Eidolon Interloper

Chapter 14

Ashei was, unsurprisingly, not happy to see them.

She stood at the entrance of the camp as they approached, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face. Danny assumed she must have heard their footsteps in the heavy snow. With the wind and blizzard finally having cleared up, the area was completely silent.

She didn't say anything as they got closer, merely watched with that impassive look. Danny shifted uncomfortably as they came to a stop in front of her.

Link sighed, breaking the silence first. "Ashei—"

"You should know," Ashei began, immediately cutting him off, "that if you're about to give me some halfhearted excuse or lie, I don't want to hear it."

Link blinked in surprise, glancing at Danny. Danny grimaced in response.

"Of course," Link said grudgingly. "There's not much to say. I decided to chase after the… beast that we spotted."

"Exactly," Danny said. "He snuck out in the middle of the night—I was just following."

"And you didn't think to wake me up?" Ashei replied sharply.

Danny sheepishly looked at his toes. "Um… no?"

Ashei drummed her fingers on her arm, narrowing her eyes. "So," she said slowly, "you expect me to believe that you both, in the pitch black of night, in the middle of a blizzard, tried to follow a beast that had left hours ago? And that you both not only survived, but somehow made it back to camp with hardly a scratch?"

Danny shrugged. Link sighed.

"You're not going to tell me how you did that, are you," Ashei said flatly.

"I still don't know how he managed it," Link said, gesturing toward Danny, "so no, I don't think so."

"Did you at least find the monster?"

Danny had been fully prepared to lie, but Link nodded before he could. "We did," Link said, "except it wasn't a monster. It was a creature called a yeti and he was actually pretty friendly. He told me that he was getting the fish for some soup for his sick wife."

Ashei furrowed her brows in confusion. Apparently that had not been what she was expecting.

"Fine," she sighed. "Sounds like there is not much more work to be done here. Let's get back to Telma's Bar. But I swear to all three goddesses, if you go missing again I am not waiting for you next time."

oOoOo

They arrived back at the bar entrance late at night, long after it had closed. Telma was inside, cleaning mugs behind the counter. Shad, as usual, sat poring over a book at a lone table in the corner. Both looked up at Danny, Link, and Ashei as they entered.

"How did it go?" Telma asked.

"You'd have to ask them," Ashei said, voice tinged with bitterness, "since they decided I didn't need a part in it."

"We, uh, got the mirror," Danny said, a bit awkwardly.

"Oh!" Shad perked up at that, quickly standing from where he was seated. "I wanted to talk to you about that, Danny!"

Danny blinked. "Um, about what?"

"The mirror!" he exclaimed. "And your other things—the song and the goddess. I've been looking into them more and I have some information to share!"

"Oh," Danny replied, surprised. He hadn't realized that Shad was even looking in the first place, let alone still interested after all this time.

"Wait right here—I'll go get my notes!" Shad hurried up the stairs with his book, leaving the others behind.

Link took the opportunity to sit at the bar in front of Telma. Glancing around the empty room, he asked, "Where's everyone else?"

"Auru went to his home for the night, and Rusl said he was going back to Ordon Village for a while," Telma replied. "There was some kind of trouble going on in the forest near your home."

Link frowned at that, and Danny wondered what he was thinking.

Shad took that moment to reappear in the stairwell, arm full of a bundle of papers.

"Here," he said, stumbling over to the table nearest the stairwell. He beckoned toward Link and Danny, spreading his papers out. Link shook his head, instead taking a step toward Telma at the counter, but Danny curiously walked over and did as asked, surveying the pages. The pages were written in Hylian, which Danny still wasn't great at reading, so he stared at the pictures which mostly consisted of various odd artifacts. On one page were lines and circles that looked vaguely reminiscent of music notes.

"These," Shad said, gesturing toward the page with music notation, "are the notes for the Song of Light. It was hard to find, since it's from a far off land that's mostly inhabited by magical spirits. But it's said to summon diamonds that shoot out beams of light if you play it in the right locations. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any references to where these locations were. I'll keep looking, though!"

