It's 1 AM, I should be asleep since I have school tomorrow... But instead I stayed awake and wrote this to update after midnight. Hey, it's technically Thursday. If I have the time later, I might write out the next chapter and do a Double Chapter Thursday for you guys. If being the keyword in that sentence.

The fight in this chapter isn't that impressive. I apologize for that.

Well... I'm going to go to sleep now. -falls on keyboard dead to the world asleep- cfjdjbhkrzhdgjdklz

Richichi had not lied when he said the lit halls would lead them back. After a while, they had ended up back in the main hall of the maze. Heading up the small set of stairs, they immediately noticed the trap door was shut now. Nabooru pushed it open and both women were startled to find the room pitch black.

"Nabooru? Rayeh?" It was Link's voice. "That's you, right?"

"Yeah it's us. Why's it so dark?" Nabooru asked, carefully walking up into the room.

"You guys have been gone for hours; it's nighttime." The boy said, seeming a bit shocked that they didn't know.

The pirate's brow furrowed. "But we were only gone an hour at the most…"

"Do you think it's possible that we had been taken into another realm? Perhaps one where the flow of time is different?" Rayeh asked.

"I dunno…" Nabooru muttered. "Well, whatever. We got the key. Hey, wait a sec… where's pale face?" As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could only see the silhouette of the boy.

"We got bored and fidgety just doing nothing… Haizea especially. He went around pacing and actually found another trap door. He decided to check it out since this one didn't have any weird writing on it." Link told them.

"Why are you still here?" Nabooru asked.

Link scowled. "He told me to wait here in case you guys came back…"

"How long has he been gone?" the maid asked, concern evident in her voice.

Link paused for a moment. Despite how dark it was in the room, the two women could read the boy's expression as if it had been stamped on his face. "Um… A while?" he guessed with a shrug.

Nabooru rolled her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. The kid wasn't paying attention. Was Rayeh the only one who actually seemed to like Haizea's presence?

"Was it dark when he left?" Rayeh asked.

The boy had a thoughtful look on his face. "Getting dark I suppose, but it wasn't completely dark…"

"And how long has it been dark like this?" the maid said.

"Not too long, I think." The boy answered, shrugging again, "It's kind of hard to keep track of time down here."

Another trap door nearby the first busted open. Everyone in the room jumped as they saw a very irritated looking Haizea come out. "Do you know why being a light sleeper is inconvenient sometimes? Even through this thick door, I can still hear every damn word anybody says!" he snapped.

"You were asleep?" Nabooru asked; a mixture of disbelief and insult in her expression.

He glared at her. "Yes, I was asleep! I can't sleep on that damned ship of yours what with the swaying. I was hoping I'd get some shut eye down here." He told her angrily.

"I guess he's not a morning person…" Rayeh whispered to Link, who just nodded in response. The guy was irritable, but he was just a tad more irritable than normal. Then, a flare of irritation hit the boy as well.

"Did you even check to see where that door leads?" he asked.

The slave transferred the glare to Link now. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"You are a liar!" Link snapped.

"Point taken," Haizea said with a nod of understanding, "But yes, I did check to see where it led. We don't have to exit the way entered."

"So it leads out?" Rayeh asked almost hesitantly.

Haizea didn't glare at her. Instead, he gave a slight smile and said, "It leads directly to that basement you discovered the door in." he paused for a moment as if he just remembered something. "You have the key, right?"

Nabooru took it out and twisted it in her fingers, something difficult to do since it was heavy. "Right here, pale face." She glanced at Link then. "So kid, we going straight down there?"

"Of course we are! We have to save Zelda!" Link said it as if it were obvious and insulting that she could not figure it out.

"Okay, okay, calm down…" the pirate told him, seeming a bit chocked from his demeanor, "It was just a question."

"Don't take it personally, woman." Haizea told her with a smirk on his face, "He's just so close to saving his little girlfriend; naturally he would feel he's inclined to rush to her rescue more than ever before."

"Shut up!" Link snapped, feeling a flush come to his face. "I don't-Ah, forget it! Let's just go!" and he stomped past the slave down the stairs of the next hidden door. One of these days he was going to kick Haizea where it hurt…

He heard the footfalls of everyone else behind him as he went down the corridor. The slave had to end up stepping in front him since he carried the light and Link almost had the mind to trip him. A sharp look from Haizea told the boy that the magician knew exactly what he was thinking and he'd better not try it. Why was it just about everyone could read his mind!? Was he that obvious?! Deciding it was better to not think about it, he just continued to follow the pale man in front of him. It wasn't long before they were at another stairwell. Haizea proceeded up and Link could see that the slave had left the door open on his previous visit.

