The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness

Chapter Five

"Link," said Midna once they were back at Hyrule Castle, "what was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"When we left Ordon, you looked pissed," she said. "What happened?"

"Colin and I had a…disagreement."

"Oh really," she said. "Well, what kind of 'disagreement'."

Link let out a huge sigh, as if he'd been trying to postpone this conversation for a long time. "He said that he didn't think Hyrule should be connected with the Twilight Realm."

"Well," she said, "that doesn't sound too bad. I mean, tons of people here think that."

"Yes, but then he said that the only reason I married you was because I wanted to be a king but wasn't important enough to win Zelda over, so I settled for you instead."

"He said that?"

"Yes! So, naturally, I did what any man would do in that situation. I knocked him on his ass."

"You didn't…"

"Oh, I did," said Link. "I don't care who it is, no one talks to me like that. For one thing, I married you because you're everything to me. If I'd wanted Zelda, I would've gone after Zelda, simple as that. Second of all, you don't talk to a king like that."

"Well," she said, "I hate it that it came down to that. Maybe we should go home."

"Yes, I think that would be best."

"Well," said Midna, "go find the kids. There's something I need to talk to Zelda about before we leave."

Weeks went by, until finally the time came to hold council in the Twilight Realm once more.

"I really, really don't want to go," said Link, letting his head fall into his hands as he sat as his writing desk. "Nothing ever gets done. The councilors can never agree on anything, and Patar can't maintain order…"

"I know, Link," said Midna, annoyed at Link's annoyance. "I've been doing this longer than you have. I know what it's like."

"I wish there was a way to make it better," he said, his voice full of despair.

"Actually," said Midna, "I wanted to discuss that with you. See, when you and Colin were off debating the coexistence of the worlds, Luda and I somehow got talking about this very problem. She said that if she could, she'd join the council. It sounded crazy at first, but you're a light dweller and the King of Twilight, so why not?"

"So wait, let me get this straight," Link said as he shook his head. "You want to have Luda join the council?"

"Well, not necessarily," she said, "especially if Colin feels the way he does about us, I doubt she'd join, but I mean, why not have Hyruleans on the council? I mean, what better way to promote communication and coexistence than to have them work together in the same council chamber?"

"I like the idea," said Link, "but I wonder -"

"No one would have to know but us," Midna cut it.

"No, not that," said Link. "I was just going to say I wonder how well they would do in this world. The Twili can't go out in the light, so I wonder how the twilight would affect Hyruleans."

"Well," said Midna, "you're a light dweller and you seem to be alright."

"Maybe," he said, "but then, I'm also one of the goddesses' chosen three, and even with that, Quaron says I have the body of a 40-year-old when my actual age is 34. Granted, that's not a huge difference, but it's there nonetheless."

"So you think that maybe prolonged exposure to the twilight would kill them?"

"Possibly," he said. This was the one thing he absolutely hated about being king: everything was his fault. If Hyruleans died from being on his council, he would be blamed for their deaths.

"Well," said Midna, thinking hard, "what if there was a way around that?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well," she said, "you remember the connection that I share with Zelda?"

"Yes," he said, becoming incredibly interested with what she was saying now.

"Well," she said, "they don't have to actually come here. They can meet in Hyrule, and then Zelda can relay to me what they say. In the meantime, we take a prisoner from Hyrule that's been sentenced to death. We keep them in our prison, and if they survive for say, six months, then we'll know that the Hyrulean representatives can come here. If not, then we leave it as is."

"Well," said Link, "that's a good idea. It's better than anything I've come up with, which is nothing." Suddenly he snapped his head up as the light bulb came on. "Unless…" He turned to look Midna in the face. "What if we sent Siobhán there instead?"

"What?" Midna looked repulsed by the idea. "Are you insane? Link, she's just a child, and besides, she has no interest in politics!"

"I'm not a child," came a voice from behind them. The door opened, and sure enough, there was Siobhán.

"How long have you been there?" It seemed to Link and Midna that all their daughter did was eavesdrop.

"Long enough," she said, "and maybe I'm not that interested in politics, but I want to help."

"No," said Midna. "You're too young to be worrying about things like this."

"Too young? Dad was off saving the world when he was eighteen. I'm only four years younger than that, that's not that much of a difference, and I won't be doing anything dangerous. Besides, I can go out in the light."

"She's right," said Link. "She'll be perfectly safe with Zelda there, and she can go out in the light."

"If you want to send someone there instead," said Midna, "why don't you go yourself?"

"Because, Midna, I have a kingdom to run," he shot back, "and while I know you are perfectly capable of doing it yourself, the people expect me to be their king."

"I'll be fine, mom," said Siobhán. "It's like dad said, I'll be fine with Zelda around, and I can defend myself if I have to. I've got pretty good control over shadow magic."

"Fine," said Midna, throwing her hands in the air. "Go. Go be our ambassador to Hyrule. But Link," she said, looking him dead in the eyes, "if something happens to her…." She thought for a moment. "Well, you just better hope nothing happens to her."

"Tell me," said Zagros to the red haired woman at the Stock Pot Inn, "have you heard of a boy called Link?"

"I have heard of him," she said nervously. "My grandfather used to tell me stories that his father, Kafei, told him of a boy named Link that helped him reunite with his fiancée."

"A boy, you say," said Zagros keenly. "Tell me, was he from Termina or somewhere else?"

"No one knows where he came from," she said, "only where he did not come from, and that was here."

"So," said Zagros as he paced the room. "This Link was not a Terminan, yet he came here and saved your world, so the stories say. What did he look like?"

"He was a boy," she said, "no older than ten years. My grandfather said that he was always told the boy had blond hair and wore green clothes."

Zagros' eyes narrowed. "Then it is the same Link…" The girl was starting to sweat with nerves. "Very well, you are free to go."

Zagros returned to his newly finished throne room at the top of what had been the clock tower in the center of Clock Town, but was now the center of Zagros' castle. He watched his clock, which still fascinated him even after fifteen years, as he sat in his throne, contemplating his next move.

"If it is the same Link," he said to himself, "then it is clear what I must do. Link is to blame for everything. If I had not trusted him, I would not be here. If he had not inherited the Triforce of Courage, he would not have been able to stop my father the last time he tried to take Hyrule, and if that had not happened, he would not have been possessed by the demon Majora. This is all Link's fault. So then, what shall I do…?" He began wringing his hands as he thought. "Clearly, I have only one option. I must achieve that which my father failed to do. I will subjugate Hyrule, and then…" He became engrossed in thought. "Yes…it's brilliant. Hyrule will fall before me, as it fell before him. Then, I will raise the dead of Hyrule, and they will join ranks with the undead of this land. Then, I will launch an undead army upon the Twilight Realm. Then that world will fall, and Link will die." He smiled a wide smile, showing all of his white teeth. "Better yet, I will steal the monarchs of those worlds and force them to watch their worlds fall. It will be perfect."

He watched the wheels of his clock turn.

"Tick tock, tick tock, Link. Time is running out for you."