Chapter 7: Hell's Gate Open

"Oh, Goddesses… that must have been one hell of a drinking binge I went on…" Link groaned. His head felt like it had hit solid stone from a hundred feet. Opening his eyes, Link realized why; he HAD. The rock he was lying on had a dent in it the exact shape of his face. "Okay, how did I survive THAT? Uncle Al always said I had a hard head, but…" His gaze fell upon another dent, next to the first, shaped like another man's face… Agahnim's… and then, in one flash, the events directly before his fall came back to him. The Master Sword… Father Brian… Zelda… Agahnim… GANON. "He must have done something… or maybe there was something involved in the transition to… the Dark World…" Looking up, he saw that the sky was not blue, but a shining, sparkling golden hue, with a blood-red sun. "Yeah… I'm in the Sacred Realm, all right. Not good. But where… whoa." The sudden realization of where he stood struck him. He was on top of a huge, multi-tiered pyramid that had been constructed where Hyrule Castle lay in his own world. A series of staircases led down one side, and flanking each section were statues of Agahnim. "Looks like whoever's in charge of upkeep here works fast when it comes to sucking up to the bossman…" He glanced back at the imprint of Agahnim's face, and noticed that it was much closer to the east edge than his was. On a malicious suspicion, he looked down at that side from above; sure enough, more indentations of various body parts dotted the levels in a zigzag downward pattern. "Wish I could have seen that. He'll be out of the picture for a while, hopefully… but who knows what kinds of servants he's got here. When he was playing the traitor wizard, he said he was one of the Eyes of Ganon… could that be an actual group or something, I wonder…"

"Link!" Sahasrala's voice screamed in his ear, and he winced. "Link, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you." Link replied. "What's up?"

"You're awake… thank the Goddesses!" Sahasrala sighed. "Link, listen. It's been a full day since you and Agahnim both disappeared. Where are you? Are you in the Golden Land?"

"Yeah, on top of some pyramid thing where Hyrule Castle should be…" Link shook his head. "Never mind me. How's OUR world? Did Ga… Agahnim succeed? Is the barrier broken?"

"Yes… and no." Sahasrala sounded worried. "It's definitely taken a heavy hit… a huge portal opened, bigger than any of the others, right in the front gate of Hyrule Castle. All the remaining Knights of Hyrule fled through there. But I don't think it's completely destroyed… not yet. Ganon himself shouldn't be able to come through, and neither should his strongest servants… but he can send anything less than them through at any time now. And time will damage the barrier further… unless something's done within a month, it will be lost."

"Mount round-the-clock guards on that spot." Link instructed. "You three guys, the Bronze Hands, the Kakariko villagers… always be ready. As for that month… what exactly do I have to do?"

"I don't think halfway measures will work any more." Sahasrala explained. "Not with this much damage… no. The only way to save the barrier is to completely neutralize the effect that damaged it… rescuing all seven girls, and bringing them back, along with yourself."

"Then I'd better get moving." Link checked to make sure the Master Sword was still at his side; fortunately, it was. "I'm guessing one of Agahnim's buddies carried him off… I don't know why they didn't finish me off when I was down, but something tells me sticking around here to find out would be a REAL bad idea. My head still hurts like hell, but I feel rested, so I want to hit one of the places the big man's got the girls stashed before they know it. Any ideas where they'd be? He wouldn't just keep them all at his HQ, would he?"

"No." Sahasrala agreed. "This is purely speculation, but based on what I know of the Forger's personality, from records of long ago… you said there's a pyramid where Hyrule Castle should be. You may want to check the corresponding locations of the Temples… the dungeons where you found the Pendants."

"Good idea…" Link thought for a moment. "Well, the closest one is the Eastern Palace… or Forest Temple, if you prefer… so I'll try that first. Right, I'm off… talk to you later."

"Be careful, Link… now, more than ever, you truly are our only hope." Sahasrala pleaded. Link nodded and began climbing down the pyramid, looking down at the ground below.

"Hm… looks like some routine patrols…" A pair of monsters were sitting down below, both recognizable as types that had come through to Hyrule through portals before. One was a flower-human hybrid with a huge, fang-filled maw; the other, a brawny cyclops with a sack of bombs on its back. "A Snapdragon and a Hinox." His gaze remained on the latter's explosive supply. "There's an idea…" Lighting one of his own bombs, Link tossed it down between the two of them. They turned to stare at it.

"Huh?" They blinked stupidly, and the explosion claimed both.

"Haw… these guys are even dumber than the Knights." Link chuckled as he walked out onto the ground. "About as bright as-WHOA!" He stopped himself just in time; directly in front of the pyramid was a transparent wall of barely visible, shimmering blue energy. He hadn't seen it from above. "This must be the portal… it's huge. Sahasrala was right… this is bad." Stepping around it, he ran east as fast as the Pegasus Boots could carry him. As on Death Mountain, the scenery was just warped enough to be strange but not so much as to be completely new, making Link feel uneasy. Even the hostile native Octorocks were there, albeit in a strange, primitive form. "Maybe these are what Octorocks looked like centuries ago… who knows." Moving past them, Link found the network of ruins that had held the Eastern Palace in the Light World. But here, the layers of terraces were replaced by a huge mass of vines. "Well… this is different. Probably some kind of maze. Ugh… I hate mazes. Well, there's no helping it…" Grumbling, he walked forward into the vines. After he had gone, there were a few moments of quiet… and then more voices.

"Ki… Well, what did you think of him?" One inquired. The other grunted.

