Welcome back good readers! Here we have the journey through the Shadow Temple. Expect some more frightening sections, but nothing you can't handle. Now then, prepare for a good time!

Chapter 11

Dead in Darkness

Okay, I'll admit it, I was slightly creped out by the fact that this temple was in a graveyard, and that it would be practically flooded with dead bodies, but I kept cool as we walked into the Shadow Temple. It was kind of chilly down there, but I faced worse. In the first area of the Temple, Link acquired these boots that let you walk across air for a short period of time, and once that was done, we opened the gate that led further into the temple. It was rather large, so I suggested that we split up. If we needed any help with anything, playing the Song of Storms was the signal. We were pretty far underground, what other explanation would there be if some weird storm suddenly brewed up in here?

As I made my way through the temple, the hundreds of corpses littering the floor began to give me the creeps. Link seemed to be handling okay, but with that immense courage of his, I really could not be sure. There were large numerous of Stalfos and the occasional Redead or Gibdo, but nothing either of us could not handle. I eventually found a room where this large boat sat docked at the pier. The figurehead was a cloaked man holding two bells, his hood stained with blood. Looking through the monocle, I noticed several spirits circling the boat, the most substantial of these spirits were Shadow and Rouge.

I stared at the GUN agents questioningly. Neither of them noticed me yet, and were chatting with each other about the dead bodies scattered around the Temple. It clearly freaked Rouge out a little, especially since she is currently little more than a spirit, but Shadow was as calm and collected as ever. As they continued their conversation, I proceeded to examine the boat a little more. This must be the ship that carries dead souls to the afterlife. The wood looked as if it had seen a lot of usage, and there were chips in various places. I wondered how much more it could handle.

Shadow and Rouge were getting off the boat when they noticed me. The latter walked over to where I was standing, and looked me straight in the eye.

"That was really nice of you, leaving your closest friends to fend for themselves against a hoard of Egg Pawns." she stated. I was in no mood to talk about that incident when I was pulled into Hyrule, so I continued inspecting this vessel. Shadow hovered over to me, his face as unreadable as blank paper. I attempted to grab his hand, but mine went right through him. "Any particular reason why you guys are here as mere spirits?" I asked them. Again, they had to use those Hyrulean to English dictionaries to figure out what I said. Before they could answer, Link arrived in the room, having found his way to here with little problem. It was nice to know that I can press onward now. I told the agents to just leave the Temple and let Link and I do our jobs. The Hylian started the boat, and we were on our way to the deepest part of the Temple. As much as I enjoy adventure, I felt uneasy about this boat ride. Sure enough, when the boat reached the end of the river, it began to sink, but the two of us quickly jumped off the thing. After further trials, we acquired the key to the deepest part of the temple, where I was certain Bongo Bongo would be waiting.

In the deepest room of the temple, there nothing aside from a small hole in the middle of the floor. We jumped through it, and landed seamlessly on what looked like a giant bongo drum. Soon a pair of grey, disembodied hands began beating on it, and looking at the holders, we saw some dark beast that was hanging from the ceiling, and had only a large red eye where its head should have been. The Phantasmal Shadow Beast Bongo Bongo had shown itself.

It quickly vanished from sight, leaving only its hands visible. I kept the lens in position in order to see the monster Link and I were battling. The beast's humming and consistent beating of the drum made things extremely difficult, but it was nothing that we could not handle. Link shot the hands with arrows from his bow, and as the monster was ready to charge, I launched a homing attack at the eye, and it went down for some real punishment. Link jump attacked it with the Master Sword, and with some well timed ax kicks from me, it soon took a huge beating. We continued this process, but we were able to land less and less hit's the further along we went. Its humming was really starting to get on my nerves. That sound had to be the most annoying sound in existence. It definitely outclassed the way it is so painfully obvious that Ke$ha's voice is electronically altered in each of her songs! (A/N: I mean no offense to any Ke$ha fans out there)

It took a long time, but we finally brought it down. As the drum went stable, the gateway to the Chamber of the Sages opened, and waiting for us there was a Sheikah woman, definitely Impa.

"You have done well, Link." she said to the Hero of Time. "Thanks to you and Sonic, I was able to awaken as the Sage of Shadows."

"Impa, before you say anything else, I have to ask." Link began. "Where is the princess? The last time I saw her, she was fleeing the castle with you."

Impa looked away, clearly depressed about something. "I don't know." she finally answered. "I lost her shortly after we escaped. She is alive, don't you worry. The job of protecting Princess Zelda now rests on your shoulders. Allow me to give you my power to fulfill this duty." She presented Link with the Shadow Medallion, officially declaring her allegiance with the hero.

"And Sonic…" she directed her attention to me, and brought out the purple Chaos Emerald. "…make sure this does not fall into the wrong hands." She gave the Emerald to me, and I stored it in my quills.

"The final sage, the Sage of Spirit, can be found in Gerudo Valley, far to the east of Hyrule." "Where Ganondorf hails from." the Hylian added on to Impa's statement.

"Indeed so. Head there as soon as possible, and awaken the final sage. You must make haste. And Link, please protect the princess." With that, she sent us on our way.

Five down, one to go. How will Link and Sonic fair in the harsh desert? Find out in the next chapter whenever it may be posted. Now, submit your reviews for the chapter, or Girahim will get you. (Girahim is the antagonist of the upcoming Skyward Sword, in case you don't remember. The guy who I think every major villain of the Zelda series is reincarnated from.)