Wowee. The final medallion arc! I dunno if it tops the Shadow Medallion one, but I reckon it comes damn close.

I remember that during the thought-dump process, I wanted to make a dark office building the location of the Shadow Medallion, but I also wanted to explore Midna's guilt and trauma through a more typical Shadow Temple situation. By using my ominous skyscraper idea for the Light Medallion, I got to have my cake and eat it too.


The Magic Awakens

Chapter 40

Doors to the Unknown


A tower of glass cleaved through the torrential downpour. At the highest level of Vaati Incorporated Headquarters, a speck of light winked at the puny family of three. The message from the enemy was clear.

Come and get it.

Zelda and Impa strode towards the glass doors, as if moving towards the danger was easy and normal. Even with a few days of rest and healing, Link's body still hadn't fully mended, and his courage? It had abandoned him. Packed up everything that made him whole, stomped off, and slammed the door behind it.

But he didn't need to fight or kill or survive right this second. He just needed to walk, so he followed his shadow away from the rush hour traffic and caught up to his companions just as the sliding doors invited them in.

The reception room was spacious, dark, and stripped bare. No seats or computers or papers or logos or anything, as if the building had only just been erected. The only light in the room was that which spilled from the street, but the frosted glass isolated them from the bustling city life. It even distorted the sounds of the cars zooming through the rain into whispers luring Link back to civilisation, to normalcy, to relative safety.

There were only two things that stopped Link from retreating through those doors. The first was that these villains had a habit of locking him in sinister structures with sinister surprises, so why bother turning back? The second was surveillance. Perhaps it was paranoia on Link's part, but they could be onto his deep emotional turmoil and crippling lack of resolve. The only thing more frightening than this quest was his enemies knowing how just how frightful he found it.

All he could do was keep his back straight and head high, but it felt so wrong to reduce courage to a performance. Once the first obstacle ambushed him, he'd break character and be stripped down to the scared boy underneath.

Down the hall from reception, Link trailed behind the others. Zelda spammed the button of one of the elevators, but it refused to respond. "I swear, if we have to rip our way into the damn shaft-" Behind her, the second elevator dinged and opened its jaws. Impa, Link, and Zelda cast nervous glances at each other, but with no other way forward, they walked inside.

The upward rise was painfully slow. Impa brushed the cool metal knives inside her blazer. Zelda stood nearest to the doors with a nocked arrow. Link had sword and shield at the ready, but they were dead weight. They wouldn't keep him safe.

They were being funnelled into a trap. A never-ending elevator ride was a round-a-bout way of doing it, but it made sense. It could keep them caged until their rigid guard eroded. It was a test of wills that Link couldn't win, but he gripped his blade a little tighter, even if it wasn't worth trying. It was a basic survival instinct. Nothing more.

The moment the elevator dinged, everyone's weapons came to life. Shield up. Bow raised. Knives out. The doors spread to another wall of frosted glass and a high ceiling. Navy walls and glossy marble floors. When there was no danger present, their weapons disappeared one-by-one.

Just like reception, everything was stripped bare. Just like reception, the only light and noise spilled through the frosted glass. Just like reception, the path forward was all too clear. On opposite walls were doors displaying symbols of the Triforce. The left bore Wisdom, while the right beckoned Courage.

Zelda drifted towards her door, but Impa clamped a hand on her shoulder. "Let's find a way around this, first."

With a nod, Zelda followed Link and Impa back into the elevator. He punched the button for the top floor, and to everyone's mild surprise, the doors closed and the elevator groaned upwards. It couldn't have been that simple. It shouldn't have been that simple.

As the minutes stretched on, however, it became abundantly clear that this was no different to the last elevator ride, and after an exhaustingly long time, the doors opened to the very same room they were in before.

Impa sighed as she led her kids out. "I told you we'd face this together." She thumbed towards the Courage door. "Zel, take the lead. We're right behind you."

With a resolute nod, Zelda skipped up and jimmied the handle, but it refused to budge. With a furrowed brow, she dashed to the other side and turned the Wisdom door's handle with not a hint of resistance. She held the door wide, inviting Impa and Link into the dark hall beyond it, then followed them through as the door clicked behind her.

The narrow hallway had a dim glow yet no light source. The only thing spotlighted was the distant door at the end of the hall. It was uncanny how little light existed in the Light Medallion's domain, but perhaps that was the point. By hoarding the light, the enemy shone brightest in the darkness they wrought.

At long last, they reached the door. Impa turned the handle with easy. Still, it was too early to hope, and everyone's scepticism was validated when they wandered into the same room as before through the doorway they had entered.

Zelda's head spun from trying to comprehend how they were turned around without feeling it. It was as if someone pulled her hood over her eyes just as she stepped off a carnival ride dizzy and dazed.

