Hi it's been a long...long time. I'm so sorry. Honestly the end of this chapter was just sitting unwritten for quite awhile and whenever I got to it I just felt overwhelmingly low motivation. I just started college and have been super super busy on and off. But, I sucked it up and I finished the last scene. It's pretty half-assed but if it leads me to writing more then that is fine by me.

Because it's been so long I decided to forego editing this so excuse typos and general stupid mistakes. If something seems off though, feel free to point it out and I'll try to go back and fix it quickly.

Thank you for waiting so long and

ENJOY!


The crackle of a fire roared faintly in the distance, casting a grossly orange light onto the outside of my eyelids. I blinked them open to see a small campfire made out of odds and ends of wood planks and shapely spikes with spearheads strewn around the floor. Not far from it was Link sitting on a stair, his head propped up on a fist, dressed back in his tunic. Midna lounged against him, checking her nails in the firelight.

I placed a hand into the floor next to a pile of clothes my head had rested on, pushing myself up against the soreness of my muscles. A blanket sat on my shoulders but as I sat up, it slid off, revealing to me that I was wearing Link's clothes from the outpost. Bandages covered my midsection, a couple going across my chest and around my shoulder like a sash. My arm and right thigh were covered as well as my left calf. All of them were bloodied red, in dire need of changing. Flustered, I gathered the blanket back up and tried to cover myself.

"Hey, you okay?" Midna asked.

Looking up, I saw her, leaned forward now and watching me. "Where are my clothes?" I questioned.

Link stared on into the fire, not even turning towards me as he spoke, "They were covered in blood. You're gonna have to wear your old clothes."

"Okay, well, why don't I have them now?"

He sighed heavily. "The bleeding didn't stop for awhile. It took pretty long for the red potion to kick in and we couldn't get you to drink a lot of it. You were awake for a bit but you seemed so out of it that I doubt you remember."

Midna simplified, "Link's just been watching your wounds and he's worried. That's all. It's been a few hours but it looks like they're finally closing and your blood was turning orange last we checked. You'll be fine."

I nodded my head, silently thanking her for being upfront. Link, on the other hand, still sat with his fist squishing his cheek. After a moment, it slipped and he started rubbing his face with both hands. The smoke from the fire blew in his direction, making him fan it away, then in frustration, get up and walk to the other side.

"This place seriously gives me the creeps." Midna floated to my side, grabbing a stick to poke the fire.

Link turned his back to us.

Damn, what time is it?

I recalled the morning after I lost my arm briefly when Link sewed up our clothes at the edge over the water. There existed a sort of serenity there, a calmness. Here, I couldn't tell what was going on in his head or whether I wanted to know. Perhaps it was better to talk to Midna for now and maybe find out a thing or two about what happened.

With a huff, I wondered aloud, "How'd we get separated?"

Midna stopped poking the fire, checking on Link before responding, "He woke up somewhere outside the camp and escaped before we reached the walls. We agreed we should look for you so snuck our way in and you know the rest."

"Wasn't expecting Destrian of all people to show up," Link added. His eyes peeked back at me. "Did he hurt you?"

A pang of dread hit me like a punch to the face. The tension in my chest overflowed from my eyes and untied itself through a sob. I still felt the pressure of Destrian's weight on my back as if it never left. It rung its hands around my neck and suffocated me.

"Maize, it's okay. I'm sorry." Link turned towards me, his arms crossed over his stomach.

Midna grabbed the back of the blanket and slid it up over my shoulder. I thanked her quietly, although the fire was starting to heat me up too much. Link started kicking around at rocks on the floor, his eyes wandering to us then drifting to the walls. With a sigh, he sat down next to me and rummaged through his pouch.

"What's wrong?" I prodded him.

He pulled out some bandages, examining them closely and avoiding my gaze. "We should change your dressings then get moving through the prison. You feel better now, right?"

I sniffled, testing out my legs by shifting them around somewhat. They were stiff to move and hurt with each twitch, but perhaps it was enough. Did I feel any "better?" No, but that could wait. "Yeah. Yeah, sure," I muttered.

