When Link could see again, Midna's shadowy form was floating in front of him in Lanayru's spring, and he was human again. He let out a sigh of relief as he smiled. Finally. Back in his own body.

"You make sure to get that last Fused Shadow, now!" She giggled as she disappeared into his shadow. "See you later!"

The pool in the spring, like the others, began to glow a bright white, before a droplet sprung up from the water and Lanayru's ball of light emerged. Link waited for the shape of a spirit to calmly fade into view around the ball.

Instead, suddenly, the glowing head of a snake leapt up from the water and grabbed the ball in its mouth before diving back into the water. Link watched as it swam around the spring, before rising out of the water again to face him.

"Be calm, hero. I am Lanayru. I apologize for startling you." Despite the regal voice of the light spirit, there was almost a note of amusement to the last sentence. Lanayru bowed their head. "Thanks to your efforts, I and my brethren in Hyrule are at last restored. We are indebted to you." Link wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

Lanayru raised their head to look Link in the eye. "O hero chosen by the gods, you and your companion seek a dark power. It waits in the long-abandoned temple of the Zoras, at the bottom of Lake Hylia." Lanayru paused, and for a moment Link wondered if they were going to ask about how he had learned telepathy. However, that thought was gone as soon as the light spirit continued.

"Before seeking it, you must now bear witness to something... and never forget it." Lanayru raised their head towards the ceiling of the spring. "You must know that it was the will of the goddesses that we lock away the forbidden power."

The spring faded from view, until Link was floating alone in a field of darkness. There weren't even any stars like there were in the night sky, just pure emptiness.

"When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world." Lanayru's voice, echoing through the nothingness. Suddenly, beams of light sped through the nothingness - blue, red, and green.

"They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens." The red beam of light flew an arc in front of him, and suddenly there was a patch of white. Then the blue beam, and it was painted with grass and flowers. Finally the green beam, and something like fireflies appeared floating over the patch of grass.

Then Link noticed a person standing in front of it. No... not just any person. Ilia! As soon as he recognized her, he found himself standing next to her as they stared in awe at the grassy hill.

"The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm." He and Ilia looked at each other in delight, wide grins on their faces. The three beams of light collided over the hill, forming a golden light that almost hurt Link's eyes, though he couldn't bring himself to look away. It was... beautiful.

"For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body." The golden light faded into a familiar shape, a shape that startled him. The symbol on his hand. The symbol that Gor Coron had called the Triforce.

"But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through Hyrule, and a great battle ensued.." Ilia turned to him, her eyes white, sending a chill down Link's spine. He opened his mouth to talk to her, but no sounds came out. Suddenly she pulled a dagger from her side and raised it towards Link... but he was faster. The sword that had protected him across this adventure found its way into Ilia's gut, and she dropped her dagger. Link couldn't bear to watch, he screamed in his own mind at his body for betraying him. But nothing listened, nobody listened. His body threw the sword to the ground, running for the Triforce. Why? Was it worth killing Ilia?!

"Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared." As his body ran, three figures that almost looked like him rose up near the Triforce. His body slowed and eventually stopped, staring up at the figures. Who were they? Their clothes were like his, but their eyes were all a piercing red. They chuckled down at Link, and Midna's helmet rose up from behind them.

"Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm." Midna's helmet swallowed the Triforce, covering even the golden light that came from it. The three figures stretched out their hands towards Link's body, who cowered in fear - to no avail.

With a scream that faded into the nothingness, Link's body was gone. Good riddance. The silly Hylian thought he could take their power? Preposterous. He grinned at the two men on either side of him. With the Fused Shadow, surely even the golden goddesses would kneel before them and offer up the Triforce.

"It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene." Whose voice was that? No matter, there were other matters to attend to. Three golden balls of light appeared suddenly, surrounding the area where he and his companions stood.

"We sealed away the dark power those individuals had mastered." The Fused Shadow sunk into the earth. No! No, he and his brethren had worked so hard to craft that! How dare the goddesses' dogs lock it away so easily?!

Suddenly he was in a spring - Lanayru's spring. Four shadowy relics floated around him - the pieces of the Fused Shadow! Of course the goddesses' dogs couldn't destroy the Fused Shadow, they hadn't the power to do so!

"You know this magic... It is the dark power you seek." The pieces of the Fused Shadow circled him, taunting him. They were so close! He could almost touch them, almost feel their intoxicating power flow through him again!

