Thank you for the lovely reviews and sorry for the wait. Now we finally have the chapter of Lakebed Temple! Enjoy ^.^
Chapter 9: Underwater Palace
Link wasted no time as he jumped inside the water. He emerged back up and waved at his companions to follow him. They all shared a look and nodded, and jumped right in. Kirara meowed at them as they went underwater. Kirara was going to be staying inside the Spirit's cave since she did not have a medallion and couldn't breathe underwater. Link then submerged and started swimming more deeply into the lake.
Kagome was still skeptical about breathing under water, so she held her breath until she couldn't any longer. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes widened in surprise to see that the medallion was doing its job. As she continued swimming, she could see her friends skeptically breathing, but eventually did it naturally.
Because of the armor, Link was faster than them so he reached the bottom first. She saw him pull out his iron boots from his pouch (which she knew it had to be magical to be carrying such heavy boots) and put them on. He then pulled out a bomb that surprisingly was working under water.
"He must've gotten those before we left Kakariko," Miroku commented.
Link then proceeded on placing a bomb right underneath what it looked like a doorway, between the stone pillars. The bomb went off, just for a water geyser to emerge from the whole. He then placed another bomb on the water geyser, making it rise up and destroy the boulder that was covering the entrance to the temple. Once it worked, he looked back at the others and headed for the entrance.
Link had taken the lead with Inuyasha right behind him. Miroku was next, then Kagome, and Sango. Neither of the girls really wanted to swim right in front of the monk for obvious reasons.
They were swimming through a dark and narrow corridor. They encountered two monsters but Link quickly disposed one of them that it reminded Kagome of an oversized clam. The next monster Link tried slicing it with his sword, however, the monster showed that it was protected by electricity when feeling threatened.
"Let's swim around it," Link said to the rest, "I don't want to risk one of us getting severely electrocuted here."
The corridor was finally coming to an end as they swam upwards. Link pushed himself up from the hole and helped Inuyasha up. Link helped Miroku up as well and when Kagome emerged, she called Inuyasha to help her up, completely ignoring Link. He ignored the slight pang on his chest and finally helped Sango up.
The room was kind of circular, with a lever hanging from the ceiling in front of a door. As they walked, Chu's fell down from the ceiling and started advancing towards them. They disposed of them quickly and started walking towards the door.
"It's locked," Inuyasha annoyingly said as he tried opening it.
Kagome looked around as she looked for some sort of key and such until she eyed the lever again.
"Maybe we need to pull that?"
Link thought about her idea and decided to give it a shot. He jumped and grabbed on to the lever, bringing it own. The metallic sound of the bars moving themselves up to clear the door reached their ears.
"Good thinking Kagome!" Miroku praised.
She smiled at him and then turned to Link. He, however, only gave her a nod and continued with the lead and opened the door. Kagome bit her lip and squashed whatever feelings were developing regarding Link's attitude. She was growing furious at his indifferent attitude towards her. She didn't kiss him. He kissed her. His attitude was uncalled for and she just hoped that it went away quick or she was going to become irritated with him. The only one that knew what was going on was Sango, so she automatically narrowed her eyes at him as he led the way. The next room had stalactite hanging from the ceiling. The moment they walked further up, one of them fell from and broke on the ground. Link was going to get ready with a bomb arrow to destroyed them when Sango stepped forward and used her hiraikotsu to destroy the remaining stalactites, the sounds of stone breaking echoing throughout the room. Link was a little taken aback by her brashness but did not comment on it.
The group made their way forward, Inuyasha and Link quickly disposing of the few monsters. Miroku opened the door for the next area, but froze the moment he saw the monster on the other side of the bridge.
"What is that?" He quietly asked Link as he had a hand on the prayer beads, ready to unleash the wind tunnel if necessary.
"Lizalfos. They're fast, so you have to be faster than them."
Inuyasha scoffed as he put Tetsusaiga over his shoulder, "Keh. Piece of cake then." He jumped forward and the monster finally took a notice of him. It let out a screeching growl and charged at Inuyasha, attempted to slice him but only got thin air. Inuyasha had jumped and with one quick swing of his fang, the Lizalfos laid dead. Link couldn't help but feel like this temple was going to go so much smoother just because of the fact that he wasn't doing it alone. They walked across the bride, Kagome weary as she noticed that there was a fast current of water right under them.
