"Is this the place?" Ghirahim asked.
"I believe so." Fi replied.
Groose and his gang stood at the end of a long hallway. An obvious product of labor from a bygone era, the group had watched as the bluish gem-lined cavern walls slowly began to turn into marvelous stone work. The further they progressed down the hallway, the dimmer the light of the crystals grew, replaced by torches furnished upon the solid stone walls.
They had stopped at the end of the passage. There were three rooms, one to the right, one to the left, and one in the center. The four conscious individuals stood peering into the left room. It was a large circular chamber, with intricate designs painted around the ground. Fi slowly floated over to the center of the room, her presence illuminating the room with a slight blue glow.
"Master Groose, I believe that this room once housed a fairy fountain. If my knowledge of this type of phenomena is correct, a lack of usage would've left the fairies to become dormant. If we can reawaken them, I believe it would be possible to save both Link and yourself."
"What are you talking about, Fi?" Groose said cockily. "I'm fine, really I am. You're underestima-"
Groose coughed into his arm. Taking it back, he saw blood.
"...like I was saying, you're underestimating me. But we need to get the fairy fountain for Link. Not me though, I'm fine, just for Link."
"Hold it right there!"
The hushed voices of Fi and Groose were cut through like a knife as a shrill voice sliced the conversation unexpectedly. Before anything could be done, a small, rodent-like creature sprinted out from the shadows and leapt up to a lever next to the doorway into the fairy fountain. Its tiny paws fumbled to reach the lever, but eventually it managed to grasp the handle and pull it down with its weight. Groose stumbled backwards as mechanical gears that were likely thousands of years old began to spin out of control.
A large stone door slammed down between Fi and Groose. Groose was sent flying backwards from the impact as Ghirahim watched on, Link hoisted upon his shoulder.
"Ha! Now I've separated you from your friend, Groose! That's right, it was I, the eighth and final demon chief, who would finally stop you in your tracks."
Groose, Ghirahim, and Cheeb all stared at the final Demon Chief. The creature was short and hairy, seemingly covered in soot from its grey appearance. He stood upon his hind legs, his hands placed on his hips in a stance of utter triumph. His snout came to a fine point and was dotted with whiskers. All in all, he looked like nothing more than the average garden-variety rodent that Groose was accustomed to tossing out of his room back at the Skyloft Knight Academy.
"Now that you've lost contact with your friend, I'll be able to pick you off one by one until none of you are left, at which point I will have won the game! You might as well give up now, Groose and various colorful companions! It's over!"
Groose looked rather quizzically at the rodent before opening his mouth.
"What?"
"You heard me! Give up! Now!"
Groose turned to Ghirahim and gave a pose, as if to say "Is this guy serious?". Ghirahim shrugged, which accidentally caused Link to stir in his unconsciousness and moan in pain. Ghirahim winced.
Groose simply walked over to the rodent and looked down at it. He took a few steps past it and pulled up the lever with ease. The stone door rose again into the ceiling, revealing the fairy fountain.
"Master Groose, while you were away I managed to decipher the ancient inscriptions on the ground. If my translations are correct, I should be able to unlock the secrets of the fairy fountain by performing a routine dance of the goddesses."
"Alright, cool. Do that. Let's do that then. Do that." Groose mumbled, his mind growing a bit hazy from his injuries. "Let's do that then. Do that."
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" the rat called up to Groose.
Groose looked back down at the rat, then back up to Fi. Fi began twirling around and doing her dance as she skated around the room.
"Are you… are you all ignoring me?"
The rodent received no response.
"You're ignoring me! I'm supposed to be the final obstacle! The greatest threat you've yet to overcome! Fear me! Hate me! Do something!"
As Fi finished her dance, Groose, Ghirahim, and Cheeb watched as the room began to radiate a light green light. The ground began to sink down, and the floor started to pool with a sparkling water. What seemed to be thousands of fairies suddenly leapt out of the pool at once, soaring around the room. They settled in the air, chirping and laughing as fairies normally do.
Cheeb, excited at the new source of amazement and wonder, was the first to waddle into the pool. He laughed and frolicked about as the fairies flew around him.
