Chapter Eleven: Reconciliation
I woke up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat lying beside Link, who was snoring gently. I blinked hard and looked around, trying to catch my bearings. Right, Peak Province, Snow Peak Mountain. Then I felt a chill race down my spine that had nothing to do with the tempreture. The strange Hylian creature, where was it?
I looked over to where it should have been, but all that was left was the rope we had tied it up in.
I quickly shook Link awake, a certain panic settling into my stomach. "Link get up; it's gone."
In response he merely shifted and mumbled incoherently. Growling in frustration I stood up and kicked him. "Link this is an emergency, get up now!" The combination of my kick and loud voice cause him to jolt awake.
"What's that? What's going on?" he demanded sleepily, spinning in circles looking for his weapon I assumed.
"That monster got loose," I told him grimly.
His attention snapped into focus as he zeroed in on the coil of rope. "Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly.
"Perfectly fine, as far as I can tell, and you didn't look injured either," I informed him. "How do you feel?"
"Little weird from sleeping on the floor, but that's about it." He walked over to the fire and threw more wood on it, pushing the embers around and causing it to re-light. "Why didn't he kill us when he got out?"
I slumped back down to the floor of the cave and peered out into the quelling snowstorm. "I don't know, maybe he never wanted to kill us in the first place," I suggested. Link cocked an eyebrow at me and gave me an "Are you serious?" kind of look. I shrugged. Weirder things have happened.
"Where could he have gone?" Link wondered as he rejoined me on the floor.
I didn't answer him right away, but rather continued to stare out into the snowstorm. We had to take one of those things alive and back to Zant, in order to glean more information on the strange subject. More information now would mean fewer casualties later. But where could we find one?
Time runs ever short.
And then there was that unhelpful reminder and my dream rushed back to me on top of everything else. We couldn't go to the desert yet; we weren't properly prepared for one thing. We needed to find another one of those monsters and figure out what exactly they are, not to mention Link still had a few days scheduled on top of this mountain.
"Let's stay here and finish up your training," I responded at last. "We can try to get more of your memories back as well."
Link looked down at me, trust filling his eyes, and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Link's memories came in small bursts, but he was definitely, finally, remembering more of the original journey we took together. He would ask me seemingly random questions that I wouldn't think anything of until I wondered later how much he had remembered of certain events.
Once he asked me if we had ever visited this mountain before, which I affirmed. "Did we go… sledding?" he asked after a long moment. We had been eating a simple stew of sorts, made from some meat he had tracked and trapped the day before. He was rather excited about it; I was rather not.
Shaking that thought from my mind I answered, "Yes, well, you did anyways."
"You didn't go sledding?" he asked, surprised.
"Uhm, no," I replied, nervously wondering what he was thinking. "Why?"
"We have to go sledding!" he declared, mischief sparkling in his eyes. Uh-oh.
The next day we did just as he wished, and tracked our way to the tree with the massive ice crystals. Link knocked down a couple and shoved one towards me.
I promptly kicked it down the slope and watched with satisfaction as it rolled off the cliff. "No way."
Link pouted at me. "At least ride with me; you have to!"
"Give me one good reason I should go on that death trap," I said, glaring at said death trap.
"Because you'll love it!" Link answered a bit too happily. "Besides, you're stressed! You need to relax." He smiled at me expectantly and offered his hand.
"I do not need to relax," I muttered, taking his hand. I situated myself uncertainly on the slick piece of ice. "Link, I don't think this is going to work with both of us on it," I voiced nervously.
"It'll be fine, just do what I do," he explained overly chipper. We hadn't spotted any signs of the strange creature since it escaped us, but with his memories coming back I thought he would start to somber up. He was just making the most of what time he had to relax, I supposed.
I sighed in defeat. "If you say so." With that he pushed off and we slowly started to build speed as the ice flew smoothly along the fresh covering of snow.
Oh, Din. I was going to die.
As the first jump approached at break-neck speeds I squeezed my eyes shut, and much to my embarrassment, let out a yelp as we sailed over the cliffs gaping maw. I slowly opened one eye, afraid I would see us pummeling to our deaths, but instead saw Link grinning, his blond hair whipping about in the brisk mountain air.
Maybe this sledding business wasn't so bad after—.
"Ahhhhh!" I screamed as Link, literally, hit a tree and launched us into the air. He laughed maniacally and I held on tight to him as we came down for a landing. Instead of falling to the ground though, we hit the top of another tree and used it as a springboard, launching us back into the air once more.
After we finally landed on solid ground once more I was a bit more used to the feeling of the jumps, and by the end I was used to the feeling of the ice sliding over the permafrost. The trail, of course, ended at the yetis' mansion. Link hopped off the piece of ice and gazed, astonished, at the massive building.
"Have we been here before?" he asked, turning back to me. My legs were shaking from the ride and I had a hard time standing up.
I looked at the imposing place and nodded. "Yes, we came here looking for a mirror fragment. Uhm, you remember the mirror, right?" I asked uncertainly.
"A little bit," he answered softly. "You broke it after we got it back together—that mirror, right?"
I felt my face flush and dismissed it as a heat rush from my pounding heart. Stupid sled ride. "Yeah, I broke it."
"Does something live in there?" he asked, dropping away from the subject.
I walked over to where he was standing in a trance and slapped him on the back. "Yeah, now stop staring at it like that, you're creeping me out."
He shook his head and looked over at me, a smile slowly returning to his face. "I can't really remember it. Do you think we would be allowed to go in and take a look around?"
I thought about it for a moment, turning my attention back to the mansion. The yetis, although a bit strange, had been great hosts for the most part.
Aside from occasionally shoving Link violently for ingredients, getting possessed by the mirror shard and attacking him…
Well, considering the usual reception we received in dungeons, the mansion was a nice change of pace. It was almost fun, if not for my general depression at the idea of finding the mirror shards, and the yeti's bad memory and sense of directions.
