Chapter Seven: Shadow Temple
Title: LoZ: The Time Keeper
Chapter: 7
Author: Hikari no Vikki
Genre: Romance
Parings: Link x Zelda / OC x Shadow
Disclaimer: I don't own it. Plain n simple.
Description: Previously known as Divine Impurity. Following the events of Ocarina of Time, a girl with a legacy she knows nothing about joins the fight against Ganon. She falls in love with the Hero's shadow, and finds herself caught up in a war that seems impossible to 's Notes-
The Shadow Temple. Cool. This is so awesome, it's all coming together! I think I'll probably finish this in oh… six or seven more chapters.
It was early the next morning when they spotted Link walking through the town, the Lens, or Eye, of Truth in his right hand.
"Please note," he said through gritting teeth, "that I do not like ghosts. Also, given the chance, I will run you over to get away from one." Victoria couldn't help but laugh. "I'm so sorry," she said through a hand over her mouth, "I can't help it!"
Link shook his head as Shadow looked sympathetically at his hikari.
When they got to the graveyard, Link played the song, and it carried them to the area just beyond the fence they couldn't reach.
Shadow thought, he could've, if only to himself.
"Do you still have my dagger?" he asked Victoria as Link preformed Din's Fire to light the torches. She nodded, and this time he noticed she was in a full Shiekah garb. She noticed him looking, and she fingered with the very tips of the suit.
"Impa left me this. If you ask me I rather like it." He smiled gently, his eyes – now blue again – sparkling. "I think it looks nice. And, keep the dagger. I'm no good with it anyway."
She studied it, the different jewels reminding her of the key she'd wished on.
"It's made for throwing, not fighting. I can only guess why you wouldn't like it." She smirked. "You're terrible at throwing things." He shook his head, chuckling. "Got me there." Link looked like he was finished, so Shadow pushed himself off of the wall and walked over. Victoria picked up her new bow and quiver, brimming with arrows. Dagger hidden away in the folds of her clothing, and a visible magical aura surrounding her, she looked very much like someone you didn't want to mess with.
So they entered the temple, coming face to face with an illusion right off the bat.
"Um…" "…that's not a wall, Link. Take a look."
He flashed the Lens, finally seeing the wall ahead of them for what it was. "Oh, so that's how this thing works." She nodded. "But the chasm in front of us is real. You'll need the Longshot for that, unless Shadow can conjure up a bridge of shadows."
Shadow frowned. "I could, but it would take up a lot of energy. We'll have to use the Hookshot, the both of us." He shook his darker glamour and grinned. "We wouldn't want to trouble the Hero's back, now would we?"
Link groaned. "Not you too…" Then he shot off, hanging on the edge before bringing himself up.
Victoria clung to Shadow, her fingers practically digging into his flesh through the cloth. "Not so hard, love," he choked. "Sorry," she whispered, lessening her grip only slightly. "I'm just not fond of… that kind of darkness."
He could practically feel her fear though her bindings.
"I'll catch you. I promise." He shot off, swinging over the edge instead of into the wall. Once they felt safe, they proceeded to the next room.
"'Make my beak face the skull of truth.' So, do they mean the real one or the fake one?" Victoria read in the inscription on the stone bird's pushing pillar, slightly amused. "And what happens if you get it wrong?"
"I don't think I want to know," Shadow interjected, "and really, all you need to do is 'look' at the skulls. It's quite obvious then." She smirked. Her ability to see through the illusions was getting stronger, and she'd already seen through this particular one quicker than Link could even turn on the Lens.
They solved the riddle and obtained the Hover Boots (mostly for Link, as Shadow knew the Temple had been designed partly as a Shiekah training ground and would be of little trouble to Victoria and himself) and then they jumped (Link hover-walked) into the next area.
PFFT! Ssss…
"Ah, Link?" Link cleared his throat. "Yes?" There was a quick brushing sound, and then Victoria's laughter. "Aim next time, will you?" Link attempted to hide his own laughter.
"Will do, Shadow." Shadow, covered in soot but pretty much intact, coughed and shook off the soot with a little magical interference.
"Where to, Hero?" Link, ignoring the name for the moment, pulled out the map he'd found along with the hover boots. "Well it says there's three ways out of here, but…" His Lens, which Victoria had taken the liberty of transfiguring into a sort sling to fit over his head (1) and over one eye, flashed. "I don't see the third entrance."
"Maybe we have to bomb it." Victoria mused, staring at it, arms crossed. "So why don't you two go in each door, Shadow, my right, Link, my left, and then come back with the spoils?" One could almost hear the grin in her voice.
"I'll stay here and make sure the Beamos doesn't grow back."
Shadow nodded. "Sounds like a plan. All right, see you on the other side!" He laughed before grabbing Link's shoulder and whispering, "Don't die on me, got it? I don't have the courage to kill the man myself." Link could hear the joke in his voice, but also the sheer truth. He didn't need the Lens to see through that illusion.
