Chapter Seven
Cold Fish
Link and Zelph were in a hot springs pool on the Death Mountain trail when Borak found them. Both looked exhausted,
"I can't feel my legs anymore" Link moaned
"Brother, did you meet Din?" Borak asked
"We met her but now we have to get back to New Zealand so we can see what's going on up at Zoras' Domain but that's 27 hours away unless you can think of a quicker route" Link said
"Oh my God!" Borak exclaimed with a giggle
"What?" Zelph asked
"If you can call Epona to you from anywhere in the world you and ride her anywhere in the world, she travels through mirrors linking each area of Hyrule" Borak said
Link and Zelph got out of the hot spring and smiled at Borak,
"We couldn't do that before because?" Link said in question
"You never asked" Borak replied
"No, we didn't" Link said feeling stupid, "Where's the best place to pick her up?"
"I'd say just outside Kakoriko Village" Borak replied
Link and Zelph made sure to pack their white tunics into their satchels before leaving Kakoriko Village and once over the small bridge they called Epona to them, she appeared through a mirror within less than a minute and they heard her before they saw her.
Link smiled and cuddled her before mounting her and helping Zelph up too, through the mirror they went, allowing Epona to lead the way, she seemed to just sense where they needed to be,
Through the first of a few mirrors they found themselves in Pompii, they'd always wanted to visit it but they had to save Aqua and the other Zoras, still, to even pass through that town was immense for Link and Zelph.
"The story of this place has always facinated me" Link told Zelph as they past the casts of victims
"Are they real?" Zelph asked with a shiver.
A guide came up to them,
"No, the real...casts are elsewhere, we used them to model these, so the poses are real, we use 3D printing" Zelph and Link were told, "You have a beautiful horse"
"Thank you, her name is Epona" Link said,
"Would you like a guided tour?" The guide asked
"We'd love one but we're a bit tight on time" Link said full of regret,
"Come back when you're free, I'll take you round myself" The guide said, then shaking his hand she added, "I'm Fi"
Link and Zelph were stunned,
"You're not a Hylian?" Zelph said in question
"No, I'm from the clouds, it was Skyloft, then Skyloft crashed when the Goddess' power no longer kept us elevated, some chose to stay on The Surface, my family found a way to go back, only the Oocoo temple remains now, we are quite forgotten"
"Fi, I can assure you most definitely that we will be back here to see you" Link told her and with that they rode on,
"Epona, did you know she was here?" Zelph asked the horse
"You'd get a shock if she answered you" Link replied
Link and Zelph travelled onward through two mirrors, being afforded glimpses of old Hyrule as they went. Through parts of Rome, Japan, America and England, stopping off for hay and apples and grain for the horse, before finally coming to a stop by Lake Hylia.
The entire lake was frozen over, and coloured frogs were using magic to try and defrost the Zora' but to no avail.
Epona would travel no further, Link and Zelph would have to dismount,
"You're new power" Zelph said
"Will only work on Aqua, we need to get up to Zora' Domain" Link replied,
Link and Zelph ventured across to a potion shop, the door was frozen shut so they had to use boxes to climb onto the roof of the first section, then the ladder to the window atop of the second section, where they then climbed through.
Once inside Link went into the stock room to change while Zelph used this space, then once both were in white tunics Link used his lit torch to melt the ice blocking the door out. They had to be quick as the second the ice melted it started to return, worse than before.
Link and Zelph got out of the potion shop with the door wedged open.
The frogs came up to Link and Zelph and Link dropped his lit torch,
The frogs jumped around it and started croaking the theme for The Lost Woods,
Link smiled and the frogs created a heart pendant for Link and Zelph each.
They put these on and felt a renewed strength, in fact they were glowing,
"You're welcome" Link smiled
Link took Epona into the potion shop, made a nice comfy spot for her, got the fire going and made sure she had pleanty of hay and drinking water and grain and apples,
"Whatever this is, is only affecting the Zoras" Zelph said with thought
"I know what's missing" Link said suddenly and with that he left the potion shop,
Zelph rushed out after him.
Link didn't say a word all the way along the trail leading to Zora' Domain, or through the gates, along the path or on the journey to the palace atop of Zora' Domain. It wasn't until they were stood in the throne room in front of the frozen Zora king that he spoke again,
"His crown is missing, without the crown the Zora' are just...cold fish!" Link told her, "Without it they can't offer assistance or help"
"How did you figure that out?" Zelph asked
"After I replaced the Master Sword the 4th piece was transferred into your father' crown, the ruler of each civilisation has the same crown, they're all linked, with one of the crowns gone the Godnesses would have drained the power and frozen the Zoras, also freezing whatever or whoever took it" Link told her,
Link and Zelph ventured up to the King and realised there was a gap behind him and a tunnel leading up at a slant,
"OOT" Zelph said, "This is where Juba, Juba lives but we didn't come back this way last time"
"No, we didn't"
With great caution Link and Zelph squeezed past the Zora king and followed the enclosed path out to a shallow pool, in the centre of which was a massive tower shaped like a sword and made entirely of ice,
On the blade was the Sheika Symbol,
"Well we know what caused the temperature drop" Link said, "How did they do this...and where is Lord Juba, Juba?"