Up the stairs Link followed until he had reached the floor of the basement where they were supposed to be at. It was dark, damp, and cool. The only bit of light that was in the room was the flame Haizea was carrying. He hadn't really moved since his first step out of the trap door so Nabooru ended up bumping into him. She scowled but didn't say anything. He apologized and moved so that he wouldn't be the way when Rayeh came up.

The light began to move, which meant that the pale man had no patience for anyone else and was heading straight for the door. Sure enough, when the light stopped, it was in front of a door with the large locks that Link had been so familiar with now. Except this one had only one keyhole. That was good. If there were anymore he thought he might hurt himself. The ladies went ahead of him and Link found himself scrambling a bit to catch up with them. Nabooru went and tapped the lock.

"So this is one of the infamous locks…" She mumbled.

"Just hurry up." Haizea spat.

She stuck her tongue out at him in an immature gesture. Really, that was something Link expected that he would do, not an adult. After she was done acting like a kid she took the key from her pocket and twisted it in the lock. As was custom by now, everyone stepped back as the lock was released. It fell with a loud clank to the floor.

"Sense any bad behind here?" Link asked Haizea.

The slave stared at the door, but it looked more like he was staring through it. After a few seconds he grimaced. "Of course there is…"

Nabooru shrugged. "Might as well…" she paused and looked behind her at Rayeh. The maid seemed like she felt a bit out of place. "Are you coming with? I mean, I don't mean to sound nasty this time but…"

The maid shook her head. "No, no, I completely understand this time. I know I'm no good at fighting. I'll wait here. You all go in." she said. "Just be careful."

They all gave the girl an acknowledging nod. They passed through the door into the next room.

This room held the same basic construction of all the other rooms in which the other Siren's were kept. It was round, a domed ceiling, and had a moat encircling the floor. It held the same lighting as the last Temple with the strange orbs. Across the room, half in the wall was the crystal with the Siren. They each walked a bit closer to the crystal. Link noted that this Siren was closer to Molpe's age, maybe a bit older. Molpe looked to be in her late teens, this one was clearly an adult. Like her sisters, she wore nothing but her hair covered what demanded decency.

"So where's the bad?" Nabooru asked. She looked doubtfully at Haizea. "Did you mess up? There's nothing here but a mermaid in a crystal!"

He gave her his standard glare. "I was not mistaken. There is something in here." he glanced around furtively, "I'm sure of it…"

All of a sudden Link could feel it too. It was like the hairs at the back of his neck standing up. Nabooru must've felt it too because she shuddered wildly for a second before regaining a sort of disturbed composure.

"Where is it?!" She asked frightfully. Her knuckles were white from how tightly she was gripping the hilts of her daggers.

Link found himself looking around wildly. There was something in there with them but he couldn't see it. He found himself looking up at Haizea. The man almost looked panicked. But he was staring at something. Link looked to see that he was staring at the Siren's crystal. He saw why he looked so panicked now. The Siren's eyes were open. She was staring back at them with a wicked smile. Her face just looked so…

"Big Octos…" Link heard Nabooru squeak. "She looks so evil…" That was the right word to describe how she looked. And it wasn't the kind of look Haizea would have when he went crazy. This look she was giving them was just a look of pure evil. A devilish smile that had such malice behind it.

"That's not a mermaid." Haizea managed to say. His voice was shaking, devoid of its usual smugness. What was it that could possibly have the man so frightened? Link didn't think he'd ever seen him so terrified…

The crystal containing the Siren cracked. Everyone stepped back. The crystal cracked more. They took a few more steps back. The crystal cracked once more and then shattered. Link remembered that every other time a crystal had shattered; the seemingly delicate glass that made up the crystal just seemed to disappear into the air. Not this time. This time that crystalline substance that had shattered just seemed to attach itself to the mermaid like armor. But most of it went to her lower half, sturdy crystalline legs. She stood up on the floor, psychotic smile still on her face.

Haizea suddenly fell over himself and screamed. He was grabbing his head, probably in some attempt to stop whatever pain was in there.

"Pale face?! What's going on?!" Nabooru cried. For the first time since they had first met, Link could tell there was actual concern in her voice.

