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  into a large hand and placed it in front of her and the unconscious hero, blocking them both from the view of the people. After taking in a leveling breath, the Twilight

  Princess glared back at her cousin with intense hatred for causing such a catastrophe, but Verona merely let out a small, wicked chuckle as she lifted her staff up yet again.

  "Verona!" Midna hissed through her clenched teeth in absolute fury. "You'll pay for this! We won't let you have your way with Hyrule or the Twilight Realm!"

  "Oh, really?" the Queen of Shadows asked, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "Because I think I've already gotten my way and then some…" With another smooth, confident

  laugh, Verona pointed her staff towards Link and Midna once more, and before the Twilight Princess could do anything to stop her magic, it struck both of them, causing

  them both to completely vanish out of sigh.

  "Link!" Zelda exclaimed, no longer able to hold her worry back as she pounded against the barrier as hard as she could, though it did not wield for her. "Midna! What did

  you do to them?!" she demanded of Verona, glaring bitingly at the Queen of Shadows as she turned away from the place where the hero and the Twilight Princess had

  once been.

  "Oh, don't worry yourself, your highness," Verona said with her constant collected grin. "I merely sent them away for now, so that they will not be here to impede my

  plans… After all, the easiest coup is one that has relatively little resistance. And I think you've made it quite clear that you aren't going to do much to resist me…"

  The queen clenched her fists tightly at her sides, a burst of warm fury running through her even though she knew that her foe was right. Even though she wanted to fight

  back, she knew that she was not strong enough to do so without Link and Midna's help. And of course, Verona had made sure to separate them so that she could claim

  Hyrule uncontested. Clearly, the Queen of Shadows was a crafty, dangerous enemy indeed, one that they had all severely underestimated.

  "Now… I believe that this party is over," Verona said, a hint of darkness entering her elegant tone as she raised her staff yet again as a dark aura surrounded it. With

  almost no effort at all, she used some of her magic to summon a horde of shadow beasts into the ballroom, eliciting even more fear from the already panicking crowd.

  Even though Zelda's guards tried to stand up against the monsters, they were quickly disposed of as they began to chase the guests out of the ballroom as the Queen of

  Shadows desired. After all, she had no use for anyone at the moment, save for the Hylian queen herself, though she knew that the hero would become even more useful

  to her in time.

  Once the guests were finally cleared out of the hall and well on their way out of the castle entirely, the barrier before Zelda finally dissipated. However, before the queen

  could even attempt to escape, one of Verona's shadow beasts gripped her roughly by both of her arms, firmly restraining her even though she struggled against its hold.

  Zelda could do nothing but watch with disgust as Verona sauntered past her and casually took a seat upon her throne, giving the Hylian queen a triumphant smile the

  entire time. "Hyrule is mine now," the Queen of Shadows declared firmly, her red and yellow eye alight with treachery. "But don't worry, Zelda. I won't dispose of you just

  yet. I need you alive… for now…"

  With a cold, patronizing laugh, Verona waved the shadow beast holding the shocked, dismayed Hylian queen away, commanding it to take her away and imprison her in

  another part of the castle. Zelda said nothing as she was dragged off against her will, but instead she merely closed her eyes and let out a fretful sigh. Her heat and mind

  were filled with woe and worry for her people and her kingdom, as well as for the Twilight Princess and the hero. In the course of but a few short minutes, what was

  supposed to be one of the greatest nights of her life had turned into one of the worst. The hard-earned time of peace that Hyrule had been in suddenly shattered all at

  once, leaving a veil of dread and uncertainty in its place. Zelda had no idea what was to become of Hyrule, Midna, Link, or even herself in light of this new threat, and so,

  she finally let a few of her pressing tears of mourning over the disaster that had just occurred and how she had failed her people yet again. Once more, she was about to

  be imprisoned within her own castle as her people were left to an unknown fate; she had let them down before she had even gotten the chance to prove to them that

  she would be a good queen, and now she feared that she would never get that chance again. And so, the Hylian queen did the only thing she could do as the doors of the

  once-glowing ballroom slammed shut behind her; she uttered silent prayers to the goddesses for their much-needed aid in this dire plight as her kingdom crumbled all

  around her once more.

  Dark clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule, quickly overtaking the light of the land and covering it with inescapable darkness. It was already late on into the night,

  but those who were still awake quickly took notice of the sudden shift in the sky. The clouds filled with snow still poured down their white flakes, but they soon became

  obscured by a shroud of dark shadows. Nature itself seemed to know that darkness was filling the land as all of the animals that were not currently hibernating for the

  winter quickly fled away, leaving any natural areas strangely still and silent. The already chilly air of the night grew even colder as the snow turned from a gentle fall to the

  beginnings of a blizzard, covering the ground in an even thicker blanket of white. Somehow, even though none of its people knew it yet, it was as though the entire land of

  Hyrule itself knew that it was being conquered by shadows yet again, and already it was starting to cry out for salvation, and a revival of the light.

