"There you are, ready to go?" I ask. He have such a grim expression, Zelda's tale must have really stunned him. Well, what can I say? She failed him too after all, and he got the short end of the stick in all of that.
"I got our exit door to your village, you have things to do there, right?" I know that Canon Midna changed into the villagers at that moment, but judging by his expression, I don't think that I need to figure that out for him to understand.
"Got to warn you though, you won't change back to your normal form, that is something related to light, and as you can see" - I open my hand, letting some magic flow in it - "My magic is mostly related to shadows." His hope seemingly dying at that moment; this is sad to watch…
"Don't worry okay? I know who can fix you up, you just gotta stay like this for a bit more time. It's gonna be alright." I can't stand sad faces around me, not when I can do something about it. It might come back to bite me in the ass later on, but hey, at least he seems happy again. Good enough for me!
"Alright, here goes nothing!" I had a few practice tries, but it was the first time I had to teleport someone with me. Hopefully it wouldn't end up as a total disaster? 'Sorry Link, looks like you're my testing rat today. Or testing wolf in your case, I guess?'
I let the magic flow up in my hand, before throwing it up in the sky. Soon enough, a big portal opened up in the sky. If I didn't fail, it should be connected to the one near Ordon Village. With that done, I touched him on the forehead as I let my magic flow in both of our bodies, connecting them with the portal. Slowly, we started decomposing into particles before being sent up to the portal.
'Goodbye Hyrule Castle, and goodbye Zelda, I really hope to prevent our next encounter…'
I landed in the middle of the spring, in the shadow of the night. While looking around trying to find Link, I couldn't see him anywhere … 'Oh no… Did I fail the teleportation? Where is he?' I heard a bark coming from the sky, as I finally spotted him.
On his back, stuck in a tree. I couldn't hold in my laughter. "Eh-hee-hee! Are you sure you're a wolf? Because you really look like a big cat to me right now!" I was met with an annoyed grunt. I was kinda expecting that, but hey, he did look absolutely ridiculous in there. If I wasn't there to tell him, who would?
I got him out of the tree, and on his feet slowly, while he was regaining his balance on the ground. "Well here we are! A few feet away from that one big wall you and your friends were taken to last time." As soon as I finished that, he was already on his way to the wall.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait up right here Wolfie" I cut him off in his tracks. "You remember how you got to the other side of this wall last time?" He winced at the memory. 'Sorry Link… But it's still important that you know' "Yes, you got to the other side thanks to one of those beats, so… I guess we'll have to wait for one of them to come by and pick you up?" He looked at me terrified, clearly not wanting to relive that.
"Okay okay, I'm joking, I can get you to the other side, but … I got a little something to do before that. I would ask you to come with me, but… I don't think you would like what the villagers will think of you in this form. So wait right here, and I'll be back with a surprise. I shouldn't be long." I decided that going alone for that sword and shield would be way easier than dragging Mister Big Bad Wolf here.
So I left him there, and got on my way to the village. I could have used a guide but… What good is a guide that can't talk? 'Alright Midna, Stealth mode On!' Eh… That's weird. I'm so used to that name now, it's hard to not use it even in my thoughts. Oh well, doesn't matter now.
I got into my shadowy state, and started running along the shadows, passing near Link's house. I could see it was actually much bigger than the game made it look like. For a goat farmer, he had a pretty good house! Too bad he wouldn't use it much now…
'Wow, this village looks... so peaceful … It reminds me of home a bit…' Come on! No time for the tears right now… I have to focus on my magic if I don't want to be chased down by that goddess forsaken hawk!
'So, a path leading up to a lone house at the top of a hill. Yup, that's Rusl's house alright! I snuck in the shadows. No lights were on at the moment, which allowed me to sneak by the doorway in the shadows. Once again, it was much bigger than the in-game house…
It look like I have some ground to explore... Searching around, all I could find were some photos of Rusl, his wife and Collin. I stopped at one of those for a moment. 'Oh, is that… The Resistance? I definitely recognise Ashei in that. Is he friends with them outside of their movement? That's interesting…' Well I guess it make sense, but it's still nice to know that they were friends before that whole mess.
I suddenly heard a voice coming from one of the rooms. 'Shoot! Did I get spotted?' I slowly made my way to the origin of that voice. 'Oh … False alarm.' This was… Uli right? Rusl's wife was sweating in her sleep. It looked like she was having a nightmare… "Collin … No .. Don't go … Don't leave your mother alone …" I stayed stunned for a minute.
