A Moment's Respite
"Linkle!" She heard Aryll's voice again, and didn't realize how relieved she was until she gazed over Aryll's shoulders at the huge hole in the floor. That could have been terrible, Heart or no, swimming through something like dirt didn't seem possible. The Great Fairy and Rutilah looked pretty shaken up, too.
"I'm okay, Aryll." She murmured softly, not shaking from the cold, but she was glad it gave her an excuse for the quiver in her voice, "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"What happened down there, anyway?" Aryll stared up at her, but she didn't pull away. Linkle didn't think that she was shaking from the cold, either, "I thought the whole temple was about to come down!"
"I thought so, too. I think it still might, the Great Deku Tree had a tree hidden in the wall and it almost fell on me. He's deeply corrupted now." Linkle knew he was likely still resisting to some degree, the guardian gods and even the Great Fairy seemed to be able to handle a greater burden than humans, but they couldn't depend too heavily on his abilities.
"I know, we heard." Aryll took a step back and took a deep breath, "The root from before belonged to the tree he ambushed you with, huh?"
Linkle nodded slowly and turned to the Great Fairy, "How quickly could he have made the tree?"
"A day, a day and a half, he's probably been planning this for a while. I guess this is why Princess Hilda needed me here." The Great Fairy could only imagine the destruction the Great Deku Tree could cause if he used the trees of the Kokiri Forest like arrows or javelins, or simply felled them.
"I wonder when Ganondorf cursed him, how long it took for things to get this bad for him." Linkle heaved a weary sigh as she turned back to the fountain and studied it. She could sense light welling up from within its surface now.
It was funny how similar to the other fountains that this one felt to her now, how she could remember the way it felt to stand before them, though she could only now sensed the great powers of light harbored within them. She knew now that her powers of detection were beyond what she possessed in the Water Temple, surely her wish for a strong spirit was closer to realization with every step.
Linkle turned back to the Great Fairy, who she sensed now walked up beside her. She obviously still felt the pain in her side, leaning forward and to that side, hand over the bloody fabric. She looked more weary now than Linkle could imagine ever feeling, but still bore a smile as she saw her fountain return to its former glory. The Great Fairy of Courage turned to Linkle, then back to the fountain. She seemed not to have the words to express what was on her mind, so Linkle spoke instead.
"You look a lot better now." The Great Fairy smirked, surely both knew that that wasn't saying much, given how she looked reflected how she felt, and it wasn't hard to feel better now than she did earlier today, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I'll survive. It's a new beginning, fitting, in this land of eternal spring. I have each of you to thank for this. I just wish...ah, I just wish, I guess. There's so much to wish for, if things could have been different...but that it could have been a different in worse ways, I suppose." The Great Fairy of Courage fell silent as she stared at steadily clearing water. If she could have a wish, what would it be?
Perhaps the ability to forget would be best, because a wish to end the darkness forever would surely be futile. She wondered what the Hero might ask for—and then realized she had the opportunity to ask, "Speaking of wishes, the Hero is said to be worthy of bearing the token of the heavenly virtues that make up our world and blessings that come with it. What would you have the Triforce grant you?"
"I...don't know, Ganondorf's already made a wish, but if I could ask for anything...huh." Linkle fell silent for a few moments, wondered what she wanted badly enough to wish on the Triforce, but nothing came to mind, "I feel like it'd be wasted on me, unless I could've gotten it before Ganondorf."
"It is a very momentous thing. When I was a newly formed fairy, barely a speck of light drifting about in a windless cave, my predecessor told me and many others that her predecessor told her to pass on her knowledge of the Triforce. The only limit of the Triforce's ability is the spirit." The Great Fairy saw the concern this knowledge inspired in Linkle, surely she was aware of what less than respectable folks might do with that kind of power at their fingertips, "Maybe you should wish for a cake?"
"Heh, I thought it was a momentous thing?" Linkle set aside her unease for now. It wasn't as if she could take back Ganondorf's wish, but she could stop him, eventually. She had to, somehow, "I'd wish for a carrot cake, no doubt about it!"
"Carrot, says the girl her favors the red velvet above all else." Aryll folded her arms and flashed a broad, knowing grin, "The cake isn't for you, is it? Well, I guess as long as you wish it."
