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Author of 5 Stories |
A/N: I am indebted to OritPetra whose kind words and encouragement have pushed this project forward. I hope you enjoy the second part of this story.
It was the first time we made love, but thank the Goddesses it wasn’t the last.
I asked Midna to stay that night, and she did – she even stayed the next day. Grief for the passing of my father continued to hang heavily in my heart, but it did not overwhelm me as it had before. The daily rigors of a ruling Hylian Royal continued to threaten to figuratively break my back, but I did not feel the stresses as before. Midna’s love transformed me anew each day, and tossed me into a great sky where the troubles of this life are meaningless.
A few of my courtiers noticed the change in my eyes and gossiped among themselves that their Mother Protector had finally accepted a suitor, or at least had written an excellent new policy. I only smiled when I overheard the murmurs in the kitchens and hallways.
Oh, but they had no inkling.
Months passed as short days. Midna continued her search for the Hero Beast in the night, and often came to be with me during the day. We made the most of our evenings together, and watched the twilight come and dissolve into night. As the pale moments between the recession of the light and advancement of the darkness in the sky came and went, I considered how ephemeral we humans are. Our lives are nothing more than a brief flicker of a struck flint in the face of a raging bonfire. And yet, however ephemeral our passing days are, we consider them to a deserved right.
Ephemeral...Mine and Midna’s time together felt fleeting and immaterial, not unlike our twilight vigil. We guarded our time together, cultivated the moments and tended the tiny things in our relationship. She and I understood that one night might be our last together, and that last night would not going to fly away from us without one more loving word, one more caress, one more kiss. We are not guaranteed our next breath, and we certainly are not guaranteed the chance of love.
Are we guaranteed our next breath, or a chance at true love? The stories in the annals of history speak and say, No, we are not. But there I was, breathing Midna’s breath and reveling in love. Impossibly beautiful moments. Ours was the miracle romance.
In the dark cover of night, Midna and I talked for hours on end in my favorite length of gardens. The first time I took her down from my room and showed her each of the trees, flowers, and bushes, her mouth dropped and she openly stared.
I asked of her carefully, “Do you not have a garden like this in your home?”
The honey-suckle potent air was clingy and delightful – I have always loved that smell. I heard Midna suck in a lungful.
“I have nothing like this,” she said. “Not anything I have can compare to this.”
We walked the carefully laid cobble-stoned path and kept close to the shadows of the trees.
I spoke up: “What do you have in the way of gardens?”
She answered, “We don’t have gardens. What natural beauty we have is in our sky.
My interest was immediately piqued. “Tell me of your skies,” I said.
She blew air through taut lips, creating a pbbbbbttt sound. “My Rose-elda, if I told you about my skies, would you dash off to my world and leave your kingdom behind? You wouldn’t have the reputation of a good ruler anymore, eh?”
“You would make a perfectly good ruler in my stead,” I said, smirking. I doubt she saw it – the clouds had shifted over the stars blocking our light source.
“Oh, really, and what kind of ruler would you be in my kingdom?” She asked suspiciously.
“Every good Guardian or Protector knows that the first thing to do when ascending the throne is to cut taxes for their first year of rulership. Most likely I would cut all taxes, run wine in the fountains and give free food – all of which would be at the expense of your royal treasury,” I said, smiling the whole time.
“And what would that accomplish?” Midna said – I know she already knew the answer.
“Your people would love me to death and then when you came back to claim your own throne, you would be forced to create new taxes to replenish the treasury,” I said. “Your people would simply love me – and be thoroughly disgusted with you!” I finally laughed.
“You would give them so much food that they wouldn’t be able to work to make money for me to tax,” Midna said with a playful surliness.
I grinned and we continued to walk, finally arriving at a circular courtyard with a wide entrance. I changed the subject when we paused in the middle of the enclosure.
“This is the place where it is said that the Hero of Time and our original Queen Zelda met for the first time,” I said. Midna and I looked at the low platform at the far north of the courtyard. Its steps were the perfect height for a child’s feet – indeed, this place was given the unofficial name of Children’s Haven.
“What is their story?” She asked, gazing at the platform.
I began, “The Hero of Time was a simple Hylian child raised in the Kokiri Forest—“
“What is ‘Kok-iri?’” Midna asked. Her heavy accent butchered the word.
“It was a spirit that lived in an ancient, enchanted forest. These spirits would inhabit the bodies of children and those bodies would never grow old,” I answered.
“They never died?” Midna asked.
“No, they never died naturally. But many centuries after the death of the Hero of Time, they were all killed. No one in Hyrule can know how or why – Hylians were never allowed in that enchanted forest,” I said. “But you interrupted my story.”
“Sorry,” Midna said noncommittally. It seemed her apology was meant to be taken at face value.
I began again, “The Hero of Time was a simple Hylian child raised in the Kokiri Forest, and our ancestor Queen Zelda was a child as well. Events happened in the Hero’s forest that ejected him, and he began his search for answers. He happened upon a girl in the marketplace of Hyrule who was willing to help him, and she did. The Hero of Time later discovered that the tomboyish girl-child was none other than Princess Zelda.”
Midna interjected again, “Right, because she shouldn’t have been married as a child, so she wouldn’t have had the title of Queen.”
“Yes,” I was growing mildly impatient. “She would not have been Queen at the time she and the Hero met.” I lurched ahead in my story to keep Midna from interrupting again.
I started, “Zelda and our Hero—“
“The name of your Hero again – what is it?” Midna cut in again.
I rolled my eyes to the midnight heavens. “His name was Link, but we call him our Hero or Hero of Time out of respect.”
“Since you called your Royal ancestor by her birth name, it shouldn’t be an issue to call the Hero by his birth name,” she said.
I was quite prepared to throw in the towel and ask if she was ready to go to bed and sleep. But she asked, “What is the rest of the story?” So I began again, but intended only to give an abbreviated version.
