Hey, everyone! I'm officially done with the school year!! YEA!
-Does a happy dance-

I'll be packing my bags to go back east for 7 weeks during the next week, but I should update a lot in the 7 weeks—otherwise, please smack me upside the head.

I'm listening to Paramore, thus the seemingly "happy punk" of the chapter. :) Oh, and I finished Jane Eyre. Though it's a VERY good read, I do not agree with her choice in the end. -eye roll- Whatever.

Moving on...enjoy the chapter, I hope it's better than the last. Please don't be afraid to tell me your opinion, I'm always looking to improve!

It was a strange time before dawn and after the night when we left for the desert. The sky was an enchanting dark blue that glowed, casting shadows across the surface of the lake, but not throwing rays of sunlight. It was like Twilight without multiple colors. Dark, but light. It was a sliver of dawn and a sliver of night.

I observed from Link's shadow as he and Dark—Dark was cloaked, of course—crossed the wobbly wooden platform bridge that led to Fyer's cannon. "Two Oasis flights, please," Link told him. He tossed him two rupees—the leaning house cannon shadowed the porch, I couldn't tell which color they were—and waited for Fyer to give him the "okay" to go into the cannon.

"Sure thing, pal...who's your friend?"

Link opened his mouth to speak but Dark did instead. "Travel companions, not friends. Don't get them confused." His tone clarified the fact perfectly. Fyer nodded slowly.

"Alright..."

Moments later, the cannon released us into the sky. I felt the wind through us through the air like rag dolls, discarded from the child's toy bin as if we were trash. Link let out a yell that was sucked out, carried by the distance. Even Dark let loose a little.

My eyes were squeezed shut with anxiety, so when we landed in the desert seconds later, I didn't see. I felt Link land of the soft cushion of sand followed by Dark, then fits of coughing. "Never gets old," Link laughed between coughs.

The anxiety did not fade. It intensified. "Well, we should warp from here. No sense in wearing ourselves down right before..." He trailed off. Nobody wanted to admit that this would probably be the last time we'd feel the warmth of the sand between our toes or the heat of the desert.

"Dark can walk," I spat.

Dark rolled his eyes. "Now, really, Midna..." He winked, muttering something more. Something flashed in my vision and I fell backwards to the ground, letting out a cry. I felt my body hit the sand; but the scene was different.

"Do you think I like having my share of the Wild Lands mobbed every day?"

"You're lying. That's not your only motivation."

"If you say so, Midna. But remember this, I could kill you both if I wanted to and then get the Triforce of Courage as well. And maybe Zelda's Triforce would even be given to me since you're housing her inside of you…"

"I think she saw a frightening mirage...heat stroke doesn't set in that quickly," Link was musing. I didn't see anything but the pale blue of my eyelids that were seemingly glued shut. I could feel pinpoints of heat, mainly where my legs were touching the sand.

Dark snorted. "If ya can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen..."

I opened my eyes and sat up. Damn him! Damn him, damn him, DAMN HIM! I knew he had sent that flashback to me to remind me to "play nice." Something occurred to me, however. If he had the "power" to take us down, why didn't he? He had an alternative motive. But WHAT? I knew that he had his own desires, besides power.

A disturbing thought that had lingered the other day, when we were waiting for Link to come out of the village. "Ah, but there is, Midna. You're such good company." He had said that. I gagged, realizing that my lingering thought was possibly a fact. Good company? GOOD COMPANY?! Do I look like some sort of girl who ends up falling in love with the guy that's malicious?! Disgust and anger filled me and I gagged again.

"Woah, easy, Midna. I think you saw a mirage."

I answered through gritted teeth, glaring at Dark. "Yes. A mirage."

Dark grinned. "If it was just a mirage, you'll be just fine. Get up and let's hurry to the Palace."

"I can warp us or Dark can, though his magic makes me sick to the stomach..." I gagged, though this time it was fake. "Hope I don't puke on you."

Dark rolled his eyes. "Let's stop wasting time, shall we?" He snapped his fingers, uttering a spell. Just like that night when we warped Link to the village, the magic warped the world around us, sucking us into an inversion of a portal. It spun me, taking my breath away.

