A/N:Truly, I am sorry, but I heavily revised the ending of Chapter Six. As a forward, Go back and read Chapter Six, for I changed the ending, and this chapter will make little sense if you have not read it.
Man, I must look stupid. I keep on rewriting this story! Argh! Well, anyway, I hope you all can forgive me. You see, I plan out the story in quite a weird way. I more or less make some parts, not all of them, but just some parts up as I go, and for some god-awful reason, I wanted Midna and Link to profess their love early on, as opposed to it being later. I thought that I could work their love early in, and this is one of the reasons I rewrote the whole story in the first place; I thought I made them profess their love for each other too early. And here I go, repeating the same thing over again. I promise, my next story won't be like this. I won't keep rewriting it like a dumbass. Well, enough of me and my stupidness, on with the story.
Tribulations of Twilight
Chapter 7
Link and Midna began their walk back to the Palace. Midna was thinking about a lot of things. Link couldn't have done that to Zeke, could he? What would drive him to? No, he couldn't have. But... What exactly did happen?
Link's mind was in more or less the same state. What if Divus somehow drives me to kill Midna? Or harm her? No. Zeke said I have to be strong willed, or else I can be manipulable. I will NOT let anything happen to Midna.
I'll protect her with my life. Link thought.
Then, the wind picked up feverishly, blowing the blue-green leaves scattered on the fields on the outskirts of Medietas. The trees shook, as suddenly, a voice sounded from in front of the couple.
"How ironic." It rang.
Midna got into a battle stance, readying her magic. Link unsheathed his Golden Sword, holding it in a tight grip, as he grabbed his shield, and got into a battle stance of his own, twirling his sword once.
For across from them, was a man in a silver cloak. Just like the others, the hood was up, concealing his features. The cloak had black runes running down it, similar to Divus.
"So, the Hero of Light has finally met the Templar of Darkness!" The man seemed to laugh.
Link grew insanely pissed. He bared his teeth, letting out a low growl. His wolf side must have had a bigger effect on him that he thought.
"Oh, Oh man. I love ironic moments like this. Do you know why?"
Midna stared at Link. Met the Templar of Darkness? So there's six of them? What's going on?
The man held out a hand. "Because I can't wait to see what will happen!"
Pure white energy encircled his hand. It danced like Fire, but it was wispy, like Wind. It looked solid, like Earth, but it was as clear as Water. "A present from Divus," the man announced.
Reeling his arm back, the man suddenly threw his arm out, releasing the energy at Midna.
It stuck Midna dead center in the chest, as she let out a pained and surprised yelp. She flew back from the attack, and landed upon the ground.
"No!" Link screamed, as he turned his back to the man, and looked at Midna, who was no longer there. In her place, was her tattered clothes on the ground.
Link stood, completely still. His arms fell completely limp to his sides, as he looked. Midna wasn't there, just her clothes, that lay upon the ground. He had failed, after he vowed to protect her. He had failed.
She was dead, and Link couldn't even mourn her corpse properly.
Link thought about that statement for a moment. She was dead. Midna, the Twilight Princess, dead. His imp, gone. In the blink of an eye. He never even got to tell her how he felt.
Link's teeth were clenched tight. He had a death grip on his Golden Sword, as his Triforce shined radiantly. His knuckles turned white.
He turned back around, as the man had his hands on his hips, his hood down. He had silver crew-cut hair, with black eyes. He had a scar going horizontally across his forehead, and that stupid grin that just said, "Look what I did!"
"By the way, I'm Aeries, the Templar of Wind!" He announced. As if it mattered.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Link screeched. He charged at Aeries, his eyes blazing with a cold fury only Ganondorf saw once. He felt the warmth of his Triforce spreading throughout his body. Link glowed a golden aura, as he charged.
Aeries threw out his arms, and from his sleeves, two daggers flew to his hands, as he grabbed them. The daggers had white blades foot long blades, with white hilts.
Link and Aeries clashed. Link was relentless, wanting his vengeance in all the blood that Aeries could shed. Remembering his training, and elemental counters, Link's Triforce glowed the familiar crimson red, as he slammed his shield into Aeries, making him stumble.
Link knelt on his knee, and stabbed his Golden Sword into the ground, and exclaimed, "DIN'S FIRE!"
A blazing inferno erupted from the Golden Sword, in its place in the ground. It surrounded Link, the crimson flames dancing around him, as they slowly consumed Aeries, who cried out in pain. The inferno's dancing flames mirrored Link's determination, and lust for revenge. Then, the flames condensed around Aeries, and suddenly, exploded.
Link removed his blade from the ground, and stood across from Aeries, who was breathing heavily, a hand on his chest.
"You think I'm going to throw in the towel! Well think again!" He hissed.
Aeries stood tall, his element of choice circling around him. He held out his right hand at Link, as the wind picked Link up, and threw him to the ground, as he slammed against it.
Not relenting, Aeries picked up Link once more with his wind, he held out his left hand, and clenched it.
Link felt a collar around his throat, as slowly, he couldn't breathe. Aeries was choking him with the Wind.
