Chapter Seven: Twilight Bonds
I felt like I was moving, but none of my limbs were in motion as far as I could tell. How, then, is it possible that I'm moving?
How is it possible that I'm still alive?
With a gasp of realization my eyes flew open and I nearly fell to the ground with my sudden motion. I was in fact moving, and not of my own accord. Someone was carrying me. But who? The only thing I could remember was a deep pool of darkness that felt never ending. Almost like I was drowning, only without water. I thought I was dead, yet… I'm not? How though?
"Hold on, we're almost home," a gentle voice reassured me. I blinked once and peered up at the one holding me, but failed to make out any distinguishable features due to the dark hood that covered his face. I didn't dare try to move again, so I slept. After all, that's what I did last time. I surrendered and slept.
Like a weak coward, I retreated, once more, into the darkness.
What could've been minutes or hours later I awoke once again, this time, though, I was not moving. I stretched my limbs slowly, flexing each muscle, unsure of what was injured and what had been left unharmed. As it turned out every part ached a little, but the pain was definitely worse in some areas than others – namely my hand. Goddesses! My hand felt like it was burning!
"Ow," I moaned, wincing as I tried to sit up.
"Whoa, easy Midna," a near-by voice chided me. I glanced to my left to see the shadowed figure sitting across the fire from me, now standing in alarm at my sudden movement. "You,"—his voice broke and he had to clear it before continuing—"you're really hurt still, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours I don't think."
"You don't think?" I questioned, a bit confused. He stood up and walked around the fire, hesitating only briefly, before sitting next to me.
Link's face looked dead; there really was no other way to put it. Bags sagged under his eyes and lines were etched into his forehead from worry. And his eyes… The brilliant blue I was so used to was no more than a dull sheen. The fire had vanished from his once-thought untamable eyes. I wasn't sure what he had seen in the past day, exactly, but I had a close enough idea. So much had happened since we last saw each other. In fact, the last time we…
I felt a heat creep over my face suddenly and I quickly turned away from the thoughts. Link must've been thinking along the same lines because he returned my blush and glanced down at his boots.
"Midna I had no idea I—how long were you down there? How long did you suffer because I was so blind…? I… I'm so sorry," he said with a passion unlike his normal behavior. I wasn't sure how to respond right away. I couldn't deny it, after all. If not for his ignorance I never even would've suffered at Ganondorf's hand. How do you forgive someone who left you—couldn't even recognize you from an imposter? How do I forgive Link for letting me suffer? For having a hand in my suffering, even.
The answer was obvious. There was nothing to forgive. He couldn't have known anymore than I could've had the situation been reversed. Aside from that, where did I get off relying on Link? I hadn't done anything to help myself, why should've I expected him to do anything?
"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known," I began slowly, my voice still thick with sleep. I paused when he looked away from me with a clenched jaw. "Now, hey, look at me, Flea Bag! Don't blame yourself for this—do you hear me? If not for you I would still be trapped down there," I told him fiercely. Forgiving him was simple, but I wouldn't allow this self-pity, wallowing bit. "Get over yourself!"
"No, Midna, you!" He retorted loudly, his typically calming blue eyes suddenly filled with fire. "Don't act like this isn't my fault! Have you even looked at yourself? I bet you don't even realize—," he cut off his ranting suddenly as if he let a curse slip from his lips by mistake.
"Looked at myself?" I asked uncertainly. Taking a deep breath, I asked as calmly as I could "What do you mean, Link?"
"Nothing!" He replied, too quickly, before looking away again. I was about to repeat my question when I noticed his eyes. Curiosity got the better of me and I wondered what he was staring at. My hand? I glanced down and did a double take. My hand!
Where my hand should've been was now a heavily bandaged lump with no distinguishable form. I couldn't feel my fingers; I couldn't tell if they were even there. Then I followed a cut on my wrist up my arm to my shoulder only to find more heavy bandages. "W-what?" I managed to choke out. Memories of my time in Ganondorf's prison started to resurface. The blades, dipped in poison, the blood. Oh, all the blood.
"I'm sorry," Link whispered again. "I tried to—I did everything I could, I just don't know enough, I couldn't help you." His words broke off with a peculiar gurgle and he turned his entire body away from me, fighting to remain strong. Fighting to stay above the water and not drown, which was more than I could say for myself at the moment.
What happened? I wondered in a panic. Slowly I reached for the bandages on my left hand, prepared to remove them.
Link's hand stopped me. "Don't," he whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. "Please." I paused and looked into his eyes, my own filled with a rarely seen doubt and uncertainty. "You'll see tomorrow sometime. Whenever I need to change the bandages." He muttered something else, but I didn't quite catch it.
More memories of a time too recent: the Triforce. I surrendered it to Ganondorf, but how badly was my hand injured in the process?