As they entered the main room they couldn't help but admire the beauty of the temple It was huge, with different designs of shells and corals in the walls, every single one being completely detailed. Shades of blue covered the walls and the flooring.
"Ok, we need to set up a plan. There's different levels, some can be easily reached by the levers hanging. However from what I can see, the boss room is right in the center," Link said as he pointed, "Only a specific key can open it. We have to rise the water level so it's easier to reach it."
"Why can't I just find the key? It would save a lot of time. I can easily reach the other doors to look for it," Inuyasha gruffly offered.
"This is a temple Inuyasha," Miroku reasoned, "This place is sacred for the Zoras. We can't just find a key and forget about the rest of the monsters lurking. We have to clear this place."
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, not too happy that his idea was shut down.
Link sighed.
It might take longer than what he previously thought.
For hours they had been searching throughout the temple for the boss key. Miroku had found the dungeon map by accident and from there it was easier for them to navigate through the temple. Kagome was still mesmerized by the beauty of it, and she pitied it for having so many monsters. Not much of conversations would develop throughout the group. All of them were focused, paying attention to every small little detail so they wouldn't miss anything.
They had found a couple of keys to locked doors, making the traveling a lot easier. However, there were areas that it was almost impossible to get to since it they had to be activated by some sort of mechanism. They were currently on the east side of the temple, trying to figure out where to go next.
Miroku was currently looking at the map, analyzing how they were going to get to the next room.
"I think we're going to have to go underwater," Sango stated as she looked around.
"What the hell are we waiting for then?" Inuyasha said impatiently.
As they dove in, a boulder happened to be on their way. Link quickly took out a water bomb and disposed of it. The tunnel started going upwards, which they suspected was the other room that they couldn't get into. When they reached the surface, they were met with another circular room. It was bright but completely empty.
"What's supposed to be here?" Inuyasha asked. All of them were currently walking around the room.
Kagome was just as confused. She had her arrow ready when something told her to look up.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the ceiling and let out a loud gasp. Her sound alerted the others and they followed her gaze. Their eyes widened at the monstrosity in the ceiling.
"What is that?!" Sango said.
"Looks like a giant toad," Link said. Just then, the toad realized that there were intruders. It stared down at them when it decided to jump down from the ceiling. Kagome was right under it, so Link quickly rushed and shoved her out of the way so she wouldn't be crushed. They both grunted as they landed harshly on the floor but wasted no time and got up.
The toad was menacingly looking at them when it unleashed a plethora of small creatures off its back to attack them. The smaller creatures quickly rushed towards them to attack and that's when everyone went into the defensive. Kagome fired her arrows at the smaller creatures with Sango and Miroku doing the same. Link and Inuyasha were more focused on the bigger monster, trying to get a good hit. However every time they would slash its body, nothing would happen.
"How come we can't kill this thing?!" Inuyasha yelled as he slashed the toad again.
Link grunted, "We have to find another weak spot."
The toad then leaped into the air with surprising force and was back again on the ceiling. This gave the others more time come up with a plan.
"Maybe the belly?" Sango offered as she stared at it.
Link shook his head, "We were never able to even shift it on a side, I doubt we're going to reach its belly."
"It's coming back down!" Miroku yelled. Quickly the four of them dispersed and moved out of the toad's way as it landed harshly on the ground. However this time was different. Apparently the toad did not land properly and it was on a daze, its long and disgusting tongue sticking out. Kagome readied her arrow and shot the tongue. The toad let out a screeching sound as it moved around in pain.
"Aim for the tongue!" She yelled as the toad unleashed smaller creatures. Sango covered her as she used her katana to kill the small ones.
Link and Inuyasha started moving in sync as found ways for the toad to show its tongue. Inuyasha was getting tired of using the Tetsusaiga since it wasn't doing much against the toad's body and instead, punched it square in the mouth with all his might. Link took the opportunity and unleashed a powerful spin attack to attack the tongue. The attack was strong and it weakened the creature immensely. Miroku took the chance and used his wind tunnel to clean up the mess.
