The last dungeon chapter in the story. Wow. It's really hard to believe, but here we are.
RRRP:
ChangelingRin (FF): Thanks! I actually have a tendency to be extremely verbose to the point of being annoying, so I do think I overcompensate a bit. The second reason for my succinctness is a bit more thematic; I don't really need to spend ten pages describing each brick in a room, because Link isn't paying attention to those details. He's done all of this before, and now he's doing it again as quickly as possible. He doesn't have time to look closely at a room he's already analyzed in the first adventure. In new areas, like Khalonir and (our Lord and Savior) Nierak's hideout, I do take that time, because Link doesn't already know them. That's the reason I go so quickly. But give me some credit; I'm averaging about 7K words per chapter, which isn't half bad.
OlafTheDestroyer (FF): FFnet hiccuped, I see. I think it's really funny that you call me the J.J. Abrams of Zelda fics, what with Episode 9 coming out [I saw it, and it was… not as good as episode 7]. Maybe that's saying something about my (lack of) skill as a writer. I will take it as a compliment.
I also think it's funny that everyone's gaga over the Malink ship but nobody batted an eye at Nierak, our Lord and Savior. Please, somebody talk about Nierak in the reviews, I really want to talk about that Zora dark mage.
Anon (FF): To be fair, I wrote the entire story beforehand and am uploading it from a Google Doc now. If I was uploading as I wrote, it'd probably be a dead fic because of all that strain.
Chapter XXII: Barrier With Us
The ornate, velvet carpet squished comfortably underneath Link's combat boots. The whole entrance hall gave off an aura of foreboding that sent uncontrollable shivers coursing down his spine. The Hylian didn't really pay much attention to it, instead opting to reflexively shoot down the pair of gargantuan Green Bubbles flying towards the door. They weren't all that much of a trouble to deal with. This could not be said, however, of the Iron Knuckle that guarded the sealed door that would lead to the central chamber that connected to all of the barriers. There was also a Spike bouncing back and forth between two short pillars with an Armos on top. Link procured two Bombs and lobbed them at the statues, destroying both in a matter of seconds. All that was left was the Iron Knuckle, which Link defeated in a similar fashion to how he had bested the other armor suits he had encountered. Once the axe-wielding suit of armor was destroyed, the door unsealed.
"Okay," Link thought out loud. "I can't do either the Fire or Light Barriers because I have yet to acquire the Golden Gauntlets. Last time, they were in the Shadow Barrier, so it would be best to do that one first. Shall we?"
"Hm… if you think it'll get this done faster," Ivan yawned. "Ivan is tired. Holler if you need Ivan."
Hang on.
Didn't fairies not need sleep?
Ignoring his partner for now, Link made his way to the purple light streaming into the central tower that stemmed from the door marked with the same insignia that was on the Shadow Medallion. He stepped through, ready for anything, and instantly shot down another massive Green Bubble. He then took to observing the room, trying to figure out what he needed to do. There was a lit torch next to him that didn't do anything, two pillars, an invisible platform that oscillated between the rightmost pillar and a larger central platform, and a Bomb Flower on the leftmost pillar. To add to the confusion, a number of Silver Rupees were scattered all about the room. He checked the expanse with the Lens of Truth again, just to make sure he wasn't missing anything. He wasn't.
The Hero of Time paced around the room, thinking that maybe a different angle would help him. He discovered nothing. To vent his frustration, he took his Fairy Bow and shot the Bomb Flower, whose explosion caused another small crate to fall onto the rightmost platform, which stumped Link for half a second before he remembered that he could Longshot to it. So he did, and then promptly threw on the hover Boots before dashing above the abyss, barely managing to grab onto the invisible platform as it started to float away. He took a pit stop to grab the Silver Rupee on the left platform before doubling back to the large platform, ignoring the Beamos that guarded it. He killed it after he realized that there was a Silver Rupee hiding beneath it.
