Repaying a Debt
Disclaimer: [Waves hand carelessly] If you don't know by now, I can't be bothered to tell you.
I hope the last chapter was to your liking - I've got some feedback, to which I must blush and say in a small voice 'thanks!'. As I said, without you guys, I doubt I would have carried on much farther than a few scraggly chapters. So, it's really down to you (and my muses - look at them, they're overworked, poor babies!)
Muses: [Agree, then get back to helping Soda]
Soda: AWW!
Well, last chapter, they were kids - which I still like...ch'ibifying them is one of the funniest pictures I've ever had in my head. [Cough]. Well, anyway, they gained the silver gauntlets, and now they're heading forwards again. This be the last of the temples. O.o I've written a lot a lot! This chapter will be quite a/u, as I'll have to change the Temple so that it fits in with what I wanna do.
And on that note, on to the Spirit Temple!
Oops - just noticed I've been forgetting to put the thought denotations. [Blush] sorry guys - oh well, you pretty much know them by now. But, for old times' sake:
[] = Alexis' thoughts {} = Navi's thoughts
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I was surprised when I found myself being stopped yet again by Loki in- between times. The last time I'd been whisked back to the present (and by demons, that sounds confusing!), it had all been over with a mere casual wave of his staff. But, this time, he'd deemed to slow time once more, in order to speak to me.
His face did not fill me with confidence when he greeted me - in fact, it was filled with more dread than Fleur's had been at the news of Diabola and Lucifer. "Little one, we must talk," were his first words, and he motioned that we both, once again, sit on the cloud-floor. His staff was out, and he waved it slightly, causing me to shoot up to my normal size. Then, he drummed his fingers against the carven surface, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to find the words.
"What is it?" I prompted, and felt so bold as to take the restless hand between both of my own.
"Demons, Lexis!" he gasped, shaking his head violently and squeezing his eyes tight shut. I knew that expression well - he was trying to keep back tears.
"Please, tell me what's wrong!" I demanded, and he placed his free hand over the top one of my two.
"It - is - a difficult matter to broach." He chewed his lip, then seemed to remember that he was supposed to be the one in command here. He straightened his back, and retrieved the hand I was clutching. "The Sheikah," he said simply, and for a split-second, I swear my heart ceased to even beat.
[No! What can have happened?] Then, I remembered, that he was of course in- between times. No harm could possibly have come to him there.
"You're too close to him!" Loki continued, and his voice was matched only by the sternness of his face.
"I...well...I..." I was at a loss for words (in case you hadn't noticed.)
"You must put a stop to it *immediately!*"
"Why?" I protested. "Why stop the one thing I've ever managed to do right?"
"Right?" he echoed. "How can it be 'right' if he doesn't even know who your really are? How can it be 'right' if he doesn't know that you must leave as soon as this is over? How can it be 'right' if he doesn't so much as know your *name*?" his tirade had escalated into a yell, and I sprang up onto my feet so as to glare down at him.
"It's 'right,'" I said, in a shaky voice that was nonetheless as loud as his, "because I *love* him!" The words hung heavily in the air between us. And, only then, when I had been forced to it, did I realise that what I had said in my anger was true. Loki was right. For his sake, perhaps more than mine own, I would have to distance myself from the dear Sheikah.
The obvious stab of pain to my godfather at my words could not be taken away, but I mumbled a soft "sorry" anyway. To this, he merely waved a hand as if to say 'it was nothing'. His look was forlorn and regretful, and I felt odd as he showered such unbridled pity upon me. "I - I will do as you asked," I stuttered with a swift bow.
"'tis for the best," he told me softly, and I nodded. "Mayhap in the future the situation can be remedied," he added, but I just shook my head. It was either all or nothing - and I was bound to nothing. "Do whatever you can to make sure that your leaving will be as easy as possible. If not for you," he paused, and seemed as though he sensed what I thought, "then at least for him." Loki readied his staff to send me back. "Demons know things are bad enough for you all..."
"Yes Loki - of course," I replied with another stiff bow. "Just send me back now so that this ridiculous mission will be over quickly." It was amazing how I could revert to deadpan indifference when I needed to.
"I shall. And may it be we can all see some happier times," he sighed heavily, and then sent me back.
~*~*~*~
This time, upon landing, all three of us managed to stay on our feet. I glanced over at Sheik and felt like crying in frustration. These would be the last few sweet moments for him; I'd let him have his oblivious freedom for now. There was no point in completely shutting him out after all that effort I had gone to in order to get him to trust me! Just so long as we were fighting, there would be no need to cross that bridge for a while.
"Shall we head straight on then?" Link asked, and we answered the affirmative. "Well, let's go then. But, after this temple, we sleep for a week, agreed?"
"Aye!" Sheik laughed, and caught my eye. I cracked a smile, but felt glad when Link played the Temple melody to whisk us away to fight.
As soon as we arrived, Link was pulling out the silver gauntlets and strapping them onto his hands. "Now to see whether these things work," he said brightly, placing both shining hands, palms flat, on a huge rock which barred our way into the temple proper. To my great surprise, after an initial couple of test pushes, Link managed to shove it out of the way with ease. And then, he calmly slipped the gauntlets off again. "They're handy, but I don't want to crush this baby," he quipped, grabbing the Master Sword from his back before proceeding.
"I have *got* to try those," Sheik breathed quietly, before stepping after Link into the dark temple interior. I was at the back of the group, as per usual. Curiously, I paused to lean against the stone that had so recently barred our way. I tried to see whether, by applying my whole weight, I could make it move. No luck - the great sandstone block remained adamantly still, a testament to the power of the gauntlets.
"What do you reckon we'll fight first?" I asked Navi, who was hovering at a cross-roads in the passages, along with the other two.
"I'm not sure," she answered, chewing her lip. "I wish we had a map for this place!"
"We might," Link said, and looked pointedly at Sheik, who swiftly produced the map from our previous excursion to the other part of the Temple.
{It's a long shot, but there might be something.}
[I sure hope so - this place is already bigger than any of the other Temples.]
{I wouldn't want to get lost in here} Navi agreed darkly, fluttering over to the map Sheik held. "Here; that looks like it might overlap to this set of passages," she pointed.
"You mean this one?" Sheik squinted down at the passage Navi was pointing out with her dainty finger. I leant over his shoulder to scrutinize the map (Link leant round his right shoulder, and I his left).
"No, that leads out to the balcony I think," I muttered. "Yeah, see, here it is, and there's the entrance below." Sheik nodded, and I felt a jolt as he smiled fondly at me for a brief second, before returning attention to the map.
"Umm - well - dammit, Navi, do you think you could give us some light here?" Sheik asked. Navi didn't answer.
{Does the phrase 'run' mean something to you?}
[Yeah - why?] I'd already guessed what would be coming next, and tensed my muscles for the chase.
{Good - run would you?} she answered calmly, before flitting off down the hallway to the left.
"Run," I snapped to the other two, and for once, I took the head of the group. They followed, questions forming on their lips as boots clattered against the ground. "Don't ask," I growled, "just run." Behind, I could hear more sounds; those of talons against stone, and low, rasping growls that bespoke of hunger. [What are they?]
{They look like the Desert lynx Nabooru had - it must have gotten out and bred.}
[Oh, simply wonderful.] Already there was a stitch in my side, and I was sorely tempted to yell as many swear words as I could possibly remember. But, that would have been a waste of breath, which I definitely needed. [Some day, I'm gonna make sure I can run better] I thought wryly as we skidded around a corner, and on seeing a heavy iron door, slammed it shut on the whiskered faces of our pursuers. They raked their claws down the other side of the door, making a sound like chalk on a blackboard. Finally, however, they seemed to give up, and we heard their soft foot-pads walking away.
Turning around, we saw a large chamber, and high above, I saw a diamond- like object. We all knew what these meant by now, and Link, spotting it only a second or so later, fired the longshot at it to trigger it. This opened a door halfway down the left wall of the chamber, which we went through, still catching our breath.
More snarls reached our ears, but these ones were easily recognisable as those of Wolfos. Which are a piece of cake to kill. It was less than a minute later that all of the creatures lay dead, and a shimmering blue ring appeared, denoting a chest. I backed up, not fancying standing on top of it when it appeared, and bumped into Sheik. Not good - demons, why wasn't I paying attention to where I was going. He laid a hand on my shoulder, and guilt sped through me.
Within the chest was the map which showed the rest of the Temple, which Sheik immediately took and scrutinized. A couple of rooms blazed blue, showing where we had already been, and he pulled out the compass to hazard a guess as to where we had to go next. "Back into the last chamber, and then we should see a door directly across from us," he said. "There's that room there with a chest in it," he pointed it out to Link.
We hurried out into the chamber and through the door opposite. Immediately, there was a scary kinda squelching sound, and the huge black mouth of a Like-Like swooped down towards us. "Bloody hell!" Link yelled, as the creature managed to wind it's - gooey's the only way I can describe it - body around him. An undulation threw me backwards into the door, which hurt a hell of a lot. Which left only Sheik in a state to fight, and stop Link being eaten.
