"Ow! Ow, stop, that hurts!"
The head physician ignored Midna's cries and finished the small incision in her foot. He pulled the shard of glass from her skin with a pair of tweezers. She curled her fingers into fists, wrinkling the bedsheets beneath her, and gritted her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut as he peered at the little blood-covered fragment.
"Stop cringing, it's not even in your foot anymore," the man sighed as he set the shard onto a little wooden plate beside him.
"…Oh." Midna's eyes fluttered open again, and she had the decency to give him a sheepish smile.
"Now don't flinch, please. I need to apply medicine to your foot and bandage it." He washed her injury before he grasped a vial of red liquid and poured its contents onto a thick cloth. He said nothing as he dabbed the substance onto her wound. Early evening sunlight poured through the windows and shone upon his work. Other patients lay scattered across the infirmary's beds, chairs, or some even sat on the floor, all of them mostly silent and grim.
As he began to wrap her foot with bandages, Midna found her gaze wandering across the room. On a bed to her left, Eldren sat, and past him, Link. They downed large bottles of the same red substance that the head physician had applied to her injury. Apparently they'd both suffered broken ribs from the recent attack. She grimaced at the thought.
When the physician left, Link stood and made his way over to her. "May I sit?" he asked, motioning to her bed. She nodded once, so he sat at her side, the bed creaking beneath his weight. For a moment neither of them spoke. She could see Link studying the bruises on her neck and the scrape on her cheek.
"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching as if to touch her neck - but his hand stopped midair, and hovered there for a second or two before dropping to his side again.
"Me? Are you all right?"
"Of course." He was quick to direct attention away from himself. "How did you get those?"
Midna smiled, a little. "Well, the one on my cheek - Eldren pushed me out of the way of one of the demons. We landed hard on that stone path out in the garden and it scraped my cheek a bit. As for the bruises on my neck…" She hesitated, averting her eyes, and gingerly touched the tender skin around her throat. The memory still made her shudder. "One of the demons tried to strangle me. Salaas saved me."
"Salaas?"
She pointed to a wall nearby, where both her bodyguards stood watch, silent sentinels, casting long shadows across the floor. "He's Salaas, and that's Ludin… my bodyguards."
Link pursed his lips in thought. "Right… Midna. Uh - well, I mean… your highness? I don't know." He reached to fidget nervously with an earring and refused to meet her gaze. "That just sounds so wrong."
"Yeah, it does." Midna wrinkled her nose. "Don't call me your highness. I like my name, thanks."
He offered her a tiny smile. "Midna it is, then. But - speaking of demons, do you know why they're here? Where they suddenly came from?"
He deserved to know, so she told him - "A necromancer brought them to life, from what I know. We don't know who that necromancer is yet though."
She saw the muscles in his jaw tighten. He did not reply. Darkness tainted his once-beautiful eyes, and she hated the sight of it. In an attempt to distract him, she quickly declared, "I think it's time for introductions! I mean, you don't really know anyone here, and they don't know you, and… um, so…"
Link stared at her. She tried to ignore him and motioned to Salaas and Ludin. "Come over here!" she told them, then looked at Eldren and said, "You and Zelda too."
Zelda had been hovering over her brother, checking to make sure he was all right, but she looked up at Midna's voice. Hurriedly she ducked her head and whispered something to the prince - probably asking if he felt well enough to bother with the Twili woman's command - before she nodded and straightened again, then Eldren turned to face Midna and smiled. Zelda took a seat beside him on the bed. Soon almost the whole group had gathered around her - and when Laik noticed the commotion, he rushed to join. "Am I missing anything?" he asked.
Instead of answering him, Midna cleared her throat and said, "So, what with the insanity we've all just been through, I figured it might be nice to introduce everyone to each other."
Laik took a seat next to his brother. Midna smiled. "Everyone knows me already, so we'll start with you," and she pointed to Laik.
He grinned. "I'm Laik. I'm pretty much flawless, just so you all know."
