“Hey, I found one!” Midna screeches, and waves around her turquoise fist.

“No way! Really?” I ask incredulously.

“Mm hm,” she responds, full of pride.

“Show me, then!”

Midna holds out and opens her small palm, and in it lays a four-leaf clover. The leaves are perfectly green and wrinkle-free. She sees me staring at it, and snickers. “Jealous?”

“You wish!”

Actually, I am. I’ve only ever seen about three before this one, so this is rare considering that I’m seventeen. “You know, if you hold onto it and care for it, it’ll give you good luck.”

Midna gasps and her bright eyes widen. “Really? Sweet—I’m keeping this!”

The small clover disappears from her palm in a burst of blue and black squares, off to her realm where she keeps all her intriguing finds and important weapons of Link’s.

“What’re you guys doing?” a voice behind us calls.

Speak of the devil. He walks out of the golden-green mossy door in the behemoth-tree, ducking under the collapsed branch as he rambles over the tender moss.

“Hey Link, what took so long?” I get up and walk over to him, straightening my hoodie all the while.

“Link, look what I found!” Midna floats and flies over to him, and makes the clover reappear in her fingers. “Neri says it’s really rare, because most of them have three leaves! She says in her world, the four-leafed ones bring good luck!”

“That’s great, Midna. If it gives you luck, maybe you should give it to Neri,” he jokes.

“No way!” she yells, and hugs it to her chest, then makes it disappear again. I punch Link in the shoulder playfully, but the chainmail he wears under his tunic makes my knuckles crack. He doesn’t notice, but I try not to scream and act cool as I retract my pulsating fingers.

“So did you get that Earth Crystal?” I request.

He nods his head. “It’s right...” Link rummages in his pockets, and then his eyes widen. He pats his thighs and then turns to check his leather pouch. His hand movements become erratic as he searches his compartments.

Please tell me that he didn’t... Oh my god, he couldn’t have...

“You... You lost it?!” I nearly grab his neck and shake him senseless, but he pulls it out of his tunic.

Link’s azure eyes find mine and smile at my reaction. “Just kidding.”

I physically deflate almost instantly, and punch his shoulder again. One of my knuckles pop, and I try not to scream. Goddamn chain mail!

He holds it out to me. “Here, take it.”

In his palm lays a medium crystal, no longer than three inches. It’s the shape of a perfect marquise diamond, but much larger. The crystal is clear and tinted an emerald green, and inside it is a leaf—a little green leaf that’s about an inch long. It reminds me of a prehistoric bug preserved in amber, but this crystal has an ethereal beauty that seems much more appealing.

I reach out gingerly, afraid that it will break with just a touch. As my finger brushes the smooth surface, it stings me with an audible bzzt. My hand retracts and I shove my fingers in my mouth with a yelp.

“Neri? What the hell happened?” Link questions, wondering how I managed to be injured—again.

“It stung me!” I take my sore fingers of my mouth, and amazingly there isn’t a single burn or scratch, or even a blister or scar. What the hell is wrong with those things? They’re supposed to help us, not hurt us.

“You’re such a wimp,” Midna sighs. Her hand reaches for the crystal so she can examine it much like I tried. “It probably didn’t even—ow, jeez!” As soon as Midna touches it, it zaps her and her hand flies into her mouth too.

“Who’s the wimp now?” I mock her. She looks pouty, and turns away from me with her fingers in her small mouth.

“Fi?” I call. Her pristine figure pops out of the sword in a moment’s notice, but it occurs to me that maybe I annoy her with all the times I call her name.

“Yes, Mistress?”

“Can you touch that crystal?”

She stares at it a few seconds in silence, and then looks back at me. “I’m afraid not.”

“What? Why not?”

“I can hold it just fine, though.” Link throws it in the air and catches it with his fingertips, analyzing the small leaf from all the fractured angles of the marquise green crystal.

Around us, the ground starts to glow gold dimly, and then shimmers white to blind us. I shield my eyes and take a step next to Link as the light becomes unbearable. The Triforce covers the mossy ground beneath us, and the four of us back up against each other. Midna lands next to Link’s other side, and Fi stays close to me as her so-called ‘Mistress’. We all stand—or float—in the hollow and unlit center of the Triforce, and above each glowing piece appears a young woman much like before—the Goddesses. We all get down on one knee to bow, including Fi and Midna. I close my eyes and feel a small amount of intimidating fright make my thighs become shaky as I kneel in front of them.

“Hero of Time, Lively One, Twilight Princess, and Sword of the Goddesses... We hold important information concerning you,” their clear and beautiful voices ring through air as they speak together.

“Each crystal that you must gain has to be earned through a trial,” Farore starts.

Predictably, Nayru continues. “A trial that will test your will to save Hyrule.”

“Pardon me, Goddesses...” I start hesitantly, and look up at them, even though there’s one on every side.

“You are pardoned,” Nayru says with a smile.

I clear my throat. “When you say ‘trial’, do you mean like a temple? Or a dungeon?”

