A link to the twilight
Part 6
Midna was woken up by a tremble. She heard lightning outside. "No, not again!" she feared. The queen quickly got up and went to Foralin's room. Though they were married and friends, Midna had preferred to stay alone in her bed. She knocked rapidly on the door and Foralin opened right away.
"I know, they woke me up too," he said, noticing the worried face Midna had.
"What are we going to do? I told our people that it was nothing to be afraid of and now, there are even small earthquakes!" she panicked. ''I thought everything was fine now! I thought the light realm was too!''
"I know. Maybe it's our fault if those lightning are coming back. Although I am pretty sure it isn't…" sighed the king.
--
Link woke up slowly and stretched every member of his body. He had had a good night sleep. He got up and cleaned the large table he constructed a while ago. He deposited the lantern on it and observed it. The glass in the middle was round, a bit flattened. There were two metallic bars on each side and one surrounding the glass. The two on the side were joining at the top to be elevated in a rounded piece of metal. Inside, there was a Triquetra symbol. It was there that the energy was absorbed. Link wondered what he should do first. Get the metal frame or the energy? He decided to get the frame first, that way he could tranquilly go hide in his cave after. After eating some pumpkins of his home village, he set off for his first destination: the Mirror Chamber. He thought of the place and warped there instantly. Link stood in front of what was once the mirror of Twilight. He approached it and caressed it gently with a sigh. He looked down and started searching for one of the needed item in the completion of his desire. Finally, a shiny piece of glass glowed before his eyes. He had found it. Link took the remained piece of the mirror. Next, he attached one clawshot on each side of the frame. Then he pulled back and the frame fell down. Link touched it and warped back inside his cave. He put it on the ground and the small shard on the table. "Ok, which one will be first?" he asked himself. "Well, Ordon spring is the less dangerous to begin with so at least I'll have a freebie," he thought. Link warped to the spring in question. He looked around. No sign of Ilia. He remembered how she liked to come here with Epona. Link repressed his nostalgia deep in his mind. He turned to face the light spirit. He lowered his head and sighed. Deep within him, he didn't really want to do this. But the last events and recent actions he did had changed him. He held the lantern into the air and the light spirit, Ordona, was sucked in into the lantern. Suddenly, Link felt drained. Fatigue attacked him like a hunger would. He fell in the water and deposited the lantern beside him. He looked inside and saw Ordona trying to get free. Link deafens his ears. He wasn't able to endure the lamentations of the spirit. The Twilight took possession of the area. Link was expecting to change into a wolf. But he didn't. "What the hell?" he wondered. Link forgot that question and focused on not falling asleep. "Must continue… Must see her again… Must see Midna!" he cried. He took the lantern back and decided to try to transform anyway. This way, nobody could suspect him and his wicked actions.
The transformation was quick and painless. Only tiredness had grown on him. He tried to ignore it and dashed to the next light spirit with lantern in mouth. No need to warp for that, it wasn't far and Link wanted to get use to this form again. The only thing missing was a lovely imp on his back to torture him. Even though he didn't like how she treated him at the start, he was missing her guidance and her so called good advices on things. The wolf ran to the spirit Ordona while thinking of the past. He was driven back to reality when he saw the curtain of Twilight blocking his way. "Ah right, I need someone from her world to get in and out," he growled. "That won't be a problem," he continued as he thought of the next spring. Once there, he held the lantern in his full of sharp teeth mouth. Ordona joined his/her companion in the lantern. Link got more tired. He laid down in the water and closed his sapphire eyes. "No! I must not fall asleep! Why am I so tired anyway?" he wondered. He looked around and spotted the grass he used to use before getting the wooden piece Ilia gave him. He walked towards it and howled to call Epona. "Oh right, she cannot come into the Twilight," he remembered. Link warped on the other side of the curtain. He howled Epona's song and she arrived immediately.
"It's good to see you my horse!" growled Link.
"It's good to see you too, master. Where are we going?" asked Epona.
