Ugh, stress, stress, and more stress... Midna trailed behind the tall—she was not that tall—redhead into the inn, leaving poor Zach to his fate. Once safely ensconced in the shelter of the inn, Midna popped out of the redhead's shadow and hesitated for a moment before removing her helmet. Sorry, Orochi, but I don't wanna risk anyone touching you and becoming a monster or something.

No reply, but she did not need one. That giant plant existed because it had come into contact with just a fragment of the Fused Shadow... at least, that was the theory Midna had formulated. Even so, best not leave it to chance with the children wandering around. The little toddler creeped her out enough with his suspicious, knowing eyes, and the girl with pouty lips would not stop glaring.

"..." Curse it all, Zach was rubbing off on her. "Boo."

The young girl squeaked and scurried behind the tall-ish woman. The other girl, the one who seemed like the shaman's daughter, nodded at Midna with a smile. Words came out of the redhead's mouth but it was all just gibberish to Midna's glowing ears. Fortunately, her father had decided to teach her how to communicate without speaking for just such an occasion.

Midna tapped her thumb against her lips and shook her head. The redhead stared, blinked, and then nodded. In her hand was a simple tan cloth, probably a blanket, decorated with tassels and blue imagery. She held it out for Midna to take with a kind smile on her face.

With a bow of the head, Midna accepted the gift and held it up. There was a hole in the center of the cloth, not unlike the cloaks she herself wore in the Twilight Realm. How fortuitous that fashion seemed to translate across dimensions. Slipping her head through the center hole, Midna hummed appreciatively at the soft fabric. It lacked a hood, true, but it was a lovely start, especially since it covered her entire body... more than likely, the item was made for someone larger than Midna's current stature.

"Thank you," she said as she sat at a table away from the children. While the words themselves would be lost on the innkeeper, the intention was the same. Stuck in a foreign world with people who spoke a different tongue, it was well within Midna's interests to be polite... even if she had to endure the insufferable stares of the paranoid, like that man in the metal mask with his belly hanging out.

A metalworker, he seemed, and from his lack of injuries and scars he was either very skilled or very inexperienced. Then again, Zach was a buffoon at combat and had yet to suffer any lasting trauma. If Midna had not seen his broken nose for herself, she would never have known it even happened after he healed himself. They were both lucky, then.

Thinking about it now, Zach's behavior during the skirmish was rather unlike him. Midna had grown accustomed to his simmering temper, so to see him so cold and calculated... That look in his eye, filled with blood and hate, was a look she had seen before.

In Zant.

A shudder rolled up her spine. That same look of utter hatred was in Zant's eye as much as it was in Zach's. And the Goddesses chose him to bear the burden of Hero?

Whatever. He was a means to an end, like the rest of them. Midna could see things worth saving, she could admit that Hyrule had its own charm, but it was not her realm. It was not home, and more importantly, it was not under the subjugation of an insane tyrant. Even now, the children staring at her had no idea of just what utter hell she had been through already.

The sooner she recovered the Fused Shadow, the sooner she could take down Zant and free her people, and apparently the next step to that goal was to calm down the rock-like people on the mountain. To do that, Zach would need an item all the way back in the village from which they had taken his sword and shield. To do that, they would need to journey another week through Hyrule to get to the village and then yet another week to get back...

However, the horse that had entered into town would easily halve the time, even counting how long it would take to teach Zach how to ride. It was not like Midna would have to go into the complex things such as galloping and proper training, except that with how vast Hyrule was and the fact that interruptions such as the Lizalfos horde could happen, she may indeed have to teach the complicated things.

Well, there was one technique Midna had learned that would be able to share her knowledge with him, however not only had she never attempted it before but it was a very personal matter to share one's mind with another. Midna did open a connection so they could communicate, and it was a derivation of the same ritual she was currently contemplating, and she had allowed him to see through her eyes...

No. Even with all those points, Midna had no experience with the technique itself. One error could render them catatonic or even kill them. If Midna at least had the spell in front of her; but then again, if she had a lot of things in front of her, she would not be as stressed.

Sighing, Midna rubbed her temples. She hardly noticed a bowl of soup beneath her nose until the aroma wafted up her nostrils. She blinked up at the kind redhead, offered a smile in thanks, and dug in. Ah, to have actual food again! Her bowl was empty before she knew it but it left her satisfied.

