"We are gods, dear sister, and should you stand in our way, we will turn you to dust beneath the wind of our breath."
-Unknown
"The Beast is an enigma even…cannot fathom. Some myths say it came from the hot sands of the desert….the green depths of the forest. Others…the blackest of shadows. All agree, however, that the Beast….serves none but the….Queen.
-A Complete Collection of Hyrule's Mythology and Folklore
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"What's wrong?"
Midna tilted her head back as her Beast settled beside her, careful so that they did not touch. She looked over her shoulder at the lack of contact, spotting Kotake sitting on a nearby bench staring at them both. An amused smile touched her lips as she turned her gaze back to the view in front of her.
He respected Kotake enough to not do anything that would horrify the elderly Gerudo in her presence. She would have taunted him about it, but she had a healthy dose of respect for the woman too, and Kotake would not enjoy watching her murder him.
"Once there were six palaces here." She whispered.
Before them a massive fissure, a wound in the earth's flesh, shattered the landscape. Veins of purple rock shot through the stone, barely visible through the thick mist that welled up within. The wind howled, roared, throughout the tear. Her feet dangling off the edge, Midna's fingers clenched over the roots of a nearby tree.
"The Eastern Palace, the Royal Castle, the Dark Palace, the Desert Palace, the Tower of Hera, and House of Gales…"
"Why were there so many?" He asked softly, turning his emerald gaze to her.
Midna could remember what love was, and she knew that what she and her Beast had was not it. Yet, at that moment, although she may have hated him with every bone in her body, she had never loved him more.
He was the only person who wouldn't press her, ask her why she knew what this ruined Realm had once contained. He was the only person who would let her ramble instead of pushing what she did not want to answer. He was the only one who would let her lie instead of demanding the truth.
"The Royal Castle belonged to the ruling body and the Royal Family. The others were for the five Priests, one from each realm and one from-"
"Link!"
Her Beast physically flinched. She let out a sigh of irritation and scrambled up before helping him do the same. She wasn't irritated with being interrupted, but rather with who was yelling.
Most of her anger melted to see him so visibly shaken. He hated being human, she knew that, but…She couldn't stay that mad at him.
Daphnes asked for a story every night her Beast wasn't in his true form, and while the little boy meant nothing by it, they dragged up memories he worked daily to forget. Daphnes didn't know her Beast was human tonight, but that wouldn't last long.
The boy skidded around a corner and continued running-straight for them.
"Link! You have to help me! She's after me!" He cried, eyes wide as he skidded to a halt, hiding behind her Beast. He paused suddenly and looked at her, then cast an apologetic look to her Beast. Before either of them could say anything, Irene rounded the corner.
"Daphnes, I am going to strangle you! Grandmother, catch him!"
Midna had to suppress a smile as Daphnes began running again, his sister hot on his trail. She'd never say it, but she liked the blue-haired witch-to-be. The fifteen year old was the only one Midna could debate magic with here. Kotake refused to talk about the craft even though she and Koume had once been the most powerful witches in all of Hyrule, and everyone else regarded it as a forbidden topic, after the invasion.
Kotake rolled her eyes at her grandchildren as they swerved around her, not bothering to grab for Daphnes.
Her Beast was staring out of the corner of his eye at her, lips tugging into a faint smile. She obviously hadn't caught herself in time. Midna scowled at him, drawing herself up to her full height and daring him to say anything with her gaze.
"Will you come with me?" He asked, tilting his head in the direction of the forest. Midna turned her head to gaze at the small village, a collection of repaired homes and broken ruins from a city long abandoned. They weren't allowed in the woods, by order of Rusl. Majora and his children led all who entered the woods to their deaths-save her Beast and herself.
Her decision came down to one choice, and one choice alone. If she didn't go with him she would have to spend all night enduring the glares of Ilia, and that wouldn't end well because at some point something was going to be set on fire and with Midna's control of the element, it was going to be the Hylian.
"Of course."
"Be careful, you two." Kotake called, vanishing around the corner of the building they stood behind. Midna nodded after the elderly woman. She would have to remember to get her Beast to finally fix the sisters' hut, at a later date.
