"This place reeks," Issun complained as he bounced impatiently on Amaterasu's shoulder. They were currently sloshing through the waterway that led into the dungeons of Hyrule Castle. Rats scurried across the wet stone floor as Link and Ammy trudged through the sewer-like conditions, with Link on point, holding up his lantern, which, of course, he pulled out of his bottomless pouch. "Are we there yet?"

"For the umpteenth time, Issun," Link said in an annoyed tone, "we are not there yet. You'll know when we are. Trust me."

"So this sewer leads into the castle, huh?" Ammy inquired. Link nodded. "This kind of reminds me of a secret tunnel that I found that led into the castle in Sei-an City back in Nippon. But it was much more sinister, like it had a dark aura of its own filling it. We even found a priestess's skeleton there." At the mention of that secret well, Issun grumbled something about "stupid foxes" and "ruined mountains."

After that, they traveled in silence, the only sound being the shrill sound of rats squeaking and the unnerving effect of water droplets falling into the water below. Ammy couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. She stopped and turned, looking down in the darkness of the waterway.

"Ammy?" Link called when he realized that the sun goddess had stopped following. "Is something wrong?"

Amaterasu stood silently for a few moments before shaking her head and catching up with Link. "It's nothing. Just nerves I guess." Link nodded, accepting that, and continued to lead the Nipponese goddess and Poncle through the path.

-o-

A single large eye opened in the darkness far behind them. Its ominous, orange glow illuminated the immediate area somewhat, but only enough so that a pair of massive eyelids could be seen.

"Preeeey…" the owner of that eye hissed as its eye closed shut.

-o-

Link and Ammy stood at a fork in the path, the green-clad hero looking both ways, trying to remember which path they needed to take. "Come on, blue-eyes," Issun said impatiently. "We're not gettin' any younger over here. Which way do we go?"

"I'm thinking," Link replied. He looked down the left path, then the right, then left again. "Hmm…" He reached into his pouch and pulled out a… coin. "Heads, we go left. Tails, we go right."

Amaterasu and Issun both sweat-dropped. "He's leaving this to a coin toss?" Ammy asked as she face-palmed. "How did he make it as a hero?"

"Who knows?" Issun answered, also face-palming.

Link flipped the coin, caught it in midair, and slapped it onto his wrist. He moved his head and nodded. "Left it is," he said as he tucked the coin away and headed left. Amaterasu sighed and followed the "ingenious" Hylian.

We're going to be trapped down here forever, she thought with grim realization.

As they walked down the watery corridor, the path slowly became slightly drier. Eventually, they were no longer trudging through water. They now walked on dry stone ground, thankfully. They decided to take now as a brief respite before continuing. Link set his lantern on the ground and pulled a bottle of water and a wrapped item out of his pouch. He handed them to Amaterasu. "Lady's first," he said. "Bon appétit."

Amaterasu nodded her thanks and unwrapped the item. It was just bread, nothing special about it. Nonetheless, she was grateful, and began eating the bread as Link took some out for himself. As they ate, she asked, "By the way, what's Queen Zelda like? You seem to know her really well."

Link shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. We know each other well enough. It's not like I live with her. But she's a trusted friend, as well as a great leader. She would do anything to protect the people of Hyrule, but she tends to take things a little too seriously. Trust me, when we meet her, you have to show her the utmost respect. She's not very temperamental, but she's still the queen. Besides, the guards really wouldn't appreciate it if you referred to her as casually as I do."

"What does that mean?" Issun asked, cocking his tiny head to the side.

"I've earned the right to talk to her as a friend," Link explained, "but you two are strangers. Foreigners even. You'll have to stay on your toes." Ammy and Issun nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Ammy?" Issun asked. "Could I have some bread, too?" Amaterasu nodded and broke a piece off or her own bread and handed it to the Poncle, who happily bit into it.

Several minutes later, when they finished their bread and water, Link grabbed his lantern, and continued down the way, Amaterasu following diligently. After several more seconds, Link stopped. Ammy raised an eyebrow at the Hylian.

"Link?" she asked, trying to get his attention. "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"

"Don't you hear it?" he asked.

"Hear what?"

"I don't know, but…" He paused for a moment. "It sounds so… divine." He spoke in a way that Amaterasu hadn't heard him speak like before. He sounded as though he were suddenly love-struck. He started walking in a seemingly random direction, his lantern hanging from his hand and in danger of falling to the ground.

"Link?" Ammy called to him again. She ran up ahead of him and waved her hand in front of his face. No reaction. That's when she noticed his expression… or lack thereof. He held no emotion on his face. No reason. She snapped her fingers in front of him, yelled his name, and even slapped him once. Nothing. "That's unusual. What do you think is wrong with him, Issun?"

"Don't know," Issun said. The tone of his voice made her eyes widen. He had the same tone that Link did. "Don't care… beautiful music."

Music? She had no idea what that meant, but she had a sinking feeling that it was bad news. At the moment though, she had no choice but to follow Link and see what was causing the two of them to act so weird.

Soon, they entered a hall that had torches on either side. Ammy took the lantern from Link's hand, doing so without resistance. She turned the little dial on the thing, and the flame went out. She held onto it, not wanting to invade Link's personal space any more than she already had. She doubted that he would mind in his current state, but she still felt uncomfortable reaching so close to his… lower half. That thought made her face red, and she promptly shook any inappropriate thoughts from her mind. Now's not the time, Ammy.

Eventually, they entered a large hall with old pillars holding up the ceiling. It was a bit brighter in here, thanks to some sunlight shooting in from a hole in the ceiling. She could now hear the sound of a harp being played. She looked to the source of the music and saw a beautiful woman sitting on a chair, her hands strumming across the strings of a large harp.

The woman wore a pure white silken dress, and had beautifully fair skin, and long dark hair that contrasted her complexion. Her eyes were a startling blue. She smiled at Amaterasu as Link continued walking toward the mystery woman. Issun hopped off the goddess's shoulder and joined Link.

"Do you like my music?" the woman asked, apparently taking a special interest in Amaterasu. "These strings are woven from my finest silk. They make for a lovely tune, don't you agree?"

Ammy narrowed her eyes at the woman. A strange woman playing a harp in the sewers. Yeah, that's not suspicious at all. "Who are you?"

"Just a humble harpist," the woman replied. "I also make fine dresses. Would you like me to make you one?" Amaterasu answered with a distrusting glare. The woman giggled. "What a rude face you're making. Boys, she's hurting my feelings."

"Stop it!" Link shouted at Amaterasu. "Don't make me hurt you!"

"Yeah!" Issun chimed in. "Get lost, or I'll whip out my trusty sword, Denkomaru!"

"What?" Ammy asked, taken aback by their words. The woman laughed darkly.

"They're staying with me from now on," she said, her voice suddenly becoming dark and menacing. She suddenly began to rise from her seat. Eight huge things exploded out of the ground, picking her up even higher. What Ammy now saw before her reminded her of the Spider Queen from the Agata Ruins, only she had a human torso instead of just a head. The woman's beautiful, flawless face was replaced by a huge, ugly eye that glowed and evil orange color. "You asked who I am, Amaterasu. Allow me to illuminate the sun goddess. I am Matrigohma! She who birthed all the arachnid creatures in Hyrule known as the Gohma! And you are my prey!"

-o-

Spiders suck. Raise your hand if you agree.