Chapter 12

Midoro's Test

Finally, after a longer walk that beginning to test my ultimate patience, I was here at the Midoro Palace! I have had a rough journey through the swamp that I never wanted to come back to. The temple before me was more structured, but still resembled the pillars I saw earlier, old and engulfed by time and plants. The entrance was similar to the Parapa Palace, but made from the stone with engraved runes I saw.

But I didn't stare at it for long. I wasted no time in using the elevator, and I almost wished it to move faster than it did down to the floor below. The elevator landed with a light splash from the flooded floor and I stepped off. The first thing I noticed was how old the building truly was. What little remained of the carpet was torn and almost colorless. Plants were seeping through the many cracks in the walls like they were pulling the temple, like everything else, into a life and being of eternity in the swamp.

This first room was wide, but empty, save for the crooked door on every wall. There was a door on every wall, one to my left, to my right, and of course, the last before me. The last one seemed to be locked however.

I shook my head, slightly frustrated with my choices, and moved for the closer one on the left wall. The frame was held tightly in place by vines, so tight that I could barely move it without a struggle, but luckily, I didn't need to. The door was already held open enough that I could slide around it. It would be a tight fit, but I'll manage.

But just as I began to enter the door, I was forced back out by a blade that nearly stabbed me! The face of a stalfos revealed its yellow face that looked as old and withered as the rest of the palace. It brought its sword back down and edged over to my end of the door before bringing up a large shield. I, after recovering from the surprise, did the same, and waited for the next move.

When it moved to strike me, I not only blocked, but shoved my shield into the undead, knocking him unbalanced. Now that it flinched, I wasted no time to slash at the outstretched hand wielding the sword. My blade struck the joint on the elbow hard, and the arm snapped off and fell to the floor. The stalfos stepped in front of the dropped arm that still grasped the weapon, and took his shield up again. It couldn't attack very well without the sword, and I knew it waited for the perfect moment to pick it back up. I slashed at every opening I saw, but the monster was hard in focus on me, and blocked every one.

I thought now that he didn't have a weapon, he wouldn't even try to attack me, but I was once again surprised as he suddenly threw the shield! Now it was my turn to stumble back as the weight of the armor clashed against my own protection. When I recovered and looked back to him, he was trying to reattach his limb, but when he saw he was out of time, he threw the arm back down and wielded the sword with his only hand.

The stalfos threateningly swung the sword in the air as he slowly approached me, but this move was rather foolish because he was now pretty close to me, and I saw many openings. I used that to my advantage and suddenly struck out when he didn't expect it. There was a sound that might have been a laugh coming from my opponent… My blade barely even rattled the bones. It's so hard to fight with something that wasn't even living!

The monster tried to seep through my defenses, but I blocked and parried perfectly. It was becoming impatient, I could tell. The movements were now rushed, and it held a look of anger, if such a thing was possible on the looks of an old skull. I jumped back from a horizontal swing, and the monster took a step forward and the blade came crashing down. I easily blocked with my shield, and then, I saw my chance! My swinging sword came quickly across the unprotected neck, and the head came flying off!

The sack of bones sat unmoving on the floor, but just to be safe, I kicked the weapon to the edge of the room. Now that was done, I might be able to go back and investigate that room. I was careful when I went around the door, and I half expected another attack. But no one seemed to be here.

To the left was a barred passage to a built-in room, and I saw within the bars that there was a chest sitting in the small area on the floor. But it didn't take me long to see a switch on the wall close by the left side of the door, and when I pulled it, the bars lifted! But I knew that had to be too easy, and sure enough, it quickly replaced them in front of the door to the chest again.

After using the switch a few more times, trying to think about what to do, I saw that the wall to the opposite end from where I came in was broken and cracked. I thought maybe the wall was now weak, and I can force my way through, but as I tried to topple it by shoving my shoulder into the wall, I realized it was still rather strong.

Angry now with a throbbing shoulder, I took my sword and stabbed forward in the cracks, but I didn't have a steady enough grip, and almost dropped the magical blade to the floor. I soon became even more frustrated, and decided that there was nothing I could do here.

I left through the door I came in and stood. I hated scouring rooms when there was nothing I could do! It made me feel like I wasn't making progress! But I was glad that I was alone. His Majesty would have made fun of my abilities... Would have used "Hero" as an insult. I couldn't count how many times he did that! Any hero would have been stumped in that room... Right? Would a true hero find a way around that? Who was I kidding, of course not! I am a real hero.

But that last thought, for some reason, tasted unpleasant, like an old scar of something forgotten. Just because you're a hero doesn't mean you're perfect. Of course that made sense, but it still nagged at me. Why?

I didn't need your help! I yelled at him in the midst of a battle that felt so long ago.

What do you mean? He had replied, I'm involved in this battle too. Was I supposed to stand by and watch? Why did he tease me? Was I really that crazy?