"To Lake Hylia. Lower your waist, I wanna get on, I'm really tired," he said.
Epona did so. The wolf mounted his horse with the lantern in his mouth and closed his eyes. He didn't get the chance to rest though, Epona engaged a conversation.
"Master, do you know why the Twilight has returned?" she asked.
"Of course! I made it return!" he said while yawning.
"What?" wondered the horse as she stopped.
"You're not here to question my deeds Epona. Just get me to Lake Hylia," growled the wolf.
"I'm sorry master, I… can't obey that. You're not yourself," she said, saddened.
"Of course I'm not myself! I'm in wolf form! Ah whatever, I don't need a horse to get me there. I can warp wherever I want! I just hoped you'd support me. We were good friends right?" growled Link while jumping on the ground.
"Yes, we were…" said Epona while leaving.
"Fine! I don't need you either!"
The wolf warped directly to Lake Hylia. Deep inside him, he had been profoundly hurt. He loved Epona since the day he met her. She had been his friend, his companion throughout his journey, a loyal steed that would never flee from battles. But Link was too much concentrated on his plan to feel anything.
Once in front of the cave, he took a deep breath and entered it. The spirit was waiting for him. The remaining spirits were now well aware of Link's actions.
"Do not do this Hero. Do not make one more mistake. Return the light to this world," said Lanayru.
"And let Midna go forever? You must be joking!" answered Link, returning into Hylian form.
"Do not let you emotions take over. Look at what you are doing! It's impossible to go back there!" added the spirit, trying to talk Link into abandoning.
"Maybe before! But now that I have this baby with me I can do whatever I want!" exclaimed Link, caressing the lantern.
Without waiting for the light spirit to say anything else, he made the lantern absorb it. Now, Ordona, Faron and Lanayru province were covered in Twilight. Link took some time to observe the beauty of the returned curtain.
--
Midna and Foralin went outside to observe the lightning. Midna ordered to all twili to get inside the palace. Even the two banished. As the queen and king went back inside, an earthquake took them by surprise.
"This is getting worse!" said Midna, worried.
"Yes, apparently. I wonder if your so called Hero is doing something about that," wondered Foralin, not realizing he was thinking out loud.
"Don't talk about him like that! I'm sure he's doing everything he can!" yelled Midna.
"Don't take it that hard Midna. Who knows if the light realm is experiencing such problems. I'm just wondering if it's something he can overcome," replied the king.
"Of course he can!" she shot, menacingly.
"Ok, ok just get inside now before we get caught again," finished Foralin.
The king ran inside the palace, thinking that Midna was right behind him. But she was not. She was still outside, doing some kind of prayer. "Oh please Link, don't abandon me!"
--
Zelda felt a strange sensation within her. She felt like the world was disappearing. She looked by the nearest window and saw with horror that the Twilight had taken control on parts of the land. "It has begun. Oh Link, where are you?" she thought. In reality, she knew where he was and what he was up to. She just didn't want to believe it. She wanted to keep that insignificant hope that he was still on her side. At this moment, three beautiful lights of different colors made apparition behind the princess. Zelda felt a high magical presence. She smiled and turned to face what she knew was visiting her.
"What warning do you bring me this time, holy Goddesses?" she asked.
"It is not a warning. We are here to give you help," said Din.
"Help, you say? Well, why don't you go stop this pure evil already!" shot Zelda. "We didn't have enough with Ganon?"
"We cannot stop what is not material. It is up to him to face it," continued Farore.
"No… Please don't tell me it IS him. Anything but this!" feared Zelda.
"You will have to accept it my child. Now take this gift to help the Hero help himself," finished Nayru.
"Wait! What it is you're giving me? And, why can't you stop him yourself?" asked the princess.
"The gift is a spell. It allows someone to see through dimensions. To answer your other question, we already told you why and we also cannot interfere with what is already planned," answered Din.
"What do you mean, "What is already planned?" Hey wait! Don't go!" said Zelda.