I snapped out of my reminiscing and said, "I don't think they'd mind if we went in for a look around." They had actually invited him back the last time, but between saving the world he didn't have much time for leisurely races with yetis.
Happily Link headed for the door and I followed close behind, resisting the urge to hide in his shadow. He knocked on the door and Yeto answered almost right away. "Oh! It's you! Come in!"
Obligingly, we followed him inside. He offered us some soup which we gladly accepted, and then—predictably—challenged Link to a race. Yeta and I insisted watching from the sidelines. Mostly me, but Yeta was kind enough to sit out with me.
We waited, watching for our boys to come shredding down the slope, and she said something surprisingly insightful for a yeti. "He no remember, uh?" She turned to look at me puzzlingly.
"No," I answered, not able to meet her eyes.
"He will. He have you to help. Just like I have Yeto, uh," she said with a certain kind of reassuring warmth. Although I wasn't sure if I appreciated Link being compared to a possessed yeti.
I was about to thank her for her kindness when she suddenly jumped up. "Here they come, uh!" I looked to where she pointed and saw the two were neck and neck.
I bit back the impulse to cheer Link on at first, after all loud outbursts weren't really very lady-like or princess-like, for that matter. Then I looked again at Yeta's joyous face as she watched her husband race towards the finish, and I thought of the situation realistically. There was no one on this mountain but the yetis, Link, and me, so…
"Go! Come on Link!" I cheered, grinning mischievously. "Beat that old fur rug!" Yeta growled at me and I swallowed nervously. "Uh, I mean, beat that handsome fur rug?"
They both zoomed past us and crashed to a halt shortly after the finish line. Link and Yeto argued playfully about who won until Yeto got a little too carried away and punched Link "playfully," sending him skidding into a snow bank. Yeta went up to her husband and they started making out, as per usual, and I rolled my eyes.
Link stumbled out of the snow bank looking a little dazed, but otherwise fine. "Wow, I like this guy," he said grinning like a fool. "And I mean, I remember liking him and I like him now."
He shook his head, flinging snow everywhere including on me. "Ugh! Link watch it!"
Laughing, he picked up a handful of snow and asked, "What are you going to do about it."
"You don't want to know," I growled in warning. He refused to heed the warning and proceeded to chuck the handful of snow at me. "You are so dead Wolf Boy!" He ran off laughing insanely as I chased after him, threatening the wrath of doom.
But I was smiling too.
We continued to explore the mountain and talk about his past memories for several more days before I knew it was time to head back. If we could have lived on the mountain relaxing and enjoying our days that would have been okay by me, even if it was a bit cold, but with each turn of Link's memories came the reminder: time ran short.
We had to go back to Faron for two reasons, one being Zant, the other being the Master Sword. Link's memories seemed to have returned enough that he was brewing over it, but when I asked him what all he remembered he said everything was still a bit fuzzy. Full memories or not if he was still transforming into a wolf in the Twilight Realm, then he would need the sword to stay human. Communicating would be slightly easier if I wasn't translating barks.
I assumed, after I left, that Link would keep the Master Sword as a souvenir of sorts, but as we were leaving Peak Province I noticed it was a different sword he was using. When I asked him what he did with it he looked at me confused. Apparently he couldn't remember tracking it down, but he did remember placing the sword I described in a pedestal located in the middle of a small clearing within a forest. So he must have returned it after our adventure.
We picked up the horse from the watcher and told him to inform Zelda of our change in location. She would go on a murderous rampage if she couldn't find us.
And with that we were off, Link on Epona and I in his shadow, racing towards Faron Province.
We arrived pretty quickly, but we both experienced a serious case of déjà vu. The twilight had apparently spread. Not significantly, but enough that Faron was entirely covered, rather than just a single wall of it that blocked off a small portion of the forest no one lived in anyways. I couldn't help but wonder, why Faron of all places?
Link looked anxiously at the twilight. "Do you think they're okay?" he asked.
It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about. Oh, right. His self-proclaimed family. "They should be okay, after all the curtain didn't start in Ordon, so I doubt it went towards it."
He looked at me uncertainly. "Why would it spread one way and not the other?"
"Twilight isn't necessarily an intrusive substance," I explained. "Unless told to do so, as in what happened originally, it should only spread to the strongest point of twilight in this realm."
"What's the strongest point?" he asked curiously.
"Probably the broken Mirror of Twilight," I replied grimly.
"Oh, no big deal then," he muttered. "It'll just spread all over Hyrule again."
I wanted to smack him for being so cynical, but he was right in one sense. Why was it spreading again, and more importantly how did we stop it this time when it was acting of its own accord?
"We'll figure something out after Ganondorf is defeated," I decided. I hadn't told him about Din or my dream yet. "For now we have to focus on him, other wise where the twilight is won't matter anymore."
Although Link looked torn over his family and the fate of Hyrule, his ancient instinct to preserve Hyrule won out in the end. We stepped into the twilight once more, and on the other side Link promptly reverted to his beast form. I looked away from him and up towards the sky. Black clouds, not of twilight, but of a brewing storm crackled with unleashed energy.
Time really was running short. I looked around the area of twilight that we had stepped into and realized right away it wasn't the Twilight Realm, but rather Faron drenched in twilight. So where was the portal back to the Twilight Realm now?
Link nudged my leg with his massive snout and broke me from my train of thought. I rested a hand on his head a moment before leading the way to the secret grove entrance. Traveling through the confusing forest would be a journey and a half on its own. Memories or not, the place was hard to navigate.
Luckily, and at the same time not so much so, Skull Kid happened to rear his ugly face just a few paces into the deeper part of the woods. Link shuddered upon seeing him, either regaining a memory or reliving one. Either way, he knew what to do and chased the so-called "kid" deep into the forest until he led us to where we needed to be.
I had mixed feelings on the Skull Kid myself. On one hand he was handy for finding the blasted sword, but on the other he really gave me the creeps. And I knew Zant.