“Link and Zelda formed a bonding relationship as children during their quest to protect the Triforce. Then one day the desert demon King Ganondorf came and made a coup d’état of the kingdom. Zelda fled with her guardian and was hidden, Link went through his legendary sleep of seven years. After the seven years had passed, Link awoke, defeated Ganondorf’s strongholds, and discovered Zelda again; they married, had children, continued their line. And that is all there is to that story,” I finished, stretched and took a deep breath.
I thought Midna had been sufficiently silenced, but apparently not. “How many children did they have?” She said.
I realized how sore my muscles were – I was ready for sleep. “They birthed four children,” I answered.
“Hurrr, that is interesting!” Midna whuffled – why it was interesting, I couldn’t understand. I would have to ask about the average amount of children Twili families had on another night. My weariness was starting to show through as irritation, and I did not want to end this night on a spat. She had one more question, though.
“For Queen Zelda and the Hero to marry,” she said. “You called her your ancestor, did you not?” I nodded.
“Then you are their descendant, true?” she asked.
“I am,” I said simply, then took her by the arm. “I’m taking you back to bed,” I commanded.
“Aaah-haaa,” Midna drawled. “So you are going to be the leader in the relationship now?”
“I wasn’t aware there was a leader in our relationship!” I said.
Midna’s face twisted into a smiling frown, but she didn’t answer.
I laughed, feeling my shoulder muscles unwind and smooth out. I led her to bed and the noctural activites that awaited. When the sun rose the next morning Midna was already gone, yet I felt the sensation of a lingering kiss on my mouth.
“I love you, too, Middie,” I whispered to the air.
Midna didn’t come to me at all that next week. She didn’t come at night, she didn’t appear at twilight, she didn’t come at all. Her absence threatened to consume me, but I had no reason to suspect that something was wrong. When fortnight after our last night together past, I knew in my heart of hearts that something was wrong, but in the occasions that I rolled back into my subconscious to see what was on our mental bridge, nothing appeared to be out of place. However, I did not hear her singing or her odd speeches to the cosmos. This distressed me.
It wasn’t until over a month after her departure that I felt an odd disturbance in the air around me. The memory of the silent bridge made me reach out into my mind to attempt touch Midna over our mental bridge. It was with a cold shock that I realized that something that something was missing since I had last searched our mental planes for her. Midna’s presence could not be felt at all, my mind’s eye could not perceive through the dark fog and the air had an humid, stifling feel to it.
I sat in my meditating room when I probed our bridge for the second time after her departure. My meditations took place on the wooden floor in those days, with staring sessions at colorful, abstract mural on the northern wall to help with my spiritual ponderings. Normally the mural calmed my soul, but at that moment it symbolized the turmoil and chaos that was just beginning. It was just beginning, and I wasn’t doing anything to stop it…
...Couldn’t do anything to stop it. Too late.
My subconscious tickled and I dove back into my mind. My mind’s voice called to Midna from my side of the bridge. “Middie…Midna!” I was searching, praying for an answer, but received none. I made the decision to walk over the bridge and onto Midna’s plane – I was only beginning to feel the desperation for help.
As I walked over, several streaks of red formed on what appeared to be a tall, distant rock on Midna’s plane and began making intricate patterns as it spread onto the ground. At first its development was slow, and then as I came closer to investigate, they spread more quickly.
My mind screamed alarms. I called for Midna again and no one answered. The lines began traveling towards me. More alarm bells sounded in my mind’s ears, but when I turned to run my feet felt as though they were clad in iron. The patterns formed about my feet and were holding me in place, and I cried out for Midna – if she was there, she would be the only one to help me. The red lines made my feet sting and burn, my calves and shins were icy cold. The lines were crawling up my legs!
Powerful hands grabbed my shoulders and pushed me forward. The lines on my legs broke and I began running. The hands continued to stay behind my back, urging me on. I didn’t think to look behind me. The importance of getting the burning cold off my legs was imperative.
I touched the safety of the bridge, and the lines sank onto the ground. Hissing steam came up as the lines sank into the ground in piles. I took gasping breaths, and then I finally thought to look at the one who had saved me.
An imp.
A furry, red haired, tiny, dollish looking creature floated at eye level. If it had stood on the ground, it couldn’t have been more than two feet tall. “Who are you?” I asked hoarsely
“Midna,” the imp the muttered. Her voice scraped my ears – even at low volume her voice was shrill and thin.
“You call yourself Midna…?” I said, not understanding.
“I am Midna!” She cried.
I stared at Midna with my mouth open. “What has happened to you?” I whispered.
“No time…Zant’s coming…you must be ready…get back to the throne room…” Midna’s words came out in an incoherent tumble.
“He…Zant…Zant’s coming to me? Why?” I said.
“Zelda, I don’t have time,” she said. “You must stand firm. His desire is to make the Light Kingdom his new Twilight dimension. How can I make you understand – what am I not saying? His desire is to conquer Hyrule! Don’t surrender to him, whatever happens, please…please,” she said, head bowed. “Go…get out,” she said, and turned away.
My voice choked in my throat in protest as I stared at her back. Was she abandoning me? No…it couldn’t be…
I left the depths of mind, haunted by her sobs.
I slipped out of my inner world and left my meditation room immediately. As soon as I emerged, I began calling orders: My home was soon to come under attack, and I would not stand by and see Zant’s Twilight blot out my sun.
In answer to my calls, guards snapped to attention, ran for the armory and began distributing sharp weaponry. The servants left behind their duties and I directed them to the underground basement that had been built for times such as these. I on the other hand, refused to go down with the majority of my household. Courage would be my armor, strength my shield and power of mind my weapon. I would stand with my soldiers and face the danger head on – I determined to fulfill my role as Mother Protector to the fullest. Would it be enough?
I walked at the front of a retinue of my guards, and my lead general, Riekkan handed me my mother’s sword – a subtle work of beauty. Pearlescent, smooth, perfectly balanced. Deadly. It was forged with the ability to slide through an enemy’s heart like a knife through soft butter.