The three Goddesses were already gone. Zelda was shocked. She didn't know if she was supposed to be angry for what they just revealed or grateful for the help they gave. "Talking about help, where's that spell they talked about?" she wondered. As Zelda was asking herself questions, a glowing sphere appeared by her feet with a scroll beside it. Zelda took off the bronze ring that was attached to the scroll. She read the instructions quickly and took the sphere. Then she ran to her army captain and ordered to group every citizen in castle town and then go to each town or village and bring back everybody. The captain nodded without questioning the reasons of this sudden, and highly strange, order.
--
Link decided to change back into a wolf and run the rest of the trip to Kakariko village. He warped on the bridge that passed over the lake and started running. Once again, he was stopped by the curtain of Twilight. He called himself an idiot for not remembering again. After warping on the other side, Link continued his run until people caught his attention. He stopped and stayed away from them but still close enough to see and hear them. "Soldiers from Hyrule castle," thought Link. "I suppose it's only natural on her part. She must have been aware quickly of my deeds," he growled. Link followed the soldiers who were also heading towards Kakariko village. Once there, he spied their conversation.
"By order of the princess of Hyrule, every citizen in this town must go to Hyrule castle to be under protection. That also applies for you, Gorons," said the captain of the group.
"Why? We can easily protect ourselves," said one of the Goron, insulted.
"That's an order! We must all obey the princess's orders. Now, all of you shall follow us to the castle but before, some of us will go with you to your village to inform the rest of your clan," finished the captain.
He turned to his underlines and told them to go to the other villages while him and others would go to Death Mountain with the Gorons. When everybody was gone, Link got out from his hideout and stole the last light spirit. Now all Hyrule was covered in Twilight. Link warped to his cave and transformed back into Hylian form. He put the lantern on the table. He watched the four light spirits for a moment. Since they were back to this state again, Link hadn't been able to bear their annoying lamentations. He decided to start the next part of his plan right away. After all, Zelda would probably find him sooner or later as she was the only one now to be able to see him.
--
Inside the palace of Twilight, Midna and Foralin were trying to explain and comfort the twili. Though they were barely over twenty people, it was no simple task. Midna was trying her best to explain the situation while Foralin was doing the same to comfort everybody. "Though we are well aware of the situation, we cannot do anything at the moment. Please, just stay inside for now and try to relax. The servants will provide any food or drink you may need. I also prepared rooms to sleep in case the situation doesn't get better by the end of the day. If you have more questions or need something else, you may ask me or the king," explained Midna. She saw Foralin coming towards her. She thought he was probably going to give the details about the twili's state of mind. "So, how are they?" she asked. Foralin took her away from the rest of the group.
"Not well. Who knows if they really believe us. And worse, I saw my beloved mother with your fat oaf ex high advisor," he said with an evident tint of amusement in his voice.
"Oh no. I hope they won't do anything stupid. Maybe we should get them into another room, separately," suggested Midna.
"I wouldn't do that. If things get better, our people will want to know why we locked them away and maybe think we were trying to hide something they know," reasoned the king.
"You're not as bad of a king after all!" she laughed. "I understand what you mean but, if we keep them with us, they might try something desperate to ruin us," added the queen.
"You're right. I don't know which way is better. I guess just wait and see," concluded Foralin.
During the day, the Twilight realm had been subject to many more earthquakes. By chance, they were not too dangerous at the moment. Everybody wondered if it would stay like this or get worse. Unfortunately, their fear became true when, the next morning, a dreadful crash came to their ears. Midna looked outside and saw in shock that the parts of land, not to far from the palace, were being destroyed. They were being detached in multiple pieces and falling in the endless sky. Foralin went beside her to check the situation that was apparently scaring Midna as hell.
"Oh my God! This is terrible! How are we gonna explain that?" said Foralin, perplexed.
"I know!" said a familiar voice behind them. "I'll just tell them the truth!" exclaimed Marlo.
Midna and Foralin turned their head at the same time. They both sighed in annoyance. There he was again, trying anything to take control of the throne.
