Whoa, chapter 50! Didn't see that one coming. Damn, this story's been going on for a while and I'm proud to keep working on it.

I meant to update this chapter on Saturday and I got a little sidetracked. Anyways enjoy~! Don't forget to leave a review!


PART NINETEEN - A BLADE OF HONOR

"You piece of shit when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna—"

"Link, calm down! It's gone!"

He shook his fist at the ceiling. "Why don't you come back here and try picking me up again, huh?! I dare you!"

"Stop this at once!" Ruto snapped. "Mathilda could hear you!"

He threw his hands up. "We're right back where we started!" He said querulously.

"So? We were stuck in a dead end if you don't remember. Maybe that thing came out to help us."

Sure, a freaky-looking, decayed, disembodied hand came from nowhere, grabbed them like they were toys and dumped them right back here. The whole experience moved so fast that he nearly emptied his stomach. Ruto saw it as a favor and he saw it as offense.

"What was that creature?" Ruto asked.

Link smoothened the wrinkles of his tunic by pulling it down. "Damned if I know but I'd love to see it pull a shit like that on me. Picking me…I swear…"

"Calm down," she said sternly. "Mathilda could be stalking around for all we know so please swallow your pride for just a little longer." Once Link took a breath to calm down, she giggled softly. "I didn't know you could scream like that."

"Shut it," he growled. "You were screaming too."

"I was surprised," she said, still with that annoying smile. "And you were shaken up."

"Can we please stop talking about that and move on?"

"Okay, okay, whatever you say."

It did feel good though to hear a repartee from her. She wasn't in the best mood when she woke up. The color on her face, which had paled from the loss of blood earlier, was slowly returning. Her voice spoke louder and clearer with more confidence. "Where are we to find a compass and a map in this maze? Ugh, this could take forever!"

He wished Katie were here to make herself useful. She may be a chatterbox but she was a good acumen when it came to ancient relics or anything concerning the Goddesses. And dammit he missed his hat too.

Water filled his boots, making floppy and squishy sounds. He shuddered a bit at the cool water and hated every minute of it. He noticed more of those pipes; some of them were long coming from the ceiling, some from up the ground and the rest peeked at them from the walls. Well, a water temple does need a water system.

Every door they came across had a large lock on it with a cross of chains behind it. Ruto tusked at the fourth impassible door. "Goodness, might as well lock us out of the temple then."

Link rubbed the back of his neck. "We should find some chests with keys. We need to keep our eyes peeled for any triggers or buttons." He felt uneasy. Since that cursed hand brought them back to the start, he couldn't help but feel like Mathilda was around the corner.

He needed to have his guard up this time. She managed to ambush him on how many occasions? As someone who considered himself a great warrior, this was unacceptable for him to be this clumsy.

Every sound, every movement of shadows had him on his toes. The flickering of the torches caused their shadows to dance, making this whole experience nerve wreaking. Ruto expressed annoyance over his paranoia since it kept spooking her out. She had her dull looking spear, pointing it whenever they made a turn around a corner. He hated this deathly silence. It felt like something was about to pop out.

If Mathilda came out now, he highly doubted they would be lucky this time. Already he felt his luck was too generous with him—they survived Mathilda's murderous attempts multiple times, they managed to get to this place when it was deemed impossible, and above all they were still in one piece. Come on now. No way things would get any easier than this. The Goddesses would never be this kind, if they were ever kind to begin with.

The princess didn't touch on the matter. On the side of her face was dry blood but the worry in her eyes was too great for her to bother cleaning up. She shared with him the gruesome story of her mother's death in a little too much detail than he had asked for. Actually, he didn't really ask for a story at all, felt it was too touchy of a subject, but the princess surprised him again by confiding him no matter his tergiversation.

Why would anyone ever share such a delicate story with him? He didn't know and thankfully she didn't expect anything from him.

He finally understood why she had it out for alcohol and cursed a bit at himself for being so stupid. He was always pugnacious about his sake, thinking that she watered it down just to spite him.

"Well, this is interesting," Ruto said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

A gate sealed their way, similar to the one that saved them from Mathilda. There were gears exposed to the surface, rustled with age, and cobwebs were embedded between the gaps. Under the mechanical gears were two valves on either side of the wall near the gate.

Link stopped Ruto by putting out his arm. "Wait," he told her, eyeing the gate. "This is a puzzle. No way it could be this easy."

