Disclaimer: Oh, disclaimers. I don't own it, kids!
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Here is the key that will make it all right.
Here is the comfort, here is the womb
Here is the door sealing your tomb.
Here is the magic, here is the pain
Here is the heart to make it better again.
Here is the madness, here is the sorrow
Here is the villain taking away tomorrow.
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Just a moment had passed when Rhia called in, "Hey, Link! Found the incarnation of evil yet?"
He came back out, coughing. "There's—" His voice broke off as he coughed the smoke from his lungs. "Somebody's burning incense in there! The floor is covered in little incense burners!"
Rhia and Rowrun looked into the room, but couldn't see past the curling smoke. As the smoke wafted out towards them, they suddenly smelled it. "Oh, for the sake of—" Rowrun began coughing. "What is that? It smells disgusting!"
Rhia held her fingers under her nose, trying to push away the smell of the smoke. "Maybe that's the incarnation of pure evil?"
"Who's burning incense?" Link wanted to know, whispering forgotten by this point. "The Tourney's been under the shadow for weeks! Who's been in here?"
"Let's not try to figure out on our own," Rhia said. "Let's go wait for the others." They started back the way they'd come. Link, on an afterthought, turned and shut the door to the clouded room.
They weren't waiting long when Andre, Lindsay, Zelda, and Zyuiu came towards them. Lindsay and Andre were holding Zyuiu's arms, guiding her, as she stared into nothing. Zelda was walking behind them, holding her hands up as torches. Link's group took one look at the other group and Rowrun said, "You first."
Zelda crushed the flames in her hands and bit her lip. "We didn't exactly find anything," she said. She told the other three what had happened to Zyuiu. "So we came up here because we didn't want to go into that, not without all the power we could get."
"We should have gone first," Rhia said to Rowrun. "We can't top that." And she turned to the other group to explain what they had found.
"A room full of burning incense?" Lindsay asked when the archmage had finished. Rhia nodded.
"What are we up against?" Andre wondered aloud.
"The incarnation of pure evil!" Rowrun said cheerfully.
"I think we should go back down and try to find out what attacked Zyuiu," Zelda said.
"Too dark," Zyuiu breathed in response. She was clutching one dry, bloody hand in the other, refusing to let Zelda bind them. "Much too dark."
"We'll have much more light this time," Zelda said in an automatic, soothing voice. "And the sooner we find what did that to you, the sooner you can beat it into a pulp."
Zyuiu considered and gave a shudder, but nodded. "Fair enough."
Andre and Zelda led the way down to the arena. Lindsay and Rhia stood next to Zyuiu, holding her shoulders whenever her shudders grew violent. They reached the arena amid hushed gasps from Rhia, Rowrun, and Link, who had never seen the labyrinth this way. As they made their way through newly settled dust, Lindsay sneezed and everyone, save Lindsay and Zyuiu, drew their weapons and jumped backwards.
"Sorry," Lindsay said with a sniff.
Rhia, looking traumatized, held a finger up. "I vote we whisper from now on," she whispered to her friends. "Because if we thought the incarnation of evil was upstairs, I don't even want to think about what's down here."
Zyuiu smirked even as she clutched her bloody hand. "I told you it was too dark down here."
A circle of light was cast around them as torches flared. "So far, we're not dead," Rowrun remarked absently as they advanced towards the heavy darkness. "I am taking this as a very good sign."
"Rowrun," Lindsay said with infinite patience and love. "Shut up." He bobbed his head in acknowledgement.
"This is where I was," Zyuiu said after a moment.
"What did you see before?" Link asked her. She shifted uncomfortably, staring around the circle of light before responding.
"The darkness was bright," she said finally. "But it was still in shadow. And then—she was there."
"Who was there?" Rhia asked.
Zyuiu rubbed her cracked hands. "She's dead."
Rowrun made a noise that might have been 'fwibble,' but, then again, it might not have been. "He understands!" Andre said excitedly. Rowrun made the noise again.
"You…you didn't see…your sister, did you? In there?" Rowrun looked into the shadows.
Zyuiu curled her hands against her chest like an old doll. "She was there," she insisted to no one in particular. "She grabbed my hands and I screamed and she was there!" She started to move towards the darkness, but strong hands caught her and held her back until the rest of the group moved forward as well. "We stay together," Link said sharply.
Long moments of probing the shadows turned up nothing. Irritated, Lindsay pushed her hair from her eyes and muttered, "We are getting nowhere!"
