Author's note:: sorry for the long delay. I got lazy for a week, and then I finally decided to pick up a pen and start writing again. I really do appreciate all of the awesome reviews of my story and I hope to see more! Oh. And my story hit over 1000 hits. Thanks you guys! I also allowed anonymous posting so random people can post on this story as well. Well, its longer than my second chapter, so enjoy!

I do not own Zelda, but all of these ideas are strictly mine.

Chapter 3

He couldn't breathe. The hand gripped his waist and arms so that he couldn't move at all. Link struggled to break free, but the hand was massive and much too strong. Efforts of escaping were vastly slim. He looked up to see how far he was from the surface. Instead, he saw a pink glow above him. A little creature was grasping his hat. A horrified feeling overcame him. Shai had actually followed him! A little fairy that hadn't known him longer than a day actually risked her life to follow him. Tight pressure quickly cleared that thought from his mind. He was still in the dark water. Link was in desperate need of air now. His body was numb from the hand's tight squeeze and he felt like his head was about to burst from the depth's pressure. He knew he wasn't going to survive. Shai climbed down to his neck with difficulty. She held on to his collar as they continued to sink down into what seemed like a never-ending abyss. He squint his eyes shut. The water was burning his eyes now. He couldn't hold his breath any longer. He eyes heavily opened. Shai was looking up at him with panic. There was nothing she could do for him. They were drowning. Air bubbles escaped from his lips as his eyes finally closed.

---

Sounds echoed in his head. Link felt like he was floating on clouds. He could feel a slight breeze on his wet skin. His thoughts raced like wildfire. He was on solid ground. Link tried to move, but he wouldn't budge. It was like a weight pressed down on him and wouldn't allow him to move. He tried to breath, but he couldn't do that either. Link started panicking. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he couldn't do anything. And those noises… what were they? The sounds were faint, and sounded similar to voices. Someone was there, but why weren't they helping him? The voices were too muffled to make out what they were saying, and he couldn't even open his eyes to see what was going on. Terror overpowered him. He urgently needed air, but he wasn't breathing at all. His body started shaking severely.

"Quick! He's having a seizure!" someone shouted.

Glowing blue hands covered his temples. A warm, tingling sensation shot through his body. The violent convulsion didn't stop. Blood poured from his nose and eyes.

"He needs to breathe!"

Lips planted on Link's cold lips and forced air into his lungs.

"What are you doing? Are you insane? How can you kiss him at a time like this?!" someone from the background shouted.

The person who kissed him ignored the shouts. Hands were firmly placed on his upper body and started compressing his chest repeatedly. Lips met his again and breathed air into his lungs. Whispers were heard among the baffled crowd.

"What are you doing? Are you just going to watch while he dies?" the person screamed. More hands were placed all over his body and started glowing. The unnatural sensation intensified as the hands glowed bright teal trying to stop his spasm.

"Breathe, damn it, breathe!"

One final breath blew into his lips and filled his lungs. A single breath of life. His shaking gradually stopped, but he still continued to bleed. Water spurted out from his lips. He coughed forcefully as more water and blood spilled out from his mouth. His lungs filled with precious air as he inhaled deeply. His eyes opened and tried to focus. Everything was tinted red from the blood in his eyes.

"Mid…na…" he whispered hoarsely. She smiled at him and held his hands. His eyes secreted tears naturally in attempt to wash away the blood. They dripped down his bloodstained face.

"Link, I'm here for you. My people and I saved you. I'll always be here for you."

He weakly shook his head. He knew better. "You're… not… real."

She frowned slightly. "If I wasn't real, would I be able to do this?" she bent over and kissed him gently on his lips.

"No. You're a dream," Link coughed. "Now, leave me alone!"

She gave him a vicious look, then disappeared. The whole scenery vanished. There were no Twilits surrounding him, no hands keeping him still, just a bright light. It was all just another illusion, and he was in the abode of the Goddesses. Or was he? His face was still stained with blood and his clothes were sopping wet. If he recalled correctly, he remembered Mayor Bo telling him how the afterlife was a perfect place where everything was flawless and pure. No pain, no sadness, and no injuries. Since there was blood on his face, he couldn't have been in the divine place of the Gods and Goddesses.

