Author's Note: This is a chapter I had been looking forward to posting for a long time, for many reasons. This is the start of a big character arc for Link, and I'm excited about that, and the following few chapters. I know the first section of this might seem like it has a plot hole and looks contrary to what happened in the Child Timeline, but be patient. It'll be explained eventually. Edit: I'm trying to make the formatting work right. The line breaks aren't showing up again for chapter sections. If it seems like parts are mashed together, that's why. It's ffnet's fault.


Link hurried to Midna's side as she stood in front of the ruined Mirror of Twilight, trembling with rage. She clenched her fists harder and held them in front of her, face contorted into a snarl. "He's always one step ahead of me…" she growled, furious. "Always! Damn him!" The Twili fell back to sit on her rear on the sandy roof of the ancient building, slumping and hanging her head. "How could I let this happen?" Her rage was gone, and she sounded like she was close to tears. "Damn him…"

He knelt down and put a hand to her back in an attempt to comfort her, not sure what to say. After fighting his fear and the undead, fighting the lich, fighting the bone dragon and learning that the Mirror was shattered, he had begun to feel numb inside. It was a bit too much in his tired state, and his emotions began to shut down. For Link's emotions to shut down, he had to be truly exhausted.

"Do you understand, Link? This was our last chance." Midna looked up at him sadly.

He nodded, feeling detached from the situation, as if he wasn't really here. "I understand."

"If we had followed through with the plan, we could have killed him." She stared at the shattered Mirror before them, her voice weak. "We could have put things back to normal."

Normal? No. Not normal. Things could never go back to the way they were, even if they killed Zant and returned the Shadow Beasts to their original human forms. He couldn't tell her that, though. She likely knew that the mental toll on both the Twilight Realm and Hyrule was heavy, and the people living in both worlds would never be the same. He couldn't tell her anything, not even agree with her to support her. All he could do is kneel next to her, hand to her back, bereft of energy and emotion.

A soft light surrounded them suddenly, and he heard Auren cry out in alarm. Link raised his face to look, and found that he and Midna were surrounded by five identical glowing figures in pure white robes.

"Relax." Auru said calmly from where he stood with his daughter. "It's the Sages."

Link slowly stood as his eyes took in the five individuals that stood around him. Each Sage had a white robe with white gloves, and a mask that depicted an emotionless face. Yet, they weren't truly identical. While the Master Sword had told him that his magical power was drained, he found that his ability to see the truth of things was still working, and he could see the true forms of the Sages as double-images imposed beneath their robed illusions. The Sages were five different people made of five different races: a Hylian, a Gerudo, a Sheikah, a Goron, and a child in green that had to be a Kokiri. If there had been a Zora, they would have represented all the races of Hyrule.

The strange double-images met his eyes as he looked at him, their expressions unreadable. The robed figures were ethereal, but the real forms of the Sages breathed and moved like living beings, not spirits. He felt Midna come up behind him and put her small hands on his right shoulder. Was she able to see the true forms of the Sages too?

"You." the Goron said, simple tattoos of the Goron emblem visible on his thick biceps as he stood there pointing with one large hand at Link. "You who possesses the Triforce of Courage. The current Hero. Listen to us." The Goron frowned grimly behind his pale, bushy beard. "A dark entity has come from the Shadow Realm, through the Mirror of Twilight."

"We know. Zant tried to kill us." Midna told the Goron.

"No, child of the Twilight." said the Sheikah, a warrior that did not wear the traditional robe. Instead she wore the close-fitting clothes of a warrior, and the outfit reminded Link of his mother. "We do not mean the false king from your world." She turned her face to look at what was left of the Mirror. "The royal family of the past charged us with guarding the Mirror of Twilight. There have been many things sealed in it that cannot be allowed back into our world, and yet…" she shook her head and turned her red eyes back to Midna. "You came here seeking it, yet you can clearly see that it has been fragmented by a mighty magic." The Shiekah Sage glanced at her companions and took a deep breath and continued, as if she did not relish being the bearer of this news. "It is a dark, unholy power that only one man possesses: Ganondorf."

"Ganondorf? Ganondorf Dragmire, the Gerudo warlock that invaded Hyrule?" Link asked. "How could Ganondorf break the Mirror? He was executed."

"He was not." the Gerudo Sage said, a figure in shimmering pink silk. "Do you know your history, Hero? Do you know how he conquered the Gerudo and forced them to invade Hyrule, with the hope that he could enter the Sacred Realm? Do you know then that this man your people called the 'Demon King' wielded an evil magic that is the opposite of the pure power you have?" She shifted her weight and crossed her long arms, and something about her pose reminded him of Hida. "You have the soul of a hero, reborn. Ganondorf has not the soul itself but the power of a demon, born into a man's body. His power was frightening, and he very nearly destroyed Hyrule. Of course, that magical and physical power made him blind to any danger. He was arrogant and thought he was unstoppable, and that over-confidence led to his capture. He was brought here over two centuries ago by us, with the intent to execute him."

"The intent, but you weren't successful. What happened, then?" Link asked her. The bitter tones of the Gerudo sage were not lost on him. Even this Gerudo disliked the actions of their old king, whomever she was.

"I can show you, but only you, Hero." the Hylian Sage said, a man with a flowing orange and red robe and a snowy white mustache and hair. "We Hylians once had the power to communicate and share thoughts with one another, and with the goddess Hylia. Since you are the Hero reborn, you have that ability. I will share my memories with you." He stepped forward and placed two fingers to Link's forehead. "Witness what happened here over two hundred years ago. Witness what was to be the execution of the Demon King, Ganondorf."

The scene blurred, and he was standing in a slightly different spot, from a higher vantage point. He was standing on the platform of the Mirror of Twilight. The sun was just below the horizon, it being near dawn instead of the middle of the night. The Mirror itself was intact, and standing next to him was a man with short blonde hair that wore the winged crown of the King of Hyrule. The king was not looking at him, but at something else.

He truly was looking through the Sage's memories, because his vision moved without him trying, and he found himself looking at a man chained to the large brown stone. The man was massive, at least seven feet tall, with flaming red hair and olive-tinged brown skin. He was looking at Ganondorf himself. The Gerudo hung from his bonds, arms held out to the sides, unafraid of his pending execution. If anything, he looked furious.

The king to his left spoke. "Ganondorf Dragmire, you have been found guilty of the following crimes against the assembled races of Hyrule: the invasion of Hyrulean lands, starvation of the Gorons, the attempted assassination of the Zoras' patron god, the murder of the Kokiris' patron god, the murder of five Ancient Sages, the culling of the Gerudo that did not follow you, and lastly the invasion of the Sacred Realm and the Temple of Light. Do you have anything to say in response to these charges, before you are put to death?"

The Gerudo glared at the king with his red-on-yellow eyes with undisguised hatred, but he didn't say anything. Even in the face of death, the Demon King was too arrogant to respond.

"Very well." the king said grimly. "Proceed."

