REFRESHERS FOR DAYS:

Sky is I.

Shadow is II.

Time is III.

Twilight is IV.

Wind is V.

Young is VI.

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To AMaeJay: THAT. WOULD. BE. BRILLIANT. I would probably do something like build a shrine for you in my room or something crazy like that…but if I had anything specific in mind…well, maybe something like the Heroes all together—I'm not adding any more Heroes! If that's too complex, then how about perhaps just a Hylian crest design and the cover title or something? I would WORSHIP YOU…in the fun, not really too serious way.

To SkyPirate0614: Thanks! I feel a million times more intelligent now xDDDD

To ReaderOwl2016: Thank you so much! HAPPINESS OVERLOAD.

But seriously guys, your reviews are "boosting the Hyrulean Army's morale" (been playing too much Hyrule Warriors—can you tell?) and every time I see one, whether it's constructive criticism or you're complimenting me, it always brings a smile to my face and it's really helping me keeping uploads consistent. I love you all! Keep the reviews coming!

Also, my surgery is tomorrow, so the next upload will be a little late. Sorry! I mean, I don't exactly want to write for the internet when I'm all woozy after that…and stuff…I guess…I've never had surgery…

This chapter is so short, it's killing me. On the inside.

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Chapter Twenty-One

The Shadow Counterpart

IV.

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Wind, a mischievous glint in his eye, turns to us. "Okay, Twilight, you ready?"

I groan aloud, leaving my misgivings unvoiced. Most of them. "Wind, if you kill me here I will make it my mission to haunt you forever as a ghost…"

Wind just grins back. "Okay, I'm pretty sure you're ready. Midna?"

The Twili throws a sadistic smirk my way, while I furiously plan out my funeral. I want Wind kicked out, along with Midna, but I'll invite the other Heroes. With cake. I need cake at my funeral. And it has to be blackberry-flavored. I won't have it any other way.

Just as I'm thinking about my will, and how I'm going to write it in Wind's blood, or something violent like that, I get a shove from behind. Midna sits there, contentedly floating with her arms crossed. She looks so satisfied…well, it's not her who might die in the next few minutes!

"Why don't you do it, Wind?" I ask the smaller boy accusingly, and he shrugs his shoulders and widens his eyes. Why does he have to be so cute all the sudden?!

"I've already done it before, and it's great to try new things!" Wind says, his voice hopeful. I sigh and watch as Midna teleports away.

"But how are you guys going to get up there?" I ask, and Wind giggles. Is he really sharing a spirit with me? I glare at him.

"Well, you're going to take this stone, the pirate's stone, and communicate what the area looks like to Midna, and she'll teleport us. Remember?" Wind nudges me with an elbow, and I retaliate by smacking him on the side of his head. Rubbing his ear, he says, "There are no flaws in the plan. It's completely fail-safe!"

"…right."

If Wind wasn't my descendant, or sharer of my spirit, I guess, I would probably bash his head in. Or something like that. Not really. He's far too innocent for that. I can't take him seriously that way. Midna teleports back, but this time something else emerges in a flash of Twili particles. I sigh as we all stare at the cannon.

"You did this with the sky cannon thingy, right?" Midna asks, and I nod somberly. "Well, this won't be all that different."

"I have you two aiming, though, and I feel as if you have some sort of grudge against Heroes dressed in green," I mutter crossly, and Midna nudges me again.

"Since the path connecting the boat isn't here anymore," Wind scratches his hatless head. "I suppose this is the only way." He turns to me with a grin. "Can't say I'm sorry, I mean, you almost killed Time…"

"Shut up!" I scowl at the Hero of Wind, who simply giggles.

"Well, let's go!" Midna says somewhat too cheerfully, and I decide I'm definitely not inviting her to my funeral. Or Wind, for that matter. I'll invite Epona, though…but I'll have to remember Time to keep her on a strict diet, and make sure she doesn't date any stallions too old for her…

"Where are these thoughts coming from?" I mutter aloud, not wanting to admit—aloud or even in my head—that I've been thinking about Epona's marriage for quite some time.

"Come on, wolf boy, we're not waiting forever," Midna crosses her arms impatiently.