She frowned. "How would you know? You only went through one temple."

"Yeah, and Katie told me it gets harder as I go."

The princess crossed her arms, the frown on her lips deepened when Link spent the next few minutes meticulously studying the valves. "Link—"

"Give me a minute."

"But Mathilda—"

"Just be quiet!"

He could feel her glowing at him behind. Like he could care. He had two stupid vows to uphold and he can't let himself be reckless.

He went down on one knee and scrutinized one of the valves on the right side. What concerned him was that there was no clue, no hint. He had nothing work with but his imagination. Why was there two instead of one? This temple was made for only one person so who could the other be?

He nearly leaped out of his skin when he heard something squeal. Ruto was turning the valve on the left. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" She snapped back. "We'll grow old if you keep staring at it all day!"

His mouth opened to retorted but then the squeals from the rusted gears came to life. Haltingly, one gear moved and the rest followed, rotating squeakily, making him cringe. Dust clouded from underneath as the gate slowly began to rise up, and Link caught a glimpse of a stairway that twisted up to the next floor.

"Worrying over nothing," Ruto said, sounding smug.

"Not worrying when we have a crazy bitch after us will kill you, princess."

She snorted. "As if you're one to talk." Suddenly, she stopped and frowned at the valve.

"What?"

"It—" She tugged the valve, gritting her teeth as she tried to turn it. "It's stuck."

"Maybe you're just weak?"

She didn't bother answering to that as she heaved with all her might. A vein stood out and the muscles on her arms tensed. Soon her fingers slipped out, and valve turned on its own back to its initial position, at once the gate went down with a thump, startling them both.

"Maybe the right one would work better," he said, turning his valve but it stubbornly stayed in place. "Come on!" After failing so many times to move it he decided to change the direction and turn it the other way. It moved smoothly under his fingers and the gate was lifting until it came stuck again. "Ruto, come on! I gotta do everything here?"

The task was rather arduous, mostly because his patience was at its limits. It took several attempts until they understood the process. One of them will turn their respective valve, and once it got stuck the person turning it must stop at once, and the other person must turn theirs. Timing was essential since when a valve got stuck, the person turning it can't force it anymore, and the other has to start right away otherwise they have to start all over again.

"This is so stupid," he growled under his breath. He couldn't help but apply more force, therefore causing them to repeat the whole thing several times.

"Can you just tell me when yours gets stuck?" Ruto glared at him. "This gate won't rise with just one valve."

Once more the gate came down for the millionth time and Link couldn't help but kick it.

"Maybe if we work together," Ruto suggested irritably, placing her hands on her hips. "Mathilda could ambush us at any time. You keep going on about how difficult it all so but you're being ridiculous. It won't be hard if you just cooperate with me."

That was the problem right there. He never had to work with anyone before. Now that his silver sword was gone and the Master Sword was still being a bitch, he had to depend on her and that was something he didn't like.

"I could do this on my own," he said. Maybe that was the case. Katie told him that only the hero should be in the temple. Not that he was the hero but it could be the princess' meddling that set them back.

"If you could do it on your own then why are there two valves?"

He didn't look at her. "Beats me."

"Link." Her tone was hard to ignore and he found himself reluctantly facing her. "Why don't you trust me?"

"I do trust you..."

"Is it because I'm not a good fighter?"

Well, considering how she went at Mathilda with her mind half gone that in itself should answer her question. But then again, Link also went after Mathilda, so calling the princess out for it would be like the kettle calling the pot black.

That didn't count though. He could hold his own in a battle with just the right sword. He didn't need her help.

"It's not that. Look, just stand over there and let me deal with this." He turned away from her and went to work on his valve.

The princess stomped down. "I can help as well! It's my kingdom, you know."

"Well, I made a vow."

"No one asked you to make that vow," she replied cheekily. "At least let me make your job easier by helping you."

"No thanks."

"It wasn't offer."

"It was an offer and I'm refusing it. Now be a good fish and let this Hylian work."

She scowled at him, crossing her arms. He just ignored her. The first temple was a pain in the ass but he fared well, and he was planning to do the same with this temple too. The rusting paint brushed off the metal and onto his hands, he could taste something iron.

He carried on doing the puzzle on his own. Once again the gate gave away, nearly crushing his feet. Behind him was an audible snort.