“Precisely,” Din responds, “and you will have to face it yourself without the help of others. There is one Elemental Crystal to be gained for each of you that will enhance your powers to vanquish the spreading evil.”

“But to take it as your own, you must absorb it into your soul with a ritual,” Farore speaks again.

“In order to claim the spirit of the crystals, you must pray and pledge to the incarnation of Hylia,” Nayru says again—no wonder she houses the Triforce of Wisdom.

“And Hylia’s disciple must be in her pure form,” Din finishes.

“Pure form?” I query, but then cover my mouth for interrupting. “Sorry…”

“Do not be afraid, Lively One—you are our equal. And correct, your pure form. That of a snowy beast, untainted and strong-willed.”

Excuse me, but I’m not that strong-willed. My New Year’s resolution was to become healthier, but half an hour later I was gorging myself in a bag of potato chips.

The Goddesses then say altogether, “Pledge and make a promise to the child chosen by Hylia, and mean it—only then can you claim your crystal.”

They fade into golden sparks like before, each small light making the moss glow as it floats to the ground. The Triforce surrounding us dissipates as the Goddesses smiling faces become translucent. I give a small wave as I see Nayru fade, and her smile becomes wider, and truer, but...forsaken. The center of the Triforce is glowing on my hand, and the bottom right piece is glowing on Link’s hand.

“So I have to make a promise to you?” he asks.

“I guess. Midna?”

She tosses me the twilight crystal that she summoned, and I change shape immediately. Not in the mood to feel my muscles and bones shifting, I close my eyes and count to five. It doesn’t make the shifting of my bones into new sockets any more comfortable, but I clench my jaw as I feel my ribcage start to collapse and reform. When I open them I’m on all fours with a snowy-tan coat and a pure white underbelly. The black designs identical to Link’s are probably on my forehead, like last time. The center of the Triforce is on the back of my left paw, and I shake my head for a moment to crack my neck back into place.

Pawing at the ground a little, I try to get Link to hurry up and do this ‘ritual’. He lowers himself onto his knees and places his right hand over his heart. We are only half a foot apart, and I can hear is rhythmic breathing. He can probably hear mine as well. His heart beats, and his breaths begin to slow—I can hear that much with my wolf form. If I listen close, I can almost hear the blood pumping through his veins...

With the crystal enclosed in his hand over his heart, Link closes his eyes and pledges, “I oath on my life and the Goddesses, that to the incarnation of Hylia, I shall protect her until the day I die. My life will graciously be given without a second thought in place of hers if it means her safety. I will be her pawn that never leaves her side—I will put up a fight for her sake before uselessly throwing myself away.” With the last line his eyes flick up and look at mine, and he gives me a daring smile.

That cheeky idiot.

Unsure as to what to do, I lean forward with my eyes closed, and my cold nose gently prods his forehead. I know he’ll keep his promise. I know he’ll protect me. I know he’ll give up his life for me—even though I don’t want him to.

My gray-blue eyes open halfway, and I back away. Link takes another few slow and deep breaths before his blue eyes open, and he looks at his chest. He opens his hand over his heart, and the crystal is no longer there. Instead, his chest—right where his heart should be—gives a dull green glow on his tunic before fading. So he...claimed it?

I look back at Midna so she can change me back, and she nods and extracts the crystal. I’ll probably never get used to how weird it is being an animal, but it’s only for a while longer. As I brush myself off and stand up, I wrestle the riddle out of my jeans so we can decipher the next one.

“So now we would be looking for the...”—my eyes scan the page—“Fire Crystal... Which only one of us will get.”

It is kind of daunting knowing that it really is up to you to get the crystal. If you fail, everyone will as well. Link and Midna gather around me to peer at the next stanzas of the brief sonnet, and Fi just...is Fi. I repeat out loud,

“In the fiery depths of land’s sweltering core,

Lies the Fire Crystal forevermore.”

“So it’s underground or something?” Midna asks me. I just shrug.

Who the hell knows anymore? While everyone starts thinking of a really hot deep place, I begin to tap my fingers on my chin to improve my concentration.

“There’s only one really deep hot place I know,” Link thinks out loud, “and that’s Eldin Volcano.”

“Mistress, a report,” Fi adds. “It would seem that there is a 60% chance that the riddle is referring to Eldin Volcano. It is known as having the deepest craters in Hyrule, the rumored bottom of the volcano deeper than the lowest point in Lake Floria.”

“If we keep going, then tomorrow afternoon we could get there,” Link says, while looking at possible paths on the map he pulled out.

His fingers trace the paths we could take, hovering over the black splashes of ink that he must have outlined for easier travel routes. I don’t care what path he chooses, because now I’m pretty much immune to all the travel. Now that I have been walking more now than I ever have in my entire life, I’m not as exhausted—actually, I just want to get out of here. The Lost Woods are foreboding and seem to gradually close around us.

I nod and start towards where we came from, Link close behind and preparing to take the lead while Midna slips back into his shadow lazily.

