Chapter 41: A Promise Fulfilled
Aden's POV
It was deafening. The cheers of the survivors roared in our ears, claiming victory over the despair and hardships that were forced upon them. The warriors around us pumped their fists and weapons into the air, letting dawn's sunlight soak their bodies with warmth. Some around us hugged each other and cried, thankful that they were able to survive with each other to the end. Meanwhile, a select few of the people mocked and taunted The Fierce Deity's mask and showing it a few vulgar gestures, even chucking their weapons at their defeated foe. Everybody around us was brimming with joy and bliss, expressing those feelings in their own unique ways.
As for The Great Fairy and myself, we stayed in our battle stances while the rest of the world celebrated. Neither believed that it was okay to let our guards down and half expected The Fierce Deity to reform from within the mask and begin the carnage once again. We stared at the mask with both of our magic prepared for battle while the rest of the world wept with joy. Everything about our situation felt too good to be true, at least to us. When somebody accidentally bumped into us, we spun around on reflex and readied a Pointed Shockwave, fully prepared to finish what we've started.
"Woah woah woah! Aden, calm down, you're okay!" Rusl let his cannon clatter to the ground and raised his hands up to show he meant no harm. We looked around in a panic searching for the danger, but there was no dark aura or monsters. After managing to calm down, I noticed that our heartbeat was speeding up once again, along with our breathing. We lowered our arm and let our magic flow normally and quickly apologized for almost hurting our friend. The other survivors didn't pay much attention to us and kept celebrating.
"Why do you still look so scared kid?" Ashei spoke confidently while she patted our shoulder, causing our panic to spike once again. "We won! You won! You kicked a god's ass, you should be celebrating!" Her voice and expression was littered with confidence; she believed that the battle was finally over. I looked around and saw that the rest of the survivors had the same feeling of joy that she and Rusl had. But our pulse still couldn't go back to normal, even as we tried to take deep breaths and calm down.
"Is… is it really over?" I said, letting our eyes focus on nothing in particular. "After all of that fighting, I don't..." Ashei and Rusl could hear our voice waver, and their joy was quickly replaced with worry. All of the destruction from the past week had formed my mind into thinking that there was no possible way for this kind of peace to exist. There was no hiding from the destruction and we had to fight at almost every waking moment. So being able to rest and celebrate after all of this time felt unreal. We thought that everyone else was celebrating too quickly and were letting themselves become vulnerable. How could we relax after everything we've been through?!
I could see from the corner of my eye that Ashei was about to open her mouth to confirm, but at that moment, a golden light began to emanate from The Fierce Deity's mask. It was a similar light to The Triforce's glow, but The Great Fairy and I didn't hesitate to ready another Memory Orb. Ashei and Rusl noticed and fumbled with their weapons to prepare for another fight and yelled to everyone else to prepare for whatever was coming. The golden light rose up from the mask like fireflies and began to merge together, taking the form of some sort of person. Yeto and Yeta stomped ahead of everyone else and took opposing sides of the golden figure. Yeto raised his armored fists above his head and Yeta prepared her ice magic, letting wisps of frost appear from her mouth. Both waited for my signal, and I nodded to the both of them. Behind us we could hear the sounds of magic being summoned, arrows being notched and blades being drawn. Whatever came out from the mask wasn't going to catch us by surprise this time.
When the final spec of light merged with the golden mass, a stinging flash of light temporarily blinded everyone; none of us put down our weapons to shield our eyes. But once the figure's true form was revealed, all of us were taken by surprise. Instead of the being of destruction coming out of the mask, there was instead a long, blonde-haired girl in a pure white dress. The Great Fairy and I immediately recognized her and gasped simultaneously. She seemed weak; her face was pained and she struggled to stay on her feet for even a few seconds. The warriors surrounding her waited for our signal, but instead I let the Memory Orb vanish and ran to her as she began to fall from the air. Right before her body hit the ground, The Great Fairy used the wings and flew us below her, allowing us to catch the goddess before she was hurt any more.
We could hear muttering from the warriors around us as a few lowered their weapons, obviously skeptical to everything that was going on. Yeto and Yeta, who were still on opposite sides of us, knelt down and hopped closer (respectively) to us to get a better look. Yeto's breath chilled our back, but I was too focused on the girl's health to care. As she whined slightly and began to emerge from her sleep, survivors approached with their weapons still in hand.
