The Hero Returns To Hyrule
Chapter 9: The Shadow Temple, Part 1
A/N: Welcome to the Shadow Temple! Link arrives at the next stop on the road to restoring the Master Sword, but an old enemy has returned to challenge him in a final fight to determine the ultimate Link. Who knows, maybe by the time this is over, Malon has defeated the evils of the Fire Temple. Let's find out.
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Link steps through the portal, still holding his head. He looks around at his surroundings with interest and disgust. It appears to be a courtyard of a hotel. The entire building shows decades of disregard, run down to the point of nearly collapsing upon itself.
The smell here is three times as bad as the one inside of the crypt. Every time the wind blew by, Link got the feeling of thousands of tiny insects eating away at his body. "Why are all these temples so death oriented?" Link mutters to himself as he heads towards a pair of French doors leading out of the courtyard.
The doors open as Link approached them. "Not a good sign." Link whispered as he tip-toed into the room.
Link finds himself in the lobby of the building. Shreds of once fancy red carpet covers the creaking floorboards. Rusted gold trolleys lay heaped in a pile near a pair of metal doors. A sign hanging across the door reads "Danger. Elevator Out of Commission." Beside the front doors is the reception desk.
Something of interest catches the hero's eyes on the other side of the desk. He takes a couple of steps back and gives himself a running start before jumping the desk. The jump itself was elegant, except for the part where Link catches his foot on the edge and falls awkwardly over the desk. "I'm glad nobody saw that." Link chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet.
But someone did see his accident. In fact a whole bunch of someone's saw the mishap. They watched in silence as Link collected a key from the desk. "Aw crap! There's has to be at least fifty stories in this place." Link exclaims when he catches sight of the hotel's map. Link still hadn't noticed that he was being watched.
A large skull was on the roof of the hotel. Link traced a path to the skull along the map using his finger. He repeated a couple of directions to himself as he climbed over the desk and headed to the stairway. The watchers looked at each other, evil smirks crossing their faces as Link took a cautionary step onto the first step.
Link climbed the staircase, but with every step higher he took, a feeling of dread in his stomach increased. A sign declared that Link was on the thirteenth floor. Link turned and headed up the staircase to the next floor. Halfway up the stairs the sound of wood being smashed into smithereens echoed up the stairwell. The hero nervously looked over the railing and was shocked to see the staircase collapsing towards him.
In a desperate attempt to flee the falling floor, Link rushed to the door to the thirteenth floor. He yanked it open and ran into... a brick wall. The stairs were speeding up, already at the tenth floor. Link made a wild dash up the stairs, heading to the next floor. Another sign declared that this was the thirteenth floor. Link didn't have time to be confused as he pulled open the door to this floor and ended up with the same result as the previous floor.
The collapsing stairs were at eleven. Again up the stairs. Again thirteen. Again a brick wall. Stairs at twelve. Again thirteen and a wall. The stairs were right behind him. The watchers began laughing at the helpless hero as he ran up the stairs not bothering to check doors. The stairs were falling as he stepped on them. He rounded a corner, knowing that he was doomed as the stairs begin falling in front of him.
Down he plummeted. All those who had been watching let out the most hideous of cackles as they watched. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight... The numbers flashed by as Link fell through the empty space. Seven, six, five. An idea came to his head. Four, three. He had one chance. Two. The grappling hook snaked upwards, the owner praying it caught anything. One.
The laughter was cut short. Hanging mere inches from the floor was the hero. Sweet dripped from Link's forehead as he looked up into the dark stairwell, trying to see what had saved him. The hook had caught the doorknob of floor number seven. "Lucky number seven." Link smiled as he planted his feet on the ground. He collected the hook and tucked it away.
"Now where was that laughing coming from?" Link looked around the lobby. Even though he couldn't see them, they saw Link. They were the ghosts of every enemy that Link had ever defeated, but he didn't know they had been gathered here for revenge.
Link headed over to the map. There was another way up to the top. Link could use the servant staircase in the kitchen. It only reached the top floor, though, not the roof and the kitchen was on the other side of the hotel.
There was a door at the far end of the lobby. "That wasn't there before." Link commented as he walked over.
There was a plaque above the door. "Hall of Bosses. A trip down memory lane." Link read aloud. He swung open the door and walked in.
A long hallway stretched into nowhere. Lining the walls were pictures of all the boss characters ever faced by any of the Links over their adventures. The very first picture was of a hideous green dragon. As Link passed each picture, the eyes of the creature followed his movements. "This place is really starting to freak me out."
