Previous Chapter Recap: Last time on Hyrule Warriors. It was just another peaceful, uneventful day in the Twilight Realm for Midna, but her world was soon upended when she encounters Cia. In an act of petty cruelty, the witch transformed Midna into her much-hated imp form. With that done, she then used the Gate of Souls to revive Zant, the Usurper King of the Twilight Realm. Forming an alliance with the mad usurper, she tasks Zant with killing Lana if she shows up, leaving him to rebuild his power base. Now Lana enters the Era of Twilight, unaware of the dangers that await her.
OOC: It pleases me to announce that my Hyrule Warriors novelization is now my highest reviewed story! Having outdone my previous two novelizations of Kid Icarus: Uprising and A Link Between Worlds, which had 68 and 56 respectively, it has gained a whopping 80 reviews! How about we go for a hundred? I'm just 20 reviews short! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.
Lana stepped through her portal, having reached the Era of Twilight. But what awaited her was a truly jarring sight. She had arrived in Hyrule Field, but wherever she looked, the kingdom was consumed by shadow. Lana had read of the Twilight Realm before, but had never seen it first-hand. "So this is what Hyrule looked like when it was invaded by Twilight." Lana said in awe. "Fascinating." There was something almost hauntingly serene about it. But as much as she wanted to enjoy the sights, she had a job to do.
Lana outstretched her hand and closed her eyes as she attempted to sense the presence of the Gate of Souls, but try as she might, she was strangely unable to. It was as if some outside force was hiding the gate from sight. Could this be the Twilight's doing? After a while of this, she eventually gave up with a defeated sigh. "With the land covered like this, I can't pinpoint the Gate of Souls." she said. "Always something in the way..."
"We should be careful here." the Captain said. ""We can't see the enemy through these blasted shadows. They could easily ambush us from the darkness."
You're right." Lana replied. "That's why I made these." she pulled out a box of tear shaped stone necklaces that were seemingly made of solid light. "What are these?" one of the soldiers asked. "They're called Tears of Light." Lana said as she handed one to each of soldiers. "The Twilight has corrupting effects on people of the light, usually turning them into spirits or shadow monsters. These should offer some protection. Now let's go!"
But before they could do anything, the air was pierced by a shrill scream. The voice belonged to that of a young girl. "Someone help!" she pleaded. "I'm in big trouble!" Lana and the troops looked to the direction of the voice to see a nearby village beset by monsters. "It came from that village over there!" Lana said. "Finding the Gate of Souls will have to wait. C'mon! We gotta help the village!" Lana and the troops rushed to the village where the scream came from and entered a scene of total village was under attack by monsters she had never seen before.
They were dark, willowy beings with strange markings on their bodies. The tendrils on their heads and chins served as a crude form of hair. Their fingers were long and clawed with the two middle fingers shorter than the index and pinky fingers. On their chests and backs were strange red markings. Their faces were covered by a strange stone mask that resembled a shield of some sorts. But it was their actions that were more unsettling than their looks. The monsters were attacking the villagers, but they were attempting to turn some of the villagers they didn't kill into their own kind. Whenever a villager was grabbed by one, strange dark energy would consume them as they underwent a painful transformation into one of the monsters. Lana was repulsed by the sight but stood firm.
"What are these things?!" One of the soldiers asked.
"I've never seen creatures like these before." Lana said. "They must be creatures of the Twilight. Your Tears of Light should protect you from them. You guys get the villagers out of here! I'll handle the monsters!" The soldiers did as directed and attempted to rescue the remaining villagers. Some even tried to fight off the Shadow Beasts, but to no avail. The creatures seemed immune to all manner of conventional attacks. One soldier cut one of the monsters in half only for it to regenerate almost instantaneously.
Lana, meanwhile, had much better luck fighting them. It seemed they were more vulnerable to magical forms of attack. Using the pages from her tome as makeshift weapons, she made short work of them. The monsters vanished into black Twilight particles upon dying. A group of the creatures managed to surround her, but she used her tome to summon a lightning storm to dispatch them. That's when she heard the scream again. Lana turned to see a young girl surrounded by Shadow Beasts.
