Mido Town
"Chief Riju!"
Riju holds her twin scimitars at the dummy's neck, with just enough pressure to not sink the blades into the stuffed bag. Breathing heavily, she turns around to the voluptuous Gerudo barmaid on the staircase, wiping her brow of sweat. "Telma, what has you alert? Are the Imperials attacking?"
"No ma'am."
"Then why the shouting?"
"Ghirahim just showed up at our front door." Blades clatter on the sandstone ground, and the Chief of the Gerudo quickly storms out of the training yard. In a minute she's in her throne room, with nearly 20 warriors armed around a tall, white-haired, white-skinned male, clothed in a white tight suit with diamond-shaped holes, and a red cloak with a black and gold pattern on the underside. He was unarmed, but knowing who he is (and that he is a male in the male-prohibited town) made his present situation understandable.
As Riju stands in front of her throne, Buliara (unarmed, remarkably) steps to Riju. "How did he get inside, Buliara?"
"You wouldn't believe it. He came to the front gate, asking for an audience."
"You are joking."
"When have you known me to joke, Chief?" Riju sighs and turns to her throne, taking her seat. Buliara stands to the left of the throne, and Telma takes the right. Due to being outside, Riju didn't have her tiara or necklace that she normally wears in the room, but she really didn't want to wear them today. Ghirahim is here, and this means one of two things: He was here to bargain with Riju, or he was here to threaten her. If he wanted to kill her, he wouldn't have come peacefully.
"Guards, at ease. But stay alert." The guards step away from Ghirahim, taking positions along the outer edges of the room, far away from Ghirahim as ordered but close enough to defend Riju when needed. Riju was confident Ghirahim wouldn't attack like this anyway. She took that into consideration. "Pretty bold to step to the front gate. You could have killed the guards."
Ghirahim theatrically bows, which for his tall and thin stature (similar to Ganondorf, but slightly taller) was quite comical for the tense air of the room. He rises up, a long, thin, dangerous smile is licked by a slithering tongue. "I come in peace, Chief Riju. It is not many days I am surrounded by beautiful women. Hot, sweating, barely appropriately clothed women.
"YOU WILL-" Buliara's outburst is paused by Riju's hand. Riju turns to her guard, shaking her head in silent code. Buliara, understanding, bares her fury in silence as her chief speaks.
"I will take that a complimentment, Demon Lord. But do you not mistaken my sufferance of your presence, I know you do not come as a friend. What is it you want, besides threatening my town to oblivion?"
Ghirahim nods in understanding before pacing in a circle. "Mareeha Riju, Queen of the Gerudo. Ganondorf's chosen wife, but not appointed wife. It was that Aveil character, right? Tell me, if Ganondorf was to appear right now, would you treat him as a fellow ruler, as a friend, or as the lover you two once were. Oh wait, he chose the Twili."
Riju could tell he was trying to get under her skin by talking of her feelings for Ganondorf, and though she tried to resist, it was working. She considers Midna a friend, but she was quite jealous Ganondorf chose her over Riju. That stung even in the prince's death. However, she kept her face unmoved. "What do you want, Ghirahim?"
The Demon Lord chuckles. "Just asking a simple question, Chiefy. But if casual conversation is not what you want, we can get to business." Ghirahim stops, turning to Riju with a dark expression. "Prove to me you are not scared to die."
If Ghirahim expects Riju to not play his game, he is in for a surprise. Riju smirks as she stands and turns to the women standing beside her. "Telma, Buliara, without question, I want all Gerudo out of this room-"
"Chief!"
"You cannot-"
"Without question! Take everyone out. Seal every opening so that no voice exits this room. You do not enter this room until I undo the spell. Do not think of placing a damper on Ghirahim either. Whatever magic he wants to perform, I will allow it. Is that understood ladies?"
"...Yes ma'am."
"Buliara?"
"Fine. Gerudo! Move out." The guards, with minor confusion, walk out of the chamber. Telma follows them after a bow to the Chief, and Buliara, hesitating and hoping Riju will change her mind, gives in and leaves, but not without a threatening look to Ghirahim. Once she is alone with Ghirahim, Riju places up the sound barrier around the room, and to be sure no one cut access to their magic abilities, she let a spark of electricity dance on her fingers. Now comfortable that her orders were followed, she walks down to level herself with Ghirahim.
