"Zelda!" Link breathed as she landed on the ground far behind him due to a blow from the magma monster. Zelda let out a blood curdling scream as the lava of the creature drew away from her. Link began to see the damage that was left. Zelda's entire right side was burnt from the molten rock, her arm displaying what the rest of her skin should look like underneath what was left of the side of her tunic. She'd shoved him out of the way of an oncoming attack from the monster, saving him, but in turn putting herself at risk. Link stood up and turned back to the lava that they'd been fighting with. Snarling at the creature, he picked up his bow and pulled a bomb arrow out of his side pack.
Link placed the arrow on the string and pulled back with all of his might. He aimed for the monster's stomach where it's weak point was situated. Its weak point was a large, thick glassed sphere that housed a brightly shining yellow gem. The yellow hem gad to be its source of power, so Zelda and Link had figured earlier. The two had already taken turns shooting at it before Zelda had been knocked to the side, and the glass was at what appeared to be its weakest point. Link let the bow string go and sent the arrow flying straight for the glass sphere.
The glass broke. It burst upon impact and glass shards fell into the lava from all directions. The magma monster let out a roar and flailed it's arms, clearly in pain. It looked down to Link, an insignificant obstacle to it. The monster reared back its right arm and prepared to swing at Link with much force. Finally, the creature swung its arm around the stage that Link was fighting on in hopes of knocking Link down and out. Link was too quick though. He performed a back flip, successfully (yet narrowly) doging the attack from the monster.
Link scanned the monster once more, looking for its weak point, the gem, once more. When he finally spotted it, it was still situated within the creature's stomach area. Link summoned another bomb arrow from his side pack and carefully aimed his bow as he pulled back on the bow string. When he was sure he had targeted the life granting gem, he let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and struck the gem with great force. The force was great enough to split the gem into five separate pieces.
Now, the monster was beyond mad. A bursting wave of heat and light came from the beast, further warming an already blistering Link. Link swiped some sweat off of his face and looked over the magma monster once again. The gem fractions had left the beast's stomach, and with the new fiery light from the creature it was hard to spot where they could possibly be. After continuously scanning the monster and dodging attacks, Link was finally granted a break. He knew it would only be for a short while though.
The monster opened its large mouth wide, revealing the gem. It had been pieced back together, though seams of where it had broken were still present. It's still apart, Link thought upon closer inspection. Link took out a bomb from his pack and hurled it into the gusting winds created by the beast's breath as he and Zelda had done before. The bomb exploded as soon as it touched the magma of the monster's mouth. Link watched closely and noticed the gem splitting up into five pieces once again. He followed where each one went, noticing that four of them floated around in the monster's arms and stomach area, the final piece remaining in the creature's mouth.
Quickly, Link pulled out the clawshots that he'd discovered earlier within the temple. Slipping one on, he aimed and shot for the gem that had been floating in the monster's right arm. The clawshot nabbed the shard and pulled it out of the lava, letting it land on the floor at Link's feet. Link reached for his sword and pulled it out of the sheath. With both hands, he grabbed onto the hilt and ran his sword through the gem, shattering it.
The magma monster let out another roar of pain, and Link looked up once it did so. It seemed as though it had shrunken in size and might a bit thanks to the gem. Sheathing his sword, Link smirked. Now that he knew what to do, finishing off the monster would be a piece of cake. And so he continued to fight.
The monster regrouped the remaining gems and formed a fraction of the whole gem as it prepared for another breath attack. Link threw a bomb into the channel of wind that it effortlessly created, once more breaking the gem and sending the pieces off on their way around the monster. Once again Link used his clawshot and sword to ultimately destroy the mystical gem fragment. The process continued with Link dodging quicker and more frequented attacks, and a faster transportation gem shards.
Finally, he'd retrieved the final piece of the gem that was keeping the magma monster alive. Link unsheathed his sword a final time. With a vengeance, he stabbed the sword through the gem. The monster let out a horrendous cry of pain and Link watched on as the life was sucked out of it, the magic that had been sustaining it now gone. Finally, the magma left from the monster withered to nothing more than lava, as the rest of the lava was. Link gazed upon the bubbling magma for a moment longer, seemingly lost in thought. He soon snapped himself out of it though.
Link turned around and saw Zelda lying on the floor near the wall where she'd been pushed over to earlier. Link's eyes widened in horror as he saw his friend lying there, motionless. He rushed over to her and fell to his knees as he looked her over. Zelda was letting out whimpers as she cried, for she was severely burned, proven by the disfigured and uneven skin along her arm and side of her face. The skin had its high points and low points, literally, where some of the skin was burn off completely and other places where a bit had remained.