The Hylian was confused on how to progress until he tripped over a torch embedded in the stone and nearly catapulted himself into the void. He shot the torch with a Fire Arrow, causing a crystal platform to appear between his platform and the next one, which housed quite a few more Beamos. He only needed one Bomb to destroy them, as the ensuing explosion of one caused the death of the other.
He was rather close to the end of the room, and had yet to find the Golden Gauntlets. There was a guillotine suspended in space and continuously slamming down on thin air, but the Lens of Truth showed Link the true pathway. There was also an invisible path to another small platform, which held a Beamos and hid another Silver Rupee. He took care of the Beamos and grabbed the last Rupee, causing the door to the Seal room to open. As Link was doubling back, however, he noticed a gold eye switch near the base of the platform that had once housed a single Beamos. Shooting it revealed a small chest, which contained a Small Key. He wasn't complaining, but he had been hoping that it contained the Golden Gauntlets.
Somewhat dejectedly, Link traversed the massive gap and entered the Seal room. He fired a Light Arrow at the bulbous orange tumor that served to indicate where the Barrier resided. It exploded into a shower of sparks, and was swiftly replaced by a hovering Impa.
"The Shadow Barrier is dispelled! Please save the princess!" she demanded before transforming into a purple light that transported Link back to the central hub. He looked up as the vermillion beam shrunk and dissipated. But he still didn't have the Golden Gauntlets!
"Must be in a different place," Link lamented. "Let's just do what we can."
Ivan mumbled something from inside of Link's pouch. It sounded positive.
!0*0!
Link entered the Forest Barrier and was immediately beset by a pair of Stalfos, quickly summoning their blades and attempting to run Link through with the jagged bronze swords. Fortunately, they had the courtesy of attacking Link one at a time, and a few quick Spin Attacks was enough to deal with the duo. Defeating the Stalfos caused the exit to unseal, permitting the Hylian to progress.
"Hang on! Ivan thinks there is something up on top of those decorations above the door," Ivan said, having emerged from Link's pocket.
"I don't see anything," the Hero of Time stated, but Longshotted up anyway using a torch. True to Ivan's word, there was a Small Key just sitting there, but when Link moved to grab it, he was blown off of the platform by a fan. Mildly infuriated, he tried again, and successfully nabbed the Small Key. Adding the key to his repertoire, Link then entered the second room of the Forest Barrier.
Like the Shadow Barrier, this chamber consisted of several small platforms rising out of a seemingly bottomless abyss. Unlike the Shadow Barrier, however, this room was much smaller, tinted green rather than purple, and filled with even more Beamos than the Shadow Barrier. There was also one Armos and four gargoyle fans on either side of the room, flanking each door.
There was a frozen eye switch hiding in one of the fans. When it was activated, a small chest dropped out of the sky on the comparatively large platform on Link's right. There was also a different eye switch in a different fan that was right next to Link, which summoned another small chest right next to Link.
Longshotting to the small chest would be stupid, as it would probably awaken the Armos and incur the Beamos' wrath. It was infinitely more intelligent to allow the fan's air current to push him onto the leftmost platform and deal with the Beamos there before systematically destroying the other metal sentries scattered around the room. Dealing with that first Beamos, however, would be an issue, as it seemed to face in Link's direction whenever the fans were on. If the Hylian ever allowed the winds to carry him, the Beamos would just shoot him out of the sky.
Unless…
"Ivan, do I have any twine in my pack?" Link asked.
"What are you planning?" Ivan questioned, recognizing the mildly insane grin gracing Link's features.
"I'm thinking that I could strap a bomb onto one of my Arrows and deal with the Beamos that way," Link answered nonchalantly.
"You scare Ivan sometimes," the fairy said. "You don't have any twine, but you have some gauze from back when you wrapped up your eye."
"That'll do."
Ivan gave him the bandages while Link procured an explosive. He spent a few minutes tying the bomb to the arrow before lighting the bomb. It then occurred to Link what he was doing: attaching a live explosive to an arrow and then trying to fire it. As it turned out, a bomb weighed much more than an arrow, and so it was much more difficult to get good distance. After a few tries and all of his gauze, the Hero of Time finally managed to take down that pesky Beamos. He then wasted no time in donning his Hover Boots and diving into the airstream created by the fan, which blew him all the way onto that platform. From there, it was relatively easy to bomb the rest of the enemies in the room.