Danny frowned, staring at the music notes and wondering what to do with them. It occurred to just how incredibly out of his depth he was here. Even if this was the song that the Stalfos mentioned, even if he did somehow learn how to read music, even if Shad did find these special locations… what was he supposed to do with the notes? Sing them?

"Or," Shad said, brushing the page aside and revealing another beneath it, "perhaps the song mentioned was the Sun's Song."

The new page revealed was far more striking than the previous one. Instead of musical notes, it was decorated with rather haunting artwork of three gaunt humanoid figures, their limbs unnaturally long and skin shriveled and brown. The worst part was their faces, fathomless black holes in place of eyes with mouths permanently open in silent screams. Danny shuddered, glancing at the text to try and get his mind away from the pictures—but then frowned. Despite what he had been learning… he didn't recognize any of the letters above the image.

"Surprisingly, despite being native to Hyrule, this song was even more difficult to find information on," Shad rambled. "I had to dig through ancient texts and translate them as best I could. My Middle Hylian isn't exactly as on par as my Ancient Hylian, particularly because the characters have the quirk of being syllabic… but I was able to glean some useful tidbits."

Danny stared at the pictures below the text and pointed. "What are those things?"

"Oh, those are ReDeads," Shad said, sounding far too delighted in the face of such creatures. "They are the bodies of reanimated dead. They can supposed stun even the bravest of warriors with the terror of their shrieks!"

As scary as that description was… Danny couldn't help but perk up at the mention of reanimated dead. "What do they have to do with the song?"

"Well, the Sun's Song isn't necessarily a song of light, but considering your interest in the underworld, I thought it may be worth researching," Shad said. "It can change the time of day—night into morning, morning into night."

Danny furrowed his brows. "What? What does that mean? Wouldn't everyone notice that?"

Shad frowned at the page, tilting his head and examining it. "I'm not entirely sure. It isn't more specific than that. All I know is that it was made by two famous composers who worked for the Royal Family some time around the Hyrulean Civil War. Oh, and more pertinently, it is also said to put the hearts of the wandering dead at rest."

The wandering dead… Danny rested his chin in his hand, thinking. That could be it. Could he be considered wandering? …Or dead? "Where do you find this song?"

"See… that's the problem," Shad sighed. "No one knows. The composers themselves were buried in the Kakariko Graveyard, and the texts say that the notes of the song were written on a stone deep within a crypt there. But even if we knew where the location of the crypt was anymore, there's no guarantee those notes wouldn't have faded with time." As Danny's face dropped, Shad smiled sympathetically. "Sorry. I'll keep looking into it!" He shuffled the papers around a bit, pulling out a few more pages. "I also found some mirrors that might be what you're looking for, although mirrors aren't exactly uncommon objects. I specifically found a few with magical properties. There's the Magic Mirror, which could send someone trapped in a 'dark' world to a 'light' world. Unfortunately, it seems that it's not only lost to time, but also useless without being in this dark dimension already. There's also the Dark Mirror, which the texts say is in the northeastern woods… but there are no woods in northeastern Hyrule. Then there's…"

"It's okay, Shad," Danny cut in. "I'm… pretty sure I've found my mirror." He noticed Link—who had been previously listening to Telma rambling on about something or other—throwing a small frown in his direction. Danny ignored it. Link was probably just mad that someone else was looking for his magic mirror with him. Considering the feeling the Mirror of Twilight gave him was so reminiscent of his ghost sense, Danny was almost certain that these shards were what he needed.

"So where are your travels taking you next?" Telma's words drifted toward Shad and Danny's table. Danny turned toward Link, also interested in the answer.

"I'm still looking for the mirror shards," Link said. "The last two are in the sky and in a forest. I still don't know how to get to the sky, so I guess I'll have to search the forest. I grew up near Faron Woods, and Rusl is there now, so I'll start there."

