By the time Link opened his eyes, a late morning light was filtering down through the windows in his guest suite. He sat up straight, suddenly, and winced when a jab of pain struck his shoulder. He had put the red salve on it again before going to bed, but he suspected that he was just going to have to deal with it.
He rubbed his eyes, washing away the images of the raid and the nightmares that would stalk him for years-if not longer-now. Today would be the journeying day. Ghirahim and Midna would travel to the Twilight Realm to gather reinforcements. He couldn't help but be slightly wary of the idea, but the help was absolutely necessary; Hyrule was doomed to fall if nothing was done while the Castle was entirely tied up.
A part of it brought a pang of regret to his heart to think that as soon as the Rosulyla were taken care of, Hyrule would be fine. The Royal Court would finish the investigation. Zelda would be perfectly safe. There would no longer be any need for him to masquerade as her Advisor-his assignment would be over. He wondered what he would do when it was over.
Did he even want to go back into the Hylian military? The freedom he had now, the purpose and the mission, was something he had found as a child in Ordon-working on a ranch, free of any kind of order, surrounded by childhood friends-and had come to Castle Town in search of. It wasn't that he was having fun with a death threat looming or with stumbling into the middle of an insanely violent raid, but...he had purpose, and freedom, and individuality. More importantly, he was surrounded with people...who were, at least in his eyes, friends.
He thought of Midna. Could he call her a friend? Certainly more than an acquaintance. He warily listed Vaati as a friend, and, of course, Zelda. He had a connection to her he couldn't explain, one he had felt once before but couldn't name the time. His brain felt too muddled to put the pieces together. It didn't matter, though. Two out of three of his friends would be going back to their own homes once the job was done, and Zelda...well, appearances wouldn't allow the two of them to be friends.
Maybe he would go back to Ordon, though there wasn't really any work left there. All the childhood friends had left and only a few senior ranchers and rural families still manned the town. He had no family, and he never had, always staying with one of the ranchers as a kid. There wasn't much waiting for him there, and the thought of going back to the barracks put a foul taste in his mouth.
He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair, feeling stupidly selfish for such thoughts. Stupid, he thought. Getting emotionally attached to his duties...such a bad idea.
Shoving his feelings aside, Link stood from his bed just as there was knock at the door. One of Zelda's servants, letting him know that there was a bath waiting for him. Nice gesture, he thought.
Not even twenty minutes later, he had scrubbed all traces of grime and misery from his body and dressed in the evergreen tunic that Midna had cleaned for him the previous day, lacing up a pair of archer's boots and sheathing his sword at his waist before exiting the room. He found the door to Midna's guest suite ajar, where the Princess was sitting on the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed, as if in meditation.
He stood, observing for a few minutes, before she opened her eyes and hissed in surprise at his presence. Her cheeks paled.
"You okay?" he asked, echoing her words from yesterday.
She snorted, pulling herself up onto her feet. "Relatively speaking."
"I didn't realize you were into meditation."
"I was trying to pray," she responded, as if ashamed. "Though, lot of good that did us the other night."
He immediately put his hands up, blushing. "Oh!" he coughed, trying to hide a smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on...your prayer."
Midna rolled her eyes, hair dripping as she shook her head.. She must have had a bath drawn, too. She was dressed in lacy black robes with streaks of gold on the sleeves, and she emitted a sense of nobility that he hadn't ever seen her in. "Don't worry about it." She walked across the room and picked up her cloak off the floor, snapping her fingers and watching with satisfaction as it disappeared into her shadow.
"Are you setting out already?"
"Yeah. Ghirahim had an errand to run, but he'll meet us in Zelda's room."
Link smiled. "Sounds good. You look all dolled up."
She smiled wickedly as the two of them walked out of the doorway. "I do have to rally the best of my assassins. Generally not the kind of thing you show up in rags for, Short Stuff."
They started down the hallway, and, Link, as if unable to stand the heaviness of silence, spoke. "Do you miss your realm?"
Midna laughed. "Duh. Though I have to hand it to you..." she stopped at one of the hall windows, sunlight splashing her skin. "The sun is nice here. Much nicer than the Sols. I guess my realm can feel a little cold and artificial at times. But I run the show there, which means it's great and bad ass by association."
He chuckled as they walked down the staircase and down to Zelda's room, entering it without a second thought when the guards nodded at them. Vaati and Ghirahim both stood in the room, tensely across from each other in arm chairs, as Zelda leaned against the wall.
"Good morning," Zelda greeted Link and Midna. "I've laid out a plan of sorts."
Midna nodded. "Let's hear it. Quick, please. I'm going to try and do this whole thing as quickly as possible. There are unsavory characters in the desert."
