Midna trailed behind the tall—she was not that tall—redhead into the inn, leaving poor Zach to his fate. Once safely ensconced in the shelter of the inn, Midna popped out of Anju's shadow and hesitated for a moment before removing her helmet.
That giant plant existed because it had come into contact with just a fragment of the Fused Shadow... at least, that was the theory Midna had formulated. Even so, best not leave it to chance with the children wandering around. The little toddler creeped her out enough with his suspicious, knowing eyes, and the girl with pouty lips would not stop glaring.
"..." Midna allowed herself a playful smirk in Beth's direction. "Boo."
The young girl squeaked and scurried behind Anju. The other girl, the shaman's daughter, nodded at Midna with a smile.
Anju smiled as well. "I must apologize for the state of the inn," she said with a bow at the waist. "We were not expecting royalty."
Midna returned the bow—she did have manners after all—and replied, "I've seen worse. I am very grateful for your hospitality." She sat at a table away from the children. Stuck in a foreign world with people who had never seen a Twili in their lives, it was well within Midna's interests to be polite... even if she had to endure the insufferable stares of the paranoid, like that man in the metal mask with his belly hanging out.
A metalworker, he seemed, and from his lack of injuries and scars he was either very skilled or very inexperienced. Then again, Zach was a buffoon at combat and had yet to suffer any lasting trauma. If Midna had not seen his broken nose for herself, she would never have known it even happened after he healed himself. They were both lucky, then.
Thinking about it now, Zach's behavior during the skirmish was rather unlike him. Midna had grown accustomed to his simmering temper, so to see him so cold and calculated... That look in his eye, filled with blood and hate, was a look she had seen before.
In Zant.
A shudder rolled up her spine. That same look of utter hatred was in Zant's eye as much as it was in Zach's. And the Goddesses chose him to bear the burden of Hero?
Whatever. He was a means to an end, like the rest of them. Midna could see things worth saving, she could admit that Hyrule had its own charm, but it was not her realm. It was not home, and more importantly, it was not under the subjugation of an insane tyrant. Even now, the children staring at her had no idea of just what utter hell she had been through already.
The sooner she recovered the Fused Shadow, the sooner she could take down Zant and free her people, and apparently the next step to that goal was to calm down the rock-like people on the mountain. To do that, Zach would need an item all the way back in the village from which they had taken his sword and shield. To do that, they would need to journey another few days through Hyrule to get to the village and then yet another few days to get back...
However, the horse that had entered into town would easily halve the time, even counting how long it would take to teach Zach how to ride. It was not like Midna would have to go into the complex things such as galloping and proper training, except that with how vast Hyrule was and the fact that interruptions such as the Lizalfos horde could happen, she may indeed have to teach the complicated things.
Sighing, Midna rubbed her temples. She hardly noticed a bowl of soup beneath her nose until the aroma wafted up her nostrils. She blinked up at the kind redhead, offered a smile in thanks, and dug in. Ah, to have actual food again! Her bowl was empty before she knew it but it left her satisfied.
She snapped her fingers to summon the map she had found in Zach's satchel and set it flat on the table. He had said the Fused Shadow was further up the mountain, and so Midna scribbled a circle around the so-called 'Death Mountain' with some old black lipstick. The lake Midna passed on her first night was just west of the main field in which she and Zach had ventured, and it seemed to be from a source farther north. The great desert mesa was farther west but all that contained was the Mirror of Twilight, so Midna marked that as their final destination.
Hyrule was certainly much larger than Midna anticipated, possibly equal to the Twilight Realm in terms of size. It even had its own diverse races whom ruled over their private dominions like the House of Gohma and Castle Hinox.
Midna looked over at the children from the village. Their faces were pale even in the firelight, with tightened pupils, shaky hands, a seeming refusal to eat...
Considering they were right in the middle of a battle with Zach and Midna trying to fend off the Lizalfos, Midna conceded that they had a right to be scared out of their wits. They had been kidnapped earlier as well, as Zach had mentioned long before.
A weight settled in the pit of Midna's stomach. The children had been away from home, yet Zach was about to head there without them. It would be about a week before he returned, unless Midna took the initiative and use the portals to go herself. She could do that, and fairly easily, but...
Actually, there was no 'but'. It really was a simple matter after all, she just had to find the Mayor's house and the item contained therein and come back. It would take half an hour at most, saving so much time in the long run. Maybe Zach was counting on her coming to that conclusion...?
Whatever the case, it was a simple matter. Once he was finished with his talk, Midna would ask him about the item and go fetch it—ugh, she was fetching—for him. How was that talk going, anyway?
I kept my head down as I followed Renado inside. The ReDead was gone, only a rotten outline of its corpse remained. The room still stank of decay, enough that I almost wished my nose was still broken.
Renado walked past the entrance to the cellar, past the statue surrounded by three small bowls with lit candles... all the way to the door on the other side of the room.
"Uh, what about that talk?" I asked, following him until he raised a hand.
With a shake of his head, he opened the door. "Not with me, young man. Not with me."
There I was, alone in the shack with nothing but myself and those three candles. If Renado wasn't the one I was going to talk to, then who...?
