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  seems as though you have just predicted your own end as well, then," the Hylian queen said a bit too boldly, still trying to maintain her calm front even though she now

  knew the motivation behind her foe's actions. "You said it yourself: history repeats itself."

  Verona merely smirked even more, the shadows of the room making her beautiful face seem even more dark and sinister. "It won't this time…" she said ominously.

  "Because unlike my ancestor, I know… I understand why the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny won… And I am fully prepared to keep myself from making the

  same mistakes of the past…"

  "So… you plan on slaying us both then?" Zelda asked, the slightest hint of fear coming into her tone. "Before we can join together to take you down?"

  "What did I just tell you?" the Queen of Shadows said, her tone impatient and aggravated. "I have no plans on killing either of you… yet. It wasn't simply the fact that the

  two of them were alive that killed the Sorceress of Shadow. There was something else… something that proved to be much more dangerous, something that she

  underestimated far too much… You may not know this, your highness, considering how little you know of the history of your own kingdom, but it is the Blood of the

  Goddess and the Spirit of the Hero that sets you and him both apart from the rest… But even on their own, the two of them were still not what defeated the Sorceress of

  Shadows. The fact that they were united together, the bond of destiny that has existed between them from the beginning of time, that's what did it. That bond… that

  seemingly unbreakable bond… Breaking that bond now will be the key to my victory!"

  Though admittedly disturbed upon hearing this, Zelda clenched her fists once more, resolved that such a thing would never happen. She already knew that Verona was

  implying that she planned on turning the Hylian queen and the hero against one another, but to what ends she would go to do that, Zelda didn't know. "You will never be

  able to force Link and I to hate one another beyond reconciliation," she said defiantly. "And even if you were, what good would that do to you? We would both still be

  resolved to stand against you for the sake of Hyrule."

  "Believe me, Zelda, I am quite aware of that…" Verona said darkly. "But… Don't you think that that everything would change quite a bit if one of you were to… Oh, I don't

  know… give up on Hyrule once and for all? To turn against the kingdom they once fought for, away from the light… and towards the shadows instead…?"

  The Hylian queen became even more troubled yet resilient upon hearing this. "If you think for a moment that I would ever betray my people and my kingdom, then you-"

  Zelda's firm proclamation was quickly cut off by Verona's scoff. "How arrogant and foolish you are to think that I'm talking about you, your highness," she said, crossing

  her arms and not saying anything else as she allowed the Hylian queen to interpret her words.

  It took Zelda less than a second to figure it out, but when she did, she was unable to suppress her worried, fearful gasp. "No…" she whispered, her eyes growing wide.

  "No, he won't! He has fought too hard for this land and everyone in it! He would never turn against it for anything that you might say or do to him!"

  "Oh, it isn't going to be a matter of what I say or do, your highness…" the Queen of Shadows said with an icy smile. "It's going to be what you say…"

  "What?" the Hylian queen asked in unnerved confusion, but before she could get a proper answer, Verona went off on an entirely different tangent.

  "Tell me, Zelda," the dark queen said, turning her away from the Hylian queen as she spoke almost cryptically. "Why do you think I took my shard out of Link?"

  This question caught Zelda off guard in several ways. She had of course been curious about this ever since Verona had brought it up. After all, why would the Queen of

  Shadows even put her dark shard into the hero if she just ripped it out, seemingly for no reason? But the Hylian queen knew better; there had to be a reason why, and

  whatever it was, it certainly couldn't be good for her or for Link. "I… I do not know," she said somewhat meekly. "What does it even do?"

  Verona let out a soft chuckle before turning towards Zelda once more. "I am so glad you asked…" she said smoothly as she held out her hand, and the shard in question

  appeared hovering above it. The Hylian queen's eyes widened upon seeing it and the strange wisp of green light gracefully spiraling around it, already sensing a great

  amount of energy radiating from it. Her eyes did not leave it for a moment, even as the Queen of Shadows continued. "It's remarkable, isn't it?" she asked, her voice

  laced with greed as she also admired the shard. "It took years for me to perfect the magic to create it, but when I finally did, you couldn't imagine how elated I was!

  Behold, your majesty, the key to my ultimate triumph, my most glorious creation: the Spirit Shard!"

  The shard seemed to flash for a moment or two in response to Verona's magic, and Zelda stepped back once more, her heart pounding over the fact that the power

  surrounding the shard was nearly overwhelming. "What… what kind of magic…?" her question trailed off into disturbed awe as she continued to stare at the Spirit Shard,

  wondering where such incredible power could have come from.

  "No," the Queen of Shadows said ominously. "It is not the magic that the shard is composed of that makes its power so great; rather, it is what I have trapped within the

  shard that makes it so special… Considering the fact that you know next to nothing about Hyrulian history, I doubt that you'd know much about this, but allow me to

  enlighten you. In all life that has ever existed and ever will exist, there is one soul, one spirit, that shines far brighter than all the rest. The sheer amount of raw, untapped,

  untainted power that this spirit is made of is said to rival even that of the Triforce, and yet it is always stored within the body of a mortal whenever it is reborn… It is pure,

  it is sacred, it is power itself, and, while it is said that it is unbreakable… It is not indivisible… From the moment I first heard of this spirit, I knew that if I could harness its

  might to my own ends, then I would be unstoppable… And as you can see, I've already begun to do so; in time, it shall be mine in its entirety… the Spirit of the Hero!"