"Maybe we should go upstairs," Andre said. "Maybe we'll find an answer up there."
"It's definitely no worse than down here!" Rhia said with a smile as she was pulled towards the exit by a more than willing Zyuiu. The rest followed them up, and up again to the dormitories.
Cocking her head to one side, Zelda considered the heavy, curling smoke. "I can't help but think that so far, this has all been a big, dangerous waste of our time. We haven't found anything, Zyuiu has been attacked, and straying too close to the walls could turn us insane."
"Are you saying we give up?" Lindsay demanded incredulously.
Zelda shrugged. "No, not yet, anyway. If we can't find anything in this blasted room but incense, then yes, that's what I'm saying. All I'm saying right now is that the King is probably having a good laugh at us."
"Oh, he is," Andre said offhandedly. "In between worrying his beard grey, anyway."
"Fret fret fret," Rowrun said with a grin.
"Oh bother," Andre continued.
"Children these days, blah blah blah blah."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha."
"Fret fret fret."
When the two were finished, they found the rest of the group staring at them with expressions ranging from astonished to a bit worried. "Rowrun, love," Lindsay said sweetly, putting her hand on his arm. "You're a bit off your rocker, you know that?" He nodded proudly.
"If you two are done," Link said dryly. "Maybe we should open the door now?" Rowrun jumped backwards and Rhia casually looked away, scratching her cheek. Zelda, Andre, and Lindsay looked at Link expectantly. Zyuiu looked at the ground despondently. Link winced and grumbled to himself. "Sure, make the hero do all the work." He raised his voice as he opened the door. "Well, I don't want to die either, you know?"
"Hush, darling," Zelda said, stepping into the room. After a moment, only Zyuiu was left standing in the hallway.
"Zyuiu?" Rhia called over her shoulder. "Are you coming in?"
Zyuiu was concentrating on the curling smoke. She didn't seem to hear Rhia as she walked slowly into the room, staring down around her ankles at the thick, pungent smoke lingering there. Her companions were carefully examining the incense burners and the walls, careful not to touch any of the darkness.
Only Zyuiu noticed it, at first. The shadows on the wall were not shadows at all—this room was untouched by the evil that had consumed the rest of the Tourney. Rather, these shadows were of the same coiling smoke that hovered through the rest of the room. "Show yourself," Zyuiu said in a low voice. The rest looked over their shoulders at Zyuiu, standing in the center of the room with a upended brazier at her feet. "I can feel you in here! Show yourself." The smoke coming from the overturned brazier was climbing quickly up Zyuiu's legs. Reaching her upper thighs, the smoke pulled away from her body and began forming into the shape of a body. The smoke from the rest of the room was being pulled into the center, aiding in the creation of the grotesque thing. "Show yourself, Ymota U," Zyuiu whispered.
Bright red eyes suddenly winked into existence in the smoke-thing's face and a hole split open for rasping laughter to pour out. "Hello, Zyuiu," it said. "Did I scare you down there?" Zyuiu did not respond.
"What are you?" Link demanded.
"Oh my, ever the curt one, I see." As more and more smoke was added to the figure, the voice became clearer and the details smoother. A smoky Ymota U was indeed standing before them. "Hello, friends."
"You are not our friend," Rhia said adamantly.
Ymota U grinned. "No, I never did like most of you," she admitted. "What's wrong, heroes? Stuck for an answer? Shadow confusing you?"
"Ymota U," Zelda said in a strong, angry voice that she rarely used. "Tell us just what, by the goddesses, is going on here."
"Would if I could," Ymota U said with a rueful smile. "But I can't. Not by the goddesses, you see, not by a long shot."
"Ymota U," Zyuiu said in a tremulous voice.
The phantasm smiled in a sweet, sisterly manner. "I didn't really mean to hurt you, Zyuiu. I was just trying to say hello." When there was no response, Ymota U sighed. "I'm not evil anymore," she said. "Once past the world, such convictions as good or evil disappear. A spirit only is."
"Ymota U, you always were evil and you always will be," Zyuiu hissed.
Yet another smile crossed Ymota U's dark face. "Not evil, not now. Not evil, so much as…" She glanced around the room. "As intrigued, let's say. This…what are you calling it? The shadow?" The companions all nodded abruptly, so Ymota U continued. "This shadow is a portal of immense power. It is the gateway to dimensions unimaginable—dimensions that make the Sacred Realm look like Lon Lon Ranch. The shadow itself is a vaguely sentient being, but it works on puppet strings."
