The Silent Kingdom
By: Freedan the Eternal
Chapter 24: Link's Dark Side
In spite of her claim, Sheila did sleep that night. She woke some time later to see that Zelda was also asleep, and Midna was sitting across the room from them, her back against the wall.
"What time is it?" Sheila asked.
"About two hours past midnight," Midna said, "You feeling better?"
"A lot," Sheila said, sitting up, "Where's Link?"
Midna gestured toward the entrance. "Just outside. Said he wanted some fresh air, and I imagine he needed the bushes as well, provided he can find some."
Sheila glanced up the tunnel and saw that Link had been true to his word. The bodies were gone from view, though she thought she could make out a few extra, fleshy limbs sticking up from the goo in the pool in the next room.
"I think it's time someone gave me an explanation," she said, "How exactly did Link turn into a wolf? That's not something I studied back at the acadamy."
Midna sighed. "If you insist, there were some bits we left out when we told you about the previous events that engulfed our kingdoms. We told you that Link was protected from becoming a spirit when he entered the twilight by his Triforce. What we didn't tell you was that when he did, his body transformed into a form reflecting his inner spirit."
Midna produced the small gem she carried at all times, that allowed her to transform Link. "At first, he had no control over the transformation. When he entered the twilight, he would change, and he had to visit one of the spirits of light in Hyrule to return to normal. Then, when we encountered Zant, he cursed Link. This gem was buried in Link's flesh, and nothing could return him to his human form."
Midna's gaze drifted to the roof of the room, and she sighed deeply. "That was when Zant also cast me into this world for the first time. Before, I had used Link's shadow like a safety line. Twili cannot survive in the light, and I had existed half in and half out of the shadows to survive before. Link was trapped in his wolfen form and I was rapidly dying. I bid him run as fast as he could for the castle, to Zelda," she glanced at the princess' sleeping form, "I had only hoped to get there in time to tell her what was happening, so that she could help him, before my life was extinguished.
"What Zelda did when we arrived, I still don't understand exactly. She gave me her heart. She saved my life and at the same time, allowed me to become tolerant to the light of this world, but not before telling us of the Master Sword, the weapon that would be able to break the curse upon Link."
Sheila was hanging on every word, glancing at Zelda where she lay. "I hated her for it," Midna said, "I hated her for a good long time. After I helped Link find the sword, and the curse was broken, the gem reappeared. We kept it, because with its power, I could transform Link to either shape whenever he wished. It worked out in the end, and I finally got my revenge on Zant. We even managed to restore Zelda's heart to her body, saving her life.
"I've come to love this world," Midna said with a smile, "I love it and the people here. I love the stars in particular. They are something you'd never see in the Twilight Realm. In a way, I've come to dread when we finally do find a way to lift my curse, because it would mean that I have to return home, and never come back here again."
"I don't see it that way," Sheila said, "What's to stop you from returning? You can exist in the light, now, so you can come back any time you wish."
"And suppose Ganon himself or some other uses one of my people again, like he did Zant?" Midna asked, "It would be best to cut off the worlds entirely, I believe, and destroy the Twilight Mirror."
"And what would that accomplish?" Sheila ventured, "Zant's attack on Hyrule began before the Twilight Mirror was put back together, yes? He could not have opened it from that side, even had it been in one piece. Destroying the mirror would accomplish nothing but prevent you from returning. Or is that what you intend anyway?"
Midna looked at her, but did not speak.
"You care for Link, don't you?" Sheila asked.
Midna stared at her for a long moment before finally turning away and saying, "So much it hurts."
"And you are afraid of him knowing your feelings," Sheila said, "at least to some extent, because you are afraid that when you are returned to your true form, you will be forced to separate."
"I don't belong in this world anyway," Midna said, "It's not like it matters in the end."
"Don't be so sure about that," Sheila said, "Your people came to Hyrule from the west, and while it took them some time to build up their power, they intended to conquer Hyrule and possibly the world through the power of their magic, correct?"
Midna suddenly grasped what she was implying. "The tapestry with the fleeing wizards going to sea... Do you mean they could be my people's ancestors?"
"Not to make guarantees," Sheila said, "But it is a very real possibility. And that would mean that your people, the Twili, and the human race of this world, were originally one and the same."
"I was fairly sure about that already," Midna said, "But you must understand that most of my people barely resemble humans. And you realize," she put one hand on her chest, "this is not the real me. I probably resemble a human more than any other member of my race, but that does not make it so. And as a princess, I have a duty to my people first. Love is not a necessity for royalty. All that matters is blood and competence. If you're as highly ranked as you claim, you should understand this."