From the look of it, the girl couldn't be no older than ten. The girl had blond hair tied in pigtails and wore a headband. She also wore makeup under her eyes. Her outfit was one that signified she was wealthy. Her outfit consisted of a blue and white dress that was decorated in butterflies. In particular, the back of her dress had fake butterfly wings on it. In her hands she held a brown parasol, using it as a makeshift weapon against the Shadow Beasts. Next to her was a hand basket filled with jars of insects. The young girl was backed against the wall, her parasol held outward to defend herself against the Shadow Beasts. "D-Don't squish me!" she pleaded, her voice trembling.
Lana leapt into the air and used her tome to call down several lightning bolts, incinerating them all in a flash. The girl let out a startled yelp and hid behind her parasol at the display. "Whew! Close one." Lana said before turning to the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Why yes, I am." the girl replied. "Who are you, if I may ask?"
"Oh, my name is Lana." Lana replied. "What's your name?'
"Why I am Agitha, Princess of the Insect Kingdom!" Agitha declared with much aplomb. "I'm sure you've heard of me?" The only response Agitha got from Lana was a raised eyebrow. "Insect... Princess?" Lana asked. "Sorry, can't say I have." Agitha gave a curious headtilt. "Really? I guess you're not from around here." Agitha replied. Their conversation was soon interrupted when one of the soldiers came up to meet Lana. "We managed to get the villagers to safety." the soldier replied. "No one got hurt, huh?" Lana asked.
"A few soldiers were injured, but nothing serious." the soldier replied.
"That's good." Lana replied. "We're gonna need everyone on the team to complete our mission."
"Excuse me." Agitha interjected. "I really don't mean to pry, but may I ask what you're doing here?"
"Well..." Lana paused, unsure of whether or not she should tell Agitha of her mission. She figured there was no harm in telling her. "It's kinda hard to explain, but I'm looking for something called the Gate of Souls. However, with the land covered in Twilight, I can't pinpoint it." Agitha gave a curious headtilt as she stared at Lana. "A Gate of Souls...?" she placed a hand on her chin as she thought on this. "Can't say I've heard of it." Her face then lit up as she exclaimed happily, "But I can help you find it, though! It's the least I can do after you saved me."
Lana curiously stared at the self-proclaimed Insect Princess with a raised eyebrow. "And you can help us how?" Lana asked. The question was more out of skepticism rather than malice. Agitha reached into handbasket and pulled out a jar with a glowing blue butterfly. She opened the jar and the butterfly flew onto Agitha's hand. "This is called a Goddess Butterfly." Agitha began to explain. "If you ask it, it will take you wherever you want to go. Neat, isn't it?" All Agitha got in response was another stare from both Lana and the soldier. "What? Don't believe me? Then try it yourself." Agitha challenged.
Lana and the soldier exchanged quick glances at each other before shrugging their shoulders. Lana then leaned down to face the butterfly. "Golden Butterfly, take us to the gate of Souls." Lana commanded. Almost as if on cue, the Butterfly began to glow with blue light and immediately flew off into the village and into the Twilight. "Little Miss Butterfly says we should go this way!" Agitha said as she ran after the butterfly. "Come now! We musn't be tardy!"
"Agitha, wait!" Lana called out. "Come on!" she motioned to the other soldiers. "Follow that butterfly!"
"Um, Lana?" The captain asked. "Are you sure we should be trusting the word of a kid? I mean, she's not really all that there in the head you know."
"Well, if you got a better idea to find the Gate of Souls, I'm all ears." Lana replied. "This is the only lead we've gotten so far. It's worth giving a try. Besides, we can't just leave her. Let's go!" Lana and the troops followed Agitha and the butterfly into the village. Eventually, the group came across a large wall of Twilight. The Goddess Butterfly suddenly flew back to Agitha. "What's wrong?" Lana asked Agitha, who turned to the butterfly and began to speak to it. "What is it, Little Miss Butterfly?" she asked. "Uh-huh? Yes, I see. It seems Little Miss Butterfly doesn't want to go any further. That big wall of darkness is scaring her."
"I can't say I blame her." Lana said. "Things will only get more dangerous once we go beyond the Twilight. But we can't give up now. Our Tears of Light should allow us to enter the Twilight at will. That reminds me. Agitha, take this." Lana tossed Agitha one of the Tears of Light. "Put that on. It'll protect you from the Twilight's effects." she commanded. "I'll make an opening in the Twilight for us to get in. From there, we really need to be on our guard." Lana then took her Tear of Light and pointed it at the curtain of Twilight. A beam of light shot forth from her Tear of Light and made a hole in the wall of Twilight.