"And what that truth might be?" asked Midna, bothered.
"The truth that you are the cause of all this!" he declared.
"Don't be ridiculous Marlo. How could Midna cause her, maybe, incoming death?" asked Foralin.
"For her lover! That's right! You thought I didn't know about your love for this disgusting light dweller! They banished our people Midna! How could you even possibly feel consideration for them?" he exclaimed.
"Because they are kind and good of heart compared to an idiot of my knowledge!" she shot as a reply.
"We agree with queen Midna," said a twili. "We won't let a banished man ruin our kingdom for personal needs. You are all alone Marlo. May the queen be gentle on you," he finished.
Marlo just signed his sentence. When the majority wanted a punishment, the queen or the king had to act in the people's way. Foralin knew well all that. That is why he took all the twili with him to another room and leaved the punishment to Midna.
"You know the rules Marlo. Our people want you to be punished," she said.
"I don't care! I'd rather die than suffer from the inconsiderate things you do!" he replied.
"He really thinks I'm causing all this? What an idiot!" she thought. "Well if it's death you want than death you shall have! May you be more useful in your next form!" finished Midna.
Midna's hair turned into a giant hand. She grabbed Marlo by the waist and started pumping the life out of him. Marlo's body began to decompose to finally disappear completely. Midna had drained every single drop of his life and had transformed it into a Sol, the precious energy of the Twilight.
When everybody came back along with the king, they couldn't believe their eyes. The queen was holding a new Sol in her hairy hand! She had killed him! They did ask for a punishment but they didn't wish for something like this! Midna saw their expression and rapidly started to comfort them.
"He asked for it," she said. "And… thank you for having fate in me," she smiled.
"We will always be on your side my queen. We know that your loving Hero can't be bad," said a twili man.
"And besides, how could someone bad fall in love with you?" added a woman twili.
"Oh don't be ridiculous!" said Midna, shy. "Who said that he loved me anyways," she sighed.
"Ah come one Midna, you know that nobody can't resist your beautiful face!" laughed Foralin.
"Alright, continue like that and I'm gonna make you wordless!" she teased.
Sadly, their little moment of peace was broke by another earthquake. The walls trembled from the shock. The cruel reality had reached them once again.
--
Once back in his cave, Link started thinking about the order of the steps he had to do. In reality, there was none. The lantern was doing the entire job according to its owner's desire. Link didn't know that so the first thing he did was transforming the light spirits he stole into pure light liquid. That, he could easily do with his new powers. Link lifted his hand towards the lantern and thought about its contain being gold liquid. The magic weapon did as its master mentally told it so. After a few minutes, Link heard the grievances of the light spirits. "Maybe now you'll understand what it's like to suffer to death!" shot Link, smiling evilly. "The goddesses are just playing with us! They plan in advance everything and then put us in the game field for their own pleasure! I'll teach them a lesson! I command my own life!" he swore. It took a few minutes for the ritual to be completed. The screams slowly vanished as the spirits slowly altered into gold liquid. Then, Link took the broken shard and dipped it into the lantern. All the liquid went into it. He took it out and fixed it on the edge of the metal frame. The shard started to glow and expanded itself to form a new mirror. The Mirror of Light! Link watched the ritual being accomplished. As the glass was spreading to fill the empty space, marks began to appear. Link could only identify then when the mirror was completed. The four light spirits appeared as a symbol on each corner. Then, the Triforce symbol appeared in the middle. Link was mesmerized. So thrilled that his deisre was coming true! "At last! At last I have the power to open the portal!" he said with jubilation. Link, with a hard time doing it, lifted the new mirror and warped to the Mirror Chamber where the old mirror used to stand. He let go off of it and the Mirror of Light stayed in place. Link quickly turned back and stepped on the edge of the mirror's podium where shiny marks appeared. A stair suddenly materialized in front of his eyes. "It's working! Working!" said Link with a significant hint of triumph in his voice. He started to walk up the stairs but couldn't run. His heart was racing so much that he had no breath left. Finally, he reached the end of it and a millions of gold particles went out from the mirror. But before Link had the time to transfer into the Twilight realm, the giant stone, that the portal was on, suddenly lifted itself in the air. Link watched in