Chapter 4
The Twilight Princess
Lhikan awoke to find himself in a cell, and with one
monstrous headache. Ugh, my head hurts
like hell... Where am I, now? He looked around, taking in his surroundings.
He was shackled to the floor of a stone cell, iron bars sealing him inside.
"Well, fuck. Guess I can't just stroll out the
door..." he grumbled, leaning back against the wall. he let out a heavy
sigh, and picked up a nearby stone, throwing it at the cell door as hard as he
could. "Trapped like a rat, and with a body I'm totally unfamiliar with...
Fine day this has turned out to
be," he muttered.
"There you are!" said a female voice. Lhikan
quickly looked around, trying to see who spoke to him.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" he said
loudly.
"Eee hee hee! Aww, I'm hurt. But, it's no
surprise you don't recognize my voice. You will remember me in time,"
replied the voice. As Lhikan watched, strange black and green particles began
forming in the cell. The strange particles took the shape of a short humanoid
creature with the same two-toned skin as Lhikan's, and similar glowing tattoos.
As the body became more defined, Lhikan could see that it was indeed a female
being, wearing a strange stone helmet. She was about 4 feet tall, with long
orange hair held in a ponytail by some kind of stone ornament. Her body was
strangely disproportionate in spite of her size. Her hips were somewhat wide,
and her thighs were a little thick, complimenting her curvy hips and healthy
waist. And her chest was surprisingly well developed for a girl her size.
"Who are you? What am I doing here?" Lhikan
asked, calming himself down. The imp-like girl approached him, a smile on her
face.
"It's a long story that I can't explain at the
moment. But I am certain you've figured out that there's far more to your life
than you can recall," she said. She looked into Lhikan's eyes, and he
thought he saw a hint of longing in her gaze. At the same time, he was reminded
of the maiden in his recurring dream.
She bares a resemblance to
the woman from my dreams. Could she be that woman? Lhikan shrugged it off,
deciding it was better to focus on his escape for the moment.
"You can tell me where I am. I deserve that
much at least," he said, resting his arms on his knees. The girl nodded,
and held her small arms in front of her chest, a ball of black and orange
energy forming between her hands.
"Of course you do, but I have to get you out of
this cell, first. I'll explain things as we go," she said. Lhikan nodded,
and sat back. The imp girl cast out her arms, and the ball of energy shot away
from her, striking the shackle around Lhikan's ankle, causing it to shatter. He
rose to his feet, brushing the dust off his legs.
"Thank you. Now then... care to tell me who you
are?" he asked the girl. The imp floated until she was eye-level with Lhikan.
"My name is Midna," she said. The name
triggered something in Lhikan, and several memories flashed through his mind.
Memories of a woman in a dark, hooded robe adorned with intricate green
patterns. Her eyes were gentle, and had a slightly mischievous twinkle. As the
memories began to fade, he heard her speak his name, her voice echoing softly
in his ears.
"Midna... That name is... Familiar..." he
murmured. Midna looked deeply into Lhikan's eyes, almost as if she were trying
to tell him something with her gaze. I
wish I could tell you everything here and now, Lhikan... But I'm afraid that
it'll have to wait, she thought sadly. Knowing that helping Lhikan escape
was more important, she composed her thoughts, promising to explain things to
him when the time was right.
"I'll guide you out of here. There's someone
you must meet," she said, sitting atop his shoulders. Lhikan looked over
his shoulder to try and look the girl in the eye, but he was only met with her
supple thigh. Her scent... It's very
familiar... Like a distant memory that I can't quite place, he thought. He
approached the cell door, and examined it.
"The hinges are rusty. I might be able to break
it. In which case, you'll want to hang on back there," he said, taking a
couple steps back. Midna nodded, and held on tight to Lhikan. Readying himself
for what he had in mind, Lhikan quickly spun around, and thrust out his leg,
planting a solid kick to the cell door, and knocking it against the opposite
wall. He calmly walked out, Midna ducking so she wouldn't hit the bars. The
strange helmet-like artifact on her head made it somewhat difficult.
