Krista: Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews! Enjoy these next few chapters, and review at your leisure!
Chapter Twenty-One: The Eastern Temple: Part One
"Why couldn't the Blue Maiden stay with us?" Patience asked as the quartet explored the first room of the Eastern Temple, where another Maiden was supposedly being held.
"It'd be too dangerous for her," Link said, watching the Blue fairy fly off. "The evil in this place is also too strong for her to handle."
"Yeah, imagine if she got captured again," Faith said. "What a pain that would be…"
Hope rolled her eyes at Faith's words, knowing that it would be futile to try to reprimand her sister for her insensitive words; Faith was most likely just being sarcastic, anyway.
"There are switches over here," Patience said from the left side of the room.
"And here," Faith responded from the right.
"Two and two?" Hope asked, glancing back and forth between her sisters.
"I got four over here," the youngest said.
"Ditto," was Faith's reply.
"Well, let's try Patience's switches first," Link said, going over to join the youngest.
"Why hers?" Faith asked, but caught up nonetheless.
With a slight shrug, Link said, "Because I was closer to her than to you, Faith."
Hope chuckled as Faith rolled her eyes at the answer while stepping on one of the switches. An odd sound, one that reminded Hope of a game show when a contestant got the answer wrong, rang through the room, and Patience suddenly yelped at a bomb dropping from the ceiling and landing next to her. The fuse was lit and was quickly being eaten away as more and more bombs fell upon the quartet. Luckily, the four were able to dodge the bombs, watching out for each other, until the deadly rain was done.
"…Shall we try my switches now?" Faith asked, breaking the stunned silence after the bombs. The other three didn't vocally respond; instead, they just followed the middle sister over to the other side of the room. Those switches opened up the door to the next room, and the four immediately drew their swords to attack any evil creatures they may encounter.
"Why aren't they staying still?!" Patience chased after the hopping, skeletal monster.
"Would you stay in place if someone was trying to slay you?" Faith asked, cornering the monster she had been pursuing and dispersing it with a couple of sword slashes.
"Who would want to hurt me?" the youngest asked back as she finally destroyed the creature and collected the Force Gems that appeared after. With a cheeky grin directed at Faith, she said, "I'm too cute!"
Hope just shook her head in amusement at her sisters' conversation while the three followed Link into the next room. The quartet traveled down the corridor on their left, and Hope's walk was halted by Link's hand on her shoulder.
"What's the hold up --?" Faith's words from behind Hope were cut off as giant cannonballs came barreling down the path that the eldest had almost stepped on. "Oh. Right."
Patience pushed her way to the front of the group, placing herself beside Hope to watch the balls roll past them. Her neck craned in an attempt to see down the hole that the balls were disappearing into. "Where are they going? Can we follow?"
"I doubt following the cannonballs will help us find the Maiden," Faith said, her face peeking over Link's shoulder. "I think I see the next corridor past where the balls come out."
"We'll have to go one at a time," Link said, his eyes studying the intervals in between each cannonball. Gently, he pushed the sisters back a step. "I'll go first."
Hope glanced at her sisters, a tad surprised that Faith did not protest, but turned to watch their male companion run and roll out of the cannonballs' way. She felt her stomach twist each time a ball just missed him, but she also giggled with Patience when his hat once again fell off during a roll. He glanced at it fleetingly, and Hope wondered if he was foolish enough to try to get it back. She barely realized the relieved sigh that escaped her when Link made it to the other hallway.
Faith nudged her. "You want to go next?" the middle sister asked. "Or Patience --"
The youngest sister suddenly screamed, startling the other two. Hope turned to Patience, only to whirl around when she noticed Patience staring wide-eyed toward Link. The eldest gasped as she saw Link roll out of the way of a ball after falling b ack onto the cannonballs' pathway. A red snake, hissing, its fangs bared, followed Link, heedless of the cannonballs it was dodging. Another snake was wrapped around the young man's legs.
"To the right, Link!" Hope had jumped at Faith's shout; the eldest was too mesmerized at watching Link try to simultaneously destroy the snakes while avoiding the balls. He took Faith's advice and rolled, not flinching like Hope did when one of the snakes screeched as it was run over by the cannonball that Link just dodged. He ended up on the other side of the pathway in a safe nook, and was able to slash the snake hugging his legs. Link ran back across the path, and the sisters heard another snake screech before a moment a silence.
Link suddenly poked his head around the corridor's corner, giving the girls a sheepish smile, and Hope wasn't sure if she wanted to hug or strangle him. "It's all clear over here! Who's next?"
"You're sure there are no more snakes?" Patience asked hesitantly.
Link chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair. To humor Patience, he glanced behind him. "I'm positive."
To Faith's nudging, Hope took the dangerous path next. She mused over how the challenge wasn't too difficult, but she figured she must have been a bit slower than she thought, for as she got closer to the end of the pathway, Link suddenly pulled her over to him just as an extra-large cannonball passed by.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Hope responded, feeling slightly flustered as she pulled away from his arms. Link nodded, and turned just in time to catch an airborne Patience.