I walked deliberately into my throne room where I decided I would meet Zant. I would not come to him – he would come to me. If he didn’t know where to find me, then he would be forced to wander, to search until he found us.
I did not sit on the throne my father and I had so often played as an adolescent. I stood on the front of the dais to receive the best view of the main entry. Riekkan shouted positional orders to my soldiers, and I silently berated myself for not setting up doors to at least provide some measure of defense. It had always been tradition for the throne room to be free of doors – an indication that the Royal Family and the people whom they governed were never to be separated. ‘Still, I thought, doors might have served as some barrier to invasions.”
When the marble floor under my feet began to shake my mind shivered – I forced it to focus on the moment, focus on defense and attack. Plaster came down in tiny flakes from the ceiling and walls. I looked to the doorway and what I saw made me want to sink to my knees.
A fog – not unlike the fog that had been in on Midna’s mental plane – had risen and covered the entire doorway. Black atmospheric edged with those same red lines. I worked control my breathing, but when a blast of cold, foul air shrieked into the room, I forgot about any kind of control.
Monsters…hideous monsters charged at lightning speed into the room, grabbing up my soldiers as they hurtled. Riekkan gave the signal to charge to those who were still on the ground, and I ground my teeth as those Twilit creatures grabbed up my soldiers one by one and broke their necks with sickening crunches.
Riekkan sent out another wave of troops, but I knew we were sending the men to their immediate deaths. I gave Riekkan the signal to stop attack and begin defense – there were only a few soldiers left, and it would have been meaningless to attack again. Nonetheless, I unsheathed my mother’s sword and white-knuckled it, focusing my mind to prepare for any kind of enemy attack. It was a maneuver made more to reassure myself more than it was preparation to tear into those monsters.
Suddenly, a deep darkness cast over the massive room, and in the dimness I perceived something—a man or beast, I couldn’t tell—walking up to me, steps carefully calculated.
Realization hit. Visual details revealed. My mind went white.
A steel helmet carved into the shape of a monster’s head with an oddly curved tongue sat on shoulders covered with thick, black cloth. Thin, blue, glowing trails decorated the cloak which It wore. Tassels hung from the sleeves where there should have been hands, and metallic boots heavily clanked up my carpet to the dais, leaving scores in the floor.
After I stared at the marks in my floor, I noticed all my soldiers were gone. They were mercilessly killed and out of the way – they would not make resistance anymore. My only choice was to stand firm, but I felt more alone than I ever had in my life.
The creature, Zant, spoke in an guttural tone, “It is time for you to choose: surrender or die. Oh yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule... Life? Or death?!” The sound of his – or it’s – voice grated on my ears and made me want to cover them.
I spoke to block out the sound of his grotesque baritone, “Life or death for whom, Zant?”
In the blink of an eye, Zant flew into my face and screamed, “I am King Zant!” His boots smashed up onto the dais on which I was standing, dislodging tiles. I swung my sword at his helmet and he took three steps back. “I do not recognize you as king!” I cried. “You are a usurper king, and you will never be a true ruler. Your power is transient and simply been handed to you for a short time!”
I stared at his helmet for a few brief moments. I could only assume that he was staring at me through those bulbous metal eyes.
“My question Zant. Answer my question!” I softly demanded. If I had allowed fear to leak into my voice, I would have been decimated.
He spoke again, this time with more peevishness than before: “If you surrender, life for you and your people. If you fight, death for you.”
I thought for a moment, aiming my sword right between the eyes of the helmet. “If I fought you and met my death, what would become of my people?” I asked.
“They would die soon after you,” was his answer. “Be sure of it.”
I have told my heart-mate time and time again - I would rather be burned alive than have my citizens’ blood on my head. I made my decision and didn’t think twice.
Choosing surrender, I dropped my mother’s sword.
“Then so be it,” I said.
It was in this way that I signed my name on the darkness that spread across Hyrule.
My watch on Zant’s helmet was broken as I looked at something floating in the corner of my eye. A slender, black, squarish object spun slowly up towards the ceiling, and was followed by hundreds more – more and more all around the room. The Light that I had taken for granted all my life was extinguished, and everything I saw was bathed in a hazy, yellow-brown miasma.
Zant took advantage of my distraction, walked up to my person and leaned into my face.
He turned and lifted his head to the high ceiling. He spoke with reverence. “Our new Twilight Princess has taken her place...” To whom he was speaking, I did not know. An entity? What righteous entity would bless the coup of a righteous kingdom?
Zant turned back to me. I stared at the helmet until he raised his arm and swooped it over my head. I ducked my head to avoid being smashed in the face, and I hit something hard. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I suddenly realized that I was in my bedroom. “Stay there…until my god and I have need of you.” Zant’s voice echoed in my ears. The door locked behind me, but I ignored it.
I lost control - my brain raved. ‘God? What god?
‘Is this the same “god” that was created by the pre-Twili race?
Is Zant searching for Midna’ s piece of the Fused Shadows? Does he have the other pieces? If he does indeed gain all of the broken parts of the Fused Shadow, what will happen? Will he become more powerful?
Will this Twilight in my Lighted world be permanent? What then would it take to save us from Twilight and Zant? Could we even be saved? Is Hyrule being punished for her sins to the Goddesses? Do they punish by sending evil usurper rulers?”
I needed to do something to keep myself from going mad, and went to the window to watch the town market. What I saw made me want to weep - Twilight was covering the marketplace, and my people were slowly being engulfed by its encroachment. In their place, slow-burning, blue fire would light, but their physical forms could not be seen. As far as I knew, the people were dead and their souls wandered the earth, full of resentment and desire to return to Earth.
I turned away from that sight which both horrified and condemned me.
A fierce, cold draft came through my room. There wasn’t a way I could light a fire in the hearth, Zant and his minions would not dare give me anything that could be turned into a weapon. Needing warmth and comfort, I went to the wardrobe in the corner and pulled out a long, black cloak. It had been created long ago for stealth by the Sheikah remnant, but it kept the draft from reaching my skin. As I held it tightly around my shoulders, the cloak did not seem to be enough; I pulled out a scarf – a gift from foreign dignitaries of the desert. Made from a gray, silken material; it was perfect for holding against my face.
