Chapter 3: Descent

Midna's small shield disappeared, she was exhausted. The guards who had tried to attack Zant stood over her protectively. She sat up slowly and rubbed her head.

"Where is Zant." she asked.

The guards said nothing; they only shrugged and looked around nervously.

She stood up painfully slow; she planted her feet wide apart and steadied herself. "What happened?"

"H-he…he disappeared!" one of the guards said, still in shock.

"How?"

"A large ball of darkness came…and…swallowed him up." another guard replied.

"And he has not returned?"

"No," they all asserted.

Midna turned around and started to walk back to the palace. "I do not think he will bother us again, he has been defeat—"

The clank of armor interrupted her word. "I think not, princess." a voice from behind her hissed.

The entire group turned on their heels to see who had spoken. "Zant?" Midna asked tentatively.

The helmeted man waved his hand in passing and the guards all fell over instantly. Midna gasped but stood her ground. Zant advanced towards her slowly, almost teasingly. He had grown in the few minutes he had been away from the realm of twilight, and he now towered over Midna. As he came close to her she started to back away, her hands were raised protectively in front of her.

"You no longer rule." he said with a deft flick of his arm.

A wave of power swept over Midna and she fell to the ground. It hadn't hurt, she grunted and tried to get up, but her body felt strange. She got onto her knees, noticing that she was shorter than she usually was, and looked down at her hands. They were long claws. She gasped in horror and touched her new hands to her face. She felt a small, plump face. The figure laughed cruelly, "I will not kill you, I want you to see what will happen once both the light world and this world are as one." he said mockingly.

Midna was still in disbelief that she had been cursed.

"No one can take the curse away either, other than myself." he added as he turned and walked away.

A trumpet sounded, it meant that there was a new leader.

Three days later, Zant had successfully won over the skeptics of his rule. He had also begun a military recruit of all eligible Twili, they were preparing for war. Midna had become a laughing stock of the entire realm, everyone ridiculed her, and she had escaped into an exile of sorts. She sat, unmoving, at the edge of one of the smaller areas of land. She gazed down into the abyss.

"Zant calls himself the King, but he will never be the true ruler." she said to the nothingness. Her claw-like fingers traced a brightly glowing tattoo on her leg. "These symbols are the things that distinguish the true leaders from the pretenders." she mumbled reassuringly. "If I do not take back my country…something horrible will happen." she let out a dry sob.

A single thought flickered into her mind, she perked up. She smiled evilly, yes, her plan would be brilliant. Why not destroy Zant with the very power he wished to wield?

A trumpet interrupted her plotting; it was the call to war. She sprung up quickly and dove out of several Twili's line of sight. She looked towards the castle to see the usurper command the armies to head towards the only known entrance into the realm of light. This was her chance! She kept her head bowed and started towards the castle, keeping as low to the ground as she could. Everyone had their eyes on their ambitious leader, and Midna was able to get to the backside of the castle with ease. She looked up at a high open window, she concentrated on it. She closed her eyes, and she felt herself gliding upwards. Before she knew it, she was inside the window, looking down onto a large room. She dropped down easily, her cursed form did have the benefit of floating and being inconspicuous for the most part. She easily maneuvered through the castle, she couldn't believe her luck. She entered into a small room that held a single box. She ran to the box and opened it quickly, inside was something that she had hoped she would never have to use. A single, helmet-like piece of stone sat on a plush surface. It was shaped like a woman's head with a crown, but half of the face was torn away, it only covered one eye and the top of the face. A small, handwritten note sat next to it.

With the power of the beast, the fused shadows shall rescue the Twilight. Ordona, Faron, Eldin, and Lanayru shall guide you.

The words didn't make sense to her, she knew that the names were the names of some of the provinces in the realm of light, but she knew that she needed this stone figure. She picked it up, it started to glow blue. She placed it on her head, it fit perfectly, covering one eye.

"I must collect the other pieces, it is the only way I will be able to destroy Zant and save my world." she murmured as she started to exit the room.

She already felt the power of the fused shadow coursing through her veins; she walked with more confidence out of the castle only to see Zant walking through the portal to the other world.

The bright sunlight clawed at the sensitive eyes and flesh of the invaders. They all cowered in fear before the massive, black obelisk. It was encased in iron chains, and it was slightly suspended in the air. It rocked back and forth like a giant pendulum as the searing hot desert winds tore through the dilapidated ruins. Zant appeared unaffected by the harsh sunlight as he swept before his large horde. He turned to face the large stone. He flicked his arm lazily and it crashed into the sand. The pillars that had been supporting the large stone seemed to sink into the white sand. Out of the ground a statue of a lovely woman appeared, a snake coiled sinisterly around her sensuous curves. Her face was expressionless, and she had a very large platform at the top of her head. The snakes head seemed to rest upon the large platform, and it towered menacingly over the mass of Twili. They all stared, dumfounded, at the statue until a loud, unnatural scream came from their leader. It sounded like a mix between a snake's hiss and the scream of a wild boar. They all swiveled to see their leader beckoning to them, his voice seemed amplified by the helmet which protected him from the sun.

"This is the land that we have come from. Why have we come back?" he asked the crowd.

"To Destroy!" was the reply that echoed eerily around the grounds.

"Who shall we destroy?"

"All Light Dwellers!"

An unseen smile played about the features of Zant. He turned and started to walk out of the ruins. His horde obediently followed him. "To Lanayru!" he screeched.

The horde screamed in reply. The starved Twili were finally about to taste their first morsel of revenge.