Sheila smiled slightly, and shook her head. "High Elder is an elected position, though it lasts a lifetime. Without it, I would have no true rank. My father is a judge, you see, and as such holds no real position in any kingdom, yet is respected in all."
"And your mother?"
"My mother," Sheila hesitated, deliberating over the best choice of words, "My mother died when I was very young. Before that, she was a seamstress. My father never told me of his parents, but he was chosen as a judge at a very young age, and I don't know just where our family was before then."
"I thought you said elves were the ruling class of Mystara," Mida said, "Where are all the others, then?"
"Few and far between," Sheila said, "In truth, we are a dying race. Our longevity makes us complacent, and I see it even in my father. A thousand years to live is the potential to father a great many children, yet he has no desire for more than me. And with my mother dead, that means that one new life in place of two aging. We've been depopulated due to lack of ambition and little desire for change."
"You don't seem so complacent to me," Midna said, "You leaped at the chance to help us, and even put that archmage in his place to do so."
Sheila chuckled. "I do have a bit more ambition than most elves. I achieved the highest marks for destructive magic the academy had seen in millennia, and received considerable praise for my level of concentration. I can maintain a defensive spell as I speak to someone, for example, dividing my attention. I cannot afford to be interrupted during the casting, though.
"To be perfectly honest," she said, lowering her voice and leaning forward slightly, "If or rather when we come across this Ganondorf fellow, I kind of want to test myself against him."
Midna smile, then chuckled and nodded. "You're an idiot," she said.
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Sheila asked, her smile vanishing.
"Listen," Midna said, her tone dark and her face grim, "I am a wielder of Shadow Magic, as you know. I possess the same power my ancestors possessed, and you have not seen what I am truly capable of. I killed Zant with but a thought and a fraction of my power. And at my full strength, I was no match for Ganondorf. He is more powerful than you can imagine, and it was only quick thinking on my part combined with a lot of luck that saved my life. Ganon is a villain and would not hesitate to kill you."
"I find it hard to believe that anyone can be so utterly evil as you claim," Sheila said, "Everyone has to have some good in them. It's part of the balance that makes up the world itself."
"You want to know just what this man is capable of?" Midna asked, "Sit an listen, then, and I will tell you exactly what he is capable of."
One year ago, in the throne room of Hyrule Castle...
"Then know that it shall never come to be!" boomed a massive voice within the hall. Link felt as though his eardrums were about to burst.
The three turned, and in the very air before them, fire burst into life. Flames floating on nothing grew, swirling in a mesmerizing spiral, finally coalescing into a fifteen foot image of a face. The face of Ganondorf.
Link's sword was in his hand in a flash. "Dammit," he said, "What does it take to make you stay down?"
The great mouth moved, laughter echoing through the hall. "You truly do not know what you are up against, do you?" the face said, laughing again, "Yes, you do not even know what that in your hand truly is, or what it stands for! You've just stumbled forward blindly, believing you were the chosen of some deity and their blessing gave you the power needed to smite evil from this world!"
Ganondorf's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, "And now here you stand. Evil is before you. No one can come to help you now. What are you going to do?"
"Well, for starters," Link said, gripping the Master Sword tight enough to turn his knuckles white, "I'm going to kill the windy jerk, then I'm going to go take a nap."
No, Midna thought, terror gripping her heart, This has gone too far. He's too strong for you, Link! He'll kill you!
The three Fused Shadows in her possession appeared as she summoned her power. I know what I have to do now. I won't allow anyone else to die. I won't allow it!
Link saw it coming. He knew why she had summoned the Fused Shadows. Realizing instantly what Midna planned to do, he leaped for her. Screaming for her to stop, he tried to reach her, tried to disrupt her concentration, so that the spell would fail. He was only a few feet away. He should have reached her.
His feet had left the floor. He was flying through the air. Everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion. He saw her turn to him. He saw her smile. A sad, lonely smile that made Link feel as though his heart would tear itself from his chest in sorrow. Then his body broke apart.
His arms shattered into small black squares, spiraling upward into the air. His shoulders and chest were the next to go, then he was blinded as his head shattered into pieces.
Midna turned to face the massive head of Ganon. She felt a single tear roll down her cheek. "Goodbye, Link," she whispered, "I love you."
The three pieces of the Fused Shadow slammed into her, forming into the gigantic mask with the fourth part, her own mask, the great energy of the near unstoppable power of her ancestors flowing into her. Her body screamed in agony as her flesh dissolved into pure energy and began to expand. Her great spider-like limbs spread and grew in size, nearly filling the massive chamber.
