Chapter Fifteen: Lanayru's Warning

Link shut his mouth, which was still hanging agape, and stared at the spirit of the Zora Queen. He knew that his face was still gory from his fight with the Shadow Beasts, and his damp fur probably meant that he smelled like wet dog, so he was not in the most ideal position to meet a queen. "You're not like the other spirits." he said finally.

"No I am not, and we must be quick. Some have seen you so they will be able to see me, and my presence here will grieve them." Rutela lowered her hands to her sides, the frilly fins that extended from her hips curling around her long legs delicately. She was beautiful, which seemed fitting for a queen. "The man in the lizard mask brought invaders to our Domain and covered it in this dark magical field. He demanded to know where the ancient shadow relic that my people had been guarding for centuries lay, and I felt that I absolutely could not let this man have it."

"You were right." Midna told her. "Zant knows that I'm after those relics, since I know how to use them. He's afraid of me, and thinks if he can prevent me from getting them, it'll stop me from using them against him."

"His name is Zant? Not that his name matters at this point." Rutela shook her head, the silvery circlet that draped a web of gems down her facial fins clinking. "My brave soldiers and personal guards gave their lives and stalled for time, and I sent Ralis along the secret underground river that feeds the moat on the north side of Hyrule Castle. Only us Zora know of this river, so I knew he would be safe." She lowered her green eyes sadly. "I was unable to follow. Zant caught me, and when I refused to give him the relic he executed me in front of my people to set an example."

"That's why you look different. You're dead." Link said, and then he immediately regretted the blunt way that he had phrased it. He was very tired and did not think before speaking.

The queen raised her eyes to look at him again. "Yes. This is why my son must be found. As I lay dying, I saw the masked man use incredibly strong magic and he froze the entirety of Zora's Domain. My people were trapped beneath the ice, doomed to a slow death. This Zant is incredibly cruel."

"He is." Link lay his ears flat, narrowing his eyes. It was a combination of a wolfish and human expression. "He's invaded all of Hyrule, not just here. He's killed King Adelbert, imprisoned Princess Zelda, and has turned most of the Hylian population into those black monsters that invaded here along with the Twilight."

"I see. That is unfortunate." Rutela clasped her hands to her chest sadly. "I had sent Ralis to speak to Zelda to implore her for aid, knowing that while her father was a fool, she is wise and kind. I had not realized how far Hyrule had fallen."

That meant that the injured Zora that he had seen in the pub was Ralis. Link knew where he was, but he didn't dare tell the queen that her son was hurt. She had enough on her mind. "That's why I'm the next hero. The Lanayru region is the last area that is covered by the Twilight. After I take care of that, Zant will be weakened, and Midna here can use the relic we've been gathering to defeat him."

"If that is the case, then I will make a bargain with you. I know I am not right to ask, but I worry for my only child." Rutela hovered gently, her fins wavering in an ethereal breeze. "The relic is in one of our sacred places at the bottom of Lake Hylia, but no human can swim to where it is. If you can find Ralis and bring him to safety, then I will bestow upon you magical armor that will allow you to breathe underwater. Then you may enter our temple with the aid of its guards, and they will lead you to the relic."

A wail of anguish sounded from across the Domain, down the tunnels on the opposite side of the waterfall. Others joined in, crying out in dismay and grief. Link turned his head and then his ears towards the sound, and he could hear weeping in the distance.

"My people must have found where the invaders put my body." Rutela said, and Link turned back towards her. "Please hero, hurry and leave my people to their grief. Find my Ralis, the next King of the Zoras, and bring him home." She faded, the white light around her gone, leaving the two of them alone in the tunnel. Across the Domain the first few notes of a Zora funeral song began, and then hundreds of voices joined in, the Zora people collectively grieving for their slaughtered queen.

"She's right. We don't belong here right now." Midna floated up off his back and moved in front of him. "We're still close enough to the portal here, so I'll send us back to the one in Lake Hylia."

Link sighed unhappily. "Yeah, all right." He already felt awful from lack of sleep and food, and now the amount of magic he'd been using. He was not looking forward to the sickness caused by teleportation. He shut his eyes. "Do it."

She gave a little giggle at his reaction and cast the spell. He could feel it around him even though he wasn't looking, a feeling of weightlessness as his body was shot through one portal and out another. Somehow knowing how it worked made it worse. If his golden power could protect him from the Twilight, then why not the portal sickness?

There was no feeling of his feet touching the ground once the teleportation was complete. Instead he suddenly dropped, and he opened his eyes with a yelp as he abruptly stopped with something grasping him around his middle. "Sorry, had to catch you." Midna said from above him. "This portal is pretty high up from the lake bed, and I don't want you going splat."

