Several hours have passed since the fortunate meeting of this mysterious man and I. Several hours of nearly endless walking through ankle high snow. While that isn't strange in and of itself, the silence in which we traveled was. I was used to the quiet, having never truly enjoyed the chattering of idle conversation and the use of noise to break a comfortable silence. Well, at least when it was up to me to provide the conversation. I prefer to listen more than to speak myself. This silence however, was anything but comfortable. My footfalls were still audible, my breathing as well. But their walking pace... It was difficult to discern. Their own breathing was either incredibly light... Or simply impossible to hear. Again, it would have been fine, if they were walking a comfortable few paces away. But they and I... We were walking abreast, side by side, a mere foot or so between our shoulders. I guess I should just chalk it up to being another instance of this strange man's preternatural abilities. A list of which that is growing far faster than I would have liked.

"We should be crossing into the Kingdom very soon." Okay I'll admit it, I flinched at the sudden breech of silence. I turned my eyes towards my traveling companion and found that he was staring straight at me, his smile still unbroken. As unsettling as that image was, I knew it was rude to react in a way that betrayed my unease. So I simply nodded, before taking in the landscape around us. He was right of course, the scenery was much more recognizable to my eye now that I was paying a greater level of attention. A fact that both comforted and set me on edge, we were making suspiciously excellent time. According to my previous navigational calculations I shouldn't have arrived here until sometime midday tomorrow. Currently we were passing through the woods at the south eastern edge of Hyrule, the massive and dense growth making travel by sight alone difficult. It was small wonder that many would find themselves lost in these woods. How we had arrived without my noticing was suspicious in and of itself, but not to be ungrateful, I simply accepted the lessened journey. Glancing back at my travel partner with a questioning look was all I needed to elicit another response from him.

"Not to worry my young fellow, once we enter the kingdom proper we'll be set to start our business transaction. However I do suppose I have left you in the dark for quite a bit now haven't I? So how about I illuminate you on how we are going to rebuild the mirror and break into the realm the goddesses have abandoned. Step one, we'll need to gather items that were created in the realm of twilight, and they will aid us in our efforts on getting there. After all; from whence they came, so they shall return again. Step two, those items have spent far too much time here in the realm of the light, and so they'll need to be repaired and their magic restored. Just like I've done with that exquisite mask you have in your possession." Everything made sense so far, we would have to search the entirety of Hyrule for these objects, so we may use their restored powers to allow us entry. But that still left a question in my mind, for I had been all over every square inch of Hyrule during my adventure's to defeat Zant and then Ganondorf. There wasn't anywhere left to look, so how were we going to find them?

"Ah clever boy, the thought of 'where they might be' has just occurred to you, yes? Well, let's just say I have stumbled upon a few nooks and crannies that you couldn't have discovered on your own. That and the matter of you saving the kingdom was a pressing one. To distract yourself from that task even more than you already allowed yourself... It would have been irresponsible. Fortunately for you such pressing matters are not at hand and you can throw yourself fully into the task or get distracted for a while and return to it all on your own whims. But I digress, we were talking about the hidden locations of these items and how you couldn't have found them. Well fear not, the solution to that conundrum rests with that mask." His words were labyrinthine and his meanings muddled. What could that possibly mean, the answer rests with the crown? With a sigh I lowered my pack to the ground and drew out the item we were discussing from where I had stored it. The crown was a heavy stone relic that seemed like it would be quite awkward to wear upon one's head. As I slowly turned it over in my hands I began to remember what he had said when we had first met, that he had repaired and restored its power. Its power... What powers did this relic possess? Almost without thought my hands had begun to raise the crown up and over my head.

I hesitated... I do not know why, but I hesitated. Was it some notion of taboo that stopped me? Was it as simple as it clashing with my normal fashion sense? That would be a silly reason why I would hesitate. With a shake of my head and a quick adjustment of my hair, I closed my eyes and laid the crown upon my brow. At first it seemed as if nothing had changed, just the new, awkward, and heavy piece of stone accessory upon my dome. I do not know how I looked, for I have no mirror, but if it looked even half as foolish as it made me feel... I sighed as I turned to look at the man who had 'inspired' me to put on this ridiculous thing. That was easier said than done as apparently the man was now standing on the other side from where I had last left him. Damn his silent footsteps for forcing me to turn my head back and forth like a confused simpleton. Once my eyes had found him, I couldn't help but frown as that grin of his had taken on a new found level of joy. Joy completely at my expense no doubt! I was just about to tear the crown from my head when he lifted a hand and slowly moved it from side to side before me. Why on this great green earth was he doing that? It was as if he was testing my vision, which was irritating, for I was not blind! Of course I could see- Wait!?

