AN: I still don't own anything... but pretty good ideas, right? Well my lovely readers this chapter is my crown jewel so far. Beware, like last time this chapter is not for the faint of heart since i gave myself nightmares writing it... though listening to the Shadow Temple theme on repeat for hours on end didn't help. Anyways, a word of caution. This chapter is enormous. Really. My usual chapter is roughly 8 pages in length. This one is 20. Its worth it though. One last order of business, as per Kitsune's request i can indeed make this longer -20 chapters- but that will also delay the moment you're all waiting for. Which do you prefer? If i can write a long chapter, you guys can give me long reviews. They make me so happy, you have no idea.

Descent into Darkness

Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was just him expecting to be up earlier then needed. Maybe it was a testament to just how tired the Hero really was. Whatever the reason, as Dark's eyelids slowly fluttered open, he saw that Link was still sleeping. That had never happened before. Every other day Dark woke to find Link already up, dressed and waiting for him, if they had the luxury of waiting. If not, he'd wake to a gentle shake, Link's way of telling him to get up.

Today, however, Link was still sleeping, sprawled on the bed with Dark laying atop him as always. And they were both naked. Dark flushed as that realization dawned on him and he rolled onto his stomach to attempt to prevent…he couldn't tell if it was normal morning wood or knowing that Link had absolutely no clothes on. Once he was safely out of range, Dark sat back to enjoy the view. It really was nice for once to be able to just lay back and stare at the object of his affection without fear of being caught. Sadly, he normally had to be careful of that because getting caught would lead to being scolded for being rude by his blushing and stammering partner.

Dark really didn't get what the problem was. He was just appreciating something naturally beautiful. He did the exact same thing with Lake Hylia and the setting sun. After all, the Goddesses made their creations to be beautiful and Dark was simply enjoying the fruit of all their hard work. As he saw it, it'd be rude not to stare, but sadly Link didn't agree with his line of reasoning.

I wonder how long they spent on him, Dark wondered idly to himself. Tracing his fingers along Link's bicept, he suddenly got the mental image of the image of the Three Golden Goddesses who created the world, painstakingly going over Link's ever detail to make absolutely sure everything was perfect. And boy did they ever hit the mark, he thought appreciatively, sending a silent prayer of thanks to the heavenly beings that not only created this god among men, but also saw fit to give Dark the privilege of being his partner and hopefully more.

He loved watching everything, from the gentle rise and fall of Link's chest as he slept to the way his hair fell across his face. He loved everything about it. Though he knew taking advantage of the situation would result in his getting scolded again, he just couldn't resist the urge to do something. It didn't have to be very big, just to commemorate all the progress he'd made. So, Dark leaned down to place a gentle kiss against the blond's collarbone.

"Dark, what are you doing?" Link mumbled, sounding more curious then angry. The feeling of hair brushing lightly across his skin was what woke the Hero from his slumber. Being slightly ticklish didn't help any.

"Mmm, Morning beautiful. I was just admiring your amazing body and appreciating all the hard work the Goddesses put into you. You really are gorgeous, y'know that?" Dark grinned, only half teasing as he twirled a strand of his black hair around his finger.

"You what!" Link yelled, instantly blushing from having misinterpreted Dark's playful teasing. Seeing Link pull against the wall, holding the thick down quilt tight against his body and flushing indignantly, Dark couldn't help but laugh. Link brought his leg back to kick Dark out of the bed but the ebon-haired swordsman was putting up a valiant fight to stay in.

Sadly, the lighthearted moment between the two boys was interrupted as the Inn's cleaning maid burst right on in to the room that was supposed to have still been vacant. She stared, shock written all across her face, keys in one hand and a feather duster in the other. The room was supposed to be empty so two men wrestling around in bed was the last thing she expected to find. Of course, suddenly looking up and shifting his focus off their game, Dark's balance failed him and he tumbled out of bed, still stark naked. And rolling around in the nude with Link had his soldier standing at attention.

Of course, seeing that and making the inference about what had been going on, she spun on her heel and ran back down the hall, screaming for the innkeeper. Link just sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he climbed out of bed to gather his clothes while Dark did the same.

He really couldn't help the sheepish grin on his face, but the appreciative whistle as Link stood up to display himself in all his glory was all Dark's doing. The gold-haired hero blushed again, but did nothing to hide himself though he did chuck a boot at his partner. "This is neither the time nor the place for that Dark. I think we should leave."

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, the look on her face was priceless," Dark snickered, and even Link felt a smile tugging at his lips. The boy's enthusiasm was infectious and soon they were both grinning as they dropped out the window to run through the alleyways around the inn while trying to pull their clothes on.

When they finally stopped about a block away in a small park with a few shady oak trees ringing a cobble stoned plaza and no one around, the Hero and his shadow were dressed opposite; Link in a black tunic but no pants and Dark in breeches but no tunic. "Wow…that was kinda fun, wasn't it?" Dark asked in between laughing and gasping for breath.

"Yes, I suppose it was," Link agreed, matching his grin. Though opposite appearance in many things, one thing the boys shared was an identical smile.

Though he didn't have any pants, the tail of his tunic was long enough to cover anything of interest. Still, his habitual blush reaction kicked in as Dark stepped up and pulled him into a loose embrace. "I like seeing you like this," Dark murmured.

"Like what?" Link asked curiously. He really didn't see a whole lot of difference from how he normally acted.

"Smiling. You really do need to take some time out for yourself once in a while. You need a break."

Link sighed, weakening under Dark's earnest gaze. "But I can't. There isn't time for that and I have a country in peril that needs saving and Temples to clear. Too many people need me to keep working," Link argued, trying to stay focused on his job. Dark's pleading stare was making it hard. Somewhere along the line he'd learned to masterfully wield what was commonly known as the "puppy dog look."

"Please Link? The world has been in dire peril for the last seven years. Two days isn't gonna hurt anything and you need a break. You need time to relax and unwind or you can't do your job effectively," Dark whispered coaxingly. Link found himself wondering why the boy had to make so much sense.

"I…I can't. Ganon grows stronger by the day. We don't know when he'll finally strike. Would you really risk all of Hyrule for my wellbeing?"

"Yes," Dark answered immediately. No hesitation at all. "I don't know the rest of Hyrule. They aren't the ones who gave me a life and a reason to live it. They aren't the ones who fought by my side and they sure as hell never lifted a finger to help you out. Honestly, the weakness of people who won't even stand up for themselves disgusts me," Dark sighed, shaking his head. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why Link was so determined to do this.

"That is not fair Dark," Link replied, shaking his head. "Some people are weak, yes. They do not have the strength to stand up for themselves and that is why I am here. I am the one who protects those who cannot fight. Would you have the women and children left to fend for themselves?"

Dark groaned, rubbing his hands through his hair. "That's not what I mean! I get what you're saying, I really do but…there's a difference between the people who can't fight and those who just won't do anything! Even the people who aren't strong enough to come out and physically back you up on the battlefield, you think they can't help out in other ways? They can. They just choose not to, and that is what I don't like. That's why I won't forgive them." Dark frowned, looking around the village with thinly-veiled vehemence. "It's…not fair how everyone shoves all the responsibility on you, but when push comes to shove their problems are suddenly all your fault? That just isn't right."

Once again, he had everything all thought out. Dark may have seemed like a fairly simple person but he had his arguments figured out. Every single time he went off like this, Link looked but his points were practically airtight.

"Well…if that is how you really feel, then why are you on this journey?" Link asked seriously. He was past the point of questioning his partners loyalty or motivations, but he still wanted to know. This was one of those rare times when he might be able to actually learn something about the side of Dark that was kept hidden; the shadow of a shadow. That was the part that fascinated him.

