Meh, I'm not too thrilled with how Zelda acts in this chapter. I don't really know much about her character, though, since they don't really elaborate too much on that in the game. So she's probably kind OOC. I think Dark and Link are too.
Disclaimer: Yawn, whatever. You guys know this already.
The two hylians stared in bewilderment at the Princess.
"You were?" They asked in unison, earning a small chuckle from Zelda.
"Yes, I was. You see, about a week ago I sensed a large magical disturbance originating from the Ordona Province. Upon investigation, traces of Light-Dweller magic were found in the area. Unfortunately, I had no way to getting to the Light World, and was helpless to do anything. Then, a few days ago, There was another burst of Light-Dweller magic in the same area. After that I contacted Princess Midna, who chuckled and muttered something about... ah, clever little wolfies, for some reason. Could you explain that for me, if you please? She also told me that If she knew 'him', then the source of the magic I sensed would show up at the Castle sooner or later."
Utter silence reigned. Finally, Link broke it by laughing.
"Oh, Midna. I should have known you'd say something like that." He said to himself. Dark just looked at, completely confused. Why was he laughing over something the Princess of Twilight had said? Oh yeah, he'd traveled with her for a while. That explained it. Kind of.
"What do you mean? Please elaborate for me." Princess Zelda asked politely, as confused by the Light-Dweller as his Shadow was.
"It's just that, well, Midna's sort of a... well... really the best way to explain this would to just say that she tends to act like a mischievous little imp sometimes. She also seems to like talking in riddles and messing with people for some reason. What she said to you, Princess, was just a typical Midna response. You should have heard the way she was making fun of the Princess Zelda in my world." Link replied, still chuckling.
Princess Zelda merely nodded and accepted this, as if she heard random Light-Dwellers calling the Princess of Twilight a "mischievous imp" all the time. Dark, for his part, just wondered how his Light Half could be so disrespectful and blunt without getting blasted. After all, Princess Midna was notorious for her short temper. Though rumors said that she had been greatly changed upon her return from the Light Realm. Perhaps Link had something to do with that.
"Now, having heard all about you from Midna, I assume you're here for the Mirror of Twilight?" Zelda asked. The Hero and his Shadow both nodded in identical movements at the exact same time, making the corner of the Princess' mouth twitch upwards in a tiny smile.
"I expected as much. Come, it's in the Mirror Chamber." She said, rising gracefully from the chair and exiting the room. Link and Dark followed, Dark observing the eager look on his counterpart's features. The Living Shadow smiled; for it looked like Link had a bit of a crush. Maybe more than he'd like to admit.
The two followed the Princess through many different halls and staircases, curving and twisting so much that Dark became completely disoriented and lost. Throwing a quick look at the Hero, he was startled to note that it appeared as if the other teen knew exactly where they were going- or at least had a pretty good idea of where. How he managed that, Dark had no idea whatsoever.
Finally, the three hylians came to another large set of double doors (what was it with this castle and large double doors?), only these were painted jet-black with twili designs adorning their wooden surfaces. Link noted that it looked almost exactly like the wall of twilight that he'd seen when Zant was still at large and shrouding the Light World in Twilight. At least that made it pretty obvious as to what was housed within this particular chamber.
"This is the Mirror Chamber." Princess Zelda announced unnecessarily. Dark resisted the urge to disrespectfully roll his eyes. Come on; wasn't it kind of obvious? I mean, the entire door and some of the surrounding walls were painted in twili designs with the Twili Royal Crest embossed right smack in the center. (The Twili Royal Crest was the stylized eye-like design.)
Placing her palm against the doors, the markings suddenly glowed with an electric blue light and the entrance silently dissolved, exactly like the doors in the Twilight Realm did. Link wondered how they'd managed to get twili technology (or was it magic?) integrated into the castle like this; while Dark just wondered what the heck just happened to the door.
