As I set out into Ordon Village, I felt an uncomfortable aching in my side. The wound was healing well, but it probably needed another week to fully heal.
A week that I might not have.
I didn't know when exactly the game's events started but I still had to talk to Rusl, convince him to train me, and then actually learn something in a short span of time. All the more reason to learn as much as I could and maybe set a few pieces of the board in motion before what happened to Link in the game happens to me in reality.
The wound was healthy, if that makes any sense. It wasn't infected or torn, just very sore. Due to the nature of my bandages and such, I could barely lift my arm up to put on a shirt, but thankfully Mayor Bo had a spare tunic for me that I could just drop over my head. It was the same as his; white, no sleeves, down to my knees due to it being for a man twice my size.
More giggles followed me as I stepped down the ramp leading from Mayor Bo's house to a small grassy lawn.
Overall, Ordon Village was exactly the way it looked before. Across the dirt trail from Mayor Bo's house was Rusl and Uli's house, since I could see a familiar figure standing at the doorway next to his pregnant wife. Down the trail and to the right was Talo and Malo's house, a blue-roofed building along the stream and on the edge of a very tempting lake, a waterwheel spinning lazily along the side. On the other side of the stream and near the forest gate was a pink-roofed house, which was both Beth's home and the local shop if I recalled correctly.
Between Rusl's and Beth's house was a twenty-something-foot tree. Hidden within its branches was a nest of what I assume to be hawks, since the mother—or father, I was never good at Zoology—seemed hawk-like and was leaning over three chicks, most likely feeding them.
I paused when I noticed how remarkable my eyesight was now. I was nearsighted… or farsighted, I always get those two confused. The point is I had trouble seeing things at a distance, but that hawk and their babies were as clear as if they were in front of me with only some slight blurriness.
As Mayor Bo and I walked along the path toward the forest gate, I heard screeching coming from the nest. I looked up and saw a small stone fly past the hawk nest, disturbing the family and rattling the flimsy twigs and leaves behind it. I turned to where the stone came from and found a scruffy-looking lad standing on a tall rock near the shop.
He looked to be about eight years old, with long brown hair wrapped in a lopsided red headband. Jumping up and down triumphantly, he pointed at the nest, and when I looked back, I saw that one of the chicks was teetering on the edge in panic at the disturbance.
Knowing what was about to happen, I darted forward and leapt over the small bridge connecting the two 'neighborhoods'. The chick fell from its nest, so I had around five to seven seconds to catch it safely or else that hawk parent was going to be very angry with the youth.
I stretched my hands out and caught the lucky little chick, landing flat on my belly. The wind knocked out of my lungs so I just stayed there and examined the chick. It was such a pathetically adorable thing, with beady eyes and a beak that seemed out of place with its poofy feathers, too short to allow flight and too long to be called fur. Thankfully, other than being hungry and scared out of its mind, the chick looked no worse for wear.
I gently stroked its head and marveled at how soft the feathers were. It chirped and flapped its 'wings' in excitement and looked up at the tree.
The parent only just noticed one of its chicks missing but it did not panic for long. The chick's constant tweeting got its attention, and so it swooped down and landed in front of me.
"You dropped this," I grumbled, holding out the chick.
The hawk tilted its head at me, probably trying to assess if I meant its baby any harm. After a few seconds, it grabbed the chick with one talon and flew away.
"You're welcome." I hissed at the effort to stand but I did so anyway. The stone-throwing boy stood nearby, his eyes wide and face pale. "Quit throwing rocks, kid. You wouldn't like it if someone threw a rock at you, right?" He didn't reply, he only pointed at the ground in front of me. I looked down and sighed at the red stain on my tunic; my wound had reopened. "And you can get other people hurt trying to fix your mess."
Meanwhile, in a world separate but close to Hyrule, a palace stood amidst the ever-present horizon of twilight. Within the palace, its princess was asleep in her bed. She tossed and turned, dreaming the same dream she had had for days now...