"We need to make our way to the waterways. They
branch off the dungeons, and will lead us to the roof," she said. Lhikan
began making his way through several tunnels.
"And where do we go from there?" he asked,
noticing that there were soldiers in the waterways, and found it strange that
they weren't reacting at all to his presence. Strange... I don't exactly look human at the moment, yet they act as if
I'm not here. And the crest on their armor... I recognize it. It's the crest of
the Hyrule Royal Guard. Is it possible that I'm... He stopped walking, and
turned his to look at the girl on his shoulders as best he could.
"We're somewhere in Hyrule Castle
"Well deduced, Lhikan. I'm glad to see you're
still as smart, if not smarter, than you were 3 months ago," she said with
a mischievous smile on her face. Lhikan cocked an eyebrow at what she just
said.
"You say that as if we've met before," he
said, resuming his walk through the tunnels. As he walked, he noticed strange
black creatures crawling around in the tunnels.
"We have
met before, Lhikan. At the moment, I know more about you than you do,"
replied Midna. She's telling the truth,
but she seems reluctant to tell me anything more right now, Lhikan thought
as he neared a gate blocking his path.
"Well, putting that aside for now, we seem to
be stuck," he said, knocking his fist against the iron bars. Midna
giggled, and hopped off Lhikan's shoulders, floating beside him.
"Watch, and follow my lead," she said,
approaching the bars. As her body made contact, she began to phase through
them, her body becoming the same strange particles it had formed from when Lhikan
first encountered her in his cell. Lhikan was amazed, but confused as to how he
could possibly follow her through a gate of iron bars.
"But... how do I...?" he began to ask.
Midna cut him off with a giggle.
"Just walk into the bars, and focus on the
thought of passing through. The body you now possess is capable of passing
through obstacles that aren't completely solid, like the bars in front of
you," she explained. Lhikan nodded, unsure that he had such power, but
Midna had so far given him no reason to doubt her. Closing his eyes, he focused
on his desire to pass through the bars, and slowly approached the gate. He felt
a strange sensation of disembodiment as his body became those same black and
green particles, and he began to pass through the iron bars. Upon reaching the
other side, he opened his eyes, and looked down at his hands. He was back in
one piece once again.
"Incredible..." he murmured in amazement.
Midna giggled, and floated back above his shoulders, resuming her perch behind
his head.
"Told you that you could do it. And now that
we're out of the waterways, we just need to head up this spiral staircase, and
get to the roof," she said. Lhikan looked up, trying to see how far the
staircase went.
"Quite a climb. I almost wish I could float
like you, Midna," he said with a soft grin. Midna giggled and shook her
head.
"Trust me, it's harder than it looks. It took
me a while to really get used to it, and honestly, I miss being able to just
walk everywhere," she said. Lhikan started walking up the long staircase,
jumping over missing sections every so often. He found that his physical
strength had increased quite a bit, allowing him to jump farther, and with much
less effort than it normally took him. But all the same, his new body felt more
and more familiar with each passing minute.
"Tell me something, Midna," he said,
carefully walking across a long rope. His balance and dexterity were much
better than they used to be. This body's
full of surprises, he thought. Midna stopped humming to answer Lhikan's
question.
"I'll answer as best I can, Lhikan," she
said. She had the feeling she knew what he was about to ask.
"What... What am I? This body is unlike
anything I can remember, and yet it feels like I've had it forever," he
said. Midna waited until they reached the top of the staircase to answer.
"What you have become is what you have always
been, Lhikan. It is your true body. Your true self," she said. Lhikan
stopped dead in his tracks.
"What do you mean, my 'true body'?" he
asked. Midna thought carefully, trying to word her response properly.
"I can't tell you everything yet, but what I
can tell you is you are not, and never were human. What you are, and what you
have always been... Is a being called a Twili," she answered. The word
triggered another memory flash for Lhikan. This time, he saw a world bathed in
perpetual twilight, inhabited by beings much like him. He saw a large palatial
building, and two figures on a balcony; one male, and one female. As the memory
began to fade, he saw them lean in together for a kiss. And as suddenly as the
memory had come, it vanished again, returning to his subconscious.
