Christmas time! I love the holiday season cause I just make snowflakes and where I'm from we don't have finals yet so I'm just vibing. I had a good day today too so. Here I am finishing it off with a new chapter! I don't have nearly as much to say this time around except to have a happy holidays and to thank my beta reader as I do every chapter and also to say-
Enjoy!
"Who turned the water off?" Wasyl tapped his spear into the ground, darting looks around the room. When he found Link and I standing behind him, we both shrugged. "Looks like we're gonna have to use that clawshot of yours."
He'd been referring to the fact that the two gears in that room had decided not to turn. It was similar to the other lower gear room, but instead of water below, a dark pit awaited flesh to swallow. Their plan was to go one by one, firing the clawshot back to the ledge for the next person. Link tried to bring back the color in my face by assuring me you only really needed one arm to operate the thing. That didn't help when I went second and stood awaiting certain doom.
Wasyl caught the chain when Link fired back from a stone platform in the middle of the pit. As he let go, the clawshot had no where to go but forward. The Zora nearly dropped it upon impact, but collected it quickly and delivered it to my hand. Inside the guard there were three switches. Left, Link said, was fire, middle reel in, and third reel out. I lined up my aim and fired, missing the target by a lot. It sprang back on its own and I tried again to no success.
Aim up more.
I readied myself again, tipping it up until Wasyl came over and guided it to the right. As I fired, it hit the target and I had no time to prepare myself for the force of it yanking me forward. I slammed into the gear, nearly losing my grip. In the air, I wavered, wracking my brain for the next step.
"Hit the third trigger!" Link yelled from below.
My ring finger reached up on the grip and I held down while the chain started reeling out. It clanked out at a slow rate, lowering me down to the rock I was too terrified to look at. When my feet felt stone, I again hesitated, twisting my head around to try and see Link.
He gestured for me to get on with it. "Now release it."
"Release it?!"
"Oh." Link wrapped an arm around my torso then grabbed the clawshot. "Let go."
I did as he asked and he hit something inside the grip, causing the claw to come barreling back. He fired it to Wasyl and let it go once it was in the Zora's grasp. I tried to scooch back more to the center of the platform, but Link still held me around the waist.
"What?" he laughed.
"Move, I don't like being close to the edge."
A chuckle bubbled into my ears and I felt my body lurch forward. The pit suddenly became deeper than it was before in my eyes. It licked its lips at the smell of my flesh and echoed out a growl from its depths. I hugged Link and screamed, "Stop! This isn't funny!"
Despite my shouting, he inched me closer. Despite my terror, I laughed.
"Link I'm serious, put me back." I reached my foot around him.
"You don't sound serious." He fit his other arm under my knees and swept me up, dangling my legs over the edge. A pop went off from the ledge.
"Put me down, put me down," I plead frantically. He loosened his grip and I screamed.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Link said between laughs. I could hear Wasyl reeling down as Link brought me out of the way to drop my legs. The Zora lowered himself to the platform, his eyes wide and browline nearly halfway up his forehead. I still clung onto Link, blood rushing too quickly to have any sense to let go.
He took a deep breath. "I thought he was trying to kill you."
Link loosened his embrace. "No, just trying to spook her."
"Right." He pointed to a patch of vines above us, layered over a brick wall. "There's a shortcut over there. Should we go one at a time again or is that too much to handle?"
They decided I should go second.
We all landed on the other side and took a door into a ring hallway like the one before. Wasyl lead the way to another spiral room. The basin here was already mostly full and the spiral was destroyed in many places. I allowed the two to go on without me. To be fair to them, I wasn't doing anything useful.
They started the water and went through the same process as last time on the bottom which filled the channel. Back to the gear, which was finally turning, we made our way down again, riding the platforms to the other side. Through the door there, a maze of rock sat submerged. We dove in and traversed through several twists. When we surfaced, we headed into a circular room.
Wasyl breathed a sigh of relief at its sight. "Here it is."
Link looked around. "I don't see it."
"Down there dumbass," he pointed.
I snapped my head towards Wasyl but Link just laughed.
In the middle of the floor there was a small opening. Just below, a huge chest. As we each filed down, Link heaved open the lid and glared inside. A large black key with a red orb on its tail tinted his face pink until he shoved it into his pouch. We left and raced through another shortcut to make it back to the center chamber, struggling through a school of skullfish.
Wasyl stopped when we got there, turning around towards us, "You're really thinking about fighting that thing?"
"We don't have much of a choice." I strolled over to one of the ledges and peered down. The water level was now exactly high enough to get to the boss room.
