Zant was having a good day, all things considered. He'd made some new friends and convinced some people who believed him to be the enemy that he was in fact not. He'd learned a few valuable lessons and gotten to meet some extraordinary people. He'd gotten to share the coming of the shadow eclipse with the most beautiful Hylian he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. He'd even gotten to beat some con man senseless. It was, as one might say, a great day. But that is the curse of knowing what the future holds. Zant knew exactly what he was going to have to do to make sure days would continue to be good. He knew the price, dreaded it with every passing minute. He was going to pay it all the same. He owed it to Hyrule to do this. To be the hero of his own tale. His little misadventure. He'd overcome all the trials with a little help, but this last one he'd have to face alone. In the end, he'd always be alone.
Last time he'd walked down this hallway, it had been as an unjust king of twilight. It had been on a mission of conquest. A defiance of the Goddesses in the name of his new, albeit false, god.
The scene was set just as he'd been told it would. The lighting a murky blue, drifting down from the skylights like angels of the sea. A shaky line of vibrant glowing red blood led him to his doom like a snake of death. The dead bodies of fallen soldiers were just another piece of the furniture to him. The walls of the hallway that he passed through was the only thing that made him pause. In his visions the walls were always spread apart to where you'd have to shout to hear the person on the other side. But here, they seemed so close he feared he would suffocate. This wasn't where the visions started, he came to realize. They started at the end of the hall. In the throne room. The dastardly evil throne room. Zant had a thing about throne rooms. A fear, some might call it. He didn't have any good memories in throne rooms, so tried to avoid them when possible. This week he'd had worse luck with them than usual (partially because of his flair for dramatics). Careful to avoid getting blood on his feet, he entered the room.
Magic bounced around the throne room in a spectacular light show. Like a battle between two powerful lightning bolts, each trying to outshine the other. The blaze was enough to steal the sight of a normal person if they stared too long. But Zant was not normal anymore. He could see just fine.
Midna, a courageous expression on her face, was casting magic with the skill of a demon (which is to say perfectly and with great talent). She was tiring though. It was obvious from the purple tint to her skin from where she'd been burned and the worn look in her eyes. The great Red Owl, a mixture of both evil power and corrupted wisdom, was shooting spheres of light. It did not appear tired. In fact, it looked animated, it was enjoying this chance to test its new powers. To flap its wings and learn to fly.
Zant took a few steps forward. No one noticed him. There was a giant flame in front of the throne he'd once wished he'd be the one to occupy. A sacrificial fire, required in many ancient rituals. The flame seemed to call out to him, asking him to come closer, to give in, to end it all. He ignored it and took a few more steps forward.
Link was on the ground in front of the flame, weaker than weakness itself. He was dying, for a number of reasons. At this point, he probably would have welcomed death, embraced it as a friend. But the Goddesses still had plans for him. Courage wouldn't let him die. Zant stared at Link with intense curiosity. He'd seen this moment many times before, but it still amazed him. The triforce symbol appeared on Link's severed left arm, just above the bleeding end. Zant heard Link mumble weakly, "No... I need to save her." His Goddess was listening and granted his wish. Link was transformed into a beautiful wolf with a thick coat of silver and blue intelligent eyes that stared into your soul. The wolf that was Link stood weakly, shaking violently. He whined in pain as his left leg and paw regenerated.
It was fascinating to Zant that the Goddesses had just brought Link back from the dead, yet to save everyone Zant would have to willingly accept a fate worse than death. Maybe it was penance for all the horrible things he'd done. Maybe it was because his ancestors were the interlopers. Whatever the case, he was being abandoned by the Goddesses once again.
Zant turned his attention back to the battle. His time would come soon. Midna, strong and beautiful Midna, was clearly exhausted. She wasn't giving up though. How long had she been trading blows with the Red Owl? Perhaps an hour, maybe more. Not to mention she'd been fighting in the battle of Hyrule Fields outside. Who could expect anyone, even a skilled warrior like the Twilight Queen, to fight for so long without rest? No one could. Not even the great hero of Courage had been able to.
Midna failed to dodge an attack and was knocked off her feet. Smoke trailed up from her purpled skin as she tried to get back up. One more blow would easily kill her, a fact the Red Owl decided to take advantage of. A ball of light spun towards Midna. She shielded her face in a vain attempt to survive...
But nothing happened. Link had rushed out in front of her at the last second and the light had bounced off his fur harmlessly. He growled at the Red Owl, teeth bared menacingly.
"Link... What?" Midna stumbled over her words in confusion as Link took her place in battle. Zant walked over to Midna and helped her to stand.