She snapped her fingers to summon the map she had found in Zach's satchel and set it flat on the table. He had said the Fused Shadow was further up the mountain, and so Midna scribbled a circle around the so-called 'Death Mountain' with some old black lipstick.

Hyrule was certainly much larger than Midna anticipated, almost as vast as the Twilight Realm and just as varied. Truth be told, she had yet to explore anywhere outside the palace and the nearest residential area, but the maps in her own realm were large and detailed.

… There was more water here than in her own realm. The lake Midna passed on her first night was just west of the main field in which she and Zach had ventured, and it seemed to be from a source farther north. The great desert mesa was farther west but all that contained was the Mirror of Twilight, so Midna marked that as their final destination.

The redhead said something to the children. Midna looked over and saw how pale they were. Tightened pupils, shaky hands, a seeming refusal to eat...

Considering they were right in the middle of a battle with Zach and Midna trying to fend off the Lizalfos, Midna conceded that they had a right to be scared out of their wits. They had been kidnapped earlier as well, as Zach had mentioned long before.

Long... It has been a long time since she came to Hyrule. It felt like it, at least. How long exactly? She had fled to Hyrule, hid in the wilderness for a few days, and then met Zach in Hyrule Castle, and then spent a few days in the forest before journeying a week across Hyrule and then arriving to the mountain region.

So, almost two weeks. It felt like two years but at least they were that much closer to the next Fused Shadow. They would be delayed by another week to get whatever was in the village, unless Midna took the initiative and use the portals to go herself. She could do that, and fairly easily, but...

Actually, there was no 'but'. It really was a simple matter after all, she just had to find the Mayor's house and the item contained therein and come back. Maybe Zach was counting on her coming to that conclusion...?

Whatever the case, it was a simple matter. Once he was finished with his talk, Midna would ask him about the item and go fetch it—ugh, she was fetching—for him. How was that talk going, anyway?

I kept my head down as I followed Renado inside. The ReDead was gone, only a rotten outline of its corpse remained. The room still stank of decay, enough that I almost wished my nose was still broken.

Renado walked past the entrance to the cellar, past the statue surrounded by three small bowls with lit candles... all the way to the door on the other side of the room.

"Uh, what about that talk?" I asked, following him until he raised a hand.

With a shake of his head, he opened the door. "Not with me, young man. Not with me."

There I was, alone in the shack with nothing but myself and those three candles. If Renado wasn't the one I was going to talk to, then who...?

"Alright, I can take a hint," said I. "Three candles and me by myself, come on." Nothing happened. "... Hello?" When no answer came, I turned on my heel and barged through the door...

And fell into an abyss.

The air turned cold, even freezing, and whispers echoed around me.

"This isn't a game!" Midna?

"Are you a hero or aren't you?" … Ilia?

"You must purge the darkness within." I didn't recognize the voice. It sounded metallic.

The ground found me first. I landed hard on my stomach but nothing broke. Smoke choked the air around me, and a dim light cast a spotlight from above. Beyond the light was pure suffocating darkness and all I heard was the sound of my own breathing.

PSSHHT!

I knew that sound... that was the sound of an energy sword igniting! I whirled around and then ducked as a beam of blue-white light sliced the air where my head was. The shape of the blade matched with a Halo energy sword, but it came from the hilt of some kind of fake Master Sword, wingless and grey.

The hand holding the sword was armored in dark green, as was the rest of the warrior except for their helmet. Their helmet had no eye slots, just a black bar of technology. The warrior slashed again, and I stumbled against something behind me.

I turned and saw the Master Sword in its pedestal, shimmering in the spotlight. My hand gripped the handle, a warm tingle ran through my body, and I tugged.

And tugged.

And tugged some more.

The Master Sword stayed right where it was. The spotlight vanished, and I was left with the energy sword as my only light. The warrior thrust his weapon, and just before it struck between my eyes, he froze.

The ground rumbled, cracked, buckled. My foot slipped and I fell, fell, fell. The world spun around me, and more voices... more voices...

"We took you in!" … Rusl?

"Was it worth your pride?" I didn't recognize this one either, but it sounded feminine.

"You are not WORTHY!" I recognized that voice... it was mine.