"I'm along on this quest because it's important to you and for no other reason," Dark replied, once again without hesitation. Admittedly, it was a slightly odd place to have an argument but whenever it needed to happen, it happened.

Link was off balance, teetering on the brink of giving in. Dark was monitoring the entire process. After all, as many skills as the Hero possessed, hiding his feelings wasn't one of them. In fact, Link was an open book, which could be a little disconcerting because back in the beginning and sometimes even still, he was an open book with blank pages. Still, with much practice, Dark was getting the hang of reading his partner's mood and he shamelessly used that skill to get what he wanted. It would only take a little push…

Though it always irritated him that Link was taller, in this case being shorter actually helped. He could stare up into Link's eyes and stick his bottom lip out, adopting a look of helpless innocence. Helpless tugged at the Hero's heartstrings and after enduring as much of the look as he could take, Link finally caved in.

"Fine. We are both…well…supposed to be adults. We can compromise, can we not?"

Dark nodded warily, already smelling the catch that was on its way.

Seeing his nod, Link continued, "I will take a short rest, but the Shadow Temple comes first. Can you agree to that?"

Dark blinked, slightly taken aback. "First? Why can't we go on vacation now?"

"You recall how you said that you wouldn't forgive the people of Hyrule for their treatment of me."

Another wary nod.

"It is somewhat like that. The matter is of a personal nature."

Dark nodded, noting the sudden hard edge to Link's voice and wisely decided not to try and get more information. After all, he kept things to himself, so he'd also give Link a little space when he needed it.

"I can agree to that, also with conditions." This time it was Link's turn to wince. Of course there would be counter conditions. "We take this Temple together. I'm not putting up with your bullshit from last time. You need to trust me enough to have me there to watch your back." Dark shot back, scowling. The little incident back at the Gerudo's Fortress still had him a little upset.

Link bit his lip, torn between whether to agree or not. "I am not convinced that would be a wise idea. As far as I can tell, the Well seven years ago is actually a secluded section of the Shadow Temple and there were several Redeads; the creatures from the Royal Tomb. Dark, I saw how you handled yourself last time. You succumbed to the spell of fear the same as everyone else. It is likely they will be in the Shadow Temple as well and in numbers," Link quietly explained. He didn't want to be mean but he also didn't want to needlessly endanger his partner.

Dark didn't see it that way, however. He grit his teeth, thinking Link was throwing his failures back up in his face to keep him out of the temple.

"I'm going in. That's all there is to it," Dark stated simply.

Link just sighed and nodded, not having the will to argue anymore. "Fine. Then I need one more thing from you."

"Yeah?"

"My pants."

Dark looked down at the bundle of their belongings tucked under his arm and grinned. "I don't know if I can agree to that. I think we can 'compromise' though. As you say, we're both supposed to be adults and I know a few nice ways adults pass the time," Dark said with a taunting leer, holding Link's pants just out of arm's reach.

"I do not have time for this," Link muttered and Dark flashed another grin, thinking that his wonderfully stubborn partner would forego the other half of his outfit and go to the temple as he was. So, he was caught off-guard when then blond suddenly turned and tackled him, struggling with the boy to stay on top. Of course Dark was laughing too hard to fight back. It was amazing, Link had a feisty side!

A moment later Link was lacing up his breeches while his partner was torn between wanting to pout and still being amazed at witnessing such a miracle. It got him thinking. What if he wasn't the only one holding himself back? What if that…'stuffy language', as he called it and all the other abnormal attributes that Link possessed that a normal kid wouldn't were more self imposed then his actual personality? The possibilities and all they implied were too much for him to wrap his head around all at once, but one thing was for sure. It wasn't impossible.

Something hard and green smacked against Dark's forehead, startling him out of his conjecturing. Looking down, he saw it was a rupee in the smallest denomination. Why was Link throwing money at him?

"You suddenly got this serious expression. Rupee for your thoughts?" Link asked with a nod down at the green gem in his hands.

Dark snorted and tossed it back. "Cute, but no. My thoughts aren't that cheap," he said, pulling his, or rather Link's tunic on. They dressed in silence, pulling on the other bits and pieces of their respective outfits; boots, gloves, belts and a hat for Dark.

"Do you remember the song?" Link asked, strolling over to sit on a wooden bench and taking out his Ocarina with Dark right behind him.

Shaking his head, the other boy took out his own Ocarina, following along as best he could while Link slowly went over the notes, correcting Dark's fingering when necessary. Just through rote memorization he had it down in about ten minutes and together they played the Nocturne of Shadow. The low, dismal notes that represented the infinite darkness of its corresponding temple echoed throughout the town, casting a pall of depression over all who heard it.

Seconds later they were gone, carried along by the power of the warping spell to be deposited on the hexagonal stone platform bearing the image of the Triforce that marked the entrance to all the temples. Before them lay a set of stairs descending into the mountain but Link turned around to lean over a shoulder high wooden fence and look down. The graveyard spread out below with what was once the marker for the Tomb of the Royal Family directly below them.

"Hmm. I wonder if the tomb itself is also a part of the temple. If that is the case, there might be…"

"Hey! C'mere and take a look at this!" Dark's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and Link turned to descend the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, a small raised pedestal was surrounded by unlit torches before a giant stone slab of a door bearing the mark of the Sheikah eye. "The temple seems to have been sealed due to its dangerous nature, but the monster sealed inside must have found cracks in it," Link murmured, mounting the pedestal.

"Yeah? What about it?"

Link raised his eyebrows, "Just look at what it's managed to do with the influence it could slip through cracks in the seal. Imagine what could happen if break the seal…I suppose it can't be helped, just consider yourself warned. Now move back please."

Dark shrugged and took a few steps back. Rolling his eyes Link hopped down, grabbed Dark's shoulders and pushed, walking the boy backwards halfway up the stairs. Snorting, he sat down on the step to get a better view. Of course this would be one of the times Link was gonna do something impressive and the stupid ceiling would be in the way. Surreptitiously he scooted down a few steps for a better view.

Standing atop the pedestal once more, Link shut his eyes and reached deep down inside himself for the pool of magical power that existed at the center of his being. He tapped that power, drawing it up and making it almost tangible as he brought his hands back.

Goddess of Creation, heed my call as I pay respects and request the gift of flames.

His prayer complete, Link slammed the palm of his hand down into the pedestal and a globe of fire engulfed his body, slowly growing larger and larger til the heat had Dark shielding his eyes. When the fiery dome dissipated, all the torches were lit and his partner was giving the 'come hither' gesture as the stone slab door rose up into the ceiling.

"Link! Are my eyebrows still there?" Dark yelled in mock horror, running down to the stairs to grab Link's shoulders. "Tell me they're still there!"

It was so ridiculous Link couldn't help but laugh and give his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Yes Dark, they are still there," and with a light hearted smile, they walked through the door into the eternal darkness.

Inside, a narrow corridor extended only a short while before the floor fell away into t pit that neither could see the bottom of. It was too far to jump and the only way across seemed to be a black and white target, similar to those in the Water Temple.

"Hookshot?" Dark asked tentatively, looking over at the target for it. He wasn't hesitant to go in but there wasn't a target for returning. Link nodded, pulled out his Hookshot and sent it rocketing across to latch onto the target and yank him over the bottomless pit to catch the ledge on the other side. It wasn't a hard maneuver but it also wasn't a place to get careless.

