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  only been losing everything he thought he once had: Zelda and her affections, the respect of the kingdom he had saved, the home he had always known, and even Midna

  and her companionship. He had been forced to run, to leave everything behind and flee to the unknown, where he could only ever be alone if he wanted to survive. And in

  the painful process, he had lost touch with himself; he hardly felt like the noble hero he used to be, the one who had saved Hyrule from darkness on his own merit alone.

  His confidence, control, even his courage all seemed to have fled him, and their place was a hallow emptiness, a deep, innate fear that he was going to hurt those he

  cared about simply by being around them, and a lingering anxiety and depression that he desperately wanted to get rid of. To get rid of those things, to be the person who

  he used to be before he had fallen so low… it sounded like a goddess-send. And yet, as tempting as Verona's offer sounded, Link was still hesitant about taking her up on

  it, a small part of him still giving him warning signs against this new course of action.

  "This… this feels wrong…" he said with quiet uncertainty, glancing away from the Queen of Shadow's benevolent smile.

  Verona restrained herself from growing frustrated with the hero's resistance, knowing that it was still present even though she intended on crushing it eventually. "Link, let

  me tell you what truly is wrong," she began, a hint of cold darkness in her tone as her smile faded. "Wrong is how the queen treated you the last time the two of you

  met; how, after you openly and honestly poured out your affections to her, she turned a blind eye to you and refused to acknowledge them without so much as even an

  apology. Wrong is how she ripped your heart out and trampled all over it without so much as a single thought or care. Wrong is how she viewed you as a warrior and

  nothing more, not even a friend. Wrong is how she thinks she's above you, how she thinks that she's better than you, simply because of her elevated class. Don't tell me

  that how she dealt with you didn't hurt you, Link…"

  "It… it did…" the hero admitted despondently, clenching his fists at his sides in both anger and sadness as they glowed in a dim red. "It hurt a lot…"

  "The truth of the matter is that she is merely jealous of you, Link…" Verona lied, her red and yellow eyes reflecting Link's own glare of ire for Zelda. "She knows of the

  power you wield, and she knows that the magic the Triforce of Wisdom grants her is not as strong as what the Triforce of Courage gives you. She is intimidated by you,

  afraid of you… afraid that you might grow to be more powerful than she is and in turn, try to rip the throne away from her, which you and I both know is absolutely

  ludicrous. She perceives you as a threat, which is really why she rejected you in the first place. Both her and Midna have led you to believe that I am the one who craves

  power above all else, when in reality it has been Zelda all along. Why else do you think she's been having her guards relentlessly pursue you throughout the entire

  kingdom, even allowing them to stoop so low as injure you and threaten your hometown? She wants to apprehend you, to steal what is rightfully yours…" As the dark

  queen said this, she reached down at took the hero's hand and tapped the glowing mark of the Triforce of Courage, noticing the growing rage in his grey eyes as he took

  all this in. "Believe me, Link, I was well aware of her plans even before I came to this land, which is why I came to warn you of them. As soon as she takes the magic of

  the Triforce from you, she plans on having you killed so she won't have to deal with you any longer. Her showing any form of affection towards you was merely an act on

  her part; a way to trick you into thinking she's on your side before she sends you to the executioner. She is certainly clever, deceptive, but she is still weaker than you

  are; weaker than we both are. This kingdom must be saved from her tyranny before it grows out of control… Don't you agree?"

  There used to be a time when Link would have defended Zelda against any form of accusation formed against her, a time when he would have refused to believe that she

  could ever do any wrong. And yet, after the coldness she had treated him with, after almost having him killed on a number of occasions, he realized that Verona couldn't

  be that far off. It only made sense that the Queen of Shadows would know what she was talking about; after all, she was perceptive and watchful, and certainly she

  would have learned up such sinister plans through her magic. And indeed, the Hylian queen knew much of the Triforce; certainly she must have been lying to the hero

  when she told him she did not know of the magic of the Triforce of Courage. Perhaps every word she had ever said to him had been just that: a lie, a cruel deception in

  order to lure him in close before stealing from him and murdering him in cold blood. And, once this act was no longer beneficial to him, she had dropped it entirely before

  sending her forces out to capture him, regardless of what it took. Clearly, Zelda would stop at nothing to destroy him, and Link refused to let it go on any longer. "I do,"

  he said rigidly as he nodded in agreement with Verona, knowing that if Hyrule was to be freed from the potentially disastrous rule of its own queen, than he would be the

  one to do so.

  The Queen of Shadows smiled triumphantly, knowing that she almost had him. She held out her hand for him to take as she extended her offer one more time. "So…

  what do you say, Link?" she asked softly, emanating kindness and respect for him in her tone. "Do you wish to learn to control you powers to the point of mastery far

  beyond any you could ever dream? Do you wish to help me bring Zelda's wicked rule to an end, and instead restore equality and justice to a kingdom that has been bereft

  of it for so long now? Do you wish to join the right side, the winning side?"