"Alright, I can take a hint," said I. "Three candles and me by myself, come on." Nothing happened. "... Hello?" When no answer came, I turned on my heel and barged through the door...
And fell into an abyss.
The air turned cold, even freezing, and whispers echoed around me.
"You are the worst possible choice for 'Hero'!" Midna?
"Are you a hero or aren't you?" … Ilia?
"You must purge the darkness within." I didn't recognize the voice. It sounded metallic.
The ground found me first. I landed hard on my stomach but nothing broke. Smoke choked the air around me, and a dim light cast a spotlight from above. Beyond the light was pure suffocating darkness and all I heard was the sound of my own breathing.
PSSHHT!
I knew that sound... that was the sound of an energy sword igniting! I whirled around and then ducked as a beam of red-white light sliced the air where my head was. The shape of the blade matched with a Halo energy sword, but it came from the hilt of some kind of fake Master Sword, wingless and grey.
On the back of the hand holding the sword were three triangles. The symbol of the Goddesses: The Triforce, with all three triangles glowing a bright gold, but it was... wrong. The triangles flickered a vicious red the moment I thought that.
Why did it have to be me?
The red flickering increased.
Why am I here?
The golden light from the Triforce pieces faded.
Why am I failing?
A bright and vengeful blood red bloomed from the Triforce pieces.
Why am I not BETTER?!
The hand released its weapon and lunged.
Why does no one care about ME?!
Its fingers clenched my throat so hard I thought it was going to crush my head clean off my shoulders.
WHY DOES NO ONE RESPECT ME?!
The hand released me. Instead of relief, all I felt was the same hot rage that's been following me my whole life. I expected the hand to grab me again, but that was when I realized that it was my own hand attacking me. The red light faded from the Triforce.
I looked around for that energy Master Sword but it had vanished. Or... maybe it was never even there? Whatever the case, I did find the true Master Sword in its pedestal, shimmering in the spotlight. My hand gripped the handle, a warm tingle ran through my body, and I tugged.
And tugged.
And tugged some more.
The Master Sword stayed right where it was. The spotlight vanished, leaving me with nothing but the faint golden light from the Triforce. In the Blade of Evil's Bane, I saw my reflection. One eye's sclera was filled with blood red, the pupil a dark blue. The other eye was a void, pure black that consumed all light that went near it.
The ground rumbled, cracked, buckled. My foot slipped and I fell, fell, fell. The world spun around me, and more voices... more voices...
"We took you in!" … Rusl?
"Was it worth your pride?" I didn't recognize this one either, but it sounded feminine.
"You are not WORTHY!" I recognized that voice... it was mine.
I landed on a bed of what used to be grass, the vegetation charred and burnt. I was in Kakariko again but the sky burned with ash and fire, casting everything in a dim red light. Someone screamed, and I saw Talo run from the inn. I ran, and ran, and ran, but he was gone from me.
"Midna?" No response. "Midna, where are you? I think I'm having a really bad trip!" I turned around and froze when I saw Midna standing before me. She was in her true form, but her skin was even paler and her eyes were empty of their usual light. In the center of her chest was a gaping wound, and dark red blood dribbled down her body. I ran to her, caught her, and held her in my lap. "Midna...! Midna, what..."
"..." A ghostly white hand stroked my cheek. "You... You are..." Her eyes opened, and I will not speak of what I saw in them. "You are a monster..." Twilit particles rippled from her skin, taking bits of her with them. Bit by bit, the wind carried her away in a swirl of dust.
A door opened nearby. I ran for it, heart racing and mind fuming. I was in Ordon Village again, and the door belonged to the house of Mayor Bo. The village adults ran from within, and I halted in my tracks.
"The boy is unstable!" they said once upon a time. My hands curled into fists. The villagers spotted me, and they screamed silently. "No one 'blessed by the Goddesses' would have a lazy eye!" The air grew hot, scalding, and the villagers cowered before me. "And did you notice how pale and twitchy he was?" A hand, mine yet not mine, raised up. A cold, burning darkness bloomed in my palm. The villagers went to their knees. They begged and pleaded, even as their skin turned to dust.
"Surely that's a sign of evil!"
Like emerging from the bottom of a lake, I gasped and gulped for air. My skin, it was itchy, it felt like someone was dragging rusty nails down my arms. Every breath came out in a clenched wheeze.
"I'm not evil..." I fell to my knees and stared up into the void. "I am not... I am not evil..."A ray of light shined from somewhere, gold and inviting. It cascaded down in a solid beam unto the Master Sword once again. I reached out, only to have a golden hand stop me.
"You are not ready for that," said a familiar voice. I turned and found Nayru herself beside me. "Does this surprise you?"
"I..." I cleared my throat. "I was expecting the whole family, not just you."
Nayru towered over me, settled a warm hand on my shoulder, and led me away from the Master Sword. "My family is more than Din and Farore. I have sisters, brothers, children in all that hold hope and wisdom in their hearts." I groaned. "I understand that you are not one for, as you would say, sentimental crap like hope, but heed my words.