She was there again... The
woman from my dreams has been in these memories as well... Everything seems
linked to this Midna girl, he thought to himself. Shaking his head, Lhikan returned his focus to
the task at hand, and began to scale the stone wall, climbing up to an opening
that he figured would lead right to the roof. He hoisted himself up to the
opening, and took a look outside.
The area surrounding the castle was bathed in
twilight, despite it still being early afternoon. The clouds had turned black,
and there were black particles drifting towards the sky.
"Ah, the black clouds of twilight are quite
fetching today," Midna said with a smile. But it was very brief, and
quickly fell from her lips. "The only problem is they don't belong in this
world..." she said softly. Lhikan turned his head to look at her as best
he could.
"There is something familiar about this, Midna.
I feel a strange sense of being at home in this veil of twilight... And I feel
as though I've just returned home after a long time away," he said to her.
"That is because this twilight isn't natural
for this land. It is, I am sad to say, a curse that was brought from our own
homeland, Lhikan," Midna replied. Lhikan suddenly felt anger seep into his
mind, as if his emotions were reacting to a memory he had yet to uncover.
"I see... Well, let's get a move on and find
this person you wanted me to meet. I get the feeling they have important
information for me," he said. Midna nodded and pointed to a tower a good
distance away from them.
"She is being held in that tower. Be careful
though, ok? There are some monstrous birds up here, and it's a long way
down," she said. Lhikan nodded, and took off across the roof, dodging the
huge black birds as he made his way to the tower Midna indicated. He climbed
inside, and dropped down to the stairs. He walked up the spiraling staircase,
carefully checking his corners for any potential threats. When he got to the
top of the stairs, he was faced with a large set of doors. He noticed one was
cracked open slightly.
"Is she in there, Midna?" he asked. Midna
nodded.
"Yes. She's actually waiting for you," she
answered. Lhikan pushed the door open, and walked inside. He seemed to be in a
bedroom, but he couldn't be sure. At the opposite end of the room, he saw a
figure standing by the window, hooded and cloaked. She must be the one Midna brought me to meet, he thought. He slowly
began to approach her.
"So you've come..." she said. Midna
giggled. "Is he the one you were seeking, Midna?" she asked.
"Yes. He is as I expected to find him. Mind
you, I don't exactly like that he
doesn't remember me," Midna answered, getting off Lhikan's shoulders. She
floated next to him, and turned to look at his face. But I know he will remember me in time. We have too much history
between us to just let it all be forgotten, she thought. The cloaked woman
looked at Lhikan, examining his face.
"Midna speaks highly of you. And from what she
has told me, the two of you are the last hope for us all," she said. Lhikan
tilted his head.
"Meaning what, exactly?" he asked. The
woman looked around, carefully listening for anyone who might be approaching
the room.
"Hyrule was once a prosperous land. But now, it
is veiled in shadow, and being dominated by the King that dwells in shadow.
Some time ago, my castle was ransacked by this dark king, and he gave me a
choice. To either fight and condemn my people to death, or surrender and at
least let them live under this tyrant. I could not stomach the thought of my
people being punished for my own heroics, so I surrendered in order to protect
them. It was the hardest decision I've
ever had to make... Ever since, the great land of Hyrule
"Lhikan, you and I are the only ones capable of
saving this land because it is our
people's magic that has caused this disaster," she said. Then, she reached
out, and put her small hands on his cheeks. "Please... You must help me... for the sake of both
worlds," she said, sadness in her eyes. Lhikan reached up, and put his
hand over hers. Her touch... It's
familiar, and brings warmth to my heart, he thought, looking into Midna's
eyes.
"I will do everything in my power to
help," he said. "If this world is in peril, as well as my own, I will
not stand idly by and let this 'dark king' abuse the magic of my people,"
he declared, slowly accepting what he really was. He saw Midna smile at him,
and he returned the smile that graced her lips.