"Not much."

"Ki… you're joking, right, Birdbrain?" The first voice's owner demanded indignantly, pulling itself onto the branch of the tree that had been hiding it. Scratching its ear, the purple monkey continued. "LOOK at him, kiki! He's not transformed! You KNOW what that means, kikiki!"

"Yeah, Kiki. I know. It means he's a lucky idiot who found the Moon Pearl accidentally and probably doesn't even realize it's doing this for him." Kiki's partner fluttered down onto the branch next to her; a stumpy, brownish-green bird. "But… there is something that makes me wonder. Remember what Ballio and Brutus were yelling about a few days ago?"

"About that one guy who could escape from here, ki? But he was transformed… into a pink bunny, they said…" Kiki's eyes widened. "You think… that he might have found the Pearl after they told him about it?" She paused for a moment. "Kikiki?"

"Stop that." Birdbrain harrumphed. "He's wearing a green tunic and hat, and has a sword… two appearances so soon after each other can't be coincidence. Question is, what do we do about it? We still don't know that he's not a new Eye of Ganon recruited from Hyrule…"

"Ki… I'll go for the direct approach, then." Kiki decided, hanging from the branch by her tail. "It'll mean exposing myself… Vitreous has been watching him, of course… but it's worth the risk, kiki. You get back to base and tell Handy and Neosquid… they'll probably want to come over here themselves."

"For this… probably." Birdbrain agreed, flapping his wings. "It's your neck… just don't take any more risks than you have to. Chances are the bossmen will be here in a couple hours… good luck until then." He flew off quickly, darting from tree to tree. Kiki waited a few minutes, then dashed into the vine maze after the strange swordsman.

"All right… I think I'm finally getting my bearings here." Link muttered to himself after some time in the labyrinth. "I should be almost there… oh, goodie, another patrol." More Hinoxes and Snap Dragons were constantly walking around the maze, and several times before Link had been obliged to dispose of them. Doing the same with the latest ones, he walked past them and smiled; the vines ended up ahead. "Now, to see if I made it to my goal correctly." Turning north as he exited, he smiled. "Strange… like everything else here… but that's definitely what I'm looking for."

"Looking for the Palace of Darkness, kiki?" A voice behind him asked. "No, no, don't worry, I'm not an enemy… kikiki!" It was a small purple monkey, hanging down from the vines. "You killed those bad guys… so you must be a good guy, am I right, ki?"

"Yeah…" Link smiled in spite of himself. "You a friend of Ballio and Brutus?"

"Maybe, ki!" The monkey dropped to the ground. "I'm Kiki the monkey! You seem like a nice guy, kikiki… so what do you want with the Palace of Darkness?"

"A friend of mine is in there… the bad guys have her inside. Or so I figure, anyways." Link explained. "I'm here to get her back… she'd be a girl about my age, maybe a bit older. Six of them… seven now… came through recently."

"You mean the crystal maidens, kikiki? My bosses thought there was something up with them…" Kiki scratched her head. "Seven now, huh, ki? We've only seen six… most of them are being kept by the BIG bad guys. The Eyes of… the Forger."

"So that IS the name of his chief flunkies…" Link blinked. "Wait, most?"

"Yup! Kikiki! The one here isn't… all that's guarding the one here is a really huge monster!" Kiki explained, jumping around. "At least until we found something, kiki! Look at the entrance!" Link did, and immediately saw what she was talking about; a titanic stone slab covered the way in completely, immovably.

"Some kind of mechanism?"

"Kiki! Yup! So the Eyes can't get back in either!" Kiki danced around. "My bosses declared happy hour all day after we got 'em with that one, kikiki!" She suddenly stopped. "And now… you want to get in there, ki?"

"Yeah…" Link admitted. "I think I can save that girl… I've already dealt with my share of monsters. But…" He smiled. "Let me guess. You don't want to just open it up for me… since you're not sure I'm not an agent of the big man?"

"Yup! Ki! Smart!" Kiki grinned. "Tell you what, though. Give me a hundred rupees, and I'll open it up… as long as you don't mind me coming with you in there to make sure!"

"Fair enough." Link nodded. "A hundred it is, then." Pulling out five bright red jewels from his wallet, he handed them to Kiki. "Here you go."

"Kikiki! Good move!" Grabbing the jewels, Kiki quickly made them disappear, then jumped up onto a gargoyle of a gorilla and from there to the roof. "One thing first…" She suddenly whipped her arm at the sky, and a good distance away, a white orb fell out of the air, transfixed by a shuriken that had embedded itself in it. "Spy eye. The guy who runs them'll be pissed about that, so we'd better get inside quick, ki! Now, where was it… aha!" She jumped firmly on a protruding brick in the roof. As it sank in and another one on the opposite side of the entrance rose, the huge stone slab fell forward, revealing a staircase on its other side and opening up the Palace.

"So, this is called the Palace of Darkness." Link muttered as Kiki dropped down next to him. "Well, in we go!" Kiki nodded.

"Yup! Kikikiki!"

"Ugh…" Agahnim slowly opened his eyes. "Damnation… what happened? My whole body hurts…"

"Please don't try to move too much…" A voice hissed from his left. A huge, gargantuan moth was hovering over him, looking worried. "You were severely injured… what happened?"

"The brat put up much more of a fight than I expected." Agahnim grunted. "He might have actually beaten me, so I pulled him into the Dark World… realized he was probably necessary along with the other seven, so that's probably a good thing in the long run. After that… you tell me, Mothula. I blacked out when we arrived."

