Toys and Hearts

"Hey! Watch what you're touching!" The imp hissed, yanking the boy by the back of his collar, he coughed harshly from the sudden force, the large red and orange hand forcefully dragging him away from the mysterious items that were encased behind panels of glass for protection of wandering hands. The two were cautiously clearing every room in the Twilight palace in search of keys, weapons, and really anything that could be of use to them. Currently, they were in what used to be a library center, now turned into a room for experimentation.

The room reeked of unearthly smells, it held a dreadful feeling of dread. Cages were stacked against against the farthest side of the room, most were filled with test subjects, alive or not, it was hard to tell. You couldn't figure out whether or not they if they were a wild animal or a citizen of Twili. The ones that were alive in their cells were smart enough to stay silent, and the rest, well the dead can't really talk that much.

The hylian was appalled but ultimately not surprised at the state of this realm, but that doesn't mean it didn't destroy his heart even more when he saw his partners face crumble into horror and guilt. She was supposed to protect her people, she neglected her one purpose, now having to see them suffer the costs.

'I should be the one in that cell.' She thought to herself. At the start of this whole mess, all she thought of was retrieving her power back, she was bloodthirsty to be the one back in that throne. Even if it meant leaving a whole world of people to suffer, she hadn't batted an eye, the greed had gotten to her head, and she didn't mind one bit. And now, after everything that she has endured, all the people she has encountered, their pain, suffering, and sacrifices. It brought a fire to her heart, and with it guilt. How could she just leave them? How could she leave him to this? If it wasn't for her, he would have been able to have a normal life, a peaceful one, ans she took that all away from him.

When they had first met, back in the cold dark cell, she had no idea just how much she would come to love him. Everything about him was just selfless, he didn't care if he died for one moment, and truly that scared her. No other human was like this, so why was he any different? What made him so specially? Why was he chosen to be caught in this endless cycle of pain and suffering? Why couldn't it be someone else?

The hylian sighed, bringing her out of her thoughts, she turned her head to see him giving her a familiar look.

"Don't even think about it, any one of these could kill you in an instant when you touch them. I know you love to get new toys, but for goddesses sake can't you ever not give into temptation and just leave something?" She asked in annoyance, she was earned with a guilty smile.

"Don't touch anything!" She yelled, sweating his outstretched hand. The boy grumbled under his breath before surveying the room further, dropping the smile as he looked to the cages. Suddenly a large rumble manage to shake the room violently, causing them both to stumble as they lost balance for a mere few seconds. It easy enough to jostle the hylian into a table, he held a hand out to steady himself, before a sudden searing pain caught his attention. His eyes snapped to see his hand clutching a strange glowing metal teal heart, it was slightly smaller than his hand.

His hand released its hold, or at least tried, his had disobey his orders and clamped shut on the heart, it was immensely painful, so much to the point dark spots started smearing into his vision. It was much more painful than the shattered glass in his hand. His panic only grew worse as the heart slowly started to melt into his flesh, he bit down a scream that rose from his throat. Then suddenly it was gone, the pain and the mysterious object, leaving a tingling sensation and his palm oozing with his precious blood.

"What are you doing?! Get down!" He was yanked unmercifully out the way for a monstrous claw, barely missing him by a few inches. The blank inky creature continued it's attacks, only to be met with his blade as he briskly swiped at his claw, chopping the appendage clean off before the ravenous creature released an ear splitting screech. The black quickly silenced the creature as it ripped through its meaty throat. But of course, Twilit Messengers always travel in packs, the hylian was met with at least five more of the slimy creatures, more than he had ever encountered at one. Instinctively, he grabbed the imp as he slid under a nearby table, darting to a hallway close by. If he were to fight all of them at once he needed more room in order not to get boxed in.

Luck wasn't on his side today apparently, for he when he wrenched open the only door he was presented with a smaller room than before. No time can be spared, he slammed the door shut as fast as he could behind him. He could hear from inside as the creatures were still bounding after them. Quickly, he summoned a large blast of ice towards the only exit, right as the first body slammed viously against the door. His eyes snapped to his partners panicked face for aid.

"There's no other way. I didn't even know this room existed before!" She exclaimed as he quickly took in the room. It was mostly empty, only bearing one object, a mirror. One similar to the Mirror of Twilight, his mind was too busy racing to take it fully in. He slammed his palms against the ice securing the door, surging his energy though it to generate more ice to replace the growing damage. His efforts only gave them a few seconds before he was knocked harshly away.

The hylian cursed silently to himself as he picked himself off the ground, retrieving his sword for the upcoming fight. The creatures trickled into the room like an avalanche, he put up a good fight, by slowly he was getting pushed back and back, until his back was met with the mirror. A small light started illuminating from the mirror, going unnoticed my the hero who had his attention on his opponents.

"Link!"

Then nothing, he couldn't feel anything behind or below him, his eyes were suddenly opening to darkness, cold and unending. Falling to gods know where.

*HEELLOOO EVERYONE, YES I AM ALIVE, FINALLY. I want to explain for my sudden disappearance, I was in a dark place when I started this story, and its why I was gone for so long. But now im on the right track of trying to get better. I have moved out of my abusive mother's house and am finally doing what I need to do for my future. It was extremely hard to write during that time, but now I can start doing it again. Im sorry for the wait everyone, I'll currently be rewriting this whole series.