"I wonder if he could do it the twenty-eight time," she said out loud to no one in particular. "Or maybe thirty? I hear fifty is the charm."

His jaw clenched but he said nothing else.

"Link, I think we should go."

Again, he ignored her. He's not going to fall for that so easily. This gate was going to open and by the Goddesses it will be open.

Ruto shook his shoulder. "Link, right now!"

The urgency in her voice shook him to the core. A dozen of thoughts raced through his head in a second: Was Mathilda here? Do they have time to run? Shit, they were at a dead end. How could he let this happen? He should've told her to stay watch!

Turning around, he broke out of a haze of confusion into immense relief when he found out it wasn't the commander. Following after his relief, he was stunned to see two monsters, the likes of which he never seen before. He considered himself to be a monster expert since he knew them from the inside out, literally.

"What is that?" His nose scrunched up.

Two green slimy creatures in a shape of a blob, both having only one red eye, bobbed their heads from side to side as they tried to move towards them.

Ruto hesitated, slowly lowering her spear. "They look so…harmless."

Famous words of the day, they later found out.

The monsters moved so excruciatingly slow to a point where it made this whole encounter feel awkward. Him and the princess exchanged looks then glanced back at the monsters. The slime creatures moved in a funny way, bobbing up and down, their piercing red eyes never leaving them.

"Um, are we supposed to do something?" The princess asked about to walk up to them until Link grabbed her arm. "What? They aren't doing anything."

"They could be dangerous," he insisted.

She took her arm back, shaking her head. "Silly boy, are you scared of monsters now?"

"I'm not scared!"

She didn't bother with him and went too close to the monsters as if proving a point. "See? We can just go around them." Ruto was looking at him so she didn't notice how the monster grew out dripping arm and went to fling it at her.

Link used his hookshot to bring her out of harm's way. A horrid pungent smell filled the air, sending a burning sensation up his nose. The space where Ruto had been was now melting with green slime, steam hissed out as bubbles popped.

"Acid." Link lifted his eyes up and the creatures no longer looked harmless. "Shit."

Ruto swallowed, taking a step back. One monster got too close to Link and tried to grab him with its badly molded hand. Link had to bounce on his toes to avoid drops of the hissing slob.

He knew their weakness. That eye was begging for an arrow. His hand reached for his quiver and horror dawned to him when his fingers only grabbed the air. Empty.

On top of that he was smacked to see the princess' spear in her hand. She looked annoyed when he stopped her.

He wanted to shake her. "Are you an idiot? Are you actually being serious right now?"

"I'm trying to fight!"

"What happens when metal goes with acid?"

It didn't take long for her to figure it out. "Oh."

"Yeah 'oh.'" They both took were walking back as the monsters lurked for them. "And you wonder why I don't let you fight." This girl will get him killed.

He hated how hopeless this situation seems. There was never a time where he couldn't fight back or at least put up some form of retaliation. The burning metal on his back grew heavy.

He grabbed Ruto's hand and, ignoring her protest, quickly ran towards the monsters. He made it seem like he was going to them directly but instead he moved over to the side to squeeze through between the monsters and the wall. This felt like lightening a match in an oil field. Like a fountain, acid blurted out of their mouths, painting the wall.

The smell turned his stomach. Green mist evaporated from the steaming wall. Too close. He could feel the heat waving at his face. An incoming blob flew just near his head from behind. Link risked a glance and saw the slime creatures with their gooey arms out. They rebounded, flinging their arms back to fire again.

"In here," Ruto said, taking the lead now and took him to a sharp turn, saving them just in time as two blobs past over their heads.

This turn was not there and he saw that the wall had been melted off. He could see a trail of ruined stone. There was a door there with the symbol of Nayru and the second he closed the door behind them, they both let out a breath.

"Well, that went well," Link said dryly. His hands were on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. The smell of the acid was still on him making him sick.

"I don't like this temple one bit," Ruto muttered, her knees buckling slightly.

Link straightened up and patted the dust from his pants. "That makes two of us."

They had stumbled on a large room with an actual running stream that ran at the back of the room. They were standing in a middle of a large opening and he didn't feel easy about it. This ground was perfect for a battle and a without a working sword, arrows or bombs, and with an incompetent spear fighter with him, this was the last place they needed to be.

"We should get out of here."

