Jellyf led him to what was, in comparison, a pond. The water was pleasantly warmed by the beaming sun, and it was perhaps one of the more peaceful places Link had seen throughout his journey thus far. The heat coursing through the water soothed his shoulder wonderfully. Ahead of them was the shape of a fish carved into the side of the cliff, so large that Link's mouth fell agape at the sight of it, almost mimicking the gaping mouth of the fish, which served as the entrance to the cistern. Pillars as tall as the fish, carved out of a bright orange wood, surrounded them on either side. While Link wanted to remain in the soothing, warm water, with the awe-inspiring sights around him, he drew in a deep breath and made for the mouth of the fish.

"I send you all of my well wishes, Link," Jellyf said, her eyes smiling despite the concern evident in her soft voice. "Please, help our Faron."

Link offered her a curt nod before venturing into the depths of the cistern. Inside, the floor beneath him was made of shimmering white stone, etched with unique patterns and images, and gold trimming separated the floors from the royal yellow walls that were covered in moss and vines. Several feet out from the entrance, the cistern opened up into a massive dome-like room. The ceiling was made of bright, solid gold with a ring of orange wood encircling the whole thing. The head of a man, perhaps a ruler of sorts, nearly reached the ceiling. He too was made of pure gold, and looked to be smiling peacefully. His long body, which itself looked like a hut, went down into a large pool of water speckled with big, luscious lily pads. Link's mouth salivated at the sight of the rich, refreshing blue water. Near to him was a door with a strange locking mechanism, which he ignored for the time being.

He wandered the path which circled the room, coming to a stop only when he was cut off by a small yet powerful waterfall. When he neared the back of the statue, Fi emerged from the sword and observed what looked to be a painting on it. Eight oblong shapes jutted out from a small circle, reminding Link somewhat of a flower.

"Master, I believe this is providing useful information to you," she said.

"How so?"

"Notice that there are eight shapes. Only one is filled in blue," she replied, then turned to face Link. "Recall the lock mechanism on the door near the entrance. It bears the same shape as the image. I recommend looking for similar images throughout the area."

It sounded like a good enough suggestion in Link's ears, as he had no other ideas on his own. Returning to the front of the room, he observed the statue's outstretched hands underneath the water. He squinted to see better, and then was able to make out two distinct blue shapes, one on each hand. However, the rippling of the water made it difficult to see exactly where they were in relation to the others. Expecting the warm, comforting water he swam in outside, he was jolted by the frigid temperature of the water inside the cistern. Still, he swam down to get a better look at the hands.

"I have recorded the positions of the blue marks," Fi said from inside the sword.

He swam to the nearest lily pad and tried to pull himself up on it, as they appeared to be large and thick, capable of carrying him. However, the shift of weight caused it to flip, spilling Link back into the cold water. Opting for the path this time, he finally emerged. He took note of the underside of the lily pad. There was a curved, sharp point, purple at its base before transitioning to a cream white near its point.

"Peculiar..." he uttered to himself.

A way down the circular path, Link observed there were platforms leading up to a higher level. It was grueling work due to the injury in his shoulder, yet Link still managed to bring himself to the top, where there was a door. Entering in, he was immediately met by not one, but two large, thick spider webs. Memories from his battle with the Skulltula inside of Skyview Temple flashed in his mind as he slowly glided the sword from its sheath as silently as he could. He quietly, slowly sawed through the sticky webbing and continued forward, eyes keen and shoulders hunched. Suddenly, a drop of purple liquid fell in front of him and began sizzling on the white stone floor. His forest green eyes shot up and landed squarely on two mean and hungry looking Skulltulas dangling above him. They screeched as his gaze met theirs. They dropped and began their assault.

He readied his shield and braced against consecutive thrusts from the eight-legged fiends. He attempted his own sword slashes, which they batted away with their strong legs. Unexpectedly, one of the beasts spat its venom at Link, who managed to raise his shield at just the right moment. However, the other Skulltula pounced, knocking Link off balance and to the ground. It sank down for a bite. Link caught it by the mouth and pressed against it with all of his strength, dodging droplets of venom and they spilled out. He kicked his foot up into the creature's weak point as hard as he could, feeling the tips of his booted toes sink into the Skulltula's flesh. It cried out and recoiled, giving Link enough time to scramble to his knees and hurl the blade into its gut. He twisted, and then pulled it free, leaving the first of the monsters to burst into a cloud of malice.

The other wasted no time in its attack. It rammed its hard body into Link, forcing him to back up until he crashed into the wall. He tried bashing its head, but could only get the hilt of the sword to make contact. It squinted its many eyes at Link, who exchanged the same look in kind as an idea struck him. He thrust the pommel of the sword into one of its eyes. It shrieked and withdrew back far enough for Link to turn the sword and thrust the blade into another eye. The beast stumbled back, still insisting on swatting at Link. Flourishing the sword behind his back, he leaned down and roared his body in a circle with the blade outstretched. The momentum knocked the beast down onto its back. With a leap, he sent the blade into its weak point and watched it shrivel up into its demise.

