– Prologue –
Part 2 : Companion
Midna awakens slowly, almost like her thoughts are trudging through a thick squelching bog. She nuzzles into the warm embrace that encompasses her form and breathes in the faint scent of shadows and hibiscus. Her free hand finds purchase on velvety warm flesh of a shifting stomach. There's a sharp intake of breath above her head.
"G-good morning!" A vaguely familiar voice squeaks out. She's too entrenched in the sleepy comfort of the moment to examine it too closely.
"Sav'otta..." Midna murmurs and starts to nuzzle closer before the events of the previous night come flooding back unbidden. She stiffens like a desert stone. Well, she's certainly awake now, painfully so. "I am so sorry." She realizes her face is practically buried in the other woman's throat and she feels heat and shame flood her features. "I... You- uh... smell nice?" She's finding the nearest cliff and just... throwing herself right off.
Lila has the grace and kindness to laugh off her words. That's when Midna realizes that the other woman's fingers are drawing idle shapes on the skin of her exposed side. Suddenly she's facing a very, very different problem. The blind woman must hear the change in her breathing because Lila's fingers are suddenly pressing deliciously into her side as if she were trying to ground herself.
"Hililini..." Midna breathes out the word before she can stop herself. She sucks in a breath as Lila's arms tighten around her form, almost imperceptibly pulling her closer. She doesn't trust herself to act so she just puts all her focus on not moving at all. She shall not be taking advantage of the other woman's kindness. She refuses to do it. The silence stretches for an achingly long moment.
"You had a nightmare..." Lila finally breathes, breaking the silence. Midna can feel the woman's pulse quickening beneath her touch. "So... I woke you and held you until you fell back asleep."
"Sarqso," She hates the weakness in her voice, the husky crackling weight of it. The tension from the previous night has returned with a vengeance. The air feels loaded with electric energy. It's terrifying and unnerving but so very enticing.
"I... you can't keep doing that..." Lila's throaty whine sends a sharp spike of heat into her core. Midna begins to get the feeling that it isn't simple kindness that's spurring the Lurelean's actions. Her resolve begins to waver.
"D-doing what?" Midna questions as her body begins to mold into the other woman's. She's trying. She's trying so hard to keep herself under control. This shouldn't be a problem for her. There's no reason for the other woman to affect her so. But then Lila swallows and her throat bobs against Midna's nose. The scent of shadow and hibiscus drowns her senses.
The hand on her side trails fire across her hip bone, then to her spine and slowly up the length of it. Her lips part to swallow air greedily to keep up with her racing heart. "Your language sounds so... every word... It... I can't take it..."
Midna feels her control slipping further from her grasp. Her hand moves of its own accord, fingertips gliding along the peach skin until she can almost feel the shape of the other woman's ribs beneath the supple flesh. Her hand shifts along with the rapid movement of the Lorulean's chest. "My apologies... Perhaps... It might be best if..." Midna finds words more difficult with the other woman's nails scratching lightly at her shoulder blades.
"Midna..." Lila's tone is almost chastising at her hesitation. "Despite what I may have appeared... I am not made of glass." A low rumbling groan escapes Midna's chest. She feels the woman's breath hot blow hot across her ear. "I like your touch... I want it..."
She knows. She just knows that she's going to hate herself for this. She's going to regret it so much. "Hililini..." Midna feels the woman in question stiffen. She knows that Lila understands where this is about to go. "I want to... I do... I cannot express enough how hard it is to say this... but it is a terrible idea, right now. Neither of us are in any kind of state to be making these decisions."
She feels the tension straining and she's prepared for Lila to snap. For the anger and the shouting and the grief fueled rage. She can feel the woman's hand curling into a tight fist against her back. The Lorulean woman is practically quaking. Then she hears the first sob and the tension doesn't snap, but dissipates like a smoke in the night.
Midna moves immediately, rising out of Lila's arms to see a tear streaked face. "Oh sweet vai..." She sets back on her legs and scoops the blind woman into her arms. They maneuver until Lila is straddling her lap and sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder.
"Gone... They're gone!" Lila's muffled yell tears Midna's heart to pieces.
She hides her face in the other woman's violet hair. She understands. She gets it better than anyone. Her father, her people, her friends... all gone to dust and ashes. She doesn't know if she'll ever get to return home. Midna rocks the both of their bodies. She feels her own tears prickling hot in her eyes. Would it be selfish to join the smaller woman in her tears?