Link sat up and felt his head. He had a terrible headache from the immense pressure. He looked at his surroundings. The place was vast, but not much was there. Shallow water and bright light was the only thing accompanying him. He scooped up some of the water and washed the dried blood off of his face. He suddenly remembered about Shai.

"Shai! Are you here?" The only response he heard was the echoes of his own voice. He noticed something pink floating on the water.

"Shai!" He quickly got on his knees and picked her up gently. His keen ears could hear that she wasn't breathing. He bit his lip. It was his fault that she was in this condition. He imagined she swallowed too much water because her stomach was poking out a little bit. He pressed her stomach with his finger and water shot out of her mouth in a thin stream like a water fountain. Her skin's glow returned as she breathed in deeply. She shook her and sprinkled water everywhere. She blinked with curiosity and took a look around.

"Where am I?" she said to herself out loud.

"I have no clue, but I'm glad you're okay."

She looked towards the sound of Link's Voice quickly.

"Hero! Oh thank the Goddesses you're safe!" she hugged his thumb tightly. "I though you were going to be gone forever. I couldn't have let that happen. Nope! Not without me!"

He laughed. "She's been knocked out longer than I have, and she has already gotten her spunk back," he thought.

An alarmed look took place of her smile. She tried to fly to his face, but her wings couldn't flutter. They were broken in three different places each.

"Hero, are you okay? What happened? How are you still alive, who saved you?" her words spilled out of her mouth one after another.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Shai. What are you talking about?"

"I asked, who saved you?"

"What makes you think someone saved me?"

"Well, it could have been a 'what' too, but that's beside the point." She squint her cherry-colored eyes and pointed to her nose. "I smell human blood. A lot of it. And you're the only human that I can detect within my range."

Link sighed. He couldn't hide anything from this fairy. "Honestly, I don't know what saved me. All I remember is that I felt hands touching my body and my head, and I felt air being forced into me. Then I saw her again."

Shai raised an eyebrow.

"I saw Midna again. She was the one who saved me, and she told me that she was always going to be here for me, and then she kissed me. But I knew it wasn't her. It didn't feel like her, and it didn't kiss like her either.

"How do you know how she kisses like when you never kissed her before?"

"I don't know. But for some reason, it didn't feel right. It felt… like it was empty. No emotion whatsoever. But anyways, I told 'Midna' to leave me alone. Then it gave me the most chilling look, and her eyes turned completely blue. I don't know, but something about those eyes are hauntingly familiar…"

Shai gave him a look like he swallowed a bit too much water. "Maybe you should rest a little before we start walking. Plus, I smell blood all over your face. Especially around your eyes and nose."

"That's just how I woke up. I saw my reflection and it was like I was bleeding tears from my eyes and my nose. And I don't need any rest. I can handle it fine."

"Maybe you should sit down, because that sounds like a pretty serious convulsion."

"You mean, like shaking?"

Shai nodded her head. "I've seen quite a few of them. My mother taught me how to heal a person if I was ever to be used on a human in that condition. It's a pretty scary sight. My mother's sister healed a person who had a convulsion, and she took it hard. Her sister was like her best friend."

"Being a fairy sounds difficult."

"It is. It's very depressing. Normally, when people think of fairies, they think of frolicking in flowers, twirling in the air, and whole bunch of other happy nonsense. But in reality, we lose many family members and friends who capture us and force us to use our powers, sacrificing ourselves. It's not easy.

"I see. I'll never catch a fairy again."

She smiled. "It's none of your doing, Hero. It's the fate of us healing fairies. We were put here on earth for a reason.

"Speaking of healing, your wings are broken!"

She looked back at her delicate wings. They jutted out abnormally.

"They'll heal soon. The good thing about being a fairy is that our natural essence heals us much faster than humans. The pain will only live shortly."

"Amazing. You don't worry about yourself, but you worry about me. That's very noble."

She smiled and shrugged it off as it were nothing. She winced as she touched her broken wings. They were going to have to be straightened somehow, otherwise they were going to be healed improperly. She quickly broke them back into place as tears streamed from her face. It literally felt like someone was peeling off her skin, then rubbed in acid into her flesh. The back of her hand wiped the sweat off of her brow.

"You going to be okay?"

She sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She gave a shaky smile.

Link saw new tears brimming in her eyes. It certainly didn't look like she was going to be okay. "Here, you ride on my shoulder from now on."

