ANd yet another chapter I lost sleep over. Actually....this is the only chapter I didn't lose sleep over. YAY!!!


There was nothing but silence. Link opened his eyes.

"I'm…alive…?" He said. He looked straight ahead to see Dark Link being restrained by a very pissed off Midna. Link gasped.

"Midna? What are you doing here?"

"Something told me to keep an eye on you." She answered with a grin. Link smiled.

"I'm glad you did."

Dark Link growled as Midna laughed. Dark Link looked at Link angrily. Link looked back at him.

"Well, partner, it looks like this is the end." Link sighed.

"What? You're going to kill me? You don't have it in you. You never did!"

"You're right. I won't kill you, but I'm not taking you back with me either."

Dark Link frowned.

"You're kidding, right?"

Link shook his head. He nodded to Midna who bound Dark Link to the mountain with twilight chains. Link and Midna started back up the mountain. They stopped at the sound of Dark Link's laughing.

"You think this can hold me? I'll be out of here again soon killing off more competition. I'll be back to hunting you down." He smiled evilly. Link paid no attention to the threat and began walking. Midna floated alongside him.

"I told you I'd make a better companion than him."

"I suppose you did." He said. Midna smacked him on his head.

"START LISTENING TO ME THEN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Link smiled nervously. Now, he wasn't too sure about having Midna accompany him. She was stronger here than in the right world. They kept walking.

They finally reached the top of the mountain where there was a beautiful orchard. Link and Midna navigated through the orchard to find any sign of the Picori. Midna stopped them.

"What is it?" Link asked. She put her hand to his throat where blood continued to spill out neatly from the cut Dark Link made.

"I still can't believe that bastard cut you." She said. Link looked at her and her hand on his throat. He tried not to blush. Success. She shook her head and removed her hand. Link sighed. She pushed him along the path. All he could think was, jeez, stop pushing. I can walk by myself. It didn't matter what he thought, he would never say that to her especially if she was in a hitting mood. They finally reached a stump with a huge crack in it. Midna nodded.

"This is how you shrink down, so the village must be close."

"I can't use this."

"That's why I'm here." She used twili magic for Link to shrink down. Technically he wasn't a child child, but he was still young. Maybe the Picori would still show themselves to him. He was right. The Picori all showed themselves to Link.

"A human!!"

"A human!!"

"A human!!"

That's what they all shrieked. They were happy to see him.

"Humans never visit the Picori. Do you need us for something?"

"I need to speak with Ezlo."

The mere mention of the name made the Picori gasp. Some even fainted.

"Why would you want to see him?"

"He's evil!"

"He's heartless!"

"He whacks people senseless with his pimp cane!"

They all had something to say about Ezlo. Link calmed them all down. He had to convince them that he direly needed to see him.

"Um…that…is…why…I have come here? Yes, I have come to talk Ezlo out of his evil ways."

The Picori applauded and cheered. They pointed Link down a path. Link thanked them, quickly running down the path. It was a gnarly path, but it wasn't hard to travel through either. Link had to hurry, though. He was just about at his limit. A little more and he would collapse right where he was. Damn giant bird. Finally, Link saw a little mushroom house that had to belong to Ezlo. Link knocked at the door.

"Who is it!?" a voice squawked. It was definitely Ezlo.

"It's Link."

"Link? What is a crime boss such as yourself doing in a lowly place like this?" The Picori sage opened the door to his home.

"I was just wondering if…YOU GOTTA' HELP ME MAN!!!"

Ezlo whacked Link on his head with his golden cane.

"Quiet! You're speaking too loud!!" Ezlo yelled. Link rubbed his sore head and took a deep breath.

"Sorry…may I come in?"

Ezlo moved so Link could enter. It was a lovely place. Experiments were going on everywhere. What was he doing?

"What is all this stuff?" Link asked. Ezlo smiled.

"This over here is a powerful toxin that will make you sick with the slightest whiff. This one is the prototype for a new weapon called the gun. Over here is a death potion. Here is an experiment that will make a drought. This one's my favorite, it makes a monster that will destroy Hyrule."

Link's eye twitched. That isn't at all what he was expecting.

"Good for you." He said trying his best to smile. Ezlo took a bow.

"What brings you here?"

"Oh, right. I need you to tell me how to break a curse."

"What kind?"

"Turning someone to stone?"

"…that was a favorite of my old apprentice."

"Let me guess…Vaati?"

"How did you know? Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter. But, he was such a bad boy until he turned on me and became a goody-goody. I just wanna' squeeze his neck until his little head pops off!!"

Link cringed at the words. Ezlo was even worse when he was evil. It was horrifying that he would even think of choking someone's head off.

"SO…the stone curse?"

"Oh right. Here" He handed Link a bottle. Link prepared to open it. He got another hit with the pimp cane.

"OW!"

"Don't open that! It's only good for one use."

"Oh…sorry…OW!"

"Don't apologize."

"Sorry…OW!"

"Stop apologizing!"

"I'm sorry! OW! OW! OW!"

"You're a very stubborn boy aren't you?"

"I don't mean to be…OW!"

"Dammit! Get out of here!"

"I'm so-I mean…I was going anyway!" Link turned to leave. "OW! What was that one for?"

"Don't get an attitude with me."

"Of course…" Link murmured leaving the mushroom house.

"WAIT!" Ezlo called back. He ran out of the house and sprinkled something on Link. He gagged.

"Uck! What was that?"

"There. You're all healed up now."

He was right. Link's wounds were gone, and he felt like he could go on forever without getting tired. He thanked Ezlo, earning himself a whack with the pimp cane, and left. Midna unshrunk him when he reached the stump.

They headed back down the mountain. They looked at each other when they saw that Dark Link had indeed escaped from the twilight chains. They ignored it and kept going.