A young, woman-like creature sat on a choral throne. Her green eyes shone with defiance as she saw the first Twili begin to enter into her domain. She raised a webbed hand and played absently with a weed-like strand of hair. Her soldiers looked at her nervously, some in and some out of the watery sanctuary. The creature was eight feet long, mostly fish. Her long tail trailed in the water flowing from under her throne. She adjusted herself and cleared her throat, her jewelry clanking as she prepared to speak to her subjects. Her red and blue skin was more pallid than usual.

"Who is the fastest here." she said with a voice that sounded like thousands of crystal raindrops falling into a deep puddle.

A young boy by her side raised his hand eagerly. His face was studded exotically with small pieces of diamond, and he had a long tail sprouting from the back of his head. His feet, unlike his mothers, were human like, but webbed. "I am the fastest, mother." he said quickly.

She looked down at her boy and smiled fondly. "You have never been to Hyrule though."

"It is easy, the path is well marked. Please, let me go." he begged.

She studied the water, looking for an easy answer. "You can go, but go quickly. I need you to tell the Queen that Hyrule is under attack. Also tell her that they are starting at the water source for most of Hyrule." she said with a sigh. "Go quickly, Ralis, and do not come back until these foes have been vanquished.

The boy nodded and splashed into the water, swimming gracefully down the waterfall and into Zora's Domain. The queen looked sadly as her only son swam speedily past the invading Twili and into the secret path that led to Hyrule Castle.

A soldier swam up to her throne and bowed his head respectfully. "Ruleta, we have tried attacking the invaders, but our weapons seem to be impervious."

Ruleta nodded. "Hold them off as long as you can…" she said sadly.

Midna followed close behind Zant's group, and she saw first-hand the brave stand that the Zora soldiers gave. But all was to no avail, after the Zora's were reduced to but cowering and skittering fish, he traveled down the river. Midna wondered if Zant had a plan behind his attack, she saw a group of Twili break away, probably to find that young Zora who had escaped. She did not concern herself with the plight of the light dwellers; she had to know what Zant was doing. After a day journey down the river, they came to a massive lake. Most Twili were still nervous about the water, but they braved it as their leader directed. They came upon what seemed to be a large shrine. Zant signaled his horde to wait outside the shrine and entered alone. Midna cursed, she knew that she would never be able to see what Zant was up too.

She hid out of earshot of the horde. "Where should I go if I don't know what Zant is doing?" she asked herself. "Should I go to Ordon province, the first province listed on that piece of paper…? Or maybe I should go to the castle…" she stopped and looked down at the ground. "How can I fight him? I don't even know what he plans to d—" a strange scream emanated from the shrine. She looked around and saw something that was very familiar. The light of Twilight started to spread from the shrine like a dark mist. Zant exited the shrine, the Twilight spread as fast as a ravenous beast. Behind him scurried ten unnaturally large bugs, they burrowed out of sight the moment they saw the horde.

"We shall show them how it is like to live in Twilight. Without their precious protectors they shall be only spirits!" he said with an evil laugh.

The horde cheered as they embraced the darkness of the twilight, their home.

Midna gasped, in the realization. "Zant wants to spread the Twilight and destroy the light…" she whispered to herself. She turned her eyes away from the now moving horde, "I must wait until his wrath has subsided. Then, I will strike.

Zant seemed to have done everything quickly and efficiently. He had humiliated and discouraged his enemy Midna, and the Zora people had put up little resistance. He had become very powerful with the help of his god, all of Hyrule seemed not only able, but willing to bow at only the slightest threat. Zant almost laughed at how easy it was to take over the castle, Hyrule had lived in peace for many years, and the soldiers were unprepared and weak in fighting. After only two days, he had sent almost every province into Twilight; the only provinces that remained were small, unimportant ones that were isolated from much of Hyrule. Zant walked confidently up the large steps towards the throne room of the queen of Hyrule, he was no longer the weak and pathetic Twili advisor with impossible ambitions; his god had changed that.

He summoned a large, black cloud and pushed it forcefully into the doors, bursting the throne room open. It enshrouded half of the force that had been waiting for an attack. Beasts scurried in the dark cloud and attacked the disoriented guards quickly. Soon, the creatures sprang out of the cloud and attacked the frightened onlookers. Several were spared, but held at sword point, ready to be skewered. Zant walked calmly towards the large throne in the center of the room, two creatures flanking him protectively. He put one foot on the stairs leading up to the throne, he saw the queen of Hyrule. She was young and mostly plain in her dress. She wore no adornments, and the only thing that showed that she was royalty was a small circlet she wore on top of her golden hair. Her grey eyes showed fear, and he knew that she was a queen of peace, not of war. A sword was in her right hand, and the tip of it quivered pathetically.

"This is what the once brave blood has been reduced to?" he asked, he had said it on impulse not knowing what he had said.

The girl bit her lip and said nothing, she looked visibly shaken though.

"Even so, it is time for you to chose: Surrender of die?"

The queen glanced at the struggling guards, one of them started to cry and sob about his family. Her mind flashed back to her ancient ancestors who would be shamed if they knew how much of a coward she was. She tried to hold back tears and look strong before this dangerous foreigner.

"Oh yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule… Life? Or death?!"

The guards looked towards their leader, silently pleading for her to choose life. Hyrule hadn't seen war in a long time, and they all loved life too much to see themselves die for their country. Hyrule hadn't needed men that loyal for at least two-hundred years. The queen visibly sniffed and dropped the sword she held with a loud clang.

Zant smiled and flicked his hand, every guard dropped dead. He pointed at the petrified queen. "Kill—" his command was stopped abruptly. A single emotion seemed to emanate from his god; the emotion was anger directed at Zant. A low growl interrupted Zant's confusion. "You are not to kill her." Zant ignored the puzzled thoughts buzzing around in his brain enough to look at the guards. "Imprison her." he said brusquely.

The queen was led roughly away, and Zant flopped onto the chair lazily. Hyrule was—at last—his.