Pain... suffering... death... a broken reflection, the screams of the lost, the darkness bleeding into light...
Midna, Princess of Twilight, woke in a cold sweat. She shivered and wrapped herself in every available blanket but that chill refused to thaw. Her hands trembled as she ran them through her fiery hair.
"Only a dream," she whispered, though she did not believe that for a second. A dream that real had to be a premonition of some sort, but that thought made her feel even colder.
"Midna, wake up!" someone called from beyond her door. "You are almost late for the hearing!"
She waved an arm carelessly at the door and called back, "I'll be there, I'm getting dressed right now!" Midna waited for the servant's footsteps to fade away before dragging herself out of bed. She took three steps before she remembered the purpose of the hearing.
Normally, she would have dressed in a casual shirt and skirt, added a touch of makeup, sauntered over to the throne room, and daydreamed over fun things to do around the Twilight Realm.
This was not one of those days. Midna donned the finest shadow silk shirt and matching left legging, her formal sarong and cloak, dabbled on her best makeup, and topped it with her ceremonial crown. She darted through the halls of the Palace of Twilight, saying hello to people she saw along the way. She wished she had slept more easily but sleep or no sleep, she would let nothing stop her from fulfilling her duties as Twilight Princess.
Not even Zant, who was standing just outside the throne room entrance.
Especially not Zant, the scum-sucking sycophant.
"Hello, Princess," he said with a disgraceful bow. His voice was ice on the back of Midna's neck. "I hope you slept well."
"I did, thanks," she said, making no effort to hide her disdain. "If you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to."
Zant chuckled that hideously deformed chuckle that always sent shivers up her spine and said, "Yes, I heard the King and Queen finally decided on the next ruler." He cupped her chin, and it was all she could do not to spit in his face and run into the throne room. "Don't get your hopes up, Princess. After the years of faithful service, they have no choice but to acknowledge me as their new ruler."
"Well, I'm sure they'll have to also acknowledge the hundreds of people you've sent to the jails, or even sent to Duzakh."
"I am the Grand Vizier—"
"Royal Vizier."
"—and it is my sworn duty to uphold the law."
"May I ask what laws were broken?"
Zant shrugged. "They questioned the Crown. Dissent among the people cannot be tolerated."
"They questioned you. After all, it was your decision to withhold funds that were meant to repair the water purification facilities in the farther reaches of our kingdom."
"Those facilities are right at the borders with Castle Hinox and the House of Gohma. We have an adequate water supply right here in the palace, it would be a waste of resources when we should be focusing on the growing hostilities with the other tribes."
Midna rolled her eyes. "What did they do, make another crude drawing of you? Without clean water, how are our people meant to survive?"
"Survival is not part of their duty," Zant said. "Their duty is to serve the royalty at any cost—"
Midna's hand swept across his face before either could register the action. "Not at the cost of their lives, you miserable waste of shadow. How do you rule a kingdom with no one in it? Did that never occur to you? Why would my parents choose someone like you?"
Zant simply scoffed. "And you believe they will choose you? You, who shirk your duties to spend time with the rabble, to waste your days playing childish games? If you had just married when you became of age, you would have been Queen by now. Why, do you even know what Castle Hinox is up to? What about the House of Gohma? Caring for your people is important, I admit, but what good does that do when enemies gather beyond the palace walls?"
"I'm too busy keeping an eye out for enemies inside the palace walls," Midna said. Zant's nostrils flared and just for the hell of it, she slapped him again. His hood came loose and turned halfway around his head. While he readjusted his hood, she stomped into the throne room and stood in her designated spot just below and to the right of the throne, crossing her arms to keep from lashing out further.
The Rulers of Twilight sat upon the thrones; King Naito, his fiery red hair matted beneath the crown, heavy black and gold robes draped over him and down the edges of the throne. Queen Yoake, her orange-white hair hung beautifully in a long braid, with her black clothing clinging gracefully to her figure.