He was quick about it, and manoeuvred carefully so he didn't hit Link with his sword as he swiped at the creature. At last, it shuddered and pulsated for the last time, before collapsing and liquefying onto the floor. Link landed with a loud thump on his butt, and moaned loudly. Every part of skin that the Like-Like had touched was a vivid red, as though he'd been severely sunburned. "Ow," he grumbled, and Navi just giggled as he rubbed the tender skin.
"I'm afraid I can't do anything for Like-Like love-bites Link," she snorted, and dodged as he tried to swipe her out of the air.
"Sheik - do you have any bandages I can borrow for this?" Link asked hopelessly, and Sheik dutifully pulled his pack from his back and rummaged through it. Meanwhile, I looked around the rest of the room, now that it wasn't obscured by the bulk of the Like-Like. Chest! Over at the other end - I walked over and kicked it open, to find a small key. This I took out, and then came back over to give it to Sheik for safekeeping. Link was gingerly wrapping bandages over his face, and making a pretty shoddy job of trying to imitate Sheik's style.
"Great Goddesses, you're only going to make it worse!" Sheik said exasperatedly, and pulled the badly applied wrappings away. "Let me - Blaise, do you and Navi mind having a scout around?"
"Sure," I answered, and Navi flitted over to me. "Wonder what's over here," I murmured as we strolled to the shadowy end of the room. Navi flew ahead of me to light the path before me, and we soon came to a dead end.
"Not much," she said dryly. "Oi, Sheik, there's nothing else in here!" she called back, and he looked up from where he had just tucked the last bandage in place around Link's injured skin.
"OK - well," he pulled out the map again. "There's another door in that room we just came from - funny.I didn't see it before."
Link just rolled his eyes, "Sheik, hello, we live in a kingdom full of magic, and you're worried by appearing doors?" Sheik just stuck his tongue out in a very childish way, and I couldn't help but to laugh. It was so hard not to carry on as I had been before Loki's warning. Sheik was just - incredibly, insanely adorable.
{Bleurgh - can you ever think about anything else?} Navi asked in mock disgust, and I jumped slightly.
[Wha...?]
{Oops - sorry, I wasn't meant to be listening...ehehehe} she giggled guiltily.
[No worries - but what did you expect?] She looked over at me with a shrewd smirk, and I playfully swatted at her.
{Hey!} she shook her fist at me, before heading back to Link's shoulder. {You know I'm going to have to pay you back for that, don't you?}
[Yeah...eep!] I thought back, and she sniggered. Sheik was leading us back into the previous room, where a door had indeed appeared. He put the key in the lock and turned it, to allow us access.
"OH NO!" Link shrieked, and jumped backwards into me - Sheik had jumped sideways, and I wondered what the hell was going on.
"Link," I mumbled through a mouthful of his tunic, "Geroff!"
"Huh? OH! Sorry," he rolled over to the side, allowing me to sit up. And I saw what had caused the outburst of horror. Another Like-Like was in the room we'd just tried to enter. I took one look at Link's face, another at Sheik's grin, and laughed. "Hey, it's not funny!" Link pushed me by the shoulder, and I shoved him back, still laughing. Then, with a deep breath, I got back to my feet, and, as I simply couldn't be bothered to muck around with arrows or my daggers, I pulled my sword, and began to slash away at the shapeless creature.
"The big bad Like-Like's all gone now Link," Navi said in the voice that people usually use when they're talking to babies. "We can carry on now, can't we, l'il Linkie-kins." Her voice was cut off as Link caught her out of the air and held her in his fist.
"You must have a death wish," I informed him, before treading over the remains of the Like-Like, and climbing up the ladder on the wall behind it.
{Too right there.}
*
"Another Iron Knuckle?" I moaned, looking up at the great statue before us. "Wasn't one enough?"
"I bloody well thought so," Sheik growled, rubbing his aching muscles and looking up at the statue in annoyance.
"Look, come on. The sooner we kill it, the sooner this is over, right?" Link reasoned, stemming the flow of blood from a nosebleed. (He'd managed to hit the wall, instead of letting go, whilst using the long shot earlier on. It wasn't really worth the bother of Navi healing it, or red potion. We were saving those for a real emergency.)
"Fine." I walked up to the statue, raised my sword, and looked back at the others. "Ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Link grimaced, and readied his sword as well. I swept my sword downwards to hit the armoured shoulder of the statue. It made a huge clang which echoed around the stone room, and with a loud grating sound, the Iron Knuckle came to life. And, as I was the one with the most energy left, it was up to me to act as decoy again. I started off by clanging my sword against its helmet, to draw it back.
Link and Sheik were quick to dart in, but not quick enough. This Iron Knuckle was a lot faster than the other two we'd seen, and they barely managed to dodge the giant axe as the creature swung it. I distinctly heard Sheik screech angrily, "The bastard got my hair!" And then, I did what is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life.
I blame it on the rush of adrenaline surging through me at the time, because I can't be that dumb. Seriously, no one can be that dumb. I jumped on the Iron Knuckle's back, swinging my legs over the armoured shoulders, and hacking away with my sword. Which didn't do much good, since there was armour there. We hadn't been able to whittle it away, so I began trying to pry it away with my hands instead.
"BLAISE! What by the Goddesses are you doing?" Navi shrieked up at me, even whilst she used her magical strength to lift the two boys above an axe- swing.
"I'm killing it, that's what I'm doing!" I grunted, as I carried on my attempt to wrench the metal plate away from the thing's overly large head. The edges of the plate were sharp, and multiple cuts criss-crossed my fingers and palms. No matter - the glint of a piece of sunlight off of the metal I was pulling at gave me an idea. "Link, try using the mirror shield to blind it for a bit," I called.
Link complied, and the creature let out a wail as the sun was reflected directly into its eyes. It dazzled me at the same time though, so I didn't see the giant hand coming up to clamp against the monster's pained eyes until it was too late. Luckily, it was only my arm that was in the way - the crack was sickeningly loud as it echoed around the room. [Ow. Stupid bone.] I thought angrily. The world seemed to be spinning - no - the creature was falling.
The clap it had given itself on the head had done the trick - now all the others had to do was deliver the final blow. I slid off of the thing's shoulders, and rolled out of the way as it fell. The sound as the Iron Knuckle connected with the floor was stupendous - like a crack of thunder right by your ear might sound. There was another crack, and I wondered what else was broken...
I must have phased out for a small while, because when I next blinked my eyes open, I heard the other two talking quite jovially, and another voice that I vaguely knew answering. "You all right?" Navi asked as she came over with three other people. The dust that lingered in the air made them all look slightly blurry, but I knew whom the third was by their hair. The lady Nabooru.
"Ah - I take it you are Blaise?" she asked, and I nodded. "Thank you," - she reached out a hand, and I lifted the arm that wasn't broken (the left) to shake it. "You've saved me from my servitude at long last."
"Servitude?" I queried, being helped to my feet by Link. "Ow - OK, I know which other bone I broke now," I said as my left leg decided it didn't want to hold me up. Sheik grabbed my left arm so I didn't have to be reacquainted with the floor, and Navi buzzed around me, swiftly mending my bones for me. This, Nabooru watched with interest, before launching into her story.
"Well, the two witch sisters, Koume and Kotake placed me under a spell, so that I had to do their bidding. I've been in that bloody suit of armour for years!" she crossed her arms over her chest, and breathed in deeply. "Ah, it does feel good to be able to breathe proper air again." I sniffed, and all I could smell was dirt and perspiration - not exactly awe-inspiring. "Well, again, I thank you - we must get out of here now though, before the witches come back."
"No - we can't," Link said dutifully. "We have to free this Temple from the evil here and free the sage." Nabooru blinked.
"The evil here - the only evil I know of are the witches."
"Then that's who we fight," Link said stoutly, and Nabooru opened her mouth to argue. She didn't even get to begin, as there were two intense flashes of light, and the two witches we'd seen in the past appeared. Nabooru looked at the both of them, and cowered low down to the floor, crouched, ready to fight for her very life.
"Get away from me, ugly hags!" she spat, and the witches cackled once more. With a wave of their knarled hands, both they, and Nabooru disappeared. Nabooru's anguished cry floated through the air, and a door materialised at the end of the room.
"I suppose that's where we go next," Link muttered, and walked confidently towards the door. "Blaise," I looked up from where I'd been staring at the place Nabooru had been standing in. "Are you all right to go on?"
"Of course," I answered curtly. "Let's kick some witch butt," I didn't say this jokingly, and by the looks on the faces of the others, they completely agreed. It was time to fight, and fight hard now. This would be the last of the great battles before Ganondorf.
*
"It's dark in here," Navi had found a perch on my shoulder at some point, and she whispered this into my ear, sounding slightly panicked.
"Pull yourself together, we all need to be alert," I hissed back as kindly as I could, as I too strained my eyes to see anything in the gloom. No doubt, those two witches were circling around in here, just waiting for an opportunity to pick us off.
{That isn't exactly helping my mood!}
[Look, I've told you before, I'm a pessimist. Just ignore me - hell, maybe things will be all right, and they'll let Nabooru free and play poker with us!]