"You heard Lana, Little Miss Butterfly." Agitha told the butterfly. "Our friends are counting on us. We can't let them down!" The butterfly hesitantly nodded and flew through the hole in the wall of Twilight with Lana and the troops following suit. Within the Twilight, the land appeared to be bask in perpetual sunset. But the group didn't get a chance to enjoy the sights as they were soon beset by hordes of Shadow Beasts. Among them were Bulbins corrupted by the Twilight. They were grey-skinned beasts with Twilit patterns on their bodies. They had the same red marks on their chests and backs. They wore helmets that concealed their faces save for a singular yellow eye. Some wielded clubs while others wielded flaming arrows.
"It's an ambush!" Lana shouted as she readied her tome. "Get ready to fight!"
"I normally don't like coming off as a violent person." Agitha said. "But I will protect my friends!" Agitha took out one of the jars from her basket and opened it, releasing a large Rhino Beetle. Agitha jumped onto the Beetle's back. "Okay, Mr. Beetle. Charge!" The Beetle did as commanded and charged forward, mowing down the Shadow Beasts. "Great idea, Agitha!" Lana said as she leapt on top of the beetle next to Agitha. "Use the Beetle to clear a path for us. Everyone, stay behind the beetle and keep and eye on the butterfly! Don't let it get away." With the Rhino Beetle leading the charge, the group ventured into the Twilight, fighting their way through the horde of Shadow Beasts.
Along the way, they encountered a Deku Baba transformed by the Twilight. They were black with red lips and teeth. They breathed out a stream of poisonous black mist. Lana took out her Summoning Gate and tossed it like a disc, decapitating the beast. With that obstacle gone, the group continued to venture through the Twilight. Eventually, they came across a gate that led to the outskirts of Hyrule. "Uh-oh. The gates seem to be locked." Agitha said. Agitha hopped off the beetle and it instantly shrank down to normal size and returned to its bottle. Agitha then walked to the gate and pulled out a hairpin, using it to pick the lock. It only took a few seconds for her to get the gate open.
"Nice job, Agitha!" Lana said. Agitha giggled and gave a curtsy in response. "A pair of termites once taught me that door-opening trick." The group went inside and were confronted by a large Aeralfos corrupted by the Twilight. "There's something different about these monsters." Lana noted. "I sense something off about them, like they're connected to the Twilight or something." The Goddess Butterfly flew back to Agitha. "Uh-oh. Little Miss Butterfly is getting scared again. I think the darkness in this keep needs to go."
"Maybe defeating this monster might dispel some of the Twilight." Lana said. "It's worth a try." The Aeralfos rose into the air and dived at Lana. Lana cartwheeled out of the way and tossed a ball of lightning at the flying lizard. The Aeralfos gracefully dodged out of the way and spat several fireballs at Lana. Lana threw up a barrier, summoned her Deku Staff and used a vine to pull the beast down. The Aeralfos became enraged and charged at Lana. Lana fired a blast of ice from her staff, freezing the ground and causing the Aeralfos to slip. Lana then used her Summoning Gate to call King Dodongo, who promptly swallowed the beast in one gulp. The monster dissolved into Twilight particles.
In a flash of light, the Twilight around the keep vanished and was replaced with clear blue skies. As if on instinct, Agitha's Goddess Butterfly flew off. "Aw, Little Miss Butterfly is happy! She's leading us again." Agitha cooed. "Quick, follow the butterfly!" Lana commanded as she and the troops took off after the butterfly. However, they didn't get very far as when they got to the Outskirts keep, they were stopped by an army of Darknuts and Stalfoses. The monsters suddenly backed away as presumably their leader floated into view.
It was a small imp wearing a strange stone helmet that concealed her left eye. The imp looked to be female due to her shapely body. Her body was mostly grey with spots of white and had strange turquoise markings on her arms, legs, and her pointed ears. Her eye was yellow with a red pupil. Her hair was blond and tied in a ponytail. The imp flashed a mischievous fanged smile as she pulled out an orb of magic with the Goddess Butterfly trapped inside. "Looking for this?" she sneered.
"Let it go!" Lana demanded. "That insect is important!"
"Why?" the imp asked. "So it can fly around and spread poison on my forces?" The question got a curious and very confused head-tilt from Lana. "Excuse me?" She asked. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Agitha pushing through the crowd of soldiers. "Excuse me." she said. "The insect you see now is actually not of a poisonous genus, I assure you!" Midna tilted her head questioningly. "Genus...?" she asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Why yes!" Agitha exclaimed happily as she continued her explanation. "That is a Goddess Butterfly. If you ask it nicely, it will take you wherever you want to go! Isn't that nice?"