He had hoped that killing all the Beamos would unseal the door, but it actually seemed to do nothing at all. All that the Hero of Time had to go off of was the blue button on a crystal lattice, suspended in space below a Block of Time. That didn't appear to help him very much, to be honest.
"Any ideas?"
"Hm… Oh. Ivan sees. Remember that one room in the Spirit Temple? The one with all the Blocks of Time that hid a box in the ceiling?"
"So, it wants me to break how ceilings work again? All right, I guess," Link sighed, playing the Song of Time.
Nothing happened.
"Ivan thinks you have to be standing on this little platform right here," Ivan said, indicating a tiny bit of floor situated right in front of a fan.
"But the fan will blow me off!"
"Then wear the Iron Boots!"
There was silence for a moment. "Oh," Link said lamely, donning the Iron Boots after he landed on that platform. True to Ivan's word, he wasn't buffeted off of the circle and into the void by the strong winds. He played the Song of Time twice, causing an Armos statue to fall out of the Block of Time and onto the blue button. Only then did the door unseal.
"Goddesses, I hate this place," Link grumbled, jumping over the gap and shooting the Barrier itself with a Light Arrow.
"The Forest Barrier is dispelled!" said Saria, who had teleported in as soon as Link shot the orange tumor in the Barrier. "Hurry up, Link!"
She then turned into a green light and consumed Link in a flash of white, conveniently teleporting him back to the central hub.
!0*0!
The Water Barrier was not modeled after the Water Temple. For some Goddess-forsaken reason, it was fashioned in the likeness of the Ice Cavern. This meant that it housed the same infuriating blue fire and red ice that had gotten on Link's nerves so much in the actual Ice Cavern. It meant that he had to release all of his Fairies, dump out his Green Potion, and fill all three of his bottles with blue fire, which was just a waste of time and bottles. He'd have to swing by a Fairy Fountain and a potion shop later to refill.
Not that it mattered right then; the altar of blue fire was consumed by a massive black waterspout that blocked all access. Try as he might, Link simply couldn't reach far enough into the corrupted water to get at the flames, which would grant him access to the rest of the Water Barrier.
He dealt with the trio of Freezards that coalesced from the icy ground, but they failed to diminish the water spout. Desperate for some way to progress and refusing to back down from the Barrier despite its frigid temperature, the Hero of Time perused his surroundings. The way forwards was not only locked, but hidden behind an outgrowth of red ice. There were several other red ice crystals, which hid a chest and heart container that Link didn't need. Several jagged icicles scattered the ground and ceiling, and looked prone to falling. But none of that really captured Link's attention. He was too busy staring, slack-jawed, at the Dead Hand's hand rooted in the corner of the room. The Lens of Truth didn't reveal a telltale black circle on the floor that heralded the Dead Hand's body. He'd have to brave being grabbed to defeat the living corpse.
Swallowing his reservations, Link charged straight into the rotting hand. As soon as he was in its range, it descended to clutch Link's head, which conveniently protected him from the mass of icicles that fell from the roof. Mystifyingly, no Dead Hand body uprooted itself from the frozen earth below to gnaw at the nape of his neck. As soon as the Dead Hand let go, Link vented his range by slicing it down with the Stygian Light, hitting the wall behind it in the process. Miraculously, there was a resounding chime as the geyser retracted, allowing Link to fill as many bottles as he could. He filled all of them, figuring he'd need it for the next room, and melted the red ice blocking the door.
The next room was an block-sliding puzzle on ice, but it also featured a number of Silver Rupees and some elemental Keese. A quick shot with the Longshot was enough to defeat them. As soon as he jumped down into the room, however, he was bitten by an invisible Keese, which then met its end at the hands of the Stygian Light.
"There is a strange enchantment in this room…" Ivan said. "If you leave the room, it'll go back to the way it was before you entered."
