Disclaimer: Midna and The Legend of Zelda are the intellectual property of Nintendo.

Entwilightened

Chapter 5

She was floating. Drifting. How had she arrived in this place? Perhaps she had always been here. All around her was a flat, featureless plain. The sky above her was yellow, tinted with orange and faded to black at the edges. Below her was fathomless blackness. Twilight. Was this some sort of purgatory, her own personal hell? Had she committed some terrible sin? She shook her head and frowned. She didn't know. Couldn't remember.

She struggled in vain to recall the events that had led to her existence in this nowhere. She sighed and lay back, suspended several meters above the flat "ground", no means of support visible. She simply floated. She allowed her worries to slip away, something surprisingly easy in this strange place…

As she relaxed, her eyes slid closed, ever so slowly. Finally, they shut, and she lay back, and let out a contented sigh, utterly at ease.

Her mind was assaulted by visions.

They flashed by in a torrent of light and sound, so fast and loud she couldn't comprehend them. Sound roared in her ears so loudly it felt like a physical force, a squeezing vice of pressure on her head. The images flickered past one after another, all the colors too bright, the focus too sharp, the entire sensation too overwhelming for her mind to process. She saw a black stone covered in white runic markings, a huge black wolf, a headpiece made of swirling shadows, but shaped to appear as stone, a room filled with metallic devices, a black metallic contraption that roared and flew impossibly through the air-

Fire.

Everything was burning. The images were coming faster and faster now, scenes of carnage, and destruction. Twisted, blackened stones and wooden beams, metallic supports, crumbling stone, a poisonous red sky, a diseased purple and orange sun, images of parched, dusty earth blowing in the wind framed by blackened craters and stagnant muddy water, a city in ruins, none of the buildings intact, all of them shaken to pieces as if a giant hand had taken them each and crushed them so that only foundations remained, the stones fallen to the streets, the streets coated inches thick with blood and littered with bodies...

She could no longer make out individual images in the rapid slideshow of horror. She was shaking, curled into a ball. It had to stop or she would go mad. The sound increased to a roar, a cacophony of screams of pain and fear and death until it all became a roar of suffering in her head. She rocked back and forth, eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming from her eyes. The visions were coming faster, and they were getting louder and they weren't stopping and they wanted her they wanted her oh goddesses stop make it stop make it stop anything to make it stop

With a violent wrenching feeling in her head, the visions halted and vanished as quickly as they had come. She snapped her head back, eyes wide, seeing nothing, panting. The sudden silence of the void was deafening and her whimpers of terror and pain echoed and made her head ache. She quivered in the void and sobbed.

Then, the void seemed to ripple and contract and darken. She heard footsteps echo among the silence, the sound magnified a thousand times by the acoustics of this strange place. The footsteps were drawing closer, getting louder. Midna's heart beat a drumroll against her chest, and a lump of fear lodged in her throat. She began breathing hard as the fear took its toll, and the footsteps approached. She flushed, nearly breaking out in a sweat, before her blood froze, leaving her shivering.

Clomp-clomp-clom-clo-cl...

Clomp-clomp-clom-clo-cl...

CLOMP-clomp-clomp-clom...

CLOMP-CLOMP-clomp-clomp...

The echoing footsteps stopped, and through the blackness, she could just make out a pair of boots from her position on the floor. The fear gripped her entirely now. Her pupils dilated, her breathing came in short gasps, and she couldn't find the will to move her body or even shut her eyes.

And then, there was pain. Every inch of her body was aflame, and she shrieked and arched her back. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't taste, couldn't smell, couldn't think...all she could feel was agony. Her veins were on fire, her bones were frozen, her flesh was being shorn away, and all that was left of the once-proud woman was a shrieking, terrified animal suffering on the floor.

Finally, blessedly, the pain stopped and she collapsed to the floor, panting, still conscious-whether that was a miracle or a curse, she literally could not say.

She lay in a pool of her own blood, drenched in it, rivulets running away and disappearing into the darkness. She was dying. Dying. It did not seem real, or possible. Her vision was fading to black at the edges, spots of color dancing in front of her eyes. She looked up at her killer and saw a pair of brown boots. She shakily looked up further and found white leggings, a green tunic...blond hair and blue eyes. Her heart gave a horrible wrench, she choked out a single sob, and knew no more.

She jerked into wakefulness and gasped. The sharp movement had sent a stream of pain shivering down her body. She resolved to avoid sudden movements for the time being and lay back with a soft groan, shuddering. Already, the nightmare was fading from memory.

