54th Entry: Midna
With the sun directly overhead, a group of Sheikah warriors met at the Sacred Ground Ruins. Zelda was among them, wearing the same blue Stealth Suit as the others with her blonde hair braided back. Her mouth was covered by a dark-blue strip of cloth while her head was covered by a white scarf with her bangs covering the right side of her face.
"State your name," insisted one of the Sheikah warrior, who gave Zelda a suspicious look. "I don't think I recognize you."
"Uh, I'm Sheik," Zelda claimed, trying to sound masculine. "Paya sent me to go on this mission in her place."
"And where is she?" Asked another Sheikah. Like the first Sheikah who spoke, he had white hair tied into a bun above his head and lightly tan skin.
Before Zelda could answer, the ground suddenly shook causing the Sheikah warriors to lose their balance. Instead of falling, Zelda managed to lift herself in the air using her Paraglider. Looking towards the Southwest, she saw a cloud of dust rising above the distant canyons. Then as the dust settled, a large structure became visible that resembled a colosseum with towering pillars.
The Arbiter's Grounds, from the Time of Twilight, Zelda realized in her head. It's where the Mirror of Twilight was kept, according to the Hyrule Historia.
Just as Zelda's Paraglider started to lose altitude, a sudden shockwave sent her flying away from the Sacred Ground Ruins and into one of the nearby trees. The impact caused her to pass out from the shock and pain for what seemed like hours, because when she woke up the sky was dark overhead with orange clouds and black diamonds floating in the air. What surprised Zelda more, though, was a small pointy-eared imp floating above her that gray skin, red eyes, fiery orange hair, wore a skintight black suit and horned stone helmet.
"Looks like this one hasn't been affected by the Twilight," the little imp smiled mischievously. "I guess you're not alone, Link."
A short yip followed, causing Zelda to look down from the tree. Leaning against the trunk was a large gray wolf that had a white mark on its forehead, wagging its tail upon seeing her. Its right paw then suddenly glowed as the Triforce symbol briefly appeared, while a similar one appeared on Zelda's right hand.
"Link?" Zelda hid her right hand as looked up at the imp. "What's happened to him, and who are you?"
The imp folded her arms. "You don't know who I am? I thought you Sheikah knew everything."
Realizing she was still disguised, Zelda cleared her throat and went for the same masculine voice she used on the two Sheikah men. "Uh, yeah, of course we know everything! You're…Midna?"
For a moment, the imp's eyes widened. But then she hid her surprise by turning her nose up haughtily. "Well, that should be obvious. After all, I am named after the same Midna who fought alongside the Hero and the Princess during the Time of Twilight and the Great Time Convergence. She became the matriarch of the Twilight Realm's current royal family, who have ruled the Twilight Realm in peace for many generations — until now, that is."
"What has changed?" Zelda asked.
Reluctantly, Midna said, "The Usurper Zant, who perished long ago, was somehow revived by a Seer, who served a 'Greater God' in Zant's words. He killed my parents and turned me into this…impish form. Afterwards, he banished me to this world. I would've died instantly, since Twili can't live in the light, but I was able to hide in Link's shadow when he entered through a Twilight Portal."
Another yip came from Wolf Link at the foot of the tree.
"That doesn't explain why he's now a wolf, though," Zelda pointed out.
"He turned into a wolf when he entered the Twilight Portal in pursuit of Yiga Clan guys that kidnapped some kids from his home village," Midna explained. "Then he was cursed into permanent wolf form by a Shadow Crystal held by the Yiga Clan's leader Master Kohga, and imprisoned in their hideout. Because I was in his shadow, I saw it all happen in front of me."
"Do you know where Master Kohga got a Shadow Crystal from? And why weren't his men affected when they used the Twilight Portal?"
"From what I overheard from the Yiga Clan guards, their leader got the crystal from a new benefactor who's also responsible for creating the Twilight Portals while making the Yiga Clan members immune to the normal affects the Twilight has on non-Twili folk."
While Zelda pondered over who this mysterious benefactor could be, she noticed Wolf Link didn't have the Master Sword with him.
"I assume Link had nothing on him in his cell, like a sword or anything like that."
"Nope, just his wolf body and me occupying his shadow."
Figuring the Master Sword was back at the Yiga Clan's hideout, Zelda said, "If I remember my history correctly, the Hero was also cursed into becoming a wolf. But then he was cured by the Master Sword. So the only way for Link to return to normal is for us to go back to the Yiga Clan's hideout and look for it there."
Midna gave Zelda a suspicious glance. "Give me a good reason why we should bring you along. You haven't told us your name, or why you know all this stuff."
In response, Zelda said, "Only if you tell me why you know so much about this world if you've lived in the Twilight Realm your whole life."
"We have history books on Hyrule in the Twilight Realm, which we learn as an elective in our main school Interloper Academy."
"Okay, well, my name is Sheik and I'm a Hyrule Scholar-in-Training."
"A scholar?" Midna laughed. "Such a strange career path for a Sheikah."
Then Midna floated down from the tree while Zelda climbed down after her. Once she got her feet on the ground, Wolf Link jumped up and started licking her face.
"No, Link!" Zelda insisted.
"Link really seems to like you," Midna noticed. "I wonder why that is."
"I met him before, when he was human," Zelda fibbed, gently pushing Link down.
Though Midna looked doubtful, she raised her hands above and a black hole appeared in the sky. "Well, let's get going! A Twilight Portal's the quickest way to get to the Yiga Clan's hideout."
Gripping her right hand tightly, Zelda felt her body disintegrate and float right up through the black hole. Wolf Link's body did the same, and so did Midna as she followed after the two of them. Once she did, the black hole vanished.
To be continued…