  Zelda gasped in shock upon hearing this, her heart freezing in terror as her mind was flooded with the implications of this news. It was true that she knew little of the Spirit

  of the Hero and what it was capable of, but what she did know was that Link had it, and that if Verona wanted it, then he was in grave danger. "Link…" she whispered to

  herself fearfully, looking down as she wished that she could warn him of the threat that the Queen of Shadows and her dark shard posed to him. "No…"

  "Oh, now don't fret, your highness," Verona said with a dark laugh. "I've merely taken a sliver of his spirit so far; in fact, he won't even realize it's gone… After all, the

  Spirit of the Hero is much too large and powerful to be ripped away from its bearer in one fell swoop, and so this will be a largely gradual process… But I'm a patient

  woman; I can wait, for I know it will all be worth it in the end when that mighty spirit is finally mine…"

  The dark queen let out a wicked laugh as she made the Spirit Shard vanish away, clearly assured that her intricate plan would work. Zelda bit her lip anxiously as he mind

  rushed for any way to stop this horrid plan, but she could think of nothing she could do while locked away in the tower as she currently was while Link was worlds away,

  completely unaware that his spirit, and most likely his life were at stake. "Why are you telling me all this?" the Hylian queen asked her foe suspiciously, more wary of

  Verona than ever after hearing her intentions. "You do know that
the moment I see Link again, I will inform him of all of this, right?"

  "I'm not naive like you are, Zelda," the Queen of Shadows said, rolling her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. "I know that you'll try and tell him everything, but just

  because you'll try doesn't mean he'll believe you…"

  "And why would he not?" Zelda asked with a hint of defiance in her tone.

  Verona's dark lips curled up into a sinister smile, the red in her eyes still shining malevolently as she spoke. "Because after the next time you two meet, he will never

  believe a word that you say to him ever again…" she said mysteriously, raising more curiosity and fear for the Hylian queen.

  "W-what do you mean?" Zelda asked, her tone having turned from firm to timid quite quickly.

  "Remember how I said that breaking the bond between the two of you would be the key to my success?" the Queen of Shadows asked knowingly. "Well, Zelda, I'm not

  going to be the one to do that… You are…"

  The Hylian queen frowned worriedly, her resolve to remain strong and steady quickly wearing thin. "I… I don't understand…" she said, shaking her head in complete

  confusion as she tried to see through her foe's sinister plans.

  "It's all quite simple really…" Verona said with her constant grin. "Like I said, I'm not keeping you alive just to gloat over you. I have a little… proposition for you, Zelda, one

  that I'm sure you'll be inclined to accept if you truly care for your people as much as you say…"

  "What do you want?" Zelda asked, her fear steadily growing upon hearing what the dark queen intended to bargain with.

  "Not much at all," the Queen of Shadows said with a shrug. "I just need you to do a little something for me, and if you agree, then no one will get hurt at all. But… If you

  refuse…" Her expression and tone both turned dark and ominous as she went on. "Then I will ravage this kingdom until it is nothing but a shadow-shrouded wasteland. I

  will personally slaughter each and everyone one of its citizens, and I will make you watch as the flame of each life is snuffed out. I will make sure that all of your people

  know that you were the one who doomed them because of your own selfishness, but I will leave you alive, the only soul left in a land covered in blood that will be solely

  on your hands. Believe me, Zelda, neither one of us wants to see this happen, but if that is what it takes for me to get what I want, then I will do it… You know I will…"

  The Hylian queen was unable to hold back a sob once the dark queen finally finished painting her horrendous mental image of such violence and destruction. To even think

  about watching her beloved people go through the kind of brutal torture that Verona spoke of broke her heart, and even though it hadn't happened yet, Zelda was

  determined to prevent it, no matter what the cost would be to her. "Tell me what you want me to do," she said with both fear and resolve, knowing that she was

  surrendering far too easily, but she didn't know what else to do. She knew that the Queen of Shadows was not bluffing, and that if she refused to follow her demands,

  then she could lose everything, and everyone else would too.

  Verona's cold smile widened, knowing that everything was going exactly according to her plans. "As I said earlier, your hero is certainly on his way here to gallantly rush to

  your aid," she began, putting her hands behind her back as she stepped away from the Hylian queen a little bit. "But that's not all he'll come here to do… You might have

  already figured this out, your highness, but the hero is quite smitten with you… But if you play your part correctly, then he won't be for much longer… Tell me, Zelda… do

  you love him?"