  It was as this quiet veil of darkness was beginning to cover the kingdom that Link and Midna suddenly appeared in the middle of the snowy Hyrule Field, specifically in the

  area right before the southern gate to Castle Town. Though the hero was still largely unconscious as he landed in the snow, the Twilight Princess was fully cognizant as she

  floated above it, completely shocked that how, but seconds ago, the two of them were in the ballroom, but now they had been cast out into the cold so quickly. In fact,

  Verona's invasion as a whole had taken them all by storm, including Zelda. For the most part, everything had been fine and well until the Queen of Shadows' sudden

  appearance; the ball had been a bright, festive, happy occasion, and, up until right before it, even the queen and the hero had been reveling in each other's company. And

  yet, like a sudden storm, Verona had swept in and ruined everything. She had single-handedly claimed Hyrule as her own, and she had cursed both Link and Midna before

  sending them away so they could not oppose her. The Twilight Princess scowled as she glanced down at her small, impish hands, hating her cousin for everything she had

  done. Now more than ever, Midna burned with the desire to take Verona down and make her pay for this, and most of all, for hurting Link.

  The Twilight Princess gasped in realization upon remembering that the hero was lying in the cold snow right behind her. She quickly spun around, trying her best to ignore

  how the bitter cold was adversely affecting her as she glided in close to Link, taking solace in the fact that, even though Verona had apparently cursed him into the form of

  a wolf once more, at least he had a thick fur coat to keep him significantly warmer. For a moment, Midna took a brief glance at the hero's chest, where the Queen of

  Shadows had struck him with that mysterious shard, but not even a scar remained there, as if she had never done it in the first place, though the Twilight Princess knew

  better. That shard had eeri
ly reminded her of another kind of shard, namely the Shadow Crystal, that Zant had used to curse Link in quite a similar way to this during his

  and Midna's first journey together. However, knowing Verona and her dangerous magic, the Twilight Princess had a feeling that this new shard was most likely far worse,

  though she knew next to nothing about it.

  "Hey," Midna said with concern as she gave the hero a light tug on the hero, hoping to rouse him awake. "Wake up…" Obviously not as sassy or upbeat as she usually

  was, the Twilight Princess let out a small sigh as she considered their shared condition of being cursed into untrue forms as she called him by her old nickname for him

  solemnly. "My little wolf…"

  With a little more urging from Midna, Link finally began to stir, much to the Twilight Princess's relief. "Well, at least you're not dead…" she muttered to herself with a stillanxious

  sigh, knowing that things could have gone much worse back at the castle for all of them. The Twilight Princess gave the hero some space to get up, easily noticing

  that his movements were slow, most likely still labored by the pain from the shard Verona had stabbed him with. Of course, Link had known that he had been forcibly

  turned into a wolf once more from the moment it had happened, even though he had fallen unconscious mere seconds after, but that didn't mean it was happy about it.

  At the close of the Twilight Invasion, he had hoped that he would never have to go through this shift again, but that wasn't the only issue. Even though being a beast

  certainly did have its advantages, the hero knew that he wouldn't be able to rescue the queen from Verona, who could be doing anything to Zelda at that very moment.

  Upon remembering this, Link didn't hesitate to push away the dull haze of pain that was still filling his body as he got up on all fours completely, looking towards the still

  glowing towers of the castle with burning resolve in his eyes. However, as Midna watched him, she was quick to notice something else about his eyes as well, something

  that took her aback quite a bit.

  "Goddesses…" the Twilight Princess breathed in both awe and slight worry. "Link… you're eyes… They're… They're glowing!"

  The hero tilted his head in confusion at this while Midna merely sighed in aggravation, knowing that once again, communication was going to be difficult between them

  while he was trapped in this form. And so, using a bit of her magic, the Twilight Princess managed to conjure up a small reflective surface in her hands, holding it in front of

  him so he could see.

  Link simply stared into his own eyes with shock, seeing that Midna had been right. His eyes did indeed seem to be glowing in the darkness, shining even brighter than the

  Twilight Princess's Twili eyes did. And not only that, but they were also a much lighter shade of blue than they usually were, rivaling even the sky-like shade of Zelda's eyes.

  In fact, they were so light that, in a strange, certain way, they almost appeared to be white.

  After a moment or two, Midna made her small mirror vanish away, biting her lip with apprehension as she looked the bewildered, obviously distraught hero over, seeing

  that nothing else about him seemed to be too out of the ordinary. "I guess this has something to do with that shard Verona struck you with…" she said, casting a small

  glare towards the castle rising in the distance, which the Queen of Shadows had certainly conquered by now. "Unfortunately, I don't know anything about what that thing

  really was or what it does… But, I know it can't be good… Is it still hurting you from the inside like it was?"

  Link responded with a shake of his head, wishing that he could actually speak to her so he could ask her many of his pressing questions about what had happened,

  specifically, if she knew anything about what had happened to Zelda during all the upheaval. But for now, he could only hope that she was unharmed and that they would

  reunite soon.