Link finally looked into my eyes, the fire reflected on his pupils, flicking and tumbling. His breath came out slowly as he spoke, "Don't do that again. Please. You could've died. I don't know what I would do without you. You scared me."

"I was scared."

"What did he do to you?"

The tears slipped down my cheeks like a soft rain. I leaned forward into him, burying my head in his chest. A small hand laid on my side, Midna's.

My lips opened and closed once before I pushed through and admitted, "He almost cut my arm off."

Their silence hushed over the fire. We sat around for awhile, speaking softly to each other as I flicked away wet tears. The flames died down over time and Link pulled out his lantern to start replacing my bandages. Midna's voice was getting louder, returning to her usual snarky timber. Vox joined in with her and I repeated his words with a somber smile.

As Link finished up, he helped me to my feet which shook violently at the effort. I wrapped my arm around his neck and heaved as much of my weight as I could onto him, but I still limped along as we took a couple test steps. My wounds stung.

"You think you can move around like this for now?" He adjusted his grip on my shoulder, relieving some of the weight.

My breath came out in pants, but I nodded. He gave me a look of pity, then gestured towards Midna who rolled her eye and jumped into his shadow. I tried to comfort myself with Midna's words, "You'll be fine," reminding myself that my blood just had to replenish the magic it used. My hand flexed open and closed, feeling the imprint of where my Leiyn was before I passed out.

"Wait," I clenched my fist, "where's my Leiyn?"

"Your what?"

"My necklace!"

"Oh!" Link lowered me to the ground then reached around his neck. I scowled at him, but he quickly clarified, "I fixed it-was just keeping it safe. It's hot though, I don't know how you deal with it." The clasp undid and he pulled it out of his shirt to offer to me.

"It's hot?"

Midna crept out somewhat. "I don't know what he's talking about."

I think I heard of that happening before.

"Midna says it doesn't feel like anything. I don't know, touch it."

I reached out my hand, wincing at my cuts. As I clutched my fingers around it, I felt nothing but the jagged crystal. If anything, it felt a little warm from him wearing it under his clothes. "Seems fine to me."

It was my wife! She wanted to wear it but gave it back to me because it was too hot.

"So what does that mean?" I whispered, looking away from Link to a tile on the floor.

Well, uh… Perhaps it has to do with lovers. Magic tends to have a certain reaction to strong emotion-

"Alight, Vox, you can stop speculating."

Midna took my Leiyn from Link's fingers, draping it on my chest then fastening it at the back. After she finished, she put a hand on her hip and stared us. "You said we would get going, come on. Stop ogling at each other."

We were halfway through getting into position so he could lift me off the floor as she said that, and Link nearly froze in place. I didn't know if I would ever be used to knowing why his cheeks turned that slight shade of pink, but I did know that mine weren't just hot from the fire. He tried to ignore Midna's comment and brought me to my feet the rest of the way.

The room was startlingly dark. Link's lantern made no dent in the sheer depth of the inner chamber either. I could make out pillars and carved designs in the floors and walls, but otherwise everything succumbed to the lack of light. Extending from the grand staircase were four torches, vacant of any flame, leading up to a grand door that laid shut. Across the bases of the torches and above the door, there were vague crests of the Triforce that blended in with the stone. A hint of gold flickered across their surfaces, long worn down.

Midna slipped into Link's shadow as we trudged to a door off to the side of the room. He explained that some ghosts came out and snuffed out the flames in the torches. There was nothing to light them either so he figured he probably had to find them again. They would open the door.

"Some weird technology they have set up but I guess mages were more common when this prison was built."

"Have you seen any other ghosts?" I wondered.

He shook his head and opened the side door. I expected the temple layout to be random rooms not quite relative to the building's actual purpose, but as Link's lantern passed through the threshold, we stepped into a long hallway with cells on either side. In between the bars, skeletons sat intact, empty skulls staring off into nothing. Loose rotten clothing clung to their bones, ripped and torn.

A few spilled into the narrow hallway, creating obstacles to avoid as my feet dragged across the floor. My toes grazed their fingertips, sending chills up my spine. On our right, a full skeleton wearing chainmail armour splayed itself across the floor, its hand broken apart as if it was clutching something that got ripped from it.