Midna narrowed her eyes at him. In truth, she still hadn't quite forgiven him for not helping his brother when he'd needed it most. "Oh yeah, so flawless. Like when your brother was lying on the ground with a demon hovering over him, ready to kill him, and you just backed away like a spineless idiot? That was really amazing of you."
Laik's gray eyes dropped, and his hair fell to cover his face. "W-well, I -"
Before he could say anything, Midna directed her gaze to Link, and smiled at him. "Your turn."
He frowned a little. "I'm Link," was all he said before looking away.
Where had all his cheer gone to? Understandably, he'd been through a lot, and her heart clenched at the thought - but she so dearly missed the way he had been when she'd first met him. If only she could make him smile again. A genuine smile. The gears started turning in her head as she thought of ways to do just that.
But for now, she continued with the introductions. Her gaze flicked to the prince's, and he stared at her blankly for a moment, unsure of what she wanted, before it finally seemed to register in his head - "Oh. I'm Prince Eldren. But, just Eldren is fine…"
The Hylian princess sat straight and poised, a gentle smile on her rose lips, and her words flowed as easily and as musical as a river. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, Laik and Link. I am Zelda, princess of Hyrule. However, you may call me Zelda if you so please. I must thank you, Link, for so valiantly fighting off the monster."
Link flushed a bit. "I didn't do anything, really."
Then they lapsed into silence. Only Midna's glare made her bodyguards speak -
"Salaas."
"Ludin."
- but their names overlapped, and were spoken so quietly that she almost didn't hear them at all.
Midna sighed. "At least that's out of the way," she grumbled to herself.
Zelda stood. "If you'll excuse me - I apologize for being so abrupt, but I feel I should check to make sure the guards I sent out to find survivors are all right, as well as Lady Ali. I will speak to her again in my chambers within the hour. Anyone who wishes to attend may do so." And with that, she left the infirmary, her long pink dress trailing like the petals of a flower behind her.
Something of an awkward quiet followed - in which nobody quite knew what to say or do. Eldren still sat on the bed across from Midna, and Link and Laik stayed beside her, but none of them looked at each other, much less spoke. Eventually her two bodyguards, disliking the uncomfortable feeling in the air, retreated to a wall and simply stood there as silent as ever.
"I'm… just gonna go," Laik mumbled, still clearly upset about Midna calling him a spineless idiot. He stood and went to the opposite side of the room, not quite ready to leave it yet, but not willing to stay near the Twili princess.
Eldren cleared his throat. "So… Link."
The golden-haired Hylian looked up at the prince.
"My sister said it already, but thank you… for defeating that last monster," Eldren managed. He stared down at the floor and clasped his hands together in his lap.
Link tried to shrug. "Midna's bodyguard did most the work." He cast a sidelong glance at the woman. "Salaas, right?"
She nodded once.
Another silence. In an attempt to break it, Midna hurriedly started, "Um - it's good we're all safe, right?"
"Are we?" Link's brows lifted, and he gave her a pointed look.
"Yes. I'm fine," she insisted.
"I'm glad you're all right." Eldren stood then. Their eyes lifted to his. "I'm going to check on my sister," he informed them. "You know - to make sure she's safe." Midna nodded absently, and so the prince went out of the infirmary without another word, leaving Link and Midna mostly to themselves.
"Link," she started nervously, looking down at her dress and shutting her eyes.
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry… for, you know, lying to you."
"It's all right. Really. Just, don't do it again, please."
She opened her eyes again, meeting his own with a hesitant smile on her face. "Yeah. I'll do my best."
He didn't smile in reply. Instead he only sat there, frowning, and much to her surprise he reached to brush a lock of hair away from her face. "That really is a nasty bruise on your neck," he muttered.
Midna swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous, though she wasn't quite sure why. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing compared to broken ribs." She cocked a brow.
That time Link smiled.
"Well -" Midna stood, and only then remembered the glass that had been pulled out of her foot. She visibly winced and nearly fell over, if it weren't for Link hurrying to stand and wrap an arm around her waist to support her. "Thanks. Anyway, as I was going to say… should we head to Zelda's chambers and see if she can get Lady Ali to tell us who the necromancer is?"
