Where there are questions to be asked, REVIEW ANSWERIN' TIME never rests!
Ri2: I knew someone would ask. Chomps (or chain chomps if you're a Mario fan) appeared on LoZ: A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, and my putting them there was a nod to those games. As to where they came from, it's not too clear... but it was all Niko's idea to get some "special friends".
?: Then I won't! But if the humor flows naturally, then it'll come. Thanks for your response. I shall strive to improve.
The Legend of Zelda:
Overlord of the Land
Chapter 5
The Search for Power
"I knew I'd find you here." Tetra said to Link, who she found was sitting squarely on the bowspirit of the ship. Link looked overly pensive as he stared down the waves crashing on the boat's hull. "You look like you've been thinking a lot. That's so unlike you." Link responded that remark with a quick playful jab of a stern look through his eyes, making Tetra chuckle in a slightly evil way. "So what's on your mind? Ever since we ran from that emperor, your face has been shouting expressions, and most of them aren't very happy."
Link just looked over at Tetra with a smiling face that felt more like a "don't worry" face than a sincere smile. Though he wanted to let out what was worrying him, some strange force within him stopped him short of uttering a word... fear, perhaps? Whatever the reason, he wouldn't outright speak of the matter, so he tried making mimicry with his arms to try and make Tetra understand.
"Uh... somewhere off board?" Tetra tried to guess, without much success. "Outside? What's outside?" Link shook his hands to stop her train of thought, then tried pointing out to the stern. "Is something wrong with the bridge? Further? I'm not good at charades, you know." Tetra kept guessing, to which Link kept pointing with more and more intensity. "Further back? Something we left behind? Something... back in land?"
Link immediately nodded, indicating Tetra had hit the subject in the nail. "Well... I know how you must fell, but..." Tetra began, lowering her voice to avoid being eavesdropped. "We had to leave. There's no way we're going to usurp the power the way we're now. We have to think up a new..." Link stuck his hand out, making her stop in her tracks. That was clearly not what he meant to remember. He motioned Tetra to try and remember a bit further ahead. Tetra thought about it a bit, then it struck her as to what it was that Link wanted to discuss. She knew all too well. "Oh, Link..." Tetra fumbled to find the right way to say this. She decided to sit on the bowspirit right next to Link. "I remember that chase. I mean... I don't remember where we went... and the noise kinda muted off... and it all became a blur... and we ended up crashing to a stop... but I do remember something. I don't know if you remember it as I do, but it wasn't exactly something you'd see... or hear..." Tetra trailed off, trying to explain this as best as she could with the limited experience she had. Eventually, she found herself looking down to the sea, much in the same way and expression as she found Link not too long ago, and when she caught herself, she quickly snapped off it. "Do you remember that I said to you that I've been having these weird thoughts crossing my mind?" She asked, to which Link nodded in remembrance. "Well... the thing is... those thoughts..."
Link looked at Tetra with what could be the most sincere, open face he could muster. There, for some reason, he knew what she was talking about... but he knew he shouldn't interfere at this point.
"These thoughts... were about you."
Link's eyes widened a bit. Knowing what was coming is one thing, but hearing it from the horse's mouth is always a different experience altogether. "D... Don't take it the wrong way. I told you these were weird thoughts that crossed my mind." Tetra stuttered, quickly downplaying any possible interpretations of her expressions. "But... I was just trying to clear it up in case you... in case you were..."
"MISS TETRA!"
"... Why did I not expect that?" Tetra muttered. "What? Is it important?" She yelled, not really wanting to get up from her seat.
"We found a stowaway! He said he knows you! He's..."
"Don't tell me..." Tetra cringed to think who it might be who sneaked into the ship. Sighing, she stood up and motioned at Link to get up as well. "I'm coming! Don't take out the 'cat' until I get there."
"You guys! My inspiration for my newest adventure epic! I knew I'd find you here!" the always eccentric Miyahon gleefully greeted the pair when they went over to the brig to see him. "Please tell your brutes this is just a misunderstanding. I'm no stalker... though you guys ARE what keep my creative juices flowing."
"OK!"Tetra yelled just in time. "I don't need to hear about any juices of yours. Just tell me why you decided to hitch a ride in my ship?"
"I had no choice!" Miyahon began, with a rather desperate look drawn upon his face. "I was being chased, too. Wanted! The guillotine awaited me if I stayed. They knew I knew, and I knew they knew I knew, and I knew they were looking for me, so I had to skedaddle, or I would be drawing up my drawings with paint from the deities themselves!"
The entire pirate crew stood dumbfounded by the stowaway's confession, unable to utter a word due to his... unique story. Their entire state of mind was sucessfully captured, though, by Zuko.
"... What?"
"Ok, I eavesdropped on you two when you were talking with the Emperor." Miyahon began again from the beginning. "By the way, very bad actingfrom you guys in front of him."
"Yeah... looking back, it wasn't my best... wait." Tetra caught on to something the inmate said. "The Emperor's office was in the mansion's third floor. How could you eavesdrop at all?"
"I had stilts." Miyahon said, smiling. This was met with the now usual annoyed stares of the crew.
"Really?" Tetra jabbed verbally at Miyahon. "Because this is the sort of thing that an average bum would have... and it's entirely normal to use them and eavesdrop... in the middle of the street?"
"Wait, wait!" Miyahon pleaded his case. "Remember I heard everything in there, and I know what you must do."
"You do?" Tetra asked, genuinely inquisitively so.
"Yeah! In order to defeat such enormous power, you need... MORE power!" Miyahon declared triumphantly.
