Favorable side Read online

  Midna glared to herself as she realized that perhaps the whole crying thing had been nothing but a ploy set up by him to get her to be nicer to him, something that she

  wouldn't put past him. And yet, as she left the room and out of his sight, she couldn't help but break out into a small grin herself, shaking her head at the hero's ridiculous,

  yet somehow loveable antics.

  "My stupid, stupid little wolf…" she whispered to herself with a chuckle as she set out to find a fairy, which, much to both her and the hero's relief, she successfully did.

  "My stupid, stupid little wolf…" Midna muttered worriedly as she finally found a small stone overlook for them to rest under, one that shielded them from the snow enough.

  This, and many other memories of how many times the hero had been close to death in which she had been forced to bail him out or save him, something that she had

  gotten quite used to during their time together. And just like all of those times, this catastrophe too had been a tragedy of impulsiveness; Link's own haste and endless

  drive to protect people other than himself had been what led to Verona striking him in the heart with her shard, something that could very well be killing him from the

  inside out at this very moment. The Twilight Princess shook her head fretfully as she laid him down upon the ground, noticing that he was still largely unconscious and that

  he had started shaking, most likely from the clumps of ice and snow matting his fur. "How could things possibly get any worse…?" Midna asked herself as she plopped

  down onto the cold ground beside him, all of the former reassuring he had tried to give her earlier completely gone in the face of this new issue that they were facing.

  As she said this, the Twilight Princess soon noticed that the hero had opened his eyes just a little bit, and she couldn't resist giving him a slight smile, relieved to know that

  he wasn't dead just yet. "Hey," she said, placing a hand against his head and stroking it tenderly. "You're gonna be ok, you hear me? I'm not gonna let anything happen to

  you, my little wolf… We'll get through this. We've faced worse than this before, after all…"

  Midna wasn't entirely sure if Link was fully cognizant enough to register her words fully, as his only response to them had been to close his unfocused, brightly shining eyes

  and slip into unconsciousness once more. While she tried to remain positive that he would make it, the Twilight Princess truly did fear that she would wake up in a few

  hours to find him cold and dead, and no one would even know about it except for her. And of course, while Hyrule desperately needed him once more, Midna knew that

  losing him on a personal would be as painful as death itself. He was the closest friend she had, the one who had shown her what kindness, compassion, and courage really

  were. And, if he were to die on her watch, simply because she couldn't find a way to save him, then the guilt and sorrow would certainly crush her more than anything

  else ever could.

  With a small, weary yawn, the Twilight Princess laid down beside the hero, not wanting to sleep just yet, but simply wanting to rest herself up a bit so she could think

  clearly. After all, the two of them had been on the go nonstop ever since they had been cast out of the castle, something that Midna estimated happened about a day ago

  now, even though the blanket of shadows covering the skies made it hard to tell. However, as much as she wanted to fight sleep, she found that it was a hopeless effort.

  Exhaustion was just starting to hit her, and although she wanted to remain awake for Link's sake, just in case anything tried to come out and attack them, her eyes soon

  started to grow heavy, to the point that within about a half an hour, she had succumbed to a much needed rest herself.

  Not long after the Twilight Princess had fallen asleep, an ominous wind began to whip through the barren branches of the nearby trees, the area seeming to darken even

  more with each passing second. Within the shadows not too far away from the sleeping pair, a figure materialized, keeping a careful watch upon the two of them for a

  long moment before silently stepping forward.

  The Queen of Shadows was subtle and exact in her movements, taking care not to make a sound as she held her staff out over the Twilight Princess, casting a bit of

  magic upon her that would keep her asleep for the next several minutes. "Sleep tight, my little cousin…" Verona said with a scowl, her voice dripping with ire for Midna

  before she turned to the true reason for her coming all this way. The dark queen smiled in satisfaction and hidden greed as she looked upon Link, feeling the shard within

  him pulsating and reacting just as it should have in response to her presence. "Let's get that out of you, dear hero…" she whispered softly, leaning down close to him and

  holding her hand above his chest for a moment. However, as she did this, the shard inside of the hero's heart seemed to pound violently, sending an all new wave of

  immense agony through him, which was enough to finally wake him from the haze of semi-consciousness he had been in for the past hour or so.

  Verona retracted her hand upon seeing Link's glowing blue eyes open wide, and she rose to stand the moment they locked upon her. Even though he was still feeling quite

  weak and pain was still coursing through him, the hero rose to his feet as quickly as he could, even though the act left him quite dizzy and disoriented. With a calm smile

  on her face, the Queen of Shadows simply watched as he took up an offensive pose against her, barring his teeth and growling at her fiercely as he sent her a vicious

  glare.

  "Oh, dear…" Verona said with false disappointment as she looked down at Link, clearly not phased by him trying to come off as fierce since she could see how he was

  shaking on all four legs, desperately trying his best not to collapse to the ground once more. "I was so hoping that you'd simply remain asleep so that I could do this the

  easy way, but… if you insist…" The Queen of Shadows strangely remained still after saying this, letting her staff dissipate into thin air as she held her hands, looking to the

  confused hero expectantly. "Well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Go on then. Attack me. Do your worst. Rip me open, tear me to shreds. After all, don't you

  want to save Zelda…?"

