"Lovely castle you got here," Midna said, doing her best not to sound bored as she followed Zelda through the castle halls. "Lots of space and, um, tapestries." In all honesty, the tapestries were quite nice.

"Thank you," said Zelda. "Tell me, Midna. Where are you from?"

Midna shrugged with a roll of her eyes. Really, where did Zelda think she came from? "Oh, here and there. Eee hee hee!"

"I see." Zelda inhaled through the nose and turned on her heel to face Midna. "Very well, I must ask you to leave."

"Wha—why?!"

"I make it my business not to engage with strangers." The corner of Zelda's lip turned up, just like how Midna's own mother looked when she was teasing Midna. "I would hate to set a bad example for my daughter."

Midna pouted. She really did not want to explain herself... Diplomacy, Midna reminded herself. Diplomacy. Every time she tried to think of diplomacy, she only pictured Zant being a complete suck-up. She was nothing like him! ... But diplomacy did not necessarily have to be done his way. "That's fair," she said at last. "Truth be told, if someone were to come up to me asking for something like that, I wouldn't have given them a second thought."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Can I ask you something?" Midna thought it over and decided that no matter what, she was not a liar. "What do you know of the Twilight Realm?"

Any semblance of affability vanished from Zelda's face. "It is a world of shadows," she said, "it is the eternal prison of ancient interlopers who waged war with the gods. Their dark magic, the Fused Shadow, was sealed away within Hyrule. We have maintained a careful watch on them ever since."

Midna had to bite back the retort that no one had been watching the Mirror when she used it. "Well, the Twilight Realm says hi."

"... You are of the Twilight Realm."

"Yep."

"You are descended from the ancient interlopers."

"Yes."

"You have come here to reclaim the very instrument used to wage war."

"Uh-huh."

"And you say you have no plans to actually use it?"

"... well, when you put it that way..." It was that moment Midna decided diplomacy was for losers. "Hey, why am I on trial here? You don't know me, you have no idea what my world is like after thousands of years of imprisonment. I could have just snuck in and stolen the Fused Shadow from right under your nose! You want to know why I want the Fused Shadow? I don't! I'd rather be in my own realm doing things for my people, but this task was appointed to me and I will see it completed no matter how I feel about it."

Zelda's brows lifted. "That is... a very good point." She bowed her head. "Forgive me, Midna. It was wrong to assume the worst."

Midna pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "I understand your position. If you decide not to give me the Fused Shadow, I'll just go home and can honestly say I tried." She flashed Zelda a smile. "Regardless, I wouldn't mind staying for some Hyrule culture. Who knows? I might just like it enough here to visit again."

"It... would be nice to open diplomatic relations with the Twilight Realm."

"Eh, let's not get carried away."

Zelda laughed softly. "Perhaps not. Please, come with me." She resumed her walk but with a more open air to her steps. "Am I correct in presuming you are royalty?"

"Princess," Midna said. "I was tasked to get the Fused Shadow to see if I can handle foreign delegations. How do you think I did?"

"Not well," Zelda replied to Midna's chagrin. "But your honesty and passion for your people speak for themselves. I should like to see the realm for myself if the King and Queen find that agreeable."

"We'll see." Actually, Midna had no intention of even bringing up the subject. This was just too sappy for her tastes; thousands of years of exile only to be ended by a queen in a good mood? Still, no reason to be rude. Zelda was easily a better conversationalist than Zant could ever hope to be. "I appreciate your hospitality, by the way."

"I am glad to hear that," Zelda replied. "I don't suppose you are hungry?"

"Actually, I am. I had to skip breakfast, I was... detained by business."

Zelda smiled. "Yes, I have just the thing." She led the way down a flight of stairs and to the open courtyard of the castle. It seemed there was a banquet in progress with tables piled high with very aromatic food and lots of people there to enjoy them, all set before a grand performance stage. Midna followed Zelda closely and had to fight the urge to hide in Zelda's shadow. Did Zelda have to lead her through such a public place? Or was this just another test to see if Midna really meant no harm?

A bright-haired man in regal attire and way too much cologne walked up and greeted, "Good afternoon, Zelda, Impa."

Zelda looked over her shoulder to find her handmaiden standing in Midna's place. At least, that was Midna's intention. After giving Midna a firm look, she turned back to the man with a tight smile. "Good afternoon, Daltus. How are you enjoying the festivities?"

"As well as one can imagine given the circumstances," Daltus replied. "I've made sure to check every guest before allowing them entry to the castle."

Zelda frowned. "Was that really necessary?"

"Now, Zelda, we must be on guard for enemies beyond the castle walls."

Midna met his gaze and spotted a very familiar glint in his eye: this man was a politician through and through. A rather scrawny one at that, he was even shorter than Zelda.