Link looked down and saw that they had to be at least forty feet up. The height combined with his dizziness from using the portals made him retch, and he would have vomited if his stomach wasn't empty. Midna slowly lowered him to the dark shale of the river bed and he lay himself out on the flat stone, feeling absolutely miserable. He probably should have taken another day to rest after what happened in Kasuto, but he couldn't just sit there at the Goron outpost and sleep all day. If he had waited a day, it was possible that some of the Zoras would have died beneath the ice, and Ralis' condition from where he lay in Castle Town could have worsened.

"You don't look so good." the little black and gray creature said, floating next to him.

"I don't feel so good." he replied. "Today sucks. No, the past week sucks." Link sighed and rested his bloodied face on his paws, feeling like he really needed a hug. "I hate being the hero."

Midna settled down on the rocks next to him and gently patted the top of his head. "I know you do. We can't help what's happened though. I know you're doing the best you can."

"Yeah. You too, Midna. This isn't easy on your either." He raised his head to look at her. "I hope that after we clear this Twilight and get you the rest of the Fused Shadows, you can kick Zant's ass and then we can go back to our lives." He knew that wasn't going to be the case. They may defeat Zant and stop the invasion, but his life was different now. Being the hero had altered him, and paired with the pain of visiting Kasuto he felt as unstable as he had a few years ago, before he had learned to regulate his emotions. It wasn't just himself. He knew that Ilia and the children from Ordon were now changed as well.

A brassy sound called out, and the two of them turned towards it. One of the shadowy transformed birds glided towards them, although it was hard to tell which one it was. Link assumed it was the one that Midna had ridden. It landed on the stone not too far away and tilted its strange peeled head at them, blinking its one red eye.

"Hey, my friends made it back to the lake. I wonder if they were birds that lived here before they were transformed?" She floated up and gave the mutated bird a gentle pat on the side of its neck. "Are you happy to see us?"

The black-feathered creature made a deep sound at her, and swiveled its head around to gaze out over the lake. The remaining three birds circled over something floating in the water in the distance, held together in a loose circle. It looked like platforms or perhaps rafts, and not too far away from it was a large floating building with an attached dock that strangely enough had what looked like a cannon situated on top of it. Both the building and the cannon were gaily painted, but it looked as if the strange attraction hadn't been used in a while. That was unsurprising; who would want to be shot out of a cannon into the water? Did someone think people would actually pay rupees for that? Perhaps it wasn't a real cannon and something like a slingshot, but still the whole thing seemed ridiculous.

"Why are they circling like that?" Midna asked, not caring about the abandoned tourist trap. "They're over that floating stuff, like it's important."

Link had his suspicions. "Do you remember what the Zora soldiers said before they hid in the temple? They were talking about a beast that grew larger than normal. It was something that normally lives in the lake."

"I do remember that. Wait...do you think that's something that's holding the last of the Light Spirit's power?" She watched the circling birds. "I hope it isn't a fish."

"I hope it isn't a snapping turtle either." He slowly rose to his feet, feeling fatigued. "Your bird buddy wants to show it to you, though. They seem pretty smart, so maybe they understand a bit of what's going on."

"Huh, yeah. I wonder what kind of birds these were before they were changed?" She gently patted the sleek black neck again. "It doesn't matter. Let's see what our friends have found, shall we?"

Midna hopped up into the saddle again, and without prompting the black bird flapped its wings to rise into the air. It circled around and wrapped its feet around Link, and then flew out towards the other shadow birds. As they approached he could faintly see something glowing in the water, generating small waves on the surface as it moved around. His ability to see hidden things was fading, either from being tired or from using too much magical energy. He had to really focus in order to see the fat shape beneath the water as they approached, and he made a sound of disgust.

"What?" Midna called from above, unsure of what he just said.

"It's another bug!" At least it wasn't a spider, but it was still unpleasant. A fish wouldn't have been too bad in comparison. It looked quite a bit like a water beetle, with long rear legs that propelled it through the water, but unlike a normal beetle its abdomen was grossly fat and distended.

"Oh, just a bug?" She made a sour noise from her perch on the back of the bird, which had began to circle with its companions. "Wait a second...that's a really big bug if it's making waves like that."

"No kidd-" He was cut short as the damned bird dropped him into the water next to the rafts, and he let loose a deeper but human-sounding shout as he fell in with a splash. Midna was supposed to be controlling the bird, but it was still doing whatever it felt like. He could faintly hear her voice as she shouted something, but then his head was beneath the water. He paddled along once he bobbed to the surface, his wolf form a lot more buoyant than his human form.

"Link!" Midna shouted from somewhere above. "Swim faster!"