  For a long time, Link stared at Verona's outstretched hand, knowing that now, he only had two choices left. He could be forever lost, always running away and always

  trying to control something that was out of his control, never truly belonging anywhere at all. Or, he could grow stronger, he could become powerful, and he could rescue

  Hyrule from an internal threat that had been plaguing it for far too long now. And, as the hero took the Queen of Shadow's hand and accepted her offer, it felt like the

  easiest choice he had ever made.

  Though it took some doing, Midna finally managed to lift herself up off the ground once more, despite the fact that her arm were still throbbing in agony. She had sat

  against the tree that Link had sent her flying into for quite some time, simply trying to cope with the pain of the burns she had sustained as she also lamented the hero's

  apparent fate. After everything that had happened, Midna knew that trying to convince Link that he was anything but a dangerous force of destruction would be nigh

  impossible, but she still had to try. She refused to let him lose himself to his own fear and shame like this.

  And so the Twilight Princess slowly raised to her floating position, refraining from touching her burnt arm, lest she intensify the sting she constantly felt running across it.

  Her expression was sober as she looked to the direction the hero had taken earlier, clearly marked by a still very present trail of ice that rested upon the top of the snow.

  Not knowing how far he could have gotten by now, Midna decided to follow his path anyway, knowing that if she did not reach out to him, than no one would.

  As the Twili imp went on her way, she diverted her mind away from the pain of her burn as she decided to focus on thoughts of Link instead. In all the time they had spent

  in each other's company, Midna had never seen the hero so despondent and afraid before. What only made matters worse was that his fear was not directed towards any

>   external force; rather, he was afraid of himself. It was something that the Twilight Princess could hardly empathize with, but she did sympathize with him greatly. He was

  the last person in the world who deserved to suffer through this, especially after all he had gone through before. All he had ever been was selfless, courageous and kind,

  and yet now it seemed as though his great labors in saving Hyrule were being repaid in a way that turned him into an outcast from the very land he had worked so hard

  for. Link had been cast out into darkness, even if it was partially by his choosing, but Midna was resolved to bring him back into the light no matter what it took. After all,

  he had done so much for her in the past; it was only fair that she return the favor to him in full.

  As Midna continued to follow the conspicuous trail that Link had left behind, she soon began to call out his name, knowing that even if he had been running all this time, he

  still couldn't have gotten too far. Though these woods were dark and deep, as far as the Twilight Princess knew, the hero was just as unfamiliar with them as she was,

  meaning that there was no way he would have been able to flee as far as he most likely wanted.

  "Link!" the Twili imp shouted as loudly as she could, glad that her voice was no longer husky with her prior tears. "Link, it's me, Midna! It's ok! You didn't really hurt me!

  Please, don't run away!"

  Midna poised her ears to listen closely for any kind of response or sign that he had heard her, but she received nothing. With an aggravated sigh, she pressed onward,

  trying to reach the hero all the same. "Link, come on!" she called out somewhat impatiently. "You don't have to run from me! Stop being so stubborn and just let me help

  you!"

  Still no response. The Twilight Princess, persistent as ever, was prepared to cry out to him one more time, before she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her.

  The scarlet cape that Zelda had given to Link as a gift lay tethered to several dead tree branches, burnt and torn to the point that it was nearly in shreds. It flittered in the

  wintry winds ominously, and they very sight of it made Midna's eyes widen in fear. What if something had happened to him? What if more guards had come and somehow

  found him, this time successfully apprehending him? The discarded cape alone gave the Twilight Princess that a struggle had occurred between Link and something, be it

  soldiers or something else entirely. But all the same, Midna wasn't about to jump to conclusions just yet, so she glided on ahead past the cape in order to investigate the

  scene further.

  "Link?" the Twilight Princess asked somewhat tentatively as she broke into the nearby clearing, only to stop once more at what she saw. Indeed, the trail of ice the hero

  had created led here, but in the center of the clearing was where it finally came to an end. Even more curious was that one of the trees not too far away was still

  smoldering, its wood complete scorched black. Clearly, Link had been here, but if that was the case, then where was he now? Certainly he could not have just disappeared

  into thin air, could he have?

  Midna clenched her right fist tightly as her left one was still in too much pain to do so as she glared around the clearing. Her best guess as to what had happened was that

  more guards certainly had happened upon the hero, and in all of his grief and turmoil, he had been unable to best them this time, even with his powers going wildly out of

  control as they were. For all Midna knew, Link could have been on a one way trip to the castle dungeons at that very moment, a thought that both horrified and enraged

  her. Though she had no idea what Zelda could possibly want him apprehended for, the Twilight Princess refused to let the hero endure such captivity, especially since he

  was already suffering so much anyway. Midna was resolved to rescue him immediately, even if she had to go to the very person who demanded his capture in the first

  place.

