Minutes later, Zelda awoke again. Looking at Link, she began to smile softly.
"Not bad, Hero." She said. "Now...let's got onto business. You must now speak with Din, The legendary Goddess. In order to do this, you will have to find tranquility inside yourself, and allow your astral presence to leave your physical being. Difficult sounding, I know. However, with a little focus, the hero of time oughtn't have much trouble." Here she winked. "Simply sit down, and relax. Close your eyes, and fix your thoughts inside yourself. When you are ready, you will feel very light. Open your eyes, and you will be in the realm of Din. Do you understand?"
Link nodded and sat down, cross-legged, and began to think. At first his thoughts were too fleeting, but after several minutes he found something to focus on. Zelda. He thought of everything about her. The way her hair gleamed in the proper light, her deep eyes, The shine of her smile, and the beautiful chorus of her laughter. After what seemed like several minutes of this, it seemed as though the weight of his clothes was gone. And eventually, as though the weight of his body was gone as well. He then opened his eyes, and gasped.
He was no longer in the beautiful room with Zelda. He was now in a room that was dominated by red. Red carpets covered the floor, and a set of five red stairs led the way to a red throne. And in that throne was a woman. The woman was dressed in a wine-red toga, and her muscles were lean and powerful. Her hair hung from her head, shining like spun gold.
"So, Link, you've come to me." Her voice was like music. "Then I suppose this means the worst has happened, and Ganondorf possesses two pieces of triforce, correct?"
Link looked at the Goddess and nodded.
"Then you're going to need some new equipment. When the Goddesses created the triforce millenniums ago, we created three pieces, as you know. Power, Wisdom, and Courage. However, as a safeguard against evil, we produced a fourth piece to aid a hero, should the need arise. We then broke that piece into three separate pieces, and entrusted one piece to each Goddess. Each Goddess then hid the piece away, to ensure their safety. Unfortunately, the areas we sealed away our segments have changed. What was originally a golden realm of holy pleasure is now a dark world of evil abominations. And in order to get to the temples where we have planted our segments, you will have to fight through demons and monsters of formidable power. And you will need to obtain a key from each of we three goddesses, to enter this world. I will bestow you my key, though you may find the Goddesses not as charitable."
In front of Din, the air shimmered, and a triangular shard of mirror appeared. She sent this piece hovering towards Link.
"When you have the three pieces of mirror, you will be able to travel between our world and the dark world as you please. Now you must travel to the towers of Nayru and Farore. Get the keys from them, and then you will be able to enter the dark world. Go Link, it is your destiny."
Link snapped back to reality with the force of a megaton hammer. His eyelids shot open and he look around frantically for Zelda, but he couldn't find her. However, he did find an odd stone that fit in his palm. He picked it up and was shocked to hear Zelda's voice. Not the new Zelda, but the Zelda he had left at sanctuary.
"Link?" she questioned. However, the voice wasn't aloud. He heard the voice inside his head.
"Z-Zelda?" Link thought.
"Yes! It's me! A passing fighter just randomly stopped in and gave me this stone and said I would find it very valuable. He was a little odd...but I guess that's what to expect. Link, by now you must have spoken with Din."
Link took a few minutes to relate to Zelda what Din had told him.
"Hm...So...by that process, You will most likely need to head to Farore's forest, North of Din's tower. Go quickly, and retrieve Farore's key!"
And then her presence was lost to him and he began the trek to Farore's forest.
While he moved across the countryside he observed the slow growth of the plant life. Grass became luscious and long, Mushrooms sat at the bases of trees, and the trees grew steadily larger and larger until it came to be that he was standing at the entryway to the forest of Farore.
He walked into the forest, enjoying the cool shade the trees cast upon him. A small smile tugged at his lips while he strolled. He took in the smells and feels of the forest. The aroma of flowers and bark, the sound of twigs and leaves crunching and snapping beneath his feet. A faint breeze blew through the forest, allowing a musical of leaves to dance, their branches swaying as conductors. For the first time since this adventure started, Link felt contentment. In this forest, he was happy, as though he were home for the first time in his life.
He walked through the forest for hours, and was prepared to camp for the night when he came to a clearing. The clearing was circular, and was roughly ten yards wide. In four pools of water surrounded the clearing, allowing enough room for a man to comfortably walk towards the center. And in the center, was the symbol of the triforce.