Upon entering the chamber, the door phased back into existence behind them as silently as it had disappeared. The Mirror Chamber was, in appearance, quite different from the one in the Light World. Instead of sand, there was cold hard stone. A large slab of obsidian stood in the middle, and the ceiling curved majestically overhead. The pedestal standing before the rock contained the Mirror Twilight itself, decorated with archaic runes and mysterious markings. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the chamber, which was as large the one in the Light World, were all decorated with twili markings and the Twili Royal Crest. These markings glowed with an eerie light, bathing the room in soft greens and teals with burnished gold and sunset orange undertones. All in all, it was beautiful.
The sight struck the two males into complete and utter silence, leaving them to stare in awe at their surroundings. Zelda allowed herself a small smile at the sight of her two companions doing remarkably accurate fish impressions while slowly turning in place, soaking up every last detail they could possibly see. The two of them didn't know it, but at the moment they were both thinking the exact same things- This is just so AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL and PRETTY and I really wish I had one of those fancy pictograph boxes right now...
Clearing her throat softly, the Princess drew the attention of the Hero and his Shadow from the walls around them, bringing their gazes back to the Mirror of Twilight.
"You may both go, if you wish. I shall remain here to fulfill my duties as ruler. When you want to come back, simply step into the portal. If you, Link, wish to return to the World of Light, you will have to come back here and use whatever method you used to enter the Dark World. By the way," she paused, and addressed the Hero, "what did you use, anyway?"
"Oh, it was a mirror we found in our basements. When our blood touched it, it became a portal traveling between the Realms. Dark found one in his basement that led to the Light World, and I found one in my basement that led here." He replied, already moving to stand by the mirror.
"Ah, that certainly explains things. Now, I'll be leaving you two." With that, the Princess nodded politely to both of them and exited the room, the door phasing out of existence once again when she touched it and fading back in when she was gone.
Silence reigned, broken only by Dark's question of "How the heck do we use this thing?"
The hylian was examining the Mirror, scrutinizing the pedestal to see if there was any switch or lever to open the portal. Link did the same, realizing that they'd neglected to ask the Princess how to activate it.
"Um, whenever I did it Midna was the one to do it... but all she had to do was touch the surface." Link said after they'd run their hands across it several times, hunting for a hidden button. Dark frowned, then replied, "That's probably because she was the rightful ruler of the Twili, so she probably had royal power over it or something. But I'm pretty sure we can use it too, otherwise Princess Zelda wouldn't have just left us here. Any ideas?"
There were none, and the two spend a good twenty minutes scratching their heads and pondering the situation. After a while Link started humming, a haunting but powerful tune that Dark vaguely recognized.
"What are you singing?" He asked curiously. Link glanced over and flushed slightly, having not realized that he was humming at all.
"Uh, I think it's called the Ballad of Twilight or something. Midna taught it to me after I had to use it to activate something, so it reminds me of her." He replied sadly, blue eyes gazing off into the distance as if reliving that moment. He began humming again, louder this time.
Suddenly there was a large buzzing sound, as if some large machine was powering up. Both teens jerked around so fast they got whiplash and gaped at the mirror, which reminded Dark a little bit like some huge creature waking up after a long, long nap.
The runes and markings decorating the smooth surface glowed and flashed, projecting a huge image onto the stone slab before it. The images spun and danced on the rock, twisting and turning until they finally settled into a slow, rotating rhythm. By this time a three-dimensional tunnel had formed within the obsidian itself, and the two could practically feel the power emanating from it.
The Mirror of Twilight was working and ready for business.
Hmm... not so happy with the last line, but whatever. By the way, this story's probably only gonna have a few more chapters. Just giving you all a heads up.
On a completely unrelated note, should my next story be in the Okami fandom or in the Legend of Zelda fandom? If it's Zelda, it'll be about Dark Link and Sheik in the TP universe- but NOT the Dark Link and Sheik from OOT, 'cause I haven't played it, and it'll be a different Dark Link than the one in this story. They'll probably both also be extremely OOC, and both stories, whether in the Okami fandom or in the Zelda fandom, will contain OCs. Please let me know! I'll be putting up another poll on my profile, so actually vote this time!