Author's Note: This certainly felt like a long time that I have taken not writing this story, but it is finally here and I am semi happy with how this has turned out. Nonetheless, Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are polished and so much better than the originals, so please check them out if you want to. Anyway, please enjoy the latest chapter of Shards of Time.
Extra Note: The Forest Temple is set out a little differently compared to the one in the actual game. Unlike in the early chapters of this story containing the Spirit Temple that was like the Adult Section of the game, most of the Temples will be unlike their game counterparts but look the same.
"Sometimes you don't need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens."
~Mandy Hale~
Shards of Time
An Ocarina of Time FanFiction
Chapter 18: Phantoms
"For the Forest Temple, I didn't think grass could be this..." I pause, grimacing a little. "Weird." I crane my neck skyward, straining it to see the extremely high ceilings above us. My side brushes against a thick wall of vines, startling a small nest of Skulltulas inside. Although I reluctantly took the bag, I shift its weight over my back and adjust the grasp on my scimitars. Navi snorts from above, though doesn't respond.
We file through a thin corridor made entirely of stone, something that I didn't expect in the Forest Temple of all places. Skulltulas skitter about the ceiling above us, watching us skeptically. I glare back at them, even if Link's nudge in my ribs brings me back to reality for a while.
Thankfully, he doesn't seem to realise how affected I am from the Forest.
I take the lead as a small door opens up into a large room, lights barely light up the room, leaving it so dark that I can't see more than a couple of feet around us; the Guardian Fairy's light not helping. Shuffling forwards, I jolt into a stop when I collide with a stone railing on either side of a small set of steps, glancing around and praying that nothing attacks us. "Did you ever come here before?" I ask the air, hoping that Link hears me.
"No." Is the simple reply. "I had only seen it, but neither Saria nor I ventured inside because of how dangerous it looked. If she is in here..." He leaves the comment hanging, and I'm actually glad for it. I may not know Saria, but having a child in a place like this is concerning nonetheless, and I don't want to think about what could be happening to her.
Navi flies on ahead, illuminating the stairs for us to move down. Vines hang low from the vaguely dome shaped ceiling, decorated with what I seem to think are insignia of the symbol of the Forest: Silva. Immediately ahead, however, stand four torches, each lit with different colours: orange, blue, green, and purple, a sheltered platform in the centre of these. The plush red carpet at our feet is tainted with spider webs, directing us to five corridors leading further into the Temple.
Something is entrancing about the four torches, and I find myself extending a hand towards them despite the worried remarks from my companions. I lean forwards, about to indulge my hand in the closest flame, when both that and the other three slivers of fire are extinguished. I blink rapidly, shaking myself from what I had fallen into, and shuffle back to my friends' sides.
"Are you all right?" Link asks through the darkness that has befallen the room because of the lack of torches.
I wet my lips and inhale, ready to respond, only for a set of cackles to radiate throughout the room. I tense, the Guardian Fairy cowering behind us as four figures appear in the distance, ones that I can barely see through the blanket of blackness. The four bright torches spark once again, though they are dimmer and spark atop the torches in each of the figures' hands. They chant something in an unknown language before gliding away, the torches gone again.
Because of this, the sheltered platform that I barely saw before lowers into the ground, unable to be used. Navi, now that the figures have vanished from the room entirely, flies up into the air and condenses her so that we can see more of the room again. Even though this will tire her out a little, she doesn't seem to act too badly at the moment. "They said: if you can match our powers, then you will be granted access to our Master's true power."
I whirl back around to them. "Well, what are we waiting for?" I question calmly. "We've got to get those... flames back!"
"Wait!" Link calls, though I don't stop until he forces me to. He catches my arm, spinning me around. I struggle, but the look in his eyes stops me quicker than I would have expected from myself. "What makes you think that we can trust them? They... I don't have a good feeling about them."
I scoff, rolling my eyes as he finally releases me. "It's not like we have much of a choice here, Link. What else can we do? Leave Saria in this place?" I have struck a nerve, and I know it. A shadow looms in his irises for a long time, although he chooses not to let it claim him. "Look, they may not be trustworthy, but we don't have any other options. You heard what Navi translated it as: we can't do anything else but find those flames."
