Kyou's War - Part 1


-1 year later-

-Temple of Trinity-

Impa entered into the temple. She saw Zelda at the far end in prayer. Impa shut the door quietly and dropped to her knees.

"You called for me, Princess?"

Zelda continued her prayer in silence. Impa did not say anything further, content that her presence was recognized and that Zelda would talk when she was ready, even if it took all night.

Thankfully it did not. Zelda rose and walked to her. "Impa, it is just us. There is no need to be so formal."

"You know I insist upon it, though."

Zelda sighed but still smiled in mirth. She found the formality with the woman distasteful, but it was necessary as a monarch. "I have received a vision from the Goddesses," Zelda started. "In it, I saw the land of Hyrule. The Goddesses rose and laid their robes from the west to the east. Standing at the top of the nation were the Goddesses, and before them were three people. The Goddesses each touched one of the people and said 'you are my champion'. The first champion I recognized as myself. The other two, I did not recognize. I have my thoughts on this dream, but do you have any insight?"

"I think it is beyond me to comment on the will of the goddesses."

"Hm," Zelda hummed. "And what of my half-brother and chancellor Ketsu?"

"Prince Kyou has not yet returned from his trip. Chancellor Ketsu is quiet, but several of his rivals... and your supporters are disappearing. Two were found dead in their homes last night and another five are missing."

"That makes ten now. Ketsu is becoming bold." Zelda murmured.

Chancellor Ryo was her supporter in court while Chancellor Ketsu supported Prince Kyou. It may look even, but Ryo was a far stronger faction holder than Ketsu, and Kyou was no longer the legitimate heir. A kind of truce rose twelve months ago, but Ryo left one month ago to personally take charge of a long term project. Ryo's absence left Zelda exposed.

Zelda continued, "We best prepare for the worst... without Ryo, what protections can I rely on?"

"At present... there are no armies or generals near the capital I believe would side with you. General Ouki is near, but he is not the type to take sides. The nearest general who would offer you protection is to the west."

Zelda sighed. That did not bode well. Most armies would be stationed near the border. The palace army was the royal guard, but a thousand elites wouldn't be enough against a real army.

"How long before we can expect Ketsu or Kyou to move against me?" Zelda wondered.

"Depends on how long before the council gets wind of the disappearances. Once your supporters learn they are being killed, they will flee from you. Because the fact is..." Impa hesitated. "You cannot protect them."

"I have the power."

"May I speak openly, Princess?"

"Always. It is just us."

"You do not have the power. The power of a monarch is in her assets, and you have no one you can truly call your own."

"Except you."

"Except me." Impa agreed. "The fact is that despite how all of Qin swears allegiance to you, this is a weak allegiance. In a civil war, the people will side with Ryo or Ketsu or Kyou, not you. You have been High Princess only a year, a very short time, and you have been safely kept behind closed doors with teachers. Your presence and achievements are... non-existent thus far. A monarch is only as strong as those who will follow against all others."

Zelda sighed. Impa was right. Zelda had no assets here. She had no power here. And were she honest with herself, she didn't dare to stand on her own two feet. She had only been immersed in the world of politics for a year.

She was afraid.

"I am sure in your wisdom, you will-"

"Wisdom." Zelda chuckled darkly. "If I were so wise, we would already have prepared for this eventuality. You saw how my half-brother looked at me when we first met. I should have predicted from the beginning he would retaliate."

"Being wise doesn't mean you are all-knowing or that you don't make mistakes..." Impa whispered gently. "It means you learn from them."

It was a comforting thought but left her with nothing to work from. They stood in silence for a time as Zelda considered what to do. "I can't stay and endanger the capital to a siege. Nor can I leave and make me out to be a coward. It would only validate him."

"But is it worth your life? If your intentions truly are to avoid civil war at the capital, then allow your court to assure that the image is made. It doesn't matter what your half-brother wants to make you out to be. So long as you win, we can turn the people to your side. No matter how you do it."

Zelda looked at her confused. Impa explained, "It is something you will learn, but the saying is 'the victor is justice, and the winner makes history'."

Zelda mouthed the phrase and put it in the back of her mind to consider later. She saw the potential in it.