She gawked. "What? We just got here! What about those monsters?"

He was already walking to the door. The warnings, like alarms, blared in his head in a flash of red. "We'll figure something out."

As if wanting to screw with him, silver bars slammed down the door before he could even touch it. "Hey, open up!"

"Uh, Link?"

He let out a sigh that dropped his shoulders. "Let me guess: it's those slime guys, isn't it?"

"Yup."

And there were more of them. How wonderful. There were three big ones and two little ones, making it five in total. The smaller ones prove to be more dangerous than their older compatriots. They sped at Link, rolling near his boots and he danced away from them with a surprised yelp, a line of steam slithered from his barely grazed boot.

The little ones left behind a trail of melted stone that teemed with green slob and mist. He bounced out of their way while also dodging a spray of slime the older ones threw up. Looking at the ground gleaning from bubbling slime, he could only imagine what it would be like to be bathed in it, to feel it eating his flesh away. Hmm, if only he could carry a bottle with them for future experiments…

Ruto growled. "What is wrong with this temple?! Who in their right minds would make such a thing?"

Link would've simply pointed at the sky to answer question but he was busy trying to run from a bigger monster who wanted to give him a hug. Him and Ruto had no other choice but to make a run for it. The little ones pursued them and the older ones just used their own essence to fire more blobs.

Acids splotched on the ground, making them take sharp turns to obviate them. It rained green at them and one blob would have surely melted their skins off their bones if Ruto hadn't thrown herself at him and together they splashed into the water. Air bubbles clustered around him, tickling his skin as they went down deeper.

Like seaweed, his golden hair rose up, wavering. There was one crucial thing he forgot about and that was the scale no longer working. He did spend a lot of time with a layer of air. Cool water rushed into his lungs, blinding him with instant regret and panic. He clammed his mouth shut, feeling a tight pain in his lungs. Shit, shit, shit.

He tried to move but Ruto held him down shaking her head. At the surface he could see a rippling image of something green. Those shits were actually waiting for them.

He couldn't think straight though, not when he craved for air. His arms moved frantically to lift him up and again she held him down. The only sound he could hear was the thumping of his heart. His thoughts were all over the place, distorted. It felt like his lungs would explode. It was until Ruto had done something he wasn't expecting.

She kissed him.

And when she did, a sweetness of air rushed into his mouth. Link, in a desperate pursuit, grabbed her shoulder to pull her in to take as much as he could. Once he had what he needed, he pushed her off and looked at her in shock.

She rolled her eyes but even underwater he could still see that flustered look on her. He would've enjoyed tantalizing her if his emergency air supply wasn't already thinning out. Taking his arm, her body moved in a rhythm, her legs stuck together as they kicked up and down. She led him to the far side of the stream and Link gasped when they broke through the surface.

"Keep it down," she whispered, peering up to see those monsters on the other side of the room. Their red eyes were looking down at the water, thinking Link and Ruto would just pop out like that. Not really the sharpest monsters out there.

The two quietly got out as possible and on their way they saw a narrow gap in the wall with a row of bomb flowers.

Ruto was delighted to find a distraction and a solution. "This might help us."

He could still feel the tingly feeling on his lips. As tempting as it was to tease her, those monsters come first. "That's not a good idea."

"Why not?"

He blew air out of his nose. Why did he ever think bringing her along was a good idea?

"Princess, if you have a brain I'd like it if you used it." She glared at him and he only sighed. "They'll explode into a million pieces and that slime will fly everywhere. We'll never be able to get close without getting a hot shower."

"Then how about we use that invention your friend has given you?"

Link wasn't too keen on working Hank's wires so close to acid. The wires still had rubber on them and he remembered that the acid could melt through anything.

"Link, they'll start searching for us when they get tired of waiting."

"I know." This isn't up for debate. Hank gave him this so he can use it to its full extent and Link needed to honor that.

He came up with an idea and quickly talked it over with her. This was the first time he allowed her to work with him so she was clearly excited. They conversantly ran back and forth into the opening, piling bombs that were defused by licked fingers. They handled the weapon with utmost care. It could either save their lives or get them killed. Beads of sweat ran down his face. He hated how defenseless he felt, almost like he was naked.

He could see that the monsters were getting restless. "That's enough," Link whispered, noticing the slime monsters were about to scatter. Ruto watched him keenly as he plugged the end of the wire on top of one of the bombs. "All right that should do it."