"O hero chosen by the goddesses... Beware..." Suddenly he was in the vast darkness again. A young girl - who is that? - spun as she floated down into the abyss. The girl was giggling as she spoke the words that echoed, though it wasn't her voice.

"Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. Never forget that." More and more and more of the strange girl floated down, all giggling. No matter, focus on the Fused Shadow. He just had to get it back, had to-

Suddenly everything stopped, and he was himself again. Link. He fell to his knees, panting heavily. 'What... what was all of that?' His head ached. It was like he had become someone else. Someone awful. Those thoughts, they couldn't have been Link's own thoughts... right? Lanayru must have done something to make Link feel like whoever that had been. The light spirit's words rung in his ears nonetheless.

"I apologize, hero. But you must be cautious when gathering such forbidden relics. You are Hyrule's only hope. We cannot allow you to make the mistake the Interlopers did all those eras ago. For the sake of Hyrule, you had to be warned." Link only barely heard Lanayru's words, over the pounding in his head and the pounding of his heart, over the ringing in his ears and the sound of Ilia's scream as he stabbed her in the gut like some heartless monster-

"Look, we appreciate the warning, but that's why I'm holding them instead of him. I don't even let him touch the pieces of the Fused Shadow, much less hold them." Midna. When did she come out of his shadow? She looked angry, perhaps even... disappointed?

"One cannot have an overabundance of caution, in these dark times. I fear that the king of shadows was only the beginning of Hyrule's ordeal, and that Hyrule will have much more to ask of this hero."

Midna hmphed in clear irritation. "For Mr. Important Hero's sake, let's hope that you're wrong." She looked back at him, then up at Lanayru. "I mean, look at him!"

Lanayru, however, peered down at Midna. "How curious. A being of shadow, concerned with the wellbeing of Hyrule's hero." Midna huffed. Thankfully she didn't see Link's smirk.

Lanayru must have, however. "I am glad to see you in better spirits, hero. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how you came to know telepathy?"

Midna glanced back at him, catching his smirk before he could hide it, then looked back at Lanayru. "I taught it to him. Apparently a fairy spoke to him, and he was curious about it. So I taught him." Knowing Midna, she probably gave Lanayru a smirk even in her shadowy form. "It came in handy while he had to be a wolf!"

"I see." Lanayru began to slip back under the water, their form slowly disappearing. Link almost expected them to say something else, but the spring fell silent. He stared down into the water. His breathing was more steady, and the ache in his head was mostly gone. But his thoughts were still a confused storm.

Midna turned to look at him. "Hey. Whatever that glowing snake showed you, don't worry about it. You're not even touching the Fused Shadows, you'll be fine." Link wished he could be so certain. The sight of himself slashing at Ilia with the sword, of his body dissipating into dust, the memory of the things he'd thought at the end of that vision... He wished he could be so certain.

Still, he rose to his feet. Midna still needed his help to find the last piece of the Fused Shadow. And in order to get the Fused Shadow, he needed to help Prince Ralis. He last saw the prince in Telma's bar, so he must be there still.

Even with the vision's weight stuck in his mind, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the sky over Lake Hylia now being a deep blue. Gone was the eternal twilight. Hyrule was back to looking as it should. If it weren't for the vivid memories in his mind and the green tunic on his chest, he would almost think everything he'd been through had been a bad dream.

He found himself walking along the bridge to the right of Lanayru's spring, then to the island where he'd fought the shadow beasts. The teal portal was still swirling in the sky above.

'Hey, Midna. Would I still be able to use portals, even now that I'm not gonna be a wolf again?' It was weird, to think that he'd never again be forced into the shape of a wolf, never again be treated like a hideous monster when he returned to Ordon.

"I should be able to. Where do you want to go?"

'Prince Ralis was at Telma's tavern, so we should probably check the city first.' In an instant, he found himself standing in front of the bridge into the city. And in the corner of his vision, a flash of gold - the golden wolf. He hesitated. The training sessions seemed to never take any time in the normal world. But Prince Ralis' life was in danger - did he really have the time?

How would he be able to get the prince to safety, anyways? He could fight, sure.

And then he remembered. Renado, the shaman of Kakariko Village. If anyone could help the Zora prince, it had to be Renado. Prince Ralis would need Link's help to get to Kakariko. Might as well see what the ghostly knight had to teach him this time around.