This was met by blank, annoyed stares. "Why do I even bother?" Tetra said as she slowly walked away from the brig. Then, she felt a tug at her vest. She turned to see Link, his face lit up in glee. He motioned Tetra to stay put as he rushed out of the brig and towards his chest where he keeps all his possessions, like his picto box and this grappling hook. When he came back to the brig, he waved a pearl-white wand with shiny crystal scattered around it.
"That's your windy thing, right?" Niko asked, recognizing the Wind Waker conductor baton immediately, considering Link likes to keep it well maintained and he doesn't take it out much.
"So you're suggesting we go someplace where we could find this 'power' we need, right?" Tetra asked, to which Link nodded immediately.
Link took his stance and proceeded to conduct a song that would levitate the whole structure they were standing on and send it to...
"NO!" The lot of pirates yelled at the top of their lungs, rushing to pin Link down before he could finish conducting.
"Don't you remember the last time you tried to teleport the entire ship somewhere?" Senza scolded Link, making him remember a bad event that happened some months ago...
YES, IT'S FLASHBACK TIME!
*COUGH COUGH*
"All hands! Report!"
"I'm here!"
"I'm ok, but Mr. Badger isn't doing so well."
"I'm... dizzy..."
It was a disaster. The pirate ship hasn't seen such atrocity until then. The ship was on the verge of capsizing, water had poured in to every deck and every cabin of the ship, supplies were tossed around, crushed, wasted, thrown overboard, etc., powder was wet, sails were broken, and even the new paint job was cracked. All because Link thought to take a little 'magical' shortcut to their destination.
"I'll take THIS!" Tetra snarled while swiping the Wind Waker from Link's hand. Dripping wet and holding on to her pants to avoid another embarrassment on top of this one, she walked away from him and into the storage room. "Next time you get such a creative idea, keep it to yourself."
END FLASHBACK!
Link chuckled weakly when he realized what he almost repeated. He slowly tucked the baton back into his bag and proceeded to show his empty hands to the pirates to assure them there was no imminent danger with it.
"Thank goodness." Gonzo sighed in relief. "To think the new Mr. Badger would suffer like the old one..."
"But you know..." Tetra interjected, giving some thought into the idea. "I think he's in the right path. If he thinks we can get a lead wherever that could take us, we should take it." Tetra paced around the room thinking up how they could go about unfolding Link's plan. "I got it! Senza, prepare the rowboat for Link and I. Meanwhile, we will gather our supplies and we'll meet you on the top deck in half an hour. Let's go, Link."
"Wait, Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted before his leader left the brig. "What will we do with this stowaway?" He said, pointing to Miyahon, who sported one wickedly wide smile. Tetra looked at him and considered his options. In the end... she simply snapped her fingers.
"WWWWHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
"Wow, that's really high up." Niko commented, seeing Miyahon hanging from the mast like he was just a few days ago."I'm just glad it's not me for once."
"All right, listen up." Tetra began imparting the instructions. "Once Link and I touch water, we'll row away, while you guys sail away from us, too. Once we're far enough, Link will use his baton to get us where he thinks we can gather more info. Gonzo, as second-in-command, you'll be in charge while I'm gone."
"Aye aye, Captain." Gonzo agreed.
"Link doesn't think we'll have much trouble, so I hope we'll be back soon. Don't do anything reckless before I return." And leaving them with those words, Tetra hopped on the rowboat located by the port side, followed by Link. "Alright, take us... wait."
"What is it, Miss..." Nudge couldn't finish the sentence as Tetra hopped back out of the rowboat and ran indoors. "What was that about?" Then, as fast as she went inside the ship, she came back out, carrying the infamous book.
"Just thought it might come handy, in case this takes long and I get bored out of my wits." Tetra explained. "Ok, take us down."
"You heard her, men!" Gonzo shouted, almost too happy to start barking orders around. "Let 'er down steady!" Then the pirates slowly started to let go of the ropes that fastened the rowboat in the air, and through a rare display of true teamwork, they managed to get the boat down to the sea with no hitches. Tetra and Link quickly grabbed their rows and started rowing towards the stern of the pirate ship, where they would most likely gain some distance from the ship quicker as it sailed off. As the rowboat gained distance, the pirates on board of the ship gathered by the stern to wave them goodbye and wish them luck.
"Ok, I think this is far enough. Do your thing, Link." Tetra said as she secured the rows to avoid being blown off in the gust of wind that was sure to ensue. Link wasted no time to take out his Wind Waker and conduct the Ballad of Gales. The pleasant melody was a relative opposite to its results, as a large tornado formed right on top of the pair and engulfed them, making the rowboat spin counterclockwise wildly and forcing its passengers to hold on for dear life as the massively strong gusts of wind levitated the boat from the seas and onto the heavens, effectively disappearing from the pirates' view.
"So..." Niko commented. "How do you feel about being a more... permanent captain, Gonzo?"
"I feel sick..." Tetra mumbled as the boat was slowly coming to a stop. Having never really ridden the winds in such a manner, she was unprepared to face what this magical trip brought along. She didn't dare to open her eyes in fear her nausea would worsen and she would finally lose her lunch. Eventually, she opened her eyes and noticed something strange: Wherever they were, it was completely secluded in all parts by very tall stone walls. Furthermore, the resting place of their boat was a small pond that only had a small opening for the water to flow out, and no discernible way of where the water comes from. Around the pond there were trees and bushes scattered about, giving the place a feel of a small forest. "Where are we?" She turned to Link for an explanation... when she noticed he was looking straight at the water in the pond, splashing it gently with this left hand, as if in a teasing manner. "... And what are you doing?"
Suddenly, a sound foreign to her crossed her ears. It was laughter... childish laughter. She looked around, trying to find the source of the laughter... but she couldn't. It was everywhere. Not just up, or down, or by the trees or in the pond... everywhere. "Are... are you doing this?" Tetra asked Link, thinking up no other logical reason why there would be a strange laughter in the air.