"Very well." Zelda conceded. "But I will not leave until I have to. If the threat is false, then it will all have been for nothing. I want you to go west and find a place where I can hide. Anything will do."

-Village of Jouto, Western Qin-

Link threw his pack on the cart. He stopped and leaned against the side of it, panting for breath. Sweat poured down his back. His legs wobbled. His arms ached. His vision phased in and out. His hair fell in curtains around his face. He was filthy, bruised, and covered in cuts.

He was tired.

"That. Sucked." He croaked out.

His companion, Midna rolled her eyes from her perch on the cart. "You're the one who insisted on running uphill through the woods. Don't cry to us about it now."

Their other companions, a pair of teenage brothers and two older men, also agreed. "Are you an idiot or something?"

"The training will pay off. Just you wait." Link flashed them a confident smile. Or at least half of one. He was too tired after running all day carrying a hundred-pound load to be expressive.

"Training? For what?" One of the older men asked. The group of youngsters was assisting merchants from a neighboring city.

The brothers sighed. The younger one explained, "Shorty thinks he's going to be a great general one day."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING 'SHORTY'?" Link barked.

"You are short, dumbass!"

"Yeah, well, you're a bucktooth, dumbass!"

The argument devolved into blows and them rolling in the dirt. It left everyone wondering just where the realms Link got his inexhaustible energy from. It didn't end until Midna stepped in and knocked them both out. She grumbled under her breath as she picked up both and dumped them on the carriage. The men collectively took one giant step away.

"Great general?" The oldest man wondered. "But... he's a slave. Slaves can't be generals. They can't even join the army to get the chance." He looked to Midna. "Doesn't he realize this?"

"He does. He's just determined." She looked at him sympathetically. "He'll find a way."

The older brother grunted. "More like wasting his life away... his lot in life is set. He should find a nice girl who can accept a slave, or be given one by your master, and find his happiness in the simple life. We can eat two good meals a day, and all we have to fear are pigeons. It's a good life. If he keeps chasing an impossible dream he may wake up to find the life he has gone."

The men stared at him a moment. Midna smiled. His cheeks went a bit red at the smile. "Mighty deep thoughts. I never would have taken you for a philosopher."

The older brother chuckled nervously. The men collectively said, "You're just showing off for the lady aren't you?"

"SHUT UP!" The embarrassed brother yelled. Midna laughed.

The four teens lived at a plantation and regularly traded with the surrounding villages. They were happy. Not every mayor accepts orphans into his home as slaves and treats his slaves as well as his sons.

Link tended to break tools so he was left doing more muscle work. Midna loved helping with the farm animals. She had a calming influence on them. Link... did not. Between being swarmed by chickens, chased by goats, kicked by horses, clawed by cats, slapped by pond fish, and given the evil eye by cows when he tried milking them, it was decided he was simply not an animal person.

It was a difficult life on a farm. Dusk to dawn was work every day, but Midna was happy. She saw her future as being just what the older brother said was good: Being married off to a guy and having an uncomplicated life. Simple. She wanted to always have Link by her side and to see him live his dream; or for him to give up on it and have an easier dream. but damn if he wasn't determined!

Every break involved him practicing with makeshift swords. He'd fight and wrestle everyone who picked on him and push himself with ridicules challenges. One time the challenge was to wrestle a tree down. Midna could only facepalm at the time. With no shortage of peers playing jokes on him, there was never a fight not to be had and being his closest friend, she would naturally get dragged into it.

They returned to the plantation. The money was soon exchanged out as the merchants bought the next week's shipment beforehand. With nothing left to do that day, everyone returned home.

"Midna! Think fast!"

Midna barely turned in time to see a makeshift wooden sword fly for her face. She almost ducked in time. Almost. She fell on her back with an angry bruise on her scalp and curses on her lips.

Link had the dignity to look apologetic as she glared daggers at him.

Unbeknownst to the preteens, Impa was passing down the road leading to their plantation. When she heard the sound of battle, she looked out the curtain to see them fighting. Her breath caught at what she saw.

"Stop the carriage!" Immediately the driver pulled back on the reins.