{OK - I know you just had an arm and a leg broken, but don't you think that's a little bit too bitchy?}
[Yeah - sorry. I'm just tense.] She made a sound of understanding, and then rose into the air, and put all her effort into lighting the chamber - room - place - we were in. And there, straight ahead of us, yet so far away that if you held out a hand, you'd not be able to see them, were the two witches. They had tied Nabooru to an altar at the far end, and something suspiciously like a knife was glinting in the hand of the red-haired witch. But, their attentions had been drawn by Navi's light, and torches of both red and blue fire ignited along the measureless walls.
"Look sister, they've come to play!" the blue-haired one said with a menacing giggle.
"So they have - I suppose we can leave the slave there whilst we play a game with these little mortals."
"Oh - but I did so want to teach her a lesson," the blue one whined, even as she rose up on her crudely crafted broom after her sister. "Mind you, we can always work on this girlie here," I knew they were pointing to me. "I'm sure our dear-heart Ganonny would love to have her back."
"Ooh yes, the little sweetums did have his heart set on that one." I scowled, and my sword changed into its broadsword form. Oh boy, I was pissed off now.
"Stop with the chat and fight already," I yelled up at the babbling fools above, stepping forwards onto a circular platform which seemed to make up most of the room's floor.
"By golly, she is a feisty one, isn't she?" the red one sneered.
"Yes indeed, that she is sister."
"No wonder our Gannony is partial to her." I let out a howl of utter annoyance, and grabbed Link's bow from his belt. He serenely offered me an arrow, which I took, thought about it, and then shot the blue one, for bringing the subject of Ganondorf up in the first place. She let out a short scream of surprise, and swooped down a couple of feet.
"That wasn't very friendly!" The red one sounded indignant, and a ball of red light surged out from her wrist to collect at each fingertip. There, each point grew, until she held a raging inferno in her hand. The blue one was still moaning about her wound, and the red one gave her a glance. This gave Sheik time to fire an arrow from his own bow at her. The fireball disappeared, and she let out the same scream her sister had.
"Well, if you're going to be like that!" the blue one said huffily.
"I suppose we have to teach them a lesson now, don't we sister?"
"Oh yes - preferably a painful one!"
"Of course." They both summoned handfuls of their own magic. Earlier on, we had come across a devious little deku-scrub, who had told us how to defend against these attacks. So, I shuffled backwards to Link, who had the mirror shield raised. The two magics flew towards us, and Link leant more heavily to the left (Sheik, Navi and I leaning with him), so that the blue magic (ice) sped past us to the right side, and the red (fire) was absorbed by the shield.
The witches, enraged by the fact that they had not caused us some considerable damage, began volleying the magic at us at a ridiculous speed. Link had to be careful to store the energy within his shield, but finally, by darting here and there, the shield had collected three red magics. "Aim at the blue one," Navi whispered, as the mirror shield glowed sun-bright, illuminating the furthest reaches of the high ceiling above.
The blue one came crashing down as the counter-magic to her own hit her. And, high above, the red was paralysed for a moment whilst her sister was down. I rushed in with my broadsword, and managed to take of her left hand before she rose again. "Look!" Link called, as the witches were slowly righting themselves. Looking back, I saw that the mirror shield had broken into three equal shards, which even as we watched, took on the forms of the very same shield they had once made up.
"Three shields in one - handy," Sheik panted, picking up one of them. The other, Link tossed to me, and we returned to the battle, which was much easier with all of us much more mobile. We could each store different attacks - so, at one time, Link might be storing the ice, and Sheik and I the fire, or Link and I the fire, and Sheik the ice, and so on. The witches were quickly loosing strength, and they were moving more and more sluggishly in the air.
[This is kinda easy when you think about it,] I thought, bracing myself as my mirror shield absorbed a huge blast of ice.
There were no volleys, and I dared to peer around my shield. Vaguely, I noticed Link and Sheik do the same, and Navi buzzing around Link's head. High above, the sisters were - I don't know how to describe it. The only way to know what it was like is if you were there. The best I can put it is to say that they - were merging. Becoming one. So that they were joined in the body of a giant woman, that could be likened to a Gerudo woman on the one half, and a Zoran if it were human on the other.
The left half was blue - and azure hair floated down to that side's waist. The skin there was like Link's - slightly tanned, but nothing in comparison to the skin on the red side. There, the merged witches' hair was scarlet and spiked down to the shoulders. Both halves wore the same expression of anger and intense concentration though. And each arm was conjuring magics, one blue and one red.
As I say, it is difficult to explain lest you were there. But, the only other thing I can remember as I watched in horrified awe, was Navi thinking to me. {You just had to go and think that, didn't you? You've bloody jinxed us!} I gulped. Oh yeah, this was definitely a jinx...
*
"Look out!" Link and Sheik had been backed into a corner, where the residue of an ice spell was still lingering on the floor. They couldn't stop their backward march however, and their legs were encased completely in ice. The witches seemed content just to leave them there, and gave off a cackle that echoed - two voices were coming from the one form. Then, they turned on me, half and half face grinning darkly. I had to wrench my eyes away from the other two; the ice was slowly creeping up their legs, and would soon encase all of them.
Navi was trying to wrench both of them away, but one swipe from the hand of Twinrova put an end to that. The fairy slammed into the wall and fell down, changing into her human-form as she fell. With each jagged breath she took, her wings went up and down. I didn't have long to carry on watching, as Twinrova was now focused completely on me. "Now, let's settle this, shall we? We're just going to knock you out good and proper, and take you back to Ganonny." The condescending tone was enraging, and I had to force myself not to get annoyed.
"Just try it," I said, setting myself into a battle stance, shield arm ready. She - I mean they - uh - it - complied immediately with both red and blue balls of magic. I dived out of the way of the main brunt of the attack, and caught the backwash of the ice attack. My shield glowed slightly as the blue tendrils sank into the shiny metal.
Another set of bolts, and she flew around behind me to try and catch me out that way. My position was perfect however - I just pivoted to follow her every move. I had to be wary of the residues of the spells all around me, but apart from that, I was fighting the battle well enough.
Twinrova's eyes widened, and whilst she was looking away from me, I managed to throw one of my daggers, which embedded itself into her lower torso. She didn't seem to notice much, and a creaking, shattering sound caught my attention. Looking around, I saw that Sheik had managed to free himself from his icy prison, and was attempting to free Link with shivering movements. Of course, the combined witches' were having none of that, and fired a couple of magic bolts at him.
He dodged them easily, raising his shield to prevent himself from being frozen or burned. Now that Twinrova had two opponents, each half was working independently of the other. The blue aimed at me, and the red at him. Together, we managed to weaken the creature further, until her pants for air could be heard around the room. She was gasping out loud, and her moves were sluggish. [That's it - she's wearing down.] I'd bloody well done it again, because at that precise moment, Sheik stumbled backwards over the still form of Navi, and crashed against the wall. With a slight moan, he slid down to lie on the floor, legs stretched over Navi's shoulders.
[Shit.] Link was completely encased in his ice prison now, and I didn't know how long he had been like that. If this didn't end quickly, he could - I didn't continue that thought. Twinrova's movements were still slow, and though I was exhausted beyond reason, I was still faster than she was. So, I danced circles around her, bought her to the brink of exhaustion and beyond.
How long I carried on this darting fight, moving in and out, around and around my adversary, I don't know. But, finally, she dropped to the floor in exhaustion, and I managed to slouch over, sword drawn. The split face looked up at me, one black eye, one yellow, and seemed to acknowledge that I had won. There was an almost congratulatory smile there. I drove the sword home, and light permeated the whole room, the whole level, the whole Temple in fact.
A shock wave blasted through the air, releasing Nabooru from her chains, Link from the ice, and the body disappeared. Nabooru wasn't making any noise, but I was more worried about Link. Rushing over, I saw his collapse like a crumbling old tower. His lips were blue, and his normally tanned skin was as pale as parchment. He most definitely was not breathing, and I hurriedly checked for a pulse.
There. Soft, feeble and fluttering, but there. I shook him. "Link - Link - get up! LINK!" It didn't raise a response, though Sheik did blink his eyes open, and reached up to wipe a trickle of blood off of his forehead. "LINK! Get up you damn Hylian fool!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sheik's eyes flicker, and realised the mistake I had just made. I put it to the back of my mind, and pinched Link's nose. Then, I placed my mouth over his icy-blue lips, and blew air into his still lungs.
"C'mon..." Another breath, and air came up to meet that which I was supplying him with. Suddenly, he was sitting up and coughing loudly. "Finally - don't do that to me," I scolded, and he just shivered bemusedly.
"Oh - Chamber of Sages," he whispered, as a portal took him away. Leaving Sheik and I with an unconscious Navi on our hands.
"Shall we try and wake her?" I asked Sheik, pointing at Navi.
"No - look at her. She's exhausted. We'd best let her rest for now." This was all said stiffly, and I could almost predict word for word what was coming next. "What the hell was that business about 'Hylian fool'?"