"I am sorry." Her Beast whispered softly, his hand touching the small of her back as he began walking towards the forest. She followed him with a snort.
"Does he love her?" She asked, glancing up at him. He nodded slowly, expression serious.
"She's a stupid creature, to ignore both you and him."
And that was it, her telling him not to apologize, that even though she still loathed him, it was not his fault. It happened more times than Midna cared to count, her forgiving him for these petty infractions he had not committed. But Ilia, the Hylian girl who so loved her Beast's other half, refused to believe that the man and the Beast were two different souls. As such, her Beast got cornered by her more often than Midna would have liked.
Perhaps, as Kotake had once said, it was jealousy. She wasn't a nice person and she knew it, but she hated that the Hylian evoked so much hatred from her. Control was something she prided herself on. The fact remained, of course, that her Beast was hers-and hers alone.
The Skull Woods swallowed them whole, cutting off all physical ties to the Village behind them. The keening of the forest's inhabitants replaced the faint yelling of Irene and Daphnes. Her Beast relaxed almost immediately.
Something rustled in the leaves above them and Midna looked up, at the dark leaves above them. Golden eyes blinked down at her, and a moment later a lanky man wearing a heart-shaped mask dropped down in front of them.
Since she had arrived in this refuge she had escaped to the forest with her Beast-mostly because no one else liked going there, but also because Majora was more welcoming than most she could name. Now, however, he looked…frazzled. Upset.
"I would tell you to gather your companions, but there is no more time. You are about to be invaded, and I would rather not lose you two."
Midna's eyes widened and she stared at Majora as if the entity had grown two heads-which, to be frank, wouldn't have actually surprised her as much as she currently was. He had shown them some strange things in their two years here.
"…By who?" It was her Beast that acted calmly, her Beast who took control of the situation as if nothing was going on. She knew he was already reaching out to Link, telling him to gather everyone and run.
Majora did not lie, and while he only bothered to protect those he cared for, he would welcome the others if they came, although she figured he would antagonize them relentlessly when doing so.
She knew who would dare attack this disregarded realm before Majora replied, though.
"The Lords have chosen to play with the Dark Realm now. I care little for what happens elsewhere, but should they touch my forests…I will slay each of them before that happens."
"You are powerful enough to do that?" Her Beast asked softly, tilting his head. A strange kind of hunger lit his eyes as he did so, one she was very familiar with.
Revenge was quite possibly the most seductive force known in all four realms.
"I am these woods. A…physical representation, if you will. I will destroy myself and my children before I allow the Lords to touch them-and they will not breach my barriers, no matter what it is that they command."
"Why would they choose now to strike?!" Midna whispered, taking a small step back. Her Beast's head swung to focus on her, his eyes narrowing when he saw her unconcealed horror.
"The Dark Realm has something they want." Majora said, shrugging.
Her Beast reached out and caught her arm, drawing her into a crushing embrace while she continued to stare numbly at nothing.
She had allowed a small part of her to heal, to believe that they would truly be safe here. She had never thought things would return to the way they had been before, of course, but….She'd hoped.
That was her mistake, of course. Hoping. The last time she had done so, her Beast had broken her.
She rested her forehead on his chest, squeezing her eyes shut.
He had always let her lie to him-let her. He could have made her tell the truth at any point in time, but he had chosen not to. He wouldn't do it now, either, but she knew she had to tell him at least the bare bones, memories be damned.
"What could they want here?" He inquired, voice gentle, barely audible.
"They seek the Triforce." She finally said, taking a step back, pulling herself free of her Beast's embrace. Both of her companions focused on her.
"Why come here for another realm's treasure?" Majora snorted, his mask's eyes narrowing on her. She shifted slightly, not in discomfort because of him, but because she did not like how she was going to break her silence.
"Because ages ago, before Lord Zelda was the High Priestess, the High Priestesses of both Hyrule and this realm convened and chose to lock the Triforce away before the Cycle that was approaching destroyed both of their realms."