The boy looked from keeled over slave to the Siren. She was staring straight at him, as if those crazy eyes that were somehow not her own were boring into the magician's soul. Link understood it now. She was talking to him. She was talking but for some reason it was hurting Haizea.

"What's she saying?!" the boy asked the slave frantically. Nabooru looked worriedly to and fro the boy and the slave.

Haizea was still on his knees, holding his head tightly. He was in obvious pain but he managed to barely say, "Ganon."

Both Link and Nabooru understood it. If they had felt panic before, it was nothing compared to what they were feeling now. The Gerudo King was in the room with them. Not physically, but he was there and controlling a Siren.

The possessed mermaid looked at Link, releasing its grip on the slave who struggled to stand straight again. She gave Link a condescending smile, one that didn't need words to understand it. After taunting the boy in her own way she glanced at Nabooru and froze. The expression went blank for a moment and then turned to one of pure hate and spite. Without another moment of taunting, a wave of water from the moat surrounding the group went straight for Nabooru.

The pirate and the boy managed to evade the wave without much trouble. The slave had a little more trouble since he was still recovering from the words of Siren-Ganon, but he managed to escape it, only getting a bit wet.

"Well, I guess he's still a bit angry about me defecting…" Nabooru muttered nervously.

"You think?!" Haizea spat.

They looked back at the mermaid. She stared at all of them with contempt. She slapped her hands together and closed her eyes. Her lips moved slightly, but no noise came out.

"What's she doing?" Link asked uneasily.

The slave looked at the possessed Siren questioningly and then had a look of concern on his expression. "Move." He said. "Scramble, run, just keep moving." And without another word he took off.

They didn't even shout and ask questions, they just followed his example and ran around. A few seconds later they were glad they did. Right where their little group had been standing, a blast of lightning struck.

"What was that?!" Link found himself shouting frantically.

"She's the Siren in charge of weather, remember?" Nabooru shouted to him from where she was across the room. Another blast of lightning appeared in her area. She squeaked but wasn't hit.

Lightning kept striking in areas of the room; all they could do was keep running. Link wasn't stupid; he knew what Ganon was trying to do. He was trying to keep them all apart so they couldn't plan a strategy. And if he figured it out, chances were the adults had figured this out as well. But if they didn't keep moving they would become lightning rods. None of them could really think clearly either what with the running for their lives and everything…

The boy cussed as a bolt of lightning struck somewhere nearby him. He didn't hesitate to find out exactly where. That tingly warm feeling was enough to assure him that it was too close for comfort.

There had to be something they could do…

As he kept running around randomly, he looked over at the mermaid. She was standing on her glass legs, still looking like she was praying and blasting down lightning. Glass legs?

Haizea realized it before he did. "Break her legs!" the slave cried out.

"And how do we do that, genius?!" Nabooru yelled angrily as she jumped out of the way of a lightning blast.

The slave actually stopped running. He muttered something that was probably impolite and then made that pushing motion with his arms. Link felt a gust of wind push him a bit, but the bulk of it hit the Siren. The mermaid was knocked out of her trance and staggered a moment, trying to reclaim her balance.

Link had an idea. He took his boomerang from his belt and chucked it at the mermaid's fragile legs. The boomerang smashed against the crystal-like limbs and shattered them, but not completely. Then, the mermaid did something unexpected. She squealed. As soon as the sound came from her mouth, the boy felt a sharp, searing pain erupt in his skull. His hands shot straight for his ears. His boomerang passed him but it was either retrieve it or have his brains decorate the floor. He saw Nabooru clap her hands over her ears too. Haizea didn't even flinch in surprise this time.

As soon as the mermaid regained her balance on her shortened legs, she smiled wickedly at the sight of two of the three people clasping their ears desperately. It appeared Ganon had forgotten what the voice of a Siren could do to normal people, but he was quickly reminded of it this time. Link looked at Nabooru worriedly from across the room. She mimicked his expression. The Siren opened her mouth and took a breath. She was about to scream shrilly, but she just suddenly began to choke. Nabooru gave Link a strange look and then she glanced over at Haizea. Link followed.

The slave was staring at the Siren with utter disdain. His hands were making a strangling motion at the air. "Your voice is annoying." he sneered. His hands clenched into fists, as if they were crushing insects. The Siren grabbed for her throat, struggling against the invisible force choking her. Then, Haizea just let go and Siren took a deep breath. The Siren then stared at the slave bitterly.