The order was directed to one of the Sages, and the Hylian Sage's eyes moved to watch her as she stepped forward from the group of the other Sages, the very same ones that Link had spoken to only moments before. She came to stand in front of the Mirror of Twilight to face the male Gerudo chained there, the Sage herself an adolescent Zora with beautiful white scales, with hints of aqua on her fins and back. The Zora wore many pieces of jewelry made of silver and sapphires, and had a diadem with the Zora emblem on it on her brow, something worn by their royal family. Link realized that this was Ralis' half-sister that had gone missing over two hundred years ago, gone long before the prince was born.

The Zora sage extended her clawed hands in front of her and a brilliant light formed above them, solidifying into the shape of an elegant longsword that glowed with the same white light. She raised her right arm and the magical sword balanced itself in the air above it, pointed directly at the man chained to the stone. The Zora dropped her arm in a throwing motion, and the pure white sword shot forward to impale Ganondorf through his black steel chestplate as if it was made of paper, and into the man's heart.

The Gerudo gritted his teeth and groaned, and his eyes fluttered shut as he let out a final, gurgling breath. He slumped, pinned to the stone by the sword and held by the chains, dead. At that moment, the rising sun's light reached the stone, shining all around it but not illuminating the dead Demon King and the sword that had killed him, since he had faced west as he died. The Zora sighed and turned to bow respectfully to the King of Hyrule, her face a mix of emotions.

Then the slightest of movement caught the Hylian Sage's eye, and his vision quickly moved back to the dead man chained to the stone. He saw it again; the Gerudo's right hand twitched, as if he was still alive. Then suddenly three triangles of golden light blazed on the back of that hand, and it clenched into a fist. Ganondorf raised his head slowly, life returned to him by the Triforce of Power. There were cries of dismay from the Sages and others nearby that Link was unable to see in the memory.

"So that's where it went!" the king cried, and the Sage's eyes moved to look at the man. The king was staring at the Sage, his blue eyes wide. "He has the golden power! She was wrong, he did take it!"

A deep-voiced laugh came from the stone, and the Sage's eyes moved back to Ganondorf. The Gerudo seemed a bit surprised himself, but also gleeful that he had returned to life, and he giddily laughed about it. He fixed his red eyes on the Zora sage that had temporarily killed him, and began to strain against his bonds with a growl. The Triforce of Power shone brightly on his hand, and with his enhanced strength the man snapped the chains that had held him in place. He lunged forward suddenly, moving with incredible enhanced speed given to him by Power, drawing the white sword embedded in his chest and swiftly slashing in a diagonal backhand through the Zora in a spray of blood. She dropped to the floor, her chest split by the mighty blow from her shoulder to her sternum, and blood began to pool around her white-scaled body.

"Protect the king!" a voice cried, and a group of seven soldiers appeared to position themselves in-between Ganondorf and the King of Hyrule. Even though each one of them had blades and they rushed at the Demon King en masse, Ganondorf used his enhanced strength and speed to trace a rapid series of wide slashes through the air with his long sword arm. In a spray of blood and gore, the soldiers dropped, mowed down like grain.

The Gerudo stood among the corpses while holding the bloodied white sword and did not laugh, which was what Link expected him to do. He instead put his left hand to the hole rent in his black-enameled plate armor and touched the flesh that had knit closed there with an amazed expression. The large man still appeared surprised that he had not only lived, but also had recovered from his fatal wound. Then his eyes raised to look at the King of Hyrule, and he extended the sword towards the Hylian with one word. "Nathaniel…"

At the edge of the Sage's vision King Nathaniel, the King of Hyrule two hundred and fifty years ago, took a single step back in alarm. The Hylian Sage's eyes looked from the king and then to Ganondorf, and then to the Mirror of Twilight itself. The Sage did not hesitate, and Link saw an orange-robed arm raise from his point of view, the hand on the end of it reaching towards the Mirror.

It began to glow brightly, etched lines and runes not previously visible on its dark glass surface lighting up, projecting their patterns into the air in front of the Mirror. A circle opened up on the large rectangular stone that still bore a bloodstain, a portal to another place that was ringed by white runes written in a language long forgotten. The circle widened, the portal growing larger and stronger as the projected runes pulsed through the air towards the stone.

Ganondorf struggled as if fighting against a strong wind, gritting his teeth in a snarl while Power lit up on his right hand. "I won't allow you to do this…" he growled, staggering forward only to be pulled back towards the portal. "Damn you! Damn you, Sages!" The Gerudo's red eyes grew determined and he fixed them on the Hylian Sage, and it looked for a moment like the Demon King was making eye contact with Link himself. "This will not keep me! Since I have Power, I will-"

The warlock never got to finish that sentence; the Mirror of Twilight pulsed a final time and Ganondorf broke up into countless black squares, drawn into the portal behind, white sword and all. Once the last remnants of the Demon King were through the portal to the Twilight Realm, the orange-robed arm lowered, and the Mirror of Twilight grew dark. There was no more portal on the stone, suddenly gone with the Mirror deactivated. The only evidence that Ganondorf had ever been there were the corpses laying near the boulder, and the large bloodstain that had been left from the man's failed execution.

The Hylian Sage's eyes looked over to King Nathaniel, who was shaking his head in dismay while staring at where the portal had been. "The Shadow Realm. Rauru, why?" He turned his blue eyes back to the Sage, now known as Rauru. "There are demons there. If he finds one, who knows what he could do."

"The Interlopers had just as much power, and never returned." Rauru's voice said, close in Link's ears as if he had spoken himself.

"But now the Triforce is truly fragmented." Nathaniel said. "You just sent the piece with Din's power to the Shadow Realm. I understand your reasons, but…" The king sighed and shook his head, unsettled by the implications of what the Sage had just done.

"Forgive me, your Majesty." Rauru said. "I felt there was no other option." The Sage moved then, stepping down off the platform to walk over to the dead. He knelt down, and Link saw the man's hand reach out to gently touch the Zora's face. Her violet eyes stared wide in death, her final expression one of shock. "Forgive me." the man's voice said sadly, and he withdrew his hand as the body of the Zora princess and Sage began to dissolve into blue lights.

Suddenly Link was looking up at Rauru, the Sage withdrawing his hand. The vision was gone, and he was standing on the roof of the Arbiter's Grounds with his companions. He turned his head to look at the large squared boulder that was the portal to the Twilight Realm when the Mirror was active, but there was no bloodstain there, nor were there any on the stones in front of it. Two hundred and fifty years had passed, and all traces of what had happened here had been worn away by sand, sun and time.

"What? That's it?" Midna asked, still behind him with her hands on his right shoulder. "Link, are you seeing anything yet?"

He looked over his shoulder at her, and realized that she had not moved at all while he had the vision. No, not only her...everyone. Nobody moved because no time had passed, not for anyone but himself as he viewed the Sage's memory. "I saw what happened. It was only a few minutes long, but they really did fail to kill Ganondorf. He had the Triforce of Power." Auru had told him that Ganondorf had that piece of the Triforce, but watching the memory had shown him how terrifying the Gerudo was when he used it.