"The Cycle?" Majora repeated, tilting his head curiously.
"When the Bearers are chosen. Power again tries to unite the three shards and it is left to Wisdom and Courage to stop him. The High Priestess of Hyrule foretold that the impending Cycle would annihilate both of their realms and cast the other two adrift. In order to preserve everyone's lives, they hid the three shards away and used Lorule's own Triforce as a key."
"Lorule? It has been…ages…since anyone has called this realm that." Majora mused, gaze growing distant. Her Beast frowned.
"Wouldn't Lorule have their own…Cycle?" He finally asked. Midna shook her head.
"No. Their Triforce was a mere shadow compared to the power Hyrule's held. They could not separate it, lest the life energy it provided the land with was cut off, and it by itself was too weak to choose any more than one Bearer."
Majora tilted his head back and laughed suddenly. Both of them turned to look at him, as the undergrowth shivered and skeletal figures appeared, grasping for the masked man's hands. Majora's children rarely showed themselves, even to she and her Beast.
"Your Lords will never gain Lorule's Triforce. It was broken and sent to the farthest corners of our realm, after the death of Lorule's Queen. This realm will fall to ash before the pieces are united.
"Don't underestimate them. Lord Zelda still holds holy power, even if she shirks her duties. The Triforce could still respond to her call-and they may already have part of it." Midna warned, giving Majora a pointed glance. She had long believed the entity knew what she was, who she was, and was proven correct when he scowled.
"She could not use it properly if she tried. The Queen's spirit is the Triforce."
"Everyone succumbs to torture eventually." She replied, gluing her eyes to the ground. Her Beast flinched, and turned to leave.
"I'll find Link." He called over his shoulder, voice short and harsh. Majora shook his head after him.
"I want you to do something for me." He said, turning his gaze to her. Staring directly into the mask's eyes, Midna lifted her chin.
"What?"
"Find the other guardian. Get the shard. Then leave Lorule."
She was shaking her head before he'd even finished his first sentence.
"If you don't do this I will throw you and the mutt out of these woods to the Lord Zelda's mercy. Do you really want to see what kind of welcome she has in store you, after what you did-or the mutt?"
Her jaw clenched, her voice dying in her throat. Before she could reply, Majora's children vanished and Irene emerged from the nearby undergrowth, stumbling with wide eyes. There was a gash on one of her cheeks that had painted her jaw red, and she was dragging Daphnes behind her, the little boy terrified but otherwise unharmed.
"Midna!" Irene fell into her. She managed to catch the child, her heart seizing as she realized that maybe-just maybe-Link hadn't warned them in time.
"Soldiers…Grandmother Koume stayed behind with Rusl and Daltus. Daltus told us to run, but-" Irene broke into sobs, unable to continue. The others filtered in from behind her.
They-the survivors who had fled Hyrule when King Ganondorf had fallen fighting the seven Lords-numbered few. Rusl's family-his wife Uli and their daughter Ilia-led their settlement. Besides she, Link, her Beast, and the remnants of the Royal Family-Koume, Kotake, and their surviving grandchildren Irene, Daphnes, and Daltus-only a handful of others had made it. Dampe, an elderly man who usually tended to the spirits of the dead when they grew too rowdy, Mutoh, a burly warrior who often helped with repairs around the village, and Telma, a large woman Midna loathed with every bone in her body, made up the rest of their number.
Mutoh, Telma, Daltus, Rusl, and Dampe were missing.
"Mr. Mutoh and Telma turned back to help Rusl when we got into the woods, and Dampe followed them." Daphnes' voice was soft, small. Midna clenched her teeth, furious.
A massive Wolfos padded by her, white markings clearly visible on pale grey fur. When Link took her Beast's body, the colors always softened on his fur. Link looked at her and whined softly. Her gaze flickered over him coolly, returning to Irene.
"Follow Majora's children deeper into the woods. They'll take you to shelter." She said curtly, glancing at the masked figure.
The smile painted garishly on the mask seemed to grow wider, sensing her agreement to his demands. Hatred burned deep in her gut.
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