"Then I'll help. It won't listen to me, but it might respond to some of its training."
We leapt off the ledge together and surfaced. Link got out and fixed the key to the lock and as it struck the floor, the door fell with it. At the center of the tiny chamber, a black hole contrasted with the torchlight. I peered down into it, catching a glimmer of the water level which was too far down to be able to climb back out.
"The water's low…" Wasyl went to one of the walls and pulled down a rope there. He threw it into the hole then sat down at the edge. "Is there anything we should discuss before we go?"
Link and I shook our heads.
"Alright, masks up and let's dive."
The Zora plopped in before us. I stared at Link and noticed his armour was slightly lopsided at the shoulder. As I reached over to fix it, he pulled up my cloth for me. He smiled before adjusting his and putting an arm around my waist. With a little nudge from him, we both jumped at the same time and slipped into the darkness below.
The frigid water enveloped me from my toes to the top of my head. Wasyl was already heading down so Link flicked on his iron boots and gripped my arm. Sinking, the features of the tall chamber became evident. Hard thick bricks with fish and shell engravings made up the walls. A faint blue light emanated from them into the surroundings, illuminating the tall columns circling the room. In the center, a translucent pink tentacle danced with the mild current and pulsed with a blue energy.
I held my breath as the sight hit me. This was supposed to be another one of those moments I was dreading. My chest pounded, fists beating from the inside. I did little to care at first, but the closer we came to it, the more I wanted to tear away. Wasyl watched listlessly as it waved back and forth. His chin was tilted up, acknowledging its magnificent size. Turning towards us, he gave a solemn nod and struck his spearhead into the ground.
An eye flew up into the tentacle, flipping around until it caught us under its glare. The sand under our feet began to rumble, clouds of dirt puffing up and obstructing the seven tentacles fighting their way out into the water. When it subsided, a huge, round maw revealed itself, opening and closing its hundreds of pointed teeth.
"It gets almost all of its environmental cues through its eye. If we destroy the eye, it's more likely to respond to its training." Wasyl's voice carried clearly through the water, "Then we can incapacitate and kill it."
Link and I nodded, our eyes locked on the beast. My tongue sat dry in my mouth, but I took an unsteady breath in and dug my feet into the dirt.
Is there something off about Morpheel to you?
"Wha-"
Nevermind, you can't answer. Good luck and remember everything I've taught you.
The eye traveled in and out of Morpheel's head into different tentacles. Link pulled out his clawshot and followed its path. Wasyl went in closer, extending his spear out in front of him. When he stepped in reach of the closest tentacle, it swung down on him and he brought his spear up into it. The action didn't stop the beast, he only got angrier and shifted around the Zora, constricting him into a grasp.
Link fired into it, but although the claw pierced through the membrane, no reaction followed. Warily, I brought my arm up. Wasyl wriggled, trying to free an arm to no avail. His spear remained stuck in flesh, tip deep into the inflicted wound. I directed a bullet of energy to the spear, watching it fly and connect with a fizzle of electricity. The tentacle flinched and I quickly sent another one, stronger than the last.
Its grip released as all of the tentacles twisted and writhed over each other, the eye lurching into Morpheel's body. Wasyl collected his bearings and swam for his spear, picking it out while the beast still panicked. Link stayed lined up for the shot, waiting for him to calm down enough, squinting at where the eye barely bobbed out.
The white came first, then a yellow and red iris and next to me a click popped. A claw sunk its teeth into its pupil, pulling it out into the open water. Link shoved the contraption to his right hand and tore out his sword. The eye stopped feet in front of us and he swung the tip out to just barely scratch its cornea. When he took a step forward, he stabbed again and released a golden cloud into the air.
We stood in stagnant water, failing to comprehend the color as it dissipated out with the still waves.
That's not right.
With no resistance, the eye flew back to Morpheel, diffusing into a tentacle and disappearing into its head. Wasyl threw his hands up, swimming back to us. "What's the problem!"
I flailed my hand at where the eye had been, but the Zora held up his palm and whispered for it to stop.
"Just get it back over here!"
They split while I stayed planted into the ground. The eye spiraled in and out sporadically, avoiding clawshots and any prodding on Wasyl's part. I tried to paralyze the tentacles, but the eye simply kept moving. Link ended up beside me again, the Zora further forward, stabbing at the closest appendage. It slammed down into the dirt to try and stagger him, but Link took the chance as the eye peaked out from the body.
The claw punctured through its membrane, clasping onto the eye and yanking it back. When it reached our feet, Wasyl fell back, stabbing his spear in to pin it to the ground. With a glare, he dug in further and gestured down, "So, let's get on with it!"