You know, you have a pride issue. I do not! I cared about this quest. I cared for Zelda, I really did! She meant the world to me! I couldn't wait to wake her, just to see her smile again. Just thinking of that seemed to warm my soul.

But if I was more honest with myself, I would have admitted that since this quest started, I, disappointingly, only thought of coming home with the Triforce. But I didn't want to admit any faults of my own. It would seem that I wanted the attention and recognition from people. After all, I'm a hero, I should have a hero's welcome! I refused to think that Zelda's brother was right. I wouldn't admit it anyway, but I definitely didn't want to give that to him!

With my thoughts over the prince, I couldn't help but still feel a pang of guilt. He would have been here in the palace with me if I didn't leave him near Ruto. I could still hear his screaming. At first, I thought it would make me feel better to hear it after the turmoil he gave me, but it only made me feel worse. All well, no matter how I feel about it, he had what was coming to him.

Not feeling any better, but accepting that conclusion, I went to the door that was opposite me. This door was closed, but the vines on it was weaker than those holding the last frames. I pulled back and yanked it open. The vines snapped and fell worthlessly to the ground as the door now swung crooked, but easily wide.

Already I was overcome and exhausted from the sight I saw within it. Everything was so covered with the reigning plants that it looked like it was always that way, and there was such a high ceiling! The room was filled with tall stone walls that seemed to me to be even too tall for the jump spell. Humidity lingered up in the hanging plants like mist, and the floor was quite wet. I wondered why until I quickly saw the source. A cracked part of the floor that seemed to be leading in an aquatic tunnel was well spilling over on the stone, and the liquid from there just continued to run until the floor was soaked in it.

Beyond all those things, this small area wasn't much to look at, but I did begin to wonder how big this room was. From my angle, I couldn't see much of it, but the ceiling seemed to stretch pretty far. It may have looked way taller than the ledge I jumped over when I left His Highness, but I felt like my effort would have been worth the try. I casted "jump" for the second time and leaped at the wall! I held my arms stretched up as I jumped at an impossible height trying to reach the top of the wall, but just as I expected, I didn't even come close. After landing without a recoil, I turned to, once again, inspect the room.

I didn't see any way out from the stone wall. The few cracks within it were still rather strong, and too small for me to fit. And the plants and vines wouldn't hold me either, but I felt an uncanny threat from the water tunnel, and at first, I didn't consider it an option.

Six years ago, I was in a temple called Manji... And I was forced to use a water tunnel, of course, the water there was flowing rapidly and out as a small waterfall, but I nearly drowned! Ever since then, I have been afraid of drowning in a place like this; I never recovered completely from what happened. There was only one other thing that I feared more... Only one other chaos made me feel sick from dismay.

Was I a hero? A hero would face his fears if he had to, wouldn't he?

I edged closer and peered down the tunnel. Even from here, I felt like I couldn't breathe. The aqua path seemed to go down only a few feet before turning out of view. The water's calm, I told myself, and it didn't look as big as it did in Manji. If I needed to, I could probably come back here for air... There wasn't a current, it likely didn't end in a waterfall. I didn't know how long I stood there, but it was long enough for my body to secrete a cold sweat. I couldn't take it anymore! I backed away and turned around.

There had to be another way! I glanced desperately throughout the room, but I knew it was pointless. I couldn't go back to the room with the chest. There was nothing for me to do there. No, this was my only way forward. I had to find the guardian, I told myself, If I want to get the Triforce, if I wanted to wake Zelda, I needed to go down there, or I needed to call off the mission. I couldn't do that, people will see this hero as weak, as one who gave up because of just another obstacle.

I came back to the pool with memories of being tossed and thrown with enough force that I couldn't see, know, or swim back to air, even though my lungs burned for it. This is nonsense, I thought, Just do it and come back if you need air. You're a hero! Will you allow this to stop you?

"No turning back..." I sighed quietly and slipped into the water. Well, at least the water wasn't cold. I allowed myself only a moment to float, knowing that there wouldn't be a time when I was more ready. And when I did sink down and into the filled tunnels I took close note of where I was and where was I going. Down there, I only felt worse, and I couldn't even hear the sounds of the water beyond my pounding heart. As a matter of fact, I took such careful note and was disturbed enough that I didn't go much further. I stayed there until I came back to breath and calm myself.

But that was the end to my messing around. I dove back down and followed the tunnel as quick as I could. My inner thoughts and emotions screamed for me to turn back again, but I denied them. Still I paniced that I was unable to hear if the current might have changed without my knowing because of my own rushing blood and thumping chest. This water was cleaner than those stagnant and stinky pools, but it was still quite foggy. I didn't know if I was worried because I realized this, or simply because I was panicking about everything in that moment. It was probably the latter.

I didn't mean to stop in a sudden, soul-ripping terror when the path split in two, but, for a short second, I felt like I should turn back again. I felt like giving up completely and screaming my anger out in loud waves. But I knew turning around won't help me decide where to go from here. That would only delay me further. I chose to keep going straight.

