The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Queen

Perpetual Twilight

The center of the Twilight Realm was beautiful. It was easily one of the most stunning places in the realm. The colors of the sky always lit up the space dazzlingly. The center of the realm was a large circle, surrounded by spiked black buildings, floored by reflective tiles. Currently, the center of the circle, the true center of the realm, was empty. Once, the center had held a statue of the Twili's deities known as the Akuma. The statue had been destroyed when Zant took over...

This was where the portal brought Midna. She wanted to check the place out, to make sure it was as perfect as she remembered. It was and then some.

The center of the realm, where the statue had once stood, had been empty for a long time now. What better way to fill the empty space than with a new statue. A memorial, to be exact. The same memorial which Kilm had shown Midna the final design of. A memorial to all those who had lost their lives to Zant's tyranny. Fitting revenge, since he had destroyed the last statue. It had been a show of power, of his anger at the Akuma for abandoning the Twili people. At the Twilis for not making him king. They'd crowned Midna instead. Not her perfect brother. Not Zant. Her. The quick witted, the sharp tempered, the suspicious of everyone, the untrusting. The nobody. The useless daughter of the last king and queen...

The center of the realm was devoid of life when she got there, which gave her a chance to think. A chance she didn't really need, but would take anyway.

Some moments, she still couldn't believe that she was queen. Her parents had been elected as rulers when she and her brother were young, so she wasn't unfamiliar with the idea of royalty... But it had never appealed to her. When she was young, she and her best friends, Kilm and Zant, had daydreamed about leading the Twili to the Light Realm, of enslaving the light dwellers. It... It was a childish game, a way to fill those days that seemed to stretch forever. They'd never actually considered any of it. They hadn't considered the lives that would be lost. Her brother used to lecture her about the logistics of it all, tell her she was stupid for not having thought of them and... Well, whenever the subject was brought up, he was far from nice.

She'd grown up, realized the foolishness for what it was. Kilm had too. But Zant? He'd taken the mad musings to heart. He couldn't let them go. He wanted to lead the Twili people to what he saw as their right.

So when Midna's parents, the king and queen, had died suddenly, Zant had run for ruler. So had Midna's brother. Yet Midna had been elected, by a landslide. She hated to think of that moment. When the elders, who were all murdered shortly after by Zant, had announced that she was to be queen... Her! The wild card, the nobody, the nothing! The look of betrayal on both her brother's and Zant's face had cut through her very soul. It... It wasn't her fault. She hadn't even wanted to be queen.

The next day, Zant took over the Realm of Twilight. Midna couldn't remember any of that day. She could remember nothing of the screams of her people as they were turned into mindless monsters. She couldn't remember it at all. Which, in a way, was probably mercy. She could only remember waking up in the twilit Light Realm. Cursed to be an imp. Cursed to look like the nobody everyone knew her to be.

The helmet had been beside her. In a desperate, not thought through plan, she went on a search for Zant. She would have taken him on had she found him. She stuck in a weakened form with a broken piece of the Fused Shadow. She would have battled the usurper king and she would have lost. Luckily, she'd reached the edge of twilight without finding him and it was there she noticed something peculiar. Something that made her pause. It was there that she found hope in the form of a young distraught Hylian. He struggled in the death grip of a demented and brainless Twili. As the twilight seeped into his skin, he should have faded into a spirit. But he didn't. He turned into a beautiful, dark silver wolf. The process looked painful, but at the time, Midna had scolded herself for caring. He was a light dweller, he deserved the pain for what his ancestors had done to her people. Besides, he was more than just a light dweller. He was the hero the legends of her people had foretold. He had no choice but to help her, no choice but to save the Twilight Realm. Fate demanded it of him.

Midna sighed. That was the first time she'd met, no, seen Link. That was before she'd accepted him as a person, with thoughts and dreams and a family. That was before she'd cared. If only she'd realized it sooner...

"Queen Midna," The voice was young and sweet. Midna turned her head slightly to the sound, catching sight of the Twili who had spoken.

"Cursel, hello," Midna said with a nod. "What brings you here on such a fine twilight morning?"

Cursel smiled, curtseying and lifting the hem of the silver dress she wore. She had short orange hair that just reached her shoulders. Her red eyes glittered with admiration as she looked at her queen. "Just out for a walk, Queen. I brought Con with me, is that alright?"

Midna nodded, switching her gaze down to where the big gray puppy sat panting. "Of course it's alright. Why wouldn't the Twilight Realm's only dog be allowed to go on walks?" Midna said with a slight frown as she patted the puppy's soft head. She still didn't understand how the dog had gotten to her realm. It shouldn't have been possible, but she'd woken up one morning, a little over a month after her return to twilight, and found the puppy outside her bedroom door. A leash had secured him to the door handle. She'd named him Con. He still remained a painful mystery.

"I don't know, my Queen. Umm... Kilm... Your advisor asked me to find you and tell you that he's alright. Did he try to use his magic again?"

"Yes." Midna sighed. "Always yes."

A few other people had started to gather in the center, staring yet they were attempting to be polite by staying quiet. Their silent stares seemed judging, to Midna at least. Link's stare, though always silent, was never judging. Even when he had every reason to be.

Tears came to Midna's eyes as she stared down at the strange gray dog that looked nothing like Link in his wolf form yet made her think of him. Made her miss him, like she'd miss her heart if it was gone.

"I'm sorry, Cursel, but I need to go. I trust you can make it back to the palace?"

"Yes, Queen Midna. I... I'm sorry for any grief I have caused..."

"No, Cursel... You've done nothing wrong. It's just... I need a few moments alone. I will meet you back at the palace, okay?"

"Yes, Queen." Seeing Cursel smile and nod, Midna forced herself to smile as well. She waved her hand and another portal formed above her. A crowd had begun to gather in the center of the realm. She'd made her escape at the perfect time.