She gladly accepted the offer. "Thank you, Hero."

Link just nodded his head and placed her on his broad shoulder. Shai sat down comfortably and looked around. Link started to walk, however he had no clue where he was heading to. The whole area was quiet and serene. The only noise was the splashing of his boots as he walked.

"I've never noticed that you had your ears pierced. When did you get them done?"

"As a Hylian male, it is a symbol for becoming a man. I got them done when I was fourteen, the age old enough to handle a sword."

"I'm not a man, but I have mine done too. See?" She lifted up her choppy hair. Link squinted his eyes to see her earrings. They were little white baby's breath flowers.

"I never thought of flowers as jewelry."

"Yes, females wear flowers ands males usually wear earth materials."

"So they use stones, wood, and leaves."

"Pretty much. Serith's favorite stone was onyx. That is what I made his… well, our interlocking rings out of."

"Oh really? So yours is onyx as well?"

"It's not onyx, but it's a rare form of pearl called the Goddess' Tear. It's my favorite stone." She lifted up her left hand so he could see it.

Link looked at it more closely. The bottom of the ring was straight, but the design on the top was different. It was very intricate with unique designs.

"How come it's different on the top?"

"Oh that? It's because we made our rings to bit each other when they are put together. Like we were one."

Link smiled at the thought of a loving couple as one. "So your rings were dark and light. Exact opposites."

"Yes. Precisely. One cannot exist without each other."

Those words shot his heart like an arrow. She was right. Princess Zelda had said almost the exact same thing. What was he beloved's purpose for leaving then? It just didn't make sense. Perhaps she needed to fulfill her duty as the ruler of Twilight alone, without any distractions. It pained him to thing that Midna possibly thought of him as a hindrance.

Shai broke the silence. "Is it just me, or does it feel almost sacred it here?"

He shook his thoughts, closed his eyes, and stopped walking. "Yeah, now that you mention it, it does feel sacred. I wonder where we are." He started walking again.

She just gave a shrug. "I've never seen a place so… luminescent."

Link opened his mouth to say something, but he knocked his foot into something hard. A curse word stumbled out of his mouth. He grabbed the toe of his foot and balanced on his other foot. Shai fell into the water when Link staggered.

"Stupid rock. It's so damn bright in here, I can't see what's in front of me!"

Shai rose to the surface and floated in place. She spat out water out of her mouth in a thin stream.

"Hero, look!" She climbed on the stone that Link ran into. "It's not a stone at all. it's a golden slab of some sort. It looks like a pedestal."

He regained his balance and bent down to take a closer look. Something was engraved on the stone. He ran his fingers across the surface of it. A triforce was carved in the middle along with a phrase.

"Only the hands of the Goddesses

will assimilate the knowledge

of which is desired the most."

"Only the hands of the Goddesses?" Link asked.

"H-m-m-m… Goddesses? Are we in the place where the Gods and Goddesses dwell?"

"I doubt that Shai. If we were in a heaven of some sort, my foot wouldn't be throbbing right now."

She giggled. "I suppose. So what do you think that saying means?"

"Well, it almost sounds like only the Goddesses themselves can touch this. But if that was true, why would they even have the desire to create this chamber and the pedestal in the first place?"

"What an interesting conundrum."

Link looked at her oddly.

"What? Who says fairies can't be intelligent?"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. She never ceased to amuse him.

"well, since mortals are allowed in this place, and we randomly appeared here from our world, we must be here for a reason." she said

"In this phrase, it says that you will gain the knowledge of which you desire the most. This would be extremely efficient on my search for Midna."

"Yes, it would be nice if we could take advantage of this, but you don't exactly have the hands of a goddess. Unless… you have something to tell me." She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Ha ha. Very funny. My hands are bigger than two of you."

"Yeah right. Your gloves make your hands bigger than what they seem."

Link took off his left glove and placed his hand next to Shai. "See? It is a lot bigger than you. Twice your size. I win."

"It's just because I'm small for my size!"

"Actually, you're around four and a half inches, quite an average height for fairies."

She crossed her arms and harrumphed. He reached to put back on his glove. She stole a glimpse of the back of his hand.

"Of course! You're the hero chosen by the Goddesses!"

He looked at her strangely at her sudden outburst. "Yeah, and what's your point?"

"You have the hand of a Goddess!"

What she said threw him off. "We just went over this, Shai."