"Well, uh…" Mothula flapped her wings hesitantly. "You kind of… well…"

"You didn't exactly have a soft landing, boss." Another voice, loud and raucous, interrupted. It was a huge, white-robed red demon with a broad grin. "Landed on the Pyramid of Power hard enough to leave a dent and, well, kind of… bounced… all the way down the side."

"Wonderful." Agahnim groaned. "Thank you for that lovely bit of information, Blind. Dare I hope that the same happened to Link, at least, and that you have him in custody?"

"I live to serve, oh mighty Forger of Power…" Blind bowed flamboyantly. "But no joy on that part, I'm afraid… he landed much more squarely on the Pyramid, and stayed on the top. And because of that… of what's in there… none of US could go up to get him. We thought about sniping him, but we didn't know if you wanted him dead or alive. He was unconscious for almost as long as you were, but about an hour ago he woke up and headed off to the east… Vitreous has an eye on him right now, of course. He seems to be going for the Palace of Darkness."

"Not good." Agahnim shook his head. "He'll be trying to free the girl there…" He paused. "Wait. The barrier. Is it destroyed?"

"Not… entirely, master." The giant moth admitted, then continued quickly. "But it's weak! There's a huge portal in front of the Pyramid… must be ten feet wide! All the surviving Knights came through there, by the way… but anyways, it's huge, and it'll just keep growing! A month, boss, that's all you'll need."

"A month…" Agahnim smiled. "Very well. Compared to how long I have been locked up in this miserable shade of my destined kingdom… a month is nothing."

"Indeed…" Mothula's eyes shone.

"Ahem." Blind coughed. "Anyways, we may not have the punk, but we DID nab the Princess, boss! Wasn't easy, too… she might have been unconscious when you sent her, but when she popped out here she fought like a freakin' tiger! Took my head off before we got her down!"

"Ah… how lucky that you had others." Agahnim chuckled dryly.

"Yup! So, uh… does that count as the one you were going to take from me for screwing up the Palace of Darkness?" The grinning demon chuckled nervously. Agahnim looked at him solemnly for a moment.

"I'll think about it." He shrugged finally. "So, where is she?"

"Right here." Opening a door in one wall, Blind pulled in… a shimmering blue crystal ten feet tall, floating gently in the air. And inside the crystal, angrily pounding on its interior… was Princess Zelda.

"So, you survived…" She glared at Agahnim. "Damn you…"

"Your young comrade tried… but in the end, it was for naught." Agahnim smirked at her. "I could be evil and tell you he died, but what's the point? We're both beyond such pettiness, I think."

"I LIKE pettiness." Blind muttered to himself. Everybody ignored him.

"He's here as well… and from what my servants told me, he's going to try and save the girls." Agahnim explained. "Foolishness, of course… it's far too late for that. Isn't it, Mothula?"

"Well…" Mothula looked uncertain. "Individually, yes… but…"

"But?" Agahnim suddenly glared at her. "What's the 'but?' I don't like the 'but,' Mothula." Blind muttered something about pants, and again, everybody ignored him.

"Well… purely hypothetically… if he somehow, impossibly, managed to get all seven of them back to the Hyrule side… plus himself… then the barrier might… repair itself. Hypothetically." Mothula's eyes darkened. "Please don't hurt me, boss… I'm just telling it how it is."

"True… it's not your fault." The wizard agreed after a moment. "Bad news rarely is… unlike SOME screwups I could mention."

"I'll get the Rag one of these days." Blind growled, grin suddenly angry. "I'll dance on their graves… if we bother GIVING them graves."

"You'd better." Agahnim turned back to Zelda. "At any rate… that won't be a problem, since it's not going to happen. You especially, dear princess… you have something that I desire most earnestly." Zelda slowly nodded.

"The Triforce of Wisdom…"

"Indeed… passed along your bloodline by your ancestor, the Sage of Time." Agahnim spat out the title like an oath. "But mine… mine has stayed with me all these years."

"Don't bother with the theatrics." Zelda told him scornfully. "I figured out who you really were when I saw that mark on your hand… Ganon."

"Clever girl." Agahnim chuckled. "Correct. And in time, I shall take your Triforce as well… but not now. No, for now there are other matters…" He waved a hand at Blind. "Have somebody take her to the basement for now… she can stay there until her relocation."

"You're moving her out too?" Blind sounded surprised. "I thought you might keep her here, since she's the Princess and all…"

"I already explained this to you, Blind." Mothula sighed. "The energy field around the Tower has a negative effect on the crystal casing we're using for them, that eventually proves fatal… so she can't stay here, even more than the others couldn't."

"Excuse me for not remembering your mumbo-jumbo." Blind shook his head as a guard carted Zelda off. A moment later, another door slammed opened. Through it, a grotesque eyeball the size of a watermelon floated in the air. It paused for a moment, and then somehow, despite its lack of a mouth, screamed a VERY derogatory word of the female persuasion.

"I hope that wasn't meant to refer to me, Vitreous?" Mothula inquired coolly.

"No, it's that monkey!" Vitreous yelled. "That stupid freakin' monkey shot one of my eyes out of the sky!"

"Monkey? You mean the one called Kiki?" Blind frowned. "She's a tougher customer than she looks, though not as bad as the big two… why'd she do it? Just to piss you off? The Rag usually have better ways of doing that to us…"

"No, she's with the kid. The wannabe hero." Vitreous sulked. "Joined up with him just outside the Palace of Darkness… said she would open it up for him, then killed the eye before I could see how she did it. Before I could get another one to the scene, they were already in."

