Rusl charged at me, his sheathed sword parallel to the ground. A horizontal slash, easily blockable by a vertical pivot. I made the necessary movements and continued with a downward strike. He defended and retorted with an elbow strike to my jaw.
I staggered back but used my position and momentum to make a headbutt, connecting with his cheek. Using his disorientation to my advantage, I snaked my arm around his and swung him into the practice dummy. The construction was stronger than I expected since it merely shook against his weight. He launched himself at me and gripped one arm around my neck and the other arm around my own, catching me in a headlock.
I refused to give up, so I contracted my stomach and flipped him over my back. He landed with a resounding thud and coughed out a laugh. He bucked his knees into his chest, pressed his hands above his shoulders, and kicked upward, landing on his feet. The older fighter thrust his sword at me but I deflected with a downward parry from my wooden sword and rammed my shoulder into his unprotected chest.
That maneuver was a mistake, as I quickly realized when he caught me in a bear hug and tossed me over his back. The ground gave me a nice big kiss on the mouth as I tumbled down and hit one of the gateposts. Before I could get up and attack, Rusl pinned me by holding my arms behind me.
Blood rushed to my ears as I heard him chuckle and say, "Not bad! You're definitely farther along than I thought. I was worried I'd have to teach you the basics." He let go and patted my shoulder as he waved Colin over. "Not bad at all. Son, what did you notice about our little spat?"
The boy dug his foot into the dirt as he looked sheepishly around. "Well… you both used your bodies more than your swords…" he received an encouraging nod from his father. "Neither of you tried to hit the bad spot…" Rusl laughed and nodded again. "And… Um…" he hesitated and his cheeks grew red.
"And," I finished for him, "he pulled his punches."
Rusl offered me a hand up and I accepted. We shook hands as he smiled at me and nodded. "Don't want to hurt you too bad on your first day."
"Rusl, Colin, time for dinner!" a loving voice called from past the gate. I turned and saw what could only be Uli, Rusl's wife and Colin's mother, heavily pregnant with her second child. She was dressed in the same style as the rest of the village with a white tunic, dark pants, and wide sash over her engorged belly.
Uli walked up to us and kissed Rusl's cheek. "Is this the young man Pergie has been talking about?"
I nodded and offered my hand. "I'm Zach, pleased to meet you, ma'am."
"Uli, and the pleasure is all mine."
"I'd very much like for you to have dinner with us tonight," Rusl smiled warmly at me. "You seem like a very intelligent young man, it would be good for you to have a nice home-cooked meal."
Fighting off a sigh, I smiled back and nodded. "I'd love to."
The Fused Shadow was… honestly not what Midna was expecting. It certainly resembled ancient Twilian artifacts as she saw in the palace's armory and collections of antiques, with runic scripture and twin serpents carved into the grayish-black stone, yet the item was barely the size of Midna's fist. The relic hovered ominously in a column of blue-green light. It appeared to be a helmet, or some fashion of headgear at least, with twin horns along the crown and a malevolent left eye peering dead ahead. The right eye and beneath seemed to have been broken off long ago, most likely when the Goddesses banished the ancient Twilian ancestors to the Twilight Realm.
The relic certainly seemed intimidating, with its blank stare and runes etched into its surface, but its size was incredibly demeaning. Midna worried that if she gripped the relic hard enough, she would crush the Fused Shadow into powder.
"This was easier than I thought," said Midna. She took a step forward, and the artifact snapped to attention, facing her directly, the orb where the two serpents joined glowing like a Sol.
The Twilight Princess and the Queen of Hyrule both froze under the Fused Shadow's piercing gaze, one mesmerized by the magic pulsating from it, the other defensive and holding three thin daggers between her knuckles. Midna was about to question where Zelda pulled the knives from but something distracted her.
"Huh? You say something?" Midna asked. Her companion eyed her and slowly shook her head. "Thought I heard some—"
The Fused Shadow darted from its place in the column of light and into her open hand before she could finish her sentence.
"Take care, Midna," warned Zelda. "It is layered with dark magic."
Midna rolled her eyes and bit back a retort, instead only thinking; Of course, she would have that mentality.
"They have no grasp of true power…" whispered a tiny voice in the back of Midna's mind. She was about to nod and voice her agreement but stopped when she realized what the voice just said. "You could have simply destroyed her, and this prison in which We are kept…"
"We…?" she whispered.
"We can give you anything you wish, O Child of Our Maker… All you desire, We can grant…"
Midna felt herself drawn to the offer. Anything she desired, she could have. She could save Burak's child! She could prove that she was worthy of the throne. She could finally seek retribution from the Light Dwellers. She could gain control of this realm, take the Power of the Goddesses, and—
"No!" she bellowed. Zelda instinctively aimed a knife right at Midna's heart, but held herself back at the look of fright on her guest's face. "That is not what I want and you can't make me want it."
There was a cold silence in the room, with Midna holding the miniscule Fused Shadow and Zelda armed with her daggers. The glowing orb on the relic dimmed slightly as it processed a suitable response.
"Very well, Daughter of Twilight… why are We being removed from this prison now, of all times, and how are We to be used?"
