Chapter 16-
"Hurry you idiots! We don't have much time!"
Within the tower of Hera, Shadow Link was furiously yelling at the Wizzrobes, who were busily at work chanting their spells over a dark cauldron. They were draining power from the various Ocarinas, Rods, Hourglasses, and Harps that the monsters had collected from over the great sea.. That potent magical power was being channeled into the large cauldron in front of them, from which would emerge the most powerful monster they had ever created.
"The process is nearly completed, my lord." One of the Wizzrobes hissed. "When it is finished, our new creation will be truly all-powerful!"
"But mindless!" Another one added. "It will have to be guided around by the hand, so to speak."
"That will not be a problem." Shadow Link replied with a dark grin. "I can order him around, so long as he has the power to bring destruction on all of Hyrule!"
"But why create this abomination, my lord?" The first Wizzrobe asked. "Why waste the most powerful enchanted artifacts in the world on creating an unstoppable mindless horror?"
"He will serve as a threat." Shadow Link replied. "One that will force The King to surrender both the kingdom and the Triforce to me!"
"Of course! Not even the hero stop an invincible foe!" The second Wizzrobe replied. "The king will have to give in!"
"Ganon will be very pleased, when I deliver the Hyrule to him on a silver platter." The Shadow commented darkly. "But I'll need to show the people just what they're up against… give them a taste of my power."
Shadow Link walked over to a large map of the Kingdom, and put his finger down on one of the towns. "And my first target shall be the village of Kakariko!"
As the vile shadow's laughter echoed through the tower, a gurgling groan emerged from the cauldron, indicating that something evil was stirring to life…
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"How much farther do we have to go?" Ralph whined.
"We'll be there soon enough, you overgrown baby!" Din snapped angrily. "Just shut up and keep walking!"
Nayru scowled at her fellow Oracle "Don't talk to him like that, you little whor-"
"That's enough, you three!" Link snapped, at the end of his rope. "We'll have enough trouble with the monsters, we don't need to be fighting amongst ourselves!"
The Four travelers were approaching the cave that leads to the desert, on their way to Papara palace. Link had figured that was where Shadow Link would strike next, trying to claim the four masks of transformation that were kept there.
"Link, are you certain he hasn't already grabbed the masks?" Ralf asked. "How can you be sure?"
"There hasn't been any reports of monster activity near the palace." The Hero replied. "I'd take a guess he hasn't sent any forces up there to collect the masks yet."
"But he will be after them… you can be sure of that." Din said warily. "But why would he take the masks? Those monsters can't use their transformation powers"
"They still have potent magic that can be siphoned off, and used in spells." Nayru replied. "My guess is he's taking all of these artifacts to the Wizzrobes to use in their rituals."
"He must be planning something big." Link added ominously. "We need to get to those masks."
As they entered the tunnel, Din activated her fire, providing light in place of a torch. As she led the way through the tunnel, the other three followed closely behind her. As they quietly moved though the dimly lit caverns, Ralph decided, as usual, to say something entirely stupid.
"Say, Link? I heard you got stranded on some island in the great Hylian Ocean after you left Laybyrnia." Ralph looked ahead through the darkness. "That true?"
"Ralph, why in the name of Din would you bring that up at a time like this?!?" Din asked in disbelief.
"No, it's alright, I don't mint talking about it." The Hero sighed. "Yes, the ship I was traveling on was caught in a storm, and I washed up on an island named Kolnohoit."
"That must've been horrible!" Nayru replied. "were there people on the island?"
"Yes, but they were all dreams… illusions of the wind fish's mind." The light of Din's flames flickered off of Link's sad face. "Like the whole island, a creation of the Wind Fish, the great spirit of the Northern Oceans."
"Oh yeah! I heard he was trapped in his own dreams by monsters!" Nayru replied.
"Yes… Dethl, the demon of Nightmares, trapped him in a nightmare, then created a horde of monsters to keep the wind fish trapped. I got caught up in that dream… pulled in by the Wind Fish, who wanted me to rescue him."
"So nothing on the island was real?" Ralph commented. "Wow, that must have been freaky. How did you get out of there?"
"I had to do the usual dungeon trolling, slaying each of the boss nightmares as I went." The Hero sighed. "Some of the monsters and talking Animals I encountered there were really bizarre."
"Hey, there were talking animals in Labyrina!" Nayru protested.
"Yeah… the ones I saw there, were probably a mental echo of the ones who loved listening to your singing." Link laughed. "They even had a singing girl they loved listening to…" Link suddenly trailed off, and looked away. They could hear the pain in his voice as he had trailed off.
They all walked through the dimly lit cave in silence, until Din finally spoke up. "Link… this girl you mentioned… was she important to you?"
"Marin was one of the sweetest girls I ever met. Her voice- her laughter… it haunts my every waking moment." Link's voice started to crack as he spoke. "All she ever wanted was to fly away from that island… to see the world… to sing for other people in other places."
As the Hero fell to his knees, Din came up and put her arms around him. Looking down, Ralf blurted out. "But she was only a dream, Link. An illusion."
"I know that… but it didn't make her any less real to me. And to see her wiped from existence… to know that by waking the Wind Fish… by doing the right thing… I helped end her life, dream on not…" He squeezed his eyes shut, and fell into his silent sobbing.
"Link, I'm so sorry." Nayru replied, looking down at him through the darkness. "I had no idea…"
"C'mon, you guys, let's get out of this dark cave." Ralf told them. Nayru and Din helped Link back to his feet, and then sent him ahead with Ralf, who had now lit his lamp.
As the two girls hung back, Nayru told Din. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know what Link was going through." The Oracle of Ages shook her head. "I was such an idiot, you two should be free to make your own decisions, despite what I or anyone else thinks."
"I do agree with you on that issue, Nayru... but Link and I love each other." Din looked over at her blue-haired friend. "We're going to stay together... I'm sure of it!"
"But... doesn't the spectre of Marin hang over your relationship?"
"I already knew about Marin, Nayru." Din laughed at that. "I have no need to fear the memory of a dream."
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As they emerge from the cave, the four came out into the hot desert sun.
"Ahhh, back in a gerudo-friendly environment at last!" Din exclaimed, running though the sand with her arms open.
"She looks happy enough." Ralph replies with a smirk.
"Can't say I feel the same." Nayru complained. "Let's get to the palace and get out of here, I feel like I'm starting to wilt in this heat!"
"How the heck does a desert even exist this far north?" Ralf asked incredulously.
"Gotta love Hylian climates!" Link replied with a smirk.
As the four of them made thier way through the shifting sands, the Two Oracles began to get the uneasy feeling they were being... watched.
"Din... do you..." The Oracle of Ages asked.
"Yes... I feel it, too." The Oracle of Seasons replied.
As they approached within sight of Parapa, Link began to notice what looked several... eyes... looking at him from within the palace. But each eye was only a single eye... not a pair of eyes.
"What in the name of Faeore?" The Hero exclaimed, puzzled. "Ralf... you see that?"
Ralf squinted, looking at the palace. "Yeah, it looks like a bunch of tongues sticking out at us from the darkness."
"Tounges? Eyes?" Link's eyes got wide. "Everybody, get back! It's a swarm of Ghinis!"
As the ghosts came pouring out of the palace, Link and Ralf drew their swords, and got ready for the fight of their lives.