"Yes." Rauru said, putting his hands together inside the large sleeves of his orange robe. "He managed to obtain the Triforce of Power, even though it was believed that it vanished when the two other fragments went into the Link and Zelda of that time. We did not think the gods would allow him to hold their power, but we were wrong. With Power bound to his soul, he is immortal to all but a few things. I had no choice but to send him to what I now know is the Twilight Realm, the home of the descendants of the Interlopers. I knew that people lived there, yet I felt I had no choice." The white-haired Sage bowed his head to Midna. "I am deeply sorry for what I have done. I know that does not fix all that has happened to you, child of the Twilight."

Midna frowned in response, but didn't say anything. She moved to hover next to Link and stared at the remains of the fractured Mirror thoughtfully. Even though she was silent, he could figure out what she was thinking. Everything that happened wasn't because of Zant, but because of what Ganondorf and Rauru had done over two hundred years ago.

"Ganondorf's hatred and anger over the years have materialized into a dark magic, one that is fueled by his connection to Power." the Sheikah Sage said. "Because of that, it is an evil power that Hyrule has not seen for millennia. That is the power that Zant obtained, and the power he brought with him through the portal to our world of light."

"That's who Zant found...not a lesser demon or a forgotten god, but Ganondorf himself. That's who he called his 'god'." Midna was still staring at the single remaining fragment of the Mirror. "That magic is nothing like the peaceful shadow magic of the Twili, and is actually Ganondorf's power itself. That's what transformed people into Shadow Beasts, what covered everything in Twilight, what cursed Link." She shook her head, putting her small hand to her face in mild disbelief, as if she was disappointed in herself for not figuring it out sooner. "It makes sense now."

"So what you're saying is that since Ganondorf's had a couple of centuries to stew in the Twilight Realm, his hatred of King Nathaniel and the Sages made his magic even stronger?" Link asked, looking between the Sages as he spoke. They nodded at him, all looking grim. "So now he's angry and a lot stronger, and probably wants revenge on all of you and the royal family, meaning Zelda. Great. Any of you know what he's actually weak to? You said that Power pretty much makes him immortal." Which was a frightening thought. Those few moments he had seen of Ganondorf were all he had needed to know that the Demon King was immensely powerful.

"He is weak to Princess Zelda's power, the power of her soul that has been reborn through the ages." Rauru said. "She carries within her a holy power, and that power is only enhanced by her bond with the Triforce of Wisdom. Yet it is not available at the moment, now that the princess has used that power to revive this woman from the Twilight realm." That meant that the Sages were aware of the things happening in the world even though they were stuck guarding this Mirror. "That only leaves one other option."

"That other option is the sacred sword you carry on your back, the Master Sword." the Kokiri Sage said, gesturing at him with a small hand. "Although you depleted much of its sacred power by over-using it in this dark place." She smiled softly at him, and he realized that his guilt over doing that was probably showing on his face. "Don't feel bad, Hero. You brought mercy and peace to the souls that were trapped in this place. You did as the Hero of Hyrule should."

"There was once a way to recharge the power of the Master Sword, but that way is not possible right now." The Hylian Sage shook his head, his human form moving yet the robed illusion remaining immobile. "It requires the two Sages that stand separate from us: the Sage of Wind and the Sage of Earth. Neither one has awakened so their identities are not known to us." The Sage sighed heavily. Everything that the Sages had been speaking about was frightening, dark and depressing. This was not what he expected to find at the Mirror of Twilight. Rauru continued. "The only other thing that can possibly bring the Master Sword back to its former glory is the passage of time, by returning it to the Pedestal of Time in the Sacred Grove, the place once known as the Temple of Time."

The Master Sword chimed, which caused the Sages to react in surprise. When it spoke, its voice was faint. This normally is true, but I have been taking a bit of your power, Master Link. You gave me permission, and it is likely why you are weak and tired. Farore's power housed within the Triforce of Courage is immense, and even though a human's body cannot easily channel it at once, I can still take a little of that power at a time without causing harm to you. It is not a certain thing, but I estimate that there is a sixty-six percent chance that I will regain my power within months.

Rauru's blue eyes fixed on his. Those eyes were ancient and wise, and held knowledge that no other human ever could possibly hold. "It can speak again? This is good news, Hero. If the Master Sword's soul has regained its sentience, then perhaps there is hope."

"It just told me that since I have Courage, it can tap into my connection to the Triforce and slowly regain its power. It'll take months, but that's a lot better than sticking it back in the Temple of Time and waiting years." If Rauru believed that the Master Sword being able to talk was a sign that it was stronger, then perhaps things weren't so grim.

"We may not have months." the Sheikah said. "Or even weeks, for that matter. Ganondorf came through the Mirror of Twilight earlier, while you were down below fighting the bone dragon. Zant opened the way for him to return to Hyrule. Then as he was fleeing through the portal, Zant cracked the Mirror."

"He cracked it, but he couldn't fully destroy it because he's a false king. He isn't part of the royal family." Midna moved to hover in front of the Sheikah Sage as she spoke. "Only the true King or Queen of the Twilight Realm has the power to destroy the Mirror of Twilight. Even with some of Ganondorf's power, he wasn't strong enough to do what he wanted."

"Now what?" Link asked, feeling frustrated on top of feeling exhausted. As much as he had learned from the Sages, it only had complicated things. "The Master Sword needs time, Zelda's unavailable to help, and now Ganondorf is loose in Hyrule again. What am I supposed to do if I can't kill him?"

"You might want to try taking care of Zant." the Goron said, putting his fists at his hips. "I know he's the lesser of two evils, but he cursed Midna and stole away most of the Fused Shadows. Kill him, and she'll have both her human form back and the Fused Shadows. Normally that would be a concern, but she can clearly control it."

"You sure seem to know a lot about us…" the Twili said suspiciously.

"Being a Sage has its perks." the Goron Sage actually smirked, although Midna probably was unable to see it. They were powerful beings that were centuries old, but they were still people. "We can't leave here and must stay to guard the Mirror of Twilight, but we have the ability to see some of what's happening."

"In any case, you should find those pieces of the Mirror." The Sheikah gestured at the jagged piece of glass left in the bottom part of the metal frame. "It is a magical device made by the goddess herself. If you place the fragments back in its frame, it should heal itself. Then you may go to the Twilight Realm to face Zant."

"We can still go there to get the Twili to help us." Link turned to Midna. "What do you think? It's a delay, but we can still go forward with our plan."

"What else can we do, sit around and twiddle our thumbs?" She shrugged, and then looked up at the Goron Sage. "You said that you can see what's going on. Does that mean you know where those pieces of the Mirror are?"