"Before you go, allow me to introduce
myself," said the cloaked woman, lowering her hood. She had long dark
blonde hair, and a graceful face. Her eyes were kind, but there was a glimmer
of strength in them. "My name is Zelda. I am the princess of Hyrule, and
from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of my kingdom, I thank you for
consenting to help us through this difficult time," she said, bowing her
head. Lhikan bowed in return, and Midna got back on his shoulders.
"We should get going. We have a lot of work to
do, and I don't think we have much time before he notices we've gotten involved. We're the last obstacles standing
between him and domination of this world of light," she said to Lhikan.
"You two must hurry. The guard will be here to
make his rounds soon, and you mustn't be discovered. If you can make it back
outside, you should be able to slip away from the castle unnoticed," Zelda
said. Midna nodded.
"Leave this to us... Twilight Princess,"
Midna said with a grin.
"Midna, this is no time for levity. You should
know better than anyone what's at stake here," Zelda replied.
"I'm fully aware of the stakes. But now that I
have Lhikan with me, we will succeed. I put my life in his hands," Midna
said.
"Very well. May the goddesses bless you on your
journey," Zelda said. Lhikan nodded, and walked back to the door.
Suddenly, he turned his head to look at Zelda out of the corner of his eye.
"If one of my own people has truly brought this
curse upon your land, Zelda... I will make sure he suffers for dragging an
entire kingdom of innocents into this," he said, a fierce glint in his
amber eyes. Zelda nodded, and Lhikan left, Midna atop his shoulders. He walked
down the staircase they had come from, looking for the window by which they had
entered the tower. Upon finding it, he leaped up to the opening, and hoisted
himself through it. Making their way out to the roof, Lhikan and Midna noticed
the monstrous birds had disappeared. Midna then hopped off Lhikan's shoulders,
and floated in front of him.
"Well, now you know what's been going on for
the past three months, Lhikan," she said to him. Lhikan looked at her.
"Three months? The last three months are all I
can remember. Are you telling me that the day I appeared in the village of Ordon
"Not exactly. Lhikan, I wish I could tell you
everything right now because there is so much I want to tell you... About
yourself, our home, and about us," she said.
"Us? We have a history?" Lhikan asked.
"Yes. A long and involved history. But there is information I can give you to help
explain things, and lessen your confusion," Midna answered. She floated
closer to Lhikan, looking him in the eye. Lhikan looked into her eyes, and took
hold of her hand.
"Tell me what you can, Midna. I need all the
information I can get to understand all this," he said softly. Midna
nodded, and began to explain.
"Three months ago, the 'dark king', or Zant as
he is known to our people, staged a takeover of our own home, the Twilight
Realm. While our people did not support him, he has been twisting our people's
magic, using it to transform those who would not side with him into mindless
shadow beasts. Once he had created enough beasts, he marched on the Twilight Palace
"Overthrow who, Midna? The leaders of our
people?" Lhikan asked. Midna nodded, and took a deep breath.
"He was only partially successful. The Twilight
Princess and her closest aides managed to get to her husband, the King, before
Zant made it too far into the Palace. Together, they transformed him, and
blocked the majority of his memories, leaving just enough intact that his
subconscious would influence him to be in a position that would lead him back
to the twilight. After giving him the appearance of a human, and masking his
magic, they sent him to the world of light in order to protect him from
Zant," she said, continuing her explanation. Lhikan tilted his head.
"To protect him?" he asked.
"Yes. If Zant could get his hands on the King,
there's no telling how much more danger the worlds of light and shadow would be
in than they are right now. But while the Princess managed to send her beloved
out of harm's way, she was left to face Zant on her own. She eluded him for
many weeks, waiting for the right time to try and find her husband again. But
Zant still found her. And when he did, instead of turning her into a shadow
beast, he cursed her. Zant cursed the Princess into a diminished form, reducing
her powers to but a small fragment of what they had been. She took this as a
sign that the time had come to return to her husband's side."
"But, before leaving the Twilight Realm, she
managed to obtain an ancient relic of our people called a Fused Shadow. The
stone relic possessed enough power to use portals again, allowing her to leave.