"Young boy," Yeta asked in her usual gentle tone, "who is pretty lady? Why did she come from mask?"
"Girl is in pain." Yeto said in his usual gruff tone. "Lots of pain, but why?"
I was about to respond to the couple, but then the girl in question winced in pain once more as she tried to move, grabbing all of our attention. Using a hand to help support her back, I lifted the girl up slightly so we could see her clearly and try to wake her up. A few of the warriors around us put away their weapons after noticing we weren't attacking, but others were still on guard. The goddess's eyes flicked rapidly in random directions underneath her eyelids, but as more of the survivors approached us, they slowed down to a halt. The warriors around us ceased their muttering as they managed to get a good look at the girl. Then, as the world around us went silent, the snow-clothed goddess peeked open her eyes.
"Hylia!" I yelled from surprise. The goddess recoiled from the yell, but then tried to focus on my face. She then looked to the yeti couple and a few of the other survivors, then back to us.
"Ah...Ade...en?" Hylia managed to force out of her throat. Everyone around us looked between one another while sharing clueless glances. The goddess put a hand on the dusty ground below her and tried to push herself up, but she then fell right back into our hand. Weak cries of pain emitted from her mouth as her face cringed once again. Working on instinct, I laid the goddess down and readied our magic once again. I reached out with my other hand and began to create a Memory Orb surrounding Hylia within it. The restoration light came and went, and as the goddess became visible once again, her pained cries were silenced. Once again, she opened her eyes and was able to clearly see the world around her.
"Hey, Hylia." I gently shook her. "Are you okay now? Is anything hurting?" The goddess only added on to the silence as she fluently pushed herself upwards, sitting straight with her legs to the side. Lots of the survivors gawked at Hylia's appearance due to how much it contrasted everything else left in Hyrule, while she looked back with a similar level of awe. Yeto and Yeta stepped back to give her some space and stop breathing down everyone's necks. The rest of the warriors laid down their weapons, thankful that there would be no extra fighting.
"Is… is it over?" She spoke, continuing to look into the distance at nothing in particular.
Hylia then attempted to adjust herself and stand up, but her left hand brushed against something that made her stop; the Deity's mask. At first, she simply stared blankly at the object as if she expected something to happen, similar to The Great Fairy and I. Then, after collecting the mask from the dirt, she delicately held it in her hands and looked at it with astonishment. She still refused to say a word as a golden tear rolled down her cheek. Once a few more fell from her face, Hylia began to openly sob in front of everyone with a smile on her face, letting the mask slip out of her grasp.
"It's… over." I heard her shaking whisper as we began to panic at what exactly she was crying about.
"H-Hylia?! Are, are you"-
Before I could finish, the goddess collapsed into our arms and hugged us as tight as she possibly could. I could feel the droplets tap against our shoulder while she repeated the phrase "thank you" through her choked sobs. I was still confused, but then I took a moment to focus; not just on Hylia, but on everything that was around us. The goddess kept thanking us on repeat while bawling on our shoulder. I had openly denied the thought before, but the way Hylia was acting felt real, as if she truly believed in the hopeful thought that the war had ended.
It felt as if Hylia's happiness was infectious. Without knowing, golden tears of my own rolled down our cheeks and dropped into the dirt. I could sense The Great Fairy's happiness as well while our face began to brighten up. Comforted by Hylia's embrace, I hugged her back as she continued to repeat her chant. In her arms, I felt safe and trusted the words that came spilling from her mouth. When my first sob came spilling out, our face morphed into a smile and let all of our fears escape through our tears. After so much fighting and chaos, I finally felt safe. I finally felt as if I didn't have to waste sleep at night in fear of some sort of monster. I didn't have to worry any longer about anyone else dying because of me. It was just as Hylia said.
This week of carnage, bloodshed and pain had finally come to an end.
It took a while for all three of us to calm down. All of our fear and anxiety that had built up for a week exploded from the dam, and we likely would have been crying for days if Telma didn't help calm us down. After our cheeks were dried, The Great Fairy and I formally introduced Hylia to the remaining survivors of Hyrule. It took a moment for the warriors to understand, but once the idea clicked into their heads, they all knelt before her in a panic to not disrespect her. We had to go through the same process we went through with Princess Zelda and the remaining survivors of the Castle Town raid, with Hylia insisting that she appreciated, but did not like the formalities.
