Turning around to head back the way they'd come, Link stopped abruptly as a horde of monsters barged through. Both he and Midna backed up as the horde advanced towards them. He glanced behind them, knowing that the swarm of Bulblins, Lizalfo and Shadow Beasts were also closing in on them. He looked at Midna, who gave a nervous smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"What do we do now?" She questioned as they were forced back to back.

"I don't think we have a choice really…"

"Huh?"

"We have to fight our way out." He determined, suddenly raising his sword and bringing it down to pierce through a bulblin's head.

Midna smirked, and extended the large hand from her hair once more, smacking multiple enemies in one hit at the same time as Link sliced through another three with a horizontal slash.

"There's no way that we're gonna be able to fight off all of these!" She said, grabbing another bulblin and throwing it across the room, where it crashed into a wall and landed on the ground.

"If I can just make the transformation again then-"

"No! It's too risky! The few seconds you spend in between human and wolf form leave you vulnerable and open to attack."

"Well-" He began, stopping as ducked sideways to dodge an attack. "We can't-" He paused again, slicing through another Bulblin. "Take them all on like this."

"Heck yeah, we can!"

Feeling a surge of power, Midna advanced forward and used her powers to create a wave of energy that blasted half of the mob away, enabling them to have more movement. Using the created space, Link rolled away from an incoming Shadow Beast and swung his sword; taking its head off in one swift movement. He moved on quickly to another Bulblin, meanwhile Midna slid to where Link was previously standing and levitated off the ground before throwing another wave of energy, knocking over all that were hit with it. While they were down, Link moved in to attack. The pair continued to move and attack the horde this way until they were down to a mere handful.

"Okay, now you can transform and take them out, Link." Midna stated, smacking the remaining enemies away continuously.

"Gotcha!" He said as he became encased in darkness, only to reappear as the wolf.

With a wider range of attacks, Link focused his attention on the three Shadow Beasts that Midna was smacking away repeatedly, then he pounced on the nearest one and ripped into the surface of its withered skin, killing it. Once it had fallen, he pounced onto the next one, repeating the same attack and moving onto the third, slaying it in seconds. As he morphed back into human form, he looked back at Midna, who had just about finished off the remaining Lizalfo and Bulblin, then sheathed his sword.

"We should hurry before more hoards of monsters swarm this place." He stated, taking off up the staircase.

Upon reaching the door to Zelda's bed chambers, Link slowed near the doorway and peaked around the door, ensuring that the coast was clear. He stepped forward into the room when a tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around again.

"There's no one here, I doubt that if the shard were here that they would leave it unguarded." Midna pointed out.

"Unless it's not unguarded." He said. "The throne room was booby trapped, who's to say that this room isn't too?"

"Also true." She agreed.

"Ladies first…" He stepped aside.

Midna shook her head. "Nuh-uh, not this time!"

"Suit yourself." He muttered, venturing further into the room with caution. "Okay, it seems like this room is safe… but where could the mirror shard be?"

"Not here, considering the lack of enemies."

"Then I guess we should move-" Link began, turning for the door only to have it slam shut. "On. Uhh…."

"Don't just stand there! Open the door, Link!"

Reaching for the handle, he struggled as the door wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried. Even as he slammed himself into it, shoulder first, it wouldn't move. Giving up, he sighed in defeat and leaned back against the door.

"Great! We're stuck here."

"I'm sure we could find-"

"There's no way out other than through the door, Midna."

"Oh, well what about the window?"

"It's useless. Nothing but a death drop below."

"Hmm…" Midna hummed. "I guess someone is trying to keep us from getting our hands on the shard."

"And we fell for their tricks and can't do a damn thing about it!" He growled, kicking the door with the back of his heel.

"Seriously! Chill out, Link! We're not going to be able to think clearly if we get worked up!"

Inhaling deeply and then exhaling slowly, he sank to the floor. "I know… I just… I don't want to be trapped here feeling useless while Zant gets to carry out whatever he's planning."

Midna's expression softened and she sat down beside him in order to think for a moment. "Link… I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm saying this as your friend, but you've been really snappy recently and you've been trying to rush through this. Don't you think that maybe… well, maybe that might be what's holding us back?"

Link lifted his head and his expression flashed from hurt, to shock, to realization and his shoulders slumped. "You're right." He sighed. "I'm no good to anyone like this."