"So they're inside the Palace of Darkness?" Agahnim repeated. Vitreous' pupil widened.

"Your majesty! I didn't see you, didn't know you were back! Um, yes, they're in there. Ooh, when they come back out they're going to get it…"

"Negative, Vitreous." Agahnim disagreed. "You will continue your assigned task… now, more than ever, you must be ever vigilant. Let nothing happen in my realm that you do not see."

"Yes, sir." Vitreous gave in.

"Good." Agahnim turned to the other two. "Blind, Mothula… go to the Palace of Darkness. IF they emerge, attack. Kill the monkey… but bring Link to me alive." Blind saluted.

"Alive being a purely technical term?" His grin widened.

"Mind functioning, still able to talk… and walk, I suppose." Agahnim said after a moment's thought. "Apart from that… use your judgment."

"I LIKE using my judgment!" Blind cackled. "Come on, Mothy, let's go play cops! Ha ha ha!"

"So, how many people are there here that are on your side?" Link asked Kiki as they walked through the empty entry room of the Palace.

"A few." Kiki shrugged. "Watch out for the Helmasaur there, ki; they're small but they're fierce. Don't even try breaking the mask; it won't work. Kiki." The beast she was referring to was a brown lizard the size of a badger with a glossy green shell covering its face. Grunting, it charged, and Link stepped aside, skewering it in the back as it passed him.

"Not going to give me any details until you're sure I'm on your side, huh? Well, all right. Fair enough." Walking down some stairs into a basement room, they found something strange. "That looks like one of the portals to here from Hyrule… but it's orange. And what's with that gray one next to it? That one isn't moving…"

"Teleporter." Kiki explained. "The gray's the arrival point, kikiki… except it wouldn't make much sense to just move us a couple feet, so my guess is they're not corresponding and there's one on the other end that brings us back here."

"Might as well find out where it goes, then." Link stepped on the teleporter. There was a moment of dizzy blackness, and then he was in another room. A moment later, Kiki appeared behind him. "Well, that was interesting. There's a tunnel; let's see where THAT goes." As they walked down it, something floated out of the darkness; a blue jellyfish, floating in the air.

"Watch out, kikiki!" Kiki warned. "It's a Biri! Touch it at the wrong time and you'll get electrocuted!" As if on cue, the jellyfish paused in the air and began glowing like a light bulb. After a few moments, it stopped and resumed its casual drift. A moment later, another of Kiki's shuriken brought it down.

"You're handy with those things." Link complimented her, slicing another one in half as it appeared.

"Survival necessity here." Kiki shrugged. "Especially if you plan on fighting the Eyes."

"I'll bet…" Link frowned. "Now what have we here?" The wall ahead was a dead end, but there were two large, obvious cracks running up from the floor on opposite ends of it. "Looks like there's something behind here that was sealed up. Good thing I've got some bombs… better open them both-"

"Bad idea. Look again, ki." Kiki warned, pointing at the floor. From the left crack, another, much thinner fracture ran through the floor… dividing into hundreds of hairline cracks that fit neatly between the bricks. Link shuddered.

"That one's a trap… thanks, Kiki. But the right one should be okay." Blowing it open with a bomb, he and the monkey continued on into a long hall, most of which was occupied by a conveyer belt. "A floor that moves YOU? How convenient… and suspicious." He nodded as holes opened up in the walls, releasing man-sized metal blocks covered on all four vertical sides with half-foot spikes that began flinging themselves back and forth a foot off the floor, parallel to the belt. "There we go. We have to dodge those too."

"No problem for me, kikiki!" Kiki scrambled across easily. Link followed, somewhat more difficultly, but in the end he made it, and they took the stairs up to the ground floor again.

"Show-off." The young warrior grumbled. "Hm… a treasure chest… and what the heck?" They were actually on a balcony above the main level of the floor; however, the edge was blocked rather strangely. All along it were square holes in the ground, each occupied by the head of a squat, buck-toothed rodent. In perfect synchronization, the heads popped in and out of the holes every few seconds.

"Great… metal moles." Kiki groaned. "We can't get through them… they're actually some kind of machine that none of our weapons can affect. One of the Eyes, Mothula, created them… they can be a real pain, ki."

"I'll bet." Link nodded grimly. The mole heads were as large as he was; there was no way to get over them. "At least we can grab what's in the chest…" It turned out to be a map. "Score! Now, let's see here… hm. Looks like there's only two floors, the ground one and the basement… and most of the latter is individual rooms. Except for these two right here, and what we've already gone through… the rest all looks to be one big complex on the main floor. A lot more complicated than it was in the Light World."

"Huh?" Kiki looked at him sidelong. "You've been through here in Hyrule, kiki?"

"Yeah… there was something I had to get. Just like there is here." Link put the map away. "Right, we can't go any further this way… back to the entrance. There was another door in the first room that apparently goes into the main area." They backtracked for a few minutes before he spoke again. "So… why a monkey, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Heh… no, I don't, ki." Kiki chuckled. "I was an acrobat back in the Light World, I think you called it… it's a good name. Visited Hyrule with a traveling circus, got lost one night and stumbled into here. Never even knew about the Forger or any of that before the others explained it to me… once I did, the monkey thing made sense." She paused. "I always liked bananas, too."

"Har." Link chuckled as they reached the entry room again and took the other path. He raised an eyebrow. "Any idea what THOSE are, now?" Walking towards them were a pair of creatures looking like red-shelled turtles…save that they had no visible head or tail, just four tiny legs positioned evenly below the body.

