//Yay big long post! =D\\
As the enormous Temple of Dusk loomed ahead, all Alex could do was remain silent in complete awe. Not even the Kandarinian Citadels were this massive. The temple could best be described as a sort of combination between a cathedral and a castle. Enormous steeples reached out from the main building, linked to it by huge arches. Alex noticed that the temple itself was established on another mass of land, almost like an enormous island-asteroid, an infinitely deep void separating it from the mainland. However, a gleaming bridge connected the two. Alex noted that the bridge itself was not solid, but made of light.
?It?s beautiful, isn?t it?? Midna asked him as they crossed the light bridge.
?Yeah, it is.? Alex replied back. ?It?s terrible your people are at war. Such architecture like this could never be replaced.?
?This building has stood for thousands of years,? Midna went on, ?And shall stand for thousands more if we prevail in this war.?
Upon arrival at the enormous wooden doors that allowed entrance into the temple, two guards stood at attention.
?Halt!? one guard barked. ?Identify yourselves.?
?At ease,? Midna said. ?He?s with me.?
?Princess Midna!? he bowed in her presence. ?Please forgive me, head on through.? He motioned the other guard to open the door.
As the enormous wooden barriers parted, Alex laid eyes on the mystifying mezzanine of the Temple.
?My God,? he said. ?This is amazing.?
?The architects who designed this temple were geniuses,? Midna explained. ?Every feature, every column, arch, and door in this temple is designed to flow with one another.?
?It?s absolutely incredible,? Alex said, having to crane his neck to look to the ceiling.
?We can sightsee later,? Midna said, tugging on Alex?s pale blue arm. ?We?re here to see the elders. They?re at the top of the Temple.?
?Damn, how are we going to get up there?? Alex asked. ?This temple must have hundreds of floors.?
?Traveling between floors isn?t hard,? Midna said coolly. ?Most of us simply teleport ourselves to the floor we want to go to.?
?So if you teleport between floors,? Alex went on, ?what are the stairs for??
?Artistic effect mostly,? Midna replied as she opened a portal. ?Though more people use the stairs than you think. Take my hand.?
As Alex did, his vision was filled with a blinding flash, which subsided at the very top of the Temple of Dusk. The Twilight City below gleamed like thousands of twinkling stars.
?Come on,? Midna urged him. ?The council chamber is just ahead.?
The council chamber was enclosed behind enormous black doors, on them traced various patterns and designs Alex had seen elsewhere in the Twilight. As these doors were pushed open, three Twili were seen sitting in the center of the chamber, around a glowing fire.
One of the Twili, a dark robed male wearing a sort of hood that covered his ears and the top of his head, leaving his face exposed, stood. ?Ah, Princess Midna. Welcome back. I see you have him with you. Please come in.?
Alex felt like a young child being introduced to total strangers. He stepped into the chamber hesitantly at first, but eventually worked up the courage to meet the standing Twili face to face.
?You must be Alex.? He bowed his head. ?It?s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are the three Twili elders. I am Equinox. The other man there is Eclipse, and the lovely young lady is Solstice.?
Eclipse and Solstice stood and bowed to Alex. Eclipse was a tall stocky male Twili garbed in the same flowing robes as Equinox, as well as the same hood-like headwear. Alex silently mused that his large girth was how he got his name. Finally, Solstice was a lean female Twili with long flowing purple hair, again clothed in the elder robes, but sans the hood.
?As Midna has already explained to you, Alex,? Equinox continued, ?we are in a dire situation. The war with the Kandarinian Sovereignty has reached a deadlock. One side is waiting for the other to make a move. Naturally, we?re waiting them out, no matter what. However, the temporary defeat of Damien Roth will mean their forces in Asgarnia are in disarray. I?ve heard your actions delayed their counter-attack against your rebel uprising you had there, as well as routing Damien for now. Well done.?
?Thank you,? Alex said.
?However, your Twili side has only recently come to you for a reason,? Eclipse spoke up in a deep voice. ?It seems fate choose this time to reveal your destiny to you. Alex, you must use your deep-rooted abilities to defeat Damien Roth once and for all. Despite his prior defeat, the Kandarinian Marshal, Kronos, will resurrect him upon death. Damien is a considerable asset for their control over Asgarnia. If you can remove him permanently, the city will be yours once again.?
?Though you can?t do this without those powers of yours,? Solstice spoke up in a soft voice. ?You must awaken these abilities, or Damien will prevail in his occupation of your beloved city, and ultimately, the Twilight. We have been aware of your destiny since you were born, and we understand what must be going through your mind right now.?
?It?s almost overwhelming?? Alex replied.
?Rest assured, Alex,? Solstice continued, ?You will find that once these abilities are revealed, they will become second nature to you. The challenge is revealing them.?
