Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

A Pair of Time

Chapter 39- Down Below, Part 1

Bottom of the Well; Day

"Are you guys sure about this?" Navi asks when our heroes reached the bottom of the well. "You can always turn back if you want. I mean, do you really want to disturb the resting place of a ghost just for his treasure?"

"Are you scared, Navi?" Link catches the tone of her voice.

"No."

"Then, no reason to not go on, right?"

Navi sighs. "Oh, all right. Just be careful down here. I sense some bad things in the basement."

After crawling through the source of the well, which is nothing more than a hole, they find themselves in a rotted, but manmade tunnel. Taking out the large Skulltula blocking the way, they take a look around. The floor has a mesh wire frame stained with old, brown blood. Chains hang from the ceiling. Earth is starting to leak through the walls. Last but not least, a skeleton leaning against the wall adds to this first room.

"Hey!" Navi flies over to it. "I can hear the spirits whispering in this room…"

"What do they say?" Link questions.

"'Look for the eye of truth… It shall bring courage to move forward…' What?"

"'Eye of truth…'" Malon repeats. "'Courage to… move forward'? Now, what do they mean by that?"

"To move forward…" Link walks up to the skeleton. "Move forward to where? There's nowhere to move forward to. This room has no doors or anything."

"Truth… Truth…" Malon starts to pace around. "Truth that will lead us onward…"

She kicks a dirty bone lying around hard. It shoots away from her towards a wall. However, instead of simply bouncing off the wall, it goes through, leaving no trace of it behind.

"Huh? Fairy boy… did you…"

"Did I what?"

"You didn't see that?"

"See what? What did I miss?"

"Hold on…"

Malon steps forward towards this 'wall.' It looks ordinary like any other wall, and it seems solid. Malon examines the brick wall, to see if there's anything strange about it. Nothing shows a difference. The only strange thing is that the wall just happens to be here, where there should be a door. But, it looks real enough to walk her face smack onto it.

It could fool any eye… Malon thought. But, it ain't gonna fool me!

With a deep breath, she closes her eyes and moves forward. Instead of a thick vertical obstacle halting her, her body keeps moving, until it falls into a pool of shockingly cold water.

"Phtf!" Malon coughs.

"Uh… Mal?" she hears Link's voice on the other side of the illusion. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here!"

"Good. Because I thought I might have been going crazy…"

"You were crazy to begin with. Anyway… that wall is but a trick! Just walk through it!"

"Okay."

Soon, Link's body emerges from the wall. He looks back, to see if it really is an illusion.

"So, that's what it meant by the truth and stuff… You need to see past the illusions to go forward."

"Well, duh!" Malon said as she climbs out of the water. "The 'lies' are these illusions! The truth is nothing more than seeing past these eye tricks."

"I think the basement must be full of them," Navi concludes. "This is nothing more than a beginning test. Keep your senses up, guys. Until we find that 'eye of truth,' who knows what are truths and what are lies…"

The basement is one long tunnel that's connected with its other end by circling around the large middle, carved out center. It's flooded with cold water, where, later up ahead, Malon and Link find out the source is from a large structure of a head. Nearby is a wooden floor with the crest of the Royal Family on it. Playing Zelda's Lullaby and letting it provide comfort for a while, the floodwater is plugged stop, and soon the whole floor is drained. Remembering that pool of water at the beginning, they start to head back.

"Nothing's wrong down here," Link's voice echoes the corridors. "You sure a ghost lives down here?"

"You doubt me, Link?"

"I'm just asking if there is one."

"Well, I'm pretty sure…"

"I don't see anything like that. Besides that giant Green Bubble and those Skulltulas, I see nothing too scary here."

"Whoa, hold on!" Navi stops them at the turn up ahead. She hovers over a dark imprint on a wall showing a figure of a demonic imp. "This wall… It says something here… 'Danger below…'"

Link considers this for a moment. "Sounds like an empty threat."

"Maybe…" Malon takes her moment. "Or, maybe it could be a trick."

"If it is, keep your guard up," Navi suggests.

"Well, let me take a look," Link said.

"Be careful, fairy boy…"

Link steps forward closer to the wall. Nothing unusual, his five senses tell him. But his sixth one tingles on end. It urges that something is not right here. Link takes another step forward to step away from the flood area, which is a mistake as he soon finds out that his foot couldn't find any ground to stand on. An illusion swallows the foot, and Link couldn't stop himself from falling into it.

"Link!" he feels his arm grabbed by Malon, trying her best to pull him back. "Hang on!"

But that isn't enough. Soon, Malon is dragged down with Link into the trick hole. They both fall onto a floor that seems untouched by the basement. However, it's carved out, marking man's doing. Malon, rather conveniently, lands again on Link.

"OWWW…!" Link groans through his teeth.

"Sorry!" Malon immediately gets off.

"… Oh… my liver…"

"What? Your liver?"

"Nothing. Goddess… you just keep falling on me."

"Well, it's still better than you falling on me."

"And HOW do you suppose that?"

"Because… boys should take the brunt of things for girls. It's called… um, 'chivalry.' It's a knight's code of honor."

"… I would like to get my hands on that man that thought of this 'chivalry'…" Link mutters to himself.

