Chapter 7 : Master Swords, Master Troubles
The Sacred Grove was waiting for us a few meters away, it didn't actually look any bigger than the game area, the passage of time did really leave it's mark everywhere though, everything looked old and rusted, apart from the two statues guarding the entry 'Self conserving magic in action I guess?'
While Link was looking around, I inspected the ground once again, knowing exactly what to search for, and found it rather quickly, the mark of the Goddesses, the Triforce "Link! Come over here, there is another one of those marks, bring your whistling grass and let's try again!" I tell him.
He arrive next to me, sighing "Please tell me this won't bring another monster like earlier…" With that said, he started whistling as the two status become animated by a bluish light, Link noticed that and was quick to unsheathe his sword "Alright … Now we have two of those to deal with, great…"
The guardians were quick to speak "Ease your worries heroes, we are not here to oppose you, merly here to test you." They look at me for a minute, before turning back to Link, "The one that serves as your guide posses the proof of knowledge we were waiting for, no tests are needed, we grant you both the access to the legendary blade of Evil's bane, The Master Sword." They both slam their hammer on the ground, as the wall open up by itself, the two guardians becoming statues once again.
Link looks at me, confused "The proof of knowledge? What were they talking about Midna?" Of course, I knew exactly what they were referring too, but … 'Should I tell him? All about my world?' I ponder nervously for a second…
"... I have no idea Link? Perhaps they meant how I discovered the marks on the ground?" I shrugged, and Link seemed content with that answer, walking toward the stairs leading to the piedestal, 'No … I can't … He doesn't trust me and … I can't grow to attached to them, the less they know about me, the better it is …' I had to return to my world after all, and the closer I am to them, the more painful it will be … It's better this way …
I arrived just in time to see Link putting his hand around the hilt of the sword, the pure energy that thing was giving off is insane … I could barely keep my eyes open from all this light … When I could finally reopen them, it was to see Link, the Master Sword in hand, swinging it around a bit, "Alright, alright, have you had enough fun toying around with that? We should really keep on going" He nods at me and places it in the sheath of Rusl's Sword, the blade's magic seemingly running into the sheath, and changing it to fit it better.
"Well … That's nice and all, but what shall we do with the other sword Link?" He looks at it for a bit, before handing it to me.
"Could you teleport it to Ordona's source? I know that Rusl passes by that place a lot, he should get his sword back thanks to that"" I take it and create a portal on the ground before throwing the sword in there, being careful to let the hilt fall first in case anyone was at the source, they would just get a slight headache from a flying sword Eh hee hee!
"Alright, here we go then, and now how do we get back to the …" My thoughts are cut short as I see the same bluish light from the guardians flowing right next to us creating a warp, "Well, guess that answers that?"
We both step inside the light, and got teleported away to the clearing just before the Temple
I looked around and this time, I did spot a certain Golden Wolf waiting for us, great! Hero's Shade is a thing after all! "Hey Link? We got some troubles ahead, wanna take care of this beast?" He looked at the beast before unsheathing the newly acquired Master Sword, and rushing in battle.
I saw the Wolf jumping at him, and suddenly both disappeared at the same time, 'Well, guess I have some alone time then…' So, let's use that time to put in perspective everything that happened so far…
The story followed it's flow, with a slight change, thankfully, even with that, my knowledge was still of use, but as I saw with Zelda, I cannot count on sharing that knowledge with anyone else … Then there is this man, he seems to have the same knowledge as me, knowing where Link was headed, how Rusl knew about the Sacred Groves, and how Link was the chosen hero was … Something that no one except me could possibly know …
For now it seem that this mysterious person is on our side but … If he decide to act up, and mess with things … Not only will my knowledge become totally useless, but this person could reveal themself extremely destructive… I've got to be ready for this eventuality… If he truly know what happened in the game like me, then I've got to plan something that could surprise him, something that could surprise me…
Just as I finished this thought, Link reappeared on the ground, 'Yes … That could work … Link is a variable that no one playing the game could know about, because he's not linked to the player anymore, he's his own person, Link could be my trump card against this "player two" may he turn against us…' With that in mind, I come to wake him up.
