
He turned and so did she with her mother's bow and arrows strapped to her back. A Hylian knight had come out from behind a pillar. He staggered and swayed, his body hunkered over as low groans echoed through the hall. He fell to his knees and began to heave and as he did, his entire form began to darken and grow. He's transforming, Zelda realized and her stomach dropped. Zant, Midna, someone was turning her own subjects into enemies. She reached for an arrow, readied to aim it at the knight.
"With so few arrows, flight in favor of fight may be your best course of action," said the beast.
Zelda loosened her grip on the bow. How reckless it would be to lose an arrow over an avoidable enemy. She silently cursed herself for her own foolishness. She nodded in agreement and put the arrow back in its quiver. As she descended the stairs her companion vanished. She walked to the left, giving the knight wide enough birth as to not draw attention to herself. The groans from the knight were growing as his form enlarged even more. Zelda watched in horror as the knight became a monstrous shadow beast. Her own turned into one of them!
The monster shook its long head and gave out a loud roar that resonated throughout the hall. Zelda yelled out in pain, but that too was muffled by the power of the screech. She staggered back, hunched over, and clasped her ears against her skull to dull the deafening noise, but kept her eyes fixed on the beast. It saw her and charged for her, running full speed on all fours. Before she had the time to recover and dodge its attack, its long arm reached for her and grabbed her by the throat. It hoisted her up; her feet could do nothing but dangle as her hands gripped its arm in an attempt to tear free from its grasp. But it held her too tight, and its thin fingers squeezed. She choked for air, and she saw a faint light. Her right hand began to throb. No, she would not die so easily. As quickly as she could, Zelda reached up for her quiver and clasped an arrow. She then thrust it into the shadow beast's arm, digging and twisting as it screamed and finally dropped her as it stepped back. She hit the hard floor onto her hands and knees and sucked in the air with a heavy wheeze. She choked and coughed on it, straining her neck to look at the creature. Even with dark blood pouring from the wound, Zelda could see it was ready to attack again. With her arrow still in hand, she waited as the beast gave a frustrated growl. It raised its arm to strike again, and her sharp eyes saw her opportunity. With her arrow in hand she lunged at the beast and drove her arrow into its chest. Blood spurted from the wound and onto her gloves, face, and robe. The monster, unable to rip her from its body, hollered in the agony of it as she tore the arrow from its chest and stabbed again and again, knocking the creature onto its back. Even when it could no longer fight her, its body lying dead under her, she continued to strike until its blood soaked through her garments, face, and hair. Not until she was panting and out of breath did she rise from its body, adrenaline consuming her.
No it was not only adrenaline. There was something more. And she recognized it as no small amount of wrath. But what provoked it? It was rage but not like she had felt before. It was darker like malice. It's Zant's fault. Midna's fault. Their fault. It was indignation for what they had done to her kingdom, she decided, for all that had befallen her.
For a moment she stared at the shadow beast's body, its blood pooling all around. Within the blood she could see her own reflection, but it was her eyes that startled her most. They were pale. Why were they pale? A trick of the light? She blinked. Blue again. She stared, waiting for something to happen, an unknown change to alter her appearance, but nothing happened. She assumed it was a haze of her mind from the fight. But as she stared at the body, the many small holes in its chest, she was almost surprised by her lack of compassion. Her heart wanted to feel guilt for what she had done, killed and over-killed her own cursed knight. She turned away and buried the guilt. He was no longer a knight but a shadow beast. It had tried to kill her, and she was determined to survive.