Next, Dark got out his Hookshot and hit to button. The hook shot out, stopped half way and retracted back in. "Sonofabitch!" he growled under his breath so Link wouldn't berate him for his language. "It's too short!" he then yelled across the chasm and waiting for Link to toss him the extended Hookshot.

"Well. That was fun," Link said with a lopsided smile when they were both across. His partner just grumbled irritably as they walked. Again, it was only a short walk before the corridor changed again, widening out into a large room with a statue of a grotesque looking bird with a long beak; the kind as might be seen scavenging corpses. A ring of human skulls mounted on poles ringed the statue. This room also had a chasm; the far side had no floor but a big grinning face sticking out its tongue and that seemed to be the forward path. A gate sat on the tongue to prevent access to the throat.

"That's…kinda gross looking," Dark murmured uneasily, staring at the face on the far wall. To proceed they'd essentially have to get eaten; not a prospect he was particularly looking forward to, even if it was just a statue.

"Don't worry Dark, I think it is meant to be taken symbolically," Link said in an oddly chipper tone of voice.

"Are you sure about that?"

"No." But Link smiled again, then turned to study the statue, muttering under his breath about some 'Skull of Truth' or another. What was with this place and everything being about 'Truth' for every situation. There was a Lens of Truth, an Eye of Truth, and now a Skull of Truth? Dark half expected the boss to be the host of some kind of trivia contest.

While Link studied the statue Dark had nothing to do, so he just stood there blade ready and on guard for an ambush. Normally he'd just mess around to waste time but this place had him on edge and he was determined not to drop his guard. He knew that the moment he did, that's when disaster would strike. Still, it was a little interesting watching Link try turning that statue by himself.

"Need some help with that?"

Link nodded and pointed to one of the skull posts. "Yes please. We need to get the beak facing that pole to advance."

Dark shrugged and went around to lend his strength. The two boys set their shoulders, braced their feet against the ground and shoved. Slowly, very slowly the statue started turning, though it was slow and jerky. Apparently the villagers who came down here to do these sacrifices neglected to keep the machine well oiled. It was hard work forcing the statue to turn, scraping against the stone floor and making a high pitched shrieking sound.

Finally though, they had the bird statue facing the skull Link indicated and the gate in the statue's mouth opened. "Behold, the gate to damnation opens," Dark muttered dryly but Link had his head cocked to the side, listening to some ancient voice that only he could hear.

"I see. That way!" Link chirped, pointing to an empty corner. "Come Dark, there are treasures to find!"

"Uhm. I dunno what's got you feeling so… Link?"

Dark swallowed his rising apprehension. The boy he'd just been talking to had somehow vanished, and he'd only looked away for half a second! Slowly, timidly he walked into the corner of the room where Link had pointed, looking around for some sign of him. Suddenly, a hand reached out of the wall and grabbed him. He screamed and nearly jumped out of his boots when Link stepped out of the wall, laughing hysterically.

"Bastard, don't scare me like that!" Dark yelled, but the blond didn't even try to hide his laughter as he slide to the ground, holding his stomach.

"I am sorry Dark, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Besides, you said you liked my smile, did you not? Then this should be a worthwhile sacrifice."

Dark's jaw dropped. Not only was Link teasing him, but Dark was the one who sounded like a prude. Goddesses, that was a scary thought. On the other hand it was also kind of endearing. It had taken a long time but Link was finally starting to open up. He was grateful for the opportunity, he really was but…why did it have to happen in a place like this?

Dark grumbled and punched Link's shoulder. Not too hard, but he wasn't gentle either. The blond took his hand and lead him through the wall. It looked like solid brick but they stepped right through and turning around, he saw that he could see out into the main room just fine. The wall itself was just an illusion to cover this little nook and the door it held.

"Link, this place is creepy so why are you so damn chipper all of a sudden?" Dark grumbled as Link opened the door and held it open with a gentleman's air. It lead out into a kind of catacombs area, with small cubbyholes that held skulls placed in vertical rows along the walls. It was creeping the hell out of Dark but Link shrugged, seeming not to mind as he surveyed the room through a lens. It had three purple spikes along the top and a purple handle holding a red and a blue lens together.

"To be honest, I am not entirely sure. I suppose that when I am in a temple, I feel that I am fulfilling my duty. These are the only places where I really feel that I am accomplishing my mission. Ah, one moment, it is only a box." Link vanished into the wall again.

He emerged a few seconds later holding a small key and they continued walking. "Do you hear that?" Dark asked, perking his ears up to try and catch faint whispers on the wind. Any answer he was about to get was interrupted by two seemingly normal clay pots rising off the ground to hurl themselves at the intruders.

Link pulled his sword and smashed the jar with a single downward stroke, though being that his opponent was made of fired clay, a one hit kill didn't mean a whole lot. Dark on the other hand simply raised his right foot off the ground and let the pot commit suicide against the heel of his heavy leather boot.

"Hey, money!" Dark exclaimed, pouncing on the blue crystal that dropped from the shattered remnants of the pot. "Now where was I…lost my train of thought…oh! What are they saying?"

Among the whispers of voices it was hard to pick out the words. "It is difficult to say. The spirits are not talking in modern Hylian. This is an older dialect but it still sounds familiar somehow." Link frowned, dredging up memories from years and years ago. Memories from a past life.

Though shadowy and faded, he could remember bits and pieces of what Hyrule was like while it was still being settled. There had been temples then as well. Compared to modern temples, they might have been more accurately described as dungeons but still.

"I…believe they are talking about what our country has been through. The dark and bloodstained history of Hyrule, filled with greed and…" Link groaned and trailed off. "It gives me a headache. Suffice it to say, it is not pleasant."

"Really now? I figured this temple would be all sunshine and rainbow ponies," Dark drawled sarcastically.

Link snorted. "You are the one who insisted on coming. If it is too much for you to handle, you could always just sit in the main room and wait for me."

Dark shivered. Mainly just because the idea of having to be in this temple alone was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. The only reason it was even remotely tolerable was because Link was nearby. "No, no, it's not too much for me. I just figured I'd do my part and keep the mood light by playing the plucky comic relief."

"Door." Link took a sudden turn and vanished into the wall again. Right level with where his had had gone, a skull was sitting in its little cubbyhole, staring out at him. Taking a steadying breath, Dark stepped through the illusion. Even though he knew they were there, he just couldn't get used to walking through walls.

Once both boys stood before it, the door opened and they yelled as a strange force pulled them inside then shut the door and barred it behind them. A sudden low, desperate moan reached his ears and Dark tensed up as terror gripped his spine. Two Redeads sat hunched over on the ground in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around themselves as if they felt some phantom chill that only the undead could feel. The air here was clearer and the haunting moans so loud, they were only a few steps away. Link froze along with the boy next to him for this was definitely dangerous territory. While dangerous though, he didn't think they were all that intelligent.

"Make no sudden moves," Link whispered, ever so slowly reaching for the hilt of his blade and hoping that the zombies hadn't noticed them. Dark just stared. He'd felt their spell before so he knew what to expect and he followed the directions, standing statue-like as he waited for a plan. While he waited, Dark kept a close eye on the monsters. Strange how their bodies looked grainy, almost wooden. He could almost imagine their faces as just masks on magically manipulated puppets. It got him wondering what was behind those masks…

In the end, his stillness didn't matter. All it took was for the Redead to raises its head to meet his eyes and he was helpless. A scream echoed through his mind and Dark was frozen. Even though he'd felt this before and could think about it rationally, it didn't do anything to help him.