"They are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know?" A certain Blue Haired Lord would be proud of me at the moment, but it seems to wake him up, "I would offer you my hand but… We're still in the middle of the day so ... " He get back up on his own before looking at me.
"Sweet Goddess Hylia, what was that ... Did you see any of that Midna? The wolf just transformed into a skeleton, and then he battled against me and … Teached me one of his moves?" He looked so confused, 'Alright, be kind with him, or mess with him … Messing with him is always more fun haha'
"I don't know what type of grass you whistled into before coming here Link… But you should probably stop you know?"
"But… It's true! You didn't see anything?" He was so desperate, alright, let's stop being mean.
"Nop, I didn't, you just disappeared out of nowhere, and reappeared a few minute earlier on the ground, so I don't really know what happened, but I guess that if you believe in my crazy plans, I can believe in your fever dream Eh hee hee!" He sigh, but smile anyway.
"Alright, let's get on the move then, we got a Temple to explore after all, and a Fused Shadows inside of it just waiting for us!" I tell him before hiding in his shadow, didn't want to get burned by his lantern after all.
He burned the web at the entry of the dungeon, and we were off to the Temple of the Forest!
The temple was pretty dark, which allowed me to move around a bit, but with enough light for him to see where he was going, one of the Deku Baba almost took Link by surprise as we entered the room, but I quickly grabbed it at it's base, and tear it off from the ground, it exploded a few seconds later, "Thank you Midna… I should really be more careful about those, I don't know what kind of danger this Temple contain…"
"Talking about that, maybe you should take care of that guy over there?" Pointing in front of him at a Bokoblin that was apparently getting ready to kill one of the Monkey trapped in a cage 'Can't let that happens … We need those Monkeys to progress' unfortunately, there was some fire near the cage, which forbid me from acting.
Link was quick to leap into action, and with one quick slash, the beast was down, "That was … Quick … This blade is really nothing like I've seen before, it cut through him like butter…" Appropriate reaction really, I saw his body split in half before he exploded, I'm sure to not forget that in a while…
Anyway, Link quickly cut through the cage, while being careful to not harm it's prisoner, the monkey was quick on its feet after he was finally freed, and made sign for us to follow him, "Mmm, Midna? Can you take care of those spiders? I don't think they will take it kindly if I climb on their territory" He asked me while looking at the vines, I responded by pointing to the fire, slightly annoyed that he already forgot.
"Oh… But I have nothing to get them away, apart if …" He looked at his pockets 'Well I think I can call them pockets?', and got out a little slingshot, the string was barely the size of his finger.
"A slingshot? Really? How old are you Link? Nine?" I tell him while laughing a bit, of course I knew why he had it, but teasing him is always fun, well … It was supposed to be until his expression turned into a sad one…
"No… I bought it for the kids back at my village, it was the day before they got kidnapped… I didn't get the chance to gift it to them …" Stupid … Of course it was gonna bring up back memories… How stupid can I get sometimes?
"I… I'm sorry Link, I didn't mean to … We'll save them alright? All of them, we'll find them and get them back to your village, and then I promise you, you'll get the chance to give it to them!" I saw his face lighten up, hope flowing through his eyes.
"You're right Midna, I lost them once, but I have a promise to hold to Rusl…" 'And so do I to Uli…' "We'll bring them back to the village, together, I'm pretty sure they would love to meet you Midna, you would fit right in with them." He look at me with a teasing smile.
"I'm not a child you know? But … I would love to meet them as well." I tell him, 'Unfortunately … I don't think I'll ever get the chance too Link... ' After all, after all of this is over, I'll be gone too, so …
With that said, he get on his way to kill the spiders on the vine, and we followed the monkey, arriving in the big central room of this dungeon. Some lights were on, and one awful Skulltula was just waiting for us to drop in… Thankfully the Master Sword had no trouble in tearing through it once again.
The rest happened pretty fast, we followed the Monkey through the door, the mini boss destroyed the bridge, we followed him through another door, got a key thanks to the moving bridges, and finally we got to this zone where another cage was waiting for us at the top of a pillar.