"Stop it! That tickles!" The laughing voice shouted. Tetra kept looking around, freaking out about not pinpointing the source of the voice, while Link took his hand out of the pond with a smiling face, making the laughter stop. Then, from the waters in the pond, a silvery, shiny, childlike creature burst out and started floating right in front of the duo. "You tease. Must you tickle the Queen of the Fairies to get her attention?"
"So you were the one laughing just now?" Tetra asked the mythical creature in front of her.
"Yes, it was me." The silver creature cleared her throat and made a bow to her guests. "I am Venus, Queen of the Fairies. Yes, I know what you might be thinking. I'm only made to look like a child, though. Besides, you shouldn't judge because one is small and child-like."
"Eh... I wasn't really thinking that." Tetra said. "I'm still wondering why are you carrying that creepy doll around like that. And why don't you have irises on your eyes."
"Well..."
Link cleared his throat rather loudly to make the other two stop talking about nonsense. He then looked over at Tetra and motioned her to go on and ask her concerning what they came here for.
"Right... Fairy Queen, I am Tetra, and I have been charged by the Three Goddesses to create a new Hyrule due to my royal lineage that goes all the way to the old kings of Hyrule. In this quest, however, I have come across a... an obstacle, so to speak. Thus, we seek your help to gather a power stronger than that of our enemy to vanquish it and claim the chosen land for the new Hyrule."
The Fairy Queen took a good look at Tetra, who seemed to be standing a bit stiff while delivering her request. "Well... can you do me a favor and stop trying to be so stiff? Doesn't suit you at all." These words were of much surprise to Tetra, who was trying to show some respect, something she doesn't do often. "To tell you the truth, I'm not big on the whole 'holier than thou' bit most deities go with. I find it best when we can communicate freely with each other. Isn't that right, Linky?"
"Linky?" Tetra asked, with a confused look strewn upon her face. She alternated between looking at the Fairy and Link, the former simply floated there with a smile, while the latter looked all innocent shrugging in confusion as well.
"Oh, are you mean, Linky." Venus reprimanded the green garbed boy. "Even after I confessed myself to you, you simply ran off and left me all alone. You must be afraid of commitment." These harsh words got to Link, who was apparently trying to find a way to hide his red face in shame. "Or perhaps you already had someone else. Perhaps... her?"
"WHAT!?" Tetra shouted in shock, upon seeing she was the one being pointed at by the Fairy Queen. "Why would I ever... I'm not into goody two-shoes like... To even suggest that I would... You better listen good here and stop slandering!"
Venus floated about while Tetra's outburst happened, her happy face transformed into one of deep thinking. "Hmm... Now I see what the Goddesses have to work with."
"What?"
"You're not being honest." The Fairy Queen said. Before Tetra could edge out a word in protest, she stopped her cold and continued. "You're still hiding, even after you tried to do what was asked of you, you didn't look into yourself for strength. You say you trust others, but you can't even trust yourself. If you were to just follow the book that was given to you and develop more confidence in your inner power, you would be done already."
"Book... you mean this one?" Tetra said as she pulled out the ancient book with the Hyrulean crest in its front. "We tried looking over it, but most of it was just history about Hyrule, some descriptions on races, some legends... and a few torn pages, nothing big."
"Torn pages? Let me see." Venus didn't wait for the book to be handed to her and used her magic to swipe the book from Tetra's hands. She flipped the pages over and over and noticed the awful truth: pages that were supposed to have essential information for Tetra were torn away, their locations unknown to anybody and no clue left inside about their whereabouts. "This is not good. Those torn pages were very important. If you don't even have a clue what they contained, then... then you're going into this quest like a blind person into a dark cave full of pitfalls. It's just not possible."
Link looked quite worried at the news, while Tetra kept thinking about what this whole deal meant. "So, without those pages, it's pretty much over. Is that what you're telling us?"
"Pretty much."
"... Well, what can you do? We tried, at least. Come on, Link. It's back to pillaging, plundering and adventuring to us, like it's always been." Tetra said without doing so much as to bat an eye in worry. Link was shocked, and tried to get Tetra to reconsider before throwing the towel. "Don't you get it, dummy? This was a wild goose chase from the beginning. It was a quest we couldn't finish. The Goddesses were playing tricks with us just for their own amusement. Besides, that Dante got it right: much of the city loves him. So if they want a tyrannical despot that could snap at any minute and destroy their lives, that's fine by me. I'll just stick with my ocean. That's worked good enough for me." She then made to grab her row when she remembered they were in a small pond surrounded by large stone walls. "And if you could hurry it up with that baton of yours..."
Amongst this burst from Tetra, The Fairy Queen simply stood, thinking about a possible alternate method to make this quest succeed. "Maybe... maybe if we had that compass. The Goddesses' Compass..."
"The compass?" Tetra blurted out, looking at her item bag on the floor of the boat, where the compass lay. "What about it?"
"It's a compass that points to where you need to go next." Venus explained. "It's very handy when you get lost. Nayru always tells us how she used it when she got lost in a time loop in a strange clock land, and were it not for it, she wold still be trying to find the way out of there."
Tetra thought about it for a while. If she left as is, this would be over, nothing else could be done, and everything would go back to the way things were. However, considering she had the resources to at least try once more, and considering she had already given her word to the Goddesses themselves, she knew there would be consequences if she didn't do her best. Knowing this, she turned her back to the Fairy Queen once more... and crouched to look into her bag for the item of the day.
"Ok, I'll bite." Tetra said, pulling out the Goddesses' Compass from her bag and showing it to the Fairy Queen. "Here's the compass. What can you do with it?"