C'mon, work. Move, damn it, Move! he screamed at his leaden body, struggling to get so much as a finger to twitch. It worked, in a manner of speaking. He could get small body movement if he really focused but even still, he was helpless to do anything as he watched the Redead stand, stretching its abnormally tall and thin body like that of a resurrected giant who had died of starvation. Everything about it was hollow and sunken in, screaming of a life of pain and abuse that ended in a lonely and torturous death.

"Dark, move! Dark!" Link yelled, but he knew from the glazed over look in his friend's eyes that his cries were futile. It was only a few feet away to begin with and the clack of it's footsteps moving closer as it's moans intensified from having living breathing prey so close had Dark beyond terror.

Snarling, Link leapt towards it, ripping the Master Sword out and going straight into an attack. Right from the sheath, his blade slashed diagonally through the Redead's shrunken wooden arm and then back slashed through its neck. Both arm and head dropped to the ground in thick globs of blue blood. Link didn't stop there though, hacking and slashing the thing until it was a pile of gooey pieces on the ground. That was how he always did it. No other way to slay a Redead then complete dismemberment.

With the spell broken, Dark could move again but he didn't have the time to scream a warning as the other Redead pounced on the blond from behind, wrapping its dull, lifeless fingers around his neck, legs around his waist and mouth going to his neck. Link's sword fell from his suddenly numb fingers as the strength to fight vanished from his body. The keening moans changed, going from that of an unsatisfied hunger to… pleasure? It both looked and sounded like the thing was raping Link.

Half a second later the tip of Dark's black blade was slicing down through the thin arm that had such a tight grip over the Hero's throat. He only hesitated briefly as he checked his aim before swinging his blade and decapitating the monster.

Even unattached to its body, both of the Redead's severed limbs continued to drain the life from their prey. Not only that, but the trunk of its body was secreting that blue ooze that he'd thought was blood and slowly re-attracted the severed ends of its arm and head. Dark slashed through the other arm, grabbed the trunk of its body and rammed his sword through its chest, pinning it to the ground as he took the fingers around Link's neck and snapped them like twigs, throwing the disgusting thing away.

He noticed as he broke the fingers on its other hand that it sounded like bone breaking. just like when he slashed through the Redead he could feel the resistance of muscle and sinew in it. Maybe it had been a person at some point in time but Dark didn't have time to care about that. He was too busy saving Link as he grabbed the thing's severed head, stuck his hand in its mouth and ripped its jaw clean off before chucking the head with all his might to splatter against the wall like a ripe watermelon.

Ripping his blade out of his stomach, he chopped off the Redead's legs which were still wrapped around Link's waist then impaled it again. Not only was he pissed as hell at those things, but it gave him a convenient place to stick his sword as he caught the swooning Link before the boy hit the ground.

"Hold, Dark…we are not…finished…yet." His breath was shallow and his skin was even paler then Dark's but still Link tried to continue with his mission, taking out his Ocarina to play with trembling fingers the song from the crypt to call down shafts of light that would incinerate the corrupt remains in purifying white flames. Only then would he let Dark see to him. At the same time, the bars over the door retracted and a large treasure box materialized in the center of the room but they both had other matters to attend to at the moment. Link's neck was horribly bruised and a large section of it was black where the skin had turned necrotic from the Redead's bite.

"Wow…this looks pretty bad. Y'know what emergencies like this call for? Heart Piece! Dat da da daaah." Dark grinned, holding out the crystallized essence of life energy and Link just shook his head in amazement. Well, Dark tried grinning anyways. Truthfully he was scared to death but he wanted to do what he could to keep both their spirits up. After all, mood could have a great impact on both a person's recovery time and fighting ability.

"This is…amazing, Dark. I truly do wonder…how you manage to find these," Link said in between bites. He was following his normal habit of eating them, doing the blue outer part first while saving the red part for last. He just wasn't wasting time to enjoy the flavor and sure enough, as he ate the color slowly returned to his cheeks.

Dark just grinned, this time for real. He'd given Link the one from the spider house so he still had one left. Hopefully he wouldn't need to use it anytime in the near future. Link was just finishing up the blue outer shell and popping the red centerpiece in his mouth. Dark kept his eyes on the spot on Link's neck where the tissue was blackened and dead while the Hero was consuming his Heart Piece. The area shrank slightly, the rough edges fading away until it was a perfect circle of black on the boy's tan skin.

Link didn't seem to notice though, instead going to open the box and sitting back down next to Dark a second later holding the map. He glanced it over for a moment before casting a quick spell that would make all the rooms on the map that they'd already been to turn blue. "Alright Dark, take a look. We are here," he pointed to a small flashing blue square. "All the blue area is where we have been. As you can see, it isn't very much. This room over here is the main room with the bird statue where we couldn't cross. It seems that is the path to the main section of the temple. So, we only have one more room on this side of the divide to explore."

"Oh joy," Dark muttered sarcastically, then on a more serious note, "are you sure you're alright to be up and walking around so soon?" Link nodded, taking one last look at the map before rolling it up and tucking it down his shirt. Apparently this little catacomb area was much smaller then it felt like it'd be. Aside from the two side rooms, it was nothing more then two figure-eights.

Back outside, this other room was a quick right and straight ahead through another false wall. Just like the last one, when they approached it an invisible force pulled the door open and hauled the two boys into the room to bar the door behind them.

Though there were no Redeads, this room was just as gruesome. The room was covered in the stale dirt that packed graves and was barren of any features save for skulls and a garden of dead white hands rising several feet out of the ground like some kind of sickly macabre flowers. There were eight of them, pale as snow with long blood red nails just waiting…

"I have seen this before." Link said, wincing. "The hands will just sit there until they catch something. That is when their controller appears. It has a vulnerable spot on its head. One of us…will need to be bait…and I believe I should do it."

Dark just stared, amazed. Link just finished getting practically molested by zombies and he was already prepared to throw himself out as bait! As much as he wanted to argue, Dark had to respect the blond's stoic determination to see his job through to the end. It showed that he really took his job seriously and he said so.

"Why? I'm not gonna try and talk you out of it, I'm just curious about your reasoning."

"We will have plenty of time to talk afterwards. For now we have work to do." and before Dark could stop him, Link was off towards the closest of these hands. Even if he'd had his sword out, Link wouldn't have been able to hit the thing. It grabbed him before he could get in range, pulling a pained cry from the boy as it took a grip on the hair near the back of his skull and wrenching back on it, forcing Link to bend over backwards.

From the back of the room, the ground burst apart in a shower of rock and dirt as 'The Controller', as Link had called it, rose from the grave dirt packing the floor. Dark stared in revulsion at the sickly white bloated corpse that crawled out of the hole. Two short stubby arms hung off a swollen mass of putrid white flesh mottled with red spots like some kind of disease and topped by a head that sat upon a two foot long neck looking straight up into the air.

Slowly it waddled towards its captured prey and Dark waited, ready. When it finally got close it bent down, keeping its whole neck stiff as though it could not bend. Glaring into the two black abysmal eyes of the creature, Dark felt many different shades of disgust running through him but nothing like the horrible cold-sweat inducing panic that the Redeads invoked.

"You're mine," Dark snarled with a savage glee, lunging forward in a flurry of cross slashes. As he pulled his blade across the monsters face he left behind deep furrows that sprayed a dense green blood. It just started to raise its head to escape the danger but Dark wouldn't let it get away so easily, jumping into an upper slash that cut out its eye and smashing the hilt of his sword into its mouth and knocking out a few jagged blood soaked teeth.

It waddled away several steps before submerging itself into the dirt as easily as if jumping down into water. With the threat gone at least for the moment, Dark slashed the hand that was holding Link and it slithered into the ground like a burrowing snake.