"Agitha!" Lana shouted, frustrated that she would freely give such vital information to a hostile stranger. "What?" Agitha asked, unaware of what she had done. "I was just being honest." The imp, meanwhile, stared at the two with a bemused smile. "Take me anywhere, huh? Good to know." She dispelled the barrier around the butterfly. "Hey Butterfly! Take me to that ugly witch!" On command, the butterfly flew off with the imp in pursuit.
"Ugly witch...?" Lana muttered to herself. "Cia must be here! Wait! Maybe we can work together and-!" Lana's plea was cut off by a Darknut pointing his blade at her. "Underlings!" the imp called out. "I'm going after that witch! You deal with these clowns!" She then flew away, leaving Lana and the troops alone with her minions. "Guess we have no choice but to fight it out." Lana said.
"That angry kitty took Little Miss Butterfly away!" Agitha exclaimed. "We have to get her back!"
"I'll get the butterfly back, Agitha." Lana said. "You go back to the village."
"But Lana-!" Agitha started to say.
"No buts!" Lana replied. "It's getting dangerous out here and I don't want anything to happen to you! Now get back to the village!"
"But... Oh, okay. Please be careful!" Agitha then made her way back to Kakariko Village while Lana and the troops prepared to fight the monsters. "Cia might be in these lands!" Lana said. "I'm going to look for her. Can you guys handle things here?"
"Don't worry, Lana!" the Captain replied. "We've got things under control. You hurry up and find that witch!" Lana nodded and ran off as the troops engaged the imp's forces. "I've got to find Cia before that imp does!" Lana thought to herself. Cia had to be here somewhere, but Lana didn't know where to start looking. "If I can't sense the Gate of Souls, maybe I can sense the Triforce's energy. Cia would still have it with her."
Lana closed her eyes and tried to focus on the Triforce's energy. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Lana to sense a powerful mass of energy in the distance. It must be Cia! "Straight ahead!" Lana exclaimed as she pulled out her Summoning Gate and jumped through it, using it as a portal. She ended up in another part of Hyrule Field and sure enough, there was Cia, smugly sitting on a chair reading a book.
"Ah, Lana." Cia greeted in that usual smooth tone of voice. "What brings you to the Era of Twilight? Enjoying the sights? Can't blame you. The Twilight is lovely this time of year."
"Don't toy with me, Cia." Lana demanded. "Give me the Triforce. It's time to end this."
"Mmm... Sorry. I'm using it right now." Cia mockingly replied, still looking at her book. "But tell you what: I may let you borrow it... if you get on your knees and beg." In a rage, Lana knocked the book out of Cia's hand and grabbed her by the shoulders, glaring at her intensely. "This isn't a goddamn game!" Lana shouted. "You're violating every law in the Time Gazers code! You're interfering with time and meddling in the shared destinies of those bound by the Triforce. This is sacrilege and you know it!"
"Wrong, Lana." Cia replied coldly. "This is righting a wrong. This is doing what should have been done ages ago. This is me taking what rightfully belongs to me. What's sacrilegious is the fact that Link is not with me and that bitch is still alive. Well that's about to change. Once and for all. And if you had any sense, you'd be joining me."
"This is outrageous!" Lana protested. "You're turning your back on generations of tradition! And for what?! One person? One person who you know damn well you can't have?"
"Why Lana..." Cia began coyly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."
"That is not the point!" Lana snapped defensively.
"What's the matter, Lana?" Cia teased. "Don't you wish you could be doing what I'm doing. Attempting to change the course of destiny?
"Shut up!" Lana shouted.
"Oh, did I touch a nerve?" Cia taunted. "Well, it's not too late. Join me, Lana. Think of what we can do together. With the Triforce at our command, we could rule all of time itself! And most importantly... we'll have him all to ourselves. What do you say? Tempting isn't it?"
"Forget it." Lana said sternly.
"Hmph. A straight arrow to the end, eh?" Cia mockingly asked.
"You will give me the Triforce, Cia." Lana said in a threatening tone, fists surging with lightning. "Or I will happily make you!"
