A/N: Whooo boy, strap in tight for a long twisty ride as we finally get into the Spirit Temple! Will Link finally talk to Aeris? How will Aeris deal with Koume and Kotake? How will she react to Nabooru being a Sage? Can Ganondorf be saved?
Find out the answers to these questions are more below!
Aeris stood leaning against the gate to the Wastelands, the cool night winds cut through her leather armor making her shiver lightly. A flash of green ducking between the various buildings of the fortress caught her eye.
Link was moving through the shadows of the Fortress, Navi must have been hiding in his hat so her blue glow wouldn't give away the hero's location. Aeris watched as he crept toward the gate, carefully hidden in the shadows out of sight.
"Going somewhere?" Link jumped several inches as she stepped forward.
"Hylia!" He half whispered. "You scared me,"
She laughed lightly. "Sorry about that,"
"Are you here to stop me?" His blue eyes hardened as he looked at her.
"I can't stop you from leaving, you have a mission to finish," She moved to lookout into the desert. "But the Wastes are a vicious unforgiving place, you'll need a guide,"
"You'll just follow me if I say no, won't you?" His ears lowered in defeat.
She smiled. "I'm as invested in this as you are," She sighed. "We can't take the horses." Koume and Kotake had cut off the Colossus from the Fortress with a river of quicksand. "I hope you're ready for a hell of a walk,"
The wind howled outside of the small shelter buried in the middle of the desert. "I've never seen the storm get this bad before," Aeris stood just inside the door looking down at Link, who was shaking sand out of his boots.
"I hate sand," Link scowled at the quickly growing pile of sand beside him. "But at least this isn't wet sand," He looked as if he was reliving a terrible memory and Aeris laughed.
"I think we should stay here for the rest of the night," She hopped down into the shelter. "It will be easier to navigate the storm during the day,"
She settled next to Link and removed her own boots to shake the build up of sand from them. "You said you've never seen it this bad before?" Link was finally speaking to her again, but Navi was proving less willing to trust her again.
"We use to make the trek to the Colossus four times a year for festivals," Memories of bonfires and dancing filled her mind. "We would ride as a group, a winding caravan through the sands. The storm would sometimes kick up but never to this extent,"
"So what changed," Link asked as the pulled his boots back on.
"Magic," She tapped her boots out one last time and pulled them back on. "Koume and Kotake are doing everything in their power to keep us out of the Colossus,"
"Magic," Link sighed. "I'm really starting to hate that word,"
Aeris laughed. "Me too kid,"
The Colossus loomed over them in the midmorning sun, it's serenely beautiful face fixed on a point in the far distance. Aeris took a moment as they approached the archway that sat several meters from the entrance.
"Everything alright?" Link noticed her standing with a hand pressed against one of the columns with a strange look on her face.
"We were married right here," She turned to face him, tears building in her eyes. "Right under this arch,"
"Oh," The young Hylian dropped his gaze to his boots. "Do you need a moment?"
Aeris shook her head steeling herself. "I'm fine," She gave him a weak smile. "Let's go,"
As they entered the temple Aeris was struck by a staggering sense of nostalgia, it hit her like a wave that carried the scent of jasmine incense and the gentle warmth of dozens of candles. She froze unable to move past the entryway, her eyes locked on the space between the two statues at the top of the stairs. Her breath caught in her throat as flashes of memories clouded her mind.
She barely heard Link call her name before a pot slammed into her chest.
It knocked her off of her feet and heavy ceramic pieces clattered to the floor around her as she fell. A small groan left her as she laid on the warm limestone floor. "That sucked,"
Link hurried to her side and helped haul her to her feet. "I'm sorry I tried to warn you,"
"It's fine," She dusted herself off. "I got caught up in memories,"
Link patted her shoulder softly. "Are you ok to keep going?"
She nodded. "Lead the way,"
"Can we take a minute?" The gentle breeze that met them as they exited the upper portion of the temple onto the Colossus' left hand was readily welcomed.
"I don't see why not," Link seemed unfazed as he pulled a shield embossed with a mirror from a chest.
Aeris doubled over attempting to catch her breath. "How do you handle everything trying to kill you all the time?" Everything in the temple so far had attempted to kill them on sight, even some of the statues had come to life just to murder them.