With a scream of hatred, she descended on the specter head of Ganondorf, seeing through the illusion, and aiming for its heart, the villainous man standing shortly behind it. Her massive limbs slammed into him as he made no more to dodge, and carried him through the floor, stone and dust falling around them as they feel down, through the next floor, level after level before landing with a shocking impact on the ground floor.
Ganondorf was loose from her grasp, and running up the length of one of her massive arms, blood trickling from a dozen cuts on his face and arms from the flying stone chips, yet the wounds closing even as she watched. He was healing at an impossible rate. Raising one massive fist, she struck him from the side, sending him flying through the air and crashing into the stone wall with bone-crushing force, fragments of stone falling around him. A second later, he dislodged from the point of impact, falling toward the floor. Even as he fell, his voice became audible, echoing all around them, accompanied by a golden glow filling his eyes.
"You who are mindless, come forth from the planes of Abbadon," he intoned, his cape billowing behind him and red flames swirling all about his body, "Let the fires of Gehenna burn everything to ash!"
Midna lashed out with one massive arm, planning to knock him into the wall once more. "Exodus!" Ganon finished with a scream, and before his feet touched the floor was flying back toward her, the flames around him igniting in a massive red flame, turning him into a flying streak of human fire. Midna tried to raise her arms, but her size slowed her, and he was moving at incredible speed, striking into her body just below the Fused Shadow mask, and with blinding pain was burning through her body and then streaking out her backside. The fiery pain blinded her, and she was aware of falling, but the impact of the floor came at only as only a dull thump.
She felt the cold stone beneath her, and realized that she had reverted. The four pieces of the Fused Shadow lay in pieces around her. Her head felt too light without her mask and dizziness washed over her as she pushed herself up.
A massive metal booted foot slammed into the floor in front of her. She looked up to see Ganon, still holding the sheathed sword in one hand, smile down at her. "What's the matter? Giving up already?" he mocked her.
"I still have one trick left," Midna said, summoning the power from deep within herself, "You will never touch Link again."
A dim purple glow grew around the edges of the pieces of the Fused Shadow, and around Midna herself. It then began to glow brighter as sparks of black lightning danced from one piece to another, and across the stone floor.
"Oh, so that's it!" Ganondorf said, "You intend to kill us both! Well, let me tell you something about this mighty power your ancestors have passed on to you."
He knelt down on one knee, resting his free hand on his upright knee as he leaned down close to her. "Your ancestors were servants to a power much mightier than their own. That power was destroyed by a single man, and your kind fled like cowards. I do not yet have the power that man wielded, but I am well on my way, and once I take the Triforce of Courage from Link's fresh corpse, I will surpass him. You are already but a speck to me."
The glow was growing brighter by the second, and the sparks of lightning larger. "Shut up and die," Midna growled.
Ganondorf rose to his feet. "Allow me to demonstrate," he said, the air around him suddenly growing heavy, his cape billowing out behind him, and the gold glow reappearing in his eyes.
The sheer weight of the air pressing down on Midna made it hard to breath, and the glow around her flickered. She had to maintain her concentration.
"Ist talon ba nu meel," Ganondorf intoned, the words echoing and each one seeming to slam into Midna with convulsive force, "Spirits of Earth and Air, I beseech thee to honor thy blood pact of old and fulfill thy duty to me!"
Ganondorf was raising his arms to his sides as he spoke, and chips of stone were being ripped from the floor and flying about him faster and faster, leaving him standing in a crater in the stone floor. He turned his gaze down to Midna, the golden glow in his eyes over his scowl giving him the image one would expect from a demon. "Behold, Twilight Princess," he whispered through his teeth, "This is true power."
Midna's concentration collapsed, the glow and sparks dying. Then Ganondorf said that fatal word. "Megadesh!" he shouted, a shockwave of force flying out from him, the floor flying into the air in fragments and the walls themselves being ripped outward, the roof flying upward, and a white, blinding light everywhere.
Midna's self-preservation instincts took hold, and she grabbed for the nearest Twilight Portal with her mind, a short distance from the entrance of the castle town. Her body shattered into small black blocks and was away from the castle, leaving behind Ganon, and the Fused Shadow, that had been the one hope she had to stop him, and the thought beating upon her mind was that she had failed utterly, and Link was going to die.
Present Day...
"But Link did beat him, of course," Sheila said when Midna fell silent.
"Yes," Midna said softly, "Link thought I was dead and his hatred of Ganondorf gave him the strength to defeat him."