"But we do, Ciren. We do have other options." I tear my gaze away from Link for a moment to glance at the Guardian Fairy, who sits politely atop my head. "I think that these are—"
A scream cuts her off, and I jump so violently that it knocks her off of my head. "No..." I whisper, changing my grip on my scimitars before racing off towards one of the doors where the cry came from. "Nisah!" Despite the beckoning from my friends behind me, I fly up a set of steps and balance my scimitars in one hand with amazing speed as I drag one of the doors open, uncaring for the sound of it locking shut behind me.
Someone, three guesses who, throws themselves at the barred door without prevail on getting through it. I don't shout for him to stop, nor do I bother to tell him that I am fine, because I am taken in by Nisah's pain filled screech and bolt again, holding my blades across both hands again. I don't care for the fact that she no longer cares for my existence, or wants nothing more than my blood on her hands, but she is my friend, and I won't let her feel this sort of pain again.
Dashing down another vine covered, stone corridor, I emerge at the top of a large staircase, swinging around the railings and running down the mossy steps, noticing that the paintings hanging from the walls are altering as I move, but I don't care enough again to care about it. I jump the last few steps, skidding into a stop when I see candles dotted about the brick walls, a standing torch beside a barred door.
My eyes fly around the room, toes poised as I spin around. "Nisah?" I call out, panic rising within me. "Nisah, where are you?!"
"C-Ciren...?" A gasp is dragged free of my lungs, and I whirl around to where I had come from, watching in surprise as Nisah limps down the steps, barely supporting her own weight. At the back of my mind, I question how I didn't see her on the way since there were no other entrances and exits around us, however it all fades when the Gerudo collapses at the base of the steps.
Dropping my weapons, I rush over to her and fall to my knees, pulling her weak body onto my lap and cradling her bloody form. "Holy mother of Din, Nisah, what happened to you?" I breathe, eyes widening at the sight of the large number of deep cuts across her abdomen, arms, legs, and neck, the bruises on her face darkening by the second. If I coud cry easily like a Hylian, then I would. "N-Nisah..."
She coughs up blood, the force of the action rattling her entire body. Her eyes, ones surprising a little more orange than gold, flicker up to mine, and her lips twist into a sly, cruel smile. It is cold and malevolent in nature, and I tilt my head, hand stretching over to my scimitar, ready to knock her out if she tries to attack me.
But that doesn't happen.
As my arm reaches out, the Gerudo reveals a set of pearly, yet blood stained, teeth and her hand shoots into the air, sending me bodily backwards and into the wall. I slam hard into the wall, sliding down it with a groan. My eyes find Nisah again, only to watch in pure shock as her body flickers in and out of existence. At first, I wonder if it is a trick on my mind and isn't actually happening, although I seem to disagree with that when her body shifts and changes.
"Nisah? What is—?" I don't even get a chance to reply before she darts towards me, using magic to place the torch that the figures had earlier into her hand, knocking the end of it into the side of my head. Thanks be to Din, I don't fall out of consciousness, yet the force of it does send me into a dazed stupor while blood streams down the side of my head.
Mouth hanging open, I clumsily pull myself to my feet and listen to Nisah's laughs as I stumble towards my weapons, my bag falling from my shoulders in the process. I fall onto my knees, fingers wrapping around the familiar hilts before me, and the world tilts from side to side as I attempt to climb back onto my feet. Whispers fill my mind, the influence of the Forest affecting me for now as my once friend throws herself at me, but I know that I won't give in.
And yet, even that resolve is twisted.
As Nisah flies at me, her body, as if like shattered glass, breaks apart to the sound of tearing wet meat, and her body transforms into something that may resemble one of the four figures that I had seen before. The hunched over figure collides its body with mine, and we both hit the wall behind me, orange eyes that once belonged to Nisah boring into my own. The Carmesi uniform is burnt away and replaced by thick, orange robes that submerge the being before me.