We walked into the clearing, Skull Kid quickly becoming a distant memory once more, and another sense of déjà vu slammed us. The Master Sword rested in its pedestal, glowing with the light of the Sol and the power of whoever had created it. Link glanced up at me and I nodded.
He slowly approached the sword, uncertain at first, but then his steps became more familiar as did his bearing. I shielded my eyes for the explosion of light I knew was coming and waited for the dust to settle.
"Well, that's one thing to check off our to do list," I remarked, smirking.
"Yeah, let's go meet the army," Link agreed.
We started to head out of the forest, following the oddly more apparent path towards the slightly less dense area of the woods. Link paused suddenly, and just as I was about to ask why I sensed it. Probably not in the same way Link had, but I felt a chill run down my spine and my hairs stand on in. We weren't alone out here.
Normally I would downplay it as Skull Kid up to some kind of trick, but this unseen presence was much more… foreboding.
Link and I exchanged a look and slowly examined our surroundings. After a pin-drop silent moment Link called out, "Hello?"
Suddenly a blur streaked out of the trees and nailed Link, throwing them both tumbling across the forest floor. "Link!" I cried out, mostly in surprise.
He and his attacker rolled a few more feet before Link got his bearings and slammed the hilt of the Master Sword into the assailant's face. It hissed in agony and scrambled a few feet away, giving Link time to recover his footing.
Link backed up, towards me, as the creature—we could now clearly see it was the same thing that had attacked us on Snowpeak—rolled onto all fours and prepared to launch itself at us.
"Don't kill it," I quickly commanded Link. He looked at me like I was crazy.
"What?"
"We need to capture him and take him back to my realm!" I explained hurriedly.
"We don't even know where your realm is right now!" he reasoned.
"Look just—!" I was cut off as the creature dashed towards us, springing for Link's throat at the last moment. Link pushed me out of the way before rolling to the side, barely avoiding the fangs of the strange creature.
Link raised up his sword, prepared to strike it while it was off balance, but suddenly looked up at me. "You're jealous of Ilia?"
I blinked once, totally confused. "What? This is hardly the time!" I stuttered, trying to dismiss the question.
"I just remembered," he explained, dodging the attack of the strange creature who was back in action. "I tried to tell Ilia about the events of the Twilight invasion and found out you were jealous."
The creature knocked Link off balance with a cheap shot to the stomach. "I am not jealous!" I proclaimed.
Link kicked the creature off as it struggled to reach his neck. "I already know you love me," he further explained. "I mean, it makes sense for you to be jealous."
"I am not jealous!" I shouted.
"Well I just mean that—," he paused to rush the creature, hoping to at least injure and slow it down. He swung but missed by a hair as the creature rolled away. "—I never had a chance to tell you, what with you breaking the mirror, then all of the chaos when you came back…"
The creature swung its fist out, but Link fended off the attack with his sword; the creature had tough skin as the sword only managed to give it a sizable gash rather than sever it. "I mean," Link continued as the creature leapt back out of sword reach, "I wasn't even really sure when you came back myself. I had a lot of mixed feelings, you know?"
The creature and Link exchanged several more blows. "Mixed feelings about what?" I demanded, anxiously watching the battle and waiting for an opportune moment to cut in and end it.
"You," he said, slashing the creature across the ribs. It hissed and retreated a bit. "I mean I might have told you the first time, but you left and that just threw me for a loop." The creature attacked with renewed vigor, catching Link on the arm and giving him his own sizable wound. "I guess I was kind of scared."
He chuckled a bit, a little breathless from the battle. "How's that for irony? The Hero of Light, holder of the Triforce of Courage, afraid of his own feelings!"
"Are you stupid?" I asked, genuinely wondering if I had missed him receiving a blow to the head.
"What I'm saying is—," he grunted under the force of a blow he barely managed to block. "—As soon as things started to settle down, I was able to sit down and think seriously about it, but then I screwed up because I told the imposter and not you!"
He charged the creature, slamming his shield into it and knocking it sailing. "Then of course I lost my memories, but even now—as fuzzy as those memories still are—I know!"
Link was pushing the creature towards me and I quickly searched for a large blunt object. Luckily, being a forest, there were plenty of rocks. I grabbed the largest one I could find and manage and knocked the creature over the head with it when Link pushed it close enough. It crumpled to the ground.
"What do you know that's so important you have to tell me while you're fighting?" I snapped, the unconscious creature at our feet forgotten for the moment.
Panting, Link grinned at me. "I love you."
I stared at him speechless for a long moment before my brain came up with a snappy response. "This really is hardly the time; come on pick this thing up, we're going home."
Link merely smirked at me, totally unfazed by my reaction, and picked up the unconscious body of the creature. "By home I assume you mean…?"
"The Twilight Realm."
Finding where the portal to the realm began and the leaked Twilight ended was not a simply task. It turned out to be rather lengthy, but after a couple hours of searching we arrived at the Twilight Realm. When we arrived on the palace grounds I saw a sight that I never thought I would see. The Twili preparing for battle, looking like they had genuine purpose.
Typically Twili tended to be a bit lethargic. Eternal dusk does that to a person; without a true sun life drains away.
Link looked excitedly at the troops, an eerily familiar feral look in his eyes. "It's so amazing to see all of this, knowing I've been here before."
I looked at him, surprised. "You remember the Twilight Realm now?"
"Yeah," he said happily. "But I also recall Zant." His bright blue eyes clouded over grimly for a brief moment, his old nemesis in mind, but the moment quickly passed. "But that's okay because he's dead now. I stopped him before, but you delivered the killing blow."
"Uh, yeah that's right," I agreed, observing the pride in his eyes from re-living the moment. Approaching the palace, I saw Zant standing outside of the main gate before Link spied him. This was going to be awkward and possibly violent.
Zant looked up, noticed us, and did a double take. He approached blissfully unaware of Link's dawning realization. Unfortunately I was painfully aware of it. "Hey Midna," Zant greeted casually.
What happened next wasn't exactly unexpected. Link dropped the creature he had been hauling, rushed forward, and pinned Zant up against the stone wall by his neck, sword pointing threateningly.
