Chapter 13: The Second Trial, Part II: A Temple of Fire and Ice, Part I
Link, Mario, and Rosalina had undergone quite the trek. They first travelled through the snowfield, stopping to visit Canuck T., as Link wished to thank him personally for his assistance. They ended up staying for quite some time, and although Canuck T. had no sake, he did offer Link some whiskey which he accepted happily. Link could not recall the name of it, but the word "owl" came to his mind upon recollection.
Canuck T. had also offered to cook them up some food, but Link insisted that he instead cook for everyone. They ended up eating some delicious spicy steak and rice. Rosalina found it too spicy, while Mario on the other hand couldn't even taste the spice. He challenged Link to make it hotter, and it wasn't until three additions of increased heat when Rosalina finally chimed in that it might be impossible for Mario to feel the burn from spice because of his Goddess Star ability. Besides that, Rosalina stayed silent for most of the time, while Link explained how they needed to climb the mountain. Mario handled the dishes, while Canuck T. told the three of them about past adventures he had up on the mountain, how he had met Dolly, and how strange explosions and tremors have been causing avalanches recently.
Rosalina asked about Dolly. He told her about his pet deer Dolly, who ran off after being spooked by the avalanche. Rosalina seemed intrigued when she heard the deer was pink with star patterns. They eventually parted ways, and agreed to bring Dolly back if they happened to find her.
/
The journey up the mountain was more exhausting and treacherous than it was eventful. Mario and Link were impressed that Rosalina had not even complained once, as they were suppressing the urge to themselves. Within a little alcove about sixty percent up the mountain, they decided to take a break. They were gathered around a fire, and Link was cooking up some really spicy steak and rice balls. He encouraged Rosalina to eat, as he could tell the temperatures were getting increasingly lower and it may indeed be necessary for her survival. Somewhat begrudgingly, she ate it. The wind was quite cold at this altitude, so she couldn't help but admit that it made her feel better, as spicy as it was. With full bellies and mouths of fire, they continued the perilous journey until they eventually arrived at the top of the mountain.
Here, the air was thin and the visibility was low. Some trees below appeared as silhouettes through the dense, snowy wind. Mario surveyed the area, despite his lack of visibility. Rosalina didn't seem to care one bit about the scenery, she was instead standing still with her legs together and arms wrapped around herself. Slightly shivering, she wasn't yet in any danger of freezing but she was quite cold. Link didn't seem to mind the temperature, instead moving forward towards a single stone pedestal with a tablet-shaped indentation.
"What is that?" Mario asked, with a curious tilt to his head as he examined the bright orange lights upon the pedestals surface.
"It's a special type of pedestal that interacts with the Sheikah slate." Link answered.
The two of them watched as Link placed the Shiekah Slate within the pedestal. The tablet screen turned on, with the words on the display reading:
"Authenticating..."
With an ominous hum, the pedestal shun from orange to blue. The summit proceeded to rumble, causing the three of them to stumble in place. They each managed to reclaim their balance with some effort, watching in awe as a large stone temple suddenly rose from the surface of the summit.
/
Peach, Luigi, and Daisy were gathered at a table within the food court of the Mushroom City Mall. Luigi was chowing down on a burger, and Daisy doing the same -although with slightly more finesse. Peach had a small salad that she had barely touched.
"See, *chomp, chomp* I told you that guy was a total weirdo." Daisy insulted, munching on the burger with closed eyes for a moment.
"He sure was." Luigi seconded. "He got so mad at me, even though I managed to catch that creepy doll he had."
There was a silence. Daisy set the remainder of her burger down to claim the napkin. She glanced over a Peach. "What's the matter, Peach? Not gonna eat?"
"Oh, umm..." Peach softly started, looking off to the distance with solemn eyes. "I am not very hungry, actually."
"*chomp* Look, you can't spend all day worrying about Mario, Peach." Daisy lectured through her food, small bread crumbs around her lips. She swallowed her mouthful before continuing. "He'll be just fine. You know he always pulls through."
"I just wish I knew what has happened to them." Peach protested, looking downward in sadness. "Also, I have been thinking about what Rosalina had said."
"What Rosalina said?" Luigi questioned, unsure what she meant. "What do you mean?"
"Right before they had disappeared... Do you remember?" Peach reminded, explaining to them what had happened.
{"There is something that I haven't told you guys yet." Rosalina confessed, her expression somber. "But now is a better time than any to mention it... I think."
"What is this you speak of?" Peach persisted, her interest piqued.
"Spill the beans, already!" Daisy encouraged, her interest highly piqued to a point of irritability.