For her part, Zelda simply said, "Of course, Daltus. If you'll excuse us."

Zelda led Midna to one of the tables and bowed her head. "Please help yourself to some food, Midna." As Midna prepared a plate, Zelda watched her. For royalty, Midna did not have much in the way of elegance. She carried herself well enough, to be sure, but there was an air of... playfulness. She took very few things seriously but she was honest, that much was true.

Midna was a Twili, descended from an exiled race from an arid land. Zelda had half a mind to compare her to the Gerudo. She even dressed in a similar manner to the Gerudo royalty, with red hair and eyes to match. Of course, Midna had taken up the disguise of Zelda's own handmaiden at the moment. She certainly had no resemblance to the Gerudo now.

Why did Zelda not fear Midna? From the moment she laid eyes on Midna, Zelda never felt a single moment of unease. Surprise, yes, but not fear. As the Twili herself said, if she wished she could have easily slipped into the castle and stolen the Fused Shadow. Instead, she chose to seek out the head of house and ask for it. Pragmatic and open, though not very wise.

"So, who was the stiff?"

"Excuse me?"

"The short guy with too much cologne."

Zelda stifled a laugh. "That would be my brother-in-law, Prince Daltus."

"My condolences. Eee hee hee!" When Zelda refused to smile, Midna coughed and finished making her plate. "Anyway, what's the occasion? Someone's birthday?"

Zelda chuckled as they sat at a dining table. "No, this is the Festival of Time. This is the time of year we give thanks to the Golden Goddesses for their continued protection."

"What a coincidence that one of the very people they banished just happened to visit around this time."

If the nagging feeling in the back of Zelda's mind was any indication, Midna's presence was as far from coincidence as possible, but best not mention that.

"I'm not going to have to stick around for too long, am I? No offense but I do have a kingdom of my own to get back to."

"If you are going to masquerade as my handmaiden, you might just have to do as you're told."

"Fine, just after I eat." With that, Midna took to her meal. Zelda had expected her to be poorly-mannered with regards to dining but to her surprise, Midna was very tidy. She sat up straight, used the utensils with finesse, and made sure to dab her mouth after every bite. Once her plate was empty, she promptly slouched in her chair and looked around. "That was quite a feast, thank you."

Zelda simply bowed her head. Midna tapped her foot against the ground. Was Zelda deliberately wasting her time? Granted, Midna did show up unannounced and dumped a lot of new information on her, but surely Zelda realized the importance of the Fused Shadow. It was a dangerous ancient artifact and Midna would not be asking about it if it was just some trinket!

Midna made to speak up but Zelda beat her to it. "I hope you enjoy music," she said, "My husband, King Daphnes, will be conducting a performance in honor of the Three Goddesses." Several people stepped onto the performing stage. One was a man with light hair like Prince Daltus, only he was much taller and wore a fancier crown. The other three were women of various ages and various hair colors; red, blue, and green.

Truth be told, Midna was curious about the culture in Hyrule. She was instructed to find the Fused Shadow and this was the way to do it, so why not indulge herself? She made herself comfortable in her chair and watched the performance come to life.

Daphnes raised an ornate white baton, calling the blue-haired girl to attention. She held up a beautiful golden harp and strummed a few chords, then went into a full melody at the conduction of the king. It was a lovely tune that brought to mind the passing of the ages.

Midna's tapping foot soon tapped to the beat of the music, especially when the other two ladies joined in. The redhead held a stringed instrument on her shoulder and moved the bow along with a grace Midna had only ever seen in her own mother. The green-haired lady played a cute but very worn ocarina that filled the air with thoughts of childhood.

As they played, Midna conceded to herself one point: If this was the kind of culture they had in Hyrule, then... they would do all right.

The training was exceedingly simple. Rusl taught me was the basics; the horizontal and vertical slashes, the thrust, even the jump attack. Not the spin attack, though. I guess that was to be saved for later.

Yes, the lessons were easy to learn. The hard part came from the fact that I was not in a good shape. It hadn't been more than half an hour before I was exhausted and sweating like a pig in a butcher shop.

"You all right there?" Rusl asked, patting my shoulder.

"Yep," I wheezed. "Just, y'know, catching my breath."

Rusl chuckled. "Let's call it in for today." The three of us proceeded through the gate

A woman was waiting for us. It could only be Uli, Rusl's wife and Colin's mother, heavily pregnant with her second child.

Rusl walked up and kissed Uli's cheek. "Is this the young man Pergie has been talking about?" she asked.

I nodded and offered my hand. "I'm Zach. Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"Uli, and the pleasure is all mine."