"I don't understand the rules that govern Hylians anymore. How did he... Zant!" She pushed him away. Magic waited at her fingertips, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice.
"Calm down, Queen. I am here to help."
"Help!? Help!? When have you ever helped!?" Zant ignored her, he'd heard it all before. He grabbed the seven pieces of the fused shadows from the bag hanging on his shoulder.
"Wow... Where did you get that?" She'd visibly tensed, like she was wary of what he was going to do.
"The pieces were scattered across Castle Town. It wasn't too difficult to find all of them." He tastefully edited out all the help he'd had and how lost he'd been before said help. There was no reason for Midna to think the great Usurper King needed assistance.
"So that's what you were doing," she mused softly, clearly having thought he was doing something dastardly and evil. Technically, collecting the pieces of the Fused Shadows was dastardly and evil, as they had the power to topple entire worlds... Midna glanced over to Link. He was battling the Red Owl gallantly, but hadn't managed to injure it yet. Zant's red eyes watched the fight for a little while before turning back to Midna.
"If you can't trust me, the beast will perish. You will watch him die before being obliterated yourself... Do you understand this?" She stared at him, fear filling her face, eyes wide and anger splayed across her lips.
"Is that a threat?" She seemed ready to blast him off the face of existence. It was a fate he'd welcome compared to the one he was about to accept.
"No... It is a fact. If you want your precious wolf to live, you need to listen to me and do what I say." He tried to speak in a quiet non threatening way, but his stress leaked in and made him sound angry with an overpowering hint of fearful.
"What are you not telling me?" Her voice switched, sounding no longer angry... It was like it had sounded when they were younger, when she'd ask him to confide in her.
"It doesn't matter," he said softly, finding sorrow in the memories her voice retrieved. Link howled in pain, almost as if to prove Zant's point. The wolf had gotten too close and one of the Red Owl's cruelly sharp talons had managed to catch him on the side. A jagged line of red cut through his magnificent gray fur.
"Zant, I've known you for years. I can tell when you are hiding something... What are you afraid of?" she demanded, eyes still trained on Link.
"Eternal damnation. Or something worse. Doesn't matter. Don't you want your revenge?"
"Revenge? No, I prefer answers." Zant looked back to the fight. Link had a mouthful of feathers and the Red Owl was screeching in anger. They didn't have much time.
"There is no time! Can't you understand that!?" He took a few deep breaths. He needed to keep his cool. This wouldn't work if he lost it.
"I need you to use the power of the Fused Shadows to restrain the Red Owl. Please, I can't do this alone." He held the fused shadows out in front of him, offering them to her. She grabbed the helmet with a slight hesitance.
"You want me to use the Fused Shadows to restrain the Red Owl?"
"Yes." He didn't want to tell her the catch, not till she agreed. She'd been hanging out with heroes too much lately, she might get it into her head to try and stop him.
"Okay..." She looked at Link one last time before putting on the fused shadow.
"When you run out of power, draw on my soul, not Link's and definitely not your own," Zant told her firmly. A shake ran through him as he remembered the demons showing him this.
"Zant, I can't do that. I won't exile you to the demons' prison again."
"Wretched Goddesses! Why the change of heart now!? You don't have a choice. If you want to save the wolf, you have to do this," he said through clenched teeth. His hands were shaking, so he balled them into angry fists.
"Fine, but I need you to tell me something first."
"What?" Time was leaving them too fast.
"When you killed my brother, what did you do with the body?" The question caught him off guard, though he'd had ample time to think of the answer or even the reason for the importance of the question.
"I didn't do anything to the body. I didn't even see him the day I took over the castle."
"What happened to him then?"
"I don't know," he told her, mostly with honesty. The last he'd seen of Midna's brother was when he'd been passed over as ruler. He'd passed her brother in the hall as he'd ran to the balcony in a despairing need for silence. That was when he'd met the infamous Ganondorf. When he'd begun the path that would lead to his inevitable demise. Midna had once told Zant he'd been passed over because of the lust and greed that burned in his eyes. That same burn had been alight in Midna's brother's eyes when they'd passed in the hall...
"You must know something!"
"No and we don't have time to argue about it." Like clockwork, Link howled in agony. The Red Owl was smart and had tricked him with ease. He'd seen an attack opportunity and had jumped closer, only to be sliced across the face with that wicked talon. Blood dripped from his face, making it hard to tell where exactly he'd been cut. Zant knew it had been from the tip of the skull down along his jawline. It would leave a stunning scar, but now it only pained and blinded his vision with red. Good thing Link was experienced with pain and red tinted vision.
