The Legend of Midna: Clockwork Darkness

Chapter Six

"Alright, Siobhán," said Link, "it's your big day." The time had come for council to convene, so Siobhán was heading to Hyrule to act as the liason for the Hyrulean members of the Twilight Realm's high council. "Are you all ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said. In all honesty, she was terrified of the thought of going to Hyrule on her own, not because she thought it was dangerous, but because there really wouldn't be anyone there that she knew besides Zelda.

"You know how to use the Mirror portal, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said hesitantly. "I mean, you just stand there, right?"

"Well," Link said, thinking for a moment, "yeah, I guess that really is all there is to it. Ok then, sounds like you're ready to go."

Link took her to the Mirror portal. "You're mom isn't happy about this at all," he said, "but I think you'll be fine. You know how to use shadow magic if you have to, and Zelda will be there, along with Ralis and Gor Coron, and whoever else. They'll look out for you, so there's no need to worry."

"I know, dad," she said.

"Alright then, well," he said with a heavy sigh, "see you later."

Siobhán stepped into the Mirror portal and instantly found herself, not in the Arbiter's Grounds as she had expected, but the grounds to Hyrule Castle.

"When did this happen?" she wondered aloud. "Oh well, it's that much less I have to travel."

She made her way inside the Castle to the designated meeting place. Once inside, she saw several familiar faces. Of course there was Zelda, but there was also, as Link had said, King Ralis of the Zora and the Goron elder Gor Coron, but there was also a woman she did not recognize, along with Renado and, to her surprise, Luda.

"Luda?" she said in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Serving on the Twilight Realm's council, of course," she said with a smile. "It's good to see you, Siobhán."

"It's good to see you too," she said, still not able to believe that Luda was here, "but I thought you said you weren't going to join because of Colin."

"Well, I did say that," she said, "but then I decided to follow my gut. I want the worlds to cooperate, and if Colin doesn't like it, sorry about him."

"Well good," said Siobhán. "We need more women like you. So, I recognize your dad, Ralis, and Gor Coron, but who is that other woman there, with the blonde hair?"

"That's Ilia," she said. "I don't know if you've ever met her or not. Anyway, they decided to have a representative from each of the major cities, and Ilia is the representative for Old Kakariko. Her husband is the mayor of that city, so he couldn't attend. She came in his place. I came as the representative from Ordon."

"I see," said Siobhán. "This kinda sucks, though. I mean, there's reps from all over Hyrule, but then there's just me to speak for the entire Twilight Realm."

"Don't worry, Siobhán," said Zelda from out of nowhere. "You need not speak unless it is your desire to do so. Your main role here is to simply listen and take the minutes of this meeting back to the council in the Twilight Realm."

"Oh," she said. "Well, that's a relief."

The meeting was soon underway. Unlike at home, everyone here seemed to get along and know how to communicate properly. Everything was running smoothly until finally there came a knock at the door.

"I wonder who this could be," said Zelda quietly. She made her way to the door, and upon opening it, the room was filled with thick, purple fog. Siobhán couldn't see anything, but she could hear screaming, so she dropped to the floor instinctively. From under the haze, she could see a thick knot of skeletal legs shuffling around. As soon as it had happened, it was over, and the fog dissipated. She could then see all the representatives, minus herself, unconscious on the floor, with Zelda nowhere in sight. One skeletal minion remained, either by mistake or by order. She tried to get out of sight, but she was too slow. It saw her, and advanced. Soon it was upon her. She tried to think of a spell to use against it, but her mind had gone blank. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for what was about to happen, but instead of feeling her flesh be rent apart, she heard the sound of a blade cleaving the thing in half. She opened her eyes, and was filled with a mix of thankfulness and anger.

"Eoghan!" she shouted. "What are you doing? You aren't supposed to be here! How long have you been here anyhow?"

"I've been in your shadow the whole time," he said. "I wanted to come too, but I knew mom and dad wouldn't let me if I asked."

"Eoghan, you know you aren't supposed to be here," she snarled.

"Yeah," he said, "but aren't you glad I am? That thing would've pounded you into dust if I hadn't got it."

"Yeah, I guess so, but they'll have noticed you're gone by now, and then I'll be in trouble."

"Oh well," said Eoghan. "At least it'll be you and not me."

"Oh thanks," she said. "Well, come one. We'd better get home and find out what dad wants to do about this."

Eoghan obediently jumped into his sister's shadow, and she made her way out of the castle back to the Mirror of Twilight. As she stepped into the portal, she felt uneasy. Something was not right. When she emerged on the other side, she saw the Palace of Twilight, but it was burning. Thick black flames issued from the palace's towers, and purple smoke billowed into the twilit sky. When she reached the palace island, she found a familiar old Twili lying prone in the street.

