The Legend of Fairies.
Chapter Eight: Hunting Poe's.
After agreeing with Link's plan once again, the group jumped down the hole to enter a square-shaped room with a small set of stairs leading up to a door. Like Natsu said earlier when the group was observing the hole, there weren't any monsters in the room. It was completely empty, save for two humans and a talking cat.
"You got to be kidding me," Natsu said, releasing an annoyed grunt after giving the square-shape room a single swept. "Apart from the small set of stairs that leads to a door, there's nothing in here. Why was the point of coming down here?"
"Maybe the room was built to make us get off track on what we're supposed to be doing?" Happy suggested a bit unsurely. "I mean, that is the only possibility I can think of since it does make sense."
"You could be right, Happy," Link said, putting a hand on her chin and adopting a thoughtful expression. "But I think there's another reason why this room was built. For what purpose, I do not know."
"Either way," Natsu said, getting Link's and Happy's attention. "This is wasting our time. We should just head back up the hole we came from, changed the normal corridor we walked through to the twisted one and go kill that Poe Sister."
"But shouldn't we go check out the door, Natsu, and see where it leads?" Link asked, frowning at Natsu's dismissal. She can understand the Dragon Slayer's desire to kill the Poe Sister and find his friend, given how she wanted to find Saria, but he shouldn't dismiss everything he sees unworthy to his eyes. It will only become a regretful choice in the future. "I did say going down the hole might lead us to something important. Like a key or your friend."
"I know that, Link, and I want to see where the door leads as well, but I want to make sure we stay on the important task at hand. I don't want us to get sidetracked."
"And I can assure you, Natsu, we won't get sidetracked; we would be only checking out an area we haven't explored before."
"Can we just get going?" Happy asked, giving the two humans an annoyed look. "We're already wasting time from being in this room and you two arguing is only wasting more time."
"Sorry," Natsu and Link muttered at the same time, an embarrassed blush on their faces. They didn't mean to waste time arguing; they were only planning a course of action, which is either going up back the hole or going through the door. Though, judging the annoyed look on Happy's face, Natsu and Link were sure the cat was finding it hard to believe.
So, in order to save their dignities and not become further embarrassed, Natsu and Link quickly walked over to the door to see where it led, Happy flying right behind them. Once they entered through the door and took a left since they met a stone wall, they came across a sight that made them pause.
"Huh? We're back at the left side courtyard?" Natsu asked, as he looked at the open area before him, his embarrassment turning into confusion. "This is like the third time we have entered this place."
"Don't you mean fourth, Natsu?" Happy asked, confused at Natsu's choice of words. This was the fourth time the group had entered the courtyard, not third.
"Coming out of the well and entering the courtyard we had previously entered does not count, Happy."
The first time the group entered the left side courtyard, they had been surprised since they thought the temple was only going to be an indoor place where they would have to rely on lit torches for sources of light, despite the fact they could've used Natsu's fire magic as a light source. Said person had not been amused the slightest bit when a giggling Link and Happy told him that; he wasn't a light source, damn it! Why does everyone keep saying that?!
"Well, either way, at least we can finally explore the second level," Link said, referring to the time the group had noticed a second level in the left side courtyard after getting out of their surprised state from seeing the said courtyard. Natsu and Happy wanted to go see what was up there, but Link convinced them not to because she didn't want to explore an area she wasn't familiar with. Exploring an area you are not familiar with was a terrible idea and could lead to bad consequences.
"That is true," Natsu agreed with what Link said. "But I don't understand why we didn't explore the second level when we first came out here. What was the worst that could've happened if we went up the second level earlier?"
(Time-Skip)
"You just had to say the exact same line what Link said a while go, didn't you, Natsu?" Happy asked with extreme anger in his voice. The group was currently walking back to the top of the maze-like room after fighting an enemy they did not want to see and hear again. This enemy was the worst of all monsters in the world and just thinking about it was enough to make the group clench their fists tightly.
The enemy the group had been thinking about was a Floormaster, an exact duplicate of the Wallmaster in the twisted corridor room but has a different fighting style than hiding up in the ceiling and swooping down to grab a person. It hovers in the air, glows green and curled into a fist before flying forward to do a punch attack. After that, the Floormaster just moves around before doing the same fighting technique again.
Now, why would the group be extremely angry after fighting an enemy that is easy to defeat and can only do a basic flying attack? Which said attack can do some damage if the person doesn't have their guard up? The answer was simple, yet stupid: The Floormaster can split into three small copies once it receives massive damage, moves much quicker than the large hand and can deal more damage. It can also do claw attacks when its on a person's body.