Everyone was breathing heavily as their adrenaline faded. The absence of the monster triggered a chest to magically appear in the middle of the room. Link walked up to it and opened it, only to reveal a Clawshot.
Now other areas would be more accessible with the new item. Link then found a way out of the circular room. Without saying a word, he grabbed Kagome by her hand and dragged her to position her to get a better grip as he aimed with his new weapon. It latched onto the vines and it pulled them upwards. Inuyasha let out a silent growl and roughly grabbed Miroku and Sango and jumped towards the door that Link had found.
They continued moving forward, forgetting about taking a break. They reached another bridge but it had three Lizalfos on it. Inuyasha rushed forward with Link in tow to disposed of the first two. However, the third one had a different plan. Miroku and Sango took notice of what the third one was doing and they tried rushing but it was too late. The Lizalfos threw a massive bomb towards the middle of the bridge and it exploded instantly. The impact was a lot stronger than what they thought as it shook the whole bridge and it started collapsing. Inuyasha killed the Lizalfos, but felt his blood freeze when he heard a familiar scream.
As the bridge was collapsing, Kagome tried making it back to the door they had originally come from but the bridge was collapsing at a fast pace as soon as the bomb hit. She screamed as she lost her footing and fell down on the current beneath them.
"Oh no! Kagome!"
Sango was about to jump in when a blur past by her and jumped in the water. Link had wasted to no time and jumped as soon as he saw what happened. Besides, thanks to the zora armor, he was capable of swimming faster and withstanding fast currents of water.
Inuyasha was about to jump in when Miroku stopped him.
"Why are you stopping me?! We have to get her!"
Miroku had a firm grip on his upper arm, "Stop. He's faster because of that armor. We have to go back to the central room where the boss entrance is. I know he'll get her and meet us there."
Inuyasha let out a snarl and harshly moved his arm away. Now he was just hoping that Link would find her and bring her back safely.
She could barely see what was around her. She had swallowed too much water and felt like she was choking. It didn't help the fact that she had hit her head as she was falling. She was trying to get her breathing under control but she couldn't. The current was dragging her and she had no idea where it was taking her. Panic hit her as she knew she had been separated from the others because of the explosion. Her vision was becoming more blurry until darkness finally took over.
He was swimming as fast as he could as soon as he spotted her. However from what he could see, she wasn't moving. As he was coming closer he noticed the gash on her head. He felt pressure in his chest and he just hoped she was still alive. He got a hold of her and now he needed to figure out a way out.
"Link! Up there! Use your clawshot!" He heard Midna screaming at him. He swam upwards and quickly took aim at a pair of vines. The clawshot picked both of them up and Link jumped to the balcony made of stone where he landed on. He placed Kagome gently on the ground and quickly opened the door. As soon as he saw that there was no threat in the next room, he picked her up and took her inside.
The door closed with a loud thud and Link removed the mask and the hat off of him. He noticed that Kagome's lips were blue and she wasn't breathing.
No. I have to push the water out of her!
He started pushing and hoping for the water to come out but she was still not breathing. He was trying to remain as calm as possible trying to figure out what to do.
She couldn't die like this.
She couldn't leave him like this.
He stared at her lips for a second when he thought of an idea. He gently place his lips over hers and blew air on her. That must've done the trick because as soon as he did it, she sat up and started coughing up the water. He felt a rush of relief as he saw her coughing and getting a hold of herself.
I thought I was a goner, she quietly thought to herself. Her vision was slowly coming back to her and the first thing she saw was a pair of blue eyes staring intensely at her.
"Are you ok?" He quietly asked her. He was still really close to her and he couldn't find in himself to move. He had been scared. Scared to lose her.
She finally got her vision under control and looked at him. She gave him a silent nod and looked around her. It was a completely different room than what she had seen on the map. It was a different area than what they were previously in.
"Where are we?" She quietly asked.
Link looked at her one more time before he got up. He was trying to remember what he had seen with Miroku and could barely pinpoint the location where they were.
"I think we are at a lower level. We have to go up."