Easy for her to say, she didn't know how to swim. Not knowing how to swim while at a lake probably would have been intimidating if she wasn't able to zip around as a shadow. He didn't have that ability, so he tiredly kicked his legs and moved his front paws in what he hoped was a decent doggy paddle. The different ways he knew how to swim wouldn't work in his current form, so he had one speed, and it did not feel very fast.

Something wrapped around his middle and lifted him out of the water, and a bright glow passed below and where he just was, leaving a wake behind it. He hadn't even noticed that the beetle was close, having been focused on trying to swim in an unfamiliar way. "Gotcha." Midna's voice said from above him. "You kind of suck at swimming as the wolf. If I hadn't seen you swim as a guy, I'd think you were a bad swimmer."

"I have no idea if that's a compliment or an insult." He watched as the bug launched itself out of the water and extended its wings, which were longer than its fat body. They vibrated as it moved them rapidly like a bumblebee, producing a droning, papery sound. Just the sound itself made him flinch, the wings making him think of a cicada's, but far larger. Its fat body was heavily armored with segmented plates, and it pulsated as the repulsive thing breathed. It was enormous, far larger than any animal that Link could think of, its body longer than a wagon.

"There are things like that living in Lake Hylia?!" Midna exclaimed as the beetle angled its body to face them, twitching its long mandibles slightly. Considering its size, it could very well eat them.

"I hope not!" Link cried, feeling absolutely disgusted by the appearance of the giant insect. He had thought the giant parasite bug that had Coro cornered was the worst insect he had ever seen. Oh, how wrong he was. It could be possible that the normal water beetles living in the lake were just as large as any other beetle, and this one had grown massive due to the amount of stolen light inside its body. The large rat he encountered on Death Mountain was many times the size of a regular rat, and it had held a lot of stolen light.

One of the birds swooped down to attack the insect, which was larger than it was, and missed as the hovering beetle dodged to the side. It made a chittering noise, its barbed mandibles wiggling as it growled in insectoid fury at the birds. It remained hovering just above the water instead of chasing the bird, and when another bird dove in with its talons extended, the beetle rushed forward to slam its massive armored body into it. The bird fell into the water, stunned.

"Don't hurt my friends!" Midna growled from where she still held Link with her hair. It was strange, but Midna seemed to care more about animals than people at times. The water beetle wobbled in the air as it turned, its vibrating wings creating ripples on the surface of the water next to the ring of rafts. It fixed its segmented eyes on the two of them. "Oh, crap." she muttered in the brief moment before the insect charged.

Normally she would have been able to zip out of range easily, forming into a mass of shadow as she did so, but this time the imp was still holding onto Link. Her first instinct was not to go to the side, which is what Link would have done, but to go straight up. That managed to get her out of range, but he was still dangling below her, ensnared in the end of her hair. The massive bug missed slamming them with its armored abdomen, but it managed to clip him with one of its vibrating wings.

It didn't hurt him, but he could feel the vibrations in his body and he whimpered with a human voice at the experience. "Shit! No no no! Midna, get me out of here!" The wolf's voice was higher pitched in his panic, and almost sounded like his normal human one.

"What, are you okay? Did it get you?" She continued to rise past where the birds were circling, bringing him high into the air and out of the range of the insect.

"...no." he admitted, ashamed. "I'm really freaked out though." He could have dodged that much better than she did, even in his tired state. That gave him an idea, although he immediately hated it. "Midna?"

"Yes, you big baby?" Oh, come on. She probably had something she was afraid of.

"I think we need to work with the birds to down this one." He looked down at where two of the black mutated creatures were using their talons to pick up the one that was floating on top of the water. "Those claws of theirs are probably the only thing that can get through its shell. I don't want to try biting it, since I think it's large enough to eat me."

"Yeah, fair point. So what's your creative plan? Because I know you now, and I know how your ideas go." She wasn't wrong.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. I might cry like a baby, but I'm going to try to lure it into a charge. The only other thing here strong enough to damage it is you, so what I want you to do is try tearing off one of its wings. You should be fast enough to get behind it if you're not holding on to me."

"Ew, I have to touch that thing?" She seemed to hate the idea as much as he did. "...all right. If you can be a big brave boy and get its attention, I can be a brave girl and yank off a wing."

"Hopefully the birds will understand what we're doing. If it can't fly well, they'll have a chance to attack it." The two birds had released their soggy friend once the three were higher in the air, and the wet bird flapped its wings and resumed circling. Only intelligent animals helped one another like that. They ought to get the idea.

"Are you ready?"

"No." He suppressed a shudder. "Let's get this over with."

The giant beetle was currently preoccupied with the last bird, who seemed to be intentionally distracting it so the other three could return to the air. That gave Midna a chance to set Link down on one of the the rafts, which were little more than lashed-together logs that had been painted to prevent them from being waterlogged. He could feel the wind generated by its thrumming wings as it ruffled his fur, and he tried to focus on what he needed to do.

