EDIT: Guess what I just found on my to-do list. Just got back from looking at uni open days up north and found this when I started up my laptop. So if anyone's still listening, here is chapter 32
I LIVE! Sort of…I started writing this AGES and AGES ago, but well life happened. I kinda figured it would be pointless to upload the Christmas special because I rushed to finish it so its crap and then it never got uploaded anyways. So there'll be an extra long this year. I also kinda want to finish Heartless this year (whether that will happen is another story) because it's hard to find time to write it with sixth form and all, and it's not fair on you lot to keep making you wait like this. But don't worry, I won't abandon it, I've been working on it for almost 3 years. Anyways, here's chapter 32.
Chapter 32
Once all is broken, fallen and lost
Silver snarled, her mist swirling around her paws. The light spirits were gone, possibly for good. It was just her and Majora now. The demon was smiling behind his mask, Silver could feel it. She paced around him, tail flicking back and forth. She had to be careful, she hadn't been there when Link had beaten the living daylights out of Majora, she didn't have a winning strategy. And say she did manage to somehow pull off a miracle, what then? Majora was as immortal as the gods were. He would just return later to finish the job.
Despair reared its ugly head, coiled like a lead snake in the pit of her stomach. How could she win against something like this?
One step at a time. Silver reassured herself. She could worry about the future later, right now Link and Epona needed her to buy time so they could escape. She wasn't about to fail them now.
Majora lashed out, an experimental hit to see how she would react. Silver ducked beneath it and raked her claws across Majora's hard leathery skin as the arm retreated.
"The little kitten has claws, wear gloves with this one." He called to the assembled army, revelling in her entrapment, the monsters laughed.
Silver watched him as he looked at the army, drinking in the praise. Of course!
He'd never had an army before. The skull kid he possessed did, but no-one ever saw Majora. When he finally returned to his true form, he didn't have time to amass an army before he was discovered by the sixth Link and returned to the mask. Majora wanted to show off. He wanted to show himself a true general. This battle wasn't just a means to an end for him, this was sport, a display of strength. Silver could use that.
She sprinted, running low to the ground. Majora whipped his arms forward and they hit the bridge either side of her, sending shards of stone flying in all directions. Her fur was thick enough to deflect the worst of the debris, but it still left her bruised. As Majora came for another attack, she abruptly changed direction, running along the edge of the bridge. She darted past Majora and his arms darted out to snag her legs. Silver leapt, running along the opposite edge.
"You can't run…" he taunted, giving chase.
The army assembled either end of the bridge closed any gaps between their ranks. Good job Silver wasn't planning to escape.
The air whistled as Majora's arms pulverised the ground beside her. Silver leapt over them, zigzagging down the centre of the bridge. Then she ran straight for the wall.
Majora, thinking he'd herded her there, looked at the crowd just as he struck with his arms. He should've been watching what he was doing.
Silver leapt onto the wall, rebounding off it and leapt straight at Majora's face. She hooked his mask with her claws and ripped it off his face, flipping it onto the ground.
One long fingered hand grabbed her around the middle and threw her away. The wolfos skittered down the bridge, coming to a stop in the middle. Winded and bruised, she lay there for a moment, before getting to her feet. Pain seared up her left paw, and she yelped, lifting it up off the ground. Sprained. Not good.
Blinking dust from her eyes, she looked up at Majora. His hand covered his face and his shoulders shook. Was he crying?
He suddenly let out a howl, and a high pitched laugh clawed up out of his throat.
The hell?
"You make me laugh, you really do. Did you really think my life force was still tied to that mask? Don't be so naïve."
He dropped his hand. His face was even more grotesque than the mask. His skin was leathery and aged, like the moth-eaten cover of old books. His eyes were acid yellow, wide and staring as if they could see straight into Silver's soul. Heavy bags hung beneath them and they sat deep in the eye socket, so that he looked more skeleton than flesh and sinew. Horns pierced his skin at the cheekbones, and crusted blood sat rotting on his skin. Deep gouges lacerated his face, following lines of power and magic. Where the dried blood had cracked, a thick gooey pus leaked out. That wasn't natural. Nothing about this demon was natural.
