Zelda pushed herself away from Ganondorf.
"There's someplace I'd like to go," she said.
He nodded and adjusted the front of his pants. Zelda forced herself not to look. Instead, she walked to the kitchen to retrieve her phone, which she'd left on the counter. She brought up the location of the ruins Riju told her about on Navi Maps and handed her phone to Ganondorf.
He tapped the screen a few times and gave the phone back to her.
"It's too far away," he said, "but you must know that. What are you proposing?"
"I thought we could use the Twilight."
Ganondorf frowned. "I've never been to this place. I can't take us there instantly. We'd have to drive through the Twilight. I can do that, but it won't be easy for you."
"Riju explained all that. She said a lot of people don't adjust well to the 'sunset roads' – that's what she calls it – but that there are ways of dealing with the sickness. She told me that she can't tolerate the nausea at all, but she brought a charm with her to Hyrule. Just in case, she said. She told me that charms like this aren't easy to come by, but that I could have hers for the time being."
What Riju had given her was a small teardrop-shaped pendant. It was as flawless as a diamond, but its pellucid surface was smooth to the touch. The stone – if that was what it was – was attached to a leather cord that Riju fastened around her neck before she left the table.
"Riju told me that you used the sunset roads to come to Sidon's house this morning," Zelda continued as she untied the knot. "She said you were quite rude about it, actually."
"I'm aware of her opinion."
Zelda presented the pendant to Ganondorf, dropping it into his open palm. He flinched and immediately passed it back to her.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked, intrigued by his reaction.
Ganondorf shook his head. "I assume it doesn't bother you to touch this," he said.
"No, I don't feel anything at all."
Ganondorf wiped his hand on his pants. "Let's hope it works, then."
. . . . . . .
Zelda appreciated her heavy clothing once they got outside.
Ganondorf put the roof of the car back and blasted the heat on high. The contrast between the warmth at Zelda's feet and the cold night air on her face was exhilarating.
It was late at night and quite chilly, but light exploded from every surface of the city. People were everywhere, and no one bothered to stay out of the street. Ganondorf navigated the route recommended by Navi Maps with a calm assurance. He didn't attempt to make conversation, but the silence was comfortable. Zelda enjoyed listening to the sounds of the people who shared the road with them: people on bikes and on motorcycles and on foot, people coming back from eating and people going out drinking, people in the open-air markets and people making deliveries, people closing the shutters of their shops and people lighting the lamps hanging outside midnight bars.
This is nothing like Hyrule, Zelda thought as she watched the city ebb and flow around her. What if I didn't go back home? What if I stayed here?A startling possibility occurred to her. What if I didn't have to hide my magic? What if I could learn more about it?
And then, on the heels of that thought – What if I didn't have to be Zelda? What if my life didn't have to be dictated by my family?
"Don't be like your mother," her father had once said to her in anger. She had been young, scarcely ten years old. Everyone in her class had been invited to a birthday party that was scheduled for the weekend of a family wedding, and she begged to be allowed to go. "You must take your responsibilities seriously," her father admonished her, "and not run away from your duty."
But whose duty was it, really? Hers, or her family's? And why must she bear the responsibility of representing her family? Hyrule wasn't a monarchy anymore. In fact, the country had been able to establish itself as a modern nation precisely because its feudal traditions had been abandoned.
It was something to think about, in any case. Zelda hadn't been in Lanayru for a full day, and there was no point in romanticizing another country simply because it was different from Hyrule. Come to think of it, Riju probably had her reasons for wanting to study in Hyrule instead of at one of the many universities here in Lanayru. She would need to ask Riju's opinion before making any decisions.
And what of the Sheikah Slate that Purah had entrusted to her? What about the other artifacts of ancient technology Purah promised she would be able to study? If she was 'Zelda,' did that mean she possessed the magic that could make these machines work again? Could Ganondorf use ancient technology? If he could remove the seal on the Sheikah Slate, what else could he do? Could he activate a Guardian?
No, that might be going too far. It would be better not to find out.
Zelda wanted nothing more than to find out.
They left the city behind as they drove into the open desert. The lingering glow of the skyscraper lights transformed the sand into a kaleidoscope of colors. Before long, however, there was only moonlight glinting off the mica of the pavement.
"Are you ready?" Ganondorf asked, raising his voice above the roar of the wind.
Zelda nodded. She was ready.
Ganondorf shifted gears and stepped on the gas, and the night of the world turned upside down.
The earth became black, and sky was illuminated by an uncanny golden glow. It was like a photographic negative, but much stranger and more beautiful.
Zelda wasn't cold, and nothing hurt. She pulled the teardrop pendant from her shirt. It emitted a faint cerulean glow. The wind in her ears had disappeared, and she could hear nothing except the barely perceptible hum of the car's electric engine as they flew along the road, which glowed green as if seen through night vision goggles.
Zelda glanced at the screen of her phone, which Ganondorf had secured to the dashboard. The display was glitched. Ganondorf wasn't paying attention to the phone, so she disconnected it and turned it off before shutting it in the glove compartment. It wouldn't be any use to her out here, wherever they were.
They were driving so fast that it made Zelda dizzy to watch the landscape. She looked down at her hands, which were clenched into fists in her lap. She took a deep breath and stretched her fingers in an attempt to relax.