The King and Queen said nothing out loud at their daughter's tantrum. Through their minds, however...
"You have to keep a firmer grip on your temper," said Yoake. She and Midna's eyes met, and the only crack in Yoake's queenly demeanor was the slight tilt in the corner of her mouth. "But that must have felt good."
"You have no idea," Midna replied as she tried her least to keep the smirk off her face.
Zant fidgeted with his hood one final time and then walked confidently to his designated spot across from his competition. Midna allowed herself the satisfaction of seeing the big welt on his cheek.
Just looking at him made Midna's hair twitch, but she calmed down when her father cleared his throat. She glanced up at him and recognized the look on his face. In the throne room, he was not Naito, her father.
He was Naito, King of the Twilight Realm.
Zant straightened up and Midna fought the urge to roll her eyes at him.
"As your King and Queen," Naito started, gesturing to himself and Yoake, "we are charged with the protection and stability of this realm and all of its inhabitants. We have enjoyed thousands of years of peace in our Twilight Realm, and now comes the time when we must decide who will next hold that peace."
The Twilight Princess stood straighter and held her arms at her sides. King Naito beckoned her forward, and as she kneeled before him, she could not help but notice the look of pride in his eyes.
Midna kept her lips in a straight line as her father said, "Midna, Princess of Twilight, and my daughter of nineteen years. Should you be granted the throne, will you continue to uphold the laws set by our forefathers?"
She looked directly into his eyes and said, "I will. I have seen the peace in the hearts of our people, I wish for nothing more than to preserve that peace."
"Should you be granted the throne," King Naito continued, "will you use the powers granted to you for the good of our people and not for your own desires?"
"I will. A ruler is nothing without their people, I wish only for their continued well-being."
"Should you be granted the throne, will you seek war with the Light Realm? Will you seek their subjugation or even destruction?"
That question caught her off guard. The Light Realm was where their ancestors waged their war with the Goddesses all those years ago. Midna was comfortable in this realm since she grew up in it, and held no attachments to the Light Realm.
The Realm of Light has not done anything particularly harmful to them, except for the occasional criminal they sent for the Twili to deal with. Midna admitted to herself that she hated how they just threw trash away and expected the Twilight Realm to be okay with that.
But did she want to wage war? Did she want to bring horror and violence down upon them? Did she want to make the Light Dwellers pay for what happened to her ancestors?
"I will not," Midna answered finally. "Our ancestors earned their punishment through bloodshed and anarchy, and even though we continue to live in the Twilight Realm, we have made it our home. I have no desire or reason to interact with the Light Realm, and I refuse to disturb the peace we have now."
King Naito drew in a deep breath, his face unreadable. He nodded once and gestured to Midna's spot, so she returned to it. On the way, she caught the glances of the counselors and advisors in the throne room with them. On all of their faces—even the ones Midna knew for a fact detested her—was admiration at the declaration to maintain peace in their realm.
As Midna gracefully spun around to face the throne, Zant was already kneeling down, his eyes burning intensely at her.
She flashed a smile at him and winked.
"Zant," Queen Yoake said, "Royal Vizier to the Crown, and trusted advisor these past ten years. Should you be granted the throne, will you continue to uphold the laws set by our forefathers?"
"I will," he answered, but too quickly and with no supporting statement.
"Should you be granted the throne, will you use the powers granted to you for the good of our people and not for your own desires?"
"I will." Again, his answer was too quick.
"Should you be granted the throne, will you seek war with the Light Realm? Will you seek their subjugation or even destruction?"
"I will." His answer was too quick but the pause afterward was too long. "Not!"
Midna tried so hard to hide a smirk but that was just too priceless. Yoake gestured to Zant's place near the throne, and then she and Naito looked each other in the eye.
Midna was no stranger to this; her parents were engaged in a private conversation, one not even Midna could hear. She paid close attention to their faces, the occasional twitch of the brow or tightening of the lip. Try as she might, she could not decipher their expressions. Fortunately, she did not need to.
