Big, big thanks to both Zelda Estefania and beatstarz for favouriting me and this story! And my usual shoutouts to my reviewers: Thanks to Da Amazing Po-Po-Pony, RandomButLoved, Zelda Estefania and I'MNOTCRAZY (And, by the by, I only do this to practice my writing in various styles, it's not meant to be perfect.)

Enjoy!


Chapter 29

Midna

Once all the water had drained out of the room through the crack in the wall, Morpheel's limp form began to disintegrate. As always, it fascinated me how the powers of Twili artefacts could so easily bring to life such a creature. Dark shards of its remains gathered together and, as expected, formed the last and final fused shadow.

I leapt out of Link's shadow. "There it is! Well, I'll be taking that!" I grabbed hold of it and turned back to Link. He looked... Unnerved, somehow. "Don't resent me for all I've put you through. I really do need this."

He looked deep in thought for a moment, his gaze lazily sweeping the walls. "In that case... We've both finished our quests, huh?"

Startled, I couldn't quite find the words. "Yes? No, I'm not sure. I mean, this should be, but..." Annoyingly, he patiently waited for me to finish. "Well... I don't know. This should be the end, but... I just have this feeling. And it's not a good one."

It was a long moment before he spoke. "I think I understand."

I mentally shook myself. What use is pondering a feeling at this point? I have all I need to confront Zant, and that's all I need to do. "Come on, there's no reason to stay here."

Link wandered over to me, obviously still thinking. "So we're off to find Zant now, aren't we?"

I paused. "Well... I didn't put much thought into that part. But before we go there, we have to visit that spirit of yours."

He nodded. "Right."

"But, beyond that, I see no reason for you to be involved with what I have to do. Zant will probably still be in the Twilight Realm, and there's really no reason for you to go there. Once you've spoken with the spirit, you should go home." I caught his wide eyed expression before I turned away. "You've done everything I needed you to. ...I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me..."

"That's okay..." He murmured quietly. "I've actually enjoyed it, a bit."

I caught myself before I said that the adventure wasn't over, because it was. Wasn't it? I couldn't help feeling somehow uneasy. He made his way towards me and I warped him out of the temple, but I stopped for a moment before I followed. I shook my head at myself, dismissing my uneasiness as nervousness at finally removing Zant from my throne, possibly even unhappiness at the prospect of leaving Link behind, and, even less possible, I was getting sick. But even that was more possible than me being right that the adventure was over.

I followed Link as he swam towards the cave of the Light Spirit. Whatever that uneasiness was, I refused to let Link see it. That was difficult, though – It was fraying my composure at the edges with every stroke closer we became. I knew full well that as a creature of Twilight, the Light Spirits certainly made me uncomfortable, but this was far worse than it should have been.

While I worried over myself, Link pulled himself out of the water and stood before the cave. As he took a step forward, I pulled myself from his shadow. "Link, wait a moment." He turned back to face me, and I had to resist the urge to leap into the water. As it was, I was staring at the ground and chewing on my lip. I hoped he couldn't see that.

"What's wrong?" He still looked ready to turn back to the cave at any moment.

"Are... Are you sure you're ready for this?"

He looked confused, if not a little concerned. After all, why should I be making a fuss? "To see the Light Spirit? It's... It's what we were waiting for all along, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but..." I expected him to be getting impatient, but instead he fully faced me, turning away from the cave at last. "I feel like... Something's wrong here. Can you feel it?"

He stared at me, seemingly considering what I had said. "I'm not sure. What sort of feeling?"

I shook my head and looked at the lake. "It just feels like something's about to go wrong. I can't quite work out how, but something's... off."

"Deja vu?" He asked quietly.

I turned back to him. "Maybe, yeah." We stood there in silence for a minute or so. I watched the sun pass over the cliff that surrounded the lake, and then I turned back to Link again. "There's nothing we can do, I suppose. If we can't work out what's wrong, or what's going to happen, we can only move forward and... Try our best not to be caught out."

He looked surprised, but to his merit he only waited until I'd retreated into his shadow before finally making his way into the Light Spirit's chamber. He walked right up until he stood over the water. Before the Light Spirit could emerge, however, there was the sound of quiet footsteps from behind him. He turned, and only had time to stare wide-eyed for a moment before, with a wave of his hand, Link was knocked back.

The Light Spirit finally leapt from the water, but even he was pushed back into the water, and in doing so, the region was plummeted back into twilight. Link's wolf form re-emerged, and I became entirely tangible again.

Obviously I was right. This wasn't over. Not even close. "Zant!"