"Now what?" Dark asked, looking around for his prey.

"Now we rinse and repeat or it will regenerate itself. Be ready for it," Link replied and ran off to the next closest hand. As before, it grabbed his head and dug in. Right on cue, the nightmare creature arose from its hole in the ground as it sensed a living creature caught in its hands like a spider in a web. It apparently hadn't had time to regenerate since its eye was still hanging out and dripping thick green ooze along with the bloody slashes in its face.

"This thing must not learn," Dark muttered with a snort. The nice thing about fighting stupid monsters was that they never caught on to the tactics used against them. In this case, however, Dark was wrong. Several new hands shot out of the ground to grab his feet and keep him from running over to finish their master off. Swearing under his breath, he chopped them off but more kept regenerating to keep him immobile. The dead hand lowered its head to stare at Dark and wiggle its jaws mockingly.

"You're not smarter then me, bastard," he spat and chucked his sword across the room. It spun vertically through the air with the force of Dark's immense strength propelling it to pierce through the monster's forehead to the hilt with the blade sticking out the back side. Uttering only a single low groan of pain the creature fell back to lie twitching in the dirt and all its hands all fell lifelessly to the ground with it.

Link let out the breath he'd been holding and took out his Ocarina, wasting no time in playing the Sun Song.

The high notes of the melody sang through the room like a chorus of birds chirping in the gentle springtime breeze and as with the Redeads, shafts of light came down from the ceiling to give a holy cremation to the diseased bodies and corrupted souls that had been used in the creation of the Dead Hands. Once the impure creatures had been completely consumed in the white fire that accompanied the Sun Song, a box materialized in the center of the room and Link was all over it.

"This is it Dark, our treasure hunting is paying off, I just know it!" Link piped happily, completely ignoring the blood running down his face from the multiple shallow cuts where the sharp nails of the hands had dug into his scalp.

"How do you know?" Dark asked as Link paced in circles around the box just dying to open it.

"Because that is the way it always works! These temples always provide the item needed to clear it. That is one of the first things they teach you in Hero School," Link teased as the curiosity got the best of him and he threw the lid open to take out a pair of boots covered in a short fur with pale yellow feathers sticking out of the backs

"Aha, you see Dark? We are making progress." Link smiled and sat down to put his new toy on.

Immediately he felt the difference as he tried running around. It was like floating; he could start moving but trying to turn his body would keep going in its original direction. It was lots of fun until he slid into Dark and knocked him over.

"Oof. What was that for?" he grumbled, though just to hide the fact that he was really enjoying having Link fall on him.

"Sorry, Dark. These boots have no traction. In fact…" he paused resting his fingers gently on the boots to fully read the enchantments running through them. "In fact, these are hover boots. That is how we cross the divide," Link explained, attaching the feather covers over the metal plating that he used back in the Water Temple. It was just more convenient to have them all on the same pair of boots. Clicking his heels together, the hover spell went dormant and his traction returned to normal. With another click he could turn it back on or make them heavy if he chose to do so.

They left the room as soon as Link's boots were ready and the first thing Dark did was to take his sleeve and clean Link's face off. While it might not have made much difference for battles since a scalp cut would bleed a lot but nowhere near fatal, Dark still found it disconcerting to see his Hero seemingly weeping tears of blood.

Things like that really kept Dark on his toes and even Link was walking through the halls with his blade in hand. Fortunately, the blond was left-handed and his shadow was not so it wouldn't hinder either of them when Dark slipped his hand into Link's. Perhaps it was childish but the only possible comfort to glean down in these shadowy halls would come from the his partner and the only other living human in the entire temple.

"Link? Why do you need to play that song" Dark asked, although he did have misgivings about it. In this place, it was entirely possible that he wouldn't want to know. On the other hand, in a place like this any knowledge might be valuable to have no matter how disgusting.

"Well…have you noticed how the Redeads and the Hand back there were not affected by the bane of evil in my sword?" Dark nodded. "That is because they are not evil in the sense that my sword searches for. The Master Sword is made to dispel evil spirits, dark magic and other such things. It doesn't recognize a human soul, no matter how twisted it may become as evil. Apparently, one of the late royal composers developed a song that would purify these twisted spirits. They are everywhere in this place…"

"Then…the Redeads are actually…?" Dark grimaced, fighting the rising urge to be sick.

"Yes. Actual people who were killed and enslaved. I believe Ganon is using the power of the Triforce to do this. Live people are needed and that is the ritual we interrupted in the Tomb of the Royal Family. A Redead bites its victim and sucks the life out of them to leave behind a spirit in a body that cannot die."

Dark shuddered, remembering how even after being sliced off, the Redead's decapitated head had continued trying to kill Link. And he said they were everywhere? Again Dark shuddered, thinking of the unspeakable horrors this place must have seen. "Then is that why I feel like someone is watching us?" Dark asked as they entered back out into the main room. Link didn't answer, instead clicking his heels and taking a running start at the face over the divide. He was right about the boots. For several seconds he ran across thin air before dropping to the statue's tongue.

"Dark, return," Link said, holding up the Water Medallion from the other side of the divide and Dark vanished, dropping out of the sky to land on the sandbank of his cell in the temple beneath Lake Hylia.

"Jerk! You didn't even warn me!" Dark yelled into the cloudy sky as he was once again yanked from his cell and deposited next to Link. The blond turned and started walking, picking up right where he'd left off as if nothing had happened.

"That is correct. There are many lost souls here from the many people sacrificed to this temple. That is why we need to defeat the temple's boss as quickly as possible," Link explained, heading down a ramp. At the bottom a beamos statue waited, turning in slow circles and waiting for someone to get within range of its single eye. Link hardly paid it any mind, casually lobbing a bomb at it. The explosion blew the thing's head off and the statue crumbled. "Now then, which way to go…" he murmured, taking out the map to look it over.

To Dark, there didn't seem to be any way to go. They stood in a round room with three spots where a tunnel might have been but was bricked over. The map agreed with that analysis. It also said that they hadn't missed anything so far.

"So, we have three ways we can go from here? Well that does us a whole fat lot of nothing," Dark muttered, looking at the bricked over tunnels and thinking they should make better map enchantments that keep up with the growing of the temple.

"Do not be so sure Dark. Here, take a look," Link said, handing over the Lens of Truth after glancing around the room through it himself. Dark took the proffered lens and looked through it.

"And…what exactly am I supposed to see here?" he asked. From his point of view, the lens turned everything a slight tint of red, but other then that nothing changed.

"Do you not see the door over there or over there?" Link asked, pointing to the two side tunnels. Dark shook his head. Link frowned, walking over to phase through the first of the walled up tunnels and the raven-haired swordsman ran after him, determined not to let his partner out of his sight. He was convinced that Link really would vanish if left on his own. The Shadow Temple was just that sort of place.

Running through the wall, he skidded to a halt right behind the boy as the door opened of its own accord and something yanked them through. Just like before, two Redeads waited in ambush to pounce on the first of them to twitch. "Dark be careful," Link admonished, remembering last time. While he didn't regret saving his partner, getting caught by a zombie was not an experience he wished to ever repeat.

