Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: Faron Woods (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Everyone swam through the tree, Kotoko hanging on to Masaru while Manaphy happily swam around, happy as can be until they reached further into the tree, where once they came to the surface, they would see swinging platforms attached to vines, one of them having a Blue Bokoblin taking a nap while someFroaks floating around.
High above them was a large branch that connected to both inner walls of the tree.
"Okay, something tells me we're gonna be walking on that branch." Akame said as they swam forward and climbed up the ledge before they hopped between platforms while Laxus and Mine shot down the Froaks, and then the Blue Bokoblin was promptly blown up when Kokichi threw a Bombchu at it.
"Hahahaha! I never get tired of these things!" Kokichi grinned.
"Well, you've always loved explosions." Shuichi chuckled as they went through the doorway and found themselves higher up on the tree, so they climbed up the tree while Link and Groose proceeded to slash and knock the Bokoblins off the tree.
"Wonder why there's Bokoblins hanging around inside of the tree?" Albedo wondered.
"Maybe they want to build a treehouse." Anya said.
"Ah yes, an evil treehouse! That'll strike fear into anyone." Kokichi chuckled
What would one even look like? Mavis wondered as they went back inside and found themselves at the branch they saw earlier.
"Called it." Akame said.
"Did you call the Moblin that's standing guard?" Tatsumi asked.
"That… I did not know."
The Moblin roared and charged at them, only for Ganondorf to stand in front of it with his arms folded. The Moblin stopped moving as he glared at the demon king. Ganondorf smirked, giving him a "I dare you" look in his eyes as the Moblin snarled, attempting to try and skewer Ganondorf, only for him to grab the spear and crushed it by clenching his fist, and then backhanded the Moblin off the branch, where down below, the Blue Bokoblin that was blown up came up for air… only to get crushed by the Moblin.
"...Is it wrong I feel kinda bad for those two?" Lana wondered as she looked down.
"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it." Cia shrugged as they walked out and climbed further up, including climbing through vines and knocking a few Walltulas off of the vines, while also listening to someone snoring.
"Okay, does anyone else hear that or am I just going insane?" Chelsea wondered.
"No, I hear it too." Yor said as they reached the top, but looked around and wondered where it came from, until Groose turned around and saw a Kikwi snoring on top of a branch.
"Found it!" Groose said as they turned to the source.
"Oh! A sleeping Korok! It's so adorable!" Zelda giggled.
"These aren't Koroks, princess. They're Kikwis." Lana told her.
"Oh…" Zelda blushed a little. "Wait, why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because you were too busy exploring and got way ahead of us."
Zelda blushed a deeper red. "Um… right… of course." She sheepishly chuckled.
"Soooo, anyone know how to wake him up?" Laxus asked.
"I got it." Midna teleported over to the branch and nudged the Kikwi awake. "Oi. Wake up."
"Zzzz… wha…?" The Kikwi woke up and saw Midna.
"Yo."
"EEEEEK! SOMETHING MORE HIDEOUS THAN A BOKOBLIN!" He yelled, pulling out a stick and smacking her on the head… or at least he tried but Midna casually caught it.
"Excuse you? I'm much more attractive than a Bokoblin."
Wolf Link let out a growl while rolling his eyes, as if he was mumbling "That's not saying much".
"You're… not going to eat me?"
"Dude, why would I eat you? You don't look like you're worth much in protein."
"Augh! How rude…" The Kikwi mumbled. "I suppose that they can see me too?"
"Yeah. It doesn't take much to look up."
"Indeed!" He looked down at the rest of them. "All you humans down there-" He spotted Ravio. "And… humanoid rabbits."
Ha, if only he knew… Ravio chuckled.
"I am the Kikwi Elder, Yarel. If you are up here, then that must mean one thing. You must have the Water Dragon's Scale or something similar to it! That said, what brings you up here anyway?"
"Looking for a flame." Link explained.
"A flame, you say? Why, you'd look no further than going to Lake Floria for Faron's help! She is a mighty dragon, although I would play nice with her. She's got quite the temper on her."
Yeah, obviously. Lana thought.
"Where do we find Lake Floria?" Weiss asked.
"Ah, you'll just have to go north from here. There's a gate where you can access the lake, but you're going to need something special to get there. What that is, even I can't tell you because it's a secret to everybody!"
Cardin sweatdropped while folding his arms. "Oh, that's real helpful."
"Good luck finding it! I'll just be up here away from those nasty creatures."
"...Suit yourself." Midna said as she hopped down, then noticing Wolf Link giving her a look. "What? I still look gorgeous even in my Imp form, thank you very much."
Woff Link rolled his eyes.
"Ah, you're just jealous~" Midna snickered as they headed back down via a sand slide thanks to Cardin.
"The only thing you need is basically go up to the door, power up your sword, then you just gotta draw a circle." Cia explained.
"That's it?" Link asked. "We don't need to find anything?"
"Nope. You got us, that's all you'll ever need!"
With a nod, they headed over until they found the door leading to Lake Floria, and with Link drawing a circle with what Cia described, the door opened up.
"Wow, it's actually that simple." Whitley said.
"Neat." Ling smiled as they walked through the path and dove off the platform.
End BGM
BGM: Lake Floria (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
"Hmhmhmhm~" A Parella floated around in the water… when everyone landed right in the water. "EEEEEEEEK! Great! More weirdos!"
"...Who are you calling a weirdo?" Mine asked. "...Wait, we can talk underwater?!"
"First time?" Weiss asked nonchalantly. I'm surprised we can do that, honestly… eh, I've been through weirder.
The Parella quickly swam away from them. "Soooo, what kind of creatures are those?" Sayo wondered.