Like in the game, several monsters got alerted by our presence due to the monkeys, unlike in the game … They were closer to 20, than 5, and it was on the outside, too much light for me to help, "Be careful Link alright? If there is too many for you, just back down for a bit, he looked at me with a smirk.
"Don't worry Midna, this sword will cut through them easily!" 'Uh … Getting cocky isn't he? Why do I have the feeling that this is a red flag?' Even though he did defeat all of them pretty easely, I just couldn't help but feeling uneasy … 'Please Link, for your own good, do not let that blade get the best of you…'
As we got back in the room before that, an idea sparkled my mind, it was a rather shadowy area and… There were only a wooden door guarding the Boss Key, I quickly got to it, and punched it wide open, "Link! Come here for a second, we got a chest to open!" He letted out a sigh as he saw the total mess I made of the door, but still went by and took the chest 'Geez, a thank you wouldn't kill you Link…'
The rest of the rooms were a breeze, even if I literally lost some hairs while looking at Link reaction to bombs, I had to shield him with my hair multiple time before I got enough and threw them myself, exploding the different rocks that leaded us to the rooms we had to explore, we quickly dispatched of the numerous enemies and traps along the way, and soon enough, we were back on the central room, with enough monkey to let us pass.
A loud sound could be heard, as the massive door shutted down behind us, leaving us with the Boss of this room.
There he was, all high and mighty, Ook was his name if I remembered correctly? Ah, I couldn't remember well minor bosses like that, but that wasn't important, he started throwing his boomerang at the ceiling cutting down several Deku Babas to attack us, while Link quickly dispatched them, I saw him throwing his boomerang at us once again, I quickly tried to grab to shield Link … Bad move …
The Magic contained in the boomerang was strong enough to keep on moving even after I grabbed it with my massive hand, dragging me along with it, I didn't react fast enough, and was sent flying in the same pillar the monkey was standing on, knocking him on the ground, and giving me the biggest headache I ever had..
"Midna! Are you alright?" Link shouted at me, while he looked at the monkey on the ground angrily, he took his sword in hand and start rushing toward him, I suddenly remembered one very important detail about this boss …
"No Link wait!" But it was too late … Link had already slashed the monkey in half, with one quick swift, Damnit! I could only look at his horrified face when he saw the bug attached to his neck explode, and realised what he had just done…
He putted his sword down, "What … Did I just do…" He looked at the blade, blood of monsters would wash up automatically, but … This one would stay until cleaned by himself… 'God damnit, if I only I had warned him sooner I …'
"Link you … It's not your fault …"
"Of course it is! I acted rashly again! And it costed a life this time!" He paused "I… I'm not a hero … Just a murderer with a power that I shouldn't have…" I … Couldn't stand that …I got back up from my headache, and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Link … You had no way of knowing that … I should have warned you as soon as I saw it … I also have my part of responsibility in this … This monster was controlling his whole body, we both had no way of knowing that it wasn't him…" 'Except I did… And I still let that happens…'
"Midna… I… This sword doesn't belong to me… It's the blade of Evil's Bane… Yet it's wielded by someone who couldn't do the difference between good and evil…" He was so vulnerable… Shaking his head at all time, almost like he wanted to wake up from a nightmare…
"You could do the difference Link, you saw someone hurting me, and attacking you, which were two good reasons to believe him evil, you did a mistake Link, but a mistake that was induced by a real monster, you had no way of knowing Link" I paused for a minute "And do you truly believe yourself not worthy of its power, Link?"
"Of course I don't, the entire time, it was only the blade doing the work for me, anyone could do this with the same sword…" I stopped him immediately
"Oh but, can they? Because I'm pretty sure that anyone that isn't you couldn't even lift that sword. The sword choose it's wielder, not the opposite, and want it or not, this sword recognised you as it's rightful Master, the power don't come from the sword Link" I point at him "It come from there, this blade is called the Master Sword for a reason, it's power come from the one wielding it, from the good within them. You made a mistake, but you're still a good person, and the Master Sword also know that."
