Saved from the Twister
By: Lovely girl 10
Disclaimer: I don't own the game or the manga.
Chapter 9- The Last Flame
The heat from the volcano was more intense than before as Link and Zelda searched around the area for the next trial door. They were now standing at the very spot where they first saw Impa, and the little spot where the Blessed Butterflies were flying around was their key to opening the last remaining trial.
"I wonder what the last new item might be…" Link mused as he studied the butterflies, savoring the last remaining point of their adventure, then they will return to where Impa and Groose would be waiting for them.
Hopefully, Link thought for a moment, that Impa could knock some sense into the big guy without threatening him with her knife.
It also gave the Hero an idea to ask the ninja what the heck is going on with his body and with the mysterious urges to jump into something that is so dangerous enough to kill him.
He knew that it had something to deal with the Lost Hero, but he didn't understand why his ancestor wanted him dead?
'I will worry about him when Zelda and I are done with finding the flames.' Link thought to himself as he scratched his head in a thinking gesture.
Already the same melody from the harp echoed through the air as the trial door appeared before the Hero as he listened to Zelda's song of Din's Power, and watched as Fi got out of the sword and began to do a ballad dance on the ground.
"Hero and Maiden
Find the flame I hid
Watch for the flames and don't back down from a fight
Listen to my song
It will give you strength
Power will lead you to a place where you least expect to find my flame.
Melody of strength
Key to dancing flames
Show your Power and receive my work of art
Sacred Tears of fire
Tame them within your heart
The battle is almost done so do not hold back your mind, body, and soul!"
The feeling of being empowered just by the song gave Link and Zelda the strength to go through the last trial. Although, it seemed to Zelda that she needed to keep an eye on Link so that he doesn't think about committing suicide or convince the enemy to murder him when she sees the shadow of the Lost Hero planning on possessing her friend.
"Mind if I help you out with the last trial, Link?" Zelda asked as she held onto one of his gauntlet hands.
Link stared at the trial door as well as keeping his eyes locked onto his shadow, making sure that the Lost Hero would not pull any tricks while he is in the Silent Realm. He also knew that the past hero would have little luck into making the young male fail in his mission while he is in the Silent Realm.
Besides, that spiritual place can't kill the Hero, only reality can once when he is finished.
Without saying anything, Link nodded, telling Zelda that she can help him. He and Zelda both held onto his sword and plunged it into the earth together. They froze on the impact and stayed still like statues.
Fi had to keep watch over their bodies to be sure that nothing bad happens to them. And when she looked into the realm where the trial was taking place, Zelda already made a lot of progress on her side of the Silent Realm whereas Link was doing well on the other half.
And once again, when either Link or Zelda get caught by the guardians, Zelda rushes over to where her best friend was to shield him from the attack, to which the guardians didn't land a hit on her or her hero once she is in their line of vision.
After they completed the last trial to find the flame, Zelda and Link retrieved the new item; the Fire Earrings, which will protect them when they go into any place that had extreme temperatures.
When they got out of the trial, Zelda took a deep breath in amazement as she took out the earrings and examined them. "At least this is an item which we can accessorize."
Link agreed with a nod as he took out his map and tried to pinpoint where the flame might be. To which, he found that the only place they haven't checked out was right by the crater of the volcano.
And that place, he figured, was extremely hot.
It didn't take long for the pair to travel up towards the entrance of the crater, and before they took a step into the heat, which the young boy and girl thought that if they didn't have the earrings on they were going to burn in the flames, but that didn't happen to them.
"Let's go find that flame." Zelda urged as she carefully walked up to where the entrance was, being aware to not let her hand touch the flaming walls.
The inside of the crater was very warm when the Spirit Maiden and the Hero took their first steps into the volcano. Link had taken out his sword to drowse for the safest place to get out of the heat, even though he and Zelda have the earrings on, he still wanted to be sure that he and Zelda can get some fresh air once in a while.
He managed to find a tunnel that led to a waterfall, and Zelda took the opportunity to get some water down her throat whereas Link scooped some of the water into one of his bottles, storing two sets when either he or Zelda have the need to quench their thirst, Zelda took out her own two sets of bottles and stored some more.
Continuing their search for the flame, they went toward another tunnel inside of the crater and Link took notice from his sword that they were getting close to the flame after he used the drowsing ability.