Silver backed up further, growling.
"Now, shall we get started?"
…
Midna was still having trouble believing what had transpired earlier that evening.
Epona was being treated by clerics. Her heart had all but given out with exhaustion. Galloping for so long, injured and frightened. The clerics had done their best, but there was a darkness in her which could not be treated.
As for Link, Midna didn't know what was wrong with him. He'd been taken to the guest quarters, but he hadn't moved. Lying there with his eyes wide open, almost completely white. His mist was missing too. That wasn't right.
The sol spirits had returned to watch the border almost as soon as they'd arrived, not even given a word of explanation.
Her stomach churned with the same anxiety and fear as it had when she had watched Ciara leave for the last time. Something was wrong, and no-one was going to tell her why. She hated being left in the dark.
Running a hand through her hair, she pushed away from the balcony and re-entered the palace. Memories of the day she had been told Ciara was missing bayed in the corner of her mind like hungry dogs, demanding to be remembered. She pushed them aside, she didn't need to remember that pain now.
Downstairs, Zant was whining again. He demanded more attention than a newborn.
A cleric came up to her, robes of grey and turquoise covering him almost completely. Even his face was covered with a mask of thin glowing metal. The only skin they showed were their hands, the patterns glowing lilac.
"Your highness, the mare's condition is stable." He said in his whispering voice, common to all clerics.
"Thank-you. Have you any idea when she will awaken?"
"Her will is strong, to have carried her all the way here. If she wills it, she will awaken too."
Typical diplomatic answer. She might never wake up. Why was it that anyone Midna came close to left? First her father, then Ciara, now Epona?
"Let me know if there is any change in her condition." She forced her voice to remain level, she couldn't show weakness, not now.
The cleric made a symbol with his glowing fingers, the sol ward, before bowing and taking his leave.
Midna drew herself up to her full height and headed to Link's room. The cleric there bowed as she entered and put a chair by the bed for her. She nodded for him to leave. Respectfully, he left to stand at the door.
As soon as he was gone, her shoulders slumped and she lay her hand on Link's.
"Why is it I'm always the one who has to drag you from death's door?" She said.
No response.
What's happening in Hyrule? Where's Silver? What happened to Epona? Where's your mist? All these questions burned inside Midna.
Her hair glowed a soft orange as it rose to hover over his chest, reading his spirit. Just as before, the magic was blocked, prevented from entering him. The triforce on his hand pulsed brightly.
"Let me in."
But something was stopping her. Whether it was the triforce or the something more sinister; Midna had no way of knowing. Her hair fell limp as the magic left it and she leant back against the chair.
"Trust you to be awkward."
Leaning back against the chair she let out a long sigh. Looking down at Link, her long fingers plaited her hair before upbraiding it just as quickly. Absent-mindedly, she hummed the ballad of twilight.
Something moved.
No, Link didn't move. He couldn't, could he? His chest wasn't even moving as he breathed in and out. He was still as a mountain.
Midna hummed the ballad of twilight again. His left hand was definitely twitching. It wasn't much movement, but it was a start.
He was a grey after all, perhaps he was responding to the sound of his spirit song.
Midna started to sing.
The clerics had removed his dirty damaged clothes, to be replaced with twili clothes. They looked strange on him, but what nearly made Midna fall out of her chair was not that. It was the scar on his abdomen, one she didn't remember him getting. A sun shaped scar, concentric jagged rings in the soft tissue between his ribs and pelvis, was rotating. The rings were moving in opposite directions, like diaphragms of the sun. Midna stopped singing and stood up. This was wrong, unnatural. Scars don't move. She stood so quickly that the chair fell over.
The noise brought the cleric running.
"Is something the matter?"
Midna composed herself quickly.
"No. I am needed elsewhere."
She left hurriedly. She wished she could contact Zelda, just to ask her what was going on. At the palace gates, Midna took one of the Sklepnils that had been tacked up. The equine creature with its eight legs and sharp, beak-like face snorted and shook its tentacle mane. The black metal harness clinked in the fading red light. Climbing onto its back with the ease only an experienced rider had, she grabbed the two long tentacles the creature offered up to her and sent the creature on. Leaping into a canter, it ran down the hill and jumped the divide between the palace island and the main square. In the centre where the two fountains stood, Midna dismounted. The creature lowered its head to sniff the ground for food.