Shad perked up. "One of the shards is in the sky?" he said.

Link nodded.

Shad quickly stood up, eyes practically twinkling with joy. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "It HAS to be the Oocca!" He flashed a grin at Link. "As you know, I'm researching a race that once lived in the sky. They must be the ones with this shard! Who else could it possibly be?" He laughed. "I was so distracted by Danny's requests… but I can get on that right away! I will get you to the sky, my friend!"

Shad picked up the book nearest to him, and—not even bothering to clean up the papers strewn across the table—hurried up the stairs.

There was a brief, awkward silence. Ashei broke it by standing up, brushing off her clothes. "Well, I'm off to bed then," she said. "Good night."

"Good night, Ashei," Telma said. She nodded at Link and Danny. "You boys should get to bed too! You must be tired after all that work in Snowpeak."

"Sounds good to me," Danny mumbled, suddenly overcome with exhaustion. As it turns out, forgoing sleep in favor of chasing down a wolf furry in a snowstorm was not great for long-term energy. He stood up, intending to head upstairs to his borrowed room.

Before he could escape, however, Link grabbed his shoulder. His touch was gentle and unassuming, but Danny still tensed. Despite everything, he was still nervous about Link.

"I want to talk to you," Link said softly. "You're not trying to find the Mirror of Twilight, are you?"

Danny shrugged his arm off, avoiding Link's eyes. He'd been afraid of this discussion; Link was clearly trying to get the mirror shards for himself, but Danny needed them too. He really didn't want to fight over them, but he was prepared to do so if that was what it took to get home. "Maybe, maybe not," Danny said vaguely. "You heard Shad. There are lots of mirrors out there."

Link's face shone with concern—which managed to irk Danny. This would be so much easier if Link just didn't care. "I just want to make sure it's not the Mirror of Twilight. I… I don't know what you think that the mirror can do for you, but whatever it is, it's too dangerous."

Danny's anger rose. He turned toward him fully, glaring at Link. "What I want with the mirror is my business," Danny growled, "not yours."

"Danny, you've seen how dangerous this is," Link insisted. "You saw what happened to Yeta—that yeti woman. She became a monster. The mirror does possess power, but… it has an incredible cost." Link paused, taking a breath. "I want to believe that you have good reasons for searching this out, but I also can't let you continue. This isn't something you should mess around with."

"And what, you should?" Danny countered, raising his voice. "What makes you so special, huh? Why is it okay for you to be looking for it but not me?"

Link tensed. "That's different," he said shortly. "I know someone who knows how to contain the mirror's magic and use it safely."

"Well… how do you know I don't?" Danny said, waving his arms erratically to emphasize his words. "I'm a mage, right? Maybe I'm an expert in this!"

"This is dark magic," Link said, somewhat incredulous. "That's not something good people are experts in."

Danny clenched his fists. "Sounds like your friend isn't a good person either then," Danny spat. He had to be talking about Midna. His mind briefly flashed back to her callous response to the woman he tried to save upon first arriving, her insistence that Link attack Danny in Arbiter's Grounds. "And I'm not surprised about that, either."

"Not surpr—what does that mean?"

"Look, I don't even know if this mirror is what I need," Danny said. "Like… maybe it isn't. Maybe I'm wasting my time, and maybe I'll never…" His voice trailed off, and he felt some of the fury draining out of him, replaced with a deep sorrow. "It doesn't matter," Danny scoffed, turning away. "I'm not giving up. I don't care what it does to me, but I can't give up if this is what I need. Okay?"

There was a pause as Link looked thoughtful. He glanced down at the ground–no, at his shadow. At the very friend he'd been mentioning.

"Fine," Link said at length. "Then let me help you."

Danny stopped mid-step, frozen in place. "Uh… what?"

"I'll help," Link said, "as long as you promise to let me handle the shards for now. Once we collect them all, then I can see if it can do what you think it does. But it's just not safe for you to touch them now."