Impa stepped out. Like she was in a dream drawn to a spectacle she descended the hill towards the youngsters. They continued with their battle without noticing her, and for a moment Impa could not help but wonder if they were truly trying to kill each other. They fought without restraint and with such speed, dexterity, and strength that they could kill a soldier twice their age.

As she neared, Midna caught sight of her and stopped the fight. Impa stopped. Her eyes were drawn to Midna's and for a very long moment, Impa could not believe what she was seeing. Then, as if blessed by the Goddess, she saw a plan form in her mind.

The moment was interrupted with all the grace of a cat in a china shop by Link. As he got in her face demanding what her problem was.

Panicking, Midna jumped him and choked him in a headlock. "You idiot! Look at her clothes! She's rich and probably from an esteemed house! She can have you killed!"

Impa raised an eyebrow as the girl choked the boy into submission. He struggled, far longer than necessary, but it was a losing battle. It just didn't seem to click with him until he was blue in the face.

"Okay! I'll be good! Uncle! Aunt! Uncle's Aunt! Let go!" Link pleaded. Midna dropped him face down in the dirt.

'That voice...' Impa thought. She asked, "What is your name?"

"I am-"

"Not you."

Link pouted. The young lady said, "My name is Midna. We are slaves at the local plantation."

Midna followed this up with a bow. She slammed her fist on Link's head to get him to bow his head, but he refused. He wasn't bowing his head to anybody!

"I see," Impa said mysteriously. She watched the youngsters a bit longer, letting her plan take form. Yes... it just might work. Her decision made, Impa walked back up the hill and entered her carriage. The driver set the horses back on a trot.

After the lady was gone, Midna grabbed Link by the shoulders and shook him like a ragdoll. "Do you have no sense of self-preservation?!"

"I don't want some outsider stalking you." He replied. "And she hasn't earned my respect. Why would I bow to some woman born with a silver spoon in her mouth?"

"Nice as it is for you to want to protect me, I already have everyone wanting to just be a seamstress because it is lady-like. I don't need this from you too."

He huffed in annoyance. But Midna's icy glare made him relent. "Fine, fine. I may have overstepped myself."

Midna sighed and looked on him more gently. "It's fine, I can't stay mad at you. Let's head home."

"Yeah." Link picked up their belongings and trotted behind her. "I still won, by the way." Midna rolled her eyes.

They returned to the village and threw their belongings in the small hut reserved for them. Midna stopped in the yard, as the carriage and horses drew her attention.

"Hm?" Link wondered. "Hey, don't those horses belong to the rich old lady?"

"I think so." Midna had a bad feeling about this.

"Oh, Farore," Link cursed. "She came here because of me!"

Midna felt for him. Despite his manners, he was a really good guy. He needed to learn to behave, but was punishment necessary? "Link, I'm sure it will be-"

"She saw how awesome I was and wants me!" Link decided.

Midna could only stare. For a long moment. "Okay, you know what? Forget comforting you. I hope she does come to complain."

"Huh? Why would she do that?"

"Gee! I wonder why!"

-Impa-

For one to understand what was about to transpire, one must see it from a different angle.

Impa had been on a self-imposed mission to find a place for Zelda to hide. Her immediate thought was a hut in the middle of nowhere, or to camp out in the woods with a few helpers; however, after what she had just witnessed in the teens, she was developing another plot.

It would require utmost secrecy and speed to accomplish but could ensure victory over Prince Kyou.

With that in mind, Impa entered the village and questioned who owned the slaves. Her search led her to the mayor's house. By Impa's standards, he was very poor, barely living above the household standards of a common man in a lesser city. Farmers and plantation owners had different standards than nobles. Standard most nobles think are beneath them, making this place invisible to their eyes.

Perfect.

"Welcome, Minister Impa." The man bowed low. His wife and sons and daughters did the same. They stumbled over themselves nervously, but Impa just smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Mayor," Impa said. She looked around the one-room house. Yes, it would do.

"May I ask what someone of such importance is doing in my humble home?" The man asked.

"My mission is not for you to know," She replied as she gazed around the building. She nodded to herself and returned her attention to him. "I was passing through, but I have come across something interesting, and I wished to talk with you about it."