As lucidity slowly returned and the dream was forgotten, she appraised her situation. She was in a windowless room, lying on some kind of a bed. Her robes and headdress had been removed and she was wearing a soft green gown. By the feel of it, it scarcely preserved her modesty and was little more than a token effort. She turned her head to the side, wincing at the throbbing pain the simple action sent rippling through her skull. To the right of the bed she lay in was some kind of off-white mechanical column, covered in tubes and rubbery-looking ropes of indeterminate purpose. She noticed one of the ropes that was stretched taut and followed it with her eyes. She discovered that it connected to a small, lightweight device clamped around her index finger. She blinked slowly and turned her head slowly back to the machine, gears in her head grinding to a start.

The machine was beeping quietly in time with her heartbeat. The effect was hypnotic, and kept her drowsy. Through her mind's haze, she realized that her body felt stiff, unresponsive, and covered in some kind of foreign material. With an effort, she raised her arm for inspection, and discovered it swathed in adhesive patches in various places. A brief examination revealed that much of her body was covered in the strange patches. She tentatively poked one of the patches and gritted her teeth as a lance of pain shot up her arm. So she was cut underneath the patches. The patches were bandages. She had been bandaged and put in bed, hooked up to a mysterious machine. Which meant she was in...

Well, hopefully some kind of medical center. The alternatives were much less pleasant.

Something else nagged at the back of her mind. There was something important she was forgetting...

She bolted upright, pointedly ignoring her body's protests. The mirror! Oh goddesses, she had shattered it, stepped through the portal and then...

She had woken up here? She frowned and attempted to assemble the mental jigsaw. As she did so, she failed to notice the mechanical column she was attached to slowly tipping over, having been overbalanced by her sudden upward jerk. She did not fail, however, to miss the crash! it made as it slammed into the floor. She jumped and looked down, eyes wide. The sound would have surely alerted whoever had tended to her wounds. Sure enough, within moments, she heard footsteps, and then the door to the room was open, the brighter light of the hallway silhouetting two humanoid figures. They rushed into the room and she frowned. Humans? Just where was she?

Kiowa opened the door and took in the scene with a practiced eye. Patient awake and upright, mobile console on its side on the floor. Patient first, equipment second. She moved briskly over to Midna and eyed her bandages critically. Nothing seemed out of place.

Kiowa made eye contact with Midna, and did her best to speak soothingly, "Lay back down. You can't be reopening those cuts now." Kiowa gently pushed Midna back down by her uninjured shoulder.

Midna glared in response but complied. "Ku e palla na?" she asked. Kiowa stared blankly, uncomprehending. She couldn't help but notice her voice had an odd harmonic quality, as if it were echoing with itself.

"Alec, what language is that?" Kiowa asked.

Alec shrugged, "Not a clue. There was no voice acting in the game, and all the text was in English, or whatever it was localized to. Maybe it's Twili?"

Kiowa rolled her eyes. "That's useful." She turned back to Midna, "I don't assume you can under-" She stopped suddenly.

Midna was sitting up and one of the many runic inscriptions on her body was glowing. She touched two fingers to her temple, and there was a brief blue flash. Midna winced, and wavered for a moment before settling back onto the pillow.

Kiowa stared at Midna, slightly bug-eyed. "Alec," she said flatly, "What was that."

He was beginning to feel a little out of his depth. "Uh. Magic? I think?"

The two humans both turned to Midna. She rolled her eyes at them and sighed. Then, she pointed at the pair and mimed speech with her hand. When the humans failed to react, she sighed and repeated her actions.

Alec blinked and frowned. "You want us to talk?"

Midna gave him a look of mock surprise that said very clearly 'Well done, give the man a prize!' Incredible. He had just met her, and already she thought him an imbecile.

"Uh, okay. I assume you can understand us then?" Alec ventured. Midna nodded. "Okay...and the spell had something to do with it?" Midna appeared to listen for a moment after he had finished speaking, and then nodded slowly. "So...it was a translation spell. Right?" Midna gave a silent cheer.

"Translation..." Midna muttered. Kiowa and Alec jumped. "Yes, translation." Her voice was high-pitched, almost like that of a girl's. It held a hint of mischief, as if everything she said was in some small way, a joke. It was very strange to hear the odd echoing quality applied to English.

"You need us to speak for it to work," said Kiowa.

"Yes," Midna agreed. "I need..." She trailed off, uncertain.

"Words?" Alec guessed.

"Yes. Words." Midna relaxed and motioned for them to continue.