"Well..."
Then, suddenly something very strange had happened, which caused Rosalina to stop short. Exclamation marks had appeared over the heads of everyone as pitch black darkness had formed beneath the feet of Link, Mario, and Rosalina. A blue swirling vortex then appeared within the darkness, and suddenly the three of them began to glimmer with mystic blue light. Everyone was watching the event unfold with dumbstruck awe.}
"Ohh, yeah..." Daisy sang, recalling the moment. "She vanished right before she had the chance to tell us."
"I have been thinking about it since." Peach admitted, her expression somber. "What did she mean to tell us?"
"Who knows?" Luigi interjected. He was apparently not very curious about it. "I'm sure that she'll tell us once they come back."
"I suppose." Peach agreed, tentatively. "But I still can not help but dwell on it."
"Come on, eat your salad." Daisy encouraged, nudging it closer to her. "Afterwards lets all go for a ride around town in the great weather! We've got the whole afternoon, after all!"
"Okay!" Luigi agreed, with a cheery fist.
"Hmhm, true." Peach giggled, feeling better. "Thank you both. I feel better already."
/
"A temple appeared." Mario noted, the last remnants of sparkling snow dust falling from the rooftops flat stone edge.
"This is cold and terrible." Rosalina bluntly complained, her voice calm.
"Hahaha!" Link guffawed, marching towards the temples entrance. "Where is your sense of adventure? We haven't even seen whats inside yet!"
Link reached for his sake and realized he had none within these trials. He sighed heavily. "Ahh, right... Pity."
"Your attitude changed quick!" Mario noted, following behind in the middle.
The three of them entered the temple and examined their surroundings with varying levels of awe. Light from the outside stretched onto the flat large sleek black tiles that made up the floor beneath them. The ceilings were endless, and the walls were made of the same stone with the same orange lighting as the pedestal that was used to summon the temple.
~ TRIAL 2: A TEMPLE OF FIRE AND ICE ~
From stone grates along the left and right sides of the temple, massive pillars of flame launched up, raining small balls of fire down onto the tile below. Currently, it was extremely hot within this temple, so hot that Rosalina and Link were losing their strength rapidly. They each had to remove some of the layers from the gear Canuck T. provided them. Link revealed a baby blue coloured potion and passed it to Rosalina, then revealed another for himself.
"Here, Rosalina." Link granted, Rosalina accepting the potion and uncorking it immediately. "It's a chilly potion. Luckily, I had some prepared from our last campfire just in case. It will keep you cool in this heat. It should last quite some time, but I only have one left."
Rosalina and Link drank the chilly potions and were now feeling fine despite the extremely hot temperature within the temple. Mario did not seem the least bit bothered by neither the hot temperature within nor the cold temperature outside. This, of course, was a direct consequence of his Goddess Star ability.
Link was scrolling among the runes located on his Shiekah Slate by swiping his finger along the screens display. He selected the Magnesis rune, which granted him the ability to manipulate metal objects.
He activated it, and proceeded to survey the area. Magnetic fields were visible to him.
"What are you doing?" Mario ventured to ask, watching Link as he stood in a curious stance.
"It's the Magnesis rune." Link explained, surveying the area. "This tablet allows me to manipulate objects made of metal... Aha! Gotcha!"
Link noticed that there was a metal chest hidden within a little alcove directly above the entrance. He used the Magnesis rune to latch onto it, two ropes of bright yellow energy leading from his tablet to the metal chest. Rosalina and Mario watched in awe as Link, like magic, brought the levitating metal chest from above down to his feet. He deactivated Magnesis, put away his Shiekah Slate, and opened the chest.
"Fancy." Mario reckoned, impressed.
From the chest Link removed a single edged sword known as an Eightfold Blade.
"This will suffice." Link thought to himself, now standing up straight with the sword sheathed on his back. "Okay, if intuition serves me, the first thing we should do is try and find a map."
"Maps are always such a pain..." Rosalina complained, looking downward with folded arms, slightly somber. She weakly raised a finger in declaration. "For now own, when I play video games, I swear to never bother to use a map when I'm in a dungeon!"
"Find a map. Got it!" Mario agreed, with enthusiasm.
Immediately after Mario had said that, a strange creature appeared from thin air with a magical poof. He had goggly cockeyed eyes with big blue lips, its straw-like hair blue as well. It wore a tattered and stained dirty jacket, as well as a purple limp witch hat and big shiny red boots. It also wore socks with black and white stripes that went all the way up to its knees.
