"Midna."

Midna floated behind her friends, turning to the source of her name. Up on a hill on the largest house in Kakariko stood General Auru, walking down the steps to the gathering entourage. Feeling a push on her back, Midna began moving towards her caretaker. She turned to Hilda, who gave her a thumbs up. With a new energy, Midna zipped towards the general, nearly knocking him off his feet as she hugged him. He kept his footing and slowly returned the hug.

After a while, they broke it, and for the first time in her life, Midna saw tears running down Auru's face. "Hold up, you know how to cry?"

Auru quickly lifted his hand, cleansing his face."I have no idea of what you speak of." He smiled as the hand lowered. "But I am glad to see you well. It's been far too long without your…spirit… I miss how everything was, just a month ago. You were...human, and Ganondorf was just Gan…"

Midna bowed her head at the mentioning of her missing friend. The last time they met, it was in battle as Gan had accepted the Demon King's power. It was an arduous battle inside Death Mountain, nearly claiming both their lives as they fought into the ancient mines within the landmark. She was turned into this imp form at the battle's end, the source unknown but not of Gan's doing. He could've killed her, but before she faded, she heard him call out to her. Not Ganondorf, the man he was, is, and will be, but Gan, the man she knew for three years and fell in love with. The best news for her was that he was out there, somewhere, alive.

"...I was always hard on him, but now… If he was alive-"

"He is," Midna exclaimed. "Ganondorf is alive. I felt it. But the darkness within him-Ganon-they're fighting one another. I have to help him."

"What do you mean?"

"Years ago, when we escaped Rauru, I had this vision. In it, I saw Ganondorf for the first time. We were in a dark castle in a world of twilight, and he said that he and Ganon are the same. That's true in blood but… if he really believes that, I must show him the other way. We must save Power."


Mido Town

"I'm going to them." Ganondorf (respectfully) stormed the throne room of Riju, the Gerudo Chief slumped in her seat as she opened her eyes to glare at the intruder. It has been two days since she last saw the exiled prince, when they met during the night to have a chat. She knew where he was, going out and about in her city, miraculously not causing an uprising due to the presence of the blood of the Demon King. Matter of fact, it seemed he was helping out the townsfolk. Various accounts of his good deeds have reached her ears, such as him going to the reaches of the large beach to revive a stranded woman, bringing back spoils from a monster far from the city to create a medicine, finding flint for an upstart jewelry shop, and is also responsible for solving a pollution problem and the planting of a wildberry bush. All in all, he has had a busy two days, but in reward has earned the respect of the women who once wanted him ousted.

If he was within his own town of Nabooru, he would make a great king at the moment.

However, she knew not why he came to her now, with such demands. Sitting straight up, she gazed down at him, but before she could speak, Buliara slammed her huge sword down, threatening the prince. "Don't you dare come into the chief's palace like you have power here! You will respect Chief Riju as you would've your father!"

Riju raised her hand. "Buliara, it is okay."

"It is not okay, he should learn respect!"

"Then maybe we all should. After all, by ancient laws, he is-"

Buliara interjected, knowing exactly what Riju was going to say. "Never. They'll never stand for it, and neither will I."

"...Leave us, Buliara. This is a private matter, between royalty." Buliara looked as if she was going to protest, but Riju's challenging glare superseded that. With obvious anger, Buliara walked out the throne room, intentionally bumping into the younger, taller male. Ganondorf didn't retaliate, instead walking closer to the Chief of Mido Town. Riju stood up, walking down the steps to meet Ganondorf as equals (as footing made it). "I hear you've been busy."

Ganondorf nodded. "That I have. I have a lot of stuff on my mind. One which needs to be taking care of."

"The ones you are looking for?"

"The Yiga. Why haven't we retailiated?"

Riju sighed and rolled her eyes. That wasn't what she was expecting him to ask for. She turned back to her throne, figuring out what to tell him. "Ganondorf, why-"

"I'll know if you're lying...or the beast will."

Cursing herself, the Queen of the Gerudo faced their king. "Fine, I'll tell you the truth, but that requires more of the story that haunts our people."

Ganondorf folded his arms, unsurprised that Riju had held something back from him. "What is it you didn't say?"

"Come." Riju lead Ganondorf out of the throne room, up the stairs that lead to her personal quarters. As they both arrived, she dismissed the guards, then for added measure, inflicted a silencing spell. Whatever was to be said, she wanted it between the heirs. She walked and sat on the side of her bed, inviting Ganondorf to do the same. He did, and waited for her to begin talking. "Before I tell you anything, what is you plan for the Yiga?"

"Vengeance...for our people. The only way my father would want me to."

Riju nodded. "Then I must ask you to honor your mother as well. You do know of her status, her duty to Hyrule, right?"