"You've got me here, ki…" The monkey scratched her head. "But at a glance, I don't think our weapons are going to do much good… they don't even have a vulnerable spot we can reach like the Helmasaurs."

"Plan B, then… dodge and run." Link glanced around the room quickly. They were on one side of a huge chasm; the path split into two bridges that crossed it, each leading to a separate door. A third door was on a high balcony between and above the two, inaccessible… a door he could see stairs leading down inside. And there was another treasure chest on the balcony. "I'm getting what's probably a real bad idea…" He ran over to the edge of the chasm and looked inside. It was actually much shallower than it looked; only a ten-foot drop. Onto hard stone. "Check that. It's definitely a real bad idea…"

"Well, what is it?" Kiki demanded, dodging the Turtles. "Tell me already!"

"I'll just show you… oh, geeeeeeeeeeez!" Link yelled as he hopped down. He grunted in pain as he landed, but nothing seemed broken. A few minutes later, Kiki landed calmly next to him.

"You okay, ki?"

"Against all logic, yes." Link admitted. "Guess I'm made of tougher stuff than I thought…"

"Now it's my turn for a bad thought, kiki." Kiki suddenly stepped back. "Get away from there, quick!" Puzzled, Link did so. A moment later, the two Turtles slammed into the ground where they had been standing. Completely unfazed, the beasts headed towards them.

"Man, those guys just don't quit!" Link groaned, then slapped his face as MORE trouble arrived; four yellow Stalfos descended from the ceiling. Unlike the ones Link had met before, however, they remained stationary-or at least their bodies did. Their skulls, however, floated off and began diving at him and Kiki. "Right, THAT'S it. Run away!" They dashed up the only exit to the room; stairs that led up to the balcony.

"So this is why you did that, kikiki." Kiki realized as she saw the chest. "I'd criticize you for risking your life over greed, but finding that map makes me think this might not actually be treasure, but something we need."

"That's the way I figured it." Link agreed, opening the chest and pulling out a large, golden key. "Yup. Besides, you're the one who charged me a hundred rupees to open this place up. Now then, let's get moving. At least we've lost pursuit for now; those Stalfos probably won't leave the room, and the turtles didn't look built to handle stairs. Pick a door; they both lead to the same room, but probably different areas of it."

"Left." Kiki decided after a moment.

"Left it is." Link agreed. They jumped from the balcony and went through the left door. As it turned out, there was no difference in where the doors led at all. "Figures." They were standing on one side of a single long bridge over another pit, this one filled with spikes. On the other end was a door. "Simple… uncomplicated. Why do I suspect a trap? Jump on my head… just do it, don't ask questions." Shrugging, the monkey complied. "Right!" Revving up his Pegasus Boots, Link dashed onto the bridge. The moment he passed the first few tiles, they began floating into the air, leaving blank space below them. "Dammit, I thought so! Keep those things off me!" Kiki nodded as she saw the flying tiles hurl themselves like missiles.

"Right!" Hearing the crash of shattering stone, Link smiled and continued running. Before long, they reached the other side and ran through into a pitch-black room.

"Nice moves… one question, ki." Kiki muttered as Link lit his lantern. "How do we get back across?"

"I'll figure something out." Link shrugged, looking around. Thin, narrow walls that turned every few feet; this was a maze if he'd ever seen one. "Maybe the bridge will regenerate; stuff like that happens in places like this. Let's see what's in here…" The maze was as dangerous as the rest of the Palace, as it turned out; as they were about to turn a corner, a flash of light warned them back, and a moment later a stream of fire blasted past. Once it had died down, they peeked around to see a squat green lizard closing its mouth. "Some kind of dragon…" Even after they had killed it, several more lurked in the maze as well. Eventually, the two of them found a pair of treasure chests; one normal-sized, one much larger.

"Open the small one, kiki." Kiki advised. "That big one screams 'greedy trap' to me."

"I don't think so… I've seen this before." Link disagreed. "The big ones, anyways."

"Your skin, ki." Kiki shrugged, backing away. To her surprise, when Link opened the large chest with the key they had found there was no trap. Instead, he lifted out the contents. "What… is…"

"It seems… familiar." Link muttered. It was a sledgehammer, made of some unknown metal. It was aged and corroded, rusted an orange color, and it looked relatively small, head only about a foot long… but despite that, Link could feel an incredible power inside the hammer. "This is… the M…" He frowned. "Something Hammer… something starting with M."

"Magic?" Kiki suggested.

"Magic… that's not it, but it'll work. Magic Hammer it is, then." Link grinned at it. "Hey… bet you twenty rupees THIS'll take care of those Metal Moles."

"No bet, kikiki" Kiki grinned as well. "Let's go try it out."

"Grab the other one first…" Link opened the small chest. It contained… a single wooden arrow.. "Ugh… very funny. Oh well, an arrow's an arrow." Sticking it in his quiver, he and Kiki turned around and begin working their way back through the maze. As Link had predicted, the attacking bridge had regenerated, and they crossed it the same way as before. It took some time for them to backtrack all the way to the moles, but they did it, and as they had guessed, the Hammer smashed the moles down into their holes, jamming whatever mechanism operated them and keeping them down. Hopping down off the balcony, they walked through the door in front of them. The room beyond was square and simple, containing only one thing, one that made Link jump. "A Rocklops!"