Midna stood in front of the fountain, hands clasped in front of her chest. The little spout of water that erupted from fountain with the tiger statue, grew in height as Midna called to the spirit. Shafts of blue light broke through the water. A ball of intense turquoise light rose from the water, hovering above Midna. Like an egg hatching, from the light emerged a glowing tiger. Like all the light spirits, it was larger than life. Its body was dark grey, glowing dully like an iron blade reflecting starlight. Its stripes glowed bright turquoise, following the same geometric lines as all Twili art.
"Princess." The tiger greeted her, sitting down on the surface of the water.
"Tenebam, I have a question."
"By the sound of it, you have many questions. Many of which I cannot answer."
"Just answer me this: what is happening? What's wrong with Link? Where's Silver?" Midna couldn't keep the desperation out of her voice.
"That was three questions, but I'll answer them all the same. A new danger has risen in Hyrule, Darkness has assumed a form once more. I'm sure you know her, the late Nubia."
"Ciara's friend? But…she told me that she died. An accident in the woods. How can she be?"
"I couldn't know." The tiger said, his tail lashing back and forth. "But in order to destroy this darkness, the seven sages must be awakened first. But along the way, Majora was unwittingly revived from the mask. Him and Nubia combined pose a terrible threat to Hyrule."
"I should've known better than to break that stupid mirror." Midna cursed, throwing her arms down and half turning. Abruptly she whirled back round. "Is that why Epona might never wake up? Did they do something to her?"
"To her and Link both. She cursed them with a darkness. Lady Farore arrived in time to save Link and his mist, burying the curse deep in his core. As for Epona-"
"The curse was too far gone, it with her mist and human form was locked away. I know, she told me as much. But they've been fine all these years. Why now?"
"I do not know the details. All the others told me was that we must deliver Link to you so that you could dispel the darkness before it activated the failsafe."
"Failsafe?" Midna asked, fighting to keep her growing sense panic out of her voice.
"A part of the hero's spirit programmed to destroy evil. If the hero were ever defeated, the goddesses created an override that would never tire, never starve, never stop until the evil was defeated. A heartless creature who cannot lose."
"A heartless creature…why would the goddess create such a being?"
"Because a mindless sentinel cannot be manipulated or coerced, neither will it refuse an order. If need be, the goddess could remove the Dark for all eternity trapping it and the hero in an eternal prison, locked in combat until the end of time. One soul for one world."
Midna looked down, hugging herself.
"Why would they do that?"
"It is a failsafe, a last resort. Only once before was it activated, when the hero fought Majora for the first time. It was partially reversed but in doing so it failed to activate on Majora's return. In reversing the transformation, the hero sealed his own doom."
"How do I stop it?"
"You must remove the shadows inside him, dispel the darkness."
"How do I do that?"
"I'm just a sol spirit, how should I know?"
Midna looked down, thinking hard. Who alive knew about darkness? She certainly didn't…though people seemed to be under the impression she did. Who understood the darkness…?
Zant
Of course, Zant had served Ganondorf, an incarnation of the Dark. He had borrowed his power and used it as his own. For the first time, Midna was glad she'd refrained from executing him.
"Thank you Tenebam." She said.
"Princess." He replied, fading back into the fountain.
Wasting no time, she leapt onto the Sklepnil's back and galloped back to the palace.
Zant was sitting in his cell, playing rock paper scissors with himself. At the sound of the door, he jerked his head up.
"Mid-na! You came to play with me!"
Midna looked at him behind the bars. He was a shadow of his former self, when she had defeated him using the fused shadows he had all but blown up. The shadows he had been using to fight had lifted off of him, along with all the hate and evil in his soul, popping like a balloon. What was left was the childhood memories of a Twili that had been bullied all his days. While the bad memories had been destroyed, his childish personality had arisen once more and he acted more like a five-year-old than a condemned prisoner.