Hylia borrowed our shoulder to help lift herself up. Despite having most of her energy restored from the Memory Orb, her movements were slow and weak. My magic only healed injuries, not exhaustion, so there was sadly nothing that we could do for her there. After managing to stand by herself, Hylia finally managed to get a good look at us. She seemed somber at just how ragged we were from battle, but she stopped when she glossed over The Great Fairy's wings. As she continued to stare with her eyes slowly widening, we realized that we never exactly said we were two people at the moment.
"Great Fairy?!" She stepped back a bit but we still held on to her to make sure she didn't fall again. "How are you here? I thought that the Golden Goddesses sealed your kind away!" Hearing the goddesses mentioned again angered me slightly, but I knew it wasn't the time for another outburst, so I kept quiet. I could sense a twinge of sadness coming from her heart after Hylia spoke, but it was suppressed soon after she took control of our body.
"I… I was freed from my imprisonment by The Golden Goddesses. Whether it was out of guilt or kindness I do not know. But now, my descendants no longer are confined to springs and caves. We may now walk freely among the people of Hyrule by our own will. However, the Golden Goddesses themselves are…" she sounded hesitant. Everyone around us starred in anticipation with a touch of anxiety. I had a slight feeling that I knew what was coming and prepared myself mentally. "Perhaps it would be best if Aden explained."
As much as I didn't want to talk about it, the Great Fairy gave the control back to me and I was left facing Hylia and the rest of the survivors. After taking a deep breath and deciding it would be for the best, I explained to everyone what happened after The Fierce Deity swept us away. They were appalled when Zant had agreed for a truce, but even more so when Adri, Logan and Lora, my "friends", ended up becoming our enemies. I barely had any time to explain the situation with the Golden Goddesses before Agitha interjected.
"But wait, that can't be true!" She said desperately, pushing past everyone with the help of her giant friend. "I knew Mr. Bahst before! We met when Hyrule got really weird and Miss Kitty stole the special butterfly that I had! He helped us, there has to be something wrong!" Mr. Clayface stood behind her as if he was trying to comfort her; his large hand rested on her back as he knelt down and his thumb rested on her shoulder.
'Actually, she has a point.' My mind flashed back to when Agitha and Logan were talking in the Hidden Village. They had never met, but they spoke to one another as if they were old childhood friends. 'But if Logan really was helping the Deity, how did this happen?'
"I believe I have an answer." The goddess spoke, walking slowly to the seemingly young Princess of Bugs. Hylia's expression, however, did not foreshadow good news, and Agitha picked up on this quickly.
"Young Agitha," Hylia said with a gentle tone to soften the impact, "it pains me to see my people in despair, but I know that the truth must be told." Her words matched her expression, she appeared to have hesitation speaking the truth to Agitha. "Your memories of Logan Bahst and past memories of Midna… are fabrications. I have observed Hyrule and its people for several generations ever since this land had received its name. Although I have only been tasked to watch over the Triforce, I have seen the era where The Fierce Deity once ruled. Its battle tactics for laying waste to the world involved one thing: despair. The savage spirit would take the hope from its enemies in a multitude of ways, causing them to believe that there would be no point in fighting for their lives and be killed without a fight. His tactics here were no different from all those millenia ago. He implanted memories into you all in order to deceive you, while silently controlling Aden's friends to further his scheme. I… I truly am sorry, but this is the truth."
After a few moments processing what Hylia had said, her head shook back and forth rapidly. Her umbrella was dropped and she held her head to try and force out the thoughts. Hylia's pained expression matched ours as we watched Agitha spin around and hug Mr. Clayface tightly. He seemed shocked at first, but then wrapped his arms around her and held her close while letting out quiet "muuuooons." Telma approached the two and tried to comfort her in her own way while patting her shoulder. 'I know that Agitha had to know the truth, but seeing her cry after what Hylia had said is honestly really heartbreaking to'-
Something clicked inside of my head and the feelings of guilt were vaporized within a second. The crying and the comfort around is were muted and my line of sight slowly shifted over to the goddess. 'What… Hylia… said?' I ran what the goddess said on repeat a few times when it finally clicked.