When she had crossed into the world of light, she quickly began searching for
her husband. And now..." she trailed off, looking down at the roof. Lhikan
held her hand tighter. She looked up at him, and the look in his eyes was all
she needed to muster the strength to say what needed to be said. "And now
she has found him again," she said softly, reaching up to touch Lhikan's
cheek. Lhikan held her hand, closing his eyes.
"It was
you... The woman from my dreams, and from the memories I've experienced. Little
Midna..." he said softly, a gentle smile spreading across his lips. "My Midna..." he said, leaning
forward. Midna blushed, leaning to meet Lhikan's lips with her own. As their
lips met, time itself seemed to halt for them alone. What seemed like an
eternity passed in that infinitesimal moment of time their lips met. As they
kissed, happy to be reunited once again, memories began to flash through Lhikan's
mind. Memories of a coronation ceremony, a wedding, and the last kiss they had
shared before this all began.
"Lhikan, have you begun to remember?"
Midna asked him, reluctantly breaking their tender kiss.
"Bits and pieces. It's a lot to take in all at
once, to be honest. But I don't have time to dwell on it. Before I encountered
the twilight barrier in Faron Woods, I was chasing after a group of bulbins who
had kidnapped some children from the village I was staying in," Lhikan
answered, his mind drifting to Ilia and Colin. Midna put her hand to her chin
to think over the situation.
"While I was waiting for you to enter that part
of the barrier, I saw the bulbins ride north with your friends. But as long as
the twilight casts its veil across these lands, we're fighting on Zant's terms.
The body he so kindly 'gifted' to me is nowhere near strong enough to even
stand against him, let alone have any hope of defeating him. Even with the
Fused Shadow I took, my powers are much too weak," she said, pointing to
the helmet on her head. Lhikan quickly got the point.
"And with most of my memories blocked, I won't
be able to do much good until I can remember how to use my powers to their full
extent," he said, trying to figure out how to proceed. He suddenly got an
idea. "That's it!" he said. Midna looked at him, curious about what
he was thinking.
"What? Did you think of a way we can fight
Zant?" she asked. Lhikan shook his head, but the smile never left his
face.
"The twilight barrier is our weapon. If it's
spread as far as Faron Woods, I think it's safe to assume that the other
provinces have fallen to it as well," he replied. Midna tilted her head in
confusion.
"I don't quite follow, Lhikan. How can we use
the barrier as a weapon against Zant if he's the one controlling it?" she
asked. Lhikan just kept smiling.
"There's no strategic value in taking Ordona Province
"I see. So it's possible that the village
you've spent the last three months in, and the surrounding area isn't under
Zant's control. If we can get back to where you first encountered the barrier,
we might be able to dispel the barrier region by region, slowing down Zant's
conquest considerably," she exclaimed.
"Exactly. Each province possesses a spring
dedicated to the four Light Spirits of Hyrule; Ordona, Faron, Eldin, and
Lanayru. Zant must've known about these guardians before making his march on
Hyrule, and when he took over the castle, his next move had to be going after
the Light Spirits. Even with whatever power he now has, he's still one of us.
He had to know that unless he could incapacitate the Light Spirits, he wouldn't
be able to hold Hyrule for very long," Lhikan said, a plan forming in his
mind.
"So what we need to do is to revive the
spirits, and their light should be enough to dispel the twilight barrier around
their respective provinces. But how do we start?" Midna asked. Lhikan
looked towards the south; towards Ordona, and his village.
"If I'm right, Ordona should still be around to
help us. He's said to be the oldest of the four spirits, so he must know how to
restore the light to the other three," he replied. Midna nodded.
"I've never had a reason to doubt you before,
my beloved husband. And I'm not gonna start looking for one now. Let's get
started," she said with a happy smile. Lhikan returned his wife's smile,
and kissed her forehead.
"First thing's first. How do we get out of
here?" he asked. Midna giggled.
"A portal of course. It's a natural ability of
our kind, allowing us to travel very quickly. I can open a portal here, and get
us back to the spirit spring in Ordona. Or at least as close to it as I can. I
don't exactly know where it is," she said with an embarrassed smile. Lhikan
simply ducked under her, catching her on his shoulders.
"You open the portal, I'll do the rest. I
know 
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