Chapter 4
I couldn't do anything but stare into her face. Her beautiful features, the shadowy black mist that swirled in her eyes. She was bent over, holding me up by my shoulders.
"Deja vu." She whispered. And then she dropped me, and began to walk away.
My head hit the ground with a dull thud. I quickly scrambled up. "H-hey, wait! Where're you going?"
The girl turned around. "Away. I have no business here."
"But why?"
"I just told you, I have no business."
We stood facing each other, waiting for one to speak. The girl finally rolled her eyes.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Link. What's yours?"
She popped her head up a little higher. "I don't tell anyone my name. You can call me Shadow."
"What kind of a name is Shadow?"
It happened in a flash.
Shadow's arms formed a smoky mist around them, which, almost immediately, took the shape of her arms. She put her face up close to mine and an arm to my throat. I realized the smoky mist had turned into swords, one for each hand. "You wanna find out?" She whispered threateningly.
My eyes were wide open with fear, not really because I had a sword dripping with evil pressed to my throat, but because I had seen it again. The dark magic Din had used.
"N-no thanks!"
"That's what I thought." Shadow said cooly. Her swords faded into nothing.
"This girl is evil." I thought. "She has a bad personality, she was reluctant to give me her name, and she used the same dark magic I saw at the festival. Well, I may as well see how much info I can get from the enemy."
Shadow began to walk away. I hurried to catch up with her.
"Sooo..." I began, hands behind my back. "What was that magicky-sword-thingy you just used?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well...I just saw it earlier today, and-"
"What?!?!" Shadow stopped, turned around, and grabbed me by my shoulders.
"Aha! You're so caught!" I cried in triumph, which, seeing as how Shadow had me by the shoulders, was probably not the best idea.
Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I wasn't supposed to see this dark magicky thing before, was I? And now your master plan is ruined!"
Shadow blinked slowly. "What?"
"You're evil. Your master plan is ruined because I saw your magic."
"I'm about as evil as you are."
"I'm evil?!"
Shadow gave me a 'You've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. "You're not evil, so I'm not evil, okay? Look, just-describe what the magic you saw was like.
"Well, there was a person sort of weilding it..." Shadow nodded. "And it kind of turned into a smoky mist around her arm..." Shadow didn't ask who 'her' was. "And I don't think anyone noticed until it formed a shape around her arm. And then it hardened, but not really. More like it took the shape of her arm, like a second skin. Link...wax." I shuddered. "Pure evil." I said, feeling dramatic, in a good way. I think I put on a good show.
Shadow burst into gasps of laughter, shattering my dramaticness "Th-that's...not...pure...evil!" She chortled, in between laughs. "Not...even...close!"
"Then what is it?" I said grumpily.
"Okay...okay..." Shadow said calming down. "Okay. Well, you need to understand something, Link. What you saw me use is called shadow magic."
"Uh-huhhh."
"Shadow magic looks like this." Shadow held up her hand. A smoky fog surrounded her hand and seemed to solidify instantly."A sword." She said, holding up the black colored metal. "See, Shadow Magic is very powerful, and solidifies almost immediately. Whatever you turn it into, it becomes that material. So, I made a sword, and it became metal, even though it remained a black color. What you saw," Shadow let the sword disappear in her hand. "Probably looked like this."
Her face muscles went slack. She slumped over, and her shoulders drooped. She just barely held out her hand.
Then I saw something. I could just barely make out a small puff of blackness in her hand. It began to grow, and grow, and grow, until it had completely covered her hand. It waited a minute, then began to solidify. But not like the quick, instant smoke that Shadow had used a moment ago. This was inching slowly, until it took the texture of what I guessed to be wax.
Shadow raised her arm, which was covered in the black, sticky, tar-like substance, and in a spit-second, whipped the wax-thing into the air. I saw it catch around something, then return to eye level.
She turned to me with a smirk. "Here."