"Hey!" he shouted. The massive insect's body swung to the left as it turned, and then back to the right as it steadied itself. The mandibles moved as it chittered again, the compound eyes looking down at the wolf on the floating platform. "Oh, crap." he said, echoing Midna a moment before.

He was far better at dodging it than she was, even though he was on a ring of platforms. The beetle charged and leveled its thick abdomen at him, and he leaped from his current raft to the next one in a single bounding jump. He tried not to think of what the insect looked like, only that he needed to move. There was a streak of shadow that shot behind the insect and Midna formed behind it, her hair held up with the large hand on the end of it extended, although she hesitated. She didn't know how to grab onto the vibrating wings, and when she tried she managed to grab the thick outer shell that had lifted to expose the beetle's wings for flight.

It didn't seem to notice as it turned towards Link again, and Midna turned with it, letting go of the shiny black shell. The insect didn't make the same sound this time, but screeched in frustration at the small thing that was too fast for it to hit. It lunged head-first with its mandibles and mouth wide, determined to simply eat this new source of frustration. The orange hair darted forward and grabbed the thick left wing, and Midna hauled back with her magical strength. The bug's momentum and the imp's strong tug ripped the dark gray wing from the insect's back in a spray of blue blood, and it spun off-target as it tumbled to crash into the raft to the left of Link, who had remained where he was with the hope that he wouldn't need to jump again.

The beetle's wings beat in a staggered rhythm, stuttering as it tried to fly. It only managed to turn itself to the left a bit, unable to get off the raft. There was a trumpeting call as one of the birds tucked in its wings in a dive and slammed into the beetle, knocking it over on its side. The insect wiggled its thick segmented legs in an attempt to right itself, but its still-vibrating wing pushed its own self over, exposing its underside. There were more deep calls from the birds as they swooped in with their talons, ripping into the thick carapace on the insect's abdomen. The beetle shrieked in pain, a horrible sound, and three birds hung on with their claws while the fourth landed nearby on the next floating raft.

One of the birds closed its eye and then folded up the peeled layers of its head, and when it opened it up again the eye was completely gone. The head opened up into four toothy segments, four jaws that opened like a flower's petals with a deep red throat at the center. The shadowy bird shot its head forward and bit into the shrieking insect's body with a sickening crunch. Three more black heads closed and opened again to reveal disturbing mouths, and the four birds began to tear at the body of the beetle and eat it while it was still alive, spraying blue blood and black gore into the water.

Link stood on his raft, feeling sick to his stomach at the sight. "Oh, gods…" he mumbled, gagging while turning away. He felt the raft shift as Midna landed next to him, and then her small hand patted him kindly on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. I can't even eat and this is making me feel like I want to puke." She leaned down to look at him as he hung his head low. "Are you okay, there?"

He glanced over at her and was about to answer, but suddenly there was a bright light and he had to shut his eyes against the glare. The light was so bright that he could see it through his eyelids, and Midna cried out in pain as the rest of Lanayru's stolen light was freed. It was like standing next to a sun.

The light faded and he found himself standing on two human legs at the Spirit's Spring, facing the lake that housed the Light Spirit. The entirety of the lake lit up, illuminating the cavern and its swirled carvings and statues, and something bright glided through the water. Lanayru's long glowing body slid in and out of the water as it moved to swim through it, and then the great serpent rose up, delicately holding its orb of light in its fanged jaws. The great snake fixed its stare on Link, and from the strong magical aura that radiated from it, he could tell that this Light Spirit was far more powerful than the others. He was in the presence of a god.

"I am whole again thanks to your efforts." it said. Lanayru did not introduce itself as the other Light Spirits had. They knew who each other were, so there was no point. "All of the Twilight has been lifted from Hyrule, and the people of Castle Town, of Zora's Domain, and of the Gerudo Desert are free. Now I may tell you the location of the final fragment of the Fused Shadows."

"The spirit of Rutela said that it was at the bottom of Lake Hylia." Link said, having to squint a bit due to the serpent's radiance. "She told me I'd need special armor to reach it."

"Indeed." the snake said, moving its coils in the water. "It lies along with many other relics in the Zora's holy water temple at the deepest part of the lake. You will require the aid of the Zoras to reach it, but I do not doubt that you will be able to do so."

It paused, moving its large head closer to peer at Link. "Hero. One who has been chosen by the goddesses of creation. Before you retrieve the final fragment, I must speak with you in earnest. The Twilight being is not with you, and she cannot enter my cave against my will. My words are for you alone."