"We have made our decision," said the King. He and his wife stood, and everyone else kneeled. His back was straight, his crown was even, and his chin was high. Queen Yoake stood beside him, her maternal gentility masked behind a face of royalty and sternness. They both floated down the staircase and landed squarely between Zant and Midna.
"Zant," Queen Yoake said as she and Naito faced him. "You have a sharp wit and almost ruthless devotion to uphold our laws," to Midna's disgust, Zant smirked, "and your record for finding criminals is near flawless. You have always treated your King and Queen with the proper respect. You honor our ancestors with your devotion."
The Twilight Princess fought down the urge to scoff at his 'credentials'. She wanted so badly to slap that stupid grin off his face, but she stayed stiller than stone when her parents turned to her.
"Midna," King Naito said, "you are disrespectful towards your elders, you are ill-tempered, and you are late for every meeting I call, even this one." Midna had to fight to keep her shoulders from sagging. "You feel it fit for royalty such as you to wander the streets, interacting with the citizens as though they were family. You never use the rights and privileges granted to you such that you feel you can do anything yourself if you wanted to."
Midna's jaw clenched. Zant was being praised and she was being lectured?! Her eyes stung as she realized that Zant was going to ascend to the throne and not her. She deserved it! It was unfair! Even if they did not pick her, please do not pick him! Anyone but him!
... This is punishment for not marrying when she had the chance.
"That is why Queen Yoake and I have decided to grant the throne..." Midna held her breath and Zant nearly drooled with excitement. King Naito lifted one arm in the air, finger extended, and all was quiet. After an eternity, he lowered his arm and pointed to his decision. "To Princess Midna."
To his credit, Zant only bulged his eyes at the three of them. His eyes burned a bloody red as he stepped forward. "Your Majesty, are you certain this is a wise decision?"
King Naito beamed and rested his hands on Midna's shoulders. "I have never been more certain," he said.
"M-my Liege," Zant babbled on, "you yourself said that Midna," he must have taken special care not to spit her name out, "is irresponsible and disrespectful. Surely, that alone is enough to convince you that she is unworthy of the throne. There is also the technicality I hesitate to mention that clearly states that she still requires a King—"
"Be still!" the King commanded. Zant and Midna both flinched. "Your King speaks. What you say is true, Zant. Midna is irresponsible and disrespectful…" he took a deep pause and made a sideways glance at Zant, "to those who deserve nothing more from her."
"The law indeed states that she must have a King by her side," Queen Yoake interjected. "However, given the circumstances, we have spoken with the Council and nearly all have agreed to make an exception this one time. Midna may marry if she chooses, but it will not violate her claim to the throne if she chooses against marriage." Both King and Queen turned to glare at Zant with vengeance in their eyes.
Queen Yoake's hair bristled with fury and her voice grew cold as she said, "Zant, you are overzealous and under-disciplined. We cannot allow one such as you to sit on the throne, yours is a heart unfit for the responsibility."
Zant bristled but stood straight. "I assure you, my queen, that I have only ever lived to serve you and King Naito. My only wish is to care for the people of Twilight—"
"You dare lie to your King and Queen, inside their own throne room!" Queen Yoake bellowed. "How impertinent! I would throw you into Duzakh myself if I heard such disrespect again."
At that, Zant sank to his knees and pressed his head to the floor. "P-please! I m-meant no offense! Spare me, please!"
King Naito spun on his heel to face Zant. "In respect towards your ten years of service, the Queen and I will indeed be merciful." They were going to show him mercy? Midna was about to throttle Zant herself if her father had not continued speaking. "You will be granted funds with which you will personally oversee the restoration of our water purification facilities. You are expected to report there before the cycle is out."
"That's a seven-hour journey!" Zant snapped. "I... I... it isn't fair!" He jumped to his feet and all three royals stepped back in surprise. "I have slaved for ten years for this! I deserve the throne! I want it, I want it, I want it!"