"Hey, it was just a heat of the moment thing," I said, then added, "It's not like I had the time to think out what I was saying. He was this close from death after all," I held out my forefinger and thumb so that only a tiny sliver of space was left between them. He nodded, furrowed his brow, and then seemed to accept the explanation. [Thank you. Thank you whoever made him believe that!]
"Blaise," Sheik ventured a few minutes later. I sat up from where I'd been slouching against the wall, and opened my eyes.
"Hmm?"
"This quest is nearing it's end..."
"Yes...? Is there a point to this?" I covered my mouth as a yawn forced it's way out.
"Well - you said you'd tell us about - things - at the end." He looked tentative, and was staring at the floor.
"Yes - and I meant at the end. Surely you can trust me until then?" I ignored all the cautions I'd been given, and grabbed him by the chin to force him to look at me. "You can trust me, can't you?"
"Of course," he smiled, and blushed. "I can think of some other things I could do as well," he dropped a roguish wink. I snorted, and jerked a thumb at Navi,
"What if she were to wake up? And it all depends what 'things' you mean." He snorted as well, and then traversed the stone floor to sit closer to me.
"These kind of things," he muttered, never breaking eye contact, and he reached out to place his hands on the back of my neck. "Now, this I've been wanting to do for a while, but we haven't had the chance." And he pulled my head forwards with the hands on my neck, to introduce our lips to one another. And a very pleasant introduction it was as well. I gave up - how the hell was I supposed to resist this Sheikah man? I wasn't blind, after all!
"Ahem!" A beam of light shot through my closed eyelids, and I pulled back to see Navi hovering over the two of us. "I'm out for a few minutes, and this is what I find?"
"Ah, buzz off Navi," Sheik laughed, waving a hand in annoyance. "Can't you see we were busy?"
"I could see all right...ick, do you know how many germs are passed on by each kiss?"
"Have you ever kissed?" I asked suddenly, and Navi's glow pulsed red. "I thought so - who was he?"
"Uh - yes - carry on," she squeaked, and floated off.
"You heard the fairy," I said to Sheik, who grinned.
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to carry on then."
"Seems like a good idea." I grabbed the back of his head, and buried my fingers in the platinum strands of hair there. Then, it was just a matter of guiding his head back to mine - and well - you've all been kissed, right? Or seen people kiss - you all know what it's like.
*
"Are you two quite done yet?" Link called back to Sheik and I. We'd been trailing behind him to the Great Fairy's fountain, holding hands and chatting idly. Link was obviously desperate to see the Great Fairy again, and then get back to Hyrule proper. No doubt to end this business once and for all. However, I was relishing what little time I had left here, so dawdling seemed good.
"I don't know - are we done yet?" Sheik asked me in a loud voice that carried to Link and Navi at the front.
"Well - I suppose we can always postpone till later," I answered just as loudly, and Link and Navi let out exasperated sighs. We sped up to join them, and walked into the Great Fairy's fountain together. Link played the melody to summon her, and she came out.
"Hello - I suppose at least this time you didn't blow my door down," the Fairy said sulkily. She raised her arms and dutifully healed the three mortals of the group, then boosted Navi's magical power. "Good luck to you four," she said as she disappeared back into the water, leaving a trail of sparkles.
"We're going to need it," Link muttered. "Right - back to the Temple of Time. And then on to Ganondorf..." Link raised the ocarina once more to his lips once we were outside the fountain again. Sheik placed a hand on his shoulder, and I kept my hand linked in his. The portal came down over us, and we were pulled all the way across the expanse of Hyrule to the great Temple of Time, which sparkled white as light fell through the stained glass windows.
There was a figure standing before the pedestal where the Master Sword had resided. She was wearing a long white and lavender dress, which trailed down the steps behind her. An ornately carved headband was perched delicately atop flowing golden curls. And gloved hands could be seen clasped behind her back, bright white against a deep blue cloak.
"Zelda?" Link called unsurely, and we let him go ahead to greet the Princess. She turned around, and blue eyes remained passive as she acknowledged our presence.
"The time has come," she said in a clear, bell-like voice. "You now have the power of all the sages, and it is time you knew the truth about many things." She descended the steps, swaying like a graceful willow tree in a gentle breeze. "Please - sit - the tale will be long in the telling. I would not wish you to tire yourselves with silly court impracticalities." She sat down on the marble steps, and we sat on the floor below her.
Most of the speech was directed at Link. She spent the time looking down at her white-gloved hands, which she held clasped in her lap, or looking over our heads to the doors of the Temple. "First of all, Ganondorf did not receive all of the parts of the Tri-Force." Even this first sentence sent my head reeling, and by the looks on my friends' faces, they too were surprised. "The Tri-Force split, as it was being stolen and not by one of a pure heart. Only the Tri-Force of Power went to the dark Ganondorf.
"In order to gain complete control, Ganondorf needed the other two pieces. But, he knew not where they had gone to, so he could not get them.
"The other two parts went to their pre-destined owners. The ones who were always to hold it if ever the worst came to the worst, as it has in our time. The recipient of the Tri-Force of courage is...it's you Link." She pointed to his left hand, where a golden triangle of light could be seen glowing through his gauntlets.
"But - I mean...why?" Link asked, looking bemused.
"It is destiny," Zelda answered primly, and then scowled slightly, "I cannot explain it more than that." A dainty laugh bubbled over her lips, "I suppose it's come as a shock to you?" Link just nodded mutely. "I know the feeling - for the other part - the Tri-Force of Wisdom - came to me." She held up her right, white-gloved hand, where another of the golden triangles of light could be seen.
"Neither of us asked for these pieces - but it was the only way. And now, to correct the mistake I made seven years ago, we must destroy Ganondorf, and rescue the other piece." She looked down at the floor, and the softest of pink tinges entered her cheeks. "I am sorry for the trouble I've caused you all. If I had not bought all the spiritual stones together, none of this would have happened..."
"No majesty!" I blurted out, and she looked up. "You did what you believed was the best. And, begging your pardon, but Ganondorf would have acquired the stones eventually anyway." She blinked, and then smiled and nodded in appreciation.
"Your words are well-spoken, and I thank you for trying to remove a blame which nonetheless I will still bear. Now, we must talk of how to go about this. Are you four all ready to go into battle again, or wouldst you like a few days rest?" We all looked at one another, and then at the tense figure of the princess.
"We shall begin the final fight this very second if you so command it," Link said gently. Proud tears washed over her eyes, and she wiped them away with the back of a gloved hand.
"That I shall leave up to you. If you wish for a rest, or time to stock up supplies, then I shall be able to hide well enough for a few days.
"When the fight does begin, the six sages will lend their power to help lure Ganondorf away into the Sacred Realm. And then, I shall be there to close the door and trap him. But, I shall need you brave warriors to protect me when it gets to that part."
"Of course majesty," Sheik said. "As a Sheikah, I would give my life to ensure your safety, and the safety of the kingdom." The princess nodded, and then raised her hands above her head.
"There is one more thing. To defeat Ganondorf, you shall need these." Arrows with tips that sparkled all the colours of the rainbow, and then some more colours I couldn't name, floated lazily to be caught in her outstretched hands. "The light arrows," she whispered reverently, and handed three to Link, and three to Sheik. Obviously, she had seen I had no bow. "They will never run out - each time you shoot one, another shall appear in its place in your quiver."
{That's a good thing too - it's going to take more than six arrows to take Ganondorf down.}
[No shit.] "So, when shall we begin our storming of the castle?" I asked the assembled. It seemed appropriate to look on Zelda and Link to make the decision.
"We need rest Zelda," he said tentatively. "We haven't slept for days, and we must be at our fullest strength to fight him."
"I suspected so - do not worry - I shall keep out of sight for a few days with my Sheikah guards. Then - when you are ready - I shall know. I'll meet you here." She threw a Deku-nut to the ground, and disappeared.
"She didn't know that trick the last time I saw her," Link observed quietly. "Come on - let's get out of here. Being this close to the castle is making me feel a little nervous." I agreed whole-heartedly with that sentiment in my head.
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I'm so sorry this has taken so long to write - but if any of you pay attention to my bio, you'll see that I've been busy with coursework, studying, band stuff and the like, so it's been hard to fit this in. However, I did manage to get this, which is all building up to the end of this *huge* saga of mine. I don't know how many chapters it'll take to end this, but rest assured, they're going to be pretty chapters. Ooh yes, fighting and angst and betrayal. NICE!
Thankies to everyone who has reviewed this monstrously long piece of waffle so far. I appreciate it more than words can say. And I just know my last chapter will be mostly thanks for reviewers [grin]. What a sap I've been turning into...ah well.
This is all you'll be getting for a while, because I've still got five weeks or so until term ends for me. Which means I'm working away for all that time. I will try as hard as I can to get something out as soon as I can, but it might not be for this (it might just be an annoying one-shot thing for Harry Potter or LOTR or something.)
It's goodbye for now - Soda XXX
PS: KISS! I made them kiss - I suck at kiss scenes - can someone help me write one? I mean, kissing in real life I have no problem with [wink] but writing it all down is difficult, especially if you're trying not to make it tacky.