"Heh. Don't worry, I may not be the sharpest arrow in the quiver but I learn from my mistakes." The Redead closest to Dark raised its soulless black eyes to pull the boy into the depths of hell by catching him in the spell of terror that would render him helpless. The first thing that it saw was the toe of a heavy boot swinging up to crash into its chin. The force of the kick knocked it flat on its back and as it stared up at the ceiling it caught Dark's eyes, paralyzing him as he dropped out of the sky with his blade pointed down. Even with his whole body paralyzed, his aim had been true and he fell like a statue, driving the blade through the Redead's face. On the other side of the room Link had just finished dispatching his own Redead when Dark wrenched his blade free and walked over. "See? I learn from my mistakes. That spell of their's is an eye contact thing. Can't cast it if they can't meet my eyes," Dark stated, proud of his discovery and how well it had worked.

Link nodded slowly and pointed over Dark's shoulder. "Yes, but you should finish your work." he chided as the Redead slowly climbed to its feet. The only way to take them out of commission, as Link had demonstrated several times was to literally tear them limb from limb. Simply stabbing it in the head wouldn't kill one of these. The force of his sword, however, had cracked the creatures mask in half and as it stood the pieces of the mask fell away.

The face beneath the mask was that of a woman. Her skin was pale and bloated and all her hair was gone but it was definitely female, or at least had been at one time. The thing that stood out most though was her expression, frozen on her face at the moment of death. It was a look of indescribable anguish. She'd died in terror and in immense pain. Suddenly the moans of the Redeads made sense. The fear from the time they died was so horrible that it continued to haunt them all the way through death, and their voices were so worn from screaming for the years that followed that a low moan of agony was all they could manage anymore.

Step by staggering step she moved towards Dark, never twitching a muscle out of that look of dread as thick blue blood dripped down her face like tears. From the side, he was barely aware of Link moving around as the sheer force of her agony almost forced him to his knees. The notes of the Sun Song bounced off the walls of the room, filling it with cheer, warmth, springtime and the gentle sunlight that engulfed the two Redeads in wreaths of white fire til nothing was left but ash.

As soon as the small pale light like a firefly appeared that meant that a treasure box would appear momentarily, Dark turned and threw his arms around Link, just letting the Hero hold him as he cried his pain away.

For Link, the situation came with mixed feelings. He did always enjoy seeing Dark open up, but not like this. He'd wanted to protest more to Dark's entering the temple in the first place for this exact reason, but he knew the boy wouldn't have listened. This was the sort of thing that Dark just had to see for himself. He had to really understand exactly how serious this mission was.

"I know Dark, it's alright," Link murmured reassuringly as he gently rubbed his partner's back. "I am sorry you had to see that but I wanted you to understand. It is to stop things like that that I am on this journey. This is about more then just how Ganon wants to sit in the castle and call himself king. He does unspeakably terrible things; things that I cannot allow. I have the ability to stop him so I have the responsibility to do it." He sighed as the sobs that wracked Dark's body subsided. "Things like this get to me on a very personal level. It is a practice that I…cannot allow to continue."

Dark nodded, rubbing his eyes and went over to grab the Compass out of the treasure box. "Then…we don't have any time to waste. Let's go," Dark said, walking towards the door. Link followed along behind him, more then slightly impressed. Though he'd break down and cry from the terrible sights of the Shadow Temple, that he could pull himself together and continue on like that was something that Link respected a great deal.

Back out in the main room, Dark jogged out into the middle then tried to go through the middle passage but ran into the wall and stumbled back. This one actually was a real wall. Link just chuckled, tossing a bomb next to it and a second later the blast had the whole wall crumbling to reveal yet another door, but Link took the opportunity to sit down and pour over the map again. Mostly what he wanted to do was integrate the compass into his map spell to mark where all the treasure boxes were located. There was only one box he really cared about though.

"Here. This is the one we need." Link pointed to a corner of the temple some distance away from their current position.

The room ahead was more of a long corridor that looped back and forth to descend deeper and deeper into the mountains. Though it seemed relatively safe, several of the giant Skultulla dropped from invisible compartments in the ceiling and left Link with several nasty bruises. After the first two, he kept his Hookshot ready to pierce through the tough shell and tear their guts out. It wasn't a nice way to kill something, but it had to be done.

Past rusty iron guillotines wielded by rat statues, and some invisible moving platforms and bypassing several other directions they could have taken, Link and Dark ended up in a room with a boat.

"Link, we're passing a lot of stuff up," Dark muttered, looking at the map. There were huge sections of the temple that they were just bypassing on Link's order. "I thought you were the perfectionist type who wanted to go and get everything, right? What gives?"

Sighing, Link settled back against a wall of rock, looking up at the ceiling. "Each Temple has to have a master; someone to control temple's natural energy. When it was one of Ganon's creatures, they'd have a presence in every room. Every monster tied back into that central consciousness. True, I could go through a room and exterminate the creatures in it but that would only hold so long as I was there. The power of my blade would keep them at bay for a single room but no more. After I left, the temple's master could simply tap it's energy and spawn new servants. It is the same here. I can destroy creatures but I cannot keep them gone so long as the boss lives."

Dark blinked timidly. "So the Redeads can come back?"

"No, thank goodness. Now that I can incinerate them, they need to be created from scratch. The problem is, I do not know how many have already been spawned," Link explained, standing and going to climb a ladder up to the raised platform that would allow him to jump over to the boat. The river it floated on wasn't a river, merely a thin wreath of fog. The boat floated on it nonetheless. The 'river' was barely the width of the boat and two sheer stone walls rose up on either side.

When Dark got to the top, Link was already on the boat and standing in the middle of an engraving of the Triforce, Ocarina out to play Zelda's Lullaby as soon as Dark was aboard. He glanced around, noting the same bird from the beginning as the figurehead on the mast holding a pair of bells. The bells started swinging and the boat began gliding down the river.

It was almost a pleasant voyage, in a creepy sort of way, until a pair of Stalfos, skeletons in tattered green pants with short swords and round shields dropped from the sky to land on the boat.

"Finally something a little normal," Dark muttered, pulling his blade out. With small fries like these he didn't need to get fancy. One slash to lock his blade against the Stalfos' shield. With his sword unavailable, it tried to slash him back but Dark simply grabbed its wrist and started walking. Step by step he moved, the strength of a bull forcing it back until it teetered on the brink of the abyss. From there, a shove sent it careening over the edge.

Link on the other hand welcomed the workout, waiting for it to attack so he could dart in and slash while its defenses were down. It was slower then Dark's way but also more fun. The Stalfos tried to get him in a jumping slash but Link simply stepped aside and stabbed it from the back. Too many wounds from a holy blade and the skeleton collapsed in a burst of green flames.

"Well, this has been fun, but I believe it is time to abandon ship," Link stated with a grandiose bow to the imaginary audience.

"Huh, why?"

"Wall."

Indeed, their quaint little boat was indeed approaching a solid brick wall that didn't fade away before the Lens of Truth. The duo jumped off the left, landing on a dock as their boat capsized and sank into the abyss.

"So now what?" Dark asked, flopping down on his back. They stood on a strip of pavement with abyss on the right and abyss on the left.

"Now we take the door," Link stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, pointing down at the opening down at the end of their little dock. In reality, it was probably close to that obvious anyways but somehow Dark missed the door.

"Bah, it can wait." Dark muttered, stretching out casually on the ground. "C'mon, sit. We need a break." He said, patting the ground next to him. Link stared down at his idle accomplice and sighed. He really felt the need to stay industrious for as long as possible when in a temple. Never mind they'd been going for a good ten hours. Give or take.

"We can take a break when we finish. And I do not think the ground here is a safe place to be taking a nap," Link protested by Dark just waved him off.

"C'mon we both need a break. My feet are killing me and I bet yours are too. Call it… regrouping, if that makes you feel better," Dark yawned, indifferent to Link's attempts to get him moving again.