Link's eyes flashed. The Twili resisted the urge to flinch away from the sudden anger in them.
He spoke, voice dangerously low, and it sent a chill up her spine - "I'd like that very much."
"The necromancer, Lady Ali. Who is it?" Zelda leaned forward across the wooden table and pierced the lady's gray eyes with her stormy ones.
Lady Ali clamped a hand over her mouth and shut her eyes. She sat on a plush couch, surrounded by Eldren, Laik, and Link. Across from her Zelda sat in her own chair, with Midna, Salaas, and Ludin in a sofa at her side. Silence cloaked Zelda's chambers. Not a soul broke it. Golden rays of sunset spilled through the windows dotting the walls and cast a long rectangle of light onto the table.
Princess Zelda's lips twisted into a deep grimace. "Lady Ali," she began again, "these are dire times. I have told you this before. You know this. You must also know that, though I do not wish to, I will be forced to take drastic measures should you keep silent. The fate of Hyrule and possibly the entire world rests upon this information."
The lady shook. Everyone stared at her expectantly, but she said nothing.
So the Hylian princess took a breath in preparation to speak again -
"Wait!" Lady Ali cried suddenly. Her hand dropped from her mouth to her lap, and she stared down at the carpeted floor with a quivering lip. "I - I'll tell you who it is. I'll tell you everything I know. But you'll hate me for it…"
So they waited - but the lady did not continue. A crow cawed outside the window, its rasping cry grating on Midna's nerves. The group sat around the table, each of them staring intently at the shuddering gray-eyed woman, waiting, no, silently begging for her to say something.
Finally -
Her lips parted, and from them spilled a single name -
"Ganondorf."
Eldren's eyes shot wide open, and his entire body stiffened. Not a soul could respond. They only stared at the lady in surprise as she lowered her gaze yet again and hugged herself tightly. Not even the crow outside dared to speak.
Suddenly - the prince stood, large hands clenched into fists at his sides. "That's impossible," he spat. "My father - the, the king of Hyrule would never do such a thing! You're lying!"
Tears welled up in Lady Ali's eyes. "I'm not, I promise!" She turned her fearful gaze to the tall, imposing form of Prince Eldren, who loomed over her like a terrible beast ready to lunge for the kill. His eyes blazed with pure, unadulterated rage, and she cowered in his shadow.
"You would dare accuse my father of something as terrible as necromancy?" Eldren hissed. His fists trembled with anger and his knuckles turned white. "You disgusting little -"
"Eldren!" Zelda growled, so uncharacteristically fierce that Midna jumped in her seat. She scooted away from the other princess and swallowed. Never before had she seen Eldren so angry. He'd always seemed gentle. And Zelda, too…
The prince turned his wild glare to the Hylian princess then, and gritted his teeth. "She's the necromancer, Zelda!" He pointed an accusing finger at Lady Ali. "She's trying to blame father in order to hide!"
"Silence!" Zelda commanded, dangerous lightning flashing in her eyes. "Sit down."
Eldren stared at her. His finger shook, but eventually he lowered it to his side, and obeyed his sister. Everyone gave him nervous looks, especially Lady Ali. Zelda took a deep breath, her chest shuddering with the action, and she shut her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. "Tell us everything," she said when her eyes opened again.
Lady Ali straightened and pressed her lips together. "It all began when my mother died. I went to the castle's graveyard to pay her my respects after she had been buried just the day before. And…" She shut her eyes. "I saw - I saw him. The king… He was standing in front of my mother's grave, and talking to someone - she was there. My mother! I couldn't believe it, because, she was dead, and how could she be standing there? But she looked a bit… different. She had strange black markings on her face and when I looked a little closer I noticed her horrible yellow eyes. I was scared, so I hid and hoped the king couldn't see me.