Ahead, they find a pool with a liquid that is all too familiar to them, especially Link. Green, decaying substance flows freely in this depression. A closer look reveals that wooden planks have fallen into the pool, and that bones of unfortunate people are peaking the surface. Around the floor are silver Rupees. Nearby, a ReDead kneels in its moaning.

"Collect the silver Rupees," Navi orders. "I think something should happen when you do that."

"Well, that's easier said that done." Malon takes a glance at the places the Rupees are.

"Especially… that." Link gives a dreaded look at the green liquid.

Nevertheless, they carefully scour the floor for the money. They find a Map, and also discover that many traps above lead down to this earth-carved floor. Taking quick noting and tracing it with the basement's Map, they estimate their best of the locations of these 'lies.' After finding the silver Rupees (unbarring a door), Malon and Link reach back on the first floor, or basement first floor, actually.

After a while, they stumble into a room filled with unlit torches but one, two statues of a diabolic bird, and… coffins.

"Oh, no…" Malon whimpers. "Anything but this…"

"What's wrong?" Link questions.

"Well, let's see," Malon begins to answer the dumb question. "Because death is all around us, don't you think that maybe the undead will suddenly pop out of the coffins, hmm?"

"I don't see how that's possible…" Link couldn't catch on. "Being dead means you stay dead, especially in these metal coffins."

"Ah, no, fairy boy. We've been through the dead a lot of times," Malon replies sarcastically. "Don't you think that MAYBE they could just slide off the lids and climb out!"

"Uh, okay… If it's possible, I guess…"

"YOU GUESS? LINK, THEY WILL AS FAR AS I KNOW!"

"Shh! Quiet, you two!" Navi whispers anxiously to them. "There's a Gibdo over there…"

A ReDead covered in rotting white bandages stands very still next to its coffin, wide open. Luckily, it hasn't paid any heed to the voices nearby.

"Right, a Gibdo." Link notices. "Let's get rid of it, then open the other coffins."

Malon smacks her head. "No!"

Link doesn't respond. Instead, he forces Malon to accept with a simple glance into her eyes.

"Fine, but I'm lighting the torches. That way, you're protecting me!" Malon compromises.

Slowly and steadily, they fire up the torches one by one. Each one opens up the coffin next to it. So far, nothing undead in them. Just a few Keeses, and a Small Key, but nothing… yet. Soon, one remains.

"Let's stop while we're ahead," Malon suggests.

"And what? Leave this last one?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon, it's just one more. What's the harm in opening one more coffin?"

"What's the harm in pushing our luck? You ever thought of that?"

"No harm at all."

Malon sighs. "Okay, whatever…"

Lighting up the last torch with a Deku Stick, the lid starts to slide off of the coffin sharply. Dust suddenly blocks Malon and Link's visions. Link quickly starts to wave the dust away when he hears Malon scream.

"Mal! What's wrong!"

Clearing the air in front of him, shock hits Link as he sees a Gibdo on Malon. It's wrapped around her paralyzed body. It begins to cover Malon's neck with its mouth. Then, it drives in its teeth, starting to suck Malon's soul through it.

Link makes no hesitation as he charges in. He takes his sword and drives it through the Gibdo's head, effectively disabling it to continue. The Gibdo lets go, having a gory hole in its head. Weakened, it starts to move around in a strange pattern. Link takes out his Boomerang and finishes it by slicing the Gibdo's head off. The falling body becomes a bloody geyser as the head starts to roll away from it. Link rushes up to Malon, breathing heavily on the ground.

"Malon… are you okay?"

"Y… Y-Yeah… I'm… I'm fine."

Link lets out a relieved sigh.

"Fairy boy… I'm… I'm… cold…" Link could see her shivering noticeably. "I'm… I'm so cold…"

He lifts Malon up to her feet, still shivering and breathing quickly. It's like nothing she has ever experienced, having her soul being sucked out. Malon felt detached the moment her spirit started leaving the body. Once her spirit came back, she found the body cold and tired, unlit by her soul. She continues trying to get her body back in the right way.

Malon then feels Link as he embraces her. Warmth. Something she desire now. But, it is the best type of warmth she could ever want. The warmth of her best friend. In a flash, her fears and physical ailments begin to go away as Link and his warmth surge through her body and mind. Malon feels so nice and fuzzy from the hug. She feels she's cared for. She feels she's worried for. She feels she always have Link to protect her. She feels… she always have Link there for her. Now and forever.

"You feel better now, Mal?"

"Yes." Malon somehow couldn't stop herself from hugging back. "I feel… much better… with you… Thanks…"

"Uh, hey, you're welcome." Again, Link feels the red coming to his face. At least, Malon can't see it.

"You're so… warm, Link… You're… You're my warmth… I… just want to hug you… forever."

"… Me, too."

It seems like a silent forever after that last sentence. Somehow, the darkness and the air of the dead didn't seem to be around them now. It's as if what they're doing is warding them off.

"Uh, I hate to break up this nice moment between you two," Navi cracks the quietness, still confused by how this unique friendship between Malon and Link works, "but, we've got to move on. Do you really want to hug each other down here?"

"Oh! Right!" Malon leads her arms away from Link.

"For once, that's the best advice I've heard all day," Link said.