"Patar?" she said frantically. "What's going on? What happened to you?"

"Take…this…" he said, and he handed her a note as he struggled to breathe. "I'm afraid…I can't go on…anymore. Your parents…were taken…." He coughed up a massive glob of blood. "You must…become…the heroes." Patar laid his head down on the pavement, and his breathing faded away.

"So Patar is dead?" said Eoghan, popping out of Siobhán's shadow.

"I'm afraid so," she said, willing herself not to cry. "He gave me this. I wonder what it is." She opened her hand to reveal a folded bit of parchment. She unfolded it to find a note which read:

"Dear Siobhán and Eoghan,

Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, I am afraid it was necessary to remove your parents and princess Zelda from their positions. They are now with me in my clockwork city. Unless it is your wish to die and early and painful death, do not expect to see them again. You were born of two worlds, and they will both fall to me.

Love,

Emperor Zagros

"Emperor Zagros…" Siobhán said to herself. "Who is that?"

"Who knows," said Eoghan, "but he's got mom and dad. We've got to do something."

"What can we do, Eoghan?" she cried desperately. "We're just kids!"

"Wasn't it you who said you weren't a kid anymore?" Eoghan reminded her.

"Yes," she said, "but that was different."

"No it isn't," he said defiantly. "It isn't any different anymore. You heard Patar. 'You must become the heroes'. He said it himself. It's up to us to save the worlds. Together we can do it. You can use magic, and I've got a sword. We can do it!"

"I dunno, Eoghan," she said, her voice full of despair. "Where would we even start?"

"We can…" he stopped for a moment, realizing that he hadn't thought that far ahead. Then it hit him. "We can go to Telma's bar! She'll be able to help us."

"Well," said Siobhán, "I don't guess we've got much of a choice, and I haven't got any better ideas." She stood up. "Alright then, let's go."

"So," said Zagros, "what of your mission?"

"All three prisoners have been captured," said Igos du Ikana. "They are being detained in the holding cells below the castle, sir."

"Excellent," said Zagros. "Now it is only a matter of time before their worlds fall under my rule."

"Now, master, if I may speak," said Ikana. "I have upheld my end of the bargain. Now I believe it is only fair that you uphold yours."

"Come again?"

"Life, master," he said. "You promised the people of the great and ancient kingdom of Ikana new life."

"Ah, yes," said Zagros. "So I did. I'm afraid I can't do that, Igos. You aren't finished with your duties, you see."

"Not finished?" Ikana stood dumbstruck. "I have performed all of my tasks to the letter. The monarchs of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm have been captured. I believe it is only fair -"

"You aren't finished," Zagros cut in. "Yes, you have performed admirably, Igos, but my plans are not yet finished. You will lead your men in battle against Hyrule. That is not too much to ask, I think."

Ikana considered it for a moment. "No, master. You are correct. The Ikana specialize in war. We will execute the siege of Hyrule without fail."

"That's what I thought you would say." Zagros turned his back to the king of Ikana. "Leave me, Igos. I have other matters to worry about."

Ikana bowed and left the room. Zagros exited the room as well, but through a different door. He was then in a room with a long workbench, piled with pieces of metal and wood and stone, along with tools of all sorts.

"Now," he said to himself, "let's see if this works." He went over to a massive machine on the far side of the room, turned a series of knobs, and then pulled a large lever. The machine started to shake, giving off an indescribable noise. Soon, a pipe leading out of the machine began to glow. The light inside the pipe followed it up and across the ceiling to the other side of the room, to a smaller enclosure. Through the window in the enclosure, he could see blindingly bright purple light.

"Alright," said Zagros. "That seems to work fine." He turned off the machine, and the light was no more.

"Now, let's see if it actually does what it's supposed to do." He took a small object from a shelf in the room. It greatly resembled a bat, with two sheets of metal attached to a wooden sphere, riddled with metal pieces of clockwork. He turned a cog on one end, and the metal pieces moved up and down. He took the little thing over to the enclosure and placed it inside. Then he pulled the lever. Again, blinding purple light traveled from the machine through the pipe and into where the mechanical bat sat. Then came the sound of metal colliding with metal. Zagros turned off the machine and opened the door to the enclosure. The little mechanical bat zoomed out and began to fly around the room of its own accord. It lighted on the shelf where it had sat previously, and Zagros gave a satisfied grin.

"It worked…" he said to himself. "Excellent. Now it is only a matter of time." He turned to face the clock he had mounted in the workshop, and watched its minute wheel rotate. "Tick tock."