Disclaimer: [Waves hand carelessly] If you don't know by now, I can't be bothered to tell you.
I hope the last chapter was to your liking - I've got some feedback, to which I must blush and say in a small voice 'thanks!'. As I said, without you guys, I doubt I would have carried on much farther than a few scraggly chapters. So, it's really down to you (and my muses - look at them, they're overworked, poor babies!)
Muses: [Agree, then get back to helping Soda]
Soda: AWW!
Well, last chapter, they were kids - which I still like...ch'ibifying them is one of the funniest pictures I've ever had in my head. [Cough]. Well, anyway, they gained the silver gauntlets, and now they're heading forwards again. This be the last of the temples. O.o I've written a lot a lot! This chapter will be quite a/u, as I'll have to change the Temple so that it fits in with what I wanna do.
And on that note, on to the Spirit Temple!
Oops - just noticed I've been forgetting to put the thought denotations. [Blush] sorry guys - oh well, you pretty much know them by now. But, for old times' sake:
[] = Alexis' thoughts {} = Navi's thoughts
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I was surprised when I found myself being stopped yet again by Loki in- between times. The last time I'd been whisked back to the present (and by demons, that sounds confusing!), it had all been over with a mere casual wave of his staff. But, this time, he'd deemed to slow time once more, in order to speak to me.
His face did not fill me with confidence when he greeted me - in fact, it was filled with more dread than Fleur's had been at the news of Diabola and Lucifer. "Little one, we must talk," were his first words, and he motioned that we both, once again, sit on the cloud-floor. His staff was out, and he waved it slightly, causing me to shoot up to my normal size. Then, he drummed his fingers against the carven surface, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to find the words.
"What is it?" I prompted, and felt so bold as to take the restless hand between both of my own.
"Demons, Lexis!" he gasped, shaking his head violently and squeezing his eyes tight shut. I knew that expression well - he was trying to keep back tears.
"Please, tell me what's wrong!" I demanded, and he placed his free hand over the top one of my two.
"It - is - a difficult matter to broach." He chewed his lip, then seemed to remember that he was supposed to be the one in command here. He straightened his back, and retrieved the hand I was clutching. "The Sheikah," he said simply, and for a split-second, I swear my heart ceased to even beat.
[No! What can have happened?] Then, I remembered, that he was of course in- between times. No harm could possibly have come to him there.
"You're too close to him!" Loki continued, and his voice was matched only by the sternness of his face.
"I...well...I..." I was at a loss for words (in case you hadn't noticed.)
"You must put a stop to it *immediately!*"
"Why?" I protested. "Why stop the one thing I've ever managed to do right?"
"Right?" he echoed. "How can it be 'right' if he doesn't even know who your really are? How can it be 'right' if he doesn't know that you must leave as soon as this is over? How can it be 'right' if he doesn't so much as know your *name*?" his tirade had escalated into a yell, and I sprang up onto my feet so as to glare down at him.
"It's 'right,'" I said, in a shaky voice that was nonetheless as loud as his, "because I *love* him!" The words hung heavily in the air between us. And, only then, when I had been forced to it, did I realise that what I had said in my anger was true. Loki was right. For his sake, perhaps more than mine own, I would have to distance myself from the dear Sheikah.
The obvious stab of pain to my godfather at my words could not be taken away, but I mumbled a soft "sorry" anyway. To this, he merely waved a hand as if to say 'it was nothing'. His look was forlorn and regretful, and I felt odd as he showered such unbridled pity upon me. "I - I will do as you asked," I stuttered with a swift bow.
"'tis for the best," he told me softly, and I nodded. "Mayhap in the future the situation can be remedied," he added, but I just shook my head. It was either all or nothing - and I was bound to nothing. "Do whatever you can to make sure that your leaving will be as easy as possible. If not for you," he paused, and seemed as though he sensed what I thought, "then at least for him." Loki readied his staff to send me back. "Demons know things are bad enough for you all..."
"Yes Loki - of course," I replied with another stiff bow. "Just send me back now so that this ridiculous mission will be over quickly." It was amazing how I could revert to deadpan indifference when I needed to.
"I shall. And may it be we can all see some happier times," he sighed heavily, and then sent me back.
~*~*~*~
This time, upon landing, all three of us managed to stay on our feet. I glanced over at Sheik and felt like crying in frustration. These would be the last few sweet moments for him; I'd let him have his oblivious freedom for now. There was no point in completely shutting him out after all that effort I had gone to in order to get him to trust me! Just so long as we were fighting, there would be no need to cross that bridge for a while.
"Shall we head straight on then?" Link asked, and we answered the affirmative. "Well, let's go then. But, after this temple, we sleep for a week, agreed?"
"Aye!" Sheik laughed, and caught my eye. I cracked a smile, but felt glad when Link played the Temple melody to whisk us away to fight.
As soon as we arrived, Link was pulling out the silver gauntlets and strapping them onto his hands. "Now to see whether these things work," he said brightly, placing both shining hands, palms flat, on a huge rock which barred our way into the temple proper. To my great surprise, after an initial couple of test pushes, Link managed to shove it out of the way with ease. And then, he calmly slipped the gauntlets off again. "They're handy, but I don't want to crush this baby," he quipped, grabbing the Master Sword from his back before proceeding.
"I have *got* to try those," Sheik breathed quietly, before stepping after Link into the dark temple interior. I was at the back of the group, as per usual. Curiously, I paused to lean against the stone that had so recently barred our way. I tried to see whether, by applying my whole weight, I could make it move. No luck - the great sandstone block remained adamantly still, a testament to the power of the gauntlets.
"What do you reckon we'll fight first?" I asked Navi, who was hovering at a cross-roads in the passages, along with the other two.
"I'm not sure," she answered, chewing her lip. "I wish we had a map for this place!"
"We might," Link said, and looked pointedly at Sheik, who swiftly produced the map from our previous excursion to the other part of the Temple.
{It's a long shot, but there might be something.}
[I sure hope so - this place is already bigger than any of the other Temples.]
{I wouldn't want to get lost in here} Navi agreed darkly, fluttering over to the map Sheik held. "Here; that looks like it might overlap to this set of passages," she pointed.
"You mean this one?" Sheik squinted down at the passage Navi was pointing out with her dainty finger. I leant over his shoulder to scrutinize the map (Link leant round his right shoulder, and I his left).
"No, that leads out to the balcony I think," I muttered. "Yeah, see, here it is, and there's the entrance below." Sheik nodded, and I felt a jolt as he smiled fondly at me for a brief second, before returning attention to the map.
"Umm - well - dammit, Navi, do you think you could give us some light here?" Sheik asked. Navi didn't answer.
{Does the phrase 'run' mean something to you?}
[Yeah - why?] I'd already guessed what would be coming next, and tensed my muscles for the chase.
{Good - run would you?} she answered calmly, before flitting off down the hallway to the left.
"Run," I snapped to the other two, and for once, I took the head of the group. They followed, questions forming on their lips as boots clattered against the ground. "Don't ask," I growled, "just run." Behind, I could hear more sounds; those of talons against stone, and low, rasping growls that bespoke of hunger. [What are they?]
{They look like the Desert lynx Nabooru had - it must have gotten out and bred.}
[Oh, simply wonderful.] Already there was a stitch in my side, and I was sorely tempted to yell as many swear words as I could possibly remember. But, that would have been a waste of breath, which I definitely needed. [Some day, I'm gonna make sure I can run better] I thought wryly as we skidded around a corner, and on seeing a heavy iron door, slammed it shut on the whiskered faces of our pursuers. They raked their claws down the other side of the door, making a sound like chalk on a blackboard. Finally, however, they seemed to give up, and we heard their soft foot-pads walking away.
Turning around, we saw a large chamber, and high above, I saw a diamond- like object. We all knew what these meant by now, and Link, spotting it only a second or so later, fired the longshot at it to trigger it. This opened a door halfway down the left wall of the chamber, which we went through, still catching our breath.
More snarls reached our ears, but these ones were easily recognisable as those of Wolfos. Which are a piece of cake to kill. It was less than a minute later that all of the creatures lay dead, and a shimmering blue ring appeared, denoting a chest. I backed up, not fancying standing on top of it when it appeared, and bumped into Sheik. Not good - demons, why wasn't I paying attention to where I was going. He laid a hand on my shoulder, and guilt sped through me.
Within the chest was the map which showed the rest of the Temple, which Sheik immediately took and scrutinized. A couple of rooms blazed blue, showing where we had already been, and he pulled out the compass to hazard a guess as to where we had to go next. "Back into the last chamber, and then we should see a door directly across from us," he said. "There's that room there with a chest in it," he pointed it out to Link.
We hurried out into the chamber and through the door opposite. Immediately, there was a scary kinda squelching sound, and the huge black mouth of a Like-Like swooped down towards us. "Bloody hell!" Link yelled, as the creature managed to wind it's - gooey's the only way I can describe it - body around him. An undulation threw me backwards into the door, which hurt a hell of a lot. Which left only Sheik in a state to fight, and stop Link being eaten.