What was so serious that Midna couldn't hear about it? "What is it?" he asked, unsure of where Lanayru was going with this.

"You must know the truth of the Fused Shadows, and never forget what I will reveal to you. It was the will of the three Golden Goddesses that the ancient relic be broken apart and hidden across Hyrule, and it be placed under the protection of three races: Kokiri, Gorons, and Zoras. These three races had nothing to do with the power and influence of the Fused Shadows, and thus they would not be tempted by it." It reared up, raising its long body up over the platform he stood on and moved its triangular head right in front of him, curling its neck into twisting coils. It looked as if it was ready to strike.

Link stepped back while shielding his eyes, both from the brilliant light and from the frightening snake that was only feet away from him. He felt a hot breath from its nostrils and the snake faded from view. Everything slowly vanished as the brightly-lit cavern he stood in disappeared. The scene was replaced with a dark, rocky field that sat beneath a black, empty sky.

"When all was chaos, the Golden Goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world." Lanayru's voice came to him, sounding in his head. A bright light flared to his left and he turned to see that a female figure had just landed on the earth, her slender legs bent from the impact, and she shone a brilliant red. Two more goddesses joined her to land on the rocky ground with force, one that shone blue and one that shone green. The sky suddenly bloomed with a brilliant blue, streaked with white clouds, and both grasses and trees sprouted and grew far more rapidly than any plant possibly could.

The three goddesses raised their arms, their faces indiscernible through the light that they emitted. Then they shot up into the sky at an incredible speed, flooding the world they had created with brilliant golden light. "They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, then returned to the heavens." said Lanayru's deep voice.

Just as he had been able to see the double-image of Darbus and the monster, the world he stood in appeared to be two places at once. The golden light shone beautiful and strong in a land untouched by human hands, its nature untamed; yet at the same time the same land beneath a familiar blue sky had a simple village in it, the people toiling in its fields. "The gods could not co-exist with the humans living in the world that they created, and so they left them guidance; first through the goddess Hylia, and later through the royal family of Hyrule. The golden place you see is the Sacred Realm, a mirror image of Hyrule where the Triforce once lay and the power of the goddess Hylia sleeps."

The image of Hyrule and the people living in it faded, leaving only the Sacred Realm and its golden light. The source of the light became apparent then: three golden triangles in a connected pattern, a pattern that Link was familiar with. It was the pattern on his shield, around Hyrule Castle and Castle Town, and more importantly the pattern on the back of his hand. His hand carried the mark of the Triforce. He wanted to ask Lanayru about it, but the great Light Spirit's voice continued. "People lived in peace for generations, but eventually they found out about the Sacred Realm and the golden power there, and they became greedy."

The golden triangles and the beautiful land they stood in faded to black, and then the setting sun lit up a battlefield, bathing it orange and red. The races that fought one another were mixed: Hylians, humans, Sheikah and Gerudo. The four human races fought together on both sides of the battle, one side relying more on swords and strength, the other using magic. It was a horrific battle of thousands, both sides suffering heavy casualties. "The ones who wished for that power fought against those who wished to protect it. The people of Hyrule were divided by a great war, and those who wished to enter the Sacred Realm excelled at magic, interlopers that had lived in the light among all the others. This conflict was known as the Interloper War." Lanayru's voice echoed in his mind as Link's view changed, moving towards the battlefield and a group of black-robed figures, as if he were a bird flying close.

"These sorcerers created powerful relics in order to defeat those who were willing to defend the Sacred Realm." the voice continued. "They used their dark power to gain the upper hand." In the group of sorcerers on the battlefield stood a robed Hylian, holding a stone helmet in his hands. The helmet looked quite a bit like the one Midna wore, except there was more to it, the bottom edge of it flared out to sit on its wearer's shoulders. The man lifted the helmet and placed it on his head, and the carved lines and patterns in the stone began to glow with an aqua light. He began to tremble from the power, his body jerking as he was infused with incredibly strong magic. His body grew amber and brown, encased in a pulsating light that was run through with runes of aqua as he shifted into something else. His two arms became many, and he transformed into a horrible glowing beast with the stone helmet at its center, multiple limbs sprouting from it.

Then suddenly the vantage point changed. Link was no longer looking at the man, but instead was able to see through his eyes. He looked down at his glowing hands, the amber light flickering brown and gold, and he could feel incredible power flowing through them and his whole body. The power was too vast, far too much for one person to hold, yet it gave him a thrill unlike anything else he had ever felt. Voices whispered in his ears, influencing him, driving him nearly to madness: slay them, destroy them, cull them all, you have the power.

The great arms stretched out and slammed into the enemy army, his form growing in size as he swept his magical limbs through the troops to smite them, reducing them to little more than bloody chunks and leaving nothing but gore in their wake. It wasn't enough. There was now a hunger in his heart and in his mind that can only be fed by destruction.