Dammit… This was heartbreaking … She was really missing her son … 'Poor Uli. I'm not a mother yet but … I think I can understand you. Losing the people dear to you is… something I'm familiar with…' I decided to come out of the shadows for a minute, just slowly getting her blanket back on her. I can't stand people being in pain… I know I'm gonna have to get used to it but… 'I promise you, I'll get your son back as soon as I can Uli. And I'm so sorry I can't tell you that he's safe…'
I turn back to the door and finally spot it. There, laying on the chair, was the sword I was looking for. 'Alright, time to take it with me.' I dropped a little portal on the floor, and teleported the sword away with it. "I hope for your own sake that you're not at the portal, Link," I tell myself, smiling a bit imagining his confused expression.
I look at Uli one last time before departing. 'Those people … They aren't simple game characters, they are real people, with actual emotions… And I have to protect them, not only because I want to go back home, but also because they deserve it. They deserve protection.' I was determined to help all of those people, and for that… I needed that shield... Shouldn't be too hard to find.
Indeed, it wasn't that hard. A few minutes after leaving Rusl's house, I found the whirlwind and window leading to the house where the shield layed. It didn't take me long to fly in there and teleport away the shield. I decided to go back by the portal as well, a quicker way to get back to the spring.
When I got back, I quickly picked up the sword and shield lying in the water. I got out of there, to find Link simply resting, laying down near the wall. 'Well, I guess he did go through a lot. But we have a job to do right now! I can't leave him to sleep like that, not yet.' I poked him with my hair, "I have what I want, we can go now." I paused "Well, that is if Mister Wolf had enough beauty sleep?" He looked a bit embarrassed before slowly getting back on his feet. 'Well, paws,' I corrected myself.
Soon enough, we crossed the wooden bridge and were in front of that shadowy wall once again. "Alright, are you ready to go? I have a way to get you inside, but …" I pointed to the moon which was slowly going down now that the night was over. "I will have a bit of trouble getting you back outside after we get there, so be sure to be ready before going"
He slowly nodded at me. 'Alright, time to do this then.' I went through the wall and landed on the other side. I looked around me for a bit, a sad expression decorating my face as I remembered what happened last time I was here. 'I'll make it up to you Link, I promise.' Well, time to get him here too. Sticking my hair through the wall, I moved it around a bit, trying to find him. I finally felt his fur against my hair as I grabbed him and pulled him with me.
Well, we're back again, in the twilight once again!
Zelda was sitting back in her tower, reflecting on everything that had just happened to her those last few days. Things had changed … Her entire world had changed … And she couldn't just sit there doing nothing!
Midna and Link are already on their way to repair her mistakes. But while she knew they could do things themselves, she could still act. But, she had to be very careful. If she acted correctly, she could potentially save multiple lives and help the duo on their quest. But one misstep, and she would just complicate everything for both of them…
She had failed once, but she wouldn't do it again. Zant had made the same mistake that she once did. Blinded by the pride of his accomplishment, he allowed her a physical form in the twilight, saying that she had to watch her kingdom fall from her own eyes. But this would be his undoing. He thought her powerless, and ... He had been right, but things had changed. Midna was absolutely right in her judgement, but it was time to change that, to prove both of them wrong.
She had access to multiple things in this room which could be game changing in the fate of her kingdom. And the most important one of those, was her knowledge. She could act upon that knowledge, but she had to be careful. If she was discovered, it would render everything useless. She had to do that work in the shadows…
'I caused so many wrongs to so many people while following that pride of mine. For now, it's time to let that go, to stop thinking about my honor, because there is much more to lose than that...'
For now, it's time to act
"Alright, let's keep on going. A little bit further from here, there should be the spring of the Light Spirit. He should be able to help us," I told Link. He was looking at me very questionably, but not because of what I said. It was more for what I was trying to do.
In my hand I held the sword I just got for him. The shield was floating around from my magic, but I was trying to see how this sword worked exactly. Apparently from the look of Mr. Swordsman over there, I was doing it wrong.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? I know how to use swords you know. I'm just … testing the weight of this one." He continued to stare at me intensely. "Alright … I'm not that good with them?" He kept on staring. "I only know the basics?" Still stared at me "Okay! I've never held a sword in my life! Are you happy!?" He grinned at me before starting to walk with me on his back. "Joy Killer…"
We arrived in a clearing where a portal was waiting for us. 'I totally forgot about that! That's the moment where Link is supposed to bring them down with my magic, but I have no idea how to use that circle!' As I was lost in thought, I saw the beasts dropping from the sky. Link was already in battle position, I stopped him.
"Link, those are Shadow Beasts, like the same one who got you here on your first visit. I warn you, you won't be able to come to terms with them in any normal ways. Once one of them is down, the others will use their magic to revive it, so we have to work as a team on this one alright?" I dropped from his back as he looked at me, waiting for me to be ready. "Alright! Let's do this!"
