Never expected Zant to have some fascinating internal monologue but here we are.
The Magic Awakens
Chapter 42
Never Too Late
"You think I don't get it?" Midna forced through her grimace. "I've been through your shit." The tendrils of shadow constricted around her, and she screeched and writhed against the wall.
Zant leaned in close. "Not like me. Not the kind that makes you swat them from the sky like the annoying fly they are."
Gods, getting a single word out was so hard, but Midna needed to try. She needed to drive her point into him with only two syllables. "Zelda."
Zant recoiled in shock, and his tendrils loosened. Scarcely. Midna seized and relaxed her muscles, desperate to get blood flowing again. "You saw Mum and Dad plant the seed of jealousy. You saw me lash out at her, even though she didn't deserve it. Now look at you. You're doing the same thing you gave me shit for all these years."
"How dare you!" The shadows hurled her into a pile of boxes. She yelped as corners rained upon her. "You've always been so arrogant, like your beloved hero." Tendrils skewered the piled boxes and flung them away. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to copy your mistakes?" The last box tumbled down the aisle. Midna was gone.
"Maybe," her voice echoed. "After all, I copied a few of Dad's."
Zant whirled around with a snarl. He flew down the aisle, plunging his tendrils into every shadow and coming up empty. "It's always about you, isn't it?" he sneered. Orange hair flew behind a crane. Zant soared towards it. "I am done living in the shadows of your controversy." The thorny shadows spiralled around him. "I will stand among lords, and you will be nothing more THAN A STAIN ON THE ASPHALT!"
Every one of his tendrils curved around the crane, ready to snatch the person behind it, but as soon as his body was exposed, boxes on opposite shelves snapped to Zant's sides. The shadows fell to the floor and fled back to their posts.
"Another neat fact about our fucked-up childhood." The boxes floated around, forcing Zant to turn with them. "I know an empty threat when I see it." Midna's hands shook as she fought to keep the telekinetic hold. "If you want me dead, why haven't you killed me yet?"
Zant despised her poking and prodding. He writhed in his hold and kicked his legs. "Why haven't you tried using the Fused Shadows again?" he spat. "Nothing's stopping you."
"Because right now, I hate you a whole fucking lot, and I'm not gonna feed into it." The boxes slowly descended. "Now that we've established that," Zant's feet touched the ground and the boxes slid back onto their respective shelves, "we have some things to talk out."
Talk out? Talk out? He had just brutalised her, and she was letting him stand before her, with his clear advantage, as she collapsed against the nearest pole for support? He had his orders. She was too dangerous to live now, and if he killed her here, no one would suspect him.
She was making no sense. He knew her. He had grown up with her. She was supposed to snarl at him for ruining her life. She was supposed to trivialise his potential by boasting of her own. Now that she knew of his magic, she was supposed to treat him as a threat, and she had until about twenty seconds ago.
What a manipulative little shit she was. If he attacked her now, continued torturing her because of his jealousy, he would not only be following her Zelda parallel, but taking it so much farther.
"The Yiga recruitment was your idea, wasn't it?" she asked. Zant nodded meekly. "Did you know how pathetic a job they did? It was just to tell you they tried. The Shadowblight plan mattered more."
Zant turned away his bitter grimace. "So what?"
Midna sighed. "You care a little. I do too."
Two months ago, Zant had watched from the shadows when Midna cautiously opened the door to a third disguised Yiga. When she saw her "brother" on the front step, she had pulled him inside and slammed the door. "How could you be home so late?" she scolded. "You never know what could be out there." With a smug grin, the Yiga's disguise poofed away, and the sickle had slashed her brow before she saw it coming.
As they leapt and tumbled around the living room, Midna had shouted one question over and over. "Where's Zant?" When the scout fled her wrath, Midna curled into a ball and cried. That was why, as soon as her magic finished sweeping the house, Zant had knocked on the front door thirty minutes before he was ordered to.
When she opened the door, she didn't cry his name, or pull him in for an embrace, or even liven up. She simply asked him how his apprenticeship went. "It's an internship," he corrected, and with that answer, it was as if a world of weight had been lifted from her back, and she let him inside.
"We don't love each other like the Harkinian twins," Midna said, "but we don't wanna see the other killed." She glanced down at her many bleeding cuts. "Maimed, on the other hand…"
Zant's fists shook. "Why are we even doing this?"