"How are you here?" Link demanded. Zant strained to see me without Link gutting him.
"Really? You didn't tell him?" he asked crossly.
"Sorry," I muttered, then more loudly, "Link, put him down and let me explain." Link glanced at me over his should looking hurt and confused, but his grip on Zant didn't lessen.
"What's going on?" he asked quietly to no one in particular.
"Please, Link, can we go inside and talk about this?" I pleaded.
He looked uncertainly between Zant and I for a moment before finally, slowly, releasing him and following me inside. Once inside I handed over the unconscious creature, giving orders for it to be locked away, and dismissed Zant, who walked off looking offended but no worse for the ware, and guided Link to one of my private rooms.
I sat down on one of the cushions and waited a moment to see if Link would sit down. When he made no move to, I started to explain, "Link, he's totally harmless now."
Link stiffened in response and snapped, "We risked everything to get to him and destroy him and you just brought him back like it doesn't even matter!"
"It did matter!" I protested. "I needed to bring him back."
He spun to face me. "What could you ever need from him?"
I jumped onto my feet and yelled back, "I needed to get back to you!"
The room fell silent except for our slow breathing. Link looked away first, turned and left, going Din knows where. I bit down on my lower lip to keep it from trembling, but couldn't stop the tears from falling.
I knew, upon reviving Zant, that if Link should ever discover I had done so, then he would be purely outraged. How else would he react? We did risk life and limb to defeat him and put an end to his madness. Link wasn't like me in that sense; he wasn't selfish.
However, I knew the only way I could possibly get back was through some kind of spell, and although my spell casting ability was just as fine tuned as any Twili's, Zant had been simply masterful. He was insane, yes, but he was good at what he specialized in. And he specialized in returning to the Light Realm.
Even if he couldn't find a way back and took over the realm again I figured it would be okay since he couldn't possibly reach the Light Realm any longer. I didn't think of my people, and I didn't think of that off chance that there was another way for him to get back.
What if things had gone differently and he had taken over and burst into the Light Realm once more? Would he even let me survive, or would he, unlike I, learn from his mistakes and kill me off?
And what would Link think in that scenario? That I had died honorably, or would he somehow discover the truth that I had brought all of it upon myself.
I didn't think the resurrection through as much as I should have, and I was lucky that Zant was on my side this time around.
I heaved a sigh and made my way down the long, obsidian hall. No point in fretting over the past; Zant was about to join me in the interrogation room for the examination of the strange creature Link and I had collected.
I arrived at the room and took a seat in the corner. The creature was chained to the wall, restraining its hands and feet, and Zant stood across from it with his arms crossed; he smiled keenly at the strange Hylian-like creature, and I was grateful that Link was still simmering down and opted out of coming with me to the interrogation.
"Hello there," he greeted the creature. "My name's Zant, but we need a name for you, now don't we?" The creature merely sat there, tied down, foam dribbling out of the corner of its mouth.
"Now by the looks of it you're some kind of fallen Hylian, so let's call you and yours Twilians." Zant always has a poor sense of humor.
Twilian stared at Zant unfazed.
"But of course what you are physically I'll be dissecting later," Zant hinted, grinning evilly. "For now I have a few questions I think you can answer. You work for Ganondorf, do you not?"
Twilian flinched as if hearing his name caused physical pain. "I truly serve a greater power," he hissed. "Ganondorf has been granted some control, but not forever like my true master."
"And who is your true master?" Zant questioned, leaning closer. Twilian made no further comments, although his deep hatred of Ganondorf was well noted. As for his true master, I had a feeling I knew who it was anyways.
"What are you exactly?" Zant purred, staring fearlessly into the creatures gleaming eyes.
"I am above your race."
Zant pulled away, straightening up. He turned away for a moment and I saw his nostrils flaring in rage. He spun around quickly and punched Twilian, the force of the blow twisting Twilian's head to the side. It cracked it into place.
"Did I enrage you?" it asked smartly. "I won't tell you anymore, so just kill me if you can."
Zant glanced back over at me and I saw something surprising in his eyes. A distinct look of… hurt.
"That's all for today," I announced, rising from my chair. "You'll stay here with no food or water until we see fit. Come on Zant."
He followed me out obediently and apologized as soon as the door closed. "He struck a chord," he muttered.
"Just don't let it happen again," I told him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Link."
My seeking took me to a guest room Link had apparently requested, making himself at home in the palace. I knocked on the door and he answered with a gruff, "Come in!'
"Link, look I—," I started to apologize, but upon entering the room I saw the pile of bloody bandages on the table and Link struggling to re-wrap his wound. "What's that cut from?"
"The stupid creature," he muttered distractedly. "I think something's wrong with it."
The Master Sword rested in its sheath on Link's back and glowed anxiously. "Is that the wound from the Twilian?" I asked.
He glanced up at me dumbfounded. "Twilian?"
"It's the name Zant gave the creature," I answered unthinkingly. Then I realized what I said and quickly apologized again.
"That's no matter for now," Link muttered. I could tell he was still angry, but he just wanted to avoid the subject for now. Fine by me. "This injury won't stop bleeding."
I stared at him, sincerely frightened by what that could mean. "But it's been a day already, why would it still be bleeding?"
"I'm not certain, but it's not natural; the wound isn't deep enough for this." Link gave up on trying to single-handedly bandage himself and set the roll down on the table, resting his head in his uninjured hand.
I sat down at the table with him and picked up the roll of cloth. "Here, give me your arm," I commanded. He obliged, offering up his injured limb. I took it gently and started wrapping it up.
Although it should have been, the silence didn't really feel awkward. After I finished bandaging him, I rested my hand on his shoulder. "Why do you think it's bleeding so badly?"
"It tingled a bit when he struck me," Link answered. "I think he might have injected some kind of poison."
Not good.
"We'll get you back to Hyrule Castle as soon as possible and let Zelda check it," I reassured him.
He reached up his other hand, on his uninjured arm, and placed it over mine. "Right."