When they came back (at the same time, somehow) Link was covered in several cuts – and there was a rather large gash in the back of Link's tunic – and Shadow's tan had reverted to a cold, white pallor.
"Um…" Victoria trailed off, not wanting to ask.
"Just repair my tunic and forget you ever saw anything, okay?" Link was flushing deeply, his mind fast-forwarding to what was to come. Victoria, stifling as many giggles as possible, waved her hand and snapped, the material stitching itself back together.
"That wasn't so painful, yes?" Still, Link's cheeks remained stained with red. She turned to Shadow. "Now what happened to you?" Shadow hung his head. "Mummies. You… really don't want to know."
He handed Link the compass he'd found after the remaining wall had been blown up. "I believe this is yours?" Link nodded, taking it from his hands and stuffing it into his hat. They walked down into the darkness for a long while until Link cried out in surprise.
"Damn! I hate these things!" He slashed at the Skullatua and it disappeared, but the burn on the underside of Link's thigh was quickly festering beneath the cloth. "Just drink some milk and you'll be fine… and I didn't know you could scream like that." Shadow grinned as he dodged a poorly aimed punch.
"That wasn't funny…" Still, Shadow grinned.
They proceeded further, whacking Skullatua as they fell. When they came to a bunch of guillotines, Victoria whistled.
"Did the Shiekah want their students to die or what?" Shadow shook his head. "No, they wanted to make sure they were good enough." She tilted her head. "So they were only good enough if they lived?" He shrugged. "Pretty much."
She grimaced, but followed them, careful not to get cut.
When they came to what seemed to be the main room, Link stopped short.
"What? Something wro–Link, look out!"
Link jumped out of the way just before the wall master came down on him, Shadow slashing it before it could jump back up. "I hate those too," Link muttered breathlessly, trying to catch his breath again. "You hate pretty much everything that wants to kill you, Link," Shadow intonated sarcastically, "you just hate certain things more than others."
Link thought it over and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."
They flew past the next set of guillotines and were stopped at the end of the barrage by a single Stalfos. Since it was three against one, it was hardly fair (for the Stalfos) but it made up for it by coming back to life, not once, but twice, leaving the three adventurers sweaty and out of breath.
"Things don't know when to stay dead," Shadow spat, flinging sweat from his brow. "Yeah, yeah, let's keep moving. We need to head left from this wall here to…" Link blinked, activating the Lens. "Ah. To these platforms."
They jumped from platform to platform until they reached the next door. The next room was empty, with the exception of a Shield Eater at the end of the room. "It can't be this easy," said Link, putting a hand to his right hip. Victoria shook her head. "It isn't. Just look." Link did, and then blanched.
"Crap. This was in that room from before…" Victoria giggled. "The one that nearly cut your arse in half?" Link reddened considerably. "Yeah, that one." She grinned. "Well I'll handle this then."
It didn't take her very long to torch the Shield Eater and track down the three elusive bats that hung around the room. "Hardly hard at all," she said as they picked up the rupees and arrows from the chests they unlocked. "Yeah," said Shadow, whacking the Gold Skullatua for its precious coin, "and hardly worth the trip."
"Hey," Link said, offended, "there were chests on the map! You never know if it's a key in that chest or something… well, arrows aren't really useless…" Victoria nodded, taking them up.
"Yeah, I used a good bit of mine up hunting those bats. Seems like I need a bit more practice." She refilled her quiver and handed Link the leftovers, which he stuck in his hat. "I still can't get over that thing," Shadow said as they jumped back to where they fought the Stalfos. "Like I said, I don't know how the magic works, I just know that it does. And that, strangely, I never seem to lose whatever I put in there…" Shadow couldn't argue with that as they stepped onto the rising platform.
"So we just jump from here?" "Yeah." "Shit." "No, you do that after you jump." "Not funny Victoria."
She laughed as they clasped hands and jumped blindly, trusting Victoria's sense of direction and sheer luck. It was a miracle to Shadow that they landed where they wanted to, and that they didn't trip on the spike traps that spun around the Beamos that Link actually blew up on the first try.
When they collected the last silver rupee, they entered the next room.
"Ceiling spike traps. Now that one's new." Victoria scoffed. "Quit joking and help me pull out this block will you?" They pulled out the disguised block in the wall and pushed it under both traps. They then plundered the chests and pots in the immediate area.
"Always my favorite part," Link hummed, "you know, plundering."
Victoria laughed as they pulled the block as far as it would go and climbed up. Shadow got the key, and Victoria stepped on the switch, which stopped the moving traps. "Virtually useless. I doubt this helped the self-esteem of whoever got to do this room." (2)
Link shrugged. "It happens. Let's just keep moving."