"You have it? Great!" Venus was overjoyed to know this. She quickly took the compass with her magic and placed it on top of the book. "Now, a little incantation." The Queen of the Fairies moved the Great Fairy doll she always carried and like a puppeteer, quietly speaking some words in ancient Hylian while the Great Fairy doll let out sparkles of several colors which converged around the two items in front of her. These items then emitted a soft glow, proving the magic was working. Afterwards, the items were slowly lowered to the hands of Link and Tetra, giving the book to Link and the compass to Tetra.
"The Goddesses' Compass has been enhanced." The Fairy Queen stated. "Now, it shall point to the direction of the missing pages of the book." Tetra took a good look at the compass in her hands. It hadn't changed a bit, but it looked like it was indeed pointing somewhere other than the 'promised land'. "Find the missing pages and understand their words. They will instruct you on your path to become the true heir of the Royal Family."
"Well... thanks." Tetra said, not knowing exactly what to say at the moment. "I, uh, guess we'll be going now, right, Link?"
"Hey... Tetra, was it?" Venus called the young captain before she would disappear. "Take care of Linky in my absence."
"Eh... right." Tetra said, Still cringing at at the mere thought of what could be crossing the Fairy Queen's mind.
"Oh, and also..." Venus said. "Be more honest with yourself. It will save you a lot of headaches."
Thus, with no more words exchanged, Tetra stuffed the compass and the book back in her bag and held fast to the boat in full knowledge of what was coming. Link then conducted the Ballad of Gales once more, summoning a great tornado to pick them up from the pond and carry them through the skies.
"Keep a sharp eye, Zuko! We don't know where they'll come from." Gonzo shouted to the short stoic man keeping a lookout atop the crow's nest.
"So... what if they don't come back anytime soon?" Niko asked as he stood around the bow looking at the horizon for any signs of life.
"Well... we could keep looking a while. But we'll eventually have to return to land for supplies and... to do what we do best." Senza explained to the young pirate.
"So we'd go on even without Miss Tetra?"
"Miss Tetra has leaded us well, that's true..." Mako interjected, "...but we don't depend on her. We're very independent, and we can do everything our captain knows how to do. If push comes to shove, the Great Sea Pirates will live on, and Gonzo will most likely take over as captain."
"...That's a scary thought." Niko commented, looking over at the ship's second-in-command walking on deck.
"Well, you're not exactly easy on the eyes, you know!" Gonzo shouted at the crew gathered on the bow, ensuing light laughter from the men.
"Dinghy... off the starboard!" Zuko shouted over from the crow's nest to the crew down below. "Two yellow heads on board. Looks like our yellow heads... It also looks like one of the yellow heads is looking at the sea, as if seasick. Must be Link... "
"Mr. Senza, take us starboard side! Unfold the sails, men! Get ready to carry the boat back inside." Gonzo immediately barked his orders, to which the crew promptly acted upon. Within a matter of minutes, the ship was near the boat that Tetra and Link were using. "Oy! Miss Tetra!" Gonzo shouted from the bow, trying to reach his captain's ears and get a response. Tetra responded by waving her arm around.
A short time later, the crew fastened the boat to the ropes designed to lift it up and, with great group effort, they pulled the ship back up. Immediately afterwards, Tetra jumped right on deck, literally kissing the floorboards and trying to move as far away from the boat as possible. She then looked over at a curious Link who was calmly getting off the boat. "How you did so many travels with that tornado is beyond me, but as far as I know, if I never need to use it, it'll be too soon."
The pirates kept looking back and forth at Link and Tetra, wondering what exactly happened that could make their captain react like that. "So..." Gonzo approached Tetra carefully as to not upset her. "Do we have a heading?"
Upon hearing this, Tetra remembered the compass, and took it out to compare it with her personal compass. Clearly, the Goddesses' Compass was pointing westbount, in a different direction from Waarheid.
"Oh, yes, we have."
"Whoa." That was all Zuko could manage to utter upon gazing at the immense structure in front of him. A large ancient castle stood alone in a small island, completely unreachable in all areas except a small shore in which they stood now. Its drawbridge was broken and looked unsafe, but was surprisingly sturdy, its walls were yellowed by the beating time and the elements gave them, its great design which almost enveloped the island stood strong despite the punishment though.
"So, this is the place?" Nudge asked.
"That's what the compass tells us." Tetra answered, double-checking the compass to make sure they had the right place. "That missing page must be somewhere inside this abandoned castle. We'll go in, separate in teams of two, and search every corner for it."
"But, wouldn't it be easier to just follow the compass?" Gonzo asked.
"...Maybe." Tetra admitted to not having the best of plans. "I'll tell you what: We'll follow the compass, but if the castle becomes too confusing, we'll split. Is that good enough?"
"Works for me." Senza said.
Thus, the group started walking towards the old castle, Tetra and Link taking the lead and the rest following close by. Link decided to dash ahead and scout for any possible dangers at the entrance, then gave the ok to the crew to continue. "Sometimes I wonder about you..." Tetra said when she passed him by, entering the castle.
"You know, Miss..." Mako began, "...I can't shake this feeling, but there's something not right about this castle... like if there was something still..."
*KA-POW!*
Suddenly, a door sprang from the entrance and fell down with the intensity of a thousand horses, effectively locking the pirate crew out of the castle, separated from Tetra and Link.
"What... the... f..."
"...fulminating heart attack!!!" Tetra finished her yelling at the inanimate object that scared her spitless. Breathing heavily and with eyes almost bulging out, she walked over to the random door and kicked it hard, as if to try and teach it a lesson. "That's for trying to kill me."
"MISS TETRA!!" Gonzo shouted at the top of his lungs to see if his voice could reach. "CAN YOU HEAR ME!!?"