"Did I prove enough to you?"
Ghirahim is definitely amused by what Riju did. He nods appreciatively. "Most outstanding, Chiefy. I didn't think your guard would leave. Quite stubborn she is, but also quite delicious."
"Too bad she cut herself off from the pleasantries of men. Demons included. Now back to business, what is it you want?"
"Hmm, you are just like Ganondorf. What is it about you Gerudo when you are in a position of power that you just don't understand how powerless you really are against His Majesty and his legion?"
"Powerless, you say?" Riju raises her hand, beginning to count on each of her fingers. "Horsehead, Zant, Onox, your boss monsters, we've beaten them all. You can argue we're losing the war, you do have two Triforces, but we have our victories. Clock Town, Death Mountain, Labrynna, we won those.'
"True. But Mareeha Riju, can I call you that, let me tell you the losses you've recently obtained. My master disposed of one of your Heroes, the other wounded so badly you had to hide him. He...killed your king. Two of the three Triforces are his. Darunia is in a siege right now, with the princess trapped inside. Three of the Sages are captured. The Resistance marches right now to their doom, thinking we didn't see them cross the river. Tomorrow, Darunia will fall, Her Grace will die, but before that happens, she will watch as the light of Hyrule is swiftly extinguished. As for me, I will either have the sole pleasure of wiping out your people, or for a price I may be able to plea to my king for amnesty of the Gerudo."
"Which means?"
"Submit yourselves to Imperial rule and my blade does not puncture your warm, delicious body. I'm sure someone will appreciate that very much."
Riju turns her back to Ghirahim. Ghirahim's offer was quite enticing in their current circumstance. She had her people to consider...but if the Hylians are revolting, the Labrynnians successfully defended their turf, and the rest of the world takes up arms against Vaati. Yet the enemy is on her doorstep now, literally in the same room as her. As the Sage of Spirit, she wants to deny, but as the remaining leader of the Gerudo, she wants to kneel, even if she really doesn't mean it.
She walks to the main entrance of the throne room, the opening overlooking her kingdom. Everyone in the town is preparing for the coming battle. Jewelers imbues their crafts with resistances, farmers stock up their food stores, doctors set their med kits. In one part of town, evacuation efforts are being settled, in another, a Gerudo instructs her young class on what to do once the fighting starts. Riju did not know the exact number of Gerudo she rules, but she could guess it is close to a thousand, possibly more. Every life in Mido Town is in her hands. She kneels, she hopes Ghirahim makes good on her promise. She doesn't, tomorrow could very well be the last day a Gerudo walks the earth.
She remembers the words of her aunt and Ganondorf's mother, the previous Sage of Spirit Nabooru Dragmire. "Even now, as you stand before me, I see a woman with true with the spirit to stick to her morals, even if it makes her leave her friend. I see a chief with the spirit to fight adversity, even with the odds aren't in her favor. I see a queen with the spirit to take up arms against anything, even her own king. Mareeha Riju, Your Highness, the dream of my husband for you and his son has not passed. The spirit of all Gerudo rests with you both. In time, he will join you once more."
"Is that all? I must only kneel?"
"Renounce your throne, and Ganondorf's. Your only king is Vaati, your only queen Veran." Riju turns back to Ghirahim. She walks past him, up the steps to her throne, and stands before it.
Ghirahim had just made a critical error.
"So earth, water, people, and a renunciation of my title and the title of a dead man. I must ask as to why I would renounce Ganondorf's claim when his own is defunct. He was never King of the Gerudo, just Prince of the Daemon. He has no power with the Sage Gerudo. So how do I renounce a dead man who had no political power when he died? Unless…" Riju turns back to Ghirahim, who is now seething in anger. She snaps at him, and says, "...he lives."
Ghirahim summons a long, slightly curved blade, pointing it at Riju. "Submit or die, you insolent girl!"
"Guards!" A surprise to Ghirahim, the Gerudo guards (gladly) return, surrounding the Demon Lord. The Chief takes her seat, her tone tense and threatening. "Earth and water, that's what Vaati wants? Where I'll send you, he can find plenty there."
"You are going kill your people over this, Chiefy! Every single one!"
"For two weeks you hover your weapon over my lands, you insult the rightful king, you threaten my people with death. If we all so die tomorrow, it will be the Gerudo way. We do not submit to anyone but ourselves."