"Who pulls the strings?" Rhia wondered aloud.
Ymota U shrugged. " I haven't been able to figure that out yet."
"Do you know the shadow's—its master's purpose?" Zelda asked.
"Well, yes and no." Met by stern glares, Ymota U rolled red eyes and snapped exasperatedly, "I know what the shadow is doing here. What I don't know is what its master wants, all right?"
"By the goddesses, Ymota U!" Link growled. "What does it want, then?"
"You," she said coquettishly. With a snort, she added, "All of you. The shadow is darkness in its purest form, no matter how it may look to you now. There's certainly more coming to add to its strength. But darkness needs something to exist." Her eyes fell to the dull symbol on Zelda's hand. "The darkness must feed on the light."
"And we're the light?" Rowrun scoffed.
"You're heroes," Ymota U cooed. "You're the epitome of light. You are paragons of virtue, epic defenders of sanctity. Never mind that the golden light of the goddesses shines from your Princess and blonde Hero boy over here."
Link was aware of eyes suddenly staring at him, but Zelda's eyes had gone wide as she became lost within her mind.
Every light has its shadows; every golden dream its darkness.
Ymota U laughed unpleasantly. "I think the Princess knows what I mean." Zelda flushed furiously as she came back into focus. She stared evenly at the shadow of her former enemy. "Show us where this shadow is coming from."
"The lair of the Ksam-Rorrim," Ymota U said fondly. "I would, but you'll all be wanting your bloody torches. I can't go where there are no more shadows. That's all I am, you see?" Her gaze cut to Zyuiu and a horrible smile covered her lips. "Zyuiu, love, would you mind doing me a favor?" Before anyone could make a move, the form of Ymota U dissipated into shadow once more and immediately twined around Zyuiu. The others were knocked back to the shadowless walls while Zyuiu's cries were cut short.
"Interesting."
A body stood before them all, not Zyuiu's nor Ymota U's. The blue eyes had turned a vivid green, and the short blonde hair was rapidly growing darker and longer. The lips were curled into a vicious smile, and smoke curled and twined around Zyuiu's lithe body.
"Very interesting indeed," said Ymota U in Zyuiu's voice, from Zyuiu's lips. "Follow me, heroes. But let me warn you—the closer you get to the Ksam-Rorrim, the more you will find that torches will not avail you. It is a darkness that consumes everything, and be careful. It longs to consume you as well." She glided serenely out of the room. As she passed, Rhia noticed that any skin of Zyuiu's not hidden under the smoke was dry, cracked—and bleeding, like her hands.
The companions followed Ymota U sullenly, none of them speaking. By some cruel twist of fate, Rhia found herself walking next to Ymota U. She'd groaned inwardly upon falling into place beside the semi-dead sorceress, but had kept her place, not wanting the others to think of her as immature. She didn't know that Zelda and Lindsay were watching her worriedly, prepared to tackle Zyuiu's body to protect Rhia.
But despite her abject hatred for the thing twining itself into Zyuiu, Rhia felt a strange need to keep up with her. Ymota U was several paces ahead of the rest, and Rhia was right there with her. Rhia knew that any low conversations would not reach the others.
"What was interesting?" the young mage asked.
Ymota U looked down Zyuiu's nose at Rhia. Rhia drew back for a moment, causing Lindsay and Zelda to jump a bit. Seeing Zyuiu staring at her in such a disdainful way was unsettling, even though the eyes and hair were no longer Zyuiu's. She could see a vague amusement in the green eyes before Ymota U responded with a noncommittal, "Come again?"
"When you took over Zyuiu," Rhia urged, struggling to keep her voice casual. Yes, a spirit from beyond the grave had possessed one of her best friends, and yes, that spirit had been one of Rhia's greatest enemies, but goddesses damn if she wasn't an archmage! She would keep her voice calm. "You said that something was interesting. What was so interesting to you?"
Ymota U laughed a bit to herself, a feral grin on her face as she looked ahead. "Oh, that," she said dismissively. "Just Zyuiu's thoughts as I entered her mind were… interesting."
Rhia's turned her face sharply to stare up at Ymota U, horrified and entirely curious. "What do you mean? You heard her thoughts?"
"Hearing them, actually," Ymota U corrected. She did not seem to be taking much interest in the conversation. "Oh dear, but she's not happy."
"You'll leave her as soon as you've shown us where to go?" Rhia demanded.
