As the Mirror of Twilight activated, Link felt his stomach jump. The painful brightness of the roof of the Arbiter's Grounds fragmented into thousands of pieces, and then rushed past him at high speed. The only thing that did not vanish into blackness were the whirling cogwheels of the portal, which they suddenly lurched through. The strange white outlines of the portal blurred, and it felt as if they were rushing through a tunnel that had flickers of light illuminating it every second or so. It was not like the teleportation spell that Midna had been using, and yet it was; a very obvious song played out in his ears as he was torn from one world and forced into another, and the notes were not staccato but deep and strong like the tones of a large bell.
He honestly did not know what he expected on the other side. After seeing the amber Twilight that had hung over the land of Hyrule and trapped its residents as spirits, Link was unsure of what the actual Twilight Realm would look like. Perhaps the people wouldn't be stuck as spirits, and would be able to go about their daily business. Midna had told him that the place was beautiful, but the people had started to become ugly once Ganondorf arrived and influenced things. Other than the fact that she mentioned her home was a group of islands floating in the sky, the image he formed in his mind of it was fairly limited.
What materialized around him was not the amber-brown of Twilight, but a room made of dark gray stone that was lit by softly glowing white runes that traced along the edge of a domed ceiling. He was standing on the top step of a glowing set of stairs made of magical white lines descending from the portal, just like it had been on the other side. There was a major difference though; the platform at the bottom of said stairs did not have a shining black mirror, and instead there was a hovering sphere of shining black stone covered in white runes just like the mirror on the other side. Beyond was a closed set of double doors.
He took a few tottering steps down to the platform, and stopped to take a few deep breaths. Even though it wasn't teleportation, it still gave him motion sickness. With any luck, the only other portals he would have to take would be to return to his own world, and then to teleport back to Kakariko where the others were waiting. He was getting damn sick of feeling sick.
"When you said it wasn't what I was expecting, you were right...but that's only because I didn't know what to expect." Link said, his voice echoing off the curved walls of the portal chamber. The air was considerably cooler than it was in the desert, although it was hard to gauge whether it was actually cold, or only felt that way in comparison. Either way, the change of temperature was distracting his body enough for him to quickly recover from his dizziness, so he wasn't complaining.
"We don't leave our side of the portal out in the open like it is at the Arbiter's Grounds." Midna told him. "With the amount of mages we have here, it's best to hide it in a building behind a bunch of locking spells. Not many people know these spells." She floated up to the hovering orb of stone and stared at it dully. "In fact, Zant didn't know them, but he followed me and learned. That's how he was able to come and go freely, and with how useless those Sages are, I get the feeling he did." It seemed that she had her own opinions on the Sages that were not like Link's own. "Anyway, he never learned any of our important spells from my father. Things probably would have been worse a lot sooner if he had."
He examined the stone orb that slowly rotated as it floated above a circular slot in the platform below it. The runes on it weren't quite like the ones on the mirror, and resembled the ancient Hylian that he had seen in the Oocca city. "Zant didn't know how to use this thing, but then again neither did Ganondorf."
"Thankfully. While it made things horrible for us Twili, our population is only a fraction of Castle Town's. We were innocents that suffered for two centuries, but the people on the other side of this portal were innocent too, and there's far more of them." Midna turned to look at the open portal and its gently rotating cogwheels. The far end of it wasn't dark, but was a dusty brown color. The darkness he had seen on the mirror side of the portal was this dim room, and the light he now saw was the Arbiter's Grounds.
"I don't think that's a much better way of looking at it, Midna. It sucks all around."
She gave a laugh that was half a snort. "Yeah, but that's the kind of thing you and I are good at fixing." The Twili extended her hand towards the sphere, and the runes on her arm flashed a brighter aqua. The orb's glowing white line also flashed the same color, and Link could clearly hear six deep bell-like notes from whatever spell was cast, a repeat of what he had heard while traveling. Then the orb stopped spinning and went dark, lowering down to nestle itself in the recess below it. There was a high-pitched whining noise, and the portal wavered and vanished.
He turned his head away from where the portal had just been to look at her. "I just heard some notes when you did that, and I heard some when we went through. It's just like how I hear them when you teleport."
"Huh." Midna thoughtfully put a hand to her chin after the magical gate was closed. "It's the same spell to turn the portal on and off. Maybe you'd be able to cast it if you sang the notes. Not that I recommend playing with this thing to find out. We should go." She turned and floated past him, towards the double doors.
He wondered if he could, and tried to commit the notes to memory. It wouldn't hurt for him to know how to open the portal, since there would be a time in the future where Midna went back home. Of course he would want to visit her after things had settled down in Hyrule.
I shall memorize the notes as well, Master Link. I believe you could indeed open this portal with your song magic. Well, that was to know. If the Master Sword told him he could do it, he believed it. He turned around to see Midna hesitating to open the pair of golden doors that would let them out of the room.
"You're nervous." he said, stepping up next to her by the polished doors, which reflected the images of the two of them back like a mirror.
The imp shrugged her narrow shoulders. "A bit. I don't know what I'll find when we leave the Temple of the Mirror. I assume that only part of our population has been turned into Shadow Beasts, but I don't know where my people are whether they're transformed or not. For all I know, the ones that remained human could have abandoned our islands to hide on the surface." She sighed and raised a hand towards the door, palm out. A geometric pattern of glowing blue lines formed on the smooth golden surface, and then the doors swung open.
The room beyond reminded him a bit of the Temple of Time, only made of dark marble instead of light. There was no eternal song here, and the narrow windows were long single panes of dark blue glass. More of the patterned white lines glowed along the tops and bottoms of the walls, as well as through the middle of the room. At the far end was an identical double door.
"The lights are on again…" Midna said as she glided through the doorway and into the much larger chamber. "That means somebody brought the Sol back."
"You mentioned that word before. What's a Sol?" he asked, his eyes following the lines on the floor as he followed her.
"It's a source of light, but it isn't only that. Sols provide warmth and help plants thrive. Think of them as miniature suns, magical relics created by a divine power." She eyed him over her shoulder as she lightly bobbed in the air just ahead of him. "It's not like your Triforce, though. The Sols aren't the combined magic of three gods, but the work of just one. Once the Interlopers arrived, they had difficulty growing food, even though they had brought plenty of seeds with them. The actual sun of this world is difficult to see at times, and it's a red sun, not a yellow one like in your world."
Midna raised her hand in front of the next set of golden doors, and they lit up just like the previous ones before swinging open. A gust of cool air blew past her. "One of the gods of this world took pity on them, since they were banished to a place they had no hope of surviving in. She used her power to create relics that mimicked the sun my ancestors had left behind. She was our savior, and because of that she is our goddess. We have no Hylia, Link. Only her."
When he followed her outside, he suddenly felt as if he was really in a different world. He was quite clearly on a floating island, the edges of it extending some thirty or so feet past where he stood before dropping off abruptly. All around were other islands made of dark brown or gray stone and clods of dirt, suspended in the air much like the ones in Hyrule, although they were difficult to see through a purple gloom that deepened in the distance. Some of the distant islands were large and had clusters of buildings on them, but it was difficult for him to make out details.
The sky above was violet, contrasting with the red disc of the sun that was straight above. It was around noon here, just as it had been in Hyrule. He thought that strange, but perhaps the times of the two worlds were synced somehow. Scattered pale clouds flew overhead, looking quite a bit like ordinary clouds, only tinged with pink instead of blue.