Link stood before his designated door. Shaking some sense into herself, Zelda shuffled towards him. His right thumb brushed the faint Triforce on the back of his hand. "There's no way around it, is there?" he said.

Zelda's gut simmered with dread. "I suppose not."

"Where do you think it leads?"

"Where do you think it leads?" she asked. Link hung his head, his sandy locks obscuring his eyes. He was always hiding his eyes. Always afraid of letting her catch a glimpse of their boundless anxiety.

Impa straightened up from her inspection of the perimeter. "There's nothing else here," she called as she crossed the room. "We have to split up."

Zelda turned to her brother. "Would you be okay going alone?" Impa was sticking with Zelda. With Zelda's focus being long-ranged combat, she needed the back-up more than Link ever could.

He half-smiled. The fakest and weakest display of confidence Zelda had seen from him in a long time. "I'm not really alone." At least she knew those words were earnest.

She pulled him in. "You can do it, okay? I know you'll come back."

As he returned the embrace, he didn't believe her, but he owed it to her to try. "Yeah." He didn't promise. He didn't want to break another promise.

Impa hung back with her head bowed and hands behind her back, so she was unprepared when Link embraced her next. "You'll take care of her, right?"

After a second of surprise, she looped an arm around him and patted his head. "Of course."

"And you'll be okay too?" He was still bitter towards her, and part of him still wanted to wallow in that bitterness, but that didn't erase the fact that he still loved her so much more than he was ever willing to admit. He didn't love her like his mother or father, but he did love her like a parent. Why deny that truth in the face of untold danger?

Impa held him a little tighter. "Yes. I will."

When Zelda held open her door for Impa, she shot Link a stern look. Narrow eyes and pursed lips. It was one of those twin moments where the other's thoughts rang loud and clear. Don't you dare let this be goodbye! He responded with the wisp of a laugh and a half-hearted smile that said, I know. If he lost faith in himself and died to whatever was beyond that door, he wasn't gonna get away with it.

When Zelda's door clicked shut, whatever semblance of a brave face Link had collapsed. He stared at his own door with a heavy numbness. It was embarrassing how long he waited under the enemy's eye, but he needed time to dig his hand through the thick, swirling fear, dread, and self-doubt for that one scrap of hope. Maybe, just maybe, things would work out on the other side of that door. Maybe the brave, heroic persona that had forsaken him would swing back like a left hook.

Maybe he wasn't in a headspace to fight monsters or confront heinous villains, but he could sure as hell walk through a door, and that was what he did.


Every step was like stacking another pebble on a precarious tower. Zelda found it all the harder to keep her headspace balanced as the end of the hall drew near. What was beyond it? What did she want to see beyond it? Did she secretly wish for Impa's presence to turn them around again, just so she wouldn't confront the humiliation of her unawakened powers? Or did she want to face whatever was waiting for her so it could be done with after weeks of struggle?

No words were shared when they stopped before it. Zelda summoned her bow and a phantom arrow as Impa selected two knives. The warrior spoke the incantation etched into them. "Goddess above, hear my plight. Grant me a wisp of your sacred light." As the blades glowed gold, something tingled within Zelda. If she had fully awoken the powers of Hylia, she might've understood it better.

Zelda narrowed her eyes at the door handle. It glowed as it turned. The daughter and guardian shared a breath, and the door swung open.

They stormed into the room, heads and weapons searching for threats. This room was nearly identical to the last, but the frosted glass silhouetted a wide mahogany desk with not a single paper or device laid upon it. Beyond that was a tall office chair turned away from them.

A gloved hand emerged from behind it and snapped. A spotlight sparked and the chair swivelled around, revealing Ghirahim's menacing smirk atop his laced fingers. "My my, it has certainly been a while since the three of us had a proper reunion."

Zelda's target was set. "What are you doing here."

"Goodness me, whatever happened to the meek little princess I met a few months ago?"

"She's around, but she's well-guarded now," Zelda said coldly. "Now, answer my question." Impa side-eyed her daughter with a proud smirk.

Ghirahim sighed as he eased from his chair. "Alright, Miss High and Mighty Goddess." He caught Impa's eye, and his composure wavered slightly. "My duty is to separate guardian from guarded." Impa's grip on her knives tightened. "Because there is a crucial trial that little Zelda must face alone."

The words provoked Impa's knife. It spun towards Ghirahim's gut and rebounded off hard, black skin. The knife shattered into Impa's void as Ghirahim's dark hue faded back to white. He raised his fingers and snapped.

A hole opened beneath Zelda, but her magic hoisted her away before it swallowed her. Ghirahim's smirk crumbled into a scowl. Catching her off guard was a wasted bet, and her stupid little Triforce piece prevented his magic from paralysing her. But perhaps the returning magic had granted him enough strength to finally leverage the one person he was afraid of against her.