"Of course! Ask, and your humble servant shall answer." The man said. He ushered the children away.

"It is about the slave I came across on my way here. She said her name was Midna."

"Yes, she is a slave in my household."

"Tell me about her. She has piqued my interest." Impa said simply.

The man hesitated, taken in surprise. "Are you sure this is the purpose of your visit? A slave?"

Impa nodded. "I understand it may seem inconsequential to you. You run a plantation, and I help oversee the country and have the heir's ear. What can one slave be compared to all that? Know that with what my position entails, I am not required to explain. Tell me about her. Did you buy her on the slave market? I will not punish you if you did."

In the meantime the man's wife busied herself preparing tea and shuffling through pantries for something special. The tea was nothing compared to what Impa was used to, but she took it graciously, and the buttered bread was probably a special thing they did only on rare occasions.

The man gulped and collected his thoughts. Impa allowed it while she sipped the drink.

In these times there were two forms of slavery. The first was welcoming into your home a person who could not live on their own, such as an immigrant, orphan, elder, or debtor, and in return for taking care of all of their needs indefinitely, they would serve the family. The second form of slavery was through kidnapping and selling on the market. The former was meant as social welfare. The latter was a crime punished with death. Unfortunately, there was a grey area that made it difficult to distinguish between the two. Criminals would often be sold as slaves, people taken as pillage by armies when a city is taken, and with it considered a crime to not pay your taxes the combination of being a debtor and criminal was a further grey line. This problem was further compounded by corruption in the government and a lack of laws protecting slaves.

"I have two slaves. Link and Midna. I did not buy them but took them into my home. Link was brought here as a babe by a soldier from the army, and Midna's mother, Sei, died with a debt passed on to the girl. I welcomed both of them into my home. I have raised them well, and I planned to allow Midna to marry one of my sons."

Impa raised an eyebrow at that. For this slave to be given the chance to marry outside of her status, she would indeed have been well-loved by the community.

"I am happy on her behalf," Impa said neutrally. "I saw her fighting with a young man. Did you train her to use a sword?"

"No." He smiled nervously. He was unsure if Impa approved or not. "That was all Link's doing. He has it in his head that he is the son of a great general, and so will be one himself one day. He has grown... spirited because of it. With the two of them raised together as siblings... well, it is only natural for that spirit to rub off on her. I-If you desire it, I can have her stop!"

"No need. It was just a passing curiosity. What I think more important is the identity of her parents. You said her mother is named 'Sei'? What of the father?"

"Well, the father was a passing merchant, and gave Midna, by adoption, to Sei here as he said the birth mother had passed. Sei lived here all of her life. As well as her mother before her, and her mother's mother before her." He told her the names of the family tree, but none of the names ringed a bell. They were common people.

Impa considered the information. It fit well into her plan, as there seemed to be no loose ends to worry about. She smiled, "In that case, Mayor. I would like to take her debt on for you, and employ her into the royal palace."

The man's eyes widened so far Impa was afraid for a moment his eyes would fall out of their sockets. The wife dropped the pot she was holding, and it cracked. Impa also heard gasps from outside the door from whatever children were listening in.

Impa could understand their shock. Only the wealthy could afford formal education. Among the educated, only the smartest could hope to pass the test necessary to be employed into the palace's service as an official. Impa heard only one passed out of every thousand to take the test.

The palace's servants were the sons and daughters of noble houses. The cooks were handpicked from around the world. The royal harem was the daughters of the greatest houses of Qin, or was the most beautiful and erotic of the nation gathered together by the harem. The guards were all elite veterans with years of war experience and prestigious service to the nation, or as said were the sons of noble houses.

Midna was the slave daughter of a nobody who couldn't handle her debt. Midna didn't hold a candle to the lowest of the Palace's workers. Not in this world.

"Mi-Midna?! Our Midna?" The man managed to force out. "Working in the royal palace!? Are you sure!"

"I am. Do you doubt the credibility of my words?"

"No-no, of course not! But-"

"Then let the matter be settled as truth. I wish to take Midna to Kanyou in service to the heir apparent."