"You're...heh heh... you are the maddest woman I know, to not accept life over death. You are mad, Riju. Just like Ganondorf, you are a mad Gerudo!"
Riju stands up, and glances to Buliara. The woman nods in the chief's direction. She turns to Telma next, who also makes the same gesture. Last, she glances to the south, where yesterday Ganon made a slight appearance, only to disappear. She figures someone who hates Ganon as much as she does had something to do with it, and if he was here, he would approve of what she is about to do. She turns back to Ghirahim. "I am a mad Gerudo? No… I am Hyrulean!" She snaps her fingers again, but instead of dispelling the sound barrier, a bolt of lightning zips down on Ghirahim. He roars a bloodcurdling scream before quickly teleporting out of the room, presumably back to the Imperial's weapon.
Riju glares at the charred stain in her throne room, breathing heavily. Her decision had been made, and now she must accept the consequences, whatever they were. "Ladies...tomorrow we fight. Tomorrow, we either prepare for glory or a glorious death. Tomorrow, we will not retreat or surrender. We never retreat, we never surrender. That is how we survived the desert. We didn't retreat, we didn't surrender, we conquered it. That is how we survived the persecution from the Hylians in the Unification War. We didn't retreat, we didn't surrender, we fought until we couldn't fight anymore. That is how we survived the Yiga. We didn't retreat, we didn't surrender, we held until we couldn't any longer. Death has always been on our doorstep, but each time we conquered it. Tomorrow, it returns, and this time, it may finally catch up to us, and when we join our sisters and our few brothers, they will clap their hands and our backs because we died not as Hylians, not even as a Gerudo, but as a Hyrulean." Riju found herself standing above the courtyard of the city, with all the people looking up to and around her. She looked into as many green and yellow eyes as possible. Out by the entrance of the town, the Bulblins stand together, huddled around their leader. "Tomorrow, my friends, we honor our ancestors. Tomorrow, no surrender, no retreat. That is my law. That is Ganondorf's law. That is Urbosa, Nabooru, and Malladus' law. That is the law of our people. For today, ready yourselves. Tonight, Gerudo and Bulblin, we dine in the halls of hell with Ganon!"
The people chants around her, and Riju looks to the sun. In silence, she kept Ghirahim's revelation, and in prayer, she hopes the secret reveals itself.
The Lion, one hour ago
Zant approaches the burned tree that marks the entrance to the eight dungeon of South Hyrule, nicknamed "The Lion" for the mapping of the structure is shaped like a lion's head. He grazes his hand on the charred wood, pondering to himself just how it is possible that the Hero burned just enough of the tree to enter the subterranean trial instead of the entire tree. Magic is the only answer he can come up with. Whoever built the dungeon had a reason to keep it hidden, though just how the monsters inside came to guard it and the Triforce of Wisdom shards three decades ago is another question.
Besides, whatever darkness what once inside the dungeon is not the same as the one Zant tastes on his tongue now. This one is ancient, older than the dungeon. It is stronger than what he has sensed from Ganondorf, Ghirahim, even Vaati. It is comparatively as malevolent as Ganon. Dare Zant say it frightened him?
"Are you just going to stand there and touch the tree?" Zant, now annoyed, drops his hand from the tree and turns to the woman behind him. Koume, dare he call her Princess Koume, looks back at the unmasked Zant with an impatient eye. Ever since she merged herself with a dying Kotake, her attitude, pardon the pun, had been severely cold. If she wasn't Vaati's adopted child(ren), he would have shut her up the only way he knew how.
Yet as he turns away from her to the gaping darkness before him, he sighs. He is almost at his goal, to return to the Twilight Realm and become the ruler he is meant to be. A right his mother took from him 18 years ago when he was just a kid. A right when she taught his sister the language of the Twili. A right his sister doesn't deserve, despite wielding the ancient power of their people, the Fused Shadow. A right he will reclaim by…
Killing Midna?
Could he do it?
Sure, he had considered killing her in the past. Yet, in the two fights they had, three counting his phantom, he had never been in a position to actually attempt to kill her. Midna does have her uses alive...but is it worth having her as a slave?
"Zant?"