Zelda spoke into the eerie silence. "Riju wanted to know why you call this place the Twilight."
"That's the only word I know," Ganondorf replied. "If there's a word in Hylian, I'm not aware of it."
"'Twilight' is a Hylian word."
"You said Riju calls it 'the sunset roads.'"
"I'm not sure if that's a common expression. Riju told me that not many people know about this. Or rather, not many people outside of the royal family. Say, do you suppose…?"
"Someone would have informed me if I were a member of the royal family."
"You could always marry Riju and become a member of the royal family."
"I think not."
Zelda glanced at Ganondorf. The corner of his mouth was twisted into a smirk. He seemed to be in a good mood.
"What is this place?" she ventured. "The Twilight, I mean."
"I can't answer that question."
"You can't, or you won't?"
Ganondorf's smile faded. "I would tell you if I knew."
"How did you know it existed in the first place, then?"
"It wasn't something I discovered. Using the Twilight to travel came to me as naturally as any other type of magic. It was more of a challenge to realize that other people don't know about it."
He paused, and in the gap between his words Zelda wondered what Link had seen after Ganondorf first appeared in Hyrule.
"It doesn't seem to be affecting you," he eventually continued.
"It isn't. Riju's charm must be working. I wonder why being in the Twilight hurts me but doesn't bother you."
"It's not pleasant for me to be here."
Zelda considered his response. 'It's not pleasant,' he said. That probably meant it hurt him just as much as it hurt her. Still, he didn't appear to be in pain.
"So how can you bear it?"
"I'm here of my own volition. I can leave the Twilight whenever I wish., so I tell myself that I can endure it for a minute more, and then just another minute more."
Zelda fell silent. She hadn't realized that she'd asked him to do something that would be painful to him when she suggested that they travel through the Twilight. She felt ashamed when she remembered that she'd assured Ganondorf that it was fine because she wouldn't be in pain. Perhaps she should ask him to turn back. They had only been in the Twilight for a few minutes; surely they hadn't come that far. They could return to the city and enjoy the drive through the desert. Maybe they'd be able to watch the dawn break as they headed back east.
"I don't think I could bear it forever," Ganondorf said, interrupting Zelda's thoughts. There was an odd quality to his voice. It took Zelda a moment to realize that he sounded embarrassed, almost apologetic. She'd never heard him speak like this before, so she decided to remain silent and let him talk.
"The pain is bearable as long as it has a limit," he continued, "but I've had nightmares about being trapped here. There's no pain in my dreams, not as such, but the sense of not being able to leave is terrible. The Twilight reeks of magic. There's nothing natural about it. I've wondered who would create such a place, and why. You asked me how I came to know of the Twilight. I've asked myself the same question.
"If you were trapped here with this pain, with this coldness, with no sun or wind, it would change you. What made you human would be chipped away bit by bit until you were left with nothing more than the will to survive. And then, if you lost that, if you lost all sense of self, would this be easier to endure, I wonder."
Was he suggesting that he came from this place? But who would have trapped him here, and how? And for what purpose? Zelda couldn't be certain, but was Ganondorf implying that he had done it to himself?
"That's a bit grim," she said, unsure of how to respond.
Ganondorf smiled. "Is it? Only as grim as wanting to drive to the middle of the desert in the company of someone who may be a monster."
"Are you going to eat me?"
His grin widened. "Not here, no. Perhaps later."
Zelda felt herself blush and hoped that Ganondorf couldn't see the color on her face. It occurred to her that, despite everything, maybe he felt at home in the Twilight. Perhaps he had a perverse sense of appreciation for the pain, or maybe he enjoyed the danger and the possibility of losing himself.
It struck Zelda that it never occurred to her that Ganondorf might attack her, at least not on purpose. What happened last night already seemed like a dream. If Link hadn't been there, and if the incident hadn't propelled her away from Hyrule, then she might have almost convinced herself that it hadn't happened at all. The actual dream that preceded her unpleasant awakening, however, was still clear in her mind. She could still feel the cobblestones of the castle courtyard under the thin soles of her sandals, and she could still see the sick orange glow of the eyes in the darkness. The smell of the place, ozone and ash and the phantasmal reek of ammonia, still lingered in her mind. What could that possibly mean?
"The road ends here," Ganondorf said, and in the blink of an eye they were out of the Twilight.
Zelda was amazed to find that the road did indeed end, the rough pavement of its terminus buried in sand.
Ganondorf brought the car to a stop and then parked it in the middle of the two-lane road. He pointed through the windshield, and Zelda could see the faint glimmer of white marble in the clear moonlight. An uneven circle of ruins spiraled into the sandy basin spreading out below them.
"It will be easy enough to go down there, but it may be difficult to come back up," Ganondorf remarked.
Zelda didn't have any experience with hiking in the desert, but it was clear that climbing the steep sandy incline would be difficult. Zelda stole a glance at Ganondorf's face. His eyes were shining. He would almost certainly go down by himself even if she told him that she wanted him to stay with her.
"I didn't come all the way out here just to look," Zelda said with a level of confidence she didn't feel.
Ganondorf nodded in acknowledgment and turned off the car. The night went silent, and then they were alone with the sand and the stars.