Once the room had turned to a peaceful state, Link began searching around. The room appeared mostly empty, save for a raised platform nearby. On the ceiling, where the Skulltulas had been, he observed another painting like the ones previous. Assuming this was all he needed, he turned back to re-enter the main dungeon room. Alas, the door behind him had been sealed with iron bars. Several thick vines had grown along the wall, allowing him to scale up to the platform, but at the top, all he could see was the water and the floating lily pads below. He ran a flustered hand through his honey-blonde locks and let out a loud sigh.

"See anything, Fi?" he called. "Anything of the way-to-get-out variety?"

Fi emerged from the sword briefly.

"I detect a hollow stretch of tunnel," she replied. "However, it is underwater."

She gestured downward toward the floating lily pads. If he looked closely enough, he could see the rectangular outline of a tunnel beneath one of them. However, it was shrouded by the spiked hook and other sharp ends of the underside of the lily pad. Link gave his lips a quick lick as he thought of how to proceed. Perhaps he could make his way back down to the water and flip it the way he had in the previous room.

After chewing on the idea for a moment, he decided it would take too long, and he was feeling rather impatient.

Instead, he leapt from the platform and tucked his legs in, trying to steer himself to the lily pad. The floating foliage did little to protect him from the smacking impact against the water. However, the plan worked. He surfaced briefly to work out the ringing pain in his ear left over from hitting the water, then took in as deep of a breath as he could before swimming into the tunnel. Just after he entered, he heard a creaking of sorts. Looking behind him as best as he could, he saw that metal bars had covered the way in which he came. If he could have gulped at the sight of it, he would have. It was terribly cramped, so much so that Link's ability to swim through it was hindered. Therefore, he did more crawling than swimming, which was quite taxing underwater.

His heart sank when he came to a grate of sorts made of wood. Just as he came to it, he began noticing an ache in his chest and the urge to breathe growing.

"Master," Fi called from the sword, "your blood-oxygen level is decreasing rapidly. I estimate fifteen seconds before you will need to take a breath."

Link grabbed onto the pieces of wood and tried his best to pull back on them. He felt them move, but only slightly. All the while, his head was feeling rather light, and he felt his neck muscles contracting.

"Ten seconds."

With bubbles escaping from his mouth, he pulled again. This time he heard the beginnings of several snaps, yet the wood remained intact.

"Eight seconds."

Another sharp pull caused the pieces of wood to sever at last. Link continued his desperate underwater crawl as Fi continued counting down. His heartbeat was frantic by the time the end of the tunnel came into view. Just as he was freeing his body from the cramped space, he felt his throat lock up.

"Three seconds, Mas-"

Gasping and choking, Link's head came up from the water, and his arms flailed in a desperate attempt to keep himself afloat. He could barely keep his eyes open from how fiercely he coughed, yet managed to bring himself to where the floor met the water, and hoisted himself up before letting his soaked body flop down. He sucked in heaving breaths of as much precious air as he could. Fi emerged and monitored closely.

"Your blood-oxygen levels are restoring," she said. "I advise you to rest until you have fully recovered."

He took her caution to heart and continued to lie there on the ground until he felt his strength returning.

"All of that for some vague paintings?" he finally sighed.

"I take this questioning as an indication that you are feeling well again," Fi stated, tilting her head slightly.

Link rose to his feet, and they slowly started off around the room once more. Coming to the locked door from earlier, he observed the lock.

"Strike the upper-left diagonal first, Master," Fi said. "Followed by the bottom center."

Each time Link struck one of the blue pieces of the lock, the mechanism in the center would spin around wildly.

"Center right, and lastly, bottom right diagonal."

He continued to strike the lock as instructed by Fi, until at last, its chains came crashing down and the door became accessible. Link stepped toward it, yet noticed Fi stayed behind.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I am recalling what I detected in Skyview Temple," she replied, "before you battled the Stalfos."

The point in his neck bobbed up and down as he gulped, the images of his battle with the Stalfos flashing in his mind. Its deadly strength, its shield splitting his lip wide open, and the sickening cracking of its bones as Link miraculously defeated it.

"Are you detecting the same here?" he asked, hesitance evident in his tone.

"More," she replied plainly.

Link sighed, noticing his pulse quicken. A tightness came to his throat, prompting him to pull on the collar of his tunic. His hand glided over his spirit vessel, and he recalled all the Goddess Farore had told him in the silent realm. He also felt for Faron's dragon scale, which was said to bring him strength and good fortune. Drawing in a deep breath, he proceeded through the door, which, unsurprisingly, was sealed with iron bars behind him.