"Huh? No, it's just a statue, ki." Kiki jumped on the cycloptic slab of stone to demonstrate. The Rocklops remained motionless.

"Weird…" Link scratched his head. "What's the point of this room?"

"Look at the floor." Kiki pointed out. "There's a kind of pattern on the paint running around the edges, kiki… it's been that way through this palace. But here, it's only up against three walls… not on the one to your right."

"Aha… well spotted. I wonder…" Link took out his bow. "Maybe that arrow wasn't a gag after all." Aiming, he fired a shaft into the eye of the statue. Immediately, the stone eyelid slammed shut, snapping it off, and the room began shaking thunderously as the conspicuous wall slid back, revealing stairs in the floor leading down. "Ha! Excellent… and if I remember correctly…" He pulled out the map again. "Down into the basement… into the only rooms we haven't explored. Two of them. We're almost to the end." The first room was a long, narrow hall, completely dark. Using his lantern again, Link saw two more of the bizarre Turtles moving down it towards him. Side by side, they completely blocked the passageway.

"Any ideas, ki?" Kiki asked nervously. Link nodded slowly.

"Actually, yes." He took out the Hammer. "I remember how to use this now… been too long…" Kiki blinked and tried to speak, but her question was lost in the earth-shaking thump as Link slammed the hammer into the ground in front of the Turtles, sending a shockwave through the stone that flipped them both, revealing vulnerable undersides. Disposing of them with the Master Sword, Link continued on.

"What did you mean, you remember using it?" Kiki demanded as he disposed of another pair.

"Maybe I'll explain whenever you want to tell me more about your buddies." Link replied coolly. "I remember the name now, though… Megaton. I kinda like Magic Hammer, though, so I'll stick with that." Behind him, Kiki's eyes widened, but he didn't notice; instead, he stared up at what was above the entrance to the last room. A Helmasaur's skull, complete with mask. "Kiki… about this monster you said was guarding the girl here…" Kiki blinked.

"What? Oh, yes… Mothula created this thing too, but it's much worse than the mechanical moles, kikiki. We've only seen it once; they were hauling it here in a huge magical crate that needed fifty of the Forger's men. Half to drag it, and half to control the thing. We attacked them to see what they were bringing… and we regretted it, believe me, ki. We couldn't get a good luck at it, since it was night out and raining, but it seemed to have a Helmasaur as its base; thing was, it was the size of an elephant!"

"Great…" Link shook his head. "Wait. You attacked a transport run of the big guy's soldiers, huh? You and your friends? You do that sort of thing often?"

"Maaaaaybe." Kiki grinned. "You look like you think you can take it anyways… do so, and then we'll talk, kiki."

"Heh… a challenge. Fair enough." Link walked forward into the room. "All right, let's… oh, MAN…" The room was well-lit, unlike the one before, allowing him and Kiki to see the monstrosity before them all too well. As Kiki had claimed, it was the size of an elephant; a four-legged brute whose entire body was covered in thick orange plating. The head was even more protected; a purple mask stretched across it, with a pair of eyes glaring through, glowing like a pair of blazing fires. Behind the spherical bulk of the monster's body, a long tail lashed back and forth; on the end, Link saw a spiked mace.

"…Change of plans." Kiki stammered. "Why don't we get out of here and come back with something more powerful, ki? Like, say, a bomb that can take out a building?"

"No can do… the door's closed behind us." Link informed her. "There's only one way to get out here now… by killing that thing… that Helmasaur King." The beast glared at them, but did not attack; it moved left and right, pausing every few steps and then moving jerkily again, sizing them up. Link did the same, eyes narrowed. "One thing I'm wondering is… why the mask? That hide looks bad enough all by itself… nothing I've got is going to penetrate. So what's the mask for?" Realization struck Kiki.

"You think it's hiding a weak point, ki?"

"Yeah… and despite what you'd think at first glance, I think that mask should be breakable, unlike the shell… with the proper tool, that is. Got to wait for the right moment… when he attacks, it'll be quick, so get ready to dodge… now!" The tail had begun swinging much faster, building up momentum; a moment later, it lashed forward over the Helmasaur King's back, striking at Link, who smashed it aside with the Master Sword as he ran forward, pulling out the Megaton Hammer. The Helmasaur King hissed as the mighty sledge slammed into the left side of the mask, cracking it and punching out a small chunk. Link leaped back, smiling grimly. "Yes… it worked."

"Good, but get back, kikiki!" Kiki yelped. "It breathes fire!"

"What!" Link demanded, looking down and seeing the King's mouth opening, with a glow like a lantern inside. He dived back as the a massive fireball spewed out, spreading into smaller flames that blasted in different directions across the entire room. Swearing, Link rolled around to put out the flames on his tunic, then leaped to his feet just in time to dodge the tail strike. Running forward, he smashed the Hammer into the mask again, and another small chunk fell out.

"Ki! It'll take all day if you do it that way, kikiki!" Kiki yelled.

"Got any better ideas?" Link shouted back as he positioned himself to avoid the firespray.

"Yeah!" Kiki danced around to dodge as well. "You got any bombs left? Slam them into those holes!" Link slowly smiled.

"Now THAT'S a strategy!" He did so, then jumped back quickly, and as the bombs exploded, the Helmasaur King did not hiss; it screamed. Shards of the mask flew everywhere as the entire thing blew off; what parts that were not completely destroyed slipped loose without the rest of the mask to hold them on. "Bingo… looks like I was right on the money." Embedded in the flesh of the King's forehead, between and above the still-fiery eyes, was an emerald of impossible proportions, larger than Link himself.