"Uh…" The Goron looked awkward, and scratched at his bushy beard while averting his large dark blue eyes. "I said some things. Not all. We do know that Ganondorf himself took them. I admit we were hiding when they swapped places, Ganondorf coming here and Zant going back to the Twilight realm. Ganondorf does want revenge against us, and we know he's strong enough to kill a Sage." The more the Goron spoke, the more informal he seemed to get. All of them seemed to be a bit more relaxed now, as if their formal speech was only for show. "Anyway he said he'd hide them so no one could follow Zant, and then he left. Some of us can sense the strong magic from things like the Mirror of Twilight, so it's only a matter of us pinpointing where it is."

"The nearest we can tell, Ganondorf took them north of here. Beyond that, we know little." The Hylian Sage turned to Auru. "It is clear that that Link and Midna will be remaining in Gerudo lands for the time being. I will come contact you once we have more specific information. Then you can work out a plan with the Hero of Hyrule. It is probably wise to let him rest for now."

The scholar nodded. "Right. I agree about letting him rest. The poor young man is worn out."

"'Worn out' is an understatement." Link said with a wan smile. "I guess we have a plan now. If all of you Sages don't mind, I'd like to go fall asleep somewhere. Anywhere. It was nice to meet you, even if everything you told me was all doom and gloom."

"Have faith, young Hero." Rauru said with a faint smile that touched his eyes more than his mouth. "Your bond with the Master Sword appears to be a strong one, and it may recover before long. Once we have the proper information, you should concentrate on rebuilding the Mirror of Twilight, go through it to kill Zant, and ultimately restore Midna to her original form. Her true power is strong, and it will only be stronger with the complete Fused Shadows. She may be the first to use it to its fullest potential, and because of that she can seal Ganondorf away, if not kill him."

The Hylian Sage took a step back, as did the other Sages. "You were chosen by the gods for a reason, and must never give up hope. You are not only the Hero of Hyrule, but you are also the Hope of Hyrule. See this through to the end and bring peace to our home." He blurred and transformed into a sparkling group of gold lights, the other Sages doing the same in flashes of red, orange, purple and green. Then the lights vanished and the Sages were gone, disappearing as abruptly as they came.

Link sighed and ran a hand through his hair, now mentally tired on top of physically and emotionally exhausted. This entire trip through the Arbiter's Grounds was certainly something. "Midna, could you see the Sages' real forms? They were real people, not white-robed weirdos."

"They have real forms?" she asked, looking confused. "I guess that answers your question. Hey Auren, I know I said I could teleport you out, but I don't think we should leave the spinner where it is." She floated over to the Gerudo, who had been standing there in quiet awe throughout the entire discussion with the Sages. "We should put it back into the center slot in the room below and then walk out. You'll have to be brave again."

Auren gave a small laugh. "After hearing what you and Link need to do, a couple sets of stairs are nothing. Let's go."

The trip back down through the ruined prison was uneventful, other than Auren clinging to Link's arm whenever they went down stairs. He was still weary, and he knew that his stamina wasn't returning like it usually did due to the Master Sword siphoning magical energy from his body. If it was going to keep doing that, he probably was going to wind up sleeping ten hours a night again. It couldn't be helped; once Zant was defeated, he eventually had to use the sword to face Ganondorf.

That thought intimidated him, and if he wasn't so tired he would have begun to fret about it. As frightening as Ganondorf and his power were, it was hard for him to focus on the weight of them at the moment. There were many things that he needed to think through and discuss with Midna: Ganondorf's power, the people in the Twilight Realm that could help them, her strange title of the Lady of Shadows. Once he had a chance to rest, he could think through those things on his own before talking to her about it. Right now, that small bed he had slept in at Auren's house was very appealing, even if it was going to be hotter than hell in several hours.

"It's a shame that the Sages don't know who the Sages of Earth and Wind are." Midna said as she floated nearby, her aqua runes glowing in the dim light of the entryway of the Arbiter's Grounds. "If we did know, that could have been a way to recharge the Master Sword in a hurry. If it's strong enough to hurt Ganondorf, then it'll be strong enough to seriously hurt Zant."

"I think it's probably still strong enough to hurt Zant as it is. Even though its power has been reduced, it's still a lot stronger than an ordinary sword." He shivered as they stepped outside in the to the chill desert night, and pulled his cloak around him. "I still find it weird that it gets this cold in the desert."

"You get used to it." Auren still walked to his right as they descended the steps, but was no longer holding on to his arm. As much as she had appreciated him holding on to her when she was trembling in fear, she had hastily stepped back from him as soon as she was off the spiral stairs. He would have to talk to her about her perceived weakness soon. She needed to realize that fear was not something terrible to be ashamed of.

"I guess since it gets so hot here in the day, the cold is probably welcome. Still…" Link pulled his hood up. "I miss the warm summer nights of Hyrule. Heck, I miss the green of Hyrule at this point. I even miss the smells of rain and plants. The desert just kind of smells like dust and not much else."

"It also smells of death." Auru said, pointing to the pyres still burning ahead of them on the sands in front of the Arbiter's Grounds. "It will take a while for the warriors to burn the bodies, but they can't leave or bury them. Hida mentioned that scavengers may come and she doesn't want them in the city, but it's best if they aren't around outside of the city either. The things that come to look for carrion in this place can be rather mean. And big."

"The fires should keep them away, though." the Gerudo said as she strode across the sand next to Link. "Animals fear fire, even the large ones. Oh, speaking of fires, look at who it is."

It took him a moment to see what she was talking about, since her eyes were so keen and she could see farther than the rest of them. At the edge of the Bulbin encampment were the pyres that Auru had pointed out, and a group of Gerudo worked to cremate a pile of Bulbin bodies. One of the women was shorter than the rest, and even from this distance Link could recognize her solid frame and the confident way she moved. Sumati herself was helping the others with cleanup; it seemed as if ever since the battle had stopped, she was always working. The woman had been working when Link had met her, writing up a contract that formally merged her tribe with Hida's.

Even though they had spotted her at a distance, it took a while for them to reach the pyres. The method with which the Gerudo gathered the bodies did not involve carts, the wheels probably ineffective on the sand. They instead attached travois to the back of their large horses and strapped a bunch of Bulbin bodies to them, towing them to the bonfires. Most of the warriors were not wearing a second layer of clothing to ward off the cold, since they were spending a lot of time next to the fires.

Sumati turned and watched them approach, hands on her hips. "It appears you are still here!" she called once they were close enough. "Did the Twilight Realm boot you out?"

Link didn't bother to raise his voice, both because he was tired, and because he didn't want to shout what had happened on the roof of the ancient prison in front of all the Gerudo. Because of that, Sumati looked concerned as he approached, but she did not remove her hands from her hips. He threw back his hood, feeling a bit warmer next to the fire, and looked up at Sumati. "We have another delay. This time the mirror is broken, and we have to chase down the pieces."

The scarred Gerudo crossed her arms. "Well that's frustrating. Did you at least have something to fight in there?"

Auren stepped forward, her face excited. "You should have seen him, Sumati! He decided that he would get rid of all of the undead himself, and he did. Then he fought a lich and actually killed it, and then he fought a bone dragon."