He felt the coldness of the Wind, as it swarmed around his throat. Link's mind was racing, as he quickly thought of a plan.
Link suddenly was surrounded in fire, as it ate away the wind encircling him, as he fell to the ground. He slammed on his back, coughing and sputtering, trying to regain his breath.
Taking a deep breath, Link stood up. He faced Aeries, who was charging up another attack. Link's hand clenched as he gripped the Golden Sword. Enchanting it with Fire, it glowed a red aura, as the edges suddenly erupted into flames.
Link charged at Aeries, who let go of his daggers at his side, as they floated. Aeries slammed his hands together in a sort of sign, as a large amount of wind suddenly started swirling around Aeries.
Link couldn't even draw close, he stood around Aeries, watching the wind circle around him. Suddenly, Aeries threw out his hands at Link, and the wind suddenly thinned, to where Link could barely see it. Then, all too quickly, it encased Link, as the wind felt like millions of blades cutting him almost everywhere. The Wind was relentless, as slowly, it dissipated, leaving a very magically exhausted Aeries, and an injured Link.
Link stood tall, not going to fall. He charged at Aeries, who grabbed his daggers back from midair.
The fire encasing the Golden Sword grew, as Link diagnolly sliced, holding the Golden Sword's hilt with both hands, as Aeries encased himself in a wind barrier, trying to repel Link. Aeries stopped Link's flaming blade with both his daggers in an X formation. But, the flaming blade cut through the wind, and sliced through Aeries' daggers, and landed a fatal cut on Aeries.
Aeries screamed, as he dropped his broken daggers, and fell on his back from the attack.
Link released the Golden Sword from the fire enchantment, and sheathed it. He knew Aeries was spent, and dying.
Aeries slowly stood, his image dissipating, and becoming wispy. "You..! You couldn't have beaten.. m-me! I.. I'm the Templar of Wind! The Wind is everywhere! I'm all powerful!"
Despite his vanity in his title, Aeries was slowly dissipating, starting from his hands, and feet. "No! This can't be happening!" He screeched.
Already, his arms were stubs, and as were his legs. His chest began to dissipate as well. "You! This is not... over! Divus is the Templar of Spirit! Using Spirit's connection to all elements, he... He will bring me back! I will have.. my Vengeance!"
Despite the threat, Aeries dissipated completely, and was no more.
Link half heartily donned his Hylian Shield to his back, and walked. He walked to whatever was left of Midna, which was only her clothes. He saw the tattered cloth that lay upon the ground, and tears welled up in his eyes. That attack must have vaporized her, and now, she didn't even have a corpse to mourn.
Link covered his eyes with his left arm, as tears silently flowed. He sat there for at least a minute or two, weeping silently.
Then, he heard a rustle. He looked up, his eyes red, and looked around. He saw something moving in Midna's tattered clothes. Desperately, he grabbed out, and he felt a small body in the black cloth.
It couldn't be! He thought.
As he tossed an article of clothing, it revealed a small body, that couldn't be larger than three or four feet.
Midna was an imp again, with her crimson and orange hair flowing down her back, with some bangs in front of her forehead and eyes and her black and white skin, as she lay on the grass.
Link's heart leapt. Midna slowly opened her eyes, as she blinked once or twice, then, her eyes widened, as Link picked her up, and held her, like he once did at the Castle once she shattered the Barrier, and like the nights when they were cold up at Snowpeak.
"Link? What are you doing? Where are we? Ouch, my head..."
Link let go of her. "Before I tell you that, you might want to look at yourself."
Midna gave Link a puzzled look, then she looked at herself, and her eyes widened, as her eyes looked like giant rubies as she realized she was an imp again.
"Oh, this is great. Fantastic. Wonderful. For the love of Nayru, how am I going to face the Councilors and my people like this? How did I even get back into this form?"
"Well, we encountered Aeries, the Wind Templar on our way back to the Palace. He said something along the lines of that this was a present from Divus. Arrogant prick. Then, I guess he somehow transformed you back into an imp. He used some kind of magic, probably given to him by Divus, and then... Forget that you're an imp, I'm just glad your alive! I thought he killed you..." Link rubbed his eyes with a white gauntlet.
Now that Midna got a better look at Link, he was pretty beaten up. There was blood running from cuts and gashes all over his body.
Exasperated with the situation, Midna put a finger on Link's chest, and said, "Dammit, I just sewed that shirt back up, and you already got it torn up again? What am I going to do with you, Mr. I-can't-keep-a-decent-pair-of-clothes?"
Link laughed, before standing back up. Midna floated up to his height. She missed being taller, and now she was going to get used to floating to match his height. Rubbing her temple, she was confused on what they were going to do now. The two stood in companionable silence.
After a couple moments, Link spoke up. "We should go see Zeke. I have an idea, and I want to tell both you and him. By the way, are your powers diminished like before?"
Midna held up a hand, and almost effortlessly, dark blue electricity arced up her arm, and into her palm, and created a small ball of lightning. "Nope. I guess it wasn't the same spell Ganondorf used." Then, she canceled the spell, and the ball of lightning dispersed.