"Why didn't you just choke her?!" Nabooru cried out angrily at the slave. The Siren turned angrily at her and sent a wave of water from the moat her way. The pirate hadn't even noticed it. The water crashed into her and slammed harshly into the floor.

"Captain!" Link cried out as he ran towards where the water had crashed.

The pirate coughed out some water. "I'm fine…" she choked out. Link still went over and tried to help her up.

The Siren had a satisfied look in her face, but it changed to shock when Haizea threw another gust of wind at her. Link flinched when he saw the mermaid open her mouth to shriek, but nothing came out.

The boy didn't hide his surprise. "She can't make any noise…" he said almost disbelievingly. Then he remembered, while the Siren as staggering and stumbling. He reached for his boomerang. It wasn't there. He looked around frantically. It was where he had been standing before. He remembered now; it flew past him when the mermaid had squealed earlier.

He was ready for the worst when he saw that Nabooru was no longer doubled over next to him. Now she was running towards where the Siren was stumbling clumsily. She slid down on the damp floor, giving the Siren's fragile glass legs a sliding kick. The mermaid fell flat on her face, parts of her makeshift legs crumbling from the force of that kick. The pirate quickly rose from the floor, managing to keep her footing on the slippery floor. The Siren tried to lift herself from the floor but her hands slid on the floor. And Nabooru wouldn't let her. She kicked down on the mermaid's back, forcing the creature back to the floor. Then she went ahead and stepped on the makeshift legs, crushing them along with crushing her tail. The Siren screamed silently. Her mouth was open but nothing was coming out.

Link looked at the pirate, almost horrified. She was angry. She was really angry. "Stop it!" the boy cried out as he ran over to where the two girls were. Nabooru ignored him. She just kept slamming her feet down on the Siren's tail. Her crystal legs were not there anymore, just shattered glass around the fishy part of the mermaid. "Stop it!" he repeated, this time angrily.

Nabooru jerked at the sound of his voice and stopped. She glanced at the boy, almost dazed. From the vacant look in her expression, Link finally came to an understanding of something… that violence wasn't just a switch one could turn on or off at a moment's notice. But he quickly forgot it when Nabooru was knocked down by an unseen force.

"You're in the way." Haizea snapped as he neared them.

"Dammit, pale face! Don't use any of your magic crap on me!" Nabooru shouted angrily.

The slave ignored her and looked at the mermaid. "Boy, turn the fish-woman around." He said.

Link nodded and then bent down to look at the Siren, ignoring the yelling of the pirate telling the enslaved magician to do it himself. The mermaid wasn't moving and her tail was bloody and bruised, but she was breathing. He turned her around as best he could. It was much easier said than done. And when he had finished, he scrambled back embarrassedly as he realized he had touched a place that he had always understood a person shouldn't touch on a lady. He was knocked out of his embarrassment when he heard Nabooru.

"Oh goddesses…" she looked horrified. "I didn't… I didn't kill her, did I? Oh gods, I didn't mean to…" she said, a whimper in her voice.

Haizea gave the fallen mermaid a cursory examination. "She is alive, stop crying." he told the pirate.

Nabooru still stared at the Siren with a horrified glance. "But all the… She's gonna be fine… right?"

The slave stared unnervingly at the Siren. "As soon as we get Ganon out of her, yes." he said.

"Wait, he's still in her?" Link asked. The slave nodded, uneasy eyes still on the Siren. The boy's legs started shaking… not because he was scared, though. He was terrified.

Nabooru bit her lip. "How do we get him out? He's definitely trying to wake her up right now…"

"I have an idea…" Haizea muttered.

"What is it?" Nabooru asked impatiently.

The slave remained silent.

Link had an idea why he was so out of it. "You're gonna have to touch her, aren't you?" he said.

The pale man just nodded uneasily. The pirate had a puzzled look on her face. "What's the problem, pale-face? You're an immense pig, you shouldn't mind this." she said.

Haizea glared at her. "That's none of your concern!" he snapped. The ferocity in which he said it actually caused Nabooru to flinch. Even Link was bit surprised at how the comment came out. The pale-man was a lecher, it was true; to actually touch a girl was completely different for him.

"What's his problem?" Nabooru muttered to Link.

"Just drop it…" the boy said. The pirate frowned but said nothing more.

"Hold her up. Quickly." The man demanded.

The pirate and the boy both grimaced. Nabooru walked around the Siren, gently grabbing her shoulders to pull her up. The mermaid shifted uncomfortably as she was lifted. The boy found himself holding his breath as he watched the fish-tailed woman's eyelids flutter slightly.