The subchief threw her head back and gave one of her short laughs. "Ha! Of course you'd get excited about that. You're his biggest fan, aren't you?"

"Say what you want, but watching this guy fight is like...I can't describe it. The way he moves is amazing enough, but then he does these wild things that are completely unexpected, and they work." The young woman was all smiles as she spoke, and while he should have felt flattered, he was starting to tire of Auren's hero worship. Then again, that was preferable to the kind of attention that the other women in this desert had been directing towards him. If Auren wanted to be thrilled by watching him fight instead of trying to get him in bed, fine.

"That sounds in line with the stories he's told me. He threw bombs into a giant fish's mouth while swimming in front of it, you know." Sumati smirked at him. "I can see why you look so tired, if you fought a dragon. Ha! A dragon, of all things."

"It wasn't planned. Neither was clearing the place of undead, but I felt I had to do something since I could." He frowned, wondering if his tired body was playing tricks on him. It felt as if the ground beneath him was vibrating.

He wasn't imagining things, because Sumati's stance changed and she glanced around, her face serious. "Damn, I was hoping we'd get these bodies burned before one of the big ones came." She shouted orders in Gerudo to the mounted warriors that had towed dead bodies over, and the women rode off towards the walled city, dragging their empty travoises behind them. The subchief seemed to have a moment of indecision, staring at the fire as the tremors beneath their feet grew stronger, and then she pointed an arm towards the Arbiter's Grounds. "Get to the ruin! Put stone beneath your feet! Move!"

Link's tired brain took a second to respond. Run? He barely had the energy to walk this far, and now he was supposed to run. Something nearby slid out of the sand like a whale breaching the sea and submerged again, revealing a quick flash of shiny black and a long body like a snake's. He snapped out of it when Sumati grabbed his arm.

"What's wrong with you? Run, you idiot!" she shouted at him, giving him a shove.

He stumbled and was about to will his weak legs to run, but then something erupted from the sand nearby, rearing out in the midst of the Bulbin bodies. He drew his sword based on instinct alone, and watched as a long armored body appeared. It clamped its jaws around one of the corpses, its mandibles set wide as it gulped down the dead Bulbin. Hiding behind him, Midna made a sound of disgust at the gigantic insect.

One of the nearby Gerudo shouted in alarm, drawing her twin swords. "Lanmola!"

"Shit, I shouldn't have sent the horses away. Nobody run now! We stick together!" Sumati drew the large axe that she had strapped to her back and turned to face the massive centipede. "I hope you're still able to fight, Link."

He hoped so too as he looked up at the long insect. It was as big as Lanayru, and most of its body was covered in dark segmented pieces of carapace, save for its pale underbelly. That belly had multiple pairs of legs on either side of it, and its head had a large rounded red eye with a black pupil that was surrounded by a group of smaller dark eyes. The Lanmola finished swallowing the Bulbin and swiveled its head around to face the group of humans, considering them while twitching its long antennae. Its wide toothy mouth slowly opened, dripping saliva, and it appeared to find much more interest in fresh meat over the pile of carrion nearby.

Its eye fell on the smallest, easiest prey among the tall warriors, and it drew its head back like a snake about to strike, a fan of spines surrounding its head flaring out. Then it lunged forward with its mouth wide at Link.

He tried to jump to the side, and normally would have been able to evade without any difficulty, but his body was tired and unresponsive, and he was having difficulty moving on the sand. The Lanmola's jaws clamped down on his body, the pressure of the bite incredible, and far worse than the one of the plant monster he had encountered weeks ago. Not only did the sharp teeth put pressure on his chest and aggravate his injured back, they pierced through his leg, two fangs sinking into his left hip and just above his left knee.

Link cried out in pain, his chain mail doing nothing to protect his leg since his tunic, gambeson and chain shirt had been pushed up around his waist when the monster bit down on him. He heard Midna shout his name in dismay, but he had problems focusing on the others through his pain. The teeth scraped against the shield on his baldric, which once again saved his back from being badly injured, and the Lanmola began to thrash its head back and forth while trying to adjust the way the young man was positioned in its mouth, since he was too tall to be swallowed sideways. The movement aggravated the bites on his leg, and he involuntarily groaned in pain.

He couldn't let this thing eat him. Instinct took over and he fought to live, smacking at the armored face with the Master Sword, but unable to do much at the angle he was held at. The black pupil moved to look at him, and he wished he was able to stab it in that eye. That would get it to drop him for sure.

Suddenly an arrow sunk into the large eye and the creature shrieked in pain, opening its mouth and dropping him. He fell to the sand painfully, and heard the sound of Auren's bow as she shot another arrow. His leg was in agony but he still did his best to rise, trying to get away, and he noticed that the Gerudo had moved closer to engage the giant centipede. Some of them shouted in their own language and he heard Auru's gun fire, but he couldn't pay attention. It was hard enough for him to move.

Sumati was there then, wrapping one of her large arms around his torso and hauling him to safety, his left leg dragging behind him uselessly. The Gerudo's expression was grim as she brought him behind where Auru and Auren stood with Midna. She sat him on the sand and reached out to put a hand to his bloodied leg, the leggings shredded by the teeth of the monster.

"Sorry." he mumbled, feeling even more tired than he should. "I couldn't move." He slowly sheathed the Master Sword, not able to use it at the moment anyway.

"Stop talking and save your strength." she said, setting her axe aside and kneeling down next to him. There was another shot from Auru's gun and a shriek from the Lanmola, but he couldn't look. His eyes were on Sumati, who tore his leggings and undergarment to look at his bare thigh and hip. It was smeared with blood, the bite mark on his hip long and jagged, and the fang mark above his knee had something else on it, something black and sticky. "Dammit." the Gerudo muttered, and she bent over and put her mouth on the wound, much to his surprise.

"Sumati, what the hell?" Link brought his hand up to push her away, confused by her odd behavior. He realized that his hand was shaking, and he barely had the strength to push her at all. What was going on? Sumati spit blood onto the sand and went back to draw more out of his wound, and his mind dimly realized what had happened.

He had been poisoned.

Link looked down at his hand and saw that Courage was glowing faintly, working of its own accord...for what? To remove the poison? To give him strength? To...to do something? To help. He put a shaking hand to his head, feeling dizzy. His thoughts clouded, and he was unable to think of what was happening, only that his leg hurt.

"Did the bite break the skin anywhere else?" Auru's voice said nearby. When Link looked up at him, the man was coming to kneel down next to him. "Link, does it hurt anywhere else?"

He stared at the man, his response delayed. "No." the word was hard to say, like he was drunk. "Only my leg."

Sumati spit on the sand again and stood up, her mouth smeared with his blood. She shouted something at one of the warriors, who took off running. The Gerudo wiped at the her mouth with the back of her arm, and now both her face and forearm had his blood on them. It was a surreal thing to see. There was another shriek nearby from the Lanmola, the sound turning into a long cry that grew quieter and stopped. Sumati didn't even turn to look, but instead knelt back down. "Do you have a dose?"