"Parellas." Lana said, and then noticed Manaphy swimming after the Parella. "Oh, looks like Manaphy's already going ahead of us."
"Hey, wait for us, honey!" Weiss said as she swam after him with the others following them.
"Mana Maaaana!"
"Ack! That blue ugly creature is tailing me!" The Parella yelped as he swam between a wooden gate. "It'll never get me through he-"
Manaphy squeezed through. "Mana!"
"Man, you just don't know when to give up! Well, it's not like the other weirdos will-"
Wave busted through the wooden gate easily. "Sup!"
The Parella whimpered and high tailed it out of there as Manaphy followed it and went through a metal gate where the Parella found itself at a dead end with rocks in the walls and many Froaks swimming about. "Aaah crud."
"Mana Mana!"
"Eeep! Don't eat me! I'm too young to die!"
"Mana Man Mana."
"What? I don't know what you're saying."
"Mana Mana Mana."
"Why do you keep saying "Mana"? What are you?"
Manaphy smiled. "Manaphy Mana!"
"Uuuuh, okay… "Manaphy Mana", you're not gonna eat me, are you?"
Manaphy giggled. "Mana Mana."
"...I'm gonna assume that means no. But your friends are so giant, are they-"
"Mana."
"Again, I'm gonna assume that means no. They're not going to harm us?"
"Mana Mana!"
"...Can you say anything other than that?"
Manaphy frowned, and then pulled out a sign. "You know how long it takes to make these?"
The Parella sweatdropped. "Fair enough… but wait, where did that even come fro-... you know what, it's not worth asking."
"Manaphy!" Weiss swam over.
"Mana Man!" Manaphy waved over and swam over to her, both of them hugging each other.
"I take it he told you we mean no harm?" Link asked.
"I'm assuming so! "Mana Mana" could mean anything!" He mumbled. "...Wait, you humans are speaking underwater. That must mean you have the Water Dragon's Scale or something similar to it! But wait, how do you know of Faron?"
"Oh, we're on an errand."
"Aren't we all…" The Parella rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the name's Jellyf. Nice to meet you! Speaking of which, why are those two so close?"
Weiss smiled. "Manaphy's my son."
Jellyf blinked. "...Through adoption or did you have a one night stand with a blue Parella?"
Weiss blushed a deep red, which caused Whitley to snicker while Kirumi tried to contain herself. "He… hatched from an egg!"
"Huh… okay, I believe it."
"Mana Mana?" Manaphy curiously asked.
"I'll… tell you when you're older, honey."
"Mana!" Manaphy smiled.
"Papa, what's a "one night stand"?" Anya asked.
Loid stiffened before gaining his composure. "It means you can get a pretty rare nightstand for a pretty good deal in the middle of the night."
Anya's eyes sparkled. "So cool! Weiss, I wanna see this when we get back home!"
Oh, now you've/I've done it!" Loid and Weiss thought with a sweatdrop.
"That's not what it means! A one night stand means-"
Yuri, Shuichi, Yor, Chelsea and even Maki put their hands over Kokichi's mouth…. Although the latter proceeded to resort to moving her hands toward his neck.
"Mmmph mmmph mmph mmmph!"
"He doesn't know what he's talking about." Maki said. "It means exactly what your father said!"
Party poopers… Kokichi thought, and when the former four removed their hands, he gave a cheeky smirk to Maki. "Harder, mommy~"
POW!
Maki had punched him straight to a wall with a cross vein on her forehead.
"Worth it…! Oooow…"
"I'll just let that one slide." Shuichi said.
Albedo opened his mouth to ask the same question.
"Don't even think about it." Blanche said.
"But I didn't even say anything yet!" Albedo pouted.
"...I'm just gonna assume "one night stand" means something completely adult." Laura said with Oran nodding.
"Aaanywho… I'm glad you guys came because Faron's not doing so hot. She was attacked by two people and while she fended off most of the monsters, the two of them knocked her down and now she's healing up." Jellyf explained. "If we can just get past these boulders-"
"Ah, that's nothing." Wave said as he used his semblance to push the water forward and broke apart the rocks. "With my semblance, not only can I manipulate water, but I can increase the water pressure to where anything can be crushed into pieces."
"Yeah, your semblance evolved to that since… I dunno, before we came to Hyrule?" Kurome pointed out.
"Exactly!" Wave nodded.
Sounds similar to a gal I know. Mira thought with a smile.
"I don't know what a semblance is, but thank you!" Jellyf said as he swam through with the others following, where they came into contact with a Cranioc that charged at them, but Manaphy came in with a Whirlpool that sent it flying out and slammed into a rock wall that KO'd it, and then quickly died from being exposed to the air.
"Mana!" Manaphy smiled as they climbed up to the surface and saw Faron sitting in a basin.
"What's this? Humans trespass on my domain? How would anyone know where to find this sacred place? …Wait, don't tell me, it was that Kikwi elder, wasn't it? Rrrrgh, that does it! When I get out of here, I'm eating him for lunch!"
"I doubt that's a good idea…" Midna mumbled.
"We mean no harm. We promise." Weiss said.
"But you trespassed! For that, I will-" She spotted Lana and Cia who climbed out. "Oh! The sacred time keepers of Hyrule? This is a surprise!"
"Hey Faron." Lana greeted. "They don't mean any harm at all. We're just trying to stop Ghirahim and Wizzro from messing things up."
"Yes, those two…" Faron mumbled. "I had sensed something amiss because I felt your arrival in this time period… yet I couldn't be bothered to come say hello."
"And why's that?" Cia asked.
"Because I don't do "hellos", I'd rather spend time watching over these Parellas."
"So you can't be bothered with anything?" Weiss asked.