"Fine. If you wish to stay here, by all means do so. I will be going on ahead," Link said, striding purposefully towards the door. Dark swore, jumped up and ran after him. No way in hell was he getting left behind in a place like this.

"Oh, Dark. How nice to see that you decided to join me." Link smiled pleasantly, continuing on in a light conversational tone. "It is always so lovely to have company with me on a stroll."

"You can be such an ass when you feel like it, you know that?" Dark muttered, jogging towards the door to hold it open his partner. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way"

"I know you would never do such a thing. You are the highest pinnacle of manners and nobility that I know," Link shot back flippantly.

"Ass. You know you-" Dark cut off as Link held his arm out to bar the way. They stood in a fair sized round room with three doors to the left, right and straight ahead. Sets of stone pillars were spread evenly throughout the room, dividing the room up into neat squares.

Link smiled, taking a few steps to the side sticking close to the wall when he stumbled with a grunt and ran his gloved hands over the air between the first pillar and the wall.

"I see. It seems as though this room has invisible walls. Follow me please and I will protect you from running into anything invisible. But if you happen to get clumsy, I will not be held responsible."

Dark rolled his eyes. Again, what was with Link suddenly being in such a good mood out in the middle of creepy spooky horror-ville? It seemed a very unusual place and even though Link had explained the reason why… it was still weird! Suddenly out of nowhere Link was displaying a sense of humor, out there, prominently! It was a dry, sarcastic kind of humor but still undoubtedly there. The Hero of Time wielding sarcasm. That was scary in and of itself.

Link kept the Lens of Truth held to his eye, making seemingly unnecessary turns, at least from Dark's point of view. That was, until he put his hand out and brushed his knuckles across brick that he couldn't see so maybe Link wasn't making pointless turns. He walked down towards the far door then looped back and walked straight along the wall to the first door. Just the opposite of before, the invisible force that was the influence of the Temple's master suddenly appeared, pushing against them like a strong wind.

The gusts of wind were strong enough to knock Dark's lighter frame off his feet but Link was quick enough to spin around and catch him, clicking his heels together to make his feet stick to the floor with a heavy metallic clank. The force of the shadow raged around them but Link's boots were immovable as he bent forward with only a one handed grip on Dark's tunic, pulling him closer. Dark pulled also, climbing up to ride piggyback on his partner since it was the only way to get the two of them to the door.

Slowly, struggling the entire way Link clanked his way to the door, forced it open and staggered inside. Once in, the door slammed and barred leaving the two to deal with the next crisis. Two wooden walls covered in spikes were slowly closing in on them. At this rate, they'd be squished. "Well great. You just had to pick a room like this. Did you ever think maybe we shouldn't be here?" Dark yelled, dropping to the ground and running over to try chopping through the wall but for some reason he couldn't get off more then a few chips of wood at a time.

Link was just standing there, gathering his magic into an expanding dome-shaped inferno that grew to fill the entire room. the spike walls went up in flames. Behind the walls, the two Redeads on either side also went up in flames, standing to move, flame engulfed towards Link and Dark. Apparently being ignited was enough to get their attention. Unfortunately, Dark also caught on fire before his flailing around put it out.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Dark rushed forward, keeping his eyes planted firmly on the floor and the Redead's feet to keep its position in sight. "I'm sorry," he whispered, slashing up into whoever this person used to be. One diagonal slash up then he dropped, swinging his sword. It bit through the Redead's knees and, once it was on the ground and helpless, Dark hacked it into pieces.

Dark sniffed and walked over to the chest the Redead had been guarding: an ornate blue and gold box with intricate carvings on it which Dark didn't feel like admiring. He just kicked the thing open and took the key out. Unlike other keys he'd seen, this one was gold with horns and a ruby in the center of the back. He stared into the gemstone, wincing slightly when the familiar shafts of light came down to herald the two Redead guards to the next world.

"Alright Dark, that is what we came here for," Link said. They ran back out through the invisible passages to the dock back outside.

Far off to the right, farther then the Hover Boots could make was a giant statue of that macabre bird once again. Link just smirked, taking out his bow and drawing a single arrow. He held the shot for several seconds until the arrowhead started to glow red then released. It shot out over the foggy depths of the abyss, bursting into fiery brilliance half way across. The flaming arrow hit right on target into the base of the statue and more importantly, into the thick leafed bombflowers ringing it. One by one they exploded, setting off a chain reaction that destroyed the base of the statue, sending it slowly falling across the abyss right at them.

Dark bit his lip nervously, jumping to side so as not to get skewered by the falling bird's beak but Link never moved as the gargantuan statue came crashing down, sending gusts of air and shards of rock flying everywhere.

When the dust cleared, the end of the statue made a perfect bridge to the other side and was a scant two feet to the toe of Link's boots. "Showoff. I can be awesome like that too," Dark grumbled irritably, more upset with himself for looking so skittish while his partner was just being amazing. Link just shook his head and set off across the newly made bridge but Dark could have sworn he was grinning.

Running across the stone pillar after his partner, Dark couldn't help but feel that he'd just been one-upped. True, Link was more the simple and practical but every once in a while he would do something completely amazing and it left Dark with this indescribable urge to do something even more impressive. Frustratingly though, on this short little stone platform and on the next ledge ahead there was nothing too terribly impressive to work with unless he wanted to do an amazing job of smashing those dangerous clay pots sitting against the wall. Probably not.

The door over on this side was secured by a simple padlock. It was nice and shiny and new. That made Dark curious. Either the locks were enchanted or they had some cult member designated to come around and make sure they all looked nice and pretty. In a temple where the theme was blood, death and torture, why in the names of the Goddesses would they care if they had rusty locks or not? Such matters were beyond the poor boy's scope of comprehension.

Behind that door they finally stood before their goal. They stood on a small stone platform in the heart of the darkness that pervaded the temple. Aside from the door they just entered from and a few other things, the room was nothing. The walls, the floor, the ceiling; all just black; stretching on into empty space for eternity. In here, Link could understand Sheiks words about the infinite darkness that consumes even time.

Straight ahead was the giant door secured by a massive spiked gold padlock that protected the Temple's master but there was no way over. On a hunch, Link took out the Lens of Truth and sure enough, more invisible small platforms crossed over the dark empty void. He heard Dark gasp behind him as he leapt out into nothingness and the resulting sigh of relief when he landed on his invisible platform.

"Just wait there Dark. I will bring you over when I get there."

But Dark didn't listen, jumping after him onto the shadowy catwalks, taking great care to step exactly in Link's footsteps. Finally though, they stood before the door and Link inserted the gold key into the giant padlock and let it fall to the ground. He did of course retrieve the key. It wasn't as though they were useful for anything but he liked having them as trophies

They stepped into a small room whose only feature was a large circular hole in the ground. Dark peered over the edge with a frown. "Now if that doesn't just scream "TRAP!" then I don't know what does. Are you sure we got the right room?" he asked nervously. In all honesty, Dark was terrified. Much like Link, after having seen the horrors of this temple, his imagination was running away with him and plaguing him with everything from armies of Redeads to giant soul-sucking demons.

Link on the other hand just shrugged and hopped down the hole. He was tired of wasting time and wanted to see this finished. Dark stared down the hole, watching Link's blond mop disappear into the darkness and with a small sob he tumbled in after him.

As he fell through the darkness, he waited any minute to get grabbed by something horrible but the tunnel widened out and he landed on something stretchy that bounced him several feet back up in the air. "What is this? Some kind of drum?" Link asked mostly to himself as he looked around. They did indeed stand on what seemed to be a giant bongo drum surrounded by nothingness to all sides. A sudden shockwave running through the ground pushed both Dark and Link up into the air.

