Here we have the next chapter!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 16: The Snowpeak Ruins

The Snowpeak Ruins is an old and decrepit mansion, home to a yeti couple. Despite that, the outside of the mansion seems to resemble more a fortress, so it was more likely that the original people who lived here were knights, as there were suits of armor and an armory room somewhere, and noblemen, because of the paintings, chandeliers and carpentry. The yeti couple only inhabit a handful of rooms, while the rest of the mansion was left to rot and decay.

The heroes looked around as they walked into the mansion's foyer, which was a large hall with staircases going up on either side leading to the remains of the upper floor, and parts of the ceiling was missing.

"This is his house?" Midna asked. "What's with this guy? He's got a nice place…for a beast-man."

"My thoughts exactly." Toon Link agreed as they walked forward and went to the door on the opposite end, which took them to a warm living room where a smaller yeti sat by the fireplace.

"…Who?" she weakly said. "Uh… Sorry… I have sickness, uh… Come closer, uh?"

The heroes did just that.

"You cute little humans and creatures. Husband Yeto told me you come. You want to look at mirror, uh? My husband found it, but it pretty thing, uh." she then coughed a little. "But…since I get mirror, I get sick, and then bad monsters appear… So many bad things happen since mirror… So we lock bedroom on third floor where it hangs, uh?"

"Do you know where the key to the bedroom is, miss… um…" Peach trailed.

"…Yeta. I tell you where key is…"

Yeta hands them over the Dungeon Map of this place.

"Wait… This mansion is a dungeon?!" the heroes thought.

"Fever makes head blurry, but… It probably here in the room marked by this symbol…" they glanced at the red mark on the map indicated by Yeta as she coughed again. "But right now…can't even get up. Would you bring it to me, uh?"

"We'll do it." Rosalina nodded.

"Then start with door right here…" she directed the heroes to the door behind her.

When they went to the other side of the door, they found none other than Yeto cooking some delicious soup on a hot-boiling pot.

"Uh! You!" Yeto greeted them. "Wife…look bad, uh? Not healthy since mirror… So I make soup for her. Fish from Zora village are most nutritious! You tired, uh? You have some. It give you energy!"

"It does smell good." Daisy smiled. "Sure, we'll have some."

With that, the heroes enjoyed a nice small meal. After thanking Yeto for the soup and were now feeling warmer thanks to it, the group went to the door on the left of the kitchen, where they saw some blocks, one of them being frozen and a switch that was encased in ice.

"I guess we'll have to push these blocks around…" Link said, only for Mario to instantly melt the ice covering the switch in the middle and the previously frozen block with Din's Fire. "Oh… Never mind."

"Why waste our time with pushing blocks while I can just melt everything?" Mario smirked before Link stepped on the switch to unlock the door on the eastern wall, where Mario saw a large chunk of ice on the right and proceeded to melt it as well.

"Leave it to my bro to make things easy for us!" Luigi exclaimed as they went through, with Mario melting two Mini Freezards on the way, only that the next door is locked.

"Welp, we need a key." Toon Link said.

"Who needs a key?" Midna grinned before punching the lock with her hair to break it. "Heh, I've always wanted to do this."

"…That works too." Toon Link blinked and they all went through, and the door shut tight for them as they saw more Mini Freezards up ahead, but like with the previous ones, Mario easily melted them in mere seconds.

"Okay, Mario's new ability is definitely proving to be extremely useful for this dungeon." Link remarked.

"Yeah! It's a good thing Lana went for him first!" Yoshi chimed as they went to the next room, where they immediately spotted a chest possibly containing the bedroom key on the other side of the south wall.

"That chest might hold what we need!" Peach exclaimed.

"All right! Let's get it!" Luigi said and they began to approach the door leading to the chest… only for it to lock itself, and then two Chilfos suddenly materialized in front of them. "Uh oh…" Luigi gulped.

"Stand back, guys! I'll handle this!" Link hollered and then charged his sword before unleashing the Jump Strike skill at the Chilfos, destroying them instantly as the others were left surprised at this.

"Whoa… Was this the new skill you just learned?" Toon Link asked.

"Yes. Jump Strike, to be exact." Link replied as the door unlocked and they went through, where Link opens up the chest and pulls out… a pumpkin?!

Everyone was left speechless by that as they stared at the Ordon Pumpkin in complete bewilderment.

"…WHAT." Midna said incredulously before yelling, "WHAT IS THAT!?"

"That's a pumpkin… But who would put a pumpkin in a chest?" Yoshi questioned.

"Looks like Yeta got the wrong location." Rosalina said. "We can't blame her, though. She did say that her fever is messing with her memory."

"Then we'll just have to head back to her and let her know." Mario said. "And hopefully we can try to get her to remember where the key is."

One quick trip back later…

"…What? Pumpkin? But why there?" Yeta wondered.