However what he noticed the most out of everything was the Twilight. While some of the islands were out of it and had shining golden-white lights above them, many were covered in a veil of amber. Straight ahead of them was a massive amount of Twilight in the distance, surrounding a massive group of islands crowned by the dark forms of tall buildings; it was a city.
"It looks better than it was. When I left, almost all the Sols were gone and Twilight covered everything." Midna turned and raised her small face to look above the dark temple behind them, and pointed above it. "Look, the Sol really is back. It was gone when I came here, and Twilight surrounded this entire island."
Link turned around and his eyes followed what she was pointing at. The Temple of the Mirror was a dark gray building accented with black stone and orange runes, long and rectangular much like a church would be. Ivy climbed its sides, although it was not green in color and instead was an odd blue-black. Hovering just above the temple was a large bright sphere that shed a warm light that was slightly golden, just like sunlight. The Sol was situated above a clear glass platform that hung stationary in the air, and that appeared to be held in place by a group of angular white lines that surrounded it. Magic held up my magic. The Twilight Realm was a strange place.
He squinted at the Sol. "I'm not going to hurt my eyes if I look directly at this thing, am I? It's like a little sun."
She laughed lightly and came over to pat his shoulder. "It's not that much like a sun. People have picked Sols up and moved them around before. We've needed to as our population grew, and we had to fabricate new islands for people to live on and grow food." Midna patted him again. "I hate to break it to you, but we can't stick around on this island. We'll need to teleport."
He groaned upon hearing that. "Dammit."
"I know. I'm sorry, buddy. It's how we get around in my world. We have bridges in the city and in some towns, but we're on one of the outer islands right now. The only way to get anywhere from here is via teleportation." She took one of his hands in her small ones. "Unlike Hyrule, there might be something here that can help you with that. Your world is either afraid of its magic, or as forgotten it. Here, we embrace it." Midna tugged on his hand. "It's this way."
He let her pull her along down an ancient stone path that was surrounded by knee-high dark grass. Like the ivy he had seen before, the plants were such a dark green they were nearly black. Here and there in the midst of the tall grass were hardy black weeds that looked like chicory, but their blooms glowed a pale white instead of the flower's typical blue. It was alien, but strangely pretty. The overgrown island itself seemed to be forgotten, or perhaps abandoned. If only members of Midna's family were capable of opening the portal, the average Twili would have no reason to come here.
At the edge of the stone walkway was a large dark square of the same material. When he stpped close to it, the stone lit up with angular patterns of pale blue light. He sighed. "Let's get this over with. I'll shut my eyes and you can pull me onto the teleporter and send us wherever." He closed his eyes and resigned himself to a day full of motion sickness.
Midna had still been holding his hand the entire time they walked down the path. He wasn't sure if it was for his comfort, or for hers. She still seemed a bit out of sorts. "All right. I know where I want to take us. It's where I planned for us to go the first time around, before we found the Mirror of Twilight had been broken. We'll be safe there while we make plans, and maybe the people there will be able to help." She tugged him onto the platform. "Come on, hero."
The feeling of weightlessness was the same, and like the teleportation spells of Midna and Zant, this one had a faint staccato tune. Then he felt his feet on solid ground and chilly air touched his skin as they arrived at their destination. He didn't have a chance to open his eyes before a wave of pain suddenly shot through his body. Link cried out and doubled over while feeling Courage light up on his hand, and after the painful contorting of his body had passed, he found himself on all fours. He knew exactly why.
He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands to find that they were gray paws.
His voice was deeper when he swore about it. "Aw, crap." Of course they would have teleported to one of the islands covered in Twilight. Courage functioned as it always did and transformed him into a wolf, and having the Master Sword with him didn't make a difference. "You could have warned me."
"How was I going to know that this island was covered in Twilight? It's hard to see which ones are and which ones aren't while standing on one of the outer islands." Midna giggled and reached down to pet one of his furry ears. "Yay! Soft boy time!"
"If you weren't having such a lousy day, I'd bite you." he grumbled, laying his ears flat. At least he remembered how to speak properly in wolf form. There wouldn't be any "Mih-naah" this time.
She landed on the ground next to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his green fur. "Sorry. I enjoy your company no matter what form you take. I'm sorry if it hurt enough to make you cry out like that."
He grunted sourly. "I had forgotten how much it hurt, and it caught me by surprise." He shrugged off her hug and stepped off the teleporter, his claws clicking on the neat stones of a maintained path. "This is going to be a problem. I know I'd stand a chance against Zant as a human, but if he's hiding somewhere in a patch of Twilight, I'm going to be stuck as a wolf. I know for a fact I'm nowhere near as good in a fight as a beast."
"The Master Sword turned you back the last time you were in wolf form." Her voice hovered above him, but she didn't sit on his back like he expected. She instead came around to float in front of him, like she usually did when he was a man. "Maybe it can do it now?"
Please inform Midna that while I will be able to transform you back, I would not be able to sustain your human form. I currently do not have the magical power to do so. It is advisable that you leave the Twilight if you wish to be human.
Link relayed what the sword had said to his companion, and she crossed her thorny arms. "Well isn't that unhelpful. I'm not blaming you, Master Sword...wherever you are on him right now. It's just unfortunate that a lot of my home is coated in Twilight, and Link needs to be human in order to use you."
I concur. Perhaps if we retreat to one of the nearby islands with a Sol, I can revert you to your normal form, and then we may formulate a plan. the sword said.
"Sword says we probably should find a place not covered in Twilight for the time being. I don't know where you planned on taking me, but maybe we should find the nearest place not covered in dark magic." He knew that the sword was somehow physically part of him, yet its soul was separate within his mind. It was strange, but no stranger than his clothing transforming as well.
"Well you and Sword can rest assured that the place I planned on going will absolutely be free of Twilight. Even Zant wouldn't have had the power to remove their Sols." She took a few steps and looked around as if to get her bearings, and then pointed in a direction that faded of into pink and deep purple, just like the Twilight in Hyrule had. "We can't see anything from this side of the Twilight, but it's that way. If we follow this path we'll get to a main road that leads there."
"Well then, get on. I don't know how many wolves you have here, but if I give you a ride, you'll be less noticeable." When Midna shot up to land on his back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and made a contented sound. It made him sigh and roll his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Enjoy it while it lasts. I plan on making my time as the wolf here the very last one."
"I'm going to." Her arms didn't move, but her orange hair appeared over his head, and formed into a hand that pointed down the path. "Let's go."
The wolf and his passenger made their way down the stone path and through the cold Twilight. Just like the Twilight he had seen before, this one had dark crystals slowly tumbling down to the ground that vanished in a smattering of small squares before they made contact with the ground. He hoped that Midna's exposure to the Twilight and those crystals wouldn't turn her into an awful bitch like it had in Hyrule.
After about fifteen minutes of running on a paved stone road, they approached a town that was little more than a small group of buildings situated next to a still, dark lake. Twili structures were dark and blocky, and while they were made of stone and wood just like the ones in Hyrule, their actual construction was alien. The stone itself was the same dark one the Temple of the Mirror had been, but the wood itself was pale as snow. The black and white buildings were not devoid of color, however. Glowing patterns of colorful light edged roofs and doorways, and both the colors and the designs of the lights were so drastically different that they offered each place a personality. The people who lived in the homes were unable to paint them, so they used magic to color them instead.