"It wasn't hatred," Sheila said, "Link values your friendship, Midna, even if he doesn't return your feelings for him. Mankind thrives on two primary feelings. These feelings are hope, which can give a man the strength to fight even in the bleakest situation, and pain, which can push a man far past his normal limits. It was pain Link felt at losing you that gave him the strength to prevail."
Midna gave her a dark glare. "You listen to me. I know Link much better than you. Link's pain is kept far from the surface. He doesn't allow it to show. Do you realize how much agony he is in over what has happened to the people of Hyrule? For one moment and one moment only, he allowed that pain to surface, the very night the event occurred. Haven't you wondered why he seems so easygoing, so free-spirited?"
Midna was on her feet without waiting for an answer. "Link has two sides to his personality. The only side you have truly seen is his kind, easy-going side. Within him is a darker side. A side that truly hates his foes, that will show no mercy to anyone who gets in his way, and will kill without hesitation. When that side of Link comes to the surface, he has all the appearance of something out of a nightmare. I wouldn't put it past him to be able to slaughter an entire village of people without batting an eye if they stood in his way. He becomes wild and uncontrollable..."
"Like a wolf?" Sheila interjected.
Midna paused to take a breath, then sighed. "Yes. Like a wolf. There was one time, a ways back, when one of the children of Ordon that we had found, Colin, was snatched from very streets by one of the creatures serving Ganondorf. Link gave chase into a neighboring area of the plains of Hyrule, where there was a war-party of nearly thirty of them.
"Link killed them all," Midna said, "and then threw their leader off the great Hyrule bridge. Everywhere you looked, there was nothing but blood. Link hadn't even bothered with clean kills. Most of them were bleeding to death in agony, unable to get onto their feet or tend to each other. Link put Colin on his horse and went back toward Kakariko. He stopped on moment to look back at the dying creatures, and then moved on. No mercy, no pity. That is Link's darker side."
"But he saved the boy," Sheila said softly, her voice barely audible, "That alone shows he does not become a mad beast. I do not believe he would ever harm you, either, Midna. Or Zelda. If I got in his way like that, I may not be so lucky."
Silence fell over them, and they both sat, watching the silent green flames in the braziers. "Please," Midna said after several minutes, "Don't tell him how I feel. Or about this conversation."
"I won't," Sheila said, "Promise. But you have to tell him how you feel sooner or later, before it truly is too late for you."
"I'll think about it," Midna said.
Midna lay back on the stone floor, staring up at the empty blackness that was the ceiling. "Change of subject," she said, "But do you have someone you care for, waiting somewhere?"
"No," Sheila said with a smile, "I haven't met the right guy yet, I guess. Though there was this one boy I knew back at the academy..."
"Oh, do tell," Midna said, rolling onto her side to see Sheila, who had leaned back against the wall, her hands wrapped around her knees.
"It was a long time ago," Sheila said, "I was young and didn't have a bit of sense in my head. He was a typical jock, I guess, though he was training to be a wizard. He was in incredible shape, rock hard muscles everywhere. Gods, you could iron a shirt on his stomach! And hung like a horse, too, gods I remember the time we went for a walk outside the city. I packed a picnic lunch, though it didn't get eaten, mainly because when we reached a small secluded area, my dress got tangled in the stirrups and I nearly fell off my horse. He caught me, but in the event he got a big face full of..."
She trailed off when she saw Link standing in the entrance to the chamber.
With a complete, no-nonsense, straight face, he said, "I love you."
Sheila felt her face growing hot. A smile spread across Link's face and he collapsed to his knees, holding his sides and shaking with near-silent laughter. Midna started chuckling and lay her head back, putting one hand over her mouth to try to stay quiet and not wake Zelda. "Are you really so sure that was an accident?" Link managed to ask, "Your dress just happens to get tangled in a stirrup, and you 'accidently' make a sandwich out of his face with those," he made no secret of where his eyes were going, "rather generous slices of bread?"
"Oh, come on," Sheila said, her face growing hotter as she crossed her arms over her chest, "They're not that big."
"They're not that small either," Link said, his grin reaching nearly to his ears, "I suppose that's an easy way to let a guy know you're interested, huh?"
"Are you trying to suggest something, Link?" Sheila shot back, "That you're interested?"
"Oh, well that depends," Link said, feigning deep thought, "Is mister muscles about to jump out of the shadows and beat me down?"
Sheila chuckled. "He's dead, Link. This was about two hundred fifty years ago. I was about fifty years old, still quite young for an elf, and he was human. Now, are you suggesting or not?"