The room was dark, and a golden dust floated through the air, making it difficult to see at first. Throwing his elbow over his mouth, Link coughed, and with his free hand, tried to wave away the thick cloud floating about. However, when he did so, it revealed a large skull half-buried in the sandy floor. Link's heart leapt into his throat at the sight of it. Other bones were scattered across the room, and sure enough, they began trembling. Link drew and flourished the Goddess Sword as he watched the bones assemble, clattering and snapping into place rather gruesomely, until they had formed the Stalmaster. It wore heavier golden armor than the Stalfos he fought before, and this one was taller and appeared older. Instead of a shield, this one carried two swords.

It began with an overhead swing, which was deflected by the Goddess Sword with a loud, echoing clash. Link threw off the Stalmaster's blade. He spun around, crouched low, and tried to slice through the creature's leg. It dodged and hurled both of its blades down at Link. He blocked with the shield, feeling the impact vibrate all the way up his arm. A quick lift and thrust of the Goddess Sword tore through one of the beast's lower ribs. It shrieked, yet continued its assault with no less strength or cruelty.

The monster kept Link on his toes, deflecting with the Goddess Sword from one side and blocking with the shield on the other, while trying to sneak in as many of his own strikes as he could. He was exhausted and gasping for breath within minutes, with beads of sweat threatening to fall into his eyes at any moment. With a swift twist, Link managed to plunge the blade into the giant's hip bone. While it didn't break, the beast was clearly affected as it unleashed an agonizing roar and caved in on its knee for a moment. It continued to block a barrage of strikes from Link. Link thought, for a short time, that he was starting to gain the upper hand and would soon claim victory. However, one of the Stalmaster's blocks caused Link to stumble backward some. Before he could rebound, he heard another wave of distinct crackling and snapping coming from the dark shadows of the room.

To his dismay, Link observed another skeletal arm, holding yet another weapon, moving across the floor. From the other side of the room, a fourth arm with a weapon appeared. Both joined the Stalmaster, attaching themselves below his first two arms. The confidence Link had felt moments before was washed away by the Stalmaster's reinvigorated roar. Still, he flourished the blade and vowed to fight on.

Blocking, parrying, striking, twisting, ducking, leaping, and rolling. The duel felt endless, and Link's stamina was quickly depleting. His sweat-soaked hair was now matted to his forehead, and his arms were beginning to quake with fatigue. With a loud battle cry, The Stalmaster crossed its top two swords and thrust them downward at Link. He arched himself backward as low as he could, narrowly avoiding the two blades as they crossed over his neck. Its lower arms did the same, except they extended the swords straight out rather than down. Link had no choice but to let his body fall to the floor. Then, one-by-one, each of the Stalmaster's blades plunged into the ground, with Link rolling feverishly to avoid each one. Scrambling to his feet, he ran to one of the ends of the room, which was cast in a dark shadow.

The Stalmaster angrily pursued, blindly swiping its sword in the shadows, hitting nothing. It ceased its striking, peering as deeply into the darkness as it could, until suddenly, a sharp, blue light, accompanied by a high-pitched sound, drew its attention. Just as it raised its weapons to attack, the Goddess Sword was flung, and the light of a skyward strike barrelled into the beast, separating one of its arms at the shoulder. The monster drew back with a loud shriek as Link valiantly rejoined it in the dim light. He once again overpowered the Stalmaster and managed to cut into its spine. While still intact, the beast's upper-body began caving in on itself.

Link dodged a short barrage of counter-strikes before quickly charging one more skyward strike, which was then sent through the creature's chest. Ribs crumbled, two more arms fell, and the beast's spine split in half as the raging power soared through it. Even from the ground it tried to fight on. Link stepped over it, and with an exhausted huff, drove the sword between its eye holes, finally claiming his victory. Fi quickly emerged from the sword.

"You have certainly grown in your swordmanship," she said, hinting a smile in her voice, though her face remained unchanged.

"Is that your way of saying you're impressed?" Link replied with a breathy chuckle.

"I'm unsure if I am capable of feeling... impressed... as you say."

A sudden gust of wind drew their attention. The golden dust was kicked up once more and swirled to the center of the room. A dim light formed out of nothing, growing brighter until it took the shape of a treasure chest, just as it had in Skyview. Link quickly opened it and found what looked to be nothing more than the hilt of a sword made of gold. Out of it came a rope, magenta on the bottom, before transitioning to a deep teal at the end.

"What am I to do with this I wonder?"

"It appears to harness an unseen power," Fi replied, "much like the gust bellows."

"Think it might help us get out of here?" Link asked, noticing the door was still sealed with iron bars.

"Master," Fi said plainly.