Zyuiu's lips played into a smirk. "Of course, my little mage," she said in a voice that left Rhia unsure of the possibility of sarcasm. "Are you quite done asking me questions now?"
Rhia flushed scarlet. "What…was she thinking when you took her over?" she asked, feeling very small.
Ymota U smirked. "Mostly thoughts about how she hated me, but…she was also thinking, 'Don't take them to the mirror.'"
"What?" Rhia asked. "What mirror?" But Ymota U only smiled and continued walking. "Oh, shit." Rhia mumbled, falling back to walk with Lindsay and Zelda, now unconcerned with what they thought. "I think I might die."
"What, again?" Lindsay asked.
"You? You shut up."
"Come on," Zelda urged, trying her best to smile. "What were you talking about with—her?" Rhia told them, while Lindsay and Zelda listened, ashen-faced. Fairly soon, the boys had jumped in on the deal, and all six of them were whispering hurriedly about the mirror, about Zyuiu, and about Ymota U's random revival.
"Not now," they heard Ymota U say from up ahead. "Whispering's not nice. If you ask a question, I'll answer. I don't have any ulterior motives here." They could feel the smirk forming on her face. "Well, not much."
"You've known about this…mirror and shadow thing for a long time, haven't you, Ymota U?" Zelda asked. They all stopped as they entered the arena, and Ymota U, sensing they were no longer following, stopped and answered without turning around.
"In my last few years at the Tourney, I noticed some things that…didn't seem normal. Inside the Tourney building itself, night would come sooner than outside. I tested it. Night would settle fully over the Tourney while the sun was still setting all around it. I may have been a minion of evil, but even I didn't like that. Mindless evil is often worse than the kind he or I could produce, and it worried me. I began to explore the Tourney, delving as deep as I could. I came to this arena in the dead of night, when no one would be using it, and I went deeper from here. Many of these doors lead downwards.
"The first door I went through that was of any interest led to a mirror," she continued. The companions were listening silently, wondering how much, if any, of Ymota U's words they could possibly trust. "It was the mirror through which contestants from the other worlds arrive. It was placed on a spot of weakness in the world, and mirrors are a conduit."
"What do you mean?" Rowrun asked.
"In a weak spot in the world, souls, dreams, and all sorts of foul things can pass through the walls of the world much easier. Mirrors are natural conduits to ease the passing because they already allow things into the world. Mirrors are doors to the soul, where your greatest hopes and fears may step out. They provide comfort and mockery, and they are dangerous. They show you your delusions when you should be seeing reality; and they show you the stark truth when you need that last breath of a dream. Mirrors are the greatest truth in the world, and they are the greatest illusions."
"Oh," Rowrun said.
"That mirror provided very little in the way of answers then, but it did allow me to realize what I've just told you about mirrors. And, when not allowing foreign warriors to pass through, it is awfully reflective."
"It's a mirror," Andre said slowly, weighing the cost of saying it with the risk of Ymota U growing fangs and devouring him. He decided it was not too great of a risk, seeing as it was Zyuiu's body. Surprisingly, that brought a smug laugh from Ymota U.
"I know that, idiot," she said. "Until my reflection started talking to me." Zelda paled, having experienced living mirrors before. "Oh, the things it told me…I can't even repeat most of it."
"Why?" Rhia demanded to know.
"It would probably cause your hair to catch fire, little archseer," Ymota U said snidely. "As for the rest of you, your brain would melt through your eyes."
"I vote no telling of the thing that you weren't going to tell us anyway but now might for the sadistic pleasure but won't because we voted and I will get on my hands and knees and beg for you not to because believe it or not I actually enjoy the use of my brain and eyeball melting isn't overly pleasant either, and—"
"Rowrun, is it?" Ymota U interrupted. "Yes, you're Rowrun. I won't tell you. Shut up. One thing I can tell you is something Zyuiu may have seen after my death. I wrote it down."
"The mirror under the Tourney," Lindsay said, remembering what Zyuiu had told them in Hyrule Proper. That sunny day seemed so far off and faded.
"Exactly," Ymota U said. She had not yet turned around. "The reflection told me it was trapped in the mirror, but if I looked a little harder—delved a little deeper—I could set it free and all manner of crock like that. I had no desire to set it free, but it did also tell me that power beyond the dreams of the Evil King himself could be released from the mirror." She paused for a moment. "As I'm sure you can imagine, that made my day. And so I poured my energy into searching for that blasted mirror. I finally found the right door and came upon the mirror. There was not much there, except that my torch would not stay lit. The only light came from the mirror itself. All I know is that I sensed a great evil there."