He launched himself at one of the beasts while I assisted him in bringing it down. The other two were fast to react and ran quickly towards Link, causing my attention to snap back to them.'He can take care of this one, but not if those two are on his toes…' I told myself. "Alright! I'll keep those two away, but be quick on bringing him down alright? I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
Using my hair, I grab one of them to pummel him on the ground, but the other one is already on me, I try to get him away, but I wasn't quick enough he manage to get a hit on me, disrupting my magic and getting a nasty mark on my arm, 'Argh! This isn't good!' I grab him to throw him on the ground, but the other one was already back on his feet and ready to attack me. I quickly drop the other one to punch the one near me.
Unfortunately, Link seemed to have finished with his, and launched himself at the beast just in time to receive a direct blow from me alongside the monster, they both landed a few feet away from each other, Link got stunned for a moment, and while I was worried for him, we were in the middle of a battle, I had no time to be at his care, I quickly regrab the one I threw on the floor, and yell to Link "Get away from him!" He does just that, being quick to take his distance, and as the stunned creature was trying to get back to the battle, I throw the other beasts at him, sending them both on the floor before punching both of them.
The three beasts explode away, and the portal above us become green, 'Yep, I definitely feel a connexion to my magic now, that should give us another point to teleport too, great!' I look back at Link, making sure he was unharmed, thankfully he mostly was, the punch just stunned him a bit, but he was also looking at my arm with a worried expression, "Ah.. Don't worry about that, it's nothing, it will heal" The latter is true, but it isn't really nothing… It hurt like hell… But I definitely wouldn't want to worry him.
Soon, we arrive at the spring, I saw a faint light in the fountain, but it wasn't even enough to hurt me, even while I was standing a few feets away… The spirit was really in a bad shape … He explained to us everything about how his light got stolen, and how to get it back, which made me think … We did not meet with Ordona, did we? I thought a Shadow Beast was supposed to be attacking us at his spring …
'No … It couldn't be …' the last time I got here, when I leaded those beasts to Link… They just took the light from this land, maybe … 'By getting discovered, they postponed the attack on Ordona to concentrate on searching for me? I did a good thing by leading them?' I look back at Link, 'No … We would have freed him anyway … I caused too much pain to Link to say it was a good thing …'
We got the receptacle, I dropped the Shield and Sword in the spring, and we went on our way, it's strange but … Link looked like he knew exactly where to go… Is that the effect of the spirit's guidance? Having a sort of mental map on where they are? I don't know, but it made the job easier for me, so that was a good thing in my book.
Those bugs were … Something .. I couldn't see them of course, but it was so weird to just see some electricity coming out of nowhere on the ground, and seeing the ball of light they produced at their death was also weird, not only did it not hurt me in any ways, but while Link was collecting it, I felt a weird sensation in my arm as I saw the scar slowly disappearing, leaving me totally healed, 'Eh, isn't that convenient, I almost forgot that those healed Link, didn't think it would heal me too though…' Well, definitely won't complain!
We went on our way, killing the bugs from the lantern's marchand guy, 'Really can't retain his name.. Sorry, you are not a memorable person Lantern Guy!' His fire was off thankfully, even in the twilight things like fire would hurt me, as I learned by almost getting hit by that damn fire arrow… Anyway, soon enough we arrived at that poisonous swamp, I had to figure out how to get him across there…
"Well, wanna take a swim in there? It look very healthy for your body you know, might even get you back to your hu- I mean, hylian form, who knows!" He looked at me with a hard stare, 'Well … Wolfie is not amused …' He seemed to have noticed the slip up though, but it's not like he could ask me about it, and I wasn't about to tell him for sure…
"So, how do you want to do that? I could probably throw you up there…" He really looked angry at me for a second "... Or you can just jump over there, but if you fall I can't catch you, your choice!" He headed near the jumping point, 'Damnit! I like my Link catapult….' We got through the swamp rather easily, Link was good at jumping, and the Midna lock was really just a game mechanics, he didn't need me at all for that.
We got to a second clearing where a familiar bridge and another portal was waiting for us, it's by looking at those two things that I got an idea, I letted the Shadow Beasts drop off and then … 'Alright, time to take another page of Hyrule Warriors!' I thought while looking at the bridge, "Link! I need you to align the beasts together for me , get them in a line and then at my signal get out of the way!" He looked at me questionably, "Trust me on this one alright?" He sighed, but got to work as he lead them away, in the meantime I floated a bit upper in the air, so that the beasts wouldn't bother me while I was making my plans.
