The Legend of Zelda series do not belong to me, they belong to Shigeru Miyamoto. And the gods in the story, the Sanchez, and Chakal belong to Jorge Gutierrez. What does belong to me are Cleo, Finn, Syrilla, Joseph, and the kids in the prologue.

Chapter 20

The long path to the windmill was like a maze and the only way through quick enough was to follow Dampe who seemed to know the correct turns at the forks. Cleo tried not to lose him in the long winding tunnel and to stay ahead of the collapsing ground chasing her. Sometimes she had to make jumps across pillared bridges over bottomless pits. It took about ten minutes to get to the end and they ended up in an old stone brick room.

Dampe hit a bump and ended up crashing into a wall, his head flying off and spinning on the floor. He laughed giddily. "Whoa-hehehehe! Looks like I was a little too wild with my steering!" Cleo untangled herself, picked his head up and gave it back to his body. "Thanks missy!"

"Where's the windmill?"

"Don't you hear the creaking above you? Just go through that trap door and you're there."

Cleo looked up and saw the door at the top of some stairs. She walked up them and looked back. Dampe was still at the bottom. "Aren't you coming?"

"Nah. It's best you meet the brothers alone. They don't like too many uninvited guests."

"But what about-"

"I'll just be returning to the Land of the Remembered. You go on ahead, missy."

Cleo turned back and pushed open the door. The creaking got much louder as she lifted it up. She was now in a decrepit stone building with a slowly turning wooden shaft. Up higher she could see wooden gears turning and ropes moving through pulleys. The place was loaded with cobwebs and the wood looked like it was about to rot away and collapse, causing her to wonder how it was still operating. She didn't see anyone though, whether it be stalfos or poe. Perhaps they were at the top.

She saw wooden rods on the walls and rotating shaft and used the snake to climb up, slashing stalkeese and staltulas in her way. She got to a wide wooden platform acting as the top floor. The moment she reached it, she heard voices.

"That girl has come a long way, hasn't she Flat?"

"Indeed she has Sharp, braving our trap to reach us."

"But her hard journey to get here may be in vain. If she wants an audience with us, she will have to pay the price."

"If she has any right to seek our musical powers... she must first prove herself or suffer a most horrible fate."

"Yes, Flat... Let's see what this one can do." Cleo quickly put her hand on the hilt of her sword, readying herself for a fight. Then two glowing cloaked poes appeared, one was red with a bushy mustache and the other green with a sleek mustache.

"Look at that Sharp. She thinks she's going into battle," said the green poe.

"That's too cliche. Let's challenge her with something different," said the red poe. He lowered himself to her. "So you came here for our music, have you? Well, even though you got past our trap, it doesn't mean we will just give away our secrets to you. There's always a price to everything, to get something, you must give something."

"And what should I pay you with?"

"Simple, if you want to use our musical gifts, you will have to prove your own musical worth. Show us what you can do."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"By following our rhythm and memorizing our notes. If you can copy our growing tune, only then can we help you."

"But if you fail," put in the green poe. "We'll play the Melody of Darkness to send you straight to the Land of the Remembered, permanently!"

"Oh boy!" groaned Cleo.

"You better not screw this up, kid! 'Cuz if you do, I'm going to be pissed." Cleo understood perfectly why Xibalba would be pissed since he was on the verge of becoming a widower, but he didn't have to hiss in her ear like that, if he wasn't going to give more positive encouragement. She got the guitar ready.

"Confident, aren't you?" said Sharp.

"Let's see how well you can play," said Flat. Both poes took out their batons. One of them floated over to start the metronome. As it tick-tick-ticked away, Sharp flicked his baton thrice and a musical note sounded each time, followed by Flat playing the same. "Now let's see you copy us."

Those three notes were easy. Cleo played them without effort.

"That's just the beginning," Sharp said with a smirk. "But it's going to get much longer and harder. I hope you're ready."

They continued playing the same music, adding a new note each round. Starting from three, it grew in seven more rounds until there were ten different notes to keep memorized. Cleo kept a sharp ear and tried not to panic. She had to pause once or twice to remember what the next note was. She slowly played all ten notes perfectly, despite very nearly slipping up (one of them tried to jump scare her).

They were quite impressed and pleased. They began applauding. "Bravo, young bard. You have truly a keen talent for music, doesn't she Flat?"

"Indeed she does, Sharp."

"Okay, now that I passed your test, can you help me in return?" Cleo requested.

"Of course. What is it you ask from us in our magic?"

"There's a big fire storm raging in the new Kakariko Town. It's literally raining fireballs and destroying everything. I was told you can use your music to put a stop to it. Can you do it?"