"He implanted memories into you all in order to deceive you, while silently controlling Aden's friends to further his scheme."
'Aden's friends?!'
"Hylia. What did you just say?" I asked with absolute seriousness. The way that she had talked about the Deity's servants was unnatural, but she spoke of it as if it was something that she had always known. Looking our way with confusion, she blinked unknowingly while still kneeling down. She had called them "my friends," but that was impossible, wasn't it? They killed my friends, my real friends, how was I supposed to know them beforehand?!
'Did the Deity also implant memories into her head too?' my mind began to race with all possibilities. 'But no, she was with it the entire time while her energy was being drained. She would have been able to pick out what the lies were. So maybe she said that as a way to explain it to Agitha? But it was already established that they were our enemies. So why did she call them my friends?!'
"You said that… they were my friends. Logan, Lora and Adri. Why did you say that?" My voice wavered slightly, but the stern tone remained. The goddess stood up fully as her eyes began to widen. Leaving Agitha with her friends, she approached us with a hesitant look in her eyes.
"Aden, have you not… fully regained your memories yet?" She asked, wary. I shook our head slowly while gripping my cloak, fidgeting with it as she turned to us. "But, you have already saved the three Golden Goddesses, why did they not assist you then?"
My grip increased on my cloak as the butterflies in my stomach became wasps. I knew that I would eventually have to talk about what I've done, but I still was afraid of how everyone would react. I feared that they would all riot against me just like they did with Zelda, the only difference being that there would be nobody to save me from the mob. But one way or another, they had to know what happened with Din, Nayru and Farore. So after bracing myself for extreme backlash, I told the rest of my story up to when The Great Fairy had appeared, without discarding any details. I told them about how I lost my temper against the three and even lashed out at them, going to the point where I drove them away. The survivors all shared an unreadable expression as I reached the end of the events. The wasps in my stomach kept stinging and I felt like I was about to throw up.
"I… I don't know where the goddesses went. They might have gone back to wherever they came from or they might have left to start over and create a new world. But wherever they went, I'm sure that they're not coming back. Especially not after what I said to them." Everyone went silent once again, letting only the wind speak. The fact that I wasn't able to tell what they were all thinking only made the feeling in my stomach worse. Hylia looked away but I could tell that she was contemplating on what she should say. Auru, unable to stay silent any longer, stepped forward in front of everyone and pointed to us.
"So let me get this straight," he spoke in a way that showed he didn't understand, "you met the three Golden Goddesses, walked up to their faces and yelled that they barely did anything right?" I almost flinched when he said that; the guilt was piling on so much that it began to quite literally sting. Not only that, but the way that Auru had said that made it sound as if I had done something utterly idiotic. But then again, I thought the same way about my actions. I slowly nodded, bracing for the riot to begin, and for Auru to lead the mob.
But instead, he let loose a long, hearty belly laugh and slapped his knee, looked us in the eye and said "Well, it's official. You have more guts than I do kid."
All the fear within us was suddenly replaced with confusion. Out of all of the reactions that we were expecting from the other survivors, amusement was not one that I was expecting. For a few moments, everything went blank and silent. But then all at once, thousands of thoughts ran through my mind at once; all meshing together and became absolutely illegible. For about eight seconds, the only sound in Hyrule was the oldest Hylian alive laughing and slapping his knee off, while everyone else stared dumbfounded.
"Wait…" I hesitated. "You're not-You're not angry at me?"
"Well, why would we be?" Shad explained, stepping ahead of everyone else. "Your arguments against the Goddesses were all valid. They said they cared about the people but didn't step up to help us when we needed it the most; it made sense. If anything, I'm just appalled at how you chose to talk down to literal goddesses! Angry is probably the last thing I'd say I be feeling right now, I'm just surprised that you're alive!" All of the unexpected support was becoming overwhelming for me. When you expect for certain that a certain thing will happen, but then the complete opposite becomes reality, the shock can sometimes be a little too much. I felt like I would soon need to lean on Hylia's shoulder for support. As if she had read my mind, she began to approach us with a resentful expression. Out of everyone around us, I would have expected at least Hylia to be angry and have that scornful expression directed at us.