Ghirahim raised his fingers again, but before he could snap the lightning chains around Impa, an arrow flew. He barely hardened his skin before the arrow collided.

Zelda floated down to the sealed floor with another arrow ready. Impa had her choice knives in hand. Ghirahim had not encountered the golden enchantment before, but he dreaded what they might be capable of.

Another snap. Another hole. Another flight. Impa charged. Snap. Blood red lightning shot towards her. She slashed the spell into nothing. Ghirahim teleported away from the swing. Reappeared behind Impa. Sna- Another arrow knocked his hand away. It did not break skin, but it left a nasty sting. Ghirahim teleported to the farthest corner as he massaged his hand.

"Oh, come on, Princess! Defeating you should be easy."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "What? Did you expect me to crumble to my knees and cry out for my hero?"

Ghirahim just stared at her, utterly bug-eyed for a good few seconds before he threw out his arms and exclaimed, "Yes!" He vanished from another swipe of Impa's knives.

The pattern cycled on and on. Zelda's arrows thwarted many snaps, but when he summoned a hole, she lifted away from it. When he conjured lightning, Impa slashed it to nothing. When he tried to ambush either from behind, a knife or arrow was already flying to the other's aid.

Zelda could hardly believe how far she had come. The demon who had almost killed her on Day 1 of Destiny was wavering on the defensive, and though she was not one who usually found power in violence, seeing him struggle under her and Impa's combined might felt exhilarating. Once they bypassed Ghirahim's indestructible skin and teleportation, the fight was a sure win, and a reassurance that evil would never prevail.

But as Ghirahim kept himself just out of reach for several minutes, Zelda's optimism diminished. Impa panted as she chased Ghirahim around. Zelda's right arm ached from all the draw strength. Without a single scratch from Impa's light, Ghirahim did not tire. Zelda needed to do something drastic. Something to give Impa the necessary opening.

There was one thing Zelda had in her favour. Ghirahim was not allowed to kill her.

Another deflected arrow. Another knife came swinging. Zelda knew what came next. Ghirahim would appear behind her, and Impa would thwart him by throwing a knife and he'd teleport away.

This time, when Ghirahim disappeared from Impa's blade, Zelda spun on her heel and launched, arms spread, ready to catch him around the middle and pin him down, but when he flashed into view, he zipped aside. In the wall she sailed towards, a pitch-black circle expanded, and she screamed as it swallowed her whole.

Ghirahim blinked as the wall sealed behind her. He had done it. He had done it! Oh, his master would be so very pleased.

That cold, simmering tone coiled around him. The one he had learned to fear, because he knew what followed. "You shouldn't have done that."

Lightning flashed behind a swinging braid, wide stance, and narrowed eyes as sharp as her glowing blades. With a roar, she charged with her full fury, and just like last time, Ghirahim was hopeless to stop her.


At long last, Link reached the door to a cavernous, windowless warehouse. That wasn't on the blueprints they had analysed before coming here, but neither were narrow, infinite hallways or eternal elevator rides or doors marked specifically for the Triforce wielders.

Rows upon rows of empty metal shelves reached to the rafters. Running between them were rails with automated stacker cranes parked at the far end. Their cargo-carrying platforms were set at the highest level with nothing that could be seen from Link's miniscule angle.

As he passed the shelves, ruminating on what nasty surprises could leap from the shadows, he adjusted to the moonlight glow that had no source. Far ahead, by the final few shelves, a familiar outline emerged. He stood with Captain Ozul's rigidity, but he was shorter and ganglier, costumed in business-wear that was a size too big.

Link stopped a good five metres away and stiffly nodded a greeting. "Ozul."

"Harkinian."

The opponent was unmasked, but questions lingered. Previously nothing more than a nuisance to Link and Midna, Zant now represented something more dangerous. What were his powers? What were his objectives? What was his plan? Furthermore, was this something Link could handle in his fragile state?

Link chose not to speak. If Zant wanted something from him, he could make it known without Link demanding answers. He didn't need answers anyway. He needed a way forward. An escape.

"So, you must be wondering why you're here," Zant spoke at last. Link's resolute silence unnerved him, but he kept his chin up and droned on. "As you can tell, I'm a businessman in the making, so I thought I'd propose a trade." He didn't know how Vaati, Ghirahim, or Ganondorf did it. They made projecting charisma look so effortless. Link seemed bored with Zant, like everyone else. Surely this next part would shake the hero.

Zant summoned his slate and made a few swipes and taps. "The medallions you hold," a final tap, "for her life."

At the other side of the hall, machinery whirred. A shadowy pillar moved along the rail until it stopped beside Zant. The platform lowered, and a frightening sound mingled with the creaks and groans. Muffled whimpering. The jingle of chains. First there was the scalp, where the orange locks had been crudely sawn off. Then came the tearful red eyes, the gagged mouth, and the wrists chained down behind her back. She was beaten, bruised, and drained of magical energy, and she was staring at her hero, silently pleading him to save her.

