Author's Note: Sorry for being gone so long. I caught my elusive muse for a while. Hopefully I can hold onto it. I don't own any of the Zelda characters or games, Nintendo does. The characters and story I add are my own. Please read and review.

TC 3: Legend of the Beast

Chapter 9: In the Meantime

I inhaled and clenched a fist. I knew it! I knew something had been very wrong.

"What? Poisoned? Is there an antidote? What's going to happen to her?" Galar almost roared.

"Calm down," Zylax said firmly. "She's in no danger of dying, thanks to her rash friend."

Galar sighed and sat down. I leaned against a wall and sighed in relief. I had been in time. She was going to be okay.

"What kind of poison was it?" Galar asked.

"That's what worries me, and it was the reason why I tested the blood again." Zylax adjusted his glasses before going on. "I found a large amount of Bloodmoon root in her blood."

I gave him a look of confusion, and the doctor went on. "It's a secret kept among the few doctors of the Twilight Realm. The Bloodmoon plant grows during the days when the moon is glowing red, usually in late summer. It's poisonous to us, though there are a few beasts that can eat it. However, the root of the plant isn't as strong. When ground up and mixed with other ingredients, it relieves pain and is a sleeping agent. Patients call it 'sleep powder'."

Galar perked up in understanding. "Oh, I know that stuff. You used it on one of my ranch hands when he broke his arm."

Zylax nodded. "Yes. However, in high enough concentrations, it causes persistent sleepiness, loss of strength, difficulty breathing, and eventually paralysis and death. I had my suspicions when I saw Midna, but I didn't want to believe it."

"Because it's kept secret," I concluded, "Meaning that you think that another doctor had a hand in her poisoning."

He nodded again, slower this time. "I do. And it was likely fed to her in such concentrations that she didn't notice the effects creeping up on her. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. They'd have to, in order to avoid suspicion."

"Why is sleep powder kept secret anyway?" I asked in curiosity.

"If it were mixed improperly, it could easily kill someone. It's considered a rite of passage when an apprentice properly mixes his first batch of sleep powder. The plant itself is hard to find, and in times of political turmoil, poisons are often sought after. So only the doctors know about the location of the Bloodmoon."

I thought for a minute before asking, "Would it be possible for you to draft a paper with your findings, perhaps preserve some of the blood?"

Zylax looked at me with curiosity. "I think I could do that. Why?"

"Evidence. It's proof that Midna was really sick." I looked over at Galar. "You mentioned a council and a court. There will be a trial I assume?"

Galar nodded slowly. "Yes. Normally, the ruling monarch would listen to a person or people pleading their cases and make a decision. But when the monarch cannot attend court, members of the council are chosen to make a decision as a group. Since Midna is involved, you're likely to have most of the council involved, indirectly if not directly."

"However it's done, I need to start building a case. I need to prove it was okay that she needed to leave that jail. If anything so she doesn't go back to it."

Galar shook his head. "You'll need it for your own sake rather than hers. She'll be excused if she was too weak to walk, but you'll be in hot water for kidnapping."

I bit the inside of my lip before saying, "Yeah, I know. So... what do you suggest?"

Galar closed his eyes and tapped his fingers for a minute. He then leveled a look at me. "All we have is a vague feeling and your word that you knew something was wrong." He sighed. "I know some of the machinations of royal politics, but little about the process of the court."

"Isn't that why you have me around? To research that which you don't know?"

We looked up to see Hocur enter the room. "The truth wouldn't be enough to sway anyone. If anything, it makes you seem more suspicious. And any reason that we might invent for Tyler to be here would be full of holes. The best option would be to distract the court from that by fully unraveling the web behind Her Majesty's poisoning. A doctor would be out of place in the prison kitchen, yes?"

"Yes... you're right..." Galar agreed.

"So, a doctor provided the powder and instructions on the proper dose to someone in the kitchen," I concluded. "So we have at least two people to find, if not more."

"Something of this magnitude would likely have a number of conspirators," Hocur suggested.