A shop had a sign written in glowing pink runes that were slanted and somewhat difficult to read, but he was still able to discern what it said; the place claimed to be "Bodda's Cafe". Next to it was a dry grocer's outlined in green and white. It was very much a normal town, except for one detail that was missing: there were no people. The doors to the shops and homes that clustered near the road were shut, and the glass windows had curtains drawn to hide whomever was within.
Link focused to try to see if anyone was in the town, and then he could see them: huddled shapes in homes, families clustered together in misery as they hid from the Twilight outside, their souls colored green just like the ones in Hyrule had been. There were quite a few of them in both the cafe and the grocer's, the people having gathered in places that had reliable food and water. He had no idea how long these poor people had been hiding, but his keen wolf nose picked up the stench of death. There was the stink of rotting food, and the far worse scent of rotting flesh. If Midna had been on her own nearly a month before finding him, these people would have been trapped as spirits for at least two months. His innate magic to spot hidden things was only looking for the green-tinted souls of the Twili, but he knew that there were dead in these homes.
"Midna, there are people trapped in their homes, but I don't think some of them made it. I don't know if they're able to get food or water." He had to tell her what he had seen. As strong as a sorceress she was, she was unable to use the same spell he did.
"I doubt they ran out of water since indoor plumbing is pretty common, even out in the boonies like this. This is a farming community that works with the Sisters of the Sols in order to provide food for each other. They can't run out of food in just a couple of months, it doesn't make any sense. The people in Castle Town were willing to walk around and actively try to find water. Why are the people here not going to the fields?"
"Are their fields on the other side of the Twilight? People trapped as spirits can't leave it. Maybe—" He stopped short as he heard a shattering roar behind him, and the wolf spun around to face the familiar sound. A Shadow Beast stood in the middle of the road where they had just passed by moments ago, and it was raising its masked face to the sky to call the others nearby.
"I guess that answers my question." Midna said while still clinging to his back. There were other answering cries coming from all around the town, or perhaps at the town limits. "They're everywhere. You can't fight that many as a wolf! Run!"
Link turned and took off at a hard run, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sprint for very long as a the wolf, but perhaps if he still continued down the road he'd be able to leave the Shadow Beasts behind. At first that seemed to be the case, but then he could hear the sounds of their bare feet and hands slapping the smooth stone behind him as they gave chase. As they reached the other side of the town and his speed flagged, Shadow Beasts began to lope along next to them, closing in. Even if he was able to reach the edge of the Twilight, which he was unsure if he could or not, they would continue to chase him. He summoned another burst of speed in an attempt to put some distance between him and them, and continued straight down the road in the hope that whatever safe place Midna had chosen wasn't too far off.
Then there was a large one standing in the road in front of him.
The one ahead was one of the Templars, with a circular metal mask and a great purple crystal embedded in its chest. It did not wear robes like the previous one, and had a black cloak edged in gold thread and glowing red runes over one of its shoulders. The reason why became evident as Link drew closer; it had a sword belted at its narrow hip, hidden beneath the dark cloak.
The Templar drew its blade, which looked small in its long-fingered hand, and began to run on three limbs towards the wolf. It clearly intended to fight them, and it brandished its weapon until it was not too far away. Then it slowed to a halt and stared at them, blade still in its hand.
"Wolves aren't green." it said, its voice only slightly distorted by its rounded toothy mouth, and the voice was that of a man. It sounded surprised.
"And Shadow Beasts don't carry weapons." Link replied, slowing to face off against the monster in his way.
"You can speak!" the cloaked Shadow Beast cried, still surprised. Then it raised its mask to look past the wolf and his passenger at the other approaching Shadow Beasts, which were rapidly closing in. It had trapped the wolf and the imp, but now it looked over their heads as it stood up to its full height, which was well over seven feet. "Oh, shit." it said.
"Wait, what?" Link asked, the the Templar leaped through the air over him and came down on a Shadow Beast with its sword, impaling it through the back. It withdrew its blade and swung it in a wide slash to mortally wound another. Now that he could see it from behind, he could see that strangely enough, it was wearing a large rucksack on its back.
"It seems like things are more complicated since the last time I was here." Midna said dryly.
"Are you with the wolf?" the Templar asked before cutting down another dark beast like itself. "What am I saying? Of course you are. Get to the Sisters! The others are there!"
"Wait, what?!" Link repeated himself, thrown for a loop by the situation. He dodged the grabbing hands of a Shadow Beast, not sure if he should fight them or make a break for it now that the Templar was out of his way.
"I don't know what happened to you—" The Templar grunted as it cut through the neck of another black monster and then jumped back with surprising agility to avoid the hands of another. "—but she isn't fully transformed yet! Get to the Sisters before Zant finds out about you!" It paused fighting long enough to point with a long dark finger down the road past them. "You'll be able to leave the Twilight! Go!"
"What about you?" the wolf asked, now that he realized that this Templar was a potential ally. At least he was the enemy of the Shadow Beasts and Zant. "You can't fight all of these by yourself!"
The Templar laughed a throaty, growling laugh. "Can't I? Don't worry about me." It held its other hand up to its bloodied sword and began to channel magic, and white electricity began to crackle along the blade.
Midna patted his shoulder. "Link, we have no choice. If this guy says he'll be fine, let's go."
He hesitated, watching as the Templar swung its electrified blade at the Shadow Beasts. The monsters convulsed from the magical lightning, and even though the Templar was outnumbered, it—no, he seemed to be skilled enough with a sword to stand a chance. Link knew that he himself wouldn't have too much difficulty with the remaining Shadow Beasts, which were about twenty in number. He gave the Templar the benefit of the doubt and left him to fight them. He turned and continued to run down the road, not sure where he was headed other than the direction the transformed swordsman had pointed.
Then suddenly, he was out of the Twilight. The edge of it wasn't too far beyond the town limits, and he loped down the road through flat farmland dotted with dark-leafed trees. The crops growing in the fields were unfamiliar, their leaves different shades of dark green and purple that were nearly black, but the vegetables didn't concern him. What concerned him was whether they were still being chased.
He decided to keep running and not look back, since some distance ahead he could see a massive statue made of white stone. While it wasn't as massive as the Gerudo Colossus, it was still quite large. It was also topped by two brilliant Sols, one each hovering above the statue's outstretched hands. The bright light was a beacon in the violet gloom of the Twilight Realm, and a tangible destination instead of a nebulous one. He and Midna were quiet as they he ran, continuing on for at least fifteen minutes. Now that he was getting closer to the statue, he saw that it was wearing a golden crown made to look like beams of radiating light, and above that crown was an empty spot that looked as if it should hold a Sol.
"That's it!" She called over the sound of the wind rushing past them. "See the temple?"
Now that he looked, he could indeed see a large black and white building that was situated in front of the statue and ringed by high dark stone walls. The walls extended some way out past the building to surround grounds that were covered in dark trees. "Are they still following?" As fast as he could run, he knew Shadow Beasts were awfully fast themselves, and did not seem to tire.
There was a pause as Midna turned to check before responding. "There were, but they stopped! They don't want to come near the Sols!"
Link slowed to a halt to catch his breath, and turned around to look down the road at the dark monsters that had been chasing them. They hesitated, some taking a few steps forward only to scamper back while shrinking away from the light. These Shadow Beasts weren't used to the light, even though the ones in Hyrule had become accustomed to the sunlight. He hoped that they never figured out that the light wouldn't hurt them.
"Let's put some space between them and us, just in case." Midna suggested. "I don't know if these Shadow Beasts know who you and I are or not. I think they were attacking anything in town."