Zant had been filled in what happened whenever his superiors threatened Midna's safety before Link. He had screamed and shouted. He had thrown himself against an impenetrable barrier. He had been willing to give himself up to Ghirahim. He had even stood up to Zant's father, and that was what the young intern found most impressive of all.

Though Zant had to wonder how many of those stories were true. If Link became an irrational storm of emotion, then why was he staring at Midna with that same blankness? No, with contempt? Perhaps he did not see Zant for the threat he truly was. A snap of the fingers could fix that. Look, now there was a knife hovering against her heaving throat. How do you feel about that, "hero"?

"Is this what you wanna see your sister reduced to?" The understated tone drove a barbed spear into Zant's ego, causing him to shrivel a little, but he snatched back his composure.

"Is it a deal or not?"

After an agonising wait, Link slowly shook his head, and Zant's bottled fear, confusion, and frustration exploded. "No? No? Perhaps I wasn't clear. If you don't give me the medallions, I will kill her! I will kill my sister. I will slit your girlfriend's throat, and you mean to tell me that you don't care?"

Finally, a sliver of emotion shone through Link, but it wasn't fear or anger or torment. No, it was a smirk. An itsy-bitsy little smirk. "No, I don't," he said, "because that's not the real Midna."

Zant swivelled between Link and his captive, trying to see the conspiracy from the other's perspective. Her shadow matched her figure, and she had reacted to Link's accusation by wailing at her beloved for forsaking her (as she realistically should). "How could you possibly think that!"

A voice echoed. One that was supposed to be locked in her room, wardened by their parents. "Because I'm right here, Zant."

Link's shadow swung from behind to his right, and from it, she rose. Unblemished. Unbound. Uncut. Untamed. Why? How? For several seconds, Zant's slack jaw was incapable of forming a coherent question, but his ravenous hunger for answers kicked it into function. He raised a trembling finger. "You're supposed to be at home!"

"I am home." Midna laced her fingers with Link's, and they shared a look that made Zant want to gag.

"But your magic-"

"Dad's about to find out about my shadow-walking, but the beauty of the situation is I don't have to care anymore."

"And your slate-"

"Yeah, I've been planning this for a while." Midna raised her free hand and a clunky burner slate materialised. "Got this a few weeks ago. Used it right after our 'quality time together'."

Zant's finger drifted to Link. "I lured you here. You believed me."

"Was that from you?" Link summoned his slate and read one of "Midna's" texts out loud. "Yeah you should totes check Vaati HQ or whatever anyways miss ya loads can't wait to see how we disappoint my parents next."

"You thought I was being sarcastic," Midna teased.

"That's why I interrogated you both." Link turned back to Zant with that I'm trying so hard not to laugh at you face. "Midna's dream job isn't to be a pole-dancer."

She snorted. "That's my backup option."

Link playfully shoved her. "See! He did a decent job."

"Oh yes, and that's a very convincing illusion he's got there," Midna said. "Wonder what would happen if he did slit her throat?" A stake of hair shot forth and slashed the fake's neck. It flickered into nothingness. "Oh. Business deal? More like scam."

How in Din's name was Zant supposed to respond to this absurd situation? This was not how it was supposed to go. It wasn't supposed to end with Zant's carefully crafted plan reduced to a punchline! This Harkinian boy was supposed to beg Zant to spare his beloved. He was supposed to give up the medallions and pray that Zant kept his word. He was supposed to fall into his trial without knowing Midna's ultimate fate and suffer for it!

Although, it wasn't too late for that final step. Zant snapped his fingers, and a hole opened beneath Link's feet. He fell faster than the mirth on his face, his yell fading. "Link!" Midna threw herself at the receding hole, only to crash against solid floor.

A rageful magic crackled through Zant's form and raised him from the lino. As Midna lifted her damp eyes, his shadow fell over her. This felt right. This was how it should be.

Shadows pulled themselves from the cranes and shelves, rising and swirling about Zant like a fortress of thorns. If there was one area Zant knew he had Midna beat, it was magic. Her skills were cobbled together from old texts and whatever she had taught herself. He was trained to destroy her.

"Now, dear sister," he growled. "Let us have a little chat."


Imagine if Link and Zant had to roleplay Midlink's relationship for three days over text just to "maintain the illusion". What do you think our shit-stirring hero said to make Zant think "Dad hates him for the wrong reasons"? Personally, I think he would spam Zant with cat videos. Possibly lovey-dovey cat puns too.

Link: ur so purr-ecious to me :3

Zant: "Why can't you just sext? That would be so much more bearable than this!"