The pictures continued. Even though Link didn't know these battles personally, he had the feeling as if he had been there. Phantom Ganon, a giant fire worm, a masked jungle warrior, a Poe made of smaller Poes, Fluffy, the list continued. It seemed like forever, but finally the hall ended, leading to another room.
Link was glad to get out of the hall. His heart was beating like mad. Goosebumps lined his arms and his hair stood on end. The next room wasn't any better. An assortment of torture and execution devices was spread across the room. Each tool was stained with blood. With every step Link took in the room a horrid shriek of pain sounded.
The noise was grating on Link's will to keep going. Within seconds the hero was crawling on his hands and knees trying to avoid the sounds. The last few ties Link had left to sanity were slowly unraveling. The laughter began once more. Link began to curl up into the fetal position. The ties had been broken. "I can't do this." Link whimpered through the tears that slid along his face.
"Yes, you can!" A voice called out in encouragement. The noises changed into murmurs of confusion.
Link tilted his head to where the voice came from. A bright flying object was approaching him. "Navi?" He whispered.
"Damn right!" Navi replied. Link looked curiously at his fairy. "Aren't you dead?" Link asks.
"Unfortunately, yes, just like everyone else who is here. Everybody in this entire hotel has some connection to you. It's just that these ones didn't like you when they were alive. They're trying their hardest to stop you from succeeding. Are you going to let them?" Navi spoke with an air of inspiration.
"NO!" Link shouted as he jumped back to his feet. The ghosts let out a yelp of fright as thy quickly fled the room.
"That's my boy! Now hurry up and finish this quest so that you can return Hyrule to normal." Navi watched as Link exited the room with a new feeling of confidence. "How did he ever manage without me?" She asks herself before returning to the other spirits.
Link bolts into the next room. "Who's next!?!" He shouts into the empty room. No reply. Link walks smugly into the center and looks around. There is a door in each direction. "Doesn't matter which one I pick, I can always turn back." He exclaims as he enters one door and finds himself in the exact same room.
"Not one of these puzzles!" Link mutters as he heads back into the first room. He locates the door to the torture room and opens it to find another room with four doors. Every door leads to a room with four more doors.
Half an hour later, Link sits dejected in the center of one of the rooms. His sword lies on the ground in front of him. In his mind, Link is tying to remember anything that he's seen in this hotel that could have been a hint. While he's thinking he spins his sword around on the ground. He doesn't notice it, but after every spin the blade points to one door in particular.
Link gets back to his feet. "Maybe if I just try again, it'll work." He tells himself as he picks up the sword. As he walks towards the door, he catches his foot on a chunk of carpet and trips. His sword goes flying out of his and into the door to the right of him.
Link picks himself up off the ground. Seeing the sword in the door, he takes a few seconds to figure out how that managed to happen. That's when it hit him (not the sword mind you.) After pulling the sword out of the door, Link enters that door.
The next room is slightly different. The carpet is a little more intact. There is a chandelier hanging from the center with one candle lit, but five are unlit. Link walks into the center and tosses his sword forward. The weapon hangs in mid-air for a few seconds before choosing a door and sailing into it.
Link repeated this process in each room that he reached. When every candle was lit, the room was bright and colorful. The carpet was in one piece. The walls were lined with golden trim. And in the center of the room was a treasure chest.
Inside the treasure chest was a pair of glasses with purple lenses. With the glasses was a note, written in the same writing as the note that came with the grappling hook. The note said "This item allows you to see things that you normally can't. Spirits, hidden passages, and traps are now put in plain sight. Watch out though. Even though spirits cannot harm you normally, they can if you have these equipped."
"Good old Zelda. Always ready to help me against Ganondorf." Link said with a smile as he put on the glasses. Suddenly the room came alive with activity. Floating around him were hundreds of spirits. Everything from townspeople to bosses was surrounding Link. He quickly pulled off the specs and added them to his collection.
After consulting his sword, Link proceeded to leave the four door rooms. The hotel was back to its regular dreary outlook. Link found himself in a large dining room. At the opposite end was a locked door. Link reached into his pocket and pulled out the key that he had collected earlier. After trying it in the lock, Link was disappointed to discover that it didn't work.
At every chair in the room was a plate on the table. Most of the plates were covered with domes. Link nervously pulled out the Glasses of Truth and placed them over his eyes. Luckily there weren't any ghosts in sight. Link went along the rows of tables and looked through each of the domes. Most were empty, but quite a few had Skulltulas crawling on the inside. It was the last dome that hid the key.