  Zelda sighed morosely as she looked out across the skies of her kingdom, which were still as dark as ever. She pulled her black cloak tighter around herself, wishing that

  she could wrap all of her shame tightly in it and burn it in the fire burning in the hearth. Though her sense of time was askew thanks to her imprisonment, the queen knew

  that at least four days, maybe even more, had passed since she had rejected the hero and sent him away, and yet the guilt she had felt then still had not faded away.

  Zelda had spent the first several hours after Link had left in tears, inconsolable after what she had willingly done. The look of agony that had been on his face was

  comparable to the agony she felt now, for she knew that by denying him of his honest love, she had certainly broken his heart, the last thing she ever wanted to do. She

  had certainly done what Verona had asked of her; any chance of a bond that had once stood between the two of them was completely and utterly broken.

  Several times, Zelda had tried to convince herself that she had no reason to feel such remorse. After all, she had done what she had to in order to keep her people safe;

  certainly, if Link had known that she had turned him away for that reason, than he would have completely understood. She had done it for the greater good, for the sake

  of her entire kingdom. Any one person did not matter in the long run, even if that person was her hero and friend. And besides, she knew well that she didn't harbor the

  same strong feelings that he had for her in the same way.

  Did she?

  In truth, these past few days the queen had often found herself asking that question? Did she actually feel that way about the hero, or was it just her overwhelming

  shame that convinced her that perhaps she did? Zelda knew that to have such feelings would be illogical, especially since she had only really known Link on a personal level

  for the span of a few weeks. And yet, she had grown up being taught that love was an illogical emotional in the first place, one that was ill suited for the ruler of a

  kingdom. The queen had always been impersonal and distant in both her leadership and her personal life. That is, until she had crossed paths with the hero. Somehow, he

  had opened her small world up in ways she could have never imagined, helping her see and feel things she never had before. She was unable to remember a time in her

  life in which she had been happier than those few all too short days she had spent with him.

  But those days were gone now, buried in the past and wiped away by the very lies she had been forced to tell. Even if Zelda was certain of her feelings for Link and even if

  there was a way for her to confess them to him, she knew he would never believe her now. In truth, the queen dreaded facing the hero again after what she had done,

  even if she knew she most likely would eventually. After all, Hyrule still needed liberated, but how did the queen even know that the hero would still wish to save the

  kingdom once more after all she had deceived and destroyed him?

  Zelda's frown deepened as she placed her hand against the stone window frame and leaned against it, wishing that her mind would finally rest for a moment instead of

  constantly bombarding her with such worries and grief. Such was the curse of wisdom however; its heavy burden provided no rest for the weary.

  The queen let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes, still completely uncertain of what to do. She turned her mind away from her regret and instead tried to start thinking

  of a plan of both escaping from her own castle, and a plan on what she could possibly do to rescue her dying land. However, her planning didn't go very far as she

  suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere of her small chamber, as though all of the darkness of it had suddenly faded all at once. Zelda had not felt such a relief from the

  intrusive shadows in so long, but even she had no exp
lanation for it. Ever since Verona's invasion, all she had felt lingering throughout her entire kingdom was sheer,

  unchangeable darkness, pervading everything in sight. And yet now, it seemed as though its constant heavy blanket had been lifted, finally allowing the queen to breathe

  easy once more. And though she had no idea why the cover of shadows had finally been lightened, Zelda had little time to ponder over it as she suddenly felt and saw the

  dim room start to become even brighter.

  Though the night had still not passed outside, it was as though dawn was breaking inside of the queen's chamber as a steady light grew brighter and brighter, until it had

  chased the shadows away entirely. The queen's eyes widened in amazement as the golden light seemed to warm even the very air around her, and as she tried to locate

  its source, she found that she didn't have to look to far. The aura of light was by far the brightest around her hands, shining spectacularly as the mark of the Triforce of

  Wisdom glistened radiantly on the back of her hand. Zelda stared at it in awe for what seemed like ages, the light that she was apparently creating never once dimming as

  she focused on it.

  "H-how…?" the queen trailed off in a whisper, not knowing how she was conjuring such light. She had always known magic on a beginner's level, but the power she was

  unintentionally showing now was unlike anything she had ever seen before. This light was strong and pure, the kind that could certainly penetrate any darkness entirely.

  Zelda smiled softly to herself as she realized that her prayers to the goddesses had been answered; against all odds, she had been granted the light to banish darkness.

  Not entirely sure how this new ability worked, the queen put her hands to her sides, averting her attention from them as she tried to cut the light off, not wanting to

  waste too much of it at once. At first, it did not comply with her movements, still shining as brightly as ever. However, as she mentally commanded the light to fade, it did

  so instantly, obediently following her thoughts. In curiosity, Zelda experimented with her newfound power as she willed for the light to reform around her hands once