A/N: The going is gonna be a lot easier from here. I'm hoping to get chapter 35 and these revisions done before the anniversary on the 26th. Wish me luck!

Revised as of 9/4/14

Chapter 20: Surprise

The walk from Telma's to Lake Hylia was a quiet one. I was still trying to figure out what had happened to Link and I earlier when the monsters attacked, who knew what he and Midna were thinking about, but none of us were talking.

Then we reached the bridge above Lake Hylia. There was a blackened slick fluid atop the stone that formed the bridge. Oil, or something else flammable. Whatever it was, it smelled acrid.

"Hey, Link, do you smell that?" I asked, putting a hand over my nose.

'Yeah. What is that?' he asked, shaking his head. Before I could answer, I saw a flaming arrow zip over us, igniting the oily substance on the bridge. Then I looked the other way, seeing the Twili Bulblin drop a torch on his side. I cursed loudly.

"We're trapped!"

"Do you think we can't see that?" I snapped. I looked around, trying to find a box or something to stand on. There weren't any. With a scowl, I climbed up to a ledge on the bridge, gesturing for Link to do the same, without looking. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to not look down. "Come on!"

"Are you crazy?!" Midna shrieked. I turned back to glare at her

"Do you want to be burned alive?" I asked, gesturing to the fire that was drawing ever-closer. She shook her head. "Then jump!" I yelled before doing so.

I couldn't help the terrified scream that escaped my throat. As the water grew closer, I took a deep breath and used Nayru's Love. It softened the blow.

"I am not doing that again!"

"If you're lucky, you won't have to." I muttered towards the imp.

I looked around me at what was left of Lake Hylia. The fact that such a beautiful place was so dreary and gloomy was upsetting. I had a lot of good memories here before.

'Hey, you okay?' Link asked. I looked over to him, shrugging the sad thoughts away.

"Yeah, fine, why wouldn't I be?" I asked, swimming to the dry land. "Stupid bulblin, trying to light us on fire..." I growled childishly, kicking a rock and consequently slipping on said rock back into the water. I scowled, glaring at the laughing Midna. I sighed sadly, then, looking at the remains of Lake Hylia.

Once again shaking my sadness away, I started walking towards Falbi's cannon. Link followed soundlessly behind me. He seemed lost in thought. Then I remembered something.

"Bulblin, to our right. Think we can catch it off guard?" I asked. Link seemed confused, looking in its direction. "It's gonna call a giant twilit bird thing if it gets to the Hawk grass before we take it out."

'Right. Easy enough, though a dragon would be pretty helpful right about now.'

I nodded, shrugging. "It was her birthday, I didn't want to take her away from Carmen and the kids, and safety." Even if I did feel like a schmuck for leaving on her birthday, I most certainly wasn't dragging her into this mess on that day.

"Then again, a bow would also be kinda nice. I suppose I'll have to get that fixed soon." I mused.

'What next?' Link asked once we'd taken care of the bulblin, leaving the Kargorok lost and confused.

"We can use this guy to get us to the upper river." I explained. He nodded. Hesitantly, I climbed on top of the kargorok, and Midna floated up in front of me.

"Okay, let's go." I spurred the creature. It flapped into the air, picking Link up in its talons as it flew towards the waterfall.

My movements were automatic; hold on at sharp turns and dips, duck when the ceiling got low, and I wasn't focused on any of it, too lost in my own thoughts.

I wondered where my mom was, in Castle Town. Was she one of the floating spirits I'd seen as we ran through the streets? Was she still in my childhood home, with my brother Roran? Did she know I'd returned? What about Impa, was she still there? I hadn't had any hints in my visions that she was dead, but I still worried.I didn't know any of the answers to these questions. I was surprised when I felt myself being dropped, but then I realized we were at the upper river, by Iza's house.

"That was fast..." I murmured. Then I shivered. "It's colder up here..." I added. I pulled my cloak tighter around my shoulders.

"Okay, let's figure this out- is that ice down there?" Midna exclaimed incredulously. Sure enough, there was a thick coat of ice on the riverbed. I warped down, and it was even colder down there.

"Yeesh, it's even colder down here. C'mon, let's finish this before we get frostbite."

"It's completely frozen. It must have taken a lot to freeze this whole place like this." I mused when we finally saw the Zora village. Winter or not, water in motion didn't freeze. It would take magic to do something like this.

"Well that explains why the lake is dried up. But why is it frozen? Could the Shadow beasts have done it?" Midna thought. I shrugged. Using Farore's wind, I began to climb the icy waterfall. There were several near-misses until I came to stable ground. I gave a signal in the affirmative to Link and Midna, and they started climbing and jumping their own way.

I didn't wait as I continued to warp as far as my range would allow until I reached the top of the frozen river. Then I waited at the top, right near the entrance, for my friends.

The throne room was another matter entirely. There were no spirits visible above the ice, and before my memory kicked in I briefly entertained the horrifying thought that perhaps they were dead. Right in the center of the room, I remembered, just as I looked down. Through the thin dusting of snow, there were hundreds upon hundreds of motionless spirits, trapped beneath the ice. For their sake, I hoped they hadn't been frozen long.

"We need to find some way to defrost them." I murmured. Then I remembered. "Death Mountain!" I remembered. My companions looked to me curiously. Before I could speak, red and black pillars dropped into the ice. I leapt away with a shriek when I saw that I was two feet away from being crushed by one.