"Maybe the guards got him out" Zelph suggested
"Maybe" Link said sounding unconvinced and with that the two of them advanced on the sword of ice.
Guarding the door was a Freezard,
Link used a fire arrow on him to melt the top half and then had at it with the sword until he broke away,
Link then looked up to see Ice Ptyrodactils circling them,
They came at Link and Zelph when they saw them but as it was only the claws or dribble that could freeze them Link was able to slash away with the sword while Zelph would shoot the remaining one with light arrows,
They changed Ptyrodactils as and when they needed too until both blew up into purple smoke and a blue flame shot up from the ground to melt the doors into the sword of ice.
"Well that's new" Zelph remarked
Link and Zelph entered the sword of ice.
Link and Zelph were transfixed by the beauty within the sword of ice but also a little nervous, before them was a spiral staircase of ice, going all the way up, one unlocked door on the left and one locked door on the right, more doors at odd heights all along the stairs.
Link and Zelph turned their hands upside down to open the door on the left, red handprints appeared and the door rose up so they could get access to a small room.
In this room they could see nothing, but instead could hear the slither of snakes on the ice floor. Both Link and Zelph were frozen for a time until the door shut on them, blowing out all the torches and making the snakes visible.
Through trial and error Link and Zelph found the only point of the snake that could be damaged as they hopped about in a bid to avoid them.
Once all the snakes were dealt with the room was again lit up by torches and a key appeared suspended in the air. This concerned Link so he used the Eye of Truth and sure enough, right there before him was a ghost unaffected by light,
Link and Zelph were sent flying in either direction, Link hit the door they'd walked through and Zelph hit a mechanism that caused one wall to start moving inwards.
Link used his whistle to play the tune of cyclones to blow out the torches so he could deal with the ghost while Zelph felt around for what she thought was the same mechanism she had slammed into. Now the whole room started turning as the torches lit up the room again and the ghost screamed.
When the room went dark again upon Link playing the tuned of cyclones Zelph pulled at another mechanism, this made the ceiling go down a way. In the end it finished off the ghost for them and Link was able to slide and pull back the mechanism to stop the ceiling crushing them too.
Zelph then stopped the room turning and Link stopped the wall closing in with just four foot between their backs and the door out.
Link grabbed the key and then used fire arrows to melt the door and get out of the room, back into the main entrance,
"Anyone would think they wanted to kill us" Link said sarcastically,
Zelph shrugged as she caught her breath,
They walked across the now misshapened sword of ice to the locked door and used the key and their handprints to get inside the next room,
Here Link and Zelph had a puzzle to piece together on a time limit while being distracted by normal bats and the same snakes from the last room.
Link used his ears when dealing with the snakes but left the bats to it, whacking them away where need be.
With the puzzle solved they realised they had to climb on top of it to figure out what to do next.
The puzzle was a map, showing them which of the bats had the key to the next room. It had one distinct marking on it. Zelph used her arrows and Link used his eyes, targetting the bat they needed, once he'd found it.
The key dropped into Link' hand and the walls and ceiling moved until there was a set of stairs before them made of ice and a door atop of them.
With some effort and bruises gained Link and Zelph got up to and through the door to the next room.
Here they were shot at by three Sheika minions,
Once Link and Zelph had dealt with these the Moblins arrived from nowhere and at all angles and while this was going on the room was turning around and up so with every thrashing of the enemy the ceiling was getting closer to them.
Link used stasis to stop the floor rising and then the spin attack to finish off the enemies.
A hole in the ceiling opened out for them and Link and Zelph climbed through it.
They couldn't believe it when they found themselves back at the misshapen main entrance, and a laugh rang out.
Now angry Link and Zelph ran up the entire staircase after the laugh and blasted through five fake doors to get into the room second to top of this sword of ice,
Here they found a mirror maze with the Bathilda taunting them at every turn.
Once they got to the middle they were both plucked up by two large hands, into the room atop of the sword of ice.
The floor closed over and the hands dropped Link and Zelph,
They screamed as they landed and the owner of the hands laughed.
A huge yeti with red eye was stuck to the ceiling, surrounded by boulders of ice, accept in one of those boulders was a frozen Aqua.
The Yeti shook his hands to make a boulder fall and Link used stasis to stop it before it could land on the floor.
Link then took three swings to send the boulder up to hit the Yeti,
As the Yeti came down Zelph used the light arrows to break away some of the boulder holding Aqua, while Link slashed the first piece of the triforce symbol into the Yeti.
The Yeti jumped up and Link stepped back and grabbed Zelph out of the way as spears shot out of the walls either side.
Once again the Yeti shook his hands to make a boulder fall and Link used stasis to stop it before it could land on the floor.
Link then took three swings to send the boulder up and hit the Yeti,
Zelph shot at the boulder holding Aqua,
This time the spears came from behind and Link and Zelph got out of harms way.