They went back into the main room and jumped onto more invisible platforms to the north of the door they just exited.
"I would also like to note that I'm not fond of these stupid invisible moving platforms!" Link looked almost livid. Shadow shied away from him by stepping comically to the left. "Something vexes thee?" Link just glared at him. Victoria giggled silently as they unlocked the door and moved on.
"Invisible spikes. I'm beginning to see a pattern here…" "Shut it, Shadow."
Victoria shook her head. "You know, you could just hand me the Longshot and I'll get those silver rupees in no time." Link and Shadow shared a look.
"Sure."
It was a simple puzzle, like the one before. She liked puzzles. Sure it was a little repetitive but it was easy. It just looked hard. She did a couple jumps, getting used to the feel, making it look harder than it really was, making a show of it. By the time she'd finished, the ReDeads she'd torched had left a chest, which Link opened and was waiting patiently for her to stop showing off.
"Okay, we get it, it wasn't that hard. We're just lazy. We admit it." Shadow looked confused. "Wait, who said anything about a 'we'?" Victoria laughed she handed the Longshot (which she hadn't even really used) back to Link.
They retrieved the key from the next room that opened the door to the next room (or rather, the hallway of impossible fans) that Victoria hated, because it turned her hair into a big ball of fluff, which she had to bind and tuck under her clothes and hat.
"You look like Sheik now," Link teased, "without the cowl and the blond hair, at least." She nodded, a sarcastic expression on her face that said, 'get a move on already' several times over.
They finally exited the hallway of impossible fans when they were blown into a hallway that led to a door with lots of cool stuff, so Shadow put it.
"What? It has mummies, pots, and stuff to blow up! It's every adventurers dream!" Victoria snorted. "Yeah, all rolled up into one room. Yes, it's very cool." Shadow laughed as Link killed off the mummies and blew up the rocks that held the key to the next room.
The next room had a really big, scary looking boat that Shadow didn't trust. Immediately he stiffened as he entered, seriousness taking over the joking manner he'd had all the time they'd been in the temple. Victoria didn't trust it either, particularly since it gave off really bad vibes that were messing with her senses.
They got on the boat, seeing as there was no other way to proceed. They had thought about swimming in the 'river' but Victoria pointed out the fact that it wasn't really a river at all.
"Well, it is a river, but not a physical one. It's like a river of souls, and we'll die if we fall in, because only souls can travel the river without the boat." Neither Link nor Shadow wanted to ask how she knew that. Come to think of it, she hardly knew herself.
Must be Cronos telling me these things, she thought as Link began playing the royal family's melody. Suddenly the ship began moving in a most uncomfortable way, and two Stalfos attacked them, almost making them miss being able to jump the ship before it fell into the river.
Shadow looked very green when they checked each other for any injuries.
"If you need to blow chunks, the dead river behind you would be your best bet," Victoria said rubbing his back in gentle circles. Her touch was very soothing to him, and his green pallor quickly faded.
"No, I'm all right. I just wasn't expecting the boat to move like that." A faded grin slid onto his lips, and she kissed him quickly on the cheek, nuzzling it with her nose before leaving to cross to bridge Link had made from a fallen statue.
"Hey wait… don't we need the Boss Key?" Link stopped short, and looked at a door across the bridge. "Uh, you wait here. I'll go get it."
And he ran off before either of them could say anything.
They found a spot on the wall and sat, side by side. "This is interesting. You know, fighting like this. Exploring the temple." Victoria put her hands behind her head. "I suppose. It's better than the last temple." He grimaced. "That was a fiasco." She shrugged, and turned to him, tracing the lines of his chin with a finger.
"You're still on about that? It wasn't your fault, Shadow…" She kissed his lips chastely, and then again, a bit longer. "What matters is here, now…"
"I got it!"
She looked over at Link as he crossed. "And the funny moments." She stood up. "Now come on; we have a beast to slay." Shadow grasped her hand and stood up as Link arrived holding the key. "Had to fight a few floor masters, but them I can handle. Wasn't so hard."
And finally, they crossed the chasm of the next room and into the boss's lair.
Once the door closed they found themselves in a small room with a circle in the middle, most likely leading down to where the boss waited.
"I don't look forward to this one," Shadow muttered. "As it insists on hiding."
"Hiding? More like burrowing. Now come on, it's not going to slay itself." And she jumped down without hesitation. "Victoria!"
Shadow jumped after her, and Link, feeling rather left out, followed.
They landed on a very bouncy surface, one that Victoria felt was odd and rough. Kind of like…
"A drum! Shit!" Shadow got up and turned to her. "What? A drum?" Link got up now. "What does that mean for…" Link nearly blanched pure white as he caught sight of the monster. "Crap." And then it disappeared; beating on the drum and making them loose their traction.