He was quick about it, and manoeuvred carefully so he didn't hit Link with his sword as he swiped at the creature. At last, it shuddered and pulsated for the last time, before collapsing and liquefying onto the floor. Link landed with a loud thump on his butt, and moaned loudly. Every part of skin that the Like-Like had touched was a vivid red, as though he'd been severely sunburned. "Ow," he grumbled, and Navi just giggled as he rubbed the tender skin.
"I'm afraid I can't do anything for Like-Like love-bites Link," she snorted, and dodged as he tried to swipe her out of the air.
"Sheik - do you have any bandages I can borrow for this?" Link asked hopelessly, and Sheik dutifully pulled his pack from his back and rummaged through it. Meanwhile, I looked around the rest of the room, now that it wasn't obscured by the bulk of the Like-Like. Chest! Over at the other end - I walked over and kicked it open, to find a small key. This I took out, and then came back over to give it to Sheik for safekeeping. Link was gingerly wrapping bandages over his face, and making a pretty shoddy job of trying to imitate Sheik's style.
"Great Goddesses, you're only going to make it worse!" Sheik said exasperatedly, and pulled the badly applied wrappings away. "Let me - Blaise, do you and Navi mind having a scout around?"
"Sure," I answered, and Navi flitted over to me. "Wonder what's over here," I murmured as we strolled to the shadowy end of the room. Navi flew ahead of me to light the path before me, and we soon came to a dead end.
"Not much," she said dryly. "Oi, Sheik, there's nothing else in here!" she called back, and he looked up from where he had just tucked the last bandage in place around Link's injured skin.
"OK - well," he pulled out the map again. "There's another door in that room we just came from - funny.I didn't see it before."
Link just rolled his eyes, "Sheik, hello, we live in a kingdom full of magic, and you're worried by appearing doors?" Sheik just stuck his tongue out in a very childish way, and I couldn't help but to laugh. It was so hard not to carry on as I had been before Loki's warning. Sheik was just - incredibly, insanely adorable.
{Bleurgh - can you ever think about anything else?} Navi asked in mock disgust, and I jumped slightly.
[Wha...?]
{Oops - sorry, I wasn't meant to be listening...ehehehe} she giggled guiltily.
[No worries - but what did you expect?] She looked over at me with a shrewd smirk, and I playfully swatted at her.
{Hey!} she shook her fist at me, before heading back to Link's shoulder. {You know I'm going to have to pay you back for that, don't you?}
[Yeah...eep!] I thought back, and she sniggered. Sheik was leading us back into the previous room, where a door had indeed appeared. He put the key in the lock and turned it, to allow us access.
"OH NO!" Link shrieked, and jumped backwards into me - Sheik had jumped sideways, and I wondered what the hell was going on.
"Link," I mumbled through a mouthful of his tunic, "Geroff!"
"Huh? OH! Sorry," he rolled over to the side, allowing me to sit up. And I saw what had caused the outburst of horror. Another Like-Like was in the room we'd just tried to enter. I took one look at Link's face, another at Sheik's grin, and laughed. "Hey, it's not funny!" Link pushed me by the shoulder, and I shoved him back, still laughing. Then, with a deep breath, I got back to my feet, and, as I simply couldn't be bothered to muck around with arrows or my daggers, I pulled my sword, and began to slash away at the shapeless creature.
"The big bad Like-Like's all gone now Link," Navi said in the voice that people usually use when they're talking to babies. "We can carry on now, can't we, l'il Linkie-kins." Her voice was cut off as Link caught her out of the air and held her in his fist.
"You must have a death wish," I informed him, before treading over the remains of the Like-Like, and climbing up the ladder on the wall behind it.
{Too right there.}
*
"Another Iron Knuckle?" I moaned, looking up at the great statue before us. "Wasn't one enough?"
"I bloody well thought so," Sheik growled, rubbing his aching muscles and looking up at the statue in annoyance.
"Look, come on. The sooner we kill it, the sooner this is over, right?" Link reasoned, stemming the flow of blood from a nosebleed. (He'd managed to hit the wall, instead of letting go, whilst using the long shot earlier on. It wasn't really worth the bother of Navi healing it, or red potion. We were saving those for a real emergency.)
"Fine." I walked up to the statue, raised my sword, and looked back at the others. "Ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Link grimaced, and readied his sword as well. I swept my sword downwards to hit the armoured shoulder of the statue. It made a huge clang which echoed around the stone room, and with a loud grating sound, the Iron Knuckle came to life. And, as I was the one with the most energy left, it was up to me to act as decoy again. I started off by clanging my sword against its helmet, to draw it back.
Link and Sheik were quick to dart in, but not quick enough. This Iron Knuckle was a lot faster than the other two we'd seen, and they barely managed to dodge the giant axe as the creature swung it. I distinctly heard Sheik screech angrily, "The bastard got my hair!" And then, I did what is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life.
I blame it on the rush of adrenaline surging through me at the time, because I can't be that dumb. Seriously, no one can be that dumb. I jumped on the Iron Knuckle's back, swinging my legs over the armoured shoulders, and hacking away with my sword. Which didn't do much good, since there was armour there. We hadn't been able to whittle it away, so I began trying to pry it away with my hands instead.
"BLAISE! What by the Goddesses are you doing?" Navi shrieked up at me, even whilst she used her magical strength to lift the two boys above an axe- swing.
"I'm killing it, that's what I'm doing!" I grunted, as I carried on my attempt to wrench the metal plate away from the thing's overly large head. The edges of the plate were sharp, and multiple cuts criss-crossed my fingers and palms. No matter - the glint of a piece of sunlight off of the metal I was pulling at gave me an idea. "Link, try using the mirror shield to blind it for a bit," I called.
Link complied, and the creature let out a wail as the sun was reflected directly into its eyes. It dazzled me at the same time though, so I didn't see the giant hand coming up to clamp against the monster's pained eyes until it was too late. Luckily, it was only my arm that was in the way - the crack was sickeningly loud as it echoed around the room. [Ow. Stupid bone.] I thought angrily. The world seemed to be spinning - no - the creature was falling.
The clap it had given itself on the head had done the trick - now all the others had to do was deliver the final blow. I slid off of the thing's shoulders, and rolled out of the way as it fell. The sound as the Iron Knuckle connected with the floor was stupendous - like a crack of thunder right by your ear might sound. There was another crack, and I wondered what else was broken...
I must have phased out for a small while, because when I next blinked my eyes open, I heard the other two talking quite jovially, and another voice that I vaguely knew answering. "You all right?" Navi asked as she came over with three other people. The dust that lingered in the air made them all look slightly blurry, but I knew whom the third was by their hair. The lady Nabooru.
"Ah - I take it you are Blaise?" she asked, and I nodded. "Thank you," - she reached out a hand, and I lifted the arm that wasn't broken (the left) to shake it. "You've saved me from my servitude at long last."
"Servitude?" I queried, being helped to my feet by Link. "Ow - OK, I know which other bone I broke now," I said as my left leg decided it didn't want to hold me up. Sheik grabbed my left arm so I didn't have to be reacquainted with the floor, and Navi buzzed around me, swiftly mending my bones for me. This, Nabooru watched with interest, before launching into her story.
"Well, the two witch sisters, Koume and Kotake placed me under a spell, so that I had to do their bidding. I've been in that bloody suit of armour for years!" she crossed her arms over her chest, and breathed in deeply. "Ah, it does feel good to be able to breathe proper air again." I sniffed, and all I could smell was dirt and perspiration - not exactly awe-inspiring. "Well, again, I thank you - we must get out of here now though, before the witches come back."
"No - we can't," Link said dutifully. "We have to free this Temple from the evil here and free the sage." Nabooru blinked.
"The evil here - the only evil I know of are the witches."
"Then that's who we fight," Link said stoutly, and Nabooru opened her mouth to argue. She didn't even get to begin, as there were two intense flashes of light, and the two witches we'd seen in the past appeared. Nabooru looked at the both of them, and cowered low down to the floor, crouched, ready to fight for her very life.
"Get away from me, ugly hags!" she spat, and the witches cackled once more. With a wave of their knarled hands, both they, and Nabooru disappeared. Nabooru's anguished cry floated through the air, and a door materialised at the end of the room.
"I suppose that's where we go next," Link muttered, and walked confidently towards the door. "Blaise," I looked up from where I'd been staring at the place Nabooru had been standing in. "Are you all right to go on?"
"Of course," I answered curtly. "Let's kick some witch butt," I didn't say this jokingly, and by the looks on the faces of the others, they completely agreed. It was time to fight, and fight hard now. This would be the last of the great battles before Ganondorf.
*
"It's dark in here," Navi had found a perch on my shoulder at some point, and she whispered this into my ear, sounding slightly panicked.
"Pull yourself together, we all need to be alert," I hissed back as kindly as I could, as I too strained my eyes to see anything in the gloom. No doubt, those two witches were circling around in here, just waiting for an opportunity to pick us off.
{That isn't exactly helping my mood!}
[Look, I've told you before, I'm a pessimist. Just ignore me - hell, maybe things will be all right, and they'll let Nabooru free and play poker with us!]