"W…Why would you help me?" Danny asked suspiciously. "We don't even like each other!"

Link smiled faintly. "Actually, I don't have a problem with you. I don't want to fight. You seem like a good ally to have." Link held out his hand. "So what do you say? I'll help you get the shards if you let me hang on to them for now. Deal?"

Danny glared at the hand, considering it. "You know I don't need you, right?" he said slowly. "I could get these on my own. You'll probably slow me down."

Link shrugged. "I mean, if you're sure about that, then fine," he said, "but I have a feeling you're just as nervous about those shards as I am. I can help you minimize the danger."

Danny thought of his experience with the mirror back in Snowpeak and shuddered. Okay, maybe Link was right.

Sighing deeply, Danny finally took his hand. They shook. "Fine. Deal."

Standing, Link nodded. "I'm going to rest here for a couple of days, but unless Shad finds some information about the sky soon, I'm heading to Ordon to check the forest. Rusl's there investigating the monsters that have appeared lately, and in my experience, monsters and Twilit magic go hand in hand. You're welcome to come if you'd like." Link waved. "See you later, Danny."

oOoOo

Midna was… intrigued.

When she'd arrived in the Light Realm, surrounded by humans for the first time, she'd been convinced they were useless. Powerless fools who all looked far too alike, barely an ounce of magic among most of them. The only one whom she saw as worth her time was Zelda, the princess of the realm who was gifted by their goddesses and had powers similar to Midna's own.

But then she'd come across Link. He didn't have magic, but he was blessed like Zelda. And, even more interestingly, he'd turned into a wolf in the twilight. He perfectly fit the legend of the blue-eyed beast that was told to Twili children. He was basically a story character come to life. She'd been undeniably interested and she hadn't regretted freeing him from the dungeons ever since.

She hadn't thought it was possible, but she'd finally found a third human who was interesting. She just couldn't figure Danny out—and that was maybe the best mystery of all.

This guy came from some country no one had ever heard of conveniently at the same time as Zant's invasion of Hyrule, seemed to be searching for the Mirror of Twilight, and had magic that felt like a goddess-damned Twili had a baby with a Hylian. And then nothing he did ever made sense, with him always disappearing, acting like some lone wolf—but then he rescued Link anyway back when they fought the corrupted yeti. Kind of reminded her of some other human she knew, actually.

The timing of his arrival in Hyrule combined with his weird aura was way too weird to be a coincidence. But he was clearly human, not Twili. There were differences in his aura, and as the literal ruler of her realm she was pretty certain she'd be able to recognize one of her own subjects. So what was he? Was he working for Zant—maybe even trying to get to the mirror before them? No, wait, that didn't make any sense. Zant had broken the mirror. Zant wouldn't be trying to get it back, and Danny wouldn't have helped Link fight Yeta.

So as Link began to get ready for bed, Midna saw the perfect opportunity.

She oozed out of Link's shadow, remaining in an incorporeal form as she jumped from shadow to shadow. The candlelit hall of Telma's upper rooms cast perfect shadows for her.

She slithered under the door to Danny's room. As she probably should have expected from him, he was sitting in there being a weirdo, talking to himself. "Another stupid journey," he muttered, "and we're going to have to walk the whole way. Why couldn't I have been transported to a time period with cars…"

Midna huffed out an amused breath. While she didn't know a car was, but it was funny to hear him complain—and talk to himself. Link must look like that when he talks to me. Maybe Danny has his own Twili hiding in his shadow…

But then Danny straightened, glaring at the darkness. "Who's there?" he asked sharply.

If she'd had eyebrows to raise at that moment, she would have. He'd managed to hear her? Pretty impressive for a human. Then again, she'd already known something was weird about him.

She drifted over to the other corner, deliberately making noise as she did so. She watched his eyes dart to where she'd scuffed the floor—but they didn't focus on her. It was definitely a hearing thing, then; he couldn't actually see her.