"Such a weak, petulant child, falling for the simplest of hoaxes merely because of emotion." The figure hisses in Ancient Gerudo, the metal of the torch holding me in place while the dark skinned hand holds my face close. I struggle furiously, but the hold that the figure has on me along with the fire of the lit torch close to licking my skin keeps me quiet. "I have longed to see one like you, but you are just like the rest: simple minded, unjust, a burden, a—"
"No, I'm not!" I cry, dropping one scimitar so that I can try and work the torch away from my neck. "I may not always think before I act, and I may be easily played, but at least I have the capability to care about those around me. Monsters like you are deranged, lifeless beings that need to find the darkness inside of people so that they can—!"
The Poe, I think, screeches, causing me to flinch back against the wall as it brings the torch up to my face, laughing manically in delight when the flames of the torch burrow deep into my skin, burning the numerous layers of skin around my neck and jaw. The grip on my other blade almost completely falters from the pain that I scream from the intensity of it, however a flame inside of me ignites, and I drive my scimitar up towards the Poe and bury it into its side.
The being leaps away from me, though I shout a battle cry and drag my blade out, stabbing the Poe through the heart once before falling to the ground. The Poe flickers from its true form to Nisah and then back a number of times before falling to the ground in a mound of ashes, the torch clattering against the floor before the flame disappears, magic engulfing it and most likely returning it to its original place.
Silence befalls the room, and I release a ragged sigh, finally permitted momentary peace to treat my wounds. I don't have any major injuries except for the hit to the side of my head and the major burn clawing its way from my collarbone to the base of my right cheek, just above the jaw. I hiss at the pain that radiates around the area, biting down on my lip so hard that it draws blood.
Now that the burning has ceased and I don't have any clothing around the burn, I crawl across the floor towards the bag that I am now thankful for holding, rummaging through everything that Link and I had packed for the journey. Plucking out a bottle of water, I pour it gently over the burn, biting down harder on my lip. Naturally, any burn should be placed in water for twenty odd minutes, but I don't have the time nor the water for that, so I down a Red Potion and wrap it as best as I can.
I place my fingers against the side of my head, finding them no longer wet with blood, but caked with dry blood instead. Knowing that I have to save all of the water for the burn, I leave the dried blood where it is and use the wall as a primary support as I climb onto my feet. I sheathe my weapons, still feeling dizzy from hitting the walls so hard, however push on through and balance the bag over my back so that it doesn't interfere with the moist burn.
You've gone through worse than this, haven't you? A little burn can't stop you.
The door ahead opens suddenly, and the whispers increase as I make my way towards it, knowing that the way that I had taken before will probably still be locked tightly, and the Temple will loop around at some point. As I continue to stagger through the corridors, I start to hallucinate as well. Images of Link and Navi are the most prominent, however I fall for them time and time again whether the images shown to me make sense or not. If it isn't my companions, then they are other dominant figures in my life.
Until I hear the screams of Kaei, and in the back of my near corrupted mind, a voice whispers: "Such a weak, petulant child, falling for the simplest of hoaxes merely because of emotion."
~Interlude~
"Do you think Ciren is all right?" Navi glanced down at her partner, who climbed up a small set of vines, constantly checking for signs of Skulltulas after many incidents with them. They had not ventured far into the Forest Temple, however they had managed to find a pathway leading through a garden like area, a pristine cutting through the main room and past a filled well. "If that was Nisah, then who knows what will happen, and if it's a hoax..."
"What makes you think that it's a hoax?" The Guardian Fairy asked quietly, scanning the area for Skulltulas, Deku Babas, and other threats nearby. "It sounded genuine, as unfortunate as it is. Either they will fight, or Ciren will break the curse on her friend. I don't see where there is a hoax in that."
Link sighed, hoisting himself onto the top of the wall, glancing out onto the room beneath him before carrying on, walking down a winding corridor and through vine covered rooms that were void and empty, death's silent breath being their only sound. "Well, the door immediately locked after she had gone through, and from what I have heard about Nisah, she wouldn't go through all of this just so that she could find Ciren. She would wait until we came out of the Temple, or out of the Forest entirely."
