So...another chapter. I'm happy with how it's going, but I have to give SOME suspense. So, I'll be switching to another POV...
With no further chit-chat, let's see how our friends in the Light Realm are doing!
An eagle spread its perched wings and flew through the air, which was heavy with the mists of rain and fog. It glided against the winds and over the scaled rooftops of a grand castle in an even more grand kingdom.
The eagle flew past a tower-the highest town, shrouded in bows of clouds and fog. Lightning flashed and the eagle screeched.
Zelda admired the bird from her tower's window, infatuated with its strange beauty. It seemed so...determined...to fly in the stormy weather. She felt that it was either very stupid, or very wise.
She blandly looked at her hands-one of which held the Triforce of Wisdom. It glowed its faint gold-gray, shining into her eyes. Zelda sighed wistfully, thinking about the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. Link, reportedly, hadn't been heard from in a while. He was grieving, which was only to be expected.
With a grim frown, she remembered the evening that he had witnessed Midna's...kidnapping.
"Princess Zelda! Princess Zelda!"
Zelda bolted upright in bed, looking out the large window in her stone-plaster room. The moon was full and bright-it had to be the middle of the night.
The yelling outside her door continued and she rolled from the bed, dressed in her evening wear of a short and petite nightgown. Frightened by the commotion, she ran to the door. "Yes? What's the matter?"
"Princess Zelda, it's the hero! Link! He is in hysterics, he desires to see you!" It was a guard's voice, gruff and panicked. Gastavi, she remembered.
"Send him in!" Her voice was that of concern. Why-why was Link coming to her in the middle of the night? Hadn't Midna told him that she was leaving?
The door rammed itself open and Link stood, eyes full of terror. A guard quickly shut the door behind Link, giving the two some sort of privacy.
Link looked so...dead. His skin was gray and eyes full of agony, his hair shaggy and falling into his face.
"Link! Good Din, are you alright?"
"M-Midna," He choked out.
Zelda sighed, tinged by Link's anguish. "She...had to go back to the Twilight Realm. Link, I'm so sorry...she did it to protect-"
"I know that, Zelda!" Link's voice was angry and harsh, but still broken by sadness. "She and Dark were going through the mirror. I had come to say goodbye. . .and then, when they were dissolving into the portal, Dark fired a beam of magic at the mirror."
Zelda's mouth hung itself in a perfect circle of shock.
"Midna tried to come back out. She pulled herself almost completely out of the portal and reached for my hand. I grabbed her, but it was too late. Dark pulled her into the portal...and the mirror was gone."
"Gone?" Zelda cried, chest aching.
"I...I saw two pieces fly out into Hyrule. And two went through the portal."
"Link," She whispered. "Link...there's...there's not much of a chance she'll be able to get back through. I don't think Dark will..."
Link's stunning blue eyes met hers, and she felt all of his pain. "Zel. Please. She saved you and she saved me. We have to help her. We have to put the two pieces back."
"Link...even if we did, and Midna somehow managed to...I don't know if the connection can travel across the realms. Two halves of the mirror, in different realms...it could be like a looking glass. Flipped, and you can't touch the person on the other side."
"OR it could work," Link protested.
Zelda looked down at her feet, not sure what to tell him. She was supposed to be wise-and be able to help the Hero in his time of need. "I just need your permission, Zel. Permission to take the Master Sword back out of the Sacred Grove. To go off on a quest again...alone, this time. And find the mirror shards."
The Princess of Hyrule very slowly met Link's gaze again. "As the Protector of Hyrule, you have my permission. Draw your weapon from the Grove. Find the shards." Link nodded once and turned to leave, trotting to her door. "Link!" Zelda cried. He turned and met her eyes. "Bring her home."
She had not heard from Link in months-she figured that he was out searching. Perhaps it was in vain, but he was searching for the mirror shards until he found them. Maybe if he didn't find them, he would give up.
Zelda's chest ached again, thinking of Midna. Dark was just another usurper, and Midna was too stubborn to ask for help. She wished that Midna had asked for help…the situation could have been avoided quite easily, before it had been too late to do anything.
Now, the connection between the realms was severed. It was quite possible that it could never be put back in place.
In a word, Zelda was happy that whatever destruction Dark was placing in the Twilight Realm could not seep into her kingdom. But, in the same instance, she knew that Midna's agony for the Twilight Realm was just as important Zelda's agony for her own.
But she did wish that Link would move on. She prayed every night that Midna was safe, and prayed that Link would somehow come to terms with loss. Zelda did not pry and give into her terror, letting the guards send themselves out to go find him. No, she gave Link his space. Only time would tell.
Sighing, she looked out the window again. Even though it was nearly as dark and gloomy as midnight, it could only be late afternoon. Zelda stepped down from her window sill and dressed in a conservative red dress—not that it would be seen, anyway. She didn't bother with messing with her golden hair that day—she just let it sit against her shoulders. She had cut it short for easier usage. Zelda quickly rummaged around her wardrobe and found the heavy black cloak of mourning that she had worn in the Twilight.
She felt that it was appropriate.
"Good evening, Telma."
She shut the door to the alley and entered the musty, sandstone structured bar. Zelda lowered the hood of her cloak, leaning against the bar counter and meeting Telma's eyes. "Ay, Zelda."
Zelda loved Telma for her magnificence of character. No nonsense, down-to-business, and bluntly humorous. "Gloomy outside, isn't it?" Zelda felt pathetic, making small talk.
"Very," Telma agreed.
"May I have a drink?"
Telma frowned. "Hon, I don't want to be the one held responsible for the Princess becoming a drunk."
Ashei politely waltzed in from the other room, where her small band of friends often gathered. "Hell, Telma. Make it two. I'll taint Zel here any-day."
