My arms thrust downward with all my strength, but I’m looking towards the night sky instead of his corpse. Even the navy expanse of the sky seems blood red as well, reminding me of the blood that will soon be soaking my front. I feel the impact of the sword slamming into something and eventually come to a stop, and a smile creeps up my face—too easy. When I glance down to take the sword out of his body, I instead growl in anger.

Fiery hair has wrapped around the blade that’s held an inch away from Link’s chest, stopping it from piercing his heart. What the hell? I snap my neck up and glare at the person who’s holding me back.

“Neri!” the imp yells, obviously exerting herself trying to stop me. “Are you out of your mind?”

Yes. I am. That’s why I’m killing him.

“Get away from me, Midna!” I yell, and grab her hair.

With a swift flick of the wrist, I tear the blade upward and slice through every lock of her hair that holds me hostage. I raise my arms again and prepare to plunge down for a second time, but this time her hair grabs my wrists and pulls them above me, forcing me to nearly hover off the ground. I struggle to pull my wrists apart, and the Goddess Sword falls from my hands when I momentarily lose my grip on the hilt. I let out a grunt of malicious intent and frustration as it clatters against the ground, and I thrash about. My toes barely scrape the ground as I’m held nearly midair.

“Why are you trying to kill Link?” Midna’s voice is strained, and she looks like she’s fighting her urge to kill me—but I’ll kill her first.

“Get out of my way!” I scream, and kick my leg out. Miraculously it smacks right under her arm and across her chest, and I feel her sharp exhale as she flies back and skids into the ground. Midna wheezes, but yelps when she sees me land on my feet as gracefully as a cat, grab the hilt of the sword and launch forward.

When I land on her, she shrieks. “LINK!”

I place my knees on her wrists, almost breaking them because of the immense pressure on her small bones. My feet step on and hold down her legs. With my left hand, I pin her whole body to the ground. I press the sword to her neck, and her yellow and red eyes widen in terror.

“LINK!” she screams desperately.

“Shut it, Midna,” I snarl.

I’ll just kill her first. She’s only in my way—like always.

“Neri, please stop,” she murmurs, and small tears begin to form in the corners of her big eyes. “Why are you doing this to us?”

I sneer. “Because I—” I pause for a moment, and my hand loosens its grip. Why am I doing this?  When I feel Midna wriggle, I harden my grip and expression and press her back against the ground. “Because I can.”

“Why would you want to?” Midna whispers. “Why would you want to hurt us, Neri?”

“So I can take the crystals. It’ll be easier. Then Ghirahim and I—”

Wait, wait, wait. Ghirahim and I? Since when? Why would I work with him? I question myself.

Well, why wouldn’t I? He’s an ally.

Whoa, no he isn’t! I control myself, nobody else—especially not Ghirahim.

“Why, Neri? Why Ghirahim?” Tears of betrayal streak down her pale cheeks.

“Shut the hell up.”

“LINK!” she screams again. My hand moves up from her tiny chest, and I roughly shove my hand over her mouth.

“Unless you want me to cut out your tongue first, be quiet.” My fierce tone underlies threat.

“I thought you liked us...” Midna’s muffled voice says, breaking near the end.

No, don’t cry!

“Midna...” I try to console her.

What? No, I’m going to kill her!

“D-don’t you remember...remember when we found you? How much you wanted to stay with us?” her small voice asks from under my palm, and I bite my lip. I’m not sure if I want to kill her. “When you drew us? And you let me keep the picture?”

My red vision starts getting blurry, but then I blink it away and set my jaw.

Don’t kill her...

No, I’ll kill her now!

I move my hand from her mouth to her neck, and Midna grunts as I strangle her. Stop! I’m hurting her! I loosen my grip and try to get off her, but can’t. A huge weight in my stomach pulls me onto her more, like a marionette being tugged by its strings.

But someone else is pulling my strings—as though I’m being controlled.

“Remember when you showed us your music? My favourite was In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins,” she sobs.

Midna loved that song the most... Now is not the time to get sentimental! Kill her!

No, I don’t want to!

“I’ve seen your face before my friend, but I don’t know if you know who I am…. Well, I as there and I saw what you did…” Midna sings softly, her voice breaking even more.

I let go of her and jump back. What am I doing? I can’t kill her, but I want to—I need to. No dammit, I won’t!

Midna gets up and uses her hair to hold my wrists and ankles, and thrusts me into the ground. The sword once again flies from my grip, and I shriek in determination and anger. I shake my head, curl my back, and try to get my legs free, anything, but every time I’m pulled back to the ground. The only thing I feel is insanity taking over my mind, and thoughts race through my head.