Several days passed and the interrogations didn't glean much information at first, but a disturbing conclusion came to Zant one night.
"They survive off of others' blood," he explained grimly.
"What makes you think that?" I asked, slightly disturbed.
"We cut into his stomach, but there was no food of any kind," Zant recalled. "In fact there was no evidence that any part of his body was actually functioning correctly or at all. It's almost like he's a shell with a brain only large enough to comprehend commands from its master."
I raised an eyebrow at him, not bothering to add the comment that went along with it. Zant glared at me.
"You said your hero was bleeding still," he continued, "and you said that one of the Hylians a Twilian had attacked was bleeding profusely from a fairly shallow cut." Zant casually walked over to the balcony of the room we had been standing in.
"Yes, and?" I prompted.
"Well, I believe that may be the poison your hero suggested." He explained, "The bleeding coupled with its apparent diet would make sense; it would need to drain all of the blood it possibly could from its victims."
It made frightening sense, and made me all the more impatient to return to Hyrule Castle to inform Zelda.
Zant turned around, away from the open sky that now brewed with ominous clouds. "Oh and I believe the only way to kill these things is a clean beheading."
With this information in mind I made a possibly rash decision and granted Zant control of the army.
He promised to follow closely behind us with the troops.
Link and I needed to get back to Hyrule Castle sooner than that though. I needed to make sure Zelda and I were on the same page, and debate how best to move the troops. Not to mention Link's arm.
Link, though, had his own reasons. He told me earlier, while we were watching the troops line up and Zant patrol the ranks, that something was drawing him inexplicably to the castle. Something deep inside of him was calling out and demanding his presence there.
It got to the point where he simply couldn't sit still or even sleep, so I left the last few details of moving the troops to Zant and agreed to head back ahead of them with Link.
He rode Epona hard to Castle Town, and we couldn't enter the castle soon enough. Upon entering we immediately split up, each on our own agenda.
The scar that our bond had become endured endlessly, though, as we wasted no time debating where or when we would meet up. To know without words what another is thinking… it was a blessing I had missed from him all this time without even realizing it.
We had truly become an inseparable pair during the invasion of the Twili. I was glad to see we were getting back to that now.
No time to dwell on that for now; I had to find the queen.
As I was walking around trying to catch my bearings in the unfamiliar castle, I heard some guards whispering about the whereabouts of the queen. "I think she's down below the castle," one muttered.
Another answered, "Yeah, there's something in the dungeons and she's visiting it."
"Or him," a maid whispered giggling. The guards shook their heads and huffed in a gruff, manly way.
"Women," they both agreed.
I highly doubted the existence of a secret lover, but it was possible that Zelda was down there. I followed some instructions and found myself, soon enough, descending ancient looking stairs. I supposed that, even though the castle had been largely rebuilt from scraps, the underground portion must have stayed intact.
The dank underground area was lit with some softly flickering torches, but the little light they gave still made it nearly impossible to navigate the treacherous, uneven grounds. The place reminded me of the dungeon I had been kept in while Ganondorf conducted his torture and I shuddered.
After walking down a single, narrow passage it became evident that the place was meant to be something of a maze. Nervously I wondered how frequently the guards checked for people who got lost down here. Then again, the only ones trying to get out would probably be wanted criminals anyways.
Running my hand along a smooth, gray wall I mentally backtracked, making sure I knew where I was. Then, I heard a noise.
It was a continuous noise, marked by small dips and accents. After a moment I realized it sounded like someone holding a conversation. I followed the noise down another passageway, and yet another after that, until up ahead I saw a significantly brighter light, as if there were extra torches in the area. Slowly, quietly, I approached, listening carefully to the murmured conversation.
"Are you sure it will be safe for him?" the female voice asked. There was a pause, then she said, "Very well."
It was definitely Zelda's voice, but who was she talking to?
"And how is your Link?" Again she asked a question and paused as if waiting for an answer, but none ever came. Instead she responded after a moment of silence, "I see, I hope it all goes well."
I peered around the corner I hid behind, trying to catch a glimpse of Zelda. She stood there facing the wall, which had a gaping hole in it, and in that hole was an object that glowed brilliantly. But what was it? Definitely not another torch, the light was wrong.
"If events in your time are reaching a climax, then that must mean you can also see how everything is ending for Midna an—?" Zelda had started to ask something, but she cut herself off, suddenly tensing up. "Someone's down here?" she whispered, almost too quietly for me to hear. I took a slow step back, hiding from her in case she decided to turn around. How did she know I was here?
"I will check, but no one should be down here for any reason," she answered an unasked question. I heard stone sliding into place and realized she must be sealing up that hole, and she was probably going to search for the intruder—me.
I quickly turned away and raced off, going as fast and silently as possible. Thankfully I didn't lose the path and found myself back on the surface in no time, but I didn't stop, I had to move away. If she decided to come back up to the main floor, and she saw me…
I heard the echo of footsteps far below and took off once again, stopping only when I felt I was far enough away. I had to circle back and catch Zelda by surprise—confront her. No better time than now when she had something to be guilty of.
I backtracked once more, caught Zelda in a hallway near the back of the castle, and stared her down. After yet another episode I knew I couldn't ignore whatever was wrong with her; it could be fatal in battle.
"Zelda, I know something's wrong with you," I told her, blocking her only path to freedom. Her eyes darted between the walls surrounding her, as if they were going to swallow her up. For a moment I thought she was going to run away from me, or at least try.
"What do you mean Midna?" she asked, her voice taking on a slightly threatening tone.
"You've been acting weird, and I know something's wrong with you. Don't play stupid with me!" I took a step forward. "Tell me what's going on."
"Midna, I can handle this," she whispered, looking defeated. I slowly approached her as she collapsed on the stone floor, shaking.
I looked down at her and sighed. "You call this handling it?"
"Midna," she whispered, head in her hands. "I can hear them, they're arguing. She's been helping me, but now I don't even know which one's which."