More.

The whispers increased, demanding that he kill, that he use this incredible power that nothing can stop. The great beast that was Link moved away from the battlefield and towards a town, its brown appendages twitching. The whispers roared in his ears, driving him forward as he brought the great amber limbs down on the buildings and the innocents living within them. The town was reduced to rubble in minutes, the lives of its people snuffed out by the excessive, frightening power. The sight was satisfying, filling him with an intense feeling of gratification. He should have felt disgusted and terrified, but those feelings were drowned out by a giddy enjoyment at wielding such power. He needed to kill more to trigger that satisfaction, to feel that way again.

More!

The whispers were overpowering, maddening, incising him to destroy, to kill, to put an end to everything. Link cried out in terror, unable to resist the voices in his mind that controlled him, or the intense dark pleasure he felt as he continued to swing his glowing limbs into towns, villages, homes, the very land itself. He screamed, begging for it to stop, unable to control himself as he ended life after life, leaving nothing but blood and ruin in his wake.

Lanayru's voice cut through his screams and the destruction like a knife. "Having no choice but to intervene, the Golden Goddesses ordered us four Light Spirits to seal away the great magic these sorcerers had mastered." Four glowing orbs descended from the twilit sky, lighting up the destruction with their radiance. The golden light from those orbs was not the gentle, warm light from the Light Spirits that Link remembered. It was a horrible, blinding light; terrifying and strong.

The light flooded his vision and he raised up his great glowing arms to protect himself as he cried out in pain. The great beastly limbs began to break apart, the dark magic blown away from them by the radiance of the Light Spirits. Beneath the limbs were Link's own arms, clad in the clothing bestowed upon him by the gods. The brilliant light began to burn those clothes away, and then his skin itself. He screamed in pain and terror as the golden light burned away his flesh, revealing the bones of his arms and hands, before those were burnt to ash as well. His screams strangled as his throat was burned away, and then suddenly stopped; then there was nothing but blackness and silence. He was unable to move, to breathe, to feel anything but that last moment of terror before his body was destroyed.

He was dead.

Dimly his vision returned, and he saw four fragments of the relic float before him. Two of them were the fragments that he and Midna had retrieved, and one was the helmet she wore on her head. There was nothing else in this dark place, only the pieces of the stone relic and the voice of the Light Spirit. "This terrible power that we sealed away is the Fused Shadows, the very thing that you seek to recover. For centuries it lay scattered and protected. Now it is nearly reformed." His vision faded to black once more, in this terrible space where he could see, hear or feel nothing. He was alone in the blackness of death.

"Hero chosen by the gods, beware." Lanayru's voice warned in that darkness, ominous. "Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will eventually be ruled by it. Never forget that."

Suddenly he was not in the unfeeling darkness of death, but standing in the Spirit's Spring with the great golden head of the Light Spirit Lanayru in front of him, orb of light held between its jaws. "History must not repeat itself." said the great serpent, and the spell on Link was broken. He suddenly gasped for breath, his heart pounding, his body shaking. The weight of everything he had just witnessed and experienced through Lanayru's vision crashed down on him and he fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself as his eyes filled with tears. He struggled to find words but could say nothing as he sat there with his chest heaving, so horrified by what he had seen, and by the strange pleasure he had felt while under the influence of the Fused Shadows in the vision.

Lanaryu gently reached out with the tip of its great tail to touch at his tear-streaked face, the sensation warm and comforting like a ray of sunshine. This was the only time one of the Light Spirits had touched him, and the great serpent was doing so to comfort him. "I am sorry it had to be this way, hero." Lanayru said gently. "It was the only way to show you the danger that you carry with you, the danger your companion is ignorant of. Tell her nothing of what I have shown you. This will be your burden alone, and it will be your choice as to what happens next."

He looked at the Light Spirit, breathing hard, overwhelmed by this responsibility. He didn't want it. He hadn't wanted to be the hero, and now he didn't want to know about how terrifying the Fused Shadows was. He didn't want to be the one to decide whether saving Hyrule from Zant was worth the risk. The serpent waited for some response, so Link tried his voice and found it weak and strained, as if he actually had been screaming. "I…" There was nothing he could say. He hung his head, no words coming to his mind as his body trembled. He couldn't even speak, only kneel in front of the serpent that gently held the warm tip of its tail to his face.

Lanayru withdrew its touch and moved back slightly, shifting the coils of its body. "You must rest. Your mind has been pushed far, just as much as your body." Something flew up from the water to land on the platform near Link with the clinking noise of glass. He moved his eyes to look and saw several rupees laying there. "Take these." Lanayru said. "People throw them into my spring and pray that I grant their selfish and petty wishes. Their offerings mean nothing to me, but you may use them to pay for a room and meals at one of the hotels in Lakeside."