"I'm afraid not. The Woods is my domain, why would I bother going out and explore Hyrule? I'm sure Din and Lanayru are doing just fine."
"That's the thing. Lanayru's dead." Lana explained.
"Oh, is he now?"
"Yes, and not only that, but the Lanayru Oasis is now… well, a Lanayru Desert." Lana continued. "It's saddening… one of your kind is dead… are you aware of-"
"Hmm, well, that seems to be his problem. Not mine."
Lana blinked. "Excuse me?"
"He has his domain, and I have mine. Him dying is not my problem."
"You're not even bothered by this?"
"Why should I? He's a big boy, he can walk it off."
"He's DEAD! He died from an illness!"
"And I got attacked by Ghirahim and Wizzro, yet I'm still alive. That just tells me Lanayru was the weakest of the three. Speaking of which, I require some more water in order to fully heal… some sacred water from a sacred spring."
"Agh! I knew I was forgetting something… I'll be right back!" Cia said, quickly opening up a portal and running to the Skyview Temple.
End BGM
BGM: Prologue: Beneath Hyrule Castle (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
"How could you say that about Lanayru?" Lana asked, her voice rising.
"I don't see the problem here. He's dead. I'm alive. Din's alive. What's the problem?"
"The problem is that one of your kind is dead and you're being nonchalant about it! He's a fellow god just like you! How come you're not sad about this?"
"We each have our domains. If we die, we die. Simple to understand. I don't see the point in mourning over in a deceased being."
"He's a fellow god of yours!"
"You're getting too worked up over this. Just let nature take its course. What difference does it make if a god dies? Nature takes its course, so I don't see what the big deal is."
"What difference does it make…"
Electricity crackled around Lana's body while everyone else looked at Faron with a "What the heck is wrong with you?" expression.
"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!" Lana yelled. "That's all you can say about your friend?! You think he's worthless so he means NOTHING to you?!"
"I don't see a reason to be upset about this."
A portal opened up as Cia walked in with a bottle of spring water. "Sorry I'm late, had to knock some sense into a few Stalfo-... oh boy… what did I miss?"
"Apparently, Faron doesn't see a point in mourning over Lanayru and is completely nonchalant about it. Said "What difference does it make" and stuff like that." Groose said.
Cia grimaced. "Oh damn…" I know Faron can be a bitch sometimes but yikes!
Impa got between Faron and Lana, quickly turning around and put her hands on Lana's shoulder. "Lana… I understand you're angry, but I don't think this is worth it."
"Rrrgh…"
"I'll just… go ahead and do this…" Cia said, putting the spring water into the basin.
"Ah, I feel much better!" Faron said as she went inside the basin… before coming out of it. "I feel like a new person thanks to that!"
"...What in the hell?" Cardin asked as he decided to peek into the basin along with RDL, Akame and Kurome. "How deep is this thing?"
"Hmm…" Akame pulled out her sword and put it in.
Clink!
The hilt didn't even make it inside before the sword hit the bottom, causing several question marks to appear above Akame.
"A big ass dragon inside a tiny little thing? I don't understand…" Leone said.
Welcome to Hyrule, where everything is a bottomless pit if you store something in it. Weiss thought with a chuckle. Well, almost…
"Aaaaah, alright. I will show you where those two ne'er-do-wells are. Do me a favor and knock them senseless for me."
"Sure!" Cia nodded as Faron flew off, then Cia turned to Lana. "Look, I hate her too but I don't think it's worth it…"
"Easy for you to say." Lana mumbled as Zelda went ahead and hugged Lana. "Thanks, princess… I needed that." She said as they walked off, where they would find the temple entrance in front of them after Faron opened up a pathway from the waterfall.
"Let's go." Link said as they walked through, while Cia stopped to look at Faron.
"Ah, Cia… why are you giving me that look?"
"Lana's not too happy with the gods at the moment, so I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"I'm not one to do favors, but… sure, what is it?"
"There are a lot of monsters in your woods, but could you possibly, like… not flood the entirety of the woods? It pretty much drowned the foliage in the area to the point where Faron Woods was… yeah… not as pretty anymore. Could you do that for me? I think it'd make Lana really happy." Not to mention we'll probably avoid those random as hell Tadtones…
"Hmm… I will think about it."
Cia smiled. "Great! Thank you!" She said as she ran off. "Oh dear sister of mine~! I got good news!"
"...Flooding Faron Woods to destroy the monsters." Faron mused once Cia was out of earshot. "That actually gives me an idea…"
End BGM
Meanwhile…
"What is it?" Lana asked as Cia approached.
"I asked Faron not to flood her domain considering there's a lot of monsters and she said she'll think about it!"
Lana smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful!"
"Mhm!" Cia grinned before it dawned on her. "...Aaaah… shit…"
"What is it?"
Cia groaned, facepalming with a slump. "Something tells me I just gave her the idea to do that… sorry, sis…"
Lana frowned before giving her a sad smile. "Hey… it's okay. You were just looking out for me. Plus, I have electricity, she's a water dragon. She truly can't be that dumb."
"Here's hoping."
BGM: Ancient Cistern (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
"This is the Ancient Cistern." Fi said.
"So the flame is in here. That's good to know." Link said while Zelda took out her Shiekah Slate and took a picture of the middle of the room.
"I have to admit. It's impressive architecture." Ganondorf said while Manaphy went inside the water and swam about happily.
"And there he goes." Weiss giggled as they went over to the door by hopping on a few lilly pads, only to see that it was locked, but they also saw a sign.
"Carved into the great statue are inscriptions of gratitude. They reveal the secret order of this temple." Chelsea read. "First the back, then the rear, then the back of the right hand and finally the back of the left hand."
"What in the world does that mean?" Mine wondered.