Midna glances up to see the Sheikah peeking, not too subtly, through the open door. She meets the woman's red eyes through her strange rimmed glasses, reminiscent of the evil tribe's symbology. Her arms tighten around Lila's weeping form even though the Sheikah's eyes soften with concern and sorrow. She doesn't like the idea of letting the fiend closer, but allows her to step into the room for the other woman's sake. Quiet as a ghost, Purah approaches, until she's sitting on the bed next to the pair
"I'm sorry, Lily..." Purah breathes with more emotion than Sheikah should be able to show. Maybe they truly are different now. Midna doesn't know how to accept that though. Not when she knows their bloodiest history. When she's seen them at their very worst. Blood red eyes sear into her own. A challenge, or a warning? Either way Midna won't be rising to the bait.
Instead she closes her eyes, offering a small trust, and hiding her own struggle. She focuses on the gentle scent of the Lorulean, the feel of her trembling form... It's killing her. But it's better than putting her own suffering on display. She doesn't have anyone to remind her that it will be okay. Those she loves and trusts are now ghosts and memories. So she'll cling to this woman, serve her and devote herself. It's not enough, but for now it will be. It's easier to be strong after all, when someone is counting on her.
She feels a shift of movement and her eyes open to see Lila grasp the Sheikah and pull her closer. Midna suffocates the scowl that threatens to pull at her lips as Purah's hand begins rubbing small circles into her ward's back. Who is she to deny the woman comforts of her own friends and people? This Purah may be a Sheikah, but she's also Lila's friend. That has to come first right now.
/-/
Lila feels better. Somehow. Siting in the open air just outside of Purah's workshop, with the sun warming her bones, helps too. Something about getting a good cry in had really helped to clear her head. She lifted the teacup in her hands to take a slow sip of the warm tea inside. Hibiscus has always been something of a guilty pleasure. One that she's grateful to be able to indulge in. All of their friends ensure that they have some on hand in case she's ever brought for a visit.
She can hear Midna's slow, meandering steps as she paces back and forth across the floor. Her mind wanders back to earlier that morning, before they'd gotten out of bed and had a decent breakfast. She can't help but bite down on her bottom lip at the memory. Midna had been right about them needing to wait, but that didn't mean Lila wouldn't be trying again later. Once things are more settled and she has a proper talk with the Gerudo woman.
Being who she is – the great Hero of Shadows – makes personal connection feel almost impossible sometimes. Not to mention that people always run scared when Link shows up, probably by design on her brother's part. She had a feeling that he wouldn't see the same success with Midna. Her mysterious savior seemed to have the bearing of someone who didn't suffer much insult. Towards herself or people she cares about. Lila wonders, not for the first time, how she's found herself on that list.
Is it just Midna's nature to protect? Does she have some ulterior motive? Lila needs to know more about her to determine. What she doesn't need to determine was if the woman was attracted to her as well. That much is plain to see, and she's blind! She remembers the woman arching into her, feeling her tremble from Lila's simple touches. Oh yes... her own attraction is definitely mirrored in the other woman.
Lila doesn't feel that anyone can really blame her for her desires. She's twenty-three years old, give or take a hundred, and hasn't felt such intimate comfort in well over six years. She's a legend to too many people and to the ones she's not... they're either not interested, or taken. She had been happy that Zelda and Link had found comfort in each other, but Lila had missed that physical connection for herself.
It isn't just her status as a Hero, but her condition. People are always so quick to assume that she's fragile and meek. It doesn't help that she leans into it and lets people believe her to be as soft they assume. It's just simpler that way. It becomes terribly draining when she has to explain that she can in fact do things for herself.
It's not that she doesn't appreciate their kindness. Everybody always has wonderful things to say about and to her. It's just a tiring, complicated dichotomy. Her existence commands respect and awe at a distance, but whenever they see her up close that same respect gives way to unnecessary worry. It's just made it all the more difficult to form genuine connection.
Midna hasn't seemed to have that same problem. The woman is gentle with her, but Lila has the feeling that she's always like that. She'll have to pay close attention to the other woman's conversations, when she isn't growling at a Sheikah that is. Now that she thinks about it, maybe she should get some questions of her own answered. Purah is busy with some scouts and making rounds in the Landing so this seems like the most privacy they'll have for now.
"Midna," She hears the footsteps halt then approach. She lifts her hand out and Midna's own calloused palm comes to rest atop hers. "What has you pacing so?"
She hears the long puff of breath from the Gerudo, like she's deflating. "I am just on edge... anxious. Waiting for the interrogation that is sure to come."