The arm unfurled itself to reveal a squished butterfly. I looked at Shadow in disbelief and a bit of disgust.
"Ew."
The arm disappeared along with the butterfly. "That's what you saw, right?"
I nodded.
She sighed. "It's called Nystach. You light-dwellers call it 'Black Magic.'"
"You talk about 'Light-Dwellers' like you're not one."
She gave me a confused look. "I'm not. Didn't you notice?"
What?
"WHAT?!?!" I exclaimed, hopping away in surprise.
"What?" Shadow said, looking puzzled.
"Y-y-y-you're from the Twilight Realm?"
"Or the Dark World, whichever floats your boat."
"You are evil!"
She rolled her eyes. "We've already confirmed that I'm not."
"No, I mean, the Twili are an evil race!"
"That's a stereotype. We're actually pretty nice people, if not fierce and a bit cold at times."
I stopped for a second. "Oh. Really?"
"What's my motive to lie?"
I didn't think this conversation was going anywhere, so I took her answer and left it at that.
"Oookay. So, you're not evil, you're a Twili, and you can use two types of magic. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
Probably not the best thing to say. Shadow narrowed her eyes and said in a fierce tone "You know what? I won't tell you anything more. We're not friends, and the only reason you know this is because you were annoying enough to drag it out of me. I don't like people with stereotypes, either."
I widened my eyes. "That was sudden."
"I have a right to keep my life away from the prying eyes of a stranger. I won't tell you anything more, and I have things to do. Goodbye." And with that, Shadow stormed off, leaving me feeling empty.
"W-wait!" I called. She didn't turn around. "Wait! Shadow! Let me tell you something!" That made her falter. She began to walk back to me.
"What's that?" She said suspiciously.
"I-I-I'm...sorry I...talked to you...? Is that a good apology?"
She sighed. "Maybe it was a bit rude to walk out on you like that. It's just that I've had too much information about myself leak out before, and I got myself in a lot of trouble. So...I'm the one who's really sorry."
"Yes! I got her trust, boss!" I said over Shadow's shoulder. I was greeted by a punch in the face.
"Not. Funny."
"Yeesh! I was just kidding!" I said, rubbing my cheek.
Shadow sighed. "Don't joke around with that. Seriously, not funny."
"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry...again."
"I accept your apology."
"Then will you help me with something? Since you're all good and stuff?"
Now she was suspicious. "And what would this something be?"
And then I exploded. I told Shadow everything about what had happened this day. I went from hitting my head on the shelf above my bed, (Shadow looked a bit uncomfortable at that part,) to going to the festival with Jine, and meeting Mikau there, and how we went to see Sila, but she couldn't sing because she was sick, and listening to Jine's speech, and how Sila interrupted, and everyone discovered that she was evil, and actually Din, the Goddess of power, and how the real Sila was dead, and how Din kidnapped Jine with Black Magic,
"And then she a'sploded the whole courtyard, and now I'm here."
The entire time, Shadow watched and listened, raised her eyebrows, muffled some rouge giggles, twitched her eye.
"A'sploded?" She said, when I finished talking, with her head cocked to the side, one eye wide and the other squinted. "Did you seriously just say 'a'sploded?"
I looked down guiltily. "I like to say a'sploded."
Shadow sat down on a nearby rock, with her head in her hands. "This is bad." She said quietly. "This is very, very, bad."
"I know. Who's gonna help smuggle me into Hyrule Castle, now that Jine's gone?"
"No, you idiot!" Shadow cried, jumping up and shaking me by the shoulders. "Din is the Goddess of power! If she's gone evil, cukoo, or been possessed, do you know how much damage she could cause?!" Shadow let go with something like a push.
"I-I didn't really think about it..." I stammered.
"I'm not even the same race as you, let alone religion, and even I remembered! How could you Hylians forget?!"
"I don't know! I don't know!" I cried.
"I read," Shadow began "I read in Tansaki u Ata that light-dwellers would choose a specific Goddess to worship by them self, and attend a temple of that certain goddess on her day of the week."
