Chapter Six
The Eye of Truth andAnother Great Fairy
Link, Zelph and Borak were alarmed by the cold breeze wafting out from the cave with the tunnel within, that Link and Zelph had used to get here,
"Was it really that cold?" Borak asked
"No it wasn't" Link said, "If anything it was hot, I don't get it"
Into the cave behind the scared spring they ventured, and there they found that the tunnel back to The Lost Woods was completely frozen over.
"It's not just the tunnel Link" Zane' voice told them, "The entire Lost Woods has frozen over, Kokiri and Ordon and even that portion of Old Hyrule Field is covered in snow, it's coming from Zora' Domain. We located a statue holder in Kakoriko village by the way"
Link looked at Borak,
"That's going to be a problem. How are we going to get Zelda on the Goron trail?"
"Couldn't we dress her up like a man?" Borak asked
"You know something? That's not the worst idea" Link replied
Link and Borak went all over Kakoriko Gorge, borrowing or buying mens clothes, then they spent three hours putting them to Zelph or altering them and having her parade around the cave until they found an outfit that was passable,
"You look like Shiek from OOT" Link said
"Well she was an anscestor" Zelph said
"Don't talk" Borak said
"What if I get asked a question by the Gorons at Death Mountain?" Zelph asked
"We'll tell them you're a training monk, on route to Old Hyrule and have taken a vow of silence" Link said
"That might work I suppose" Zelph said doubfully, "I'll need a robe then"
So they found her a robe and as the sun set in the sky they made their way towards Death Mountain, along a dangerous road with canyons on one side and cracking cliffs on the other,
Eventually they came out onto a large field with four shimmering mirrors dotted around,
"Ah...what do we do now?" Link asked
"Well let's see, from the stories I've been told one will take you to Old Hyrule, it links in with Gerudo Desert and Egypt, one will lead to the Zoras of TP, one to the Death Mountain trail via the Goron Cave and the last will take you to the era of the Wolf and the same village, just flipped the other way like when they released the game on Switch; it was flipped the other way around from the Wii version" Borak said
"So how do we figure out which way to go?" Zelph asked
"If we had the Eye of Truth it'd be easy" Borak said
"That thing exists!?" Link exclaimed
"Of course and it's hidden but not at the bottom of the well...it's in a tomb in Kakoriko graveyard"
Link and Zelph look at him,
"Nope" Link said with a shake of the head, "Let's go for the third mirror, maybe we'll get lucky"
With Link leading the way, he, Zelph and Borak ventured through mirror 3 and found themselves face to face with a fire lizard,
"What are these things doing in here?!" Borak exclaimed, picking it up by the tail and firing it into the larva pit before them,
"We haven't gone back in time have we?" Zelph asked and they took a step closer to a large bridge between the platform they were standing on and the exit to the cave,
"No" Borak said picking up a disguarded newspaper, "Maybe they crawled down from Death Mountain last time we were under attack"
"Makes sense, none of us ventured into this cave, this is the child Link dungeon of OOT" Link pointed out,
This was accepted and they ventured half way across the bridge, which dropped down from beneath them quite dramatically, well they were teenagers, not children, weren't they?
They backed up and Borak did a Goron spin across to the entrance of the cave, Link looked around for something his hookshot might grab onto and used this to get himself and Zelph across.
Borak was spotted by a number of Gorons as he stepped out of the caves with Link and Zelph and soon word of his return had reached Goron City,
There was a large thundering sound as residents of Goron City came rolling down the winding path or off the ledges in a bid to be first to greet Borak,
"Where have you been Borak?!" A Goron asked, shoving a speakerphone in his face
"I was trapped by the Twilight Sheika up in the Goron Mines of Kakoriko Gorge and if it wasn't for Link and his friend here, I'd still be there" Borak told them,
Now the Goron' fought to get close to Link and Zelph.
After a barrage of questions Borak established that his parents were still in America and Link and Zelph escaped to Kakoriko Village, where the calmness of the place afforded them the chance to breathe a sigh of relief,
"We won't be seeing Borak again any time soon" Link said
"I need to get out of these clothes" Zelph complained
"Not yet, what if the Great Fairy Fountain is at the top of Death Mountain? You wouldn't make me go up there on my own would you?" Link said in question
"If you like the outfit that much you can have it" Zelph told him
Link and Zelph were worried about the Zoras as they wondered about the village looking for the game that held the mini statue as a prize. They were so distracted they actually passed it four times.