"I dunno. Only you can answer that."
What was his answer? He didn't know anything aside from his own anger and seething jealousy. He wanted to be a strong person who stood among strong people, but even with every advantage, he was so small before his sister. He could kill her. He could kill the person who was foolish enough to let him stand again. He could kill one of the Yiga's most annoying pests. So why wasn't he? How did she still have him beat?
It was because she didn't deserve this after all.
Zant's eyes stung. He screwed them shut, pressing the balls of his palms into his face. He was weak. He was pathetic. He wasn't ruthless enough for Vaati's world, and he wasn't moral enough for Midna's. That made him a disappointment to everyone, and the realisation was so crushing that it brought him to his knees.
Midna limped over and kneeled before him with a pained grunt. He raised his head and confronted all the damage he had caused her. The bruised forehead, the sprained wrist, the lopsided posture, and the parallel, bleeding slashes that striped her arms and legs. They would leave scars, mental and physical, that Zant couldn't reverse, just like how he couldn't reverse the Twili kidnappings, or the Yiga ambushes, or Principal Rauru's murder.
Midna had Zant beat here, too. She caught herself before she could fall as far as he did, and she was rewarded with a loving boyfriend, a supportive friend, an escape from home, and a healed conscious. Zant didn't think her a sage, but she had a better idea about the right way forward than he did, but he knew the spoils of her good deeds weren't going to last.
"You're going to be devastated," he said. Midna flinched, hair raised, but it wasn't the threat she thought it was. Zant only meant to speak the truth. "You don't know what really lies at the end of the twins' quest."
Her hair settled. "Maybe not, but I'll be there to find out."
She hadn't a clue, and Zant couldn't bring himself to tell her. She would have to wait until the destination of her righteous path smacked her across the face. Heh, that was an amusing vision. How vile of him.
"What do I do now?" Zant's whisper cracked.
"Either kill me," Midna said, "or help me."
"Help you? Help you?" The shadows around them shifted and writhed, but they did not slither from their hold. "After what I did to you, Rauru, and the missing Twili?"
Midna's eyes widened, but they soon fell under her contemptuous brow. "Let me make something clear." Her voice trembled along a tightrope again. "I don't forgive you, and after today, I never want you in my life again. You have murdered innocents. You have mutilated by body and soul. I know your hatred, and I know your guilt. That is why I can offer you empathy, but not redemption."
"Then you do realise that my only choice is to kill you, right?" Zant snarled. "If you won't give me a way out, Vaati will."
"Kill me, and you die on the Master Sword." Midna leaned forward, eyes ablaze and hair billowing. "Don't claim to be smart about this. You sided with the ones who always lose. Lifetime after lifetime, Link and Zelda have brought down people like you."
He should kill her. Just kill her. Be done with it already. Ganondorf would be pleased, and so would Ghirahim, and especially Vaati.
But… their plan hinged on Link and Zelda awakening their Triforce pieces, and if they succeeded, then they would have the power to defeat their demonic overlord. It was a high reward plan with a higher risk, and Zant's attempts to challenge it had been shut down after no more than two words. Defeat was excruciatingly likely, and in the event of a win, Zant would have to fall deeper into evil to stay on top, but he couldn't. His conscience was too strong for villainy, and too weak for heroics. One side or the other was destined to be his doom.
"What do I even fight for now?" he choked.
"You can do better," Midna soothed. "You're beyond redemption, but as long as you're living, as long as you have power, it's never too late to do the right thing."
"I don't know what that is."
"Then take me to Link." Zant flinched at the idea. "I won't let him hurt you."
"He's in a trial right now, but I can take you to the other end."
Midna offered nothing more than the ghost of a smile. "Thanks."
Zant took a deep, shakey breath as he raised his fingers. One snap, and he would be a traitor. One snap, and he would be a stateless citizen in this war of good and evil. Would Ganondorf, Ghirahim, or Vaati manifest in an instant to stop him from throwing their plan into disarray?
That was quite a validating thought, actually. One snap was all it took to thwart the people he believed to be the strongest moments before.
Snap.
They fell through darkness, on and on, until moonlit marble rose to meet them. Zant's magic coiled around himself and his sister, and their descent slowed until their feet met the floor.
"Midna!" two voices called. Her knees buckled, and a petite figure rushed in. As Midna fell into Zelda's arms, cold metal pressed against Zant's nape.