"Can't we just wait until Medli gets here or something?" I shake my head, regretting my overall decision to go to the Great Sea. I should've pretending like I was sick…

"She has the power of flight!" Midna throws her hands up in the air. "And I don't exactly want to miss out on a chance to see my favorite Hero being tortured!"

"…"

The next thing I know, I'm being pushed into a barrel hooked up to the cannon. Wind and Midna both crank it up. Say your last words now, Twilight… I think. Suddenly an idea hits me.

"WAIT! Wind, you've been on this boat before! Why don't you just tell Midna what it looks like?" I quickly shout, and Wind hesitates.

"What's the fun in that?" Wind sticks his tongue out and pulls the lever.

Oh, how I hate the Hero of Winds.

I yell loudly as I am launched into the air, leaving my stomach behind. The rush of air fills my ears as I hurtle through the rain headfirst. How am I going to land?!

I get my answer as I crash into something hard—no, I crash through it. Splintering wood cascades down my shoulders, and I can feel small cuts forming where they scrape my tunic. I am still airborne, until gravity finally takes hold and I crash to the floor. Moaning, I roll over on my side.

"This…isn't…how I expected to meet a Hero…"

The feminine voice makes me glance up, and from my position on the ground, I see a woman. Her stomach and part of her breasts are half-exposed in a dark outfit, but her eyes are covered by a beak-like visor. She has a permanent simper plastered to her face, and her dress only covers one of her legs. What kind of fashion choices are these?

"Hello, Hero," she spits. "Have enough of me, yet?"

I heave myself to my feet, stiff and covered in sawdust. "Who…are you?" I ask, and choke on the dust still floating down around me.

"Me?" the woman looks offended for a moment, her lips parted in an unbelieving o. "You don't remember the great Cia? Or perhaps…" she glances around herself and rests a hand on a piece of wood. "…you're a different reincarnation, aren't you?"

I stay silent, no longer groping for words. A burst of Twili magic suddenly appears in the center of the room, and Cia reacts quicker than I thought she would be able to, especially in her dress. She forms a pulsing purple barrier around it, ensnaring it within the center of the room. Wind and Midna materialize in its center, where they glance around themselves in shock. Wind opens his mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. A small movement at the edge of the sphere and Medli pops up beside Wind. I'm glad to know she's safe, she wasn't the one to load me up in a cannon…

"More Heroes?" Cia laughs, a maniacal sound that echoes through the room. "I'll deal with you one by one, thank you very much…"

"Sheesh, who's the Hero who got caught up with you?" I spit at her, drawing the Master Sword and brandishing it at her.

"Link, of course…" Cia's gaze—well, mouth—turns dreamy (don't ask—I can just tell!), and I frown. Is she an enemy or not? She turns back to me, another smile playing on her lips. "Let's get down to business. Even with your shiny new sword, you can't defeat me!"

Suddenly she conjures a staff out of midair, brandishing it like I did the Master Sword. Letting out a cry, she swiftly jerks it towards me, and a giant sphere of pulsing, red and purple energy hurtles towards me. I gasp and roll out of the way, the magic hurtling past me and out the hole I created when I crashed into the small cabin on the ship.

I grit my teeth and retaliate by rushing forwards with the Master Sword, feinting to the right. Cia doesn't fall for it, and simply summons a wall of wind that blasts me back. I hit the far wall, where I sink to the floor, dazed. I scramble back up to my feet, but she already has conjured another sphere of dark energy and throws it at me. I don't have enough time to dodge. I bring up the Hylian Shield in defense, where it rockets off the metal and back at Cia. I stumble back from the force in which the energy created on my shield. Cia flicks her wrist and the energy dissolves into thin air.

She suddenly lets out a shout, and small swirls of the same colored energy surround me. I grit my teeth as they start to revolve around me, getting faster with each motion. Tense, I try to command my rigid muscles to do something, but I can't. The energy…it starts closing in. I furiously search for ideas, nothing happening.

As a last-minute resort, I take out Ilia's charm she gave me a long time ago, placing it on my lips. I take a steady breath and blow into the small instrument, trying to copy a song I heard a long time ago. When I first found Wind. Although I was unconscious for most of the boat ride when he brought me to his oasis, the vague memories of a song he used to command the winds reaches the front of my mind, and I play the quick three notes.