"Leave me alone, Koume." The younger woman did nothing of the sort. Instead, she saunters over to the Twili, leaning her back against the frame of the tree. She raises her head and smiles knowingly, which is something Koume is known for. The elder princess was always able to pick up on things much quicker than her sister. That lead to her being stronger, smarter, and, in Zant's eyes, more attractive than Kotake. It was, after all, Koume's idea to not pursue Midna and Ganondorf as they entered Ganon's Lair; Kotake found it foolish and ventured off on her own.
Zant didn't know how Koume found it easy to murder her sister. He could understand the ease of killing Ganondorf, but Kotake…
"You're having a conscious. That's dangerous."
Zant tries his best to not look at her. "You thinking killing a sibling is easy to think about?"
Koume scoffs. "You of all siblings should know how easy it is to hurt a sister. You took her as a way to sate your lust. Now you must do it again, but for a throne."
"A throne." Zant narrows his eyes, repeating the phrase in his head. Could he kill Midna? Yes, he could. Can he do it? Yes, he can. But will he?
Will he?
Will he?
"Return to the castle. Your mission is completed, to an extent."
"Really now? Are you trying to get rid of me?"
Yes, he wants to say. "No, but you have no reason to be here. Whatever happens within the dungeon, one Twilight will return to the Twilight Realm. Besides, I know that you wouldn't want to miss the fall of the Gerudo and the Resistance."
"Hmph, true. Alright, good luck and farewell." Koume pushes herself off the tree and walks away from the Twili. Before she warps herself away, she turns her head over her shoulder. "Oh, Zant, please do return. I'll miss you."
"Really?"
"Really."
Zant says nothing back, instead pressing the side of his collar and making his helmet cover his head and face. He gazes at the looming darkness in front of him. There's a possibility he will die again...he doesn't plan on killing himself this time.
Before he steps forward, he turns to Koume, but as expected, she already left.
Present Time
He hears the doors of the boss chamber open, letting a minute amount enter before it slams shut. His back is to whoever just joined him, not that he needs to present himself to her. He sensed her the moment she came to the Lion by whatever means she did, yet he doubted she could have done the same util now. He hears her astonished gasps, the metallic singing of a sword leaving its sheath, and the soft hum of magic.
"Zant." Her voice is filled with malice, disgust, hatred. He looks through his mask to his hands, the final shard of the path back home in them. All the pieces were here. He is going home.
"Little sister," Zant says softly, "do you remember the nickname I gave you when we were children?"
"You called me 'little wolf.'"
"Indeed I did. When I was a child, back in the Twilight Realm, our grandmother told me a story. That one day, when the worlds of light and shadows begin to merge, a wolf will emerge. That wolf will either unite both sides forever, or keep both sides of the coin separated for the rest of time. It is an interesting tale...yet it is in this moment it comes true." Pressing the side of his collar to collapse the mask, Zant turns around to face Midna. He holds up the third shard of the mirror. "With these three pieces, we decide the fate of how out two worlds interact. I wish to rule the shadows while serving the king of the light, while you wish to liberate the light and have some purpose for the shadows. I do not care to know your desire. But I wish to know your resolve. Could you kill me, little sister, for this little shard? Do you have it in you to end your brother's life just to return home?"
Midna summons her two pieces of the mirror, one hovering over each shoulder. She coldly stares him down with the fiery red of her eyes. Zant has his answer, and he is not one bit surprised. Waving a finger to the door behind him, he sends his shard to the chamber that once housed a shard of Wisdom. Midna, with hesitation, does the same. Once all three pieces were in the adjacent room, Zant seals the door. "No one may enter until someone's blood is presented to the door. Only then will the seal break."
"Fine by me." Quick as a stroke of lightning, Midna's hair forms a large tendril and zips towards Zant. Despite being caught off guard, Zant dodges perfectly at the last second by moving his shoulder. A moment later, he would have been skewered. As Midna's hair retreats, he stands in place, deciding not to engage her. "Impressive. The abilities you had as an imp really have improved in your normal form. You can thank me for that."
"Like hell I will." Midna forms a ball of light in her hands, and throws it at Zant. He brandishes one of his scimitar and swipes the ball towards a wall. Once again he decides not to engage Midna.