I glanced around the empty-for-now hallway, and pulled her to her feet, shaking her to snap her out of her insane babbling. "We need to go somewhere more private; this isn't a matter to be discussed out in the open like this."
She took a deep, wracking breath and calmed down a bit, looking around for the nearest room. "This way," she said, leading me to a room not too far down the walkway.
We entered the room and I took a seat at the table in the modest room. It was a sparse space, only this wooden table, a few chairs, a vanity, and a single, high-up window. I waited for Zelda to take a seat across from me before I asked, "So what's going on, exactly?"
"I should have told you both sooner, I'm so sorry," she answered, tears welling up in her eyes. It made me more than a little nervous to see her so shaken; if nothing else, Zelda was one of the toughest people I had ever known, Twili or Hylian. She didn't cry easily, but this was clearly freaking her out. Whatever this was.
"Told us what?" I prompted.
"Remember when I told you about our reincarnations?" she asked, making eye contact with me. I nodded. "One of them, perhaps the oldest one, has been speaking with me."
Okay, it's official then. Zelda's lost it.
"No, no!" she protested. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy; she's the reason I threw the ball and found out that the Triforce had been healed!"
"What?" I asked, shocked. I looked at her wide-eyed. "The Triforce has been healed? What do you mean?"
She checked for an escape quickly, eyes darting about, thinking of an excuse. "I was going to tell you both before we left," she claimed defensively. "Sometime during the ball, some how… someone cleansed Link's piece."
"H-how is that possible?" I wondered aloud, covering my mouth with my hand. "Does that mean he can have it back then?" I demanded.
"Yes, he should be able to take it back, but," she paused, shifting uncomfortably. "I wonder how the bond was broken; I don't actually believe you managed to break it utterly when you tried—only enough to remove it from his body."
"Wait!" I snapped. "You mean to tell me that you knew I had to take the Triforce piece out because of the taint and you still treated me like a criminal?"
"I didn't know until later," she answered quickly. "I didn't know until shortly after the two of you left for the Twilight Realm without telling me."
I gave her a confused look. "You still treated me like a criminal then," I stated plainly and a bit annoyed.
"I was under a lot of stress, you'll have to forgive me," she explained sincerely. "I found out that you had to remove the Triforce because of what the other Zelda told me about the bonds, but the Triforce was still tainted at that time."
"Could she have done something?" I wondered, sitting back in my chair and thinking. With so much going on, certain details became fuzzy.
Zelda shook her head. "I asked her if she could, after I realized who she was and she had explained the circumstances to me. She told me that she could do nothing from her side."
We sat in silence for a long moment before I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, so that's why Link and you acted funny that one time."
"Which?" Zelda asked. I rolled my eyes at her.
"When we were in Faron, while I was getting kidnapped."
Zelda furrowed her brow in concentration. "You may be right. I cannot recall any of those memories."
"I think it's safe to say you would remember me getting kidnapped," I muttered. So that had been their past reincarnations, taking over for a short time. Why were they so interested in what was going on in this time period though? I had a feeling we probably wouldn't get an answer to that question, not any time soon anyways.
Another thought struck me and I had to ask, "Will he get all of his memories back when he obtains the Triforce again?"
Zelda lightly rested her hands on the table. "Yes, I believe so, but hasn't he remembered most of it?"
I shook my head in the negative. "Well, kind of. He claims to have most of them back, but they're fuzzy, some more so than others."
Zelda nodded. "The Triforce should clarify things then." She dropped her gaze from me and stared at the plain floor. "You didn't ask what happened to the past voice of Zelda."
"That's right, you said you couldn't tell the difference, but I thought you only had past-Zelda's voice?" I questioned, turning my attention to the vanity on the left.
I felt her gaze on me once more and she said, "She was the only one for a while, but I hear remnants—echoes—of some tortured soul." I looked back at her to see her hands trembling. "Oh, it screams terrible things. And now the two voices have become one in my mind. I fear I may truly be going mad."
"What's the voice telling you exactly?" I whispered.
"They want me to go to the Gerudo Desert," she replied. She made eye contact with me briefly before dropping her gaze once more. Barely audible she added, "And they say Link will betray us in the end."
Din calls, the voices in my own mind murmured.
Zelda and I immediately agreed that our first step was to find Link before the Twili arrived. We had to give the Triforce piece back to its rightful owner. Not to mention Zelda still had to look at his arm, but when I told her about it she was convinced that the Triforce would heal the wound.
We tracked Link down by the entrance to the dungeons, oddly enough. He looked over at Zelda and asked, "What's down there?"
She gave him a weird look and answered, "Nothing much, why do you ask?"
"I feel like there's something down there," he answered, almost in a trance-like state. "Something calls to me."
Zelda smiled a bit. "I suppose we're finally getting into the swing of things. You two wait here, I'll go retrieve it."
I rolled my eyes at this. "Wouldn't the ambience down below be more fitting for this?" Zelda laughed a bit as she descended the stairs, echoing a ghost of her laugh to us. Link fidgeted nervously.
"What's down there?" he asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," I answered, placing a hand on his shoulder. He immediately stopped moving around and smiled at me.
"Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit wound up at the moment," he explained. I nodded in understanding. Then, just a few minutes later, Zelda emerged from the depths with the golden power sparkling in her hands.
"Link I believe this belongs to you," she said proudly. Link peered at the strange, golden object for a long moment before slowly reaching a hand out to pick it up.
There was a brilliant flash of light and when the dust settled Link had his birthmark back. The remaining scars on his hand vanished and the bleeding slowed, the cut itself slowly stitching up. His forehead was scrunched up in what almost looked to be pain.
Zelda and I exchanged a look; he must be regaining and crystallizing the rest of his memories. After a long moment, Link relaxed and looked up at us.
He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, breathing heavily. "It never had anything to do with the Triforce," he muttered gratefully.
"What?" I asked confused and a bit embarrassed with Zelda standing right there watching us.
"Nothing," he sighed. "Now what?"
