The door finally opened; it seemed as if no one was inside. They heard a wail; Again. The four entered the room, it was dark. They scanned the walls with their hands, but there was nothing. Red tripped over something; he scanned the floor where he was to see what he tripped over. It was a light switch.
"Why put it on the ground?" Green wondered.
"It's for protection purposes." An elderly voice said.
The four turned around and saw a short old man. "Greetings," he said. "I am the Keeper of the lake."
The four looked at him, as if he was crazy. The innkeeper said that he was on a rampage, but he looked completely fine.
"You must be the four heroes, no." The man looked at them, noticing that they looked completely the same. "Come on, there's no need to hesitate." The Keeper led the four into his 'living room', if you could call it that.
The room was lined with limestone; there was a couch and ten chairs with the chairs in two even rows facing the couch. There was also a fireplace, a coffee table, and a few random pieces of art scattered perfectly around the wall.
"Please, sit," the Keeper pointed them to the chairs as he sat on the couch. The four sat in the front, so the Keeper could talk to them and not have to yell. "So," the Keeper continued, "what brings you down here?"
"We came for the golden sword and shield," Green told him, without hesitation. "We also came to help you with your troubles, but you don't seem as if you are angry or anything."
"I don't seem that way to you?" The Keeper was confused as he pulled out a book.
"No, sir," Blue answered, when nobody else said a thing.
"Ah, but I am in a bit of a pickle. Follow me." The Keeper stood up and led them over to a door that had the word 'Laboratory' written on it. He opened the door and said, "My experiments have been out of control lately, I haven't been keeping track of the ingredients that I need for certain ones either. Tell you what; I'll give you the sacred weapons if you help me out." Green and Purple's eyes beamed, they were just waiting for something like this to come up.
Excited as ever, Green and Purple gladly accepted the assignment. Red and Blue looked at each other, as confused as ever about this assignment.
"We'll be leaving now, come on Red," Blue said, grabbing Red by the arm.
Green and Purple didn't care, and neither did the Keeper. He just gladly waved them goodbye, as they walked out.
"This is stupid," Blue said angrily. Red looked at him confused
"What makes you say that?" Red asked, looking Blue straight in the eyes.
"Because," Blue answered loudly, "we can't just sit around doing dumb sidequests all day. We have a land to save, we shouldn't waste our time."
Red completely understood what he meant.
"I knew you'd say something like that." There was a familiar voice behind them. Red and Blue turned around to see Dark standing next to the door. Blue unsheathed his sword, ready for Dark to attack. "Whoa there Blue one, don't want to get in a fight with someone who never attacks now, do you." Dark's cunning words stunned Blue; he never expected Dark, of all people, to say anything like that. Then he realized something...
"What do you mean you knew I'd say that?" Blue asked, finally catching on to what Dark was doing. "What are you planning?"
Dark hesitated; he thought Blue would be the last one to catch on to his plan, not the first. He tipped his hat and said, "Very well then, I'll tell you everything.
"While you were sleeping, I sent out a Dark clone to stall you guys. I told him to possess the Keeper of the Lake and have you do experiments. Meanwhile, I would search the lair for the golden sword and shield. I would then take it to Vaati, and let him do what he wanted with it.
"Oh, and by the way; I would never do anything to kill you. This is only because if you die, I die. I only stall you and let Vaati do the rest. And another thing, that little girl you met earlier Red; she was possessed as well, but only to make sure that you would come down here."
"You make me sick!" Blue spat, looking at Dark with an evil eye.
Dark looked at Blue and smiled, he pulled out his sword. "But now that you know my plan," he said with an evil tone, "I'll just have to knock you out so I can continue with my search." He swung at Blue, but ended up chopping the top of a chair. Blue went behind Dark and tripped him; Dark fell flat on his face.
Dark got up and saw that Blue and Red were both prepared to strike. He formed a clone so that they could have an even fight. Blue fought the original, while Red fought the clone. This went on for a while, when Blue noticed that one of the paintings was completely different from the others. He remembered that he still had his bow. Blue ran towards the coffee table and jumped on top of it; he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, and placed it in his bow. He pulled back on the string and aimed at the string that held the painting up; he let go of the string and watched the arrow fly. The painting fell, revealing a button.
"Red!" Blue yelled pointing at the button. Red looked at Blue, then the button, then back at Blue, and nodded. Dark was focused on Blue, while the clone was nowhere to be seen. Red pulled out his boomerang and threw it at the button. When the boomerang hit the button, Blue had run towards the door to the lab. Suddenly, a trapdoor opened up and Dark fell in it; taking the half of a chair with him. Red almost fell in it, but Blue caught him just in time.
Blue opened the door to the lab, and saw Green, Purple, and the Keeper (obviously still possessed) working on a project. "Get away from them you faker!" Blue yelled at the Dark clone that possessed the Keeper. Green and Purple looked at him with a confused look on their faces.
"What are you talking about Blue?" Green asked.
"There's a Dark clone possessing the Keeper, Dark Mike just told me so."
"So, you figured me out," The Keeper said. "Well then, let me show you the real me." The Dark clone came out of the Keeper, ready to strike. Both Green and Purple had surprised looks on their faces; they were having so much fun doing those science experiments. The Dark clone charged at Blue; not realizing that Red was behind Blue ready to attack. When the clone was three feet away from him, Blue stepped to the side and let Red attack the clone. Upon contact of the sword, The Dark clone disappeared in a black smoke.
"What just happened!?" Green was shocked as he said those words.
"A Dark clone is what happened." Blue said, picking the Keeper up off the ground.
"How did he manage to take over his body?" Purple asked, astounded.
"I guess he is more powerful than we thought." Blue assumed.
"We should wait until he wakes up." Red changed subjects over to the Keeper.
"What do we do about that?" Green was pointing at the main hall, it was completely demolished. Pictures shattered on the ground, furniture all destroyed, and a random pair of pants in the middle of the room.
"We should probably clean this up," Blue sighed. "I'll get the broom."