I looked up at Link; his eyes were dull, not bright and clear like they typically are. I bit down on my lip and looked away—I couldn't stand to see him look so broken. For the first time since I awoke I took notice of my surroundings. We were in Faron Woods. In fact, it looked close to the same spot we had camped at with Zelda before Ganondorf showed up.
"Where are we?" I asked curiously, the somber mood lifting somewhat.
"North Faron Woods. We're headed back towards the castle to meet up with Zelda again," he replied. His dark brooding seemed forgotten, at least for the time being. I cocked my head to the side.
"Why are we going to see Zelda at the castle?" I wondered out loud.
"Well there is still the matter of Ganondorf, who we know now isn't up to any good, not to mention that strange creature…" Right. The thing that sounded like a redead but looked like a Hylian. The thought of it gave even me, the princess of Twilight, chills. Of course, that didn't really answer my question. It was obvious why we had to talk to Zelda; we had to stop Ganondorf.
"I meant, why are we meeting at the castle? Isn't it like… I don't know collapsed—again—or something?" Link chuckled a little, thinking about our visits to Hyrule Castle and how they always seemed to end in the castle's destruction, I guess.
"They're rebuilding it," he told me with a smirk.
"They? They who?"
"The survivors, of course!"
I pondered this briefly, thinking back to the sudden but brief attack on Hyrule Castle. Everything had looked so grim and hopeless when we left. The streets had been bathed in blood, and Zelda was beside herself with grief for losing what seemed like all of her people. It was a relief to hear that this was not so. If there were enough survivors to start rebuilding the castle then I was sure the Hylians were nowhere near extinction yet.
"That's good to hear. At least someone out there is enjoying life," I complained, looking up at the sky.
"That's it?" Link asked, disbelieving.
"What do you mean 'that's it'?"
Link glanced around, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Uh, well, nothing, of course I just—" he hesitated, suddenly distracted by the fire. He started to put fresh kindle on the already strong flame, focusing solely on his task and ignoring me completely.
"Just what?" I prompted.
Link slowly went to his side of the fire and sat down. Slumping a little closer to the ground he finally answered me. "I just thought you would have more questions than that."
And it dawned on me. The thing he would be afraid I'd confront him about. What had he been doing all this time, while I was locked away in Ganondorf's dungeon? He didn't know that I was a prime witness to his disgrace. He thought the question had slipped my mind due to some kind of post-trauma distress, when, in reality, I never had any questions about his time away from me.
Then, another realization, he was too afraid or ashamed to confess straight out where he had been all this time, maybe even a little of both. He would rather wait for me to ask than bring it up on his own. Here I had been thinking he was so brave, when in truth he was hiding from it all—just like me.
"Link how long was I gone?" Judging by his reaction, that wasn't the question he had been expecting.
"Oh I don't know," he lied feebly. "Maybe a week or two… maybe a month or two…" I stirred uncomfortably at his vague answers.
"Link, tell me now," I commanded angrily.
"Almost three seasons," he admitted quietly, looking away from me as he did so.
Three. Seasons.
My mind drew a blank, unable to comprehend that much time. There's simply no way that much time could've passed. I started counting backwards in my head, trying to fit my timeline into the realistic one I was just given. Ganon abducted me during the harvest season, I knew as much because of the colors Faron boasted at the time. I remember, once upon a time, talking to a certain wolf and asking him why the woods looked so different from when I had first seen them.
It was a cool day with colorful trees, but now it was warm with colorful flowers. There was a season between the harvest and the blossoming season, the cold season. Which would mean it had indeed been almost three seasons.
Impossible, I was only trapped for a few weeks, a month at most. On the other hand though… How many times did I switch between the physical world and the mental torture? Far too many to count, so what was he basing the amount of time I spent with each torture on? If he spent half of the day using the mental torture and the other half using physical, the time wouldn't fit. But between sessions I was unconscious. So much of my time had been spent in a pool of never ending darkness; there was no way I would've been able to accurately track time in that state…
I did notice, though, how the seasons changed around the imposter. I just didn't take it into account since I had much bigger problems at the time. Three seasons had passed me by. Well, it was no wonder Link expected me to ask him where he'd been the entire time.
"Link, listen, I didn't even realize that much time passed, it seemed so much shorter," I consoled him. "And—." He cut me off with a wave of his hand.
"Don't bother, I already know what you want to ask. You want to know what I was doing the entire time, right?" He looked at me expectantly and I almost told him just the opposite—he didn't need to say anything if he didn't want to, and yet… Something deep inside of me screamed for retribution. Demanded he explain himself, and the more I listened to that voice the more I agreed with it. So I nodded my head, beckoning for him to continue.