"I think we have to find inscriptions… but where, exactly?" Whitley wondered while Zelda took a picture of it.
"Just in case." Zelda smiled as Manaphy swam through some hands and collected two Silver Rupees, which made the hands close.
"Mana!" Manaphy smiled, but then noticed the symbol on one of them. "Mana…?"
"Oooh, what ya got there?" Mira wondered as she had dove in and saw what Manaphy was seeing. "Interesting… I think this might be a hint!"
On the rear, Mavis saw a symbol as well. "Hmm… odd place to put a symbol but… I've seen weirder." She shrugged while Zapple saw one in the back as she was exploring with Mercury and Anya.
"Hey, here's a weird symbol on the back!" Zapple called out while Ganondorf took notice of the other symbol on the other hand.
"Hmm…" Ganondorf mused as Zelda investigated each one and then came up to the surface as they would then find a lever next to a door on a platform, unlocking the door as they went inside and found themselves in a room where there were plenty of lillypads to cushion their fall, but when a few of them dropped down, the lillypad turned right side up to reveal its thorny roots, but thanks to Manaphy, he flipped them back around with Water Pulse.
"Mana!" Manaphy smiled as they dove down and climbed out while Akame, Kurome and Maki cut through the webbing and killed a few Skulltulas.
"Nice work." Maki said to the sisters, but they ignored her and kept going, causing her to sigh. "Right…" She mumbled as they soon reached a door with four switches on it.
"Um… what's this?" Leone wondered as they approached it as both Nightraid sisters were trying to force their way forward by slashing at the combinations.
"Should we…?" Cia wondered.
"Um…" Lana rubbed her head.
"I got this." Zelda approached. "Instead of forcing your way through, this might be a bit simpler."
"Like what?" Kurome asked.
Zelda looked into her slate, reading the message and looking into the symbols. "Okay, so if we go into this…" She muttered to herself and pressed the buttons accordingly, then the door opened immediately.
*Legend of Zelda Puzzle Solved jingle*
"Ta-dah! There we go." Zelda smiled.
Both sisters sweatdropped. "Uuuh… we loosened it for you." Kurome lied.
Zelda giggled and walked inside with the rest following, although Mavis was looking around in curiosity. "Mavis, you coming?" Laxus asked.
"Yeah, uh… did anyone else hear a jingle or was it just me?" Mavis wondered as they went inside where a few Skulltulas were dropped into the water, and before anyone could do anything else, Manaphy breached out of the water with a key in his hand.
"Mana mana!" Manaphy smiled.
"Hey, we can go inside that statue now! Nice!" Chelsea smiled as Manaphy handed Link the key.
"Thank you." Link said, patting Manaphy on the head as they walked back.
"Mmmph…" Ling groaned.
"Something wrong?" Whitley asked.
"Something about this place feels… off. I don't know what it is."
"You too?" Kokoro asked with her ears lowered.
"I feel this place is spooky…" Anya said.
"I do have to admit, this place is… off-putting and I don't know why." Oran said.
"First the trial and now the Ancient Cistern?" Nesta wondered. "...Something's not right. If the Faunus feel off, since there's something about this place that seems to be bugging them."
"Hmm, I wonder what that could be…" Zelda wondered aloud.
They walked back to the main room and opened up the lock as they walked in, only to be greeted by a Stalfos. It let out a screech and lunged, only for Ganondorf to grab it by the face.
"You are in our way." Ganondorf said, tightening his grip and crushing the Skull into pieces, making the skeleton crumble to nothing.
Hoo boy, glad he's on our side! Groose thought.
That could be any of us if he decides to turn on us… Lana shuddered.
"Goodness… I almost feel sorry for it." Zelda said.
"Don't be." Ganondorf responded as they walked toward a door and opened it up as Link walked toward a new treasure chest and opened it up, pulling out a whip.
"A whip? …Talk about anti-climactic." Groose mumbled.
"Is it though?" Lana giggled as Link used the whip to turn some pumps on.
"I dunno, I think it's pretty good." Link chuckled as they launched out and walked out the door while Manaphy went back into the water and swam around, then noticed a waterfall hiding an entrance.
"Mana…?" Manaphy wondered as he swam through, ignoring the waterfall and swam up to find himself coming out of a fish's mouth. He then walked through and easily squeezed through the bars, then noticed the lever on the wall. "Mana!"
Manaphy tried to hop up, attempting to grab it with his hands… but unfortunately, he was too small.
"Mana…" Manaphy pouted with his hands on his hips, then he peeked into the room and spotted a Chu Chu wandering about. He walked over toward the Chu Chu and pushed the giant blob toward the wall, catching it by surprise until he pushed it against the wall.
With a nod, Manaphy climbed up the confused Chu Chu and reached up to grab it, but Manaphy sunk inside the Chu Chu and was absorbed into it. "...Phy phy." Manaphy mumbled with a sweatdrop as he used Water Pulse to make the Chu Chu explode.
Manaphy peeked in again and noticed a Bokoblin patrolling about with a spear. "Mana!" Manaphy's eyes sparkles as he waddled forward toward the Bokoblin, when another spotted him and fired an arrow, almost hitting him as the arrow struck the ground in front of him. "Mana?!"
The Bokoblin laughed, pointing and continuing to laugh at the startled Pokemon. A cross vein appeared on Manaphy's forehead as he picked up the arrow, used Water Pulse on it to convert it into a Water Arrow and then unleashed the Water Pulse Arrow at it, striking the Bokoblin in the shoulder and pinned it to a wall, causing it to yelp in surprise… and then it looked down and saw it was dangling above a bottomless pit.