"Really?" Link said, observing the two ice cubes he was tasked to push. There was also a single hole just adjacent to one of the ice blocks, but that would be too easy. After grabbing the Silver Rupee that Ivan pointed out was in that hole, Link pushed the furthest block into the hole before pushing the next block over it. From there, it was only two pushes away from setting the cube in a little alcove, granting Link access to another Silver Rupee. It was hidden under a lattice of red ice, which he melted. Grabbing that last Silver Rupee, among the others scattered around the room, caused the last door to unseal.
But therein lied the problem. The parapet on which the door was situated was protected by a massive wall of red ice which prevented the swordsman from climbing on top. Worse, because of the properties of blue fire, Link had no way of melting that ice without breaking one of his bottles, which he didn't particularly want to do. Dejectedly, Link made his way back to the first room, refilled on blue fire, and then repeated the puzzle again, this time making a point to melt the wall of red ice first so that he didn't forget. He had to push one of the blocks into the ledge to do it, but then shoving the block into the abyss caused it to respawn where it had started. From there, it was possible to finish the open the door and actually walk through it this time.
Ruto appeared as soon as the Barrier was shot by a Light Arrow. "The Water Barrier is dispelled! Hurry up!"
!0*0!
He was still missing the Golden Gauntlets.
Link lamented this as he entered the Spirit Barrier, donning his Goron Tunic when he noticed the presence of Fire Keese and lava slugs. They were easy enough to defeat, and Link was able to destroy them without taking so much as a scratch. However, nothing happened when he finally killed them all, which was odd. There was nothing in the room save a group of Iron Knuckle thrones situated around the center of the room.
"Ah!" Ivan proclaimed suddenly, flying to the top of the thrones and looking down. "There's a switch down here!"
"Well, I can't get to that!" Link complained. "I couldn't break those thrones, even in the last timeline when I still had two functioning arms!"
"What else does leetle man suggest!" Ivan shot back.
Link paused for a second. "Fine," he spat, drawing the Megaton Hammer and spending the next fifteen minutes slamming the thrones with blow after blow. And for all his labors, nothing happened. He was infuriated, and turned back to the door to attempt the Fire Barrier or something, when he noticed the closed Eye Switch over the door. Link shot it with an arrow, causing it to open. However, it didn't appear to do anything. But when Link turned around, he discovered that an Iron Knuckle had somehow appeared, motionless.
An idea began to form in the Hero's head. He poked the Iron Knuckle with his blade, prompting it to suddenly come to life. Link, meanwhile, was already proceeding to run away, hiding behind the congregation of thrones in the center of the room. The suit of armor ponderously made its way towards the center of the room and proceeded to smash the seats into smithereens with its massive halberd. This conveniently revealed the switch, which turned out to be rusted red. Link backed away, luring the Iron Knuckle away from the center of the room, before sprinting around it and bashing the switch down with the Megaton Hammer, unsealing the door.
The next room contained a large Green Bubble, which was easy enough to kill. It was hiding a small chest filled with Bombchus. The Hero of Time knew what to do. He took one of the Bombchus and carefully placed it so that it would climb up an iron gate, through a small hole at the top, and hit a diamond switch on the other side of the room. Or…
The diamond switch was situated on the ceiling, right by the gap in the gate. Couldn't he just fire an arrow and hit the switch that way?
He nocked an arrow, drew back weakly, and loosed it. It intentionally traveled slowly, allowing gravity to bend the projectile's trajectory through the gap straight into the switch. Hitting the switch caused the opening of the next door, which Link graciously walked through.
He killed the large Green Bubble on the other side of the room, as well as the pair of Redeads that occupied the short hall in between the two halves of the room. The last part of the chamber was a small amphitheater, with several sun switches strewn around the room. There was also a hole leading to some kind of light source, blocked by a web. He shot a fire arrow at the cobweb to ignite it, allowing all of the light to spill into the room.