"I think you're right." He began to trot down the road towards the temple and the white statue that loomed over it. "The people were hiding, so they probably know that they'll get caught and transformed. What I don't understand is if the Shadow Beasts were in that town, why didn't they just break down the doors to get to the people like they did in Hyrule?"
"Hylians don't have protective spells, especially after your stupid king's magic purge. Twili do, so they can reinforce their buildings. I detected a bunch of spells cast on those houses." She paused, and since she was on his back, he couldn't see her face to figure out what she was thinking. "That Templar was odd. At first he was going to fight you, but when he saw me he stopped."
"He said something about 'the others'. Is it possible that there are other people cursed like you?"
"Entirely possible. I wasn't the only powerful mage here, after all." She floated up and off his back as he neared the wall surrounding the temple grounds, and hovered nearby once he came to a stop. "The fact that one of the Templars isn't working for Zant gives me some hope. We might have more allies here than I initially thought."
"Great, although we still have the problem of me becoming a wolf in the Twilight. Speaking of which...do we plan on being at this temple for a while, or will we be going back through the Twilight soon?" He wasn't about to ask the Master Sword to transform him back when he knew it had limited energy.
"This is the place where I thought we'd hunker down. We'll go back into the Twilight eventually, but I think it's best if you introduce yourself to the Sisters as a human." Midna landed next to him and hugged him around the neck with a sigh. "Just let me get in one more cuddle."
"We need to get you a dog. A dog that isn't me." He pushed her away with a paw. "Come on, Midna. Let me change back. You can do that just fine, right Sword?"
Affirmative, and may I add that your assumption that I have limited power and would eventually have difficulty transforming you back is correct. I suggest you refrain from becoming the wolf again unless you plan to remain that way for a while.
The Master Sword gave him no warning, and his body was suddenly filled with magical energy. Instead of the blast of sacred power coming towards him, it emanated from his body. The Master Sword was currently a part of him, and it used his body itself as a conduit for its power. Just as he had in the Sacred Grove, he felt a searing pain go through his body, and he grunted. The grunt was his human voice, and he realized that he was standing on two legs, not four. He looked down at his hands to briefly see that they and his arms were bare, and then they were clothed in his familiar outfit.
Purification complete. the Master Sword informed him.
"It made you naked to do that." Midna sounded amused. "It did the first time in the Sacred Grove, but I thought it was a one time thing."
Link sighed and put a hand to his face while trying not to turn red. "It's probably because I'm naked as the wolf, and my clothes and gear appear after I've transformed. They probably wouldn't fit my body if I was the wrong shape."
Affirmative.
"In any case, do we just walk in to this place? The gates are open." He dropped his hand and eyed the pair of gilded metal gates flung wide open in front of them. Beyond was the large black and white marble building.
"Of course. It's the Temple of the Sols, after all." She rubbed at one of her small arms uncomfortably. "Normally I'd hide in your shadow, but I can't do that here. I'm not quite sure why. I guess I need to be a big brave girl and tell the Sisters how I failed."
"Midna, you didn't fail. We're where we need to be." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Come on, I'm with you. You'll be okay."
She nodded ever so slightly. "I know, but...this is going to be very hard for me, all right? One of my friends is a Sister here, and she didn't see me as this little imp the last time I was here. I'm afraid of meeting her. I don't know what she'll say."
He had assumed that she had no friends in the Twilight Realm, but he was wrong. There had to be a reason why she felt so alone while she lived here." If she's your friend, then I'm sure she'll understand."
The cursed Twili squared her small shoulders and turned to face the building. "All right. We're doing this." She began to float through the gates, and Link followed her.
The Temple was actually part of a complex of buildings that had been hidden by the trees and high wall, and there was an abbey, a barn and a group of cucco coops. There were other buildings that were part of the interconnected complex, and the entire place was surrounded by what looked like apple and pear trees. That is, they were probably apple and pear trees, but their leaves were black and the apples were dark purple, while the pears glowed a soft golden color.
Beneath one of the trees closer to the gate was a gray-skinned woman in a white robe, and she was picking pears and dropping them in a basket half-full of the glowing fruit next to her on the ground. She was about as tall as a Gerudo with short, pointed ears, and her shaved head was covered with glowing white tattoos. When she heard his footfalls, she turned her head to see who was walking up the gravel path to the Temple proper, and then she froze.
Link waved at her politely. The poor young woman probably had no idea what Midna was, so he smiled at her when he waved. "Hello."
The Sister dropped the pear in her hand, shrieked in terror, and ran through the orchard and into one of the buildings.
"Your people are a friendly bunch." he quipped, not exactly sure why the woman had run away. He and Midna weren't that scary, were they?
"Normally they are, but I doubt she's ever seen a person with brown skin and blue eyes before." Midna said while staring in the direction the woman had fled.
He frowned and looked at his hands. "I'm not brown. I'm...pink? I honestly don't know what color my skin is, but it isn't brown." The Gerudo were brown. He was...whatever color a good portion of the Hylian population was.
"You're brown, Link. All Hylians are various shades of brown, it's just your shade of brown is really light and lets more of the red from your blood show through. It's not much different than how I'm gray, but my skin is so light it does the same." She sighed. "Well now the whole Temple is going to know you're here. If you thought the Gerudo got weird over your coloration, brace yourself for how the Twili are going to act."
"Greaaat." He sarcastically dragged out the word as he followed her into the Temple. At least the Twili weren't going to hit on him. He hoped not.
The inside of the Temple of the Sols had more of the same beautiful white marble with black accents, and a particular curling pattern of white lines lined the walls and shone on golden spheres that hovered about eight feet in the air. Brown-black wooden pews lined the middle aisle, and the wood was lacquered and polished until it shone. At the back wall was an altar with the same statue as outside, a female figure with her hands extended to her sides with the palms up, wearing a golden crown that mimicked the beams of the sun. Strangely enough, now that he saw a smaller statue of the goddess, something about it reminded him of the statues of Hylia. Instead of Sols, the statue had three carved glass spheres that had the same warm glow. While outside there was the violet gloom that was common in the Twilight Realm, in here there was warmth and light.
There were also two Twili women with shaved heads and black leather armor that they wore over their simple white vests and leggings, flanking the altar at the back of the room. When they saw a Hylian and a strange floating creature approach, they fluidly drew their long, curved swords.
"Woah. Hang on, ladies. I promise I'm not here to cause any trouble." He really did not want to fight these women, especially since this was their own temple and he was an outsider. "I know I look a bit weird, but I was told to come here." Never mind he was told to come here by the cursed woman floating next to him.
"We're here to see the Matron." Midna said in serious, formal tones. "Tell her that the Lady of Shadows has returned from the world of light."
The two female warriors stared at her with red-on-yellow eyes that were similar in size and shape to a Gerudo's. One of them continued to stay on guard, but the other lowered her narrow, curved sword. It reminded Link of a Sheikah weapon. "Is...is that the Fused Shadows?"
"It is, but I'm not returning it yet. Please, everything will be explained soon." Midna floated closer to the two women, not afraid of their swords. "We really do need to speak to the Matron if we're going to get anything done."
"I'm sorry, Lady of Shadows." The warrior sheathed her sword, although the other one was still wary and kept it drawn. "I had heard you came here two months past, but I knew nothing of your transformation. Are you truly Princess Midna? You look nothing like her."