"This is what I meant!" Victoria cried, her magic hot and angry. "I saw the beast before it threw me; this is where it can do the most damage-Shadow!" One of the still visible hands slapped Shadow sideways, but didn't send him into the acid that surrounded the drum. He could've landed there, though. I have to set up a perimeter…
She summoned her staff and concentrated, a bright ring of light shining around the edge of the drum. "Now we won't fall into the acid." She grinned, making her staff disappear and drawing her bow.
"Link! The hands are the weak point! I need you to take you bow and shoot the right one! I'll take left!" She ran to Shadow who, though a little shaken, was not seriously hurt, though he could've been. "Shadow, can you stand?" He got up, and drew his sword.
"I need you to hit the eye of the monster once we bring it down. The master sword would be best, but since you don't have a bow, your sword will have to do. You get what I'm saying?"
Shadow nodded. "And I'll try to distract it so that you can concentrate on shooting. You still got those fairies?" "Link has them." "Good."
"Wait, Shadow!" She face palmed herself. "Damn you…"
She ran over to Link. "Looks like Shadow wants to play hero for us so we can bring it down. How… wonderful." Link knew that through her spiteful comments, she was just worried. "Let's bring it down quickly. I don't want to stay in here much longer… otherwise I'll lose the lunch I had back in that other time…"
This conversation went on as they shot the hands, bringing them down and then the monster itself as Shadow got in a few whacks and then backed away as it recovered. This went on for sometime (Victoria being grasped by one of the hands and squeezed and then thrown against her own shield) but there were no serious injuries by the time Shadow gave his last thrust into the creature and it returned to the shadows from whence it came.
Before Link could step into the blue light, something a sliver of white and blue, appeared before Victoria and Shadow.
"Tha…nks…She…ikah."
And then it disappeared. "I guess it just wanted to say thanks for being freed. Perhaps the spirit can finally be at peace." Shadow nodded, not saying anything. She turned to him and saw that out of the three of them, he was the most bloodied up. Cuts everywhere, some bleeding freely some not. He wasn't bruised or anything, not like Victoria, who was battered, but not bleeding. His sword was soaked, too, but that could be cleaned.
"Come on, let's go. We can rest a night before we set of for the next temple."
Shadow turned to her, and with Link, they walked into the blue light.
.oOo.
Link expected to be alone when he arrived at the Chamber of Sages.
But this time, he stood in front of Victoria and Shadow, who were holding hands tightly. Victoria knew where they were – somehow. Shadow didn't really care where they were, as long as Victoria was with him.
But they all stood in front of Lady Impa, the smiling vigilant attendant Link remembered from that day in the courtyard.
"The boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina...As I expected, you have come. I remember you. You were just a boy, then. But you aren't anymore, are you?"
Link shook his head. "No. Not anymore. I've got blood on my hands. I can't go back to being a kid like this. Even going back for that short time to obtain the Lens of Truth was difficult."
She nodded, understanding. "I am also Princess Zelda's caretaker, and the Sage who guards the Shadow Temple. We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However..." she eyes Victoria warily. "We were diminishing. You had hoped my father would unite the nomad tribes, but, well…" Impa nodded.
"Yes. I had my hopes for your father. He would have united them, I believe, had he the chance. On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked... and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time. Ganondorf's target was one of the keys to the Sacred Realm... the hidden treasure of the Royal Family... the Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach." Her eyebrows furrowed.
"And just before that, he pillaged my village and destroyed your father's chance for peace." She sighed.
"But now I see that you, Link, have become a fine hero... there's nothing to worry about. The Princess is safe now. Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face, and she will explain everything. That is when we, the six Wise Ones, will seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule. I have to stay here... You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf. Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into this Medallion!"
And so Link received the Medallion and felt the familiar surge of power flow through him before everything faded to white.
"Please look out for the Princess!" was all he heard before his head spun.
And suddenly, there they were, standing in the graveyard, the perpetual rain no longer pelting the ground, and the skies were clearing, the night sky shining through.
"Wow. What time was it when we left? Morning?" Shadow was amazed. "I don't even feel hungry…" Link shrugged. "It's something the Temples do to you, I think."
"Mmm." Victoria just stood there, staring at the sky.
"You think we should go get cleaned up and get some sleep before tomorrow?" They both looked at her, and then themselves. "Yeah. I think even I have to admit I need a bath." Shadow grimaced. "All this blood is getting sticky and dry…"
She chuckled smoothly. "Well come on. There's two baths at my father's house. We'll take turns."
Link smiled. He looked forward to sleeping in a bed for once.
(1) Think of Alastor Moody's mechanical eye except on the other side and looks kind of like the Eye of Truth.
(2) I forget what that particular switch does. So in my story it does this. :D
I've got a rough sketch on how the rest of the story is going to go. Once summer hits, I hope to finish this thing and say my life's work is complete! XD