I half expected that there would be more forks in the tunnels, but I was quite thankful when there weren't. In the end, I didn't swim for much longer when the perfectly smooth stone shot upwards to air! I came up and crawled out of the water. That wasn't actually too bad, I thought, I didn't even have to swim that long! I was not desperate for air yet. Still, I suffered from the anguish, and I remained seated by the water as to calm down. This room, disappointed as I was, looked the same and was the exact size as the last one. And while there was a treasure chest next to me, I didn't see anything that was much different.

I hoped it was important, whatever was in this box. Crawling up to my knees, I swung the top back, but I only saw rupees sitting on the cushioned bottom. That's it, I came this way for money, there was no other way forward. I sighed, now I had to go back down!

I took the money and left the box open as I turned back to the water. The grip of anxiety was still there, but wasn't as strong as it was before now that I knew what the tunnels were like. I slipped down and swam back to where the other path was.

It didn't take me long to reach the other tunnel, but this one turned further out than the other ones did. And the longer I was in the water, the more worried I became. Soon, I felt like the stone making the paths round was closing in on me, and choking any air I may have had access to. I was just about to turn back when it finally opened up to another floor.

I came up gasping for sweet air, and again crawled to the solid ground. I glanced up past the ceiling and cast a desperate prayer to the three goddesses. I didn't want to do this anymore. I didn't want to drown here! This time I was under the water longer, and even though I was about to turn around, I don't think I would have lived to swim all the way back to the last opening. I had to keep going forward.

I climbed up to my feet, soaked and pouring water, mostly from my hair and clothes, to the floor, so I could look around. This room was more of a rectangle than the last two, but still to my dismay, it was also empty. What was the point to this? Why was the temple abandoned? So far, I've only seen one stalfos...

Either way, this time there was no chest, but only another water tunnel here at the end. I was a little frightened again and I approached this one. This was a whole new path, separate from the other one. I couldn't shake the thought that this one was even longer. Like the last one though, there was no current, so the speed should be safe for me.

No matter how I felt, I went down the path and followed quite a few curves before I came safely up again, but then the predicable happened. Nothing here, only a stone wall blocking the rest of my view, and yet another pool at the end. But as I took only a few steps towards it, a flying mace came from nowhere and bounced just in front of me!

I turned to the source and realized that I missed seeing the mace thrower on top of the wall to the left of the room. It ambushed me by tossing down a dozen more maces. Luckily, it seemed like it wasn't aiming, but was more focused on making the field a mess. I easily blocked a few with my shield and walked back out of range. When I was safe, I unsheathed my sword and summoned a beam to knock it down, but it jumped to the side and avoided the attack. It continued to throw the maces, and I didn't stop with the summoned beams, but considering its horrible aim, it had no problem avoiding my attacks.

That scene of attack and dodge played back and forth until it was actually the monster that made the next move. I'd guess that it was tired of not scoring a hit just as I was, because it jumped from its incredibly high perch to a more vulnerable one.

A person would be unable to describe such a weird creature, if that's what you can even call it. The beast was short and fat with red skin that covered all of its body. But what made it strange was its face. It hardly had any features at all, but only the simplest; a clean slice on the face that acted as a mouth that could stretch to the ends of its sharp but yet small yellow eyes. Those eyes, it was impossible to tell where it was looking, and that was not only because they were barely a slit, but also that there were no pupils from what I could tell.

Its head was large, and stole attention from the rest of its smooth torso, stout legs, and more defined arms. Its head looked more like it was a part of the shoulders and, like the rest of its body, looked formless. I could recognize what was what, but it was still an odd shape. Any less formed, and it wouldn't even seem humanoid. It even had sharp, thin horns that came out right above the eyes, still on the flat of the face, and a small tail that it hid behind its large hunk of flesh for a body.

The sinister smile spread across the wide demon-like face, and it began to jump around and throw the weapons once more. I felt like I needed to get closer to attack better, but that would be difficult with the barricade of flying weapons. How many did it have, exactly? The spiked balls on chains kept coming, and were littering the floor quite profoundly. I didn't want to wait and find out, so I summoned a few more sword beams, and when the mace thrower tried to dodge them, I was able to safely pass the barricade and slash at the strange beast.

The monster desperately tried to back off away from me, but then tripped on one of its own weapons! It stumbled, but couldn't remain upright as it then fell backwards and knocked its head against the wall.

Was it unconscious? I waited for a few more seconds to pass and watched for any movement, but the mace thrower never even twitched. The wound that I had given it looked fatal as well. As I stood there, I quickly noticed that the monster fell next to engraved words in the wall.

"Decisions should be left open for those who wish to take it."

I wasn't sure what this meant, and it sounded unfitting to be placed here. I didn't think much of this message and didn't give it much of a second thought. But instead approached the mace thrower to finish off the job. It was probably dead anyway, but it's best to take no chances. I glanced down at the next pool.

I couldn't wait to be done with this temple.