"You are one man, young Zach, but your actions affect everyone and everything around you. The choices you make can have greater repercussions than you realize, some so great that they ripple across time itself." With a wave of her hand, the darkness cleared. Dozens of people surrounded me. Rusl, Talo, even Queen Zelda. The closest one was Midna, back in her true form. "Every choice leads to more choices, so many that it is impossible to explore them all in your lifetime or mine. And in that vast labyrinth of choice, consequences are around every corner."
One by one, the people vanished into darkness until only Midna remained. She smiled and said, "You're a good man, Zach." With that, she too vanished from sight.
"What... but earlier, she called me a monster."
"You are surprised at this?" Nayru asked, one sapphire eyebrow raised. "With the pure hatred brewing in your soul, you do not think yourself capable of great evil? Oh yes, I see it, Zach. I see the rage, the hatred, the sheer bloodthirst that drives you to that end."
"I..."
Nayru sighed. "I understand. You would rather delude yourself than admit you are a flawed human being."
"Hey, I can admit I have flaws!"
"Just not the ones that would drive others away."
"..."
Nayru closed her eyes. "You are a vain, prideful man. That in itself is not a condemnation, but combined with your anger and jealous devotion to what you deem 'worthy'... Is it any wonder that you are the villain of this story?"
My fists clenched and unclenched. "If I'm the villain, why am I still here?"
"That is my doing." Nayru snapped her fingers. She remained beside me but there was another Nayru nearby. This one wore different clothing fit for battle. She glared across the way to a version of me that sent shivers down my spine. "These are the final moments of our reality. You have just slain Din and Farore."
My brow furrowed. "I—"
Nayru's jaw clenched. "I had hoped your journey in Hyrule would heal your troubled soul, but I was mistaken. You became a greater threat than if you had remained on Earth, you became more evil and more corrupt than even Ganondorf... you became the End of All Things."
"Ominous."
"And rather pretentious, you chose the title yourself."
"... Yeah, that sounds like me."
"With my decision to bring you to Hyrule, the original time has since been erased from possibility. My wish to spare you was granted, at the cost of all else." A single tear ran down her golden cheek. "It is true that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I only wanted to save you and break the cycle of the Triforce, and in doing so I brought about the wrath of Zatam."
My eyes never left hers, and another tear fell. "I... He... Zatam, the End of All Things..."
"You chose that name well. By this point, every life in all of reality had been extinguished. It was the end."
I wiped sweat from my brow. "What happened then? You didn't kill him, did you?"
"I did what I had to do," she said.
"So... now what do I do?"
Nayru drew in a deep breath and rested her hands on my shoulders. "Now, you are free to do however you please. That is the blessed curse of free will; you know now that your psyche is damaged, and that your current path is destined to end in death and suffering. It is your choice whether to change your fate and the fate of others."
"Why do you believe in me still?" I licked my lips, swallowed the lump in my throat. "Am I just here to prove a point? Is there nothing actually worthwhile about me?"
"..." Nayru snapped her fingers. Midna and another me stood by a fire. Midna was smiling, laughing, and so was I. We were dancing to music on my phone while two Gorons sat nearby, each enjoying the spirit of the music. "You have a divine spark, Zach. You can bring the light of joy and laughter to others; you can inspire hope in them. Yours is a mind in grotesque balance; for all your hatred, you love seeing others smile. You enjoy making others happy, but your stubborn pride prevents you from lightening the spirits of those who have wronged you."
I rolled my eyes. "You're saying it's because I have a good sense of humor? That's why I'm the hero? Because I'm funny?"
"You are more than funny, Zach." The scene expanded to show Midna on the brink of tears. I held her close and she wept into my shirt. "You have compassion, bravery, and empathy. You would be a true hero but for your darker side. That is why I am here now, as I failed to do so previously. I believe in you, and I believe in your capacity for good. If I saw nothing worth saving, I would have let your original self die and thought nothing more of it. If you could go back in time, would you kill the Joker before he became the Joker?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Um... it depends on which version of him has an established history but basically, no. I wouldn't kill him before he becomes the Joker, I'd try to either get him arrested if he's a killer or get him help if he's just had a bad day."
"Exactly. Such mercy despite knowing the Joker's capabilities."
I shrugged. "He's just a fictional character, it's not like it..." My eyes closed, and I nodded. "He's an actual person, you told me that before."
"Indeed. You would save him, but you do not see yourself worthy of salvation?" The Goddess of Wisdom leaned down and kissed my temple. "You will find your worth in time, Zach, but first you know you will have to do something that will hurt your friendship with Midna."
I sighed. "I know. I have to tell her about the... well, you know..."
"Midna's Desperate Hour."
"I know what I have to do," I said, hugging my knees. "I have to tell Midna… but…"
Nayru sighed. "Fear is a natural element of life," she whispered. "I understand your hesitation, but I promise you that a painful truth is far more acceptable than a blissful lie. She will find out eventually, after all."
"Not if I stop it from happening."
"Zach, you cannot control what you do not understand."
"I know!" My voice echoed in the dark. It came back hideously distorted. "I know… but—"
Nayru raised her hand. "The choice is yours. You have always valued Wisdom above Courage and Power, and so I trust that you will make the wise choice."
"Wise…"