"Well let's not assume anything," Galar put in. "Let's stick to what we know. You are right about having someone in the kitchen and a doctor. Let's focus on that for now."

"But how are we going to investigate?" I asked. "I stick out like a sore thumb and I don't think I'd get much trust."

Hocur nodded. "Indeed. And it would be unusual for Galar to go to the city at this time of year. Though I would suggest that he join the search effort for the sake of appearances."

Galar nodded. "That's true. If I heard that Midna was kidnapped, I would be at the front of the search." He stood. "I should leave immediately. Hopefully I can keep attention away from here while I'm at it." He then left the room.

"I can discretely inquire among the doctors in town and the palace," Zylax said as he also stood. "It has been some time since the last bloodmoon, so whoever has been poisoning her highness must be running low on supplies. I also need to finish with the blood tests."

"What about getting the poison out of her system?" I asked.

"It will leave her body with enough time. A week, perhaps a bit more. She has the highest concentration that I've yet seen." He turned to Hocur. "If you would be kind enough to help me teleport home."

"Certainly."

Hocur left the room with Zylax and I sat down, feeling awkward being left alone. After a few minutes, Hocur returned. "I'm afraid the investigation is out of our hands for the time being."

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah... I'm stuck here, unable to do anything because I'm from the light."

"I can understand your frustration. Galar would be feeling much the same. But don't worry. He and Zylax will do everything in their power to find out what they can. And they will be discrete."

"So what am I supposed to be doing in the meantime?" I asked, trying not to be irritated.

"Well I would certainly like to hear more of your world," Hocur said. "And I could try to teach you something of ours."

I gave half of a shrug. "I guess so. More knowledge would be good. Whatever you think would be helpful for me to adapt to life here."

If Hocur had an eyebrow it would have been raised. At least I assumed so by the tilt of his head. "Do you plan to stay here long?"

"As long as it takes to help Midna," I replied. "And if I fail to keep myself out of jail, I imagine I'll be here for quite a while."

For the first time, Hocur seemed a little awkward, but then recovered. "I... I'm sure we can keep that from happening. I'll provide you with all the information I can about the Royal Court."

"Thanks."

He turned to go. "I have to go find the right book first. Sadly, I can't remember everything that might be helpful off the top of my head."

I tilted my head. "There's a library here?"

He turned back to reply. "Just a study, really. Galar didn't have much in the way of books before I arrived. And books aren't the most prized items these days."

Ah yes, the times before the printing press. As much of a technophile as I was, there were probably a lot of modern conveniences that I would miss having before this was over. If I hadn't gone camping with my family every year as a kid, I probably might go out of my mind.

"May I see them?" I asked as I stood.

"Certainly. Though it's nothing in comparison to the collection in royal palace." Hocur left the room and I started to follow him.

"Have the Twili really been here that long?" I asked as we headed down the hall.

"It's hard to say. The current theory is around thousand years, though some think more. It was long enough for our bodies to change into the form you see today. But we do not have a precise date, as the transition into the Twilight Realm was a very turbulent time."

"I can imagine," I added. "Banished into some strange place with strange magic. Left to die or survive on your own."

Hocur paused to look at me in interest. "Oh, so you've heard about the origins?"

I nodded. "Yeah. One of the Spirits of light told me about it."

Hocur nodded and started walking again. "I see. Her majesty mentioned them. Though I suppose it didn't, or rather couldn't tell you the history of what happened after. Did Midna tell you any of our history after that?"

"Not really. I was more curious about her history," I admitted, wondering if that was too honest of me.

"Ah. In that case, let's start with the basics." The Twili scholar sat down. "Would you like to take notes?"

I shook my head. "My hand can't keep up with my brain."

Hocur chuckled. "I know the feeling. We'll review later to make sure you have it all."