"Unfortunately he did. I remember it so vividly…" Here she stopped to shudder - "He said, 'Get her,' and I saw him point to me. The woman that should have been my mother but wasn't walked toward me, she never smiled, and she grabbed my arm with freezing fingers. I tried to talk to her, to get her to recognize me, but she was an entirely different person. I didn't know what was happening. She dragged me over to the king and I was too scared to scream. It - it was awful." Lady Ali rubbed her arms and kept her eyes squeezed shut as she spoke. "The king threatened to kill me if I told anyone. I told him that I had no idea what was happening at all, and begged that he let me go, but he wouldn't. He kept saying he'd kill me. I kept begging him not to. Somehow - I don't know how but, but I was so happy he let me live - he said if I helped him, he wouldn't kill me. Since he couldn't let anyone know what he was doing, he couldn't have anyone help him, but what with me stumbling upon his secret he said the only choice left for him was to have me help him. But he still threatened to kill me should I tell anyone.
"So, as I helped him, I realized he was practicing necromancy. I was scared and I didn't want anything to do with it but - but, you have to understand, I didn't want to die, I..." She paused to gulp and then continued. "A-at any rate. He let me into that locked door in the library - you know the one right? - and I found it full of necromancy books and notes he'd taken on how to get… the best results, I suppose. So I helped him. I read books when he didn't have time to, and I took notes for him, and I - I… I found fresh corpses for him." Before anyone could question her she hurried to explain, the words tumbling over each other in their desperation to leave her mouth. "You see - the - um, necromancy… In necromancy you can't revive skeletons. They'd just fall apart if they tried to walk. They need some flesh on them. So, sometimes he'd send me out to find people who had died somewhat recently, or - or well-preserved corpses work too… But I didn't want to. I just…" She stopped and could say no more. Her head dropped to her lap and she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head.
The crow cawed outside the window again. Shocked silence followed Lady Ali's explanation.
Zelda stared, an expression of disbelief on her face. Her mouth hung open, just a little, and it was with some effort that she managed to close it. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes in an attempt to appear more composed. "But... why would he?" she murmured, hands clasped tight in her lap.
"To revive the queen," came the lady's simple reply.
Zelda's lips pressed together so tightly that they turned white. "I should have guessed," she muttered to herself. "Father loved her so much... he couldn't stand life without her." She heaved a heavy sigh. "But doesn't he see that attempting to revive her with necromancy cannot work? She would only return as a mindless beast."
Lady Ali shook her head. "She wouldn't return at all. You see, the demons don't have souls. They are only able to live because of the dark magic that courses through their veins. The king knew this. But still, for some reason, he tried to revive the late queen anyway. He was blinded by his desperation, I suppose… So he grew more and more powerful, hoping that the stronger he got, he'd somehow be able to reach right into the other realm and pull her soul back. Just a little while ago he started realizing that was impossible, though…"
Midna's brow furrowed. "Let me get this straight - all these demons are just the result of the king experimenting with necromancy?"
The lady nodded.
Midna's lip curled. "That's disgusting," she huffed, leaning back into the couch and folding her arms across her chest. "Once he figured out that his experiments weren't working, why didn't he just - oh, I don't know - stop creating dangerous monsters?!"
"I… I'm not sure." Lady Ali frowned and averted her eyes. "He left them alive for some reason. He said he still needed them to experiment on somehow? I don't know, I didn't quite understand what he meant. But he forced them all into slumber so they couldn't do anything."
"He has complete control of them, then?" Zelda inquired.
"Yes. He does. Except…" She trailed off.
"Except?" the Hylian princess prodded.
"When they attacked the farms surrounding Castle Town." The lady hesitated. "It's a bit of a long explanation. Let me start by saying - necromancy is like a poison. If you take too much of it, you'll die - but be careful, and you can build up an immunity. When the king first started practicing necromancy, he was ill most the time. Recently he started getting more reckless, and used more power than he could handle. It nearly killed him." The crow outside the window took flight and vanished into the darkening sky. "Anyway - he gives the monsters their power and life; if he dies, then they die too, since they won't have anyone to give them power anymore. So when he recovered from his illness, he feared that nearly dying had weakened the demons. As a way to make sure they still possessed their power, he sent them out to attack."