The Yeti screeched and let them have at it his ice breath, freezeing both Link and Zelph for a time,
Zelph used her light arrows to shoot him down after thawing out this time and then shot at the boulder housing Aqua as Link finished off the Yeti.
The Yeti thrashed around and blew up into purple smoke,
Link and Zelph carried the frozen Aqua outside, onto a balcony atop of the sword of ice, where The Bathilder was waiting for them,
"You are starting to annoy me" Bathilda spat,
"No I'm not" Link replied,
Link and Zelph pushed the frozen Aqua off the wall, into the deep end of the unfrozen lake below,
Bathilda set off a bomb to make the tower like structure shapped like a sword come down.
Link grabbed the Deku leaf and Zelph and started to glide down.
Bathilda screamed in irritation and threw a disk at him, tearing the leaf and sending Link and Zelph into the ice water below.
Link and Zelph swam to a thick layer of ice as the Bathilda teleported away, the tunic didn't work when wet so they were loosing body heat fast.
Link used stasis and for the first time magnisis to raise the frozen Aqua out of the water,
Link and Zelph passed out as Link did the spell Din gave him to unfreeze Aqua.
"Link? Zelda?" He said in question and concern
Link and Zelph woke up on the hospital wing in Old Hyrule Castle,
Aqua smiled and Aeolius hopped off his bed and flapped his wings as they saw this,
"You're OK!" Aeolius exclaimed,
"Uh huh" Link said with no enthusiasm at all,
The King came over to them,
"Where is the crown? You got the crown back right?" He said
"What? No, we thought you had it!" Link cried, sitting up
"Why would we have it with a mole in the castle?" The King replied, then he sighed, "Oh dear"
"The Sheika didn't have it though" Zelph said,
"Well if you don't have it, the King doesn't have it and they don't have it who does?"
"You know there was someone missing" Link said, "Lord Juba, Juba"
"He's the same species as the giant fish just off Outset Island isn't he?" Aeolius said
"Why should that make a difference?" Zelph asked
"Who is to say he didn't take refuge with him?" Aqua suggested
"How would he get there though?" Link asked
"The Rito are the Zora' descendants too, Lord Juba, Juba lives with us Zora, with a Rito in Old Hyrule he'd have been able to call and reach the ears of other Rito, if we find him then maybe we'll find my father' crown" Aqua said
Once Link and Zelph had healed their wounds they went off with Aqua and Aeolius in search of an owl statue to use as a port to Rooster Island.
The bird wrapped its wings around all four of them and took off with them.
A few seconds later and a dazed Link, Zelph, Aqua and composed Aeolius were stood on the shore of Rooster Island.
"How are we getting to Outset Island?" Aqua asked
"We're not going by cyclone" Link said with a point
"I can carry you all, I couldn't get you here but I can get you there, hop on" Aeolius said.
Link, Zelph and a nervous Aqua climbed onto Aeolius' back and Aeolius flew with them out to the cave at Outset Island,
Here Aqua had to play the theme used in TP by the Zora Queen to open the entrance so they could fly in.
The entrance was sealed behind them and all four stared up at two huge fish,
"Lord Juba, Juba" Aqua began,
"Yes" The both answered
"We are looking for my father' crown, can you see where it might be?"
"It is within you" They both said,
"Huh?!" Link, Zelph, Aqua and Aeolius exclaimed,
"The Zoras are your heart so there for the crown melted as you froze and came to you to act as a sheild, it had the same affect as if the King of Hyrule had taken it on sensing your being in danger, hold out your hands, your people are safe now" They both said
Aqua did just this and the crown emerged from a glowing blue light.
Aqua, Link and Zelph left Aeolius and returned to Zora' Domain, where Aqua placed the crown on the frozen King' head, melting the ice and the snow and bringing all the Zora's back,
He turned and smiled at Link and Zelph then shared a hug with both,
"What's going on?" The Zora King asked, "Ah Link, Zelda, you're a little early for the diving competition but..."
"Father, they are not here for that...the Sheika, they froze me and trapped me within a tower made of ice, shaped like a sword, Lord Juba, Juba vactated and we thought he had your crown, turns out I had it, when it realised I was in was in danger it came to me to protect me and all of you" Aqua told him,
"This is proof that the time has come for me to retire and stand down from duties, you are now King of the Zora's of Old Hyrule and of the Descendants of Hi-Range" The Zora King said,
Aqua bowed,
"What do I have to do?" Aqua asked
"Be nice to people, organise events, keep the secrets of your people as and when they come to you with them, I store those in glowing orbs found at the bottom of a pool within the Great Deku Tree, I then return them to be guarded by Faron, the dragon. I call them pearls of wisdom. Attend meetings with the King of Hyrule. Step in if the descendants get into bother while in the learning stages of swimming and diving but you mustn't let them see you...ever" The Zora King said
As Aqua sat on the floor to listen to the The Zora King Link and Zelph quietly left them to it and headed back to Kokiri Village.