"I know I can't prove it easily, but the Matron will recognize me. If it makes you feel any better, one of you can look tough and point your sword at us, and the other can go talk to her." Even though she was being formal and polite with these women, she still had to slip in a snide remark.
"I'll go." the woman who had sheathed her weapon said to her companion. "You can keep staring at the guy with the weird skin and consider whether you want to stick your blade in him or not."
"He has a sword too, a magical one. I know he's not very tall, but that sword is nothing to be sneezed at." said the cautious warrior. There it was. Midna had said that the Twili were a tall race, so he figured it was only a matter of time before one of them said something about his height.
The calmer of the two warriors shrugged lightly, and went through a doorway on the right that had a curtain of glass beads hanging from it. Midna watched her go and crossed her arms. "Have you ever seen the helmet of the Fused Shadows?" she asked the guard, who was beginning to look apprehensive.
"No. Mother did not permit most of us to see it, let alone go near it. I can sense the dark power from the helmet on your head, so I don't doubt that it's the Fused Shadows." Her red eyes darted back to Link and she examined him critically. "Do you serve the Lady of Shadows? You're obviously from the Light Realm."
"I don't serve her, and she doesn't serve me. We're friends and partners." He shrugged when the woman looked as if she didn't believe him. "Although she had kept the fact that she was a princess hidden from me until right before we got here. Up until then I knew she was a Twili sorceress that had the power to control the Fused Shadows." He looked at her stance and how she kept her sword drawn and ready. It was as if she was ready to strike at any second, even though he was fairly relaxed. "I'm pretty sure you don't need to cut me down."
"For a man facing a Bladedancer, you are awfully calm." she said.
"I have no idea what that is, and while I could tell that you're good with a sword just by how you drew it, I'm really not intimidated. This is a holy place, isn't it? You probably don't want to shed blood here, and are only acting defensively." That and he doubted this woman could beat him in a fight, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He gestured at the warrior's sword. "You can keep waving that thing at me if you want. I'm not going to tell you what to do in your own Temple."
The imp laughed at him. "You have no idea who you're talking to. She's one of the most skilled warriors in the Twilight Realm. There are only ten Bladedancers at any time, and it's a position earned by fighting prowess alone." She grinned at him, showing her fangs. "I think it would be fun to watch you fight her."
The Bladedancer perked a bright red eyebrow at her. "Fun? You must really be Princess Midna, if that's the kind of attitude you have. I'd turn him into a bloody smear in ten seconds, and I fail to see how fun that is."
"It would be fun because he'd knock you on your butt and take that legendary Bladedancer ego down a few pegs." She continued to grin and leaned on arm on his shoulder. "I've never seen anyone fight like this man before. Ever."
"Uh, Midna? Can we please not piss off the elite warrior that has a sword pointed at is?" As he said this, he heard the beaded curtain clack as it parted, and an older Twili entered with the other Bladedancer.
"Yes, can we not cause trouble, please? Stay your weapon, this is indeed Princess Midna." said that Matron, who had heard what Link had just said. She wasn't quite as tall as the other Twili, but was still close to six feet tall, and her white robe was adorned with glowing golden runes. The tattoos on her shaved head also glowed that same golden color, and her skin was a darker gray than the other Twili he had seen. Her eyes were gold instead of red as well, so it appeared that the range of eye colors for Twili were the same as they were for Gerudo. She appeared to be in her seventies, although he wasn't sure how quickly her race aged.
"Mother, I…" Midna bowed her head to the Matron. "I have only been partially successful. I had regained the entire Fused Shadows, but Zant nearly killed me and stole three of the fragments away."
The Matron's golden eyes stared at her, and then moved to Link. "And so you've brought a man of the light world here? Forgive me if I'm a bit off by the whole situation, but this is not the outcome I expected when I g—"
"Mother!" The deep, growling voice called from the entryway, and there were the slaps of bare feet on the polished stone floor as the speaker made his way up the aisle. It was the Templar that they had encountered before, although now his round steel mask and cloak were splatted with blood, and he kept his right arm tucked up against his narrow belly. "I have good news! I believe I saw the beast of legend!"
"Good goddess, what happened to you?" The Matron gawked at him, and then frowned. "I gave you a simple task. Why are you injured?"
"This isn't my blood, but they did break my arm. To be fair, I had to handle about twenty of them." the Templar said. Something about the way he spoke indicated that when he was still a man, he was fairly young.
"I doubt that." muttered the cautious Bladedancer, who had finally sheathed her sword.
"Excuse you…" the Templar began, sounding indignant.
"All right, hush. All of you." The Matron's voice was not loud, but everyone immediately fell into a respectful silence. She turned to the injured Templar. "As you can see, I have unusual guests that I must speak to, no matter what you believe you saw. Go to the infirmary and have Chime heal you."
"You're not going to let me ask about the funny-looking guy in green? Those really are green clothes, aren't they? Not enchanted?" the Templar asked.
"We will discuss it later. Go get patched up and wait there." The Matron shook a finger at him. "And let me remind you that you are in trouble, young man. Don't forget that. Now get going."
The Templar sighed and hung his masked head. "Yes, Mother." he said meekly, and then he slid between two pews to exit out a doorway to the left without another word.
"I have my own set of questions, after seeing that guy." Link said. "I don't mean to impose, but I don't suppose there's someplace more private where the three of us can talk, is there? I'd rather we have a decent conversation that isn't interrupted by Bladedancers or intelligent Shadow Beasts."
"That is probably wise, yes." The Matron turned back to the beaded curtain and made a beckoning motion with one hand. "If you'll come with me, please."
"Mother, is that a good idea?" the uppity Bladedancer asked, crossing her arms. "He has a magic sword and moves like a warrior."
"And? He also has Princess Midna with him. I assure you, I'll be perfectly fine." The Matron began to walk through the curtain, and Link had to hurry to catch up to her. As he went by the cranky Bladedancer, she shot him an unfriendly look, but he didn't dignify her with any response. If the Bladedancers had huge egos like Midna said, there would be no point in arguing with them.
The hallway they went down was half dark stone, half white wood. Black and white seemed to be the most common colors that Twili used. The Matron did not slow, and walked down the hall with her hands folded inside the glowing sleeves of her white robe. "Midna, did you taunt the Bladedancers?"
While he lagged behind a few steps, the imp had caught up to her. "Only the one, Mother. She was kind of a jerk."
The Priestess shook her head. "Be that as it may, you are royalty and far above them, no matter how prestigious their order is. Remember that you are an adult, and you must conduct yourself like one." It was strange to hear Midna be put in her place by someone else like that. Normally she answered to no one.
"I get that, but they have egos the size of the moon. Warriors shouldn't be fully of themselves like that. It isn't respectable." She glanced over her shoulder at Link. "I only wished out loud that my friend here could beat her up. He's probably the only person skilled enough to defeat a Bladedancer."
"That's her idea, not mine." He needed to make that clear, since he didn't want to be in trouble too. "I didn't come to the Twilight Realm to cause trouble."
"I thought that was the exact reason why we were here." Midna put a hand to her mouth and tittered. "Although who we're causing trouble for may vary."
"Goddess preserve me." the Matron muttered to herself. From the woman's attitude, she had been dealing with Midna for a while. She walked directly at a shut metal door, and the door briefly flashed with golden runes before sliding open with a hiss. Without slowing, the Matron walked through the open doorway and into what appeared to be an office. Midna followed while looking unconcerned, but Link looked at the doorway around him curiously as he passed through it.