"Did you do that?" Impa growled from behind.
"Leave him," Midna huffed as Zelda helped her to the wall beside the elevator. They were in the room with the Triforce-marked doors.
The knife fell away, but Impa's tone did not change as she paced to Zant's front and leaned down. "Where's Link?"
The Courage door swung open, and Link leaned against the doorframe, panting. His pants and sleeves were soaked in water, fresh blood rimmed a dozen tears and scabbed cuts, and the Triforce shone bright on the hand that clutched the Master Sword. A marvel that drew every eye.
Link raised his head and saw three things. First, Midna's battered form slumped against the wall. Second, his weary and battle-worn sister and guardian. Third, Zant. He charged with a roar. No way was that villain gonna lay another finger on his family.
"Stop!" At Midna's cry, gold light paralysed Link. Zelda pulled him back, reeling the tip of the blade away from Zant's throat, who let out a breath.
The gold faded, and Link's sword arm fell to his side. He wheeled towards the girls. "What happened?"
"A lot, it seems." Zelda flitted between the vibrant Triforce on Link's hand and the faded one on her own. "Why don't you begin?"
With her knife trained on Zant, Impa marched him to a far corner by the window as Link, Zelda, and Midna filled each other in on their own trials and tribulations. Midna smiled at Link's glowing hand as it finished wrapping her wrist in sturdy gauze. "Does this mean Mr Important Hero is back?"
He kissed her fingers. "He never left."
Zelda deflated a little as she tipped a blue pill into Midna's hand. "How do you feel?" she asked Link, shamefully for her own sake rather than his. She was a failure kneeling before a success.
The marking was a constant warmth to Link now. He felt different, but how? He was heartbreakingly mortal, and he knew his limits, but he also knew that many of them could be overcome. "I guess I've accepted my place," he began. "At first, I went running into the quest blind, but when I was faced with the ugliest part, I thought that was the end. There was no winning. Now, it doesn't feel like victory is assured anymore, but it feels possible if we're smart about it."
Despite her jealousy, genuine pride shone through Zelda's smile. "I've been waiting to hear that for so long." Link smiled back sheepishly.
Midna's fingers grazed his jaw. "I haven't, but it sounded pretty neat."
Link kissed her smile. "Wouldn't've gotten there without you."
A glare drilled into his head. Link matched Zant's narrowed eyes. "Mind telling us his deal?"
"He's having a bit of a morality crisis," Midna said. "Not a great person, but he's open to helping us."
"You sure we can trust him?"
Midna sighed. "What choice do we have? He's our only way forward."
Across the room, Zant resented Midna for being fawned over by the prestigious twins. Look at her flaunting her second chances where he had none. One of the twins was supposed to hate her, and the other was supposed to be barred from liking her at all.
If he wasn't trapped in a room with Ghirahim's greatest fear, Hyrule's best archer, and a fully realised hero, then he might've reconsidered his decision to spare his sister. What did she offer him exactly? Oh right, a chance to "do the right thing", thus tricking him into a situation where the only way he could get out of here was by doing what the enemy said. Typical Midna. Her words and actions clashed like fur coats on the beach.
Regretfully, there was a semblance of "brotherly affection" that was satisfied to see the support she had. She wouldn't be weighing on his stupid conscience anymore. Not the times he hurled stones or the times he watched her get stoned. He wouldn't have to wrestle with how far was "too far" either, even though he crossed it long ago in her eyes.
Three heads swivelled towards him. Zant didn't get a roomful of attention very often, but it was both enthralling and uncomfortable. Midna's wounds were cleaned and dressed, and the pill had made her bruises fade significantly, but she still needed a tug from Link to get to her feet. Everyone closed in on Zant, and he fought the urge to shrink away.
"After Zelda and I awoke the Triforce," Link began, "what was meant to happen?"
Zant could lie. It wasn't too late find some way to recover from this, right? "The elevator would open for you again," he said truthfully, for he had no other answer, "and you'd ride it to another room where Lord Dragmire would ambush you."
The twins looked at each other, then back at Zant. "Why?" Zelda asked.
"To take the rest of the Triforce in one strike."
That was a surprisingly modern way of doing things, and Zelda felt better about her failure, but not by much. "Since Wisdom remains dormant," the euphemism tasted bitter on her tongue, "what do you suspect happens now?"
