Throughout the Royal Valley we met Poes, large, white, one-eyed ghosts who were more solid than Ezlo's description made them out to be. With the three of us so close together – more so with Red and less with Blue – a few blows from each of us dispatched them. It highlighted the interesting fear of the ghosts that Red had, but neither Blue or I shared.
Blue frequently ranged ahead outside of the reach of the Fire Rod's light, never far enough that we lost sight of him entirely except for once where he hid behind a tree and jumped out on us, roaring with laughter as we leapt back with a variety of startled remarks. Ezlo even fell off my head, beside himself with all manner of remarks in the Minish tongue that he must have forgotten we could understand.
"Where'd ya learn such language, Ezlo?" Blue asked him innocently as he settled himself back in his accustomed place.
"Just never you mind that," he told Blue severely. "You almost frightened me to death!"
"Well, we're in the right place for that," he said, then still chuckling to himself he went on ahead again.
"I don't know whether I want to punch him for that or not," Red muttered. "Pulling something like that, it's..."
"The sort of thing I'd do?" I suggested.
"You've got that right," Ezlo put in. "Of all the things to do..."
"It's just a little harmless fun guys," I told them. "Lighten up a bit. Did you get bored with going ahead?" I asked Blue, who was waiting against a tree.
"Nah, just there's a bit of a weird place ahead. Looks like a kinda crossroads place, used to have one of them Poes in it and a sign that just says 'North'. Tried going all three ways, and all but north led me to the same place. I reckon we gotta follow the signs."
"Wait, did you say there's a Poe there?" Red asked.
"No, I said there was," he corrected. "I persuaded it to go play somewhere else. Don't worry dude, it isn't gonna come try to play with you."
Red winced. "Thank you for that brilliant mental image," he said sarcastically. "Now I can't get that out of my head."
"You're welcome," he smirked, then headed into the clearing with the sign. Once again he went on ahead, presumably to dispatch the Poes to set Red more at ease, pausing only long enough to wait at the correct way, leading us on. The point of this little puzzle wasn't entirely clear, but since it did no harm and Vaati appeared to be waiting on me, I at least was content to put up with it.
The path branched after a few turns, emerging into a more open area, still devoid of graves but there were wider spaces on either side of the tiles that showed a few small signs that whenever one of the Royal Family passed away, people lined the area to pay their respects.
The way through into the graveyard proper was locked away behind a giant gate, and not far from it was the gravekeeper's house. A sign nearby told us that much, though it was fairly obvious from the candle-light inside that someone was resident. Rather than bother him though, I instead went to examine the lock.
"This is absurd," I muttered after a few moments.
"Don't tell me the great thief Manic has found a lock he can't pick," Ezlo remarked sardonically.
"Ezlo, you could pick this lock half-blind," I replied. "It's ridiculously clumsy, as if it's only really there to give the appearance of security. One of you two take the rod," I told the others, handing it away and reaching for the lockpicks. Blue held the rod, while I had Red hold the lockpicks. They weren't really necessary, since a small stone could have unlocked it, but I am a professional, and things should be done right. In a few moments we were through, and the area lit up enough not to need the Fire Rod's ambiance any longer.
Red still refused to go off on his own, sticking close to me as we browsed the graves, looking for the headstone for King Gustaf. Naturally it was the rear-most grave, which was actually the entrance to an underground sepulchre with a sealed door. It had three sword-shaped indentations in it, each one matching my sword.
Each of us set our swords in the indentations, causing the door to fade away and leave them hanging in mid-air to be retrieved, letting us in to the tomb of the royal family. The air was stale and dry, dust lay everywhere and there were two mummies shambling around – and that was just inside the first part of it.
Red seized the Fire Rod from Blue and blasted them both with fire, revealing ordinary skeletons underneath that were no harder to defeat than their earlier cousins. Defeating them wasn't necessary to move on, but it set Red at ease at least.
We took it in turns to use the only one of the three mushrooms that would take us across a pit, Blue first because once again he was happy to go ahead, followed by Red since he didn't want to stay on his own, and then I followed.
On the far side there appeared to be three locked doors, and none of us had a key to go with them. Red still held my roll of lockpicks and headed for the rightmost door, pausing before he got close, frowning.