Zelda gestured to the Twili group. "You and Ghirahim will go to your realm and gather the...team. Come back, and Vaati will help clean up the streets. I estimate that the Royal Court investigation will take about a month, the criminals will be put in jail, and all of Ganon's street forces will be out of the equation. We'll capture him and-"
"Ganon will be dead," Midna interrupted. "I'm not leaving till he is."
Zelda took a breath and nodded. "Fair enough. This entire affair should be done within a few weeks." She bowed her head a bit. "After this mission is done, we can, perhaps establish relations between our realms...exchange resources...perhaps even have civilian travel." She smiled wryly.
"You might wanna do something about Nabooru out there in the desert. She'd probably put a damper on things," Midna chimed in.
Vaati coughed in agreement.
"All will be discussed in due time," Zelda nodded. She gestured quickly to Link. "For the meantime, let's get started on ending this mission. Link, I do have an assignment for you, as well. . .I need you to go check on operations at the Goron Mine at Death Mountain. There was recently a private audit ordered...by a Councilman. I want somebody who has more...quiet methods of investigation to go and check on it. I just have a feeling."
Link cleared his throat. It felt odd that he had a lump, there. "Death Mountain," he said, faking a smile. All he knew about Death Mountain was that it was east of Castle Town, hot, and dry. "Sounds fun. I'll be more than happy to go. If I leave now...I should be back in a few days. Maybe a week."
Vaati nodded. "In time to see us wrap everything up here."
Link smiled, again.
"That sounds fine," Zelda said. "And I am...ah, well, our guards are searching town for further signs of Zant's body."
Ghirahim smiled sarcastically. "How very generous of them."
Midna elbowed him, rolling her eyes. "Sounds like a plan, Zelda." She stole a look at Vaati, who hovered suspiciously close to Zelda's side. "Think you can keep an eye on Gusty while I'm gone?"
The Princess of Hyrule laughed heartily. "With guards watching my every move? I don't think he will be a problem."
An uncomfortable, thick silence settled upon the room, akin to dread but mixed with...nostalgia? Link couldn't tell as Midna cleared her throat and clapped Zelda on the back. "Well, then. We'll be back later. Be good, Vaati." She looked at Link. "Want to walk us to the courtyard, Short Stuff?"
He bowed at the waist, braving a smile. "It'd be my honor."
Ghirahim sneered. "Chivalrous of you."
Link smiled politely and Midna and Ghirahim shuffled out of Zelda's room before him. He turned back to look at Zelda and Vaati. "I'll see you, Princess...and, uhm, you too, Vaati." It felt awkward to give a half-goodbye to the mage that he had befriended.
Zelda nodded, while Vaati smirked. "See ya when you get back from Death Mountain."
Link did a quick salute and then stepped from the room, leading Midna and Ghirahim in a silent procession down the stairs and through the Castle parlor, which was abuzz with scholars and guards, calamity over the scandal ringing through the air. The trio lowered their heads, not seeking attention, and walked out into the bright air of the courtyard. Sunlight spilled down from the white-hot sky above them, awakening diamonds on Ghirahim's skin.
The courtyard was surprisingly empty, most people having gone to the inside of the castle or hanging out in the town square. Link briskly turned to Ghirahim and offered a hand, which the Demon Lord shook with a rather sour expression on his face. Then he glanced at Midna, who outstretched her hands and smiled at Link.
"Hey, Short Stuff, this isn't goodbye," Midna said. "But I'll see you later." She quickly embraced him, much to Ghirahim's displeasure. It felt odd to Link, with the Twilight Princess being a good foot taller than he was, but he accepted the hug anyway.
"Definitely," he smiled, bowing his head a bit. "Good luck getting your...ah, helpers, together. I'll see you in a couple of days."
Midna nodded and grabbed Ghirahim's hand, preparing her warp spell. "Count on it." She then gave a sly look to the Demon Lord. "Let's hope I can warp us directly into the Mirror Chamber and we don't get seen by our desert friends."
He watched, a small smile on his face as Midna and Ghirahim swirled into a thousand black particles, dancing up into the sky and then fading from sight altogether, becoming wispy dark smudges against the white-blue horizon.
Link exhaled a breath through clenched teeth, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, steadying himself. Taking in a deep gulp of air, he clenched his hands at his sides and began the walk through Castle Town, a hiking supply shop on his agenda before he headed out of town for good.
/\\\
The desert wind whipped into Midna's face as soon as she hit the ground, and immediately, a wave of relief hit her. They had warped onto the spiraling circle pathway that enclosed the outer rim of the Mirror Chamber—above where Nabooru and the Gerudo lurked. She stood and realized that they had landed in what appeared to be a low-level sandstorm, with hot, forceful winds blowing sharp pelts of sand into her face. She frowned and pulled a long black scarf from her Shadow Storage and wrapped it around her face, leaving only a narrow slit for her eyesight, for protection.
