A Link to the Past
Chapter Thirty Two: Kiki the Monkey
On his first trip to this permanently sunsetted world the first thing that happened to Link was getting attacked by monsters, so he was naturally alert, looking around in all directions as he made his way across the well maintained courtyard. The trees, hedges, fence, and even the building were all in the exact same locations as their Hyrule counterparts, so the young man sort of knew where he was going, however the inside of the old Lord's palace had been reduced to almost nothing, so the layout of this place was going to be a mystery. Suddenly having to duck down behind a stone fountain that probably never had any water in it, the young man stayed quiet while watching a patrol of goat guards come marching down the stone path, turning just before they got to the gate and continuing to guard the area.
Even with having to deal with those bouncing statues, one nice thing about the old Lord's palace in Hyrule was that it was neglected, meaning that there were no guards or anyone else on the estate, but this was not the case here. Well, so far it was only a single patrol of four guards, but now as Link was looking around he was noticing that there were other people moving around, appearing to be tending the grounds like servants. So not only was this temple or palace or whatever it was a fully intact structure, but it had guards and a domestic staff, too, meaning that the inside was probably just as occupied. How in the world was the young man going to find and retrieve one of the crystals from a place so populated?
Trying to stay low as he moved from fountains to behind hedges, avoiding the guards turned out to be a lot easier than staying hidden from the servants, all of whom always seemed to be headed right for where the young man was hiding at the time. All of the guards he had seen so far were goat creatures, but the groundskeepers were all different kinds of animals ranging from cats and birds, and even one that looked like a monkey. No overseer watching them, which was nice because servants on their own would probably be slower to sound the alarm, and there were less of them toward the rear of the building, which was where Link was headed. The front door seemed like a bad idea, so maybe one of the back windows, or maybe there was an entrance to the…
"Whatcha doin?"A voice asked, startling him just before he moved again. "The palace door is that way, but… something tells me you're not the kind of guest who wants to be noticed."
Managing not to make noise from being taken by surprise like that, the young man turned around and saw that one of the servants he had seen before was now crouched down behind the large hedge right next to him, the monkey creature. Smiling at him in a way that seemed both friendly and disturbing at the same time, the servant didn't try to attack him or raise the alarm, making it obvious that the monkey had something else in mind. Even though Link was from a noble family, he was no stranger to how servants and peasants did things, including how the domestic staff of large castles or estates were usually willing to lend a hand as long as they were compensated.
"Lots of people around, bad day to be discreet." The servant continued quietly as if trying not to be heard, himself. "I'm Kiki, by the way, great to meetcha; you seem like a stand up guy, so maybe I can show you a more, uh… subtle way into the palace?"
"You don't seem so bad, yourself." The young man replied, being polite but keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword. "So, what is it going to cost me in order to find this more subtle entrance?"
Just as Link suspected, the monkey creature wanted rupees, clearly valuing money above anything else, and asking for ten in order to show him the way, with an extra two for not calling the guards. He hadn't been carrying very much since the night he snuck into Hyrule Castle, but the young man had just enough, although adding the condition that Kiki not get paid until they got to the entrance. The servant didn't like this condition very much, but still went along with it, standing up and keeping a lookout for Link so that he didn't accidently move while one of the other groundskeepers were looking. This was actually a lot easier now with the young man not having to look around himself each time, and getting over to the palace walls was happening a lot faster, too.
"Come on, hurry, this way." Kiki urged, starting to walk a lot faster. "No cover for the rest of the way, gotta move fast."
The servant was right, there was no more cover from the hedge Link was currently hiding behind all the way over to the wall, so as soon as he got the signal the young man took off running, or at least as fast as he could go while still being crouched down. There was always that moment of tension while trying to sneak by someone, be it guards or servants, where he felt like he was going to get caught at any moment, but no one started yelling, and soon both Link and the monkey creature were safely behind the corner of the palace. However, there was no door, just what looked like a doorframe and the wall sunken in just slightly as if there was once going to be a door there, but the builders never got around to it.
"Here we are as promised." Kiki said, holding out his paw for the coins. "The others will notice I'm gone soon, pay me quickly."
"Hold on a second, there's no door here." Link argued, looking around at the wall. "You promised me an entrance, but I don't see any way in."