"YEAH!!" Tetra responded, her voice being awfully faint for someone who was shouting out loud... at least, that's how she sounded from the outside of the castle. "I GUESS LINK AND I WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE ON OUR OWN!! YOU GUYS TRY AND FIND A WAY INSIDE AND JOIN US!!"
"OK!!" Gonzo shouted to Tetra, then turned to the rest of the crew. "Quick, back to the ship! Bring a keg of powder to blow this door to smithereens!" He ordered, to which the crew acted upon promptly.
"Why is it that all our solutions devolve to blowing stuff up?" Mako commented.
"Well..." Tetra said to Link as she took a good look at the small corridor they were in, locked from the outside world with no way to go but further in. "I guess it's time for another one of your spelunking adventures."
Link wanted to correct her, but thought better of it. After all, calling it 'dungeon' or 'spelunking' didn't really matter. It was just another excuse to do some honest-to-goodness adventuring. And where else to do it than on:
The Abandoned Castle
(Ooooh...)
Tetra and Link wasted no time to run to the next room in the castle. The room was lush with forgotten decorations like fancy sofas, large paintings, a ridiculously long rug, and chandeliers with an almost-endless amount of crystals in it. It would look absolutely beautiful were it not for all the dust and grime that had settled in all the decades the castle has been deserted.
"Well, this sure is inviting..." Tetra said rather sarcastically. She then noticed something sticking out from behind a sofa: it was the arm part of a skeleton. "... Really inviting indeed..." She turned to Link to try and show him her finding, but when she got his attention, the arm was not there anymore. Link decided to look around and left Tetra to wait in the center of the room. He looked behind the sofa, but found nothing except dust and some stones. He signaled to Tetra that there was nothing there, making the young captain wonder if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. Suddenly, Link's eyes bulged out. He tried to tell something to Tetra, but his stammering was so powerful, he could barely utter a sound. His wild arm flailing wasn't helping much, either.
"And what bit him?" Tetra wondered, as the thoughts from before still ran through her mind. Then, from the corner of her right eye, something odd crept in. She turned right to see the very same skeleton arm that she saw before, only this time, it was attached to the rest of the skeleton, and said skeleton was standing dangerously close to her. Tetra began stammering as well, as her proximity with the skeleton proved too great a shock for her. "S... s... s... s... s... stal... fos..."
Before she could react, the Stalfos swung his bony arm and clubbed Tetra square in her skull, making her fall down to the floor, and even open up a cut in her head. "Stupid bag of bones... I'll get 'im" Tetra said while wiping the blood from her cut.
Upon witnessing this, Link immediately jumped out of his shock, drew out his sword and ran straight for the Stalfos. Luckily, the skeleton was a slow mover, so it was easy for him to strike at it, thereby removing the right arm and some other bones out of the main skeleton. Before Link could celebrate, though, the bones were floating in midair around the Stalfos, and were attached back to the original skeleton again.
"Just great. He loves to regenerate." Tetra commented. "I guess we just have to be quicker than him, Link." Getting off from the floor, Tetra pulled out her sabre and stood beside Link, ready to fight. "Ready? You take the left, I take the right."
What happened next was a blur of swords, bones and the dust picking up from the fight. Link and Tetra went at the Stalfos with intensity and fury, making sure they got every piece of the skeleton severed before he could try and regenerate. After much effort, all the pieces were down to the floor, from the toes on the foot to the skull above the shoulders, everything was down on the floor.
"Well, we did it, partner." Tetra said to Link, pulling out her trademark winking smirk. "Now, how about we get going? Where could that exit be?" After looking around, she saw door almost hidden on the mezzanine atop them. Problem was, there wasn't a way to get up there normally. The wall was surprisingly unharmed, there were no vines to climb on, no ladders... the only thing up there was a chandelier, paintings... and a wooden sofa. Suddenly, Link had an idea. He pulled out his hookshot and aimed it at the sofa. Without thinking, he pulled himself upward to the mezzanine, landing safely on the couch. As soon as he did that, though, spikes protruded from the edges of the wall that raised the mezzanine, keeping Link and Tetra separated. Link was already on edge, but it turned out that Tetra was the target... of a vengeful Stalfos.
"What? Didn't I kill you already?" Tetra shouted when she looked back to see the reformed Stalfos right by her. Before she could react, the skeleton swung his arm and conked Tetra on the skull again, making her stumble around and fall down to her knees. "This thing wants me dead. I'm not giving 'im the pleasure, though." She said as she wiped off some blood from the reactivated gash in her head. She unsheathed he sabre once more and went to fight against the Stalfos, this time completely alone.
Link wanted to help, but those massive spikes that almost touch the ceiling had a way of making that rather difficult. Thus, he could do nothing except stand silent as he witnessed the fight going below him. Tetra tried to destroy the Stalfos' arms, but before she could go for another part of the body, the Stalfos was already recovering his upper limbs. Tetra was sweating up a storm, and the bloody gash on her head wasn't exactly helping her concentrate either. If there was some trick to defeating this stubborn skeleton, she would love to know.
Then, Link remembered something. It was a long time since he's fought Stalfos, but he finally remembered there was a trick to them. Immediately, he started to try and draw Tetra's attention to himself. Whenever Tetra managed to look in his direction, he pointed intensely at his head and used his sword to simulate slicing the head in half. While Tetra moved cautiously around the room she thought on what was it that Link wanted to tell her. She then remembered what they did before: They severed every piece of the Stalfos... but the skull remained intact. "The skull... All right. Now we're talking!" Putting on her fight face, Tetra waited until the Stalfos started swinging his bulky, strong arms again. Before it could strike, though, she jumped over it and sliced the skull in half. Then, before their very eyes, the bones of the Stalfos were no longer bound by any sort of magic and dropped down to the floor, all at once, right before evaporating and transforming into part of the dust that already decorated the halls of this castle.