{OK - I know you just had an arm and a leg broken, but don't you think that's a little bit too bitchy?}
[Yeah - sorry. I'm just tense.] She made a sound of understanding, and then rose into the air, and put all her effort into lighting the chamber - room - place - we were in. And there, straight ahead of us, yet so far away that if you held out a hand, you'd not be able to see them, were the two witches. They had tied Nabooru to an altar at the far end, and something suspiciously like a knife was glinting in the hand of the red-haired witch. But, their attentions had been drawn by Navi's light, and torches of both red and blue fire ignited along the measureless walls.
"Look sister, they've come to play!" the blue-haired one said with a menacing giggle.
"So they have - I suppose we can leave the slave there whilst we play a game with these little mortals."
"Oh - but I did so want to teach her a lesson," the blue one whined, even as she rose up on her crudely crafted broom after her sister. "Mind you, we can always work on this girlie here," I knew they were pointing to me. "I'm sure our dear-heart Ganonny would love to have her back."
"Ooh yes, the little sweetums did have his heart set on that one." I scowled, and my sword changed into its broadsword form. Oh boy, I was pissed off now.
"Stop with the chat and fight already," I yelled up at the babbling fools above, stepping forwards onto a circular platform which seemed to make up most of the room's floor.
"By golly, she is a feisty one, isn't she?" the red one sneered.
"Yes indeed, that she is sister."
"No wonder our Gannony is partial to her." I let out a howl of utter annoyance, and grabbed Link's bow from his belt. He serenely offered me an arrow, which I took, thought about it, and then shot the blue one, for bringing the subject of Ganondorf up in the first place. She let out a short scream of surprise, and swooped down a couple of feet.
"That wasn't very friendly!" The red one sounded indignant, and a ball of red light surged out from her wrist to collect at each fingertip. There, each point grew, until she held a raging inferno in her hand. The blue one was still moaning about her wound, and the red one gave her a glance. This gave Sheik time to fire an arrow from his own bow at her. The fireball disappeared, and she let out the same scream her sister had.
"Well, if you're going to be like that!" the blue one said huffily.
"I suppose we have to teach them a lesson now, don't we sister?"
"Oh yes - preferably a painful one!"
"Of course." They both summoned handfuls of their own magic. Earlier on, we had come across a devious little deku-scrub, who had told us how to defend against these attacks. So, I shuffled backwards to Link, who had the mirror shield raised. The two magics flew towards us, and Link leant more heavily to the left (Sheik, Navi and I leaning with him), so that the blue magic (ice) sped past us to the right side, and the red (fire) was absorbed by the shield.
The witches, enraged by the fact that they had not caused us some considerable damage, began volleying the magic at us at a ridiculous speed. Link had to be careful to store the energy within his shield, but finally, by darting here and there, the shield had collected three red magics. "Aim at the blue one," Navi whispered, as the mirror shield glowed sun-bright, illuminating the furthest reaches of the high ceiling above.
The blue one came crashing down as the counter-magic to her own hit her. And, high above, the red was paralysed for a moment whilst her sister was down. I rushed in with my broadsword, and managed to take of her left hand before she rose again. "Look!" Link called, as the witches were slowly righting themselves. Looking back, I saw that the mirror shield had broken into three equal shards, which even as we watched, took on the forms of the very same shield they had once made up.
"Three shields in one - handy," Sheik panted, picking up one of them. The other, Link tossed to me, and we returned to the battle, which was much easier with all of us much more mobile. We could each store different attacks - so, at one time, Link might be storing the ice, and Sheik and I the fire, or Link and I the fire, and Sheik the ice, and so on. The witches were quickly loosing strength, and they were moving more and more sluggishly in the air.
[This is kinda easy when you think about it,] I thought, bracing myself as my mirror shield absorbed a huge blast of ice.
There were no volleys, and I dared to peer around my shield. Vaguely, I noticed Link and Sheik do the same, and Navi buzzing around Link's head. High above, the sisters were - I don't know how to describe it. The only way to know what it was like is if you were there. The best I can put it is to say that they - were merging. Becoming one. So that they were joined in the body of a giant woman, that could be likened to a Gerudo woman on the one half, and a Zoran if it were human on the other.
The left half was blue - and azure hair floated down to that side's waist. The skin there was like Link's - slightly tanned, but nothing in comparison to the skin on the red side. There, the merged witches' hair was scarlet and spiked down to the shoulders. Both halves wore the same expression of anger and intense concentration though. And each arm was conjuring magics, one blue and one red.
As I say, it is difficult to explain lest you were there. But, the only other thing I can remember as I watched in horrified awe, was Navi thinking to me. {You just had to go and think that, didn't you? You've bloody jinxed us!} I gulped. Oh yeah, this was definitely a jinx...
*
"Look out!" Link and Sheik had been backed into a corner, where the residue of an ice spell was still lingering on the floor. They couldn't stop their backward march however, and their legs were encased completely in ice. The witches seemed content just to leave them there, and gave off a cackle that echoed - two voices were coming from the one form. Then, they turned on me, half and half face grinning darkly. I had to wrench my eyes away from the other two; the ice was slowly creeping up their legs, and would soon encase all of them.
Navi was trying to wrench both of them away, but one swipe from the hand of Twinrova put an end to that. The fairy slammed into the wall and fell down, changing into her human-form as she fell. With each jagged breath she took, her wings went up and down. I didn't have long to carry on watching, as Twinrova was now focused completely on me. "Now, let's settle this, shall we? We're just going to knock you out good and proper, and take you back to Ganonny." The condescending tone was enraging, and I had to force myself not to get annoyed.
"Just try it," I said, setting myself into a battle stance, shield arm ready. She - I mean they - uh - it - complied immediately with both red and blue balls of magic. I dived out of the way of the main brunt of the attack, and caught the backwash of the ice attack. My shield glowed slightly as the blue tendrils sank into the shiny metal.
Another set of bolts, and she flew around behind me to try and catch me out that way. My position was perfect however - I just pivoted to follow her every move. I had to be wary of the residues of the spells all around me, but apart from that, I was fighting the battle well enough.
Twinrova's eyes widened, and whilst she was looking away from me, I managed to throw one of my daggers, which embedded itself into her lower torso. She didn't seem to notice much, and a creaking, shattering sound caught my attention. Looking around, I saw that Sheik had managed to free himself from his icy prison, and was attempting to free Link with shivering movements. Of course, the combined witches' were having none of that, and fired a couple of magic bolts at him.
He dodged them easily, raising his shield to prevent himself from being frozen or burned. Now that Twinrova had two opponents, each half was working independently of the other. The blue aimed at me, and the red at him. Together, we managed to weaken the creature further, until her pants for air could be heard around the room. She was gasping out loud, and her moves were sluggish. [That's it - she's wearing down.] I'd bloody well done it again, because at that precise moment, Sheik stumbled backwards over the still form of Navi, and crashed against the wall. With a slight moan, he slid down to lie on the floor, legs stretched over Navi's shoulders.
[Shit.] Link was completely encased in his ice prison now, and I didn't know how long he had been like that. If this didn't end quickly, he could - I didn't continue that thought. Twinrova's movements were still slow, and though I was exhausted beyond reason, I was still faster than she was. So, I danced circles around her, bought her to the brink of exhaustion and beyond.
How long I carried on this darting fight, moving in and out, around and around my adversary, I don't know. But, finally, she dropped to the floor in exhaustion, and I managed to slouch over, sword drawn. The split face looked up at me, one black eye, one yellow, and seemed to acknowledge that I had won. There was an almost congratulatory smile there. I drove the sword home, and light permeated the whole room, the whole level, the whole Temple in fact.
A shock wave blasted through the air, releasing Nabooru from her chains, Link from the ice, and the body disappeared. Nabooru wasn't making any noise, but I was more worried about Link. Rushing over, I saw his collapse like a crumbling old tower. His lips were blue, and his normally tanned skin was as pale as parchment. He most definitely was not breathing, and I hurriedly checked for a pulse.
There. Soft, feeble and fluttering, but there. I shook him. "Link - Link - get up! LINK!" It didn't raise a response, though Sheik did blink his eyes open, and reached up to wipe a trickle of blood off of his forehead. "LINK! Get up you damn Hylian fool!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sheik's eyes flicker, and realised the mistake I had just made. I put it to the back of my mind, and pinched Link's nose. Then, I placed my mouth over his icy-blue lips, and blew air into his still lungs.
"C'mon..." Another breath, and air came up to meet that which I was supplying him with. Suddenly, he was sitting up and coughing loudly. "Finally - don't do that to me," I scolded, and he just shivered bemusedly.
"Oh - Chamber of Sages," he whispered, as a portal took him away. Leaving Sheik and I with an unconscious Navi on our hands.
"Shall we try and wake her?" I asked Sheik, pointing at Navi.
"No - look at her. She's exhausted. We'd best let her rest for now." This was all said stiffly, and I could almost predict word for word what was coming next. "What the hell was that business about 'Hylian fool'?"