I landed on a bed of grass, charred and burnt. I was in Kakariko again but the sky was filled with the color of blood, casting everything in a dim red light. Someone screamed, and I saw Talo run from the inn. I ran, and ran, and ran, but he was gone from me.

"Midna?" I called. I felt her presence but she didn't respond. "Midna, where are you? I think I'm having a really bad trip!" I turned around and froze when I saw Midna standing before me. She was in her true form, but her skin was even paler and her eyes were empty of their usual light. In the center of her chest was a gaping wound, and dark red blood dribbled down her body. I ran to her, caught her, and held her in my lap. "Midna...! Midna, what..."

"..." A ghostly white hand stroked my cheek. "You... You are..." Her eyes opened, and I will not speak of what I saw in them. "You are a monster..." Twilit particles rippled from her skin, taking bits of her with them. Bit by bit, the wind carried her away in a cloud of ash and dust.

A door opened nearby. I ran for it, heart racing and mind fuming. I was in Ordon Village again, and the door belonged to the house of Mayor Bo. The village adults ran from within, and I halted in my tracks.

"The boy is unstable!" said they once upon a time. My hands curled into fists. The villagers spotted me, and they screamed silently. "No one 'blessed by the Goddesses' would have a lazy eye!" The air grew hot, scalding, and the villagers cowered before me. "And did you notice how pale and twitchy he was?" A hand, mine yet not mine, raised up. A cold, burning darkness bloomed in my palm. The villagers went to their knees. They begged and pleaded, even as their skin turned to dust.

"Surely that's a sign of evil!"

Like emerging from the bottom of a lake, I gasped and gulped for air. My skin, it was itchy, it felt like someone was dragging rusty nails down my arms. Every breath came out in a clenched wheeze.

"I'm not evil..." I rolled onto my back, and stared up into the void. "I am not... I am not evil..."A ray of light shined from somewhere, gold and inviting. I sat up and turned to the source of the light.

A great tree stood before me. It was as tall and wide as the Great Deku Tree, but the bark was irregular—smooth in some spots, gnarled in the rest. The branches stood out at odd angles and carried leaves of pure forest green... but what dripped from them was not dew or sap. Drops of red, smelling of copper.

The light itself came from a tiny gap in the bark, just big enough for me to fit my hand if I so chose. I felt warm drops fall onto my hair and shoulders. I shuddered and wiped my face, then knew I just smeared blood all over it. I walked up to the gap, leaned in to see inside.

"You are not ready for that," said a familiar voice. I turned, and there stood Nayru herself. "Does this surprise you?"

"I..." I cleared my throat. "I was expecting the whole family, not just you."

Nayru towered over me, settled a warm hand on my shoulder, and led me away from the tree. "My family is more than Din and Farore. I have sisters, brothers, children in all that hold hope and wisdom in their hearts." I groaned. "I understand that you are not one for, as you would say, sentimental crap like hope, but heed my words.

"You are one man, young Zach, but your actions affect everyone and everything around you. The choices you make can have greater repercussions than you realize, some so great that they ripple across time itself." With a wave of her hand, the darkness cleared. It was Earth on which I stood then, with skyscrapers standing tall in the distance. "Every choice leads to more choices, so many that it is impossible to explore them all in your lifetime or mine. Do you truly believe you are the only you in Existence?"

A flash of light, and a mushroom cloud boomed over the city. The sky turned fiery orange and the buildings flattened to dust. Other light flashes blossomed across the horizon. "Welcome to the year 2025, where Earth and its people meet their ultimate demise at your hands."

I gawked at her. "Me? That's ridiculous, I couldn't set off a firecracker, much less a nuclear bomb!"

"You are surprised at this?" Nayru asked, one sapphire eyebrow raised. "With the pure hatred brewing in your soul, you do not think yourself capable of genocide? Oh yes, I see it, Zach. I see the rage, the hatred, the sheer bloodthirst that drives you to that end."

"..." I looked back at the city, now a charred skeleton of its former self. The air stank of radiation and death. "I..."

Nayru sighed. "I understand. You would rather delude yourself than admit you are a flawed human being."

"Hey, I can admit I have flaws!"

"Just not the ones that would drive others away."

"..."