Now the monkey smiled again, explaining that this was the secret entrance to the palace that only a few people were aware of, adding that there was a trick to the lock that he would be happy to share with the young man for a price. This time Link made a counter offer, drawing his sword with one hand and holding the blue blade at the startled servant's neck, while using the other hand to drop twelve rupees into his still outstretched paw. The young man said that he would never cheat anyone, but he wasn't going to be taken advantage of, especially when the fate of the kingdom was at stake, so it was in Kiki's best interest to show him how to get through the door.
"Of course, of course." The servant quickly said, trying not to shake too much as he pocketed the money. "I was only joking about the extra fee, honest… look, the hidden catch is right here."
Reaching over and pressing on a stone so that it slid deeper into the surface of the wall, there was a slight rumbling sound as the barrier within the unused doorframe started to slide upward, revealing a hidden passageway with a stone staircase leading upward. As soon as Link lowered the sword to look at this new path, Kiki muttered a quick thank you before slipping away and quickly vanishing back around the corner of the palace wall. There was no point in worrying about him any longer, so the young man kept his sword ready as he stepped through the doorway, slowly making his way up the stone stairs while the barrier slid back down behind him. This was expected, and there were little holes along the outer wall that allowed light to come through, so Link kept going while also listening for any threats.
For such a secret entrance, it sure ended plainly enough at a normal wooden door that wasn't locked, allowing the young man to quietly push it open to reveal some kind of storage room. There was hardly anything inside, so he moved on, finding himself on the second floor of the palace, and… and the whole place oddly quiet. With as many people as were patrolling the estate and tending the grounds, Link figured that the place would be filled with all manner of animal creatures, but instead the whole place was silent. Everything was cleaned and dusted as if the domestic staff had at least been there at some part of the day, with all the elaborate furnishings and wall tapestries on display, this palace looked like it was ready for a royal ball or something, but… but where was everyone?
Brass handrails accented the wall along the catwalk above the main floor and on the stairwell, and metal torches along the walls added to the orange illumination coming in through the slit windows as the young man cautiously moved from room to room, discovering guest rooms, a library, some kind of sitting room… everything except a pretty girl trapped inside of a crystal. The next room along the second floor was a bedchamber, larger than the guest rooms that he had already walked through, and decorated with a much larger bed and furniture as if this room belonged to someone very important. The bed curtains were drawn, however, and as Link crept his way farther into the room, he began to hear a strange kind of hissing noise.
No, it wasn't the sound of a venomous animal ready to strike, but rather a steady noise, and it was coming from on the bed itself. With no other course of action, the young man took hold of the nearest curtain and slowly pulled it open, expecting to find some kind of hissing monster asleep on the expensive looking sheets. However, what Link did not expect to see was a large round, metal object sitting on the pillow, the hissing noise made from the fuse that was burning to the point of entering the top, leaving the young man to gasp in fright before turning away to run. BOOM! A flash of light and noise just as he ran through the doorway, filling this part of the palace with smoke while the force that came along with it was enough to throw Link forward so that he crashed against the guard wall of the balcony.
Before the smoke had even cleared, there was a tink-tink-tink sound as another lit bomb came rolling into view, and now the young man scrambled to his feet, doing a kind of stumbling run toward the stairs before this one detonated just like the first one. Trying to take cover on the stairs below where the blast would hit, he lost his footing when everything shook, Link crying out as he tumbled forward. The fall didn't take long, but the hard stone of every step that he rolled down seemed like it wanted to leave its own special mark, and pretty soon the young man was sore and coughing to catch his breath, laying at the bottom of the stairs with the Master Sword still clutched in his hand.
"Still alive down there?!" A deep, kind of grainy voice called from above. "Sorry about the stairs, I was trying to send you right over the balcony… here, let me try again!"
Only just starting to get up thanks to the protection of that blue undershirt, the young man had to dive forward to avoid the next bomb that came bouncing down the stairs after him, kicking up even more smoke and damaging the two bottom stairs when it went off. Portraits fell from the walls and expensive vases shattered, all while a large, and very muscular orange colored creature with one eye laughed at the scene. It only had a few big white teeth and wore some kind of animal skin, but the important parts of all this were the crystal stuck in its belt like a knife, and the bomb that it was holding in its hand.
"I knew you'd come here eventually." The one eyed creature called loudly as the bomb's fuse lit by itself. "Agahnim said you took his Moon Pearl, but even without it I saw you coming a mile away… I mean, how did you expect to sneak around brown hedges wearing all that green? Are you stupid? Well, Stupid, I'm Hinox, and I'm gonna blast you into a million pieces!"