As Link left the village, Midna felt it was finally safe to show herself. She moved up behind him. "Where are you going?" she asked.
"Ah, good. You finally showed up. I was afraid I was going to have to start looking for you."
Midna frowned confused. "That doesn't answer my-"
"Make a portal to Hyrule Field," Link ordered, cutting her off. "Take me to the river."
Midna frowned, stalling. "Which one?" she asked, although she had a pretty good idea which one he was taking about. "There're a lot of rivers in Hyrule Field."
He looked into her eyes. Midna flinched, backing up slightly, unnerved by what she saw. His eyes held a raging inferno of grief, rage and hatred. "Link," she began, "What are you planning?"
Link grinned. No humour in it, it stretched from ear to ear, twisting his face into a hideous parody of his usually gentle features.
"Why," he said, "I'm going kill Zant,"
"You know perfectly well you can't get to him without the Mirror. And me, for that matter."
His grin never even wavered.
He must no something I don't, Midna thought. "Do you have a plan?" she said out loud.
"A plan?" he said, cocking his head to one side. "Nope. No plans rattling around in my skull."
"So, what are you going to do?" Midna asked, now genuinely concerned.
Link shrugged. "Something stupid. Now take me to the river where I met the wolf."
Midna decided to go along with him for now, and just stop him the second he did something dangerous. She complied, warping him to the river.
Link stepped out of the portal and strode towards the river. "I don't know why, but something about this place…" he paused, cutting off the thought. He walked to the bank of the river. "You see this river, Midna?" he said, picking a small pebble from the water. "It is probably one of the strongest forces in the world." He held up the pebble, admiring its smoothness.
"A river can take any substance, no matter how strong it is, and over a period of time, wear it away until there's nothing left." He bounced the stone on his palm. "Take this stone, for instance. It is probably all that remains of a massive boulder, broken off and ground down into a tiny, insignificant spot."
He threw the stone as hard as he could. "I am caught in a river right now. It has infinite strength, and I can't get out of it." He bowed his head. "Every time it seems I can withstand its flow, it gets stronger, wearing me away that much quicker."
He gestured towards Midna. "Take Zant's curse, for instance." Midna brought it out, curious as to how it related to a river. "At first, that was all the river was. When I recovered my human form, the river started attacking my mind, making the wolf take over. And when I finally calmed the wolf, Ilia killed herself." He began walking closer to Midna. "So," he continued, "Since getting out of the river isn't an option, there's really only one thing I can do."
He paused for emphasis. "Stop the river at its source."
Midna stared at him, so calm and resolute, even in the face of such adversity. "Link," she whispered. "How do you keep going?"
Link's intense blue eyes met hers. "Easy," he said. "There are things I don't want to lose."
Midna, feeling bold, decided to press on. "Such as?"
Link broke eye contact. "One of the things that kept me going is gone. That was Ilia. I was fighting for her, but I failed her. And so, I failed myself."
A lone tear traveled down his face. "The other…"
Midna looked at him expectantly. "Is you."
Midna, shocked, was lost for words. Link looked away. "At first, I hated you. But then… Something changed. I don't know what. And you went from a helper to a driving force."
Midna had trouble comprehending this revelation. Does that…does that mean he…loves…me?
He paused again, looking lost for a moment. Then the look of confusion was gone, replaced by determination. "You gave me the strength to stand in the river. But now, I need to stand in it alone."
With that, he snatched the curse from her hand. Midna froze for a second, amazed that he'd gotten close enough to do that without her noticing. Then the reality of the situation struck her. "Link, no!" she shouted, lunging forward…
But she was too late. Link crushed the curse in his fist, breaking it into shards. He sighed as the sharp edges sliced into his hand, opening the six scars in his palm. As his blood began to run down his arm, his mind met Zant's, following the backtrail of magic. Both minds froze for an instant, shocked at the abrupt contact. Shock turned to rage on Link's part, fear on Zant's, as Link pawed through his mind, unearthing his every plan and intention.
Terrified, gibbering madly, Zant broke the connection, collapsing in his throne room. How much had the hero seen? How much did he now know? One thing was sure: His God had to be notified. Zant had only seen one thing in Link's mind during their brief contact: Link wanted nothing more than to kill him. He was coming even as Zant rushed to his God.
Midna watched, shocked, as an expression of purest malice crossed Link's face even as it morphed into a wolf's. She shrank from it, knowing that he was consumed by rage, willing to lash out at anything that stood in his way. Just before the transformation into a wolf was complete, the wolf/Link looked at her. "Don't follow me," he said with a mouth now unfit for speaking. He then turned and bounded into the night.
Zant warped himself to the throne room of Hyrule Castle. "My lord," he gasped breathlessly as soon as he appeared.
The voice of his God cut him off. "Have you forgotten your place, Zant? Show respect!"
Remembering, Zant prostrated himself before his God. "The hero comes, my lord!" he gasped. "Nothing will stop him. He will come and kill us!"
"How do you know this?" his God asked.
Zant quavered for a moment, then regained some measure of his composure. "He found some way to contact my mind. He saw everything. The only thing I caught from him was rage, blind rage. He will burn us both if we don't stop him!"
His God caught him completely off-guard by chuckling. "You have done well, Zant," he growled. "Willingly or not, you have delivered the hero to me, and to his doom."
"Th-thank you, my lord?"
"Regrettably, I fear you have outlived you usefulness."
Those words struck Zant like a hammer blow. "What?"
Forgetting himself, he jerked his head up, looking his God square in the eye. Ganondorf, leader of the Gerudo Thieves, stared back at him. The corner of his mouth quirked in a smile. "Only at the end do you grow a spine," he growled, standing up.
Zant jerked as he felt a surge of power explode through him. He looked up. "Wh-what is this?" he gasped.
His God regarded him calmly. "You always wanted more power. I'm giving it to you."
Zant convulsed as the flow of power increased. "No…it's…too much" he gasped.
The power ignited within him in a white-hot inferno, scouring him from the inside out. Zant screamed, a hellish sound, as his body was obliterated by the sheer volume of energy pouring into him. For a moment, the Triforce of Power glowed on his hand, and disappeared from Ganondorf's. Then, with a final scream, a pillar of crackling darkness erupted from Zant, his spirit banished by the power of the light. Swaying gently, his smoking husk collapsed on the floor, the distinctive helmet crumbling into ash. Zant's eyes stared sightlessly, bright orange orbs now dim and flat. Ganon chuckled, watching the Triforce of Power reappear on his hand. "You served me well, Zant."