"No, Link… I didn't say that!" She groaned. "You mistook that. What I'm saying is that you're the only hope that this kingdom, and my own for that matter, have at getting rid of Zant, and I don't think you realize that sometimes you're holding yourself back by getting worked up or letting your desperation overtake you. But I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

Closing his eyes, he began to feel slightly awkward and uncomfortable. It wasn't due to Midna, but simply because he wasn't one to speak up and pass the burden onto others. Though sometimes it wasn't always best, and just as he feared; this was one of those times.

"I just don't want to fail them, or you or- or her."

"And you won't." She assured him. "You have never failed at this before, I doubt anything will be different this time."

"Something already is."

"What?"

"Ilia. I'm talking about Ilia."

"Oh… You never really spoke about that, is that what this is about?"

Link nodded his head. "She was my best friend, Midna. I don't want what happened to her to happen to anyone else, especially not you or Zelda." He admitted. "I know that there's still time to save the kingdom, but I- I failed her and-"

"It's okay, Link… you don't have to tell me all of this if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay." He insisted, taking in a shaky breath. "If… If I don't make it in time and something happens to her, I will never forgive myself." He finished, planting his head down.

Midna's eyes widened as the sound of sniveling reached her ears and her face fell as tried to think of something to say. Unable to find the right words, she reached out and placed her hand on top his own that was resting on the floor. He lifted his head with a gasp, and instantly scrambled to his feet.

"I- I'm sorry. I shouldn't be- If anything I should be looking for a way to get us out of here. I'm no hero if I just sit around and give up." He rambled.

"It's fine… that doesn't make you any less of a hero, and I'd bet that if Zelda were here, she would say the same thing." Midna pointed out. "Though I do agree, it's been a while, we should try and get out of here."

"There has to be a way to get this door open." He huffed, examining the door closely.

"Or I could just… warp us." She suggested with a laugh, looking down at her feet when he turned to her.

"Are you telling me that you could've done that this whole time?"

Her laughter died down quickly. "Yes, but before you get mad at me, let me ask you… does it feel good to get those buried feelings off your chest?"

"I…" Link paused for a moment. "Actually, yeah. It does." He answered. "And I'm not mad, I understand why you did it."

"Good." She sighed in relief.

"But can you get us out of here now? I feel like I'm gonna go crazy if I have to spend another minute trapped in this room."

"As you wish." She smirked.

A few seconds later, green Twili power enveloped them both, breaking them down into small blue particles before reanimating them out in the hall. Link examined his hand, blinking a few times as if he half expected it to disappear, then snapped out of it as he looked down the hall.

"Odd." He commented.

"What?"

"Shouldn't there be monsters crawling this place right now?"

"Right. The swarm. I almost forgot about those… Yeah, it is odd. We should proceed with caution."

Link nodded and raised his shield as they started deeper down the hall. It was an odd feeling, having to keep his guard up in the castle after such a long period of peace, but not an unfamiliar one. They turned the corner, and he was just about ready to reach for his sword in case of any surprise attacks, but let his hand drop down by his side again as the hall appeared to be empty.

"This is getting weird." He commented.

"I'll say… It's almost as if they want us to succeed."

"Hah! As if…" Link almost laughed. "I don't think we should be gloating just yet. Perhaps there's something we missed."

"How could we miss a mirror shard though?"

"It's possible… especially if it was hidden in plain sight."

"Hmm…" She thought for a second. "I see what you're saying, shouldn't we head back just to be sure?"

"Well, with the throne room in pieces we can safely rule that out. Checking Zelda's bed chambers once more would be wise though, for all we know continuing down this hall could mean walking into another trap."

Turning around, the two started to head back the way they'd come until they reached Zelda's bed chambers once more. The first place Link thought to check was the wooden closet that housed all of the Princess' garments. With caution, he opened the left door slowly and peered in.

"Uhh, Link…"

"Later, Midna. I'm busy searching."

Planting her face in the palm of her hand, she sighed. "No, Link… Look!" She instructed.

Link groaned, but turned around and his gaze followed the direction that Midna was pointing in. He quirked an eyebrow and headed over to the Queen sized bed with a canopy of white curtains being held back by little ties. Laid on the bed as it had been ever since Zelda had last used it, was her gold plated hairbrush. Though it appeared to have been untouched, its appearance was noticeably different. The gold plating remained, but appeared to be tainted by an illuminous green that was glowing.

"Could it be?..." He whispered, reaching out and picking up the brush.

Upon closer inspection, the green that was tainting the gold was created by something that had been attached to the back of the brush. He hesitated for a moment, but ran his fingers along the surface until he touched upon a spot that seemed to detach from the gold, and with a slight pull it came away, revealing itself to be exactly what he'd thought it would be.

"The third shard." He concluded, his mouth agape.