The Guardian Fairy hummed, starting to agree a little. "We can't worry about Ciren." Navi said in the end, trying her best to keep herself from being pessimistic. "She can take care of herself, no matter whether it was real or not. We need to get these flames back, and hopefully we'll find her in the process."
As she spoke, Link made his way through a twisted corridor and into a large, square shaped room made up of mossy brick. Pillars stood embedded into the walls, strange symbols painted onto the bricks, very few candles illuminating the way. To their right stood a barred door, an unlit torch in front of it, a black painting on hanging on the opposite wall with nothing inside.
Link was about to respond, although stopped at the main sight before him. One of the four figures that they had seen before, cloaked in thick green garments, floated about the room with numerous arrows stuck in its body above a small, cowering child holding a bow of sorts. Some arrows were lodged into the wall. "Mido!" He raced forwards and stood in front of the Kokiri, startling him. "What are you doing here?!"
"I wanted to help!" The child replied, as if trying to prove himself through his words. His arms shook as he pulled back on the bowstring. "I don't need your help in saving Saria! I was doing just fine on my own!" The Kokiri's Guardian Fairy flew in Navi's direction, catching Mido's attention. "Hey, when did you get a Fairy?! I didn't see it yesterday. You're not even a Kokiri!"
Using the torch as a weapon, Link threw the figure away with his blade. "This isn't the time to be asking, Mido. You need to run from here before you get hurt!" And yet, from the lack of footsteps that Link heard, he realised that Mido was the same child that he had grown up with. "Navi, do you even know what this is?"
"It's a Poe, I think..." She mused, only for the Poe to disappear without warning. "Yeah, that's a Poe. Aim for her when it appears!" Link made sure that Mido was away from the fight through the boy's Guardian Fairy before the Poe reappeared with its back to him, giving Link the chance to strike from the back. It whirled around, the torch in its hand with a green flame colliding with Link's head and sending him to the ground.
"You shall pay for that, you petulant child!" The Poe, green eyes gleaming with hatred, raising the torch into the air. Using some form of magic, the torch transformed into a fiery blade, green flames dancing across the metallic surface. From the fall, the sword fell from Link's hand and left him frozen on the spot, staring into the green orbs in panic.
While his Guardian Fairy tried her best to distract the Poe, Link flinched backwards as the sword came down, only for his eyes to open when he heard a sickening thud. Snapping back into a more alert state, he stared at the Poe as the sword reverted to a torch, a new arrow sticking out of its back. Mido watched on with a triumphant grin as Link pierced the Poe with his blade, reducing it to a mountain of glowing ashes.
"Oh, so "you need to run before you get hurt", huh? Hmph!" Mido taunted, trying to mimic Link's tone.
He shook his head. "Thank-you, Mido." Link praised, though his tone was serious. "Come on, let's get you out of here." Link moved towards the door, stopping both when Mido did not budge and the standing torch lit up with a green hue, unlocking the door. The small Kokiri still did not move. Sighing deeply, Link knelt down before the child. "You won't be helping Saria by being here." He clarified. "And she wouldn't want you here, now, would she?"
"You sound like him."
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "That doesn't matter, Mido. The Great Deku Tree always told you how dangerous this place was. Even if he is gone, he's still watching over you." The Kokiri's eyes widened, and his head lowered. Link held his hand out, and less reluctantly, Mido took it. From above, Navi smiled wistfully.
Opening the door, the four entered a well lit corridor, no vegetation caking the walls whatsoever. And yet, there was an unnatural chill about the Temple. "If you're going to make me go, have this." Link glanced down at the Kokiri, sheathing his weapon to take the Fairy Bow from the child's hand, the quiver with it. After a moment, Mido removed his hand and ran on ahead, embarrassed. Link smiled, thankful, for the first time, for having a body that Mido didn't recognise.
The small Kokiri pushed the door shut behind them as they exited the corridor, both he and his Fairy staying behind Link and Navi as they emerged back into the main part of the Forest Temple atop a balcony, one rather broad and open compared to other concepts within the Temple. The four shuffled towards the edge of the railing, leaning over the edge (or between the bars for Mido) and into the darkness below.