"Midna, Ganondorf sent an imposter to fool me. Not that it's any excuse for—well anyway, I thought she was you. She—it—kept me distracted for a long time. Midna, it's a little hard to tell you why I was so easily fooled without telling you—um, well, that is to say…" Link started to squirm nervously and I took pity on him. We were friends, after all, and he didn't deserve to dangle like this.
"Link, what would you say if I told you that I know?"
He looked confused, his previous awkwardness forgotten for the moment. "What do you mean?"
"It was part of Ganon's torture," I explained numbly, trying to remember enough without really remembering. "He had some sort of cursed coin that forced me into the mind of the imposter. It was disgusting, really, but at the same time similar to the time Zelda shared a mind with me. I saw her trick you and I—," I broke off mid-sentence, unsure of whether or not I should tell him just how much I saw.
Link smiled sadly, "So you saw how long—how much it took—before I realized my mistake." I nodded back, a blush creeping up my neck from the fire's intensity. I should've stopped Link from putting more wood on it.
"I, uh, only saw you realize that it wasn't me," I stated hesitantly. "How much did she tell you?"
Link's face turned grim. "She told me that she enjoyed our time together, and congratulated me on being the first to uncover her true identity. In honor of that she told me where to find you and who she worked for. When I asked her why she decided to help me and betray Ganondorf, she told me that he would kill her now, regardless of what happened. She wanted to redeem herself and go down like a hero," Link snorted in a mix of disgust and humor at the end of her explanation.
A heavy and awkward silence fell over us as we each became lost in our own thoughts. I wanted to ask Link why he would even trust me so much when he should be suspicious of all people, especially with Ganon on the prowl. I mean, honestly! He is the Hero of Light and Hero of Twilight; anyone with malicious intent could be after him! He shouldn't be so open—of course an enemy would take the form of his closest friend first!
I let out a loud sigh and winced when my ribs ached in protest. Link noticed.
"Let's just rest for tonight, once we get back to the castle…" he paused and, not for the first time tonight, was uncertain of what to say. I agreed with him though, there was the matter of the strange Hylian, the attack on the castle, Ganondorf, my people and what they were doing without me…
And that's just the top of the list—the big problems we're all facing together, not including our own small insignificant dramas. Like the one I now had to face with Link. The images of him with the seducer wouldn't be leaving my mind anytime soon. How was I supposed to deal with that? I rubbed my temples. First thing's first: Zelda and the castle.
I laid back down, closed my eyes, and tried not to think.
The sun was shining, the birds danced among the blooming tree branches and somewhere, I was sure of it, children played. Quite a nice day, fine weather, as people here would say. My money was on Nayru for arranging this joke of a day. The weather couldn't permeate the tense, emotional bubble I was stuck in the for the entire walk to the castle. From where I was standing it did seem as if though the goddesses were taunting me. Blessing their precious light dwellers with a beautiful day that seemed just outside of my reach.
"Farore!" I exclaimed.
I was ticked off, and sick of this so-called epic journey. We weren't even doing anything! Link glanced up at me, looking concerned. "What are you staring at?" I snapped. Surprised by my outburst, he attempted to shake his head and shrug his shoulders all at once, which made it look like something had just electrocuted him. Searching for something to distract me, I noticed my hand for what felt like the thousandth time today.
Link had told me that morning he would change the bandage after we had traveled for the day. No point in changing them only to get them dirty right away, he explained. I suppose, on one hand, he was right, but on the other I knew he was just putting it off. I glared at him as we continued on our way towards Hyrule Castle.
I grinned happily as I watched the sun sink on the horizon. Twilight. Now this is more like it.
I cradled my hand against my chest, it was starting to hurt and faint echoes of a time not long ago started to resound through my arm. Regardless of what else Ganon did, he would at least die for making me suffer. No one avoided my wrath once I was set on it, not even Ganondorf himself. I really hope he's looking for a nice deep hole to crawl in. I swear by Din, when I find him…
"I need to change the bandage," Link said suddenly, pulling me from my plotting. He looked a bit uncomfortable. Uncertainly, I held out my hand. "Sorry if this hurts," he murmured in apology. "Obviously you haven't been awake while I was changing them before, so I don't really know how much it'll hurt." I shrugged indifferently as he slowly unwound the cloth.
At first it didn't hurt. Sure it stung a little, but really I expected as much. What really hurt was actually looking at the wound. My fingers hung limply, secure to my hand if only barely, and my wrist seemed to be missing a decent chunk of skin. In all honesty my hand itself was really nonexistent, held together only by threads. I heard Link mutter something under his breath, though I couldn't quite hear what he said I'm pretty sure it was a curse. The dried up blood flaked off easily, which caused fresh blood to rush in every time Link touched my hand in the wrong spot.