"That must be the core of the magic Mothula used to create it… the anchor point!" Kiki crowed.

"Good, but I don't think big jumbo's going to let me wreck it easily!" Link growled. The Helmasaur King was scrambling around twice as fast now.

"Don't bother using your hammer… the amount of magic sunk into it will make it soft and weak!" Kiki demonstrated by hurling a pair of shuriken, which sunk into the emerald with a soft thunk. There was no blood, but the King screamed nonetheless.

"Got it!" Link yelled, pulling out his bow and arrows. "Better stay the distance, then…" But the King would not be thwarted so easily; as the arrows hit, it roared and charged forward, advancing on Link. Tail swung out and fire erupted simultaneously; as he dodged the latter, Link saw the former whipping towards him, and raised his shield in defense… and screamed as the spiked mace smashed through its edge and into his arm, slamming him into a wall.

"No!" Kiki yelled.

"I'm… still alive." Link stood up, teeth gritted. "This… is nothing. Compared to what I've gone through… this is nothing at all!" He dropped the ruined shield and pulled out his boomerang. "But I will admit… I'm pissed off at this THING!" He threw the boomerang, and all eyes were on it… even the Helmasaur King's. Its tail swung out to smash the pitiful projectile out of the sky… and Link grabbed the tail. The Helmasaur King, not noticing, pulled it back over its head, and Link released it as he was flying up, launching himself even higher. Kiki stared, completely stunned, as he fell upon the emerald like a bolt of lighting, screaming furiously as he unleashed the Whirling Blade maneuver horizontally like a buzz saw. The Master Sword ripped the green stone apart straight down the middle, and the Helmasaur King screamed one last time as its entire body began glowing with an intense white light… and then it exploded into nothingness, leaving only a scorch mark on the floor and the withered, wasted body of an unmasked Helmasaur.

"What…" Kiki stammered. "You did that… what are you? Are you crazy, or…"

"No… I'm not crazy." Link shook his head. "But I will do anything… whatever it takes… to get these seven girls back. To save Hyrule from Ganon." He picked up his boomerang. "Damn, it's cracked… can't use it any more. Same with my shield… but at least I won. Now, where…" He looked up and smiled as a small blue crystal slowly floated down, about the size of a Pendant. "Aha. Now, who's in there?" The crystal began spinning, and it grew until it was larger than he was, and the girl inside was her normal size. She was familiar to him; it was Sahasrala's daughter, Sara.

"Link… is that really you?" She was, against all logic, still recognizably human. "Did you actually kill that monstrosity?"

"Yeah." Link nodded to her. "I'm here to bring you back home. Your family's waiting for you… they're all fine."

"They are? I had feared the worst…" Sara smiled. "Thank you, Link… but it's not that easy, I'm afraid."

"I might have… ways." Link assured her.

"I'll bet you do…" She nodded. "But you see… it's this crystal. Ganon created it, and encased all seven of us in them… they're incredibly powerful magical constructs. Even the Master Sword cannot break them… as you've probably figured out, they also protect us from the transforming effects of the Golden Land."

"Anything else you know about them?" Link wondered. "Anything at all?"

"Yes… we can all sense each other through them, and communicate telepathically." Sara explained. "Hold on… I'll try to contact Zelda." She closed her eyes, then opened them a moment later and spoke in a different voice… Zelda's voice.

"Link! Link, I'm so glad you're okay…" She paused. "Well, relatively okay. What have you been doing, picking a fight with a volcano?" In spite of himself, Link chuckled.

"No, just an overgrown lizard with a halitosis problem. What about you?"

"Been better, but at least I'm still alive." She conceded. "I'm in a crystal like Sara, and right now I'm at Ganon's Tower… that's the Forger's palace. It's on Death Mountain. But I won't be there for long… one of his stooges said something about how the crystals' magical auras clashed with an energy field around the tower so drastically that it would kill us if we stayed in there for a prolonged period of time. So they'll be moving me somewhere else…"

"Right." Link nodded. "I'll get you out of there… I promise."

"Good… just stay alive. And hurry… I know you've already done more than you should have had to, but we don't have much time. The barrier's not completely destroyed yet, but…"

"But it will be soon, unless we get all of you back to Hyrule." Link finished. "Sahasrala figured that out. But if we get you back, he'll be stuck again."

"I'm glad you know that… but Ganon does too." Zelda warned him. "One of his minions is dangerously intelligent… Mothula, I think her name was."

"I've heard the name… apparently, she created the abomination guarding Sara here." Link growled. "She'll probably be guarding one of the other girls herself… it won't be easy to take her down, but I'll manage. I'll kill all of them… and I'll save you."

"Thank you, Link…" Zelda smiled. "I'll let you go, then… good luck." Her eyes closed again, and then opened, and Sara spoke once more.

"All right, Link… let's get out of here. Once we're in a safe place, I'll show you on a map where all the others are being held."

"All right… and I'll take you back to your father." Link promised. "Maybe he and the other old guys can figure out some way to get rid of this crystal." Sara nodded, and the crystal shrank again, dropping into his hand.

"All right." Link turned. "Let's get out of here, eh, Kiki?" The monkey had watched the conversation without a word, dumbfounded. After a moment, she spoke.

"So… your name's Link, is it…"

"Yeah." Link admitted.

"That… makes things interesting." She shook herself. "All right. Let's get out of here… and quick, kiki. The Eyes will have noticed this… we need to vamoose before they get here, kikiki."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Link turned towards the exit. "Let's move."