The man accepted. Impa did not have the rupee on her but sealed a scroll with her official ring for him to be paid in full. The talk had only lasted a few minutes, and she had not journeyed far from where she had met the slaves, so her horse-drawn carriage bought her just enough time to finish the conversation before the two slaves entered the house. Midna looked aggravated with Link. They bickered their way in. Impa could see how they were like siblings.

The mayor jumped up as the teens entered, and rushed to them. "Midna! Come, sit!"

"But my chores-"

"Never mind them! Minister Impa wants to talk to you!"

Midna gasped. "You're a Minister?!"

Impa nodded. "I apologize for the confusion, I never introduced myself."

"Well, nice to meet you." Link said. "The answer is: yes. I'm ready to leave this place when you are. I have nothing to pack!"

Impa wasn't sure what he was going on about, but she didn't get the chance to answer. The mayor shoved Link out the door. Link resisted, but his protest fell on deaf ears. More literally when the door shut in his face.

"You have an unusual friend," Impa observed.

"You have no idea. I apologize for his behavior earlier. He is a great guy, he just doesn't know what to do with all his energy or confidence and can be very rude." Midna bowed.

"No harm is done." Impa waved the matter away.

The mayor ushered Midna to the table and after having her sit, then started to explain. In the meantime Impa observed her. He was rolling all over himself trying to explain it right, and she was surprised speechless by what she managed to piece together from his scattered speech, however, she took it well. It did not take long for her to recover and compose herself.

"So, Link and I would work at the palace?"

"Not Link, you." Impa clarified.

"I would be freed or would I work as a slave?"

Impa wasn't sure how to answer that. The plan was dangerous and could cost the girl her life. It also could decide the fate of Qin, and so with such a risk to factor in, Impa did not want to allow even the slightest chance for the girl to refuse. As such Impa did not want to say she was free at all, but rather would be taken care of.

Zelda would not want it to be done that way.

Impa sighed. She put down the teacup. "I will not lie to you. What I have in mind for you is incredibly important, and is just as dangerous. As such I will give you the respect of choosing. As of this moment you are free by my authority. Any argument with that?" It was technically Impa's choice now that she had bought Midna, but she wanted the girl's input. Midna lost her breath a moment. "If you accept, you will accept the work as a free woman. If you refuse, you will refuse as a free woman, and there will be only minor repercussions."

"M-minor what?"

"Punishment. Or namely, a verdict."

Midna gulped. "And what would that be?"

Impa looked her dead in the eye. She enunciated every word with a tap of her finger. "That you never. Ever. Enter politics. If you do, you will be summarily executed."

The mayor looked between them worriedly as the tone shifted. Despite the threat of death, Midna merely smiled. "Then I guess I have nothing to fear. If I don't accept then it is because I want to stay out of politics, to begin with."

Impa smiled, "Indeed. What do you say?"

"Are you sure you don't want Link? I mean, he is rude and brash; and he may not look it, but he is strong and dependable. You would have more use from him. I'm just... me."

"And that is exactly why this offer extends to you. What I have in mind can only be done by you. I'm sorry, but this doesn't include him." Midna gulped. She looked down sorrowfully. "I understand it is a lot to leave your family behind. I will allow you the night to think about it."

"No. No need." Midna said. She looked back up and met Impa's gaze. "I accept."

Impa held the girl's gaze to ascertain her seriousness. She found the girl wasn't hesitating. She nodded, rose, and patted herself off. "Well, Midna. You better say your goodbyes. I see no reason to tarry any longer."

"We are leaving now?"

"Yes. Hurry. I will wait, but don't take too long."

Midna rose, hugged her former masters, and rushed out the door. The master's children were openly weeping from what little they managed to hear, and while she gave a moment to them, her real attention was on Link. He wasn't there. She rushed to the hut where Link and she were given room aside from the family's house.

She found him sitting on his bed waiting for her. A candle was lit in the middle of the hut between their respective beds. Midna gulped. Fear filled her stomach until she was nauseous. She feared how he would feel. Betrayed? Abandoned? Alone? She knew the source of his joy and energy was not merely in his blood, but his pain. The ones who smile harder than any other smile so brightly because at one point they had cried just as hard. He normally smiled and was carefree, but his face was impossible to read. "Link-"

"I heard," He interrupted quietly. "Guess this is it, huh?" He chuckled. "You have always been blessed Midna. Every guy wants you, the girls are envious, and everyone takes care of you. I'm not surprised the Goddesses are rising you up as they are."