"You didn't find out more?" Link asked skeptically.
"No," Ymota U said, suddenly turning around. "I had a masquerading Princess to go and kill that day."
"I don't like this at all," Rhia said darkly. "She tried to kill us all, specifically me and don't forget Sheik-Zelda, not to mention her heinous seducing of enchanted Link!"
Ymota U was smiling benignly. "That's a lot of big words for someone who can't make anything but chickens when she opens her mouth."
Rhia opened her mouth, shut it, and opened it again. "You horrible conniving sorceress!" she spat. "Get your bedamned shadows out of Zyuiu! You have no right to speak to her, or touch her, or be near her at all! Not after what you did! Not after what you are! Get out of her and get away from here!"
Zyuiu's lips twisted in a horrible smirk. "And what will you do about it, little archmage?"
Rhia held her hands up in a fighting stance, even has her friends tried to discourage her. "I will blast you out of her if I have to."
"Not so heroic, I think," Ymota U snorted, unconcerned with Rhia's threats.
"I never said I was a hero," Rhia snarled and began uttering arcane words that held no meaning to most of her friends. "Get out of her!" A grey smoke blasted forth from Rhia's hands, and—to everyone's great surprise—there were no chickens. Zyuiu's body was thrown backwards, but Ymota U was still laughing from inside. Black smoke uncoiled itself from Zyuiu's arms and shot at Rhia, wrapping itself around her arms and waist. "Hey!" Rhia struggled to get free, but the smoke held fast. The words to a spell tumbled from her mouth and suddenly, dozens of tiny chickens with razor sharp beaks were pecking at the smoke. Ymota U flinched back as the chickens pecked away at the extensions of herself and drew the smoke back, but immediately sent it forward again like a whip. Rhia caught the full impact and was hurled back, blood trickling from her mouth. She was up quickly, a ghostly snake (with an unfortunate beak) shooting from her hands to attack the shadows clinging to Zyuiu's body. The smoky phantasm was pushed out of Zyuiu's body momentarily, but before Zyuiu's eyes had even returned to blue, Ymota U was back inside of her.
As each mage readied their next attack, Zelda stepped forward from the shocked companions and held her own hands up. Rhia and Ymota U both found themselves suddenly pinned to different walls, several feet off the ground. "Rhia, stop!" Zelda demanded, sounding strained. "Please, Rhia, we need her! She's all we have now." Turning to Ymota U, Zelda's tone turned harsh. "And you! If you ever attack one of my friends again I will personally see to it that your smoky existence is ended in a horribly slow manner, and it will be by my hands! We need you, and you are in Zyuiu's body, but don't think for a moment that I will hesitate in sending your soul beyond in pieces!" She roughly let the two of them down and looked from one to the other. "Are we clear? Do not speak to each other, do not look at one another!" She stopped for a moment, and everyone stared at her, shocked into silence. Rhia looked hurt for a moment, but the expression turned to hate as Lindsay helped her stand up. Ymota U was smirking at her from across the arena.
"Now," Zelda said in a quieter, but equally firm tone. "Ymota U, take us to this mirror. I'll be right behind you. Rhia, take up the rear and make sure nothing follows us." No one moved until Zelda glared at Ymota U, who sighed and turned towards the darkness.
"The door is this way," she said. She started forward. Zelda followed in a resolute silence; the others made an effort not to speak. Talk would be a strained effort at normality, something they could not reach at this point. Rhia followed behind them, glaring at Zyuiu's back and wiping the blood from her chin. Ymota U strode onwards, leading them ever closer to the darkness.
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a/n: Hmm. To be honest, kids, I think this is one of the best chapters I've ever written. There's no divisions in the chapter, either, which I think is a sign that my writing is getting a little better.
Oh, where to begin? I've known from the beginning that I'd be bringing Ymota U back, but originally I sort of thought she'd just talk to them from the mirror. This was much more fun.
Now I know I didn't say how Ymota U is 'alive,' but I'll get to that. Honest. Anyway. I love the focus on Zyuiu and Rhia in this chapter, but Andre and Rowrun are fast turning into my favorite duo. Though Rhia and Rowrun and pretty funny too…
Enjoy, muffins!
Oh, whoa, also! I totally forgot to ask. Kids, if I make these stories into original stories, may I use your characters? Give me guidelines for that! I will keep their names and credit them to you, or…not.