"Hida wouldn't let me into the desert if I didn't." Auru said, pulling out a small glass vial and breaking the wax seal on it to remove its cork. "Link, can you drink this?"

He reached for the small glass bottle, but found his hand was trembling too much for him to grab it. Whatever the venom from the Lanmola was doing to him, it was affecting him quickly. Auru shook his head and put the glass container to Link's lips. "Tip your head back. Drink it."

He did as he was instructed and gagged at the taste after he had swallowed it, coughing. It burned the entire way down. "Will it fix me?" The sentence was hard to assemble, and even harder to say.

"You've been poisoned, and what Auru just gave you will slow the spread of the venom, but not cure it." Sumati told him. "I sucked out as much as I could, but you're going to need the actual antivenom. We should still have some in the city, so we need to take you there."

"You put poison in...mouth? You gonna...this?" He held up his quaking hand to her. It was so very difficult to find the right words.

She gently pushed his hand down, shaking her head. "No, a Lanmola's venom is less potent when swallowed, and I was spitting it out anyway. Don't worry about me. Link, can you stand at all?"

He numbly looked at his injured leg, the larger of the two wounds still oozing blood. Could he stand? He was hurt. The...bug thing. It bit him. He's hurt. There was something...something bad. Poison. He was poisoned. He looked back up at her but his head wobbled on his neck and he couldn't look at her straight. Mumbling, he opened his mouth to say something but then his vision faded, and then he was laying on his back somehow.

Auren's voice called to him nearby, and he briefly saw her face with his swimming vision. "Hang in there, Link. We'll save you!" He couldn't reply, he couldn't even look at her properly. His eyes closed and then he slipped into blackness.

What happened after that was a blur to Link. Things happened around him, but he wasn't sure if he was able to see them, or even hear them properly. Brief moments of lucidity came to him, and he caught glimpses of people walking around, of Midna's voice, of gentle hands moving him. At one point he heard a woman's voice cry "He'll chew his tongue!", and something was stuffed into his mouth. Then awareness slipped away again.

He opened his eyes again to find his body still numb and useless, a rhythmic movement rocking him. In front of him was a rust-colored mane. A horse. A Gerudo horse. They were riding somewhere. The rider behind him held onto him with strong arms, but he couldn't see who it was. Nearby Auren and Midna were on Epona, but that made no sense. They weren't the ones who rode Epona, he was. He should be there, not with whoever rode this horse.

"Are you awake?" Sumati's voice said from behind him, but then he was sliding back into unconsciousness.

He heard shouts in Gerudo and the much closer voice of Sumati, but his eyes couldn't open. There was the vague sensation of movement, and he realized he was being carried by the subchief, her arms beneath his back and behind his knees. As her sandals quickly moved across a stone floor, he wondered how she could carry him that way if he still had the Master Sword. Wait...was he wearing the Master Sword? His shield? The familiar weight was not on his body. He tried to speak, but his body wouldn't respond. All he could do was listen as Sumati's long strides brought him through the echoing halls of a large building.

At some point he was laying down, and somebody was tugging off his boots. He really should do that himself. Somebody tried to pull his shirt over his head, and he resisted. That wasn't right. Nobody should take his clothes off. Where was the weight of his chain shirt? Did they take that too? Someone tried to take the gambeson off again and he mumbled something defiantly. He felt his hand connect with something fleshy and a woman's grunt, and there was a hurried discussion in Gerudo. His awareness faded to the sounds of the unfamiliar language, unconsciousness gripping him once again.

"No, I'll do it!" came Midna's voice, cutting through the blackness and rousing his ears. "There's no way you can move as fast as I can."

"How are you going to know where to go, then? You have to take me with you." Auren. Her voice sounded worried, urgent. Why were they worried?

"If you can handle it, I'll carry you…" Midna's voice trailed off into a strange distorted noise, as if his head was beneath water. In the small corner of his mind that wasn't bogged down by venom, he knew they were worried about him. He was more than just injured, and his friends were trying to save his life. Just as soon as the thought was in his head it left, and he fainted again.

The next thing Link was aware of was something being pressed to his mouth and a woman's voice commanding him to drink. A cup. Somebody was holding a cup to his mouth, helping him sit up by putting a hand to his back. He did as he was told, no resistance in him anymore, and even though it was overly sweet he didn't cough or gag like he had for the last thing he had been told to drink. There was a strange coppery aftertaste, almost like he had blood in his mouth, and he was laid back down on something soft. A bed? He had no idea where he was.

Time passed but he wasn't sure how much, only that as he lay there, his body started to feel strange. It felt as if he was floating in the air, his limbs having no weight, his head full of dandelion fluff. Everything was black, which wasn't right. Was it dark? He opened his eyes, and realized that's why he had been unable to see. There were wood and stone panels above him on the ceiling. They were familiar...was he in his room in Hida's fortress? He shouldn't be here; Sumati had said he needed to be in Gerudo City. Why was that?

The ceiling began to undulate as if seen through ripples on a lake, and started to run with opalescent colors that swum and mixed like ink swirling in a glass of water. It confused him, since he wasn't sure how or why that was above him, and he felt panic begin to build in his chest. The colors twisted and contorted into faces with their eyes empty and mouths agape, just like the dead that were in the Arbiter's Grounds, like in Kasuto, the faces melting like hot wax and reforming.

It terrified him and he screamed. Somebody said something nearby, but all he could do is stare at the horrifying sight above him and let loose another hoarse scream. "No! Get away!" he cried, unable to move, unable to escape the multicolored faces that stared at him with their empty eye sockets. "Help me!" he begged, needing someone to take him away from the horror and make him feel safe. "Help! Mother, help me!" He clung to the blanket, hoping that his mother would come take him from this terrible place. Then he remembered she was dead, killed by an arrow as they fled Kasuto. He remembered her gurgling breath as her lungs slowly filled with blood, spending her final hours in a bed unable to speak, and he began to weep. "No, she can't. She's gone. Gone…" he moaned tearfully, shutting his eyes to block out the faces above him and the pain in his heart over losing his mother. He began to sob, his mind overwhelmed by it all.

Somebody touched his head and he opened his eyes to look to his right. Someone was there with him, a woman with long orange hair and red eyes. She had reached a hand out and was gently touching his hair, smoothing it back from his face. Was she trying to comfort him? He didn't recognize her. Was she a Gerudo? No...there was something different about her. Gerudo had brown skin, and this woman's was an odd pale gray color. Her face was concerned, and her mouth moved as if she spoke to him, but he couldn't make out the words.

He blinked a few tears away and looked into her red eyes, confused. "Who are you?" If she answered him, he never heard it; he tumbled back towards blackness again, and this time was surrounded by the darkness of a dreamless sleep.