Thoughts whirled again: ‘I have just lost my kingdom to one of the most evil and power-thirsty usurper kings in Hyrule’s history…and here I’m thinking about clothing. Midna had told me not to surrender – but I wasn’t left with much of a choice. So was that the right choice?’
I half-heartedly called Midna’s name and was overjoyed to see her rolling out of the unlit fireplace. It quickly became clear that she did not reciprocate the feeling of joy – she was furious. She dug her sharp fingernails into my neck and shook my head with all her strength.
“I told you, I told you, I told you, NOT to surrender! What have you done?!” She howled.
In a violent burst of anger, I threw her across the room onto the bed. “And did you do any differently when Zant came to you for your surrender?!” I screamed back at her.
Midna again flew into my face. “I didn’t surrender, you empty-headed naïve bitch! I was thrown out!” She shrieked.
My hand surged and I slapped her hard across the face. We stood staring at each other on opposite sides of the room, both of us panting in fury.
Midna stared at me with a long spectrum of blinding wrath, deep understanding and infinite love. My anger broke and I began to shake with the expended effort of keeping up my end of the fight. I slowly sank into the nearest chair – the shame on my face was evident, I’m sure. Stunned at the bestiality of my behavior, I could not look into Midna’s eyes. I pulled the hood of the cloak over my head and looked away.
My hand rested on the arm of the chair and I felt Midna sit on my arm. I didn’t make the effort to move, I simply cried. The day had been too much for me to handle. I had failed the gods, I had failed my father, I had failed Midna, I had failed my ancestors, I had failed my country.
“Midna, you need to leave before you are caught,” I managed to choke out. “I’ve already ruined your plans for keeping the Twilight out; I’ve shattered your intentions to receive your crown again. I won’t have you caught. It would make things worse than they already are.”
Midna moved from my hand into my lap. For her height, she was certainly heavy. She pushed her hands into the hood of my cloak and gently brushed it aside, then leaned forward and kissed my cheek. I only cried, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…You told me not to surrender… and I did,” I said.
“Yes,” she answered simply, with no hint of malice or anger. “My words were not to surrender. But now we move on from here,” she said firmly.
“I must find our Hero Beast – our hour of need is more urgent than ever,” she said. “Zelda, I would take you out of here in a moment if we didn’t both know that would allow Zant to track us down in no time. I must ask you to stay and be our Twilight Princess until I return.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. It was the only thing to do.
“Also, we cannot allow anyone to know about…us. I’m deathly afraid Zant would discover it, and would use you to twist my arm into something neither one of us would want. Please understand, Rose-elda.” She murmured, kissing my tears away.
I held her as close as I could to my breast for as long as she would let me.
After listening to our breaths move slowly in and out of synchronization, I said, “You must go.”
Midna nodded. “Please stay strong until I return,” she said. “And I will return.”
“Strength will be my shield,” I answered.
She smiled a genuine smile and prepared to leave.
“Zelda,” she whispered. “Watch me.”
I lifted my head and she rose to the window. My mouth dropped as her body was split into hundred of tiny pieces and the pieces floated through the window. My mouth dropped further as the bits assembled again together to create Midna’s body again. I could hear her laughter through the window.
“Like it?!” She shouted through the window, and I came up and touched the cold glass pane. I smiled when she kissed the casement, pressing her lips against it.
She waved and I watched until the last of her shards absorbed into the air. There wasn’t anything to do after that beyond watching out the window and listening for anyone coming up to visit me. I went to bed for what proved to be a fitful sleep.
Will the crops grow with Twilight on our land? If they do not, what will become of my people? Will they be forced to leave Hyrule, become immigrants of another world? What will happen to our population if they are forced to leave in droves? Our economy would crash, our military would be nothing to speak of, and the national damage would be next to impossible to reverse.
Where is my mother’s sword? Where has it gone…How can I make the Arrows…The Arrows!…My power – what little power I have – is nothing in the face of Twilight…and Zant…and his “god”…Who will save my country…Midna by herself is not strong enough…and together, she and I are still nothing…Where is she?...Why am I here…Why was I born for this time…
Tedious inertia set in, my mind slowly being sabotaged. I kept my mind busy from childhood, and in captivity, there remained nothing to do. My worries ate my mind alive – viewing the marketplace in my window did nothing to ease mental anguish. I never saw human faces, only blue tongues of flame.
I began pacing one day, and the pressure on my mind was too much. My hands shook and I longed to grab hold of something and break or bend it with all my might. My thoughts were a ridiculous mess – really, they couldn’t be imagined as thoughts at all; just utter chaos.
At the point where my brain could take no more, I separated my spirit from my body, rose out from the room, through the ceiling and the roof, reached the outside and breathed the Twilit air.
It was an ability I had practiced for years, but I did not have the need for it until that moment. There wasn’t any way that I could have taken any more mental torture – something had to cave in or I would have lost my mind.
I allowed my spirit to float high and I looked down at my home, now Zant’s headquarters. I observed it from an aerial view, and I realized how insignificant it was in the face of the horrors that had befallen it – and what was I?
I looked up to the skies, folded my hands in supplication and prayed, “Goddesses, hear your servant – I ask of something from You. Send the one who is to be our Hero…give him to us. Our need only increases with each passing hour. I will sacrifice everything I have if You awaken him to our need.” I knew they heard me.
Everything?
“I will sacrifice everything I have, even my life,” I said, and at that moment, I meant it.
With freedom comes sacrifice, Zelda, and sacrifice will come at a great price. Everything?
“Yes…everything,” I said.
I became concerned that Zant’s servants would find my body in the room in its deathlike state, so I sank and continued to sink until I was settled back into my physical person.