"Right." The princess narrowed her eyes and poked his chest. "And just so we're clear about what happened back there, if you ever and I mean ever breath a word of that, I will stab you in the foot, understand?"

Link grinned but made no promise. One of the monsters alerted the others when it spotted them.

"Come on, bastards," Link said with a wide grin as he waved his arms. "Over here! One big tasty Hylian! Don't bother with the fish though. She'll give you a stomachache."

Ruto glowered at him but surprisingly said nothing. Once the monsters got close enough to throw slime, Link and Ruto rushed back to the gap in the wall. They both were squished against each other. Shutting his eyes, he pressed the button and they cringed at the deafening sound of the eruption. He could hear the slime splattering everywhere and the air smelled like acid. It was beginning to feel hot.

They waited a few minutes before stepping out. Lines of green stream ran down the walls in long fingers, the ground was a patchwork of melted stone and slime boiling and bubbling.

Some of the smaller monsters somehow survived the explosion. He wasn't worried too much though since they were running in circles shrieking like little girls as fire flared on their heads.

Their torment brought a smile to his lips. "Yeah, that's right! Burn, bitches!" His hands went on his hips and he threw his head back with a sinister laugh. "That's what you get for messing with me!"

"You're enjoying this a little too much," Ruto muttered, throwing a bomb at the remaining. They had to back to cover with Link complaining on the way.

"You can't let me have my fun?" He snapped. The bomb exploded, ending the cries of agony at once.

Her eyes narrowed. "Priorities, Link."

"Ugh, fine!"

A loud thud of something falling from the ceiling and the sound of metal sliding up caught their attention. The door has been relieved of its bars, thank goodness, and the thud came from a chest that appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, which was completely normal of course, nothing strange about that.

But what was strange was seeing something come up from the ground. It started as a red puddle until it grew bigger and bigger and stopped at full size. It was a red slime, lazily looking at them with a white sole eye. Ruto went to get bomb but Link stopped her.

"What?" She demanded, brushing his arm off a bit hastily.

"That's not like the others. This one's red."

"It's a monster," she replied flatly.

He frowned when she wouldn't meet his eyes and went over to the bombs. Looking back at the other red company, he just wasn't convinced it was like the others. This one looked…dumber if it was any possible for these creatures. It waddled its head side to side as if it couldn't handle its own weight.

"That chest wouldn't be here if there was more monsters," he told Ruto as she went past him.

"Just because you went to one temple doesn't make you an expert of all temples."

He grunted. "I've spent hours in the first one. If that doesn't make me an expert, I don't know what does."

"Maybe you're just rubbish at it?" She suggested, holding up a hissing bomb.

He could've teased her for what happened earlier until he saw her eyes widening. Her warning came too late and he was too slow to dodge an incoming red slime. He stumbled forward and nearly fell on his face. Cringing, he waited for any pain but was hit with a sweet smell. He felt an invigorating rush of energy, and looked at his hands to see the bites of his wounds were now measly scars. He sniffed the red stuff and gave it a little taste.

In front of him though, Ruto cried out as she threw her hand back with the bomb ready until Link grabbed the weapon and threw it away from the monster.

She blinked at him, astound. "You-you're okay?"

Her concern was unexpected and he felt touched by it. It was then that he decided not to make fun of her for earlier; she did kind of saved him. "That's not like the others. That's a red potion." He laughed, showing her his arm which had a fading scar. "What do you know? This temple's feeling sorry for us."

She smiled as they looked back to see the monster sluggishly moving towards them. Its logy speed rivaled a turtle.

Link got closer to it and went down on one knee. "You know this temple might actually be easy." He grinned at her.

Taking his eyes off the monster was always a bad idea. Even if it was mostly harmless it was still a monster that was high wired to kill people. It threw its head back and pushed him away like a sandbag. It might be entirely made of slime but that hit was solid like a punch to the face. Ruto yelped and went to his side where he laid there motionlessly with blood running out from his nose.

He was so fed up with this place but kept his voice steady. "I take it all back. This temple and the ones who made it are all bitches."

All the green slime was finally evaporated, taking chunks of the ground with them. This gave them the space to carefully take the red slime. Link kept the monster busy while Ruto went at its back to scoop two bottles of red potion. Once the job was done, Link planted three bombs into the monster and laughed maliciously as it exploded.