"Sit next to me and relax for a moment," Lila's tone leaves no room for argument. She hears the sound of creaking wood as Midna lowers herself in the chair beside her own. Their hands remain twined atop the little table between the seats. The wood is still slightly damp from the early morning dew. "Don't worry, there's not going to be an interrogation."
"I feel like the Sheikah woman disagrees," Midna's tone is grumpy and short. "I believe she wishes to turn me into one of those strange experiments I've seen in that workshop." Lila can't help but laugh despite the discomfort in Midna's tone.
"I understand what you mean," She agrees before taking another sip of her tea. "That being said, Purah technically answers to me. I was just... out of sorts last night. I'm usually much more put together."
"It is understandable given the circumstances," Midna's gentle murmur feels almost distant. Lila wasn't lying about the interrogation, but she still can't help her own curiosity. She wants to know more about the other woman.
"If you're comfortable talking about it, then I would ask after your circumstances." Lila sets her tea cup on the table top before clasping Midna's hand between both of hers.
"I could not possibly burden you with such things, Hililini," The Gerudo says in a soft but reluctant tone.
"Haven't we established already, that I'm not made of glass?" Lila smiles at her friend, hoping that she sees it."You've already done so much for me, so I just want to be clear that I'm not asking as anything more than a friend. I can tell that there is more weighing on you, and I would listen when you are ready. I truly am feeling much better. I know Link is safe and out there somewhere. As far as Zelda... I'm sure we'll figure it out in time."
She releases the woman's hand and carefully picks up her tea once more. While Midna stews in her own thoughts, Lila has problems of her own to worry over. Until Link shows up, she's one of the only people who can really get things done. Where to start though? The castle is concerning, but she doubts they'll find anything too useful there, and facing that malefic entity is currently beyond her as well.
They might need to focus on damage control right now. If what Purah had been telling her was the truth, then there are all kinds of new ruins in the sky. As well as all kinds of ruins that have fallen from the sky. Much will depend on the scouts and any news that the inventor may have received by her other means. Zelda wasn't the only one with a Purah Pad after all. That was an interesting piece of technology, certainly. An almost necessary one, even.
Following Calamity Ganon's defeat, most of the ancient Sheikah technology that had dotted Hyrule's landscape had gone missing. First hand accounts speak of the spires and shrines fading away in a shower of blue energy. As far as the other things, such as the wandering Guardians and Divine Beasts, they had suddenly fallen apart and disassembled into giant chunks of nigh useless mechanics.
Granted, Purah and her teams had made a valiant effort of cleaning up the mess left behind and putting it to good use. Like the new towers that the woman has been constructing. During her last update, almost all of them were ready to be put to use.
The only other technologies that had been around were the weaponry and Sheikah slate. The weapons had become rather useless, seemingly unable to draw on the mystic energies that the Sheikah technology had once functioned on. The Sheikah slate had been a necessary sacrifice, for the creation of the Purah Pad.
Without the original Sheikah creations, the Slate had become rather useless and Purah had made a very convincing argument that using what she could learn from it to devise their own system of towers and teleportation was better than trying to make things that work for their only Sheikah slate. So far Robbie had been able to craft a few of the Pads and distributed them to Purah's chosen people. One to Zelda, one to Kakariko, and one to her tower construction crew.
"Zelda..." Midna finally speaks, drawing Lila from her ruminations. "I know her." That catches her attention, Lila shifts in her seat to face Midna better. An old habit.
"Truly? She's never mentioned you before though... I get the sense that she would have," Lila muses before draining the last of her tea. She frowns at the cup and debates on calling someone over.
"Well... The thing is... How do I say this?" Midna takes a deep, fortifying breath before saying, "I believe that we met in the distant past."
"You mean before the Calamity somehow?" Lila questions while sitting her cup to the side, deciding against more tea. She doesn't want to get a stomach ache and her anxious nerves are already frayed as it is.
"No, well yes, but I... Please, understand that what I am about to say is the truth. It will be hard to believe. That it may seem impossible, but it is the only thing that makes sense" She nods her head. Lila isn't a stranger to odd things after all. During her hundred year slumber, she dreamed of many things. Things that she had no reason to know, to conjure in her own mind. No. Those were far off memories that laced her soul like a distant dream. "I am from the past, an apparently most distant past. I was there during the founding of this new Hyrule. I was there when the Zonai Rauru, and his Hylian Queen Sonia, first reformed the sacred kingdom."
"I believe you."
"I know that i-" Lila can't help but giggle into her hand. She wonders how shocked Midna must look right now. "You... believe me?"
"Yes. Of course. Is that strange?" Lila plays innocent, as if she were oblivious to the gravity of her easy acceptance.