I heard her murmuring on the staircase, but when Midna pushed through the door I was shocked to see her riding what initially appeared to be a common timber wolf. My first reaction was amazement at how she had tamed it.
As they walked, Midna proudly announced, “I found him!”
It’s him…truly him?” I asked. “Your Hero Beast?” I looked at him carefully and started, realizing how blue eyes the creature had.
“Hmmmm….”she murmured with a strange look. “Admiring my new slave, Princess? Isn’t he handsome?” Midna bragged, reaching behind her to pinch the wolf’s rump. The wolf twitched and growled at her as she gleefully kicked her heels against his sides.
“Not a slave, Midna,” I said. “Not a slave.” My suspicion grew that this was the Hero Beast of which she had spoken.
Midna ignored my statement. “Poor thing, he has no idea where this is or what's happened...” Midna sang as she tugged on his silky ears.
Why doesn’t he know? My mind asked. Why doesn’t he know what has happened?
“So, don't you think you should explain to him what you've managed to do? You owe him that much...
...Twilight Princess!”
Ah. So she hasn’t forgiven me yet.
I didn’t know yet if the wolf could understand my story, but I related it all to him. Hardly had I finished before we heard Zant’s guard stomping up the staircase – to discover the source of the noise we were creating, no doubt. “Please go,” I told Midna and the wolf. “The guard is making his rounds and I wouldn’t want you to be caught.”
Midna heard as well, and didn’t waste any time in tugging on the wolf’s ears to show him which direction he was supposed to go. They dashed, and I heard Midna call softly, “His name is Link.”
Link. The Hero chosen by the Goddesses. The name given to all the Heroes whose destiny it is to save Hyrule from damnation. My mind spun – legend made flesh in Link.
They must have made it safely out, because the guard glanced into my room and then sauntered back down the stairs, bored.
My prayers were for Midna and Link from that day onward. I prayed that they would never be captured in pursuing their quest to bring Zant down.
I held my own counsel in my heart about Link, and turned back to watch the rain fall through the window. I noticed that it had stopped, and somewhere, something deep in my heart rejoiced. My prayers will be answered.
Little changed inside my walls, but outside them, Hyrule’s future shifted always. The future rested on Link and Midna, but the importance of their – our – mission did not sink in until after the final mental conversation Midna and I had. It had started in the regular manner – Midna’s account of Link’s cross-country adventures and skirmishes. The discussion suddenly took a strange turn.
“Do you know what I am, fair Rose-elda?” She asked that morning.
“Not truly, not completely,” I answered.
Her answer was cryptic.
“The Ruler of Twilight…The Ruler of Light…and the Mirror of Twilight will separate them forever.”
I understood the phrases well enough. The name ‘Mirror of Twilight’ shook my brain.
“Yes, Zelda. The Mirror of Twilight is seldom mentioned, and never lightly,” Midna said.
“I understand you,” I spoke across our bridge. “It was a device created by the Sages to banish only the worst criminals in Hyrule’s history – those who attempted to break into the Sacred Realm and claim The Triangles for their own.”
“But how does this relate to your original question?” I asked.
Her sigh was shaky. I longed to reach out, embrace her and absorb her warmth.
“I am a descendant of a tribe that almost broke into your Sacred Realm,” she said.
Terrible as it sounds, I was not surprised. “I guessed as much – “ I started.
Midna interrupted, “Your ancestors banned mine to the Twilight World.”
A hot blast flashed across my face. “The ancient Sages are my tutors, they never told –“
“They wouldn’t,” Midna said bitterly. “They were too consumed with their own self-righteousness to truly care about what they were doing, and they will not start by feeling sorry for us – my people – now.”
Stunned, I could not speak. I was looking into a part of Midna I had never seen before.
Midna turned her back on me.
“We are an evolved race – we are no longer a corrupt, greedy people. We seek peace and harmony with one another, and yet your Sages see fit to continue to punish us, if Zant’s insanity is any indication.”
I leapt in. “How is Zant’s mental implosion the Sages fault?” I asked a bit defensively.
“Zant would not have felt the need to dethrone me if he hadn’t been feeling pressure from somewhere,” she said. “I can only assume that it is the result of your Sage’s continued punishment.”
She left then, without another word.
“Wait!” I cried.
Midna did not answer or return to me that night.
It was a long time before she spoke again on our mental planes, but she did manage to come back. If she continued to be bitter, or even remember our conversation, she did not give any indication of it. To fill the silent voids that sometimes stretched between us, she rambled about her adventures and Link’s achievements. When Midna began speaking of Link more often that not, I began to wonder if they had formed a mild friendship beyond the slave-Mistress relationship.
It was well into the fifth month after I had seen them last. I slipped into my subconscious to have my usual daily conversation with Midna. Except…there was no longer a way for me to reach her…our bridge had been irreparably splintered. Panic rose. How would I reach Midna? Was she even aware that it was broken?
My frenzy grew for over an hour. It broke only when I heard the heavy pant of an approaching animal. I hoped that it was Link and Midna, but if it wasn’t? I didn’t have much time to wonder. Link, squeezed through.
However, I had eyes only for Midna.
She lay on his back, limp and or someone had tried to kill her and failed – but it was obvious she was fatally injured. Her coloring was off and her hoarse breathing alarmed the core of my heart. I was afraid it would soon be difficult for her to gather air. When she began to drop off the wolf, I dove forward and caught her.
My eyes would have been filled with tears if not my hot desire to keep her face in focus for as long as possible.
I held her to be breast as she spoke through her labored breathing. “Please... Please tell me... How do we break...the curse on this one? This...is the one... You need him...to save your world! That's why... Princess... Please... You must help Link...”
I cannot tell the reader how much I wanted to weep and scream while she spoke. I had to keep calm – any extreme emotions I felt she would be able to sense, and those would only serve to worsen her situation. As I held her to my face, Midna tangled a weak hand in my hair and whispered strange, convoluted phrases I couldn’t understand – perhaps she was praying then?
“You must help Link.” Her last spoken sentence echoed in my mind. I observed Midna’s breathing and coloration for a little while more. And then…
…soul separation.