The prince nodded. "She was the Sage of Spirit. Like most of the chieftains, they were named after the town they represented, and when the bastard inside me was sealed, they were responsible."

"There's more to the story than that. Your mother, as far as we know, was the last Sage alive before her demise. Most of them were killed ten years after Hyrule's fall. Rauru died when the holy city was attacked, then Darunia's bloody execution…"

"So the king wanted to kill the Sages, but why? Doesn't he know that-"

"The seal of Ganon would break? No, it was never tied to them. The seal can be broken prematurely when both the Princess and the Hero are simultaneously incapacitated. It almost happened during the last hero's second quest, but with the queen dead, it is in question of whether or not that tale is true. Ganon must have part of it broken to inhabit you."

"And the Sages? What is with them?"

"You know the tale of the Ocarina of Time, so I'm sure you know of what was the indicator of a Sage. Their medallions. It is said that the medallions still house a power after all these years, and that is to open the Temple of Time itself. It is a safeguard to prevent evil from reaching the Pedestal of Time, using the three Spiritual Stone on it, and playing-"

"Recreating what happened back then." Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know that story."

Riju sighed. "Listen. You know why they're important, and why we need them. They're the only way we can get the Triforce." The prince turned to the chief, looking at her strangely. "What?"

"Ganon spoke of the Triforce a few days ago. He wants me to access it before the Resistance or the Imperials get to it."

Riju stood up at that. "No! That must not happen! I will not let Ganon touch his claws on the Triforce."

"Woah, woah, woah, I'm won't let him take it. But if I get it, I can use it against the Imperials, defeat their king, and-"

"I'm not scared that you would get the Triforce, but scared that…" Riju sat back down, reaching out for Ganondorf's hands. "You almost lost control at Death Mountain when you battled Midna. You...he could have used you to kill her. He could seep into your mind at any moment, and become you in body. I lost you once, twice if we count losing you to Aveil. I won't let that happen a third time. Find the Sages' Medallions, and aid the Resistance. I don't care if you have your inherited piece of the relic, just not the whole thing. Just as a precaution, please?"

Ganondorf slowly nodded, understanding her fear. His pride said otherwise, but he was just as afraid. Death Mountain was fresh in his mind… Ganon's whispers to kill Midna haunted him everyday, and had not Midna passed out, he might would have listened. Add to his decimation at the hands of the Imperial King... To think that the ghost of a dead man, along with the overwhelming power of an usurper and his army, has the descendant of said ghost scared. Brushing away his thoughts, Ganondorf looked away. "I cannot promise you that, but I will promise that I will fight him. I will destroy the Yiga. I will recover the medallions… How did they get them?"

"As you know, survivors of Nabooru came here. Remember Telma? She was a handmaiden of your mother, and very well trusted. When she parted from Lady Nabooru, she was entrusted with getting the Medallion of Spirit to my mother, which she did. I protected it until the day before you arrived. The Yiga, disguised as Hylians, robbed us blind. I am embarrassed to say that as the Queen of Thieves."

"As the King of Thieves, that is very embarrassing."

"Yeah. As you know, they're holed up in Parapa Palace, in the desert of the same name. We would go after them, but with them having Imperial backing… But, and I hate to say this, if you can get there with Ganon's power, I guess I will accept you going there. Just be careful."

Ganondorf nodded, raising the knuckles of the Gerudo chief and kissing them softly. When he lowered them, he could see the girl blushing, causing him to smile. His father would be proud at his charm, for sure. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. But that means I get a hero's welcome when I return. Quests alway come with rewards."

Riju smiled, then stood up, removing her headdress. "How about I make an advance on it now?"

Ganondorf smirked wickedly (almost devilishly) then looked to the entrance to the quarters. "You sure Buliara would like this?"

Riju laid her crown at its designated stand on a dresser, then walked back to the unofficial King of the Gerudo, placing herself on his lap, her legs on boths sides of him. "She might not like it, but she cannot hate what she doesn't see nor hear. After all, I am Queen of the Gerudo, and by ancient Gerudo custom, you are King. Let me show you what it means to be royalty..."


Two days later, Eastern Woods

"I hate to be rude, really I do, but can someone tell me as to why we are making a detour through these woods?"

Link, Zelda, Ravio, Hilda, Spryte, and Midna have been traveling nearly nonstop through South Hyrule, on an identical trail Ravio, Hilda, and Oren took when they came to Ordon Village over a month earlier. However, since Midna was not around when all this took place, she was unaware of the reason the four others silently agreed on said path. The war for her started within the Demon; for Ravio and Hilda, it started here in these woods, and for Link and Zelda, all they have known were these woods.

So Midna was annoyed with their silence, but decided not to press. Their somber moods were understandable, she could relate if they ever went close to Rauru Town back north. But why make the detour, she couldn't understand. She, for one, would like not to return to her hometown.

