Come the morning, everyone was in twice the hysterics of the night before. Since she mentioned going to the Forest Temple, Dale was already on the case after bidding his parents and wife goodbye. He found himself being accompanied by Sheik on his gray stallion, the two of them shouting curt responses as they traveled southward. Arew and Aiden caught up via portaling and using Dusk.
"So where's this blasted temple anyway!?" Dale couldn't find any sign aside from the hoofprints Epona left behind.
"We're getting there, just be patient!" Sheik hissed.
"I can portal us there is you give me a rough idea of where it is," Arew volunteered. suggested.
Sheik did so, explaining that it was more or less in the heart of the forest. Arew focused and opened a portal, everyone riding through. They ended up close to the Forest Temple, but it was clear Linkette had left already, leaving a note saying the Forest Sage needed to collect the medallion.
"Aww c'mon!" Sheik and Dale said in near unison.
"Just go and get it...then we'll have to get to Death Mountain. It's tradition for the second temple to be of the fire element." Sheik gave Dale an offhanded wave.
"On it," Dale was at least pleased Wassa could enter and ride through no problem thanks to his friend's effort to do the fights and solve the puzzles. When he reached what was the boss room he found a medallion that looked like it was made from shiny green metal floating in the center. He dismounted his faithful steed and approached it, barely getting a chance to poke it before getting enveloped into a bright green aura. He was taken to the Sacred Realm where he gained forest based armor and a Halberd with a leafy vine design etched onto the handle and on the blade. "Whoa!" He looked over his new gear and gave the new weapon a swing, finding it could channel his fire power (unlike the old one) and could move chunks of earth if he swung from the bottom up. He'd be giddier if his friend wasn't in danger and her (supposed) abortion, he'd have to show off later. He quickly got back on Wassa and rode out.
"Arew, if you would?" Sheik requested on hearing the oncoming footsteps echo in the temple.
"On it," Arew opened a portal for the group to ride through.
"This part will have to be on foot, the Fire Temple's in Death Mountain," Sheik clarified as he dismounted his steed.
"I opened the portal to Kakariko stables to please the horses," Arew stated.
"...Fair enough." Sheik got back on and led the way through.
They arrived and saw Epona being led to the stables by a stablehand, causing hope that they'd caught up to Linkette. Dale was quick to ride over and inquire, looking and sounding more like a seasoned knight than he had before his transformation.
"This girl was found riderless just outside of town. We were getting ready to send out a search party to look for her rider. She kept trying to lead us back towards the road to the Forest but we didn't have enough men to go look."
"But...she left there?" Dale looked to the smarter members of the group.
"Something must have happened between her leaving the Temple and making it here," Arew looked panicked. "If she was weak from what happened she could have fainted and fallen off or any number of things. Monsters are appearing at night now, we need to go look for her."
And Sheik was gone the moment Arew stopped talking.
"Hey, wait up!" Dale apologized to Wassa as he pushed her harder than normal to catch up.
Arew and Aiden were once again left in the dust, but rushed to hurry up after them, everyone looking for any signs of the rider, it being spread around that the missing rider was the Prince's fiance, leading to loads of extra help and lanterns. Down the road a bit showed signs of a struggle having happened, a torn piece of Linkette's riding outfit being seen, along with marks of dark magic blasts.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Damia stepped out of the shadows to greet the group. "You even brought my little brother. How nice."
"Give Linkette back!" Dale pointed his new halberd at her.
Why does he think that would work? Sheik just dismounted and worked on trying to sneak attack while hoping she'd pay more attention to the loud ginger man.
Damia managed to avoid the sneak attack, "I don't have her. Ganon does. I suggest you just give up. She won't live the night with the fever she was running."
That got Dale mad, which ended up in him throwing chunks of the ground at her followed by arcs of fire following it.
"Stupid man," Sheik said under his breath as he knew this would either get thrown back at him and his horse would now end up being in the line of fire or it'd severely injure Damia and only encourage her to use more dark magic against the group.
Damia started fighting back, holding no mercy towards them, fighting with all her strength. She tried not to be startled when Arew portaled right next to her and pinned her, starting to cast a spell to remove Ganon's control. She struggled against him as hard as she could. Soon Arew's spell succeeded and Damia returned to her normal appearance, fainting.
Come on, faster! Sheik encouraged as he worked on trying to purify some dark magic that hit him before anyone noticed.
"You okay, Sheik?"Arew questioned as he scooped up his sister.
"Yeah, just need a minute," Sheik wasn't lying, he would be as long as he had no further disturbances.
"Okay. I'm leaving Damia here so that I can go fetch Lady Linkette. I know where Ganon hides," Arew stated, laying his sister down.
"Don't die on us, you're the ace up our sleeves," Sheik figured fighting him on it wouldn't go over well after everything that just happened.
"I won't. See you soon~" Arew was off, arriving twenty minutes later with Linkette in his arms, the young warrior flushed with fever, as Damia said.
Both warriors cursed under their breath as they rushed over and collected her. Dale figured she needed to see a doctor and was about to head home to do that when Sheik took Linkette and begged Arew to take the two of them to Hyrule Castle. Arew nodded, opening yet another portal for Sheik and Linkette to go through, telling them to hurry. He passed out as Sheik and Linkette made it through the portal.