…what I had been practicing for years. The act of parting the soul from the body while the body still lived. But as I watched Midna slowly die, I understood that more than just separation of the body and soul was required – I would have to give up the life of my body if Midna was to live.
This…this was the sacrifice the Goddesses had called me to make. This was how I was to help Link. And Midna. My mind coiled in preparation.
I softly addressed the woman I loved in my arms, “You are our last hope and you act in my stead. I cannot let you die, so please accept this.”
Slowly, I let go of the threads of my life, my heart, my soul, my power. My physical senses dulled, a buzzing in my ears began, and my vision began to snow. I felt physical strength drain from me, my breathing turned shallow, and the magic that had once blazed through my veins cooled. Simultaneously, Midna’s color began to return, and her own breathing waxed strong.
My life was almost finished when Midna shouted, “Princess NO! Link stop her!” Link – the wolf – stood gaping.
She should have known that it was too late. The life in my body was gone – it was Midna’s. My spirit stood in her – my physical body was dead.
The Goddesses asked me if I was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of Hyrule, and I said yes. It was not physically painful, however, it was spiritually painful. Memories of my mother, my father, my tutors the Sages, everyone I had loved slipped away from me. My mind was weak, submissive and would be ruled by Midna’s. Her memories would become mine, her thoughts and my thoughts would be the same.
I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Everything Midna and Link worked for I witnessed through her eyes. My anger grew with Midna’s when we saw my home quickly enclosed in an evil atmosphere after we had left my home. I rejoiced when the ancient Master Sword was withdrawn and Link restored to his human form. Inside and alongside Midna, I fought the creatures that arose from Zant to stop our progress.
While the shards of the Twilight Mirror were painstakingly gathered, I watched with Midna while Link – our Hero – slept. The reader should know that Link had a monstrous snore that consistently kept Midna awake, hence the reason why she was often the night watch. To keep him more quiet, my poor woman would roll Link onto his side, his back, and his stomach but it never mended his snoring.
Link also immensely enjoyed eating, and often picked for himself strange fruits and vegetables out of the fields of Hyrule without examining them closely. Once, in his hunger, Link ate a poisonous fruit – Midna was forced to create for the foolish boy a combination of water and salt to make him bring it back up. In his panic, Link did not think to ingest salted water to help himself, but in the end, he proved to be grateful. Still, I have never laughed so hard as when Midna shrieked a long string of profanities while Link vomited terribly.
He was foolish in some things, but certainly not in most things. Link often dispatched a group of enemies in less time than it took for Midna to summon her power to aid him. Many times he emerged from a one-on-one fight with nary a scratch - if he did, it was negligible. I felt Midna’s admiration for him, and it seemed to me that there were feelings developing between the two of them. I was confused though – were those Midna’s feelings, or were they mine? Were they coming from both our hearts? In my reflections, I often noted how much our hearts had melted into one, how one the thoughts of one were indistinguishable from the other.
But, there was not a way to prepare for the discovery of Zant’s god.
“Ganondorf,” said the Sages. It was the only word needed, the name that evoked terror, chaos and mindlessness. I felt Midna’s limbs slacken and her spine bend in despair.
“You're just now figuring out where Zant got his power?” Howled Midna. “It's far too late!”
The scourge of Hyrule, the dark angel fighting against the Goddesses for centuries had become strong through Zant, and quickly becoming more powerful than before. Without a doubt, Ganondorf would eventually become impervious to any attack made by a mortal.
After nearly a year journeying to find the shards of the Twilight Mirror, we returned to my home, the House of the Royals. Midna and I understood then why the evil barrier had been created. Ganondorf had no intention of allowing anyone but Link and Midna in – he had created a trap to lure them in.
After months of hard work, Midna was in full possession of the Fused Shadow, the ancient god that the pre-Twili race had created after shunning the Goddesses. Midna awakened the power inside by assembling the pieces. Almost instantly, she was transformed into a monstrous creature, armed with a frightening spear. With a stab that would have shattered anything, she broke the evil barrier.
She had tremendous power, but I remember the horror that she felt when we discovered what had once been home to my soul in that cavernous throne room. Ganondorf had my dead body within his physical grasp. We didn’t know what he would do with it – we were not even aware of what he could do.
“So you're...Ganondorf,” said Midna. “I've been dying to meet you.” The cool tone of her voice belied the fury I felt rising in her heart.
“Your people have long amused me, Midna. To defy the gods with such petty magic, only to be cast aside...how very pathetic,” the dark demon said. “Pathetic as they were, though, they served me well. Their anguish was my nourishment. Their hatred bled across the void and awakened me. I drew deep of it and grew strong again. Your people had some skill, to be sure...but they lacked true power. The kind of absolute power that those chosen by the gods wield. He who wields such power would make a suitable king for this world, don't you think?”
Midna became speechless with fiery anger. She shouted one word at him, “Conceited!” Did Ganondorf understand the struck chords within Midna’s heart? And mine? He must have – his first act of violence proved that.
He possessed my soulless body and used it to attack Link and Midna. I remember Midna’s cries when Ganondorf’s spirit filled my body to the breaking point. I understand now that the threads between hers and my heart communicated pain. My body was still alive to a measure – Ganondorf’s intrusion hurt us both. It was almost too much to bear – my mind shrieked with the strain.
Link did everything he could to fight Ganondorf but leave my body somewhat unharmed. The attacks that Ganondorf used my body to create were nothing short of appalling. The boy to whom Midna’s heart had warmed parried and blocked, but never directly attacked my body. I remember feeling that first, small sense of pride in him and Midna smiled in the mental connection we had. “We needed him after all, didn’t we, Rose-elda?” My spirit wept with pain, but it also wept with joy at the sound of Rose-elda.
“It seems we did,” my mind answered.
At last, Link weakened Ganondorf and Midna took the chance to summon the Fused Shadows and rip him out of my body.
