Disclaimer: Zelda not mine. Too bad... :(
Chapter Three
Hylia Encounter
"What are we going to do sir?" A stalfos said with a gravelly voice. The king stared at the glowing triangle on the back of his bony hand with awe. A small three-dimensional map hovered in front of his eyes showing the location of the other two pieces. They were apparently side-by-side at the Great Lake. Hmm... "Sir?" The other stalfos finally got his attention.
"What? Oh, we'll follow Ganondorf's original plan with a few added twists!" The Stal-king grinned. "Our first twist is to collect the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage." He pulled out the Absorption Crystal. "This little relic will allow me to do just that!"
Link and Zelda sat on the shore of Lake Hylia, gazing out over the crystal clear water. After finishing their lunch, Link turned to the princess.
"Zelda?"
"Yes Link?"
"I've wanted to say this for long time…"
"What?" She asked, a slight smile forming on her lips. Link pulled out a small box from his tunic and opened it.
"Will you marry me?" The princess's small smile widened to an excited grin.
"Yes!" She hugged him tight and looked at the ring. It was a gold band with seven small diamonds gleaming in the sunlight. "Yes I will!" They kissed for a few moments and embraced each other. After getting over the initial excitement, Zelda rested her head on Link's shoulder and stared at a dark spot under the surface of the water.
"That's the Water Temple isn't it?"
"Yep, that's the entrance!"
"Think we could explore it?" She asked with a mischievous smile.
"Uh..." Link thought about all the trouble he had just trying to get through that place. "Too dangerous..." She rolled her eyes.
"Jeez... You're almost as bad as Impa..." She muttered.
"Actually, it's more of the fact that the place is a maze! I was in that place for a week! I spent one whole day trying to figure out which door this one dumb key was for!" Link cried. Zelda smiled and nuzzled against him. "Anyway, you need a Zora tunic and a pair of iron boots to move around that place!"
"I could afford a Zora tunic, but I've never seen any iron boots..." She said, disappointed. Link reached into his travel pack and pulled out some boots that looked like they were encased in armor.
"Now you have, however I haven't seen any other pairs."
"Hmm…" Zelda tapped the metal lightly. "The royal blacksmith could probably make me a pair!" Link stared at her.
"Don't you think he would be curious about why you'd be asking for armored boots?"
"Yes, that's why I would need to silence him...with a gold rupee!" She giggled. "Works every time!" Link shook his head and smiled. He stared out across the lake and his mind drifted back to his nightmare. What was that about? He couldn't remember anything about it so he couldn't imagine why it was troubling him. "What is it?" Zelda asked. She must have noticed his concern, Link thought.
"Oh, nothing. I just had a nightmare that I can't remember, that's all." He gave her a comforting smile.
"You had a nightmare too?" Zelda asked straightening up. Link turned to her, surprised.
"What was yours about?"
"I... I don't remember..." Zelda leaned in closer to him. Strange coincidence... He thought, as he massaged her hand. It was so soft and gentle...and glowing! He took a closer look and noticed that her Triforce of Wisdom was glowing quite brightly. Zelda noticed this as well and they both looked at the back of Link's hand. His Triforce of Courage was also glowing with extraordinary brightness. They looked at each other.
"The only time they glow like this is when Power is nearby..." Link muttered. They both slowly turned around expecting to see Ganondorf. Instead, not ten feet away, they saw a Stalfos who was wearing a crown. Zelda whimpered and tried to hide behind Link. This stalfos was definitely a scary sight. Razor sharp teeth glistened in the sunlight and a red glow came from the eye sockets. It also looked like it still had some dead skin on its face, giving it a more decayed look. How the heck did that get so close? Link thought.
"Esa okat sakon askat dakora na eck!" The Stal-King spoke in a grating voice. Zelda yelped and held Link tighter. She had seen a stalfos before, but seeing a talking one was a bit much. The stalfos laughed and then spoke in modern Hylian. "Don't be afraid! I'm sorry for interrupting your romantic moment, but I have a proposition for you." He snapped his fingers and some other Stalfos came up dragging someone. Zelda held her breath at the sight of more living skeletons but then became too focused on whom they were dragging.
"Ganondorf!" She glared at their long time enemy.
"I will make a deal with you!" The Stalfos with the crown continued. "I am giving you Ganondorf so that you can... dispose of him. In return, I want the Hylians to stop hunting my people!" Ganon glared at the Stalfos King and said something through the gag around his mouth. "If you two focus your Triforce energy, you can dispel the Triforce of Power and eliminate the greatest threat against Hyrule for all time!" Link stared at him confused.
"Uh-huh... How the heck are you holding him tied up like that? Unless that's Phantom Ganon, the Triforce of Power would let him out of his binds. Or is this a really dumb trap?" The King gave them a sickly smile. With his left hand, he pulled out the crystal and showed it to them.
"We found this crystal deep in the Dodongo Caverns. It has the ability to neutralize the Triforce pieces. It does nothing against the full Triforce of course, but it will render a single piece inoperative." Link stared at him uneasily. There wasn't something right about this... "You better take my offer on this!" He growled. "Because you won't get another chance!" Link looked at Zelda and could tell that she was just as uneasy about this as he was.
"Well I suppose it's worth a try..." Link mumbled. This is too good to be true. He thought. There has to be a catch... Link and Zelda pointed their right arms at Ganondorf and began to focus. At the last second, Zelda noticed something strange and quickly put her arm down.
"Link! Stop!"
"Uh..." Link tried to stop but he suddenly felt like something was draining the power from him. "Help!" Zelda looked at the stalfos and the crystal in his hand, which was starting to glow noticeably even in the sunlight. Zelda quickly reached into Link's pocket and grabbed what looked like an oversized pistachio nut.
"Take this!" The Stal- King tried to shield himself from the Deku Nut, but he still caught the full blast.
"Aarrgghh!" The stunned skeleton dropped the crystal, releasing Link from the draining tether. Ganondorf was blinking from the blast but seemed to be laughing at the Stalfos.
"Come on! Let's go!" Zelda grabbed the emotionally drained Link and pulled him away. As they were passing the Stal-King, the princess noticed the crystal lying on the ground. After glancing at the stunned skeleton, she dove for the glowing crystal and grabbed it. "Aaahhh!" She screamed as a magical barrier covering the crystal seared her hand. Zelda dropped the crystal and ran for Epona. Link was just getting on the horse and with difficulty in his drained state, pulled Zelda up onto the horse. The Stalfos King glared at the retreating horse and cursed. Ganondorf laughed at him uncontrollably.
"You see... why... they are... so hard to... beat?" He said, broken up by laughter. The Crystal was lying a few inches from his hand. This is my chance to get my power back! Ganon thought greedily. "Aahh!" The Stalfos simply stared at him as he wrung his hand.
"The crystal is 'Power protected' you idiot. Only the one who has the Triforce of Power can touch it. A simple measure that I'm sure you would have overlooked if you kept it!" Ganon glared at him with the deepest hatred he had, something normally reserved for Link and Zelda. The stalfos simply smirked and viciously kicked him in the face with a steel-toed boot. Ganondorf yelped as the impact broke his large nose. The king leaned in close. "Listen to me; you are now the pawn in this game! Its time you learned your place!" With a pained grimace, Ganondorf braced as the stalfos kicked him again.