"I'd very much like for you to have dinner with us tonight," Rusl said as he smiled at me. "You seem like a very pleasant young man, it would be good for you to have a nice home-cooked meal."

Fighting off a sigh, I smiled back and nodded. "I'd love to."

"In the meantime," Uli said, "The people of Ordon Village wish to welcome you. They're very curious about you."

Oh, crap, they actually want to meet me… I followed Rusl and his family into the village but desperately wished we were going in the opposite direction.

"Oh ho! There's our guest of honor!" Mayor Bo called. I half-smiled and waved at the small crowd. I recognized the children's parents but I never bothered to learn their names. The idea of me being swarmed by strangers already made my hands clammy and heartbeat quicken.

Swallowing down my fear, I walked down the path and the villagers immediately surrounded me. They all started asking questions about where I came from, what my homeland was like, what material my clothes were made of, etc.

My breath caught in my throat as I tried to keep calm. Sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck, and I felt like I was being crammed into a very tight box. Thankfully, Bo came to my rescue, saying "Alright, now! Give the lad some room!" as he pulled them away from me.

"Zach, allow me to introduce Sera and Hanch, the shop owners here. Sera maintains the actual store while Hanch gets supplies." He gestured to a mullet-headed stick of a man and his Jigglypuff of a wife. "Sera, Hanch, meet Zach, our guest."

"Ohhh, you're very handsome, m'dear," said Sera. "I bet all the girls in Castle Town would swoon over you." Don't insult me. "Isn't he handsome, Hannie?"

The scrawny man stuttered and bumbled over his words at his wife's tone. "Wha—Oh, yes! Very handsome, yes, very handsome indeed." He shook my hand a little too hard and then backed away.

The Mayor led me over to a short man with a flattop and squinty eyes and a somewhat more normal-looking woman next to him. "Jaggle and Pergie, our primary farmer and harvester." They both smiled and I shook Jaggle's hand. He was definitely Talo and Malo's father, the resemblance was obvious. That left Hanch and Sera as Beth's parents.

Off to the side was a burly man, about my height, with short hair and a laid-back disposition. "And this here is Fado, our herdsman and rancher." I shook hands with him, noting his surprisingly strong grip. I remembered from the game that he was completely incompetent and could barely keep the goats in their stables.

Fado chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, I try. You should come up later and I can show you around." I nodded and processed the information. Fado was the local rancher, so he must have at least some talent with horses, so I decided to see later if he could help me learn to ride.

After taking the pies and baskets and storing them in the house, everyone went home to go about their business, leaving me with Rusl and Mayor Bo.

"Where's Ilia?" I asked.

Mayor Bo chuckled and wrapped a gigantic arm over my shoulders. "She's getting one of her closest friends to meet you." I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

From just inside the village gate, I heard an animal's snort followed by a giggle. "Calm down, girl. He's just through the gate." That was Ilia's voice.

I saw her walk in, a leather rein clutched in her hand. She smiled at me and pulled the rein gently, revealing a marvelous reddish-brown mare. Her mane and tail were colored chalk white, as was the diamond spot between her honey eyes. She was a very beautiful horse and I couldn't help but gape in awe.

Ilia escorted the horse up to me and petted the white spot on her forehead. "Zach, I'd like you to meet Epona. Epona, this is Zach."

Epona bowed her head. Gently petting her snout, I smiled and nodded my head in turn.

"Pleasure's all mine." I started humming a random tune and Epona tilted her head. She seemed confused, as did Ilia and Mayor Bo. I eyed them cautiously and said, "Why are you staring at me?"

"That tune," Ilia said, while Epona snorted again. I didn't know whom to look at, so I turned to the Mayor.

"What about it?" Ilia fumbled with her hands while Bo stared at the ground.

"That's the same melody my mother used to calm Epona and her mother down," Ilia said. "She passed away when I was little."

I mentally winced. How was I going to explain to them how I knew Epona's Song? Thankfully, I remembered a bit from the game that could possibly help me. "I heard it on my way here; some reeds were making that sound when wind blew into them." Mayor Bo and Rusl both stared at me, suspicion evident in the way their arms were crossed.

"That plant went extinct decades ago." Rusl told me.

Well, fuck.

Mayor Bo towered over me and said, "You have some explaining to do, young man."

I sighed and nodded, sitting on the ground and leaning against the base of my temporary house. "Funny story, true story…"

By the time the performance ended, Midna felt like she could fly right through the sky. She clapped with the rest of the crowd, her excitement even bigger than her smile. And to top it all off, the sky had turned a lovely shade of orange that reminded Midna of home. "That was amazing," she said. "I've never heard such music before!"

Zelda smiled back. "I am pleased to hear such praise, Princess Midna."