Link walked towards the emblem, and sat down on top of it, and began to concentrate, as he had before, about Princess Zelda. After losing himself in thought for a while, he felt himself separating from his body. He opened his eyes, revealing a large wooden structure.
Confused, Link studied the structure. It looked as though it were an impossibly sized tree. Why was he not with Farore? What was happening?
A large hole sat in the front on the tree, inviting him in. He approached it, and entered.
The inside of the tree was huge. He walked forward, and with sickening surety, found he was falling. He was then sprung back up, into the air. Looking down, Link realized he'd stepped on a spiderweb. Below the spiderweb, there appeared to be another room. Link wondered how he was to get there, until he gave up and moved on. From where he was standing, the only way he could way he could go was climbing a ladder towards a small opening in the ceiling. He noticed a ledge high above him, but there was no logical way to get up there.
Thus, he climbed the ladder, revealing a second level in the tree's architecture. He looked around and saw monsters that resembled large spiders walking around this level. Link attempted to sneak past them without alerting them, but the creatures saw him.
The three giant spiders rushed him, moving as fast as any horse, and about the size of a large bull. Link jumped to the left just in time, hardly missing the mandibles of the first approaching Spider. Their spindly legs sent a series of sharp "CLACK"s around the room. Link stood up, and another spider sprinted towards him. He whipped out his sword in a flourish, and slashed at the front legs of his foe. The legs separated easily, and green ooze shot out of the wounds. The spider lost it's balance, and smashed it's face into the ground.
Link took this opportunity to leap upon the creature, driving his blade through the monster's head. The body of the beast skittered madly before falling still. He then ripped the blade from the beast's head, and looked at the other two. They both charged him at full speeds. Link dove towards them, sword raised. He slashed downward, disposing of another spider. He landed, and kicked his boot into the back leg of the final spider, which had been unable to stop it's mad charge. The leg snapped under the pressure of his heel. Link then slashed the creatures abdomen, resulting in a pool of green slime to fly come from the wound.
Panting mildly, Link sheathed his sword. He ran towards a ledge and vaulted over it, reaching a doorway he had previously missed. He opened the door and entered the new room.
Thick steel bars slammed shut over the door and Link exclaimed in shock as he was locked in the room. The room was square, and looked perfectly normal, aside from the hulking minotaur in the center.
It must have been ten feet tall, and was firmly muscled. It held a golden battleax with both hands. It's fur covered every inch of it's body in dark, deep blue fuzz. Gleaming jet black horns protruded from it's temples.
Upon seeing Link, the minotaur shrieked in rage, and began to walk towards him, shining ax raised overhead. Link quickly drew his sword and shield, and began to circle the creature. It swung the ax at him horizontally, and he jumped over blade. The minotaur was unable to stop itself mid swing, and stuck it's ax in the thick wood of the walls. Link took the opportunity to attack the beast's legs with a flurry of sword swipes.
The Minotaur howled with pain, and ripped the ax from the wall, a chunk of wood still attached. It attacked Link with an overhead strike, which Link barely dodged. The chunk of wood from the wall shattered from the impact, sending an explosion of wood to shoot around the room. One such shard lodged itself firmly in Link's right arm. The pain caused link to drop his shield. He cried out in pain before ripping out the wooden intruder. He turned towards the minotaur, and saw it's head lowered towards him. Knowing what was about to happen, he kneeled on one knee, back against the wall, sword in hand. The minotaur began to charge at him. It's speed was impressive, and had the blow struck Link, it surely would have been the end of him. And the blow would have struck him if he hadn't been kneeling. Since he was, however, The minotaur only managed to stab it's horns into the wall of the room. It struggled to free itself for naught, as Link raised his sword, stabbing the beast in the eye. It's struggling stopped, and the body hung loosely in the wall.
The steel bars raised up, allowing Link to leave. And then something happened. A glow filled the center of the room. Sparkles fluttered about, and soon a chest appeared. Link walked towards the chest with a confused expression on his face. He opened it and reached inside.
What he pulled out was a very long rope with a four pronged hook on the end. A grappling hook. And Link knew exactly where he was going to use it.