"NO, no, no. I'm not talking about that. You have the mark of the Triforce on the back of your hand."

"Yeah, that has always been there. I'm the wielder of the triforce of courage."

She put her index finger to her lip. "So specifically, you have the hand of Farore."

Link was getting frustrated. "Will you please tell me what are you talking about?"

"Oh. Of course." She had almost forgotten about him. "You know that the three Goddesses created the land of Hyrule and the triforce before time, right? Well, a part of them went into each of the corresponding triangle which balanced out the Triforce. Only the person that had each of the traits, power, courage, and wisdom, and equal balance could use the power for good. Or for evil. When the evil lord who you know as Ganondorf touched the sacred Triforce in hopes of gaining this power, it split into three pieces and went to the people who qualified the most for each specific trait. Of course, you received the triforce of courage. It will always be passed down to your generation when the hero is reborn in another time."

Link nodded his head. "That makes sense if you think of it in that way. So I have a part of Farore in me. This just might work."

He put his left hand on the polished pedestal. Nothing happened.

"Try taking off your glove."

He had overlooked that. Perhaps it needed his hand to be bare. He took off his glove and placed his hand on the slab. Still, nothing happened. Link rose to his feet.

"Well, that was a waste of time." He brushed off some of the water that was on his tunic.

Shai looked down. "I believe you are mistaken, Hero, chosen by the Gods."

The pedestal radiated a bright golden light. Shai outstretched her arms to be picked up. He quickly picked her up and placed her on his shoulder. He took a step back as the pedestal glowed more intensely. The floor let up in the shape of a triangle. Link noticed it promptly and ran away from the blazing floor. The pedestal shattered as a radiant light shot out of the floor. Link shielded his eyes from the immense light. A figure emerged from the glowing triangle.

"Hero! Look!" she exclaimed.

Link slowly opened his eyes. The light was still extremely bright, so he couldn't see what was going on. His eyes quickly adjusted to the surroundings. What he saw though, made him think that he was just dreaming. It was completely unimaginable.

The figure that was in front of him was in form of a woman. She had long, flowing, emerald green hair that floated in the air gracefully as it were in water. Her soft, jade eyes looked at him with a form of authority. Silken golden skin shimmered with light as she floated in the air. A satiny cloth covered her body in resemblance of a gown. Her stomach and shoulders were left bare and the sarong of her gown swayed in the air reveling her long legs. She lowered down to the surface of the water. It rippled as her resplendence aura gently kissed the water.

Link stood agape as this incredulous moment was really happening.

She opened her pale green lips. "Welcome to the chamber of light, Link. The hero, hand chosen by me." Her voice sent shockwaves in the air as it vibrated his body. It was the most pleasant, yet terrifying thing he ever heard. Holy essence radiated from her skin as she waited for his response.

"Do not be in fear oh chosen one, speak of which you desire."

He had the sudden urge to fall on his knees and bow down before her, but his legs wouldn't move. Finally, he lowered to one knee and bowed before her.

"Arise my child. What is your desire?"

He thought for a minute before answering. "I want to find the Twilight Princess. I want to be able to see her, to speak to her again."

"You want much more than that though, don't you."

He was silent.

"Oh chosen one, before I tell you about the one you look for, I am going to elucidate something with you. The one you are searching for is in another realm. What you are seeking is darkness."

She reached out her hand and touched his forehead. An uncomfortable sense prickled all over his body as the surrounding faded to pitch black. The only light that was provided was the pink, iridescent glow of Shai. Link noticed something ahead of them. The hood and cape that belonged to someone so dear and familiar to him. It was her. There was no mistake about it. He reached out his hand to touch her. His hand placed on her shoulder and she turned around. A face that once beamed with life and love was now ashen and lifeless. Her dead eyes stared blankly into his. Her breath was short and her lips were slightly opened. Dark, red blood dripped from her opened mouth.

"Midna… what happened?" Link whispered.

"Link, look below." Shai quivered.

He gasped. A blade jutted out of her stomach. Her blood stained the steel sword as it dripped onto the ground. Shai started crying. Link clenched his jaw tightly with rage.

"Who did this!" he shouted furiously.