"It's not so bad once you get used to it," Link shrugged as he inspected his new piece of equipment. "At least it's not the Water Temple, that was horrible,"
"Wet sand?" Aeris laughed as she settled onto the edge of the platform to admire the horizon.
"Wet sand," Link echoed a grimace contorting his face. "Morpha was pretty bad though," He added as an afterthought.
"Morpha?" Aeris turned to give Link an inquisitive look.
"Boss monster," He grunted. "It's tough to describe, but it was basically this orb that controlled giant tentacles made of water that could grab me and toss me around like a ragdoll. I had to pull the orb out with the Longshot to kill it," He was inspecting the blade of the Master Sword now.
Aeris stared blankly at Link, he was describing an eldritch horror in the same way one would describe a strange flower they saw once. "Link,"
"Yeah?" He looked up from the blade and blinked at her slowly.
"You need a vacation," She chuckled lightly.
"What's a vacation?" Genuine laughter bubbled up from both of them.
They watched as the large statues' face crumbled away revealing a passage. Link wrapped his arm around Aeris and pulled out the Longshot. Once they were across he pulled the large golden key they had found from one of the various satchels and unlocked the chains on the door blocking their path.
The room beyond the door was a hallway lined with columns. Aeris mouth went dry as she spotted two crouched figures at the far end, they stood before an IronKnuckle speaking quietly to one another. "Ho ho ho! Looks like someone is here," The hags voice chilled her to the bone. "Koume,"
Aeris took a surprised step back. These hags looked nothing like the Koume and Kotake she knew, with their bug eyes and hunched backs. "Hee hee hee! Looks like it Kotake,"
"What rude fellows they are to intrude so boldly into our Temple… Ho ho ho!" They rose into the air on wooden brooms. "But is that our dear Aeris I see?" Her blood ran cold.
"It appears our dear daughter in law still doesn't see our side of things," The twins cackled as Aeris and Link to a step forward. "We should teach her a lesson! Hee hee hee!"
They turned to the IronKnuckle. "Oh, loyal minion…" The witches moved to hover just behind the IronKnuckle sitting on its throne. "Destroy these intruders on our behalf!"
The possessed suit of armor rose from its throne as the witches vanished and summoned a hefty double bearded axe. With a battle cry it lurched into action.
"Link you distract it while I get behind it!" Aeris unsheathed her daggers and darted to the side of the room to skirt around the edges.
Link rushed forward to keep the creatures attention on him, striking when he could. It was vulnerable just after it attacked. Aeris watched Link fight the IronKnuckle, something about the way it moved was odd. Most IronKnuckles moved rigidly but this one moved with a strange grace.
She pushed the observation to the side and leapt into action as Link landed a particularly heavy blow causing the monster to reel back. Her daggers hit home in a weak point in the chainmail armor. A deadly blow, It froze stunned by its defeat.
Aeris sheathed her daggers as the pieces of armor began to clatter to the floor. "Nabooru!" She rushed forward to catch the Gerudo as she fell from the armor's grasp.
Link let out a startled sound and Aeris and Nabooru hit the floor. "Unnnh…." Nabooru gripped Aeris' arms as she slowly regained consciousness. "Aeris?"
"Hey Nabs," Aeris watched the life slowly ebb back into Nabooru's eyes.
"Where are we?" She gripped her head lightly.
Aeris opened her mouth to respond but Kotake suddenly reappeared in the room followed closely by Koume. Link stumbled back blinded by the sudden flashes of light that accompanied them.
"Well, well… Looks like she's back to normal, Koume…" The air crackled with energy.
"Don't you touch her!" Aeris lunged forward but found herself slamming her fist into the stone wall instead of Kotake.
"Aeris!" Nabooru scrambled forward trying desperately to reach her friend. "Listen to me, it's not Ganondorf! Koume and Kotake did something to him!"
"I know!" Aeris cradled her injured hand against her chest as Koume and Kotake cackled.
"Insolent vai!" The witches screeched. "Brainwash her again!"
Aeris and Link barely had time to react before Nabooru vanished in a flash of light followed closely by Kaoume and Kotake.
"I'll kill them," Aeris growled as she moved across the room toward Link.
