Chapter 51: Hidden Lagoon
Eventually, Link came to a stairway made of crystal with a wooden sign-post next to it.
"'You are about to enter the Hidden Lagoon,'" Link said, reading the writing on the sign-post out loud. "'Enter at your own risk.'"
Shrugging it off, Link descended the stairway and came into a crystalline cavern with water from the sea coming in through a narrow tunnel forming a miniature lagoon inside. On the other side, Link saw Raoole being dragged by Cestral and Shikrah into a large wooden door on a ledge. Quickly Link put on the Zora Armor, which he still carried with him, and swam over to the ledge just as the door closed. But when Link tried to open it, a pair of gold chains appeared across the door with a gold-colored lock on them.
"Darn it!" Link snapped, slamming his fist against the door. "Now I have to find a key."
"Maybe it's in one of those underwater caves," Proxi said, flying over the water.
Below the water's surface, Link could make out faint outlines of caves along the edges of the lagoon. Diving in, Link discovered an entire ecosystem lay inside this small lagoon consisting of clam-like Shell Blades hopping along the sandy bottom where slimy Dexihands occasionally emerged to snag some Skullfish that were swimming about alongside larger ones known as Desbreko. There was also coral, a few sea plants, and an iron wheel sticking out of the sand. Link swam over to one and turned it, causing the iron bars over a nearby underwater cave to vanish. Curious, Link went over to investigate and found several Bari that were floating underneath the water.
They generated electrical fields when he got close, so Link surfaced and found another ledge that was perpendicular from the one with the big door. Lifting himself onto it, Proxi was there waiting for him and was bouncing happily.
"What is it, Proxi?" Link asked.
"There's a Great Fairy here!" Proxi answered giddily. "I can sense her presence!"
"What's a Great Fairy?"
"Only one of the most powerful Fairies in the world! They usually hang around Fairy Fountains, and bless wary travelers with special gifts."
"How do you know this?"
"Because I lived at a Fairy Fountain before Lana and Impa found me, dummy!"
Following Proxi, Link entered a small chamber with a fountain that poured water that was so clear he could see the reflections of Fairies that were flying around. Once he stepped in, though, the Fairies flew away and then there was a huge splash at the center of the fountain followed by a colossal woman wearing nothing but vines with long blue hair tied in three braids. She laughed merrily upon emerging from the fountain and then hovered midair looking down at Link.
"Welcome, Hero of Infinite Possibilities," said the colossal woman with a bemused smile. "I am the Great Fairy of Wisdom, and this is my Fairy Fountain. How may the girls and I serve you?"
Link hesitated. "Well, I…"
"Don't be shy about it, little boy," the Great Fairy giggled. "I know what you want."
"You do?"
"That blade," the Great Fairy said, pointing to the Master Sword. "It's the Master Sword, right? Did you acquire it at the Temple of Time, by chance?"
"No, it was given to me by a sorceress named Lana."
"Lana? I don't believe I've ever heard of her," replied the Great Fairy. "Did she teach you how to use the sword's magic?"
"Magic?"
"Then I take it she hasn't." The Great Fairy cupped her hands and laughed. "Very well. I shall teach you a secret technique that will allow you to fire blasts of magic from the Master Sword."
The Great Fairy then released golden sparks from her hands onto Link whose body glowed along with the Master Sword.
"This technique is called the Blast Attack," the Great Fairy explained. "It requires small amounts of magic at a time, but the Master Sword has a limit so don't use too much. Also, I'm giving you this for the journey ahead."
In Link's hand appeared a clear crystal with a glowing blue orb inside it.
"That crystal contains a spell called Nayru's Love. It will create a crystal-like shield around you for a short amount of time. Find my sisters if you wish to acquire similar spells and may the Goddesses protect you."
Then with that, the Great Fairy of Wisdom vanished back into the fountain. Satisfied, Link left the chamber and dove back into the lagoon. He swam toward the cave where the Bari were floating. Activating the Nayru's Love spell, a thin blue orb made of energy appeared around him. The Bari tried to shock Link, but the orb's energy protected him thus allowing him to kill the Bari easily which then caused a large chest to appear. Opening it, Link found a silver device with a shark-like head and a windmill-like blade attached to the back. There were two black handles on either side, which Link grabbed onto.
"There's a label on the bottom," Link noticed and read, "'Zora Steam Propeller: It allows you to fly through the water as well as in the air.'"
Flipping the switch, the windmill-like blade started spinning. Then Link was propelled forward and almost hit the wall of the cave when he turned at the last second. He flew out of the cave like a sailfish and was able to avoid all the Skullfish and Dexihands from hurting him now that Nayru's Love had worn off. Eventually, Link found another wheel that was similar to the previous one beneath some coral and turned it. Like before, another iron gate over a cave opened allowing Link to swim inside where he had to fight three Shell Blades to get to a small chest with a silver key inside. Using the key to unlock a door with silver locks on it, Link found himself in an underwater tunnel that had Dexihands trying to grab him from above and below. Swimming through them with the Zora Steam Propeller, Link came to the end where a third wheel lay.
This one unlocked the bars over the third cave in the lagoon when Link turned it, thus allowing him to access another small chest that was guarded by a school of Skullfish. Inside, he found a small silver key and unlocked the bars over the fourth cave with it. As he swam inside, the bars closed behind him and a low rumble came from inside the cave. Then a large green head appeared with a gigantic mouth and a serpentine body that had a hook-shaped tail.
"It's Ookeel," said a voice in Link's head that sounded like the Great Fairy. "Use the Blast Attack to do the most damage to him."
Nodding, Link aimed the Master Sword at the incoming head which opened its jaws and a blast of energy shot right into it. Recoiling, Ookeel tried to kill Link with his hooked tail which Link parried easily with the Master Sword. Then when Ookeel tried to swallow Link again, he fired another Blast Attack into its mouth which made the creature twitch violently. This time instead of using his tail, Ookeel turned invisible after making the scales along his body shimmer. The only thing that didn't disappear was Ookeel's tail, which gave Link a perfect target to aim at with the Blast Attack. Once it was hit, Ookeel revealed himself and dissipated into a million scales. A large golden chest appeared, and inside Link found a gold key that matched the lock on the big door Cestral and Shikrah went into with Raoole.
To be continued…