"I… I have never been one to slander others, however," Hylia tried to find a way of explaining to us, "I must say that I believe the Golden Goddesses' practices were highly illogical and immoral! If they wished to care for the land they created, then they must realize when it was important to step in! Waiting for a single Hylian to save all of Hyrule instead of stepping in to stop it beforehand does not make any sense. If they saw it as that much of a threat to the land that they created, then they should have been the ones to put a stop to it before the tragedy had begun."
I had no words. My mind could not process what I was hearing. I felt as if I needed to apologise for everything I had done, but I was already forgiven before even a word left our mouth. I felt the need to sit down for a moment simply to let my mind take in what was happening. All of the survivors gave us a moment to think, which once again threw me off guard. Even after I confessed all of the horrible things that I did, being the one that caused Zelda, Zant and Links' deaths and chasing the Golden Goddesses away, they were still willing to forgive me. I chuckled, wondering if all of this was also some sort of fabrication from the Deity, but knew that this was all real. I could feel my eyes begin to sting as my vision became brighter. In a way, I felt more shock here than I did when Adri, Logan and Lora first revealed themselves to be our enemies.
Right then, the original topic returned to my mind with perfect clarity. The millions of other thoughts of white noise faded away, letting the true question reveal itself. We had gotten off topic earlier since I needed to explain what happened to The Golden Goddesses, but it still had to be brought up. I let go of my head and looked back up to Hylia, who was having a silent conversation with other survivors with just glances. But when she saw us move in the corner of her eye, she turned back around.
"Hey, um..." My voice was still shaking so I choked it back and regained my composure. "Why, again, did you say that they were my friends? Logan Adri and Lora?" Realization struck her and her expression showed it, clear as day. She bowed slightly while quietly saying "my apologies", then resumed our original topic.
"So, I am assuming that The Golden Goddesses did not give you the blessing of returning your memories?" She asked as if it was something that I had already known. I shook my head, while also telling that every time I did meet with them, I was focused on other things. I thought that my memories could wait until after Hyrule was saved. Taking a deep breath, she put on an expression that fit her goddess authority. Her friendly, motherly nature had been tucked away for now.
"Very well." Her voice boomed with authority despite her volume being low. She put a palm to her heart and stood up straight. After closing her eyes and clearing her throat, she stared down at me with an expression fitting for a goddess.
"Aden Dawn, your journey has come to a close and purpose of bearing the Triforce of Hope has been fulfilled. In exchange for saving the land and people I adore so very much, I shall grant your desire of restoring your memories." I could feel my heart racing as she spoke. Throughout my entire journey to stop The Deity, I had completely dismissed the thought of being able to regain my memories and solely focused on saving Hyrule. But now that it was finally happening, it all felt too unreal. I felt the need to stand up as I realized that this was too important of a time to be sitting down, but she put a hand up before I stood all the way.
"However, you know that I hate seeing my people in despair. There might be events within your lost memory that would be better off left forgotten, such as a horrific event that would make you despise yourself even more than you do now. I can only repair and restore your mind to the fullest or leave it as is, you cannot only have a select few. Knowing this, do you still wish to have your memories returned to you?" She announced all of that while holding her stern expression, along with a touch of concern
Although a part of me was hesitant, I had already made up my mind before the question was even asked. From the very start, my goal was to remember who I really was; I may have gotten caught up in this war, but in the end my goal was still the exact same. Finding the Golden Goddesses and saving Hyrule was just another step in that plan. As for the part of me that hesitated, the part that was afraid of the guilt that might come, I brushed it aside. I had already been through so much and have so many friends around me to support me if I did find something horrifying. If I had heard these words when I first woke up with the Great Fairy, I might have turned it down. But now? Now I was ready.
Trying to make sure that I didn't seem too excited in this serious moment, I nodded once to the Goddess of Hyrule while holding a confident face. For a few seconds she stared at my face, looking for any hint of hesitation to make sure that I was ready. When she found none-even though I could see her try to hide it-I saw a look of comfort replace her anxiety.A part of her was still hesitant, I could see it in how she averted her eyes for a few moments to think for herself. But after coming to terms that I had made up my mind, she turned back to us.
"Very well." she nodded, content. "However, I will need the assistance of The Great Fairy. I can sense that The Fierce Deity had used its magic to seal away your memories; it used this as a part of its plan to plunge you into despair and succeed without needing to fight. It is still rooted in your mind, keeping your past locked away, and its magic is still very powerful even after the Deity has been defeated. The powers of myself and The Great Fairy combined is required to cleanse this darkness from your mind."