The young Hylian placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," He offered her a pitying look. "Life with them must have been fun,"
"HA!" She managed a small laugh. "I barely saw them, they were always here,"
She cast a glance to the limestone walls of the temple, this place was supposed to be a holy place, a place of worship, but it was tainted. Koume and Kotake used it for unspeakable atrocities, leaving an ugly black stain on the golden tiles.
"We should get going," Link gave her a soft pat on the shoulder before turning to the door. Aeris nodded in agreement and Link heaved the door open.
The room beyond was made up of five raised platforms, four smaller ones arranged around a large central one. It was easy enough to climb onto the central platform, though Link seemed to be slightly less winded than Aeris as he helped her climb to her feet.
"Dear sweet Aeris," Link and Aeris jumped at the sudden sound of twin voices. "It's so nice of you to bring this stupid child to us," Loud cackling filled the air. "Such a lovely sacrifice to the great Ganondorf,"
Koume and Kotake rose from swirling magic circles on two of the smaller platforms. "I think you mean Demise," Aeris' wicked smile grew wider at the hags confused faces.
"How did you know that?" Koume's flushed scarlet.
"It doesn't matter!" Kotake seethed. "These two are nothing but annoying obstacles in out Lord's way," She raised her hand. "With my flame, I will burn you to the bone!"
Aeris and Link stumbled back as Kotake doubled in size and her hair burst into flames. Koume cackled behind them and the pair turned to face her. "With my frost, I will freeze you to your soul!" She too doubled in size her hair becoming a solid spike of ice.
"Shit," Aeris followed Kotake as she and her sister began circling the room. "Their magic is stronger than I thought,"
"No kidding," Link watched as the twins met just above their heads, still spinning in circles.
"I can't reach them up there," Aeris moved so that her back was pressed against Link's. He got the idea and turned to face Koume while Aeris faced Kotake.
The twins began moving from platform to platform trying to confuse Link and Aeris. Aeris lost sight of Kotake for a moment, but it was enough time for the hag to use her broom to send fire spewing toward her. She cried out in surprise and barely managed to duck out of the way.
"Link watch out!" Navi finally made her reappearance from inside of Link's hat.
Link turned just in time to bring up the mirror shield and reflect the flames back to the witch. The flames poured over Kotake's skin easily and she cackled. "You'll have to do better than that little hero,"
"Shit, Link!" Aeris noticed Koume readying an attack. The hero spun and easily deflected the beam of ice directed at him. Koume easily reabsorbed the frost and cackled like her sister. "Try again!" She taunted.
"The magic doesn't hurt them and we can't hit them," Link panted. "What are we supposed to do?"
They returned to circling back to back, each keeping an eye on a witch. "Fire and ice don't usually go well together," Aeris mumbled under her breath an after thought as she tried to rack her brain on a way to beat the witches.
"That's it!" Link cried as Kotake readied another attack. He lifted his shield as the beam of fire shot toward them, but instead of directing the attack back to Kotake he angled it to hit Koume. The witch cried out and was momentarily immobilized.
"Link you're a genius!" Aeris shouted as the two whirled around each other.
The pattern continued as such until Koume suddenly stopped. "I've had enough of these two!" She extended her hand to her sister. "Let's get serious now, Kotake!"
"Oh great, what now?" Link panted lightly.
"I don't know," Aeris gritted her teeth. The two witches were already incredibly powerful, what more could they have up their sleeves?
"Oh ho! Ok, Koume," The two began spinning around each other faster until their hands connected.
"Kotake and Koume's Double Dynamite Attack!" They disappeared in a poof of blue and red smoke.
Link and Aeris cried out in alarm as the smoke cleared revealing a single very large woman. She was young and alluring, the same as Koume and Kotake had been when Aeris was younger and sported pigtails one of flames and one of ice.
"Oh what the fuck!?" Aeris was unable to hold back as the woman giggled.
"Do you like our ultimate form dear?" The woman giggled again bringing one of her hands to her mouth. "You may call us, Twinrova,"
"Aeris," She turned to Link who looked terrified. "Did you know they could do that?"
"No," She spoke through gritted teeth.
"Poor Aeris," That giggle infuriated her. "In over her head," Twinrova raised the ice broom. "She should have been a good little girl and known her place!"
Instead of an icy beam a single blast of ice rocked toward Aeris but Link was there shield ready. He stumbled back into her as the shield absorbed the blast instead of reflecting it. "Known my place!" Aeris circled around Link. "I took vows to stand by him, not someone using his body like a puppet!"