Link Midna kill sword Goddess Forgotten kill—food sleep kill blood murder Fi kill hair music. Crystal Zelda kill Triforce Essence Ghirahim kill ally family.

Kill.

I just need to feel her blood flowing over my hands... To be able to hear her deafening scream fade... To see her frozen expression of horror when she’s dead...

How can I think these things? Wake up, snap out of it! My vision starts blinking between red and normal, almost giving me a seizure. I want to tear out my hair and to get over this nightmare, but I can’t. I have to fight it—don’t give up now!

My screams rips through the darkness, and I throw my head back. All my muscles seize and I clench every joint in my body, and then fall limp. Finally, my vision reverts to normal. It’s over.

“Neri? Are you okay?” Midna sets me down, and I fall limply on the ground. That was horrible.

“Yeah... I was being controlled by something. I didn’t want to kill you. It took over my mind, and—”

“Neri, just get some rest,” Midna interrupts. I smile, and put my hand on her shoulder.

“No, I’m taking watch.” Midna looks doubtful, and I quickly add, “Don’t worry, I’m alright. You can trust me.”

“Okay, but...um...” She hesitates, and looks at my chest. “You may want to put on some clothes, or you’ll get cold.”

Wait, what? I look down at myself, and figure out why I’m so chilled. I’m still in my bikini.

“Son of a—” I stop myself, and turn back to Midna. “I’ll be right back. By the way, could I please have some paper, pens, and ink?”

She nods her head, and all the things appear. “Thanks! I’ll be back soon!”

I run back to the pond, feeling incredibly revealing. Even if I have a thin figure, it’s still embarrassing. Gathering up my no-longer-white socks, my Adidas sneakers, dark skinny jeans, and Cabela’s hoodie, I get changed. Good thing I never took off my rose quartz bracelet. If I lost it, I don’t know what I’d do.

My walk back to camp is enough to warm me up, and I see that Midna has decided to fall asleep on Link’s chest. I grab the paper, and start to draw. But what is there to draw? What’s on my mind? What is worth being drawn?

My mind starts to wander again, pondering all the possibilities. What do I usually draw, anyways? Well, pretty much everything. Landscapes, flowers, water, but most of all, portraits of people. It’s what I’m best at. Looking back at the paper, I notice that my hand just starting doodling on its own without giving much thought. What did I draw? I hold it up to the fire, and my breath catches in my throat.

My family. My dad, with his extremely short darkish-gray hair in his business attire: black dress pants and a dress shirt. My mom, with her short curled hair that goes to her chin, wearing some Bootlegger jeans and a shirt. And lastly, my sister. With her brown hair, the same as mine with the exemption that hers is longer. But you can’t see that in black ink. Her goofy bangs are parted to the side, and she’s wearing a graphic tee and some shorts.

“Mistress, what is upsetting you?”

I almost scream, and see Fi is beside me. Her shiny blue hair reflects the orange glow from the fire, and her eyes stare at me. Oddly enough, she is sitting next to me.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Fi,” I don’t want to talk about it, or I’ll cry. And I hate looking weak.

“The tears on your face indicate otherwise,” she says.

My hand gingerly touches my cheek, and comes back wet. Well, crap. “I just...” I don’t want to start venting to Fi, because that’d just be weird. But, she asked. “I just miss my family, is all.”

“Why do you miss them, Mistress?”

“I just miss my world. My dad’s cooking on the barbecue, because he can’t on cook anything else. My mom always coming and bugging me on purpose to make us both laugh. And my sister, who says that I’m the best sister ever, and said her goal is to draw like me...” I clench the paper, and black ink spreads across my thumbs. “It’s just...” My voice is shaking. “It’s just so hard being away from them for so long!” I finally break, and shield my pitiful face with my hands. I hate crying, it makes me feel weak, vulnerable, sick to my stomach, tired, stressed—

Someone puts their hand on my shoulder. Peering up and lowering my hands, I see Fi’s cloaked arm resting on my shoulder. Is she actually trying to make me feel better?

“I calculate a 94% chance that it will be all right, Mistress. We will gain the properties of Elemental Crystals, and reprimand Ghirahim. I will see to it that your arrival to your realm is certain. Loneliness is the only comprehensible reaction when one is placed in this situation,” Fi reassures. Wait a moment, is Fi actually showing empathy? How is that possible? “Go to sleep, Mistress. I will report to you any hazards while you rest.” I guess that’s her way of saying she’ll take watch.

“Okay. And...” How can I say this so she understands? “Thank you, Fi. With you all at my side, I know we’ll win.”