"And I would love to see you try." Cia coldly replied as dark energy surrounded her. Before the two sorceresses could do anything, however, they were interrupted by a blast of dark energy that narrowly hit them. The two turned to see the imp glaring at them, Cia in particular. "There you are, you worthless bitch!" the imp cursed. "Undo the curse you put on me or I'll rip your damn spine out and shove it down your throat!"
"Aw, how cute." Cia cooed. "I thought I heard a mangy stray caterwauling about me, but it's actually you." She then turned to Lana. "Thanks for warning me about her impending attack, Lana. What a good ally you are."
"What are you talking about?! We're not allies!" Lana protested
"Why don't you show this... thing a good time? I must be off. Ta-ta!" Cia disappeared in a flash of purple flame, narrowly avoiding a punch from the imp's hair, which had turned into a fist. "Get back here, witch! I'm not through with you yet!" the imp shouted.
"Damn it! She got away!" Lana said.
"Yeah, she got away because of you!" the imp shouted, getting right in Lana's face. "What's your problem? Are you on her side?!"
"What? No! We're not allies!" Lana protested. "I just wanted the butterfly-!" Lana's plea was quickly silenced by a punch to a face from the imp's hair-hand, sending her flying into the wall and leaving a centimeters-deep impression of her body. "Shut up!" the imp demanded. "I'm not in the mood to talk about bugs!" Lana crawled out of the hole in the wall and wiped the blood from her mouth. "Alright then." she said calmly. "I'm not one for talking anyway." Her hands again surged with lightning. "If you won't give me the butterfly willingly, I'll simply take it!" She blasted the imp with a full bolt of lightning, sending her to the ground.
"Bring it on!" the imp shouted as she opened a portal and summoned a wolf that seemed to be created from the Twilight itself. The wolf lunged at Lana with fangs barred. Lana summoned her Deku Staff and swatted the wolf away before firing a spray of seeds at Midna. Midna teleported away and reappeared on her wolf. Acting as her steed, the wolf leapt from Twilight Portal to Twilight Portal before appearing right in front of Lana for the imp to deliver a close-ranged punch to her face.
Lana backflipped out of the way and tossed three pages from her tome at the imp. The imp gathered dark energy in her hand before releasing it as a wave and destroying the pages. Dismissing her wolf, the imp gathered energy in her hair-hand and conjured a large green orb of Twilight energy before tossing it at Lana. Lana leapt into the air to avoid it only for the imp to grab her leg with a second hair-hand, pulling her to the ground.
With Lana defenseless, the imp enlarged her hair-hand and attempted to crush her with it. Lana rolled out of the way and delivered several quick strikes with her Deku Staff. Each blow staggered the imp, but she eventually teleported out of the way and reappeared from within Lana's shadow to deliver a fierce uppercut that knocked the sorceress several feet into the air. The imp then sent her hand through a Twilight Portal to punch Lana from a distance, knocking her to the ground.
"Wow..." Lana said as she slowly rose to her feet, breathing heavily. "She's a lot tougher than she looks."
"Thanks for noticing!" the imp said. "I draw power from the Twilight. One of the perks of being a Twili."
"A Twili... That explains it." Lana said. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Princess Midna of the Twili." the imp said. "I want you to remember the one who beat you!" She moved to punch Lana with her hair-hand again, but was soon stopped by... a swarm of bees? Midna shouted various obscenities as the insects swarmed her from all sides. Lana looked on in confusion before turning to see Agitha near the entrance to the keep. Agitha opened another jar and summoned two giant Gold Skulltulas.
"Capture the kitty!" she commanded. "She still has Little Miss Butterfly!"
"Agitha! What are you doing here?!" Lana asked, frustrated. "I told you to go back to the village!"
"I refuse to stand by while someone harms the insects!" Agitha declared. "I am a princess! And a princess protects her subjects!"
"Another one?!" Midna groaned, exasperated. "Geez, how many clowns does this witch have on her payroll?" The Skulltulas fired strands of webbing at Midna to trap her. The Twili teleported out of the way. "I don't have time to play with you idiots. I gotta find that damn witch!" She then teleported away, leaving Lana and Agitha alone. "Oh no!" Agitha whined. "That kitty got away again!"
Lana walked towards Agitha with clear anger in her expression. "What part of 'go back to the village' did you not understand?" she asked angrily.