Twinrova cackled, the grating sound echoed off the walls. "Vows, HA! Stupid girl, did you really think it was that simple!" The woman giggled. "Oh we did so much more!"
Another blast of ice hit the shield on Links arm and the build up of energy exploded out of it hitting Twinrova in the chest. Aeris stood frozen, trembling as the woman collapsed and Link leapt across the gap to land a few blows against her.
After a few hits the woman shrieked in rage and rose back into the air. "What do you mean?" Aeris was unsure if the woman heard her.
"You know," There was that giggle again. "You felt it, you still feel it deep down," She raised her broom and shot a blast of fire at Link. "Did you really think you collapsed from a lack of food?"
Aeris' blood ran cold. "So it was magic,"
"Of course it was magic," She rolled her eyes. "Powerful too, so much so that he didn't even notice," She lowered both of the brooms. "We bound you to him, in life and death. Your souls are enmeshed in each other."
Link sent Aeris a panicked look as her daggers clattered to the ground. "It's why you feel numb, lost without him." Another blast of fire was directed at Link, but the shield didn't release the built up energy.
"You're lying," Aeris let out a giggle of her own. "Why would you do that? What would you gain from it?"
"A backup plan," The ceremony was flashing through Aeris' mind, the jolts of energy she had felt when each cord was tied. "Ganondorf wasn't a sure bet as a host for Lord Demise, he turned out to be so willful," Twinrova tisked lightly. "If something would have gone wrong you were to be our back up." She giggled. "Or your children," The blast of fire directed at Link was an afterthought.
Rage filled Aeris as Twinrova collapsed, she grabbed her daggers from where they fell and dashed over to leap across the gap to where Twinrova sat. "How could you?" She leaned in close. "He was your child," She drove her dagger into the woman's exposed shoulder, blackish blood sprayed over her.
"An unfortunate necessity," Twinrova gritted her teeth. "Our magic needed to flow through his veins," She winced as Aeris drove the blade deeper. "And the vai was an unforeseen byproduct,"
Aeris growled as the realization what had just been said washed over her. "They aren't just cousins are they?"
"It's hard to say," Aeris twisted the blade and drew a pained hiss from Twinrova. "Magic is such a tricky thing,"
"You don't deserve them," She leaned in close again. "Either of them," She pulled her blade out and turned to Link. "I assume you need to strike the final blow,"
He nodded and Aeris carefully leapt back across the gap to trade places with Link. She thought that she would watch Link strike the blow, but she found herself facing the other way, lost in thought.
So many questions were running through her head. Were they telling the truth, where their souls really bound together in a more literal way? If so what did that mean? What were the long term implications of it? How connected were they?
What would happen if one of them were to die?
She briefly heard Koume and Kotake arguing over who was older and then silence filled the room. The sound of Link's boots drew her attention and she turned to face the hero. "Are you alright?" She flinched away from the hand he extended to her.
"I will be," She turned and offered him a small wavering smile.
"I have to go into the Sacred Realm to awaken the Sage of Spirit," He motioned to a glowing blue ring on the floor several feet away. "Will you be ok out here alone,"
She nodded. "I'll be fine Link," She nodded to the ring. "Go, I'll wait for you outside,"
She watched him step into the light and disappear into a prism of light. Once he was gone from view completely she turned to leave, fully intending to be long gone before he returned.
"Link, finally, all of us, the six Sages have been awakened! The time for the showdown with the King of Evil has come!"
Link listened as Rauru addressed him but avoided eye contact. Being in the Sacred Realm felt strange as always, but something was gnawing at Link's gut.
"Do I have to kill him?"
The sage of Light raised an eyebrow at the young hero. "It is the only way to eradicate the evil Link,"
"What if it's not though?" Link looked up at the elderly sage. "What if I could save him?"
"Save him?" Rauru scoffed. "Link you can't save someone who is evil to the core,"
"But,"
Rauru silenced Link by raising his hand. "I'm sorry Link but it is the only way," Link lowered his head. "Now go, someone waits for you in the Temple of Time,"
As the Sacred Realm faded from his view Link was plagued by thoughts of how he was going to tell Aeris that he was going to have kill her husband.