'Rose!' Link yelled as the red barrier formed, penning us both in different sections. Having tried it once, I knew warping wouldn't work. So, I was trapped in a completely different section, and I was left to take care of a single shadow beast, while Link and Midna got the other two.

I dispatched the dangerous pest quickly, though not without injury, having taken a swipe across the shoulder-blade in dodging a worse attack. I watched helplessly as Link and Midna took on the other two beasts, while I myself was as far away as I could possibly be from the one I'd killed. If they didn't get them both, I'd have to take it out again when the third one brought them back.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The three dead shadow beasts dissolved into shards of twilight, coming above us to form another portal.

"Now we can go to Death Mountain." I stated, my adrenaline rush fading. "Remember, the volcanic eruption? We can use one of those really big rocks and just melt all the ice!"

I probably wasn't doing a very good job of explaining my idea, if Link's confused expression was anything to go by.

"Just.. go to Death Mountain, Midna can figure it out from there!" I exclaimed, exasperated. With a little shrug, Midna warped them away. Knowing that the area was gonna be flooding pretty soon, I wisely stepped back, sitting beside the Zora throne. I knew I'd still end up soaked - and with my luck, sick again because of this mess - but I wouldn't be getting the brunt of it.

Before I could think much on that, I felt almost a... a pressure, in my head. Like something was trying to push into my mind. I tried pushing back, but it was hard to fight something you couldn't see, or physically feel. The pressure increased, and my hands went to either side of my head against my will, somehow trying to ease the pressure.

It went from uncomfortable to painful, and I felt like the presence was flitting through my memories like a picture book. I tried to push it out, and it pushed back harder.

'You're gonna play like that, fine,' I thought, before jumping into the offensive. I wasn't practiced, obviously there wasn't problems like this on Earth, but it wasn't like I'd never played 'pretend'. It took several minutes curled in the fetal position and feeling like my head was going to explode before the presence receded, but not before I caught a glimpse of their mind, and that glimpse was all I needed to send ice shooting through my veins.

"Ardea..." I whispered, shuddering and curling in on myself tighter, my hands still holding either side of my head.

I barely registered in my internal panic the large wave of water that erupted, along with the shaking of the ground. Link had done it, that was good. But I couldn't... move. It took a minute, I could tell he was trying to talk to me, before I could speak.

"I'm... not sure if I'm fine."

'What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost.' I sighed, fear seeping through me again.

"Lady Ardea, Astaroth's queen..." I murmured. Link and Midna didn't seem to think much of my statement. "She was trying to get in my head. Astaroth had four generals, they used to be friends of my father; Ardea, Hael, Cariel, and Edriel. He used dark magic to make them his slaves, Adrea his wife. He needed heirs." I shuddered again. "But.. he took my dad's friends to hurt him... that was the only reason." I took a few seconds to get control before speaking again.

"If Ardea is near, then no doubt the other generals are not far behind, unless they're dead. I have no doubt in my mind that not only do they want the power I have, but Ardea will want revenge for her master's imprisonment." I added, trying to mask my fear, pass my trembles off as shivers from the cold.

'Are you sure you're okay? You seem shaken.' Link stated. I nodded my head, feigning nonchalance, thinking, 'Okay, Link's back. The sooner we get those bugs the sooner we get this mess over with,' sitting up and slipping into the water.

"Wait!" a voice called. I stopped. Link and I looked back to see the spirit of Queen Rutela. "Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and this spring, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of this Zora village and the queen of my people. I was called Rutela." the ethereal zora spoke.

"Not to be rude, but we didn't exactly do it for you guys..." Midna stated. I sent a look her way, which she ignored. Rutela didn't seem to notice.

"The creatures you call Shadow Beasts invaded our village, and, as a message to my people, executed me before them. Young woman, young man who has taken the form of a wolf, I have a favor to ask of you. Before the attack, I sent my son, Ralis, to Castle Town to send for help. But I fear he did not make the journey. His presence grows fainter by the hour." she continued sadly. "So, I ask of you, save my son. If you do this, I will bestow upon you the protection of water. This power will grant you the ability to swim and respire in very deep water as if you were a Zora. Please... Save my son..." Then she faded away.

"So what's the deal with General What's-her-name again?" Midna asked as we moved towards the exit.

"Ardea is Astaroth's queen. She and the other generals were once Castle Knights, but they were corrupted by Astaroth's dark magic." I explained as we finally exited the throne room. "Like I said, she tried to get into my head. And again, she'll probably want revenge for what my parents did. And since my father's dead, the only ones she can go after are my mom and I. Wait... I have a brother. Roran, dad told me.." I trailed off at the memory. I didn't want my family, even those I didn't know yet, getting hurt. "We should hurry." With this revelation about Ardea, I wanted to track down my family as quickly as I could, if only to warn them.

'The current should take us right back to the lake,' Midna observed as we reached the end of the upper level, beside the waterfall. I forced myself to look anywhere but down as I prepared to get into the water.

"If I drown, I'm gonna kill you." I said, no heat behind my words before I jumped, stiff as a board with my eyes squeezed shut, plunging into the chilled water. I struggled with the undertow for a while before I could surface, where the water was less aggressive. Though, not by much.

'Goddesses help me,' I thought.

A/N: Here we go. In case you didn't see, older readers, I changed the generals' names :3 New readers, as before, what do you think?