Zant shrugged. "His advantage was lost the moment I told you the plan. I doubt he'll show up," his eyes flitted to Courage, "especially now that you can do some damage."
With another shared look, Link and Zelda dismissed themselves to the farthest corner, muttering between each other and stealing a few sceptical glances at Zant every now and then. He caught a few whispers like "What if he's lying?" and "Now he'll want you dead" and "Is it worth the risk?" With a final nod, they rejoined the others.
"Can you take us to Vaati?" Link asked.
Zant almost choked. "Excuse me?!"
"He has the Light Medallion, right? Demise wouldn't-"
"Who the fuck is Demise?!"
Impa's knife twitched. "Shut it!" Midna placed her good hand on Impa's wrist to lower the blade. How peculiar. Midna had been at the Harkinian residency for less than two hours, and Impa was already acting like Midna was an honorary daughter.
"Demise is what we're calling the guy who took over Ganon," Link said. "We don't think they're the same person." Zant scoffed but did not argue. "Demise wouldn't risk having the medallion on him in close combat and neither would Ghirahim. That leaves the owner of this building, right?"
Zant bowed his head. "I don't know."
"You're not a good liar under pressure," Midna said. "You killed Mr Rauru. Impa told us he had the medallion, so if anyone knows who has it, it's you."
Wasn't she frustratingly perceptive when it suited her? "Fine. He's been using the medallion to form this whole charade."
"Then I'll ask one more time," Link said firmly. "Can you take us to him?"
"Of course I can. I was meant to report to him in person and hand over the medallions you were supposed to surrender!"
"Okay, Mr Grumpy-Pants," Midna eyerolled. "Sorry things didn't go your way."
Zant gnashed his teeth. These goodie-goodies didn't understand a thing. Vaati was ruthless, and that was why he was successful. He said he saw a lot of his younger self in Zant, and hoped that he would one day live up to that potential, and now this annoying band of ragtag heroes wanted Zant to face the fact that he had failed to be even a fraction of the man Vaati was? Disappointing one father figure was crushing enough.
"We'll push forward," Zelda said, completely disregarding the fact that Zant would obviously not want this.
Link nodded at her. "To Vaati."
Zant was forced to stand at the front of the elevator. This was for practical reasons, as he needed to be the one to reach the buttons and punch in some secret code, but it only meant that when the doors parted and he led them to his role model, Zant's face would be the first to appear.
Falling over him like a veil was Impa's shadow, still clutching the knife in hand. Midna was wrong to posit the Master Sword as his greatest danger. Beside Impa was Zelda, her head hung low. Zant couldn't help but empathise somewhat. Failure was not a pleasant feeling for heroes or villains.
At the back were Midna and Link, softly whispering something Zant couldn't quite catch while giving each other a look that made him want to vomit.
"I hate him, but I think it's pretty cool that you got him to co-operate," Link whispered.
"He just needed a stern talking to." Midna wrapped a hand around Link's waist and drew him in for a peck on the crown. "I learned from the best."
Link smiled as he leaned against her, but it melted away. "What do we do with him when it's over?" They were both uncomfortable with handing him over to his abusive father, but they couldn't forgo justice. Not after his resume of deplorable actions.
"I dunno." If Midna were to have her way, it would be to simply abandon him. He could spend his life repenting for his mistakes or being hunted by them. She was so done having Abuser Number 3 in her life.
Many minutes later, the elevator whirred to a halt. The doors slid apart to a foyer, and a plush carpet paved the way to a navy door with a golden plaque. The heroes prayed that whoever was beyond that door was exactly who Zant and the plaque promised, and Zant, who had delivered, was in for a parade of shame.
It was an expansive office surrounded by walls of clear glass, of which only the cascading rain was visible. Lightning flashed upon a polished marble floor. At the far end, a figure leaned against his desk on ghostly palms. Pin-straight, thistle hair fell down his crisp violet suit.
As the party approached, he rolled his shoulders back, rotated on his polished white shoes, and smiled at them as if they were stakeholders that had arrived for meeting. With a flourish of his hand, the Light Medallion appeared between two slender fingers, covering one of his piercing red eyes.
"Looking for this?"
I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on Zant kinda sorta switching sides. It was definitely a hard balance to strike with him since I wanted him to realistically choose to "do better" but also make it clear that he does not deserve redemption. His moral event horizon has been crossed and there is no going back.
Oh boy. Only ten chapters left now. Do you feel the end approaching?