"It's not like that. I'm not of a blessed birth. I was born like you." Midna argued.

"No, you were born lowly, unlike me. I was dethroned from my birthright." He rose and walked up to her.

Midna sighed, but also couldn't help smiling. "You have to put in one last jab at your birth, don't you?"

Midna gasped in surprise as his arms went around her. He was by far not an affectionate person. You touched him at your peril and he wasn't into girls to Midna's knowledge. For him to hug her caught her completely off guard and only served to show how big of a moment this night was, how final. She nearly wept but held it together.

"And that is something you will take with you." He continued. "Take the little people with you to the palace, Midna." He quickly ended the hug. Even this night had its limits before it got too sappy for him.

"That wouldn't include you, would it, Mr. High-Birth?" She taunted.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you one of these days." He flashed her a confident smile. "It's only a matter of time."

Before Midna could say anything more, Link forcefully turned her around and shoved her out the door. "Now get going!" He encouraged her, "Give me something to chase!"

To emphasize his message, Link shut the door behind her. He heard her just outside the door, sniffling and on the verge of a panic attack, before finally resolving herself and walking away. He waited until he heard the sound of horses before he opened the door and watched her leave.

She never looked back. He didn't want her to.

-A Week Later-

Link continued with his life. A part of himself felt empty with his surrogate sister gone, but he turned that emptiness externally as he usually did. If he had the energy to feel bad about himself, he had the energy to push himself harder! Besides, Midna was in a far far better place than he was!

He turned everything negative into resolve, and lifted twice as much, ran twice as hard, worked the plantation and broke twice as many tools, added pigs to his animal hate list, beat his wooden sword into trees until they broke, and passed out when he was done. He refused to let it get him down.

Then one day he woke up to find the back of his hand was pulsing. It was as if his skin had developed a heartbeat of its own. Link rubbed his hand in an attempt to massage the muscle, but it didn't disappear. 'Weird.' Link thought.

Link opened the door and left to start his day, but stopped. The last person he expected to see was sweeping.

"Midna!" He blurted out in surprise. "What the realms are you-" He stopped. The coldness in her eyes startled him. Midna's gaze sent chills down his spine. It was half-way between a glare, a stare, and a threat that if he irritated her, he was going to get it. Simply put, she wasn't in the mood.

"It didn't go well, did it?" Link whispered. "I'm sorry..."

"No, it went well," Midna said. She turned away with a cold shoulder and returned to the master's house after sweeping the porch. The door slammed in his face.

"Right." Link sighed.

He should have expected she wouldn't be able to handle the palace. She was taking it hard. Despite her always saying that she was happy with her life on a farm, and would be content with a simple life, Link knew better. She would be content, but not happy. She dreamed of becoming something more just as much as he did, she just didn't have it set to a specific goal like him. She would have been happy with anything greater, anything where she could do more and accomplish something bigger than just thrashing wheat.

And now the dream was taken away.

"Oh, well. At least she got to taste it, right?" Link looked at the positive side.

He vowed to give her space. Not that she made it difficult. She left their shed and stayed in the mayor's house. Having been freed by the minister, she no longer had a place by his side. Link felt his chest stabbed when he saw this, but he shoved it away and faked a smile for her sake. She stopped working. She stopped socializing. It irritated him, but he kept to his vow.

He kept it up another month before he was vexed. Something was wrong.

Link sat down at a food stand for milk. He rubbed his pulsing hand. He would have continued working, but his mind was clouded. Midna worried him.

Midna had not returned home the same person she was. The coldness in her eyes, her words, and her heart scared him. Her stare scared away the other guys, the children who gathered around her, it terrified the mayor, and it did everything it could to push Link away. The outgoing, loving, warm, sunny girl had returned cold and dark. Whatever she went through in the Palace had destroyed her. It was as if she was a completely different person.

Link stopped in mid-sip as the thought clicked.

A completely different person...