I followed him into what he called a study. I would have called it a small library. Shelves lined the walls, with cubby holes for scrolls in some places. There was desk with pen and parchment, and a small table with two chairs next to it. He looked over the books on a shelf before pulling one out. "Galar is kind enough to let me use this room. He doesn't read as much as I do, but he helps me get books and scrolls."

"I'm kind of surprised you even have books, considering the level of technology you have here," I said frankly. "In my world, when we had castles, we didn't have many books. There wasn't a means of producing them for others to read."

"Ah, well you don't have any magic in your world, yes?" Hocur had a small smile on his face. "Here, we have a text duplication spell that allows us to make copies of books as needed. There isn't a high demand for them though, and creating the original book is still a long and laborious process."

"Why isn't there much demand for books?" I asked in curiosity.

"Not much time for reading." The mage sat down and started flipping through the book. "Only professional mages and scholars have the time to dedicate to reading much, and that's a small number of people. Everyone else plies their trades or farm the land."

That made sense. Almost. "Magic can't help farm the land?"

Hocur shook his head. "You've spent too much time with Her Highness. Her power is the exception, not the rule. And there's something about the ground in the Twilight Realm that resists magic, as well as the creatures that live here."

I nodded. "Okay." I paused. "Wait. What kind of animals live here?"

The mage put up a hand. "Well, let's start with the beginning." He glanced at the book, but he had apparently read it a few times as he looked at me more often. "It wasn't just the interlopers that were banished, but a whole region. The mages, their families, entire villages. It is said that even the land was brought into this realm, leaving only a desert behind."

I wonder if the Gerudo desert might have been made by the Spirits of Light banishing those mages... But then another thought occurred to me. "Isn't that a bit extreme? Why banish a region for just the few who committed the crime?"

Hocur shook his head softly. "Because they all wanted it. They all wanted the power of the Sacred Realm so they could prosper and then conquer the rest of the world. They aided their mages in any way possible. So, the region as a whole was punished."

"Okay... then what happened after they were banished here?"

He read from the book again as he went on. "Chaos, at first. Mass panic, as you might imagine. No one knew what to do, or if we could even survive. Then, the inherent magic of the realm began to change us. Some were changed less, and looked more or less how we used to. Others became the beasts that you and Queen Midna fought against in your previous adventures. But after some time, we managed to adjust. Those that maintained their intelligence fought against the mindless beasts. We searched for a habitable land, and eventually made our way towards the sea. The beasts didn't like the ocean, they can't swim. We didn't know if there were others beings living in this realm, but we found the reefs and currents provided a defense. So this was where we began to build. There were some disputes, and some went on to wander the land as nomads. But eventually we chose a king, one to lead us in peace. It was this first king, Wilnar the first, who taught us that our pride and lust for war had brought the punishment upon us. We have been peaceful ever since. Well, until recently."

I gave the scholar a look of doubt. "Wait, so for about a thousand years, it's been peaceful here? We can't get along in my world, not even when lives depend on it."

Hocur shrugged a little. "I admit, I just gave you the children's version of the story. The true version is much more complicated. Though we have had no large battles or wars, again, until recently."

I nodded. "Okay. But I can't say that makes a lot of sense. If there's still distrust of those from the light, then wouldn't there be a... festering grudge that might spread into other parts of life here?"

"True, we hated the world of light," Hocur said. "But survival came first. It has been gradually fading with time. While there is some distrust of the light, recent events are helping erase the last doubts. Except perhaps the most stubborn people. If anything, we're more worried about another power-hungry sorcerer from some other dimension."

My brow furrowed. "So... is my assumption that people would distrust me baseless? I mean, the whole reason I've been hiding while traveling is because I didn't think I would be welcome."

Hocur's face twisted. "Well... perhaps. If you hadn't been seen at the prison, then it wouldn't be so bad. But you were seen, and your unusual appearance will stick in their memory and in the memory of every citizen of the kingdom."

I groaned and leaned back in my chair. "I know. Sneaking in and breaking Midna out was a dumb idea. The more I've been here, the dumber the idea has been."