Zelda also admired Ashei's wild personality. Quite a "tom-boy", so to speak.
Telma sighed, reaching behind the counter and pulling out a bottle and two mugs. She poured the whiskey into the cups and handed them to the girls. "Can't say I blame you gals, I miss him too."
Zelda sighed, taking a sip of the liquor. Drinking never helped anything, but she liked to pretend that it did. "He loved her."
Ashei and Telma were well aware of the situation, of course. They knew that Link had loved Midna. Zelda spared them the gory details of the story, but they knew Midna had been forced to leave. "Of course he did. And he's gonna find those mirror-thingamabobs—or, at least, he'll look in every place under Din for them."
The women sat in silence, sipping whiskey and not bothering to speak. Their silence spoke for them.
"I suppose I had better go," Zelda quietly whispered after what seemed like an eternity.
"I'll have somebody walk you home, gal. It's gotten after dark."
"If you insist, Telma."
"I'll take the job," Ashei grinned, hopping off the bar stool. "Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will go crazy and try to attack you. I'd love to show off my defense skills." Her humor was well-played, and Zelda managed a small smile.
As they started to walk out, Telma yelled behind them, "Hey, you! Mailman, wake up. I gotta mop the floor."
"Ugh, sure, Telm…HEYYY! WAIT!"
Ashei and Zelda froze in place, turning around. The bizarre mailman ran up to them dramatically. "PRINCESS ZELDA!"
"I'm right here, there is no need to shout," She muttered.
"I have one letter for you!"
Ashei's eyes widened and Telma gasped. The mailman handed her the letter and sighed. "Onward to mail!" He yelped, dashing through the bar door.
The bar was silent. The letter was stiff in Zelda's hands.
"Hon, if you don't open that, then I will," Telma warned.
Zelda tore at the envelope. A letter floated into her hands.
Zelda,
I'm on my way to your castle.
There was no signature to the rather abrupt letter, but uncensored joy filled Zelda. "Yes!" She screamed.
"What?" Telma and Ashei yelled.
"Link! Link is coming the castle."
"What? Is he okay?"
Zelda hurriedly pushed to the door. "I must go. Thank you two ever so much—and, Telma, I shall repay you for the drink." She hurried out into the rain, ignoring their calls from the bar.
Link was coming back.
But the way she felt…it was like he was coming home.
She had barely made it into her castle throne room when the guards came running at her. "Princess Zelda! Princess!"
"Yes?" Zelda could not contain the excitement in her tone.
"Sir Link has arrived!"
Her pupils widened and she resisted the urge to scream like a child getting a new toy. "Where is he?"
"In the Royal Lounge. We hope you don't mind—he looked very worn, so we sent him someplace comfortable."
"Of course I don't mind, sir! He is the Hero, after all, he is practically royalty." Zelda, not desiring to wait any longer, breezed past the guard and gracefully blurred down the halls. The royal lounge was a comfortable sitting room, usually used for casual meetings. Zelda reached the door, straightened herself, and flung open the door.
"Link!"
And there he was—gorgeous as he was in his hero-like glory. He was an attractive man—sandy, shaggy blonde hair with streaks of brunette. He was tall and built, wearing a dark blue tunic that had been gifted to him by a seamstress—so he didn't have to wear out his Hero's tunic. His skin was milky and tanned, but battered by small battle scars in places. His face was sharp and alert, but Link's eyes were the most captivating. They were a perfect fairy blue, the deepest cyan one could ever have seen. Legendary eyes for a legendary man.
"Zel," He breathed.
"Goddesses, I was so worried. You have been reckless, Hero, not to request my aid." She bit her lip, waiting for the news of his journey. Had he found what he was looking for?
"Do you have any important meetings soon, by chance?" Link grinned at her crookedly—smugly, almost. He was drawing out the news.
"No, none at all. My schedule is clear. Why?"
"Because, I'm dragging you to Arbiter's Grounds."
"You—you mean...you did it? You found the Mirror pieces?"
Link grinned even wider, the smugness fading into joy. "I did! I did it, Zel, and Midna's going to come back."
Zelda's expression faltered ever so slightly. A small sadness and worry filled her, and her Triforce flashed—Link needed a tiny bit of guidance in situations like that. "Do not overestimate the odds, Link. I do not want to see you hurt so badly again. We are not sure this will work, and we don't know if Midna has the other pieces in place."
Link sighed and gave Zelda a look that simply commanded, don't kill my buzz. Zelda nodded, flustered and slightly embarrassed. "I will have two horses prepared to take us to Lake Hylia tomorrow. When the mirror was fragmented across the realms, the warp portals disappeared. The journey might be more than we bargained for!"
"I'm ready. I'll run by Malo Mart early tomorrow and stock up on supplies. And I have Epona—I'd prefer to use her as my stead, if that's alright."
"Certainly. Oh, and your friend—Ilia, I believe?-has been writing to the Castle, she is rather concerned. Please, write a letter to your village explaining that you are just off on another quest."
Link sighed once again, slightly annoyed—but warmed that his village cared for him. "Alright, I suppose. I can sleep in here."
"Nonsense. You can sleep in a guest chamber."
And the feeling of joy did not disappear from the castle—for once, a small scent of hope was present in the air. At the same time, Zelda felt a small bit of wariness. When there is a portal to the other realm, there is unhappiness with the Goddesses, and there is always a war to be fought. If Midna could get through the mirror...
Zelda gulped in terror at the next thought. If Midna can get through, then Dark can follow.
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I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I certainly did enjoy writing this chapter, that's for sure.
Inspirational music: Weeping Willow, by The Hush Sound & Lighthouse by The Hush Sound. Very good band.
Reviews & constructive advice=welcomed.