"So that's why one killed my parents and burned my house to the ground?" Link suddenly spoke up, eyes hard and cold.
The lady dropped her gaze in shame. "I'm sorry. He told them not to kill, merely to display their power - but for some reason they didn't listen to him. I don't know why. Maybe they didn't obey very well because he was still quite weak. That's my best guess."
Link's eyes still pierced like ice, but he sat back a little and said nothing more. Beside him Laik leaned against the plush armrest and watched the world turn black outside the nearby window. He'd been sitting in that position for a long time and apparently had no intent of changing that. Midna's eyes flicked between the two of them and she bit her lip.
Zelda frowned. She exchanged a glance with Eldren. "It all makes sense now," she murmured.
Eldren shook his head, jaw clenched tight. "No. It isn't… That's not what happened," he insisted - but his weak voice clearly betrayed his feelings. He was doubting himself.
"There is too much evidence, Eldren," Zelda sighed. "Father's insistence that he would find a way to bring mother back - locking us out of that section of the library without ever telling us why - his sudden seclusion and tendency to be secretive - his illness - all of it…"
The prince buried his face in his hands and said nothing.
"Why would he send the demons to attack the outlying farms?" Zelda asked. "You said he wanted to test their power - but wouldn't he know that would draw suspicion to himself?"
Lady Ali sighed heavily. "The king hasn't been very rational lately. I begged him not to do it, and said he could test their powers in secret… but he insisted. Said it was necessary. I didn't understand his reasoning because frankly, I thought it was stupid. But I couldn't stop him."
"He also must have been the one to direct today's attack," Zelda said. "Why?"
Lady Ali grimaced. "He's not actually leaving Hyrule to go 'warn the Gerudo', but that should be obvious by now. He's leaving for some other reason. What that reason is, I admit I don't know, but - but he had to take his army of necromantic demons with him, and since he had been 'storing' them, I suppose you could say, underneath the castle - inside the catacombs - he needed a distraction. See, he can't just march a demon army through Castle Town, so the only way he could think of to get them out of the town without anyone noticing was to take the secret passage inside the throne room that leads all the way outside the town's walls. But the path to the catacombs is inside the dungeons, so somehow he had to keep everyone distracted while he marched the army from the dungeons to the throne room."
Midna's eyes shot wide open. "Din, are you kidding me? We fell for that? None of us noticed him transporting an army across the castle?!" She bared her teeth. "This - this is ridiculous!"
Prince Eldren rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, interlocking his fingers and staring absently at the table. "I don't believe it… You're implying that my father would have wanted to kill us with those five demons."
"He didn't tell them to kill. He told them to distract and incapacitate, just like he told them to do when they attacked the outlying farms. Though… this time, they actually listened to him."
"That makes no sense." Zelda's brows knit together. "How did the demons escape the castle the first time? Wouldn't he have had to transfer them through the throne room then?"
"It was nighttime. Most everyone was asleep, except for the guards. I don't know what he did to them. I assume he just told them to leave and they didn't question him. Either way, the demons slipped out unnoticed."
Zelda's brows lowered over her slate blue eyes. "Though he sent only five to distract us, he had to have known people would still question how they got into the castle. He would risk bringing suspicion to himself. Why didn't he wait until night again this time?"
The lady shrugged her thin shoulders. "He was impatient. As I said - the king isn't rational lately, I'm sure you've all noticed how ridiculous he's been. He claimed he couldn't wait to leave for another second. And as for suspecting him… that's just it, isn't it? People would suspect. They would question. But they wouldn't know for sure. If he allowed them to see his army, and him marching at the front of it, then they'd try to fight him, or pursue him, and that would slow him down considerably. Five demons without a leader are a lot less conspicuous than a lot of them with a leader. He figured it'd be better to let people question rather than just give them the answers right away. It gave him more time to escape before anyone figured anything out."
"Now, he will never sit on the throne again." The Hylian princess frowned in thought. "He knew that, I am quite sure. So why would he allow people to suspect him?"
