A/N: I AM SOOOOO SORRY! That took forever… I just couldn't come up with anything. It's, like, 11:03 at night. Who needs sleep, amiright? BTW, this chapter is in Midna's POV. Didn't want to confuse you.
Most of your reviews were along the lines of 'this was saddening' and 'sorry for you loss', so I find no need in pointing out certain people.
Sayōnara! Atode o ai shimashou! (Bye! See you later!)
XXXXXXX
One Year's Eternity
Chapter 25
January 16, 4:03 P.M.
I hate Din.
Din had to ruin, not only my week, but the person she was dating's life as well, whoever that sucker was. She couldn't stray from her ways just this once. She had run out of people to rebound onto.
So she rebounded onto Beck.
And he did nothing to stop it.
She walked up to me after Zelda went off, saying that she had someone to talk to in Castletown, proud as usual, her bright red hair twisting in ways that would only be possible for a goddess or from a curling iron.
"You're dating Beck, right?" she asked, no sign of any remorse in her voice.
I did nothing. The tips of my ears burned, and I clenched my jaw in place.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," the bitch pursed her plump, crimson lips. Then they twisted into a manic grin. "That's awesome, 'cause, apparently, he never got over me."
My eyes grew in size, and I heard her cackle.
"Yeah. Sorry, Mid, but your precious little sailor is just that: a sailor."
Tears began to sting my eyes, which made her explode into another cackle. I turned on my heel and sprinted to my dorm, phone in my hands, clumsily texting as my feet hit the sidewalks.
I thought you were stronger than that
I slammed my phone back into my pocket, eyes starting to freeze from the cold wind and tears. I felt powder fly up into my face as I ran. They pierced my eyes, causing water to drop from them, freeing itself from its color-hidden prison. I felt like my green contacts would fall out, revealing my bright red irises. My breathing became heavier as my steps grew slower. I was watching the ground not knowing where I was going.
"Hey!"
I bumped into someone, right as the frozen tears made my contact fall out.
I looked up, not knowing that my eyes were now different colors.
I had run into Shade.
I took a deep breath, trying not to sob. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't-"
"Woah," he interrupted. He was boring into my eyes, for, what I thought, no reason.
"What?" I asked dumbly.
"Midna, is it?"
"Yeah."
"One of your eyes is red." He pointed to the right side of my face. I gasped, starting to search the snow for my contact, to no avail.
"Thanks, Shade," I said, running past him. He grabbed my arm before I could go any farther.
"Why?" he demanded, voice stronger than it needed to be.
"I- Well, I, uh…"
His jaw clenched. "I have a question."
"Okay…?" I closed my right eye as if something had gotten into it.
"Who's your boyfriend?" he asked quickly.
My eye opened and my ears seemed to droop at his question. "It was Beck, but that changed about ten seconds ago."
He turned his head away for a moment, sighing, then looked back to me. "Din?"
I let out a quick, visible breath. "Yeah."
He looked me up and down, before saying, "Follow me."
He started walking in the opposite direction, towards the dorms. I didn't follow at first, but fell in tow with him in a few seconds. I watched nothing but him, his black hair floating in the breeze, his pale skin needing little protection from the brisk afternoon, and his steady steps mesmerizing me with their constant beat. As we approached the building, he turned around, making me shake my head, getting out of my hypnosis. He was holding the door for me. I thanked him, my face and ears growing hot. I walked to the elevator, this time, him following me. We stepped in in deafening silence.
As I stole quick glances in the tiny, cold, metal box, I noticed that, while he did resemble Link, his muscles were more defined and his chin was slightly sharper, if at all. He had brown-red eyes, unlike Link's deep blue ones, and the black hair. His skin was paler than his brother's, but it seemed to fit his distant, more mysterious, façade better. I rubbed my thumb and index together habitually, the black cream fading because of the moisture from the snow. The elevator stopped at the second floor. He got out first, me on his heels. He walked until he got to his dorm, Room 211. He opened the door to reveal a surprisingly neat room, like Beck and Link's, except there was only stuff on one side of the room.
"I don't have to share," he stated, following my gaze. "You coming in?"
I watched him walk into the dark-ish room. I waited until he turned around and gestured me into the room. He looked at my right hand, and the pale blue protruding from the black.
"You get paint on you?" he asked sarcastically.
"Uh…" I stuttered.
"I know already, Princess," he turned and sat on his bed. I felt my eyes grow in size and my breathing stop. "The red and yellow eyes, the blue skin, and the fact that Link and Zelda are already in this mess. It's pretty obvious, really."
"Shade?" I stepped towards him cautiously, "Do you have a part in this, too?"
"Not necessarily," he mumbled. "I'm just going to help my brother."
"Shade…" I whispered. "You're on our side?"
"Of course. Why would I help if I wasn't?"
I glared at him warily. "What would you be helping with?"
"A Hero needs to be able to use that fancy sword of his. Ask Zelda, I know how to use one. Link doesn't."
At this, I huffed out a breath. "What makes you so sure you can train a Hero? They're more powerful than any of us, save Zelda and the Evil King."
"Ah, but aren't you forgetting something?" he tsked. "You've seen a Hero, yes? He was highly skilled?"
"Yes," I replied. "Get on with the point."
"You've never heard that part of the Legend of Twilight? About…" he paused, as if he didn't want to say his words, "the Hero's Shade?"
My fingers started rubbing uncontrollably, trying to calm my nerves. "You really think…?"
"I would know," he whispered.
"How? It's not like the Legend, where the Hero's Shade was the spirit of a past Hero. The Hero of Time, I believe."
"You're right," he stood up. "You're absolutely right. It's not like I have any part in this, not like I am the Hero of Twilight." He turned his back to me and walked towards the window. "Or any Hero, for that matter." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"I remember seeing you on that balcony, you were so small."
I wanted to punch him. "That Hero never saw me."
He took a breath, still not facing me. "As Zant spun insanely, I was thrown. As I lay there, stunned, I looked up to see a little girl with red eyes and pale, almost blue, skin, watching me, watching Zant. I did see you."
My jaw clenched. "Shade-"
He turned around abruptly. "Do you think you'll be important in this whole thing? Do you think you'll have to grab a weapon of sorts and put in an effort?"
His question startled me, to say the least. "Is that my job?"
"Well, not necessarily," he said. "But as an imp, my Midna was able to make her hair into a third, more powerful hand, due to a magical shackle holding her hair back."
"Well, I'm not an imp, am I?" I asked sharply.
He turned quickly and dug through a drawer in his desk.
Another little mystery box?! I've had enough of those lately!
He grabbed a small, cuff-like item out of the box. "Her shackle. It fell out of her hair when she transformed." He handed it to me. "Your hair is dyed?"
"Yeah," I said, grabbing the piece of heavy metal. I grabbed a hair tie off of my wrist and put up a quick ponytail, wrapping the shackle around it. My long hair felt lighter, as if it was raised off of my body. "So, how does this thing work?"
"We might not want to try it out in my dorm," he said dryly.
.
I jumped out of his old Jeep. It was, surprisingly, more cozy than Beck's pick-up. I looked around to find that we were right outside of Castletown, in a vast field. I slipped the shackle back into my hair.
"Now, command it. Tell it what to do," he said through the light snow flurry.
"Okay," I replied, not sure.
Shackle, form.
The words came easily. My hair felt like it was getting pulled.
"You know," he said, "you look better as a redhead."
Shackle, see.
My scalp felt stretched. Then, I saw.
An odd shape, a bright orange hand, came into my view.