"No Zant, I came to ask something of you."
"I don't have any sweeties…the guard said I wasn't allowed any."
"I don't want sweets Zant. I want your help."
"Midna wants my help! Yay! I'm useful! I can help auntie Midna!"
With a grin on his face, he started jumping around happily. Midna put a hand to her face and sighed in exasperation. He was exactly the same as the Skull Kid in the Lost Woods. Only she couldn't justify setting a wolf on Zant. Not that Link could do anything at the moment. She had to help him, for the first time in forever she could help him for a change.
"My friend needs help. I know you don't remember, but you used to use the Dark to fight. I need you to remove it from him."
"Uh…what's Dark. Is it like no-light dark, or the fluffy kind of dark that spills water?"
"No that's called a storm cloud. I'm talking about the kind of Dark that does bad things."
Zant tilted his head, looking up into space as if there might be an answer up there.
"Is that the kind of Dark I used to hurt people?"
Midna nodded, finally making progress.
"Exactly that kind of Dark. Can you use it to heal someone?"
Zant looked down, even though he was almost as tall as her, he acted as if she were thrice his size.
"I can try…"
Midna clicked her fingers and the lock sprung open.
"For obvious reasons, you're going to need these."
A pair of glowing turquoise manacles appeared around his wrists, clinking dully.
"Ooh, bracelets."
Midna rolled her eyes, sometimes she preferred the evil Zant. At least he was sane, compared to this one.
None of her subjects dared to question her as she walked with the prisoner to the room where Link lay. They muttered and whispered amongst themselves. They had heard the rumours that the man that had saved the Twilight Realm was here. They gossiped and wove fanciful tales of romantic heroes and star-crossed lovers. Sometimes, Midna wondered how her courtiers could be so shallow.
But when they reached the guest room, the door was blown off its hinges. The cleric lay slumped against the wall, his mask askew.
"What happened?" Midna asked, kneeling beside him.
"A beast came out that room." He whispered, barely conscious. "Knocked the door down, ran off towards the entrance hall."
Midna ran into the room, and Link's bed was empty.
Screams ripped through the air.
"We're too late." Midna hung her head.
The failsafe had activated.
…
Silver snarled, backing up. Her mist swirled around her forming a defensive shield. But it could only protect her for so long.
Majora attacked again, his whip-like arms glowing magenta with dark power. The mist flashed, becoming hard as ice. It splinetered and cracked under the force of the blow, but Silver was safe. Link's mist rose up too. It was weak, Silver could feel it. But nonetheless, it guided Silver's mist, helping it to take the form of a wolfos.
Let's see Majora take on two wolfos.
The mist wolfos attacked, the air around it dropping well below zero. As Majora tried to attack, the water in its blood instantly froze. Silver hobbled up under the mist wolfos, biting down hard on the end of Majora's arm. It shattered easily.
With a cry, Majora pulled back his arm. Without warning, he used his other arm to fire a spinning disc of dark energy. It passed through the ice barrier easily, cleaving the wolfos in half. The energy then proceeded to jolt down Silver's connection to the mist, and for a horrible second Silver couldn't breathe as her soul sickened under the onslaught. Then Link's mist reacted, forcing it out. Nonetheless, the attack forced Silver to her knees, her breath coming ragged gasps.
"Awh, is the little kitten getting tired? Would you like a nap?" Majora teased.
With effort, Silver got her feet beneath her. Her mist bunched around her legs, but it hadn't the strength to reform. As for Link's mist, it had used the last of its power to force out Majora's magic. Now, without Link to replenish its strength it was suffering.
How was Silver supposed to defeat him?
Yeah guys, I'm still alive...sort of. A levels are a pain. I really shouldn't be writing this but I just had to finish it off. Plus I'm running out of things to procrastinate on. I'm only half way through my exams as wel. V-V what is life…?
…
So tired, if I see one more equation my head's gonna implode. In the meantime, enjoy Link in all his oni glory. (or fierce deity, whatever floats your boat).
Also, do review. Feel free to critic my writing, its fine my ego can take it. I know I suck at dialogues so please, criticise away.