"Very well," said Kiowa, slipping into Doctor Mode, "I'll start with your injuries. You're covered in a series of minor lacerations, along with two larger cuts. I was unable to identify the case, but they all appear to be superficial in nature. Minor as they were however, you lost a fair amount of blood. As I'm unfamiliar with your physiology, I didn't know how you would react to an IV. Honestly, I'm surprised you're awake at all. Other than that, you've got a bump on that head that doesn't seem too serious. You may have a minor concussion-I can check right now if you'd like," she finished.

Midna again appeared to be listening to something before she replied. "Yes, I would like that."

Kiowa unhooked a penlight from her lapel and shined it into each of Midna's eyes in turn. Kiowa studied the results for a moment before leaning back and stowing the light. "Yes, I think you're fine. You're made of tough stuff, Midna."

Midna froze and narrowed her eyes. "My name..." she managed, "How did..."

Kiowa closed her eyes and cursed inwardly. "That's an interesting story...one my friend here seems to know better than I," she said, looking pointedly at Alec.

Midna rounded her glare onto Alec and his eyes widened in sudden terror. She can blow me to smithereens his mind shouted at him. He looked around wildly for an escape, but found none. He turned back to Midna and seemed to deflate. He sank into a nearby chair, buried his face in his hands and began.

"I know all about your adventure in Hyrule with Link. Right from the start, with him as a wolf, through the woods, and the Temple of Time and Lakebed Temple and the flying city, up to end, in the fight against Ganon," he babbled, "You're Midna, the Twilight Princess." Alec looked up. Midna was staring at him with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

She raised a single eyebrow and said, "How?"

Alec shook his head. "I…later. I feel crazy enough without telling you right now. If it makes anything better though...I haven't been spying on you or anything like that. The truth is, ah, weirder than that," he said.

Midna looked suspiciously-and helplessly-at Kiowa, who merely shrugged and nodded. When she looked back at Alec, he looked down and refused to meet her eyes.

Kiowa whispered something to Alec, who nodded and left the room. The doctor righted the fallen mobile EKG console, and reattached the heart monitor to Midna's finger.

"Leave that on, it'll let me know how you're doing. If you need anything, press the button there," she pointed to a small control panel on the bed's railing, "and I'll come check on you. Right now, just try to get some rest." Kiowa opened the door and made to leave. "Oh...and if it helps any," she said, looking back and smiling, "we mean you no harm." She left the room and closed the door.

Midna's head spun, and she wasn't sure if it was the result of the recent revelations or the blood loss. She was not in Hyrule, that much was clear. She knew Hyrulian, and the language these humans spoke wasn't even remotely similar. And their technology seemed far more advanced than the Hyrulians', or even her people's. What was that light the doctor had shone into her eyes? She hadn't seen any fire or sensed any magic. And how in the world did that Alec character know about Link and their battle against Ganondorf? Ganon, she corrected herself. The boy had called him "Ganon" for some reason.

Perhaps she was merely elsewhere in the Light Realm, far from Hyrule where tales of the fight had spread. But then how had she never heard of this place while traveling through Hyrule, advanced as it was?

Unbeknownst to her, Midna's thoughts echoed those of Kiowa earlier in the day. More questions than answers...She lay back and allowed her translation spell to continue its work, buzzing away in the back of her mind.

Alec was sitting on the floor across the hall, slumped against the wall. Kiowa leaned against the wall next to him and slowly slid down to join him on the floor.

"Heavy stuff," she sighed.

"No kidding," Alec said. "You know, I don't think I realized until just now that all this is really real." He looked at Kiowa, eyes full of fear and apprehension, "What am I gonna do, Doc?"

"Help her recover, find out how she got here, get her home. Everything else is in the details," Kiowa answered immediately.

"You're not much for specifics, even for a doctor, Doc."

She smiled. "Don't count your chickens before they're blah blah blah, you know the cliche. This line of work calls for more improvisation than most people assume-after all, how could I ever have planned for all the trouble you bring me?" Kiowa grinned at him, hands on her hips.

"Oooh, doc! Low blow!" Alec groaned. He was thoughtful for a moment, before speaking. "But you know...Midna in a hospital gown? That's an image that I think will stick with me the rest of my life," he mused.

The pair was overtaken by a fit of giggling and snickering.

Notes: Finally, the sleeper awakes. And yes, magic is a nice catch-all for overcoming language barriers. I'll be dealing with Midna's magical abilities in more detail later, so expect more of that.

As for Midna's brief twili-speech, I did my best to take her "speech" from the game and put it to words. I know it's just scrambled sounds, but it seems legitimate to assume it's a language. Or something.

Writing Midna is hard. Writing dialogue for a language-impaired Midna even more so. Writing dialogue for a confused, language-impaired, out-of-her-element, post-nightmare Midna is really hard.