There were seven sun faces and the last door in the Spirit Barrier. Link laboriously unslung the Mirror Shield and dropped it onto the ground before tilting it in the direction of the sun face to the right of the door. He'd do it clockwise for ease's sake. It burned, and summoned a small chest that contained nothing but a little draught of health.
The next sun caused absolutely nothing. What a letdown.
The next sun switch burned, creating another small chest with a Small Key in it.
Nothing happened when Link burned the next sun switch.
Another small health potion was hiding in the small chest the next sun switch created.
The next sun was hidden above the entryway. Link was half convinced that this would trigger the door, but instead, a Wallmaster was summoned by the following sun switch. While easy enough for Link to deal with at this point, it was still annoying.
There was only one sun switch left. Link realized with startling clarity that he still had yet to find the Golden Gauntlets. This sun had to unseal the last door, or else this area was physically impossible. Tense, he burned the last sun switch, which created a large chest. The Hylian stared at it, confused. How was he supposed to open the sealed door? Was it impossible?
Link took the Golden Gauntlets inside, regardless. Now came the annoying process of figuring out how to unseal the door.
He spent the better part of an hour perusing every inch of the rest of the Spirit Barrier and found nothing. No switches, no enemies, no nothing. He'd shot them all, burned them all, and killed them all.
"Hang on," Ivan rumbled. "Go back to that last area."
Link did so.
"Ah, yes! Look at that Spirit Temple insignia."
"The one over the door? What about it?"
"Is that a sun switch behind it?"
Link blinked. "I… I think it is… By the Three, I'm completely oblivious to everything, aren't I?"
"Nonsense," Ivan replied as Link burned the hidden sun switch. That caused the last door to open, and the Hero of Time stepped through it and broke the Spirit Barrier.
!0*0!
Sweat quickly accumulated on Link's brow as he stepped into the Fire Barrier, requiring him to wipe it all off with the back of his gauntlets. He already had his Hover Boots equipped, expecting to have a large central platform in the center that would sink if he wasn't wearing them. However, it appeared that that would not be necessary, as the room instead consisted of a collection of smaller platforms scattered around over a massive pool of lava. He kept the shoes on, though, because some of the jumps looked rather difficult, especially the first one, which showcased the oscillating motion of one of the platforms. If it started to move away again after Link made his leap, he'd surely fall into the lava below and be consumed. That would spell death, and death wasn't good.
He made the jump, just barely. The next few gaps were comparatively small, and Link made them easily. His attention was then drawn to the collection of Silver Rupees scattered around the room, namely the one that was suspended about seventy feet directly above him.
"Well, how do I get that?" Link asked himself, right before he stepped onto the platform beneath it and was promptly flung into the air. He managed to get his wits together just in time to nab the Rupee before he fell down again, almost missing the platform and falling into the magma below.
There was another series of jumps that led Link onto a platform that wouldn't sink. This outcrop was inhabited by a pair of Torch Slugs and a black pillar of ridiculous proportions. He ignored the spire for the moment and aggressively punted the Torch Slugs into the lava below. The Hero then cracked his knuckles, walked up to the pillar- emblazoned, he realized, with the Gerudo insignia- and squatted by its base, grabbing the bottom and lifting it. Power surged through the Golden Gauntlets as he adjusted his handhold, which was followed by him chucking the pillar over his head and into the lava on the other side of the room.
"Wow," Ivan breathed, awed by this show of strength. "There was another one outside of the Tower. Ivan wonders what is behind it."
"There is? I never noticed," his partner replied. "I'll have to check it out."
With that, the Hylian collected another Silver Rupee and then Longshotted to a tiny nearby platform, sweat making his fingers slick as he pulled himself onto the dais. There was a third Silver Rupee there, which Link grabbed before he daringly made his way onto the upended pillar he had lobbed into the lava. There was a fourth Silver Rupee hovering on top, which Link knew he would need.