"Zant, control yourself—"
"You will regret this," he screeched. "Every single one of you will regret this!" With that, he forced his way out of the throne room, leaving everyone to stare at his exit with wide eyes.
After a moment, King Naito cleared his throat and turned to Midna. His gaze softened slightly but maintained its seriousness. "All that I have said is true. You are stubborn, reckless, and irresponsible." Midna's shoulders sagged slightly at the facts. "You must learn to be a careful, considering, and above all, level-headed Queen if you are to succeed in your reign."
Midna lifted an eyebrow at the way he said 'level-headed' but remained silent. She was not about to give up her right to the throne because of a few choice words. He turned from her and stepped up to the seat of the throne, placing himself down with majestic grace.
"Your mother and I have decided how best to proceed," he said, sparing a glance to Queen Yoake.
Said Queen turned to Midna, held her shoulders as only a mother—her mother—could, and led her to sit on the steps of the throne. "What do you know of the Light Realm?"
Midna's brow furrowed as she stared blankly into her mother's eyes. What did the Light Realm have to do with this? Midna had stated she had no intention of waging war, so what difference did it make what she knew of the realm?
"Princess Midna, your Queen has asked you a question," her mother said softly.
Midna shook herself out of her thoughts and answered, "I know it is called Hyrule. It is a land blessed with divine power from the three goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore, and is ruled by a king and queen like our own realm. I don't know much else."
Yoake nodded. "Such is the way of the Twili. We have been apart from the land of Hyrule for so long that any concrete history has been lost. In fact, we have grown so accustomed to our ceaseless Twilight that any contact with pure light is near fatal unless you are hidden in shadow." She held her daughter's hands and traced patterns along her fingers. "The rulers of the Twilight Realm are blessed with protection against this light. You have inherited this, Midna, and it will serve you well in Hyrule."
"Hyrule? I don't understand."
King Naito cleared his throat and said, "You must speak with the King and Queen of Hyrule and request a special item that only they possess: The Fused Shadow."
The trees and rock walls all moved past me, or did I move past them? I was too disoriented from blood loss and pain to notice the difference.
By the time I focused back on reality, I was being lowered into a pool of comfortably warm water. The instant my head touched the liquid, my senses blasted back into action and bombarded me with a very bright light somewhere above me, but it was too close and too white to be the sun. More importantly, I felt energy surge through my body, a kind of power I felt only on a sugar rush.
I sat up so suddenly that I couldn't stop when I saw Ilia's worried face peering at me. I slammed my head full-force into hers and back down I went, head throbbing and teeth grinding. Once more, the instant my skull hit the water, the pain ceased and was replaced by more bombarding light.
"You seem to have a habit of getting yourself injured, lad," a calm voice said somewhere to my left. I sat up, slowly this time, to find Mayor Bo with his arms crossed, Ilia holding a welt on her forehead, and a man who seemed familiar…
"Rusl?" I asked, since he looked like the guy I attacked when I first arrived. He nodded and I set about standing up, only to wince as my side burned uncomfortably.
I looked down to find that my tunic was gone and so were my bandages, revealing a very ugly puncture hole in my skin. It was rimmed with angry red and purple bruises, but at least it didn't hurt as much.
I felt a hand press into my shoulder and looked up to see Mayor Bo standing over me. He gently lowered me into the water until my wound was under the surface. The burning at my side weaned away slowly, and I watched in amazement as the wound shrank to a third of its size and scabbed over. Another hand grabbed my shoulder, so I turned and saw that Ilia was using me for support as she dunked her head into the water. When she emerged, the welt on her head was gone, but she seemed dizzy, probably from the same sensory overload I suffered.
Mayor Bo cleared his throat and said, "This is Ordon Spring, home of the Light Spirit Ordona. We tried to use the spring's healing water on you but for some reason, the spring water was not very useful. Fortunately, the water chose to heal you after all after saving that hawk chick."