"I have no idea how this'll heal," he told me truthfully, a sad note to his typically carefree voice. "I'm sorry." I wasn't sure if he was apologizing for not know or for allowing it to happen in the first place. He tied the last knot and leaned back with a satisfied smile, albeit a mournful one. After he returned to his sleeping mat. I sat down and sighed, mindful of my still aching ribs. I was pretty sure at least one was cracked if not more.
I gazed at Link's prone form, wondering, not for the first time, what was on his mind. He lay awake, gazing at the sky like it held all of the answers in the world. We would arrive at Hyrule Castle tomorrow, early, and I wasn't sure if I looked forward to the encounter or not. Something, perhaps some remnant of Zelda's own thoughts, told me that I was in for a big headache tomorrow.
The arrival at Castle Town was a strangely silent affair, but as we approached the castle the noise level increased. It seemed like every able-bodied Hylian was at work rebuilding the castle. We walked into the main room of the castle without causing much of a fuss. Then again, the people didn't have much to lose as far as the castle went at this point. The rough outline, so to speak, had been laid out with the wooden beams of some-day towers rising high into the clouds. The first level was completely finished while stone was being fixed into position on the second and third levels. Over all, the progress was steady and the castle would be finished before the season was up, I was sure of it.
We found Zelda in a roughly finished room towards the south end of the castle where, according to the person who we had found to escort us in, the new general would be staying after construction was complete.
"Link! Midna!" Zelda exclaimed upon seeing us; she had been working at a roughly finished, paper-filled desk.
"That's what they usually say," I replied slyly. She laughed. The queen of Hyrule actually laughed, despite all the problems we had racked up against us at the moment. My mouth fell open with a pop and Link barely managed to keep a neutral expression.
"What happened after I left?" she inquired, turning to Link, immediately back to business.
"The Midna who was with us when you left was an imposter," he told her bleakly. I watched silently as her eyes went wide at this news. Link continued to fill her in, ending with the part I was unconscious for.
"When I found her she was sleeping, but I thought… I was sure she was dead," he continued, his voice low with grief. "Her whole body was bruised and bloody, and her hand…" Link shuddered at the memory and Zelda placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It must've been hard on you to see her like that."
I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, not enjoying the way Zelda's hand lingered on Link's shoulder. Did she have to leave it there for so long? I cleared my throat, and Zelda faced me with an apologetic smile on her lips as she took a step away from Link. I shrugged.
"So, Zelda, what are we going to do about Ganondorf?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I must stay here and oversee the construction, but I think it would be wise for Link to check around the provinces, just to make sure," Zelda rattled off as she returned to the paper-filled desk. "Honestly I don't think Ganondorf is actually a threat at the moment."
I quirked an eyebrow in surprise while Link responded, "No offense meant, Zelda, but have you noticed how he destroyed the castle and attacked us? You must be insane not to think that he's a threat!"
Zelda shook her head sadly and explained very slowly, like she was talking to newborns, "He may have attacked us, but he's been keeping a rather low profile compared to last time. I highly doubt we can find him, let alone consider him a threat. Din knows what he did to return to the world of the living or how much of his power it took." A strange chill ran down my spine at her words. Something felt too close, like the heart-clenching moment you hear a creak in your home in the dead of night, and you wait with bated breath to discover whether or not someone's broken in.
"So what am I supposed to do?" I questioned irritably.
"You should stay here," she promptly responded.
"Why?" I spurred after a lengthy pause.
"Oh! Yes, there's to be a royal ball soon, you know in celebration of the new castle. Everyone will be there, nobles and peasants alike." She spun around to face me with a questioning look in her eyes. "That won't be a problem, correct?"
I stared at her blankly for moment, wondering if she was serious. When she continued to patiently wait for my response I realized that, indeed, she was not kidding, and she very much planned on having a royal ball in the middle of a crisis.
"You must be joking!" I exclaimed.
"Well, of course the towers still need to be finished, but that shouldn't take much longer. Oh, and you can travel with Link until that's done if you really want, but I did imagine you might want to rest a bit after what you've been through." She returned to the papers on her desk muttering about some over-due fines. I glanced over at Link who looked just as bewildered as I felt.
Just as he was about to question Zelda's rather rash behavior, Link collapsed, lurching forward.
"Link!" I screamed in terror. Zelda rushed to his side and began examining him, her Triforce glowing softly.
"Strange," she said after a moment, though it sounded more like a question. "Quick, there should be a medic nearby, go fetch him; I'll watch over Link!"
A few hours later Link was resting in Zelda's crudely finished bed with a very tired-looking doctor presiding over him. The old man stood up, rubbing his face with one hand and clenching the other.
"There's not much I can do for this young man, unfortunately," he said on his way out. "His illness comes from no where within his body—almost as if though by magic has he fallen ill. The only thing I can prescribe is plenty of TLC. His body is weak, but it is for his soul I fear." With these parting words he left us with a dying hero and no real solution.