He slowly got back up, and took the sword in hand, "You're right Midna… Since the beginning, I let myself being guided by the sword, I trusted it's judgement between good and evil, but … It is not to the sword to do that, no, from now on… I will guide the sword, so that no casualties like this one ever happen again." as soon as he said those words, the sword shined bright again, but like the Spirit's tears, it wasn't harmful to me, it was just a warm, bright light, a sign that the sword truly accepted it's master.
"So… Should we be on our way then?" I tell him as he finally stand up again, determination flowing through him, as he head back for the door, "Hey Link, you might need that though!" I throw the Gale Boomerang at him, he catch it in mid air, before looking at it for a bit… "Yes, I know what you're thinking, but this is not his Boomerang, a normal monkey wouldn't have any use for it, and he wouldn't know how to use it either, it belonged to the monster for sure, and it could be useful to us." He seemed conflicted for a minute, but ultimately put it in his pouch.
Soon enough, the door opened once again, the body of the monkey chief buried forever inside the room.
"You should maybe give it a few throw right here, to be sure you don't loose it in the gap." He take the boomerang in hand, before telling me
"No… I know how to use it… And I also know how to use it's magic…" He looked… Confused at himself while saying that.
"Are you sure? You ever held a Boomerang before?"
"I never did but …" He grasp the Boomerang in hand, as I can see the golden triangle appearing on his hand once again, "Somehow, I know exactly how to use it, and how to focus its power…" Oh, so that's the utility of his piece, that's why he know his way around every single piece of equipment he gain, the Triforce is granting him that, the courage to use them at their full potential…
And he didn't lie when he said that… Not 5 minute after having it, and he was already throwing some huge tornado around here to make the winds turn in our favor, that was quite impressive to see to be honest, for one of the first item we would obtain, it was rather useful, tornadoes were much more powerful without game restrictions, Monsters weren't simply stunned by those, and several object could be brought by this massive tornado.
We quickly got back on our way, and soon arrived at a crosspoint, "Link, we have two doors to go through, and it's dark enough for me to go in there, we should probably split up to gain some time." He look at me for a bit before nodding
"Yeah, it's a pretty smart decision, let's agree to meet back here once we're finished with our room" With that agreement in mind, we both went on our way separately
I knew this room… It was filled with webs everywhere, each one of them were covering a different hole, in the original game, Link had to lighten up the good hole to drop on the cage, now for me? I could float, it was no problem for me to get there.
I quickly destroyed the cage, and saw the monkey running up to the door, I went on my way to join him, when suddenly one of those Skulltulas dropped down the floor, 'Oh great… Of course those webs had to come from somewhere …' Well, I started floating up a bit, to attack it from the distance, unfortunately, this wasn't counting on a second one of them to drop right on me, biting me on the leg on it's way…
'Damnit!' I could feel the pain from the sharp teeth of the spider in my leg, I quickly punched it away, with enough force to kill it on the spot, while the other tried to jump on me, it was met with a giant punch in the middle of its body, cracking it open.
I went on the ground for a minute, looking at it for a minute, god … It stung really hard … Even though the spider wasn't on my leg anymore, it felt exactly like it was still there, biting me repeatedly …'Goddesses freaking dammit! Of course I seperate myself with Link for one room, and that's where all the Skulltulas were waiting to bite me down!' Deciding to go through the pain, I go by the door, concentrating on floating was a bit harder, but it was still possible, 'Link would go back through the whole dungeon to get me a potion if he heard about that, and we don't have the time for it! I have to hide that I'm hurt. It's just gonna fade away anyway.'
I got back to meet up with him, and found him on the same bridge as he tell me, "Midna! You took some time in there, everything is alright?" 'No, I'm suffering, and I would rather chop my leg off at the moment, what about you?'
"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry, just took me a bit of time to get around that room, and find the exit" I tell him, while trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.