"I saved your hat!" Patience jammed the article of clothing back on Link's head as he put her down beside Hope.
"Haha, thanks!"
"I dunno…" Faith, apparently unscathed from her turn with the pathway, stepped up beside Link, looking at him critically. "I think I liked the 'hat hair' look rather than the 'squashed hat' style."
Link rolled his eyes. "Very funny," he said dryly, yet his hand did stray to his hat to try to fix it. "Let's keep moving."
He led the way into the temple's next room, only to stumble as he crossed the threshold. Cold laughter reached the quartet's ears.
"Having trouble staying on your feet?" Shadow Link taunted, his hammer twirling easily in his hands. Faith went straight for the dark figure, yet she too fell from his hammer's shockwaves. Patience dashed toward him, with Hope right behind her, and managed to take a stab at Shadow Link. Hope got in a second hit before Shadow Link was able to brandish his hammer again.
"Just give up and give me the Force Gem already!" Patience said. Shadow Link glared at her, seemed to hesitate, then smirked and disappeared.
"Hey!" The youngest chased after the fleeting shadow, stomping her feet in frustration when it was gone. "He's supposed to give us a Force Gem!"
"Forget about it, Patience," Hope said. "We'll find more."
"But he's breaking the rules!" Patience persisted, but allowed Hope to lead her back toward Link and Faith.
Link raised an eyebrow. "That guy has rules?"
"Well," Patience crossed her arms, "he should… It should be an unspoken agreement --"
"You can get those big green Force Gems when we figure out how to make the bridge." Faith vaguely pointed to said Force Gems that were floating over the giant gap in the middle of the room. Patience watched the Gems for a moment before nodding to the idea.
"Okay," she said, her voice regaining some spark. "…But we'll still be one hundred Force Gems short because of the jerk-- Oooo, a slingshot!"
Link chuckled as he watched the youngest eagerly grab the weapon that was beside the gap, and he looked closely around the left side of the room. "Hey, girls! While you were talking about Gems, I was over here tripping on switches."
"I blame your big feet-- Oof!" Patience turned and glared at the switch that had tripped her. "I suppose it thinks it's funny disguising itself as a floor tile!"
Her two sisters followed, careful to watch where they stepped, and the four found a switch each to step on simultaneously. The door next to them opened with a whoosh, and they entered to meet spikes directly in front of them. Patience spotted a few crystal switches in the distance, and with the help of her slingshot, the switches were hit and the spikes dropped away to reveal the rest of the room resembling a cross-shape with its few hallways. Right in the middle of the room was a black. Link and Faith pushed it forward -- the only direction it could be pushed in -- and Link picked the north pathway in an effort to keep moving.
"And there's… nothing," Patience announced, walking further into the large room.
"There must be something in here," Faith said, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Patience shrugged while Hope and Link followed the two in the middle of the room.
The door suddenly slammed shut. An odd sound, like bells and violins playing different tunes at once, accompanied by a soft chant, echoed. Bright flames erupted and shot straight for the quartet.
"Scatter!" At Link's shout, the sisters willed their legs to move, and the four darted to the sides of the line of fire. Once the flames hit the wall, they burned out, and th eodd music was heard again, yet this time it came from the right side of the room as opposed to the middle.
Faith and Hope were near the source of the music, and they instinctively stiffened to listen closely. The middle sister leaped into action first, swinging her sword right at the spot of the sounds, causing a wizard-like monster to appear. Due to Faith's strike, the wizard spun toward Patience, who struck next. Hope got in the next hit, pleased that she had been quick enough to attack before the monster was able to recreate its chant. Link finished it off with an expert strike of his blade, and a Moon Pearl fell from the ceiling as their reward.
"Is that it?"
"What else do you want to show up, Patience?" Faith asked, her tone teasing and sarcastic while giving Hope her makeshift pouch to carry the Moon Pearl in.
"I was hoping that the bad dude had a Fire Rod on him," Patience responded with a sigh.
"I'm pretty sure that his flames came from his magic spells, not a Fire Rod," Link said with a crooked smile as the group returned to the previous room. The block had somehow returned to the middle of the area.
"Well," Patience said as Link and Faith shoved the block downward to grant the quartet access to the western room, "then he should have dropped his magic book so I can learn how to make fire."
"Yeah, that's all we need." Faith rolled her eyes and walked into the western room.
"What are those things?" Patience asked, pressing herself closer to Hope as one of the two odd monstrosities floating aimlessly around the room bounced closer to the group.
"I… don't know," Link said, side-stepping the other enemy when it came too close.
"They look like spiky flowers," Patience said, carefully following the rest of the group further into the room.
"Flowers made out of metal spheres surrounded by red electricity…?" Faith raised an eyebrow at her little sister. "Right…"
Patience wasn't paying attention to the rest of the group, anyway. While her three companions inspected the holes in the room, the youngest made a beeline for the chests in the middle of the room. She opened the first one, but couldn't get the item out.
"Someone want to help me --?"