"Zelda, can't you do something?" I demanded a bit harshly. "You brought me back from near death, surely you can help Link!"
"Midna did you listen to what the doctor said at all?" she snapped. "His is an illness of the soul—something not even I can heal. What he needs right now is a goddess-given miracle!"
I groaned in frustration and banged my fist against the nearest object, which just so happened to be the stone wall. "Ow! Dang it!"
"Midna, look," Zelda spoke quickly, before I summoned enough magic to blast a hole through her new wall. "There's only one person who could've done something like this to Link."
"Ganondorf," I spat.
"The very same. Without Link we're in more danger than ever before, but I'm sure that's just what he wants. No, we mustn't over think this. There is a way for you to return to the Twilight Realm, I'm sure of it, we just need to find it."
"Wait," I interrupted, confused. "Why do we need to find a way back into the Twilight Realm?"
"So we can amass more troops, and you may be able to find some kind of ancient magic to help heal Link that us Hylians have long forgotten," Zelda concluded looking thoughtful as she continued to plan ahead.
"Hold on, one little problem with that—Hylians turn to spirits when they enter my realm and Twili turn to shadows when they enter yours," I reminded her. "We can't very well assist each other if one side's insubstantial."
"That's true, but after you left I took some interest in history, particularly of your people's history,"—so, I wasn't the only one who developed a strange fetish over the course of our last adventure—"and I believe that I have found a way to keep the Twili in a solid form when faced with the light."
I nodded in affirmative, trusting she had found something before my gaze lingered back to Link.
"Don't worry about him, Midna," Zelda was quick to reassure me. "I won't let him out of my sight any longer than needed, and I'll be sure to have the doctor continue his check ups."
I grinned and replied, "You can watch him, just don't touch him. Farore knows the last thing I need is more of that on my head." I sighed and frowned, Zelda simply looked confused. Link had skimmed over most of his time with the imposter, so I suppose she wouldn't get the joke. Oh well, wasted humor.
Sparing one last look at Link, I walked out the door and towards the exit that would lead me back to Hyrule Field. Suddenly I felt a strange breeze caress my face, almost like a tug, gently urging me forward. Curiosity pricked, I followed the strangely inviting wind. Fleetingly I wondered if this was how Link felt when he heard the howling stones we had previously encountered. It wasn't simply a want, but a need. I simply had to know what produced this irresistible wind.
Frustrated by my slow pace I quickly took to the shadows in order to obtain a faster route, only to discover that I could hear the wind even more clearly in my shadowed form. The scenery rushed past me in a blur as I raced forward, guided only by the enticing sound of the wind. Abruptly the sound stopped and I skidded to a halt.
I leapt from the shadows and was momentarily confused by my surroundings. How far had I traveled? I had only been following the sound for a few minutes, yet it was twilight, of that much I was sure. When I left Zelda and Link it had been midday. I really needed my internal clock fixed—first thinking seasons to be weeks and now hours to be minutes.
Faron, I decided. I hadn't encountered another province with forests as beautiful as the ones in Faron, so I must've ended up here—again. I frowned to myself as I examined my surroundings further. Something was off but what…
Then it dawned on me. Twilight, the sun should've been in the west, but neither it nor the moon were visible. This twilight was unnatural. Fortunately I was no light dweller, meaning I wasn't going to panic, but examine and assess my situation. Yes, definitely my Twilight, but there had to be a source.
A gleam of light caught my eye, then I felt the wind again, only this time I understood what it was: the call of the Twilight, beckoning its master home. I had felt the same thing when the mirror was reassembled the first time, before it was shattered.
I rounded the corner, drifting along with the gentle push of the wind, and came face to face with my worst nightmare.
The Twilight had returned.
I cursed loudly, desperately wishing I had something to hit. Nestled into the deeper part of the forest, pulsing with triumph, the curtain of Twilight mocked me. On one hand, no one would find the curtain this deep in the woods unless they were completely lost. Not many people came this far south to begin with. What worried me was how the Twilight had broken through its restraints—again. Why did everything have to feel like déjà vu?
Standing here obviously wasn't doing anything to help Link, or putting Ganondorf back into his grave for good. It was up to me and all I had to do was enter the Twilight Realm and do a little research. Then I could return and help the light dwellers.
But what if the portal was only temporary? What if it vanished as soon as I stepped through, as a part of Ganondorf's plot? Or what if it wasn't even accessible from the other side—a one-way portal?
I couldn't leave Link here, not again, but if I didn't leave, for at least a short time, then he would die anyway. It was time to take a lesson from a hero and think: what would Link do?
He would go to the ends of two worlds to save me, he already had. I could do the same for him, I had to. Taking a deep breath I slowly approached the curtain of Twilight.