Sheik held her close as he turned back into Zelo, glad Arew had the sense to bring him someplace private. He quickly searched for his doctor while ignoring everyone's concerned exclamations. The physician was found and was quick to give the lady a fever remedy, asking about what happened to her as he led the way to a bed to rest her on.
Prince Zelo explained what he could piece together from everything that he observed.
"She probably overdid it, I can sense the energy potion in her system. It's safe for pregnant women but abusing it wears out the body quickly."
"Is there anything that can counteract the burnout?" Zelo inquired with a shaky voice.
"Rest. Keep guards on her if you have to. She must stay in bed, or she will actually lose the babes. I still can feel the life forces."
"...P-Pardon, was that plural?"
"Twins. I couldn't detect it last night but I can today with my spells,"
Zelo took a moment to pardon himself to process this new information, internally screaming the whole time as he did so. On his return he just looked more worried. "How in Farore's name did we end up with twins?"
"Luck, your highness? At least it'll help the Royal Bloodline a bit."
"Not the point, doctor…" Zelo barely managed to hide his irritation at that line. "Keep her here, I will send for my best guards to help you in doing such. I will take the liberty of including some senior Sheikah clan members as well, even Linkette cannot outwit the likes of them."
"Let's hope she doesn't try and use the Master Sword to force her way out...speaking of…" The doctor realized the legendary weapon was missing.
"Oh no," Zelo let out a sharp gasp. That means the only thing that can defeat Ganon is…! The only saving grace is that a man like him cannot touch it without consequences, but I doubt he will stand for such a thing. "I need to do something, but send word the moment she awakens." With a dramatic cape twirl he left for the secret study that belongs to his family. Once there he sat on a mat in the middle of a platform and sat in a meditative stance. He closed his eyes and chanted something old as he tried to reach to the sleeping spirit within the sword to find her. By some luck the sword was in Epona's larger saddle bag, apparently Linkette having stored it when she was too weak to keep carrying it. He thanked the goddesses for that stroke of luck and sent his fastest knights to reclaim Epona and to make sure she knew she was being brought to Linkette, as he knew their bond was deep. A servant rushed over to Zelo, informing him that Linkette was waking up now.
Linkette groaned as she came to, quickly recognizing the infirmary and cursing her luck. Her head was pounding a bit from the fever, but she gathered her strength to sit up.
"Stay there, Lady Linkette, you need rest now. Your ruse failed," The physician was blunt.
Linkette sighed, and upon seeing some guards, obeyed, staying in bed.
Zelo showed himself shortly after being alerted of the matter, using his magic to get there faster without looking like a winded wreck. He took a moment to compose himself before speaking. "Please...just stay this time."
Linkette just waved her hands at the guards, clearing saying 'Do I have a choice?'
"Thank you," he sighed in relief, "I promise you will be well taken care of until you are given a clean bill of health."
"Which at this point is after you have your children in eight to nine months," The physician was blunt.
Linkette sighed in annoyance, wondering what in Hyrule the Goddesses were thinking.
I really hope something happens that keeps Ganon from furthering his goals for that long… Zelo gulped a bit.
"I'm sorry, milady, but we can't risk having anything happen to the babes. Clearly you don't have their best interest in mind, given your insistence on questing, so I have to insist on you staying under close watch."
Linkette just sighed silently in frustration. It was clear what she thought her proper duty was.
"Please, Linkette…" Zelo tried not to sound as beggy as he felt.
She looked around for paper, and once she was handed some, wrote out that she didn't want him to die fighting her battles.
"I assure you, I am rather hard to eliminate," Zelo had a montage flashback of all the attempts on his life thanks to the rogue faction of Sheikah, the Yiga, and their many, many thwarted attempts on his life as he got older and understood how to use his magic more effectively.
'My vision saw you dying though.'
"Maybe it was…" Zelo didn't want to go against something from the goddesses, but it also seemed very unlikely they'd let the champion of Nayru/a descendent of their sister fall in battle.
'I saw the funeral. It's why I had such a strong urge to...you know. So there would be the next generation.'
"F...Funeral…" Zelo was starting to look pale, which is a feat given that he's already fair.
'Yes. That is why we must hurry and I need to be able to help.'
Zelo sighed and rubbed at his face a little bit, which earned him a glare from his physician and it got him to stop. "Linkette, you...shot an arrow in your own foot with this plan. You heard my doctor, if you do anything extremely stressful you will lose our children. Even with the speciality potion from Zora's Domain, you cannot chug it back like some drunkard for an extended period. I do not know what the goddesses' plan was, but it seems Nayru's input was lacking in its creation. Forgive me, but you are under house arrest - no exceptions, no begging, no excuses. Dream or not, Ganon's likely to take advantage of your current situation and attack - we cannot wait for that to happen. The other Sages need awakening and he must be confronted before his own power grows!" He made a hand motion and some Sheikah clan members showed themselves. "They will be sure to keep you here...goodbye, milady." And then he left, teleporting once he was out of view.