He gestured behind me and I turned to see several oval-shaped stones with ancient patterns carved into the surface. The stones sat on a small waterfall cliff and seemed to radiate light from the crevices of their patterns.
I heard footsteps moving away from me, but when I turned to face the exit to the spring, I was already alone. I still had not had the chance to talk to Rusl, which just annoyed me even more.
"Calm yourself, Zach." It sounded as though the wind was whispering to me, but it seemed to come from the stones. I faced the waterfall cliff and was nearly nose-to-nose with a giant ethereal goat made of light. As is natural for someone confronted by an otherworldly spirit, I did what most sensible people would do in that situation.
I smacked it on the nose and scampered away to the gate, but it was locked, trapping me with a spirit I probably just pissed off. I turned back to the spirit to find it wagging its head in shock. I was scared out of my mind of what the spirit goat would do to me, but even that didn't stop me from taking in its appearance.
It looked like a massive goat, with antlers of solid gold that curved up from two points on its head to meet above in a sort of crown-like arrangement. Within the circle inside the antlers was an orb of shining white light rippling with golden power. Along its back and beaver-like tail were golden patterns that swirled and danced in circular designs along its surface, never losing their luster even in the shade. Instead of hooves as I would expect of a goat, its forelimbs ended in two claw-like digits, while its back limbs simply ended.
Ordona's blank white eyes stared into mine, and it was all I could do not to squirm under its gaze. The Light Spirit trotted on air towards me and stopped at the border between its spring water and dry land. It sniffed heavily at me and seemed to shudder at my scent. At first, I thought it found me pungent or repulsive, since I did come from another world full of different smells.
I was half-right.
In the middle of its shudders, Ordona reared its head back and took a deep breath through its mouth. Before I could get a word in, its head lurched forward and sent a stream of light and water blasting into my face. If my hair was longer, I'm sure it would have been blown back like some cartoon.
With narrowed eyes and as straight a face as I could manage, I growled out, "Bless you."
Ordona tilted its head inquisitively and nudged my forehead with its snout. It turned to go back to its spring but stopped and looked at me. I sighed and climbed to my feet as it resumed its trot back to the spring.
"Lady Din warned me that you were difficult," said the goat-spirit, "though I knew not how much."
"Oh, thank you so much for that bit of character description," I muttered, none too pleased that I was labeled as 'difficult'.
Ordona floated onto the waterfall cliff and turned to me. Its face was unreadable, though that was probably because I couldn't decipher a goat's face. For all I knew, Ordona was thinking about hay.
After a few minutes of staring at each other, Ordona held up one of its clawed limbs. In its clutches was my phone. With a raised eyebrow, I carefully took the phone from Ordona and looked it over. Apart from it looking cleaner than it has in a while, it seemed exactly the same as before.
"What's this doing here?" I asked the spirit. "It made no sense to have my phone with me in Hyrule, which is why I left it behind in the first place."
"You are a foolish one," Ordona replied. "Did you not consider what you would do between battles? Boredom can kill a warrior just as surely as a spear or sword."
"Good point and I did think of that, but there's the issue of its power supply. Sure, it'd be good for a few hours at the most, but once that battery dies, I'll be left with a useless hunk of plastic."
"I have altered the device to draw energy from the Light Springs across Hyrule. As long as at least one Light Spring has power, your 'phone' will maintain its battery indefinitely."
"If you can do all that with this thing, why can't the Goddesses just take care of the main threat?"
"The last time they did so, they failed. Their fate is set unless you alter it."
I sat there for a minute, dumbfounded by what Ordona said. "Why me? Again, I'm not getting it. If I was so bad, why would they pick me again?"
"Call it an act of faith. Something you are sorely lacking."
I stared blankly into Ordona's equally blank eyes before I muttered, "Faith is an illusion."
The Light Spirit tilted its head. "Are you certain?" it asked.