"Is this magic or technology?" he asked. The door shut behind him, and he whirled around to stare at it. Feeling a bit foolish, he turned back to face the Matron.
"Yes." the head priestess said, gesturing to one of the two padded velour chairs that sat in front of a desk made of a reddish-brown wood. The fact that it had actual color made it seem all the more luxurious. "Sit." she commanded, rather than asking. "Young man, I'm not sure how Light Realm magic works or what your etiquette about it is, but here we do not use emotion-altering glamours. It is a felony. I would appreciate you turning it off, lest you get hauled off to a gaol by one of the Bladedancers."
Link stopped staring at the black cushioned chair, which he was completely unable to sit on in any way with his sword strapped to his back, and gave the Matron a quizzical look. "Excuse me? I'm not using any spells."
"He isn't, Mother. If he was using something like that, I would have noticed." Midna said as she sat on one of the chairs.
"Your power is diminished due to your cursed form, and he is using something similar to light magic. Light magic was never your forte, but apparently it is his. In fact, I would hazard a guess that he's descended from a god or goddess and has retained some of their sacred power." She shrewdly fixed her golden eyes on him. "Does that perhaps mean that you really don't know that you're doing it?"
Link stood there with his mouth slightly open and stared blankly at nothing as it suddenly occurred to him what the Matron was talking about. Courage augmented his abilities, and Midna has already said that he was charismatic. What if the reason people liked him easily and were willing to listen to him was due to Courage? That it somehow affected how people perceived him?
"From your expression, I will assume that yes, you really have no idea." The Matron went to a sideboard nestled between bookshelves. "I told you to sit down. I certainly can't talk to you if you're standing the entire time."
"I'm sorry, but I can't sit on these chairs. My scabbard is too long." he told her. His mind was still ruminating on Courage giving him added charisma.
"Then remove your sword. I promise you, no one will steal a god-forged weapon like that one. Not from this place." She stopped what she was doing and turned towards him with a gold-rimmed glass in her hand, and her expression softened. "It's fine. I understand that everything is very different here, and you must be overwhelmed. You are safe within these walls, and the false king cannot come here."
Link set aside his shield and began to unbuckle his baldric. "I'm not worried about Zant. In fact I came here to kill him."
The Matron briefly halted in the middle of pouring something. "Now I really am going to need this drink. I know Midna cannot have any, but do you like pear wine?"
"I've never had pear wine. Does it glow like the pears do?" He set the Master Sword next to where he had set his bow, quiver and shield, and finally sat on the soft chair.
She turned her shaved head towards him with a mildly amused expression. "Of course it doesn't. Pears only glow a day or so after they've been picked. Yet you wouldn't know that. I assume that pears do not glow in the Light Realm?"
"No, they don't. In fact none of our plants do, other than a few kinds of moss and fungus." He accepted the glass of pale wine that the Matron handed him. "Thank you."
"At least you have manners. You have a little bit of lip to you, just like Midna does, but from what I've seen so far you're also polite." She moved around the polished desk to a leather chair behind it and sat down, glass of wine in her hand. "I can forgive your inadvertent glamour, even though it doesn't work on me. I have wards against that kind of thing. If I knew exactly what you were doing, I'd tell you how to stop."
"I figured out what I'm doing, but I don't know how to knock it off, either." He frowned into the glass of wine, and considered how to proceed. "Mother, what do you know of the Triforce?"
"I know it's the power left behind by the three goddesses that caused our ancestors to be sent to this godsforsaken place nearly two thousand years ago. That isn't common knowledge here, and in fact I'm one of a handful of people who know about the Sacred Realm and the golden power that rests there." She sipped at her wine. "Does the Triforce have something to do with your magic?"
"I would hope so. The fragment of Courage has stuck itself to my soul." He held up his hand with the back of it turned towards her and made the triangles softly glow. "This is the one with Farore's power, and it doesn't directly give me any abilities, only enhances the ones I already have."
The Matron was nonplussed as she looked at his glowing hand. Living in a world full of magic, she wasn't awed in the least. "Ah, and since you're a handsome young man, it makes you seem more appealing to others via the glamour. People respond more positively to attractive people, you know. It's one of the reasons people like Midna...at least until she opens her mouth."
"You nag me about being rude, but then you say things like that." the princess said grumpily.
"I've earned the right to be rude, young lady. Maybe after another fifty years, you will too." She set down her glass on the glossy surface of the desk in front of her, and smiled pleasantly at Link. "We both have questions—um...by the way, what is your name? I don't want to keep calling you 'young man'."
He peered at her over the rim of his glass as he took a sip of wine, and lowered it. "Link."
She continued to smile at him. "Link. We both have our questions, but unless you're the avatar of a god like I am, I believe mine should come first."
He burst out laughing, half-choking on his wine. After thumping his chest and coughing a bit, he explained himself. "I'm sorry, but I've been appointed by the gods in my world to save it. And now, to save yours as well. I'm the Hero of Hyrule."
The Matron's smile had turned into a scowl when he began laughing, but now she furrowed her brow in thought and stared at him as if she was finally realizing something. "Hmm. That would explain a few things. I guess you are like an avatar for your gods, but I'd still like to know why Midna came back scratched up, empty-handed and with you instead."
"Oh, boy. How much time do you have? Because the two of us have been working together for over a month now." It would take quite a bit of time for him to explain everything at this point.
"Try to give me an abridged version. While I don't need to lead any prayers until sunset, I'm still a busy woman." She waved a hand at him and leaned back in her chair. "Go on, tell me your tale."
And thus he retold his story yet again, leaving out small details but explaining important ones thoroughly. Midna told parts of the story, although not as much as usual. She seemed subdued, or perhaps less willing to talk to the woman that kept nagging her. The Matron drank her wine and listened to the two of them without saying anything. Her expression didn't change...until the subject of Ganondorf came up. Then she looked grim, and continued to do so as he told her of the fall of Castle Town. She let him finish his tale, and once he was done the older woman sat up straight and folded her dark gray hands on the desk in front of her.
"I'm not sure if you two are the luckiest for how things turned out, or the unluckiest. So many times things went wrong, yet you somehow found ways to recover. And now you're here, in my office, talking to the one woman that Zant is afraid of...that isn't Princess Midna, that is." the Matron said. "You were wise to come back here, princess. This will be a safe place for you to remain until you can figure out how to get to Zant, who of course is in the Palace of Twilight in the middle in the biggest patch of Twilight. Since Link gets turned into a wolf every time he sets foot in that horrible mix of sacred and dark magic, you'll need to figure out a way to banish it."
That got his attention. "Sacred and dark magic? It's just dark magic. If it was sacred, it wouldn't have trapped people as spirits."
The head priestess shrugged. "I can't say why it's sacred magic mixed with dark magic, but it is. It's as if the magic of a god and the magic of a demon got blended together somehow. Not that it actually matters, only what it can do is the important part."
"Great. Well right now I don't have any ideas of how to get to Zant, at least not yet. While I can get there as a wolf, I really don't want to fight him in that form. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm much better in a fight as a human." He leaned forward and carefully set his empty glass on the desk. "Can I ask you some questions now?"
The Matron nodded at him. As gruff and abrupt as she seemed, she wasn't unkind. "Of course. I know you must have so many, being from an entirely different realm."
"If Zant is afraid of you, why haven't you gone and fought him? If you're an avatar of a goddess, you should have a considerable amount of magic." It was something that was bothering him ever since she mentioned it.