"Ah, nostalgia," I muttered as the Twilight consumed me.
"Midna, no!" Link shot straight up in bed, thrashing and screaming wildly. Zelda jumped up from the desk, where she had been working, and rushed to calm him.
"Link, Link please, calm down!" she commanded, but it was useless.
"The Twilight! The Twilight! Midna! No!" He continued on in this insane matter, panic evident in his eyes. Zelda considered getting the doctor, but just then her left hand was engulfed in a brilliant white light, and she fell to the ground.
"Ah, Link?" Zelda questioned, clutching her head and slowly rising from the stone floor. "Why am I back in this time?" She questioned a bit irritably. Then she noticed Link.
"Oh, no."
She slapped Link across the face once, stunning him long enough to grasp his hand. "Just as I thought," she muttered grimly looking down at Link's hand which had taken on a strange shade of green-black. "How did this happen Link?" The hero in questioned remained silent, staring off at an invisible point in space.
Zelda shook her head disappointedly. "So that's why my Link couldn't get through—your Triforce is…broken."
With this comment, the Zelda of a time past fled, returning to her own time, leaving a very confused queen of Hyrule to figure out what she already knew.
The fault of one was the suffering of another.
I inhaled the fresh scent of the Twilight Realm with a sad smile on my lips. I was home, but for how long this time? I started to make my way to the palace with only one thing on my mind: visiting an old friend.
Several minutes later, as I arrived at the palace, my determination started to deter. I certainly didn't want to visit the nutcase, but I didn't have much of a choice. He was the only one who might know what Ganondorf was up to and be able to help heal Link. As much as I hated it, I needed him.
Ignoring the questions of my advisors—I could take care of them later—I marched down the familiar stone corridors to the makeshift prison cell. Locking the door behind me, I turned to face my all in one nightmare and hope.
"Good evening, Princess," he murmured in greeting. At least he didn't sound totally insane like normal.
"Zant," I replied, inclining my head momentarily.
"So you've finally found use for me?"
"You could say that," I hedged, frowning at his soft voice and blank stare.
"Midna, just spit it out," he seethed, finally showing emotion after a short pause. "I am sick of this room and I want my redemption now!" I was a bit surprised by his choice of words, but refused to show it.
"Zant, if you honestly think, for even a fleeting moment that I'd trust you—"
"I'm not asking you to trust me, just to offer me the salvation you promised because, let me tell you something Midna, being dead does a lot to a guy! It gives him time to think and lose his mind, but of course, that damage was already done when I arrived. Point being I've realized some things. I've discovered my weaknesses and I'm sick of the darkness that lurks within me and within you and within all Twili. You promise us our redemption, so where is it?" He stood fuming and I stood shocked by his words, unable to reply right away.
All Twili shared a dream, even the most insane, as was Zant's case. That dream was to be redeemed in the eyes of the goddesses. We hated the light dwellers with a smoldering passion because we wanted to be them. They had no idea what it was like for every generation of their people to receive the punishments of the goddesses for one generation's mistakes.
Yes, deep within our very souls was the dream of redemption.
The real question was: who would lead us to the realization of that dream? We had many great kings and queens through out the years, but none were able to go the distance—there had always been a missing element.
The Light Realm, itself, is that missing element, and I was the first Twili to return to the Light Realm in thousands of years. I had the missing element, but that didn't mean I could lead our people to redemption. Stories were told, of how revered the one would be who would lead us to salvation, and, frankly, those were big shoes to fill. Not to mention I had more on my plate than I felt like I could handle as it was.
"You hesitate, my Queen, but you forget that you have the loyalty of the Twili on your side," Zant reminded me, his voice turning soft once more.
"Zant if you want your so-called redemption, you had better listen up," I told him sternly. "I… require your unique abilities."
"You need a master of our magic," he corrected me, and, by Nayru, I swear he smirked.
"I'll grant you access to the library, but you will be under close watch," I continued, trying to ignore his confident air. "Also I need you to tell me all you know about Ganondorf," I concluded.
"Ganondorf," Zant muttered, spitting on the ground. "That swine, he's dead—even I know as much."
"And you think I don't know this? I witnessed his death myself, but if he were to return how would he do so?"
"Ganondorf… was powerful, even I'll admit as much, but he was not immortal—certainly not a god by any standards," he laughed bitterly here before continuing. "The only way he could be resurrected was by the hand of a god. Your wolf did well in killing him, better than most I'd imagine, considering he was still dead when I was revived."
"And what do you imagine he would do if he were brought back to life?"
"Kill your wolf, first, then kill anyone else who helped kill him, and, goddesses forbid, if he were to force his way back into our realm you'd be killed too," he answered confidently.