"Ah, you can't get enough of this," he said with a giggle, licking his lips.

"Really, I don't understand you."

"Better if you don't. You might end up like me."

They turned to the chest excitedly. Like children, they both made a fuss about who opens it first. "No way, I should open it," he complained. "I'm the one who found this place!"

"You already went through one of these!" She pointed out. "Just let me open it. Don't be a child. This is the first time I ever saw a chest like this before."

"I want to open it," he said querulously. She crossed her arms, scowling at him. He hated how it was getting harder to say no to her. Throwing his hands up in defeat, he said, "Fine! But I'm opening the next one."

She looked jovial. "I can't to see what's inside," she said winsomely, going down on one knee. "It could be the map."

He snorted. "It's not going to be that easy. Pretty sure it's underwater with piranhas."

Ruto squinted against the beam of light that shot out when she opened the chest, again nothing unusual about that. Once the dramatic lights died out, she gasped. He guessed it would be rupees or treasure but being a princess this shouldn't be a big deal to her. He peered over her shoulder for a better look and his jaw slackened.

He didn't even mind her smug smile. "Really? This easy?"

Maybe he really was being paranoid. Who could blame him for being on his toes? The Forest Temple took ages to finish. He doesn't have a proper sword with him and they have someone dangerous running around with them.

In the Forest Temple he earned the map by surviving a room with Moblins and Bokoblins who all tried to shoot him with arrows. The ground was muddy and he managed to somehow survive that madness until the last grain of sand fell on the bottom of the sandglass. He had turned that stupid thing without even thinking what it does.

Either the Guardian didn't have the heart to put him through any torment or he was getting better at these temples.

He decided it would be better if he handled the map. He still couldn't shake off the feeling that this place was made for one person. He may not be that specific person it wanted him to be but it was best to play by the rules since they were at this temple's mercy.

"What's this green dot here?" She asked. "And this skull?"

The temple had three floors: G, FLOOR 1 and FLOOR 2. They were currently at the bottom in G and the skull was in the middle of FLOOR 1. The top, FLOOR 2, was a strange one since no matter how he looked at it he couldn't find a direct access to it. There was only one way he could find. Spread throughout the map, like a network, were lines, which he figured to be the water system of the place. Those pipes they keep passing by, they were the only way to get to the top floor.

FLOOR 2 and GROUND FLOOR where the same design with only a few minor changes with pipes connecting them. His tongue clicked in frustration at that. If they had Katie this whole experience would be a breeze. They could have her going through those pipes and more.

"This green dot is us—well, me to be exact." He pointed at the skull. "This here is the boss." He hummed, squinting closer. "There's two ways to get there. Remember that gate with the valve."

"Oh the one that you tried to do yourself and failed miserably?"

"Yeah the one that I could do it by myself without your help. That's one of the ways up there." It would take them directly a wide area with a skull on it. The other way would take them to other rooms. In any case, they could use both routes to get to the middle floor. "Hopefully, the boss won't be too hard."

Ruto looked troubled. "What if Mahtilda is already there?"

"No way."

"How do you know?"

"Because this is a trail," he insisted. "This temple was designed in a way that you can't cheat through it. That's why we can't blast any random walls to get past locked doors. You need to blast the ones they want you to blast."

"So we need the key for it?"

"Yes."

"Then we have to get," she said with conviction in her eyes. "We have to get it before she does."

"And we will," he assured, stretching out the parchment on either end to get a better look. "But we need that compass though. It could be anywhere."

It could take them hours to find it. They have to go through each and every room, scrutinize the smallest detail, solve every cursed puzzle and outrun every monster. Those slime monsters were only the surface of the temple. He'd bet that there was other handful of monsters to challenge them. It won't just be slime monsters next time but a mix of other monsters that would help each other.

Goddammit, if only they had the damn compass.

Something that sparkled fell from the ceiling right next to Ruto. The two glanced down with stunned eyes to see a certain circular device, and he saw chests magically appearing on the map. He was too shocked to speak.

Ruto laughed, hugging the compass. "Our prayers have been answered!"

Link could only nod his head dumbly. He didn't know whether to be happy at how easy this all seems or be furious for all the hours he wasted in the first one. If he ever saw Desmond again that old man was getting it.

