"His what?" Zelda asked, suddenly feeling faint and weak, her legs shaky beneath her own weight.

"My Lady?" Beth asked as Zelda nearly fell to the ground, her handmaiden catching her. This couldn't be happening!

"Why? Why is this happening to me?" Zelda thought out loud. "And you," Zelda said, directing her words to Beth now, "How in all the Hells would you know all of this?" Zelda accused. Beth helped Zelda to a small cushiony seat before answering.

"My Lady, I am only a handmaiden, a humble servant, and that is exactly how I know. Your type – you royals – you never suspect we are listening! You will say anything in front of us because we are nothing more than invisible workers. You don't care for us, you don't pay us, we have no loyalty to you lot. You'd be surprised how much your kind is willing to reveal in fron of nothing more than a servant." Beth said coldly.

"I don't appreciate that," Zelda said sternly, "Associating me and directing your words to me as if I am one of them!" Zelda cried out, pointing to the door.

"What is there to cry about? You are going to be a Queen! His Queen!" Beth exasperated, her eyes wide.

"Beth, what do you know about me?" Zelda tested, forcing herself to calm down. After all, none of this was Beth's fault.

"What do you mean?" Beth questioned, looking downwards.

"My name is Zelda, I am Princess of Hyrule – I am to be Hyrule's Queen! I don't want to marry Ganondorf, I don't want to be in your world – I was abducted from my home and taken here! Ghirahim abused me and locked me in the dungeons. Yes, I am grateful that Ganondorf 'saved' me, but I do not owe him any favors." Zelda said.

"You're a Hylian?" Beth asked, sadness suddenly on her face.

"Well, of course!"

"So am I – my family is still there. I – I'm sorry, my Princess," Beth said, bowing to Zelda's feet.

"Quit that," Zelda commanded. "I need you to do me a favor, if you will," Zelda begged.

"Anything, but only if you take me home with you," Beth bargained.

"If I can, I will," Zelda promised.

"What do you need me to do?" Beth asked.

"First, we need to prevent this wedding from happening – at any cost. I cannot marry Ganondorf, and he can't marry me; not without my consent. Second, I need a quill and parchment – there is a gown I need made," Zelda said, the gown in her mind perfectly.


Zelda thought of the gown she had illustrated and instructed Beth to make. Beth would tell the seamstress that Ganondorf had issued it to be her wedding gown, although she wasn't even sure if there was going to be a wedding. In any case, she needed the gown before she was his Queen. She would not go down without a fight, and both, Ghirahim and Ganondorf would see that she wasn't broken.

Zelda took in a deep breath and plastered a smile onto her face as the guards escorting her to the throne room stepped aside before the large, open doors. Zelda walked forward. She could already see Ganondorf sitting on his large throne. She nearly stopped in her tracks when she saw Ghirahim seated at his right hand side. Hadn't he been sent to the dungeons? Or was it all an act to gain her trust? Well Ganondorf was wrong, she would never trust a citizen of the Otherworld – and she had proven that so far as every kind and straight-up person she had met was really a Hylian.

Which raised the question: why were there so many Hylians in the Otherworld? Surely none would willingly come here? Had they all been abducted like herself? Perhaps they were prisoners of war? Whatever the case, Zelda wanted to help them all. After all, she was their true ruler.

Zelda came to a stop before the steps that led to Ganondorf's throne. She curtsied and bowed her head, being careful not to look him in the eyes. She felt his gaze rack over her body, over her cleavage. She also felt the eyes of Ghirahim upon her. His gaze made her squirm in the dress, made her wish it wasn't so revealing. But she knew there was nothing she could do except smile. She wouldn't meet Ghirahim's eyes, that way he'd think she was afraid of him.

Zelda lifted her head and her eyes met with Ganondorf's orange eyes. Zelda wondered what race he was, or where he had come from. Had he been born in the Otherworld?

"My Court!" Ganondorf said, directing his words to the hundreds of people watching them. Zelda had been so preoccupied in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed them all. She suddenly felt very small as she saw all the eyes fall upon them.

Ganondorf stood from his throne and approached Zelda, "Ladies and gentlemen of the Court," Ganondorf began, "There is someone who you all must meet," he said, smiling down at Zelda.


Link slowly opened his eyes. He felt completely disoriented and messed up – almost as if his entire body structure had been rearranged. The ground beneath him was hard, damp, and cold. A shiver sped through him as his eyes easily adjusted to the dark. Link moved to push himself up but found that his hands felt different. That's when Link finally looked down at himself.