He glanced at her, "Let me clean your wound first before we go anywhere."
Kagome touched her side of her head where the gash was still lightly bleeding. She removed part of her tunic at the bottom and held it against her head. Link furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at her.
"I could've helped you."
"No thank you. I got it. We can leave now." Her voice was polite, too polite in his opinion.
But, the moment she got up, she quickly stumbled and fell. She was waiting for the impact of the cold ground but it never came. He got a hold of her, just exactly when they had first met. They both felt a bit of electricity the moment they touched each other, however it was pushed down by both of them.
Midna sensed what Link had felt through his shadow and rolled her eyes. She was glad he wanted to stay focused, however, she knew he was fighting a losing battle.
Kagome got a hold of herself and stepped away.
"Thank you."
Her tone of voice was still the same. He had enough.
"Why are you being like this with me?"
And just in a flash, he saw something in Kagome's eye that he never thought he would see.
"Are you seriously asking me what's wrong? Why don't you look at yourself first and tell me what the problem is! You've been avoiding me the whole time we've been in this place! What did I do? News flash to you Link! You kissed me. And you are acting like if I have done something horrible. I thought we were friends Link, but you pushed me away for something I didn't even do. It's not fair for me. I'm sick and tired of getting pushed away. From now on, we are just companions trying to clear this whole mess. When it is time, me and my friends will leave and you won't see me again."
By the time she finished her rant, she was red and her eyes were furiously staring at him. It was obvious she wanted to cry but wouldn't bring herself to do it in front of him. It pained her to say those words but she had to.
Link didn't know what to say. He was staring at the floor when she was finished and he felt his heart shattering at her words. He knew he was acting like an ass, completely out of his character, but he was having a hard time even figuring out his own feelings. He had a plan but it completely backfired on him. He didn't blame her. When he looked at her, something had changed.
"Ok. Let's get out of here then."
She bit her lip and nodded.
Kagome looked around the room again and she noticed that most likely they were gonna have to go underwater, something she wasn't looking forward to.
"If you feel like you can, go to sleep. I'll keep on lookout." He had his back to her as he said it. Kagome nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it.
It was going to take a while for them to get back to the others.
Inuyasha couldn't stop pacing back and forth. They had gone back to the main room and we're currently sitting on the stairs as they waited for Link and Kagome. Miroku ha spooked at the map to figure out where they could be, and he had guessed they were further in the temple. Unless they actually figured out a way to come back, it could take them a bit to reunite with them.
Sango was getting irritated with Inuyasha's pacing, so she got up and with the edge of her boomerang smacked him on the head.
"Can you stop? You're making me more agitated."
He growled at her, "I can't believe you guys are just sitting here! We should be looking for her!"
Miroku ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "We are just as worried but I'm sure she's fine. Link found her and now they're trying to get back to us. He's smart and he's kept her safe before we found her again. We don't know exactly where they could be. It's better to stay here and wait."
Inuyasha pressed his lips together and growled. He hated waiting but he knew he didn't have a choice.
"Keh."
She had slept for a while until she felt like she couldn't sleep anymore. She knew she had taken a risk for falling asleep after what happened to her but she was exhausted. Her body was demanding rest. As she sat up, she realized that she was alone.
The room they were currently in looked like some sort of maze. To get to other areas they would have to swim deeper in order to get through them. She was about to panic, thinking that something had happened to Link, when he emerged from the water.
Part of her felt guilty for how she got with him, but she knew she had reached her limit. Inuyasha always pushed her away and never really let her in. Then Link was basically doing the same thing? She was sick of it. She still cared for him but she needed to focus as well. She wasn't going to see him after they got back to the Feudal Era again.
"I found a couple of boulders so I cleared them. We can start heading out whenever you're ready."
She nodded at him and walked towards the edge to the water. Taking a deep breath to relax, she jumped in, Link right behind her. They swam for a couple of minutes until Kagome finally saw land. She motioned her hands towards Link and he nodded, letting her know he had seen it as well.
It led to another door. Link quickly opened it to find an empty room. He found a tile hanging off the roof so he took out his Clawshot. The weight turned on a switch, opening a small door on the floor. Kagome walked up curiously to the new opening and looked down, just to find a bigger chest at the bottom.