"Better than petitioning the courts to release her. She would have been dead by then. Especially since you're a stranger and have no evidence." The scholar appeared thoughtful. "If anything, you took the best action possible in this situation."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then sigh. "Well... that's what I thought when I did it. But now I'm not so sure."

Hocur waved a hand. "What's done is done. We could go on about hypothetical situations for hours. For now, let's go more in depth with our history."

"Actually," I interjected as an idea occurred to me. "Can I hear about more recent events? Like what happened after Midna and I last... journeyed together."

Hocur had a look of disappointment for a moment before nodding. "That would be more relevant to your particular situation." He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and continuing.

"Immediately after your victory, Queen Midna rooted out any remaining troops loyal to Zant and destroyed them. In the months following, her majesty focused on continuing to rebuild. Mainly on preparing for winter and that everyone would be fed until new crops could be planted. I would not bore you with the details even if I knew them. She was also starting to propose changes to be made to the city. Again, I don't know the details. You'd have to ask her or one of the council. Anyway, at some point, she must have upset the wrong councilman or something, because she was accused of abandoning her duties."

"She wouldn't abandon her duties," I put in, but then remembered that her intentions had been a bit selfish at the beginning of our first adventure.

"Not now," Hocur replied. "But someone argued that her pursuit of taking revenge on Zant was an abandonment of her duties. Instead of staying to aide her people, she went off for personal vengeance. Enough of the council agreed with whoever it was, the name escapes me, but they did agree to mitigate the sentence down from death to a few months in prison in light of her efforts to restore the kingdom since. I think she had been in for a few weeks up until... well now."

I sigh. It wasn't as much information as I hoped for. "I guess you guys don't hear much out here."

The scholar inclined his head a little. "I apologize. We keep to ourselves out here. I relay messages for Galar and he tells us something of what goes on, but since he stays out of politics, we haven't heard much."

"Wouldn't that change since the politics involve Midna?" I asked.

Hocur shook his head. "Nay. He was just happy that she was well and safe. Well, until her incarceration. Then he went to argue in front of the council himself. It shocked us all that he did so."

"I'll bet. And I'll bet he wasn't gentle with his words either."

"You would be right. Gave the council an earful to remember, as he put it." Hocur chuckled softly. "Though it wasn't very effective."

"Yeah, yelling usually isn't," I remarked.

"Hocur! You in here?" I looked up to see Vina open the door and poke her head inside. "Hocur, did you experiment on the cat again?"

Hocur rolled his eyes. "I only did it once. Won't you please forgive and forget?"

Vina smiled. "Of course not. It's too much fun. But seriously, there's this rattling in the guest room, and I don't want our guest getting eaten by rats."

"Rattling?" Hocur asked in confusion. "Rats don't make that particular noise when they move about."

"I know, but how else do you explain the noise?" Vina replied.

"Wait, you're talking about the room I'm sleeping in right?" I asked, a sneaking suspicion growing in my mind.

"Yes, but we'll take care of the problem," Vina said reassuringly.

"Actually... I might know what it is..."

"You do?"

I got looks of confusion from both the Twili as I stood up and made my way back to the room I had slept in the night before. It wasn't that hard, I just had to follow the sound of something knocking against the door. I slowly opened the door, and saw Zephyr laying on the floor.

She gave a dramatic gasp. "Air! Finally! No breeze, no windows. The fire eats all the air. I was stifled in there."

I smiled wryly and leaned against the door frame. "Enough to come out of hiding and complain? Months in Link's basement and you can't take a few hours in a closed room?"

"At least the basement was open and there was a draft from the entrance," she replied. "And Link went outside a lot so I got more air."

"What is that?"

I turned around to see that Vina and Hocur had followed me. I guess the jig is up. I felt kind of bad about keeping her cooped up anyway. I picked Zephyr up and let the two Twili see her. "This is a friend of mine. Her name is Zephyr."

She wobbled in my hand a little, something like a wave I guess, and said a little awkwardly, "Uh... Hello."