Thus, as sudden as they appeared, the spikes holding Link back retreated to their original location, allowing Link to drop down to where Tetra was. He looked straight at the wound on Tetra's head, and proceeded to take out a cloth to cover it. "What? You're worried about this little thing?" Tetra said, giving no big importance to the fact that she was hit twice in the same spot, producing a blood-trickling wound. "That's nothing. I've had worse, but I won't bore you with my scars." Tetra looked up to the mezzanine with a pensive look. "What I'm more worried about is how will we get up from here. I mean, you can get up, but not both of... HEY!"
Before she knew it, Link grabbed Tetra by her hip with one arm and aimed his hookshot with the other. Without thinking, he pulled himself upwards, carrying Tetra along, and falling safely on the sofa. "Guh... what did just...? Link!" Tetra managed to utter. "Next time you want to do something like that, at least warn me first!" Link simply shrugged the reprimand off and continued to walk towards the door. "Hey! Wait! Don't you dare leave me behind!"
Having crossed the door, they find themselves with something rather odd for a castle to have: A large pit right across them, and several alcoves to the left and right of it, going all the way to the other side, and a large steel bar high up crossing the entire corridor straight on the middle. "How do you expect us to get across this?" Tetra protested. "I can't believe this exists. What is this room, the athletic weirdos room?"She walked around the floor they were for a short while, thinking about what they could do, when...
"KYAAAA!"
Link rushed over to where Tetra was to see she had fallen down a hole. Worried, he stuck his head into the hole to notice it wasn't that deep a hole. Sure it was deep enough to not let anybody go back up, but it wasn't so deep as to procure serious injury. "Ow... I must have woken up from the wrong side of the bed today." Tetra complained as she rubbed her back in pain. Standing up, she noticed a rather tight-looking opening right in front of her. "Wait... I think I found a way through. I'll follow it. Wait there." For a while, Tetra was completely out of Link's reach for a while. He looked around the area, but couldn't find anything else of worth... except perhaps another hole across the way from the original. Perhaps it was the same, with another corridor to go through. Before he could explore, though, Tetra surfaced in the closest alcove to the left of this long and dangerous corridor.
"Ok... This was not too productive. I'm stuck... again." Tetra said, looking at the flat wall right in front of her. "She paced a bit in the small alcove and triggered a switch... but it was not for her benefit, since it opened a piece of the wall that was before her on the left side. Link thought about this and got a hunch. Before you could say 'Octorok soufflé', the kid in green jumped into the other hole and went through the tight corridor, eventually coming out an alcove on the right ride, somewhat closer to the entrance and facing the newly opened alcove. He also discovered a switch on the floor, which he promptly stepped on, causing the wall in front of Tetra to open up and reveal a new alcove/corridor. "This is a step up. Nice thinking, Link." Tetra complimented her partner. Looking up to the steel bar, she took out her grappling hook and swung to the other alcove, leading to another corridor. Seeing this, Link copied Tetra's moves and swung to the alcove in front of him. When the duo resurfaced, they were once again on opposite sides of the corridor, facing a stone wall, but thus time there was no switch to
trigger.
"Ok, now what?" Tetra wondered, seeing nothing but the slightly cracked wall in front of her. Wait... if it's slightly cracked, then we could blow it up, she though. One problem, though: there was no place for set the bomb, since it would just fall down the pit. After thinking it over, she came up with a brilliant idea. She took out an arrow and tied a bomb to it, then carefully aimed at the wall with the bow. Satisfied, she lit the bomb's fuse, aimed it at the wall, shot... and the wall came crumbling down in an explosion of debris and dust, revealing the hidden path to take. "Go on, Link. Try it! I know you want to." Link stared off at Tetra with a faux-angry look as she swung over to the other side. He then copied Tetra's technique and blew the wall in front of him.
After going down the corridors, they finally found themselves within respectable distance from the other side. In front of each other lay a chest, and when they opened it, they found a weird metallic object. "What the heck is this?" Tetra asked when examining the strange rod she had taken. This 'rod' had strange marking all around, and it looked like there were missing pieces in some places. "This is odd... what did you find?" She asked Link, only to be shown a very similar rod with markings around it and looking like it was broken in places. "Well, that's just great. More useless junk. Well, maybe we can sell them. Let's hold on to them for a while, ok?" she said as she stuffed her 'treasure' into her bag and proceeded to swing to the alcove in front of her.
When the duo resurfaced for the final time, they were long gone from the pit room, and were now in a room far less dangerous and more tidy than the ones they were before, and it was no coincidence. "This is the throne room." Tetra said as she marveled on the lush thrones at the end of the room and the luxurious adornments around it. The majesty of it all was overwhelming: the gold-plated columns leaded the way to the thrones, complemented by the thick red rug which looked like no one had stepped on it at all, the walls were absolutely lush and spotless, and the paintings hanging by them were exquisitely painted... yet they bore no people within its canvas, almost as if there was no history of the people who inhabited the castle.
The thrones themselves were of an intense fire red and filled to the brim with cushions, and they were almost obscenely large. "Perhaps they were dealing with a really, really fat king." Tetra commented. "I wonder if this was of any comfort to him. Let me check." Then Tetra went and tried to sit on the largest throne in the room. She looked absolutely diminutive as she climbed the towering chair, so much it was almost cute. Link couldn't help but stifle a chuckle as he saw Tetra sitting on the throne and not even being capable of reaching any of the sides from the center. "Well, if you think it's so funny, then try climbing the other." Tetra dared her partner. Unbeknown to her, the other throne was quite smaller and took Link a lot less effort than it would have to sit in. "Show-off." Tetra retorted to Link's simple accomplished face.