Rolling white fog swirled around his legs as he stood on an endless field, sparkling starry sky far above him. This place was familiar, and the first thing that made sense to him in a while. He was dreaming, and he had come to the place where he could communicate with his ancestor. Link looked around, trying to spot the armored skeleton, and saw a figure standing there.

Ever so briefly he saw the shade in his golden armor, but then that image was gone and replaced with another. Standing there was a man in his mid-thirties, a scar running along the right side of his face and over a closed eyelid. His honey-blonde hair and beard were close-cut, and he wore a knight's clothing: blue padded gambeson, leather vambraces, a chain shirt and tabard with a rearing black horse on a blue background.

The man stared at him with one sapphire blue eye, an eye that was exactly the same as his own eyes when they looked back at him in the mirror. The knight had the exact same face, only about fifteen years older. It was the same face, yet it was different; the lines and the set of the man's jaw seemed to be harsher, as if he didn't laugh very often. As if his life had been difficult.

"You are hovering somewhere between life and death." the man said, not in the hollow tones Link was used to, but in an ordinary male voice. A voice that sounded very similar to his own. "I believe the thing that is keeping you tethered to the world of the living is Courage, protecting you once again."

Link looked down at his gloved hand and saw that the three triangles were glowing softly. It was protecting him, as the Triforce of Courage had been doing since he had first been brought into the Twilight. "I almost died…?" The thought was terrifying. He had experienced death through Lanayru's vision, and he feared feeling that way again. "But I'm not dead yet, am I? Not like you are." He lowered his hand and met the eye of the knight. "So this is what you look like. You don't look like my ancestor. You look like my twin."

The man gave a small smile and it completely changed his face. Before it had been gruff and hard, but now the knight looked even more like Link than before. "Yes, your own innate powers are very strong right now. The Gerudo have given you two medicines: one that makes you sleep so deeply that your heart slows, so the venom will not spread as fast. The other is one that can cure the poison in your veins, but it causes visions and strange sensations. I believe that second medicine is what is magnifying your shadow magic and letting you use it to its true potential."

"Visions? No wonder I saw some things that were frightening." He shivered, remembering the twisting, multi-color faces that gaped down at him. Throughout it all, that was the thing he remembered the most. The woman he saw in the room was probably a hallucination just like the faces and the strange feeling of weightlessness. "If my shadow magic was working, why did I hallucinate?"

"I am not an expert of magic, but I surmise it is due to the fact that the things you saw were created by your own mind. The spell to see the truth of things cannot see through the lies created by the caster-" The man walked up to him and tapped at Link's forehead with one finger. His touch was cold. "—in here. You cannot magic your own mind."

"Great. I guess I'll try not to hallucinate again."

The knight smiled slightly at that remark. "It is interesting to see you use that spell all on your own. I had no such magic, but what I did have was a relic that let its bearer use the exact same spell. It was a Sheikah relic, and now your own Sheikah blood has given you an affinity for shadow magic. You certainly did not get it from my bloodline."

Bloodlines. Now was the time to broach the subject, although he knew the answer to his question before he had ever asked it. "You're more than just my ancestor." He crossed his arms and looked at the man intently. "You were the child hero that warned the royal family about Ganondorf, weren't you? You're the previous Link."

The man met his stare, looking hesitant for a moment. Then he gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "You don't need a spell to see the truth, do you?" He held up his left hand to show off the mark of three triangles there. "What clued you in? This, or my face?"

"Both. I didn't know anything about the cycle of reincarnation at the time, but I had guessed that the previous hero would have a face like mine. After seeing your face, and hearing you talk about the Triforce in that wonderfully cryptic way of yours, I started to get a hunch." He pointed to the man's left hand, where the mark stood out against pale skin. "When I saw the mark on your hand, I knew. The Master Sword confirmed it for me when I asked."

The previous Link gestured at himself. "My spirit doesn't actually look like this, you know. I really am the skeletal spirit, cursed to remain due to my regrets. Your own abilities are what let you see how I looked when I was alive. And what you can see is yourself, but older." He grinned, showing far more emotion now than he had before. He now felt far more informal and human. "How does it feel to see what you'll look like in about fifteen years?"

"Well, I figured out that I should never grow a beard." Link said wryly.

The previous hero's grin faded. "What's wrong with my beard?"

"Everything."

The knight burst out laughing, a more genuine laugh. It was strange; even though the man's voice sounded like Link's, the way he laughed was completely different. The two of them had the same soul and the same bodies, yet being raised in different places surrounded by different people had also made their behavior different. "At least it's better than that sloppy haircut of yours."

Link chuckled and gave a light shrug. "I won't deny that I need a better haircut." He still had questions, as interesting as bantering with his previous self was. "Can you tell me why no one remembers you for anything other than what you did as a child? The Master Sword told me something about you traveling through time, and that making it so nobody knew about the things you had done."

The previous Link let out a long sigh and crossed his arms, raising his face to look at the stars above. "No one else knows, not even the Sages...only the Master Sword. It remembers because it was there. I know that it speaks to you often, which is odd because it never spoke to me much. I think it tried, but I guess our minds didn't fit together well." His one-eyed stare grew distant as he gazed at the overly-bright rendition of the Star River above. "You must understand the nature of the Master Sword; it is many things, including a key to time. It was what enabled me to travel through time, and to grow into the adult I needed to be in order to accomplish my task. All that I had done as a young man your age was lost once I returned to the past, to my childhood, and to the time before Ganondorf invaded. I used the information I had learned as an adult to change the outcome of history."

The knight lowered his eye from the stars and stared at the horizon, where hazy white met starry blue-black. "No one remembers, but I went through a journey much like your own. I used that same bow, the same sword, wore the same clothes given to me in the Sacred Realm. I had a companion as you do, a fairy instead of a cursed Twili, but a friend I could rely on." His voice grew soft. "At times, she felt like my only friend. She traveled through time with me, and knew of everything I had done. And just like that, she left me. I never understood why."

The shade looked down at his bony hands, a skeletal wraith in worn golden armor again. How he managed to break through the shadow magic momentarily was a mystery to Link. "I searched for her, for the one person that could validate everything I had done as a hero. For the one person who knew me for who I really was. Unfortunately, I entered a place that I should not have gone while searching for something I could never find...and I died from it." He clenched his hands into fists and looked up at Link, a man again. "You should learn from my hubris. My desire to be known as the hero I truly was led to my downfall. Don't be like me. Don't abandon what happiness you've found in the name of chasing something that you know you can no longer have. You are the Hero of Hyrule, but once this is over you will be Link of Lon, just as I was, whether you regain our family's place in the knighthood or not. Live your life as a human and not as a hero. Live, because you are only given one life, and you should not waste it."

The man that was the previous Hero of Hyrule, the man that shared the same face and the same name smiled at him. "That is my lesson for you this time, my grandson. I wish for you to not make the same mistakes that I did." The scene did not grow white as it usually did, but faded to black. "Rest now. I will continue to watch over you." the knight's voice said as Link slipped into a deep, healing sleep.


