Upon witnessing the princess, or Queen? Twilight immediately bows to one knee. Which shouldn't be as surprising as it is to Warriors given, well, everything else. Warriors had been a farm boy too before he became a knight. It makes sense the ranchhand followed a similar route, even if he more stubbornly sticks to his roots.
Regardless Warriors quickly follows his brother's lead and the others do the same. Interestingly the Queen seems almost as surprised as he had been. Either because of their sudden reunion or this dog had learned new tricks since they last met, could be both.
"Link?" she asks, "It is you, but how? And who are these friends of yours?"
Upon being addressed Twilight raises only his head. "Twilight Queen," he says, "we apologize for our intrusion upon your realm, but we bring news best discussed in private."
To her credit, the Queen quickly recovers. "Very well," she responds, before turning to the crowd. "The Legendary Divine Beast and his entourage will be welcomed as our Honored Guests." Then she walks down to them and reaches for Twilight's hand. So they are close. He takes it and gets up, quietly nudging towards the rest of them before following the Queen through the gates.
As they enter the palace it takes all of Warriors' discipline not to make a single comment. Especially not about their whispering. One look at Legend's mirthful eyes tells him he's not alone, though there's shade of something else that Warriors would rather not intrude upon. Instead, he joins in with admiring the architecture of a style which is nothing if not unique. Though while he can appreciate the craftsmanship, he ultimately prefers the Castletown of his own Hyrule.
The Queen quickly re-enters the captain's focus as she hurriedly calls over an assistant before giving them instructions. It feels wrong to sense such unease on a queen. It's unfair to place that kind of pressure on any person Warriors knows, but still. He remembers, clearly, times when Zelda had gotten like that, those were never good days. The situation now doesn't feel quite as existential as the war had, but then again was it? The Shadow has been keeping the nine of them, each of which had defeated great evils and the rest of them without an army at their back, on their toes for months now and their previous encounter with it has left two of them in poor fighting condition. Meanwhile, they don't even know for certain if that thing was actually harmed with how it's running around. It could've been replaced too, but that's hardly more encouraging.
Warriors pessimism is brought to a halt when the queen stops before a large door.
"I've notified my council of your arrival. Considering Link's pressing news We've summoned them so we may convene and hopefully come to a solution." She says.
They all take a quick glance at Twilight, who nods. And when he goes in, they follow.
Here goes nothing.
It's almost funny how much this place feels like Hyrule Castle. Twilight thinks. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised, a mirror image really is more alike than it is not. He doesn't actually know if any of the 'manners' that Zelda's court instructors had taught him are actually appropriate here, but so far it get the job done at least. The Twili officials seem to approve and while he can tell Midna's a bit put off by his demeanour, as are his brothers, she seems to be sticking to a similar script as Zelda had. He doesn't blame them either. He doesn't like it much himself, he doesn't feel much like himself. More like he's wearing someone else's skin. But The Hero showing deference to The Princess was important in cementing her position as Sovereign and stabilize the kingdom, or something like that. Twilight never knew Zelda, who herself was a bit bashful about the whole ordeal, all that well personally. But what he did know was more than enough for him to put his faith in her and so he went along with whatever it was that passed for propriety amongst the well-to-do.
Now he's putting his faith in Midna and, by the looks of it, she's earned it. The place looks a lot nicer than the last time he came here, overrun outpost notwithstanding, and he hasn't met anyone that had anything bad to say about her. He doesn't know how much that's actually saying, but he knows it means something.
She already had his trust regardless. They'd trusted each other with not only their lives but their worlds. There was no sense in doubting her now. No matter how much her decision to separate their worlds had stung, how it still aches actually. Even now, when she's sitting right across from him on the other side of the council room. It's probably because he always imagined jubilation when coming here, even as he feared Midna's anger for moving against her final act in the Light Realm. He never imagined himself to be the one bearing bad news, or that he would (probably) have to leave so soon, or that when he leaves he might still never know how to return here.
But that's precisely why he shouldn't be mourning the future already, not when the present is so precious and fleeting. So he focusses on the task at hand and waits until the last of the councilmen trickle in and he hopes.