"It's raining out now…" Link muttered as he stepped out of the Palace of Darkness. "Like it was on Death Mountain…"

"It ALWAYS rains on Death Mountain, ki." Kiki informed him. "It's a miserable place. Well, this entire world is miserable, but Death Mountain's the worst part of the lot."

"I'll bet." Link agreed. They continued walking, out through the vine maze. There was no trouble; apparently, more minions of Ganon hadn't come in to replace the ones Link had killed yet. "I'm surprised I wasn't set on fire when I was lying outside for a long time… that sun's got to be twice as hot as the one in Hyrule. When it's not pouring, it's barbecue, huh…"

"Oh, those are GOOD days in this hellhole." A new voice called out to him. "You want a bad day, stick around until it starts raining NAILS."

"Nails, shmails." Another one chimed in. "I say the worst is the fish. They can't even be trout or cod; we get PIRANHA. That's just overkill."

"You got something against sea life? I'm hurt." The first voice protested. Link looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint the voices.

"Who are you? WHERE are you?"

"Heh… up here, hero. In the tree." Link stared up into the branches of the closest one. Barely visible through the rain, two small figures were lying on an outstretched branch, gazing down at him through identical dark-tinted glasses that contrasted with their own white color. They were even stranger than the other people Link had met in the Dark World; one was a squid, tentacles folded like a human crossing his arms. The other was a gloved, disembodied hand with its glasses held in the grooves between fingers.

"Yo." The hand gave him a thumbs-up. "What's up, new guy? We've been hearing stories about you, so we figured we'd come down and meet you ourselves."

"Bosses!" Kiki grinned. "I was wondering when you'd show up, ki!"

"These two… are your bosses?" Link stared at the pair of bizarre creatures.

"That's right… we're the leaders of the RAG. Resistance Against Ganondorf. Neosquid and Handy, at your service." The squid uncrossed a tentacle and stuck it out towards Link. Dumbly, Link extended a hand and shook it.

"Hope you don't mind if I don't follow suit… you can see why." Handy shrugged his knuckles. "Enough about us… let's talk about you. Kiki, what's the scoop?"

"He's on the level, guys." Kiki jumped up into the branches next to them. "No question at all… he took down the King Helmasaur."

"Yeah, we figured that." Neosquid raised what would have been an eyebrow if he had HAD eyebrows. "Burned up… looks like something sprained in that arm, at least… and that shield's history. But you're alive. And you rescued the gal?"

"Yeah." Link nodded. "I did. She's fine."

"Well, where is she, then?" Handy inquired. "And don't try to tell us she's invisible. We're not the bad guys, kid… quite the opposite, we're the only friends you're likely to have here."

"She's still in the crystal." Kiki explained. "You can't see her in this weather, but she's there… just shrunk for convenience."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Neosquid conceded. "All right, kid. You look beat. What say we take you back to camp so you can conk out? We should move while the rain's on and Vitreous can't see us clear…" Again the would-be eyebrow raise. "Unless Ballio and Brutus were right, and you can get outta this dump?" Link started to reply, but was once again interrupted by a voice he didn't recognize.

"HI, KIDS!" A raucous scream echoed through the area as a nearby cliff face exploded in flames. "Much as I'd like to trail you and find out where your hideout is, I've got strict orders this time!" From the blast, a huge red demon with a psychotic grin emerged. He was wearing white robes with the same insignia on them that had decorated Hyrule Castle Tower. "Who know what time it is? That's right, it's time for a rousing game of the Dark World's national sport, 'Can YOU Outrun The Fireball!' Let's! Find! OUT!" On the last word, he exhaled a massive sphere of flames at the tree. Neosquid, Handy and Kiki all leaped clear as the wood erupted.

"Blind! Figures you'd crash the party!" Handy grunted, landing on his fingertips. "Get moving, kid; you're no match for this guy in the shape you're in! We'll hold him off!"

"Oh, I'm not alone." Blind informed them wickedly. "Let's give a big hand for my lovely co-host! Miss Mothula, come on dooowwwwn!" From the skies, a triple blast of glowing energy fell, carving ditches into the earth and drawing their eyes to a massive winged insect, brightly colored with huge eye marks on her wings.

"You killed the Helmasaur King, I take it…" Mothula hissed. "I spent a lot of time on him… I'll have to take the price of his work out of your hide, boy!"

"She's here too? Well, screw Plan A!" Neosquid yelled. "I hope like hell that you CAN get back to Hyrule, kid, because we need to run too! If you can, DO IT! We'll meet again later!"

"Right!" Link pulled out the Magic Mirror, then paused. "Quick! Sara! Look into this!" He shoved the crystal towards the mirror. For a moment, there was no reaction, and then the crystal shimmered and vanished.

"What are you DOING?" Handy screamed as he, Neosquid and Kiki scrambled for cover. "GO!"

"I am, I am!" Link yelled back, looking into the mirror. As he did, he saw over the top of it that Blind was reaching for him… and then the world faded into white, and a moment later he was standing in Hyrule once more, with Sara floating near him.

"Well." She spoke after a moment. "THAT was interesting."

"Yeah." Link shook his head. "Those two… Blind and Mothula. Eyes of Ganon, both of them. And I'll bet there's at least two more… names I've heard. Arrghus and Vitreous. I've got my work cut out for me… but it looks like I might not be entirely alone on enemy turf after all. The Rag, huh… I just hope those guys make it out of there. For now… let's go back to Kakariko Village again."