Link undid the lock and proceeded into the next room. The door slammed shut behind him and metal bars slid down after. Link was now in the kitchen and guarding the staircase was an Iron Knuckle. The Iron Knuckle was still dormant. Link knew deep down that he had to defeat this creature to proceed, but he seriously didn't want to. There was a knife on the counter, giving Link something to wake the creature up without getting near.
The knife imbedded itself in the Iron Knuckles armor. Two glowing spheres acme to life inside the beast's helmet. The eyes looked down at the knife. Then they focused on Link as the giant made his way over to do battle.
The Iron Knuckle destroyed every object between it and Link. The creature swung its weapon in the manner of a man possessed. Each swing caused Link to jump back a few feet. Before he knew it, he had been pinned in the corner. The Knuckle raised the axe high in the air, preparing to finish Link with one blow.
Link saw his opportunity to escape. He rushed forward at the knight, jumping into a slide at the last second. As he slid between the beast's legs Link delivered a slash to the ankle of the armor coated warrior.
Quickly on his feet again, Link turned and prepared to deliver a second attack. The full force of the Iron Knuckle's swing caught Link and sent him flying. Luckily, the blade had been turned on its side, not causing any lethal damage. Link landed atop a counter, breaking through it.
Link grunts in pain as he struggles back to his feet. He pulls a chunk of wood out of his leg before charging the advancing enemy. The Iron Knuckle swings his weapon at Link's legs, but Link jumps over the attack. The hero gets in close and lands a dozen solid strikes. The Iron Knuckle stumbles backward; clutching the wounds it's received. It lets out a final gasp before falling to the ground.
The bars slide up, freeing the doorways. Since he still has on the Glasses of Truth, Link takes a look up the stairs. Seeing a clear path, Link removes the glasses and heads up the stairs. The trip is rather uneventful, at least compared to the first staircase. At the fiftieth floor, Link finds the door locked. Link pulls out the key from the reception desk and uses it on the door. The lock clicks and the door swings open.
Link finds himself in a really long hallway lined with torches. This entire floor has been kept in top condition and is suited for a king. "Ganondorf must stay here." Link thought to himself.
Not a single door dots the hall. The sound of an organ playing echoes drearily along the hall. Memories of his fight versus Ganondorf flash back into Link's mind. In fact, the further Link gets along the hall the more the surroundings look like Ganondorf's castle. There is a large sliding door on Link's right.
Link opens the door and looks cautiously inside. "Wow," He whispers to himself, awestruck by the sight. The walls are covered in paintings worth millions of rupees. A fireplace burns brightly, but is partially covered by a large chair that is facing the fire. "Good for you to join me, Link. Take a seat." A female voice calls out from the chair as the door shuts behind the hero.
Link immediately knows the voice. He drops his equipment and runs up to the chair. The woman stands up and faces Link. Her pink dress shimmers in the glow cast by the fire. A smile covers her face below the blond hair. Link and Zelda share a hug before they resettle into the chairs.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be running from Ganondorf?" Link asks.
"Quite simple. Ganondorf would never expect for me to hide in one of his own temples. He'll never look for me here." Link nods at this response, understanding the logic behind it. "I see you found the items that I left for you."
"So far, yes. They've been really helpful."
"Have you met any of your old friends?"
"A few. The Sages of course, the Kokiri and Skullkids, and Malon." Is Link's reply.
"Oh, how is Malon? I haven't had a chance to talk to her in a very long time." Zelda inquires.
"She's amazing. I think I've fallen in love with her." This comment seems to upset Zelda for a few seconds but she quickly collects herself.
"Good for you. The two of you will make a great couple."
"Well... I'd better be on my way. I have to hurry up and catch up to Malon. She went ahead to the Fire Temple, and she'll probably need my help." With this Link gets to his feet and collects his gear.
"You're leaving so soon? We have so much to catch up on. Can't you stay for a little longer? I get so lonely here by myself." Zelda says persuasively.
"I wish I could, but I can't. I'll visit you shortly, OK?" Link says as he exits the room.
Zelda waves goodbye from her chair. "So you're in love with Malon." She says to herself once she's alone.
There is a stairway leading upwards just outside of Zelda's room. Link quickly makes his way up the stairs and out the door onto the rooftop. A blast of wind hits him as he stands opposite his opponent.
Dark Link looks up at the new arrival. A smirk creeps across his shadow covered face. "So we meet again." He points his bony hand at Link and boasts, "But, this time, I will be the one who walks away victor."
A/N: What the hell?!? Is Zelda evil or isn't she? She keeps helping Link, but makes secret plans to destroy him. How will this fight end? Will good triumph once again or will the darkness get revenge? Find out next week: Monday, September 27. Till then, Tint out.