"I said I won't let my insects be in danger!" Agitha said. "I want to save Little Miss Butterfly and I'm going to save her with or without you!" Lana seethed a bit. She knew Agitha meant well, but she was really testing Lana's patience. She wanted to scream at the girl, tell her she was not a princess, that she was just a reckless, stupid kid who was in way over her head. But she then took a deep breath to rein in her temper.
"Perhaps there's a way you can help." Lana began calmly. "Go back to the soldiers and help them dispel the Twilight."
"Okay!" Agitha said. "But how?"
"It's just like before." Lana replied. "Defeat the Shadow Beasts and the Twilight will vanish."
"But what about Little MIss Butterfly?" Agitha asked.
"I'll take care of it!" Lana assured her. "Now please do what I say!"
"Okay... Good luck Miss Lana!" Agitha said as she summoned a Golden Butterfly and took off. With Agitha gone, Lana began to track down Midna, fighting her way through the Twili's forces. It was as simple as sensing Midna's Twilight energy. Her search was a short one and took her to Eldin Bridge. There she saw Midna with the Goddess Butterfly.
"Hand over the butterfly, Midna." Lana demanded. "Last warning."
"You again?" Midna groaned. "Don't you know when to quit?!"
"Sorry, that word's not in my vocabulary." Lana said.
"Well it's a good thing actions speak louder than words!" Midna shouted as she tossed a green ball of Twilight energy. Lana erected a barrier to block the ball, then pushed it forward to use as a battering ram. Midna punched the barrier with her hair hand, shattering it. She then summoned two Twilight Wolves while mounting a third before sending the two charging forward. Lana summoned her Deku Staff and fired two seeds. The seeds sprouted into vines that grabbed the two wolves aand tossed them into the gorge. When Midna charged at her on her wolf, Lana stabbed the ground and turned it into solid ice, causing the wolf to slip and slide. Lana then whacked Midna with her staff, sending her flying a considerable distance to the other end of the bridge.
Lana wasted no time and called her Summoning Gate, unleashing a stream of Manhandla thorns before unleashing a large fireball. Midna summoned a barrier of Twilight to defend against the thorns, then created a Twilight Portal to redirect the fireball to Lana. Lana dived through her Summoning Gate and appeared next to Midna to deliver a lightning-enhanced kick to the Twili's face. "Alright, no more games!" Midna said as dark energy surrounded her. Her hair split into six large hands. Midna lunged at Lana with one of her hands and the sorceress dived into her Summoning Gate and reappeared at another part of the bridge. "Hold still!" Midna shouted. "Make me!" Lana taunted. "Hit the mage, win a prize!"
Lana began to hop from portal to portal, appearing in random places, sometimes landing a punch or kick on Midna. Midna growled and tried to hit her best to land some sort of hit on her, each miss making her anger rise. Eventually, Midna lost her temper and threw punches in every different direction, leaving impressions of her fists in the walls and ground. Eventually, a stray fist hit its mark and sent Lana crashing to the ground.
Midna then grabbed Lana and slammed her to the ground a few times before throwing her against the wall. "Just give up already!" Midna said. "You know you can't beat me! The Twilight makes me way stronger."
"You're right." Lana said. "I can't beat you. Which is why I wasn't trying to. I was stalling you."
"Stalling me? For what?" Midna asked. Her answer came a few seconds later as she suddenly felt weak. The dark aura around her disappeared and her hair reverted to a single ponytail. The Twili fell to the ground on her knees. "Wh-what's going on? Why do I feel so weak?"
"Just as I thought. Dispelling the Twilight makes you weak. And now that I've softened you up..." Lana summoned her Deku Staff and summoned a tree that knocked Midna into the air. She then summoned a vine that pulled Midna to the ground before creating a patch of ice to freeze her in place. "... Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
Midna struggled a bit before hanging her head in defeat. I've been completely beaten. All right, do your worst to me." she said. At that moment, Agitha and the troops ran up to meet Lana. "Good job at dispelling the Twilight, Agitha." Lana said.
"It was my pleasure." Agitha said. She then turned to Midna. "Please? Please Miss Kitty? Please give Little Miss Butterfly back!"
"Fine! Take the damn bug." Midna said. "But wait... You aren't with the witch?"
"Oh no! Quite the opposite really." Lana said as she freed Midna from the ice with a wave of her Deku Staff. "I tried to tell you. We're trying to stop her."
"And it didn't cross your mind to lead with that, you morons?!" Midna asked. "It could have saved the both of us a hell of a lot of trouble!"