To their surprise, three out of the four torches had been relighted orange, blue, and green. "You defeated one of the Poes, so the torch was lighted again." Navi announced happily, bobbing up and down around her partner's head. "And the other two must have been Ciren's job. Now, if we only knew where the last one was..."
As the Guardian Fairy spoke, Link leaned further over the edge, catching something in the darkness. He caught the same aura from the other Poes, hair standing on end. Eyes widening a little, he knelt back down to the small Kokiri boy. "Mido, I need you to get out of here as fast as you can." Mido was about to retort, but Link shook his head. "You've been to Saria's special place and back countless times from what I have heard, so you know your way home. Don't play the Hero, because it isn't worth it."
Mido tried his hardest to stand his ground, however both Link and his Guardian Fairy (after watching her partner for a moment, concerned) were gone. While they went onward and into the darkness, the small boy glared at the decreasing shadows for a moment angrily before darting away at the dark sensation that he suddenly felt. Navi hung back for a moment, internally questioning what her partner was doing, then realised exactly what was happening once Mido and his Fairy were gone.
In the centre of the torches, where the sheltered platform once rested, stood a figure cloaked in darkness, the shadows shifting and pulsating around them. Their back was turned away from the two of them, standing tall for all to see. The Guardian Fairy stared on as her partner took a hesitant step forwards, the former gasping lightly when she heard him whisper: "Ciren?"
The figure turned around slightly, the torchlight catching their face to reveal the scarred complexion of the Gerudo, angry red skin highlighting her features. Through the low lying mist, her golden eyes glimmered, lips parting to reveal her usual grin. "Oh, don't be so scared!" She laughed, though even Navi did not smile back. "I've been waiting for you two to get back so we could finally find the last Poe. You took your time, huh?"
Link, shaking his head, sheathed his weapon, still unnerved about the darkness surrounding them. "One of the Kokiri came into the Temple to help us, so we got held up." He replied calmly, fingers twitching for a weapon to hold. "I didn't think that you would be waiting after we got separated. What happened?"
Ciren shrugged, keeping her scimitars out. "One of the damn Poes appeared in the form of Nisah to get me alone, and another as Kaei. I kicked their asses easily, though, so all we need to do is find the last one." She jerked involuntarily, and when the Guardian Fairy voiced this, the Gerudo waved off all concerns. "The burn keeps acting up every now and again. Come on; we need to go."
Ciren allowed her companions to file on ahead, shaking her head wildly as her hands shook for a moment, as if fighting something. Her eyes took on a violet hue, then settled as gold once again. One staircase ahead was one that none of the Heroes had climbed before, and so set off towards that way first. The Gerudo lowered her head for a moment, stiffening, then crept forwards as if to attack, the only person there being her companion.
And yet, as the Gerudo rose her scimitars for an attack, Link spun around, blade clearing its sheathe and meeting the duel blades evenly.
Ciren didn't even flinch, golden eyes dancing with lavender. "There is darkness around us, can't you see it?" She hissed, her tone taking on two voices. "You saw it all along, didn't you? What a clever boy to leap to the truth so quickly. It's such a shame that even your light cannot cleave this darkness..."
Noticing the colour of his companion's eyes, Link managed to push her away and back towards the centre of the room. "Leave her alone!" He called, the child coming out in his voice. "If you want to fight, then don't take over other people to try and gain an advantage." The Gerudo giggled, parrying any attacks as the two shifted back towards the centre. "Why are you doing this? We just want to help the places that we care about..."
"My Master will find such things entertaining, and I will do all to please him." Ciren replied, eyes revealing a harsh battle between gold and purple. "After all, even though you have somehow managed to comprehend what I have done so quickly, you do seem to take your time in noticing when friends are in danger, don't you?" Navi, quickly understanding what the Poe meant, darted towards the Gerudo in a blinding light, only to be batted away in moments.
Link watched as his partner recovered, then turned back on his friend. "What do you mean?"