"I know, right?!" the group all thought the same thing.

"Uh… Sorry… Husband in kitchen right now. Take pumpkin to him. I try to remember…"

With that, they went to the kitchen, and as soon as they approached Yeto, he could somehow already smell the pumpkin that was in Link's possession:

"Uh… PUMPKIN! You have pumpkin, uh?" he then proceeds to smack Link to the ground, causing the pumpkin to drop off as he took it in his hand. "Pumpkin, pumpkin, uh!" he puts the pumpkin into the soup. "Thanks, uh! You taste if you want!"

"Owch… Alright…" Link groaned while getting up before he and the others left the kitchen to talk to Yeta to see if she could now remember the proper location of the key.

"Uh… I maybe remember. Could be in THAT room…I think." she marks a new location on their map. "Go to room marked by symbol…"

A new door becomes available for the group as they went through it, taking them outside as the first thing they saw around was more ice, including a Freezard up ahead.

"Lots of ice everywhere… I bet my bro's gonna have fun with this." Luigi remarked.

"You bet!" Mario exclaimed and immediately released a fiery shockwave to melt all the ice away… including the poor Freezard.

"Me and my big mouth…" Luigi sighed before firing lightning bolts at the White Wolfoses nearby.

"Well, at least he's not insane." Toon Link said. "Next thing I know, I'm going to have an insane dark counterpart who's very trigger-happy when it comes to wielding fire."

"That sounded oddly specific… but I doubt that'll happen." Daisy dismissed and then they went into the next door that was previously blocked off by the Freezard.

The next room was just a narrow corridor, and a motionless suit of armor holding a spear is what first greeted the heroes right in front of them.

"That's not intimidating at all…" Luigi trailed.

"Well, either way, let's just make it to the other side of this room." Link said and they all walked past the not one, but two suits of armor and went for the door, only for it to shut tight. "Oh, great…"

Then, ominous footsteps suddenly came in, causing the heroes to tense up before they turned around just as the suit of armor from behind them was completely smashed into pieces. Apparently, the first suit of armor that was motionless at first just came to life and was now holding a ball and chain on its hands instead of the spear. That was Darkhammer, as it began to flail its weapon above its head as it slowly walks towards the heroes.

"We obviously should not approach it." Rosalina advised. "That metallic ball looks dangerous."

"Then maybe we could attack it from behind?" Peach suggested.

"That could work, but how are we going to get behind it?" Yoshi wondered.

It was then that Mario saw that Darkhammer was about to strike them with its ball and chain as his eyes widened. "Uh oh! Look out!" the group was able to move out of the way just in time to avoid the incoming ball.

Link then looked up, and saw that the ceiling had iron grating all over it. "Toon!" he exclaimed while taking out his clawshot.

"Oh! Got it!" Toon Link replied by taking out his hookshot and they both aimed their weapons at the ceiling and used them to go above Darkhammer before landing and smacking down on its tail with their swords.

With that, Darkhammer fell to the ground and exploded, leaving only the ball and chain behind. As the doors opened back up, Link glanced at the ball and chain on the floor.

"Hmm, maybe I could use this…" he thought and then walked over to it and took it, and despite being so big and heavy, Link was able to put it away like it was nothing, which left the others surprised.

"Woah! Are you sure you can carry that, Link?" Luigi asked.

"It's no big deal for me." Link shrugged as the others exchanged confused glances before they all exited the room.

There was a massive wall of ice blocking the way, so Link decided to take the Ball and Chain for a swing and slams it into the wall to shatter it, revealing a chest at the other side. Hoping this one holds the key, Link went up to it and opens it… aaaand it turns out that it had another food item inside, this time being Ordon Goat Cheese.

"You. Can't. Be. Serious." Midna deadpanned. "Food AGAIN?!"

"Honestly, I had a bad feeling about this already." Rosalina stated. "Yeta didn't seem very sure of herself back then…"

"Oh well… Let's head back and hope she had some other brilliant idea." Daisy sighed.

Another quick trip back later…

"…What?! Cheese…" Yeta mused. "Uh… Did husband move it? Uh… Where in world did we put it…" she paused a little before sighing and replying, "Sorry, I need thinking time, uh. Take cheese to husband, uh? You do that, I try to remember…"

They did just that and went back to the kitchen, where they found Yeto pondering about another ingredient for his soup:

"Uh… Needs…more punch, uh!" he then again could somehow smell the cheese from Link's possession. "Uh… WHAT?! GOOD SMELL! What you have, uh?!" he once again smacked Link to the ground and took the cheese that the Hylian hero dropped. "Mmm! Perfect ingredient, uh!" he puts the cheese into the soup. "Little more time on fire, it become gourmet soup, uh! Here! Taste, uh!"