It withdrew, sliding back to rest its long body halfway into the water. "Go now. Remember all that I have shown you, hero." The brilliant light faded as Lanayru vanished, the waters in its spring gone dark. Unlike the other springs, the light in the swirled carvings did not remain once the Spirit had left. There was no need for Lanayru to acknowledge the hero; it had shown him a vision that only the hero himself would be privileged to see, and so the entirety of the cavern was now dark. The snake had left him completely alone with his terror and guilt.

He fell back to sit on his heels, still hugging himself and struggling with his overwhelmed emotions. There was no one here, no one to comfort him, and he wished that there was someone to hold him. Someone, anyone to make him not feel so utterly alone. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light of the cavern, lit from above by a hole in the cliff side that let in the moonlight. As he sat there his heart slowed and his breathing calmed, although his body continued to tremble from adrenaline and exhaustion.

He slowly, shakily reached out and scooped up the coins that had landed on the stone next to him. There was only so much light, but he could see that the gem-shaped coins were orange and purple. It was far more money than he had ever had held at once, adding up to hundreds of rupees. The money that Lanayru had given him would be able to provide him with food and lodging for weeks. He wondered who would throw one hundred rupee coins into the spring, and then realized that the rich nobility would be the kind to have "selfish and petty" wishes. There was no way of knowing how many more hundreds and thousands of rupees lay in the spring; it was far too dark for him to see into the water.

Link stood on his weak legs, putting the rupees into the pouch with the rest of his money. Lanayru had given him a harsh lesson, but there was no kind way for it to have done so. It had done its best to try to comfort him and seemed to mean well, and he didn't resent it as he had resented Faron when it had informed him he was the next hero. While the Light Spirit had placed a terrible burden on his shoulders, it had trusted his judgment.

He looked down at his hands, familiar in their fingerless gloves and nothing like the terrible limbs of the Fused Shadows. The image of his own flesh and bone being burnt away by the pure power of the Light Spirits came to him again and he shivered, shutting his eyes. He couldn't let that happen to Midna. No, he couldn't let any of it happen to Midna. She couldn't be influenced by the dark relic, or destroyed because of it. Link opened his eyes, determined. He would find a way.

He gave a sigh and rubbed at his face and eyes, weary and drained, and then walked from the Spirit's Spring out into the shadows beneath the bridge. The moon was low and close to setting over the cliffs, although he wasn't familiar enough with the patterns of moonrise and moonset to know what time it was. Lake Hylia itself was dark in front of him, and to his left the walkway lead to the distant lights of what he learned was called Lakeside. He couldn't tell which buildings were hotels, but he'd likely be able to see once he got closer.

"Are you all right?" a concerned, high-pitched voice said in front of him. It was too dark for him to see her, but he knew Midna was in front of him. "I heard you screaming, and I couldn't get into the spring. Some kind of power kept me out." He briefly caught a glimpse of her eye reflecting back the lights of the nearby town, on the level with his own eyes. "What happened in there?"

He shook his head, exhausted. His heart couldn't take talking about it now.

"Link...you have to tell me. These Light Spirits are supposed to be on our side. If it hurt you, there will be trouble." Her voice was intense, fierce. She thought that Lanayru had hurt him, and wanted to defend and protect him. He almost reached out and pulled her close in a hug, needing the comfort of someone else, needing to be with the one friend that had been with him so far, but he didn't. She wouldn't understand. He couldn't explain to make her understand.

"It's nothing like that." he said, his voice tired and strained. "The Light Spirit showed me something terrible." He swallowed hard, remembering the horrible glowing arms that had obliterated entire towns, and took a quaking breath. "The Interloper War." He couldn't tell her any more. The Light Spirit told him not to, and him putting the vision into words would make him a wreck again.

"Oh." She recognized the name, but didn't say anything else about it. He felt a small hand touch his face, just as Lanayru had done in the cavern. Her touch wasn't that of a god, but that of a living being. It was the touch he needed right now. "You're shaking."

"It…" There was no way he could explain his terror and the aftereffects of it. He wished he could see her face, but she was a shadow within shadows. "I saw some things and...history cannot repeat itself. Zant must be stopped."

"I know. That's why we're working together." Her voice was kind. "You look awful. Let's go into town and find someplace for you to sleep." The little hand gently patted his cheek. "It'll be okay."

"It'll be okay when I'm asleep and I don't have to think." Link patted his chest. "Come on, let's go."