"Interesting," I replied, keeping a neutral expression. "Now use your imagination on this one. You speak of our redemption rather passionately. How would we go about sustaining ourselves in the Light Realm without covering it in Twilight?"
He bowed his head, thinking. "You're asking how we would retrieve some of our light dweller abilities, then?"
"Correct."
"It would be… difficult, but maybe not impossible," he determined. "And I have access to the royal library?"
I nodded once in a silent response.
"I can try."
Though his assessments left me unnerved I simply nodded once more considering my next step carefully. "Guards!" I called. Instantly two armored Twili rushed in, magic summoned and at the ready. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. I want you to take him to the library to study subjects that will not be disclosed to you, just keep an eye on him. If he tries anything tricky, use your imagination."
With a quick "Yes, ma'am" they seized Zant and started towards the royal library.
A god Ganondorf was not, but that didn't mean one couldn't be helping him. However if that were the case I would've been killed a long time ago, along with Zelda, Link, and everyone else.
So what was he up to, and how had he managed his miraculous, if cursed, return? Rubbing my temples, I decided it would be best to get some rest for tonight and continue my search for answers in the morning after a nice Twili-style breakfast.
As soon as I stepped into my room, though, I felt that something was wrong. I wasn't alone. The door slid shut behind me and I waited for a sign of movement, all the while my mind returned to a dark, destroyed castle with an undead Hylian lurking in the shadows. It could just be a servant cleaning up, but I didn't dare call out to check.
"Hello?" a timid voice called out. I breathed a sigh of relief and took another step into the room.
"It's just me," I reassured. "Why's it so dark in here?"
"Oh, we don't like the light." My blood suddenly ran cold. The voice had taken on a very different tenor; the previous a soft-spoken one whereas this one was purely sinister. I sensed movement to my left and ducked just in time to avoid the bloodied body that crashed into the wall behind me. I barely had time to recognize the corpse as one of my palace servants before I moved again.
"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be, Queen," the faceless voice purred.
"Show yourself!" I demanded, summoning a bolt of magic in anticipation. Quiet laughter filled the room, echoing off all sides and for a chilling moment I was reminded of Zant's attack. Shaking my head once, I let the bolt lose, aiming in the direction the projectile had come from. A shriek of pain replaced the laughter, briefly, before a howl of rage drowned it out.
Great, all I did was tick it off. Luck was all us Twili had (the goddesses certainly weren't rooting for us) and I didn't even have that right now.
Then I bumped into a rack filled with staves. Each staff represented a different previous ruler—a legacy, if you will, and they remained in my room as a reminder of what I had to live up to. Snatching up the first staff I touched I dashed towards the window, hoping to gain the advantage of sight. Just as I was about to draw the curtain out of the way, the invisible attacker tackled me. I slammed into the ebony stone floor and brought my staff up in time to fend off hungry teeth.
Quickly I kicked out, forcing the thing off me. Leaping to my feet, I dived for the curtains, pulling the whole thing down—rod and all.
"Ow," I muttered rubbing my head where the rod had hit me on its way down. I looked around only to find nothing but an empty room. "What the…?"
Cautiously I walked around the room—twice and still nothing. Under the bed, in the closet, yet still nothing. Puzzled I stood near the window and gazed out at the Twilight. Whatever had attacked me was very similar, if not the same thing, that attacked Link and I at Hyrule Castle. Even though I wasn't able to see its face well this time, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that they were of the same breed. However, this one had the capability to talk. Not to say the other one didn't, but he certainly didn't use the skill if he had it.
How had it gotten here, in the Twilight Realm? More importantly: where were they coming from?
The next morning I awoke with Link and a visit to the library on my mind. I arrived to find Zant hunched over a book, eyes scanning the page quickly before he leaned back with a loud sigh.
"Research got you down?" I asked with a superior smirk.
He grunted and grabbed a different book. "If you want me to work, I suggest you not distract me right now."
I shrugged and peered at the book.
"Don't read over my shoulder."
"I wasn't reading, I was looking."
"Whatever," he grunted.
"What are you looking up right now anyways?" I questioned. The book he was currently reading had the look of ancient Hylian writing. He was supposed to be finding a way to allow the Twili to hold their form in the light. My job was to find something to cure Link.
"Simply brushing up," he replied, flipping the page. "It may shock you to know this, Princess, but I am quite the linguist. You know what they say though, use it or lose it." Stretching he walked over to one of the many shelves in the library to put the book back and retrieve a new one. "Do you plan on standing there watching me all day, or did you want something?" he questioned, frustration seeping into his tone.
"You're a well versed magician and historian, even if you are insane—,"
"Previously insane," he corrected quickly.
"Whatever. Anyways, you're knowledgeable. Perhaps you would even retain some information on Hylian illnesses," I concluded.