"Then let's go." Link began walking toward Medietas, but Midna stopped him, by placing a hand on his shoulder. Link turned around to face Midna, and her gaze was downcast. "Let me hide in your shadow again, please? I don't want the Twili to see me like this..."
Link smiled sympathetically and nostalgically, and nodded. Midna smiled in thanks, and dove into his shadow. He set out for Medietas.
Link walked into Medietas, only this time, the guards didn't even try and knock him out. Rather, he saw one of their legs shaking. Link chuckled to himself at the sudden change.
Link walked through the stone gates, and into the town square. The Town Square consisted of a statue of a long dead knight, and benches surrounding the night, with some twili sitting on them, and other twili walking around, carrying goods, packages, some walking with couples, and others mostly trying to get where they need to go.
Link walked through the town getting looks that consisted of respect, dislike, or complete confusion. It irked him, to say the least.
Finally finding the Hospital, he entered it, hoping to find Zeke.
Link basically threw the door to Zeke's room open after getting lost about seven times. The person at the front desk was of no help, either. He hastily scanned the room, praying for not another awkward confrontation with a rather sick or injured twili.
He found Zeke sitting up in a white bed, reading some kind of book. He had bandages on his forehead, cheek, and torso. He probably had some on his legs, but the blanket was covering them up.
Zeke looked up at the sudden disturbance, and closed the book nonchalantly. "You had to mess me up this bad? I mean, I got injured in places I didn't even know I had."
Link bit his lip. "Sorry..." He replied, walking over to the injured man's bed.
From his shadow, Midna looked up in confusion.
"And what's with you? You get into a boxing match with a bear?" Said Zeke, noticing Link's condition.
"I had a run in with Aeries." Link replied, pulling a chair up and sitting down.
Zeke's eyebrow twitched at that. "I see... What about Midna? You tell her about me yet?"
Link sighed. "Midna, come on out. There's something Zeke and I have to tell you."
Midna flew up from Link's shadow hesitantly. Her mind was running, as she thought about Link and Zeke. Why were they injured when I found them? Did they fight each other? Why?
Zeke looked at Midna strangely. "Why is she... like that?"
"Hmph." She pouted, turning her gaze elsewhere.
Link scratched his head, "Aeries did that to her, saying it was a present from Divus."
"Ah."
"Well anyway, Midna, Zeke.. For better lack of words, is the Templar of Darkness." Link began.
Midna suddenly snapped her attention to Zeke, eyes wide, and her hand pointing at him suddenly, purple energy gathering to her palm.
"Wait!" Zeke flinched. "Let me explain!"
"What's there to explain! Is this what you were hiding from me? Are you helping him, Link? Is that what you two were fighting about?" She accused, the energy never leaving her palm.
Link cringed on every word. "No, not at all! If you would let him explain, it will make sense!"
Midna clenched her teeth, furious, and wanting answers. She reluctantly canceled the attack, and her arm met her side.
Zeke sighed in relief, happy to see another day.
Zeke sat up straight, and looked at Midna, "I want you to listen closely, this is the story of the Templars, that Link already knows."
Midna scowled. "What do you mean?" She asked, venom clear in her voice.
Link turned to her, "I'll tell you more of it later, but when Divus paid us a visit, he cast me in an illusion and made me doubt Zeke. That's why we fought, but I'll explain that later when Zeke is finished. Maybe it will make more sense then?" He explained, scratching his head, unsure himself.
Midna scoffed, and turned her imp gaze elsewhere, waiting.
Zeke began speaking the tale Link knew all too well, as Divus had told him.
Zeke finished his tale, and Midna was silenced. She couldn't speak, as she took a moment to absorb it all in.
Then, Link turned to her. "Divus cast me into an illusion that made me doubt Zeke because of this tale; he said that Zeke wanted both realms to be completely annihilated to feel what the Templars felt. I couldn't trust him, but Zeke decided to prove me wrong. I fought him, and well... here I am standing, and Zeke is laying in bed, far worse than he is. Zeke proved to me that I was stronger, that he would have no chance to ever do anything like that, and no reason to."
Midna floated in thought. They all sat there in silence, for about five minutes, when Zeke suddenly spoke up.
"Moving on, we need to eliminate the Templar as soon as we can. I'm fine now, so I can hurry up and lead you to where their fortress is."
Zeke started to rise from his bed, when Link suddenly stopped him by putting a hand on his chest, and pushing Zeke lightly back down to the bed.
"Are you sure? I mean, are you even alright?" Link inquired.
Zeke waved off Link's hand, and stood up, unwrapping bandages. "I can assure you Link, I'm fine. We'd better leave right away to regain Midna's true form, and save this realm."
Zeke finished unwrapping the bandages, as they sat on a pile on the floor. Zeke's chest was covered in scars, as he put on his black sleeveless shirt, and strapping his claymore to his back. He turned to Link and Midna. "We'd better head off."
Link nodded, as Midna dove into Link's shadow, as they left the Hospital.
A/N: Well, sorry this took so long. Review, please!