Linkette just sulked in the bed, eyeing the guards in annoyance. She knew it was all her own doing. She just curled up to sleep more, mentally cursing them all out.
Meanwhile, Arew, Damia, and Dale were working their way through the Shadow Temple while Ravia helped Nelis through the Water Temple, along with Beau.
"So, uh...wh-why didn't we go t' th' fire one like Sheik said was gonna happen again?" Dale didn't like the aura the Shadow Temple gave off, it was giving him some serious heebie jeebies.
"Because it was on the way and I'm probably leaving after this," Arew answered, "so best us two go through this temple together."
"R-Right...at least it's better than th' Water Temple, I guess. I don't like th' idea'a bein' deep underwater. It just don't seem right."
"I almost think I'd rather prefer that than this," Aiden jumped as something startled her.
Dale was quick to eliminate the scare, "Just stay close darlin'."
Aiden nodded, though soon got so tired of the jump scares that she attacked with large amounts of fire, burning a good chunk of the enemies. She was so distracted burning things she didn't realize something was dropping down to get her.
"Aiden!" Dale pushed her out of the way and ended up getting the attack instead. While he was kind of fine thanks to his armor, now he had to work on getting free. Arew and Damia helped out with their own weapons, the giant hand releasing Dale.
"You okay?" Aiden ran to greet him, only for the hand to come back and carry her off kicking and screaming and saying words no one would have guessed would come from her mouth.
"AIDEN!" Dale was on his feet and sprinting like a madman after the disembodied hand.
The siblings followed, soon the group getting into the boss chamber, where Aiden was dropped, now unconscious. There were two, much larger disembodied hands drumming on the ground near her, ready for a fight.
"Ya wanna fight, I'll give ya one!" Dale charged forward and started stabbing wildly at the hands, being sure to throw in some fire for good measure. The twins helped, using their dark magic to help reveal the actual body. Between the three of them he soon met his fate, the Shadow Medallion making its appearance and floating over to Damia, transporting her to the Sacred Realm to gain her armor and weapon. The group as a whole was teleported outside the temple, and Damia made her reappearance, wearing some black, semi feminine leather armor and wielding a new sword, hair loose from it's braid now.
Dale gave an impressed whistle, "So what's yer new weapon do?"
She gave it a wave, releasing a dark gas, which explained her mouth covering. Everyone jumped away so that they could not be a test subject. She also focused and was able to use it to open a portal that let her travel short distances.
"Cool!" Dale clapped, "Now we just gotta face th' next temple, uh...where's it at?"
"The top of Death Mountain, but we need to wait for Aiden to be better," Damia stated, looking over her fellow sage. "I'm fairly certain her ribs are broken."
Aiden was still unconscious, discomfort seen on her face.
"Oh no…" Dale kneeled beside her and tried to figure out how to move her, "if we have Beau, he'd at least be able t' do somethin' a'fore she woke up…"
"We should get her to the doctor. He should have healing potions," Arew stated, "we'll head up the mountain tomorrow when she recovers."
He nodded, "But how're we gonna move her if her ribs're broken?"
"Just carry her. Surely you can manage it," Damia stated.
He nodded and gently cradled his wife in his arms while he waited for the portal to the doctor's. Arew opened one and they walked through it, arriving outside the doctor's house. They were allowed entry and soon Aiden was awoken enough to drink the healing potion, instantly feeling better.
Dale gave her a hug once she was given a clean bill of health. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop that hand th' second time…"
"It's okay. That hand was rather sneaky," Aiden gave him a smile, "I'm fine now. Now let's go rest at the inn so we can be ready for tomorrow and go up to the fire temple."
"Off we go," Arew went to lead the way. Dale picked up his wife and carried her there, the gesture being half doting and half worry.
They made it to the inn and got two sets of rooms so that the married couple could have their privacy. Dale cuddled her after stripping down to his tunic and trousers. Aiden cuddled back, having changed into her nightgown, feeling much better.
"At least we got ya patched up right quick...I dunno what I'd do if ya got hurt like that again."
"I'll try not to," Aiden promised, "Now let's kiss and such to celebrate my recovery~"
He nodded and kissed her forehead, "Good."
Aiden switched to actually kissing on her husband, willing to do her wifely duties. Dale held her close as he kissed her back and kneaded her a bit. Aiden soon started working on removing their clothes, nipping playfully at his neck once she got his tunic off. He gave her a flirty growl as he pinned her and returned the favor on her collarbone. Aiden let him pin her, moaning in pleasure and getting more turned on. Dale had somehow ended up being the one stripped down first and took full advantage as he teased his wife. Aiden soon found herself pleading for the teasing to end and for him to bed her. Dale discarded her dress and kissed her as he entered. Aiden rocked up against him, helping him get a good angle as she began moaning his name, along with words of encouragement. Dale caught on quickly on what she wanted where and thrusted into a good rhythm to make her scream. Scream in pleasure she did, soon climaxing, holding him close. He joined her soon after, cuddling her until he drifted into sleep. The next morning had the group heading out to the temple, Arew helping them cheat via using a portal to get up there.