"Because he doesn't want to return to the throne," the lady replied. "I still don't know what he's doing, where he's going, or why he's going there, but the king made it clear that he didn't care about Hyrule anymore before he left." She stared at her dress and began mindlessly drawing patterns in the fabric. "He… threatened to kill me, again. I had two choices - die, or go with him. He knew he couldn't leave me behind because then this would happen. I'd tell someone all about him. I… I just barely got away, actually, he almost killed me…"
Zelda heaved a shuddering sigh, and her eyes dulled with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Lady Ali. And thank you for everything. I think we are all tired from the day's events, and we need sleep."
"Sleep?" Link sat stiff and so utterly still that he might as well have been a statue. His eyes held no emotion at all - purely cold, endless emptiness. Looking at him made Midna's heart clench in dread. She quickly averted her gaze and blankly prodded the soft couch beneath her. "We can't let King Ganondorf go," he said. "He needs to pay for what he's done. I'll hunt him down myself if I have to."
"We will not let him go," Zelda assured the young Hylian man. "Tomorrow I will set out to search for him myself, along with whoever wishes to accompany me."
"Tomorrow? We'll lose him by then!" Link protested.
"Will we find him by tonight?" Zelda lightly shook her head, long sunshine locks of hair swaying softly about her porcelain face at the movement. "The hour grows too late. In this darkness we will not be able to pursue him, and our tired minds cannot be of much service to us. It is best if we wake early, pack whatever we need for the journey, and then set off with a fresh sun to guide us."
Midna didn't bother to hide her yawn. "Yeah, that's a good idea. It's been an exhausting day, and I'm more than ready to sleep."
The Hylian princess scanned the room, quickly studying each and every person there. "And who will accompany me?"
"I will," Link said without a second's hesitation.
"Zelda!" Eldren suddenly spoke up, a line of worry between his brows. "You can't do this alone. We'll need an army to follow us, to match the strength of the enemy."
The Hylian princess sighed. "We cannot risk bringing soldiers along with us. Not only would that render Hyrule defenseless -"
"It wouldn't be defenseless if we only brought enough to defend ourselves."
She continued as if he hadn't spoken at all. "- but that would require telling the soldiers and possibly the entire kingdom why we need to leave in such a hurry. Hyrule would be divided. Those who support father would rebel, and call us liars, saying that their king would never do such a thing. Those who do not support him would agree with us. A civil war could start."
"That's -" Eldren spluttered. "That's ridiculous! A worst case scenario only. It isn't even likely to happen at all!"
"We cannot risk it. Not to mention that it takes too much time to gather an army and provide them with provisions. We need to move silent and swift if we hope to catch up to our father."
"But -"
"You heard Lady Ali, did you not? An army is not necessary. If father falls, so do his demons."
"…What?" Eldren's voice hissed like venom. "You plan to kill father?"
Zelda's eyes squeezed shut. She inhaled, and held her breath for a long time, not saying a single word. Then she sighed - "I do not know, not yet. I wish to speak to him first, if I can… if he's reasonable enough." Her eyes flashed open, and she lifted her chin. "If not, then I will do whatever is necessary to protect our world."
The prince clenched his teeth and stared at his sister as if trying to change her mind with only his gaze. She stared right back, not even blinking once. Finally Eldren huffed and leaned back. "Fine. I'll go too."
"You're injured."
"Not really. The red potion the head physician gave me relieves most of the pain and makes things heal much faster. I'll be fine."
"Who will guard Hyrule in your absence?" Zelda asked.
Eldren shrugged lightly. "I'll speak to the regent in the morning." His sister stared at him for a while, and he shifted uncomfortably beneath her piercing gaze. When still she said nothing he looked away and nervously reached to loosen the collar of his shirt. "What?" he mumbled.
"Will you tell him the reason we're leaving?"
"…No?"
"Good. You can come," she finally agreed.