“Wait, Mistress.” Fi flies in front of myself and Link, seemingly standing guard like before.

She stares into the woods, like there is something there. Wait a moment... Did Fi just give me an order? I don’t have a problem with that, but it’s certainly out of the ordinary.

“F-Fi?” This is creeping me out. Why can’t we leave already?

“I sense an evil aura,” she says.

All of us freeze, and Link’s hand shifts to the hilt of his sword. Nothing moves in the woods, and neither do we. I’m already panicking and shaking, and it’ll be a miracle if I get home before having a heart attack—this place is probably graying my hair and giving me wrinkles. We stand on guard for another few moments, and I feel my heart rise like a lump in my throat.

“M-Mistress...Ne-eri...”

Fi sounds like she’s being choked—and she never, ever stutters. Fi whips around, and I almost fall over at what I see.

Her eyes are blood red.

She transforms into the Goddess Sword midair, and levitates there for a moment. The whole time, she’s quaking—like she’s trying to resist something. But what could she be resisting? After a moment’s hesitation from Fi, the blade angles and rockets at me.

I just stand there, unable to move while she barrels at me as a sword. My one loyal companion, the one that was sworn to be with me, the other half of my soul. We were literally meant to be paired, and this one move could end it.

“Neri!” Link miraculously jumps and shoulder checks me into the ground. I let out an “oomph” when I collide with the moss. “Neri, move!” he yells, his eyes wide like I’ve never seen them before. He grunts and grits his teeth as the Goddess Sword presses against his own, before managing to shifts its weight so smoothly that it catches him off guard and Fi flies past him.

She swiftly navigates around Link and comes straight down at me, and I barely roll to the side in time. The sword buries itself more than halfway into the ground and shakes to get loose, but can’t. I’m panting just a foot from the sword before Fi decides to slash through the muskeg with sheer force. With unimaginable power, the sword stays in the ground and accelerates through the soil towards me. I roll and roll, and the whole time the Goddess Sword is on my tail.

I hear the metallic ring of metal against metal, and I roll again to see Link clenching his jaw trying to hold back Fi with his sword. Getting up off the ground, I run around Link and grab the hilt. Before I can even think of use my Triforce, the sword becomes loose and pulls itself from the soil, jerking itself into the air to hit its target—me.

“Fi, stop!” I yell, being thrown about while the sword jerks me and twists my arms every which way.

With one last twist, the sword is ripped from my grasp. Fi spirals at me again and I try to back up, but my back hits something. I see that a tree has crept up behind me, and now there’s nowhere left to go. I bring my arms up as I see Fi barrel at me, and Link’s arm stretches out for me, knowing it’s too late. I hold my breath and close my eyes, preparing myself for the inconceivable pain that I’ll face in a moment.

“NERI!” Midna screams.

My eyes snap back open, and I look to see the small imp floating a fair ways away, her eyes looking blank and hollow. That’s right, I think, I can’t die... Not just yet!

With that one reminder of how much I cannot afford to give up, the paralysis melts from my bones enough for me to slide down the trunk of the tree.

Fi slams into the rough bark, sending an explosion of splinters and moss, even a few creepy-crawlies down the back of my hoodie as I scream. I brace myself, my arms shielding my head.

“Neri, heal her!” Midna hollers.

Heal her how? She isn’t injured!

Before I can question what I’m doing, I shove myself away from the trunk and stand then whip back around to face the Goddess Sword. My hands grab the hilt of the sword once again and I grit my teeth, trying to focus while Fi writhes in my hands.

“Fi, quit acting like this! What has gotten into you?! Stop hurting us!” I bark through gritted teeth. “You’re the other half of me, so you should know this isn’t right!”

The sword starts shaking again, like Fi’s trying to fight it off. My hands tighten, and I yell at the top of my lungs, “As your Mistress, I command you to stop!”

All the movement ceases. The sword’s blade glows white, and then shimmers from its normal teal to a pale light—like the arrows in Link’s back before. The sparkles melt away and ripple before dropping to the ground like water. The cold substance drizzles from the stainless surface, and the sword is in my control once again.

Omniscient POV

“Fi, Fi, Fi,” the Demon Lord drawled, “You couldn’t even defend yourself from a weak manipulation spell? No wonder you’re just a servant of the Goddesses.” Ghirahim examined the scene below him, taking place in the grove below the branch he was balanced on. The branch was gargantuan, just like the mossy tree it stemmed from.

He absentmindedly examined his nails after his sight trailed from the scene, and then snapped his fingers for no particular reason. “Well, not that it matters. It was just a test run, after all. The real purpose for the spell is upon us, and I shall use it to kill off your group one by one,” he snarled, “and I will enjoy every slow and torturous moment of it.”

Ghirahim licked his pale lips, and then entwined his slender fingers. “Ah yes, once I cast that spell for real, the plan will be too far along to ever stop.” His dark brown eyes flicked up from the shadows, and glared up at where the Goddesses were hopefully cowering in fear from him.

“I hope you have fun in hell, Triforce holders.”