?And how would I do that??
?The Twilight is bathed in an ambient field of Twilight magic that gives its inhabitants strength. As you have never lived here, you must spend one night here for your Twili side to strengthen. At this point your hidden powers should be easier to awaken.?
?But I turn back into a human at morning!? Alex protested.
?Now, now,? Equinox reassured him. ?No need to panic. We?ve seen your adeptness in fire magic as a human, one could only imagine the power you could wield in your current state. You just need to allow it to surface. Simply put, you must spend the rest of the night here if you hope to awaken your abilities.?
?Seems easy enough,? Alex mused.
?I advise you not to become used to it. Later tasks will not be so easy. That aside, you have been allowed full access to the Twilight City as well as the Temple of Dusk. Seeing as this is your first visit it might convenience you to visit the historical archives of our people.?
?Thanks, I?ll check it out later.?
?In the meantime, please make yourself at home in the Temple of Dusk, as we are arranging for your accommodations here??
?What do you mean?? Alex said. ?It?s only for one night, isn?t it??
?This is true, but we want you to feel as comfortable as possible. I can understand that being pulled into this role is pressuring, and we want to allay any worries you might have. Simply relax and leave the rest to us.?
?Thank you, Equinox.? Alex bowed his head. ?I?ll try not to be a burden.?
Alex had spent hours wandering through the massive Temple, itself seemed like a city within a city. There were living quarters, shops, and a central forum where Twilis could congregate and converse. Alex had inadvertently made his way into the Twili archives that Equinox had mentioned to him.
Contained in the chamber was books upon shelves upon walls of Twili history, spanning thousands of years, up to now. Perhaps within one of these books would lie the secrets that would allow Alex?s deep-rooted powers to surface.
?Doing some research?? Midna appeared next to him.
?Just trying to learn more about what I?m supposed to be doing,? Alex sighed. ?This?ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.
?Actually, there is one book I kept aside just for this occasion,? Midna replied, reaching high up behind other books, bringing a large antiquated book down, and blowing the dust off of it. ?Here, give this a read.?
Alex opened the aged book and ran his red eyes over the lines?
??The Twilight Warrior is the accomplice to the Twilight Princess in any peacemaking affairs. The Twilight Warrior mysteriously disappeared twenty-eight years ago around the beginning of the Kandarin-Twili War. Legend has it that despite the embodied Twili?s death, its soul was passed on to the next in line, who has not yet been revealed??
?Not revealed?? Alex muttered.
?Keep reading,? Midna motioned.
??The Twilight Warrior?s magical abilities are unmatched by any other Twili in the realm, the only other Twili to parallel his power is the princess. Both magics go hand in hand with each other, certain feats can only be performed when the two combine their energies. This text entails the legend-held abilities of both the Twilight Warrior and Princess, and how to perform them, should this tome ever be found by either one??
?That?s ridiculously coincidental,? Alex said. ?Regardless, I think we found what we?re looking for. All I need to do now is read this book and hopefully that?ll give me some ideas.?
?Not to mention the Twili magics your body is exposed to now,? Midna replied.
?Well, if my sense of time hasn?t deteriorated any since we got here, I judge it to be about nine hours until the sun comes back up. Gah, if only I didn?t revert back at sunrise??
?Who knows?? Midna said. ?Maybe the book entails the preservation of your Twili form if you?re under such a spell. Maybe you could lift it. You could transform back and forth at will.?
?I like it,? Alex smiled, the first time he had since he arrived in the Twilight. ?All right, Midna, we?d better get cracking.?
?But where do we start?? Midna asked. ?There must be hundreds of spells and abilities in here.?
?Let?s just start at the beginning and work from there,? Alex said. ?Makes sense, doesn?t it??
?Yeah, it does,? Midna admitted. ?There?s a training arena a few floors below that we can use. Grab my hand again.? She created another portal, this time leading to the training room.
As the two Twili materialized in the arena, Alex laid his eyes on an enormous chamber, reaching almost infinitely out in all directions. The room itself was perfectly round, with a central fighting area, and rows upon rows of benches above for any who would be so inclined as to watch. Most of the time this room was empty, but sometimes a few Twili would be sitting up in the upper stands, often talking amongst themselves, just to have a quiet place to have a conversation. Alex noticed a few Twili up in the benches already. They hadn?t noticed the two?s entrance.
?Don?t worry,? Midna assured him. ?They often ignore what?s going on down here anyway.?
?That?s a relief,? Alex sighed. ?I?d hate to screw up in front of more people than this.?
?Well, we might as well get started,? Midna said, taking the book from him and beginning to flip through the pages until she found one she liked. ?Like you said, we only have nine hours, and then we?d have to wait all day.?
Alex cracked his knuckles?and his neck?and prepared for the marathon of practice and training to come.