The brothers looked at each other, pondering over this. "Yes we can. But we will not be going there," Sharp said.

"What?!" both Cleo and Xibalba said at the same time.

"If you want to stop the fire rain, you must do it with your music," Flat told her. "This is your responsibility, not ours."

"There is only one song that is capable of neutralizing the curse you described. We're just going teach it to you, then you must go back to the village and play that song as the fire falls from the sky."

"Than teach it to me, fast!" Cleo urged. "We may be running out of time."

"Very well," said Sharp.

"Let us begin," said Flat.

Cleo woke up in the cellar after having learned the song. She heard thunder booming and hurried outside. As she ran through the Kakariko Village, the fire rained around her. She stopped and got the guitar out, but only strummed a few times before she had to jump out of the way of the fireballs.

She needed to keep a cool head. She watched the skies carefully. Cleo started again.

Colin opened the window of the sanctuary and he, along with his friends, peeked outside. "What's going on?"

"Cleo!" Malo exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"Hey! Get in here!" Talo shouted. "Do you want to get fried?"

"Wait... I know that song," said Luda. "My father told me a legend about it and of the magic it brings... It is called... the Song of Storms."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Malo.

"Just watch..."

Cleo played on as fire continued to fall. One small spark broke off from one of the fireballs and was heading right toward her face... When it hit her forehead... it felt like a cold wet drip. Another wet drop hit her and another and another. More booms of thunder came and the fire was fading away into smoke with the descent of real rain. Within minutes, Cleo was soaked through her clothes.

The group burst through the door. They were staring wide eyed at the sky then suddenly with big grins on their faces, started running around wildly, whooping and splashing in puddles. Malo, the only one not acting like a goofball, walked calmly to Cleo. "I won't deny it... You've done good." He gave her a genuine smile.

There was a creak from the sanctuary door and Cleo saw the loftwing emerge and let out an epic screech. Cleo went to him and stroked his feathers. "I'm taking the loftwing home and then I'm going to look for Shad," she called out to Malo.

"Careful up there."

Cleo smiled and ran up a hill to begin her climb to the highest point in the whole village, giving a shrill whistle on the way up. The loftwing took off and followed her. After getting to the top, she ran right to the edge of a roof and jumped off. The loftwing swooped and caught her on his back, then headed upward with Cleo clinging on.

They entered an opening in the clouds and she could hear thunder claps around her. But Cleo was unafraid, she was feeling the adrenaline as the loftwing flew through the tunnel of cloud until they broke through. She was nearly blinded by the sudden appearance of the sun. It took a few minutes for her to adjust to the harsh light after spending so long in overcast weather. She opened her eyes and felt her chest swell at the sights around her. A world where there was nothing but clouds and floating islands.

Cleo steered the loftwing around them, whooping and screaming with full-on glee. One nose-dive with a wild swerve startled an Oocca sitting on a floating rock and it started jabbering at her in its weird language. She burst out laughing.

"So what do you think of this experience?" Xibalba asked, sounding like he was smiling. "You got to admit, flying is very exciting..."

"Yeah!" she shouted over the roaring wind. "For once, I agree with you... It's cool to have wings!" There was a surprisingly pleasant chuckle in response.

Cleo took out the sword to dowse Shad's aura and followed it to a large dark cloud. They flew inside and found a small floating structure with an extended stone pier. She steered the loftwing over it and jumped off, slowing down her fall with her cape. She landed a little harder than anticipated, probably because of the few small holes the fire had made in her cape. "I'll need to replace this." She heard a shriek from a distance and looked around. The circling black loftwing started shrieking in answer, then there was some back and forth. "There's another one?"

"Must be. I'm guessing that's a mating call."

The loftwing made a sharp turn and flew off, disappearing into the dark clouds. "Good. I'm glad to know there's still a chance for them." Cleo walked down the pier to double stone doors. She was about to push them open when she heard voices from the other side, mostly a mumbling chant. She pressed her ear to the door's crack.

"Why are you doing this?" It was Shad's voice. He sounded scared.

"Because my dear friend-" Cleo's nerves got a jolt from the second voice. "-I needed to give little miss Cleo a bit of a motivational push. I know these heroic types always manage to overcome even the most strenuous, agonizing, exhausting trials when people's lives are on the line." The chanting resumed.

"But what in the name of Hylia do you hope to get Cleo to do by endangering me?"

"Now I'm not going to spoil anything, in case you do survive. I don't want to risk you giving away to Cleo the surprise my master has in store for her."

"Of course not... ... It's clear to me that you're far too clever to do that. I'm even starting to doubt if Cleo could ever find out what you're up to in time."

"Indeed not! There's no way she could ever know what the sun spirits she's possessing are going to do."