"Ptttpth!" Manaphy blew a raspberry at it and then climbed up some vines while the arrow loosened for the unfortunate Bokoblin as it let out a whimper and fell into the abyss. As for the other Bokoblin, he wondered what the heck just happened to his friend when Manaphy climbed up behind his back and raised his hand up, before swinging it down on the back of his neck to KO the Bokoblin.
"Mana!" Manaphy nodded, snagging the spear and walked away with a smile as he then used the spear to carefully latch onto it and pulled it down to activate said lever to open the door for everyone else. With a fist pump, Manaphy continued to explore and noticed another lever up high, so he used the spear again to activate it and opened up a cell door, while also brushing away a Walltula.
Manaphy leaned the spear on the wall and climbed up, and then when he got on the vines, he grabbed the end of the spear, bit down on it and climbed up before reaching the top, only to see three Deku Babas sleeping near a switch. "Mana…" Manaphy whispered as he snuck between all three and looked at the switch in question.
Manaphy rubbed his chin in thought, remembering how Link used his whip to activate it. Manaphy tilted his head, wondering if he could use the spear and a Whirlpool in order to make it spin.
At that moment, an idea came to Manaphy's head. His twin tails! That could work!
Manaphy walked over and used the twin tails to wrap around on one head and with a smile, he started to try and pull.
…Emphasis on try.
"Mana! Hnnngh! Mana…!" He whispered before his twin tails slipped off and he softly faceplanted on the ground. "Mmmph!"
Manaphy shook it off. "Mana…" He whispered, unsure of what to do… when he felt something land on his shoulder. He looked over to see… drool? He looked up and saw that his little attempt alerted the Deku Babas. "...Mana…"
However, at that moment, three Snow Strikes hit the Deku Babas as Weiss came in and cut through them shortly after. "My boy isn't a meal!" Weiss declared.
"Mana!" Manaphy climbed up and nuzzled against her.
"Hey sweetie… did you do all of this?"
"Mana!"
Weiss smiled. "You're growing up way too fast." She kissed him on the forehead as Link walked over and used his whip to turn the switch on, which activated a whirlpool.
"Wait, we have to go down there?" Mine asked.
"Apparently so!" Cardin nodded as they dove into the whirlpool.
"You know…" Cia spoke up. "I've heard that Manaphy are known to communicate to humans."
"With telepathy?" Weiss asked.
"No, by speaking."
Weiss smiled. "Well, duh… I can actually understand him."
"No no, not by "Poke Speak"."
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
Cia smiled. "You'll find out soon enough." She jumped into the water.
"I always thought it was just that one Manaphy though…" Lana said, rubbing her head before shrugging and dove right in.
"What are they talking about?" Weiss wondered while Manaphy shrugged. "Oh well, let's go."
Once they all dove into the whirlpool, they popped out of a pipe and saw the way forward as Link had flipped a lilypad over thanks to a Skulltula dangling over it as they swam through and met with the others on the other side.
"Okay, it's not just me, is it?" Masaru asked.
"No, definitely not. This place feels too… melancholy." Ravio said.
"Blegh, I feel gross just being in this area… why?" Midna wondered.
Shuichi looked through a window, spotting a treasure chest off into the distance. "There's the treasure chest. We need to get to that."
"Yeah, but that's a problem… this place is depressing as hell and, on top of that, I'm starting to feel what the other Faunus were feeling." Leone said.
"But… you're a Faunus." Wave pointed out.
"Exactly. I thought the strange feeling I felt earlier was just me being hungry, that's why I didn't say anything."
Wave sweatdropped. "You serious?"
"Taking a closer look at that treasure chest… it seems to be sitting on top of a pile of bones." Zelda observed.
"Oh, that's just lovely! We're walking around a haunted grave site!" Kotoko whimpered.
"We're just going to have to be on our guards, there's no telling what'll happen." Lana said. Not to mention that, given it's Wizzro, he might do something more than just Cursed Bokoblins.
"Even as a ghost… I feel cold in this room…" Mira said with Mavis agreeing with a nod.
Weiss's eyes widened. "Dear Oum… the last time a ghost was affected by this was… the Grimm World."
"I can assure you, it's probably similar to that."
"Summer was affected by the cold blizzard from a Grimm Ice King or whatever his name was. Now this gloomy mess is affecting you and Mavis? That's not a good sign…" Laxus mumbled.
All of them walked off, Link snagging a key from a Bokoblin while he was at it and unlocked a door as they walked through as the Bokoblin was then casually shocked into oblivion by Laxus as they hopped in the water and was sucked into another pipe where they were "spat out" by a fish statue into a room filled with lilypads.
"Hmm…" Zelda looked up a lilypad and looked up at a platform. An idea came to her as she swam toward the lilypad and climbed up, then from the Sheikah Slate, she used the Cryonis Rune to get up high, where Weiss had the idea to chip at the Cryonis statue to create ice stairs.
"Nice thinking, princess!" Weiss complimented, causing Zelda to slightly blush as they walked up the stairs as Link found another lever and opened it up with his whip, where they then walked over the platforms and climbed through the vines before Link found a lever and used his whip to pull it, which in turn caused the statue to sink into the depths.
"...That's probably not good." Link said.
"Welcome to hell…" Kotoko grimaced as they hopped down and cautiously went inside it, though Ganondorf wasn't cautious one bit.
As they dropped down, they walked in… and found themselves underground.
Pause BGM
BGM: Actual Ancient Cistern (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
"Mmm, seems like my kind of aesthetic if I'm being honest." Kokichi said.
"Good, you can probably live here." Maki said.
"Eh, nah… bones are overrated."
"Ghirahim… I feel like he's done something to this place." Akame said in a low voice, her hand on her hilt.
"Agh, no!" Lana groaned. "The statue is burying the chest from underneath!"