"It's a bomb!" Hope yanked Patience away from the ticking chest, and the two fell down one of the floor's holes. Link and Faith leaped down the holes they were closest to as well, narrowly avoiding the explosion.
"Who puts a giant bomb in a-- Hey, more treasure chests!" Patience opened the chest that was right next to Hope and herself, squealing in delight at the big green Force Gem found inside, while ignoring Hope's exasperated sigh. Link and Faith had landed by a chest as well, the former gaining a heart container, refreshing himself from his bout with the snakes, while the latter found a small key.
The quartet returned to the room above, and made it back to the cross room after Patience opened the second treasure chest for another Force Gem. The block, once again, had been moved back into the middle of the room, and this time it was shoved to the east so the quartet had access to the north and south rooms again. The group went south, using Faith's key to unlock the door.
"Lovely…" Hope sighed at seeing another pathway filled with cannonballs cruising down the only corridor that would allow the quartet to continue onward. Link stepped up beside her, peering down at where the balls appeared and the next corridor branching off by the entrance.
"I can go first again, and--"
"Don't be an idiot!" Hope said. Link blinked at her reaction, and she continued hastily. "These roll faster than the ones at the beginning of the temple, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of regular pauses that would let you run in between them safely--"
"Okay, okay…!" Link let out a chuckle, but quickly sobered up. "We'll look around to find an alternate route first… But we may not have a choice."
Hope just nodded to his words and didn't have time to respond. Patience spoke up from behind them, saying, "My slingshot can't reach those switches over the gap by the room's entrance, either. So, that idea's down the drain-- Ha, ha, ha…!"
Faith was wearing a crooked smile on her lips as she pulled her little sister away from the tickling spot. "Hope, you still have the Moon Pearl?"
The eldest sister obliged, allowing the large gem to dissipate while the Dark World's portal appeared. However, instead of allowing all four companions into the Dark World, the portal alternated between glowing green and red.
"Aw, look how pretty the Christmas colors are!" Patience's smile suddenly turned into a frown. "Wait a minute…" Experimentally, she stepped onto the portal, yet wasn't transported into the Dark World. "That's not fair!"
"I don't think it will listen if you try to argue," Faith said.
"Faith and I will figure out a way for you two to follow," Link said. Looking to the middle sister, he said, "Shall we?" Faith just nodded vaguely to the young man before disappearing first.
"Hope, I'm bored."
"Then watch Link's and Faith's shadows," the eldest replied. Patience blinked until she noticed the two shadows gesturing as if they were arguing. Abruptly, the two shadows moved downward and vanished as they walked through the cannonballs and down the previously-inaccessible corridor.
Patience sighed. "Alright, now what?"
"We wait," Hope said, too calm for the fidgety girl. Patience was able to keep quiet for approximately thirty seconds.
"I spy with my little eye…"
"Patience, please--"
"Link and Faith!"
Hope glanced at Patience for an instant before also spotting the shadows' return. She stepped back away from the portal, but Link's shadow didn't go toward it; instead, he went straight for her.
She yelped when she was picked up bridal-style, and she half-expected the invisible man that was holding her to transform into Shadow Link. However, she caught a glimpse of the shadow on the ground, waiting patiently with his arms out as if allowing Hope the time to get comfortable. Gingerly, she reached up to wrap her arms around where his neck should have been. Her aim was true, for as soon as her hold was secure, Invisible Link carried her over the cannonballs while traveling down the balls' pathway. Link only set Hope down once she was safe in the next corridor.
While Link's shadow walked over to the corridor's far corner, Hope glanced around, noticing the barred door to her right and some strange-looking tiles a few feet ahead of her. She turned around, the dull sounds of the balls rolling out of their entrance catching her attention. As she gazed at the cannonballs' pathway, a sudden fit of panic gripped her, and she looked as far as she dared down the pathway to try to catch a glimpse of Patience. To her relief, Patience, whooping in delight, was also being carried over the cannonballs, although her position in the air reminded Hope of a frog in mid-leap.
"I don't suppose you would have rather had a piggyback ride as well?"
Hope glanced up beside her at the now-visible Link and his smirk. "Your method was just fine, thanks," she said with a crooked smile.
"Good to know," he replied, returning the smile. Hope wasn't sure how to respond, and was glad that Patience's arrival saved Hope from answering. Faith's shadow went to the same far corner that Link had gone to and reappeared.
"Faith, that was fun!" Patience laughed. "Can I have another ride?"
"Not if you keep kicking me in the ribs as if I were a horse."
Patience sheepishly grinned and apologized while following Faith to the strange tiles. Hope and Link followed as well, the eldest realizing that the tiles were actually hidden switches as the four stepped on them. When the switches were activated, the barred door opened. Link, followed by an enthusiastic Patience, led the way into the new room.
Hope glanced over at Faith to go next, but was surprised instead to see Faith staring at her. "Something wrong?"
One of Faith's eyebrows slowly raised. "You're blushing," was all she said, and exited into the next room before Hope could respond.