With the absence of evil inside the body, I could inhabit it once more – I cannot express to the reader what it felt like to be home after nearly a year of being away from it. When I opened my own eyes once again, Midna was hovering inches above me. “Princess…” she choked.
“Middie…” I replied. There were no words to say for either of us.
I heard softly shuffling feet and I looked around Midna to see Link watching me carefully. As we held each others’ gaze, I wryly thought that he was far more handsome in person.
“How does it feel to be back?” Link asked, blushing as he spoke.
I was struck then at how old he was. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old! And yet…he had used all his strength to help to topple the most evil regime Hyrule has ever known.
“It feels….,” my voice scratched uncomfortably from months of unuse. “Just right.”
He grinned at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. The dimples in his cheeks were…darling, for lack of a better word. When I gazed at his eyes, I saw none of the terrors, pain from battles, months of hard work, months of sleeping on hard ground in the open air. I only saw excitement, joy…and love?
“I’m so happy you’re back, Your Majesty,” he said, bowing.
I watched his every muscle move. He was, in one word, beautiful. My words came automatically, my heart giving meaning to them. “It is an honor and a delight to be back, Link,” I said. “I am in honorable debt for your protection and-“
Our interaction was cut short by a crackling in the air, and the distinct smell of evil. Ganondorf appeared in his spirit form, ready to fight all over again.
Midna growled. “What?! Again? That son of a bitch!”
I stood up unsteadily and began to muster up a shield of protection around us. Link drew his sword. But while Link and I were busy with out battle preparations, Midna warped me completely out of the throne room. In my last glance at her, I watched her assemble the broken pieces of the Fused Shadow.
He nodded in disbelief, his eyes darting about. I drew close to him and saw tears forming. It suddenly occurred to me with a hard shock that Midna might have been in love with the warrior boy – and he with her. I took a deep breath and looked away from him as the thought blared in my mind.
A loud crash deafened me, and a small running distance away, Ganondorf sat grandly on his great black horse. He raised his arm high above his head, and I saw something in his hand but could not make out what it was. That is, until he snapped it’s spire and dropped it.
My heart crunched with Midna’s Fused Shadow piece – Ganondorf had been the victor. Anger flared into deep rancor and I screamed a battle challenge at the man. His only response was a rude, flippant gesture.
I leaned my head back and breathed deeply, focusing my attentions on the battle soon to come. Link drew his sword and prepared to fight, but I stilled his hand and our eyes met in understanding. There was only one way we could do it. I began to pray to the ancient powers of my world. “Spirits of the light! Wielders of the great power that shines far and wide upon the lands of our world...In my hour of need, grant me the light to banish evil!”
The Spirits granted my prayer and their power surged through me. I felt strong through their Light and took the opportunity to touch Link in his mind and made a bridge between us, just like Midna had done so long ago with me.
I looked into his eyes and waited until his wonder ceased so he could look at me – truly look at me. When his eyes finally met mine, he smiled a foolish smile and blushed furiously despite the situation. “Link,” I said. “Would you grant us the last of your power?” The battle we were about to face was far bigger than any sense of royal superiority I might have felt once, so I bowed to him, waiting for his answer, waiting for either yes or no. I wouldn’t be able to kill Ganondorf without Link – I knew I wouldn’t. Nevertheless, I wanted Link to have the choice.
I felt him slide his hand into mine, and my heart quivered. “I will,” he said with a confident smile. I raised my head and our gazes met – we both knew it then. We had a bond that could never be broken, even past our deaths.
The battle began. Link wielded his sword, I, my mother’s bow and the Spirit’s Arrows of Light. We fought to bring Ganondorf down together, and Link planted the ancient Master Sword squarely into Ganondorf’s black heart.
It was all over.
I ran to Link to praise him, to embrace him, to kiss him even, but I paused when I realized Link’s eyes filled with tears. He had loved Midna as I had. The slightest pang of jealousy made it felt in my heart - Midna had always been mine. Whose is she now that she has gone to the Plane of the Immortals?
But I could feel no true grief and could not explain why. I knew the sadness was there, but it did not manifest itself in the same way that it had with the death of my father. I had expected blinding pain from the heart, dizzying mental anguish. Where was it? Had my heart grown too many callouses?
I regarded Link once more, and the envy rose again. I mentally slapped myself for being so selfish. The boy had spent more time with her than I had, how could he not have loved her? And I couldn’t exactly say that I have some measure of feelings for Link, either.
Even as our victory curled up from the ground in front of us, I felt torn and confused. I knew I loved Midna - that much was certain - but I was also aware of a tenderness that could grow into love for Link. The feeling of liking someone of the opposite sex was strange and new, and not just a little thrilling.
As I thought about my love for Midna, finally, my heart clenched and cried. How could she die? I had never thought that she could die – in my naivety, it had never occurred to me that was possible.
My heart told me suddenly, “You are not the only person who grieves.” I heard Link’s sobbing and without thinking, I touched his shoulder. He almost didn’t notice, but then when he registered my touch, he looked at me…with that look of love again. It was love! My heart caught in my throat when I realized that look.
I heard voices many leagues away from where we were standing and I turned towards them. The Light Spirits had assembled. I thought at first that they were holding some kind of council, but when they evaporated, I saw that they had been doing something to a small figure.
I sent Link up the hill to see what they had done, but before he reached the top, I understood what he would find – Midna, in her true, resurrected person.
I contemplated our situation at my private dinner table. ‘A sordid, twisted love triangle we’re in,’ I thought to myself.
There was a part of me that wanted Link; however, there was a bigger part of me that wanted Midna. Even though these sides of me were not equal, they both seemed to have equal weight.
I did not eat much then. Link ate as though he hadn’t eaten in months. The sight of him stuffing meats, breads, fruits, and fresh vegetables into his mouth reminded me at once of the game my father and I used to play – “Court Jester Parade.” I remembered all the fat suitors that shoveled food into their mouths. Link had better table manners than they had, but I couldn’t believe my eyes at the sheer volume of food he managed to put into his stomach.