"No, I assure you, the carrot cake is definitely for me!" Linkle replied with a rather preoccupied smile, her mind elsewhere, on a rising, verdant hill, under a great oak's shade. After a few moments, her sister's chuckle brought her back to the present, "No cake could be closer to my heart. Mm, maybe I should wish to be able to live without sleep, rather than make a one time wish."
Aryll was more amused now than even a few seconds ago, for different reasons than Linkle could've guessed at the time. Rutilah also enjoyed a chuckle from Linkle's claims, if she was saying what the Zora thought she was saying.
"What a serious discussion about cake!" The Great Fairy chimed in, enjoying the more playful mood that displaced the previous, somber one, "Speaking of cake, I don't imagine any of you have had a chance to eat yet. Fortunately, the Great Deku Tree can't open a Fairy Gate. I may need to get closer to it, but the water seems clear enough to dive to the bottom."
The Great Fairy of Courage wasted no time stepping into the fountain once she could sense no more darkness. As Linkle didn't offer a second opinion, she dove under the water, a green blur shrinking under the surface.
While the Great Fairy hunted down refreshments for her guests and heroes, Aryll turned to her sister, her mind on the near future, "So, Volga doesn't want us to fight together, right? I could try to knock him off balance with a burst of air if he tries to fly away from us. Rushing him wouldn't be very dignified, but we can stop him before he hurts someone else."
"There's a risk if he manages to slip away, though, he might not want to fight Linkle anymore." Rutilah pointed out, not at all opposed to teaming up to take down Volga, aside from the consequences if they failed to kill him. As hard to admit as it was, there was no telling if they could all take Volga on if he were only half as strong, dragons had been all but forgotten, except for in fairy tales.
"If nothing else, I might be strong enough now to distract him until Sharia's safe." Linkle fell silent as she pondered on the second confrontation between herself Volga. She surely would have been crushed back on Death Mountain, if not for the Seeker. Now, without it, she would have only herself to rely on, unless Rutilah and Aryll could help her stop him quickly, "I don't know if I should face him head on after that or try something clever."
"Do you have a specific clever something in mind?" Aryll inquired, hopeful there was some way that Linkle could avoid risking her life if she could barely stand against the dragon.
"If it comes to it, you and Rutilah could join in the fight, once Sharia's with the Great Fairy. The other Kokiri will also need to be protected first." Linkle couldn't stress enough that enough, she didn't trust Volga to leave the innocent out of the picture, not after what he could have done through Death Mountain's eruption, "I think I'll need to distract Volga on my own for a little while. When you're back, I'll know whether or not I can give him the battle he wanted when he left me on Death Mountain."
"It's probably a good idea to secure the other kids first." Aryll observed, though concerned that Linkle would have no help available during that time, she had to have faith that she could hold out for that long, "I just have to wonder if he'd even stick around if you were strong enough to defeat him."
"He probably just thinks I'll just be a challenging opponent to kill." Linkle replied, fairly certain he wasn't one to find a good sparring partner or try to find someone worthy of ending him. That would have made this matter a lot simpler, he could have waited for foes to come forth. No, Linkle knew that she was just a challenge he wanted to overcome, a more interesting kill to celebrate. She also knew it couldn't be allowed to come to pass, "I have more ways to attack him, now, though, not just regular bolts or fire spells."
"Just in case you need the help, you should hold onto the Sapphires a while longer." Rutilah suggested, hopeful that Linkle could draw on her power if she had to.
"I was thinking the same thing, I don't know that I can fight him on my own, much less if I could fight him for a long time. I'll keep it out of sight at first, though, and use it as a last resort," Linkle said, hesitant to continue wearing the amulet for now, lest she forget to later, but it seemed better to have it now in case she needed it, "not sure Volga will appreciate that I have your assistance. I don't want him to decide that I'm not worth the trouble or try to get back at me by going on a rampage."
