The sand of the desert still lingered in memory. Zant's shadow soldiers. Nocta's talisman. That moment when the shadow name flooded in——the sensation of all strength draining from her body, the threads of shadow-weaving scattering into mist. Link's figure diving toward her at the edge of her vision. But he didn't reach her. When she came to, she was here. A twilight space. A mist that was neither orange nor purple, a color that led nowhere, stretched endlessly. No up, no down. No sense of gravity. Midna's small body floated suspended in the void, unable to move a single finger. Frozen like stone. No——compressed by something heavier than stone, her entire body crushed in its grip. Shadow name dominion——the binding art that seized the body from its roots when the true name directly connected to a Twilight's soul was used in forbidden form. Midna had no magical reserves left to resist it from the start. Even before heading toward the Gerudo Desert, her crest had been ashen-white the whole time. Depleted. And yet she'd fought the swarm of shadow soldiers, scraping away what little remained. So when Nocta opened the talisman, she couldn't resist at all. (Damn it.) She screamed only in her heart. When she tried to speak, her throat wouldn't move. Her lips trembled, but no sound came. Only her eyes could move. Only her eyes glared at Nocta before her. Silver short hair. Pale aquamarine at the tips. Small horns. Odd eyes——left silver, right crimson. Nocta was crying. Without a sound, just crying. Tear tracks on her cheeks. It made Midna's anger burn so fiercely she thought she'd tear apart. If you're going to cry, don't cry at all. I'm the one who has the right to cry. "[crying]……Midna" Her voice was quiet. Even while crying, it didn't waver. "[sad]I could never say it, you know? Not when you said you were leaving on that journey. Not even after you started smiling beside Link" Nocta moved a little closer. Midna's body wouldn't move. She couldn't escape. "[sad]I loved you. Always, always. That's all it was" Those words were sincere. Twisted, but real. Because Midna understood that, the voiceless scream inside her only grew louder. (So what. That doesn't make this right.) I'm not your doll. Whether I return to Twilight or not——that's my choice. Whether I want to stay beside that human or not——that's my choice. Not yours. But her voice wouldn't come. She tried to clench her fists, but her fingers wouldn't move. Nocta continued. "[cold]Every time you looked at Link's back, your crest would glow. I saw it all" A beat. "[sad]Midna, who never smiled, reacting only to that human's actions. It tore my chest apart every single time. So if I could just——bring you back to Twilight, before the mirror breaks, I thought we could be together like we used to" "For your sake," she said. The fragment of rightness in those words and the totality of their cruelty collided inside Midna. To protect and to control wear such similar faces. Midna understood it all, trapped in her motionless body. She understood, and still the anger wouldn't fade. (I don't want your love. Not like this. Never like this.) Then her consciousness wavered. Nocta's voice grew distant. The twilight mist seemed to deepen slightly. The exhaustion sank deeper still. And then——it flowed in. The eye of heart-shadow. The Twilight ability to read emotions. She hadn't meant to activate it. But her control over her magic had slipped, worn away past its limit. The sensation of a distant place flowed directly into her. Desert twilight. Two figures standing on sand. The sensation of Link's hand. The temperature where Zelda's fingertips touched it. The quiet, certain weight of their joined hands. And when Zelda looked up at Link——something deep and calm and unshakeable. In the moment Link's gaze met Zelda's face, something that dwelt in that glance. "……っ" It didn't become a sound. But something inside her body——shattered. She heard a sound. Nothing was actually audible. But in the center of her chest, something cracked. (They suit each other. Those two.) The princess of the light world and the hero of the light world. Standing in the same place. Living under the same light. It's not unnatural for them to hold hands. That's the right picture. Midna being there——that's what's wrong. (I'm a resident of the shadow world.) I can't stay active in the light world for long. When the journey ends, the mirror of shadow breaks. We'll never meet again. I knew that from the start. I knew it, so why—— Memories pressed down on her. Unstoppable. Since childhood, she'd carried the weight of expectation as a Twilight princess. The eyes of her people. The responsibility of the royal house. Betrayed by Zant, cursed and transformed, and still she'd buried her feelings for the sake of duty. Even when she thought she loved someone, there was nowhere to say it. She didn't believe she had the right. The freedom to tell someone you love them——she'd never had it from the beginning. That weight came crashing down all at once. Tears came unbidden. She couldn't stop them. Trapped in her motionless body, unable to make a sound, only tears flowed. She knew it was jealousy. She knew it was pathetic. But before that realization came another——she'd forgotten how to cry. How long had it been since she could cry like this? She'd wanted to cry so badly, and yet somewhere along the way, she'd lost even that. (I won't see them again after I go back. The mirror will break.) (What's the point of loving someone? It's stupid.) Nocta's voice rose. "[scared]Midna——!" Wrong. Not looking at Midna, but at Midna's body. She felt it too. Her hands——were disappearing. Her outline blurred, dissolving into mist. Her body was fading. The last fragment of her crest changed from ashen-white to pale white. Vanishing. Her existence. Nocta grabbed the talisman. Trying to undo it. Tracing the characters backward——her hands stopped. "[scared]……I don't know how to undo it" For the first time, her voice had shed every mask of nonchalance. She'd learned the binding art. But no one had ever taught her how to break it. "[crying]Midna, Midna, Midna——!" Nocta reached out her hand. But the moment her fingers touched, Midna's body scattered like particles of light. Untouchable. Consciousness sank like drowning in water. (What's the point of loving someone) (Going back won't change anything. There's nowhere left) (……I'm so stupid.) Whether those words were an insult to herself or meant for someone else, she never found out. Midna's eyes were closing. In that moment. In the deepest part of her being——something ignited. Not her own magic. Not Nocta's shadow. Something of a different nature entirely. A gentle, quiet light. The remnant of the power Zelda had once shared with Midna during the shadow's encroachment——a fragment of light magic. A dying ember born from another's will. Inside her completely faded crest, it kindled at a single point, glowing white. Midna didn't notice. But that faint flicker reached somewhere in the light world, certain and true.