She looked over and Ghirahim and saw that he had done the same. She pointed up, where the pathway curved into the basin of the Chamber. They briskly started walking up the path that spiraled upwards.
Ghirahim was glad that he had a scarf covering the smirk on his face, assuming that his hunch had been correct. He had had a feeling…yes, just a little feeling that somebody had tinkered with the Portal they had opened to the other realm. He had put a trace on the magic they used—an alarm, of sorts, and as they drew nearer to the Portal, he felt a strong rift in the spell.
And, if the Portal had been somehow closed off, he knew that his little hunch would be correct. That somebody, perhaps one of the Rosulyla…or, perhaps, he allowed, Zant had somehow lived and had some sort of nefarious scheme—had gone back to the Twilight Realm and began wreaking havoc there. He didn't particularly care. That would be easy enough to deal with. He could surely find a new way to open a Portal once the time was right, take over the Twilight Realm…and leave Hyrule in shambles.
And Midna would be unable to communicate with the other side, he knew, because of the enchanted orb's absence that she had yet to notice. He gleefully felt it in his Shadow Storage, gloating inside, as they rounded the corner and—
A stream of profanities flowed from Midna's mouth as she sprinted to the Portal, or, rather, what was left of it. Ghirahim staggered backwards, his hands coming to his chest in shock and offense.
The Portal, once moon-shined and almost ice-coated, had been frozen solid by some sort of magic and then shattered, a half-circle still in the frame on the ground but two pieces missing.
"Dammit!" Midna yelled, dropping to her knees, fingers spread over the remaining half. "Who did this?!"
Ghirahim formulated a quick response without giving away his shock. "They can't be far. They couldn't have possibly gone through the Portal without those two pieces."
So he had been wrong. If Zant or the Rosulyla were behind this, which he was sure one of them were, they were still in the Light Realm. Damn it, he swore to himself. He had thought himself so suave. "So the bastards are still here," Midna growled, anger flushing her cheeks. She closed her eyes, shifting through her Shadow Storage…
"Where in the hell is the Orb?" Midna muttered. She threw her fists down to the ground. "The Orb is missing!"
"The one that we were supposed to use to communicate with the other side in times of dire emergency?" Ghirahim asked, mock concern written all over his face.
"Yes, that one," she hissed. "It's gone. It's not in my Shadow Storage, not in my cloak—not anywhere. Dammit, dammit, dammit, we're locked in here. Who did this?!" She shouted, voice becoming increasingly furious.
Ghirahim knew that Midna would turn on him in mid-seconds if he didn't come up with an answer. He did not want to implicate the Rosulyla or suggest that Zant could still be alive, though that's what he suspected, to Midna—he could still take advantage of this situation. But first, he needed a scapegoat. He frantically looked around the chamber and finally, his eyes fell upon a saving grace—
A Sage's mask, sitting on the floor, covered in a few day's worth of desert sand. He didn't really care to think about how it ended up there, but an idea flashed.
"Vaati," he declared, flashing to the ground by the Sage's mask and scooping it up. "He could be behind this."
"Is that a mask from one of the Sages?" Midna hissed, pacing towards Ghirahim, eyes wild.
He nodded. "He must have come here…gotten in yet another altercation…something must have spooked him, so instead of going through the Portal, he must have put the spell on it and stolen half the pieces. They could still be in his possession. He must be awaiting his opportunity to go back to the Twilight Realm and lock us out—"
"That slimy bastard!" Midna yelled. "I'll roast him on a spit!" She grabbed Ghirahim's hand, much to his displeasure, and snapped her fingers, a warp spell spinning at her feet. "We're going to go find him. Hope Zelda still has him locked down!"
As the spell whirred and warped them, Ghirahim knew that he would only have a limited amount of time before the group scrutinized him as much as they would scrutinize Vaati. He would have to escape.
/\\\
Link sighed and hefted his rather heavy new travelling bag over his shoulder, filled with water canteens, dried fruits, grappling hook and rope, and thick leather gloves. He tossed a red rupee at the shopkeeper, who put it into her own cash bag, and he set out through the door, heading east through Castle Town.
Town really was abuzz, the scandal ringing high and low. Angry citizens rallied and shouted, and tabloid rats passed out scrolls with ridiculous headlines to anybody who would stop and listen. Gossip was ringing in the air. He was almost glad he was leaving town.
He ventured east, farther east than he had ever been, and eventually reached a drawbridge leading out of Castle Town. On the other side of it, a field stretched out, eventually turning to savannah and after that, scrub as far as the eye could see. He sighed. Doesn't look pleasant.
Nevertheless, he took a step onto the drawbridge, and—
"Hey!"
A winded, familiar voice rang out to him. He turned—
"Short Stuff," Midna yelled, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. She took a deep breath and offered him a hand. "Advisor," she breathed. "We have a problem."