What would happen if she changed that?

Midna faded back into her physical form and watched with delight as Danny's eyes widened. "Hi there," she said dramatically. "Figured it was about time I introduced myself."

oOoOo

Danny had known that Midna was crazy, but he hadn't thought she was this crazy.

"You?" he gasped. Then he remembered—he didn't know her. "I mean—Who are you!"

Midna raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment on the odd reaction. "I'm Midna, the Twili that lives in Link's shadow and makes sure he doesn't do anything too stupid. Nice to meet you."

Danny was a loss for words. Yeah, he had knownMidna was with Link—or at least Phantom had known. But how was he supposed to react to this? He hadn't ever expected her to just… pop out for no reason!

"It's okay if you don't get it right away. I know humans are a bit dense." She patted Danny condescendingly on the head. "I don't usually talk to humans. You should be honored."

"Why are you here?" he said, blurting out the first question that came to mind. "You've been—if you've been there this whole time, why now?"

"See, I've been watching you," she explained. "There's something different about you. I mean, you're a 'mage', right? And as a fellow mage, I felt like we had to meet."

Danny hated the way she said that. He'd only been saved from being exposed as a fraud by the fact that no one else seemed to have any idea about what magic could do either. Unfortunately, Midna was the exception to that, since she seemed to actually have magic. He really hoped she didn't know he was lying.

"So…" She got even closer, right in his face. He struggled not to flinch. "Why don't you show me some magic, mage-boy?"

He flinched anyway. Crap. She totally knew.

Danny opened his mouth to reply, not really knowing what he was going to say but knowing he had to offer something if he didn't want her to tell Link. And that was assuming she hadn't told him already. Before he could speak, though, a new voice cut through the night.

"What is going on?"

Speak of the devil…

They both turned to find Link standing in the doorway, looking uncharacteristically annoyed.

"Aww," Midna said, pouting. "I thought I'd have a bit more time before you found out where I was."

Link sighed in deep exasperation, sounding so exhausted that Danny had to wonder how often Midna did stuff like this. "Midna, I hope you know what you're doing," he told her, running a hand through his hair. "I thought you didn't trust Danny."

"Well, yeah, I'm still pretty sure he's lying," Midna said. "But he's also interesting. And if he's coming along for the mirror, then might as well let him know about me now."

"Hey, I'm still here," Danny interjected, trying to regain some semblance of control in this situation now that he was a little less stunned. "And I'm not lying!"

She snorted. "Yeah, no one's buying that. Even Ashei doesn't buy that, and she doesn't know anything about magic."

"It still would have been nice to talkabout this before you did it," Link said. "We're a team."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. Hate to say it, but you can't tell me what to do."

"Clearly," both Danny and Link muttered under their breath. They shared a surprised glance. Danny quickly looked away at the ceiling instead.

"Well, now that you're here, I have a suggestion." She floated onto her back, crossing her arms behind her head to look like she was reclining on the air. "What do you say to a little race between the two of us?"

Danny's stomach tightened. "A race?"

"Yeah, why not? I can teleport, and those guys in Castle Town said you can teleport, or something. Wanna see who can get to Ordon faster?"

"Um…" Danny swallowed, knowing he could definitely not do that. Even if Midna seemed… at least neutral to him now, she was not going to take kindly to learning he was the ghost stalking them. "I-I mean, Link said he was planning on leaving in a few days. And, uh, walking is good exercise?" He could practically hear Sam laughing at him for that comment.

"I was literally just listening to you complaining about it," she deadpanned, and then turned to Link. "I know you don't want to walk the whole way either, right? It's a waste of time."

"I guess," Link reluctantly agreed. He glanced at Danny. "But only if you actually have a way of getting there quickly. We're not leaving you behind."

Danny frowned. "I mean, I can't teleport," he said. And it wasn't for lack of trying either. Vlad could teleport, and Danny had been endlessly annoyed that he hadn't figured out how to do it for more than a couple feet yet. "But I do have a way I could get there."