"Shall we head out? I'd love to see the look on Mathilda's face when we get that boss key," she said with a giggle, heading for the door.

"Wait." He completely forgot about Hank's detonator. The trigger was left at the gap near the bombs and he rushed over to see that the wires were ruined. He sucked in a breath.

"Oh my." Ruto seemed commiserated. "I'm sure your friend could fix it."

And that was the hardest part. Carefully, he took what was left of the wires and stuffed them into his pouch. At least the trigger was untouched so it had a chance. "It's not important. We need to move."

He knew he shouldn't be complaining. They somehow, by a bloody miracle, got both the compass and the map in the same room by defeating a horde of acidic creatures with just bombs alone.

Perhaps his luck hasn't dried out just yet.


It was Katie's luck slowly drying. Just like her two companions, she too encountered a Green ThuThu, an acidic type of slime. The smaller ones were no problem but the bigger ones was the type she hated. Now these monsters aren't as parlous as scholars make them out to be. For one, they aren't attentive, so even if you're standing by its side, as you don't get in front of them or make any noise, then you're fine. One simple arrow would get them out of the way, meaning that she can't do anything against them.

Katie remembered she wanted to tell Link to restock on arrows until Mathilda attacked them in the Veiled Falls. Hopefully, he wouldn't get too desperate to use bomb against them. It would make things a lot worse.

She had a feeling Link would be more careful rather than being his daring self since he spent hours in the first temple. It could be Ruto acting reckless; the princess could act without thinking sometimes.

Green ThuThus weren't the only things she came across. Ugh, how she despised those Floormasters, such nasty little creatures; they don't cause damage, as their task was to remove intruders and dumping them at the start of the temple. The thought of Link screaming from the top of his lungs as a disembodied hand carried him away was amusing. No doubt he would absolutely lose it.

Katie zipped zapped through the thick rain of acid. She would've been more flexible without her hammer dragging her down but she refused to leave it behind. It was the only reason why she's still alive.

"Leave me alone, you filthy monsters! No one likes you!" She shouted. To think such lowly creatures could be so annoying. ThuThus weren't even intelligent. They could face a row of archers without a thought to retrieve.

The fairy absconded using a pipe from the ceiling, leaving behind the slimy monsters. The pipe system of the temple was always so confusing. She had no idea where she was going or which part of the temple. Link and Ruto were still nowhere to be found and she was growing worried. Would they be able to work together? Would Link let her help him? He always preferred to work alone and Katie was worried that his and Ruto's friendship was in jeopardy.

She couldn't get herself to go any deeper into the pipes. It was much too dark for her and like the coward she was she quickly looked for the nearest exit for light. Once she made it out of the pipe, she was relieved to know that no monsters were around, just a simple room with skulls hanging from the ceiling and a chest sitting on top of a flight of stairs between two torches. What a find!

After whacking it a couple of times and waiting for the lights to dim out, her color bloomed orange to find it was none than a compass. She squealed out of delight, even twirling around in the air. Now Link would definitely appreciate her. He must be going crazy trying to find it and the map.

It wasn't like they weren't in any hurry with Mathilda out of their hair, but, knowing him, he must be getting restless, the same with Ruto since her father must be losing his mind.

The fairy was happy with her findings but she came to a decision to leave behind her hammer. It saddened her, she was getting used to standing up to herself and fighting back. With a sigh, she told herself it wasn't made for her anyways. She can't carry both.

The second she had the compass over her head, metal bars sealed the doors shut, startling her so much that the compass slipped from her head and tumbled down the stairs. It bounced with each step with a coink sound and she raced to get it only to have the cursed thing fall into a pipe on the ground. She tried to chase after it but even a seal quickly slammed shut on the pipe.

She turned to see it was a mini boss. Darn it, she should've known this was too easy. With compass gone, Katie glowered at the monster in fury.

The grotesque beast was named after the first human who defeated it: Malgus. It had the physique of a ReDead with bony joints and hanging head, long thin arms touching the ground. It can't paralyze its opponents like ReDeads but its long arms were flexible and it could fling them around easily. The easiest way to defeat it, according to scholars, was by letting it wear itself out then attacking the weak point in the back.

Katie was both furious and frightened. This wasn't fair! Why was she handling all of this nonsense? Where was Link when she actually needed him?

"Where are you, Link?!" She yelled in fury and in plea as she faced off against the monster.