"I think I found the key for the boss room!"
He smirked at the sound of that. Finally, he thought as Kagome jumped down to retrieve it.
"Link, I see another door down here. Maybe it'll help us get back to the others," he heard her called out, her voice echoing around the room.
Link continued going down the whole and finally dropped down. Kagome pointed at the door underwater and both jumped in. From there, they started looking for any ways to go up.
They were both exhausted but they couldn't stop. Now finding the key they could finally go and destroy the monster to obtain the last Fused Shadow. They could finally go home after this. She wondered if her family had noticed she has been gone for a long time. She thought about her little brother, her mom, and her grandpa. She couldn't wait to tell them what had happen.
She also wondered how her friends were doing. Inuyasha was probably furious and driving Sango and Miroku insane.
They continued going until they finally reached a room that they had previously been in .before. From there, Link was able to easily lead them back. They had encountered a few monsters but Link had given her his bow and arrows since hers were lost when she had fallen in the water. They disposed of them, in sync, and continued on with their way.
The sound of doors opening alerted the trio from where they were with their weapons at the ready. Inuyasha instantly lowered his fang as soon as he recognized her scent. She came into view and Sango quickly rushed to her, gushing about the small gash on her head. Kagome reassured her over and over that she was ok.
Miroku and Inuyasha both looked relieved, and looked at Link expressing their gratitude. Inuyasha was just a simple nod, but that spoke volumes.
"But we're still back in square one. We don't have the key for the room," Miroku said as he fixed his prayer beads.
Kagome beamed at him, "I found it! So let's go!"
Sango looked at Kagome like she grew another head, "Woah hold on! You're not going Kagome. Look what just happened to you, you're not fit to fight!"
Kagome looked at the ground and sighed, "I'm fine Sango."
Link looked at Kagome and then at Sango. They might just be 'companions' as Kagome put it but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to help her out.
"She's fine. She was able to fight on our way back up here with me."
Kagome looked at Link, surprised that he was helping her, but she understood. He didn't even look at her as he said that she was more than fine.
"Let's get this shit over with. I'm done with water for a long time." Inuyasha muttered as he walked down the stairs. Now that the water level had risen, the island where the door was located would be easier to reach. Kagome opened the door with no hesitation and stepped in. The entrance was small, barely big enough for all of them to fit in. There was a hole in the middle but it was so dark down, that they couldn't see the end.
"We don't know what's down there. Whatever it is, we'll look after each other. Me and Inuyasha can act and attack whatever it is, you three can be our backup if one of us gets thrown away."
"How do you know you'll get thrown?" Miroku curiously asked.
Link snorted, "From my experience so far, all of them have been huge. Most likely this one will be swimming around so stay at a good distance."
Everyone nodded and with one final look at each other, they jumped in one by one.
They couldn't see anything as they continued swimming and that was just making them more weary. With weapons at the ready, they finally saw a single tentacle coming out of the sand at the bottom of the room. They all looked at each other and nodded. They spread and continued forward making sure that the tentacle would be surrounded once they reached the bottom. The closer they got to the tentacle, the more they noticed that it was radiating some sort of electricity from itself.
When they finally reached the bottom, a single disgusting eye started emerging from within the tentacle. The ground started rumbling as the eye disappeared but then multiple tentacles started emerging from the sand, all of them producing that same electricity.
Kagome couldn't help but think how gross the tentacles looked as they moved around. The ground continued rumbling when a mouth, big enough to eat any of them and surrounded by fangs emerged from the ground as well, letting out a screech.
Sango got to work, and she quickly threw Hiraikotsu with even more force since they were underwater to attack the tentacles. It wasn't doing much, but they all noticed that the creature screeched when the giant bone boomerang struck the eye. The creature screeched and using one tentacle grabbed Sango. Her eyes widened in pain as she held back a scream as it was electrocuting her. Miroku swam at her side but when he hit the tentacle with his staff, he felt the electricity traveling to him as well. Kagome's eyes were filled with determination as she got ready a spiritual arrow. She wasn't sure if it would even work because they were underwater, but seeing Sango in pain she had to try.