In truth, the Hero of Time had no idea how many more gray rupees he would need to unlock the last door. He made to cross the expanse of lava over a quartet of collapsing floors, barely managing to grab on to the platform that didn't buckle under his feet. Unluckily, there was a Beamos standing guard there that continually tried to shoot at Link, denying him amnesty from the licking flames at his feet. Any longer, and his boots might catch on fire. Slowly and surely, he shuffled along the side of the platform, feet getting dangerously close to the molten rock directly below him. The Beamos, meanwhile, continued to shoot its laser at the patch of ground closest to where Link had once been, thinking he was still there. Once the Hero was directly behind the Beamos, he hauled himself away from the flames and threw a bomb at the robot, destroying it instantly.
He then carefully removed the second stone pillar, which was essentially the same thing as haphazardly hurling it to the other side of the room. There was a Silver Rupee hiding beneath where the pillar once was, and when Link touched it, the exit door unsealed and a convenient Hookshot panel appeared, allowing him to bridge the gap and annihilate the Fire Barrier with a Light Arrow.
!0*0!
"Huh, there really is a pillar here," Link noticed, wasting no time in forcibly removing it from its current location. It actually blocked a large cave, in which a Great Fairy Fountain was hidden. Not that Link could go in, due to his Stalfos Hand.
"Oh, it's the Great Fairy who gave us Din's Fire," Link grumbled. "That doesn't help very much."
"Nyet. This is a different Great Fairy," Ivan countered. "Ivan will clear everything up."
"Oh, really? Sweet!"
A few minutes passed, in which Ivan explained to the Great Fairy exactly what was going on. Once that was done, Link ascended to the pool and played Zelda's Lullaby on the Ocarina of Time. With a resounding cackle, the Great Fairy launched herself from the pristine waters and seated herself in midair, staring creepily down her nose at Link himself.
"Welcome, Hero! I am the Great Fairy of Courage! I will grant you an enhancement to your defensive power! Receive it now!"
The Great Fairy spread herself in the air, allowing her magic to flow and spread throughout the room. Link felt little change for a second, but was soon astonished to feel his own skin and flesh hardening over his muscle and bone, allowing it to take more punishment before breaking. It was strange. It barely felt like his own anymore, and his shivered as his skin crawled, settling into a new formation. There was, of course, more to it than that. Link had also garnered a strange infinitesimal sheen over his surface, made of magical energies that similarly resisted strain. It only lasted an instant before disappearing, and the feeling of his flesh returned to the way it had always been. His skin settled back into its normal state, uncomfortably.
"With your enhanced defenses, damage inflicted by enemies will be reduced by half," the Fairy explained. "If your travels make you weary, please come and see me again!"
With that, she disappeared back into the Fountain. Link merely stared at his new complexion in mild interest.
"So, basically, everything hurts as much as it did in my original adventure? Awesome!" Link exclaimed. "That'll make the fight with Ganonwhoref so much easier!"
"As much as Ivan likes that nickname, you're still getting charged for it," Ivan chastised.
"Whatever," Link relented. "I'm not really going to be buying anything of critical value, so…"
He played the Minuet of Forest, slaughtered a Moblin Boss, and dove headfirst into a Fairy Fountain within the Sacred Forest Meadow, filling two of his Bottles with fairies before warping to Kakariko and buying a Green Potion for the last one. He doubted he'd need them for the Ganondorf fight, but it was always best to be prepared. He didn't want a repeat of the Gerudo Valley incident, after all.
!0*0!
An enormous stone pillar hid the entrance to the Light Barrier, but it was no match for Link's Golden Gauntlets. Idly, he wondered where this power came from that made it so much more mighty than the Silver Gauntlets. Eventually, the Hylian decided to not worry about it. It wasn't that big of a deal, anyway.
The first room was vaguely familiar to the first chamber of the Forest Barrier, but the Light one was yellow instead of green, and contained a Dinolfos and two Torch Slugs as opposed to two Stalfos. They were easier to conquer than the skeletal warriors had been, and the exit soon unsealed.
The attached corridor was tiny and cramped, and featured a locked door. There was also a Triforce etched into the floor, but since he had already acquired the Golden Gauntlets, Link didn't feel that actually playing the song was necessary. Instead, he merely opted to open the door with one of his two Small Keys, progressing even further into the complex.
