*Palace of Twilight*

SHATTER IT! TO PIECES! SHATTER THE MIRROR, JUST LIKE THE HERO HAS SHATTERED YOUR HEART. WITHOUT HESITATION. WITHOUT REMORSE. SHATTER IT AND ITS CONNECTION TO THE LAND OF FILTH. THE LAND THEY CALL THE REALM OF LIGHT.

The voice had grown potent. Your own thoughts couldn't bring themselves up for air in the drowning vortex of the voice's command. You stood, holding the mirror above your head. You couldn't recall how you grabbed the mirror. You couldn't even recollect how you were now standing where you were. Or how you managed to overpower Midna with the most brash shove. She sat on the ground where you had pushed her. The surprise and hurt overcast on her normally impassive expression.

You wanted to stop yourself. You wanted to apologize to Midna. But hadn't she brought this on herself? It was her own foolish fault.

She's a comrade of the Hero anyway. She's a traitor by association.

You rapidly shook your head. The fear of your thoughts being unable to make their way to your face. Flashes slowly sparked before you, in the form of Zant going mad.

Princess Midna. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Lord Zant tried to free us. As his daughter, it is your duty. After all, you aren't so different. You've seen the squalor of the light. Break the mirror, Y/N. Take the throne from Midna and direct the Twili back to their rightful inheritance of power. Then, with the Triforce of Shadow, we shall once again conquer the light.

We shall once again resurrect King Ganondorf to lead us through the dark and into the light.

Triforce of Shadow?!

Your hands quivered; your arms were sore from resisting throwing the mirror to the ground. Inside of you was a force that still fought against the voice of evil.

The force known as love.

If I did this, if I set Ganondorf free... Link would surely have to face him again.

And what if...what if he isn't as lucky? Should he perish, would it be Ganondorf that is his killer, or would it be I? The one who loves him.

You resist my command? Let me invigorate you with a tale. A Hylian, a beautifully robust creature residing in the light, meets the love of her life one day. Only this man is not of her world. This man, with his scathing eyes of crimson and his pioneering ways. He has no time for a simpleton's emotion, such as love. He sees the woman as a puppet for his voracious ambition. This man, among many other interlopers, sought to spread his seed among the inhabitants of light. Impregnating them with the dastardly shadows known as Twili. Only these Twili, these half-breeds, were shunned from the light, equivalently like their full-blooded Twili peers. The woman, finding out she was pregnant with the seed of a shadow, was a rare exception for a Hylian. For she still saw her baby as her child. And so she insisted the man take her to his realm, where they could be without the harsh confinements and judging eyes of the light. Only this man sought to create as many half-breeds as he could. His action was to create a breed of Twili who, rightfully, would belong within both realms to do his bidding. The woman, finding out the man used her for his own aspirations, took her life. For she not only would lose the child she loved unconditionally but never was loved by the man whom she loved.

Heartbreak is a powerful weapon. It serves as the greatest motivator in the world. Do you wish to be as foolish as the Hylian? Do you wish to not partake in your right as a half-breed, who could serve dominion over both realms?

What?!

Midna's face was placid as she remained still on the palace floor. She could see your fingers tightly gripping the mirror while your muscles trembled for release. She knew you were going to face your shadow within.

"Y/N," Midna called to you, refusing to let the trepidation of the scene in front of her show on her face.

"Y/N," Midna addressed you once more. Her calm voice helped you feel like you weren't in this fight alone.

"Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other." Midna elucidated nothing more and nothing less. She finally stood, dusting off her skirt. She coolly walked to your side.

"M-Midna don't come any closer! I can't promise I won't-" The fragility you heard in your own voice overpowered you with sorrow.

"It's ok to feel your feelings. To feel jealousy. And despite everything, through it all, to feel love."

You stammered, trying to make conversation to hold off the insistent demands of the voice. "S-Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin. So, then the Triforce of Shadow..."

Midna gently regarded you with a tilt of her head. She lifted her hand up so you could see the back of it. She bowed down, her expression accepting. Dignified. All at once, her markings moved, causing trickling waves of light to radiate like a coursing river running down her body. To witness Midna's markings animate themselves in such a way generally calls for exaltation of the highest degree. But you stood, paralyzed by the fear of the vile voice in your head.

Midna's hand began to beam, and the brightness caused you to writhe at the discomfort of the relentless light.

NOW! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, FOOL!

As the glow fizzled down, you could make out a familiar triangular shape. Only this triangle lacked the goddesses' luscious gold aura. No, this was different. The garish hue of purple frayed into Midna's flesh, outlining the severity of the shape.

The severity of what it was that you were looking at.

Crusted into the back of her hand was the Triforce. Only it wasn't the legendary Triforce of the Realm of Light. Its pools of squid ink bled into a coalescence of lavender and violet, forming the Triforce of Shadow.

The bottom left triangle within the Triforce continued to blaze on Midna's hand. Demanding you to heed its presence at once.

"Y/N, " Midna continued to keep her hand raised as a testament to her words. "If this Triforce graced the hand of Princess Zelda, you would know it as the Triforce of Wisdom, but that is the Triforce in the Realm of Light." Midna let out a resentful snort. "This Triforce is the shadow of the one gifted to the inhabitants of light. It embodies the shadow elements of courage, wisdom, and power."

Midna brought her hand up to her lips, her words creating goosebumps on her flesh. "I regard Zelda for her tremendous wisdom. I regard her so much because I am the shadow wielder of the Triforce of Folly."

Midna's eyes flickered up towards you. Remorse pained her gaze. You didn't need her to tell you what was going to happen next. You felt the back of your hand scorch.

"If light and dark are one in the same, if you and Zelda each wield the perfect opposite of each other's Triforce..." The back of your hand was numb thanks to the tears that began to ravage your eyes.

You knew what the sage was trying to tell you.

"Link..." you choked back a sob. You would never be able to escape Link, even if you broke the mirror.

Link has found you. Has found the other wielder.

For he was the Triforce wielder of courage.

And you were the chosen wielder of fear.

You could shatter the mirror, but you would never be able to shatter your other half.

Or the love you held for him.

Edited: 7/3/23

Well, this is some "shattering" news. 

Even the sacred life force, the Triforce, is not without its own shadow. The legacy of the courage, wisdom, and power the goddesses have instilled throughout Hyrule must coexist with their darker counterparts, folly, fear, and impotence. 

With every last shred of your sanity on the line, will the realization that you and Link will always be connected by the goddesses' decree keep your inner shadow at bay?

Or will the "link" to the Realm of Light and your better half be permanently severed by your own burning jealousy and fear of scorching rejection?

Check out my other completed OOT Zelda work- No Woman Beyond