Paws?! Why did Link have paws where his hands should be?! Link stood up and noticed how much closer to the ground he was. He was on all fours. He looked around manically and noticed he was in a dungeon cell.

"I can help you, you know," a female voice said from somewhere in the darkness, beyond the cell bars.

A bark escaped Link's mouth, surprising him.

"Or not, it's your choice," the same voice said. Link whimpered. "That's a good dog," the voice said.

Dog?! Link really was a dog! Though he could tell he was bigger than an average dog, perhaps a wolf. But why wasn't he human? He was supposed to be in the Twilight Realm! He couldn't have any more obstacles between him and Zelda!

"I'll bet you're confused," the voice said. A small, floating figure – like that of an imp – appeared before Link. Half her body was black, the other have white, and she had glowing, blue symbols along her body. She wore a strange helmet that looked broken and had orange hair. "I'm Midna. I'll help you if you help me in return."

Link barked, hoping she understood that he was agreeing. He began panting.

"Good. I don't know what your goal is or why you came to the Twilight Realm, but it is not how it should be. Zant made sure of that," Midna said.

Link growled at the mention of Zant.

"So you've heard of him, beast?" Midna said with a crooked smile as she suddenly dissipated into thousands of tiny dots and reappeared inside Link's cell. "He claims to be Ruler of the Twili, but he is wrong, he is corrupt. He has turned this place into a place of evil – and he's trying to do the same in Hyrule. From my understanding he is under the influence of an Evil King named Ganondorf."

Link growled again, hearing Ganondorf's name. Why was there so much evil happening in the Four Worlds?

"So, if you help me stop Zant, I'll help you get back to human form. I know where they put your things. And I also watched you as you entered the Twilight Realm. Because of Zant's evil influence, and since you are a pure light being, you did not become a lost soul or shadow beast like most people would have – you became a wolf. So, do we have a deal, beasty?" Midna teased, flitting and floating near Link's head. Link nodded.

Midna laughed, a high-pitched laugh, and suddenly she was on his back, riding him like a horse. Link shook, trying to dislodge her.

"Stop!" Midna commanded. "This way we won't be separated!" Midna tried. Link slowly stopped. He didn't fully trust Midna, nor did he have any reason to. But she was the only person who could help him right now. What the hell was he supposed to do without her? He was a wolf!

Link let out a small howl.

"Quiet, the guards will hear!" Midna commanded. "This cell has a weak point – that crate over there is covering a hole – break the crate and we're out of here," Midna instructed. Link obeyed and ran head-on into the crate. The dry, weak wood splintered easily, and sure enough, there was a hole awaiting Link. He quickly burrowed beneath the cell bars and came out on the other side. Midna had momentarily left his back, and she plunked down hard when she returned. Link turned his head towards her and growled quietly. "Get to the back of the palace. We should be able to retrieve your things from there."

Link nodded and moved silently in the dark, his new wolf-vision making it easy to maneuver any obstacle. Link felt as though he also had better stamina. Maybe momentarily being a wolf wasn't as bad as he had previously thought. If this was another obstacle that Link had to face in order to reach Zelda, he would do it. He had to.

"Stop!" Midna commanded. Link quickly halted. "I can hear the guard speaking with someone. Sheesh, you'd think with your new big ears you would have noticed…" Midna said. Link listened and realized he did have better hearing. Link continued on anyways, he knew he would be able to avoid being seen or heard.


Finally out of the dungeons and castle, Link looked around – his first glimpse at the Twilight Realm through the eyes of a wolf. The sky was cloudy and colourful – black, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows – filled the sky. There were strange creatures, creatures that Link recognized as shadow beasts, though they seemed docile.

"A perpetual Twilight," Midna mumbled. "Beautiful, isn't it? Anyways, this is the Palace of Twilight. Get to the back and your things should be there. I can hold onto them until we figure out how to get you back into human form," she instructed. She guided Link to a narrow ledge that went around the palace. Carefully and quickly, Link made his way along the ledge and soon found himself at the back of the palace.

Link was surprised at how easily he made it to the back of the palace; if this was Hyrule Castle there would have been guards swarming him from the second he began sneaking around. But, here he was, at the back of the palace, looking at a cage that had a large black and orange stone in it, as well as the Master Sword at its base.

Link suddenly felt lighter as Midna got off of his back. She floated over to the cage, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Link whimpered, attempting to ask what was wrong.

"The Shadow Stone…" Midna mumbled. Link turned his head towards the large stone behind the locked cage. "There is a piece missing," Midna said her eyes wide as she looked at Link. "And I think it is in you."