And then, just like that, the world was stable. A sandstone floor greeted me and I saw the steps to the platform of the mirror. I stumbled towards them, but the world was still spinning slightly. I smacked face-first into a pillar. "Ow," I muttered, falling backwards. I scooted to the platform, letting Link help me up. I floated upwards, leaning against his shoulder.

I removed the three shards of the Mirror, shooting them at the pedestal like rays of light. The now complete portal glowed brightly, transmitting a huge ray of light at the rock. A transparent stair appeared.

"Wow," I heard Link say.

I carefully stepped onto the stair, nervous it would drop me. It was sturdy, however, and I put my weight on it.

"We are sorry that we failed you, brave one, o Hero of Light."

Those damn sages again. I rolled my eyes and then froze. The Sages would probably notice our very unwelcome "companion" Dark. My gaze shot to Link after scanning the room. "He's here," Link mouthed.

The anxiety from earlier churned in my stomach as their hollow voices continued. "A great entity lurks in the realm of Twilight....."

"We'll get him," Link responded with a grave, honorable weight on his words.

We both stepped onto the stair. "We have someone else to apologize to, O Hero."

Their voices echoed and I sucked in a sharp breath at their words. "O Twilight Princess Midna, your Realm has suffered the worst for our mistakes."

Link stepped back, eyes wide and bleeding with the sharp betrayal I knew he felt. I hung my head, tears rising to my eyes. I thought my identity was a secret, except to Dark and Zelda. "So you knew all along," I whispered.

"Go and vanquish evil from the slate of the present and possibly the future."

And then they were gone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered, voice weak. Link tried to put his hand on my cheek but I stepped away quickly. A strange feeling of anger lingered in my voice when I responded.

"Because I didn't want to make anyone feel obliged to help me! Oh, poor Princess Midna. Oh, poor Princess Midna needs someone else to do her dirty work for her. Do you know how bad that sounds?" I snapped. I didn't mean for my words to sound like that, but they did.

"How sorrowful." Dark seemed to appear from nowhere, voice cruel and mocking. "It seems they've spoiled your secrets..."

"SHUT UP!" I screamed at him.

Link looked at me, eyes wary but friendly. I knew he wouldn't forgive me so easily now. I looked like I was some secretive double agent, playing my cards, letting the poor hero pity me...I looked like the villain in some story. A moment of silence passed.

"We're wasting time," Link finally mused.

"Agreed. Let's go kick some usurper's ass, shall we?" Dark's voice turned hard. "You do know that Ganon might be with him, right? And if he is—"

"We can do the math," I snarled. He rolled his eyes.

I stepped onto the steps of the stair, finally reaching the top. I waited till they were right behind me, and then I stepped inside the black and gold of the spinning vortex. I felt a familiar feeling of dissolving into nothingness, then the feeling of being moved.

And then we were on the ground.

My Realm was as beautiful as ever. The sky was a dark gold streaked with blue, black rain falling from those colors, bleeding onto the stone islands that floated in the sky. The island the Mirror was on was connected by platform to one other, each part holding a large, gray modern building with purple streaks. The one we were on had a "Town Circle", where...beasts? roamed. I heard Link say "What a warm welcome," and then I cried out.

"Stop!"

Dark and I half tackled him, knocking the Master Sword from him. He groaned from beneath us and Dark and I exchanged a glance. We both knew that they were not monsters. They were the people of our realm, their faces stolen by Black Shadow Magic.

"Can't breathe!"

"Don't attack them," I warned. Dark and I rolled off of him and we quickly stood in formation. "They're my people...they've been cursed, just as I."

Link nodded. "We'll restore them."

We walked up the path. A dark curtain of black magic flowed. "Use the Master Sword, its power should clear that easily." And so the glowing sword cut through the curtain. We jumped onto the "porch" of the palace.

"You guys ready to put up one hell of a fight?"

"Yea."

Link pushed the doors open.

I'm very happy with this chapter, actually—what about you guys? I'm excited to write the next few chapters!

Just a note: This "First Installment" of the trilogy series, TriShadow, I'm writing, isn't going to end when I kill off Ganon. It'll go for a little longer after that, believe it or not.

Tell me what you think!