"There you go!" Midna clapped her hands together. "We'll both do our thing and we can meet up in Ordon."

"Wait, wait, I didn't agree to—"

"See you later!" Midna melted into the shadows, becoming completely invisible to their eyes.

The two boys left gaping at empty air. Danny broke the silence with a frustrated groan.

Link chuckled sympathetically. "Sorry. She's like that."

"I just—I do have a way to get there, but I can't do it," Danny said, burying his head in his hands in annoyance. "Or at least I can't do it in front of you guys. I have to be alone to do it!"

"Why?" Link asked cautiously. "We already know you have magic. Showing us won't make any difference."

"Because it's not… I mean…" Danny's voice broke off into inarticulate noises of objection.

Link nodded, looking surprisingly understanding. He pursed his lips in thought. "What if I stall her on the day of the trip? I'll make her wait for me to get ready, and you can leave first thing in the morning. That way you won't have to show either of us. We'll meet you there once she realizes you're gone."

"Oh…" Danny peeked through his fingers. That solution was almost too easy; it was a little depressing how prepared he'd been to have to lie his way out of this again. If Link stalled Midna, it not only gave him time to transform, but also time to fly there and figure out where this village actually was. Flying was a lot less instant than teleportation, after all. "That's… yeah. That would work." He let out a breath through his nose. "You really don't have to do anything though."

"It's no trouble, really," Link said, waving his hand. "I'm happy to help, and I know how she can be."

Link's earnest nature was making something akin to guilt well up in Danny's stomach. This guy was just so nice. "Well… thank you."

"Any time."

The lull in the conversation caused an awkward silence to fall over them. Danny sat back up straight on the bed, clearing his throat. "Uh… I guess I should go to sleep."

"Good idea." Link nodded, turning toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night!"

Danny watched Link walk out the room. The door shut behind him.

"Yeah, uh, good night," Danny called, several seconds too late for his words to be heard.

For a few moments, Danny just stared at the doorway. Finally, he lay back down on the bed and sighed loudly.

Danny really wished Link was easier to hate.

oOoOo

Zant's master was displeased with him. Very, very displeased…

He was in the Twilight Realm now, striding through the halls of the palace. He had been trapped here ever since Arbiter's Grounds.

He'd been too overconfident, toying with the hero. He'd left Midna and her Hylian pet to fight the reanimated monster he'd created there, believing that it would stop them. Unfortunately, it did nothing but slow him down. To prevent Midna from following him into the Twilight Realm, his master was forced to break the Mirror of Twilight.

And his master was not happy about it. Not at all.

Now they had no easy way to transport their army of Shadow Beasts into the Light World. His master could transport people between worlds with his power, but it was apparently very difficult, tricky magic, and it only worked on one person at a time.

And that wasn't all; Zant had left his scouts in the Sacred Realm for too long. He needed another sacrifice so that he could retrieve them and see what they had learned. Unfortunately, in order to get a sacrifice, he would need to ask for passage into the Light World…

He stopped before the large doors to the Palace of Twilight's throne room, struggling to control his trembling. He could only pray that his master was feeling merciful.

A/N: I'm sorry. I had really severe depression from June until November. I've finally gotten it under control with meds and therapy, so I'm back to writing. Sorry if some of this isn't great, I just really wanted to get it out and it's more of a transitional chapter anyway lol. I'm very excited for upcoming stuff though, so I'll try and get it out to you asap.

As always, thanks to Hazama_d20 and Fordtato for betaing.

To you lovely readers, thank you for your support. Sometimes reading your words really saved me. Just getting a follow e-mail was such a pleasure. And when people left reviews so long after updates, it meant SO MUCH. I'm sorry I didn't answer everyone, I read them and appreciated them all. So thank you. Love you all, please be safe.

Words: 4,731

Published: January 21st, 2022