Nayru closed her eyes. "You are a vain, prideful man. That in itself is not a condemnation, but combined with your anger and jealous devotion to what you deem 'worthy'... Is it any wonder that you are the villain of this story?"

My fists clenched and unclenched. "So what happened here? Is this the future you're trying to stop?"

"One of several." She snapped her fingers, and I saw myself twelve years older. My skin was gaunt, pale, and covered in stubble. I wore an officer's uniform, blood spattered in various places, and a dented metal rod clutched in one hand. "In an infinite multiverse, there are inevitably realms in which you do not exist. As such, the number of realms that contain you are very few, and they change as time goes on. Some vanish into nothing, others are created in an instant. This Zach is the absolute original, the one who would have happened had I not intervened.

"Your insanity and general dislike of humanity would grow until you decided that the only way to truly be rid of the nuisances of prejudice and hatred is to destroy Humanity itself. Your first target was the high school in which you first developed your murderous urges. You planned it well, as you waited for your high school reunion to ensure your petty grudges would be resolved."

My brow furrowed. "I—"

"I very much hope you are not about to justify setting off a nuclear device on a high school."

"..."

Nayru's jaw clenched. "I had hoped your journey in Hyrule would absolve you of such tendencies, but I was mistaken. You became a greater threat than if you had remained on Earth, you became more evil and more corrupt than even Ganondorf... you became the End of All Things."

"Ominous."

"And rather pretentious, you chose the title yourself."

"... Yeah, that sounds like me."

Nayru sat down on an irradiated stone. "With my decision to bring you to Hyrule, the original time has since been erased from possibility. My wish to spare Earth was granted, at the cost of all else." A single tear ran down her golden cheek. "It is true that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I only wanted to save Earth and break the cycle of the Triforce, and in doing so I brought about the wrath of Zatam."

I slowly sat beside her. My eyes never left hers, and another tear fell. "I... He... Zatam, the End of All Things..."

"He would have collapsed all of reality but for my last desperate attempt to repair the damage I had done." Nayru held up one hand, a golden orb held in her slender fingers. "I sealed him in the gap between dimensions, where time and space meant nothing. I knew it would not hold him forever, and as time cannot truly be altered, I repeated my mistake and brought you to Hyrule. Third time is the charm, I suppose."

"So... now what do I do?"

Nayru drew in a deep breath and crushed the orb in her grip. "Now, you are free to do however you please. That is the blessed curse of free will; you know now that your psyche is damaged, and that your current path is destined to end in death and suffering. It is your choice whether to change your fate and the fate of others."

"Why do you believe in me still?" I licked my lips, swallowed the lump in my throat. "What was worth saving me for, or is there nothing actually worthwhile about me?"

"..." Nayru snapped her fingers. The view changed from an apocalyptic wasteland to... Midna and I sitting near a fire. Midna was smiling, laughing, and so was I. "You have a divine spark, Zach. You can bring the light of joy and laughter to others, you can inspire hope in them. Yours is a mind in grotesque balance; for all your hatred, you love seeing others smile. You enjoy making others happy, but your stubborn pride prevents you from lightening the spirits of those who have wronged you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're saying it's because I have a good sense of humor? That's why I'm the hero? Because I'm funny?"

"You are more than funny, Zach." The scene expanded to show Midna on the brink of tears. I held her close and she wept into my shirt. "You have compassion, bravery, and empathy. You would be a true hero but for your darker side. That is why I am here now, as I failed to do so previously. I believe in you, and I believe in your capacity for good. If I saw nothing worth saving, I would have killed your terrorist self and thought nothing more of it. If you could go back in time, would you kill the Joker before he became the Joker?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Um... it depends on which version of him has an established history but basically, no. I wouldn't kill him before he becomes the Joker, I'd try to either get him arrested if he's a killer or get him help if he's just had a bad day."

"Exactly. Such mercy despite knowing the Joker's capabilities."

I shrugged. "He's just a fictional character, it's not like it..." My eyes closed, and I nodded. "He's an actual person, you told me that before."

"Indeed. You would save him, but you do not see yourself worthy of salvation?" The Goddess of Wisdom leaned down and kissed my temple. "You will find your worth in time, Zach, but first you know you will have to do something that will hurt your friendship with Midna."

I sighed. "I know. I have to tell her about the... well, you know..."

"Midna's Desperate Hour."

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