"Link," she cried out pathetically. "Link, where are you?" Zelda continued to cry and quietly sob as she lay there.
"Zelda I'm here!" He exclaimed softly. Zelda tried to open her eyes, but they could not open completely. Her left eye had been more successful at opening, but her eyes did not stay opened for long.
He lifted his hands over her arm, ready to further inspect her wounds, but stopped. If he were to touch her, he was sure she'd be in the worst pain imaginable. He couldn't hurt her! A few of his fingers twitched as they hovered over her, unsure of what to do. His lips quivered and tears formed at the corners of his eyes. He bit his bottom lip hard in the hopes that it would keep him from crying. He had no idea what to do, and nothing to use.
"Don't worry Zelda," Link said childishly, naively, "I'll get you better!"
In desperation, Link opened his side pack and thought of any potion or medicine that he may have. All of the bottles that he had were empty, not even a single drop in any one of them. Sneering, he threw the bottles on the floor out of anger. He pushed himself off of the floor and ran around the room as he looked for something to heal Zelda. He broke pots and lifted rocks, finding nothing but dust and dirt from them. He knew that it would take a long time to get out of the temple, that he could not leave Zelda, and that she needed something immediately, so what other choices did he have?
Link scrambled about the room as he looked for more jars to inspect, but each one he would find housed nothing and so, out of anger, the clay pots would end up smashed against the floor. Finally, Link came to one last jar. Nothing was in it, so it had seemed, therefore he threw it against the wall, smashing it to bits. He looked down, still sneering as before, and clenched his fists. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that he could do for Zelda. Zelda, his best friend, the heir to the Hylian throne, the one he was destined to protect. And now what had happened? She'd been injured, more seriously injured than ever before. Link slammed the side of his fist against the wall and held it there. Soon though, it slid down the stones and fell into his lap.
He couldn't take it anymore. Link let his head fall into his hands and he began to cry. Never mind the fact that he had let the Goddesses down, never mind that he had failed to live up to his Hero title, and never mind that he had failed everyone else who was involved in this, for he had failed Zelda most of all. He had failed himself as well, knowing that his sole purpose should have been to protect her regardless of whether or not he was a Hero.
Link looked up through watery eyes and starred at the wall, defeated. Had everything we'd done been for nothing? Have I failed everyone indefinitely? Will Ganondorf find the Triforce and over throw the Hylian throne? What have I done?
He closed his eyes and let his head droop once more. Tears dripped out of his eyes and trailed down his cheek, finally falling off of his chin. As he continued to sit, he did not notice the twinkling noise nearby.
Just out of his view, a fairy floated in the air, watching him. The fairy had been resting in the one of the clay pots that Link had broken, and unbeknownst to Link, it had fallen out when he'd smashed it. Terror had overcome the fairy when its small safe haven had been broken, and it had almost fled the scene; that was, until it saw Link crying. The fairy floated closer to Link, but suddenly backed up, hesitating to near him. Eventually though, it found the bravery and courage to fly over next to him.
Link finally noticed the twinkling sound that the fairy had made and turned in its direction. Link's mouth fell open out of shock as he saw the fluttering creature.
"Hello?" It asked. "Are...are you okay?" Link was still awestricken with the sight of the fairy, his mouth still hanging agape. Link shook himself out of it and answered the sprite.
"N-no," he said, his voice cracking. "I- my friend, she was stricken by a lava beast... it burned her, badly. She's injured, and I have no way of helping her." The fairy bounced in the air out of surprise.
"Oh my!" It exclaimed in its high pitched voice. "That's terrible!" Link looked down to his hands and frowned.
"I...I don't know what to do..." Link and the fairy shared a moment of silence as Link tried to think of something. Finally, an idea came to him. "Wait!" He exclaimed. "Do you think you could rush out of here and get some help?" He asked ecstatically. "I can't leave her, and I have no connection to the outside. I...I'd appreciate it if you did so..." The fairy was shocked by Link's ignorance. Does he not know the powers of a fairy? I suppose not, he has not asked for me to heal her.