  The Twilight Princess took note of the long gaze that the hero was giving the castle, one that soon changed from a look of worry to a glare as he let out a small growl of

  anger towards the Queen of Shadows, who had caused all of this. And, prompted by his fury and resolve, Link began to move forward towards the castle, before Midna

  quickly stopped him by plopping herself down onto his back like she always used to. "Whoa there, little wolf," she said in a tone that mixed both teasing and caution.

  "Where to you think you're going?"

  The hero gave a small nod towards the direction of the castle, but the Twilight Princess merely frowned and shook her head. "Still just as reckless as ever I see…" she said

  reminiscently. "Let me tell you why this little plan of yours, to go charging right back in there to try and stop Verona, is a stupid one. First of all, you're a wolf again. You

  wouldn't even make it past the castle gates without being spotted and thrown out of town. Second of all, you're no match for Verona in this form; heck, I doubt you'd

  even be much of a match for her in your regular form…"

  Link glared up at Midna in aggravation, haven taken her belittling and criticizing him so many times before. "So," the Twilight Princess continued, giving him a small pat on

  the head. "Instead of going back in there and getting yourself killed, why don't you listen to my plan instead?"

  The hero rolled his eyes at her but complied nonetheless, with the Twilight Princess merely grinned as she continued, taking a casual position on his back. "Now, you

  remember as well as I do the last time this sort of thing happened, right?" she asked, allowing him to give her a nod in response. "Well, the way I see it, back then, we

  were able to drive the curse that Zant had placed on you away with that fancy sword of yours… Maybe it'll work for getting rid of Verona's curse too!" Link nodded once

  more in agreement with this plan, knowing it was at least worth a shot and that it probably would work after all. "So…" Midna went on, glancing down at him. "Where is

  it?"

  The hero finally turned his sights away from the castle to look towards the south in response, or more specifically towards Faron and Ordon. Upon the competition of his

  question, after Midna had returned to the Twilight Realm, Link had returned the Master Sword, the blade that he had used to strike Ganondorf down, to its pedestal hidden

  away within the Sacred Grove. Since Hyrule had been at peace, the hero saw no need in keeping such a powerful sword, even though it had gotten him through many

  dangerous battles.

  The Twilight Princess frowned upon seeing the direction he was looking, not needing words to understand what he meant. "You put it back?" she asked with a hint of

  annoyance in her tone as she let out a long sigh. "Of course you did… Well then, I guess we'd better get going. It's a long way to the forest…"

  Upon hearing this, Link glanced back at her with a look of confusion, wondering why they just couldn't warp to the forest using Midna's powers, like they had during their

  first quest together. The Twilight Princess read his expression with ease, and she merely sighed once more and shook her head. "We can't teleport like before," she said,

  taking a look up into the pitch-black skies above. "All of the portals were closed up after Zant and Ganondorf were defeated. Looks like we'll have to make this one on

  foot. Sorry."

  If the hero could have sighed, he would have, knowing that the trip to the Sacred Grove from their current position near the castle would take hours even on horseback.

  On foot, it would take perhaps even an entire day, no matter how fast he ran. And Link knew that he didn't have that much time to waste with Verona occupying the

  castle with the intent of conquering Hyrule and with Zelda left to an unknown fate. But, as Midna had made it clear, he didn't really have that much of a choice at the

/>   moment. After all, he wasn't doing the queen, or Hyrule as a whole for that matter, much good while stuck in the form of a wolf. If he wanted to take down the Queen of

  Shadows and rescue the kingdom and its ruler, then he would need to be as strong as he could be, and he was confident that not only would the Master Sword restore

  him to his true form, but it would also give him the strength he needed to take on this dangerous new foe.

  With the simple prompt of the Twilight Princess nudging his sides with her legs, the hero set off towards the forest, going much faster on four legs than he ever could have

  on two. Midna held on tightly to make sure she could keep her balance, knowing why Link was going so fast. At almost the exact same time, both of them cast a small,

  brief glance back at the castle as they left the portion of the field before it, both of their hearts and wishes going out to Zelda as they both hoped that she was unharmed.

  Of course, the Twilight Princess didn't dare tell the hero this, but she didn't see why the Queen of Shadows would have much of a reason for keeping the Hylian queen

  alive, especially since she now had the land of Hyrule practically in the palm of her hand. For all either of them knew, Zelda could be dead at that very moment, but if that

  was so, wouldn't Verona have wanted to force both Link and Midna to watch instead of sending them away as she had? In fact, none of her cousin's plan made much

  sense to the Twilight Princess. Had there really been any real point to cursing her into this impish form once more, or turning the hero into a wolf yet again? And what of

  the mysterious shard Verona had struck Link with? Aside from the fact that his eyes were strangely glowing now, it didn't seem to be having much of an effect on him, but

  Midna had a feeling that it was still too early to really tell. And yet, all the same, the Twilight Princess didn't understand why the Queen of Shadows had forced her shard

  into the hero's heart at all, even if its sole purpose was to trap him in the form of a wolf, which was her sole theory at the moment. Of course, it hindered his ability to