"I don't plan on using you. I was sent here to get you and now I can go back and call it a day."
"Brave, if not foolish… Your task is not yet complete… Surely, you noticed Our…deplorable state… We are incomplete, Our body scattered across this Light Realm…"
Midna sighed. "I'm sure my pa…" she spared a glance at Zelda, who looked as though she was about to slash Midna's throat at the slightest twitch. "Peers would understand me coming home with a fragment of a long-lost relic from a battle that raged ages ago. Besides, they only said I have to talk to the rulers of this realm and get the Fused Shadow from them, and here we are."
"If you've quite finished!" cried Zelda, breaking her calm façade after the display of Midna speaking to no one in particular. "You have your prize and so I respectfully request you to leave. Now."
Midna knew it was not a request and fumed at being ordered around, but did not want to cause any more trouble than necessary. She nodded and prepared to open a portal back to the mesa she first arrived on, since she knew where to go and how far to project her magic. She winked at Zelda and said, "Eee hee hee! See you later!"
As Uli poured a bowl of soup, she asked, "What brings you this far from your home, Zach?" She set the bowl onto the table and went to pour another. "You make it sound as though you were worlds away."
Oh, if you only knew. "I've heard a lot of stories about Hyrule, and when a very unique opportunity showed up, I took it and here I am." I waited politely for Uli to sit down and see if there were any pre-dinner rituals like prayer or Grace or something. When they started eating, I followed suit, marveling at the taste of chicken and cheese. "This is delicious!" I said after swallowing the first spoonful.
I was glad I decided to have dinner with Rusl and his family. I didn't want to have to use one of my own food rations before I camped out in the wilderness. A shudder ran up my spine as I thought about what the outside world would be like. I did not look forward to sleeping in itchy grass or clumps of dirt and sharp rocks. Maybe I could salvage some supplies from the storeroom for a tent…
"Zach, is something wrong?" I shook out of my thoughts and found Uli and Rusl eyeing me with concern.
"No, I'm fine." Another spoonful of soup. "I was just thinking."
"How long are you staying?" chirped Colin. He ducked his head low and averted eye contact, even after Rusl gently patted his back.
I hummed and held my chin. "Probably a few months. I'd like to see Hyrule Castle and the surrounding locales."
Rusl and Uli smiled as they ate, while Colin seemed slightly confused. "Didn't you see the castle on your way here?" he asked. My spoon hand froze just in front of my lips. "Father told me anyone could see the castle no matter where they are in the kingdom." This kid is smarter than I gave him credit for. "How did you get here anyway?" This kid was not going to let this go!
For a few seconds, I seriously considered telling them the truth, that the Golden Goddesses visited me and chose me to go on a great quest. It would take some pressure off to have people understand that what they tasked me to do was more important than herding goats or seeing the sights. On the other hand, could they keep this a secret? Would they think I was crazy and send me away to fend for myself in the wilderness?
"What's that on your hand?" Uli asked. She was staring at my right hand as though it had grown an extra finger (again). I peered down to find something emblazoned on the back of my hand, a symbol that I was not expecting to see at all.
On the back of my hand was the symbol of the Goddesses: The Triforce, with all three triangles faded and dull. I dropped the spoon and stood up, knocking the chair over.
"Thank you for the dinner, it was delicious, but I have to go."
"But—"
I ran out of the house before they could question it any further. I had to get out of there and find out why this was here. It was almost twilight as I sprinted past my temporary house, through the forested passage, and finally came to Ordona's spring.
"Ordona, explain to me why I have this on the back of my hand!" The spring was dim and quiet, just like the forest that surrounded it. "Ordona! Are you there?" Again, no answer. Out of frustration, I threw a rock into the water and kicked the sand.
"Zach?" a quiet voice called behind me. I spun around and saw Ilia standing there, a basket of bread in her arms. "Are you alright?"
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before finally spitting out, "No, I'm not! I'm confused, disoriented, I have this mark on my hand, and Ordona isn't giving me any answers! Why me? Why did They choose me of all people?!"
Ilia stayed put, obviously frightened at the display of anger, but she seemed to want to say something. She stepped forward and laid a hand on my shoulder as she said, "What is wrong with your mark? Can I see it?" She looked at my hand and tried to hold in a gasp. "That is a sacred mark, bestowed on those—"
"I know what it is! My question is why I have it! Aren't these kinds of things supposed to happen to people that everybody likes? Heroes, princesses, knights, all that crap!"
She bit her lip and asked, "Why do you believe you are not a hero?"
I was just about to tell her exactly why I wasn't a hero, but I stopped. Ilia was just trying to help, she didn't need to be afraid of the person she was helping. Well, more afraid of the person, anyway.
"Perhaps the Goddesses see the hero you can become?" she asked with hope. "I think they are trying to guide you to what you could be one day."
Great, more people trying to control my life. I took a deep breath and gestured to her basket. "What's that for?"
"Hm? Oh! This is…" she blushed and nudged the basket towards me. "I made you some pumpkin bread. It's sort of my way of welcoming you to our village."