Link observed her looking high above them. It was difficult to see in the dark. However, the harder he looked, the more he could make out what appeared to be a lever near the ceiling of the room. Unsure of what else to do, Link flicked the handled rope it its direction. To his amazement, the rope was enveloped in a bright blue light, and grew to two, three, even four times its length, with a sound like that of a whip coming from it. With little effort on Link's part, it attached itself firmly to the lever above them. An amused scoff escaped from Link. He tugged down, pulling the lever and releasing the whip. The iron bars retracted, and he quickly moved back into the main room of the cistern.

The brightness overwhelmed Link's vision at first, though once he was adjusted, Fi called his attention yet again.

"Master," she said, "previously I did not think them to be of use, however, please observe the hook-like objects high up on the walls."

Sure enough, there were several hooks climbing higher and higher up the walls, eventually leading to what appeared to be a platform above the waterfall. Link used the whip to jump from hook-to-hook (though he slipped and fell the first time) until he reached the higher part of the chamber. Entering through another door, another large space was now before them. On the northern side of the room, there was a large, spinning cylinder covered in green, leafy vines, and behind it were two more higher up sections. One was filled with water, which spilled down and fed into a small stream, feeding the waterfall from the previous room.

Using the whip, Link climbed to the first part of the room and peered into the pond of water. It seemed unusually shallow, and something about the floor of it seemed unnatural, unlike the pond in the previous room. As Link continued to look, his pointed ears perked up at what sounded like the wings of a Loftwing flapping wildly. His heart quickened, and for a split moment, he found himself feeling hopeful that he would see a Loftwing. Perhaps even his very own, as unlikely as it was. Instead, what flew towards him was a Furnix. Its crimson and gold feathers shone brightly, and its long, flowing tail reminded Link of a chain. The majestic yet fierce bird flew toward Link with frightening speed. It flew past Link and attempted to swipe him with its tail, which Link ducked under. Then, the bird turned and spat a wave of flames from its beak. Link was only spared a dreadful burn by the strength of his shield.

He readied the whip and aimed it at the flying fiend's tail. Just as it was opening its mouth to spit out more fire, Link latched the whip and pulled the bird down to the ground. It squawked angrily and even tried to nip at Link as he climbed atop it. Alas, the sword was plunged into its chest and the fiery beast turned to a cloud of malice. Link noticed himself fighting back a swell of emotion, as killing a beast so similar to his own flying companion stirred something in him. He could hear the calls of more Furnixes in the distance. Sheathing the blade, he quickly jumped and grabbed onto the rotating cylinder, climbing upward as quietly as he could. He watched as three more Furnixes landed where the other had been killed. Squeezing himself against the cylinder and holding his breath, he waited until he could safely step down to another platform.

In the center was what appeared to be a wind-up key in the ground. Surrounding it were three Deku Babas. The two on either side were blue, and the one in the center was a deadlier golden-yellow one. He dealt with the blue Babas quite easily. The last, however, put up more of a fight, enough to draw the attention of the Furnixes below. Link sliced through the Deku Baba's mouth, then quickly turned to find himself being surrounded by the red, enraged birds. He aimed the whip at the one highest up and latched onto its tail.

He pulled the whip sideways, hurling one Furnix into the other two, ultimately confusing and frustrating the birds as they flew into a tangled mess. While Link had a small opening, he used the whip to pull the wind-up key. To his surprise, the ground gave a quick shake and a loud rumbling filled the room. Looking down, he saw two doors pulling back, creating a whirlpool in the center of the water below. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt a distinct heat at his back. Turning, he was met with all three of the Furnixes staring him down, readying their fiery breath.

With no other options, Link jumped from the platform, just as three blasts of flame were being unleashed behind him. He hit the water hard and was immediately caught by the whirlpool. Instinct took over as he found himself trying to swim against it, though it quickly became obvious that his efforts were for naught. Nauseating dizziness overwhelmed him as he spun round and round in the vicious water before being sucked in. Holding his breath as tightly as he could, he fell for what felt like ages, until he entered a dark, ominous cave. Occasional beams of light from the ceiling illuminated the otherwise ghastly cavern. He could see large spikes of daunting purple and black rock strewn about. Large pools of bubbling, reddish-brown liquid, with eerie steam rising up from them, speckled the cave. He felt a sense of dread both from the long fall, and the sight of this frightening new place.

For a split second, he heard the sound of the water splashing down on the hard ground beneath him. The next-to-last thing he heard, however, was his own head smacking violently against the pavement. His ears were filled with a terrible, deafening ring that muted even his own scream of pain. His vision tunneled as he tried to rally, despite the splitting sting now filling his skull. With a loud groan, he lifted his head from the ground, just long enough to see the frames of several green Bokoblin creeping toward him. With a swift breath out, his head fell to the ground. Everything went dark and silent as he laid out cold in the deep, dark cave.