"Yes. I mean no. I mean-"
"Please, relax Midna. I'm merely teasing you," Lila finally states while reaching a hand out to touch the woman's arm. The poor Gerudo must be suffering terrible whiplash and she can't help but feel bad. "When Zelda and I first sealed the Calamity... I fell into a slumber, a deep slumber. Years passed with each breath but each breath itself stretched for what felt like its own eternity. I saw many, many things in that most primal of slumbers. Traveling through time is... tame, in comparison. Perhaps I shall tell you of all that I have witnessed someday. For now, please continue your tale. I simply want you to understand that it would take much to stretch my belief."
Silence follows her words and continues for an uncomfortable time. Just when she begins to regret sharing her secret – Midna speaks, "I apologize, Lila-va. I suppose that it is I, who am struggling to grasp your own struggles... I am trying – and failing – to imagine how one would maintain their sanity in such circumstances." What she hears in Midna's voice makes her own heart skip. "Truly, you have to be the strongest person that I have ever met."
"I had wondered why you had been allowed down in that cavern. But now I see that I have grossly misunderstood the situation," Lila hears Midna move and then the woman's voice comes from in front of her, lower than she expects. Is... is she kneeling again? Lila can't help but think so. "I cannot apologize enough for my disrespect. I had taken you for a gentle flower, but you are that and more. Orrbaba, the Demon Queen herself, would be proud to call you her own."
She has shared this fact with few others. Link had been sympathetic and sorrowful. Zelda had her own demons from the time and they had found comfort in their mutual understanding of the struggle. Impa had been understanding, but almost dismissive, as if doubting her. Paya was the last she had told. The Sheikah had listened to her words silently, which Lila had appreciated, but then the woman had begun talking down to her as if she were a confused child. It had taken all of her strength to lash out at her friend.
Then Midna appears and just takes her at her word and speaks of it not just with awe and respect but reverence even. What is she supposed to do? How is she supposed to take that? She's suddenly aware that her heart is pounding in her chest and her breath is coming out in rapid bursts. This can't be real.
"I... Midna..." She breathes the name like a prayer. She can't let the woman continue this madness. "I think you have me confused with Zelda and Link. I'm an outcast, a burden. I can't... You're words are too much. I don't deserve them. I failed. I couldn't do enough to save this Kingdom from ruin."
"I see Hylian soldiers in the field. I see construction on amazing technologies. I am witnessing at this moment, things that could never be accomplished in a diminished Hyrule. Believe me, I have seen the Kingdom on its knees and heard the history of its darkest days. This is not a ruined Hyrule, Lila." She's almost leaning out of her seat, hanging on every word. She's needed to hear this; for six long years, she's needed to hear this.
"This is a Hyrule on the edge of greatness once more. This kingdom has a history that is dark and bloody... but for every hour of evil, there is always two more of goodness to be found," Midna's rough fingers feel comfortable on her cheek. "You did not fail, Hililini... It may have been later than you liked, but you still sealed away the evil. You succeeded. Truly, you are worthy of your namesake."
"My namesake?" Lila wasn't aware that she had a namesake. "You mean... this Demon Queen?"
"Have you not... Have you not studied with the Twili?" Midna sounds to be a mix of bewildered and angered. "Hero of Shadow is the Hylian name. Ironically, it is a shadow of the truth, a watering down of your heritage. You should have been sent to study with them as is customary."
"No... the Twili sealed themselves away. The Twilight Tower has been sealed since the time of the first Calamity, at the latest. Over ten thousand years ago," Lila explains and she hears a sharp intake of breath.
"I... That should be impossible. The Royal Family would never allow such a thing," Midna explains as if in disbelief. Lila bites her lip and shakes her head.
Her heart sits heavy in her chest as she explains, "It is believed that the Twilight royal family had died off long before. They were believed to be ruled by a council since before the first Great Calamity."
"I-I... Oh dear gods... No wonder..." She hears Midna take a shuddering breath. "That is something we will have to deal with soon. Lila, you cannot blame yourself for your struggles. The Twili have a sacred duty to protect and train you and your incarnations. I assumed- well- you are blinded... so I assumed that you had been trained."
Lila feels like she's been doused in cold water and her veins filled with liquid ice. Her voice comes out hollow and broken as she asks, "Wh- what does me being blind... have to do with training?"
She feels Midna's forehead press against her own. "Hililini... You, and all who share your spirit, cannot wield your dark magic, unless you have been blinded. It is the cost of her sin, the Demon Queen's only act of hatred. It placed an eternal binding on her soul."