The thought of my father and our game brought tears to my eyes. Midna looked directly me as and she seemed to understand at least part of what I was thinking. She politely excused her and me from Link’s company and outside into my garden.
“I still love you,” she said before we had reached the shadows.
“But you love him back,” I countered.
Midna sighed and watched a bird scuffle about in the leaves of a nearby tree. “Love is so complicated. I loved you the same moment I first laid eyes on you. And yet…with Link…you can learn to love those with whom you spend over a year.”
The part of me that loved Midna despaired. “What can I do to win you back?” I said.
“When you died for me…you had my heart for all eternity, as if you hadn’t already,” Midna whispered. “I don’t know of a pure soul in the world who wouldn’t appreciate such a sacrifice, but I will always love the woman who would throw herself down into harm’s path for me.”
She held me and kissed me, holding me firmly. “I love you, my Rose-elda.”
“I love you too,” I choked out.
I kissed her again and when we broke apart, I smiled through the tears in my eyes and hugged her tightly. As we walked back to join Link, she said something rather random. “You will be expected to marry, my rose. Your kingdom will need the security of future heirs.”
“Will you marry me?” I asked, half teasing and half serious.
“I wish that were possible,” Midna murmured. “I believe that your people will pressure you to marry our dear hero.”
“But…he loves you…doesn’t he?” I said. Midna grunted.
“He loves me as a seventeen year-old can. He will grow up, and while he won’t forget me, he will soon desire a wife, someone with whom he will spend the rest of his life,” she said. “I’ve seen how he looks at you. When your people see that he carries tenderness for you, then Link will be their natural choice.”
“You said he was raised on a farm. How on earth can a farm boy be suitable for kingship?” I asked, trying to stall for time.
“You must be joking, Zelda! A farm boy who was chosen by the Goddesses to save us? He would be more than suitable for a King! The deities would not choose an unworthy hero. If he does not want to a leader in that regard (which I rather doubt), you would be sole ruler and he would be your consort,” Midna explained.
“He is too young to be a husband,” I said, attempting to stall for more time.
“Young – yes. But give him a year yet,” she said. “He will be a wonderful husband, and you will be a good wife for him. He needs someone who is matched according to his strength and power. You are fitted for each other.”
Instead of keeping Midna away from the subject at hand, she was virtually match-making. I gave up trying to evade the issue at hand. “I’ve never loved anyone but you. How can I love a man?” I asked.
“I should have never trained you up to the ways of women lovers,” Midna shook her head. “I have caused more trouble than I imagined.”
I turned her face to me and held it. “You have not – and will never cause any trouble - through you, I have learned to love. You came to me at a time when I despaired of feeling again, and I will be eternally grateful for the Goddesses’ gift they sent to me,” I said passionately.
For the first time, I saw tears coming up into Midna’s eyes. My heart reached for hers and we met on the bridge in our minds.
“I will…always…love you,” I said. Midna wept.
We joined Link at the dinner table shortly after our exchange. Midna and I were both working to control our emotions, and Link watched us both carefully while nibbling on a bit of cheese. He looked to Midna, looked to me, then spoke quietly.
“Everything alright, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, Link, thank you for asking,” I said. I answered because I knew that he did not address Midna as ‘Your Majesty,’ and he was not completely at ease around me at the time.
Midna sighed and quietly said that which I had been dreading.
“As my dear friends know well, I cannot stay here. I must return to the Twilight Realm and take care of my people once more,” she stated. I said nothing, but Link’s mouth dropped open. Apparently the notion hadn’t occurred to him.
Many times, we would just walk out onto the sprawling fields of Hyrule and just keep walking. We never had a retinue with us – it would have been an invasion on sacred moments. Often, Link accompanied us on our brief excursions and Midna worked to help Link acclimate to my presence. Her diligence succeeded, and eventually Link and I came onto equal ground and talked as friends.
It was such a short time with Midna. We left for the portal, the Mirror Chamber three weeks after the fall of Ganondorf. My Middie, while loathe to leave us, understood that her people needed her to provide stability once again.
In the last hour, Midna stood tall and proud on the glowing platform that would soon take her home, and spoke her last words to us. “Well...I guess this is farewell, huh? Light and shadow can't mix, as we all know. But...never forget that there's another world bound to this one.”
“Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin,” I said. “One cannot exist without the other.I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this world. They left it because it was their design that we should meet. Yes...That is what I believe.” I tried to call on the emotional control that I had been trained as a royal to have, but I didn’t quite succeed.
“Zelda,” she said. “Your words are kind, and your heart is true. If all in Hyrule are like you…Then maybe you'll do all right. Thank you...”
No, Middie. Thank you.
She turned onto the platform that presented her to the Mirror, and turned to us again. It appeared as though she was trying to say one last word to us, but only a single tear to slid out of her fiery eye. As I watched, she pushed the tear towards the mirror. I remember wondering briefly why she was doing it.
I understood a moment later. The Mirror began cracking.
Link and I whirled around to watch its slow splitting, and Link looked as though he were about to run and grab Midna off the platform.
But I knew this was way of things - I had to let her go.
Midna faded away…to her home…and the Mirror broke into millions of miniscule pieces. Link cried aloud, but I just let the tears fall. It was all gone, but Midna’s memory was not.
I never saw her again…
…I never saw her on the bridge that we had made…
…I never saw her in my bedroom again…
…I only ever saw her in my dreams.
Midna was right when she said that my citizens would ask that I marry the Hero chosen by the Goddesses. Not knowing what else to do, and wanting to please my people, I did so.
What Midna said was true about learning to love him; I love him more deeply than I can describe.
Many mornings, I wake up in Link’s arms and I feel his light chest hair touching my bare back. It’s times like this I can’t help but smile, and for no particular reason.
Let it be known throughout the land of Hyrule – this is not only a story of good triumphing over evil.
It is a love story.
A/N: Special thanks to the Twilight Princess Transcript by Jacob Stutsman.
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