It was a shooting gallery, for archers but the owner wouldn't let Zelph play for the statue,
"It has to be Link" The Archer said,
"That's so unfair, I'm the best archer in Hyrule!" Zelph complained
"Modest much?" The Archer replied
"I...realise that sounded a little...Link is better with the sword, can't he use that to break the Rupees?"
"No!" The Archer exclaimed
"I've got this" Link said,
"No using Stasis!" The Archer said with a point
"I've still got this" Link said
He really didn't. It was gone midnight before he got even close to getting enough points for the statue, but by then there were no more Rupees to shoot,
"I'm done" The Archer complained,
"Come on, I've got it now" Link said, "So I'm having an off day!"
"Off day!? I've no more Rupees left! I have to shut up shop and farm them or venture out into Earth' realm and find a Euro-de change now!"
This made Zelph laugh,
"Can't he do something else to get the statue? We need it!" She asked once she'd stopped laughing,
"Come to the chicken farm tomorrow and if he can shoot 10 pumkins in a row in one minute I will give him the statue"
Zane came by to visit Link upon him and Zelph retiring to Impa' old house,
he sat next to Link as Link groaned and cried and moaned about the pain in his arm from all the arrows he'd had to fire,
"What happened to you today Link? You're not yourself at all" Zane said
"I can't stop thinking about the Zoras or Kokiri for that matter, Nanna and Mya" Link said
"They're all fine it's the Zoras that aren't, they're all frozen" Zane told him, feeding Link a jelly heart, "It was a Sheika Spell"
"Does that mean Aqua never left Zora' Domain? We might actually find him there?" Zelph asked
"It's quite possible but I'd need the mini statue to be sure...maybe you need some stamina potion, I'll go get you some" Zane said and with that he left.
Ten minutes later Zane returned with the stamina potion for Link,
"Just don't ask me what they put in it" Zane told him,
Link frowned at Zane and then drank the lime green potion,
Suddenly he was wide awake, up on his feet, firing arrows at anything circular, on and on this went until day broke and they went out to the chicken farm to meet the Archer, still very much disgruntled about not having any Rupees left for people to shoot at his range,
"You ready? You get one chance at this" The Archer said
"Throw a pumpkin" Link said, still buzzing,
The Archer started throwing pumpkins across the field and his line of view while the farmer counted down the minute,
Link got 18 and won the statue but though Link, Zelph and Zane were thrilled the farmer was upset,
"18 pumpkins, a bad shot you said" He said, glaring at the Archer, "The Yetis are expecting an order of 30, I only have 12 now"
Link counted on his hand to see if he was right,
"Look, how was I supposed to know Link would suddenly learn how to shoot propperly without using Stasis?" The Archer said
"Hey!" Link cried offended, "Look, I'm upset about the Zoras! They've frozen over!" The farmer and the Archer looked at him in shock and then at Zelph as she nodded, "I was distracted, I can get you more pumpkins from Ordon, just as soon as I've rescued the Zoras but we can't unless we find Aqua, without the statue I couldn't even locate him, let alone the next Great Fairy Fountain"
"That's up the top of Death Mountain but you won't be able to reach it without the Eye of Truth" The Archer told him,
"Say what now?" Link asked
"There's an invisible walkway between the edge of the summet and the statue, the statue itself is invisible until you've put the mini statue in place" The farmer said, "Did you not know that?"
"So I have to...go down a tomb to retrieve it?" Link said in question
"Yeah, yeah you do, you'll need to play the song of storms backwards for the headstone you need to reveal itself" The Archer told him,
Zelph' eyes widen,
"You're doing this with me" Link told her with a point before she could protest,
"It only works at night!" The Archer called after them as they bolted from the chicken farm,
"Of course it does!" Link exclaimed
Link wasn't waiting and used the sun song to set the sun,
He and Zelph then used a series of boxes to climb up and over the locked fence to get into the graveyard. Here they saw Dempi' ghost, something they soon realised they needed to avoid, for every time they were spotted they got fired back over the fence.