  "W-what?!" Zelda exclaimed, completely aghast upon hearing this question, which had come completely out of nowhere, a question that she still didn't really have a clear

  answer to yet. Of course, she certainly did care for Link quite a bit, but it was hard to tell if that affection had turned into something she could call love. "I… I don't know…

  I…"

  "Hm…" the Queen of Shadows mused thoughtfully. "So indecisive… That will make things all the easier… It seems as though the bond between you two is not as strong as

  it was between your ancestors… And so, Zelda, here's what I want you to do. When he comes to you, I want you to be cold. I want you to be untouchable and heartless.

  I don't care what he says to you; I want you to reject it all. But above all else, I want you to break his heart beyond repair... Show him no affection whatsoever, make

  him believe that you care nothing for him at all. Do whatever it takes, so long as you drive him away once and for all."

  The Hylian queen took in a sharp breath, her heart clenching in her chest as she realized what the dark queen wanted her to do. She wanted her to drive the hero into

  despair by rejecting his clear affections for her, and she knew why. Something like that would certainly turn Link against her, but even so, Zelda had no idea how that

  would force him to turn against Hyrule as a whole, nor did she ask, lest she give Verona any more ideas. "I… I…" she stammered nervously, unsure of how to respond.

  "Might I remind you of what's at stake if you fail to accomplish this?" Verona asked harshly, nodding her head in the direction of the window as she guided Zelda's gaze out

  towards the unsuspecting, innocent town below, a town full of blameless people who would certainly die if she refused or couldn't do it. "Come now, Zelda. It shouldn't be

  that hard for an experienced politician such as yourself to cast aside a mere backwoods peasant like him. After all, you've only spent a few days with him. What's a few

  days compared to all of those lives…?"

  A broken sob escaped from the Hylian queen as tears began to slip down her face, knowing that the Queen of Shadows was asking something truly horrible of her. The

  last thing Zelda ever wanted to do was hurt Link in any way, especially in an emotional one such as this, but she knew that she ultimately had to. After all, he was only one

  person, and even more than that, he would at least survive this unscathed, and most likely, he would quickly get over it and move on. It seemed the much better option

  when compared to all of the blood that would be shed if she refused to go along with Verona's request. In fact, the Hylian queen was certain that if the hero was in her

  position, he would make the exact same decision, but even as she nodded her head in agreement, a huge part of her still felt incredibly guilty and grieved, knowing that

  she was giving up perhaps the first and only love that she ever had. "I shall do it," she said, hanging her head in shame and relent. "I will convince him…"

  "No," Verona said calmly, masking her satisfaction over this arrangement well. "I don't want you to merely convince him. Convince me."

  Zelda finally looked up at her foe upon hearing this, her light blue eyes set in a harsh glare that the one who was expecting her to do something so terrible. But at the

  moment, she could find nothing to say, as she was split between rage and heartbreak at the exact same time.

  "He will be here soon enough," the Queen of Shadows said as she finally prepared to leave the Hylian queen alone once more. "I trust that you'll keep up our little bargain,

  your highness. Remember, if you tell him anything of what we just discussed here, then it will all be over . But we won't have any problems with that, will we?"

  Verona's grin darkened as Zelda simply nodded mournfully, wishing that she was not so powerless, and that she could do something, anything to stop this from

  happening. The dark queen also nodded as she turned and began to walk out, before one final question came to the Hylian queen's mind. "Wait," she said, her nerves

  trembling and her heart shattering, even though she hid her pain for the most part. "What if I am unable to meet your expectati
ons?"

  The Queen of Shadows turned to look at her prisoner one last time, her yellow and red eye looking darker and more wicked than ever as she spoke her final statement

  before leaving, her plan already coming together perfectly. "Then aim higher, in case you fall short..."

  Though Link was still as confused as ever in the moments following Verona's departure, he decided to push his wonderings away for the moment and wake Midna up,

  mostly so he could ask her why she had not stood by his side during his confrontation with the Queen of Shadows, who could have very well killed him if she had wanted

  to. However, before the hero could even move to do so, a sudden chill ran up his spine as he began to feel as though he was being watched. He wasn't sure if Verona was

  still anywhere nearby, but it was very likely, something that put Link even more on edge considering the strange conversation the two of them had just had. However,

  when the hero quickly spun around, reaching for his sword on instinct even though it had been thrown out of his reach at the ball, the Queen of Shadows was not at all

  the figure he saw standing several feet behind him in the dark shadows of the trees.

  He couldn't make much out about them because of their distance from him and the darkness surrounding them, but what he did see right away were their eyes:

  completely empty and pure, glowing white as they stared directly at him, almost as if they were peering into his soul. Link knew that he had seen this very same figure

  before a few nights ago upon the spires of the castle, and as much as he was disturbed by both their presence and their icy stare, he found himself unable to look away

  once more even though he wanted to. In fact, he had become so caught up in their almost sinister gaze that the hero had not even noticed how shallow his breathing had

  become, nor did he realize that he had begun to step closer to them until…

  "Link?"

  The hero let out a startled gasp and blinked, broken out of the apparent trance that he hadn't even known he was in. His eyes left the figure in the woods for just a

  second, but as he glanced back that way, they were nowhere in sight, much to his confusion. But nonetheless, Link turned around to see that Midna had finally begun to