The Great Fairy, very much willing to help Hylia due to her kindness, began to separate from our body. As the wings on my back faded away and specks of light flew off of my body, I felt slightly colder as it adjusted to the world around us. A few flecks of ash went into my throat as well, and it was then I understood why I needed a cloth around my mouth. I used my cloak to help breathe as the Great Fairy reformed into her usual appearance. While I was already used to her appearance, a bit of murmuring and gasps of awe from the crowd made me realize just how strange that was in of itself. But neither Hylia nor the Great Fairy seemed to mind-in fact, they even giggled slightly from the attention-and directed their attention back to me.
Hylia and The Great Fairy first each took a deep breath to focus their energy. I could see Hylia begin to glow with a soft golden light while The Great Fairy emitted a soft green light. Then joining hands, the two slowly approached me while beginning to steadily grow brighter with each small step. Raising their outside hands upwards, the two magical deities focused their magic into their fingertips, transferring all of the glow from their body into their hands. As both of them were in arms reach, they stopped. With confidence in the future, I braced myself as the two reached their glowing hands out to the temples of my head.
"Also I apologise, but this will sting slightly." Hylia said.
"Wait, wh"-
Immediately as the two deities touched my temples I felt a sharp sting and intense drowsiness. My vision became fuzzy as my brain pulsed from sensory overload and I fell to one knee on the ground. Other survivors around me rushed to my aid, asking if I was okay and supporting me to make sure that I didn't fall to the ground, although everything they said was muffled in my ears. In the span of three seconds, all of my senses became numb and my mind went blank as I drifted off to sleep.
The sleep came and went only in seconds. After Hylia's magic left me unconscious, I woke seemingly a few moments later in a completely unfamiliar place. Not feeling anything beneath my feet was a quick sign that I was in the air, slowly descending onto a dimly lit area at the speed of sinking into a pool of water. The air had a familiar chill to it as it lightly stinged the back of my throat and I reflexively grabbed for my cloak to wrap it around my arms. The only light that was present was piles of stones, arranged far enough to show a long, stretching path. They glowed a dark blue color that, after checking, was the same color as the symbols on my cloak. The path stretched on for a long time and I could barely see any end-it seemed to stretch for miles.
When I touched down onto the path, the pile of stones at my feet lit up and glowed about as bright as a candle. Curious about the stones, I bent down and picked up a few, feeling the smooth texture of them in my palms. They brought me a slight comfort from their glow, so I decided to keep a few with me as I walked on the path. I did not question how I already knew that I had to follow the glowing path to its end, and instead looked around me while gently grasping at my light source.
My surroundings were revealed with the help of the glow. Beneath my feet was smooth, dark stone that was etched with several strange markings. They twisted and curved in almost every direction, but at the same time had a pattern and organized flow to it all. Around me, the stone stretched far into the distant darkness, appearing to have no end to it all. The area had a sense of familiarity to it, similar to the barren field in The Fierce Deity's realm. Looking behind me, there was more inky blackness stretching for miles; the path of glowing stones only stretched in one direction. So seeing no other option except wandering forever in the darkness, I started down the path that was made for me.
After a few minutes of walking while subconsciously feeling the stones to distract me, I noticed something that reflected the stones' glow, just barely off the path. I stopped, trying to peer through the darkness then walked closer to the object, careful to not step off of the path. There were thin poles of some sort of material that looked like some sort of prison cell bars, but it was low to the ground. I tried to use the stone to shine more light onto it, but the glow only reflected back into my eyes. So without thinking, I reached out with my spare hand to touch the object, trying to figure out just what it was. It took some flexibility and endurance, but once my hand just barely grazed the object, the scenery around me bloomed with color. I had to let my eyes adjust for a moment, but when I saw the scene that came to life around me, I stepped back onto the path and backed away to soak it all in.
There were two people-Twili-in a shabby looking room together with a rickety, wooden crib a fair distance away from them. The walls and ceiling had similar, smooth stone to the ground on the path, and the etchings on the stones glowed a similar color to the stones in my hands. However the accessories and items seemed faded and worn. The Twili, who I assumed to be the parents of the kid in the cradle, refused to look my way and seemed almost ashamed of me, bearing a strong hatred in their eyes. When I looked into the crate to see the object of their displeasure, I found a young child, crying tears of light. He had fiery-orange hair, pale-blue skin, and darkness surrounding the irises of his eyes. It must have been due to the nature of this place, but I already knew that the child was me, being introduced to the cruel world.
