"Do I really have to wear this? It's so bulky and awkward." Midna complained as she adjusted the heavy maroon turban on her head. It was draped with chains of solid gold, and dotted with impossibly sparkly diamonds. She was wearing matching robes and shoes.
"Yes, Miss Midna. These are Traditional clothes made with the finest materials, handed down by your royal ancestors. You should wear these with pride." Her overseer, a rather elderly woman named Nicai, lectured her.
"No pride in looking like a fish covered in rust..." Midna grumbled. The headpiece was even more uncomfortable to wear than that Fused Shadow. Not to mention twice as hideous.
Ignoring her remark, Nicai opened the curtain leading out of the room. After reciting a short introduction, she motioned Midna to enter the balcony, where she would stand before the Twili and tell of her victory with Zant. But Midna planned to tell the truth.
About the Fused Shadows
About the Mirror of Twilight
About Zant
About Ganondorf
About the Light
About the Divine Beast
About Link.
She stepped through the curtain onto the balcony that connected to her palace. The Twili had gathered in a huge crowd in front of it, and they were cheering. Midna smiled softly as she looked around. Construction had been taking place in the Twilight Realm. Everyone had been doing their part to help erase the destruction Zant had placed upon their world. It made Midna wonder how the world of Light was coping with the damage.
"Fellow Twili," she began. "The usurper king Zant has fallen and shall not return." She paused to allow cheering. " In the beginning, his power rose above mine. It was a power I had never before witnessed. He used that mysterious power to curse me and send me into the World of Light."
There was no need to tell them about that ugly imp thing, Midna thought. It'd be bad for the people of the twilight realm to know that their princess had once been something as foul as that. A shudder ran through the crowd at the mention of the Light.
"It was then that I thought of the ancient magic of the Fused Shadows. Because of their forbidden powers, they were carefully locked away by the Spirits of the Light Realm. I was at a loss for what to do. As twilight was about to spread over the last area of light, shadow monsters appeared to attack the spirit. A young man and his friends and horse happened to be in the area. Distracted, the monsters attacked them, took the girl and younger boy, and kidnapped the children from the nearby village. The older boy was knocked out, but when he woke up, he ran across a bridge and approached the wall of twilight. A shadow monster dragged him into the twilight realm. Instead of turning into a spirit like most humans, he transformed into a legendary creature: the Divine Beast spoken about in legends."
Gasps of astonishment rang across the gathering of Twili.
"He was thrown into imprisonment. I released him, thinking he could be helpful in my quest to gather the Fused Shadows. I told him if he helped me with my quest, I'd help him find his friends. He proved himself useful, returning light to the areas of twilight, switching between human and wolf beast to overcome the challenges in collecting what I needed. The human's name was Link."
"After gathering the last Fused Shadow, we returned to the spirit's spring. To our surprise, Zant was already there. He brought twilight upon the land once more. When he captured me Link, in his beast form, attempted to attack Zant. He was unsuccessful. Zant placed a mysterious curse on him, permanently locking him in his beast form. After failing to convince me to join him, he took control of the Light Spirit Lanayru, and forced it to attack me. Link rushed me to the princess of their world, Zelda. I thought I was near death."
Silence.
"Knowing that I had little time left, I told Zelda of Link's purpose. Zelda couldn't break the curse on him, but she told him how to do it himself. I asked, as a last request, for Zelda to tell Link of the Mirror of Twilight."
"Zelda then did something so selfless and kind that it still shocks me to think of it today. She gave me her life force. Not only did it heal me of my injuries, it allowed me to more freely dwell within the light. Unfortunately, bestowing me with that gift took her spirit away. It was then I realized that people of the Light Realm are just a giving and benevolent as those in our world, some even more."
An ominous whisper shivered through the crowd and into the air. Midna felt uneasy but continued her speech.
"After traveling to a Sacred Grove, we discovered the Master Sword, known as the blade of evil's bane. It released the curse on Link in form of a stone. With it, we could switch between beast and human at will.
"We traveled to the Mirror Chamber, where we discovered only one-fourth of the mirror was left. Zant had been a step ahead of us, and had broken it into shards and spread them across Hyrule. After gathering the shards, we were finally able to enter the twilight realm. Some of you may remember a young man in green returning you to your original form? That was Link. After harnessing the power of the Sols, we defeated Zant, or at least subdued him. My curse hadn't been broken. His power came from an even more evil source, by the name of Ganondorf. We traveled back to the Light Realm, and after a long and difficult battle, slayed Ganondorf. It was then, with the help of the light spirits, the curse had finally broken."
"Later, I thought about the whole catastrophe. It had been caused by the mirror. For that reason, I decided to leave the closest friends that I'd ever had," Midna's voice started to crack. "And I destroyed the Mirror of Twilight."
The speech was over. The Twili were whispering among each other. The air was thick and heavy with tension. Midna walked across the balcony feeling the empty stares follow her. She passed through the curtain and frowned.
Something wasn't right.