horror that it was cracking and breaking into small pieces of rock. The golden light coming from the mirror disappeared and the mirror lost its glowing tint. "WHAT? NOOOO!!" he protested. Link fell on his knees and cried all his soul. Exhausted, He got up and looked at the sky, suspecting a divine presence. His eyes turned a cold blue and he smiled hysterically at the heavens. His smile resembled one of Midna's when she first put on the fused shadow helmet. We could almost see a vein pump on the side of Link's forehead. "I curse you! I curse you all!!" he yelled as he thought of a new way to the Twilight. The first thing he thought was opening the portal with the power of his weapon. Nothing happened. "Oh sure! My weapon can absorb a light spirit and transform me into a wolf but can't open a mere portal!" he complained, frustrated. Then he thought about warping there. It's a place he already went right? There should be no problem! Link concentrated and thought of the Twilight realm as best as he could but nothing happened. "Why am I not surprised… I guess that's why I didn't think of it in the first place," he mumbled. Link thought back on his first idea. Warp to the next place that interested him: the Sacred Grove.
The master sword laid there in peace. Link approached his hand to take it. As soon as his fingers deposited themselves on it, Link felt a horrible pain. His fingers were burning. He held his wounded hand in the other one and growled. "Oh I see! I'm not good enough for you anymore! Well whatever! I don't need you anyway!" he complained. He walked away from the podium while thinking how; he'd get to the Twilight realm. "I won't rest until they willingly send me there! Everyone will pay my ruined plan with there lives! That will be my price for having saved them!" He warped on the northeast part of Hyrule field, near the Great Bridge of Eldin. Link howled a frightening scream at the sky. Then, both his arms lifted on his side and crimson flames came out of his hands. They were devouring the ground as they sauntered endlessly. Link fired many times in many directions making the meadow look like a wasted land.
--
Zelda felt another sensation go through her. It was worse this time. She was feeling emptiness spreading. She went looking at the nearest window. She saw crimson fire being shot everywhere. It didn't stop as soon as it touched something. That wasn't normal! She knew who was being that. The vision she had, was clear as crystal now. Suddenly, the castle trembled from the fire that crossed it. Screams came to her ears. She turned around and saw with horror that some people had been burned to death. They were all lined up on the floor were the fire had passed. Zelda quickly concentrated to put a magical shield around the castle. The flames stopped getting through but the princess knew it wasn't going to last forever.
"We must stop this!" started Zelda.
"We don't even know what's happening!" said someone.
"I do! That is why we must form an army to stop this! Anyone who is willing to help is welcome. There's no time to lose! You'll all understand once we are out there," said Zelda.
"But we'll die!" protested a soldier.
"I wouldn't be so sure. I can't tell you why but I'm sure not gonna surrender another time!" she proclaimed.
"We are with you, your majesty," said the captain of the soldiers.
"Gorons! I ask your help. You are good fighters and hardly vanquished. Will you help us?"
"We'll do everything to save this land!" said the leader, flattered.
"We will help you as well," said prince Ralis. My soldiers are yours," he said, doing a reverence.
"Anyone else willing to help?" asked Zelda.
A group of four people showed up from the assembly. They all volunteered as well as others. "Good. Now we must get ready!" finished Zelda.
--
Link had finished expelling his rage on the field. A lot of fiends that heard Link's scream were showing up. The scream had been a summon. Not that he really needed any help but Link wanted to scare all of Hyrule since only Zelda could see him. There were all sorts of fiends. From small to big, cowards to brave. Link walked towards one that looked very familiar to him. It was on a heavily armoured Bullbo. ''You once told me that you always followed the strongest side. Time to prove it!'' said Link. The creature nodded and blew in its trumpet. The other fiends formed a line and were ready for any orders from their new commander. Link's troops advanced as he told them the direction. The Hero soon saw the sign of Zelda's army. ''She is well prepared though any resistance is futile,'' he thought. In a moment of lucidity, Link wondered why he was doing this. Why he was attacking the castle and every of its citizen. It was not like him. The lantern, attached to the side of his waist, started glowing. The remaining feelings of goodness were being drained away from him. Other thoughts replaced the good ones he just thought of. ''If I can't be in peace, then no one shall be!'' he screamed.