Floating there, a black spectral beast stared down at the boys. Vaguely like the upper torso of a person, it had two giant hands with which to beat the drum that levitated near its wrist and its head consisted of a single blood red eye surrounded by purple spikes.

"Yup. Giant soul-sucking demon, just like I thought. I'm really starting to hate being right all the time, " Dark sighed, groaning when the central body disappeared, leaving only the two gargantuan hands to beat the drum.

The shockwaves ripping through the drum kept them airborne half the time and staggering around, trying to find some kind of equilibrium.

"Dark, the main body is still there, just invisible. If we can-" he cut off as one of the giant black hand slapped him halfway across the drum, still getting knocked into the air every time the other hand came down to strike the taut canvas.

"Bastard!" Dark snarled, running up to the hand that had just sent his partner skidding across the ground and, using the rhythm of the drum beat, timed his jump to take advantage of the trampoline-like properties to launch himself into the air high enough to rake his blade down the back of the hand. Surprisingly, it backed off, shaking as if in pain and even more surprisingly, it bled and oozing green puss from the wound.

Of course, Dark's feeling of satisfaction was cut a little short as the drum stopped vibrating and the shadow moving over the still covering forewarned of the hand coming in the shape of a fist to try and crush him. Knowing the attack was coming, It wasn't that hard to time his dodge, rolling out of the way at the last second, twisting onto his feet then leaping forward to try and lop off one of the black crusted fingers. Even with all his weight behind it, his blade didn't go nearly far enough, but the hand did rear back in pain.

They suddenly stopped shaking, balling into fists on either side of the drum to rush forward, punching. They were way too far away though. No way would they hit…. and then Dark remembered the giant invisible body in between that must be rushing at him. "Uh oh." was all he could get out before something heavy plowed into him, knocking Dark flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him.

In the background he could hear a high, inhuman shriek of pain. He could imagine Link in the background, slashing away at the beast's vital spots and indeed, that was exactly what was happening until it pulled back to avoid further damage, returning to furiously beating the drum. Each pulse knocked Dark's stunned body into the air but at least landing didn't hurt. Finally he could breathe again, so some extent anyways when he saw a hand levitating over him, ready to drop and squash an insignificant insect.

It was in the midst of falling when the musical twang of Link's bow string saved him, sending the monster's hand off to wait for the pain to subside. The other came up, flying in to grab the blond and crush him in retaliation, but Link calmly fired another arrow in the sensitive flesh of its palm and immediately drew another arrow and waiting for the beast to charge.

Charge it did, just like the previous time. Link let it get closer and closer before he finally released, sending his arrow piercing into the single red eye. That was all it took to drop the beast to the drum, stunned as Link ran up and sliced with sacred steel into its vulnerable ocular tissue.

Determined to do his part to help, Dark ran to the side and jumped on one of the incapacitated hands, holding onto the rough protrusions covering the back. Before it could start drumming again, Dark was stabbing it, plunging his blade over and over into the shadowy flesh. Disturbed and enraged, the beast tried to slap down on him again but Link caught onto the plan and covered him, feathering the other hand with five arrows.

Bellowing its fury, the shadow beast resorted to its base instinct; to rear back and charge and when he did, Link was waiting with an arrow already knocked and glowing a cheery red. "Die, you unholy spawn of Ganon," he growled vehemently , waiting until the beast was almost upon him to release the arrow. As designed, the arrow burst into sudden brilliance as magical fire blinded its only source of vision.

Dazed and confused it fell, blinded and twitching to the canvas as one final time Link rammed his sword to the hilt into monster's eye. With burning holy steel embedded in it the phantom wert berserk, thrashing and flailing around as its solid flesh body faded. It retained it's shaped but instead of something tangible it became nothing more then a dark mass of energy. With his sword still impaling the beast and unreachable on the flailing monster, Link would just have to survive as the sacred steel of the Master Sword burned it from the inside out. If he could survive that long then this temple would be completed.

Howling furiously, several tendril of dark energy grabbed the blond Hero, squeezing and swinging him around to smash him against the drum over and over. He wondered how much more he could take when suddenly he heard the familiar notes of the Sun Song ringing out in the darkness. The notes were wavering and uncertain, but the song was played correctly and in the middle of this abysmal temple, shafts of light came down, piercing into the Shadow Beast like spears thrown from heaven.

Suddenly released, Link fell to the ground and immediately pulled out his Ocarina of Time, playing the Sun Song in concert with Dark who diligently piped the notes out on his Fairy Ocarina. With the two of them playing it, the effect of the spell strengthened, dispersing the shadows shape and reducing it to a formless mass of darkness. On and on they played, incinerating every last bit of the dark energy.

The last ball of energy to disappear in a burst of white flames left behind a heart container and only then did the blue portal appear.

"It is done. You can rest easy now Dark, we are finished. And do not worry, I did not forget my promise. As soon as I am done speaking with Impa, we will take that vacation."

His first order of business was to pocket the Heart Container. Though he'd never admit it, Link actually had a bit of a sweet tooth and these were his favorite. Intense bursts of sour flavor, similar to black cherry offset by the sweeter outer covering. But he'd have time for that later and with one last look at Dark, he stepped into the portal and let it carry him away.

The Chamber of Sages looked the same as it always did, with Link landing in the Triforce engraving in the center with the crests of the Six Sages circling around him. The Shadow Sage, Impa, appeared before him.

"Well, you've certainly grown to be a fine warrior from the boy I saw seven years ago. I believed in Princesss Zelda and her prophetic dreams from the beginning so there was never any doubt that you would become the destined Hero. She will be waiting for you, once you complete the final temple. Once that Temple is complete, she will meet you at the Temple of Time."

"Yes. I trust you will put and end to those horrible rituals. It is something that personally bothers me a great deal. The things they did, and to the bodies of the Royal Family no less. Disgusting."

Impa eyed the boy impassively for several moments. " I will see what I can do, but make no mistake. Each of us sages have our own work to do. I have an entire temple to purify room by room, pockets of Ganon's minions to exterminate, not to mention fully awakening my powers as a sage and counteracting all this dark influence before I worry about anything outside my own Temple. In the meantime however, you will need this."

Link raised his hand to catch the purple medallion bearing the seal of the Shadow Temple that contained Impa's power and that was always the last thing he did before his vision faded to white and the column of light deposited him back on the warp platform outside the Temple.

"You ready to go?" Dark asked from his position leaning against the wall to the right.

"Yes, I suppose." Link frowned pensively, glancing out over the graveyard. Of course it was raining and he had no inclination to get wet so instead he sat against his own wall to get his thoughts in order. It never occurred to him to think what all the Sages had to do. If even after taking control of the Temple, they were still fighting off pockets of monsters, was there a chance that Ganon could take a temple back? It made Link want to pay a visit to the Forest Temple, just to check in on Saria. Of all the Sages so far, she was least likely to be able to take care of herself. He'd give her a call when he had a free moment. For now, Dark was looking rather impatient.

"Yes, yes, we can leave now." Link sighed, exasperated as they climbed over the wooden fence to drop to the graveyard below. The rain would make it unlikely anyone else would be out but they were still cautious as they went through town, knowing that another riot was not impossible. They passed through the town without incident though and after getting to the bottom of the stairs, Link took out his Ocarina to call for Epona and as her hoofbeats sounded on the distant horizon, the pair finally allowed themselves to relax.

A vacation was coming, and did they ever need it.