Midna had not recognized him at first. She didn't recognize anyone either. She got lost on the streets she grew up on. She didn't know how to do little things she had done for years.

"Won't be going back to Kanyou for a while." A merchant said. Link perked up. That was where Midna had been! "Not with the rebellion going on."

The man the merchant was talking to said, "Rebellion? So the rumors are true? The prince?"

"Yeah. Word is the princess took the throne through witchcraft, so her younger brother is overthrowing her. It was quiet the last month, but two days ago it came to an end." The man shook his head in pity.

The other man was outraged. "Rebellious scum. How dare he try to overthrow the heir!"

"She's a woman. She had it coming. Can't have a woman on the throne, mark my words, her presence was a bad omen. 'Ice Witch' they called her. I don't know if she took the throne by witchcraft or not, but it's just unnatural."

"But she was still the heir. Woman or not, she led. The Prince should have accepted that instead of killing people."

The merchant paled. "Perhaps you're right about that. No throne is worth so many bodies."

Link felt a chill go down his spine. He entered the conversation. "How bad was it?"

"Kid... you don't want to know."

"Please! Midna was nearly caught in it!"

This caught the men off-guard. It was known in the small village who Midna was and that she had been recruited by a minister, but it was another thought for her to nearly be caught in a bloodbath.

The merchant paled at the memory. The fear in his eyes revealed the truth perhaps more than his words. "I was there running a job... and there was fire. So much fire in the capital. The army was hauling the bodies out. There were so many bodies at the gates... hundreds. The prince took the throne and killed everyone in his way. Officials, guards, servants, didn't matter."

The other man muttered "Goddess..."

Link fell back, pale as a ghost and weak in the knees. Midna had been in that world... and what was he doing? He was here lounging around doing his usual thing! He should have gone with her! Or at least asked someone to write a letter... or something.

Link returned home numb and confused. He sat in the corner of his shed and stared at the candle, distraught and burdened.

He didn't particularly care who ruled, whether it was this Ice Witch or her brother. He was a slave. He had no power to choose or have his opinion matter, so he chose to have none. What did matter was that Midna had entered that world filled with backstabbing, scheming, and death, and even though she came out alive... it killed her inside.

What could he possibly do to help? How could he help when he barely could comprehend that world? He was just a slave. The most interesting quandary of his day was what animal would try to kill him next. What could he do to reach Midna? No answer came to mind.

Still. There was hope. Midna had come out of it alive. That was the important thing. He would just have to help her learn to smile again.

These thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. Link growled. He was not in the mood today! Especially with it being the middle of the night.

"What?!" Link demanded. He swung the door open to meet... nothing. There was no one there.

Link huffed in annoyance and about turned back around to slam the door, but a cold, clammy hand touched his foot. A chill went down his spine as his gaze fell. A ghoul laid at his feet covered in water from the rain, trailing blood down the yard. He yelled like a girl.

Link fell back and retreated backward, kicking the ghoul's hand away. He looked for something, anything! His wooden practice sword was out in the yard. All he had in the shed was a bedroll, flint, and candle.

Link grasped for the flint and aimed the pointed side at the monster prepared to fight to the death if need be. He waited. He anticipated it crawling towards him. Only it didn't.

The ghoul just laid out sprawled in the rain. Its golden locks caked in mud and blood.

Wait...

Link slowly crawled forward. With one hand he held up the flint, and with the other, he held the candle forward. His heart jumped into his throat by what he saw.

"Midna!?" Why was she here?! Why was she bleeding!? Why was she in rich clothes? Her breath was shallow, and she shivered violently.

Link grabbed her, picked her up in his arms bridal style, and rushed into the master's house. He threw his shoulder into the door and threw it open violently. He placed Midna on the floor mat. "Master! Its Midna! She's hurt-" He stopped. His eyes widened in shock.

Midna stood at the other end of the house. Midna was in his arms. Midna looked at him coldly. Midna clung to his shirt like a life-line.

His shocked mind couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. How? What? Why? He had so many questions! Why was there a Midna in two places! Why was one clinging to him with familiarity and the other regarded him as a stranger?! Unless...

A completely different person...

"What the realms is going on?!" He yelled.

(Edited - 2/29/2020)