"Not anymore we don't." I responded. Most Hylians don't even have a religion."
"Then what's the reason for that Goddesses' Festival of yours?"
I shrugged. "To party, I guess. And what the Chu-Chu is Tankaki na ta-whatever?"
"Tansaki u Ata is a story about when the Light and Dark worlds were first created. It tells about the lives of both worlds, and was supposedly written by one of the first Twilins and one of the first Hylians." She exhaled. I listened to her breath come out in a soft whoosh. "It's obvious why Din attacked, then. All you idiot Hylians forgot about her and her sisters, and now she's ticked off."
"Well, can we stop her?"
"I don't think-" Shadow stopped midsentence as a devious smile crept across her face. "Well, there might be a way written in a Twilight book back in the Dark World...but..."
"Wait! You can find a way in the Dark World?" I got a whack on the head as a response. "That is exactly what I just said. Learn to listen."
"Pardon" I said sarcastically.
"But anyways, it would take a lot of work to translate the ancient scripts into Hyrulean, so I'd need some motivation..."
My eyebrow escaped toward the top of my head. "Motivation?"
She grinned at me. "My house is looking kind of messy, but I'm so sure that you can help out."
"Seriously? You want me to clean your house, and in return, you translate scripts for me." Her eyes rolled up then down. "And once again, logic boy solves the impossible. Congrats."
"Are you kidding me?!" I practically shouted. "My friend is in trouble. She could be dead by the time we find a way. You're making me clean your house in return for answers!"
I expected Shadow to cower and surrender, but instead she got this really scary look on her face, and I swear her black eyes glinted red. "Take it or leave it." She said quietly. "I am your only hope and you know it." I tensed myself for a fight, but she responded "And don't think you can fight me. Tougher people have run away from with a slap to the face."
"Fine." I said, trying to imitate her. "But don't think I'll enjoy it." A side of her mouth twitched into a smile. "Okay. Let's go." She grabbed my wrist.
And then we were flying. Bright, beautiful colors slashed by our faces, as darker, blackish-grayish-blue colors chased after. I could somehow feel the colors. The rainbows whizzed by, leaving a comforting, warm feeling inside and outside. Like feeling sunlight warm your skin while hot chocolate slid down your throat. And then I felt the darker colors move by. Chilly, cool night air blew over my shoulders, as cold water poured through my veins and throat, chilling me to the bones. I glanced over at Shadow, to see if she felt the same displeasure, but I think she was enjoying it.
We landed with a dull thud on hard, rocky ground.
"Welcome," Shadow said, raising her arm out with a flourish and putting the other around my shoulder, "To the Twilight Realm!"
I took one look at the red sky with black clouds, gray buildings, and dark green clothes highlighted with blue, and fell to the ground, becoming instantly ill.
Shadow looked at me with disgust. "Nasty, Link." When I was done, she snapped her fingers, and the pool of sick disappeared, along with the gunk on my lips. "How-?" I croaked, pale from fear and weakness. "Shadow magic. It can do that." But she looked a bit uneasy. "Here, I'll show you to my house."
Shadow's house was small, with about three floors. A basement, main area with a kitchen, and top floor, with her bedroom. And it was, very messy.
"Nice place you got here." I muttered sarcastically.
She shot me a look. "I've been gone awhile. I couldn't clean up."
"Great." I said. "I'm so looking forward to this."
She gave me a smirk. "I can help you, you know. But you're gonna have to finish some chores."
"Sure." I said, pointing my head at the ceiling dramatically. "So long as it helps Jine."
"Pfft." She muttered. "Such a hero! So noble! If you go spouting that stuff around my house, though."
I took a moment to study the house. "Oh, this'll be fun."
"Great!" She said, grinning. She handed me a broom. "You can start by sweeping up those papers over there!" And with that, she left the house.
Back to Part 3 | Continue to Part 5