I already knew why they wouldn't try to comfort me: it was my eyes. There was a superstition among the Twili that those who were born with eyes that swapped the gold with blackness were said to be cursed. The original meaning was lost, with some saying they brought evil around them or if they would become evil themselves. It was purely random for whoever it would affect, acting almost as a sort of virus with only one real side effect to it. Whatever the original meaning was, the end was typically the same for all dark-eyed Twili. Disgust and scorn. I couldn't help but feel anger at my parents, but as much as it infuriated me, I had to keep moving.
So I continued onwards, gripping the stones in my hand slightly tighter than before as I looked for more memories in the darkness. If those truly were my parents, then that was one thing I was not looking forward to when I returned to the Twilight Realm. It did not take too long for me to arrive at the next memory; only a short minute of walking was all that it took to find the next reflective object. It was very rugged and rough, which was a complete contrast to everything in the previous memory. I once again reached out, making sure that I did not step off of the path, and let the color flow.
I was outside now, huddling under a small tent made from sticks and leaves to protect against the rain with a group of other children. The tent itself was in the middle of what seemed to be a grain field, low enough to hide from armored guards with spears. I was unsure of how much time had passed since the first memory and the next, but I seemed larger now so at least a few years must have passed. The two other children were slightly older than I was-they were most likely six when I was four- and there were no other adults with us in the tent. Upon closer inspection, the other two kids also had dark eyes, just like me. So that meant that we were all being hunted together.
It made sense then why we called ourselves a family. When I was abandoned by my parents, they rescued and took care of me all by themselves. But since they were just like me, hunted just for being alive, they constantly had to resort to stealing to get simple things like bread and water. All the while they had to take care of me, who constantly made their jobs more difficult for them. I tried to help by running up to merchants and using really obvious distractions while my guardians stole from them, and more often than not we were always found out within seconds. But even still, they took care of me since they knew how tough it was to be hunted.
Their names were Shimm and Drulk. Shimm was the bulkier one; she wasn't exactly strong, but she was the toughest out of the three of us. She had blood-red hair that she tied into a bun to prevent anyone from grabbing it and pulling her back. Drulk was the slimmer one and was usually the one that carried out any plans that we made. He had golden yellow hair cut short along with a large birthmark on his right cheek that was the size of his fist. Both of them kept me close, making sure I didn't yell too loud or catch any attention. At that time I had no memories of my real parents, so these two I saw as my true family.
The next memory showed us all a few years older, playing by the riverside. It was nighttime, or at least what passed as night in our world, which was when the three of us were allowed to walk around freely without having to stress too much about being caught. That day we wandered into the woods and found a small river of water that appeared to be untouched. There was nothing exactly magestic or magical of it; it was just a simple river. It was moderately deep to where you would be up to your nose if you were touching the bottom and along the sides were short cliff drops into it, accompanied by bulky, scalable trees. So since it felt as if we did nothing but be on the run, we leaped and swam in the stream for hours on end. After constant starvation and dehydration and anxiety of the slightest noise being a guard on its way to kill us throughout our entire lives, this was a blessing. It was the first time I truly felt happy, not worrying about keeping my voice and head down.
Then soon after that, peace finally came for the three of us and any other dark-eyed criminals. The new king and queen had came into power, and with it, a new era of rule. Along with several other new rulings, a law came into effect that would change all of our lives forever. The king and queen had denounced the rumors of these Twili bringing curses, claiming them to be "baseless accusations." So during their reigns, a law was passed that forbade the hunt or discrimination of any dark-eyes. It caused an uproar to many Twili, but to those that the law protected, it was our light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in my entire life, I would not have to walk into town with a hood over my head or lurk in the shadows. We could all simply buy food and water and live like everyone else. It felt too good to be true, like we were in some sort of collective dream. But that didn't exactly mean the hardships were done.