"Just Midna," she replied with a shudder. "Titles make my skin crawl."

"I understand. You have shown yourself to be a woman of passion and conviction, willing to humble yourself to a new world." Zelda stood and looked Midna in the eye. "For these reasons, I have chosen to grant you the Fused Shadow contained in Hyrule Castle."

Midna rose from her seat with a clap of her hands. "That's great! By all means, please lead the way."

After taking a moment to congratulate her husband, Zelda led Midna back into the castle. Once Midna was sure there was no one around, she dropped her guise and returned to her true self.

She followed Zelda to a hallway connecting the foyer to what appeared to be a small armory. Hanging on several walls were various shields and weapons, all aged and worn from battles long past, while suits of armor stood majestically against the outer wall. Zelda went to the farthest corner of the room and pulled the nearby wall torch. A section of the wall withdrew and swiveled to the side, revealing a descending staircase.

Midna was still admiring one of the shields when Zelda touched her shoulder and said, "Please follow me."

"So, all I had to do was listen to a concert and you're just handing it over, just like that?"

"I had a dream several nights ago," Zelda said. "In it, this golden land of Hyrule was bathed in darkness. A sigil, exactly like the symbol on your leg, emerged from the shadows and with it was the Fused Shadow. As the sigil approached, the darkness faded away. I did not understand its meaning until you appeared. It is clear to me now that you are meant to possess the Fused Shadow."

Midna wanted to protest but decided, "Sure, works for me."

They came at last to a great hall. Six spotlights shone down on an array of items and weapons on wall-mounted podiums:

A red candle, an elegant rod brimming with magic, and an arrow of pure silver.

A red chainmail tunic, a golden shield that reflected the light brilliantly, and a large pearl that seemed to push away evil thoughts.

A lovely ocarina made of shining blue stone, a pair of golden gauntlets adorned with red gems, and another reflective shield but with silver metal and red trim.

A mask depicting a fierce white-haired warrior, an iridescent great sword of greens and reds and violets, and a sword gilded with gold.

An ornate conductor's baton, yet another mirror shield of silver and blue, and a lovely old cloth with a green design that reminded Midna of the wind.

A beautiful golden harp, a violet shield bearing the image of a smiling goddess, and a cute little automaton that had sadly rusted to the point of uselessness.

They were interesting museum pieces but none of them looked or felt like the Fused Shadow. Midna admired herself in one of the mirrors for a moment and then renewed her focus elsewhere. "Are we there yet? I appreciate the tour but I'm kind of in a hurry. Eee hee!"

Zelda moved between the last two podiums and waved her hand over the wall. A golden light shone from the back of her hand, bright enough to put the spotlights to shame. Midna had to cover her eyes until the light faded. Once it did, she beheld a strange stone helmet with twin horns and a single eye piece. It sat on its own podium within a recess in the wall, tucked away safe and sound from any outside observers.

"The Fused Shadow," Midna whispered, awed at the power radiating from the helmet. She ran a finger down the ornate serpentine decorations, her skin tingling against the deceptively smooth stone surface. Just being this close to the relic filled her with a sense of command, of power and control. It was certainly very impressive but... "Why's it so small? This barely fits in the palm of my hand." In an instant, the helmet grew large enough to fit on Midna's head with ease. "Ah, that's better. Not planning on wearing this thing but hey, at least it doesn't look like a toy."

Zelda stayed a wary distance away. "This fragment... to have so much power in it still..."

"Yeah, I guess I understand now why it was sealed away." After a moment, she turned to Zelda with a raised brow. "What do you mean, 'this fragment'?"

Zelda blinked at her. "You... you didn't think the Fused Shadow was in one piece after all this time, did you? The Fused Shadow was separated into four pieces across the land of Hyrule by the Light Spirits."

Midna pressed a hand to her head. "Wait a minute, hold it! Nobody said anything about four pieces!"

"Midna, please calm down—"

"What am I supposed to do, take one piece? Search for all pieces? Or... or what?!" Midna looked at the helmet and whined. Not that the music performance was bad but she went through some effort just getting this Fused Shadow piece! Did her parents really expect her to spend even more time getting three more pieces? "Well, I got this one. I'll just have to hope this one is enough."

Zelda bowed her head and said, "I am truly sorry, Midna. It had been my understanding that you knew the state of the Fused Shadow."

"Nah, that's just what I get for not doing my research." With a snap of her fingers, Midna whisked the Fused Shadow away to a pocket dimension. "I got what I wanted, thank you very much."

"Perhaps we will meet again?"

Midna shrugged. "Maybe. Next time I feel like lunch and music, I might come calling."

"I would like that," Zelda said, smiling earnestly. "Have a safe return home, Midna."

"Thanks. See you later!"