She channeled her energy and let go. Surprisingly and thankfully, the arrow was able to travel through the water and struck the tentacle. The creature let out a scream as it let Sango go. It submerged itself back into the sand when it finally emerged completely off the ground. The creature was huge and all of them had to swim away to get away from it. Sango was still weak but she was able to get away just in time.
It swam around, letting out screeches every now and then.
We have to look for that eye! Link desperately thought. He looked over at Inuyasha and pointed at his eye. Inuyasha nodded and swam forward to search for it. The monster's movements were fast, but Inuyasha was faster. However he got too close to the head that a tentacle grabbed him and threw him against the wall. He quickly shook himself and grinned.
He had seen the eye.
Link swam towards him since he was closer and for a moment he thought that Inuyasha had lost it for the grin on his face. Inuyasha looked at him and pointed on his back. Link nodded and took off to swim upwards to get a better look.
Kagome was floating next to Miroku and Sango since the shocks of the attack still had them a bit disoriented. She had been worried when she saw Inuyasha get thrown but was glad to see him back to normal. She saw the interaction between him and Link and couldn't help but wonder when they had become friends? She shook her head. They weren't friends. They were just working together since they were great warriors. That's it.
The monster started swimming towards the direction where she was with Sango and Miroku. Kagome's eyes widened as she saw Inuyasha and Link swimming towards the monster as well.
Kagome got another arrow ready and fired.
She had to keep her friends safe.
The arrow struck the monster straight on. The spiritual energy spreading all over it making it freeze. Link reached the eye by using the Clawshot to latch on to the edge and stabbed it with his sword multiple times. The shock wore off of the monster and shook itself, sending Link flying away.
Inuyasha had a plan but he needed the creature to swim away from Kagome and the others. He started attacking the tail in attempts to piss off the monster which it worked. He smirked once he saw that it was coming its way and he used it at his advantage. He used his demon speed to get away from it and get himself above it with a clear view of its bleeding eye. Link had done a lot of damage to it so it just needed a little bit more. He readied his fang and unleashed the Wind Scar on it.
The whole room shook as the attack hit the monster straight on. It painfully screeched as it swam around disorientedly, slamming into the stone walls and the stone pillars. One of them was destroyed near Kagome, Sango, and Miroku. Kagome's eyes widened since she knew they didn't time to swim away. She held on to her friends and closed her eyes, but the pillars never came. When she opened them, she noticed that she was inside a barrier.
Miroku!
She smiled brightly at him for his fast thinking and Sango looked relieved.
The creature slammed into the wall head on, creating a whole where the water started draining as the monster died.
All of them took a deep breath when the water was gone. Although they were capable of breathing underwater, they preferred the fresh air that now was all inside the room.
"Everyone alright?" Link asked as he looked at them. Besides the fact that all of them were breathing heavily, they were ok.
"Link, look!" Sango exclaimed.
He turned around to see the body of the monster dissolving into black particles, creating the last Fused Shadow.
Midna appeared as Link grabbed it and they both looked at each other.
Finally.
"That's the Fused Shadow?" Miroku curiously asked as he stared at it from Link's hand. He knew it was powerful, he could feel it from where he was standing. Miroku knew that Kagome was feeling it as well as she was giving the piece a wary look.
Link nodded, "This is what we've been searching for."
Midna nodded, "With this we'll be able to defeat Zant and get everything back to normal!"
Inuyasha grunted, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go find him."
Midna then created a portal informing them that she could take them back to the Spirit's spring. Kagome couldn't help it, but she felt like their adventure wasn't over yet. It almost seemed too easy for her.
The Spring was filled with light when they got there. All of them couldn't help but feel some sort of happiness knowing that the nightmare across Hyrule was almost over. However, when they turned around and were going to start walking away, they froze.
"Zant!" Midna loudly exclaimed.
There it is for Chapter 9! I hope you enjoyed it. I didn't want to make it as a walkthrough for the entire temple so many things were taken out except the key points. Yes, Kagome's relationship with Link is not going well. Will it get better? Please review and let me know what you thought. Thank you for reading!