"Zant should be arriving with the army within the next few days, until then, we need to make sure the Light Realm warriors are prepared," I answered, looking to Zelda for approval.
She nodded. "Agreed, and we must prepare to introduce them to the Twili."
I looked at the two Hylians standing before me and knew we all had a similar, if not spoken, thought: easier said than done.
We made our way to the war room where Zelda's commanders had been assembled for a debriefing. Zelda and I entered together, with Link trailing behind us, and everyone in the room rose and bowed deeply, sitting only after we had taken our seats.
I kind of missed the respect I received in my own castle, and the Hylians' politeness did not go unnoticed.
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to two very important people," Zelda began, speaking loudly and clearly so not a word would be missed. "This is the Twilight Princess Midna." She made a gesture towards me. "You will treat her as you treat me, and she has some valuable intelligence that she shall share in a moment."
The assembled Hylians waited patiently, accepting.
"And this," she continued. "Is Link of the village Ordon. He single-handedly free Hyrule from the strange Twilight that invaded this realm."
The reaction they gave Link was significantly different. All of them looked in awe, the older ones gasping audibly, while the younger ones leaned forward in their seats to get a better look. The tips of Link's ears turned red and he bowed his head gratefully.
"These two will assist me in leading the troops into battle with the strange creatures we are now calling Twilians," Zelda explained. I had given her a rundown of all that we learned, including the nickname Zant had come up with, earlier. She looked over at me expectantly.
"Greetings," I purred, smiling gently. Some of the Hylians blushed noticeably. "As Zelda mentioned I am the princess of the Twilight Realm, and my people were enslaved and used in a war against your people merely a year ago."
This sobered them up somewhat; many of them had probably lost something precious in the outbreak of Twilight.
I continued, "But today we come to you as your allies in fighting a greater menace. One we thought defeated long ago." The focus of the Hylians surprised me somewhat. Although I had thought only a few were truly brave, it would seem they all wanted nothing more than to protect this land. I suppose some of them just didn't have the proper means.
I peeked at Link from the corner of my eye. He was to go over basic drills with them, but it was only for a day. Hopefully it would be enough. For a moment I wondered why he hadn't stayed with Zelda after I left; he would have made an excellent general.
"The creatures you will be fighting," I said after the brief pause. "Are venomous, we believe. Their claws and fangs are coated with some kind of substances that causes even the shallowest of wounds to bleed severely."
One of the generals raised his hand, asking permission to speak. I nodded at him. "Is there an antidote for the poison?"
I bowed my head sadly before answering, "No, not yet. But we have our best doctors working on an antidote as we speak."
A younger man asked, "Isn't it a bit rash to rush in knowing that if our soldiers get injured, then the best we can do is put them out of their misery?" An older man sitting next to him elbowed him discretely, causing the younger man to flinch, but he didn't take his eyes off me.
"No, we'll have an antidote soon enough," I answered.
The same man spoke up again, "Who exactly is concocting this antidote?"
"Some of my more skilled magic users," I replied patiently.
Suddenly the young man stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "And how do we know we can trust your people?" he demanded angrily.
Taken back by his outburst I didn't reply right away; I merely watched as the older man stood up and put restraining hands on his shoulders. "You're making a fool of yourself! Sit down now!" the elder man warned.
"Those monsters killed my family!" the younger soldier screamed in outrage, bloodlust in his eyes. "You monsters killed my family!" He struggled against the older man, furiously point accusingly at me.
"Remove him now," Zelda commanded coldly. "Put him in the stockades until further notice."
"Is this what it comes to?" he demanded as he was dragged from the room. "Our own queen handing us over to a bunch of monsters again?"
The older man who had been restraining him buried his head in his hands, utter ashamed. Zelda remained unfazed outwardly, but I knew the words had struck a nerve, just like they had for me. Link, not so used to hiding his emotions as us, was visibly fuming.
After the interruption had been removed Zelda implored me, "Continue."
I cleared my throat and started speaking once more, explaining the agreed upon course of action as well as the Twili who would be fighting alongside the Hylians. "Are there any questions?" I concluded.
An as-of-yet silent man spoke up, "Yes You Highness, how long before we clash with the enemy exactly?"
I glanced over at Zelda. "Link will be going over some basic drills and fighting techniques this afternoon, have your troops lined up and prepared by then. The Twili should be arriving this evening, and we'll waste no time."
"We're leaving tonight for the Gerudo Desert?" a grizzled veteran asked.
"Indeed."
He smirked. "Sounds like this is gonna be some fun." A few of his comrades grinned in anticipation and Zelda dismissed the meeting on that note.
After the meeting Link went off to start speaking with the troops, and Zelda recommended that I get some rest; she would send someone when my people reached the castle. I dozed in the familiar room Link and I had been staying in previously, wondering what tomorrow would hold.
How many troops would be lost? What if Zant hadn't been able to uncover enough information to procure an antidote? And what would it mean if Link couldn't defeat Din?
The weight of the situation slowly settled on me. I hadn't even told him about Din yet.
What would not telling him serve to do? Surprise him maybe, but I knew better than to think it would scare him. If he had to face Din then he would do it. He would kill a goddess; he would find a way to.
And I knew, inevitably, I would be by his side when he did it.
Would I get in the way though? The last thing Link needed was a useless princess in his way… but I couldn't let him face her alone. If it meant putting my life at risk… well then, Zant could take care of the Twili. Never thought I'd actually think that without laughing.
I had to tell Link about Din on the way over, and I had to inform Zelda still. Letting out a great sigh I rolled off the bed and sought out a guard in the hallway.
"Hey, do you know where Her Highness is?" I asked casually.
"Throne room," he answered gruffly. I walked off in the now familiar direction of the throne room.
Just as I was about to swing the door open I heard two voices softly conversing and recognized them as Link and Zelda's. I listened carefully.
"I know you may want to ride with her, but the Hylians are insecure; they need the reassurance of their hero," Zelda explained.
"I don't want to get separated from her in the middle of the battle," Link countered.