However, the room seemed to be fully secured when the young adults noticed that the way to the temple where the flame is waiting for them is blocked by the flames. Gorko the Goron turned around and spotted them after when he examined the flames.
"Hey buddies! Good to see you two! I am actually here because I heard someone had spotted some Goddess Cubes in the area." Gorko crossed his arms in a businesslike manner. "I have got a hunch they may be down in this direction, but… this flaming wall of fire is blocking the way!" He then moved his arms toward his hips as he sighed in disappointment. "I wish there was something we could do to put out these flames…"
Zelda spotted a stone tablet that was right by a little staircase where a big statue of a frog that had its mouth open was and read it closely. She then walked up to where the frog statue was and released one of her bottles of water, succeeding in clearing the path when the mechanism took out the flames.
Gorko saw what she did and praised her for that action. "Hey, the flames are out! Now we can get through here." The Goron began to walk through the gate and was stopped by another mechanism that needed to be taken out so that the young adults could get through.
"More flames.. This is starting to burn me up.." The Goron sighed in annoyance of the mechanism that blocked the way, even earning a chuckle out of the young adults without noticing. "Hate to ask you this, bud, but could you do the fire extinguisher routine again?"
This time, Link took out one of the hookshots and got himself to the top of a little ledge where he can get the water inside of the frog statues mouth. Once again, the mechanism took out the flames that blocked the path.
Gorko called out in an excited mode. "Hey! Nice work, bud. Now we are getting somewhere!" And once again he walked through the gate, only to be blocked by a bigger mechanism that blocked the entrance to the temple.
Link jumped off the ledge and followed where Gorko went, along with Zelda following closely behind. They looked around the area which had aqua green and white tiles and some fences. The temple that stood before them was huge and decorated with pictures of flames.
"Now that is what I call a Fire Temple, Link." Zelda teased him, since he wasn't satisfied that the Earth Temple wasn't what he had in mind. Now this place would surely take the cake for him. Link put his finger to his lips in order to hush the girl when they came close to Gorko.
"Do you see this, buds? Talk about intriguing! We are definitely off the map here." Gorko stated as he studied the area with curiousness. "This does not feel like Goddess Cube stuff to me! I bet there is something super important hidden around here!"
They looked up to see a huge statue of the same frog which was guarding the flames from below. "All I can say is that it is a big frog with a huge thirst. I do not think that the amount of water in one of your bottles is going to cut it this time." Gorko told.
"I agree with you, Gorko." Link said.
Zelda mused. "Looks like we will have to find a huge container to hold the amount of water that we need for this job. But the problem is do we have anything like that around this place?"
A sudden thought came to Link as he turned to look at Zelda. "I think Faron has the water that we need! Zelda, can you go to Faron's domain and retrieve it?"
Zelda nodded. "And do you mind if I borrow Fi for a bit?" Without further need, Link already handed Zelda his sword.
"Just be sure that Scrapper treats you respectively." Link warned with hesitation. "He already calls me 'Master Shortpants' whenever he sees me."
Zelda nodded and took out her harp to play a tune which made a portal to where she had to go. She stepped inside it and disappeared from Link's sights.
"Oh, you wish to borrow my water basin, Your Grace?" Faron asked in a surprised tone. "Hmm… Very well. I have recovered, and I have no intention of having to soak in it again soon! Begone with it. It's yours to use as you please."
Fi jumped out of the sword and stood right by Zelda. "I will call on some help to carry the water basin." She told as she turned her attention toward the sky.
Zelda wondered what the sword spirit was doing before she seen a small figure in the sky fall down and floated in front of them. It was a robot, like how Link described, and it had a little helicopter thing on its head, possibly so that it can fly up to the sky, and it also had the same hat that she remembered from her journey to the Sandship.
"Mistress Fi, bzzzt! My deep apologies for keeping you waiting!" The robot named Scrapper said as he bowed to the sword spirit. He turned around to look at the basin that was full of water. "Let's see here… This cargo looks very heavy, but it's well within my payload tolerances, bzzzrt!"
Zelda watched herself as Scrapper turned around to notice her standing right by his supposed mistress. "Where is Master Shortpants, Miss Long Skirt?"
She jumped in surprise at his rude made up name that he gave her, but nevertheless, she stayed calm and answered him. "He is waiting for me at the Fire Temple. And I am wearing a dress, not a long skirt." The Spirit Maiden called upon her faithful Loftwing and flew up to the sky to travel toward the volcano area once again.
The way back to the Fire Temple was a bit tiresome for Zelda when she had to protect the little robot against the monsters that tried to dispose of him. Nevertheless, she made sure that he was safe and sound when they finally reached the Temple. She also discovered that if her skin caught a cut on her hand or such, it healed in the next minute as if her purified powers were making her indestructible.
She watched alongside Link and Gorko when Scrapper finally let go of the basin and made the last security system open its way to the hero's. After reminding Fi to give him a call when she needs his help, Scrapper returned to Skyloft to await the next calling.
"Go ahead, buds. Whatever is in there, it is yours." Gorko urged with excitment for his friends as they slowly walked into the Temple, determined to retrieve the last of the flames.
Fire Sanctuary
Link held up his hand right by his face to cover it from the intense heat; Zelda did the same as they walked through the entrance and managed to take a look around the place. There was statues of owls and on the top of the ceiling there was a weird plant that was hanging over a moat of lava. Link took out his beetle and watched as it took out the weird plant that later fell into the lava.
He half expected for the plant to burn away in the flames, yet it actually made a little platform from the water that was spilled from the plant. "C'mon, Zelda." He told quickly as he and his best friend both jumped on the platform and jumped again on the other side before the platform was burned away as well.
The second lava moat looked like it was moving as Link took out the second plant that made another platform appear on the lava, giving him and Zelda enough time to jump on it and balance on it as it traveled to the other side of the room.
"How long will this thing last?" Zelda wondered as she studied the platform, worried that if she and Link would burn at any second if the platform caves into the lava. She also noticed that Link took out their bow and shot the nearby moblins that wanted to shoot them. Once they found a good place to get off, the hero and spirit maiden jumped off before the platform burned into the flames once more. After that, they traveled up to where the treasure chest would be and opened it to find another small key to open the chained door.
Link jumped off the ledge first and caught Zelda when she jumped off. "I think I finally know why Impa got me to change my clothing before I went ahead in this journey. So that I don't feel extremely warm when I am going through this place." Zelda mentioned as she tried to find a single trace of sweat that would cover her forehead with her hand, to which she didn't find anything.
Link teased with a small grin. "Well, you are a hot chick Zelda." He received a playful punch in the chest from his girl after that remark. She smiled back as she took the key and worked on unlocking the door. She stopped short when she and Link heard something underground that was climbing its way to the top. Another Mogma that the adults didn't recognize came up, facing the door.
"Ho ho ho... Ahh! The exit at last..." A old looking mole sighed in relief as he dug his way out of the ground, looking at the door in a calm expression before he jumped in surprise when he spotted the young adults. "Whoa! Don't scare me like that! I thought you two were one of those monster creeps!"
"How can we be the 'monster creeps' if we don't look like them?" Link asked in confusion, wondering why most of the creatures he met thought that he was a monster.
The old looking Mogma looked at him curiously before responding, "You got yourself a swanky pair of Digging Mitts, don't cha? Who are ya, anyway? Watcha doing here?"
"Well..." Zelda began as she explain to the mole that she and Link were on a quest to find the hidden flame that is deep inside of the temple. The Mogma seemed to understand their situation as he clasped his claw-like hands.
"Hmm... I getcha. The name is Guld. I'm the big boss of the Mogmas. Those Digging Mitts you got right there... I invented 'em!" The Mogma named Guld, giggled for a little bit before continuing. "No offense, kids, but you don't look like the kinda guys I'd send in here on a treasure-huntin' mission. But what do I know... Ya two might just surprise me.
So here's the deal. Word in the tunnels is there's a huge treasure hidden in these here ruins... But nobody who's ever seen it has come back to tell the tale. Countless treasure hunters have disappeared in here! Poof! Gone. As a treasure digger, I gotta warn you to just turn around and enjoy the many peaceful years of diggin' left in you, but... You are gonna do this no matter what I say, aren't ya?"
Link shrugged. "Pretty much." Zelda nodded in agreement on that.
"Here is one clue I will give ya. 'Ye who seek the entrance to the kings treasure, look for the two statues that face one another. Show your bravery and jump into the mouth of the sleeping statue. Do this and the path will open before you.' You remember all of that and you are golden." Guld stated.
The young adults thanked Guld before they opened the door by pushing it upwards and entered into the next area. Link and Zelda carefully walked down the stone staircase to where the next door was, along with taking out some of the moblins along the way, before entering in another room. They knew that they had to travel to the other side of the temple to find the last sacred flame because they were only a fourth of the way there.
"And here I thought the Sandship was the longest dungeon I had ever faced." Link growled in annoyance as he slapped his face with his hand.
"Don't worry too much for now, Link. This one might be the last dungeon we would ever come to see." Zelda assured him with a rub on his shoulder. She stopped walking when she noticed that the room was a lot more trickier than any type of knight from the academy would know. With the lava being held back on the bottom of the room, to the vines that led to another door, Zelda would have liked to quit her journey in that moment.
However, she had to get herself back together because it now was not the time to quit. She yelped in surprise when Link carried her bridal style before he jumped down from the ledge to where a rock platform was. She gasped and held onto him tightly when she saw that the lava was moving toward them. Link got onto the rock platform safely as the lava gathered its strength underneath the rock and pushed it upwards to the other ledge.
Link, while holding Zelda in his arms, jumped off and dashed quickly to the vines where he told her to hang onto his back so that he can carry both him and her to the other side of the room where the next door awaits them. Zelda protested, "I don't think it would be safe for you to carry me while working your way on the vines. Maybe I should just let you climb by yourself and I will follow."
"That's nonsense, Zelda. I always wanted to try out this new trick." Link reassured as he asked her to do what he said, and she did. Even though she was worried that he might fall back to where he started, with her on his back, Link worked his way over to the door without any problems. She was impressed that he didn't groan or shriek in pain when she was on his back, to him, its almost as if she wasn't heavy at all.
Zelda slowly got herself off of his back and opened the door for him as they went into the next room, they could feel some of the fresh air as they looked around outside on the little bridge. Until the door slammed shut on them and alerted one of the new enemies that the adults had not faced yet. It looked like the same mutant lizard that Link recognized from the Earth Temple, but its skin was darker, and more challenging.
Link had no trouble into eliminating the creature as he slashed across the lizards chest and made sure that it stayed down. "Link! I got the door opened!" Zelda called out to him from the other side of the bridge. Link cleaned up some of the blood off the sword and helped his girl by pushing the door upwards, going into a new room that seemed to be a bit more challenging than the others.
The lava was not moving as Zelda and Link walked over to the small staircase and studied how they were going to get across to the other side where two doors were being guarded by two archer moblins. Link took out one of his bombs and allowed Zelda to hold it while he used the beetle to carry the bomb toward the statue where a few blocks were blocking the flow of lava.
Once that part was complete, the Hero and Maiden jumped onto a new solid platform from the water plant and took out the moblins with the bow. Opening the door that didn't have a lock on, Link and Zelda could see a mogma squirming in the air as he was attached to a rope. "That stuff looks HOT! I wouldn't mind a little hot bath for my sore shoulders, but this is too much!" The mogma took a deep breath to relax before turning to see the adults. "What have we got here? Another two new guards? Hah! You can't break me with interrogation, guys. You'll never make me talk!" He began to squirm again as if he was swimming in the air. "I'm not seom slideshow for you to gawk at! Shoo now!"
Link ignored the mogma as he worked his way into the side of the room where some dried up lava was and took out his gust blower, cleaning up some of the mess as Zelda muttered a "How rude!" at the mogma, wondering if he was going to apologize after he said those things.
Link took out a small key from the chest and went back through the door with Zelda in toe as he used it on the locked door.
The battle with the lava hands were a little bit tricky when the hero and maiden tried to fight them. So they decided to split up to the different ledges where the water plants were, and threw them onto the lava hands, stopping them dead in their tracks. They slashed hard on the paralyzed hands, making the dried up hands crack before they crumbled to the ground.
"Hey!" The Mogma that the young adults met earlier called from the other side of the caged window, "I was watching ya, buddies! Ya really socked it to those lava thingers! Amazing stuff! And if ya don't mind, how about ya get me down from here!"
Zelda called back. "Just hang on tight, okay?"
The Mogma then laughed to himself, thinking that it was ironic that he was hanging around by a chain in the air. Once the adults were within his sights the Mogma asked. "Are ya two here because of the Legend of the sleeping statue?" Link brought out his whip and pulled the switch, which was underneath the lava, Zelda nodded at the Mogma, answering his question.
Once the Mogma was safely on the ground, he told the adults. "As thanks for saving my life, I am gonna give ya a replacement pair of diggin' mitts from my secret stash! Don'tcha go nowhere!" He began to dig crazy on the ground before a chest could be seen hidden underground. "Take good care of them ya here? Farewell." He then disappeared into the ground, probably heading back to the hideout, as Zelda thought over in her head.
Link took the new digging mitts from the chest and placed them on his gloved hands. "Shall we test this new item out?" When Zelda nodded, Link walked over to where some of the dirt was and began to dig through. One of them was secretly a hidden passageway to the other side of the room, but Link didn't notice until he dug too much in there and fell in.
"Link!" Zelda yelled in worry as she examined the hole where Link fell through. "You okay?" Instead of answering her, Link's arm reached out from the ground, grabs her leg and pulls her into the hole.
"Link what is the meaning of this?" She asked, outraged that he pulled her into the ground, contaminating her with the dirt that would stain her clothing. Obviously she thought that Link was probably giggling over the fact that she hates getting dirty, even though she is a tomboy.
Link led the way through the dirt tunnels, crawling on his chest as he smashes the rocks in the way. "Now I think I know how those Mogma's felt." He mused, couching softly from the claustrophobic space that the ground was giving.
He managed to find a light from the end of the tunnel into the other room and climbed up, with Zelda following behind as she tried to think of clean thoughts while trying to ignore the dirt. Figuring that there would be another key that is hiding somewhere, Link went to the small gate where another door might be waiting for him and his girl. Upon seeing another dirt hole, Link went down there by himself, leaving Zelda to dust off her white dress after when she went through the first hole.
Zelda heard the gate slowly opening as Link got himself out of the hole as quickly as he could. He looked like he didn't mind the dirt on his clothing. As suspected, Link knew that there was an open door when he and Zelda walked over to it. The next area seemed to give Zelda the frights when the bridge was blocked off, mostly because the bridge didn't have a solid walking path. And if they fell off of there, they would have to start all over again.
Noticing a hesitant look from Zelda, Link reassured. "If you want, Zelda, you can stay here for a little bit. I have a feeling that it won't take long for me to go through that room." He took out his hook-shots and was prepared to shoot onto the targets before Zelda interrupted.
"What if the Lost Hero tried to possess you when you are going through there?" She mentioned, wondering if she should go with him instead of waiting for him. She knew that he could strike at any time, but it was usually hard to know when he is doing it.
Link shook his head. "Not on my watch." He then flew through the air with his hook-shots and went inside of the next room. While waiting for him, Zelda decided to think through her thoughts on what to do next after this temple.
Her first thought was about Impa and Groose. The young Spirit Maiden wondered how the ninja was doing on getting the big guy on their side, not that Zelda didn't care about having Groose as a teammate, but so that he doesn't have to be a big showoff when she is around. She also hoped that Impa wouldn't be too harsh like how she did when they first met. But she had to admit, Impa did give Groose a piece of her mind when he tried to take Zelda back to Skyloft without her permission.
Demise was the next thing that came to her mind as Zelda shuddered. She hoped that by the time she and Link got back to the Sealed Grounds, Demise would stay put in the pit where he truly belonged. But then she thought, 'If he could get out of the seal without Ghirahim helping him out, why would he need my- or Hylia's soul for the sacrifice?'
It didn't take long until Zelda's thoughts were halted by the sound of the hook-shots. She seen that Link came back unharmed, and was holding another key. "Day dreamming again, Zel?" He asked teasingly while fiddling with the key in his hand.
Zelda playfully punched his shoulder after when he said that. "I was going through my thoughts, Sleepyhead."
After they had their good laugh, the young adults went back to where the locked door was and opened it without any problems. They were outside again as Link walked over to a nearby staircase and slowly looked around the place, killing some moblins on the spot as Zelda used the beetle to cut off the water plant that was above the lava. Both of the heroes jumped across to the other side where another door could be seen above a few dragon statues.
"I think this lava is suppose to be some kind of moat." Zelda noted as she looked over to see where the temple is. They were just about finished with this temple. 'Only a few more rooms to go.' She thought to herself and smiled at that thought.
"Then I guess we have to get the lava to move." Link grunted in exhaustion, but went ahead to the next room. Upon standing right by another hole when they entered, Link offered to go underground again as Zelda kept watch from above.
Once underground, Link could hear another Mogma chanting in excitement. "So busy, so busy... Burning the midnight oil again looking for loot!" Digging through a little bit of the tunnel, Link found another switch and pushed it forwards, satisfied that the gate moved. He paid attention to Zelda's footsteps as her feet echoed above the dirt. He hoped that she was on the other side of the gate, because as soon as he moved out of that little tunnel, the Mogma seemed to have noticed and moved it back to where it was before.
"Rats!" He cursed as he moved through the dirt, intending to give the Mogma a piece of his mind when he finds him. However, as soon as he found the little trickster, the Mogma was running away from him, again thinking that he was one of those monsters, but it didn't take long for Link to sneak up on him and catch him.
Link dragged the Mogma back above-ground as the Mogma screamed. "Nooooooo... You got me! Go on, then, you monster! Boil me, bake me, do your worst!" Upon noticing the new digging mitts, the Mogma settled. "I know those gloves... Ain't those from my brother's secret collection?"
"That is right. He gave me them when me and my friend saved him." Link answered, nodding his head.
"Aww, you are all green. I thought that you were a monster." The little Mogma studied.
"So did your brother and his friends." Link noted. "Zelda and I are not the bad guys here." He gestured to his girl that was waiting patiently for him on the other side of the closed gate.
The little Mogma apologized. "Sorry guy, I thought that you were going to kill me. I will open the door for you, then I will return to the boss's place. See ya!" The little Mogma disappeared into the dirt, opening the gate for Link.
Link quickly went over to see how Zelda was doing. She was examining the small dirt hole that might be connected with the dragon statues. Link knew immediately to dig inside of the hole and see what was blocking that lava. It only took a second as Zelda started to feel the warmth of the lava moving underground, and she desperately hoped that Link would get out of there before the lava burns him.
She sighed in relief when Link got himself out of the ground, but he was panting out of exhaustion as his hands clasped his legs, sweat was rolling off of his forehead. "Never. Again." He panted between breathes.
Seeing that he would be too tired to walk, Zelda played on her harp and opened a portal to the platform where the temple was. She grabbed Link's hand and slowly walked with him through the portal. The temple was really huge and the door was decorated with flames as Zelda examined the building. How little did she knew that Link began to walk over to the edge of the bridge of decision where there was nothing else but the statues and the lava.
When she turned to see him staring down at the lava, Link immediately jumped off. "Link!" She screamed in fear as she ran to where he jumped off and did the same thing. The heat was almost too intense for the young girl when she was flying closer and closer to the burning lava, however Zelda was focused on her friend who was somehow either going insane with that trick or finding another way to get inside of the temple without needing a lock.
But the one thing she noticed was the shadow of the Lost Hero who was falling in the same direction as his descendant.
Knowing full well that the Lost Hero was going to try to kill her best friend, Zelda straightened herself on her dive to catch up with Link, opened her arms and grabbed her Hero. The force of her grab managed to move both of them to one of the sleeping statues, and once when she saw a unseen platform that was shown on the statue, Zelda quickly used her own sailcloth and landed safely on it, with Link in her arms.
Sliding down to where the ground was solid, Zelda turned to Link with a glare on her face. "Link, what is wrong with you? You just can't kill yourself like that!" Suddenly he turned to her with a glare of his own, but what set her off was when he spoke in a more mature voice that belonged to a man, she also saw that his blue eyes were glowing like flames.
"You really have to learn to leave me out of this Hylia." The Lost Hero told in disgust. Zelda jumped in surprise at his tone of voice. "I never asked of you to keep me in this world. Why am I here instead of the afterlife, where I rightfully belong?"
Zelda stood her ground and answered the ancient hero. "You are talking to the wrong person, Hero of Legend. If you want your answers, you are gonna have to talk to Hylia about that." She soon realized that the presence of the Lost Hero had faded inside of Link's body as the real Link woke up from the trance he was under.
Zelda hesitated, thinking that the Lost Hero would be tricking her, but she whispered. "Link? Are you okay?" He opened his eyes as Zelda sighed in relief to know that he was back to normal, for now anyway.
"I feel odd Zelda. What is happening to me?" He asked with a shrug. He placed his right hand on his head, rubbing it as if he had a bad headache. Holding his hand so that neither he, or the Lost Hero, would get any ideas, as Zelda led him up the staircase.
Opening another door, Zelda had to take over for Link as she battled the two poisonous lizard mutants, just so that her best friend could rest for the time being. She also had to carry Link so that she could climb up to the top of a tower where the boss key awaited to be obtained.
The room where the key was laying was dark, and the only thing that Zelda and Link could see was the bird statues with torches. Upon reading a stone tablet, either Zelda or Link would have to light the torches from underneath the ground in accordance with the number of wings each statue possesses from least to greatest.
Zelda snapped her fingers and a scepter or staff appeared in her hand with some cute birdlike decorations on it. She walked up to each of the statues one by one where she struck the ground with her staff, making the switches from underground respond to light up the room with the flames.
Link was obviously dumbstruck because he never saw Zelda carrying a staff before in his life. Zelda later on explained that in one of her memories as a goddess, she never usually uses the Goddess Sword as often as she does, so she uses a staff to do some of her magic tricks.
Once all of the torches were taken care of, Link went up to the big treasure chest and took out the boss key. But he looked at it in confusion because the design of the key was a little bit more mysterious than the other big keys he and Zelda collected from the other temples. Ignoring the design, the Hero and Spirit Maiden rushed out of the room to where the main entrance to the last flame was hiding.
Boss Battle #6: Ghirahim (Second Time)
The room suddenly turned dark the moment Link and Zelda ran inside, and the huge door slammed shut behind them, just like how the other doors did before a battle started to form. Looking around the room, Link hoped that it would be a fire-type monster that he could battle, but alas, all he heard was that familiar demon laugh that echoed through the room.
Ghirahim was definitely here, that Link noticed as he prepared his sword and shield for the fight of his life. Zelda stood by him and prepared for the same battle with him.
Ghirahim had his back turned before he turned around and noticed that the young adults were right behind him. "Oh, hello there, Link and Hylia. I see that you two are still among the living. Fancy meeting you here." Zelda flinched when he called her by her past name, yet she refused to let her outburst get the best of her, like the other times she seen him.
Ghirahim looked over his shoulder to the wall behind him. "We all seem to bump into each other time and time again. Oh, it's no coincidence, though, is it? You both and I, we are bound by a thread of fate." Ghirahim raised his hand and continued. "I've been a busy boy, searching for a way to separate you two so that I can revive my master without any interference from you, Skychild. Yet it seems that you and Her Majesty had been busy as well. Collecting the flames and reviving your powers and memories of the past life you once had long ago." The Demon Lord laughed hysterically. "You do realize that you are going back to your graves the moment you try to face me and my master, do you?"
Zelda countered. "You have it backwards, Ghirahim. You and Demise will be the ones to be put in your graves, not Link and I." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "We don't have time for you, Demon Lord, so step aside and let us get to the last flame."
Ghirahim frowned. "So you are. But I will not let you or the Skychild get near it. And I understand that you know fully well that you, Hylia, would be the instrument of my master's revival. And here I thought that you were beyond my reach in order for you to reclaim your power and your memories. But I don't need to worry about that any longer."
Zelda grinds her teeth and tightly grabs her staff. "And you should know that I will not go down that easily. With or without my powers, I will still knock some sense into you! I suggest for you to surrender to us, Ghirahim, and leave me and my best friend in peace."
Ghirahim kept looking back between her and Link as he stated softly. "Before we talk any further, there is still the outstanding matter of your punishment for lying to me about your past, and for the boy's terrible habit of interfering with my plans. I vowed to myself that the next time I would see you two, I would make your ears bleed from the sound of your own screams." He flipped his hair before appearing behind the young adults. "Or maybe a better punishment for you two should be to watch the other die by my blade, and then the surviving victim would die of guilt of watching the one they love die in their arms."
Link tensed when he heard that and turned around with a glare, telling the Demon Lord that if he touched his best friend, he would die before he could even lay a hand on her. Zelda did the same.
"Such behavior from the two of you should be dealt with firmly." Ghirahim warned, his cape fluttered as if there was a breeze inside of the temple. He raised his arms into the air. In a blink of an eye, the color of his arms changed from white to black. "Lovely, aren't they? You'll find the supple skin of my arms tougher than any armor. Doesn't their shape just leave you... Breathless?"
Link scoffed. "To be honest, it makes me want to gag."
Zelda agreed. "Same here."
The next thing they noticed was Ghirahim's skin. All over his body there were cracks from the side of his face, to his chest, and to his legs. And before they knew it, Ghirahim looked like he had his game face on as he licked his lips before murmuring in a psychotic way. "Come closer you two! Meet me in battle, and that thread of fate that binds us all will be soaked crimson with your blood!"