"The Sisters of the Sols take a vow of nonviolence when we join the order, with the Bladedancers as the only exception. I'm a pacifist. Yes, I do have considerable magic, but it may only be used to defend myself. Not only that, but generally we Twili do not use magic against one another. We prefer to use our magic cooperatively, and have people with different talents work together to achieve a goal." Her gold eyes moved to Midna. "Did you tell him that?"
"No. I told him very little." She had her small hands folded in her lap, and had refrained from making jokes while sitting in the Matron's office. "I told him my parents are dead, like his. I have a frightening power that I don't like to use, like he does. I did tell him that we have the same things here as they have in the light world, but not how extensively we use magic for things. I didn't want to say anything that would clue him in to me being the princess."
"Well, it worked. I thought you were the Twilight Realm's version of me." He raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You could have told me the truth, you know. I didn't blame Zelda for what happened back home, and I wouldn't blame you for what happened here."
Midna stared at the desk in front of her without really seeing it. "I didn't want to burden you with my problems, especially since you had so many of your own to deal with."
He sighed at her. "You do realize that friends are supposed to help each other through difficult times, right? Don't you remember all those discussions you had with me when I was being a bonehead, and you kept telling me that my friends were there for me? Why would that apply to me, and not to you?"
There was a slight bit of color in her pale cheeks, and she looked ashamed. She didn't say anything, so the Matron spoke instead. "It is good that you feel responsible for the problems of your people, but it is not good that you feel guilty. There's a difference. You fell victim to Zant's takeover just like everyone else, and what happened was out of your control."
Midna raised her face and glared at her. "I know I could have fought him. I could have killed him and I didn't, because I had never killed anyone before. I didn't want to kill anyone, not even a bastard like him."
"Please watch your language. It's not very ladylike." The priestess gestured towards him. "You ought to listen to your friend. While the fact that you kept things hidden from him is in the past, you should rely on your friends the next time you run into a difficult problem, just like he said. His words are wise for someone so young." She looked at him. "How old are you?"
"I turned eighteen about a month ago."
"He's younger than you by nearly two years, yet he gets it. Although wisdom is not assigned an age, but I digress." She smiled kindly at Midna, no longer gruff and impatient. "I would be lying if I said that you were a popular princess before your father's murder. Now your people mourn you, and think you're dead. Zant told the Templars and the knights that he killed you." Her expression briefly changed as she considered something, and then she looked over at Link. "While I'm happy that our princess is returned and would like to continue to speak to her, I have other matters to consider. Do you have any more questions?"
He nodded. "Yeah. What happened to the third Sol on the statue? I can tell there's supposed to be three, after seeing the smaller statue inside."
"Observant, aren't you? Zant happened to the third Sol. He tried to destroy them, but now knowing that it's Ganondorf's power he was using, there is no way he could destroy a relic made by Solaria." She made a sweeping motion with her hand to mimic something moving by quickly. "So he used his power to knock it off the island. Punted it like a leather ball kicked down a road. It's in the salt marshes now, and we don't have a teleporter on this island that goes down to the surface. I don't care go there myself even though I have the ability, since there's a demon that roams the Inner Sea and its marshes."
"We can go get it." Midna offered. "He may have to run there as a wolf, but I can get him to one of the locked teleporters in the city and go down there. It's a Sol, so we'll see it from a distance, even if it fell in the water." She turned her head and looked at him with her red on yellow eye. "If we get that third Sol, the Twilight will be gone from this island. Then the people will be free to leave their homes and take sanctuary here."
"Actually, I was going to ask you if getting the Sols back to their rightful spots was our next course of action, after you mentioned that the one brought back to the Temple of the Portal banished the Twilight there." He eyed the empty wine glass, not necessarily wanting more wine, but just an ordinary drink of water. Midna had much of his gear stowed away and he had only wore his weapons, so he couldn't get to his waterskin at the moment. "I'm not afraid of a demon. Okay...I'm a bit afraid of a demon, but the Master Sword told me something about one of my predecessors killing one. If he could do it, I can do it."
"Once I'm able to go say hello to my friend that's a Sister here, I'll be good to go lift some Twilight with you." The imp smirked. "This time, you can actually talk to me about my home."
"This time, you won't be a cranky snot, either." That got a laugh out of the Mother. "Okay, one more question before we leave you alone. Why do you have an intelligent Shadow Beast working with you? What's his story?"
The head priestess rose from her dark leather chair. "Why indeed? I believe I should bring you to him. I'm sure the idiot's abused Chime's sweet nature and is healed by now. Put your weapons back on and we'll go."
The complex of buildings on the Temple grounds was larger than he initially thought. They extended past and surrounded the feet of the massive statue, with each white-stoned building connected by covered walkways. Some of the buildings were made of black wood, and unlike the other Twili buildings he had seen, these did not have colored lines adorning them.
The Matron explained what each building was. The wooden ones in the back were for novices and students that came to study light magic. That set of buildings included their own dormitories, kitchen and cafeteria, bath house, and the small academy itself. The stone buildings were for the Sisters of the Sols themselves and housed similar things, with the addition of spaces where the Sisters made wine, cheese, vinegar, preserves and bread. These they sold to the nearby community, as well as visitors who made the pilgrimage to the large statue of Solaria.
Solaria was believed to the the goddess' true name, but the Twili generally did not call her by that since names can have power. There were many gods in the Shadow Realm, as well as many demons, and most of them did not deign to share their names with the lowly humans on their remote cluster of islands. In fact the gods and the demons were too busy fighting one another and ruining the world around them, and could care less about the humans or other races that lived there. Solaria was different, however.
"Solaria is one of the few that has shown us kindness. She does not mind our worship, since our prayers help increase her power." the Matron said as she walked with them across a long covered walkway that was bordered on one side with a pond. There were black and white ducks paddling around on that pond, behaving much like ducks from Hyrule. Her voice grew quiet. "The goddess speaks to me at times, and tells me of how this world once was. It was not its own world, and was in fact part of the one you came from. When the goddesses of creation made your land, they created two worlds to offset the original, two realms that were steeped in light and shadow. We call your world the Light Realm, but it's really the main world that this one is a reflection of."
She was silent as a pair of wide-eyed sisters walked by and nervously stared at the Hylian, and once they had left the pair behind, she continued. "It was done in balance, although whether the goddesses of creation made the Shadow Realm and Sacred Realm on purpose is up for debate. Even though this is supposed to be the world of darkness, it was not intended to be a half-dead world without stars in the sky and a sun that can't pierce the purple mist above. It was beautiful and very much like the Light World and the Sacred Realm, but then the demon tribe found it. And well...you can see how it is."
Link had wondered if the Twilight Realm was another version of Hyrule or not, just like the Sacred Realm was. It wasn't anything he could have asked Ooccoo or the Sages about, since he doubted they knew. The fact that there was at least one portal that he knew of to the Twilight Realm and the Sacred Realm meant that the goddesses had plans to move between the three versions of the world they had created.
"You never taught me any of that." Midna said, sounding a bit sullen about it. "The fact that there are three copies of the same world is a big deal."
"It is, but it isn't information you needed to know. I'm only telling you now since things have changed, and you've been to all three realms." She made a dismissive gesture with her dark-skinned hand. "It doesn't matter. Solaria wants this world to return to the way it was, but who knows when that'll happen." They reached a door at the end of the walkway and the Matron didn't hesitate to enter.