"Hey, it was just a heat of the moment thing," I said, then added, "It's not like I had the time to think out what I was saying. He was this close from death after all," I held out my forefinger and thumb so that only a tiny sliver of space was left between them. He nodded, furrowed his brow, and then seemed to accept the explanation. [Thank you. Thank you whoever made him believe that!]
"Blaise," Sheik ventured a few minutes later. I sat up from where I'd been slouching against the wall, and opened my eyes.
"Hmm?"
"This quest is nearing it's end..."
"Yes...? Is there a point to this?" I covered my mouth as a yawn forced it's way out.
"Well - you said you'd tell us about - things - at the end." He looked tentative, and was staring at the floor.
"Yes - and I meant at the end. Surely you can trust me until then?" I ignored all the cautions I'd been given, and grabbed him by the chin to force him to look at me. "You can trust me, can't you?"
"Of course," he smiled, and blushed. "I can think of some other things I could do as well," he dropped a roguish wink. I snorted, and jerked a thumb at Navi,
"What if she were to wake up? And it all depends what 'things' you mean." He snorted as well, and then traversed the stone floor to sit closer to me.
"These kind of things," he muttered, never breaking eye contact, and he reached out to place his hands on the back of my neck. "Now, this I've been wanting to do for a while, but we haven't had the chance." And he pulled my head forwards with the hands on my neck, to introduce our lips to one another. And a very pleasant introduction it was as well. I gave up - how the hell was I supposed to resist this Sheikah man? I wasn't blind, after all!
"Ahem!" A beam of light shot through my closed eyelids, and I pulled back to see Navi hovering over the two of us. "I'm out for a few minutes, and this is what I find?"
"Ah, buzz off Navi," Sheik laughed, waving a hand in annoyance. "Can't you see we were busy?"
"I could see all right...ick, do you know how many germs are passed on by each kiss?"
"Have you ever kissed?" I asked suddenly, and Navi's glow pulsed red. "I thought so - who was he?"
"Uh - yes - carry on," she squeaked, and floated off.
"You heard the fairy," I said to Sheik, who grinned.
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to carry on then."
"Seems like a good idea." I grabbed the back of his head, and buried my fingers in the platinum strands of hair there. Then, it was just a matter of guiding his head back to mine - and well - you've all been kissed, right? Or seen people kiss - you all know what it's like.
*
"Are you two quite done yet?" Link called back to Sheik and I. We'd been trailing behind him to the Great Fairy's fountain, holding hands and chatting idly. Link was obviously desperate to see the Great Fairy again, and then get back to Hyrule proper. No doubt to end this business once and for all. However, I was relishing what little time I had left here, so dawdling seemed good.
"I don't know - are we done yet?" Sheik asked me in a loud voice that carried to Link and Navi at the front.
"Well - I suppose we can always postpone till later," I answered just as loudly, and Link and Navi let out exasperated sighs. We sped up to join them, and walked into the Great Fairy's fountain together. Link played the melody to summon her, and she came out.
"Hello - I suppose at least this time you didn't blow my door down," the Fairy said sulkily. She raised her arms and dutifully healed the three mortals of the group, then boosted Navi's magical power. "Good luck to you four," she said as she disappeared back into the water, leaving a trail of sparkles.
"We're going to need it," Link muttered. "Right - back to the Temple of Time. And then on to Ganondorf..." Link raised the ocarina once more to his lips once we were outside the fountain again. Sheik placed a hand on his shoulder, and I kept my hand linked in his. The portal came down over us, and we were pulled all the way across the expanse of Hyrule to the great Temple of Time, which sparkled white as light fell through the stained glass windows.
There was a figure standing before the pedestal where the Master Sword had resided. She was wearing a long white and lavender dress, which trailed down the steps behind her. An ornately carved headband was perched delicately atop flowing golden curls. And gloved hands could be seen clasped behind her back, bright white against a deep blue cloak.
"Zelda?" Link called unsurely, and we let him go ahead to greet the Princess. She turned around, and blue eyes remained passive as she acknowledged our presence.
"The time has come," she said in a clear, bell-like voice. "You now have the power of all the sages, and it is time you knew the truth about many things." She descended the steps, swaying like a graceful willow tree in a gentle breeze. "Please - sit - the tale will be long in the telling. I would not wish you to tire yourselves with silly court impracticalities." She sat down on the marble steps, and we sat on the floor below her.
Most of the speech was directed at Link. She spent the time looking down at her white-gloved hands, which she held clasped in her lap, or looking over our heads to the doors of the Temple. "First of all, Ganondorf did not receive all of the parts of the Tri-Force." Even this first sentence sent my head reeling, and by the looks on my friends' faces, they too were surprised. "The Tri-Force split, as it was being stolen and not by one of a pure heart. Only the Tri-Force of Power went to the dark Ganondorf.
"In order to gain complete control, Ganondorf needed the other two pieces. But, he knew not where they had gone to, so he could not get them.
"The other two parts went to their pre-destined owners. The ones who were always to hold it if ever the worst came to the worst, as it has in our time. The recipient of the Tri-Force of courage is...it's you Link." She pointed to his left hand, where a golden triangle of light could be seen glowing through his gauntlets.
"But - I mean...why?" Link asked, looking bemused.
"It is destiny," Zelda answered primly, and then scowled slightly, "I cannot explain it more than that." A dainty laugh bubbled over her lips, "I suppose it's come as a shock to you?" Link just nodded mutely. "I know the feeling - for the other part - the Tri-Force of Wisdom - came to me." She held up her right, white-gloved hand, where another of the golden triangles of light could be seen.
"Neither of us asked for these pieces - but it was the only way. And now, to correct the mistake I made seven years ago, we must destroy Ganondorf, and rescue the other piece." She looked down at the floor, and the softest of pink tinges entered her cheeks. "I am sorry for the trouble I've caused you all. If I had not bought all the spiritual stones together, none of this would have happened..."
"No majesty!" I blurted out, and she looked up. "You did what you believed was the best. And, begging your pardon, but Ganondorf would have acquired the stones eventually anyway." She blinked, and then smiled and nodded in appreciation.
"Your words are well-spoken, and I thank you for trying to remove a blame which nonetheless I will still bear. Now, we must talk of how to go about this. Are you four all ready to go into battle again, or wouldst you like a few days rest?" We all looked at one another, and then at the tense figure of the princess.
"We shall begin the final fight this very second if you so command it," Link said gently. Proud tears washed over her eyes, and she wiped them away with the back of a gloved hand.
"That I shall leave up to you. If you wish for a rest, or time to stock up supplies, then I shall be able to hide well enough for a few days.
"When the fight does begin, the six sages will lend their power to help lure Ganondorf away into the Sacred Realm. And then, I shall be there to close the door and trap him. But, I shall need you brave warriors to protect me when it gets to that part."
"Of course majesty," Sheik said. "As a Sheikah, I would give my life to ensure your safety, and the safety of the kingdom." The princess nodded, and then raised her hands above her head.
"There is one more thing. To defeat Ganondorf, you shall need these." Arrows with tips that sparkled all the colours of the rainbow, and then some more colours I couldn't name, floated lazily to be caught in her outstretched hands. "The light arrows," she whispered reverently, and handed three to Link, and three to Sheik. Obviously, she had seen I had no bow. "They will never run out - each time you shoot one, another shall appear in its place in your quiver."
{That's a good thing too - it's going to take more than six arrows to take Ganondorf down.}
[No shit.] "So, when shall we begin our storming of the castle?" I asked the assembled. It seemed appropriate to look on Zelda and Link to make the decision.
"We need rest Zelda," he said tentatively. "We haven't slept for days, and we must be at our fullest strength to fight him."
"I suspected so - do not worry - I shall keep out of sight for a few days with my Sheikah guards. Then - when you are ready - I shall know. I'll meet you here." She threw a Deku-nut to the ground, and disappeared.
"She didn't know that trick the last time I saw her," Link observed quietly. "Come on - let's get out of here. Being this close to the castle is making me feel a little nervous." I agreed whole-heartedly with that sentiment in my head.
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I'm so sorry this has taken so long to write - but if any of you pay attention to my bio, you'll see that I've been busy with coursework, studying, band stuff and the like, so it's been hard to fit this in. However, I did manage to get this, which is all building up to the end of this *huge* saga of mine. I don't know how many chapters it'll take to end this, but rest assured, they're going to be pretty chapters. Ooh yes, fighting and angst and betrayal. NICE!
Thankies to everyone who has reviewed this monstrously long piece of waffle so far. I appreciate it more than words can say. And I just know my last chapter will be mostly thanks for reviewers [grin]. What a sap I've been turning into...ah well.
This is all you'll be getting for a while, because I've still got five weeks or so until term ends for me. Which means I'm working away for all that time. I will try as hard as I can to get something out as soon as I can, but it might not be for this (it might just be an annoying one-shot thing for Harry Potter or LOTR or something.)
It's goodbye for now - Soda XXX
PS: KISS! I made them kiss - I suck at kiss scenes - can someone help me write one? I mean, kissing in real life I have no problem with [wink] but writing it all down is difficult, especially if you're trying not to make it tacky.