"Hmph. Not a problem." Ganondorf smirked.
At that moment, Wizzro appeared before them. "Hello heroes!"
"Wizzro… what are you doing?" Cia demanded to know while Mine and Masaru put protective hands out in front of Kotoko while Kokoro readied her bow.
"Just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing… so I could do this!" Wizzro snapped his fingers.
End BGM
BGM: Midboss (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
Immediately, Cursed Bokoblins rose from the ground… but they weren't alone as ReDeads, Stalkoblins, Stalblins, Gibdos and even a few Stalnoxes rose up as well.
"Mmmph!" A shiver tore through Kokoro's body, remembering the last time she had seen ReDeads and Gibdos.
Ganondorf growled, immediately turning around. "Buy me some time!" He said as he immediately transformed and grabbed the bottom of the statue to try and lift it from the ground.
"Buy time for you? You look like you got it under control!" Leone exclaimed.
"So this is what I've been feeling down here." Mira grimaced.
Wizzro smirked, snapping his fingers as Dark walls pushed everyone away to spread them out far enough to pick them off. He let out a laugh and disappeared.
Masaru turned his head and saw Kokoro by herself while everyone else was trying to regroup and helping each other out. "Kokoron!" He exclaimed as Kokoro tried to snap out of her fear and tried to shoot some arrows at a ReDead.
His arm shook as he looked on in fear. He looked to his trembling arm and recalled how he beat himself up when he faced Toko and Komaru. He raised his arm up… but stopped himself. No. Not this time. He closed his eyes. I'm not the same person who I was before. I'm a Hero, dammit!
He reopened his eyes and jumped in front of Kokoro, immediately swinging his Meteor Rod to bring the ReDead ablaze as it screeched in agony as Kokoro immediately fired a few arrows in its head to kill it.
"You okay?" Masaru asked.
"Y-yeah. I'm just glad there aren't any Apathies nearby."
"Apa-what?"
A Stalnox approached Zelda, only for Terrako to get into battle mode and slashed at the giant undead Hinox before firing a laser directly in his eye, causing it to bounce off his skull as Zelda proceeded to lay down a few Remote Bombs and triggered them, causing the eye to fly away into an abyss as the Stalnox chased after it, crushing a Stalkoblin while it was at it.
"Alright, Mine! Time for you to see how I handle things!" Mira said as she went into her Demon Soul form and proceeded to fly up, quickly firing dark lasers into the Cursed Bokoblins.
"Whoa!" Mine exclaimed in surprise while Sayo fired an arrow into a Gibdo, then Mira flew down and punched the ground to create a powerful dark shockwave that knocked the enemies to the ground… or made the Stal enemies crumble to bits.
"She wasn't an S Class Huntress for nothing!" Laxus said, thunder punching a ReDead away with the help of Zapple.
Ganon lifted the statue up to reveal the treasure chest as Cia immediately slid underneath and grabbed the idol inside, then crawled out before some Cursed Bokoblins could grab her ankles, then when she was out of there, Ganon dropped it on the Cursed Bokoblins as he then turned back to normal.
"Move it, people! We got what we wanted!" Cia said, opening the door as everyone ran into the door as more enemies rose from the ground. Nesta turned around, being the last one in after making sure everyone was accounted for, immediately blocked the entrance with "WALL", and then the door shut.
End BGM
"That takes care of that." Nesta said as she turned around. "Is everyone okay?"
"A bit shaken up, but I've been through worse." Russel said with his team nodding.
"I knew this place was evil…" Anya shuddered.
"At least we won't have to go through that again." Oran shuddered as well as they rose up to the top with the water geysers until they would see the locked door, where Cia put the key inside of the lotus, and then when Link activated the switches with his Whip, the statue rose up until they reached the top.
"Knowing how they'll block us out… we should probably let a few enter." Lana said with them nodding, and a few minutes later of deciding, Link, Groose, Zelda, Impa, Weiss, Wave and Cia walked into the door.
"Hmm?" Kokoro noticed a few scratches on Masaru's arm. "Masaru… you're hurt."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, one of those skeletal Bokoblins snuck up on me but I'm fine."
"No, you're not. Those scratches look bad… I need to take a look at it."
Masaru tried to hide it from her. "I'm telling ya, Kokoron. I'm fine! It's just a few small scratches! There's really nothing for you to worry abo-"
"That's enough, Masaru!" Kokoro said in a stern yet assertive tone, which was enough to make Masaru flinch. "Please, just let me look at it!"
That was… kinda uncharacteristic of you. He thought in surprise. "I…" He sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine…" He showed off his arm. "Feel free to take a look at it…"
Kokoro pulled out some anti-bacterial spray as she examined the wound and with a nod, she sprayed the area, causing Masaru to hiss and wince, then wrapped his arm in bandages. It's a good thing Ling taught me how to do first-aid. I remember how she needed someone who can help her with her medical duties when she isn't around…
Masaru let out a groan. "I really appreciate you helping me out like this and stuff… but this isn't like me at all!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I'm a Hero! I'm not supposed to be scared or anything or show that I'm in pain! Because if I did, I…" He sighed. "...I'm only just going to end up letting myself and other people down."
Kokoro giggled softly in understanding as she continued to tend to his wound. "To be honest with you, I really admire how you're always trying your best to stay strong in front of us for our sakes… but you can't just always ignore your wounds and hide them all the time, y'know?"
Masaru blushed while looking away. "I… I guess so…"
Kokoro smiled before her expression turned serious. "Masaru, I want you to look at me."
Oh boy… now what? He mentally groaned and looked at her.
