A Debt to be Fulfilled

Link fought forward through the surge of emotions. He couldn't tell if this was some sort of test or not. He just knew that he must ascend the stairs of the pedestal where the frame stood.

Foot by foot he came closer, foot by foot he came closer to losing himself. Then it stopped.

Link stood on the bottom stair of the short staircase. Looking back he saw the sages in a semi-circle watching him intensely. Closing his eyes he started up the steps and held the coin out in front of him. About the fourth step the coin flew from his hand and started to grow.

By the time Link reached the top step the coin had grown to fit in the mirror frame precisely. All of a sudden a pattern of light shot out from the newly replaced Mirror of Twilight. The light hit a worn black monolith that set in the sand opposite of the pedestal. Then a set of stairs rose halfway up to the portal set into the stone.

Putting aside any apprehension that he possessed Link took the steps one at a time and then…..

Appeared in front of a large building that was strangely reminiscent of Hyrule Castle.

However the one glance was all he got before unconsciousness claimed him.

Persephone rarely sat in on any of the meetings her father had with his advisors. She didn't find any enjoyment in them. She would rather look out over the realm that she would someday rule.

She could name the sights off easily from memory. The Grand Palace of Twilight, the strange young man in green sitting at the point where the portal to the realm of light was, the plains of… Wait, strange young man in green.

Persephone hurriedly called to the guards to bring a doctor and follow her. When she reached the spot the young man had not moved at all. Reaching for his neck she felt a pulse and knew that he was still alive. Looking at his face she watched his eyes open slightly then close.

"Hurry I think he is dying. Don't lollygag," She cried out sharply.

A tall twili woman led a group of guards and knelt down beside the boy when the group arrived. Looking at the form the doctor recoiled and started to run.

"Princess get away. He is a light worlder, a demon of them. He will try to kill you surely when he wakes," The older woman yelled in fear.

"At the moment I doubt he even knows where he is," the princess countered.

A weak but steady voice suddenly sounded, " I do know where I am, I am in the courtyard of what should be the Palace of Twilight."

Silence ensued as everyone gathered looked down at the young man who had started to revive. Slowly but surely he managed to get himself into a sitting position.

Persephone was the first to recover from the shock, "Who are you and why are you here?"

"My name is Link, I am the current Hero of Hyrule, and I have come for something one of my predecessors left with the Twilight Princess Midna over six hundred years ago," the man answered calmly.

Persephone reacted quickly and demanded that her father be informed of Link and that a stretcher be brought so that the young man could be taken to the King's study. Only the royal family knew that something had been given to Midna when she returned to the Twilight realm, but only the current ruler had knowledge of it, and she had not been told yet.

It took a few minutes for King Mercer of the Twili to get to his study after being informed that someone claiming to be the Hero of Hyrule was being taken there under guard after his daughter had found him. Mercer had thought that it would be impossible for a light worlder to survive in the twilight. He knew though that this could be significant in the history of this realm.

Approaching the door he heard his daughter's voice and the voice of a young man, and hearing the young man's voice made him pick up his pace a little. Opening the door he saw a black haired youth dressed in a green tunic with an underlining of chain mail, with a longsword held across his back.

"Am I to assume that you are the one claiming the name Link, and the title of Hero of Hyrule," the King demanded in what people usually called a royal request voice.

"Aye, I was told that I must prove it to you before you would believe me," the youth said without even acknowledging the King's tone.

The young man reached into a pouch and brought out a piece of silk that was wrapped tightly around something. Undoing the wrapping he brought out a black and orange stone that seemed to glow with an unearthly light. The man then took a breath and touched the stone with the tips of his fingers, and promptly turned into a wolf with black and gray fur and blue eyes.

Mercer had not expected this at all. However he could not deny that the youth's claim to the title was definitively proven. That, however, made what Mercer was going to have to do painful for himself.

"You have come seeking what was left with the Twilight Princess Midna by the last hero to cross the divide between our worlds?"

"Yes, I was told I would need it in the upcoming fight I will have to endure."

Mercer ordered the guards out of the room and asked Persephone to lock the door and rejoin them, "It was not an item that was left for the Twili, but a request. The next hero to come to us was to be given a guide, someone to help him when all seemed lost, to heal him when injury threatened his life, and to protect him against what he could not combat himself. The Twili are honor bound to grant this request for what that hero had done. Persephone, though it pains me to do this, you will join him in his quest and repay the debt that we owe to the Heroes."

For a few seconds the princess sat stock still (Link did too, though it was for a different reason, he had just managed to transform back into a hylian from a wolf). Persephone had never even thought of going on some far out quest for anything other than to try to steal a pie from the kitchens when she was still a child. At 16 she had pretty much mellowed out, though she did retain an adventurous streak.

"I.I.I. I can't, I'm a princess not a warrior. I would only get in the way in fight. Surely there is someone better to take up this burden. I mean…" her father cut her off before she could finish.

"The station of twilight princess comes with something that no other Twili possesses. The ability to survive outside of the twilight," Mercer said forlornly to his daughter.

He had not expected to be the one to fulfill the promise that had been made. However he would, it was what was required of him. He didn't feel worried about his daughter though, somehow he knew that she would be safer with this warrior than she would ever be in the palace.

Jericho grumbled softly to himself. It didn't matter how hard he tried he always managed to run into some monster that was intent on killing him. Luckily though he was one of the best fighters Martal had ever produced so he got through without much trouble.

He had managed to kill everything that wanted to kill him without even being wounded.

He was but a mile away from his destination of Kakariko and would be there before long. Upon approaching it though he wished that he had been further away. Very few of the buildings remained standing, and he could see that there were still bodies being buried.

He walked into the graveyard where most of the people seemed to be going in and out of and read names off of the markers. It took him close to an hour before he found the stone that marked his wife's grave. It helped some that the grave was older but it still hurt that she had been lost. Jericho gathered himself and left Kakariko to find someplace to camp for the night.

A/N: Poor Jericho. He has lost his wife twice now. Once on the order of a goddess, and now to the cold hands of death. I am going to challenge people to do something now. Persephone is a figure out of Greek mythology. If someone can tell me the role she plays in the myths surrounding her they will be given the chance to create a character in this story. Villain or an ally to Link either one. The first person to get it right gets this honor and will be given credit for this character.