He roused some time later, his entire body resonating with a dull ache, and he still felt tired. It was not true wakefulness, since only his ears seemed to wake up. The rest of his body seemed to still be asleep, and he was unable to move it. There were voices speaking quietly next to him, and he began to listen to their discussion.

"You need to tell me your intentions." Midna's voice said. "I like you, Auren. I really do. But I want you to understand that what the two of us are doing is far more important than anything else."

"I don't mean to get in your way, if that's what you're implying." the Gerudo said. It sounded like she was sitting directly to his right. "I understand that he's a very important person, which is why I wanted to follow behind him and not lead. That's why all of us who had any sense stayed out of his way."

"Uh-huh." the Twili sounded doubtful. "You say that, but he spent more time worrying about you than himself in the Arbiter's Grounds."

"That wasn't planned, all right? I hate how frightened I was. I was weak and I realize that I need to work on controlling my fear." She gave a sour grunt. "But he tried to help me because I think that's who he is. I had only known him a day, and yet he still cared about my well-being."

"You're right, that is how Link is. I don't think he has it in him to see somebody in trouble and ignore it. He's really caring." It was strange to hear Midna speak of him that way. Not that she hadn't said anything like it before, but she spoke as if he wasn't in the room. She probably figured he was still asleep.

"That's one of the reasons I want to be his friend, and probably why the other warriors want to be his friend. Sure, there are still some women who are after him even though my mother made a rule about it, but women like myself and Sumati aren't like them." Auren paused for a second. "What?" she asked, as if Midna was doing something, or perhaps implying something.

"Aren't you?" the imp asked, her voice critical. "You say one thing, but do another. You're not as forward as the others around here, but you aren't as different as you claim to be."

"No, that's not it. I'm not-"

"I've been watching you when you're near him." Midna spoke over her sternly, causing the other woman to fall silent. "You two pretend to flirt, and I've seen him act that way with other female friends of his, but it's not entirely a joke on your part, is it? I can tell. It's your eyes. I know that look you get when he smiles, or says something flattering without meaning to. You say you're following him because you're impressed with the way he fights, but what I'm seeing is a woman following a man around to simply be near him."

The Gerudo's breathing became louder, almost in gasps. She didn't say anything.

"Talk to me, Auren. It's all right. I'm not judging you, only trying to help you." Midna said gently.

"I don't understand it." Auren said in a strained voice, her frustration clear. "I've only known him for days. This isn't how it's supposed to happen. I'm not one of these lonely idiots that pounce on the first man they see." She made another gasping sound, her voice heavy with tears. "I only wanted to be his friend. Please believe me when I say that. I didn't want this to happen."

Midna clicked her tongue and her voice moved closer to where Auren was. "I'm glad you can admit it, even if it hurts you. It can be a hard thing to deal with, for one person to suddenly fall for another like that. Even harder when that other person is out of reach. Like I said, we're doing something important. While the two of us may have time to make friends, Link and I can't stop for anything beyond that. What we're doing is far more important than our personal lives."

"I understand that. I don't mean to get in your way but…" the Gerudo sniffled. "I can't help it, and I don't get why. Shad was also very attractive, and kind and smart...all the things Link is. I didn't react that way to him at all, and we became friends and nothing more. It's just so...frustrating that it's different with Link." She gave a small sigh, sounding tired. "When he smiles, I feel my chest go all warm. I want to talk to him because he's funny, and something about his voice gives me goosebumps...especially when he sings. I made fun of him for singing to Epona, but his voice is as beautiful as his face. There are so many things that draw me to him, even though I keep fighting it."

"He has that effect on people. He's very charismatic, although he didn't want to believe it at first. The poor guy was stuck in a little house on the edge of the town he lived in, kind of isolated. He had no clue what his eyes or his voice do to people. Now he understands, and I think this trip to the desert made him very aware of how he affects women."

"Does that mean he knows?" Auren sounded worried about it.

"About you?" Midna gave a small snort. "Of course. He might play dumb, but Link's pretty smart. He told me he was going to ignore it, because he didn't want to risk losing a friendship he just found. I know that he likes you, just not in the way you would hope for."

"At least he likes me." The Gerudo sighed softly, and her voice sounded like it was a bit closer, like she was leaning in towards where he lay on the bed. "But look at him. You spend all of your time with him, and I know that cursed form of yours didn't stop you from being human inside. After talking about how he looks and how he affects people around him, how are you not drawn to him as well? How can you be with him all the time and not feel the same way I do?"

Midna laughed. "I have self-control and discipline. It has something to do with my upbringing, since my father was a very practical, logical man. Of course I can see all the things that make him appealing. I'm not blind, you know." It sounded as if she was smiling. "He's kind, gentle and has an innocence about him that makes me want to protect him. And yes, he is very attractive. Falling for him would be rather easy, if I permitted myself to be selfish like that. It's just that I understand that we're from two different worlds. I'm a Twili from a world of shadow, and he's a Hylian from this world of light. Such a relationship wouldn't work."

"I feel sorry for you."

The Twili sounded a bit confused. "Why? Because I'm only the good friend of the most wonderful person I've ever met, instead of in a romantic relationship with him? That's nothing to pity. Besides, even if I felt like you did, and if I wasn't stuck in this damn body of mine, I'd still back off because there's somebody he has strong feelings for. She's a childhood friend of his, and what grew between them happened naturally over a few years, so it's the real thing. I know that once everything is done with Zant, Ganondorf and the invasion, he'll go to her. The way he looks at her is the way you've been looking at him."

Auren's breath caught in her throat. "He has someone? He never said-" There was the sound of a wooden chair scraping on the stone floor next to the bed as she stood suddenly. "I...I think I should go wash my face. Excuse me." she said, her voice tightening. There were hurried footsteps as she fled the room, and a small choked sob as she shut the door behind her.

He lay there, hearing all of this, not sure what to make of it all. His mind was far clearer than it had been since getting poisoned by the Lanmola, but even then he was still half-asleep and having difficulty processing everything he had just heard the two women discussing. It was surreal to listen to them talk about him that way, but he had known how Auren felt. He also didn't want to hurt her, and Midna had stepped up to take that fall for him. She had told Auren about Ilia, something that he hadn't planned on doing. Something he didn't want to talk about.

Midna sighed softly after Auren left, and without seeing her face he had no idea how she felt about the other woman's reaction. He could sense her coming to his bedside even though his eyes were shut, and he felt her push his hair back from his face. "Look at you, causing all this trouble. You're worth it, though." Her small hand began to smooth back his hair as she always did, and the sensation lulled him back to sleep. He barely heard her soft voice as he drifted off. "It would be rather easy, wouldn't it? You sweet boy."


Author's Note: Now five more chapters have passed, and I'm going to ask if you need to take a break. Do you need to take a break, reader? Have you been binging? Get up and stretch and move around, okay? Take care of yourself.

And if you've been keeping track of how this story matches up with The Hero's Journey, this section is the Death/Fall/Underworld part.