  This was a trap, and Link knew it, but the very moment Verona mentioned Zelda's name, his better senses were replaced with concern for the queen and fury at the one

  who had caused all this trouble. But of course, he did his best to be cautious about the whole thing, not entirely sure of what the dark queen's intentions were in trying to

  goad him into fighting her. He guessed that she just wanted to take him down while he was weak and vulnerable, but wasn't the shard she had embedded into him already

  doing that anyway? At the same time, the hero cast a glance back at the Twilight Princess, noticing that she was still fast asleep. Why wasn't she waking up? Certainly, she

  would want to help him in opposing their common foe, right?

  "Well, come on!" Verona said impatiently, holding her arms out as if she was trying to make herself as open as possible. "I don't have all night, hero! I'm giving you a onetime

  opportunity that you may not have again. You should be lucky that I am this graceful to level the playing field like this in the first place. If I were you, I'd take full

  advantage of it."

  Link turned to the Queen of Shadows once more, resuming his angry growling as he got low, realizing that perhaps he really did have the chance to land a blow upon his

  enemy, and perhaps that if he did, maybe the curse would finally be lifted so that he could defeat her properly. It was certainly a longshot, but it was worth a chance at the

  very least. And so, after another moment or two of stated, silent tension between the two of them, the hero finally p
ounced. Even though pain was mounting his every

  move, he leapt towards Verona with both his teeth and claws barred and ready to strike.

  However, as Link was just mere inches away from plowing into her, once again, the Queen of Shadows turned the tables on him. Before he could even touch her, she held

  her hand up in front of him, using her magic to suspend him upright in midair, leaving him totally exposed to whatever she planned on doing to him. Even though his entire

  body was paralyzed, he still glared fiercely at her, even though the pain inside of him was beginning to spike to the point that it was starting to become unbearable. Unable

  to hold it back, the hero let out a shrill howl of agony, shutting his eyes tightly, especially as Verona moved her outstretched hand even closer to his chest, which only

  made the anguish more intense.

  The Queen of Shadows smiled darkly as she placed her hand over the hero's heart, filling the pure energy brimming from her shard inside of him, energy that she

  absolutely craved. Summoning up a great deal of her magic, Verona clenched her hand tightly over his heart, a black aura surrounding it as she began to call the shard

  forth from inside of him. Link's agonized sounds grew louder and more desperate with each passing second as he felt her pull something out of him, even if he had no idea

  what as the pain was overwhelming his every sense. The dark queen let out a quiet laugh of triumph as she slowly pulled her hand back from the hero, the tip of her shard

  starting to tear forth from inside of it, rising out from his chest and out into the open once more. Strangely, it was devoid of blood despite the fact that she was ripping it

  out of his body, but instead the same cloud of darkness surrounded it as did her hand, though that wasn't all. As Verona finally pulled the last of the shard out of Link, she

  let him fall to the ground carelessly as a white light enveloped him, something that she completely ignored as she examined her new prize instead.

  The Queen of Shadows looked upon her shard as it hovered above her palm with immense pleasure, knowing that it had done its job perfectly while imbedded inside of

  the hero. Aside from the darkness gathered around it, a bright green wisp also swirled around it gracefully, a great deal of power radiating from it. But of course, while this

  had been her main goal, Verona couldn't help but smile darkly down at Link as he transformed from a wolf into a human once more now that the dark magic of the shard

  was no longer having such a heavy effect upon him. But of course, the Queen of Shadows couldn't let him off that easily; she had ensured that a few seeds of her

  darkness remained planted in his heart, knowing that she would reap them in time.

  As sudden as the pain had come upon the hero earlier, it had dissipated the moment the shard had been completely extracted from his body, though he was still quite

  weak from its agonizing influence upon him. Breathing heavily, Link shakily pulled himself up into a doubled-over position, ignoring Verona's eyes carefully watching him as

  he placed a hand to his chest and found no sign of a wound over where the dark queen had ripped the shard out. It was at that moment that the initial shock of it all finally

  wore off enough for the hero to realize that he was no longer a wolf and that, as far as he knew, he was no longer dying.

  "You… you took it out…" Link said in disbelief after his breathing had become more stable, though his voice was a bit worn and hoarse from having not spoken while

  trapped in his lupine form.

  "That's right," Verona said with a nod as she made the shard appear out of sight before he could see the wisp spiraling around it.

  "W-why?" the hero asked suspiciously as he finally glanced up at her, nothing less than absolutely confused as to why the Queen of Shadows would stab him with such an

  apparently strong form of dark magic only to take it back but a day later.