So when the meeting does start shortly after and he is called to speak on behalf of himself and his brother he answers all their questions. He tells them that yes, he is the Divine Beast and, only when Time nods in approval, that they are all the incarnations of Link the Legendary Hero from across time. Barrelling on before their bafflement can stop them from listening he tells them of the Shadow that they are all chasing, that this chase is what caused them to meet and that this Shadow is the what is creating these portals that cross both time and space, which is also how they came here. (edited)
When Twilight finishes his explanation. One of the councilmembers, whose name he'd already forgotten, raises his hand to speak. Quickly, Midna nods to him. "You may speak Cultural Minister Lonfe."
"Thank you, your majesty, if I may: I must say I have to doubt the veracity our guests' tale. After all," he says, now turning towards the heroes, " if these are truly various Divine Beasts from across time, then how come this Shadow is not already vanquished? My Queen, you yourself have professed to his incredible power. With eight others of his calibre, what foe could possibly face the nine of them?"
At those words, Twilight can only hold his head down, but before he can muster up an apology for his own incompetence Warriors steps forward. "If i may," he says, "i can answer that, your majesty." Bowing his head.
"You may." Midna answers.
"Thank you, your majesty," Warriors replies, putting his head up and facing the council. "You see this Shadow is much unlike our previous adversaries. It avoids a head-on clash and is quick to flee a fight is no longer in its favour. It is also capable of spawning monsters with much enhanced strength, all sporting black blood, which it employs to do the brunt of the fighting in its place, allowing it valuable time to escape. Furthermore in our last encounter, when we cornered it, it revealed itself a shapeshifter and used that ability to strike a crucial blow. Though we believed to have vanquished it in return, the Shadow evidently persists."
A council member Twilight doesn't recognize stands up. "A crucial blow?" he asks "Did this Shadow strike down a tenth hero?"
"No," assures Warriors, "but my brother" he says, putting his hand on Twilight's shoulder, " sustained an injury that could not be cured using conventional means."
"What?" says Midna, briefly looking stricken before schooling her face. For a moment its enough to make Twilight hate Warriors, but he's right to share this: the Twili deserve to know the danger their realm is currently in.
Twilight steps forward. "It's true," he says, "the Shadow is dangerous and unpredictable. It's why we'll need your help to locate it so we can deal with it before it causes any further harm."
"Of course." Replies Midna. Then the council member directly to the left of Midna clears her throat.
Midna turns to her. "Minister of the Guard Ankt, please speak."
"Thank you, your highness. In regards to this Shadow: given the sequence of events I presume it and the recent Storm may be related." She says looking expectantly towards Twilight.
"Xalem, the post attendant, did mention the beast had appeared along with a storm, yes." confirms Twilight.
Ankt nods. "Right, in that case the current location of the Storm is our most likely target, no?"
The council nods in response.
"Then I propose we follow it and eliminate it." She finishes.
At that, a thin council member at the edge of Midna's left side raises his hand.
"Minister of Agriculture Lugh" Midna says, before ducking her head allowing the minister to speak.
"Your majesty," he says, ducking his head in acknowledgement. "From what we gather, the Storm is moving eastwards to the tripoint border with Sectors K and Y."
Midna nods her head. "Very well," she says "in that case We and the Divine Beasts shall warp towards the threat tomorrow first thing in the morning and deal with this threat."
"With all due respect your majesty," begins Ankt, "how are we as the guard supposed to do our duty to protect you if plan on going alone?"
"Your duty as guards is to protect the Realm as a whole, besides: as the most powerful mage of the realm I am to most equipped to lead our heroes to this Shadow and aid in its defeat."
This time its Linfe that speaks up. "The stability of the Twilight Realm hinges on your survival, your majesty."
"Exactly," adds Ankt "why would we risk your safety so needlessly, when we can send a detail of our best guards in your place?"
"Because," counters Midna, "against an opponent like this, we will likely be using the element of surprise if possible, for which a small unit is crucial. Furthermore, since we don't know this foe's motivations it's paramount we prepare for the worst and safeguard our dearest treasures."
"I agree with the Queen." Declares the elderly man. "Her majesty's involvement will be a powerful show of force for the Twilight Realm and show both the populace and the Shadow that we are not solely dependent on Light Dwellers for our security."
The elder's statement seem to have pacified opposition as there are no more counterarguments against Midna's proposal.
Pleased, Midna turns attention back to Twilight. "That will do for you as well, We hope?"
Twilight looks towards Warriors and Time before stepping forward once more. "Yes your majesty." He affirms.
"Good," Midna replies and she lets out a real smile. "Then it is decided: tomorrow We shall defeat this foul creature!"
Twilight nodded, he believed her.