"And I guess I will too," Midna spoke up. "After all, things'll get pretty boring around here without a bunch of demons." She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"You will do no such thing." Salaas glared the Twili princess, but she didn't flinch. Instead she just cocked a brow at him.
"Oh, really? Just watch me. I'll be gone in the morning and you know there's nothing you can do about it."
Salaas shut his eyes and scratched at the bridge of his nose, breathing a sigh through clenched teeth. "Fine. Ludin and I will come, then. It's our duty to follow you, after all."
"I guess I have to go," Laik grumbled, still never taking his eyes off the window. Midna had begun to wonder if he'd just fallen asleep. Apparently not. "I mean, everyone's going, even my brother, so…"
"You don't have to come, Laik," Link said, casting his brother a sideways glance. "You'd be safer here anyway."
"Are you calling me weak?" The brown-haired Hylian man huffed.
"Maybe a bit." Link smiled - a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. Seeing it brightened Midna's mood, just a little.
"Look, I'll be fine," Laik insisted, dismissively waving a hand. "Just wake me up whenever you're ready to go and I'll come, okay? Okay."
Link shrugged and didn't protest.
That left only Lady Ali. But she hurriedly shook her head, dark curls whipping frantically about her face. "I'm - I'm so sorry, I couldn't possibly -"
"That is quite all right." Zelda tried to smile. "Do not concern yourself over this matter. You may stay behind at the castle if you so wish, and I will leave you with some of my most trusted guards should any harm befall you. However - I do wish to know everything about the demons that I possibly can before we leave."
The lady nodded eagerly. "Of course. I'll tell you what I can."
So Zelda began the questioning - and Lady Ali replied each time without missing a beat.
"How many are in my father's army?"
"I suppose 'army' is exaggerating things a bit, but at most, four or five hundred, I think."
"What is an easy way to defeat the demons?"
"Sap the very magic from their veins. Kills them in an instant. Unfortunately you have to be a necromancer to do that."
"Do they have any special powers besides their seemingly superhuman strength?"
"They can set things on fire, but some of them are better at it than others. Some are good at it, some can barely do it at all. They can also wield weapons if they choose, but they seem not to like to. They prefer killing victims by strangulation from what I know."
"It seems that none of them can run; they can only walk. Is this true?"
"Yes and no. See, when the king first started practicing necromancy, he wasn't very skilled in it, so he didn't quite know how to balance the demons' abilities. Some of them, he created to be strong and difficult to kill, but they're very heavy and so it's hard for them to move. Others are so fast that it's hard to catch them, but if you do manage to, they're frail and easy to damage. He experimented with making them stronger and faster and all-around more versatile." Here she finally stopped for a moment to think about her next words. "He only created one monster that was perfect. It sapped so much of his strength… That was what nearly killed him… But he was so proud of his creation. Even using the best weapons against it, it can barely be dented, and it's fast as a blur, good with knives, and its fire magic is near flawless." She shuddered. "He calls it The Executioner."
Zelda stopped asking questions. She only stared at the lady sitting opposite from her, and a shadow of fear might have flickered in her eyes. "It sounds invincible."
"As far as I know, it is," Lady Ali murmured. "That's all I know. Sorry I can't be of more help."
"You've helped plenty," the Hylian princess assured her with a tiny, forced smile. "Thank you. And, with that - I think it's high time for us to sleep." She quickly scanned the room and saw some people nodding slightly in agreement. "After all, we have quite a big day ahead of us."
Only darkness kept him company. Even the stars hid their faces behind thick black clouds, and Link laid there on a scratchy, creaky bed in the infirmary, eyes wide open.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, and he'd set out to avenge his parents. The thought made his throat go dry. He hadn't been nearly strong enough to defeat the necromantic beasts on his own; how could he hope to be of any use to Princess Zelda and the group that had chosen to follow her? Where he had been so eager to meet King Ganondorf face to face and give him a piece of his mind, now… now, he wasn't so sure.
He grasped at the edges of his pillow as the quiet call of an owl interrupted the stillness. The only thing he wished for at that moment - sleep. If only he could get it. But his twisting stomach and racing heart wouldn't allow him to.