After recovering from the smackdown, Link decided to take the Superb Soup by scooping some in few bottles. Then, they went back to Yeta and she spoke to them:

"I think I remember, uh! We put key in nearby room, so no forgetting, uh. How I forget? Embarrassing, uh." she marked another location on the map. "See! Here. Place marked by symbol, uh! It there. It must be, uh! You look for me!"

Another door becomes available for the heroes and they went through, which took them to a spiraling ramp with ice walls blocking the way… and also Freezards inside cages.

"…That's nothing." Mario said and then once again unleashed a Din's Fire shockwave to melt down all of the ice walls and the Freezards, so the room was now clear and they were able to head up the ramp to the second floor.

They went through the next door, where they dealt with a Chilfos and then Link was about to use his Ball and Chain at the chandelier in the middle, only for Peach to simply glide to the top of it with her dress and did the same to reach the chest on the other side that held a Small Key.

"These guys just make things a lot easier, don't they?" Link thought while playfully smiling as Peach glided back to the others before they left the room.

Using the key to unlock the door, the group went through and this time, Link had to use the Ball and Chain at the chandelier so that everyone can get to the other side. There was a Chilfos there, but Mario shot a fireball at it to melt it away and then they all went to the door.

The other room had ice everywhere, so they knew that Mario would use Din's Fire again. And he did so, which melted everything around it: the walls, the floor, the Mini Freezards, the ice wall and the two Ice Keese that were behind it.

"Boy, this fire spell is awesome!" Mario grinned as everyone else jawdropped at what that just did before snapping out of it as Midna broke the lock on the locked door and they went in.

A few minutes later…

The group made it to the room that was marked on their map, whose interior resembled an abandoned chapel of some sorts that was filled to the brim with Chilfos… only for them to get instantly melted away by, you guessed it, Din's Fire, and it also ended up burning down all of the chapel's chairs too.

"Good lord… I don't think any of us used our abilities that much as Mario had!" Luigi remarked as Mario chuckled playfully and then they went to the unlocked door to reach the chest.

"I swear… if this turns out to be another food item, I'm going to scream…" Midna muttered.

"I'm pretty sure it won't be this time." Rosalina assured. "Yeta sounded like she was a hundred percent sure about it."

"Well, only one way to find out." Link said and opened the chest… and the Bedroom Key was inside! "Yes!"

"Oh, FINALLY!" Midna exclaimed.

"Phew… We've found it." Daisy sighed in relief. "That sure took a while…but that mirror shard is now as good as ours!"

Now that they finally had the key in hands, they exited the chapel, and to their surprise, they found Yeta right outside.

"Oh! You safe, uh!"

"Yeta? What are you doing out here?" Peach asked.

"I drink husband's soup, feel much better, uh. So I come find you."

"Even so, that doesn't mean you should be out here in the cold…" everyone thought.

"You found key, uh! Good! Good! Bedroom right above us. I take you there, uh."

With that, Yeta guided the heroes all the way up to the bedroom at the third floor and by her request, they inserted the key in the heart-shaped lock to unlock the door and they, along with Yeta, went in.

The bedroom was very large and well furnished. On the opposite wall, there stood what was unmistakably the mirror shard the heroes were looking for.

"Please… This way, uh." Yeta said as she walked over to the mirror hung on the wall as the group followed her, but remembered to stay a bit far away from the mirror as they knew what it possesses. "Here…mirror. You look at it, uh…" Yeta was fixated at the mirror shard. "Uh… So pretty… Pretty… Uh… So pretty…" she gazed lovingly at it, but… "Pretty… Pretty…mirror… Lovely…" she suddenly began to twitch erratically while moaning, leaving the group worried and tensed up at the same time.

"Uh… Yeta…?" Yoshi whispered.

And then… She turns around, now sporting the most nightmare-inducing face complete with red eyes and razor teeth, and the loud screech she gave out didn't help the slightest. The heroes freaked out by that, especially Luigi:

"AAAAAAAAHHH! WHAT THE HECK?!"

"NOT TAKE MIRROR!" Yeta shrieked.

The shriek was so loud that all of the bedroom's windows shattered, letting in cold air as everything around the room became icy.

"YOU TAKE MIRROR, I TAKE YOUR LIFE!" Yeta yelled as the cold wind now surrounded her, turning her into a massive ice mass. "DIIIIIIIE!" but when she fell back down on the ground with a slam, a shockwave of ice came out from her, and as a result, the Mario cast was frozen into ice statues as the Links and Midna were quick to react and dodge the shockwave.

"She's now the Twilit Ice Mass, Blizzeta!" Midna exclaimed.

"And Mario and his friends are frozen!" Link gasped as he looked back at them.

"Oh boy, so we have to snap her out of it!" Toon Link exclaimed as the trio got ready to fight.