"Alright, we should get to the next room, I already got there while waiting for you, all the monkeys want to help us cross a gap, I think that the door behind is the one locked by that key we found earlier." He was already on his way, so I simply hided in his shadow, trying to not move more than needed…
We traveled quietly to the door, and as we entered, the big clang of the mechanisms could be heard, the door shutting down until someone open it from outside…
'Poisonous water, and large flat area of dirt? Yep, this is Diababa's room alright.' Just as I finish that thought, the giant plant himself get out of the ground, it's 3 heads coming out at once, guess in real situations, bosses don't wait to be wounded to get out their most powerful forms…
Anyway, so, this boss could be beaten with the Gale Boomerang using the bombs that… Ook … would… 'Shit…' We killed our only way to defeat that boss! "Midna, um… If you have any plans up your sleeves, now would really be a good time to tell me!" Link was desperately trying to avoid the acidious spit of Diababa, passing really close to destroy his tunic.
'Ah! What to do ... ' I was replaying the fight over and over in my head, when I finally got an idea, "Alright Link, stay here, I've got something to check out." And with that I flew away to the cave where Ook was supposed to come from.
"What! Midna! Don't leave me here!" I could hear Link shout at me, but I had to hurry, I couldn't focus on floating and talking, not with this horrible pain in my leg, I hurried up to see exactly what I needed, Bombs! 'I think I just got my stupidest plan yet… But it might just work!'
"Link! I got my plan ready! But I need you to trust me on this one alright?" I shouted at him from up my cave. I see his nod from there, so I continue, "I'm gonna throw bombs at you!"
"What?! Are you crazy Midna!" He interrupt me suddenly in the middle of dogging some more acide.
"I told you to trust me didn't I?! So please let me finish!" I paused and took a breath, "I'm gonna throw those at you!" I showed him the Insect bombs I had on me. "Redirect it with your Boomerang on the main head!"
"That's absolutely crazy! But knowing you… It's gonna work!" He paused. "Alright! Wait for my signal!" I saw him dodging a few spit, and as Diababa's second head attacked, he got a nasty hit on one of them, making it fall down in the acide for a minute. "Now Midna!"
I followed his instructions and threw the Bombs at him, with a masterful precision, he redirected it on Diababa, which barely phased him for a minute, before he got hit on the exact opposite side by my own throw, surprising the beast and knocking it down on the ground, Link took the occasion, and planted his sword right in the sticking tongue of the giant plant, which lead to an horrible scream, before he exploded into twilight particles.
I got back to the main part of the land before laying myself down there 'Ahhh, finally, a bit of rest… God it hurt so much…' Link was in a similar position, as I could see the Fused Shadows materialising itself, "That's … That's a Fused Shadows Link" I say, out of breath at every word, I also saw from the corner of the eye what looked like a receptacle, 'Oh cool, they also exist here.'
I heard Link from beside me sounding as exhausted as I was, "Ah, I heard about those hearts, some monsters have so much magic that at their death, it crystalise itself in a material form, but I never saw one until today..." He got back up and was about to get me up as well when he suddenly stop, fixing my leg, "Oh my Din! What happened to your leg Midna!"
"Ah, nothing, just … A little bite, nothing important" I feel so light headed… Must be from exhaustement…
"Midna… Don't tell me you got bitten by a Skulltula?! They are poisonous!" He tell me totally panicked.
'Oh … That's not good …'
Chapter 7 is done for! Wow that was one long chapter, I think it might be the longest one I wrote so far haha, but I really wanted to go through this dungeon in one go!
Lot of things happened, the guardians didn't feel the need to test Link due to my knowledge of their test, so Link got the Master Sword really quickly but … He became to dependant on it and made a grave mistake…
His sword cut through enemies like Butter, but they also did the same for the innocent Ook that he unfortunately learned the innocence off only after he killed him… This had a big impact on our hero, who really put himself in questions, but ultimately grew thanks to this mistake
That mistake almost cost the victory to our heroes though, as Ook was supposed to assist them in the final battle of this dungeon, thankfully thanks to the quick thinking of Me-Dna, they got through it unscaled… Or so Link believed, until he finally discovered the hidden injury from Me-Dna, that reveal itself to be way more dangerous than originally thought.
I hope that you enjoyed this new chapter, and continue to like the new development and changes that come through their way while our two heroes grow together, and that you're looking forward for more!