"Seems you have a grip on the powers of the Light Sage. I guess which path you will take as the wolf is chosen. You seek to unite. Light and shadow, perfectly balanced as all things should be." Zant's mask recovers his head, and he reveals the second of the twin scimitars. "I cannot allow that, sister. I do not wish to kill you either. I want you to see our homeworld, to rule it with me. We shall reclaim the birthright our mother took from us."
"How is that so, Zant? What makes you think I care about ruling? Our mother had a reason to run, a reason to trust me with her knowledge, a reason to set me on this journey instead of you. I will find that reason. As for me and you, you are not my brother. Despite all he did to me those years ago, the Zant Twilight I loved died in the fires of Rauru Town eight years ago. You are just a ghost that I must put to rest." She launches a pair of tendrils at Zant this time, which the man blocks with both sword easily. He casts them aside, and for the third time, Zant doesn't engage Midna. This time, it enrages Midna. "Why do you stand there? Fight me!"
Zant doesn't have an answer. He just chuckles.
Midna begins to march forward, firing a volley of orbs at Zant. He simply chuckles and blocks the attack while Midna comes closer and closer. She stops moving once she's in the reach of her sword, and Zants stops chuckling. They stare at each other in silence for Din knows how long. To break the silence, Zant repeats his question. "Could you kill me, little sister, for this little shard? Do you have it in you to end your brother's life just to return home?"
"I do." Midna impales Zant in the middle of his torso, deepening the blade slowly pushing it through Zant. He gasps as any man would, yet he maintains his gaze towards Midna. Once the crossguard touches Zant's chest, Midna releases her blade. Zant stands in place while Midna steps around him to look to the sealed door. "And even if it wasn't to return home, I would kill you for betraying Hyrule."
"So no matter what, you would kill your only sibling?"
"Yes."
"...Heh...heh...Well, then I know your resolve. To think I questioned my own earlier." To Midna's surprise, Zant vanishes from sight, her sword clattering to the ground. She tries to reach for her fallen weapon, yet she finds her body unable to obey her commands. Instead, her body is raised into the air, while crackling laughter bounces off the walls. Out of a dark corner, the real Zant Twilight appears, walking with calmness. With a mental grip, he brings forth the four pieces of the Fused Shadow. "To think you were able to wield it...do you honestly mean to take an ancient and withered power like this and use it against me? Pathetic. You, dear sister, are a foolish traitor to two realms."
Midna growls. "Zant! You bastard!"
"First a brother, now a bastard. You will submit, right now, to your king."
"My KING? You, who do nothing but abuse the magic of our people, the memory of our mother? You must be joking!"
"You might be right, maybe I am abusing it. But you imply I am abusing the memory of our mother? Now that is a joke! You know nothing!" Midna's body rises in the air and flies towards the sealed door. She grunts as she hits the door while Zant slowly approaches. "Your mother ran from her duty! She should be queen now, but no, she ran. Ran to Hyrule because she had a vision, and that vision was of two wolves. One to unite two worlds, one to shroud both in darkness. I'll like to believe she knew our fates, that we would be those wolves. Along with those visions came a man, a Hylian man, injured to the brink of death. Somehow, he made it to our world. Mother took care of him, listened to his stories of the world we know as Hyrule, and with his assistance, we came to Hyrule. For years I knew and hated him. I hate all of Hyrule, but I hate him the most. Because of him, my mother is a traitor, my sister is a traitor, and I'll like to believe my entire family is a traitor. So I must return and set things right. Once I am done there, I will return, and seek vengeance for our ancestors. I will personally see to the death of Auru Lanayru."
Midna's eyes widens in surprise. "What?"
"And that is why, Midna, I need you. Not just for me, but for our people. I need your power. Lend it to me."
"...No. I will never betray Hyrule. I will never betray Auru. I will never betray Mother's wishes."
"Very well." Zant telekinetically raises Midna's sword, sending it towards her abdomen. Midna cries out as the sword impales her, but it falls on deaf ears as Zant walks toward the open door. The mirror shards await him, and with a laugh, he assembles the mirror to completion. The inscriptions on the mirror glow white, and begins to turn clockwise and counterclockwise. The mirror flies back and projects its inscriptions on a wall like a portal.
This is it, Zant thinks to himself. He turns to his sister, still floating in place. It seems she had passed out. Bringing her to him, Zant catches Midna on her shoulder, and doesn't hesitate to enter the portal.
A minute later, he is home.