Blizzeta began to bounce around the room with the ice mass she was encased into, and Link already had the idea to swing the Ball and Chain at it, shattering the ice a little to make it slightly smaller. With that, Link began to constantly slam the ball at Blizzeta to shatter more and more ice out, and then Toon Link joined him by swinging his Skull Hammer at Blizzeta strong enough to send her to the wall to shatter some more ice as Midna did the same by punching her with her hair.

As a result, the ice mass was getting progressively smaller, and once it was small enough, Link did one final strike and sent Blizzeta straight to the far wall, where her icy shell broke apart completely.

However, Blizzeta rose up into the air and shrieked again, this time creating icy ornate shards around her before creating an icy palanquin for her to reside in. The second phase had just begun.

Blizzeta and the shards were floating around the room as the trio took watch of those, and then their eyes widened as they saw that she was about to send the shards down at them so they quickly ran out of the way as the shards crashed down one by one to the floor.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Blizzeta yelled and attempted to land herself down to crush them, but they moved out of the way in time.

"Alright, time to break her dome!" Link exclaimed and swung his ball and chain right at Blizzeta's palanquin to shatter it, and then Midna proceeded to punch it straight to a wall to shatter more of it.

Blizzeta screeched in rage before levitating from the ground again while summoning more ornate shards, and like last time made them crash to the floor to crush the trio, but they avoided them, and when Blizzeta came down again, Link shattered more of the palanquin and then Midna readied her hair again.

"Game over for you, freak!" Midna smirked before punching Blizzeta away to send her straight to a wall.

Blizzeta let out a screech of agony as she shakes her head around erratically before slumping down to the ground. The entire ice around the room melted away, including the Mario cast's icy prison, and then the mirror shard suddenly materialized into the air.

"Whew… We did it…" Toon Link sighed in relief before looking back at the unfrozen Mario cast. "Are you guys okay?"

"S-s-s-so c-c-cold…" Luigi stuttered as he and the rest of the Mario cast were shivering violently.

Link walked over to them while taking out the bottles of soup. "Here. These should warm you up." the Mario cast accepted the bottles and drank the soup, immediately feeling warmer again.

"Ah, much better!" Mario exclaimed, and then looked up at the mirror shard floating in the air. "Hey, is that the mirror shard?"

"Yes, it is." Midna replied while using her hair to take the shard. "Well, we have two mirror shards now… Two more left, everyone." she then looked back at the unconscious Blizzeta, who was back to being Yeta again. "Still… I feel bad about the way we treated that girl. To think the Mirror of Twilight has the power to change people like that…"

"You tell me…" Luigi threw in as Midna puts the shard away.

"This world…ALL worlds…can be cruel…" she lamented while clenching her fists. "Let's hurry up and collect the rest of those pieces, everyone! We have to, before more innocent creatures have to endure the suffering this poor girl did…" she creates a portal on the floor.

Everyone nodded and proceeded to head to the portal, when suddenly, a door slam came from behind them as they looked back to see Yeto standing in front of the door. Seeing Yeta lying unconscious on the floor, Yeto let out a panicked scream and rushed up to her… while also knocking the heroes aside.

"Uh… Uh… What… What wrong with me?" Yeta groaned as she finally opened her eyes.

Yeto lifted her up by her back. "Very strange… You just dreaming, uh."

"Yeto! Mirror you gave…" Yeta looked at the place where the mirror was previously hung, only to obviously find nothing there.

Yeto shakes his head and smiles down at her. "Forget mirror, Yeta… No. Look into eyes of Yeto… Look in reflection of Yeto's eyes. There true beauty!" Yeta smiled at him before he picked her up and cradled her in his hands. "Who need mirror?"

"My love, uh!" Yeta smiled and then Yeto hugged her warmly, as the group watched this heartwarming moment with soft smiles. Yes, even Midna.

"Love you, uh…" Yeto whispered.

"Uh, love you, too…" Yeta replied.

"Ah… Isn't that just sweet?" Peach smiled. "Come on, let's leave those two be."

Everyone else nodded in agreement before leaving the place through the portal, leaving the yeti couple alone as they were busy sharing their happy moment together.

To be continued…

If only the Din's Fire spell was in Twilight Princess... I guess that would've made the Snowpeak Ruins dungeon much easier as Mario demonstrated it here! Also, Blizzeta's nightmarish face she sported before she yelled that 'not take mirror' line scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it...

You might not have noticed it at first, but there's a small foreshadowing in one of Toon Link's dialogues (specifically at the part where he mentions about Mario at least not being insane when using his new fire powers) about something that'll happen (with Daisy ironically dismissing it) in a certain future story, and like I mentioned in the previous chapter, I tend to do a lot of foreshadowing so expect more of these coming in the next chapters.

Next up, we'll actually be jumping straight to the next dungeon, the Temple of Time! Until then!