But despite the Floormaster can split into three small copies once it receives massive damage, that wasn't why the group was extremely angry. The reason why they are angry is because they figured out the Floormaster has a regeneration ability and can keep coming back endlessly. The only way to permanently kill it is to defeat the three small copies all at once before it can regenerate itself.
The group didn't realize the regeneration ability after twenty minutes of battling the monster, which they were getting increasingly frustrated since it was taking forever. How hard was it to kill a monster that only has a basic flying attack but a hidden regeneration ability once it splits into three small copies? Considering the King of Evil created it after acquiring a piece of the Triforce, that hard.
But once the group figured out the weakness and finally killed the Floormaster to get a small key, they were not amused by the slightest bit. No, the group had been extremely angry, and they still were as they walked back to the top of the maze-like room, a great tension in the atmosphere. Any negative words could possibly start a heated argument…and that is exactly what happened right after Happy said those words to Natsu.
It was a good thing the group was up on a high level to deal with their argument, otherwise they would have to deal with the two Blue Bubbles on the ground level.
"Don't start with me, Happy," Natsu snapped, not in the greatest mood to deal with his friend's attitude. He was already pissed at the fact he wasted a decent amount of magic on the Floormaster and the last thing he needed was to deal with Happy's bullshit. It also didn't help that Natsu had multiple wounds on him, which is making him more pissed. Said wounds are a few bruises on the face, a slightly busted lip, a bandage-bloodied left arm and a bruised ankle.
"Both of you, be quiet," Link growled, also not in the greatest mood to deal with Natsu's and Happy's argument. Like Natsu, she had wounds as well but not too much, which are light scratches on her face, a black left eye and an aching right hand, as well as an aching back. "I do not want to hear another word from both of you."
"Now, now, let's all calm down," Navi said, flying out of Link's cap and began circling around the group to try restoring peace. "I understand we're all angry from facing the Floormaster, but there's no need to take the anger on each other."
"Yes, we do, Navi," Happy stated, giving the blue fairy an annoyed look. "Not only we have wasted so much time fighting that monster, but you knew all about it, along with its weakness, and didn't bother to tell us. If you told us this information when we first saw the Floormaster, we would've been back at the room where the Poe Sister is a couple minutes ago."
Navi couldn't stop the wince leaving her after what Happy said about. It was true, she had known what the monster was, along with the weakness, but didn't bother to say anything since the group was making, as she said before, tremendous progress in the temple. Navi regretted this decision and had decided to tell the group what type of new monster they would encounter in the future from now on instead of being silent.
Since the group was still extremely angry from facing the Floormaster, they decided to take a small break in order to cool off. They can't continue to progress through the rest of the temple if they are going to stay angry at each other all the time; things would become nasty and violent if that happened.
Luckily, the small break was a great idea because moments later, the group was now calm, no longer angry and ready to resume exploring the temple with a clear head to solve puzzles and traps. Oh, there was still anger inside them, but the relaxed feeling they now have after resting squashed the negative feeling down and the tense atmosphere, which had once been great in a bad way, vanished.
With the group now relaxed and calm instead of being angry, it didn't take long for them to enter the room where the Poe Sister was, but there had been a rather…embarrassing moment that involved the twisted corridor and it brought a tinge of redness on their faces as they recalled what happened.
Turns out, the group had forgotten the corridor was still straight instead of being twisted and after reaching the end of the corridor, they realized what they had done, causing them to face fault the ground with their legs in the air.
After recovering themselves and quickly walking back to the previous room to shoot the silver eye switch – Link hesitated to shoot it because she didn't think a closed eye switch can take arrows, but Navi assured her the switch can still take arrows, even if its closed – the group traveled through the now twisted corridor, quickly jumped from platform to platform in the end of the corridor and entered the room where the Poe Sister was.
'I am so glad Gray isn't here right now to see this,' Natsu thought, resisting a dreaded shiver that was threatening to overcome him. 'Otherwise, I would have to deal with his never-ending teasing bullshit. It would drive me up the wall.' It was true, if Gray was here and learned what happened, he would've teased Natsu endlessly with a smug smirk on his face, trying to act as a better rival. 'But since he's not here, I don't have to worry about him; all I have to worry about is the Poe Sister I want to kill.'
"Alright, let's hurry up and kill this bitch, guys," Natsu said, wanting nothing more than to kill the Poe Sister. If he can install enough fear during the battle, he could get her to talk about the other locations of the Poe Sisters and the human they're keeping. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can explore the other side of the temple."
