A/N: Only one more chapter of the prologue to go! Hehe, I feel like I did some parts of these scenes pretty well, but I can't really explain why without spoiling things, so you'll just have to figure it out. I probably could've ended this one a little better, but I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't start to characterize Xantha too much and I really don't want to do that yet. This isn't the last we'll see of Xantha, though don't expect her reappearance in the near future. LoZ is copyright Nintendo and I am enjoying this so much, please leave some reviews! Also Xantha's theme song is totally "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry, I even found an orchestral cover of it that PERFECTLY matches this scene! :D

VI

Faron did a little twirl as she admired her image in the mirror. She loved her new dress, a knee length black one covered with diagonal turquoise stripes. It had been a gift from one of the older servants, who noticed Faron was already outgrowing her last favorite dress. The old woman figured that now that the girl was 13, she would need new clothing made for her more often. The elderly servant had made clothes for Faron since she was a baby, a task she had found unusual when the Queen first asked it of her all those years ago. Most of the Twili did not wear cloth, instead using shadows to cover and decorate them as they saw fit. Clothing was more a symbol of wealth than necessity in the Twilight Realm. The thought reminded Faron of how much Xantha and the members of her clan covered themselves, even going so far as to wear large helmets that completely disguised their faces. No wonder Xantha was marrying the Twilight Prince—she was filthy rich.

For a long time, the difference between Faron and the Twili, while noticeable to even a young girl, did not bother her. As she got older, the shadow beings treated her more as one of their own, and it was even less important. Faron rarely thought of why she looked so different, and while she sometimes tried to vaguely ask her mother about her origins, she never pressed the question. It must not have been worth answering; otherwise, her mother would get the hint and explain it to her. Perhaps Faron would ask when she visited her mother's bedside today. After all, it might be her last chance.

The Queen of Twilight had fallen ill, now completely restricted to her bed as she wasted away. Even so, Faron enjoyed her mother's company, and would try to visit her as often as the servants would let her, and tell her often-sleeping mother the very same bedtime stories the queen had passed to her when she was young. Faron was not stupid, she knew her mother was dying, but that did not mean she had to be sad all the time as so many others were.

Faron skipped through the halls of the palace, carrying a handful of orange and black flowers she had picked the day before. Even if Midna was not awake, Faron was sure she would appreciate the flowers. As the girl turned a corner, she narrowly avoided colliding into her brother who was rushing past. He put a thin yet muscular black hand on her shoulder and pushed past her, mumbling "sorry" without turning his attention towards her. Faron huffed as he continued down the hall. Midnight had not paid much attention to her lately; he was too busy preparing for his wedding and coronation that was to occur in only a few days. She turned back to her path down the hall, abandoning her skip as she headed towards the Queen's chambers. She did not notice as Midnight reached the end of the hall, and quickly turned around, eyes wide and quietly followed behind her.

Just outside Midna's chambers, Faron noticed Misha leaning against the wall, a worried look on his face. She thought it strange to find him here of all places, normally he was clinging to Midnight's coat tails.

"Hi, Misha!" Faron waved at the Twili boy, who quickly glanced up at her and jumped in front the doorway that was Faron's destination.

"I'm sorry, Miss Faron, you can't go in there! The queen i-is busy!" His voice seemed to quake and he looked like he was sweating.

"What are talking about Misha, she's sick, I can't imagine how much business she'd be conducting in her state. I just want to visit with her and give her some flowers, now let me through!" Just as she was about to shove Misha aside, a task she could carry out quite easily despite how much older he was than her, Faron felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"Faron, you need to leave her be," Midnight spoke softly and quietly, almost a whisper. "Xantha's with her now, give them some privacy." Faron gave him the glare she always did when he talked about his fiancée.

"Why should I?" She knew whatever the reason was it was probably a good one, but she refused to be tossed aside so Xantha could have her moment. Midnight sighed, trying to think of the best words to give his younger sister, and kneeled so he was looking up at her with his big red eyes.

"Faron, you know mother is dying. Xantha is going to be the new queen, and she needs the old queen's blessing before we are married. It's tradition, but it's also a private discussion between them, you need to leave them alone okay? I don't want Xantha to miss her chance before mother passes away"

Faron snickered. "But I'm her daughter, not Xantha! I should be able to see her before she goes too! That witch is already taking my brother; she doesn't get to take my mother away from me too!" Faron ripped herself from Midnight's grip on her shoulders, and before he could protest or even reach to stop her, she shoved Misha aside and pushed the doors open into the nearly pitch black room.