Groose stumbled into the room, and fell over before he could make it to the pool. He crawled to the edge of the basin and simply let his head fall into the restoring water, which was cool to the touch. Dragging the rest of his body into the pool, he let the fairies do their work.
Ghirahim stepped into the room and briskly tossed Link's body into the center of the fairy fountain. He saw Link begin to bob up and down in the fountain. Link's body straightened itself out, his many broken bones mended. His mind slowly began to come to. At last, Link shot his head out of the water, gasping for breath. He rolled over to his back and spat out some water as he coughed. Cheeb, excited to have his friend back, paddled over to Link and began to splash him. Link splashed him back, and two playfully sent wave after wave of the fountain's water crashing into each other.
"You've got to be kidding me! You were supposed to fall here, at my own hands! Not have a feel-good moment! This is bullshit! Stop enjoying yourselves! Loathe me!"
Groose rose from the pool, taking a step outside of the fountain. The water that drenched his clothes pooled around his feet. He sternly walked over to the rat, grabbing him by his tail, and hoisting him up to his face. The rodent dangled carelessly in the air. Groose saw him eye to eye for the first time.
"I am a demon chief for Demise's sake!" his shrill voice cried, "You will unhand me this instant, and we shall battle to the death! I will end you!"
Groose dropped the rat on his head. The dazed rat looked up to see a large boot looming overhead.
"I'd come up with a pun to make this death a bit more entertaining for you..." Groose began. He slammed his foot down, crushing the rodent underneath. "...but I'm afraid it would be too cheesy."
"Master Groose, I believe the animal you are currently thinking of is known as a mouse, not a rat. Mice are well known to eat cheese, which is what I assume your pun was based off of. The specified demon chief you just murdered was in closer resemblance to a rat, not a mouse."
"Well I'm not bringing the little shit back to life so I can fix my pun. You'll have to deal with it."
Cheeb had wandered out of the pool and over to Groose and Fi, who was wiping dead rodent off of his boot. Link finished cleansing himself in the pool, and looked over to Ghirahim. He was pretending not to pay attention, leaning up against a wall. Link whistled, and Ghirahim looked over to him and smirked. He reached out a hand to Link, who took it. Ghirahim helped pull him out of the pool.
"So… we're even?" Ghirahim asked Link.
Link smiled. "Yeah… even."
"Hey, you know, you should get dumped in pools more often. Your wet shirt sticks to your chiseled form."
"Ghirahim, we just had a touching moment, don't be weird."
"I mean, if you wanted a different sort of touching moment then I'd be ha-"
"Stop."
Ghirahim burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he played up his own personality.
Groose approached the two men, with Cheeb and Fi following behind him. "Are we ready to get the heck out of here?" he asked, holding up the eighth and final piece of the Triforce of Wisdom.
Link nodded, and the group began to walk out of the room housing the fairy fountain.
"Hey, Fi, I've got a question."
"Yes, Master Groose?"
"Is this place a dungeon?"
Fi stopped and thought for a moment. "I believe so, Master. The presence of the fairy fountain, the torches lining the walls, and the elaborate architecture of the stone structure lead me to believe this may have been some ancient edifice."
Groose immediately threw up his hands. "Wait wait wait wait wait. We aren't leaving until we get a dungeon item. I refuse to leave this dungeon without an item."
"Master, the exit to this dungeon is through the leftward doorway. We could leave right now, why is the dungeon item of any concern to you?"
"Fi, I've got two words for you: free stuff."
"Master Groose, this was not an issue in any dungeons we've come across together in the past."
"I've changed." Groose said emphatically. He spun around and headed back towards the center room. The doorway in the center of the hallway's end was larger than the other two to its sides. It had a large stone arch that rose above the doorway, giving an undoubted presence of importance.
"Groose," Link called, "come on. Let's just go."
"Free stuff." Groose ignorantly called out, jogging over to the large doorway and peering through it to the center room. He ran inside, leaving Link, Ghirahim, Fi, and Cheeb behind.
"Sometimes I wonder why Groose even bothers asking Fi things if he just runs ahead and does it anyway…" Ghirahim chimed in.
Cheeb piped up, "I don't know, either. What about you, Link? What do you think?"
He thought for a moment. Then, Link smirked and responded, "He does it for Fi."