"But how are we going to get her out of the painting?" Happy asked with a frown on his face, looking at the empty black painting on the wall. "I'm pretty sure threats won't work on her."
"If I recall correctly, the Poe Sister did say about needing the dungeon item to kill her and her sisters," Link stated, remembering the words the Poe Sister said when the group first entered the room. "Maybe we need to shoot the painting with an arrow but with her inside it?"
"If the shooting the silver eye switch theory worked, then shooting the paintings should worked as well," Natsu said, feeling confident the theory Link came up with will work, but wanted to test something out real quick before the group engages the Poe Sister. "But let's try shooting an empty painting with an arrow and see if it does anything. Link, would you please shoot an arrow at that empty painting over there?" Natsu pointed a finger at the painting he.
Link, seeing the empty painting, nodded her head in reply before drawing out her bow and loading it with an arrow. She then aimed the arrow at the painting and within her eyesight, she pulled the string backwards before letting it go, making the arrow fly towards the empty painting.
Thud!
The arrow landed in middle of the empty painting, but nothing happened. It didn't vanish, burst into flames or whisked away to reveal a passage. It just hung there on the wall with an arrow stuck in the middle.
"Called it," Natsu said, nodding his head to confirm what he had been thinking about a moment ago.
"Called what, Natsu?" Happy asked, not getting what Natsu was saying, except Link, whose eyes had widened in understanding.
"The painting didn't vanish when Link shot an arrow at it, Happy, but if she shoots an arrow with the Poe Sister in the painting, I believe it would vanish for good and we'll have two paintings to deal with."
"Natsu's right, Happy," Navi chimed in, earning the group's attention. "I was going to explain how to draw out the Poe Sister, but Natsu already figured it out and had Link do a little demonstration on the painting. Congratulations on figuring out how to draw out the Poe Sister." There was no sarcasm in the compliment but proudness. Navi was proud of Natsu figuring out how to draw the Poe Sister out of the painting without relying on her intelligence.
Natsu puffed out his chest proudly as he took the compliment, standing tall with a wide toothy grin on his face. Link was clapping softly, yet excitedly, at his brilliant thinking, already proud of him and causing the affection inside her to increase, while Happy stared at his friend with a stunned expression on his face, finally understanding what Natsu was saying.
'Holy Fiore! What is this intelligence Natsu is showing?!' Happy thought, feeling the greatest urge to faint from what he had just heard. 'I have never seen him using his brain like that before, even while I see him in action, and this is really shocking the hell out of me! Has he always been this smart to begin with and just been hiding it or is he just starting to become smart and using his brain?!'
Don't get him wrong, Happy is proud of Natsu becoming a mature and serious person, but seeing him showing so much intelligence, as well as coming up with plans, it was something the little Exceed was struggling to believe and accept. A small part of Happy was wondering if he was in a weird dream, but the large part of proudness inside him squashed that small part.
But either way, it didn't matter because Happy is still proud of Natsu becoming an adult.
"Alright, guys," Natsu said, getting Link's, Navi's and Happy's attention. "Let's not waste any more time than necessary. I don't know how long we have been on the left side of the temple, but I don't care. We pretty much explored every room on the left side, and we didn't start on the right."
"But that's going to change," Link stated firmly, getting tired of exploring the left side of the temple.
"Exactly, but before we can explore the right side, we need to take care of a…problem." Natsu slowly turned his head to gaze at the empty painting hanging on the wall, imagining the Poe Sister in it. "A problem we should've deal with right after we got the dungeon item."
"Yeah," Happy agreed, also looking at the empty painting. "And I'm still feeling anger inside me from dealing with the Floormaster. Shall we get started on engaging the Poe Sister?" A sadistic smirk appeared on Happy's face after he finished the last sentence.
"Indeed, we shall," Link seconded, also gaining a similar smirk on her face but much creepier. "Natsu, are you ready?"
A feral smirk appeared on Natsu's face as he drew his sword out in his right hand and lighting his hand on fire in his left. "Do you even need to ask, Link? Let's kill this little bitch."
It was now officially time to start killing some Poe's.
Alright, I'm ending the chapter right there because I want to get this out of the way. This took me three and half weeks to finish right after I posted a chapter in the First Journey and I'm glad I finished it. There's not going to be another part chapter, this is the finale of Hunting Poe's. The next chapter will be part two of Hunting Poe's.
I'm sorry for the lack of chapter updates and I hope this chapter makes up for it.
Write a review if you like this story and enjoy the chapter.
Next Chapter: Hunting Poe's (Part Two)