Whether or not Volga was petty enough, if he was going to erupt Death Mountain and tried to burn down the Kokiri Forest, then it wasn't like he was opposed to killing. The only question, really, was why he hadn't killed any of the Kokiri directly or why he seemingly left the Zoras and Hylians alone, apart from having sustained one curse that would have destroyed Castle Town and Kakariko as a favor to Ganondorf. Maybe the direct approach was just too easy for him, maybe he would rather rule the world than destroy it, or maybe he was more under Ganondorf's command than he wanted to admit.
There was little time to ponder the dragon's motives, as the Great Fairy soon returned with a few plates for the heroes. An assortment of nuts, berries, and fruit wasn't very surprising, when Linkle thought about it. It was likely that the Great Deku Tree could encourage specific plants to grow, so up until recently, there could have been food growing all around the temple.
What did surprise her, however, was the presence of a well-known amber liquid. Really, though, there was only one way to know what it was. She took out her fork and ran the tines through the syrupy substance, then brought it up to her mouth. As Linkle had suspected, it was honey! She wished she had some bread or something, and then—as if by magic—Rutilah's hand appeared in front of her with a piece of bread.
"I was just thinking bread would be good with this!" Linkle turned to Rutilah with a grateful smile as she accepted the bread.
"Careful, it's hardtack." Rutilah explained, as Linkle took her advice and dipped her hand into an orb of water that the Zora princess provided her, "The crust is a bit tough, so you might want to soften in the water first."
Linkle nodded slowly, at first confused, as Aryll once told her that hardtack was meant to be used as a ration, but then she remembered that Aryll probably wasn't going to need emergency food. One fact that hadn't been brought to light for her was how bland hardtack was. She saw Aryll leaning past Rutilah to look at her, a mysterious, almost confused expression on her face. She was probably wondering how the Great Fairy got the honey from the monster bees.
"Uh, Linkle, Rutilah, that bread's not gonna taste good on its own." Aryll tried to warn, but Linkle gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's alright, there's not much honey, I want to make it go further." Linkle explained, thinking she'd taste the berries, fruit, honey, and nuts in different variation, as she was wont to do.
"I've had some Hylian bread before, it's not that bad." Rutilah remarked, under the same impression that Linkle was under: It was only bread, so how bad could it be?
Linkle took a bite of the softened bread, then she nearly dropped it when the taste hit her. She knew then what Aryll had meant. She wouldn't be able to finish with a lot of honey on a piece of bread like she wanted to, but she wasn't about to repeat her mistake. She looked up at Rutilah, who was now popping a few berries into her mouth to try to distract her palate from the hardtack.
"I...may have put it too lightly." Aryll gave them an apologetic smile as she dabbed the bread in some honey.
"Oh, you think you 'may have', huh?" Linkle chuckled as Aryll put that lightly. She was still trying to figure out what kind of taste that bread had. It was terrible, but her curiosity demanded to know how it tasted terrible.
"I know, understatement of the year." Aryll grinned sheepishly and glanced between Linkle and Rutilah, "Uh, I'd offer to break out the other one if this three ways isn't enough, but you'd probably have to be pretty desperate to ask for more. That and the hard shell is what makes it a good ration."
"Here I thought you only brought it out now because it needs to be softened first." Rutilah sighed as she took another bite, this time with plenty of honey on it, "It was really just for our own good that you didn't share it before now."
"Sorry...um, on the plus side, it's also really filling. Hehe, you know, we never had to use this stuff before, but once I got curious, so Rustle let me have some." Aryll smiled at the memory, but winced as she recalled the unexpected, awful flavor, "He, uh, didn't warn me until I had a piece, and he couldn't warn me fast enough. He had bought some really nice chocolate the last port we reached, though, so I couldn't stay mad for long."
"Then you can buy us some really nice chocolate when we're in town!" Linkle suggested, Rutilah grinned when she heard the Hero's plan and nodded firmly, "Since this is apparently a tradition."
"Well, I did manage to get something of a warning in...but I guess I should make up to you for that incredible understatement." Aryll had to admit, she was looking forward to it. As she remembered, Rustle said the box of chocolate cost twenty rupees. It lasted for a little while, but she thought Rustle might have let her have one every other day, and it was hers alone. This one would be split and there was no telling if they'd want one every day or not. As they seemed to be following some accidental tradition, it only seemed fair that she'd hold onto it, as Rustle had before.