We were not provided any sort of home or cash, but we began to work in the marketplace for meals. All day we would sell different medicines and goods, and in exchange we would be given enough food to where we would not go to sleep each night clutching our stomachs from the pain of starvation. Other Twili still looked at us with hesitant and piercing gazes, but we were allowed to live as we liked. Granted, we could not attend any schools or learn magic, since those were given as privilege to those close to the royals, but we at least did not have to live in constant fear. That was all we could ever ask for.
However even though we did not have to fear for our lives at every second of the day, we did have to worry about other kids tormenting us. More often than not, we would run into a group of other children older than us that would always ruin our efforts for normal lives. When we were coming home from the market together after receiving our meals for the day, the kids would smack them to the ground and grind them into the mud. They were the "normal kids" as they said, and they hated the sight of us. They tried beat us down and make us cry, but our training made ourselves hard to hit. But if we even so much as hit them once then they would run to the nearest adult and try to get them to arrest us. So our only option was to run away from them, but even that was a difficult task since they also knew how to use basic magic. Teleportation, walls, levitation and psychokinesis were the most common forms of punishment for us. If we tried to go to any adult to help us, they would simply turn the other way. The king and queen were willing to help us, but not the rest of the kingdom.
These memories were closer together than the previous ones. While most of them were spread out for quite a distance, often being about a few minutes in between each other, the path I could see had several scenes right next to each other that could easily be activated in a chain by simply touching one object. As for the memories that were brought back to me, they came naturally; instead of an epiphany moment, they came back to my mind as if I had only just now remembered them after a while-they've always been in the back of my mind. I thought this as I reached out to activate a long chain of memories, which spanned over quite the distance. I could already sense a feeling of importance here.
I was alone in the main square in front of the royal's castle, holding a basket of bread after a hard day's work of overtime to get a large meal for my family. But surrounding me were the bullies, who had gathered quite a large group. I may have been agile, but I was only able to get away from others with Shimm and Drulk's help. I gripped my cloak tighter as the next memory was shown; the bullies had grinded all of the food I worked for into the dirt while pinning me down to the ground. Tears were trickling down my cheeks and my mouth was wide open, stuck in a midpoint of a cry for help. The bullies then, using their magic, lifted me up higher and higher into the air-above roofs and even the castle gates. I could tell it was here that I gained my fear of heights.
Then finally, when I was right up next to the castle's exterior, the bullies let go of their hold of me to watch me fall. Fortunately I was able to grab hold of a nearby ledge, barely holding on by my fingertips. As athletic and flexible as I was, we had never exactly specialized in climbing, not to mention I had very little upper body strength. I hung on for so long that I felt as if I was dangling for almost an hour. The bullies, assuming that I was as good as dead at this point, decided to leave me hanging and head home. I wanted to scream for help, but if one of the guards saw me right outside a window it would be a death sentence. But my newfound fear of heights had me squeaking out pleas for help, hoping that whoever helped me would be merciful. At that point however, my strength had given out and my hands slipped off.
But only a moment after I slipped, somebody reached out and grabbed my arm in an attempt to save me. I looked back up and saw a young girl dressed in a royal garb with fiery-orange hair, similar to mine. She was holding on to my arm with one hand while gripping the ledge with her other hand to make sure that she didn't fall with me. Her expression completely contrasted those of the guards and bullies, showing serious concern and fear for if I fell. The sense of me being caught made me shake out of fear as I looked up at the person helping me. But she had just as much strength as I had, so just the small shake caused her grip to loosen just enough to have my hand slip out of her grasp.
But instead of falling, the next scene showed my arm being held tightly by a giant hand, one that looked all to familiar. As soon as I saw its familiar fiery color, I didn't care anymore about the cold or the anger. I began to rush through the different scenes to confirm my suspicions, looking for any scene that had her face. She pulled me up with her magic and helped me into her room, we caught our breath, she hid me from a guard who heard the commotion then finally looked at me face to face. She was the same age as I was at the time, but despite the difference in age I couldn't help but smile and begin to laugh in a sort of triumph. I had finally found her. I finally fulfilled the promise I made to her. From that point on, I swore I would never again forget her first words to me.
"I'm Midna. Don't worry, I promise I'll keep you safe!"
Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been active in, well, an entire year. I don't really have an excuse for this, I've just been doing a bunch of other projects instead. But I've finally gotten my motivation for this story back, and I know how exactly to end it. I promise that I'll give this story a proper, and happy ending. I hope to see you all soon.