There was a brief pause and I heard the soft click-clack-click of shoes on a stone surface. "You remember your hand, do you not?"
Another pause. "Yes, but that was our mistake and not hers."
Zelda laughed softly. "You really have learned much, and remembered all."
"Yes and I'm ready for whatever this battle holds, but only with her."
I knocked on the door and heard Zelda call, "Enter." I walked in and gave them a casual wave.
"Any news?" I asked.
"Yes," Zelda answered, descending the stairs of her throne. "I just received word that the Twili have arrived, so I had Link fetched and I was just about to send off for you."
"Good." I nodded as we all shared a brief moment of silence, lost in our own thoughts about the day to come. "I have something important to tell the two of."
Link, looking puzzled, asked, "What is it? Something wrong?"
"Not exactly," I answered hesitantly. "But Link is going to be needed elsewhere during the battle."
"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, looking concerned.
"You're not the only one who's been hearing voices and having weird dreams," I explained. "Farore and Nayru have been pestering me about this for a while, but I wasn't sure if it was legitimate or just the onset of insanity."
"So hard to tell these days," Zelda agreed sincerely. Link gave her a weird look.
"Yes, but fortunately that's not the case for me yet." I crossed my arms determinedly. "The goddesses want us to kill their corrupted sister."
"Din?" Zelda breathed.
"The one and only," I answered grimly. "Apparently she's the one who constantly revives Ganondorf, and she's been doing it for a long time."
Link and Zelda's faces both scrunched up in pain suddenly yet briefly and I had another moment of déjà vu. When they looked at me I could tell it wasn't the Link and Zelda I knew.
"So it's been Din this entire time?" Zelda asked.
"Hah, I should have figured," Link muttered, barking an unhappy laugh. He turned to Zelda and asked, "Do you think this kid has what it takes?
Zelda smiled gently at him, with a look that vaguely made me want to claw her eyes out. "He'll be just fine. After all, he's your son."
Link grinned proudly. "Yeah I guess that's true." He looked over at me. "Thanks for taking care of my boy. I know you two will—!"
Zelda elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up idiot!"
I laughed a bit at the odd display and asked, "Isn't coming back to this time going to screw up the timeline?"
Zelda smiled kindly at me and I realized she had a slightly younger look than the Zelda I was familiar with, yet her eyes were just as aged. "We're something of experts on time."
"Yeah," Link agreed. "We wouldn't do anything to screw Hyrule up; not when every one of our descendents and forefathers fight so hard to keep it together."
"Although," Zelda muttered.
Link looked at her and smirked. "Although this might be the last time."
Zelda looked around the throne room and smiled softly again. "I'll pray for it to be, but our time is running short. That odd blue fellow is going to arrive in a moment."
Link nodded in agreement. "Right." Just as the time-traveling Zelda returned to the past, Link paused. He looked me in the eye and said, "He's not the only one who forgives you; they forgive you too."
With that the pair lit up brilliantly and when the figurative dust settled all that was left in their place was a confused looking Zelda and Link.
"I'm sorry, but what were we talking about?" Zelda asked after a moment.
"Do you remember me telling you about Din?" I asked in response.
Link nodded and Zelda affirmed, "Yes."
"Then we were just about to go greet the Twili," I answered, smirking mischievously. Zelda merely nodded, choosing to ignore it, and Link cocked an eyebrow at me, expecting to hear the full story later.
Suddenly, on the far end of the room, Zant burst through the doors yelling bloody murder. "Get off me you clowns! I have permission to be here!"
"Guards, at ease!" Zelda commanded quickly. Said guards quickly stepped back and snapped to attention.
"Monkeys," Zant muttered under his breath as he approached us. "I come leading the army and these fools think I'm invading! Why doesn't anyone warn people about me?" He stomped to a halt next to me. "I mean really, first the stupid Wolf and now this!"
Said Wolf glared at Zant, still untrusting. "What do you need?" he asked coldly.
"Just came to inform Her Highness—," Zant gestured towards me with sarcasm, "—that her troops had arrived. When are we leaving?"
Zelda and I exchanged a glance and answered simultaneously, "We're going now."
The four of us made our way to where the troops were lined up and Zelda introduced Zant and the Twili to the troops. The generals of the two armies made a show of shaking hands in allegiance, but we didn't have a lot of time for formalities.
Brief introductions behind us, and with our troops focused solely on the battle ahead, we began the march to the Gerudo Desert.
We walked somberly to the desert, our troops thundering behind us. The Twili were trained for battle, but they didn't have the experience the Hylians did because we had been left exclusively to our own devices. No time to war with each other when there was hardly enough just to live day to day. I glanced back at the wave of marching troops, clearly split down the middle. Division would kill us. I glanced over at Link who dutifully rode beside Zelda.
Zant caught up with me and glanced back to where I had been staring. "Trouble with the puppy?"
I laughed once, an exhausted, tired sound. "No, but look at that," I gestured vaguely behind us.
"Together yet divided," Zant muttered under his breath. He added something at the end that sounded distinctly like a curse.
"So, are you planning on dying?" I asked casually.
"What? No!" Zant exclaimed. "I mean, uh, not again," he added sheepishly.
"Well that's good because I'll need someone controlling the Twili while I'm gone," I answered matter-of-factly.
"Wait, where will you be?" he asked, staring at me untrustingly.
"I have to go with Link to behead this monster," I answered grimly.
He frowned at me and then glanced over at Link. "I won't ask what that's supposed to mean. I have the feeling it's kind of a long story anyways," he said, turning his attention back to me. "But I do have one question that I've been wanting to ask you."
I gave him a weird look, but shrugged. "What is it?"
"I have this odd feeling that after this is all over I'll be seeing a lot more of him around the palace," he said gesturing towards Link.
"That's not a question," I said, smirking.
"Is he coming back with us this time?" Zant asked irritably.
I squinted in the rising sun, already reflecting harshly off the sand, and said, "We'll find out soon enough."