"Well excuse me, Princess!" Lana sassily replied. "It's kinda hard to explain something when the other person's punching you in the face."
"Whatever." Midna said as she rolled her eyes.
"Wait, you're a princess?" Agitha asked, looking at Midna with awe before warmly shaking Midna's hand. "It's quite an honor to meet fellow royalty! I'm Agitha, Princess of the Insect Kingdom. I'm sure you've heard of me?"
"Uh, hardly." Midna said as she yanked her hand from Agitha. "So, since it seems we're all after the same thing, I'll join up with you. I think we'll do a lot more working together."
"Well, okay... But why are you after Cia?' Lana asked.
"That witch turned me into this imp again." Midna replied. "I'm gonna make her turn me back if it's the last thing I do. What's your stake in this?"
"We're looking for something called the Gate of Souls." Lana explained. "It's a forbidden doorway through time that must be sealed if we're to stop Cia."
"Gate... of Souls?" Midna asked, tilting her head. "This wouldn't be some giant swirling portal, huh?'
"You know where it is?"Lana asked, her face beaming.
"Of course I do!" Midna replied. "It's in my throne room in the Palace of Twilight. It showed up a few days ago. We tried getting rid of it, but none of our magic worked. It seemed harmless, so we decided to leave it alone for now."
"That must the reason those Shadow Beasts showed up." Lana mused.
"Shadow Beasts?" Midna asked with a pang of familiarity.
"You know of them?" Lana asked. "And did you have anything to do with the land being covered in Twilight?" Midna paused a bit to think. "I've encountered Shadow Beasts before, but I haven't seen any since he tried to take over Hyrule. And the land was already covered in Twilight when I got here. I just figured I'd siphon off its power. Don't worry, I was gonna turn it back to normal when I beat that witch."
"Who's he?" Lana asked.
"No one important." Midna replied with a dismissive handwave. "Besides he's dead. And I hope he's enjoying his new home in hell. Anyway, the only way to get into the Twilight Realm is via the Mirror of Twilight, but I had to destroy it for safety reasons. But luckily, I happen to have a replica which I take with me for safekeeping." Midna pulled out the miniature Mirror of Twilight and pointed it at the wall. Its light shone forth and created a large black and white Twilight portal.
"From here on out, I thnk it's best if I lead the troops." Midna said. "I know the palace inside out, so finding the Gate will be a snap."
"Hey, it's your home." Lana said. "Let's just close the gate and stop more monsters from plaguing Hyrule." The group walked through the portal and made their way to the Twilight Realm. Unbeknownst to them, a large bird-like creature was watching them from a distance. The creature was pitch black and in place of a head it had a large hole with a strange eye within it. The bird made some strange trumpeting noise before flying off.
Meanwhile, In the Twilight Realm...
Zant was out on the Palace balcony overseeing the Twilight Realm. It had taken him several hours, but he had managed to turn all the Twili back into Shadow Beasts. It was quite a nostalgic experience, almost a trip down memory lane. All he needed to do now was mobilize his new army and conquer the Light World again. But while it was good to be back in the throne again, he still had a problem to deal with: Midna. He had sent Shadow Beasts to kill her and this Lana person, but they didn't report back. He knew that as long as she was still alive, she would continue to oppose him and with this Lana character, she'd be an even bigger headache. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of last time.
At that moment, one of his Shadow Kargoroks flew in and perched itself next to Zant. He had sent a few to scout out the land and report anything strange. "What have you found?" he asked. The Kargorok made a few trumpeting noises while Zant nodded in agreement. "I see. So Midna is still alive and she's joined forces with this Lana. And the two are on their way here. Suppose it's too be expected. She always did rely on light-dwelling filth to do her bidding. Seems I'm going to step up my timetable."
By mental command, the chameleon helmet snapped back on. "Well then... let's give the princess a warm welcome."
Next Chapter Preview: The Shadow King. On the next chapter of Hyrule Warriors! Lana, Midna, and Agitha made there way to the Twilight Realm. But what they saw was a horrific surprise. The realm's inhabitants were turned into Shadow Beasts and Zant, the mad usurper of the Twilight Realm had taken over. Will Lana and Midna be able to overcome his unnatural powers and save the realm? Find out on the next exciting chapter of Hyrule Warriors!
OOC: Sorry this took so long. A lot of stuff came up and I had to deal with it first. I'll try to make sure that subsequent chapters won't take as long.