Midna's hand dropped from his face, and he had no way of knowing if she went into his shadows. It was too dark to see much of anything in the gloom beneath the Great Bridge of Hylia, other than the moonlit walkway to his left. "My heart just about stopped when I heard you screaming." she said in his ears, with him in his shadows. "You're in rough shape, but at least you're okay." Her concern warmed him, giving just as much comfort as her touch had.

"Midna." he said, being honest with her. "I'm glad that you're with me."

"Don't get all sappy on me, hero. You're over-tired, so get your butt to that town." There was no way of telling if she was trying to make a joke in earnest, or if she thought he was being moody due to his fatigue. It didn't matter. He began the walk towards Lakeside, deciding to eat a piece of stale cornbread on the way. It was dry and not very satisfying, and his hunger had shifted to nausea after the vision he had been given, but he knew he had to put something in his stomach. He needed to regain his strength.

The first hotel he identified was the one he went into. It seemed to be a bit upscale, but that didn't matter to him. It had beds; that was the important part. He could use some of the rupees from the nobility that were staying at this inn to pay for his own room, which was a far better use than just chucking it into water in hopes of getting a wish granted. The sleepy innkeeper didn't ask questions about the young swordsman that walked in wearing a ragged brown cloak, and only cared about the rupees he forked over. As the man handed him a key with a wooden tag on it, Link saw that there was an actual clock standing behind the counter of this establishment, indicating that it was about ten minutes after one in the morning. No wonder he felt like he could fall over asleep at any second.

The room he was given was on the second floor, and each step on the way up felt as if he was climbing a mountain. He put the key in the lock and opened the door, the room beyond dark other than a small beam of moonlight coming through the gap in the thick curtains. He walked in and glanced at the shape of the bed, and briefly considered falling on top of it with all of his clothing and gear on, but dismissed the idea as he shut and locked the door behind him.

"This is a lot fancier than the room in Kakariko." Midna's voice came from farther into the room, although he couldn't see her. "Who would need a dresser of this size if they're just staying for a night?"

Link didn't answer her and began numbly removing his shield and baldric. He was doing is best not to think about the vision or anything else, letting his hands follow muscle memory and move of their own accord. There was a faint sound behind him as he leaned his bow against the wall, coming from the bed. It sounded like a small child bouncing up and down.

"This is really soft. Goose down comforter, big fluffy pillows...I'm a little jealous that you get to sleep here and I don't." There was silence from her direction for a minute as he unpinned his cloak and dropped it to the floor, and then she sighed. "You know, I'm doing my best to pretend that you're all right. It's hard when you don't pretend too."

"I'm not all right." he said quietly.

"I know you're not." Her voice moved closer to him and he felt the long hat tugged off his head. "But maybe if you act like you are, the feeling will pass and you'll be better."

"That works for you, not for me." He couldn't see Midna herself, but could see the green hat hovering in the air in the dim light, held by her small hands. "Pretending to be okay for others is one thing. For myself? I know it's a lie."

"What did you see in there?" her voice said close to him, in front of his face. She was looking at his face and trying to read him. "You said that Lanayru showed you something."

She was beginning to be a little too nosy. The concern was still there, but she was curious about what could have upset him so much. After Kasuto, she should have had an inkling of what could have made him feel this way. "A vision. It was graphic. It felt real." The light burning away his flesh came to mind again and he shut his eyes, willing the image away. When she began to ask another question he cut her off, opening his eyes to stare in her direction. "Imagine, Midna. Imagine the kind of thing I'd have to experience to scream like that. Now think why I might not want to talk about it." Despite his numb body and mind, he felt a small bit of anger flare.

He saw her move back a bit, and her dark shadowy arms were wrapped around the hat as she held it to her chest. "I'm sorry." she said quietly.

His belt dropped to the floor with a thud. He didn't care so much about being quiet when he wasn't down the hall from sleeping children. Who cares if he woke up some rich snob? "You have things you don't want to tell me, that you need more time to sort out." The green tunic came off, and then the chain mail. "Now I do too."

She didn't say anything else as he undressed and then climbed into bed. He knew that this night he would have no dreams and sleep deeply, his body drained of its magical reserves. With any luck he'd wake up while it was still morning. He was nearly asleep when he felt her hand on his hair again, something that she had began to do lately due to the ordeals he had gone through. Link didn't mind; it was a very human thing to do, and it reminded him that he wasn't alone.

Author's note: This is your reminder to take a break if you need it. Get up, stretch, check the time, and make sure that you aren't reading instead of doing something important that you forgot about. Take things in moderation!

The famous cut scene where Link trips out thanks to Lanayru and learns about the Fused Shadows is a lot different here, because I think that we got the weird scene full of symbolism because they couldn't actually show how terrible the Interloper War was in-game. You knew it had to be something awful, because he falls to his knees and cries in the game too.