At the lead of the pack, Ravio, Spryte, and Zelda gazed around the quiet woods. For the both of them, having grown up in the woods of their respective worlds, it was unnaturally quiet, unbearably quiet. They just glared around, wondering just why the natural world had silenced itself. Link, in the pack's middle, had a different response to the quiet. Maybe it was the hero's soul within him, but he couldn't take his hand off the Master Sword. Maybe it was to prepared for danger, maybe it was just instinct, or maybe it was his personal form of comfort. He had lived, to his knowledge, his entire life here, had found a secret spot to his own, had hunted in these very woods for years, and to know that just a month ago, all that changed.

"You lived your life here, didn't you?"

Hilda placed herself at Link's side, exchanging an empathic face to him. Link sighed as he looked away. Hilda-and Ravio- know their his pain on a much greater scale. Normally, he would keep his inner turmoil where it belonged, but he this was unbearable. "Yeah, I did. So did Zelda."

"Do you remember the last activity you were doing before Ordon was attacked?"

Link indeed did. "It was the day before Zelda's 18th birthday. My father wanted me to go out on a hunt for some meat to prepare for it. Zelda tagged along, but she didn't know the true reason we came out. I believe we spent two hours before she took my kill."

Hilda laughed while rolling her eyes. "Really now? The Hero was outshot by the Princess? Wow...to no surprise."

"Whatever. We were lugging the buck back to town, taking it to our spring for a little rest. We already passed it by now. Then...we met Horsehead...and were beaten. In a way, we died here with the rest of the town. But here we are...because it was a fairy spring." Link looked away, gazing forward. That's when his breath hitched.

The entrance to his hometown was upon them. There, nature had taken its course upon the multitude of fallen bodies, but the stench of the dead and the burned had not vacated the air. Halting Epona behind Zelda's and Ravio's mounts, Link was the first to unsaddle and make way for the town. He replayed what could have happened here, starting with the monster army taking the town's guards by surprise. Based on the amount of dark purple dust around him, the monsters took some casualties themselves.

"Wow," Ravio exclaimed, standing beside Link now, also seeing the colored ground, "they put up more of a fight than I thought. It is like there was some skill here."

Link's eyes widened at that remark. He remembered something that was important: Shade and Rusl were here. Link's father… The Hero scanned around, hoping to see some sign of his father around. Maybe… Maybe Shade was wrong. Maybe his father did escape!

"Link…" Spryte's call and Zelda's immediate cry from farther away caught Link's attention. He walked over, putting a hand around Zelda, then looked down.

There was a male form on the ground, wearing a leather helmet with a few cuts and bruises in his clothes and what remained of his skin. Golden hair exited part of the helmet, and it was all Link needed to fall on his knees in resignation. He tried to hold them back, but his tears forced themselves down his face. He tore his gaze up, looking ahead to see his father's sword planted blade first in the ground. He stood up, and walked over to the dull steel, taking it out the ground. He adjusted his father's arms, placing the sword in them.

When Link looked back up, Hilda had replaced Link with the sobbing Zelda in her arms, while Ravio knelt in front of Link. "We can't bury them all, but… He's your father, and should be put to rest."

"These were my people. They all should be buried. Their souls should be put to rest."

Midna lowered herself to Link's shoulder, patting it. "At least you get to bury your beloved. None of us had that chance. You should take it."

Link nodded, then stood up. "Alright. But we should find Impa's first. You said she was on the mayor's porch, right Ravio?"

Ravio nodded. "Yeah, as you can see," he gestured towards the town, "it is all burned. Her body wouldn't have survived the fire…"

"I'm surprised it didn't spread into the forest," Zelda said. "It didn't rain the following day, so… How is it possible the forest is unscathed?"

"You shouldn't be surprise, Your Grace. I see maybe I failed to teach you that." The group of six turned to the wooden arch over the road into town, where all could see a slender figure in a blue and gold jumpsuit standing there. The yellow accents formed an eye in the middle of the blue clothing that ended under a red cloth at the waist, and over it, the figure donned a black cape that went over the right shoulder and cover most of her neck and lower mandible. A red tattoo of that eye was on the forehead, and a white tattoo that formed part of the eye marking was above the left eye for the eyelashes and under for the teardrop. But was gave the person true recognition was her lightly golden hair, cut down and braided into a single, long strand, her dark skin, and most of all, her piercing red eyes that only rivaled Midna's. The woman jumped down, landing on her knees in front of the group, and raised herself to tower above all the teenagers. She stared intently at Zelda, a hard smile forming on her face. "But from what I have heard, maybe I have taught you more than I should've."

Zelda couldn't contain herself as she broke into tears and out into a run, nearly knocking the newcomer down as she gripped the other's waist. "Impa! You're alive!"