/\\\
Vaati had been sulkily wandering the halls outside Zelda's room, finding his way back to his own guest suite with guards stationed by the stairwell, lying on the bed and playing games of shadows-melting into the walls and slinking, moving like a ghost to amuse himself. He'd be waiting a few more hours, certainly, before Midna and Ghirahim returned.
He vaguely wondered how Link's journey was going. He had sort of befriended the Advisor, in a brotherly kind of way, and he couldn't help but notice that it was certainly boring without Link hanging around. He exhaled a breath of air, melting back out of the shadows and leaning against the suite wall. He curled his fingers, conducting two pillows from the bed to arise and begin slamming against each other. He smirked, amused.
He heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, up to Zelda's floor, a story beneath him. He wondered if it were blasted gossip columnists or scholars looking to chat with the Princess about the recent uproar. Curious, he leaned his head to the floor and listened to what was going on.
Vaati heard the sounds of calamity, winded shouts, and much to his surprise, Midna's voice.
"Where is he?!" A sharp demand from the Twilight Princess.
"Who?" A guard, maybe.
"Vaati. The man we left here with Zelda." Another voice that shocked Vaati-Link's.
What was going on? Why were they looking for him? Nervously, Vaati crossed the room and grabbed the cloak he had thrown to the floor, sending it into his Shadow Storage in a quick motion.
He caught the word traitor float up from the floor beneath him and realized that something was very, very wrong. He had no time to think, except to formulate one quick curse: that bastard, Ghirahim. He had done nothing wrong and he had figured that Ghirahim would be up to some scheming plot of his own. He had no idea what he was implicated in or what Ghirahim would be up to, but if they were looking for him, it couldn't be good.
He wasn't going to stick around to find out.
Heart racing, the wind mage quickly locked the door to his suite and eyed the bay window on the other side of the room. Unfortunately, there was no place to escape from, just a straight drop down into the castle courtyard. He opened it anyway. Thinking quickly, he remembered a balcony garden underneath the third window in the hall, which would make for a soft landing and an easy climb down. It was time to leave. He would have to figure out the rest from wherever he went.
But one thing was for sure, if he was the scapegoat in one of Ghirahim's plans, Ghirahim would have to go on the run sooner rather than later, as well. His charade of blaming Vaati would only last for so long before he was found out.
See you soon, you bastard, he thought.
Footsteps rattled up the hallway. He couldn't get to the window and not be seen. If he couldn't be seen, he'd have to use some sort of leverage to escape-
Thinking quickly again, he melted into the shadows right by the door, nothing more than a pool of darkness. The lock did not hold the mob off for long, but he didn't need a long time. He just needed seconds to make his move.
The door burst open and Midna, Ghirahim, Link, a couple of guards, and Zelda immediately swarmed inside, shouting orders and running to the open window-"did he already escape?!"
Vaati materialized out of the shadows and grabbed Zelda, who let out a startled yelp, by the neck, her back to him. "Sorry, Princess," he hissed. "I'm not the bad guy here."
The rest of the group turned on their heels, Link's face wearing a look of absolute betrayal. Vaati winced, but looked at Ghirahim, whose face let just a bit of horror out and he knew that it had been a set up, after all.
Vaati, dragging Zelda as a human shield, backed into the hallway, up to one of the windows. He threw his hand out and a hail of glass shattered, providing his opening. Thee Princess struggled against him, attempting to drive an elbow into his stomach, but he braced himself and prepared to jump backwards.
"You won't get away," Zelda warned. He loosened his grip, just holding her by his hand on her neck now, holding up a finger to the group in warning.
"Only liars need to get away. Honest men need disappearing acts," Vaati muttered. "See you soon, Princess." He shoved her forward, towards the group, and in a smooth motion, flipped out the window, gusting into nothing more but air on the breeze.
A disappearing act.
In the same instance, the group checked Zelda for injuries-finding only yellowing bruises from the raid upon her neck- and guards went in a steady stream out of the Castle, in pursuit of Vaati. Link, Midna, Zelda, and Ghirahim, of course, knew that such pursuit was useless. Calamity faded in seconds, heavy breathing replaced shouts and hushed whispers replacing winded commands. It took everybody a few moments to realize something, though, that in the steady whirlwind of guards and movement-
"Link," Midna muttered, looking at Zelda, who was barking commands to guards.
Link quickly whirled around in the hall, searching the sea of faces and armor-
Realization and dread settled upon the duo, eyes locking and faces paling. Midna slammed her hands into the wall, singeing a tapestry in the process, in her frustration. "Dammit all. Ghirahim's gone."
Author's Note: Wow! We had a ton of ground to cover in this chapter and obviously, there were some very important events. It took a lot of time to get everything written and edited, so we apologize for the rather lengthy wait. :) Hopefully, it was worth it!