After their meal, Linkle washed her fork in the restored Great Fairy's Fountain, then the trio turned to leave. The Great Fairy wanted to follow them, but maintaining the fountain seemed a more pressing issue. It also wasn't as if she could follow them for the rest of their journey, it was for the best if they could destroy the curse on their own. If it came down to it, she could provide some support, but she didn't have a lot of energy to expend now.
Satisfied with their snack, the trio was ready now to venture onward. Before they even left the Great Fairy's Fountain's chamber, Linkle noticed something in the faint light that emanated from the fountain behind them. She walked towards the hole in the floor and made her way around it. A round outline broke the otherwise flat and featureless half of the room across from the fountain, but she didn't think she'd noticed that about it before, just that there seemed to be something present.
The shape had been familiar before, but now she was sure, as she gazed down at the eerie statue, one eye etched upon its surface. She'd seen a few by now, but this one seemed different—or maybe it was just that she was stronger now than before. She lay a hand atop the statue and gazed at the eye, "If you can hear me, little fairy, I ask for your guidance. Tell me, what do you see? Can you see Kakariko Village?"
As before, the voice was in her head, but the gaze seemed to peer into the depths of her heart, "My eye beholds a cursed being, severed from the self, heart torn from heart and discarded. A legend long forgotten, a spirit banished from a bygone era. Those whose meet its gaze will be petrified, no mere expression of the fear it inspires, but the terrible power to harden the Heart. Little else can I see, for the shadow I saw through before has been infected with malice and I had to cut myself off from it."
"I appreciate what you've told me, Fairy of the Stone" Linkle nodded slowly as she backed away, "I will clear the corruption from the world, wherever it can be found."
Aryll and Rutilah were not just a little concerned by the forlorn hero, a concern that the Zora promptly aired, "You look like you saw something horrible."
"The fairy spoke of a cursed spirit, that apparently split from itself." Linkle mulled over the fairy's words again and sighed, "I can't help but think about Mom and her ability to split part of her soul from herself. Hylia wouldn't have guided her out of this world if some of her remained behind, would she?"
"I don't think so." Aryll shook her head, though it wasn't something she thought of before, it didn't seem likely that Aya would've left a fragment of herself behind, anyway.
"Another thing is the spirit's power to freeze whoever meets its gaze." Linkle didn't know how they were going to get around that little detail, but she wondered if it was really so simple as "gaze upon its eyes and die", even if that seemed to be the case, "I wonder if this spirit is a poe...I mean, it has to be, right? It's so odd the fairy would specify that, maybe she's not used to the term 'poe', but maybe the spirit is stronger than a poe."
"No matter what it is, if we can't look at it, we can't fight it." Aryll pointed out, mulling over viable ways around looking. There were spells that could be set in place and activated by the presence of another source of magic, but she didn't train it much as she seldom fought on land. She didn't know if such techniques would work under water, either, which only left one thing, "Guess I'll have to sit this one out, I can't feel magic as finely as I need to for this."
"I'm not sure if I can, either." Linkle added, hesitant about what they could do from here, "That spirit has to stop...but I wonder, is it truly the gaze that kills? In any case, eye contact specifically is necessary to kill us, all we need is one of us to distract it, the other two can fight it."
"Maybe, if it's direct eye contact, then partial or obstructed eye contact will be fine." Rutilah added, "I have to wonder if ice walls will protect us."
"Maybe the Zora's Sapphires can apply the right laws to circumvent the consequences of looking it in the eye, like it circumvented the effects of the shaft." Linkle took a deep breath as she tried not to consider what would happen if they depended on an empty maybe, "A lot of maybes...I guess it'd be safer to just let one of us wear it and have someone else look through it, but...I don't know."
"We can't know, not for sure, not until we try something." Aryll observed, glancing between Rutilah and Linkle, "If this doesn't work, we're done no matter what happens."
"I guess we'll figure out what works when we get there, then." Rutilah really didn't want to rush in on uncertainties like that, but there was little else they could do.