Ciren laughed harder, the purple in her eyes winning. "Do you not recall the warnings you were given about coming here? That those unwanted in the Forest would be repelled." The boy, remembering such things, tightened his grip around his weapon. Ciren noticed. "Those constant breaks that were asked for? Those dazed moments of silence? The way that she attempted to cover up the pain for you so that you wouldn't fret? You didn't even notice that the Forest is poisoning her!"
A cold, stony silence befell the room where no one spoke. Link bowed his head, ashamed for allowing the Poe to get to him in such a way, but he didn't have much of a choice; the Poe was right. His tunnel vision, his ability to forget all but the task at hand, caused him to ignore his companion's plight, and now he was going to pay for it. "I'm not leaving until you release her."
"Of course you aren't." The Gerudo sneered, lowering herself into a battle stance, her tone shifting back into her more natural voice, as if she was unaffected by the Poe's influence. Purple flames ignited around Ciren, even if she did not react to them in any way whatsoever. "Are you here to fight me, Link?" Swallowing thickly, the boy reluctantly readied himself. "I am not like my other pitiful sisters, for I want to hang onto this vessel for as long as I can..."
Hesitation building, Link jumped forwards and clashed blades with his once partner, eyes burning. The Gerudo giggled abnormally, mouth hanging open in ana attempt to intimidate the boy with her sharp teeth and flaming purple eyes. As the two battled, neither landing hits, the Guardian Fairy watched for any signs of weakness. She had never seen Ciren sparring, although she had in real battles. Either way, Navi could see very little with how fast they were both moving.
"Why did you choose her?"
The Gerudo shoved him away with her scimitars. "The Forest weakened her enough for me to take. And, after all, I haven't seen any other Gerudo around these parts other than my Master's followers, but they weren't what I wanted." She knocked the boy's feet out from underneath him, dropping to her knees and leaning in close with her weapons, rendering his useless. "Aren't I so fragrant and young? I will never allow this body to age, nor be free from my grip. I can walk upon this world and entice all who look my way or murder them with my bare hands!"
Link kneed the Gerudo's stomach, forcing her away so that he could stand again. Growling, Ciren jumped at her friend once more, sword extended. As he protected himself, Link's Guardian Fairy hugged close to his neck. "Look up." He complied, eyes widening a little in alarm. "All of the darkness is condensing above her. If you can hold Ciren back, then you could attack the darkness and free her."
"On the offensive, I see." The Gerudo remarked when the tides of battle began to turn. Against her true nature, Ciren began to defend more than attack. "What is going on in that smart little head of yours, boy?"
Link didn't respond, finally seeing an opening to attack. He pushed the Gerudo back, sending her staggering backwards and quickly recovering, but she was too late. Dropping the Master Sword, Link drew the Fairy Bow and knocked an arrow into place, sending the ammunition into the centre of the darkness dripping from above Ciren. The Gerudo cried out when the arrow struck its target, revealing another Poe, this time dressed in purple.
Navi blinded the Poe as her companion grabbed his sword again, the Poe gliding down to the ground reluctantly and allowing Link to attack. The blessed sword hit once, then twice, only to be pushed away by Ciren on the third attempt. She was clearly in pain, connected to the Poe now in more ways than one. Shaking his head, the boy distanced himself between the Gerudo and now revealed Poe, keeping Ciren away as much as he could so that he could shoot at the Poe, who couldn't dart away fast enough from strikes.
Once the being fell to the ground once again, the Master Sword slid through its dark body, the final blow landed.
Ciren screamed in pain as the Poe rose high into the air, heavenly light surrounding it, clearly in pain. Finally free of the Gerudo's body, the being muttered one last thing before disintegrating completely: "I may now search for a new body, but if you believe that you have struggled here then you have no chance at matching my Master!"
The ashes of the Poe's body drifted down to the ground, though Link's eyes did not watch it for long before a thud reached his ears. Spinning around, he broke into a run as Ciren fell onto her side, arms lying around her head as her weapons clattered against the floor; far from her hands. Drawing her body into his lap, the boy and Fairy exchanged concerned glances as the Gerudo spasmed in his arms, the Forest's influence attacking her again.