He heard a demonic laugh. Two crimson eyes appeared before him. The creature looked exactly like Link, but his features were opposite. Jet black hair instead of blonde, an ebony tunic instead lf green, and ghostly white skin instead of Link's tan. In the hand of the demon was the master sword that protruded out of Midna's stomach. The dark shadow put his foot on the small of her back and viciously kicked her off his sword. Midna limply fell towards Link who caught her in his arms. She looked into Link's eyes weakly, then her eyes rolled back into her head. She was no longer breathing.

"You sick bastard! You murdered her!" he shouted.

His lips curled up into a smile. "I am no murderer, dear light creature."

His voice was the exact same as Link's, but also fused with another more demoniacal voice.

He grabbed Link's throat with his powerful hand.

"Get your filthy hand off of me!" he shouted.

"I don't think you're in the place to make such demanding orders."

Shai tried to grab his hand to help Link, but she couldn't touch the demon's hand. Her hand went right through his.

"Aww, how sweet. Your pathetic little pixie is trying to save you." he cooed mockingly. He turned to Shai. "You're worthless, you little insect."

She burned red with anger as she watched helplessly.

The evil spirit's face softened as he stroked Link's face with is free hand. "You know, I should thank you for making me so beautiful. That pretty face of yours must make girls swoon over you constantly." His grip tightened around his throat. "Now, this won't hurt a bit."

The demon slowly merged himself with Link. It felt like a sledge hammer breaking into his skull. After he was completely inside of him, Link fell to the ground, barely catching himself with his arms. Echoes of laughter was heard around the room. He brought himself up to his feet.

"I am you, Link. I am your dark side. I didn't' kill her, you did!"

He looked around frantically for the source of the sound.

"I would never harm her, you evil bastard!" he shouted angrily.

"Oh? Why don't you take a look at your hands then."

Link looked down at his hands. They were bloodstained by his beloved's wound, and the sword was in his hand as well. He saw his reflection on the ground, but it wasn't him. It was Dark Link. He threw the sword down and screamed.

"No! I killed her! I really killed her! She's dead!"

His hand took a dagger that was on his belt and held it in front of his eyes.

"Hero, please don't do it, it wasn't you who killed her!" Shai exclaimed.

"It's too late. She's dead, and it's my entire fault! I might as well die along with her." He started to plunge the dagger into his chest.

He stopped right as the pint of the blade pierced his flesh. Something was holding him back. The darkness melted back to the light. They were at the chamber of light again, and Farore held his arm.

"Enough Link. That was just an illusion."

"Let me die! I don't want to live anymore!"

Farore disintegrated the knife and snapped him out of the illusion with a mere blink of her eyes.

Link shook with fear. "Why Farore… why would you show me such an image. It was too real…" he breathed. He was too shocked to move. The cut on his chest trickled blood proving that he was willing to kill himself.

"I didn't show you that illusion. I just showed you your dark self. Your mind went out of control after that. I had to stop the illusion before you were going to gravely injure yourself."

He still quavered with the disturbing image.

"Do you remember what Lanayru showed you about the Fused Shadows on your first quest? Those ancient relics were fused from the darkness of mortals. That is why it is so powerful."

"What does that have to do with us now?" Shai asked.

"Back then you were seeking darkness. And you're still seeking darkness now. But it is far too dangerous to continue this journey. The light spirits have somehow vanished from the light world." She then turned to Link. "Dark Link wasn't something that I created to show you something. He really does exist inside of you. Your dark side will grow out of control if you fall into the hands of the wrong person. You must give up your search for the Twilight! That is why she returned to her world and destroyed the mirror. She knows of the fate that will happen when creatures of the light can nonchalantly warp between the two worlds. Beings of the light are not supposed to dwell in the shadows! Heed my warning young hero."

Before Link had a chance to say anything, Farore looked up with her eyes closed. Her body glowed brilliantly as Link shielded his eyes again.

They were back in Lanayru's cave. He looked around and touched his face. They were finally back in their own world.

"That was freaky…" Shai said quietly. "Was that Midna?"

"Yes."

"She is very beautiful."

"Yes, she is."

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Link clenched his fists tightly at his sides. "I'm going to defy the Goddesses." He replied without any hesitance.

Authors note:: soooo.. What do you guys think so far? The plot is thickening by the chapter, and ive introduced dark link. Im not sure if I'm going to make him a major character though, he's really just inside of Link right now.. Hmm.. Well, please review! I appreciate it!