Eventually they got to a shaded area, unlit by the moon and Link played the song of storms backwards,
The grave opening by itself got Dempi' attention but now his persona changed,
Dempi was now beckoning Link and Zelph,
Link and Zelph crept out and met him,
"I seek the Eye of Truth, I am Link" Link told him,
"If you can follow but avoid my sight and fire I will lead you to the Eye of Truth" Dempi told him
Link nodded and allowed Dempi to jump into the tomb first,
Link and Zelph jumped in after and screamed as they fell.
At first Link and Zelph were terrified as they took on monsters and Re-Dead' and tried to follow Dempi without being noticed or avoid the flames he dropped behind him but after a few failed attempts and they realised the monsters they destroyed didn't return they found it easier to concentrate and to hide from out of Dempi' sight.
With seconds to spare Link and Zelph made it out of the tomb and found themselves in a room full of treasure, within an abandoned house,
"I don't need it anymore, have it" Dempi said referring to the Rupees scattered all around,
Link already knew what he was going to do with this but right now all he wanted was the Eye of Truth,
"Where is the Eye of Truth?" Link asked Dempi
"It is being guarded by the Skultula, behind the puzzle painting above the fireplace you just walked out of" He told them and with that he was gone, dropping the lit lantern as he disappeared,
Zelph caught it before the whole place could catch alight,
Zelph and Link solved the puzzle, jumped back as it crashed to the ground and Link dealt with the Skultula,
Behind this was the Eye of Truth,
Link was delighted as he grabbed it and held it up like in the game,
Zelph shook her head and they stumbled out of the house.
This house was just behind the watermill.
Link and Zelph climbed the ladder, up to the ledge where the Watermill sat and looked out at the village. The sun was starting to rise and everyone was walking in slow motion,
Link and Zelph looked at each other and Link played the song of storms forwards, this made everyone walk normally but just like in the game, it drained the well,
The man standing by the well looked up at Link and raised an eyebrow,
"Really Link?"
"You were all in slow mo, I had to do something" Link replied
"I'll be at Mackro if anyone needs me!" He yelled to anyone listening,
Link bit his lip and then looked at Zelph,
"I want to meet the next Great Fairy" Zleph said in response to the look, "Can't you port me up there too?" He shook his head, "We're walking it then huh?"
Link and Zelph took their time and made their way up to Goron City for a heat proof outfit for Zelph,
He still had the one he'd used the last time and he wasn't looking forward to seeing the shop owner again after the way things had ended. The guardian dragon, appalled by the shop owner' insisting on Link paying full price for the outfit because the hot spring water now flowed as it should, picked Link up by the claw and flew him down to Kakoriko Village where he knew the shop owner wouldn't dare tread.
The party for Borak' return was still in full swing,
"Hey Brother! I take it that your being here means you got the statue" Borak said, coming over to them with a rock cake in hand,
"Yes, and the Eye of Truth, now we need a fire proof outfit for Zel...I mean "The Monk"" Link replied,
"Say no more" Borak said
"Borak, why isn't the Princess aloud on Death Mountain?" Zelph asked
"It's dangerous, female Gorons live up in the quiet mountains in the human realm, not here and as for the Princess, apart from Link, the most important person in all of Hyrule, even risking you now, here, like this makes me ueasy" Borak told her honestly
It took some doing but Borak managed to secure a heat proof outfit for Zelph and after a private dip in the hot springs pool Link and Zelph set off up the trail to the summet of Death Mountain.
Once at the summet Link used the Eye of Truth to find the path across to the next large statue, in fact the statue itself.
The path was a difficult one with traps at every turn and choices to make that would make the trip across longer or shorter but they eventually made it,
Link placed the mini statue in and a door opened out for Link and Zelph.
They stepped through the door and stood on a platform that then lowered down to the next Great Fairy Fountain.
Zelph played her tune and the second Great Fairy shot up out of the water with a laugh that went straight through Link,
"I am the Great Fairy Din" She said, "Allow me to heal your wounds and bestow onto you a gift" Din showered Link and Zelph with healing energy, "I give you the power to melt ice if the thing you touch is a thing for which you have compassion for"
With that she screeched and laughed, shrank and disappeared back into the fountain,