A blasting wind from behind makes me stagger, but the energy is dispelled upon it. It stops after a few short seconds, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Cia growls aloud and launches another sphere at me, but it's swifter than before. It smacks me square in the chest, and I fly back to the opposite wall again. Hitting it, pain blossoms from the point of contact with the sphere and the wall. I cry out as I collapse to the floor yet again, but it takes longer for me to regain my footing.

"Great Farore, help me," I mutter, holding up the Master Sword again. Cia launches another burst of energy, and this time is flows towards me like airborne water. I slice at it with the Master Sword, but I only make a small gap in the line. Bringing up my Hylian Shield, I am forced back onto the wall as she continues to blast me with her magic.

The metal digs into my right arm, and I can feel the wood behind me straining to hold such high pressures. My own body feels like it's being crushed, my arm almost clasped against my chest. I let out a yell of frustration, as I'm pinned.

"Ah, Hero, Link put up more of a fight…" Cia dismissively flicks her wrist again. "But in the end, he didn't kill me. He thought he did…but I will always come back for him."

"That's…creepy…" I manage through gritted teeth, and the magic's power grows more intense. The Hylian Shield is now pressed up against my collarbone, digging a grove into it. I hear a snap on my right one, and agony sears through my right shoulder. How do I win against Cia?!

"Cia!"

A new voice shouts out, and the magic suddenly stops. I crumple to the floor, where a hand grips my shoulder. I cry out, and the hand withdraws. Dizzy from the sudden break in pressure, I stare into purple eyes. Purple?

"Are you all right?" the same voice asks, and I blink a few times to clear the spots in my vision.

An eccentric blue-haired young woman kneels before me, her pale features kind and gentle, rivaling that of Cia's. Remarkably, however, she bears a distinct resemblance to the sorceress. She wears a white and gold cape over on shoulder, a brilliant purple half top decorated with several gold accessories. She wears a half purple half white skirt with a glittering blue gem strapped to her belt. White leggings embroidered with golden patterns stretch down to her dark boots, also covered in golden patterns.

"I'm…fine…" I say, answering her earlier question and getting to my feet, wobbly. The girl helps me up, supporting me. I sway unsteadily when she lets go, but am otherwise okay.

Cia lets out a laugh. "So you've come to this dimension, too, Lana? I thought you were having fun with Link…"

"We were allies!" Lana exclaims. "Nothing more, Cia. Please…Cia, this isn't like you! You're being manipulated! Please, stop!"

"Lana, we both know I can't," Cia murmurs, and I take a step forward as she turns away. "You're the light purged from my heart," she says. "I'm simply darkness. Farewell, Lana." Cia turns to me, where I still am swaying. "Hero, we shall meet again. Don't think this is our last encounter."

With that, Cia disappears. No fanfare, no nothing. She simply winks out of existence.

"She's…gone?! Already?!" Wind's voice is suddenly heard and he barrels over to the place where the sorceress was. "But the Great Sea…"

That's when I notice the boat flickering. Literally, flickering in and out of existence. One moment it's there, the next we're standing on air. I gasp as gravity suddenly takes hold, and the Forsaken Fortress is of no more. Neither is the Great Sea. But our mission isn't done here, yet! Why did Cia flee? Was it because Lana arrived? Who is Lana? And the Hero they talked about?

The wind around me picks up as we hurtle down to the now exposed trees far below. Medli is fine, being a Ruto, but Wind and Lana—whoever she is—and me, for that matter, are all free falling.

What do we do?! I ask Wind, unable to draw in a breath to speak.

I don't know! Wind shouts back in my head.

The trees loom ever closer, and I still don't have a plan.

I guess Wind and I are going to share a funeral.

Goddesses! That means that he'll be at my funeral…I bite my lip to keep a curse from spilling out as I fall towards my certain doom.

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Is Sky secretly creating an anti-remlit army? Why is Wind mixing blue and green paint? How come Time is training vigorously for an "intense tennis match?" Why is Young so transfixed on the Hero's Shade's shoes? How come Cia fled when Lana approached her with iced tea? (Okay, it was a time crunch, I didn't have much time to make this chapter) FIND OUT IN CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO!