Wow, it's really been a while, huh? Yeah, sorry about that. I've essentially been sick for the last month and a half. So, yeah, been busy with recovering and stuff. But on the bright side, I got a nice long one all ready for you! I think you'll like this one, I had a lot of fun writing it. Think of the length as an apology for making you guys wait so long or something. Whatever makes you happy. I promise I'll try to pick up the updates a bit. I'm feeling better, so I likely won't be draggy anymore. Oh, and a BIG thanks to Starlll for letting me borrow Mudd in this chapter! I kinda didn't know where to stop with this one, the story's at a point where a bunch of small things happen. So yeah. Oh, and I'll leave the whole Link's pocket thing up to your imagination. For now. I'll explain it later, maybe. If I feel the imagination part is better, I won't touch on it. ;) And though I've never touched on it, Link has always had a shield with him. I might go back to the first Mercay chapter and edit it so that he buys one. And if you know the 'someone' I'm referring to, you've played Wind Waker. Oh, and I've finally remembered to do disclaimers! I've been meaning to since chapter 1, and it took 9 chapters, but I finally remembered to put one in! Alright, I'm done catching up. Enjoy chapter 9!

Disclaimer: I do not own Link, Tetra, Ciela, Linebeck or Zelda at all in any way, shape or form. Though you could say that as a parody, I do own their personalities... Mudd the Third belongs to Starlll.

Chapter 9: The Phantom Hourglass

"Okay, so… Which way is Astrid's house?" Link asked stupidly. Ciela sighed.

"I'll lead the way, you just follow or something. I don't care," she replied before setting off to the west side of the island. Link hesitated, then soon ran to catch up.

"How do you know we're going the right way?" Link asked. "It could be back that way!" He pointed behind them.

Ciela just rolled her eyes. "Because one, the island isn't that big and we'd find our way around even if we did go the wrong way, and two, Linebeck's ship is right there."

Link looked. The ship was about a hundred yards away from them. "Oh yeah, then Astrid's house would be…" he pointed to a lone house. "Right there!"

"Good detective work, genius. The tablet that says 'Astrid's House ahead' is still right there!" Ciela directed. Link ignored her and was looking at the entrance of the house. "Hold on, there's Astrid, and there's Linebeck. But who's that third guy?"

"What? There is no… third…" Ciela's voile faltered as she too looked towards the house. Indeed, there was a mysterious third man, well, boy really, standing outside the house with Astrid and Linebeck. The pair quickly ran to the house.

The boy looked to be about 15, somewhat skinny, with messy brown hair, and red eyes with a tint of brown in them. He was wearing a grey-black tunic, with a massive longbow strapped across his back. He wore a belt with three scabbards around it; two daggers by his hands, and what looked to be a throwing knife sitting behind his waist. The boy looked rather young for his age, shown in his playful face as he listened to Astrid talk.

Said Astrid, "There will be a time in your adventure, Linebeck, that your friends will need your help. Do not doubt."

Linebeck snorted. "They're not my friends. I have only one friend, and that's me! I'm the only one I care about, and that'll never change! And the kid's an experienced adventurer; how would he ever need my help? I'm supplying him with my boat, that's all the help he needs from me." He suddenly turned and spied Link and grinned.

"Kid! You're back! Did you get the spirit-or-whatever? Can we get off this rock? Astrid is saying weird things, and this kid is actually listening to the garbage she's saying!" At the mention of the boy, he jerked his thumb toward him, who glanced over at Link for the first time.

At first, neither of them spoke. They just stood, measuring each other up. Link adjusted his stance very slightly to adopt a fighting stance, in case something did happen. The other boy just stared, and for a moment, nothing happened. All of the sudden, Link's eye twitched slightly.

In a flash of steel, the boy's daggers were in his hands and were cutting through the air at Link. Link, almost anticipating the move, drew his sword and parried the blow. The two stood, blades locked, eyes fixed on each other. Then, they jumped apart. The boy's blades danced through the air, slicing dangerously close to Link's face, who blocked with his shield. Link, in turn, was trying with all his strength to get a hit, but to no avail. The two boys fought on, with neither managing to get a solid hit on the other.

Astrid, Linebeck and Ciela watched, munching on some popcorn Linebeck had ran and pulled off of his ship when the fight began. Then, quickly building a fire, he popped it and dumped it into a sac. The three were now gazing on at the fight, none saying a word. They had taken bets on the winner of the fight earlier on. Astrid had 20 rupees on the boy, claiming she could see the result of the fight with her crystal ball. Linebeck, likewise, had 20 on Link, who he said he believed in, and also said that he wanted to stick it to Astrid and her stupid ball. Ciela didn't bet, saying she was the only one with brains and would end the fight if it went on long enough.

It was apparent that the two boys were tiring, their moves becoming slower. Finally, they jumped apart, kneeling on the ground, panting.

Man, Link thought, this guy's tough! I couldn't get a shot on him, and he was keeping me busy so much I barely had time to think! Who is this guy…?

As if in response to his thoughts, the boy stood up and sheathed his daggers. He slowly walked forward until he was beside the group. Grabbing some popcorn, he spoke, "You're tough. You really kept me busy."

Link slowly sheathed his sword and did the same. Approaching the group, he snagged some popcorn from Linebeck and said, "Yeah, well, you weren't exactly a picnic yourself." The boy smiled.

"I'm Mudd," the boy said. "I came here because I was bored, mostly, and wanted my fortune read for lack of anything better to do. I wandered up here and caught the fortune-teller talking to this sailor about a supposed destiny or something."

Link smiled. "My name is Link. Yeah, I'm on some quest to rescue my best friend. She's the pirate captain of the ship we live on."

Mudd whistled. "A pirate captain, huh? Wow, good thing I didn't kill you. The last thing I need is some crazy pirate captain chick on my heels because I killed her hero. That would slow down my progress of exploring the Great Sea."

"Man, you're just getting around to that now? I did that ages ago, in the middle of my last quest. A certain someone wasn't happy, but you've got to fit sightseeing into adventuring, right?" Link asked, growing to like this Mudd with everything he said.

Mudd laughed. "Exactly! I've got no idea how I ended up here, though. I was just sailing along, and then WHAM! I'm here."

Link grew confused. What did Mudd mean, here? Here was the Great Sea, just like it always was. Granted, it wasn't the same sea he had explored during his last quest, but that's the thing about being a Great Sea, right?

He was about to ask Mudd what he meant about 'here', when Mudd said "Well, I'd better get going. Got places to see here, people to meet, towns to pillage… I'll see you guys later." Mudd walked over to the dock, jumped into a speedboat, and, ripping through the water, quickly sailed away. Link just stared at what he had seen, before deciding that the boat he had seen wasn't real. He turned to Linebeck and Astrid, who were arguing about their bets. "Anyways guys, yes, I got the spirit we need. We can go now." Astrid turned to Link.

"Yes, Link. Sail back to Mercay and go back to the temple you descended there earlier. The spirit will help you go further. And with that, I bid you good-day." She turned and walked back into her house. "Come, Kayo! Let's get to work!"

"Alright, kid," Linebeck said, turning to Link, "you heard the weirdo. Let's go back to the killer life-sucking temple.

And on that note, they turned and boarded Linebeck's ship, and set sail north for Mercay Island.


Several hours later…

"Man, that's a long trip," Linebeck said stretching, as the group walked off the boat.

Link was anxious to get to the temple. He had remembered Oshus saying something important about their quest lying in the temple.

"So yeah, that temple almost killed me last time I was in it. I think I'll wait here," Linebeck said, turning back to his ship. Ciela grabbed his collar.

"Oh no, you're coming with us. We might need you, as Astrid said." Linebeck cringed.

The three of them walked north to the entrance of the familiar temple. As they approached, Linebeck began to whimper, until Ciela hit him, albeit hard, stunning Linebeck long enough to be pushed through the entrance.

A few feet inside, the three stood waiting, their eyes adjusting to the light. Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entranceway, at which Linebeck shrieked.

"Oh, will you relax? Some treasure hunter you turn out to be," the voice of the figure snapped. The figure stepped forward to reveal Oshus. After Ciela was finished with her greeting and quick summary of the ordeal in the Fire Temple, Oshus turned to Link.

"Now then Link, above the doorway into the next room, there is a platform. You saw it the first time you walked under it?" Oshus asked. Link nodded. Oshus continued, "Now then, it is common knowledge that this temple drains life. However, up on that platform is a pedestal. On that pedestal rests an item you can use to protect yourself from the harmfulness of this Temple. I want you to go up and retrieve that item." Oshus directed to the small item on the pedestal. Link thought back to when he first saw that item. It had no significance to him at the time.

Link ran up the steps along the side of the room and approached the pedestal. It was a stone table that came up to his waist. On it was a small object.

It was an hourglass. The glass was green, and the bases were stone-grey with a symbol on them. The bottom chamber was about half full with sand. Thinking back to the first time he had seen it, Link had thought that it was empty. There had been no sand visible from the ground. But then, memories of the Fire Temple jumped into his mind. When Blaaz had died, his body had decomposed into sand, which had then disappeared through the roof. Was it possible, then, that the sand had come here, to fill this hourglass?

Link gently picked the hourglass up off the pedestal. It was warm in his hands. Link recognized the symbol on it as the same symbol above the temple entrance outside. It was also on the top of the doorway just below him. Link saw a gap in the stone-rail going around the balcony; he went through it and jumped to the floor.

Walking over to the others, Oshus smiled slightly, then began to explain. "That is the Phantom Hourglass, an object that was said to belong to the Ocean King. It was said to have appeared here when the temple began to drain life. As long as there is sand in the chamber, the Hourglass' effects will protect you from the life sucking feelings of his temple. But, when the sand has all gone to the other chamber, the protection will be gone."

"Wait," said Linebeck, "Can't you just flip it over like a regular hourglass?"

Oshus shook his head. "Flipping it will do nothing to distill the powers, or to reactivate them. However, when you stand in a safe zone, the sand will not fall. The Hourglass can only be reset by touching sunlight. In other words, by stepping outside. Right now, you have about ten minuets of protection. Make it last."

"Hang on," said Link, "Did the sand come from the boss of the Fire Temple?"

Oshus nodded. "When the life sucking in the temple began, the Sand of Hours, the sand in the Hourglass, was spread across the Great Sea. Much of it was turned into monsters, which then attacked other temples."

Said Link, "What made this temple so dangerous? What did all this?"

"You are not ready to know that," Oshus replied, shaking his head. "When the time comes, I will tell you what you want to know." With that, he turned and left the temple.

Linebeck snorted. "What a bizarre old man." He headed for the entrance. "I'll be back on my ship, kid. Come there when you're done here."

Link, alone with Ciela, decided to move on and get the item they'd need. They walked through the other doorway.

Stepping out past a safe zone, Link felt an invisible force push in on him. However, there was no draining feeling this time. He looked at the hourglass. It had flipped over on its own. Sand had begun to trickle down the middle into the other chamber. Another weird thing was that Link knew exactly how much time was left. There was a timer that had appeared on the top of the hourglass. 9:48… 9:47… 9:46…

Link quickly ran forward to the door that had impeded him previously. It too had a symbol on it; the same symbol that had been uncovered on the Sea Chart: the symbol of Power. Link pulled the Spirit of Power out of his pocket. Leaf came up, coughing.

"Dude, what kind of stuff do you keep in there? That's sick, man! That's disgusting! I am not going back down there, you hear me dude?" Link grabbed him. "Just use your power and open this door." Leaf looked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, all right." He began to glow red, and in a moment the giant stone door swung open, revealing a descending staircase.

"Thanks, you're done now," Link said, grabbing the fairy. "What?" he cried suddenly.

"No, I'm not going back in there! I'm not goi-"

"I'm starting to wonder about that pocket of yours…" Ciela said slowly, glancing at where Leaf was now claiming to have been imprisoned.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go," Link said, climbing down the staircase, Ciela following.

As soon as they had gone down to the next floor, and Link was about to take a step out of the safe zone, two creatures appeared. They looked like knights with dark heavy armor, large swords and covered faces. "What are they?" Ciela asked. "I dunno, but I bet I can kill one!" Link answered, smiling and drawing his sword. Suddenly, Oshus appeared in the safe zone behind them.

"Oh, thank Goddesses, you're still alive. I forgot to warn you about these things!"

Link shrugged. "Are they bad?"

Oshus nodded. "They are the worst! They're called Phantoms, and they guard the temple. That armor they wear is impenetrable; they can't be taken down, and trying is suicide. They can take you down with one hit and return you to the entrance of the floor though, so watch out. Oh, and you'll also lose about 30 seconds in the Hourglass. Being in a safe zone if one sees you is good, 'cause they can't walk in one. Now then, good luck!" Oshus disappeared back up the stairs.

Link gulped. "Well then, that would have been unfortunate." Ciela nodded. "Just be sneaky, and don't let them see you."

Link slowly stepped out of the safe zone, the invisible pressures pushing against him once again. He wandered around until he saw a switch next to a locked door. He stepped on a switch, and a timer began counting. He quickly ran around until he saw two torches, one of which was lit up. Link pulled out his boomerang and slowly looked at it, then the flame. Taking a deep breath, he threw the boomerang. It sailed through the flame and caught, then flew to the next torch, which then lit up. With both torches alight, a fire wall on one side of the room dropped. With the timer having stopped, Link ran through that corridor, where a Phantom was patrolling. Link waited, then ran past it and hit a switch. A stone slab lowered, revealing a safe zone with a key. Link grabbed the key and ran back to the locked door. He unlocked the door, which lowered and revealed another set of stairs going down. Link took a deep breath, and descended with Ciela.

This next room was largely the same as the first. Link ran around, hit some switches, dropped a slab, grabbed a key, avoided Phantoms, and unlocked a door with more stairs leading down.

The third was room was different. There was a big safe zone to the north and a bit to the right of the room. In it was a giant image of the Triforce on the floor, and in each triangle there was a gold pedestal, each triangle shaped. Link looked around the room. There was a stationary Phantom, and behind him in a safe zone, sat a large gold triangle, called a Force Gem. Link glanced at the Hourglass. 4:22… 4:21… 4:20… Link silently crept behind the Phantom and grabbed the Gem. He slowly carried it to the large safe zone and put it in a pedestal. Then, he went around and found the remaining two Force Gems and brought them back. After he had placed them in their pedestals, they began to glow. Then, a slab lowered behind them. The room beyond was dark. Link and Ciela trudged into it.

The next room was weird. It was small and, as Ciela noted, there was no fog around. Link checked the Hourglass; the sand had stopped falling. Link looked around the small room until he noticed a gold chest. Going over to it, he opened it to reveal another Sea Chart. Closely examining it with the Southwestern quadrant he already had, he deduced that this was the Northwestern quadrant. Then, a blue light appeared. Stepping inside, the pair were transported back to the entrance of the temple. Link, looking at the Hourglass, wondered to see if Oshus had been telling the truth. The sand was back in one chamber, and the timer showed 10:00 before disappearing. Link tucked the Hourglass and charts back into his pocket, and he and Ciela set off for Linebeck's ship.