  The dark queen's expression leveled out into a soft, cordial smile as she held her hand out to him, apparently trying to help him up off of the ground. Link looked up at her

  suspiciously, unsure of whether or not she could be trusted after how she had tricked him twice now. "Oh, come now," Verona said, rolling her eyes good naturedly as she

  held her hand out insistently. "You must have serious trust issues if you think that I would deceive you again so soon. At least let me help you up, child. I'd rather not have

  a conversation with you having to look down at you as if you were still a wolf."

  The hero glared at her and the hint of belittling in her tone, but he finally relented as he accepted her hand and let her aid in pulling him up. Since he was still muddled with

  weakness, he found that he still had a difficult time standing, especially in light of having to go through the rough transformation from beast to human once more, and

  because of that, he nearly collapsed to the ground once more. In fact, he would of if it had not been for the Queen of Shadows grasping both of his arms in order to

  stabilize him. "Careful…" she cautioned with what almost sounded like genuine concern, though the hero knew better than to trust it.

  As soon as Link was steady on his feet a few moments later, he made it a point to back away from Verona cautiously, wishing that he had a sword to oppose her with but

  remembering how the Ordon Sword had fallen out of his grasp back in the ballroom. "You still haven't answered my question," he said, glaring assertively at her. "Why did

  you take that shard out of me? And if you were just going to do that, then why even stab me with it in the first place?"

  Verona simply laughed easily upon hearing this, crossing her arms as she gave him a coy smile. "So quick to get to the point, aren't we?" she asked teasingly. "But if you

  must know… If I hadn't taken my shard out of your heart when I did, then it certainly would have killed you not too much later, something you might have already

  guessed…"

  "But wouldn't you want that?" the hero asked caustically, keeping his guard up. "I mean, if I was dead, then you wouldn't have to worry about fighting me later on."

  "Oh, Link…" the Queen of Shadows laughed melodiously, grinning mysteriously at him. "You honestly think I want to see you dead, or that I even want to fight you?

  Please. Give me a little more credit than that. As I told Queen Zelda, I do not invoke such brutish methods of achieving my goals…"

  Link gave her an even more bewildered look upon hearing this, wondering what in the world Verona's methods actually were for reaching her goals if not destroying her

  enemies. From the way she spoke, it seemed as though she didn't bear any ill will upon him at all, but he took it with a grain of salt. After all, this could all just be a farce in

  order to lure him into a false sense of security before taking him down when he least expected it.

  "I… I don't understand…" the hero said carefully, making sure that he wouldn't fall for her smooth words.

  "What's there to understand?" the dark queen said with a shrug. "I just saved your life. You should be happy, grateful. Unless you wanted me to be cruel and let you die a

  slow, painful death…"

  "But… back at the castle you acted like you wanted to conquer Hyrule…" Link said with a frown, still just as confused as ever about the intentions of his supposed foe.

  "You know I'm just going to stand in your way and stop you, right?"

  "You say that now, but I believe that your mind will change with time…" Verona said, placing her hands behind her back as she began to slowly circle him, though it seemed

  as though she didn't want to harm him. "Especially once you realize that Queen Zelda is not the kind, benevolent person you've been led to believe she is…"

  "What are you talking about?" the hero said with a harsh glare, knowing that the queen was certainly who she appeared to be.

  "Tell me, Link
…" the Queen of Shadows said as she stood behind him, her tone just as smooth as ever. "After I impaled you with my shard, what did Zelda do to help you?

  Oh, wait… That's right: nothing. At the very least, Midna rushed to your aid, but Zelda did not so much as lift a finger in your defense, not even as her own people were

  ignorantly calling you a monster… Not to mention how she so readily rejected you right before that, simply because of your class standing… Sounds to me like she doesn't

  really care much for you at all…"

  Link was silent for a moment upon hearing this, knowing that Verona was right even on the basic level of both accounts. Zelda did not do anything to attempt to help him

  or Midna after Verona attacked, and she had ran out on him after their kiss, her words and actions seeming to regret that it had ever happened, that they had ever

  started to bond over the past several days. And yet, at the same time, he knew what the Queen of Shadows was trying to do, and he wasn't about to let his opinion on

  the Hylian queen who had come to be something more than a friend to him so easily. "No…" the hero said, though there was still a noticeable hint of uncertainty in his

  tone, something that Verona grinned softly upon hearing. "You're wrong. Zelda does care about me. I know it."

  The Queen of Shadows shrugged nonchalantly upon hearing this, hiding her satisfaction in knowing that she had managed to sow the seeds of doubt and distrust all the

  same. "So you say…" she said as she came to stand in front of him once more. "But I just want to advise you to be careful. You will often find that people are layers and

  layers of secrets… even your beloved queen…"

  "Why are you pretending to be so nice to me?" Link asked after a brief moment of pondering this, still giving her a distrustful glare.

  "Oh, I'm not pretending," Verona said with a small, sincere smile. "I'm showing such kindness to you because you remind me a lot of myself when I was younger…

  Innocent, precocious, resilient, determined… Filled with the most noble of intentions… There's quite a bit that we share, Link…"