Mario, Link, and Rosalina barely had the time to process what was happening before the strange, levitating creature up above had removed from within the old sack that it was carrying a mushroom with a blue cap and red spots.
"Huhuhu~" The creature giggled, gently tossing the mushroom up above Link.
Link watched in surprised awe as the sparkling mushroom glistened during its descent. It landed on his head.
"Huh?" Link barked. His eyes widened as he suddenly felt a painful sensation. The mushroom had already rooted itself onto his head. "Urk!"
"Huhuhu~" The creature giggled, disappearing into thin air with a magical poof.
"What?" Rosalina questioned, unsure of what just happened.
"Qu'est-ce qui vient de se passer?" Link asked in a French accent, equally confused.
"Huh? What did you just say?" Mario barked. "Speak English!"
Link opened his mouth, but no words came out. "Eh? Je ne peux pas! Je ne parle peux pas anglais!"
"What is going on with you?" Mario barked, both irritated and deeply confused.
"He is saying that he can't speak English." Rosalina translated.
"Oui!" Link confirmed, relieved that he could be understood.
"Wait, you can understand him?" Mario barked, impressed as much as he was stunned.
"I guess." Rosalina confirmed, not understanding the significance.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Mario grinned. "So I guess you can still understand English, you just can't speak it, right?"
"Oui." Link confirmed, nodding.
"That means yes." Rosalina translated, hand on her hip with a raised finger of pride.
"I figured that much from the nod." Mario defended, non-combatively.
Link tried to remove the mushroom from his brain, but even the slightest tug brought upon immense pain. "Aie, aie... Je ne peux pas l'enlever. Cela doit etre enracine dans mon cerveau."
"He's saying he thinks that the mushroom is attached to his brain." Rosalina translated.
"So you're stuck talking like that?" Mario barked, irritated.
"Je ne sais pas!" Link shrugged, obviously not thrilled about the situation either.
"Cut it off with that sword or something." Mario suggested, pointing to the blade on his back. Flames erupted from the pillars in the background.
"Non, ca ne marchera pas. Les racines sont susceptibles dans mon cerveau. Il va juste repousser." Link declined. "Je peux cuisiner quelque chose qui devrait etre capable de le réparer, avec les bons ingredients."
"Translation please?" Mario beckoned to Rosalina, utterly lost.
"Umm... he says if he tries to cut it off it will probably just grow back since its rooted in his brain." Rosalina explained, not making eye contact with folded arms. "He should be able to cook up something that can cure it if he can find the proper ingredients."
"Alright." Mario acknowledged, turning away from them and instead facing towards the heart of the temple. "Well, at least we can still communicate. Thankfully you understand language. Ha! Bet that dumb goggly-eyed weirdo didn't see that coming!"
As if right on cue, the strange creature reappeared with a magical poof. It reached in its bag from another mushroom. This time it was yellow with red spots.
"Huhuhu~" The creature giggled, releasing it from its hand.
"Rosalina!" Mario warned, his eyes wide and right arm stretched out before him.
But Rosalina was too slow to react, and the mushroom proceeded to fall with a glistening sparkle onto her head. She winced in pain with a soft yelp as the mushroom rooted itself into her head.
"Huhuhu~" The creature giggled, disappearing into thin air with a magical poof.
"Oh, no!" Mario cried, slumping in despair. He turned to Rosalina, morose. "Let me guess... you can't speak English?"
"N-No, señor..." Rosalina shyly informed in a Spanish accent, looking downward with a soft blush.
"Talk about troublesome... How are we supposed to communicate now?" Mario sighed, hopeless.
"Je pourrais dessiner des images?" Link suggested, pointing at his Shiekah Slate.
"El sugiere que podamos comunicarnos con usted usando imágenes." Rosalina translated.
"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND EITHER OF YOU!" Mario scolded in a comedic fashion, his teeth sharp.
"Geez, how annoying." Mario sighed, marching deeper into the main level of the temple. "As soon as I catch that little goggly-eyed runt, I'm gonna roast him!"
Then, there was a sudden loud explosion far north in the temple. Within this room on the second level, the wall had been blasted out of position, red hot stones flying down into the lower main level with harsh impact. From within the smoke using its long, mechanical white legs with white feet crawled in a strange mechanical creature. Technical sounds accompanied its movement, and it appeared to be made of ancient materials. It was a Guardian.
The Guardian surveyed the area with a single blue eye. Mario looked at the creature in stunned awe, his mouth hung open. In the reflection of Mario's eyes, it could be seen that the Guardians single eye had turned a deep red and was marching towards him.