"You know, Link... there's been something that's been troubling me." Tetra said. "Everybody seems to enjoy giving me speeches. The Goddesses, the Queen of the Fairies -who seems to enjoy your presence a bit too much, mind you-, and even that Dante guy. Everybody wants to tell me what I'm supposed to do, as if I didn't already know that. Do they really need to keep telling me what I need to do?" She turned over to Link, expecting a response. He thought about it for a moment, and he was ready to respond. He opened his mouth and... "I know what you're gonna tell me." Tetra interrupted. "It's probably happened to you loads of times, and it's routine for you. But everybody telling me what to do... it gets on my nerve. I know I need to fulfill this destiny, I know I need to grow more powerful, I know what it means to be more honest... I'm just one person. I can't do all this overnight. I simply can't. Who do they..." She stopped cold, looking over at Link who was looking rather intrigued by the whole situation. "You didn't need to listen to me rambling like that." Tetra said, to which Link merely shrugged it off, with that ever-smiling face of his.
Just then, the thrones seemed to cave into the floor, startling Link and Tetra for a second. "What was..." Before Tetra could finish her sentence, though, the ceiling opened, and a large platform descended from the hole above. On the platform was a table, where a two identical small chests lay. Curious, Link and Tetra walked over to the platform that descended on the middle of the room and explored the chests' contents.
"What is this supposed to mean?" Tetra said when she saw the 'treasure' inside the chests. It was a glove... a single glove each. And each glove was colored differently: Tetra got a light blue glove, while Link found a green glove. "They don't even combine! Is that really all there is?" Tetra said as she looked into the small chest to find if there was anything else. As she was about to give up, Tetra found a small piece of paper. In the paper, a small message was written, and it read:
"You have discovered the Magical Gloves. Alone, they can enhance your magical ability, but together, their power will be increased tenfold. However, a person alone cannot realize the full potential of the Magical Gloves..."
"Link..." Tetra called. "You can use some magic, right?" Link nodded positively. "Then it's best if you keep a glove. I don't much about magic, but it's best if I keep the other... just in case."
Just then, a clicking sound grabbed the duo's attention. They noticed how the thrones were setting themselves back up, which could only mean one thing. "Hang on, Link. We're going up." When they reached the top floor of the castle, they were in a small, dimly lit room with only a door in front of them. "Well, if this isn't obviously ominous enough..." Tetra commented. "Well, no use standing here. Let's brave the storm and get what we came here for." She then slowly reached for the handle, turned it, and opened the door to see...
A large round room with an equally round table in the middle. This room had a different feel than the previous rooms they had been in. There was none of the lush, luxurious designs from the previous rooms. Instead, it was all business in that room: a plain round table, a couple of bookshelves with a handful of books in less-than-acceptable conditions, and pretty much every chair surrounding the table was broken in some way of from... every chair, except one at the opposite part of the table from where Link and Tetra were. In that chair a suit of armor rested, completely immobile.
"Ok, this it too obvious." Tetra said, jumping over to the table and walking over to the armor. "Hey, you! You're the guardian of this place right? Wake up and save us the tension, why don't ya?" Even with her talking straight at the armor's helm, the metal suit didn't budge. "Oh, that's how you're gonna work? Then I'll make the first move. Enguarde!" Tetra whipped out her sabre and swiftly swung it to the armor's throat area, making it fall down to the floor and having it break in pretty much every piece, revealing...
"...nothing. It's empty." Tetra said, her face filling with terror seeing that she was dreadfully wrong. "If he's not the guardian, then... who... is..."
Suddenly, the table started shaking violently. Before she could get tossed out, Tetra jumped off right as the table started to float off the ground. Its planks broke and moved and transformed into a large round monster with short, thick limbs, a flat, round body and -surprisingly- no face, just before floating back down, effectively separating Tetra and Link and making its final adjustments to become:
Possessed Ancient Table:
MESABALLEON
"Ok... you got me, man... table... monster... thing." Tetra stuttered to say. "So... Link. Any ideas?"
From the other side of the room, Link shrugged as no ideas popped on his head at the moment. Thus, for a good while, the duo did nothing except try and dodge Mesaballeon's attacks and regroup, with not much success on that second account. Every time one tried to go around Mesaballeon, the monster would just roll over and block the way. "I can't just go around dodging forever. Time to chop some wood!" Tetra then pulled out her sabre triumphantly and ran straight for the monster and planted her blade on it, causing it to growl deeply. Tetra smiled... but her smile didn't last long as she couldn't pull her sabre out of the wood, no matter how hard she tried. While she was trying to pull her sabre out, one of the monster's limbs swiped at her, and if she wasn't quick enough to see it, she would have been knocked straight to the wall. "I definitely woke up from the wrong side of the bed." She commented.
Then, Link thought up of a brilliant idea. He pulled out his bow and arrows, and started to power the arrow with fire magic. If the monster is made of wood, some fire can bring it down, he thought. So he aimed, fired... and Mesaballeon just swatted the fire arrow like it were a fly. Link was shocked. How could he not even scratch such a large target? Well, if normal magic couldn't take him on, what would?
"Link, what's happening on your side?" Tetra asked. "I need updates... and a way to pry that sabre out of that thing." She then saw some red lights coming from the other side, and decided to look under the monster and see what Link was doing. "You're throwing fire at 'im. Any success?" She asked, to which Link promptly shook his head. "Hmm... what if..." Tetra mused over their options to battle the monster, often shaking her head for thinking such ridiculous 'strategies'. "And if we... use... something to improve... improve, enhance... enhance magic... Ah! Of course! How stupid of me." She turned to Link, and pulling out her blue glove, she pointed at it and shouted. "Use the force of the glove, Link!"
