The Temple of the Dusk loomed ahead, gleaming in the forever sunset that the Twilight basked in. It was never nighttime in the Twilight, but never day, either. Everything was always cast in a warm, but dim, vermillion glow. Alex seemed to enjoy it, despite the situation he was currently in.
Starting up the massive steps to the temple’s mezzanine, he had forgotten how truly enormous the temple was, rivaling Kandarinian Citadels. What Alex failed to understand, though, was the serenity the Twilight’s inhabitants always seemed to experience. Just by looking at their quality of life he found it hard to believe they were in the middle of a war. The isolation had been for the better.
“The elders will be thrilled to realize not only have you gained control of the Shroud,” Midna said, “but you have also learned the Twili spells they sent you after. You just might get your reward, Alex.”
“What exactly is the reward?” he asked.
“I myself can’t remember, it was a weapon of some sort…a very powerful weapon that could turn this war in our favor.”
“Here’s hoping,” Alex sighed.
After warping to the top of the temple, the two stood outside the elders’ chambers. A Twili guard stopped them.
“Halt,” he said. “Identify yourselves.”
“You know damn well who I am,” Alex said, “I’ve been here before.”
“Oh! My apologies, Twilight Warrior, and Princess. Please, please, enter.”
Upon laying their eyes on the Warrior they had put so much of their hopes and dreams into, the elders could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Equinox approached him.
“Alex! My gods, Midna was right after all. It’s quite a relief to see that you’re okay. She had told us you had manifested the Shroud. Is this true?”
“Every word of it,” Alex replied. “Though, I was able to gain control over it…”
“Yet another relief,” Equinox said. “The last Twilight Warrior fell to the Shroud. I am glad to see the trait has not been passed on.”
“You’ll like this news even more,” Alex said. “We collected all of the pages from the missing spellbook.”
“The gods have smiled on us today,” Equinox chuckled. “We knew you would not disappoint us, Alex. Seeing as you have mastered these spells, I believe I speak for the other elders when I say you are worthy of possessing the Twilight Warrior’s main weapon. Am I right?” Equinox turned to the other two elders, who smiled and nodded. “So shall it be. Alex, if you would come with me, please.”
Alex followed him into another chamber, adjacent to the one they were in. In the center was a large cylindrical vault, encasing the prized weaponry in gilded glass. Equinox waved his hand, and the glass lowered, revealing a large blade and a puck-shaped trinket.
“Alex, these two items will be the key to the Twili’s victory. I bequeath to you, the legendary weapon of the Twilight Warrior, the Shadeblade.” Equinox extracted the sword from the vault, and passed it to Alex.
The blade itself was black and serrated toward the bottom. The hilt seemed to be made from a gray material, with the texture of stone, but lightweight. All across the hilt were traced glowing green Twili patterns. Encrusted in the center of the hilt was a deep purple jewel. The blade seemed to shimmer, in much the way a heated object would, but it was not hot to the touch.
“Also passed on to you is the Twilight Warrior’s armor,” handing Alex the trinket.
“I’m sorry, but this is just a pendant…what could it do?”
“Let me show you,” Equinox said, taking the pendant and pressing it into the P.C.S.’s chestplate. The armor’s appearance began to change entirely. Black metal was replaced with the same lightweight, green traced stone which made up the blade’s hilt. The forearm scythe became serrated, and the “claws” on the other forearm were replaced with a second scythe. On the suit’s back two rods extended partially to the sides, cylinders on the end, with some kind of vents pointing downward. Pivoting fins protruded from these, suggesting some kind of flight mechanism. The helmet all but vanished, replaced with some kind of hood. He felt power surging through his veins, and was thrust up into the air by the jets on his back, where he hovered, powered by Twili magic.
“My God…this is amazing.”
“It is up to you, now Alex, to finish the fight that was started so long ago.”
“You can count on me.”
“You might wish to return to your world now. However, I would advise getting used to your new weaponry.”
“Makes sense.”
“And remember, if you ever wish to use your old suit, simply remove the pendant and store it somewhere safe. Your suit will revert to its technological state shortly afterwards.”
“Words can’t describe my gratitude, so I guess all I can really say is ‘thank you’,” Alex replied.
“You’ve earned it, Alex,” Equinox smiled. “Use the gifts that fate and luck have bestowed upon you, and you will go far.”
“I won’t fail you,” Alex said, leaping from the temple’s balcony, and landing softly on the ground with the hover powers. Midna followed close behind him.
“You’ve received quite a prize, Alex,” Midna said. “I’m sure you’re clear on what your objective is…”
“Damn right. The Kandarinian capital is no doubt heavily defended…it’ll take some breaking into to bring it down.”
“But first we have to find it,” Midna said. “Perhaps one of Carmine’s dogs will talk.”
“Let’s go pay our friends a visit, shall we?”
Victor Sig was up and around, hacking down a nearby tree with an axe for firewood, as if his near-evisceration had never happened. He whistled a tune to himself as he did so.
Carmine and Estacado sat down by the already glowing fire. Carmine just stared into the flames. Finally, Estacado worked up the courage to speak.
“Something wrong, boss?” Adam asked him.
“How the hell does he do it, Adam? We outnumbered him six to one. We should’ve easily been able to waste that piece of shit, Alex. How’d we get screwed over, Adam?”
“Well…he was using that demon shit,” Adam said. “Something to do with that?”
“Even so, it’s like we were no challenge for him. Hopefully with de Sade on our side, that’ll all change.”
“What if he pulls something new on us?”
“What else could he have? He’s got the Twili powers, that battlesuit, the demon powers, what else could he possibly have?”
“God knows,” Adam said. “Like you said, all we can really do is wait.”
“I don’t like this,” Carmine said. “Sitting out here in the middle of the night like this makes me feel vulnerable, despite the fact we’re a squad trained for combat. I guess it’s just a residual feeling from what happened back there.”
“Things might take a turn for the better in the morning, ya never know.” Adam got up to go help Victor chop wood.
“For the better…” Carmine murmured. “Or for the worse. Ya never know.”