The infirmary was what he expected. It was a long, clean room with beds lining the walls on either side, and white curtains that separated those beds. Since most of the curtains were drawn, it was hard to see who was in those. As they walked down the center aisle, he could see that only some of the beds were occupied...but they weren't occupied by people. Or more specifically, they were not occupied by creatures that were still human.
They weren't quite Shadow Beasts. Much like Midna, they had different shades of gray skin with the same black mottled patterns on their naked bodies, bodies that were sexless and only human-shaped. Some of them had elongated limbs, others were small with large heads. A few had thorns protruding from their bodies, but unlike Midna they did not have glowing runes. And unlike Midna, they did not have visible faces. Instead they had small stone masks where their faces would be.
"Mother, what happened to these people?" the princess asked, sounding horrified. "They're…" She couldn't formulate a proper sentence due to her shock. "They look like a cross between me and a Shadow Beast."
"They've been brought here by our Templar friend, one by one. He risks himself to bring them here, so they don't have to suffer alone. They were people in the palace that Zant transformed into what you see. I couldn't tell the Sisters here what I suspected was the truth, that you were probably the first he attempted to transform, and you wound up as you are. These other people did not fare as well." The Matron shook her bald head sadly. "We believe he didn't get the transformation spell correct right away. They're Zant's Shadow Beast prototypes."
Midna had stopped to stare at one of the poor souls that lay in a bed. There was no sign that it was breathing, just how Shadow Beasts didn't appear to breathe. It had a vaguely female shape with long arms that ended in claws, and the only way to tell that it was alive was how it shifted weakly in its bed.
The imp trembled with fury and clenched her fists at her sides. "This is unforgivable. Look at what he's done to them."
Link came to stand next to her and kindly put a hand to her back. "I know. It's another one of Zant's sins to add to the list. We're going to fix this." He still didn't know how, but he would do whatever he could to return both the Twili and the Hylians to their normal forms.
The partially-transformed woman shifted again and lifted her head to face the stone mask towards them. She let out an unearthly, tortured moan and sat up to reach one of her clawed hands out towards the two people who stood at the foot of her bed. Midna shied back in a mix of anger and horror, but Link didn't move. He knew that this poor woman wouldn't harm them, even though the sounds she was making made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
The Matron went right to the woman's bedside, and raised a hand to cast a spell. Faint motes of white light rose from around her feet, and the transformed woman's body shimmered before she fell back to the bed with a groan. "It's all right. Rest now." Once the poor creature stilled, the Matron patted her warped hand kindly. "This is all we can do for them. They can't eat or sleep, and can't talk. I cast something to render her unconscious for a while, since that's the one thing we can do to help alleviate their suffering."
Midna hugged her arms around herself as she watched. "At least I can walk and talk, even if I can't eat or sleep. These people can't even manage to do that, and are trapped in their bodies, unable to communicate." She shuddered. "And to think, I thought I had it bad. It was selfish of me to think so."
"It isn't a contest." he told her, and the little Twili moved to huddle up against his side. He put an arm around her. "What happened to you and what happened to them is horrible. The only difference is you can actually do something about it, and I know you're going to do everything in your power to help your people."
The head priestess folded her hands inside the runed sleeves of her white robe and thoughtfully watched Midna's reaction. "This is different. You never would have gone to one of your friends for comfort a year ago."
"A year ago, I wasn't allowed to. As much as I wanted to spend time with Chime, I was told that I needed to conduct myself properly. And well...I had to basically ignore Jannis due to our relative positions. My father isn't interfering with my friendship with Link, so this is who I really am. I'm not different, Mother. I'm finally able to be myself." She sighed and patted his chest. "This guy gives the best hugs, too. It's kind of his thing back in Hyrule, when he isn't fighting."
"I'm honored and humbled that you enjoy my hugs." Link said blandly.
The princess gave a short, breathy laugh that was half a snort, and moved away from him. "Mother, where is Chime? After seeing these people, I realize she probably won't be as shocked to see me as I initially thought."
"If she was in this room, she would have come out once she heard my voice. I believe she must be in one of the private rooms with the Templar...who I really do want to properly introduce to you." She gestured for them to follow and started to walk down the aisle again.
The older woman led them into a hallway that was at the end of the main room of the infirmary, a hall that had four doorways. All of them were open, but one on the left had soft voices coming from it. The words of the two speakers became clearer as they approached.
"It's the least I can do." came a low, growling voice. "You keep taking care of me when I'm stupid. I'm supposed to take of my own self, whether I'm stupid or not."
"But you can't drink it. It doesn't feel fair to me." said a second voice, one that was high-pitched, girlish and a bit on the mousy side. The three of them came into the room just after she spoke, and the young priestess raised her beautiful orange eyes to watch them as they entered. She and the Templar were seated at a small table in a room that had an empty bed. The Templar had his back to the group and was holding a glazed white teapot in a long-fingered hand, and was pushing forward a teacup and saucer with the other. When he saw his companion's reaction, he twisted around in his chair to turn his masked head towards them.
"Oh. Hello again, Mother." he said, looking comically large in the chair. "Would you like some tea? I'm not doing it to get out of trouble, honest." He paused while looking in their direction, although it was difficult to tell exactly where he was looking. Then he slowly set down the teapot and pointed at Midna. "You! You're the woman I saw with the wolf earlier. Where's…" He trailed of and moved his hand to point at Link. Even though he had no facial expression, his body language spoke of his confusion.
"I can practically hear the gears in your head spinning." Link said, and then instantly regretting poking fun at the Templar. He probably shouldn't act so familiar with the Twili when he was a stranger in their lands.
The Templar got up and hunkered down on all fours to be on the level with the Hylian. "I can see it now. I had never seen blue eyes before, but then again I've never seen a green wolf either. That wolf had blue human eyes in a doggy face, and I didn't notice that your human form had them back in the chapel earlier today. I don't know where you're from to have hair or eyes that color, but you're a shapeshifter, aren't you?"
He crossed his arms and smirked at the hulking Shadow Beast. "Something like that. I thought you were like one of the other Templars, and when you raised your sword, you weren't doing yourself any favors."
"Sorry about that. I don't normally attack animals, but I had my reasons at the time. But you…" The Templar's masked head moved up and down slightly as he looked Link over. "I think I know what you are."
"If you're thinking of the legend, then yes...this young man is indeed that hero. He's from the Light Realm, but he's come to ours with the help of his companion." The Matron took Midna by her small hand and led her over to the Templar. "However I don't want to introduce him quite yet. Instead I thought a little reunion is in order." She smiled at Chime, but then fixed her eyes on the metal mask of the Shadow Beast. "While Chime hasn't changed, you two have. I doubt you recognize each other. Let me put it bluntly: this Templar is actually Sir Jannis, and this little creature is Princess Midna."
Midna's single visible eye grew wide in shock and she put a hand to her mouth as she stared at the Shadow Beast, but she didn't say anything. However, Jannis took a step towards her and slowly raised a shaking hand to gently touch at the imp's scratched face with one dark, leathery finger. "No…" he said, sounding distraught. "I had hoped you were alive, but not like this." He shook his head. "I searched since your body was never found, and I had started to hope once Mother told me she had seen you alive…"
Jannis let out a low, anguished sound and collapsed in front of Midna, kneeling on the floor while he put his long-fingered hands over his shining steel mask. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Midna. I did my best but I failed." he said in a trembling voice, and even though he couldn't shed tears, he let out a low sob. "Even though I did everything I could, I still failed you as your knight."