"Mother, I'm sorry, but I wanted to see you! I-"

She stopped cold, eyes wide, as she looked upon the still form of her mother lying in her bed in the center of room. Through the darkness, Faron could see a gleaming red substance staining the sheets around the queen's body. The equally still form of Xantha stood before the scene, Faron could see her large bright red braid running down her back in the darkness, and could see her hands limp at her sides, blood dripping from an intricately shaped black knife she held in her hand. The flowers Faron was holding dropped to the ground, and she stood there, shaking, feeling as if she might scream but no noise came from her throat. Behind her, Midnight quickly sent Misha off to find a guard, and stepped into the room, about to put his hands on Faron's shoulders.

"Faron…" He stopped, looking up at Xantha, who had now turned to face them with an unusually wide smile on her face, baring a mouthful of sharp brown teeth, to the best of her ability anyways, as her purple lips were strung together with several strands of string. Midnight's own eyes widened as he looked at his fiancée, something was terribly wrong, she had not looked like this when he had spoken to her only hours before. "Xantha, you-What are doing?!"

Xantha's chest heaved as a hoarse, throaty giggle escaped her throat, and she took a step forward. "That's one down, my love," She spoke in her usual harsh voice, but somehow added a thick lust to it as she took another step forward, pointing the knife towards them. "Now, I just have to rid us of one more excessive piece." Midnight placed himself between the terrified Faron and Xantha who pointed the knife directly at the human girl. "Come on now, my love, don't be like this…"

"Xantha!" Midnight shouted his voice desperate. "I don't understand! What are you doing?! You do not have to hurt Faron, why—"

"Because I love you, my dear prince," Xantha answered, offering her other hand forward. "I want us to be together, forever, ruling over this realm, without any distractions. I cannot have you sharing your love with anyone else, not your mother or your sister, not even your people; I want you all to myself. Come here, my dear Midnight, we will be married just as we have planned all these years. You just have to give—me—the—GIRL." Her loving, lustful tone all but disappeared with her last demand. Midnight stood still, his teeth clenched, staring at the mad woman who was still slowly approaching. Faron quivered in fear behind him. He was not doing anything; he was not trying to get her away. Was he actually considering it?! Would he really choose Xantha over her…?

As if in answer to her question, Midnight quickly turned and scooped Faron up into his arms, taking off running down the hallway. Xantha scowled.

"So you've made your choice, Twilight Prince. You want to play this game with me, then so be it. You will regret making me your enemy. After them!" From the shadows, all around her came the ghastly dark forms of shadow beasts, their bodies barely separated from each other as they bounded after the fleeing pair in one giant black mass.

Sensing the monsters chasing after them, Midnight lifted his own feet off the ground, using his power to fly quickly through the halls of the palace, the shadow beasts still close behind, with Faron clinging to his chest. Misha was about to rush into the hall to see what the commotion was as Midnight and Faron zoomed past, followed by the beasts, knocking him to the ground. Misha cried out as one of the beasts broke off from the mass and began to chase him, and he fled down the passageway to find a place to hide.

Midnight and Faron made their way through the maze of the palace, finally finding their way out the main entrance out into the open Twilit air. They rushed over the gap between the entrance to the castle and the main courtyard, the beasts not being so smart and tumbling in a black waterfall over the edge and into the abyss below. Midnight and Faron now ran on foot, as Faron kept looking back towards the palace. She turned around to see the face of a shadow beast right in front of her, and screamed not only out of terror but out the realization that the creature was a not a shadow beast but a Twili, its body horribly twisted and mutated.

"What did she do to them!?" Faron screamed as Midnight pulled her towards the edge of the landmass the Palace of Twilight stood on. "We have to go back!" she cried out, "We can't just leave mother!"

Behind them, Xantha was slowly advancing forward, a menacing grin on her face. The ground beneath her feet was being broken apart by what could only be her own dark power, and she was reshaping the rocks into giant spears, preparing to send them forth to her targets. Tears streamed down Faron's face as she begged to go back to the palace, Midnight did not say a word as he lifted his open palm, and a huge transparent seal appeared in the air, its circular patterns and shapes compressing on themselves to form a portal away from the Twilight Realm itself. He looked back at Xantha, whose newly made weapons were pulled back and ready to fire, and looked into her soulless yellow eyes, pain filling his own. After one last glance, he turned away, Faron held tight against him, and they both disappeared in a blast of shadow particles into the portal, just as Xantha's spears shot forth into the portal, shattering it completely.

Xantha stood there, watching the place where her prey had stood only moments before. A twisted grin twitched itself on her face, before she turned and strode back towards the palace. Inside, she blasted away the door to the throne room, sending several guard statues flying, and with one swipe of her arm, she transformed a terrified servant into another shadow beast. As Xantha made her way towards the throne, with no one any longer standing between her and complete control of the Twilight Realm, she reached behind her and pulled the away the ties that held her braided hair together. It fell around her in red waves that nearly engulfed her sides and shoulders, flowing down all the way to her ankles. She spun around and took her place at the throne that now belonged to her and her alone.