And yet, Ciren calmed after a long minute of fighting off such attacks in her unconscious form, whimpering once before falling still, now golden eyes fluttering open again. Once her eyes landed on her companions, her lips twisted up into a sarcastic smirk. "Maybe those seven years helped you swing the pointy thing better after all." The Guardian Fairy smiled, although Link did not share the same emotion.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ciren's shoulders slumped as she drew herself into a seated position, shifting her body onto the ground even if the boy still held her around the shoulders. "It was my problem, not yours. I wasn't going to tell you if it was only going to make you even more angsty about being back here after so long. And besides, you would have tried to make me leave and I couldn't when you convinced me enough to come with you in the first place."
Link glanced up at Navi. "Did you know about this?"
"Navi knew nothing." Ciren lied, even if it was near obvious that she was.
The Guardian Fairy shook her head. "No, Ciren's wrong; I did know. I knew for a while, and I promised Ciren that, at her request, I wouldn't tell you unless I was asked. If you asked me, then I would have told the truth."
The boy did not yell, nor did he feel angry. Of course, he wished that he was told, however they knew him more than he did, it seemed. He pulled the Gerudo into a tight hug, no matter how much so tried to resist, fear coursing through his body. "I thought that I had lost you to that... Poe. I promise that I'll protect you." Navi smiled from above, watching as Ciren stopped fighting after hearing such words.
"I don't need protecting, Link. I'm fine." When she finally pulled away, she ran her fingers through her crimson hair. "But... thanks, for having my back." Although she was unsteady on her feet, the two rose again and collected their weapons. "Ironically enough, whatever that Poe did to me seemed to heal up most of my wounds, so I guess we'll be all right to move on, then, huh?"
The Guardian Fairy flew down, hands on her hip. "Not to rain on the parade here, Ciren, but there's something that we need to settle." Ciren raised a brow as Navi continued. "You were extremely burnt, no matter what you say about the Poe healing most of it, knocked around the head, possessed, and being pushed out by the Forest. Before we came here, it wasn't too bad, but I can't be silenced now. Who, in their right mind, would think that you would be allowed to carry on after all of that?"
"Me, because this is exactly what I knew was going to happen." She turned to the two of them. "I don't care what this damn Forest is doing to me, because I'm going down there no matter what. Any chance to help you, my Sisters, or exact some form of attack on the "King" is something that I want and will take."
As if on cue, the final torch was ignited once more with a lilac flame, and the sheltered platform rose from the ground again. Navi was ready to retort some form of reply, then turned to her companion for help. Link sighed, unsure of what to say or do for a moment. After a while, he finally said: "I have to agree with Ciren." The Guardian Fairy tilted her head. "I want Ciren to leave as much as possible, but it may be faster and easier to free the Temple over guiding her all the way back through the Lost Woods and then come back here."
"I suppose, but what if the influence becomes too much and someone even close to being like Ganondorf is down there? We won't be able to help her, nor have enough time to get her out of the Temple before she is claimed."
The Gerudo scoffed. "I will hardly let the Forest "claim" me, since I prefer skin over bone and curses." She muttered, then raised her voice for the other two to hear better. "Firstly: I'm not leaving even at swordpoint, and secondly: what if something happens to either of you, huh? You've been thinking about me, which is what I didn't want, and you're forgetting the more important concept: if something happens to Link, the Hero of Time, or to you, Navi, then there will be very little that the other can do to help if they are facing Ganondorf or one of his commanders."
"I..." The Guardian Fairy huffed loudly, crossing her arms. "Fine, but I'm not going to be the one to blame if something happens down there."
"Nothing is going to happen if I'm with you." Ciren replied simply, then gestured towards the platform. "I told you both: whatever the Poe did healed most of whatever the other Poes did to me so that she... it, whatever, could survive. She did everything that she could to live on, and it was passed on after you freed me. I'm not the one to be worried about here, since the Forest's "influence" isn't hitting me too hard after the Poe."
Against her wishes, the Guardian Fairy joined up with her partners as they descended into the earth, feeling that something was about to happen. She didn't know what it was, but it didn't matter since either way, the future looked dim for the Heroes.