"Link?"
Laik's voice. The golden-haired Hylian turned on his side and looked down to the floor where his brother lay, wrapped in a blanket. Being unhurt as he was, the head physician hadn't deemed it necessary to give him a bed - other more injured patients deserved that privilege - so he'd simply given him a blanket and directed him to the floor.
Link stared down at the other Hylian, and saw his gray eyes piercing the black night.
"What?"
"You… you don't hate me, do you? I mean, I should -" His voice cracked a little - "should have stepped in to help you. Midna's right. I was a coward, and, and I almost let you die…"
"Laik. It's fine."
"But - if you would have died because of me -"
"I'm safe." Link smiled, though he knew his brother couldn't see it in the darkness. "Really. Stop worrying. Those monsters are terrifying, I know, so don't be ashamed of yourself. Just a friendly suggestion, though… try to grow a spine by tomorrow morning? You'll need it." His smile widened. He hoped Laik knew he was teasing.
Of course he did. The other Hylian man grinned, his white teeth flashing in the scant light. "Heh… okay. I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip."
Silence followed then. The owl hooted again. Link shut his eyes and told himself to go to sleep.
"Link?"
He groaned under his breath. "What?"
"You're really not angry at me?"
"I will be if you don't let me sleep. I'm sure the other people here won't thank you for keeping them awake either."
As if emphasizing Link's point, a gruff man's voice called from across the room, "Shut up, will ya? Some of us are tryin' ta sleep here!"
"R-right. Sorry." Laik stilled, and Link kept his eyes shut. Much to his surprise, and pleasure, he began to drift to sleep. The world around him became much less important, and the only thing that mattered was the fuzzy dream tugging at the edges of his consciousness, lulling him into slumber.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"
Link frowned. "Yeah, I am," he mumbled, voice slurred with sleep.
He thought he could hear his brother shifting on the floor, trying in vain to find a comfortable position to sleep in. "I just… it's scary. I don't even know if I want to go." His voice dropped to a near-silent whisper. "We're looking for a necromancer and his army of almost-invincible demons. It's pretty ridiculous, honestly - do we all just want to die?"
"That's not what this is about, Laik." Link turned onto his other side, back facing his brother. "It's about -"
Avenging mother and father.
He forced the idea away and ground his teeth together. Revenge was a dangerous path, he knew, but he couldn't help the feelings of hatred he had for the king upon realizing that he had caused the death of his parents. He struggled for another reason, any other reason really, just to ignore the loathing boiling within his veins.
"- it's about Hyrule," he finally managed. "If we find - well, him, and get rid of him and his monsters, then Hyrule will be safe. We can't allow him to hurt more people."
"Yeah," Laik mumbled. "I guess you're right. But it's still scary."
"I know it is. That's why sleep is important, so we'll be well-rested for our demon-hunt tomorrow."
Laik chuckled nervously. "Right. Sorry. I'll let you sleep."
Link smiled, just a little. "Night, Laik."
"Night."
A/N: Ugh, I'm really sorry for this chapter. It's so... exposition-y. I hope it isn't boring, but I kinda wanted to get everything out on the table in this chapter so we don't have to worry about it later on.
As for who the necromancer was... Heh, it was super obvious wasn't it? But according to some of your reviews, it seems a few of you might have been suspicious of someone other than Ganondorf. Which was my intention, actually, I wanted to see how much I could lead you guys away from the super obvious trail ;P Dunno how well it worked for some of you, but hey, it was fun anyway. With that said - this chapter might seem a bit unreasonable and stupid in some of its explanations. That's because, when I had to rework the plot, some of the things that happened in this story became obsolete... I had to try and make them fit into the plot so they weren't just pointless. Not sure if I succeeded because I probably had to reach pretty far to get some of those stupid explanations :L Tell me what you guys think, if it's just way too ridiculous or if you're generally fine with it all...? Who knows? I might come back and do some rewriting to this story when it's all over and done with. I don't even know. I'm just rambling about nothing at this point. Sorry.