When they reached the four doors, they found that the vines the Great Fairy called on before still wedged the doors between themselves and the top of their frames. They passed through the gates and continued on until they reached the large room which had but two other entrances, one opposite the other. Knowing that both held paths which led down and underneath, into a room below of the same shape and size, they decided to take the path Aryll had come from, and hope that if they ran into any bees, they'd have calmed down and forgotten about them already.
Unfortunately, they found that wasn't the case. They rolled the stone door at the end of the hallway aside, emerged into the room where they fled the Great Fairy and parted ways. The moment the door shut behind them, and angry buzz alerted them to the presence of a swarm of the monster bees.
"We're doing this again?" Linkle huffed, as she grasped her crossbows.
Aryll drew her blade and Rutilah created a few ice spears. When the swarm surrounded them, Aryll created a whirlwind to knock the bees around with and Linkle and Rutilah dispatched the bees from a distance.
When the last bee burned green before collapsing into a violet swirl and drifting into a faint, ephemeral light, Linkle extended her arm and closed her eyes a moment, then relaxed it once she found the nearest source of darkness, "There's more bees coming our way, somehow they know their friends found us."
"Maybe they can see through each other's eyes, like we can with our Sapphires." Rutilah remarked, a sudden pang in her chest when she wondered if they felt the same sorrow whenever one of theirs was killed, as she had felt that night when she witnessed Aryll's last naval battle.
"That's a sad thought." Linkle couldn't help but think back to the time when Ohirume spoke with to her of the sentience monsters seemed to possess. It was sad that it'd come to this, especially since Volga proved that monsters could talk and reason like humans, that they were—apart from their appearance—very human. The skulltula and these bees may have been the same way, but there was no way to know, as no other monster ever spoke, "They were so peaceful, too."
"Well, we can spare them from further harm if we get out of here before they arrive." Aryll pointed out as she followed Linkle and Rutilah towards one of the exits.
Rutilah had the same idea and sought out the entrances that the bees could use as she focused on the water in the air and condensed it. No later than Aryll spoke, the Zora cast out water to block the holes in the walls that she could see. The barriers in place, she focused on condensing more water and layering the ice walls, reinforcing them to make it difficult for the bees to melt the ice.
As soon as Linkle rolled the stone door aside, a long, slender stinger emerged from the floor and struck Linkle with a blast of darkness that did nothing more than engulf her mind with its despairing venom. The stinger raised and lowered, steadily moved backwards, wood splinters and stones rained down onto the monster and floor below, as sawed through the floor, leaving a great gash through reach to enter the corridor.
The queen gohma's eye was closed as it crawled into the room, pushed the stones in the walls and ceiling out of place with its massive body. This one-eyed arachnid seemed more like the ones from Hyrule Castle, save the stinger, yet it didn't seem like the one from earlier, the first she'd seen with a stinger attached to it. Perhaps the ones in Hyrule Castle lost their stingers somehow?
Linkle wasn't sure exactly what she should do, fight or flee, but the initial shock wore off, she hardened her resolve against the nightmares shown to her, and steadily shifted back. She cried out as the beast shot another blast of fearful mist at her, but she could recognize that the visions before her were not what was physically present, and knew how to retreat. She focused on the power of light, to prepare against the next attack, and wondered if there was any value in retreating now.
Just as she considered staying and fighting, she heard Aryll run up beside her, and decided that this was the perfect time for an ambush, "The floor's ruined, I'll call on you to stab its eye when it's poised to attack. Stay out of sight for now or it might be careful."
Aryll grimaced when she heard her older sibling's advice, she didn't want to use Linkle as bait, but she knew it was likely the only strategy they could apply against this particular monster. Unfortunately, Linkle could barely stand and Rutilah had to keep the door open. If she took Linkle's place, she'd have to rely on her own sense for magic, and Linkle seemed proficient enough to make the right call—or a better one than Aryll could.
Linkle was also genuinely hurt, the gohma might even prefer a target that it had already poisoned, so it might not take the bait if she just walked up to it. Besides, Linkle may not be able to trust her own vision as Aryll could in this moment, they both had one advantage that the other needed to slay the gohma, "If you're sure you can see clearly."