Ghirahim started to walk forward, snapping his fingers as two spinning daggers appeared right beside him, protecting his top and lower half of the body. Link got a head start to push the daggers away just by using his sword, and once again he tricked the Demon Lord by the usual sword trick he remembered from the last time they battled each other at the Skyview Spring.
Ghirahim summoned up the two daggers again and when Link got rid of one of those daggers, he slashed across the demons chest a few times before he jumped a few feet away from the hero. However, once he had that distance, Ghirahim waved his hand and the other dagger flew toward Link, which he pushed back with his shield, turning the dagger attack against the demon.
Link circled the demon while he was turning the daggers against Ghirahim each time he summons it. He turned his gaze to Zelda who was giving herself enough time to charge up her staff from behind the Demon Lord. Link suddenly thought that his mind was growing weak before he fell under the spell of the Lost Hero, once again noticing the shadow taking control.
Zelda gasped and ran toward her best friend, but she was pushed away from him by the demon that wanted to kill her. Ghirahim looked down on her in disgust before looking at the hero. "You shall watch as I kill your foolish hero, goddess. It makes me wonder why you chose him out of all the other humans on the Surface who are bigger and stronger than he is." He chuckled as he watched the hero walking toward him slowly, not knowing that it is the hero from the past.
"End this quickly for me." The Lost Hero told. "The sooner I am out of this world, the better." He dropped his sword and shield, leaving himself open to the demons attacks.
"Link no!" Zelda commanded as she got herself up. Pretty soon she pushed Ghirahim away from her hero with all of her strength. The aura surrounding her was glowing in a gold color. She hissed at the demon. "I am not letting you hurt my friend!" She ignored the glare that the Lost Hero was giving her as he stayed put, waiting for his life to end at any moment.
Soon enough, Ghirahim stood up, licked his lips once more and summoned two swords that appeared in his hands. Zelda turned the tide as she charged at the demon with her staff in her hand. Even though the demon did his best to block the girls attack, he was no matched when her staff touched his abdomen and a great amount of electricity shocked him. He screamed as the Spirit Maidens Holy Staff attack took its toll on him.
He backed away from her attack as he covered his face, panting from exhaustion. Zelda smiled. "You lose again, Ghirahim."
He growled in hatred. "You are such a brat, goddess! You are making me furious, outraged, and sick with anger! I am Ghirahim, the Demon Lord who refuses to be squashed by a stupid deity who should have lost the battle from the start!" He pointed his finger at her accusingly. "It shouldn't matter how powerful you and the Skychild are, you are still nothing compared to me.. Not just a reborn goddess or just a child! And yet, you two prevail! You filthy scamp! You have awakened a wrath that will burn for eons! I swear to you, goddess, whatever it takes, I will drag you and your hero into an eternity of torment!"
Zelda said nothing as the Demon Lord disappeared from her sight, waving his sword in a circular motion before vanishing from the temple. The light returned to the room as the Mark of Din glowed on the door where the last flame was. She turned around to see that Link was back to normal again, no sign of the Lost Hero was present on him.
Both the Hero and the Spirit Maiden rushed over to the door and went inside of the room. Link did the usual Skyward Sword Strike on the switch which revealed the flame of Din. It was a vibrant red color as the young adults shielded their eyes from the brightness of the flame. Once more, Fi jumped out of the sword and surrounded herself with the flames, and charged toward the sword.
"Zel? Can you help me hold the sword?" Link asked. Nodding, Zelda stood right beside him and held it with her hands. The flames that merged with the sword was warm when Zelda and Link held the sword together. Once when the flames receded, the sword changed again, the hilt of the sword became darker and the sharp blade itself was glowing white.
Zelda noted. "Now the sword has a vibrant white light that the demons refuse to touch."
Fi agreed. "The blade has now revealed its true form. Master Link now holds the Master Sword. With its power, we can awaken the Gate of Time back at the Sealed Grounds. I recommend going to that location as quickly as possible."
Link summoned up his Skyward Teleport and walked through the portal with Zelda to the Sealed Grounds where Impa and Groose await them.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I hope that this chapter interests you readers. And I do believe that we are almost finished with this story, only a few more chapters and then we are done. Review anytime you want, and if you see any mistakes, let me know so that I can change it for you. I think this is the longest chapter I have ever done.