Link shrugged. "I was just having some fun with you. You feeling better?"
"Well, I was," she replied, "Right up until the evil man here started toying with my emotions."
And then she sneezed. "Damn," she muttered as she wiped her nose on the back of her hand, "I think I'm catching something."
Link kneeled down next to her, putting the back of his hand against her forehead. "No fever yet," he said, "Need to get you down to somewhere warmer before this gets bad."
"I'm sorry," she said, "Of course I'd be the one to get sick."
"Don't worry about it," Link said, "Getting out of these mountains will be easier than getting in, unless there's another blizzard. Cross your fingers. We'll get you a warm bed at the first inn we see, and I know a great recipe for a soup that'll knock a cold right out of you."
Midna 'pfft'ed. "If you can find all the ingredients."
Link glanced at her over his shoulder. "Oh, the pumpkin and the goat cheese will be easy. It's finding the right kind of fish I'm worried about. I don't think those smelly things can be found anywhere outside Zora's Domain. Maybe we can find a substitute."
"Hey, Link," Midna said, pointing past him.
"What?" he asked, turning back to see Sheila looking a bit green around the gills, "Oh, don't do that. It's actually really good."
Sheila took a deep breath, shaking the thoughts of the bizarre stew from her mind. "You really are a strong man, Link," she said, "It takes a truly strong heart to put on a smile no matter the situation."
"Okay," Link said, checking her forehead again, "No, can't be delirious from fever. What brought this on?"
Midna was shaking her head behind Link's back. Sheila sighed. "After what happened to your people, and the situation we are now in, surrounded by spirits and undead monsters, and here you are joking around with us. You are a very strong man. I never truly realized it until now."
"There are two things I believe in more than anything else," Link said, "The first is that no matter how grim things seem, if you lose your sense of humor, you've lost that last spark of hope keeping you alive."
"And the second?"
"It's not really related to your question," he said, "but it's the more important belief. Promises are made to be kept. I've never broken a promise I've made in my life, and I don't intend to start any time soon."
As he said that, he glanced back at Midna and winked. That gesture alone warmed her heart.
"Now," he said, "We've got a big day tomorrow. Need to plunder this ancient holy place, regardless of how downgraded its become. Monsters to kill and gods to offend. You better get some sleep, Miss High Elder. And no dreaming about muscular he-men unless they really are hung like horses."
He settled down with his back against the wall where he could see both passages leading into the chamber they occupied. Sheila watched him as Midna settled next to him, leaning against his side as he absent-mindedly put one arm around her.
She couldn't help but smile as she lay down. "Wake me for last watch," she said, "You do need some sleep."
Link nodded.
Seeing those two together, one couldn't help but see it. Even if Link only thought of Midna as a friend, his feelings for her were visible to a watching eye. Perhaps it would take breaking her curse for him to realize it. There also was the thought that he wouldn't really enjoy kissing a girl with more facial hair than him.
Sheila was positive she had read something about the Triforce somewhere at the academy, long ago. She hadn't paid it much mind then, but she realized now that it could contain the knowledge necessary to break a curse laid with its power.
That's it. She would devote herself to finding a method to break the curse, once they had assembled the counter spell and the Lords of Chaos were out of the way. They would still be around, because it was obvious Link intended to help deal with them.
She looked over at Link where he sat. I fear, she thought, that I will see your dark side before these events draw to a close.
Mur'neth shivered in the cold. He was just outside the temple entrance, in the cold, silently cursing Link for setting camp so close to the entrance. He daren't move inside or the elf would be able to sense his presence. He wrapped his cloak more tightly about himself, the white cloth making him nearly invisible in the snow, but all he wanted at this moment was warmth.
It was a bit foolish, perhaps, that he hadn't been paying more attention. Someone found him by tripping over him. Literally. Mur'neth spun toward the foot that had stuck his backside. A man wearing a vest with no sleeves and short pants was backing away rapidly, his voice rising to a shout, "Hey! Sir-"
He was cut off as Mur'neth's hurled kunei buried itself in his throat. With a great spurt of blood from the vulnerable artery, the man fell to his knees, choking on his own blood as it boiled up through his mouth and nose, and finally collapsed.
The man wasn't alone, so Mur'neth knew he would have to act quickly. He drew his sword and set to work, hacking the body to pieces. He would scatter the bloody scraps about, then move to a new location to hide, and hopefully the man's companions would think a spook of the valley got him.
You'd better find Ganon soon, Link, Mur'neth thought as he worked, I'm getting tired of this kind of thing.