The last time he had gone through this next room, he had had a limited time to collect a number of silver rupees in order to reveal the next path. Meanwhile, a pair of boulders rotated around a central dais. This time, however, there was only one boulder, there appeared to be no time limit, and there was a Beamos perched on top of the little area around which the boulder orbited.
Link intended to follow the boulder to the other door, assuming that he could use his Small Key to unlock it. Unfortunately, a wall of fire prevented the Hero of Time from doing just that. There was, however, a hookshot panel placed directly above the Beamos. Hopefully, the swordsman could use that to get to the other side.
His theory was proven correct as he sailed to the top of the plateau, landing squarely on top of the Beamos. The robot in question didn't even notice Link's weight as he slowly rotated on top of it, in synchronization with its revolution. Eventually, the Hylian made his way back to the exit door, unlocked it, and stepped through, narrowly avoiding the boulder as it rotated about.
The following area appeared to be the Light Barrier, but the bright orange tumor that was usually present was noticeably absent. Ivan was flabbergasted, but Link was not. He bravely walked straight onto the altar and tried to plow through an illusory wall, but was promptly stopped by something. He checked the Lens of Truth to ensure that he wasn't going senile, but alas, there was a crystalline structure blocking the way. Through the Lens, he could easily see the true Light Barrier, forever out of reach. There must be some way to dispel it. But how?
"There's a Skullwalltula on that ceremonial torch," Ivan pointed out. "Maybe if you kill it, something will happen?"
No. Nothing happened when the Skullwalltula's bloody corpse hit the ground. Link scanned the room to see anything out of the ordinary, and then again with the Lens of Truth, but both efforts were fruitless. He began to believe that there was a fragile wall somewhere in the room, perfectly disguised with the gold-hued stone. So he began the long and laborious task of swiping at every square inch of stone he could reach with the Stygian Light. Hours later, Link screamed in frustration at his lack of success in finding a bombable wall, and threw the Stygian Light away in his rage. It spun swiftly as it careened around the room, almost hitting Ivan, before colliding with the leftmost torch flanking the dais. There was a swift chime that Link almost missed as he heard something fall away. Disbelieving, Link peered through the Lens of Truth and saw, to his amazement, that the crystalline barrier had disappeared. Sighing in resignation, the Hylian picked up the Stygian Light and readied his bow, destroying the Light Barrier in an instant.
When he was teleported back into the main complex, the magic blocking Link from venturing deeper into Ganon's Tower swelled and dispersed, allowing entrance through the draconic mouth and closer to the King of Evil himself. The Hero of Time took a breath, drew the Master Sword, and stepped into the central tower. He decided not to use the Mirror Shield, despite at this point having the raw strength to use it as he once had. Throughout his lengthy journey through this mirrored world, he'd grown used to not having a physical shield at the ready, instead relying on his Stalfos Shield to defend himself and moving erratically to dodge while still keeping the absurd range of the Stygian Light. To put it shortly, a two-handed blade style of combat was the one that fit Link the best now, whereas a single-handed sword and shield was the one he had preferred last timeline. Sure, this new world was more punishing on mistakes, but it allowed Link to reap more rewards in the form of more raw offensive output. It just suited him better.
He began the ascent, humming the organ tune echoing throughout the Tower.
The battle with Ganondorf is up next. The entire fic has built up to this. And oh boy, is it going to be FUN to write.
On an unrelated note, I despise the Ganon's Tower music with a fiery passion. (Not the organ music during the final ascent; that stuff's fire.) Don't worry, though, this is a lot better. watch?v=kRyQi1Qa_18&list=PLftO1w_3mZBKyjKWmVPIA9jTkYNsYqAUC&index=36. If that URL doesn't work because hates URL's, it's the Aboard the Star Forge theme from KOTOR. Just search that up. It fits Ganon's Tower really well, I think,
NOOTTD: Nothing I can think of.
All I want for Christmaaaaas is reviews!