"Move." Haizea hissed at him. Link jumped and scrambled a little further away. The slave knelt down to the Siren's level and stared uncomfortably at her. After a moment of mental preparation, he wringed his wrists and then reluctantly put a palm on each of her temples. Both the slave and the mermaid jerked violently. The Siren's eyes shot open with rage and fury. Haizea just looked like he was in a constant stream of a pain. Despite the obvious look of indescribable pain, his concentration was on the Siren. She stopped jerking and stiffened, shuddering only slightly with a blank expression on her face. She became limp but Haizea still kept a firm grip on her head. He looked like he was reaching his breaking point.

"Is he going to be okay?" Nabooru asked Link. She sounded like she was concerned about him again, but she didn't let go of the woman in her grip.

The boy just watched the magician and the limp mermaid. Memories from when they first rescued Molpe came into his head. "No."

The Siren then began to jerk wildly, surprising the Gerudo holding her. To control her flailing, Nabooru forced both of the mermaid's arms behind her back. Haizea still kept his hands on the head of the woman. Link noticed that the Siren was giving the slave a death glare again. She gave him possibly the most evil look he had ever seen. So evil it actually blew Haizea back, sending him flying a few feet in the air before crash landing into the floor. He didn't move.

"Haizea!" Link ran over to where the fallen slave lay. He was knocked out cold, but fine. And for some reason, he was relieved to find this out.

"Kid!" Nabooru called. "The Siren she's…"

The boy turned quickly to see what was wrong.

"I think she's fine…" the pirate said, looking over the limp figure of the mermaid she held.

Link gave a sigh of relief. The moment of relief was ruined when he felt water splashing on him. He turned to the moat. The other Sirens were in the water, smiling happily at the creature in Nabooru's arms. Teles was the first one to notice the cuts in her sister's tail and shot a glare at Link.

"It happened during the fight." The boy said quickly and nervously. He didn't want to get on their bad sides.

Nabooru carried the Siren over to the moat and slid her in the water. Upon feeling the water on her skin, she woke up groggily. Then her eyes shot open and she looked around quickly. The Gerudo and the boy watched the three sisters join in a joyful group hug. He heard a sniff next to him and glanced up at the woman next to him.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"No!" she said quickly, brushing her arm over her eyes. "… Okay, maybe I am…"

"Stupid… woman…"

They both turned on their heels in surprise when they saw Haizea staggering up.

"Crying over something so insignificant…" he muttered as he neared the two.

"Insignificant to you…" she sneered. "You are you should be walking, pale face?"

"I'm fine," he said sourly. "Just a bit tired…"

Link looked up at the magician now standing by them. "Something's different about you…" he said.

"Yeah, he's beat all to hell." Nabooru said. "We should probably get out of here-not that I care what happens to you, pale face. We got all three Sirens freed, so we can go beat down Ganondorf now!"

Link shuddered at the name and to his surprise, so did Haizea. If it was even possible, the slave actually got paler.

"What's with you?" the pirate asked, noting the slave's reaction.

"The fish-woman… when I was inside her head…" he shuddered. "He wants us all dead." He faced Link. "You especially. You have something he wants, apparently."

"Something he wants?" Link squeaked. "What…?"

Haizea straightened up then and shook whatever was bothering him out. He took a deep breath and then faced the boy again nonchalantly "I don't know. He seemed to know something about me as well." Then he had a look as if he just remembered something. He faced Nabooru now. "Oh yes, he told me to tell you that he hates you now."

"Tch," the pirate started, "The feeling's mutual… for both of you."

The slave gave her a flat look. "That's not very lady-like."

She did a raspberry.

"Or mature."

And then the two began to bicker again. Yes, things were normal again… not really. Ganondorf… he was waiting for them now… He felt his knees buckle. When that Siren they had just rescued was possessed by Ganon… He was scared to death. He never really did stop to think how scary Ganondorf was… And he had to face him next… A grim thought came into his mind. None of us can beat him…

"You will know when it will be of use." The Great Deku Tree's words came into his mind. That's right. Before they knew that Hyrule Castle was the Temple, they tried to look for the Temple in the forest. A gateway that was of no importance at the time was there… but the Great Deku Tree said that he'd know when it would be of use. And right now… it was like he felt something calling to him.

"Hey guys," Link said, interrupting the newest argument of his two adult companions. "Before we head out again, let's stop by the forest."