"I'm sorry Zant," Midna said. The air around her started to glow and a soft hum filled the air.
"So am I." Maybe, if he'd know it would have to end like this, he would have done something differently. Maybe he never would have tried to rule the world. Maybe he never would have become a puppet.
"You'll be okay, alright? We will find some way to free you..."
"Don't waste your breath, Queen... I trust your conscience won't suffer too much if you leave me to rot again. It's better this way. Just forget about your childhood best friend," he muttered bitterly.
"Maybe..." She shook her head and focused back on the magic.
"Remember, restrain. Don't try to harm it. We lose if you do."
"Why can't I destroy it?" she asked distractedly, her voice barely a whisper. All her concentration was on the magic flowing around her.
"The Red Owl will overpower you if you do. It is strong, stronger even than the demons. But it is also evil. Something Link and the Master Sword can deal with."
"Right. I'm sorry about this."
"Stop apologizing. You waste your strength with every breath."
Midna nodded. He could hear the slight whistle of air escaping through her lips as she mouthed words in the ancient language of magic. Light started to explode around her, illuminating her purpled skin harshly. Her fingers spun through the air, her arms splayed out and her feet lifted from the ground. Zant hardly batted an eye, he'd seen this more times than he could count. The demons had been merciless in their repetition of visions of the future.
"When you are ready, draw its attention." The light swirled about her.
"Red Owl! Over here!" she called quickly. The Red Owl spun its head straight around like the creepy demented thing it was.
"Shadow one!" It screeched in warning, barely speaking with their understanding. Midna laughed as though what it said was hilarious.
"You may have once been someone I looked up to, even considered a friend, but that doesn't mean I wont do this, princess." Her voice hummed with fury and sadness and a guilt that surprised Zant. She put her hands in front calmly, palms towards the Red Owl. Midna sent the light surrounding her slamming into the evil bird, pinning it to the ground. Link watched, teeth bared and ears back.
"Link! Do something! I can't keep this up for long!" Midna screamed at him, her hands trembling slightly.
"Midna, you won't last long if you don't use my soul," Zant told her forcefully. This was it. These were his final moments. Link growled threateningly at Zant, while he transformed back into a Hylian.
"Zant, what trick are you trying to pull?" the hero said with a slight yelp. He hadn't expected to return to his normal form and hearing his own voice come out of his mouth came as a surprise.
"No trick, beast. Grab your sword, there isn't much time." Zant still spoke with the utmost calm, though inside he was screaming.
Link glanced at Midna before nodding and retrieving the Master Sword. He moved fast despite his injuries. He was shaking his head like he'd just come back from a dream. Or a nightmare. Though the deep cut that ran across his face must have been causing him a lot of trouble, he found the sword easily.
"Queen, you must do it. You are a hero, so I know you will be strong enough to do what must be done." The restraints around the Red Owl shuddered and flickered out. Then they returned and Zant's reality split.
Part of him was still in the throne room, staring intently at the green one, screaming for him to attack. Another part of him was surrounded by darkness, with dark purple eyes staring at him menacingly from the gloom.
"Link! Attack! Now!" The hero gripped the sword, a line of white forming a ring around his left arm just below the severed sleeve. So many scars, yet so many pains not visible on his skin. What horrors hid in his mind?
"Welcome back, Usurper King." The demon's voice grated into Zant's skull. Stars spun in his vision.
"Link! Do it now!" Midna screamed, her voice breaking under the pressure. Zant felt like he had something he needed to say to her, before he was trapped here or there forever.
"We've been eagerly waiting for this day eagerly, it seems ages have passed since we last saw you." Link stabbed his sword into the Red Owl's head, burying it up to the winged handle.
"You can not win forever, Courage. Someday, Power will have its revenge," the Red Owl screamed in rage. Its feathers melted away till all that was left was the princess. Zelda kneeled before Link, eyes closed and a sword protruding out of her head.
"Do you realize what you have done, King?" Menacing, threatening and downright insulting. Zant was beginning to lose sight of the Light Realm. All was darkness.
"Thank you for freeing me. Link. Midna. Zant," the princess spoke, her voice thankful and strong. Though Zant could not see, he knew what happened next. The princess turned to gray ash and drifted away. Link would have tears in his eyes and be shaking uncontrollably. Midna would be floating back down to the ground slowly.
"Be careful, heroes. The trials in store will surely test you. Good luck on your journey," Zant said. Then he was gone from the Light Realm forever.
"Was it worth it, king?" a demon taunted.
"Yes... Yes it was."