"I can still see, for now." Linkle nodded, but she wasn't completely sure. She just knew that there was no point in running if it'd just make a mess of the other hall. She knew that as soon as the beast turned to dust, the hall would collapse on itself. The terror before her enjoyed firing the venom onto her, which dulled her perception and led her to see more of the horrors which were not there. Dead friends and loved ones, inhuman faces and sounds, and a twisted, darkened version of herself. Linkle didn't know that so more venom cast greater fears onto her, but it didn't surprise her in the least.
Her head throbbed as her focus drifted, she held her face and stared through the gaps between her fingers as felt darkness draw nearer to her—she knew that what she felt with her soul was real. She couldn't see the eye, she knew she had to find it, but for now, she could guess about where the gohma was. Linkle took a deep breath as the sound of the legs scuttling across the floor slowed to a stop, an uneasy swell of aggression accompanied the silence, and she cried out, "Aryll!"
Before Linkle was done calling out for her, Aryll charged into the room, trusting her sister to see through the chaos that assailed her senses. Not only was the queen gohma's eye bright red, but the stinger had just fallen to Linkle. The stinger was terribly quick to strike, but with the power of wind, Aryll was faster. Her blade drove deep into the gohma's pupil, but that didn't stop the stinger. What did stop the stinger was a hard, thick—and now cracked—dome of ice over the shaky heroine.
"Sorry, it threw more poison at me." Linkle wheezed, pushing against the floor as she tried to keep herself upright, "In the end, I could only sense it."
Aryll let out an exhausted huff as she backed away from the crumpled, burning gohma and sheathed her blade. She quickly walked over to Linkle and pulled her upright, while Rutilah shielded them from the stones raining down on them, "Well, your sense for this sort of thing is pretty good. Just try not to cut it so close next time, that would've hurt."
"Heh, yeah, it could have." Linkle chuckled as she let Aryll drag her out of the collapsing room, focused on trying to purify the darkness latched onto her soul, "I'm sorry, I just need a minute."
"It's fine, we'll take care of the bees." Rutilah let the stone door roll shut and helped Aryll carry Linkle to the other end of the room. The drone of wings melting ice reached their ears before they were halfway to the other door, Rutilah carefully let go of Linkle and patted Aryll's shoulder, "Keep going, I'll try to slow them down."
Rutilah cast her spears at the bees as she jogged over to the door, so she didn't have to turn her head so much to make sure Aryll was safe from both sides of the room. Those few bees that got halfway between the holes in the wall ad Aryll, were met with ice spikes blooming underneath them. As Aryll drew nearer, Rutilah backed up to the wall diverted some of her attention to the construct a water dome against the wall, with just enough space open in the front for Aryll to pass through unimpeded.
The water she condensed now went directly the dome, from the dome, she launched more spears, and when Aryll was inside the dome, Rutilah closed it. Once closed, she turned the dome to ice, from the inside out, and began to condense water inside the door frame. The Zora rolled the stone door open from the inside while she kept the bees at bay and created several ice spears pointed towards the door, in case and bees awaited them on the other side. Once the door was opened, there was no need to attack the bees, she turned the rest of the dome to ice and led the retreat.
Rutilah waited until Aryll was clear of the door, and broke the ice holding the stone back, let it roll back down the slope. The bees had quickly swarmed the dome, but they had barely started defrosting it, "They'll surely come around, the walls they came from probably tunnel down into the room below."
"I'll be ready to fight with you guys when they break through, that stinger barely scratched me, it just shook me up really badly, left me open to be stomped like a bug." Linkle assured, still leaning on Aryll, but more steady than before, her steps more sure as Rutilah led the way, "Not that you'd need my help, you two were awesome!"
"Hehe, nice of you to say!" Aryll chimed as she followed Rutilah further through the room that once acted as the quarters for the Kokiri, "Well, morale boost aside, I think it's better if we don't try our luck with that, though you'd be rested for your fight with Volga."
Linkle nodded, but she also knew it wasn't a very sound strategy. They could only try, as a team, to get one thing done at a time.
A/Ns: When you know it's gonna be a back-to-back boss fight with no chance for saves or heals, and one of your party is confused. At least, that's the closest traditional effect to the nightmare potion, give you visual illusions. Can't tell what's real, what's not, you hit whatever looks like it'll kill you, seems like a fit to me.