Having been notified, Link let go of the bow for a second, he outfitted himself with his green Magical Glove and picked up the bow again. This time, as he charged his bow with fire magic, the flames surrounding the arrow grew considerably. He aimed, fired... and Mesaballeon swatted the arrow like it was a fly. Shocked, Link was completely lost and totally out of any suitable idea. However, something did change this time: Mesaballeon's 'hand' was catching fire, and as soon as the monster found out, he let out a nasty low growl and was unable to control his movements. "It's my turn now." Tetra declared and she pulled out her bomb arrows and shot one straight in the middle of Mesaballeon. The blast from the attack brought a couple of planks from Mesaballeon, but didn't made him suffer severe damage. She decided to take the moment and join Link at his side and battle together. "So, what now? We got a lead, but if we keep up this strategy, we'll run out of ammo before we do some good damage." Tetra said.
Link then got a good idea. It was dangerous, but it was well worth the risk if it worked. He took one of his arrows and one of Tetra's bomb arrows, made like he threw his arrow first, then like he threw Tetra's at the same place. "Oh, I get it!" Tetra said, joyful. Suddenly, the realization of the danger hit her. "Wait... we could get blown up good if we're not careful. Are you sure of this?" Link shrugged a bit, his uncertainty could be easily seen on his face and body language. "I'm glad you're so sure of this." Tetra said, her voice growing jittery.
Just then, Mesaballeon recovered from the attack and began aiming its limbs at Link and Tetra, shooting a hive of splinters at deadly speed. Once again, Link's shield provided the tight refuge for the duo from the assault. As soon as they got a clear shot, Link powered up his arrow with fire magic and threw it straight at the center of the monster's body. Mesaballeon could not move fast enough. It was a direct hit! The center of the monster's body was burning by the flames of the fire arrow. Now Tetra was to throw the bomb arrow right into the fire for maximum damage... but her pulse was failing her, and she could not aim well enough. Her uncertainty was getting the better of her. Just then, like magic, the aim turned steady again. When she saw, Link was holding her arms to allow her a better aim. Then, for the briefest of moments, her uncertainty was gone. She and Link aimed the bomb arrow and let it go straight to the raging flames in the center of the monster.
*BOOM!!!*
The explosion was so tremendous, the duo thought they were going to lose their hearing just from it. The debris of wood rained down ferociously, crashing down to the floor and threatening to get the guys down there. Finally when all was calm and quiet, Tetra looked up from the safety of her arms to notice how the monster was not standing anymore. She then looked at Link, who did a valiant job of putting up his shield to protect them both from the debris. "Heh. It's times like these when I really feel alive. How about you, Link?" She commented, just to be greeted by a sly smile from Link. Then, right in front of them, a heart container floated inconspicuously, waiting to be picked up. So, Tetra did just that... but the container split in half upon contact. "Just like last time. Weird... but I'll take it." Among the falling debris, Tetra also spotted her sabre, still lodged on some wood, but at least it was small enough to loosen it off. "My sabre! I missed you in battle." She then thought about what that meant for a second. "Man, I need to spice up my battle skills."
Looking around the debris, Link and Tetra discovered a small door right where the table/monster laid before they entered. Link tried opening the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked, eh?" Tetra said. "And our monster wasn't kind enough to give us the key this time." They then examined the keyhole. It was strange, in that the 'keyhole' was totally round, and quite large at that. "So... did you see a key like that on our way in, Link?" She turned to her partner, and he simply shook his head. "Yeah, me neither. The only thing we found was an annoying Stalfos, a jumping exercise, some odd rods, the gloves, and... the rods." She slapped herself for being so absent-minded. "Link, let me see that rod-thing you found." Link looked around his bag and found the weird object from before. He didn't understood the use clearly before, but it seemed like he was starting to join Tetra's thought process in this as he gave her the object. It didn't take long before she figured out how the rods went together to form one rod/key. She promptly tried the new key on the key hole... "Perfect fit." They key didn't even need to be turned, because the door was unlocked as soon as the rod got in all the way. Link opened the door, and inside there was a handful of treasure -not nearly as much as last time, but a good share nevertheless- and a box. Tetra took the box and opened it. As she had imagined, inside the box was a torn page from the mythical book. "Great. Now that we have the page, we're done with this place. Let's pick up the treasure and find a way out of here."
*BOOM*
After blowing up the platform that left them stuck on the top floor, Tetra and Link gently glided back to the throne room with the Deku Leaf. Once they touched ground, they looked around to see if they could find any real way out. Suddenly...
*BANG!!*
*CRASH!!*
"Miss Tetra! Are you there!"
"You idiots!!!" Tetra lashed out at the pirates who just blew out a hole into the throne room's wall with the ship's cannons. "Is blowing stuff up the only thing you can do!?"
The pirates looked around at each other with a puzzled look in their faces, then turned to Tetra. "But it's what we do." Gonzo said.
"Just forget it." Tetra said. "We're going down. Wait right there." Then, Link and Tetra held on to the Deku Leaf with one hand, and held the treasure with the other, took a few steps back, then rushed out their new escape route. Working in tandem, Link and Tetra floated gently down from the castle right to the ship's main sail, leading to them sliding down to the deck with great force and scattering the treasure all over. Link and Tetra looked at each other, barely containing their laughter despite the tense moments lived just moments ago.
"So... you're done?" Nudge asked.
"Yeah, we're done." Tetra confirmed. Looking at the golden skies, she figured they had been adventuring for plenty of time. "We're done for the day, boys. Let's grab some grub and cast off this dreadful place. The less I see of it, the better."
That night...
"Captain! Captain!"
"What's all the jammerin' about, sailor?"
"Ship ahoy northwest of here! Looks like our bounty, sir."
"Really, now? Timoneer, take us northwest smoothly. Do not wake a fly, gentlemen. We shall give them a wake up call they'll never forget!"
**To Be Continued**