I lightly touched the bridge with my hair, letting the magic flow as I felt it getting lighter and lighter, but with each second my magic dropped, fast, which had the consequence of making me really tired, 'I only have one shot with this, alright…' I used all the magic I had in me to lift the bridge before yelling "Now! Get out of the way!" I heard him bark, before I looked back behind me…
He's still in the way… "Dammit! Move away! I can't hold that bridge much longer! So you either move away or get squashed with them!" With that I saw him running away to safety as I dropped the bridge, getting the 3 Beasts under it with one blow, "Success!"
I looked at Link before telling him, "You know, you need to trust me a bit more, it's been two times that you almost got hurt in battle because of that" He was really looking angrily at me, I guess he didn't enjoy the threat I got to him "I know I have crazy plan, but when did it end up not working?" He let out a defeated grunt, before letting me hop on his back once again.
I looked at the potion shop ahead before looking at the path to the Sacred Grove, we could technically go there and get the Master Sword, no obstacle should block us, but… I have no idea what sort of danger could be waiting for us in the twilight of the Lost Forest, if Skull Kid ended up as a soul too, we would only get lost infinitely there as Link wouldn't have a guide… Let's play it safe, I don't want a second Stalfos hero
The final bug was finally defeated with the Bubblin guarding it, I saw Link's head perk up to the sole soul resting on the pillar before reaching for the light, it was one of the monkeys talking if I remembered right… Nothing useful really, but it was good to know that Link knew the importance of listening to people like 's useful in a situation like that where people can't see you, they sometime talk about things you wouldn't know without them.
Anyway, the final light collected, I saw the receptacle shine as the light soon covered both of us, 'Shadow mode would be a good idea right now, we're about to return the light in there after all…' I floated away from his back before doing just that.
I was just in time for both of us to be teleported to the Spirit Spring once again.
I heard the spirit talking to both of us but… I really wasn't focused on him… No, it was the first time that I could see Link up close like that, seeing his green tunic, and his tall body made me think about something… A happy memory that shouldn't be painful … Yet it was at the moment … A memory from my world …
"You know honey, I think you would great with a Link cosplay" I was seeing myself again, in my original body, sitted on a chair and talking to this man, this man that I missed so much…
"Oh, would I now? You really think so?" I could never forget that voice, but it was oh so painful to remember it at the moment …
"Yeah! You totally got the build for it! You would look awesome with one of those!"
"Haha, if you say so sweetie, but I wouldn't want to cosplay alone, I want you to do it with me! I'll be your hero, and you'll be my little …"
'Twilight Princess …' I finished myself while looking at my hand … How ironic in hindsight … 'Ah, well guess that's another discovery about this body … Didn't knew I could cry while being a shadow …' I go hide myself in Link's shadow while trying to calm myself down.
'I miss him so much … Why did you have to remind me of him Link … It's not fair … And it's so … So painful …' I was really trying, but I was just not able to keep my composure, thankfully the spirit went on about the Fused Shadows and his destiny, which gave me the time I needed to forget about that.
He picked up the Shield and Sword that I left there earlier, and fixed them to his back, before walking away from the water, 'Come on, keep yourself together and talk to him, it's not fair for him either, he's for nothing in all of that …' Taking all the false confidence I could muster, I finally got out of his shadow.
"So, huge destiny you got there uh? Whatcha gonna do, will you follow what he said and get to that Temple, or will you go meet up with your fellow villager and continue to live your life?" I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could while looking at him, but it was really hard …
He looked at me straight in the eyes, and said "I'm going to this Temple, my friends got taken away because of this King of Twilight, and if my chance to defeat him is in there, then I won't rest until I got it, and slayed him" He spoke firmly with determination flowing through his eyes.
'I can't believe it …' I tell myself, absolutely stunned … 'After all of that …'
'He can talk?!'
And that's it for Chapter 5! Some little changes are happening slowly, and Me-Dna is trying to keep this knowledge to use, while realising just how many difference this universe have with the game.
We got a look at our first bit of teamworks from Me-Dna and Link, they aren't very good at it at the moment because Link is not ready to totally trust her yet, and they are also pretty bad at working as a team in general, that can cause some discord in the team, but they still managed through this first zone!
We also had an infiltration sequence where Me-Dna decided that visiting the village alone was better since she can turn pretty invisible while Link can't, the Sword and Shield were needed for Link to get on with the Temple, but getting them was much quicker thanks to Me-Dna.
And finally … Some painful memories got off of Me-Dna mind as she finally meet with the hylian form of Link, and got really surprised about his ability to actually speak! And we also got a look at Zelda's determination, as the wing of the butterfly is causing it's first ripples …
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the story is really starting to move forward, and I can't wait to share the rest with you all!
Your positivity, but also your criticism are appreciated as always, and I'll see you in the comment, or in the next chapter!