"This isn't a door," he told us. "It looks like it, but the hinges aren't attached to anything."
"This one's the same, Manic," Blue told me, examining the one on the right. Unlike Red, who had now backed away, he headed closer, watching it closely. When it started to tilt toward him he leapt back, the false door slamming down where he had been a moment before, attached to a chain in the blank wall that pulled it back up again.
"What kind of person," Ezlo asked. "Devises a tomb that has traps in?"
"One that wants to ensure their dead are well looked after?" I suggested, picking the lock of the middle door to let us go ahead again and into a far larger chamber. A worn, deep indigo carpet led from the door up to a pair of statues, each one holding a stone tablet between them that had three further indentations, this time simple triangles that everyone will recognise as the Triforce. The topmost one was already filled with a golden triangle, but the other two were empty.
Areas on either side were reached through openings in the walls, decorated in a fashion suspiciously similar to that of the temple I'd first met Link in. Evidently plagiarism is too good to remain the realm of mortals alone.
These areas too had not been designed with me in mind, or perhaps as this was not a fully fledged dungeon there was no need. On one side there were three floor switches at one end, a string of spike traps circling a lower wall for no apparent reason. Perhaps if I'd had to be in specific spots to bring out Red and Blue they might have been a problem, but for us it wasn't. Triggering them caused a pedestal to rise out of the nearby ground with a small golden triangle on.
On the other side there was a large pit with a platform moving over it, along with another low wall that separated the two. I had to have Red and Blue stand on one side of the wall while I took the other, them triggering two more switches on that side, while I did the same for the remaining one to make the second triangle appear.
With these two then inserted into the proper places the statues lifted the tablet to reveal stairs leading down, through several corridors and a room in which two more mummies remained that this time we did have to slay, then at long last we reached the tomb proper. Statues of kings lined the walls atop their sarcophagi, each one bearing a stone carving of the Triforce and a plaque proclaiming their name.
Gustaf was among the earlier ones, and was easily found because his ghost, which incidentally bore less resemblance to his statue and more to Daltus, was hovering indistinctly in front of his grave.
"You have come at last, oh Hero," he said formally. "I am Gustaf, King of Hyrule long ago. You have come seeking guidance to the last of the four Elements and that which will aid you in your designs. Take note Hero that upon my statue there remains a necklace of gold, as there has been since I was entombed here. This stone is the key to passing the broad stone by the falls – merely offer it up and should you be the true Hero of this land, it will part to permit you through. But take note also, Hero, that this is not the only act this may perform for you, for should one of your doubles take up the necklace for as long as they hold it they will be exchanged with the last of your four selves that otherwise you would require the Element for. Take the necklace, young Hero, with my blessings and best wishes on your way."
Then, though he was nevertheless a King, he bowed with considerable grace, and faded away without even giving us the chance to say anything to him. Blue and Red both looked to me.
"You better take it dude," Blue said. "I dunno about Red, but I'm not quite ready to go away just yet."
"Honestly, it's not as if you couldn't give it to me afterwards," I sighed, taking care not to disturb the ornamentation as I climbed up to retrieve it. It had no effect on me of course, but I wasn't the one it was intended for. "One of you two are gonna have to take it though, because if Vaati is watching when we leave he'll know we went in with you two, and if we want to convince him I have the fourth Element, we need him to see the last one."
"How're you gonna explain one of us missing?" Red asked.
"I reckon if you touch that sword, you'll be the only one to disappear," Blue told him. "So we'll just say you made a mistake, got yourself hit round the head or something, and Manic just hasn't bothered to re-create you yet 'cause there wasn't any need."
"What, you think I'm that careless?" he demanded.
"I recall a few rather reckless acts back in the Fortress of Winds," I put in. Red muttered something under his breath, then took the necklace off me. The same flash that normally surrounded them when I called them out or they dismissed themselves showed up again, changing his tunic and colour to purple.
"Well this is unexpected," he remarked, looking himself over. "You're a bit early, know that? And this sure ain't the Sanctuary I was expecting."
"Not just a change of colour then," Blue said. "C'mon then dudes, lets get outta this tomb and see if any of this was necessary."
"The way he says it you'd think he was in charge," Purple murmured to me.