It was then that I remembered how the crown had always looked, and the large square of stone that should have been in front of my left eye. My hand shot up to my face instantly and it collided with the aforementioned obstruction. It was still there and yet I was able to see right through it as if it were glass! Amazed at the new development I began to look around at my surroundings once again, this time with a truly discerning gaze. I had been wrong, it wasn't like glass, for glass would have been cloudier than how well I was seeing now. It was as if the stone was simply not there at all! Excitement quickly passed as pragmatism began to creep back into my mind. Being able to see through the stone was nice but it was a party trick at best, there must have been more to it than that but what I could not say. With a sigh I pulled the crown from my head. It was by mere chance that I looked up and watched as the man before me simply vanished.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

I suppose that I must admit a second time to flinching suddenly because of the man who calls himself Orin. Now that he was gone and nowhere to be seen, I began looking around furiously trying to find him. I looked first to the left and then to the right before spinning around fully. No matter the action I took I could not catch a glimpse of the man whom I had been walking with not a few minutes prior. I was not left long to panic however, as a familiar voice began laughing from literal thin air. I could hear where he was, but seeing him was proving to be impossible! That is when I heard the crunch of snow beneath one's foot and I realized he had very deliberately took a heavy sounding step. Looking down at the snow beneath my feet I noticed that there was a new footprint. A single step in a perpendicular angle to the rest of the line of prints, made in such a way as to be very obvious. Then a second crunch of snow occurred as he took another very heavy step, and another print was formed beside the first. That is when my brain finally caught up with me and I put the crown back on over my head. The very instant it had settled back into place, the man just popped back into existence. It was as if whatever had been keeping him from my sight had just been a part of my imagination.

"I don't suppose that little demonstration was enough to convince you, my boy? As you now see, that mask has quite the multitude of abilities to aid it's wearer. Spilling all of it's secrets in one sitting would simply lead you to confusion. So I'll show that modicum of restraint today, and simply leave it at that. Now onto further matters we-"

"How?" Twice now my interruption seemed to throw him off. Once upon our first meeting and the second instance was just now. His expression frozen as if my question hadn't occurred to him to expect. I didn't ponder this line of thinking further and instead continued with my questioning. "How am I able to use the crown? Isn't it a relic of the Twili? An ancient artifact created long ago before their banishment into the realm which they now reside? How is it that I am able to even touch such a creation let alone use it's powers? The other fused shadows drove the people they cam in contact with into madness and corruption. So why is it that I am exempt?" This was the first time where his face became quite contemplative, like the answer wasn't one he confidently knew. It didn't last long, but just the fact that even he was given pause by such things gave me more reasons to trust in this man. Still, the matter of whether do or not was as of yet still unsettled.

"The answer to that is a complicated mess of twisting theories and magical research that I hadn't the time to fully hammer out. However if you want the answer that I have at the moment, despite having some holes in the logic then I can tell you this. You were corrupted by the powers of twilight when the realms had begun to merge. Not completely, not enough to drive you to madness or to possess you. But corrupted none the less... maybe corrupted isn't the right word for it... Acclimated to it? Inoculated by it? Either way by being the bearer of the sacred triangle you were saved from your doom, and allowed you to grow accustom to the world of shadow. Just as the princess's sacrifice allowed your previous travel companion to travel with you in the land of light." as he spoke memories began to flash though my mind, moments of my bestial form, the shadow crystal used by Zant to trap me, the mad rush to find Zelda, my closest fiend and ally so close to death's door... I shook my head no longer wanting to bear these thoughts any longer.

"So because I had become partially fused with the twilight I am now able to wield this crown? I don't like how that sounds... It's convenient. Too convenient for my liking. What are you hiding from me?" My accusation once again kept him on the back foot. Both his hands raised in placation, his face shocked and begging for my trust. I could see the gears turning in his mind, just behind those eyes of his. Clearly he wasn't ready for the possibility of our deal going sour.

"Please, Link, I beg of you. As I have said it is the best working theory that I have, and is the key reason why I have come to you in the first place. As the saying goes, 'when coincidence seems too convenient, I prefer to call it fate.' Do you not agree? I honestly thought that you'd be happy! It would have been yet one more thing you have in common with your previous companion. The princess of that realm of shadows, M-" As his mouth began moving to form the word my hand had moved faster. Drawn from its sheath came the blade that I carried with me, a simple blade of modest construction but one that suited me as I am now. Once freed from its resting place, the blade came up into a two handed rising thrust. Its destination, his throat. This time with eyes focused on my target I was freely able to see the inhuman reflexes and strength at work through his frame. Once again those thin and nimble fingers clasped around my blade tip and halted my thrust. However this time there was no smirking bravado, no grinning confidence that graced his face. No. This time his face held a smattering of surprise, concentration, fear... and a hint of rage. Good.

"Just as I refuse to be called hero, I refuse for you to speak their name. Do I make myself clear?" Our eyes locked and for that briefest of seconds I swear I saw a flicker of amusement intermingle with that hint of rage. The kind of combination that springs to mind when spite filled actions were dancing at the back of one's thoughts. However their hand released my blade once again and returned to being raised in placation. Their eyes let go of the darker emotions as a form of calm seemed to wash through them. It was again unsettling to see.

"I apologize. I knew of your regrets and the betrayal you had experienced, yet still I pried too hard when attempting to nudge you in a favorable direction. For that I am sorry. I am used to resorting to manipulation and coercion simply as a way of survival in this cruel world. But I see now the error in my actions. You are an integral part in my plans and instead of treating you like an equal, I treated you as a pawn to be played. Not a word more from me will be spoken on the subject of your past. Is that agreeable to you, Link?" We stood in silence, both looking at each other for many a second as my blade tip hovered in the air a hand's breadth from his throat. Finally I sighed and once again lowered my blade. It had been so long since I had been worked up like this, since my temper had flared up like this. I guess I had made less progress than I had hopped.

"Apology accepted, lets just get back to Hyrule and get this over with."