Chapter 30, conquer yourself.

Water temple

The Water temple was quiet, deadly quiet, it was completely silent.

The Water temple was made up of four floors, the walls was made of smooth grey stone, several of which had decorative symbols carved onto them, there was several passageways leading to other parts of the temple, the lower floors was completely submerged in water while the upper floors was bone dry.

"Wow, this place looks kind of nice" said Navi, "Yes, this temple was built long ago so that we Zoras could worship the water spirits" explained Ruto.

"So where should we start looking" asked Link, "I'll search the levels under water, you two should stay here and search the upper levels" said Ruto, "And what will you do if you find anything" asked Link.

"Don't worry about me I have these" said Ruto as she showed her silver amulets which upon closer inspection was each embedded with sapphire, "These are the Zora scale amulets, they have been infused with powerful magic and will allow me to control the water" she said.

Ruto jumped into the water and swam down deeper into the temple, "I hope that your right Ruto, I don't want to lose another friend" thought Link.

Link and Navi began to explore the upper floors of the temple, they saw that there was a stone door at the end of the room and attempted to open it only to find that it was sealed shut, "It's locked" said Link in frustration, "Maybe we can find some way to open it somewhere else in the temple" suggested Navi.

The two journeyed down one of the passageways, along the way Link took notice of the carvings on the walls, the wall seemed to depict what appeared to be a type of dragon, Link couldn't help but feel unnerved by this, he really didn't want to battle another dragon.

As Link and Navi continued to search the temple the passageway twisted and turned and split off into multiple directions, despite the two's best efforts they soon found themselves becoming lost.

"Maybe it's this way" suggested Link as he pointed in one direction, "No, we already tried that way" said Navi, "Then how do we get back" asked a frustrated Link, "I don't know" said a stressed out Navi.

"Who decided to make this place so needlessly complicated" moaned Navi, the two journeyed down another passageway with no idea if it was the right one, "I wish I could meet whoever designed this temple and give him a piece of my mind" thought the little fairy.

After some time Link and Navi finally returned to the temple's main room, Ruto was already there waiting of them and she looked very frustrated, "I guess that you didn't find anything either" said Link, Ruto huffed "This entire place is a maze, I've never seen anything so frustrating" she said sounding as if she wanted to punch something.

"Hey guys, wasn't that door closed before" said Navi, Link and Ruto both turned to see that the door at the end of the room was now open.

"That's unusual" said Link, "More like suspicious, this is clearly a trap" said Ruto, "So what should we do" asked Link, "Unfortunately we don't have anywhere else to go, just stay on guard" said Ruto.

Link walked through the door first only for it to immediately shut and seal behind him, "Ruto, Ruto are you there, are you OK" shouted Link as he banged on the door, however he couldn't hear a thing from the other side.

"It's no use, she can't hear you" said a voice, "Who said that" said Link as he drew his sword, Link was standing in a large room that was almost completely empty, the only things that was in this room was a thin layer of water on the ground and a dead tree in the centre of the room.

"Link look up there" said Navi, Link looked up and saw that there was somebody standing at the top the the dead tree, this person appeared to be a dark shadowy version of Link with blood red eyes.

Dark Link jumped from the tree and landed gracefully onto his feet, "What, who are you" asked a very confused Link, "I am you" said Dark Link in a voice that held almost no emotion, "Or more accurately, I am an improved version of you" said Dark Link as he took a step forward.

"Now surrender the Triforce of courage to me" he said, "Never" said Link with courage, a sinister smile formed on Dark Link's face "Fine, I'll just take it from your corpse" he said as he moved closer.

Dark Link drew his sword which was a dark duplicate of the Master sword and charged, Link only just managed to bring his shield up in time to block.

Dark Link took several more slashers at Link all of which was blocked, Link took a big swing with his sword however Dark Link backflipped out of the way, "Impressive, you really are my template, but Lord Ganondorf made sure that I was superior" said Dark Link.

This time Link went on the attack, he took several slashers at his doppelganger, however Dark Link dodged every strike he didn't even bother to use his shield he moved faster than what was natural.

Link attempted a stab, but much to his surprise Dark Link jumped onto his blade with a cocky smile, before Link could even realise what had happened he found himself being kicked in the face and knocked to the ground.

Dark Link brought his sword down to stab Link through the heart, luckily Link rolled out of the way just in time, Link in a move of desperation pulled the Kokiri sword out of his boot and throw it at his opponent.

This attack caught Dark Link off guard and he failed to move out of the way in time receiving a gash on his right cheek, "You pest, you'll pay dearly for that" he said as his eyes glowed bright red.

Suddenly Dark Link disappeared into the water, "What, where did he go" said a confused Link, "Watch out" shouted Navi who had caught a glimpse of the doppelganger in the water below, Dark Link burst out of the water and took a swing at Link who was only just able to dodge in time.

Dark Link moved inhumanly fast and began to strike with repeated attacks, Link did his best to block the attacks but soon he began to take little hits here and there.

Link was being forced back, he was bleeding from a cut to his left arm, left leg and just above his right eye.

Soon Link's back hit the tree in the centre off the room, this was clearly what Dark Link had been waiting for as he plunged his sword deeply into Link's left shoulder pining him to the tree.

Link screamed out in pain, his shoulder was in agony and he could barely feel his left arm, "Give me the Triforce" said Dark Link as he twisted his sword furtherer into Link's shoulder, Link could feel the power of the Triforce of courage begin to leave him.

Link's grip on the Master sword loosened and the sword fell from his hand, then Link caught the sword with his right hand and slashed at Dark Link cleaving the duplicate in two at the waist.

An expression of pure shock and horror came to Dark Link's face as his two halves fell to the ground, "Master Ganondorf, I've fail you" said the doppelganger as he dissolved into black smoke and faded away.

Link pulled the sword out of his shoulder and collapsed to his knees, "Link are you alright" asked a concerned Navi, "No" panted Link as blood poured from his shoulder turning the water red.

Link retrieved the Kokiri sword and headed towards the exit, much to Link's relief the door opened, Link left the room hoping that Ruto was OK.