Lila doesn't remember this, and she remembers many things. She remembers holding back the first evil, her soul aiding the seal for millennia. She remembers weakening the hateful mask and it's terrible power. She remembers embers of twilight and vermilion eyes. She remembers riding the great steed of steel and smoke. She remembers the first Calamity. But she doesn't remember this supposed sin.
"What-" She manages to croak out. "-was the sin?"
Midna takes a few long, deep breaths as if summoning her courage. "By the Gods, I'm sorry Hililini. Please don't hate me for this. If there were anyone else, I would not speak this with my own tongue." The Gerudo woman pauses with a shuddering sigh. "The Legend of the Fallen Queen goes as thus."
"The Demon Queen had three children. Her eldest were twin girls. One, the daughter of shadow, was of the Hylian in her blood, the first Lorulean. The other, was of the Darkness in her soul, the first of the true Twili. Her youngest, her son, was born from the Light in her heart. He was a simple Hylian and treasured by all. A kingdom was founded in his name. He is told to have been a just and kind ruler. The Sheikah, however, feared him. They saw him as a threat to Hyrule. So, on the day of his hundredth birthday, in his very throne room... They struck him down."
Rage fills Lila's veins. A pure unadulterated hatred the likes of which she's never experienced. The wrath of a mother, ancient and deep. I'll burn it down! All of it! Everyone and everything shall die! She feels the ancient well of power below her stomach begin to sizzle and burn with her hatred.
No wait! This isn't her. She doesn't want that!
"...la! Lila!" Midna's voice fills the air as the ringing in her ears begins to fade. She can feel the Dark power flooding her veins. Can feel it writhing and roiling. It wants to lash out. It wants to destroy. My BABY! How dare they! "Lila, it's okay! It's over."
Then warm arms are wrapped around her body and her rage evaporates, like a shadow in the sunlight. She presses into the body in front of her. It's a familiar frame. It feels like home. She drowns in the hug as her fingers dig into the other woman's hips. Hot tears sting at her eyes as a low wail that's not her own escapes her chest."Hililini..." Midna's gentle voice sounds in her ears.
Hearing the pet name snaps her back to reality. Lila immediately pulls away from the comfort of the embrace and stumbles backwards, until the wood of a railing is pressing into her lower back. She grips at the sturdy frame to help steady her trembling form. "Did she... did I kill them all?"
"No!" Midna's panicked shout gives her pause. "No... The Demon Queen's children stopped her. They convinced her that it was not Hyrule's fault. Even her son, mortally wounded and dying, begged her to forgive them. Their pleading so moved her heart that she spared Hyrule. The details of what comes next are lost to us, but the Demon Queen and her children never left that throne room and were never seen again."
"Instead... Three great demons of pure elemental fury, were born in that palace. Eternal and undying. They persisted even in my time, thousands of years later. You should know them as we did. The three sacred dragons bound to this land." Lila wets her lips at the thought. Three great dragons... she knows them, Dinrall, Farosh, and Naydra. She nods along as Midna adds, "This legend was passed down through the Royal Family by the Queen of Twilight herself. Her name has been stricken from history but she was the beloved of the Demon Queen and a mother to her children. She passed of grief, shortly after her wife and children."
"So... why... why do you know this? I thought... you were Gerudo?" Lila tilts her head. The unfamiliar emotions have fled her and she feels like herself once more. She's beyond grateful to be back in her own skin.
"My father was the King of the Gerudo and my mother was a member of the Twili Royal Family. I am Twili first, a Princess second and Gerudo last." Midna's explanation feels rote as if spoken many times. "I am of both Queen's blood, born of their children's children. That is why I know this legend and why you were never told. It seems that... I am now... the last of my blood."
Lila's heart twists at the hollowness in Midna's voice. Her knees have finally stopped shaking from the flood of fire in her veins, so she steps forward and spreads her arms in a silent offering. She's only waiting for a second, before Midna falls into her embrace. They cling to each other tightly and sink to the ground. She can sense eyes on her as her magic prickles at the attention. She wonders how long Purah has been there.
Despite the flood of information, the only thing that Lila can think about; the thing that she clings to like a rope over an abyss... is that it wasn't her fault. Her power never unlocked, not because she was unworthy, but because she was cursed. She hadn't been able to do her part to stop the Calamity before it had wreaked havoc, but it wasn't really her fault. Never had she felt lighter.
A/N: Celebratory second chapter! It's become something of a habit at this point. I hope you're enjoying so far! Not much to say here I think other than apologies that this one is a little shorter than my usual fare. Thank you for reading and feel free to share your thoughts. Until next time! 3