Link tried his best to help me avoid it, but I kicked its calf on accident and struggled to keep my legs under me. They stung with each movement and the moment I landed wrong, they collapsed.

I clutched my thigh, cursing myself. "Are you really sure I should be coming with you right now?"

Link waved it off, kneeling down next to me. "I went in for a bit while you were asleep. There's no enemies around here."

Then what killed that guy.

My breath heaved, overwhelming my nostrils with the dust and sand mixed with rot and mold. Rats squeaked from their corners, chowing down on whatever they could find. The clinking of chains echoed down the corridor mixed with sobs of prisoners long dead in their cells. If you listened closely you could still hear the guards shouting as their lives drifted from their bodies.

"Come on," he grabbed my shoulder, but I shoved him off.

"Just pick me up."

"Alright."

He walked around me so my left side would be against his chest, then lifted me into his arms. After grabbing the lantern, he stood and kept on down the hall. There existed an awkward silence between us, focusing on the whispers in the room. When we were well passed the skeleton, Link broke it hesitantly.

"So, why'd you run out last night?"

The blood rushed out of my face and I scrambled for an excuse at the corners of my brain. "I-I was sick."

Link sighed. "I'm not stupid."

I took in a sharp breath, but as my chest rose abruptly, a pain shot through my heart. "Look," I groaned, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"I don't want you to feel bad if it's something I said."

He stopped walking and I gazed into his dark eyes again. They pried into me, plucking at my heart strings. My throat held back a million words ready to overflow onto my tongue like a river. I made a sound to speak, but my musing was cut off by the clack of bones. Link turned towards it, but the hallway showed no sign of disturbance, save for the missing skeletons on the floor.

Oh shit.

Someone's breathing rang hot in the air, panting in and out. With a deep inhale, the breath blew out, sending a chilling breeze down the hall, snuffing out the flame of Link's lantern. We stood, surrounded by darkness, clutching onto each other as we were the only tangible things to grasp.

Bones shuffled and rattled, dragging on the floor. Something reached out, a rough slim finger stroking my arm, then gripping my bicep with its whole hand. I yelped and Link leapt forward into the rest of the skeleton.

"What the fuck!"

He backed up, but the sound of dead feet trudging across the floor grew behind us. His leg swung up into the darkness in front of us, colliding into something that snapped as it dropped. Boney hands grasped my ankles and slid around Link's neck, tempting us backward into their dry arms. I weakly tried to shake them off, but they held on.

As they pulled, Link tried to tug me away from them, resisting the arms dragging him down as well. I heard the lantern fall and clink, a metal crunch sputtering as it rolled away. His grip on me loosened, my legs slipped out of his grasp and our bodies fell, one on top of the other. The undead arms pulled me away from him, drowning me out in the darkness.

"Maizy!"

My free hand met a cell bar, clinging onto it upon contact. The wounds on my arm screamed as the boney fingers ripped me back. "Link!"

A dim orange light erupted next to me, an image of flying tendrils surging down the hall. Bones cracked and shattered against the walls as the tendrils swung back, battering the skeletons off my arm. The din of the hall fell away save for pounding footsteps slapping against the stone. Link's figure running towards me disappeared as the orange light extinguished, but in response, a flame flickered to life on the floor. I scrambled over to it, setting the lantern upright in front of two brown boots.

Link kneeled down and wrapped his arms around me, knocking over the lantern again in his haste. He held me tightly, upsetting my cuts, but I didn't complain because the sureness of his embrace steadied my heartbeat in my ears.

"How about a 'thank you?'"

As he let go, I snatched back his hand and looked up at Midna. She floated above us, inspecting her nails although there wasn't much light to see anything. Link grabbed the lantern off the floor and looped it onto his belt with his free hand. The air ran cold, but the warmth of light bloomed from his waist.

"Thank you," Link said earnestly.

Midna smirked and dove back into his shadow.

Link picked me up and we headed down the hallway out a metal door that screeched as it opened. Its cry echoed into a stairwell, plummeting down each flight until it dampened and faded away. I remembered what was in the temple easily, but the layout already spun my head into half-assed yarn. Each floor passed by like nothing while he tried explaining his reasoning for following down this path in the first place.