Zelda was now ready for battle. She was already at the east exit of Castle town. She quickly saw the horrible surrounding the area. Zelda turned to her troops. The Gorons were forming the front line followed by the Zoras. Then all people who had accepted to join. Among them, a group of four people were awaiting this imminent attack. Zelda raised a hand to stop the discussions among the army. ''People of Hyrule! Listen to me! A dark time has once again set on our land. It is our duty to put an end to this abomination! I know it might seems like I'm asking the impossible but, together, we are more powerful than every of us apart. We will eradicate the foolish character that dared to break the harmony of our land!'' she proclaimed. Tons of voices echoed in the wind, words of cheering. Everybody was confident until one citizen dared to ask the ultimate question. ''Will the Hero be at our side?'' he asked. Zelda was agape. She didn't know what to answer. Should she tell them that their only real hope turned out to be their biggest threat? No, she had no right to steal what little hope they had left. She improvised. ''I'm afraid he won't be able to join. He has his own demons to take care of,'' she answered.
Link was now close enough for Zelda to be viewed. Of course, to all but the princess, the Hero appeared invisible. That was a big problem and a relief at the same time. No one could see what was causing all this evil yet no one could stop him from doing this evil either. No one but himself. Zelda understood that she was going to deal with him alone while the others would try to stop the monsters. Zelda took the glowing sphere the Goddesses gave her. What could Link see through that anyways? The Twilight realm? It was a possibility but what could he see there that could help him. Though he would see the land of Twilight, they wouldn't be able to see him. Zelda thought a long moment about how this spell was going to help the Hero. So long that she didn't notice a man standing beside her.
''Your majesty, perhaps you should consider dividing our troops according to the strength of our enemies. The Gorons could take the Bulblin kings along with the lords Bullbo, the Zoras could take the Bulblins on the none-armoured Bullbo and all the rest of us take the walking Bulblins and Bokoblins,'' he suggested.
''What is your name, brave one?'' she asked. ''Rusl? Well then Rusl, you seem experienced with battles. For the time being, I name you chief of the human army. Guide them well,'' she said.
Rusl went back to his group and told them the strategy to execute every one of the monsters. Zelda turned again to face her army. ''My friends, we are now well aware of what our enemies look like. Although, the one that command them cannot be visible for you. I am the only one who can see it. So I shall take the task to stop him while the Gorons will take care of the Kings Bulblin. The Zoras will take care of the normal Bulblins and every one else will take care of the small fiends. As soon as I can, I will make evident the whereabouts of the commander,'' she explained. Zelda turned back to face the enemy army. She looked at Link who was also looking at her. His face was unrecognizable. The sweet and kind Hero she knew was no more. She closed her eyes and let a tear run down her cheek as a sign of remembrance for him. She drew her sword and began to run. ''For the Hero!'' she screamed, soon repeated by all the voices behind her.
--
The Twilight realm was being under serious earthquakes attacks. The near by lands were all crashing. Only the palace hadn't been too much damaged. Midna had started to lose hope. Hope that her Hero was able to do something. She also thought that maybe it wasn't the doing of the Light realm but the one of the Goddesses. Maybe they were getting rid of them? Maybe they were useless to them? Midna had a tear to this thought. Being unloved by the Gods themselves was very painful. Why that? Her people used to be pure and gentle! That's when it hit her. "We used to be…" she thought. The queen sat beside Foralin and loved herself in his arms. He was the only friend she had and she desperately needed comfort. Deep inside her, she prayed that her Hero would save her.