I chuckled and gently took the basket from her. "Thank you." I took a whiff of the pumpkin bread and sighed deeply. "That smells heavenly." Because I was so sharp with my manners, it seemed rude to just take the basket and leave, so I asked, "Would you like to have some with me?"
The look in her eyes was one I hadn't seen in a long time, and the way she nodded told me she would have liked nothing more. We quietly walked back to the storehouse and made our way inside. I used the light from my phone to illuminate the way to the stack of blankets I pillaged from the crow's nest bed. I plopped down and waited for Ilia, who was tinkering with the lantern I left on one of the boxes. After a few moments, warm orange-red light glowed from the wick, and she carried the lantern over and set it off to the side.
"What is that you used to make light? I've never seen a lantern like that before."
"This," I held up the device, "is called a phone. Where I come from, people use these to talk to other people across very large distances. It has a lot of uses, like marking dates," the blush in her cheeks did not escape me, "making notes, tracking the time, and, as you've seen, making light when I need it."
"Phone…" she sounded out. It seemed to feel weird for her to say that, but it was a foreign word, after all. "What else can it do?"
"Well, it can play music, take pictures—"
"Pictograms?"
"Sort of, but these look better. See," I opened up my Photos app and showed her a picture of a younger girl and me. "This is me, obviously, and here is my cousin, Carolyn. We were at a… a festival, and she won a contest, which is why she has that blue ribbon."
"These pictures certainly look better, especially since these have color." She scrawled her finger over the picture, accidentally changing it to one of two men shaking hands. "Who are they?"
"The one on the left, with the mustache, is my dad. The other one is my brother Alex. Alex just went into the army then, and this was his going away party."
"Your brother is a knight?"
I chuckled and shrugged. "Sort of. We don't call them knights, we call them soldiers."
"Does your King still give them high honors?"
"Uh, we don't call him our king, but if soldiers do great deeds of heroism and courage, yes. We call our leader the President."
"Prez-e-dent?"
"Heh, close enough." I set down the phone and looked to see that our faces were fairly close to each other. I could smell the faint hint of pine in her hair, see her teal eyes gazing into mine, and hear her heart beat in her chest. I knew what she was hoping for, but it was not the time, place, or mood for it. Instead, I turned away and pulled off a small piece of pumpkin bread. After popping the morsel in my mouth, my eyes widened at the taste. It was so savory that I almost wished I didn't invite her to have some with me.
It almost stung me when I heard her sigh softly in disappointment.
Almost.
Once the disorientation of warping passed, Midna sat down on a stone bench just outside the mirror chamber. It was dusk now, layering the sky in a familiar golden hue. She watched the sun go down and admired the beauty of her natural land peeking through into this world. Deep down, she admitted that Hyrule had its own beauty to it, with its bright blue sky, green hills, and clear waters. It could not compare to the Twilight Realm, of course, but it was a sight to see.
Tucking the Fused Shadow away was simple enough. All Midna had to do was create a space where she could store the artifact and retrieve it easily. It called to her one last time, pleading that she use its power, but she knew better. It was definitely not a tool to use carelessly, especially by someone of royal blood. That situation already happened, the result of which was the relic's banishment to begin with.
After the sun faded below the horizon, Midna dusted herself off and approached the Mirror of Twilight, its runes glowing in the dark. She stood on the pedestal and watched in amazement as a great portal carved into the great black stone, seemingly into infinity and beyond. She stepped up to the circle of light from whence she first emerged, and felt the familiar sensation of being scattered into pieces and flung across the void.
When it was over, Midna looked around but was slightly surprised that there were no guards there to escort her back to the palace. In fact, there seemed to be a cold emptiness around the courtyard. Even at this time, there were always some peddlers who sought to make bargains with passersby. There was no one here, and that unnerved Midna.
The Twilight Princess walked cautiously through the barren marketplace and into the palace entrance, where there seemed to be signs of struggle. She saw dark spatters and broken pieces of armor and fabric laying here and there, yet no body to see if it was a riot or random attack.
Her nerves becoming more and more frayed, Midna quickly moved through the palace, coming across more blood spatters along the way. She stopped just outside the throne room to collect her breath and slow her heart, but that was for naught when she heard muffled voices and the telltale sound of Twilian magic. She ran into the chamber but instantly regretted it when she saw her mother held by the throat by a creature Midna had only seen in storybooks.
It was animalistic, with a hunched back, slithering black tendrils on its masked head, and tribal runes carved into its midnight skin. The shadow beast turned to face the new occupant of the room and promptly dropped Queen Yoake, who crumpled to the floor like a wilted flower.
"Midna…" the Queen coughed out, rubbing her blackened throat. "You must run!"
"Mother, who did this?" Midna demanded as she summoned an orb of Twili energy. She threw it at the shadow beast and expected it to blow apart, but all it did was dent the creature's mask.
"Zant!" her mother answered, though her voice sounded much deeper than it ought to be. Midna gazed at her to see her body starting to change into that of a shadow beast. Queen Yoake's hands engorged and blackened, her hair charred and slicked into tendrils, and her eyes dimmed to empty black sockets. The new shadow beast roared and charged at Midna, who stood frozen with terror at the monstrosity that was now her mother.