"-and I saw two go through this way and two the other way. Honestly it's a labyrinth. If we had a map this would be a lot easier."

"Ghosts with lanterns?" I rolled my eyes.

"It could've been a poe, I don't know."

"Have you tried using your wolf senses?"

"My...what does that have to do with this?"

We stopped to check a new floor, but what stretched before us was just more cells. Link remained temporarily distracted and once he pulled back and shut the door, I continued.

"In the ga-" I took a breath and started over, "In the story you just smelled them out." My legs ached to hit solid ground for a moment, but the wounds plead otherwise. I put it off in my mind and tried to stay present despite being so tired.

Link shrugged for a moment, turning it over in his head. "You think that might work?"

"Maybe, it's worth a shot. That or we could see what's at the bottom of all these steps, your choice." My eyes drooped closed and I lied my head against his chest.

He shook me gently, mumbling, "I'm not going to leave you out of the decision, but I'd like to check the bottom first."

"Okay then we'll check the bottom."

"Maizy…"

I hugged him tighter, squeezing my eyes shut further, my lips resting unparted. If it mattered to him beyond that point, he didn't say, he only started walking down and down without checking the doors anymore. The air filled with a pungent musk of rot and mold. Although we were in the middle of a desert, the humidity seemed to increase with every flight. There were no more stairs but one more door. Link reached out for the knob, then stopped.

"I should leave you here and check that it's safe ahead." He lowered me to the ground, propping up my back against the brick wall. Crumbled sandstone jabbed at my toes and rubbed against my bandages, but before I could complain, Link opened the door and shut it behind him.

The bottom of the stairs was lit by one torch, burning an oddly dull ember. Chunks of the wall sat on the floor along with old mounts for chains. Two skeletons dressed in the remains of prison rags lied among the wreck. I tried to stretch out my legs, but as they twitched to move, a spike of pain shot through my veins. Solemnly, I left them where they were and shut my eyes against the throbbing.

I'm only a little mad at you, you know that right?

"I did what I had to." I breathed.

There are other solutions to those problems. Running of course is-

"We did run, it didn't work!" My fist slammed into my knee, spurring a whole onslaught of painful sensations around my body and through my stomach. I lurched forward, then sat back as it left just as quickly as it came.

I'm sorry. You just...you mean a lot to me kid. When I lost my daughter I-

Vox's voice caught, his last word ringing around in my head like an echo.

You deserve to go home. This is all my fault, you shouldn't be here. But I...I promised to explain Destrian, right? Well, it's obvious to me what Zant's plan is between him and the eel, he's forcing them to translate so his army can be stronger. If Destrian is a Vinderendetta now, there's only one reason for that. Hylians for centuries have been secretly worshipping Ganon from the shadows, a powerful figure like him is a worthy asset.

I fought the urge to backtrack to his remark about his daughter and stated instead, "You seem to know a lot about your history."

Well I told you I was bad at magic.

A clanging rang out from behind the door, the ring of metal on metal. I sat up and reached for the doorknob, wincing at the pain. My hand hovered there for a moment, contemplating, but hearing Link's grunts, I laid back into the wall.

The first time I teleported was to your world.

Across the room, the rubble started to stir. The arm of one of the skeletons pulled itself out, a lantern in its grasp illuminating a brilliant blue. It rose into the air, gliding towards me and halting just before my face. I backed into the wall, panting against its gaze. Suddenly, a rasping voice called out, an odd language layered under an English tone, questioning, "You aren't Hylian?" It was as if two people spoke at once.

"I-I'm not."

The body of a disfigured Gerudo woman materialized before me, her translucent skin was dark, but in splotches it turned nearly black as if something had infected her. She had no iris or pupil and one of her eyes was missing, seemingly gouged out by something. Her flesh as a ghost shone to be tortured down to her feet that still adorned chains.

"And you're a girl," she gawked.

I relaxed slightly under her outstretched lantern, nodding in its glow. "Were you a prisoner here?"

The ghost pulled the her arm back and I flinched, however, she didn't make another move. "Why are you here with that Hylian boy? Did he drag you along? This wouldn't be the first time. If you're nice we might let you live."