Link struck in, working through the water to strike it over and over. The eye unfurled like it was being put through a grinder. He let up, but the moment he stopped, its loose ends started pulling itself together. Wasyl flung bits aside while Link kicked them or dug them into the sand. I stood back, limbs too cold to react. When the pieces were far enough apart, they stopped and stared back towards the beast.
In those seconds I longed for the silence to perpetuate.
Under our feet, the ground shook aggressively while clouds of sand rose higher into a column wishing to touch the sky. Morpheel broke passed the cover, tentacles flowing behind its massive head. There seemed to be no end to him until above the cover one large red fin loosed out and propelled forward. His body was tipped in blood red, exoskeleton the texture of hard bricks and mortar, the color of yellow mold. I took in its full size and hesitated to expel a breath.
The beast knocked into the columns circling the arena in a blind rage. They fell like leaves rather than towers, pushed out of the way to cascade down into the arms of the floor. Wasyl nodded his head towards Morpheel, "I can try to steer it, but I don't know what the next course of action is from here."
Link looked at me and I stared back with wide eyes. I raised an arm and made half a heart with my hand, but he just scowled. Pursing my lips, I yanked his hand over and shaped it into the other half then lined up mine. His expression relaxed and he made a thumbs up before turning back to Wasyl and making a heart shape.
"The heart?"
Link nodded.
"What about it?"
Link glared at him.
"Okay, yes or no questions…" Wasyl tapped his chin. "Where?"
We nodded back vigorously.
"Um…" he tilted his eyes up towards the beast, watching it swim around and nearly bump into the walls. "It's exoskeleton is too thick to penetrate, but if you wanted to go through it, the heart's around the lower belly of the first spike on its side."
I examined Morpheel again, tracing his mouth down to his underbelly. Something that big couldn't have a small heart. Perhaps if it was tilting its head up, we could shoot it through the jaws. With the finger against my lips, I poked Link and started gesturing. It came out much more ambiguous than I hoped for and once again, I dragged up his hand and shaped it. His fist represented Morpheel and I made a gun with my fingers shooting it down.
Wasyl wasn't amused. "What are you trying to say?"
Dropping my shoulders, I tried motioning as if I was shooting an arrow.
"Shoot it through the mouth? It'll just swallow the arrow."
Oh my god, get on with it.
Morpheel started approaching the ground, circling down along the edge of the room. I lit a bolt of blue light in my palm and made the bow motion again.
"Does that work?"
I shrugged.
Wasyl dug his spear into the sand contemplatively. Morpheel let out a low gurgle, but it barely phased the Zora. Solemnly, he straightened his back, "I'll steer him to wherever you decide to set up. Then you shoot." He took off into the water.
Link slid his iron boots off, Midna fazing them from metal to flippers. I held onto him tightly, glimpsing the massive eel swooping lower just to the left. We took off into the water, rushing for a higher stance. Morpheel seemed to sense the movement and turned its head to us. Rows of bared teeth gaped open. With a flicker, something green came surging towards us.
I tried to scream Link's name, but it didn't register to him in time. Shivering nerves struck across my arm and the water went bright with red. Where I clutched him, a spasm twitched. We were suspended there, not moving.
Morpheel drew closer, threatening with its maw to make us into one of the delicious trespassers it ate. I was ready to kick away when Wasyl appeared at its side, pulling back the spear. With a vicious stab, the spear went behind the exoskeleton into soft tissue and he pushed forward into the muscle. The eel turned its head sharply away and changed directions.
I let out a breath and gave Link a kick. He elbowed me in the side before stroking upward again. When we reached a safer spot, he drew out his bow and a single arrow. Wasyl pulled back on the spear and turned the large creature over. As Link went to knock the arrow, he nudged my shoulder. I wrapped my fingers around his hand and waited for the beast to look up.
The spear got yanked forward, causing Morpheel to tilt its head upward. We waited there, gazing at all of the sharp daggers protruding from its mouth. Link made eye contact with me and gave me a nod. I breathed slowly, balling up energy towards my palm. The beast's maw faced upwards, revealing the circles of teeth around its throat. Under my grasp, his fingers twitched and I released a small shudder into the arrow. The moment it glew, Link loosed the projectile and I propelled it with the rest of the pent up energy.
It flew into Morpheel's mouth and the creature tensed for a moment. A low murmur rose in its throat to a roar. In blind fury, it paddled itself faster towards us as Link looked back and forth between me and the beast. He fidgeted with the pouch at his side, glancing back to see it closer and closer. I swallowed down my fear and stayed at his side while he produced an arrow. Fitting it to the bow, he turned to the beast and brandished the weapon. In a few strokes, our feet would be grazing its teeth, in a few strokes, we'd be well passed its heart.