"I won't ask your reasons for asking, if only to prove my loyalty, but I will say this: Hylians are creatures very different from Twili. Obviously the last Hylians our people encountered could be very different from the Hylians who now roam the Light Realm," he explained without taking his eyes off the book in front of him. "In fact," he continued, "I'd say there's no guarantee that they'd be anything alike."
Frowning I asked, "So, let's say they're very much alike, could you tell me something about their illnesses then?"
"Sure, I could tell you how to mend their bones, cure their colds, anything," he answered with confidence.
"What if one collapses but nothing is wrong with him physically?"
Zant leaned back in his seat to ponder this. "I told you I could cure them, not diagnose them." Disappointed, I turned to leave, but Zant stopped me by speaking up suddenly. "Though by the sounds of it…"
"Yes?" I prompted expectantly.
"Ganondorf stored his power in me, and even as far gone as I was I could tell that was something unnatural—or perhaps completely natural."
"What do you mean?" I demanded irritably.
"Surely you know the stories, Midna,"—catching a glare from me, he cleared his throat before continuing—"Princess. The reason we were sent here, the golden power." I nodded and gestured for him to continue. "I believe, to this day, Ganondorf had that power, but it was a tainted thing. I wager if the taint's source hadn't been his own blood then he would've succumbed to insanity from it."
"So what does this have to do with my problem?"
"Don't you see? Take that corruption and put it in a normal Hylian." As he said this, an epiphany hit me like lightening. My question to Zelda as she spoke of the potential of relationships through the golden power: could a bond through the Triforce be tainted? Link and I had formed a bond, through Power and Courage, I knew as much because I was able to speak to him through the imposter sent to replace me. Just because the Triforce's owner changed didn't mean the bond was shattered. It would certainly explain why Link and Zelda so easily trusted each other.
Ganondorf had recaptured the Triforce of Power, but unexpectedly it held a path straight to Link's soul. He realized what it was and his poisonous taint leaked from one Triforce to the other. Now Link was dieing from the inside out.
"How would you purify such a thing?" I asked, failing to keep the desperation out of my tone.
"For something as powerful as Ganondorf's venom? That'd be impossible," he paused, thinking. "Unless…"
"What?"
"You'd have to take the whole bloody thing out. The golden power itself."
My eyes went wide and I leaned against the wall for support. No, no, no. Remove the entire Triforce? Panic started to gnaw on the edge of my mind. Was that even possible choice for us at this point? And if it is, could we really risk removing the Triforce from Link's body? Just thinking about what kind of pain that would put him through… Not to mention it would tear apart his hand, just as the process had done to mine.
Without the extra boost of Courage could Link even be able to face Ganondorf?
I cursed loudly, causing Zant to turn around and glance at me sideways before returning to his book. Ganon! He had planned this; he already knew what our options would be! Either we remove the Triforce and take out our own hero or he would do it slowly by poisoning his soul.
"Zant!" I barked causing him to jump.
"What?" he asked crossly.
"Would there be any other way?"
"Any other way?" he echoed uncertainly. Pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger I elaborated.
"Another way to cleanse the taint in a normal Hylian?"
"It would depend on the source, how it got into his bloodstream. If, for example, it was placed within him magically, you would have to remove it by reversing the magic—a counter spell, if you will," he informed me with a satisfactory nod.
The bond.
It could be broken, couldn't it? Surely there must be some way, but what would it mean for Link and me? How do you break a relationship? I chewed nervously on my lip as I mulled this over, realizing how clear everything was. How easy it would be, but hadn't we been through enough? Rubbing my temples, I left the library to talk to the palace swordsman. I needed to take out some frustrations.
At least now I understood why Link enjoyed sword fighting so much. It was relaxing. I waved good-bye happily to two rather frightened looking guards, and headed back to the library to check on Zant's progress.
"Well?" I asked expectantly upon entering the room.
"Ah, just the person I needed to talk to," Zant replied, sounding rather smug.
"What have you learned?" I leaned back against the nearest wall, waiting. Grinning like a fat tomcat, Zant stood and bowed regally.
"Your Highness, I believe our people may still yet have a shot at salvation!"
"Get on with it," I commanded impatiently.
"Why tell when I can show? You there,"—he gestured towards a guard—"hold still." The guard looked at me rather nervously, but I left my expression blank. "Now, Princess, try this incantation here."
I took the book from him and read over the spell. The words were Hylian, written in Twili. Trusting Zant had never been a problem, not really. Underestimating him had been. Was I simply falling for another of his tricks? More importantly, did I have any other options at this point? And, to that, I knew the answer. "Goddesses protect you if this is a trick of yours and I live through it."
"You and your wolf killed me once, Princess, it wasn't that bad," he reminded me.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and began uttering the ancient Hylian incantation.