"I, for one, know what it's like to be in pain. I've tried to hide it to my friends when I got injured, but Ling wasn't having any of it. You shouldn't hide anything from your friends, they'll want to help you. You'll start feeling better, you'll be able to get stronger and, well, you won't get an infection from a bad wound that you tried to hide. It's how I was able to become the girl I am now after that Phazon War. I was timid at first and I was a shell of myself due to some… bad experience with some monsters up in space, but with the help of friends, I was able to get out of my funk."
"...Soooo, you're saying I ought to… open up more?"
"You opened up to your family about your past, right? And then to me? It's how you grow… keeping it to yourself won't do you any good."
"That's what I was trying to tell him, but does he listen? Nooooo… dude's too prideful." Kotoko mumbled, hearing an annoyed grunt from Masaru, causing her to chuckle in amusement.
"Remember when you chose to protect me from those monsters even though you were scared? That was really brave and heroic of you."
Masaru chuckled, smiling in appreciation. "Thanks for that insightful advice, Kokoron. It… really means a lot." He said and then looked down, noticing his Meteor Rod was gone. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"What the… where'd my Meteor Rod go? I swear I was holding it."
"Oh no… and Nesta blocked off the underground…" Kokoro grimaced.
"...Ah… whatever. I can just get a new one at the Smash Mansion."
Nearby, Chelsea watched on and sniffled a bit. "My baby sis is growing up so fast…" She said as Yor giggled, wrapping her arms around Chelsea.
"Soooo… uh… anyway… there's something I want to mention." Masaru said.
"Hmm?"
"Me and my friends were chatting about it and… well, we're actually considering giving you a spot in the Warriors of Hope. Nagisa pointed out that you'd fit in well with a group of teens like us."
"Suuuuuuure, it was Nagisa~" Kotoko teased, hearing another annoyed grunt from Masaru.
"Okay, fine, I pointed it out and Nagisa was on board with it…" He grumbled.
Kokoro giggled. "That does sound nice, but let me think about it for a bit."
Masaru smiled. "Just take your time, Kokoron. No need to rush it." He said. "Anyway, I just want to-"
He was immediately interrupted when Kokoro pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush… then he smiled. "Oh! Uh… thank you."
"You're welcome." Kokoro giggled. "You're my hero."
Meanwhile, down below…
Wizzro levitated toward the Meteor Rod, picking it up and letting out a chuckle. "Finally… I have them all. The Rod of Elements will soon be mine!"
With Link and co…
BGM: Serenade of Water (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
"Is that…?" Impa wondered.
"We have to hurry." Cia said as they ran up the stairs, where they would see Ghirahim just finishing up his song while casually sitting on top of a statue.
End BGM
"Oh, hello there." Ghirahim greeted. "Princess, a pleasure."
"Ghirahim…" Zelda said with a low tone.
"You know, only one of you here has faced this automaton before in that Grimm World… so I decided to do some tweaking, and let's just say… you'll be washed away!" Ghirahim chuckled as he disappeared, and suddenly water rose from within the statue and was reformed into a water bending automaton.
"This is gonna get wild…" Weiss said as they readied themselves.
BGM: Moldarach/Koloktos - Phase 1 (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Water Bending Automaton - Koloktos
Koloktos raised his arm and swung his axe down, creating a massive wave of water, but Wave stepped in and manipulated the water to go around them as Link noticed his arm was stuck, so he used his whip to grab onto it and yanked it off.
Koloktos roared as he threw two axe boomerangs as it left a trail of water behind as Impa quickly parried these with her sword and then jumped in and slashed at him, but Koloktos attempted to slash her down, but Impa backflipped as the two arms got stuck in the ground as Link whipped them up and yanked them away.
Koloktos immediately shot a torrent of water, but Weiss used a gravity glyph to block it as Cia proceeded to launch orbs of darkness at him as Koloktos slashed down at her, leaving his arm exposed for Link to yank off, which in turn, left his weakness exposed as Groose and Impa ran in and both slashed him as Zelda picked up the debris with Magnesis and threw it into his weak spot to knock the big guy down.
End BGM
With a roar, Koloktos repaired himself and slashed the ground to create watery shockwaves before climbing out of the ground, where it proceeded to conjure up six water blades.
BGM: Koloktos Phase 2 (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
"Now it's getting interesting!" Wave said as Koloktos jumped up and slammed into the ground, creating a wave of water that knocked everyone back as Koloktos slashed down to create watery sword beams.
Link blocked this with his shield and used a Skyward Strike of his own, both clashing as Koloktos swung his swords to create more water beams, where Wave manipulated a few to go around them or into his sword where he returned it to sender.
Koloktos raised three swords up in the air and swung them down, creating water waves to knock Weiss and Groose down but Link powered through and yanked off his arms with his whip. Impa took notice of this and picked up his sword as she ran toward Koloktos and slashed apart his caged heart, only to be met with a water shield right after as it proceeded to shoot a torrent of water point blank to knock Impa into a wall. "Mmmph!"
Koloktos formed a water cannon of where his left arms were and proceeded to unleash water blasts, destroying the pillars in the room as they went for cover. Then the water cannon formed into a giant scimitar and swung down to create high pressurized water cuts that tore into the walls.
Koloktos then jumped and landed on the ground, flooding the entire room to where it was knee deep. "Wah!" Weiss yelped as she was nearly knocked down, only for Zelda to quickly use Cryonis to help Weiss out from getting washed away. "So it's gonna be like that, is it!" She growled. "Manaphy!"
"Mana!" Manaphy squared up while Weiss also called out Mari.
"Primaaaa!" The Primarina cried as Manaphy hopped on Mari's back as they swam through the water as Koloktos slashed down at the Pokemon, but they disappeared underneath the water.
"...Wait a minute, that gives me an idea! Mari! Use Misty Terrain!"