Link aimed downward and I clasped onto his grip. There was no time for coordination, he shot and I threw out as much as I could find from my Leiyn. The arrow traveled like a bullet through flesh. Morpheel's cries deafened our ears as its jaws surrounded us. I pushed away from Link and clutched onto a tooth. When I glanced over, I saw him clinging to one too, his grasp barely holding onto his bow.
The beast's muscles ceased their movements and I felt its head tip sideways. We watched from its mouth as its whole body fell like a beloved pet laid down slowly to rest. Clouds of dust obscured the opening, but the moment it settled, the flesh around us turned an oily black and exploded into the water. Our feet settled into the sand as the black shards condensed together in the middle of the chamber into a stoney plate, a Fused Shadow piece strikingly similar to a bit of Midna's helmet where it reached up like horns.
Not bad, kid.
Wasyl swam down to us, his spear bent in an odd direction. He focused on the spot where the beast had laid down to rest, his face contorted. As he settled next to us, Midna jumped out and startled him. "What the fuck is that thing?!"
Midna set her hands on her hips. "Well that's rude!"
He composed himself with a breath. "I apologize. You must have been the third voice I heard earlier, I should've known."
"Okay look, handsome, we're here for that thing over there and then we're gonna leave, touché?"
Wasyl struck his spear into the sand. "Will you at least let me give them a proper farewell?"
Midna tapped a finger into her cheek then sighed, "If you insist…" The imp broke away to get the Fused Shadow, leaving us all staring at each other until Link made the move to follow after her.
She grabbed the piece in her fist, shrinking it and hiding it somewhere unseen. Turning to us, she explained somberly, "That's the last of 'em. I'm really sorry for the trouble, but with this we'll be able to fight against Zant's false power. It's the only thing that will allow me to kill him and return me to my true form. Hopefully...nevermind." With a wave, she dismissed us. "I'll meet you back up there."
The three of us made our way to the surface and pulled up the rope. I went second, heavily assisted up by the two of them. At the top, we all sat down on the tile and slouched. Link and I pulled down our cloths.
Wasyl suddenly started laughing, "Does this mean I can be king now?"
Link heaved out a chuckle. "What are you gonna tell them when you get home?"
"I'm not sure…" he admitted, "Morpheel has an egg somewhere in here. I'll get that and go to one of the elders first."
"Has Ralis tamed it?"
Wasyl shook his head. "No...they'll make an exception though. But the kid isn't fit to rule yet, I wish they would just assign someone else to the job until he's old enough. He's just a boy."
I pushed up against the wall. "Well why don't you take his place until then?"
"Me?" Wasyl laughed. "They'd never pick me...well...maybe."
Link got up. "I'd say it's worth a shot suggesting it, even if you don't get it. I certainly know putting a kid under that much responsibility is never good."
Wasyl and I stood up with him. The Zora stuck out his hand to Link. "Thanks for the advice, kid. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday."
Link shook his hand firmly. "May they cross when we're both in good health. Good luck!"
When he offered his hand to me, I hesitated but shook it lightly. He waved on his way out of the room, calling a "Goodbye" which was followed by Link and I's in unison. As he dove into the water, an empty space rang hollow where he stood. I tried to recall what was next, thinking about the Mirror in my head. Abruptly, a different recollection found its way into my ears. Midna's' Desperate Hour, was it? And before that.
Why's your heart beating so fast?
"Zant…"
"What was that?" Link laid a hand on my shoulder.
I knew I couldn't tell him because he would want to prevent it altogether, but it was this exact moment that allowed him to get the Master Sword. But wasn't this what lengthened the whole story? Nonetheless the twilight would settle over Hyrule again. I had to let it happen. I wasn't going to be like the Vinderendetta, this was Link's story.
So when Midna flew out of shadow and asked if we were ready to go, I cleared the lump in my throat and said yes. Her portal spread out on the floor, lighting up the room in a dim turquoise. Link stepped on first followed by my shivering feet. It went impossibly frigid before the clear night air replaced the damp cavern atmosphere. The image of the Lanayru Spring materialized, green moss wet from a drizzle that fell through the skyview.
My spine chilled as I sensed something behind me.
"How peculiar," a voice said.
Link spun around, but I remained facing the back wall, running what little I recalled from the scene through my head. As a soft glow originated from the bottom of the spring, I mumbled softly to myself.
"Cue the lights."