"Whoa whoa hold on there," I cut in quickly. "We're here to help. The evil that's in the temple, we're trying to get rid of it. Whoever you guys are, we don't want to hurt you."

"Temple?"

"Prison."

She paused, but it was clear she'd heard this spiel before. "Do you know what they did to us?"

I shook my head slowly.

"They killed us all, one by one. They knew what was coming so they did the deed before it came and wiped them out too." Her voice grew deeper, harsher, its tones multiplying as if ten demons yelled in my ears. "We were tortured but no one ever cared, they roam these halls convinced they came to help, but it's this evil that protects our rotting corpses. The spirit of Stallord keeps our souls alive. It seeks revenge on all the wrongdoings of Hyrule, you'd be wise to turn away from the boy and leave."

Stallord?

I had to think quickly, sift through reasons and solutions like they were written on a stack of flashcards. Her one eye glared at me, white fingers stretched over bone ready to snap. Cautiously, I began, "But don't you want you soul to move on from here? All this suffering all this-"

"No! They must pay for what they did to my people!"

"But-" I stuttered, grappling for words. "You...your people, the Gerudo, they're suffering right now because of all this. They can't cross the desert to their settlement because of Stallord. The caravans get attacked at night by ghosts and they're losing resources fast. The Hylians are doing what they can to help, but they're also at war."

The ghost drew back her lantern, her mouth hung open, "Because of us?"

"No one told you?" I sat forward, staring into the blue flame she held.

"Very few make it here and those who do are cowards. You're different." She tilted her head, getting a better look at me. "You and the Hylian boy have very strong auras. Of anyone that has passed through here, I trust you can make it through to my brothers. They have the other flames that open the gate. It is our job to guard the gates to the inner chamber. You have my blessing from the Goddess of the Sands. Go and set us free."

Her image turned fuzzy, grainy, solidifying into crystals of sand that fell like rain into the floor. The lantern clattered against the stone, its fire flickering as it rolled. A soft glow emanated from the sand before it dimmed into darkness.

I picked up the lantern hesitantly, turning it around in my hand. The flame remained strong, oddly cold in its place. While waiting for Link to come back out, I tried playing around with it tentatively, threading bursts of static through it. It bent somewhat to let the shocks by, as if repulsed by it. Eventually I lost interest and leaned back into the wall. Falling asleep certainly wasn't in the schedule, but the next thing I knew a hand was shaking me awake.

"Maizy. Hey, you okay?"

Link brushed a strand of hair away from my eyes. I squinted until I could see him right under the blue glow. My head worked through the fog as I nodded and felt around for the lantern. As I focused, I noticed a blue light flickering from his hip.

"You have one too?" My fingers brushed the cold metal of my lantern, scraping it forward across the floor.

"Did...nothing attacked you, did it?" Link's eyebrows drew together.

"What? No, a ghost showed up and she decided to trust me. I don't know."

He reached across to grab it, exposing his arm to me where a long dark mark slashed through his shirt. His skin was blotched with blood, but it didn't seem to drip from the cut anymore. I gripped his wrist and stopped him.

"What's this?"

"It's nothing, I already took some potion it'll close up in a bit."

I pulled it closer and grumbled, "Doesn't it hurt? How'd that even happen?"

"I walked into this room and a voice yelled at me then all of these skeletons rose up from the ground. They were easy enough to pick off, but there were so many of them. I got nicked somewhere in the commotion, but eventually they stopped and this guy appeared, said if I was that tough, I could just take it, so."

"Is that it?"

Link took his arm back and shrugged. "I'll tell you more on the way. We need to go see the other side of the prison, it probably has the other two."

"Fine," I mumbled, shifting my legs underneath me. Before I could attempt to stand up, Link turned around and motioned to his back. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arm around his neck and squeezed my legs against his torso. He stood up, tottering a bit to the side, then straightening out.

"Now I can drop you quickly if we need to."

I rode his back as we trekked all the way up the stairs again. He started telling the full story of that room, admitting that he also got struck in the leg but not as bad. My wounds throbbed in waves, but the pain wasn't nearly as intense as the moment my flesh ripped away. I could manage for now, and soon, I hoped, I could fight again.