"Rinaaaaa!" Primarina cried as the water immediately turned foggy and hid the Pokemon from within.
"Now that's more like it!" Cia smirked as she sloshed through the water and threw a stream of darkness at Koloktos, where it fired high pressured water shots at her but she disappeared into the terrain, while Mari breached out of the water and used Moonblast at him, knocking the automaton forward as it turned around and slashed Mari, but she disappeared in the water again while Weiss used gravity glyphs as everyone else climbed on them.
Koloktos made a powerful wave that knocked Weiss down before she could climb on. "Mmmph!" She growled as Zelda looked down at the debris and had an idea.
"Groose! Impa! With me! I have an idea!"
"You got something, princesses?" Impa asked as Zelda hopped down into the water and used Stasis on the debris.
"Hit these as hard as you can. Both of you! That also includes the scimitars!"
"Uh… any reason why?" Groose asked.
"Trust me." Zelda smiled.
Link sloshed through the water, attacking Koloktos as he slashed down at Link, but he parried him as Wave emerged from the water and unleashed a torrent of water of his own, as Manaphy jumped out and used Water Pulse.
"Alright, everyone get back!" Zelda yelled out as the Stasis deactivated as the debris went flying as Koloktos was pelted by said debris, with one water scimitar flew toward him and cut through his neck.
Koloktos staggered before he fell on his back, his water shield disappearing and leaving the heart exposed as Link trudged through the water and climbed up, before thrusting his sword down into the heart to finish Koloktos off.
End BGM
At that moment, the water receded as the Misty Terrain disappeared. "I'm gonna be the first to admit… I didn't think that would work!" Groose said.
Zelda smiled. "Never underestimate the power of the runes!"
Suddenly, at that moment, darkness wrapped around Zelda and grabbed a hold of her. "Hnnngh! What…?!" She yelped as dark fire walls blocked the others from advancing.
"Oh no…" Cia said as Ghirahim reappeared as did Wizzro.
BGM: Desperate Situation (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity)
"Ahahahaha! I have to thank you for bringing me the princess of Hyrule of another era to me!" Ghirahim smirked.
"What… what is the meaning of this?!" Zelda demanded.
"I already have the Triforce of Power and Courage. Now I seek the Triforce of Wisdom… and you have it!" He smirked as he played the song of Triforce Removal as electricity wrapped around Zelda as she screamed.
"Princess!" Impa yelled as Link let out a growl and tried to find a way through the flames, then noticing Weiss stabbing the ground with Myrtenaster.
At that moment, the Triforce of Wisdom was taken out of Zelda. "Ahahahaha! Yes! Finally… the Triforce is complete and mine for the taking!" Ghirahim exclaimed as he walked right over to it, but in a flash, Weiss dove for it and took the Triforce of Wisdom. "What?!"
Link saw the glyph of what Weiss used. Time…? He wondered.
"You… you are not going to take this!" Weiss said.
"You foolish imbecile! You think you can just take it from me like that?" Ghirahim chuckled. "Well, I wonder what Ruby would think if her teammate was beaten within an inch of her life… or better yet, I'll bring you to her as a throw rug!"
"What is the meaning of this?" A voice demanded as Ghirahim and Wizzro turned their heads, the latter dropping Zelda, as they saw Ganondorf approaching, along with Wolf Link, Midna, and Ravio.
"We heard Zelda screaming, so we came running." Ravio said.
"Ah. Ganondorf! You actually came!" Ghirahim smirked. "You claimed to me that you wanted nothing to do with Lord Demise a long time ago. That makes you weak. As for me… I'll harness the Triforce of Power, and make myself stronger than you!"
He summoned the Triforce of Power and tried to clutch it for himself, but it shined brightly and zapped him. "AAARGH!" He yelled as the Triforce of Power went straight for Ganondorf. "What is the meaning of this?!"
End BGM
"It would appear as though even the Triforce of Power itself despises you and your ambition." Ganondorf said calmly.
"Wha-bu-" Ghirahim tried to say as he tried the same thing with the Triforce of Courage, but it too rejected him as it went flying back and into Wolf Link's paw. "But how? The power of the Song of Triforce Removal can't be overcome!"
Ganondorf chuckled. "You think some simple song lost to time can bend the will… of the Triforce ITSELF?"
Ghirahim gasped, his eyes widening at what Ganondorf was insinuating. "No…"
Ganondorf let out a boastful laugh. "There's only ONE man who the Triforce of Power will side with by it's own choice! AND THAT IS ME, GANONDORF DRAGMIRE OF THE GERUDO!"
Ghirahim growled. "No matter… there's one other Triforce here in this era and it's sitting comfortably in-"
"Ghirahim, you absolute fool." Ganondorf chuckled. "It seems as you have forgotten, that no matter what… there can only be one Triforce. As far as I'm concerned, there is no Triforce in the hidden dungeons of Skyloft because we have the Triforce!"
"That doesn't explain the properties of the Smash Mansion! Three Links have the Triforce of Courage, two Zeldas have the Triforce of Wisdom, three if you count the Smashless Zelda-"
"Smashless?" Zelda put her hands on her hips, seemingly offended by that statement.
"It's best if you don't think about it." Ganondorf said.
"Tch, whatever! At least the Triforce of Wisdom will be mine. Hand it over to me, ice princess!"
"You want it so badly…" Weiss said as she showed off her wrist, as the Triforce of Wisdom was embedded into it.
"What?! NO!" Ghirahim yelled.
Weiss smirked. "Come and take it."
Ah geez, sorry about the wait! I didn't think it'd take a whole week or so to post this chapter. My bad! Hopefully it won't be as bad next time...
Ibuki: HA! In your face, Ghirahim!
Deadpool: So much for that plan, eh?