The fairy paused to think. I guess I could heal her, if she isn't too badly burned. He has no idea of a fairy's powers, and he seems selfless. Finally, she said, "May I see your friend?" Link nodded curiously, but led the sprite over to Zelda. The fairy was horrified at the sight of her. Link was unable to look at Zelda, his back turned to her. The fairy flew from Zelda and back to Link, hovering right before his face. "I...I think I could heal her," the fairy said quietly. Link perked up, shock written across his face. "But it might possibly drain me of power..." Link's face became saddened once more.
"It would be nice," Link said, "if you could heal her, but...if it will kill you, then, then don't do it." Link let his head fall onto his knees, which were pulled up to his chest. "If you could go and get help though, that would be great as well." The fairy bounced up and down in the air eagerly as if to nod to Link.
"I can do that!" It said. "I'll be back with help as soon as possible!" Link gave a small smile to the fairy as thanks for its kind gesture. The fairy watched as he turned around and looked at Zelda. He let his face fall into the small crevice created by his knees and crossed his arms over his face. The fairy did not move, but simply hovered in place. The fairy frowned, knowing that it could not simply leave the two here.
With a surge of bravery coursing through its veins, the sprite flew around Link. Link looked up and watched the fairy as it began to buzz around Zelda, sprinkling a magical dust over her body. Link gasped at the fairy, knowing that healing this would possibly be its final task. Soon the fairy had no healing powder left to offer, and it stopped. The next thing Link knew, the fairy was gone; it had vanished into nothing.
Link watched as the magical dust it has sprinkled over Zelda dissolved into her burns. Once all the dust was gone, Zelda's wounds began to heal. Zelda winced as the burns quickly closed up and tender new skin was formed. Charred remains of skin that had stuck to her disappeared within a flash, and any blood or left over drops of lava were removed as well. Her tunic was also repaired, leaving the cloth looking as good as new.
When Zelda's wounds had finally been repaired, Link could not believe what he'd seen. Zelda's burns that had been upon her just a moment ago were now gone, only the slightest traces of them ever having existed remained. Pale scars were the only reminders of the burnt skin, and those only appeared in areas where the wounds had been worse. All in all, Zelda was as good as new, perfectly healed thanks to a fairy.
"Zelda?!" Link asked after a moment of silence, astonished at how quickly she'd healed. Zelda's expression of pain faded, and her eyes fluttered open.
"Link? What just happened?" She asked as she slowly sat up. "I-I don't feel any more pain." Zelda looked at her arm and all down her side, touching where the new skin was. "Impossible," she whispered as she continued to inspect herself. "How did you-"
Link quickly shook his head, a smile on his face. "Not me, a fairy." Zelda cocked her head to the side and looked around the room. "You're not going to find it, Zelda. It's gone."
"Where did it go?! I have to thank-" Once more, Link shook his head, his smile gone.
"The fairy's gone. It disappeared as soon as it could no longer heal you." Zelda looked at Link, dumbfounded.
"Did...did it die?" She asked solemnly.
"Possibly..." The two were quiet for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. After a moment or two, Zelda spoke up.
"I hate this." She said spitefully, hugging her knees to her chest. Link looked up to her, knowing exactly where she was going with this. "I hate this stupid quest, adventure; whatever it is. The evil in the world should not be taken care of by teenagers; we're hardly even adults yet! The Goddess -no, Goddesses- should have taken into consideration the toll it will take on us. We've seen too much for people our age; We've seen too much for a lifetime. But is that the end of it? No. If I were one of the Gods, I'd have chosen wiser. I'd have been more compassionate." Link looked down, away from Zelda who was in disgust.
Every word she'd said was true. Link didn't understand the Goddess's choices either. Was it simply because Zelda was the next in Hylia's bloodline, and because Link was her friend? Or could it be that they saw some sort of nobility within Zelda and Link? Whatever the reason, he still did not understand. Neither did Zelda.
"It's fate, destiny; whatever you want to call it." Link explained. "The Goddess's made their choices for a specific reason, I'm sure."
"I know that, Link," Zelda said with a sigh. "It's just, I want to know what reason it is. The specific reason, not some generic answer." For a moment she paused and bit her lip. "If I knew," she said, "then maybe it wouldn't bother me as much as it has. If there weren't as many secrets, then the truth would be easier to grasp. Obviously though, that's not the case."
"I know..." Link said, agreeing with her. He had known a few things that she hadn't earlier on, but still, he had his questions and doubts. The two continued to sit on the floor, not moving a single muscle. They both silently knew neither of them wanted to find the sage and song for this temple of Power. Zelda and Link remained on the floor, enjoying each other's company for a long time.
Peace on a fast paced journey is difficult to find; enjoy it while it lasts.